itch.io

Thank you!

As we approach 2000 downloads I've been working on getting the manuscript updated.

I plan to release a core rules manuscript update tomorrow and more updates to follow!

Thanks for sticking with us, and thanks for contributing to the game! We appreciate you so much!

If you have questions please join our discord (link on main page) and if you want more rapid fire updates and bonus Factions released by Aine join our Patreon.

I massively misread the post (for some reason I thought yesterday was March 1st instead of April 1st), lol. I'll just join in spirit ;) I have an idea I like but I'm extremely busy this weekend, so I won't be able to put it on paper until later.

This is my first introduction to this art and I'm already **obsessed**.  Thanks for extending,  count me in!

Nice! I'm going to need to do this for Children of Midnight, too!

After several months of writing and playtesting, our table-top role-playing game about wyld witches surviving a hostile alternate history modern world is ready for the public.

Children of Midnight Quickstart is Balsamic Moon Games Collective's first major game release; scheduled for Friday the 17th of September, 2021.

balsamicmoongames.itch.io/children-of-midnight-quickstart -or- quickstart.childrenofmidnight.com

Children of Midnight is a gender inclusive urban fantasy Forged in the Dark table-top role-playing game. The free 28+ page full color Quickstart contains all of the rules and character sheets needed to play a one shot or short campaign.

Players take the role of Wyld Witches and their Familiars who form a Coven for mutual support and protection in a dark and harsh modern (alternate history) world. Wyld Witches are pursued by a tyrannical pseudo-governmental organization who aims to bind their powers for the supposed good of a society that rejects them. The mad fae, a witch-controlled military, mythical creatures and those who hunt them, other cults, congregations and covens can be allies or adversaries depending on the coven's beliefs and goals.

Press should contact @BalsamicGames on twitter or email support@balsamicmoongames.com for the access password.

Hi, I took a look at some of the previous questions regarding this issue and saw that @leafo said they could  get the download counts for some files that were replaced with a different filename / deleted before I realized how to preserve the count. I just want to add those numbers to a spreadsheet so that I can have them for my records. Thanks!

Use this topic to discuss rules from any Children of Midnight Playtest documents, request clarifications from the developers or share your own alterations.

Use this topic to discuss spelling and grammar errors found in any Children of Midnight Playtest documents.

This topic is for Community-Driven discussions about how Factions are being used at your gaming table (whether these are part of the existing 28 Factions in  "Children of Midnight Playtest Factions" or new Factions generated by fans, GMs and players).

Any ideas generated here may be added to the Children of Midnight game canon and contributors will be given credit in "Children of Midnight Playtest Factions" as well as any future work which their content is added to as creator/author/inspiration (as appropriate).

Heritage is another fundamental aspect of the setting, so it is included here as well.

The 'default' is mortal heritage, but immortal bloodlines that were once hidden have begun to appear more frequently since witches made their existence known.

Additional Heritage options include:

• Asterian - Horns and tufts of fur, especially around the neck.
• Gorgon - Thick strands of hair, sometimes with a mind of its own, a withering gaze, forked tongue, other snake-like traits.
• Squatch - Very tall and often extremely furry
• Nereid - Often androgynous, blue tinted skin, gills.
• Hydra - Reptilian or even bird-like traits, quite varied.
• Satyr - Shorter than average, hooves and furry legs, sometimes horns or antlers.
•  Mandrake - Any number of plant or fungi-like traits, the most varied heritage.

After several months of writing and playtesting, our table-top role-playing game about wyld witches surviving a hostile alternate history modern world is ready for the public.

Children of Midnight Quickstart is Balsamic Moon Games Collective's first major game release; scheduled for Friday the 17th of September, 2021.

https://balsamicmoongames.itch.io/children-of-midnight-quickstart -or- https://www.childrenofmidnight.com

Children of Midnight is a gender inclusive urban fantasy Forged in the Dark table-top role-playing game. The free 42 page full color Quickstart contains all of the rules and character sheets needed to play a one shot or short campaign.

Players take the role of Wyld Witches and their Familiars who form a Coven for mutual support and protection in a dark and harsh modern (alternate history) world. Wyld Witches are pursued by a tyrannical pseudo-governmental organization who aims to bind their powers for the supposed good of a society that rejects them. The mad fae, a witch-controlled military, mythical creatures and those who hunt them, other cults, congregations and covens can be allies or adversaries depending on the coven's beliefs and goals.

Press should contact @BalsamicGames on twitter or email support@balsamicmoongames.com for the access password.

I wanted to post this here to help with any question people might have about some of the terms used in the core book that might need a bit more explanation (feel free to reach out here if you have any other questions or terms you want to see in the next version of the glossary):

Glossary

Arcadia: The world from which Fae originate. Apparently a verdant and calm land.

Astral: A realm somehow attached to the minds of sentient creatures. Spirits residing in the Astral are embodiments of concepts and emotions. The most powerful of these seem to be the ones that have sway over the thoughts of vast numbers of minds. Astral spaces beyond include the darkness of space and the vast stars, plants, moons and exo-planets of the universe.

Bound Witch: A slang term for a registered witch used by wyld witches to hint that perhaps a little more of their power was bound than most registered witches would like to admit.

Coven (or Wyld Coven): A group of wyld witches who share a covenant and regularly assemble.

Congregation: An organized group of registered witches.

Earth (or Terra, Gaia): The natural world, where humans are born, grow old and die.

Essence: A difficult to harvest source of magical power found in small amounts anywhere on Earth, larger amounts in places of power. Witches call upon Essence stored within to use their powers.

Fae: A creature which has come from Arcadia, one born to Fae parents, or anything seemingly ‘alive’ which was constructed using Fae magic.

Fledge: A human who is expected to become a witch, but has not yet shown any magical ability.

Frank: A term for non-magical humans making specific note of their dangerous mastery of technology (origin Frankenstein).

Heritage: Immortal ancestors which sometimes manifest in noticeable morphological changes.

Human: A member of the genus Homo; usually referring to only Homo Sapiens and Homo Striga.

Mortal: Heritage lacking particularly strong immortal blood or noticeable morphological changes.

Registered Witch: A witch previously submitted to The Order to have their magical abilities bound; at minimum, their Wyld Magic (not all willingly).

Sapien (or Sape, also Mundane or Mundie): Homo Sapiens; a non-witch. A non-gendered term for person without magical abilities. Derogatory when used to describe a fledge.

Shadow: A dark mirror of the physical world. Spirits that reside in the Shadow are nature spirits and mythical creatures in hiding. The most powerful Shadow spirits tend to be primordial beings.

Underworld: A realm containing the spirits of sapient creatures after their physical body has abandoned them. The most powerful Underworld spirits are ancestors. The deepest parts of the Underworld contain all of the classical heavens and hells of various afterlives.

Witch: Homo Striga; a non-gendered term for a person who has (or at one time had) access to magical abilities.

Wyld Witch: A witch of the proper age to be registered that has managed to avoid registration. Young Witch: A fledge or a witch who has not yet reached the age at which they must be submitted to The Order. Their powers are not yet bound, but also not yet mature enough to channel powerful Wyld Magic.

This file has been removed as it is very out of date and I don't want to confuse everyone when the new version comes out on May 15, 2021.

Until 1594, as far as learned mortals knew, there were no real witches. The real witches were cunning enough to remain hidden for thousands of years privately practicing magic in the same ways their parents did.

In 1594 a trio of witches living in Scotland had enough of the false accusations mortals heaped upon one another. These witches finally made their presence known to spare the falsely accused.

The world changed forever in the days that followed as thousands of witches many with enough power to conquer and rule the planet stepped from the shadows and greeted their communities. In the years that followed many mortals shed their old ways and embraced the witches. This era was not without it's problems, but it was a peaceful time overall.

One day though, that generation of witches, content with the world they created, passed on. Their children tried to follow in their parents footsteps, but faltered more often. And the next generation strayed even further from their grandparents' vision.

350 years after those three witches took charge of the destiny of the world, it was recovering from the second Witch War. A group of witches that stayed neutral during the carnage took power and instituted a registration for witches at age 16; all powers would be documented. They promised that under their leadership things would not get out of control again.

It has been 75 years and things have not improved for the average mortal or witch. The registration is enforced with an iron fist and mortal distrust of witches is higher than it has been in centuries.

You have avoided the registration and would be branded a Wyld Witch if caught, but you have a small Coven that watches your back and with your unbridled powers you and your Coven can make allies, gain power and maybe even fix some of the problems you inherited.

A few changes to expect:

• Willpower replaces Stress
• Essence is used to power spellwork
• Wyld Magic can be called upon when your back is well and truly against the wall
• Each Witch has a Familiar with whom they share senses (and whose body they can control)

• Grimoires replace Playbooks (9)
  • Animist, Arcanist, Baba, Green, Eclectic, Empath, Psyche, Shifter and Storm
• Each Grimoire has:
• 2 Starting powers
• A Sensory power
• 8 other unique powers
• 2  xp Triggers

• Over 30 powers that can be learned by characters of any Grimoire
• Rituals which are learned and performed by the entire Coven
• Robust crafting for Charms and Artifacts (and mundane items, too)