Because the Dead Won't Punch Themselves

I’ve just released an early access edition of Deadpuncher, a game of the punching dead (and punching the dead). It’s a small setting created to playtest a new combat engine I’m working on for inclusion in Waypoint.

Liminal Shadows

The world of Deadpuncher is much like ours, with the crucial difference that hidden among humanity are the living dead: vampire aristocrats, zombie hordes, and more. The shadowy societies they are part of and the truth of their existence are collectively known as the Liminal Shadows.

The protagonists play either the dead or those among the living who know the truth, from one of ten different archetypes including the Shadowed, the Sacred, Dullahan, and Zombies. Capable fighters that happen to also be billionaires or necromancers, these protagonists either fight to keep the dead hordes in check, to further their own agendas, or to keep even darker creatures at bay.

For the dead are only at the threshold of the world’s problems. Hell, a vast hostile realm of hundreds of layers that exist somewhere beyond and below the Earth, is looking to add our world to its collection of swallowed realms. Demon princes and armies seek to slip out through the cracks and break down society and the world itself to accomplish their goals.

High Energy Combat

The combat engine that is the major focus and largest feature of Deadpuncher is determinative, not random, with a focus on speed, tactics, and risk. Players play maneuvers against one another from 10 different fighting styles from Boxing to Tiger Style Kung Fu to Ghost Flame Style, attempting to beat their foe’s action with their own to apply consequences such as status effects, injuries, and increase pools of risk that can be turned into even more dangerous injuries and death by special finisher moves. Combatants must balance their growing levels of risk with accumulated injuries, attempting to predict their opponent’s next move while planning their own.

Where To Get It

This early access edition, which is meant for playtesting, can be acquired from one of two sources:

Backers of my Patreon account at any level will get free access to Deadpuncher via attachments on this patron-only post.

Those looking to just directly acquire Deadpuncher on its own can purchase it for $2.99 via a link from the Deadpuncher game page. Other resources such as character sheet and maneuver card PDFs can be acquired there as well.

Acquiring the game through either means will entitle you to a free copy of future editions of the game as it goes through revision, enhancement, and editing.

Now get out there and start punching those dead!