Cleave 1.6: the GM update!
Cleave has now been updated to version 1.6. The changelog is below, but the important thing to note is that this update includes a lot more information for running the game. This includes expanding the information about the GM agenda and giving information on how to run your first session. The first session is where you set up your interlocking bonds, so this information is especially crucial to Cleave. In addition, there are now GM reference sheets that you can use to help run your game. These aren't very fancy (yet), but they've been very helpful in my playtesting.
Here's the full changelog:
Running the game
| General | Added Starting your campaign chapter. |
| GM Agenda & Principles | Updated agenda, add more details on agenda |
| GM Moves | Added Slow down and End the scene. Changed Set one bond against another to Set up a test for a bond and rewrote the details. |
| GM Characters | Added art and tightened up major foes section |
These updates give a lot more support for GMing the game. The starting your campaign chapter also includes details on how you should prep and how to generate conflicts with bonds, which tie into the core conflicts of Cleave.
Playing the game
| Hit points and recovery | Added new section on player character death and updated rest of chapter accordingly. |
| Bond moves | Updated Resist a bond to allow players to purposefully trigger it. |
| Moves | Added Advanced moves section, added moves for character death/retirement. |
One change I imagine might cause some friction is that I've changed how player death works. You have to earn it. As long as your character has bonds, players are expected to keep playing them until the campaign ends or they use a new advanced move to retire their character.
I like this change for a few different reasons. Cleave is about becoming entangled with bonds, so preventing an easy out of "character dies, make a new one" to get out of those helps push the core themes of the game. Also, this encourages players to continue to play wounded and disabled characters.
This is an experimental change, though, so I'll be monitoring how it goes and adjusting from there. I anticipate this will cause resistance among many players, but I'm eager to see if it pulls off the story moments I expect it will.
| Combat moves | Updated clash and taken out. |
The big change here is that, by default, player characters no longer decide the fate of characters they take out. The GM does. This gives combat more bite. Violence in Cleave is supposed to be something that builds up and explodes, dealing major consequences that the players have to deal with. Preventing combat from being able to resolved cleanly helps push these themes. Still, I want players to have some control over what types of wounds they inflict, which is why clash now has the option for players to regain control and dictate whether their target lives or dies.
I've also removed the "Gain insight" option from clash. This is part of broader changes to how the information moves work that weren't quite ready for this release.
| Equipment | Changed Treasure to Coin |
To be honest, I thought I already made this change. Anyway, the supply/treasure mechanics came from an earlier game (Blight) that was more explicitly about going into dangerous places and finding treasures to sell. Cleave has a much more urban focus, which means players can expect to use currency, so I've updated this to match.
That's all for now. Feel free to follow me on BlueSky or join the Discord for more updates!
