THE LICHWOOD: Restless|Pieces

THE LICHWOOD Restless|Pieces WHERE ARE THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US Not too north of where you now call home, there exists horrible hallowed ground. The Lichwood is one place no kingdom dare lay claim over. Some have ventured into the fog of its twisting trails for glory, power, and treasure, but survivors are dismissed as liars. As necromancers, your mercenary band has the best chance of safe passage, yet the most gruesome fate should you fail… Go to this place where your forsaken ilk rule and hope you do not find a home among them. Premise THE LICHWOOD: Restless|Pieces is a work in progress solo territory-defense game powered by Medusalaire featuring two game modes. There is a common set of base rules and resources, but each version has unique goals and modifications. This is a lite yet mechanics-focused game, but there is room for journaling if desired. You assume the role of either a necromancer mercenary visiting a cursed forest or one of the new liches who resides within it. As the necromancer, your job is to collect Interests, like remains or materials, to fulfill a quest. As the lich, you’ve chosen to destroy and seal off the forest so it may never again do what it’s done to you. All the while, you must handle the threatening presence of others who come to the woods and put a great deal at risk by disturbing its balance… What You Need 1d4, 1d6, 1d8 1 Standard Playing Card Deck, with Jokers Some means to keep track of choices and progress, like a piece of paper or digital document Don’t have physical playing cards? You can use any online shuffled deck tool or virtual tabletop. You can play the game with just notes to keep track of your progress, but feel free to use the included Print & Play sheets that I made when I was playtesting if it helps! How It Plays You will have a collection of Acres, and every round you are faced with the threat of Visitants. You will draw from your playing card deck to determine the narrative and mechanical properties of the Visitants, and then you will play Acres to determine the path they take through the Lichwood. Through dice rolls and abilities, you must reduce an enemy’s stat to zero to protect yourself from the lasting damage they do if they reach their destination. Meanwhile, you will have a secondary goal depending on the mode, both oriented around accumulating or depleting a resource. See the Medusalaire SRD for more information on the core rules that inspired this game. What To Expect This game will require you to keep track of what you’ve done within rounds, so using paper/digital notespace is highly recommended. Restless is designed to be a more difficult mode than Pieces. In Restless, you will begin with more resources and power but slowly lose them. In Pieces, you will become stronger with time. Despite the title, Pieces is recommended first. Please Note: The game is mechanically complete, but its rules and presentation are a work in progress. There may be future updates with rule changes, balance redistribution, and aesthetic implementations. Feedback is appreciated! What’s Included Restless Quickstart Pieces Quickstart Print and Play Info Cards Playsheets for tracking game state and round choices. As development progresses and mechanics are finalized, a fuller rule book is planned. ⚠ Content Warnings The lite narrative of THE LICHWOOD does not contain common triggers of abuse, prejudice, or graphic violence. Death and necromancy are core to the game’s identity. The narrative of Pieces includes the disruption of remains, and some images in the Book (not the Quickstart) may feature photographs of real bones. Descriptions in the Book include morbid imagery and body horror. The specifics of your narrative are largely your invention to explore. However, it is easy to ideate disturbing possibilities. Please exercise caution as you play; if you ever strike a nerve, take a break, and consider retconning the triggering elements or ending the game. You come first. Credits THE LICHWOOD: Restless|Pieces © 2026 by August Venice Graham (augvenntation) is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 This work is based on the Medusalaire system ( https://brite-palette.itch.io/medusalaire ) from Brite Palette, and licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0  International License. Further credits such as graphics are included within the downloads. No generative AI was used in creating this work. To the best of my due diligence, it does not feature assets created with generative AI. Any assets found to be generative AI will be replaced. --- So it goes – you are dead and alive, having succumbed to the magic inside of you and at the mercy of your fated home. Maybe you remember when and how it happened, or maybe you don't even remember your own name. Does it matter? You are a Lich. You cannot safely leave the Lichwood, if you even physically can. You also cannot peacefully “live” within it. Disturbing and constantly being disturbed, the Lichwood is a home you no longer want even if it is the only home you can have. You tell yourself that it is time to spare others of your fate and let none else be consumed by its curses and darkness. It is time to raze the Lichwood. Everything and everyone in it – in your way.