A downloadable tome

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Down We Go Is In Print! Get Your Physical Copy Here

Down into the ground they go.
The Sneaky
The Mystical
The Holy
The Bloodthirsty
To plumb whatever items of value they can from the depths and bring it back to Infinopolis, The Infinite City.

Ever shifting, ever changing, ever hungry for the gold, treasures, and bodies, Infinopolis is a complex machine of human parts crying out in hunger for more.
There is only one way to feed it, so...

Down We Go.
Down We Go is a minimalist OSR (Old School Renaissance) RPG by Markus Linderum developed and published by Tony Vasinda from Plus One Exp. The core rules of the game fit on 1 sheet of paper, but the full version is 72 pages of very modular and accessible additional content to explore the anticannon world and setting of endless dungeons that surround Infinopolis. With art by Simone Tammetta and layout by Johnny Isorena.

The system uses familiar D20 and D6 mechanics but deconstructs stats, class, and skills into a Role system that allows for character creation that takes less than 2 minutes while providing great customization. 

With a focus on tablebrewing, emergent narrative and egalitarian play this game is incredibly low prep while providing expansive play experiences. 

Check out the core rules for $1, get a taste of the beta for $5 or get the full game for $15. You can also play a session of the game with the developer and a group of your friends for $200.

Because of your support the final digital and print version will include even more content by Markus, Tony Vasinda, Ava Islam, Pammu, Madeline Ember, MVMV, Babblegum Sam, KeganExe, Aaron King and additional art by Johan Nohr & Evlyn Moreau.

Purchase

Buy Now$1.00 USD or more

In order to download this tome you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1 USD. You will get access to the following files:

DWG Core Rules 510 kB
DWG_A word from the author.pdf 32 kB
Down We Go Beta Pages 11 MB
if you pay $5 USD or more
Down We Go | Full Game 26 MB
if you pay $15 USD or more

Denizens of Infinopolis

Support this tome at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.

Party of Legends

Play The Game With The Creators
Tony will run a game for you and 3-4 of your friends online or in person if you live in the greater Philly area. Everyone gets digital copies of the game and the currently released adventures. 

Press Copies

Do you run a review blog? Produce a podcast? Create content for youtube? 
If so we would love to have you cover Down We Go on your platform! Enjoy this copy of basic rules, and email at tony@plusoneexp.com for the current ashcan version of the game!

Community Copies

If you can't afford a copy. Take one!
In Infinopolis if it's not nailed down it can be yours and these copies... are not nailed down. Here at Plus One we think everyone should be able to access great games. Every time someone buys a copy of the game we add a community copy also.

Development log

Comments

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Fantastic game! Congrats! Just one question. Is there a rule for a PC to cause more than 1 hit of damage instead of natural 20 on a D20? A lot of NPCs do cause multiple hits of damage. That difference is by design? Thanks!

Hey, That difference is by design. There are a lot of PC moves that let them do more damage like Smite, Backstab, or Pain Bolt.
There are also rules for enchanted weapons in the Bazaar which allows for boosting base damage.

Ya'll took a rules-lite system and gave it ALLLLLLL the bells and whistles, huh? Wow! So many tools! So much content! My head is spinning. Thank-you so much for making such a great game!

I did a visual review and breakdown of Down We Go on my substack, and the creative team behind it were extremely generous with me and answered all my questions.

Thank you and thanks for the kind words!

Call me a shill angling to play more with the gang, but I keep coming back to tbe book and it just blows my mind! The sheer depth of the tools and the possible variations on the presented locations/ dungeons/ adventures is absolutely wild. Like, I fully recommend playing DWG because it's great, but this is a book that is an invaluable tool for any referee. Just... *Chef's Kiss*

Love this!

Hello - is there a discord for down we go?

They have a channel on the Plus One Exp discord

Thought I replied to this Perplexing http://ttrpg.link/Discord baybee

(+1)

I finally posted my flip through of the physical edition! I really enjoyed looking through this, and I can't wait to get it to the table!

Any news on when the gamefound backers will be receiving the physical copies? 

Hey! I missed this! Update coming on Monday for all the print stuff!

It's honestly amazing how much mechanical depth that you guys managed to fit into so little space. I come from 5e, and really the core parts of the D&D experience are still basically intact, but the 5e phb is 300 pages, while this is just 17.  And the art is good to, so that's a plus. 

I haven't played this yet, but just reading it was eye-opening for what's possible in game design. 

Thanks! The final version will have about 50 pages total but it'll keep that same great feel and a lot of it is for different types of adventures, beasts, and tools you need

I like this. Plays fast and loose, with simple rules (so it's easy to hack). I just did a quick read through and then checked again.. no mechanical advantages/rules for weapons and armor? That aside it looks like a lot of  fun to play or run. Looking forward to see this in print.

The final version does have armor rules in it and the full version some additional weapon procedures. We’re also excited to get them out in the world!

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The vibe reminds me of Fritz Lieber's "Ill Met in Lankhmar". Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser meet for the first time, get knee-walking drunk and go break into the Wizards Guild tower to steal treasure. As a reader you know it's the dumbest idea anyone ever came up with, but you really want to be there with them and you can't wait to see how badly it turns out.

Thanks!

(+1)

Love it! thank you for the high praise!

I download this version, and backed the gamefound.  Played with my kids, and used one weekend on our D&D 3.5 campaign with a few no shows.  Fun was had by all.   Can't wait for the infinite edition!   What a solid package!  *****

Love it! Thanks so much. We love hearing when folks play with their kids also. 

Any play highlights?

(1 edit)

Seems very cool! What kind of 3rd party license (if any) do you think y'all will have for this?

(Also YAY cannabis golems!)

BAH I found it myself. YAY there is one!

https://gamefound.com/projects/tony-from-plus-one/dwg#/stretch-goal/454

Good on y'all. 3rd party licenses rock.

Yep! so excited to see what folks do! If you work something up let us know! Can't wait to see what folks do wit it!

Can you clarify how hits work? It looks like if your highest stat is Mystical you get 2 hits, Sneaky-3, Holy-4, Bloodthirsty-5. But there are an additional 5 hit circles. What are those for? Is it that you get base + LVL hit dots? Is there an implied LVL 5 cap per Role?

Great question! In the updated rules you advance 1 hit for every three levels across all roles.

Essentially Hits are highest role+ [Level in all roles/3  rounded down]

Let me know if that makes sense. 

awesome. Thanks for the fast reply. So at character creation you get +2/1/1 therefore you should start with 1 extra dot?

Since you are rounding down and are at .66 you could get 0 extra at start. 1 extra the first time you level and then another 1 after you level the 4th time 7th time and so on. 

Highest level role + [2/3 rounded down]. 2/3 rounded down is zero.

(+3)

Down We Go is a single page OSR dungeon crawler.

It's got lovely art and layout, and the font choices feel whispery but readable.

Mechanics-wise, your default roll is a d20, trying to hit a DC 15. You add your level in your most relevant class to your roll, and this is where the system gets interesting. There are four classes, Holy, Sneaky, Bloodthirsty, and Mystical, and you can freely assign your levels to any of them. In addition to boosting your rolls, each class comes with a set of level/day abilities. And your highest levelled class determines your hit points.

Combat in Down We Go uses the same dice system, with effectively a coin flip to determine which side goes first. Damage is typically 1/hit, and HP totals are low across the board.

All of this makes for an extremely tight, quick system that still retains flexibility and crunch, but the real standout is the game's optional rule: if you drop a die on the floor, you die.

This optional rule catapults Down We Go from a solid single-page dungeon crawler to a game with a complicated meta about maneuvering people into rolling near the table's edge.

Overall, I'd strongly recommend this. It's a satisfying engine. It's great for pick-up-and-play. And it's got a strong sense of character. It's genuinely fun.

(+3)

Thought I responded the other day. But thank you so much for the thoughtful considerate review!

(+1)

No worries! Thank you for writing the game!

Question to clarify: "It states to put +2 in one role or +1 in two Roles at the start." Example: Say I want to play a Sneaky character. I put the +2 in that Role. I am Level 1, so I choose Hide for my Ability. For defensive Combat you only add your Sneaky lvl. Where in the game would you use your +2 Role ? What benefits and where does the +2/+1 in Role come to play? Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

So anytime you are doing something related to that role you would add +X.
For sneaky it might be picking locks, sneaking through the shadows, or other items your abilities let you do, but without using the automatic success of a slot. 

For mystical this might be reading runes, or activating and uncontrollable magic object. 

For Holy this might be sensing and evil presence or preforming a religious ritual. 

Essentially the answer is "when it makes sense" but hopefully the explanation above is a bit more clear. 

Also if you put both points in Sneaky you would choose both Hide and another ability. Every point in a role gives you an ability. 

(+1)

Hello here!

can you please tell us if there's any major or minor differences between this product and the one on DriveThruRPG? I bought it a few weeks ago, so I don't know if this one will be updated or if the one on itch represents the future of "Down We Go" ;o)

(+3)

Hey! Great question

The core rules ($1) are what you got on DTRPG a few weeks ago. 
The ashcan version ($5) are the core rules plus both existing dungeons AND the new city generation rules with all new original art (about 12 pages total) 
The digital version ($12) gets you the ashcan now and the final digital version which will have even more content and be what goes to print eventually. 

This one is, as you put it, the future of Down We Go.

We are still talking about how we will be implementing it on DTRPG, but it will be a new product there either way. 

Please let me know if you have any additional questions