ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Imagine being able to escape to a universe of fantasy and adventure without ever leaving the comfort of your home.
You can, thanks to the creation of a Roanoke, Virginia man.
Chris Corrigan is the owner of Houndsong Games. Relict is a role-playing game (RPG) system he has developed. It is similar to games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder but with one big difference. Relict allows you to create and play any character type that you can imagine.
“I should be able to point to a fantasy book or a superhero or any larger-than-life character and be able to tell you how to make that character in Relict,” said Corrigan.
So, say you wanted to play as your favorite comic book superhero or fantasy movie character, you can.
“I have a niece who is playing with us in a game right now who was like I really want to play as this character from Avatar, and we were like great, pick these two classes, and there you go,” Corrigan said. “She was like ‘Can I be a fairy also? I want wings.’ We were like yeah, absolutely, it is in the rules you can do that.”
Corrigan’s creation is due in part to his other passion. He also writes fantasy novels and is the creator of the Endmage Tattered Pawns book series.
“The big issue I had is that I could not make the characters I wrote about in the games that my wife and I like to play,” Corrigan said. “So, I started to tinker around with what would a system like that look like. It was a lot of fun to play with as a mental exercise. Just starting out it’s been really fun.”
As for cost, the game is free to play online at Relictrpg.com. While the system is free and you can use it that way, there are also game books, rule books, and accessories for sale.
“It is an open source, free tabletop role-playing game, similar to other RPG systems,” Corrigan emphasized. “So, if you’ve ever played Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder you’ll be right at home.”
Houndsong Games also offers design, art, and creative video services.