DANGER CLOSE - Demo & Playtest

DANGER CLOSE is tactical military skirmish TTRPG for one or more players. It is designed to generate tense tactical decisions, stories of heroics, bravery and camaraderie, and perseverance against overwhelming forces.

• It is setting-agnostic, meaning you can use it to play battles, missions or entire campaigns in your setting of choice. 
• Want to fight a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? Interpret your squad as genetically identical brothers, fighting against clanking robots. 
• Want a skirmish in the grim darkness of the far future? Use DANGER CLOSE as the engine for a story of scrappy humans fighting against foul heretics - or flavor your squad as enhanced super soldiers, fighting against hulking green brutes.

DANGER CLOSE was made with the aim to replicate the dramatic vignettes that might occur in tabletop war games, without all the hassle, bookkeeping, investment and duration of said games. As the commander of a squad, you're constantly balancing risk and reward, pressure and pushback, resources and damage output.

It is inspired by media such as Warhammer 40k (The Imperial Guard), Halo (ODSTs), Star Wars (Clone Troopers), XCOM and Helldivers 2.

Curious for an example of play? Check out this blogpost!

Playtest

This playtest features a trimmed-down version of the core rules. Use these rules for a quick demo. Make a squad of 5 soldiers, and try a sample engagement with default gear against a Threat Level 2 opposing force. Flavor as desired; it can be in any setting you want.

After one or more sample sessions, you can fill out the Playtest Feedback Form. Anyone who fills out a (proper, informative) feedback form, will be sent a free copy of the final release.

Operation Trident

Given DANGER CLOSE's nature as a game of missions, victory and defeat, I have a special plan for the duration of the playtest: Operation Trident. Included within the files is a briefing for this military operation (once again, setting-agnostic; you can imagine it taking place in whatever setting you like!).

Feel free to try any of these 3 missions, as often as you'd like. When a mission is done (and has resulted in either failure or victory), submit your results in an After Action Report. Each mission, both wins and losses, contribute to the overall progress.

The current progress can be followed on the real-time dashboard. 

On Sunday, July 13th, I'll evaluate the current state of things, and the next stage of this campaign will be unlocked. I reserve the right to exclude After Action Reports that I believe to be fraudulent.

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I hope you enjoy the playtest and rules, and am eager to hear what you think of it so far!

For more updates, check out my blog, my Bluesky or pop by my Discord!