If you enjoy creating diverse characters, coming up with unique builds, playing in your own worlds or changing settings frequently, Setting Off! is the game for you!
As a setting-agnostic system, Setting Off! does not have a built in setting and can be used with a variety of genres. The game covers everything necessary for fantasy, sci-fi and horror games. This enables you to play in any existing world or create your own. Switching worlds or genres does not require any additional work!
All of the writing comes without prejudice and flavor, which allows you to add your own. For example, orcs or dark elves are not stigmatized as evil species - whether you want them to be or not depends entirely on you.
Setting Off! features skill-based character creation without races or classes. You can choose from over 50 Skill Trees with over 400 unique Skills. Each Skill Tree is tied to one of the eight Attributes and covers a specific theme, such as brawling, stealth, medicine, psionics, cooking or commerce. Skill Trees can be combined in any way to create a near endless number of characters.
Spellcasting is neatly integrated into the Skill Tree system, so that you can handpick which spells your character can cast. While each spell is a powerful tool, they take more time than physical attacks and rely on a limited resource called Essence.
In addition to Skills, you pick your character's Attributes and Origin Feature during character creation. Their Origin Feature is a unique ability that represents their ancestry and upbringing. Examples include being able to breathe underwater, glow in the dark or regenerate. When choosing your character's Origin Feature, you are not restricted by premade races, which allows you to pick whatever feature you deem the most important. You can even pick a penalty, which in turn gets you a second Origin Feature!
The game puts an equal focus on all areas of roleplay, whether exploration, conversation or combat. It covers a plethora of rules for any playstyle, including crafting, housing, romance, naval combat and more.
Furthermore, the core rules include optional rules and advice for each chapter, which provides you with the tools necessary to craft the ultimate adventure and customize it to your needs.
Setting Off! follows the philosophy as simple as possible and as complex as necessary. For example, player character have 8 Attributes, with another statistic tied to each Attribute. A player character's Health depends on their Vitality, their Speed depends on their Agility, and so on. That is all the statistics a player has to keep track of.
Layout by @lostwaysclub
Each dice roll is tied to one of the 8 Attributes and follows the same formula: using a D20-roll-under system, you roll a D20 and compare it to the related Attribute score. If the dice roll is below the Attribute score, you succeed. If it's equal or above the Attribute score, you fail. There is no ambiguity about what die to roll and whether you succeed or fail.
Encounters feel familiar and easy. Each character can take three actions on their turn, without any distinction between different types of actions. For example, a character could cast a spell, move and attack, or move three times, sprinting across the battlefield.
Layout by @lostwaysclub
I'm Tim Leiner, the creator behind Setting Off! I'm born in Luxemburg and currently live in Germany. I've been playing TTRPGs for over ten years, mostly as a game master for 5e. I've been dedicating myself to Setting Off! since early 2023. When I'm not balancing skills and creatures, I enjoy worldbuilding, gaming, traveling and art. My pronouns are he/they.
I'm joined by many talented freelancers, including:
Setting Off! Core Rules PDF - The core rules with everything necessary to play including game rules, character creation, game master advice, adventures and creatures on over 300 pages.
Setting Off! Archetypes PDF - Premade, illustrated characters that are ready for play, such as the Knight, Scout or Cook.
Setting Off! Character Sheet PDF - A variety of character sheets with fillable, printable, light and dark versions.
Setting Off! Core Rules Harcover - The core rules as a high quality hardcover with thread stitching and embossed cover. The hardcover has A4 dimensions (210mm in width and 297mm in height, or 8.27 inches in width and 11.69 inches in height).
Your Original Creature in the Book - Choose a creature to be included in the Setting Off! core rules. You are included in the process to design and illustrate it together with our team. The creature can be anything from a mythological beast to a named character. Offensive content is not allowed.
Your Name in the Credits - You will be credited in the book as "First Name, Last Name @handle" in the Special Thanks section.
8.000 EUR: Additional Adventure Once we reach 8.000 EUR funding, an additional adventure will be added as a PDF to any Digital Edition pledges and above. The genre of the adventure will be decided by a poll!
12.000 EUR: VTT Support Once we reach 12.000 EUR funding, we will ensure Foundry and Roll20 Support for Setting Off! This includes character sheet integration and automated rolls. Any programming done as part of this goal will be made open source, so our community can port Setting Off! to other platforms.
500 Followers: Free Sticker Visit our Instagram and help us grow! If we hit 500 followers during the Backerkit campaign, every Physical Edition pledge and above will get a free sticker, whose design will be decided by a poll!
10 Fanarts: Free Digital Artbook Create art of any of the characters below or of your own Setting Off! character, share it and tag us! An artbook featuring the submissions and official Setting Off! art will be added to any Digital Edition pledge and above.
From left to right: Samia, Gurdeep, Mathis and Cael. Art by @m_maf_f
Shipping will be charged separately after the campaign ends. Costs will reflect the actual rates at the time of shipping, and are subject to change. Estimated shipping rates:
European Union: 8 EUR or $9 UK & Switzerland: 10 EUR or $12 Rest of the World: 13 EUR or $15
If you'd like an estimated shipping cost for the size of your pledge, please contact us. We will do our best to ensure the most cost-effective and accurate shipping costs for all!
Our estimated timeline for delivery is Q3 2025 for digital products and Q1 2026 for physical products. We will keep you updated on our timeline after the campaign concludes.
