Defenders
Defenders is a role-playing game where players take arms against a terrible menace, threatening their families and lives, their villages and dreams. There are various types of characters - from the roaming warrior to the local druid, from the hired mercenary to the good villager, from the altruist rogue to the greedy wizard.
What bonds them all together is a location (they might live there or just happen to pass by), and the inevitable threat of a major menace, set to destroy and kill.

Think of…
… A small village in the woods, surrounded by wild wolves lead by a giant, white and monstrous wolf as tall as a men. The characters are the only ones who will stand up to defend the village.
… A little town built next to the sea, and of a giant covered of seashells and seaweed, emerging from the waves, marching on the beach, to the port and the boats, that are the most precious possession of every family in town. Imagine the characters as the only ones brave enough to take arms against the tribes of giants.
… A small encampment in the northern lands, hosting refugees from various villages, seeking shelter from the ongoing war; and imagine a gang of knights, lead by a corrupted cleric, marching nearby - filled by anger, hatred and greed. The characters are the only hope for the refugees to avoid a raid and the consequent violence and death.

Defenders is a game where the players work together against the menace, and against a “virtual GM”: everybody draws on a map to sketch out the location, plays the (roughly sketched) characters fighting against the incoming threat.
A deck of cards acts as the GM, and by drawing cards (bad) things happen.
The game is harsh, hard, evil; characters will die.
You play to find out if you can somehow stop the menace, and how many of you will make it out alive… somehow (and that’s why you can have several characters per player).

Setup
What do you need ?
In order to play you’ll need:
•	A few sheets where you’ll draw a map and take notes about the setting, the characters and the story
•	A deck of 52 cards
•	Some white and black six-sided dices
•	Pen and eraser
•	Some snacks, probably those that you would eat in front of an action movie, like Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters, Pacific Rim, or The Avengers

World building
Decide together in which setting you want to play. By default, you will protect a town in a medieval fantasy setting, and the characters will be knights, clercis, mages, and even rogues. But several other settings can be chosen instead of this one:
•	Will you defend a modern city attacked by several Kaijū with giants mechas?
•	Will you protect an industrial steam-punk town against the forces of Nature led by a werewolf druidess?
•	Will you patrol the Core Sectors of the Terran Consortium, facing vicious alien fleets?
•	Will you survive the zombie apocalypse in your refugee camp?
•	Will you, great superheroes or powerful mutants, fight back an alien invasion, trying to tear apart our reality?

Deck setup
Separate the red cards (these are the good cards) and the black cards (these are the bad cards).

First, shuffle the black cards and then create three stacks of seven cards, and put the extra cards in the last stack.

Now, shuffle the red cards. Remove from the game two cards, deal seven cards into the first and the second stack, give each player a card, and deal the rest of the cards into the last stack.

Finally, shuffle each stack. Each of these stacks will represent a period of the story, from the easier first signs of the conflict to the bitter end of the war. First, there is the Skirmishes, then the Main Battle, and finally, the Last Stand.

As you can see, the further into the conflict, the harsher the fights will become.

Map building
On a sheet of paper, draw the map of your town. You may also use an existing map, like an old town map, and draw on top of that.

It’s time to reveal each card drawn by the player. If it’s a Diamond, the card represents a Building. Describe it. Why is it important for the town? What’s special about it? The better the value, the stronger it should be.
If it’s a Heart, the card is a Hero. Name and describe this character. Again, the better, the stronger. Face cards should definitely be individuals, grand archmages or pious paladins, while number cards can be groups of people, like guards or an order of knights. In any case, what’s famous about them?
Place them on the map, drawing them and labeling them appropriately (a Jack of Diamonds should appear as J♦ for example).

Imagine and describe something or someone important, but at the very least worthy to be protected by the townsfolk; it will be the Treasure. Draw it also on the map.

Heroes should be placed on Buildings or on the Treasure. Only one Hero can stand at one location.
Using an online application with a board (like roll20), you can easily draw the map and use tokens to represent these elements.

Finally draw Links between all these elements, including the Treasure. The Treasure is linked to two Buildings; Buildings cards with a low value (1-5) have one link, high value cards (6-10) two, and face cards, three.

Play
During play, the players will first narrate Action scenes. Then, they will play one or several Interludes.
The turn order is always determined by the player names, by alphabetical order.

Action scenes
Actions scenes help mainly to draw things on the map, depending on what type of card you play. But horrible things will happen in the fiction too: during these scenes, tough fights are described, people are killed, buildings are destroyed.

At the beginning of the turn, each player draws two cards.

During the Skirmishes phase, they play only one card and the other card is put under the current stack.
During the Main Battle and the Last Stand phases, they have to play both of them, in whichever order they prefer.

Black cards. If it’s a Club, the card is a Catastrophe; if it’s a Spade, the card represents a Monster. Name and describe them, following the usual rule: the higher the card, the stronger and more dangerous it is.

When you play a Catastrophe, destroy immediately the better Building available, up to the Catastrophe card value. For example, the 10♣ will destroy up to the 10♦, but cannot target the J♦, the Q♦ or the K♦.
If there is no Building to destroy, you cannot play a Catastrophe. Put that card under the next stack or remove it from the game if you are in the Last Stand phase.
When a Building is destroyed, its Ruins remain though: there is still a spot that is linked between others elements, but it cannot be used anymore to link new Buildings. Ruins don’t give a bonus dice for the Hero or the Monster located on it.

When you play a Monster, place it on the map where the weakest Hero available is or on the weakest Building available if it cannot kill any Hero. Monsters don’t destroy Buildings.
If you cannot somehow place a Monster, put that card under the Last Stand stack of cards.
When a Monster is located on the same location as a Hero, a fight begins. To resolve it, you simply compare the values of each card: the Monster is killed if the Hero’s card value is superior or equal. Sometimes, Monsters and/or Heroes can roll bonus dices. Monsters can roll an additional black d6 (when they are standing on a Defence), and, if several Monsters are standing on the same spot or attacking the same spot, they sum their card values together. Heroes can roll additional white d6 when they sacrifice a Relative, when they sacrifice a Value, and when they are standing on a Defence.
At the beginning of the next turn, after the Interludes, move all the Monsters: make them advance toward the Treasure, using the links between the different locations. Monsters always choose the  most straightforward way possible to reach their goal. However, a Monster won’t advance if it has to attack a Hero whose card value is superior to the Monster’s card value. In that case, it won’t move. But beware, Monsters can team up and add their card values together to resume the fight.

Red cards. If the card is a Diamond, then it represents a Building; and if it’s a Heart, the card is a Hero. Again, you should name and describe them, and put them on the map with an appropriate label. Don’t forget to draw links between Buildings.
Also, if you play a Building, the next player cannot play a Hero card this turn.
If you play a Hero, the next player cannot play a red card this turn. Heroes can be placed on a Building (even Ruins), on the Treasure or on a Monster. Only one Hero can stand in a specific location.

Interlude scenes
When every player has played its card(s), it’s time to play some Interludes.

Interludes are scenes where the players typically narrate the aftermath of an attack, the destruction of some fortifications, and the heroic sacrifice of their characters. They can also describe what threats are still lurking into the town.

During the Skirmishes and the Main Battle phases, only one Interlude can be narrated. During the Final Stand, the amount of Interludes goes up to two. The players should collaboratively decide what they want to introduce into the scene.

The players can use that kind of scenes to narrate two advantages:
•	First, they can narrate how a Building is a Defence. Maybe it has become fortified or maybe some magical defences are added, anyway, now it provides a defensive bonus to whoever stands on this Building, gaining a bonus dice when they roll during a fight. The bonus remains for the Monster or the Hero while they stand here. The bonus dice is lost when the Building is destroyed and lays in ruins.
•	Also, they could use Interludes to show something meaningful about one alive Hero. Maybe something that a Hero holds dear, like a lover, children, relatives, friends or maybe even something more philosophical like a belief, its honor or a dream. Even if they have the same effect (each adds a bonus dice during fights), because each Hero can have one (and only one) of each, Relatives and Values are separated. During a fight against a Monster, the players can decide to sacrifice a Hero’s Relative or Value to give him a white bonus dice for this turn. The bonus dice doesn’t long after this turn. The Hero cannot replace what it has sacrificed, meaning if he sacrificed a Relative, he cannot gain another Relative during an Interlude scene, and if he sacrificed a Value, he cannot gain another Value during an Interlude scene.

A good example is to introduce the family of a Hero during an Interlude, his wife and kids maybe, and then, during the Action scene, when engaged in a fight, to explain that the Hero can see his family butchered by some wandering monsters, thus entering a violent rage and becoming a herald of death among its enemies. In game terms, the Hero gains an additional white d6 to roll this turn and its result is added to the value of the Hero card when compared to the Monster card value.

Ending the game
You lose if a Monster stands on the Treasure for one turn.
Otherwise, when all the cards have been played and all the Monsters are either killed or immobile (because they are facing a stronger Hero), you win.

Framing the story
There is no single GM, everybody at the table participates in describing what happens, what the menace does, and so on.
While discussing and narrating as the GM, all together, remember the following:
•	The setting design phase is collaborative.
•	The menace has a drive; always look first of all for a chance to pursue the menace target, which is primarily to find the Treasure and secondarily to kill Heroes. Monsters always advance in the most straightforward way possible.
•	While the menace has a drive, it also brings havoc and death on its path. To grab two children, it would kill four adults and wound twice as many, and destroy, destroy! Describe horrible stuff happening to NPCs and to the setting
•	When you are playing a card, describe what it is that you bring into the world, use it to fill the world with details.
•	Reflect changes on the map. Also, the map reflects changes.
•	While the Heroes are fighting with Monsters, describe their fight. When you are using a Value, when they are sacrificing something, explain what it is and why it is such a loss for them.
•	Care sincerely for the characters you just have created. Give them names and personality, even roughly sketched. Hope for them to survive. And give them reasons to live.

Sorry, man…