Hurled into Eternity: Two Decades in the Saddle
“Some games are written. Others are survived.”
ride a trend. This game has been riding shotgun in my mind for over two decades—long before terms like “narrative-forward” or “OSR” became popular buzzwords. In truth, it was born as a game I never released called Quest in late 1996
It began with fragments. Scrawled notes in the margins of notebooks. Faded maps of ghost towns that never existed. Mechanics scribbled out, rewritten, then scribbled out again. The feel was always clear though—gritty, grim, and unapologetically unforgiving. A Wild West where death ain’t just possible; it’s likely. But if you go out, you’ll go out legendary.
And now, after twenty years of iteration, evolution, and hard-earned grit, Hurled into Eternity is finally approaching the printing press.
Aiming for 2026: The Release
We’re looking at a tentative launch in Q2 or Q3 of 2026—a full-color, hardcover edition worthy of the legends it’ll carry. This won’t be a flimsy pamphlet or a bare bones beta. This is the real deal. A full core rule book steeped in sweat, smoke, and blood.
Expect more announcements leading into a proper crowdfunding campaign. I won’t rush it—but I will finish it.
In the meantime, the rules for play-testing can be found here: Hurled into Eternity Alpha Rules
What Hurled into Eternity Feels Like
This ain’t a game about balance. It's a game about reckoning.
You don’t play heroes—you play drifters, gunfighters, soiled doves, and outlaws. Folks clawing for survival, redemption, or one last score. The tone is dark, mythic, and soaked in the kind of hard choices frontier life demanded.
The world has a pulse. Every town has its own laws, its own secrets, and its own hangman. Every trail hides both gold and ghosts. You’ll meet legends—some living, some not. And if you last long enough, maybe you’ll become one.
Mechanics on the Edge
At its core, the game runs on the Wild Card System—a playing card–based mechanic that trades in tension, randomness, and fate. Combat is resolved through card draws, where suits determine severity and Jokers can spell miracles or doom.
Forget initiative—gunfights run on High Noon rules, where the first to flinch might be the first to fall. Skills are grouped into thematic callings (Military, Urban, Rural, Wilderness), with Talents drawn from the deck itself—fate choosing your gifts as much as you do.
Your drifter doesn’t level up like a power fantasy—they claw their way through scars, legends and fortune earned by blood.
There are critical wounds, misfires, brawls and balloon fights, and plunges into the Weird—a realm of spiritual horror and ghost story made real.
A World Rebuilt
Set in a quasi-legendary Wyoming Territory, the world of Hurled into Eternity takes real frontier history and folds it through myth, folklore, and tragedy. Towns like Redstone, Whiskey Gulch, and Crow Ridge exist between fading maps and whispered tales. The railroad doesn’t just bring progress—it brings change, and not always the kind folks want.
There are factions, bounty boards, twisted cults, and fallen lands. If you’re looking for a cinematic frontier where grit matters more than gear, you’ve found your table.
More soon.
Keep one eye on the blog and the others on the horizon. The saddle’s been empty a long time, but not much longer.
—Mark Harter, Creator of Hurled into Eternity
