Rafales – Role-Playing Game in a World Battling the Wind
Cross. Resist. Tell the tale. Begin again.
Rafales is a narrative role-playing game that immerses you in a collective odyssey through a world swept by merciless winds. Loosely inspired by the cult novel The Horde of the Counterwind by Alain Damasio, Rafales is not an adaptation but a radical and poetic reinvention through play.
You play as a Horde: a group of individuals shaped by a single mission — to journey to the Farthest-Upstream, the mythical and unknown origin of the Wind.
What You’ll Experience
- A shared storytelling experience, without a game master, shaped by the collective and by chance.
- Distinct Hordier roles (Tracer, Aeromaster, Scribe, etc.), each with unique mechanics.
- An emergent map, built step by step, populated with strangeness and wind-borne peoples.
A Unique and Organic System
- Structured improvisation inspired by PBTA and Forged in the Dark systems.
- Narrative rogue-like: each Horde is an attempt; each failure enriches the next.
- Dynamic wind: at every stage, it shapes the stakes and influences the story.
Game Content
- A 137-page full-color core book
A Richly Illustrated Universe
With dozens of original illustrations by Gabriel Amalric, Zariel, and Emmanuel Weill, Rafales offers a powerful imaginary realm, blending science fiction, myth, and graphic poetry.
Your Role in the Horde
Each role (Scout, Birdmaster, Prince...) influences the narrative and decisions. The Horde moves forward together — or falls together.
A World to Explore, a Wind to Understand
The Fréoles, Obliques, Sheltered… are all peoples shaped by the Wind. And the winds themselves — Zéfirine, Furvent, Crivetz — are more than elements: they are unique scenes to build.
Rafales is for you if…
- You enjoy collective and improvised storytelling
- You seek an intense, poetic, and demanding game experience
- You want to tell stories, lose, pass them on… and begin again
A final word: don’t hope to “win” in Rafales. Hope to move forward, together. Hope to tell the tale for those who come after. And above all, hope to begin again.
