Harvest gives us laden orchards and barren fields; desperate fervour and doubts grown thick as weeds; calves born and pigs slaughtered; proud traditions, failing wealth, and hostile stares; juice-smeared lips and dirt under nails; and always the questions echoing down through the generations: “Whose blood must be spilled to feed the land?” and “Whose hand will hold the knife?” In Harvest, you play the residents of a remote island community stranded somewhere off the British coast. On the mainland, old traditions are assimilated into the Empire— languages crushed and folkways flattened under the Imperial heel. Trains chew through the countryside as industry marches grimly onwards. Yet here, separated from roaring combines and towering smokestacks by the fathomless sea, we survive unchanged. Our island is a sheltered paradise, cradled by the churning waters and blessed with potent soil and perfect weather. We live simple and contented lives off the fat of the land—the sea offers up teeming nets, the orchards fill our baskets in abundance, and our fields produce record yields, year after year. Life is good. And here the old rituals and stories still endure, stubborn and hardy, as full of stark beauty as the twisted willow. But this golden haven comes at a price—the island hungers, and demands that its generosity be repaid. There must be death to pay for life, hot blood soaking into the thirsty black soil, and no-one can know until the time comes whose blood will feed the land, and whose hand will hold the knife. Harvest is inspired by the folk horror genre, and iterates on the Belonging Outside Belonging system to go deeper into each character and the troubles that haunt them. Every role has a choice of Powers, the malicious forces that tug at them and offer them incredible strength at a monstrous cost. The choice of roles include: The Stranger, who just washed ashore. Their powers are The Crown, The Holy Church, or The University. The Young Blood, who stands on the precipice of adulthood. Their powers are The Storm Shepherd, Verdure, or The Sun King. The Old Name, whose family have ruled here for many years. Their powers are The Deathless Wyrm, Grandmother Oak, or Crooked Hence. The Dreamer, who hopes to run away from here. Their powers are The Undertow, The Barrow Queen, or The Wicker Ways. The Wise One, who cares for the old ways of the island. Their powers are The Stone In The Marsh, The Ravening Wolf, or The Skinless Mare. The Homecomer, who never thought they'd be here again. Their powers are The Fisher King, The Black Dog, or The Slate House. Much like in other Belonging Outside Belonging games, whenever one acts foolishly or destructively, they take a token from the island. They can return that token through a community move, or they can invest it into their power and access more of its magic, granting it further relevance in the story and advancing its agenda. Harvest follows a three act structure that slowly but inexorably pulls the players into a web of secrets and magic which ultimately results in the final choice: whose blood will fertilize the soil, and who will be holding the knife?
