Designed for solo play
Ordered phases and clear NPC behavior let one player run a small team and its opposition without pretending to be two competing players.
Welcome to Potham
Potham Chronicles is a modular, miniatures-agnostic tabletop game built for fast solo and cooperative battles. Create a small cast of Characters, choose the mods that reshape Potham, and put the miniatures and terrain already on your shelves into play.
What is RUSS?
RUSS (Russellmania UniversALL Skirmish Engine) began as a conversion of The Walking Dead: All Out War. That game's compact movement, opposed dice, rising danger, and cinematic survivor combat provided the starting point for a system that was simply fun to put on the table.
Over time, the conversion became its own rules engine. Terminology changed, Character creation expanded, combat and conditions were standardized, RPG traits were added, and digital tools grew alongside the rules. The goal is no longer to reproduce one zombie game. It is to keep the immediacy that inspired RUSS while making the engine useful across many settings.
Potham Chronicles is not a box of official miniatures waiting to be bought. It is a reason to use the miniatures, dice, terrain, and ideas you already own.
The core engine
Core RUSS supplies the common language. Mods add their own flavor without rebuilding the game from scratch.
Ordered phases and clear NPC behavior let one player run a small team and its opposition without pretending to be two competing players.
Opposed attack and defense dice resolve quickly, while positioning, equipment, conditions, and special rules keep the decisions meaningful and the results dramatic.
The Danger level changes the pressure on the table. Events, enemies, and abilities can respond as a quiet mission becomes a crisis.
The turn structure keeps play moving. You are not constantly stopping to roll, compare, or recheck initiative before deciding who acts next.
Brains, Strong, Nimble, and Willpower give scenarios hooks for investigation, physical challenges, stealth, resistance, and interaction.
Print the cards, use your own components, roll physical dice, or use the online dice tools and Gameplay Dashboard to track cards, loadouts, conditions, and the action.
Worlds in orbit
RUSS provides the shared game engine, while mods act as optional realities that reshape Potham with new themes and mechanics.
A mod can add NPC types, equipment, events, conditions, special rules, card styles, and turn-order details. Gameworld mods are designed to remain compatible: activate only one, or let worlds collide. Want to fight Zombos and Xenomorphs at the same time? The shared core is built to support it.
The first major RUSS mod carries its Walking Dead ancestry forward with Zombos, swarms, infection, noise, and escalating survival pressure.
Close-quarters survival in the depths of space, with Xenomorph enemies and new science-fiction equipment, events, and mission pressures.
From shelf to table
Start with core RUSS and activate the mods appropriate to the mission.
Create Characters, NPCs, equipment, supplies, and loadouts using the RUSS tools.
Use any suitable miniatures and terrain. A compact play area keeps movement and decisions immediate.
Follow the turn structure, resolve objectives, and let the Danger level and active mods shape what happens next.
RUSS digital workbench
Use printable cards and your own components, or open the Tools portal for card creation, dice mechanics, trackers, loadouts, and the Gameplay Dashboard.