# Horse Wizards A comedy TTRPG where every player is a horse who is secretly a wizard. Built on Lasers & Feelings, it uses one Number for Horse and Wizard, turns successful horse stunts into Gallop that powers bigger magic, and makes every miracle a cover-up problem as human Suspicion rises. ## At a Glance Comedy secret-magic one-shot • Lasers & Feelings hack: one Number, 1-4d6 • 3-6 players incl. Stablemaster • 2-4 hour episodes • Free 12-page preview • $15 PDF on itch.io ## Why It Fits Pick Horse Wizards when your group wants a funny, low-prep one-shot with a hook everyone gets instantly and a real puzzle underneath: solve an impossible problem as horses, then leave the humans a believable explanation. It suits Lasers & Feelings and Honey Heist fans who want a little more structure (Gallop, Suspicion, ready episodes), not groups wanting tactics, crunchy builds or a proven, widely reviewed game. ## Fit Facts - Players: 3-6 players + Stablemaster - Session length: 120-240 minutes - Prep: Low - Price: Paid ## Facets - Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Modern - Mechanics: Narrative-Driven, Rules Lite - Decision tags: Low Prep, One-Shot Friendly ## Scores - Complexity: 1/5 - New GM Fit: 4/5 - Roleplay Focus: 4/5 - Combat Focus: 1/5 - Tactical Depth: 1/5 - Campaign Depth: 2/5 ## Best For - Groups who want a funny one-shot or convention game with an instantly pitchable premise - Lasers & Feelings or Honey Heist fans who want ready episodes, generators and a cover-up layer - Tables that enjoy creative problem-solving more than combat ## Avoid If - You want tactical combat, crunchy character builds or long-term advancement - You only buy games with an established review track record - You already own several Lasers & Feelings hacks and want a new engine, not a new premise ## Explorer Notes Horse Wizards is a comedy TTRPG in which every player is a horse who is secretly a wizard. The herd quietly repairs breaks in reality around a stable, a show ring or a trail, and the humans must never find out. It is best for groups who want a funny one-shot or a short series with a strong hook, tiny rules and a real problem-solving puzzle: fix the impossible thing, then leave the humans a believable explanation. It suits fans of Lasers & Feelings and Honey Heist who want a bit more structure than a one-page game. It is not for tables that want tactical combat, deep character builds or a long, self-driving campaign. It is also a very new indie release. It came out on itch.io in September 2026 and has no independent reviews yet, so the guidance below comes from the official product page, the free preview and the designer's notes, not from a body of play reports. ## What the game is Horse Wizards is designed and written by Edward Carpenter and published by [Lantern & Lever Studios](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG), a small indie studio on itch.io. It is a complete game for three to six players, one of whom is the Stablemaster (the GM). Episodes run two to four hours and need only a handful of six-sided dice. No setting prep is needed, because the setting is the ordinary world of riders, grooms, vets, children and people with phones. The premise is set by the First Law: horses are wizards, and humans must never know. Each episode starts with recognizable horse trouble, such as a show day, a vet visit, a delayed trailer or a storm. Underneath it sits an impossible breach, such as a ghost race, a door into yesterday, weather that remembers an oath, or a path that always leads back to one paddock. The horses have to solve both, as horses. ## Publication history and editions Lantern & Lever released Horse Wizards on itch.io in early September 2026 as an "Expanded Edition" PDF with a separate printable-aids PDF. A free 12-page preview followed in mid-September, announced in a [community-submitted press release on Rascal](https://www.rascal.news/lantern-lever-adds-free-previews-for-three-complete-indie-rpgs/) alongside previews for the studio's Vampire Heist and Daisy, Daisy. The game is built on John Harper's [Lasers & Feelings](/item/lasers-and-feelings), which is released under CC BY 4.0, and the book credits it. There is no print edition and no second edition so far. ## What you need to play - Horse Wizards: Expanded Edition PDF ([itch.io](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG), $15 minimum when checked on October 31, 2026), laid out for US Letter printing. - Printable aids PDF, which comes with the purchase. - Free 12-page preview on the same page. It has the premise, character creation, the core roll, Gallop, Suspicion, one complete episode (The Show Ring Storm), a worked example of play and a one-page reference. - One to four d6 per player and something to track Gallop and Suspicion. The game is also sold in Lantern & Lever's One Number, Three Worlds bundle with Magical Adults and Vampire Heist, two other games built on Lasers & Feelings, and in the studio's Complete Lantern & Lever Library bundle. ## Included episodes and tools According to the product page, the full edition has three ready-to-play episodes, a domain generator, a stable generator, worked examples, guidance for longer play, alternate modes, accessibility guidance and a one-page field reference. The preview shows the first episode, The Show Ring Storm. During a county show, every completed dressage pattern summons the next hour's weather inside the arena. Six camera angles cover the arena, a junior rider refuses to give up her first final, and a weather being called the Storm Foal thinks the pattern is an invitation. The episode is laid out as pressures, people and optional beats rather than a fixed plot, and it ends with questions the table answers together. ## Core rules and play structure Each horse has one Number from 2 to 5. A high Number favors the Horse side and a low one favors the Wizard side. To act, roll one d6, plus one die for a specific preparation set up before the roll, one for a defining fact or magical Domain, and one for help, up to four dice. - Horse actions (strength, speed, senses, stubbornness, biting, kicking, escaping, and anything a human might believe) succeed on dice under your Number. - Wizard actions (storms, ghosts, doors, memory, prophecy, bargaining with reality) succeed on dice over it. - A die that lands exactly on your Number succeeds, and you also get to ask one useful question. This is the game's version of Lasers & Feelings' signature roll. - Count successes: 0 is a disaster, 1 is a success at a cost, 2 is clean, and 3 or more is brilliant with an extra benefit. An episode follows a six-step "secret rhythm": ordinary trouble, the wrong thing underneath, getting loose from human supervision, building Gallop, working a Wonder, and leaving a Cover. ## Characters Character creation is short. You choose a name, a look, an exceptional physical trait, a stubborn habit, a favorite human and that human's current problem. Then you pick a magical Domain (storms, ghosts, doors, memory, plants, dreams, luck, shadows, time or your own idea) and a tell that hints at your magic. Bond questions tie each horse to its neighbors at the table. A Cover answer says how the humans explain your suspiciously clever behavior. Keepers, the human relationship each horse protects, give the comedy something warm to defend. Between episodes, a horse marks at most one Growth and changes one human relationship. ## Signature mechanics - Gallop. A successful Horse action that really changes position earns the herd 1 shared Gallop, up to a maximum of 2. Before a Wizard roll, you declare how much you spend: 0 for a Cantrip (one target or a brief effect), 1 for a Spell (a room, group, building or scene), or 2 for a Wonder (a neighbourhood, a landmark or an impossible transformation). Spent Gallop is gone even if the roll fails, so the physical horse comedy powers the magic and is not just a warm-up. - Evidence and Suspicion. Every miracle creates a second problem: what did the humans see, and what will they believe? Suspicion runs from 0 to 6. Bigger magic makes the ordinary explanation harder. - Disclosure Crisis. At Suspicion 6 the table stops adding Suspicion, a routine cover-up no longer works, and play switches to a dedicated Disclosure Crisis procedure. - The Cover. Each episode ends with the herd leaving the humans a kind, plausible explanation, ideally one that protects people such as the junior rider's achievement. ## What play feels like Play swings between slapstick and caper planning. Scenes start with the horses stuck in human routines, such as being tacked up, stabled or led around, and needing to get loose without causing a scene. Players then chain physical stunts, like shouldering a gate open or starting a "believable" traffic jam of horses, to bank Gallop before spending it on magic sized to the problem. The worked example in the preview shows the intended habit: use a Spell when a Wonder would leave too much evidence. The jokes come from the premise, and the cover-up gives each scene a clear second goal. ## Running the game Stablemaster prep is light. You need a place, a source of human pressure, a magical breach and an evidence clock, but you are told not to prepare a solution. The guidance on escalation is concrete: split the herd, put humans in the way, make speed dangerous, let evidence pile up, or give the breach a reasonable want. The three included episodes and two generators help new Stablemasters. Even so, the game works best with a GM who is comfortable improvising and judging whether a stunt really changed the horses' position. ## Campaign fit Each episode stands alone, which makes Horse Wizards a strong one-shot or convention game. The full edition supports a short series: Suspicion and unresolved Evidence carry over, Growth is capped at one mark per episode, and Domains gain local legends. Like most Lasers & Feelings games, it has little long-term advancement, so expect a handful of episodes rather than a long campaign. ## Reception As of October 31, 2026, Horse Wizards has no customer ratings or comments on itch.io, no listing on DriveThruRPG, and no independent reviews that we could find. The only press is the studio's own release on Rascal and its own design notes on itch.io. No awards are claimed. The itch.io page says no generative AI was used. Treat this page as a description of the game's design, not as a summary of what players think of it. ## Where it is strongest - An instantly pitchable premise that gets a table laughing and engaged in one sentence. - Gallop ties the physical horse comedy directly to the magic, so both halves of the character matter. - The cover-up gives every scene a second, more interesting problem than "solve the monster". - Low prep and fast character creation, with ready episodes and generators included. - Built-in safety prompts for animal harm, captivity, racing, breeding and vet scenes. ## Where it can frustrate groups - It has no track record yet: no independent reviews, actual plays or community support. - The core is a Lasers & Feelings hack, so groups who already own several will recognize most of the engine. - It is PDF only, and $15 is a high price for a light rules engine compared with free one-page games. - The gentle comedy and slight long-term structure won't hold groups who want danger or a long campaign. ## Content and safety notes The tone is light. The book suggests setting lines and veils around animal harm, captivity, racing, breeding and veterinary scenes, all of which can come up naturally in a stable setting. The Disclosure Crisis puts the secret itself at stake, but the game does not lean on horror or violence. ## Best starting path Download the free preview from the [Horse Wizards itch.io page](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG) and run The Show Ring Storm as a one-shot. It contains everything needed for one session. If the table enjoys it, buy the Expanded Edition for the other two episodes, the generators and the rules for longer play. Groups who like the shared engine can compare the One Number, Three Worlds bundle with buying the games one at a time. ## Research notes Last checked October 31, 2026. Facts come from the publisher's product page and the free preview. We found no independent reviews. - [Horse Wizards on itch.io](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG): price, files, tags, player count, contents, and the no-generative-AI statement. - The Horse Wizards free 12-page preview (Field Edition and Expanded Field Notes excerpts), which covers rules, character creation, the episode and the credits. - ["Why the Players Are Horses, Not Human Wizards"](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards/devlog/1656138/why-the-players-are-horses-not-human-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG), the designer's devlog. - [Rascal: Lantern & Lever Adds Free Previews](https://www.rascal.news/lantern-lever-adds-free-previews-for-three-complete-indie-rpgs/), a community-submitted press release dated September 14, 2026. - [Lantern & Lever Studios on itch.io](https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG), the studio catalog and bundles. - Lasers & Feelings by John Harper (CC BY 4.0), the base system credited in the book. ## Links - Explorer page: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/item/horse-wizards - Agent JSON: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/api/games/horse-wizards.json - Publisher or official site: https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG - Reviews or retailer page: https://lantern-and-lever.itch.io/horse-wizards?ac=YUqaLN4pVvG