Shadows of the Northern Wood

Landing page for the Against the Darkmaster campaign.

Official 1.5 errata: link to Google Docs

The two main house rules are related to character generation and initiative.

I have color coded each section so you can easily determine if there will be a change or not:
 * green means done (the final decision has been made, the rule is ready to run)
 * yellow means soon (the core rule will change, but not all details are finalized yet)
 * red means input wanted (you are actively encouraged to speak your mind before the GM decides)

Of course, the ideal is for all sections to be green.

Character Creation
Rule Established


 * Character creation, neither Random Stat Roll nor Point Buy (page 16)

To summarize my intended chargen rule: you randomly roll to decide what stat array to use, and then get to choose where to start applying your given stat array.

Here is space for you players to remember details about your heroes:


 * Heroes
 * Fallen Heroes (Rest In Peace)

Initiative
Rule Established


 * Initiative, replaces the Tactical Round Sequence (page 182)

The basic idea is that you take two stats (=their bonuses) and divide by 5. To this you roll 1d10 to determine your initiative.

Combat Modifiers
In the core rules, Positional Bonuses (page 184) result in you being treated as having a weapon one step longer than normal. Also in the core rules, a relatively minor element (having a slightly longer blade than someone else) gives a rather large "initiative bonus" (=always attacking first, except when the Conflicting Actions rule result in you not attacking first after all)

In the default Initiative proposal, this is simply dropped. (I have listed weapon length initiative modifiers I'm open to using, if y'all really think they add to the game.)

Note that some cases give bonuses to attacks, or restrict defense, in vs Darkness. I have tried to not double up on these by also including initiative modifiers for these cases.

For a related subject: See Flanking and On Rear below.

Health and Healing
I will assume no objections to more generous Healing rules...

I have summarized the rules in a hopefully less disorganized manner.


 * Health and Healing

These rules also incorporate a number of small tweaks for playability reasons.

Other
I'm sure there will be a couple of minor tweaks as well...

Beast Attack Table and Beast Critical Table
No Change (Clarification)

The Beast Attack table (in conjunction with the Animal Attack Statistics Table) is used by foes who would have had "natural weapons" in D&D. For example, a wolf. Simple.

The Beast Critical Table, on the other hand, is used by you when you score a hit on a foe that is monstrous, fantastical, legendary, supernatural, unnatural and so on. Let's take an example:

Sir Galahad scores a good hit with his Longsword against a foe, getting a result of "18 Gri". If the foe is a human or a wolf or an Orc, he simply proceeds to roll on the Cut Critical Table as usual.

But if the foe is an Ænth Sir Galahad is basically whacking a tree. If the foe is a Kraken, its anatomy is very unfamiliar to him. If he's attacking a Skeleton, anatomy is replaced by dark energies. And if he's facing a Stone Guardian, sure it superficially resembles a humanoid in shape, but there is no blood, no nerves and no organs.

In all these four cases, Sir Galahad resolves his "18 Gri" on the Beast Critical Table no matter his weapon. It would be the same if he held an enchanted dagger or wielded a great hammer. Only Magic Attacks keep using their regular Crit Tables.

Dabblers
Rule Established

Generally it is better to be great at something than good at everything.

I'm considering giving the Dabbler class +1 Drive point (per session). Call it a hunch that the class deserves it...

Disengage and Run Away
Run Away (not an action): you can always simply move away from a foe (we drop the rule that says that you can't take movement actions while engaged). If he is capable of attacking you, he gets a free extra attack with the On Rear bonus (+30 to the attack; you cannot use a Shield). The attack uses his current CMB (i.e. minus any part he's using to Parry), so if your opponent spends all his CMB on Parry you're free to leave (per the rules that says that with a +0 attack or skill bonus, you don't get to roll the dice, the attack or skill simply doesn't happen)

Do note that a Stunned opponent is being unable to attack, and thus one of the best ways of escaping is to stun your opponent and then move away.

If you're Engaged by several foes, they all get a free attack.

Disengage (full action): this governs leaving a fight against a capable active opponent, which is much harder (assuming the enemy doesn't just let you leave). You need to dodge or duck out of the way, which is resolved as a Conflicting Action.

Make either an Athletics or an Acrobatics Skill Roll. Your opponent will oppose this using either an Athletics Skill Roll, an Acrobatics Skill Roll, or a Weapons Skill Roll (an attack roll). In the latter case, you may assume you are parrying to the full extent of your ability, and thus add your parrying and shield bonuses (but not Defense) to your Athletics or Acrobatics total.

NPCs and monsters choose Adventuring (instead of Athletics), Roguery (instead of Acrobatics) or an attack roll.


 * If you win, you may move up to your full Move Rate. This counts as a movement action.
 * If you lose, your foe does not allow you to disengage. You have spent your entire round desperately trying to leave without getting hit, and couldn't find an opening.
 * If you score a Critical Failure, you lose the Conflicting action and also fall Prone.
 * If your foe scores a Critical Failure, and you do not, you win the Conflicting action but nobody falls Prone.

If you're attempting to disengage from multiple opponents, you need to win against all of them. If even a single foe beats your Conflicting Action, your attempt to Disengage fails. Also remember that opponents using their Weapons Skill Roll might benefit from Flanking or even On Rear bonuses, and that your ability to parry against all of them is limited.

For completeness: there is a third movement action related to being engaged in combat, Reposition. Please see VsD/Flanking and On Rear.

Doomed Condition
Not Decided

A player whose character is about to die can choose to have him or her “Doomed”. This wondrously allows the character to act without penalties (existing injuries remain but somehow does not disadvantage the character; the character can still die from new wounds) for one last act. Their injuries are no longer healable by any means and the character will die after the next climactic act. The character is fully aware their time has come - the remaining question is: how heroic and noble will your death be? At low level, perhaps the doomed character can sacrifice themselves in place of an innocent villager. At high level, the character’s sacrifice could save an entire nation, and they could take a Wraith or even a Dragon with them in death!

After the character is dead, the normal Pass the Torch rules apply.

It is always voluntary to use this option; a player can always choose to have their character simply die, perhaps to focus on creating his or her replacement!

Drive points
Rule Established

The rules give out a bonus Drive point for randomly generating your Kin and Culture.

A single point of Drive is a minuscule benefit; I extend this to mean +1 Drive point every session.

As of this writing, you can gain a bonus Drive point from three sources:
 * choosing to randomly generate your Kin and Culture (page 46)
 * choosing to play a Dabbler (see above)
 * being "unlucky" during character generation (see Character creation)

However, you can only ever gain one extra Drive point per session. Playing an "unlucky" Dabbler with random Kin and Culture still only awards one point per session, not three.

Elves
No Change (Clarification)

No rule change, just a friendly reminder: If you choose any Elf Kin, you need to choose Bearing as one of your highest stats (if not the highest stat).

Encumbrance and Initiative
Rule Established

Reduced movement is almost unplayable in my opinion, so I will likely have Encumbrance (page 138) give penalties to Initiative instead of Move Rate. The idea is that carrying a lot during an adventure should be a nuisance, not a severe penalty that effectively says "Never fight while encumbered".

See the Initiative page for details.

Please note:


 * 1) Travel speed is still impacted, but speed during action sequences (=combat) is not.
 * 2) Encumbrance represents wear and strain from carrying a heavy load throughout the day. Just because you drop your baggage when a fight breaks out doesn't mean your fatigue disappears. Expect to have to take an hour's rest in order for your Encumbrance level to drop.

Experience points
Rule Established

We decided against tracking individual XP or using rulebook's XP system (page 106).

Instead the campaign uses the simple alternative: "everybody levels up when the GM tells us to; everybody is always the same level". 🙂

Flanking and On Rear
The game rules, and the nature of simplifying combat into taking turns, could be read to encourage silly behavior where characters always reposition themselves to the rear of foes, without said foes being able to turn towards their attackers.

This stops right here. Assume that characters always twist and turn in order to avoid taking extra damage. You can't claim Flanking or On Rear bonuses just by using your movement to move around a foe.

For details, see Flanking and On Rear

Group Stealth
If a party attempts to sneak past a guardian, or hide in ambush, this is handled as a group Stealth roll:


 * The least stealthy character makes a Stealth check, applying a -10 penalty for each other character involved (so no penalty if you are alone; -40 if four other people join you).
 * The other characters all Help the lead character. Each successful helping character effectively negates the -10 from their participation. Remember that you might be able to Help using a different skill than Stealth if you come up with a compelling and creative description of your actions.
 * The Stealth check is often resolved as a Conflicting Action. A "grouped" Stealth check would be opposed by a group Perception check. (That is, the lead character's Stealth is opposed by the lead guard's Perception; everybody else helping)
 * The Stealth check is normally Standard (+0) Difficulty but can be easier or harder. For instance, outdoors at a distance (+20) is much easier than indoors close by (-20). The sentries can be sleepy or intoxicated (+20), or stormy weather making noise (+20), makes the Stealth Roll easier.

If the group's Stealth fails, everybody in that group is detected. If you want to sneak and hide independently, so you aren't discovered just because the others are, simply ask to make your own individual Stealth check.

If you're concerned about your character's poor Stealth, and wish to stay so far behind that no Stealth Roll - or Help Roll - is required of you, you must generally stay 60 meters or more (two full rounds of sprinting for the average character) away from the action, and remain out of sight. Obviously circumstances could dictate a longer or shorter distance.

Milestones (Heroic Path)
Page 104 of the rulebook details how your Heroic Path works. Essentially, every 10 Drive Points spent unlock a Milestone, which gives you a choice between a number of "revelation" options, all permanent improvements of your character. To which I add one more option:
 * +5 increase to the Stat of your choice
 * +10 increase to Body Skill and +10 to your Kin maximum Hit Points
 * +3 Magic Points
 * improvement of Passion Item (see page 104)
 * new background option (Minor) or upgrading an existing Minor background option to Major. Exception: upgrading Shapechange (Minor) to Major costs two Milestones.

In all cases the player should reconsider their choice if the Games Master or the group voices any objections.

Magical Modifiers (Failure / Resonance)
Agreed upon

This applies to general rolls on the Spell Failures and Magical Resonance Roll Tables, replacing the "Spell Failures Modifiers" and "Magical Resonance Roll Modifiers" tables.

Go through the following list one step at a time; apply only the first applicable modifier: The modify this with any or all of the following:
 * 1) Is it a Dark Lore? +40
 * 2) Is the Spell Lore keyed to Wisdom? −20
 * 3) Is the Spell Lore keyed to Bearing or Wits? +10
 * Is it an attack spell? +20
 * Is the spell cast in a Safe Haven? −20
 * Is the spell cast in a Blighted Land? +20

Quickened Instantaneous Spells
Rule Established I think everybody agrees this sidebar (page 129) makes sense. One thing to discuss - the sidebar says:


 * Note that casting the Spell still costs a Half Action, so characters can make use of this option only if they haven’t already used all their actions in that round.

The only way you can both function as a Wizard (casting spells) AND still cast Slow Fall when needed, is to take both a full action and a half action the same round. So:

A) the rule "A character can never cast more than one Spell in a round," needs an exception, so that the character can still cast Slow Fall even if she just cast a spell in that round.

B) The caster needs to be allowed to act in every round with the -20 penalty for taking both a full and a half action in the same round. The half action is not actually taken, it's just there to be used when and if the need to cast your Slow Fall as an "interrupt", and wasted if you never do that.

In summary, I propose we allow a caster to voluntarily take a -20 penalty to their spellcasting in any round they want to retain the ability to cast, say Slow Fall as an "interrupt" when somebody pushes them off a cliff, even though they just cast a regular spell in that round.

This -20 represents taking a half action, but you don't use it, you save it. Either you're pushed off the cliff, and the half action is there for you to cast your Quickened Instantaneous Spell with. Or you're not, and the round ends with you not having used the half action and it's wasted.

Spellcasting Requirements
Not Used

The game rules requires you to be able to clearly speak (p129).

I suggest we add a requirement to have one hand and arm available to make gestures. Exception: instantaneous spells; marked with an asterisk(*). The hand doesn't have to be "free" - it can hold a wand or a shield, for instance.

Why? Because then I, the GM, don't feel compelled to have my villains cause lasting harm if they capture your hero Wizard. If I can simply tie up the spellcaster, I don't have to cut out their tongue or kill them. This allows the spellcaster to live to see another day, and possibly escape captivity down the line!

Instantaneous spells, spells marked with an asterisk(*), still require only you to be able to clearly speak.