Shadow Vale: The System

As mentioned previously, a setting I’ve been musing on seems to cry out for a custom system. While I’m Cepheus Atom as a primary inspiration, I’m also adopting bits of of AFF2 and other systems as needed.

Many rules are To Be Determined at this point, but here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

Note: This system uses only six-sided dice, abbreviated D.

The Setting, In Brief

The “Shadow Vale” is a barren, brutal wasteland situated between the seemingly idyllic Supernal Realm¹ and the prison pit known as the Infernal Realm². Collectively Shadow Vale and the Realms are (for now) called “Otherworld”. The world more closely fits the “sword and sorcery” genre than high fantasy. Think Mad Max meets Norse Nidhvellir meets D&D’s Dark Sun.

Most of the sapient denizens of the Shadow Vale are of “The Folk”, extremely hardy and possibly semi-divine beings who can die by violence but not old age, disease, or even privation. All of The Folk have innate “magical” powers (see below), but normally don’t use “spells” as such.

PCs would probably start in the Shadow Vale struggling to survive monsters, mysterious ruins, and their similarly desperate peers. They might eventually venture into the Supernal Realm or, if they’re very unlucky, the Infernal Realm. Jaunts to mortal worlds might provide a change of pace in long campaigns, but Otherworlders regard bullet wounds the way mortals regard splinters³ so ultimately mortals wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

Characters

Attributes

The primary top-level characteristics are as follows:

HEALTH

(points) A single pool of points whittled away by physical trauma, fatigue, and use of magic.

FATE

(difficulty) The inverse of AFF’s LUCK score. Only PCs have FATE.

NUMEN

(modifier) A measure of a character’s spiritual power, described under Magic, below.

The method for determining HEALTH and FATE is to be determined, but I’m leaning toward random generation. Starting HEALTH is at least 20, starting FATE around 7, and starting NUMEN is between 1 and 3.

Skills

Here I’ll borrow from Cepheus Atom and define a few orthogonal skills, e.g.

• Crafting: repairing equipment, making things
• Fighting: close combat, agility
• Hunting: stealth, survival, tracking
• Influencing: social skills, contacts, persuasiveness
• Learning: basic education, geography, history
• Sensing: using one’s senses, ranged combat

Splitting ranged combat from other combat means that one can specialize as a brawler or a sniper but not both.

In addition, PCs may gain unranked Specialties which grant a +2 bonus. For example, someone Specialized in Swords fighting with a sword would gain +2 to their Fighting skill. A Specialty may also reflect specialized knowledge, e.g. a Specialty in Botany to reflect knowledge of plants.

Equipment

Player characters start with some basic survival equipment, a weapon of their choice, a shield or light armor, and some amount of currency based on useful metals rather than gold or silver.

PCs will need limits on how much they can carry. I’m thinking something like 10 or 12 items before Encumbrance rules kick in. A backpack might make carrying easier but accessing harder. Small items like coins and ammunition might count as a single item, while armor might count for two or three slots. The type of item may matter, e.g. one slot may be able to hold:

• one medium or heavy weapon
• 100(?) coins
• 20(?) vials of Elixir
• 5(?) units of Food
• 3 light weapons
• 20 arrows
• 1 unit of Raw Trade Goods

In Earth terms, Shadow Vale technology lies somewhere in the Iron Age with some inevitable anachronisms.

Weapons

When a weapon hits its target, the attacker rolls for damage. The specifics of damage rolls are yet to be determined, but I’m thinking that standard damage is one die plus a bonus for the weapon, e.g.

• +0 for barehanded
• +1 for a short blade, club, or staff
• +2 for an average one-handed weapon
• +3 for an average two-handed weapon

Most weapons are close combat / “melee” weapons. Arrows and thrown weapons aren’t as effective because The Folk and their opponents don’t bleed or take critical damage like Earth creatures do. Right now I’m thinking that, when rolling most ranged weapon damage, roll two dice and take the smaller value. This may be offset by the base damage from a longbow, crossbow, or arbalest.

Shields

Against ranged attacks an “average” shield adds +2 to the Difficulty. A “tower shield” would add +3 to Difficulty, while a buckler would grant no bonus.

A shield of any size grants a +2 bonus to Fighting checks. Note that close combat is an Opposed Check, so if both parties have a shield the bonuses may cancel out.

Armor

Armor absorbs damage points, rather than deflecting hits as in That Other Game. Shadow Vale armor tends to be a hodgepodge of metal plates and padding, so the wearer must roll a die after each hit to determine how much damage the armor actually absorbs.⁴ Armor also imposes a penalty on Fighting checks, although a Specialty with Armor can compensate. We’ll rate the “completeness” of armor as follows:

(Yes, it would be simpler to have armor absorb a constant number of hits from 1 to 3, and make that also the Penalty value, but unless players absolutely rebel I’d like to try this.)

Other Equipment

Most equipment assists in a skill roll or otherwise enhances abilities. At some point I will have to enumerate some examples, but for now assume equipment grants a +1 to +2 bonus.

Materials (Optional Rule)

One feature I may add is that weapon quality and damage depends on the materials:

1. Natural materials like wood, hide, bone, and stone are easy to craft but yield inferior weapons and armor.
2. Redmetal a.k.a. Otherworld bronze is a common metal for utensils. Unlike its Earth counterpart it’s often found as veins of usable metal. Like Earth bronze, though, it makes usable but inferior arms and armor.
3. Graymetal a.k.a. Otherworld steel requires a long refining and forging process, but results in durable and resilient weapons and armor. It’s the default for all hand weapons, arrow heads, and armor.
4. Darkmetal, a black metal that catches the light eerily, originally comes from the Infernal realm. While no stronger than Graymetal, it deals damage that doesn’t heal normally to all corporeal Otherworlders including Paragons. It also interferes with Magic. Powdered Darkmetal is an insideous poison that requires special treatments to purge. For that reason it’s banned in the Supernal Realm and shunned in Shadow Vale.
5. Skymetal, a rare bluish-white metal that glows faintly, comes only from the Supernal Realm. It can cleave or shatter Graymetal, not to mention Otherworld flesh and bone, but it’s also far denser; a Skymetal dagger is as heavy as a Graymetal longsword. It’s the only other thing besides Darkmetal that can harm a Paragon, and for that reason the Supernal Realm registers each weapon or piece of armor forged.

Generally, armor from a higher-ranked material blunts or breaks weapons from lower-ranked materials, and vice versa. I’m thinking that every time a weapon pierces superior armor or armor is pierced by a superior weapon the inferior weapon or armor loses a point of armor or damage bonus. The choice of material also caps a weapon’s damage bonus or armor’s maximum damage absorbed.⁵

As noted above, these materials double as currency. Graymetal coins are the default currency⁶; Redmetal slugs are equivalent to “copper pieces” in other games.

Experience

How (or whether) characters gain and use experiece points, depends on whether this game ends up as a serious campaign-oriented RPG, a beer-and-pretzels single evening break, or something in between.

For now, assume each adventure nets 1-4 experience points (XP). Players can spend them as follows:

• Increase HEALTH: 1 XP.
• Raise a Skill: The new level of the skill in XP. E.g. Going from 0 to 1 costs 1 XP; 2 to 3 costs 3 XP.
• Gain a Specialty: 3 XP.
• Increase NUMEN: Twice the cost of raising a Skill to the same level.

FATE increases or decreases as it it used; see below.

Rolling Dice

Players and GMs roll dice in the following circumstances:

1. A Skill Check to determine the success of their character’s action.
2. A Surprise Check to notice a sudden and unwelcome change in circumstance moments before it happens.
3. A Fate Check to avoid a wholly random negative consequence. NPCs cannot perform Fate Checks; they automatically fail.
4. In Combat a Damage Roll determines damage done by a weapon, and an Armor Roll determines how much damage armor absorbs.

Players do NOT roll dice in the following circumstances:

• When searching an area, the GM will allow the player to find “secret doors” and the like if they specify how and how thoroughly they’re searching.
• When examining an object, the GM simply tells the player what their character sees. A Specialty (see above) may give the player more information.
• When poisoned by the few things that can affect the Folk, the player simply loses HEALTH or some other consequence.

GMs roll for NPCs in similar circumstances, although some rules under consideration may reduce the amount of die rolling the GM does.

Skill Checks

For now, we’ll assume skill tests use 2D + Skill Rank + modifiers vs. a GM-defined difficulty level like Cepheus. Skill tests may be unopposed, against a fixed difficulty number, or opposed, against another character’s dice roll. A 2 on the dice always fails; a 12 on the dice always succeeds.

Surprise Checks

Surprise checks work just like Skill Checks, above. They happen only if the character is about to be surprised by an ambush, trap, or other sudden event, but has a brief window to spot the trap before it’s sprung.

Surprise checks usually use Fighting. The GM may allow a Sensing check to spot a sniper, Hunting to avoid an animal lying in wait, or even Influencing to warn the player of an impending faux pas.

Fate Checks

When misfortune strikes a PC, the GM may allow the player to make a Fate Check. The player increases their FATE by one then rolls 2 dice. Rolling above FATE means misfortune is averted. Rolling at or below FATE means misfortune strikes. Nothing modifies a FATE roll; it’s pure luck.

For example, a PC steps onto a concealed pit trap, either because of a failed Skill Check or failing to even look. The GM offers the player a Fate Check. If the Fate Check succeeds, the GM rules the PC grabbed onto the edge of the pit; if it fails, the PC falls onto the spikes below.

In my current pre-alpha draft, FATE only decreases when one “Accepts Fate”, i.e. pass up a chance for a Fate Check.

Combat

Combat proceeds in rounds, during which all attacks are considered more or less simultaneous. To this end, each combat round progresses in the following phases:

1. Statement of Intent: The GM declares what NPCs appear to be doing. Each player then states what their character is doing, in any order (e.g. clockwise around the table). If necessary the GM and players may write their intentions secretly, then reveal simultaneously.

2. Ranged Attacks: Each character making a ranged attack makes an Unopposed Sensing roll to hit their target. The difficulty is based on distance, visibility, target’s speed, etc. The GM and players should note which attacks succeeded.

3. Melee Combat: All characters attacking with a weapon at close range (e.g. swords, spears, etc.) pick a target and make an Opposed Fighting check against their target’s corresponding Fighting roll. The one with the higher score hits; if tied, neither takes damage. Again, note which characters get hit.

4. Hits: For each successful Hit, roll for weapon damage, roll for and subtract armor protection, and deduct the rest if any from the target’s HEALTH. If HEALTH goes to 0 or below, the character loses consciousness (or worse).

Injuries

If the character loses more than 1/3 of their HEALTH in a single hit or takes more damage than they have HEALTH, they take a Injury. A random table determines the nature of the Injury, but in general each Injury imposes a penalty on some activities until the Injury is healed.

Healing

The Folk recuperate quickly after eating. One of The Folk always regains 1 HEALTH an hour after eating one unit of food. A substance called Elixir restores HEALTH instantly, but only for The Folk.

Injuries take longer to heal, depending on their type and severity. (The Injury Table lists each Injury’s healing time.) A Healer⁷ can shorten the healing time, but the patient must rest for the duration.

Magic

NUMEN defines both the maximum bonus to a dice roll and the limits of The Folk’s instinctive magical abilities:

• Commune with and influence spirits of Shadow Vale and beyond. NUMEN determines the character’s Skill Rank in a contest of wills. This can produce some quick minor effects; more profound magic requires a relationship with the spirit in question, built over time.

• Contact and communicate telepathically with other corporeal beings. In some cases this includes hostile contact, e.g. mind probes and illusions, but stops short of full “mind control”. NUMEN is the Skill Rank for finding another mind and “psychic combat”.

• Add a bonus to a single Skill (not FATE) check, up to one’s NUMEN score, by paying HEALTH.

• “Shrug off” the effects from hostile magic, Injuries, and the few poisons that affect The Folk. This burns HEALTH but lessens or cancels a penalty up to the practitioner’s NUMEN.

• Alter one’s shape to enhance one activity at the expense of others, e.g. assuming an animal form which improves movement and attacks but hampers communication and tool use. NUMEN determines the maximum bonuses and penalties for the form. This techique also burns HEALTH, as does reverting back. Supernals consider this technique “vulgar”, due to Infernals’ far superior talent for changing shape.

• Disguise oneself as a mortal, as a special case of altering shape. NUMEN determines the maximum bonus to Influencing mortals and corresponding penalty to Fighting while in mortal form. (Compared to The Folk, mortals are puny and out of shape. It’s like wearing clothes that are a few sizes too small and badly made.) Supernals would never admit to venturing into a Mortal World, let alone trying to blend in.

• Craft talismans, brew potions, and make other minor magical items. Many will be one-use or have notable limits. The maker’s NUMEN determines how powerful they can be and/or how long they take to create.

Artifacts

PCs and NPCs may also wield Artifacts created by dedicated artificers of the Supernal Realm and Shadow Vale and/or outsiders with an incomprehensible power called “science”. Artifacts typically break rules for equipment and magic.

• The Goblins sell the equivalent of sci-fi blasters that do 2D damage or more … but each shot consumes energy from power crystals sold only by the Goblins.
• Guards from the Supernal Realm use a Rod of Discipline that immobilizes targets without doing damage.
• Ultra-rare Adamantite Armor simply cannot break. Depending on its construction – scales or a solid cuirass – it converts all damage into blunt force trauma or knockback.

And so on.

Sorcery

For campaign play, I may add a complementary “Sorcery” system that requires slow rituals and preparations but yields more powerful effects. This system may allow PCs to create Artifacts, with difficulty.

The Opposition

Otherworlders

The creatures of Otherworld are far more durable than their mortal counterparts. They fall into the following rough categories, in order of threat:

1. Animals resemble those of Earths past, present, and speculative, save that, like The Folk, they can go for long periods without food, water, or rest. For some reason, most animals of Shadow Vale are either reptiles or giant arthropods.
2. Monsters are unique and uniquely warped chimeras, often of unusual size and possessing one or two troublesome abilities. Hit them hard and often enough, though, and they’ll stay down for good.
3. “The Folk”, a majority in the Supernal Realm and Shadow Vale, need food and sleep only to recover from injury and can survive any wounds as long as enough of their bodies stay intact. All PCs are presumed to be of The Folk.
4. Infernals, some of whom lurk in the Shadow Vale, have substantial if not complete mastery over their physical form. Thus they can recover from any physical trauma except complete immolation. While they lack the magical abilities of The Folk, most have potent powers of illusion and mental influence.
5. Paragons, the nobility of the Supernal Realm, are explored below.

Incorporeal entities – the nature spirits of the Supernal Realm, the ancestors and godlings of the Numinous Realm⁸, and the ghosts and wraiths of the Shadow Vale and Infernal Realm – lie outside this continuum. Psychic combat and certain magics can dispel them for a time, but nothing can permanently harm them. Likewise they can’t harm corporeal beings except through specific powers: a nature spirit’s control of its element, a ghost’s illusions and curses, and a wraith’s ability to drain HEALTH. In game terms they have NUMEN but no HEALTH.

Some rules I’m considering to simplify the GM’s job and/or make Otherworlders qualitatively different:

• Animals, monsters, and minor NPCs have only HEALTH and a “Difficulty”. Instead of rolling dice, the GM simply compares the player’s Fighting check (or other skill) to the creature’s Difficulty.

• Infernals and Monsters take only HEALTH damage, not Injuries. On the other hand, once HEALTH drops at or below 0 Monsters are just dead. (Infernals regenerate, albeit slowly, even after “death”.)

• Infernals lack true NUMEN. When the GM needs a NUMEN score for “contests of wills” and the like, simply divide the Infernal’s HEALTH by 10, rounding down.

• Large groups of identical weak creatures may use “Horde rules”, in which the group is considered one creature whose HEALTH is the total HEALTH of all members. Instead of making a “to hit” roll for each member of the Horde, the Horde simply does damage proportional to the current HEALTH of the Horde divided among the PCs however they wish.

Mortals

Mortals are fragile; they’re hurt easily and die easily. By human standards, Shadow Vale is a desert. Normal humans would slowly succumb to cold, thirst, or starvation. Somewhat hardier creatures might survive the environment but succumb to physical trauma (or, rarely, old age).

The differences extend to weapons, armor, and other hazards. A modern Earth automatic rifle would critically wound or kill a mortal, repel and/or enrage a monster, whittle away at one of The Folk, and temporarily inconvenience an Infernal (or not). A common Otherworld sword or axe, meanwhile, might cleave through the most advanced mortal armor.

Ordinary humans are almost unheard of in the Shadow Vale, but “mortal” creatures do exist. The best known are the Goblins, enigmatic purveyors of strange weapons and tools who maintain secret portals between Otherworld and their own dimension called the Labyrinth. Despite a Goblin’s head-to-toe armored life support suit, an Otherworlder mace can crush them like a boot crushing a cockroach. Thus they are always polite … and always very well armed.

As of this writing I’m tinkering with rules to represent these qualitative differences and to make Shadow Vale beings play differently from characters in other RPGs. Some rules I’m considering:

• If combat involves mortals and natives of Otherworld, mortals may only act every other round, starting with the second.

• Beings, weapons, and armor have a “scale”, similar to the size-based scale rules of Open D6 and Everywhen. E.g. Otherworlders would add an extra die to damage even bare-handed, and mortal weapons would roll less damage against Otherworlders.

• Mortals lack HEALTH and only take Injuries, based on damage thresholds. This emulates something like like d20 System’s alternate rules for Injury. E.g., depending on damage rolled, each Hit might leave the mortal:

  • Hurt (lowered thresholds)
  • Injured (like an Otherworlder)
  • Incapacitated (i.e. HEALTH ≤ 0)
  • Dying (i.e. ticking clock)
  • Instantly Dead

  Under these rules, any damage to a mortal can be fatal.

Paragons

As Otherworlders are to mortals, Paragons are to other Otherworlders. They rule the Supernal Realm from a palace that floats in the sky. Supernal Folk are said to worship them as gods.

Even compared to The Folk they’re impossibly strong, impossibly fast, and nigh-invulnerable. Even Skymetal and Darkmetal can only weaken a Paragon, not kill them. Bury a Paragon under a landslide and he’ll eventually dig himself out, seemingly unharmed but very angry.

Inspired by the Amber Diceless RPG, I’m considering rules to make Paragons very different:

• Rules relating to battles between mortals and Otherworlders extend to battles between most Otherworlders and Paragons. A battle involving mortals, Otherworlders, and Paragons might get very messy, although the mortals wouldn’t stand a chance.

• More radically, Paragons, being closer to divinity, don’t lose HEALTH or suffer Injuries. Instead they suffer temporary Conditions that may give opponents an bonus, which said opponents will definitely need.

• Most radically, Paragons may even lack Skills and NUMEN. Mechanics for defining Paragons are beyond the scope of player-facing rules, but at minimum Paragons effectively always roll 12, meaning in (normally) Opposed Checks PCs must roll at least 12. If a Paragon has “Specialties”, any opponent suffers a -2 penalty. The goal is that a Paragon, like Einstein’s “God”, never rolls dice.