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Let Them Eat War
A role-playing game of political and social horror
 In days long gone by, Maldor was an empire, stretching from ocean to mountain, uniting the people of the world under one rule. Empowered by a common language and efficient trade, the cornucopia of cultures melded into an economic powerhouse where few where hungry and most were happy.
This empire fell, not to opposing armies, but doom from the heavens. A fiery dot appeared in the sky, bright enough to be seen in mid-day. The people, well-off but still superstitious, grew restless, worried at what this apparition might bring. Absolon, Emperor-General of Maldor, gathered his astronomers and they examined the fire on the edge of existence.
Their counsel was dark. This dot seemed to grow larger by day, as if the sky itself was beginning to burn away. Within six months, this dot grew as large as the sun itself, and burned bright by night, causing fear and panic in Absolon's newly solidified kingdom. Mothers held their crying children to their breast, trying to block the fell rays of this celestial fire from their babies' eyes. Peasants grew fearful as their beasts moaned in confusion at night. Priests proclaimed the end of the world was coming.
And all looked to their Emperor, Absolon, for guidance, but Absolon had none. A foreign magician, Hanish, came before Absolon, hundreds of miles of dirt caked on his body from running. He swore that the rituals conducted by Absolon's sorcerers had unleashed this terror, and it must be revoked else the world would be destroyed.
The court sorcerers heard this and were none too pleased. They had Hanish imprisoned and tried to turn Absolon's ear away from his ravings. The words bothered Absolon greatly, though, and he went to Hanish's cell on a dark night, when the clouds obscured the burning among the stars.
Absolon threatened Hanish with death if this curse was not removed from the world. Hanish lay himself before Absolon's sword, proclaiming, "Kill me now, or I die soon. The sky's fire cannot be stopped, and my death comes now or then." Moved by Hanish's bravery and defiance, Absolon took him to his side as his highest advisor and they spent many hours talking alone. Rumors and rebellions started to tear Maldor apart. The people said their Emperor spent all his days privately conversing with the man who would destroy the world. Within another three months, this burning orb illuminated everything in the burnt red of flame both day and night. The sun could not even be seen.
And three months later, in the midst of open revolt, chaos, madness, prophets proclaiming the death of all life, assassinations, and depravity, Absolon and Hanish emerged from the Emperor's quarters. The Sky Fire had grown no bigger than half the sky, but its heat was now palpable as temperatures soared to intolerable levels, the entire sky was painted red and purple in eternal sunset as the globe burned away the air.
Absolon and Hanish stood on the steps of the Emperor's Palace, hand in hand, and began a weird chant, intoning ancient syllables which spread throughout the angry crowds outside, calming them as they joined the chant. This chant lasted for three days, and it is said that by the end of those three days, the entire Empire had taken up the chant. The Fire moved slowly across the sky, though, and at the end of the three days, crossed the western horizon and night fell again. Absolon and Hanish collapsed on the stairs where they chanted, their spirits gone and bodies broken.
Then, the world halted.
In the midst of night, the world shook with such a rumble that buildings fell, cracks opened spewing lava, and mountains burst from the plains-land. Men wept and tore their clothes, animals stampeded, and the elderly died of shock. A red glow came from every horizon, with black, smoky clouds billowing. The clouds grew and grew as the earth continued to shake for days on end, the sun barely visible. Finally the clouds even blotted out that orb of life-giving light.
For a year, the earth quivered and the sun rose no more, with only black clouds looking down on humanity. The earth froze. For one year, through the harshest of winters, people died of plague, starvation, and madness. By the end of that year, the population of the known world was a tenth of what it had been.
One year after its disappearance, the sun rose weakly in the sky, barely shining through the breaking clouds. People driven to primitivism stuck their heads out of their caves, hovels, and homes to see the beloved sun as it rose to the middle of the sky as the foul darkness broke around it. When it set, though, living persons everywhere shook with horror.
A moon rose in the sky. Never had a moon been seen in the world. The only object ever seen in the night sky was the dread Sky Fire, which this moon resembled far too much. Its pale light threw dark shadows onto the land. Worse, when the sun rose the next day, this moon - three times as large as the sun - eclipsed the sun, a black Shadow Moon rimmed in fire.
Three hundred years have passed. The Empire of Maldor is a remnant, and new lords criss-cross the land, each claiming the crown of Absolon as their own. While the people starve and scrape to rebuild their decimated families and homes, the new nobles recruit weary souls into their armies, driving them against each other like so many cattle to the slaughter, all to gain a sliver of ancient glory.
And once a month, the sun is eclipsed for one entire week by the Shadow Moon.
Some people quiver in abject fear.
And some heroes fight the Shadow, in the darkest caves, the most decayed of civilizations, and the blackest hearts.
Maldor, An Empire Destroyed
"This package - bomb, you call it - will unseat the tyrant?" the farmer asked, his hands dirtying the paper as he carefully handled it.
The voice from the shadow chuckled. "It will knock him right out of his seat. If my calculations are correct, it will kill him as well. Just remember the phrase."
"'On Tax-Day, another great gift I have brought my - '"
"Don't finish that sentence. It shouldn't work, but let's not take any chances. It will go off as soon as you say that in the presence of our great liege." An odd squeak came from the darkened corner at the word.
"And I?"
"You will die."
The farmer sighed, wet and heavy in his lungs. "And my family?"
"They will disappear from the land. They will be taken care of well. They are part of our... tribe now."
Filthy hands pushed the package into a knapsack, and the freedom fighter turned away, resigned.
The shadow grew larger and fell across the farmer. "Man, you do good work for the people."
His face away from the shadow, the man of the dirt nodded slowly. "Freedom is the people's work," he replied as a white furred hand, fingers ending in claws, squeezed his shoulder.
The Fallen Landscape
South of the deep waters of Absolon's Way lie the ruins of Maldor, once the grandest empire Near has ever known. Once, its empire spread from the Eastern Sea to the frozen waters of the South and the Hungry River of the north. Now, no news comes from over the western mountains or the wastes of the South.
In its glory, Maldor's most distinctive feature was its tremendous walled cities, giant sealed engines of industry and culture. As the empire fell and shrunk back on itself, many cities were ruined as terror and plague eradicated their denizens. These cities, filled with secrets and danger, are a destination for especially foolish or brave adventurers.
Maldor is made up of a variety of geography, from rolling plains stretching to the ocean in the east to forest-covered hills in the west. It once was beautiful. It now looks like someone dropped a bomb on the cover of a sad-eyed-wizard fantasy novel.
A Land of Lieges
When the Sky Fire fell, Emperor Absolon passed on, and Maldor passed into darkness. When people emerged from hiding and took to the land again, the country was itself shattered, with local lords claiming royal blood dividing the land up like lions with a carcass: unfair and bloody. The disparity between the wealthy and poor is immense; only those families with great stone fortresses and great stores were able to emerge as anything but destitute. The lords of the land press commoners into service as infantry, farmers, smiths, or whatever suits their whims. Outright war between these lords is not uncommon as they attempt to gain dominance over each other. None have achieved their goal, however, and the country remains divided.
The Maldorites are shell-shocked, blindly attempting to follow their old ways of life in a ruined empire. The people are a mix of ethnicities, although the noble lines are all Caucasian in appearance. While family is important - the nobility treasures their blood, and the peasants huddle together - they are often separated by war, hunger, and wonderlust. Filthy children run rampant; with nothing to own, people make much of their only resource.
The Remnants of Culture
Maldor is in its dark ages; art and culture take second-place to survival. Among the noble classes, art still exists in collections from before the Shadow Moon came. Tapestries, paintings, and sculptures are most prized. Artists are employed by lords, but innovation is rare. The artists are called on to make knock-offs of pre-Shadow art more than anything else. Musicians and actors do well if they can find a liege, as owning the better court entertainment is a major point of pride for these cardboard nobles playing at being kings.
Other troubadours wander the countryside, going from inn to inn to make a few pieces of gold. It is said that one enterprising merchant hired a gang of mercenaries to pillage a fallen city and is now printing books using a press they managed to liberate. From the borderlands, there are stories of commoners banding together to rebuild villages; these communes are said to sponsor community theatres of dubious quality, but high humor.
The food of Maldor is considered bland, but is hearty and filling. Potatoes are served at every meal, from a commoner's feast to a noble's snack. On the other hand, Maldor's beer is rich, thick, and smothering.
Let Them Eat War
The Maldor economy can be described as an ever-hungry violent monster, constantly devouring itself to live. Farmers grow grain, corn, potatoes, and other root vegetables and raise goats, sheep, and cattle for milk and food, but it never seems to be enough, especially as the lords take an obscene amount of crops and livestock in land taxes to pay for their wars. Most families have to supplement their income by taking up the sword. The nobles promise good pay in their armies, although plenty of idiot young people end up dying on the end of a sword before payday.
While the common folk of Maldor are highly xenophobic - they believe, as they are told, that foreign sorcery caused the doom of the Shadow - the lords have no fear of money from over the water. Trade with foreigners is the only way for them to raise enough money to fight wars for the right to protect their citizens from foreigners.
Maldor has great veins of ore in its western hills, and what doesn't become an axe or breastplate gets sold to iron-poor northern savages. The rulers of Maldor also supplement their coffers by trading priceless artifacts and antiquities to foreigners. The storied Ammenite Houses of the north are the major buyers of these objects. There is good pay in Maldor for a seasoned explorer; the ruins of many great cities are filled with arms and art, as well as fables of fierce Ratkin - rat-people - unlikely to appreciate pillagers.
Messiahs and Magicians
The lords of Maldor are monotheistic. Their religion centers around a variation of ancient pagan sun god worship – they have melded the figure of the sun god and Absolon, saying that the Year of Shadow was Absolon's sacrifice as he descended into the underworld, then rose against, undefeated by Shadow. Their priests prophesy his return to Near as a king that will re-unite Maldor and make it strong again. Some philosophers might debate about when Absolon will come again, but the lords do not: there's not a one of them without the hubris to think that he is Absolon-Come-Again, and that all will bow down to him. This messiah complex makes their wars all the more bloody, of course.
This monotheism trickles down to the peasants, who tend to worship the sun god in its more pagan aspect, as a giver of life and blessing. Unlike the lords, the peasants definitely argue about when Absolon will return: their dream of a better day is well-deserved, but pathetic. As Maldor was once a great multi-cultural cornucopia, though, religion varies widely among its lower classes, who practice animism, ancestor worship, or any variety of other religious practices in addition to sun-worship.
Rumors of a Shadow Cult abound, evildoers who would try to throw down the sun and replace it with their dark Queen of Shadow. Who the Shadow Cult is remains unknown. Earls and dukes tell their people that the Shadow Cult are the followers of other earls and dukes; advisors tell their lords that the Shadow Cult grows among their own people; commoners believe the Shadow Cult are the Ratkin, or nasty foreigners, or their next-door neighbors, depending on what day of the week it is. Some elements have been assassinating self-proclaimed messiahs and blowing up castle walls without getting caught, but leave no clue as to who they are.
 Tooth and Teat: Ratkin
The fabled Ratkin are real, born in the fires of the Shadow, and are just starting to emerge from their animal past. Ratkin resemble nutria, enormous rodents, standing on their hind legs with prehensile thumbs. About three to four feet tall, they have pointed button noses, whiskers, and are covered in either grey, brown, or black fur, with the occasional albino all-white ratkin. Many ratkin are not completely used to bipedal movement and drop to all fours to run, looking like nothing but a huge rat-dog.
They infest the old ruined cities of Maldor, and are often the only residents there. Most lords in Maldor offer rewards for Ratkin heads, and serfs desperate for money will band together into hunting parties for the sentient rodents.
Ratkin have a reputation of being dirty thieves, although this is unwarranted. In reality, they can be loyal allies, but have a hard time adjusting to the idea of owning something. A wandering ratkin will bond with his companions quickly, and is usually quite uncomfortable alone. Their tendency to take the possessions of their friends is well documented: they have little comprehension of the idea that one can own anything, except through guarding it. In the same way, they will quarrel with their friends quicker than a human would, but quarrels are forgiven as soon as they end.
One of the Litter
The basic unit of ratkin society is the litter , being the large group the ratkin is born with. Unlike other species, not everything born to a ratkin mother is a ratkin; a typical litter is three or four ratkin and ten to twenty normal rats. At birth, the ratkin are distinguishable only by their forepaws and their size, about one-and-a-half to twice the size of the rats.
Among a litter, you own only what you can fight for – any scrap of food or shiny object quickly results in a scratching, biting ball of chaos as rat and ratkin alike pile on. This is true from birth; the first act of a ratkin's life is to claw a sibling off a teat so it can have a drink. An outsider would wonder how many make it out alive, as sibling altercations are frequent and incredibly violent. Ratkin instinctually know how to hurt their brethren without seriously damaging them, though.
Any outside threat to a member of the litter is met with real violence, though. A predator attacking a lone rat or ratkin will quickly find himself prey to a snarling, vicious wave of fur, tooth, and claw, seemingly coming from nowhere. To a ratkin, an attack on any member of his litter is even worse than a personal attack, and requires retribution. Although the bond is not as powerful, this is also true about the horde, the larger family a litter is born into, which can number dozens or hundreds of ratkin, and thousands of rats. For this reason, a ratkin-infested ancient city is a very dangerous place to bring hostilities.
Ratkin do leave their original litter to wander the world of Near, though. The reasons are varied. Some ratkin lose their litter to explorers; some meet outsiders and see a way of life where they do not have to fight for every meal. They do not, though, lose the concept of the litter, and usually find a group of companions to bond with, becoming their new litter.
Game Concepts
Characters
Characters represent all sentient beings in the game. While not every stranger met by the players' characters may be fully fleshed out in terms of mechanics, all characters that could be created in the game should be able to be created with these rules. In order to define who a character is and what that character can do, there are four mechanical pieces: pools, abilities, Secrets, and Keys. You'll learn how to create a character while you learn about these four pieces.
Character Creation Step 1
In order to start creating a character, you need to build a concept. The character concept cannot be generated in a vacuum, however; characters must fit together with a certain zest that makes them click, little motors ready to feed off each other. This isn't to say that all characters need to be alike, of the same species, or from the same place.
There's not a set process for how concept generation works, but it should be done as a group, in a relaxed atmosphere, preferably with whatever gets your imagination flowing, whether that be coffee, beer, music, or whatever else. Talk amongst each other, and don't think of your idea as sacrosanct: take suggestions from other players and give ideas in return. Remember that in creating these characters, you create the landscape in which you will play.
At the end of generating character concepts, you should have a few things: - An idea of where your character is from. - A few - and I mean a few - sentences about who your character is and what he cares about. - A description of your character's appearance, also short. - A name. This is totally not optional. Pick a name before you write a number.
Many role-playing game texts will tell you to have a full background of your character is before play. I totally disavow this. You and your friends will get to know your character during play. What that character did before-hand is of some interest, but even those details will emerge during play easier than before play. If you were reading a book, would the author expect you to know the main character before-hand? Of course not.
What you do need to know is this: what species this character is, where he's from, what he's good at, and what might be important to him.
Pools
Pools are resources the player can spend during the game in order for their character to push harder, do more, and perform amazing feats. There are three pools: Vigor, Instinct, and Reason.
Vigor represents the character's reserves of physical power, wherewithal, and mental toughness. Characters with high Vigor are often known for bulging muscles, scarred faces, calloused hands, the "thousand-yard stare," and crushing strength.
Instinct represents the character's reserves of animal-like reactions, both physical and social. This ranges from cat-like reflexes in combat to pheromone-like sexual attraction. Characters with high Instinct are often known for their graceful motion, penetrating eyes, amazing hearing, stunning appearance, or sexual prowess.
Reason represents the character's intelligence and mental power. This could range from book knowledge to an uneducated, but highly practical mind. Characters with high Reason are often known for their vocabulary, ability to identify plants and animals, skill at games of chance, or power over others.
Pools are measured in points, and each pool ranges from one to infinite points, although a pool of more than 10 points is highly unusual. During the game, these points are spent to get bonus dice or activate Secrets (more on all of this below), but the points are not permanently gone. The scores on each player's character sheet represents the maximum points in each pool, and players will get a chance to restore their characters' pools to their maximum.
Character Creation Step 2
Divide 12 points among your character's pools, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 6 in each. (Note: this maximum is just for character creation; your character may end up with a pool later much higher than 6.)
Ratkin generally have a high Instinct pool, but weakened Reason. Instinct may start as high as 8, but Reason may not start higher than 4.
Abilities
Abilities are representations of a character's skill with tasks both learned and innate. Abilities fall into several categories, listed below.
Innate Abilities: These are actually more reactions and innate qualities than abilities, representing unlearned abilities a character has.
Artistic Abilities: These are the abilities that allow you to create works of art, as well as manage to live as an artist, from hand to mouth.
Craft Abilities: These abilities are used to create works of utility, from swords to carts to dinner, or perform in a useful profession, as well as trade well for your labor.
Fighting Abilities: These are the abilities a warrior would learn in battle, consisting of not only martial abilities, but combat medicine and command.
Illicit Abilities: These are the abilities any criminal, or even slightly shady person, would put to good use, including the ability to sneak well, steal, and find others that would aid and abet your activities.
Outdoor Abilities: These are the abilities any outdoorsman would know, including empathy with animals, knowledge of plants, and the ability to hunt with a bow.
Social Abilities: These are the abilities any person who operates in society would know, including bringing others to your opinion, reading the faces of men, getting others into your bed, and speaking foreign languages.
Priestly Abilities: These are the abilities a priest or leader of men would use in his daily life. Priests aren't necessarily organized, or even religious: they are merely counselors, and have the ability to inspire others, sway crowds, read the faces of people, and comfort the troubled.
Each category of abilities is ranked from A to C, representing how easy it is for a character to improve those abilities. Abilities are ranked from zero to 10. In addition, each ability has an associated pool. Points from this pool can be spent during the game to get bonus dice or remove penalty dice when using the ability.
Character Creation Step 3
Set your ability category ratings. Innate Abilities are always rated at A (the easiest to learn.) Choose one other ability category to be rated at A, three to be rated at B, and the rest rated at C.
Players can then choose all abilities that fall into A-rated categories, 5 abilities that fall into B-rated categories, and 3 abilities that fall into C-rated categories. Some species and cultures may have mandatory abilities, which are marked. These must be taken, and count against the character's beginning ability slots. These abilities chosen are only for initial ability point distribution: past this stage, you can increase any ability that your character has access to.
Players have ten points to split among abilities rated at A, with no ability ranking higher than 3. They have six points to split among abilities rated at B, with no ability ranking higher than 2. Three points can be split among abilities rated at C, with no ability higher than 2.
Secrets
Secrets are special abilities a character can learn that augment abilities. These are often preternatural, sometimes magical, and always better than normal. In order to use Secrets, points from a pool are normally spent, meaning that Secrets can be used a limited number of times per game.
Keys
Keys are the primary method of increasing a character's abilities. These are goals, emotional ties, or vows a character has. By bringing these into the story, the player gains experience points (XP) he can use to advance the character, increasing pools and abilities, or learning new Secrets and Keys.
All Keys have a Buyoff. Whenever a player has a character perform the Buyoff action, the player may erase the Key and gain 10 XP.
Unlike abilities and Secrets, the number of Keys a character can have is limited. A character can have no more than five Keys at one time.
Character Creation Step 4
Players must choose one Secret and one Key for their characters.
The Ability Check
In order to perform any action that has a variable outcome, the player needs to state his basic intention for the character. This is not a full description of the action, as the dice provide a randomizer that let the player know how well this action happened. After stating the character's intention and deciding on the relevant ability, an ability Check is made.
The process is pretty simple: roll two six-sided dice and add your character's score in the relevant ability to the total. Taking this total, compare your result to the Success Level Chart.
The Success Level Chart
Success Level Chart |
Roll + ability |
Success Level (SL) |
8 or below |
Failure |
9-10 |
SL 1 (Mediocre) |
11-13 |
SL 2 (Good) |
14-15 |
SL 3 (Great) |
16-17 |
SL 4 (Amazing) |
18-19 |
SL 5 (Legendary) |
20-21 |
SL 6 (Ultimate) |
22 |
Transcendent |
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To use the Success Level Chart, take the total of your character's ability and the dice rolled and find the total on the chart. As you can see, you will find whether the character succeeded or failed, a description of that success if applicable, and a numerical Success Level, which is used to compute mechanical effects of that success.
A Mediocre success is all that is needed to succeed at most tasks in the game. Especially hard tasks may require a Good success.
Bonus and penalty dice
While an ability score determines the range of your character's ability, bonus and penalty dice are a mechanic to determine the consistency of your character's ability. When making an ability Check, bonus dice add to the number of dice rolled, as do penalty dice. However, a player cannot have both bonus and penalty dice: they cancel each other out on a one-for-one basis.
If a player has bonus dice when making an ability Check, roll two six-sided dice, plus the number of bonus dice. The two highest dice are used to calculate the player's total on the Ability Check.
If a player has penalty dice when making an ability Check, roll two six-sided dice, plus the number of penalty dice. The two lowest dice are used to calculate the player's total on the Ability Check.
Players can always spend one point from the associated pool to get one bonus die on an ability Check. If an ability Check has penalty dice, this must be done before the roll in order to cancel out penalty dice. If an ability Check has no penalty dice when it is rolled, this can be done after the roll. This is an important distinction: when your character is fully ready and prepared for a task, he may push harder in the middle of it to pull out a greater success. When ill-prepared, he must take what hand fate deals.
Experience and Advancement
The two units of advancement currency in "Let Them Eat War" are experience points and advances. Experience points are a "hard" unit of currency: that is, there are set amounts of them that the player receives for certain actions in play. Experience points convert to advances at the rate of ten points for one advance. With an advance, a player can do one of six things:
- Increase by one the maximum size of one of the character's pools.
- Increase three of the character's abilities rated at A.
- Increase two of the character's abilities rated at B.
- Increase one of the character's abilities rated at C.
- Add one Secret to the character.
- Add one Key to the character.
When taking advances, none of the above options can be repeated. If you've increased three of your character's abilities rated at A, for example, you can then do anything but increase three more abilities rated at A. After you've taken another advance, you may then go back and increase three more A-rated abilities. Advances can be spent at any time during the game.
Character Creation Step 5
Finally, each player can spend six advances on their character.
More about the Ability Check
The Ability Check is the core of this system. All other mechanics are meant to revolve around this roll of the dice, this injection of fortune, that serves as resolution for both instant actions and entire scenes.
Intention, Initiation, Execution, and Effect
Although the Ability Check seems very simple, there's more involved than it seems at first glance. Every time your character takes an action, there are four steps involved: Intention, Initiation, Execution, and Effect. Here's how these break down:
Intention: The player announces the intended action for the character. No movement or action has happened yet, though. The intention and its consequences may be discussed among the GM and players and changed.
Initiation: The player has committed his character to the task, and no changes can be made now. The dice hit the table.
Execution: The character completes his action. The player looks to see how well the character did on the Success Level Chart.
Effect: The players and GM decide what the effect of the task is, whether successfully completed or not.
Now, that sounds like a lot to go through every time you roll the dice. Normally, this all happens without thinking too much about it, making it a quick process. A player states, "My character's going to do something," he rolls dice, everyone looks to see how the character did, and a decision about what happened occurs.
The reason I bring up the four steps is because if you never think about them, you can cause tension among the players and GM. Imagine a player, Joe, stating, "Jack, my character, hits the priest right in the chest with a sword blow." Now, following the four steps, you realize this has not happened in the game, but is just Joe stating his intention. (While his statement was technically incorrect, in that he stated it happened, and it was an intention, this is a common way of stating intention in role-playing games.)
Carrying on with this example, though, what if the GM is confused about the four steps? He may take this as initiation, for example, and when he says, "The priest grabs his black mace," Joe might want his character Jack to back off. If the GM thinks the above statement was initiation, though, Joe can't do this, and may get angry at the GM for withholding the information that the priest had this mace.
And in the end, what if the group is confused about effect? If Joe's roll is successful, a confused group might think that Joe's stated intention for Jack is exactly what happens. This is not necessarily so: the outcome of the dice and disposition of the players might determine a different effect.
The point is this: take your time to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to a character performing a task. While the first game or two might run a bit slower than normal because steps are being heavily delineated, the speed will pick up as everyone gets used to following them.
Types of Ability Checks and how they work
While the Ability Check is the core mechanic that ties this entire game together, it actually comes in several forms, each of which adds on a layer of complexity.
The first and most simple type is the unopposed Ability Check . This is used when a player wants his character to try a task in which no other character is attempting any action which would stop him. There are four steps to the unopposed Ability Check, and all other types of Ability Checks.
First, the player states the character's intention. This should be easy: "Pieter is going to try to climb that boulder" is a good example.
Second, the Story Guide sets the difficulty of the Ability Check. This is determined simply. If the task is one that any person could do, even if unlikely, the difficulty is Mediocre. The player must get a Mediocre or better result on the Success Level Chart in order to succeed. If the task is one that requires specialized training or information, the required difficulty is Good.
An example will clarify this further. Let's use climbing - it always seems to illustrate this well. The difficulty is Mediocre to climb anything an untrained person could climb, no matter how much effort is required. A tree, a fence, a wall, the side of a house, or a rocky mountain can all be climbed by amateurs. The difficulty is Good if the climbing would normally require specialized training. A hundred-yard sheer rock face usually requires knowledge of belaying, rope use, pitons, and the like. An amateur might, under optimal conditions, make it, but generally this requires training. Therefore, it is of Good difficulty to climb a sheer rock face of any height.
The third step is determining circumstances. This is where bonus and penalty dice come into play. Characters may often have either bonus or penalty dice because of Secrets activated, pools spent, damage taken, or The Gift of Dice, as shown below. In addition to any bonus or penalty dice outlined elsewhere in these rules, the Story Guide may assign one or two penalty dice to any Ability Check. One penalty die may be assigned if circumstances render a task especially difficulty. A penalty die would not be assigned to our example climber above if it were drizzling, or dark, or a bit chilly, but one could be assigned if there was an icy wind and hard rain coming down at night. Two penalty dice can be assigned in the very worst of circumstances. A good measure of whether to assign two penalty dice is if the description of the circumstances elicits a stream of profanity from a player. We're talking about seriously nasty conditions here - hail coming down in the midst of an icy rain while gale-force winds tear at our poor climber in the pitch dark.
The fourth and last step is actually rolling the dice. If the total on the Success Level Chart is equal or better than the difficulty, the character has succeeded. The Story Guide and players should use the Success Level to describe how the character performed at the stated intention.
The next type of Ability Check is the competitive Ability Check . This occurs when two or more characters are attempting the same task, but each wants to do it better or faster. All rules for the standard Ability Check apply, and in addition, the conditions of victory are set before the Ability Check: if the Check is over a foot-race, the victor went the fastest; if it's composing a song, the victor made a better piece of work. This should be fairly obvious, but the Story Guide and players can decide together what the conditions of victory are if there's any question.
All players with competing characters make Ability Checks. After Ability Checks are made, any character who succeeded actually completed the task with some proficiency and the player can use the Success Level to compute any relevant outcomes. The character of the player with the highest total score, however, completed the task better or faster, and the other characters are ranked in the order of their players' rolls. In the case of a tie, the characters' feats are so close in speed and quality that a winner cannot be determined between them. They can either tie, or if the players and Story Guide want to, those players can roll again to see which is the victor.
The last type of Ability Check is the resisted Ability Check . This Check, most common in role-playing games, occurs when two characters attempt tasks that would cancel out each other. Examples include:
- One character swinging a sword at another character dodging.
- One character trying to get information by twisting another character's arm, who is attempting to suffer through the pain.
- One character sneaking up on a character who is keeping watch.
- One character offering a romp in bed to a character who is trying to deny the pleasures of the flesh.
All normal Ability Check rules apply to resisted Checks. The two players involved make their Ability Checks and then compare their scores. The higher of the two wins: in the case of a tie, the instigator of the action loses.
When narrating a resisted Ability Check, both players' Success Levels come into account. For purposes of computing results, the winner's Success Level is used, but the loser's efforts are still significant. An example:
Example
The character Violet, played by Kim, is attempting to drive the character Lore, played by Wilhelm, to his knees with a savage sword attack. Upon rolling, Kim ends up with an Amazing Success Level, and Wilhelm ends up with a Great Success Level. Kim's roll wins, but Lore still made a great block. The action is narrated as, "Violet brings up her sword and makes a vicious stroke down, aiming for the lower leg. Lore, anticipating the swing, throws his shield in the way, but the sword crashes down it, the force driving the shield itself back into Lore's shins as he falls."
The losing player must abide by the winner's stated intention for the Ability Check, even if it was "I kill that sorry character." That's not entirely true, though: what sort of game would this be if your character could die from one roll of the dice? To see how to extract your character from any sticky situation you don't like, see "Bringing Down the Pain" below.
Using abilities together
If you want your character to perform a complex action that uses two abilities together, decide with the GM which ability is most appropriate to the action and which is secondary. The secondary ability is used first and the Success Levels are used as bonus dice on the second Ability Check. The GM and player will have to decide what happens if the first Ability Check is failed: in some situations, the second Ability Check can still be attempted without harm; in others, the Ability Check can be attempted with a penalty die; and in others still, the second Ability Check cannot be attempted.
Example
A character is trying to cut a thong from a guard's belt and snatch his keys, using Swords to chop the thong, and Stealth to grab the keys without being seen. While he is using Swords to actually get the keys free, the Stealth part of the action is most important. The player makes a Swords Ability Check. If successful, the Success Levels are converted to bonus dice on the Stealth Ability Check. If unsuccessful, however, the keys are still on the guard's belt, so the Stealth Ability Check cannot be attempted.
Example 2
Another character wants to approach a wild bear without getting attacked using Animal Ken. In order to help with this, he's going to attempt to remember what bears like to eat and see if he can find some, using Woodscraft. The Woodscraft Ability Check is secondary, and if successful, will add bonus dice to the Animal Ken Ability Check. If unsuccessful, there is no complication; the character just must approach the bear with no food gift.
The Gift of Dice
At the beginning of each session of the game, every player including the Story Guide receives a number of gift dice equal to the number of players at the table. At any point during the game, one of these dice can be given to another player to be added as a bonus die to that player's current Ability Check. This is most often used when a player's character is attempting something especially dangerous, or the player describes his character's intention in a cool way.
These gift dice are an important part of play and should not be forgotten. They encourage cooperation among the players as much as among the characters.
Bringing Down the Pain
Simple Ability Checks are well and good, and make resolution in The Shadow of Yesterday a quick and painless matter. Sometimes, though, for that dramatic punch, you need something a bit more gritty and focused. In this game, that is an expanded resolution system called Bringing Down the Pain. Bringing Down the Pain is a unique option for players to allow them to not only get out of sticky situations, but focus the story where they want it.
Any player involved in a conflict can Bring Down the Pain after a resisted Ability Check. Normally, a player has to abide by the results of this check. However, when a character belonging to a player - a player that is not the Story Guide - loses at a resisted Ability Check, that player does not have to accept the outcome. Instead, he can ask that the Pain be Brought Down. On the flip side, a player can demand this even when he succeeds at a resisted Ability Check. This not only allows him to zoom in the imagined camera on this conflict, but is the only way to permanently injure or get rid of a major named character controlled by the Story Guide.
The Story Guide cannot Bring Down the Pain. He can request it, but another player involved in the conflict must actually declare it.
Surprise
Surprise is not part of the Bringing Down the Pain system. Instead, it takes place before-hand. If a character acts against another, and the latter has no clue what's going on, the player will not be able to make an Ability Check to resist. This still counts as a resisted Ability Check, and the player can announce that he'd like to Bring Down the Pain.
When a player declares they are Bringing Down the Pain, action breaks down into a round-by-round, gritty basis similar to some RPGs' combat systems. The loser of the simple resisted Ability Check must immediately accept damage to his character equal to the winner's Success Level (see "Damage" below). Both sides of the conflict must make certain their intention - their goal - is clarified and well-stated, for it is very important here. This intention must be clear, but can allow room for differing actions to achieve the goal: "drive away these opponents in battle," "embarrass the noble in front of his peers," or "out-perform this guy on the guitar" are all fine intentions.
After intentions are stated, everyone who has a character involved in the conflict should state what their action will be. Actions can be changed during this stage, where everything, even actions hidden to the characters, is discussed in the open. (In Ron Edwards' Trollbabe , this is called the free-and-clear stage.)
After the free-and-clear stage, everyone rolls Ability Checks for their action. If two characters are taking action against each other, this is a resisted Ability Check. The loser at this Check takes damage equal to the Success Level of the Check, possibly modified by Secrets and weapons. This is true even if the actions are unrelated: if Carlotta is swinging a sword at Daniel, and Daniel's trying to talk her out of it, their players roll against each other and the loser's character takes damage. If a character is taking action against someone who is not taking action against him, that's a normal unresisted Ability Check, and the target will definitely take damage if this Check is successful.
When all rolls are resolved, another free-and-clear stage begins. This continues until one side of the conflict gives up, at which time the winners' intention happens. The trick to Bringing Down the Pain lies in this rule: in any free-and-clear stage, a player can announce that he is changing his character's intention completely. This could change from "sneak up on my enemy" to "kill my enemy," "best the queen in a war of words" to "seduce the queen," or even "out-play this guy on the guitar" to "magically put this guy to sleep." He does not have to state the new intention until the next free-and-clear stage. During the next volley of rolls, he may only defend against one attack, and will deal no damage if he succeeds.
Damage and defeat
"Damage" in this game does not necessarily refer to physical, blood-and-guts rending of flesh and bone. Instead, it is a quality of both the character in the context of the game world and the character in context of the real world. Damage is a count-down of when a player loses control over his character, and can be expressed as any of these things in-game:
- Cuts and bruises
- Fatigue and weariness
- Embarrassment and crushed esteem
- Loss of concentration and will
Whenever a defending player loses in an Ability Check while Bringing Down the Pain, his character takes damage. The base damage is equal to the Success Level of the acting player's roll, which can be modified by Secrets or weapons. Again, the type of action being done against the character does not matter - you can take damage from seduction as easily as you can from a sword.
When damage is taken, the player must make an Ability Check using his character's Stay Up ability. This roll, called a Damage Check , is the only exception to the standard Ability Check in the game. This roll must equal or beat the amount of current damage the character has. If it does not, the character is bloodied . When the character is bloodied, the player takes a penalty die to every Ability Check except the Damage Check.
If a second Damage Check is failed, the character is broken . In order for the character to perform any action, even defense, the player must spend a point from the ability's associated pool, and the player still receives one penalty die to this action. Any successful action taken
against a broken character results in the attacker's intention being
fulfilled.
The player does get one benefit when his character is bloodied or broken: he can immediately change the character's intention in the conflict without spending an action doing so.
At any point during Bringing Down the Pain, a player may decide that the damage taken is enough for this conflict and give up. By not defending against an Ability Check, the player gives up the conflict, and his opponent's intention occurs.
It is often a good idea to give up before your opponent's intention becomes more deadly. See an example at for more insight into why.
Multiple characters in a conflict
For simple Ability Checks, having multiple characters involved is easy to handle. If the characters are using varying abilities, each building to help another one, it's handled like one character using abilities together. Decide the order the checks have to be performed in, and have each player roll, with Success Levels being added as bonus dice to the next player's roll. As with one character, failure at an Ability Check may mean that the overall action cannot continue, that the next player must roll a penalty die on his Ability Check, or that the checks may continue with no penalty dice.
If multiple characters are using the same, or fairly equivalent, abilities to perform a task together, use the method above, with the following caveats:
- Failure always means the next player adds a penalty die to his roll.
- Always roll from the character with the highest ability to the character with the least ability.
- If a penalty die is given from the Story Guide because of difficulty, it applies to all rolls.
This does mean that having a character weak with the ability helping may hinder the task.
Example
Mike, Wil, and Susan are going to have their characters Miska, Wolf-Snarl, and Skala try to open a stuck door together. All of them are using Athletics to do this, pushing against the door with their shoulders. Their scores are:
- Wolf-Snarl: Athletics 7
- Skala: Athletics 5
- Miska: Athletics 1
Wil rolls 6, plus Wolf-Snarl's Athletics of 7 for a total of 13 - Success Level 2. With two bonus dice, Susan rolls a 10, plus Skala's Athletics of 5 for a total of 15 - Success Level 3. Finally, with three bonus dice, Mike rolls a 7, plus Miska's Athletics of 1, for an 8 - a Failure.
Wil has Wolf-Snarl growl, "Out of my way, weakling," and grab the door alone. Even with a roll of 4, Wolf-Snarl scores Success Level 1 and yanks the door open.
If Bringing Down the Pain is the ultimate way to test two differing wills, how to you manage it when more people want to get in on the fun? The standard way is easy: whenever one player declares that he wants to Bring Down the Pain, any character around can get involved. Part of the declaration of intention is who you're planning to affect: your character can only damage that character until you change intention. The Bringing Down of the Pain does not end until only one character is left standing, or all the other players have given up.
The Zeitgeist method of group Pain-Bringing may be an easier and more fun way to arbitrate these situations. If everyone on one side of a conflict has a similar intention towards the other side, you can use the above rules for a group Ability Check when everyone is using similar abilities. In the Zeitgeist mode, anyone can spend from their pools to help anyone else, and damage taken is distributed by the losing side among their characters however they like. Whenever a character is broken, his player falls out of the group Pain-Bringing.
Healing
In the next scene after being damaged, a player may make a Healing Check for his character to recover from damage. This is a Stay Up Ability Check, and dice from any pool can be spent to add bonus dice to the roll. The Success Level obtained is the amount of damage that can be subtracted. Any success on this roll results in the character moving to a less damaged state of being: from broken to bloodied, or bloodied to normal.
Outside of this, Healing Checks can be made in the following situations:
- After a full night's rest for the character.
- Upon expenditure of five points from any mix of pools.
Weapons and armor
Ah, weapons and armor - the love of any player, and an oft-fetishized part of any role-playing game. In this game damage is, as shown above, an erosion of a character's ability to get his way, instead of always being physical pain and suffering. Therefore, weapons aren't just swords, knifes, clubs, and the like, and armor isn't just padding a character wears on his body. Anything can be a weapon - but only in certain situations.
Weapons add to the Success Level of a successful action. Armor subtracts from the Success Level of a successful action done to your character. In both cases, the items can have +1, +2, or +3 ratings. The level of the rating is determined by the specificity of the damage or protection.
- Weapons and armor with a +1 rating work in specific situations determined by action taken, and often ability used. Examples include:
- A sword that gives +1 damage in combat.
- A royal crest that provides +1 protection when involved in diplomacy.
- A lute that deals +1 damage in attempts to win a crowd while playing it.
- Weapons and armor with a +2 rating work in situations with a specific type of people, environment, or other restrictions. Examples include:
- A mace that gives +2 damage against "hard" armors, like plate or chain.
- The Seal of Maldor, which provides +2 protection against the law in Maldor.
- A set of snowshoes, which deal +2 damage in attempts to race across snowy areas.
- Weapons and armor with a +3 rating work in rare situations or against particular persons. Examples include:
- A dagger forged to kill the Potenate of Ammeni, which deals +3 damage in attempts to kill him.
- A writ of birthday immunity, which gives +3 protection against any attempt to prosecute a person for crimes committed on their birthday.
- A set of goggles which give +3 damage while trying to see motion during an eclipse.
An item can have more than one bonus - it can have up to three +1 bonuses, two +2 bonuses, and one +3 bonus.
Weapons and armor can occur in the game in two ways. The Story Guide can declare any item in the game to give +1 damage or protection in a particular situation. Alternatively, any player can declare his character's equipment to have a bonus with the Secret of Imbuement. This purchase is subject to Story Guide approval.
Pool refreshment
Whenever an attribute is not at its full level, it can be refreshed , restoring it to its full level by the character performing an in-game action.
Vigor is refreshed by eating a hot meal and spending a night in revelry. Drinking liquor, taking part in exuberant sex, using drugs, or going to a loud and wild music performance are all good examples.
Instinct is refreshed by performing a substantial act of physical exertion for purposes of enjoyment or exercise, not because of danger. This could be anything from a five-mile run to a night of dancing to spending a morning in the cold hunting elk.
Reason is refreshed by engaging in a substantial act of intellectual stimulation, such as having an intelligent argument with someone, going to a play, or reading a book for a few hours.
Crunchy Bits
Abilities
Each ability has an associated pool , a pool which can be drawn on in order to give a bonus die to use of the ability. This is noted when naming abilities like this: Ability Name (Pool) .
Innate Abilities
Every character has four innate abilities : natural reactions and quantifications of the character's physical and mental stability. They are:
Athletics (Vigor)
This is a measure of raw physicality and fitness. It is used for running, jumping, swimming, or any other strength-based task not listed as a separate ability.
Reaction (Instinct)
This measures the quickness of a character's body and mind. It is as much "how quick the character notices something" as "how quick the character moves." It is used in a variety of situations, from who goes first in Bringing Down the Pain, to dodging blows, to noticing danger.
Resist (Reason)
"Resist" is the strength of a character's will, and is used to prevent compulsion of a natural or supernatural type. This includes physical compulsion: "Resist" would be used for a character to keep his cool under torture, for example.
Stay Up (Special)
"Stay Up" may well be the most unique ability in the game. In one sense, it answers the question, "how much damage can this character take?" Since damage isn't solely of the physical variety in this game, though, it is as much a measure of "how much suffering this character will take before he gives up." "Stay Up" does not have an associated pool: instead, all pools are associated with it. When a character is damaged, the associated pool for "Stay Up" is the same as the associated pool for the ability used to damage the character.
Ratkin Species Abilities
Innate Ability: Litter Bond (Instinct)
This is the ratkin ability to move as part of a group and automatically foresee the actions of its brethren. It can be used to defend anyone in the character's litter from danger, but another Ability Check (modified by this one) is needed to actually stop the danger.
Artistic Abilities
Freeload (Instinct)
Freeload is used to get free meals and shelter. Your character can't really get wealthy using Freeload, but you can manage to survive even if broke, which isn't bad.
Create (Instinct)
Create is used for painting, sculpting, and other arts where a concrete item is created.
Story-tell (Reason)
Story-tell is used for creating or telling stories, including ballads.
Music (Instinct)
Music is used for singing and playing instruments, and represents musical talent, not lyrical talent. Music and Story-tell are often used together to make an effective song.
Craft Abilities
Haggling (Instinct)
Haggling is used to get the best price for goods. In the world of Near, coinage doesn't really exist, and this is used to make sure you get a fair trade in barter, which means it can be used to evaluate the quality and worth of goods as well.
Fine Crafts (Reason)
Fine Crafts is used for leatherworking, woodworking, and other crafts that require fine manipulation.
Rough Crafts (Vigor)
Rough Crafts is used for stonecutting, forging, and other crafts that require a great deal of strength.
Complex Crafts (Reason)
Complex Crafts is used for any task that requires a great deal of steps or mixing of different materials, ranging from building clocks and locks to cooking.
Fighting Abilities
First Aid (Reason)
If someone's been physically hurt, this can be used to give them bonus dice in a Healing Check.
Scrapping (Instinct)
Untrained fighting is the center of this Ability. Fists, feet, daggers, kitchen knives, table legs, and all sorts of clubbery are usually used in Scrapping.
Infantry (Vigor)
This is the use of larger swords and axes and metal armor, as well as working as part of a fielded army.
Battle (Reason)
Battle is the basic skills and tactics known by any military commander. It is used for giving orders in combat and planning attacks, including ambushes.
Illicit Abilities
Stealth (Instinct)
Stealth is used to sneak up on people, hide from other characters, and conceal objects on your character's body.
Theft (Instinct)
Theft is used for picking pockets, cutting purses, lockpicking, breaking and entering without being noticed, and safecracking, as well as any other theft-related activity.
Deceit (Reason)
Deceit is used to fool other characters – including pretending to be someone else, by outfit or by imitation – forge a document, or straight-out lie well.
Streetwise (Reason)
Streetwise is used to know information about the illegal underground, including where to buy illegal things, sell stolen goods, or know who controls organized crime.
Outdoor Abilities
Aim (Vigor)
Aim is used for shooting bows and crossbows and throwing objects.
Woodscraft (Reason)
Woodscraft is used to track people or animals, know what sorts of plants and animals are present in an area and their properties, as well as set traps.
Animal Ken (Instinct)
Animal Ken is the social skill for dealing with animals, and is used to deal with domesticated animals or wild ones, as well as riding animals. Domesticated animals are much easier to control, of course, and this may be used to give them commands. For wild animals, on the other hand, this works about as far as scaring them off, or convincing them not to eat you.
Scrounging (Instinct)
While most Maldorites are very poor, their land is covered with the riches of times past. This ability can be used to find items or materials when they should not be commonly found.
Priestly Abilities
Pray (Vigor)
Pray is used for meditation, blessing actions, and performing religious rituals. It involves the character's belief that he is connected to something better than him.
Counsel (Reason)
Counsel is used to bring peace to someone via private conversation, not unlike mental health counseling. It is the spiritual equivalent of First Aid.
Discern Truth (Reason)
Discern Truth is used to tell if someone is being honest, or read a person's intentions.
Orate (Instinct)
Orate is used to sway opinion with speech or demagoguery, and is generally used with crowds.
Social Abilities
Sway (Instinct)
Sway is used to sway individuals through conversation. Unlike Orate, this works better one-on-one, and the character being swayed may not even realize your character's intentions.
Savoir-Faire (Instinct)
Savoir-Faire is used to act smooth, dance, get a kiss from a lady, and get another character into your character's bedchambers.
Etiquette (Reason)
Etiquette is used to know your way around a society, including knowing who is important and where to get favors. It is the non-illegal society equivalent of Streetwise.
Dueling (Vigor)
Dueling is the art of honorable one-on-one battle. Almost every culture has its rituals for physically solving problems, which usually involve a sword.
Secrets
Secret of Enhancement (Ability)
You must select an ability when you take this Secret. You may spend as many points out of the associated pool to give bonus dice to the ability as you like.
Secret of Speciality (Skill)
You must select an ability when you take this Secret. Choose a speciality your character has within that ability - for example, cooking pastries for the Complex Crafts skill. You always have a bonus die when your character attempts an action that falls within that speciality. Cost: none.
Secret of Languages (Specific language)
Your character knows a language outside his homeland's.
Secret of Scribing
Your character can read and write any language he knows.
Secret of the Signature Weapon
Your character has one weapon with which he is bonded. You gain a bonus die to any action taken with that weapon and any other character else attempting to use the weapon receives a penalty die. Cost: nothing. (Note: to change this weapon, this Secret must be taken again.)
Secret of Imbuement
Add a bonus to one of your character's weapons or armor, according to the rules in Chapter 4: Playing the Game.
Secret of Contacts
Your character knows all sorts of people in all sorts of places. You can use this Secret once per session for your character to automatically know a non-player character in the adventure. You may describe the relationship in a short phrase, such as "old enemy," "wartime buddy," or "ex-lover," but the Story Guide gets to decide the history and current disposition of the relationship. Cost: 3 points from a pool determined by the Story Guide. Vigor would fit for a wartime buddy, Instinct for an ex-lover, and Reason for a former colleague in your character's field of study.
Secret of Blessing
With a successful Pray Ability Check, your character may bless the actions of a group. You must state a specific goal for them to accomplish. Your Success Level with this Ability Check is a pool of bonus dice any member of this group can use in accomplishing this task. Cost: 1 Vigor.
Secret of Mighty Blow
Your character can strike with extreme might. Spend as many dice of Vigor as you like to increase the damage of a blow in combat.
Secret of Parry
Your character is experienced in blocking other weapons in combat. Your character can parry blows using his Melee skill, rather than dodge them. Cost: 1 Vigor.
Secret of Shattering
The weight of your weapon can be used to destroy other weapons and armor in combat. With a successful attack, your Success Level (not including any damage bonuses) is removed from the damage bonuses of weapons or damage reductions of armor. If reduced to 0, the item is destroyed. Cost: 2 Vigor.
Secret of Flying Leap
Your character can make amazing leaps. Using this Secret, he jumps 10 yards per Success Level in a Athletics Ability Check. Cost: 2 Vigor.
Secret of the Unwalked Path
Your character's footfalls leave little trace for others to follow. You can use your character's Woodscraft ability in resistance to anyone trying to track him. Cost: 1 Instinct.
Secret of Animal Speech
Your character can speak to an animal and understand its signals with a successful Animal Ken Ability Check. Cost: 2 Instinct.
Secret of the Hidden Pocket
Your character is adept at hiding objects on his person. No matter how carefully searched the character has been, he may pull an inexpensive, small (hand-sized) item off his person with a successful Stealth Ability Check. Cost: 2 Instinct.
Secret of Evaluate
Your character's battle experience has give him the ability to read an opponent well. Evaluate your character's opponent not in descriptive terms, but in game mechanics, on a successful Battle Ability Check. (You can ask for any of the following information, one bit per Success Level: Vigor score, Instinct score, best combat skill and score, specific skill and score.) Cost: 1 Reason.
Secret of Inner Meaning
Your character's art carries a meaning beyond the surface. Use any Instinct-based ability at a distance via a piece of your character's art. Cost: 2 Reason.
Secret of Herbal Health
Your character can always find an herb that is an effective healing agent with a successful Woodscraft Ability Check in the outdoors. The herb will automatically grant a Healing Check, with bonus dice equal to your Success Levels with this Skill Check. Cost: 2 Reason.
Secret of Quality Construction (Craft Ability)
You must choose a specific Craft Ability when you take this Secret. Your character can craft items of excellent quality. Any item your character creates using this Secret gives one bonus die to a particular ability when using the item, permanently. Cost: 3 Reason.
Ratkin Species Secrets
Secret of Rat Familiarity
You gain a bonus die on all Animal Ken Ability Checks involving rodents. In addition, your character can speak to rodents in their own language. Cost: nothing. This secret is mandatory for Ratkin characters.
Secret of Rat Companions
Your character always has two to four rats around him, living in his pockets, scurrying on the floor, or the like. As a whole, they have the following abilities: Athletics 2, Reaction 5, Resist 1, Stay Up 2, Scrapping 2. Prerequisite: Secret of Rat Familiarity. Cost: nothing.
Secret of Rat Size
Being a Ratkin, your character is smaller than most people in the world, and can use that to his advantage in combat. Gain a bonus die any time your character is avoiding an attack from someone larger than him or any other situation in which his reduced size may help (i.e. an Athletics Ability Check to wriggle through a pipe.) Cost: nothing.
Secret of Rat Vision
Your character is gifted with excellent night vision. Gain a bonus die on any perception-based Ability Check at night. Cost: nothing.
Secret of Sibling Rivalry
You can refresh your character's Instinct pool whenever he gets in a knock-down, drag-out fight with a member of his litter. In addition, you can immediately roll your Litter Bond ability after the fight and add those bonus dice to your litter-mate's Healing Check. Cost: nothing.
Keys
Key of Fraternity
Your character has someone he is sworn to, a friend who is more important than anyone else. Gain 1 XP every time this character is present in a scene with your character (maximum 3 per adventure). Gain 2 XP whenever your character has to make a decision that is influenced by them. Gain 5 XP every time your character defends them by putting himself at risk. Buyoff: Sever the relationship with this person.
Key of the Guardian
Your character has a ward, someone who depends on him for security and protection. Gain 1 XP every time this character is present in a scene with your character. Gain 2 XP whenever your character has to make a decision that is influenced by them. Gain 5 XP every time your character rescues them from harm. Buyoff: Sever the relationship with this person.
Key of the Vow
Your character has a vow of personal behavior that he has sworn not to break. This could be a dietary restriction, a requirement to pray at sunbreak every morning, or something else like that. Gain 1 XP for every adventure in which your character does not break this vow. Gain 2 XP every time your character does not break this vow even though it causes him minor harm or inconvenience. Gain 5 XP every time your character does not break this vow even though it causes him great harm. Buyoff: Break this vow.
Key of the Mission
Your character has a personal mission that he must complete. Gain 1 XP every time he takes action to complete this mission (2 XP if this action is successful.) Gain 5 XP every time he takes action that completes a major part of this mission. Buyoff: Abandon this mission.
Key of Faith
Your character has a strong religious belief that guides him. Gain 1 XP every time he defends his faith to others. Gain 2 XP whenever this character converts someone to his faith. Gain 5 XP whenever this character defends his faith even though it brings him great harm. Buyoff: Your character renounces his beliefs.
Key of Bloodlust
Your character enjoys overpowering others in combat. Gain 1 XP every time your character defeats someone in battle. Gain 3 XP for defeating someone equal to or more powerful than your character (equal or higher combat skill.) Buyoff: Be defeated in battle.
Key of Glittering Gold
Your character loves wealth. Gain 1 XP every time you make a deal that favors you in wealth. Gain 2 XP every time you finish an adventure with more wealth than you started with. Gain 5 XP every time you double your wealth. Buyoff: Give away everything you own except what you can carry lightly.
Key of the Coward
Your character avoids combat like the plague. Gain 1 XP every time your character avoids a potentially dangerous situation. Gain 3 XP every time your character stops a combat using other means besides violence. Buyoff: Leap into combat with no hesitation.
Key of Conscience
Your character has a soft spot for those weaker than their opponents. Gain 1 XP every time your character helps someone who cannot help themselves. Gain 2 XP every time your character defends someone with might who is in danger and cannot save themselves. Gain 5 XP every time your character takes someone in an unfortunate situation and changes their life to where they can help themselves. Buyoff: Ignore a request for help.
Key of Vengeance
Your character has a hatred for a particular organization, person, or even species or culture. Gain 1 XP every time your character hurts a member of that group or a lackey of that person. Gain 2 XP every time your character strikes a minor blow at that group or person (killing a member of the organization or one of the person's lackeys, disrupting their life, destroying their property). Gain 5 XP every time your character strikes a major blow at that group or person. Buyoff: Let your enemy go.
Key of the Revolutionary
Your character is dedicated to overthrowing a ruling class, party, or government. Gain 1 XP every time he speaks out against the rulers, or breaks a minor law. Gain 2 XP every time he acts directly against the rulers. Gain 5 XP every time he puts himself in great danger in order to damage the status quo. Buyoff: Accept any favor from the rulers in order for your quietude or complicity.
Key of the Manipulator
Your character works behind the scenes, manipulating others in order to be a shadow ruler. Your character must work for or be an advisor of someone in a position of power. Gain 1 XP whenever your character exerts his will over his ruler, even over minor matters - especially over minor matters. Gain 2 XP whenever the ruler accepts your character's advice over others. Gain 5 XP whenever your character's influence makes the ruler make a policy change or establish a new policy that works in your character's favor. Buyoff: Accept the mantle of power for one's self.
Ratkin Species Keys
Key of the Litter
Your character has a litter he was either born into or adopted. Gain 1 XP every time he defends a litter-mate from harm. Gain 3 XP every time he defends a litter-mate at great danger to himself. Buyoff: Leave your litter to strike out on your own. (Note: You may choose to adopt a different litter at any time, but must buyoff this key and buy it again for your character to bond with the new litter. Your character may not have more than one litter at a time.)
Key of the Precious
Your character jealously guards his possessions, afraid that someone will try to take them at first opportunity. Gain 1 XP every time your character gains a new possession by his skills - not when one is given to him or bought. Gain 2 XP every time your character gains a new possession by fighting for it. Gain 5 XP whenever your character successfully defends his possessions against theft. Buyoff: Give away your possessions permanently.
Running the Game
Designing an adventure
Key Scenes
The main experience engine in The Shadow of Yesterday are Keys, allowing players to decide exactly what sort of experiences in play they are most interested in. The Story Guide is just as much of a player, though, and so he controls a secondary experience engine: Key Scenes. Key Scenes are similar to some fantasy RPG experience systems in that they are particular junctures in the play session that the Story Guide has decided beforehand are worth experience to the characters: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is one game that uses this. These are not particular outcomes, though. "Saving the princess," "killing or thwarting the evil overlord," and "taming the wild beast" are not good examples of Key Scenes. Key Scenes should be tense, have multiple outcomes, and force players to make a decision for their characters. (In this, they are like Bangs from Ron Edwards' Sorcerer .)
"Discovering the princess is trapped in a high tower," "meeting the overlord," and "confronting the wild beast" are good Key Scenes, as each can result in multiple outcomes and do not put restrictions on what the player decision is for his character. Key Scenes do not have to tie into any particular overarching plot or story-line; they can be light and humorous, or grim and serious.
Whenever a character is present in a Key Scene, he earns one to three experience points, as determined beforehand by the Story Guide. These experience points are given as soon as the scene is over.
Designing NPCs
Interesting non-player characters (NPCs) are the cornerstone of a good adventure. In their interactions with the players' characters, they provide a mirror to reflect action and values. Before figuring out their mechanics, you should figure out their motivations and general reactions. This is easier than you might think: depending on the importance of their character to the story, you should be able to sum this up in one to three sentences.
Of extreme importance is a name for the character: first impressions are, as it's said, lasting. I recommend making a list of common and uncommon names for the culture that your game is currently set in and having that by your side as a Story Guide. Pick names for your most important NPCs ahead of time; throwaway NPCs can have a name picked on the fly from the list.
Beasts
Beasts are the easiest NPCs of all to write up. Instead of having the normal gamut of abilities, they should have just these few.
Power (Vigor)
This is the animal's strength and ferocity. Even animals, such as a tame buffalo, that do not normally attack people may have a high Prowess, as they'd whip some tail if provoked. This is used to attack other characters and smash things.
Prowess (Instinct)
This is the animal's quickness and control. It is used to dodge blows, run away, and be fast like a rabbit.
Senses (Instinct)
This is self-explanatory: it is the animal's ability to notice its surroundings.
Brain (Reason)
This is a measure of the animal's intelligence and will, and is used like Reason. While it may be a hinderance to domestication, it is also used for a domesticated animal to understand commands.
Stay Up (Special)
This is as per normal.
Beasts should have few, if any, points in their pools. One or two points in Instinct makes them a much more formidable foe, and one or two points in Vigor makes them devastating. No points should be in Reason unless the animal has very special properties.
An animal may have one or two Secrets to represent special abilities that it has, such as goring horns, or a prehensile tail. You can remove the cost from these Secrets if the ability is built in to the animal.
Punks and pogues
Your average run-of-the-mill scene filler NPC does not need to be fully fleshed out. Instead of creating a character from scratch, assign scores to Innate Abilities, plus one other ability, for the NPC. The Innate Abilities can be made more broad for this purpose: Athletics can be used to attack, Reaction to climb, and Resist to solve a riddle.
These guys should rarely, if ever, have points in their pools. One point makes them dangerous; two points makes them a real nuisance. Likewise with Keys, which they shouldn't have points to spend on, anyway: none is fine, while one or two makes them quite powerful.
Major NPCs
NPCs that you plan to have show up in the campaign more than once should be given a name, and fully fleshed out. The number of advances they have should the average of the players' characters', plus or minus five.
When using these NPCs, though, their pools should be halved, as they do not have the chances to spend them that the players' characters do.
Running an adventure
Giving out experience points
As a Story Guide, you are responsible for binding the game together into an enjoyable narrative. You may be considered responsible by the players for their experience points and advancement. They are, of course, as wrong as they can be. When you see a player have his character act in a way that should earn him experience from a Key, feel free to announce that out loud. Feel just as free not to: that character is that player's creation, and he should well be playing attention to what's going on, and be invested in his character's advancement.
With the exception of Key Scenes, which you are responsible for, an ideal flow of experience point giving should go like this:
Jack, a player : My character, Willis, leaps forward, his ratkin legs kicking to land in front of the sword-blow coming down on Jeph. (rolls) Success! Hey, that hits one of my Keys. 3 experience, right?
Jennifer, the GM : A-yup.
Running a campaign
Character Transcendence
"Transcendent" is the result of an ability check result of 22. It signals the end of a character's story, and is a special occasion for that character's player. With this result, the player should feel free to narrate the outcome of his roll himself, with any help he likes from the other players and Story Guide. If the roll comes during Bringing Down the Pain, that ends immediately. If the scene is taking place during the day, the sun is eclipsed by the moon within the hour; if during the night, the moon is eclipsed by the sun.
The story should immediately focus upon the transcendent character. He has just accomplished a feat that will be spoke of by his companions forever, and the day is his. Within 24 game-hours of the moment he became transcendent, his story will be over. The character may die; he may retire for a quiet life; he may disappear over the hills or become something else entirely. His story will end and he will be retired from play.
This does not mean the campaign is over. The player may bring a new character into play after his current character leaves. This character may well be established during the day of transcendence, and carry on the legends of a character who has just had his most glorious moment.
About "Let Them Eat War"
"Let Them Eat War" is an introduction to The Shadow of Yesterday , a post-apocalyptic fantasy role-playing game by Clinton R. Nixon. In The Shadow of Yesterday , a much larger world is open to play in, with many lands to explore, and many other species - elves, goblins, and vulfen - to create characters from.
These rules are completely compatible with the full game, which can be found at http://www.anvilwerks.com/tsoy/. The Shadow of Yesterday is expected to be available in book form at the beginning of December 2004.
The title of this article and game are taken from Bad Religion's 2004 album, The Empire Strikes First.
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