Beyond Arihmere

Although the old realm of Arihmere is unfortunate enough to contain more than its share of dangers, there are many notable realms beyond its borders.

South: The Sundering Wars

Cordaigne, once known as the Captured Kingdom, was held entire by the Theran Empire, but the empire is now divided, and both successor states, east and south,  claim a patchwork of provinces and cities within its borders. As though the separation were not chaotic enough, the brawling Andaran Princess and the nominal King of Arihmere intervene in the simmering conflict, siding with one side and the other, warring and aligning, claiming and ceding territory, every year.

North: The Fell Lords

A hundred years ago, or more (for historians argue the dates as much as they doubt the events) it is said that Haladrin the Good was the only king ever to unite Arihmere under the one banner. Naturally, he was murdered by an ambition noble, Streigil, the Lord of Vosse and Cabel. Streigil did not rule alone, for he had nine (or eleven, or twenty three) dark lords at his side to impose his terror, and a witch-wife besides. Naturally, there was a revolt, and Streigil was struck down in battle (some say, slain). But his lords would not accept defeat, and turned to sorcery and infernal pacts, and three years later the Lord of Vosse and Cabel (or his revenant) returned to the throne with his wife as Queen and First Minister.

Whatever the truth of it, the Lady Streigil was finally undone by blade and magic, and her Fell Lords retreated far into the north. Most likely they perished among the fens and mountains, but in the north they say that the Fell Lords still rule among the black forests and dead lands where the pastures wither, planning their return, when they will recover the master and his lady from the deep, secret barrow where they were interred.

The Copper Road

The Wolve's Lane is but the end of a long road, winding from the far, forgotten south-east, from mountains, steppes, deserts and rivers and boundless forest, from sprawling kingdoms, empires, satrapies, protectorates, khanates and republics. Through all of this runs The Copper Road, named for the earliest coins that travelled between its markets, before even steel was forged.

The Arrant Sea

The Arrant Sea is wild, cold and clear. Most ships follow the shore, but there are uncounted islands and strange landings out there. For three hundred years, the Reaver Thegns have come from over the horizon, raiding or seeking kingdoms to steal, and every once in a while, the great armoured backs of the Heviathands, bristling with walls and turrets, heave into view from the shore.

On the realm of Arihmere

Arihmere is a varied country, and its terrain includes wild coastlines, valleys and moors, and rugged mountains. There are many manors and villages, watch-towers and castles, and a handful of villainous cities and deep ports.

The peoples of Arihmere, townsman and peasant alike, have long settled within stout walls and hedges. Under the manorial system, most commoners are protected by the arms of a nobleman and his knights. But the realm is divided, tugged in many directions. In the south, the impetuous King Martyn spends the campaign season mired on the Sundering Wars, draining his treasury while he clings to the ancient title of king in the city of Warrensworth. At odds with him, but scattered along the north marches, the great houses bicker over precedence and territory, in the shadow of the Withered Lands.

In truth, Arihmere, like most of the Harrowmarch, has never been under a single law, but a subject of incomplete rule, from the ramshackle empires of the Erduath and Kees, to the clannish realms of the Ellfolk, to the Reaver Thegns and the witch-realms of the Leaden Lords before their fall. Much of what is known or said of the history of Arihmere is mere guesswork, were it not for the old pits and works of these lost domains.

The only certainty is that the realm is known for its haphazard and unlikely collection of perilous beasts and strange folks, for its grimelocks and trillits, ourgarths and teamsprits, monstrous wyrms and shy fae, and countless other oddities.

The rough chances

Recently, the tinkerage has been working on a rules-lite system inspired by XD20 and Fighting Fantasy, and developing elements from And Play. The result has been a core concept (you could hardly call it even a mechanic) that could apply to any of these systems, or even to a rules ultra-light game like Sword and Backpack.

Now Sword and Backpack (S&B) is inspiring, but it's barely a system, more like the description of what would happen in play: you describe situations, propose actions, roll dice to decide. But the thought occurs that if you could table just the rough chances of success and failure, and use them consistently, you would have the basis of an RPG. Although most games use tables and extensive modifiers, what we are usually looking for are probabilities that 'feel right' and provide a satisfying balance of success and failure that's true to the circumstances.

So here's the rough chances table:

Chances	Roll	Consequences
Very Low	17+	Exceptional (Critical Hit)
Low	14+	Enhanced
Close	11+	Medium
High	7+	Light
Very High	4+	Slight
Exceptionally High	1+	Negligible (scratch)

Using the rough chances table:

• In free-form roleplaying, like And Play or S&B, you weight up the options, pick a chance, and there on the row is your roll for success (d20, of course). Add a few points to make things harder, or deduct a few to make things easier.
• In XD20, where the lower a STAT the better, the table tells you roughly what the chances are by looking at the Roll column. So if a character has a STAT of 8, chances are good. Want to make the chances better or worse? Select another row and estimate the STAT or modifier from there (so if your STAT 8 character fights a STAT 9 orc, it seems the chances are close; go for a roll of 11 or 12).
• And, if you roll for effect (higher being better) then use the Consequences column. You can even use this to judge damage.

You can also convert this table for different dice (such as 2d6 for Fighting Fantasy).

The new system, based on the rough chances table, is coming soon... -ish. Still tinkering with it.

The Soul-bell and the Silent Village - mini-scenario

You reach the village after a long day of adventuring or travel, in high spirits. But the street is dark and cold. You think at first you see a dog rummaging through a pile of kitchen scraps; then you realise that it's a wolf, the first of many.

When you break into a house, you find everyone asleep, in a slumber that cannot be broken. Anyone with witch-sight can see the larvae, the spirit-wyrms, coiled about the bodies of the sleepers. But no common sorcery can dismiss a wyrm without destroying the mind of the sleeper.

Eventually, you might find the broken crypt in the kirk-yard and the body of the poor, damned fool (an adventurer like you) who opened it. Soul-burn is a hideous death.

There are clues scattered about the tomb and notes in the priest-house that might lead you to the legend of the soul-bell. But an interfering priest of the Narrow Faith cast that relic into the ravine a hundred years or more ago, and the ravine is haunted by grimelocks, naggs, and worse.

But it might be worth finding the bell, and letting it ring from the spire before dawn. Before the spirit-worms pupate and hatch...

FF redux - SKILL and WITS

Having one score (SKILL) in Fighting Fantasy for all tests can lead to pretty similar characters with similar abilities across the board, especially if you run your FF with a fixed SKILL, as I suggested in another post.

This is a simple variant for character creation that introduces a new ability, WITS, and a new test for WITS. With a balance of SKILL and WITS, it's possible to create more varied characters that emphasise different abilities, from battle to stealth and cunning.

New Abilities

SKILL: represents general fighting ability, strength and coordination. SKILL is used in fights, and in tests of SKILL which requires force or agility.

WITS: represents resourcefulness, cunning, nerve and dexterity. WITS are useful for tests of stealth, cunning and awareness, and tasks that requires a light touch, such as picking pockets or tampering with locks and traps.

STAMINA and LUCK are unchanged.

Initial SKILL and WITS

SKILL and WITS begin at 6. Then distribute a further three points between them.

GM's Notes

In Arihmere, adding WITS means characters can divide their efforts between combat and stealth. One can master one or the other, or find a near balance, but not both. An armoured knight might choose a SKILL of 9 and WITS of 6, showing contempt for 'dishonourable' tactics, whereas a lightly armed rogue (SKILL 7, WITS 8) may prefer subtlety and stealth in many a dark spot.

You may supplement battle with tricks and traps, but WITS should never be a substitute for clever play. That is, don't prompt a player to test WITS to find a hidden trap unless they are already directing their attentions in a particular direction by announcing a search.

Is there an RPG in this dungeon?

Looking through the beta rules for Dungeon Robber (the solo, pen-and-paper random dungeon-delving game), the tinkereage wonders if there is not a viable multi-party RPG hidden within these rules.

Dungeon Robber is now online in flash-format as a sort of hybrid rogue-like/OD&D dungeon crawler. It's a fun, often frustrating game, but the thrill of random dungeon creation and solo resource management in the face of arbitrary death by statistical misadventure does not last long.

But looking through the 'rules' behind the browser game, there is enough content to forge a working RPG which would resemble a streamlined version of the original dungeon-crawling system. Take the character generation rules, the classes, and the very compact method for creating monsters based on 'home level', add a simple task resolution system based on the saving throw (with modifiers for hard/easy tasks) and one would have a simple, workable system ready to go.

The only drawback is that combat would have the swift and deadly feel of OD&D. But then, wouldn't raising the threat of monster encounters bring a new feel to the old game?

Simple damage rolls for Fighting Fantasy

The fixed two points of damage for any normal hit against any character in any armour with any weapon in Fighting Fantasy is something of an over-simplification, and damage is usually the first feature of the combat rules to be house-ruled or adapted for advanced games.

But in the spirit of Fighting Fantasy, if you are going to roll another die for damage, why not make the rule as simple as possible?

Rolled Damage for Fighting Fantasy

When a hit is achieved, roll one die. This is the number of STAMINA points the wounded character will lose.

Weapons

Heavy weapons (two-handed swords, troll clubs) add 1 point to the total STAMINA loss.

Light weapons (goblin swords, short-staffs) deduct 1 point from the STAMINA loss.

Armour

Light armour deducts 1 points from the STAMINA loss.

Heavy armour (like plate or a full mail hauberk) deducts 2 points.

A shield deducts one more point from the STAMINA loss if the character carrying the shield makes a successful test for skill.

(The GM may apply the protective value of armour (1 or 2 points) as a penalty to any test for skill involving agility or speed.)

LUCK

A successful test for luck will cause a 1 point hit, if wounded, or a 6 point hit, if attacking. There is no penalty for failing the test for luck: a hit is bad enough.