You have 5 stats.

Four of them are:

--Forceful: For strength and endurance.
--Agile: For speed or stealth or dexterity.
--Insightful: For noticing stuff or remembering stuff or figuring stuff out or self-control.
--Charming: For persuading others (with your words and/or personality and/or acting).

You will (but not yet) assign these starting scores to them: -1, -1, 0, +1

Pretty sad, right? Well don't worry, because:

1. You get to raise those really soon, because:

2. you have one more stat: SOUL. This is because you woke up one day and realized that you have the power of an ancient soul attached to you. Anything you do that directly involves your SOUL is at +3.

--Soul: +3

The list below is a list of the ancient souls that can be attached to yours. Each has three things that they are basically kind of "in charge of." Before you start playing (not necessarily now), you will choose one of these souls-- it could be now, or later, after you've read more about this game.

--The Fairy Queen: illusions, beauty, otherworldly pixies
--The Magus: magic items, spells (but not illusions), book-learning
--The Dragon Prince: breath weapons, scales, roaring
--The Warlord: giving orders, strategy, mass battles (not one-on-one)
--The Dwarf King: defending, stone, metal
--The Elf Lord: archery, light as a feather, stars
--The Perfect Knight: armor, swords, goodness
--The Druid Chieftain: weather, beasts (but not dragons), plants
--The Holy Fool: fearless, laughter, underestimated
--The Thief: stealing, stealth, shadows
--The Dweller Below: monsters (but not ghosts), caves OR water, psychic
--The Chef: food, healing, parties
--The Musician: touching the heart, sound, listening
--The Weapon: weaponless combat, inner peace, lightning speed

NOTE: You, a mortal, can be ANY species. You can have The Dwarf King's soul and be human. Heck, you can have The Dwarf King's soul and be an elf. It doesn't matter. What species your Ancient Soul was/is has nothing to do with what species you are-- nor gender. A woman have the ancient soul of The Dwarf King. A man can have the soul of The Fairy Queen. It doesn't matter. None of it matters. You don't have to have the gender you seemed to be born with, or indeed a gender, as such, at all.

SO: Pick a species! (Want a list to choose from? Humans are the most common intelligent species in Sefonia, followed by Elves, Dwarves, Hillfolk (little short people), Goblins, Tuskers (big green strong guys), Trolls (big hairy guys), and Animal-folk (like a cross between an animal and a human).

(The most common animal-folk are:
--Catfolk (most common),
--Birdfolk,
--Lizardfolk (come in two sizes: smallish and large-ish (includes turtlefolk, who are large-ish)),
--Foxfolk,
--Hyenafolk,
--Frogfolk,
--Bullfolk (also called minotaurs),
--Snakefolk (like lizardfolk but with snake bodies below the ribcage instead of legs.

Snakefolk are the least-common on this list, but there are other, even-less-common animal-folk, too.)

(If you want to roll randomly, roll like this!

1d20:

1-5--Human
6--Elf
7--Dwarf
8--Hillfolk
9--Goblin
10--Tusker
11--Troll
12--Animal-folk (see next table)

Can't pick an animal-folk? Roll for it!

1d10:
1-2--Catfolk
3-4--Birdfolk
5--Lizardfolk
6--Foxfolk
7--Hyenafolk
8--Frogfolk
9--Bullfolk/Minotaur
10--Snakefolk

If you don't like what you rolled, then roll again until you get something you like, or just pick something!


"Can I be a half-elf?"

Absolutely-- baby, you can be a half-dwarf if you want to, or a half-troll. Or half-catfolk. Or half-lizardfolk and the other half is hyenafolk for all I care-- whatever you want-- it doesn't matter as far as game mechanics, so that is completely up to you.



Okay, so now assign your stats: -1, -1, 0, +1 to Forceful, Agile, Insightful, and Charming... and then +3 to Soul.


"So how do I improve my stats?" you ask...

To do anything, you roll two 6-sided dice, and you add your modifier.
--6 or lower: fail!
--7, 8, or 9: partial success.
--10, 11, 12: total success!
--higher than 12: Extra-BIG success!

In fact, not only is 13 or higher an extra-big success, but one of your non-Soul stats (you pick which, as long as it isn't Soul) goes up 1 point.

So yeah-- you can eventually have ALL your stats that aren't Soul at +2.

"What happens after my stats are all +2, +2, +2, +2, and +3 (for Soul)?"

At any time after you have no stats that are lower than +1, you can CHANGE THE WORLD.

Say a way that you want Sefonia to change. (It can't involve killing nor destroying a living being, though, nor making an intelligent being fall in love with you, nor affecting such a being's mind in any other way.)

If the GM agrees, Sefonia will change in that way. All your stats will go back to how they were when you started the game... AND you get to raise your maximum health points by 1 point (everyone starts with 3). Time to start doing things to try to level your stats up again!



Combat:

Sefonia can be a dangerous place. Fighting happens pretty often. So you're probably going to want to carry a weapon of some sort (unless your Ancient Soul is The Weapon, and then you won't really need one).

There are three moves you can make in combat:

--ALL-OUT

--CAREFUL

--DEFEND

These are a bit like Rock-Paper-Scissors. All-Out is stronger than Careful. Careful is stronger than Defend. Defend is stronger than All-Out.

When you and an opponent engage in combat, you will chose one of these three moves. The GM will roll randomly for what the opponent will do.



ALL-OUT vs. ALL-OUT: Both opponents are just giving it their all.
--Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent. Whoever has the higher roll result does double damage (2 hits), unless you're trying to hit multiple opponents, in which case you may choose to hit two targets for 1 hit each.
--If the roll result is a tie, BOTH fighters take 2 hits.

ALL-OUT vs. DEFEND:
--Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent. If ALL-OUT has the higher roll result, they do 1 hit. If DEFEND has the higher roll result OR if it's a TIE, no damage is done nor taken.


Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent.


ALL-OUT vs. CAREFUL:
--Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent.
--If ALL-OUT has the higher roll, they deal 2 hits. If CAREFUL's roll is higher, they do 1 hit.
----If the roll result is a tie, no damage is done nor taken this round.


CAREFUL vs. CAREFUL:
--Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent.
--Whoever gets the higher roll result does 1 hit.

CAREFUL vs. DEFEND:
--Roll Agile if you're using a weapon that needs one hand, Forceful if you're using a weapon that needs both hands. The GM will roll for your opponent.
--If CAREFUL gets a higher roll, they do 1 hit to the DEFEND. If DEFEND's roll is higher, or a tie, they block successfully, and no damage is done.

DEFEND vs. DEFEND: No one does damage-- you just talk smack to each other. Roll Charming: Whoever has the higher roll gets +1 to their roll next round! If it's a tie, both fighters get a +1 to their roll next round!


"What about armor?"

Good question. The problems with armor are: 1. it's expensive 2. it breaks 3. the better it is, the more it slows you down

--Light armor, like leather armor or a chainmail shirt or a small shield, can absorb 1 hit, but then it breaks.

--Heavy armor, like plate mail or a big heavy shield, can absorb 2 hits, but it gives you a -1 penalty to your Agile rolls.

So, a guy wearing plate mail with a big heavy shield could ignore 4 hits, but in the meantime he has a -2 to his Agile score. If he rolls a 6 at any time, he might get knocked down, or slip on gravel, or trips on a tree root or rock, and he'd be in big trouble. (Of course, he could just drop his big shield to solve part of that problem, but still.)


"What about bigger battles, though, where three player-characters go up against like a dozen little guys?"

You all fight as a group-- each side chooses ALL-OUT, CAREFUL, or DEFEND. BUT, you each roll separately.

If your side has to roll Charming to talk smack, you have to choose just one player-character to roll to do so.




"Is two hits the most damage that can be done in combat?"

Well, there are exceptions.

--A roll result of 13 or higher and you do 1 extra hit (well, unless you're Defending, obviously).

--Attacking with Magic-- in other words, something you're doing with your Soul stat-- can sometimes cause you to more than 2 hits.

So let's talk more about your Ancient Soul.


EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOUR ANCIENT SOULD CAN DO (this is NOT a complete list of what you can do! It's just meant to give you ideas!)

--The Fairy Queen:
----Create an illusion
----Make someone or something temporarily extremely-extra-beautiful
----Summon pixies to do something for you


--The Magus:
----Know something about a magic item, even if you've never seen it before (in this lifetime)
----Cast a magic spell (but it can't have the same effect as the abilities of any of the characters with Ancient Souls who are playing with you)-- but if it goes wrong, it can go REALLY wrong...
----Remember something useful about ancient history (even if you've never heard of it before (in this lifetime))


--The Dragon Prince:
----breathe fire (or a freezing blast of cold! You pick!)
----make your body suddenly scaly, like wearing light armor (will absorb 1 hit)
----roar and scare people (probably scare them, anyway)



--The Warlord:
----give orders that others feel tempted to obey without question (depending on the order)
----come up with brilliant plans and strategic maneuvers
----get an advantage when you are outnumbered in battle (not one-on-one)


--The Dwarf King:
----get an advantage when defending (anyone or anything), even taking hits for other people
----shatter stone or bend metal with just a touch
----repair metal armor or weapons quickly, even in mid-battle



--The Elf Lord:
----make amazing shots with a bow-and-arrow
----try to predict the future from the stars (with a high probability of being right)
----You can become light as a feather-- run on thin ice, the tops of bushes or hedges, or over snow or grass or dirt without leaving footprints that anyone but another elf could spot


--The Perfect Knight:
----Your armor can absorb twice the normal number of hits before it breaks
----Your sword can do 1 extra hit-- 2 extra if you roll 13 or higher
----You can perform amazing miracles as long as what you are doing is morally good and you are pure of heart


--The Druid Chieftain: weather, beasts (but not dragons), plants
----call down lightning, rain, or hailstones
----summon beasts and try to get them to help you
----hide by temporarily turning into a tree


--The Holy Fool: fearless, laughter, underestimated
----just ignore fear, even magically-caused fear
----make even enemies start laughing until their sides ache
----everyone always underestimates you, even when they shouldn't.



--The Thief:
----get a huge advantage at stealing anything and getting away with it
----get a big advantage at moving from place to place stealthily and attacking from the shadows
----see in almost total darkness and travel from shadow to shadow (as long as you can see where you want to go)


--The Dweller Below:
----summon monsters and try get them to help you
----get a big advantage in caves OR in/on water (you must pick one)
----move stuff with your mind


--The Chef:
----You can create delicious food super-fast out of almost no ingredients that when eaten can make monsters sleepy
----You can heal people with your food
----You can throw awesome parties with your food that make people like you


--The Musician:
----get a big advantage to persuading people with your songs
----sing or play a really loud note that startles or distracts others
----hear things no one else can hear


--The Weapon:
----you don't need a weapon to fight-- you do 1 extra hit no matter what anyway
----you can channel your inner peace to try to resist all but the strongest magic
----you can be light as a feather, able to walk (or jump) on surfaces that will barely hold your weight, and can also leave almost no tracks when you walk





OTHER RULES:

HEALING: When you rest for an hour, roll Forceful (because that's also your toughness). You get 1 health back on a 6 or lower, 2 health for a 7 to 9, and 3 for a 10 or higher. (More for a 13 or higher, but you can't raise a stat that way, sorry.)


(You can also sometimes find things like healing potions and other healing items while playing.)



TAKE WATCH:
When you take watch and the GM tells you something approaches, whoever's on watch rolls Insightful (unless you can think of an excuse to roll Soul for it):
--On a 10+, you notice in time to alert everyone and prepare; you and all your allies take +1 on each of your next rolls.
--On an 8-9, you notice in time to alert everyone, and everyone is prepared.
--On a 7-8, you’re a few moments too late; you manage to alert everyone, but nobody has time to prepare. They have weapons and armor but little else.
--On 6 or lower, whatever lurks outside the campfire’s light has the drop on you. You and all your allies take -1 on each of your next rolls.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:25, Sun 06 Aug 2023.

Next: Threats.

After THE INCIDENT, people started staying in their homes at night, and not straying too far from them in the day, at least not without an escort.

The dreams and nightmares that move about the land come in a few broad groups:

--Swarms: Tiny little dream pests that are completely harmless by themselves, but they tend to come in swarms. The swarms have 1 hp each. Do 1 hit to them, and they disperse harmlessly.

--Dream Imps (or just Imps): have 1 hp each, though they do sometimes travel in packs.

--Big Imps: have 2 hp each. Despite the "big" in their name, they are often smaller than humans (though not always).

--Wraiths: 3 hp each. Usually about the size of a human.

--Nightmares: 4 or more hp each. Often human-size, but just as often larger, too. Nightmares that're as big as a small house or larger tend to have 8 or more HP and are usually called Horrors.


The second-worst Horrors are huge.

The WORST horrors are human-sized, or slightly bigger, but they talk, think, plan, scheme, and often can do magic. They have ambitions.


WHAT DO DREAMS WANT? A list
1. to scare the living
2. blood (if they have no mouths, they just absorb it by touch)
3. treasure (maybe a specific type-- coins, jewels, jewelry)
4. power (Nightmares and Horrors only)
5. to be real beings with souls, and not just dreams (but that's probably impossible... isn't it?) (Nightmares and Horrors only)
6. a friend (Imps and Daydreams only)
7. to extinguish all light-- they want to put out all torches, lanterns, and campfires
8. fame (Nightmares only)
9. fresh water
10. magic items-- they want to steal them from you
11. food-- they want to eat your food, grain, or other supplies
12. beer/wine/liquor





But not all dreams and nightmares are dark. There are nice ones, too-- actively kind and/or beneficent. These are often called Helpers, Sylphs, or, most often, Daydreams. They come in all shapes and sizes, but beautiful women with wings are the most common, often glowing with their own light. Sadly, Daydreams are much more rare than the darker types.


As for Swarms, Imps, Wraiths, and Nightmares: they do tend to take on some forms more often than not. Here are some of the more-common ones:


--Hourglass: An hourglass with wings, slightly larger than 1 foot top to bottom. Causes FEAR that can give penalties in combat if you fail to resist. Attacks by flying into your head and smacking you over and over. Imp, 1 hp.

--Scissorswarm: a swarm of scissors. One of the deadliest types of swarms. 1 hp.

--Blood Hound: Wraith. 3 hp. Looks like a wolf turned inside-out.

--Blood Mantis: Wraith. 3 hp. Looks like a big, charcoal-black, praying mantis.

--Skellyman: Big Imp. 2 hp. Skeletal warriors (all sorts of skeletons. Human, often, but hyenafolk skeletons are often common-- those laugh and cackle, causing Fear).

--Doom Armor: Empty suits of platemail, often with red burning eyes. Wraith. 3 hp, 2 armor.

--Blood Tree: walking tree with eyes and a mouth on its trunk. Wants to eat you. Nightmare. 4 or 5 hp. 3 armor.

--Burner: men and women made of flame. Wraith. 3 hp.

--Bone Horse: A skeletal horse. Wraith. 3 hp.

--Bone Horselord: Like a bone horse, but walks on its back two legs and has arms and hands like the skeleton of a troll. Many can do a magic spell or two and/or speak. Nightmare. 5 hp. 1 armor.


Keep in mind that almost all Nightmares dislike sunlight (there are a few exceptions). Usually, the more powerful they are, the less they tolerate sunlight (although many that dislike it intensely will still venture out under completely overcast/rainy conditions if they think it may get them what they want).


Anyway, make up whatever other terrible things you want.



Here's a few Daydreams:

--Brushman: a little guy around 2 feet tall that looks like a cross between a thistle bloom, a hedgehog, and a thornbush. Friendly and cheerful and gives advice about dangers in the local area. 2 hp.

--Winged woman: a beautiful flying woman with wings who glows and tries to guide lost travelers to safety. 3 hp.

--Valiant: a beautiful flying WARRIOR woman with wings and a sword (and maybe a shield) who glows and tries to guide lost travelers to safety. 4 hp, 1 armor.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:51, Mon 16 Jan 2023.

Suggestions:

The Ancient Soul-- unless you don't want to play it this way-- wants something.

--The Fairy Queen: to open the doors to the Fey Lands wider

--The Magus: to undo or correct THE INCIDENT

--The Dragon Prince: to bring dragons back to the world (this should turn out to be hard), and rule them (this should probably be even harder)

--The Warlord: to unify the living people of the world

--The Dwarf King: to retake all of the Dwarven Kingdoms again-- or, at the very least, to make an above-ground Dwarven Kingdom that's as good as the old one was

--The Elf Lord: to reclaim all three Elven Forests for the elven peoples

--The Perfect Knight: to restore the knighthood-- not just in number, but to its former purity of purpose (helping the poor and weak and meek), specifically

--The Druid Chieftain: to help the natural places to drive out the horrors that infest them

--The Holy Fool: to have a fun time all the time and to make and help friends

--The Thief: to steal from those who have more than they need

--The Dweller Below: to destroy the Nightmares and Horrors that lurk in The Depths

--The Chef: to remember, find the ingredients for, and cook the Perfect Recipe

--The Musician: to remember and sing The Lost Song (this turns out to be quite hard)

--The Weapon: to achieve true enlightenment
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:10, Mon 07 Aug 2023.