Shadow & Fae

Art by Andy Romanchik Someone on Reddit got me thinking about a loose class system that really lets you go wild with building your character the way you see fit. This is probably wildly broken. Regardless, I love it. And it should "just work" with most GLoG systems. ModuGLOG At level 1 gain a "History". With each level, gain 2 "Feat Points". Spend a Feat Point on any Path to gain a feat of your choice from that path. Histories Each history grants a Skill, Starting Gear, and a Feature. You may choose your history, or roll a d6: 1-3. Human | 4. Dwarf | 5. Changeling | 6. Returned Human Anywhere you can find water, sun, and dirt, you're sure to get humans. Skill (d8): 1. Chef | 2. Sailor | 3. Smith | 4. Doctor | 5. Merchant | 6. Herbalist | 7. Thief | 8. Noble Starting Gear : 1 Weapon, Light Armor or Bow, Tool related to Skill, 2d6 GP. Versatile : Gain +1 Feat Point at level 1. Dwarf Carved from stone and sung to fleshy life, the dwarves don't ty...

  "Froken Selmer" from Codex Agea "Skills" are a dirty-word in OSR circles, not for what they represent, but because of how they so-often work in RPGs.  Often, every character has a list of the same 10 or so skills with a particular numerical bonus tied to an Ability Score and how many points of training they put into that skill during character creation. During the game, a challenge is presented and the table goes around asking "Who has the highest skill in this?" And then that person will make a roll. It's fine, I suppose, but a tad boring. Worse yet, if the first character fails, every other character attempts the challenge in descending order, until the untrained individual somehow rolls a Critical, proving that "book-learning isn't everything". The skilled character wonders why they spent so long in university when they could have been boozing and shooting darts. Some of this comes down to GMing methods, but a lot of it is reflective...

  What Makes a Setting Good? Adventure games are about adventuring. In so far as a setting empowers that, it is good. If it makes adventuring difficult or confusing, it has taken a misstep. That's the theory, and I'm running with it. Lots of folks like to talk about Elden Ring, which gives a  touch  of lore up front, just enough to make you wonder, and then trusts you to explore and figure out that world on your own. If you want to dive into the lore, you've got to dive into the world and it's dungeons. That is my aim. Inisval Three Centuries Ago The Grey Lady lead the Fairfolk away from their home in Greymirror deep into the underworld at Fairgrave, and they have not been seen since, unless you believe old wives' tales and rumors, that is. The land was entrusted to the King in Casarra, but it was never the same. Three Decades Ago Dwarves, exiles from their home in the east, founded a mountain home at Lastlight. They don't allow visitors, but from time to time t...

" From Goblin Market " Arthur Rackham, 1933 Mushroom cap, tail of rat, gall of cat, dripping fat, Boil and boil, never toil, wind is free, n'so is me! -The Goblin Rhyme Etesia When toads yet sang and cats had two tails, Etesia was a peaceful place. The Lofty Lady walked her lands with gentleness and strength, and all her subjects—even the lowly humans—enjoyed an age of quiet labor and joyful rest. But that was long ages ago. Now we struggle on like the rest of the world, prying life out of thorns and the maws of wolves, even from our own kin. In all the bloodshed, and pox, and lack, we die young and leave our young to fend for themselves. So they do. The Soup It is not known when the first Soup was boiled, or who boiled it, or what the intention was, but the soup has been boiling for long ages now, and those who eat it are turned strange. Their bones, their muscles, and their hearts grow hard as stone. Depending on the ingredients present in the soup—which may be anything...

I've been working on Shadow and Fae for about three years now, and I think I'm getting to the point of calling it done. But then, why not improve it just a touch more... Why not make it a zine? And if it's a zine, why not make two more zines to go with it? If you want more details on this journey, the three zines I'm working on, or to support me as I go, take a peek here:  https://itch.io/s/120972/shadow-and-fae-2e-3-zine-fundraiser

Redcrosse Knight, by Walter Crane Essentials You’re going out into the wild then? If I can’t stop you, I can at least give you some wisdom. Heaven knows I lacked it. Abilities Each character has three Abilities, which determine how well they can perform in several broad situations. Might  - A measure of one’s strength and vitality, tested in moments that require great endurance and power. Grace  - One’s deftness of foot and finger, tested for balancing, aiming, dancing, etc. Will  - One’s strength of heart, tested to influence others and control yourself in the most trying of times. Each ability’s score begins at 1.  You may increase a score by decreasing another up to 3 times. Scores may be negative. Alternatively, you may roll a d6 on this table to set your scores, then increase one score by 1. Tests When a character attempts something possible but risky, they may need to test for success by rolling a d20 and adding their most relevant Ability Score. If the result ...

Here's a recipe I've recently brewed up for making interesting encounters. Just like most recipes, it's been handed down, stolen, refined, torn up, and taped back together. Unlike most recipes online, we're skipping the details of that process. You've got cooking to do. Creating Encounters There are three major considerations when planning an encounter, Threat , Stage , and Stakes . Threat The danger of an encounter can be expressed as Total HD (THD) and average Damage per Round (DPR), assuming all  regular attacks hit (Yes, I know that they won't, but getting any more detailed than this runs into the issue of having more detail than is useful).  Note that this is an estimation, as spells and abilities can cause this to vary widely. If an encounter features a particularly dangerous spell or condition, add it to the threat.  For example, we could list threat as: "A Witch and 3 Homunculi (8 THD, 16 DPR, Polymorph)". Choose or roll a threat from your favo...

"The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them." - Lois Bujold, Art by Chenxi Kang Guilt, Fear, Anxiety, Foul Magics, there are ten thousand reasons for the dead to stir in their sleep, even to rise in a restless semblance of life. It is our place to give them their rest by whatever means we may. Cleric of the Requiem Starting Gear : Mace (d8, 1 Bulk), Light Armor, Shield, Lantern & Oil, Chalk (1/3 Bulk), Black Oilcloth Cloak (1 Bulk, Waterproof), Strange Memento (See Below) Skill : Dead Languages | Ancient Machinery | Forgotten History A . Friend of the Dead, Last Rites, Casting B . Psychopomp, +1 MD, +2 Spells C . Inviolate Wards, +1 MD, +2 Spells D . Order of the Requiem, +1 MD, +2 Spells (Chosen, not rolled) Friend of the Dead : Mindless undead encounters will not attack you on an X-in-6 roll, where X is your Cleric of the Requiem level. Sentient Undead roll +X on reactions to your party. Last Rites : You may anoint a mindless undea...

Art: H.J. Ford, The Faithful Servant Art: Gustave Dore, They Fiercely Charged Forward In a world where wizards fling spells at dragons, it might seem strange to play as a commoner, or even a mundane soldier, and yet there is a style of play that can't be captured properly if every player is a sort of superhero. For dragons to be fierce and terrifying, we must be weak and mortal. The interest is generated by the contrast, and it's incredibly memorable if common folk actually manage to slay such a creature.  Commoners are useful for beginning new campaigns and "rolling" characters - PCs in Shadow and Fae set their stats with a kind of Point Buy system, so the chart here is useful for players that would rather roll. It's also a useful page for rolling up hirelings in a hurry. As for soldiers, they may seem mundane compared to sorcerers and fae, but for most of us it is just as much a fantasy to wield a sword in life-or-death combat as it is to fling spells. I wanted ...

  Little John, by Louis Read, Colorized GLoG Classic Class: The Thief This is the first post in a series I am intending to start that revisits classic classes to breathe new life into them. Not merely a set of bonuses to existing play options, my hope is that these revisitations will open interesting gameplay options to the players that choose to take them. Thieves have been a troublesome class since their introduction in the early days of D&D. Gygax himself famously hated the thief class, adding it primarily due to pressure from fans of the Hobbit. And his disdain is perhaps justified. The very nature of the class removes many of the threats of dungeoneering. Traps? Send the thief. Monsters? Have the thief sneak past. An unsuspecting guard? Backstab!  Rather than create interesting play scenarios, it is very easy to design thief classes that simply negate them. Much as Rangers in 5e come under fire for making wilderness exploration procedures irrelevant, the thief can act...