Beyond the Veil Draft Classes Pt. I - Falconeer and The Veil Piercer

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The Falconeer

A man sits astride their horse, bearing the livery of a noble's house, surrounded by retainers while on a fox hunt. The thicket muddles the group's movement, causing horses to whinny with discontent. Birdcalls fill the morning air with chirps and trills. Hounds snuffle along the underbrush before picking up a scent; the hunt is on! The retinue gives chase, hoping to exhaust their quarry before the hounds lose its sent again. Thunderous hooves trample plants underfoot and the noble rides upon the sight of Titus, his favorite hound, barking at a fox on the lower branches of a yew tree. He raises his crossbow to claim his prize and releases the bolt. Before the fox can impact the mossy forest floor, a falcon, golden-tailed and curiously wearing a ribbon about its ankle, swoops in silently, stealing the prize. The noble's stomach drops into the base of his feet. Titus snaps at the bird, catching the fox and tearing it from the falcon's grasp. A sharp whistle silences the barking, the birds, and seemingly the very breath of the noble; the falcon turns its iron gaze to the noble as it perches overhead.

"I don't deserve this." His voice is quiet, full of terror. In response, the sound of a match being lit. "I can pay more than what they gave you. I'll give you my horse! She is thouroughbr-" A thunderous shot rings out, and the noble feels their left arm turn cold as their body is whipped around and off of the horse, crashing to the ground. Stars fill their vision, and Titus runs into the woods, cowering. Shouts from the retinue cut through the thicket, the sounds of alarum. 

"I have a reputation to uphold. You, on the other hand, sullied yours bad enough to get me. May your journey to the Other Side be more peaceful than your death." Another thunderous roar, and a leaden slug craters through the noble's heart. As the world drifts away in shades of red and black, the falcon comes to rest on his killer's gauntleted arm. The Falconeer makes haste to her own steed, tearing into the woods before another soul can place an eye upon her.

Aspect: Health

Stock: Human

Requirements: Health > 2; Sense > 1; Cannot use 2H weaponry

Starting Gear:

• 2 Matchlock Pistols (1H, Firearm 5, 30 Yards)
• 8 pre-prepared leaden shots
• Powderhorn, full (1X)
• Iron shot-mold (0H)
• Guthook knife with Sheath (1H/0T)
• Leathers (1HeALTF, AV 1)
• Falconeer's Gauntlet (1H)
• Pistol Belt (1T2S)
• Bag of Birdseed (0X)
• Trained and loyal Falcon (2X)

Class Ability Tract

Level 0: Bird of Prey

Your falcon is well trained, and it understands your intent. It cannot be targeted in combat. You may direct it to either fetch objects up to size 1, or track a specific creature. Neither option uses an action but requires a commanding whistle. It can become Hungry and Sick.

Level 1: Flank and Fire

You whistle as an action, marking a target as prey and drawing the attention of your falcon; it swoops in to distract the target as you make an attack. If your attack is flanking, you may force them turn to face you after damage is inflicted.

Level 2: Ferryman's Friend

A symbol of Death, your raptor inspires fear in the hearts of those that hear its cry. As an action, you may make a Check at -1 Card. If one card is your Aspect, regardless of value, one enemy of your choice and capable of hearing and being Scared become Scared while in your presence. If two or more are your Aspect, all enemies that meet the above conditions become Scared while in your presence.

Level 3: Raptor's Eyes

When you and your falcon are near each other, you and your allies cannot be ambushed. You can discern when people are lying or withholding information at +1 card.

Level 4: Pilfering Talons

When you command your bird of prey to fetch an object, you may choose up to 2 objects of up to size 1 each that are being worn or carried in the hands, head, or neck slots of a creature. When an item is pilfered this way the target immediately becomes aware of the theft, but cannot stop it.

Level 5: Death from Above

You let loose a shrill whistle as an action, marking a creature for death as a piercing cry fills the air. You make your next attack against that target at +5 and if it hits, it is Lethal. Describe how your raptor kills the creature after you open up their defenses.

Falconeer Tricks

Each level, choose one option from the row corresponding to your level. You may swap the options you took previously when you level up.

Hand (Level)	Falconry	Gunslinging
Pair (1)	Falcon Harrys a target ([-level] to their next action)	You reload your matchlock using a single action.
Two Pairs (2)	Falcon Blinds a target for [level] rounds.	You aim your matchlock, increasing its range by [10 x level] yards on your next attack.
3 of a Kind (3)	Falcon inspires an ally, granting Spirited.	You miraculously have another prepared shot on your person, even if you had run out.
Full House (4)	Falcon detects an Invisible enemy, removing the affliction for you and your allies.	Your next shot is over-packed and deals 2 damage increments instead of 1.
4 of a Kind (5)	Falcon opens up an enemy, exposing weak points, forcing materialization or otherwise disabling armor and damage resistances/immunity for [level] rounds.	Your next shot can bounce off solid objects [level] number of times and change its path so long as it fits within your attack range.

The Veil Piercer

'Tween Here and There
A Veil ripples, Unseen

Flowing around all Things

Man and Rat woven in Time

Unable to stymie its fluttering

Weaver's Sons and Daughters

Blessed of Senses, Quick of Hand

Feel the Gossamer Curtain

Pins of Silver and Threads of Gold

Needles of Platinum most Pure

Act as the Weaver's Hand

Handling the Fabric

Our Neighbors see this and it draws them

From the Other Side, they come to gawk

The Veil is Pierced, they become stuck

Weaver's Hands free them

But not without Patching the Fabric

Forever Changed

-"The Origin of Magic" as recorded by The Cult of the Weaver's Hand

Aspect: Sense

Stock: Human

Requirements: Sense 5; Health < 1; cannot wear armor; can only use daggers and needles

Starting Gear:

• Serviceable Bootknife (1H/0F)
• Platinum Needle (1H)
• 10 Silver Pins (0X)
• 10 feet of Golden Thread (0X)
• Sewing Satchel (1H2S)
• Comfortable Travel Clothes (1TLFA)

Class Ability Tract

Level 0: Underpin Reality:

You can identify Piercings in the Veil and use your needle, thread, and pins to stitch it shut, repairing it but leaving it different than it once was, effectively undoing any magics happening as a result of the Pierced Veil. You leave a unique signature in your work, and are recognizable by it to other Veil Piercers- decide what that is now. You may attempt to undo stitches in the Veil as an action.

You are able to use your needle to Pierce the Veil, creating minor alterations to reality via stitching in more favorable manner; See your Pierces and Stitches table for examples and difficulty guidelines.

Each pin costs 1 Chip to replace. 1 foot of thread costs 1 Flake. Replacing your needle costs 10 chips.

Level 1: Knit and Purl:

You can undo stitches put into place by other Veil Piercers with your needle at +1 Card, and know the identity of the Veil Piercer that created the stitch.

Level 2: Cloaked by Midnight:

You may attempt to become Invisible, or remove the cloak as an action, at -3. The Veil envelops you, and you can see the denizens of the Other Side while Invisible in this way. They can also see you. 

Level 3: Laminate Veil: 

Spending 5 silver pins and an hour, you may protect a cubic area with sides up to your level in yards per side from being Pierced, indefinitely, until the pins are removed. You may use this as an action in combat to avoid Injury or Critical, hardening your being against unraveling versus one specific damage source until it occurs.

Level 4: Satin Embrace: 

You may spend your turn in combat pinning the Veil in a more favorable position. Choose either a.) You and all allies draw their next initiative with +1 Card Draw or b.) you and your allies may teleport a number of yards equal to your level at the start of their next turn, passing briefly to the Other Side in order to do so.

Level 5: Excise the Erroneous: 

At -1 Card Draw, you may attempt to remove a being from the flow of the Veil, once per year. If you fail, the being becomes Critical, regardless of it normally being able to be injured, harmed, or otherwise. If you succeed the being never existed, erased from all memories, including your own. This requires ten hours, and a mile of golden thread costing 15 Plates. If you fail, you may make an attempt against the same target at +2 cards. Failure this time removes both you and the being from reality, and all its memories.

Veil Piercer Stitches

Stitches take a number of actions, pins, and feet of thread equal to the level required to create them. Pairs count as 1 for this purpose. These table entries are non-exhaustive and serves as guidelines, not hard and fast rules.

Hand (Level)	Pierces and Stitches
Pair (0)	Open/Close a door Extinguish a light source Move small piles of size 0 objects within [level] yards
Two Pairs (1)	Ignite tinder or dust Create a minor coincidence of convenience or inconvenience Move a size 1 object within [level] yards with enough force to constitute an attack Mend clothes without materials on hand
3 of a Kind (2)	Boil/Freeze water Lock/unlock a door Eavesdrop on a conversation you can see occurring
Straight (2)	One target recalls a suppressed memory Repair a non-mechanical object so long as there are materials and a craftsman assisting, without tools. See through walls and doors up to a yard thick
Flush (3)	Suppress a single memory of a target Rot plant life in a [3*level]^3 volume Disguise the appearance of one target.
Full House (3)	Implant false memories in one person or animal Sharpen/dull bladed instruments, unwind mechanisms, weaken technology Accelerate hair growth
4 of a Kind (4)	Watch events from up to [level] days unfold in a specific location as ghostly images Walk on air as solid ground for [level] actions Cure mundane sickness
Straight Flush (4)	Shorten/lengthen distances by [4*level] yards Pass through solids as if they are air Alter someone's physical form in a non-debilitating way
Royal Flush (5)	Change local weather Appear someplace you can clearly visualize Dictate the outcome of specific future event (be VERY specific!)

Class Previews!

This is a short one, but I wanted to get this worm out of my ear and onto the blog. Here is a quick summary of each of the classes I plan on writing to start, and have made decent progress on.

Determination

Naturalist

The natural splendor of the world is ripe for exploration by your hands. You are a staunch believer in your matchlock, fine scotch, and the adventurous spirit.

Stalwart

Just one more step, one more hurdle, and a hefty shrug of your shoulders, and you will carry your group through this. You came prepared.

Charisma

Ratcatcher

Would be a pretty cozy gig if the rats weren't smarter than most folks and half as willing to give up and vacate. Fortunately, they are willing to listen to reason, unlike most humans, and you're willing to track them down too.

Tour-Guide

You have never not enjoyed the city and its cavernous depths, let alone gotten lost there. If you need something, you know just where to go and find it, even if you just arrived.

Health

Old Stogie

You've smoked as long as you can remember, and it has been behaving increasingly mystical. It is a shame you have recently been beset by a nagging cough.

Falconeer

You and your trusty hunting bird have never lost a target for very long, and you don't intend for that to change. Between your raptor and your pistol, no target is out of reach.

Sense

Veil Piercer

Reality drifts like gossamer fabric, a Veil drifting to and fro. With your needle, threads, and pins you can control that flow, Piercing the Veil for your own devices.

Accounter

Not to be mistaken for an accountant, Accounters audit the world and exercise authority to remove... irregularities. Some things aren't of this world, and really ought go back from whence they came.

Beyond the Veil Draft Pt III: Character Advancement and Status Afflictions

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Character Advancement and Terminology

Each of these by themselves are pretty short, so I thought I would combine them into a single post. I eagerly await getting my notes down for this initial draft so I can really think about where to go with this and get everything into a playtest document.

Aspects and You

There have been a couple of times I have mentioned an "Aspect attribute". A character's Aspect is the "core" attribute of the class they embody. An archetypical bard would have Charisma as their Aspect, and an archetypical wizard would have Sense. Rather than have a lot of core checks based around an attribute chosen by the GM, Aspect-related checks allow characters to shine in their own way. However, some things are just better off being one thing over another; no amount of sweet talking is going to bend the bars of a prison cell open (probably).

Character Advancement Table

Classes range from zero to five in this game by default, with currency as experience points. This currency cost is indicative of training, supplies, research costs or whatever else makes sense for your class. This currency is spent on level up, you do not keep it. Levels cannot be skipped and must be taken in order. Leveling up can only be done in the relative safety of a town where characters can acquire the materials and resources they need.

Level	Plates Required to Achieve Level
0	0
1	1
2	4
3	9
4	16
5	25

Status Afflictions

Sometimes things happen, and your character gets to feeling a certain way. These are represented generally by roleplay, but sometimes amore mechanical nudge is necessary to get the mood across.

Affliction	Description
Healthy	Congrats! There is not currently anything wrong with you!
Injured	If you take damage while Healthy, you become Injured. -2 on all Checks.
Critical	If you take damage while Injured, you become Critical. You are nearing the Veil, on Death’s doorstep. -2 Card Draws on all checks. You need help, now.
Hungry	You have not had food/water for 1 week/3 days. -1 to all checks per 1 week/3 day time period. Become Dead after 3 time periods with no food or water.
Sick	You have contracted some disease or illness, probably from a monster or trap or deciding to sleep in a gutter. Specific penalties differ per source of the Sick condition.
Scared	If your Aspect is Red, you lash out at the source of your fear and cannot flee and must move closer to the source. +1 card draw to attack the source of your fear. If your Aspect is Black, you freeze and are unable to take actions besides fleeing. +1 Card draw to attempt to flee from the source of your fear.
Blind	You cannot see. -3 to all vision related Checks (such as shooting someone or writing your name); automatically fail things it would make sense to fail.
Charmed	You view the source of the Charm as an ally you trust implicitly.
Poisoned	You have been afflicted with a poison, probably from a monster or trap or enterprising assassin. Specific effects differ by poison.
Dead	If you take damage while Critical, you die. You are dead; create a new character.
Spirited	If you would be Scared or Charmed, lose this condition instead.
Blessed	If you would become Critical, lose this condition instead.
Prepared	If you would gain an increment of Hungry, lose this condition instead.
Invisible	All other characters treat you as if they are Blind.

What Comes Next

Time to finally get some classes written down and wrap up player-character stuff before diving into combat mechanics work, they should be fun to write and hopefully not terribly unbalanced.

Beyond the Veil Draft Pt II: Equipment and Currency

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Encumbrance, Currency and the Value of Things

Money is a motivating force for most people, in most walks of life. It is a useful tool to avoid starvation, waterlogged boots, and acquiring alcohol and tools. Some people even like to turn their money into non-money things; adventurers are those kinds of people. However, there is only so much a person can carry and still expect to dungeoneer, or avoid looking like a fool while courting the upper crust.

How Much is Too Much

You can only carry so much at any given time. There are eleven areas you can wear something:

• Head (1 Slot) (He)

• Neck (1 Slot) (N)

• Torso (4 Slots) (T)

• Left and Right Arm (1 Slot each) (A)

• Left and Right Hand (1 Slot each) (H)

• Left and Right Leg (2 Slots each) (L)

• Left and Right Foot (1 Slot each) (F)

Rings don't take up any Slots, but are limited to five per hand. The below graphic shows this information again in diagram form.

Original Graphic from FreeVector

Taxonomy of Encumbrance

Most things take up space, and there are a lot of places they can go on your person. In order to keep that information as succinct as possible, it is abbreviated with the number of Slots and the location(s) the Slot it occupies first letter. For example, a pair of shoes would be described as "Shoes (1F)" and a cuirass would be "Cuirass (3T)".

Some items take up multiple locations, and get both designations (ie. "Long-sleeved leather jerkin (1T1A)" to show it occupies the arms and the torso). Conversely, some items cannot be worn, but still take up space in say, a backpack. Such items are designated with their size and an "X", such as "Tinderbox (1X)".

Speaking of backpacks and other storage articles, they take up a certain amount of space and in return give more back. A "Backpack (2T4S)" takes up two spaces on your torso, but gives 4 Slots of additional Storage. Belts act similarly, but can only hold items that are size 1 or less.

Items of size 0 can be bundled in groups of 50 to count as size one; things like arrows, jewels, small branches, or forks and spoons are good examples. Coins are size 0, individually, and a coin purse holds different amounts of each. A full, size one coin purse holds 25 Plates, 50 Chips, 50 Flakes or 300 Bits.

Items held in your hands do not count as encumbering your hands, so you don't have to choose between wearing gloves and holding your walking stick.

Some other items are too large for size 0, but too small for size 1. These items are kept in bundles of 5. Torches and rations are good examples.

Offsetting Encumbrance

Adventurers are prone to trying to take more than they can carry with them when they find something valuable, or want to wear a half-dozen weapons and full plate mail. Attempting to do so will impart points of Encumbrance equal to the difference between the Slot maximum and the total amount worn on that area's value, which is generally bad and will be covered when I talk about Statuses at a later point. In brief, Encumbrance makes your life harder, especially when trying to be physically active. Encumbrance is tracked per Slot area.

Some people have stronger backs than others, though. You may reduce your points of Encumbrance by up to your character's Aspect bonus.

Lifting, Pushing, Pulling, and You

If you have ever had a player character in a situation where they needed to shoulder a door open, lift a log off your leg, or raise anchor on a ship, you may be interested in knowing how much they can push, pull and lift. Fortunately, these sorts of things can be handled somewhat automatically!

• A character can lift up to (Health/2)-Encumbrance Points size worth of object overheard with little issue.
• A character can pull and push  3*((Health/2)-Encumbrance Points) size worth of objects on flat ground.

For perspective, a horse is around size 8 on average, if  I had to rule it. A human child would be size 3.

Outside of this, use reason to determine if it would be feasible to lift or move something. The idea is that someone with 5 Health is damn strong, but not superhuman.

 

Currency and all its Uselessness

This game is meant to be as setting agnostic as possible, but I of course have to include my own currency breakdown. Ultimately, you can choose to substitute it out, so long as you take character advancement into mind; I will get more into that in the next post. The short version is that this system uses Currency as XP, and your journey from level 0 to level 1 takes the equivalent of half a year's salary for a modest person: In this case, the Plate. Here's a table with descriptions and conversions.

Currency	Description	Conversion to Plate
The Silver Plate	Square of silver, 2 inches on a side and a quarter inch thick, emblazoned with the heraldry of whoever is currently in power	1 Plate = 1 Plate
The Bronze Chip	Square of bronze, one half-inch on a side and a quarter inch thick. A circular hole is drilled through the center.	1 Plate = 100 Chips
The Iron Flake	Circular coin one half-inch across made of pig-iron and imprinted with a rose on each side.	1 Chip = 3 Flakes
The Leaden Bit	Simple leaden balls the size of peas. This is the standard unit of mass in trade.	1 Flake = 60 Bits

This means that 1 Plate = 100 Chips = 300 Flakes = 18000 Bits

Example Price Table

One can maintain a modest standard of living for two Flakes a day, or 600 Flakes a year. A Plate can buy you a workhorse. Two Plates gets you a small, one-room cottage. 100 Bits gets you a watered-down beer. Here's a table of sample prices that is by no means exhaustive nor set in stone. Just something real quick to showcase everything we've talked about here.

Item	Cost
Pint of beer, watered	100 bits
Cottage, single room	2 Plates
Horse, work	1 Plate
A day’s meals	1 Flake
Night’s stay, modest inn	1 Flake
Night’s stay, spot on floor by hearth	50 Bits
Night’s Stay, private room	2 Flakes
Wagon, wainwright (8X)	8 Chips
Oilskin tent, 1 person (2X)	3 Flakes
50 arrows (1X)	150 Bits
Letter, per mile	10 Bits
Travel cloak, canvas (1N1T)	400 Bits
Full Plate Set	3 Plates
Longbow (2H) or (1T)	1 Chip
Longsword (1H) or (2H)	1 Chip
Torch Bundle, 5 (1X)	125 Bits
Crowbar (1H)	300 Bits

What's Next?

Next time I will be talking about character advancement and Status effects. I have been taking lots of influence from things like the GLOG and putting my own spin on things.