Halloween Special: GLORY 1-page RPG

Inspired by a conversation with a good friend about a setting where heroes volunteer to die in their prime so that they can be resurrected to fight evil in their home kingdom when needed. This is my first time using Affinity Publisher to do something like this and it seemed like a good way to practice and get used to the tool. PDF version found here. Happy Halloween!

Background image sourced from unsplash, skeletons from rawpixel and the Cloister Black font from dafont.

d12 Weird Woods

1. Phoenixwood. A dark hardwood that smells of sulfur and ash. Each night, it bursts into flames. Each dawn it extinguishes itself. Its tree is most often found on high mountain peaks and are sometimes mistaken for bonfires or communities.
2. Bindwood.  Ranges in color from off-white to parchment yellow. Bindwood is named after its tendency to grow in knotted patterns. It is cheap and fast growing, even when cut. If not constantly worn down, it will grow in length at a rate of 1 inch per day. It grows in temperate climates with lots of sunlight.
3. Bloodwood. This hardwood tree is the color of dark chocolate with sienna sap. It metabolizes iron to form layers of flakey bark. 50 pounds of this bark can be melted down into 1 pound of iron. Bloodwood normally grows near areas where creatures die with great frequency such as battlefields.
4. Gripwood. Excessively sappy, this light green wood supplements its metabolism by catching and dissolving insects. It is prized in the ship-making industry, and applications where shifting cargo are a concern. Outwardly, it looks like and grows in the same locations as an oak tree.
5. Entwood. Harvested, almost always illegally, from the sleeping, living bodies of an Ent. Fae creatures will despise anyone who visibly associates with any Entwood not willingly given. Any wooden product made from it is waterproof, fireproof, and will never rot.
6. Goblinwood. Somehow a goblin has become a part of this wood. It is unclear even to it how this has happened, but they cannot leave and will die if separated from the wood. Use this in conjunction with any other kind of wood.
7. Lodewood. This shrubby, leafless plant grows exclusively underground on iron veins. iron left in contact with it for prolonged periods of times will slowly be absorbed, and non-iron metals are lightly repelled from it.
8. Lushwood. This mangrove does not photosynthesize, but instead ferments captured insects, fish, and small mammals into strong alcohol. Every 10 pounds of animal biomass is converted into 1 pint of alcohol over the course of a week. It grows best in salty waters.
9. Muskwood. Prized as a source of perfuming agents and sometimes burnt to achieve a mild hallucigenic effect. It requires extremely specific soil, water, and light conditions in order to achieve desirable aromas. Otherwise, the smoke is incredibly nauseating. Low-quality muskwood is often processed and turned into lantern oil.
10. Wanderwood. A vined, migratory plant that travels in groves up to hundreds of acres in size. It behaves in a manner similar to herbivorous pack animals but is not sentient. Any objects made of Wanderwood will naturally attempt to join the nearest grove if left unattended.
11. Spongewood. A subspecies of tumbleweed native to areas of high altitude and low humidity. It can absorb and store up to 100 times its dry weight in water for months at a time. It is popular among people trekking into harsh climates and fetches a high price for live plants.
12. Bonewood. Stark white and hard as bone. It is exceptionally light and strong. It is an expensive, but popular, choice for the construction of wagons, furniture, and siege engines. Bonewood trees have no limbs and stick out of the ground in clusters of 5 or 6. Common superstition holds they are the fingerbones of long-dead giants.

GLOG Class: Meteor Swordsman

I saw a video on discord and I had to do something about it; it looked like something that would be fun to play in a game so here we are, presenting my first stab at a GLOG class:

The Meteor Swordsman

You gain +1 Movement and +1 Initiative for every Meteor Swordsman template you possess.

Starting Equipment: Leather Armor, meteorite metal sword, a letter revealing the location of a fallen meteorite, good shoes.

Starting Skill [d3] 1 = Soldier, 2 = Aristocrat, 3 = Hermit

A    Takeoff, Ignition

B    Impact, CON +1

C    Comet, STR +1

D    Momentum, Celestial Body

A. Takeoff

The first round of combat your movement increases by [template].

A. Ignition

You can take 1 fire damage and cause your meteorite sword to erupt in flames. Add +1d4 fire damage to damage rolls made with it. This effect lasts until the weapon is sheathed or the end of your next turn.

B. Impact

Ignition may be used to add 10 feet of knockback to any attack you make and applicable to yourself or your target.

C. Comet

Ignition may be used to jump up to 5 times your normal vertical or horizontal distance.

D. Momentum

You cannot be knocked down or lose your footing against your will, even if you are not in contact with the ground. You can use Ignition to ignore fall damage.

D. Celestial Body

Landing on a target transfers the fall damage you would normally take to the target with a successful attack. If you fall at least 10 feet, you can use Ignition to cause anything within 10 feet except you to take 1d6 fire damage when you land.

Meteorite Metal Sword

Forged from metal fallen from the sky in ominous conflagration, your meteorite sword was created to harness the unstoppable force of the heavens. Should it break, you will need to find and acquire a pound of meteorite iron and find a smith familiar with working it. Each sword is unique in appearance, and influences its wielder in some way for up to a week after being separated from the weapon, despite it being nonmagical.

d6 Sword Quirks

1. Lightly attracted towards iron.

2. Glows as night just enough to see the blade.

3. The blade is uncomfortably hot.

4. When swung, the air around it whistles.

5. The blade turns black when exposed to poisons or water.

6. Can be struck like a tuning fork; dogs dislike this.

d6 Influence on Wielder

1. You carry a salt lick for personal use.

2. Your first idea always seems like the best one.

3. Going indoors or below ground makes you jumpy.

4. You always pour the first bite of food and drink onto your blade at meals.

5. You refuse to turn over your weapon for any reason.

6. You tie a ribbon to the handle after every kill. You resent when someone takes your kill.

Beyond the Veil Draft Classes Pt. III - Ratlings and the Accounter

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Ratlings

Image via happymag.tv

The Humans took a long time to realize they were not alone in their own cities. They never had been. From the moment they began hoarding grain, Humanity had rent-free tenants in the storehouses. They were often caught and killed, of course, but the smartest, the fastest and the most well fed among the survivors survived and bred. Those rats' children in turn were culled and the survivors concentrated. Over countless generations, some rats began expressing supermurine abilities. rudimentary speech, opposable thumbs, and the ability to walk on their hindlegs came first. Generations later, these first Ratlings stepped out into the common rooms of inns, farmsteads, and royal halls, announcing themselves as equals. Surprisingly, some took them seriously. Now, hundreds of generations hence, Ratlings are an expected sight in most major cities and not uncommon in rural areas. They take up work where they can, often serving as lens cutters, jewelers, scouts, explorers and many walks of life in between. Not everyone appreciates their presence, but most Humans regard Ratlings as one does a particularly smart dog. The Ratlings are more than happy to allow them this delusion.

Ratling Traits

Inhuman Perspective - You are decidedly inhuman in your manner of thought. Where humans might see refuse, you see sustenance. Where humans find hate or revenge, you recognize a stronger foe and give due respect. You come from mundane rats, hundreds of generations removed, and your behavior is impacted by that. The collective is more important than the individual and you are rarely alone.

Diminutive - You are between 8 inches and 18 inches tall, and bipedal. If your hands are free, you can scurry and climb without penalty. You can fit through gaps as small as 1 inch in diameter so long as you are not wearing armor or packs. All your equipment must be specially made, costing twice as much as a human-size piece of the same equipment. Human sized daggers and knives count as longswords. You may carry up to 1 size of objects in your paws.

Voracious - You have to eat constantly, requiring just as much food as a human. However, you are capable of eating any non-toxic plant matter, including straw, hemp, and cotton. You only need water once every three days.

Short Lived - The most venerable of your kind live to be twelve years old. You reach maturity at six months. As a result, Ratlings are highly specialized. Choose a single Camp action: This is the only one you can take while Camping. You train your Class when leveling up twice as quickly as Humans.

Resilient - You have a 1 card bonus when resisting any form of disease or poison, are immune to damage from falling if your hands are free and you are unarmored, and you may elect to ignore the first instance of damage received on an adventure provided you are free to move.

Ubiquitous - Your kith and kin inhabit every nook and cranny they find, even where humans and other creatures would not dare tread. With a successful Black Check, you can find familiar whiskered faces anywhere not actively hostile to life (volcanoes, underwater).

Accounter

"On four counts of erroneous existence, I hereby condemn the affixed to nullification and forced mundanity. The affixed stands accused of possessing  the following aberrant traits:

1. Willful disregard of the sanctity of death.

2. Forcible egress through physical barriers.

3. Over-loud shouting resulting in loss of sanity.

4. Inability to have notice of mundane interdiction affixed without extreme effort due to incorporeality."

-The condemnation of the specter of Hill Manor by Accounter Jules Vermin.

Aspect: Sense

Stock: Human or Ratling

Requirements: Sense >2, Determination >2

Starting Gear:

• Sheaf of paper
• Charcoal Pencil
• Rubber Stamp and Ink Pad
• Box of Nails
• Small Hammer

Class Ability Tract

Level 0: Audit

You were born with a seventh whisker, no pupils, or another physical manifestation of power. This marks you as different than your kin, be they Human or Ratling. You can sense the presence of the Veil without any effort, enabling you to detect the location of supernatural forces or Denizens within a number of feet equal to ten times your level, minimum 10 feet. Decide how this sense manifests to your character, such as a pressure, strange wind, or other phenomena. 

Level 1: Reject Unreality

By focusing your mind upon a supernatural presence or Denizen as an action, you can dampen a number of random effects or abilities equal to your level by passing an Aspect Check. Doing so disables those abilities until you stop using an action each round to focus on them.

Level 2: Suppress Aberration

You may write out a list of claims, stamping the notice and nailing the paper to a supernatural force or Denizen to attempt to make it mundane. Writing out a list in combat takes one turn per claim. Make a Red/Black check with +1 Card for every valid claim listed on the document, up to 5 Cards  (ex. "Willful ignorance of physical barriers" or "Unreasonable toxin expulsion"). If the Denizen is capable of resisting, you must succeed on an Attack with your hammer in order to take this action. If you are successful, you affix the notice to the target and any supernatural effects it is capable of are suppressed, rendering it mundane until the notice is removed with an Aspect Check from a different entity. You may retry this check on subsequent turns if it fails.

Level 3: Unravel Gossamer

Pierces in the Veil no longer affect you unless you allow them to do so, or the source is outside of your Audit range.

Level 4: Proof of Contradiction

You can write a blistering thesis against unreality and post your admonishment for all to see. You may spend one week to write a single page of thesis, and an additional week for each page thereafter. When posted in a public space, each page negates supernatural effects within a radius of ten feet per page of thesis until removed by a mundane creature. You may prepare theses in advance, and 5 theses are a size 1X object.

Level 5: Banish

By focusing your mind upon a Denizen as an action, you can make a Red/Black check. If you succeed, the Denizen is banished beyond the Veil. If you fail, you ignore all of its abilities, permanently, allowing you to damage it as if it were mundane.

Censorship

If a card in your Baize matches the suit or value of a card drawn on a check for a supernatural effect or Denizen ability, you may spend it to nullify that card.

Bonus Table! 

Rubber Rejection Stamps

DISMISSED W/O APPEAL

VOID

NO

INDECENT CONTENT

CLAIM DENIED

IGNORE THIS ENTITY

 

1D12 Items You Found In That Abandoned Fort

There are lots of reasons for forts to become ruins. Perhaps they were abandoned after a war, or overrun by brigands. Why exactly it happened might not matter, but adventurers definitely like exploring them. Whether for loot, a land claim, or because someone or something else is there that disagrees with their sensibilities. Here are some system agnostic items (but still aimed in the flavor direction of Beyond the Veil) you can include if you are so inclined.

1D12 Items in a Fort or Ruin

1. Captain's Mace - This flange mace is masterfully made (+1) and also functions as a parchment carrier. The handle can be opened to store a map or a handful of letters. The pommel doubles as a wax seal. It comes with a worn brass belt ring. It probably has something stored in it.

2. Weatherproof Fuse - Caught in a light drizzle and unable to use their rifle, a musketeer's effectiveness is reduced significantly. Someone apparently figured out a fix to this vexing issue. This fuse can be affixed to a matchlock rifle, pistol, or used on its own. Once lit, it functions for 2 hours per foot, regardless of wind or rain. It is extinguished if completely smothered or submerged. The coil is 2d2 feet long and has a leather carry pouch stamped with "Property of N. Daviess."

3. Watchman's Horn - A short, carved, ivory horn with holes drilled into it in much the same manner as an ocarina. The mouthpiece is made of copper. It can be heard clearly up to a mile away over an open field. Someone has carved symbols next to the holes with distinct meaning. Fingerings perhaps?

4. Liar's Dice - These dice always roll slightly higher than normal when the owner tells an obvious lie when the roll is tossed. Add 1 to the final result of a check if a lie is told while using them. The dice are not obviously enchanted.

5. An Incomplete Ledger - Mostly boring bureaucratic and logistical scribblings. The last page is incomplete and smeared with ink. After investigating it more closely (an easy but mind-numbing task), it is discovered that there is a hidden storeroom in the complex with a level-appropriate amount of cold, hard coin, expensive liquor, and a non-magical but heirloom quality sword of the now deceased commander.

6. A Trusty Cloak - This cloak is made of canvas and lined with soft hare fur. Lead is sewn into the hem and as such it does not flap in even strong winds. It weighs three times as much as a normal cloak made of the same materials (minus the lead).

7. Rope Retractor - An ingenious makeshift device that when affixed to a rope, the user can turn a crank to tightly coil any type of cordage up to 100 feet long and up to the thickness of ship's rope. This process takes 1 minute, after which the rope coil can be removed from the device.

8. Ration Crate - Open, but suspiciously untouched. Six rations wrapped in tattered cloth. Each ration is hard as a brick, smells strongly of vinegar and salt, and seemingly inedible. Not even maggots dare touch them. If soaked in water for a half-day, they become technically chewable and each one can sustain an adult human for three days, or someone smaller for six. No one will enjoy it and a difficult test of one's willpower is required to force it down their gullet.

9. The Log of a Former Adventurer - Not only is there a complete map of all the unlocked or accessible rooms of this ruin, but the location of another ruin notated as "Hells below, never seen something like that before! Danger!" next to a poorly drawn basilisk. There is also the amply provisioned skeleton of a long-dead adventurer, killed via an unfortunate accident.

10. Unlabeled Alchemicals - A milkcrate of 1d8+1 crystal and wooden flasks, all the labels long since worn away. Use your favorite potion or poison generation method to populate the crate. One of the potions is always broken. Its flask has a weathered note tied to the remnants of the neck that reads "Caution: Do not ingest! Contains drowning mildew!"

11. Unusual Bedroll - Originally mistaken as a rather thick coin purse, this lightweight bedroll folds down to fit in the palm of your hand, or fit in your pocket. Folding the bedroll takes 10 minutes and unfolding takes 1 minute. It is made of a material you are unfamiliar with and smells faintly of dry blood and ozone.

12. Onyx Monocle  - Ornately decorated with bronze fixtures, there is a necklace locked in this box. It is a silver chain attached to a paper-thin red onyx intaglio. When held up to the left eye, one can see magical energies through the onyx sheet.