24 KiB
Dev Notes
⚠️ Attention: Hey Reader! Any line that begins like this, is a "comment" that does not impact the rules; these are just left here as notes to myself for later. I've also included 📝 Developer Notes, which are more like commentary regarding the design process - these are open for feedback, along with the rules and prose.
Introduction
❓ TODO: introductions tend to be written late in development
❓ TODO: TOC - for now, use VSCode's outline panel.
The Setting
This game's world is centered around Tiere, The Sacred Mountain. Jutting out of an otherwise flat landscape, the mountain can be seen clearly from a great distance in all directions. This has given rise to a multitude of myths and legends centered on the mountain, and has attracted people seeking to climb it for thousands of years.
The history of the mountain is long and storied; the oldest known tales liken it to a great beast emerging from the oceans, walking to its current position and falling asleep. Other, more credible stories tell of ancient and powerful artifacts from long-forgotten kingdoms buried deep within; some of these artifacts are believed to be so powerful, that they could tip the balance of power between nations.
Over time a city named Vorland grew at the mountain's foot; it now houses a thriving culture dedicated to exploring and exploiting the mountain's riches. Foremost among its factions is the Mountaineer's Guild - a branch of the administration that issues licenses to climbers, and handles the processing and sale of recovered artifacts.
It is from here that your game begins.
Tiere, the Sacred Mountain
📝 Developer Notes: I wonder if I should specify exact altitudes, or just leave it for the player's imagination?
The mountain's slopes are traditionally divided into seven distinct areas, known as "elevations". These are:
- Vorland, The City Below
- 1st Elevation - Foothills and Forests
- 2nd Elevation - Dotted Caves
- 3rd Elevation - Gambler's Bluff
- 4th Elevation - Mycelia Jungles
- 5th Elevation - Kingdom of Failures
- 6th Elevation - Frigid Plateau
- 7th Elevation - Chained Apex
Vorland, The City Below
Vorland is a historic resource town that survives by recovering artifacts from the mountain, and selling them across the continent. Built into a valley among the foothills, and marked by the Contrast River, the sight of common-class artifacts is a part of daily life.
Due to its proximity to the 1st Elevation, a prominent stonework wall marks the historical edge of the city's limits; unfortunately, it doesn't always stop strange beasts from wandering the streets at night.
📝 Developer Note: The Contrast River carries fresh water from the 2nd Elevation, and the riverbed is covered in multicolored stones, hence the name. These stones are pretty, but otherwise mundane.
Foothills and Forests
A dense, but navigable forest that covers the lowest parts of the ascent. The flora here seems to grow unnaturally fast, so any attempt at establishing a permanent road has met with failure. The angle of the slopes averages about 60 degrees, further impeding all but the simplest of construction efforts.
Dotted Caves
A series of natural and unnatural cuts into the mountain can be found here. The lowest cave openings mark the beginning of the 2nd Elevation. The forests continue up the surface, often obscuring smaller openings, which pose a hazard to those who climb without caution.
The cave systems have yet to be fully explored and mapped due to the dangerous creatures and precarious terrain within; the river that sustains the city below originates from one of the larger openings. The name of this Elevation comes from the unusual rocks and stones found here, which bear an apparent speckled sheen when reflecting light.
Gambler's Bluff
The 3rd Elevation is a sheer vertical cliff face, which abruptly bursts forth from the ground below. The surface of the bluff is covered with grips and handholds, many of which are no larger than your fingertips. The bluff is pockmarked by narrow tunnels, sometimes called "pigeonholes", dug into the rock face by large birds of prey called "fortner".
Choosing the right pigeonhole to rest in is a gamble, as these are the fortner's nesting places, and choosing an occupied one will result in sudden and violent ejection by the occupants. Many abandoned pigeonholes are connected within the mountain's bulk, and can be traversed, sometimes granting a dark and cramped, but safer route upwards.
📝 Developer Note: The fortner are endemic to the mountain.
Mycelia Jungles
A vast ecosystem of fungi and other plant matter covers the 4th Elevation. Some of these biological structures are strong enough to support their own weight, and more, while jutting out above the cliff's edge, creating a larger walkable area than what would be expected.
Many creatures endemic to the mountain have evolved to thrive in this high altitude ecosystem, or to venture in for food. While it's possible to consume some of the more benign growths here, the environment is just as likely to consume you in return.
A word of warning: Great care must be taken not to become infected; there are recorded instances of climbers who, after reaching this Elevation and returning to the city below, were totally unperturbed by their bodies being rebuilt or replaced by fungal parasites.
Kingdom of Failures
High above the clouds, beyond the view of even the best looking glasses, lies the dilapidated remains of past civilizations, Seemingly built into and on top of each other in a dense network of twisting rooms, corridors and bridges. At least three distinct architectural styles have been identified, with many others hinted at having been scrapped for building materials.
Among these ruins live small bands of climbers who, for one reason or another, can't or won't ascend any further. Subsisting on materials grown here or gathered from the jungle, these groups vie for valuable and powerful artifacts buried in the mountain's core.
Frigid Plateau
The top two Elevations remain hidden in cloud cover at all times; this seemingly unnatural phenomenon also prevents climbers from returning from beyond this point. The only information we've been able to ascertain comes from written reports, secured within rocket-like projectiles, fired through gaps in the cloud barrier by the few brave - or suicidal - souls that enter.
According to the reports, the already cold air becomes frigid, plant life vanishes, and snow drifts hide deep crevasses that swallow people whole.
The most notable feature of this Elevation has only a handful of reliable accounts within the last four centuries - the peak of the mountain has been sliced off, as if by a blade - the exposed rock is smooth to the touch, and seems to extend from one side of the plateau to the other.
Chained Apex
Visibility on the plateau is poor to non-existent due to cloud cover and snow storms. Among those that wander here, only a lucky few have managed to find the chains - massive metallic structures resembling links in a chain, with one end reaching into the heavens, and the other embedded deep into the rock below.
These chains, measured at two arm spans thick, seem to move over time, as though whatever they tether to the mountain is drifting with the winds. While attempts at climbing them have reportedly been made, no news of success or failure has ever reached the city below.
Character Creation
📝 Developer Note: I am deliberately leaving the player characters' backgrounds as blank slates for the time being, as focusing on the core mechanics comes first. This may be expanded more in later iterations.
When playing this game, each player adopts the identity of a climber. Each climber has a past, a reason to be here, and an ultimate goal. What these are is up to the player's imagination.
When you begin your campaign, each character begins with four core attributes, some initial skill points, and a beginner's pack to get you going.
Core Attributes
Each character begins with a set of four attributes, called the Core Attributes. An "attribute" is simply the name of a value belonging to your character - more attributes can be gained, and existing ones improved as you progress play. The current value of an attribute can be reduced by various means, or restored to its maximum value, usually by resting.
The Core Attributes are:
| Name | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 10/10 | Representing your physical wellness, and is depleted by injuries. |
| Stamina | 10/10 | The amount of energy you have, which can be spent to perform strenuous tasks. |
| Fortitude | 10/10 | How resistant you are to the negative effects of climbing, altitude sickness, and other environmental effects. |
| Obsession | 10/10 | Represents your fixation with the mountain, and how well you can use artifacts. |
Each of the core attributes begins at 10/10 (current/maximum); any additional attributes that you don't have yet are considered to be 0/0.
Initial Skill Points
When building a new character, you begin with 20 unallocated skill points, with more earned as you play. You can spend these while resting to buy new skills, or level up existing skills; any skills you don't have are considered level 0.
To buy a new skill or level up an existing one, you must first meet the listed prerequisites (including any previous levels), and spend skill points equal to the new level. (e.g. To buy a skill at level 4, you must spend a total of 10 skill points.) Unspent skill points can be saved for later.
There is an additional restriction during character creation; before your character begins their first ascent, they are limited to a maximum of 5 skills. After they begin, this restriction is immediately removed.
Beginner's Pack
Finally, after creating a new character, they begin with a set of standard issue items granted by the Mountaineer's Guild, including casual clothes, climbing clothes, solid shoes and a basic hat - and most importantly, a basic climbing bag with a capacity of 10 item slots.
The local currency is a small copper coin called an "as", ten of which makes 1 silver "denas". Each character begins the game with 3d6 x 10as, and can buy extra items from the markets. A full list of items can be found in Items and Inventory.
Core Gameplay
⚠️ Attention: I'm not touching the wording below just yet.
The core gameplay of Curses & Blessings is a combination of role play scenarios, combat encounters, and skill challenges.
📝 Developer Note: Critical Ranges and Limit Breaks are an interesting idea that I toyed with previously, and I do plan on returning to it to see how well they work, once the core rules have ossified.
Combat and Skill Challenges
📝 Developer Note: This section feels longer than it should be, there's something about it that irritates me. I'll probably break skills and combat into two sections in the future.
At certain points during the campaign, you will be presented with an obstacle or series of obstacles that requires rolling a d20, and scoring above a certain target value - these are called "Skill Challenges". When performing a Skill Challenge, you may select a skill your character knows that could reasonably contribute towards overcoming that obstacle; either adding the current level of that skill to your roll, or using some listed effect.
On a success, you succeed in overcoming whatever task you were attempting; on a failure, you lose your choice of either one point of Stamina, or one point from that skill's linked attribute. You cannot use a skill if the linked attribute has already been reduced to 0.
When you fail a Skill Challenge, you may choose to "exert" your character once by spending one point of Stamina to re-roll that attempt - if you do, you must take the new result. If your Stamina ever reaches 0 (either by accident or deliberately), you become Fatigued.
When you find yourself fending off an attacker, or as an attacker, all participating creatures are said to be in combat. Combat is broken down into a series of rounds, during which each combatant will have the opportunity to act.
At the beginning of each round, all combatants must roll a d20 to determine what order they take their turns in, re-rolling to break ties. Then, starting from the first combatant in the turn order, they may either attack with a melee or ranged weapon, maneuver around the environment for a better vantage point, or they may attempt to flee the battle.
If attacking a target, you must first perform a hit roll by rolling a d20, with the target's current Fortitude as the target value. On a success, you may perform a wound roll by rolling dice based on the weapon or item you are using (attacking while unarmed has a wound roll of 1d6).
When you succeed a hit roll, if you rolled a 20 (the maximum value), this is called a critical hit. Unless the effects of a critical hit are listed for the weapon or item you used, the damage dealt by this attack is doubled. When you fail a hit roll, you may choose to "exert" your character once by spending one point of Stamina to re-roll that attempt - if you do, you must take the new result.
The damage dealt by the wound roll is subtracted from the target's Health, and the target's Fortitude is reduced by 1. Just as with Skill Challenges, if a combatant's Stamina or Fortitude ever reaches 0, they become Fatigued. Likewise, if their Health reaches 0, they die.
If you decide to maneuver around the environment on your turn, you can position yourself somewhere that is easier to attack from next round, or places you somewhere out of danger. Ranged weapons normally cannot be used on a target adjacent to an attacker, and using a ranged weapon while an enemy is adjacent to you will grant that enemy an additional 1d6 to their wound roll if they attack you this turn.
If you're in a safe position, with no adjacent enemies, and not within the line of sight of a ranged enemy, you may spend one Stamina and one Fortitude to rapidly flee from the battlefield, safely abandoning the fight. Once again, if your Stamina or Fortitude ever reaches 0, you become Fatigued.
❓ TODO: How abstract should distances be?
Resting and Fatigue
Climbing the mountain can be taxing on both the mind and body - if your character's Stamina or Fortitude attributes ever reach zero, that character becomes Fatigued. While your character is Fatigued, any combat damage they deal is reduced by half (rounded down), and any combat damage they receive is doubled.
📝 Developer Note: When writing this, I wanted the full effect of fatigue to be reducing the damage dealt by half, reducing movement speed by half, and making it hard or impossible to move up or down the mountain. However, since I haven't written the parts concerning movement and ascension yet, I'll leave the effects of fatigue as a slightly wrong placeholder for the time being - I want to get the draft functioning first, so I can test it, rather than getting everything right on the first pass.
While climbing, if you find a safe location, you may decide to rest - resting can restore your attributes, and allow you to use items (such as healing salves) and take stock of your current situation.
While Fatigued, your attributes will not be restored by resting until the Fatigued status is alleviated. To do this, you must sleep for at least 3 segments of time within a 5 segment period; the Fatigued status is removed at the end of this period. Your character may be awake for up to 2 segments of time during this period, such as to keep watch during the night, without disrupting the removal of Fatigue as long as no strenuous activities occur.
While not Fatigued, resting takes 1 segment of time, during which each of your attributes may regain 1d6 points, up to their maximum value. You may rest for as many consecutive segments of time as you wish.
Dying and Death
Your character's health attribute represents their physical fitness - as they accumulate injuries or illnesses, their health attribute will be directly impacted. If your character's health attribute is ever reduced to 0 or below, they die.
Even before your character's health drops to 0, some situations my cause potentially debilitating conditions, such as becoming poisoned or losing a limb, requiring some kind of prosthetic to continue.
📝 Developer Note: Poisons and prosthetics are possible future mechanics. I'm also considering other generic conditions like blindness and deafness. Exactly what effect these will have, I haven't decided yet - they may impact more than just your attributes.
The Passage of Time
For climbers on the mountain, keeping track of the current time of day is important, as more dangerous creatures may be active at different times. Rather than following the traditional 24-hour system, one full day on the mountain is divided into 10 "segments" of roughly equal length, beginning from sunrise, while a series of sequential segments is known as a period.
❓ TODO: Ascension and descension will take time, but long stretches of time can be glossed over by the GM - I'll need to add a rough guide for how long each Tiere takes to traverse.
❓ TODO: should digging and climbing be moved here?
Items and Inventory
For those who live and work in Vorland, the sight of pilgrims, adventurers and fortune seekers is an everyday occurrence. The local coinage is often mixed with coins from across the continent, or may bear markings of old - but they are all welcomed by the city's businesses. One silver "denas" is worth ten copper "as" - anything greater is harder to use.
Below is a table of the most commonly purchased gear for climbing the mountain. While not an exhaustive list of what's available, these items can be purchased with very little hassle. Items listed as "Petty" are normally attached to the outside of your pack or to your body, so they don't consume inventory space. Items listed as "Bulky" are larger than normal, so they take two inventory spaces to carry.
| Item | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Food Rations | 5as | Dry, dull tasting but nutritious, it's made up of nuts and common fruits, dried and condensed into an easy to hold bar shape. Enough for one meal. |
| Basic Cooking and Cutlery Gear | 50as | Ideal for preparing meals while roughing it, this contains several small pots, cups, multiuse cutlery, and a flimsy stand for a campfire. |
| Basic Sleeping Set | 200as | Bulky. A thin but warm blanket, and a soft but durable mat with a small pillow sewn onto one end. |
| Small Knife and Sheath | 10as | Weapon (2d6), Petty. A small but sharp knife, and a sheath that attaches to a belt. |
| Small Folding Pickaxe | 30as | Weapon (2d6-2), Petty. A small but sturdy pickaxe that can be folded away. |
| Small Compass | 50as | Petty. A small compass, its magnetic needle points north. |
| 15m Rope | 50as | A good solid length of rope. Can be tied to a piton embedded in a wall. |
| Piton Bundle | 10as | A spike with a loop on the other end, sold in bundles of three. Each bundle of up to three pitons consumes one inventory space. |
| Glowstone Lantern | 45as | produced a moderate amount of light. Usually safe to use, as long as the glowstone within is handled carefully. |
| 2m Bandages | 10as | Essential for emergencies, it can be used to bind or staunch a wound, or as a makeshift sling for a broken limb. |
| Soothing Salve | 15as | A kind of viscous cream derived from a fungus, used for pain relief. Apply no more than once per segment of time to a character's wounds to restore 1d6 Health. Does not heal broken bones or restore lost body parts, 6 uses. |
| Cold Weather Clothes | 1000as | Highly durable warm weather clothing, effectively essential at higher altitudes. Can be obtained in various sizes. |
| Sketchbook and Pencil | 30as | A simple but durable notebook, with pages ideal for sketching or taking notes. Comes with a matching pencil. |
❓ TODO: Pickaxe needs digging bonus, pitons need a climbing bonus
❓ TODO: simple Ranged weapon - rock? A throwing skill?
Artifacts and Excavation
❓ TODO: Empty - We're here for the Phat Lute
Classifications
Each type of artifact falls into one of the following broad classes, which can often dictate how they're handled:
Common-class: There are many examples of this artifact, or it can be easily crafted from an artifact. Their effects are fairly simple or mundane.
Uncommon-class: While not impossible to obtain, uncommon-class artifacts are hard to come by, and sell for high prices. Their effects can vary from moderately impactful, to extremely dangerous or destructive if misused.
Rare-class: While multiples of some rare-class artifacts do exist, the exact number could be counted on one hand. The sale of these is regulated on a case-by-case basis, as some have the capacity to tip the balance of power between nations.
Nocturne-class: These artifacts, for whatever reason, cannot be recovered or sold by the Mountaineer's Guild. Some are immovable, while others have been bound to an individual's body - the exact circumstances vary.
Restricted: This is a special class, reserved only for artifacts that actively cause harm, and are therefore illegal. Being caught in possession of a restricted artifact can come with steep fines and punishments.
Digging and Excavation
❓ TODO: Empty - What of obsession helps with locating artifacts?
Movement and Ascension
❓ TODO: Empty - probably belongs elsewhere
Skill Point Tables
During your campaign, your characters can learn new skills by allocating unused skill points towards them. Each known skill has a level (starting at 1) with no upper limit; the effects of the skill may change drastically depending on the given level. You can only gain a new level of a skill if you meet that skill level's prerequisites as listed, as well as having all previous levels of that skill. To purchase a new level of a skill, allocate skill unused points equal to the new level towards it.
Progression Skills
| Name | Prerequisites | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Health | - | Increase your maximum Health by 2 for each level in this skill. |
| Additional Stamina | - | Increase your maximum Stamina by 1 for each level in this skill. |
| Additional Fortitude | - | Increase your maximum Fortitude by 1 for each level in this skill. |
| Additional Obsession | - | Increase your maximum Obsession by 1 for every second level in this skill. |
Survival Skills
❓ TODO: Empty - don't get smacked
| Name | Prerequisites | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Unearth the Past | - | You have some understanding of the peoples and civilizations that proceeded you up the mountain. After rolling for excavation, you may spend a number of obsession points up to your level in this skill to boost the die roll. |
❓ TODO: Fill out excavation mechanic, and potentially revise "unearth the past"
Combat Skills
❓ TODO: Empty - Smack hard
Some skills may refer to a "Retaliation Attack", which is preformed in response to some event. Retaliations themselves cannot be responded to.
| Name | Prerequisites | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Near Miss Retaliation | - | Your trained reflexes allow you to respond to a failed hit attempt with an attack of your own. When a hit roll against you fails, if the difference between the hit result and the target value is less than or equal to your levels in this skill, you may immediately make a retaliation attack against the attacker, if able. |
Craft Skills
❓ TODO: Empty - "crafts" are more like "professions"
Group Skills
Group skills are unique, in that they are unusable and unobtainable unless everyone in the group allocates the required skill points.
| Name | Prerequisites | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rope Up | - | To prevent a catastrophic end while climbing, you may tie several people together in sequence via a rope. While ascending, if any one person fails their roll, any other characters who are roped to that person may lower their result by up to their level in this skill. If they do, the failed roll is increased by each point that is lowered, until it becomes a success (if a success can't be obtained this way, it is still considered a failure). |
❓ TODO: Fill out ascension mechanic, and potentially revise "rope up"
Bestiary and Herbarium
❓ TODO: Empty
Appendices
❓ TODO: Empty