#cairn ttrpg

[inspirationaljunkyard]

More samples from the Cairn 2E bestiary. Today we have a green hoarding dragon, a goblin, and some gnolls. Now live on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1557907976/cairn-2e-boxed-set

[thehomelybrewster]

1d8 "Free" Fantasy RPGs To Replace 5e At Your Table

D&D 5e sure is a roleplaying game, and it's one that I have enjoyed a lot. However, that doesn't mean that I'd recommend it automatically for other people. This has many reasons, which I won't elaborate here. It has also shaped the perception of TTRPGs significantly thanks to its market dominance, and not in a good way.

5e has a reputation for being an expensive, complex game, and 5e players fear that other RPGs might just be the same. That it's too much of a hassle and too much of a financial burden to switch systems.

So, to help 5e players pick out a different system, I've made this handy 1d8 rolling table to help them pick a fantasy TTRPG with a combat component that they can try instead!

Let's now go through these eight nine RPGs and see what's up with them, right below the "Keep reading" section!

I'll be listing some metrics like the page count for the rulebook(s), the core resolution mechanic, how complex the game is in terms of character creation & combat, and how well-supported the game is by their publisher and the community-at-large.

1. Cairn

Author: Yochai Gal

Release Year: 2020

Cost: Free PDF, printed copies cost between $3 to $10 depending on the print quality.

Page Count: 24

Website: https://cairnrpg.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 Roll Under system for ability checks/saving throws, attacks hit automatically, "fiction-first".

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Random character creation, class-less and level-less, advancement based on "Scars" (suffering damage that reduces your HP exactly to 0)

Setting: Implied. Low-magic European-style fantasy; mysterious woodlands.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Hit Protection and Ability damage instead of HP, Slot-Based Inventory.

Degree of Support: Very high. Available in fifteen languages (e.g. Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and German); full rules text is under CC-BY-SA 4.0; multiple published third-party adventures & supplements available; some official bonus material (e.g. bestiary, magic items/relics, and spells) is available for free on the website.

Addendum: An expanded 2nd Edition is currently on Kickstarter (ends April 26th 2024); Cairn is legitimately easy to learn, however the Hit Protection system and the connected Scars system is a very different abstraction to health and advancement compared to 5e.

2. Cloud Empress

Author: worlds by watt

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free PDF of the rulebook and the creator-written sample adventure "Last Voyage of the Bean Barge", $20 for the print edition of the rulebook, $12 for PDF supplements, $25 for print + PDF supplements; free solo rules also available as PDF only.

Page Count: 60

Website: https://cloudempress.com/

Resolution Mechanic: d100 Roll Under system for stat checks/saving throws, critical successes or failures on doubles (11, 22, 33, etc.), 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, attacks generally hit automatically.

Action Economy: Two actions per round with no free movement.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, four classes ("jobs"), no rules for character advancement in the ruleset.

Setting: Specific. "Ecological science fantasy" heavily inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"; costly magic, giant insects, dangerous mushrooms; only human player characters.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Damage points culminate in Wounds; Wounds and Stress as ways to track your character's physical and mental state; slot-based inventory system.

Degree of Support: Low-ish. Several official supplements exist, however third-party material is very sparse. May improve due to the recent establishment of a Cloud Empress Creators Fund, has a simple 3rd party license system.

Addendum: A supplement, "Cloud Empress: Life & Death" is currently on Kickstarter (ends April 26th 2024, yes, the same day as Cairn 2e) and as a disclaimer I even backed that current Kickstarter; Cloud Empress is built on the engine of the sci-fi horror RPG "Mothership"; clearly built for one-shots and short campaigns; has a wonderful resting system that encourages roleplay between players.

3. Iron Halberd

Author: level2janitor

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free PDF of the rules; no print option available.

Page Count: 60

Website: https://level2janitor.itch.io/iron-halberd

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system against difficulty or armor rating, however most non-combat-related actions follow a fiction first approach without dice rolls.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, class-less but there are four different "gear kits" that nudge your character towards certain archetypes, levelling up with XP.

Setting: Essentially non-existant. General European fantasy with magic, gods may or may not exist/shape the world, various fantastic ancestries included.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Includes rules for building strongholds and maintaining warbands; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: None. The game is intended to be relatively compatible with other OSR content and the creator suggests using adventures made for the D&D retroclone Old-School Essentials if you wanna use pre-published ones. An official introductory adventure, "Sea-Spray Bay", is apparently in the works. No 3rd party license available, as far as I know.

Addendum: One thing about Iron Halberd I like especially is how it uses random tables for generating equipment. Most of the equipment is listed in a numerical order by category, and the various gear kits include references on different rolling formulas for those equipment categories. For example someone taking the "soldier's kit" rolls twice on the d20 Weapons table and takes their preferred pick, while someone taking the "sage's kit" only rolls a d4 on that table.

4. Mausritter

Author: Isaac Williams

Release Year: 2020

Cost: Free PDF of the ruleset available; box set with the rules and several goodies including an adventure costs $55; additional box set + PDFs containing eleven official adventures costs $55 (or $20 digital-only).

Page Count: 48

Website: https://mausritter.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 Roll Under system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, attacks always hit.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Random character creation, class-less, levelling up with XP.

Setting: Vaguely specific. You play as mice and everything is related to mouse-size; cats are the equivalents of devils or dragons; humans exist as a setting background but may or may not be present in a campaign.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Includes rules for recruiting warbands; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: Very high. Several official supplements exist, as well as loads of content, be it adventures or supplements, made by other creators. Available in seven languages (all of them however are European). Has a simple 3rd party license system.

Addendum: Mausritter uses the phrase "adventure site" instead of dungeons. On the website a free adventure site generator is available, as is a digital tool that can be used to generate your own item cards for the slot-based inventory system.

5. Maze Rats

Author: Ben Milton

Release Year: 2017

Cost: $4.99 for the PDF, no print option regularly available.

Page Count: 32

Website: https://questingbeast.substack.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 2d6 + Bonus Roll Over system; advantage system that uses 3d6 drop the lowest + Bonus.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, class-less but instead there are character features (e.g. spell slots or attack bonuses), levelling up with XP.

Setting: Essentially non-existant. Magic is very irregular (s. the section below), but otherwise it implies a vaguely European fantasy setting.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Spells are randomly generated each adventuring day and spell effects are negotiated between the GM and the spellcasting player; includes several fantastic d66 tables that can be used to randomly generate worlds.

Degree of Support: Decent. The rule text is licensed under CC BY 4.0 and unofficial translations are available. Some third-party content has been made specifically for the game.

Addendum: The only purchase-only game on this list. However "unofficial" distribution of the PDF is very common. Also this is the oldest game on the list. Ben "Questing Beast" Milton is a prolific OSR blogger and runs a YouTube channel on the OSR. Great dude.

6. Sherwood - A Game of Outlaws & Arcana

Author: Richard Ruane

Release Year: 2022

Cost: Free quickstart PDF titled "Sherwood - A Quickstart of Outlaws" available; digital rulebook costs $7.50 and the print edition (including PDF) costs $15.

Page Count: 25 (Quickstart), 32 (Rulebook)

Website: https://www.r-rook.studio/

Resolution Mechanic: 2d6 + Bonus Roll Over system for skill checks (including attacks), 2d6 Roll Under system for saving throws; advantage & disadvantage system that involves rolling 3d6 and using the higher/lower of the two results; almost all rolls are player-facing

Action Economy: "Conversational", assumption of movement + action.

Characters: Largely choice-based character creation. Combine two (of six) background abilities with the benefits of seven different careers. Big focus on interpersonal relationships during character creation. Limited character advancement takes place during downtime.

Setting: Specific. Takes place in a fantastical version of 13th century England, with fey and magic coexisting with outlaws and crusaders.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: The group of outlaws possesses two shared resources (Resources and Legend) that can be spent to gain certain benefits; spellcasting is divided into two categories: arcane talents and sorcerous rites, with the former being immediate and the later taking significant time; slot-based inventory.

Degree of Support: None. No further publications exist for the game and while it is published under the CC-BY 4.0 license, no third-party content exists as far as I know. It does include a guide on how to convert D&D and Troika (N)PCs into Sherwood characters, as well as three adventure seeds (one in the Quickstart, two in the rules), which is at least something.

Addendum: Might just be the game on this list that encourages the most roleplaying; the character sheet is sadly very provisional-feeling and the Quickstart feels outdated compared to the finalized rulebook.

7. The Electrum Archive

Author: Emiel Boven

Release Year: 2022

Cost: Free Rules PDF available, zines cost $12 as digital PDFs or $24 as print + PDF combos; the first zine contains the entire contents of the Free Rules PDF

Page Count: 26 (Free Rules), 72 (Issue 01)

Website: https://www.electrumarchive.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d10 Roll Under system, attacks always hit.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Largely choice-based; three archetypes roughly corresponding to fighters/rangers (Vagabonds), rogues (Fixers), and spellcasters (Warlocks); player characters are presumed to be human; levelling up with XP.

Setting: Specific. Mechanics heavily tie into the lore; humanity has abundant access to minerals but requires a rare substance known as Ink to operate certain pieces of tech (like guns) and cast spells but cannot produce Ink themselves; spirits of various sorts can be foes, targets of worship, or sources of power.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Uses a spellcasting system for the Warlock archetype that's heavily based on the one used in Maze Rats, as in it uses randomly-generated spells whose effects are negotiated between the player and the GM; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: Minimal. The game consists out of the free rules and (soon) two zines; a third party license exists but content produced under it is very rare.

Addendum: I need to disclaim that I recently backed the Kickstarter campaign for the second zine for this game; the free rules feature wrong page numbers in its table of contents which is unfortunate; The Electrum Archive uses incredibly simple stats for NPCs which makes creating new ones based on other games rather simple.

8. Shadowdark RPG

Author: Kelsey Dionne

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free player and game master quickstarts exist as PDFs and are available in print for $19, the core rules cost $28 in PDF form and $57 in a print + PDF bundle

Page Count: 68 (Player Quickstart Guide), 68 (Game Master Quickstart Guide), 332 (Core Rules)

Website: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, natural 1s are critical failures and natural 20s are critical successes.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Largely choice-based; players have a fantasy ancestry and a class; levelling up with XP; class progression largely random.

Setting: Vague. General (dark) western fantasy conventions apply; alignment is a force in this universe and a sample pantheon is provided; the most potent enemies in the rules are named individuals that fit classic TTRPG monster types; illustrations and lore snippets have recurring motifs.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: The key mechanic of Shadowdark is how the game handles light, namely that light sources are tracked in real time (i.e. a normal torch lasts 1 hour), which increases tension; slot-based inventory; has a 0th-level character creation option using an eliminationist "Gauntlet".

Degree of Support: Fantastic. Several official supplements and offically sanctioned digital tools exist; lots of third-party content available under a generous third-party license.

Addendum: Definitely the most similar game to 5e on this list besides the next entry; very robust mechanically and the Core Rules features extensive lists of magic items, monsters, and spells; also for early play giving your players only access to the quickstart is a totally valid choice; and finally, before Dionne made Shadowdark, she made 5e adventures for years and it shows (affectionate).

9. Pathfinder

Authors: Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mark Seifter

Release Year: 2019 (initial release), 2023 (remaster)

Cost: Free and comprehensive SRD available via the platform Archives of Nethys, free "Pathfinder Primer" abridged rulebook available via the Pathfinder Nexus (powered by Demiplane), Core books are priced $20 for PDFs and $30/$60 for print as a softcover/hardcover; a Beginner Box set with shortened soft-cover rules costs $45

Page Count: 464 (Player Core), 336 (GM Core), 376 (Monster Core), 160 (Combined Beginner Box Softcovers)

Website: https://paizo.com/pathfinder

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, four degrees of success based on result compared to target number.

Action Economy: Three action points per round; various actions may require more than one point; every character can use one reaction per round of combat.

Characters: Choice-based; players first pick an ancestry and a background and a class (the ABCs) and then tend to have meaningful choices after each level-up; levelling up with XP.

Setting: Important. Golarion, the game's setting, is a world that has been long in development and it shows; powerful magic and influential gods; very clear notions of what the societies of the various peoples of the world are like and how they should behave.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Balance between character classes and reliable combat challenge calculations are an important design goal; weight-based inventory system; archetype system for "multiclassing".

Degree of Support: Fantastic. Loads of content gets regularly produced by the game's publisher Paizo; the Pathfinder Infinite program (similar to D&D's Dungeon Master's Guild) provides lots of lore-compliant third-party content; uses the ORC third-party license for content produced outside of the Pathfinder Infinite program. Translations into other languages available but Paizo does not provide a comprehensive list of available languages (only German and French confirmed after brief personal research).

Addendum: The most popular and commercially successful of the listed games; but also by far the most complicated, though it is easier to GM for specificallty than 5e; also I dislike how certain feats create situations where fairly mundane actions get mechanics through these feats instead of being things you can generally do; anyway the reason why it's a 9 on a 1d8 table is because if you wanted to try out Pathfinder 2e you already would have and because while Paizo is better than WotC it's still a flawed big company.

...

So this was an exhausting little project. I hope you found this helpful and I hope you give at least one of these games a shot! A follow-up to this post is not out of the cards, but I don't plan on one.

Before we go, have this poll about which of these systems you're most looking forward to try! Shame it can only be open for one week...

[franciscolemos]

The entire cast of The Lair of the Alchemist.

[vintagerpg]

Cairn (2020) is a neat little skeletal OSR system, born in part out of Ben Milton’s Knave and Chris McDowall’s Into the Odd. Yochai Gal’s stated intent is to make something that allows Into the Odd to be used for OSR settings like Dolmenwood. The result is a fast, light, classless game that feels, in a sort of surprisingly non-specific way, like a D&D experience, without any of the usual headaches.

A lot of stuff actually reminds me of other non-D&D-based systems. Reducing attributes to three (Strength, Dexterity and Willpower) feels pretty Dungeoneer to me. The combat reminds me a bit of HeroQuest, actually. You roll your weapon die, subtract the opponent’s armor value and subtract the balance from their HP. HP is Health Protection, not traditional hit points. They can be restored with a brief breather and a swig of water. If they are reduced to exactly zero, the character gets a scar. Damage exceeding HP is taken out of Strength — once that is gone, the character is dead. Magic is similarly unusual, facilitated by scrolls and spellbooks that any character can read. Casting spells (which are leveless and extremely open-ended) costs fatigue, which is logged in inventory, which I think is an odd, but exceedingly clever, mechanic.

And that’s about it. Light, flexible, keyed to OSR experience without feeling particularly OSR in its mechanics. This is a great introductory system. Its flexibility has sparked a surprising creator community which has produced hacks and Cairn-specific adventures. Good stuff.

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played CAIRN ?

By Yochai Gal

Cairn is an adventure game about exploring a dark & mysterious Wood filled with strange folk, hidden treasure, and unspeakable monstrosities. Character generation is quick and random, classless, and relies on fictional advancement rather than through XP or level mechanics. It is based on Knave by Ben Milton and Into The Odd by Chris McDowall.

[peregrine-coast]

Milk Bar: sci-fi OSR roleplaying in post-Communist Poland

Bełchatów exemplifies what the paypigs called Total Fucking Vertical Integration. They dug out coal from a hole in the ground 300m deep and 10km across, wheeled it 17km across a field, and burned it to produce 50TWh of energy a year. The city, this city, sprang up around it to keep those functions and those conveyor belts alive at any cost; total fucking vertical integration.

Eventually, the coal ran out. The Soviets found a more lucrative source of energy in the south and they would wheel it back here to justify keeping hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of nowhere. An explosion at the plant sent them reeling, leaving only you—the Communards—to pick up the pieces. 

🧑‍🔬sci-fi OSR roleplaying in the vein of Cairn and Mothership 🇵🇱 set in an alternate timeline, post-Soviet Communist Poland 🏠 unique progression system tied to basebuilding 🥟 pierogi

Coming soon! Follow the project on Kickstarter to get updates 👀

[ostrichmonkey-games]

More Riverlands thoughts

So as I slowly work on more Riverlands Stuff (hexcrawl, rule conversions, etc), general survey - which of the original Riverlands backgrounds (excluding the Empire and Further Afield backgrounds for right this second), would you want to see expanded into a full Archetype (basically a class in my Ostrichmonkey Hack ruleset). Not all of them necessarily would work as archetypes, but I'm interested to see which ones might resonate with people.

Basically based entirely on vibes, pick your favorite, but feel free to ask for more info on any in the notes.

[tabletopgayventures]

What I look for in a tabletop role-playing game

Just my thoughts on what makes a game interesting.  Not necessarily good or bad, just what I would like to see in a game.  

First off, I want my games to be all in one book.  All you need to get started playing is just a single rulebook.  I prefer physical books but I’ll take both physical and digital.  I want the book to include a brief intro about the game, have the next section go over the game rules, then go over the setting, and the final part of the book will go over character creation.  Referee options, like challenges or bestiaries, can either be with the game rules or in a section after character creation.  I have yet to find a book that puts things in this order, but hopefully with my large collection of books I’ll finally find the order.  

The reason I want the book organized like this is that you need to understand the game mechanics in order to know how you want to build your character.  You also need to know the game setting to come up with a story for your character.  Finally, in most systems, character building takes up the majority of the book.  Especially in more complicated games with lots of character options.  Having the book organized this way will also increase the likelihood of players actually READING THE DAMN RULES.

Last thing about the game book.  Hardcover, paperback, pdf I don’t care.  But make your books easy to read and navigate!  Have a key on the fore-edge of the book in different colors so if you know the colors you can jump to that section.  Also an index!  Have an index please so you can find which pages talk about your special game mechanics.  Use colors and font size to define both hierarchy and sections in your layout, please don’t just have a white page with black text.  Finally, please use sans-serif fonts!  They’re so much easier to read than Times New Roman or Baskerville.

I also like looking for safety tools in my game books.  People who regularly play ttrpgs tend to know about lines, veils, surveys, and x-cards.  But not everyone does!  If a new player picks up your game and you don’t have a safety section you as a designer are depriving them of an important resource.  Also sometimes game designers think up new ones or have an interesting take so I like to learn.  

I don’t care how complex or simple the game system is, I just want it to be interesting and work.  I started with 3.5 and Pathfinder 1st edition so I do have a preference for more complicated games with lots of character options but only if they’re interesting or established.  I also like my systems to be loose enough that you can easily homebrew additional mechanics, change mechanics, or make new in game material.  I like to homebrew, it’s fun.  

[zedecksiew]

GRANDAUNT NGENG WILL NOT MARRY

Ngeng ap Ten was no grandaunt then—her breasts stood high, her arms were masts, her hair flowed like the night breeze freely.

And like all young chieftesses she was quick to folly. She would not flee from a fight. She looked at the Zum King, saw his soft belly, his pale lips. She judged that she could not lose. She would have been right.

She kissed her spear and said: “I accept your challenge, o king. Should I win you will never seek me again, and live in peace always.”

He pointed his sword and said: “I accept your terms, o queen. Should I win you will give me your hand, and rule with me in splendor now and ever.”

Ngeng ap Ten laughed aloud and answered: “Never!”

She was no grandaunt then—her eyes glared fire, her fists were mallets, and her hair swirled like a storm approaching.

Spear haft sang, spear point shrieked. But though the Zum King was slow, unskilled, she found she could not fight him. Her thrusts were forced away. Her slashes she threw aside. She found she would not spill his blood.

She dropped her spear and said: “Calumny! Treachery. My own right hand betrays me!”

He sheathed his sword and said: “I am a son of the gods of heaven. No mortal arm may hurt a star.”

The Zum King offered her his open palm and said: “Come!”

Ngeng ap Ten was no grandaunt then—her heart beat steady, her brow an unbowed arch, her hair hung still like a veil never to be parted.

With her left hand she seized his sword. With his sword she severed her right arm at the elbow. This she offered to him, in accordance to his terms. He asked for her hand, if he won. It was her hand that she gave him.

Thus the Zum King, who thought to trick Ngeng ap Ten, was tricked in turn, and went home to his city with a wife he could not marry.

So it has been to this day: that the kings of Zum rule palace and markets with an arm now bone as their scepter. Thus Ngeng ap Ten, who thought to best her enemies with might, learned guile instead, and paid a limb for wisdom.

So it has been to this day: that she is our Grandaunt Ngeng, living ever free and alone in the heart of the wood.

+++

This is a self-congratulatory post.

The above fable is part of an adventure I have just I have finished writing, for the Cairn 2E Boxed Set. The adventure itself is titled: A Tide Returning.

It is now in layout, and will receive proper art and cartography by proper artists. (These sketches are my own personal studies.)

Of late I have been doing poorly, mental- and emotional-health-wise---so it is a wonder I finished anything at all. I am glad I finished A Tide Returning. I am pretty proud of it.

A little shy, because it retreads the same general themes as a lot of my past work---the mangrove setting; colonial-capitalist violence done to a people and landscape.

Am rationalising the above worry thusly:

I have now written a trilogy of TTRPG adventures, set at the beginning (Lorn Song Of The Bachelor), middle (A Tide Returning), and end (Spy In The House Of Eth) of a settler-colonial project. Taken together, they make the point that:

Colonial projects are long-term, violent throughout, and an evil not simply halted by the defeat any single Big Bad.

But also that:

Resistance is as long, and as tenacious, and righteous action is its own victory.

Thank you Yochai for letting me write this thing.

PS: the header image is that of the Heritiera littoralis, or looking-glass mangrove---the kind of tree Grandaunt Ngeng appears as, in the adventure.

[catshavenolord]

🚨FREE DUNGEON ALERT 🚨

Step right up for a 14-room cavern dungeon featuring:

A dangerous environment with oppressive heat and dense crystal formations based on the real-world Cueva de los Cristales.

A crazed cult obsessed with a cosmic dragon and mixed up in faulty time-reversal rituals.

Four alien creatures ready to eat any player characters that come near to them.

One little green lady mysteriously growing potatoes.

A series of open challenges focused on creating interesting player choices.

Also with art from the amazing @evlynmoreau-blog and @betterlegends

Just head on over to Itch.io now to get it for yourself:

[roobiedo]

oc-tober 2024 day 4: under-appreciated oc

posting some old art today! as a forever GM, i rarely have a chance to play my own characters, so these guys are from two different oneshots that my lovely friends ran a while back <3 my poor goofy babies are gathering dust, i miss them so much 😩

On the left is Prince Marigold de Clair, or just Rigo! He's a kalashtar wizard who dreams of being a baker but has zero baking skills oops. They ran away from home because they have the whole ✨worldussy✨ Made for a DnD oneshot about acquiring the recipe to apple pie!

On the right is Esme Swinney, a rat bastard (affectionate) miner made for @ashleys-doodle-corner's Cairn oneshot! (She's also the one who rendered Esme's drawing — our first collab yay — and did the alt text! thank u bestie <3) Esme has 1 HP :)

[inspirationaljunkyard]

Mew creatures, fresh from the Cairn 2E bestiary: minotaur, mind lasher and night hag Cairn 2E is now live on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1557907976/cairn-2e-boxed-set

[seedlinggames]

A Gathering Storm for Cairn is out

Hopefully it works this time because I managed to crash the editor. A Gathering Storm is an adventure for Cairn. It probably takes about 2 sessions unless your players really don't like talking to people. There is a village that will have to be abandoned if nobody figures out why it won't stop raining, because the rains are flooding everything. There's a strange and isolated monastery with a famous library which is being weirdly unhelpful to anyone who comes around asking questions. There's a forest which is also a god. Most of the adventure takes place in this forest.

This is my first time doing not just all of the writing and layout but also the art. It took way too long but I'm pretty proud of the results. There's no dungeon crawling, but it is very exploration focused. There are also hooks to start a larger campaign based on these locations, a bunch of new bestiary entries, and tables of 36 books, 24 names, and 10 types of merchants.

You can find the pdf on #itchio https://seedling.itch.io/a-gathering-storm-cairn

or on #DriveThruRPG : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/437505/A-Gathering-Storm--Cairn

You can also get physical copies from the Cairn store: https://store.cairnrpg.com/products/a-gathering-storm

Third Kingdom Games: https://www.thirdkingdomgames.com/product-page/a-gathering-storm

And (soon) Ratti Incantati, in Canada (will update when they're available there): https://rattiincantati.com/

[franciscolemos]

This was an early cover for The Lair of the Alchemist, which was not used as I ultimately did not include that creature in the Dungeon.

[ultimavela]

Sentient Relics (collected)

These creatures are meant to be used in NPFTH, but you can also use them in your OSR/NSR game by applying the simple conversion that is below (written for OSE and Mörk Borg).

Relics are kept as a source of holiness in shrines, and as a token of the man-king-god to present to the new followers colonists are meant to amass. In “dead wheeled holy towns”, these relics become sentient due to the interaction with the Chasm (energy arising from the gap that exists between the world as seen by the islanders and the colonists).

If you use them in your game (and/or in different setting), “Sentient Relics” fit well in shrines and sacred places that have been affected by magic, curses, or any kind of weird energy that could make a relic sentient.

If you are building a “Dead Holy Wheeled Town” you have to roll for one of these relics.

Roll 1d12

Thorny hammer of the Silent Mother.

Bell of the First Word.

Gallows of the first Sinner.

Helm of the Warrior Priest.

Flaming heart of the penitent mother.

First Tree of Fervour.

Undying holiness of eternal repentance.

Leviathan of Holy Scribes.

Mirror of the First Vision.

Brothers of the Sin and the Pain incarnated.

The stag head of the blind queen.

Sphere of the illusions of the sinners’ life.

CONVERSION FOR OTHER OSR GAMES All of these creatures make reference to something call “Grief” and sometimes to a tactic/attribute/stat of the PCs, so if you want to use them in your OSR game… …for something like OSE you can use this: Grief → XP or Treassure carried by PCs or sum of both (divided by 1000). Blood → HP (this is for mortal creatures) Strong → STR / Agile → DEX / Imposing → CHA Resilient → CON / Sneaky → DEX / Observant → WIS …for something like MÖRK BORG you can use this: Grief → Omens, or Silver dived by 100, or the sum of both. Blood → HP (this is for mortal creatures) Strong → Strenght / Agile → Agility / Imposing → Presence Resilient → Toughness / Sneaky → Agility / Observant → Presence …In the case of Sentient Relics (for Mork Borg and OSE) Imposing → stat for everything Chasm → HP (because they are fed by the Chasm) …for both you could also add this: *Let the PCs spend “X” HP to increase their roll by “X”. *Conditions modify the rolls of anything that make sense (spring ankle will hinder jumping, confused will hinder perceptions, anger will hinder interactions, etc…). Conditions stack. *If you dont want to use Conditions, then make them do as much d4 damage as their mnodifiers (ex: Sorrow -2 → 2d4 damage).

If anything has just one stat, it can use it for everything.

20 Sentient Relics

1. Thorny hammer of the Silent Mother:

Chasm: 2d6 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 2d4 (stat for everything). + Grief of target to all its rolls.

What does it do?

Flies (30’)

Dark vision

Thorn hammering → 3d4

if at least 1d4=1, one thorn breaks, and the victim can’t speak.

Diamond Hammering → 1d10

Black light [1 Chasm to activate] -> Magical darkness in 30’ (10 m)

2. Bell of the First Word

Chasm: 2 + 1d8 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 2 + 2d4 (stat for everything). Uses Grief of target instead of own Chasm.

What does it do?

Does not move.

Tonge lash hammering → 1d8

Shadow Hands → 1d6

They have 1 Chasm (HP) each.

Create 2d4, they can be created as afar as 120’ (40m)

Move 30’ (10m) all of them

Forgotten Word → 1d6 + Grief Target. Reach 120’ (40m)

3. Gallows of the first Sinner

Chasm: 2d10 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 2d4 (stat for everything). - own Grief to the rolls of those looking at it.

What does it do?

Flies (30’)

Fog of despair -> Reach 30’ (10m)

Roll Resilient DC 10 + own Grief

In fail → You get despair (-2) condition

Purple Ghosts → 1d6, Reach 30’ (10m)

Tendrils of sin → 1d10

Roll Agile DC 10 + own Grief

In fail → You get direct extra 1d6 damage and the relic recovers the same amount of Chasm.

4. Helm of the Warrior Priest

Chasm: 2d4 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 1d6 (stat for everything). + Grief of possessed to all its rolls.

What does it do?

Flies (60’)

Fire Bolt → 1d4, Reach 120’ (40m)

War cry [1 Chasm to activate] -> Everyone who hears it is compelled to attack the closest being.

Tentacle Lash → 1d6

Tentacle Grip -> Roll Agile DC 10 + Imposing.

In fail, tentacles grip you

Posses -> Only if a tentacle has a grip on you.

Roll Resilient DC 10 + Imposing

In fail, you become possessed by the helm.

5. Flaming heart of the penitent mother

Chasm: 2d20 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 3d8 (stat for everything). Candles = Imposing It has as many red candles as the max Grief of those looking at it

What does it do?

Speaks with compassion

Offers to be free from Grief by blowing out one candle -> Grief freed in this way makes 2d4 of your blood to become black. Each blown out candle becomes white.

Can command anyone full of black blood

Can throw each white candle as a fireball -> 6d6, reach 150’, area 30’

6. First Tree of Fervour

To followers of the man-king-god it is manifested as a beautiful golden tree. Its roots spread through the whole village, and it knows the beliefs and the price of the faith of those stepping on them.

Chasm: 3d10 + followers (Blood/HP). Imposing: 2d8 + followers (stat for everything).

What does it do?

Makes the “offering/amulets to other gods and spirit” to burn the skin of those carrying them -> 2 chasm to activate, 2d6 direct damage.

Lures those with no blood to join the other souls it carries -> 1 chasm to move 10’ those with no blood. 2 charms to consume them.

Root lash → 1d6 + victim Grief / 90’

Summon Penitent Ghosts -> as many as the max Grief of those looking at it.

Relocate 1d6 Penitent Ghosts.

Penitent Ghost

1 Chasm/Blood/HP.

Scream -> 1d4

7. Undying holiness of eternal repentance

Stone statue, sword throbs like a heart.

Chasm: 2d20 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 3d8 (stat for everything).

What does it do?

Those in the same room get cold to the bone:

They get the condition Frozen (- own Grief)

Distort space, 1 Chasm per target -> It can move anyone 10 x (victim Grief) feet.

Freezing Wind → 2d4, cone 30’

Mind space, 5 chasm to activate -> Anyone with more Grief than Blood falls asleep into The Mind Space.

The Mind Space

In the mind space, the Undying holiness of eternal repentance can teleport at the end of its turn

Fights with a great sword, 1d10 -> Air cut, line 30’ or Tornado, 10’ around him

8. Leviathan of Holy Scribes

Giant scribe (8 feet). Holy scriptures tattooed on his skin. Embalmed and vacuum-sealed.

Chasm: 3d10 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 1d8 + number of letters on target’s name (stat for everything).

What does it do?

All that is spoken in his presence is tattooed on his skin. His skin shines when this happens.

Cacophony: 1d6 + victim Grief, one target.

Any word tattooed on his skin, he can use as a weapon against whom spoken it: weapon die → (number of word’s letters) x d4, reach 120’

Erase name: 1 chasm to activate, 1d4, reach 10’

Each hit crosses out a letter of the victim’s name.

Without a letter to cross out, a hit erases your name from existence.

Without a name in each hit, the Leviathan can give you one condition with a modifier equal to the number of letters of the condition.

Instead of suffering the condition, you can choose to take the condition as your new name by adding it as a compulsion.

9. Mirror of the First Vision

What does it do?

When looking at it, you get mesmerized by your reflection:

If you want to step out of it, you must do a Resilient check vs 10 + Your Grief :

In a success, you can walk away.

In a fail, each foot you take of distance makes you bleed 1d6.

The mirror uses your reflection to talk back.

It knows everything about you.

It desires to be you:

It tries to convince you to touch hands with your reflection, and to look into your eyes.

If you do this, you get trapped on the other side and the mirror takes over your body. A new carving with your face adorns it frame.

If anyone breaks it, a Mirror Wraith emerges from it: Its front wearing the aspect of who was being reflected by the mirror, and its back reflective as a mirror.

Mirror Wraith:

Chasm = Imposing = Grief of who its aspects belongs to.

Mirror Claws → 1d6, two attacks.

Mirror Shards → 1d6, range 60’

If you see yourself reflected on its back, a new Mirror Wraith wearing your aspect emerges from it

10. Brothers of the Sin and the Pain incarnated

Marble statue. Real iron and gold swords.

Feeling of sorrow in the room.

What does it do?

All weapons weight twice as much when in the same room.

Two dissonant whispers can be heard in the room.

If your Grief > Blood → Resilient vs 10 + Your Grief

In a fail, you need the Iron Sword.

If your Grief < Blood → Resilient vs 10 + Sum of the number of compulsion of those in the room.

In a fail, you need the Golden Sword.

The one with the Iron Sword

You don’t need any other weapon but this.

The sword talks in your mind; constantly reminds you of your pains.

It is a d4 sword that feeds from your Grief

For each Grief that you feed to the sword it gets an extra d4.

If there is any pair of equal results on the d4s, you suffer the condition Sorrow ( -{number of equal pairs})

The one with the Golden Sword

You desire to carry as many weapons as you can.

The sword talks with your own voice; constantly reminds you of your sins.

It is a d6 sword that feeds from your compulsions.

For every compulsion you have, roll an extra d6.

Any odd number on the sword’s d6s allows you to roll an extra d6.

Any even number on the sword’s d6s makes you bleed for the same amount.

You can decide to ignore this bleeding by, instead, making the being you slash with the sword to be flooded by images of your regrets.

11. The stag head of the blind queen

Once just a stag head, with the eyes of the blind queen, the chasm has given the head a body and a temper.

He grieves the loss of the love of his queen, now long dead.

He is a remnant of the spirits of the land of the region where his queen reigned.

Chasm: 10 + d10 (Blood/HP). Imposing: 2 + 1d4 (stat for everything).

What does it do?

Can see in darkness.

Can smell a wound from miles away.

Any blood, red or green, that touches its body is absorbed into Chasm

Attacks:

One with each hand → d6 or d10 for the hand with the weapon.

Or Hooves and Gore -> d8 Hooves at the start of movement, 3d6 Gore at the end of movement.

12. Sphere of the illusions of the sinners’ life

Chasm: d6 x {Sum of the number of the compulsion of those under its candlelight} (Blood/HP). Imposing: d8 + {Max grief of those within its candlelight} (stat for everything).

What does it do?

It tries to suffocate you into its smoke, to make you the new mind on the smoke.

For each compulsion (or weapon if using other OSR) of those within its light, it can create 1 smoke slasher per turn.

Smoke Slasher (Chasm = Imposing = 4)

Claws → d6

Move 30’

Suffocate -> 10’. Resilience vs 10 + Smoke's remaining Chasm

In a fail:

If conscious → fall unconscious.

If already unconscious → its mind gets trapped on the relic.

In a fail or a success → the smoke slasher dissipates.

[freethrall]

In this episode, I share my thoughts as a first time GM running Cairn 2nd Edition. #Cairn2E #osr #nsr #ttrpg https://open.spotify.com/episode/42gEizzJu9MdQK7mSnjD1s?si=MVBfOuTESuKaxu0CdM5JQg