Introduction
The Wutherwyld is a forest that breathes enchantment, magic suffusing it on every level. Clouds scintillate above meadows of crystalline flowers, and all manner of fae and chimera dart and stride through its groves.
A cliffs’ descent demarcates one side from the world, and from that same height a river descends — the dreaded Scytherun, whose waters slice all those who dare sip or wade it. Its rapids draw the other line.
Legend tells of a fearsome dragoness burrowing into that cliffside, declaring this the site of her lair and hoard — the wonder of the Wutherwyld draws from this source, and it was her might that shielded all those who called this forest home.
And yet, as the fate of every legend, she is faded. The dragoness has fallen into a darkling slumber, and now these woods are pervaded by decay and treachery. Vile beasts of the night stalk freely, and men come to plunder its secrets.
A village lay at the edge of the Scytherun, once enjoying a fraction of the woods’ protection and a profitable covenant with its denizens. Now they wane a drowned man clutches another.
The young girl Lyretta grew up in this village; though her mother was poor in both coin and reputation, she did everything she could to secure her daughter an apprenticeship and education. Perhaps one day she could be of use to some noble or merchant, and leave this dying village behind.
One day, the girl returns home, hoping to see her mother, and instead finds an empty house and a ransom note. Her mother was snatched in the night, and Lyretta must hand over three gold coins in one week’s time, or she can watch her mother stain the Scytherun red.
Lyretta does not have three gold coins. Nor does anyone else. This village has no one who might stand against whatever brigand has furnished this threat. Only a miracle could save her mother — but if there’s one place miracles can happen, it’s the Wutherwyld. And where else might bandits hide away, but a wood falling to corruption?
Lyretta says a prayer before setting off.
Gameplay
This is a simple one-player dice game with role-playing elements. To play, you need a way to take notes and roll two six-sided dice.
The game portrays Lyretta on her journey to save her mother through six nights in the Wutherwyld. You will encounter threats and opportunities and guide her down a path to bring her mother back safe and sound.
The core is designed around a principle of “three rolls”. When you advance, explore, or act, you roll dice to determine what happens next, and these simple rules encompass the whole game.
When you explore, your roll leads you to face down one of the encounters on an exploration table. You may explore twice each day. See the section on revisiting for what happens if you roll the same encounter more than one.
When you act, you roll and add a modifier if appropriate. If the dice and modifier together sum to 2–6, you suffer a setback; if the sum is 7–9, you make progress with a tradeoff; and if the sum is 10 or more, you have a breakthrough.
When advancing, roll two dice and chose the lower, and gain the corresponding ability on the advancement table. If you already have that ability, gain the ability assigned to the other die. If you have both, gain the first ability you don’t have.
At the beginning of the game, make an advancement roll to chose a starting boon. Then, you enter the Wutherwyld and begin making exploration rolls.
You have three numeric Attributes. These are your main ways of interacting with encounters.
- Fury: for aggressive and passionate acts
- Insight: for thoughtful and kind acts
- Occult: for underhanded and ruthless acts
You may chose one to begin with 1 point, the others begin at 0.
How well your journey through the wilds is going can be usefully determined by three Currencies: Health, Spirit, and Supply.
Health is energy and physical integrity. You begin with 3 Health. When Health reaches 0, your body fails and you perish in the wild. This ends the game.
Spirit is focus and mental fortitude. You begin with 3 Spirit. When Spirit reaches 0, you’ve lost your nerve, and flee the wilds or embrace madness. This ends the game.
Lastly, Supply represents consumable goods and general preparedness. You begin the game with 3 Supply and may reach 0 supply with no (immediate) consequence.
There is no maximum of any of these three values.
At the end of each day, you must spend -1 Supply to make camp and nourish yourself, or spend -1 Health and -1 Spirit.
Before making an explore action, you may chose to spend a point of Supply to restore a point of either Health or Spirit.
Your inventory represents the objects Lyretta choses to carry. You can fit six items in your inventory.
The last statistic is Momentum. This represents luck and fleeting advantages. You gain Momentum whenever you land a breakthrough, and when you suffer a setback, you lose -1 momentum, and -1 again if your momentum still exceeds the value of either dice.
If your momentum > 0 when acting, then before accepting a roll, you may reroll one die, or swap momentum with one die. Your momentum score is added instead of the die, and afterward momentum is set equal to its roll. If you chose either, lose -1 momentum afterward.
If your momentum < 0 when acting, then if you land a tradeoff or breakthrough and one dice has the same absolute value of your momentum, you fumble. Treat the result as a setback instead, then set momentum to 0.
Any of the 36 encounters may be rolled at any time, but some have special conditions or pacing. For this, an encounter may place a thread at the end of a list called the Plot Queue. When procedures direct you to progress the plot, look over the threads in the Plot Queue, and encounter the first able to take effect, removing it from the Plot Queue.
At the beginning of the day, if there are more than three items in the Plot Queue, progress the plot.
When you explore and roll a result you’ve already encountered, progress the plot.
Engagement
Engagement represents either combat or conversation. You engage a creature when one of you is attacking, or trying to convince the other to do something.
The currency for combat is Health, and for conversation it is Spirit. Damage is dealt to these stats. Non-player characters have a Limit, and if their Health or Spirit falls below it, they will flee or yield if possible.
You roll +Fury when attacking and +Insight when speaking. +Occult when feinting or deceiving.
On breakthrough, chose 2; on tradeoff, chose 1 progress and suffer 1 cost; on setback, suffer 1 cost. On tradeoff or setback, you may chose to suffer an additional cost for an additional move.
Moves:
- Engage. Inflict your damage.
- Resist. Negate incoming damage.
- Set up. Gain +1 Momentum.
- Dodge. In combat: spend -1 Spirit to negate damage and chose again.
- Bribe. In speech: spend -1 Supply to negate damage and chose again.
- Disengage. Begin disengaging, or escape if you’ve begun.
- Pursue. Prevent a disengaging target from escaping.
Costs:
- Suffer their damage.
- Set momentum to to -1.
- If you initiated, target tries to disengage — unless target is already trying to disengage, then you must chose this cost again, and the engagement ends. Target has escaped combat or refuses to continue talking.
- Lose initiative. Roll -1 without positive modifiers until you spend a move to end this effect. Cannot suffer this again if already in effect.
Starting Boons
- There’s a small chest hidden beneath Mother’s bed, a heavy and dusty thing. Within there’s papers, jewelry, but one thing catches your eye: it’s round and golden. Start with 1 gold coin.
- You saw it on the mantle and daydreamed about it as a child, but mother never let you touch it. Once, in hushed tones, she mentioned it was the last thing she had to remember him. Start armed with a Sword.
- As you near the edge of the forest, a fence warns of the wilds proper. A bird alights on a wooden post, staring at you. It caws once. You approach and it becomes a flutter of wings; you flinch, but talons clutch your shoulder. Start with an Odd Crow companion.
- In your dreams, you see a woman glaring, snarling. She is chained, yet the metal melts to slag. Burn it down, girl. We must free that lizard from this bondage. Start with +1 extra point of Fury.
- You glance at a pond as you pass, and the sun glints in your eyes. Briefly, you see another world. A wrinkled face smiles at you. She’s forgotten light and love. Shall we remind her? Start with +1 extra point of Insight, and advance with Lore.
- A shadow looms over as you sleep. A curtain of hair falls, and the scent of blood and bitter poison assails you. Lips kiss yours, and then pull back with a cold giggle. A waste of time. They all will die. You vomit when awake, feeling sick. Start with -1 less point of Supply and +1 extra Occult.
Exploration Table
Underbrush and game trails
Crystalline meadows
Rainbow mist vale
Where hills climb over trees
Scytherun and Impalla falls
Caverns as warm as veins
Advancements
Fury
Raging flames fill you with power. Gain +1 reroll on act taken with a burning fire close enough to touch. (e.g., you are holding a torch).
You know the moth’s fascination. When you feel fire burning your skin, spend 1 Health and roll +Fury. On breakthrough, chose two gifts; on tradeoff, chose 1 gift and one cost; on setback, suffer either 1 cost or 2 costs and 1 gift.
Gifts:
- Warmth engulfs you. +1 Spirit
- Pain sharpens your focus. +2 Momentum.
- Power crawls under your skin. Next time you roll Fury, turn a setback into a tradeoff. (Chose this again, and turn it into a breakthrough.)
Costs:
- Your flesh is left raw and wounded. -1 Health.
- Hunger seethes within you. You must attack the next character you encounter.
- The flame gutters out. You cannot use the Fury abilities for the rest of the day, and cannot apply the Fury modifier to relevant actions.
Your voice crackles with danger. Whenever you threaten, command, or insult characters, you may act with Fury instead. On setback, they will fight you.
Whether in rage or woe, tears of oil fall from your eyes. You may spend 1 Spirit to set fire to anything you touch.
Your heartbeat quickens, and the tongues dance. When there is a fire nearby (e.g. you hold a torch), you may use it as a deadly weapon.
You understand, now: your body was only ever fuel, mere kindling. You no longer die if you Health reaches 0 as long as a fire burns nearby to sustain you. Life only ends when the light goes dark.
Insight
The light of the noon sun guides you. On the second round of each day, you may reroll the Explore result, taking +1 on all actions therein.
No light that enters your eye is forgotten. Before you explore, you may spend 1 Spirit and instead return to an encounter you’ve seen before.
Your smile is radiant, your voice calm. When engaging a hostile character, you may roll +Insight instead of attacking. On breakthrough they lose all Spirit; on tradeoff they lose 1, or all if you spend 1 Spirit.
In blinding light, truth eclipses sight. You may stare into a light source (e.g. a campfire or the sun). Skip one round, and roll +1 Insight. On breakthrough, chose two gifts; on tradeoff, chose 1 gift and 1 cost; on setback suffer 1 cost or 2 costs and 1 gift.
Gifts:
- Like a sunrise in your mind, beauty greets you. +1 Momentum for each Insight Advancement you’ve taken.
- Light penetrates what is still and clear. Any water you have becomes empowered by light, and drinking it heals +1 Health.
- You see the path. Next time you roll +Insight, take a breakthrough instead.
Costs:
- You scramble to portray what you saw, with anything you have. -1 Supply.
- You are reflected in another’s eyes. Suffer -2 Spirit next time you attack a character.
- The afterimage lingers in your sight, and you cannot descry its meaning. You cannot use Insight abilities for the rest of the day, and cannot apply the Insight modifier to relevant actions.
Your eyes blaze with light, a paralyzing glare. You see, and how could anything you can see harm you? Roll +Insight.
- On breakthrough, a target creature you can see cannot reduce your Health this engagement.
- On tradeoff, the same, but you must spend 1 Spirit.
- On setback, your eyes bleed and you must close them. -1 Health.
- On breakthrough, a target creature you can see cannot reduce your Health this engagement.
Light guides your path — what are you but a vessel, a mirror? You know the moon’s sorrow, and her pride. Set your Spirit equal to your Insight. You can no long gain or lose Spirit.
If you would lose spirit, roll +Insight. On setback, a shadow passes over you, and flesh blanches. -1 Health.
If you would gain spirit, gain Momentum instead.
Occult
Cool air and starlight — why fear this? At night the real world comes alive. You can take an extra round each night without spending Spirit.
Seize every advantage, no matter its source. Survive. Take +1 on any roll associated with an Advancement ability.
Pain is poison, so crippling — but you can both scream. You may spend -1 Health to draw your own blood. If you attack with a weapon coated in it, the target suffers an additional -1 Health or -1 Spirit (your choice).
Sobriety is a fool’s pride. Indulge now, you might die tomorrow. When you burn plants and breath in the smoke, roll +Occult. On breakthrough, chose 2 gifts and 1 cost; on tradeoff, chose 1 gift and 1 cost, on setback suffer 2 costs.
Gifts:
- Shadows slither at the corner of your vision. If you have more Spirit than Occult, gain +1 Spirit. If you have less, gain +2 Spirit.
- Pain ebbs and you laugh, flexing new strength. Gain 3 Health. At the end of the day, lose -3 Health. If this would leave you with 1 or less Health, set Health to 1 instead.
- You bristle and bounce with off-kilter energy. Roll 2d6, and subtract the smaller from the larger. Gain that much Momentum.
Costs:
- You’re dizzy, babbling. Next time you roll to speak to a character, suffer setback instead.
- You cough bloody. -1 Health.
- Terror, dread, you’re already dead. -1 Spirit.
- A craving whipsers and you listen. -1 Supply.
Buyer beware, why expect more than exactly what you see? You may spend -1 Spirit and -1 Supply to soak your supplies in smoke and shadow, cloaking them in illusion, and granting you a False Treasure. Whenever you can give an item to a creature, you may give them the False Treasure, glamored to appear as whatever’s they desire. Roll +Occult. On setback, they quickly discover your trick, and attack immediately. Otherwise, they will attack next time you encounter them. Push plot.
Past the veil, it’s the same shit. There’s greed even in the grave. If you would die, you may spend 1 gold coin and come back, setting Health or Spirit to 2 if either is lower.