Dungeons of the Dusk Witch
I offered to run Sailors of the Starless Sea for some friends. This was a great opportunity to finally put my rules lite dungeoncrawling hack to paper and test it out. Introducing Dungeons of the Dusk Witch.
Players, you only need to read this post. For everyone else, please enjoy my Design Notes.
The Story
Far to the east of the civilized Duchy, in the wild Borderlands, the small village of Paschero has been raided by chimerical beasts. The far-off lord of the land is no help. It falls on the remaining villagers to charge into the ruined keep high in the hills, and save their people from a terrible fate!
You approach the keep as the proverbial peasant mob, armed with whatever weapons, armor, charms and sundries you could muster. Your quest will not be easy, and some villagers may never return. The terrible beasts lair in the keep, and you must be on your guard for traps and ambushes. Yet do not be overcautious. The beasts are no doubt doing unspeakable things to your friends and family, and below the keep, something evil is stirring...
Notes from the GM
This is a game, so the enjoyment of all players is paramount. If you are not enjoying yourself or feel uncomfortable for any reason, feel free to stop the game to talk about it or message me on the side. I'll do my best to preserve everyone's safety during the game, but mechanical issues may have to wait until the end.
The rules below are not intended to be all-encompassing. I will make calls on whether ideas or actions are reasonable, and I will make ad-hoc resolutions based on the fiction. I will make my calls as reasonable and fair as I can. This type of game works when you trust me, and I hope I can keep your trust. My goal is to let you focus on the fiction of the game, and not get mired in mechanics.
This game is a funnel, where characters are generally low-powered and expected to die in over-the-top ways. The goal is to see if the group can make it to the end and win. The emphasis will be on solving puzzles, defeating challenging foes, and using your resources wisely. You will likely lose one or both of your starting characters, sometimes purely to random effects. This does not mean you lose or are out of the game, because more characters will be available. Think of them as your "extra lives."
During the game, roleplay in any way you like. Feel free to do funny voices or use detailed descriptions, but you are under no obligation to do so. All I need from you is a declaration of what your character is doing or saying. If you aren't detailed and specific, I will interpret your intentions generously, or inform you if I need more information.
Rules
Characters
Each player gets 2 starting characters, with the possibility to get more during the game. If a player loses all their characters, they can take another player's spare, or wait until reinforcements are found.
Every character has:
- Six stats:
- Strength (STR)
- Dexterity (DEX)
- Constitution (CON)
- Intelligence (INT)
- Wisdom (WIS)
- Charisma (CHA)
- Skills. Each character has one to three Skills in particular activities, crafts, or professions. Skills are binary - they either have them, or don't.
- HP. A character's stamina. They lose it by getting hurt, and if they run out, they die.
- Items. Anything the characters are carrying. A character can have two items (or one big item) in their hands, one set of clothing or armor, and a number of items in their pack equal to their STR. Some items might count as multiple items (like heavy armor or weapons.) Characters can lose and pick up items during the game.
- AC. A character's protection from attack. By default, all characters have AC 0. Armor can give you higher AC.
Playing the Game
When a character attempts something they could reasonably do, they succeed, subject to the GM's judgment and common sense.
When a character attempts something risky or hasty, they make a stat check. The player rolls a 1d20 and adds a relevant stat (determined by the GM.) If the result is 20 or higher, they are successful; otherwise, they fail. A character may be called to make this roll to avoid a trap or terrible fate, called a "saving throw."
If a character has a Skill related to whatever they are attempting, they instead roll with advantage (roll 2d20 and take the highest d20 result.) Skills typically do not help on saving throws.
Particularly difficult situations or absence of a skill may cause the character to roll with disadvantage (roll 2d20 and take the lowest d20 result.)
Exploration
Exploring the ruined keep and its dungeons is done in turns, each one about fifteen minutes. During a turn, the characters can move from one room or space to the next, and explore the new room. They discover anything obvious (like open exits or items).
Characters can also spend one turn to:
- Do a thorough search of a room.
- Gather up scattered items or treasure.
- Clean up or make small repairs.
- Batter down a door.
- Disable a trap.
- Anything that could be done in fifteen minutes. In dark dungeons, the characters must light torches or lanterns to provide light. Torches last for six turns, one flask of oil in a lantern lasts 24.
Combat
When the characters enter combat with monsters, the GM checks if either side is surprised. There is a 1-in-6 chance each side is surprised. Player strategems, player recklessness, and sneaky monsters may affect or negate these chances. Groups with light cannot surprise. If one side is surprised and the other is not, they get a full round where the other side does not act.
Combats happen in rounds of ten seconds. In each round of combat, each side rolls initiative on a 1d8. The side that rolls higher goes first in the round. All monsters or characters on a side go at the same time.
Characters can move and attack once per round. The move can't be split - all movement must happen before or after an attack. In lieu of attacking, a character can move again, pull something out of their pack, or do anything else that could be done in ten seconds.
To attack with a melee weapon, the character must be adjacent to the monster. Characters in melee combat can't move out of it unless they forgo attacking for the round. To attack with a ranged weapon, the monster must be within range (listed with the weapon), and no monsters can be adjacent to the character.
To attack, the character rolls a STR or DEX roll. If they roll above 20+the monster's AC, they are successful and hit the monster. The Stab skill gives advantage on melee attacks and the Shoot skill gives advantage on ranged attacks.
If a character hits a monster, they roll their damage, listed with the weapon. The monster loses that many HP. When the monster's HP reaches 0, it is killed.
Monster attacks work the same way as character attacks.
Injury and Healing
When a character is hit, they lose HP, and if their HP goes to 0, they die. A character with the Heal skill and a Herbalist Pouch can spend a turn and make a WIS roll to attempt to heal 1d6+1 HP for a character. They can only do this once per turn.
Spells
Some characters have access to magic spells. Each spell is stored in an item, usually called "{item} of {spell}" (e.g. Candle of Bless.) The spells and their effects are listed on the character keeper. Characters can expend this item to cast a spell. A character casting a spell in combat must declare they are doing so at the start of the round, before initiative is rolled. If a character attempts to cast a spell, they can't move or attack that round. If they are attacked before they cast the spell, the spell is lost and the character loses their actions.