Beginning Lino-cut: Simple art for RPGs

Lino-cut art is a relatively cheap, easy and effective way to produce art for a game or adventure module. This little guide shows you the steps I made in producing the back cover for FEUD with a suggestion of the times and costs. At the end I will include a simple list of tools and materials you might get to get started!

Step-by-Step

I am going to walk you through how I produced this image, used on the back cover of the FEUD zine:

Draw the design.

Time: Approximately 4 hours, mostly while watching TV
Cost: Practically nothing, some paper and a pencil

This is potentially one of the most time-consuming parts and some people go far further on this than I do. I tend to be relatively rough and then use the lino itself as a canvas that I draw directly on to.

Transfer the design

Time: 10 minutes
Cost: The lino

Some people do exact designs and then transfer them using tracing/carbon paper. I am finding I enjoy things most when I use the lino itself as a form of canvas. In this case, I very roughly drew my design, knowing full well I would need to figure stuff out as I carved.

You’ll see my lino is pink, this is because its been painted with an acrylic ink that makes carving a bit easier. I find this helps, but it isn’t necessary.

Carve

Time: 45 minutes Cost: The cutting tools

This is my favourite bit. There’s is something very fun about the immediate feedback of your use of the tools into the lino. I used two of the cutters here - a V mostly and then a U or curved one.

I start by cutting out the outline of the things I want to be white. I did this quite roughly with the V. The good thing about this tool is it isn’t designed for doing curves so when you try to do them them you get a very rough line, which is what I wanted here. The times here can really vary. This one took about 45 minutes, the longest I have spent is about 3 hours.

Then I cut away the majority with the round gouges, in some bits I do this quite shallow, so that ink will be more likely to accidentally touch and give some texture; and then deeper where I want that clear white.

For the teeth I went back to the V and just cut away from the base quite roughly so they keep some darkness while the tips are deep. The lettering was the hardest part but not due to the carving but because I didn’t layout the text properly and everything got a bit squished.

Print Prep/Test Print

Time: 30 minutes

Cost: The ink, paper and tools used to print.

Printing is the bit I find the most challenging and the kit is the most pricey. I have yet to learn enough to be able to mix inks or get consistent results. But this one is only black and white!

Here we start by setting out our kit and then inking up the roller - you put on a thinnish layer. When I started I didn’t do enough ink and so got bad results. I’m doing it slightly tacky and getting better results.

Then you can put them in a little frame called a registration board. Mine is cardboard held together with tape. This just helps to hold it in place when you’re printing and so you can line up your painting.

Put the paper on and then rub the back, here you can just see me using a spoon. It works great. Getting the knack of this stage is a bit tricky, and I have got to a point where I can get fairly consistent results. Probably got to a point where I was happy enough the second/third set of prints I did.

Peel it away - if you keep everything still you can peel, take a peek, and put it back if you want to re-print or even a sneaky extra bit of ink.

Then repeat and you’re done.

If you’re only looking to do this for art for your game you might repeat this till you get one key piece that you’re happy with.

Digitise

Time: 30+ minutes

Cost: your phone and editing software

This is the bit I need to work on next. Currently I take a photo on my phone and then edit it to reduce the saturation and then I delete the “white” in order to get an image just of the dark parts. I use Krita to do this but I need to either find a better way or buy a scanner. This works (and it is what I did for FEUD) but I felt it wasn’t consistent. I’ll take any advice that people have to offer.

Total

In total this print took around 5-6 hours, a lot of which was just coming up with the design hich i was doing while commuting, watchig TV, etc.

The cost additional to all the tools I already have is about £2.00 for the ink, paper and lino. I have spent about £50 on the tools i used for this. If you’re in the UK the site handprinted do a bundle for £44.00 that will get you printing straight away.

Tools and materials

Only a few tools materials are needed for lino-cut. In short we need the following two things: carving materials and printing materials.

Carving materials

Some knives: Here you can spend £4.00 or £125.00. The tools that the shop I am linking to here recommend are the £12.00 Japanese woodblock tools (which work on lino too). These have been fantastic for me - so much that you can get from these tools, and so much more. In particular there is one knife called a kiri dashi that I think is probably one of the most sophiticated tools if you spend the time to learn it. There are quite a few conflicting guides on how to use it but this manufacturer’s video shows it well.

Something to carve. At around £0.45 to £1.00 a sheet, lino is fairly cheap. I bought about 10 bigish pieces when I first started and that was enough to do all the art for FEUD.

I also bought a bottle of acrylic ink for about £3.50 in an art supply store. You can use a little to stain the lino and it makes cutting a lot easier. Regular cheap acrylic paint works for this too.

Something to lean on. I use a bit of an “anti-slip” mat for drawers (this kind of stuff) to rest on when I carve. You put a lot of pressure into the lino and you don’t want it to slip. Bench hooks exist if you have flat-edged tables (I don’t).

Light. Just bright light makes things easier, big windows, torch on your phone, a work lamp etc. I have a fantastic set-up of a phone tripod with this cheap light from a homeware store.

Printing Materials

Ink. I bought one £8.00 tube of burnt umber that I have barely made a dent on in producing around 80 prints. I have found this ink great so far and my next steps will be to experiment further with colours and more sophisticated, multi-layer prints.

Roller. The basic “blue” rollers are great at around £9.00. I ended up getting a fancier one which I love but I didn’t really need. Basically I wasn’t using enough ink but I thought it was the roller’s fault.

Paper. The paper! SO beautiful some of it. I bought this Hosho paper pad for £18.50 and I have some more straightforward paper for testing and when I want a more uniform result etc. The Hosho paper did all of my prints, I have loads left and creates this lovely textured effect in the print. There are all different types you can get, and experimenting to choose the right one is going to be a fun past time over the coming years.

“Press”. I use this simple barren for £3.95 and the back of a metal spoon. Really the spoon alone would do!

There we go! I highly recommend trying lino-cut if you want to produce art for your game and can’t afford to pay someone. It is fairly easy to learn, and though it does require some time, the results are great. Lino cuts automatically create this strong expressive style that can be great.

You can give me your thoughts, comments and follow what I’m doing on itch, twitter and tiktok!

If you’re on Discord I also mostly hang out on the FKR Collective and NSR Cauldron.

19 April 2024 The Wyrd Lands Art

The Wyrd System

The Wyrd System is a system to support resolving the outcome of events. It is designed to handle any type of event, to be quick to interpret as the GM or in solo play and to allow for the results of rolls to be hidden from players.

Wait what is Wyrd? Wyrd is an Old English term meaning something like: fate, chance, destiny, luck. In Old English it was something that was both determined or which could be resisted via Will (or Ellen, fire). In popular culture you can think of Lord of the Rings and the Will of the characters. Those whose will is weak get swept up in events or controlled by others, those whose will is strong resist and forge their own path (for a time at least, the Wyrd will always get them in the end). This system is designed around these concepts.

Overview

Whenever the outcome of an event is uncertain or dramatic, the GM will roll a d12. One or more of the players will roll a d8; the smaller the difference between the two numbers the “better” the outcome of the event for the players. The result on the d8 can be shifted towards or away from the number of the d12 based on the actions or skills of characters.

The System

Events and Willed-for Outcomes

When the outcome of an event is uncertain or dramatic use this system. This event might be as small in scale as a single action, or as grand as the outcome of a battle between gods.

The event will have at least one “willed-for outcome”. Typically this will be what the players or characters want to have happen in an event. It is important that the willed-for-outcome is quite clearly established by the GM and players,to ensure that resolving the event is happening in an open way and to aid in understanding the event fully.

Where there is a contradictory willed-for outcome, the event can still be treated as only having one outcome, which if not achieved, leads to the contradictory outcome. For example in a quick draw pistol duel, the willed-for-outcome of the player is “shoot the bady guy first”; and the bad-guy’s is “shoot the character first”. In this event we can act as though there is simply one outcome, the player’s that is being competed over.

The dice roll

The GM rolls The Wyrd Dice, a d12. This is rolled either in secret or in the open. For each “willed-for outcome” in the event a player rolls a Will dice, a d8. The results of the two dice are compared. The smaller the difference between the dice, the more the willed-for outcome comes to pass.

For each significant character acting upon or influencing that outcome nudge the result on the d8, moving it 1 point towards/away from that on the d12, effectively increasing or decreasing the difference depending upon the support or opposition of the willed-for outcome.

The dice roll - suggested results

A difference of 0 means the willed-for outcome comes to pass
a difference of 1 means it comes to pass with a downside or complication
a difference of 2 means it comes to pass with a significant downside or complication
a difference of 3 means it comes to pass but in such a way that you might wish it hadn’t or that sets up a huge complication a difference of 4 or greater means that the willed-for outcome does not come to pass and, as the difference increases, its opposite does.

Some Comments

Above is the system in its entirety. Below are some thoughts about some of the decisions you might make in using this.

Nudging, Narrative and Outcomes

The nudging of the Will die towards or away from the outcome should happen fairly sparingly. For each player character who explains how they are affecting an outcome, or how their knowledge etc. is valuable then nudge by 1. Players must give some narrative/fictional description in order to achieve nudging. They do not need to (and for my tastes, shouldn’t) declare “I am nudging”; the GM can interpret their actions as nudges independently.

The average event may apply from a nudge of around 1 - 3. The odds (discussed below) in this system seem harsh, but a nudge of just 1 takes the odds of a difference of 0 from around 8% to around 35%, and a “success” of any type from around 56% to 66%.

The descriptive/narrative details given as part of nudging, or the wider description of the scene, also play a role in helping the GM to decide on the nature of an outcome. If a player emphasises their strength, then a failed outcome might involve damaging a muscle or being humiliated by a stronger opponent.

It is important to emphasise that as a GM you are not playing the game on your own, if you cannot think of ways to adjudicate these distinctions then ask your players for a pause, or to help with your thinking.

Nudging “beyond” zero

If you naturally roll a difference of zero, you may be applying enough nudge to go “beyond” zero. In these cases you might consider treating this either as described above in the table, or as some form of “critical success”.

Nudging as the GM and the environment

As the GM, it may be best to limit the amount of nudging you do on behalf of the non-player characters. Your nudges will tend to be functioning to simply remove the nudges of the player and you want to avoid a situation where the players make the effort to describe their cunning actions and brilliant insights and you wordlessly ignore that effort because the three of them are fighting three baddies.

Try to limit nudging to particularly important, significant or powerful features of a character.

The landscape and other environmental factors should not “nudge”. Instead you can think of these things as defining the nature of an outcome. A bad outcome having a fight on a flat plain might see you fall to the ground, the same thing on a cliffside may be far more significant.

Actions and Events

It is important to note that Actions and Events are not synonymous. An event might involve multiple actions which feature either as “nudging” or as narrative details for an event. For example, imagine a group of adventurers trying to shut the door on a charging minotaur. The barbarian and fighter heave on the ancient stone door; the ranger fires arrows to slow its charge; the wizard casts a spell of sealing to hold the door when it closes. This four action (five including the minotaurs) but only the one outcome is significant: the door is shut or it isn’t.

Events are defined by the outcomes being significant. In some cases that means an individual or small set of actions should be treated as their own event as they dramatic enough to warrant the attention. In the example above, the GM or players might want the ranger’s action to be resolved as an event as the outcomes of that attack will impact on the outcomes of the next event where everyone is acting together.

Secret rolls

An advantage of this system is that the player rolling the dice doesn’t need to know the outcome of an event. For example, if an event requires lying to someone in a “roll high” system, a player knows their likelihood of success even if they don’t know the exact target number. In this way, the intepretation of the dice roll supersedes the “reality” of the fictional world even in situations where the outcome of an event shouldn’t be immediately visible.

In the Wyrd System a 1 may be just as “good” as an 8.

The specific way the dice can be rolled can change depending on the tastes of the group or even individual players. A simple question of “do you want to know what number you are trying to match?” gives the player that choice. The players may not want to roll at all, in which case the GM can roll both the Wyrd and Will die. Or, the player may want to roll both dice. All approaches work and have slightly different feels in play.

Optional: auto-success

In this system the GM may be aware that success in an event is totally impossible. The odds tend towards complicated successes but sometimes a player will roll a will dice for 1 and the Wyrd dice shows a 12. These no-hope-of success outcomes are built into the system - the wyrd is more powerful and wide-ranging than will. However, I personally find that players should have the option to auto-succeed if they want. In a future release I will share a method I use when playing in The Wyrd Lands setting.

Solo-play and wider uses

This system is a strong way to quickly tell the outcome of events. I have found it works well in solo play and when deciding the outcome of events with no player characters involved. It is easy as the GM to establish simple “willed-for outcomes” that allow the dice to function almost as an oracle.

Imagine a player or one of your characters has asked “is this book in the library” and you don’t know the answer. If we imagine the willed-for outcome is “yes” then a quick drop of the dice might tell us straightaway that it isn’t; or maybe only fragments of it; or it was never returned and so forth.

I have used this for deciding on things like the course of a rive over the millenia, the emotional reactions of spirits and gods and so forth.

It can also help you to narrow down outcomes when using other systems. For a while in a 5e game with its binary success/fail outcomes I was also rolling The Wyrd and Will dice, and doing some nudging based on the 5e result, to help me decide on the degrees of success/failure and other complications.

The odds and playing with them

This system seems to have quite difficult odds for the players. However, because of the wide band of “partial success” this result is more likely than not, particularly when we take into account nudging. Just rolling a d8 and a d12 without nudging the chance that you will have a difference of 3 or less in the results (which still sees the willed-for outcome come to pass, albeit in a complicated way) is around 56%, each point nudge increases that odd by approximately 10%.

The basic odds for a perfect result (a difference of zero) is about 8% but with a nudge of just one, that odd becomes about 35%. These numbers are not exact but they demonstrate that in-play it is more likely that characters will progress in complicated manners rather than being stopped outright.

It may be that you want to play with these odds somewhat. For example, if you have only one player character you might decide to give them a basic nudge of 2 to ensure that they are meeting their wills more regularly.

Another option to change the odds is to change the bands of success. This could even replace the use of nudging. For example, you might say that a very hard outcome requires a difference of 2 to hit even the complicated success, or a much easier one might require a difference of 5 (approximately 75% of the time). I personally prefer the use of nudging when running as it requires me to look at the details of the players and the world which can help with the narrative of outcomes.

A worked example

The characters have confronted the lord in the hall. She, realising that her treachery is about to be revealed, makes a run for it. The GM asks the players what they want to do, establishing the “willed-for outcome” as well as the actions that they are taking in the event. Character A is a wrestler makes a leap at the lord to grapple her; Character B has a long spear and tries to trip her. These actions match their characters’ skills and so the GM will nudge by 1 for each.

This table has agreed that they don’t want to know the number on the Wyrd Dice (d12) that the GM rolls. The GM rolls the d12 in secret and gets an 8. One player rolls a Will die (d8) and gets a 7. The GM privately nudges the result by 1 (to a 6) for the Lord who has been described as a nimble character, but nudges back 2 for the player characters.

This creates a difference of 0 and the GM says something like: ‘Character A, you slam into the lord but she just seems about to slip through your grip when Character B’s spear comes in and trips her and you end up pinning her in place.’

Now consider the same event with a roll of 6, with a difference of 1: ‘Character A, your hands just slip as you grab the lord and you slam painfully onto the ground, just dragging on her; B your spear flies in tangles on her legs but it isn’t until she stamps on your spear haft and snaps it that she loses footing and falls.’

A roll of 5, a difference of 2: ‘Character A, there is a nasty crunching sound as your head crashes into her armour as you tackle her, she is pushed away from you but you don’t hold her; B your spear comes streaking out and trips her but she manages to right herself and draws her sword. You have held her here, but she is about to strike.’

A roll of 4, a difference of 3: ’Character A you crash into her and she staggers forward, B your spear catches her and she flies to the ground. There is a horrific cracking sound as her head strikes a bench and she lies still. You consider the fact that you haven’t yet proven her guilt as you hear the others gathering outside.

A roll of 3 or less, a difference of 4 or greater: ’She gets away…

19 April 2024 The Wyrd Lands Core System

Defining good roleplaying; or, How to play Horsey

What is good roleplaying? This is a question that doesn’t get explicitly discussed nearly as much as the near endless discourse on “what is good X roleplaying”. For X substitute your name/label/acronym of choice: Horsey/OSR/NSR/FKR/Trad/Story/5e/lyric/etc.

Why is there this disparity in what people talk about? Without getting lost in the weeds of human desire for categorisation, I am going to take the line that people talk about “how to play Horsey” as opposed to “how to play” because the latter has an incredibly obvious answer and potentially one that actually invalidates the former. I’ll get to my answer after I take a running leap off the spring board of yet another interesting post by Weird Writer.

In the post Weird was writing against a specific set of statements that an original author was trying to present as objective features of OSR. These statements, along the lines of “we explore dungeons, not characters,” Weird clearly demonstrates are not inherent in the aesthetic/products/community of OSR. Instead they suggest that the original author is engaging in that common trope of conflating their own personal tastes with the definition of a term: “what I like = OSR”.

This is the logic of how to play horsey: “I like to play Horsey this way = this is how you play Horsey”.

How it feels when people play horsey wrong (Bing AI art crap)

I would suggest that one of the reasons why we as the ttrpg community engage so frequently in discussions of what a thing is or isn’t, is because our emotional investment in an idea. At times that becomes strong enough that we begin to conflate the genre/aesthetic of an acronym with our view of what good roleplaying universally is: “what I like = OSR = good roleplaying”.

We’re getting a little closer to my answer for what good roleplaying is but I want to get there by describing where I got it from.

In the earlier days of the application of free kriegspiel to roleplaying, there was an evocative sense of promise. This emerged from its general approach to “hard mechanics”, that is resolution systems, character sheets, stats, moves etc. This approach, and the promise, was that: ‘you only need to use the mechanics that are needed at the moment that they are needed’.

This is a freeing idea. It draws us out of the adherence to labelled/acronymised systems, games or playstyles. It pushes us to see that play is the centre of the experience and the way that we play, the how/tools/mechanics, is a product of the table of players in the moment. The game we play is not pre-ordained but is being generated in the moment of play.

Free kriegspiel perhaps gives us more than this, but I would suggest it is the main thing. Even some of its associated ideas such as “play worlds” are almost a natural conclusion of the introduction of freedom into the relationship with mechanics: If you can’t rely on the published/pre-written rules, you can rely on the rules of the shared imaginative world.

There used to be a sense of excitement about this idea, that pushed one towards an even broader idea. A definition, if you will, of what good roleplaying is: good roleplaying is playing the way the table wants to play.

There it is. My answer to the definition of good roleplaying. If it is in any respect true you can see why people never talk about it and instead talk about how to roleplay in X style. There is very little to say about “play how you want to play”. What this suggests to me then is that discussions of definitions of types of play (Horsey/Ponies/Unicorns/OSR/etc.) are engaged in because it is a way of interacting with the freedom and openness of play in a way that can be argued, discussed and (perhaps at worst) made objective. By talking definitions we are in fact engaging with the general discussion of how I as an individual enjoy playing in a certain style: “I like to play like this = this is Horsey”.

How it feels when people play Horsey right (More Bing stuff)

The value of this understanding to me touches on a couple of things. The first is that I find I can always get something from peoples’ different definitions because I never feel they are talking about a real thing in the world, they are only talking about themselves; the second is it highlights again, as does so much in life, how useless a lot of labels are. I feel that what people are really saying when “we play 5e” is “we play in this way”. There is no way for me to know what “this way” really entails until I sit down to play with that group. I have played games that called themselves OSR that have made me want to die of boredom and others that have matched my tastes exactly.

My conclusion is then, that debating the definitions of things is simply another way for people to discuss how they like to play horsey. People write “good X is Y” or “proper X is Y” but they are really always saying “I like to play horsey this way”. And, if we want to learn new and interesting ways of playing horsey then debate and disagreement is simultaneously potentially valuable to oneself as an individual, and utterly meaningless to any true or external definition.

PS

When I have made this point in the past it has been suggested that without strong definitions dialogue breaks down and becomes impossible. Though I personally think I have seen the opposite far more — that adherence to definitions interrupts dialogue — the sentiment is clearly true for a lot of people.

Itch: thewyrd.itch.io Twitter: @TheWyrdLands TikTok: @TheWyrdLands Email: wyrdrpgs@gmail.com

8 January 2024 The Wyrd Lands RPG theory

FEUD - Cairn Adaptation

Below is an adaptation of FEUD to Cairn first edition. It goes from character creation to some monsters and NPCs.

Anything that is unchanged from the original is to be used as is.

Character Creation

If you wish your characters to be from the region itself, keep the same except for starting gear and below. Each character starts with access to as much food as they need and other tools that might be lent to them by their community.

If you wish your characters to be wandering adventurers, keep everything the same except for the below.

Name and Background

Roll once on the table above for a single name, twice to join the names together. Use either the original or “translated” word. E.g 1 and 5 is ‘Mot-geb’ or ‘Wrath Gift’.

Starting Gear (d20)

There is a perchance generator for generating arms and armour in the world of FEUD.

Spellbooks

Most of these spellbooks should not be used. Those that can be specifically skinned as have an origin in the world of spirits or humans may be kept. That is, things that are “clearly magical” should be avoided. For example, telepathy or Summon Cube would not be appropriate, where Pacify and Hatred may be interpreted as the result of a poet’s wit or a hunter’s personality.

Prices and Equipment list

Gold and currency is not something that exists in the world of FEUD. Where things have a relative value the values given should be seen as a “category of value” that may have an effect in trade and bartering. For example, an object work 5 may be traded for another of similar value.

However, it is unlikely that these opportunities for trade will arise too often. Therefore you will have to rely on your neighbours who may loan you items, or you may have access to shared/communal equipment.

Monsters

The Alone

1 HP, 2 Str, 3 Dex, 5 Wil

• They appear to be humans who awake in the waters of Leoth’s swamp, choking and lost.
• Cannot be damaged by mundane weapons, are instantly obliterated by sunlight or fire light.
• Can talk and are knowledgeable of the spirits, gods and monsters of this region.

Foe-Spirits

2 HP, 6 Str, 15 Dex, X Wil

• Trickster spirits darting between the ancient trees, appearing as frightening visions depending on the viewer.
• Cannot be damaged by mundane weapons.
• Terrify: A PC exposed to a Foe Spirit must make a WIL save or be frightened or stunned.

Feorhnu’s Blood

12 HP, 2 Armor, 14 Str, 15 Dex, 18 Wil, Mistletoe boughs (d12)

• By day a woman’s body stuffed in an oak tree, by night a humanoid mass of shambling mistletoe, trying to regain her humanity.
• Feorhnu’s Blood will regrow after her death.
• Those who possess Feorhnu’s hand can communicate with this monster and learn her knowledge of the people and gods of this land.

Humans

Göt Warriors

4 HP, 1 Armor, 10 Str, 15 Dex, 14 Wil, Axes and spears (d8)

• All Göt tend to being honourable in battle and will avoid fights where they outnumber foes, surprise attacks and so forth.

Göt Lords and Heroes

5 HP, 2 Armor, 10 Str, 15 Dex, 14 Wil, Sword and long-axes (d10)

Herulic warriors

5 HP, 2 Armor, 10 Str, 15 Dex, 10 Wil, Axes and spears (d8)

• Herulic warriors are well trained and cunning and will use any tool to win the fight.

Friends of Yng

4 HP, 0 Armor , 8 Str, 15 Dex, 16 Wil, Old weaponry (d6)

• Poorly equipped but with the determination of zealots.

Lords and Heroes of the Friends of Yng

5 HP, 1 Armor, 12 Str, 14 Dex, 16 Wil, Sword and long-axes (d10)

• Often carrying uniquely powerful equipment and with incredible strength of spirit.

Hunters of The Fur and Bone Road

6 HP, 12 Str, 15 Dex, 18 Wil, Knives, short spears, fists (d8)

• These people live to their own code of savagery and survival. Unlikely to fight to the death except in defence to their people.

18 December 2023 The Wyrd Lands

Judging FKR Adventures

If you ask people for an “FKR game” they’ll tell you they don’t exist. They should however tell you about certain cool adventures you could use. But what makes a good aventure for FKR play? In this post I am going to present 4 principles (and a bonus one) that might help an adventure work well. These are principles of how adventures are written. It is not about the design in terms of monsters, locations etc. The post is also kind of tongue-in-cheek, I don’t really think there’s much value in systematising principles like this except for personal reflective reasons.

I’m taking two adventures I found on my hard drive: ADnD’s A Rod of Seven Parts and Theresa by Suzanna from the In Play second edition. For each I’ll preset the principle and then consider a bit of the adventure in light of it.

Principle 1: Assumption of creativity and imagination

An FKR adventure assumes that the table will be creative in their use of the adventure’s contents. This may look like: providing details of events and spaces but not defining their exact outcomes; potentially providing more detail than is needed; allowing for the world/reality to guide the adjudication of the events.

The Rod of 7 Parts

The sentry is one of several goat herders who have brought their flocks to one of the valler’s few springs. The man is on the lookout for predators and is not too worried about the party. If the PCs are invisible, they see the sentry before he sees them, and the party can bypass this encounter. Flying characters see the goats at the waterhole [over a hill] and the other goat herders when they see the sentry.

Here the writers feel that I need to have invisibility explained to me and also that obstacles block line of sight (I have included an illustration that I imagine was in the first draft). However, they haven’t explained what the sentry will do if the PCs arive singing disco music, or if they set themselves on fire and ride around in circles.

Sarcasm aside, the writing here is assuming that the GM and players (the table) won’t be able to imaginatively handle the nature of the world. This might seem a trivial thing that one could just ignore but actually there is an effort involved in that. Writing constrains. When as a writer, I tell the table that “these are the inputs and outcomes”, the table is either going to be inclined to follow these things or is going to have to make the mental effort to ignore them.

Theresa

In general, she still prefers to avoid combat, and teleports aways as soons she suspects any sort of danger, preferring to spy on the area and elminate assailants when the odds are firmly in her favor.

The comparison to our first example is not exact as these are very different styles of adventures. But the assumption of this one is so much that we, the table, will be able to figure out what to do in this situation. We will decide what “danger” and “the odds” look like to Theresa. There is no instruction of “if the players attack/cast a thrid level spell/when Theresa is sleeping”. We are being left to play imaginatively with the world.

Principle 2: Openness of outcomes

FKR adventures allow the play to determine the outcome of events. That is, they don’t try to limit or set deterministic outcomes. This may look like: specific outcomes not given; mechanics and other rules text not referred to.

Rod of 7 Parts

If the PCs attack the sentry and goatherds, the goats stampede them and then: Mounted characters who are not proficient riders automatically fall off their mounts and are trampled.

In this world as well as goats acting with suicidal violence at the merest hint of violence to their owners, horses are equipped with ejector buttons. When they sense the presence of danger and they can see on a rider’s character sheet that they don’t have proficiency they press the button and the rider flies off.

This is an example that builds on the lack of an assumption of creativity but adds to it that the writing is pre-determing the things that can happen in play. The writing is now telling me exactly how things will happen in our game. The horses cannot bolt, they won’t buck and kick, they won’t freeze in panic. Instead, 100% of the time the riders just fly off the saddle. We are essentially being asked to play the writer’s imaginination of the adventure.

Theresa

Theresa is going to liberate a village from an evil baron. She doesn’t know however that he has: set up ambushes and alarmed the locak knights. The characters must carefully navigate between wounding their ally’s pride and letting her walk in a deadly ambush.

Again this is an event happening at a different scale but again we see how the table is given the opportunity to play the game. We are given an event (a whole series of events) and left to see what the outcomes will be in-play. We aren’t playing the writer’s version of the story.

Image generated by Bing.

Principle 3: Simplicity of odds/adaptability of mechanics

AN FKR adventure should have odds that are easy to understand, or none at all. This relates to mechanics and their absence or simplicity. This may look like: no or limited maths and mechanics; simple, natural language description of outcomes and odds.

The Rod of 7 Parts

When the goats stampede The PCs have one round to stop the goats… characters must successfully save vs. breath or be knocked off their feet and trampled for 2d4 points of damage.

Here I think we have a more FKR element with the simplistic “save vs. breath”. Obviously in the original rules this is something that is tied to an individual character sheet which we can interpret now in any way we want. The damage is a bit harder to understand though if we don’t know the stats of a character in the system (which I don’t). We can probably guess that it isn’t a lot of damage but we would still have to figure this out in play.

Theresa

Theresa is a grandmotherly figure… She tries to project an aura of warm friendliness, even when she is in a situation that would require a decided unfriendly approach.

We have here a clear description of potential odds. If we are figuring out her reaction we can say that in maybe 9/10 situations she remains friendly and the players would have to push much further to see her lose her temper. That leaves us with the option to have more “natural” odds that depend on the situation as it emerges in play.

Image generated by Bing. How many d4 of damage is this?

Principle 4: An emphasis on the evocative

An FKR adventure works to provide more to the imagination than it gives in words. This is very subjective but it may look like: giving details that have potential impact, without that impact being delineated.

Theresa

She is surrounded by a small retinue of undead servants.

Theresa is described in some detail as a character but this little detail alone gives us a lot to work with. It again allows us to imagine something more, the characters and personalities of the undead, the form they take. This is so much more evocative than “d6 zombies work as her servants”. We are free to develop the game in-play as we choose.

The Rod of 7 Parts

This is a slightly unfair example, as this adventure does have a lot of evocative writing in it. But it has some elements that are purely (in my opinion at least) anti-evocative. Let us describe what a genie is in this world of stampeding goats and ejector-horses:

Jann (Genie): AC5 (1 when invisible); MV 2, Fl 30(A); HD 6+2; hp 32; THATC0 15 (14 with Strength bonus); #AT 1 or 2; Dmg 2d8+4… or 1d6+4/id6+4… SA spell-like abilities; SZ M (6’ tall); ML champion (16); Int very (11)’ AL N (LE); XP 3,000; MM/126.

I’m sure you’ll agree that one can just picture this statbox floating through the desert air, casting its magic.

Image generated by Bing. Good job Bing

Bonus principle: An objective or very subjective narrator

An FKR adventure either takes a strongly objective or subjective narrator. It tries not to define the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of characters, either because it presents the world objectively or from a single, defined, narrative perspectice. This avoids language like “when the players enter the room they see… the players may feel…”.

This is my most personal and perhaps “literary” point. I think though it gets at something FKR that I have talked about here. FKR play is about play that emerges from the table itself. It isn’t about matching anyone’s pre-existing ideas and narratives. When, as writers, even in this subtle way, we try to determine what other people must experience when they play our adventures we are, in my opinion, taking a step beyond good writing, story-telling and “design.”.

I might return to this point in the future.

Itch: thewyrd.itch.io Twitter: @TheWyrdLands TikTok: @TheWyrdLands Email: wyrdrpgs@gmail.com

23 November 2023 The Wyrd Lands RPG theory Adventures

Adapting FEUD to Cairn

As part of releasing FEUD I wanted to try my hand at a couple of adaptions to other systems. This is partly because it was suggested by backers and partly because I have taken such a hard turn against “systems” in my design that I wanted to try and get back into thinking about RPGs this way.

I decided to start with Cairn as my first adaption, partly because of the designer’s incredible efforts in making it hackable (seriously, Cairn is the model for making a game system open) and also because the designer loves woods and forests and FEUD is set amidst the deepest of forests.

I live-streamed my design thoughts around FEUD and Cairn, and will be continuing to do so on The Wyrd Lands channel. The next step will adapting FEUD’s monsters and characters to Cairn.

When I started I immediately realised that in order to make FEUD be playable with Cairn that I needed to make a few changes to character creation to match the world of FEUD. This is because FEUD is informed by the very early medieval/late iron age rather that the medieval/renaissance world of Cairn. Therefore there is no currency, nor mass-produced metals etc.

Here is my current write-up of that, principally of the character creation. This will get a proper home, hopefully on the Cairn site, but I am putting it here while it is a work in progress.

Anything that is unchanged is unchanged.

Character Creation

If you wish your characters to be from the region itself, keep the same except for starting gear and below. Each character starts with access to as much food as they need and other tools that might be lent to them by their community.

If you wish your characters to be wandering adventurers, keep everything the same except for the below.

Name and Background

Roll once on the table above for a single name, twice to join the names together. Use either the original or “translated” word. E.g 1 and 5 is ‘Mot-geb’ or ‘Wrath Gift’.

Starting Gear (d20)

There is a perchance generator for generating arms and armour in the world of FEUD.

Spellbooks

Most of these spellbooks should not be used. Those that can be specifically skinned as have an origin in the world of spirits or humans may be kept. That is, things that are “clearly magical” should be avoided. For example, telepathy or Summon Cube would not be appropriate, where Pacify and Hatred may be interpreted as the result of a poet’s wit or a hunter’s personality.

Prices and Equipment list

Gold and currency is not something that exists in the world of FEUD. Where things have a relative value the values given should be seen as a “category of value” that may have an effect in trade and bartering. For example, an object work 5 may be traded for another of similar value.

However, it is unlikely that these opportunities for trade will arise too often. Therefore you will have to rely on your neighbours who may loan you items, or you may have access to shared/communal equipment.

16 October 2023 The Wyrd Lands

Announcing The Wyrd Lands

This site is the new home of writing about The Wyrd Lands.

The Wyrd Lands is a setting. Whenever my imagination wanders in search of adventures, monsters and humanity, it winds away among the forests and bogs of The Wyrd Lands.

The Wyrd Lands is a game or rather it is the tool for people to produce their own corners of this world and play within it however they see fit. It is random generators and descriptive tables of the cultures and land. It is individual adventures, stories and characters to populate your own stories and play.

This site is going to capture my on-going work with developing tales, legends and art of this world and ways to play within it. I hope you’ll keep track of what I am up to in order to get more from this strange world.

What is coming next?

FEUD has just funded. This stand-alone system-neutral RPG adventure was created using the tools of The Wyrd Lands RPG. This system is in some respects “completed” but is not yet released in full.

I am going to be working on releasing more of this system here and on my itch.io page. I will be starting by introducing the GM role for the game, that of The Wyrd itself.

I have also begun working on the next adventure. It’s working title is ‘She, The Peacock; It, the Empress’. This will tell the tale of one of the most important figures in all the Wyrd-Lands, the slave-girl become Empress, wand-bearer and invader. The Peacock’s story is the story of the beginning of the end of The Wyrd Lands.

I am also beginning to seriously re-write a novel set in this land. I wrote this first about 8 years ago but before I had the will to try and publish and share my writing. I now, finally, do and I am beginning to re-approach this tale. A tale of a wizard who returns with a new apprentice to The Wyrd Lands as it is taking its painful, breaths.

Please follow me on my socials to keep adventuring in this strange and dangerous land.

Twitter: @TheWyrdLands Itch: thewyrd.itch.io TikTok: @TheWyrdLands Email: wyrdrpgs@gmail.com

9 October 2023 The Wyrd Lands