The Borderlands
With the disappearance of the Weird Wizard a strip of land east of the Old Country became a new frontier. Far from safe it still provides a refuge from those fleeing the chaos which has embroiled the Old Country. Travel of any kind outside of populated areas is treacherous and most don’t travel outside of a day’s journey from where they live.
The Borderlands straddle the equator of Erth, with the dry and desolate Salt Barrens marking their western edge across which most Old Country refugees travel. Their first waypoint is New Town a small community where weary travelers can catch their breath before continuing further onto the isthmus. For many their destination lies a months journey to the south along the monster-filled and stormy Sea of Fear. Here the cities of Asylum and Four Towers provide a semblance of the comfort of the Old Country. To get there they follow The Ranger’s Path through the scrubland of the Plains of Pendarm past the Lake of Plenty and between the Attercrop Forest and The Sentinel Wood.
Outside of the major cities the world is mostly wilderness. North of Asylum lies the Wyvern Wood, the 200 mile long Inner Sea, and The Great Jungle of Za where the border of our realm and the Summerland of the Fea is thin. The Wilderlands are home to Nine Bells, a small insular human community, and warring tribes of centaurs. The flat expanse of The Wastes flanked by mountains and Za lies completely barren home only to rumors of a massive monolithic building referred to as The Vault.
Of course further to the east lie The New Lands where the Weird Wizard himself once ruled. The approach to The New Lands is relatively tame. Atop the rolling hills of The Climb stand two massive statues guarding the land bridge to the New Lands. In their shadows lies Keep the last bit of civilization before the Weird Wizard’s domain. Few are brave enough to cross into The New Lands, fewer still return.
The Rules
SotWW uses only d20s and d6s. Static bonuses are few and far between. Your attributes are typically the only static bonus you’ll get. Almost always the target of a roll is 10. Boons and Banes adjust your ability to hit that target. They are +1d6 and -1d6 respectively and cancel each other out before you roll. Instead of skills you’ll instead roll just with an attribute and any relevant Boons/Banes.
Attributes
Most rolls you make will be an attribute roll. The bonus you get is equal to your score -10. For example with 12 Strength you get +2 when you try to knock down a door.
There are 4 attributes:
Strength
Strength represents muscle power, durability, athletic ability, and overall fitness.
You might roll Strength to:
- Climb and swim
- Run
- Break something
- Withstand poison or infection
- Make a melee attack
- Make an unarmed attack
Agility
Agility encompasses poise, dexterity, balance, and reflexes.
You might roll agility to:
- Balance
- Jumping
- Dodge
- Make a ranged attack and some melee attacks
- Make some unarmed attacks
- Pick a lock
Intellect
Intellect measures intelligence, wit, memory, and knowledge.
You might roll Intellect to:
- Recall pertinent information
- Solve a puzzle
- Pass a lie off as the truth
- Cast a spell
- Spot an illusion
- Find a clue
Will
Will describes courage, willpower, resolve, and mental fortitude.
You might roll Will to:
- Intimidate others
- Persuade someone
- Fight off fear
- Resist mind control
- Cast a spell
- Maintain one’s focus while beset with distractions
Luck
If you’re attempting something which your attributes won’t influence the outcome of you make a luck roll. Simply roll a 1d20 with a target of 10. As always Boons/Banes might apply.
Character Creation
A level 1 character is very simple to build. There are tables for everything but you can also just pick a profession and create a background for your character as you like.
- Pick a profession. This profession describes what you were doing before you became an adventurer. When you attempt attribute rolls to do things related to your profession you get a Boon.
- Determine your Appearance, Background, Identity, Personality, and Religious Beliefs. Like your profession these can be just about anything but work with your GM, or roll on the tables, to make sure it fits.
- Pick a Novice Path. There are only 4 novice paths. Fighter, Mage, Priest, Rogue. As you progress in leveling you can pick any expert and master paths regardless of what you pick as your Novice Path.
Communication
In most cases you can converse freely with others. They might be more or less friendly towards you based on their disposition. Intellect is used if you’re trying to outwit or use logic to convince someone of something. Will is used if you’re trying to persuade or intimidate someone.
Communication Challenges
Not all communication attempts have to be a challenge. These rules are for specific scenarios usually involving multiple people.
- Transaction: When you’re trying to transact with someone else roll Will against their Will.
- Appeal: When you’re trying to convince someone, or someones, to do something roll Will. If your roll is a success for more than half of those involved the whole group is convinced.
- Argument: An argument assumes you are arguing with someone in front of a group. Roll Intellect against the average Will of the crowd.
- Appeal: When making an attempt to join forces with a group roll Intellect against the average Will of the group.
- Coercion: Roll Will against the target’s Will.
Combat
On your turn in combat you can do one action and one move. The action can happen at any point during your move. You can also use a reaction once during someone else’s turn.
Enemies always go first. Players may use a reaction to take the initiative and go before enemies. Players go in any order but only once.
Actions
You may use one action per round.
- Attack
- Cast a Spell
- Defend: The next time a creature hits you with an attack you can make a luck roll. On success the creature misses.
- End a Magical Effect: Instead of rolling luck you can use an action to end an effect.
- Find: Search an area of 5 yards around you for something specific.
- Help: Provide a Boon to a creature within 5 yards of you.
- Hide: If there’s somewhere to hide, make an Agility roll. On a success you become hidden till found.
- Hinder: Provide a Bane to a creature within 5 yards of you.
- Overcome: Spend your action to end an effect which must be overcome.
- Run: Move triple your speed.
- Stabilize: Heal a creature within your reach 1d6.
- Steal: If you have a free hand make an Agility roll against a target’s Agility. On success you steal the object. A failure which is lower than the targets Intellect means they notice your attempt
- Throw: Typically you can throw things 10 yards
- Use a Talent, Trait, or Item
- Do something else: This isn’t an exhaustive list.
Reactions
You may use one reaction per round.
- Catch: Make an Agility check. If the item is a weapon make it with one Bane.
- Cover Ally: Change the target of an attack against an ally within your range to you.
- Dodge: Whenever you are attacked, or forced to roll initiative, you may apply 1 Bane to the attacker or give yourself 1 Boon.
- Free Attack: When an enemy moves out of your range without withdrawing you may make an attack against them.
- Take the Initiative: You go before the enemies this round.
- Withstand: Whenever someone rolls against your Strength or forces you to roll Strength you may give them one Bane or yourself one Boon.
Attacks
To make an attack roll against your targets defense. On hit deal damage equal to your weapon’s damage.
Certain circumstances change attacking:
- Called Shot: You can make an attack against a specific place on a target’s body. Roll with 2 Banes. On success the target becomes impaired on an attribute of your choice until the end of the next turn. Alternatively you can damage held items.
- Surrounded Target: If a target less than 2 sizes larger than you has an ally of yours in reach make the attack with 1 Boon.
- Long Range Shooting: If your target is less than twice as far as your weapon’s distance you can still attack them but add one Bane.
- High Ground: Roll with 1 Boon.
- Submerged, Making a Ranged Attack Within Reach of an Enemy, Obscured Target, Target with partial cover: Roll with 1 Bane.
- Attacking an invisible target: Roll with 3 Banes.
Bonus Attacks: You can give up 2 bonus damage dice to gain an extra attack any number of times so long as you have bonus dice to give up.
Alternative Attacks
You may make specific attacks. Doing so prevents your weapon from dealing damage, however you still roll any bonus damage dice you have.
- Disrupting Attack: On hit if your roll is 5 or more greater than the targets Will the next person to attack that target does so with 1 Boon.
- Driving Attack: On hit if your roll is 5 or more greater than the target’s Strength push them up to 5 yards away from you. The target cannot be more than 1 size greater than you and you must wield either a one or two handed melee weapon or a shield.
- Feinting Attack: On hit if your roll is 5 or more greater than the target’s Intellect you gain the slippery trait until the end of your next turn. You must be wielding either a one handed or off hand melee weapon.
- Lunging Attack: If you’re wielding a one or two handed melee weapon you may attack a creature up to 1 yard outside of your reach.
- Pressing Attack: On hit if your roll is 5 or more greater than the target’s agility they gain a Bane on their next attack.
Casting Spells
Casting a spell entails speaking the magic words of a spell you know at the volume of normal conversation. Unless otherwise specified you must have line of sight to your target.