Hey, i made a game!

A Tiny Shortsword is a minimalistic adventure game with simple, but interesting dice mechanics, free form magic and a cool one page format! It is totally free, and you can also download the stylish bookmark character sheets! Link below!

Basic mechanic:
In A Tiny Shortsword there is no set DC. Challenges are represented by a number of d6s ranging from 1d6 (easy) up to 3d6 (hard) (maybe more, in extreme cases), those are called Challenge Dice. In order to beat those challenges, characters must roll a number of Action Dice, indicated by their attribute scores, trying to beat the number rolled on the Challenge Dice. This way, a challenge that is above a character's level may be extremely hard, but it will never be impossible!

Combat:
Enemies have only 2 scores: Health and Challenge Dice, so they're super easy to make up on the fly!
In combat you basically roll your Might Action Dice against the enemy's Challenge Dice, the loser takes the difference in damage. It's that easy!

Free form magic:
In order to produce a magical effect, a character must combine a Verb and a Name. He then rolls with his spellcasting attribute against a certain number of Challenge Dice that depends on the intended power level, but here's the catch: failed spallcasting rolls deal damage based on the difference between the rolls, so no spamming attempts on powerful effects! Better think twice before choosing that 4 Challenge Dice to burn that whole house down!

link:

https://torthevic.itch.io/a-tiny-shortsword

Thank you all!

Hey! Where have you been on the last adventure!?

So, i accepted that there will always be absent players on my games. I have never had a gaming group whose players could always make it to the table on gaming day, so i decided to embrace the chaos of random absence and made these "lost character" tables to poorly justify why they couldn't be with the party on the last adventure.


When a player misses a session, the next time he can attend, ask him to roll in the appropriate table and introduce the situation to the group (who just happened to find him!). Most options are meant to introduce a new element to the story while providing some explanation on why that character was absent.





(1) I got lost wandering in the FOREST...

1...and fell on a hole! lost 1d6 HP
2...and stumbled upon a witch! (she's after me now)
3...and found this baby!
4...and a goblin bit me... i don't feel so good right now...
5...and i found a well where a broken-winged faerie lives.
6...and found a group of adventurers that looked just like us. My twin was also among them

(2) I got lost roaming in the DUNGEON...

1 ... and I was arrested! I managed to escape, but I'm hungry and tired / -1 on all rolls until session ends / has dungeon keys

2 ... and this goblin followed me back here ... I don't think he speaks our language - "bree yark za zi baba ?!" 

3 ... and I found this book with an iron cover ... but it's locked. 

4 ... and found the bodies of other adventurers partially devoured. 

5 ... and some guards mistook me for an old comrade. I still won 1d6 of their coins in a card game! 

6 ... and I found a secret door, come see!

(3) I got lost walking around the CITY...
1 ... and I was robbed! They took me 1d6 coins!
2 ... and I saw the Mayor naked in an alley devouring a human arm!! It's true!!
3 ... and I was captured by a cult. I managed to escape before the sacrifice, but this choker that they put around my neck does not let go! I think it's tightening more and more!
4 ... got drunk and ended up setting fire to the thieves guild favourite tavern ...
5 ... and I became friends with a mercenary. She can help us with our next venture!
6 ... and a beggar-prophet told me about the untimely death of one of you!

(4) I got lost in the trails of the MOUNTAIN...
1 ... and died falling off a cliff. Death gave me one more chance, but asked me to reap a life today.
2 ... and I was seduced by the singing of a harpy. I managed to escape but on the way put an egg!
3 ... and I tamed a goat. Say hi to Betina!
4 ... and found an abandoned corpse wagon on a difficult part of the trail.
5 ... and found a cave where a crazy hermit lives! He touched my forehead and left this gray mark ... I feel strange ...
6 ... and found a dwarf banging his head on a rock. All he could say was "they come from below ... THEY COME FROM BELOW !!"

(5) I got lost splashing in the SWAMP...
1 ... I stumbled and fell into a home of leeches. There are still 1d6 of them in me.
2 ... and found a cabin with lighted candles inside, but I didn't dare enter.
3 ... and I found a place where everything was petrified! Maybe some monster or wizard lives there!
4 ... and I heard shouts from a cave. Whatever it was, was in great agony ...
5 ... and found a moored boat full of provisions.
6 ... and found the ruins of a stilt village. I feel something has been lurking around since then ...

(6) I got lost in the dunes in the DESERT...
1 ... but I found this wonderful caravan and they brought me to you! Say hi, friends!
2 ... and found an oasis, but a group of lizard men was camping there!
3 ... and I was bitten by a scorpion! The pain gets worse every day ... / 1d6 damage per day until healed
4 ... and found a sleeping sphinx! She seems to be guarding the entrance to a temple!
5 ... and I just got stuck in this quicksand! QUICK, GET ME OUT OF HERE! / a random item sinks into the quicksand.
6 ... and found this lamp in the sand!

Troika! Character sheet

Just bought Troika! Numinous Edition and i'm absolutely in love with it! Here's a character sheet i made, feel free to use it, if you like!

Kairan best boi

Custom sheet i made for Kairan, a 5e pally in a friend's game. He is a Guilli-ark, a homebrew race of fiend-descendants and yes, his horns are cut hellboy style (although placed on the sides)

Nightmares in Xarne

It is said that if you ever sleep with a grieving widow in a Perfume House (brothel), that night a nightmare will be born in the place where her grief began and it will follow you (or anything like that). It knows where you are. 

                                              hello there!

It arrives in 2d6 nights.

It only moves while you sleep (until it reaches you).

Only you can see your own nightmare (even after it arrives).

Each night it gets closer and closer and each night you will dream with it wherever it is, until you finally get a last glimpse of it looming at your door. Better wake up now.

Its twisted body is(d6):

1. Pitch-black, tall, lanky with long arms and legs with an arched back. Walks like an animal. It looks hurt

2. A mass of eyes, flesh, mouths, arms and legs

3. A hulking beast of shadow and dread. It looks impossibly tense and stiff with anxiety all the time

4. A child’s body, it walks painfully as if it were broken. You hear snapping of bones with each step

5. A human sized, bizarre, bloody clay statue

6. A mirror of yourself

Distinctive feature (d8):

1. Your mother’s eyes

2. The smile of an old lover

3. Your father’s hands

4. The face and snout of an old beloved pet, although broken, twisted and angry

5. The voice of an old friend

6. The smell of the house you were born

7. Hums your favorite lullaby

8. Emits familiar, but forgotten sounds of your childhood

It ultimately wants to consume you. It envy’s you, it wants to BE you, in its own bizarre way. If a nightmare ever reaches its goal it takes your form to live a broken version of your life while you fade into nothingness.

Goals (d6):

1. To kill and eat you

2. To separate you from all your loved ones

3. To destroy your self-image and worth

4. To end all your motivation

5. To starve you to death

6. To make you go insane

In case of long-term goals, the nightmare will cling to its prey, always lurking in the shadows attempting to reach its dark objective.

Each case is unique, there are no specific ways to get rid of a nightmare, but it should ALWAYS be possible. If you want to fight it, consider its stats equal to the dreamer’s.

Magic Bottles

Potions are volatile and dangerous, gotta keep them in a good magic bottle.

Magic bottles are rare magic items and the only safe way to store ~magic liquid~.
Otherwise:

1. it becomes completely inert
2. it turns into poison
3. it turns into water
4. it evaporates
5. it melts the container
6. it explodes the container
7. it freezes the container
8. container bursts into flames
9. container starts to float
10. it becomes contained void

This is also why you would need a magic cauldron to brew potions.

Also, it limits the number of potions carried by the party. No more potion stocks to replace clerics

Miracles & Attunement

Miracles & Attunement

Miracles are similar to Cleric’s spells and this system replaces it completely, while giving non-cleric characters a chance of having their prayers answered. To work a miracle, the caster must roll a D% under his Attunement score.

                                                                              Dark Souls 3 Cleric. Gotta love the turtle thing on his back 

Attunement

All characters that follow a faith (including non-clerics) have a base value for their Attunement, which represents their bond with their divinity/entity/ideal of worship.

.Non-cleric characters have an Attunement score of 1+CHA modifier

.Cleric Characters have an attunement of 15+CHA modifier and increase their Attunement score by 3 per level starting at level 2.

Offerings

Here comes the great deal. Attunement is usually a pretty low score, but, through offerings, you may raise temporarily this score until you cast (or botch) a Miracle. Usually each faith has a set of possible offerings with variable Attunement bonuses depending on the customs of that faith. Offerings are cumulative.

Example: Offerings to the Scarlet God

The Scarlet God lives underground and feeds from all blood that is spilled in naked soil, so let’s feed him. Also, he is petty and wants to be the only god in the world, so let’s kill heretics and burn their churches.

Note: I use a non- inflating hp system where 20 hp is a lot, so consider this when making offering tables.

.Self-mutilation: spend 1hp per attunement point

.Animal Sacrifice (medium sized, like a goat): 5 attunement

.Human Sacrifice (Must be willing): 20 Attunement

.Bury a deceased member of the faith: 10 attunement

.Destroy a heretic: 5 attunement

.Destroy a heretic temple or site: 20 attunement

Casting Miracles

A character may spend his whole Turn (like 6-10 seconds) to ask for a Miracle. The character must then roll a D% equal to or under his Attunement score plus his offering bonuses. If it succeeds, the Miracle will take effect.

.All bonuses from Offerings are reset if the Miracle works OR if it fails by rolling equal to or over 95

.A D% roll equal to or over 95 is ALWAYS a failure and possibly a Bane (if the gm states so).

.A failed roll that is under 95 do not cause offering bonuses to reset

Miracles

The exact type of Miracles that may be cast depends on the faith, but usually there are 4-8 effects that may be expected for each specific deity to bestow.

Example: Miracles of the Scarlet God

The Scarlet God is a being of Blood, Fire and Earth that lives in the Underground. He is also seen as a god of Justice and Law. Let’s work with that.

.Grant Blood - Heals 1d8 per cleric level at touch range. Bane: the cleric takes all the damage he intended to heal

.Bestow Fire - Causes a fire to start at touch. This fire is magical and spreads quickly, dealing 1d6 damage per round to anyone in contact with it. If a weapon is bestowed fire, it deals 1d6 damage per attack. This miracle lasts for a number of rounds equal to the cleric’s level. Bane: the cleric catches fire

.Divination - Be it with fire or stone, Divination allows 3 YES or NO questions to the Scarlet God. This roll must be made in secret by the GM, the character will almost always believe his answers are true (in case of success or bane). Bane: all answers are lies

.Imperative Word - Utters a powerful word of command. If the command given is directly harmful or dangerous, the target may roll a saving throw to avoid doing it. Bane: Caster is catatonic and may take no actions for 1d6 hours

Final Observations

If you wish to use a regular list of spells, feel free to do so, but consider that 1^st circle spells and 9^th circle spells will be cast with the same difficulty with this system unchanged. You may want to consider restricting access to higher level spells by character level or maybe by enforcing penalties to the D% rolls with higher level magics.

The preferable type of magic would be level-scaling effects, instead of the traditional Vancian spell levels. Wonder & Wickedness by Lost Pages (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145647/Wonder--Wickedness) is my favorite example.

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I still need to test and tweak with the system, it’s definitely not perfect right now.

I will make other (more complete) Offerings and Miracles tables for other Gods some other day