The weapon chart in the latest update states that the crossbow and greatbow are fast but have a d8 and d10 as a die. Additionally on the Tricks Magic Example shouldn't the DC for the orc be under 14 but above 3 rather than above 1. Additionally I'm not quite sure where you get armor from, there is no chart for it like weapons.
The older edition also had the text, "Ranged weapons are always fast for the purposes of defense, regardless of damage die." The newer release doesn't have that text, but just has it in the tags. I figured it made more sense for ranged weapons to always be Fast, though you could argue that the drawing of a giant bow would take time (and if it fires a single spear-sized arrow, you might still want to Dodge.
You are completely correct! I changed the Difficulty, but forgot to update the example. I'll do that in a future version!
BDP builds upon Cairn. I don't have any rules that add or modify Armor in any significant way in comparison to Cairn, so the base rules cover that quite well. In short, Light Armor gives 1 Armor, Medium Armor gives 2 Armor, and heavy, expensive plate gives 3, with a Shield giving +1. I'd have cheap Light Armor be Bulky, expensive Light Armor just be 1 slot, and perhaps have Medium Armor always be bulky.
Wonderful, two last questions. The skill Inspiring says that allies automatically pass morale saves, but the morale portion of the pdf says that PCs don't make morale saves. Is the skill meant to work on companions and retainers only. Second question is about the poisoner skill and what specifically does "dangerous poison" mean. Sorry if I missed something obvious and thanks again.
Yes, Inspiring is meant for retainers, allies and hirelings!
"Poisoner" is deliberately open-ended. Say the party really wants to kill a noble. One of the players comes up with the idea of poisoning his food. Having the "Poisoner" skill would mean that that player could ask the Warden things like, "Do I know how to make a deadly poison?" (Yes), "What ingredients would I need to make a tasteless, odorless lethal poison?" (Insert plot hook here: You might need Grimweed which only grows in ancient crypts, and Moonpetals, which only bloom at midnight). The poison could, for instance, do 3d6 damage straight to STR (and thus also trigger a Critical Damage Save), or it could simply kill instantly (a reward for all the effort).
This game seems to do everything I try to force into Cairn, but actually well implemented. Well done! I especially like your take on weapons and combat. I love that weapon lenght is taken into account without grinding the game to a halt in a weapon measuring contest.
Thanks! I tried to have it both be tactical, but also keep the spirit of "when in doubt, make a DEX Save to see who goes first, otherwise go with fiction/common sense", and I'm quite happy with the current version 😊
Was there was a change in your terms from (fast, balanced and slow) attacks vs (fast, normal, and slow) attacks? If so, I think pg 13 has old terms. Cheers!
Thank you! I haven't designed a custom character sheet yet - it's on my wishlist to add soon! Until then, the base Cairn sheet should suffice (just write down careers and skills and such into the notes):
Great stuff, your weapon and damage proficiencies, as well as training system for character advancement won me over between this and Ruincairn. I think the dependence on gold and finding trainers is a great motivator for player buy in and agency. When developing this is their a source for gold/item values that you had in mind or drew from? I want to ensure I can balance when adapting published adventures for other systems.
Also are you intending to allow monsters to have weapon/damage proficiencies, and/or the ability to block/dodge/parry?
I'm not too deep into fantasy economics, as it immediately ties into a lot of other price dynamics. I find that Brave has a very strong list of goods and services, and I feel like that would be a pretty good guideline (though maybe training should be a bit more expensive than that).
I think the cost of training should not just be gold - there's a lot of fun to be had in finding and convincing trainers, before gold even enters the picture.
Appendix B goes into making NPCs (and monsters). My general usage of it comes down to:
NPCs and monsters are always damage proficient.
Notable skilled combatants might be weapon proficient. This makes it A) easier to run as a Warden, and B) reinforces the danger of these combatants.
Notable skilled or dangerous combatants might have the ability to fight back, block, dodge or parry - see Appendix B for suggestions.
Really like the combat and spellcasting material here. Have a creature-prep question for you:
Given the guidelines you mention for NPC creation and the considerations you offer for what sort of combat abilities different npcs might have, if we have (say) an orc who can block, how many times (or how much fatigue) would you imagine giving a monster like that access to in combat against the PCs? A certain number, and the players can wear them out? Or functionally-infinite fatigue, and the PCs then need to change-up their tactics? I can imagine both being viable, but I wonder from your own play what you found to feel good at your table.
You could keep track of the orc's inventory and keep Fatigue in line with that, reinforcing the idea that NPCs are really the same as PCs
You could give NPCs 1, 1d4, 1d6 or even 1d8 empty slots to fill with Fatigue, as a way to quickly scale it.
But, most likely: give them functionally-infinite fatigue, because I personally had very few fights last more than 3 rounds. This stuff is *lethal*, so long-term Fatigue tracking for NPCs hasn't really come into effect yet on my end :)
Magic and Faith Dice do not get used up. They do have other resources tied to them, however; Magic incurs Fatigue (and that is a limited resource), and Miracles 'cost' Willpower.
You can technically only be in 'dodgeable' situations twice per round, as all attacks against you are 'summed up', and only the highest damage roll is used. Rounds are split in 'quick turns' and 'full turns', so there are two situations in which you can take damage that is dodge-able. There's no explicit rule forbidding multiple dodges. Dodges also incur fatigue, so I'd say dodging multiple times is allowed.
Hello! I have a question about the 4 options when a character is under attack. Is the chosen option intended to be a free reaction (besides the Fatigue costs, if any) or does it count as an action?
Getting attacked happens outside of the player's turn, so, without diving into 5E parlance too deep, let's call it a "reaction".
This means that Fighting Back can allow for 2 attacks in quick succession (You get attacked > Fight back, take damage, deal damage back > Your turn now, you can attack back)
Awesome awesome product, exactly what I was looking for for Cairn. The careers and skills are great as well as the training and arcane/divine magic. I'm looking to expand the practical magic effects out so they cover most spells, and then this will essentially be the exact system I wanted. Thanks for putting in the hard work!
Yeah, the practical magic effects can definitely be expanded quite a bit. I hope the base list gives enough fuel for your own ideas! I think, most importantly, the various bullets with each tag are there for inspiration - players should feel free to interpret 'open', 'read', 'charm' etc. however they see fit!
← Return to toolkit
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
The weapon chart in the latest update states that the crossbow and greatbow are fast but have a d8 and d10 as a die. Additionally on the Tricks Magic Example shouldn't the DC for the orc be under 14 but above 3 rather than above 1. Additionally I'm not quite sure where you get armor from, there is no chart for it like weapons.
Thanks for your questions!
Wonderful, two last questions. The skill Inspiring says that allies automatically pass morale saves, but the morale portion of the pdf says that PCs don't make morale saves. Is the skill meant to work on companions and retainers only. Second question is about the poisoner skill and what specifically does "dangerous poison" mean. Sorry if I missed something obvious and thanks again.
I bought this a while ago, is it possible to get a DTRPG code? Managing the updates and downloads there is so much easier :)
If you reply with your e-mail (or DM it to me on Twitter, @DiceGoblinBlog, if you don't want it to be public), I'll get you a complimentary code!
This game seems to do everything I try to force into Cairn, but actually well implemented. Well done! I especially like your take on weapons and combat. I love that weapon lenght is taken into account without grinding the game to a halt in a weapon measuring contest.
Thanks! I tried to have it both be tactical, but also keep the spirit of "when in doubt, make a DEX Save to see who goes first, otherwise go with fiction/common sense", and I'm quite happy with the current version 😊
Was there was a change in your terms from (fast, balanced and slow) attacks vs (fast, normal, and slow) attacks? If so, I think pg 13 has old terms. Cheers!
Ah, thank you so much, I'll update that!
https://dicegoblingames.itch.io/block-dodge-parry/devlog/485985/small-update-ver... Done!
Just purchased! Game looks totally great but I can't find the character sheet. Am I missing something?
Thank you! I haven't designed a custom character sheet yet - it's on my wishlist to add soon! Until then, the base Cairn sheet should suffice (just write down careers and skills and such into the notes):
https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1x9wUazUOSzeu29Eoq43NH8_k9R5wghg-?...
In the same line, I've been playing in Foundry Vtt through the Cairn module!
Great, thanks
Great stuff, your weapon and damage proficiencies, as well as training system for character advancement won me over between this and Ruincairn. I think the dependence on gold and finding trainers is a great motivator for player buy in and agency. When developing this is their a source for gold/item values that you had in mind or drew from? I want to ensure I can balance when adapting published adventures for other systems.
Also are you intending to allow monsters to have weapon/damage proficiencies, and/or the ability to block/dodge/parry?
Thanks!
I'm not too deep into fantasy economics, as it immediately ties into a lot of other price dynamics. I find that Brave has a very strong list of goods and services, and I feel like that would be a pretty good guideline (though maybe training should be a bit more expensive than that).
I think the cost of training should not just be gold - there's a lot of fun to be had in finding and convincing trainers, before gold even enters the picture.
Appendix B goes into making NPCs (and monsters). My general usage of it comes down to:
Really like the combat and spellcasting material here. Have a creature-prep question for you:
Given the guidelines you mention for NPC creation and the considerations you offer for what sort of combat abilities different npcs might have, if we have (say) an orc who can block, how many times (or how much fatigue) would you imagine giving a monster like that access to in combat against the PCs? A certain number, and the players can wear them out? Or functionally-infinite fatigue, and the PCs then need to change-up their tactics? I can imagine both being viable, but I wonder from your own play what you found to feel good at your table.
Thanks for your time, and for your great work!
Glad to hear you enjoy it!
A couple of considerations:
Do Magic and Faith Dice ever get used up? And can you try to Dodge every attack that comes your way or only once a "round"?
Magic and Faith Dice do not get used up. They do have other resources tied to them, however; Magic incurs Fatigue (and that is a limited resource), and Miracles 'cost' Willpower.
You can technically only be in 'dodgeable' situations twice per round, as all attacks against you are 'summed up', and only the highest damage roll is used. Rounds are split in 'quick turns' and 'full turns', so there are two situations in which you can take damage that is dodge-able. There's no explicit rule forbidding multiple dodges. Dodges also incur fatigue, so I'd say dodging multiple times is allowed.
Wonderful thank you very much. Awesome stuff.
Wow, what a superb ruleset. Thanks for putting this out there!
Hello! I have a question about the 4 options when a character is under attack.
Is the chosen option intended to be a free reaction (besides the Fatigue costs, if any) or does it count as an action?
Getting attacked happens outside of the player's turn, so, without diving into 5E parlance too deep, let's call it a "reaction".
This means that Fighting Back can allow for 2 attacks in quick succession (You get attacked > Fight back, take damage, deal damage back > Your turn now, you can attack back)
Neat and quite clear now. Thank you!
Good stuff. Love the social conflict system and weapon skills.
Thank you!
Awesome awesome product, exactly what I was looking for for Cairn. The careers and skills are great as well as the training and arcane/divine magic. I'm looking to expand the practical magic effects out so they cover most spells, and then this will essentially be the exact system I wanted. Thanks for putting in the hard work!
Thank you!
Yeah, the practical magic effects can definitely be expanded quite a bit. I hope the base list gives enough fuel for your own ideas! I think, most importantly, the various bullets with each tag are there for inspiration - players should feel free to interpret 'open', 'read', 'charm' etc. however they see fit!
Love it! Where did you get the art?
The art is by the amazing https://twitter.com/Bertdrawsstuff!
How many pages is this?
33!