Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures: Rules and Mechanics

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Character Generation
Overview

Welcome to Herebury! It’s a small village near a smaller castle, next to a very big forest. The characters are young folk from the village or its surroundings who grew up together.

This game will use Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures. It is mostly Basic D&D with a few tweaks. Below are presented the main points of difference. Feel free to ask questions about anything, and, of course, consider picking up the pdf for yourself! It’s a great little game.

Please select a character archetype:
Self-taught Mage
Untested Thief
Village Hero
Witch’s Prentice
Would-Be Knight
Young Woodsman
Assistant Beast-Keeper
Devout Acolyte
Fae Foundling
Heir to a Legend
Local Performer
Reformed Bully
Apprentice Court Sorcerer
Forgotten Child
Future Warlord
Gifted Dilettante
Nobleman’s Wild Daughter
Novice Templar
Dwarven Adventurer
Dwarven Rune Caster
Eleven Highborn
Elven Ranger
Halfling Outrider
Halfling Vagabond

Character Generation
Characters are generated by rolling on a series of tables. These tables answer questions that determine your characters ability scores, skills, and history.

Childhood
The first three tables deal with a character’s childhood.

The players take turns rolling on the tables one at a time. Their characters were all friends, and this is their first chance to figure out how they might have known each other growing up. Don’t worry if two or more characters get the same results on some of these tables. Do two characters have parents who were merchants? If so, does this mean that they are siblings? On the other hand, maybe their parents were rival merchants in town, but they became fast friends nonetheless.

Class Training
The next four tables develop your character’s class abilities and skills. Again, all the players should take turns making their rolls and let the other players know what happened to their characters growing up.

You can learn a lot about your village as you make these rolls. Did your character train with an old mercenary in town? Is that mercenary still around? Do the other characters spend time with him too? Remember: if you live in a small village and there are two similar descriptions, they probably refer to the same person.

The third table involves another of the characters. These two characters will have shared some moment of crisis, and the result will affect both of your characters.

The last table gives you a special item of some sort. It might be some extra money, a minor magic item, an odd trinket, or even a house in the village.

The Village of Herebury
At points of character generation, you will also describe locations or NPCs from the village. They may or may not be directly related to the result that they just rolled on the table itself. Use the result as inspiration or just to make up something that interests you.

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Magic
It's a little different from OGL boilerplate. In a good way.

Magic
A spell caster can work magic in three different ways: Cantrips, Spells, and Rituals.

Cantrips
Cantrips can be cast as many times as you like. They require either an Intelligence or Wisdom test (depending on the cantrip). Success means that the cantrip works more or less as desired. When a mage fails a cantrip roll, one of two things can happen at the player’s discretion: either the mage finds herself robbed of magical energy until she has rested, or the magic spins out of control.

In general, cantrips produce only minor effects. They cannot damage a target, they only work at ‘Near’ range, and they do not produce any permanent effect.

Spells
The simplest and most reliable sort of magic comes in the form of spells, codified effects taught to mages by their masters or studied from books. Each spell works in a particular way every time it is cast. They tend to be more powerful than cantrips and weaker than rituals, though they are safer and more dependable than either. A mage may cast a number of spells per day equal to his level. After that, he is considered to be exhausted and may cast no more, though he may still attempt to cast cantrips or rituals.

Rituals
Rituals are the most powerful form of magic detailed in Beyond the Wall, and also the most time consuming.

Every ritual has a level associated with it, and a mage must be of that level in order to attempt to cast it.

Casting a ritual requires a number of hours equal to the level of the ritual, as well as special ingredients detailed in the ritual’s description. The mage requires complete concentration during this time, and things may go disastrously wrong if he is interrupted.

Rituals require an Intelligence or Wisdom check. If the test is successful, the ritual works as described. Should the test fail, the general effects of the ritual take place, but with some sort of twist.

Mages may attempt to cast rituals which they do not know if they have an appropriate source, such as a book or scroll detailing the ritual. This is quite dangerous, however, and the test at the end of the ritual suffers a -10 penalty.

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Fortune Points

Fortune Points represent a character’s exceptional heroic nature. A character may spend a Fortune Point in the following ways:
1. Help a Friend: By spending a Fortune Point, a character may boost a comrade’s chances by adding 2 to his score for a single roll.
2. Second Chance: A character may spend a Fortune Point to get a reroll on any failed roll during the course of play, such as an ability score check, saving throw, or to hit roll.
3. Cheat Death: Once a character reaches 0 hit points, he may spend a Fortune Point to stabilize at 0 hit points and not continue taking damage.

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Making Tests
The standard "Can I do this?" rolls:

Ability Score Checks: Roll a d20 and compare the result to your score in the relevant ability. If the number on the die is equal to your score or lower, you succeed. If it is higher, then you fail.

Skills give +2 to an Ability Score test. If you have a skill twice, you are en expert and receive +4.

Saving Throws: Roll a d20. If the result is equal to the saving throw number or higher, the roll was a success.

Combat Rolls: Roll a d20 and add the relevant attack bonus. Compare the result to the enemy’s armor class. If the number equals that armor class or exceeds it, the attack was successful. Otherwise, the attack missed.

BtW uses Ascending Armor Class and the five Saving Throws (Poison, Breath Weapon, Polymorph, Spell, and Magic Item).

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Class Abilities: Warriors

Hit Dice: d10
Initiative Bonus: +1
Armor: Warriors may wear any armor.

Weapon Specialization
Select one favored weapon with which you are particularly skilled. Be specific: not just "sword," what kind of sword? Your character receives a +1 to hit and +2 to damage while wielding that weapon. You begin the game with this weapon for free.

Knacks
Over the course of their careers, warriors pick up several tricks which make them even more formidable opponents. Pick one of the following Knacks at first level, then another at 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels. Knacks may be chosen more than once, in which case their bonuses stack.
Defensive Fighter: +1 AC
Fleet: +1 Initiative
Great Strike: +1 damage with all weapons
Resilience: +1 to all saving throws
Weapon Specialist: gain Weapon Specialization with another weapon

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Class Abilities: The Rogue

Hit Dice: d8
Initiative Bonus: +2
Armor: Rogues may wear any armor lighter than plate.

Fortune’s Favor
Rogues have luck beyond that of other men. They receive five Fortune Points instead of the normal three. This means that they will always be able to help their comrades, have more opportunities to reroll unfortunate dice, and be more likely to survive falling beneath 0 hit points.

Highly Skilled
Rogues receive two additional skills at first level. They gain an additional skill every odd numbered level thereafter (3rd, 5th, 7th, etc). Instead of gaining a new skill, they may get better at one which they already have, increasing the bonus for that skill by a further +2.

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Class Abilities: Mage

Hit Dice: d6
Initiative Bonus: +0
Armor: Mages may not wear any armor.

Spell Casting
Mages may harness the power of magic in three different ways: cantrips, spells, and rituals. A mage begins his career knowing two cantrips, two spells, and a single ritual.

Sense Magic
Being naturally sensitive to the world of magic, Mages may determine if a person, place, or thing is magical. Doing so requires concentration and a few minutes, so mages cannot tell if something is magical simply by being in its presence, and people tend to notice if a mage is staring at them intently and ignoring his food during a meal. The GM may rule that, when in the presence of particularly intense sorcery, the mage notices such immediately.

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Weapons

Any character can use any weapon on the list below and be relatively proficient with it. Weapons are grouped by the die type they use for damage, and all weapons with a given damage type cost roughly the same amount of money.

dagger, sling, club, wooden practice sword
Damage: d4
Cost: 4 coppers

spear, staff, mace, bow, short sword, hand axe
Damage: d6
Cost: 8 silvers

longsword, battle axe, longbow
Damage: d8
Cost: 16 silvers

great sword, great axe, lance, halberd
Damage: d10
Cost: 32 silvers

Great swords, great axes, and halberds require both hands to use and so may not be used with a shield or, more importantly, a lantern. They can also be trouble- some in tight spaces.

Bows and longbows require arrows, which cost 1 silver for 20, which is also about how many can fit in a quiver. Bows have an effective firing range of about 50 yards, while longbows can shoot effectively up to 200 yards away. A bowman may fire up to twice as far, but with a -2 penalty to hit for the extreme range. A sling can fire as a bow, but the ammunition for it is free, provided the slinger has a chance to grab an appropriate rock.

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Armor

Certain kinds of armor give penalties to any rolls made to sneak around or remain silent; chain mail gives a -3 penalty, chain a plate a -6, and a full suit of plate mail -9.

+2 AC
leathers
5 silvers

+4 AC
chain mail
75 silvers

+8 AC
full suit of plate
3,000 silvers

+2 AC
reinforced shield
10 silvers

Shields only protect their bearer from frontal attacks, so a goblin knife to the back will bypass this bonus.

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Equipment

Lights
10 candles or 3 torches
1 copper

a hooded lantern
7 silvers

a pint of oil for the lantern
1 copper

Livestock
a mule or an ox
20 silvers

a horse and tack
75 silvers

a week’s feed
3 coppers

Other
a day’s unskilled labor
2 coppers

50 feet of rope
1 silver

a set of clothes
1 silver

a large sack
3 silver

a shovel
3 silver

parchment, quill, ink
10 silvers

Drum or flute
16 silvers

fine clothing
16 silvers

a mirror
25 silvers

thieves' tools
28 silvers

a book
50 silvers

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Dwarves

Creatures of earth and stone, dwarves are expert craftsmen who occasionally wander the lands of men, selling their wares and seeking their fortunes. They are stout fighters and hearty adventurers, but they are filled with a love of gold and beautiful things. This is most often why they find themselves out in the lands of men.

Dwarven Vision
Dwarves may see in any light. So long as their surroundings are not pitch black, they can see as well as humans in full daylight.

Strength of Stone
Dwarves have an endurance far beyond the ken of men, and therefore have hit dice of one greater die type than their class would suggest. For example, a dwarven rogue has d10 hit dice instead of the usual d8.

True Name
As creatures of rock and stone, old as the earth, dwarves have true names, and those with the knowledge may use a dwarf’s name against him. Knowing a dwarf’s true name gives a character great power. By calling out the name, a character gains +5 to all actions taken against the dwarf, including attacking it.

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Ability Score Bonuses

1 = -4
2-3 = -3
4-5 = -2
6-8 = -1
9-12 = 0
13-15 = +1
16-17 = +2
18-19 = +3

Strength
Your Strength modifier is added to rolls to hit in hand- to-hand combat and to all damage rolls in hand-to- hand combat.

Dexterity
Your Dexterity modifier is added to rolls to hit with ranged weapons and to a character’s armor class.

Constitution
Your Constitution bonus is added to your hit points every time you go up a level.

Intelligence
Your Intelligence bonus is added to the number of languages that your character knows. Normally, a character knows only a single language. All characters are assumed to know at least one language, even if they have an Intelligence penalty.

Wisdom
A character’s Wisdom modifier is added to all saving throws to resist magic which attempts to charm, frighten, or control his mind.

Charisma
A character’s Charisma modifier is added to the number of allies that may follow him. Normally, a character may have up to four allies.

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THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT READ

For this scenario, I'm going to be using a Scenario Pack that comes with Beyond the Wall, so if you've bought the game, please don't pore over Scenarios. I'll be enriching the experience by stealing liberally from a module with the delightful title, A Thousand Dead Babies. So, definitely don'y read that. And try to forget the title. Drinking might help.

Further I'll be turning to the D30 Sandbox Companion, and the greatest book in the history of the world, The Dungeon Dozen. But those are just books of random tables, so you probably should read those, because they're amazing.

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Houserules for Encumbrance:

STR = Number of Inventory Slots (how many items you can carry).
STR + 5 = Half Encumbered (you struggle to swim and move a little slower).
STR + 10 = Fully Encumbered (you sink like a stone and move at half speed).
DEX/2 (round down) = Fast Inventory Slots. These are items that you can reach instantly.

Armor takes up slots equal to its AC.

Huge items (i.e. polearms) take up two slots. Bundled items can be carried in bundles of three, and must be small enough that you could pick up a trio of them using only one hand. Packs of items can be carried in packs of ten, and must be small enough that you can pick ten of them using only one hand. 50 coins to a slot.

Nevermind! The playtest document has new encumbrance rules! They are incredibly complicated:

You can fit stuff into your pack until the GM calls shenanigans. You can carry a week's worth of regular rations, or two weeks of iron rations. You can carry about 1000 sp in mixed treasure.

When carrying all your stuff, you are at a -2 penalty for combat and athletics.

So, you know, take off your backpack when drawing your sword.

That's it! No bookkeeping! No inventory slots! No determining the diminishing weight of a pack of ten candles! Just: are you wearing your backpack or not?

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Combat Stances

Here's a new rule from the playtest document that we can try. I've had combat stances in my houserules document for awhile now, so I'm excited to see them being considered for BtW.

Normal Stance
This is the assumed mode of combat. There are no changes to the rules.

Aggressive Stance
The fighter is attacking wildly and trying to take down his opponent as quickly as possible, though probably leaving himself open to their attacks. The character gets a +2 bonus to hit but a -4 penalty to AC.

Defensive Stance
The opposite of aggressive stance, this represents a fighter being more cautious and on his guard. The character gets a +2 bonus to AC, but a -4 penalty to his own attack rolls.

Protective Stance
Using this stance, the character attempts to guard a friend or companion who is near to him. The character in protective stance gets a +2 bonus to AC but may not attack at all. If the protected companion is hit by an attack this turn, the character using protective stance may choose to take the hit instead.

Command Stance
The character makes himself conspicuous to the enemy but exhorts his companions to greatness. The character gets a -6 to AC and may not attack, but may make a Charisma check to give his companions +2 to hit for the round.

Archery Stance
While bows have the benefit of range, firing one can leave the character open to attack. A character wishing to fire a bow must choose this stance, and gains a -2 penalty to AC against melee attacks. This last stance strikes me as a bit fiddly, and I may not bother with it. Not that any of the characters are carrying bows.

[mb.]

You really should read Dungeon World.

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Fighting with two weapons (Playtest rules)

There are two different ways to double-wield.

Two Attacks
The character may attempt to attack with both weapons at once. The character gets two separate attack rolls, one for each weapon, but both are at a -5 penalty.

Versatility
The advantage of having two weapons is mainly a matter of versatility, as the character may choose to either use his offhand weapon to parry or to support his attacks. Each round, the character may either gain +1 to his attack rolls or +1 to his AC.

Being a B/X guy at heart, I subscribe to the abstract model of combat, where the roll represents everything you do during an imprecise amount of time. So, a success could represent one deep barbarian chop, or a fencer's many parries, thrusts, feints, and strikes. As such, I usually represent multiple attacks as bonuses to one roll, rather than multiple rolls.

In this case, I would interpret the "Two Attacks" to be attacks against two different opponents. If you want to attack the same opponent twice, I'd suggest the "Versatility" option, and describe the multiple blows.

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A new use for Fortune Points (playtest rules)

More on Fortune Points
Spending a Fortune Point to get a reroll and then watching the die come up as a failure again can be an unpleasant feeling.

A Fortune Point can now be spent to simply add +5 to a roll.

The player can roll the dice first, then decide whether to spend the Fortune Point, so there is no chance of wasting the point.

This is one to really test out. It looks like a much better option for the player, but I wonder if it unbalances the Rogue? Let's find out!

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I made a cheat-sheet for the Combat Stances:

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Weapon Options
Here's some houseruley stuff to try out. The idea is to add a little differentiation among weapons, but without getting too complicated. Let me know what you think!

D4 weapons

Dagger, Knife
D4, 4 Coppers
Can use either the STR or DEX bonus to hit in melee.
Can be thrown. Range: about 10 yards

Sling
D4, 4 Coppers
A character is at -2 AC against melee when using a sling. Slings use stones for ammo, which are free. Range: about 50 yards.

Club, Hammer
D4, 4 Coppers
+1 against small or prone creatures (anything positioned at half the wielder’s height).

Wooden Practice Sword, Baton, Frying Pan
D4, 4 Coppers

D6 weapons

Spear
D6, 8 Silvers
Two-handed. +1 to Initiative, as long as there is sufficient room (not close quarters).

Throwing Spear, Javelin
D6, 8 Silvers
Range: about 20 yards. Extended Range: -2 to hit up to 40 yards.

Staff
D6, 8 Silvers
Two-handed. Gives an extra +1 to AC when used in the Defensive Stance.

Mace
D6, 8 Silvers
+1 against small or prone creatures (anything positioned at half the wielder’s height).

Flail
D6, 8 Silvers
Ignore the AC bonus from shields.

Bow
D6, 8 Silvers
Two-handed. A character is at -2 AC against melee when shooting a bow. Arrows cost 20 for 1 sp. Range: about 50 yards. Extended range: -2 to hit up to 100 yards.

Short Sword
D6, 8 Silvers

Rapier
D6, 8 Silvers
Uses the DEX bonus instead of STR.

Hand Axe
D6, 8 Silvers
Can be thrown. Range: about 10 ft.

D8 weapons

Long Sword, Battle Axe
D8, 16 Silvers

Long Bow
D8, 16 Silvers
Two-handed. A character is at -2 AC against melee when shooting a bow. Arrows cost 20 for 1 sp. Range: about 200 yards. Extended range: -2 to hit up to 400 yards.

D10 weapons

Great Sword, Great Axe
D10, 32 Silvers
Two-handed. Requires STR 13 or greater to wield.

Halberd, Lance
D10, 32 Silvers
Two-handed. +1 to Initiative, as long as there is sufficient room (not close quarters).

Shields

Shield
+1 AC, 1 Silver
The player may choose to sacrifice a shield to negate the damage from a successful blow. The shield is sundered and cannot be used again.

Reinforced Shield
+2 AC, 10 Silvers
The player may choose to sacrifice a shield to negate the damage from a successful blow. The shield is sundered and cannot be used again.

Enchanted Shield
+1 AC
The player may choose to sacrifice a shield to negate the damage from a successful blow or to counter a spell directed at the bearer. The shield is sundered and cannot be used again.

Dual-wield

A Second Weapon
Either +1 to attack or +1 to AC, decided each round.
Most D4 and D6 weapons can be wielded as a second weapon in a character’s off hand. The advantage of a second weapon is versatility in parrying and attacks.