Wolves of God

Grim Heroism in England’s Dark Ages

beta 0.4
 Wolves of God is a brief fragment of an intended future RPG set in England circa 710 AD,
during the middle period of Anglo-Saxon rule. I’m using it chiefly as an occasional respite from my
work on Stars Without Number and as a convenient test text for assorted typographic experiments.
The conceit of the book, and of my other planned historical games, is that there has existed
a persistent historical tradition of role-playing gaming. This particular game was written by the
venerable Brother Cornix, a Saxon monk of Wessex in the year 710 AD. It was intended as an in-
troductory volume for benighted foreigners wishing to play out the roles of mighty English heroes
among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
These historical games are intended to remain fairly close to history as it was known, or
at least to make defensible suppositions about the time. All of them will include magic and the
supernatural as a thread, but it’s my intent that the games should be playable as straight historical
fiction if a group so wishes.

Beta 0.4

Introduced the Ways on pages 16-25 as a way to try to integrate the culture and values of
the time into the character development process. Added information on the Arces on pages 38-39.

Beta 0.2

I’ve added some additional character creation tweaks, rules on advancement, and combat and
healing rules. The major difference here from conventional OSR is that PCs gain fewer hit points
per level, but heal much more rapidly. There’s also likely to be a distinct paucity of magical healing
available to PCs, and what there is is most likely to revolve around mending battle injuries and
curing plagues.
 ou were the end of the world. Your
fathers had been foederati for the men of Rome for ten
generations, bleeding in the north to hold back the painted
Picts and warring on the coasts to drive off your pirate kin.
For two centuries your numbers swelled. Your encampments
became homes, your homes became settlements, and your sons
became warriors in a foreign land.
Then the men of Rome became weak and wicked. Emperors changed
in Rome with the turning of the seasons, and the legions marched south from
British cities, never to return. The cities of Britain swore obedience to tyrants,
and they warred against each other over the roads that Rome had built. Rich
were their markets, full the hulls of their ships, and proud beyond God the
pride of their lords.
Their tyrants claimed to be Christian men, to be followers of the godly
truth, but they were thieves and brigands and lechers, drowned in their in-
iquity as holy Gildas has written. They lavished gold upon their harlots and
sins upon their people, and the Artifices of Rome that remained among them
worked dark wonders with their magic.
Your fathers saw the weakness of the Rome-forsaken lords of Britain,
the weakness that would hire barbarians to make war on their own kin. They
saw gold in the hands of tyrants and rich cloth on the backs of their drunken
sons. Your fathers were pagans, but they were men. They would not be dogs
for the scraps from a weakling’s table.
They were not dogs, but wolves. Three ships came, then seven, then more.
The Jutes and the Angles and the Saxons, the kin of all the foederati who had
served the Roman British so long, all came to take their share of the Roman
lands. The British were soft men, of a soft land, full of sweetness and rot, for
the legions had gone away and British hands were no longer schooled to war.

1
They were slaughtered where they fought, made thralls where there were hands to seize them, and
left to cower in their villages where your forebears did not trouble to go.
How few your fathers, but how great their conquest! The rich province of Britain, the jewel
of the Roman North, was reduced to subjection and broken beneath your ancestor’s hard hands.
Roman cities were crushed and made empty and Roman towns scattered like corn at the sowing.
The British were driven from the good lands and cast into the hills of the west and north, made
to hide in the shadow of the mountains and cower in the hollows of the hills. Some were made to
flee into the Arcem crafted by the Artifices, hiding themselves away in un-worlds and not-places
fashioned in the darkness by Roman sorcerers.
It has been two hundred years since your fathers waxed great in the land. Wealh kings curse
you in the western hills, and savage Picts and Scots threaten Northumbria’s kings in the shadow
of Roman walls, but the English are the worst foe to their own kind. The Wealh lords may sleep,
and the northern tribes may grow wary at times, but the din of English spears on English shields
never dies away.
Kings struggle now from their carven halls, warring first with one neighbor and then another,
and all the while their bands ride forth to steal and pillage whatever their grasping hands can seize.
Noble men are done to death in terrible ways and the holy houses of God are profaned by shed
blood. Your fathers have been Christians for three generations, but many have no more dread of
Christ and His awful judgment than they bear for mortal men.
And still the wergild of former war must be paid. The old Arcem of the Roman cities are be-
ginning to break open, the old seals withering and their ancient prisoners emerging once more into
the world. It is not good to dwell overlong within an Arx, and men are changed by the air within
those strange realms. Things that once were men and things that never knew clean sunlight now
hunt in the streets of dead Roman cities.
Even pagan superstition and heretical evil is waxing within the English lands. Saxon heathens
in Sussex still resent the holy work of Christian conversion, and rebels against God yet hide deep
in the forest to plot their unholy deeds. Heretics among the Wealh have been led to Satan’s service
by their hatred of your ancestors, and make awful bargains with damnable powers to avenge them-
selves upon you.
The old heroes are dead. Hengest and Horsa are no more, and the tribes they led to this fair
isle now war with each other as if they were but strangers. The Picts have ravaged the north and
the Wealh kingdoms war whenever they have the strength to kill your kin. The Roman Arcem dis-
gorge their horrors and heathens and heretics assail your holy monasteries. Truly it is a dark age
for your people.
Yet God shall not abandon His servants, and you and your kinsmen have ever served God’s
will. Once, you were His wolves upon a wicked people. Now, yours is the wickedness that He must
cleanse. It is an hour for rising and for wakening glory. It is an hour for mighty deeds and a hero’s
song. Go forth, young warrior. England cries out for your aid!

2
 of
ome would say that
this book is a vain labor and
a profane indulgence unbefit-

Playing
ting a monk of God. I, Broth-
er Cornix, instead reply that
it is a good and useful labor
to share knowledge of English cus-
toms and English ways with others in our great
confraternity.
this
I cannot say what manner of reader should
hold this book, whether it be another of England
or a far man of Byzantium or one of the distant
Game
land of the Tang. Gamesmen are to be found in all such places, and it is my
great desire that they should find some understanding of the English in this
small book, as their own games teach us of their ways.
To play this game, you must have one well-versed in this book and all
it contains, one who can conjure up the English Lands with ease and wise
understanding. He shall be the Great Magister of the game, or “GM”. Where
his friends shall play the heroes of their tale, the GM shall be every churl and
thane and lord they encounter, and every awful orc and giant and Arx-born foe
they face as well. He will listen to the plans and intentions of his friends, and
fashion them adventures by which they might carry out their great ambitions.
Aside from the GM, you must have two or three or four or more com-
panions to play the heroes of the game. They need not know the book so well,
and it suffices if they are able to read the first small portion, enough to fashion
their chosen hero and know a little of their role in the English Lands. What
else they have to learn, they may learn by playing.
You must also have Roman dice to play. You have perhaps seen the twen-
ty-sided dice that the Romans used for their games, and the six-sided dice you
know, but also you must have dice of four and eight and ten and twelve sides,
familiar to geometers and the wise.
Here and there in the book, you will see dice notation, such as “3d6”
or “2d10+2”. Such markings mean “Roll three six-sided dice and add them
together”, or “Roll two ten-sided dice together and add two to the sum”. On
occasion you may be asked to roll a hundred-sided die. Do not suppose that
you require such an ungainly implement. Instead, simply roll two ten-sided
dice and read the first die as the tens and the second as the ones, with dou-
ble-zero read as one hundred.

3
4
 On The
he English are a
fierce and mighty host,
fell-handed and grim, and our

Making
women bring forth heroes.
Our folk are not without sin
or shame, but our spears are
swift to battle and our scops sing long of our
great deeds. If you would play at being a hero of
England, you must make one worthy of such a
of
great name. Mudfooted thralls and gibbering for-
eigners will not serve to earn the glory of our En-
glish story and song.
Heroes
Remember also that a hero does not stand alone in their story. The
scops have many tales to tell, and a mere name or glimpse in one may glint of
a different legend, one equally proud. You will have companions around the
hall-fire, friends at mead and meat, and you must not seek so much glory that
there is none left for them. Together you must make your heroes, and together
you must gain your fame. To desire to go alone is to shame your spear-broth-
ers and be over-proud of ambition. What is a war-leader without his warband,
or a king without his beloved thanes? Do not be a mere gray-clad wanderer,
treading the whale-roads and walking the hart’s highway, alone and without
friend or faith.
Listen, and I will tell you how to make an English hero. From the first
strong sinews of the mortal body to the crown of reason and high ambition,
you will learn what makes a mighty champion of our people.

Nota Bene: While Brother Cornix assumes a male audience, Anglo-Saxons were not as
patriarchal as some other societies of the time. Women had rights by law and custom, and
they were considered people in their own right, and not merely the dependent of a father
or husband. They owned property and disposed of it as they saw fit, and their oaths were
credited in legal matters. Wives traditionally managed a family’s resources, and abbesses
invariably ruled the “double monasteries” that held both monks and nuns.
Women, however, were traditionally part of the domestic sphere of Anglo-Saxon soci-
ety. They were not normally warriors or adventurers, and while the occasional spear-maid-
en might know something of war, they were not expected to fight or be fought. As many
players will wish to play female characters in more than political or domestic roles, GMs
are advised to make room for “remarkable women”, war-heroines and battle-queens and
galdorwives who fill roles that might have been reserved for men. If a player wishes to play
such a remarkable woman, let the world treat her as befits her chosen role.

5
 Attributes

God grants men their lot in unequal shares, some with many gifts of grace and
others going forth with empty hands. It is not mete for men to be all alike in
ability. It is by struggling with what we have not that we often come closest to
pleasing God, while those who are greatly gifted most easily plunge into pride
and a foolish fall. So do not be saddened if you learn that your hero is not so
graced as you might wish.
Attributes range There are six numbers by which we measure the might of a man’s mind
from 3 to 18 and limbs. These are the attributes. The are measured on a scale from
three to eighteen. Three is the least and worst, signifying a weakness so great
that the hero must rely on the Holy Trinity alone to support him in it, for
only God’s grace can help him if he be thrown upon its need. Eighteen is the
greatest and strongest, for it is twice nine, signifying double completion of all
natural fullness. Now I will name for you these six attributes.
Strength is a measure of the hero’s might of arm. Three means that
Strength measures they are a weakling, scarce able to lift a man’s spear and given to groan un-
bodily might der the weight of a burden. Eighteen is for a bull of a man, one who can lift a
strong warrior from his feet with but one arm and break an oaken hall-table
with one great blow.
Dexterity marks the swiftness of their limbs and keenness of their
Dexterity is agility aim. Three is a palsied man, clumsy and numb-handed, untrustworthy with
and speed a bow or hurled spear. Eighteen is for one light-footed as the breeze and swift
as a spring flood, who knocks starlings from the air with pebbles and passes
laughing through the bared blades of foemen.
Constitution is the heart and hardiness of a man. Three is one sickly
Constitution is and nigh to death, who groans at small pains and falls in the furrow before
health and stamina half the field is ploughed. Eighteen is for a man who scorns sleep, who will
swim the whale-roads for hours without pause and who will fight for half a
day without asking halt for rest.
Intelligence is Intelligence is the reason and memory of a man, his power to learn
memory and wit and retain what he has learned. Three is a simpleton, who understands noth-
ing that does not stand before him or rest within his own hands, who can
be taught nothing of letters or cunning thought. Eighteen is a man of great
learning, more read than a Wealh bishop and swift to remember all the words
he has stored up in his heart.
Wisdom is insight Wisdom is for judgment and keen perception, the understanding that
and judgment shows the truth of a matter and the right road to go. Three is a fool, inconti-
nent in passions and blind in perceiving what is about him. Eighteen is a sign

6
like a saint’s own clear understanding, seeing the truths in men’s hearts and
counting every leaf on a tree with but a passing glance.
Charisma is the attribute of kingliness and faithful friendship, the Charisma is charm
grace that makes men yearn to follow and obey. Three is for a scorned and and presence
contemptible man, such that even sound speech he utters is disdained be-
cause it comes from his mouth. Eighteen is for one mantled in lordly bearing,
bright and heart-helping, such that men would liefer follow his folly than go
a wiser way. Roll 3d6 six times
To mark the gifts of your hero, roll 3d6 six times and place the numbers and place scores as
where you will, choosing for yourself how your hero is to be measured. If none you wish
of the numbers are 14 or greater, there has been a mistake, for no English hero
is wholly without gifts. Change one of your numbers to 14, and tell your com-
panions a few words about how your real gift became clear to your kinsmen.
If you would prefer not to trust your hero’s doom to God’s pleasure, Or place these six
you may instead put these numbers into your attributes in whatever order numbers as you
you desire: 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, 7. desire

Attribute Modifiers

Now that you have marked the attributes of your hero, you must mark their Write down the
attribute modifiers. This is the number which is added to or subtracted modifier next to
from your die rolls when your attribute modifies a roll. I will guide and in- each attribute
struct you on when you are to apply the modifier, so do not fear your present
ignorance.

Attribute Modifier Attribute modifiers

range from -2 to +2,
3 is -2
with most as +0
4–7 is -1
8–13 is +0
14–17 is +1
18 is +2
If your hero suffers the scars of battle and is crippled in body, or your Change your
hero’s history grants them an improvement to an attribute, you should adjust modifier if your
your modifier accordingly. attribute changes

7
 The Skills of the English

We of the English do not command the great skills of old. We have not the
stone-cunning of the Romans, nor the sorcerous arts of their Artifices, nor
the secrets of silk-making as do the far-distant Tang. Our halls are simple, of
carven wood and painted forms, and our wares are fashioned by humble hands.
But we have our skills, and they were art enough for our fathers to take this
land for their sons.
Skills are rated Each skill is named and measured in degree. The smallest degree of
from level-0 to competence is level-0, the proficiency of an ordinary practitioner without
level-4 exceptional skill. Level-1 belongs to the veteran of the skill, one that others
respect for his craft. Level-2 is a splendid artist in the work, the finest in his
Hundred. Level-3 marks one so skilled that there is likely not his match in
all his kingdom, and level-4 signifies the soul who is perhaps the greatest of
that art in all Britain.
You gain skills from As your hero is but young in their story, their own skills will be at level-0
your background or level-1, to grow better with time and great deeds. As you choose your past
and role and decide your present, you will be told which of these skills your hero can
claim to possess.
If two skills both Some skills have double purpose, such that they might both be fitting
seem applicable to a for a particular end. A great poet of Rome might be a man known both to a
deed, use either one scholar’s Ken and a scop’s Perform, while drawing a bow to slay a leaping hart
might be both Shoot and Hunt. In such matters, your hero may use whichever
of the skills seem best, as the GM thinks proper.
Here I describe these skills to you, so you may know what manner of
arts we practice in the English Lands.

8
 The List of Skills

Build, the raising of halls, the digging of pit-houses, and the making of oak
trees into sturdy buildings.
Craft, a skill to represent weaving, carpentry, smithing, carving, painting, and
all the other arts of hand by which we make and live. Your hero knows
only those arts that are fitting for his past.
Exert, to run, climb, swim, balance, and show command of one’s bodily frame.
Farm, to grow good crops even in hard seasons, and to know the ways of
feeding kin and followers.
Fight, to struggle with spear and sword and engage in all forms of hand-to-
hand battle.
Heal, to cure grievous wounds and banish sicknesses by prayer and poultice
and wise herbals.
Herd, to tend flocks and herds and deal with the wild beasts of forest and fell
Hunt, to catch game by bow, spear, or snare, knowing the wiles of beasts.
Ken, to know the things befitting a scholar and learned monk, of history,
mathematics, and such. At level-0, you read and write Latin. You could
write English, for not a few men can read it, but that is less often done.
Lead, to win the confidence of men and keep their friendship, that they might
follow you loyally.
Perform, to sing heroic lays, to dance with grace and skill, and to compose
poetry of all kinds.
Pray, to know such things as a priest or monk or nun should know and to
say good prayers that lift the heart.
Ride, to course well on a horse, keep a mount hale and sound, and tell good
horses from bad.
Sail, to navigate by boat or ship and to know the ways of sailors.
Sense, to see and hear and sense other things well and swiftly, lest you be
taken unawares.
Shoot, to contend with bow and hurled spear, and fight with all manner of
thrown or shot weaponry.
Sneak, to prowl unnoticed, whether as a contemptible thief or cunning
huntsman.
Speak, to utter fair words and move hearts to agree with what you have said.
Trade, to barter and bargain, though hardly any man in England lives solely
through his skill at getting a good exchange.
War, to know the cunning stratagems of a good war-leader and the marshaling
of band or army.

9
 A Hero’s Past

A hero is made by his own hands. The English have little interest in a man’s
fathers, and an ealdorman’s son has little name until he earns glory and a king’s
friendship. Land, wealth, fame… these things must be earned anew every
generation, and the feckless fall swiftly from old glory.
Pick a background Choose one of the backgrounds below to describe your hero’s heritage
and gain the four or his personal past. Each one will grant you four skills fit for your history.
listed skills at level-0 Mind that your past need not be your future. Though you have been raised
to a particular art, the Way you choose for your hero may be different indeed.

Artifex, a man taught the Roman secrets of sorcery and building. Precious
Artifices can learn few have these arts in the English Lands, as the few remaining Artifices
the Roman magic of were of the Wealh, and the Wealh oft hate the English. Still, you were
Artifice taken young by one such magister and taught the essentials of the art.
Other English fear and mistrust you, but you may practice the magic of
Artifice. Your beginning skills are Build-0, Craft-0, Ken-0, and Sense-0.
Churl, a free man of the English. Your parents did not have much land, but
Most men in they had a hide of it, or two, or perhaps three if they were wealthy. They
England are free had honor in the settlement and the right to bear a spear as befits a free
churls and farmers man, and if they owed labor and tribute to a lord, it was not a shameful
service. Your beginning skills are Farm-0, Herd-0, Exert-0, and Fight-0.
Crafter, one raised to know the chisel and the axe. Your family farmed,
Shops are unknown as virtually all men do, but they also had skill in some useful craft,
in England and whether as blacksmiths, carvers, tanners, shieldwrights, bowyers, or
traders nearly so other arts. Many came from other places to barter for their work, and
outside the wics their skills were prized by their lord. Your beginning skills are Farm-0,
Craft-0, Trade-0, and Fight-0.
Galdorcrafter, one versed in the old magic of the English. The Artifices
Galdorcrafters are not the only ones who know something of the hidden world, and
can learn the old you were raised by one wise in the songs of galdor and willing to teach
English magic of the crafting of its tokens and charms. Galdorcraft is subtle in its effects,
galdor but useful in many ways. It is also despised by the pious, despite its
common use of Christian prayer, and men who sing its chants are never
well-trusted. Your beginning skills are Craft-0, Heal-0, Perform-0, and
Sense-0.

10
Gesith, one heir to a proud companionship in war. Your father was gesith, a All free men know
companion to a lord and a friend in his hall and his battles. You were something of war.
raised to be fit to follow him, but you must prove your worth in the Gesith make a life
world before any lord will consent to include you in his retinue and of it.
give you gifts of land and wealth. Your first skills are Fight-0, Hunt-0,
Ride-0, and War-0.
Minsterkind, a monk or nun for Christ. Pledged young to a minster or a Monks can be
double monastery, your youth passed in a holy and pious circumstance. ordained priests, but
Some calamity in the monastery or call from God has sent you out into often are not. They
the world, surrounded by sin and sorrow. Men honor and respect you, pray apart from the
but you must act rightly if you are to keep that respect. Your beginning world.
skills are Farm-0, Pray-0, Ken-0, and Heal-0.
Priest, a man permitted to offer the holy sacraments and tend the souls of Priests dress and
his community. A secular priest has much to do with the world, forever live much like their
managing the woes and quarrels of his neighbors and providing the neighbors. Not a
rites that help them in this world and the next. There are times when few take a wife and
disaster or divine will sends them forth, however, and they must do sire heirs.
God’s work afar. Your beginning skills are Farm-0, Pray-0, Speak-0,
and Lead-0.
Reeve, one who represents a lord and tends to his interests in a steading. An Reeves are rarely
ealdorman must often be at the service of his king or be at war on behalf loved by the other
of his lord, so a reeve must tend to the daily affairs of his lands. Your common folk.
father was a reeve to a man of importance, and so you learned much of
the concerns of great men. Your beginning skills are Farm-0, Trade-0,
Speak-0, and Fight-0.
Thrall, a slave owned by another man. Thralls are common among the Anyone can be made
English, the product of the many raids and wars between kingdoms. A a thrall. It lasts
warrior can expect death if captured, but a common churl or a woman until they are freed
is worth more for their toil. Your were a thrall, but you have escaped or flee their master’s
the reach of your former master and can make whatever future you grasp.
dare. Your beginning skills are Farm-0, Exert-0, Sneak-0, and Fight-0.
Wanderer, outlaw or foreigner. You have no home, either for crimes you have Foreigners usually
committed, because you are a foreigner from over the sea, or because have a king’s
your hall has fallen in flame and battle-smoke. You are friendless save protection. Outlaws
for your spear-companions and can expect no more justice than your can be killed with
right hand can take. Your first skills are Sneak-0, Fight-0, Hunt-0, and impunity.
Exert-0.

11
 Naming Your Wyrd

No hero is without his wyrd, the destiny that awaits him before he sleeps
in grave-grasp. Every man has his wyrd, but those of common churls and ig-
noble thralls are of little consequence and small glory. Their virtues are small
and their vices of little account, petty in good and trifling in evil. But a hero
is different, for his wyrd promises greatness in valor or in terrible crime, and
not uncommonly in both.
All have a wyrd, A man’s wyrd is not the whole of his story. He may be a good man or a
and it cannot be wicked one, he may do many great deeds or many foul crimes, but his wyrd is
denied what is inescapable. He will not die until he has drunk its cup to the lees, and
his measure is in how bravely he bears what he cannot change.
Pick two noble Now you must choose or roll two noble wyrds and one ignoble one
wyrds and one to shape your hero’s destiny. These wyrds describe your hero’s character and
ignoble one, or one mood, the passions that press them on to glory and the flaws that goad them
noble and three to infamous deeds. If you would wish to give the devil more than his due, you
ignoble may exchange one of your noble wyrds for two additional ignoble ones, but
this concession may be made only once. A man without noble nature can be
no hero, nor worthy of words of memory.
Call upon a fitting The wyrds tell you of your hero, but what place do they have in the
wyrd to win victory game? When your hero faces a terrible foe, or strives to do a mighty deed, or
in a trial or battle is forestalled by some impossible challenge, he may invoke his wyrd, naming
the destiny he calls upon to defeat the foe, do the deed, or best the challenge.
He must describe the way in which his wyrd will help him, though the skein
of the tale can bend greatly to make it so. Once the foe has been bested or the
deed achieved, the wyrd is marked as fulfilled. The hero may still show its traits
or bear its mark, but he can never again invoke it to aid him.
The GM may A hero chooses the time for invoking his wyrd. The GM cannot compel
compel an ignoble him to call on his destiny, with the exception of his ignoble wyrds. The GM
wyrd can force him to succumb to his flaws if the alternative is certain death, oblig-
ing him to pay wergild for his life through his cowardice, treachery, or shame.
You shall not die A hero cannot die until every wyrd he bears has been invoked. He may
until all wyrds have suffer scars, bear grave wounds, lose kin and hall and spear-companions, but
been invoked he will not know God’s judgment until his wyrd has been lived out to the last.
Let him meet it bravely. Those who cringe away from their destiny rarely find
a rich reward for their timid heart.

12
 d00 Noble Wyrds Ignoble Wyrds
1–4 An angel guards me from above. Anger blinds me to good sense.
5–8 False words do not deceive me. I abandon my own.
9–12 I am a scourge to Hell’s sons. I aid strangers before my own people.
13–16 God loves my piety. I am a coward at moments of peril.
17–20 I am a bane of monsters. I am a friend to outlaws and monsters.
21–24 I am a fearsome warrior. I am treacherous to my spear-brothers.
25–28 I am stoic in my pain. I begrudge the giving of gifts.
29–32 I am true to my spear-brothers. I betray my own people.
33–36 I avenge wrongs done to me. I claim glory that belongs to another.
37–40 I defend my own. I do evil in secret ways.
41–44 I keep my oaths. I fear pain and suffering.
45–48 I know the right time to act. I love the telling of lies.
49–52 Men follow my lead. I pray to the old pagan gods.
53–56 Men tremble at my wrath. I seduce the women of other men.
57–60 Men's hearts are lifted by my words. I speak reckless insults without cause.
61–64 My wrath is aimed at the deserving. I suffer wrongs and do not avenge them.
65–68 My deeds know no weariness. I take more than I am due.
69–72 My gifts win true loyalty. I wound friends to gain my desire.
73–76 My judgment is just. I wrong God and Church to get my will.
77–80 My memory is long. Men hold me in contempt.
81–84 My people love me well. My boasts outstrip my skill.
85–88 My skill is great. My deeds are full of folly.
89–92 My word is trusted. My lust for riches is past reason.
93–96 No lie can hinder me. My oaths mean nothing.
97–00 Wisdom is in my words. My people love me not at all.

When you invoke a wyrd, you may describe the way in which it helps Invoking a wyrd can
you, and if the GM does not find it too implausible or unseemly, it will come shape a situation
to pass as you have said. For example, if you lie defeated beneath the spears of
a savage band of pagans, you may choose to invoke “My gifts win true loyalty”
and describe how their leader once received a golden ring from your hand, a
chance find gifted to him in careless generosity. Recognizing you at last, he
commands his men to spare you and bind your wounds.
A hero who has a different wyrd in mind, one not written here, may
choose it if the GM finds it a seemly desire.

13
 Gaining Graces in Your Past

Your hero may have been but a common churl, one alike to all his neighbors
in life and livelihood, but there was yet something unusual about him. His
arm was stronger, his limbs more lithesome, his wisdom more wary to tell
of deceit. Your hero was more skilled than his kinsmen, and now you must
decide how this was so.
Increase an attribute For every ignoble wyrd you bear, increase an attribute score by +2. The
by +2 for each devil makes men strong in their evil, and the better you love Hell’s ways, the
ignoble wyrd, greater your stature in this unhappy world. This increase may not bring an
attribute over 18, though if you have more than one ignoble wyrd, you may
raise more than one attribute, or the same one more than once. Remember to
amend your attribute modifiers if needful.
Gain a bonus skill For each noble wyrd you bear, choose one skill. Describe in a few words
for each noble wyrd, how this wyrd aided you in obtaining the skill. Perhaps a wyrd destining you
one connected to it to glory in battle granted you gifts in spear-play, while a wyrd of cunning
insight sharpened your senses. Perhaps you might tell a little tale of some
deed your hero did, hinting at his destiny and demonstrating his gift in the
skill. This connection must make sense to the GM, but it need not be more
than a sentence or two.
Bonus skills are You gain that chosen skill at level-0. If you already possess it at level-0,
level-0, or level-1 if either from your background or from having chosen it before, it becomes lev-
already level-0 el-1. A skill cannot be raised above level-1 for novice heroes, for the full flower
of their prowess has yet to bloom with their tales.

14
 Of Splendour and Gifts

A man’s importance and prowess is shown by the magnificence of his harness, Splendour comes
by the weight of gold he bears and the fineness of his armaments. One who from wearing rich
wears bright rings and jeweled brooches, who bears a ring-hilted sword and a ornaments and
hauberk of shining mail, must of certainty be a great hero. He must have won fine gear. Total the
great plunder from fallen foes, or received the rich thanks of kings for loyal pieces of finery to
service. All men can tell at a glance that he is a fell-handed warrior, worthy of get your Splendour
caution and respect. He has a great and glorious Splendour. score.
One gathers Splendour by wearing rich garments, by bearing fine weap-
ons, and by adorning one’s form with shining silver and bright gold. For each
piece of fine wealth you wear, add one point to your Splendour. A man’s Splen-
dour is measured by the finest adornments he wears; if he bears many rings
or armlets or brooches, only the finest ring, the most splendid armlet, and the
most bright-jeweled brooch is counted to his credit.
Naturally, a man may wear only one cloak, or tunic, or pair of trews, or
such other manner of clothing. I write this now for I know nothing of the
strange ways of the men who read this book, and they might imagine it fitting
to swaddle their shapes with seven winters’ weaving at once.
If your Splendour is greater than that of your human foe, you will weak- Get +2 to hit
en his heart and fill him with fear at the sight of your magnificence. You may against a foe with
take a +2 bonus to your hit rolls against him. Mind that if you too face a man less Splendour
more Splendid than you, he will gain the same advantage over you in turn.
Wild beasts, demons, and Arx-born monstrosities care nothing of Beasts and devils
Splendour, and never inflict nor suffer the penalties for facing a richly adorned ignore Splendour
foe. Saints care nothing for bright rings when warring against devils.

15
 Ways, Deeds, and Character Level

A wise man would reckon it rare that you know aught of English ways or the
virtues that we value best. A gamesman might grow vexed at the puzzle of
his hero, wondering what makes such a man mighty among his kind, or what
deeds his peers would honor him for doing. To guide a gamesman’s play, each
must choose a Way for their hero.
A Way is a set of principles to guide a man’s actions, a path by which he
may become great and glorious. If he acts according to his Way, he will gain
many graces. If he behaves shamefully according to it, he loses his good name
among his brethren. If he lays it aside entirely, he loses all help that it once
gave him, and must face the world with no more than his own wit and luck.
The level of a hero measures their progress on their Way and the de-
gree of glory and prowess they have won. Ordinary men and common warriors
do not have levels in a Way; they are only churls or gesith or monks, with no
special graces. A hero, however, begins at first level, and may rise higher still.

Choosing a Way

Every gamesman must choose a Way when they create their hero. The Ways
written here are exclusive to any other, and only one may be followed.
A hero need not have any particular skill to choose a Way, even if it
seems needful. At first level, they may yet lack all but ambition to be great.
Ways can be chosen only when a hero is made. Taking up a new path
later is permissible only at the GM’s special favor, and then only after some
stern adventure revolving around the hero’s newfound dedication. Most often,
such a hero will begin anew at first level in the new Way.

Deeds

Every Way provides a list of several Deeds that a man may do to advance
in it. The Deeds that are credit to a man’s glory differ from Way to Way, and
what is splendid to one is of no matter to another.
A party of heroes may share in a Deed, if it is a credit to more than one
character. If a party of four English heroes accomplishes a perilous mission for
a king in need of aid, all four gain credit for the Deed. Glory is meant to be
shared, but if the matter seems ambiguous, it is for the GM to decide.
For every Deed done, the hero gains one Deed point. When enough
Deed points are earned, the hero advances a level in that Way.

16
 Shames

Just as glorious Deeds elevate a hero in might and prowess, so does a Shame
weaken his hand and hollow his heart of courage. Some Ways know no Shames
at all, but for those that do, committing such an act slows a hero’s advance.
When a hero commits a Shame, he loses two Deed points. If he has
not enough to pay this wergild to virtue, he must pay off the debt in virtuous
Deeds before he can accumulate more points. This fine is exacted whether or
not his crime or failure is ever discovered; the hero knows it in his heart. He
does not lose his current level if he drops below its minimum number of Deeds.
Shames are not always a matter of choice. In some Ways, a man may
suffer disgrace through no choice of his own, but because of unhappy chance,
the malice of his foes, or through bitter necessity.

Other Deeds and Shames

Each Way lists exemplary Deeds and Shames appropriate to the path. A GM,
at his discretion, may grant Deed points or inflict Shame for other actions that
are not listed, if a man should devise some remarkable feat of might or con-
duct some heretofore unimagined disgrace. These acts should be considerable,
whatever they are. If their doing is a thing that might happen more than once
in a session of play, they are probably too trifling to be worthy.

Abandoning a Way

A hero who can endure their Way no longer may set it aside, no longer to
be measured by its marks. Such a hero loses all the benefits of the Way. He
retains his character level in it, and his hit points, and his skills, but all the
special abilities and gifts of the Way are lost. Such a hero may then take up a
different Way if the GM finds it fitting to his tale’s progress, beginning anew
at first level, with the hit points and abilities of a first level character.

Gifts of the Way

Every Way is marked with certain gifts obtained at each level. At first level,
the first of these is gained, and a new one each level after. Usually these gifts
are set and constant, though a hero with a particular talent in mind might ask
the GM to permit it in place of an existing gift. If the benefit seems reasonable
and proper to the hero, then the GM may choose to permit it.

17
 The Way of the English Hero

Be an English hero You dream of steel and glory, of the friendship of brave men and the loyalty of
to fight for fame many gesith. You would be fell-handed and fierce, brave against any peril and
and honor among proud against any slight. Your words must be true, your oaths honored, and
the English folk. your courage without flaw. Yet also must you be wise, keen to know the secrets
in the hearts of men and prudent in your chosen course.
Your word and your friendship must be sacred to you. To abandon the
lord you accepted or the spear-friend you embraced is a terrible crime. There
is no glory for a nithing oathbreaker, and no place in English lands for a man
faithless to his friends. These, then, are your Deeds.

Be brave, loyal, • Perform a perilous mission for a lord of greater standing than you
generous, and possess, overcoming great danger or difficulty to see it through.
capable in what • Win the friendship of a greater lord through the help you give him.
you attempt. Seek • Lead your fellow warriors in some deadly feat of arms.
honorable friends • Honor your oaths and your loyalties, whether to your lord or to
and a worthy lord. your followers or your friends, though it costs you dearly or places you
in grave danger.
• Defeat a worthy rival in open battle, besting him though he should
have strength and allies alike to your own.
• Give generously to your followers, conferring great treasures on them
or performing a deed of danger and difficulty on their behalf.

But know also that there are disgraces a hero must shun. However
strong your spear may be, your friendships are a shield you dare not shame. A
mighty warrior without lord or friends or followers is a mere wolf among men,
a dangerous beast to be shunned and feared. Avoid these Shames and do not
permit them to be numbered among your acts.

To betray your lord • Break an oath or betray the interests of a lord or friend.
or your friends is • Accept a public insult without repaying it within a month’s time.
unforgivable. Do • Flee a battle against men, if you began the fight.
not be a coward, a • Insult or harm godly monks, nuns, or priests.
heathen, or a miser. • Hold fast to wealth when your friends or followers are in need.

Heed carefully these words, and guide your deeds accordingly. Few men
are flawless in their good works, but an English hero who proves faithless,
cowardly, or or miserly will never be remembered well in song.

18
 Benefits of the Way

Deeds
Level Required Benefit
1 0 A Mighty Arm
2 2 A Keener Edge
3 4 A Terrible Sword
4 8 A Keener Edge
5 12 A Noble Gesith
6 18 A Keener Edge
7 24 A Kingly Fame
8 32 A Keener Edge
9 40 A Dreadful Fury
10+ 50 A Glorious Name

Illustration

19
 The Gifts of an English Hero

Every English hero is fell-handed in war; there are no weak spears among their
numbers. So too, every experienced and proven hero is considered a fit leader
of men, and may be followed by his fellows as a lord or war-band’s master.
Only a hero can be deemed a proper lord. Bishops and abbots and abbesses
may have men and land, but only an English hero can rightly claim secular rule.

Other Ways do not A Mighty Arm: An English hero is swift and terrible in war. You may add
improve this way. a bonus to your hit rolls equal to your level in this Way.
A Keener Edge: A hero’s tale is shaped in time. This gift is gained several
The GM may times as a hero improves in might, and each time it is gained you may
let the hero take choose one of the following benefits, picking the same more than once
another minor perk if you wish: add +2 to an attribute score to a maximum of 18, add +4
in place of this. maximum hit points, gain a +1 bonus to all initiative rolls, or gain a +1
bonus to all saving throws. In place of one of these gifts, the hero may
suggest some minor benefit of the same degree, which the GM may
permit if prudence seems satisfied.
Common warriors A Terrible Sword: An English hero wreaks a red ruin upon feeble foes.
and churls only As a Main Action, you may instantly slay or defeat a number of 1 hit
have 1 hit die. die foes equal to half your level in this Way, rounded down. These
foes must be within reach of your hands or weapon, and you knows
instantly whether or not a foe is susceptible to this gift.
A necessary step A Noble Gesith: You have earned a name worthy of honor and respect
toward glory. among warriors. Men agree that you are a suitable companion even for
great lords, and a fit friend to be named ealdorman by a king pleased
with your service. <XX Plug this into the social system.>
Only those of royal A Kingly Fame: Whether by discovered lineage-proof, persuasive lies, or the
blood can be truly conviction that such magnificence must be royal, you are now deemed
respected as kings. fit even to be a king, should you succeed in conquering a land from its
present monarch or wresting it from a pagan folk.
Only great warriors A Dreadful Fury: Once per scene, as an On Turn action, you may
and unnatural foes automatically strike true with your next attack, dealing twice the usual
have 4+ hit dice. maximum damage. Your A Terrible Sword gift can now apply to foes
with 3 or fewer hit dice, but only one such great foe a round can be slain.
This Wyrd should A Glorious Name: Choose a new Wyrd reflective of your deeds in obtaining
be emblematic of this measure of might. This Wyrd will not save you from death, but it
your hero’s tale. is not expended when you invoke it. You may invoke it at most once
each month.

20
 The Way of the Wanderer

It is a commonplace that gamesmen are of a perverse and whimsical mind, men Be a wanderer if
who would consent to play a land’s games but would fain be a hero from some your concept is
other time or place, or play some wanderer of the whale-roads who honors unrelated to Anglo-
not the virtues and shames of the English people. For this heroes, there is the Saxon society or
Way of the wanderer, unfettered by English custom and rule. rejects their ways.
Unlike other Ways, the player of the wanderer chooses three kinds of
Deeds that will gain him might. Some foreign mercenary might choose simple If the Deed involves
Deeds, such as winning a considerable sum of wealth, besting a fearsome foe in accomplishing a
battle, or casting away the bulk of their wealth in feasting and rejoicing. One specific feat, it can
from other lands might instead honor the customs of his home. The GM must be changed once it’s
consent to the Deeds that the player chooses, and may allow them to change achieved.
over the course of play if the wanderer’s greater goals also change.
Wanderers have no Shames. They are mistrusted by the English, and
will never be honored as leaders or given positions of great faith with a lord,
but neither is any man astonished when they should do some act of wicked-
ness. Little is expected of them.
Wanderers need the same number of Deeds to advance a character level
as English heroes require.
Wanderers may adopt a different Way if the course of their adventures
leads them so and the GM finds it fitting. They lose the wanderer’s Way and
its gifts. and gain the new one at one level less, with the minimum Deed points
needed for that level.

The Gifts of the Wanderer

The wanderer’s Way is unique in the gifts it allows. They gain a gift at every You might pull in
odd-numbered level: first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth. They may choose special abilities
this gift from any Way that matches their nature and learning, provided it is of from other old-
their level or less. Thus, a first-level martial wanderer may choose the English school games if they
hero’s A Mighty Arm, while a priest of some foreign sect might choose a saint’s fit the character.
Pray Against a Foe. He could not choose A Terrible Sword, because that is a gift Very weak perks
requiring third level to obtain. might only count as
The GM must consent to the reasonableness of this choice. Whatever he half a gift.
may choose, he may not pick gifts that give leadership or rule in English society,
for a wanderer would never be trusted to lead a people in the ways honored
by their ancestors and former lords. If he would be a leader of men, let him
adopt the Way of the English hero, with its Deeds and Shames.

21
 The Way of the Saint

Be a saint if you Many are the monks who are but common men, faithful to the Church and
would serve God dutiful in their service but without high ambition for God and His service.
and aid men Those who desire more than ordinary piety stand upon the Way of the saint.
against Hell. Be they monk or nun or priest or anchorite, their calling is great and hard.
Where other clergy may slip from time to time, to wife an honest maid
or raise an angry hand, your calling is harder and more stern. You must keep
the ways of God in a world of men, being an exemplar of righteous holiness to
all who behold your deeds. Your companions may be less scrupulous, and you
cannot expect them to keep your rules, but you yourself must be pure. Listen
now, and do these things which I now write.

Smite Hell, convert • Smite a demon or supernatural foe, destroying it or driving it hence.
pagans, build up • Construct a minster or church fitting to your present station.
the Church, redeem • Convert a pagan leader and see him do some hard act for the faith.
sinners, and aid the • Convince a sinning lord or great man to repent of his crime in public.
weak and needy. • Alleviate the sufferings of a community harried by some grave woe.
• Go to great expense or peril of life to further the word of God and
the help of sinners in need.

The Shames of a saint are stern, and much that is harmless to an English
hero is poison to a pious heart. You suffer Shame if you do these things.

Shun the sins a • Wound or kill a human being, even to preserve your own life. If your
Christian should companions should fight on your behalf, their blows are permissible, but
shun. What might you may raise only prayers in war, rather than wielded weapons.
be forgivable for • Pollute yourself with fornication or like sins of the flesh.
an ordinary monk • Rob or deceive a man or woman of their justly-held possessions.
or nun is strictly • Speak lies for your own gain or the gain of your allies.
forbidden to you. • Disobey a godly and lawful command from your superiors in the
As you are given faith, or neglect your own accepted duties in the Church.
more, you are • Consent to use or personally benefit from pagan sorceries or en-
expected to deserve chanted objects. An Artifex’s workings or a galdorman’s charms are unfit-
more. ting for you, though your allies may use them if they dare their soul’s peril.

It need not be written here that defiance of God or abandonment of

the faith ruins a man or woman forever for the Way of the Saint, but I note
this now should this book be read by some wholly heathen and ignorant soul.

22
 Benefits of the Way

Deeds
Level Required Benefit
1 None Holy Protection, Pray Against a Foe
2 2 Turn Sinner
3 4 Pray for Clean Healing
4 8 Pray for an Ally
5 12 Pray for a Cure
6 18 Pray for Wisdom
7 24 Pray for Miraculous Healing
8 32 Pray for Divine Aid
9 40 Pray to Revive the Fallen
10+ 50 Pray for a Miracle

The special graces of a saint are gifts from God, the blessings by which their All men pray to
prayers are proven. Most saints pray aloud when in need, though God knows God for help. Your
well enough the silent plea of a heart. The holy rood upon which our Lord prayers are merely
perished is a symbol bourne by many, but no material trappings are needed more consequential.
by a saint, though he may use them if he so wills.
God grants discretion to His saints in the use of the gifts He gives them. You may be a good
A saint may not always use their gifts wisely or well, but so long as they do not saint, but a great
attempt to use them in a fashion obviously ungodly and profane, they may vexation to men.
direct them as they desire.
If a saint attempts to use a gift in a way that is obviously shameful and Saints do not
impious, let the GM counsel him on it and warn of its impiety. Perhaps the sin gravely by
player is a heathen, and does not know well the love of God, but the saint ignorance.
would surely know better than to try to win God’s aid toward a disgraceful end.
The blessings of a saint are conferred on those who deserve them, wheth- Saints need not be
er they are consecrated priests, monks and nuns within the walls of a monas- ordained clergy, so
tery, or humble anchorites in the forest. A man may find the easiest way to God long as they live as
within the peaceful confines of a minster, but even bloody-handed warriors a saint should.
may put down the sword and turn to God in time.
Let it be understood, though, that right order is part of a holy life. A Saints without
man not consecrated as a priest may not offer holy communion, nor may one ecclesiastical rank
not a bishop be the shepherd of an episcopal see. A saint who has no part in do not participate
the Church’s hierarchy may be honored and respected by clerics within it, but in the hierarchy.
he may not claim the rights and role of a station he does not possess.

23
 The Gifts of God to His Saints

The gifts marked here are among those most apt to saints of the English race.
As scripture shows in the writings of holy Saint Paul, God grants different gifts
to different believers. If the player of a saint should wish a unique gift for a level,
let him persuade the GM of its aptness and suitability to his saint’s nature, and
the GM may then let him have it in place of the usual grace.

Clerics have no Holy Protection: God shelters you with His grace. Your base AC is equal
special habit or to 15 plus half your level in this Way, rounded down. This benefit is lost
dress, but shun the if you willingly and shamelessly don hauberk or shield, regained only
harness of war. with a week of fasting and prayer.
Pray Against a Foe: You utter an anathema against a foe who physically
If you pray against threatens you or your allies as your action for the round. Roll a d20
a foe in battle, it against a target of 15, adding your Pray skill and level in this Way. If
may manifest as your prayer strikes home, your target suffers 1d8 hit points of damage
a blessed ally’s plus your Pray skill. This injury comes from demoralization, dread at
wounding blow. a holy man’s fury, and sudden war-misfortune should he be embroiled
in battle. Foes brought to zero hit points this way will flee or surrender,
regaining 1 hit point after. Demons and supernatural foes are always
harmed by this prayer and suffer double damage, and those brought
to zero hit points are destroyed.
The godly dignity of Turn Sinner: Your stern rebuke dismays and abashes mortal listeners, even
a saint is recognized if they are beasts or pagans or cannot understand your speech. To turn
even by beasts and a sinner’s heart, use your action for the round to roll 2d6 and add your
heathen men. Pray skill and your level. That many hit dice of listeners are abashed,
starting with those auditors nearest to you, and will not offer violence
to you or your companions unless provoked. Targets with less than
half your level in hit dice are wholly cowed, and will obey any godly
instruction that does not cost them much. Those with more hit dice
than you have levels cannot be turned. You may not turn a sinner’s heart
after a battle has begun, for they are too enflamed with wrath to heed
you. You may wield this gift only once each day, and PCs are unaffected.
Prayers of healing Pray for Clean Healing: Once per day, you may pray over a Gravely
may be made by Wounded ally who has been brought to zero hit points that day. They
the saint on his will recover in the usual time without suffering a Scar or risking death.
own behalf, if he is Pray for an Ally: As your action for a round, you pray that God should
conscious to make strengthen the arm of a loyal friend. Your friend immediately gains
them. another Main Action, which they may instantly spend as they wish.

24
Pray For a Cure: You lay hands upon a sickened creature, praying for its God helps quickest
health. Roll a Pray skill check against a difficulty of 6 plus the target’s the weak and the
hit dice or level. On a success, the sickness is cured, while on a failure small, and more
you cannot remedy this sickness, and another saint must be sought. slowly a man of
One person can be helped per day per level in the Way. might.
Pray for Wisdom: You rely upon the good counsel of God. By spending
a night in prayer over some mystery or question, you receive a vision
showing where you ought to look or who you ought to question to get
the truthful answer you desire. This prayer does not necessarily give
the answer, but may instead grant understanding of where to find it.
Pray for Miraculous Healing: Once per day, you lay hands upon a
Scar or a Gravely Wounded ally, praying for five minutes. The Scar
is undone or the wounded man rises without risking mar, regaining
half his lost hit points as he does so. A recipient can benefit from the
removal of a Scar only once per year from any single saint, but may gain
healing more often if the saint is able to offer it to him.
Pray for Divine Aid: As your round’s action, you may utter a prayer to This prayer is to
God in hope of help, whether by the miraculous provenance of some save the saint and
needful thing, the arrival of aid, or the escape from present calamity. his allies, not give
The need must be great enough to threaten the life of the saint or one them victory or
of his companions, and no more help will be given than is needed to success in a deed.
save the saint or his friends from their immediate woes. This prayer
cannot be used again until a week of fasting and thanksgivings are made.
Pray to Revive the Fallen: This mighty prayer beckons back a life that Only a holy fool
has fled its bone-cage. The corpse must be present, less than a month would consent to
dead, and must not have yet received proper funeral rites to usher the revive a fallen lord,
soul onward. The saint must spend the night in fervent prayer, after lest he win the
which he rolls a Pray check against a difficulty of 6 plus the deceased’s bitter hate of his
hit dice or level. If it the check is failed, the saint immediately loses heir. Better to let
a level in this Way and is reduced to the minimum needed for their great men get their
prior level, losing all benefits from the lost experience. Whether the reward from God.
check succeeds or fails, the subject will rise again at dawn, alive with
the Scars they bore in life.
Pray for a Miracle: The saint asks God for a favor as a Main Action, and God will do no
God answers it as He wills. The result may not be precisely as the more than is needed
saint requested, but his aim is fulfilled, and no power of Hell or mortal to achieve an aim,
sorcery can thwart God’s gift. Such aid comes at a hard price, however, but He will not
for the saint immediately loses a level in this Way and is reduced to the pervert or cheat a
minimum needed for the prior level. pious plea.

25
 The Way of the Wise

<Artifex and galdorman rules go here>

26
27
 Final Adornments

Your hero is nigh to completion, and only a few more measures must be taken
to ready them for glorious adventures.
Your maximum hit Record their hit points, the measure of how close they are to griev-
points are 8 plus ous defeat. You begin with a maximum of 8 hit points, to which you add your
your Constitution Constitution modifier. When wounds or woes cost you all of these points, you
modifier fall, either slain or sword-scarred by your misfortunes. It requires time and
a healer’s care to mend these grave wounds, but if you win through a battle
without falling, your lost points will swiftly return.
Your attack bonus Note down your attack bonus, the score you add to every thrust of
is +1 your spear or goose-feathered shaft you loose. Whenever you roll a d20 to hit
a foe, you will add this attack bonus to it. Your hero’s attack bonus is +1, and
will improve only if you follow the Way of the English hero.
Your saving Write carefully your saving throws, each one equal to 16 minus
throws for Might, the better of two modifiers. For Might, subtract the better of your Strength
Swiftness, and Will or Constitution modifiers. For Swiftness, subtract the better of Dexterity or
are 16 minus the Intelligence. For Will, subtract the better of Wisdom or Charisma. When
best of two attribute your hero is faced with grim peril and the GM calls upon you to roll a saving
modifiers throw, take up a d20 and roll it against such save as he thinks good. If you roll
equal or over the number, you withstand the danger, and so overcome it or
suffer less gravely from it.
Get a knife, a spear, While your hero may have come from a wealthy family, he has been
a suit of common forced to shift for himself in this new settlement, and so has little more than a
clothing, and five poor man does. You carry a knife, as all do, a spear, as all free men have, one set
items from the of common garb, and five items from the list in the following section. England
following gear list has little use for traders and common markets, and if you wish to have more
than these few things, you must either find a friendly crafter to make them
for you, get them in gift from another, or take them from the possessions of
your conquered foes.
Name your hero Lastly, you must crown your hero with a good English name. The list
from the table on on the facing page gives you guidance in this. Roll or pick a part from the first
the next page column and add to it a part from the second to make an English name, one fit
for either man or woman. If you must name a place, like that of your settlement,
do the same with the second two columns, choosing first one piece and adding
to it another. Some place-names are fashioned from their founder’s name to
which is added a suffix from the rightmost column.

28
 A Word on Speaking

Foreign tongues find little ease in English words. Do not seek to speak them
perfectly unless it gives you pleasure. To give every rule for correct utterance
is a task beyond this little book, and beyond the patience of its reader. Where
certainty fails you, pronounce each letter as it is pronounced in your own
tongue, and merely trouble to be consistent in your choice. And if you be a
gamesman of the Tang or a Greek-spoken Byzantine, then utter them any way
you please, for your comrades will hardly know better to correct you.

d00 First Name Second First Place Second

1–4 Aedel bald Ac barrow
5–8 Aelf bert Ald broc
9–12 Ald den Baec burh
13–16 Athel frith Bearu bury
17–20 Bald gar Beo camb
21–24 Behrt gis Bere dun
25–28 Beo hard Cald end
29–32 Beor heard Cild ern
33–36 Cene helm Dael feld
37–40 Cuth here Denu ford
41–44 Cyne man East ham
45–48 Dag mar Fald hurst
49–52 Ead mund Fenn ley
53–56 Eofor red Folc mer
57–60 Eor ric Gos moor
61–64 Ethel stan Hame ney
65–68 Hild thel Hrither port
69–72 Hrod ulf Loc rod
73–76 Hroth wald Mere stan
77–80 Hun ward Salt stead
81–84 Ken weald Sid stow
85–88 Os whit Stocc tun
89–92 Rad wig Thorn weg
93–96 Sel wine Wella wic
97–00 Wig wulf Wether wig

29
 Instruments of Life and Death

These pages name for you those humble implements that a young hero might
have for his own. Each hero has a knife for his meat, a spear for his foes, a
good suit of woolen clothes to warm him, and five items from those listed here.
Take a knife and First, choose either a barbed spear or a broad-bladed gar for your hero.
either a barbed or If you have want of yet another weapon, pick it accordingly. Record the damage
broad spear. Other die for the weapon, and the attributes it relies upon. If two are named, you
weapons count as a may use the attribute at which you better excel.
choice
Weapons Dmg Attr Comment
Axe 1d6 Str An uncommon war-weapon, but gain
+2 to hit a foe who bears a shield
Barbed Spear 1d6 Str/Dex A lighter, barbed-headed spear that
can be thrown up to 60 feet away
Bow 1d6 Dex Oft for hunting, rarely for war, with a
range of 600 feet
Broad Spear 1d8 Str Every free man has his spear, six and a
half feet long as custom requires
Knife 1d4 Str/Dex More for meat than merciless war, all
have a knife close to hand
Seax 1d6 Str/Dex A great single-edged knife to hew
hunted prey and fight foes

Choose a shield A warrior most often bears a shield as well, a wood-wall against woe
if you wish, and and wounds. A shield will improve your Armor Class, the measure of how
a wise warrior so difficult it is to harm you with spear or sword. Without a shield, your Armor
wishes Class is 10 plus your Dexterity modifier.

Shields Comment
Heavy Shield Proud-bossed with iron to batter a foe, when you hit
an enemy in combat while bearing a heavy shield, add 2
points of damage to your blow. Your Armor Class is 14
plus your Dex modifier while you bear this shield.
Broad Shield Fashioned more lightly to be more nimble to interpose
between flesh and foeman’s steel, your Armor Class is 15
plus your Dex modifier while you bear this shield.

If a foe’s strike would cost you the last of your hit points, you may let
your shield shatter to avert the blow, but only once in each battle.

30
 Where, you ask, is the coat of bright mail and the helm that crowns The English rarely
the warrior’s head? They are on the backs and brows of the friends of kings, wear any armor or
not the shoulders of unproven men. Armor and helms are precious treasures, helmet. If they do,
most often from over the sea or won from Arx-troves and nighted places. I it’s a costly mail-
have heard stories of Greek armor made of linen, and of tribes that wrap their shirt or Roman
bodies in boiled hides, but such outlandish harness is not used in England. salvage
Men who have no iron war-shirts fight in woolen ones, with their shields to
defend their lives.
But spear and shield are not enough for an adventurer’s deeds. Pick the
remainder of your items from the lists below, or ask for something else that
seems mete to your GM’s mind. Items marked with an asterisk increase the
bearer’s Splendour. While a man may wear many rings and armlets, he may
wear only one tunic, trousers, or cloak at a time.

Item Comment None of these items

Candles Six fine beeswax candles to burn for an hour each are very costly, but
Carving tools Small chisels and picks fit to carve wood and stone some may make a
Common garb Tunic and trousers and knee-length cloak, all wool polite and respected
Cowhide A tanned cowhide to wrap a thing or shelter under gift. Even a simple
Dried meat Three days’ sustenance in dried flesh gift of cloaks to a
dozen monks was
Fine brooches* Cloak-brooches of finely-worked copper
honor enough to
Fine tunic* A brightly-colored tunic of good linen
bear mention in a
Harp A small harp of middling virtue
king’s history
Hide thongs Twenty feet of tough leather thongs for binding
Iron prybar A bar for prying loose that which is stuck fast
Iron pot A sturdy little iron pot, fit for cooking
Jar of wine A half-gallon of prized Frankish wine
Leather sack A stout sack to bear over your shoulder
Medicine bag A small leather bag of herbs and wool bandages
Pouched girdle A broad belt with many small pouches attached
Quiver of arrows A leather quiver and twenty goosefeathered shafts
Rich cloak* Knee-length wool decorated in good brocade
Rope, 25 feet Stout hempen rope coiled well
Sturdy boots Good leather boots, better than common shoes
Tinderbox Fire-flints and embers for quick flame
Torches Eight resinous torches, each burning thirty minutes
Waterskin Holds water enough to slake a man for two days

31
 Waxing in Might

In these pages I have instructed you in the making of a young hero. He is one
bold and capable and graced beyond common men, but he is still without name
or followers, nor does he stand so proudly as old heroes like Beowulf or Saint
Oswine. How may you increase his power?
Increase your Seek Deeds. When you have accumulated Deeds praised by your Way,
character level by you will have been hardened by your trials and sharpened by the steel of your
doing Deeds fit for foes. You will have earned your might and increased in level, the measure
your Way of a hero’s prowess. You begin at level 1, and the greatest heroes of song and
legend stand at level 10, or perhaps even higher.
To reach level 2, you must achieve two Deeds. I write here in the margin
You need a certain a table showing you how many Deeds in total Level Deeds
number of total you must obtain in order to reach a particular
1 None
Deeds to go up a level. When you have finally obtained enough
2 2
character level Deeds to reach a new level, you will gain all
the gifts your Way grants to that level after the 3 4

current evening’s gaming is done. 4 8

Each Shame you Remember, however, that Shames will 5 12
commit costs you slow your ascent. Each time you commit a 6 18
two Deed points. Shame hated by your Way, whether willing- 7 24
ly or without intent, whether known to men
8 32
or known only to God, you lose two Deed
9 40
points. A black crime blots out many fine acts.
If you commit this Shame before you have even 10 50

earned two good Deeds, your total becomes negative, and you must climb out
of your disrepute before attaining any good name at all. If the loss brings you
below the minimum Deeds required for your level, you yet retain your prowess.
A great hero fallen into evil ways may mar his whole past, but he will yet retain
the strength of a mighty warrior still.
The means I write are only those that grant personal power and strength
to a man’s own right arm. Friendship, land, wealth, and all the other good
things that come to the mighty must be earned in other ways, either through
fair words, an open hand, or a strong help in times of need. These things do
not come simply because a man can strike more swiftly with his spear or bear
more bravely his wounds, and a hero must be wise in the ways of the world to
win such good help for his cause.

32
 Benefits of Increasing your Level

When you advance a character level, your hero becomes stronger. You gain
these benefits after the current evening’s play is complete.
Primus, increase your hero’s maximum hit points by two, to which you Gain 2 more HP
add your Constitution modifier.
Secundus, gain two new skills at level-0, or increase an existing skill you Gain two new skills
have by one level. You must explain how you bolstered these arts in your last at level-0 or raise
level. You may not increase a skill if the new level would be greater than one one skill by 1
third your character level, rounded down, plus one.
Tertius, add one point to your Splendour score. This benefit persists even Gain a permanent
if you lack all adornment, for the majesty of your proven might is bourne like Splendour point
a mantle upon your shoulders. A king in rags is yet a king.
Quartus, gain the gifts that your Way grants your new level. These tal- Gain the gifts your
ents require no special training, for they are assumed to have been cultivated Way grants that
as you labored over the prior span of time. new level

33
34
 Of The
ight understanding
of the English Lands is
needed if your heroes

English
would prosper in these
realms. As the men who
read this little book may
be of many lands, I have
written this chapter to instruct you in what you
must know. To the GM, I address more on these
Lands
things in later pages, but for you who would de-
sire only to play, this chapter is sufficient to teach
you.

Nota Bene: Brother Cornix’s description of Anglo-Saxon culture and politics is perhaps
best described as “defensible”. Premodern game authors have been known to take consider-
able liberties with their native civilizations in order to make it “more interesting”, or more
amenable to heroic adventure, and while they usually do not depart entirely from provable
fact, they have been known to be rather exuberant with available evidence.
My own limited learning suggests that Brother Cornix has mostly kept to a truthful
description of his society, with some simplifications put in where he thinks foreigners would
neither care for nor understand the more complex elements.
His history, on the other hand, is patently fanciful. Certainly, the historical invasion
or migration of Anglo-Saxon tribes may have happened as he describes, and evidence
does suggest that the English avoided living in abandoned Roman cities, and numerous
ecclesiastical sites have been found overlapping Roman towns, but the idea that this was
due to “magical seals” and “otherworldly horrors” is clearly a device of dramatic fiction.

35
 Of What Has Gone Before

36
37
 Of the Arces and the Arxware

Our fathers were fire and flood on the land, a burning brand for the cities of
Britain and the sons of Rome. Many were the cities shattered by our ancestors
and unnumbered were the Wealh who fled our fury. Most sought refuge in
the wild northern reaches, or begged mercy from our leaders, or ran to the
western hills where they hate us yet. Some, however, sought to hide away in
the Arces fashioned by the Artifices.
An Arx is an abscess in the skin of this middle-earth, a hollow gouged
out of creation by the cunning of a master Artifex. By geometrical arts and
secret ways, the Artifex forces a bubble of space into a place which ought
not to hold it. One may pass through a door in a poor man’s house and find
a whole manor on the other side, or cross a paddock gate and find a mile of
moorland on the other side.
Within an Arx, the laws of creation are enfeebled. The sky may show
the sun, yet there may be no birds. The soil may grow crops, yet a man who
digs will somehow never reach more than a man’s height downward no matter
how long he toils. A green garden may show the land around, yet one who
presses past the edge will find himself turned inward again. The seasons may
pass, or they may hold still for days upon end, until those who dwell within
forget all passage of time.
In the days of Rome, the Artifices crafted their Arces in service of the
great, as pleasure-palaces, prisons, and temples to their gods. A great man of
Rome may have a splendid villa in this middle-earth, yet through a private
door an echo of Roman seashores may be raised, with southern sun and the
fragrant herbs of his home. Or if he is of darker mind, the Arx may be a prison
for his enemies, or a toilsome pit for his slaves to labor in with no hope of
escape. So too, it may be a temple to some god of Rome or the distant East,
where the wonders of their heathen devils may be more easily brought alive,
or a sanctum of some Artifex seeking a better place for his sorcerous works.
Yet as splendid as these Arces were, they were yet uneasy places. The
Night beyond this middle-earth ever pressed at their borders, ever curdled
and twisted the geometry of their making. Only by regular and careful main-
tenance by an Artifex could an Arx be kept secure and safe. Without this
tending, an Arx would shift and warp, allowing strange things in from the
Night beyond and perverting those who dwelled within its walls. This was
not a swift process, but within a generation or two, an Arx that was once safe
and beautiful could become a dark garden of Hell, tainted with dark sorceries
and subtly poisonous to those who lived within it.

38
 When our fathers stormed the cities of Britain, many desperate Wealh
fled into the Arces, sealing up the doors behind them to seek refuge until the
legions of Rome could come to save them. Most died there in their hidden
places, famishing or murdering each other in madness and despair. Some who
sought refuge in Arces that had food and water persisted for generations, men
living their whole lives within the boundaries of these not-places. And some,
of course, begged help from things they should not have sought, and ate the
bread of Hell so that they might live.
The seals upon the Arces stood fast for generations, yet their hasty work
must crack in time. It has been two hundred years since our fathers threw
down the Wealh lords, and now the seals of the Arces are breaking open at last.
Most are empty of all but bones and Night-born monsters, but some yet have
living men within, the heirs of seven generations of exiles.
These are the Arxware, the Arx-born, the sons of exile. Some have been
twisted beyond recognition by the poisonous breath of Night, and come forth
as beasts and horrors to feed upon this middle-earth. Others yet have the faces
of men, and follow the ways of a dead people in a living land. Great is their hate
for the English people, and even their Wealh brothers are despised as cowards
and betrayers in their need. Those that are not mad with seven generations of
madness seek the destruction of the English, the ruin of the Wealh, and the
restoration of dead Rome over the Britain that lives.
It is for fear of the Arx-born that the English people shun Roman cities.
Only a canny Artifex can tell where a hidden Arx-door may lie in wait, and
the seals that hold them fast may crack without warning. It is better to live
away from these places, and leave them to their dead.
Yet there are rumors of something beyond these Arces, some greater
hollow in the heart of the world. Those brave enough to seek out the Arces
and bear out their treasures speak of doors within an Arx itself, hidden doors
that lead to a grand and terrible city beyond the borders of the world. This
“Last City” is more magnificent than Rome, more splendid than the cities of
far Tang, and more terrible than Sodom and Gomorrah. Within the walls of
the City dwell a thousand thousand men and women, some Arx-born, some
strange, most mad beyond madness.
These wild-eyed adventurers claim that all the wares that ever were or
will be can be found within the Last City, and every horror done and undone
has a place within its walls. Empty quarters and thronging streets, the temples
of dead gods and the thrones of ashen kings… who can ken its depths? Truly,
can any treasure be worth the peril of such a place, and any prize be worthy
of the risk to one’s immortal soul? Let heroes know these things, and beware.

39
40
 The Rule
ight understanding
of the law brings light to
men and their dealings.

of the
Herein I describe to you
the means by which you
may overcome your foes,
best your great challeng-
es, and prove yourself a worthy bearer of a hero’s
bright mantle.
Game

41
 Heroic Combat

Here I write for you the way by which men may fight, either foes of a foreign
folk or bloodthirsty beats or enemies of otherworldly kind. These rules are for
the encounters of a small band at most, for if a full here of summoned Hun-
dreds clashes on the battlefield the struggle is different, and will be described
in a different place.
Battle begins when someone decides that it does. Fair words may have
failed, or old wrath been owed, or in some other way the peaceful meeting of
men has gone astray. All that is needed is for one man to level his spear and
the battle will be joined.
A round lasts about Battles are measured out in rounds, each one lasting no longer than
six seconds three or four easy breaths. In a round, every warrior acts once. When all have
acted, the round ends, and the next one begins.
Initiative is a d8 To discern which side may first act, either the heroes or their foes, roll
plus Dexterity a d8 and add to it the best Dexterity modifier from among the heroes. This is
modifier. Roll it their initiative. Now roll again a d8 for their foes, adding nothing unless
once for each side, you decide that they are uncommonly swift. This is the foe’s initiative. If it is
then each side acts a three-cornered battle or a melee of many bands, roll once for each group.
in order The highest initiative roll goes first, with the heroes winning ties. Then the
members of the next may act, and so forth. Repeat this sequence in each new
round. When it is a side’s turn to act, its members may go in whatever sequence
pleases them, or clockwise around the hall-table if no better desire is had.
With surprise, Sometimes a side is taken by surprise, by treacherous blades or a sudden
ambushers get a charge from amidst forest bracken. If the prey is wary at the time, and has
free round before reason to suspect that battle may be near, they may make an opposed skill
initiative is rolled check to discern the ambush in time. The assailants check Dexterity/Sneak
versus the defender’s Wisdom/Notice. Let the best-talented of each group
roll; if the assailant wins, all are surprised, and if the defender wins, none
are. If the surprise is successful, the assailants get a free round to act before
initiative is rolled.

42
 Acting in Battle

When it is a warrior’s turn to act in combat, he may both move and fight.
If he moves, it is ten paces, or thirty feet, and this assumes he is being Move 30 feet a
wary of wounds and quick to dodge perils as he crosses the battlefield. If he round, or twice that
must climb or pass difficult terrain, this distance is halved. If he refrains from if you do no more
fighting this round and does nothing but move, he may move twice as far.
If he moves away from a foe who has engaged him with spear or sword, Lose your attack to
he cannot attack or double-move this round, or he will give his adjacent foes disengage safely
a free strike as he recklessly withdraws from them.
If he fights, he may strike a foe within reach, or loose an arrow, or hurl Attack or perform
a barbed spear. In place of fighting, he may do something else that takes only some other action
a few breaths to complete, such as drawing out an object buried in a sack, or once per round
barring shut a door against a terrible beast.
When a warrior fights a foe, he rolls a d20, to which he adds his attack Roll d20 + attack
bonus, his Fight or Shoot skill as the circumstances require, and the attribute bonus + skill level
modifier appropriate to his weapon. If he fights a man and his Splendour is + attribute modifier
greater than his foe’s, he adds +4 to this roll. If he lacks even level-0 in the to hit
needed Fight or Shoot skill, being one ignorant of war, he suffers -2 to his roll.

43
 If your hit roll is If the roll is equal or greater than his enemy’s Armor Class, then he
equal or higher has succeeded in his attack, and wearied or frightened or perhaps struck his
than their AC, you foe. An unarmored man’s Armor Class is 10, better if he bears a shield, and
succeed better still if he has been honored by a coat of shining mail. A man’s Armor
Class is always modified by his Dexterity modifier.
To roll damage, If his attack is successful, roll the weapon’s damage die, and add to it
roll the weapon’s the attribute modifier fit for that weapon. If his Splendour is greater than
damage die plus his foe’s, add 2 points more, and if he bears a heavy shield, add 2 again, but
your attribute remember that beasts and devils care nothing for Splendour and cannot be
modifier intimidated by a warrior in magnificent harness.
Take this number from the enemy’s hit points. If they still have any
remaining, then they are bruised, or nicked, or wearied, or dismayed, but they
are not yet gravely harmed or overwhelmed. If this takes the last of their hit
points, however, they have been felled with a ruinous blow.
Common sorts die If a common beast or man loses all of his hit points, he will almost
at zero hit points, certainly die. Perhaps swiftly, perhaps after long moments of groanings and
while greater ones cries, but few so hurt can be helped to live. If a hero or brave-hearted man
might survive with is brought to zero hit points, however, they may yet be saved, and if their
a healer’s aid wyrd is unfinished, they cannot die, but only be scarred and wounded, as I
shall write after this.
Sacrifice your shield A hero who bears a shield may sacrifice it to save his skin if a blow
to negate a lethal would cost him the last of his hit points. The shield is shattered by the
hit once per battle fell-handed stroke, but the hero escapes unharmed. While such a man might
snatch up another shield, he can invoke this fortune only once in each battle.
Common men and ordinary warriors cannot do this to evade their doom.

Wyrd and Battle

A hero may invoke Some heroes may invoke their wyrd to win a battle, and this is right. Let them
a fitting wyrd to explain how they use their destiny to slay a mighty foe or drive off an enemy
unfailingly win a warband, their doom strengthening their arm. They may not receive all they
battle desire with the invocation, but they should be victorious in all the greater
points. An invoked wyrd may not suffice to best an army single-handedly or
conquer a prince of Hell without a price, but any lesser foe must surely be
overcome.
If more than one hero seeks to invoke their wyrd in the same battle
in a way that would be contradictory, only the first-spoken invocation is
allowed. The other hero must await a different opportunity to express his
certain doom.

44
 Morale and Bravery

The courage of men is not endless. When his allies fall wounded, crying out
for help, and when the foe has broken the shield wall and slain his lord, it
is a courageous man who stands and fights to the end. More like it is that a
lesser warrior will turn and flee, casting aside his shield to quicken his flight
and praying to God to spare him this day.
Morale is the measure of a man’s bravery. Heroes do not have Morale,
for they will always fight until their gamesman decides that they will flee.
Other men, however, must test their Morale when the fight turns against
them or the foe seems overwhelming.
Morale is measured from 2 to 12, with 2 being a cowardice so great that Churls have Morale
an angry ram is sufficient to send him fleeing, while 12 means that the man 8, gesith have 9, and
will stand even should all the hosts of Hell confront him. To test Morale, the valiant 10 or 11
the GM rolls 2d6, and if the number is greater than their Morale, they will
abandon the field.
A man must check Morale on two occasions, and any additional that Heroes never check
the GM thinks right to exact. He must check Morale when his first com- Morale
panion falls, and he must check Morale when his allies first seem to be losing
the fight. If he passes both, he will continue to fight until it is clear folly to
persist, and perhaps even then if his honor compels him.
A fleeing man will act as his best reason tells him. On a battlefield, a Those who fail a
gesith will run away or seek shelter behind walls, because in a battle captured Morale check will
warriors are slain while churls are taken as thralls. In a forest skirmish, he act with such sense
may surrender and ask mercy of raiders. They dislike to kill a man for sport, as their steadiness
as his kinsmen will more hotly seek wergild for a life than a wound. A churl allows
compelled into his Hundred’s fyrd may run madly from the enemy, while an
old gesith may draw back in careful order with his comrades.

45
 Hurt and Healing

After a short rest, A man who has lost hit points but has not been deprived of all of them is not
regain lost hit seriously injured. He may be bruised, battered, and dismayed, but he suffers no
points up to half real hurts. If he has five minutes in which to catch his breath, unpressed by foes
full, rounded up and unharried by dangers, his hit points are restored to half their maximum,
rounded up, if they are not already higher than that.
Eat and drink and If he spends an hour at rest, drinking half a waterskin of something
rest for an hour to better than water and eating meat sufficient for a day’s ration, all his lost hit
regain all points are restored. So also does he regain lost strength if he gets a peaceful
night’s rest.
Men who are Gravely Wounded cannot regain hit points this way. They
must be nursed slowly back to health as I describe below.

Mortal Injury

Common men die An ordinary man deprived of all his hit points may expect to die. If the GM
at zero hit points, finds it mete, a determined hero may attempt to save him with bandages and
though some can be bindings, if he acts immediately upon the battle’s end. Let this chirurgeon
saved by skill make a Dex/Heal or Int/Heal skill check against difficulty 10, or against 12 if
he lacks a medicine bag or similar implements of care. If he succeeds, the man
he succors becomes Gravely Wounded, but may yet live. If he fails, let him
pray for God’s mercy on his patient’s soul and dig a decent grave.
Heroes are Gravely A hero who has lost all his hit points is felled, having been smote sorely
Wounded at zero and made Gravely Wounded. If his hateful foeman strikes him again, or if the
hit points injury that laid him low is too terrible for any man to endure, he will die there
upon the field. If he is left without further harm, he may yet survive.
Gravely Wounded A Gravely Wounded man must be tended if he is to live. Such care
men can do nothing requires a half-hour of labor each day by a healer to cleanse his wounds, apply
but be tended by poultices, and help him with such things as he cannot do himself. After the
healers first night, the healer makes an Int/Heal skill check against difficulty 10, or 12
if he has no medicine nor bandages. If he succeeds, the patient will survive for
a time. If he fails, the patient must make a Might saving throw or die before
dawn. Only one healer may make this roll, though others may aid him as
described in the rules of skill checks.
It takes a week After a further week of care, the healer must make another skill check,
before a man’s this time at difficulty 8, or 10 if deprived of tools. If he succeeds, the man will
life can be safely begin to mend, whereas if he fails, the patient must make a Might saving throw
secured once more or be soon carried off by purulent infections or grievous fevers.

46
 If a patient has survived this long, he rolls once on the Scars table on Those who are
the following page to learn the consequences of his great wound, and regains Gravely Wounded
a single hit point. He may now be up and about, doing but light labor and will always gain a
nursing his strength. A month later, he finally loses the Gravely Wounded Scar
condition and is restored to his full hit points, though the Scar will linger. Let
him gain one permanent point of Splendour if this is his first Scar, for it is
proof that he has suffered a terrible wound yet has not died. Scars after this
are not so glorious, for they show that he has not learned much from the first.

Wyrd and Death

A man who has not lived out his wyrd cannot die. He may become Gravely One with unspent
Wounded, he may suffer the hands of incompetent healers, he may bear great wyrd cannot die
torment from many Scars, but he will not die. Let him be wounded and recover
as other men, but if his healer fails in his skill checks and his Might saving
throws are for naught, let him suffer two Scars from the wound instead of one.
If the play of the adventure seems to promise certain death for a hero Yet he may suffer
that yet retains a wyrd, the GM must bend the circumstances so the hero so greatly that he
yet survives. Perhaps a pagan warrior leaves him for dead, or a plunge into a wishes death would
crevasse finds him on a small ledge, or a poison he has swallowed merely puts come
him to an hour’s torment instead of death. Let him be Gravely Wounded if it
seems a fair return, but do not let him die.
Remember also that a GM may compel a man to invoke his ignoble Ignoble wyrds can
wyrds when facing certain death. If the sullen gamesman cannot explain how be compelled when
his ignoble wyrd will save him, the GM may tell him how his hero falls prey death looms
to his flaws.

47
 Suffering Scars

Style Scars to fit the When a hero suffers a Scar, roll on the table below to learn what evil the foe-
nature of the injury man’s blade did him. If he was brought near to death by some other hazard,
that caused them such as a great flame or plunge from a cliff, then use the Scar’s penalty but
describe it in some more fitting way. Where a sword may lop fingers, a flame
may sear them to useless char.
Scars can be cured Scars cannot be cured by mortal arts. It may be that a holy monk or a
only by magic or nun blessed by God may be able to undo the hurt, though few are the pious
miracles souls who can do this, and hard the road to find them. Other maimed heroes
may seek relief in sorcerous galdor or lost Roman arts.
A Scar can only be The same Scar cannot be suffered twice, even to apply to a different limb.
suffered once If you so roll, you have luck, as it is only a flesh wound after all.

d00 Scar
1-4 Blinded eye, that what you hurl or shoot suffers -4 to hit
Wounds cannot 5-9 Brain-bruised, lessening Wisdom by 2
lower an attribute 10-15 Broken knee, for -2 Dexterity and halved movement
below 3. If 16-19 Collapsed lung, losing you 4 Constitution
Constitution is 20-23 Destroyed nose, -2 Charisma and you can no longer smell
lost, reduce the 24-37 Flesh wound, without lingering woe
hero’s maximum
38-39 Gut wound, miraculously you live, but lose 4 Constitution
hit points if the
40-43 Incontinent, oft stinking of piss, with -2 Charisma
modifier changes
44-46 Man-wounded, unable to sire heirs
47-50 Mangled fingers, but a few, but costing your bow fingers
51-53 Missing arm, depriving you of its use for -4 Dexterity
Heroes need both 54-57 Missing hand, lessening Dexterity by 2
hand and arm 58-59 Missing leg, hobbling at 10 feet a round and -4 Dexterity
to usefully bear a 60-64 Ripped muscle, worsening Strength by 2
shield 65-68 Ruined ear, so that you suffer -1 on all Sense checks to hear
69-72 Shattered elbow, costing use of an arm and -2 Dexterity
73-77 Skull-cracked, worsening Intelligence by 2
78-81 Smashed ribs, worsening Constitution by 2
82-87 Stiffened scars, costing 1 Charisma and 1 Dexterity
88-91 Throat wound, unable to speak above a whisper
92-95 Torn face, unsightly to behold for -2 Charisma
96-00 Unhealing abscess, for -1 Charisma and Constitution

48