Play to find out.
◆
NOTES
EXPERIENCE
INVENTORY
YOUR CHARACTER
To create a character, go through
the following steps.
1. your attributes
Your attributes are the main way
you interact with the world. Your
character has 4 attributes.
With your strength, you may
crush, lift, strike and grapple. With
your dexterity, you may dash, aim,
sneak and handle. With your
willpower, you may perceive, solve,
analyze and focus. With your heart,
you may persuade, command,
charm and honor.
To determine your starting
modifiers, reveal a card for each
attribute.
SUITE ATTRIBUTE MODIFIER
♥ Set your attribute to +2.
♦ Set your attribute to +1.
♣ Set your attribute to 0.
♠ Set your attribute to -1.
Write down the results on your
character sheet.
If you are unsatisfied with your
attributes, you may try to get a
better result by revealing another
card, but must accept the new
result. This can only be done twice.
D6 D4 - Rise up from failure.
ARMOR
/ Share the spotlight.
RESILIENCE
HRT DEX
WIL STR
ATTRIBUTES
VANORI:
PRONOUNS:
NAME:
DETAILS
2. your guardian spirit
You are guarded by a Vanori, a
spirit of the wild and messenger of
the gods. The Vanori you choose
increases certain attributes, sets
your initial max resilience, and
gives you a special ability.
Additionally, you may take the
physical appearance of your Vanori
for a short while, gaining new
liberties in the fiction.
Burn a card from your hand to
transform into your Vanori.
Leverage your new form to seek
advantages.
Choose, roll or invent a Vanori.
1. BEAR: Increase your strength by
2 and your heart by 1. Your max
resilience is d10+3. You may burn
a card to roll an extra d4 on top of
your armor to resist incoming
damage.
2. WOLF: Increase your dexterity by
2 and your willpower by 1. Your
max resilience is d8+3. You may
burn a card as a combat action to
force an enemy to check their
morale.
3. RAVEN: Increase your willpower
by 2 and your dexterity by 1. Your
max resilience is d8+2. You may
burn a card to force an enemy to
step down their attack die.
Don’t hoard the cards, or else...
Find creative solutions.
Always seek advantage. Always.
Embrace risks.
Engage with the fiction.
Align on things as a group.
Narrate your actions.
Listen and pay attention.
PLAYER GUIDELINES
Improvise rules if needed.
Split problems in multiple rolls.
Ask questions, use the answers.
Provide problems, not solutions.
Trust the fiction.
Be a fan of the characters.
Pause or rewind if needed.
Check-in with the players.
Show the world as it is.
Telegraph danger.
Guide the story.
GM GUIDELINES
4. ELK: Increase your heart by 2
and your strength by 1. Your max
resilience is d10+3. When you
burn a card to aid an ally, you give a
+3 to their score instead of the
normal +2.
5. OX: Increase your strength by 2
and your willpower by 1. Your max
resilience is d12+3. You may burn
a card during a short rest to get the
benefits of a long rest.
6. OWL: Increase your willpower by
2 and your heart by 1. Your max
resilience is d8+2. Once per
session, you may burn a card to
mark XP twice.
You may reroll your max resilience
to try get a better result, but must
accept the new result.
3. your armor and weapon
Your armor allows you to resist
damage during combat.
You start with a d4 armor set. Fill
the d4 armor dot on your character
sheet.
Your weapons provide convenient
ways to perform attacks on
enemies.
You start with a d6 weapon of your
choice in your inventory (a sword,
an axe, a bow, a spear, a pair of
knives, a staff, etc.).
A couple of hours per session. ◆
◆
◆
acting as game moderator (GM).
2 to 5 friends, with one of them ◆
◆
and one map sheet.
◆
Printed copies of this pamphlet ◆
◆
◆
A full set of polyhedral dice. ◆
back when the deck is empty.
◆ deck, discard it. Shuffle the cards
◆ When you reveal a card from the
◆ A standard deck of playing cards. ◆
◆
To play you will need:
PREPARING THE GAME
◆
out in songs and sagas.
◆
of our destinies fulfilled as they ring
◆ And one day, all shall hear the echoes
◆
◆
ancestors and deities.
the way, we pay our respects to
◆
land. To cleanse the shadows. Along
◆
venture beyond the mist. To chart the
◆ conviction. Alone, we are called to
◆ gods and spirits, we stand firm in our
◆ our names from memory. Guided by
◆ We were cast out. Our brethren struck
THE BITTER NORTH
EXPERIENCE
When a trial roll results in a
SETBACK, you get to mark XP, in
which case you fill in one box on
your XP track.
When your XP track is filled, you
receive a blessing from your
Vanori: clear your XP track and do
the following.
change your attributes
For each attribute, reveal a card.
SUITE MODIFIER
♥ Increase the attribute by 2.
♦ Increase the attribute by 1.
♣ The attribute stays the same.
♠ You see a bad omen.
change your resilience
To get your new max resilience,
reveal a card.
SUITE MODIFIER
♥ Increase max resilience by 2.
♦ Increase max resilience by 1.
♣ Your resilience stays the same.
♠ Your Vanori shows you a vision.
Songs and Sagas is a product of Fari RPGs (farirpgs.com)
This product is licensed under the ORC License available
online at various locations including www.azoralaw.com/
orclicense.
All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein.
THE GAME
In this game, you perform trial and
fate rolls when there is uncertainty
in the fiction. You add cards to your
hand when your trial rolls succeed,
burn them to gain momentum,
and, most importantly, continually
try to collaborate in moving the
story in interesting directions.
CREATE YOUR CHARACTER
Flip this pamphlet to reveal its
cover and follow the steps to create
your own fierce northerner.
CHART THE MAP
Drop a d20 on the map sheet’s hex
grid, this is the region you are
located in. Use the rolling tables
available on the back of the map
sheet to help define the terrain,
threats, non-player characters,
treasures, and risk rating of the
region.
The risk rating reflects the level of
unknown and danger in the region.
It typically ranges from 1 to 3, but
may step up or down at the GM’s
discretion depending on your
actions in the fiction. Each hex is 6
miles (or ~10 kilometers) face to
face. A person can walk a hex in a
day, a horse can cross two, a
longship can row three but sail four
with favorable winds.
ARMOR
Your armor allows you to resist
incoming damage and is defined by
a die rating (d4 - d6). During an
enemy attack, roll your armor die
and substract the result from the
incoming damage. Armor may be
ignored or damaged at the GM’s
discretion. When damaged, the
armor die is stepped down.
REST
To recover, you can:
SHORT: Take half an hour to catch
your breath. Reveal a card to
recover resilience.
SUITE RESILIENCE
♥ Recover 5.
♦ Recover 3.
♣ Recover 2, trouble is ahead...
♠ Recover 1, trouble is here...
LONG: Spend a couple of hours
sleeping or lying low. Reveal a card
and interpret the result as above,
but double the recovery. You may
spend this time fixing a damaged
weapon or armor, but then only get
the benefits of a short rest.
FULL: Spend a week out of action or
in calm transit to restore all
resilience and, if it makes sense in
the fiction, clear one condition.
TRIAL ROLL
When taking a risky action, make a
trial roll.
1. Pick the attribute that best
matches your action.
2. The GM discusses with the group
and sets a difficulty rating,
usually a 12.
3. The GM reveals a number of
cards matching the current
region’s risk rating. For each
black card, the difficulty rating
is increased by 2.
4. Roll a d20 + the attribute
modifier to get your score.
If your score is greater than the
difficulty rating, it’s a SUCCESS.
Otherwise you suffer a SETBACK.
SUCCESS: Gain control of a
moment in the scene and narrate
what happens next. Add one of the
revealed cards to your hand if no
cards were burned for the roll. You
must pick a red card over a black
card.
SETBACK: Mark XP, but relinquish
control of the narrative to the GM.
They describe what happens and
may inject more tension in the
scene by introducing a new
consequence (narrative mishap,
loss of resilience, damaged armor
or weapon, a new condition, etc).
REACTION
When an NPC’s reaction to you is
not obvious, reveal a card.
SUITE REACTION
♥ They seem helpful.
♦ They seem curious.
♣ They seem wary.
♠ They seem hostile.
COMBAT
INITIATIVE: To decide who goes
first in combat, reveal a card.
SUITE INITIATIVE
♥♦ Your group goes first.
♣♠ The enemy group goes first.
The group order stays the same
until the combat is over.
The individual order is not tracked;
go with what makes the most sense
or who’s most excited to play next.
The combat ends when all player
characters or enemies run out of
resilience, or if one side decides to
withdraw (see Enemy Morale).
enemies
Enemies are made of resilience,
armor and weapons, which work
exactly like yours. You can build
your own enemies or convert some
from existing OSR bestiaries.
RATING DESCRIPTOR
6 Almost certain
9 Easy
12 Normal
15 Challenging
18 Almost impossible
FATE ROLL
When taking an action with an
uncertain outcome but no
consequential risks, make a fate
roll: perform a trial roll, but skip
step 3. You also do not add cards to
your hand on a SUCCESS or mark
XP on a SETBACK.
ADVANTAGES
If the fiction helps or hinders a fate
or a trial roll, the GM may grant
advantage or disadvantage. With
advantage, roll 2d20 and keep the
highest die. With disadvantage,
roll 2d20 and keep the lowest die.
INVENTORY
When you come into possession of
an item or weapon, write it down
in an inventory slot.
Weapons are assigned a die rating
(d4 - d12) used during an attack.
Weapons may become damaged at
the GM’s discretion. When
damaged, the weapon die is
stepped down.
during your turn
During a combat turn, choose one:
◆ Make a trial roll to attempt to
gain advantage, to damage your
target’s armor/weapon, or to
otherwise alter the fiction.
◆ Perform an attack.
attack
WEAPON: When attacking with a
weapon, the weapon’s die rating
will serve as damage die.
FEAT: When trying to harm an
enemy through other means, the
GM assigns a damage die to your
action (d4 - d12).
In both cases, make a trial roll
(including card to hand or XP).
SUCCESS: use the damage die as
is, or step it up if you rolled a 20.
SETBACK: step down the damage
die once, or twice if you rolled a 1.
Roll the damage die and deal that
much damage to your target’s
resilience, minus their armor die
roll. A damage die always ranges
from a d4 to a d12.
If your trial roll results in a
SETBACK, the GM may inflict a
consequence in addition to or in
place of the stepped down damage
die. E.g. damaged weapon.
BURNING CARDS
Burn a card from your hand to:
CALL THE GODS: +2 to your score.
AID AN ALLY: +2 to an ally’s score.
TURN THE TABLE: Turn a SETBACK
into a SUCCESS, but as a result the
GM introduces a new consequence
in the scene.
COME PREPARED: Add an item to
your inventory as if it had always
been there. This may allow for an
advantage in certain situations,
but the GM has the final say.
RESILIENCE & CONDITIONS
Your resilience represents your
physical and mental well-being. If
reduced to 0, make a trial roll.
SUCCESS: you are not ready to fall,
set your resilience at 1.
SETBACK: you are incapacitated
and close to death. If your wounds
are tended, set your resilience at 1
but work with the GM to gain a new
condition.
Conditions are negative aspects
attached to your character. Each
condition takes one inventory slot.
To clear a condition, you need a full
rest or wait until it becomes
irrelevant. Once per session, the
GM can use a condition to make
you roll with disadvantage.
during an enemy’s turn
Enemies attack and prompt you to
defend with a trial roll (including
card to hand or XP).
SUCCESS: you avoid the attack,
and gain advantage if you rolled a
20.
SETBACK: you get hit, the GM uses
the enemy's damage die, stepped up
if you rolled a 1.
The GM rolls the damage die and
deals that much damage to your
resilience, minus your armor die
roll.
If your trial roll results in a
SETBACK, the GM may inflict a
consequence in addition to or in
place of the damage dealt to you.
E.g. your armor becomes damaged
or you gain a new condition.
Mobs of enemies may be grouped
together as a single entity.
enemy morale
When enemies feel outnumbered
or see their leader fall, reveal a card.
SUITE MORALE
♥ They panic and try to flee.
♦ They surrender or negotiate.
♣ They stay in the fight.
♠ They double down on the fight.