Total coin:

This is not just a manual

on how to play,
but also a workbook!
It has been created in a way to
encourage you to print it out
and draw all over it. Swords of
Below you can name your tavern,
draw its logo,
show off your trophies in the
cabinet to the left,
and count your coin in the top right

With this game system, a trusty

notebook and a pencil, the
possibilities are endless.

th e Lig ht
A d6 Party-Based Solo Roleplaying Hack of BitD
 Regulars Major Factions

Minor Factions
A special thanks, first to my lovely wife,
for supporting me wanting to do
nerd stuff all the time.

To John Harper for the skeleton upon

which this game is built.

To Yochai Gal, for their book Cairn,

which inspired me to make my own
zine format TTRPG’s.

And to Jon from

Tale of the Manticore Podcast Factions
for their constructive feedback and Eventually a quest will have you going up against a faction or working for one.
positive affirmations! When that happens you may use this chart to learn more about the faction. Give
them a name and add them to their respective area. Roll 3d6, one for each column
to learn the Focus, Main Resource, and the Allies of the faction. Each faction
whether major or minor has a goal represented by the 6 slice clock. An important
Bravery Intellect Versatility activity during downtime is to pick a
major and minor faction and move 1 Trade Blades Rebels
their clock. A major faction rolls 1d6
and a minor rolls 2d6 and takes the 2 Faith Influence Merchants
This table is useful for tallying up the revealed skills
for the 6 would-be adventurers lower. On a 1-3 they fill one slice, on
3 Tech Labor Peasants
a 4-5 they fill 2 and on a 6 they fill 3.
These goals can be anything and
4 History Rumors Monsters
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Hit me up! should be written with the faction
DruidicHabit@gmail.com along with their other info in your 5 Espionage Loyalty Criminals
Follow me on Instagram for updates! notebook. When filled, a minor goal
@DruidicHabit
may shape the town, where a major 6 Territory Wisdom Monarch
one could affect the country.
This work is based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), product of One When a faction reaches their goal, note the change in town and create a new goal!
Seven Design, developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
©DruidicHabit 2024
13
1 No, And Oracles 1 Cunning Impasse A Hero, Retired
The table on the left is a simple one After many years of adventuring, you decided to retire and open up a tavern in
2 No that you see in many solo games. Use it 2 Brilliant Ambush the town of . Your reputation has attracted many would-be
by asking a “yes or no” question! adventurers, and the pub has become a central hub for quest-seekers. The local
3 No, But The table on the right can be useful 3 Quirky Trap leaders recognized your wisdom and leadership and have appointed you as a
for creating a scene/obstacle. Roll 1d6 liaison, hiring adventurers, and choosing which quests they undertake.
4 Yes, But for each column and put the words 4 Evasive Puzzle You put out the call that you were taking in and training adventurers, and 6
together. If any of these words describe people showed up the very next week. Unfortunately, you only have 4 beds to
5 Yes an obvious weakness or a strength, you 5 Bloody Detour
spare. You interview the hopeful adventurers [Roll 6d6, assigning one d6 to each
may decide to use that instead of rolling of the prospects. As you interview them, they reveal a skill if you rolled above a
6 Yes, And 6 Lengthy Intrigue
it up during the action. 3. On a 4 they reveal Bravery (BRV), 5: Intellect (INT), and 6: Versatility (VERS).
Any skill revealed will be a +1. When you decide which four to hire, roll 1d6 for
Creatures each of the stats they didn’t reveal.
1 Agile Skulking Cursed A roll of 1-3 will be +0 in that skill, 4-5 will be +1, and 6 will be +2.
The table on the right expands on
the type of creature you may be up Add these 4 characters and their stats to the Occupancy List on pg. 4. When you
against when rolling a quest. Roll 1d6 2 Scales Erratic Ancient do, write something that describes their fighting style (i.e. Frost Magic, Big Sword,
for each column, from left to right Necromancy, whatever you think is fun and uses their stats well. You may name
3 Teeth Curious Peculiar these characters, though they may keep their name to themselves for now.
these are Noticeable Features, Known
Behavior, and Rumors
4 Hulking Nocturnal Noble
Quests Do This To This Dilemma
If one of these words describes People that have heard about your
something that could be a strength or call to adventurers have come from far 1 Conquer Outpost Barrier
5 Eyes Cunning Arcane
weakness, you may decide to use that and wide to ask for help. First, roll 2d6
instead of rolling. If this is the case, 6 Stench Group Impervious and take the lower in order to find the 2 Seek Rival Hostile(s)
the first scene might be the party difficulty, coin paid, and type of person
finding info on the creature in town. asking for help (D/C/P number). 3 Protect Artifact Political
1: Peasant/1 Coin 6
Regulars 2: Merchant/2 Coins 8
4 Analyze Creature Setting
1 Gruff Scarred Tainted 10
When you complete a particularly 3: Small Faction/3 Coins
5 Sabotage Nature Moral
interesting quest, you may want to 4: Noble/4 Coins 12
2 Witty Dapper Overlooked
know more about the quest giver. If 5: Major Faction/5 Coins 14
6 Negotiate Faction Magical
you want them to continue giving 6: Monarch/6 Coins 16
3 Relaxed Old Mocked
quests you may even make them a The difficulty will be represented by clocks, each clock is a scene. The clocks
4 Anxious Staunch Feared regular! Regulars should have an area shown are just to give you an idea, but you can break up the scenes as you like. For
in your notebook, but you can also list example, for Noble/4 Coins, you may use two 2 slice clocks and two 4 slice ones
5 Loud Dirty Notable their name on the next page! instead. The grey numbers show the Total Slices in a quest of that difficulty!
Roll 1d6 for each column. From left Roll 3d6, one for each column, to determine what the mission is, and the main
6 Weird Thin Trusted to right these are Demeanor, Look, dilemma. A quest may have multiple of these elements, these are just ideas to help
and Reputation around the town. paint a picture of the overarching themes. Add 3 quests to the board on pg. 11.

12 1
Forming a Party
When you accept a quest you must form a party to undertake the quest. A party
consists of 3 adventurers, taking on the role of Brains, Brawn, and Bravo. These
roles are to help distinguish the adventurers, but do not define them, for example,
the character in the Brains role may have little to no intellect but still be the brains.
The characters in the party will be put on the Party Sheet (pg. 6) This sheet will
be your main sheet as you progress through a quest. Each character brings with
them their top two of the three character stats, and may draw a line from the stats
they bring to a relevant party stats of which there are 6.
Character stats are not rolled during quests, they are used to determine party stats!

This chart shows the Bravery Intellect Versatility

relationship between the
characters stats, and the party Bravery Melee Strategy Agility
stats, and which can be used
for which. For example, you Intellect Strategy Study Ingenuity
could add Intellect into Do This: To This: Dilemma: D/C/P:
Strategy, Study, or Ingenuity. Versatility Agility Ingenuity Wit
Do This: To This: Dilemma: D/C/P:
Drawing Connections
Lets say we have 3 characters, Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma. Their stats are as Do This: To This: Dilemma: D/C/P:
follows. Scooby: BRV: +1 INT: +0 VERS: +2, Shaggy: BRV: +0 INT: +0 VERS: +1
and Velma: BRV: +1 INT: +2 VERS: +0. The number representing the difficulty, coin and, type of person offering the quest
We start a quest by adding them to the party sheet, taking their two top stats is the D/C/P number
with them. Shaggy only brings one, because the rest of their stats are +0. Then,
using the chart above, they decide which party stats they want to drag a line to.
Do This To This Dilemma
The amount you have in a character stat is the amount of bubbles you fill for Quests
the party stat. The amount of bubbles you fill in is the amount of dice you roll Roll 2d6 and take the lower in order to 1 Conquer Outpost Barrier
when you take one of the actions. find the difficulty, coin paid, and type
Notice how Velma of person asking for help (D/C/P 2 Seek Rival Hostile(s)
Party Sheet
and Scooby both used number).
Brains: Velma
their point in Bravery Agility 1: Peasant/1 Coin 6
INT +2
3 Protect Artifact Political
to add a point each to BRV +1 Ingenuity 2: Merchant/2 Coins 8
Strategy. Brawn: Scooby Melee 3: Small Faction/3 Coins 10 4 Analyze Creature Setting
In order to roll VERS +2 4: Noble/4 Coins 12
BRV +1 Strategy
party stats that have 5: Major Faction/5 Coins 14 5 Sabotage Nature Moral
Bravo: Shaggy Study
no dots filled, you roll 6: Monarch/6 Coins 16
VERS +1 6 Negotiate Faction Magical
2 dice and take the Wit
lower.

2 11
 5ft from dot to dot
Blueprints Embarking
The tavern you bought ain’t much to
Now that you know which party is heading on an adventure, and the type of
look at, but she’s home for you and the
quest they are heading on, you must decide the first challenge. Each clock
adventurers you have taken in. At the
represents an obstacle you must overcome. Do you drop the party into the middle
moment she ain’t much, just a 40'x25'
of the action like most FitD (Forged in the Dark) games, or is the act of getting
bar area, 10'x5' stairs to a second floor
there an important part of the quest? Either way, name the first clock and begin
(or basement) with four 10'x10'
taking actions to fill it!
bedrooms, and a 5 foot wide hall. Feel
free to draw out the blueprint as you Taking Action
envision it on the right.
The BitD SRD (bladesinthedark.com/action-roll) does a great job of explaining
the basic system, so I will just extrapolate on top of it. The actions you will choose
Construction between are the party stats that you have drawn lines to at this point. Each action
In order to upgrade or add rooms, you must pay coin equaling to the amount of will have a Position and Effect. In this game the Effect determines how much you
walls needed. For example a 10x10 room in the corner of your structure would interact with the clocks.
cost 4 coin, where a 10x10 room with no walls to attach to would cost 8 coin. This Great Effect: You may get great effect if you used an action before to set this
cost also includes furnishing the room. On top of spending the coin, you also need action up, or if you are exploiting an obstacles weakness. On success: Mark 2
to use downtime actions in order to Construct the room. Some rooms have the pieces of the clock. Standard Effect: On success: Mark 1 slice of the clock.
option to be upgraded, this can be done after the room is built. Next to the size of Limited Effect: You may have limited effect if you are rolling against an obstacles
the room is a clock showing the number of clock slices to build the rooms. strength. On success: Your next roll is great effect or you get a less risky position.
Every obstacle will have a weakness you can exploit for great effect, and a
10x10 rooms 15x15 rooms strength that limits your effect. If you aren’t sure what those are, there is a table on
Bedroom: Each bedroom allows you Library: Add 1 extra die when the play sheet to roll on (pg. 7). On that page is also a list of questions that modify
to hire another adventurer rolling on a long term project how many dice you roll when you take an action.
Office: The initial stats of would be Vice Den: Choose 3 vices this den
adventurers are +2 if revealed. serves, when someone indulges in those
Cosequences
Upgrade (5 coin) instead, roll full stats vices here, add + or -1 to their roll. When you roll a 1-3 (failure) or 4-5 (success with a consequence) something bad
for adventurers before you hire them. Training Room: You may use a happens to the character performing the action. Who that character is should be
15x10 rooms downtime action here to train, rolling envisioned before you roll and may be a person with a line drawn to the stat, but
Suite: Roll 1d6 to determine the dice equal to your lowest character stat. doesn’t have to be. Here the consequences correlate to the Position. If your
D/C/P number of a quest. If you roll a 6, you may mark 1 of the position was Controlled, the only consequence is that you lose that position and
Restful Space: Roll 2d6 and take the the 3 bubbles needed to level up. your next roll will be from a risky position. When something bad happens while
higher when you recover in this room. Brewery: Roll 1d6 instead when the position risky or desperate, do what makes the most sense in the fiction.
seeing the number of adventurers If you are unsure you can roll on the tables below.
available for hire Risky: 1) Take harm 2-3) Clock 4) Worse Position 5) Stress 6) Pick 2
Desperate: 1-2) Take harm 3-4) Clock (2 segments) 5) 1d6 Stress 6) Pick 2
Clocks: If you roll clock, make a 4 segment clock, and mark it. When this clock
fills, a complication, such as “the guards are alerted” happens.
Most rolls will be Risky/Standard

10 3
Occupancy List Hiring Downtime
These two pages show the individual You can always hire more
adventurers staying at the tavern. When adventurers assuming you have the When a quest is completed, you go into a downtime period, representing the
one takes harm or stress, you may mark space. Hiring costs you nothing, but time between missions. Downtime is separated into 6 parts.
it on here. Add the Coin: Add the coin from the quest to the coffer on the back of the booklet.
you will need to have enough beds to fit
The coin is controlled by you, the player, to spend as you see fit. Rest assured the
Character Sheet the extra adventurers. It costs 2 coin to
let an adventurer go. adventurers all made their share of money and are content.
This basic character sheet is also
Each week during downtime, roll Reaction: After each mission, contemplate and write down a few sentences about
where you will mark the stats. Style in
2d6 and take the lower to see how what the effects of that quest are. What does helping that merchant do for the
this case refers to the fighting style of
many adventurers there are for hire. town, or what is the impact of helping the monarch on the empire as a whole.
the character.
You start with 4 beds, check the Downtime Activities: You are given 5 downtime actions that you can spread
Number of Beds: Construction page to get more (pg. 10). among all of characters (including ones that didn’t go on the quest). You can pay
one coin per extra downtime action.
Name: Lvl: Name: Lvl: Indulge Vice: Roll dice equal to the lowest character stat of the person
BRV INT VERS BRV INT VERS indulging (If the lowest stat is 0 roll 2d6 and take the lower). The character
relieves stress equal to the highest number rolled. If a character overindulges
by rolling too high, they cannot be used for the next quest.
Recover: Explained under Harm and Trauma pg. 8
Info: Info: Construct: Roll dice equal to highest character stat of the person helping with
the construction. On a roll of 1-3 fill one segment, on 4-5 fill 2, and 3 on a 6.
On a critical, (a roll with two 6’s) you fill the clock. You may spend a coin to
improve the roll by one tier. See pg. 10 to learn more about construction.
Style: Style: Long Term Projects: In order to do things that affect the town, you may start
Ment: Emot: Phys: Ment: Emot: Phys: a long term project. These are more abstract and can be whatever you think
Stress: Stress: of. Something that affects the tavern and regulars would be a 4 slice clock,
something that affects the town would be a 6 step clock, and something that
affects a kingdom might be 10 steps or more. You may use multiple clocks
Name: Lvl: Name: Lvl: describing different parts of the long term project. Roll using Construct rules.
BRV INT VERS BRV INT VERS Hiring: In order to hire new adventurers, roll 2d6 and take the lower during this
phase to see how many people in the tavern are available to hire as adventurers!
Interview the adventurers as you did at the beginning, rolling for stats, and hire
Info: Info: the ones you want, adding them to the Occupancy list on pages 4 and 5.
Quests: Lastly, remove quests that you don’t plan on doing (they must be at least a
week old), update the quests on page 11, making sure you have at least three.
Factions: Pick a major and minor faction and move their clock. You may choose
randomly, or if you just completed a quest for one, you should choose them and
Style: Style:
add a die to their roll! More on pg. 13
Ment: Emot: Phys: Ment: Emot: Phys:
Stress: Stress:

4 9
 Name: Lvl: Name: Lvl:
Harm and Trauma BRV INT VERS BRV INT VERS
Harm is a little different than in BitD. Here, you take a single Mental (Ment),
Emotional (Emot), and Physical (Phys) harm. Whenever you take harm, choose
one that you don't already have, and place a “+” in the circle next to it. Each type of
harm hinders different stats. Emotional harm: Hinders Ingenuity and Wit. Mental
Info: Info:
harm: Hinders Strategy and Study. Physical harm: Hinders Agility and Melee.
If a character takes another harm after having all 3 types, they die. You can spend a
downtime action to Recover and fill the “+” (4 segment clock) to remove a harm.
Roll 1d6, on a roll of 1-3 fill one segment, on 4-5 fill 2, and 3 on a 6. On a critical, Style: Style:
(a roll with two 6’s) you fill the clock. Ment: Emot: Phys: Ment: Emot: Phys:
Trauma works as in BitD https://bladesinthedark.com/stress-trauma Stress: Stress:
Leveling up
When returning from a successful quest answer the following questions about Name: Lvl: Name: Lvl:
the party members. On their character sheet, mark a bubble next to Lvl for the BRV INT VERS BRV INT VERS
correct character. If you are unsure of who deserves the point, skip the question.
Which character took the greatest risks for the benefit of the group?
Who best displayed their vice/trauma/morals/goals?
Info: Info:
Did any characters form a stronger bond? (Mark a bubble for both)
If a character took trauma, they cannot fill any bubbles from the mission.
Leveling up represents the character getting stronger and the people at the
tavern learning more about them. Characters start at Lvl 1, and level up every time
they fill in the 3 bubbles next to Lvl on their sheet. When characters reach certain Style: Style:
milestones they gain certain boons. When a milestone says “Roll Stats” roll 3d6, Ment: Emot: Phys: Ment: Emot: Phys:
one for Bravery, for Intellect, and Versatility. On a 6 raise that stat by 1. Stress: Stress:
Milestones
Lvl 2: Write 2 words that describe the character, and one that describes their vice.
Name: Lvl: Name: Lvl:
(their vice is what they do to relieve stress)
Lvl 3: Roll Stats. This character shares their real name if they haven’t already BRV INT VERS BRV INT VERS
Lvl 4: Write one or two words describing the morality of the character
Lvl 5: Roll Stats. Envision the character and write a bit of backstory for them in a
separate notebook, who are they telling this backstory to? Info: Info:
Lvl 6: How does this characters backstory shape their goals?
Lvl 8: Roll Stats. There is some foreshadowing of the lvl 10 quest, what is it?
Lvl 10: The next “quest” you undertake is a quest to fulfill this characters goals or
tie up something from their backstory. By the end of the quest something drastic Style: Style:
happens, and this character can no longer be an adventurer. What happens? Do
they retire, die, take on a management role, lead a different faction, or maybe start
Ment: Emot: Phys: Ment: Emot: Phys:
their own tavern in a different city? Think of this as a season finale and assign an Stress: Stress:
amount of scene clocks worthy of one!

8 5

Party Sheet
Brains:
Agility
Ingenuity
Brawn: Melee
Strategy
Bravo: Study
Wit
Below are ideas for how the stats can be used, the possiblilities are endless!
Agility : Bravery+Versatility Climb, dodge, or sneak using your physical prowess
and ability to adapt. Make an attack with an agile weapon.
Ingenuity : Intellect+Versatility This represents using creativity, improvisation, and
resourcefulness to accomplish a task.
Melee : Bravery+Bravery Approach a problem head on, intimidate someone, or
simply punch someone in the face with a sword.
Strategy : Bravery+Intellect Create an effective plan and execute it, manage
resources effectively, find an advantage, respond carefully.
Study : Intellect+Intellect Recall something you read about, inspect something
closely, solve puzzles, use your knowledge to cast a spell.
Wit : Versatility+Versatility Quick thinking, clever choice of words, predict your
opponents next move.
When you roll a 1-3 (failure) or 4-5 (success with a consequence) something bad
happens. Do what makes the most sense in the fiction, if you are unsure you can
roll on the tables below.
Controlled: Your next roll will be from a risky position.
Risky: 1) Take harm 2-3) Clock 4) Worse Position 5) Stress 6) Pick 2
Desperate: 1-2) Take harm 3-4) Clock (2 segments) 5) 1d6 Stress 6) Pick 2
Consequence Clock: If you roll clock, label and mark this
4 segment clock. When this clock fills, a complication, such
as “the guards are alerted” happens.
6 7
Current Quest
Given By: Reward: Slices Needed:
Do This: To This: Dilemma:
Quest Clocks: Each of these may represent an obstacle or scene
How to “attack” the quest clock and complete the scene
1. Set the Scene: Write under one of the clocks above what the obstacle is, envision
how the party would first react to this obstacle.
2. Decide an action to take to overcome the obstacle
3. After deciding your first action vs the clock, roll on the Strengths/Weaknesses
table to determine the clocks strength. Roll to see the clocks weakness after you
succeed on an action roll (4-6). If you roll the same weakness as the clocks
strength, it has no weakness.
Remove a die from the action pool for each 'yes'
Strengths/Weaknesses
response to the following questions
Is this action the same as the last one rolled? 1: Agility 4: Strategy
Is this the same character that took the last action?
Is the character’s harm hindering this action? 2: Ingenuity 5: Study
Add a die to the action pool for each 'yes'
3: Melee 6: Wit
response to the following questions
Is the character acting on their morals/trauma?
Are they pushing themselves to their limit? (Mark 2 stress if so)
Does anyone assist in the action being taken? (Mark 1 stress to aiding character)
4. Add up the dice into a pool with party stat dice, decide on the Position/Effect
(taking into account the strength and weakness of the clock), and roll, taking the
highest roll you get. Rolling a crit (two sixes) upgrades the effect or position. (If
you have zero or negative dice in the pool, roll 2d6 and take the lower)
5. If you succeeded mark the clock that represents the obstacle, if you failed or had
a success with a consequence, figure out what happened.
Great Effect: You may get great effect if you used an action before to set this
action up, or if you are exploiting an obstacles weakness.
On success: Mark 2 pieces of the clock.
Standard Effect: On success: Mark 1 slice of the clock.
Limited Effect: You may have limited effect if an enemy is way stronger than you
or you are rolling against an obstacles strength.
On success: Your next roll is great effect or you get a less risky position.
Keep completing scenes until you complete the quest!!!