Crying Blades 1 (d20)
The Crying Blades Houserules Volume One
Characters and Rules
WARNING : PLAYTEST
The Crying Blades Houserules is an OSR fantasy roleplaying game¸ built on the fundation of the tradition and with a few innovations and twists. It was inspired mostly by Lamentations of the Flame Princess and by Swords & Wizardry¸ but many other games also had a significant influence on the design¸ from WhiteHack to BlackHack¸ from Dungeon World to Fate.
This is the first in a series of three volumes¸ which will compose the full game: one - characters and rules; two - sorcery and blessings; three - monsters and adventures.
This first manual contains: an Introduction¸ the Characters creation rules and the four available classes (Fighter¸ Cleric¸ Sorcerer¸ Rogue)¸ the Equipment¸ all basic and advanced rules and rules for combat¸ rules for Sorcerers and Clerics and their magic. The spells and blessings lists are limited in this manual to level one spells only (for character creation).
A second manual¸ Sorcery & Blessings¸ contains the full list of spells¸ with details.
What will you find in the game
The game introduces a few innovations¸ such as a random talents system for the various classes that replaces abilities¸ three different equipment-systems (one based on a die size¸ one on numbered slots¸ and a traditional one with weight-per-item).
It uses regular attributes checks for actions¸ and Saving Throws linked to attributes¸ with some class-modifiers.
Combat is faster than usual: a single d20 roll determines (using the traditional AAC) both if the character hits the monster¸ and if the monster hits the character. This reduces the number of rounds where both would miss.
Sorcery and clerical blessings do not require to memorize spells but use a simple count to determine how many can be cast per day.
The leveling up system is simple and all classes need the same amount of XP per level. Sorcerers and Clerics¸ though¸ need to pay XP to improve their power-matrix and to acquire new spells¸ thus their leveling-up process is slower. Multiclassing is allowed¸ but severely limited.
WARNING - BETA!This is still a beta version : it is complete but is missing monsters¸ random tables¸ advice for the GM and so on¸ which will be covered in the third manual. The product¸ though¸ includes a preview of what will be manual number two with spells and blessings for sorcerers and clerics currently up to level three (more than enough for most playtesters).
It is absolutely playable: roll your level one characters and play using the monsters from some other OSR game or adventure. You previously needed another book (like Lamentations or Swords & Wizardry) for spells¸ but now the preview of manual two which is included in this product has got you covered with spells and blessings for sorcerers and clerics up to level 3. The full manual with spells and blessings is published separately.
If you buy now - in pdf or in print - you are basically signing up for the beta playtest phase. Read and play the game¸ get in touch with your feedback¸ and get all the updates as soon as they're released. And as with any beta version¸ you accept the risk of getting a game which has a few issues¸ typos¸ mistakes¸ and will maybe even remain incomplete. But it will be a fun ride¸ for sure. The plan is anyway to release the final product as an update of this title¸ so you should always get your pdf way cheaper than in the final release¸ if you buy the beta.
If you buy the POD (printed) version¸ you do it at your own risk: the text will change in the future and your copy will probably be of no value. On the other hand