Deep Under Stone 1: Secrets Under Stone
Gothic Fantasy Roleplaying. Imagine a village made insignificant by the landscape that surrounds it¸ its air thick with secrets. There have been disappearances¸ perhaps¸ or murders ‐ gruesome ones¸ loaded with occult significance. Shadowy cabals concoct plots by candlelight¸ pursued by interlopers with demons of their own. The stash of books in the church's broom cupboard locates a hidden temple in the woods; gives advice on traversing the labyrinth beneath. Dying gods are glimpsed in the abandoned tin mines by practitioners of forbidden sacraments ‐ and as the darkest stars align¸ the cult's agenda ticks like a bomb. Secrets Under Stone is a Gothic fantasy role-playing game drawing on a vener-able British tradition. Although future volumes of Deep Under Stone will adapt the systems here for a wide range of settings and modes of play¸ the previous paragraph seeks to evoke what this arrangement will suit best: a mixture of investigation and adventure in a world saturated by hidden knowledge¸ where wise travellers go both well-armed and well-informed. This is not a game of heroes or plunderers¸ but scrappy dilettantes with idiosyncratically mixed capabilities¸ who frequently bite off more than they can chew. Key features. An easy to learn but highly versatile skills-based 2d6 system¸ adapted from Advanced Fighting Fantasy and Troika! but with some key changes (there are three core Ability Scores rather than just Skill¸ combat is a fast a deadly sequence of rolls against your relevant Skill¸ and encumbrance directly determines your initiative in combat). Character creation that is lightning-fast and fully random without being unfair: every character is good at something¸ but you'll have to discover what it is. The full character creation rules can be read in the PDF preview¸ so have a go! A focus on readability and useability at the table: everything you need to know about a subject fits on a printable two-page spread¸ meaning you can print them off and give them to your players. 48 pages of content including everything you need to get started: character creation¸ item descriptions¸ example monsters¸ Rituals¸ and Patrons¸ and more. Knowledge is power: rules for immersing yourself in occult disciplines including Astrology¸ Augury¸ and Demonology. Magic that feels part of the world: form contracts with powerful patrons for a share of their magic¸ or learn dangerous Rituals through study. An implied setting that draws on centuries of Gothic writings. Beautiful black-and-white art adapted from the work of Renaissance masters. A modular and flexible system¸ with notes on adapting it to a wide variety of settings a play styles. The first instalment of Deep Under Stone ¸ a zine that will take the core framework presented here in vastly different directions.