So, lots of talk about Dark Souls lately. This is my Dismal Combat Game, unplaytested. Released under CC BY license: Do what you want with it so long as you say “Based on Oath Souls by Idle Cartulary at playfulvoid.game.blog.” I hope you hack it, fix it, enjoy it.
You are honorable souls are struggling to fulfil your oaths in a world that they barely remember.
The GM is a decaying world and the furious and despairing creatures in it.
Build the world recklessly together. It is dark and terrible and full of horror. Light inevitably fades.
When in combat, battle foes to the death. Between battles, wander the world seeking desperately to fulfil your oaths.
Your Soul
Your name is grim or terse.
Your honour calls you to fufil two conflicting oaths. Record them.
You have but six memories. Write a sentence or a three line poem for each of them.
Stance and Health
Your Stance (SP) is 5 and your Health (HP) is 5. When your HP is reduced to 0, you die. When your SP is reduced to 0, you’re susceptible to a Death Blow. SP can be increased to greater than 5.
Initiative
Each opponent puts three tokens of a unique colour into a bag: A potent attack, a quick attack, and a move. As tokens are pulled at random, it is that opponent’s turn.
When your token is pulled, choose to set it aside or play it immediately.
When you set aside a token, you can play it before any other pulls a token, or it is played when you are attacked.
When you are attacked, you must play a token set aside, and you substitute a quick attack for a parry, a potent attack for a block, or a dodge for a move.
The turn finishes when all either all have acted or all remaining tokens have been set aside. Draw again.
Arena
The arena is 10 x 10 squares. Any terrain within the arena should be dangerous or useful, and should occur only once.
Intimate weapons can attack only if foes are in the same space. Melee weapons can attack only if foes are in an adjacent space. Long weapons can attack only if foes are two spaces away. Ranged weapons can attack only if foes are more than two spaces away.
If you take the move action, you can advance or retreat one space. You can substitute any attack action for a move action.
Weapons
A weapon can make a quick or potent attack. Potent attacks cause 2 damage and quick attacks cause 1 damage.
Example Weapons:
Dagger. Intimate. Quick. Potent against unaware opponents.
Glaive. Long. Slow. Perilous Sweep.
Bear Hug. Melee. Slow. Perilous Grab.
Soul Arrow. Ranged. Quick. Deplete.
Weapons have features:
- Range is the band they operate in (intimate, melee, long or ranged)
- Slow weapons limit the weirder to only one attack token per initiative round.
- Quick Weapons get a free attack if a foe dodges within range.
- Potency or ineffectiveness grants +1 or -1 damage in those cases.
- Depleting weapons roll 1d6 when used use it. On a 1, you cannot use it again until you rest.
- Heavy weapons take two inventory slots, but have a bonus special effect.
- Unique actions are described with brevity. Be consistent in your world.
- Spells are found imbued into items, so are effectively a weapon.
There can be many other weapons. Imagine them yourself.
Perilous Attacks
Certain weapons have perilous attacks. They cause 3 damage to HP unless countered. If they are countered, you are vulnerable to attack.
There are three perilous attacks:
- Grab: Until the attacker takes their next action, the target cannot change band.
- Thrust: An opponent one band further away than your range is attacked.
- Sweep: All opponents within a band are attacked.
Avoiding Attacks
You can always block your enemies attacks, but risk consequence. Roll 1d6. On 1-2, the weapon or shield you block with, breaks and cannot be used until repaired. On 3-5, you take damage to SP. On 6, you take no damage.
If you parry an enemies attack, heal SP by the parried damage.
If you dodge, but a foe with a quick weapon can take a free attack if you are within range.
If you counter a perilous attack, cause 2 damage to SP. Your token is wasted if your opponent does not use a perilous attack.
If you wear armour, you do not take damage to HP the first time you are hit, but after that your armour is disabled until you rest.
Death Blow
When your SP is reduced to 0, any attack will kill you. This is called a Death Blow.
Death
Each time you die, roll 1d6. If you roll under your remaining memories, you rise again, and choose a memory that you forget. If you roll over your remaining memories, your soul is lost. When you die, have two health points and choose how teo distribute them between your HP and SP.
When you die, your shade travels invisibly with your companions. When all your allies have died you rise with them at the last place you rested together. When your allies rest, you rise again as the dying sun rises.
Rest
When you rest, things that need repair are repaired, and HP and SP reset back to their base values.
Inventory
You have five slots for armament. Armour, shield, and all weapons including spells take up one slot. Heavy weapons take up two slots.
You have five slots for other items. Empty slots can contain anything interesting and relevant to your character’s memories. Decide when it becomes relevant.
Non-combat Actions
When you want to do something not everyone can do, refer to your memories. If a memory would suggest you could do it, you succeed if it is straight forward.
If a memory would suggest you could do it, but it places you or others at risk, roll 1d6. If you roll equal to or above the number of your memories remaining, you succeed.
Running the Game
Spit cryptic sentences between bloody lips. Answer with laughter or despair. Never straight answers or monologues.
Reward victory with unique items, that have unique stories. When you write a story for an item, always have one thing in common with another story. Weave a grand narrative with the rewards you hand out, because the world itself is decaying and hopeless.
Reward failure with clues on how to succeed next time. Show through violence and description, not through speech or explication.
Balance is for fools. Surprise, trick, murder.
You play the world, but it is not yours. When souls are faced with a challenge, and they choose to seek a weapon that kills memories, riddle them what decrepit tower or dark pit it is hidden in and let them find it if they defeat it’s guardian.
Foes
Make foes weird. Invent descriptions that must be overcome through collaborative world building.
Phases each have their own attacks. When a foe dies, enter their next phase.
Foes have three initiative tokens, or as many initiative tokens as the Souls do. They are all interchangeably attack or move.
Name. Cryptic description. Move X. SP X. HP X. Armour description. Phase X: Attack X, Attack X+1. Loot.
Skeleton Warrior. Bodies bereft of souls, remembering enough to spur violence, flesh dripping like rags from their bones. Move 1. SP 3. HP 7. Scimitar (Melee, 2 Damage). Perilous Thrust. Whirling Attack (Advance 2, Area of Effect 1, 1 Damage). Will rise again if slain with a non-divine weapon.
Cannon Bearer. Scarred and trembling, cassettes of black powder on their belts. Move 1. SP 2. HP 8. Cannon (Melee, Slow, 1 Damage). Canon (Ranged, Slow, Heavy, Push 2, 2 Damage). When killed explodes Area of Effect 1).
Undying Ape with Giant Swords. White and scarred, mouth burnt, swords like trees, blazing eyes. Phase 1: Move 2 (Leap). SP 10. HP20. Perilous Sweep. Perilous Grab. Swords (Long, Quick, 1 Damage). Charge (Advance 5, 3 Damage). Phase 2: Headless, moves like a centipede. Move 5. SP 5, HP 15. Perilous grab. Swipe (Push 3, 2 Damage). Roar (Area of Effect 2, Push Away 1, 1 Damage).
Aggregated Memory Slug: Bloated, luminous, hungry. Move 1. Size 3. SP 0, HP 30. Crush (Move sideways 3, 2 Damage to all in path). Vomit (Ranged, Quick, Potent against Flesh, 1 Damage). Eat (Slow, all wielded weapons and armour broken. Spat out with 1 damage).
There are many other foes. Imagine them.
Playful Void 