Eldritch Instinct System Reference Document (v0.3)

Eldritch Instinct is an adventure game for one facilitator (the Warden) and at least one other player. Players act as curious investigators of the strange and unexplained. They will run from delusional cultists, hide from stalking shadows and face terrifying monstrosities. And they will change - through encounters with the unnatural forces of the Mythos and the limits of their own Humanity.

Eldritch Instinct was designed to run scenarios and campaigns using streamlined rules while following the axioms of the old school style as described by Ben Milton, Steven Lumpkin and David Perry in the Principia Apocrypha. It is inspired by and combines mechanics from games like Mothership by Tuesday Knight Games (Death Save, Wounds), Cthulhu Dark by Graham Walmsley (Sanity Save), Nemesis by Arc Dream Publishing (Fortitude Save, Notches), Cairn by Yochai Gal, Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium Inc. (Magic, Wounds, Bonds), Into the Odd by Chris McDowall, Blades in the Dark by John Harper and Rats in the Walls by Kobayashi (Research).

The names and equipment tables in the character creation section are based on the United States of America roughly in the middle of the 20th century. Other than that, this system is not tied to any particular place or period.

For the purposes of this game, the Mythos is a collection of stories, entities, characters and places conceived by Howard Phillips Lovecraft with contributions from his contemporary authors such as Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and Robert Bloch. Since then, many authors, directors, artists and scenario designers have contributed their, often contradictory, ideas to the Mythos. The Warden may choose freely which elements of the Mythos to include in their game.

The Eldritch Instinct SRD is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 and is is derived from Yochai Gal’s Cairn SRD (cairnrpg.com). Download the game in other formats (including Markdown, OpenDocument Text) and character sheets from here.

Written by Linus Weber. Images from oldbookillustrations.com. Featuring public domain art by: Oswaldo Tofani, Frederick Catherwood, Peter Newell, James Davis Cooper, Gordon Browne, Arthur Rackham, William John Hennessy, Jules Férat, Tony Johannot and Alphonse de Neuville.

Table of contents

• Overview
• Principles for Wardens
• Principles for Players
• Character Creation
• Rules
• Example of Play
• Mythos
• Investigation
• Action
• Downtime
• Rules Summary

Overview

Eldritch Instinct was written with the following design philosophies in mind:

External Interaction

Players interact with the fictional world directly through questions and descriptions, instead of mechanics. Questions are gameplay.

Roll-Play

Mechanics should create tense situations and force players to make tough choices. They are not a simulation.

Immersion

The rules, or the absence thereof, and the principles help players immerse themselves in the fictional world and create verisimilitude where it matters.

Fail Forward

Players roll saves to avoid complications in risky situations. Don’t think of success and failure as binary options.

Neutrality

The Warden’s role is to portray the rules, situations, NPCs, and narrative clearly, while acting as a neutral arbiter.

Impact

Players are faced with difficult decisions, and their choices substantially affect the fictional world.

Timeline

The amount of time until there is a change in the environment, or that required by an NPC to accomplish their goals unhindered is determined in advance.

Death

Characters are ordinary people faced with incomprehensible horrors. Death is always around the corner, but it is never random or without warning.

Character Development

Characters are changed by encounters with the Mythos and gain new skills, contacts and knowledge through in-world efforts.

Principles

The Warden and the players each have guidelines that help foster a specific play experience defined by critical thinking, exploration, and an emergent narrative.

Shared Objectives

Players trust one another to engage with the shared setting, character goals, and party challenges. Therefore, the party is typically working together towards a common goal, as a team.

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Principles for Wardens

Information

• Provide useful information about the game world as the characters explore it and present hooks that the players can pull to uncover more information.
• Tailor your answers to the character’s occupation: a doctor would pick up on different details than a police officer or a journalist.
• Players do not need to roll dice to learn about their circumstances.
• Respond honestly, describe consistently, and always let them know they can keep asking questions.
• Telegraph serious danger to players when it is present. The more dangerous, the more obvious.

Rolls

• Is what the players describe and how they leverage the situation sensible? Let it happen. Reward clever ideas and creative use of equipment or the environment.
• Ask for saves to introduce interesting complications in very intense situations; not to see whether an investigator is able to do something.
• Consider the margins of success or failure. Failure could mean that the situation gets much worse, or that success comes at a cost (time, resources, harm, situational disadvantage).

Motivations

• NPCs act independently of the PCs and are guided by their own motivations.
• They remember what the characters say and do, and how they affect the world.
• NPCs and even monsters don’t want to die. Infuse their own self-interest and will to live into every personality.

Narrative Focus

• Pay attention to the needs and wants of the players, then put realistic opportunities in their path.
• A dagger to your throat will kill you; there is no obligation to use the combat rules or other procedures in every situation.

Questions

• Make sure that there is room for interaction between characters and allow players to inject details into the fictional world.
• Ask a lot of questions like: what is going on in your head? How does that make you feel? How do you respond? What are you doing?
• Employ Jason Cordova’s Paint The Scene technique: “if there is an idea, theme, or visual motif that is particularly important for an encounter or scene, ask the players what their characters observe in the scene that reinforces that idea, theme, or motif.”

Pacing

• Know how to escalate a scenario if the PCs are taking too long to solve a situation, based on the monster’s or NPCs’ motivations.
• During tense situations, keep up the time pressure in real life as well. Demand quick answers during a fight or chase, or use sand timers to limit how long the players get to plan before the monster finds them.
• Jump cut between players when they are separated to keep players involved, and fade out scenes when nothing new is happening to keep the game moving.

Expectations

• Before playing, establish shared expectations with your players. Show them these principles and use something like Patrick O’Leary’s CATS method (Concept, Aim, Tone, Subject Matter).
• Prepare a strong introduction for your session in order to create the right mood, pull your players into the fictional world and serve as an example for the players.

The Trajectory of Fear

• Your goal is not to explicitly scare your players, but to create an immersive, eerie atmosphere and to build tension.
• Summarized from Ash Law’s original source, start with establishing Normality as a baseline. Next, introduce signs that something is not quite right, building up Unease. Follow up with Dread, which is the suspicion of looming danger. Terror is knowing that something terrible is about to happen, but has not been revealed yet, and is the most tense kind of fear. Lastly, Horror is the brutal revelation of the threat, and releases built-up tension.
• Slowly build up from one kind of fear to the next, and utilize small releases of tension before you reveal the final horror.

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Principles for Players

Exploration

• Asking questions and listening to detail is more useful than any stats, items, or skills you have.
• Take the Warden’s description without suspicion, but don’t shy away from seeking more information.
• There is no single correct way forward.

Talking

• Treat NPCs as if they were real people, and rely on your curiosity to safely gain information and solve problems.
• When you want something from an NPC, consider what you are asking for, what the NPC wants, whether they respect you and whether you have something that forces their hand.

Atmosphere

• Engage with the fictional world and include details provided by the Warden in your own descriptions and questions.
• Feel free to contribute details to the scene and describe your actions in a colorful way.

Caution

• Fighting is a choice and rarely a wise one; consider whether violence is the best way to achieve your goals.
• Try to stack the odds in your favor and retreat when things seem unfavorable.
• Prepare to die; combat is extremely quick and violent. Make your last moments count.

Planning

• Think of ways to avoid your obstacles through reconnaissance, subtlety, and fact-finding.
• Do some research and ask around about your objectives.
• Keep notes to help you remember details and clues from your investigation.

Motivation

• Characters are confronted with life-threatening violence, mind-breaking revelations and demanding tasks.
• Conceive the reason why your character would push on despite all of this.

Agency

• Attributes and related saves do not define your character. They are tools.
• Don’t ask only what your character would do, ask what you would do, too.
• Be creative with your intuition, items, and connections.

Teamwork

• Seek consensus from the other players before barreling forward.
• Stay on the same page about goals and limits, respecting each other and accomplishing more as a group than alone.

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Character Creation

Name, Background & Traits

First, choose or roll a name for your character, then their occupation and speciality, which informs their knowledge and potential skills. Note however, that PCs do not hold positions of power.

Next, roll for your character’s personality (five factors) and think of one detail about your PC’s face and clothes, each.

Ability Scores

Player Characters (PCs) have three attributes: Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), and Willpower (WIL). When creating a PC, the player should roll 3d20+20 for each of their character’s ability scores. They may then swap any two of the results.

Hit Protection

Divide your PC’s STR by 4 to determine your PC’s starting Hit Protection (HP), which reflects their ability to avoid damage in combat. HP does not indicate a character’s health or fortitude; nor do they lose it for very long (see Healing).

If an attack takes a PC’s HP below half of the maximum, the PC is wounded and must roll on the Wounds Table and fall prone. If you lose more than your maximum HP in one blow, you die immediately. If you have 0 HP, fall unconscious and make a Death Save.

Prone: You can barely move, so you cannot dodge. It takes one action to stand back up.
Unconscious: Character wakes up in 2d10 minutes.

Sanity

You Sanity (SAN) starts at 4. It is the mental construct that protects your mind from the awful reality of the Mythos.

Magic Points

A PC’s Magic Points (MP) also start at the PC’s WIL divided by 5 and are used to cast spells.

Mythos Knowledge

A PC’s Mythos Knowledge (MK) starts at 0. It represents how much a character has learned about the Mythos.

Inventory

Characters have a total of 7 inventory slots. Most items such as a magazine or a flashlight take up one slot, and small items can be bundled together.

Bulky items take up two slots and are typically two-handed or awkward to carry. Anyone carrying a full inventory (e.g. filling all 7 slots) must roll on the Wounds Table and fall prone when they are hit. A PC cannot carry more items than their inventory allows.

As carrying bulky weapons would raise suspicion, it is generally assumed that PCs keep their bulky weapons hidden in their car or at home, unless the players say otherwise.

If you have a gun, divide the circle labeled Magazine into a number of sections equal to the weapon’s Shots value. A loaded magazine does not count towards the inventory limit.

Starting Gear

All PCs begin with:

• Two items from the Equipment Table.
• One item from the Bonus Items Table.

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Name & Occupation (d20)

Female Names

1	Mary	6	Ruth	11	Clara	16	Lillian
2	Anna	7	Florence	12	Bertha	17	Edna
3	Margaret	8	Ethel	13	Minnie	18	Grace
4	Helen	9	Emma	14	Bessie	19	Annie
5	Elizabeth	10	Marie	15	Alice	20	Mabel

Male Names

1	John	6	Joseph	11	Harry	16	Albert
2	William	7	Frank	12	Thomas	17	Clarence
3	James	8	Robert	13	Walter	18	Samuel
4	George	9	Edward	14	Arthur	19	Roy
5	Charles	10	Henry	15	Fred	20	Louis

Surnames

1	Smith	6	Davis	11	Anderson	16	Martin
2	Hopkins	7	Conway	12	Fink	17	Thompson
3	Williams	8	Wilson	13	Jackson	18	Garcia
4	Meyer	9	Moore	14	Brooks	19	Donahoe
5	Brown	10	Kennedy	15	Harris	20	Robinson

Occupation

1	Journalist	6	Priest	11	Scholar	16	Private Investigator
2	Librarian	7	Sailor	12	Trades	17	Drifter
3	Custodian	8	Artist	13	Criminal	18	Pilot
4	Police Officer	9	Bureaucrat	14	Author	19	Antiquarian
5	Doctor	10	Ranger	15	Farmer	20	Mechanic

Bonus Item

1-10	11-15	16-19	20
Item from Equipment Table	Melee Weapon	Pistol	Rifle or Shotgun

Equipment Table

d100	Item	d100	Item	d100	Item	d100	Item
0-1	Beverage	26-27	Matches	52-53	Umbrella	78-79	Painkillers
2-3	Sandwich	28-29	Glue	54-55	Cigarettes	80-81	Treats
4-5	Bottle of Water	30-31	Padlock & Chain (1 m)	56-57	Magnifying Glass	82-83	Makeup
6-7	First Aid Pack	32-33	Rope (15 m)	58-59	Bible	84-85	Sewing Kit
8-9	Lantern	34-35	Chalk	60-61	Briefcase	86-87	Suit / Dress
10-11	Flashlight	36-37	Shovel	62-63	Newspaper	88-89	Book
12-13	Flare	38-39	Tools	64-65	Flute	90-91	Torch
14-15	Binoculars	40-41	Net	66-67	Harmonica	92-93	Playing Cards
16-17	Compass	42-43	Grappling Hook	68-69	Handkerchief	94-95	Watch
18-19	Bear Trap	44-45	Handcuffs	70-71	Suspenders	96-97	Pen and Paper
20-21	Wire Recorder	46-47	Whistle	72-73	Walking Stick	98-99	Marbles
22-23	Sack	48-49	Gloves	74-75	Camera
24-25	Candles	50-51	Oil (flask)	76-77	Lock Pick

Melee Weapon Table

Weapon	Range	Damage	Shots	Special
Unarmed	Adjacent	1d3	n/a
Pocket Knife	Adjacent	1d4	n/a	Can be hidden.
Kitchen Knife	Adjacent	1d4	n/a	+10 on Wounds Table.
Machete	Adjacent	1d6	n/a
Fire Axe	Adjacent	1d10	n/a	Bulky.
Baseball Bat	Adjacent	1d4+1	n/a	+10 on Wounds Table.
Crowbar	Adjacent	1d4	n/a
Spear	Adjacent	1d4	n/a	Can be thrown. Bulky.

Ranged Weapon Table

Weapon	Range	Damage	Shots	Special
Magazine	n/a	n/a	n/a	Occupies one inventory slot unless loaded.
.38 Revolver	Close	1d8	6	Max three shots.
.45 Revolver	Close	1d10	6	Max one shot.
.32 Automatic	Close	1d6	10	Max three shots.
Bolt Action Rifle	Long	2d6	6	1d6 at Adjacent range. Bulky.
Double-Barrel Shotgun	Close	2d6+2	2	1d6 at Long range, +10 on Wounds Table. Bulky.
Thompson	Close	1d4 + 1d6 + 1d12	4	1d4+1d6 at Long range. Bulky.
.30 Browning Machine Gun	Long	1d4 + 1d8 + 1d12	5	Must brace when firing. May split damage between multiple targets. Bulky.
Frag Grenade	Long	3d10	1	DEX save to dodge. Blast Close.
Molotov Cocktail	Long	1d6 + Burning	1	Blast Adjacent.
Dynamite Stick	Long	2d10	1	Explodes at least one round after being lit. Blast Adjacent.
Flamethrower	Close	2d8 + Burning	4	If liquid fuel tank is destroyed, 6 DMG to all close. +10 on Wounds Table. Bulky. Blast Close.

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Languages

Every character understands their own native language and one other language. Choose from current languages (like French, Italian, German etc.) and ancient languages (like Greek, Latin, Arabic, etc.).

Contacts

Every PC knows one person they trust and who will help them with favors such as research, translation or transport. Give them a name and an occupation.

Motivation

Characters are confronted with life-threatening violence, mind-breaking revelations and demanding tasks. Conceive the reason why your character would push on despite all of this.

Organization

When you are playing a series of short and unrelated scenarios, you might want to come up with an organization that all players belong to or that they found after their first adventure. The organization should have a way of recruiting new members and should be sworn to secrecy.

Bonds

Roll on the following table to determine the four most significant things that tie your PC to this world and mark one as their Key Connection. Use the results as a starting point and come up with something short and specific.

1	Family	6	Sports	11	Music	16	Personal Interest
2	Work	7	Friend	12	Faith	17	Activism
3	Pet	8	Outdoors	13	Community	18	Going out
4	Partner	9	Travel	14	Contemplate	19	Home
5	Literature	10	Art	15	Self-Care	20	Gardening

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Rules

Abilities

Each of the three abilities are used in different circumstances.

Strength (STR): Used for saves requiring physical power, like lifting gates, climbing, restraining a person, etc.
Dexterity (DEX): Used for saves requiring poise, speed, and reflexes like dodging, sneaking, balancing, etc.
Willpower (WIL): Used for saves to recall training, resist manipulation of your thoughts, deceive, etc.

As a PC’s STR and WIL change, adjust their HP and MP according to the rules in character creation.

Saves

A save is a roll to avoid bad outcomes from risky choices and circumstances. PCs roll 1d100 for an appropriate ability score. If they roll equal to or under that ability score, they pass. Otherwise, they fail. 91-99 is always a fail.

When a player rolls doubles (e.g. 00, 44) on a save, they have rolled a Critical success or fail, respectively.

For an opposed save, both the PC and their opponent make a save. Whoever rolls the highest number under or equal to their ability score wins the save. If both sides fail, the lowest result wins. Add any ability score above 100 to your result.

Difficulty

When a PC is in a favorable or in a particularly difficult situation and must make a save, don’t use a mechanical solution to make success more or less likely. Instead, limit or increase the risks and possible effects of the PC’s action purely in the fictional world.

Armor

Before calculating damage to HP, subtract the target’s Armor value from the result of damage rolls. PCs can buy Protective Clothing which provides 1 point of armor, but occupies one inventory slot and is destroyed when the PC is wounded.

Healing

If you are not wounded, resting for a few moments and having a drink of water restores lost HP.

However, if you are wounded, make a STR save after every week. On a success, recover 1d4 HP. You heal your wounds on a critical success, or when you recover to half of your maximum HP.

Die of Fate

Occasionally you will want an element of randomness (e.g. the weather, looking for specific items, etc.). In these situations, roll 1d6. A roll of 4 or more generally favors the players. A roll of 3 or under tends to mean bad luck for the PCs or their allies.

Tension Pool

This procedure is from The Angry DM’s blog.

Place a container (the Tension Pool) on the table and keep six d6 (Tension Dice) nearby.

When an investigator does something that takes time, like observing patrolling patterns, traveling to another location or picking a lock, they add a Tension Die to the Tension Pool. Likewise, they add a Tension Die if they add a detail to the fictional world that helps them accomplish their current task.

If a player does something reckless, like breaking open a door, sneaking close to opponents or as a consequence of a botched save, they roll all dice in the Tension Pool and if at least one die shows a 1, the Warden rolls 2d6 to determine a consequence. The lower the result, the worse the consequence. A consequence can be completely unrelated to the current task and does not necessarily mean that the PC fails at their task.

If there are no dice in the Tension Pool, roll 1d6 without adding it to the Tension Pool. Some tasks even require the player to both add a Tension Dice and then roll all dice in the Tension Pool.

As soon as you add the sixth Tension Die, roll all dice in the Tension Pool and determine a consequence if necessary. Then remove all dice from the Tension Pool.

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Example of Play

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Mythos

Sanity Save

When you witnesses something wholly unnatural and awful, roll 1d4. If the result is lower than your Sanity, you are unsettled and reduce your Sanity by 1. When your Sanity hits 1, make a Fortitude save and set your Sanity back to 2.

After 8 hours of uninterrupted rest, reset your Sanity to 4.

Fortitude Save

When you experience something mind-shatteringly dreadful or when your Sanity hits 1, make a WIL save. On a success, fill in a Hardened notch. Otherwise, fill in a Broken notch, lose 1d10 WIL and freak out. If you are in mortal danger, that means that you must either fight until the stimulus is destroyed, flee until you are far away or freeze (hide from the it).

Notches

Hardened: for every three Hardened notches you lose one of your bonds. You cannot have more Mythos knowledge than 10 times your number of Hardened notches.
Broken: for every three Broken notches you develop one undesirable condition. You might feel compelled to do something or behave in a certain way, fear something, develop an unhealthy coping mechanism or suffer from delusions. When you lose the third notch, the condition improves, but kicks back in when you get back to the third notch. You and Warden may also corrupt the PC’s personality and bonds, excluding the PC’s key connection.

Getting Better

There are a number of possibilities to remove Broken notches. Every time you successfully get rid of one Broken notch, increase your WIL by 1d10.

Self-help: When a PC spends time with one of their bonds, make a WIL save. On a success, remove a Broken notch. Otherwise, they lose their bond. If they spend time with their key connection and roll a Critical Fail, they lose their bond and gain a Broken notch.
Sanatorium: A PC may commit themselves to a sanatorium for one month. At the end of the month, make a WIL save. If you roll a Critical Fail, make a Fortitude save. Otherwise, remove a Broken notch.
Cover traces: Once per session, if a PC suppresses knowledge of the Mythos (e.g. burning tomes or dealing with witnesses), remove a Broken notch. Severe trauma might require more drastic measures.
Conversation: Once per day and within the same day of a traumatic event, one PC may address the group and appeal to a personality factor of their choice. All other PCs, who have same value in that factor as the speaker, may remove a Broken notch they got this day. Give the talk first, then reveal the factor and value.

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Mythos Knowledge

Players may try to roll under their PC’s Mythos Knowledge to see if their character knows anything about a creature, artifact, organization or something else Mythos-related. A PC cannot have more Mythos knowledge than 10 times their number of Hardened notches.

Tomes

PCs can acquire knowledge of the Mythos through the study of ancient tomes, most of which were written in foreign languages and often provide only a partial or inaccurate understanding of the Mythos. An initial reading takes 2d6 hours and allows the reader to get an overview of the knowledge that is contained in the tome. The reader must make a Fortitude save and may then increase their Mythos knowledge by half of the tome’s Mythos Rating.

Further study of the tome takes 2d6 days, and after another Fortitude save, the PC increases their Mythos knowledge by the tome’s full Mythos rating. A PC may study each tome at most 4 times.

Spells

Some tomes might contain instructions for casting spells, which take 2d6 days to learn.

For the First Evocation, the PC must make a Mythos knowledge save. On a fail, they must either start over and learn the spell from scratch, or they may try again. However, if they fail the second save without starting over, all spell costs are multiplied by 1d6 and the Warden rolls on the miscast table.

Casting a spell can cost MP, WIL or require a Sanity or Fortitude save. If you cast a spell, but do not have sufficient MP, subtract the remainder from your HP instead. You regenerate 1 MP per hour.

Some spells require you to win an opposed WIL save against your target. If you successfully cast a spell that was opposed by someone’s WIL, increase your WIL by 1d6.

Miscast Table

d8	Lesser spells	Greater spells
1	Small or weak life forms wither and die.	Mind shattering visions. Gain 6 Broken notches.
2	Unbearable stench.	Your body and face contort permanently.
3	Moon and stars vanish. Or total solar eclipse.	Devastating thunderstorm and tides.
4	Gusts of wind, rumbling, strange lights in the sky.	Your eyes change as you are possessed.
5	Loud and horrible screams.	Large and deep sinkholes form.
6	Your skin rots and forms pustules.	Large area bursts into flames.
7	A Mythos creature is summoned.	A horde of Mythos creatures is summoned.
8	Foul mist spreads around you.	Something or someone dear to the caster is annihilated.

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Investigation

Social

When the PCs encounter an NPC whose reaction to the party is not obvious, the Warden may roll 2d6 and consult the following table:

2	3-5	6-8	9-11	12
Hostile	Wary	Curious	Kind	Helpful

When the PCs try to get a favor or information from an NPC, consider the following factors:

Stakes: do the PCs ask for a lot or just a small favor?
Motivation: does the PC’s proposition align with what the NPC wants?
Respect: does the NPC personally respect the PCs based on their behavior and reputation?
Leverage: do the PCs present anything that forces the NPC’s hand?

Most social encounters can be resolved by critical thinking. Sometimes, however, the NPC’s reaction is unclear. In this case, the Warden makes another reaction roll and applies a modifier between -4 and +4 to the result, based on the four factors. The NPC agrees if the result is ‘kind’ or ‘helpful’ (9+). If the result is ‘curious’ (6-8), the NPC can still be convinced considering the four factors, but if the result is ‘wary’ (3-5), it takes a lot more for the NPC to agree.

Research

A PC can do research by talking to strangers in bars, studying books in a library or scouring through records in an archive. First, they need to state a question they want answered, or a topic they want to explore. Secondly, they require access to the information and must be able to understand the language. When these conditions are met, the PC only needs time in order to get answers, which is represented by adding a Tension Die to the Tension Pool. The Warden may award only partial information after a certain amount of time and allow the players to spend more time with their research. In any case, the Warden should let the players know whether they have learned everything or if there is something they are missing.

Exploration

Consider three kinds of information (by Anne on diyanddragons.blogspot.com):

Landmark information is everything that is immediately visible when you enter a room. The Warden gives this kind of information to the players for free.
Hidden information can only be learned if players specifically ask for it and directly interact with the fiction. It often comes at a cost: first, you probably have to spend some time to examine the object. Looking in the right place yields immediate results, but a general search of a room takes 1 turn (10 minutes). Second, you expose your PC to risk as you have to be close enough to touch the object you want to investigate.
Secret information always comes at a cost and there is a chance for failure. In general, information should almost never be secret. If players interact with the fictional world, they will get answers.

Finding clues should not present a challenge to players, and there are no mechanics for exploration in Eldritch Instinct. Rather, it is a conversation between the players and the Warden: when describing a location, the Warden begins by setting the mood and presenting landmark information, which often functions as threads, that the players can pull for more information. The players may then ask questions and describe their PC’s actions in order to uncover hidden information. The Warden answers truthfully, but should make sure that characters receive information that is appropriate to their occupation. The Warden should encourage the players to state what they want to know and what their characters do to figure it out.

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Action

Combat, chases and stealth are extremely tense situations for both the PCs and the players. PCs are assumed to be generally able to defend themselves, run or stay hidden when required. Instead, the following rules focus on the critical moments that decide over life and death. Feel free to hack the rules and experiment with different procedures!

Combat

Rounds

The game typically plays without strict time accounting. In a fight or circumstance where timing is helpful, use rounds to keep track of when something occurs. A round is roughly ten seconds of in-game time.

Actions

In one round, a character may move somewhere close (15 m) and take up to one action. This may be checking someone’s vitals, attacking, reloading a gun, making a second move, dragging someone to the ground or some other reasonable action.

Each round, the PCs declare what they are doing before dice are rolled. If a character attempts something risky, the Warden calls for a save for appropriate players or NPCs.

Round Order

The Warden will telegraph the most likely actions taken by NPCs or monsters. Players act before their opponents. If there is a chance that the PCs are surprised at the start of combat, they have to make a DEX save in order to act in the first round.

Attacking in Melee

First, the target decides whether to fight back or to dodge, then the attacker makes a STR save.

If the target chose to fight back, they make a STR save with a -20 modifier to their STR. If both succeed, the character with the highest result hits the opponent. You only hit the opponent on a successful STR save.

If the target chose to dodge, they make a DEX save with a +20 modifier to their DEX. If both succeed, the attacker hits the target only if their result is higher. On a hit, roll the weapon’s damage, subtract the opponent’s armor and reduce the opponent’s HP by the remaining total. A critical hit from the attacker deals full damage plus another roll for weapon damage.

A monster’s hit chance and damage are usually listed in their description.

Attacking with a Firearm

Mark off the appropriate number of shots from the magazine and hit your target on a successful WIL save.

The target may choose to dive for cover, forfeiting their next round and rolling a DEX save. On a success, the attacker rolls twice and takes the worse result.

Multiple Shots from a Pistol

If shooting two or three times with a pistol, roll damage for each shot and keep the single highest result.

Range

There are four range bands: Adjacent: less than 1 m. Close: less than 15 m. Long: less than 100 m. Extreme: more than 100 m.

Blast

Attacks with the blast quality affect all targets in the noted area, rolling separately for each affected character. Blast refers to anything from explosions to huge cleaving onslaughts to the impact of a meteorite.

Firing into Melee

When an attacker shoots into a melee fight, they hit their ally if at least one of the damage dice shows a 1.

Retreat

Running away from a dire situation always requires a successful DEX save, as well as a safe destination to run to.

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Damage

If an attack takes a PC’s HP below half of the maximum, the PC is wounded and must roll on the Wounds Table and fall prone. If you lose substantially more than your maximum HP in one blow, you die immediately. If you have 0 HP, fall unconscious and make a Death Save. You cannot have less than 0 HP.

Prone: You can barely move, so you cannot dodge. It takes one action to stand back up.
Unconscious: Character wakes up in 2d10 minutes.

Death Save

When you have 0 HP, fall unconscious for 2d10 minutes and roll 1d10 without looking at the result. Reveal the die when someone checks your vitals and find the corresponding entry in the Death Table.

Death Table

d10	Result
0	You are heavily wounded. Gain 1 HP, roll 1d10 on the Wounds Table and reduce one ability score by 1d10.
1-4	You are Dying. Roll 1d10 on the Wounds Table. Unless you receive first aid, you will die in 1d4 rounds.
5-9	You have died. Create a new PC or take over a contact or NPC.

Dying: If you do not receive professional medical treatment within 1 hour, you must make a STR save. If you fail, make another Death Save. When you are dying, any amount of damage will kill you instantly.

Professional medical treatment requires at least one 1 hour, a doctor and proper clinical instruments. Heals 1 HP and removes the Dying condition.

Wounds Table

d100	Effect	d10	Area
00	Flesh Wound.	0	Legs
10	Knocked back hard.	1	Arms
20	Unconscious for 2d10 minutes.	2	Hands
30	Your actions are impaired until you receive first aid.	3	Shoulders
40	Bleeding or Burning.	4	Waist
50	Drop the items you are holding. They land somewhere Close.	5	Back
60	Your actions are impaired until your wound is cured.	6	Stomach
70	Permanently lose 1d10 of one ability score.	7	Chest
80	Lethal Injury. Receive first aid within 1d6 rounds or make a Death Save.	8	Neck
90	Death Save.	9	Head

Bleeding: You lose 1 HP per round until first aid is applied.
Burning: You lose 1 HP per round until the fire is put out.

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Chases

During a chase, the PCs have to overcome three critical obstacles which require an opposed save each. Rolling a critical fail yields -1 point, a fail yields 0 points, a success yields 1 point and a critical success yields 2 points. A PC needs 1 point at the end of the chase in order to escape or catch their opponent.

Helping others

If a PC has 2 or more points at the start of the third obstacle, they may help a slow PC. The result of their third save is added to the points of the slow PC. If the slow PC does not have at least 1 point at the end, both PCs are caught.

Chase Obstacles

The obstacles that must be overcome should be what is in the path each fugitive chooses in the fictional world. Alternatively, the Warden may put one or two obstacles in the players’ way. Whether fugitives and pursuers roll using the same ability scores depends on the situation. This allows the players to split up and choose their own path, while giving the Warden opportunities to throw a spanner in the works. You can use the following table for inspiration.

d20	STR	d20	DEX	d20	WIL
1	Something is in the way (crates, furniture).	8	Get past something in time.	15	Find a place to hide.
2	You are being slowed down (thicket, people).	9	Get down a slope.	16	A deep puddle.
3	Climb a wall.	10	Run across open field.	17	Cross a busy road.
4	Jump across a gap.	11	A fallen tree.	18	Fog or darkness.
5	Climb stairs or ladder.	12	Sharp turn.	19	Find a shortcut.
6	Get over or through a fence.	13	Uneven ground (roots, stones).	20	Slippery ground (mud, ice, oil).
7	Cross a stream.	14	Someone drops something on the ground.

A note on rules

The rules in this document are suggestions to help you run a satisfying mystery. You are encouraged to modify these rules and try out different procedures. Time is not a limiting factor in the current situation? Don’t use the research rules. Come up with your own chase rules, or throw them out and go completely free-form. If you want more combat in your game, let enemies deal only half the amount of damage. Allow your players to choose their favorite entries from the tables at character creation or come up with their own details. Make this game your own.

Stealth & Deception

If the situation is simple, for example when the investigators try to hide from a group of patrolling cultists, it is sufficient for the players to come up with a reasonable approach and make a save, each. On a critical fail, that player is detected or there is a major compromise.

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Downtime

In the background, players can do a number of things that advance their PCs, but are only summarized at the table. They could read tomes, spend time with their bonds, improve an aspect of their character, craft something, research a topic, travel somewhere, make new acquaintances, or earn money.

These are just some suggestions, and the Warden should determine the effects and the amount of time that must be spent. A good rule of thumb for the length of a downtime action is two weeks, but the Warden should adjust the time to their needs.

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Creating Monsters and NPCs

Use the following template to model any more sophisticated Monster or NPC:

Name X HP, X Armor, X STR, X DEX, X WIL

• Engaging descriptor of appearance or demeanor •
• Attacks (hit chance, damage, effects)
• Quirk, tactic, or peculiarity making this NPC unique
• Special effect or consequence when wounding a PC
• Motivation: what do they want?

Creating Tomes

Use the following template to model a tome:

Name Language, Mythos Rating

• Appearance and condition
• Summary of its content
• Suggestion for spells

Creating Spells

Use the following template to model a spell:

Name X MP, X WIL, (SAN), (Fortitude), (opposed), X Casting Time

• Engaging descriptor of effects

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Rules Summary

Saves

Roll equal to or under ability score to avoid consequences. 91-99 is always a fail. Add 20 to your ability score when doing something related to your occupation. Doubles are Criticals (e.g. 00, 44).

Actions

On their turn, a character may move up to 15 m and take up to one action. Actions may include attacking, making a second move, or other reasonable activities.

Retreating from a dangerous situation always requires a successful DEX save, as well as a safe destination to run to.

Inventory

PCs have 7 inventory slots: Most items take up a one slot, but smaller items can be bundled. Bulky items take up two slots and are awkward or difficult to carry.

Anyone carrying a full inventory (e.g. filling all 7 slots) must roll on the Wounds Table and fall prone when they are hit. PCs cannot carry more than their inventory allows.

Healing

A moment’s rest and a swig of water will restore lost HP for PCs who are not wounded. However, if you are wounded, make a STR save after every week. On a success, recover 1d4 HP. You heal your wounds on a critical success, or when you recover to half of your maximum HP.

Round Order

The Warden will telegraph the most likely actions taken by NPCs or monsters. Players act before their opponents. If there is a chance that the PCs are surprised at the start of combat, they have to make a DEX save in order to act in the first round.

Damage

If an attack takes a PC’s HP below half of the maximum, the PC is wounded and must roll on the Wounds Table and fall prone. If you have 0 HP, fall unconscious for 2d10 minutes and make a Death Save: roll 1d10 without looking at the result. Reveal the die when someone checks your vitals and find the corresponding entry in the Death Table.

Sanity Save

Roll 1d4. If the result is lower than your Sanity, you are unsettled and reduce your Sanity by 1. When your Sanity hits 1, make a Fortitude save and set your Sanity back to 2. After 8 hours of uninterrupted rest, reset your Sanity to 4.

Fortitude Save

Make a WIL save: on a success, fill in a Hardened notch. Otherwise, fill in a Broken notch, lose 1d10 WIL and freak out: fight until the stimulus is destroyed, flee until you are far away or freeze (hide from the it).

Getting Better

There are a number of possibilities to remove Broken notches: Self-help, commitment to a sanatorium, covering traces and conversation with other PCs. Each time you get rid of one Broken notch, increase your WIL by 1d10.

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