Old Skulling

As I am writing the text for the future Revised, Expended and Updated edition of Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells (to be released in partnership with Gallant Knight Games), I thought about a cool new way to use Positive and Negative Dice for those who want more nuanced results and consequences for their tests. The rule can also add a tactical element that can be quite fun. Below is the first draft of the rules that can also work pretty well for D&D 5th Edition's Advantage and Disadvantage rules. Positive and Negative Die as d6s Positive and Negative Die are a great way to simplify situational modifiers, eliminating the need for various tables of modifiers trying to codify every possible event that might occur. However, they may simplify things a little too much, since they nullify one another, usually don’t stack and don’t offer much information on the consequence of their use. And that might be fine for the majority of players. However, this book would like to pro...

I came up with a different rule for this game, inspired by how DCC RPG makes use of those Zero Level Items that no one knows how to use. Weird Items Each character begins the game with a weird item that seems ordinary but hides some extraordinary propriety. What this strange power might be is up to the player and the Referee. Referees should allow and reward creative and fun ideas about these objects, but their usability should still be limited. In order to work, a player must make a Luck Roll to make use of the strange propriety of these Weird Items. Below is a random table of items that can be used to determine what these items are. What they actually do we will only find out during the game. A rusty dagger might vibrate when ghosts are nearby. A broken watch might freeze time for 1d6 rounds. A broken mirror might allow the user to see in the Shadow World. d66 Weird Item 1 Melted amulet 2 Ancient arrowhead 3 Beaten backpack 4 Discolored bag 5 ...