TEXT: Robert J. Schwalb
  
  Writing and Design: Robert J. Schwalb
  Editing: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes and Miranda Horner     
  Proofreading: Carlos Danger, Kim Mohan, and Nat Webb
  Art Direction and Graphic Design: Hal Mangold     Cover Design: Patrick Parker & Hal Mangold
  Logo Design: Elizabeth Fisher Peterson    Cover Illustrator: Svetoslav Petrov     Cartography: Andy Law
  Interior Illustrations: Ivan Dixon, Olga Drebas, Eric Lofgren, Britt Martin,  
  Jack Kaiser, Biagio D'Allessandro, Mirco Paganessi, and Andrey Vasilchenko 
  Character Sheet Design: Dan Heinrich and Andrew Follet
  Alpha Team: Adam Doochin, Dan Heinrich, Matt Lively, Chris Nichols, Joseph Quarles,  
  Marc Quinn, Eric Samuels, Jason Streger, Bobby Turman, Nat Webb, Troy Yost
  Beta Team: Robert Adducci, Adam Barton, Nicholas Bobbie, Alan Brown, Jethro Barger, Pedro Barrenechea, Adam Barton,  
  Bill Benham, Jacob Battius Bates, Brian Borth, Eric Brinkley, Ben Buchanan, Tyler Carey, Tom Castelli, Don Cee, Dave Chalker,  
  David Christ, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Monte Cook, Bruce R Cordell, Mark Craddock, Kristi Eubanks, Amanda Fuqua, Will Fuqua,  
  Scott Fitzgerald Gray, E Foley, Andrew Follett, Jim Haltom, Kevin Hamilton, C Thomas Hand, Keenan Harmon, Benjamin Harrett,  
  Ian Harris, Christopher Heim, Jared von Hindman, Ben Hofer, Miranda Horner, Cecil Howe, Fred Hurley, Tracy Hurley, Greg Jimison,  
  Don Johnson, Steve Kenson, Martin Knoff, Shad Kunkle, Glen Kyle, Jon Leitheusser, Angela LeNeave, Jerry LeNeave, Rucht Lilavivat,  
  Nicole Lindroos, Thom Little, James Lowder, T.S. Luikart, Elizabeth MacDougald, Hal Mangold, Anthony Mardis, Greg Marks,  
  Grant Martin, Forrest Melton, Molly “Stonewall” Mercier, Shawn Merwin, Kim Mohan, Scott Neese, Erik Nowak, Chris Pramas,  
  Mindy Quinn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Thomas Reid, Jeffrey Reimer, Chad Roberts, Heather Rose, Terrill Rowland, Daniel J. Ryan, 
  Thomas Reid, Evan Sass, Steven Saunders, Marc Schmalz, Steve Schultz, Landon Schurtz, Chris Sims, Skyler Smith, Stacee Smith,  
  Zach Smith, Chris Smythe, Jay Spight, Owen K. C. Stephens, Chris Stevens, John Stevens, William Straley, Don Thorpe,  
  Steven Townshend, Gabe Turman, Logan Turman, Kyle Turner, Ray Vallese, Dennis Vaughan, Marcus Walrath, Chris Ward,  
  Nat Webb, Kevin “Doc” Wilson, Steve Winter, Travis Woodall, Leslie Russell Yost
  Special Thanks: Adams Memorial Library, Backerkit, Baldman Games, Comic Book World, The Deep Comics and Games, Dicehead 
  Games, Excelsior!, Game Keep, Geek Media Expo, Frontline Games, The Game Cave, The Gamer’s Tavern Podcast, Gary Con, G*M*S 
  Magazine, Green Lake Games, Haste Podcast, Kickstarter, Linebaugh Public Library, Liquid Smoke, The Marble Hornets, Misdirected 
  Mark Podcast, MTAC, Orena Humphreys Public Library, Roll the Dice, Saxon Treasures, Stellar City Geeks, The RPGAcademy, Winter 
  Fantasy, and The Wyvern’s Tale. Also, big thanks to the people of Black Industries and Games Workshop, Green Ronin Publishing, 
  Monte Cook Games, Paizo Publishing, Paradigm Concepts, Wizards of the Coast, the members of BEDLAM!, all the fantastic backers 
  who made this project happen, the makers of Amstel Light, and the makers of Claritin-D.
  Victims of the Demon Lord is © 2015 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. Al rights reserved.
  Victims of the Demon Lord, Shadow of the Demon Lord, Schwalb Entertainment,  
  and their associated logos are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  Schwalb EntErtainmEnt, llc
  PO Box #12548
  Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com     www.schwalbentertainment.com.com
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Credits .......................................................................1
  Introduction .......................................................3
  Chapter 1: Character Creation ...............4
  Ancestries ................................................................................... 4
  Ancestry Benefits .......................................................................................5
  Human ..............................................................................................6
  Changeling .......................................................................................8
  Clockwork ......................................................................................10
  Dwarf ............................................................................................... 12
  Goblin ..............................................................................................14
  Orc .................................................................................................... 16
  Professions ................................................................................18
  Starting Professions ............................................................................... 18
  Using Professions ................................................................................... 18
  Altering Professions ...............................................................................20
  Starting Equipment ................................................................ 20
  Interesting Things ..................................................................................21
  Roleplaying ...............................................................................22
  Roleplaying Questions ...............................................................22
  Your First Adventure ...................................................................23
  Learn the Rules .......................................................................................23
  Decisions and Outcomes ......................................................................24
  Building a Group ..........................................................................24
  Level Advancement .....................................................................24
  Chapter 2: Playing the Game ...................25
  Making Decisions ....................................................................25
  Time ............................................................................................25
  Rolling Dice ..............................................................................26
  Rolling a d20 ..................................................................................26
  Attack Rolls ....................................................................................26
  Challenge Rolls .............................................................................26
  Bonuses and Penalties ................................................................27
  Boons and Banes ..........................................................................27
  Attributes ...................................................................................27
  Using Attributes ............................................................................28
  Strength...........................................................................................28
  Agility ..............................................................................................28
  Intellect ...........................................................................................29
  Will ...................................................................................................29
  Characteristics ..........................................................................29
  Health ..............................................................................................29
  Defense ...........................................................................................29
  Perception .......................................................................................29
  Insanity ...........................................................................................30
  Corruption ......................................................................................31
  Power ...............................................................................................32
  Size ...................................................................................................32
  Space ................................................................................................32
  Reach ...............................................................................................32
  Speed ...............................................................................................32
  Damage ......................................................................................34
  Damage Source .......................................................................................34
  Taking Damage .............................................................................34
  Effects of Damage ........................................................................34
  Healing Damage ...........................................................................35
  Resting ........................................................................................................35
  Death ...............................................................................................35
  Returning from Death ...........................................................................35
  Afflictions ..................................................................................36
  Multiple Afflictions ................................................................................ 37
  The Environment.....................................................................37
  Objects.............................................................................................37
  Attributes .................................................................................................. 37
  Range and Distance .....................................................................38
  Obscurement .................................................................................38
  Illumination .............................................................................................38
  Invisibility ................................................................................................38
  Roleplaying ...............................................................................38
  Making Decisions ........................................................................38
  Background ..............................................................................................38
  Personality................................................................................................39
  Connections ..............................................................................................39
  Optional: Character Bonds .................................................................39
  Fortune ........................................................................................... 40
  Social Interaction ........................................................................ 40
  Social Conflict .........................................................................................40
  Combat .......................................................................................41
  The Battlefield ...............................................................................41
  Awareness & Surprise .................................................................41
  Anatomy of a Round ...................................................................41
  Fast Turns ................................................................................................. 41
  Slow Turns ............................................................................................... 41
  End of the Round .................................................................................... 41
  Move.................................................................................................42
  Action ..............................................................................................43
  Triggered Actions ...................................................................................44
  Minor Activities ......................................................................................45
  Making Attacks .............................................................................45
  Attack with a Melee Weapon .............................................................45
  Attack with a Ranged Weapon ..........................................................46
  Attack with Two Weapons ..................................................................46
  Attack with an Item ..............................................................................46
  Attack with a Spell.................................................................................46
  Attack an Attribute ................................................................................46
  Attacking Worn or Carried Objects .................................................47
  Situational Banes to Attack Rolls......................................................47
  Chapter 2: Playing the Game ...................25
  Prices ......................................................................................... 48
  Other Commodities .....................................................................48
  Availability ............................................................................... 48
  Carrying Limits ....................................................................... 48
  Armor and Clothing ............................................................... 49
  Armor Descriptions .....................................................................49
  Weapons ................................................................................... 50
  Ammunition ..................................................................................52
  Improvised Weapons ..................................................................52
  Adventuring Gear ....................................................................52
  Personal Gear ................................................................................52
  Tools .................................................................................................53
  Potions .............................................................................................54
  Incantations ...................................................................................54
  Chapter Sheet .....................................................55
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  This is the end of all things. A shadow spills across the 
  landscape, twisting and warping everything it touches, 
  sparking unrest and wars, loosing incurable plagues, 
  and cause the dead to rise. Magic misbehaves and 
  ancient, terrible beings awaken to visit their wrath on 
  an unsuspecting populace, while the very rules that 
  define reality unravel, resulting in an unpredictable and 
  dangerous environment in which survival is the paramount 
  concern. This is the world of the Demon Lord and this 
  rulebook is your introduction to it.
   Victims of the Demon Lord provides you with everything 
  you need to make a starting character for 
  the Shadow of the Demon Lord roleplaying 
  game. Drawing from the key chapters 
  of the main rulebook, it leads you 
  through character creation and then 
  provides you with all the game rules 
  so you can learn how to play. 
   Starting characters have few 
  tricks to survive the many perils 
  the game presents, hence the 
  title. While your character may 
  very well meet an abrupt and 
  horrific end, rest assured, the 
  world has many more victims 
  to offer the Demon Lord and creating one takes just a few 
  minutes. Of course, if you survive, you might just be able to 
  avert the coming disaster or at least delay it for a time.
   To make the most of this product, you’ll need at least 
  one 20-sided die (a d20), a couple of 6-sided dice (d6), 
  something to write on, and a copy of the character sheet 
  included at the back of this book. You’ll also need a 
  few friends, at least three. One of those friends should 
  take on the role of the Game Master. You can find a 
  free introductory adventure, Survival of the Fittest, on 
  schwalbentertainment.com.
   Once you complete your first adventure, the Shadow of 
  the Demon Lord roleplaying game presents the full 
  rules of the game, including what happens when 
  your group forms and increases level, 
  and how your character improves as a 
  result. For Game Masters, Tales of the 
  Demon Lord includes a full set of eleven 
  adventures that explore the exquisite 
  destruction promised by the Demon 
  Lord. 
   Will you be the Demon Lord’s 
  next victim? Make a character, 
  assemble a group, and find out if 
  you have what it takes to survive. 
  3
  
  shadow of the demon lord
  You need a character to play Shadow of the Demon Lord. 
  A character is the persona you adopt when you play the 
  game, the individual you pretend to be in the troubled 
  world of the Demon Lord. The Game Master can provide 
  you with a character or you can create one using the rules 
  in this chapter.
   When you create a character, you make all the decisions 
  about what your character looks like, how your character 
  thinks and behaves, and how your character fits into the 
  game’s setting. These decisions set the stage for the story 
  to come and help you portray the character in a consistent 
  manner.
  Ancestries
  The first thing you do to create your character is to pick 
  your ancestry. Ancestries tell you something about your 
  homeland, culture, religious inclination, and appearance. 
  As well, they indicate areas in which your character excels 
  and where your character might be wanting.
   The following ancestries are among the most common to 
  the lands of the Northern Reach. Other ancestries might be 
  available at your GM’s discretion.
  •  Humans are a diverse people encompassing numerous 
  civilizations, cultures, and ethnicities. They are the 
  dominant people in the world. Humans excel in any path 
  they choose.
  •  Changelings conceal their hideous forms behind 
  identities stolen from other creatures so they can move 
  more freely through the lands. Changelings make 
  exceptional magicians and rogues.
  •  Clockworks are people created by binding souls stolen 
  from the Underworld to mechanical bodies. Clockworks 
  have many different forms, and their origins determine 
  the paths they will walk.
  •  Dwarfs are an elder race cursed by the gods for their vanity 
  and doomed to toil and dig in the earth for the treasures 
  they covet. Dwarfs make powerful warriors and priests.
  •  Goblins are exiles from the realms of faerie, forced to live 
  among humanity or on the edges of human lands. They 
  are a filthy, grubby people of low character and malicious 
  disposition. Goblins do well as rogues and magicians.
  •  Orcs were made from dark magic to be the ultimate 
  slave soldiers in the Empire’s armies. Brutish, strong, 
  and violent, they exceeded expectations and helped 
  their masters conquer the continent. They have recently 
  thrown off their shackles and taken their destiny into 
  their own hands. Bred for battle, orcs make strong 
  warriors and deadly rogues.
  4
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Ancestry Benefits
  Ancestries provide you with story cues that guide how you 
  might play your character and tell you your character’s 
  starting traits.
  Ancestry Story
  In each ancestry, you will find suggestions about how those 
  people fit into the game, their behavioral tendencies, and 
  how they interact with others. These story elements offer 
  generalizations to help you understand the ancestry and 
  to give you ideas about how to play the character, but they 
  are only suggestions. Just because most orcs are violent 
  and temperamental doesn’t mean you can’t play an orc 
  who is compassionate, kind, and noble. Similarly, your 
  goblin might reject the filth and squalor in which these 
  exiles seem so comfortable. Instead, your goblin could be 
  quite fastidious about personal hygiene. So while the story 
  suggestions provide you with a ready-to-play character 
  concept, feel free to expand, alter, or abandon them to play 
  the character you want to play. 
  Ancestry Traits
  Statistics are the numbers that describe your character’s 
  capabilities. Just record the information in the spaces 
  provided on your character sheet. The mechanics include 
  all of the following.
  Attributes
  Four attributes describe your character’s fundamental 
  capabilities. They are Strength, Agility, Intellect, and Will. 
  For each attribute, you have a score and a modifier. For 
  information on what attributes mean and how you use 
  scores and modifiers, see Chapter 2.
  Scores
  A score is a number ranging from 1 to 20. Average people 
  have a score of 10. Record the starting scores from your 
  ancestry in the spaces provided on your character sheet.
  •  Adjusting Scores: You can increase one score by 1 
  by decreasing another score by 1. You can make this 
  adjustment only once.
  •  Increasing Scores: Your scores increase as your group’s 
  level increases.
  Modifier
  Your score determines your modifier. It is equal to the 
  score minus 10. So if you have a 12 Strength, your Strength 
  modifier is +2. Note the modifiers for each attribute in the 
  spaces provided.
  Characteristics
  In addition to attributes, your character has several 
  characteristics that include Defense, Health, healing rate, 
  Perception, Size, Speed, Power, Damage, Insanity, and 
  Corruption. Your ancestry tells you the numbers you assign to 
  each. Information about using characteristics is in Chapter 2.
  Languages and Professions
  Your ancestry tells you the languages you can speak 
  as well as any you know how to read and write. See 
  the Languages of the Northern Reach sidebar for 
  descriptions. In addition, your ancestry might grant you 
  an additional profession. Professions are described after 
  ancestries in this chapter.
  Languages of the Northern Reach
  The following languages are used throughout the lands of 
  the Northern Reach.
  • Common Tongue: The dominant language in the ruined 
  lands of the Empire, merchants cobbled the Common 
  Tongue (or just Common) from local languages to facilitate 
  trade. It uses its own alphabet.
  • Dark Speech: A guttural language filled with hard 
  consonants, Dark Speech originated centuries ago in 
  Gog, the accursed kingdom that spread across the lands 
  of Rûl and was cast down and destroyed by the Empire’s 
  founders. Beastmen, cultists, and others seeking forbidden 
  knowledge learn and use this language.
  • Dwarfish: The language of the dwarfs has a harsh sound, a 
  precise lexicon, and long, compound words. It uses a runic 
  alphabet.
  • Elvish: The language used by the elves and other faerie 
  has a soft and musical sound, perfectly suited for singing 
  and reciting poetry. Elvish uses its own script, its characters 
  flowing into one another.
  • High Archaic: The language of scholarship and magic, few 
  people use High Archaic in conversation. It uses the same 
  alphabet as the Common Tongue.
  • Trollish: The language of the trolls is as ugly as Elvish is 
  beautiful. It belongs almost exclusively to trolls and giants, 
  and it sounds like a mixture of grunts and barks. It uses a 
  runic alphabet similar to Dwarfish.
  • Secret Language: Many organizations use secret languages 
  to communicate. Druids, assassins, thieves, and even 
  rangers use such languages.
  • Dead Languages: Many languages fall out of common 
  usage. The GM can introduce languages from lost peoples 
  and languages that have largely fallen out of favor. Such 
  languages may be important for deciphering ancient 
  scrolls and tomes.
  5
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Talents
  Record any talents gained from your ancestry on your 
  character sheet, noting what they do.
  Level 4 Benefits
  You gain the level 4 benefits when your group reaches level 4.
  Ancestry Tables
  Your ancestry presents several tables you can use to 
  determine your character’s background, appearance, 
  personality, and other story elements. You can roll 
  dice to randomly determine these elements, choose 
  them, or come up with something else instead. When 
  looking at each entry on the tables, bear in mind that 
  the descriptions are relative to your ancestry, so your 
  character could be short for a goblin or might be an orc 
  who repels other orcs in terms of appearance.
  Human
  Determination, resourcefulness, and sheer numbers helped 
  humanity rise from its humble, primitive origins to become 
  the most widespread and numerous people in the world. 
  Few places have escaped human expansion, and settlements 
  exist in mountains and swamps, desolate wastes and verdant 
  plains. Human civilization has defined the last thousand 
  years of history and continues even as the shadow falls.
  • Many Variations: Humans comprise many different ethnic 
  groups. Skin tones can range from almost black to albino 
  white, or green, blue, orange, pink, or something else. Some 
  humans have patterned skin, stripes, thick body hair, or no 
  hair at all. Humans also have many different shapes and 
  sizes. They range from 3 to 7 feet tall and weigh from 50 to 
  500 pounds or more. Most humans live about seventy years.
  • Strength in Numbers: Community plays a strong role 
  in human civilization. People are stronger when they 
  work together than when they work alone. The resulting 
  tribalism has been a source of strength and a great asset 
  in human expansion, but it has also been a source of 
  conflict that erupts into violence between rival groups.
  • Diverse Natures: Noble or crude, virtuous or wicked, 
  courageous or craven, greedy or selfless—most humans fall 
  somewhere between these extremes and behave in a way 
  that looks after their interests and those of their loved ones.
  • Religious Inclinations: Few humans question the 
  gods’ existence, and many find their life’s meaning in 
  Character Sheet
  A character sheet, such as the one found at the end of this 
  supplement, has places for you to record all the important 
  mechanics for your character. You can use a copy of the 
  provided sheet or note important information about your 
  character on scratch paper. In either case, you reference this 
  information during play.
  6
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  worshiping one or more gods. In the Northern Reach, 
  humans might belong to the Cult of the New God, follow 
  the tenets of the Old Faith, or practice witchcraft. See 
  Shadow of the Demon Lord for details on religions.
  • Common Names: Aengus, Agnes, Aine, Alice, Anselm, 
  Beatrice, Breandan, Caitlin, Cormac, Ella, Fiona, Geoffrey, 
  Giselle, Henry, Joan, John, Kane, Kiera, Margery, Richard, 
  Roisin, Rordan, , Saraid, Seamus, Walter, and Yvonne.
  Creating A Human
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 10, Agility 10, Intellect 
  10, Will 10. Choose one attribute and increase it by 1.
  Perception equals your Intellect score
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1/2 or 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue, and you can either speak one additional 
  language or add a random profession.
  Level 4 Expert Human
  Characteristics Health +5
  You either learn one spell or gain Determined.
  Determined When you roll a 1 on the die from a boon, you 
  can reroll the die and choose to use the new number.
  Human Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You died and returned to life. You start the game 
  with 1d6 Insanity.
  2
  You were briefly possessed by a demon. You start 
  the game with 1 Corruption.
  3
  You spent 1d6 years as a prisoner in a dungeon.
  4
  You murdered someone in cold blood. You start 
  the game with 1 Corruption.
  5
  You caught and recovered from a terrible disease.
  6
  You belonged to a strange cult and saw many 
  strange things. You start the game with 1 Insanity.
  7
  The faerie held you prisoner for 1d20 years.
  8
  You lost a loved one and their loss haunts you still.
  9
  You lost a finger, a few teeth, or an ear, or you 
  gained a scar.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  You fell in love and the relationship ended well or is 
  ongoing.
  12
  You have a spouse and 1d6 -2 children (minimum 0).
  13
  You traveled extensively. You speak one additional 
  language.
  14
  You received an education. You know how to read 
  the Common Tongue.
  15
  You saved your town from terrible monsters.
  16
  You foiled a plot to kill someone important or you 
  brought a killer to justice.
  17
  You performed a great deed and are a hero to the 
  people in your hometown.
  18
  You found an old treasure map.
  d20
  Background
  19
  Someone important and powerful owes you a 
  favor.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with  
  2d6 cp.
  Human Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  You are cruel, wicked, and self-serving. You enjoy 
  making others suffer.
  4
  You are erratic and unpredictable. You have a 
  hard time keeping your word and tend toward 
  capricious behavior.
  5–6
  Might makes right. Obedience to authority is the 
  highest ideal.
  7–8
  You look after yourself first and foremost. You’re 
  not above double-crossing friends.
  9–12
  You put your interests and those of your friends 
  above all else.
  13–14
  You help others because it’s the right thing to do.
  15–16
  You try to do what you think is right, even if it 
  breaks laws and social conventions.
  17
  Your honor and duty guide everything you do.
  18
  You are committed to good and noble causes, 
  and you never stray from your beliefs even if your 
  insisitence would cost you your life.
  Human Religion
  3d6
  Religion
  3
  You belong to a cult dedicated to a dark power.
  4
  You belong to a heretical sect.
  5–6
  You were raised in the teachings of witchcraft.
  7–10
  You follow the tenets of the Old Faith.
  11–15
  You belong to the Cult of the New God.
  16–18
  You have no religion.
  Human Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 11 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 12 to 17 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 18 to 35 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 36 to 55 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 56 to 75 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 76 years old or older.
  Human Build
  3d6
  Build
  3
  You are short and thin.
  4
  You are short and heavy.
  5–6
  You are short.
  7–8
  You are slender.
  9–12
  You are average in height and weight.
  13–14
  You are a bit overweight.
  15–16
  You are tall.
  17
  You are tall and thin.
  18
  You are very tall and heavy.
  7
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Human Appearance
  3d6
  Appearance
  3
  You are hideous. You look like a monster. Children 
  cry when they encounter you, the weak of heart 
  faint when they see you, and one person vomited 
  after getting a good look at your face.
  4
  You are ugly, and people find your visage unpleasant 
  thanks to a scar, wen, beetling brows, boils, piles, a 
  wandering or weeping eye, or something else of a 
  similar magnitude.
  5–6
  Most consider you homely: not quite ugly, but a bit 
  worse than plain.
  7–8
  You are plain and uninteresting to look upon. People 
  notice you, but your appearance fails to make an 
  impression.
  9–12
  You are perfectly average in appearance. You look 
  like everyone else.
  13–14
  You have a physical quality that makes you 
  attractive to others. You might have pretty eyes, 
  lips, hair, shape, or something else.
  15–16
  You have several attractive physical qualities that 
  make you quite comely.
  17
  You are one of the great beauties in the land, 
  an individual of almost unsurpassed form and 
  appearance. People notice you. 
  18
  You put beautiful people to shame. You are so 
  striking, heads turn to follow you wherever you go. 
  People become infatuated with you, stumbling over 
  their words and feeling flustered when you show 
  them attention. There’s a fine line between love and 
  hate. Should you spurn the attentions of people you 
  enamor, their affection might sour to resentment 
  and even hatred.
  Changeling
  Faerie create changelings to conceal the absence of children 
  they steal. They construct a changeling from natural 
  materials and use magic to give it the appearance of the 
  missing child. The magic often fades after a few weeks, but 
  sometimes it lingers and lets the changeling grow up to 
  become a real person.
  •  Many Masks: Changelings can use their magical nature to 
  adopt the forms of anyone they see. They assume different 
  forms to conceal their true nature, forms that most deem 
  hideous and unsettling. When stripped of their disguises, 
  changelings look like humanoids formed from dirt, sticks, 
  and rocks, with glowing green eyes set in otherwise 
  featureless faces. Changelings in their natural form stand 5 
  feet tall and weigh 90 pounds.
  •  Changeable Identities: Constantly changing identities 
  has a deleterious effect on changeling personalities. Most 
  mimic the attitudes and outlooks of the people around 
  them, having no particular views themselves or, if they 
  have them, burying them so deep they cannot remember 
  who they started out being or what they 
  hope to become.
  • Common Names: When not using the 
  names of the people they impersonate, 
  changelings use nicknames such as 
  Coy, Jester, Mirth, Rook, Shadow, 
  Slick, or Sly.
  Creating A Changeling
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 9, Agility 10, Intellect 
  10, Will 10
  Perception equals your Intellect score + 1
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common Tongue.
  Immune damage from disease; charmed, diseased
  Iron Vulnerability You are impaired while in contact with iron.
  Shadowsight You see into areas obscured by shadows as if 
  those areas were lit.
  Steal Identity You can use an action to alter your 
  appearance to match that of a target living creature 
  you can see within short range. The target must be Size 
  1 or 1/2 and have a humanoid shape of flesh and blood. 
  Your body changes so you look like the target, though 
  your clothing and possessions remain unchanged. The 
  effect lasts until you use this talent again. If you become 
  incapacitated or touch an object made from iron, you 
  immediately revert to your normal appearance.
  Level 4 Expert Changeling
  Characteristics Health +4
  You either learn one spell or gain Doppelganger’s Advantage.
  Doppelganger’s Advantage You can use a triggered 
  action on your turn to use Steal Identity. As well, when 
  you steal a creature’s identity, your attack rolls against 
  that creature are made with 1 boon while you have that 
  creature’s appearance.
  Changeling True Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 8 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 9 to 14 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 15 to 25 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 26 to 40 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 41 to 60 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 61 years old or older.
  Changeling Apparent Gender
  d6
  Starting Form
  1–3
  You appear to be male.
  4–6
  You appear to be female.
  Changeling Apparent Ancestry
  3d6
  Starting Form
  3–4
  You appear to be a goblin. Go to the Goblin ancestry 
  entry to determine your age, build, and appearance.
  5–7
  You appear to be a dwarf. Go to the Dwarf ancestry 
  entry to determine your age, build, and appearance.
  8–15
  You appear to be a human. Go to the Human ancestry 
  entry to determine your age, build, and appearance.
  16–17
  You appear to be an orc. Go to the Orc ancestry entry 
  to determine your age, build, and appearance.
  18
  The GM determines your ancestry, age, build, and 
  appearance.
  8
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Changeling Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You only recently discovered your true nature, and 
  you are having a difficult time adjusting to your 
  new reality. You start the game with 1 Insanity.
  2
  You have no idea that you’re a changeling. You 
  think you are a member of the ancestry whose form 
  you adopted. Add an extra random profession. Until 
  you become incapacitated or touch iron for the first 
  time, you cannot use Steal Identity.
  3
  You were enslaved by a hag and forced to perform 
  unspeakable acts as she commanded you. You 
  start the game with 1 Corruption.
  4
  You murdered the person whose identity you stole 
  so you could take over that person’s life. You start 
  the game with 1 Corruption.
  5
  When your “parents” learned what you were, they 
  cast you out from your home and you were forced 
  to make your own way in the world.
  6
  You ran away from home when you learned what 
  you were and lived among the faerie for many years.
  7
  You have earned the enmity of a witch hunter. This 
  foe hunts you and will try to kill you if your paths 
  ever cross.
  8
  Fearful townsfolk drove you out of your 
  hometown. You have grown to hate them and plot 
  revenge.
  9
  The first time you stole someone’s identity, you 
  also stole a few of that person’s memories.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  You fell in love, and your lover is not aware of your 
  true identity.
  12
  After you were exiled from your hometown, a 
  druid or witch took you in and cared for you. You 
  always have a home with this character.
  13
  You worked as an informant for the Inquisition.
  14
  You received an education. You know how to read 
  the Common Tongue.
  15
  You learned a terrible secret while masquerading 
  as someone else. Work out the nature of that 
  secret with your Game Master.
  16
  Your parents raised you even though they knew 
  what you were. Their love and encouragement 
  gave you the stability you needed to grow into a 
  mature personality.
  17
  The elf who made you recently found you and 
  befriended you. You can call in one favor from that 
  elf by speaking into a shell he or she gave you. The 
  extent of the favor’s power is subject to the GM’s 
  discretion.
  18
  You adopted the form of someone famous, 
  powerful, and important.
  19
  You have ties to a criminal organization after being 
  recruited into it for your magical gifts.
  20
  You came into a quantity of money and start the 
  game with 2d6 cp.
  Changeling Quirk
  d20
  Quirk
  1
  You always speak in the third person.
  2
  Your eyes glow green in the dark.
  3
  Animals become nervous around you.
  4
  You can adopt only male forms or only female forms.
  9
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  d20
  Quirk
  5
  You are wild and impulsive.
  6
  You always revert to the first form you adopted.
  7
  The scent of iron sickens you.
  8
  You have terrible nightmares.
  9
  You sometimes hear voices.
  10
  You tend to lose small, inconsequential things.
  11
  One night each year, you lose your Steal Identity 
  talent.
  12
  You can only assume the appearance of dead people.
  13
  You speak in whispers.
  14
  You give off an odd, earthy smell.
  15
  You can never keep your clothes clean.
  16
  You cannot get drunk.
  17
  You must always speak the truth as you know it.
  18
  You find meat repulsive.
  19
  You laugh at inappropriate times.
  20
  Forms you adopt have no hair or fingernails.
  Changeling Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  You steal the forms of others so you can do what 
  you want without facing repercussions. You don’t 
  care about how this affects other people.
  4–5
  You enjoy taking on forms that let you work mischief.
  6
  You adopt forms that give you power over others. 
  Power ensures your safety.
  7–10
  You take on other forms for profit, usually to gain 
  access to places normally forbidden to you.
  11–13
  You are careful about the forms you take. You try to 
  stay out of trouble and keep your secrets safe.
  14
  You strive to do the right thing and use your 
  disguises to help other people, as well as to protect 
  yourself from your enemies.
  15–16
  Your nature is a gift, and you use it to do what 
  you think is right, even if it means upsetting others 
  along the way.
  17
  You tend to stick to one form as long as possible; you 
  crave stability and would do anything to be “normal.”
  18
  You use your talents to help others, to make the 
  world a better place, and to right wrongs.
  Clockwork
  Clockworks are mechanical people made from metal 
  plating, gears, wires, bits of spring, and cogs to which are  
  bound a soul plucked from the Underworld. The magic 
  binding the soul tethers it to the clockwork but allows it to 
  manipulate the body only while its internal mechanisms 
  are moving. All clockworks have keys somewhere on their 
  body, and while wound up, they move, think, and act 
  like creatures. Should the key wind down, a clockwork 
  becomes dormant—an insensate object.
  • Common Names: Typically, clockworks use names given 
  to them by their creators. These can be nicknames or 
  strings of letters and numbers. Clockworks might choose 
  names they find interesting or use names dredged up 
  from their souls’ memories.
  Creating A Clockwork
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 9, Agility 8, Intellect 9, 
  Will 9
  Perception equals your Intellect score
  Defense 13
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1, Speed 8, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue.
  Immune damage from disease and poison; asleep, 
  diseased, fatigued, poisoned
  Key You have a key somewhere on your body that you 
  cannot reach. When the key is cranked and turning, 
  you count as a creature. When it stops, you become 
  an object. Your key stops turning when you become 
  incapacitated. It also stops turning at the end of any 
  round in which you got a total of 0 or lower on an 
  attack roll or challenge roll.
   
   
  While you are an object, you cannot use actions, 
  move, talk, or perceive your surroundings. Any creature 
  that can reach you can use an action to wind up 
  your key. If you are not incapacitated, you become a 
  creature once more. If you are incapacitated, roll a d6. 
  On a 3 or lower, there is no effect. On a 4 or higher, you 
  heal 1 damage and become a creature at the end of the 
  round.
   
   
  Although you are an object while you are 
  incapacitated, you are still subject to the rules for 
  incapacitated creatures.
  Mechanical Body You do not eat, drink, or breathe. 
  You do not age and you cannot be transformed into 
  an undead creature. Your mechanical body makes it 
  impossible for you to swim, so you sink to the bottom 
  when you are submerged in liquid.
  Repairing Damage When you are a creature, you heal 
  damage as any other creature. If you are an object, a 
  creature can use an action to start repairing you with a 
  tool kit. The creature must work for at least 4 hours. At 
  the end of this time, it makes an Intellect challenge roll 
  with 1 bane. On a success, you heal damage equal to 
  your healing rate.
  Level 4 Expert Clockwork
  Characteristics Health +5
  You either learn one spell or gain Grind the Gears.
  Grind the Gears You can increase the number of actions 
  you can use on your turn by one. When you finish your 
  turn, roll a d6. If you roll an odd number, you become an 
  object at the end of the round.
  Clockwork Age
  3d6
  Age
  3–8
  You are new, 5 years old or younger.
  9–12
  You are experienced, 6 to 10 years old.
  13–15
  You are old, 11 to 50 years old.
  16–17
  You are very old, 51 to 150 years old.
  18
  You are ancient, more than 150 years old.
  10
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Clockwork Purpose
  d20
  Purpose
  1–4
  You were built for war. Increase your Strength or 
  Agility by 2.
  5–8
  You were built to work. Increase your Strength by 2.
  9–12
  You were built to use magic. Increase your Intellect 
  or Will by 2.
  13–16
  You were built to gather intelligence about or 
  assassinate targets. Increase your Agility or 
  Intellect by 2.
  17–20
  You were built for an inexplicable purpose. Increase 
  one attribute of your choice by 2.
  Clockwork Form
  3d6
  Form
  3
  You are a small winged clockwork. Reduce your 
  Health by 5 and your Size to 1/2. You can fly, but 
  you must land at the end of your movement or fall. 
  You are 3 feet tall and weigh 50 pounds.
  4–5
  You are a small spider-like clockwork with functional 
  hands. Reduce your Size to 1/2. You ignore the 
  effects of difficult terrain when you climb. You are 3 
  feet tall and weigh 50 pounds.
  6–9
  You are a small humanoid clockwork. Reduce your 
  Size to 1/2. You are 4 feet tall and weigh 75 pounds.
  10–15
  You are a humanoid clockwork. You are 6 feet tall 
  and weigh 300 pounds.
  16–17
  You are a large humanoid clockwork. Increase your 
  Size to 2, but reduce your Speed and your Defense by 
  2. You are 10 feet tall and weigh 750 pounds.
  18
  You are a large clockwork with the lower body of a 
  horse. Increase your Size to 2 and your Speed by 2. 
  Reduce your Defense by 3. You are 6 feet long, 6 feet 
  tall, and weigh 750 pounds.
  Clockwork Appearance
  3d6
  Appearance
  3
  You have a strange and unsettling appearance.
  4
  You appear crude and ill-formed.
  5–6
  You appear battered, broken, and in poor repair.
  7–8
  You have no facial features or distinguishing markings.
  9–12
  You have a mere suggestion of facial features.
  13–14
  You appear well made and in good working condition.
  15–16
  You have a stylized and ornate body.
  17
  You have an ornate body festooned with etchings 
  and ornamental jewels.
  18
  You have an exquisite body festooned with 
  elaborate etchings and ornamental jewels, and 
  trimmed in precious metals. If you are dismantled, 
  your body parts are worth 1d6 gc.
  Clockwork Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  Your soul came from Hell. Start the game with 1d3 
  Corruption.
  2
  Your soul was plucked from the Underworld before 
  it could forget its former life. Start the game with 1d6 
  Insanity and add an extra profession.
  3
  You spent 1d20 years in a dormant state.
  11
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  d20
  Background
  4
  Your maker treated you poorly. You escaped and 
  now fear your maker will find you.
  5
  Fire, plague, or monsters destroyed your home and 
  you are the sole survivor.
  6
  You were stolen from the workshop where you were 
  made and lived as a slave for 1d6 years.
  7
  Goblins captured you and almost took you apart 
  for scrap materials. You have replaced your missing 
  components with bits of wood, old weapons, and 
  other rubbish.
  8
  You were left to find your own way in the world 
  when your maker died.
  9
  You fell off a boat and spent 2 years walking to shore.
  10
  You worked to fulfill your purpose for 1d6 years.
  11
  Choose a member of the group. That character 
  found you and turned your key. You owe that 
  character a debt.
  12
  You were one of 1d6 other clockworks made at the 
  same time. You hope to find them one day.
  13
  You were made to be a translator. You can speak 
  one additional language.
  14
  You were made to be a scribe. You know how to 
  read and write the Common Tongue.
  15
  Your maker set you free to find your destiny.
  16
  You can’t remember your past. You don’t know 
  where you came from or how you came to be where 
  you are.
  17
  You built a lasting monument in your community.
  18
  You found a cryptic message inside your body. You 
  have not yet deciphered its meaning.
  19
  You have a sword grafted to one of your arms.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with 2d6 cp.
  Clockwork Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  You hate living things and take pleasure in pulling 
  them apart.
  4
  You are terrified of becoming dormant.
  5–7
  Your body gives you power and strength. You use it 
  to enforce your will on others. 
  8
  You didn’t ask for this existence, but you make the 
  most of it while you have it.
  9–13
  You search for meaning in a world in which you have 
  no place.
  14
  You were made to serve. You commit your 
  existence to aiding others.
  15
  You don’t know how you fit into this world, but you 
  will spend your life trying to find out.
  16–17
  You obey the instructions of anyone you deem to be 
  an authority.
  18
  Your maker gave you three commandments and you 
  must obey them.
  Dwarf
  Dwarfs live under the mountains in elaborate 
  subterranean cities. From them, they launch expeditions 
  deep into the earth to pry gold and silver from the 
  unyielding rock. They hoard their treasures in great vaults 
  and view other peoples with distrust, suspecting them all 
  of coveting their wealth. The dwarfs have few friends and 
  gain little aid when the forces of darkness overrun their 
  strongholds to lay claim to their vaults. Thus many dwarfs 
  wander the lands, homeless, friendless, searching for a 
  new place to call their own.
  • The Beard’s the Thing: Dwarfs have thick, stout bodies, 
  limbs corded with muscle, and bellies bulging from their 
  fondness for alcohol and food. All dwarfs, male and 
  female, wear elaborate facial hair, braiding it in their 
  clan designs, decorating it with silver or gold rings, or 
  greasing it up into unusual shapes. Other dwarfs have 
  fanciful mustaches or thick muttonchops that hang past 
  their waists.
  • Short but Dense: Dwarfs stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, 
  and they can weigh up to 250 pounds. They have the 
  human range of coloration, though they tend to be grimy 
  and wrinkly from their work in the mines and forges.
  • Dour and Suspicious: Gruff, critical, and suspicious, 
  dwarfs make few friends outside their own kind. They 
  covet treasure but temper their greed with the certainty 
  that their ancestors are always watching. Thus, dwarfs 
  conduct themselves with honor to avoid bringing shame 
  to their clans.
  • Common Names: Anise, Brunhild, Doogan, Erika, Franz, 
  Grete, Guntur, Heida, Helmut, Ilse, Martok, Oda, and Ragnar.
  Creating A Dwarf
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 10, Agility 9, Intellect 10, 
  Will 10
  Perception equals your Intellect score + 1
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score + 4
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue, and you speak, read, and write Dwarfish.
  Darksight You can see in areas obscured by shadows or 
  darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. 
  Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and 
  shadows as lit.
  Hated Creature Choose a creature from the Hatred table. 
  Your hatred grants 1 boon on attack rolls made against 
  creatures you hate.
  Robust Constitution You take half damage from poison. 
  You make challenge rolls with 1 boon to avoid or remove 
  the poisoned affliction.
  Level 4 Expert Dwarf
  Characteristics Health +6
  You either learn one spell or gain Shake it Off.
  Shake it Off You can use an action to heal damage equal 
  to your healing rate and remove one of the following 
  afflictions: fatigued, impaired, or poisoned. Once you 
  use this talent, you cannot use it again until after you 
  complete a rest.
  12
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Dwarf Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 20 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 20 to 30 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 31 to 50 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 51 to 100 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 101 to 150 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 151 years old or older.
  Dwarf Build
  3d6
  Build
  3
  You are short and scrawny.
  4–6
  You are short and fat.
  7–8
  You stand a bit shorter than other dwarfs.
  9–12
  You are average in height and build.
  13–15
  You have a magnificent belly.
  16–17
  You are tall.
  18
  You are tall and heavy.
  Dwarf Appearance
  3d6
  Appearance
  3–4
  You have a monstrous appearance, likely due to 
  hard living and several near misses. Your face is 
  a mass of scar tissue, probably missing an ear, an 
  eye, or your nose. You also display some unusual 
  habit, such as pounding nails into your skull or 
  greasing your body with troll fat.
  3d6
  Appearance
  5–6
  You have several interesting features that work 
  together to make you one ugly brute. Filth from 
  digging in the dirt, mites infesting your hair, skin 
  lashed with healing scars, and a rich aroma of 
  vomit—all these contribute to your distinctive 
  style.
  7–8
  You look like a typical dwarf, being hairy, portly, 
  and grubby.
  9–11
  You take better care of yourself than most dwarfs 
  and keep your facial hair well groomed.
  12–15
  You take pride in your appearance. You stay 
  clean, oil your facial hair, and perhaps braid it or 
  tie it with metal rings.
  16–18
  You are quite fetching for a dwarf. You have regal 
  features, good bearing, and a deep voice. You 
  take pride in your appearance.
  Dwarf Hatred
  d20
  Hated Creature
  1–2
  Ogres
  3–4
  Troglodytes
  5–6
  Beastmen
  7–8
  Orcs
  9–10
  Goblins
  11–12
  Elves
  13–14
  Trolls
  15–16
  Giants
  17–18
  Dragons
  19–20
  Demons
  13
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Dwarf Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You sold your soul to a devil to gain wealth. The 
  devil betrayed you and left you penniless. You start 
  the game with 1 Corruption.
  2
  Your ancestors appeared to you in a vision and sent 
  you to recover a fabled relic.
  3
  You accidentally killed someone close to you.
  4
  You stole gold from a rival clan and the theft 
  shames you.
  5
  You fought against the creatures you hate and lost.
  6
  You brought shame to yourself and your clan. You 
  live as an exile, searching for redemption, even if 
  that redemption comes with a glorious death.
  7
  You were taken prisoner by the creatures you hate. 
  You lived as a slave for 2d6 years.
  8
  The creatures you hate overran your home and 
  wiped out your clan.
  9
  You survived a cave-in and get a bit nervous when 
  underground.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  You are a sworn servant of the Dwarf King.
  12
  You are a gifted artisan. Add artisan (any one) to 
  your list of professions.
  13
  You traveled extensively. You speak one additional 
  language.
  14
  You inherited a battleaxe or a warhammer from an 
  ancestor.
  15
  You discovered a vein of gold under your mountain 
  home.
  16
  You hunted down and helped kill a creature you hate.
  17
  You performed a great deed, and you are a hero to 
  your clan.
  18
  You have a key to an ancient treasure vault lost to 
  the dwarfs long ago.
  19
  You are the rightful heir to a stronghold overrun by 
  the enemies of your people.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with 2d6 cp.
  Dwarf Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  Your hatred is a living thing. It drives you, gives you 
  strength, and helps you triumph over your enemies.
  4
  You seek a glorious death killing your enemies.
  5–6
  You love gold more than anything. You love the way 
  it feels, the sound it makes, and the taste of it.
  7–8
  You believe other people covet your wealth. It is 
  your duty to protect what is yours—at any cost.
  9–12
  Your honor is your life. You would never do anything 
  to bring shame to your people.
  13–14
  You surrender to the will of your ancestors, the 
  customs of your people, and the good of all.
  15–16
  You believe your people must rise above their greed 
  and suspicion. In these dark times, you must band 
  together to overcome the doom that awaits you all.
  17
  You don’t trust or like non-dwarfs, but they have 
  their uses.
  18
  You have little use for the customs of your people. 
  It’s time to move past the dusty caves and seek out 
  fortunes elsewhere.
  Goblin
  The Faerie Queen exiled the goblins long ago, for a crime 
  only she remembers. As part of their exile, she stripped 
  them of their immortality and doomed them to live 
  out their days in the mortal world. Goblins have since 
  infiltrated human societies, making their homes in rubbish 
  heaps and sewers where, to everyone’s surprise, they seem 
  quite happy doing the jobs no one else is at all interested in 
  performing. Picking through trash for choice treasures or 
  trawling the fetid waters oozing through the subterranean 
  tunnels for a bit of gold or a dropped coin is all goblins 
  need to keep them from making trouble for their neighbors.
  •  Bizarre and Varied Appearance: All goblins are short 
  by human standards, but their height is the only thing 
  they have in common. No two goblins look alike. They 
  all have unusual physical characteristics that make them 
  distinct from one another, such as pig snouts in place 
  of noses, fangs, horns, a profusion of seemingly mobile 
  warts, and other less savory manifestations of their 
  physical corruption.
  •  Weird Habits: Many goblins have weird habits. Some 
  keep their nail clippings and excretions in small bottles 
  and jars to prevent witches from stealing their names. 
  Others knock on wood when they need a bit of luck, keep 
  odd bits of rubbish as good luck charms, or can never 
  bathe for fear of losing their vital essence.
  •  Common Names: Goblins love crude humor and it 
  shows in such names as Blix, Blunder, Bubo, Cough, 
  Drips, Hack, Pecker, Phlegm, Poop, Pox, Puke, Sludge, 
  Snot, and Vomit.
  Creating A Goblin
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 8, Agility 12, Intellect 10, 
  Will 9
  Perception equals your Intellect score + 1
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1/2, Speed 10, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue and Elvish.
  Immune damage from disease; charmed, diseased
  Iron Vulnerability You are impaired while you are in 
  contact with iron.
  Shadowsight You see in areas obscured by shadows as if 
  those areas were lit.
  Sneaky When you roll to become hidden or move silently, 
  you make the Agility challenge roll with 1 boon.
  Level 4 Expert Goblin
  Characteristics Health +4
  You learn one spell or gain Spring Away.
  Spring Away When a creature you can see gets a failure 
  on an attack roll against your Defense or Agility, you can 
  use a triggered action to retreat.
  14
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Goblin Distinctive Appearance
  d20
  Distinctive Appearance
  1
  You have a long, pointed nose.
  2
  You have bright green or orange skin.
  3
  You have the head of a dog.
  4
  You have a reptilian appearance with small horns 
  sprouting from the top of your head.
  5
  You have a wide, leering grin.
  6
  You have a pig’s snout in place of a nose.
  7
  You have long, slender fingers.
  8
  You have a tooth growing out from your forehead.
  9
  You have a tail.
  10
  Fur grows thickly on your arms and legs.
  11
  You are completely hairless.
  12
  You have all the warts.
  13
  A large cyst grows on your back.
  14
  You have an abnormally long and pointed chin.
  15
  A single horn grows out from the side of your head.
  16
  You have one eye.
  17
  You have 1d6 extra fingers, placed on your body 
  wherever you wish.
  18
  You have enormous ears.
  19
  You have stubby little legs.
  20
  Make something up!
  Goblin Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 6 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 7 to 10 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 11 to 25 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 26 to 50 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 51 to 75 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 76 years old or older.
  Goblin Build
  3d6
  Build
  3
  You are short and spindly.
  4
  You are short and round.
  5–6
  You are short.
  7–8
  You are wiry.
  9–12
  You fall within the normal height and weight 
  ranges for goblins.
  13–14
  You are pudgy.
  15–16
  You are tall.
  17
  You are tall and lanky.
  18
  You are very tall and heavy.
  15
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Goblin Odd Habit
  d20
  Habit
  1
  You save all your secretions in small bottles and 
  give them as gifts to people you like.
  2
  You never bathe.
  3
  You punctuate your sentences by spitting.
  4
  You have tremendous flatulence, yet you seem 
  never to notice when you break wind.
  5
  You eat only candy.
  6
  You collect the genitals from creatures you kill 
  and wear them as jewelry.
  7
  You lick things to claim them as your own.
  8
  You dress in fancy clothes.
  9
  You refuse to wear shoes.
  10
  You keep cockroaches as pets.
  11
  You always inspect your bowel movements, 
  spreading the mess around with your fingers.
  12
  You keep a bit of iron on your person at all times.
  13
  You speak in a singsong voice.
  14
  You eat a bit of flesh from any living thing you kill.
  15
  You cry a lot.
  16
  You tell filthy jokes at inappropriate times.
  17
  You wear a child’s costume and refuse to take it off.
  18
  You keep a large collection of spoons.
  19
  You like to hide.
  20
  Make something up!
  Goblin Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You spent the last 1d6 years in a drunken stupor. 
  You’re not proud.
  2
  The Goblin King turned you into a toad. You 
  escaped that fate after you convinced an elf maiden 
  to kiss you. When she did and screamed, you killed 
  her. You start the game with 1 Corruption.
  3
  You accidentally got your entire tribe killed.
  4
  You were orphaned and raised by giant rats.
  5
  You accidentally released a demon into the world.
  6
  You spent two days believing you were a fearsome 
  dog. You start the game with 1 Insanity.
  7
  A hag made you her love slave for 1d6 years.
  8
  Dwarfs almost wiped out your tribe. You are one of 
  1d6 survivors.
  9
  You nearly drowned when the sewers flooded.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  Choose a character. He or she saved your life and 
  you now owe that character a debt.
  12
  You are an unrepentant criminal. Add a random 
  criminal profession to your list of professions.
  13
  You traveled extensively. You speak one additional 
  language.
  14
  You stole a knife from a dashing knight.
  15
  You snuck into Alfheim and stole a lock of hair from 
  the Faerie Queen.
  16
  You killed and ate 100 diseased rats.
  17
  You were a henchman to a powerful wizard.
  18
  You found a signet ring in a sewer.
  d20
  Background
  19
  You are the seventeenth son or daughter of the 
  Goblin King.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with 2d6 cp.
  Goblin Personality 
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  You are a bully and enjoy tormenting things that 
  are weaker than you.
  4
  You like violence, especially when it’s random and 
  senseless.
  5–6
  You try to rise above the filth and squalor of your 
  people to do good in the world.
  7–8
  You love playing tricks on other people and find 
  their pain hilarious!
  9–12
  You look out for yourself. To hell with everyone else!
  13–14
  You’re just trying to stay alive!
  15–16
  Your people didn’t deserve exile, but exile you got. 
  You believe you will make places for yourselves 
  and prove to those stinking elves they were wrong.
  17
  You live to serve the strong and mighty.
  18
  You hope to redeem your people in the eyes of 
  the Faerie Queen.
  Orc
  Long believed to be the perfect soldiers, the orcs have thrown 
  off slavery’s shackles and risen up against their imperial 
  masters in a war that threatens to drown the Empire in blood.
  •  Fearsome and Powerful: Mighty, threatening figures, 
  orcs tower over humans. Most have thick, coarse hair 
  covering their bodies. Some shave their body hair into 
  lewd or grotesque patterns to accentuate their fearsome 
  look. Blotchy skin, bone white to nearly black, blistered 
  and scarred from flaws in the magic that made them gives 
  them a ghastly appearance aided in part by their brutish, 
  exaggerated features. Most orcs have short pug noses and 
  wide mouths filled with sharp teeth and a tusk or two. 
  Orcs stand 6 to 8 feet tall and weigh 200 to 600 pounds.
  •  Created to Kill: Dark wizards in service to the Empire 
  created the orcs from jotun prisoners brought from the 
  icy south to face the judgment of the Alabaster Throne. 
  Using vile magic, the wizards stripped away everything 
  from the giant-blooded warriors until they were little 
  more than wild animals. The Empire used these new 
  soldiers in the wars of conquest that would secure its 
  hegemony for a thousand years.
  •  Slave Revolt: After centuries of slavery, the orcs turned 
  against their masters. Rumors claim the Orc King, 
  Drudge, strangled the emperor and seized the throne. 
  Others whisper that the orcs have made unholy pacts 
  with the Adversary and even now march against the 
  other provinces. Whether true or not, the rumors have 
  done their work and orcs all across the Empire have 
  abandoned their posts or slaughtered their masters.
  •  Common Names: Bastard, Bunion, Dredface, Grubthumb, 
  Hate, Killer, Mung, Pliers, Pung, Stenchfist, and Wossname.
  16
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Creating An Orc
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 11, Agility 10, Intellect 9, 
  Will 9
  Perception equals your Intellect score + 1
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health, round down
  Size 1, Speed 12, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 1
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue and Dark Speech.
  Shadowsight You see in areas obscured by shadows as if 
  those areas were lit.
  Level 4 Expert Orc
  Characteristics Health +6
  You learn one spell or gain Rising Fury.
  Rising Fury When you take damage, you make your next 
  attack roll before the end of the next round with 1 boon.
  Orc Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 8 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 8 to 12 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 13 to 18 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 19 to 26 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 27 to 32 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 33 years old or older.
  Orc Build
  3d6
  Build
  3
  You are short and wiry.
  4
  You are short and muscular.
  5–6
  You are short.
  7–8
  You are thin.
  9–12
  You are of average height and weight.
  13–14
  You are corpulent.
  15–16
  You are tall.
  17
  You are tall and gaunt.
  18
  You are a giant among orcs.
  Orc Appearance
  3d6
  Appearance
  3–5
  You are grotesque. Your face is a mass of scar 
  tissue. Thick scars crisscross your body, held 
  together with crude, leather stitching. Swaths of 
  open sores weep streams of pus, and you reek of 
  excrement, blood, and rot.
  6–8
  You are monstrous, with thick, brutish features, 
  weird growths sprouting from your skin, and nasty 
  scars that cut jagged lines across your thick hide.
  9–12
  You are ugly. You have thick tusks jutting from your 
  broad jaw, a sloping forehead, and tiny eyes set 
  deep in your skull.
  13–15
  You are an orc of typical appearance, dirty and 
  unkempt.
  17
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  3d6
  Appearance
  16–17
  Your features are somewhat less brutish, though 
  you might have odd skin coloration, extra fur, and 
  thick features.
  18
  You stand out from other orcs. Your body is 
  remarkably free from the scars and injuries that 
  maim your fellows, and you are in pretty good 
  health.
  Orc Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You butchered helpless people. Gain 2 Corruption.
  2
  You were briefly possessed by a demon. Gain 1 
  Corruption.
  3
  You spent 1d6 years in the fighting pit, testing your skills 
  against other orcs for the amusement of the crowds.
  4
  You stayed loyal to the Empire and fought against 
  other orcs. You were branded as a traitor and cast out.
  5
  You caught the rot and lost your nose and ears.
  6
  You were chained to the oars in a slave ship for 1d6 
  years.
  7
  You were made a eunuch and stood guard over the 
  emperor’s concubines.
  8
  You have scar tissue over half your body from 
  when you were caught in the blast of a spell.
  9
  You escaped your slavery and have lived in the 
  wilderness ever since.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  You fell in love with a human and were spurned for 
  your affections.
  12
  You sired or gave birth to 3d6 children. Roll 3d6 
  again and subtract that total from your total 
  number of children to find out how many are still 
  alive (minimum 0).
  13
  You traveled extensively. You speak one additional 
  language.
  14
  You received an education. You know how to read 
  the Common Tongue.
  15
  You fought bravely for the Emperor and were 
  awarded a medal for your courage.
  16
  You saved an important noble from an 
  assassination attempt.
  17
  A human broke your chains and freed you to find 
  your fortunes in the world.
  18
  You took a sword from the corpse of a warrior you 
  killed.
  19
  The Gods of Blood and Iron visit you in your 
  dreams. You start the game with 1 Insanity.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with 2d6 cp.
  Orc Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  You fight to liberate your people from slavery.
  4
  Orcs are more than the killers the emperor made 
  them to be. They are people, with hearts and 
  souls, dreams and ambitions. You believe you 
  must rise above the savagery and find your place.
  5–6
  The world is going to Hell. You say, let it.
  7–8
  You take care of yourself, take what you want, 
  and do what you want.
  9–12
  Kill!
  3d6
  Personality
  13–14
  You never question orders. You always do as 
  you’re commanded.
  15–16
  You want revenge and you’ll kill anyone that gets 
  in your way.
  17
  You believe you were made for a reason. Without 
  your chains, you have no purpose.
  18
  You believe your people have committed great 
  acts of evil in the Empire’s name. You strive to 
  right the wrongs.
  Professions
  Professions are occupations, pursuits, and areas of knowledge, 
  broadly conceived to give you all the room you need to define 
  your character in concert with the other descriptive elements 
  gained during character creation. Thus, it’s up to you to decide 
  what your character did within the profession, how your 
  character gained it, and what it means in the context of other 
  information you learned about your character.
  Starting Professions
  You begin with two professions. You can choose any profession 
  you like or let the dice decide. In the latter case, roll a d6 and 
  consult the Profession Types table, following the instructions.
  Languages
  You can trade out a profession to learn to speak another 
  language or gain the ability to read a language you already 
  know how to speak.
  Using Professions
  Professions describe what your character knows how to 
  do and how your character fits into the setting. They act as 
  cues to help you decide how your character acts, what your 
  Profession Types
  d6
  Profession
  1
  Academic. You are a scholar. You can read and write 
  one language you know how to speak. Roll a d20 
  and consult the “Academic Professions” table to 
  determine your area of scholarship. You can recall 
  information related to your area of scholarship.
  2
  Common. You work in a trade. Roll a d20 and 
  consult the “Common Professions” table to 
  determine your trade. You can recall information 
  related to your trade and, if your trade involves 
  manufacturing, you know how to produce goods 
  related to your trade from raw materials.
  3
  Criminal. You engage in illegal or illicit activities. Roll 
  a d20 and consult the “Criminal Professions” table to 
  determine your profession.
  4
  Martial. You joined the army, law enforcement, or 
  the local militia. Roll a d20 and consult the “Martial 
  Professions” table to determine your profession.
  5
  Religious. You belong to a religious institution. Roll a 
  d20 and consult the “Religious Professions” table to 
  determine your profession.
  6
  Wilderness. You live beyond civilization’s bounds. 
  Roll a d20 and consult the “Wilderness Professions” 
  table to determine your profession.
  18
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Common Professions
  d20
  Profession
  1
  Animal trainer
  2
  Apothecary or healer
  3
  Artisan. Choose a manufacturing trade. Examples 
  include baker, blacksmith, bookbinder, brewer, 
  carpenter, chandler, cobbler, dyer, glassblower, jeweler, 
  leatherworker, mason, potter, printer, and tailor.
  4
  Artist. Choose a medium. Examples include painter, 
  poet, sculptor, and writer. If you choose poet or writer, 
  you can read and write one language you know.
  5
  Boatman or ferryman
  6
  Butcher
  7
  Cook
  8
  Drover or herder
  9
  Entertainer. Choose a style. Examples include 
  actor, athlete, comedian, courtesan, dancer, orator, 
  puppeteer, singer, and storyteller.
  10
  Farmer
  11
  Fisher or whaler
  12
  Groom
  13
  Laborer. Choose a labor. Examples include chimneysweep, 
  gravedigger, porter, stevedore, and street-sweeper.
  14
  Merchant. Choose a good. Options include arms, 
  grains, livestock, slaves, spices, and textiles.
  15
  Miner
  16
  Musician. Choose an instrument. Examples include 
  percussion, string, and wind.
  17
  Sailor
  18
  Servant or valet
  19
  Shopkeeper
  20
  Teamster
  Academic Professions
  d20
  Area of Scholarship
  d20
  Area of Scholarship
  1
  Architecture
  11
  Magic
  2
  Astrology
  12
  Medicine
  3
  Engineering
  13
  Navigation
  4
  Etiquette & customs
  14
  Occult
  5
  Folklore
  15
  Philosophy
  6
  Geography
  16
  Politics
  7
  Heraldry
  17
  Nature
  8
  History
  18
  Religion
  9
  Law
  19
  Science
  10
  Literature
  20
  War
  Criminal Professions
  d20
  Profession
  d20
  Profession
  1
  Agitator
  11
  Informant
  2
  Beggar
  12
  Murderer
  3
  Burglar
  13
  Pickpocket
  4
  Carouser or rake
  14
  Pirate
  5
  Charlatan or  
  confidence artist
  15
  Prostitute
  6
  Cultist
  16
  Rebel or terrorist
  7
  Fence
  17
  Saboteur
  8
  Forger
  18
  Spy
  9
  Gambler
  19
  Thug
  10
  Grave robber
  20
  Urchin
  Martial Professions
  d20
  Profession
  d20
  Profession
  1
  Constable
  9–10
  Militia member
  2
  Detective
  11–12
  Patroller
  3–4
  Guard
  13–15
  Peasant conscript
  5
  Jailer
  16
  Slave
  6
  Officer
  17–18
  Soldier
  7
  Marine
  19
  Squire
  8
  Mercenary
  20
  Torturer
  Wilderness Professions
  d20
  Profession
  d20
  Profession
  1
  Bandit, brigand,  
  or highway robber
  12
  Poacher or rustler
  2
  Barbarian
  13
  Prospector
  3
  Exile
  14
  Outlaw
  4
  Gatherer
  15–16
  Refugee
  5–6
  Guide
  17
  Spelunker
  7
  Hermit
  18
  Tracker
  8–9
  Hunter
  19
  Trapper
  10
  Nomad or  
  vagabond
  20
  Woodcutter
  11
  Pioneer
  19
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  character can do, and what things your character knows. 
  The Game Master will sometimes look to your professions to 
  judge whether an activity you describe results in a success or 
  failure. A profession could grant a success or it might grant 1 
  or more boons to your roll if the outcome isn’t clear.
  Altering Professions
  Since a profession can be anything that involves a lifestyle 
  or occupation, you can substitute other professions for 
  the ones listed here. Rather than become a comedian, 
  for example, you could be a clown or a mime. You can 
  substitute chimney-sweep for laborer or pastry chef for 
  cook. Before making a substitution, talk to your GM to 
  make sure it is appropriate for the game.
  Starting 
  Equipment
  You start with equipment based on your character’s wealth. 
  To determine your wealth, roll and total 3d6, then consult 
  the Wealth table. Keeping your professions and ancestry in 
  mind, come up with a story for how your character came by 
  this lifestyle.
   Your starting wealth tells you the equipment you have 
  when the adventure begins. For details on equipment, see 
  Chapter 3.
  Destitute
  You have a club or sling with 20 stones, rags, and a pouch 
  containing 1d6 bits.
  Poor
  You have a staff or club or sling with 20 stones, patched 
  basic clothing, a sack, bread, a waterskin, a tinderbox, a 
  candle, and a pouch containing 2d6 bits.
  Religious Professions
  d20
  Profession
  1–2
  Devotee. You are a strong believer and follower of your faith’s tenets. You can read and write one language you 
  know.
  3–4
  Evangelist. You travel from place to place, preaching your faith to any who will listen and rely on the charity of 
  believers. You can read and write one language you know.
  5
  Flagellant. You cloak yourself in deprivation to bring you closer to your gods. You might scourge yourself, deprive 
  yourself of food and drink, or find other, creative ways to make yourself suffer.
  6
  Heretic. You hold religious beliefs deemed dangerous and heretical by the leaders of your faith.
  7–8
  Initiate of the Old Faith. You have been initiated into the Old Faith.
  9–10
  Minister. You are a religious leader in your community. You know how to read and write one language you know.
  11–12
  Acolyte of the New God. You study to become a priest in the Cult of the New God. You know how to read and write 
  one language you know.
  13
  Inquisitor’s Henchman. You serve an inquisitor or witch hunter.
  14–16
  Pilgrim. You travel to sites deemed holy to members of your religion.
  17–18
  Street Preacher. You preach on street corners, beseeching people to seek redemption as the end is near.
  19–20
  Temple Ward. You were raised in a temple. You were likely an orphan and brought up by the clergy.
  Getting By
  You have a dagger, a staff or club or sling with 20 stones, 
  basic clothing, a backpack, a week of rations, a waterskin, a 
  tinderbox, 1d3 torches, and a pouch containing 1d6 cp.
  Comfortable
  You have a dagger, a staff or club or sling with 20 stones, 
  fine clothing, a backpack, a cloak, a week of rations, a 
  waterskin, a coil of rope, a tinderbox, 2 torches, a healing 
  potion, and a pouch containing 2d6 cp. You also have a 
  small shield; an incantation of a rank 0 spell of the GM’s 
  choice written on a scroll; or a healer’s kit, tool kit, or 
  writing kit.
  Wealthy
  You have a dagger, courtier’s clothing, a cloak, a backpack, 
  a week of rations, a waterskin, a coil of rope, a tinderbox, 
  a lantern, 2 flasks of oil, a healing potion, and a pouch 
  Wealth
  3d6
  Lifestyle
  3–4
  Destitute You are penniless and live on the 
  streets.
  5–8
  Poor You live in squalid conditions and you’re 
  never sure where you’re going to get your next 
  meal.
  9–13
  Getting By You earn enough to meet all your 
  expenses.
  14–16
  Comfortable You live well and make enough that 
  you can save a little.
  17
  Wealthy You live very well. You have nice clothes 
  and fine accommodations, and you have probably 
  not gone without for a long time.
  18
  Rich You want for nothing. You likely come from 
  a noble family, and you have servants and an 
  estate, castle, or house in the best part of town. 
  Your fortunes earn you many friends and many 
  enemies.
  20
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  containing 1d6 ss. You also have a shield; an incantation of 
  a rank 0 spell of the GM’s choice written on a scroll; or a 
  healer’s kit, tool kit, or writing kit.
  Rich
  You have a dagger, noble’s clothing, a cloak, a week 
  of rations, a waterskin, a healing potion, and a pouch 
  containing 2d6 ss. You also have a personal servant, a guard, 
  and three horses with saddles.
  Interesting Things
  Your character begins the game with one interesting thing. 
  An interesting thing could be an unusual item, a character 
  trait, an heirloom inherited from a mysterious ancestor, or 
  something that makes your character unique.
   To determine your interesting thing, roll a d6 to see 
  which Interesting Thing table you use. Then roll a d20 and 
  consult the appropriate table.
  Interesting Things Table 2
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A flute or set of panpipes, or other musical instrument.
  2
  A reliquary containing a small bone.
  3
  A tiny idol of a demon carved from green stone.
  4
  A token from an admirer or lover.
  5
  A pet mouse, squirrel, or rabbit.
  6
  A monocle or pair of heavy goggles.
  7
  A silver necklace with a medallion.
  8
  A snuffbox filled with snuff.
  9
  A gleaming dragon’s scale.
  10
  A fist-sized egg covered in blue spots.
  11
  Unrequited love.
  12
  A black iron cauldron filled with bones.
  13
  A box of 1d20 iron nails.
  14
  A vial of sweet perfume or a bottle of rotgut.
  15
  A feather made from bronze.
  16
  An iron coin with a scratch on one side or a steel coin 
  with a dragon’s head on either side.
  17
  A box containing 1d6 + 1 brushes.
  18
  A bloodstained doll.
  19
  A silver engagement ring worth 1 ss.
  20
  A brush, comb, or umbrella.
  Interesting Things Table 3
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A bar of soap or a towel.
  2
  One hundred feet of twine wrapped up in a ball.
  3
  A tiny portrait, a lock of hair, or some other favor from 
  someone who loves you.
  4
  A small keg of beer.
  5
  A brace of conies or pack filled with pots and pans.
  6
  An arrow or bolt with a silvered head.
  7
  Half a treasure map, a map of a foreign land, or a large, 
  blue map covered with circles with weird bits of writing 
  between them.
  8
  A weapon of the GM’s choice.
  9
  A light or heavy shield with an unusual heraldic device.
  10
  A fancy set of clothes bearing a curious stain.
  11
  A personal servant.
  12
  A silver holy symbol or a fine religious icon.
  13
  A bag of 2d6 rocks, acorns, severed heads, or yummy 
  mushrooms.
  14
  A music box that plays a sad, sad song when opened.
  15
  A bag of 100 marbles.
  16
  A glass jar filled with saliva, a sack filled with rotting 
  chicken parts, or an unseemly scar.
  17
  A small bag containing 3d6 teeth, a necklace of 1d6 ears, 
  or 1d6 severed heads tied together by their hair.
  18
  A newborn baby that might or might not be yours.
  19
  A box of six fine white candles.
  20
  A small dog with a tendency toward viciousness.
  Interesting Thing Tables
  d6
  Table
  d6
  Table
  1
  Table 1
  4
  Table 4
  2
  Table 2
  5
  Table 5
  3
  Table 3
  6
  Table 6
  Interesting Things Table 1
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A tiny metal box with no opening that makes a faint 
  ticking noise.
  2
  A skull made from clear crystal.
  3
  A glass ball filled with water in which swims a tiny living 
  goldfish.
  4
  A curious odor, a pungent stench, or a skin condition 
  that never quite heals.
  5
  A bottle filled with a maiden’s tears.
  6
  A flower that never withers.
  7
  A small magnet or silver mirror.
  8
  An invitation to a party or a masquerade mask.
  9
  A monogrammed handkerchief that always stays clean.
  10
  A folding knife that always stays sharp.
  11
  A pair of dancing shoes.
  12
  A tiny inert mechanical spider.
  13
  A shrunken head.
  14
  A glass eye or a bezoar.
  15
  A book written in an unknown language or a book 
  containing things you never wanted to know.
  16
  A deck of fortune-teller’s cards.
  17
  A pair of loaded dice.
  18
  Six small cakes that can nourish the person who eats 
  one until the next day at dawn.
  19
  A phylactery that holds a scrap of paper on which is 
  written a single word.
  20
  A reputation for being a badass.
  21
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Interesting Things Table 4
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A glass jar holding a beetle covered in glowing spots 
  (sheds light as a candle).
  2
  A pair of boots that grants you 1 boon on rolls to sneak 
  or a gray cloak that grants you 1 boon on rolls to hide.
  3
  A glass jar containing a strange organ suspended in alcohol.
  4
  A tiny glass cage.
  5
  A box containing 1d6 bottles of ink, each a different color.
  6
  A tiny inert mechanical owl.
  7
  A length of rope, 20 yards long, that cannot be cut.
  8
  A badge from a mercenary company.
  9
  A box of cigars or a pipe and pouch of tobacco.
  10
  A medallion depicting a hideous woman’s face.
  11
  A spiked collar, skin clamps, and a scourge.
  12
  A ten-pound bag of flour.
  13
  A bronze plate with a name scratched on its face.
  14
  A crystal bottle containing fluid that emits light in a 
  2-yard radius when the stopper is removed.
  15
  A small box holding six sticks of chalk.
  16
  A letter of introduction from a powerful and influential 
  person.
  17
  A mirror fragment that shows a strange location on its 
  reflective surface.
  18
  A small golden cage containing a living faerie that 
  cannot talk.
  19
  A bottle labeled “Eye of Newt.”
  20
  A bag of beans.
  Interesting Things Table 5
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A jar of grease or a bottle of glue.
  2
  A glass globe filled with swirling mist.
  3
  A cloak with 2d20 pockets hidden in the lining.
  4
  A pair of spectacles that sometimes let you see through 
  up to 1 inch of solid rock.
  5
  A small blue box that’s bigger on the inside (twice 
  normal capacity).
  6
  A small steel ball.
  7
  A petrified hand that twitches in the light of a full moon.
  8
  The true name of a very minor devil.
  9
  An animated mouse skeleton.
  10
  A weapon of the GM’s choice that always emits light in a 
  1-yard radius.
  11
  A pouch that holds 1d6 + 1 pinches of dust that, when 
  sprinkled over stone, causes up to a 1-yard cube of 
  material to become soft clay.
  12
  A jar of paint that refills itself once each day at dawn.
  13
  A tiny metal ball that when released floats 1 inch above 
  any solid surface.
  14
  A pouch holding 1d6 + 1 pinches of diamond dust.
  15
  A brain in a jar.
  16
  A bag filled with curiously fleshy rods.
  17
  A mace made from purple metal with a name etched on 
  the haft.
  18
  A giant piece of charcoal that radiates menace.
  19
  A piece of amber containing a human-faced fly.
  20
  A lifetime of regrets.
  Interesting Things Table 6
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A reputation for being a skilled lover.
  2
  A mummified halfling.
  3
  A set of clothing that can change appearance once each 
  day at dusk.
  4
  A can of beets.
  5
  A stalker who follows you but flees when you approach.
  6
  A shameful past.
  7
  A recurring and disturbing dream.
  8
  A trunk filled with body parts.
  9
  A wagon or cart pulled by a sad donkey.
  10
  Three small white mice that whisper strange things to 
  you while you sleep.
  11
  A tremor, a facial tic, or an irritating laugh.
  12
  A thermometer.
  13
  A collapsible pole, 3 yards long.
  14
  A shadow you cast that never quite matches your 
  movements.
  15
  Fear and loathing.
  16
  A fondness for the bottle.
  17
  A thin shirt of mail that counts as light armor and can be 
  worn under normal clothing (functions as mail and is not 
  cumulative with other armor).
  18
  A bizarre fetish.
  19
  A demanding spouse.
  20
  A terrible secret that you dare not reveal.
  Roleplaying
  Your character occupies a place in the imaginary world. 
  He or she is a person with hopes and dreams, fears and 
  biases, a history and a future, all of which inform his or 
  her personality. It is up to you to decide how you portray 
  this character in the game, but whatever you decide, you 
  should play the character in a manner consistent with the 
  decisions you made during creation.
   To help play your character in a consistent manner, come 
  up with a couple of positive traits and at least one negative 
  trait, noting them somewhere on your character sheet. 
  You can roll on the Personality Traits table if you need 
  inspiration.
  Roleplaying 
  Questions
  By answering the following roleplaying questions as if you 
  were your character, you can get a sense of how your character 
  thinks and behaves, and what your character believes.
  Relationships
  How do other people make you feel? Do you like being the 
  center of attention? Do you make friends easily? When it 
  comes to you, is there such a thing as a stranger? Or do you   
  22
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  uncomfortable in large groups? Do you prefer to keep to 
  yourself or a close circle of friends? 
   What sorts of people do you enjoy most? Do you like 
  other outgoing people, or do you prefer quiet, more insular 
  types? What kinds of people do you avoid? Who are your 
  friends? Who are your enemies?
  Values
  Name one thing you value most. Then name one thing you 
  could lose. The things you value or don’t value could be ideals 
  such as love, honor, or charity, connections to other people such 
  as friends and family members, or physical things—a prized 
  weapon, an heirloom, or a token of love. Thinking about the 
  thing you value most, what makes it important to you? To what 
  lengths would you go to secure it, keep it, or attain it?
   For the thing you value least ... Why is it not important to 
  you? How easily would you surrender it? 
  Fear and Loathing
  Everyone fears something. What do you fear? The source of 
  your fear could be a situation. You might fear being alone 
  or being powerless. It could also be a physical thing such as 
  spiders, snakes, or demons. Why does this fear have power 
  over you? How do you control your fear when you confront it?
   What do you hate? The source of your fear could be 
  the same thing you hate, especially if the fear is a constant 
  concern. Like fears, hatreds can apply to big concepts such 
  as tyranny, slavery, injustice, and suffering. Or it might be a 
  person or organization. Think about a reason for why you 
  hate the thing you do. Has it affected you directly? Have you 
  suffered from it? Or does the hatred reflect one of your ideals?
  Personality Traits
  d20
  Positive
  Negative
  1
  Benevolent
  Aloof
  2
  Cheerful
  Arrogant
  3
  Courageous
  Conceited
  4
  Dependable
  Craven
  5
  Determined
  Deceitful
  6
  Dutiful
  Impulsive
  7
  Empathetic
  Lazy
  8
  Fair
  Malicious
  9
  Forgiving
  Obnoxious
  10
  Gracious
  Quarrelsome
  11
  Generous
  Rude
  12
  Helpful
  Sarcastic
  13
  Honest
  Self-centered
  14
  Honorable
  Slovenly
  15
  Humble
  Stingy
  16
  Idealistic
  Sullen
  17
  Imaginative
  Surly
  18
  Kind
  Thoughtless
  19
  Noble
  Unfriendly
  20
  Orderly
  Vulgar
  23
  1
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Character Creation
  Love and Desire
  Just as everyone has their fears, they also have their desires. 
  A desire can be anything you wish. It might be a state of 
  being, a relationship, an object, or an experience. You 
  might desire love, peace, or security. You might crave a 
  relationship with another character. Or, you could seek out 
  a fabled relic or victory over your enemies.
   Also, what do you love? You can love your family, 
  friends, a lover, a companion animal, an object that holds 
  importance to you, or even your nation. Consider the 
  reasons for your love. Do they arise from an obligation or a 
  duty, or something deeper and more mysterious?
  Secrets
  You have at least one secret. What is the one thing your 
  character knows and knows alone? Then, come up 
  with a secret known only to you and maybe one or two 
  others. Share your secret with the Game Master, as this 
  information could be important to a future adventure.
  Achievements
  Did you do something notable? How do you feel about it? 
  Do you share it with others or do you keep it to yourself?
  Authority
  Do you prefer to be in charge? Do you like making 
  decisions or are you content to let others decide? Deciding 
  how you feel about authority will affect how your character 
  fits into the group.
  Obligations and Responsibility
  Do you follow through on your promises? Do you complete 
  tasks that come to you as soon as you can or are you given 
  to delay and procrastination? Do you feel guilty when you 
  don’t live up to your obligations?
  Good and Evil
  Is the world sharply divided into good and evil? Or is it all 
  just shades of gray? Where do you fall? Do you help others, 
  act without considering your needs, or give of yourself 
  all that you can? Or do you fulfill your own needs first, 
  exploiting others when necessary to advance your position?
  Your First Adventure
  Once you finish creating a character, you are ready to play 
  through a starting adventure. You play this adventure 
  with a group of friends, one of whom is the Game Master. 
  Playing through a starting adventure has many benefits.
  Learn the Rules
  The adventure gives you a chance to learn how the game 
  plays, such as how to resolve fights, social interaction, 
  and moving, without having to worry about too many 
  exceptions gained from playing a character in higher-level 
  groups. By the adventure’s conclusion, you should have a 
  good understanding of how the basic rules work.
  Decisions and Outcomes
  While playing the game, keep track of what your character 
  does and how your character behaves. What you do during 
  your first adventure should inform the choices you make after 
  your group forms and gains a level. So if you spend a lot of time 
  fighting, sneaking around, casting spells from incantations you 
  find, or do something else noteworthy, jot it down.
  Building a Group
  The first adventure operates as the origin story for the 
  characters played by you and your friends. Your character 
  might know one or more other characters that will join the 
  group, or you might be strangers. Regardless, this adventure 
  explores the conflicts, challenges, and revelations that will 
  connect your characters for the remainder of the game.  Here 
  are some things you should do during your first adventure.
  Cooperation
  Learning how to work together is crucial for your group to 
  survive the perils that lie in wait. Look for ways to help other 
  players in the game to create stronger connections. As you 
  play, note the relationships you make with other characters. 
  You befriend some or come into conflict with others. These 
  relationships will become important once the group forms. 
  Avoid Conflict
  Starting characters are fragile and have few resources. Since 
  a hit or two can knock you out or even kill you, you should be 
  cautious about fighting and consider it only as a last resort.
  Find Gear
  Your starting equipment is unlikely to carry you far. You 
  will need better armor, weapons, and supplies if you would 
  continue. You can upgrade your gear by taking on jobs for 
  pay, looting bodies, and robbing your enemies.
  Achieve Your Objective
  Every adventure you play has an objective, a goal or quest 
  that drives the story. Sometimes the GM will tell you and 
  other times you have to find out the nature of your objective 
  through play. Achieving your objective brings the story to 
  its conclusion, so keep working toward it as you play.
  Level Advancement
  After you complete your first adventure, your group gains a 
  level. The Shadow of the Demon Lord rulebook details all the 
  rules for advancement.  
  24
  1
  
  shadow of the demon lord
  This chapter tells everything you need to know to play 
  Shadow of the Demon Lord. The rules cover the basics of 
  how your character and other creatures do things in the 
  game. Both the characters you play and the creatures you 
  encounter might possess special abilities that alter how 
  the normal rules work. Such exceptions always trump the 
  general rules described here.
   As you play, you should always use common sense 
  about the real world as your guide for what’s possible and 
  what isn’t. Supernatural phenomena, magic, and other 
  strangeness can defy what we deem laws of reality, bending 
  or even breaking them. Aside from such miraculous events, 
  characters can do just about anything people do in the real 
  world: climb, start a campfire, walk, balance on a narrow 
  surface, talk, use their senses, and so on. Most times, you 
  don’t need rules for these things. You tell the Game Master 
  (GM) what your character does and the game moves 
  forward.
   For simplicity’s sake, these rules use “you” to describe 
  your character’s actions in the game.
  Making Decisions
  Simple, ordinary actions are assumed to happen. For 
  example, you tell the GM you spend the evening drinking 
  at a bar. Unless something interesting interferes with that 
  activity, it happens as you stated and the story continues.
   If you try to do something that is impossible, the GM 
  tells you that the activity doesn’t happen and what (if 
  anything) results from the effort. For example, trying to 
  walk through a solid wall simply fails without the use of 
  magic or some extraordinary ability; the GM tells you that 
  you bounce off the wall and don’t make it through it to the 
  other side.
   Sometimes, an action you describe prompts the GM 
  to make a judgment about whether or not the action 
  is possible. The rules help to make the decision, often 
  requiring the roll of dice to decide the outcome.
  Time
  Precise timekeeping is rarely necessary during play. If 
  you’re not in a hurry, it doesn’t matter how long it takes 
  you to make purchases in a marketplace or reach a town 
  on the frontier. The GM decides how much time passes. 
  A month-long ocean voyage might be summarized with a 
  few minutes of description, or you might play through a 
  tense negotiation in real time.
   There are occasions where time is important. When 
  an ogre lumbers out from a cave and attacks, when you 
  25
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  spring a trap and have to run away from the wall of water 
  it releases, or when you’re chasing a psychopathic killer 
  through tangled city streets, you need to know when 
  it’s your turn to act. In such cases, the GM can switch to 
  rounds, segments of time that are 10 seconds long. See 
  Combat later in this chapter for a more detailed look at 
  how rounds work.
  Rolling Dice
  As noted in the introduction, the game uses two kinds of 
  dice: a twenty-sided die and a six-sided die (the ordinary 
  cube die found in many games).
   You roll a twenty-sided die (a d20) whenever you 
  attempt an activity whose outcome is uncertain. The die 
  roll determines whether the attempt is a success or a 
  failure.
   You roll one or more six-sided dice (d6) for a number 
  of effects. The most common situation is determining the 
  damage dealt by an attack. 
  Rolling a d20
  You roll a d20 to determine an activity’s outcome, by 
  making an attack roll or a challenge roll. Whenever you 
  roll a d20, follow these steps.
  • Roll the Die: Note the number you rolled.
  • Apply Modifiers: Add or subtract any modifiers from 
  character attributes or characteristics to the number 
  you rolled. The rules or the GM determine what 
  modifier you use, depending on the task you attempt.
  • Apply Other Adjustments: Add or subtract any other 
  adjustments to the die roll, such as a bonus or penalty, 
  or a boon or bane.
  • Determine the Result: Compare the final total to the 
  target number for the roll. If the total equals or is greater 
  than the target number, the result is a success. If the total 
  is less than the target number, the result is a failure.
  Attack Rolls
  You make an attack roll when you attempt to influence or 
  harm another creature or an object. Examples of attack 
  rolls include swinging a weapon to strike an enemy 
  combatant, casting a spell to overwhelm a creature’s mind, 
  or using a mace to smash a statue. See Combat for more 
  information.
  • Modifier: Attack rolls with a melee weapon, such as 
  a battleaxe or a sword, normally add your Strength 
  modifier. When you make an attack with a ranged 
  weapon, such as a pistol or a crossbow, you normally 
  add your Agility modifier to the attack roll. Special 
  kinds of attack rolls might use a different attribute 
  modifier. Some kinds of spells require you to make 
  an attack roll; the spell’s description tells you what 
  modifier to use when making it.
  • Target Number: The target 
  number for an attack roll is usually 
  a 
  creature’s Defense score for weapon attacks, 
  or 
  an attribute score for other kinds of attacks.
  • Success: In general, a success deals damage to the 
  target, imposes an affliction, or forces the target 
  to move or behave in some way. For example, if 
  you use a weapon to attack a creature and get a 
  success, you roll the weapon’s damage dice. The 
  creature takes damage equal to the total of the 
  damage roll.
  • Failure: The target avoids the attack: You miss with your 
  weapon, your shot goes wide of its mark, or the spell 
  fails to harm or take hold on the target.
  Attack Roll Example
  Stacee’s character, Anise, looses an arrow from her bow 
  at a bear. She’s attacking with a ranged weapon, so she 
  adds her Agility modifier to the attack roll. Stacee rolls a 
  d20 and gets a 4. She adds her Agility modifier (+3) to the 
  number on the die for a total of 7. The bear’s Defense is 14, 
  so the result of the attack roll is a failure and the arrow 
  misses.
  Challenge Rolls
  You make a challenge roll when you attempt an activity 
  that is not directly opposed by another creature and the 
  outcome is not certain. Sometimes an action that would 
  ordinarily be simple becomes more challenging under 
  stress or when time is limited. Examples of challenge rolls 
  include climbing, swimming, picking locks, listening for 
  faint sounds, reducing the damage you would take from 
  being caught in a fireball spell, leaping back from a sprung 
  pit trap, or clinging to your sanity in the face of something 
  horrific.
  • Modifier: The type of modifier depends on the action 
  you attempt. For example, you make a Strength 
  challenge roll to smash down a door, applying your 
  Strength modifier. If you listen at a door, you make 
  a Perception challenge roll and use your Perception 
  modifier. If you want to leap out of the path of arcane 
  lightning, you make an Agility challenge roll and use 
  your Agility modifier.
  • Target Number: The target number for challenge rolls 
  is always 10.
  • Success: The activity happens as desired.
  • Failure: The activity does not happen, or you don’t get the 
  desired outcome. If you attempt the same activity again 
  under identical circumstances, it automatically results in 
  failure. For example, if you attempt to scale a sheer cliff 
  wall unassisted and get a failure, you cannot, under the 
  same circumstances, climb that wall. To get up to the top, 
  you have to change the circumstance in some way. You 
  26
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  might toss up a grappling hook and rope, find a ladder, 
  hammer spikes into the surface, or put on climbing claws.
    As another example, say you attempt to use lock picks 
  to open a locked door. If you have plenty of time and 
  you aren’t under any stress, you can eventually open the 
  lock without having to make a roll. However, if you are 
  under pressure, you might have to make the challenge 
  roll. If you get a failure, you can’t try again to open the 
  lock under those circumstances, though you can do so 
  once time is no longer an issue.
  Challenge Roll Example 1
  Joe’s character, Helmut, tries to kick down a locked door. The 
  GM decides Joe must make a Strength challenge roll. Joe 
  rolls a d20 and gets a 9. He adds his Strength modifier (+2) 
  to the number on the die, for a total of 11, which is a success 
  since Joe needed a 10. Helmut kicks down the door.
  Challenge Roll Example 2
  A vile pyromancer hurls a blast of fire from his fingertips, 
  catching Heather’s character, Jasper, in the area. Everything 
  in the spell’s area takes damage from the flames, but 
  creatures can attempt Agility challenge rolls to take only 
  half the damage. Heather rolls a d20 and gets a 9. She adds 
  her Agility modifier (+1) to the number on the die for a total 
  of 10. Since the total is 10 or higher, she gets a success and 
  takes only half the damage.
  Bonuses and Penalties
  Many situations in play can confer a bonus or a penalty on 
  a d20 roll, representing an advantage or a disadvantage.
   A bonus is always a positive number (+), which you 
  add to the roll; a penalty is always a negative number 
  (−), which you subtract. A single die roll might have 
  bonuses and penalties from different sources. These are 
  cumulative, so you need to total them up and add them to 
  the total of your roll.
  Boons and Banes
  Circumstances can make d20 rolls easier or harder. Positive 
  circumstances grant one or more boons, while negative 
  circumstances impose one or more banes.
  Boons
  Boons improve your d20 die rolls. One or more boons 
  might apply to a given roll. For each boon, you roll a d6 and 
  then add the highest number rolled on all the boon dice to 
  d20 roll. For example, if you make a d20 roll with 3 boons, 
  you would roll 3d6. Say you get 1, 4, and 6 on those dice. 
  The 6 is the highest number, so you add 6 to your d20 roll.
  Banes
  Banes hinder your d20 die rolls. One or more banes might 
  apply to a given roll. For each bane, you roll a d6 and then 
  subtract the highest number on all the bane dice from your 
  d20 roll. For example, if you make a d20 roll with 4 banes, 
  you would roll 4d6. Say you get 1, 3, 5, and 5 on those dice. 
  Since 5 is the highest number, you would subtract 5 from 
  your d20 roll.
  Combining Boons and Banes
  Boons and banes cancel each other out, one for one. If 2 
  boons and 1 bane apply to a particular d20 roll, you make 
  the roll with 1 boon (1 bane cancels 1 boon). Similarly, if 
  2 boons and 4 banes apply to the roll, you would end up 
  making the roll with 2 banes (2 boons cancel 2 banes).
  Attributes
  Attributes describe a creature’s basic capabilities in the 
  game. Most creatures have four attributes: Strength, 
  Agility, Intellect, and Will. Each attribute has two 
  numbers: a score and a modifier. Together, these numbers 
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  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  reflect a creature’s natural talent and formal training when 
  attempting to do things in the game.
  •  Score: An attribute’s score ranges from 1 to 20. Player 
  characters usually have starting scores from 8 to 13.
  •  Modifier: An attribute’s modifier equals its score − 10. 
  You apply this number to d20 rolls when you use the 
  attribute.
  Using Attributes
  Here are some guidelines about how you commonly use 
  your character’s attributes in the game. Each attribute is 
  associated with one or more characteristics, described later.
  Attribute and  
  Characteristic Associations
  Attribute
  Characteristic
  Strength
  Health
  Agility
  Defense
  Intellect
  Perception
  Will
  Insanity
  Strength
  Strength describes brawn, constitution, physical power, and 
  durability.
  •  Score: Your Strength score is the target number for any 
  attack that would directly harm your body.
  •  Health: This measures your ability to withstand damage. 
  Your starting Health equals your Strength score and 
  might be adjusted by ancestry (see Chapter 1). If your 
  Strength score increases, your Health increases by the 
  same amount.
  •  Attack Rolls: You make a Strength attack roll when you 
  attack with a melee weapon or use brute force to shove, 
  grab, or knock down another creature.
  •  Challenge Rolls: You make a Strength challenge roll 
  when you attempt an athletic activity, such as climbing, 
  running long distances, or swimming. You also make 
  Strength challenge rolls to resist the effects of poison, 
  disease, and similar harmful substances or situations.
  •  Lifting Weights: Your Strength score determines how 
  much weight you can normally lift, as shown on the 
  Lifting Weights by Strength table. The “Normal” 
  column lists how much you can reliably lift over your 
  head without having to make a challenge roll. The 
  “Success” column lists the maximum weight you can lift 
  by getting a success on a Strength challenge roll.
  •  Size: Larger creatures can lift greater weights, while 
  smaller creatures can’t lift as much. Multiply a 
  creature’s lifting weight for its Strength by its Size (see 
  Characteristics) to determine how much it can lift. For 
  example, a Size 2 creature with Strength 10 can reliably 
  lift 200 pounds, or 400 pounds with a success on a 
  Strength challenge roll.
  •  Dragging and Shoving: A creature can drag up to 
  about 5 times the weight it can normally lift. Using an 
  action (see Combat), a creature can drag or shove such 
  an object up to 2 yards across a reasonably flat surface, 
  1 yard up a sloped surface, or 3 yards down a sloped 
  surface.
  Agility
  Agility describes quickness, poise, and reflexes.
  •  Score: Your Agility score is the target number for any 
  kind of attack that needs only to touch you or that would 
  trap you.
  •  Defense: Your Defense score is the target number for 
  enemy attack rolls using weapons. It equals your Agility 
  score when you are not wearing armor or using a shield.
  •  Attack Rolls: You make Agility attack rolls when you 
  attack with ranged weapons or with melee weapons that 
  have the finesse property (see Combat).
  •  Challenge Rolls: You make Agility challenge rolls when 
  you attempt physical activities that involve quickness 
  and dexterity, such as jumping, leaping, escaping 
  bonds, or squeezing through a tight space. You also 
  make Agility challenge rolls to reduce damage from 
  being caught in an explosion or to avoid sudden danger, 
  such as a sprung trap.
  Lifting Weights by Strength
  Strength
  Normal
  Success
  1
  1 lb.
  2 lb.
  2
  2 lb.
  4 lb.
  3
  5 lb.
  10 lb.
  4
  10 lb.
  20 lb.
  5
  20 lb.
  40 lb.
  6
  30 lb.
  60 lb.
  7
  40 lb.
  80 lb.
  8
  50 lb.
  100 lb.
  9
  75 lb.
  150 lb.
  10
  100 lb.
  200 lb.
  11
  150 lb.
  300 lb.
  12
  200 lb.
  400 lb.
  13
  250 lb.
  500 lb.
  14
  350 lb.
  700 lb.
  15
  500 lb.
  1,000 lb.
  16
  1,000 lb.
  2,000 lb.
  17
  2,000 lb.
  4,000 lb.
  18
  4,000 lb.
  8,000 lb.
  19
  8,000 lb.
  16,000 lb.
  20
  16,000 lb.
  32,000 lb.
  28
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  Intellect
  Intellect describes cunning, wit, memory, and education.
  •  Score: Your Intellect score is the target number for any 
  kind of attack that would deceive or confuse your mind, 
  thoughts, and senses.
  •  Perception: You use Perception to notice and interact 
  with your surroundings. Your base Perception score 
  normally equals your Intellect score, but your ancestry 
  can adjust this score.
  •  Attack Rolls: You make Intellect attack rolls when you 
  cast certain spells or when you try to deceive another 
  creature.
  •  Challenge Rolls: You make Intellect challenge rolls 
  when you try to recall obscure information, use logic 
  to solve a problem, or attempt any other activity that 
  requires knowledge or education. You also make 
  Intellect challenge rolls to resist effects that would 
  weaken or harm your mind, deceive your senses, or 
  confound or confuse you.
  Will
  Will describes courage, discipline, and sense of self.
  •  Score: Your Will score is the target number for any attack 
  that would force you to act against your will, such as 
  being charmed, compelled, or frightened.
  •  Insanity: Terrifying or unnatural experiences can drive 
  characters insane. Your Will score is the maximum 
  amount of Insanity you can gain before you go mad.
  •  Attack Rolls: You make Will attack rolls when you cast 
  certain spells or try to persuade or intimidate another 
  creature.
  •  Challenge Rolls: You make Will challenge rolls when 
  you use determination to overcome a challenge. You 
  also make Will challenge rolls to resist effects that 
  would determine or restrict actions or to avoid gaining 
  Insanity.
  Characteristics
  Creatures have characteristics that describe 
  other traits. Some characteristics (Health, 
  Defense, Perception, and Insanity) are 
  associated with attributes.
  Health
  Health describes the maximum 
  damage a creature or object 
  can take. It represents a 
  combination of durability, 
  stamina, luck, and the ability 
  to turn a lethal injury 
  into a minor one.
   Your starting Health is equal to your Strength score, 
  though your ancestry might adjust it; if your Strength 
  score changes, your Health changes by the same amount. 
  Powerful creatures can have very high Health.
   For most creatures and objects, Health is a constant. 
  Magic and other special situations can grant bonuses or 
  penalties to Health, representing improved or weakened 
  vitality and durability. Usually, such bonuses or penalties 
  are temporary.
   Advancing in level permanently increases your Health.
   If a creature’s Health decreases to 0 for any reason, it dies.
  Injured
  You are injured while your damage equals or exceeds one-
  half your Health. Being injured doesn’t normally change 
  your capabilities, though some effects, talents, and traits 
  can interact with this state.
  Healing Rate
  All creatures can recover from damage, given enough time. 
  A creature’s healing rate is how much damage it heals after 
  it completes a rest or when targeted by an effect that heals 
  damage. A creature’s healing rate equals one-quarter its 
  Health (minimum 1). If the creature’s Health increases, its 
  healing rate also increases.
  Defense
  Defense represents the protection a creature or object has 
  against attacks made with weapons.
  • Score: Unless your ancestry states otherwise, while 
  unarmored, your Defense equals your Agility score. 
  Wearing armor and wielding a shield increase or replace 
  this number.
    Objects typically have Defense 5.
  Maximum Defense
  A creature’s Defense cannot exceed 25, even if weapons, 
  armor, and other effects would increase it beyond that 
  number.
  Perception
  Perception works just like an attribute. It has both a score 
  and a modifier. A high Perception indicates sharp senses, 
  while a lower number indicates a creature has poor vision 
  or hearing, or its senses are otherwise limited.
  • Score: Your base Perception score equals your 
  Intellect score. Your ancestry can increase 
  this number. Other creatures might also have 
  increased Perception scores based on their nature. 
  A creature’s Perception score cannot exceed 25.
  • Attack and Challenge Rolls: You make Perception 
  challenge rolls when you try to listen for sounds, 
  notice a detail in your environment, or recognize 
  an illusion for what it is.
  29
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  Insanity
  Characters risk madness when they encounter 
  the strange, the unsettling, or the awful. 
  Being affected by dark magic, encountering 
  horrifying demons released from the Void, 
  and witnessing acts of sudden, brutal violence 
  can stress or even shatter the mind. Insanity 
  measures this stress.
  Insanity Total
  Most characters begin with Insanity 0. You cannot 
  gain more Insanity than your Will score.
  Gaining Insanity
  Certain situations cause you to gain Insanity, as 
  directed by the rules or at the GM’s discretion. 
  Whenever you gain Insanity, you become 
  frightened for a number of rounds equal to your 
  new Insanity total. If you are already frightened, you 
  instead become stunned for the duration.
   When your Insanity total reaches your Will score, 
  you instead go mad.
  Going Mad
  When you go mad, remove the frightened affliction 
  gained from Insanity and roll a d20, then consult the 
  Madness table to determine what happens to you. Most 
  forms of madness are temporary. Once the madness ends, 
  reduce your Insanity total by 1d6 + your Will modifier 
  (minimum 1).
  Madness
  d20
  Madness
  1
  Death. Your heart stops and you die.
  2
  Catatonia. You fall prone and become defenseless. At the end of each hour, roll a d6. A roll of 4 or higher ends the 
  madness.
  3
  Self-Mutilation. You must use an action on your next turn to tear your eyes from your sockets unless you are 
  prevented from doing so. You become blinded until your ruined eyes can be magically repaired. The madness ends 
  at the end of the next minute.
  4–5 
  Stricken. You become stunned. At the end of each minute, roll a d6. A roll of 5 or higher ends the madness.
  6–7
  Sickened. You become violently sick, vomiting and defecating uncontrollably until the madness ends. While sickened, you 
  are dazed. At the end of each round, roll a d6. A roll of 5 or higher ends the madness.
  8–9 
  Hallucinations. You believe vermin infest your body. Until the madness ends, you must use an action to cut or claw 
  yourself unless you are prevented from doing so. Each time you use this action, you take 1 damage. At the end of each 
  round, roll a d6. A roll of 5 or higher ends the madness.
  10–11 
  Violence. Hate overwhelms you. Until the madness ends, you must take a fast turn each round and use an action to 
  attack the creature nearest to you, regardless of whether it is a friend or a foe. At the end of each round, roll a d6. A 
  roll of 5 or higher ends the madness.
  12–13 
  Panic. You become frightened until the madness ends. While frightened in this way, you must use an action to rush 
  away from the source of the madness. At the end of each round, roll a d6. A roll of 5 or higher ends the madness.
  14–15
  Confusion. You become dazed until the madness ends. At the end of each round, roll a d6. A roll of 5 or higher ends 
  the madness.
  16–17
  Rage. Until the madness ends, you make attack rolls using weapons with 1 boon, and your attacks with melee 
  weapons deal 1d6 extra damage. At the end of each round, roll a d6. A roll of 4 or higher ends the madness.
  18–19
  Resolute. You make all attack rolls and challenge rolls with 1 boon until the end of the next round, at which point the 
  madness ends.
  20
  Revelation. Reduce your Insanity total by 1d6. You permanently make all Will challenge rolls to resist gaining Insanity 
  with 1 boon.
  30
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  Quirks
  You can remove Insanity by gaining quirks. A quirk is a 
  compulsive behavior, a phobia, or another condition that 
  permanently affects your character. You can gain a quirk at 
  any time, though once you do so you cannot gain another 
  quirk until after you complete a rest. The GM chooses a 
  quirk that is appropriate for the most recent source of your 
  insanity, and you then reduce your Insanity total by 1d6 + 
  your Will modifier (minimum 1).
  Corruption
  Evil leaves a stain on the mortal soul that can be removed 
  only by the devils haunting Hell’s depths. These warped 
  faerie feed on the darkness that burdens immortal 
  essence. Most people believe evil actions have spiritual 
  consequences, though many don’t care.
   Player characters have Corruption scores to reflect the 
  evil they commit. The more corrupt a character becomes, 
  the greater the taint of evil on his or her soul, until it is 
  consigned to Hell.
  Starting Corruption
  Most characters begin with Corruption 0.
  Gaining Corruption
  Your Corruption score might increase during the game, 
  usually as a result of performing an act of great evil, as 
  determined by the GM or the rules. Examples include:
  • Murder.
  • Harming an innocent by spreading a disease, poisoning a 
  well, or being reckless with magic.
  • Stealing for personal gain.
  • Learning spells from dark traditions such as Forbidden 
  or Necromancy.
  • Using certain relics.
   As your Corruption score increases, you suffer increasingly 
  unpleasant effects.
   In addition, whenever you gain Corruption, roll a d20. If 
  the number rolled is less than your new Corruption score, 
  roll a d20 again and consult the Mark of Darkness table. If 
  you would gain a mark of darkness you already have, you 
  instead gain 2d6 Insanity.
  Atonement
  Corruption, once gained, is hard to lose without the 
  tender attentions of the devils that feed on it. Powerful 
  magic can cleanse a soul that is only lightly stained, 
  though such magic is rare and hard to come by. Repentant 
  mortals can erase some or even all of their Corruption by 
  committing their lives to good works, making amends for 
  past misdeeds, and conducting themselves selflessly and 
  with charity, virtue, and compassion for others.
  Corruption Effects
  Corruption Score
  Effect
  0–3
  No effect.
  4–6
  You make attack rolls to interact with 
  other creatures in social settings with 1 
  bane. As well, animals become hostile 
  around you and children might cry.
  7–8
  You take a -1 penalty on d6 rolls 
  to decide your fate while you are 
  incapacitated (see Damage). In 
  addition, you exhibit a physical sign of 
  Corruption, such as a sore that never 
  heals, weird marks on the skin, loss of 
  fingernails, or some other cosmetic 
  change.
  9 or more
  You die if you become incapacitated 
  and you cannot be restored to life—
  your soul is trapped in Hell.
  Mark of Darkness
  d20 Roll
  Mark of Darkness
  1
  You never cast a reflection in mirrors.
  2
  You have a rattling cough and sometimes 
  expel bloody maggots in a fit of coughing.
  3
  Your shadow appears enormous and 
  monstrous, never quite matching your 
  movements.
  4
  You can eat only rotting, spoiled food; you 
  vomit up anything else within minutes.
  5
  Holy symbols burn your skin, dealing 1 damage 
  per round of contact.
  6
  The inverted names of the Gods of the Old 
  Faith appear just under the surface of your 
  skin in a band around your left arm.
  7
  A pair of horns grows from your forehead.
  8
  A weeping red eye appears in the palm of each 
  of your hands.
  9
  When you speak, a faint cry accompanies your 
  words, as if from a soul in pain.
  10
  You weep blood.
  11
  You develop a nasty wound in your side that 
  oozes stinking black sludge whenever you 
  become angry. This wound never heals.
  12
  You grow a sixth finger on each hand and a 
  sixth toe on each foot.
  13
  Your nose rots away, leaving a dark crater in 
  your face that leaks bloody mucus.
  14
  Your eyes become pools of darkness; in the 
  dark, they glow with an evil red light.
  15
  Animals are always hostile to you and attack 
  you when you come within 6 yards of them.
  16
  Your reproductive organs shrivel and fall off or 
  out of your body.
  17
  You grow a second row of teeth in your mouth 
  and a new row of teeth in an unexpected 
  place.
  18
  A silver pentagram appears in the center of 
  your forehead.
  19
  Your skin bloats and becomes feverish to the 
  touch. When you perspire, you give off a foul, 
  sweetish musk.
  20
  Once each week, a child within 1 mile of you 
  sickens and dies.
  31
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  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  Power
  Power describes a creature’s ability to harness and direct 
  magical power. A creature’s Power score determines the 
  highest rank of spell it can learn and how often it can cast 
  the spells it knows. Magic is described in more detail in 
  Shadow of the Demon Lord.
   Most creatures have Power 0. Player characters can 
  increase their Power based on the paths they choose.
  Size
  Size is a number that describes roughly how big a creature 
  is relative to an average-sized human. A human is typically 
  Size 1. A Size 1/2 creature is half as big as an average human, 
  while a Size 2 creature is twice as big as an average human.
  Space
  The space a creature occupies is important in combat and 
  special situations (such as squeezing through a narrow 
  opening). A creature is considered to occupy a horizontal, 
  square space roughly equal to its Size on each side. Thus, 
  a Size 1 creature occupies a 1-yard square, while a Size 3 
  creature occupies a 3-yard square. (It isn’t literally filling 
  the whole space, but it is moving around in and otherwise 
  controlling that area.)
   A creature’s Size does not account for its height, which 
  varies from creature to creature.
  Reach
  Larger creatures can reach farther than smaller ones, 
  letting them attack or interact with things at a distance. A 
  creature’s reach equals its Size rounded up to the nearest 
  whole number. For example, a Size 1 or smaller creature 
  can make an attack with a battleaxe against a target, 
  or open a closed door, within 1 yard of it, while a Size 2 
  creature can do so within 2 yards of it.
  Speed
  Speed is a number that tells you how quickly a creature 
  moves. On its turn in combat, a creature can move up to 
  its Speed in yards. Outside of combat, creatures can travel 
  longer distances over time.
  Distance Traveled
  Sometimes you might need to know how far a creature can 
  move during a period of time. The Movement by Pace table 
  tells you how far a creature travels depending on its pace 
  (cautious, walk, jog, or run). The table assumes a Speed of 10, 
  which is typical for humans and similar creatures.
  Faster and Slower Creatures
  For every point of Speed beyond 10, increase the distance 
  moved by 10 percent. For example, an orc’s base Speed is 12, 
  so an orc character can walk 72 yards in 1 minute.
    For every point of Speed below 10, decrease the distance 
  moved by 10 percent. For example, a dwarf has a base Speed 
  of 8, so a dwarf character can jog 96 yards in 1 minute.
  •  Cautious: At this pace, you move quietly and watchfully. 
  While moving at a cautious pace, you make all 
  Perception rolls with 1 boon.
  •  Walk: You move at a steady pace. You can typically walk 
  for 8 hours without difficulty. Walking for longer is 
  considered a force march.
  •  Jog: You move at a quick pace. Each hour spent jogging 
  counts as 2 hours of walking. You make all Perception 
  rolls with 1 bane while moving at this pace.
  •  Run: You sprint, moving as fast as you can. Each hour 
  of running counts as 4 hours of walking. You make all 
  Perception rolls with 2 banes while moving at this pace. 
  It’s typically not possible to run for 8 consecutive hours 
  without taking periods of rest.
  •  Force March: If you travel more than the equivalent of 
  Movement by Pace
  Time
  ————————— Pace —————————
  Cautious
  Walk
  Jog
  Run
  Minute
  30 yards
  60 yards
  120 yards
  240 yards
  Hour
  1 mile
  2 miles
  4 miles
  8 miles
  Day
  8 miles
  16 miles
  32 miles
  —
  32
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  8 hours without taking a break for 1 hour or longer, you 
  risk exhaustion. At the end of each additional hour of 
  travel (regardless of pace), make a Strength challenge 
  roll. This roll is made with 1 bane if you are jogging or 
  with 2 banes if you are running. On a failure, you take 1d6 
  damage and become fatigued until you complete a rest. 
  See Healing Damage for more about resting.
  Difficult Terrain
  Some forms of terrain are hard to traverse. Rubble, debris, 
  steep slopes, stairs, underbrush, and the like can all slow 
  down movement and are considered difficult terrain. A 
  creature moves across an area of difficult terrain at half the 
  normal rate. Moving across 4 yards of difficult terrain is the 
  same as moving across 8 yards of normal terrain.
   If an area contains several kinds of difficult terrain, 
  their effects are cumulative. For example, moving through 
  thick underbrush on a steep hillside would halve your 
  rate of travel twice: traveling 2 yards through it would be 
  equivalent to moving over 8 yards of normal terrain.
   You can always move at least 1 yard, regardless of difficult 
  terrain, provided your Speed is at least 1.
  Narrow Spaces
  A creature can freely move through any opening wide 
  enough to accommodate its Size or larger.
   A creature can move at half the normal rate through an 
  opening as narrow as half the width of its space, but no 
  smaller. For example, a Size 1 creature can squeeze through 
  a tunnel that’s half a yard wide, but not through a foot-wide 
  opening. If the narrow space includes difficult terrain, the 
  effects are cumulative as described under Difficult Terrain.
   The GM might rule that a space is too low to move through 
  regardless of its width, depending on the creature’s height.
  Being Moved
  Creatures can be moved, willingly or not, by other 
  creatures’ actions or by effects. The source of the movement 
  specifies the distance and direction moved, and the creature 
  immediately moves as directed. Difficult terrain still affects 
  this movement; if a creature pushes you 2 yards across 
  rubble, you would move only 1 yard.
  Moving into Peril
  If being moved would put a creature into peril, such as over 
  the edge of a cliff or into a wall of flames, the creature makes 
  an Agility challenge roll. On a success, the creature falls prone 
  just before it enters peril—at the cliff’s edge, for example—
  and then stops moving from the effect that moved it.
  Movement through Creatures
  A creature cannot move through a space occupied by another 
  creature (friend or foe) without squeezing, unless the other 
  creature is very small or very large. Any creature can move 
  freely through the space of a Size 1/4 creature or of a creature 
  whose Size is 2 or more larger than its own. For example, a 
  Size 1 creature could move through a space occupied by a Size 
  1/4 creature or by a Size 3 or larger creature.
   Creatures can also move freely through the spaces of 
  prone creatures.
  Special Forms of Movement
  Usually a creature moves by walking, running, or slithering 
  across the ground. Creatures can also use some or all of the 
  following special forms of movement, which is described 
  under Move in the Combat section of this chapter.
   Common sense should always prevail when deciding what 
  forms of movement a creature might attempt. Elephants 
  and horses don’t climb well at all, and oozes tend to be poor 
  jumpers. The GM can rule that certain kinds of movement 
  aren’t possible for creatures based on their nature and anatomy.
  Falling
  When you fall a distance of more than 5 yards, you take 
  damage from landing. Use the Falling Damage table to 
  determine the amount of damage, based on the surface on 
  which you land.
  Falling Damage
  Distance in Yards
  —Damage by Surface—
  Solid
  Liquid
  4 or fewer
  —
  —
  5–9
  2d6
  1d6
  10–14
  4d6
  2d6
  15–19
  6d6
  3d6
  20–24
  8d6
  4d6
  25–29
  10d6
  5d6
  30–34
  12d6
  6d6
  35–39
  14d6
  7d6
  40–44
  16d6
  8d6
  45–49
  18d6
  9d6
  50 or more
  20d6
  10d6
  Land Prone
  If you take damage from landing after a fall, you fall prone.
  Falling onto Other Creatures & Objects
  If you land on another creature or an object other than the 
  ground, both you and the creature or object on which you 
  fell take the half the damage from landing after the fall.
  Movement Effects
  When an effect, such as from a trait or a spell, talks about 
  moving, the default movement pace, unless otherwise 
  indicated in the effect’s text, is walking on the ground.
  33
  2
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  Damage
  All kinds of harmful effects can deal damage to creatures 
  and objects. A weapon slices into unprotected flesh, 
  a fearsome trap springs, or a nasty spell sprays acid. 
  Harmful environmental effects, falls, and other unexpected 
  situations can also deal damage.
   Damage is a number that describes injuries and 
  exhaustion. The amount of damage dealt can be a flat 
  number, the sum of one or more d6s, or a roll of one or 
  more d6s plus a number.
  Damage Source
  Damage can come from many different sources. Weapons, 
  flames created by a fireball spell, and poison from a snake’s 
  venomous bite all deal damage. Some creatures have 
  immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities to certain sources 
  of damage, taking no damage, half damage, or double 
  damage. Typically, the damage source is made clear by the 
  name of the effect or spell name—damage from a lightning 
  bolt is lightning. If the damage is not clear in the spell name, 
  the GM decides the source based on the damaging effect.
  Taking Damage
  When a creature or object takes damage, add the amount of 
  damage dealt to the creature’s or object’s damage total.
   When a creature or object takes half damage, divide the 
  total damage by 2 and round down to the nearest whole 
  number. You halve damage only once, regardless of how 
  many times you are instructed to halve it.
  Rolling Damage
  You roll damage once per attack. If a single attack or effect 
  deals damage to more than one target, you apply the 
  amount of damage to each one.
  Extra Damage
  Many situations might cause an attack to deal extra 
  damage. Any extra damage applies only if the attack 
  normally deals damage. Extra damage granted by different 
  sources is cumulative.
  Effects of Damage
  A creature or object suffers no ill effects from taking 
  damage until its damage total equals its Health. If a 
  creature’s damage total equals its Health, the creature 
  becomes incapacitated (see below). If an object’s damage 
  total equals its Health, it is destroyed.
   The damage total can never exceed the Health of the 
  creature or object; any excess damage is ignored.
  Instant Death
  A creature dies if it takes an amount of damage equal to its 
  Health from a single source such as an attack or landing 
  after a fall.
  34
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  Incapacitated
  A creature becomes incapacitated when its damage total 
  equals its Health score. Upon becoming incapacitated, the 
  creature falls prone. A creature remains incapacitated until 
  its damage total no longer equals its Health. If the creature 
  takes any damage while incapacitated, it dies.
   Creatures other than player characters that become 
  incapacitated either die or fall unconscious for 1d3 hours, as 
  the GM decides.
   Player characters, however, become disabled and make 
  fate rolls to determine what happens to them.
  Disabled
  Disabled characters are defenseless.
  Fate Roll
  At the end of each round you are disabled, roll a d6. On a 1, you 
  start dying. On a 6, you heal 1 damage and become impaired 
  for 1 minute. A roll of any other number has no effect.
   If after 3 consecutive rounds you are still disabled, you 
  become unconscious for 1d3 hours and stop making the 
  fate roll. At the end of this time, you heal 1 damage and 
  become impaired for 1 minute.
  Dying
  Dying characters are unconscious.
  Fate Roll
  At the end of each round you are dying, roll a d6. On a 1, 
  you die. On a 6, you become disabled. A roll of any other 
  number has no effect.
  Healing Damage
  Creatures heal damage by resting or from equipment, 
  certain talents, and healing magic. When a creature heals 
  damage, it reduces its damage total by the amount healed.
  Resting
  You can benefit from a rest once per 24 hours. A rest is 
  a period of inactivity that lasts about 8 hours. During 
  this time, you can sleep, meditate, read, eat and drink, or 
  perform other non-strenuous tasks. When you complete 
  the rest, you heal damage equal to your healing rate. You 
  can extend the period of rest to a full 24 hours. At the end 
  of this time, you heal damage equal to twice your healing 
  rate instead.
   If something interrupts the rest for more than 1 minute, 
  the time spent resting is wasted and you must start the rest 
  over from the beginning to gain any benefit from it.
  Death
  When a creature dies, it becomes an object. Dead creatures 
  cannot be restored to life by healing their damage.
   When mortal creatures die, their souls wriggle free from 
  their corpses, hang around for a bit, and then move off to 
  whatever awaits them in the afterlife. Most sink into the 
  Underworld, where they remain until their memories and 
  identities fade. Souls tainted by Corruption descend into 
  Hell instead.
   Immortal creatures do not have souls. Their essence is 
  bound to their physical bodies so that when they die, their 
  essence becomes dormant inside them, rotting away with 
  their flesh. If the body is returned to life, the essence is also 
  restored.
  Returning from Death
  Powerful magic allows dead creatures to live again. 
  When a dead creature returns to life in its original body, 
  it has all the attribute and characteristic scores—except 
  damage as noted in the effect that restores the creature 
  to life—it had at the time of death. It also gains 1d6 
  Insanity. If this would drive the creature mad, it instead 
  lingers in a permanent vegetative state, trapped in its 
  body until it dies. While in this state, the creature is 
  unconscious.
  Starting a New Character
  If you die and you’re not restored to life, your next 
  character begins with a healing potion as compensation for 
  the cruel twist of fate that abbreviated your last character’s 
  career.
  Reincarnation
  The time it takes for a mortal soul to return to the world depends on several factors. A strong personality, a long life, and a powerful 
  will can cause a soul to linger in the Underworld for years or even decades. Corrupted souls take even longer to return from Hell, 
  since the devils take their time flensing the souls condemned to their care. Wherever the soul winds up, its time in the afterlife is 
  spent slowly losing its previous mortal identity. Memories and personality fade until the soul is reduced to its purest form, a clean 
  slate on which a new life can be written.
   Although most mortals have no recollection of their previous lives, a few experiences might linger in the soul: memories, 
  relationships, and feelings of great profundity. Mortals can experience flashbacks to previous lives when they encounter a similar 
  circumstance—a whiff of perfume, the visage of a terrifying monster, or the place where they previously died. The Game Master 
  decides the extent of the memories regained, and you decide how those memories affect your character.
  35
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  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  Afflictions
  Afflictions describe a variety of harmful effects that alter or 
  limit what creatures can normally do. The effect that imposes 
  the affliction tells you how long it lasts and what can be done 
  to remove it. If it doesn’t specify, the affliction is permanent.
  Asleep
  A sleeping creature is prone and unconscious. Another 
  creature that can reach it can use an action to wake it 
  up. Unless otherwise noted, taking damage removes this 
  affliction.
  Blinded
  A blinded creature cannot see. It treats its surroundings 
  as totally obscured (see Obscurement). Other creatures 
  make attack rolls with 1 boon against a blinded creature’s 
  Defense or Agility. Perception challenge rolls that rely on 
  sight automatically result in failure. Finally, the blinded 
  creature’s Speed becomes 2 unless its normal Speed is 
  lower.
  Charmed
  A charmed creature sees the source of the affliction as 
  a trusted friend and ally. The charmed creature cannot 
  choose the creature that bestowed the affliction as the 
  target of its attacks.
  Compelled
  A compelled creature cannot use actions or move. Instead, 
  during each fast turn (see Combat), the creature that 
  bestowed the affliction can force the compelled creature 
  to move up to its Speed or to use an action. The creature 
  that bestowed the affliction makes all decisions on the 
  compelled creature’s behalf.
  Dazed
  A dazed creature cannot use actions.
  Deafened
  A deafened creature cannot hear. Perception challenge rolls 
  made to listen automatically result in failure.
  Defenseless
  A defenseless creature cannot defend itself. Its Defense 
  is 5, it cannot use actions, and its challenge rolls using 
  attributes result in failure. The creature can still perceive its 
  surroundings, however, and can make Perception challenge 
  rolls as normal.
  Diseased
  A diseased creature makes all attack rolls and challenge 
  rolls with 1 bane.
  Fatigued
  A fatigued creature makes all attack rolls and challenge 
  rolls with 1 bane.
  Frightened
  A frightened creature makes all attack rolls and challenge 
  rolls with 1 bane. As well, frightened creatures cannot take 
  fast turns (see Combat).
  Grabbed
  The effects of the affliction depend on the creature’s Size. 
  If the grabbed creature’s Size is equal to or smaller than 
  that of the creature grabbing it, the grabbed creature 
  cannot move away from the creature that grabbed it until it 
  removes the affliction.
   If the grabbed creature’s Size is larger than that of the 
  creature grabbing it, whenever the grabbed creature 
  moves, the creature grabbing it can choose to move with 
  it (by clinging to the grabbed creature’s body) or end the 
  grab. (See Grab for more information on how to grab, and 
  Escape for how to escape a grab.)
  Immobilized
  An immobilized creature has Speed 0 and cannot benefit 
  from bonuses to Speed. Other creatures make all attack 
  rolls against the immobilized creature with 1 boon.
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  Impaired
  An impaired creature makes all attack rolls and challenge 
  rolls with 1 bane.
  Poisoned
  A poisoned creature makes all attack rolls and challenge 
  rolls with 1 bane.
  Prone
  A prone creature lies on the ground. Other creatures can 
  move through its space. While prone, the creature can 
  move by crawling or can use its move to stand up. The 
  prone creature makes Strength and Agility rolls with 1 bane. 
  Creatures that can reach the prone creature make all attack 
  rolls against it with 1 boon, while creatures that cannot 
  reach it make attack rolls against its Defense with 1 bane.
  Slowed
  A slowed creature can take only a slow turn (see Combat), its 
  Speed is halved, and it cannot benefit from increases to Speed.
  Stunned
  A stunned creature cannot move or use actions. The 
  creature automatically gets a failure on any challenge rolls 
  it would make. Other creatures make all attack rolls against 
  the stunned creature with 1 boon.
  Surprised
  A surprised creature cannot use actions, cannot move, and 
  automatically gets a failure on any challenge rolls it would 
  make.
  Unconscious
  An unconscious creature is unable to act, move, or perceive 
  its surroundings. The creature’s Defense is 5. It cannot use 
  actions or move, and all its challenge rolls result in failure.
  Multiple Afflictions
  If you gain an affliction you already have, there is usually 
  no additional effect, but you must remove each instance of 
  the affliction to end its effect on you. For example, if you are 
  poisoned from a snake’s venomous bite and then become 
  poisoned from a spider’s venomous bite, you remain poisoned 
  until you remove both instances of the poisoned affliction.
  The 
  Environment
  Game play occurs in an imaginary environment, filled with 
  creatures, obstacles, and dangers both seen and unseen.
  Objects
  Objects are inanimate things such as doors, curtains, 
  statues, staircases, and even dead characters. Objects can be 
  damaged and destroyed.
  Attributes
  Objects have Strength 0 and Agility 0. They do not have 
  Intellect or Will scores and are thus immune to attack 
  rolls against those attributes and to effects that allow 
  challenge rolls using those attributes. Objects are immune 
  to afflictions.
  • Perception: Objects do not usually have Perception.
  • Defense: Objects typically have Defense 5.
  • Size: Objects have Size just as creatures do.
  • Speed: Objects incapable of moving under their own 
  power have Speed 0.
  Health and Damage
  An object’s Health depends on its Size and composition, 
  and its base Health equals 10 times its Size. Objects made 
  from fragile materials have half the base Health, while 
  objects made from stone or metal multiply their base 
  Health by 2 or more.
   An object takes damage just as a creature does. Damage 
  shows in the object as cracks, scorch marks, and the like. 
  When its damage total equals its Health, the object is 
  destroyed or rendered useless. Some objects are resistant or 
  immune to some sources of damage based on their Size or 
  composition. For example, a galleon is immune to damage 
  from a dagger, and a sword is not likely to be harmed by 
  cold or ice.
  Carried and Worn Objects
  Carried and worn objects are usually not at risk of taking 
  damage from attacks unless those objects are specifically 
  targeted.
  Breaking Objects
  Rather than dealing damage to chop up or smash an object, 
  you might just use brute force to break it. Examples include 
  kicking down a door, putting your fist through a pane of 
  glass, and bursting rope bonds.
   When you attempt to break an object, make a Strength 
  challenge roll. For each point of Size the object is larger 
  than you, you make the roll with 1 bane. Depending on 
  Sentient Objects
  Sentient objects, such as animated beings, are effectively 
  creatures and are subject to the rules governing creatures. 
  Such objects might have Intellect and Will scores, the 
  Perception characteristic, and other capabilities.
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  the object’s composition, additional banes or boons might 
  apply to the roll, at the GM’s discretion.
  Range and Distance
  A few broad categories describe the range of weapons and 
  spells for the purpose of choosing targets and centering 
  area effects.
  •  You: You are the target, or the effect originates from you 
  or a point within your space. You are always within range 
  of yourself for the purpose of targeting.
  •  Reach: The target or the point from which the effect 
  originates must be within your reach, and you must be able 
  to touch it. If you attempt to touch an unwilling creature, 
  you must make a Strength or Agility attack roll against the 
  target’s Agility. On a success, you touch the target.
  •  Short: The target or the point from which the effect 
  originates must be within 5 yards of you.
  •  Medium: The target or the point from which the effect 
  originates must be within 20 yards of you.
  •  Long: The target or the point from which the effect 
  originates must be within 100 yards of you.
  •  Extreme: The target or the point from which the effect 
  originates must be within 500 yards of you.
  •  Sight: You must be able to see the target or the point 
  from which the effect originates.
  Obscurement
  Poor lighting, precipitation, and fog reduce visibility. An 
  area, and creatures and objects within it, can be partially, 
  heavily, or totally obscured.
  • Partially Obscured: Rain, light snow, fog, and shadows 
  all partially obscure an area. Everything in a partially 
  obscured area is visible, but observers cannot make out 
  fine detail.
    Any roll involving sight by a creature looking into a 
  partially obscured area is made with 1 bane.
  • Heavily Obscured: Heavy rain, snow, and thick fog all 
  heavily obscure an area. Everything in such areas is 
  faintly visible.
    Any roll involving sight by a creature looking into a 
  heavily obscured area is made with 2 banes.
  • Totally Obscured: Creatures and objects in totally 
  obscured areas cannot be seen, because they are in 
  darkness or blinding conditions, such as a whiteout in a 
  blizzard.
    A creature in an area that is totally obscured is blinded.
  Illumination
  The game uses three levels of illumination.
  • Lit: The sun, moon, torches, candles, and other forms of 
  illumination cause areas to become lit. A sighted creature 
  can see everything in a lit area that’s within its field of 
  view and is not hidden. Darkness becomes shadows 
  within a distance of a light source equal to twice the 
  light’s radius.
  • Shadows: Shadows form the border between light 
  and darkness. Indirect illumination, faint glows, and 
  moonlight create areas of shadow. An area of shadows is 
  partially obscured.
  • Darkness: This is the total absence of light. An area of 
  darkness is totally obscured.
  Invisibility
  An invisible creature or object cannot be seen by other 
  creatures using normal senses. It is considered to be 
  totally obscured and can thus hide anywhere. An invisible 
  creature makes attack rolls with 1 boon against the Defense 
  or Agility of a target creature that cannot see it.
   An invisible creature still makes noise, leaves footprints, 
  and displaces liquids. Clouds of dust and smoke can also 
  reveal such creatures. In such conditions, the invisible 
  creature is treated as if it were in a heavily obscured area.
  Roleplaying
  Roleplaying covers all the decisions that the Game Master 
  and players make about the creatures and characters they 
  control. These decisions might be as simple as stating 
  what a character says or does, or choosing a target for an 
  attack. In other cases, a player might let background details, 
  personality, and other past events in the game dictate what 
  his or her character does.
   People have different comfort levels when it comes to 
  roleplaying. Some like to immerse themselves in the game, 
  speaking as their characters or representing them with 
  painted miniatures. Others are less invested and describe 
  what their characters do and say. There’s no “proper” way 
  to roleplay; if everyone is having a good time, you’re doing it 
  right.
  Making Decisions
  Although you can do (or at least attempt to do) whatever 
  you like in the game, you can more easily imagine what’s 
  happening and make better decisions based on your 
  character’s details and the story in which you play. You can 
  draw inspiration for decision-making from many different 
  sources, a few of which are described here.
  Background
  You determine your character’s background when you 
  create your character. A background describes the kinds 
  of experiences your character had before his or her story 
  begins, which can guide your portrayal. For example, 
  a character who started out as a peasant might be 
  superstitious, skeptical, or nervous around magic.
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  Personality
  Your character should have a distinctive personality. 
  Keeping that personality in mind can help you decide how 
  he or she would behave in a given situation, though it’s okay 
  to act against personality from time to time. For example, 
  a character described as “often serious” might not find the 
  pranks of a gremlin all that funny.
  Connections
  You interact with the other players, as well as their 
  characters, while you play the game. You might be friends 
  or strangers in real life, but in the game you should try 
  to adopt the relationship between the characters instead. 
  Even if you’re best friends with another player, your 
  characters could despise each other. You might have 
  just met another player, but your characters are lifelong 
  friends.
   When roleplaying character connections, respect the 
  other players’ comfort levels. If your character has an 
  amorous relationship with another player’s character, 
  express it only as far as that player wants to go along. 
  Likewise, if your character hates another character, you 
  risk ruining the play experience by actively working against 
  that character unless the other player is willing to play out 
  this relationship. Before play, everyone should discuss their 
  characters’ connections with each other to find the best 
  ways to portray the relationships.
  Optional:  
  Character Bonds
  The characters making up your group have relationships 
  to one another. Your character might be friendly to some 
  members and antagonistic to others. Identifying how 
  your character feels about the other members of your 
  group gives you cues for how to play your character when 
  interacting with your companions.
   When your character joins the group, you can choose 
  two other characters in the group. You can have a positive 
  bond with one and a negative bond with the other. You 
  have a neutral bond toward everyone else in the group. 
  You can share your connections with other players or keep 
  them secret as you choose. You must, however, reveal your 
  connections to the Game Master.
  Positive
  A positive bond reflects feelings of admiration, friendship, 
  trust, and, possibly, love. When you roll a 1 on a boon 
  gained from the character you chose for your positive bond, 
  you can reroll the boon. You use the new number even if it 
  is another 1.
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  Negative
  A negative bond indicates your character has strong 
  feelings of antipathy, jealousy, disdain, or distrust. When 
  you roll a 6 on a boon you gained from the character you 
  chose for your negative bond, reroll the boon. You use the 
  new number even if it is another 6.
  Neutral
  A neutral bond indicates no strong feelings one way or the 
  other. You can be friendly toward a character with whom 
  you have a neutral bond or you can argue and bicker. 
  Whether you lean toward that character in a positive or 
  negative direction, your opinion about that character is not 
  strong enough to alter your interactions with the character.
  Changing Bonds
  Whenever your group’s level increases, you can change your 
  bonds. Any change in bond should reflect developments in the 
  story. For example, you might have a negative bond toward a 
  character, but your bond could change to neutral or positive 
  if that character took a serious risk to help you. Similarly, a 
  positive bond can become neutral or negative if the character 
  betrays you, embarrasses you, or spurns your attentions.
  Story Development
  The imaginary world of the game is wide open for you 
  to explore, but you and the other players are working 
  together to tell a particular story and fulfill its objective. 
  Your roleplaying decisions should generally serve to move 
  the story along. It’s perfectly fine to abandon the larger 
  story temporarily when you need to, but not when doing so 
  frustrates the efforts of other players who are working toward 
  the goal. Even if your character has negative connections to 
  some or most members of your group, you are still united by 
  a common purpose.
  Fortune
  The Game Master awards Fortune for exceptional 
  roleplaying, if you have a good idea and share it with the 
  group, if your character pulls off a remarkable stunt, or if 
  you do something else that makes the game more fun to 
  play. Once you gain Fortune, expending it represents a dash 
  of good luck when you need it.
   While you have Fortune, you can expend it in one of the 
  following ways:
  • When the result of a d20 roll is a failure, you can expend 
  Fortune to turn the failure into a success.
  • When another player rolls a d20, you can expend 
  Fortune to grant 2 boons to the roll.
  • When any player (including you) rolls a d6, you can 
  expend Fortune to replace the number on the die with a 6.
   Once you expend it, you do not have Fortune until the 
  GM awards it to you again. 
  Social Interaction
  Social interaction is usually handled through roleplaying. 
  When you want to talk to another character, you speak as 
  your character or describe what your character says. The 
  GM and other players do the same.
  Social Conflict
  The GM can call for an attack roll when you attempt 
  to alter another creature’s behavior or belief through 
  conversation in social settings. These rolls do not usually 
  occur in combat unless the GM says otherwise. Intellect 
  and Will are the attributes you use most in social situations. 
  You make the attack roll against the attribute that best 
  describes how the creature would resist your influence.
   Usually, when you interact with a creature, it needs to 
  be able to understand you. If you don’t have a common 
  language, the GM can let you make a roll if you try to 
  communicate a basic idea, possibly with 1 or more banes.
   When you make an attack roll in a social situation and the 
  total of your roll is 0 or lower, your attempt has the opposite 
  of the desired outcome. A creature you hope to befriend 
  becomes hostile to you, a creature you try to persuade 
  becomes intractable, and a creature you would intimidate 
  laughs off your threats. Further attempts to interact with the 
  creature in this way might result in failure, or the botched 
  roll could impose 1 or more banes as the GM decides.
  • Befriend: You try to improve how another regards you, 
  foster goodwill, or give comfort to someone experiencing 
  emotional distress. To befriend a creature, make a Will attack 
  roll against its Will. On a success, the creature becomes 
  friendly toward you. You might make further social rolls 
  against that creature with 1 boon, at the GM’s discretion.
  • Deceive: You attempt to pass a falsehood off as the 
  truth, make the implausible seem plausible, or bluff. To 
  deceive a creature, make an Intellect attack roll against 
  its Intellect. On a success, the creature believes your 
  deception until it’s shown to be false.
  • Intimidate: You use threats, physical pain, or body 
  language to menace another creature and force its 
  cooperation. Make a Will (or Strength if you are inflicting 
  pain) attack roll against the creature’s Will. On a success, 
  the creature behaves in the desired manner.
  • Persuade: You try to convince a creature to take a risk, 
  reveal a secret, or do something against its nature, such 
  as accept a bribe. Make a Will attack roll against the 
  creature’s Will. On a success, you persuade the creature 
  to do as you wish.
  • Taunt: You try to infuriate a creature and incite it to 
  violence. Make an Intellect attack roll against the 
  creature’s Will. On a success, the creature becomes angry 
  with you and at anyone or anything you chose when you 
  made the attempt. The creature acts in a manner the 
  GM deems appropriate based on the taunt. An affected 
  creature might attack, yell, or just become hostile.
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  Playing the Game
  Combat
  Combat occurs when one or more creatures attack another 
  creature or group of creatures. Since the stakes are at their 
  highest in combat, time in the game slows down to make 
  sure everyone participating has a chance to contribute to 
  the outcome.
  The Battlefield
  Before combat begins, the GM sets up the scene and tells 
  you the important details about the battlefield, the area 
  where the combat will take place. The GM might sketch out 
  the battlefield on paper or a wet-erase surface, use a map, 
  or just describe it.
   Exact positions are more important for some groups than 
  others, but everyone should at least have an idea about where 
  their characters are when the combat starts. The GM might 
  decide where everyone is, based on what was happening 
  when hostilities broke out, or ask the players. Some groups use 
  miniatures, tokens, or coins to keep track of positions, while 
  others let the whole thing unfold in their imagination.
  Awareness & Surprise
  Most times, the creatures being attacked are aware of 
  their attackers. If creatures on one side were hidden from 
  the other, appear out of nowhere, or catch the other side 
  sleeping or otherwise engaged, there’s a chance for surprise.
   When the GM decides surprise is possible, everyone 
  on the side that could be surprised makes a Perception 
  challenge roll. On a failure, the creature becomes surprised 
  until the end of the first round.
  Anatomy of a Round
  Combat is resolved in 10-second units of time, called 
  rounds. A round has three parts: fast turns, slow turns, and 
  the end of the round.
   During each round, players who want to take a turn 
  (fast or slow) do so in that part of the round, in any order 
  they choose. Once a player finishes his or her turn, he or 
  she cannot take another turn until after the end of that 
  round. If players cannot decide who goes first, the GM 
  might decide or have each conflicting player roll a d6, 
  with priority going to the player who rolled the highest 
  number.
   Once all the players have finished taking their turns 
  during a part of the round, creatures under the GM’s 
  control can take turns in that part, in any order. Once a 
  creature finishes its turn, it cannot take another turn until 
  after the end of that round.
  Fast Turns
  A creature that takes a fast turn can either use an action or 
  move up to its Speed. It cannot do both.
  Slow Turns
  A creature that takes a slow turn can use both an action 
  and move up to its Speed. It can use an action at any point 
  during the move.
  End of the Round
  The end of the round marks the transition from one round to 
  the next. Certain effects are resolved at the end of the round. 
  As with other parts of the round, the players first resolve 
  any effects they created or that affect them. Then the GM 
  resolves end-of-round effects for creatures and effects he or 
  she controls.
   When an effect specifies that it lasts for 1 round, it lasts 
  for 1 full round, which means it lasts until the end of the 
  next round.
   Combat ends when all creatures on one side surrender, 
  flee, or lie dead. Otherwise, a new round begins and 
  combat continues.
  First Round
  Before the first round begins, resolve any effects that were 
  already ongoing and that you would normally check for at 
  the end of a round. Then combat proceeds as normal.
  Example of a Round
  Shawn (playing a human warrior), Angela (a human 
  rogue), Jerry (a human magician), and David (a human 
  priest) form a group. Their characters are exploring an old 
  ruin. Four giant rats emerge from the shadows to attack. No 
  one is surprised, and combat begins.
  Turn Tokens
  You can use a two-sided turn token such as a coin, poker chip, or card to keep track which phase of the round you are in. One side 
  represents fast turns and is face up at the start of the round; the other represents slow turns. Once everyone who wishes to has 
  taken a fast turn, the GM takes any fast turns and flips over the token. Any remaining players and GM-controlled creatures do the 
  same during slow turns. After resolving any effects at the end of the round, the GM flips the token back to the fast turn side.
   You may find it works better if every player also has a token. When players take their turns, they lay down their tokens in front of 
  them on the side indicating fast or slow based on when the turn was taken.
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  PLaying the Game
  Fast Turns
  The players choose whether to act first. Jerry decides to take 
  a fast turn and uses an action to attack a rat with a spell, 
  killing it.
   Shawn takes a fast turn, using an action to attack by 
  charging one of the rats. As noted in the Charge description 
  later in this chapter, Shawn can move and attack, albeit 
  with 1 bane on the attack roll.
   Angela and David wait for slow turns.
   Now that all the players who chose to act have done so, 
  the GM can take fast turns with one or more of the rats. The 
  rat that Shawn charged uses an action to attack Shawn’s 
  character. The rest of the rats wait for slow turns.
  Slow Turns
  Again, the players act first. Since Angela and David have 
  not yet taken their turns, they do so now. Angela moves up 
  to the rat Shawn is fighting and then attacks it with her 
  small sword. David moves up to the same rat and attacks it 
  with his battleaxe. The rat dies.
   Now the last two rats take their turns to move up and 
  attack Angela and David. Unfortunately, David’s character 
  takes enough damage to become incapacitated and disabled.
  End of the Round
  David has to make a fate roll (rolling a d6) to see what happens 
  to his character. He rolls a 3. His character remains disabled.
   No other effects check for the end of the round, so a new 
  round begins.
  Move
  When you take your turn, you can move up to your Speed in 
  yards. On a fast turn, you can move or use an action, but not 
  both. On a slow turn, you can move in addition to using an 
  action, which you can do at any point during your movement.
   During your move, you can use any special forms of 
  movement normally available to you such as balancing, 
  climbing, swimming, riding, and so on. Rules for these 
  special forms of movement are given below.
  Balance
  You balance when you move across treacherous terrain, 
  such as ice or a narrow surface. Such surfaces also count 
  as difficult terrain. When you move onto a treacherous 
  surface, you must make an Agility challenge roll (the 
  nature of the surface might impose 1 or more banes). On 
  a failure, you stop moving on that turn. If the total of 
  your roll is 0 or less, you land prone or could fall from a 
  precarious perch.
  Climb
  You climb when you ascend, descend, or move across a 
  vertical surface using a rope, ladder, or handholds. The 
  surface also counts as difficult terrain.
   The GM might call for a Strength challenge roll to see 
  if you can climb a surface that has few handholds or that’s 
  coated in grease or otherwise slick, or if you try to climb 
  while distracted or rushed. Challenging climbs can impose 
  1 or more banes on the roll. If the result of the roll is a 
  failure, you stop moving on that turn. If the total of your 
  roll is 0 or less, you fall.
  Crawl
  Prone creatures can move only by crawling. You crawl 
  at half your cautious pace, which is further reduced by 
  difficult terrain or narrow spaces to a minimum of Speed 1.
  • Drop Prone: You can voluntarily drop to the ground. You 
  can drop prone in combat without using your movement.
  • Stand Up: You can stand up from prone using an action 
  or as your move in combat.
  Fly
  If you can fly, you can move as far as your Speed allows in 
  any direction, remaining in the air for as long as you wish. 
  You fall to the ground if you would be knocked prone, your 
  Speed drops to 0, or you are prevented from using actions.
   The GM might call for a Strength challenge roll to see if 
  you can stay airborne in turbulent conditions. On a failure, 
  you fall.
  Jump
  You jump to move to a surface below you or to reach 
  something above you. You also jump whenever you attempt 
  to move over an obstacle without climbing or walking.
  •  Jump Up or Down: When jumping down, you land 
  safely if the surface is less than 5 yards below you. If you 
  try to jump down beyond this distance, you instead fall.
    You can jump up a number of feet equal to half your 
  Agility modifier (minimum 1 foot), or your full Agility 
  modifier if you moved at least 2 yards before making the 
  jump. If you try to jump higher, the GM can call for an 
  Agility challenge roll.
    You can jump as part of your move in combat. Deduct 
  the number of vertical yards you jump from the total 
  distance you can move on your turn. You land prone 
  or fall if your reach your movement limit before you 
  complete the jump.
  •  Jump Across: You can jump horizontally a number of 
  yards equal to 2 + your Agility modifier (minimum 1 
  yard). If you moved at least 2 yards before making the 
  jump, increase the distance by 2 yards. If you try to jump 
  farther, the GM can call for an Agility challenge roll.
    You can jump as part of your move in combat. Deduct 
  the number of horizontal yards you jump from the total 
  distance you can move on your turn. You land prone if 
  you reach your movement limit before you complete the 
  jump. You might fall if you were attempting to cross an 
  open space such as a pit.
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  Playing the Game
  Ride
  You are riding while you are seated on a mount.
  • Mounts: A mount is any creature larger than you and 
  willing to bear you as a rider.
  • Mounting and Dismounting: You use your move to 
  mount or dismount a creature within your reach.
  • Shared Space: You and your mount share the same 
  space. Any effect that originates from you originates in 
  your space rather than your mount’s space, however.
  • Separate Creatures: Although you share a space, you 
  and the mount are separate creatures.
  • Actions: You and your mount take turns together and 
  share a single action. If you use an action to attack, you 
  or your mount makes the attack. You can choose to have 
  you and your mount attack in the same action, but you 
  each make the attack roll with 2 banes. You and your 
  mount can attack at the same time only once during each 
  round, regardless of how many attacks you can make.
    If you cannot use actions, the mount uses an action in 
  a manner appropriate to its nature. If the mount cannot 
  use actions, you act independently from the mount.
  • Speed: You use your mount’s Speed in place of your own.
  • Free Attacks: If your mount’s movement would trigger a 
  free attack (see Combat), the attacking creature chooses 
  whether to attack you or the mount.
  • Falling Prone: If an attack or an effect knocks you prone 
  while you are riding, you fall from the mount and land 
  prone in a space within 1 yard of it. The space you land in 
  is opposite from the direction of the source of the attack 
  or effect.
    If your mount falls prone, you are both prone in the 
  same space. You must also make an Agility challenge roll. 
  On a failure, you take damage equal to 1d6 + the mount’s 
  Size, and you become immobilized and cannot stand 
  up until the mount stands up or is moved off you. You 
  can use an action while you are immobilized to make a 
  Strength or an Agility challenge roll, with 1 bane for each 
  point of Size the mount is larger than you. On a success, 
  you are no longer immobilized in this way and can stand 
  up normally.
  Sneak
  You attempt to move without making a sound when you 
  sneak. To do so, you must get a success on an Agility 
  challenge roll. On a failure, nearby creatures can hear you. 
  If the total of your roll is 0 or less, you make a great deal of 
  noise.
   Boons or banes can apply to the Agility roll based on the 
  surface you move across. It’s harder to sneak across gravel 
  or broken glass, which would impose 1 or more banes on 
  your roll. If there’s a lot of ambient noise in the area—such 
  as in a factory humming with activity—1 or more boons 
  could apply to the roll.
  Swim
  While moving, you can swim through liquids. Swimming 
  counts as moving across difficult terrain.
   The GM can call for a Strength challenge roll to see if 
  you can swim through treacherous waters. On a failure, 
  you make no progress. If the total of your roll is 0 or less, 
  you sink. (See Armor and Clothing in Chapter 3 for more 
  information about swimming while in armor, and see the 
  clockwork entry in Chapter 1.)
  Teleport
  Magic can let you move instantly from one spot to another. 
  When you teleport, you disappear from the space you 
  occupy and immediately reappear in the space of your 
  destination. This movement ignores any obstacles and 
  difficult terrain between you and your destination.
  Action
  You may use one action during a round to perform an 
  activity. Common activities include the following:
  Attack  •  Cast a Utility Spell  •  Concentrate 
  Defend  •  End an Effect  •  Find  •  Help 
  Hide  •  Prepare  •  Reload  •  Retreat  •  Rush 
  Stabilize  •  Use an Item
  Attack
  You use a weapon, an attack spell, or something else to 
  harm or hinder another creature or an object. See Making 
  Attacks for how to resolve this activity.
  Cast a Utility Spell
  You cast a utility spell (one that doesn’t count as an attack) 
  and resolve its effects. See Shadow of the Demon Lord for 
  details about casting spells.
  Concentrate
  Some spell effects and talents require you to concentrate 
  to keep them going. If you concentrate on an effect, the 
  effect continues until the end of the next round, up to the 
  maximum amount of time allowed by the spell.
  Breaking Concentration
  If you take damage or gain Insanity while you concentrate, 
  you must make a Will challenge roll. On a failure, you stop 
  concentrating and the effect ends immediately.
  Defend
  When you defend, until the end of the round, all attack 
  rolls are made against you with 1 bane and you make all 
  challenge rolls to resist attacks with 1 boon. These benefits 
  end if you are prevented from using actions, such as when 
  you become dazed, stunned, or unconscious.
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  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  End an Effect
  Choose one effect you created with a spell you cast or a 
  talent you used. The effect ends.
  Find
  You attempt to locate a hidden creature or object. Make a 
  Perception challenge roll to search for a hidden object or 
  make a Perception attack roll against the Agility of a hidden 
  creature. On a success, the creature or object is no longer 
  hidden from you and any other creature with whom you 
  share your knowledge.
  Help
  Choose one creature within 5 yards of you that can see you 
  and understand what you say. Make an Intellect challenge 
  roll. On a success, the target makes its next attack roll or 
  challenge roll before the end of the round with 1 boon.
  Hide
  You can attempt to hide when you are not being observed 
  and when you are in a heavily obscured area or have three-
  quarters cover or better from an object (see Cover).
   Make an Agility challenge roll. On a success, you become 
  hidden. You remain hidden until the conditions that let 
  you hide no longer apply or you do something that would 
  reveal your position (such as shouting, making an attack, 
  or casting a spell). For example, if you are in darkness, 
  you would no longer be hidden if the area becomes lit. 
  Similarly, if you are hidden behind a wall, you would no 
  longer be hidden if someone moves to a position where the 
  wall no longer covers you.
   While you are hidden, other creatures cannot perceive 
  you. Generally, this means a creature cannot choose you 
  as a target for its attack, though you are still subject to area 
  effects. A creature can guess at your location, making the 
  attack roll with 3 banes. Even with a success, the attack hits 
  you only if the guess was correct.
   Also, while hidden, you make all attack rolls with 1 boon 
  against the Defense or Agility of targets from which you are 
  hidden.
  Prepare
  You prepare to undertake an activity when a specified event 
  occurs. Choose one activity you would normally use an 
  action to perform, such as attack or retreat. Then, describe 
  what event has to occur for you to undertake it. This is the 
  trigger.
   If the triggering event occurs before the end of the round, 
  you can use a triggered action to perform the activity. You 
  make any attack roll or challenge roll required by the 
  activity with 1 boon. Otherwise, nothing happens.
   For example, Bobby takes a fast turn and uses an action 
  to prepare an attack against the first enemy that moves 
  into his reach. When a hostile warg moves up to attack his 
  character, Bobby uses his triggered action to attack it with 
  his sword, making the attack roll with 1 boon.
  Reload
  Choose a weapon you can reach that has the reload 
  property (such as a crossbow). If you have a piece of 
  ammunition the weapon uses, you reload the weapon.
  Retreat
  You move up to half your Speed. This movement does not 
  trigger free attacks.
  Rush
  You move up to twice your Speed.
  Stabilize
  Choose one incapacitated creature within your reach. Make 
  an Intellect challenge roll, with 1 bane if the creature is 
  dying. On a success, the target heals 1 damage.
  Use an Item
  You interact with an item you are holding or wearing, or 
  with an object you can reach. Examples include picking a 
  lock, retrieving an object from a pouch or a backpack, or 
  lighting a torch.
  Triggered Actions
  In addition to using actions, most creatures can use one 
  triggered action each round. Creatures use triggered actions 
  to react to the specific events that trigger their use, hence 
  the name. 
   Almost all creatures can use triggered actions to make 
  a free attack, which is described in the following section. 
  Creatures can also use triggered actions to perform other 
  activities from talents and spells.
  The Trigger
  Any activity that involves the use of a triggered action also 
  specifies the condition under which the character can use 
  it. The condition, called the trigger, could be broad, such 
  as “on your turn,” or narrow, such as “when a creature 
  willingly moves out of your reach.” Provided you meet 
  the conditions for using the triggered action, you may do 
  so, provided you have not already used a triggered action 
  during the round.
  Other Activities
  You can try to do something that’s not described here. You 
  are limited only by your imagination. When you attempt 
  something that lies outside the rules, the GM decides if the 
  activity is possible and how long it takes.
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
   When you use a triggered action, you perform the 
  indicated activity immediately, even if doing so would 
  interrupt another creature’s turn.
  Free Attack
  When a creature in your reach willingly moves out of your 
  reach, you can use a triggered action to make an attack 
  against that creature using a melee weapon you are wielding.
  Trigger Example
  Jennifer has an opportunity to use a free attack during the 
  fast turn, but because she knows she wants to use Reveal 
  Weakness (a scout talent) as her triggered action during the 
  slow turn, she chooses not to make the free attack.
  Minor Activities
  Some activities are so minor that you can just do them on 
  your turn without using an action, triggered action, or move. 
  Examples include dropping an item or picking one up, 
  drawing or stowing a weapon, and opening or closing a door.
   As a general rule, you can perform one minor activity 
  during a fast turn, or two during a slow turn. You might do 
  more if you don’t move or use an action on your turn, or if 
  your GM says you can do more.
  Making Attacks
  You make an attack whenever you try to harm or hinder a 
  creature or damage an object. Typically, you determine the 
  outcome of an attack by making an attack roll. There are 
  several kinds of attacks.
  Attack with  
  a Melee Weapon
  You attack with a melee weapon you are wielding by 
  swinging or throwing it at your target.
  Choose a Target
  Choose one target creature or object. The target must be 
  within your reach or, if you’re using a weapon with the thrown 
  property (such as a javelin), within range of the weapon.
  Make the Attack Roll
  Make an attack roll against the target’s Defense. Typically, 
  you use Strength for attack rolls with melee weapons. 
  Weapons with the finesse property (such as a dagger) let 
  you use Agility instead of Strength for the attack roll. See 
  Melee Attack Options for more choices.
  Resolve the Attack
  On a success, the attack hits and you roll the weapon’s 
  damage die, which you can find in Chapter 3. The target 
  takes damage equal to the total of the damage roll. 
   On a failure, the attack misses.
  Melee Attack Options
  When you make an attack with a melee weapon, you can 
  choose one of the following options. You must make the 
  choice before you make the attack roll.
  • Driving Attack: You make the attack roll with 1 bane. On a 
  success, you and the target move a number of yards equal 
  to your Strength modifier in the same direction.
  • Guarded Attack: You make the attack roll with 1 bane, 
  but the next creature to make an attack roll against your 
  Defense before the end of the round does so with 1 bane.
  • Lunging Attack: You can increase your reach by 1 yard, but 
  you make the attack roll with 1 bane.
  • Shifting Attack: You make the attack roll with 1 bane. On a 
  success, your movement does not trigger free attacks from 
  the target until the end of the round.
  • Unbalancing Attack: You make the attack roll with 1 bane. 
  On a success, if the target is your Size or smaller, it must 
  make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, the target falls 
  prone.
  45
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  Victims of the demon lord
  PLaying the Game
  Attack with  
  a Ranged Weapon
  You make an attack with a ranged weapon you are wielding 
  by firing its ammunition at your target.
  Choose a Target
  Choose one target creature or object no farther away than 
  twice your weapon’s range. (See Distant Shot for attacking 
  outside your weapon’s standard range.)
  Make the Attack Roll
  You make the attack roll against the target’s Defense. 
  Typically, you use Agility for attack rolls using ranged 
  weapons. See Ranged Attack Options for more choices.
  Resolve the Attack
  On a success, the attack hits and you roll the weapon’s 
  damage die, which you can find in Chapter 3. The target 
  takes damage equal to the total of the roll.
   On a failure, the attack misses.
  Cover
  Terrain and objects on the battlefield can provide 
  protection against attacks with ranged weapons or spells 
  that target things at a distance.
  Half Covered
  If an object between you and the attacker covers at least 
  half your body, ranged attack rolls against you are made 
  with 1 bane.
  Three-Quarters Covered
  If an object between you and the attacker covers at least 
  three-quarters of your body, ranged attack rolls against you 
  are made with 2 banes.
  Totally Covered
  If an object between you and the attacker covers your body 
  entirely, you cannot be a target for any attack or effect.
  Attack with Two Weapons
  If you are wielding a weapon in each hand, and neither 
  of them is cumbersome (see Chapter 3), you can use an 
  action to attack with them at the same time. You can use 
  them to attack one target or to attack two different targets.
   If you attack one target, you attack with the weapon in 
  your main hand, making the attack roll with 2 banes. On a 
  success, you deal normal damage from that weapon plus 
  extra damage from the weapon in your off hand.
   If you attack two targets, you attack with the weapon 
  in your main hand against one target and then attack the 
  other with the weapon in your off hand. You make both 
  attack rolls with 3 banes.
   In either case, if you attack with a shield, the shield loses 
  the defensive property (see Chapter 3) until the end of the 
  round.
  Attack with an Item
  You can make an attack with a harmful item that is not a 
  weapon, such as a bomb or a flask of acid or oil. The rules 
  for using such items describe how to resolve those attacks. 
  For rules covering attacks with improvised weapons, see 
  Chapter 3.
  Attack with a Spell
  You can cast an attack spell. Shadow of the Demon Lord has 
  further details about casting spells.
  Attack an Attribute
  You can make attacks with your attributes against other 
  creatures’ attributes or characteristics to perform stunts 
  and maneuvers.
  Disarm
  Choose one target creature within your reach that’s holding 
  an object. Make a Strength or Agility attack roll against 
  the higher of the target’s Strength or Agility. If you are 
  unarmed, you make this roll with 2 banes. On a success, the 
  target drops one object it is holding of your choice.
  Distract
  Choose one target creature within short range of you 
  that can see you. Make an Intellect attack roll against the 
  target’s Intellect. On a success, the target makes its next 
  attack roll or challenge roll before the end of the round 
  with 2 banes.
  Ranged Attack Options
  When you make an attack with a ranged weapon, you can 
  choose one of the following options.
  • Called Shot: You attack a specific location on the target’s 
  body. You can use this option only if the target has a 
  physical body. Make the attack roll with 2 banes. On a 
  success, the attack has an additional effect as determined 
  by the GM. Attacking a creature’s eyes might impose 1 
  bane on all rolls the target makes that rely on sight, for 
  example.
  • Distant Shot: You can attack a target that is beyond your 
  weapon’s range, but no more than twice the weapon’s 
  range. You make the attack roll with 1 bane.
  • Staggering Shot: You make the attack roll with 2 banes. 
  On a success, a target that is your Size or smaller must 
  make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, the target falls 
  prone.
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Playing the Game
  Escape
  You can use this action if you are grabbed. Make a Strength 
  or Agility attack roll against the Strength of the creature 
  that has grabbed you. A success removes the grabbed 
  affliction and lets you move up to half your Speed. This 
  movement does not trigger free attacks from the creature 
  that had grabbed you. (See Grabbed for information on the 
  effects of being grabbed, and Grab for how to grab.)
  Feint
  Choose one target creature within short range of you that 
  can see you. Make an Agility attack roll against the target’s 
  Perception. On a success, you make the next attack roll 
  against the target’s Defense or Agility before the end of the 
  next round with 2 boons. Alternatively, your movement 
  does not trigger free attacks from the target for 1 round.
  Grab
  You must have at least one hand free to grab, and you 
  cannot be grabbing another creature. Choose one target 
  creature within your reach that has a physical body (not a 
  spirit, for example) and make a Strength or Agility attack 
  roll against the target’s Agility. If you choose a creature you 
  are already grabbing, you automatically get a success.
   On a success, the target becomes grabbed until the end 
  of the next round. If you are prevented from using actions 
  (such as because you are dazed, stunned, or unconscious), 
  the grabbed affliction ends. The grabbed affliction also 
  ends if you move or are moved to a position where you can 
  no longer reach the grabbed target. (See Grabbed for more 
  information on the effects of being grabbed, and Escape for 
  how to escape a grab.)
  Knock Down
  Choose one target creature within your reach. Make a 
  Strength attack roll against the target’s Agility. If the target 
  is larger than you, make this roll with 1 bane for each point 
  of Size it is larger. You make this roll with 1 boon if the 
  target is smaller than you. On a success, the target falls 
  prone.
  Pull
  Choose one target creature of your Size or smaller that you 
  are grabbing. Make a Strength attack roll against the target’s 
  Strength. On a success, you move up to half your Speed 
  and the grabbed creature moves with you so that it remains 
  within your reach.
  Shove
  Choose one target creature within your reach. Make a 
  Strength attack roll against the target’s Strength. If the 
  target is larger than you, you make this roll with 1 bane 
  for each point of Size it is larger. You make this roll with 
  1 boon if the target is smaller than you. On a success, you 
  move the target 1 yard away from you, plus a number of 
  yards equal to your Strength modifier (minimum total 
  distance 1 yard).
  Charge
  When you use an action to charge, you make attack 
  rolls and challenge rolls with 1 bane until the end of the 
  round. Move up to your Speed. At any point during your 
  movement, make one attack with a melee weapon or with 
  an attribute to knock down or shove a creature.
  Attacking Worn  
  or Carried Objects
  You can attack an object that another creature wears or 
  carries. You make the attack roll with 2 banes. The GM 
  might decide that certain objects are immune or resistant to 
  some forms of attack. An arrow isn’t going to break a sword, 
  for example.
  Situational Banes  
  to Attack Rolls
  One or more banes might apply to your attack rolls, based 
  on the circumstances under which you make the attack. 
  These are in addition to any banes or boons included in the 
  attack. The following table summarizes the most common 
  situations.
  Situational Banes
  Target is . . .
  Effect
  Half covered
  1 bane
  Three-quarters covered
  2 banes
  Totally covered
  Automatic failure
  Partially obscured:  
  In a partially obscured area
  1 bane
  Heavily obscured:  
  In a heavily obscured area
  2 banes
  Totally obscured:  
  In a totally obscured area
  3 banes*
  Weather, terrain: In inclement 
  weather or covering terrain
  1 or more banes
  *You must guess the target’s location (see Hide).
  47
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  shadow of the demon lord
  Swords to pistols, potions to incantations, suits of armor, 
  and all the other tools a character might need to survive in 
  a dangerous world are described in this chapter.
  Prices
  All items are priced using the coins minted in and around 
  the Empire. These are the typical prices for such items, 
  and Items can be more or less expensive in certain areas. 
  The coinage denominations include the copper penny (cp), 
  silver shilling (ss), and gold crown (gc). Commoners also cut 
  up pennies into bits.
  10 bits = 1 copper penny (cp) 
  10 copper penny (cp) = 1 silver shilling (ss) 
  10 silver shillings (ss) = 1 gold crown (gc)
   The base unit of currency is the silver shilling. Common 
  folk deal in pennies and bits, while aristocrats use crowns.
  Other Commodities
  Gemstones, jewelry, promissory notes, deeds, and titles all 
  have value and can be used in place of coin or trade goods. 
  These items command their full value from an interested 
  buyer. Characters can also sell or trade other goods. Used 
  equipment is worth half its normal price or less.
  Availability
  Availability describes how easy it is to find a particular item. 
   Common (C) items include those things that 
  communities depend on for survival. These items can be 
  found almost anywhere people live. 
   Uncommon (U) items require specialized training to 
  produce and are thus available only in communities with 
  populations of 1,000 or more. 
   Rare (R) items are made from expensive materials 
  and require skilled craftsmanship and are available in 
  communities with populations of 5,000 or more.  
   Exotic (E) items tend to be things of a magical nature, 
  made from unusual materials, or require advanced 
  and specialized training. These items can be found in 
  communities with populations of 10,000 or more.
  Carrying Limits
  You can reasonably carry or wear a number of items equal 
  to your Strength score by holding them in your hands 
  or strapping them to your body. If you exceed your limit, 
  but no more than twice your Strength score, you become 
  encumbered. While encumbered, you’re slowed and you 
  make all Strength and Agility rolls with 1 bane.
  48
  
  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  •  Clothing and Accessories: Wearable items such as 
  clothing, necklaces, rings, crowns, and the like count as 
  one item. Elaborate apparel, heavy clothing, and costumes 
  count as two items.
  •  Coins and Gems: Every ten loose bits and coins, as well 
  as every five loose gems you carry, count as one item.
  •  Containers: A container and everything it contains counts 
  as a single item. You could, for example, stuff your backpack 
  with adventuring gear. While you keep the stuff in your 
  pack, it counts as one item. You can fit about 500 coins or 
  a 1-foot cube of items in a sack or backpack, 1,000 coins or 
  a 2-foot cube of items in a metal box, and 5,000 coins or a 
  4-foot cube of items in a typical chest. A chest or an iron box 
  is quite heavy and becomes heavier when loaded up. Such 
  containers count as three items instead of one.
  Armor and Clothing
  Armor includes any clothing designed to protect a 
  wearer from harm and might be made from leather, 
  mail, overlapping scales, or heavy plates. Wearing armor 
  affects your Defense and what your character can do. See 
  Clothing for additional information.
  •  Type: Armor is clothing, light armor, medium armor, or 
  heavy armor. You make Strength challenge rolls with 1 
  bane to swim while you wear medium armor. You take 
  a –2 penalty to Speed and you make Strength challenge 
  rolls with 2 banes to swim while you wear heavy armor.
  •  Requirement: If you wear armor and do not meet or exceed 
  its requirements listed in the table, you make all Strength and 
  Agility rolls with 1 bane. In addition, you take a –2 penalty to 
  Speed. The effects of not meeting the armor’s requirements 
  are cumulative with the other effects of wearing armor.
  •  Defense: Replace your Defense with the listed 
  number while wearing clothing or armor.
  Larger and Smaller 
  Creatures
  Listed armor prices are for creatures of 
  Size 1 and Size 1/2. To determine the price 
  of armor for larger or smaller creatures, 
  multiply the price by the creature’s 
  Size. A suit of mail for a Size 2 creature 
  would cost 2 gc, for example.
  Putting On and Taking 
  Off Armor
  You can put on or take off clothing using an action, 
  but it takes time to put on and take off heavier 
  armor. Light armor takes 1 minute, medium armor 5 
  minutes, and heavy armor 10 minutes. With help, you can 
  put on and take off armor in half the time.
  Armor Descriptions
  The following entries describe the most common forms 
  armor takes in the game. A GM can adjust these descriptions 
  as needed based on the place where the armor was found or 
  purchased.
  Brigandine
  Brigandine armor is clothing reinforced with metal strips 
  between layers of leather or fitted with metal studs. It typically 
  consists of a long-sleeved coat with greaves for the legs.
  Clothing
  Clothing includes everything from a peasant’s rags to fine 
  clothing suited to a lord or lady. For more information on 
  clothing, see Apparel and Accessories.
  Full Plate
  This armor protects the body with large metal plates, 
  bands, or splints worn over mail and padding. A suit 
  includes a breastplate, greaves, guards, and a helmet.
  Hard Leather
  This suit consists of a breastplate, shoulder guards, greaves, 
  boots, and a cap. Each component is boiled in oil and then 
  shaped to conform to the wearer’s body. Some suits feature 
  studs or spikes.
  Mail
  Mail is a woven mesh of metal loops or rings worn over 
  padded clothing. The armor includes a hood, sleeved shirt, 
  and leggings. It also comes with a helmet.
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  Plate and Mail
  This full suit of mail is reinforced with metal plates, bands, 
  or splints. Such armor includes a breastplate, greaves, 
  guards, and other components worn over mail and a 
  padded undergarment. It includes a full helmet.
  Scale
  Scale is a woven mesh of small metal scales. It covers the 
  torso, arms, and lower body. The suit also includes a helmet.
  Soft Leather
  Basically leather clothing, soft leather offers minimal 
  protection, but can be worn by anyone.
  Weapons
  The Weapons table shows several weapons available in the 
  game world. Many weapons are grouped together. Despite 
  their differences in shape and construction, they share 
  identical statistics.
  Type
  Weapons are arranged by type. The type determines the 
  requirements you must meet or exceed to wield the weapon 
  effectively. If you attack with a weapon for which you do not 
  meet the requirement, you make the attack roll with 1 bane.
  Damage
  When you get a success on an attack with a weapon, the 
  attack hits and you roll the indicated dice to determine the 
  attack’s damage.
  Hands
  This entry tells how you hold the weapon. If the entry is 
  “off,” you can hold the weapon in your off hand or in your 
  main hand. An entry of “one” tells you that you must hold 
  the weapon in your main hand or both hands. Finally, an 
  entry of “two” indicates that you must hold the weapon 
  with both hands.
   Creatures of Size 1/4 or smaller cannot hold two-handed 
  weapons and must hold one-handed weapons with both hands.
   If you wield a one-handed weapon sized for you with two 
  hands, you gain a +1 bonus to your damage roll.
  Properties
  Many weapons have special rules, which are described here.
  • Cumbersome: When you attack with this weapon, you 
  make the attack roll with 1 bane.
  • Defensive +#: You add the number to your Defense while 
  you wield this weapon.
  • Finesse: You can make a Strength attack roll or an Agility 
  attack roll for attacks made using this weapon.
  • Misfire: When you attack with this weapon and the total 
  of your attack roll is 0 or less, the weapon misfires. Roll a 
  d6. On an even number, the weapon simply misfired and 
  can be fired again once you spend 1 minute using tools 
  to clear the barrel and repair the weapon. On an odd 
  number, the weapon explodes and you take 2d6 damage.
  • Range (short, medium, or long): This entry describes the 
  normal range for the weapon. For details on the ranges 
  used in the game, see Range and Distance in Chapter 2.
  • Reach + #: You add the listed number to your reach when 
  you attack with the weapon.
  • Reload: You can attack with the weapon only if it’s 
  loaded. See Reload in Chapter 2.
  • Size 1: You must be Size 1 or larger to wield this weapon.
  • Uses [ammunition]: The weapon looses or fires a piece of 
  ammunition of the type indicated. You must have a piece 
  of ammunition for each attack you make with the weapon.
  • Thrown: You can make a ranged attack with this weapon 
  by throwing it.
  Clothing and Armor
  Name
  Defense
  Price
  Avail.
  Clothing (No Strength Requirement)
  Clothing
  Agility
  Varies
  C
  Soft Leather
  Agility + 1
  2 ss
  C
  Light Armor (Requires Strength 11 or higher)
  Hard Leather
  Agility +2
  5 ss
  C
  Brigandine
  13
  5 ss
  C
  Medium Armor (Requires Strength 13 or higher)
  Mail
  15
  1 gc
  U
  Scale
  16
  2 gc
  U
  Heavy Armor (Requires Strength 15 or higher)
  Plate and Mail
  17
  5 gc
  R
  Full Plate
  18
  25 gc
  E
  Special Materials
  Many peoples, such as faerie, cannot tolerate touching iron. 
  They instead construct their armor and weapons from other 
  materials, using bronze, bone, or wood. The prices for armor 
  and weapons made from other materials are the same. 
  • Shattering Weapons: When you attack with a weapon 
  that is normally made of metal and that is made from a 
  material other than metal, it is at risk of breaking. If the 
  total of the roll is 0 or less, the weapon takes damage equal 
  to its Health and breaks.
  • Silvered Weapons: Weapons plated in silver are useful 
  when fighting certain monstrous creatures. You can silver 
  any weapon that has a metal component by multiplying its 
  price by 3. Silvered weapons count as exotic items.
  50
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  Weapons
  Basic Melee Weapons
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Axe
  1d6 + 1
  One
  —
  1 ss
  C
  Club
  1d6
  One
  —
  5 cp
  C
  Dagger or knife
  1d3
  Off
  Finesse, thrown, range (short)
  5 cp
  C
  Dart
  1
  Off
  Thrown, range (short)
  1 cp
  C
  Hammer or hatchet
  1d3
  Off
  Thrown, range (short)
  1 ss
  C
  Javelin
  1d3
  One
  Finesse, thrown, range (medium)
  1 ss
  C
  Sickle or spear
  1d6
  One
  Finesse
  1 ss
  C
  Staff
  1d6 + 1
  Two
  Finesse
  5 cp
  C
  Unarmed strike
  1
  Off
  Finesse
  —
  —
  Ranged Weapons
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Blowgun
  1d3
  One
  Range (medium), uses needles
  1 ss
  U
  Bow
  1d6
  Two
  Range (long), uses arrows
  5 ss
  C
  Crossbow
  2d6
  Two
  Range (long), reload, uses bolts
  1 gc
  C
  Hand crossbow
  1d6
  Off
  Range (short), reload, uses bolts
  2 gc
  R
  Longbow (requires Strength 9+)
  1d6 + 1
  Two
  Size 1, range (long), uses arrows
  1 gc
  U
  Pistol
  2d6
  Off
  Misfire, range (medium), reload, uses bullets
  5 gc
  E
  Rifle
  3d6
  Two
  Misfire, range (long), reload, uses bullets
  10 gc
  E
  Sling
  1d3
  Off
  Range (medium), uses stones
  5 cp
  C
  Shields (Requires Strength 9 or higher)
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Small shield
  1
  Off
  Defensive +1
  5 cp
  C
  Large shield (requires Strength 11+)
  1d3
  Off
  Size 1, Defensive +2
  1 ss
  C
  Military Melee Weapons (Requires Strength 11 or higher)
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Battleaxe, flail, morning star, pick, 
  or sword
  1d6 + 2
  One
  —
  5 ss
  U
  Glaive, halberd, or poleaxe
  1d6 + 2
  Two
  Reach + 1
  1 gc
  U
  Lance
  1d6 + 1
  Two
  One hand while mounted, reach + 2
  5 ss
  U
  Mace
  1d6
  Off
  —
  5 ss
  C
  Bastard sword or warhammer
  2d6
  Two
  Cumbersome
  1 gc
  R
  Pike
  1d6
  Two
  Size 1, reach + 2
  5 ss
  U
  Spear
  1d6
  One
  Finesse, range (short)
  1 ss
  C
  Trident
  1d6
  One
  Thrown, range (short)
  5 ss
  U
  Swift Melee Weapons (Requires Strength or Agility 11 or higher)
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Chain, cutlass, long knife, scourge, 
  or small sword
  1d6
  Off
  Finesse
  5 ss
  U
  Rapier, saber, or scimitar
  1d6 + 1
  One
  Finesse
  1 gc
  U
  Whip
  1d3
  Off
  Finesse, reach + 1
  5 ss
  U
  Heavy Melee Weapons (Requires Strength 13 or higher)
  Name
  Damage
  Hands
  Properties
  Price
  Avail.
  Bastard sword or warhammer
  2d6
  One
  Cumbersome
  1 gc
  R
  Greataxe, greatsword or maul
  3d6
  Two
  Cumbersome
  2 gc
  R
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  Weapons for Larger Creatures
  Multiply the weapon’s price by the creature’s Size to determine 
  its price if it was created for a creature of Size 2 or larger. As 
  well, a weapon for a larger creature (including unarmed 
  strikes) deals 1d6 extra damage for each point of Size above 1. If 
  the weapon normally deals less than 1d6 damage, first increase 
  the damage to 1d6 for Size 2 and then increase the damage by 
  1d6 for each point of Size the creature is larger than 2.
  Ammunition
  You need ammunition to attack with projectile weapons 
  such as bows, crossbows, and pistols.
  Ammunition
  Ammunition
  Price
  Arrows (5)
  5 cp
  Bolts (5)
  5 cp
  Bullets and Black Powder (5)
  1 ss
  Dart (5)
  5 cp
  Stones (5)
  5 cp
  Tracking Ammunition
  The importance of tracking ammunition varies from group 
  to group. Check with your GM to see if any of the following 
  optional rules are being used.
  Ammunition Recovery
  When using ammunition other than bullets, you can 
  recover about half of all projectiles used.
  Abstract System
  You are assumed to have enough ammunition to use your 
  ranged weapon up to five times. After, whenever you attack 
  with a weapon that uses ammunition and the total of your 
  roll is 0 or less, you run out of ammunition for that weapon 
  and you cannot make ranged attacks with the weapon until 
  you replenish your stores.
  Improvised Weapons
  You can also attack with objects you find around you. A 
  frying pan, a door ripped from its hinges, or a petrified 
  halfling can all serve when other weapons are not available. 
  For an object to be an improvised weapon, it must be made 
  from a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal. When 
  you attack with an improvised weapon, you make the attack 
  roll with 1 bane and the weapon deals damage based on 
  how you wield it.
  Improvised Weapon Damage
  Hands
  Damage
  Off
  1
  One
  1d3
  Two
  1d6
  Adventuring Gear
  Wise characters spend some time provisioning themselves 
  and gathering gear they think will serve their purposes 
  while resting up at an inn or other relatively safe 
  location. The next several sections provide you with 
  personal gear, potions, clothing, and services you 
  might need.
  Personal Gear
  The following items are useful to any character 
  making their way in a dangerous world. Items 
  with special rules are described here.
  Adventurer's Pack
  This item includes a backpack, bedroll, 
  cutlery set, tinderbox, 3 torches, a coil 
  of rope (20 yards), grapnel, a week of 
  rations, and a waterskin.
  52
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  Candle
  You can use an action to light a candle. A lit candle fills an 
  area with light out to a 1-yard radius centered on its space 
  and burns for 1 hour.
  Lantern
  You can use an action to light a lantern that is filled with 
  oil. A lit lantern fills an area with light in a 10-yard radius 
  centered on its space. A lantern filled with an entire flask of 
  oil burns for 4 hours.
  Lantern, Spotlight
  You can use an action to light a spotlight lantern that is 
  filled with oil. A lit spotlight lantern fills a 20-yard-long 
  cone-shaped area with light. A lantern filled with an entire 
  flask of oil burns for 4 hours.
  Matches
  You can strike a match against a solid surface as a minor activity 
  on your turn. The match turns darkness to shadows in a 1-yard-
  radius sphere centered on its space. It burns for 1 round.
  Oil
  You can attack with a flask of oil by throwing it at one 
  creature or object within medium range. Make an Agility 
  attack roll against the target’s Agility. On a success, the oil 
  covers the target and it remains covered until it spends 1 
  minute clearing it away. If a creature or object covered in oil 
  takes damage from fire or lightning, the oil catches fire and 
  deals 1d6 damage to the target. The target takes 1d6 damage 
  at the end of each round for 1d6 rounds. A creature can use 
  an action to extinguish the flames.
  Torch
  You can use an action to light a torch. A lit torch fills a 
  sphere with a 5-yard radius centered on its space with light. 
  A lit torch burns for 1 hour.
  Tools
  Characters need tools to make use of some professions and 
  talents, as well as to cast spells from certain traditions. Here 
  are descriptions for tools that have special notes or rules.
  Healer's Kit
  You can use a healer’s kit to tend to injuries of one creature 
  within your reach. Expend a use from the kit and make an 
  Intellect challenge roll. If the target is dying, you make the 
  challenge roll with 1 bane. On a success, the target heals 1 
  damage.
  Lock Picks
  You can use an action to use lock picks to unlock a lock you 
  can reach. Typically, it takes 1 minute of continuous work to 
  make the attempt, during which time you must concentrate. 
  Personal Gear
  Item
  Price
  Availability
  Adventurer’s pack
  1 ss
  Common
  Backpack
  1 cp
  Common
  Barrel
  2 cp
  Common
  Bedroll
  2 cp
  Common
  Blanket
  1 cp
  Common
  Box, metal
  5 cp
  Uncommon
  Candle
  1 bit
  Uncommon
  Cards, deck
  3 bits
  Uncommon
  Case, scroll
  2 cp
  Uncommon
  Chest, wooden
  4 cp
  Uncommon
  Cigars, box
  1 cp+
  Common
  Cutlery set
  5 bits
  Uncommon
  Dice
  2 bits
  Uncommon
  Flask
  1 cp
  Common
  Grapnel
  1 cp
  Uncommon
  Hammer and 10 pitons
  1 cp
  Uncommon
  Lantern
  1 ss
  Uncommon
  Lantern, spotlight
  5 ss
  Uncommon
  Manacles
  5 cp
  Uncommon
  Map
  1 ss
  Uncommon
  Matches
  1 cp
  Exotic
  Mirror, small silver
  1 ss
  Rare
  Oil, flask
  1 cp
  Common
  Pipe
  2 cp
  Uncommon
  Pipe tobacco
  1 cp+
  Common
  Pole, 10-foot
  1 cp
  Common
  Pouch
  1 cp
  Common
  Pot, cooking
  1 cp
  Common
  Quiver or case for bolts
  5 bits
  Common
  Rations (1 week)
  1 cp
  Common
  Rope, coil (20 yards)
  1 cp
  Uncommon
  Sack
  5 bits
  Common
  Spike, large iron
  1 cp
  Common
  Tent, 2-person
  5 cp
  Uncommon
  Tinderbox
  1 cp
  Common
  Torch
  5 bits
  Common
  Waterskin
  1 cp
  Common
  Tools
  Item
  Price
  Availability
  Healer’s kit (6 uses)
  5 ss
  Uncommon
  Holy symbol
  5 cp
  Common
  Lock picks
  1 ss
  Rare
  Magnifying glass
  1 ss
  Exotic
  Musical instrument
  1 ss+
  Rare
  Tool kit
  1 ss
  Common
  Writing kit
  1 ss
  Rare
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  Victims of the demon lord
  Equipment
  When you finish working, make an Intellect challenge roll 
  with 1 or more banes depending on the lock’s quality. On a 
  success, the lock opens.
  Musical Instrument
  This item includes a variety of percussion, wind, and 
  stringed instruments. The GM sets the price based on the 
  type of instrument sought. More exotic instruments cost 1 
  gc or more.
  Tool Kit
  A collection of tools used to work in one’s profession.
  Potions
  Potions are magical liquids brewed by apothecaries and 
  alchemists.
  Using Potions
  You can use an action to drink a potion or administer it to a 
  willing, defenseless, or unconscious creature you can reach. 
  The potion takes effect at the end of the round in which it is 
  consumed.
  Injecting Potions
  You can buy potions loaded into syringes by increasing the 
  price by 1 ss. You can use an action or triggered action on 
  your turn to inject the potion into a willing, defenseless, or 
  unconscious creature you can reach. The potion takes effect 
  immediately.
  Potion Descriptions
  Descriptions of the potion’s effects follow.
  Alertness Potion
  This potion is a milky white liquid that has a spicy aroma. 
  When the potion takes effect, the creature makes Perception 
  challenge rolls with 1 boon for 2d6 hours. Until the potion 
  wears off, the creature cannot rest.
  Healing Potion
  This clear, magical liquid smells faintly of alcohol. When 
  the potion takes effect, the creature heals damage equal to 
  its healing rate.
  Incantations
  An incantation is magic written on a scroll, etched onto a 
  wax tablet, or painted on a piece of pottery.
  Creating Incantations
  You can create an incantation of a spell you have learned or 
  copy an incantation you already possess. In either case, you 
  must have a writing kit, special inks worth at least half the 
  incantation’s price, and a surface on which to write. It takes 
  1 hour to create an incantation.
  Using Incantations
  You use an incantation by reading it aloud, which expends 
  it. You can read the incantation regardless of the language 
  in which it was inscribed since the magic makes the text 
  legible. If your Power is greater than the spell’s rank, you 
  expend the spell’s casting and resolve its effects. If your 
  Power is equal to or less than the spell’s rank, make an 
  Intellect challenge roll. You have 1 bane imposed on you for 
  every rank your Power is lower than the spell’s rank. So, if 
  your Power is 1 and you attempt to cast a rank 4 spell, you 
  would have 3 banes imposed on you for your challenge roll. 
  On a success, you cast the spell as above. On a failure, the 
  attempt fails and the incantation is ruined.
  Sample Incantations
  ARCANE ARMOR 
  ARCANA UTILITY 0
  Requirement You must not be wearing armor.
  Duration 4 hours
  An invisible field of force springs into existence around 
  you, granting a +2 bonus to your Defense for the duration. 
  As well, for the duration, normal precipitation does not 
  touch you, light wind does not affect you, and you are not 
  discomfited by cold or heat, though you still take damage 
  from cold and fire.
  LIGHT 
  CELESTIAL UTILITY 0
  Target One object you can reach
  Duration 1 hour
  You touch the target, and light shines from it in a 5-yard 
  radius for the duration.
  MAGIC LOCK 
  PROTECTION UTILITY 0
  Target One object within short range that can be opened 
  or closed such as a door, chest, or window
  Duration 1 minute
  The target closes and locks. For the duration, it cannot be 
  opened by nonmagical means by a creature other than you, 
  although it can be destroyed.
  MINOR HEALING 
  LIFE UTILITY 0
  Target One creature you can reach
  You touch the target, which heals damage equal to half its 
  healing rate.
  Potions
  Potion
  Price
  Availability
  Alertness
  5 ss
  Rare
  Healing
  2 ss
  Uncommon
  Incantations
  Spell Rank
  Price
  Availability
  Rank 0
  1 ss
  Uncommon
  54
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Victims of the Demon Lord/SotDL - Victims of the Demon Lord - Starter Guide (v2015-09-11).pdf