TEXT: Forests
  Faera
  The
  of
  You are a proud citizen of Faera – a land filled with powerful 
  magics, extraordinary creatures and enchanted forests.
  Gather your equipment and step out into the world, for an 
  adventure is about to unfold!
  By Aaron Goss
  v0.12
  Mind is a measure of your common sense, intelligence, 
  spellcasting ability and wisdom. It is used in tasks such as 
  tracking animals, detecting traps or discerning true intent.
  Body is a measure of your balance, natural athleticism, 
  physical agility and poise. It is used in tasks such as lifting 
  heavy objects, climbing a wall or swimming against a river.
  Spirit is a measure of your ambition, confidence, empathy, 
  leadership and willpower. It is used in tasks such as 
  praying to a deity, intimidating a guard, tricking a creature 
  or inspiring others.
  Composure is a measure of the physical ability and mental 
  willpower you need to continue an activity. It is gradually 
  whittled away as you explore Faera and is tracked using a 
  cascading die called a composure die.
  Enchantment is a measure of how deeply you have 
  succumbed to the forests’ charms. It is gradually increased 
  as you draw on wild magics to weave spells and is tracked 
  using a cascading die called an enchantment die.
  GM (read aloud): You have promised Jago, owner of the Green 
  Dragon Inn, to rescue his kid, Samry, from goblin kidnappers. 
  You’ve been tracking them through the forest for the past day.
  Part 1: The entrance to some kind of tomb - guarded by a pair 
  of goblins, its massive stone doors smashed in. A goblin patrol 
  arrives if the adventurers wait and watch instead of rushing in.
  Part 2: A goblin bivouac. Four or five goblins nest here, alert 
  or asleep depending on how stealthy the party was. The patrol 
  from Part 1 arrives mid-fight if it wasn’t dealt with earlier. A bas 
  relief on the wall depicts knights fighting chaos, and an oath: 
  “I, Themis Alexa II, swear the Delian Oath: To serve law, battle 
  chaos and strive to keep the lore of the Delian Order secret.”
  Part 3: A hallway with a pressure plate and scythe trap. Ow!
  Part 4: A shrine room. The towering statue of a knight looks 
  down on an altar, incense burns around the room. A scruffed-
  up goat bleats sadly from a tiny cage. A goblin shaman chants 
  some kind of ritual atop the altar and a hulking ogre stands 
  guard below. If an adventurer becomes distressed here, the 
  ogre bellows “Leave, and your friend lives!” (It is tradition in 
  these parts to ransom distressed creatures.)
  Part 5: The goat’s collar has a name scribed into it: Samry! 
  The altar hides a secret door and has an inscription: “If you are 
  to keep this, you must first give it to me.” If the riddle is solved 
  (your word), the door opens to a crypt housing six sarcophagi. 
  If disturbed, undead awaken and attack the party. If someone 
  solved the riddle or pledged the Delian Oath, however, the spirit 
  of Themis appears and gifts her magic sword, Themistopóloi.
  The Delian Tomb
  The Forests of Faera is a lightweight roleplaying game in 
  which players embark on short, fantastical adventures. All you 
  need to get started are some pencils, a few sheets of paper, 
  some dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20), your imagination 
  and a quest! You can play by yourself, but the most fun can be 
  had when a Game Master (GM) guides you and a few of your 
  friends through an adventure together.
  The game is a conversation between the players and the GM; 
  The GM tells the players what they see and hear in the world 
  around them, and the players explain what their characters are 
  thinking, feeling and doing. Players roll dice when attempting 
  anything risky which creates tension and excitement for 
  everyone around the table. Regardless of how the dice land, 
  the narrative will always evolve in some interesting way.
  Cascading Dice
  The Game
  Creatures & Abilities
  The Forests of Faera uses cascading dice - dice that change 
  size when certain events happen during gameplay. When such 
  an event occurs, the die is upgraded or downgraded to the next 
  die in this cascading chain:
  d20 ~ d12 ~ d10 ~ d8 ~ d6 ~ d4
  From towering giants to faeries no bigger than a thumbail, 
  all creatures in Faera have three abilities which grant them 
  bonuses when trying risky things: mind, body and spirit.
  The brave adventurers that journey into the forests use abilities 
  freely but watch their composure and enchantment closely, 
  for pushing either past its limit will result in the adventurer 
  getting distressed, unable to continue their adventure. If 
  all adventurers become distressed at the same time, the 
  adventure falls apart and you fail your quest. Fear not, though 
  - many skills and tools can revive a distressed creature. Your 
  companions have some... right?
  Special thanks to Jacqui, Oliver, Saul, u/Giffyglyph and 
  u/FsNStrider for their invaluable feedback throughout 
  development.
  Inspiration:
  • 
  Dungeons & Dragons 5e
  • 
  Dungeon World
  • 
  The Black Hack (specifically, its Usage Dice)
  • 
  Matt Colville (in general, but particularly his YouTube 
  video Your First Adventure, Running the Game #1)
  • 
  Johnn Four’s article 5 Room Dungeons
  • 
  u/bbbbioshock’s post Composure: Why I Banned The 
  Phrase ‘Hit Points’ and I Think You Should Too
  Credits & Acknowledgements
  
  The most courageous and adventurous creatures of Faera 
  travel the land in search of coin, power and purpose - you 
  are one of these creatures. Follow these steps to create your 
  character.
  1. Choose a species for your character: Centaur, Desert Elf, 
  Treekind, Faun, Goblin, Harpy, Ogre-ish or Seafolk.
  2. Choose an attitude for your character: Brave, Cool, Fierce, 
  Gracious, Humble, Naïve, Patient or Wild.
  3. Choose a role for your character: Alchemist, Bard, Knight, 
  Monk, Ranger, Shaman, Thief or Warden.
  4. Choose a rune from the list in the Weaving A Spell section 
  below to guide how you weave spells.
  5. Give your character a snappy adventurer’s name, like 
  Alizabeth Shieldheart or something.
  You start with a d12 composure die, a d4 enchantment die 
  and ability bonuses of +2, +1 and -1.
  Assign the +2 and +1 bonuses to abilities you want your 
  character to be good at, and the -1 to their weakest ability.
  Your gear includes: An adventurer’s kit (5 uses); some snacks 
  enjoyed by your species; a weapon that suits your attitude; 
  and a tool of your trade, to go with your role. When introducing 
  your character, tell us about your gear!
  Your adventurer’s kit contains useful mundane items such as 
  rope, chalk, poles, spikes, etc. When you rummage through it 
  for some useful mundane item, you find what you need and 
  mark off a use.
  Creating Your Character
  Weaving A Spell
  All creatures of Faera have an attunement to the ancient 
  magics of the forests. By drawing on this power to weave a 
  spell, you call on the forests for aid, risking enchantment for 
  terrific powers.
  Runes guide the ways you can weave spells. You can weave 
  almost any spell you can think of if a rune could make it 
  possible. As you learn more runes, you acquire more ways to 
  weave spells.
  When you learn a new rune, choose one of the following:
  Debilitating, Delayed, Disruptive, Elemental, Forceful, 
  Illusory, Messy, Piercing, Precise, Subtle
  Attempting A Challenge
  Advantage & Disadvantage
  Helping Each Other Out
  Losing Composure & Becoming Enchanted
  Reviving A Distressed Creature
  Sometimes your roll is modified by special situations called 
  advantage or disadvantage. When you have either, you roll 
  two dice, taking the higher number if you have advantage or 
  the lower if you have disadvantage.
  When one of your companions attempts something risky, 
  you can choose to help them if you are in a position to do so, 
  granting them advantage on their roll. Describe how you help 
  them out.
  This is a great way to increase their chances of success but be 
  aware that both of you may have to deal with any consequences!
  When you roll 1-2 on a composure die, you lose composure. 
  Downgrade your composure die. If you roll 1-2 on a d4 
  composure die, you reach your mental, physical and emotional 
  limits, becoming distressed.
  When you roll the highest number on an enchantment die, 
  you gain enchantment. Upgrade your enchantment die and 
  learn a new rune. If you roll a 12 on a d12 enchantment die, you 
  become totally enchanted by the forests, becoming distressed.
  Distressed creatures cannot act or continue their adventure.
  You can revive a distressed creature if you have the means to. 
  Rummage through your gear - perhaps you have just the thing!
  If they have no composure, upgrade their composure die twice. 
  If they are enchanted, downgrade their enchantment die once.
  When you attempt something risky, roll a die to see how you 
  go. The GM will tell you how difficult the task is and establish 
  some consequences in case you fail. Choose how you would 
  like to approach the challenge:
  • If you use your abilities, describe how (pick an ability), roll 
  your composure die and add your ability bonus.
  • If you weave a spell, describe it (pick a rune) and roll both 
  your composure and enchantment dice. Your composure 
  die cannot be downgraded when weaving a spell.
  If the sum of your roll is equal to or higher than the difficulty, 
  your action or spell works flawlessly! Otherwise, something 
  goes wrong - your GM will tell you how.
  Creating A Quest
  All adventurers need a quest to go on! Follow this simple guide 
  to create your own or see The Delian Tomb to jump right in.
  Part 1: Entrance and Guardian
  The reason why the quest hasn’t been completed yet or why 
  these adventurers are the only ones who can help. A guardian 
  or challenge at the start is good justification for this, establishes 
  mood and theme, sets up early action to capture player interest 
  and energises the session. Dress it up with care!
  Part 2: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge
  The adventurers are victorious over Part 1 - present them a 
  trial that cannot be solved with steel. Make this a puzzle/skill-
  based/roleplaying encounter if possible, planting clues in Part 
  1 about potential solutions. This ties the two together, keeps 
  problem solvers happy and changes gameplay up with variety. 
  If Part 1 was a puzzle, have a fight here instead.
  Part 3: Trick, Trap or Setback
  Build tension for the quest using a trick, trap or setback. Put 
  some doubt in the players’ minds, weaken them or create a 
  build-up to a dramatic struggle in Part 4.
  Part 4: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict
  The big show, the final combat, the capstone conflict of the 
  quest. Use all the tactics you can summon as GM to make this 
  encounter memorable and entertaining! Consider starting 
  or ending with roleplay (perhaps the villain monologues, or 
  coughs out a few last words on their dying breath) or having 
  the battle resolved in unusual ways (such as a wager or a duel).
  Part 5: Reward, Revelation or Plot Twist
  Change the players’ bragging to “We came, we saw, we slipped 
  on a banana peel.” This doesn’t always have to represent 
  a complication or point of failure, but it can. It also doesn’t 
  have to be a location - it could simply be a twist, revealed in 
  Part 4. Let your creativity shine and make it memorable! If 
  they haven’t got their reward yet, give it to them now, perhaps 
  alongside motivation for the next quest.
  Challenge
  Obstacle Difficulty
  Creature Composure
  Trivial
  Bend a Spoon (3)
  Kobold (d4)
  Simple
  Haggle Prices (5)
  Goblin (d6)
  Average
  Leap a Chasm (7)
  Orc (d8)
  Tough
  Resist Torture (9)
  Ogre (d10)
  Fiendish
  Scale a Cliff (11)
  Giant (d12)
  Herculean
  Scare a Griffon (13)
  Dragon (d20)
  Example Challenges
  Variant Rule: Creature Composure
  Use this variant rule to make creatures tougher to defeat.
  When you challenge a creature, roll against the creature’s 
  composure die. The GM will tell you what composure die the 
  creature has and the player to your left rolls it for the creature. 
  Reduce a creature’s composure below a d4 to defeat it.
  If the result of your roll is equal to or higher than the result of 
  the creature’s roll, you best them - downgrade their composure 
  die. Otherwise, the creature bests you! Your GM will say how.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Kid Friendly/3. Rules Lite Collection/The Forests of Faera.pdf