The end was near, our time nearly up. But before the spill of blood, luminous doorways emerged amidst the vast sea. Guided by gods and spirits, our ancestors sailed through these radiant gates, into the unknown. Many perished, but some managed to survive and settle. Time passed. Now some of us are called to venture forth, to map these strange new lands. And one day, all shall hear the echoes of our destinies fulfilled as they ring out in songs and sagas.
To play you will need:
- A standard deck of playing cards.
- A full set of polyhedral dice.
- Printed copies of this pamphlet and one map sheet.
- 2 to 5 friends, with one of them acting as game moderator (GM).
- A couple of hours per session.
When you reveal a card from the deck, discard it. Shuffle the discarded cards back after each scene and whenever the deck is empty.
- Guide the story.
- Telegraph danger.
- Show the world as it is.
- Check-in with the players.
- Pause or rewind if needed.
- Be a fan of the characters.
- Trust the fiction.
- Provide problems, not solutions.
- Ask questions, use the answers.
- Split problems in multiple rolls.
- Improvise rules if needed.
- Listen and pay attention.
- Narrate your actions.
- Align on things as a group.
- Share the spotlight.
- Engage with the fiction.
- Embrace risks.
- Try to stack the odds in your favor. Always.
- Find creative solutions.
- Rise up from failure.
- Don’t hoard the cards, or else...
- Play to find out.
In this game, you perform trial and fate rolls when there is uncertainty in the fiction. You add cards to your hand when your trial rolls succeed, burn them to gain momentum, and, most importantly, continually collaborate in moving the story in interesting directions.
Your attributes are the main way you interact with the world. Your character has 4 attributes.
With your strength, you may crush, lift, strike and grapple. With your dexterity, you may dash, aim, sneak and handle. With your willpower, you may perceive, solve, analyze and focus. With your heart, you may persuade, command, charm and honor.
To determine your starting modifiers, reveal a card for each attribute.
Write down the results on your character sheet.
If you are unhappy with your attributes, you may try to get a better result by revealing another card, but must accept the new result. This can only be done for two attributes.
You are guarded by a Vanori, a spirit of the wild and messenger of the gods. The Vanori you choose increases certain attributes, sets your initial max resilience, and gives you a special ability.
Additionally, you may burn a card to, for a short while, conjure your Vanori or take its physical appearance. Leverage its presence or your new form to roll with a reduced DR.
Choose, roll or invent a Vanori.
- BEAR: Increase your strength by 2 and your heart by 1. Your max resilience is d10+3. You may burn a card to roll an extra d4 on top of your armor to resist incoming damage.
- WOLF: Increase your dexterity by 2 and your willpower by 1. Your max resilience is d8+3. You may burn a card to force an enemy to do a morale check.
- RAVEN: Increase your willpower by 2 and your dexterity by 1. Your max resilience is d6+3. You may burn a card to force an enemy to step down their damage die.
- ELK: Increase your heart by 2 and your strength by 1. Your max resilience is d10+3. When you burn a card to aid an ally, you give +3 to their score instead of the normal +2.
- OX: Increase your strength by 2 and your willpower by 1. Your max resilience is d12+3. You may burn a card during a short rest to get the benefits of a long rest.
- OWL: Increase your willpower by 2 and your heart by 1. Your max resilience is d6+3. Once per session, you may burn a card to mark XP twice.
If you are unhappy with your max resilience, you may reroll once, but must accept the new result.
Your armor allows you to resist damage during combat. You start with a d4 armor set. Fill the d4 armor dot on your character sheet.
Your weapons provide convenient ways to perform attacks on enemies. You start with a d6 weapon of your choice in your inventory.
These are strange new lands, filled with creatures of unfathomable forms, remnants of advanced yet long-lost civilizations, flora and fauna that are as beautiful as they are treacherous, and hopefully a place to call home.
Drop a d20 on the map sheet’s hex grid, this is the region you are located in.
Now, and each time you enter a new hex, take the time, as a group, to describe the region. Use your imagination or jumpstart it with the provided rolling tables (Songs and Sagas Rolling Tables ). Write down key details in one of the numbered box and note the number in the appropriate hex. Finally, reveal a card to set the initial risk rating of the region.
The risk rating determines the level of unknown and danger in a region. The higher the rating, the more drama and unpredictability should be injected in the narrative. It typically ranges from 1 to 3, but may step up or down at the GM’s discretion depending on your actions in the fiction.
Each hex is 6 miles (or ~10 kilometers) face to face. A person can walk a hex in a day, a mount can cross two, a longship can row three but sail four with favorable winds.
When taking a risky action, make a trial roll.
- Pick the attribute best suited for your action.
- The GM discusses with the group and sets a difficulty rating (DR), usually a 12.
- The GM reveals a number of cards matching the current region’s risk rating. For each black card, the difficulty rating of the roll is increased by 2.
- Roll a d20 + the attribute modifier to get your score.
If your score is greater than the difficulty rating, it’s a success.
Otherwise you suffer a setback.
SUCCESS: Gain control of a moment in the scene and narrate what happens next. Add one of the revealed cards to your hand if no cards were burned for the roll. You must pick a red card over a black card.
SETBACK: Mark XP, but give up control of the narrative to the GM. They describe what happens and may inject more tension in the scene by introducing a new consequence (narrative mishap, loss of resilience, damaged armor or weapon, a new condition, etc).
When a rule changes the DR of a roll, the group decide by how much, using the fiction as their guide.
When taking an action with an uncertain outcome but no consequential risks, make a fate roll: simply perform a trial roll, skipping step 3, and use the result to help guide the story forward.
When making a fate roll, you also forego adding cards to your hand on a success and refrain from marking XP on a setback.
Burn a card from your hand to:
CALL THE GODS: +2 to your score.
AID AN ALLY: +2 to an ally’s score.
TURN THE TABLE: Turn a setback into a success, but the GM gets to introduce a new consequence.
COME PREPARED: Add an item to your inventory as if it had always been there. This may reduce the DR of a roll in certain situations, but the GM has the final say.
Your armor allows you to resist incoming damage and is defined by a die rating (d4 - d6). During an enemy attack, roll your armor die and subtract the result from the incoming damage. Armor may be ignored or damaged at the GM’s discretion. When damaged, the armor die is stepped down.
When you get an item or weapon, add it in an inventory slot. Items can be used to reduce the DR of a roll, but the GM has the final say.
Weapons are assigned a die rating (d4- d12) and are used during attacks. Weapons may become damaged at the GM’s discretion. When damaged, the weapon die is stepped down. You may also take the time to repair damaged weapons when you take a long rest.
Your resilience represents your physical and mental well-being. If reduced to 0, make a trial roll.
SUCCESS: You are not ready to fall, set your resilience at 1.
SETBACK: You are incapacitated and close to death. If your wounds are tended, set your resilience at 1 but work with the GM to gain a new condition.
Conditions are negative aspects attached to your character. Each condition takes at least one inventory slot. To clear a condition, you need a full rest or wait until it becomes irrelevant. The GM can invoke conditions to increase the DR of a roll.
To recover, you can:
SHORT: Take half an hour to catch your breath. Reveal a card to recover resilience.
LONG: Spend a couple of hours resting. Reveal a card and interpret the result as above, but double the recovery. You may spend this time fixing a damaged weapon or armor, but then only get the benefits of a short rest.
FULL: Spend a week out of action or in calm transit to restore all resilience and, if it makes sense in the fiction, clear a condition.
When an NPC’s reaction to you is not obvious, reveal a card.
INITIATIVE: To decide who goes first in combat, reveal a card.
The group order stays the same until the combat is over.
The individual order is not tracked; go with what makes the most sense or who’s most excited to play next.
The combat ends when all player characters or enemies run out of resilience, or if one side decides to withdraw (see Enemy Morale).
Enemies are made of resilience, armor and weapons, which work exactly like yours. You can build your own enemies or convert some from existing OSR bestiaries.
Mobs of enemies may be grouped together as a single entity.
During a combat turn, choose one:
- Make a trial roll to attempt to reduce future DRs, to damage your target’s armor/weapon, or to otherwise alter the fiction.
- Perform an attack.
To attack, choose between:
WEAPON: When attacking with a weapon, the weapon’s die rating will serve as damage die.
FEAT: When trying to harm an enemy through other means, the GM assigns a damage die to your action (d4 - d12).
In both cases, make a trial roll (including card to hand or XP).
SUCCESS: Use the damage die as is, or step it up if you rolled a 20.
SETBACK: Step down the damage die once, or twice if you rolled a 1. The GM may inflict a consequence in addition to or in place of the stepped down damage die (e.g., a damaged weapon).
Roll the damage die and deal that much damage to your target’s resilience, minus their armor die roll. A damage die always ranges from a d4 to a d12.
Enemies attack and prompt you to defend with a trial roll (including card to hand or XP).
SUCCESS: You avoid the attack, and the DR of your next roll is lowered if you rolled a 20.
SETBACK: You get hit, the GM uses the enemy's damage die, stepped up if you rolled a 1. The GM may inflict a consequence in addition to or in place of the damage dealt to you (e.g., your armor is damaged, you gain a condition). The GM rolls the damage die and deals that much damage to your resilience, minus your armor die roll.
When enemies feel outnumbered or see their leader fall, reveal a card to determine how they react.
When a trial roll results in a setback, you get to mark XP, in which case you fill one of the eight boxes on your XP track.
When your XP track is filled, you receive a blessing from your Vanori: clear your XP track and do the following.
For each attribute, reveal a card.
If you reveal more than one ♠, the omen becomes more menacing.
To get your new max resilience, reveal a card.
If you seek answers to questions where your character isn't directly involved in the outcome, formulate a yes/no question and evaluate the likelihood of a positive outcome.
Then, reveal 1 card for sheer luck, and reveal one card for each additional factor or advantage that would increase the likelihood of a positive outcome.
- If you have revealed at least 2 red cards, the answer to your question is a strong yes.
- If you have revealed 1 red card, the answer to your question is a weak yes.
- If you have revealed no red cards, the answer to your question is no.
Use this answer as a jumping point for your story or continue asking questions until you feel ready to continue playing. 
