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Wolden SRD

Playing the Game

If your character is reasonably competent at an action they attempt, then no roll is needed, the action simply succeeds. However, if the outcome of an action is uncertain, or the action itself is dangerous or risky, you make a roll to determine the result.

The Roll Mechanic

There are generally 4 categories of situations where you might be expected to roll (combat, extended challenge, travel montage, downtime), but the roll mechanic itself is always the same:

  1. Assemble your dice pool (maximum 4d12).
    1. Take 1d12 to begin with.
    2. If you have a relevant gift that can help you in the situation, add 1d12. You generally only gain 1 die from gifts, even if multiple would apply.
    3. If you have a situational advantage, natural or engineered, add 1d12.
    4. If someone helps you, add 1d12 for each person who does so, but beware: each helper will suffer the consequences of failure or partial failure just like you.
  2. Roll your dice pool. Note the highest number rolled, and keep an eye out for doubles—if you rolled any doubles, it might be a critical result.
  3. Add your relevant ability score to the highest number rolled. The GM will tell you in advance of the roll which one, though it should generally be obvious.
  4. Compare your total:
    1. 1–6: Failure. You did not succeed. Describe how and why. It’s important you do this, so that this particular failure does not undermine the concept of your character. For example, if you play a crack-shot archer, you might say that you missed because the enemy is reminiscent of a friend and it gave you pause. Now you’re deepening the story. Rolling a total of 6 or below in a combat means the enemy hit or affected you.
    2. 7–12: Partial Success. Either you did not succeed fully, or you did but the enemy, obstacle, or challenge, affected you at the same time. In combat, for example, it means you hit the enemy, but they also hit or affected you.
    3. 13+: Success. You fully succeeded at your action and whatever challenge or enemy was resisting you failed to do so this round.
    4. Doubles: If you roll the same number on any two dice you have a critical. If your total is 6 or less, you have a critical failure. In combat this means the enemy deals maximum damage against you. In other situations it’s just really a bad time. As with failure, it’s up to you to describe it, and if everyone—GM included—agrees, that’s what happened. If the highest total is 13 or more, it’s a critical success. Again, either maximum damage, or something highly beneficial. There are no critical partial successes.

Challenges & Combat

A regular challenge is the most common roll. The GM describes the danger or risk, you describe what your player wants to do about it, you roll and check the result.

Combat in Wolden is quick and dangerous. Since your ability scores are unlikely to be much above 4, if that, even a monster's basic 1d4+1* damage has a very good chance of exceeding your score and dealing wounds, which are much harder to heal. Use every advantage.

The GM describes what it looks like the enemy is about to do, and then all players describe their actions. The characters can always move a reasonable distance as part of this action, and it is taken as granted that they’re at the same time trying to avoid any attacks on them.

The order of actions is up to the players, and once each player has had a turn the combat round is over, and all combatants must weigh up whether they want to risk another round, if the enemy has not already been vanquished.

Extended Challenges

An extended challenge is a means to abstract a broader goal into a series of situations, and to succeed at enough of them to complete the whole task. It has a difficulty rating that the outcome of your rolls changes each time. During the extended challenge, players have a chance to describe how their character tackles one or more aspects of the task. These can be performed in parallel or in sequence, and as few or as many character as desired can participate. Once the rating has reached 0, your characters have succeeded.

See the table below for how a roll result decreases or increases the difficulty rating.

Roll Result Change to the Difficulty Rating
Critical Failure +4
Failure +2
Partial Success -1
Success -2
Critical Success -4

As well as modifying the challenge’s rating, the usual consequences of rolls apply, so characters risk damage, wounds, and of course narrative consequences.

Example Extended Challenge: Convince the Governor to accept the mercantile treaty (Difficulty Rating 8)

The characters require either 4 full successes, or 2 critical successes, or any other combination that reduces the rating to 0. The GM asks the players through what actions their characters plan to achieve that. Here are some ideas they might come up with:

The options are endless, and fully in the players’ hands. They can continue until the difficulty rating has reached zero, though once every player has had one go, the extended challenge enters a new round, and the situation might have changed, perhaps affecting certain approaches. If they do very poorly and instead double the initial rating, the GM might rule that they have well and truly failed and nothing short of a miracle can change it.

Travel Montage

The travel montage is a variant of the extended challenge, where the GM prescribes the situations that are to be overcome. This creates exciting journeys that once again allow characters of all types to potentially shine. At the same time it maintains the sense of danger because every failed roll can bring consequences like wounds, compromising of equipment, or other, narrative consequences.

Like regular extended challenges, travel montages have a difficulty rating. Once it has reached 0, the characters have reached their destination; until then interesting situations that require handling, arise. And like extended challenges, abstracting them into travel montages is optional: in some cases it might make more sense to play them out fully, in others—perhaps a get-away, a chase, or simply retreading a journey—the montage is the right choice.

Downtime, Healing, & Advancement

Characters advance in power, knowledge, or possessions, as well as recuperate, during downtime. Once per session or between sessions, at most, when the characters have a chance to spend a day or night in a reasonably sized village or city, or back in Wolden, they can choose one of Focused Training, Going Shopping, Pure Rest, or Carousing, and reap potential rewards. And sundry consequences.

Additionally, each downtime, always:

Focused Training

Under the tutelage of a mentor, auto-didactic study, persistent practice, or enlightening self-discovery, you master further powers of your cult. Roll on the Powers table of your cult, or, with your GM’s approval, choose one.

Go Shopping

Wolden doesn’t concern itself with small, mundane items, but items of import or potency that haven’t been uncovered or traded during the adventure, can perhaps be had here, on a good old-fashioned shopping trip.

Either choose an item from your cult’s Equipment list, or, with the GM’s approval, design an item of similar power that you acquire. No better way to get the witch's hat of your dreams.

Pure Rest

Sometimes you just need to put your feet up, and take it easy for a while. Perhaps a day in a spa, or in a sunny, mossy glade, near a clear pond, with beautiful servants feeding you grapes. I digress.

With this downtime activity you heal an additional 2d4 wounds.

Carouse

Each cult has their own way of letting off steam. Refer to the cult entries to roll on their individual carousing table. It’s a bit of a gamble, but it will certainly take the story in interesting directions. And there is a chance for an ability score increase.

Some results will give you a 1-slot gift, but since you’re automatically gaining 4 new slots each downtime, you'll always have enough space for it.

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