Danse Macabre Changelog - 8/14/23


Hear ye, hear ye! Updates both minor and major to Danse Macabre, bringing us to Play Test v.1.2 -- many thanks to play testers Ryan Wagahoff and Rody Prieto for their feedback. 

Aesthetic Changes:

  • Changed the name of the GM from  'Warden' to 'Chronicler' since it has more historical weight to it. 
  • Changed the term 'The Abandoned World' to 'The Abandoned Realm,' reflecting the specificity of the setting (though I would like to make sourcebooks that open up the concept of the Abandoned World which explore other places during the same time period, and under the same circumstances). 

Mechanical Changes:

  • Changes to Age & Background mechanics - 
    • Added a note for players to specifically choose an age within the rolled range, since this was not previously stated or obvious. 
    • Players now have between 0-2 starting corruptions, based on their rolled age range (12-17 has 0; 18-50 has 1; 51-100 has 2). If a player character, or any character, has lived long enough, they have certainly died and been resurrected at least a few times. This is especially obvious when you consider that a 50 year old was considered elderly in 14th century Europe due to relatively short life expectancy of the actual time and place. 
    • Attribute buffs and de-buffs based on rolled age range have been added to add flavor and a bit of friction to character creation. PC's in the 12-17 age range gain +1 max Vitality but lose -1 max Insight; PC's between 51-100 gain +1 max Insight but lose -1 max Vitality. Supplicants between 18-50 are unaffected. 
  • Slight change to Humour mechanics, in that now the Supplicant Player is rewarded a point of Advantage, to be used on a Check of their choosing, for roleplaying their character's Humour well. This is at the Chronicler's discretion. Basically some Dragon Game tomfoolery but I think it's nice to have the Player be responsible for arguing for advantage using Backgrounds while the onus is on the GM for Humour. Anything to encourage RP. 
  • Corruptions have been categorized as either Physical or Spiritual in order to differentiate when they can be used and how often they can be used. Physical Corruptions are permanent and can typically be used at all times while Spiritual Corruptions must be activated by spending a point of Fervor (see below). 
  • Fervor mechanics have slightly changed, and are now  spent to either re-roll a single check, evoke a Relic's healing ability, or to activate a Spiritual Corruption's power.
  • Shields now have damage profiles, if they are used to bash a target. Characters always roll VIT to hit when using a shield. Boucliers deal 1d2 Dmg on a hit while Heaters deal 1d3 Dmg.
  • The Abandoned Realm now has food. It's been kept simple - either Rations or Quality Rations. In order to heal at Rest, the Supplicant must consume a Ration. Quality Rations allow an additional 1d3 to be healed in each Attribute. Rations cost 2 denier a piece while Quality Rations are 6 denier each.
  • Healing Consumables have become less generic. Now, instead of 'Vital Herbs,' 'Calming Herbs,' or 'Soothing Herbs,' there are either Vital, Calming, or Soothing Salves and Elixirs. The use of Salves and Elixirs better reflects actual applications of medicinal herbs at the time of the high medieval period in Europe. I spent time researching and now these items are  better based in real medieval herbalism and medical practice (for instance, the description for Vital Salve reads as such: 'A small pot of ointment made primarily of henbane and hemlock' while Calming Elixir reads: A small bottle of medicinal liquid made of aqua vitae, rosemary, and mandrake root.)

Thanks for reading! That's all for now -- stay tuned for more updates. 

Files

DM_PT_v1.2.pdf 1.1 MB
Aug 14, 2023

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