What is This?
The Witch and The Dark Forest is a set to be a relatively casual RP inspired by the various Beast Lair RP's you've seen before (Because it's the only system I know of.....). While it is based off these systems, I've added plenty of my own stuff. Here some of the various mechanics you will be dealing with as you play.
Combat:
While the flow of combat can be controlled at my discretion for story purposes, there is still a basic method for how combat will unfold. Within combat each character will roll for their relevant stat, these base rolls all use the same kind of die. A second roll is then made whose number of sides corresponds to the number of points they put in their relevant stat. Finally all modifiers from perks, environment and other factors are added to determine failures and success. Special abilities have naturally higher rolls than when using just your stats.
The dice for each stat is as follows.
E = 1d2
D = 1d4
C = 1d6
B = 1d8
A = 1d10
A+ = 1d12
Damage is calculated as double the resulting roll of an attack, plus any damage modifiers.
To give an example:
If a character has Strength of Rank C+, they roll the base 1d6 + the 1d6 of C rank strength. Let's say they roll a 3 and a 1, their damage will be calculated as (4 +2 from having C+ strength) X 2 resulting in 12 damage.
Clashes:
Clashes are based on a variety factors, but mainly dice rolls and your various stats or perks. Clashes are when a dice roll is put up against another dice roll in combat in which the highest value is considered the winner. These mainly exist to give a general framework for the flow of the fight and as the GM, I will be pretty casual with the results, story is gonna matter more after all. But generally the winner of a clash is considered to have been successful in their action, but the degree of their success is determined by how much larger their dice is over the opponent. So for a strength roll you might get to deal extra damage, while an evade roll might allow for an extra action.
Defense:
When faced with an attack you have three basic responses: Parry, Dodge, Endure.
Parry: A defense option which deflects a physical blow against you and negates the action upon victory. It is determined by the addition of the maximums of both your Strength and Finesse divided by 2 (So if you have Finesse D and Strength C, you will be rolling a second die with a maximum of 5). If your roll is higher by a certain degree gain a counter attack.
Dodge: A defense option which negates any offensive action upon victory but does nothing if it fails. It is determined by an agility role. If your agility is higher by your opponents by a certain degree you can gain an extra movement action.
Endure: A defense option which's accepts the oncoming attack at a reduced damage value and allows for a counter attack. The nature of the damage reduction is determined by an endurance roll.
Turns:
A turn in combat consists of two movement actions, a defensive action, an attack and recovery (In no particular order.) Certain actions can also be replaced with unique on the fly actions depending on the situation, so for example if you wanted to give your buddy a piggy back ride in the middle of battle for some reason, you swap picking them up with a movement option. The person to act first is decided by an agility roll.
An attack includes any offensive option.
Movement includes moving around the battlefield and is influenced by your agility.
A defensive action was explained in the section above. A defensive action will be used in response to an attack automatically unless you decide otherwise or there are two attacks in a turn (such as a counter), don't worry about the order of operations.
A recovery option includes any support options or natural healing. Any non offensive moves can be used here, your can roll to try and overcome certain effects, or you can accept some natural healing. If a character wants to set up a bounded field from a spell or something in combat, even if the results are offensive, creating it will take up a recovery action or two to finish.
An example of a turn may then look like the following. Character A has the higher agility and acts first. They move in on character B and Attacks, Character B then endures the hit and uses a counter, Character A dodges and moves away. Character B then moves and attacks one sided. Both Characters then recover.
In group battles it is possible to use certain actions against different enemies or cover for your allies, assuming they are within range, so in such situations it is important to choose your actions carefully.
Spells:
For every 1 AP you spend you get 3 spells. Spells are powerful and their rank in combat is treated as two higher than the corresponding rank in physical strength. The rank of your spells are limited by your FIN stat.
Every time you increase the spells rank, this incantation time gets longer but gains an extra effect. A notably more powerful effect can take the spot of two effects, or an effect spot can be used to boosts the spells raw power.
Spells have costs proportional to their rank as well as an incantation time. The higher the rank the more limited the actions available to your character become. A spell depending on its function will naturally take up either an attack or recovery option, but every consumed action outside of that is up to you and your current strategy.
E Rank: Uses either an attack or recover option depending on its function.
D Rank: Uses up two actions.
C Rank: Uses up three actions
B Rank: Uses up four actions.
A Rank: Uses up all actions.
General Activity:
General activities and puzzle solving is where your creativity is meant to shine. These actions can possibly be influenced by things like stats, but generally these sections move the plot forward simply by deciding that your character is going to do something. Depending on the action though, some may have only a pure stat check, while other might require you to roll of it. Which is which will probably depend on the required skill to pull it off.
Injuries:
Injuries are a result of the culmination of damage on your character, and depending on what you are hit with, can manifest in a variety of ways in the form of status effects. For example an attack with a bladed weapon may result in a different type of wound then a fire spell (A bladed weapon could cause extra damage over time through bleeding while a burn might lower a characters agility to give an example). Because the range of injuries can vary quite a lot, generally these debuffs will be associated with your weapon or spell after sheet creation. I will however allow you to make suggestions of what it may be as your abilities can have unique effects, but the more generic the effect the more likely I'll ignore it (or potentially steal it) for a standardized effect.
For every 10% percent of your hp in damage that is dealt to your character, one injury will manifest. Standard injuries, unless stated otherwise, will last until the end of your current combat encounter, after which their effects on your character are weakened or ignored.
When your hp is below 50% you have a chance of receiving a fatal wound, with the chance increasing for every wound you receive. Fatal wounds are injuries with significantly greater effects on your performance, possibly even in the long term, which can include things such as the loss of limbs. These are generally determined on a how does it fit the current narrative basis more than anything else.
Damage itself is determined by an attacks roll multiplied by two. There are however various abilities and effects which deal a set value every time. For physical hits this corresponds to your strength parameter, while for spells it is equivalent to the rank of your spell + 2.
Crits and Bare Missess:
Your ability to hit or avoid being hit is dependent on your agility. Attacks which are barely missed by one value can still deal damage if the power behind the attack is higher than the targets agility by a certain degree (though it does not count as a proper hit if that is a factor in one of your abilities). For attacks whose accuracy greatly exceeds the opponents defensive roll, attacks deal more damage than normal and can be considered a critical hit.
Hostile Conditions:
Whether it is due to certain abilities or natural conditions, certain environments are more hostile to human existence and inflict certain status effects by simply being there. Your ability to withstand existing in these conditions depends on your constitution, perks and mystery (depending on how supernatural the environment is).
These debuffs also take into account the users physiology, with inhuman characteristics making one inherently more resistant or immune to certain effects, though it depends entirely on what is chosen for your character and is GM determined. These effects can vary wildly from simply having your agility reduced by one up to taking 10% of your hp as damage every two turns, with certain effects not necessarily being immediately apparent without a certain senses rank. Navigating hostile environments in battle is paramount to your survival strategy, so pick your fights wisely.
For those of you making use of things like bounded fields or certain special abilities, creating Hostile Conditions are open to you and will be treated with the same considerations as natural environments when deployed.
Supplies:
When adventuring into Albion's depths, your excursion team has a set supply of materials such as food or ammunition. Supplies like ammunition will persist until used, while a certain amount of food or water is used up at the end of the day. For such materials it is possible for characters to skip a day to make supplies last longer, receiving a small debuff in turn. Alternatively some supplies can naturally be obtained in Albion if exploration effort is put in to find it. Once in the forest, thanks to your faction's connections a resupply will be available every so often. These all occur in different secret locations, be sure to guard that secret closely.
Dead Apostles are unique in that they do not have supply drops.
Phases:
Phases are also defined by time of day. These include Dawn, Noon, Dusk and Night. It is possible to spend multiple phases in the same location as the same place might not have the same opportunities at noon as it did in the morning. However some objectives might be time sensitive and to keep all players in line there are phase end actions or conditions throughout the rp.
For the sake of Dead Apostles, at night time the phase of the moon will also be noted.
Range:
Maintaining a large distance from your opponent grants a plus one modifier of the use of ranged abilities and delays immediate counter attack. Range bonuses come into play when you are considered to be a distance away that is further than the ground they can cover with two movement options. By maintaining this great distance, without a ranged ability themselves it will be impossible for an opponent to strike you during that turn. However, after that turn, if needed, it is possible for a target to convert unused actions into movement when attempting to close the distance between them and their assailant.
Conceptual Advantage:
Something relevant based on the various choices you made in character creation, if your ability is seen as having some kind of conceptual advantage over another entity (or the opposite), gain a damage modifier at GM’s discretion. This is most relevant to members of the church as all holy abilities hold a conceptual advantage against Dead Apostles.
Special Abilities Versus Minor Abilities:
Special Abilities refer to any ability that is ranked and possesses it's own powerful function and what you would normally think about when designing a power for your character. A minor ability refers to abilities and powers your character possesses that have a singular and simple function which are not ranked and are given by certain perks. This could include something like levitation, the power to produce small flames or really anything you might see in a generic, low ranked spell. Some perks will give the option to design a regular ability instead, these are scaled similarly to regular abilities with a bit more nuance and are mainly differentiated by coming with a unique trait or mechanic.
General Questions
Is there PVP?
There is PVP in the sense that each faction will be competing against other players to be the first to accomplish a certain goal, but direct combat with another player is optional. What do I mean by optional? It means that if two people agree to fight each other they can, and this combat can be completely independent of the game rules if you so choose. It is more so a story telling decision two parties can agree to do. Otherwise, in a clash between factions you will most likely be put up against an NPC instead.
Is this a Fate of Tsukihime world?
Tsukihime (Remake).
Can I team up with someone in a different faction?
No. You can make your backstories connected if you want (assuming you both get in) but no teaming up outside your faction. The exception to this is that in certain perilous situations I will allow temporary alliances.
Can I make my own custom perks?
Sure, this all about creative freedom, but as GM I will judge and alter them as I feel needed.
I really want something but I'm like 2 points away from getting it and am having trouble balancing?
Because I said this will be casual if you have a good idea and feel the need to go like a point or two over budget I may still approve your sheet. However, that may come with its own cost. Just run it by me.