Inspiration and Corruption

[MidnightPoet]

Influence Dice

Though the gods of Etharis are gone, the weave of Fate still governs the lives of its inhabitants. Without oversight, however, that once-indomitable force has become unstable and susceptible to outside influence.

This is where Influence dice come into play. While playing in Grim Hollow, the players and the GM each have a pool of six-sided dice to draw upon in order to shift the fates in their favor. The players’ dice are known as Resolve Dice, while the GM’s pool consists of Beast Dice.

At the start of a campaign, each pool has a single d6, but events during the game can add or remove dice from each pool. After each session, if one dice pool has at least two more dice than the other then the GM should add an extra d6 to the pool with fewer dice to represent Fate attempting to correct the imbalance.

The dice in each pool can be spent to activate a number of different abilities, representing the ways in which Fate has been altered for good or for ill.

During play, the number of dice in each pool is another factor for the players to consider when plotting their next course of action. For this reason, it is appropriate for the level of dice in the Beast Pool to be represented in-game, allowing the characters to react without metagaming and breaking immersion.

By contrast, the Resolve Pool is best represented by the players themselves. Confidence and good humor can increase when the Resolve Pool outweighs the Beast Pool, but in Etharis such events are rare and fleeting.

The Resolve Pool

The player characters in Grim Hollow are faced with a world of overwhelming odds, and in order to triumph, they must draw upon deep personal reservoirs of courage and willpower. This is represented by the Resolve Pool, a special pool of six-sided dice that the players can use to try and thwart fate and seize victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Resolve Pool starts with a single d6 but different events throughout the game can add dice to that pool, up to a maximum of six d6. The GM can award dice to the party based on their actions or at specific plot moments within the game. If a player accurately and faithfully represents their character’s bonds, flaws, and ideals in difficult circumstances, it’s appropriate for the GM to award a Resolve Die based on their excellent roleplaying. Furthermore, certain actions may result in the reward of a Resolve Die if they represent events which would bolster the party’s determination. Rare acts of self-sacrifice, kindness, or charity may act as a light in the darkness and help the party to forge ahead, as represented by the addition of a Resolve Die to the pool.

Once there are dice in the Resolve Pool, the party can then draw upon them to activate special abilities throughout the game. Resolve Abilities can only be activated by spending dice from the Resolve Pool, and each ability has a certain cost as detailed in the description. Feel free to come up with your own list of abilities for the players to use their Resolve Dice on, but certain examples may include the following:

Hasty Recovery. Spending one Resolve Die during a short or long rest allows a player to remove a condition or one level of exhaustion. If the player needs to make a saving throw during that rest, such as for a disease or poison, they may roll the Resolve Die and add that number to their saving throw.

Inner Strength. A player may spend a Resolve Die instead of a Hit Die to recover hp during a short rest or to activate any other ability that requires spending a Hit Die.

Final Push. Whenever a player fails a death save, they may spend two Resolve Dice to reroll that save.

I’ve Just the Thing. A player may spend any number of Resolve dice and roll them in order to immediately gain a single item with value equal to or less than twice the rolled total in gold pieces.

Blaze of Glory. The party may spend all six Resolve Dice to grant themselves superhuman strength and resilience for a single round. During that round all party members have advantage on all rolls, resistance to all damage, and any damage they deal is doubled.

The Beast Pool

The Beast is a powerful supernatural entity that stalks the lands of Etharis, and the Beast Pool represents the way that the forces opposed to the party affect the weave of Fate. This pool starts with a single d6, but as things happen during the game, more may be added to represent the growing threat to body and mind.

Whenever the players take actions that darken the tone of the game, the Beast Pool gets another d6. These events include murder of innocents, acts of selfishness or callousness, and so forth. Other things may add dice to the Beast Pool as well. When the party encounters a particularly strong, evil, or frightening creature, the Beast Pool receives another die. Similarly, the Beast Pool grows whenever the party witnesses something extremely horrifying or disturbing. Anything that would shake the resolve or threaten the psyches of the party qualifies. Actual fear effects associated with spells or abilities have no effect on the Beast Pool.

As the Beast Pool grows, the GM gains access to Beast Abilities. These abilities are ways in which the GM may alter the balance of encounters at critical moments to hinder the party or bolster their enemies. Be warned that these abilities are best used to build tension and raise the stakes of an encounter rather than purely as a means to defeat the party. Some examples of Beast Abilities include the following:

Bitter Disposition. The GM may spend one Beast Die in order to decrease the starting disposition of an NPC from Friendly to Indifferent, or from Indifferent to Hostile.

Death Rattle. When a player is reduced to 0 hp, the GM may spend one Beast Die and roll it. On a 5 or 6, that player immediately fails a death save.

Outnumbered. The GM may spend any number of Beast Dice at the start of an encounter to increase the number of creatures facing the party. For each die spent, the GM may add an additional creature with CR no greater than half the party’s average level, rounded down.

Affliction. By spending four Beast Dice, the forces of darkness cause a serious ailment to strike a party member. The GM chooses a Curse or Transformation that afflicts a character of their choice. If using a Transformation for this ability, the possibility should be raised at the start of the game to ensure that such an event is acceptable to everyone at the table.

The Beast. Should the pool reach six, the GM may spend all six dice in order to have the Beast manifest near the players’ location. The effects of the Beast’s presence are felt throughout the region and curse a player or someone close to the player. This curse progresses in 4 stages, each growing progressively worse. If it is not removed within 21 days, the cursed target becomes a monster and will actively fight the surviving party members.

Neutral Abilities

Apart from Resolve Abilities and Beast Abilities, there are a set of abilities that can be activated with dice drawn from either pool. Both the GM and the party have access to Neutral Abilities, which represent more general methods of shaping the whims of Fate in your favor.

Minor Fate. Roll one die and add the total to a single attack roll, ability check, or saving throw.

Bolster. Roll two dice and increase the maximum hit points of a creature by the total for eight hours.

Brutal Strike. Whenever a creature is hit by an attack roll, the attacker may spend two dice and inflict an additional condition on the target for one round. This condition may be bleeding, dazed, prone, or stunned.

Magical Flux. A creature may spend dice to mimic the effects of a spell. The level of the spell may be no greater than the creature’s proficiency bonus, and the creature must spend dice equal to one plus the level of the spell to be invoked. Cantrips count as 1st-level spells for the purposes of this ability.

Stroke of Luck. By spending two dice, the GM or a player may cause a minor alteration to the environment, such as adding a small item or feature, moving an existing object five feet, or slightly altering weather conditions or lighting. Examples would be a dropped weapon rolling out of reach or suggesting that phosphorescent fungi might bring a cave’s lighting up to dim light rather than total darkness.

Edited February 28 by MidnightPoet (see edit history)

[MidnightPoet]

Dark Bargains

In addition to these abilities, the GM has the ability to propose Dark Bargains to the players. The GM chooses a number of Beast Dice in their pool and proposes a course of action to a player. Should the player accept the bargain, the Beast Pool is reduced by the chosen number of dice and the player then proceeds to follow the suggested course of action. This allows the GM to introduce story elements and complications that the players may otherwise avoid, through the medium of demonic whispers and alien influences on the characters. This is a particularly useful avenue because it lets the GM leverage a character’s bonds, ideals, or flaws.

One example of a Dark Bargain would be a situation where a player discovers a cursed artifact while searching a mysterious assailant for clues. The GM offers the player a bargain: reduce the Beast Pool by two and the player will pocket the artifact for themselves without informing the other party members. The character has a greed-based flaw, so despite knowing that it’s a bad idea they accept, setting the stage for the artifact to come into play later.