HKRPG: Adventures in a Dying Kingdom of Bugs

[RandomWombat]

It's finally completed, and available for download here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zWPQ9Yv7kkLrleCIlf8vSJHHxvA6-T0D/view). The link will always contain the most up to date version of the pdf.

We also have an itch.io page (https://hkrpg-team.itch.io/hollow-knight-rpg), where you can find a link to a Discord where game groups are run and questions can be asked!

[sleepyhead]

I'm not much for balancing but I wanna tell you I think this is pretty awesome. If I get a chance to run it I will definitely try. There has been some interest in trying out a new system so it's possible.

[RandomWombat]

Glad to hear it. If you get a chance, let me know what you think and I'll pass it along to the rest of the team.

[RandomWombat]

It's finally completed, and available for download here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zWPQ9Yv7kkLrleCIlf8vSJHHxvA6-T0D/view). The link will always contain the most up to date version of the pdf.

We also have an itch.io page (https://hkrpg-team.itch.io/hollow-knight-rpg), where you can find a link to a Discord where game groups are run and questions can be asked!

[Old Harry MTX]

Thankyou! It seems pretty cool!

[Amechra]

My one complaint is that the combat chapter comes after roughly 100 pages of mechanics that only make sense after you read the combat chapter... but it looks pretty dang sweet.

EDIT: One quick question: I'm assuming that you start with the stuff that you'd get for taking a Rank in a Path during Advancement? For example, I'm assuming that someone who starts with a Mystic Path also starts with +1 Soul and a "free" Arcana?

EDIT EDIT: I was building a test character, and as far as I can tell there aren't any suggestions for how much Geo you should start with. EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I found a Reddit post that suggests that the starting cash is 100--300 Geo and a single Quality 1 weapon of your choice.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: Am I correct in thinking that there's no actual cap to Cute/Spook? I haven't been able to find a cap for them in the book, unlike all of the primary attributes, pools, and (permanent) speed.

Which, for my test character (who is at Milestone 2), has led to the hilarity of a Cloak Adept with the Petal's Grace and Sharp Shadow charms who can roll 8.5 dice on dodges and effectively get a free Dodge every turn (thanks to Cloak Dance). It doesn't seem terribly broken (their defenses entirely collapse if you can stop them from moving, and they're not amazing at actual offense), but I love the idea of a cutesy bug idol just no-selling attacks through sheer prettiness. EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I settled on going with 200 Geo as the starting cash with my test character (which was boosted to 300 by the pampered trait), so I didn't have enough cash for Sharp Shadow. That substantially reduces the absurdity, since it means that they can't just dodge people to death. :p

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I'm a little curious about why Mystic Paths get a free Arcana with each rank, while Martial Paths are stuck trading out proficiencies to pick up new Arts. Have I missed something there?

[JNAProductions]

Before I look too deep into this, I've not played much of Hollow Knight yet. (It's good, though!)
Should I read it before I beat the game, or should I save this for after, to avoid spoilers?

[Amechra]

Before I look too deep into this, I've not played much of Hollow Knight yet. (It's good, though!)
Should I read it before I beat the game, or should I save this for after, to avoid spoilers?

It's mostly spoiler free? I'm saying this as someone who almost beat the game (and then my computer crashed and corrupted my save, sending me right back to the beginning...)

[JNAProductions]

It's mostly spoiler free? I'm saying this as someone who almost beat the game (and then my computer crashed and corrupted my save, sending me right back to the beginning...)

Ouch. I have it for Switch, so that SHOULDN'T happen to me.

You got my sympathy.

[Amechra]

Ouch. I have it for Switch, so that SHOULDN'T happen to me.

You got my sympathy.

It was only 50 hours or so! Nothing too big. :sob:

...

I would also like to share the fruits of my labors!

Songstress Annalie
Milestone 2 Average Bug

Stats
Might: 3 / Insight: 3 / Shell: 3 / Grace: 3
Hearts: 7 / Stamina: 3 / Soul: 5 / Speed: 7
Cute: 6.5 (+1 when her wings are showing, +1 when interacting with bugs who have heard her sing.) / Spook: 1 / Hunger: 17

Proficiencies — Noble 1, Songstress 1

Deception +1
Etiquette +2
Kenning +2
Perform (Singing) +1
Lore (Music) +1
Lore (Politics) +1

Traits

Song: She can sing a soothing song that gives her +1 Cute while interacting with bugs who have heard her sing.
Dazzling x2: She has +2 Cute because she is fabulous.
Pampered: +50% starting Geo.
Hidden Beauty: +1 Cute when she unfurls her wings.
Pale Fluff: She's aware of when she's in the presence of spirits or powerful magic. After a full rest, she always gains at least one Soul, which can put her over her maximum.
Plucky: She has a pool of 3 Pluck, which she may spend to add rerolls to a roll.

Path: Cloak
Cloak Initiate — Swoop
She may Dash or Jump for free once per round. She may also Dash or Jump in midair, but only once each before landing.

Cloak Adept - Combat Celerity
She may dedicate Soul on attacks as if it were Stamina. She may also use Soul in place of Stamina for all purposes while dodging.

Techniques: 3 Slots

(Art) Arachnid's Gamble — 1 Sta: When she successfully dodges an attack with at least one success, she may counterattack. If she hits, reduce the damage by 1 and afflict her target with a stack of Off-Balance.
(Arcana) Cloak Dance (Self — 0): So long as the target moves at least 1 space on its turn, it gains one free Dodge attempt until the end of its next turn.
(Arcana) Fade (Touch [Con] — 2): The target is invisible until they take damage. She may pick a different sense to make them "invisible" to, such as hearing or smell.

Her Stuff
Charm Notches

(3) Petal's Grace — Annalie may use Cute in place of Grace while dodging. If she does, she has to move after dodging.
(2) Empty

Equipment: 2/3 Bulk

Honed Threaded Needle (3 damage / Melee/Range(3) / 1H / Bulk 1) — Gives +2 to Initiative if drawn during Initiative. Can be pulled to her hand for 1 Speed. [-25]
Light Padded Armor (5 durability / -1 DR / Bulk 1) — Gives +2.5 to Soak. [-70]
Fancy Clothes (Bulk 0) — Grants +0.5 Cute while worn.
155 Geo worth of other stuff.

Notes

The basic, sketchy backstory I have for her is that she was a rising star in the music world when she realized that she saw more than just bugs come to her performances. Anything more concrete would have to wait until I had a game to play her in.
She's a social monster, at least in terms of impressing people or making good first impressions. She's nowhere near as good if you need someone scary.
Combat-wise, she is absurdly hard to pin down. She can potentially slap down eight dice while Dodging, gets a single Dodge for free every turn, and doesn't need to care about Off-Balance as much as long as she can keep her Soul up. Offense-wise, she's nothing special — you keep her around because she's good at making friends and has a cool stealth spell.
Mechanically, I'm thinking that I'd finish out Cloak and then go straight to Needle — Sharp Lunge and Cloaked With Wind synergize really well with each-other, Battle Dance would turn her into a little perpetual motion engine, and Untouchable would remove all of the drawbacks of her Dodge Everything lifestyle.

...

After building Annalie, I do have one complaint — namely, going "here's 17 pages of traits you can use to customize your Bug!" is a lot to throw at someone (though it did help me make Annalie into the cutest darn bug ever). I'd love to see some pre-built packages that you can just pick up and use.

[RandomWombat]

My one complaint is that the combat chapter comes after roughly 100 pages of mechanics that only make sense after you read the combat chapter... but it looks pretty dang sweet.

It is a pretty beefy read, but we decided to put character creation first to feature the Build-a-Bug system and the broad character options first. Partially because we're proud of all the different bugs you can make with it, but we've also seen those sections come first in other system core rulebooks and were using them as a basis for structuring (eg. D&D 5e, Savage Worlds, etc. usually put race, then class, then equipment before getting to the meaty mechanics later).


EDIT: One quick question: I'm assuming that you start with the stuff that you'd get for taking a Rank in a Path during Advancement? For example, I'm assuming that someone who starts with a Mystic Path also starts with +1 Soul and a "free" Arcana?

Yeah. If you start at Milestone 2 for example, with 2 Path Ranks, you would also get the Stamina or Soul from the Rank, and the free Arcana if it's Mystic. If Stamina or Soul are at their maximum (7), extra Ranks in that 'direction' get you Minor Advancements instead.


EDIT EDIT: I was building a test character, and as far as I can tell there aren't any suggestions for how much Geo you should start with. EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I found a Reddit post that suggests that the starting cash is 100--300 Geo and a single Quality 1 weapon of your choice.

We've had this asked a few times and have planned to add it in with the '1.1' after we take into account feedback and things we missed. Most of our playtest games have had starting equipment laid out by the GM, but we realized new people trying to GM could benefit from some guidance.


EDIT EDIT EDIT: Am I correct in thinking that there's no actual cap to Cute/Spook? I haven't been able to find a cap for them in the book, unlike all of the primary attributes, pools, and (permanent) speed.

Which, for my test character (who is at Milestone 2), has led to the hilarity of a Cloak Adept with the Petal's Grace and Sharp Shadow charms who can roll 8.5 dice on dodges and effectively get a free Dodge every turn (thanks to Cloak Dance). It doesn't seem terribly broken (their defenses entirely collapse if you can stop them from moving, and they're not amazing at actual offense), but I love the idea of a cutesy bug idol just no-selling attacks through sheer prettiness. EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I settled on going with 200 Geo as the starting cash with my test character (which was boosted to 300 by the pampered trait), so I didn't have enough cash for Sharp Shadow. That substantially reduces the absurdity, since it means that they can't just dodge people to death. :p

Yes, Spook and Cute have no cap. Usually they only see use for social rolls, and getting them high requires a lot more concentrated dedication than other Attributes, so we decided not to cap them. You actually managed to find one of the highest achievable Cute values I've seen, so congratulations!


EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I'm a little curious about why Mystic Paths get a free Arcana with each rank, while Martial Paths are stuck trading out proficiencies to pick up new Arts. Have I missed something there?

The main reason is that Mystics need spells to function since most of their abilities rely or work around casting spells, while Arts are less essential for a Martial character to fight and survive. A Martial character can also learn Arts other ways, such as through Research during the party's downtime, or training from martial arts teachers (like the Nailmasters ingame).

Most of our campaigns have allowed Martial characters and others to start with an Art or two for free anyways, depending on the experience level of the game they're running.


Before I look too deep into this, I've not played much of Hollow Knight yet. (It's good, though!)
Should I read it before I beat the game, or should I save this for after, to avoid spoilers?

There shouldn't be any spoilers. We avoided including too much direct Hollow Knight terminology for copyright reasons, and the book is primarily mechanics. We have an eventual goal to put out setting books for Hallownest, our own setting of Oakshade, and others, and including some of the 'homebrew' we've created and refined in our games as a kind of Unearthed Arcana.


It was only 50 hours or so! Nothing too big. :sob:

...

I would also like to share the fruits of my labors!

Songstress Annalie
Milestone 2 Average Bug

Stats
Might: 3 / Insight: 3 / Shell: 3 / Grace: 3
Hearts: 7 / Stamina: 3 / Soul: 5 / Speed: 7
Cute: 6.5 (+1 when her wings are showing, +1 when interacting with bugs who have heard her sing.) / Spook: 1 / Hunger: 17

Proficiencies — Noble 1, Songstress 1

Deception +1
Etiquette +2
Kenning +2
Perform (Singing) +1
Lore (Music) +1
Lore (Politics) +1

Traits

Song: She can sing a soothing song that gives her +1 Cute while interacting with bugs who have heard her sing.
Dazzling x2: She has +2 Cute because she is fabulous.
Pampered: +50% starting Geo.
Hidden Beauty: +1 Cute when she unfurls her wings.
Pale Fluff: She's aware of when she's in the presence of spirits or powerful magic. After a full rest, she always gains at least one Soul, which can put her over her maximum.
Plucky: She has a pool of 3 Pluck, which she may spend to add rerolls to a roll.

Path: Cloak
Cloak Initiate — Swoop
She may Dash or Jump for free once per round. She may also Dash or Jump in midair, but only once each before landing.

Cloak Adept - Combat Celerity
She may dedicate Soul on attacks as if it were Stamina. She may also use Soul in place of Stamina for all purposes while dodging.

Techniques: 3 Slots

(Art) Arachnid's Gamble — 1 Sta: When she successfully dodges an attack with at least one success, she may counterattack. If she hits, reduce the damage by 1 and afflict her target with a stack of Off-Balance.
(Arcana) Cloak Dance (Self — 0): So long as the target moves at least 1 space on its turn, it gains one free Dodge attempt until the end of its next turn.
(Arcana) Fade (Touch [Con] — 2): The target is invisible until they take damage. She may pick a different sense to make them "invisible" to, such as hearing or smell.

Her Stuff
Charm Notches

(3) Petal's Grace — Annalie may use Cute in place of Grace while dodging. If she does, she has to move after dodging.
(2) Empty

Equipment: 1/1 Bulk

Honed Needle (3 damage / Melee/Range(3) / 1H / Bulk 1) — Gives +2 to Initiative if drawn during Initiative.
Fancy Clothes (Bulk 0) — Grants +0.5 Cute while worn.
50 Geo worth of starting goodies (haven't decided yet.)

Notes

The basic, sketchy backstory I have for her is that she was a rising star in the music world when she realized that she saw more than just bugs come to her performances. Anything more concrete would have to wait until I had a game to play her in.
She's a social monster, at least in terms of impressing people or making good first impressions. She's nowhere near as good if you need someone scary.
Combat-wise, she is absurdly hard to pin down. She can potentially slap down eight dice while Dodging, gets a single Dodge for free every turn, and doesn't need to care about Off-Balance as much as long as she can keep her Soul up. Offense-wise, she's nothing special — you keep her around because she's good at making friends and has a cool stealth spell.
Mechanically, I'm thinking that I'd finish out Cloak and then go straight to Needle — Sharp Lunge and Cloaked With Wind synergize really well with each-other, Battle Dance would turn her into a little perpetual motion engine, and Untouchable would remove all of the drawbacks of her Dodge Everything lifestyle.

...

After building Annalie, I do have one complaint — namely, going "here's 17 pages of traits you can use to customize your Bug!" is a lot to throw at someone (though it did help me make Annalie into the cutest darn bug ever). I'd love to see some pre-built packages that you can just pick up and use.

You've put together a very solid character here, nicely done! I think the only thing you missed is that she'd have a maximum carrying Load of 3 rather than 1, since she doesn't have Weak or anything else dropping it down.

We've actually had a few people build similar 'pop idol' type bugs with massive Cute scores. One of them is Amaelia, a woolly aphid NPC in some of our campaigns who works as a PR rep and chief of propaganda for a big wasp empire. Another is Aria, a player's character who I don't actually know a lot about other than that she has a big ego to go with her Cute stat.

We actually had a set of pre-set 'race' templates at one point, with suggested Traits and small bonuses for playing something like a bee or an ant. Eventually we decided to let players have more freedom rather than restricting them to these by incentivizing them, though they ended up grandfathered into a lot of our playtesting campaigns anyways since people were used to them. They might make a return when we get to doing setting books, and I'll raise the point that someone was asking about templates to make first time characters a little more guided.


One of the things I've taken note of in our system that would hinder running any games for it on GITP is that combat is not very ideal for Play by Post. There's a lot of in-turn rolls and reactions, like Parrying and Dodging. Soaking could easily be automated by a GM, but players would have to lay out a lot of contingencies for when they would spend Stamina on defense actions and how much.

[Amechra]

It is a pretty beefy read, but we decided to put character creation first to feature the Build-a-Bug system and the broad character options first. Partially because we're proud of all the different bugs you can make with it, but we've also seen those sections come first in other system core rulebooks and were using them as a basis for structuring (eg. D&D 5e, Savage Worlds, etc. usually put race, then class, then equipment before getting to the meaty mechanics later).

I'm of the opinion that a lot of those games are poorly organized too, but that might just be a me thing. :p

I do feel like the game was missing a GM advice section, or at least a "here are things to consider while you are running the game" section.


Yeah. If you start at Milestone 2 for example, with 2 Path Ranks, you would also get the Stamina or Soul from the Rank, and the free Arcana if it's Mystic. If Stamina or Soul are at their maximum (7), extra Ranks in that 'direction' get you Minor Advancements instead.

Thank you for the clarification!


We've had this asked a few times and have planned to add it in with the '1.1' after we take into account feedback and things we missed. Most of our playtest games have had starting equipment laid out by the GM, but we realized new people trying to GM could benefit from some guidance.

The main reason why I'm asking is because there are two categories of Charms that cost 300 or 400 geo, but only at character creation. And I wasn't sure if that was a sign that you were supposed to start with a ton of geo or not. My original take on Annalie

Also, if I may make a request... could you possibly include a link to a changelist the next time you update the PDF? A quick overview of mechanical changes can be really useful for avoiding people working off differing mental models.


Yes, Spook and Cute have no cap. Usually they only see use for social rolls, and getting them high requires a lot more concentrated dedication than other Attributes, so we decided not to cap them. You actually managed to find one of the highest achievable Cute values I've seen, so congratulations!

The scary thing is that I could've gone way higher, but I decided that Cloak looked like something I'd enjoy more in actual play (once I picked up Sharp Shadow, I basically just dashed everything to death).

If you took Annalie's traits and made her go for Bloom 1/Dream 1, she could cap out with a Cute of 10 thanks to Disguise and Lifebloom. But that's probably not worth the effort.


The main reason is that Mystics need spells to function since most of their abilities rely or work around casting spells, while Arts are less essential for a Martial character to fight and survive. A Martial character can also learn Arts other ways, such as through Research during the party's downtime, or training from martial arts teachers (like the Nailmasters ingame).

Most of our campaigns have allowed Martial characters and others to start with an Art or two for free anyways, depending on the experience level of the game they're running.

That's fair. It's definitely something to fiddle with when setting starting geo and the like.


You've put together a very solid character here, nicely done! I think the only thing you missed is that she'd have a maximum carrying Load of 3 rather than 1, since she doesn't have Weak or anything else dropping it down.

We've actually had a few people build similar 'pop idol' type bugs with massive Cute scores. One of them is Amaelia, a woolly aphid NPC in some of our campaigns who works as a PR rep and chief of propaganda for a big wasp empire. Another is Aria, a player's character who I don't actually know a lot about other than that she has a big ego to go with her Cute stat.

We actually had a set of pre-set 'race' templates at one point, with suggested Traits and small bonuses for playing something like a bee or an ant. Eventually we decided to let players have more freedom rather than restricting them to these by incentivizing them, though they ended up grandfathered into a lot of our playtesting campaigns anyways since people were used to them. They might make a return when we get to doing setting books, and I'll raise the point that someone was asking about templates to make first time characters a little more guided.

I actually misread the Load limit as "half your Might, round down", so thank you for that clarification. And I'm not surprised that Turbo Cute Idol is a relatively common character idea — you did call the stat "cute", after all. I do feel like I should probably build another character to test out some of the other traits — like you mentioned earlier, being super cute requires a lot of investment.

[RandomWombat]

I'm of the opinion that a lot of those games are poorly organized too, but that might just be a me thing. :p

I do feel like the game was missing a GM advice section, or at least a "here are things to consider while you are running the game" section.

We have a few things in the works. There's the Skald's Journal and the Duelist's Duelogue, which are a collection of beasts and monstrous bugs and of NPC statblocks respectively that I think might be linked near the bottom of the pdf in their current google doc form. The same guy who made them has been working on things like random encounter and loot tables since he's an old OSR nerd and has been running a classical meat grinder dungeon crawl.

There are also plans to make a pre-made adventure with optional pre-built characters for new players, called Shadow over Rootwind. It's an investigation/conspiracy adventure.


The main reason why I'm asking is because there are two categories of Charms that cost 300 or 400 geo, but only at character creation. And I wasn't sure if that was a sign that you were supposed to start with a ton of geo or not. My original take on Annalie

Also, if I may make a request... could you possibly include a link to a changelist the next time you update the PDF? A quick overview of mechanical changes can be really useful for avoiding people working off differing mental models.

Yeah, purchasing higher tier Charms at character creation is meant to be more of a thing for high Rank campaigns. It's possible to afford one at lower Ranks if you take the risk of a Cursed or Fragile Charm.

I'll pass along the thing about the changelog for major changes!


The scary thing is that I could've gone way higher, but I decided that Cloak looked like something I'd enjoy more in actual play (once I picked up Sharp Shadow, I basically just dashed everything to death).

If you took Annalie's traits and made her go for Bloom 1/Dream 1, she could cap out with a Cute of 10 thanks to Disguise and Lifebloom. But that's probably not worth the effort.

Magical makeup and the aura of life itself will do that to a girl.


I actually misread the Load limit as "half your Might, round down", so thank you for that clarification. And I'm not surprised that Turbo Cute Idol is a relatively common character idea — you did call the stat "cute", after all. I do feel like I should probably build another character to test out some of the other traits — like you mentioned earlier, being super cute requires a lot of investment.

It's worded a little oddly due to using .5 to denote half-stages in Attribute progression. But the other suggestions we had like 3r or 3x just seemed even sillier.

Funny enough, we've also had people go the opposite and build the most horrifying bugs they could possibly imagine. Which is a little easier to do while also being a powerhouse to back it up, since having things like bulging arms and giant pincers makes you intimidating too.

[Amechra]

Yeah, Cute definitely has its "drawbacks" compared to Spook, though I do think Petal's Grace is better than either of the Spook-based charms (or, at least, it's less situational).

On a slightly different topic... how does the Sorcerous weapon modifier work with Arts like Scatter Shot or Threading Strike? Do they make the spells hit multiple targets? And does the Dream Nail that Dream Initiate gives you count as a Nail for the purposes of Arts, or is it being a "nail" purely descriptive? And, finally, does the Spire Path's Arcane Casting give Pincers or Tentacles the Sorcerous modifier if you're using a Talisman?

[RandomWombat]

Yeah, Cute definitely has its "drawbacks" compared to Spook, though I do think Petal's Grace is better than either of the Spook-based charms (or, at least, it's less situational).

On a slightly different topic... how does the Sorcerous weapon modifier work with Arts like Scatter Shot or Threading Strike? Do they make the spells hit multiple targets? And does the Dream Nail that Dream Initiate gives you count as a Nail for the purposes of Arts, or is it being a "nail" purely descriptive? And, finally, does the Spire Path's Arcane Casting give Pincers or Tentacles the Sorcerous modifier if you're using a Talisman?

Cute does have an easier time when you're building a Grace-based bug, since Grace increases it and if you dump Might with Weak that also increases it. And it has the benefit of Fancy Clothes, where Spook can't be increased with a Halloween costume, at least not in core.

Sorcerous weapons would indeed work with Arts like those. Our GMs would probably have the spell discharged on the first target, but rules as written it would carry through to them all.

Dream Nails don't officially have the Nail Type, but I don't see why it shouldn't be allowed.

And Arcane Casting would not work with pincers and tentacles, since they're only compatibly with Unarmed Arts rather than acting as unarmed strikes.

I'll raise a few of these questions as well and see if we want to clarify things.

[Amechra]

Thanks for answering my many questions. :p

Two quick ones:

Why don't the poisonous natural attacks follow the rules for poisons? I had an idea for a Thorn Wasp, but sadly Poison Wave and Resonant Agony don't work with Stinger.
Does the trap created by Hidden Flame work with stuff like the Hook Path or the Spidershot Art?


...

A fun thing is that you can pick Blood as a Secretion or Exotic Venom. Both of them seem kinda hilarious, though picking it as an Exotic Venom is probably the better option... since then a Bloodsucker can turn Stock (or Soul, if they went Thorn) into Belly.

That gives me an idea...

EDIT: Something I just noticed is that Dream Shield implies that there's a penalty to parry ranged attacks... but I can't find that penalty anywhere. Is that still a thing, or is it something that was in a previous version that has since been removed?

[RandomWombat]

Thanks for answering my many questions. :p

Two quick ones:

Why don't the poisonous natural attacks follow the rules for poisons? I had an idea for a Thorn Wasp, but sadly Poison Wave and Resonant Agony don't work with Stinger.
Does the trap created by Hidden Flame work with stuff like the Hook Path or the Spidershot Art?


...

A fun thing is that you can pick Blood as a Secretion or Exotic Venom. Both of them seem kinda hilarious, though picking it as an Exotic Venom is probably the better option... since then a Bloodsucker can turn Stock (or Soul, if they went Thorn) into Belly.

That gives me an idea...

EDIT: Something I just noticed is that Dream Shield implies that there's a penalty to parry ranged attacks... but I can't find that penalty anywhere. Is that still a thing, or is it something that was in a previous version that has since been removed?

1. I think mainly because they're an inherent quality rather than a poison applied to a weapon. It would take some awkward wording to make them work together and would devalue the consumable poison users a bit.
2. Yes, it would work with things that work with traps.

And good catch on the ranged parry. It's supposed to be -2, but got missed somewhere during transcribing of rules. Will get that patched in.

[Amechra]

On the topic of ranged attacks... how do Bells (which count as both melee and ranged attacks for Path Abilities and parries) work with the Sling Path's Long Shot ability? Would it let you make Bell attacks out to Range 3 (with the appropriate penalties)?

[Quill]

Thank you so much for this!! The guide is so creative. I love all the ways you can customize your bugs haha. I'm hoping to do a Wanderhome crossover of this with my sister and some friends. Is there a link to donate a coffee or something as thanks? Didn't see one on itch.io.

[RandomWombat]

On the topic of ranged attacks... how do Bells (which count as both melee and ranged attacks for Path Abilities and parries) work with the Sling Path's Long Shot ability? Would it let you make Bell attacks out to Range 3 (with the appropriate penalties)?

Yes, it works with Sling's Long Shot, as well as Arts like Quick Draw which would allow it to use the additional free range even though it's a melee weapon. Bells also inflict the -2 to attempts to Parry a ranged attack (once that correction gets added back in).

No concept art of the Bell made it in that I know of off the top of my head. But the idea of it came from a player character whose weapon was the head of a bell from a watchtower, wielded at the end of a rope like a flail. Extending the range is flavored as using more of the rope to extend your reach.


Thank you so much for this!! The guide is so creative. I love all the ways you can customize your bugs haha. I'm hoping to do a Wanderhome crossover of this with my sister and some friends. Is there a link to donate a coffee or something as thanks? Didn't see one on itch.io.

Nah, there's no donation page or anything, it's all free. We made the system for fun and hope you have fun with it too!

[Amechra]

But the idea of it came from a player character whose weapon was the head of a bell from a watchtower, wielded at the end of a rope like a flail. Extending the range is flavored as using more of the rope to extend your reach.

That... makes more sense than what I was visualizing, honestly (I was thinking that their "ranged attacks" with the Bell would literally be them attacking people with the Bell's sound waves, wuxia-style. I might still go with that, honestly.)

EDIT: Also, I just double-checked, and Bells apparently only count as melee and ranged for Path Abilities and Parries. Are they supposed to also work with Arts? (I hope that the answer is yes, and that Bells count as "Melee weapons with the Range property").

[RandomWombat]

That... makes more sense than what I was visualizing, honestly (I was thinking that their "ranged attacks" with the Bell would literally be them attacking people with the Bell's sound waves, wuxia-style. I might still go with that, honestly.)

EDIT: Also, I just double-checked, and Bells apparently only count as melee and ranged for Path Abilities and Parries. Are they supposed to also work with Arts? (I hope that the answer is yes, and that Bells count as "Melee weapons with the Range property").

Magic bell sound waves sounds rad anyways, so I'd say go for it!

I've brought up the thing with the Bells, since that seems to have been mistranslated at some point.