Stormy Night: A RPG of Victorian Noir and Gothic Horror

[Machinekng]

This thread is a reboot/revamp of my unfinished Dracul RPG. I've come back to it recently, and I've come up with a lot of new ideas, enough ideas to warrant a complete re-write.

Changes in Design Goals: My original desire was to create a rules-lite game with minimal number work for the DM. I've relaxed the rules-lite aspect a bit, focusing on giving the characters interesting options. It's still important, but it's no longer paramount. I also now seek to make the system more universal, so that it can be used outside of the given setting

1. Introductions, Table of Contents, and Character Creation

Introduction

November 13, 1878.
It is a cold, rainy night. A large cargo ship is found derelict on the Sussex beach. The crew is unaccounted for, although scatterings of cloth and what looks suspiciously like blood is littered throughout the ship. The cargo hold is filled with hundreds of various crates and cages, all empty. The ship manifests suggests that the cargo has come in part from every continent in the world.

Documents found on the ship suggest the cargo's owner.

A certain Mr. Dracul...

Core Mechanic
Dracul's core mechanic is the Challenge roll of the 2d10. A Challenge is any action that can possibly result in a harmful impact on the character or his allies, and is associated with a Discipline. To perform a challenge, the player rolls a 2d10. If the roll is equal to or below the Discipline rank, the action succeeds. Only the player characters roll dice. GM run characters and other factors modify player rolls.

Note: A d10 has 0-9 on it. In Dracul, the zero is treated as a 0, rather than a 10, as it is in D&D.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, Table of Contents, and Character Creation
2. Challenges and Experience
3. Combat, Challenge Sets, and Tracks
4. Talents
5. NPCs and Monsters
6. Monster Catalogue
7. The World of Dracul
8.*Reserved*


Character Creation

In Dracul, a character is defined by five Spheres, each containing four Disciplines that make up that Sphere. A character can also acquire Talents that are associated with a given Sphere or Discipline. The Physical Sphere represents the character’s body, both its inherent strength and the character’s ability to push it to its limits. The Finesse Sphere represents the character’s fine motor skills and coordination. The Intellectual Sphere represents a character’s knowledge, what the character has learned and how to apply it. The Social Sphere represents the character’s charisma and ability to interact with others. The Mental Sphere represents the character’s reasoning skills and mental prowess.

Characters recieve a certain amount of points for character creation, and can spend their points on either Disciplines or Talents

Disciplines represent a character’s specific skill set, what the character can do. Characters invest points in Disciplines at creation, and can later improve their disciplines as they acquire experience. A character possesses between 0 and 18 points in any given discipline.

Talents represent extraordinary abilities a character possesses. Talents give new uses for Disciplines, offer a new Discipline or Subdiscipline to invest in, or give unique abilities. Some talents could represent a character’s monstrous heritage or magical ability, although characters with these talents are rare, and such abilities carry dire risks. Each talent has its own point cost.

Disciplines

Spoiler

Physical Disciplines

Athletics: Athletics represent's a character's physical condition and quickness. Athletics can be used to chase down an opponent, flee from one, and to perform other athletic feats. A character with low Athletics may be plodding and overweight. A character with high Athletics is fleet of foot and strong of arm.

Melee: Melee represents a character's talent for up close and personal fighting. Melee can be used for fist-fighting, using a sword, and for any other method of close-quarters fighting. A character with low Melee will hurt himself if he keeps swinging that sword around. A character with high Melee can go toe to toe with a monster, and win too.

Resilience: Resilience represents a character's pain threshold and endurance. Resilience can be used to shrug off wounds, resist the affects of poisons and diseases, or to resist some other physical effect. A character with low Resilience may be frail and sickly. A character with high Resilience can take a bullet without more than a grimace and can weather harsh environments

Vigor: Vigor represents a character’s ability to push his body to its limits. Vigor can be used to ignore pain and exhaustion, gain a surge of strength, and to reach the body’s potential in other ways. A character with low Vigor can tire quickly. A character with high Vigor can tap into reserves of strength to perform feats that stretch the bounds of human ability.

Finesse Disciplines

Evasion: Evasion represents a character's talent for dodging hazards and attacks. Evasion can be used to dodge a monster’s blow, to avoid activating a trap, and to evade other hazards. A character with low Evasion has a slow reaction time and may be somewhat clumsy. A character with high Evasion can quickly reaction to situations and can dodge and duck blows with ease.

Precision: Precision represents a character's talent for combat at range. Precision can be used to fight with a gun, a crossbow, or any other method of ranged combat. A character with low Precision has trouble hitting a can off a fence. A character with high precision can shoot the gun out of a man's hand and a sparrow from out of the sky.

Sleight of Hand: Sleight of Hand represent’s a character’s hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Sleight of Hand can be used to pick locks and pockets, slip documents into a pocket, or to do other minor tasks which require quick hands. A character with low Sleight of Hands may have “butter-fingers” or shaky hands. A character with high Sleight of Hands, could steal the nose off your face without you noticing.

Stealth: Stealth represents a character's ability to blend with the shadows and avoid being seen or heard. Stealth can be used to hide in the alley to avoid the cops, to sneak past a monster’s minions, or to excel at any other task where being unseen is a necessity. A character with low Stealth just stands out even more when he tries to blend in. A character with high Stealth can easily avoid conventional detection, and can even slip past some monsters.

Social Disciplines

Connection: Connection represent's a character's social connections and prestige. A character with low Connection is a nobody and has few associates outside side of the party. A character with high Connection is a notable figure, and has friends in high and low places.

Deception: Deception represents a character's ability to deceive others. Deception can be used to lie to others, to use innuendo to pass on secret messages, and other to deceive others in other ways. A character with low Deception is transparent and cannot tell a lie. A character with high Deception can easily run a con and can get away with lying to the authorities.

Mingle: Mingle represents a character’s ability to integrate oneself into a group or crowd. Mingle can be used to eavesdrop on others’ conversations, to blend into a crowd, and for other situations where it’s important to not stand out. A character with low Mingle stands out like a sore thumb in any crowd, and will just get awkward looks if he tries to join a conversation. A character with high Mingle can quickly and easily make himself “one of the guys” or disappear into a crowed area.

Persuasion: Persuasion represents a character's ability to get others to do what he wants. Persuasion can be used to convince someone of the correctness of your argument, to intimidate someone into letting you by, or to convince another in some other fashion. A character with low Persuasion has trouble staying coherent in a heated argument. A character with high Persuasion has a silver tongue and is an excellent orator.

Intellectual Disciplines

Lore: Lore represent's a character's knowledge of legendary creatures and the occult. Lore can be used to identify a monster’s origin, its weakness, or some other fact regarding the things of myth. A character with low Lore may be naive and ignorant in relation to the things that go bump in the night. A character with high Lore knows what he's doing when he comes face to face with monsters.

Mechanics: Mechanics represents a character's affinity for machines and similar technology. Mechanics can be used to disable a mechanical trap, to repair a machine or rig it to explode, or to interact with machines in other ways. A character with low Mechanics has no clue how that thing does. A character with high Mechanics can fix it up and then explain it to you.

Medicine: Medicine represents a character's knowledge of physiology and his ability to treat injuries. Medicine can be used to identify poisons, to apply first aid, or to heal or assist others in various ways. A character with low Medicine has trouble remembering how to bandage a wound, and can easily do more harm than good. A character with high Medicine can fix you up in a jiffy.

Science: Science represents a character's understanding of the natural sciences. Science can be used to create chemical compounds, to calculate physics equations, and to perform other applications of the sciences. A character with low Science doesn't quite get why things work like they do. A character with high Science is up to date on the latest scientific breakthroughs and can apply scientific knowledge to practical situations.


Mental Disciplines

Intuition: Intuition represent’s a character’s deductive reasoning and empathy. Intuition can be used to tell when someone is lying, to piece together various clues, and for similar tasks. A character with low Intuition may be gullible or have poor situational awareness. A character with high Intuition can read people like a book, and can make deductions that would make Sherlock Holmes proud.

Perception: Perception represents a character's awareness and sense perception. Perception can be used to spot a hiding monster, to detect the presence of an explosive gas, or to sense other factors. A character with low Perception may miss something right in front of him. A character with high Perception has an eye for detail.

Research: Research represents a character's ability to track down and disseminate relevant information. Research can be used to search a library for a particular occult book, to gain useful information from records, or for other research tasks. A character with low Research may have trouble searching a library for the right book. A character with high Research can find and interpret cryptic clues and riddles.

Willpower: Willpower represents a character's ability to resist supernatural enchantments and to overcome baser instincts. Willpower can be used to resist a monster’s hypnotic gaze, to overcome fear, or to defy other mental pressures. A character with low Willpower has a difficult time resisting simple temptations, much less supernatural ones. A character with high Willpower can overcome his fear and can stare down the monsters he faces.

[Machinekng]

2. Challenges and Experience


Challenges

Core Mechanic
To reiterate Dracul's core mechanic is the Challenge roll of the 2d10. A Challenge is any action that can possibly result in a harmful impact on the character or his allies, and is associated with a Discipline. To perform a challenge, the player rolls a 2d10. If the roll is equal to or below the Discipline rank, the action succeeds. Only the player characters roll dice. GM run characters and other factors modify player rolls.
If the player rolls a 0, then the roll is a critical success. In addition to succeeding at the challenge, he may gain other benefits as well.

For example:

• A character is trying to convince a police officer to let the party go, so they can continue to pursue the monster. The character could use Deception or Persuasion to convince the constable to let them go, use Connection to try to call in a favor, or maybe just knock the man out using Melee.

Legitimate Challenges
For a Challenge to be legitimate, so that it warrants a Challenge roll and the character can gain experience from it, it must have the risk of failure, and this failure must harm the character or his allies, or hinder his objective. Although Challenges can be used to get out harmful situations, the character cannot harm itself to provoke a situation. In addition, if an action does not correspond to a Discipline or a Talent, it is under the complete control of the player whether or not it succeeds (the GM still controls NPC reactions, of course).

For example:

• A character would not need to make a Research Challenge to find an easily available book in a library with the help of the librarian. A more appropriate Challenge would to attempt to find an obscure, uncatalogued book in an old university library.
  
• A character would not be able to make a Resiliency Challenge against a poison he willingly and knowingly consumes. The same applies to a character asking his allies to attack him; he would not be able to make either an Evasion or Resiliency Challenge, nor a Vigor Challenge to ignore the wound, and his allies would gain no experience from Challenges made to assist him.
  
• If character was attempt to cook a meal for a banquet the party is hosting to draw the monster out of hiding, it would be up to him whether or he succeeds. Likewise, if a character has a day job, the player can usually decide how it went.

Challenge Sets
A challenge set is a series of interconnected Challenges that all serve towards a single goal. Success is represented by a Track. The Track begins at zero; challenge successes advance the Track forward, while failures regress the Track backward, and the Challenge Set ends when the Track reaches one of the ends (certain actions may result in immediate failure or success, depending GM discretion.) What Challenges players can make may be limited by the Track position, and certain Track positions could apply bonuses or penalties.

For example:

• The monster the PCs have confronted has decided to bolt, and one of the characters gives chase, beginning a Foot Chase Challenge Set. He can Athletics to attempt to close in on the monster, Intuition to guess its destination or what turns it will take, Persuasion to try and call a constable to delay the monster, or Precision to take a potshot at the fleeing monster to slow it down (although he would take a penalty at 0, but if he was already closing in, at 1, per say…). The Challenge Set ends when the Track regress to -2, meaning the character has lost the fleeing monster, or when it advances to 2, meaning that the character has caught up to the monster.

Experience

As characters progress through the campaign, they gain Experience. Experience is generally gained in a Specific Sphere. If character gains Experience through a Physical Discipline, then the Experience is logged in that Sphere. Experience can then be spent to either invest in Disciplines or purchase Talents related with that Sphere. The Experience cost to invest in a Discipline is equal to twice the current rank in the Discipline (i.e. If you already had 7 ranks in Science, it would cost 14 experience to purchase another rank.), with the exception of having 0 ranks, in which the cost is 1. Each Talent has their own individual cost.

For example:

• A character has accumulated 17 Experience in the Social Sphere, and decides to spend it. He could increase his Persuasion from 8 to 9 and his Deception from 0 to 1, or increase his Connection from 6 to 7 and purchase a talent worth 5 points, or to spend them in some other combination.

Gaining Experience

There are numerous ways of gaining Experience in Dracul.

Mistakes
If a character fails a legitimate Challenge, he learns from his mistakes, what he did wrong, and what to do better next time. He may then add 1 Experience to the appropriate Sphere.

Observation
If a character witnesses another player character succeed at a Challenge, the character can attempt to make a Challenge with the same Discipline to figure out how to imitate him, to figure out what the other character did and how to copy it. If the character’s Challenge is successful, he may add 1 Experience to the appropriate Sphere. The character being observed must have at least 2 more ranks in the Discipline than the observer for the observer to gain experience in this way.

Critical Insight
When a character makes a critical roll, he tends to gain new insight on the task, having found some new method or some new idea by serendipity. The character immediately gains 2 experience in the appropriate Sphere.

Challenge Sets
If a character or group of characters succeeds at a Challenge Set, they gain Experience in the appropriate Sphere, with the amount of Experience and appropriate Sphere specific to the Challenge Set.

Tutelage
In addition to learning through direct experience, a character can persuade another player character or a friendly Extraordinary to tutor them in a specific Discipline. Tutoring requires a number of days equal to the character’s current Discipline rank, with a minimum of 1 day, over which the character must occasionally meet and practice with his tutor. At the end of the tutelage period, the character gains Experience equal to half his rank in the Discipline, Experience that must be spent on investing in that Discipline. If the tutor is a player character, his level in the Discipline must be two or more ranks higher that the player seeking tutelage.

Role-Playing Experience
The GM may award Experience to the players for completing story objectives or for good role-playing. This Experience is untyped, and can be spent in any Sphere. As a note to GMs, be cautious about giving large Experience awards in this way, so that the characters do not advance too fast, therefore making situations less of a challenge.

[Machinekng]

3. Combat and Challenge Sets

Combat
Combat begins when the Player Characters and Monsters become aware of each other and begin to engage.

If the monsters are surprised by the PCs' engagement, the PCs take the first turn. If the monsters anticipated the PCs' engagement, the monsters take the first turn. Likewise, if the PCs' are ambushed or surprised by monsters, the first turn goes to the monsters. If the PCs' anticipated and prepared themselves for the monsters' engagement, they have the first turn.

If one party is attempting to evade or sneak past the other, and is then detected, the detectors have the first turn.

After the first turn, combat goes back and forth between the combatants until one side is defeated or retreats.

Turns
A character can perform one Challenge on their turn. A character may take an additional number of non-challenging actions up to the GM's discretion.

Although they do not perform Challenges, monsters behave similarly, and can only take one major action per turn.

Distance
It is up to the GM to describe the distance between the characters and the monsters, and how long it takes them to close in on each other. If the characters and monsters are far away from each other, it may take several turns or a successful Athletics Challenge to close in.

Attacks
When a character attacks a monster, the character makes the appropriate Challenge, generally Melee or Precision (although in some situations, other Disciplines may apply) adding any applicable modifiers. If the roll is successful, the monster is wounded and advances one step on the condition Track, which is specific for each monster. If roll is a 0, the attack is a critical, and the monster advances two steps on its condition Track.

When a character is attacked, the character makes an Evasion Challenge, adding any modifiers. If the Challenge succeeds, the character has dodged the attack, but if it fails, the character must then make a Resiliency Challenge, again adding any modifiers. If the Resiliency Challenge also fails, the character regresses on his Condition Track (see below). Certain monster attacks may make the character regress twice on his Condition Track

Condition Track
Characters in Dracul possess a Condition Track that records a character's physical condition. The Condition Track starts at 0, and regresses one stage when the Character fails a Resiliency roll against an attack, a hazard, or other damaging factors. Player characters, Ordinaries and Extraordinaries use the following Condition Track.

0:Normal- The character is in a normal condition. He suffers no penalties.
-1:Hurt- The character has condition has declined, but they do not impede the character.
-2:Wounded-The character has taken significant wounds which have begun to hinder him. He takes a -2 to any attack Challenges.
-3:Crippled- The character’s condition is severe enough to impede the character. If the Crippled character performs a Challenge, he must make a Resiliency roll. If he fails, he regreses one stage on the condition track.
-4:Downed- The character’s condition is rather severe and prevents the character from operating. The character may not make any actions.

A character does not need to perform a Challenge to kill a downed character monster, but killing a downed character does consume their Challenge for the turn. Likewise, a monster must spend its major action to kill a downed character.

Condition Recovery

A successful Medicine Challenge made by another character to treat the wounded character or a successful Vigor Challenge made by the wounded character can allow the wounded character to act as he was one stage lower on the condition track, although he is still treated as being in his current stage for purposes of regressing and advancing the condition track. If a character is Downed he loses any benefits of the successful Medicine or Vigor character

For every eight continuous hours a character rests, he regresses one stage on the condition track. If a successful Medicine challenge is made by another character to treat the wounded character in conjunction with the wounded character's rest, the character’s condition track resets to 0.

Challenge Sets
Challenge sets are described briefly in Chapter 2. To reiterate, a challenge set is a series of interconnected Challenges that all serve towards a single goal. Success is represented by a Track. The Track begins at zero; challenge successes advance the Track forward, while failures regress the Track backward, and the Challenge Set ends when the Track reaches one of the ends (certain actions may result in immediate failure or success, depending GM discretion.) What Challenges players can make may be limited by the Track position, and certain Track positions could apply bonuses or penalties.

When in a Challenge Set, the character may make any appropriate Challenges, but may only use the same Discipline once every three challenges (I.E. if a character made a Sleight of Hand Challenge in a Challenge Set, they would not be able to do so again until they have made two different Challenges.) Players should describe exactly how their success or failure affects the situation (except for NPC reactions.) If a player wishes to use a Discipline not listed as applicable, but has a sound reasoning behind his idea, the GM should let him use it.

There are multiple different Challenge Sets, each with their own Track, Applicable Disciplines, and Experience Reward.

Foot Chase

Spoiler

In a Foot Chase, the character is chasing after the antagonist, either trying to follow the antagonist to its destination, or to catch up to or apprehend the antagonist.
Applicable Disciplines
Athletics (to move through difficult terrain quickly), Vigor (to sprint after the antagonist), Precision (if successful, the antagonist also advances on its condition Track as in a combat situation), Persuasion/Deception (to convince bystanders to assist), Intuition (to deduce the antagonist’s destination/route), Perception (to keep the antagonist in sight.)

Track
-2: Lost-The character has lost sight of the antagonist. The Challenge Set ends unsuccessfully.
-1: Lagging-The character is beginning to fall behind. He cannot make ranged attacks against the antagonist.
0: Chasing-The character is neither gaining nor falling behind. He may make ranged attacks against the antagonist, albeit at a +2 penalty.
1: Gaining- The character is catching up to the antagonist. He no longer receives a penalty on ranged attacks against the antagonist.
2: Caught Up-The character has successfully caught up to the antagonist or followed it to its destination. The Challenge Set ends successfully.

Experience Reward: 4 Finesse/Physical (can be spent in either Sphere)

Foot Escape

Spoiler

In a Foot Escape, the character is fleeing the antagonist, trying to get to a destination or lose the antagonist before it catches up.
Applicable Disciplines
Athletics (to move quickly over difficult terrain), Vigor (to sprint away from the antagonist), Precision (if successful, the antagonist also advances on its condition Track as in a combat situation), Persuasion/Deception (to convince bystanders to assist), Deception (to make feints) Mingle (to vanish into a crowd), Evasion/Resilience (to avoid ranged attacks by the antagonist), Stealth (to attempt to hide).

Track
-2: Caught-The antagonist has caught up with the character. The Challenge Set ends unsuccessfully.
-1: Gaining-The antagonist is gaining on the character. The player receives no bonus against its ranged attacks.
0: Fleeing-The antagonist is neither gaining nor falling behind. The character receives a -2 bonus to any Evasion challenges against its ranged attacks.
1: Losing- The antagonist is beginning to fall behind. The antagonist may not make ranged attacks against the character.
2: Escape-The character has successfully reached his destination without being caught, or has lost the antagonist. The Challenge Set ends successfully.

Experience Reward: 4 Finesse/Physical (can be spent in either Sphere)

[Machinekng]

4. Talents

WIP

[Machinekng]

5. NPCs and Monsters

NPC Rules:
In Drcacul, NPCs do not have stat blocks like they do in many role-playing games. Instead, NPCs modify the players’s rolls in relation to them.

There are three types of NPCs, Ordinaries, nameless background and scenery characters, Extraordinaries, named characters that interact with the PCs, and Monsters, the antagonists of Dracul.

Ordinaries
Standard ordinaries, laypeople, workers, petty thugs, etc... do not modify players' rolls. Any sort of elite but nameless ordinary, such as a soldier, a gang leader, or any other exceptional person that is not vital to the plot adds a +2 modifier to rolls in relation to them.

Extraordinaries
Extraordinaries are named, plot centric characters that interact with the player characters on a regular basis. Extraordinaries should be built individually, with their modifiers reflecting their personalities and profession.

For example, the PCs are talking to Constable Edward Smith. Constable Smith is tight-lipped and stubborn, especially when people are investigating things that should be police work, so any persuasion rolls involving him take a +4 penalty. However, Smith is an honest man, and expects others to be honest too, giving players a -2 to their roll to deceive him.

Monsters
Monsters are the antagonists to the PCs, and are classified as monsters regardless of their nature. A monster is not necessarily supernatural, but often is.

Monster Terms

Spoiler

Banes
Many Lesser monsters, and all Greater monsters posses Banes, things that are antithetical to them. A Bane may be a certain item, a certain material, or even a certain strong, sincere, emotion. A monster is repulsed by its Banes, and usually will not voluntarily come into close contact with them. If a monster does come in contact with its Banes, it is weakened.

Condition Tracker
Each monster has a specific Condition Tracker which records the monster's physical status. The Condition Tracker begins at 0, meaning that the monster has received 0 successful attacks. When a monster is hit with a successful attack, advance the Condition Tracker by one. After 24 hours, if the monster has taken no additional hits, the Condition Tracker is reset to 0.
(Explained further in Combat)

Death Toll
Greater monsters have an associated Death Toll, represented by a die roll. At the beginning of each day, the GM rolls the die and adds the appropriate modifiers to the roll. The result of the roll is how many people were killed by the monster during the night, unless the PCs had acted to protect the monster's victims. This rate is a guideline, and can be revised or ignored as the plot demands.

Destruction and Recovery Conditions
All Greater monsters possess one or more Destruction condition. Unless this condition is fulfilled by the PCs, even if the monster is defeated, it will recover after a certain period of time, according to its Recovery condition.

Greater Monsters
Greater Monsters are the Villains of the campaign or their elite servitors and spawn. Greater Monsters are stronger, possess more supernatural abilities, and always possess Banes and Destruction/Recovery Conditions.

Lesser Monsters
Lesser Monsters are often the minor servitors or spawn of Greater Monsters. Lesser Monsters are weaker, and possess fewer supernatural abilities and banes.

Rampage
For the most part, Villains try to avoid detection. They hide out during the day, and attack those who are not easily noticed. However, if a Villain’s existence and identity is revealed to the public, or if it is defeated but not Destroyed and later Recovers, the Villain will go on a Rampage, discarding all subtleties. During the Villain’s Rampage, its Death Toll, Spawn Rate, and other statistics change as listed.

Spawn Rate
Some Greater Monsters have an associated Spawn Rate. This is the rate of how many spawn a Greater Monster produces over a certain period of time. This rate is a guideline, and can be revised or ignored as the plot demands.

Villains
Villains are the strongest monsters of their kind, and serve and the primary antagonists for a campaign. They share traits with Greater Monsters,.

Vulnerabilities
Certain monsters are vulnerable to specific weapons or tactics, and using such tactics modifies the roll as listed.

[Machinekng]

6. Monster Catalogue

WIP

[Machinekng]

7. The World of Dracul

WIP

[Machinekng]

8. *Reserved*

WIP


You may now post.

[Kensen]

First off, kudos for designing an RPG from scratch instead of just tweaking d20 or such. I like the setting, but I think the name could be better. Dracul(a) is just one of many monsters I'd expect the PCs to face in a victorian horror setting. You could use the rules for anything from Sherlock Holmes type of adventures to Lovecraft, so no reason to make the game appear as more niche than it really is.

By the way, which skill do you use for riding a horse or driving a carriage?

If you intend to playtest your system, I'll gladly join, just pm me.

[Machinekng]

Originally Posted by Kensen

First off, kudos for designing an RPG from scratch instead of just tweaking d20 or such. I like the setting, but I think the name could be better. Dracul(a) is just one of many monsters I'd expect the PCs to face in a victorian horror setting. You could use the rules for anything from Sherlock Holmes type of adventures to Lovecraft, so no reason to make the game appear as more niche than it really is.

By the way, which skill do you use for riding a horse or driving a carriage?

If you intend to playtest your system, I'll gladly join, just pm me.

Thank you.

I too am thinking the name over. I want to make the name more universal, but I can't really think of a better name at this point.

It'd be Mechanics for driving the carriage, but as for riding a horse, hmm...

Several disciplines, I guess. Sleight of Hand to subtly direct the horse, Vigor to force in a particular direction, Persuasion to coax it, you get the idea. For the most part, riding a horse isn't really a challenge, but your point has made me realize that I need to make different Challenge Sets for Foot Chases/Escapes and Carriage/Horseback Chases Escapes.

[Machinekng]

Well, I think that I came up with a better name.

I feel that Stormy Night better captures the feeling and setting of the game, and opens it up, broading it for more campaign ideas.