LICHSLAYER 9000

First Edition

Presented by Vixen Vox Vertere

A DeadVale Game

CONTENTS

Part I — The Game · 1 Creating a Lichslayer · 2 The Seven Classes & Their Skills · 3 The Familiar

Part II — The Town & The Overworld · 4 The Town, the Gauntlet & the Survival Clock · 5 Overworld Events · 6 The Idol · 7 Retainers

Part III — The Tombs · 8 Sanity · 9 The Board · 10 Room Generation · 11 Combat & The Turn Stack · 12 Entities

Part IV — Loot & Magic · 13 The Tomb Loot Table · 14 Color Synchronicity · 15 The Spell Schools

Part V — The Lich · 16 The Lich’s Attention & The Phylactery

Part VI — The Forest · 17 The Forest

PART I — THE GAME

Chapter 1 · Creating a Lichslayer

The system uses exploding d6 as its primary resolution die. All difficulty targets and economic values are built around a base of 6.

Challenge Rolls — Roll a number of d6 equal to the character’s level. Sixes explode. Sum the dice and apply listed modifiers. Meet or beat the target. A roll of all 1s fails regardless of modifiers. Attacks are not Challenges — an attack rolls its damage dice, and Armor answers.

Step 1 · Pick Up the Crystal Gauntlet

The Gauntlet tracks: Health (base 36), Armor (base 6), Magic (powered by gold held, 1 per 600 gold), Sanity (starts Whole), Gold (tracked in X marks, 100 gold per X), Gear Slot (1 active piece), Garment Slot (1 worn piece), Accessory Slot (1 worn piece), Loot Slots (3 active items at baseline), Skill Slots (3), a Capstone Slot (1), and the ID Panel (name + level).

Step 2 · Name Your Lichslayer

Write a name on the ID Panel. Set Level to 1.

Step 3 · Roll Starting Loot

Roll 1d100 − 40 on the Loot Table three times to fill the three Loot Slots. Influence dice held may be added to any roll.

Step 4 · Roll the class

How Loot Acquisition Works

The Roll

Base — Roll 1d100 and add (Floor − 5) × 10. Take the item at that number in the Loot Table. Influence dice may be added to any roll. A result below 1 is treated as 1. A result above 121 is treated as 121.

Loot 1-60 is Common. Loot 61-100 is Uncommon. Loot 101-121 is Rare. When an effect grants loot of a named tier, roll 1d100; a result outside that tier is treated as the nearest boundary of the tier.

Modifiers — Add any Influence dice held.

Class Assignment

At character creation, after starting loot is rolled, the player rolls 1d8 without sight of the class table. The Judge records the result where the player cannot see it. It is not revealed until Level 2.

At Level 2 the class is revealed and Skill 1 is unlocked, occupying the first Skill Slot.

Levels

XP. 1 per 36 gold accumulated. 1 per enemy reduced to 0 Health. 6 per Tomb floor fully cleared — all rooms entered, all enemies on the turn stack defeated or escaped. Partial floors yield nothing. Gold is counted once, when it enters the Gauntlet. Gold later spent, lost, or stolen does not reduce XP already earned.

Two stat points are gained at each level, spent as the player chooses.

Chapter 2 · The Seven Classes & Their Skills

Class Skill Rules

Acquisition: Skills 1-3 unlock at levels 2, 4, and 6. The capstone unlocks when all three skills are held and the capstone condition is met. Maximum 3 active skills at baseline — certain loot increases this.

Skill Points. Spend 1 Skill Point to unlock Skill 2 or Skill 3, or to enhance an unlocked skill as noted in that skill’s entry. Each skill may be unlocked once and enhanced once. Unspent Skill Points carry between sessions. Skill Points are not spent to cast, act, or resolve anything.

The Breaker

Skill 1 · Break · Action

Enter a Room or force open a locked chest, door, or barrier without a Challenge roll. On entry, make a bonus Attack against one enemy in the Room at +0. A natural 6 on that Attack knocks the enemy back one Room. Damage from traps in the entered Room is halved against the Breaker.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Break may be used as a Response to block a doorway — an enemy attempting to enter must pass a Challenge (target equal to the Breaker’s Power) or be denied entry this Round.

Skill 2 · Rumble Hat · Passive

The Breaker’s Garment slot grants +1 Armor and +6 Health, whether or not a Garment is equipped.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Rumble Hat also grants +1 to all rolls made while at half Health or below.

Skill 3 · Charge · Action

Move through up to Speed in Rooms in a straight line, Breaking into every Room along the path without additional rolls. Any enemy in a Room the Breaker passes through takes 1d6 damage. If any Room along the path has no clear exit in the Charge direction, the Charge ends there and the Breaker takes 6 damage from the impact.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Charge damage increases to 2d6 per Room passed through.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Breaker has reduced an enemy to 0 Health on every floor tier (1-3, 4-6, 7-9)

Capstone · Crush · Action · Once per Round

Reduce a target to 0 Health or 0 Armor — the Breaker chooses. No gold cost. No Magic requirement. Cannot target the Lich.

The Veteran

Skill 1 · Recall · Action

Reveal up to Magic in Rooms on the current floor — type, contents, and traps — without entering them. Additionally, assist on any Challenge roll — add the Veteran’s Power to another character’s roll.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Recall also reveals which Room on the current floor contains the highest gold yield before it is entered.

Skill 2 · Worn Armor · Passive

The first physical instance each Round does not consume the Veteran’s Armor. Spell damage, Lich-type sources, and Colorless damage are unaffected. Spend 1 Skill Point: Worn Armor also applies to the first instance of Colorless damage each Round.

Skill 3 · Maneuver · Response

In response to any declared attack or spell targeting the Veteran or an adjacent ally, move both to any accessible Room within 1 space — avoiding the effect. Does not consume the Veteran’s turn. Once per Round. Cannot move into a Room at maximum capacity.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Maneuver may be used twice per Round. The second use costs the Veteran their next action.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Veteran has prevented a party member from reaching 0 Health three times across any number of sessions

Capstone · Rally · Action · Once per floor

All characters within 1 space recover one Sanity level and gain Armor and Health equal to the Veteran’s level. The Veteran’s own Sanity does not recover.

The Bandit

Skill 1 · Burgle · Action

Loot as a sneak action without being noticed. In combat, Burgle does not break sneak and does not consume the attack action — it is a separate action entirely. Loot acquired through Burgle is immediately secured and cannot be lost to a loot-break check this Round. Once per turn at baseline.

An entity may be Burgled once. Roll 1d100 + (Floor − 5) × 10 on the Loot Table: if the result’s color matches the entity’s color, or is Any, the Bandit takes that item. Otherwise, nothing.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Burgle may be used twice per turn, targeting different loot items or gold sources.

Skill 2 · Extra Pockets · Passive

The Bandit’s Loot Slots are 5 at baseline instead of 3.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Loot Slots become 6.

Skill 3 · Disarm · Action

Disable one trap in the current Room. No Challenge roll. A trap disabled by Disarm does not trigger for any character for the remainder of the dive.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Disarm from sneak also recovers the trap’s mechanism as one Uncommon loot item.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Bandit has successfully Burgled from 10 distinct enemies across any number of sessions

Capstone · Cheat · Action · Once per floor

Reroll any one roll — the Bandit’s, or any roll that directly affects the Bandit. Take the better result. If the reroll is also a natural 1, the roll is treated as a 6.

The Scholar

Skill 1 · Identify · Action

Reveal all properties of any loot item, enemy, or entity — faction, color, stats, active abilities, synchronicity conditions, hidden effects. If used on a spell-school conduit loot item, the Scholar gains access to one spell from that school at their current Magic rating for the remainder of the floor — without needing to be that color.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Identify also reveals which loot items in the Room the Scholar has not yet seen this campaign. New loot is prioritized.

Skill 2 · Scrolls and Ink · Action

Create a Scroll of any spell the Scholar has cast or witnessed this session. Any character may use the Scroll as a one-time action — it casts the recorded spell at the Scholar’s Magic rating at time of recording, regardless of the user’s color. A Scroll breaks on use. The Scholar holds up to Magic in active Scrolls. Additionally, inscribe any Gear or Garment with +1 Magic — takes one full turn outside of combat.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Inscribed loot grants +2 Magic instead of +1.

Skill 3 · Investiture · Passive

Grant +1 Magic and +1 to all rolls to any character the Scholar is adjacent to at the start of a Round. Lasts until the Scholar moves away. One character benefits at a time.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Investiture extends to all characters within 1 space rather than only adjacent.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Scholar has Identified at least one entity from every enemy faction (Ghoul, Zombie, Phantom, Demon, Ogre, Maw)

Capstone · Predict · Action · Once per Round

Roll against a target enemy’s declared action before it resolves. Challenge target equals the enemy’s level ×3. On success the action is denied — it does not occur, its cost is not refunded, and the enemy loses that turn. On failure the Scholar’s action is consumed and the enemy acts normally. Against the Lich, Predict requires a target of 30.

The Aristocrat

Skill 1 · Command · Action Direct one Retainer to take one action on the Aristocrat’s turn: Attack, Loot, Block, or Move. No roll. Or grant one ally one additional action on the Aristocrat’s turn; the ally chooses the action taken. Once per Round. Spend 1 Skill Point: Command directs or grants to two targets simultaneously, both acting on the Aristocrat’s turn.

Skill 2 · Retainers · Passive

Retainers enter the turn stack at the Aristocrat’s initiative. Each provides one piece of floor intelligence per floor: Common — Room type, next floor only. Skilled — full Room contents, one floor ahead. Exceptional — enemy faction composition, two floors ahead.

Spend 1 Skill Point: One Retainer of the Aristocrat’s choice requires no payment for one in-game day.

Skill 3 · Family Heirloom · Passive

The Aristocrat cannot be Charmed, Dominated, Bound, or otherwise compelled to act by another character or entity. Effects that would direct the Aristocrat’s action fail without a roll.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Family Heirloom extends to one Retainer or ally within 1 space, chosen at the start of each Round.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Aristocrat has maintained at least 3 active Retainers for 7 consecutive in-game days

Capstone · Influence · Action · Once per in-game day

Add to a friendly roll or subtract from a hostile one. Roll and add or subtract the result from any roll made by any character or entity the Aristocrat can see — including enemies, including the Lich. Roll the full Influence pool: Power + Magic + level. Against the Lich, a Challenge roll of 24 is required first — the Lich does not bend easily to social pressure. Once per in-game day.

The Lich Doctor

Skill 1 · Diagnose and Bandage · Action

Restore (level)d6 Health to a number of characters equal to the Lich Doctor’s level. Each target may be different. Also removes one active physical ailment (Burn, Poison, Freeze, Bound) from each target healed. It works on the Lich. Spend 1 Skill Point: Diagnose and Bandage also restores 3 Armor to each target healed.

Skill 2 · Medicine Bay · Passive

Gain 3 additional Loot Slots designated as Medicine Slots. Only Flora may occupy them. Flora retain their color. Additionally gain access to the Giver’s Recipes and Celestial Magic spell lists at current Magic rating.

Spend 1 Skill Point: One Medicine Slot item replenishes at the start of each in-game day for 36 gold, paid at the Inn.

Skill 3 · Doctor’s Coat of Arms · Passive

The Garment slot functions as both a Garment and a Medicine Slot simultaneously without occupying two slots. Additionally store up to Magic in prepared spells in the Coat — drawn from any school the Lich Doctor has access to. Prepared spells cast from the Coat cost half their normal gold. The Coat cannot store One-Thousand Blades, Feast, or Omega.

Spend 1 Skill Point: One additional spell stored in the Coat.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Lich Doctor has healed a character back from 0 Health three times without using a spell

Capstone · Cure · Action · Once per session

Lift one ailment from any target and restore 25% of their maximum Health (rounded up) — and the target may continue acting from 0 Health as though at 1 Health for 1d6 Rounds. Alternatively cast on a fallen character: they revive at 25% maximum Health (rounded up) immediately with no permanent reduction and may act on their next turn.

The Witch

Skill 1 · Commune · Action

Reveal the nature of all Rooms within 1 space, or reveal one Room up to Magic spaces away in full detail. Any color loot the Witch carries may be used as a conduit for that loot’s school — cast one spell from a conduit loot’s school at current Magic rating.

Spend 1 Skill Point: Commune reveals the Room’s contents two floors ahead — the Witch reads the Tomb before descending into it.

Skill 2 · Familiar · Action

Summon a Familiar at the start of each Tomb dive or The Forest visit. Roll 1d8 for the Familiar.

Spend 1 Skill Point: The Familiar’s Health is doubled permanently.

Skill 3 · Counter Magic · Response

Roll against any declared spell or special ability before it resolves. Challenge target equals the caster’s Magic x3. On success: the spell is stolen — it does not resolve for the original caster, and the Witch casts it for free on their next turn at the original caster’s Magic rating with no gold or Sanity cost. On failure: the spell resolves normally and the Witch’s Response is consumed. Cannot steal the Lich’s abilities.

Spend 1 Skill Point: A successfully stolen spell may be held up to 3 Rounds before casting rather than cast immediately next turn.

* Capstone · Capstone Slot — Unlocks when the Witch has successfully Counter Magicked a spell from three different spell schools

Capstone · Oneness · Action · Once per session

Inhabit the body of any visible target — ally, enemy, or entity. The Witch acts through the target’s body using the target’s physical stats but their own Magic and spell access. The Witch’s own body becomes inert and immune to all damage while Oneness is active. The target’s loot is available to the Witch while inhabiting. Oneness lasts until the Witch chooses to end it or the inhabited body reaches 0 Health. Against the Lich: Oneness lasts one Round only — but that Round the Witch has access to everything the Lich can do.

Chapter 3 · The Familiar

The Witch rolls 1d8 at the start of each Tomb dive or Forest visit.

The Familiar acts on the Witch’s turn and shares one piece of intelligence per Round about adjacent Rooms or entities. It persists for the current floor or until defeated. It cannot be re-summoned mid-floor. A defeated Familiar returns next session.

PART II — THE TOWN & THE OVERWORLD

Chapter 4 · The Town, the Gauntlet & the Survival Clock

At the start of each campaign, roll 1d6 twice for the Smith’s favored colors and twice for the distrusted (1 Red, 2 Blue, 3 Green, 4 Purple, 5 Black, 6 Orange; re-roll duplicates). This affects pricing throughout the campaign.

THE INN Food and shelter. The baseline of survival. Costs reset each in-game day. Town patrons may sponsor meals and shelter for other players. Gold contributed to the Inn counts toward event triggers. Meal: 36 gold. Shelter: 72 gold. Both: 108 gold per day.

THE SMITH

Repairs Armor, Gear, Garments, Accessories, and broken loot. Armor is repaired at 36 gold per point, never above maximum. Recolors items. The Smith does not buy, sell, or keep items.

Armor. Armor does not recover on its own. Armor cannot be repaired above its maximum.

Broken items. A broken Gear, Garment, Accessory, or loot item is repaired for one quarter of its sell value. A repaired item returns intact with all effects.

Recolor. One item per in-game day. Bring the item and one Stone of the target color — Ruby for Red, Sapphire for Blue, Amethyst for Purple, Emerald for Green, Topaz for Orange, Obsidian for Black. The Stone is consumed. 36 gold. An item cannot be made Colorless, and Colorless cannot be removed.

The Smith charges more for colors they distrust and less for colors they favor: two favored colors −20%, two distrusted +30%. Disposition is set at campaign start and changes only by Drift. Drifts stack.

THE SQUARE Where town events occur. Gold contributed to Square events grants stat bonuses to all characters the following in-game day.

THE TOMBS Ten levels beneath the Town. Gold and common loot on the upper floors. Rare loot and real danger in the depths. The Lich on level ten. The social contract of tomb diving is the only protection players have against each other inside.

THE FOREST Single level. Great Celestial and Daedric beings wander here. Loot found in the Forest grants access to Daedric magic. No contract governs conduct here.

HEALTH Base 36. Modified by Garment.

ARMOR Each point negates one instance of damage. Base 6. Modified by Gear.

MAGIC Access to spells and special abilities. Powered by gold held in the Gauntlet. For every 600 gold held, Magic increases by 1.

SANITY Starts Whole. Degrades through Tomb exposure, Lich proximity, certain loot effects, and enemy abilities.

GOLD Tracked in X marks along the Gauntlet’s base. Each X represents 100 gold.

EQUIPMENT SLOTS • GEAR — one active piece of equipment • GARMENT — one worn piece of equipment • ACCESSORY — one worn piece of jewelry • LOOT SLOTS — three active loot items at baseline. • SKILLS — three Skill Slots. • CAPSTONE — one dedicated slot. Unlocked by meeting the class’s capstone condition. • ID PANEL — Name and Level.

STATS

Every Lichslayer begins at these values.

Attacks gain +1d6 per point of Power above 6. Speed grants one additional turn per full 6 above 6.

Stat points. Roll 1d6 six times at character creation. Each result assigns one point.

Move is gained through loot and skills only.

INVENTORY

Inventory holds what is not equipped. Depth is 1 + maximum Health ÷ 6, rounded down — seven at base.

One slot holds one stack. A stack is up to six identical items, or fewer where the item’s own maximum is lower. Treasure follows its own stack line.

Inventory items are not active. They confer no effect and count toward no synchronicity condition.

Moving an item between inventory and an equipment band costs one turn. Components must occupy a Loot slot to be spent.

Every character must eat at least once every 3 in-game days and sleep under shelter at least once every 7 in-game days.

NEGLECT PENALTIES Penalties apply at the end of each day the minimum is not met and stack until the need is met.

DAYS WITHOUT EATING PENALTY

Day 1-3 No penalty if minimum met

Day 4 −1 to all rolls. −6 maximum Health.

Day 5 −2 to all rolls. −12 maximum Health. Drop one Sanity level.

Day 6+ −3 to all rolls. −18 maximum Health per day. Drop one Sanity level per day.

Maximum Health lost to hunger returns at 6 per in-game day in which the character has eaten. Healing of any kind restores Health, never the lost maximum. Maximum Health cannot fall below 6.

DAYS WITHOUT SHELTER PENALTY

Day 1-7 No penalty if minimum met

Day 8 −1 to all rolls. −6 Health.

Day 9 −2 to all rolls. Drop one Sanity level.

Day 10+ −3 to all rolls. −12 Health per day. Drop one Sanity level per day.

Chapter 5 · Overworld Events

Rolling Order

• Each in-game day — Roll Inn d12. Roll Retainers d8 if any active Retainers. Roll The Forest d6 per party member in the Forest. Roll Square d6 if 100+ gold contributed.
• Each in-game week (every 7 days) — Roll Smith d8. Check Idol vanity stage shifts. Check Lich’s Attention stage shifts.
• Each Tomb dive — Roll floor room tables.
• Each campaign turn-over — Carry forward Idol persistence, Familiar memory, Town reputation, Lich’s Attention state, Square Watch counter.

The Inn — d12 Event Table

Modifiers (cumulative)

Patron Investment — +1 per 200 gold contributed to the Inn the previous day (max +3).

Retainers Bonus — +1 per 3 active Retainers across all patrons in the Town.

Square — +2 while a Festival is active. −2 while the Square is Empty.

Lich’s Attention — −1 at Stage 1, −2 at Stage 2, −3 at Stage 3. Roll is capped at 12 high and 2 low.

The Smith — Weekly Events

Roll 1d8 at the start of each in-game week.

The Forest — Daily Conditions

Rolling the Forest

Frequency — 1d6 each in-game day a party enters the Forest. Roll at entry.

Modifiers — +1 if the Giver has been fed this week. +1 if a Daedric Being was tributed without subsequently attacked. −1 per The Forest griefing event the party committed this campaign. −2 if the Giver is dead.

Duration — The condition lasts the full in-game day. New roll required on next visit.

Lich’s Attention — Stages

Stage 1 · Watching — Trigger: first Floor 4 descent.

Inn — −1 to Inn event rolls. Negative events triggered first.

Sanity — Sanity Challenges in the Tombs target +2 (target 14 where 12 was, etc.).

Stage 2 · Reaching — Trigger: first Floor 6 descent.

Inn — −2 to Inn event rolls. Shrine and Rest spaces on Tomb floors 1-5 become unsafe.

Smith — Smith adjustment events more likely (re-roll 1-2 on Smith table once per week, applied automatically).

Forest — Colorless Drift more likely. Daedric Beings appear 50% less often.

Sanity — Sanity Challenges in the Tombs target +4. Lost Sanity recovery requires 2 nights of rest instead of 1.

One Town NPC disappears each in-game week — leaves quietly, no event. Square Watch counter cannot exceed 1 while Stage 2 is active.

Stage 3 · Active Conflict — Trigger: the Unbound set completed, or a Tier 3 Vanity Idol raised.

Inn — −3 to Inn event rolls. Inn event table effectively locks to events 2-9 (negative half) for the duration.

Smith — Smith refuses work from any player who has reached Lost Sanity. Disposition disregarded.

Forest — Great Beings appear half as often. The Giver loses Health twice as fast if unfed.

Sanity — All Sanity Challenges anywhere target +6. Even rest at Inn has a 1d6 chance per night of disturbed sleep (on 1: no Sanity recovery, drop 1 instead).

No Festival may be held while Stage 3 is active. The Square Watch counter does not advance.

Stage 4 · Manifestation — Trigger: the Lich’s Crown applied, or multiple Tier 3 Vanity Idols raised.

Turned — All turned characters are recalled to the Tombs. The Lich seats them on floors of its choosing, and they act as entities under the Judge until Cured, Restored, or Cleansed.

Inn — Inn closes. Players cannot eat or sleep at the Inn. Survival clock advances unchecked.

Smith — Smith flees the Town. Armor, loot, and equipment cannot be repaired or upgraded until the campaign resolves.

Forest — Forest becomes hostile. Every visit triggers an additional enemy encounter (Entities, Floor 7-9 tier). The Square Watch counter resets to 0 and cannot advance.

Sanity — All party members default to Lost Sanity while in the Town. Each Round a character at Lost Sanity spends in the Town, the Lich attempts communion: the Judge rolls 1d6 openly; on a 6 the character passes a Sanity Challenge (target 18) or is turned.

De-Escalation

Stage 1 → 0 — 7 consecutive in-game days without a Tomb dive past Floor 3. The Lich loses interest.

Stage 2 → 1 — 14 consecutive days without a Tomb dive past Floor 5, OR successfully sponsor a Banquet.

Stage 3 → 2 — Destroy all Vanity Idols, OR destroy the Unbound set, OR successfully complete a campaign-defining narrative action the Judge agrees counts.

Stage 4 → 3 — Cannot be de-escalated. Stage 4 only ends when the campaign resolves — Lich defeated, Town destroyed, or party departs the world entirely.

Travel Between Towns

Travel Mechanics

Travel Time — 1d6 in-game days between Towns. Survival clock applies the whole time. Travel through the world is not safe.

Travel Encounters — Roll 1d6 per day of travel. On 1-2: random encounter — roll on the Entities table at the party’s deepest Tomb floor tier. On 3-5: nothing. On 6: a stranger met — a possible Retainer recruit or NPC.

Town Inheritance — When a party arrives at a new Town: that Town has its own Smith disposition, its own Inn event history, its own Lich’s Attention state, its own Square Watch counter. The party brings their Crystal Gauntlets and reputation; the Town brings everything else.

Cannot Return Immediately — A party that departs a Town cannot return for 7 in-game days. The Lich’s Attention on the departed Town may resolve in the party’s absence — or escalate. Roll for it.

Chapter 6 · The Idol

Creating an Idol — Process

Commission — Player declares intent in the Town. Pay the tier’s full gold cost. Choose inscription (if any).

Construction — Tier 1 takes 1 in-game day. Tier 2 takes 3. Tier 3 takes 7. During construction the Idol is incomplete and provides no effect.

Activation — The Idol becomes active on the in-game day construction completes. Boons or consequences begin that day.

Inscription Application — A loot-found inscription must be physically applied (it is a consumable loot item — destroyed on application). Without inscription, the Idol is Vanity by default. A wrong inscription grants half the boon and the full consequence.

The Three Tiers

Tier 1 · Personal Idol — 1,000 gold · 1 day

Kept in player’s room at the Inn or in their own residence.

Subjects Allowed — Self, Companion (party member or Retainer), Memorial (deceased), Deity, Daedric Force.

Properly Inscribed Boon — Apply the inscription’s boon to the dedicating player only.

Tier 2 · Square Idol — 5,000 gold · 3 days

Scale — Stands in the Square. Visible to every Town resident and every player.

Subjects Allowed — As Tier 1. A Self-Idol at this tier is publicly noted.

Properly Inscribed Boon — Apply the inscription’s boon to all party members AND a Town-wide effect. Persists for one full campaign or until destroyed.

Tier 3 · Great Idol — 15,000 gold + one Rare loot item · 7 days

Construction requires at least one Rare loot item as raw material — consumed on completion.

Memorial Idols at this tier are accepted only for entities of campaign-defining significance (Judge call).

Properly Inscribed Boon — Campaign-altering benefit. Persists across sessions until the Lich is defeated or the Idol destroyed. Players who descended into the Tombs while a properly-inscribed Great Idol stood receive its boon throughout.

The Inscriptions

An inscription is a loot item applied to an Idol. Inscriptions are found in Tomb chests on Floor 4 and below, in the Forest, or granted by Great Beings. Each is consumed when applied and cannot be transferred. A wrong inscription grants half the boon and the full consequence. An Idol without an inscription is Vanity.

The Unbound’s Sign — Found: Floor 7-9 Rare Cache. Boon: Sanity recovery doubled at the Inn.

The Giver’s Mark — Found: granted by the Giver, fed. Boon: All party members’ survival clock penalties delay by 1 tier. The Banquet triggers at 300 gold instead of 500.

The Elemental Sigil — Found: Tomb chest, Floor 4 and below. Each variant — Earth, Water, Fire, Air — is a distinct inscription. Boon: Smith disposition fixes to base price regardless of color. Elemental Call costs no gold.

The Celestial Mark — Found: granted by a Celestial Being approached correctly, at an offer of gold equal to 6× current level with weapons sheathed. Boon: Full Sanity restoration for the dedicating party once per in-game week. The Town heals 36 Health per resident per day.

The Forest Sigil — Found: two Stones combined. Boon: The Forest’s hostile encounters reduce by half for the party. Daedric Beings approach this party preferentially.

The Lich’s Crown — Forbidden. Found: crafted by a character at Lost Sanity. Cannot be obtained otherwise. Boon (Trap): Applying this inscription to any Idol counts as the most extreme Vanity Consequence regardless of subject. A Self-Idol bearing the Crown creates the only condition under which the Lich manifests.

The Vanity Consequence Scale

A Vanity Idol is any Idol without proper inscription, AND any Self-Idol regardless of inscription (with one specific exception: Memorial inscriptions of the Self after the dedicating character’s death). Vanity Idols compound — each one active stacks its consequence with prior ones.

Stage 1 — One Tier 1 Vanity Idol Active

Lich Effect — +1 to Lich’s Attention escalation table for one in-game week.

Town Effect — Survival clock penalties accrue 1 day faster for the dedicator only.

Sanity Effect — Dedicator rolls Sanity Challenge (target 6) at start of each in-game day. Failure drops Sanity by 1 tier.

Stage 2 — One Tier 2 Vanity Idol OR Multiple Tier 1 Vanity Idols Active

Lich Effect — Lich’s Attention escalates one full tier (treat as if next threshold hit).

Town Effect — Smith’s color disposition shifts against the dedicator. Inn event table gains +1 chance of negative events for 7 in-game days. One Retainer shifts to Wary.

Sanity Effect — All party members roll Sanity Challenge (target 12) once per in-game week.

Stage 3 — One Tier 3 Vanity Idol OR Multiple Tier 2 Vanity Idols Active

Lich Effect — Lich enters active conflict. Town event table locks to negative events only for 7 in-game days.

Town Effect — Town NPCs begin leaving — lose 1 random NPC per in-game week. Includes Retainers if not paid double standard rate.

Sanity Effect — All party members suffer a permanent −1 to Sanity Challenges while in the Town. Effect ends with Idol’s destruction.

Stage 4 — Lich’s Crown inscription OR multiple Tier 3 Vanity Idols. Lich’s Attention advances to Stage 4 — Manifestation.

Idol Destruction

Time Required — Tier 1 destruction takes 1 in-game day of focused work. Tier 2: 3 days. Tier 3: 7 days. Cannot be rushed.

Cost — Tier 1: free. Tier 2: 500 gold of labor and tools. Tier 3: 2,000 gold AND one Rare loot item (consumed in the breaking).

Effect of Destruction — All Vanity consequences from that Idol cease immediately on completion of destruction. Stage downgrades accordingly if other Vanity Idols remain.

Properly Inscribed Destruction — A properly inscribed Idol that is destroyed grants a final boon: the inscription’s referenced entity blesses the destroyer with one permanent +1 to a Rating of the destroyer’s choice.

The Lich’s Crown Cannot Be Destroyed — Once applied, the Crown inscription is permanent. The Idol may be destroyed; the corruption it introduced remains.

Chapter 7 · Retainers

Retainers are hired by the Aristocrat and paid daily at the Inn. Common 108 gold per day (18 Health, 3 Armor, Attack +0). Skilled 216 gold per day (30 Health, 6 Armor, Attack +1d6). Exceptional 360 gold per day (42 Health, 9 Armor, Attack +2d6, one loot item). Unpaid Retainers leave at the end of the day.

Each holds one loyalty state: Wary, Standard, or Devoted. New Retainers arrive Standard. Paying double wage for one day shifts a Retainer up one state. Missing a wage shifts one down. Devoted Retainers do not leave during Lich’s Attention events. Wary Retainers leave on any negative Inn event.

An Aristocrat may maintain a number of Retainers equal to their level.

Roll 1d8 once per in-game day. +1 per 3 Devoted. −1 per Vanity Idol active.

PART III — THE TOMBS

Chapter 8 · Sanity

Sanity degrades through prolonged Tomb exposure, proximity to the Lich’s influence, certain loot effects, enemy abilities, damage from colorless entities, and neglect of the survival clock.

WHOLE No penalties.

STRANGE −1 to all rolls.

EDGE −2 to all rolls. May only loot every other round, or roll Challenge (target 12) to loot on off-rounds.

PARANOID −3 to all rolls. Must roll Challenge (target 18) to loot at all.

LOST −4 to all rolls. −1 movement every other round.

SANITY LOSS TRIGGERS • Tomb exposure — Room entries that call for a Sanity Challenge • Proximity to the Lich — any round spent adjacent to the Lich or its Phylactery • Certain loot effects — flagged in the loot table • Enemy abilities — flagged on enemy entries • Damage from Lich-type sources — each instance triggers Sanity Challenge (target 12) • Neglect of the survival clock • Some loot deliberately drains Sanity as a cost of activation

SANITY AND LOOT Certain loot negates Sanity penalties so long as the item remains intact.

RECOVERING HEALTH AND SANITY

A full night of uninterrupted shelter with a meal restores 6 + (level)d6 Health. Reduce the dice by 1 for each in-game day the character has missed a meal or shelter since their last full rest. Minimum restoration 6. Sanity recovers one level per full night of uninterrupted shelter sleep if the character has eaten within the last 3 days. Certain Inn events, loot items, and the Giver’s Recipes restore Sanity outside of rest.

Chapter 9 · The Board

A space is one Room on the board.

8. THE TOMBS — THE BOARD The Tombs are ten levels beneath the Town. Each floor is a 5x5 grid. Players occupy rooms not individual squares — movement means moving between rooms. The grid tracks which rooms are revealed, which are blocked, which contain active enemies, and which are clear.

THE 5x5 GRID Twenty-five spaces per floor. Rooms are revealed as players advance. Each revealed room may add enemies to the turn stack. The floor is alive as a whole — enemies persist across rooms until defeated.

TRAPS

A Room may contain a trap. Roll 1d6 on entry unless the trap has been disabled. A trap with a listed effect uses that effect instead of the roll.

A trap triggers once per character entering the Room.

CHESTS

Roll 1d6 when a chest is opened. On a success the chest contains loot.

When loot is present the player rolls 1d100 on the Loot Table. The Judge rolls the gold.

ROOM CAPACITY BY TYPE When a room reaches maximum capacity it blocks passage until entities are removed. The Lich does not need to attack the party directly. It only needs the board to fill up.

ROOM TYPE MAXIMUM ENTITIES NOTES

Hall 2 Bottleneck. Fills fast.

Chamber 4 Standard combat space.

Vault 6 Open. Gold rooms are often Vaults.

Antechamber 3 Transition space. Often has one exit blocked.

Shrine / Rest 0 enemies Safe until the Lich’s attention activates.

Chapter 10 · Room Generation

Room Roll Mechanics

Frequency — Roll once per Room advance. Players move into a new Room; Judge rolls 1d12 on the appropriate tier table.

Exploding Gold — All gold formulas use exploding d6. A die showing 6 rolls again and adds. No cap.

Enemy Activation — Enemies revealed by room rolls enter the turn stack immediately.

Modifier Application — Apply Lich’s Attention and Square state modifiers before reading the result. A modified roll past 12 caps at 12. A modified roll under 1 caps at 1.

Re-Roll Rules — If the rolled room is contextually impossible (e.g., a Rest Chamber after a Sanity Break in the same floor, or a Merchant’s Corner after the floor’s Merchant has been dispatched), re-roll once. If the re-roll is also impossible, the room is empty.

Floors 1-3 — The Upper Tombs

Common · d12 · Colorless & Red

Floors 4-6 — The Middle Tombs

Uncommon · d12 · Blue & Purple

Floors 7-9 — The Lower Tombs

Rare · d12 · Green & Black

Floor 10

Framework · Not Table-Generated

The Gate — The entrance to Floor 10. Locked until every player has cleared at least one Room on Floor 9. The Gate cannot be rushed: players who attempt to force it before the unlock condition is met take 1 Sanity loss each per attempt. Once opened, the Gate cannot be closed, and it cannot be passed upward. Through the Gate there is no retreat from Floor 10, and no withdrawal at 0 Health; the character is permanently lost.

The Floor — Rooms are not rolled. There is no gold. At the start of each Round, 1d6 entities enter at the Gate; roll composition for each. The waves do not stop while the Phylactery exists.

The Phylactery — The Judge places the Phylactery anywhere on the floor board, hidden until a character enters its space. At the start of each Round the Phylactery casts one spell from Lich’s Magic at no cost, targeting the nearest character. The Phylactery is not the Lich.

The Modifier Table

How Lich’s Attention & Square State Shift Rolls

Apply modifiers cumulatively before reading the roll.

Lich’s Attention Stage 1 — Watching

−1 to all floor rolls. Edge entries shift down (a roll of 12 becomes 11).

Lich’s Attention Stage 2 — Reaching

−2 to all floor rolls. Shrine results 3-5 are reduced to nothing or +1 to the next roll.

Lich’s Attention Stage 3 — Active Conflict

−3 to all floor rolls. Rest Chambers and Rest Hollows do not count as shelter.

Lich’s Attention Stage 4 — Manifestation

Tomb dives are effectively impossible. Every Room rolled is the Empty Antechamber or the Colorless Antechamber.

Square Festival

+2 to all floor rolls for one in-game day. Stacks with Lich’s Attention modifiers.

Square Empty

−1 to all floor rolls. Stacks with Lich’s Attention modifiers. Persists until reversed.

Character at Lost Sanity

A character at Lost Sanity may re-roll any natural 1 on a Room roll once per Tomb dive.

Daedric Tribute Active

+1 to Forest floor rolls while the tribute is active. Does not apply to Tomb floor rolls.

Chapter 11 · Combat & The Turn Stack

Combat in LICHSLAYER 9000 is not grid-based movement and positioning. The room describes what is happening. The turn stack determines who acts and when.

All spaces in LICHSLAYER 9000 are PVP space. Killing a player: the killer rolls a Sanity Challenge (target 12); on failure they drop one Sanity level.

THE TURN STACK When a room reveals enemies they enter the turn stack immediately. Every character and enemy has a position on the stack. Every entity receives at least one turn per round. Additional turns scale with Speed.

Enemies on the turn stack are not waiting to be addressed. They are moving through the floor, repositioning, Between player turns an enemy may move to an adjacent room, block a passage, or close on a vulnerable character. The floor is alive.

TAKING THE ATTACK ACTION Characters with a Gear or loot item that allows the attack action may take the attack action. Not all characters begin with attack access — loot and gear define what a character can do. A character without offensive loot can still interact, use items, move, and support.

RESOLUTION — EXPLODING d6 All attack rolls and challenge rolls use d6. Roll the die. If it shows 6 roll again and add. of 6s produces spectacular results. A 1 is a failure regardless of bonuses.

Difficulty targets are multiples of 6:

TARGET DIFFICULTY

6 Simple

12 Moderate

18 Difficult

24 Daunting

30 Merciless

DAMAGE & HEALTH Each point of Armor negates one full instance of damage, regardless of amount. An instance is a single attack, spell, or trap resolution. Ongoing effects — Poison, burning Rooms, and similar — are not instances and damage Health directly. Armor negates an instance’s damage; its other effects still resolve. When Armor is 0, damage strikes Health. Some attacks bypass Armor entirely — flagged on enemy and loot entries. It is repaired at the Smith, or restored by loot, spells, and skills. Armor cannot exceed its maximum. At 0 Health a character chooses: withdraw — they leave the floor and their dive ends — or press on at 1 Health. The third time a character reaches 0 Health on a single floor, that character is permanently lost. LOOT BREAKING Loot breaks. When a character rolls a natural 1 on an attack or challenge roll the Judge calls for an integrity check on one equipped item — Gear, Garment, Accessory, or loot. Roll 1d6 — on a 1 the item breaks and is removed from its slot. A broken item confers no effect and counts toward no synchronicity condition. Broken items are repaired at the Smith. Some loot is marked as unbreakable. Some loot breaks deliberately as a cost of activation.

A Lost character whose loot breaks mid-combat loses the Sanity-to-bonus conversion immediately. The penalties apply from that moment forward.

SANITY IN COMBAT The following triggers cause Sanity Challenge rolls during combat. Failure drops one Sanity level.

• Any round spent adjacent to a Colorless entity • Taking damage from a Lich-type source • Another player character reaching 0 Health on the floor • Specific enemy abilities — flagged on enemy entries • Entering a room flagged as a Sanity Test

Chapter 12 · Entities

Stat blocks assume a standard party at the appropriate floor tier. Scale up by adding Health equal to the Entity’s level per additional player beyond four.

Every entity appears on its floor and all floors below. When a Room’s entities are placed, roll 1d6 per entity: 1-2 the lowest tier available, 3-4 the middle tier available, 5-6 the floor’s own tier. On floors 1-3 all results are the floor’s own tier.

The Lich

Colorless · Floor 10

Health144 baseArmor18Speed6 (2 turns per Round)Attack4d6 touch

Health Scaling — Base 144. +12 Health per player at Lost Sanity. +24 Health per Unbound Vestment piece equipped.

Armor Bypass — Bypassed only by All-Color loot, the Breaker’s Crush capstone, and the Demon Magic spell Crush.

Sanity Touch — On hit: Sanity Challenge target 18. Adjacency is constant target-18 Sanity Challenge per Round regardless of attack.

Free Magic — Casts one Lich’s Magic spell per turn at no gold or Sanity cost.

Death Word (Once per Encounter) — Speak the Word at one character. Resolve as the spell.

Lich’s Attention — Every Round, choose one PC. That PC rolls Sanity Challenge target 18.

Revival — Until Phylactery is destroyed, Lich revives at start of next Round with half Health when reduced to 0.

On True Defeat (Lich + Phylactery) — 12d6×6 gold. 1 piece of every faction’s signature loot. The campaign ends. The Town wakes. Color returns to the world by 1d6×10% over the following week.

Object · HiddenThe PhylacteryFloor 10

Health72Armor36Speed0 (immobile)Attacknone

Cannot Be Targeted Remotely — A PC must be in the Phylactery’s Room to attack it. Spells cast from outside the Room have no effect.

Colorless Immunity — Colorless damage sources do nothing. Most Lich-coded loot is useless against it.

Destruction Conditions — All-Color loot damages at full. Crush — the Breaker capstone or the Demon Magic spell — reduces the Phylactery to 0 in one action.

Effect of Destruction — The Lich’s Revival is denied. The next time the Lich reaches 0 Health it stays dead.

PART IV — LOOT & MAGIC

Chapter 13 · The Tomb Loot Table

SIDEBAR — The Five Fates of Loot (Gems, Components & the Glow)

Every loot item, and gems above all, sits at a fork.

HOLD — Keep it equipped. You get its passive stats and its color counts toward synchronicity. The Lich approves of safety.

CONSUME — Items with the Consume action are used and destroyed for their immediate effect. Single use unless Stackable.

COMPONENT — Casting a spell that a loot item is Component For consumes that item in the casting. Where a multiplier appears (×N), the caster chooses at the moment of casting: release all N counts in one simultaneous casting, or cast singly up to N times, after which the item is consumed. The choice is made once and cannot be split retroactively.

MERGE — A gem may be merged into socketed jewelry (rings, earrings, necklaces; inscribable scrolls). The gem’s effect becomes permanent on the host item for as long as the host survives, and the merged gem’s color overrides the host’s color for all synchronicity purposes. Jewelry carries exactly one socket. Merging is permanent — the gem cannot be recovered, consumed, or spent as a Component afterward.

CHANNEL — Burn the item entirely into a personal buff. Channel buffs stack with one another and free the loot slot for new acquisitions — the glowing build. All Channel buffs end when the current dive ends. They do not persist through the Town, the Inn, or rest. You cannot dive, channel, heal at the Inn, and dive again carrying the stack; the glow is bought fresh each descent.

THE EXCEPTION — The Jeweled Scroll is the sole multi-socket item in the game. Any number of gems. It is priced accordingly, and it is the only one.

The Closed Action List

• Attack — Use this loot to deal damage. Damage values listed in Effect.
• Block — Response. Once per Round, negate one instance of physical damage against the holder or an adjacent character. The blocking item then rolls an integrity check.
• Channel — Burn this loot for a stat bonus or immunity until the dive ends.
• Consume — Use and destroy this loot. Single use unless Stackable noted in Effect.
• Equip — Passive while held. Effect is always active in loot slot.
• Influence — Add this loot’s roll result to any roll — loot, gold, attack, or challenge. Influence can be added to any roll.
• Inscribe — Apply this loot’s effect to another item or spell. Does not destroy either.

The Loot Table (121 entries)

Chapter 14 · Color Synchronicity

All loot has color. Spell damage bears its school’s color; entity damage bears the entity’s color.

The Four Synchronicity Conditions

MONO-COLOR — All equipped loot shares one color. Effect: 2× damage dealt. ½ damage received. Spells of your color cost half gold.

FULL SPECTRUM — All equipped loot is a different color. Colorless items do not count. Effect: 2× damage dealt to Colorless entities. ½ damage received from Colorless sources. Resistant to the Unbound. Access to Colorless magics.

DUAL-COLOR — All equipped loot splits between exactly two colors. Colorless items do not count. Effect: Immune to both colors’ enemy types and to any faction whose signature contains both. 2× damage dealt to both colors’ enemies.

MONO-TYPE — All equipped loot is the same type regardless of color. Effect: Double effectiveness of all loot abilities.

Broken items are ignored when checking synchronicity conditions.

Chapter 15 · The Spell Schools

Casting Times — On Turn: resolves immediately on the caster’s turn, consumes the action. Next Turn: declared this turn, resolves at the start of the caster’s next turn. End Round: resolves at the end of the current round after all entities have acted. Start Next Round: declared this turn, resolves before any entity acts in the following round. Response: cast in reaction to a trigger outside the caster’s turn, costs the caster their next turn’s action.

Spell Economy — Gold spent on spells is erased from the Gauntlet immediately — it is consumed, not held. Loot that modifies Magic retroactively affects any spell resolution still pending. Spells that reference Magic use the caster’s current Magic at time of casting.

Blue-color loot amplifies The Unbound’s Incantations. A character holding one or more Blue loot items treats M as M+1 when casting a Unbound’s Incantation. This bonus is flat regardless of Blue loot count. A Mono-Color Blue build reduces all The Unbound’s Incantations gold costs by 36 (minimum 0).

Lich’s Magic

Colorless · Floor 10 · Judge-Controlled

Player characters access Lich’s Magic only through being turned or through Full Spectrum.

Demon Magic

Black · Floors 4–6 Primary

Celestial Magic

Orange · Crystal Forest Primary

Arcana

Purple · Turn Stack Manipulation

Daedric Magic

Green · Living World · Summon School

Elemental Spirits — 1d6

Wild Spirits — 1d6

The Unbound’s Incantations

Blue · Destruction · Power · Vestments

The Unbound Vestments are six belongings. When one is found in a Room, roll 1d6 for which: 1 Whisper-Blade (Null Zone) · 2 The Unbound’s Mantle (Melt in Shadow) · 3 The Unbound’s Best Bracelet (Banish) · 4 The Unbound’s Scroll (Reanimate) · 5 The Unbound’s Coat of Arms (Blaze) · 6 Candles (Sludge). On a duplicate, roll again. An Incantation may be cast, by any method, only while its Vestment is equipped. One-Thousand Blades requires all six equipped, except when granted as an action by loot.

The Giver’s Recipes

Crystal Forest · Self-Cost · The Lich’s Direct Opposite

Chapter 16 · The Lich’s Attention & The Phylactery

The Lich is colorless. It has no body. Its Phylactery lies on the tenth floor. The moment players push past certain thresholds, its attention activates.

Attention Triggers

The Lich

The Lich has no body. It manifests only at Attention Stage 4, in the Town.

Health 360 · Armor 36 · Speed 12 · Magic 18 · Attack 6d6 · Colorless

Add 36 Health per player beyond four. Two turns per Round. All damage dealt is Colorless. Immune to Colorless damage.

Free Magic — One spell from Lich’s Magic per turn at no cost.

Targeting — The Lich attacks the character holding the most gold.

Revival — Until the Phylactery is destroyed, the Lich revives at the start of the next Round at half Health when reduced to 0.

Resolution — The Lich is destroyed permanently only after the Phylactery is destroyed.

TURNING & THE CURE

A character turned by the Lich is a Zombie: they keep their Skills, loot, and Ratings, gain Resilient, and count as a Zombie for all effects. They act on the Lich’s behalf, with full PVP access, and cannot leave the Tombs voluntarily. While characters are turned, Inn event rolls take −1 per turned character. Turning has four exits.

CLEANSE (Daedric) — The spell removes Zombies; a turned character is one. It is legal for players to Cleanse a turned player. It is a player-killing.

RESTORE (Celestial) — Celestial restoration magic dispels the turning.

CURE (Lich Doctor capstone) — Cure cures the turning.

THE PILGRIMAGE — The turned may leave the Tombs only toward the Forest. Gather one flower of every color and return to a Shrine. The Pilgrimage must be completed within 6 in-game days of the turning, or the turning becomes permanent. No cure applies past the sixth day.

The Phylactery. Floor 10 object. Destroying it ends the Tomb permanently. The Witch’s Oneness may inhabit the Phylactery — gains its spells; the Witch dies if it is destroyed during inhabitation.

PART VI — THE FOREST

Chapter 17 · The Forest

The Forest is infinite expanse on a single level. Great Celestial and Daedric beings wander it.

Each Being casts from its school at no gold or Health cost, one spell per turn. Add 18 Health per Being per player beyond four.

The Giver does not attack. Its Recipes act.

Approach and defence. No Being initiates combat. The Celestial and the Giver do not fight unless attacked; the Daedric defends if attacked.

Feeding the Giver. A character who has fed the Giver three times across a campaign gains access to the Giver’s Recipes at their current Magic rating.

Hunger. The Giver loses 60 Health per in-game week unfed. At 0 Health it dies and the Forest ecosystem collapses by half — half the rooms, half the Great Being appearances.

Defeat costs. Killing a Celestial Being drops every player in the party 1 Sanity level. Killing a Daedric Being drops the killer 1 Sanity level. Killing the Giver drops every player 2 Sanity levels and collapses the Forest as above.

An incorrect approach yields nothing. A defeated Being’s boon is lost to the Town permanently this campaign. If players take the Giver’s boons and stop feeding it, it starves; the Forest dies with it.

Forest loot is environment-specific and does not appear in the Tombs. All Forest loot is consumable: a Stone or Flora is spent when its effect is used or when it is cast as a component. A stack is spent one at a time.

COMPONENT CASTING

A spell is available only while its components occupy Loot slots. Components are consumed at casting.

Every recipe is one flower and one fungus, unless listed otherwise.

Forest path. Components only. No gold. M equals the number of complete recipes spent in the cast. Gold may not raise M.

Tomb path. Gold and the Tomb loot components listed on the spell. M is the caster’s Magic rating.

Daedric Magic is cast on the Forest path only.

The Giver’s Recipes cost the caster’s Health as listed. Flora raise M and are not required to cast.

Learned spells. The Scholar inscribes a Scroll of any spell cast or witnessed; a learned spell is cast with gold at the Scholar’s Magic rating at the time of recording and requires no components. The Witch learns a spell through Commune; a learned spell is cast for 1 Sanity level and requires no components.

Flora held in the Lich Doctor’s Medicine Slots count as occupying Loot slots.

THE FOREST

The Forest is infinite expanse on a single level. No contract governs conduct here.

The Stones (d6 · one per color · vein loot)

All Stones are gems: they Hold, Consume, Component, Merge, and Channel per the Five Fates. Each vein yields 1d6 stones (exploding). When a vein empties, the region grays — permanently, this campaign. Nothing regrows in gray. A day spent in a grayed region forces a Sanity Challenge (target 12). | d6 | Stone | Color | Effect | |—|—|—|—| | 1 | Ruby | Red | +1 Magic, +1 Speed. Stackable ×6. | | 2 | Sapphire | Blue | +2 Speed, +2 Magic. Stackable ×3. | | 3 | Amethyst | Purple | +1 Power, +1 Health. Stackable ×6. | | 4 | Emerald | Green | +2 Speed, +1 Magic. Stackable ×3. | | 5 | Topaz | Orange | Cast Gold Lightning ×6. | | 6 | Obsidian | Black | +2 Power. Resistant to Black damage. |

Colorless does not grow.

The Flora (d12 · Consume · Component For The Giver’s Recipes, color-matched)

Harvest rule: take a whole patch and it dies. Leave at least one and the patch doubles by next in-game week.

The Phenomena (d6 · daily roll · the being is the weather)

One roll each in-game day. The result is the Forest’s state and the Great Being wandering it. Defeated, it yields rare loot of its color — and the boon it would have granted the Town is lost permanently. The Giver remains the seventh presence, fed at the table (see above).

Presented by Vixen Vox Vertere

A DeadVale Game