Thread by @wereoctopus

Still not in the mood for a lore dive into Blue Rose or Romance of the Perilous Land, so time for a Let's Read of Beyond the Wall, a lovely game from 2014.

At its core, Beyond the Wall uses a lot of mechanics of 1980s "B/X" D&D. But it tries to model something closer to A Wizard of Earthsea or Chronicles of Prydain: low-fantasy stories about young heroes getting into danger, rather than often-amoral swords-and-sorcery.

The main features of Beyond the Wall compared to other retroclones:
* some rules support for this kind of fiction -- casting magic carries risk of spells going awry, but not gonzo face-melting Corruption or whatever. Characters have True Names, too.
* Playbooks and lifepaths!

there's instructions for rolling up a character in the traditional way, but the intended mode of play is:
* pick a playbook, i.e. class.
* Answer questions about your childhood and upbringing, or recent events in your life. There are tables to roll on, or simply choose from.

* these answers determine your ability scores. Doing something as a child you've regretted ever since might give you +1 Wis, for instance. They also determine your Skills and starting equipment/spells.

* recent events in your lifepath also involve the PCs of players sitting next to you. This way, the lifepath system generates bonds and history between the party, allowing you to get to play relatively quickly.

Anyway, time to get to the basic rules of play.

There are three classes: Warrior, Rogue and Mage. There are six *playbooks* in total, with their own sets of questions, but (for instance) the Untested Thief and the Young Woodsman playbooks both piggyback off the Rogue class.

The game uses the six classic ability scores. Each ability score has an associated modifier, using the B/X scale. e.g. a score of 13-15 is a modifier of +1.

Ability score tests are d20 roll equal-or-under the relevant score.

If you have a Skill that applies, add +2 to the score before rolling. It's possible to gain the same skill multiple times, for a stacking bonus.

The GM may impose a bonus or penalty of +2 to -10 to simulate different difficulties.

Attack rolls and saves work differently from this.

To make an attack, roll 1d20 + your Base Attack Bonus + either your Str or Dex *modifier*.

To make a Save, roll d20 equal or over the listed saving throw number for your class and level.

This uses the (slightly rejiggered) traditional saving throw categories of Poison, Breath Weapon, Polymorph, Spell, Magic Item.

This has tweaked the saving throw progressions a bit.
* Classes improve at about the same rate as their B/X counterparts
* Mage is 3 points better at spell and magic item saves and 1 point worse at poison.
* Thief is 1 point better at polymorph saves

* Fighter is on average 2 points worse on *all their saves*!

Attack bonus progressions are tweaked too, closer to the 3rd-edition progressions.
Fighter BAB = level
Mage = level / 2
Thief = (level - 1) * 2/3

Anyway this shouldn't affect broad compatibility with OSR material too much, but it's worth keeping in mind. These characters are more capable in a fight and with ability checks (the traditional, non-playbook chargen has you roll 4d6b3 for ability scores)

This calls for a lot more ability score testing than some old-school players prefer. e.g. you make Cha tests to convince guards to let you through, instead of the "roleplay it out, then the GM decides by fiat whether you made a convincing argument" procedure.

Characters have individual Initiative scores, equal to level + Dex modifier + a class-related bonus (Rogues get +2, Warriors get +1, Mages get +0).

Armour makes you harder to hit.

Mages have a d6 Hit Die, Rogues d8, Warriors d10. Your first Hit Die is maximised.

There is armour proficiency (mages can't wear any, rogues can't wear plate) but no weapon proficiencies. Damage is by weapon, but simplified: d4, d6, d8 or d10, depending on weapon category.

Each character also starts with 3 Fortune Points.

Warriors choose a weapon to specialise in at 1st level (+1 to hit, +2 damage) and pick a Knack at 1st level and every level divisible by 3. Knacks are minor customisations of your combat stats, like +1 AC, +1 Initiative, or another weapon specialisation.

Rogues have more skills than the other classes, and 5 Fortune Points instead of 3. They also learn a new skill (or improve an existing one) every even level.

They do *not* have a Sneak Attack or Backstab mechanic.

there is a rule that shields only protect against foes you are facing, so a sneaky goblin who attacks from the side may bypass it. But no rules -- class-specific or otherwise -- for backstabbing beyond that

Mages have 3 (!!) kinds of magic: Cantrips, Spells and Rituals. They can also sense the presence of magic at-will, though this takes a few minutes.

Fairly standard rules for equipment prices, food and board, hirelings, and allies follow.

Allies are limited by your Cha modifier, similarly to B/X. Having at least a few allies is highly recommended, even though PCs are a bit less frail than their B/X counterparts.

As mentioned, ability tests are d20-roll-under, with Skills providing +2 to the roll. Natural 1 is auto-succeed, 20 is auto-fail.

Skills aren't keyed to an ability -- Cha(Boating) might maintain order on a ship during a storm, while Int(Boating) might repair a damaged craft.

Skills are freeform, and can overlap. If using the provided playbooks, naturally your options are limited to skills printed in there, but if you homebrew playbooks or create non-playbook characters, you'll need to talk with your group about what makes an appropriate skill.

Importantly, Skills let you Help other characters with related tasks. They add your skill bonus when they make the ability test.

If you don't have a relevant skill, you can't mechanically help them unless you spend a Fortune Point.

When making group tests, the "slowest and loudest" character makes the roll. e.g. the clumsy warrior in full plate makes the Dex roll for everyone to sneak into the castle, but the rogue will probably be giving them +2 (or +4??) to help.

This game uses "roll for perception" procedures. Generally an Int test is called for when the player makes an active effort to find clues or details, while a Wis test is a sort of "passive test" that the GM might call for to see if characters realise something is amiss.

Reaction rolls are d20-roll-under Charisma (instead of B/X's 2d6 table-lookup). Amusingly, being caught uninvited in someone's house is only a -6 penalty.

"Active" Charisma tests, e.g. to bluff or smooth-talk are also a thing.

we're told that margin of success should be used when narrating an ability test, but reaction rolls provide one of the few concrete examples:
succeeding by 5+ means NPCs might offer hospitality or share secrets, failing by 5+ means NPCs might refuse to sell to you or even attack.

The game is explicit that different tables prefer different levels of rules interjection into roleplaying NPC interactions. A GM doesn't have to roll reactions for every NPC, or at all, players may sweet-talk with words instead of dice.

Cha tests are also "not mind control",

Fortune Points. You have 3 (Rogues have 5). Spend them to:
* aid another even if you don't have a relevant Skill
* reroll a failed roll.
* automatically stabilise if knocked to 0 or fewer HP.

You get them back each adventure.

(possibly fortune points are why the save progressions are on average worse than B/X? though if that's the rationale, i don't understand why Warrior's are *so much* worse than Rogue's or Mage's)

In combat, you *always* act in Initiative order, i.e. it's not a modifier to a d20 or d6 roll. In fact it's suggested players sit at the table in their PC's initiative orders.

I'm... not a fan of this. I like random initiative, like Troika's token bag or B/X's side-initiative.

Otherwise, combat works the same way as basically any D&D game.

You're unconscious at 0 HP, lose 1 HP each round thereafter unless stabilised (i.e. receive medical attention or spend a Fortune Point). You die at -10HP.

You heal 1 HP per night of rest, or 2 if your injuries are tended to.

Healing potions (1d8 hp) and a spell, Healing Touch (also 1d8 hp) exist.

Supernatural creatures always have True Names. Humans don't, but can gain them in naming ceremonies when they come of age. Basically you decide if you have a True Name or not.

If you know a creature's True Name and speak it out, you get a +5 bonus on all rolls, including saves.

Alternately, if you call out your friend's True Name when helping them, they get an extra +1 to the roll.

This can't be just whispered, so is only done in private or in moments of dire need.

If you ever fail a Cha test to command a creature via their True Name, you can *never* command that creature in that way again. Most mages are thus wary of relying too much on that power.

Magic comes as Cantrips, Spells and Rituals.

Spells are bread-and-butter, and the safest form of magic. A Mage can cast a number of Spells each day equal to their level. They spontaneously cast from the list of whatever Spells they know.

Spells *aren't* arranged by level, though some do increase in power if cast by a higher-level Mage.

You can learn a new Spell with a week's study of a tome or tutelage from a mentor, followed by a successful Int test. A failed test cannot be retried until you level-up.

Cantrips also don't have a level. A mage starts with two cantrips, it's left to the GM how (or if) a mage can learn any more.

They're nondamaging, can't impose more than a -2 penalty to a creature's rolls, and only work at Near range but are otherwise meant to be pretty flexible

Casting one requires either an Int or Wis test. If you succeed, it works. If you fail, you either lose all magic for the day (including spells/rituals) or the cantrip goes awry, with reversed or deleterious effects. e.g. you hex yourself instead of the enemy, or conjure darkness.

Rituals cover the magic effects that D&D *really* needs gated by either character level, time, or resources spent.

Rituals have a level, you can only cast rituals of your level or lower.
(yes this means you can cast a 3rd-level ritual at level 3, not level 5).

Rituals take 1 hour to cast per level. They also always detail a material component. e.g. "Gather Mists" requires burning incense and swallowing the tail feather of a bird of prey.

You can learn a Ritual by studying it for 1 week per level, same as a Spell.

But you can also try casting a Ritual from a book without understanding it first. This gives you a -10 penalty on the Int or Wis roll to cast the ritual (!!!)

Yes, like Cantrips but not like Spells, you must roll to cast a Ritual properly. But...

...unlike most rolls, failing the roll doesn't mean the ritual didn't work. It goes awry in *some* way. Perhaps the fog cloud covers a wider area than you intended, is an obviously unnatural colour, or never dissipates.

Interestingly, Fireball is a 6th-level ritual, not a spell. That means it takes 6 hours to cast -- horrifyingly effective on, say, the field of battle provided the ritual isn't disrupted, but you're not going to have access to it if ambushed.

Monsters are pretty typical OSR-statted. They don't have ability scores. They typically use the same saving throw progression as Fighters, and have a to-hit and initiative bonus equal to their level.

This can vary of course, e.g. an animated object has 3 HD but is +0 to-hit.

AC is "whatever feels right", HD are always d8.

The bestiary covers most of the typical fantasy tRPG go-tos.

Next time I'll cover the GMing advice and roll up a playbook character or two! Certain steps in the playbook tell you to detail bits about your starting village, including annotating a map.

overall I'm puzzled by which aspects of B/X this game chooses to keep vs which aspects it chooses to abandon, but I like how skills work -- and how they limit who can Aid another -- the level-less Spells are cool, the "fail forward" level-gated rituals are also good.

Overall where this game really shines is in the playbooks and scenario packs (which are like playbooks for the GM, with a bunch of random tables for, say, why the local fairies have been offended, who in the village is to blame, what's happening in the fairy court, etc.

...actually let's do a playbook now!

(d6) --> 2
I am the Untested Thief

"Some young would-be adventurers get by with their sword arm or with words of power in the language of magic, but you need neither. The world is full of things to see and enjoy, and your fingers are more than quick enough to let you have what you like."

Your Dexterity begins at 12, and all of your other ability scores begin at 8.

What did your parents do in the village? What did you learn from them? (d12)
11 --> You went on journeys into the woods to gather herbs and berries.
+2 Wis, +1 Con, +1 Dex, Skill: Herbalism

(at this point, an icon tells me to annotate a location on the map, probably "dappled grove" or something)

How did you distinguish yourself as a child? (d8)
7 --> You solved everyone else’s problems, and never mentioned your own. +1 Str, +1 Con, +1 Cha

The other player characters were your best friends. Who else in the village befriended you while you were growing up? (d8)
3 --> You went camping with the hunters. +2 Con, +1 Int

(at this point I annotate the map with the names and some characteristics of the hunters)

You learned some unsavory things and found your niche. You become a level 1 Rogue.

Who taught you how to cheat or steal? (1d6)
4 --> The village locksmith. +3 Dex, Skill: Lockpicking

How do you attain your ill-gotten gains? (d6)
5 --> Despite your other skills, you still work an honest profession. +2 Int, a trade skill of your choice

(i write another location, the shop of the tinker who taught me to pick locks. I choose Metalwork as my skill)

As happens with many thieves, your first job went bad. What did you do when you got caught? The player to your right was there. (d6)
6 --> You fast-talked the mark and made nice. The friend to your right bought you both drinks and joined the party, and gains +1 Cha.

(i get +2 Cha and Skill: Drinking)

What was your greatest heist? (d6)
6 --> You stole from another thief. +2 Dex, a nice set of lockpicks.

(one of the other results is "you convinced an old man to will you his farm". You then start with a farm)

I annotate the map with the name and characteristics of this rival thief I stole from, who almost certainly now has it out for me.

Putting it all together I have:

Str 9
Dex 18
Con 12
Int 11
Wis 10
Cha 11
All my modifiers are +0, except for +3 Dex.
Skills: Herbalism, Stealth, Lockpicking, Metalwork, Drinking

I then fill out other stats, using the handy list of concise instructions reprinted in every playbook.

Note I don't start with armour, if I'm allowed to buy armour before play starts the most I could afford is leather.

But yes, I figure this character is very closed off, doesn't reveal too much about his true feelings to anyone, but is still really friendly. He mostly steals for the thrill of it -- doing minor metal repairwork brings in enough silver to get by but isn't much of a challenge

He wants to *apply* himself, to test his limits, and is quite willing to put himself in harm's way to do so. But he also has a caring streak. He continues to run the shop for his elderly master, whose knobbled hands are too shaky, arthritic for any detailed work anymore.

An actually amoral, selfish thief would just abandon their mentor and search for easy, wealthier marks in the big city. But despite how emotionally closed off he tries to be, he needs other people to think well of him.

Anyway these lifepaths are great, and because they generate ability scores that are more what you'd expect to see with 4d6b3, you could very easily lift them for use in 3e, 4e, or 5e D&D

Oh yeah, since this wasn't clear before:

* ability scores never improve in this game
* only the Rogue ever gets more skills on level-up (which can be spent improving an existing skill)

So unless the GM is nice and homebrews/ports over some skill training rules, a mage will always be rolling equal-or-under the same Int score to, say, research a demon's powers in an old tome.

Your resilience in combat improves linearly but your skills are static.

(personally I don't care much about character advancement, butbyou may find this mismatch an annoying quality of most retroclones)

(OSR/OSR-adjacent games that have improving skills/ability scores for all classes: Whitehack, The Black Hack, Knave, Low Fantasy Gaming, Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells)

Anyway, minor quibbles about character advancement and initiative order aside, Beyond the Wall is a charming game that's easily hackable, simple to run, has a pretty good range of supporting material (though i don't know if it's *still* being supported)

The core playbooks are humans-only (or alternately, whatever fantasy races you want, they're just not mechanically distinct).

Supplements have playbooks for Gnomish Godparents, Dwarven Mentors, Elven Highborns, Fae Foundlings, mystical talking foxes, etc.

You can find the game on drivethrurpg, including as print-on-demand hardcover.

flatlandgames.com/btw/

By request, another lifepath, the Village Bear
(this is a rogue/warrior hybrid class, also you are a bear)

"You come from woods far away. You can remember bits and pieces of your life in the wild places, snatching salmon from cool rivers and getting your paws sticky with honey. You left when you were young, however, and the village has been your only home for years."

You are large and mighty, but lack hands, and people often fear you. Your Strength and Constitution begin at 13, your Dexterity and Charisma begin at 5, and all of your other ability scores begin at 8.

What sort of life did you have with your original people? (d12)
7 --> You kept great dens as havens for wanderers in the wild. You grew up meeting travellers and hearing tales. +2 Cha, +1 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Wis.

(I mark the now-forgotten bear dens on the map, a possible hideout)

What brought you to the village? (d8)
3 --> Being a kind hearted soul, you believe that men and beasts can help one another. +2 Cha, +1 Dex

When you left your own people, you found it difficult to live with humans. However, the other characters became your fast friends. Who else became your friend? (d8)
1 --> The blacksmith was kind to you, and you often sat at his forge, trading stories. +2 Cha, +1 Str

(is this bear going to be the party face???

I mark the map with the location of the blacksmith, and come up with a story of why her forge has gone cold. She slighted a fairy, who cursed her with listlessness. I keep her company and share salmon & berries.

You learned to make your own way in the lands of men. You become a level 1 Warrior-Rogue.

What do you have to teach the village folk? (d6)
2 --> How to defend themselves from enemies as yet unknown. +2 Str, +1 Con, Skill: Alertness

When there is need, how you do you defend yourself and your friends? (d6)
3 --> Using your massive size, you quickly overpower your foes. +2 Wis, Knack: Great Strike

(i'm instructed to mark another location. Maybe I used my great strength to topple a tree onto a nobleman's carriage? Being a bear, I could take action to mock him without inviting retribution against the village. The fallen tree is now hollowed out, a children's playground)

One of the other characters was the first of the villagers to come to trust you. What happened? The player to your right was there with you. (d6)
5 --> You came upon the villager fishermen. They tried to teach you to tie nets, and you showed them how to grab fish from the stream.

The friend to your right giggled at your paws and tries to help, and gains +1 Dex. I gain +2 Dex.

What is your greatest boast? (d6)
2 --> You will reunite the hidden communities of intelligent beasts. Gain +2 Wis, a lodestone

(I mark the hunting grounds of an Intelligent Owl, the only other intelligent beast I actually know ;-) )

so putting it all together, I have
Str 16
Dex 9
Con 14
Int 9
Wis 13
Cha 11
Skills: Alertness
Knack: Great Strike (+1 damage)
Gear: A lodestone

AC: 13 (the bear has some natural armour)
5 Fortune Points instead of 3
Attack and Save as Warrior

The bear has a claw/claw/bite routine, but can't direct multiple attacks at the same enemy. So I'm good at hurting groups in melee and have a Rogue's luck, but have no ranged abilities or the Rogue's wide array of skills.

Having gone through two lifepaths now, they can definitely produce some pretty average characters, or some rather minmaxed characters.

Though, being B/X based, minmaxing your attacking stat isn't as powerful as it is in AD&D or in 3e/4e/5e.

actually, I haven't talked XP.

* Unlike B/X or AD&D, there's no bonus XP for high prime requisite.
* Like B/X & AD&D, classes have different XP needs to level-up. Tables are the same as B/X - 2000 for Warrior, 1500 for Rogue, 2500 for Mage, x2 for each level thereafter.

No XP-for-treasure. Defeating foes (not necessarily killing them) is worth XP, a little bit more than the B/X guidelines, but not as much as 3e.

B/X D&D: A fighter must smash 200 skellies to level up to 2nd level
Beyond the Wall: 100 skellies
3e D&D: 10 skellies

To make up the treasure shortfall, BtW has quest XP.
It suggests:
* 500 XP per character - "solving a mystery, saving a village from a marauding monster, or gaining possession of a magical artifact which they were hunting"
* 1000 XP - saving a dukedom or defeating a great nemesis

* 2000 XP or more - saving an entire kingdom from certain destruction

Also, XP for clever ideas or good roleplaying, 50-100.

Nothing unusual here.

Obviously when going through the playbooks, you should be weaving more of a story than what I'm doing here. Having a table of players to riff off is better than doing it yourself.

Also the GM should be going through a Scenario Pack (a similar "playbook" of tables for creating a situation for the characters to resolve, making notes about how to weave it in.

Each Scenario Pack has also a Recent Events table, which helps create more starting bonds between the adventuring group.

Once play begins, the GM advice is to:
* keep things moving -- roll dice when the result is *impactful*

* keep it personal -- everyone knows everyone else, the changeling imposter *should be* one of the NPCs the players generated earlier
* but also don't *just* place loved ones in harm's way. Also have them be a source of aid, shelter, or inspiration. Have those bonds be meaningful

* Avoid illusionism. Have the player's choices actually matter. Don't have a fork in the road and then decide they encounter X no matter which route they take.

* The tone can be gritty and dark, but it shouldn't be *grim*. The village should be worth saving, i.e. don't make every NPC an asshole.
* Characters start fairly competent, and so choosing to fight an impending threat head-on isn't completely foolhardy.

* But they're certainly not invulnerable, and shouldn't go *looking* for trouble.

(between Fortune Points helping you stabilise and damage math not being as inflated as 3e Power Attack, the game is probably a bit less lethal than low-level 3e)

(and with a maximised first hit die, it's certainly less lethal than B/X ;-) )

"The lands outside the village are dangerous, but they are also also beautiful and enchanting. The faeries in the woods can kill a man, or take him captive for an age, but they also give the greatest of gifts, sing the sweetest of songs, and have a beauty unknown to mortals"

So yeah that's basically it! The game is geared toward that first session of play, but provides advancement rules (and spells, monsters, etc) to 10th level.

The core rulebook omits a lot of procedures for, say, hexcrawling & dungeoncrawling, falling back on the skill system and loose narration. It more supports a scene-based or point-crawl playstyle.

possibly the "Further Afield" book has rules for this? I don't have it.

In any case plenty of games have hexcrawling/exploration rules you can lift, e.g
oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/…

thank you for following along on this very long, stream of consciousness thread..

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