Announcing two new TTRPGs from The Griffon's Saddlebag! (Patreon)

Hey adventurers! I am so excited to announce two upcoming TTRPGs: Fathomfarer and Skellies! 

Oh, and before I bury the lede:

You can read and playtest these systems right now. 

You can read the documents and download any character sheets you need using the links at the bottom of this post.

Please rest easy knowing that these games in no way suggest that the Saddlebag is changing: they're just extra stuff, and if anything, it means you'll probably get to see the same items across multiple systems in the future! Fathomfarer and Skellies are being released under Criir, which is the umbrella company (and universe) I use that also contains Saddlebag content. If you've gotten your copy of Book Two, you can see the Criir logo on the credits page inside the front cover.

Okay! Let's dive in!

In Brief:

In brief, Fathomfarer (FF) is a TTRPG for players and GMs that want to try something other than Fifth Edition, but don't want to learn an even more advanced set of rules or throw rules out altogether. Fathomfarer aims to keep a similar level of mechanical nuance while removing wasted rolls, turns, and levels. It also sets out to rebuild the missing pillars in Fifth Edition, making Exploration and Social Encounters as interesting and satisfying to take part in as Combat. Players can determine their own successes and failures, work together to overcome group challenges, and always feel like they're making an impact based on their contributions. If you like Fifth Edition but don't want to forget everything you've ever learned to go adventuring again, Fathomfarer may be a fun and quick alternative to try! 

Skellies, on the other hand, is a rules-lite approach with a focus on hijinks and a Scooby Doo level of seriousness. In it, you play a reanimated skeleton, or skelly, whose greatest purpose in life—err, undeath—is to impress and serve the lich that raised it. Skellies is designed to be a pick-up-and-play game for sessions where you're down a player, or just as an in-between break for intense moments in your main game's storyline. Of course, you can absolutely play a longer form campaign of Skellies just as easily! Your skelly will collect treasures from invading adventurers to pay tribute to your lich, who will in turn grant you additional bones to fortify yourself with, or coveted dark blessings to alter your very being! Rolls are simple (using entirely d6s), with very minimal things to track. Relax and have fun: you're already dead!

How to Play (Quickly)

Fathomfarer

You have 4 attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Wits, and Presence. Each attribute has 3 skills associated with it. To do something tricky, you make a test: roll 2d20. If the result of at least one of the d20s is equal to or less than the total of the relevant attribute's and skill's scores (called your threshold), you succeed on the test! Easier things may increase your threshold, whereas harder ones can reduce it. If you have advantage, you roll 3d20, or 1d20 if you have disadvantage.

Everything other than a d20 is called an impact die. Impact dice are just that: they measure the impact you have on the world around you. If you swing with a mace, you roll a d6 for bludgeoning damage and add your Fighting score—it's up to the target you swing at to use its armor to negate that damage or Dodge. Similarly, when you enter an argument with a merchant or attempt to cross a sticky swamp, you'll be met with opposition. That opposition is measured by an Opposition Score. Just like hit points in battle, an Opposition Score can be whittled down with impact dice and skills: if you make a good argument against the merchant, you may be asked to roll a d10 and add your Comprehension score to the total, or roll a d6 and add your Athletics score when you carry your smaller ally on your shoulders across the murky swamp. When you reduce an opposition to 0 by combining these rolls, you accomplish the task you set out to do. Of course, failing to do so fast enough may have its own set of consequences!

Attacks always hit, since they're a measure of your impact using impact dice. As a result, it's up to you to avoid damage when you're attacked. To do so, you can use your armor's Armor Dice, which are d6s. The type of armor you have (light, medium, or heavy), decides the number of Armor Dice you have. Once you roll one, you lose the die unless you roll a 4 or higher on it! Armor can be repaired, but it'll almost always take a successful test using the right tools.

Certain impact rolls, like weapons, have a special effect when you roll the highest number on its die, which is called a max impact. For instance, when you roll a 4 on a dagger's d4 weapon die, you trigger its Puncture effect, which causes the target to immediately lose 1 of its Armor Dice.

Characters choose one or more callings, instead of choosing a typical class. Callings have flavorful upgrades each level, up to level 10, and even allow you to choose branching upgrades at various stages. Your character may play entirely differently than another one that chose the same calling!

Your characters' abilities are fueled by special impact dice called Power Dice, which are determined by their callings. You gain more Power Dice as you gain levels, and like Armor Dice, they can often be saved if you roll high enough after using them. For instance, a Soldier's Dauntless Advance power allows it to roll a Warrior Power Die, which is a d8, and adds the result of it to an attack's damage. If it rolls a 5 or higher on the Power Die, it keeps the die. Some powers will allow you to keep a rolled die like this, whereas others are always lost once they're used.

Fathomfarer has a clever system of building your character's various scores, bonuses, and heritage in a way that will make your character unique and mechanically distinct. As you gain levels, you'll learn new powers, choose between unique character options, and increase your various attribute and skill scores. The maximum level in Fathomfarer is level 10, and has a similar progression and challenge rating scale as Fifth Edition. This means that to fight those legendary dragons, you'll need to find equally powerful magical items to tip the scales in your favor!

I hope you're interested in Fathomfarer, and at least enough to read the rules and try it yourself! If you like playing Fifth Edition but are looking for something else without forgetting everything you've ever learned, Fathomfarer may be fun for you!

Skellies

Skellies is meant to be quick to describe and lighthearted to play. You're a skeleton with two stats: Bones and Brains. You can either roll your own stats or start with ones based on your previous life. You use these stats to navigate and defend your lich's lair from ne'er-do-well adventurers, or find some other way of earning your lich's favor (performing a song, carving a statue, trading another skelly for a cool rock, etc.). Everything uses only d6s.

You have an inventory, including a pack, two hands (to start), and a body. You can hold and wear things using inventory slots; if you're familiar with Mausritter, this is a similar item tracking system. You gain a bonus to your Bones or Brains checks when using items as tools to do so: for instance, if you make a Brains check to thwack a lurking thief with a hammer, you'd roll a number of d6s equal to the total of your Bones stat plus the number of hands you're using to hold the hammer. The treasure you repatriate from the thief could be turned in to your lich's treasury for favor, or you can use it for yourself to thwack even more thieves. The choice is yours!

When you earn enough favor from your lich, you gain a level. Skellies start at level 0 and can be as high as level 3. When you gain levels, you become harder to kill (or kill again, really), and can collect "Dark Blessings", which allow you to do all sorts of magical tricks.

You don't really track hit points in Skellies: instead, you keep track of what body parts have been hit. When you take a hit—let's say that thief nicks you with their dagger—you roll a d6 to see which body part takes the hit (torso, either leg, either arm, head). When you lose a limb by taking hits, you lose it until you gain another level (and your lich reattaches it for you)! If your torso's destroyed, your body falls apart, since nothing can hold itself together! Roll another skelly!

The game is filled with playful, fun, and lighthearted tables of tongue-in-cheek prompts, monsters, spells, and items. All you'll need are a few d6s, a character sheet, and a good time.

Start Playing!

To get started, you just need the game documents! These are still being worked on, and as a result they're kept as Google Documents. As you offer feedback on them and the documents are finalized, they'll be turned into beautiful books all their own.

Fathomfarer

Game Rules 

Character sheet 

Introductory adventurer: The Caretaker of Myreshire 

Feedback form 

Content submission form 

Skellies

Game Rules 

Character sheet 

Feedback form 

Again, thank you all so much for enabling me to make content that the community can enjoy, regardless of what game it's for. And don't worry: nothing's changing with the Saddlebag! I will of course continue making magic items for Fifth Edition — these games are simply the result of an overabundance of creative inspiration, which you all work together to make possible for me to act on.

Please feel free to share these documents around or play them with your friends. Your feedback on these games will directly impact their futures, so let's make it good together! And if you really want to talk more about the games, make sure to join the Saddlebag's Discord server and visit the corresponding channels!

That's it for me today! Until next time, thank you, and keep on adventuring!

-g