Design work for Character sheets to be used during play

Early design work for the character play sheets for gaming. The idea here is to make gameplay quick and intuitive, to not require massive reference books to take each action.

A quick collection of photos of the first draft of the Book of the Crescent Sun

 The Book of the Crescent Sun is the record book used to keep track of activities used between games to generate Vajra for use in gaming session and the Incursions into the Shadowlands.

Accumulating Vajra

Vajra is accumulated, as indicated, is accumulated by doing things in the real world.

There are four sub-types of Vajra: Aether Vajra, Air Vajra, Water Vajra, and Earth Vajra. Aether Vajra is earned by doing 'self-care' activities, such as exercise and meditation and journalling and planning. Air Vajra is earned by doing 'Critical Thinking' Activities, such as asking the three questions or attempting to disprove assumptions. Water Vajra is earned by doing "Self Sufficiency' Activities like gardening or survival skill practice. Earth Vajra is earned by doing 'Self Defence' Activities such as strategic games and martial arts training.

A Complete list of activities and how to earn the Vajra is provided in The Book of the Crescent Sun. In the Quick Start Guide, we don't cover this in detail, because the first adventure is where the players earn the ability to invest any Vajra beyond Aether Vajra. A PDF file of the Book of the Crescent Sun is available free on our website. Attached to the Quick Start Quick is an abridged checklist for accumulating Aether Vajra for the initial adventure session.

Defining Vajra

Vajra is the fuel on which the player's Avatars function. Vajra is the mystical energy of the human will and story. And it is literally this in the case of Blood Red Dreaming. Vajra is earned by doing valuable things in the real world, and recording those actions in a book (Called the Book of the Crescent Sun- because we are preposterously pretentious). Players are literally mythologizing their daily actions and routines.

The idea here is to tie your entertainment to your daily routines, in order to make doing things valuable to your success and happiness easier by gamifying those activities.

We are hacking our brains' dopamine production to help achieve our long term goals in a way that will sneak past all of our collective human failings. So yeah, ridiculously pretentious.

When Auras Break

Aura failure types

• Aura SHIMMERS
• and becomes WEAKENED
• -1 to Action Resolution Attempts.
• Aura SHUDDERS
• and becomes CRACKED
• -2 to Action Resolution Attempts.
• Character loses next action to reconstitute Aura.
• Aura SHATTERS
• .... Ouch
• The Avatar is expelled.
• Allies can rescue.
• Aura SHATTERS irreparably...
• The Avatar is expelled.
• Allies cannot rescue

Maintaining your Aura

An Aura has three states: Stable, Weakened, and Cracked. An Aura begins each session Stable. When a player takes Aura damage, they can burn Aether Vajra to prevent the Aura from dropping states. If a player cannot absorb Aura damage, then each point of unabsorbed Aura Damage reduces the Avatar's Aura by a Single State.

Investing your Aura

When Players begin any incursion into the Shadowlands they must spend Vajra. They must spend one vajra of any type to enter the Shadowlands in the Ring or at any location in another Realm for which they have visited the Bonelands counterpart in the last lunar month. To enter any where else, at least one player must have the key to that Realm, and they must spend two vajra of any type. This vajra is not retained, being expended in the using.

After that players determine how much vajra of each type they wish to take with them into the Shadowlands. The vajra types are kept separate, but players may invest as much of their vajra as they like. Any Vajra not invested may not be used in the game.

Aura

When the players begin an adventure session, they begin by investing their Avatars with Vajra (see that Section) that they have accumulated through work done between sessions. The Aura is the Avatar's ability to remain corporeal within the Shadowlands.

If a player's Aura shatters their Avatar is expelled from the Shadowlands, and they are limited to passive assistance for the remainder of the session. A player who achieves a mythic goal in a session regains all invested Vajra. A player who survives the session, but does not achieve a mythic goal gains no Vajra back. A player whose Aura shatters loses all invested Vajra.

Hand Size, Card Recovery, Drawing with an Empty Hand

The hand size is five cards. On an Amazing Success, the active player(s) only, not assisting players, may draw 3 cards up to a full five cards. On a Normal Success, players draw 2 cards or to a full hand. On a problematic Success, players draw up to one card or to a full hand.

If a player fails, they regain no cards. During Sequels, the player may spend two vajra to draw one card- up to their maximum hand size.

If a player has no cards in hand, they may always draw a single card- face down- to boost an action resolution attempt. In this a zero is applied towards the player avatar's own total value (giving no boost). Players may bolster other players attempts, but may not draw cards in such cases even if the active player succeeds.

The Deck of Void

Gameplay Resolution is done with a deck of cards rather than with dice. A Player's Avatar in the Shadowlands can do whatever the player themselves is physically capable of doing.

Anything beyond the capacity of the Player requires the expenditure of cards to accomplish. If they are unable to do the action in the real world, the Storyteller will define the Difficulty and Consequences as listed in that Section.

The player will then attempt to have their Avatar resolve the action. This can be accomplished by spending Vajra, using Story Elements in play or playing Cards from their hand.

The Deck of Void is a 72 card deck. Every card has a value between 4 and 0. Each card is assigned an Action type as well as listed in that Section: Hero, Scoundrel, Villain, Mind, Body, or Hands.

Each card has a Denizen, Realm or Season depicted on it to help provide players with mythos lore and world familiarity through play.

There are six cards with a value of four, the highest value in game and thus the rarest. There are twelve cards with a value of three, eighteen cards with a value of two, and twenty four cards with a value of one.

All the cards with a value between four and one have a denizen of the Shadowlands depicted on them. There are twelve value zero cards, divided into two groups based on what they depict. Six cards depict Realms in the Shadowlands. Six Card depict the mythic seasons.

Cards with a value between four and one can be laid to boost the chances of success. Player may play cards on any attempted action, even if it is not their attempt.

Cards with a value of zero nullify all card bonuses (and only card bonuses) played prior to the zero value card being played.

This can be used against another player, who may elect to spend more cards to counter the effect. If played against a Denizen, then the single card played by the Storyteller is negated and no more cards will be laid by the Storyteller for that action. A value zero card that is played which matches the action type (hero, scoundrel, villain, mind, body, hands) nullifies the cards already played, and halves the difficulty- provided the player can describe in story what is done to make this occur.

Action Types and Matching type to Action

Action Types:
Hero, Scoundrel, Villain, Mind, Body and Hands

Players can double the value of a card that they play (see detail in the Deck of Void Section for details) if the card they play has an Action Type matching the action that they are attempting.

Actions can be defined in one of two ways, by their virtue, and by their method. By virtue we mean whether the action would be considered the action of a hero, a scoundrel or a villain. There is no hard and fast set of tables for this. The player will have to argue through storytelling why an action matches the virtue listed on the card that they are laying. If the storyteller agrees, then the value of the card is doubled for the attempted action.

If the player is matching their Avatar's method of resolving the action with the method listed on the card, then things are more straightforward. There are three methods defined: mind, body, and hands. Mind means that the method of resolution is primarily intellectual: involving thought, persuasion, charm, problem solving and so forth. Body means athletic performance, from feats of strength and endurance pain resistance and fasting. Hands mean learned skills, from automotive repair to juggling to swordplay.

As you read this you may be noticing grey areas and overlap. Yes, that's fine- it's up to the players to convince the storyteller through their own storytelling why the method matches. That's the point of this, to encourage storytelling not attempts to exploit loop holes and so forth.

Risky Actions, Bad Decisions and Sacrifice Plays

Risky Actions, Bad Decisions
and Sacrifice Plays

Players can boost their Avatar's chances of success by taking short term bonuses in exchange for penalties down the road. These take the form of four modifiers to actions: Foolish Optimism (described under difficulty and consequences), Risky Actions, Bad Decisions, and Sacrifice Plays.

Risky Actions.

Players may add up to +3 on any action by explaining how they taking some to boost their chances of success. This becomes a Story Element card with an identical value as a penalty that the Storyteller may apply later in a way that matches and/or relates to the risk taken.

Bad Decisions.

Players may transform a failed action into a Problematic Success in exchange for a Story Element that has an ongoing penalty affect that lasts until the remainder of the session unless the reversal is applied.

Sacrifice Play.

Players may voluntarily shatter their Aura- removing them from active gameplay for the remainder of the session- in exchange for an amazing success on an action.

Consequence Levels

Consequence Levels

Mild

• Attempt fails
• Apply an increase to difficulty level of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to later related action attempts
• Apply 1 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Ugly

• Attempt fails loudly and visibly
• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 2 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 2 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 2 to later related action attempts
• Apply 2 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Disastrous

• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 3 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 3 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 3 to later related action attempts
• Apply 3 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Apocalyptic

• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to later related action attempts
• Apply 4 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Resolving Actions Step by Step

When a player is confronted by a challenge that requires them to spend resources, the storyteller will present it as follows:

Resolving Action:
Step By Step

Step One: The Scene is Set and Explained

• Scene is explained
• The Challenge level is written down and placed face down
• Challenge and  Consequence hints are given

Step Two: Players commit their play

• Active Player(s) lay down their cards
• Active Player(s) commit any Vajra they wish initially
• Active Player(s) decide if they wish to use any magick or artifact or similar
• Support Players may choose not to commit anything at this time with no penalty

Step Three: Storyteller draws card face up

• Card's value is noted
• Storyteller privately notes new total difficulty level

Step Four: Players whether or not to bolster

• Support Players may now elect to commit cards or Vajra to bolster
• Support Players may not also elect to use Magick or artifact or similar
• Active Player may not bolster

Step Five: Difficulty level is revealed, total difficulty is added up.

• Success or Failure Type is determined.
• Consequences are assessed.
• Active Player may commit Vajra to absorb damage to Aura

Step Six: Success or Failure Resolution

• If successful. Note degree of Success. Storyteller provided description of results
• If Success is Amazing, Storyteller includes explanation of additional success skipped
• If Success if Problematic, Storyteller adds new Story Element
• If a failure. Damage to Aura is applied.
• Additional complications are noted and described by Storyteller
• If Aura Shatters Supporting Players may attempt to reinforce the broken Aura by
• Committing Vajra
• Using relevant artifacts, magick or similar.

Difficulty Levels

Difficulty Levels

Possible

• 1 New. The task is unfamiliar to the player, but they have done similar and potentially harder things in the past.  
• 2 to 3 Untested. Beyond the player's current capabilities, but achievable in the near future, beginner's luck is entirely possible here.
• 4 Challenging. Beyond the player's current abilities and near future progress, but potentially achievable.

Impossible

• 5 to 7 Unbelievable. This would be difficult even for somebody trained to do exactly that.
• 8 to 9  Ridiculous. This would be difficult for an expert in the field.
• 10 Epic. This would be nearly impossible for the best in the world.
• 11 Ridiculous. This would be difficult for an expert in the field.
• 12 Legendary. This would be the equivalent of the first trans Atlantic flight, the first 4 minute mile, etc...

Beyond the Impossible

• 13+ BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE. This is simply not physically possible and could only happen in the Shadowlands.  

Too Difficult to Attempt

• NONE No task is too impossible in the Shadowlands!

Storytellers should never tell a player that an action cannot be attempted. After all, impossible is only the second category of difficulty in the Shadowlands!

Basic Action Resolution

Action Resolution

Basic Actions

Players may do anything in game that they are capable of doing in the real world, no resolution required. If you can run a marathon or bench press 200lbs or read Spanish in the real world, then you can do the same things in game. Period. Nothing else required.

If players wish do something beyond their capabilities, something they have never tried, or something completely foreign, then action resolution is required. The players must spend resources, cards from, their hands, vajra points or other story elements in order to hit the difficulty rating of the action. If they fail to meet the difficulty, the suffer the consequences of failure.

Success Types

• Amazing Success (Succeed by more than 3 points): Succeed and skip next challenge or generate positive Story Element
• Normal Success (Succeed by at least one point): Succeed
• Problematic Success (Succeed by tie): Succeed but generate new challenge or drawback (Generally a Story Element)

Difficulty levels, Consequence Levels and Opposed Actions

Tasks are assigned difficulty based on how far beyond the player's current ability the attempted task is.

The difficulty is divided into 3 categories: possible, impossible, beyond the impossible. The storyteller does not tell the players the difficulty beyond those three descriptors. Difficulty levels 1 through 4 are POSSIBLE. Difficulty levels 5 through 12 are IMPOSSIBLE. Difficulty levels 13 and above are BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE.

Once the story teller has told the players the category of difficulty, the exact level of difficulty is written down and placed face down. The Player(s) may then attempt the action by laying cards, spending points, and activating story elements.

The Storyteller will then explain the Consequence level, which is either MILD (1), UGLY (2), DISASTROUS (3), or APOCALYPTIC (4). If a characters fails, then the consequence is applied as a penalty in some way to the situation. The penalty may be added to the difficulty of attempting the action again, say as in picking a lock. The penalty may be applied to the character's avatar as damage (more on that later), say as in injuring ones self attempting to jump  up over a wall. the penalty may be applied as enhanced difficulty to later actions, say as in setting off an alarm that makes subsequent stealth attempts more difficult.

Players may choose to apply FOOLISH OPTIMISM to any action attempt where the consequence is not APOCALYPTIC. FOOLISH OPTIMISM, increases the Consequence level by one, and decreases the difficulty by one level (not one category, one level only).

If a player fails by more than two points, they suffer a consequence one level worse than they would otherwise have suffered.

Storytellers may set Difficulty and Consequence levels as they see fit, however a good rule is that in general a consequence should be around half the difficulty level.

If the action involves two individuals competing: fighting, debating, playing chess, racing, etc... then the difficulty level is determined slightly differently. The Storyteller will determine, after discussion with the involved parties, what the base difference in skill is best estimated as being. The person at a disadvantage experiences that disadvantage as a penalty. The difficulty level is then the other individual's total value played on the action. The consequence is still determined by the Storyteller.

Story Elements and a Preview of Archetypes

Story Elements

Story Elements are active variables in the adventure session. They can be exploited by the storyteller and the players. Story Elements are placed by the Storyteller, either put into the central pool or attached to individual players.

A Story Element is written down on a sheet of paper by the Storyteller when it is introduced and placed on the table of play. The Story Element includes a value, generally between one and three, but theoretically as high as the Storyteller deems necessary. The value indicates the impact that the element has upon actions in the story. Using a Story Element to ones advantage results in a bonus for the individual doing so, potentially up to the full value of the Element (though not necessarily, Storyteller is the final judge). Running a foul of a Story Element results in the individual suffering a penalty up to a maximum of the element's value (again, based upon the Storyteller's decision).

The Storyteller will define a default impact of a Story Element when it is introduced. Players may seek to to subvert the default effect in ways that are logical and pleasing to the flow of the story. This is known as a reversal.

An Example:

The players have entered the Showdown. The Villain has been exposed and is fleeing from the Players' Avatars. He charges out of the building into the pouring rain.

The Storyteller adds a Story Element with the Title of "Driving Rain", a value of '2', and a default impact of 'slippery footing'. This means that individuals running through the rain or doing other things requiring sure footing will suffer a penalty of one or two as the Storyteller feel appropriate.
 
One of the player's Avatars catches up with the Villain of the day. The player announces that she would like to use a reversal of the Story Element 'slippery footing' by performed a sweep kick against the Villain to trip him. The Storyteller confirms that this is a reasonable reversal and allows the player to gain a bonus of two in her attempt to trip the Villain. 

Archetype Elements

Upon reaching the Realm of Arcadia, Players will have the opportunity to voluntarily add a Story Element to their Avatar called an Archetype. Archetypes provide several bonuses a several penalties while also providing a strong gameplay focus. This can be ignored in the Quick play rules as the Adventures included in the Quick Play all take place in the Realm of the Foglands. For future reference, the archetypes are: Raven, Viper, Owl, Rabbit, and Wolf.

Players may notice, while exploring the first adventures, that the archetypes relate strongly to the mythology of the Shadowlands. It is for this reason that the archetypes are mentioned here.

Parts of a Scene

Scenes, Sequels and Disasters

Scenes are the meat and potatoes of the story. Sequels are the beverage. Disasters are the herbs and spices. A Scene is a self contained set of story related challenges that the players must use their Avatars to overcome. A Sequel is a short moment of downtime that allows the players to confer and adjust plans, and basically have a mini-Bazaar (see that section above). A disaster is a logical surprise that should end every scene. Every scene should have a story question. Going back to the original 'Star Wars: A New Hope'; while trapped on the Death Star the question is simple: will they escape the Death Star? The answer to this question is either yes or no. The Disaster is the 'however' that should include every answer. In the case from Star Wars just mentioned: "Will our heroes escape the Death Star?", the answer is "yes, however Obi-Won Kenobi sacrifices himself to help them escape". That's a disaster. If there are unresolved Story Elements on the table when a scene ends, then the Storyteller should use an existing Story Element to generate the disaster if at all possible. If the storyteller feels it is necessary to introduce a new Story Element, then they should provide a benefit of that Story Element at the same time so as not to make the revelation feel unfair. In such cases the benefit will frequently be relevant plot information

Phases of a Scene

The Scene is divided into Phases. A Scene will generally have between one and five phases. A combat encounter is a scene, and phases determine how difficult the enemy is to defeat. A heist is a Act (typically the Pursuit or Showdown) and the various locks and security systems would be scenes.

Three Act Structure

Bazaar, Pursuit and Showdown

To keep sessions concise, stories will follow a simple three act structure. Each Act contains two scenes, separated by a sequel (These are explained in their own sections). This means that each session has the following flow:

SCENE - SEQUEL - SCENE - SCENE - SEQUEL - SCENE - SCENE - SEQUEL - SCENE

The Bazaar

The First Act is called the Bazaar. This is where the players are introduced to the story and the premise and the world. They are here given a certain amount of time to gather research and intel and resources. The Bazaar has a very clear ticking clock, with penalties being accrued based upon time spent gathering resources and information. The players must balance their desire to prepare with the penalties that delaying action generates. The Storyteller will provide a broad sense of the penalty when players ask about obtaining a resource or information. These penalties will take the form of Story Elements (see below). The storyteller will provide the players with either the point value of the element, the primary effect of the element, or the reversal of the element, but not all three. The players will then have to decide if the cost is worth the penalty accrued. Remember that all Story Elements can be reversed (see the Reversals explanation below), and so even these penalties could be used by the players to their Avatar's advantage.

The Pursuit

The Second Act is called The Pursuit. This is where the players have their Avatars pursue the goal of the session, often in the form of a Story Element.

The Showdown

The Third Act is called The Showdown. This is the Grand Finale of the session and the resolution to the story. This is not necessarily the resolution of any overarching Myth Arcs that the Storyteller has been developing. This is the final battle with arch enemy. This is the heist itself after planning and preparation. This is the attack run on the Death Star.

Welcome to Blood Red Dreaming

What is Blood Red Dreaming

This is the game that the Moral Guardians warned you about: that evil devil bargaining, magick using, demon invoking vile brainsucking game that convinces you that the walls between reality and fantasy are thinner than you think. When Patricia Pulling founded Bothered about Dungeons and Dragons, it is this game that she was envisioning. A game that tells players that they can step into a fantasy world and that the two worlds can affect each other.

...but...

You already do this every day. You live in a fantasy world of your own design, drifting through a harsh and uncaring reality within this bubble of delusion. Every day you trick yourself and deceive yourself and believe your own lies about the nature of reality and the meaning of life. Every one of us lives inside a fantasy. What Patricia Pulling so feared, was that people might choose fantasy worlds of which she did not approve, and over which the dominant hierarchy and mythology held no power. These moral guardians feared that you might tell your own stories, that you might escape the judgement of bronze age storm gods and the moral oppression of nomadic goat herders who hadn't yet invented toilet paper.

So this is a dangerous book. Clearly, a rebellious book now sits in your eager little hands. This book is a game, yes, but so is life. And, in fact, they are the same game.

So how brave to you feel?

How is this Different from other Tabletop RPGs

If you've played other Tabletop RPGs, you'll be familiar with certain conventions of the games: multitudes of dice, character classes, experience points, storytelling by murder killing hosts of allegedly evil monsters. Well, Blood Red Dreaming doesn't do most of that, and what it does do it does very differently.

Gameplay Resolution is done with a deck of cards rather than with dice. A Player's Avatar in the Shadowlands can do whatever the player themselves is physically capable of doing. Anything beyond the capacity of the Player requires the expenditure of cards to accomplish. Attempts at success can be bolstered by points earned through activities in the real world, like a pen and paper Pokemon Go. Character death is not a major set back, with penalties being only that the player cannot participate directly for the remainder of the session. Stories last a single session, like an episode of a TV series. These sessions can and will be strung together to form a myth arc, but each session should be a complete story in itself.

Combat is no different that any other story/action resolution attempt. All conflict in broken down into Scenes and Phases to keep things rolling and prevent sixty seconds of in game combat to taken three four hour gaming sessions. Negotiations, or heists or research in a musty library are all viable grand finales to a session if handled well. Story points have mechanical value in the game's systems, and negative consquences and penalties can be purchased to gain short term advantage now- and players will know when they risk major consequences nearly all the time.

If You've Never Role Played Before

Learning Blood Red Dreaming will actually be easier if you've never played another Tabletop RPG before. All Roleplaying games are basically collective story telling games. Most RPGs forget this for a simple reason. Most RPGs were built from the old miniature war games where old men moved civil war figurines across meticulously created dioramas. All really cool stuff, but if you just want to tell an amazing story then the baggage of this origin story needs to go. So sit back and relax. Think of this as improv, the storyteller is both audience and movie director and also plays all the extras, while the players are the lead actors and sometimes the villains (more often than many players would admit in many games). The rest will become clear in short order, sit back and relax.