Edicts, Anathemas, and Goals¶
Working draft, not locked in. Adapted from the Kaernest Pathfinder rules for Worlds Without Number.
Tir Hathar doesn't use a mechanical alignment system. A character's motivations run on three things instead: Edicts (what they do), Anathemas (what they won't do), and Goals (what they're working toward). All three earn rewards, so they come up in play rather than sitting on the character sheet.
Edicts and Anathemas can come from a faith, a tradition, a superstition, a family, or plain personal choice. The faiths have their own, and so can a people, a Sigil House, or an order. See World Overview and Religion documents.
Hero Points¶
WWN doesn't have Hero Points, so Tir Hathar adds them. Following an Edict and breaking an Anathema both earn one.
Spending a Hero Point: roll one extra die and drop the least favorable. On a d20 roll, that means rolling two d20s and keeping the better one. On a 2d6 skill check, it means rolling 3d6 and dropping the lowest die.
Edicts¶
Edicts are the things your character does. Following an Edict earns a Hero Point.
- Up to four Edicts.
- Changing an Edict: only during downtime — outside a dungeon, not mid-adventure — and only one at a time. The exception is when something in play changes the character enough that an Edict has to change on the spot.
- A positive bent. An Edict can occasionally cause trouble for the party, but it can't be written to cause it. "Kleptomania — has to steal something regularly" doesn't work: it isn't positive, and it will rub the party the wrong way. "Refuses to lie" might cause some headaches, but it has a positive bent, and the player can play it in ways that aren't always a problem for everyone else — refusing to answer, or finding a way around the question without breaking the Edict.
Anathemas¶
Anathemas are the things your character avoids doing. They aren't just negative Edicts, and they work differently: an Anathema matters when it's broken.
Every Anathema needs a consequence for breaking it. The consequence can be religious, self-imposed (consciously or not), financial, social, or anything else that makes narrative sense.
Breaking an Anathema earns a Hero Point and an Anathema Point.
- Anathema Point: a bonus to one roll, used in the same session. Anathema Points don't carry over.
- Ongoing consequence: if the consequence is significant or long-lasting, the character also earns bonus XP at the end of each session until it's set right. Losing coin or a piece of standard equipment doesn't count as an ongoing consequence.
- No double-dipping: breaking an Anathema that's already broken, and not yet set right, earns no further reward — but it can bring further consequences.
Goals¶
Goals drive the game forward and keep characters involved. Many Goals carry their own built-in rewards; where there's no obvious one, the GM works up something fitting. At the very least, completing a Goal earns XP.
Characters should have several Goals at once, and they should be:
- Measurable and achievable. If a Goal is too nebulous, there's no way to make progress on it.
- Clear on success and failure.
- A mix of short-term, mid-term, and long-term.
- Fun to pursue.
Open: the size of the Anathema Point bonus (the Pathfinder version is +4, which is a lot on a 2d6 skill check); XP amounts, converted to WWN's much smaller XP scale; and whether a Hero Point can buy anything beyond the extra die.