Player's Guide

Basics of Role-Playing

The core essence of role-playing is to take on the role of a character in an imaginary game. This is something most of us have been doing in one form or another since we were children playing “make believe”. Role-playing has elements of improvisational acting, storytelling, and deductive reasoning in addition to gaming. Your character can be very similar to you, or everything you are not… depending on the world your character inhabits you might be a wise wizard, a cunning vampire, or a noble space marine. The more effort you put into creating a unique persona and acting out that character in the circumstances you find yourself in the more enjoyment you will get out of it.

In a role-playing game, one player takes on the role of the Storyteller (or Game Master, Dungeon Master etc) with the responsibility of describing the world the characters inhabit and telling the players what they can see, hear, feel, touch, and taste. The Storyteller is also responsible as the name implies for coming up with a story to set the players in. This story is not already written with neatly defined roles, but simply a rough framework. The players are the main characters in the story, and their actions determine what happens next. The Storyteller needs to be prepared to adapt to the other players choices so the most experienced player in your group of friends should probably start with the role of Storyteller. As the players get comfortable with the game, consider trading off the duties of the Storyteller.

This guide will focus on the role of a player in a game, responsible for a single character in the fantasy world of Lorithandar. For more information about the world of Lorithandar itself please consult the Lorithandar Campaign Guide.

About the Brilliance & Shadow System

Brilliance & Shadow is a tabletop roleplaying system designed for epic fantasy where players take on the roles of powerful characters called Fated in a world of faerie, trolls, and magic spells. What makes Brilliance & Shadow different from many other games is the epic scope of the game. Players begin play with powerful abilities and skills far beyond ordinary mortals, and only become more formidable with time.

Dice

Like most role-playing games played around a table, Brilliance & Shadow uses dice to determine the outcome of actions. Anytime a character performs a non-trivial action the player rolls dice to see whether the action succeeds or fails. This system uses 10-sided dice. We recommend that each player have 10-20 dice on hand. The better your character is at performing a task the more dice you will need. The dice rolled to represent your characters attempt is called a “dice pool”.

Statistics

Characters possess a variety of numbers, describing their natural capabilities, trained skills, and how much injury they can endure before death. These numbers are fully described in the following chapters.

Modifiers

Modifiers are Bonuses and Penalties applied to the dice pool you roll to determine success. In most cases, bonuses add the listed number to the dice pool as additional dice, while penalties remove the listed number from the pool.

Rolling the Dice

When your dice pool has been modified by all applicable bonuses and penalties the remainder are rolled to determine success. Each dice is a success on an 8, 9, or 10. Some actions require only a single success, while others improve the result the more successes are rolled. Additionally rolling a natural 10 (0 on the dice) allows you to re-roll that dice. Some powerful spells and powers can expand this allowing re-rolls on 9s or 8s as well. Sometimes dice pools suffer penalties that would reduce the dice pool to below 1 dice. In these cases your character still gets to roll a single dice.

Types of Actions

There are a variety of actions your character can perform, but nearly all actions are a combination of one Core Statistic + an applicable Skill. Some typical examples are below:

Static Rolls

To calm an angry forest bear your character would roll the combined dice pool of their Charisma Stat + their Handle Animal Skill. The Storyteller would set a number of successes for the attempt to succeed. The required number is referred to as a Difficulty Check (DC).

Opposed Rolls

To sneak unnoticed past some observant guards, your character would roll the combined dice pool of their Dexterity Stat + their Stealth Skill. They would apply any modifiers such as bonuses for night time, or penalties for broad daylight. The resulting dice pool would be rolled and successes would be compared against the guards Perception roll.

Combat

Combat is treated the same way as other forms of rolls. An applicable Stat, and Skill are combined, Modifiers are applied, and the results indicate the success of the attack, or spell. Unlike many other tabletop games, rolls to hit and rolls for damage are combined into a single roll. This helps keep combat moving quickly so players don’t spend the bulk of the game waiting for other players to roll.

Equipment such as weapons and armor, dodging, and parrying are factored into the combat rolls as modifiers granting bonuses or penalties. A few common examples:

Mar wants to hit a city guard with his longsword. His Strength Stat is 3, and his Weaponry Skill is 4. His raw dice pool before Modifiers is 7 dice. Longswords add a 3 dice bonus to attacks which raises his attack to 10 dice. The city guard is wearing leather armor, and a light shield. Leather armor adds 1 to defense, while the light shield adds 1. The guard also has a Dodge of 1. This makes his combined defense a 3. This defense is applied as a penalty to Mar’s attack roll reducing his dice pool to a total of 7 dice. Any successes Mar rolls with this dice pool are applied as Lethal damage to the guard.

Damage Tracking (Health / Vigor)

Your character gets a number of Health Points (Constitution + Racial Modifier) for tracking lethal damage, and Vigor Points (Constitution) for tracking non-lethal damage. Lethal damage is applied to Health Points. When Health Points are reduced to 0 you are disabled and begin to bleed out into Negative Health Points. A player has a number of negative Health Points equal to their Maximum Health Points. Some special powers and abilities will allow characters to continue to perform actions or fight while at Negative Health Points. Any additional damage when at Negative Health Points (including non-lethal) is dealt as lethal. When the player reaches the last Negative Health Point, they die. Non-lethal damage is applied first to Vigor, when Vigor runs out any additional non-lethal damage is applied to Health Points instead.

Mortal Damage

Most damage is either Lethal damage (axes, swords, fireballs) or Non-Lethal damage (falling, weapon damage reduced by armor, sorcerous Backlash). However, some rare and dangerous sources may deal Mortal damage. Creatures take Mortal damage from inimical sources (ex. Undead take Mortal damage from fire). When a source deals Mortal damage, calculate damage as normal and then double the result. If a Fireball spell would deal 3 damage to a zombie, it would instead deal 6.

Health and Vigor Recovery

Players naturally recover one Health point after a night of restful sleep. A successful Medicine roll can increase this to two Health points per night of restful sleep.

Players naturally recover one Vigor point every 15 minutes. This may not be improved by Medicine, however, some Traits may allow characters to recover more quickly. Sorcerous Backlash reduces Maximum Vigor but this maximum recovers one point every 15 minutes.

Magical Healing

Each point of magical healing heals 1 Health Point, or two points of Vigor with Health Points being replenished first. Some magical effects may replenish Vigor directly however. Magical healing may not repair Vigor Maximums from Backlash unless it expressly says it does.

Story Points

Each character begins play with 4 Story Points that may be used to provide 3 bonus dice on a roll. Only one such point can be spent each round. These Story Points are replenished as a reward by your Storyteller for finishing a chapter in the game. Your Storyteller may also reward good roleplaying by individual Story Dice that must be spent in a particular session. No more than 3 Story Dice may be spent in a single round regardless.

Creating a character

1. Concept

Before you can create any sort of stats you should create a character concept. To help you get a handle on your character’s identity and motivation come up with a short, two-or three word description of him/her. Examples: “shadow priest”, “Imperial mage”, “wandering mercenary”. Often looking through the available races can help narrow down your concept as some races are much more suited to certain lifestyles.

2. Select Race

There are nine playable races in Brilliance & Shadow. Each offers distinct advantages and disadvantages. There is no “best” race, but some races are better suited to certain professions and roles. Trolls are known as fearsome warriors, while having little aptitude for magic for example. See the Races section for more details.

3. Select Template

Each player has access to powers beyond normal mortals. The nature of these powers is determined by their Template. There are 5 templates to choose from, which determine the powers are available to your character. Benefit Points may be spent to gain a secondary template for “multi-class” characters.

Template	Description	Starting Powers
Adept	An adept draws on the power of his own internal energy to perform feats beyond ordinary men. With no knowledge of magic spells, spirits, or prayers, an adept gains skill through hard work, dedication, and supernatural talent. He may be a skilled warrior, cunning thief, or silver-tongued orator and many of history’s greatest tyrants, generals, and warriors were adepts. You might enjoy Adept if: You enjoy using abilities which improve your own character, or aren’t interested in magic spells. Adepts get the best self buffing abilities in the game, and their powers do not require mana.	One Rank 2 Discipline
Mage	Mages are powerful spellcasters who draw on the elemental power of the world to cast devastating blasts of fire or lightning, mind control, teleportation, healing or protective magical barriers. You might enjoy Mage if: You like versatile characters who can gain access to a huge variety of powers including damage spells, protective magic, and healing. Mages have the broadest power set in the game and can pick up dozens of useful spells, but can struggle with regaining Mana, their primary resource.	One Rank 2 Sphere
Shaman	Shamans draw their powers from elemental, nature, animal, or ghostly spirits. These spirits linger unseen in the world, but Shamans can manifest their spirit guides to protect them, or use powers called Numina. Shamans are often barbaric warriors, holy men, or sages, reaching through the veil of Twilight to see into the realm of spirits and the dead. You might enjoy Shaman if: You like the idea of having companion spirits to send into battle and draw power from. Shaman have a great mix of buffing, and support powers drawn from their spirits unique capabilities.	One Rank 2 Spirit
Channeller	Channellers are priests, clerics, and avatars of immortal patrons gifted with access to their patron’s power. They may be a member of an established order, or a lone crusader for their god or goddess. The powers a channeller wields are restricted to the Domains their patron offers and always reflect the patron. They range from Order, and Healing, to Death, and Chaos. You might enjoy Channeller if: You enjoy strongly specialized theme characters. Channellers abilities are based off which patron or deity they serve. Thalu the God of Fire for example tends towards destructive powers while Nimway offers more defensive and healing oriented domains. In the area of your patrons influence, you will be unequalled.	One Rank 2 Domain
Sorcerer	Sorcerers are dark casters of primal planar magic nearly beyond their control. They reach into the Outer Planes to unleash raw destructive magic in waves of fire, demonic conjurations, and armies of undead. You might enjoy Sorcerer if: You enjoy magical brute force. Sorcerers have a few extremely powerful abilities, but very little versatility. In many ways they are the opposite of Mages; trading increased risk and lack of versatility for overwhelming strength in their areas of specialty. Often described as “sledgehammers” they have little utility, and no healing, but are arguably the best in the game at raw damage.	Three Rank 1 Seeds

4. Select Primary Statistics

Your characters innate capabilities are Primary Statistics (Stats). Your character begins with one point in each Primary Stat automatically. You may distribute 10 Points among the Primary Statistics. Points costs are cumulative, and the point costs are slightly cheaper if your Race has a Favored Stat (see the Races section for details)

Statistic Rank	Regular Point Cost	Favored Point Cost
1	Free	Free
2	1 Point	1 Point
3	1 Point	1 Point
4	2 Points	1 Point
5	3 Points	3 Points

Example: Mar wants to raise his Constitution to 4 as a Wild Elf with a Favored Stat of Constitution. He needs to spend 1 Point each to raise Constitution to 2, 3, and then 4, for a total cost of 3 points. Another character lacking his Favored Stat would need to spend a total of 4 Points for the same starting rank, since Rank 4 costs 2 points instead of 1.

Primary Statistic	Description
Strength	Physical might, this stat governs your ability to climb, lift, throw, jump, run quickly, wear heavy equipment, and deal damage with melee weapons.
Dexterity	Physical agility, this stat governs your ability to sneak, perform acrobatics, dodge attacks, and fire ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows.
Constitution	Physical toughness, this stat governs your ability to soak damage, resist poisons, disease, and certain types of magical spells.
Intelligence	Mental might, this stat governs your ability to research, investigate, perform medical procedures, and is the primary statistic for spellcasting. Note: This stat has no bearing on your characters education; that is defined through Skills and Benefits.
Willpower	Mental toughness, this stat governs your ability to stay alert, act decisively, resist social influence and certain types of spells.
Charisma	Mental agility, this stat governs your ability to carry yourself, interact with animals, influence others, and gather information. Note: This stat has no bearing on your physical attractiveness; that is defined through Benefits.

5. Calculate Secondary Statistics

Your characters Primary Statistics are combined with additional bonuses to create Secondary Statistics such as your characters Health and Initiative.

Secondary Statistic	Description
Magic	Determines the potency of magic controlled by the player this stat governs the limits of Template powers, adds bonuses to certain resistances, and adds mana or daily power uses (Adept Template). All players begin play with a Magic Stat of 2 which may be raised only by General Experience. (see Earning & Spending XP)
Health	Derived: Constitution + Racial Bonus. This stat is the total points of lethal damage you can sustain, and the number of rounds you have before you bleed to death. Recovers slowly.
Vigor	Derived: Constitution. This stat is the total points of non-lethal damage you can sustain before you begin to take lethal damage from non-lethal attacks or effects. Recovers more quickly than Health.
Mana	Derived: Magic x 10. This stat is the pool of points used to power spells and adept abilities.
Initiative	Derived: Willpower. This stat is the ability to react quickly without hesitation in the face of danger. This bonus is added to 1d10 rolls for Initiative to determine turn order.
Speed	Derived: Strength + Racial Bonus. This stat is the number of yards your character can travel in a single move action. Note: Faerie derive Flight Speed by Intelligence + Racial Bonus.
Dodge	Derived: ( Dexterity + Intelligence ) / 2. This stat is the chance of evading physical attacks.
Physical Defense	Derived: Dodge + Equipment Bonus (Armor/Shield). This stat is the combined chance of avoiding damage from incoming physical attacks.
Magical Defense	Derived: Magical Armor. This stat is the combined chance of avoiding damage from aimed magical spells.
Resistance	Derived: Willpower + Racial Bonus. This stat is the chance of ignoring spells, poisons, or disease that directly affect the mind or body.

6. Select Skills

Your character’s learned capabilities are Skills. Each character distributes 20 Skill Points among their skills.

Skill Rank	Point Cost
1	1 Point
2	1 Point
3	1 Point
4	2 Points
5	3 Points

Untrained skills will incur penalties:

Charisma Based Skills: Stat Only Strength/Dexterity Based Skills: -1 Intelligence Based Skills: -2

7. Select Character Benefits

Your character also has benefits in the form of traits, assets, and training. Each character begins play with 2 Benefit Points to spend toward Character Benefits. Some races or backgrounds may gain bonus benefits or points, however no Benefit may be raised beyond Rank 2.

Earning and Spending Experience

At any time in a session, though more commonly at the end of play, you could be awarded with XP that you can choose to spend, or save toward a long term goal. XP can be used to increase the rank of an attribute, learn a new skill, add or increase the level of a merit, and so on. Experience is granted as a combination of General Experience (GXP) and Skill Experience (SXP). Skill Experience may only be spent on raising Skill Ranks while General Experience may be spent on anything.

Experience costs are as follows:

Attributes: Non-Favored Stat: 5 GXP per rank (*/10/15/20/25) Favored Stat: 5 GXP per rank, with a 10 GXP reduction for rank 4 (5*/10/15/10/25)

• all player characters’ attributes start at rank 1.

Character Benefits: 3 GXP per rank (3/6/9/12/15)

Powers (Sphere, Seed, Domain, Spirit, Discipline): 5 GXP per rank (5/10/15/20/25)

Mage Spells (Mage): 2 GXP times rank (2/4/6/8/10) A Rank 4 spell is 8 GXP

Adept Abilities (Adept): 2 GXP times rank (2/4/6/8/10) A Rank 4 ability is 8 GXP

Domain Lines(Channeller): 2 GXP times rank (2/4/6/8/10) A Rank 4 power is 8 GXP, however Channellers must buy Lines in Rank order (you must have Rank 1 in a line before purchasing Rank 2)

Skills: 3 SXP per rank (3/6/9/12/15)