DRYH: Shadow of the Raven King - House Rules

Unique Terms

There are some places where the terms used in the DRYH rulebook don't quite carry the feel I'm looking for in the Shadow of the Raven King setting, and I have substituted my own terms for flavor.

• Major Nightmare - Replaces Boss Nighmare

• Median Nightmare: More than Minion level, less than Lieutenant. Usually not affiliated with a specific Major Nightmare.

• Denizen - Replaces Local

• Quarter - Is a term I've coined to indicate specific regions of the Mad City. I don't know that they are given a collective generic name in the original.

• Watch, the - The twelve hours that sync up with the City Slumbering are called the Twelve Hours of the Watch. This is further divided into three four hour periods known as First Watch, Middle Watch, and Last Watch.

I've included these terms at the start of the House Rules page and the end of the Setting Details page for convenience.

The Call of the Awakened [pp 2]

One of the first things revealed about the setting is that when a sleeper Awakens his presence is felt and known by the major Nightmares of the Mad City. They become aware of the Awake. And not in a good way.

Like many aspects described in DRYH, this one is left a bit vague, so I like to overlay the following guidelines in the Shadow of the Raven King setting.

• Major Nightmares - can sense (but not precisely pinpoint) an Awake from anywhere within the Mad City (sometimes even if the Awake is in the City Slumbering).

• Lieutenants - can typically sense (but not precisely pinpoint) the Awake within their own Quarter of the Mad City. [Note: The Raven King's Court can treat any Quarter as their own for the purpose of sensing the Awake].

• Minions - can sense them only when actually confronting the Awake.

• Denizens - have no special means of sensing the Awakened outright, but the observant ones see things and may take note.

Parting the Veil: As an act of will [no dice rolled] any Awakened can Part the Veil, deliberately revealing their exact location to the Nightmares of the Mad City. Individual Nightmares will choose to respond in different ways, with distance usually being the primary factor in a given response. Local minions almost always find themselves drawn to a revealed Awakened. Other Nightmares on the prowl in the Quarter might also be drawn. Few will be drawn from without the Quarter for a mere Awakened unless they have a vested interest (some will) and means of immediately appearing (some do).

First Scar [pp 11; 71-72]

What Just Happened To You? - The Shadow of the Raven King setting steps up the timeline of certain aspects of the default setting for Don't Rest Your Head, and the players' introductions will reflect this. Question 2 of the Five Questions addresses what 'just' happened to the character before the start of gameplay. In the Shadow of the Raven King, this will also be the character's first Scar, functioning exactly as scars function in the rules-as-written. So the scene you come up with should be compelling - something your character can draw on later for strength, insight, transformation, or even redemption from relentless exhaustion.

Helping [pp 24-25]

Discipline Cap - The rules-as-written allow any character to lend their 3 discipline dice to the main protagonist's roll, affecting the total number of successes but not the strength of the roll. In the Shadow of the Raven King setting, the total number of donated discipline dice cannot exceed the the combined number of Exhaustion and Madness dice in the main protagonist's pool for that roll (the main protagonist's discipline dice are not counted against this comparison, only donated dice). So if the main protagonist has two exhaustion dice in his pool and three madness dice the most discipline dice he is able to make use of from other players would be five. Individual characters are still limited by their total number of discipline dice as to what they can individually contribute.

As per the rules-as-written, anyone who helps is subject to the consequences if Pain, Madness, or Discipline dominate.

Coins of Despair - When Pain dominates, the GM gains a Coin of Despair for each protagonist participating in the action. [Note: This hack is primarily in place to escalate the coin currency and ensure the players end up with enough Coins of Hope to keep their characters from prematurely teetering over the edge].

Framing Madness [pp 32-33]

When you choose your character's madness talent, frame the range of that talent based on the following breakdown of madness dice included in the roll.

1 die: indicates the most basic use of the Talent

2-3 dice: indicates a moderate use of the Talent

4-5 dice: indicates an impressive use of the Talent

6 + dice: indicates an almost godlike use of the Talent.

Note: A roll can only contain more than six madness dice if the character has some permanent madness or - in the Shadow of the Raven King setting - they have earned peripheral madness from a Nightmare (such as gained by slaying a Willow Woman).

So, by way of example, a Teleportation Madness Talent might look something like this:

1 die: Teleport short distances (less than half a block) in the character's line of sight (not blindly or through walls, etc).

2-3 dice: Teleport moderate distances - anywhere within the Quarter you currently occupy or into an immediately adjacent Quarter. Teleport another being a short distance. Physical barriers and sightline no longer matter at 2 or more dice.

4-5 dice: Teleport great distances - across Quarters - across the entire Mad City. Teleport another being a moderate distance.

6 + dice: Teleport anywhere within the Mad City with pinpoint accuracy. Teleport another being a great distance.

Scar Conditions [pp 71-72]

While I do intend to use Scars, this is a PBP game, without an obvious 'session' breakdown, so I'm going to implement the following guidelines that differ a bit from the open approach in the book. Everyone will start play with their First Scar tied to Question 2 during Chargen, and acquiring new scars will still be a (mostly) player initiated collaborative effort as described in the book.

If you feel a scene has sufficiently acted on your character to leave a 'scar' then PM/Email me or post it in OOC and we'll talk it out. Additionally, I'm going to apply the following limitations [if this unexpectedly spins itself into a year long game or something we can revisit]:

• A character can have no more than 3 scars at a time (once a scar has been Transformed it no longer counts against the total).

• A new scar cannot be used before the end of the scene that caused it.

• A scar has to have been Recalled at least once before it can be Transformed.

• Scars reset with the same frequency and under the same circumstances as Snapping or Crashing but cannot be recalled again (or transformed) until the character recovers from the snap or crash.

• Only one scar can be Transformed in a cycle (IOW you can't transform another scar before the next reset).

In general, if you can make a case for why a scar should be had or used, I'm going to be fine with it - though I may be a bit stricter when the scar is to be transformed than otherwise. Scars can be great tools, but I don't want them to be viewed as the neverending safety net. After all, 'safe' isn't exactly the feel this game is going for.

Caveat Emptor: Byword Beware

My experience with GMing games of DRYH is pretty much exclusively meatworld. If in the process of play some of these House Rules just turn out NOT to work in an online game, speak up. We can revisit them. The Scar Conditions rule is the only new hack and was specifically set up to address how Scars might unbalance an online game where they wouldn't so much a meatworld game.

All other hacks have had their days in the Playtest Sun and have thusfar worked and worked well. That said, it's DRYH. Killing your darlings should be able to be part of the fun. Especially if those darlings turn out to interfere with the fun.

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