DRYH: Shadow of the Raven King - House Rules
Contents
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.
Sensing the Awakened: 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.
Minions can sense them only when actually confronting the Awake. [Note: The Raven King's Court can treat any Quarter as their own for the purpose of sensing the Awake].
Denizens have no special means of sensing the Awakened outright, but the observant ones see things and take note in the event the information might prove of value to a Nightmare or another Awakened.
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 Raven King setting can be a touch more brutal than 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 Raven King it 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 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 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.
