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PARIAH

A complete game in and of itself, PARIAH is nonetheless easily adapted to your preferred old-school system. Indeed, many of the tools provided would be useful in any RPG you think suitable for the weird world of proto-neolithic roleplay!

POD EDITION AVAILABLE FROM DTRPG NOW!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311826/PARIAH-Volume-1

OUTCASTS

The zine contains instructions for generating a band of pariahs - outcasts from mainstream human culture forced into the dangerous wilderness:

  •  Classless and level-less: develop characters through interaction with the environment, building alliances, developing skills and forging pacts with spirits.
  •  Lateral development: special curse templates that can lead your characters down unexpected paths including ghoul, jackalwere and blood-drinker... 
  •  Troupe play: control multiple characters, share them until they have grown into themselves, guide them as though you were their ancestral spirits.
  •  Build a community: foster young charges, care for the old, build the skill base of your pariah band, the better to face the challenges ahead.
  •  Die: lay down your lie for the good of your allies. Roll up another pariah!

ANIMIST

Everything is alive: navigate a world where mountains, rivers, trees and even insects possess their own desires and ambitions!

  • Rules for generating spirits and determining their attitude to the PCs.
  • An original magic system based on conjuring, binding and bargaining with spirits.

PSYCHEDELIC   

This is a time of chaos: rationality has yet to force reality into a fixed form, and the boundaries between the corporeal and ethereal fluctuate...

  • Six psychedelic entheogens with unique properties!
  • Travel to the spirit world and find the true name of your enemies.
  • Create your own rituals, customs and traditions from afresh: this is a young world, and your characters are defining a new culture!

OLD SCHOOL

  •  Emphasis on player skill over character skill: play as the characters' guardian spirits,  not as the characters themselves.
  •  Highly lethal: get them out of danger quickly or be prepared to roll up another one.
  •  Sandbox style play: GMs are encouraged to create situations and challenges, not linear plots. Let the world come alive and happen around the PCs, with or without their participation!
  •  Rulings not rule: Take your pick of the guidelines within the zine, and fashion them to the tastes of your table. Use the tools for generating a world and populating it with danger and intrigue without being bound by mechanics.
  •  Familiar: Uses the traditional six ability scores and five saves so easy to pick up and easy to adapt to other old school systems.

COMMUNITY COPIES

Purchase

Buy Now£4.00 GBP or more

In order to download this zine you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of £4 GBP. You will get access to the following files:

PARIAH-VOL1-interactive (220615).pdf 29 MB
PARIAH.BAND-SHEET.pdf 2 MB
PARIAH.CHARACTER.SHEET_formfillable.pdf 4 MB
PARIAH_character_sheet.HAND-DRAWN.pdf 1 MB
AHPS2.PARIAH.WILDERNESS_SUPPLEMENT_201116.pdf 5 MB
AHPS3_Bestiary_v0.2.2.pdf 10 MB
AHPS1_MUTATIONS-210726.pdf 3 MB
AHPS0.TACTICAL SUPPLEMENT.pdf 2 MB

Community Copies

Support this zine at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.

Community Copies

Community copies are no longer available.

We invite you to download the art-free PDF at no charge.

https://atelier-hwei.itch.io/pariah-art-free

You can also access the complete ruleset as a google doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OtOLF4m8vQIcl5HyXeVMv51iYcWapPykyoJCGPEjT_Y/...


Development log

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Comments

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I love this game. Did you ever publish the Between Trips rules mentioned on p. 19? I can't find them.

hi Brett! Thanks for the compliment!


You can find some rules for rest, recovery and crafting  in the FREE wilderness supplement:


https://atelier-hwei.itch.io/pariah-wilderness-supplement


I think I made a post on the Alone in the Labyrinth blog about random events excursions new members etc. but can’t seem to find it right now, but there’s a host of stuff labelled pariah on that site:


https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/search/label/Pariah?m=1


it’s a fair point though and I should probably try to collate those procedures/rules into a PDF, apologies for that.


thanks for your support!

(+1)

Hello! The setting for this game is amazing and I'm planning on running this game for my group! But I have a few questions.

Is there some sort of reference for difficulty numbers/DC? (I'm assuming DC stands for Difficulty Check, though it's never stated in the book) It sounds like the GM arbitrarily assigns a DC number, which could lead to some unpleasant moments for the players. For instance, if a Pariah's attribute is 11, and their skill gives them a d8, but the DC is 20, their maximum score would be 19, so they would fail the test even with a perfect roll, unless they add their HD.

Should the GM keep a list of all the Pariah's attributes and skills to prevent automatic failures? Or should the GM share what the DC is before the player rolls so they can choose what skills to use and whether or not to add HD?

Regarding adding HD, it says a Pariah can add one of their HD to a roll, provided they have a strong narrative reason, but it never explains what that reason might be. It does for adding HD Pariahs DON'T have, which makes sense, and has the consequence of causing damage. What would make narrative sense to use available HD, and how would you prevent players from abusing it?

There's also a very confusing bit in the Melee section, which I think may be a typo. It says:

"Characters may attack anyone EXCEPT those they're engaged in melee with"

Is it supposed to say "Characters may NOT attack anyone except those they're engaged in melee with"?

Thank you!

(+1)

Hi!

First of all thanks for the comment and questions, and apologies for not replying sooner. I wasn't notified (or missed the notification) for some reason. This is probably late and I'm sure you've come with your own solutions, but it would be remiss of me not to answer your questions now.

DC is target number. Use stats as a reference: 3 is something all pariahs can do, 18 is something very few pariahs can do. Upwards of that it gets into murky territory.

In practice I work out a target number based on the difficult and their relevant attribute, and let them know what it is so they can decide if they want to try something else instead or spend a hit die if they are unlikely to make the roll.

Which brings us to "makes narrative sense". Yes, an example would probably have been helpful! Think of HD as spending your inner reserves: that extra bit of effort to make the shot or make the save. Would it make narrative sense for someone to exhaust their hit dice while making a stealth check? That depends on your table, and what makes sense in your game.

What prevents players from abusing it is that hit dice are a limited resource: pariahs only start with one. remember: HP are regenerated by rolling hit dice  (similar to 5e) and the pariah must rest to replenish them. 

Lastly, thanks for the typo-catch: there have been three revisions to the original volume that went out at zinequest, and I'm still finding stuff, so sorry about that.

You are correct: "Characters may NOT attack anyone except those they're engaged in melee with"