Tools of Kith and Kin

 I realized theres a major possibility that players of Kith and Kin wont know exactly whats available to them, tool and technology wise.

Now I could go over every lithic industry that would be available to them, with a note on who would use it. That was my original idea for this post! But there's a lot of those (which I knew, but it took me reviewing them again to realize just how many there are).

I could do it anyways, people sort of know what they're getting into when they agree to have me run a game, but even my energy runs thin going through all the various ways people made use of the world.

So instead im going to go over a handful of very very generalized categories of tools, and who would make use of them, organized by rough level of complexity.

Note that there is actually an inverse of expectations in some cases here. Someone from a settled agrarian society who is not a "toolmaker" will likely start out only understanding the basics of some lower-paleolithic tools. The tools one understands do not strictly correlate to the intellect one is capable of, but more reflect how specifically one understands they can alter their environment.

Rough time frame with regards to the real world is also given in parenthesis.

Images are all pulled from Wikipedia. Note that pretty much all the information here can also be found (in greater detail) on Wikipedia, but not everyone wants to scroll through three dozen pages of scientific jargon to figure out what sorts of tools they can make. To be quite honest, I'll mostly just let Player Characters make whatever tools they have the time and resources to make, but I might use this as a rough guide to determine what their fellows use/what techniques they might use for descriptive purposes.

 

The stick is probably being used to gauge the depth of the water.

Pre-Lithic (>3.3 MYA)

Natural objects, with minimal to no alteration. Sticks broken at an angle, splintered bone, or very basically fragmented rock (or simply rock that remains unaltered). The logic here is around immediate convenience, and the basic understanding that objects have properties that can be useful. Sharp things stab or cut. Rough things scrape. Heavy things break other things, and so on. 

These tools are some of the most basic tools available to anyone, and are only depended on by the painfully archaic and isolated, extremely sheltered, impatient or rushed, those animals that are intelligent enough to make use of altered objects, but lack the physical or cognitive capacity to alter these further and children.

Top Left: Oldowan chopper. Top Right: Acheulean Hand-Axe. The hut has been proposed to be middle paleolithic, but thats the latest possible time, and not everyone agrees with it.

Lower-Paleolithic (3.3 MYA-300k YBP)

The introduction of "flakes" and "cores", the former being the pieces chipped away from the later, which is the central mass of a stone. Time is taken to chip away from a rock to create a shape, and care is taken to make use of the shape. Additionally, flakes and cores are made use of when possible, though most seem to derive from convenience. Basic hammers, choppers, chisels, scrapers and awls appear here. Purely wooden spears would be utilized at this time, sharpened with scrapers or chisels.

Later tools include the handaxes, which lacked handles at this stage and would be held on the opposite side of the chopping edge. The construction of tools would include the use of bone, wood and other objects to alter in ways more specific to the purpose.

The lack of adhesive in this era would preclude the use of handled-tools. The hammers were essentially stones altered to make the striking end more useful to a specific purpose, the axes were sharp stones and so on. Wood was still used, due to its ease of alteration, but was not used in the same tool as stone, unless one contributed to the manufacture of the other.

The very basic control of fire is an element of this category of technologies. Basic hidework and tanning arises near the very end of this, and more advanced leatherworking arises in the next category.

These tools are largely used by isolated and archaic wildfolk, settled people who are unfamiliar with the construction of tools beyond the basics and others with an understanding that tools can be made over time.

 

Speculative reconstruction of Neanderthal Jewelry.

Middle-Paleolithic (300k-50k YBP)

More advanced still, preparation methods are developed. In the real world, this is when "behavioral modernity" starts to arise, art and spirituality, concerns beyond mere survival. In Kith and Kin, however, such things precede these industries.

The prepared core technique is a defining technology of the flake-built tools of this class. The stone is shaped into a form that serves to facilitate an easier extraction of a shaped flake, that then only requires minor touch-ups to render extremely effective. This technique is the bread and butter of this time. There are numerous techniques, but I have included a GIF of one technique to illustrate a somewhat hard to describe method.

Levallois Core Preparation, demonstrated. Thanks Wikipedia.

 Cores are still utilized in the expected way, generally for heavier duty tools, though the more advanced methods of flake production mean that more effective core-tools can likely be used.

Adhesives are discovered here. Such flakes and cores could then be affixed to a shaped shaft of wood, producing the most dangerous wildly used weapon of the entire world of Kith and Kin, the Spear. Handled axes and hammers are possible.

Fishing becomes a thing, thanks to spears and some nets. Long distance trade happens. The earliest seafaring also happens, likely hollowed logs carved into very basic boats, though later refinements are certain to happen.

Extensive use of clothing, likely by the Neanderthals/Broadfolk due to the colder climates they dwelled in, arises around this time.

[Sidebar] Researchers actually determined this by tracing the mutation rate of the human louse and comparing it to related organisms to determine when it would have speciated. Since it requires clothing to transfer between people, its rough range of speciation can give a rough area for when clothing was starting to become a Major Thing. This ends up around 170,000 years ago being when humans were definitively wearing clothes by, though earlier dates are almost certainly when it was first introduced. Given the climates and habitats then, the theory is that neanderthals actually invented clothing, and we merely adopted this technology once it became necessary. [End sidebar]

Control of fire becomes a widespread element of technology at this time, though very basic use of fire precedes this. This is likely to be the technology that grants anyone who vaguely understands it an advantage.

Every forager society in Kith and Kin uses this, except for the settled folk. In kith and kin it is largely mixed with upper-paleolithic technologies in a rather even way. The use of either depends on convenience, knowledge and what would work best at the time.

Top Left: "Lion Man" figure. Top Right: Flint knives. Bottom Middle: A flint core used to extract multiple knife blades.

Upper-Paleolithic (50k-12k YBP)

A greater understanding of the properties of natural materials allows for the use of flint and similar stones to produce fine blades, rather than the typical flakes. Previous advances are made use of liberally. Sharp points lead to the use of darts, harpoons, fishooks, eyed needles and indirectly to the existence of rope, rather than simple fiber cords.

Multiple fine blades might be extracted from a core. Adhesives improve in quality.

Even stone-carved oil lamps appear, the oil drawn from the flesh of hunted animals.

The first evidence of earthen ovens arises here, really just fire pits, but realistically cooking has been a thing for a long long time at this point.

The very oldest permanent settlements arise. Not farming communities, still foragers, just living in a single location for much longer.

Additionally this time carries the earliest signs of Australian Aboriginal culture in the real world. However the earliest theoretical evidence dips back into the middle paleolithic.

The dogpact is honored. This applies to the previous too, but here is when it was first enforced. Domestication is thus "A thing" for at least a single species.

Effectively any stone technology is theoretically available at this point, limited only by contextual need and available time and resources.

Figurative and symbolic art begins to arise in earnest in the real world, though these things have been around for quite some time in Kith and Kin.

Gold dust and fragments have been found in some sites, but this is difficult to assign any actual context to. It is possible it was utilized in some decorative capacity. As a softer metal, it would be less likely to survive weathering.

Once again, just about every forager culture knows this in kith and kin.

 

 

Mesolithic temporary settlement.

The Shigir Idol

Mesolithic (20k/15k-10k/5k YBP*)

Smaller fine tools begin to appear more than heavier flake tools of the prior eras. Large settlements begin to appear and more advanced weaving leads to the use of baskets and tighter-threaded clothing. The use of ceramics also appear at this time.

 

This is an interstitial period, and as such describes less overall change, and more lifestyle differences. Settled forager cultures, the earliest proto-pastoralists.

This is rare but present in some cultures. Weaving has spread far, but ceramics are more difficult to spread due to resources available. This is partially responsible for, and partially because of, the staggered timeline of Kith and Kin.

*Depending on the area irl.

Reconstructed Neolithic farmstead: Ireland

'Ain-Ghazal statues, oldest statues of this level of detail.

Reconstructed neolithic housing, Aşıklı Höyük

Neolithic (12k-4k YBP)

Large settlements thousands or even tens of thousands strong, many of which with social organizations that may or may not be hierarchical. Agricultural emergence leads to the necessity of tools to aid it. Wool and Linen may be available at this time, and definitely are in Kith and Kin, implied by some remnants that may be early spindle whorls and loom weights

Stone tools are mostly polished or ground down, rather than flaked.

Mud brick homes are constructed. Architecture was already a thing in mild amounts, but it becomes more important here.

Finer points and blades are possible with these methods, though in some cases the used material may still render it inferior to some paleolithic tools.

Food storage is a thing, but is imperfect. Sanitation differs. Social roles differ. Specialization becomes more viable. Everything changes for these people. Pottery arises. Proto-writing begins to emerge.

Bellows of some kind may develop and make the creation of copper tools possible. Mostly worked raw copper, hammered into the needed shape. Cast copper is the domain of an extremely small number of very small cultures at the moment.

The neolithic of kith and kin has begun and shattered in earnest several times. New settlements are often built on the foundations of old, or in some cases have some persistent cultural context that remains relevant.

These are available to the settled folk, and those in their immediate proximity, who have need to emulate some of the technologies with regards to clothing and lithic production. Though it is possible some other forager cultures could independantly arrive at some of the finer sewing methods, lithic production methods and so on. The staggered timeline makes all of this possible.

Weirdness

Of course, the timeline of Kith and Kin is far more "staggered". Technologies have been discovered, lost and rediscovered a few times over, and other species have had some cognitive capacities possibly exaggerated, though I would argue that in the real world other human species may have been more intelligent than we give them credit for generally speaking.

Magic means some things are possible that aren't irl (unless I have been hilariously misled about the nature of irl magical practices). Despite this magic is not going to be "industrialized" or a "technology" the way most other tools are in Kith and Kin. Magic in kith and kin isn't a science. Its this weird shit. A toolbox of rules and associations that can be exploited. Sure thats arguably the definition of a technology, but it requires a different mode of thought to properly understand.

And spirits of course. Spirits. The world is lousy with spirits. Its quite literally made of the damn things.

So whats available will be a little strange and not quite match up with the above. Thats fine. These already serve as extremely rough categories irl and dont reflect the more detailed understanding of material culture differences across space and time. This is just a rough guide.

Kith and Kin: Core Mechanics Redux

 

Second post that is an adapted PDF of my stone age game. None of this is fully prescriptive, especially the action resolution mechanic. Thats just my preferred

Core Mechanics

Action Resolution 

Under most circumstances you will not have to make a roll to perform an action. The GM (Genius Mundi, World-Soul) will rely on their understanding of how the world functions, your characters positive and negative traits to determine if you succeed or not.

However there are cases where there is an ambiguity in if success or failure is what would occur especially in person to person, or entity to entity circumstances.
In these circumstances roll 3d6.

If against another entity or active situation, then it also rolls a 3d6, possibly with advantages and disadvantages.

If against some passive object or circumstance (such as attempting to leap a gap), then this is rolled against a target number. If that number is exceeded, then it is a success, possibly with some additional benefit. If the target number exceeds the result, then it is a failure. If they exactly match, then a partial success, partial failure or some other ambiguous result may be the outcome.

In some cases multiple numbers can correspond to “matching”. In this case the target number is represented as a range of values, such as “9-12”. This means anything from 9-12 is a “match value.” This is usually the case for results with “degrees” of success. A 9-12 on foraging might bring an okay amount of food, but a 13 or higher will bring more.

If you have traits or skills that contribute to the action and they do not ensure success or simply allow the roll to occur at all, then you may gain dice of advantage.

This is represented by rolling additional dice, but only taking the highest 3 as your result. This biases the outcome by an increasing amount for each dice of advantage.

Disadvantage works the same, but you take the lowest three. Advantage and disadvantage cancel out, so if you have 2 dice of disadvantage and 3 of advantage, it is treated as you having only one dice of advantage.

Generally if you would have more than three dice of advantage that is probably a good sign you should simply succeed.

Similarly for disadvantage, more than three dice indicates the check should probably just be an automatic failure.

There are some cases where that might not be so, however, such as when two entities have significant advantage.

If the GM allows it, successes that have two results of six counted may be a greater success, and three even greater. Rolling higher than something by a certain multiple (i.e. rolling two or three times higher than required) may provide greater advantage.

If not using a target number, then range values can be used. Im fond of the following table, basically using the attribute bonus ranges from AD&D as a guide.

• 3: Worst result.
  
• 4-5: Worse result.
  
• 6-8: Bad result.
  
• 9-12: Average result.
  
• 13-15: Good result.
  
• 16-17: Better result.
  
• 18: Best result.

With context clarifying what qualifies under each range. "Average result" on foraging in a rain-forest might net decent amounts of food (result-8 meals worth perhaps?) while the same thing in a desert wont give anything. I use this as a guide for passive difficulty.

Any other modification to the action resolution system is not the baseline game, and is reflective of unique circumstances in the game world. Some things may flatly raise the size or amount of dice you roll in some circumstances, and some entities might be mighty enough to warrant such changes to their rolls. 

You may become one such entity, with time. 

 

Resource Management

Resource management can be difficult in some tabletop games. Thankfully, you are playing a game set in the ambiguously paleo-meso-neolithic era and will not be carrying around a backpack with 2 metric tonnes of resources.

Carrying resources is useful, and sometimes you will want to stockpile. For the most part however, you can forage for resources.

Fishing and hunting are similar.

You likely won't be able to stockpile massive amounts of resources, both due to spoilage and your mobile nature. Carrying around a week's worth of firewood is a Sisyphean effort.

Even so, certain skills will let you preserve certain resources (dried and salted/treated food for example). You will have limits to the amount you can carry and certain circumstances can cause spoilage (don't get the dried food wet unless you plan to spend time drying it after).

For every two kilos an animal weighs, you can gain one “meal” of food from it. Foraging and fishing will also bring in food, depending on the area. The less vegetation, the more you’ll have to rely on hunting, and vice versa. 

 

Resources

The actual resources you will need to keep track of are

• Useful Food (Each character needs at least a meal per day or they start to become hungry. Two meals a day will slowly reverse the effects of hunger, but some starvation ailments will be “permanent” until you can fully recover over time.)
• Fresh Water (Each character needs two proper full drinks per day or they start to dehydrate. One full proper drink a day will give small maluses but wont kill you.)
• Firewood (Indicated in hours of fire time. The more you put on the brighter it will burn, but this can burn through them faster.)
• Artisan Materials (clay, hide, fabric, fibers, adhesive, wood, flint, stone, bone etc)
• Medicinal Substances (Measured by effective dosage)
• Psychoactive substances (Measured by effective dosage. Minimal, Low, Powerful, Heroic and Extreme, for hallucinogens.)
• This is about every relevant resource, but others might be possible. Trade goods? Shiny stuff?

Time Management

There are four primary temporal scopes of play. The Gm keeps track of the moon (month), time of day, day in the moon, phase of the moon, season, time of day, and so on.

• Frantic Time: When something happens that requires immediate action. Time is measured in “rounds” (~3-6 second intervals). Characters can generally take two actions (movement, attacking, defending, whatever). This is combat, chases, etc.
• Exploration Time: When PCs are taking their time to explore an area, figure out what is around, forage, fish, and so on time is measured in “Exploration turns” of roughly 10 minutes. Thus, “Exploration actions” (like foraging) take more time to bear fruit (often literally).
• Travel Time: When PCs are traveling long (ish) distances, time is measured in “Hours” or “Travel Rounds”. Each hour there is a chance of something happening, a chance to recheck directions, and so on. These can be interrupted (something can happen in the middle, they can choose to explore a local area), but this is the rough idea.
• Downtime: Perhaps the PCs are choosing to prepare long term for something. To stockpile food, to spend a large time foraging to accrue large amounts of food. During downtime, time is measured in suns (days, 24 hours), moons (months, 30 suns), seasons (3-6 months depending on the environment) and cycles (years 12 months).

Note that years are measured as 12 months of 30 days, giving 360 days to a year. This is only notable in that the life expectancy of beings is a few more years over the course of a human lifespan, though is still the same amount of time. This is just to make sure natural cycles are a little bit easier to keep track of on the GM side.

 

Travel

Space and location is represented in “Zones”.

Zones are not biomes or biotypes. One forest will be split into multiple zones.
The exact spatial dimensions of the zones are not totally set in stone, but “Horizons” is the general measurement at this scale (roughly three miles or 4.8 kilometers in a given direction, the rough distance a horizon is away from an average observer on flat land, making a horizon six miles, ~9.6 kilometers, across).

Rather, the size and the difficulty of the zone is represented by “Travel time” and rough dimensions given in “Horizons”. Remember the average human walking speed is about 4.8 kilometers an hour, and a bit faster based on health. Terrain of course influences this.

Zones can have multiple points of interest scattered throughout them. These almost always have consistent locations. Distance between these points of interest is given in horizons, though characters can wander between them and find other points of interest.

 

Combat 

3d6 attack vs 3d6 evasion, blocking/parrying, etc. with modifications as described under action resolution.

Failure is a failure of the attack to connect, due to having been dodged, blocked, whatever.

A tie is that some consequence happens to both, a success in exchange for small consequence determined by the foe or they succeed with some complication described by you. Really depends.

A success is a hit. Damage is whatever a “hit” is for whatever weapon you use, and is descriptive. The defender gets to choose where they were hit.

Twice or more the defender's roll is a direct hit. Either you get to choose where or the defender chooses and the damage is even worse.

Thrice or more the defenders roll is a critical hit. Essentially both options of a direct hit happen, with increased effect the greater the difference.

The actual severity of the damage depends on the weapon and the defender. If it has a tough enough hide, a character of average strength may not be able to harm it (unless they strike a weak point, such as in the mouth).

Where and how you can hit depends on the weapon. Slashing and bludgeoning weapons struggle to target small weak points or exploit them. 

 

Damage and other Terrible Things

Damage, Illness, hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation and so on are all treated as localized status effects. They are descriptive, and their effects are based on eyeballing a real world-ish consequence of the effects at that particular location on the body.

They can of course be treated with the right medicines (or even magic).

Hunger causes a gradual subtraction of your rolls, and eventually reduces some positive traits semi-permanently if it's too long.

Thirst outright removes one of the dice from your action pool after each day, unless you have some trait that reduces it's effect on you. Once the pool runs out you die.

Sleep deprivation reduces all capabilities and acts as an altered state of mind.

These can all be represented by "clocks" if the GM wants, with "segments" filled per missed meal, drink, sleep session, illness/curse progression, would exacerbation etc. This isn't player facing however.

 

Altered States

Important to magic and mysticism are altered states of mind/consciousness.

These are split into roughly five ranges of effect, listed as follows with an example. Inspired largely by pariah and this system.

• Weak: A minimal effective dosage. Barely any effect besides some descriptive shift and possibly some very minor malus to regular functioning.
• “You feel like your emotions are being carried on a tide. You feel energetic, and the world seems more vibrant.”
• Moderate: A mild shift to perception and sensation. Generally the level you can feel “energies” and “tones” of spiritual presences. Definite but minor maluses.
• “Geometry twists and flows in the grass and dirt, shapes and angles forming and intersecting. The green of the grass and the brown of the dirt feel even more vibrant. Around the mysterious idol, the geometry seems densest and most active.”
• Powerful: A powerful shift. Generally allows perception of spirits and brief glimpses into the otherworlds. Major shift to all perceptions and sensations.
• “Colorful geometric forms twist and shift across your vision, obscuring your vision of the world. Colors flow and twist in accordance to principles you can only guess at. Before you, a towering bestial figure wearing a blank mask tilts it's head curiously.”
• Heroic: The required dose to fully shift your perspective to another realm for a time. What you take to go on spiritual/mystical adventures/”Trips”.
• “The tent blows away in an impossible wind, those who have not taken the sacred herb seem entirely unaware. The camp seems to disappear under the wind and flowing leaves. An impossibly titanic forest now stretches above you, branches and roots growing in geometric lattices. Things dance and sing through the branches impossibly far above. What will you do?”
• Extreme: A dangerous level for when you want to skip the journey and cut straight to the heart of a realm. Often has dangerous side effects even if the other levels don't.
• “A swirling maelstrom of transforming life. That is your entire reality, all you remember, all you perceive. You may be able to act, if only in a mental sense.”

Beyond Vancian Magic: Applied Arcana

 I was already planning to make a post about the "Arcana" of Kith and Kin, as a demonstration of how Arcana can be used to color the magic of a world and shape its structure. Then the blog carnival started and what do you know, its about non-vancian magic! Neat!

If you're unfamiliar with my "Arcana" design philosophy of magic, here's a whole post explaining it. In short, "Diegetic Magic" is a good enough summary.

Idk what I'm supposed to do to get this to count for the carnival. Guess I'll just post it where most of those are.

General warning for some stuff that is typical to magic. Animal (and human) sacrifice, mental effects (mostly under the "possession" section) and discussions of sympathetic and similar magical connections that can agitate some elements of psychosis and OCD. Take care of yourself.

Kinds of Arcana

For the purposes of Kith and Kin I am going to split Arcana into three major classifications. This is not how arcana in general, that is "across games", work. This also isn't strictly a recognized in-universe split.

Also in-universe these will probably be called something along the lines of "Wisdoms" or "Magical Secrets". "Arcana" feels too "modern" a term.

Regardless, its a useful way to approach them from a design standpoint.

Root Arcana are some basic facts about the world. Core assumptions that build the rest of the magic system in this case. They are like the "laws of physics" or the "fundamental forces" of magic, or possibly more like "Themes."

Branch Arcana are any arcana that result from the former. They are learned or developed individually, and suggest at at least one Root Arcanum. These are examples of actual magical activity.

Leaf Arcana are specific, distinct magical things, rather than broader skills or consequences like Branch Arcana. Listed examples are more akin to game spells, though some powers are listed in the examples.

A Note on Consistency and Fairness, I generally will require 3d6 rolls for magical actions, with the ranges of 3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17 and 18 corresponding to different levels of success. Context and skill with increase and decrease the number of d6s added, though only the top or bottom 3 will be counted. What is possible is thus a bit context-sensitive. Its more important that this system feels consistent and fair than it actually being those.

Root Arcana

There are five, listed and described in no particular order. Magical workings can be subtle or flashy. Subtler magic is easier and more common (and is more "real" in that it feels possibly coincidental or circumstantial) but flashier magic does exist.

Altered States: The cosmology of Kith and Kin is psycho-spiritual, and in order to tap into the intrinsic power held in the cosmos it is sometimes necessary to uproot oneself (even if temporarily) from some basic perceptions and assumptions. Thus, altered states of mind are (generally) necessary. These can naturally peel back the perceptions of the world to reveal the spiritual realms entwined with it, and that is one of the core benefits of these, but it is often necessary to dip into them in order to access truly flashy magic.

There are five rough levels of these for game purposes. Minimal (Minor, Tone-altering), Weak (Minor, Minuscule game effects, slight hallucinations), Powerful (moderate bonuses/maluses, flashes of other realms, can see spirits), Heroic (Entering other realms entirely) and Extreme (cutting straight to the heart of another realm).

The levels are a combination of Pariahs measurements, with the first two instead becoming three akin to this Altered States system.

Importantly, this means there is a certain level of subjectivity in the cosmology and metaphysics of Kith and Kin. Its not entirely "post-modern", but individual experiential phenomena are Important in a cosmological and metaphysical sense.

Spirits: Kith and Kin is animistic, but its also weird. Spirits have no true universals, other than that everything is technically a spirit (or multiple spirits) and that they are more beings of their own nature than anything else, obeying their own structure over any "physics." A spirit of the land can do "spirit of this land" things quite easily, especially within the space it occupies, but beyond that it might struggle. A free spirit on the other hand, may be capable of acting just about anywhere, but might be limited to some phenomena. Spirits (much like spiritual realms) are not limited in what they can be. They can be ghosts, elementals, animal souls, your own souls, dream characters, shadows, people from other realities, alien consciousnesses, animate concepts, stories that have taken on a life of their own, elements of personal subjective experiences and many more things.

Spirits can be called upon for magic (invoking them in a ritual), or targeted by it (as with summoning and binding). Generally they are limited by their nature and whatever cycles (if any) they follow. They are not omnipotent but they are potent. Magic users who mostly rely on spirits are something like paleolithic diplomat-priests, negotiating with spirits on behalf of their community (or just themself, as the case may be).

A detail that also applies to the next arcana, is spirits explain a sort of "inertia" the world(s) have. Subtler magic is easier because spirits (including ones own souls) resist changes from outside.

What they do can be subtle, flashy or anything in between. Depends on the character of the spirit really.

Souls: Your own spirits. At least five are widely recognized, those being the physical shell (body), the vital breath/blood/movement (life force), Free-Spirit (subtle body) and Waking-Spirit (the mind). These might have further subdivisions, or be classifiable, but as with other realms and spirits there is a certain subjectivity to this.

Your souls are part of you, so you have a certain level of assumed power over them. Your souls also generally explain any magical talents you might have. Prophetic visions, Ghost-Walking, natural tendency to slip into altered states/other realms... These can also often be described by naturally existing in a semi-altered-state at all times (or falling into them easily).

These can be a path to power. There might be a part of your soul that relates to simply "Magical power". It would be extremely weak at first if you have no talent for it (i.e. no Trait relating to it), and even then it wont be anywhere near extremely impressive. Twists to ones soul can also encode mystical powers, "spells" of a kind. These are less like "wizard spells" and more like "Things you can now do and train up in power."

These can also be affected by magic, of course. Most "curses" or "talents" are some twist or distortion to ones soul(s).

Esoteric And Exoteric Connections: Binding everything together are connections both obvious (Exoteric) and subtle (Esoteric). An Exoteric connection is simple. If A causes B then A and B are connected, much the same if B causes C. An obvious causal connection.

Similarly, physical contact is about the most obvious physical connection possible.

Esoteric connections consist of those less obvious connections via some subtle aspect of reality. Some basic examples are sympathetic (like affects like), correspondent (things look like what they are), contagious (once together always together), symbolic (the image is the thing, representation grants power), composition (the part can affect the whole) and so on.

These connections exist by default but can be protected against (often by using other connections). They weave into spirits and souls, thus summoning spirits requires objects, times, activities, locations and so on that are "linked" to them in some abstract way.

This is the principle that also allows you to call upon spirits to help with magic, and is why you cant just use any damn thing to do anything.

 

Sacrifice: The balancing principle. Put simply, "You get what you put in." This is the element that suggests the more time, blood, sweat, tears, lives and so on put into a work the stronger, broader, deeper and so on it will be. This doesn't mean you need sacrifice to do magic. A circle scratched in the earth with a prayer of protection (or a promise of protection) will hold some power, albeit only enough to protect against the most impotent spirits and/or animals. This is similar to altered states not strictly being "required", but helping a lot.

Some costs can be easier. Some souls beings have might have natural power or energy to expend, but this is not strictly default (except for some spirits perhaps).

This is less conservation of mass/energy and more conservation of "fairness". A "curse" or pain or a "trial" can be a cost. Sometimes the "Cost" is paid to some specific thing directly, such as a spirit, and sometimes it is simply fuel for the magic itself. This isn't thermodynamics we're talking about. Its magic.

Branch Arcana

Branch Arcana are constructed from the assumptions of the Root Arcana. There are infinitely many, but some examples in no particular order might be...

• Spiritual Sensitivity: Some individuals have a natural tendency to slip into altered states of mind, as a consequence of some spiritual sensitivity in their souls. This allows for ease of entering magical mindsets and seeing spirits. This will combine with other "talents".
• Soul Flight: Often when the natural altered state enters a "heroic" dose, it often allows for soul-flight rather than simply entering another realm, though that can still be a consequence.
• Divination: A skill. Using some mild spiritual sensitivity and possibly lower altered states to read subtle connections across space and time.
• Prophetic Visions: Altered states up to Heroic, with Heroic slipping fully into the vision. Can be drug-induced, or a consequence of spiritual sensitivity. Rely on subtle connections and altered states more severely.
  
• Bestial Communion: Subsisting off the entire body of an animal of moderate size (or a sufficient number of smaller, or portions of a larger that have the preserved ratios of tissue varieties) ritually, often in an altered state, one can take on the aspects of various beasts, birds and even crawling things like insects and worms.
• Therianthropy: Physical transformation into a beast or beast-hybrid. A curse, so "sticky" magic tied to the self and thus soul. Often done as punishment, but due to the dynamic nature of the soul it can twist and warp from a curse to simply a thing you can do. May be possession by an external spirit instead. 
• Summoning Spirits: Conjuring spirits requires reagents and actions, contexts really, related to the spirit. A bloody spirit of the moon for example might require the reflection of the moon and blood dissipating in water. Often an altered state of mind is required, to more properly tune oneself to alternate realms, and sacrifices to lure or draw their attention. Rarely, simply calling their name can be enough, if the relationship is deep enough.
• Realmwalking: The ability to bring ones physical body into spiritual realms is a rare capability indeed. One possibility is allowing some spirit to summon you, as you might summon them. This is rare, as few spirits want to summon something that combines impotence and capaciousness as well as a mortal does, and most mortals loathe to grant that kind of power over oneself, but it is done sometimes. Other methods involve altered states and similar kinds of magic to summoning. Im sure you can develop your own ideas at this point.
  
• Binding Spirits: Bindings require using some sorcerous method to restrict the available actions of a spirit. A basic example is a circle scratched in the dirt charged with some sacrifice, which restricts the movement of a spirit. The circle demarcates an interior and exterior and the sacrifice charges it with some power beyond simply time, effort and hope. Other forms of binding are possible.
• Living-Dead: Binding spirits to a corpse-vessel, granting the spirit control over the dead body. If bound properly, a loyal and possibly powerful servant can be gained. Weaker ones are easier to bind, obviously. Sometimes spirits will let themselves be bound to vessels to gain bodies.
• Possession: Often times spirits (and magic in general) cannot simply overwhelm the will and mind of a host, due to the spiritual inertia of ones own souls. The exceptions are particularly powerful spirits and magic, and contexts in which the will of the host is compromised, such as sleep or some altered states. Instead, warping emotions, sensations and memories are often required to shape the behavior of the host, but the host still has inertia and can often resist these.
• Hauntings: Possession often requires either extreme power or extreme subtlety, which most spirits cannot provide in the required amounts to actively impose themselves. Even the subtler manipulations require one to possess enough power to redirect the inertia of the hosts soul in some way. Thus, hauntings are often the preferred dominion of spirits and most will want to simply possess a dead or "vacant" body if possession is required. These cause effects to the host, but are more akin to things happening around them, such as poltergeist activity. Still, small changes to the host (such as bouts of pain, twitching or brief hallucinations) often occur.
  
• Curse-Dolls: A representation of someone, built from cloth and stick and charged with locks of hair, blood or even small bones taken from the target. If the link is extreme enough, it can act as a stand-in for the person themself. Subtle connections such as these are incredibly useful, and despite the name curse-dolls can be used in a way beneficial to the target.
• Magical Languages: Languages spoken not with the physical tongue, but with the subtle elements of ones soul. Often allow for communication with inhuman spirits (or folk who do not share a language) without an altered state. This consequentially allows one to communicate, and thus attempt to change their behavior. This is done very similarly to how one does with other people. Threats, bribes, offers and so on. Some examples are:
  
• Fur-Tongue: Mystic language of beasts with fur and fang.
  
• Scale-Tongue: Mystic language of the scaled creatures of the land. Includes landbound feathery things.
  
• Wing-Tongue: Mystic language of the things that fly and the winds they ride.
  
• Shell-Tongue: Mystic Language of things with hard exoskeletons.
  
• Water-Tongues: Mystic languages of the aquatic spirits and beasts that occupy them. Split into Rivertongue, Laketongue (Includes ponds), Seatongue (Includes near the surface of the oceans) and Oceantongue (primarily the vast lightless depths).
  
• Root-Whispers: The whispering language of the forests and all that compose them, including the fungal threads. If understood can be "heard" (smelled?) as a faint murmur if one head is close to the ground.
  
• Celestial-Thundering: Thundering language of celestial spirits, quite literally thunder. Dangerous to speak. Storms may provide some information, but are often just involving warcries.

 

 

Leaf Arcana

The provided examples are more akin to "spells" from other games. Think of them like dnd "cantrips" that can be trained to be stronger, more complex, and so on. They can also be enhanced by increasing whatever cost is built in to them. Other "Leaf Arcana" exist, but most of the ideas I had are more akin to these. Summoning and binding rituals for specific spirits would also be examples. The names are just for flavor. Most of these involve twists to ones souls allowing one to cast them naturally, but leaf arcana are not restricted to just "spells". Its just a name for any very specific magical thing one does.

• Fires of the Heavens: A gift given by (or stolen from) celestial spirits of the upper air. Heavenly fire is infused into the flesh. When called upon, one may unleash the pure power of lightning, and the thunderous after effects. The sorcerer is only mostly protected from the effects. The cost is that calling upon it may cause seizing, electrifying pain and burns, depending on the power.
• Dead Flesh Obeys Me: Casting off small parts of ones own souls to animate dead flesh with the mere motes of spiritual power one has birthed. Painful and exhausting, often involving sweating blood or layers of skin stripping away to fuel it. Crudely animates dead flesh for as long as one can withstand the pain and remain focused. More like disparate body parts clawing and flinging themselves around than anything sapient.
• My Own Breath, Commanded: Using ones own spirit to sieze control over ones breath, something which is already "under your power" and thus easier to control. Allows very mild control over the winds to begin with, honestly like a large number of people blowing fairly hard, but greater exhaustion and training can improve this. Requires one breath out if it blows away from you, and breathing in if it blows towards.
• My Pain Wounds You: Forcing a causal sympathetic connection to a target, and magically altering what actually carries between the two. Pain transformed into actual wounds. Can be made easier by suffering actual wounds in the casting.
• The Cold Touch of Death: Ritually allowing ones hand to become frostbitten, and binding deathly power to the dead flesh of the hand, magically preventing it from causing horrible infections and necrosis. The hands still functions as a hand, but is crude, numb and slow, unable to precisely move. Its touch carries the horrible chill of death and frost with it, to any who touch it, regardless of intent.
• My Dreams Laid Bare: Using ones power over their own dreams to project glamours of sensation, emotion and memory into the world. Flimsy and easy to "wake up from" at first. Effectively no cost, except for the focus required, but very very weak at first, requiring training to bring forth greater effects than prickles of sensation, bursts of intrusive emotion and subtle deja-vu.
  
• The Glory of Daylight: Minor celestial spirits of the daylight sky are bound to ones own souls, carrying a mere fragment of the suns brilliance. A bright aura of light springs forth from the sorcerer, carrying the mystical effects of daylight for a small area. Unfortunately, the temperature of the sorcerer will increase with each moment, faster the brighter the light. This will only stop and begin to reduce when it ends.
  

 

 

 Questions?

I welcome questions about this since they'll help me define this better and better, while keeping the magic system abstract enough to still "work" as magic rather than science.

Kith and Kin: Character Creation Redux

 This is a directly copied and mildly edited document from the pdfs I'm throwing together for Kith and Kin. You can kinda ascertain the core mechanic here, but there's some extra stuff to consider thats in an actual document (that I'll be posting sometime in the next few days).

Answer the following Questions, to build your wanderer.

Work with your GM to determine appropriate answers. The ones here can be modified to taste.

Some samples are provided.

There are additional guidelines after the questions.

 

To what people were you born?

Youngfolk can use projectiles without tools, can pick up skills slightly faster and look youthful. Broadfolk are strong and resistant to cold, but suffer in heat and require more food. Smallfolk require less resources and are socially adept, but are physically small and frail. Treefolk can climb naturally but are slightly less adept at using most tools. Elderfolk have an eclectic mixture of features and may be broadly adept or hyper specialized. Wildfolk are naturally mighty, agile and vigorous but cannot speak easily, exhaust faster and are less social. The stronger the benefits the stronger the downsides.

(Folk will give some default traits)

Here you may also choose if you are from a Forager, Pastoralist, Agricultural or Proto-Urban culture. This will influence your assumed skillset. Foragers are better at foraging and hunting, pastoralists are better at wayfinding and tracking, Agriculturalists are better at knowing what plants are edible and how to exploit their life cycles, and Proto-Urban cultures may have a greater understanding of “Academic” things (or even be “Literate” in proto-writing).

(Culture will give 2-3 relevant skills)

 

What was notable upon your birth, or not long thereafter?

Disproportionate Strength? Precocious Perceptiveness? The Swiftness of your step? Your preternatural Health? The speed with which your Coordination developed? How quickly you Won the Hearts of others? How you seemed to have a Stone Belly for meals no other toddler would stomach? Or were there Unnatural Circumstances surrounding your birth and childhood that influenced you?
(General trait. Can be magical.)

What two roles did you grow into? Alternatively, which single role did you excel in?

Are you a Forager for food and herbs? A Tracker of game and man? A Warrior who brought down prey and enemy alike? A Wayfinder who sought new paths? A Fisher trained in spear and net? An Artisan of some specific trade? A Wise One? A Healer?
2-3 Skills per role. If you choose to be excellent in a single role rather than adept in two, then the 2-3 Skills you receive from the single role will be at the “Expert” level, rather than the “Skilled” level.

Why are you not with them anymore?

Theft? A Curse? Murder? Forbidden Love? Forbidden Sorcery? Failure or even Unwanted Success?
(Trait, Magical or otherwise)

What has occurred since then?

Captured by another culture of ship builders and city dwellers? A near death experience that left you more sensitive to the deathly realms? Many battles that have honed your skills? Theft from others to survive? The contraction of a curse?
(Trait or 2-3 Skills)
 

Finally, choose 3-6 items that relate to your overall backstory and recent events. Could be several preserved rations, tools, weapons, heavier clothing (“armor”) etc.
 

Player Guidelines

What are appropriate answers to the prior questions? 

A general rule of thumb is that a skill is broad enough to not be completely circumstantial, but specific enough to not lack meaning.

As an example, if you fell into the roles of a Hunter and a Warrior, than you might have the skills Tracking, Camouflage, Stealth, Spear-Fighting and Evasion. Stealth could be thought to be provided by both, and so has an argument for being at the “Expert” rather than “Skilled” level.

The levels of skills is Untrained -> Skilled -> Expert -> Master. Anything beyond this is unnatural or exceptional. An untrained skill is not listed and is the assumed default.

Other traits can follow a similar progression. Average -> Trait -> Exceptional Trait -> Pinnacle Trait. An average trait is not listed and is the assumed default. If you use different adjectives to describe the trait at each level, mark down how many dice of advantage it could provide in some contexts.

For example: Strong (1d) -> Powerful (2d) -> Mighty (3d)

This shouldn’t be necessary for skills, as the dice of advantage is folded into the “Skilled”, “Expert” and “Master” rating before the skill.

“Negative” traits work in the inverse direction.

Skills and traits may provide a dice of advantage for each “level” above the baseline. This means that on a 3d6 roll, if you have a 2d advantage, roll 5d6 and keep the highest 3.

The “may” is there because in most cases it will simply allow you to bypass the rolling mechanic altogether, or roll when another character would simply automatically fail.

Magical traits can be some magic "powers", such as some Initiatory Secrets (an Arcanum).

Some other stuff

The amount you can carry depends somewhat on what you’re using to carry them and your own traits. No bag? Well how do you plan to carry a bunch without it? If the way would work irl then it probably will here.

People tend to give -lithic characters names that feel like a statement, a description or an expression. For example: “Tall-One”, “Leaping-Through-The-Wind”, “Abhors-Stillness” or “Dances-Along-The-Coast.” Failing that, they tend to default to simple monosyllabic “cave man” sounding names like “Gug” “Ruk” “Tun” etc. I am biased towards the former, largely because that is how essentially every name that is currently still used works. Even names that just feel like names have meanings to them. The later stems largely from pop cultural nonsense, but might have a place if we consider them to be very simple early signifiers.

So for names, think of the naming scheme of your origin culture (Do they prefer to name after animals, actions, descriptions, natural features, or do they wait until adulthood and then take on a name reflective of their roles and personality?) and express it's meaning. The names can be simple or complicated, though I would prefer if complex ones have a shorthand for ease of use.

Disabilities have been considered throughout the paleolithic era. You may take disabilities in exchange for additional reasonable benefits. Do consider how you intend to play with or around the limitations however. A person unable to walk at this time would likely not survive being banished unless they have help. To be fair, that is true of those banished with able bodies too. Just consider what works and if something doesn’t we can find a way to make it. After all, real people figured this stuff out too, and this is fantasy.

Gender can get weird but consider the times when constructing your characters understanding, expressions and language used. As for the actual transitional process, that will likely be limited to social expression and perhaps the marginal benefits provided by herbal treatments at first. Refined magical herbs and spirits can do wonders. Don't let any of this hamper your creativity (this is "do get weird" not "don't get too weird"), just consider how your characters cultural understanding would be different than your own.

Most people tend to have darker skin at this time, though further north you will eventually find truly pale-skinned folk, often hybrids with broadfolk. However, conditions such as vitiligo do exist and there are certain pale cave dwellers that might exist. “Race” as a concept, does not exist to the Kin. The Kin see each other as people with some differences, and hybrids are common enough you can play one (we’ll just scale the benefits a bit). Wildfolk-other hybrids dont generally exist, which is why they are considered “Kith”. Much the same with underkin/nightfolk (cave dwellers).

Whats that? More spirits?

I wrote a good chunk of these when the AC at my home broke and the house started to heat up. It was 91 degrees Fahrenheit (32-33 degrees Celsius) outside, which seemed to induce a feverish episode of creativity in me.

Hilariously, the least comprehensible of these was made after that issue got fixed. You'll know which one it is.

Content Warnings are: Discussions of hunting, very brief and indirect allusions to abuse in one entry, references to vocal dysphoria in that same entry, discussions of dissociation, and of course general discussions of cognitive disruption and drug use in ritual/magical contexts.

(Please do inform me if this requires any more warnings)

 

Great Hunters

Simple yet generally impressive spirits of both the natural world and the experiences of the Kith and Kin. They look as young adults dressed in little garb, painted in camouflage, though even a passing but close glance reveals the "paint" to be seemingly a natural part of their "flesh" and "hair".

They have aspects that combine various animalistic traits. Their eyes call to mind the slitted pupils of wildcats, the great gaze of owls and the all-encompassing eyes of dragonflies paradoxically all at once. Talon-claws spring from their fingertips. Their teeth are much like that of a cats, and their wings tend to either the insectoid or owl-like. Their noses are more akin to that of a dogs, though mystics and sorcerers both claim they can track better than the most perceptive of dog breeds. 

Regardless they dance through the wilderness in near-complete silence and near-complete invisibility. 

What they do is hunt. 

They stalk their game for a short time, and then, all at once they go for the kill. 

They are as efficient and quick as possible. Their prey suffers only for an instant. 

To the wild creatures, they extract nourishment and butcher them properly, keeping a small keepsake if the prey is truly mighty, notable or simply if they are sentimental.

They do hunt kith and kin, though rarely. If they do so, they do much the same as with wild creatures, but extract very little nourishment, and instead perform the proper death-rites for the individual.
The prey suffers very little, after all.

Many sorcerers would like to summon them, but are defeated by the requirements. One must hunt and butcher an animal in total silence, a notable one in some regard. Mighty or unusual.

A token must then be taken, and an offering must be made, and even then it is not guaranteed to succeed. If successful the Hunter will come to the conjuror, share a meal and inspect the token. If they are impressed they will allow themselves to be called via the token, for aid, companionship or invocation.

If invoked they offer either aid or the animal aspects and great skill with hunting, essentially allowing for the invoker to become a symphony of predatory perfection in much the same way as the Hunters themselves.

Other rituals made for conjuring or binding may be used, but the Hunters are wily and deft, and slip through bindings and weave around summoning like a wet fish slips from ones grasp. Great skill and precision is required to pin their essence and draw it to the mortal world, and even this may prove impossible for a skilled sorcerer.

Finally one may encounter them in moderate numbers in the rare great hunts they engage in, scattered among the seething throng of spirits that cavorts and revels through the long dark nights of the great hunt, dancing untouched at the epicenters of spiritual vortexes of the dead and death-dealing.

They stalk both the great wilderness-beyond-sight, the Deathly Lands and the twilit realms of cold rationality, though they favor the mortal world most of all.

It is possible that some of them were once Kith or Kin, but only murmurings and rumors of this are heard. Noting definite

 

Mountain Chief

A specific spirit, heavily associated with a specific mountain in a range. To the local tribes, it represents both life and death. Mercy and wrath.

It resembles, to those who see it, an enormous goat-creature. It possesses four great horns, two which twist upwards at a ninety degree angle to each other, and equidistant from the very top of its head, and two which are at ninety degree angles to the top ones, yet oriented downwards. Its beard, ears and "mane" create four more points between the four horns, generating a strange "octogram" star shape with its head.

This is emphasized by the shimmering thread that connects the horns. A strange thread that almost resembles the webs of spiders... Or elegant silken secretions of a particular form of worm. At each "groove" in the horns, the threading is affixed, so each pair of "adjacent" horns is connected by four threads.

Its fur is stone-grey, and it stands a full nine strides tall. More than four times the height of even rather tall Kin. Its face is a golden skull of a goat. Its eyes are burning spheres, like white-hot embers smoothed into pristine orbs. Its tail is, strangely, akin to that of an aurochs, a "flyswatter" tail with a long tuft of fur at the end for whipping at irritations. Irritations the spirit is exempt from by its nature.

Bizarrely the feet of the spirit are not the cloven hooves of a goat, but strange three-toed hooves. This detail, to those who are wise, betrays the ancientness of this spirit.

It is a celestial being. Its mountaintop is considered sacred, one of a few bridges between the worlds. A stand-in for the Axis Mundi. And so it is quite a potent spirit. It may choose to walk and not disturb the snow it stands on, or it may choose to prance on the very winds themselves, which are its own to command.

Invocations must be done at the mountain, preferably the very peak where the snows begin to fall. Noon or midnight is preferable, and equinoxes or solstices are ideal. Traditionally, a wooden bowl of offerings is placed in a makeshift altar of stones piled in such a way that the bowl may rest comfortably in the center.

The spirit may manifest if the offerings are great enough. If not it may still answer the invocation. In the later case, a sudden stillness of the air, followed by an impossible upwards gust of wind which carries the offerings into the air. The offerings then seem to vanish, like the spots in ones eyes after gazing at the sun.

The spirit is passive and much prefers to get mortals to act in its stead, rather than acting on its own. However it does have a tendency to fall into fascination (and, if rumors are to be believed, love) with particular mortals, whom it may show cryptically high favor. This is easy to lose, however, if one serves a spirit it particularly dislikes.

The spirit is said to offer a degree of authority over the wind, skills with weaving and textiles, a gaze that may stare into the deeper nature of things, skill with rearing particular worms and insects as livestock and the capacity to stride on wind alone. As with all spirits, other gifts may be possible.

Not all at once, of course. Not unless you are favored, or your offerings are particularly, shockingly, flattering.

Tap-Bugs

Though they may resemble insects prone to swarming, they are often conjured alone, or in small groups in uncommon cases.

They resemble great insects, as large as an adolescent if it were to stand up high and stretch out fully. However that is all that can be said of their resemblance to these animals.

They seem to be composed of metal, stone or natural glass, as if their sections were carved individually and they were somehow "assembled" into the animal form itself.

These are not drab greys or whites. The colors of the apparent materials they are made of are quite variable. Reds and yellows, greens and blues. Stones and gemstones and metals and glasses from numberless corners of the world, assembled into an articulate almost delicate insectoid beauty.

Visually they are quite stunning. Akin to a sculpture. Audibly, they are unusual indeed.

Their name is taken from their sounds. A series of constant sounds that overlap but line up in a bizarre fashion.

The quickest is a very delicate "tip tapping", like a delicate needle of metal against another needle. Every second it taps thrice. On every third tap, a deeper "dokk" of stone against metal occurs, simultaneously with the delicate tap. On every ninth tap and third "dokk" a deep "tong", deep enough to just barely feel in ones teeth is heard.

The sounds are, blessedly, not loud. Barely above a whisper. But they are constant.

They are, understandably, unpopular to conjure for long.

However, their invocations are very useful indeed.

Conjuring them requires one construct a vessel of several kinds of stone. It does not require impossible skill to carve, merely an honest effort to gather and use a wide variety of visually distinct materials. Assemblage is often done via drilling small holes in the sections, segments and limbs, and using threading to create the "joints."

The vessel, which should at least resemble an insect of some kind (beetles are popular due to the ease of construction, but others may work better due to the prevalence of beetle-vessels) must then be placed in an environment that has been rendered ritually sterile. A stone surface, swept of all detritus and repeatedly sterilized with various medicinal herbs is common, but it must be done carefully to avoid the accumulation of pungent aromas.

The tap-bugs will then inhabit the vessel, which will seem to deconstruct itself, pulling more material from behind and between the sections. These will click together, carve each other and then finally, assemble into the form itself, which will begin the constant sound.

They offer an incomparable sense of rhythm, an acute sense of measurement and geometry in both space and time, skills with sculpting and the capacity to harden ones flesh against blows, while retaining its pliability and flexibility. The last of which is often why they are summoned, but it is the gift they consider the most crude and least impressive.

They are much more likely to favor you if you seem highly cooperative with others, or conversely if you seem alienated by your ambitions and curiosity. This is the extent of their ethics, though they themselves are non-violent.

Oh cool the AC is fixed.

Echo-Masques

 These spirits are extremely closely associated with specific physical objects. To each spirit, a particular Mask, to each Mask, a particular spirit.

It begins with a sorcerer, or perhaps an artisan with such skill as to be near identical to sorcery. Regardless, they must weave the mask themself.

It must be woven of a material of extremely high quality, and so to must its structure derive from something exquisite. Flax and wood will not suffice. These are vain spirits and so must be coerced with fineries not easily accessible to forager cultures.

The mask must have structure and yet it must be flexible. It must be soft to wear. It must look exquisite. Gemstones and metal threading, ivory to hold its structure, glittering glass in the eyes.

At the crux of the conjuring, the mask must be given a voice. This is a difficult but deceptively simple sorcery to perform. All that is required is that one must truly give their voice to it. Fully, psychologically, abandon their voice and speech and give it to the thing being made.

One can learn to speak once again. Understanding has not been taken. Merely the habits and complexes that create a voice. They will never be able to speak with that voice again, but they can learn a new one.

Alternatively, it is possible to take a voice, via torments and cruelties that lead one to simply abandon it. This would suffice for the ritual, but there are ways for knowledge of such actions to spread voicelessly.

Regardless of the method, the result is the same. A Mask with a voice that has been given to it. It speaks as if from within the mask, and it quickly learns to understand what the words it now has mean.

The mask cannot at this point do much. It can talk, think and conspire, but little else.

It can be given more voices.

It can also learn to invent voices. It can learn to "throw" its voice, such that it seems to come from elsewhere. It can even, eventually, learn to take control of a dead, mindless or (if truly developed) living body.

With time they can even learn certain forms of purely vocal/verbal sorcery.

The purpose of such a thing is often a kind of ostentatious servant or entertainer. Singing comes naturally to them, of course, and they can learn to mimic all manner of sounds.

Rarely one is created as a scapegoat for someone who truly does not want their voice. In some cases, these individuals may form a partnership of sorts with the mask. A kind of mutualistic exchange of ideas and services. It would not be accurate to describe this in fully human terms, as the Masks are not and never were human, but a parallel can be drawn to the concept of "fondness".

Understandably, many of these masks go on to become notorious artifacts. There are a handful of such masks scattered around the world, though what auditory sorcery they have learned and the weight of ages may have... Changed them.

Formless Inquiry 

The name is somewhat inaccurate. The spirit does not merely lack form, it lacks true location and a significant amount of independent definition. Most of its essence lies outside of the range of perception and experience that defines the cosmology of Kith and Kin.

It is difficult to conjure such a being intentionally. They are more often encountered in an abstract sort of way, during a hallucinogenic trip that brings one to another realm. Rarely, such trips will bring one far, far outside of coherent experiences they understand. This is akin to a sort of dissociation from ones sensory environment, kinesthetic sense and even ones own thoughts and self.

Such an experience is unlike any of the psychedelic realms folded into the Mortal World as we understand them. They lie between these perceptions, or perhaps outside or underlying them.

It is "in" such perceptual not-spaces-nor-times that formless spirits dwell.

The Formless Inquiry is a particular kind of these spirits. Perhaps there is only one, or perhaps they are all completely distinct and it is more a pattern of behavior some of them follow. It is not certain to anyone which of these is true, but I find the later option to be the most convincing.

When a mind that has existed almost completely in a world of sharp sensation and perception touches these modalities, sometimes a resident... Thing develops something that might resemble curiosity.

And so it latches on, and follows the intrepid spirit-wanderer back.

The Inquiry does not resemble an entity in the traditional sense. Its more a complex of psycho-spiritual phenomena and processes. It may have elements that translate to sensation, perception, will, intention, compulsion or any other cognitive phenomena, but these express only the part of its nature that overlaps with the experiential reality that the spirit-wanderer understands.

It has elements that cannot be understood, that only exist to us by their wake-effects on those they latch to.

The Inquiry will then, from its lofty vantage point of a hapless spirit-wanderers cognition, begin to subtly twist and color their perceptions and experiences.

They cannot, or refuse to, overwhelm the will of the host. For whatever reason, they seem to avoid "touching" the awareness and will itself. Though the host will likely become aware that Something Analogous To Curious has slipped into their perception, via the "gaps" in their perception.

They are not malicious. This particular pattern of "behavior" is consistent in that regard. They are more like curious scientists or mystics, attempting to glean a world they can just barely catch the slightest glimpses of, via the aspects that they happen to share.

To most sorcerers, they are little more than a frustratingly persistent nuisance. They complicate trips to other realms, as they twist the experience and perception of the realms subtly, which is equivalent to a persistent side-wind blowing a ship just barely off course (or, sometimes, sending them so far afield that its hard to find ones way back) metaphorically speaking.

To a rare few however, they represent a possible mutuality. We are equally incomprehensible to these spirits. We are to them, incomprehensible spirits of things they cannot fathom, just as they are to us. An interplay can form, whereby one expresses an intention and the Inquiry responds in some way. In this way one can (excruciatingly slowly) learn to work with such a thing, to shape ones perception around some incomprehensible modality, and slowly understand what can be understood of it via its cognitive "wake."

And so a rare few mystics have a "partner" of sorts that is more akin to a condition, a cognitive disruption or a cluster of phenomenal processes. These are often the wisest, and possibly least coherent, mystics. Or at least the most curious of that which genuinely cannot be experienced or understood.

These mystics do seem to be the most skilled with simply... Entering a trip by will alone. Perhaps there is a connection, or perhaps some other sorcery is to blame.

 

(Next post is planned to be an actual rundown of the metaphysics and cosmology of Kith and Kin. Maybe that will make the above entry make sense. Probably not.)

Kith and Kin: Character Creation (And Basic Mechanics)

 Hard, unbending mechanics are not the system I feel Kith and Kin should be represented in. Fully freeform isn't my favorite way to run a game, but FKR fits a certain level of comfortable flexibility for me.

 

Cueva De Las Manos, "Cave of the Hands" in Argentina.

 

Core Mechanic

If a player character or other acting thing within the world attempts something, consider whether it will automatically succeed or fail. I default to these to keep the game going. Sometimes I'll instead have the referee (so, me) roll for certain results, if they rely on things outside the players control.

In cases of ambiguity, such as combat or other contests where participants and circumstances lead to difficult to predict outcomes, I prefer a 3d6 roll. It has almost the range of a d20 roll, with a rather nice bell curve that makes even small bonuses useful.

Thank you Anydice.

This roll is either attempting to meet or exceed a target number, or is against an opposed roll. I prefer the later, personally, it makes things more difficult to predict in these circumstances.

Modifications to this core mechanic are easy and possible. Tiny bonuses are okay, but I prefer biasing the rolls in other ways.

Specifically, advantageous traits and circumstances can allow you to roll additional dice in the pool, and drop the lowest number of dice equal to the additional ones. You can do the other way too, with disadvantages, just dropping the higher dice instead. This is described as giving one or more "dice" of advantage or disadvantage.

Advantages and disadvantages cancel each other out, to an extent, unless there's a reason for one of them to simply not apply. Then its not really an advantage or disadvantage.

This is used in character creation in other games sometimes. It pushes up the probability spread a bit. I like it, its rather basic and still leaves room for error (though unlikely the more dice you add).

For combat, I just take how much the attacker succeeded by, and whatever weapon they're using, and sort of eyeball how badly they hurt their target. Wounds are narrative, but can work as disadvantages too.

I also use "clocks" with "ticks" for things like bleeding out, disease, certain curses, etc. Smarter folks than I have explained those before. Again these aren't hard mechanics, more shorthands for my convenience than anything else.

This core mechanic is my default system for FKR games. Of course, if it gets to the point where you think someone would just succeed, or just fail, then just go with that and don't even roll.

 

By Ettore Mazza

Character Creation

First, select a people. This will provide some one dice advantages and disadvantages based on the group you select.

Some possibilities are

• Youngfolk: Can use projectile weapons without a spear-thrower or sling thanks to having a waist. Higher self-control. Can switch rolls or skills faster than others. Look young. Tallest. Frail for their size.
  
• Broadfolk: Tough and strong. Resist cold easier, more neutral on heat. Better visual perception. Require more food.
• Smallfolk: Smaller. Require less food and drink. Can work together and get along with others easier. Weaker and more fragile.
• Treefolk: Smaller, but less so than smallfolk. Can climb much easier. Using tools is a bit more difficult unless built by them (hands work a bit differently).
• Elderfolk: Hodge-podge of benefits from other "Kin" groups depending on the Elderfolk. Either less specialized or hyper-specialized.
• Wildfolk: Hard time speaking, but have fur. This makes you tougher, able to survive cold easier, but less endurance in heat. Easier time climbing. The more wild, the more primate-like, the harder it is for you to relate to the tools and behaviors of the Kin, the better "natural" traits you have.
• Underkin: (Not done yet. I swear I'll make a post on them eventually. They deserve their own.)

 

Neanderthals with Modern Humans (By the Kennis Brothers)

Next, select what role your character played in their former society. This will provide some skills and potentially even some other advantages. Skills usually allow you to simply do things that others might have to roll for, and lets you roll in circumstances others might just fail. Other times they might provide a dice of advantage. Some possibilities are...

• Craftsperson (provides skills in a handful of crafting disciplines. Can include cooking.)
• Forager (everyone can forage, you're just really good at it. Includes fishing if bodies of water were in the area. Probably line or net fishing.)
• Hunter (combat and tracking. Also includes fishing, though probably more spear-fishing.)
• Wise-one (herbalism and spiritualism. An initiatory secret...)
• Entertainer (song and dance, storytelling, Performance)
• Leader (Keeping people calm and/or effective, Being heard, Making sense)
• Farmer (Farmwork. Ideal conditions for plants and animals. Selective breeding. Less useful as a nomad.)
  

Others are possible. The bits in the parenthesis are meant to be skills you can have, and are more of a rough guide than anything concrete. Bit of a theme this post, it seems.

Some can be from more settled cultures, but will provide less useful advantages to surviving in the wild.

 

Looks-wise, these are somewhat-kin-adjacent Wildfolk. Behavior-wise,
it varies. Some are nice, some are not. Just like people. (From Primal, the show)

Next, select one (or more, depending on the ref. I'd require more disadvantages to take more than one) secondary quality to add some depth. This is like the role you had, but is less categorical. Some possibilities include...

• Physically fit (Overall more athletic than your fellows.)
• Iron Guts (Hard to poison or get drunk/inebriated. Resist venom.)
• Ascetic (Need half as much food, drink and comfort. Just not as affected by their absence.)
• Spiritual Affinity (Can more easily slip into altered states of consciousness. Useful for sorcery, spiritualism and mysticism. Might accidentally slip into them sometimes, especially if something is trying to catch your attention.)
• Learned (More likely to just know things. Biased towards the culture you are from.)

Again, others can be possible. Work with your ref.

 

"Gabillou Sorcerer", I'm unsure how accurate
this interpretation is. Its cool regardless.

Finally, determine why you were exiled from your former culture. These are mixed advantages and disadvantages. Some possibilities include (but are not limited to)...

• You made trouble. For whatever reason you simply were not compatible with the culture or authority of your former tribe. Sadly, you're prone to making trouble in other large groups too, but you're definitely good at stirring up peoples animosity towards leadership...
• Sacrificial treatment. You were either selected for a sacrifice, or your banishment was the sacrifice. Either way, this weighs on you in some way. It might lead to preferential treatment by some unusual things though.
• You were taken, not banished. In a raid or war, you were taken as a prisoner. You escaped. Fortunately, your old tribe would welcome you if you found them again. Unfortunately your former captors would also welcome you back if they found you again.
• Endling. Your tribe was obliterated, somehow. This is unlikely to be your fault, but that might not be entirely the case, depending on the situation.
• Forbidden Sorcery. Gain an initiatory Secret. If you were a Wise one, you may choose to gain another or deepen your understanding of your selected initiatory secret, or gain the favor of a forbidden spirit. The more powerful, the less attention and differential treatment you'd get. You might owe something.
• Mutant. Some physical difference sets you apart from others. Real-world disability and disorders probably don't fit here, since there are entire tribes in which these differences are just a natural facet of that culture. Its probably something clearly unnatural. How did you get it? What is it?
• Cursed. Highly variable. Perhaps you are a therianthrope, haunted by a spirit, or worse. Work with your Ref to determine how this works out.

Lastly, select one or two items/objects for each section up above. Food and drink for a few days as well as some tools are recommended. The groups should have at least a few weapons as well.

Your goals are survival... And whatever goals you make for yourselves, or develop naturally from your interactions with the environment and peoples.