Casting Shadows

To begin my first full week of responses for #RPGaDay2026 the prompt is Poise. This week is influenced by the weekly filter of intellect, and that will be foundational to all the ideas I discuss this week. I will be using the Ben Dutter game called Vagabonds of Dyfed to run from Monday through to Sunday, making one primary character and suggesting other characters in their orbit or about whom they orbit. Each character or idea for characterization which crops up in these posts will also be influenced by the daily filter which is drawn from the “Monday’s Child” poem from ages past. Monday’s child is fair of face and so that idea will contribute to what this response has to offer.

For this response today, there are two directions in which I would like to take it. The first is to briefly mention the game I am using this week. As I take the books down off the shelf and recognize that it has been years since I last went through them, they feel like a remarkably good fit for the prompt of Poise. These books present themselves confidently and clearly, holding their own in a sea of other books, and catching the eye as they do so. From the big decisions like choosing a square format, to the important decisions like how the digital versions would operate to serve the reader on varied devices, to the layout and art choices, Vagabonds of Dyfed sets itself apart and has something valuable to contribute in its graceful, self-assured, and studied way.

The other direction is of course the main idea of Vagabond of Dyfed, that of running and playing the game in the direction of experiencing the perspective of the character, and that includes how they are made. In short, characters are described much like a person might think of or describe themselves, in terms of specific traits which suggest what you do, the way that you do it, where you come from, and how you get in your own way. Playing In-Character, As-Character is obviously a big deal around here, and there are distinct parts of the game which speak to that preference.

So let’s meet one of our vagabonds in a moment of rest and self-reflection, among friends and new acquaintances.

Ruins lie in the middle distance, silhouetted against the spray of milk, blood, and glittering diamonds visible through the curtain of night. Coins burn in purses and in hidden pouches, begging to be spent on the pleasures in the town a few hours walk to the south, but the supplies and camp hangers-on sent by the distant patron of this expedition will have to suffice. Each member present feels or imagines that they feel the distant, scrying eyes of that patron as the metal plates of a decent enough meal are taken away by squires and apprentices to the river for cleaning, while full waterskins are passed around to wash the last traces of gravy down throats still tasting of dust from the journey. It’s time for everyone to get to know one other better, for tomorrow, the first foray under the ruin will begin.

A tall and thin human male, his dark brown hair neatly pulled back from an unlined and curious face, gives a slight smile and rises up a little from his seat on the ground to a seat on a keg so the firelight catches and lights his features against the spectacle of the sky. Casting his eyes around the circle of listeners, he begins to speak just loud enough for them all to hear without straining.

Call me Tydall. I seek the lost secrets of the mages of old, like the ancient Weather Wizards of my homeland who protected my people from the floodrains of summer and the creepice of winter in the stories of old. It is my hope that this ruin might share some of those secrets with me. On my way over the mountains these past few months to join you here, I have managed to speak with village elders and even visit the libraries in the Walled Cities of the Eastern and Western passes. From those efforts I have managed to sketch out this map of rumor, art, memory, and written record which might help us as we make our way within the ruin (5. Lineage: Human, 1. Concept: Aspiring Ritual Master, 2b. Goal: find Rituals, 2a. Approach: Prepared)

As he speaks, Tydall casually toys with a small lodestone on a length of tough twine. Working it through his fingers and gesturing with it to tick off points. At times, when he looks down at the stone, it glows softly with a pale bluish light, its predictable swings and rotations casting strange shadows behind the circle of faces until he looks away again. (4. Technique: Illumination)

The stories of this place tells us that great magic was wrought and unleashed here. My main contribution, such as it is, will be in my arcane training. I have been tasked with identifying any artifacts and magical writings we uncover, and my responsibility lies in keeping us safe in any areas marked and warded with active enchantment or made dangerous in some fashion by the spells of the past. There is a reason why little escapes this place but rumors of lost expeditions, and the history I have marked in these maps spells out why. In addition, I have no small amount of experience with stone – especially the granite which so much of this ruin was built from. My story began as a stonecutter’s apprentice and should our route be to areas just waiting for an excuse to collapse, I will know. (2c Gimmick, 2d. foreground: Arcanist, 2e. Background: Blacksmith, 2f. Weakness: Overconfident)

Wrapping up, Tydall looks at each person earnestly then stands easily, lit now from below by the fire and haloed above by an arc of glittering diamonds in the sky. Confident, self-assured, untroubled by the uneven ground or the darkness, handsome in a familiar way, and unconcerned about it.

Though I know that some of us assembled here have come for the pay or the sense of adventure alone, but for me this is an opportunity to learn as well. There are secrets in that ruin, I am sure of it. There are secrets that we who live now desperately need if we are to prevent further destruction and ruination in our time and in our homes. I believe with their failure as our guiding principle that we who uncover the powers and artifacts of the past can build a new and more stable future and I look forward to taking another step on that searching path with all of you. (3. Core Flaw)

Tomorrow is Tuesday, August 4th and our prompt is Charm. How will this approach to character generation and the vast blank slate of a fantasy world work with us for such a prompt as that – especially with Tuesday’s gift of Grace?

See you then, and please, if you can, do not forget to read the posts of others out there on the internet, let them know you were there, and share the ones that impress you!