Casting Shadows

The sixth day of #RPGaDay2026 gives us the prompt Reach. The daily filter is Thursday’s possibly optimistic ‘Far to Go’ and this whole week’s responses use ‘Intellect’ as a further qualifier to inspire, limit, or guide us in some way. I quite like the ambivalence of Thursday’s filter. Even if generally taken in one light by most people, it’s likely that people being people at least some of them will take it another way entirely. That’s useful. For this response we will also take another step or two into Vagabonds of Dyfed to explore how it reaches toward its goal of being an effective means of discovering or rediscovering the treasures of old adventures and settings.

So far this week we have quickly and conversationally created an Arcanist character and a Devoted character. The first is skilled at reading magical writings and figuring out magical artifacts who seeks lost rituals for controlling the weather. The second is skilled at readying allies for battle and has learned much about the ill-aspected ruin they are to assail tomorrow. These characters highlight the quick and improvisational framework through which characters are viewed and easily mechanized in a familiar feeling way in the game. The next character to be made was undertaken through the random generation method suggested in the core rules then expanded and made more explicit in the Cyclopedia. That one is a temple soldier with held together by a fervent belief in the possibility of revenge.

Today, we will look at some new elements added by the Cyclopedia and see how they change things.

We will first draw the character from one of the provided archetypes placed in the back of each of the books. These example archetypes have a of ground to cover in terms of being inspiration for whatever fantasy setting you might apply these rules too, so if you were playing in an ‘all-human’ setting or were drawing on a lot of already establishing understandings about it, few could be used without adjustment. If you were instead taking on an expansive setting with lots of character lineage options and fluid or collaborative lore, then they could be used right out of the book. I am going to stick with humans this week, for the sake of brevity, so I will borrow the Adventurer from the core rules.

This one strikes me as someone reaching, constantly, for something beyond their grasp. The road leads them on and it takes them away. Toward what? From what troubles? Where did the road begin? Have they never known a home, or has it be so long that they have forgotten… or assumed that they have been forgotten? Has home been erased by time and loss?

Can you have farther to go than when reaching for a destination which is forever over the horizon?

For fun I randomly determined a level and it turned out to be 4. Normally, this would be decided by the group or matched to the challenge of whatever published adventure was to be used. That level means that we have some things to add to the character to reflect their greater experience. This means adding in more Background tags to reflect the things they have done, or these new tags might be new insights into or changes of their behaviors, such as goal, approach. or gimmick which likewise recognize what they have been through. We are also going to explore the Infamy/Glory element offered in the Cyclopedia to reflect long-form play. In the core book, the archetypes have suggestions printed for quick finishing of the characters for play, but you are not bound to use the ones suggested in light text.

Our adventurer bears the name Tuhon and we will not change or contradict much on the sheet except as it pertains to his level. That will change to 4. Speed will improve to 0 and HP improve to 22. Once again showing how conception matters it is a very different thing to make a martial-leaning character at Level 4 than to work up to that level. It is far easier to assign Techniques to Tuhon like Inner Compass, Pathfinder, and Iron Stomach in this context than it would be if the character were to be started at Level 1. I think that is something to consider both when it seems more honest to take character elements that serve their identity more than their capability and when elements are taken that serve only capability – especially when those traits are taken repeatedly across characters. Somehow, a balance can be found, I feel.

So, seeking balance, I will give Tuhon Inner Compass as his initial Technique and it will serve him well in this adventure and help define the sort of person he is. That leaves me with 3 more to add. When considered in order of learning, as well as the game’s admonition to require new Techniques come from experiences and tutelage in play itself, the result is different than what I might assign to a L4 character conceived of as a L1 character. The second Technique I will assign is Light Sleeper. With these two Techniques in mind I am starting to get a sense of a character forced into a wandering life through the lack of a moral compass and no deep ties, whose experiences have slowly been scarring them. Next, I will add Linguist to reflect all the time spent on the road, all the different ports of call, and the recognition that running away is easier if you can ask for directions to the next onward path. The last one I will add is a further reflection on years of travel and perhaps the recognition of ongoing success in redistributing lost or otherwise hoarded wealth – Ear to the Ground. That is the mark of having developed useful contacts in many places. This is the mark of homes which could have been, but are not.

As Tuhon is out adventuring in this sort of risky situation, however, I am going to assume some setbacks – such as being among those who survived finding it in the first place, and leave the gear printed on this sheet as what he has. Poor guy.

Tomorrow is Friday, August 7th and our prompt is Mercy in conjunction with the daily filter of ‘loving and giving.’ I wonder how that person will fit into the crew assembled around the campfire in the shadow of a deadly and storied ruin?

Anyway, see you tomorrow!