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Edicts, Anathemas, and Goals

Working draft, not locked in. Adapted from the Kaernest Pathfinder rules for Worlds Without Number.

Tir Hathar doesn't use a mechanical alignment system. A character's motivations run on three things instead: Edicts (what they do), Anathemas (what they won't do), and Goals (what they're working toward). All three earn rewards, so they come up in play rather than sitting on the character sheet.

Edicts and Anathemas can come from a faith, a tradition, a superstition, a family, or plain personal choice. The faiths have their own, and so can a people, a Sigil House, or an order. See World Overview and Religion documents.

Hero Points

WWN doesn't have Hero Points, so Tir Hathar adds them.

Earning Hero Points:

  • Following an Edict.
  • Clearly playing to an Anathema: holding to it when breaking it would be easier.
  • Helping the GM. Taking on a job that keeps the game running earns one Hero Point per job, once per session:
    • Initiative Helper: tracking initiative. The Hero Point comes when they start tracking initiative for the session.
    • Session notes: updating the wiki with notes from a session. The Hero Point comes at the start of the next session after the wiki is updated.
    • Dinner: picking up the GM's dinner on the way to the game. The GM pays for their own meal.

Keeping Hero Points:

  • Maximum of four. Hero Points are meant to be spent, not hoarded.
  • They don't carry over. Any Hero Points left at the end of a session are lost.

Spending Hero Points:

  • Extra die (1 Hero Point): roll one extra die and drop the least favorable. On a d20 roll, that means rolling two d20s and keeping the better one. On a 2d6 skill check, it means rolling 3d6 and dropping the lowest die. This is what Hero Points are for.
  • Improve a relationship (3 Hero Points): at the end of a session, improve your character's relationship with an NPC, a faction, or another character. This puts leftover Hero Points to use when there wasn't a chance to spend them during play.
  • Change the fiction (4 Hero Points): occasionally, with the GM's permission, add a detail to the scene that your character could plausibly have known or arranged — "I know this NPC," or "I set up a boat under the dock."

Hero Points can't be spent to avoid death.

Edicts

Edicts are the things your character does. Following an Edict earns a Hero Point.

  • Up to four Edicts.
  • Changing an Edict: only during downtime — outside a dungeon, not mid-adventure — and only one at a time. The exception is when something in play changes the character enough that an Edict has to change on the spot.
  • A positive bent. An Edict can occasionally cause trouble for the party, but it can't be written to cause it. "Kleptomania — has to steal something regularly" doesn't work: it isn't positive, and it will rub the party the wrong way. "Refuses to lie" might cause some headaches, but it has a positive bent, and the player can play it in ways that aren't always a problem for everyone else — refusing to answer, or finding a way around the question without breaking the Edict.

Anathemas

Anathemas are the things your character avoids doing. They aren't just negative Edicts. Think of them as Edicts for pros: they reward you, and they cut. Clearly playing to an Anathema, holding to it when breaking it would be easier, earns a Hero Point. And unlike an Edict, an Anathema also matters when it's broken.

Every Anathema needs a consequence for breaking it. The consequence can be religious, self-imposed (consciously or not), financial, social, or anything else that makes narrative sense.

Breaking an Anathema earns an Anathema Point: a +2 bonus to one roll, used in the same session. Anathema Points don't carry over.

  • No double-dipping: breaking an Anathema that's already broken, and not yet set right, earns no further reward — but it can bring further consequences.

Goals

Goals drive the game forward and keep characters involved. Many Goals carry their own built-in rewards; where there's no obvious one, the GM works up something fitting. At the very least, completing a Goal earns XP.

Goal XP

Tir Hathar uses WWN's goal-based experience system and its slow advancement chart. Goals replace most of WWN's default award of 3 XP per session.

  • Playing: every PC earns 1 XP for each session they play.
  • Goals: XP is earned when a Goal is completed, not for progress toward it.
Goal XP Each PC who helped
Short-term 3 1
Mid-term 6 2
Long-term 9 3
  • Spotlight rule: once a PC earns XP for completing their own Goal, they can't earn it again until every other PC in the party has. Helping is never limited: a PC always earns XP for helping another PC complete a Goal.
  • Short-term Goals can be quick. A short-term Goal can be something the character could finish in the same session. Goals can also change from session to session, if the GM agrees.

Choosing Goals

Characters should have several Goals at once, and they should be:

  • Measurable and achievable. If a Goal is too nebulous, there's no way to make progress on it.
  • Clear on success and failure.
  • A mix of short-term, mid-term, and long-term.
  • Fun to pursue.