the book of legends and deeds
By Zach Best
What is BOLD?
The Book of Legends and Deeds (“BOLD”) is a supplement for any pen and paper roleplaying game to help facilitate the creation of stories and deeds for player characters (“PC”). It can be used to generate rich character histories. It can be used to create on-the-fly encounters, and it also contains a way to get players more active in coloring the world and game.
BOLD is universal. It was designed to be run with every standing genre in tabletop roleplaying. Some terms must bend a little more depending on a genre. For example, “science” might be alchemy in a swords and sorcery campaign or a “monster” might be a horrible human being in a modern game. The terms are not definite answers that restrict possibilities; they are ideas to get the creative juices flowing.
BOLD is focused on enriching a game with histories and legends of the PC with Waylays. With a few quick rolls, a player can create a story of the adventurer’s rise to prominence, or a player can easily explain why the PC was missing the last few sessions. BOLD builds those stories to fit into any roleplaying environment.
BOLD is also used to guide players towards coloring the world with PC responses with Connections. It helps to get players thinking about the context of their response through the lens of the PC within the game world.
When to use BOLD’s Waylays?
The Waylays of BOLD should be used when the game is stuck on “what happened?” or “what got in the way?”
What happened before the PC entered the tavern to meet all the other PC’s?
What happened when the PC was absent for a month because the player wasn’t around?
What happened between adventures?
Waylays can be used to answer all these questions. The system creates Waylays – things that got in the way – and also provides guidance on how the waylays were overcome. It pushes the player towards thinking more cleverly and heroically rather than answering every challenge with a sword. The story becomes much more interesting if a PC has to rely on a weak attribute or an act of nature to overcome the encounter.
Waylays can also be used to traverse time and distance in the middle of a session. Rather than an uneventful week-long trip from one kingdom to another, throw in a Waylay to make things more interesting. Waylays can also be used to generate actual encounters, where BOLD would then give way to your favorite RPG system’s rules.
When to use BOLD’s Connections?
The Connections of BOLD is a mini-game overlay that is used to get players to muse, quip, and generally remark on the world around them. They define a set of randomly generated small actions, such as a short phrase or using body language, to connect a PC’s thoughts to an in- character interaction.
Many players inherently have this skill. A GM paints the world, and a player narrates what her character is thinking, viewing, or feeling (e.g., they “ponder” “avoiding” “a decision”). Another players will sit silently until they are asked the famous GM-question, “what do you do?” The goal of Connections is to get the latter players more involved with an easy, directed mini-game to get them to speak through their PCs.
Developer Notes on BOLD
Pushing Out-of-the-Box Solutions
The first iteration of BOLD’s Waylays was merely creating conflicts. A universal approach was taken, and narrative-style gaming was kept in mind. Yet, the problems, however interesting (illuminating trap?), could easily be overcome with a character shtick:
‘I do barbarian things to overcome that obstacle.’
The Waylay Solution is a means to push player creativity with full use of the PC. A barbarian could easily overcome “fragile mooks” with a bag of rats and a Great Cleave feat. It is much more interesting to determine how the barbarian overcame them with a weak attribute or by accident.
The Waylay’s depth in the world grows when the players ask the question “why?” Why did the barbarian have to overcome the fragile mooks with a weak attribute? Possibly the enemies put the barbarian in a spot where he couldn’t use brute force. Perhaps the “fragile mooks” were children. In character, maybe the barbarian took pity on the weaklings. Whatever the case the world gets a tad more colorful and the PC becomes a bit more three-dimensional if the boundaries of the core concept are pushed outwards.
Marvelous Connections
Connections would not exist without the roleplaying game Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. That RPG makes small actions mechanically meaningful, especially in the progression sense. I highly recommend it for a very character-centric roleplaying game.
I wanted to take that idea and push it onwards in a universal sense that could be overlaid to any RPG. I wanted players to be imagining “what are my characters thinking?” With a perfect gaming group focused on PC narration, this is never a problem.
For the rest, Connections provides some small direction towards getting a player to conceptualize another small slice of the PC.
How can our barbarian PC “ponder avoiding a love?” First the player has to ask what might the barbarian love. Why would he avoid it? The questions start to fall, and in the realm of limitless imagination there are answers. By the end of that Connection the PC will have grown far beyond a stereotypical barbarian (which is sad for the unrequited orc maiden).
Context, Context, Context!
BOLD is nothing without context. The more context available to use when determining the Waylays the better the final story. How does the Waylay relate to the game and setting? How does it relate to the current circumstances? How does this Waylay relate to the other Waylay results? Those three questions should be asked of each Waylay.
Always fall back to interpreting the words heavily in context of the game. In Werewolf: the Forsaken a horror might be an Idigam, and in Earthdawn a horror might be a Horror. Weather in Traveler could be a solar flare. Deputies in Star Wars RPG might be Stormtroopers. View the Waylays through the lens of the game!
Peaceful Waylays?
Not every Waylay is a conflict. Sometimes life just gets in the way. Most of the haven, party, and personal Waylays will heavily rely on PC and game context. These Waylays add a “slice of life” to the PC’s adventure. Environmental Waylays might also fall under this purview.
A Waylay without a direct problem might also need a storytelling based on the Waylay Solution. Why is the hamlet dubious? The source of that dubiousness is likely going to change if the Waylay was overcome by an act of nature (precariously placed town) versus the authority (town of thieves). Sometimes, though, it’s okay for the PC’s to just get caught up in a festival.
Waylays
BOLD’s Waylays determine "what happened" or “what got in the way”. They were designed to create a player history, but Waylays can be used to flesh out downtimes and moments between active adventuring. They can also help design whole adventure arcs.
Step 1. Determine the Waylay. Roll a d10 to determine the Descriptor from the first column and another d10 to obtain a Waylay Noun in the Descriptor’s row from Table 1. Roll a d100 (2 d10 dice with one being the 10’s) to obtain a Waylay Modifier from Table 2. Combine the two as if forming a simple sentence.
For example if a 2 is rolled the Descriptor is “hard foes”, which is followed by a 5 making the Waylay Noun “monster”. Then rolling a 57 makes the Waylay Modifier “stale”.
Table 1: Waylay Noun
| Descriptor | (1-2) | (3-4) | (5-6) | (7-8) | (9-10) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Easy Foes | animals | mooks | mob | bandits | deputies |
| 2 | Hard Foes | bounty hunter | soldiers | monster | villain | horror |
| 3 | Knowledge | ascetic | research | occult | enigma | science |
| 4 | Physical | pursuit | trap | struggle | illness | labor |
| 5 | Factional | army | invader | holdings | authority | rebels |
| 6 | Haven | festival | hermit | tavern | hamlet | conclave |
| 7 | Party | misunderstanding | accusations | power play | friend-in-need | disappearance |
| 8 | Personal | traitor | lover | death | relative | rival |
| 9 | Epic | heaven / hell | afterlife | myth | otherworldly | the strange |
| 10 | Natural | weather | straying /lost | social environ | deprivation | the wild |
Each selection is generally ruled by the row Descriptor. “Occult” and “the strange” are close in definition, but the occult Waylay is generally aimed at a Waylay requiring knowledge. “The strange” is viewed through the lens of a greater scope (i.e., “epic”). The row descriptors are not absolute boundaries, but they are guides to help focus the Waylay.
Easy foes: Waylays the PC should easily overcome either by force, guile, or charm. In combat heavy games these could be considered random encounters.
Hard foes: these encounters are a challenge to the PC, and not simply ‘dealt with’. In combat heavy games these would be considered capstone fights, but guile or charm should be options to overcoming these waylays.
Knowledge: these are the mysteries and mental puzzles of the world. Here a PC can learn and grow in understanding of the world around.
Physical: where “Knowledge” is to brain, “Physical” is to brawn. “Physical” is usually non-combat. Dexterity and fortitude are just as important to overcoming these obstacles as strength.
Factional: these Waylays involve the larger players in the world. The subject usually represents a component that has a much bigger scale than a PC’s party.
Haven: this is where a PC visits and explores a location for a “slice of life”. All Waylays are not necessarily conflict. Sometimes life just gets in the way.
Party: the PC’s friends, family, and contacts are involved in the Waylays here. These Waylays focus on the conflicts that can occur in close relationships.
Personal: the most important people to a PC come up in these Waylays. Unlike “Party” the Waylay here is inherent in the relationship.
Epic: most won’t believe what just happened. Greater forces were at work here.
Natural: those blistering hot days and those hurricanes, or the mall.
| Table 2: Waylay Modifier | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | futile | 21 | harsh | 41 | binding | 61 | unreliable | 81 | abnormal |
| 2 | impassioned | 22 | leeching | 42 | noble | 62 | altruistic | 82 | abstract |
| 3 | hesitant | 23 | tranquil | 43 | copious | 63 | storied | 83 | irritating |
| 4 | benign | 24 | inclusive | 44 | retired | 64 | tapped | 84 | hidden |
| 5 | revered | 25 | righteous | 45 | provoking | 65 | tedious | 85 | hallowed |
| 6 | pedantic | 26 | attentive | 46 | ordinary | 66 | quiet | 86 | illusory |
| 7 | grim | 27 | inexplicable | 47 | prolonged | 67 | exotic | 87 | legendary |
| 8 | common | 28 | corrupt | 48 | deceiving | 68 | impervious | 88 | prolonged |
| 9 | bitter | 29 | roaring | 49 | savage | 69 | fledgling | 89 | meek |
| 10 | impassioned | 30 | unmistakable | 50 | drowsy | 70 | fixated | 90 | proficient |
| 11 | perceiving | 31 | sudden | 51 | mundane | 71 | illuminating | 91 | forbidden |
| 12 | selfish | 32 | impending | 52 | abrupt | 72 | exhausting | 92 | fantastic |
| 13 | prohibited | 33 | fragile | 53 | unforeseen | 73 | honorable | 93 | accidental |
| 14 | brusque | 34 | painless | 54 | peaceful | 74 | exclusive | 94 | malevolent |
| 15 | prosperous | 35 | haphazard | 55 | steady | 75 | apparent | 95 | unlikely |
| 16 | depraved | 36 | foreign | 56 | abetting | 76 | valuable | 96 | problematic |
| 17 | comforting | 37 | ravenous | 57 | stale | 77 | haunting | 97 | eccentric |
| 18 | hopeless | 38 | adept | 58 | regular | 78 | migrant | 98 | lethargic |
| 19 | waning | 39 | barbaric | 59 | dubious | 79 | pleasant | 99 | amusing |
| 20 | regimental | 40 | disputable | 60 | exclusive | 80 | incompetent | 100 | afflicting |
Step 2. Determine the Waylay Solution. This step is partly optional. Roll 2d10 to find a Waylay Solution from Table 3. This table has bell-curved probability to have the PC as the major means of resolution.
Step 3. Interpret the results. Read the Waylay as a sentence “ravenous occult [knowledge] overcome by a close friend”. The context is the ruling factor. What is a ravenous occult-based knowledge Waylay? It could be a heinous murder complete with demonic drawings in blood, or it could be tales of an ancient lich’s memoir.
Arced Waylay – an Arced Waylay has an overarching theme with smaller waylays nested within to create a longer story or a better background.
(a) The Theme Waylay is rolled as a Waylay without a Waylay Solution. This sets the theme of the Arc. Alternatively, decide on the theme based on the current adventure, such as a spirit quest or traveling to the next kingdom.
(b) Nested Waylays are then rolled as normal (Steps 1-3) and interpreted with the theme in mind.
Three Nested Waylays are a good number because they can easily be used in a manner of a dramatic structure: (1) exposition, (2) rising action and conflict, and (3) climax and resolution.
For example, the Theme Waylay is “revered traitor” with one of the Nested Waylays being a “forbidden struggle” overcome by a close friend. This could be a person of power, such as a king or senator to a republic, and the PC finds out that the person is a traitor. One of the events of this arc could be that the PC gets into a shoving match in the throne room or senate, and the PC barely makes it out in one piece because a close friend hurries the PC out.
| Table 3 | Waylay Solution |
|---|---|
| 2 | legendary help |
| 3 | act of nature |
| 4 | the people |
| 5 | enemy help |
| 6 | avoidance |
| 7 | scarce-used ability |
| 8 | personal resources |
| 9 | close friend |
| 10 | strong attribute |
| 11 | favored ability |
| 12 | favored skill |
| 13 | on accident |
| 14 | weak attribute |
| 15 | counteraction |
| 16 | faction intervention |
| 17 | the authority |
| 18 | fate |
| 19 | change of heart |
| 20 | deus ex |
Waylays and the Mechanics of the RPG
BOLD’s Waylays were designed with a heavy slant for narration of "what happened" or “what got in the way”. Part of the goal was to fill holes in the story quickly. For the most part once the Waylay Solution is rolled the player should focus on narrating how the Waylay was overcome. However, there are a few ideas on how to tie the Waylays to the mechanics of the RPG.
One idea is to take away the guaranteed success of a Waylay. A thief lets her party sleep while she goes out lurking in the night. The GM could forego the Waylay Solution and require that the player use the thief’s mechanical attributes to overcome the problems along with the game system’s probabilities for success. The latter might cause an unsuccessful night of lurking.
For example, the thief might meet a “depraved mob” that sees someone to lash out at. Can the thief use stealth to get away? What if this leads to a “hidden death” of someone close to the thief? The mob trampled someone or attacked someone else since the thief got away. The thief could find a way to enact revenge that night.
Another idea is to use Waylays as an attrition mechanic. As the players walk through a ruined city roll up Waylays as skill and combat checks. If the players encounter “a savage enigma”, which in the ruined city might be a leftover cytotoxin, have them roll knowledge or medicine checks (as their kidneys are melting). Try and make use of the many skills and abilities of the PC’s.
Requiring multiple successful rolls to overcome a Waylay before a set number of failures are rolled can turn the event in to an entire on-the-fly “skill challenge”. With the cytotoxin example, the GM could require a separate knowledge check, a medicine check, a constitution check, etc. as the PC’s attempt to overcome the Waylay skill challenge. Too many failures and the PC’s might succumb to the cytotoxin in debilitating and mechanical ways. Check out Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition with plenty of archived articles on the internet for some great advice on creating skill challenges.
Again, Context!
It bears repeating that context is absolutely critical to the Waylays. BOLD is system and setting agnostic, which is why there are no Waylays like “goblins” or “space plague”. What are mooks in most fantasy settings? Goblins. What about a grim illness in a space opera? Well that’s going to be a space plague, captain.
Do not take the terms at face value. Soldiers in one modern setting might be better as homunculus bodyguards than a U.S. Army troop. A hamlet could be a truck stop, or it could be a faerie glade. Expand the word to mean something the game’s setting.
The modifiers can also change the meaning drastically. An “impending social environment” might be a factory that is being outfitted for tonight’s rave, whereas a “lethargic social environment” might be an old folk’s home or even a cemetery.
Connections Connections is a roleplaying mini-game that can be overlaid on any roleplaying game. A Connection is an action, small or large, done by a PC to further connect as a being with depth to the other PC’s and the world around. Each Connection is comprised of three words: an action, a gerund, and a subject. For a session, each player gets a 3-by-3 table of randomly rolled Connections words, and the goal is to cross off a Connection (1 action, gerund, 1 subject) from left to right through roleplaying thoughts, ideas, or conversations. GMs can award players small boons such as extra XP, bonus dice, or the like for completing
Connections.
Create a Connections table. Create a 3-by-3 grid on a notecard or sheet of paper and using a d20 roll (a) 3 unique Connection Actions for the first grid column, (b) 3 unique Connection Gerunds for the second grid column, and (c) 3 unique Connection Subjects for the third grid column.
Roleplay a Connection. Use 1 Action, 1 Gerund, and 1 Subject from the grid in a single roleplayed action or discussion. Mark off the used Connection words, and then use remaining Connection words in later roleplaying actions.
The Connections should be used in the broadest sense of combining the terms, and the subject can be more related to either the Connection Action or the Connection Gerund. For example a PC can scrutinize a party member’s understanding of a situation or the PC can scrutinize her own understanding of that party member. As long as the PC is “scrutinizing” something that relates to both “an understanding” and “party member” the Connection is made.
- Provide (or ask for) a Reward. There are two reward styles to use for completed Connections. The first is a static reward, which is usually banked for a longer term. Experience points are the foremost static reward for Connections because it rewards the growth of character. Other static rewards could include gold or other fixed resources.
The other style is a dynamic reward, which continues to push active play. Some suggestions are a one-time re-roll of any roll, a one-time dice addition to a roll, etc. The goal of the dynamic reward is to push active play.
15-Minute Break
It is a good idea to allow a rewarded Connection per player only every 15 minutes. As shown in the example below, when a player gets some of the limelight, it is pretty easy to ram through the Connections in one scene, which can lead to a checklist mentality rather than seeking to color and deepen the game. It is better if players take their time in using them across an entire session.
Table 4: Connections
| Action | Gerund | Subject | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | proclaim | 1 | exposing | 1 | a dislike |
| 2 | protest | 2 | weakening | 2 | an attribute |
| 3 | resolve | 3 | divulging | 3 | a desire |
| 4 | interject | 4 | lying | 4 | friends or family |
| 5 | demand | 5 | confronting | 5 | an annoyance |
| 6 | impart | 6 | detailing | 6 | a skill |
| 7 | commend | 7 | avoiding | 7 | a fear |
| 8 | muse | 8 | working | 8 | wealth |
| 9 | examine | 9 | negating | 9 | home or hearth |
| 10 | digress | 10 | preparing | 10 | an ability |
| 11 | assure | 11 | training | 11 | a decision |
| 12 | reminisce | 12 | enjoying | 12 | a love |
| 13 | ponder | 13 | discussing | 13 | personal qualities |
| 14 | scrutinize | 14 | obsessing | 14 | your nature |
| 15 | address | 15 | repairing | 15 | a like |
| 16 | deceive | 16 | improving | 16 | enemies |
| 17 | negotiate | 17 | understanding | 17 | party member |
| 18 | guide | 18 | connecting | 18 | a core belief |
| 19 | endorse | 19 | concluding | 19 | a possession |
| 20 | speculate | 20 | excluding | 20 | allies |