[7:36 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Howdy! I’m Deakin of Wildhag Publishing, my own lil’ indie TTRPG developer where I am thoroughly invested in Feudal Hearts — a medieval immersion of low-to-high fantasy! I’ve been playing RPGs & TTRPGs for decades and have been homebrewing and playing with making a game during equal time. Feudal Hearts is designed to immerse players into a feudal world by structuring the setting around noble titles and domains–while also facilitating familiar-D&D-like adventuring and playstyle. It is designed to play personally and intimately, but feel global and provincial should one or more players decide to participate in the feudal world and be a noble in the backdrop of matriarchal world where the patriarchal “kinglanders” are across the Banesea. From this option, players can choose a familiar medieval world–or one with a unique twist. Of course there are more options, but those are the two big ones.
[7:36 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: feudalhearts.com
[7:36 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: (done)
[7:37 PM]al spader (Sentience, Once Upon): What system does Feudal Hearts use?
[7:37 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Thanks, @Wildhag | Deakin! The floor is open to questions!
[7:39 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Its own. Feudal Hearts is created from the ground-up. The system’s basic setup is a 1d10 untrained | 2d10 trained skill system.(edited)1
[7:39 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Do you have a character sheet that we can see?
[7:39 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Absolutely!
[7:40 PM]Wildhag | Deakin:Character_Sheet_Final.pdf1.69 MB
[7:41 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Images might be better
[7:41 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Let’s have a look…
[7:42 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): So it looks like this is some variation on an attribute + skill system, with three attributes?
[7:43 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Here’s a sample character with some of the things filled out.
[7:45 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Yes. There are 3 Attributes and 3 Resists. Skills are based off of Attribute bonuses in a simple 1d10 or 2d10 + Attribute attempt. Skills “actions” can be specified through specializations, such as Stealth (sneak). Should a player have a specialization, they have a minimum result on the roll as long as it isn’t a natural 1/2
[7:47 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): What is the attribute scale for humans?
[7:50 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Players choose 3, 2, and 1 to assign to Attributes. They then select Lineage traits. Humans have 4 points to spend of lineage traits whereas most other heritages have 2-3. A player can also select lineage traits that give them a slight penalty as a way to get more lineage points in order to try and get something they want. A player can really go for that “massive, strong, tough, imbecile, ugly” character if they wanted to.
[7:52 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Speaking of strength, it looks like Vigor covers both strength and agility. How do you make a roll based upon pure strength?
[7:54 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: It depends what one is trying to accomplish. Since it is a skill-based game, the “athletics” skill reflects attempts to use strength, such as lifting, pushing, carrying, etc.
[7:55 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): How does combat work?
[7:56 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Combat is based on familiar Initiative, but melee combat is very unique in Feudal Hearts. Melee combat is handled in clashes which can be shown here:
[7:57 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Instead of “attacking” a player, such as a “to-hit” roll against a Defense, creatures in melee combat “initiate a clash”. Combat outside of this clash freezes while the clash is resolved. Players then quickly roll opposing dice based on the system.(edited)
[8:01 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): How do weapons and armor function in terms of the system?
[8:04 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Weapons grant players certain clash die, as long as the player can meet its requirements. Some weapons work better if you’re the defender vs. attacker in a clash–and help compliment a player’s class choices, talents, etc. Armor works somewhat similarly. A character’s “Defense” is determined by the armor they have equipped along with potential resistances. Keeping in style with medieval armoring, a player can stack some armor, such as padding and chainmail–though it does come at a cost. The lighter the armor, the more moveable a player is and thus the more their Evasion can help their Defense.
[8:07 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Oh–Here’s a screenshot of the skill specializations!
[8:11 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): In combat, does Vigor affect damage, or only impact the ability to wield heavier weapons?(edited)
[8:14 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Good question. Composure represents battle fatigue and morale–the ability to withstand a creature trading blows with you or your ability to manage that overwhelming parry-parry-parry. If a creature gets your Composure down to 0 in a clash, you are getting an injury! When a creature wins a clash round, they reduce the composure of their opponent. How much it is reduced is based on the Fighting Score of the creature–kind of like hit points. So if you lose a clash round, you’ll quickly discover the fighting talents of your opponent. If a player starts the game with 5 or more Vigor, they’re going to get more Fighting Score when they take a level in a fighter class.
[8:15 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: So, a higher Vigor certainly helps! A character with 5+ Vigor and a high level in one or more fighter classes is going to be a formidable melee opponent.(edited)
[8:17 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Can you describe the magic system?
[8:20 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Big question! Magic in Feudal Hearts runs off of the Mystic skill and the Mystical Score of the player. Spells are heavily connected to the player classes for which gives player’s access to attempting to control magic. Most of the time, magic is governed by objects called kytherum, mystical spheres of energy that can be Arcane, Divine, Mind, or Wild. Some players have kytherum within themselves, giving them innate magical power. Others must learn to attune to them or learn to channel their power. All magic is tied to a simple tier system of simple-strong-wondrous for quick-casting spells or ritual-intricate-epic for longer, ritual-form magic.
[8:23 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): You’ve mentioned heritages and classes. How many of each are there, and (if there aren’t too many) can you list them, perhaps with a brief description?
[8:27 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Sure. Here is an image of the panned heritages. Most of the speak for themselves. Humans, dark elves, catflolk, and darksouls occupy the most of the setting’s land, however. With dwarves, celestial, and fallen being rather rare creatures.
[8:27 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Feudal Hearts encourages multiclassing–so there are quite a few!
[8:28 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Each heritage has a region, clan, bloodline, or tribe–something–that has a form of “subrace”, for lack of a better word. Here is an example of the human regions before I show the classes!
[8:30 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Classes are broken up into four categories: Expert, Fighter, Mystic, and Hybrid
[8:33 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): I’m not seeing where the primary attributes are that the Expert and Fighter classes are using.
[8:35 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Well that would be because those were very old tables! Oopsy
[8:35 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Ah.
[8:36 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Here are the class list and descriptions without confusing information 1
[8:37 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Ultimately, Experts use their expertise die in interesting ways, some for combat others for other, perhaps more RP reasons. Fighters advance their Fighting Scores and use that mechanic in unique ways and so on.
[8:37 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Regarding the Heritages: What are Celestials, Darksouls, and Fallen, and why Dark Elves in particular? Are there other kinds of Elves?
[8:41 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Celestials are creatures with some divine spark within them. Darksouls is the name given to the baethra by those who are not even darksouls, creatures of Baethrym, who have a variety of bloodlines and serve as major antagonists for the rest of the mainland continent. Fallen are corrupted divine beings who have turned to vice and sin, having a particular indulgent sin that ravages their spirit. Dark elves, known as the Askani, have that name because they are the corrupted Elves of the Wild, cursed by the dark goddess Synthet during the creation of beings. The world, Ovalys, knows of no other elves than the Askani, which have 3 known tribes.(edited)
[8:42 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: I’m screenshot happy–and I make no apologies
[8:44 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): I’m confused… If all Elves are dark, why would they be called Dark Elves?
[8:50 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: They call themselves “Askani”–which means “Of the Forest”–it is the humans that call them Dark Elves and it is the humans from which the game has its point of view. After the humans were created by Zhove, the Lord, who separated himself from Faunus, the Wild, Faunus looked at his beasts and at Zhove’s creation of man and marveled at it–so he made the Askani. A dark goddess, a daughter of Zhove, cursed them as a result of a feud with her father and made them turn to black rot, their skin like death and their hair withered like a corpse. Zhove intervened as best he could–leaving their form dark like the night–like wild beasts who stalk the shadows of forests searching for prey. This is what humans are told.
[8:52 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): How common is magic in this setting, and how powerful can it get?
[8:57 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Magic is relatively uncommon, though not unheard of. When one casts a spell, they simply make a Mystic roll. So failing at casting a spell is possible. Simple spells cost nothing to attempt, but disaster can strike. Spells have three tiers: simple, strong, and wondrous (for quickly cast spells) and ritual, intricate, epic (for spells that take 1 minute or more to complete) Each strength of the spell might empower its range, injury-dealing, area of effect or the like. Calling a meteor from the sky is possible, but that is an epic spell!
[8:58 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Players at 1st level can expect to pull off simple-level spells if they have a level in a mystic class, such as priest or wizard.
[8:59 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Is the danger of miscasting the only limitation to spellcasting? No magic points, for example?
[9:00 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: When you attempt a strong spell, you push your mystical score up. If it reaches its maximum, you could risk disasters. Mystical Score is the meter of how one might exhaust themselves using magic.
[9:01 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Magic in Feudal Hearts is designed to be conditional–it’s limited to something. For example, priests must dedicate themselves to virtues and dogmas in order to fuel their connection to the divine.
[9:03 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Inspired by one of my favorite works of literature, Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, knights and priests are heavily flavored as committed to oaths and dedications that relate to virtue and/or chivalry–enforcing that feudal knighthood and monastic life with an obvious touch of the fantastical.
[9:05 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): How likely is the average peasant to have seen a monster?
[9:07 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Unlikely–but possible. Darksouls represent most of the monstrosities, but mythic monsters–such as griffons, trolls, giants, and more–exist. The Malae, a playable vampire-like darksoul bloodline, walks amongst the people with their ability to blend in. And no, no known dragons, though the tales of legend exist (edited)
[9:09 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Are there hordes of evil creatures like orcs and goblins?
[9:14 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Those familiar, Tolkeinesque enemies may be lurking about–but nothing profound enough to amount to hordes. Baethrym has hordes of dreadfolk, Inithians (crystalline shamanic creatures), the hereth (harpy-like creatures), and more… all governed by the Doon-Lords who squabble amongst themselves trying to survive in the Southern Wastes of Baethrym. Troll caves, dryads, pixies, and more certainly exist–though they are rare.(edited)
[9:16 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Very nice art!1
[9:18 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): What do you think most makes Feudal Hearts stand out from the rest of the heavily-flooded fantasy TTRPG market?
[9:23 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: That’s a fair question. Feudal Hearts is a character-centric style of game, from the shadowquests (how players earn personal experience in their class), the “good death” system which, based on character personality traits, allows players to select what would be a “good death” for their character, all the way up to acquiring noble titles and managing a domain as a noble. The “kingdom management” can be a simple way to fuel story-lines, or it can easily turn into resource management for those who like that kind of game. I find many of those TTRPGs overwhelming and daunting, Feudal Hearts streamlines title management and lets it flow with typical adventure-style play or other playstyles. Further, its unique world setting, where the Queenlands only permit women to be land-inheriting nobles dominate the mainland continent, where the Kinglanders all fled across the Banesea, offers some fun roleplay opportunities for those who are ready for a new world with new twists n’ turns.(edited)
[9:24 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
[9:26 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Nope–I think we covered quite a bit! Whew I’m exhausted.1
[9:26 PM]Wildhag | Deakin:
[9:27 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Thanks very much for joining us, @Wildhag | Deakin!
[9:27 PM]HOO (Biological Male): nice packaging art!1
[9:27 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated! Ko-fiBuy Dan Davenport a Coffee. ko-fi.com/gmshoeBecome a supporter of Dan Davenport today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.
[9:27 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Thanks for taking the time for me!
@HOO (Biological Male)nice packaging art![9:27 PM]Wildhag | Deakin: Thank you! I’m just getting started!
[9:27 PM]Dan (Hardboiled GMshoe): If you’ll give me a minute, I’ll get the log posted and link you!