burdens: the weight of your journey #
Most of us carry our own weight, then some.
Each Bearer carries a Load, a set of Burdens composed by values, belongings, bonds, knowledges, magical spells, dweomes, and more.
They represent a character’s journey before the start of the Tale, and the way they change represents their journey through the Tale.
rely on a burden #
When you rely on a Burden, describe how you use it or how it comes into play, then add a Burden Die to the dice pool and compare the Weight of the chosen Burden to the result of the Burden Die.
If the Burden Die is higher, increase this Burden’s Weight by 1.
If Weight is higher, then mark this Burden as a heavy load.
heighten or alleviate a burden #
When you heighten a Burden, increase its Weight by 1.
When you alleviate a Burden, decrease its Weight by 1.
a heavy load #
When a Burden becomes a heavy load, cross it out and earn a Crack.
Write a sentence describing how that weight wears you out, how it could crush you, or how you think it would feel like to be relieved of it for good.
take a small rest #
When you take a small rest in relative safety and comfort for a while, meditate over your Load to figure out how much more you can bear. Do any or all of the actions below.
- catch your breath: reduce the Weight of every Burden by 1;
- find comfort: patch one Crack with lead or gold, strike it out, and recover its respective Burden;
- find safety: replenish your Personal Pool with dice from the Party Pool.
fall apart #
When you every Burden you carry has been replaced by a Crack, fall apart,
Let go, however uneasily.
Erase one of your burdens and describe how it was lost, broken, given away, how it is inaccessible, or something else. You are closer to finding release.
When you let go, make every remaining burden lighter.
Hold on to it, to the detriment of yourself or others, out of hubris, selfishness, fear or something else.
When you hold on, mark 1 Weight as permanent on a Burden. Choose one:
- hurt someone or break something important;
- run or hide from something difficult;
- become a Burden for the Party by going out of commission, or by being trapped or captured without the means to help yourself out of it;
- retire this character at the end of the scene.
find release #
When every Burden you carry is gone and you find release, choose a Change:
- retire this character, describe how;
- make way to the new: an aprentice becomes a new Party member. Create a new Bearer and make sure at least one of your burdens is a hand me down, or otherwise related to the previous character;
- transformation: choose a new Background for you character an make sure at least one of their new Burdens is related to their past self.