Songs & Sagas SRD

In here you will find all the information to help you make your own game based on Songs and Sagas or to design make material compatible with it.

Where to Buy

Buy on itch.io

Written by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas
Edited by Eric Lazure
Illustrations by Galen Pejeau

License and Attribution

The mechanics and details regarding the setting of Songs and Sagas and the Songs and Sagas Creator Kit are available under an open license, as outlined below.

In a nutshell, we want you to be able to copy, paste, adapt, hack, publish, and sell your own games “Carried in Songs and Sagas” or material compatible with Songs and Sagas and make the process as easy as possible.

License

Songs and Sagas and the Songs and Sagas Creator Kit are licensed under the ORC License available online at various locations including www.azoralaw.com/orclicense. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein. The following elements are owned by the Licensor and would otherwise constitute Reserved Material and are hereby designated as Licensed Material: all the details about the setting, and the rolling tables.

This means you are free to use the content of this work for your own projects, provided you give proper attribution and license your work using the same license.

Attribution

If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us in your product as follows:

This work is based on Songs and Sagas, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com/), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas. This product is licensed under the ORC License available online at various locations including www.azoralaw.com/orclicense. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein.

CC BY 4.0 License Option

For those who prefer the Creative Common licenses: Songs and Sagas and the Songs and Sagas Creator Kit are available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us in your product as follows:

This work is based on Songs and Sagas, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Logos and Assets

If you want, you may use the following image to identify your game as a “Carried in Songs and Sagas”.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ehUk8kn9_f6yqW-Ihthavpl2HAmFSluo

This SRD

This SRD contains the entirety of the text from Songs and Sagas, which you are allowed to copy, paste, and adapt as you wish, as long as you follow the License and Attribution guidelines.

Don’t forget that we also have Logos and Assets for you to use to identify your game as Carried in Songs and Sagas.

Design Note
Text within callout boxes like this one are meant for you, the designer , looking to create a game using this SRD. These will be used to provide you additional background on why a mechanic works the way it does, or to ask you questions to help you design your game.

The Tenth Realm

The end was near, our time nearly up. But before the spill of blood, luminous doorways emerged amidst the vast sea. Guided by gods and spirits, our ancestors sailed through these radiant gates, into the unknown. Many perished, but some managed to survive and settle. Time passed. Now some of us are called to venture forth, to map these strange new lands. And one day, all shall hear the echoes of our destinies fulfilled as they ring out in songs and sagas.

Design Note: Setting
Your game’s world is more important than its mechanics. Mechanics are tools to support the themes you want your game to reinforce. For games Carried in S&S, the world should feel dangerous, mysterious, and, most importantly, worth exploring.
Start by writing a quick game pitch of what the world looks like and why it’s interesting. Share it with friends or people online and ask if they’d play it. If you don’t like their answer, go back to your pitch and try new ideas .
A good way to create an interesting world is to mix and match multiple ideas from your favorite movies, books, and games in order to create something new and unique.
S&S was designed with a powerful and flexible exploration engine that rewards players willing to take risks. True to the OSR/NSR movement, the world doesn’t revolve around the player characters. They are actors in a bigger picture and no assumption is made about the role they will assume within this mysterious world shaped by more powerful forces. There are locations, factions, threats and problems; all of which is hinted at through small paragraphs and rolling tables. Take all of that in consideration when defining your setting.
Think about what the world looks like, what kinds of creatures live there, who the major factions are, and what are the main threats, conflicts or issues players will have to deal with. Is the world broken, or is something trying to shake the status quo? Think about recent events and hint at them in the game to give a sense of history and context.

Preparing The Game

To play you will need:

A standard deck of playing cards.
A full set of polyhedral dice.
Printed copies of this pamphlet and one map sheet.
2 to 5 friends, with one of them acting as game moderator (GM).
A couple of hours per session.

Design Note: Format
One of the first things you should think about is the format you want to publish your game as. The way you write your text, lore, and mechanics will greatly differ depending on whether your document is a bi-fold landscape pamphlet like S&S, a 20-page zine, or a full-fledged book.
In condensed formats like bi-fold or tri-fold games , every single word counts, and you’ll need to keep your sentences concise. With limited space, you might need to rephrase things to make them fit on the page. This is what we call “writing to layout”. Using a small format also means you won’t be able to include as many details as you’d like. Things like lore, a bestiary, or NPC details take up a lot of space, and space may be a luxury you can’t afford. Creating condensed games takes a lot of effort, but can be a rewarding challenge!
If you decide to go with a larger format like a zine or a book , then space won’t be an issue. However, you then need to ask yourself: “How much is too much?” It’s easy to get carried away while and possibly making the game too overwhelming for the reader. This can make the whole experience of reading it overwhelming. If you include too many details about the world, what’s left to explore? Try to find a balance between what’s essential to understand the world and what’s just extra fluff.
A good trick is to “hint” at the world. Include important names for people, factions, and locations within the text and rolling tables, but let the players fill in the gaps or define what those names actually mean in their game.
Also, consider the scope and timeline of your project. Is this a quick weekend project or a long-term endeavor spanning several months? Do you want players to be able to print the game at home, or do you envision them buying a physical book from a bookstore? If you’re designing a zine or a book, are you using a European format like A4 or A5, or an American paper size like Letter or Digest? Would you prefer the layout to be in portrait or landscape orientation? Or perhaps you want to make it easily accessible to everyone and publish everything on a website (like this document!).

Cards

When you reveal a card from the deck, discard it. Shuffle the discarded cards back after each scene and whenever the deck is empty.

Design Note: Cards
The world is harsh and perilous, but players should never shy away from danger. On the contrary, the only way for players to have their names carried in Songs and Sagas is to venture out and attempt astonishing feats while others choose the relative safety of home. And so, players are always rewarded for taking risks and making trial rolls, whether through card acquisition or XP gain. Another way to encourage risk-taking is to prevent players from hoarding resources by shuffling the discard pile back in the deck not only when the deck runs out, but also at the end of each scene. As a result, players will face worse, perhaps insurmountable, odds when they hoard red cards. They will quickly learn to embrace the moment and burn cards to make each action even more heroic.
For your game, ask yourself if you want to tweak the dynamic between card acquisition and card use. Do you want to add a hand limit, change the triggers for shuffling the discard pile, or perhaps have certain regions or enemies interact with the players’ cards or with the deck itself?

GM Guidelines

Guide the story.
Telegraph danger.
Show the world as it is.
Check-in with the players.
Pause or rewind if needed.
Be a fan of the characters.
Trust the fiction.
Provide problems, not solutions.
Ask questions, use the answers.
Split problems in multiple rolls.
Improvise rules if needed.

Player Guidelines

Listen and pay attention.
Narrate your actions.
Align on things as a group.
Share the spotlight.
Engage with the fiction.
Embrace risks.
Try to stack the odds in your favor. Always.
Find creative solutions.
Rise up from failure.
Don’t hoard the cards, or else…
Play to find out.

The Game

In this game, you perform trial and fate rolls when there is uncertainty in the fiction. You add cards to your hand when your trial rolls succeed, burn them to gain momentum, and, most importantly, continually collaborate in moving the story in interesting directions.

Create your Character

1. Your Attributes

Your attributes are the main way you interact with the world. Your character has 4 attributes.

With your strength , you may crush, lift, strike and grapple. With your dexterity , you may dash, aim, sneak and handle. With your willpower , you may perceive, solve, analyze and focus. With your heart , you may persuade, command, charm and honor.

To determine your starting modifiers, reveal a card for each attribute.

Suit Attribute Modifier

♥ Set your attribute to +2.
♦ Set your attribute to +1.
♣ Set your attribute to 0.
♠ Set your attribute to -1.

Write down the results on your character sheet.

If you are unhappy with your attributes , you may try to get a better result by revealing another card, but must accept the new result. This can only be done for two attributes.

Design Note: Attributes
Attributes are a crucial mechanical entry point for your game. They’ll constantly be referred to by the players, so they need to be clear and easily understood.
The limited list of four attributes in S&S was designed to be accessible, especially to those familiar with OSR/NSR games. Having a small list to choose from makes rolls quick and minimizes context switching when going from fiction to mechanics and back to fiction again. Using a longer list of attributes can be engaging, especially when they’re precise and thematic, but it can lead to confusion and slower gameplay.
With fewer attributes, players can focus on the story without getting bogged down in details.
Getting stuck with poor cards during character creation can be frustrating for players, but that’s OK. We just want character creation to be quick, so that the actual fun part of the game can start as early as possible. In any case, allow players to redraw for up to 2 attributes, providing some agency and reducing the impact of a series of bad draws. Another way to give players control over the values of attributes is by making archetypes (listed below) and character progression also affect those values.
When designing your game, consider the attributes you want characters to have. Do you prefer fewer, more general attributes, or numerous specific or thematic ones? How will you name them? What will be the initial value of each attribute? Will it be determined by a card draw, a dice roll, or something else? Will attribute modifiers remain the same throughout the game, or will they change during certain events? Will you use a single set of attributes or multiple groups that players need to combine for rolls?

2. Your Guardian Spirit

You are guarded by a Vanori , a spirit of the wild and messenger of the gods. The Vanori you choose increases certain attributes , sets your initial max resilience , and gives you a special ability.

Additionally, you may burn a card to, for a short while, conjure your Vanori or take its physical appearance. Leverage its presence or your new form to roll with a reduced DR .

Choose, roll or invent a Vanori.

BEAR : Increase your strength by 2 and your heart by 1. Your max resilience is d10+3. You may burn a card to roll an extra d4 on top of your armor to resist incoming damage.
WOLF : Increase your dexterity by 2 and your willpower by 1. Your max resilience is d8+3. You may burn a card to force an enemy to do a morale check.
RAVEN : Increase your willpower by 2 and your dexterity by 1. Your max resilience is d6+3. You may burn a card to force an enemy to step down their damage die.
ELK : Increase your heart by 2 and your strength by 1. Your max resilience is d10+3. When you burn a card to aid an ally, you give +3 to their score instead of the normal +2.
OX : Increase your strength by 2 and your willpower by 1. Your max resilience is d12+3. You may burn a card during a short rest to get the benefits of a long rest.
OWL : Increase your willpower by 2 and your heart by 1. Your max resilience is d6+3. Once per session, you may burn a card to mark XP twice.

If you are unhappy with your max resilience , you may reroll once, but must accept the new result.

Design Note: Archetypes
S&S’ Vanoris are the game’s archetypes or classes. For S&S, those are rather simple and condensed, each with a single ability that makes them truly unique. Given the space, they would have been more complex and fleshed out.
The beauty of a class-based game from a designer’s perspective is to examine every single mechanic individually (rolls, modifiers, inventory, cards, resilience, conditions, armor, rest, combat, experience, etc.) and ask, “How can I make this unique and fun for this archetype?” This could be done either via abilities or with entirely new mechanics unique to them.
Another consideration is that creating new characters can be challenging for many players. Coming up with names, backstories, relationships, and personalities can be daunting. S&S offers generic rolling tables to help with this, but having tables unique to each archetype would be fantastic way to make each character even more distinctive. This is especially true when more than one player chooses the same class.
In other words, make your archetypes unique in mechanics, but also in flavor.
For your game, consider the potential archetypes or classes you want players to choose from. These should typically be tied to your setting and be as thematic as possible. For instance, a “Mistwalker” sounds far more fun than a “Ranger”. Once you have a basic list prepared, think about what makes each archetype unique. Are they more skilled at certain tasks? Are they more resilient against specific dangers? Can they carry more items? Are certain abilities exclusive to them? Can they unlock additional abilities as time progresses? Are there narrative questions the player needs to answer when picking that archetype? When you believe you are finished, review each one of your archetypes and ask yourself: “Does this one seem fun to play?”

Design Note: Resilience
Resilience basically serves as a character’s health or HP. The die+number system used during character creation to determine the initial value of a character’s resilience introduces randomization while ensuring that no player starts with a resilience of 1. Like when players reveal cards to determine their attribute modifiers, giving the ability for players to reroll a bad results provides an opportunity for players to avoid a horrible starting resilience. This all helps keep character creation fun, quick, and dynamic. Consider whether you want archetypes to define maximum resilience or if you prefer all characters to being with the same value.
In S&S, there’s only one bucket of resilience, but there’s nothing stopping you from having multiple kinds of health. Perhaps one for physical harm, another one for mental strain, and perhaps even one related to reputation.
We’ll discuss later how resilience is used, what happens when a character runs out of resilience, and how a character can regain resilience.
For now, consider whether you want a single pacing mechanism for consequences or multiple “pools” of resilience. You’ll also need to decide on names for these pools.

3. Your Armor And Weapon

Your armor allows you to resist damage during combat. You start with a d4 armor set. Fill the d4 armor dot on your character sheet.

Your weapons provide convenient ways to perform attacks on enemies. You start with a d6 weapon of your choice in your inventory.

Design Note: Armor and Weapons
The idea behind letting players choose their weapon in S&S is that their archetype doesn’t really define the kind of warrior they are… it defines the kind of spirit that has bonded with them. It doesn’t dictate the type of weapons they use or attacks they perform during combat encounters. Therefore, a character can simply say “I have a d6 great axe” and that’s enough for the story to begin.
The same concept applies to armor. The specific kind of armor the characters in S&S wear isn’t important enough to warrant a name of any sort. Perhaps they’ll discover something with greater resistance and value later in the game, but a “you have a d4 armor” is sufficient to get the ball rolling.
For your game, consider whether an archetype defines a set of predefined weapons or armor for them to choose from or roll for. Do they begin with a full armor set, or is it something they’ll acquire later in the game? Is there even a necessity for armor and weapons in your game? Are there different types of weapons and armors that function differently, mechanically speaking?

Chart the Map

These are strange new lands, filled with creatures of unfathomable forms, remnants of advanced yet long-lost civilizations, flora and fauna that are as beautiful as they are treacherous, and hopefully a place to call home.

Drop a d20 on the map sheet’s hex grid , this is the region you are located in.

Now, and each time you enter a new hex, take the time, as a group, to describe the region. Use your imagination or jumpstart it with the provided rolling tables. Write down key details in one of the numbered box and note the number in the appropriate hex. Finally, reveal a card to set the initial risk rating of the region.

♥ Starts at 1 + a moment of serenity.
♦ Starts at 2 + an unexpected twist.
♣ Starts at 2 + an impending threat.
♠ Starts at 3 + an imminent danger.

The risk rating determines the level of unknown and danger in a region. The higher the rating, the more drama and unpredictability should be injected in the narrative. It typically ranges from 1 to 3 , but may step up or down at the GM’s discretion depending on your actions in the fiction.

Each hex is 6 miles (or ~10 kilometers) face to face. A person can walk a hex in a day, a mount can cross two, a longship can row three but sail four with favorable winds.

Trial Roll

When taking a risky action, make a trial roll.

Pick the attribute best suited for your action.
The GM discusses with the group and sets a difficulty rating (DR), usually a 12.
The GM reveals a number of cards matching the current region’s risk rating. For each black card , the difficulty rating of the roll is increased by 2.
Roll a d20 + the attribute modifier to get your score.

If your score is greater than the difficulty rating , it’s a success.

Otherwise you suffer a setback.

SUCCESS : Gain control of a moment in the scene and narrate what happens next. Add one of the revealed cards to your hand if no cards were burned for the roll. You must pick a red card over a black card.
SETBACK : Mark XP , but give up control of the narrative to the GM. They describe what happens and may inject more tension in the scene by introducing a new consequence (narrative mishap, loss of resilience , damaged armor or weapon , a new condition , etc).

Rating Descriptor

9 Easy
12 Normal
15 Challenging

When a rule changes the DR of a roll, the group decides by how much, using the fiction as a guide.

Design Note: Trial Roll
The core mechanic of S&S relies equally on fate and trial rolls. Players make trial rolls when performing risky actions, and get rewarded with either cards or experience. For less impactful actions, players may rely on a fate roll to determine the outcome of their action. Both types of rolls can be affected by attribute modifiers.
This distinction between trial (risky) and fate (non-risky) rolls ensures that players are properly rewarded for taking risks, while not gaining excessive benefits for actions that carry less weight.
When a trial roll succeeds, it is crucial that players prioritize drawing red cards over black cards. As players gather cards, the deck will gradually become filled with black cards, raising the difficulty of future trial rolls. Since many of the mechanics of the game rely on trying to draw red cards, deck filled with black cards is bad news not only for future trial rolls, but also for many other mechanics. This encourages players to use their cards strategically rather than saving them, ensuring a dynamic flow of cards throughout the game, making the game more exciting and enjoyable.
For your game, do you want to keep the same name for fate and trial rolls or change them? How is the difficulty rating of a roll decided? What factors can affect the number of dice rolled? Are modifiers only determined by a character’s attributes, or can they come from other sources? What rewards do players receive upon achieving success? What are the consequences of experiencing a setback?

Fate Roll

When taking an action with an uncertain outcome but no consequential risks, make a fate roll : simply perform a trial roll , skipping step 3, and use the result to help guide the story forward.

When making a fate roll, you also forego adding cards to your hand on a success and refrain from marking XP on a setback .

Burning Cards

Burn a card from your hand to:

CALL THE GODS : +2 to your score.

AID AN ALLY : +2 to an ally’s score.

TURN THE TABLE : Turn a setback into a success , but the GM gets to introduce a new consequence.

COME PREPARED : Add an item to your inventory as if it had always been there. This may reduce the DR of a roll in certain situations, but the GM has the final say.

Design Note: Burning Cards
S&S comes with a list of four abilities that players can choose from when burning a card, along with one specific ability per Vanori. These are basically “actions” or “moves” that players can decide to trigger or use on their own. They are “buttons” that they can push, compared to the rest of the mechanics which are basically “knobs” that the entire group can play with. These abilities should look fun and empower the character, bending the established rules in a way that gives the players more control over the game.
For your game, think about the different kinds of abilities players can activate by burning a card. Do characters have many unique abilities specific to their archetype? Do they all have the same cost in cards? Do they have access to all of them at the start of the game or do they unlock them through a campaign? Can certain abilities only be triggered in specific circumstances or locations?

Armor

Your armor allows you to resist incoming damage and is defined by a die rating ( d4 - d6 ). During an enemy attack , roll your armor die and subtract the result from the incoming damage. Armor may be ignored or damaged at the GM’s discretion. When damaged, the armor die is stepped down.

Design Note: Armor
Armor serves as both a way to mitigate incoming damage and, more importantly, as another level for the GM when players suffer setbacks. Sure, a direct hit on a character’s resilience can do the trick, but inflicting a condition or breaking a piece of armor - which will have more long-term effects since it will require work to fix - can be much more satisfying as a consequence. Armor can also be a nice long-term project for characters since gaining a better set of armor can truly give characters an edge during dangerous combat encounters.
For your game, consider how armor is used in and out of combat encounters. Can certain objects in the terrain or magical spells provide temporary armor? Is the character’s armor more akin to a shield which can regenerate over time? Are there more than one level of armor? Be wary of adding too many things that can “soak” damage, and make fights last too long.

Inventory

When you get an item or weapon, add it in an inventory slot. Items can be used to reduce the DR of a roll, but the GM has the final say.

Weapons are assigned a die rating ( d4 - d12 ) and are used during attacks. Weapons may become damaged at the GM’s discretion. When damaged, the weapon die is stepped down. You may also take the time to repair damaged weapons when you take a long rest.

Design Note: Inventory
Characters have inventory slots to store important items like weapons, relics, or anything else noteworthy enough to get “screen time” during a session. Those items may come from the GM as a reward for doing certain things in the fiction, or as a result of burning a card to use the “come prepared” action. Over the course of a game, these slots may fill up with items, but also with conditions that hinder the character until cleared. Characters have only 6 inventory slots available. Items always occupy a single slot when added to the inventory, but conditions may take more space. The GM has the ability to make some conditions lighter and others worse. Or even to make conditions get worse over time.
When designing your game, consider how many inventory slots each character should have. Should the inventory be divided into multiple sections? Do certain items take up more space than others? Can the inventory be expanded throughout the game? What else can take up space in the inventory?

Resilience & Conditions

Your resilience represents your physical and mental well-being. If reduced to 0 , make a trial roll.

SUCCESS : You are not ready to fall, set your resilience at 1.
SETBACK : You are incapacitated and close to death. If your wounds are tended, set your resilience at 1 but work with the GM to gain a new condition.

Design Note: Resilience Trial Roll
When a trial roll is triggered as a result of a character running out of resilience, success on the trial roll means the character stays in the fight and regains 1 resilience. With a setback, they are taken out and gain a new condition. This is similar to the “death save” in traditional RPGs, but with a key difference: death is never the default outcome. A success on this roll gives you a heroic triumph, where your character refuses to fall. In the case of a setback, you are taken out of the fight. If left unattended, you may die, but dying is not as interesting as rising back up, scarred and changed.
For your game, consider what happens when resilience is reduced to zero. Do characters have to make a roll to determine the outcome, or does an event occur immediately? If taken out, how can a character be ‘saved’? Can allies help? Is there a set of predetermined conditions a player can choose from ?

Conditions are negative aspects attached to your character. Each condition takes at least one inventory slot. To clear a condition, you need a full rest or wait until it becomes irrelevant. The GM can invoke conditions to increase the DR of a roll.

Design Note: Conditions
Conditions aren’t predetermined. They are open-ended and left for the GM and the rest of the group to figure out. A character could have a condition “Tired”, “Brutally Wounded”, or even “Annoyed”, each taking a different number of slots in their inventory, depending on the fiction. They are such an interesting consequence mechanism for the GM since they last longer than just losing resilience. On top of this, you can’t just say a condition goes away without going back to the fiction and figuring out why it goes away.
For your game, consider the kinds of conditions that may affect characters. Do some conditions take up more space than others? Can some conditions grow in severity if left unmanaged? What happens when a character’s entire inventory is filled with only conditions? What does it take for a condition to be lessened or removed? How can the GM use conditions as a mechanism to inject more drama into the story? Do you want to offer a list of predefined conditions depending on the types of consequences inflicted on a character? Do certain conditions require specific actions to be cleared?

Rest

To recover, you can:

SHORT : Take half an hour to catch your breath. Reveal a card to recover resilience.
LONG : Spend a couple of hours resting. Reveal a card and interpret the result as above, but double the recovery. You may spend this time fixing a damaged weapon or armor , but then only get the benefits of a short rest.
FULL : Spend a week out of action or in calm transit to restore all resilience and, if it makes sense in the fiction, clear a condition.

Design Note: Rest
The three types of rest in S&S depend on the time a character can spend recovering. The longer the time, the greater the benefits. That being said, every mechanic in this game was designed to propel the story forward, even the resting mechanic. This is why, in S&S, resting still carries a chance of hinting at or prompting immediate trouble for the characters.
For your game, consider when and how characters rest. Can they do it anytime, or do they need to be in a specific location? Can certain items trigger the same benefits as a rest? What choices do characters have when they rest? Do you want to be more generous and allow more resilience to be cleared for short rests, or do you want to be grittier and make resting less generous and more dangerous? What are the chances of something bad happening when resting, and what kind of trouble may arise during downtime?

Reaction

When an NPC’s reaction to you is not obvious, reveal a card.

♥ They seem helpful.
♦ They seem curious.
♣ They seem wary.
♠ They seem hostile.

Combat

INITIATIVE : To decide who goes first in combat, reveal a card.

♥♦ Your group goes first.
♣♠ The enemy group goes first.

The group order stays the same until the combat is over.

The individual order is not tracked; go with what makes the most sense or who’s most excited to play next.

The combat ends when all player characters or enemies run out of resilience , or if one side decides to withdraw (see Enemy Morale).

Design Note: Combat
When facing active opposition, the characters may decide to resolve the situation through a combat encounter. But combat is deadly. Attack always hits, and even though two rolls are made, the first roll doesn’t determine if you hit or not. It determines how impactful your attack is. Maybe you made a faux-pas, or maybe you gained an opportunity. In all cases, what changes is the damage die you use. But you will use one. Still, combat can stall if both sides have armor to soak damage. This is why making trial rolls as an action during a combat turn is so important. It allows players to change the fiction and possibly damage the enemy’s weapon or armor, thus giving them the upper hand for future rolls.
For your game, think about how the initiative works. Does the group need to reveal a card, or is that done individually? Think about what combat looks like and the type of actions players can do during their turn. Those actions are also buttons that the players can push during these encounters. For each action, think about how it impacts the encounter or the battlefield and how it can help players achieve their goal. A combat is never truly about reducing some resilience; there is always a goal, and actions should reflect this. Considering this, do you want to design non-violent actions such as parley or diplomacy?

Enemies

Enemies are made of resilience , armor and weapons , which work exactly like yours. You can build your own enemies or convert some from existing OSR bestiaries.

Mobs of enemies may be grouped together as a single entity.

During Your Turn

During a combat turn, choose one:

Make a trial roll to attempt to reduce future DRs , to damage your target’s armor / weapon , or to otherwise alter the fiction.
Perform an attack.

Attack

To attack, choose between:

WEAPON : When attacking with a weapon, the weapon’s die rating will serve as damage die.

FEAT : When trying to harm an enemy through other means, the GM assigns a damage die to your action ( d4 - d12 ).

In both cases, make a trial roll (including card to hand or XP).

SUCCESS : Use the damage die as is, or step it up if you rolled a 20.
SETBACK : Step down the damage die once, or twice if you rolled a 1. The GM may inflict a consequence in addition to or in place of the stepped down damage die (e.g., a damaged weapon).

Roll the damage die and deal that much damage to your target’s resilience , minus their armor die roll. A damage die always ranges from a d4 to a d12.

During An Enemy’s Turn

Enemies attack and prompt you to defend with a trial roll (including card to hand or XP).

SUCCESS : You avoid the attack, and the DR of your next roll is lowered if you rolled a 20.
SETBACK : You get hit, the GM uses the enemy’s damage die, stepped up if you rolled a 1. The GM may inflict a consequence in addition to or in place of the damage dealt to you (e.g., your armor is damaged, you gain a condition). The GM rolls the damage die and deals that much damage to your resilience , minus your armor die roll.

Enemy Morale

When enemies feel outnumbered or see their leader fall, reveal a card to determine how they react.

♥ They panic and try to flee.
♦ They surrender or negotiate.
♣ They stay in the fight.
♠ They double down on the fight.

Design Note: Reaction
In traditional OSR games, GMs often use dice rolls to determine how NPCs react to the player characters. In S&S, the suit of a revealed card determines whether the NPC is helpful or hostile towards them. Tying so many mechanics to card draws makes it even more crucial for players to avoid hoarding cards and ensure that the deck is as fair to them as possible.
For your game, consider not only the reaction mechanic but also any additional mechanics you want to include. Every mechanic you add should exist only if it contributes to the themes you’re trying to convey the game and should be designed as a way to move the story forward. Now, think about how that mechanic can be connected to card draws and colors, and evaluate the possibility of doing precisely that! Usually, the more you can tie things to the core mechanic (trial rolls / card reveals), the better.

Experience

When a trial roll results in a setback , you get to mark XP , in which case you fill one of the eight boxes on your XP track.

When your XP track is filled, you receive a blessing from your Vanori: clear your XP track and do the following.

Change Your Attributes

For each attribute , reveal a card.

♥ Increase the attribute by 2.
♦ Increase the attribute by 1.
♣ The attribute stays the same.
♠ You see a bad omen.

If you reveal more than one ♠*, the omen becomes more menacing.*

Change Your Resilience

To get your new max resilience , reveal a card.

♥ Increase max resilience by 2.
♦ Increase max resilience by 1.
♣ Your resilience stays the same.
♠ Your Vanori shows you a vision.

Design Note: Experience
Whenever a player attempts a risky action and makes a trial roll, the game always rewards them. With a success, they dictate the narrative’s direction and gain a card. With a setback, they still get something: experience.
Similar to many other mechanics in S&S, red cards signify positive outcomes, while black cards are associated with less favorable or even negative results. In the case of “leveling up”, a newly revealed card could return narrative control to the GM, allowing them to inject drama into the story.
For your game, consider how frequently you want characters to advance. This should determine the number of boxes in the XP track. Then, decide what aspects are affected when a character fills their XP track. Do they only improve their attributes and resilience, or are there other affected mechanics? Do they gain new perks or abilities from their archetype? Can they choose from a list of globally available abilities? Can things only improve, or is there a possibility that black cards may cause certain numbers to decrease instead? Are there other aspects of the game that grant XP, such as narrative-based triggers? Are other mechanics triggered when a player gets an advancement?

Oracle

If you seek answers to questions where your character isn’t directly involved in the outcome, formulate a yes/no question and evaluate the likelihood of a positive outcome.

Then, reveal 1 card for sheer luck, and reveal one card for each additional factor or advantage that would increase the likelihood of a positive outcome.

If you have revealed at least 2 red cards , the answer to your question is a strong yes.
If you have revealed 1 red card , the answer to your question is a weak yes.
If you have revealed no red cards, the answer to your question is no.

Use this answer as a jumping point for your story or continue asking questions until you feel ready to continue playing.

Solo Play

When playing this game solo, you take on the roles of both GM and player. You may use the provided tables when in need of ideas.

Songs & Sagas Creator Kit and SRD - Print-Friendly