How Oxventure: Wyrdwood Uses Homebrew to Mess with Magic
Some things are small, such as Cressida Blackwater being a homebrewed human-elf despite the recent nix on half-species. Others play into a core aspect of the campaign: Magic Has Gone Very Wrong. And, as the game itself often reminds us, magic will have its due.
The Story
I can't recommend Oxventure: Wyrdwood enough. It's one of my favorite things this group has done, even as a long-time fan of their original campaigns and side stories. The best way to get a feel for what's going on is to see it for yourself. But for a quick start—or to weigh up whether this will be your bag—here's the story as it stands:
The campaign's setting has had three eras. The first was one of giants. The second was of wild folk: fantasy races like elves, dwarves, firbolgs, and aasimar. Now humans are commonplace, with some of these wild folk living among them. Magic is also common, and makes up a large part of the world's infrastructure. If something were to go awry with magic, it would make a big mess. And it has.
Two months ago, magic became unpredictable. It can be used, but when one least expects it, there will be terrible consequences. As part of a group seeking out answers to this problem, five people have become unlikely allies. Lug (Firbolg Wild Heart Barbarian) is a passive-aggressive forest guide trying not to be killed just for being a Firbolg. Happen (human Swarmkeeper Ranger) hails from a group who worships Cadence, a goddess who delights in extremes of luck—good or bad. Willowfine (Aasimar Life Cleric) is a healer trying to protect her people's connection to traditional magic. Cressida Blackwater (human/elf Illusion Wizard) is a banker cursed with ram's horns forced to share space with inferior party members. And Robin Oatcake (Human Commoner) is a normal man.
Telling any more about the story or characters would give away some fantastic reveals. Again. I highly recommend you watch it for yourself. But the magic—and how the dangers of using magic are replicated in gameplay—warrants discussion. Because it's expertly done in multiple ways.
The Cadence Die
As Happen, Luke Westaway can occasionally avail himself of the Cadence Die: a custom-made d20 that has a 50% chance of rolling a crit (25% success, 25% fail). You can have a look at the design and the die up close on Luke's Instagram.
The Cadence Die can be used a number of times equaling the character's Proficiency Bonus per long rest. Narratively, this represents the Swarmkeeper Ranger's swarm (in this case, pixies) intervening, for better or for worse. There's a markedly higher chance of rolling a 20, but also a markedly higher chance of rolling a 1. And rolling the Cadence Die comes with complications. If you gamble and you lose, you lose hard.
As a player, I'm more narrative-focused: rather than statting out a good character and then figuring out how to make them work narratively (which I also think is awesome), I like to come up with my concept and then figure out how to make the numbers reflect those narrative choices. This die is a fantastic one-two punch, encompassing both the fickleness of the pixies and Happen's own dedication to extremes of luck. So narratively this is extremely satisfying.
It's fair to note that Luke has stated that his favorite way of making characters is to focus on one thing and do it really well. In the original Oxventurers Guild campaign, Luke was also excellent at playing along with failures or crit botches, so this kind of all-or-nothing luck (with just enough mid-tier luck to disappoint Cadence 50% of the time) works well with both his preferences and his strengths.
The Rolling Rite
Having played some Warhammer Fantasy before, I've seen (if not personally experienced) magic with consequences in game. In that system, it comes of rolling double (or God forbid triple) numbers on your dice. Even if you succeed, something will happen. In Wyrdwood, consequences have been turned into an rather genius end-of-show ritual termed the Rolling Rite.
Whenever someone casts a spell in game, they earn a point of debt. Everyone starts at 1, so even if you're not much of a caster, you're not fully safe. At the end of the episode, everyone rolls a d100. If a players rolls their number or lower, they receive a sealed envelope, which they will open next time they cast a spell. This contains some sort of consequence inside. After receiving an envelope, your debt is halved—it never goes all the way down again.
It's a great way of handling the concept of debt, and not just from a showmanship standpoint (although that is very good). The balance between luck and player choice—debt could hit at any time, but it's more likely the more you use magic—is a nice way to leave debt enough to chance without making it fully RNG. And, you know. There's something to be said for knowing over the table that the Debt is coming.
Homebrewing things that translate to story beats while also keeping the game fair and manageable is tough. I know that firsthand. But Wyrdwood is doing an excellent job of sinking a popular system as much into The Horrors as possible. And if you're not already watching, you should be.
About the Author
0 comments