Stonetop

Welcome to Stonetop

Stonetop is a hearth fantasy role-playing game, set in an iron age that never was. It's meant for 3-5 people to play over multiple sessions. Expect each session to last 3-5 hours. Decide which of you will be the game master, or GM for short. Everyone else is a player. Each player controls and portrays a player character (or PC), one of the heroes of the village of Stonetop. The GM controls and portrays the world around them.

Getting Started

Make sure that everyone is on board with the concept of Stonetop: that they'll play the heroes of a small, isolated village. If someone wants to play a rootless, treasurehunting mercenary, they're unlikely to enjoy themselves, and that will drag down the game for everyone. Prior to the first session, ask your players to read the Setting Overview handout, at least the first page. Encourage them to think about any content that they want to exclude, veil, or handle in a particular way. Consider posting a shared document online where you and your players can record these things anonymously.

Playing the Game

This chapter is addressed to players, but the GM should read it too! You play Stonetop by talking to each other. The GM says something, you and the other players respond. You ask each other questions. You refer to the rules, roll some dice, and talk about what the results mean.

Playbooks & Inserts

This chapter is addressed to players, but GMs should read it, too! The contents of this chapter are available as PDFs in a downloadable playkit at www.lampblackandbrimstone.com. They are included here for reference, not for use during play. When you create a PC for Stonetop, the first thing you'll do is pick your playbook.

Running the Game

There are dozens of ways to GM a roleplaying game. There's a particular way to run Stonetop. This is how. The rest of the game is built on this approach. You'll say things, the other players will say things. You'll ask each other questions, interrupt, talk over each other. The game's rules kick in at particular moments and show us where the conversation goes.

Player Moves

The basic moves are the ones that every player and PC can use, the ones that get used most often, and the ones that drive most of the game. Each move has a trigger, which tells us when the move kicks in. The trigger is almost always fictional; the player declares that their character does something that meets the trigger, and the rest of the move tells us how to resolve that course of action.

Harm & Healing

Player characters and their followers often find themselves in danger, exposed to injury and harm. Seeing them get hurt and then seeing how they deal with it is a big part of playing to find out what happens. There are basically four types of harm that a character can suffer:

First Adventure

Introductions are complete. Spring has sprung forth. You've got a rich tapestry of characters, relationships, and backstories. It's time for the first adventure! Let's put all that stuff into play and see the PCs in action. Your first adventure should start in Stonetop and help make it real. The setup and the initial scenes should show off mundane slices of life and reinforce the fact that this is the PCs' home—and that it's a home worth fighting for.

Threats

A threat is an ongoing problem that will cause trouble for the PCs if left unchecked. When you recognize or decide that something—an NPC, a monster, a situation—is going to be a worsening or recurring issue, it's probably worth writing it up as a threat. Writing up threats is not strictly required, but doing so will make things easier to manage as the world of your campaign grows more complex. Your GM playbook includes pages designed to help you keep track of threats.

Expeditions

Maybe you've presented a threat and they're off to deal with it. Maybe you've dangled an opportunity and they want to seize it. Maybe they have plans of their own, something they want to accomplish, and it involves leaving home. It's time for an expedition. Before the players leave town and head out into the wild, they'll make preparations:

Sites

Sites are interesting places that the PCs can explore. They might be the destination of an expedition, a point of interest along the way, or just an incidental discovery. They are places where adventure happens! Sites vary greatly in size and scope. Some are very small, discrete places like a stone altar on a lonely hilltop. Some are made up of distinct rooms, areas, or zones—like a cave system, or a barrow mound, or a crumbling manor from the age of the Makers. Some are sprawling complexes made up of multiple smaller sites.

Dangers

Dangers are likely to hurt the PCs or the things they care about. There are two basic types of danger: Hazards are environmental dangers, like traps, treacherous terrain, or weather. Monsters are active dangers, usually things with intent; adversaries that the PCs can fight (or fight off). PCs usually encounter dangers when they're on an expedition, or when things get bad and a danger shows up in town.

Discoveries

Discoveries are the interesting things that PCs encounter, stuff that isn't immediately dangerous but that prompts investigation, interaction, and decisions. They include: Discoveries can also be threats or dangers. An aurochs quietly munching away is a discovery—a chance to acquire meat and valuable horns! But it's also a monster, one that could really mess the PCs up if they aren't careful.

NPCs & Followers

NPCs are non-player characters, anyone who exists in the game's fiction who isn't one of the PCs. This includes people, of course, but also includes spirits of the wild, shades of the departed, and bound entities. It can even include beasts like dogs, horses, or plucky chickens. If it has a personality, and the PCs can communicate with it, it's an NPC.

Homefront

The homefront is what happens before, after, and between adventures. It's what happens in the village of Stonetop and its immediate surroundings. It's where you get to see the PCs living their lives, and the impact of the PCs' efforts. Homefront play is often less focused and less intense than what happens while the PCs are on an expedition. You spend a lot more time in loose play, talking about what happens over days or weeks or months rather than what's happening right here and right now. And when you do zoom in on a homefront scene, the stakes are often quite small.

Writing Moves & Love Letters

Player moves are little blocks of rules. Each move kicks in at certain times and says what happens. Between "standard" moves like Defy Danger and Seasons Change, playbook moves, arcana, and all the custom moves in Book II, Stonetop has hundreds of player moves. And yet, you might write new player moves for a variety of reasons!

The Game Ongoing

Stonetop is built for long-term play. You can get a satisfying experience in as few as 3-5 sessions, but it's best when you and your group commit to an ongoing game. Make time for the End of Session move (at right) each time you play. Start to wrap up the action 30 minutes before folks need to leave, and give yourselves at least 15 minutes to do the End of Session move.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the folks in the Dungeon World Tavern back on G+, where this version of Stonetop Your feedback has been invaluable. Your patience and support have been humbling. Big thanks to the folks in my home games: Aubs Johnson, Brian Gratrix, Christian Herro, Josh Geurink, Josh Whelan, Kat White, Michael Donnelly, Priti Srivastava, Ryan

Mediography

The following works directly inspired Stonetop to information design. 's mechanics, techniques, setting, themes, and approach, Adam Koebel & Sage LaTorra, Sage Kobold Productions, 2012, D. Vincent Baker, unpublished, 2008 (4th Edition), Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt; Wizards of, John Cocking & Peter S. Williams, Flatland Games, 2013

Welcome to the World's End

This is the setting guide for Stonetop, a hearth fantasy roleplaying game set in an iron age that never was. It describes the PCs' home—the village of Stonetop—and the World's End, the region in which Stonetop sits. It's a gazetteer of the places, peoples, and powers that make up or shape the region.

The Village of Stonetop

A farming village on the eastern edge of the Flats, on a bluff overlooking the Great Wood. A great, rune-etched megalith stands amidst a cluster of squat stone homes, surrounded by an arc of farmland. The PCs call this village home. It's a tight-knit community, poor but a good place to live. Everyone is expected to pull their weight, but few think badly of those who suffer misfortune. The town pulls together; its community is its strength.

Aratis, the Lawkeeper

Aratis is one of the four main gods of Stonetop, the patron god of civilization and records, of laws and wisdom, of order over chaos. Her disciples say that she has been with us since people first stacked stone upon stone and called it home. If one of your initial PCs has the Judge playbook, they will answer many of the questions in this section via their presence, their background, and the decisions they make during character creation and introductions. Defer to that PC as the expert on Aratis in your game, but don't forget to ask other PCs for their opinions and experiences, too.

Barrier Pass

Five days north of Stonetop via the Highway, after winding through the Foothills and climbing into the Whitefang Mountains, you'll come to a pass between two rocky slopes. The pass is blocked by a mighty wall, with dwellings and grander structures on the cliffs above.

Barrow Builders

When the servants of the Stone Lords rebelled, slaying their masters and unleashing the Things Below, those who died in the uprising were hailed as martyrs. The survivors raised mounds of earth and stone to honor them, simple barrows built with human hands and human arts.

Blackwater Lake

In the west of the Steplands, in the shadow of the Huffel Peaks, there is a large and placid lake. A low ridge surrounds it, and a wide, rocky shore. The Aberzh River flows in from the west. No rivers or streams flow out. The water is dark, and very deep, and very, very still. It is always cold but never freezes.

Crinwin

Trust not thine ears, among the trees Despite the most desp'rate of pleas Look ye up and scan the skies For snarling teeth and pale-dead eyes Long of limb and gray of skin They've always been there, in the Wood, lurking in the trees. For generations, the Forest Folk hunted them and kept their numbers in check. No longer.

The Crombil

A great scaly wurm, hundreds of feet long. It sleeps somewhere beneath the Great Wood, waking every few decades to chew and burn a swath of destruction. Damage jaws like a cave d12+7 (reach, forceful, messy, 3 piercing), thrashing coils d12+5 (close, area, forceful) Special qualities fiery heat, stomach like a furnace, too big to hurt with most weapons

Danu, the Earth Mother

She-Who-Provides—is one of the four main gods of Stonetop. She is the deity of the earth and the wild places, of beasts and birds, of green growing things. She has long been revered by all peoples, though not always worshipped, nor served by priests. If one of your initial PCs has the Blessed playbook, then they will answer many of the questions in this section via their presence, their background, and the decisions they make during character creation and introductions. Defer to that PC as the expert on Danu in your game, but don't forget to ask other PCs for their opinions and experiences, too.

Death and the Undying

When you succumb to injury or illness, or just reach the end of your allotted days, then the Last Door will swing open for you. You will see it. The Lady of Crows will beckon you through. And there on the other side, your soul will join those who have gone before: the honored ancestors, the countless multitudes of the quiet dead.

The Dread River

The Dread River is the eastern border of the World's End. It flows down from the Whitefang Mountains, through the North and South Manmarch ( and 350), fed by numerous creeks and streams along the way. In its lower reach, the river itself is wide and deep, never less than a quarter-mile across and dozens—if not hundreds—of feet deep.

Fae

Strange folk live in the Great Wood and Ferrier's Fen. Wondrous and dangerous, beings out of legend. The Forest Folk called them "Good Neighbors" and "Hidden Ones," and took pains to avoid insulting them. They cautioned Stonetop to do the same. And while the Forest Folk are gone, the Fae remain.

Ferrier's Fen

Ferrier's Fen lies between the Great Wood, the Steplands, and the North Manmarch. It's a huge wetland, 100 miles wide, 50 miles north to south, fed by the Stream the Sruth near Marshedge, and many smaller creeks. It's a maze of firm ground, stagnant pools, shallow streams, and plunging drops into deep deep water. And mud. So much mud.

The Flats

Stonetop sits on the easternmost edge of the Flats, a rolling tallgrass prairie that stretches all the way to the Huffel Peaks, the Foothills and the Steplands. Just mile after mile after mile of grass. Villagers call the Flats-grasses the Gwead ("the Weave" or "the Weaving"). It's a bewildering array of species. Some are short and wispy, others thick and taller than a tall man. They bloom in a myriad of shapes and colors, and sport every manner of prickle, thorn, and seedpod.

Fomoraij

The Green Lords damned themselves. Oh, they'll tell you they had no other choice. That their treacherous servants drove them to it. That they knew not the cost. That they were lied to by the Things Below. But, no, they knew what they were doing. They just didn't care.

The Foothills

Two days northwest of Stonetop, the rolling Flats give way to hills, climbing up into the Whitefang Mountains. The Highway cuts through these hills, leading to Barrier Pass. To the east, the hills wrap around the Great Wood. The Foothills are rugged and forest-strewn, crisscrossed with streams, dotted with gorges and ponds and small lakes. In ages past, it was a borderland between the Rime Lords and the Green Lords, and later it was the extent of the Barrow Builders' reach.

Forest Folk

All the tales agree: the Folk were in the Great Wood long before Stonetop was founded. They welcomed the newcomers, or at least suffered them, but demanded that villagers never fell a living tree from the Wood. The Forest Folk mostly kept to themselves. But over generations, contacts were made.

Forge Lords

Forge Lords were Makers who bent fire and metal to their will. They built a sprawling civilization among the Huffel Peaks and on the shores of the sea beyond. They wrought wonders and traded with other Makers, in what is now Gordin's Delve. A fire burned inside the Forge Lords. It fueled their magic, and also their passion and creativity, their love of beauty and craftsmanship. Their desire to do better, to be better. But this fire was also a curse. If left to burn unchecked—if they gave in to ambition, jealousy, and greed—it could consume them. Burn away their finer feelings, twist them into terrible, fire-belching beasts.

The Frozen Wastes

North of the Whitefang Mountains lies a vast steppe, a windswept sea of shortgrass, sedge, and lichen. No trees grow here. The landscape is broken only by rocky outcrops, low moraines, and kettle lakes. It rarely snows and almost never rains, but hail is somewhat common. Caribou and mammoths graze the plateau, preyed on by wolves and saber-toothed cats and terrible things that crawl forth from the lakes in summer. Bands of mammoth herders roam in warmer months. But for the most part, it's an empty and forlorn place.

Gods and Religion

The village of Stonetop maintains a pavilion of the gods, an open-air structure with shrines to four main gods: Tor is the most popular god in Stonetop, and associated with the Stone itself, but all four gods receive their proper respect. Depending on the PCs in your game, some of the gods may be more important than others. Aratis, for example, will feature more prominently in a game with a Judge PC than a game without one.

The Golden Oak

On a clear day, sharp-eyed folk in Stonetop can spot the Golden Oak, gleaming at the horizon and dwarfing the trees around it. According to the tales of the Forest Folk, a hero buried at the roots of the Oak can find their way back from beyond the Last Door. But no one from Stonetop has ever made it there and back.

Gordin's Delve

For centuries, it was just a pile of Forge Lord ruins at the end of the West Road, up in the Huffel Peaks. A few generations back, ambitious folk started hauling ore out of the Delves. Foundry got built, merchants showed up, and coin flowed in—along with a constant trickle of folks seeking opportunity, or with nowhere else to go.

The Great Wood

Stonetop sits on a bluff overlooking the Great Wood, which stretches hundreds of miles to the east. Few villagers dare to even cross the Stream that flows near the base of the bluff. Hunters, trappers, and foragers go deeper, but even they venture a day or two into the forest at most.

Green Lords

In the time of the Makers, the Green Lords ruled the Great Wood and what is now Ferrier's Fen. They grew things, bred and cultivated. They bent the spirits of wild to their will, and brought forth new forms of life—some of which would eventually become the Forest Folk.

Helior, the Daybringer

Helior is one of the four main gods of Stonetop. He is the god of the sun and light, beacon of hope and mercy, the fiery foe of the dark. If one of your initial PCs has the Lightbearer playbook, then they will answer many of the questions in this section via their presence, their background, and the decisions they make during character creation and introductions. Defer to that PC as the expert on Helior in your game, but don't forget to ask other PCs for their opinions and experiences, too.

Hillfolk

The Steplands are home to dozens of nomadic bands, collectively called the Hillfolk. The bands are tied together into a bewildering tapestry of kinship and intermarriage and treaty, rivalry and blood feud and long-standing grudge. Some Hillfolk roam the Flats in warmer months. Some bands trade with Stonetop, at least on occasion, signaling to them at Titan Bones. Others trade with Marshedge, and still others with southern merchants. They have little contact with the Manmarchers, and tend to treat them with suspicion.

Huffel Peaks

This range runs along the western edge of the Flats and the Steplands, connecting with the Whitefang Mountains in the north. They're not as tall and menacing as the Whitefangs, but they are jagged things of granite and basalt, home to a number of volcanoes, and rich in minerals and ore.

The Labyrinth

Head into the Delves that give Gordin's Delve its name, and go down. Keep going. Take a side passage, one with no miners in it. Go further still. Eventually, the Makerhewn tunnels and the rough-cut mine shafts give way to natural caverns and lava tubes, twisting and turning and running for miles. The Labyrinth.

Lygos and the South

Picture a sun-drenched land, a semi-arid climate. Roads stretch out between cities and oases. Farmers tend to orchards of figs, dates, and olives. Boundless fields of grain sway in gentle winds. Picture palaces, temples, and handsome estates. Priests, scholars, and bureaucrats bustle about. Politicians squabble over laws and votes. Merchants hawk goods from the far corners of the world. Dozens of languages can be heard in streets and taverns.

The Makers

These lands were once ruled by giants, who stood two or three times the height of a full-grown human. They were powerful not only in stature but also in learning, wisdom, and magic. They established mighty civilizations and left many wonders in their wake. Five different groups of Makers helped to shape the region now called World's End.

The Makers' Roads

The West Road stretches from Stonetop to Gordin's Delve. About 15 miles from town, it crosses the Highway, which runs from Barrier Pass all the way to Marshedge and beyond. The roads are wide (~20 feet), grand, and humbling, clearly the work of the Makers. They have lasted for centuries, strangely well-preserved and free of growth.

Marshedge

The town of Marshedge lies along the Highway, on a rise overlooking Ferrier's Fen. Many consider Marshedgers insane to live so close to such a dangerous place, but long ago, some of them learned the ways of the Fen and of bendis root, the burning of which keeps unclean things at bay.

The Maw

There's a cave in the Great Wood, a few hours north of Stonetop. No underbrush grows within 30 feet of it, and bones litter the entrance. Trappers and hunters avoid it, and claim to have heard strange noises coming from its direction—especially at night. That's for you to decide, but perhaps it's...

North Manmarch

The North Manmarch lies east of the Great Wood, north of the Highway and northeast of Marshedge. Its western edge is made up of rolling hills, giving way to a wide, sparsely-wooded prairie that slopes gently towards the east. Many springs bubble up from the hills and flow eastward in tiny streams that feed the Dread River.

The Pale Hunter

On certain nights, the Pale Hunter stalks the Great Wood with his ghostly hounds. When he does, even the bravest hunters stay in town. The Forest Folk spoke of him as something like a force of nature, less a god to worship than a storm to endure.

Primordial Powers

The village of Stonetop sits upon ancient ruins, built centuries or even millennia ago by the Makers world. Strange and alien things. Primordial things and primordial powers, from the very dawn of time. Many aspects of the setting's cosmology are intentionally left vague, for you and your group to flesh out as needed. Here are a few things to ask about or consider:

Red Groves

Half a day east of Stonetop is a copse of trees that turn blood red (leaves, bark, and all) at the autumnal equinox. By spring, the color has returned to normal. The Forest Folk warned the villagers to avoid this place. They never said why. Something interesting: A dozen such groves dot the Great Wood. Some redden in the fall, others in spring. Some, like the one near Stonetop, are large and old; others are just a few young trees.

Rime Lords

In the utmost north, the Rime Lords made their domain. They spread through the Whitefang Mountains and the tundra beyond, embracing the ice and the cold and the terrible howling emptiness. The Rime Lords developed all manner of ascetic disciplines and esoteric arts. They inured their bodies to the cold.

The Ruined Tower

A long day's march from Stonetop, a wide, low hill rises from the Flats. A pile of earth and stone squats atop that hill. Metal spires reach out of the pile, piercing the sky. If you squint, you can see the rubble for what it is: a broken tower, once grand in scale, long ago brought low.

South Manmarch

If you descend from the Steplands to the southeast, you'll find yourself on a rolling prairie. The ground slopes gently down toward the east, to the banks of the Dread River. Travelers and merchants aplenty cross these plains. They come north, from Lygos and the civilized south, heading north to the Highway and from there to Marshedge.

Spirits of the Wild

The physical world—this mortal realm of base matter and flesh—is but one reality. There is another, hidden reality. Arguably a truer reality. Here, spirits dwell. The spirit realm is filled with entities, especially those of the natural world. Each beast, each tree, each gust of wind or flickering flame—they all have spirits. So do the soil, the rocks, the mountains and the streams.

The Steplands

The Steplands are a rugged hill-country south of the Flats. To the north, they touch Ferrier's Fen and the Great Wood. To the east, they give way to the South Manmarch. To the west, they climb higher and higher, like a stairway to the Huffel Peaks.

Stone Lords

In the time of the Makers, the Stone Lords ruled the Steplands, the southern stretch of the Huffel Peaks, and the South Manmarch. They carved cities out of the hills. They raised towering monuments. They sang stone, crystal, and glass into impossible shapes.

The Stream

A few minutes from Stonetop, near the base of the bluff, in the Great Wood. Wide, shallow, swift, lined with small stones. Folks come here to wash and fetch water, but rarely alone. It's not deep, but it's still a body of water. Damage icy touch d6 (hand, disadvantage, ignores armor)

Tempest Lords

They were, perhaps, the first of the Makers. They charted the seas and the stars. They leashed the elements to their will. They built mighty ships and flying castles, sailed forth from their island home and conquered. All who stood against them were reduced to ash and glass and slag.

The Things Below

They are older than the world. They are primordial entities of darkness, chaos, and corruption. When light first filled the void, they were huddled in the shadows. When matter coalesced, they were there, chewing at its edges. When the First Creators thought "I am me" and named themselves, Those Who Dwelt in Darkness sought their ruin. They whispered lies and stoked egos. They urged the Creators to war amongst themselves. To lay waste to their creations. To let chaos reign.

Three Coven Lake

Deep in the Steplands lies a large lake, eight miles long by three. The waters are murky, often choppy, shallow in some places, in others 100 feet deep. Rocky islands poke from the water. Bluffs line much of the shore. But look closer. Those islands are the feet of ancient towers, and those bluffs are riddled with rockcut rooms. For long ago, in the days of the Stone Lords, this was a mighty city. Teirstered, they called it. The City of Three Stars, rivalled only by great Dulenn.

Titan Bones

About two days' hike from Stonetop stands a lone hill, rising from the Flats. A huge, fossilized skeleton is visible on one side of the hill. The Highway runs past the hill to the east; a wayside sits at its foot. The hill rises over 300' above the prairie.

Tor, the Rain-maker

Tor, the Rain-maker, also called the Thunderhead and Slayer-of-Beasts, is one of the gods in Stonetop's pavilion of the gods. He is the god of wind and rain, weather and storms, patron of warriors and hunters too. Many tales are told of his victories, and yes, of his foibles, too.

Useful or Valuable Flora

Pick one of the following, or create a new kind of flora for the PCs to discover. Either way, keep in mind when and where the PCs will encounter this. If you're presenting something useful, it should be useful now (perhaps with a bit of care or effort). Don't present them with an apple tree in winter and claim it's useful. If you're presenting them something valuable, it should either be something they can harvest now, or something that they can feasibly come back and get later.

Ustrina

These mask-wearing people dwell to the west, deep in the Huffel Peaks. Every now and then, they emerge from the Labyrinth and visit Gordin's Delve, trading finely worked goods, wonders and the odd bit of orichalcum. Portuguese-sounding, but often ending in "-ix": the Avilio, the Brenix, the Caesana, the Donatix, the Emitia, the Flagio, the Galvaix, the Jacintix, the Lucisia, the Marcix, the Numia, the Otavix, the Paolix, the Ruia, the Sibonio, the Tafia, the Valerix.

Vor Svetelik

The Green Lords called this place "the Great White City." It was a place of beauty, learning, and study. But when the Fae rebelled, the scholars of Vor Svetelik were tasked with breeding beasts of war. When the Green Lords turned in desperation to the Things Below, the city's waters fouled and its white trees grew sickly. When other Makers shattered what is now Ferrier's Fen, this city became the Green Lords' last refuge and the site of the war's last battle.

Waystones

The Great Wood and Ferrier's Fen are dotted with massive markers of pale gray stone, moss-covered and largely overgrown, deeply etched with the curling, branching runes of the Green Lords. Fae magic binds the waystones together. Something interesting: The waystones mark entrances to the Fae paths. If one can access the paths, they can quickly travel great distances. The paths, however, are fraught with peril. Tales tell of travelers being lost or entrapped for years or even centuries.

The Whitefang Mountains

The Whitefang Mountains form the northern border of the World's End, running from the Huffel Peaks in the northwest, all along the Great Wood and the North Manmarch, to the Dread River and beyond in the east. Beyond them lie nothing but the Frozen Wastes.

Appendix A: Ages of the World

Most events are listed in the order they occurred, but events in are approximate, their specific placement unclear. Did construction begin on the Makers' marshal before or after the Forest Folk disappeared? That's for you and your group to decide, if it matters.? The first of the great spirits arise

Appendix B: Artifact Creation

Use this procedure when you need an artifact, but none of the existing options fit. Or, use it when you have an idea that you want to flesh out. As you work through each step, take notes on your decisions or results. Then, pick or roll for one or more themes from the indicated entry. Allow the theme(s) to inform everything else about this artifact.

Appendix C: Minor Arcana

Index of 64 individual arcana entries.

Appendix D: Major Arcana

Index of 18 individual arcana entries.