A folk horror roleplaying game set within Solemn Vale, an isolated town in Southwest England.
For more information on the game and the products on offer, check out the Kickstarter page linked below.
Solemn Vale Kickstarter
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Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Mechanics of Folk Horror
over 3 years ago
โ Tue, Apr 13, 2021 at 04:53:13 AM
Hello folks โ Chris Allen here, the designer of the game mechanics that underpin Solemn Vale! Iโm going to talk a little bit about the Wyrd Abacus system, and provide a brief overview of how it works.
Our intention with Solemn Vale is to provide a light rules framework to support the flow of the fiction that unfolds in each game. The Wyrd Abacus uses attribute pools, dice, and a simple bidding mechanic to address what happens when the characters face Solemn Valeโs challenges. Events are complicated by the Wyrd, which characters can draw upon to twist fate in their favour but which risks binding them more tightly to the Valeโs horror.
Player characters have three abilities โ Body, Mind, and Soul. Each provides a pool of points that can be spent to add to a single die roll to overcome a challenge, a specific obstacle or danger the characters may face in Solemn Vale. Each challenge has a value in one or more traits that match to particular abilities, such as Pursuit (which characters would normally spend Body points to try and escape from) or Invocation (requiring characters to spend Soul points on dice rolls to control an occult force).
Players bid points from their relevant pools then one player rolls a single d6 and adds the total number of points bid; if this matches or exceeds the challengeโs value, it is overcome. Otherwise, the characters face the consequences of their failure, potentially suffering damage, โscratched outโ abilities, or more narrative problems that may arise.
Solemn Vale is a โfiction firstโ kind of game, where whatโs going on in the current moment of the narrative determines which traits a challenge brings to bear and what the consequences of failure are likely to be. Itโs also intended as โchallenge resolutionโ rather than โaction resolutionโ; struggling with a murderous cultist in a dark basement doesnโt involve round-by-round attack rolls, but rather a single roll that indicates the outcome of the entire confrontation.
The way a scene unfolds is also influenced by stage rules โ scene-wide or even story-wide mechanics that can affect outcomes or trigger in certain circumstances โ and the Wyrd. Players can draw from a limited Wyrd pool that refreshes each scene to help them address challenges with alternate abilities, invoke specific powers, or twist the narrative to draw in allies or aid. They can also take Wyrd points to increase the outcome of a challenge die roll after it is rolled. The catch is that drawing on the Wyrd permanently adds to the characterโs own Wyrd pool. As this builds through the story, it increases the chances of the character becoming entangled in occult events, and has a role in the storyโs finale to determine the characterโs ultimate fate. However, having a high Wyrd isnโt necessarily bad; while it might draw the attention of an otherworldly terror haunting Solemn Vale, it might also lead the character to places of supernatural importance as well.
The Wyrd Abacus system is about judgement, risk and entanglement. Players might choose to bid so many points against a challenge that success is assured โ but, with ability point recovery being limited during a story, they canโt be sure that theyโll have what they need for future scenes. Taking the chance on a die roll with an uncertain outcome can save ability points for the group, but opens up the possibility of failure โ or the temptation to call on the Wyrd when the die comes up short. As a story progresses, characters with a high Wyrd may lead the rest deeper into the Valeโs mysteries, while those who retain a low Wyrd serve as the anchor to normalcy that might just save some of them from a grisly fate โ but then again, either could also end up as antagonists to the othersโ tale.
Two visitors, a surveyor and a historian, arrive in Solemn Vale to investigate the old Atlas tin mine. The true story of the mineโs closure forty years ago is shrouded in mystery. Local stories speak of a disastrous loss of life and legends whisper about an old witch. In search of answers and a golden ticket, the visitors delve into the mine unaware of the Wyrd things locked inside.
You can listen in to Solemn Vale: The Atlas Mines HERE
Today, little remains above ground of what was the mighty Atlas Mine. The old central tunnel entrance, little more than a broken hole in the ground. Wooden struts that once reinforced the entrance now splinter out at all angles like broken teeth.
At one point in time the industry booming beneath the Earthโs surface was the financial heart of Solemn Vale. Atlas Mine extends for miles below the surface of the forest region of Solemn Vale, with multiple tunnels crawling under the village and out towards the cliffs beyond.
Officially, Atlas Mine was a rich tin deposit, deep as they come. However, there are no legal records of tin sales or taxation from the region at any point during the time that the mine was operational. No-one who worked in Atlas Mine remains alive to this day. Plenty of the elderly seem to know someone who worked those tunnels though. A father, an uncle, a fellow church parishioner, but none who still walk with the living can speak for what was being mined beneath Solemn Vale.
Atlas Mine ceased operations after the collapse of โ37. There are no official records of the exact number of men inside at the time a series of charges incorrectly fired, irrevocably collapsing hundreds of meters of the mine. The tragedy rocked Solemn Vale, and the financial future of the village was for some time unclear. The mine had for so long been a part of daily life, that people seemed to think the village might not survive without it.
There were no investigations, however. Few repercussions even to the closing of the huge mining areas. The mining outposts were gutted and removed, information scourged from ledgers, and in a matter of weeks, Atlas Mine and all who had been a part of it had left Solemn Vale. The only remnants left behind were the shattered families of those lost in the mine.
- - -
Weirdo Bob โcaught up withโ one of the ย Solemn Vale writing team, Ross Fisher Davis, and squeezed some SV secrets from him:
1. Finish this sentence: Solemn Vale is...
Solemn Vale is a lovely place to visit. Try the local restaurants. Have a cone down by the shore. Why, itโs a nice place to live, even. Come and stay.
2. What is your favourite thing about this game?
While experiencing the wild and unusual far from real life makes for wonderful settings, the wild and unusual that closely clings to the underside of reality can be even more exciting.
3. If you were a character living in Solemn Vale, who would you be?
Old Anthony Moss, the lighthouse keeper. Always on watch, afraid to close his eyes in case he misses something moving in the darkness out there beyond the lanternโs reach.
4. Can you tell us all a secret about Solemn Vale?
Some of the semi-detached buildings were built a little strange in Solemn Vale, leaving spaces in between the walls. People say all sorts of things might be walled up in there, forgotten about for decades.
5. What scares you?
Darkness below the water off the shore after sundown.
Stay tuned for more exciting Solemn Vale content and keep spreading the Wyrd.
Stretch Goal Unlock #11 - The Ride of Their Lives by Richard Dansky
over 3 years ago
โ Fri, Apr 09, 2021 at 10:46:19 AM
Another stretch goal has been unlocked for our Into the Wyrd compendium. Richard Dansky (Wraith: The Oblivion, World of Darkness) has spent over two decades working on video and tabletop games and brings backers a chilling tale in The Ride of Their Lives.
A phantom car with a sinister past haunts the roads of Solemn Vale and you'll get more than you bargained for by accepting a lift from a stranger.
As we push towards the campaign finish line, we hope to unlock a few more of our exciting Stretch Goals including modules, Stage Rules and the newly added Solemn Vale Almanac.
Thank you for your continued support and keep spreading the Wyrd!
Stretch Goal Unlock #10 - A Bit About the Margins by Phil Brucato
over 3 years ago
โ Tue, Apr 06, 2021 at 12:42:55 AM
We are humbled by your continued support for Solemn Vale. We are pleased to announce another module has been added to Into the Wyrd. Phil Brucato (Mage: The Ascension, World of Darkness) is certainly no stranger to Wyrd and strange stories.
In A Bit About the Margins, an author comes to town and rents a cottage in order to"get away from it all" to finish a manuscript. The authorโs work awakens something Wyrd and begins to reshape reality.
As we are closing in on the campaign's final days, we have more exciting stretch content to unlock including: modules from Richard Dansky and Graeme Davis; Stage Rules (locations); and a book expansion for spells, charms and invocations.
Keep spreading the Wyrd and invite your friends to join us in Solemn Vale.
Stretch Goal Unlock #9 - The Bride by Justin Achilli - Short fiction for Into the Wyrd
over 3 years ago
โ Sat, Apr 03, 2021 at 02:14:40 PM
The next short fiction Stretch Goal has just been unlocked. This time Justin Achilli delves into a Solemn Vale local legend.
Surrounded in myth and superstition, the bride is a name often whispered when someone goes missing in the region. Talk to one of the local kids and they will tell you all about the bride and her dead wedding.
Coming up next in the Solemn Vale Kickstarter campaign is the Stage Rules expansion (locations) Stretch Goal.
