What is Spirits & Spellcraft?
Spirits & Spellcraft is a Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG), a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling between a number of players (typically between 3 – 5) who create Player Characters (PCs) to embark on adventures together. The Game Master (GM) describes the setting, guides the narrative, sets challenges, interprets the rules, and plays various Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and enemies. As the GM describes the scenario the PCs collaborate to weave a shared story together based on their characters’ personalities, abilities, and the roll of dice, with each session contributing to the ongoing tale of their characters’ quests, battles, and achievements.
To begin playing, simply discuss with your friends about starting a TTRPG. Some important notes to help drive this discussion are;
- Ensure everyone understands the basic idea of a TTRPG and is on board with playing.
- Set expectations about what kind of game everyone would like to play.
- Plan how often you would like to meet to play, and for about how long the sessions will run.
- Assign who will be the game master (GM) and who will be a player character (PC).
- Create Characters. This is better done together before you meet up to play the game as it can help answer questions about why the characters are together, if they may have a history before becoming adventurers, and helps to discuss the previous points already mentioned.
- Have fun, adapt the game to how you and your table like, never get too hung up on official mechanics or how a specific rule is supposed to be. The real meat of this game is the stories and memories you make together.
How To Create A Character
Once it’s decided who will play the GM and who will play PCs, the players must now make their characters. Creating A Character requires several steps and a bit of planning, however there are many ways to create a character and the mechanics of the game should compliment the type of character they would like to play.
Playing the Game
Once PCs have completed character creation the game is ready to begin (so long as your GM has a scenario ready to play). As the PCs explore, investigate, discover, and fight they are likely going to need to roll dice in order to determine the outcome of such actions. Depending on the action of the PC the amount and type of die to roll will vary, however the game uses d4s, d6s, d8s, d10s, d12s, and d20s, referring to the number of sides on the die. Some Actions that may require a dice roll are;
- Attacking a target with a weapon or spell.
- Using a skill such as a knowledge check to recall local lore.
- Using a tool such as a took kit or a grinding wheel.
Understanding Common Terms
Spirits & Spellcraft has a number of common terms used within it’s content, such as various Combat Maneuvers, Conditions, Damage Types, and so on. Knowing all of these is not required to enjoy this game but players and GMs should familiarize themselves with the terms they’ll be using the most. Terms may be found on their respective pages pertaining to what applies them and how.