before the moon was born

i'm talkin like moominsummer madness survival horror LMAO

fairytales are actually really closely tied to survival horror <3 hansel and gretel <3

all the pictures are tove jansson obviously except for that one akira panel i included

The world is new. The moon has not yet been born. everything's all jumbled up and there's lots of rules that haven't yet been organized. Use Laws of the Land to figure it out.

the moon is huge and round and you can see it bulging up from the earth like the akira explosion but huge and shining silvergold against the black of the trees. 

get real >:(

 the GM rolls 1d20 +10. that number's a secret and it's the countdown till the moon is born. Each player secretly writes down what they think will happen when the Moon is born and gives it to the GM. When the moon is born, the GM chooses one of those outcomes and then the game is over. 

 

the empty manors of the Moon People are empty and edwardian and if you make them victorian or medieval i'll KILL you. they're the moon people because the moon seems like it's going to be for them. or maybe because they've made it, or called it? certainly because they love it.

they've all gone to a big party around it. none of you were invited. it wouldn't be safe for you. they're not like you at all. they're more like poetry. use Palimpsest to figure out what that means. Moon People will only notice you if you're in the moonlight, in which case they'll stomp you out, or if you address them by name, in which case they'll be delighted by you.

this Moon Manor is empty except for

1. greasy, flammable fog
2. doves
3. a leprous aunt
4. drawers and drawers of toxic heavy metal marbles
5. a city of Small Beasts that comes up to your waist
6. a staircase that leads up to a thunderhead

 

Big People are what you (the girl reading this) are. They're rare and often keep to small groups:
4/6 big people know a given big person
1/6 times someone big is around
2/6 times someone big overhears.
within a group, wrongdoing followed up on 5/6 times.
disappearances are noticed after 1: half a day or 2: 1 day and always followed up on.

this Big Person is missing
1. their arm
2. their leg
3. their teeth
4. their tongue
5. their nose
6. their dead friends

 

however Small Beasts are everywhere (that tree, that stream, your food, your pockets, that person's ear) and communal:
3/6 small beasts know a given small beast
3/6 times a small beast is around
4/6 times someone small overhears
wrongdoings followed up on 4/6 times
disappearances are noticed after 1d6 days, always followed up on.

this Small Beast wants
1. to go inside you somehow
2. to sing you a song very very loud
3. to bite you
4. to steal your food
5. to trip you
6. to be your friend

lonely people are uncommon, but you never see them coming. they can only be ambushed if you find them at home, and good luck with that. Use the Monstrous Amendments to figure out what they're like.
none of them know each other.
1/6 times someone lonely is around, but they never overhear you.
they're dangerous to be around. they always need you for something.
wrongdoings are always followed up on, but only by themselves, if you left them alive, or, 1/6 times, by another lonely person, deeply and tragically obsessed with the first.
disappearances likewise are only noticed after 2d6 days and, when they are, are only followed up on 1/6 times, and only by the obsessed. 

this lonely person needs you to help them
1. sleep
2. bathe
3. grieve
4. eat
5. lure prey
6. witch something

Knowledge is rare: it’s either dangerous to uncover or dangerous to know, the most useful knowledge is both

stuff to know

1. where to get the only sword in the world

2. where to find medicine

3. drinking water free of witching

4. food that doesn't speak to you or try to kill you
5. where a lonely person lives
6. a moon person's name

Treasure is the necessities of life; food, water, shelter, fire etc.
these things are not available by default. without significant effort, you will starve and die.

Witchery is ephemeral and names its undoing as it is cast. fairytale logic. That's what makes it witchery; strangeness abounds, but magic is fleeting, like dreams come to life and dying just as easily.

this witchery is undone
1. by true loves kiss
2. by pure water
3. by the death of a Big Person
4. by moonlight
5. by spending the night in a Moon Manor
6. with the help of a Lonely Person

Exploration
Uses the World and Character rolls from Oracular Odds
Trying to eat, drink, or sleep always calls for a World Roll

A World Roll of
- 4 or less is because whatever you're dealing with hasn't been fully created yet, and it works out to your advantage 

- 5 - 7 is because Big People were here and made it easier somehow. Roll 1d4 and on a 1, they're still nearby

- 12 - 13 is because the thing is witched somehow

- 15-17 is because a Small Beast is getting in your way somehow
- 18+ is because it's not meant for you to do, it's meant for a Moon Person. Roll 1d4 and on a 1, a Moon Person does it effortlessly and doesn't notice you at all

A Character Roll of
- 4 or less is because a friend you used to have showed you how to do this. Share one sensory image of that friend
- 18+ is something that took a friend's life somehow. Share 3 sensory images of that moment.

Combat works like this and is based off of violence

whichever side was ambushed or has more reasons to fear the enemy (count em) to fear goes second
on your turn you can use each body part once: R. Arm L. Arm, R. Leg. L. Leg, Head

to hit someone with a ranged attack, roll 16+ on a d20

if someone is hit, they roll a d20

1-8: they're down
9-13: they're injured 

14+: if they're behind cover or armored, no effect. otherwise, they're Injured

to hit someone with a melee attack both of you roll 1d12
If the difference between the rolls is
1 or less, both are Injured and go Down.
 2-3, the victor is Injured. The defeated is Injured and goes Down.
4+, the defeated is Injured and goes Down

Whenever someone is injured, consult these tables. Combat bonuses and penalties don't apply.

After the violence is concluded, roll a d20 for each person Down. A for each
Injury. On a 16+, they are critically injured and will die without medicine. Otherwise they are dead.

For all combat rolls
each injury you have gives you -2
each situational advantage gives you +1
each meal you ate yesterday (determined by when you last slept) gives you +1. This means if you ate 3 meals and then slept, until you sleep again you'll get +3 to combat rolls.

3 Small Beasts counts as 1 meal

Big People count as 2 meals

lonely people count as 3 meals

If you eat a Moon Person you become a moon person and the GM adds 1d6 to the secret moon countdown.

When you sleep, you may use 3 meals to heal 1 Injury instead of gaining a bonus to combat rolls.

Death
Every time any character dies, the secret countdown till the Moon is born goes down by one.