Glory & Grim – Soulforge Adventures

Soulforge Adventures uses Glory & Grim in the place of Fate & Inspiration.

Glory

Glory is a simple and powerful tool for your group to tackle the challenges of the Eternal Night. It’s a resource earned and spent collectively, embodying the spirit to triumph, the strength of unity, and the shared resolve of your team. As the central figures in the story, you and your allies can influence the destiny of the Wraith Coast. By using Glory, you gain more choices and wield greater control over your narrative, opening up possibilities for impactful twists in the game.

At the start of each session, your group kicks off with 0 Glory in the shared pool. Every time you roll a Critical, you boost the pool by 1 Glory. The pool’s cap is set at either 6 or the total number of players plus 2—whichever is greater. Once the pool hits its maximum, any extra Glory you generate goes to waste. It’s a straightforward “use it or lose it” situation!

Any member of the group can decide to use Glory, and it’s a resource that everyone pitches into and can tap into. It’s courteous to check with the rest of the group before dipping into the shared Glory. Usually, they’ll be on board since you’re operating as a team, but there might be instances where you need to reserve your Glory for especially precarious situations. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask, and it ensures that everyone at the table remains at ease and comfortable with the decisions being made. Glory can be used in four ways, detailed below:

Increase Die Roll

You can spend Glory to add bonus to any die roll. Each point of Glory spent increases the number of bonus by 1. You can only do this after the initial roll and any re-roll. You can only use this option once per action.

Increase Damage

You can spend Glory to increase the damage of a successful attack. Each Glory spent adds 1 to the total damage value. You may spend as much Glory as you want to increase damage.

Seize The Initiative

You can spend a point of Glory to Seize the Initiative during combat (see sidebar).

If a player asks to use Glory and the group refuses, the player can choose to use the Glory anyway. However, if they do so — or they don’t ask at all — they loose 1 Incarnum for every point of Glory they use.

Grim

Grim is a currency reserved for the GM to heighten the danger of the Eternal Night. The narratives the GM weaves thrive on drama, and confronting formidable adversaries adds excitement. Similar to players using Glory, the GM can expend Grim, symbolizing the sinister force that empowers many enemies and has the potential to alter reality.

It’s important to note that Grim is not meant to punish anyone; the primary goal is for everyone at the table to have a good time. The GM’s Grim reserve should be transparent to the players, emphasizing the malevolence and corruption permeating the Eternal Night, intensifying the suspense. Spending Grim serves to intensify the scenario, bolster the threats in play, and ensure that the game remains challenging. It’s crucial to remember that while the GM controls the villains in the story, they are not the players’ adversaries.

Spending Grim
Acquiring Grim

The DM can spend Grim to activate any of the following effects:

- Reroll Failures: The DM can spend 1 Grim to reroll failures on any roll for an NPC.

- Seize The Initiative: The DM can spend 1 Grim to Seize the Initiative (see sidebar). The DM can’t Seize the Initiative more than once per turn.

- Restore Vitality: The DM can spend 1 Grim to restore 1d3+3 to an NPC’s Hit Point total. Doing so counts as an Action for that NPC.

- Activate DM Abilities: The DM can spend Grim to activate abilities that they have gained through our DM leveling system.

At the beginning of each session, the DM begins with Grim equal to the number of players. The DM can accumulate Grim up to a maximum of twice the number of players. Importantly, Grim doesn’t carry over between sessions, and any excess Grim is discarded when the pool reaches its maximum—much like Glory, it’s a use-it-or-lose-it situation! You gain 1 Grim whenever the following events occur:

A player fails a Saving Throw.
A player gains the Frightened Condition.
The DM rolls a Critical.
A player loses an Incarnum.

Getting Started

You start every session with the following resource, unless special circumstances dictate otherwise.

Glory: Your Glory pool starts at 0.
Grim: The GM starts with Grim equal to the number of players.

Seize the Initiative

Whenever an Character has finished their Turn for the Round, the players can Seize the Initiative. Instead of the initiative order passing to a the next in initiative order, the players may choose to spend one Glory to have another Character immediately act instead. This will change their order in the initiative. This can only be done once per Turn. The GM may spend one Grim to Seize the Initiative in the same way.

Example: The party (Characters) initiate a fight with a gang of Orcs. The initiative order is Character, Orc then another Character. However, at the end of the first Character’s Turn the players decide to spend a point of Glory to have a second Character act immediately. Once the second Character’s Turn is over, a initiative order continues as normal. The Character who seized the initiative retains this new initiative spot for the remainder of the encounter (unless moved, or replaced by other such actions, etc.).

The GM may also spend Grim to Seize the Initiative, allowing another NPC to go before the next Character in the same fashion.

Dark Whispers

Whenever a character indulges in sin, allows themselves to be tempted by darkness and befittingly portrays a behavior flaw, they can choose to roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d6, or 1d10 to determine how many Incarnum they can trade for a bonus to any Ability Check, Saving Throw or Attack Roll performed in the following turn; The name Dark Whispers suggest that it is up to the GM to provide an opening, such as an ethical bind or too tempting an opportunity, for the character to show their deplorable side and act out accordingly.