The Starlight System (v.1.0)

A rules-lite TTRPG System

By Constantine "Kelfecil" Christakis of Kelfecil's Tales

Find the Google Docs Document HERE.

DISCLAIMER:

This is a system that I have been working on for a while now so that I can use it in releases made through Kelfecil's Tales. I wanted to create something that would allow people to easily take any of the content I create and adapt it to their own system.

This is still a work in progress and it is more of an experiment than anything else. I am still waiting for WotC's official response on the whole OGL 1.1 situation so until then, none of this will be used in any releases.

Any feedback on this is welcome (please post on the Kelfecil's Tales Discord server or PM me directly).

This system cannot run a full game on its own. It is made to be used in conjunction with another one so that you can have the full TTRPG experience. Starlight 1.0 focuses on allowing Game Masters to tell and adapt their stories as easily as possible.

Welcome

Just like the stars in the skies of Latakar, the world is always changing, and so must we with it.

Welcome to the 1.0 version of the Starlight TTRPG System by Kelfecil's Tales. I, Constantine "Kelfecil" Christakis, the creator of it, have taken some time to create it in order to ensure that we have a somewhat agnostic system that people who want to use content can easily adapt to their own games, no matter what famous or not-so-famous TTRPG system they are using.

Kelfecil's Tales and the Starlight Chronicles setting are all about telling memorable stories and creating experiences with your friends at the table so I always try to make it as easy as possible for the GM, narrator, or storyteller of your table to take what I publish and use it as their own without too much hassle.

Inspiration

While I have taken great inspiration from systems like the one from "the world's most famous roleplaying game", there are a few others that are worth mentioning here such as the Genesys Roleplaying System or the Year Zero Rules Engine. Both of those systems actually focus a lot on storytelling and that is why I absolutely love a lot of games that run with those systems.

It is important to note though that the inspirations for creating both this system and the stories that we publish with Kelfecil's Tales come from all sorts of media and other things. Storytelling is something that can be influenced by pretty much anything and roleplaying games are directly affected too.

Legalese

This system is being made and updated in accordance with all copyright laws. It is inspired by many other famous TTRPG systems and while game systems and mechanics are not things that one can legally copyright, we have taken precautions to respect the original work of other companies and creators by avoiding any copy-paste text or other content.

Currently, there are no plans for making an open game license for it. However, as mentioned above, game systems are not something that one can legally copyright so I, therefore, encourage anyone who would like to use this system to go ahead and do so.

I would of course appreciate it if you contact me directly about using the system.

You will be asked to link back to this page if you end up using Starlight 1.0.

The idea was to create something that will allow us to tell the stories we want to tell without having to limit ourselves by signing a license that a company or another creator can change when and if they ever decide to do so.

Setting and Theme Agnostic

This system can be used for any kind of setting and type of RPG game, be it fantasy, sci-fi or something else.

In this document, you will find that a lot of the system relies on the Game Master's discretion to adapt things to any other system that is being used. The core principles and ideas that are written down for the system are just the core part that helps everything else run smoothly while at the same time making it easy enough to adapt to any other system and setting you may be using.

Adapting to your favorite System

While this system is made in the best possible way to allow you to easily use content however you want, it is very crucial that you possess at least a basic understanding a bit of knowledge of both the system and setting that you are using so that the adaptation can be balanced for your game. We take care of the story, you do the rest.

Look for the keyword "Adapting." while reading through this document for specifics and tips on how you could approach adapting the content to your own favorite system.

Game Specifics

Content Difficulty Levels

Content released using this system usually features a difficulty level. That means that some adventures can be more difficult than others, but there is no level specification, meaning you can adjust them to whatever level you think is appropriate for your players.

The difficulty levels are made using a scale of 1 to 20. The higher the number, the more difficult the content will be.

Adapting. Most TTRPG systems use a similar scale so it shouldn't be too hard to match the difficulty level to that of your favorite system's.

Monster Difficulty Levels

The monsters do not use levels but instead specific keywords to mark how difficult they are. These can be anything in the following range.

Trivial
Nuisance
Easy
Moderate
Challenging
Demanding
Severe
Deadly
Legendary
Godly

Health and Defense Values

This system simplifies the values for health points and the defense value (how hard it is to land a blow against them).

Health is always calculated using the d10 dice so that the health of each monster is somewhat different based on the results of the dice rolls for determining the monster's health. Alternatively, the Game Master could just give a monster its maximum health points which would be the maximum value of the dice (e.g. 3d10 would be 30 points of health).

Defense Value is always calculated with a value out of 5. This means that a monster with a 1/5 defense value is extremely easy to hit while a monster with a 5/5 defense value is extremely hard to hit.

A monster with 0/5 defense value means all attacks against it are automatically counted as a hit.

A monster with a defense value higher than 5/5 (such as for example 6/5 or 7/5) is most often a legendary creature and it has either amplified its defense value through a spell, a specific type of armor or something else.

Combat

Unlike other systems, this system does not have combat rules. It is up to the Game Master to choose what kind of system they would like to use in order to run combat. Basic initiative and turn order works just like it does with most other famous systems.

Initiative

Roll d20 and add modifier. Higher results go before lower results.

Turn Action Pool

Each character gets to move up to their movement speed and take one Action to perform an attack, ability, or spell and one Extra Action to perform something less significant (as it would be noted on the ability itself).

Adapting. A lot of other systems run combat very efficiently and with intuitive mechanics. Starlight 1.0's focus is on storytelling and this is why the core combat rules have been kept very simple.

Damage

Since the system focuses so much on the storytelling aspects instead of the combat ones, a lot of TTRPG combat mechanics and concepts are borrowed from other systems. We had to change a few things here and there in order to not be a copy-paste of another system, but you will find a lot of similarities that will help you understand the content quickly.

Damage Amounts

For the amount of damage done and all other numerical values that would be used in various abilities, talents and actions, this system is using words that the game master will have to translat into numbers so that they can be used with whatever system is being used to run combat in your games.

Minor

Could translate to "Add d4 value"

Low

Could translate to "Add d6 value"

Moderate

Could translate to "Add d8 value"

Major

Could translate to "Add d10 value"

Critical

Could translate to "Add d12 value"

Damage Types

The damage types are:

Physical, for things like melee and ranged attacks with weapons
Magical, for spells that use pure arcane energies
Elemental, for spells and items that use elemental magic or energies

The damage types have been kept simple and are left to the Game Master to decide if they should be something more specific for the sake of each situation the players are involved in.

Adapting. If for example, a monster uses a scimitar to attack someone, then it's up to the Game Master to decide if the fact that a scimitar slashes is important for the fight or the system being used to run combat.

If for example, a monster casts a spell called Flame Wall, it is up to the Game Master to mention that this is the equivalent of fire magic damage in the system being used to run combat.

Difficulty Checks

Just like with damage, for the sake of simplicity, all checks using the system are marked as follows:

Effortless
Easy
Moderate
Demanding
Difficult
Near Impossible

With the help of this difficulty ranking, you should be able to adjust the difficulty checks during your game accordingly.

Adapting. You could separate the checks listed above as a division by 5 or 6. For example, in a d20 system, you could make effortless checks be a result of 1-5 required, easy checks be a result of 6-10, and so on and so on.

Spells

Spells will in some cases be explained in detail as to how they function while in some other cases be kept simple and just have the required amount of dice you need to roll in order to inflict a certain amount of damage with them.

Adapting. Most of the spells have generic names and are easily paired with spells that may exist in any other system you are using for your games. There are few fantasy systems and settings out there that do not have a Fireball spell, so you do not have to worry too much about adapting it.

NPC Specifics

Alignment

Non-playable characters in this system are given an alignment in order to show their disposition towards various things that may happen during your games. The alignments given to NPCs in content using this system help define how certain characters and monsters would behave and make it clearer and easier for the Game Master as to how they could be used in the story. The alignment can be any of the following:

Size

With medium being the size of a normal human, NPCs are usually described with the following size chart:

Tiny - 1/4th the size of a human

Small - half the size of a human

Medium

Large - x2 the size of a human

Huge - x4 the size of a human

Colossal - x8 the size of a human

Speed

Characters will have specific movement speeds indicated on their sheets or stat blocks for NPCs. The standard is usually 30 feet, which is the average speed of a normal human and it may vary from character to character as different ancestries, sizes and other types of creatures can have different features.

Languages

The system uses most of the known fantasy languages such as Dwarvish or Elvish. For extra languages, make sure you refer to the setting you are using for your games (such as the Starlight Chronicles for Kelfecil's Tales releases).

Whenever Common is mentioned as a language, then that means that it is the most commonly known language that most NPCs have knowledge of (be it speaking or just understanding it).

Monster Stat Blocks - Abilities & Spells

Monsters will always have a simple stat block to explain their most basic stats as well as some featured abilities they have, the actions they can take (such as attacks), and spells they may be able to cast. All of these will be explained through their provided stat block in each content released.

For all information not provided in detail, the Game Master will have to adapt the content according to the system they are using to run their game.

Adapting. You should have no issues adapting the stat blocks since they are always worded in ways that make using the monsters and NPCs as simple as possible. Attacks all have damage dice and type noted and spells are explained at least on a basic level.

Stat Block Sample

Stat blocks for this system are kept simple and have only the most important things the Game Master needs for running an NPC in a story.

SAMPLE COMING SOON

Class Specifics

Whenever there is a mention of a class, then no specifics are given. This is something that this system does not cover and the author of the content using Starlight 1.0 will have to provide further information about it whenever needed.

Adapting. If the system you are using has a Warrior, for example, it could be called a Fighter, a Soldier, a Champion, or something else. Make sure you recognize how to correctly correlate the two and make the connection.

Weapons, Magical Items and more

Weapons, magical items, and other equipment that players may acquire are always explained in detail and in many cases have unique mechanics that do not always fall under the basics of the Starlight 1.0 system. This means they are unique to the content they are in and it is up to the Game Master to adapt them to any other system they are using.