House Rules and Running a Beginner's Campign
Nyra, compared to many other tabletop games, is relatively rule dense. This can make it difficult to learn at first and therefore there may be some distress that it will be difficult to implement. However, it is not required that Nyra be run with every tiny detail of its rcore content to be both playable and enjoyable. We will lay out some features which must be included for Nyra to function and some others that can be safely excluded while maintaining functionality in the following section.
The Bare Basics
Includes:
- d10 roll-under for determining success and failure
- Skill points as progress resource
- Competitive checks in combat
- All the basic weapons in the weapon list
Does not necessarily include:
- Skill perks
- Traits
- Feats
- Professions
- Savant/Commander
- Mages
First, Nyra must be run with d10 roll-under system intact and skill point sheet to calculate the cost of skills. But, for example, the mechanisms for skill point gain could be constrained by the GM to a beginning of each game stipend or arbitrary reward for achieved tasks. Although the generation of skill points from critical successes and critical failures is an integral part of Nyra and one of its unique aspects, it does not have to be included to run the game.
Also, even though the skill point yields for each creature slain are listed in the Creatures section of this guide, it is up to the GM how they wish to divvy these out. Although it is suggested that GMs reward the points listed of all the creatures to each player who entered combat, some GMs may choose to just give the skill points to the player who landed the last hit and still others may choose to split them evenly between the players that affected the creature. Each of these decisions will create certain incentives and disincentives for the players and will therefore encourage and discourage different behaviors because of it. The default progress system put in Nyra has a few mechanisms for progress.
Similarly, the combat system must be run with competitive rolling and the dodge and defense systems in place in order for combat to not lead to repeated and unnecessary death. But it is not necessary that a GM run the game with traits on player weapons. Nor does the GM have to run the professions in order for the group’s ecosystem to function passably. The services offered by these skills could be parsed out by NPCs if chosen, although this would be far more expensive.
It may be a decent starting place for a new GM to begin with characters who do not have access to skill perks, feats, weapon traits, professions, Mage classes, or even Savants/Commanders. Each of these exclusions may be reasonable house rules for beginners of the game, given how much complexity they will remove while still maintaining the base rule system. Therefore a GM should take on each as they feel appropriate so that they do not feel burdened. The GM may even find that implementing each feature piece by piece as the characters progress will be a satisfying reward for the players, who now have new material to explore and improve within. Starting players with access to only the vanilla weapons would still be a considerable list to explore and may be sufficient to entertain the players for several games before the GM decides to start introducing professions and traits.
That being said, the game has been extensively balanced with all of these aspects in place. For players to get a complete experience of Nyra, it is highly advised that GMs and players work toward implementing all of the rules included in this guide. Not only will they lead to a more rich and complex world, but also a more enjoyable and robust gaming environment with far higher horizons for player development and GM engagement.
Another aspect that should be mentioned is, especially given the previous note that Nyra contains manifold ethnic and cultural strifes, this aspect may be understandably upsetting for certain players. Nyra can be understood as firmly in the dark fantasy horror sub-genre. But, although Nyra will certainly be a more peculiar world to play without these components in place, GMs should always feel free to alter the lore to fit the desired tone that they wish for their campaign. Nyra has a deeply crafted backstory, but it is first and foremost, a rule system.
Play Nyra in the way that brings you and the players the most enjoyment. It is your experience, not ours. We have merely given you a platform to tell your story.
Location and Era
There are countless times and places that a GM could choose to place a campaign in. All of these will create different relative conditions for the treatment of different species and different mages, as well as different cultural preconceptions. However, there are definitely some specific eras which are most emblematic of Nyra's themes and probably serve as the best settings for beginner campaigns.
3475 EM - Human Kingdom under the reign of King Doran - Lazvar
This is one of the best places in the canon to form a beginner campaign. This is a very dark era in Human history where the environment feels hopeless, yet hope brews underneath the surface. Kezan Guard wander every city, cruel enforcers of King Doran's will. Mages are hunted in vast witch-hunting campaigns, except for Orderists, who are considered police and peace-makers. The Humans have formed a treaty with the Ethakkra, so they are sometimes present as privateers or merchants (and the general Human cannot tell the difference between an Ethakkra and an Utwesh, making it easier to play an Utwesh). The Sarkin still live in secret underneath the feet of the Human kingdom, but they sometimes come to surface to explore or gather intel; though if they are seen, they are viewed with shocked horror. The Kalnis are generally accepted, though considered less intelligent than Humans. The Famulus are despised and treated like monsters, always associated with the raids on the coastlines. The Kaze are viewed with awed suspicion, as brilliant beasts with arcane motives. The Ponderan can often blend in with Humans, especially if they wear wigs and take on administrative or planning roles, but their existence is still unknown to the Humans.
The reason this setting is considered ideal is because this is where the general darkness of the world of Nyra is present, along with all its tensions and bigotries. But this is also where the players can make a difference if their characters become powerful and heroic. Likewise, if they play gray or villainous characters, there are infinite possibilities. One of the best campaigns to carry out here is the revolution campaign associated with The Third Eye and Kid, the Slayer.
3487 EM - Human Kingdom under the rule of King Rian - Lazvar
This is an excellent place to start a campaign if the players want a more traditional adventurer's campaign, as King Rian has formed the Maen Elite, which are essentially royally sanctioned adventuring groups tasked with suppressing the excesses of the Lordships or general abuses of the citizenry. It would be very easy to create characters that are in one of these Maen Elite adventuring groups and to sandbox in a traditional DnD style. The Human kingdom now has three forms of settlement, those aligned with the Signums, those called the Free Cities, and those still aligned with the Lordships. Though these are still considered part of the Human kingdom under King Rian; they have been given more local autonomy. This leads to conflict between them.
So close after the fall of Doran, the bigotries and tensions of the past era have not passed. The Kezan Guard are no longer in every city (though still in some, especially in the Lordships), but have instead splintered into cultic militias which do the bidding of the dark daemon Tyrus. The Sarkin are now becoming known through rumors, but not accepted. King Rian has continued relations with the Ethakkra, but cautiously. So Ethakkra no longer have kingly protection for their misdeeds. All other species relations remain roughly the same. Mages are not witch-hunted, but they are certainly still viewed with general suspicion.
This is a brighter setting than previous to the coup by The Third Eye. But everywhere there are evil plots by the Lordships in collusion with the daemon Tyrus.
~3490 EM - Middle/Northern Faydorn before the freeing of Borias
Many campaigns can be had starting in the Kaze, Ethakkra, Kalnis, or Utwesh lands on Faydorn, before the freeing of Borias. Because of the variety of species in these places, wandering adventures can lead players into a variety of happenstances. Conflicts arise often between the Ethakkra and the Kaze, allowing the players to get involved in their ancient war. Kaze travel far and wide, exploring new areas, opening up space for exploration campaigns. The Kalnis are constantly in conflict between their three kingdoms: 'Gok, the Braggos, and the Peridar. 'Gok and Peridar would make excellent starting places for campaigns, as they are warlike, but civilized enough to harbor different playstyles and stories. The Braggos, during this era, are extremely hostile and aggressive toward 'Gok and Peridar.
If GMs feel that the players are looking for something more cerebral, this is also one of the best places to have a conspiracy campaign, as the players are in the era just before the freeing of Borias (who is imprisoned inside the Temple of Twilodon in Talisdeem). Borias' imprisonment is a secret to the species of Faydorn, having been carried out before their widespread settlement. This means that campaigns can get the players entangled in the secret conspiracies of the Kaze, which lead them to knowledge of the Ponderan, and daemon prisons, and the Temple of Twilodon, etc... This will also be a very good place to involve the politics of daemons such as Tyrus, Fallen-Have-We, Igris, and many others who have a stake in the imprisonment or freedom of Borias.