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"This is a world of men no longer"

The lands of Scath, your home, are broken.
Once there were three great kingdoms.
Now only ashes and ruins remain.
Evil rules the nights. The Fomori own the world.
To them, man is just another animal to be hunted,
enslaved or corrupted.
The spirit of men is shattered. They cover behind flimsy walls or roam the wilderness in small, primitive packs.
No one dares to oppose the Fomori.
Until now.

The ancient elemental spirits have simply watched as the dark legions hunted humanity to the brink of extinction. Now the Fomori are threatening the very life of the world itself, and the spirits can watch no longer.
You were born into a world of fear and death, of inhuman powers and terrifying monsters. You have fought starvation, the cold of winter and sinister creatures alike. You have watched friends and family members die or be taken.
Now the time has come to fight back. The spirits have given you strength. They have given you magic. Rise and challenge the rulers of the world!
Destroy the Shadow of the Fomori!

The Setting:

At the very core of this game stands the idea of a dark fantasy world ruled by ancient, mysterious powers.
It is a world where mankind is dying, struggling for survival against both natural dangers and supernatural monsters that roam the wilderness. Travelling is deadly, thus most people live and die within a few miles from the place of their birth.
The player characters are men and women lifted from these harsh, deadly lives by the Eight, ancient elemental spirits. They have taken a small part of such a spirit into themselves and received both physical and magical power.
Armed with this power and the will of the Eight behind them, these warriors, these "Chosen Ones", will lift the broken spirit of humanity, unite the scattered clans and villages under one banner and challenge the dark powers that have ruled Scath for over two hundred years. They are the only ones who can save the world...and maybe rule it?

Classical Origins:

"Shadow of the Fomori" in many ways goes back to the ancient stories of classical heroes that we humans have told each other around the campfires, borrowing heavily from mythological lore, especially the Celtic one. It is a game where players will experience carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, being the only thing standing between the last remnants of humanity and the cold sleep of death.

The Journey:

During their rise to power the Chosen will battle both natural and supernatural dangers. They will explore a land largely unknown, encountering many terrifying creatures. They will realize that the world of Scath is far older than they have been told, and that the only way to win this war they are fighting in, is to uncover the secrets of that forgotten past, a time long before the rise of humanity.
In their journey the player characters will meet wondrous, ancient beings with their own agendas and will, depending on their choices, turn them into trusted allies or bitter enemies. The Chosen will bring their people the first victories in over two hundred years and will use them to rekindle the spirits of hope and resistance within the heart of mankind.
During all that time the heroes will experience changes within their own bodies and minds. The influence of the Eight is strong, so strong that it might wipe away the humanity within a Chosen himself. Will the player characters be prepared to sever the ties with their friends and family, sacrificing their body and soul and call it a small price to pay? Or will they hold on to what makes them mortal, struggling to unite the spiritual powers with their own humanity?

"Scath – Shadow of the Fomori" uses a D20 based rule system with many elements that will be familiar to experienced roleplayers.
The aim of the system is to provide a core of fairly simple rules while enabling players and GM's alike to add more complicated, in – depth rules to their own liking, thus giving the characters far more options and hopefully making the game more enjoyable.
The combat rules are one of the main focuses of the game, providing five distinct combat styles with over 30 different combat actions. Tied into that – but also very much usable out of combat – are the magic rules, including the eight elemental lores the player characters can use, but also three distinctly different kinds of magic.
The gamemaster section also includes rules for leading armies into battle against each other and resolving such conflicts without having to rely on improvisation or hour – long dice rolling.

For further Information about Setting and Rules see our website.

This is a game for players who enjoy combat, exploration and leadership. The Chosen Ones will have to battle terrible monsters, explore the secrets of a past long forgotten and forge alliances with weird beings. They will also have to unite humanity under one banner and lead them into battle against the evil that has destroyed their forefathers.
At the same time, there is also a lot of roleplaying involved. Scath is a world with a dark, mysterious atmosphere, and this atmosphere is very important for a campaign. The weight of the world lies upon the Chosen Ones, and many men have been destroyed by this weight.
The player characters themselves are changing and might struggle to adapt to their new natures. Lastly the efforts of unification and alliances provides great chances for roleplaying too: do the player characters want to be tyrants, leading by intimidation and fear, or will they be golden heroes in a world of darkness and blood? Will they want to keep all power in their hands, or will they risk giving it away to other, more "human" leaders? And how will they react to all the weird characters and alien beings they might encounter, and who might prove either ally or enemy? Only the players can find the answers to these questions.
Ultimately it is your own decision on which of these elements your RPG group will focus. My belief is that "Scath" can be a very enjoyable experience for both groups who want to focus mostly on combat and exploring old ruins and groups whose main interest is in roleplaying and leading large forces or any other combination of the elements mentioned.

Several unusual elements can be found in this setting. Together they make playing in the world of Scath a unique experience for players and gamemasters alike.

• Scath is heavily inspired by Celtic mythology, a body of ancient stories and legends that are fairly unknown to most people and are not used as much as they would deserve. Combined with them is a dark fantasy end-times setting, with a whole world on the brink of destruction.


• Mankind's technology in the lands of Scath is on a very low level. Most Wilder clans and some of the more primitive villages have been cast back into the stone age, relying on tools of bone, wood and stone. Whilst there might be a few artefacts of iron to be found here and there no one has the ability to create or repair it, and the highest standard of technology left is bronze.
  


• Most knowledge about the past has been lost in the great war. Even the lands themselves are mostly unknown, roamed by monsters. Very few men dare to venture far from the territory around their villages or camps. The player characters will be able to explore a whole world, never knowing what might wait behind the next hill. The players and their characters will both start with next to no information about Scath, thus making metagaming and mixing in/out of character knowledge nearly impossible. This journey of discovery, of finding information about the world, its history and its inhabitants, is one of the most interesting things about Scath.


• Scath as a roleplaying game returns to the classical beginnings of heroic tales. The player characters are classical heroes, amongst the very few Chosen Ones that stand between mankind and its utter destruction. The weight of the whole world is on their shoulders.
  
  

or: "What you are getting for your money"

With your help the world of Scath will be able to come to life in a book of approximately 250 pages. It will be held almost exclusively in shades of white, grey and black to reflect the bleak, dark atmosphere of the world.

The book itself will be divided into two large sections. Below you will find a list of contents for both of these sections (subject to minor changes).

The first part: Player's Handbook

• "Dead and alive" is a short story showing an outcast's ascension to power.
• "Introduction: Welcome to a world of Shadow" will talk about the reasons for creating Scath, the atmosphere and main elements of the setting.
• "Living in a land of fear" describes what little of history is known to men and talks in detail about the two societies of mankind: Villagers and Wilders.
• "Ancient powers awaken" gives the players background information about the Eight, powerful elemental spirits that give them their abilities and one of which will become closely connected to each and every player character.
• "Heroes in a dark land" gives players everything they need to know about character creation and the many paths they can chose to become the hero they truly want to be.
• "How to be a hero" explains all general rules, giving descriptions of main attributes, skills and feats.
• "Fields of Blood and Bronze" talks about rules for combat, including the five distinct combat styles two of which each Chosen can learn during his journey.
• "Forces of the world beyond" explains how magic works in the Scath: Shadow of the Fomori. It also describes in great detail the eight elemental lores which player characters can choose from, including over a hundred different spells and hints on using them both in and out of combat.
• "Tools of Trade" This final chapter of the player's handbook talks about barter trade and general equipment. It also describes different kinds of weapons and armour both PCs and NPCs can use.
• Scattered throughout the Player's Handbook are furthermore short stories written from the perspective of beings living in the world of Scath. They should give the players a better understanding of what it feels like to actually live in such a dangerous, dark land.
  
  

The second part: Gamemaster's Handbook

DISCLAIMER: a lot of the great atmosphere and suspense in the world of Scath comes from the players and their characters not knowing what lies ahead and what happened in the past. Many of these secrets are unveiled in the Gamemaster's Handbook and players should not take too close a look into its pages.

• "History of the land", an in – depth look at the creation of the world of Scath and all the things that happened up to this point in history.
• A detailed "World Map" which includes descriptions of many important settlements and sites.
• "Creating the world of Scath" GM tips, plot hooks and campaign elements.
• "Societies of the Pale Ones and the Servants of Fire"
• "Elemental Powers" including further rules for magic and its use, creation of magical weapons, rules for ascendence (a secondary system of gaining experience) and a deeper look at the Eight and their plans.
• "Masters to darkness" – the dark machinations of the Fomori, their powers and greatest beings.
• "Creatures and Warriors"– over 30 opponents/potential allies.
• "Famous Characters" (ca. 10) for use in the campaign.
• "Mass Combat rules"will give you rules for fighting large battles, with hundreds or even thousands of warriors on both sides.
  
  

No book is written in a vacuum. The world of Scath is a conglomeration of ideas inspired by the works of many great authors and ancient legends alike.
The main influence is, of course, the mythology of the ancient Celts, especially the Irish ones. There are other, more modern books that use the same themes, and that have inspired me in the same way: "The Book Corum" by Michael Moorcock and David Gemmell's four "Rigante" novels.
Other influences from contemporary fantasy are Steven Erikson's "Mazalan books of the Fallen" (my absolute favourite books of all time) and Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy, which inspired some of the atmosphere of Scath.
In addition Josef Campbell's "Hero with a thousand faces" was a great inspiration for writing about the journey of classical, old school heroes.

When it comes to rules I was mostly inspired by two different gaming systems. The first one is the well known D20 rule system used by "Pathfinder" and different versions of "Dungeons & Dragons". The other gaming system is the 2^nd Edition of "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying", combined with some elements from the fairly similar "Dark Heresy".

1100 € = "Careers for Humans": For those who want to experience the world of Scath from its truly dark side, with no mystical powers to protect them, rules for playing ordinary mortals will be added, including the three human archetypes "Warrior", "Huntsman" and "Seeker of Knowledge". 

1500 € = "The Valley of Tears", a sandbox – setting detailing on approximately thirty to forty pages an area that can be used to start a campaign, including three villages, a larger city and several Overlords and their plans and servants.

3500 € = "Fully illustrated book": The Rulebook will have some illustrations, but to be able to deliver an even higher quality of detailed artworks we need more funding. If this stretchgoal is reached there will be additional "general" artwork scattered throughout the whole rulebook, but more importantly, we will be able to provide illustrations for nearly every single creature in the "Creatures and Warriors" section. 

As I am writing this the Player's Handbook is about 90% done. The Gamemaster's Handbook is about 20% done.
I will continue writing while this campaign is running on Indiegogo. By the end of June the Player's Handbook will be done.
During July and the first two weeks of August I will be able to write most of the Gamemaster's Handbook. The rest of August will be spent tidying up the book and doing the layout.
Approximately in the second or third week of September the PDF version of Scath: Shadow of the Fomori, will be done and distributed amongst all backers.
October will be the month of printing and shipping. Depending on where in the world you live you will most likely receive your softcover or hardcover copy in mid or late October.

Risks

There are not too many risks involved in this project. Most of the illustrations are done and writing is well underway. By the time you are reading this (June 2015) the book will be approximately halfway finished.
If something happens to me the book might be delayed, but it will definitely be finished and shipped to your home by the end of 2015.
Should this campaign not reach its goal of 1000 Euro that would mean further delay until I can find some additional resources on my own. Even in that case all backers will receive their copy of the book not later than Spring 2016.

• Shipping details

  Shipping will be done by our partners at Drivethrurpg.com. Depending on the part of the world you come from and whether you want a softcover or the (heavier) hardcover version of the book the shipping price will go up and down.
  
  The average shipping prices for the following regions are:
  

  USA/Canada: Softcover 5 Euro, Hardcover 10 Euro
  Europe: Softcover 8 Euro, Hardcover 12 Euro
  Australia: Softcover 12 Euro, Hardcover 20 Euro
  Brazil: Softcover 25 Euro, Hardcover 30 Euro
  
  Please add these prices to your pledge if you are bound to receive an actual book, no matter if softcover or hardcover!
  
  

• Flexible funding and what it means

  "Flexible funding" means that you will get your copy of the book, even if the campaign itself does not reach 1000€. Should this happen, however, Indiegogo itself will be receiving a greater share of the money and I will also have to find additional funding myself, which will lead to a delay of several months. Even in this case every backer should have their book by spring 2016.
  
  

• How does character creation work?

  Character creation is explained in greater detail on our website here.
  
  

• A closer look at combat

  Battles are one of the main challenges the PCs will have to face in "Scath:Shadow of the Fomori". Combat is supposed to be fast – paced and dangerous, but at the same time allowing the players to use different strategies while battling opponents, and specializing their tactics when facing enemies they have already faced before. This is what we have been aspiring to create with the combat rules of Scath.
  
  The rules themselves are based on Action Points. Every character has a certain amount of Action Points per combat turn (two in the beginning, three or maybe even four at later levels), symbolizing his skill and decisiveness in a battle. He can use these points to do different kinds of combat actions. There are a dozen "Basic Actions" that every character, no matter how unused to battle, can attempt (download a Guide to Basic Combat Actions). In addition to that (and in addition to the different kinds of magic Chosen Ones can wield) there are about twenty "Advanced Actions", that only fighters experienced in one of the five "Combat Styles" can attempt to perform. Thus low level characters will have the opportunity to get to know the basic combat rules and then mix it up with some more complicated, and potentially more devastating attacks/actions.
  With this kind of combat system we have tried to encourage players to try out different kinds of attacks (feint, stunning strikes, disarming attacks, attacks that sacrifice defensive capabilities to deal more damage and vice versa etc.) in combat, instead of simply using the same kind of attack every turn. This should also enable both GMs and players alike to attempt a more narrative style of combat without having to put in too much extra effort, because the combat actions a PC has taken by itself tells most of the story.
  
  

• Magic in the world of Scath

  Magic in the world of Scath is a powerful thing, allowing its wielders to shape the world to their will. At least eleven different kinds of magic, different "lores", if you so will, can be found in the Core Rulebook of Scath.
  The first eight of these lores of magic are the elemental powers, mystical abilities that were gifted to a Chosen One. Some of them are very different from each other, while others might be close regarding the effect the magic causes, if not its origin.
  In addition to that there will be three lores in the Gamemaster part of the Core Rulebook: the mysterious Lore of Stars, used by the nearly disappeared brotherhood of sorcerors and by the so – called "Pale Ones", the sinister, destructive Lore of the Fomori, used by the Overlords and their servants, and the Lore of Nature, primarily used by shamans, druids and some supernatural creatures.
  
  The rules for magic are fairly simple. Every spell has a "Spirit Level". To cast it successfully, the Chosen One must at least reach that Spirit Level. He can use his "Spirit Dice" to do that. These are simple D6 that are rolled and added together. Chosen Ones can use up to five spirit dice, boosting their chances to reach a spells Spirit Level, but the more dice they roll the more danger they are in to deplete their own spiritual energy, or even lose control of the magic, with unfortunate effects on themselves and their surroundings.
  Thus players can influence the amount of power their characters want to put into a spell, carefully choosing between potential risk and potential reward.
  
  

• Who I am

  I am Alex, a fantasy fan, general geek when it comes to all types of board games, computer games and roleplaying games, and martial arts enthusiast from Austria. I have about fifteen years of experience when it comes to RPGs and have spent the last ten of them creating detailed homebrew rule systems and worlds for my own gaming groups. This is my first project to be "properly" published. I have gamemastered a very successful campaign of "Scath: Shadow of the Fomori" for over three years and I am really excited about the chance to share my gaming experience with the rest if the world!
  
  Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions you might have!
  
  

• What is DriveThruRPG?

  DriveThruRPG is a website specializing on printing and shipping RPG books, with the ability to print books in both England and the US. This enables us to save us (and you!) a lot of shipping costs, because we do not have to send books across the Atlantic.
  
  You can check out their website at www.drivethrurpg.com.