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Walk in winding paths o’ pilgrim. Keeper of road, helper of folk both corporeal and not, creator of great works. May the path you blaze be long and meandering. Walk until you find your home. Walk.
The Queen has lowered her flood waters, there is finally enough land for everyone, and new Spirits sprout from the barren mud like reeds. Welcome to the newly rebirthed continent of Elcontra. What was once the largest island on the planet is now the largest continent. Miles of mudflats surround dense primordial forests that sprout between the Toes of Elcontra. Towering above it all is the mighty peak of Elcontra, it parts the atmosphere and it is said no living being has seen its summit. Many peoples call Elcontra their home. There are beached refugees from the Recession that scrape an existence out of the mud and Sand encrusted shores. Permanent communities are found inland among the foothills of Elcontra. In the higher elevations, mining companies founded before the Recession still pull rare metals from Elcontra’s belly and feed the Gilded’s coffers. The new Spirits of this continent rapidly expand into any niche available. This creates abrupt changes in environment from one Spirit’s domain to another. People are quick to follow any Spirit that can provide for them, and Spirits are quick to grant favors for acts of ingenuity. You are a Pilgrim. Wanderers, shamans, craftsfolk, and road wardens. Pilgrims are necessary in these newly dredged lands. They travel town to town, plying their trades, maintaining the roads, guiding travelers, mediating disputes, and carrying the seeds of their Spirits to new lands.
Pilgrim’s Passages is played with a Referee and one or more players who take on the role of Pilgrims. The Referee will set the stage for travel and adventure. Players react to the stage, and the Referee will react to the Players. The text of this book will step-in when the Referee or Players need help.
This book is not intented to be the law. The table’s play should be priority. Use it as a starting or end point: refer to this book when you first start playing Pilgrim’s Passages or when you can’t figure out how to proceed; then, set it aside.
When rolling dice, you always want to roll low. Sometimes that will be rolling under a target number, called a Success Value (SV), other times it will be rolling less than opposing characters. Conflict Rolls are intended as a last resort. If cleverness, problem solving, items, or magic all fail to get the characters past a problem, then make a Conflict Roll. Crafting and Travel Rolls are a core part of play and should not be ignored.
The Success Value for a roll is always starts at 2 by default. Traits, and the situation the characters find themselves in, will change the SV by their Grades.
Download Character Sheets Here
Below is a collection of playlists for use when playing, writing, and just vibing Pilgrim’s Passages. Each one is named after one of the four phases of play, I recommend setting them all to shuffle and changing as play shifts from phase to phase.