Basic Mechanics

Stats

Stats are one of the core mechanics of Beyond the Pale and are most commonly used when rolling dice in threads. They are inspired by Thirsty Sword Lesbians.

The first five stats are Daring, Grace, Heart, Wit and Spirit. They are most commonly earned through redeeming threads, but can also be earned by consuming items. The last stat is Oath which is the rarest and most difficult to get, only being able to be earned through completing Expeditions. All stats (including Oath) may be occasionally earned through participating in events or raffles.

The primary usage of stats is in dice rolls, but can also be used in a roleplaying capacity to showcase your character's skills and personality. For example, a character with high Heart is more likely to be charismatic and empathetic, while a character with low Daring might be weaker and more sickly. However, this isn't always the case, especially for new characters who haven't earned many stats.

Roles

There are 6 unique roles. Roles are distinct from clan hierarchy and are used to determine a cat's starting stats. Starting stats are explained further below. Note that starting stat calculations are made automatically when choosing your clan and role during character creation.

Basic Roles

Basic roles are determined solely by age and receive a debuff in all stats, with the exception of oath. This is to show their inexperience.

Baby

The Baby role is given to cats under 6 months of age. It can be most closely aligned to the kit rank in traditional clan hierarchy.

Novice

The Novice role is given to cats between 6 and 12 months of age. It most closely aligns with the apprentice rank in traditional clan hierarchy. However, the novice role is purely based on age, entirely irrespective of the cat's graduation status. For instance, if an apprentice earns their name early or late is entirely irrelevant to if they still hold the novice role.

Role	Daring	Grace	Heart	Wit	Spirit
Baby	-04	-04	-04	-04	-04
Novice	-03	-03	-03	-03	-03

Specialized Roles

These specialized roles are determined by the player upon the character turning 12 months, or upon creation (if the character is older than 12 months.)

Cavalier

Cavaliers are the stereotypical fighters. Their main starting stat is Daring.

Stalker

Stalkers are the stereotypical rogues. Their main starting stat is Grace.

Arbiter

Arbiters are the stereotypical bards. Their main starting stat is Heart.

Artificer

Artificers are the stereotypical nerds. Their main starting stat is Wit.

Role	Daring	Grace	Heart	Wit	Spirit
Cavalier	02	-02	01	00	-01
Stalker	-02	02	-01	01	00
Arbiter	00	-01	02	-02	01
Artificer	-01	00	-02	02	01

Starting Stats

A character's starting stats are determined by their role and their clan. If they are older than 50 moons but younger than 120 moons, they will receive an additional +2 stat points to one stat of their choosing or +1 stat points to two stats of their choosing. If they are older than 120 moons, they will receive a -1 to Daring and Grace. All characters start with 0 Oath, unless purchased through Bonejaw's Death Shop prior to character creation.

Initial Clan Stats

Clan	Daring	Grace	Heart	Wit	Spirit
ThunderClan	01	00	00	01	01
RiverClan	01	01	00	00	01
WindClan	00	01	01	00	01
ShadowClan	00	00	01	01	01
Clanless	00	00	01	01	01

Note: ShadowClan and Clanless stat bonuses are the same due to ShadowClan having been included in the Clanless group until recently.

Age Adjustment

Age Group	Adjustment
50+ Moons	+02 to any single stat OR +01 to any two stats
120+ Moons	-01 to Daring and Grace

EXAMPLE 1: Spatulapelt is a WindClan Arbiter. She is 126 moons old. Her starting stats would normally be 00 Daring | 00 Grace | 03 Heart | -02 Wit | 02 Spirit which is her initial role and clan stats added together. However, due to her age, she receives a -1 debuff to Daring and Grace. As such, her starting stats are -01 Daring | -01 Grace | 03 Heart | -02 Wit | 02 Spirit .

EXAMPLE 2: Rockpaw is a ThunderClan Novice. They are 8 moons old. Their starting stats are -02 Daring | -03 Grace | -03 Heart | -02 Wit | -02 Spirit which is their initial role and clan stats added together. They receive no age adjustments.

Dice Rolling

Dice rolling is the most common mechanic on Beyond the Pale. Similar to other TTRPGs, dice are rolled when your character performs a difficult or complicated action while in an encounter, task or expedition. These rolls are most commonly accompanied by stat bonuses that can make an action easier or more difficult based on the character's expertise. When a staff member needs you to roll a dice to determine if you succeeded or failed, they will often ask you for a "[Stat] Roll" or a "1d6 + Stat". These both mean the same thing - roll a six-sided die and add your stat bonus (also called a stat modifier) to it.

Example: Lilypaw is trying to jump across a large gorge to impress her friends. In order to succeed, she has to pass a Grace check that needs a 3 or higher. Her Grace modifier is a -2. She rolls a d6 and gets a 4. When her Grace modifier is added to it, she gets a total of 2 Grace. Unfortunately, this fails the check and she trips down the gorge!

Beyond the Pale currently used a six-sided die (or a d6).

Situations that would call for a dice roll and what their modifiers might be:

• Convincing a stubborn apprentice to clean his nest (Heart)
• Climbing a very tall fence while running away from something scary (Grace)
• Clubbing a monster with a rock (Daring)
• Solving a mysterious loner's riddle (Wit)
• Keeping your cool while a monster is passing by your hiding place (Spirit)

Advantage & Disadvantage

Sometimes, a staff member will ask you to roll with advantage or disadvantage. This means that you will roll twice and either take the highest result (advantage) or the lowest result (disadvantage).

Critical Success & Critical Fail

Occasionally, you'll roll so high or so low that your results are magnified as a result. In Dungeons & Dragons 5e, a "critical success" is when you roll the highest number on the die (20), while a "critical fail" is when you roll the lowest number (1). Since we use a d6 die instead of a d20, we use a somewhat different system.

Instead, we determine "critical successes" by if you roll two 6s or two 1s. If you roll a 6 (without any modifiers), you will roll a confirmation roll to see if you get a critical success. If you get another 6, it's a critical success! Using the same logic, if you roll a 1 (without any modifiers) followed by a confirmation roll of a 1, it's a critical fail.

If you roll a 6 but your confirmation roll is a 5 or below, you will still use the first value of 6 in your results. The same is true if you roll a 1.

Injuries & Illnesses

If you participate in events, tasks and expeditions, it is likely that your character will be injured or get sick. We use a three slot injury system loosely based on Blades in the Dark.

Each slot can only have one injury or illness. If you receive an injury or illness of the same type (i.e. two minor injuries), then the injury or illness will move into the next slot (i.e. two minor injuries will become a moderate injury.) Each injury slot has a different effect that makes it more difficult to pass checks.

Additionally, each injury slot takes a different amount of threads (where the injury or illness is acknowledged in some way) to heal. Minor and moderate injuries do not require a visit to a healer or medicine cat, but severe injuries do require one. Alternatively, you can purchase a First-Aid Kit or Trauma Bag from Beetlefox's shop.

Type	Effect	# of Threads
Minor	-1 to all stats	1 thread
Moderate	-2 to all stats	2 threads
Severe	All rolls are at disadvantage	1 thread (with healer)