Welcome to Ritual

Ritual is an upcoming high fantasy tabletop role playing game inspired by animist beliefs and world folklore. The system encourages creative solutions, supports non-violent encounter resolution, and seeks to decolonize traditional fantasy narratives. We're excited to see what stories you will tell...

Enter the World of Avosthal - What Stories will You Tell?

Unknown and mysterious, magic flows through and gives life to everything in Avosthal. All beings, creatures, objects, and places are thought to carry the spark of magic. For this reason, all things hold worth and are to be respected. Old tales say that the entire world is made from intricate rites cast long ago by powerful adventurers. Though each being accesses magic in a different fashion, magic is the one element that unites all.

Magic is utilized in every culture through rituals that make traversing Avosthal easier. Regions developed magic to assist with their ways of life, traditions, and their environments. Eight cultures arose from specific environments and gave way to eight Schools of Magic.

While each School of Magic was developed in response to specific environmental pressures of a region, practitioners from every school can be found across the world. Students may have a teacher, be self taught, or have a natural affinity towards a concentration of magic. Magic is accessible by all and learned in a myriad of ways. Adventurers might travel a great distance from their home to learn from a great master of magic.

Environmental regions make up the landscape of Avosthal. Sprawling plains of brush and grass stretch far and wide. Frozen tundras bracket the north with sub zero temperatures. Deep forests hide ancient magics amongst their dense groves. Because magic comes from Avosthal itself, the beings of the world have always felt bound to the land and environments they call home. These wondrous regions are home to a myriad of people and creatures.

Out of each of these regions, groups of people have formed cultures that have developed Schools of Magic to help them live in these extreme places. People are shaped by the lessons of their culture and the ways of life there. A culture is often made up of many different lineages.

Coming in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and colors, a person’s lineage affects how they interact with the world at large but is not as important as the culture they came from. While there are some lineages that are considered local to a region, it is not uncommon to see a community of them elsewhere. These cultures have developed entire societies and civilizations in places where they have to share space and resources with the creatures who live there.

Alongside these cities and societies, the creatures of Avosthal use its magic to adapt, disguise, and thrive. Having a completely different hierarchical structure to the people’s societies and an otherworldly relation to magic, the creatures of these regions possess powers and dominion over the whole region. Most creatures here are as adept at magic as their neighbors and are revered and respected.

Your Role as an Adventurer of this World

Adventurers come from all walks of life. A wanderer arriving from a foreign land. A hunter hearing the whispers of growing discontent. A shopkeeper taking matters into their own hands. All of these individuals have heard the call of adventure and chose to pursue it. Most importantly, they choose to act.

Adventurers are individuals who have the training and spells to affect real change in this world. Their abilities and connection to magic are greater than most. They understand that power must be wielded wisely and with care. Violence is rarely the answer for a permanent solution.

As an adventurer in this world, you have left your familial lineage and regional culture behind in search of more. You have, possibly unknowingly, been drawn into the growing discord between the old ways and the new development. Your regional culture has taught you skills to aid you, and your lineage has shaped your values as you embark on this new journey. You begin with a basic knowledge of magic, and as you learn and explore the world, your skills and abilities will grow. Just like the magic of Avosthal, your potential is unlimited if you learn to harness it. 

The right path forward is not always clear. Creatures and people will seek out your assistance. You must determine how to resolve disputes across the land. What you make of this world, what ties bind you, and what bonds you forge are up to you. Maintaining the delicate balance and finding your place in this world is your greatest quest.

Magic is Accessible to All - The Mechanics

Magic is summoned by action and intent. The common folk call the action of casting a spell a ritual. Part of what makes spells difficult to teach is due to the fact that a ritual can take thousands of forms depending on the adventurer.  A ritual is a combination of three components all brought by the caster:

• Their Health - This is a d10 unless their Health has been harmed. Their health is covered by a protective shroud that is quicker to recover.
• Their Spirit - This is a d10 unless they have curses or hexes that are given to them by creatures.
• Their Intent -  This is the wild card that can make or break a spell. This is always the Die Level of the approach or the School of Magic being used.

When attempting to cast a ritual or accomplish something difficult, the Lore Weaver (our system's GM) will ask the adventurer to make a ritual roll. An adventurer's ritual roll is a combination of their three dice - health, spirit, and intent (their School of Magic die or Approach die). The action can resolve in success, success with complication, or failure.

The spells in Ritual allow for the adventurer to attempt to push beyond what their current limits are. In these cases, an adventurer might have to roll higher than the normal complexity to get a success. But this system allows the adventurers to make more interesting choices with their spells.

Ritual in the Media

Want to have Ritual on your channel? We'd love to come talk about it or even run a game for you. Reach out to us through email at ritual.ttrpg@gmail.com or on twitter @RitualRpg. Below is a collection of media clips from interviews and live plays featuring Ritual.

Abbey and Joel on Nerdarchy talking with Dave about Ritual before release of the playtest document:

Meet the Team

The team of The Big Tabletop is comprised of two individuals for now. Joel and Abbey met in Pittsburgh through a one and a half year long campaign of D&D 5e. Abbey brings high level understanding and research to the concepts of animism and magic that flow through our system as well as production direction. Joel provides the mechanics, spells, and experience designing tabletop rpgs. Their talents combine to create the lineages, regions, and lore of the world of Avosthal.

Why Support and Follow?

 In this sample playtest document you will gain access to:

• 8 Regions
• 8 Schools of Magic
• 16 Lineages of people from our world - Avosthal
• 16 Lessons that are infallible magic
• 16 Trainings that are professions
• 80 Rites and Spell Effects from the Schools of Magic
• Basic Rules of Play and the Mechanics

In the full book we plan on crowdfunding, we will add full color artwork and layout to produce a gorgeous and complete game. In addition to this, we have written a bulk of the content that is the full game: 

• Expanded Regional Descriptions
• 64 Lineages
• 40 Lessons
• 32 Trainings
• 360 Rites and Spell Effects from the Schools of Magic
• Additional Content for Leveling
• A Ton of Creatures
• Multiple Module Adventures

We’re determined to make Ritual an amazing game. You can follow our social media, website, and this Itch page to see the game's development. We’re glad you can see it’s humble beginnings. Thank you for coming along on what we’re sure is going to be a wild ride.

--- Joel and Abbey ---

Socials
Website: Ritual-Rpg.com
Email: Ritual.TTRPG@gmail.com
Twitter: RitualRpg, Saldamandar, Eldrtchbtch
TikTok: Eldrtchbtch