Gear & rules reference
The everyday bookkeeping of Stonetop: what you carry, what it’s worth, and the people who follow you.
Load & inventory
You don't keep track of every item or possession that your PC owns. You and your family have a whole house full of belongings, and you're part of a tight-knit community that freely shares, gifts, and trades goods with each other. In general, you'll track only: your current inventory (the stuff you have on your person right now) and your special possessions (the ones you start play with, and those that you acquire in play).
Outfitting
When you Outfit for an expedition, you'll fill out your Inventory insert. Mark the load diamond(s) or small-item box next to an item to indicate you are carrying it. Every PC has the same Inventory insert. Items that are printed on the insert are commonly available in Stonetop, things that any PC has access to if they need it. The GM might ask where you got it, but if it's printed on the insert, you can acquire it, no problem. The insert also has blank spaces, where you can write in other common items or special possessions.
Using things up
If you use up or discard any items, or give them to someone else, then clear the load diamonds next to them. They no longer count towards your load.
Picking things up
If you pick up any items in the field (like loot), or if an ally gives some of their gear to you, add it to your Inventory, marking the appropriate load diamonds. This might change your load!
Back home
When you return home, clear the marks from your Inventory insert; it rarely matters what you're carrying while you're in town. If it does matter, assume that you have a light load (up to 3 load) and a handful of small items unless there's a good reason to think otherwise.
Load
Items that have one or two load diamonds in front of them contribute to your load. Count the total number of load diamonds that you have marked.
| Load | Diamonds | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Light load | up to 3 | Able to move quick and quiet. |
| Normal load | 4 to 6 | No specific effect. |
| Heavy load | 7 to 9 | You're noisy, slow, hot, and quick to tire. |
| Overloaded | 10 or more | If you carry 10 load or more, or something very heavy or awkward, then not only do you have a heavy load but you risk exhaustion, accident, and injury. The GM will tell you the consequences and/or requirements of being overloaded. |
Your load has no specific effect, but it's part of your fictional positioning. For example, the GM might say, "You're carrying a heavy load, right? That seems like Defying Danger to me, the danger being that you exhaust yourself in this heat."
Small items
A small item is something that could fit in a pocket, pouch, or boot with room to spare. Small items do not contribute to your load. Track them on the right side of your Inventory insert, in the "Small items" section.
When you Outfit, you can mark a number of small items equal to 4 plus Stonetop's current Prosperity (+0 by default). If you want more small items, then bring supplies.
If you acquire a new small item on an expedition, add it to your Inventory in one of the blanks in the Small items section.
There's no hard limit to the number of small items you can carry, but be reasonable. If you start stockpiling, the GM might say that your small items count as 1 or even 2 load in aggregate.
Supplies
"Supplies" represent the essentials that you might bring with you on expedition: food, water, bandages, salves, whisky, additional small items, etc. Found near the top of your Inventory insert ("Supplies," "More supplies," and "Even more supplies").
By default, each person on an expedition consumes 1 use of supplies per day. But, if you have a mess kit (which requires water and fire), then 1 use of supplies can cover up to four people.
Provisions
If you're low on supplies, you can Forage and acquire up to 2d6 uses of provisions. You might also gain them incidentally (if, say, you fight an angry boar and harvest the meat).
Expend provisions in place of supplies when you Make Camp, or to feed yourself as you travel.
Provisions are more likely to spoil or attract beasts than supplies are.
Ammo
Many ranged weapons have one or more of these statuses. When you deplete your ammo (because a move tells you to, or the GM says so), mark the next available status (left to right). When you mark "all out," you're out of ammo and can't use that weapon until you replenish your ammunition.
Not every weapon has every status: e.g. bows have low ammo and all out; extra arrows add plenty left; javelins have only all out. Don't pick the Let Fly "deplete your ammo" option if your weapon lacks such statuses.
Special possessions
Your special possessions are the things that you own or have access to, but which others do not. A shield, spear, a cloak, a pair of snow shoes, a cookpot—every household has these, so they are common items. But few (if any) folks in town possess a sword, or parchment and ink, or an anvil, tongs, and bellows. Any of those would be special possessions.
Track your special possessions on your Inventory insert, in an appropriate blank. You can Outfit with them, or Have What You Need to mark them once you're in the field. Like any item, they count against your load (if they have load diamonds) and your starting number of small items. If a special possession is something that you wouldn't carry on your person (like a herd of goats or an anvil), then record it at the bottom of your Inventory insert, under "Other things."
Items listed in the plural ("thick gloves") or general ("lime") are things that you have a reasonable amount of, and can make or acquire more over time. An item listed in the singular (like "a boiled leather cuirass") is the only one you've got; if you lose it, it's gone until you replace it.
A special possession with a number of uses is a finite resource. Once expended, those uses are gone (even if the item itself remains). If you want more uses, Make a Plan with the GM.
When you acquire a new item in play, add it to your Inventory insert in the appropriate spot. When you return home, leave it on your insert. It's now one of your special possessions; you can mark it when you Outfit or Have What You Need. You can freely discard a new special possession, or give it away, or trade it to another PC. But if you want to sell it to an NPC, you must roll to Trade & Barter.
Value tiers
The world of Stonetop has no central government, no common currency, and no standard exchange rates. To help answer what constitutes a fair trade, items and services are given a Value from 0 to 4 (or rarely higher). Values are not linear; they are tiers—more of a logarithmic scale. A single Value 2 item is worth maybe a dozen or so Value 1 items. Three individual Value 1 items don't add up to Value 3; they're just three Value 1 items.
| Value | Worth roughly… |
|---|---|
| 0 |
|
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
|
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
|
A fair price
When you roll a 10+ to Trade & Barter, "a fair price" means you're trading within the same Value, but the exchange might not be 1:1. It might be 2:1 or even 3:1 if you're trading some common, local resource for a desirable or imported good (or vice versa). If you roll a 7-9, you might have to pay more or settle for less than usual—often a worse exchange rate, but it could mean trading across Value tiers. If you don't like the exchange rate you're getting, you can try to Persuade the other party to change their minds.
Commonly available items are Value 0, as are some special items like a bronze spear, a lantern, or a writing slate. Such special items aren't really valuable, but they aren't common, either, so you must still roll to Trade & Barter to see if you can acquire one. If you can, you can (likely) trade some commonly available item or a favor for it, or just borrow it.
Coins
Stonetop doesn't mint coins, and folks don't use them day-to-day. The local economy runs on trade, gifts and favors, debt and honor. Coin is used almost exclusively when trading with outsiders. Even then, coin is worth only what folks will trade for it. There's no government to set or enforce prices or exchange rates. Coins vary greatly in size, weight, and purity.
Stonetop abstracts coinage into individual coins, handfuls, and purses. Coins are most often copper, silver, or gold.
Exotic trade goods
Exotic trade goods (like silks, spices, and the like) are +1 Value.
Follower basics
Followers are NPCs who tag along — hirelings, initiates, war-band members. Two moves govern them:
Order Followers
When you direct your follower to do something that would trigger a player move, and they do it, they trigger the move.
If the move involves rolling, you roll for them. Instead of rolling +STAT, roll and...
- ... if they have at least one appropriate tag or move, add +1, or +2 if they're also exceptional;
- ... if they have no relevant tag or move, add +0; and
- ... if any of their tags would get in the way, roll with disadvantage.
When a follower is without orders or they act on their own initiative, the GM says what they do and decides how it goes.
Followers are NPCs—they don't usually trigger player-facing moves. That changes when a follower acts at a PC's behest. The follower is acting as an extension of the PC's will, and so we look to the dice and player-facing moves to find out what happens.
If a PC tells a follower to do something that they don't want to do, the PC must Persuade or otherwise convince them to do it—just like they would with any other NPC. Loyalty makes this easier.
Assuming the follower does do what the PC says, and that action would trigger a player-facing move if a PC did it, then resolve the move normally. The player rolls on the follower's behalf, and makes any decisions they'd normally make if their PC triggered the move. If they roll a 6−, the player marks XP.
Followers don't have stats like STR or INT. If a move calls for rolling +STAT, the player looks at the follower's tags and moves. If any of them indicate that the follower is good at this, the player adds +1 (even if multiple tags or moves apply). Otherwise, they add +0. If the follower is exceptional, AND they have another tag or move that applies, then the player rolls +2. But if no other tag or move applies, the player still rolls +0 for an exceptional follower. If any of a follower's tags would actively hinder the move that they're making, the player rolls with disadvantage. A roll can get both a +1 (or +2) and disadvantage.
Note that followers don't have access to the PC's playbook moves.
Strengthen Your Bond
When you pay your follower's cost, and you haven't done so recently, they hold +1 Loyalty (max 3).
Spend your follower's Loyalty 1-for-1 to have them:
- Overcome their fear to do as you say
- Resist acting on their instinct/tags/traits
- Do something they don't want to do (as long as it's not abhorrent or suicidal)
When a follower is without orders or they act on their own initiative, the GM says what they do and decides how it goes.
Each follower has a cost, like "genuine affection" or "coin, payment, treasure" or "training." When a PC pays that cost—when they provide it directly or ensure that the follower receives it—then the follower gains Loyalty.
Paying a follower's cost should be a meaningful moment. Ideally, it should involve intentional action taken by the PC. The PC and/or follower should have a significant scene "on camera" before they can Strengthen Their Bond again. If a PC pays a cost like "training" multiple times over a stretch of downtime or loose play, the follower holds only +1 Loyalty.
When a follower's cost is paid, they hold +1 Loyalty, up to 3. If a follower holds 3 Loyalty, then Strengthen Your Bond doesn't trigger.
The follower holds the Loyalty but the PC they follow (or rather, that PC's player) chooses to spend it. As a rule, a follower is tied to one PC, and only that PC can pay its cost or spend its Loyalty. But if an NPC follows the party as a whole, then any PC can generate or spend that follower's Loyalty.
A PC will typically spend a follower's Loyalty after the GM makes a move and shows that the follower is afraid, or about to do something dumb, or doesn't want to do as they're told. The player can spend Loyalty to resolve that problem without having to trigger a move like Persuade or Defy Danger.
A group follower holds a common pool of Loyalty, which can be spent to affect either the entire group or individual members. The group's cost usually needs to be paid to the group as a whole.
See also the tags glossary and the moves reference.
Let the sheet do the math
Load, uses, Value — the app tracks them all on your character sheet.