Stonetop was first released as a village playbook for Dungeon World 10 years ago yesterday. It’s come a long way since then, and I keep discovering new things I love about it. Stonetop has the best system of magic items I’ve used in a tabletop roleplaying game, with unique items, shared with players as cards or inserts, which require taking action to unlock custom powers.

  • Cards/inserts – No arcanum is just a line of text on an inventory sheet. Arcana are double-sided cards and inserts that are to be printed out and given to players. The inserts are half-page sized and suitable for tucking into a folded playbook.
  • Custom powers – Mechanically, they don’t simply provide a numerical benefit: no +1 swords, +1 armor, or rings of damage resistance. Instead, they often provide access to a unique move. (PbtA moves are named rules, some of which are class-specific and can be chosen when leveling up.)
  • Unlocking – Each arcanum has to be unlocked to provide its full power, and unlocking it comes with risks. For instance, unlocking the “Thunderous bellow” might damage your hearing, your voice, or your health. Figuring out how to unlock an item can drive entire sessions of play.

Minor and Major Arcana

  • Minor arcanum. A half-buried plaque. Scattered about the courtyard of the Ruined Tower are shattered stones and shards of twisted metal. Among them, more than half buried, is a large plate of bronze etched with Maker-runes and esoteric diagrams. The plate contains the workings of a spell, which you can learn but...... you must first dig up & clean the plate.... you must decipher the Maker-runes.... it’ll take a few weeks of study.... you’ll risk harming your hearing, your voice, or your health as you practice (Defy Danger with CON).
  • Minor arcanum. Thunderous bellow. When you channel the storm primeval and utter a thunderous bellow, take 1d6 damage (ignores armor) and roll +CON: on a 7+, everyone nearby (except you) must choose 1 (on a 7-9) or 2 (on a 10+): Drop what they’re carrying and cover their ears; Be deafened and disoriented for a few moments; Stagger a few steps away from you
  • Major arcanum .Storm Markings implanted, magical, 0 wt. A series of branching, tree-like markings coursing up and down your skin. Usually pale blue, almost like veins, but when you become agitated they seem to glow, pulse, and ripple with light. The markings are usually seen as a blessing of Tor (rainmaker, thunderhead, slayer-of-beasts). But like most blessings of the gods, they are also a great burden. When you roil with anger, you do +1 damage ongoing until you calm down. But when you try to control your temper, roll +WIS: on a 10+, you keep your cool and act as you wish; on a 7-9, choose 1 from the list below; on a 6-, you just lose it—tell the GM what damn fool thing you end up doing. Take some deep breaths and count to ten, fuming all the while. Vent your rage, but tell us how and on what. When you are struck by lightning or an electrical discharge, mark 1, take no damage, and suffer no ill effects (your gear, alas, has no such protection): When you make the last mark, you unlock the mysteries of the Storm Markings and can use Storm’s Fury (see reverse). When you would make a mark but have already marked all 3, set your Fury to 3.
  • Major Arcanum. Mysteries of the Storm Markings Moves STORM’S FURY When you begin to roil with anger, your markings crackle with electricity and the air thrums with pressure. Roll +CON: on a 10+, hold 3 Fury; on a 7-9, hold 2 Fury; on a 6-, hold 2 Fury but also mark a consequence. You may spend Fury 1-for-1 to manifest one of the following: Imbue your next strike with the force of thunder (+1d6 damage, forceful, loud) Move like lightning, closing the distance between you and a foe before they can react Bellow like the storm itself, drawing no small amount of attention and making craven foes cringe in fear When you have marked 3 consequences, you gain Chosen of the Storm-Bringer. CHOSEN OF THE STORM-BRINGER Add these to the list of potential manifestations granted by Storm’s Fury: Roll +CON to Let Fly with a bolt of lightning (2d6 damage, thrown, forceful, loud, dangerous, ignores armor) Make a prodigious leap, buoyed by the wind Summon a powerful gale with you at its center—dirt and debris swirl about, the wind is deafening, people must brace themselves to keep from getting bowled over, projectiles careen off course—and take disadvantage on all rolls as long as you sustain it Consequences Lightning begins to arc off of you, striking objects and creatures nearby at random for 2d6 damage (near, forceful, loud, ignores armor). This lasts until you calm down. A gale of winds forms around you, as with Chosen of the Storm-Bringer (even if you can’t normally use that move). You can’t dismiss it easily; the effects (including the disadvantage) continue until you calm down. Name an NPC who is present and whose regard you value. They are terrified of the power you wield and grow distant. From now on, when you gain Fury, gain +1 Fury. But you also have disadvantage on rolls to control your temper. A storm forms (or worsens) in your immediate area. It arrives unnaturally fast, but not miraculously so. A terrible storm begins to form in your immediate area and pummels the entire region. Blizzards, tornados, floods—it’s bad. A storm begins to form (as above), and the weather patterns are freakish and unpredictable for the next few months. Each steading in the region takes -2 to their next roll for Surplus and their next Seasons Change roll is automatically a 6-.

Here are examples of a card for a minor arcanum (front and back) and a major arcanum. Note some major arcana are not magic items but magic locations (e.g., “Carvings in a cave,” “Runes around a ruined hall,” “A grim peat mound”).

Locked Sides

Yes, players are meant to see the locked side of an arcanum. As Jeremy explained back in the days of Google+:

Letting players see the consequences is a very intentional design decision.

They’re sitting there like a threat, a dare, making the question of “do I use this? is it worth the risk?” a big part of owning one of these things. And since the player knows what they potentially are, the decision to risk a consequence is a meaningful statement. “If I roll poorly, I’ll take that one, so… yes, this is worth it.”

And the best part is, even if they don’t trigger a consequence, they knew what the consequences might be. They know the flavor of the power they’re messing with. Psychologically, that feels hella different from the GM picking an unknown consequence.

There’s also the sense of responsibility that comes from having the player pick the consequence. 

They don’t get to blame the GM for screwing them. They made the choice.

There are also logistical reasons for letting the players’ see the consequences. It’s just a lot easier for them to be on the same sheet as the rest of the stuff. Otherwise, the GM would need some big index of Major Arcana Consequences, even though they’d only be referring to a handful of them in any given campaign.

Conclusion

Here are some samplers of arcana that were shared during the Kickstarter. In all, there are 18 major arcana and 58 minor arcana. For each location in the almanac, you’ll typically find a random table suggesting which of six minor arcana might be found there and a list of two or more major arcana that might be found there.

What I love most about the arcana is that they feed improv and “playing to find out what happens.” The last session that went completely astray from my prep did so to unlock a requirement of an arcanum, and it was so worth it, making for such a rewarding session. The sheer number of arcana give Stonetop a ton of replayability.

Photo by Viva Luna Studios on Unsplash,