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A game of Iron Age drama
using the DramaSystem Engine
© 2013 Robin D. Laws

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Published by arrangement with
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Pelgrane Press Ltd.

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 Credits
Writer/Designer/Producer: Robin D. Laws Demkey, David Dostaler, Albert Douk, Adam Drew,

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Series Pitches: Jason Morningstar, Michelle Stef Ehmke, Lisa Fecko, Julius Fildes,Scott Foster,
Nephew, Kenneth Hite, Matt Forbeck, T.S. Luikart, Joachim Gallhoff, John Hay, Jim Heivilin, Aaron
Jason L. Blair, Chris Pramas, Emily Care Boss, Herbert, Jason Hershey, Andy Hirth, Jason Hobbs,
Rob Wieland, Steven S. Long, Eddy Webb, Jesse Chris Huth, Jack Holcomb, Paul Jackson, Neil Kelly,

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Bullington, Gene Ha & Art Lyon, James Wallis, Damian Kraemer, Kris Kunkel, Ryan L’Herault,
Chris Lackey, John Scott Tynes, Ryan Macklin, Tony Love, Justin Mohareb, Sean Nicolson, Inga
Graeme Davis, Dave Gross, Allen Varney, Meguey Paulus, Greg Pearson, Jenna Povey, Christoph
Baker, Sarah Newton, Kevin Kulp, Mac Sample, Reichold, Edel Ryder-Hanrahan, Gareth Ryder-
Jason Pitre, Wolfgang Baur, Keith Baker, Will Hanrahan, Christoph Sapinsky, Dub Saunders, Ralf
Hindmarch, Rob Heinsoo, Ed Greenwood Schemmann, Erin Sneath, Abi Stokes, Tayler Stokes,
Hillfolk Illustrations: Jan Pospíšil Abigail Stubbs, Ben Stubbs, Dianne Stubbs, Nathaniel
Series Pitch Illustrations: Aaron Acevedo (p. 160, Stubbs, Joshua Stubbs, Joe Tyne, Scott Wachter, Ralf
186, 190, 226), Andrew Gustafson (p. 196, 216 ), Gene
e Wagner, Brand Walker, Dave Weinstein, Mert
Ha (p. 140), Jon Hodgson (p. 166), Rachel A. Kahn Vuraldi, Liz Wade.
(p. 90, 100, 106, 110, 116, 136, 150, 156, 176, 180), Jason Key Proofing: Craig Hargraves
Morningstar (p. 80), Jan Pospíšil (p. 96, 126, 200, 206, Proofing Squad: Charles Alston, Brandon
222), Hilary Wade (p. 146), Jonathan Wyke (p. 86, Brylawski, Susan Davis, Martin Dickson, Jeromy M
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120, 130, 170, 210) French, Marc Kevin Hall, James C. Holder, Alex
Cover Illustration: Scott Neil C. Jeffries, Steven W. King, Louis Luangkesorn,
Cartography: Ralf Schemmann H. M. ‘Dain’ Lybarger, Emma Marlow, Tom
Graphic Design: Christian Knutsson McCarthy, Jim Moss, Phil Nicholls, Terry O’Carroll,
For Pelgrane Press: Beth K. Lewis, Cathriona Tobin Neil O’Rourke, Raphael Päbst, David Scott, Scott
Publisher: Simon Rogers Vandervalk, Alistair Warmington, Alex White
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Playtesters: Rishi Agrawal, Mikael Andersson, Eagle-Eyes: Nadia Cerezo, Phil DeLuca, Lynne
Adam Baulderstone, Padraic Barrett, Tim Hardy, Craig Hargraves, Lisa Padol, Mitch A. Williams
Ballew, Natalie Bennett, Aisha Cargile, Matthew
Chmielewski, Michael Clifford, Kris Crofts, Thomas
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 This book would not have been possible in its present form without the contributions of our crowdfunding backers.
In particular we acknowledge the following.

Badlands Overlords: Chris Bloxham, Philip Groff, Andrew MacLennan, Kenneth Thronberry, Mel White, Henry Wong
Bearers of the Gold Tablet: Mario Bonassin, Matthew Coverdale, Susan Davis, Steve Donohue, Lauren Faberlle, Robert Freeborn, Oren
Geshuri, Peter Griffith, Vicki Hsu, Michael Johnston, Seb Lamblin, Matt Leitzen, Daniel Ley, Álvaro López-Mántaras, Christopher Mennell,
Jason RB Morton, Magnus Nordin, James Pacheco, Matthew Purse, Tom Russell, Kevin Schantz, Jesse Scoble, Markku Tuovinen, Simon Ward,
Charlton Wilbur

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Nabobs of the Northlands: Phillip Bailey, Simon Berman, Jeremy Butler, Zeb Doyle, Walter F. Croft, Ken Finlayson, Thomas Gaub, Morgan
Hazel, Jon Hicks, Jack Holcomb, Scott Kehl, John Kovalic, Matt Landis, Andrew Lloyd, Patrice Mermoud, Brandon Metcalf, M. Sean Molley,
Rick Neal, Lars Patrik Olson, Raphael Päbst, Georgy Pomytkin, Andrew Raphael, Brad Roberts, Dave Weinstein, Sam Wong
Bearers of the Clay Tablet: Piotr Burzykowski, Darren Davis, Håkon Gaut, Silvio Herrera Gea, Satu Nikander, Jen Roper, Matthew Shaver,

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Karl Thiebolt, Justin Unrau, Andrew Whittle
Greenbird Vaultkeepers: Slawick Charlier, Richard Iorio II, Fabian Küchler, Ilan Muskat
Silver Scribe Vaultkeepers: James Alley, Svend Andersen, Martin Blake, Doug Bolden, Edward Boudreaux, Bill Brickman, Ben Chalmers, Ian
Chilvers, Orion Cooper, Samuel Crider, Michael Croitoriu, Ze’Manel Cunha, Nathan Dilday, Eric Eslinger, Randel Evans, Jon Finn, Daniel
Forinton, Andrea Gaulke, Jean-Paul Gourdant, James Graham, Arttu Hanska, Melody Haren, Rob Heinsoo, Kassidy Helfant, Gael Imad’eddine,
Glen Ivey, Kevin Jacklin, Gerall Kahla, Ian Kirby, David Lai, ASH LAW, Tristan Lhomme, Rakesh Malik, David Margowsky, J.J. Mason,
Luke McCampbell, Mike Musteric, Casidhe Nebulosa, Anders Nordberg, David “Yoda” Odie, Dave Olson, Todd W. Olson, Ryan Percival,
Ariel Pereira, Brian Piorkowski, Keith Preston, Mauricio Quintana, Joel Rojas, Sam Slocum, William Stowers, Sam Tlustos, Jeff Troutman,
Matthew Webb, Paul Weimer, Charles Wilkins, Brian E. Williams e
Chieftains: Keith Baker, D.J. Cole, Brett Easterbrook, Paul Echeverri, Chris Farrell, Richard Hellsten, Phil Hibbs, Christopher Hill, John
Kammer, Rik Kershaw-Moore, Jason Lauman, Eric Lytle, Erik Ménard, Bruno Pereira, Frankie Mundens, Renato Retz, Shane Rogers, Tobias
Schulte-Krumpen, Arvid Silvmarker, Daniel Stanke, Adrian Stein, Pete Tracy, Matthieu Vallée, Steven Vest, Mark Windrim
Vaultkeepers: Jessica Alsop, Thomas Bagley, Gary Ball, Rachel Blackman, James Bore, Michael Bowman, Denis Chistyakov, Mark Chu-
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Carroll, Chuck Clemens, Jack Everitt, Stuart Fieldhouse, David Jackson, John P. Jones, Lars Lauridsen, Norman Logan, John W.S. Marvin,
J.S. Majer, Hal Mangold, Ian McFarlin, Karl Okerholm, Pookie, René Schallegger, Mark Solino, Kieran Stones, Michael Taylor, Peter Tidd,
Jonathan Tweet, Tiffany Vincent
Portent Finders: Christopher Smith Adair, Aleksi Airaksinen, Charles Allen, Matthew Allen, Mark Argent, Anthony Avila, D.J. Babb,
David Bigg, Keary Birch, Robert Biskin, Eden Brandeis, Eric Brennan, Darren Bulmer, Caitlyn Burleigh, Andrew Cain, Rich Canino, John
Card, Magnus Carlstrom, Nathan Carrier, Andrew Chang, Stuart Chaplin, Alexander Cherry, Christophe Coiffier, Chris Collins, Euouard
Contesse, Paul Cooper, Joseph Cortese, Sean Curtin, Thomas Dahmen, Geoff Dash, Mark Davidson, Brad Davies, Mark Daymude, Martin
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Deppe, Charles Deuschle, Scott Dierks, Eugene Doherty, Roger N. Dominick, Bastian Dornauf, David Dorward, Michael Dove, Danielle
Doyle, Herman Duyker, Iker Eguinoa, Mark K. Emmert, Lars Enzweiler, Declan Feeney, Michael Feldhusen, Robert Ferguson, Cédric
Ferrand, Danni Feveile, Daniel Fidelman, Marcella L. Florence, Lowell Francis, Kristoffer From, Jennifer Fuss, James Galloway, Goffin
Geoffrey, David Gettman, Edd Glasper, Alexandre Glize, Tristan Goss, John Hacker, Ville Halonen, Craig Hargraves, Scott Haring, Seth
Hartley, Paul Hayes, Lyle Hayhurst, Joern Heimeshoff, George Heintzelman, Fabien Henry, Devin Herron, M. Alan Hillgrove, Stephen Hinck,
Trevor J. Hitch, Ralph Hodge Jr., Frost Holliman, Jarrod Holst, Jeffrey Hosmer, John Hoyland, Russell Hoyle, Tim Isakson, Michael Itz, Jim
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Jacobson, Scott Jenks, Guy Jobbins, John Kahane, Daniel Kassiday, Maya Kennon, Robert Kirchner, Jody Kline, Karl Knutson, Sören Kohlmeyer,
Andrew Krause, Sean Krauss, Haavard Krugerud, Darrel Lacheny, Timo Langenscheid, Nat Lanza, Nicolas Lathoumetie, Chance Le Meur,
Andy Leighton, Joseph Lemay, Matt Logan, Adam Longley, Michael Lord, Steven Lord, Mark Magagna, Kevin J. Maroney, Michael Maroon,
John Marron, Niclas Matikainen, Thomas Maund, Laura McRae, Nicole Mezzasalma, Angus Mol, David Moore, Tim Mooore, David
Morgans, Charles Myers, Niklas Nordberg, Stefan Ohrmann, Guilhem Pagès, Eric M. Paquette, Brian Poe, Ben Pogvara, John Poole, John M.
Portley, Dak Powers, Robert Prior, Avram R. Shannon, Brian Renninger, Kevin Richey, Carl Rigney, Wade Rockett, Steven Ross, Alessandro
Rossi, Shu Sam, Allan Samuelson, Jonas Schiött, Amber Scott, David Scott, Mary Sébastien, Norman Shih, Geoff Skellams, Robert Slaughter,
Neil Smith, Timothy Stanbrough, Maurice Strubel, Andrew Sturman, Täbr of K’Lon, David Terhune, Scott Tooker, Ville Vasara, Amsel von
Spreckelsen, Livia von Sucro, Steven K. Watkins, Michael Welker, Philip Wright, Kristian Zirnsak
Lorekeepers: Ingo Beyer, Ellis Creel, Brian Curley, Jeromy M. French, Arwel Griffith, Aydin Can Gur, G. Hartman, Brian Lavelle, Christian
Lindke, Marco Mensen, George Moralidis, Christian Nord, Douglas Pirko, Michael Rix, Tim Rudolph, Ray Soderlund, Paul Snow, Daniel
Stack, Kyle Stewart, Adam Surber, Bjørn Flindt Temte, Michael Wight, Pedro Ziviani

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 Hillfolk — A GAme Of Iron Age Drama

Table of Contents

Run For the Hills 6 Forcing 28 Bennies 47

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What You Need 6 Supporting or Blocking a Force 28 Gaining Bennies 47
Why This Game Exists 6 Dramatic Scene Example 29 Tied Results 48
Secondary Features 7 Special Cases 31 Spending Bennies 48
What This Book No Contest Scenes 31
Notes on Play 50

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Contains 7 Two-Way Exchanges 31
Multiple Petitioners 31 Common Intentions 50
Creating Characters 8 Petitioning for Practical Favors 34 Information Beats 50
Step by Step 8 Drama with Recurring Calling a Cliffhanger 51
Order of Precedence 8 Characters 34 Seasons 51
Role in the Band 10 Soft Opens 34 The End 51
Defining Relationships 10 Conference Scenes 34 GM MasterClass 52
Your Desire 13 Procedural Scenes 36 Choosing Your Scenes 52
Your Dramatic Poles 15 Procedural Resolution
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What You Want  16 Procedural Tokens 36 Player-Called Scenes 53
From Others 16 Playing Cards 37 Moving Things Along 55
Action Types 17 Calling a Procedural Scene 37 Unstumping the Stumped 55
How You Do It 17 Step One: The GM Spends Guiding Player Characterization 55
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Your Story 19 For the Opposition 37 Maintaining Focus 56
Step Two: The Target Card 38 Collaborative Spirit 56
Episodes 20 Step Three: Players Note Taking 57
Themes 20 Spend and Draw 38 Changing Relationships 57
Introducing Themes 20 Step Four: The Final Result 39 Evolving
Sample Themes 20 Step Five: Personal Characterization 58
Consequences 39 Adding New Players 58
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Scenes 22 Narrating the Ups and Downs 39 Immersionists Confront

Calling Scenes 22 Multiple Resolutions 41 Their Comfort Zone 60
Calling Order 23 Procedural Resolutions Why No Magic, Laser-Wielding
Challenges 23 in Dramatic Scenes 41 Dinosaurs? 60
Ducking a Scene 23 Success by Narration 41 Using the
Crashing a Scene 23 Simple Procedural Example 42 Hillfolk Cards 62
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Challenging a Time Jump 23 Player vs. Player 43 Emotional Prompts 62

Challenging a Plot Jump 25 Narrating 44 Complications 62
Challenging For Novelty 25 Assisting in Player vs. Player Prompts and Shuffling 62
Going to Procedural 25 Contests 44 Hacking DramaSystem 63
The Right to Describe 25 Player vs. Player Example 44 Single Session Play 63
Dramatic Scenes 26 Resolving Other Settings 63
Tokens 26 Consequences 46 Decoupling 65
Calling Dramatic Scenes 26 Supporting Characters 46
Playing and Resolving Minor Characters 46
Dramatic Scenes 26 Introducing Minor Characters 47
Gaining Tokens 28 Recurring Characters 47
Introducing Locations 47

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 Robin D. Laws

The Land Inhuman Desires, Dreamspace,

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and Its People 66 Jason L Blair 105 Keith Baker 211
Introducing Brigade, Intelligence,
Background Details 66 Chris Pramas 111 Will Hindmarch 215
Player-Driven Background Colony Wars, Maroons,

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Details 66 Emily Care Boss 115 Rob Heinsoo 221
Exposition Challenges 66 Mafia Century, For Queen or Country,
GM-Prompted Rob Wieland 121 or: Dead Mens’ Chests,
Background Details 67 4 Motion, Ed Greenwood 225
Ditching the Prompts 67 Steven S. Long 125
Geography 67 Deadweight, Appendices 230
The Southlands 67 Eddy Webb 131 Glossary of
The Desert 67 The White Dog Runs Game Terms 230
The Inland Sea 69 at Night,
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The Kingdom 69 Jesse Bullington 135 Procedural Tokens 231
The Belt 69 Henchmen, Bennies 231
The Coast 69 Gene Ha and Art Lyon 141 Suit Order 231
The Hillfolk 69 Battle Of Wits, Main Cast Tracker 232
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Rivals 70 James Wallis 145 Scene Breakdown
Outlanders 70 The Whateleys, Tracker 233
Shell-Grinders 70 Chris Lackey 151 List of Common
Domers 72 Horns in the Hill, Intentions 234
Iron-Makers 72 John Scott Tynes 155 Relationship Map 236
Rockheads 72 Tesseract, WY, Recurring Characters 237
Ryan Macklin 161
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Saltmen 75
Threshers 75 Pyrates,
Tridents 75 Graeme Davis 165
Sample Names 75 Shakespeare, VA,
Why a Fictionalized 10 th Dave Gross 171
century BCE Levant? 77 Bots,
Allen Varney 175
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Additional Settings 78 Under Hollow Hills,

Hollywoodland, Meguey Baker 181
Jason Morningstar 81 First Contact,
Mad Scientists Sarah Newton 185
Anonymous, Clockwork Revolver,
Michelle Nephew 85 Kevin Kulp 191
Moscow Station, By This Axe,
Kenneth Hite 91 Mac Sample 195
World War 2.1, Shuriken in Shadows,
Matt Forbeck 95 Jason Pitre 201
Malice Tarn, Teatime for Elephants,
T. S. Luikart 101 Wolfgang Baur  205

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 Hillfolk — A GAme Of Iron Age Drama

Run For the Hills

Hillfolk is the first game using the DramaSystem roleplaying rules engine. In a game of Hillfolk, players take the roles of
Iron Age raiders struggling to protect and enrich their clan at a time of clashing empires.

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In a DramaSystem game, players, aided by a Game Moderator (GM), collectively create a compelling, serial story of
emotional need and conflict within a tightly-knit group of people.

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What You Need conduct chases, investigate mysteries, explore
To play this game, you need: unfamiliar environments, and so on. When they
ӹӹ 5 – 8 participants succeed by talking to others, it is by negotiating with
ӹӹ one deck of playing cards characters who exert no particular emotional hold
ӹӹ a supply of poker chips or beads over them, over practical matters.
ӹӹ 1 red, 1 green, and 1 yellow token1 per In a dramatic scene, the main characters confront
participant internal obstacles, seeking emotional reward from
ӹӹ about a dozen tokens of a fourth color people they care deeply about, for good or ill.
(I use blue)
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ӹӹ as many index cards (or spare playing cards or on procedural action, giving short shrift to dramatic
collectible game cards) as you have players interplay. They’re based on adventure genres, which
ӹӹ writing utensils focus on the external over the internal.
ӹӹ scrap paper When scenes that ought to be dramatic arise in
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ӹӹ time to weave an epic story the typical roleplaying game session, they tend to
ӹӹ One participant, the GM, may find it handy start strongly, but rapidly stall out. Players whose
to have a smartphone or laptop on hand. characters find themselves in conflict with one
another typically dig in, refusing to relent. They do
this because they don’t want their characters to lose,
and because they believe that, by sticking to their
guns, they’re doing what their characters would do
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“The desperate people of these lands cry out for us to unify them.” in real life. Story momentum grinds to a halt as the
“When you say unify, you mean conquer.” exchange reaches an impasse.
In real life, though, when we enter into emotional
disputes with people we care about, we sometimes
Why This Game Exists relent and sometimes dig in. That’s because we need
Scenes in stories can be divided into two categories: emotional reward2 from the people in our lives.
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procedural and dramatic. Fictional dramatic scenes have long observed and
In a procedural scene, the characters confront and replicated this pattern. DramaSystem observes and
overcome external obstacles. They fight opponents, replicates those basic techniques. This is a game of
drama that works the way fictional dramas do.

1 You may find it easier to find tokens in standard poker chip colors. 2 Emotional reward is not always positive. You might seek someone’s
I use a set of nonstandard poker chips in the desired colors. The reassurance or love, or set out to hurt or provoke them. In the latter
correspondence to the red-yellow-green traffic light pattern is much case you might leave the encounter feeling bad—which is what,
easier to remember than another color scheme, making it worth the unconsciously or otherwise, you set out to achieve.
extra trouble to locate chips in these colors. Beads may be easier to
find than nonstandard poker chips, but are fiddly to pass from one
participant to the next.