PSYCHEDELIC NEOLITHIC ANIMIST OLD SCHOOL ROLE PLAY

PARIAH is a zine that will enable you to set up and run a tabletop RPG pitching a band of outcast humans against a dangerous, primeval world of malevolent magic and capricious spirits... all in an A5 zine format originally produced for Zine Quest 2020.  

A complete game in and of itself, PARIAH is nonetheless easily adapted to your preferred old-school system. Indeed, many of the tools provided would be useful in any RPG you think suitable for the weird world of proto-neolithic roleplay!

OUTCASTS

The zine contains instructions for generating a band of pariahs - outcasts from mainstream human culture forced into the dangerous wilderness:

•  Classless and level-less: develop characters through interaction with the environment, building alliances, developing skills and forging pacts with spirits.
•  Lateral development: special curse templates that can lead your characters down unexpected paths including ghoul, jackalwere and blood-drinker... 
•  Troupe play: control multiple characters, share them until they have grown into themselves, guide them as though you were their ancestral spirits.
•  Build a community: foster young charges, care for the old, build the skill base of your pariah band, the better to face the challenges ahead.
•  Die: lay down your lie for the good of your allies and roll up another pariah.

ANIMISTS

Everything is alive: navigate a world where mountains, rivers, trees and even insects possess their own desires and ambitions!

• Rules for generating spirits and determining their attitude to the PCs.
• An original magic system based on conjuring, binding and bargaining with spirits.

PSYCHEDELIC   

This is a time of chaos: rationality has yet to force reality into a fixed form, and the boundaries between the corporeal and ethereal fluctuate...

• Six psychedelic entheogens with unique properties!
• Travel to the spirit world and find the true name of your enemies.
• Create your own rituals, customs and traditions from afresh: this is a young world, and your characters are defining a new culture!

OLD SCHOOL

• Emphasis on player skill over character skill: play as the characters' guardian spirits,  not as the characters themselves.
• Highly lethal: get them out of danger quickly or be prepared to roll up another one.
• Sandbox style play: GMs are encouraged to create situations and challenges, not linear plots. Let the world come alive and happen around the PCs, with or without their participation!
• Rulings not rule: Take your pick of the guidelines within the zine, and fashion them to the tastes of your table. Use the tools for generating a world and populating it with danger and intrigue without being bound by mechanics.
• Familiar: Uses the traditional six ability scores and five saves so easy to pick up and easy to adapt to other old school systems.

Print-on-demand is currently unavailable: offset print copies will be available from Soul Muppet publishing shortly.