WRM Role Playing Game in the Ice Age

A game by Emmanuel Roudier

Published by Les Editions Icare

In this short PDF you will find a quick description of the game and details
about its game system. Herein you will also find a sample Character Sheet and a
sample Community Sheet.
Please note that if the Kickstarter campaign is successful, the core rulebook
will be available as an A4 format book of around 140 pages, with full color as well
as B&W illustrations (mostly by me, but also by other artists specialized in paleo-
lithic art and lifestyle).
Please do not hesitate to post comments on the Kickstarter page, and we will
do our best to answer promptly to any questions or ideas you may have.

Emmanuel Roudier

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 WRM
Role Playing Game in the Ice Age
Les Editions Icare is proud to present
a French role playing game with a truly
original theme, already loved by players for
the quality of its writing and illustrations,
now in English language for the first time
ever. This funding campaign aims to back
the professional translation of the work, and
its distribution in the USA and the United
Kingdom. Our publishing company, now
eight years old, has specialized in publishing
independent role-playing games with strong
themes. We would therefore like to invite you
to discover Wrm, a role playing game that
takes place at the very origins of humanity,
which will surely strike a chord with both
new and experienced players alike.
Humanity before history began, thirty five thousand
years ago, in the middle of an ice age
In this long-forgotten time, many powerful
creatures roam far and wide over a vast
territory covered in steppes and taiga,
reaching from the white mountains to the
raging sea: mammoths, aurochs, buffaloes,
giant deers, cave bears and cave lions...
Among these huge creatures, two species
of humans live in small communities of
hunter-gatherers: the robust Bear Men
(Neanderthals) and the taller Long Men
(Modern Humans).
When you play Wrm, it will be up to you to
imagine what life was like for our ancestors,
and give YOUR OWN vision of this time
before time. During your adventures,
whether simply surviving or going on
perilous hunts or legendary quests, your
characters will gain strength, wisdom and
prestige by exploring unknown territories,
daring to enter the darkness of mysterious
caves, seeking out the powers of ancient
spirits, or challenging the creatures of the
night, the ice and the fire
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All the rules you need to play Wrm are
included in the core rulebook, detailed over
nine chapters. These rules were designed to
be simple and clear. For the most part, they
only require a few 6-sided dice. Most of
all, they were designed to be well adapted
to the atmosphere of the Stone Age. For
example, to develop the characters, you
wont need skills and stats, but a number
of Strengths and Weaknesses that are
connected to specific totems. Additionally,
Talents and Secret Knowledges represent
the abilities that a character will have to
learn through initiation, such as painting,
shamanism or certain combat techniques.
The game rules have been developed
to be as close as possible to established
archaeological sources, carefully relaying
what we know of the technical knowledge,
the environment and part of the culture of
our ancestors. However, the world of Wrm
also leaves room for a touch of fantasy and
adventure: you will therefore find rules
that allow you to play with the real powers
of totem spirits, as well as a whole range
of fantastical creatures living along side the
mammoths and the cave bears, such as fire
spirits, witches and glacier giants
To let you dive right into the prehistoric
adventures of the world of Wrm, the core
rulebook ends with four introductory
scenarios, each one providing a specific
atmosphere, such as adventure, investigation,
melancholy or humor. One scenario is
especially designed for the initiation of
younger players!
So prepare your flint or bone-tipped spears,
and make sure your clan and your totem
spirits are behind you. The adventure begins
the second you step outside your camp
Detailed hereafter are a few samples of the The Strengths
game mechanics. As said previously, the rules Hand of the Ancestors
are light and run smoothly. Majesty of the Aurochs
Knowledge of the Beaver
Song of the Blackbird
Characters Secret of the Bear
A character is defined by:
Strength of the Bear
his or her people, tribe, clan
Might of the Buffalo
his or her Strengths;
Flight of the Crow
his or her Weaknesses ;
Rise of the Eagle
his or her Experience ;
Breath of the Giant Stag
his or her Stamina ;
Speed of the Horse
his or her Talents or Secret Knowledges ;
Nimbleness of the Ibex
his or her Prestige ;
Heart of Ice
his or her equipment.
Fury of the Lion
Quickness of the Lynx
Strength
Wisdom of the Mammoth
Every adult character possesses 3 Strengths.
Softness of the Otter
Each Strength comes from a special totemic
Watchfulness of the Owl
bond with an animal, elemental or ancestor
Eye of the Panther
spirit. New Strengths can be gained through
Magic of the Rhino
the use of charms and fetishes. A Child
Inspiration of the Rocks
character who hasnt received his or her
Flame of the Salamander
initiation, begins play with only one Strength.
Swim of the Salmon
There are 28 Strengths, listed below.
Protection of the She-Fox
Grace of the Swan
Weakness
Venom of the Viper
If a character chooses so, he or she can
Cunning of the Weasel
suffer from a rather severe Weakness that
Smell of the Wolf
will hinder him or her during his or her
adventures... but may also add flavor to the
part to play. In return, the character gains The Weaknesses
one more Strength. There are 14 Weaknesses, Clumsy
listed below. Disfigured
Fearful
Stamina Feeble-Minded
Characters have a certain amount of Frail
Stamina, ranging from 16 (for kids and frail Frightened
characters) to over 40. They work like hit Half Deaf
points, and are used to keep track of injuries Individualistic
due to wounds, diseases, frostbite, etc. The Lame
game mechanics ensure that characters will One-Eyed
recover quite easily, although in case of Presumptuous
serious injuries, they may suffer residual Quick-Tempered
after-effects. Weapons, claws, fangs, horns Shy
and diseases deal damage expressed by a Weak
certain number of d6.

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 Experience
Experience begins at 3. This number will
grow with every adventure. Each point
figures a die that can be used to improve an
action, whatever the task. These points are
spent during game, but are recovered at the
end of every adventure.
Talents and Secret Knowledges
They are no skills in Wrm. Characters are
assumed to be strong, witty and experienced
men and women, able to face most of
the challenges of the ice age. This is why
they can carry out every task that needs
to be accomplished for surviving: light
a fire, cook, build a shelter, track, hunt
and fight, heal wounds, forage... as well
as tribal activities of utmost importance:
manufacture tools, barter, impress and
seduce, procreate, play music and conduct
ceremonies... All of these activities are
explained and detailed in the rulebook. Yet,
there are some specific areas of knowledge
that are not accessible to everyone. These are
the Talents and Secret Knowledges, that require
initiation. They depend on the culture
of the tribe, and cover areas such as art,
secret combat techniques, enchantment and
shamanism. A character can learn some of
these Talents and Secret Knowledges through the
years, if he manages to convince a master
that he is worthy of his teaching.
Prestige
Prestige is extremely important for any
character in the game, since the amount of
Prestige defines the status of the character
amongst his folks. Is he a youngster, a Hunt
Leader or a Wise One? Prestige is measured
by adding three scores: Generosity, Bravery
and Wisdom. Generosity is earned by offering
gifts and helping others. Its a measure of
how much a character is useful and faithful
to his or her community. Bravery is earned
by facing challenges and overcoming them.
During the hunts, of course, but also when
it comes to act boldly for the welfare of
the group. Wisdom is not a measure of the
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characters innate common sense, but rather
of the experience earned through years
and hardships. Depending on his Prestige, a
character will gain a number of important
prerogatives.
Game Mechanics
To succeed when attempting an action,
a character (or creature) simply has
to roll 2d6, add the result of the dice
and compare the total with a Difficulty
Threshold (DT). The action is a success
if the roll is equal or higher than the
Threshold.
If the character has an appropriate Strength
that can help him or her accomplish the task,
he or she is allowed to add 1d6 to his roll.
If he or she has a Weakness that may hinder
his or her effectiveness, he or she suffers
from a 3 points penalty, substracted from
the result of the roll.
Characters can also spend an experience
point to roll one more die. No more than
one point per action, though (this will often
be more than enough).
Here are the Thresholds:
Difficulty Threshold
Easy 3
Fair 5
Average 7
Tough 9
Difficult 12
Insane 15
This is the score you need to equal or beat
in order to succeed, rolling 2 or more dice.
 Result Effect
All ones (two, three or more depending on the Hand) Disaster
Less than the DT Failure
Equal or higher than the DT Success
Higher than the DT by 6 or more Brilliant Success
Two 6 Critical Success
Four 6 Legendary Success
A Brilliant success means, if the effect is to be determined in number, that this number is maxi-
mized. A Critical success means, if the effect is to be determined in number, that the result will
be twice more effective than any normal success would be.

Manna
Lastly, characters may also add one more d6
to their roll if they request the aid of the
Guardian Spirit of their community. This help
is called the Manna. It consists of a pool of
dice out of which characters can pick to help
them succeed at any task, providing they will
later replenish it. Replenishing the Manna
means revering the Guardian Spirit, be it
through chants, ceremonies, food or tools
offerings... The Manna is a collective pool of
dice. It is meant to measure the fervor of the
characters for their Guardian Spirit, and to
make them feel that they belong to a strongly
bonded group.
Combat
Combat, of course, is an important part
of ice age challenges, be it while hunting
or defending the tribe. In Wrm, combat
has been designed to be both realistic and
fun. Characters can choose from a short
number of options when fighting, to
add some tactics to the game. Choosing
whether to spend an experience point or
not, considering the importance of a brilliant
success which maximizes results, is one of
these tactical choices.
Combat is broken down into rounds, and
is very classic in its form, so as to make it
really fluid. Characters attempt to hit preys
and opponents by rolling equal or higher
than their opponents Dodging score.
If the blow is effective, damage is rolled
according to the weapon used. Character
death is not encouraged by the rules, though
it can happen quite abruptly (for instance,
when trampled by herd of buffaloes or by
coming too close to a mammoth tusk). As
said earlier, recovery is rather fast, so as to
keep the game going, and also to reflect
the toughness of prehistoric people. First
aid, cataplasms, herbs and hot meals all
participate into curing injuries. Of course,
the best way to cure someone remains the
use of Magic.
Magic
In the world of Wrm, magic is here and
everywhere. Humans of the ice age live in a
land where there are no boundaries between
the mundane world and the supernatural
one. In order to reflect this, every character
possess totemic spirits that derive from
their Strengths. And indeed, the incredible
aid that Strengths give surely is some kind
of magic. Furthermore, characters can
learn (through long years of study) secret
knowledges of magic use. They fall into
three kind : Shamanism, Enchantment
and Sorcery. Shamanism must be learned
through five steps: Trance, Tongue of the
shaman, Spirit Contact, Exorcism and Animal
Form; Enchantment is the art of creating
magical items such as fetishes, charms,
magical weapons and tools; Sorcery is the art
of crafting magical beverages and ointments,
and is split into three traditions : the Taiga,
the Tundra, and the Marsh.

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These are sample Character and Community sheets. The Community Sheet concerning the laws and welfare of the characrers clan (or
whole tribe) can be entrusted to the group of players for them to keep track. Or the GM can keep the records himself.