Soul points

Soul Points represent a character’s psychological and spiritual
fortitude in the face of soul-consuming decay.
Each character has a Soul Point supply of 5 plus their
Wisdom Modifier per level. In addition, spellcasters gain
1 more point for every Spell Slot they have. Exceptionally,
Warlocks gain 3 points for Spell Slot.
Soul Points = [(5 + Wisdom Modifier) x character level] +
spell slots
The following chart makes it easier to determine how many
slots a character has per level.
•
SOUL POINT LOSS
Characters will lose their precious Soul Points every time
they deal with supernatural events, dread manifestations of
Ènferun and when attacked by creatures of the dark.
Characters reaching 0 Soul Points become Possessed: a new
condition described below.
Here are the most frequent causes for Soul Point Loss:
•
 Spellcasting: Whenever a character casts a 1st level spell
or greater, they lose 1 Soul Point, unless it is a Holy
Spell.
-
 A Holy Spell is defined as any spell that deals radiant
damage, or by the presence of the words “holy”, “divine”
or “faithful” in the spell’s name; in addition, all spells
from the School of the Moon are to be considered Holy.
•
 Vile Foe: Whenever a character faces Aberrations, Fiends
or Undead, they must make a successful Wisdom Saving
Throw (DC 10 + half the creature’s Challenge Rating,
rounded down to a minimum of 10) or losing as much
Soul Points as the creature’s Challenge Rating (to a
minimum of 1; further encounters with the same kind
of creature during the same day involve no further
Saving Throws.
•
•
Challenge rating 1 or less
Challenge rating 2 or 3
Challenge rating 4 or 5
Challenge rating 10 or 11
Challenge rating 18 or 19
DCDCDCDCDC10
11
12
15
19
Might of the Soul: As a bonus action, a character can
sacrifice their Soul Points, from a minimum of 1 to
a maximum equal to their level plus their Charisma
modifier, to obtain as many bonus Temporary Hit
Points, that last until spent; however, a character cannot
willingly sacrifice all their remaining Soul Points using
this ability.
Overwhelming Temptation (optional): Whenever a
character indulges in sin, allows themselves be tempted
by darkness and befittingly portrays a behavioural
flaw, they can choose to roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, or 1d10
to determine how many Soul Points they can trade
for a bonus to any Ability check, Saving Throw or
Attack Roll performed in the following turn; the name
Overwhelming Temptation suggests that it is up to
the NM to provide an opening, such as an ethical bind
or too tempting an opportunity, for the character to
show their deplorable side and act out accordingly. This
mechanic is intended to be optional: using it in game
sessions or not should be discussed by the NM and the
players prior to the game.
A Taste of Darkness (optional): When brought to 0 hit
points, a character can use their last moments of clarity
to linger in the surrounding darkness and delve into
their own soul to find the same darkness. By doing
so, they can opt for losing Soul Points equal to their
character level to stay at 1 hit point instead of 0; once
used, a character can resort to Taste of Darkness only
after a Short or Long Rest.

Evil Creature Assault: Most creatures from Ènferun
add spiritual damage to the physical one, causing Soul
Point loss. Any creature listed in the Bestiary has the
amount of spiritual damage it deals reported in its
statistics; however, if a NM wanted to employ creatures
of its own creation or taken from another rulebook, the
following guidelines might help them determine the
amount of spiritual damage dealt per round according
to the monsters’ Challenge Rating.
Note: Not all monsters have to deal spiritual damage; if
every fight involves this kind of game mechanic it might
become boring, predictable, or needlessly deadly.
Challenge Rating of 1 or lower: 1 or 2 Soul Points lost
per round
Challenge Rating from 2 to 4: 3 (1d4) Soul Points lost
per round
Challenge Rating from 5 to 7: 4 (1d6) Soul Points lost
per round
Challenge Rating from 8 to 10: 5 (2d4) Soul Points
lost per round
Challenge Rating from 11 to 14: 7 (2d6) Soul Points
lost per round
Challenge Rating 15 to 17: 10 (3d6) Soul Points lost
per round
Challenge Rating from 18 to 20: 12 (5d4) Soul Points
lost per round
Challenge Rating over 20: 15 or more (6d4 or 4d6)
Soul Points lost per round

Narrative Soul Point Loss: From time to time, the
NM might need to inflict a Soul Point loss to increase
tension and put the characters under pressure. Any NM
should find a kind of balance fit for his party, keeping in
mind that Soul Point loss is the primary cause of death
in Nightfell, because a Possessed character with 0 hit
points dies instantly.
Narrative Soul Point losses per day should
approximately be equal to: character’s level + 2
Example: Over the day (between one Long Rest and the
next one), a NM dealing with 2nd level characters should
inflict at most a Narrative Soul Point loss up to 4 points; if
the characters were 10th level, the narrative Soul Point loss
could sum up to 12 points.

REGAINING SOUL POINTS
A character’s spiritual fortitude can be regained by meditat-
ing or simply committing to small things and earthly matters,
to rediscover life’s bright side and momentarily forget about
the looming darkness.
After they complete a short rest, a character regains 1 +
Wisdom modifier (to a minimum of 1) Soul Points for every
spent Hit Dice.
NB: A character with full Hit Points can still spend their Hit Die
to regain Soul Points in this way.
After they complete a long rest, a character regains an amount
of Soul Points equal to their highest ability among Intelligence,
Wisdom and Charisma. Such versatility represents the way
different characters deal with trauma in their sleep: an intel-
ligent character will try and understand, learn from their mis-
takes, and rationalize their fears; a wise character will follow a
philosophical or a religious path, reassuring themselves with
thoughts of transcendence and higher purposes; a charismatic
character will try and find their inner strength, their resolve to
go on and overcome any adversity.
Other ways to spiritually recover, such as the Lunar Blessing,
are explained in the related paragraphs below.

POSSESSION
When a character reaches 0 Soul Points they become Possessed,
haunted by evil spirits who try to lure them to their death.
If a character reaches 0 Hit Points while Possessed, they
will not be able to resort to a Saving Throw vs. Death, thus
meeting their doom with swift simplicity.
If confronted with a situation that entails Soul Point
Loss, the character will instead gain an Exhaustion Level.
A Possessed character is unable to regain Soul Points in any way.
The only way to get rid of Possession is to undergo an
adequate Cleansing Ritual such as Interdiction from Evil (a
ritual that can be celebrated by any character, yet often needs
more officiants, and could pose risks for both those trying to
remove the Possession and the Possessed one), or alternatively
a Lunar Blessing, specialty of the Lunar Cultists.
Below, a recap:
• Possessed: the character cannot recover Soul Points; if
reduced to 0 Hit Points, they die (without any Saving
Throw vs. Death); any time they are supposed to lose
further Soul Points, they gain an Exhaustion level, instead.
PORTRAYING A POSSESSED ONE
A Possessed character needs the player to display their char-
acter’s worst vices, flaws and whatever resides in the dark-
est edges of their heart, with grim morbidity. Their identity
twisted yet faithful to themselves. Bravery turns into reck-
lessness, fear into aggression, mistrust into xenophobia and
contempt, justice into thirst for vengeance. A knight bent on
vanquishing evil becomes a merciless slaughterer dwelling on
absolutes.
These guidelines remind of the Overwhelming Temptation
(see above) yet taken to extremes and prolonged over time.
In a similar way, a merciful NM could reward a player thor-
oughly portraying their character’s possession with a 1d6 roll
result, usable only once per Possession state, to add as a bonus
to any Ability Check, Saving Throw or Attack Roll.

INTERDICTION FROM EVIL
This ritual requires an hour to complete and a variable num-
ber of participants: generally, the more characters who are
involved the lesser the risks.

Characters’ perspective
The characters bind the Possessed one with a rope, they
put them on their knees and then they draw a circle of
salt around them in the shape of an apotropaic circle.
The characters place themselves on the circle, then they
take turns reciting the first couplet of the Prayer for
Interdiction. If the prayer is successful, the ritual continues;
if not, the Possessed one and the officiant are trapped in a
dark vortex that might drain their very soul, unless another
officiant resume the ritual from when it failed.
When all four couplets are recited successfully, the
Possessed one is relieved from their condition, and all of
the characters can finally rest.
If one of the officiants allows themselves to be drawn
into the inner darkness of the Possessed one or loses
all their Soul Points the ritual fails, and the officiant
becomes Possessed themselves (this particular kind of
Possession arises suddenly, violently, and dramatically
and the newly Possessed could try to harm or kill their
companions, especially the one undergoing the ritual, or
unleash their most vile urges and flaws).
NB: No bonus for a proper interpretation should be
awarded by the NM in the case of total failure. If
deemed necessary, the NM could even suggest a course
of action to the player or rather temporarily taking
control of the character.
The ritual requires at least three officiants, three as the
Lunar Phases (not counting the New Moon, dark and
shadowed, symbolized by the Possessed one placed
at the centre of the glyph. If the officiants try to back
out and the ritual is interrupted before completion,
the Possessed one dies instantly, while the officiants
feel their souls torn away and dragged into Ènferun,
incurring themselves in the risk of Possession.

Players' perspective
The ritual requires at least three participants. As
long as three characters abide and stay in the circle,
the ritual may carry on. When their turn comes, any
officiant may decide to leave the ritual. If the ritual is
interrupted because fewer than three officiants remain,
the Possessed one will die instantly, whereas all the
officiants lose 1d6 Soul Points and an additional 1d6 for
every couplet successfully recited so far.
The players agree upon an order to recite, which must
be followed throughout the ritual. In turn, players roll
an Intelligence (Religion) check, DC 10 + 1 for every
previous attempt (be it success or failure).
-
-
(optional rule: if you want to add further difficulty and
suspense to the game table, you can employ a rule by which
the dice must be rolled on the Hex Glyph on the Possessed
one’s sheet; if the dice rolls out of it, the attempt fails
automatically)
Success: The player/character may recite the following
couplet (two verses). Once the fourth couplet is closed,
the ritual succeeds.
Failure: The Possessed character gains an Exhaustion
Level, the officiant loses 1d4 Soul Points for each
preceding couplet minus their Charisma modifier. The
following character restarts from the failed couplet, not
yet correctly recited (DC is increased by 1).
Once every couplet has been recited correctly and in an
orderly fashion, meaning the party got four successful
rolls, the ritual ends, and the Possessed character is
relieved from their wretched state, regains 1 Soul Point
and will be able to recover the Exhaustion Levels and
Soul Point loss in the usual ways.
If one of the officiants reaches 0 Soul Points by failing
in reciting their couplet, the ritual fails, and said
officiant is in turn Possessed (such Possession often
manifests dramatically, violently, and suddenly: the new
Possessed one may try to kill the other Possessed one, or
turn against their companions, or give in destructively
to their fear and anger or other negative impulse).
NB: In such a disastrous circumstance, even a successful
interpretation should not be awarded by the NM, whom
could even suggest a different course of action to the player or
temporarily take control of the character.
Here, the ritualistic formula:
“Come unto us, o moon light,
may thy splendour guide our rite.
Spawn of void, accursed Fiend,
to leave this body, our prayer bids.
Light be still, stand the will,
may life win whatever ill.
Thus, we exile thee through the door
of a dark mirror forevermore.”