Helm: A mini-review and character sheet for a low fantasy game

I recently ran a session of Helm, the new OSR system from Jon Davis (sivads-sanctum.itch.io). It’s a genuinely fun little system, very much worth picking up. Here’s some system notes and a couple of character sheets.

Making Characters

The character generation system is quite unique. You roll a 1d6 for each body location – Head, Trunk, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, and Right Leg.

These body zone numbers are used to calculate the stats (called Saves) – Intelligence, Constitution, Strength, and Speed.

The saves are used to generate the Abilities – Luck, Injury, Damage Bonus, and Pace

Basic Mechanics

Most rolls are 2d6 rolls, where players try to roll equal to or under one of the saves numbers.

Players can spend Luck to modify a roll after it’s been made.

The game is player-facing, and most rolls are made by the players.

Combat

For combat, there are no “to hit” rolls. Players roll 2d6. The first die indicates the amount of damage, the second die is the location. The weapon used has little or no effect on the amount of damage.

Damage is applied to the location. When the location runs out of points, an injury is inflicted, and the target loses a Injury point. Running out of injury points will kill the target.

When players are attacked, they roll a 1d6 to determine where they were hit, and where the damage will be applied.

Survival Clock

There’s a fun mechanic called the Survival Clock. It’s a circle with eight pieces. Each time a player survives a combat, they fill in a slice. Once they get all eight, they can add points to any zone of their body. Alternately, they can spend clock pieces for mechanical benefits – i.e. extra attacks, preventing damage.

Setting

The setting is a medieval, dark fantasy world somewhat inspired by Central Europe. A brief history and campaign map is provided.

Character Sheet

A character sheet is provided, and I’ve taken it and made a fillable version. I’ve also made my own custom landscape version. I’ve added a name, description, and armor field. I’ve added this post to my ever-growing, poorly organized list of character sheets.