How It Works

The Game

ᛋᛘᛁᚦᛁᛅ · ᚦᛁᚾᚾ · ᛏᚢᛘᚱ

The Core System

Roll Under.
That's It.

Smiðja runs on a single mechanic: roll 2d10 equal to or under your attribute to succeed. No modifiers to look up, no situational bonuses to stack. Your Strength is 9 — roll 9 or lower and you lift the gate.

Combat uses the same system. Attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks — all resolved the same way. Once your players understand roll-under, they understand the entire game.

Advantage and Disadvantage add a third die and take the best or worst two. That's the entire modifier system.

Characters start capable and stay capable. Advancement is meaningful but never mandatory — Smiðja works just as well for a single brutal session as it does for a long campaign.

Six Attributes
STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA. Generated by priority rolling — assign dice pools to what matters most.
Roll Under to Succeed
2d10 equal to or under your attribute. Advantage rolls 3d10 and keeps the lowest two. Disadvantage keeps the highest two.
Fast Combat
Initiative, attack, damage, morale — all resolved quickly. Encounters have weight without lasting an hour.
Meaningful Rest
Short and long rests recover different resources. Resource management matters without becoming bookkeeping.
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Choose Your Path

Six Classes

Warrior
The backbone of any warband. Exceptional weapon and armour proficiency, the most HP, and a combat edge that grows with experience. Straightforward to play, devastating in a fight.
Key Attribute — STR
Berserker
Enters a battle rage that strips away defence in exchange for terrifying offensive power. High risk, higher reward. Not for cautious players — or cautious characters.
Key Attribute — STR / CON
Cleric
Servant of the gods, healer of wounds, and turner of the undead. Divine spells and the ability to sustain a party through the worst the GM can throw at them.
Key Attribute — WIS
Rogue
Thief, scout, and assassin. Deadly from the shadows, useful everywhere else. Skills, backstab, and a knack for surviving situations that would kill anyone with less nerve.
Key Attribute — DEX
Ranger
At home in the wilderness. Tracker, archer, and survivalist. A natural companion in the wilds who becomes something more dangerous when the quarry is human.
Key Attribute — DEX / WIS
Wizard
Fragile and powerful in equal measure. Commands arcane spells that can end encounters before they begin — or backfire catastrophically. Play carefully. Or don't.
Key Attribute — INT
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Who You Are

Four Races

Human
Adaptable and ambitious. Humans receive a bonus point to distribute freely and no class restrictions — they can be anything, and often are.
+1 free attribute point · No class restrictions
Elf
Long-lived, sharp-eyed, and attuned to magic. Excel as Wizards and Rangers. Restricted from the Berserker — their discipline runs too deep for the rage.
+1 DEX, +1 INT · Cannot be Berserker
Dwarf
Stout, stubborn, and built to last. Take hits other races don't survive. Restricted from the Wizard — their minds are too grounded for arcane abstraction.
+1 STR, +1 CON · Cannot be Wizard
Halfling
Small, quick, and surprisingly hard to kill. Natural Rogues and Rangers with an uncanny ability to avoid the worst outcomes.
+1 DEX, +1 WIS · Cannot be Warrior or Berserker
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The Bestiary

63 Creatures. Four Threat Tiers.

The Core Rulebook includes a full bestiary covering everything from scavenging draugar to the great serpent Níðhöggr. Creatures are divided into four tiers — Weak, Moderate, Strong, and Elite — and include stat blocks, lore, GM tactics, and player-facing descriptions.

Twelve boss creatures drawn from Norse, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon mythology round out the collection. Each one is built to anchor an encounter, a dungeon, or a campaign.

Get the Rulebook