Rules and Mechanics

You may always ask to hold the scene for Narrator help and rules clarification.

If you are bored, lost, confused, or distressed, see a Narrator.

Challenge Resolution

A “Challenge” is any situation that cannot be resolved with just role playing alone. This could mean combat, picking a lock, using a special skill, stealing something, deceiving someone, or any circumstance where you want to use an ability that is unsafe, impossible, or impractical to role play, or that your character would be better at than you are.

Most challenges are resolved using two dice. Your character’s stat is added to your die roll, plus any modifiers put into play with a Special Ability.  The other die is modified by either your opponent’s stat, or a difficulty level set by a Narrator. The side with the greater total wins. Ties go to the higher stat (including applicable bonuses). If it’s still a tie, the defender wins.

A die roll of one indicates automatic failure, and a die roll of twelve indicates automatic success. Yes, this means that if both sides roll a one, they both fail their actions, and if both sides roll a 12, they both succeed. Please get a Narrator if you need assistance.

If the dice roll comes up with a twelve and a one it is either a critical success or a critical failure, depending on who got the twelve. Criticals result in special, and sometimes spectacular results, determined by a Narrator.

Character Stats

Characters have six stats: Intelligence, Willpower, Strength, Dexterity, Charisma, and Wisdom. Values range from 1-10, with an average mortal sitting at around a 5. These stats are used in challenges that call for a roll. In a challenge, use the stat that makes the most sense, unless an item or ability card specifies the mechanic..

Individual Combat

Combat is a contested Challenge, where the attacker’s stat modifies their die and the defender’s modifies theirs. The greater total wins.  In ranged combat, aiming and cover can modify the difficulties.  Modifiers may be assigned by a Narrator on a case-by-case basis.

Mass Combat

When combat is initiated, everyone chooses a target. 

Instead of each person involved rolling a separate die, each side gets one die. If there is more than one person on a side, that side adds 8 + number of people pitching in instead of using individual Attributes. There will only be two sides to a given combat, those aiding the aggressor and those aiding the defender.

Damage is calculated as normal, affecting targets indicated at the beginning of the combat round.

Damage

Damage is calculated based on the weapon being used. Refer to the weapon card. Unarmed blows deal 4 damage. A critical success on a combat roll takes the victim to Incapacitated, regardless of the defender’s Health.

Weapons

If your character has a weapon, it is represented by a pink card. Props are set dressing only. The weapon is the card. You must have the card in hand to use the weapon. If a weapon cannot be concealed, such as a sword or long arm, it should be clipped to your clothing in an obvious place so that people can see it.

Health

Under normal circumstances, a character cannot be killed during combat. When someone loses their last Health Point, they are Incapacitated, and unable to further participate in the combat. After combat is over, killing or life-saving measures may be taken. An Incapacitated character can speak, but may not take any other action. Some characters may have an ability to heal other characters, either temporarily or permanently.

Initiative

In most circumstances, the person who initiates the Challenge gets to declare first action. Each character involved in a combat round may take an action, the attacks are considered to be essentially simultaneous. Action and reaction are both declared, then the dice are rolled to see who is successful.

Time and Movement

Movement during combat is limited to six steps per round, or three steps if you are attacking within the same round. Characters that are moving at full speed cannot attack – they can only dodge attacks directed at them. A character who takes a step may still choose to perform another action in the same combat round. A round lasts about 3 seconds.

Time Stop Actions

There are some activities that take time and will remove you from play while your character works on them. Studying a book, painting a portrait, or cracking a safe would all be examples. A Narrator will hand you a timer to denote your progress. You may engage in conversation while working, but another challenge will end your ongoing action. You may choose to abort your action at any time, but resuming it may mean starting over from the beginning.

Awesome Points

Each character is issued three Awesome Points at the start of play. Awesome Points may not be used in combat challenges. An Awesome Point allows you, the player to: A) manipulate a die roll to be either an automatic success or an automatic failure, B) activate a special ability, C) counter a use of someone else’s Awesome Point, or D) otherwise manipulate fate at the discretion of the Narrators. Only one point may be used by each player in a given challenge. Return any spent Awesome Points to a Narrator. 

The Narrators may award additional Awesome Points for good roleplaying. If you see awesome roleplay that the Narrators miss, please bring it to their attention. The points are not transferable; you can’t just hand your chip to a friend, but it may be spent on behalf of another player in certain situations with Narrator approval. 

Hand Signals

If your character is speaking a language other than English, please signal this by placing a hand on top of your head with your thumb and forefinger extended in the shape of an L. 

If your character is invisible or otherwise unseen, indicate this by crossing your arms over your chest.

If you are breaking character briefly, please indicate that you are temporarily out of play by placing a fist on top of your head. If you need a longer break, please move to the Out of Character zone.

Remember:

You may always ask to hold the scene for Narrator help and rules clarification.

If you are bored, lost, confused, or distressed, see a Narrator.