# Asmythe Table Top Role Playing Game Asmythe TTRPG is a system I developed to support the kind of TTRPG experience that I want to run for my son and his teenage friends. It is optimized for one GM and many players. It is narrative first, rules-lite, and open-ended. It is ideal for people who like a little structure to guide them without restricting them from playing the characters or telling the stories, they want in any genre. This game is not for people who like to min-max number or for people that want rules to tell them what they can do. This is my attempt at perfection, used occasionally with mustard. ## Design Pillars - This is a game. Everybody plays and it should be fun for everybody. - Rulings not rules. If you don't remember a specific rule, just do something fun. - Descriptions not definitions. A good description is always more fun than a rigid definition. - Intention not action. Actions have purpose, resolve the intent not the act. - Cooperation not conflict. This is a collaborative game, never PvP. - Fiction not facts. Facilitate storytelling and creativity; buttons are for video games. In Asmythe players and GM both contribute to the setting and story. Players are actors and storytellers, not passive observers. The GM is an author and arbiter and not a director. ## Gameplay Each **Player** creates and controls an adventurer. Players make decisions for their characters, describe what their characters think, feel, say, and do, and describe the results of their characters’ actions. Players roll dice to help determine if their actions have the intended result. The **Game Manager** (GM) creates situations for the players to explore, presents danger and opportunity, and arbitrates uncertainty. They also control all the people, monsters, and characters that are not controlled by players, collectively called "characters". The GM uses cards to guide the progress of the story and arbitrates when player description is too broad, contradicts established fiction, removes too much drama, or takes authority away from another player. Asmythe is a collaborative game. Players are expected to help narrate the story, create scenery, and describe how their actions affect the world. The GM frames scenes and keeps the world coherent, but the players carry much of the moment-to-moment description through their characters’ choices and actions. Asmythe can be played in many ways, from a linear sequence of prepared scenes to a free-form exploration where the next scene does not exist until somebody describes it. Decide what works for the kind of game your group wants and roll with it. Throughout this book "adventurer" refers to a player controlled person and "character" means a non-player controlled person or creature. ### Narrative Authority **Narrative Authority** is permission to describe what happens in the story. In Asmythe, narrative authority is shared by everybody at the table. Players have narrative authority to describe their characters actions and the results of those actions, using the result of an action roll as guidance. Players have authority when they roll the dice. If the description does not fit the roll the GM may ask the player to reframe the description, spend a luck token, and/or create complications. The GM has narrative authority when describing a scene, escalating a scene, when a stack is depleted, and whenever characters interact with adventurers. The GM has authority when dice are not involved. Authority is not held rigidly, players and GM may pass narrative authority to each other at any time by their own choice. Anybody can ask for an oracle and nobody can take narrative authority from somebody else without consent. ### The Weaver The Weaver appears whenever a story begins to stray from the path the storytellers wish to walk. It does not punish or condemn. It simply remembers the true version of events, gently unraveling what should not have been and weaving the story back along another path. Those who have encountered The Weaver never remember it and have only a vague feeling that a terrible fate has been avoided. When the GM or a player feels that the current description is inappropriate, they say "Stop. I call The Weaver." Any player may invoke the Weaver if they feel a description crosses a personal boundary or creates an inappropriate or abusive situation for anybody at the table. Calling The Weaver has an immediate effect, no matter what else is happening. 1. The game stops, frozen in the current description. 2. The GM and players say "Fate unwinds." 3. The description that summoned The Weaver never happened. 4. The player with the spotlight describes something else. Anybody may suggest changes but the spotlight does not move. 5. When everybody is ready to continue the GM and players say "Fate is restored." 6. The game continues as if nothing unusual happened. Invoking the Weaver is not questioned or challenged during play. No one is required to explain why they called it. The Weaver exists to protect the people at the table, not the adventurers in the story. It is not a way to avoid failure, escape consequences, or change the outcome of events simply because they are undesirable. ## Dice Only players roll dice and most actions don't require a roll to resolve the outcome. Only roll in situations when an action would have consequences. Asmythe TTRPG uses a dice pool of standard six sided dice. Each player will need, or be able to share, two to twelve black action dice and a similar number of red stress dice. A die result of 5 or 6 is a hit, a 6 "explodes", adding another dice to the pool. A 5 or 6 on a stress die cancels a hit on an action die and too many 1s on any dice trigger a blunder. The [[#Actions]] section has all the details. ## Cards The GM uses a deck of standard playing cards to guide story progression, usually with [[#Stacks]]. Cards may also be used as an oracle to help determine results when the GM isn't feeling inspired or in a few specific, optional rules. - The numeric value of the card is exactly what it reads, but rarely used. - Face cards are ordered J/Q/K and will cause escalations when revealed in a stack. - Aces are low and will cause escalations. - Jokers are high and may trigger significant changes to the story. Shuffle all the cards back together at the beginning of each scene. If you run out of cards before the end of the scene then the scene is too long. Shuffle and get on with it. ## Session Zero Asmythe TTRPG is the shared imagination of everybody in the game. When starting a new game everybody works together to describe a setting and theme and then build the world and the game together. Session zero is the prologue to the campaign. This is where everybody discusses what kind of game they want to play and discuss the social contract. The [[Session Zero]] chapter has more questions to discuss and explore. ### Campaign Frame Asmythe TTRPG has a few core concepts that provide a foundation for world settings and structure the rules around magic and society. Including these concepts in the game is optional, but strongly encouraged. **The Supernatural** There is a hidden world where distance is compressed and reality is warped. Named Wyrdspace in this book but it could be The Feywild, The Paths, The Edge, The Warp, The Upsidedown, subspace, a parallel reality, or anything else that fits the theme of the setting. - Wyrdspace is a terrifying place of madness and monsters. - Supernatural abilities are powered by Wyrdspace energy, and have explicit [[Supernatural Power#Magic Limitations|limitations]]. - Exposure to Wyrdspace energy can have unpredictable effects on the world, causing creatures and characters to mutate and gain powerful abilities. **Player Headquarters** In most games players will be members of a mercenary adventuring company, such as the [[Rangers of Asmythe]], or have some other stable source of resident and resources. The headquarters provides a place to heal, train, and prepare for the next adventure. ### Collaborative Worldbuilding Players have more fun in a setting when they help create it. Asmythe TTRPG has a few very simple tools for collaborative world building where everybody takes turns describing something about the setting. - [[Collaborative Theme]] to decide core features of the setting. - [[Collaborative Colony]] to create a population center. - [[Collaborative Continent]] for creating a fantasy landmass. - [[Collaborative Galaxy]] for creating a science fiction star sector. You could also use any of the many commercial tools available that turn worldbuilding into a full-length game, such as Microscope and Perilous World. # Adventurers Adventurer creation is designed to support any concept. Players describe their own traits to create the adventurer they want to play. [Character Sheet](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W9XCDawg4f6LXEqob1jRqWvAcJvvVVqi/view) Adventurer creation is done using [[Asmythe/Asmythe RPG/Chapters/Character Discovery]] on that adventurer's first quest, even when adding a new adventurer to an existing game. ## Attributes Attributes are intrinsic qualities, inherited from ancestors and developed during childhood. Attributes are never used as requirements for other abilities and they can not be improved during a game. Attributes are rated 2-6; human average is 3-4. Attributes are generated by rolling 3d6 and assigning the median value to an attribute. If the result is 1 then re-roll. The result must be assigned before rolling for the next attribute and may not be reassigned. This gives characters unpredictable attributes while still allowing players some control over their build. Most characters will have average attributes but some will have very good attributes and some will have very bad attributes. Not everybody is equal. This is intentional game design, although an especially bad set may be re-rolled if the group allows. **Strength** : Strength is physical power. It is might, vitality, brawn, and gross motor skills. It is useful for physical attacks and to move heavy objects. **Agility** : Agility is physical speed. It represents dexterity, coordination, and fine motor skills. It is useful for physical defense and to manipulate objects. **Intellect** : Intellect is mental power. It is wisdom, intelligence, reasoning, and logic. It is useful for social defense, sorcery, and to remember something or think through problems. **Wit** : Wit is mental speed. It is awareness, charm, and the ability to react quickly to changing situations. It is useful for deception, perception, and social attack. **Tenacity** : Tenacity is willpower, resistance, determination, and fortitude. It is the ability to recover quickly from stress, survive harsh conditions, and persist through stressful events. ## Concept > Who are you? Concept is a unique description of an adventurer or character and their personality. Think about the fictional characters you know. Which ones inspire you? Do you want to play an adventurer similar to any of those characters? Concept is how you would describe your adventurer to another person. It is often in the form "{adjective} {profession} who {activity}". Your concept should inspire everything else about your adventurer. **Examples:** - Beautiful princess who loves animals too much - Gruff soldier who fights fearlessly for great good - Swashbuckling scoundrel who will do anything for a score - Disheveled wizard who is obsessed with lost history - Brutish barbarian who smashes everything they don't understand ## Origin > Where do you come from? Many settings including various and proliferate species, social statuses, and cultures. An origin describes an adventurer's relationship to the people around them. An origin has narrative weight, it determines how characters see the adventurer at first impression and possibly what religion, traditions, and morals the adventurer holds. A good origin should have: - A creative description including species or nationality and a culture or background. - 2-3 adjectives describing your personality or place in society. - A named faction and your relationship to them. - 2-3 interesting physical or economic/industrial characteristics of the faction. The available origins will depend entirely on the campaign setting. Creating believable and fun origins should be part of creating the [[#Campaign Frame]]. The [[Origins]] chapter has some examples but usually each player will create an origin specifically for their adventurer and that origin becomes part of the champaign frame. ## Archetype > What do you do? Archetype describes an adventurer's role, but not how they approach that role or how they feel about it. Each archetype provides a unique, rule bending ability. Depending on the setting and the size of the group, Adventurers will choose one or two archetypes and no adventurer may have exactly the same archetypes as another adventurer. The chapter on [[Archetypes]] lists some generic archetypes suitable for most games. ## Traits Traits are skills, experiences, and developed relationships that describe what makes a character competent and interesting. Traits are learned abilities, any mundane ability that could be improved with practice could be a trait. Traits depend on concept and campaign frame, a high fantasy game will have different traits than a steampunk game. Each campaign frame may, and probably should, define some suggestions for traits. The chapter [[Uninspired Traits]] has some ideas and [[Skills]] can be substituted for free-form traits. Traits are used to create action pools and are typically rated 1-5 but there is no maximum level for a trait. Traits represent knowledge and ability and most of the time an adventurer can delve their depth of knowledge without rolling for success. | Level | Knowledge | Typical Questions They Can Answer | | ----- | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 0 | Unfamiliar | Only common knowledge or obvious facts. "What is this profession?" | | 1 | Novice | Basic terminology, common practices, well-known people and places. "What tools are used?" "Who are the major organizations?" | | 2 | Practitioner | Working knowledge from experience. Knows standard procedures, local customs, common mistakes, and can identify routine problems. "How is this normally done?" | | 3 | Expert | Deep understanding of the field. Knows history, specialists, regional differences, hidden techniques, and can infer missing information. "Why was it done this way?" "Who probably did this?" | | 4 | Authority | Extensive insider knowledge. Knows influential figures, obscure methods, unwritten rules, and can predict behavior within the field. Others seek their opinion. "Who would have access to this?" "What are they trying to accomplish?" | | 5 | Master | Among the world's foremost experts. Knows forgotten lore, exceptional edge cases, and connections few others recognize. Can identify unique works, reconstruct events from subtle evidence, and make educated predictions beyond conventional wisdom. "What almost nobody else knows about this?" | Use the [[Asmythe/Asmythe RPG/Chapters/Character Discovery]] process to decide traits a for new characters. ### Trait Guidelines A trait is a short sentence or phrase that describes something your adventurer has learned or experienced and some context that explains where it came from or how it is used. Traits take the form "{Verb or Role} {Context}". A trait with more specific context is more useful because it implies a broader body of experience. "Archer in the goblin wars" would be useful in more situations than "archery" because it also implies knowledge of goblins, military protocol, and some geography. A trait should describe something interesting about your character or the setting. A trait should satisfy at least one of these: - Something you learned and where you learned it. - A relationship with a specific person. - Something about you that people would remember. - A strong belief and where it came from. Guardrails, if you can't answer these questions then the trait is too abstract: - Can this trait improve with practice? - Where and how did you acquire this trait? - What does it look like when you use this trait? - Would other players think the trait is unfairly broad? **Example traits** - Repair clockwork prosthetics - Prepare bodies for burial rites - Fight in zero-gravity environments - Duel with cavalry saber - Build shelters from shipwreck debris - Authenticate Originator artifacts - Negotiate with dockworker unions - Tell epic stories around campfires - Sprint across unstable rooftops - Teach literacy in isolated villages - Hunt ghosts with consecrated tools - Pilot steam-powered walkers - Create maps with the royal cartographer of BigLand - Research with the librarians of Mist Mountain Monastery - Fence goods for the shipwright's guild in Black Bay - Spy for the Red Lantern guild - Manage the Ashwood family estate. - Repair sensor arrays on the Purple Sunrise void-craft. ## Feats Feats are extraordinary abilities that represent a supernatural power, a remarkable trait, a strange mutation, a legendary technique, a device, a blessing, a curse, a landmark, or anything else. Feats draw power from Wyrdspace in mysterious ways. They are described, not explained. Every feat has a fun, evocative name and a short description. The description establishes the feat's fictional authority: what it looks like and what kinds of changes it can make in the story. Its description establishes what ability it gives the adventurer; the player decides how to use that ability. All the spells, magical powers, monster abilities, ulta-tech devices, and such from fictional stories are Feats in Asmythe TTPRG. ### Feat Guidelines A feat is written as a short descriptive phrase or sentence that answers these questions: - What is it called? The name should inspires wonder, dread, or awe. - What does it do? Establish what the feat can affect and what it can change. - What does it look, sound, and feel like? Include enough description to understand its appearance and behavior. - What kind of problem does it solve? Describe a specific extraordinary capability. - What situation would prevent the feat from activating? Above all, a feat is amazing. It does something that no ordinary person or tool could accomplish. If you can't answer these questions, the feat isn't detailed enough: - What visual and sensory effect does the feat produce? - What kinds of things can the feat affect? - Would other players understand what this feat does? - Would other players think the feat is overpowered? Detailed descriptions make the feat more interesting and more useful. But a clever description can not grant unlimited utility. When the limits of a feat are unclear, use the description, its scope, and what has already been established in the story to decide its limitations. ### Power The power level of a feat measures how much the feat contributes to accomplishing an intent. When a feat contributes to an action, add its power as bonus dice. Increasing power makes the feat more effective, but does not change what the feat is able to do. A character with Super Strength can increase power to become stronger without becoming more precise; or they can increase the scope of their feat and become more versatile without necessarily becoming stronger. ### Scope Scope measures a feat's complexity and fictional authority: how much influence the feat can have on the scene. | Scope | Effect | | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Spark | Minor supernatural effects. "Cantrips" | | Raw | Produce one straightforward supernatural effect. | | Dynamic | Control how the effect behaves. | | Precise | Create detailed, realistic, or sophisticated effects. | **Spark** > Spark effects are simple, flavorful, and obviously supernatural. At this scope you can create small magical effects that mimic reality but large scale changes are out of reach. The effect can be no larger than a human fist and mimic something realistic. **Raw** > The effect does what it explicitly describes that it can do, without adding selective behavior, continuing instructions, conditional effects, or substantially changing what it affects. **Dynamic** > Allows selective, conditional, adaptive, sustained, or coordinated effects. The effect remains within the established description of the feat, but the adventurer controls how it happens. **Precise** > The adventurer controls fine details, interactions, and consequences instead of merely controlling the general behavior of the effect. Precise feats can reproduce intricate structures, manipulate living systems, create convincing illusions, or perform other effects where the details matter. ### Example Feats **Invisible Hands - Raw** You focus your will and gesture toward something you can perceive. Threads of purple fate connect your will to the target and exert invisible force upon it. Invisible Hands can push, pull, lift, hold, or move physical objects at a distance. Add its power when that telekinetic force contributes to your intent. Increasing its power makes the telekinesis more effective. Increasing its Scope to Dynamic allows independent, selective, sustained, or responsive manipulation. Precise Invisible Hands could exert fine manipulation without touching the object. **Veil of False Wonders - Dynamic** You speak, trace a sign, and imagine what you want the world to believe. Light and sound bend into convincing falsehoods that shimmer into life. Veil of False Wonders creates and controls false sights and sounds. Its Dynamic Scope allows illusions to move, react, change, and coordinate in response to the scene, but they are still obviously illusions upon close inspection. Increasing its level makes those illusions more effective at accomplishing your intent. Precise Scope could allow the veil to create realistic illusions indistinguishable from the real thing. **Mercy's Touch - Raw** You lay your hands on someone and channel gentle light. Pale radiance spreads through injury like water through cracked stone, restoring damaged flesh. Mercy's Touch repairs physical injuries through direct contact. Increasing its level makes it more effective at restoring serious harm. Dynamic could selectively repair complex injuries, purge harmful conditions, or control how restoration occurs. Precise Mercy's Touch could restore a person to optimal health, restoring lost limbs and curing terminal diseases. The [[Uninspired Traits]] chapter has examples and inspirations. ### Sorcery Sorcery is a feat that allows an adventurer with the [[Archetypes#Sorcerer|sorcerer]] archetype to invent supernatural effects, "spells", at will within the bounds of an elemental domain. Sorcery is the ability to create and use an **invented feat**. Sorcery is inherently stressful and prone to backlash. Whenever sorcery is used part of an action gain stress equal to the number of 1s rolled regardless of [[#Risk]] level. If the situation is already dangerous or perilous, apply whichever result would inflict more stress. The chapter on [[Supernatural Power]] has more details on how to use sorcery in your game. ## Luck Each adventurer starts each session with two luck tokens. Players gain luck whenever they experience a complication, usually from a blunder. Luck can be gained and/or spent immediately after an action pool is rolled to describe a new result. An player may roll, decide they don't like the result, provoke a complication, then immediately use the luck token to re-roll. All in the same turn. ### Gaining Luck **Blunder** When a player rolls more 1s than hits they blunder and create a complication. Any trait, concept, archetype, origin, ambition, condition, or scene element can inspire a [[#Complications|complication]]. The player describes something bad happening to their character and they gain a luck token. **Provoke** If a player is desperate for luck they may provoke a complication. They give the GM narrative authority over their character and the GM describes a complication. Then the player regains narrative authority and gains a luck token. GMs will usually describe something worse than what the player would but will never describe something that prevents the adventurer from participating in the story. ### Spending Luck Players spend luck to change the story by expanding narrative authority or gain a temporary advantage. Luck allows players to change a failure into a success, avoid stress, and change the circumstances of their situation. There is no limit to the amount of luck that can be spent per turn, but more than two re-rolls may become boring for other players. - *Desperate Measure*: Re-roll and ignore stress dice. All hits explode. This does not cancel a blunder. - *Narrow Escape*: Describe how you narrowly avoid danger. Avoid all stress from your action. - *Second Wind*: Remove stress equal to Tenacity. - *Lucky Break*: Make a narrative change to the scene. A narrative change must be setting appropriate and provide a temporary advantage, such as a flashback to when the adventurer prepared for this situation or by changing a feature of the scene. Narrative changes should be used to advance the story, not to avoid it. It can not be used in place of an action, to void story elements, to bypass puzzles, or to grant specialized equipment. The GM (and other players) should always accept player narration that is fun, fair, and consistent with the shared fiction, but may suggest changes, revise, or reject narration that breaks the setting, bypasses the challenge of the scene, controls another adventurer, or violates the social contract. ### Complications Complications are bad things that happen to adventurers. They make it more difficult to complete quests and succeed at actions without crippling the adventurer. They provide a challenge that increases tension and encourages players to think in new and creative ways. Whenever a character experiences a complication, either through a blunder or by provoking the scene, they gain a luck token. Complications are the primary method of gaining luck. | d6 | Complication (Roll or Choose) | | --- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | Weapon, armor, or tool is damaged, jammed, or broken. | | 2 | Ammunition, charges, or a valuable consumable is exhausted. | | 3 | Quest item is dropped, damaged, or becomes unreachable. | | 4 | Gain a debilitating condition: trapped, grappled, concussed, etc. | | 5 | Your action puts you in a more dangerous situation. | | 6 | Gain a minor (1) injury as a result of your action. | - A complication changes the tactical or narrative situation, it does not negate an adventurer's action. - Only meaningful and interesting complications that increase tension or create a new problem generate luck. - Complications may not directly affect other characters, a blunder will not cause a character to accidentally hit their friends. - Complication can not be stacked or postponed. They must be described before the next turn and can not duplicate the effect of another complication. ## Loadout and Equipment Asmythe is an adventure game, not a resource management game. Players don't keep track of expenses like food, clothing, ammunition, or other simple goods and services. Personal equipment is part of an adventurer's personality, not a set of bonuses. Every adventurer spends some of their downtime visiting shops and purchasing the equipment they think they will need for the next quest. Before embarking each character selects light, medium, or heavy loadout, representing how much gear they are taking with them. Players don't need to specify exactly what is in their loadout unless they want to. Whenever a players thinks their adventurer needs a specific piece of equipment they pull it from their loadout and check one or two boxes. Small and medium sized equipment that can be used one handed is 1 box; large equipment that requires two hands is 2 boxes. Very small objects have zero or fractional size and very large, heavy, or bulky items can't be carried as part of the loadout. Only common, civilian, off-the-shelf gear that could be acquired from a local merchant can be part of the loadout; the setting equivalent of Target, WallMart, Home Depot, etc. Rare and highly specialized gear must be pre-purchased with [[#Currency]]. **Light Load** (3 boxes) > You travel fast and light with very little visible gear. You blend in with ordinary people. You have little or no armor. **Medium Load** (5 boxes) > You carry a small compliment of gear and you look like you are ready for trouble. You have light or medium armor that accentuates your look. **Heavy Load** (8 boxes) > You look like you are on a mission and you bring trouble with you. You are strapped with all the gear you can carry including medium or heavy armor. All this equipment slows you down and frightens ordinary folk. Adventurers can pick up and carry any equipment they find, as long as they have room in their loadout for it. Adventurers can carry more than their load limit but become over encumbered and can't take actions until they drop stuff. Enchantments, Ultra-Tech, and other reality-bending equipment is gear with one or more [[#Feats]]. In most settings this equipment can only be obtained through quests and crafting. Mundane but specialized equipment may have a "Spark" scoped feat with a power level to represent its specialized use. ## Conditions and Injury Adventurers receive conditions and injuries from complications. A condition is any temporary effect that hinders the adventurer: blinded, confused, burning, etc. Most conditions create a limit on narrative authority, an entangled adventurer can't jump or run effectively. Injuries are just long lasting conditions. Conditions can be cured with an appropriate action. Injuries usually persist until the end of the quest. The chapter on [[Trauma and Death]] has additional rules for a bloodier, deadlier way to use injuries. ## Wyrd When an adventurer or powerful character is exposed to magical energy from Wyrdspace they slowly become corrupted by that energy. This corruption is called Wyrd, or Wyrdness. As Wyrd increases the adventurer or character becomes more connected to Wyrdspace, causing corruptions and other side effects. Whenever an adventurer blunders an action involving supernatural power, such as a feat or sorcery, increase Wyrd by one. Wyrd does not decrease naturally. Depending on the setting adventurers may also gain Wyrd when they accumulate too much stress, or ignored entirely. There may be a limit on the amount of Wyrd that can be gained during a single quest and it may be possible to decrease Wyrd by embarking on an epic quest of cleansing. | Wyrd | Effect | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | 0 | Normal, no effect. | | 3 | Minor mutation, tainted. Can sense Wyrdness. | | 5 | Small mutation, cracked. Attuned to the Wyrd. (+1 Luck) | | 7 | Medium mutation, empowered feats. (+2 bonus die on all feats) | | 9 | Major mutation, corrupted. Can Wyrdstep. | | 10+ | Full conversion. Insane, psychotic, demented. Uncontrollable | Upon reaching nine Wyrd an adventurer gains the Wyrdstep feat at Spark:1. **Wyrdstep** > Wyrdstep allows the adventurer to "step" into Wyrdspace. They become indistinct and incorporeal and disconnected from reality. All perception is hallucination and it is impossible to determine what is real and what is Wyrd. While incorporeal they can't be affected by any physical object but are susceptible to supernatural effects. Activating and deactivating Wyrdstep is a dangerous action, most adventurers disappear forever into Wyrdspace. At Raw they retain all their senses in the real world, including touch. At Dynamic they can fly and at Precise they can manipulate physical objects. When an adventurer reaches ten Wyrd they become a monster and can no longer adventure. At the end of the quest give that creature to the GM, create a new adventurer, and hope you never meet them again. ## Tags Tags are adjectives that can be added to any trait, feat, condition, or gear to improve its description. Tags can make it easier to understand the scope and effect of something but they are not integral to any part of the system. Use them if they help and don't when they don't. # Advancement Players gain and improve traits through Experience Points (Xp), which are earned by completing milestones. Experience is personal and may not be shared between players. Learning or improving a trait requires increased Xp cost as the level increases. Traits can only be improved during [[#Downtime]] and improving above level 3 requires a teacher of higher level. There is no maximum value for a trait but it is very rare for anybody to reach level 6 without a lifetime of study and practice. Each trait and feat can only be improved by one level each downtime. Feat power levels cost the same as trait levels and scope costs increasing Xp to improve each level according to the table below. A new feat costs 5 Xp (Spark + Level 1). **Xp Cost** | Level | Xp | Total | | Scope | XP | Total | | ----- | --- | ----- | --- | ------- | --- | ----- | | 1 | 3 | 3 | | Spark | 2 | 2 | | 2 | 3 | 6 | | Raw | 4 | 6 | | 3 | 4 | 10 | | Dynamic | 6 | 12 | | 4 | 6 | 16 | | Precise | 8 | 20 | | 5 | 9 | 25 | | | | | | 6 | 13 | 38 | | | | | The cost to level up a trait follows a quadratic progression, where the Xp cost for the next level is 3+(n-2) after level 1. You should never need to know this, but there it is. ## Milestones Milestones are achievements completed during a a game session, completing a milestone grants 1 Xp the first time it is achieved during a quest. Milestones are designed to be achievable without GM judgement or intervention. Adventurers are expected to earn 4-8 Xp per quest and probably won't complete all of their milestones every quest. **Quest Milestones** Every quest has these two milestones. - Start a new quest. - Complete a quest's primary objective and return to HQ (or other safe space). **Triggered Milestones** These milestones require players to make a difficult choice, they can not be completed through random chance alone. - Provoke a complication on your archetype ability. - Mitigate an escalation on top of the stack using your worst attribute. - Spend your last luck token before the final scene. - Support and Cooperate with other adventurers during the same scene. **Personal Milestones** At the beginning of each quest each adventurer draws three random drama prompts from the [[Personal Milestones]] deck, discard one and pass one to the left, no other trading is permitted. Personal milestones should be kept secret. Gain Xp for each one completed in a way that progresses the story or creates something interesting in the setting. Shallow situations that are easily forgotten or don't impact the story do not earn Xp. - Progress the story with your first personal milestone. - Progress the story with your second personal milestone. ## Currency Currency is a measure potential, it is something you spend to gain something else. Depending on the setting currency could represent gold coins, galactic credits, political influence, military authority, social prestige, or a wide variety of other things. In Asmythe currency is gained by completing quests and spent to acquire specialized goods and services. Currency is always consequential, used for purchases that could change the course of the story, such as rare equipment, bribes, influence, and HQ upgrades. Currency is measured in $C and is a party resource, shared by every adventurer in the group. Usually one player is the accountant, who keeps track of how much $C the party has, and purchases must be discussed and approved by every player present. The chapter [[Wealth and Resources]] has optional rules for maintaining a lifestyle and [[Vehicles and Bases]] suggests how currency can be used to upgrade the player headquarters. # Actions All actions are always successful at something, but not always what the player intended. When a player has the [[#Spotlight]] they declare an action, describe what they intend to accomplish, and decide which attribute and trait they will use, and any equipment or feat that will help them realize their intention. Only one attribute, one trait, and one feat can contribute to the action pool, even if more that one trait or feat could apply. When an action has consequences the GM will communicate the difficulty and risk level for that action in that situation. Players should know the difficulty and risk of their actions and can change their mind before rolling. There is no need to roll when there is no consequence of failure. Many unlikely things become possible when you can keep trying endlessly. The GM can use a deck of cards as a spark table to add some variability to these kinds of actions, such as how long it takes or the quality of the outcome. **Act** > Do something to solve problems, help achieve the a goal, or change the scene to provide an advantage or disadvantage. Change difficulty or risk level, or remove a card from a stack. **Support** > Support a friend by doing something to reduce the risk of their actions. You can only support one other adventurer per action. **Investigate** > Discover something that improves your chances. If this action is successful, expose the top card of the stack so everybody can see it. If it is an escalation, you discover what is about to happen. **Mitigate** > If you know an escalation is immanent, take an action to prevent or mitigate that escalation. If successful you may remove the card from the stack, move it anywhere else in the stack (face up), or replace it with a face-down card from the deck. **Innovate** > Do something that changes a feature of the scene to provide an advantage or disadvantage. Change the difficulty, risk level, or add bonus dice to a future action. **Cooperate** > Share the spotlight with other adventurers to cooperate on a goal, as a [[#Cooperative Action]]. ## Difficulty Difficulty is the number of hits the player must get on an action roll to get a fully positive, beneficial result. An unskilled character (3-4 dice) can expect an even chance of success at difficulty 2 but most adventurers will have 6-8+ dice in their action pool. Full analysis can be found in the [[Game Design]] chapter. Each scene and stack will have a difficulty rating. | Difficulty | Description | | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 0 | **Trivial** A child could do this. Don't roll for this. | | 1 | **Simple** Easy for most adults. Only roll if the character is under extreme stress. | | 2 | **Standard** Requires some competency, training, or focused effort to succeed. | | 3 | **Challenging** A task requiring significant skill, mental focus, or physical exertion. | | 4 | **Professional** A task requiring years of specific experience. | | 5 | **Expert** The limit of standard professional ability. | | 6 | **Masterful** Only achievable by the top 1% of the population. | | 7 | **Heroic** Surpassing human limits. | | 8 | **Legendary** Deeds that change the course of a campaign. | | 9 | **Mythic** Defying the laws of physics or logic. | | 10 | **Nearly Impossible** Supreme, dragon-level difficulty. | **Difficulty Modifiers** - +1 If the character is using a trait unrelated to the action, or doesn't have an appropriate trait. - +1 If the action requires specialized tools AND the character isn't using those tools. ## Risk Every action that requires a roll could have consequences. Consequences are described by the player and add stress to the character, depending on how risky the action is. Risk applies to actions, not scenes, and are not necessarily related to the difficulty. Hiding from a big monster is less risky than attacking it, even though the difficulty is the same. Riskier actions are more likely to cause stress even if they succeed. The GM will declare the risk level of an action along with the difficulty, with a default of Daring for most actions. Players can change their action, ask a friend for support, or take advantage of terrain features to alter the risk level. | Risk | Stress | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Daring | Blunder inflicts stress equal to (Difficulty - Hits). | | Risky | Limited success inflicts stress equal to (Difficulty - Hits). | | Dangerous | As Risky AND stress equal to the number of 1s rolled. | | Perilous | Gain stress equal to Difficulty. | **Daring** Low chance of harm. Consequence result primarily from accidents and ineptitude. **Risky** Significant chance of harm if the action isn't successful. A fight with weaker opponents or when an accident would have serious consequences. **Dangerous** The action could result in harm even if successful. A fight with a stronger opponent or working in a hazardous environment. **Perilous** Guaranteed to suffer stress and possibly harm. A conflict with a superior force or working in a hazardous environment without protection. ## Action Pool To resolve an action the player creates and action pool by collecting black action dice equal to their attribute + trait + feat and red stress die equal to total stress and conditions. Then they roll all the dice together and count the total number of hits. Each action die that rolls a 5 or 6 adds a hit, each stress dice that rolls a 5 or 6 removes a hit. Whenever any action die rolls a 6 it _explodes_, add and roll another action die. Compare the number of hits to the difficulty, if there are more hits then the action is successful. If there are fewer hits then the action is a limited success. If there are more 1s than hits, including 1s on stress dice, then the action is a blunder and creates a complication. Blunders can still succeed. **Action Pool** > The collection of action and stress dice rolled to attempt an action. The action pool is composed of all action dice and stress dice. **Action Dice** > Black dice that count as hits when they roll a 5 or 6. These come from attributes, traits, feats, and other bonuses. Action dice explode when they roll a 6. **Stress Dice** > For every point of stress, add a red stress die to every action pool. When a stress die results in a 5 or 6 it cancels a hit on an action die. Rolled 1 on stress dice can trigger a blunder but stress dice do not explode like action dice. **Exploding Dice** > Whenever an action die rolls a 6, roll an additional action die. Exploding dice can explode. **Hits** > The number of black action dice that roll a 5 or 6, less the number of stress dice that roll a 5 or 6. ## Resolution Compare the number of hits to the difficulty Compare the result of the action roll to the expected effect tier, increasing the effect up or down as appropriate. Most actions will interact with a stack, adding or removing cards depending on the action and what the stack is measuring. Every action should have at least two sentences describing the result, including anything that creates a benefit or inflicts stress. | Hits | Result | Effect | | ------------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Hits < 1s | Blunder | Also remove 1 card from a urgency stack. | | Hits < Difficulty | Limited | Remove 1 card from a urgency stack. | | Hits >= Difficulty | Expected | Remove 1 card from a progress stack. | | Hits > 2*Difficulty | Surge | Remove 2 cards from a progress stack. | | Result | Narrative Description | | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Blunder | Create a complication. The action will also be limited, expected, or surge. | | Limited | The player describes a partial, flawed, costly, or surprising version of the intent. | | Expected | The player describes the intended result. | | Surge | The player describes a stronger result, extra benefit, or impressive advantage. | **Blunder** > A blunder happens where there are more rolled 1s than remaining hits after stress dice are applied. A blunder means the action created a [[#Complications|complication]] and the player receives a luck token. A blunder doesn't mean the action failed, it means something bad happened when the action was attempted. **Limited Success** > An action roll without enough hits to overcome the difficulty doesn't mean the action was wasted. It means the result wasn't what the player intended but created a tactical advantage instead: "failure with a benefit." A limited success may result in a condition or change to the scene that reflects the level of success. Players may draw a card to inspire a description. | Suit | Advantage | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | ♠ Violence/Ruin | Leave your opponent with a lasting condition or weakness. | | ♥ Fear/Moral | Shake an opponent's confidence, resolve, or loyalty. | | ♦ Resource Loss | Reduce an opponent's resources, defenses, or options. | | ♣ Reinforcements | Create a new opportunity or advantage for your side. | **Expected** > The action is successful at achieving the intended result. **Surge** > If the total number of hits is more than twice the difficulty the action becomes a surge. A surge is a more powerful version of the expected result. ## Stress Stress is the what happens when an adventurer experiences something unpleasant, often the result of a dangerous situation. As adventurers accumulate stress they get clumsy and flustered, affecting their ability to be successfully. Stress can be physical or mental and is usually temporary but accumulating too much stress can result in permanent injury. Physical stress can leave lasting injuries if not treated properly and mental stress can be just as debilitating but manifests in different ways. There is no limit to the amount of stress an adventurer can accumulate. No amount of stress causes an adventurer to die, swoon, or prevent them from getting the spotlight. Only player choice can do that. ## Cooperative Action Use cooperative actions when multiple adventurers can make a meaningful contribution to success at the same time without repeating effort. Everybody shares the spotlight and describes how they are contributing. When multiple character cooperate on an action everybody makes an appropriate action roll. All hits rolled are combined into a total for the action. Create a complication for each player that blundered. When players cooperate on an action simultaneously they share the spotlight and all become inactive when action resolves. ## Opposed Action There is no support for player vs player in Asmythe TTRPG but occasionally adventurers may want to engage in friendly competitions. When two or more adventurers compete against each other they each roll an action pool and the result with the most hits is the most successful. The GM has narrative authority over the result. # Questing Asmythe TTRPG can support almost any campaign format, from a linear story to a meandering hex crawl. Whatever story your group wants to experience I find episodic story arcs work best, where each game session is a complete quest or a significant part of a quest. When one game session contains a full story arc then it is rarely a problem if some people can't attend that day, the quest goes on without them. Quest are composed of scenes and interludes. Scenes are stressful encounters, when adventurers are challenged in dangerous situations. Interludes connect scenes together and may provide time for adventurers to recover from the stress they endured. A quest can contain any number of scenes and interludes in any arrangement. Most quests will reward 2-4 $C for the primary objective and have some additional objectives that reward 1-2 $C each. This [[#Currency]] could be rewarded by a quest-giver, discovered as loot, or as bounty. The [[Quest Design]] chapter has detailed strategies for designing quests. ## Interludes Interludes are narrative events that tie the story together. Interludes have few, if any, action rolls and no significant sources of stress but aren't always relaxing times for a nap and cup of tea. An interlude is a story telling situation where adventurer actions are not directly opposed; adventurers are free to explore and socialize as much as they want within the confines of the situation and sometimes at the risk of attracting wandering complications. Each character may do at least one thing during an interlude. This could be recovering from stress, applying first aid, looting the scene, repairing equipment, or anything else that is relatively stress-free. When characters have a safe place to rest and time to recover they remove all of their stress. ## Scenes A scene is where all the action takes place. It is conceptually similar to a "scene" in a movie, where adventurers try to solve problems before something bad happens. Each scene is a situation where the players attempt to achieve a goal while something; the environment, monsters, character factions, etc. oppose them. At the start of a scene the GM describes the situation, sets up the [[#Stacks]], and decides who starts with the [[#Spotlight]]. During a scene adventurers take turns under the interacting with the terrain, characters, and events to complete their goal. Scenes are far more complex than interludes and have several subsystems to manage the chaos. ### Spotlight The adventurer with the spotlight describes their action and intention. Players are encouraged to discuss plans and cooperate. Each adventurer gets the spotlight long enough to make one meaningful contribution to the scene. Multiple adventurers may share the spotlight to cooperate on a single action, at the discretion of the player currently holding the spotlight. At the beginning of a scene the GM deals a card for each adventurer. The highest card starts the scene with the spotlight. If an adventurer is dealt a joker, give them a luck token and the spotlight. The cards have no other significants beyond determining who starts the scene. During interludes play normally proceeds clockwise around the table, but the spotlight system can be use at any time to resolve turn order if it becomes necessary. When an adventurer is done with their action the GM flips or turns their card sideways to indicate that the adventurer has completed their action and that player passes the spotlight to another adventurer of their choice whose card is still active. Proceed until every adventurer has had the spotlight, then reset the cards and the last player with the spotlight chooses who will have it next. This ensures that every adventurer has the spotlight exactly once each turn. After all adventurers have had the spotlight the GM evolves the scene by describing what changes because of, and independent of, the adventurers' action. Keep it brief and focused on parts of the scene that the adventurers did not interact with. Nobody rolls dice. Only players get the spotlight and only players take actions, but that doesn't mean that scene is waiting for them. ### Stacks Stacks are Asmythe's version of clocks. They are visible piles of face-down playing cards used to track progress and urgency during a scene. Most of the time a progress stack will be paired with an urgency stack and share the same difficulty. This represents a goal that much be achieved before something bad happens. Each stack should represent one specific pressure in the scene. - How much time remains before something happens. (urgency) - How much work remains before a complex task is complete. (progress) - How much patience a character has with the adventurers. (urgency) - How much resolve, morale, or endurance a group of characters has left. (progress) Depending on the purpose of stack and adventurer actions, cards are revealed when progress is made toward a goal or when a goal become more difficult to achieve. When a card is revealed, the stack gets smaller and if an ace or face card is revealed the scene will [[#Escalations|escalate]]. Players should always be able to see how many cards are in the stack, so they can plan together, but they will not always know if their next action will cause an escalation #### Creating Stacks To create a stack decide what the stack represents, how difficult it is to interact with that stack, and how many cards should be in the stack. Place that many cards face-down where everyone can see them and put the difficulty number above it. The size of the stack tells the players how much time or effort they have until the situation changes and the difficulty tells them how many hits they need to successfully interact with the stack. Pair an urgency stack with a progress stack of the same difficulty when appropriate. The two most important stacks that drive the scene should have at least as many cards as the number of players and no more than twice that. Smaller stacks can be created at any time for any reason. When a card is revealed place it in the discard pile. When the stack is empty, the pressure resolves. What that means depends on what the stack represents. An urgency stack running out means the thing adventurers were trying to prevent just happened. Completing a progress stack means the adventurers completed their task or objective. #### Urgency Stacks When the goal must be achieved before something happens this pressure is represented with an urgency stack. When the urgency stack is empty, the adventurers have run out of time and that thing happens. **Example Urgency Stacks** - The viceroy is *losing patience* as the adventurers try to negotiate. - A bomb is hidden somewhere nearby and *will explode soon*. - Poison gas is leaking into the room and will *soon kill everybody*. - *Authorities are closing in* as the adventurers try to collect the loot. #### Progress Stacks When players need to complete a complex task a progress stack is used to track how much effort is required. Progress stacks represent resistance to adventurer goals and can come in many forms. When the stack is empty the task or objective is complete. **Example Progress Stacks** - A group of *thugs block the path*. - The Master Architect system *must be repaired*. - Stormy seas *must be navigated* to reach the lost continent. - The viceroy *must be convinced* to support the war effort. **Devotion Stack** A devotion stack is a progress stack that represents how committed a character or group of characters is to their current goals. Devotion stacks are used in conflicts and some negotiations. When adventurers "attack" characters or monsters they are reducing that character's devotion to whatever put that in that situation in the first place. Even a hungry monster protecting its lair would rather flee than die, but feeding it and making friends could be even more effective at pacifying it. Every monster, Big Bad Guy, and opposing force is represented with a progress stack and every approach to defeating them is equally viable, within the context of the shared story. #### Escalations Escalations happen randomly during a scene. Every time an ace or face card is revealed from a stack the scene escalates in some way, depending on the card revealed and described by the GM. Sometimes escalations create new stacks. | Suit | | ---------------- | | ♠ Violence/Ruin | | ♥ Fear/Moral | | ♦ Resource Loss | | ♣ Reinforcements | **Ace** - Setback _A minor reversal forces a new strategy._ - Friendly NPC is separated from the group. - An advantage is lost or proves unreliable. - Progress is slowed by an unexpected complication. - An opportunity closes before it can be exploited. - The opposition notices a weakness or mistake and moves to exploit it. - Conditions worsen just enough to make the next decision harder. **Jack** - Obstacle _The opposition or situation blocks progress._ - An opponent secures a superior position. - A new obstacle blocks the obvious path forward. - Valuable time is lost while the situation develops. - The cost of success increases unexpectedly. - The opposition gains useful information or insight. - A neutral party begins favoring the opposition. **Queen** - Pressure _Danger become more immediate and difficult to ignore._ - A deadline becomes imminent. - Friendly NPCs or something valuable is placed at risk. - Environmental resources are running low. - The environment becomes increasingly hostile or unstable. - Emotions rise, making careful action more difficult. - The opposition commits more of its strength or influence. **King** - Crisis _The situation reaches a decisive turning point._ - A trusted assumption is proven false. - An important ally is removed, compromised, or endangered. - The objective becomes significantly harder to achieve. - Multiple threats converge at once. - The opposition unveils its strongest tactic or capability. - Success now requires accepting a meaningful cost or sacrifice. **Joker** - Catastrophe _The scene fundamentally changes._ - A hidden truth completely changes the situation, reversing expectations. - A powerful new force enters the scene. - The original objective is no longer possible in this scene. - The location changes dramatically or becomes unrecognizable. - An apparent ally or enemy reveals a different allegiance. - The scene evolves into an entirely different kind of challenge. ## Negotiation Negotiations often take place during Interludes when all parties have a relaxing discussion about who is better than who or which group deserves more than the other. Negotiations can also happen during scenes if tensions are high and the thread of violence looms. A negotiation usually starts with the adventurers presenting some kind of trade or ultimatum: "I'll give you X if you give me Y." or "Give me Y or I'll do X." Characters will readily agree to a proposal that benefits them and will never agree to something that is against their core beliefs. (Life, liberty, and happiness are usually core beliefs.) The negotiation starts if the characters don't accept the offer. Negotiations continue back and forth with each side presenting a new proposal and continue until they reach an agreement or an impasse. In very tense negotiations you have a stack representing resistance (progress) and patience (urgency). Some characters will refuse to negotiate until the adventurers have performed some service for them. The chapter on [[Relationships and Reputation]] has optional rules for using reputation in negotiations. ## Conflicts Every encounter with a hostile force is a contest that can be overcome in infinite different ways. Adventurers often find that their goals conflict with the goals of other characters. All conflict are essentially a contest between people trying to get what they want without sacrificing what is important to them. Every character has objectives and limits, something they want and a limit to what they will risk. Conflicts can be physical, social, or both at the same time. Social actions in battle can be just as effective as physical actions. In essence, both are methods of convincing other characters that what they want isn't worth the risk. **Conflict Setup** 1. What does the other group of characters want? 2. What they are willing to lose to achieve it? 3. What are the starting positions of each group? 4. What tactics will each group use? Do they have any special abilities? Create space on the table for a progress stack for each major character, champion, or group of minor characters, "mooks". Mook stacks have one card per mook and champion has cards equal to the devotion of that character. When the progress stack reaches zero, the opposition will surrender, flee, or transform. Characters usually act in response to whoever has the spotlight, with the character action resolving as part and consequence of the adventurer action. Characters will always try to accomplish their objective, and risk life and limb only when they consider their objective more valuable than their own lives. Champions have [[#Feats]] that trigger when a face card is drawn and they may have multiple escalating transformations. The [[Non-Player Characters]] chapter has more information about character traits and behaviors. ### Battle Maps It often helps to visualize conflict situations when the position of the characters can be seen on the table with the scene around them. This can be done on a battle map and with tokens or miniatures. A character's precise position on a battlefield isn't always important, but it can be used for dramatic effect. The map is for illustration purposes only. Adventurers can move their token anywhere they want on the map whenever they want, even when they don't have the spotlight. The group may want to limited movement to one hand-span if distance is critical to the story, but most of the time anything dangerous would affect the entire scene. Detailed rules for tactical encounters is in the optional [[Strategy and Tactics]] chapter. ## Downtime Between adventures player characters have days or weeks of downtime to heal, train abilities, and work on special projects. During downtime adventurers heal from all conditions and may spend Xp for [[#Advancement]]. This is also a great time to work on crafting, HQ upgrades, carousing, and shopping. Adventurers can do as many or as few of these things as they want, but don't let one player monopolize the entire table with too many actions. - **Training** - Visit a trainer and spend Xp to improve traits and feats. - **Healing** - Spend time in hospital to heal injuries. - **Upkeep** - Manage investments to maintain current lifestyle. - **Preparation** - Prepare for the next quest by obtaining rare and illicit goods. - **Carousing** - Spend some time partying. You never know what might happen! - **Special Project** - Work on a long term project. Some of these options have more specific versions in the [[Trauma and Death]], [[Gear and Equipment]], [[Wealth and Resources]], [[Relationships and Reputation]], and [[Vehicles and Bases]] chapters. These can be [[#Currency]] sinks, opportunities to convert quest rewards into story or adventurer advancement. **Training** > Spend Xp as described in the [[#Advancement]] section. Hiring a trainer to learn a new feat or improve a trait above level 3 could cost currency. **Healing** > Heal all injuries and conditions, some may leave scars. Lost limbs may require a quest for supernatural healing or replacement. [[Trauma and Death]] has optional rules for partial healing and critical injuries. **Upkeep** > Repair and replace broken and damaged equipment. [[Wealth and Resources]] has optional rules for acquiring and maintaining more opulent lifestyles. **Provisioning** > Restock your loadout. [[Gear and Equipment]] has optional rules for shopping and acquiring rare or illegal goods. **Carousing** > Spend a night on the town, partying and gambling and enjoying food and drink. Described in the [[Carousing]] chapter. **Special Project** > Spend time and resources an a special project: crafting, upgrading headquarters, fostering relationships, running a business, etc. ## License Asmythe TTRPG is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)