Cortex Plus - Hackers Guide No Watermarks
Cortex Plus - Hackers Guide No Watermarks
Credits
Action Roleplaying Designers: Cam Banks, Steve Darlington, David Hill, and Ryan Macklin
Dramatic Roleplaying Designers: Leonard Balsera, Amanda Valentine, and Filamena Young
Fantasy Heroic Roleplaying Designers: Dave Chalker, Philippe-Antoine Mnard, and Dennis
Twigg
Special Thanks: Margaret Weis, anyone who contributed to a previous Cortex Plus game, and all
of our wonderful Kickstarter Backers who made this project possible
Credits
Icon Designs from the Noun Project: Dice, Drew Ellis; Hit, Ezra Keddell; Superhero, Simon Child;
and Theater, Saman Bemel-Benrud.
Contents
Foreword........................................................................................4
How to Use this Book.....................................................................5
Dramatic Fluency........................................................................41
How to use this model.....................................................................41
On Hacking....................................................................................6
What do you need?.............................................................................7
How does this address the need?.....................................................7
Who are you talking to?....................................................................7
How will you know if it worked?.....................................................7
Does it work without you?.................................................................8
How to Hack Cortex Plus..............................................................9
The Most Basic Cortex Plus Game Ever..........................................9
Is That It?..............................................................................................9
So What Else?......................................................................................9
So, Is That It?......................................................................................11
The Basics of Dramatic Roleplaying...........................................12
When You Roll..................................................................................12
What You Roll...................................................................................12
How You Roll.....................................................................................13
Supported Game Styles....................................................................14
The Basics of Action Roleplaying................................................15
When You Roll..................................................................................15
What You Roll...................................................................................15
How You Roll.....................................................................................15
Plot Points..........................................................................................16
Character Creation...........................................................................16
Supported Game Styles....................................................................16
The Basics of Heroic Roleplaying................................................ 17
When You Roll..................................................................................17
What You Roll...................................................................................17
How You Roll.....................................................................................17
Plot Points..........................................................................................18
The Doom Pool.................................................................................18
Character Creation...........................................................................18
Supported Game Styles....................................................................18
Machine Shop............................................................................... 19
The Setting.........................................................................................19
The Characters..................................................................................19
Talents.................................................................................................20
Assets..................................................................................................20
The Game...........................................................................................21
Example Campaigns........................................................................22
Roleplay Like Youre on TV!........................................................23
Modified Cortex Classic Character Sheet....................................24
Hacking Stress.............................................................................26
A Menu of Stress...............................................................................26
Whats in a name?.............................................................................26
Die Rating & Granularity................................................................27
Changing Stress in your Game......................................................27
Different Stress for Different Leads...............................................27
Stress in Action.................................................................................28
Time & Tactics.............................................................................30
What Time Can Do for You............................................................30
Cortex Plus Time Basics..................................................................30
Tactical Conflict................................................................................32
Random Feature Generation......................................................34
One-Shots.....................................................................................37
Preparing a One-Shot......................................................................37
Introducing Your One-Shot............................................................39
Playing Opening Scenes..................................................................39
Montages............................................................................................40
Climax!...............................................................................................40
MODERN LIFE
Ephemereality..............................................................................71
Doing the Leg Work.........................................................................71
Basic Rules of Dreaming.................................................................71
Roles....................................................................................................72
New Assets / Complications...........................................................74
Advanced Dreaming Techniques..................................................74
The Breed: A Mutant Animal Hack............................................75
From Crew to Zoo............................................................................75
Aspects...............................................................................................75
Example Species................................................................................76
New Talents.......................................................................................79
Vampville.....................................................................................80
Vampire Poses and Stress................................................................80
Character Creation...........................................................................82
Character Creation Example..........................................................82
Contents
Cyberpunk Overdrive..................................................................89
Introduction......................................................................................89
Kimura ...............................................................................................89
Mary Guns.........................................................................................89
Nancy Gibson....................................................................................90
Little Goose........................................................................................91
The Archology...................................................................................92
Reveals................................................................................................92
Wedges................................................................................................93
Dramatic Transhuman Distinctions..........................................94
Types of Transhumanism................................................................94
Transhuman Vessels........................................................................95
Transhuman Heritage Distinctions..............................................95
Other Transhuman Distinctions...................................................97
Evolution, Body-Swapping, and Distinctions.............................97
Mechaville....................................................................................99
Setting.................................................................................................99
Pathways.............................................................................................99
New Mechanics...............................................................................101
Mecha Scale.....................................................................................102
Other Abilities.................................................................................102
Afterword.........................................................................................102
A Future Born in Pain............................................................... 103
Brawychus Heritage.......................................................................103
Starship for Hire........................................................................106
Character Creation.........................................................................106
The Recruitment Mission..............................................................107
Your Very Own Starship...............................................................107
Enemy Starships..............................................................................107
Non-Starship Threats.....................................................................108
Running Science Fiction Action Games.....................................108
Episodes at the End of Time......................................................109
Anthology Series.............................................................................109
Dying-Earth Science Fantasy Genre...........................................109
Clarkes Law isnt Just a Good Idea..............................................109
What Do We Do?............................................................................109
Starting with the Situation Generator........................................110
Elements of a PC............................................................................. 111
Characters........................................................................................112
Action Mechanics...........................................................................112
Sessions and Campaigns...............................................................113
CORE RULES
Backstabbing BFFs......................................................................83
Wealth.................................................................................................83
Fame....................................................................................................83
Success................................................................................................84
Respect................................................................................................84
Influence.............................................................................................84
Narcissism..........................................................................................84
The Junior Adventurers Club.....................................................85
Reskinning the Roles.......................................................................85
Making Thematic Changes.............................................................85
Distinctions and Talents.................................................................86
Streamlining the System.................................................................86
Replacing Action Types...................................................................86
Being the Fixer..................................................................................87
Example Scenario:............................................................................88
Foreword
For years, fans have enjoyed games powered by
Margaret Weis Productions award-winning Cortex
Plus system. From the embroiled teenaged drama powered by Smallville to the high-tech heist hijinks of
Leverage, and the comic book action of Marvel Heroic
Roleplaying, the community has embraced these games
and made them their own. Many have taken the rules
from each licensed game and adapted them to a wide
variety of settings, genres, and play styles.
In the spring of 2010, MWP sent out a call to its growing community for the best hacks of the Cortex Plus
system. They asked creators, amateurs, and professionals
alike to share new mechanics, settings, and entirely new
games from the bones of existing games. Over 20 different
authors contributed their own ideas to the project, which
was dubbed the Cortex Plus Hackers Guide.
After a delay from other projects, MWP was able to put
the Hackers Guide back onto the schedule, thanks to the
magic of Kickstarter. In January of 2013, thanks to the
support of 1,288 backers, we were able to not only publish the original vision of the Hackers Guide, but also
expand the book to include three largely self-contained
versions of Cortex Plus.
This is a book for fans of the Cortex Plus system and
for game designers of all kinds. The authors of this book
explain, modify, and otherwise break apart the critically
acclaimed system in order to give you the tools to make
your ideal game. The contributions herein cover a broad
selection of different kinds of styles and settings. Some
are only pieces of other games, while others are most
comprehensive attempts at entire new games. You are
encouraged, almost required, to combine the various
articles and add your own preferences and insights. This
is a guide for game planners, game players, and most of
all, game hackers.
We hope that you find somewhere in these pages the
game you want to play, or at the very least, the tools to
make the game you want to play.
On Hacking
BY ROB DONOGHU
Like many young gamers, I began my career with a profound interest in copyright infringement.
I didnt think of it that way, of course. I had this cool
new game with dice and graph paper and cool pictures,
and I was excited by the possibilities it offered. Id like
to say that my creativity was unbounded, a fountain of
youthful exuberance, but the reality is that I wanted to use
things Id seen on cartoons that week. I traced pictures
from comic books, stole names from fantasy novels, statted up weapons from science fiction, and generally had
an awesome time doing so. I sometimes find my old notes
and drawings, and a part of me winces in embarrassment; but mostly, Im pleased. Because it was my game.
Sure, Id bought these nice books and boxed sets, and
I was stealing shamelessly from every source I could get
my hands on, but none of that mattered. Once we started
playing, it was about us. It was my friends and I doing
cool things and having awesome adventures. It was great.
I got older and discovered that gaming is a hobby you can
spend a lot of time apologizing for. Its weird. Nerdy. And
dont forget rumors of devil worshipping. It was easy to
lose that early confidence, that profound understanding
that it was my fun to have however I saw fit. And I did
lose it, for a while. I still bought a lot of games, and they
were entertaining, but they were someone elses games.
No matter how good it was, something was missing.
So I started messing around with the guts of things.
Stole a piece from one game and plugged it into another.
Came up with new schools of magic. Ripped out complicated systems, replacing them with ones I would actually
use.
And it came back. I was still happy to buy games and
learn from them, but when it came time to play at my
own table, they were inspiration, not shackles. It didnt
matter what someone writing a book somewhere thought
was the right way to play; it was my decision.
So, I hope you enjoy this book, and I hope its full of
ideas that inspire you, but I also hope you tear it up. For
all the great ideas in here, theyre just a transition from
Theyre simple questions, but theres a lot of work bundled into them that can help you out. Lets break it down.
OK, so you now know what you need, and youve got
your hack, but is it the right hack? Can you explain, in
simple words, how this will solve the problem? Notice
Im not asking you to explain how the hack works, Im
asking how it solves the problem. Its a subtle but important difference.
Answering this question can keep you from going
down mechanical rabbit holes. There have been plenty of
occasions where Ive come up with a really neat mechanic,
and only after hours of work have I realized that it does
absolutely nothing to solve the problem I set out to fix. I
like to call these fruitful detours because that sounds
more productive than utter waste of time.
On Hacking
Easy one, right? Well, maybe. Even if you think you know
the answer to the question, take a minute and write it
down. Maybe its something simple and coherent like
To speed up combat because were barely getting any
play in, and if so, great. But theres a danger that its
something fuzzier, like Make magic more awesome.
That might be an admirable goal, but its kind of hard
to pin down.
When in doubt, ask yourself what problem youre
trying to solve. Why is magic insuf
fi ciently awesome?
Does your wizard feel ineffective? Is magic underpowered? Does it need better special effects? Identifying the
specific trouble means youre a lot more likely to solve
the right problem.
This one trips up even seasoned pros. Consider this scenario: last week, you had a terrible session. Things just
went wrong all over the place, and no one had any fun; so
you introduced some radical hacks, and this weeks game
went better. Clearly, your hacks rocked, right?
Wrong. If last weeks game was that bad, odds are this
weeks game would be better, even if you changed nothing. Its entirely possible that your hacks actually made
DOES IT WORK
WITHOUT YOU?
The final test of a hack is how well someone else can use
it. Its easy to build a sloppy hack that you can gloss over
with improvisation and the fact that you know what you
meant, but that all falls apart when someone tries it at
another table. Theres a lot of satisfaction when others use
your hack, so its worth your while to put in the time and
thought to make sure its going to survive contact with
the enemy, otherwise known as the rest of the world.
Bottom line, the difference between hacking and game
design is mostly one of semantics and paperwork. Youve
got the power to make your game as awesome as you want
it to be, whether that means subtle and nuanced poet
duels under the moonlight or T-Rexes with laser beam
eyes and wendigo DNA. It takes work to do well, but its
good work to do, and nothing else will remind you that
this all comes down to the fun that you and your friends
are having. Make it what you want it to be. Game on.
Hack responsibly.
BY CAM BA
NKS
JANE DEFALT
Seasoned Journalist 2d6
Plot Points: 1
When theres something that might get in the way of
what you want to do (the environment, another character, time, etc.), somebody else picks up dice to establish
your difficulty.
For easy opposition, roll d6.
For challenging opposition, its 2d6.
For hard opposition, its 3d6 or more.
Then you either roll your traits dice (2d6) or your default d6, depending on whether what you want to do is
covered by your trait or not.
If you roll a 1 on a die, that die doesnt count and you
get a Plot Point. You can spend a Plot Point later on to
IS THAT IT?
Obviously not. These games have more mechanical support for the various genre styles that theyre designed to
emulate. Dramatic incorporates Relationships and Values
to underscore the interpersonal and melodramatic underpinning of TV and movie dramas. Action focuses on
quick, light traits with limited heavy mechanics, but it
does bring in Talents and other systems to differentiate
one action movie hero from another.
SO WHAT ELSE?
TRAITS
Every Cortex Plus game, even our stripped-down basic,
rules-lite version, incorporates traits. A trait is, when you
get right down to it, a descriptive label with a die rating
attached. For the most part, the rating is a die type (d4
through d12), but it could be a multiple of dice (like 2d8)
or even two die types together (like d4 + d12). Other
games might use flat numbers, modifiers, or percentages
in place of die ratings, but Cortex Plus traits are almost
universally this: Trait Name dx.
The game might further break traits down into categories, such as Roles, Values, and so on. If youre hacking
Cortex Plus, this is one of the first areas in which you
might experiment with drifting the original flavor of
Cortex Plus to something that better suits your setting
or property. Attributes might be thrown out and Drives
added in (as with Dramatic Roleplaying). You might
lump all Skills together into a small number of Roles
(as with Action Roleplaying). These categories are like
buckets in which the various traits are dropped, handily
dividing a character into areas that are easily defined and
assigned when making new characters.
PLOT POINTS
Cortex Plus also runs on a narrative currency called
Plot Points, so named because they help you influence
the plot. You could probably rename them Action Points,
Drama Points, or Hero Points (or Fate Points, Story
Points, Karma, etc.) as you like, but theyre the fuel for
the Cortex Plus engine. The cycle of earning, spending,
and then earning Plot Points is something you need to
take great care to maintain when deciding what to use in
your Cortex Plus hack.
So long as there are various ways to earn PP, spend PP,
and explain what it means to do this within the context
of the story, youre set. If you find that the hack relies too
heavily on PP being generated by utterly random occurrences (such as the rolling of 1s on your dice), players
arent going to feel as in control of their characters progression through the story as we generally like them to
be. Always work in some method for the player to make
a somewhat antithetical or unpopular choice and gain
PP in the process. Dont leave this to the Gamemaster to
manage, eitherit should be in the hands of the players.
VALUES
A Value is a representation of what your Lead believes
in and holds dear. Each game of DRP has six Values that
highlight the settings big ideals. In the Smallville
RPG, those are Duty, Glory, Justice, Love, Power,
and Truth, but a custom DRP game might have different ones.
Your Lead has a die rating that indicates how important
that Value is, and then a statement that explains your
characters feelings about that Value. You roll your Value
when its statement is relevant to your action.
RELATIONSHIPS
A Relationship describes someone whos important in
your Leads life. Like Values, Relationships have die
ratings that show the strength of the Relationship, and
statements that show how your character feels about the
person.
You roll a Relationship when that person is important
to your action, whether youre confronting someone directly or youre doing your action on his behalf. So, if
your boss Steve is about to fire an employee and youre
trying to convince him not to, youd pick up Steve and
I Understand Each Other d6.
DISTINCTIONS
Distinctions answer the question of who you are and how
you do what you do. Literally, theyre what make your
Lead distinct in the eyes of others. Are you a Smartass?
Incredibly Wealthy? Did you spend a large part of your
career as a Soldier? Nearly anything you can think of
that sets two characters apart can be a Distinction.
Distinctions have a die rating showing how important
they are, and then a number of triggers, or special tricks
you can do because you have that Distinction. The higher
your Distinction rating, the more tricks you haveone
at d4, two at d8, and three at d12.
You roll a Distinction when it would help your action.
If youre trying to humiliate someone in public, its a good
time to be a Smartass. If youre trying to stop someone
from getting away with a stolen purse, its probably good
that youre a Soldier. You can use the triggers whenever
theyre appropriate, as well.
RESOURCES
CONTEST
In a Contest, two characters roll against each other in
alternating turns, trying to top the previous result until
someone cant escalate anymore. Whoever cant escalate
loses the Contest.
Your opponent is either going to be another players
Lead, or a major NPC played by the GM (called a Feature).
Features have the same Traits you do, and build dice just
like you do.
If you lose, you must take Stress, described as a condition like Injured or Afraid, which gives a free die
to anyone who can take advantage of it. Taking enough
Stress makes it possible for people to force you out of a
scene entirely, rendering you powerless to act further.
You can avoid taking Stress if you Give In early, letting
the other person have what they want from you.
TESTS
In a Test, you only roll once and try to get the highest
result.
Your opponent is the GM, who rolls a set of special dice
called Trouble, representing a general sense of calamity
and bad luck. Tests are for those situations that are risky,
but dont involve another Lead or a Feature.
Losing some Tests may force you to take Stress.
ABILITIES
Abilities are the apex of your Leads power, the areas
where you simply outclass everyone else. In the
Smallville RPG, Abilities represent the superpowers
that certain characters have, like X-Ray Vision or SuperSpeed, and this is a pretty easy go-to option if your game
includes magic or other supernatural abilities. You can
also use Abilities to represent other kinds of power that
create wide gulfs between people, like political status,
military authority, or fame.
Abilities have a die rating, like all the other Traits,
as well as a number of special effects. These are like the
Distinction triggers, but much more flashy and extreme,
allowing you broad authority to just say what happens in
the story. (Super-Speed, for example, lets you just say you
show up in a scene no matter where you were last scene.)
You roll an Ability whenever it would help your action
out, and you can use the special effects whenever theyre
appropriate.
13
PLOT POINTS
This game uses Plot Points, like all the Cortex Plus
games. They can add more Traits to your dice pool, let
you include more dice in your result, create Minor Assets
or Relationships for you to use, and activate Distinction
triggers or Ability special effects.
You can gain Plot Points whenever the GM takes advantage of you rolling a 1 on a die (called a Complication),
or when a Distinction trigger calls for you to earn one.
CHARACTER CREATION
You, along with all the other players in your game, make
your Leads using a system called Pathways. Pathways has
two components: the Pathways Chart and the Pathways
Map.
The Pathways Chart takes you through the different
stages of your Leads life, so you learn about their historywhere they grew up, what problems they faced as
they developed, and so on. At each stage, you add Values,
Relationships, Distinctions, Abilities, and Resources to
your character sheet, eventually culminating in a complete Lead.
The Pathways Map is a giant sheet of paper that shows
how your Lead and the other Leads interconnect. Every
time you establish a new background element (such as a
Relationship or a Resource), that goes on the Map. During
each stage, you and the other players draw connections
between the elements on the Map.
This might mean that a particular character ends
up being important to both of you, or that you share a
Resource. It might mean that one of you has an enemy
that another Lead considers a friend. It might mean that
you and one of the other Leads are enemies!
By the time youre done, you not only have a complete
character, but also a tangled web of interconnections with
the other players and their stuff, and youre set to kick off
your game.
SUPPORTED
GAME STYLES
TIONS
ATTRIBUTES
Attributes describe raw physical and mental ability of your Crewmember. Attributes in Leverage RPG
are Agility, Alertness, Intelligence, Strength,
Vitality, and Willpower.
ROLES
A Crewmembers place on the team is related to a combination of skill and expertise. These five broad Traits
are called Roles. In the Leverage RPG, the five Roles are
Grifter, Hacker, Hitter, Mastermind, and Thief.
Roles may also have Specialties attached that add bonus
dice to specific uses of that Role.
DISTINCTIONS
Distinctions are descriptive Traits that define the character that fall outside the Attributes and Roles. In Action
Roleplaying, a Distinction can be used as a d8 if it would
help in a specific situation, or as a d4 (gaining you a Plot
Point) if it would complicate the situation.
SIGNATURE ASSETS
Signature Assets are helpful bonuses that are strongly associated with your Crewmember that could come up in a
variety of situations. Often they take the form of specific
equipment or locations.
ASSETS
Assets are situational bonuses that are created through
play, usually through Plot Points.
COMPLICATIONS
Complications are generated by the Crewmembers as fallout for an action they take that work in dice pools against
the Crew. They are created by rolling Opportunities, as
described below.
TALENTS
15
CONTESTED ACTIONS
Contested Actions are when another character is actively
opposing a Crewmember, the stakes of which involve a
degree of back and forth by seizing an advantage or gaining
a decisive edge. Contested Actions require multiple rolls involving setting the stakes and trying to raise them in successive actions. Fight Actions are a specific kind of Contested
Action, where the stakes are who gets knocked out.
TIMED ACTIONS
Timed Actions are those actions that take place over the
course of several actions, but with pressure to complete
the string of actions before time runs out.
FLASHBACK ACTIONS
Flashback Actions come in multiple types. They can establish details that happened in the past in order to add
a new Asset, or a series of Basic Actions that wrap-up
the story.
PLOT POINTS
CHARACTER CREATION
SUPPORTED
GAME STYLES
SPECIALTIES
Specialties are skill and expertise areas that the hero possesses. Specialties are rated as Expert d8, Master d10,
and (rarely) Grandmaster d12. Specialties can be split
up into multiple smaller dice in a dice pool. Specialties
are also used to make resources, explained below.
AFFILIATIONS
DISTINCTIONS
Distinctions are descriptive traits that define the character that fall outside the other areas that can be anything
from personality to history to a memorable quote. In
Heroic Roleplaying, a Distinction can be used as a d8
if it would help in a specific situation, or as a d4 (gaining you a Plot Point) if it would complicate the situation.
POWER TRAITS
A hero has a number of power traits, organized into one
or more thematic Power Sets. Power Sets group the power
traits, as well as add SFX (special effects that break the
rules in the heros favor) and Limits (ways that restrict or
otherwise can hamper use of that Power Set.) Heroes can
use one power trait from each Power Set in a dice pool.
17
PLOT POINTS
CHARACTER CREATION
SUPPORTED
GAME STYLES
BY JOSH ROBY
You hear a lot about toolbox roleplaying games: games
that give you all the tools you need to play whatever.
Cortex Plus isnt a toolbox game; its an entire machine
shop. This article is your tour around the machine shop
and a little primer on how you can build your own game
with Cortex Plus.
THE SETTING
THE CHARACTERS
Your Core Traits will be the axis around which the game
revolves. Nearly every die roll will involve one of each, so
they should be the central focus of the game. Do you want
a game about the relationships between savvy characters
and the highly competent things they do? Then go with
Relationships and Skills. Do you want a game about what
people believe, no matter what sort of person they are?
Then maybe you need Values and Roles.
Heres a quick look at your options:
Attributes rate all characters on a handful of common
characteristics, usually focusing on the physical, mental,
and sometimes social. Every character has a rating in
each Attribute. You might use the classic Cortex six:
Alertness, Agility, Intelligence, Strength,
Vitality, and Willpower. Alternatively, you can come
up with a list of five to seven Attributes that you want all
characters in your game to focus on. Use Attributes if
you want a common rubric that describes everybody in
your game on the same scales, and for a Core Trait that
is easily understandable.
Relationships describe what the characters believe and how they feel about each other. A game with
Relationships usually starts with all player characters
having Relationships with each other and with a handful of important NPCs. Relationships can be challenged
to add dice to the Growth pool. For the full skinny on
Relationships, see the Smallville RPG. Use Relationships
to create a game that focuses on camaraderie, rivalries, loyalty, love triangles, vendettas, and other social
interactions.
Roles let players mix and match character archetypes
to create a unique synthesis for their own characters. The
Leverage RPG introduced Roles with its five: Hacker,
Hitter, Grifter, Thief, and Mastermind. Unless
youre playing a game focusing on capers, youll need to
come up with your own short list. As with Attributes,
every character has a rating in each Role, but the top two
ratings are a good indication of the kind of person the
character is. Use Roles for lightly constrained but easily
grasped characterization with a generous dash of style.
Machine Sho
The first thing you need to hash out is your games setting.
What kind of a game are you looking to play? What awesome things do you want rampaging across your gaming
table? What trouble do you want the player characters
getting into and out of? Will it be science fiction, fantasy,
modern-day drama, or some unholy fusion of all three?
If youre planning to be the GM, you can create the
setting all by yourself, but make sure that the setting is
easily conveyed to your players. Boil everything down to
a single sheet of paper: a Loresheet. If you have trouble
doing that, split the setting into two parts (Geography
and Adventuring, or City and Wilderness, or what-haveyou) and make two Loresheets. Any more and your players will get that glassy-eyed stare instead of buying in.
Summarizing also helps you focus on whats really important in the setting.
Sometimes doing it on your own is necessaryif youre
running a con game, hosting an event, or getting your
players to try something newbut it pales before creating
the setting with your players. You can use the Pathways
Map from Smallville (with or without the associated
character creation steps) or simply sit down around your
table for some good old-fashioned brainstorming. You
can make a mind map keyed off of a single, root idea:
ancient Rome, Victorian ninjas, or supernatural rock
band. You could use a single imagea photograph or illustration that you particularly likeand see where that
takes you.
Once you have a handle on when and where youll be
playing, its time to focus on who.
CORE TRAITS
Machine Sho
19
TALENTS
Machine Sho
p
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ASSETS
Assets are the catchall term for Traits outside the two core
categories. Youll need to decide which of these to include:
Distinctions are the archetypal Asset, and are a powerful tool for players to customize their characters.
Distinctions allow you to make your character a Drunk,
a Soldier, even an Atlantean. They can be rated in
dice, as in the Smallville RPG, or unrated, as in the
Leverage RPG. Unrated Distinctions are worth a d8
when theyre useful or a d4 when they get in the way.
Rated Distinctions yield their rating in any die roll where
the Trait helps you. Traits from categories that didnt
make the cut for Core Traits can often be converted into
Distinctions (Willpower becomes Willful, Hacker
becomeswell, Hacker).
Abilities confer superhuman capabilities to characters: Flight, X-Ray Vision, Teleportation, and many
others. While a game with super powers or magic might
make the full list available to characters, most games will
narrow down the list to a handful of Abilities that are only
available to certain kinds of characters. You might use the
Gear rules to allow Abilities in the form of cutting-edge
technology. For more details about how Abilities work,
see the Smallville RPG.
Extras are bit characters that help other characters.
They may have a name and a few quirks, but they dont
have their own agenda and they dont cause trouble.
Theyre there for the main characters, and theyre potent
tools for fleshing out the setting.
Locations are places that work identically to Extras.
When in a Location, a character is empowered by its resources, familiarity, or other special significance. A stable
of solid Locations will make a setting feel realas long
as the games story doesnt take the characters elsewhere!
Signature Assets come from the Leverage RPG, and
are usually items or Locations that the character can
use to add a d8 in appropriate rolls. Think of this as the
Simple Gear and Locations option.
The last bit you need is to decide how the game will proceed. How will you structure a session of play? How will
you roll dice? How will characters advance?
STRUCTURE
DICE
The basic Cortex Plus die mechanic has you roll a pool
of dice (one from each Core Trait, one Asset, more of each
by spending Plot Points, plus any temporary Assets you
can get your hands on) and add the highest two together
ADVANCEMENT
Playing with the Record puts a focus on character competence and experience. Theyre good, and they grow,
because of what theyve done. Its up to you whether
players can get bonus dice for their past deeds, as in the
Leverage RPG. The essential element is that players can
spend their achievements on the Record to improve the
Traits on their sheet.
Playing with a Growth pool puts a focus on challenging assumptions, uncovering secrets, and adopting new
perspectives. Its more than dramatic: its downright
soapy. The Growth pool only works with games that have
Relationships or Values as Core Traits: otherwise, players have no opportunities to challenge. You might roll
Growth in Tag Scenes like in the Smallville RPG, or
you might use montages. Whenever you choose to roll,
the thrust is the same: by exploring how your character
might have been wrong, they learn and grow.
Machine Sho
THE GAME
21
EXAMPLE CAMPAIGNS
HIGH SCHOOL PRIVATE DETECTIVE
Your high school is just like any other: chock full of secrets,
injustice, and crime. Other towns may not be known for
murders and corporate espionage, but thats because their
schools dont have students like you, determined to get to
the bottom of things.
Dice: Dramatic
Dice: Action
MID-BULK TRANSPORT
Its a cutthroat solar systemliterally! You play the crew
of a small ship running small jobslegal and otherwise
and youve come to form something like a family. A dysfunctional and ethically challenged family, but a family,
nonetheless. The ship is home, and youll do anything to
protect it.
Setting: Loresheets
22
BY MONICA VALENTINELL
23
MODIFIED
CORTEX CLASSIC
CHARACTER SHEET
A second option reinforces those emotional connections you just figured out. To add another number to your
Admires/Envies column, spend 14 AP points. This option
facilitates players who want to focus on their interpersonal relationships and strengthen (or weaken) these ties.
Roleplaying a character from any television show is
a lot of fun because youre invested in the show before
you roll your die. Cortex Plus allows you to really dig
in and have a well-developed system thats designed to
fit a particular show like Leverage or Smallville. For
those of you who want a quick, down and dirty version
for your favorite TV show, you can accommodate multiple
styles of play and genres by tweaking your Classic Cortex
character sheet. What are you waiting for? Now go play!
Hacking Stress
BY RYAN MACKL
In Cortex Plus Drama, Stress is how your characters
deal with setbacks and defeat. It hits them in the moment
when they lose a Contest, and it stays as lasting consequences until they get some Stress Relief. Stress is a key
piece of your Lead as you play, since you want to gain
Stress in order to get your Growth pool. Also, people
dealing with Stress are interesting.
The five original Stress TraitsAfraid, Angry,
Exhausted, Injured, and Insecureare perfect for a
Drama about young adults finding their way in a world,
who happen to have superpowers. There are a lot of different forms of Stress your Drama game can take, and a
few different ways you can change Stress in your game.
A MENU OF STRESS
Hacking Stress
26
Hateful
Hungry
Hysterical
Injured
Insecure
Intoxicated
Isolated
Overconfident
Quiet
Rash
Shaken
Shell-Shocked
Sloppy
Stubborn
Suspicious
Uncertain
IN
WHATS IN A NAME?
The names you use for your Stress Traits will have a huge
impact on your game. Choosing them wisely makes the
difference between a good Drama and a fantastic one.
In supernatural horror, it makes sense to have an
Afraid Stress Trait. But the word Afraid doesnt sound
quite right for a game about mind-shattering knowledge
and monsters made of tentacles and ichor. Terrified or
Horrified has a much stronger ring to it. It that sort of
game, saying youre dealing with d10 Horrified feels like
it has more weight than d10 Afraid, even if it is basically
the same thing. Those sorts of words are more primal and
are in keeping with the genre. Alternatively, using a word
that suggests an added taste of competency under horror
(for your operatives against the supernatural story), try
Unnerved. That suggests a different way to play out how
your Leads handle the Stress.
Any time you can see a word your characters would
use in the fiction, thats a signal that it could be a good
Stress Trait. In a paramilitary drama, Sloppy might be
one youre interested in adding, but the name sounds
comical, downright goofy. If your Leads are meant to be
sharp, strong individuals in extraordinary times, another
word to use is Undisciplined. You can imagine how the
characters in this story would talk, and they would throw
that word around at and about each other.
Sometimes you need a little extra oomph to set something apart as a Stress Trait. In many settings, Suspicious
is fine. But in very conspiratorial Dramas, everyone already is (or had better well be). That would be like having
Breathing as Stress. To kick that up a notch for those
stories, use Paranoid.
Sometimes the word fits exactly right, but you need
to still note down what it means because of your genre.
Thats okay, too!
Say youre setting up a drama set in Louisiana, where
humans live in a turbulent peace with other creatures of
the night. It would make sense for Leads to have Hungry.
As long as everyone is on board with knowing thats talking about people, not steak, youre set.
Genre-specific Stress like Hacked might be better
served in your game by using in-world slang. Pwned,
Trojand, or R00t3d are along from our real world.
Whats it called in yours?
CHANGING STRESS
IN YOUR GAME
Stick with five Stress Traits. Too few and each one will
come up too often. Thatll get boring. Too many and they
wont hit often enough to be interesting. Someone who
is, for example, Afraid constantly is a one-note character. Characters who only get Afraid once never show us
anything interesting about how they deal with fear. You
want Leads that are Afraid sometimes, so they can play
that out in different ways at different times.
If you want to break this rule, know that youll change
how Stress feels.
REWORKING DISTINCTIONS
Once you have your Stress, look at the Distinctions people
have taken. Many key off of increasing or decreasing
Stress Traits, either their own or others. If a Lead has a
Distinction that applies to a Stress you arent using, work
with the group to decide how to rewrite that Distinction
(or maybe decide that Distinction doesnt fit your hack
either).
Once you know how to tweak Stress Traits for your game,
it doesnt take much to realize you can tweak them for
each Lead. This can put even more personality into your
Leads. Youre already coming up with what they believe
in, who matters to them, and the notable things they can
do. To say how theyre vulnerable, how they deal with
setbacks and defeats, adds even more story mojo to your
game.
Hacking Stress
27
COMMON GROUND
Once you know what Stress Traits are available to the
Leads, you can come up with each ones when doing the
finishing touches. You have some other choices you can
make here: Free for All, Common Stress, and Heritage
Stress.
Free for All is simple. From the list of available Stress
Traits, pick five that feel right for a Lead, and would be
fun to see the Lead deal with. This is great if you want
a looser drama, where Leads come from many different
backgrounds and have very different roles in the story.
You might even consider changing these as you play, possibly one per Tag Scene.
Common Stress is a little more involved, as you have
to come up with two or three Stress Traits that everyone
in the campaign should have, leaving the remaining ones
open for a Free for All. This unification results in a tighter
story about characters that are similar. Its a great way
to explore how such characters still differ in that tight
story space. In particular, a humans versus supernatural
menaces or military drama game will be well served
with a few common Stress Traits.
Heritage Stress is a variation on Common Stress, for
specialized character types like different races or species,
or characters with very different walks of lifewhatever
your Drama game decides are Heritages. A game with
elves, dwarves, and humans might have all three with
their own set of Common Stress Traits. (And possibly
even have some special Stress Traits the other races cant
take!) Likewise, a game where you have disciplined military or law enforcement personnel alongside untrained
civilian scientists could be reflected in two different sets
of Heritage Stress.
STRESS IN ACTION
Hacking Stress
29
INNIE
Criminal investigation: Can you catch recidivist criminals before they repeat crimes, retaliate, or escape?
Espionage and subterfuge: Will you accomplish a mission before your covers blown?
Tactical combat: How can you achieve objectives or
neutralize enemies before they do likewise?
Negotiation: What will it cost to achieve a civil resolution before escalation ensues?
Epidemic or disaster control: Will you find the cure,
treat the patient, and prevent the cataclysm before
all is lost?
Dynastic development: How much can you achieve
in a lifetime?
Exploration or war: How far can you stretch resources
of fuel, food, or troop loyalty?
Courier, getaway, or racing themes: Can you get from
Point A to Point B before something terrible happens,
like losing?
Mixing and matching these ideas can draw on the
appeal of urgency at various levels of scale. Epidemic control as an overarching plot connects and gives meaning to
zombie-survival missions, which could become repetitive
on their own.
The primary tension in all these games lies in the characters inability to have it all; they must sacrifice some
opportunities for the sake of others. Presenting that same
tension to players in your game mechanics helps them
experience the game in a unique way, along with their
characters.
CORTEX PLUS
TIME BASICS
TIME STEPS
1 Step = d4
2 Steps = d6
3 Steps = d8
4 Steps = d10
5 Steps = d12
To determine how much total relative time a group
has spent in a turn, add the total Time Steps based on
all actions that depended on each other to be performed
on a turn.
Example: Katya chose 5 Time Steps to roll a d12 TIME
DIE to increase her chances of taking down a tank barreling toward her teams position. Before firing, she had
to wait for Ender to provide her with a High Explosive
Ammo Asset, which he created on Time Step 3. During
that time, Crystal spent 2 Steps providing cover fire with
her Assault Rifle. The total Time Steps of that turn
would be Katyas 5 plus Enders 3, for a total of 8. Crystals
Action was performed in parallel, as it was independent
from her teammates.
PROMOTING TEAMWORK
31
SIDELINING TIME
Whether rounds represent a few seconds, hours, day, seasons, or more depends on the scope of your games action.
Since this mechanic can easily scale up and down, consider embedding scenes at a personal scale within larger
scale efforts.
Example: Continuing Katyas example, after completing an adrenaline-pumping mission, the squad must prepare before the next assault. Scale back your rounds from
a few seconds to days or weeks, allowing players to pick
new Time Steps to influence their chance to upgrade holdouts or vehicles, achieve long-distance travel, scrounge for
supplies, investigate evidence gathered during missions,
or foster relationships with friends and patrons. After
a number of rounds at the wider scale, urgency flares
with a newly sighted assault and rounds zoom back to
seconds and minutes as characters jump seamlessly back
into personal-scale scenes.
USING ZONES
Divide scene locations into zones representing the relative size, navigability, and complexity of various parts
of the area.
Lets say you can punch someone sharing a zone with
you, throw something into adjacent zones, shoot effectively into zones 2-3 spaces away, and barely see zones 4+
spaces away (except with a gun scope, magic, or equivalent). At another scale, an adjacent zone could be a days
drive away on good roads, a months march in decent
weather, or one jump to the next planetary system.
Place a few zone Traits such as obstacles or benefits
within and between zones.
32
TACTICAL CONFLICT
Weapon Emplacements
Prime Vantage Point
Volatile Canisters
Computer Access
Noxious Smoke
Air Of Suspicion
Growing Unrest
Surly Crowds
Thick Jungle
Barbarian Tribes
The following are examples of more advanced zone
Traits:
Use Time Steps to immediately achieve basic maneuvers that arent interesting enough to warrant rolls.
Sample Maneuvers (for personal scale combat scenes):
Movement: Add 2 Time Steps to your action to move
a character from one zone to another.
Operations: Add 1 Time Step to access and operate
devices such as doors, lifts, lights, and vehicles.
Cover: Players may choose Time Steps to create cover
Assets instead of gaining a Time Die: e.g., 3 Time
Steps grant Cover d8, while a single Time Step gives
Problematic Cover d4.
Overcoming complex barriers between zones that require a set number of Time Steps or successful actions.
Traps, alarms, or events that trigger when people enter
certain zones.
NEW TRAITS
RAISED TRAITS
Abilities
Roll on Column II
Roll on Column II
Distinctions
Roll on Column IV
Roll on Column V
Extras
Roll on Column II
Gear
Roll on Column I
Roll on Column II
Heritage
Roll on Column I
Roll on Column I
Locations
Roll on Column V
Roll on Column VI
Relationships
Values
COLUMN I
COLUMN II
COLUMN III
COLUMN IV
COLUMN V
2-9
2-7
2-4
10-17
8-12
5-7
3-4
18-19
13-15
8-10
5-8
4-5
20
16-17
11-13
9-10
6-7
18-19
14-15
11-13
8-10
4-5
20
16-17
14-15
11-12
18
16-17
13-14
7-8
19
18
15-16
9-10
20
19
17
11
20
18
12-13
10
19
14
11
20
15-16
COLUMN VI
12
17
13
18
14
19
15
20
35
BY JOSH ROBY
Cortex Plus Dramatic Roleplaying is all about creating a lush, detailed world out of character interrelationships, and uses tools like the Pathways Map to help all the
players have a finger in the pie. However, while Pathways
is a powerful tool, its also time-intensive: it usually takes
a full session to create characters and their personalized
backdrop. Sometimes, you dont have that time: you just
want to play a single session of the game. Thats where
these One-Shot rules come into play.
Building a one-shot takes a couple hours of prep work.
Youre going to create Leads, place them in a One-Shot
Map, develop a situation, and make Features. When
youre done, youll be ready to roll with a self-contained
dollop of goodness. You can play it in a session at home
or run it at a gaming convention.
PREPARING A
ONE-SHOT
STEP ONE: CHARACTER CONCEPTS
One-Shots
One-Shots
37
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One-Shots
Every conflict needs a venue; how else will we get collateral damage? For each conflicted Relationship, add a
Location in a diamond connected to both squares and to
the associated Wedge. Then connect each Wedge to one
additional Location, if you can make it work
Sometimes, two conflicts can use the same Wedge or
Location. Thats perfectly fineand means one fewer
Feature to create.
When youre done, it will look something like this:
38
Explain that the game always begins with a few set pieces
called opening scenes, and then the rest of the game will
be a series of scenes that youll make up together as you
go. Then kick off the first opening sceneeverything else
can be explained as you encounter it in play. Try to start
roleplaying within fifteen minutes of sitting at the table.
Opening scenes usually entail the Leads being confronted with a problem, or at least the first smell of something fishy. Whenever a Lead picks up dice in the opening
scenes, ask them what Values and Relationships theyll
be using and if the statements fit their characters present
state of mind. Wheninevitablya player responds in
the negative, loudly congratulate them and tell them that
theyre challenging the Trait. Give them two more dice
of the appropriate die size and tell them to jot down the
die under Growth. Players may need gentle reminders
to challenge throughout the game, but the bigger the
production you make in the opening scenes, the fewer
reminders theyll need later.
Once youre underway, if the players seek out unplayed
expendable Leads, use them as Features to make the
Leads problems worse.
One-Shots
When you sit down to play your one-shot, start by distributing the Lead sheets. Read off the character concept
for each Lead as you introduce them.
If you have expendable Leads, only hand out as many
Leads as you need, starting with the foundational Leads
and the expendable Leads that have conflicts with the
foundational Leads. Avoid handing out a Lead who has
conflicts with Leads that arent in play.
You can give the foundational Leads to the players who
might be shy wallflowers and to the players newest to roleplaying. This puts them right in the middle of the action
and doesnt require them to insert themselves, which they
may have trouble doing.
Whatever you do, dont introduce a character by saying
that he is expendable! If all goes well, every character
will feel central and necessary to the game as it plays out.
If your reveals or opening scenes refer only to conflicts
involving expendable Leads that arent in play, check them
off before you play. You dont need to worry about those!
Once everyone has a sheet in front of them, give them
a quick tour of what makes up a Cortex Plus character,
describing each Trait category. Explain how resolution is
handled in the game. Then direct their attention to the
triggers listed under their Distinctions. Have them spot
their Earn triggers, and advise them that theyll want to
find opportunities to indulge in these behaviors to earn
Plot Points. Then segue into the opening Relationships
roll to determine starting Plot Points.
PLAYING OPENING
SCENES
INTRODUCING
YOUR ONE-SHOT
39
MONTAGES
CLIMAX!
cy
HOW TO USE
THIS MODEL
PATHWAYS
Lets use the Pathways procedure (Smallville RPG,
page 14) to teach the basics of Cortex Plus Dramatic
Roleplaying resolution. Pathways are already a great
way to get everyone aligned creatively and its easy to
build on that.
Fa mi liarize yourself w it h t he ru les for Tests
(Smallville RPG, page 58) and Contests (Smallville
RPG, page 53), and then go through Pathways with
your group. When players are picking Distinctions
ORIGIN
Look at the circle the player drew on the Pathways Map.
Ask a question or two about what the Lead and Extras
relationship is like, and then ask, When your Lead was
a child, what traumatic, painful, or dangerous event did
he face? Customize the question to involve the Extra, if
it seems fitting.
When the player answers, set two d6s in front of you,
and say, This is the Trouble pool. When you try to accomplish something important and youre not opposed
by a major character, Ill roll these dice and youll have
to beat their total.
Now, continue: OK, in a single sentence, describe how
your Lead tried to cope with the danger.
When the player does so, hand him a different pair
of d6s and tell him, Now youll roll these dice and Ill
roll Trouble. This is called a Test. Well total them and
compare.
If the Lead has the higher total, tell him, OK, you
win! Your Lead triumphed over his childhood adversity.
Describe the Leads success in a sentence or two.
If the Trouble pool has the higher total, tell him, Sorry,
youve lost. Your Lead fell prey to the danger. Describe
in a sentence or two how he was traumatized or hurt.
Dramatic Fluen
Dramatic Fluen
cy
41
YOUTH
Ask, Which of the other Leads did you try to impress
in Jr. High?
When the player answers, tell him, Look at the die
rating for that Relationship. Take that die into your hand.
Now, in a sentence or two, whats one thing you tried to
impress her with?
Next say, Look at your Values and tell me why you did
it. Feel free to add, for instance, Sounds like POWER
or GLORY to me, if the player seems stuck.
Instruct the player to take the die for his Value into
his hand, and say, OK, youre going to roll another Test
vs. the Trouble pool. From now on, youll make every
Test using one Value and one Relationship. Now roll your
dice!
After the roll, give instructions as in Origin.
FOCUS
Dramatic Fluen
cy
42
ROAD
Tell the player, Pick a Lead with a different Road than
yours. Tell me something important you had an argument
or fight about.
Then say, OK, now both players are going to take dice
for their Values and Relationships, plus an Asset if it applies. When youre opposing a Lead or Feature instead of
Trouble, its called a Contest.
Say to the first player, State what your Lead said to
the other, making it clear what he wants her to agree to.
This is called telegraphing your intent. Then have him
roll and sum his result.
Turn to the second player and say, Now, youve got a
choice to make: Give In, and agree to what the other Lead
wants, or fight on, rolling your dice against his and risk
taking Stress. This is called a reaction.
If the second player Gives In, tell her, All right, describe in one or two sentences how you back down and
agree with the other Lead. This is called selling the opponents victory.
If the second player reacts, have her describe her rebuttal, roll, and compare results. If she loses, tell her, Well,
you lost the roll, but that doesnt mean you agree. Instead
you take Stress. First player, decide which kind of Stress
makes sense based on the types listed on your sheet. Roll
your Dice pool again and find the highest rolling die;
you inflict that die size in Stress. Second player, you can
describe in a sentence or two how that Stress expresses
itself to end the argument.
If the second player wins the roll, say, OK, youve won
the roll. Normally this would go back and forth until
someone either Gives In or loses a reaction roll and takes
Stress. For now, though, well stop here; feel free to give
a parting shot as you end the argument.
LIFE-CHANGING EVENT
Say, to everyone, OK, now were going to put it all together and do a full Contest. First, though, erase any
Stress you received in the last step, and youll all need
a Plot Point. Ill show you how to spend it in a minute.
Then say to the player in question, A Contest can be
any clash between your Lead and other Leads or Features.
Look at your Life-Changing Event. Bearing in mind that
the Event will happen regardless, think of something you
did just before or after the Event, at cross-purposes with a
Lead or Feature. Were going to play that out as a Contest.
Frame and guide the Contest, gathering dice pools and
telegraphing intent, much as in the previous step, but
with this addition: when a player selects a Relationship
or Value, ask, How, in one sentence, does your Lead feel
about that [person/Value]? Write that down. Whenever
you call on that [Relationship/Value], it means acting on
your belief in that statement.
Find a Contest scene that everyone involved is passionate about. If you reach the point where the reacting
Lead or Feature wins the roll, say: Your reaction result
now stands as a new action result that the first player
has to beat.
Turn to the first player and say, Now youre faced with
the same choice she had: react and risk Stress, or Give
In. Giving In is free in the first round, but since youve
already rolled dice, youre committed to the fight and
Giving In now costs a Plot Point. If he does Give In, have
him hand the Plot Point to the other player.
Now simply play out the Contest as per the Cortex
Plus Dramatic Roleplaying rules, but without the
GOING FORWARD
Dramatic Fluen
cy
43
BY PHILIPPE-ANTOINE MNA
ATTRIBUTES
Your characters attributes are the same as those presented on page 31 of the Leverage Roleplaying Game
book. They also retain their dual physical and social components; you just need to transpose them to the classic
fantasy genre.
44
RD
HOLY ONE
This covers all sorts of divinely inspired heroes. They provide protection, succor, divine wrath, and healing. There
may be the occasional side of preaching involved, but that
usually falls on deaf ears. But then, theres always hope
for the unbelievers.
WARRIOR
Theres nothing complicated about this one. If something
can be used to trash monsters with, they are proficient
at it.
MAGE
SCOUNDREL
People keep forgetting that the life of a Scoundrel is
much more than picking pockets and skimming on
everyone elses part of the treasure. Its also about not
getting caught doing it, hence all the stealth training. If
caught, well, thats what backstabbing and fast-talking
is all about, right?
SPECIALTIES AND
DISTINCTIONS
TALENTS
HOLY ONE
RESTORATIVE TRANCE
Channeling your deitys energy, you alleviate weariness,
heal wounds, break enchantments, and even bring a fallen
comrade back to life!
Activation: The Dungeon Fixer rolls an Asset die related
to stress, an enchantment, or a curse against a party
member you are in visual contact with. Spend at least
one Plot Point to activate this talent.
Effect: You reduce that Asset by one die rating per Plot
Point spent. Any Asset reduced to d4 is removed.
ROLES
45
WARRIOR
FIVE VS. LITTLE OLD ME? THATS HARDLY FAIR FOR YOU, NOW IS IT?
Theres nothing like a good scuffle against more numerous
opponents to get your blood pumping as you gleefully forgo
defense for some pure, undiluted mayhem.
Activation: Youre engaged in a Fight Action and you
are outnumbered.
Effect: You can remove dice the Dungeon Fixer gains
from outnumbering you. For each die removed, you roll
an extra d4.
MINION SLICE AND DICER
In a frenzy of blades and screams, you make quick work of
those seemingly endless minions pestering you, scattering
them to the four winds.
Activation: Whenever you perform a successful Action
against Minions (See Dungeon Fixers Guide).
Effect: You reduce the Minions by one die for free.
Additionally, you may spend Plot Points to remove one
additional die per point spent.
MAGE
REALITY IS FOR THOSE WHO CANT BEND THE RULES
There is nothing wrong with reaching your goal faster by
ripping just a tiny hole in reality.
Activation: Mage is one of the dice in your roll.
Effect: Add an additional Intelligence dice to your roll;
however, you also must roll an additional d4.
ARBITRARY BLAST OF ELEMENTAL ENERGY
Any Mage worth her salt has studied the classics, from
missiles made of pure eldritch energy, explosive spheres of
incandescent light, and arrows inexplicably made of acid.
Activation: Use in any Action where raw elemental magic
power could help solve the problem at hand. You have to
spend a Plot Point to activate this talent.
Effect: You add your Intelligence die to the Action and
add three dice to determine the result.
46
SCOUNDREL
IT FELL IN MY POUCH, HONEST!
Things you dont own have a strange tendency of falling
into your possession, always by complete accident or, on
occasion, for safekeeping.
Activation: The Scoundrel performs an Action while
there are Gold Points (see below) in the Scenes pool or
in possession of other players.
Effect: You take possession of a Gold Point and generate
a Treasure Asset you can use in the Action; you can
perform this only once per Action.
IS IT MY FAULT YOUR BACK MAKES SUCH GREAT TARGET PRACTICE?
When the Warrior gets excited and the Mage starts blowing stuff up, things get confusingthats when you sneak
behind people and really surprise them!
Activation: You are engaged in a Fight Action and the
Dungeon Fixer gives you an Opportunity.
Effect: You add your Agility roll to your Fight Action
and add three dice to determine the result.
TREASURES
47
THE BATTLEFIELD
CONFLICT BASICS
MINIONS
Minions are special d6 Assets that represent the weakest,
most numerous servants of a Villain. In a conflict, the GM
decides if any Minions are present and sets their relative
number by choosing a level (from 0 to 5, or more). When
setting a conflict, the GM places one Minion token per
level on each Location Asset of the conflict.
Minions act exactly as Extras, except they cant move
from one space to the next, not even when stacked with
a Villain or one of its Agents.
48
RD
Non-Minion characters can move one space without rolling an Action unless:
An obstacle must be overcome to move from one space
to the next (For example: Climbing a Rope, moving
through a Conjured Web.)
They were restrained by an opponent or a game effect
and must overcome it; see Restraint.
Heroes, Villains and Agents choose an Action and announce their intent:
Attack: Try to take down any opposing forces, including Minions, with weapons, spells or body.
Support: Create, Strengthen, Weaken or Destroy Assets
with maneuvers, weapons or spells.
Push: The character moves into another adjacent zone,
rolling if necessary.
The stakes of opposed Actions are determined by the
intents of the opposition, Traits, and available Location/
situational Assets.
RESOLUTION:
Resolve Action.
Create/Modify Assets and Traits.
Apply level(s) of Stress to Heroes.
Remove Minions and Extras or apply level(s) of Stress
to Villains and Agents.
ACTIONS
ATTACK
A character attacks an opponent in the same location
with a weapon/unarmed/magical attack or performs a
ranged attack. The defender sets the stakes by rolling the
appropriate Traits based on the described intent. The attacker tries to beat the stakes by doing the same. Location
Traits can be used by either side as common sense and
the GM dictates.
SHOOTING IN MELEE
If one side of the contest beats the other by 5, an additional effect can be inflicted, or the die rating of Stress
or Restraint can be bumped up one level. Each additional
step of success (+10, +15, etc) lets you increase the effect
of the attack.
RANGED ATTACKS
An attacker can use a ranged weapon on any opponents
on the battlefield, based on the situation and the GMs
judgment. Ranged attacks are performed in a similar way
to melee attacks, except that the results are influenced
by the targets declared intent. If the target is not in the
same space, has no ranged weapons, or declares defensive
Actions instead of firing back, she chooses the first result
of a successful attack instead of the shooter (e.g., she can
retreat to better cover). However, if a target on the defensive loses the challenge by more than 5, then the shooter
picks the other result(s).
If a shooter loses the challenge while the target was
performing defensive maneuvers, he suffers no effect.
MELEE ATTACKS
SUPPORT
Through the use of magic, weapons, brute strength or
any other relevant ability, a character attempts to Create,
Destroy, Weaken or Strengthen a Location-based or
49
CREATE/STRENGTHEN
WEAKEN/DESTROY
The character describes her intent and the GM sets the
stakes by picking a difficulty die (d6 by default) based on
the intent and the situation. She then adds the Traits die
current rating. The effects are usually permanent unless
the intent of the character indicates otherwise (e.g., temporarily cover a sword with conjured grease).
Examples: Trying to destroy a Table d8 with an Axe
(d6 difficulty + d8 Trait), rusting an opponents Plate
Armour d10 (d10 difficulty + d10 Trait), casting a prayer
to Heal a Bloodied Character (d6 difficulty + d8
Trait, see below), etc.
Upon success, the character lowers the Trait die rating
by one (d4 means completely removed). For each additional 5 margin of success, the character can further decrease the die rating by one. Upon rolling successfully,
the character can also spend Plot Points to decrease the
die rating by one level per Point Spent.
STRESS
HEROES
Heroes have five levels of Stress: Stunned d4, Bruised
d6, Bloodied d8, Dying d10, and Dead d12. Stress acts
as an opposed Complication added to all Actions against
the stressed Hero. A Dead Hero gets one last chance
to perform an Action before being taken out of a scene.
Furthermore, Dead Heroes have one last chance to be
revived, through a support Action. If untended before
the conflict ends, they are considered dead.
RESTRAINT
Restraint is a Trait rated d6 to d12 that represents imposed limited mobility characters have in a given area,
forcing them to roll an Action to leave it. It is combined
with other relevant Traits when setting the stakes a character needs to beat to leave an area. The restrained condition expires at end of a restrained characters turn.
While characters roll their relevant Attribute and Role
Traits to escape Restraint, Villains and Agents combine
their most appropriate Traits with a d6. Extras cant leave
an area when restrained.
BY PHILIPPE-ANTOINE MNA
RD
This section builds upon The Old School Job for Cortex
Action by providing ideas, examples and variants to
create memorable Quests straight out of the classic fantasy gaming era.
CORE ASSUMPTIONS OF
THE OLD SCHOOL JOB
THE BUILDING
BLOCKS OF QUESTS
THE PATRON/MOTIVATION
Like the Clients described in the Leverage RPG,
Heroes may need a reason to go on a dungeon crawling
Quest (beyond We need more loot). Nobles and monarchs often send Heroes to investigate sources of trouble.
Patrons can also be lore seekers, civic leaders, business
owners, members of various religions, and even desperate citizens.
Sometimes, especially during campaign play, Heroes
may come up with their own motivations for Quests, like
recovering the honor of ones family, or destroying the
THE QUESTS
While a near infinite number of Quests can be created,
they mostly resolve around five core themes you can
choose from:
Recovering a Thing from a Dangerous Place: This one
is the basic Job of obtaining a MacGuffin (e.g., a treasure,
someone, a lost bit of knowledge). Its what makes dungeon crawling so similar to heists. A common variant
is Deliver a Thing Through a Dangerous Place, such as
Escort the Bishop through the Valley of Hunger so he
can broker a peace agreement with the Orcs.
Foil the Plans of a Villain: Someone is doing something
horrible in the dungeon and the Heroes must put a stop
to it. It can be breaking a corrupting ritual, interrupting
the summoning of the Chained One, or just blowing up
the evil technomancers Doomsday Golem.
Clear Threat(s) from an Area: Something is causing
trouble and it needs to be addressed. A goblin swarm
raids a village, a coven of were-tiger witches is kidnapping children, a sentient siege engine goes berserk, etc.
Someone must step forward to resolve the problem and
the party of Heroes is it.
Chart the Unknown: A minaret from a previously
forgotten library rises from the sands of the desert, an
underwater city is discovered, or a pathfinding mission
needs volunteers. All those and other exploratory missions are staples of classic Quests you can pick from.
Uncover a Sinister Secret: A mysterious murder, a
vampire that cant be put down, or a village that sleeps
all day and builds a dark tower all night. Somethings
fishy and the Heroes must find the cause of this mystery.
Such Quests, when solved, often twist into deep trouble
for the Heroes.
THE DUNGEON
This is where it happens. While the earliest fantasy adventure games focused mostly on underground locales, a
dungeon remains a catchall name for any defined space
where a Quest takes place. From a dragons lair under the
mountain, to a cave complex lost in the Weeping Swamps,
to an entire city or kingdom, the dungeon is where you
confine the action of your adventure. Setting a Quest in
an actual dungeon is not an absolute requirement, but it
remains a common, easy way to implement one.
51
THE INHABITANTS
HUMANOID FACTIONS
You can run The Old School Job in countless ways, from
exploring a keyed map, throwing challenges as they come
up, to adapting the five acts Heist structure described in
the Leverage RPG book (page 82). One such adaptation
is the classic five-room dungeon as introduced by Johnn
Four in his online RPG newsletter. It consists of dividing the Quest into five encounters (Entry, Challenge, Red
Herring, Climax and Plot Twist) in a different room of
the dungeon, each one leading the Heroes closer to their
goal while throwing a plot twist at the most opportune
moment.
At its simplest expression, you can just describe the
area in general terms and ask what the players want to do.
Transform each significant Action into a dice challenge,
letting Complications and Opportunities shape what happens next. As long as you keep an eye on pacing and make
sure that everyone can feel progress in the story, the adventure will eventually steer itself to its logical conclusion.
Use and abuse Complications to create as much trouble
as possible. Send the Heroes tumbling down the deepest
levels of the dungeons, make them lost, trigger a trap that
floods a whole level, reverse gravityall these things are
staples of classic gaming.
Example:
Examples:
53
THE PATRON
THE QUEST
D10 RESULT
D10 RESULT
Nobility
Recover an Object/Person
Mercantile
Religious
Politician/Public Servant
Scholar
Citizen
Family/Ally
Transdimensional/Xenian
Solve a Mystery
Self-Motivated
10
10
RD
D10 RESULT
D10 RESULT
A Fortification
An Underground Dwelling/Outpost
Forgotten Prison/Vault
Vile Corruption
A Temple/Church
Haunted
Sewers
A Village/Neighborhood/City
The Wilderness
Transdimensional
Politically Inconvenient
Weird
I Am Your Father
10
10
Relic of Dark Power: A hidden altar to a long forgotten evil, a talisman that summons the Fallen One,
the Last Seal that keeps all the elements of the world
combined.
Forgotten Prison/Vault: The dungeon was created to
harbor something so vile, so dangerous that it had
to be guarded for eternityexcept it wasnt. An imprisoned god, a sun-slaying spear, an anthology of
world-shattering bad poetry.
Vile Corruption: The dungeon itself is an agent of
chaos and degradation, calling evil monsters to itself,
compelling them to build more passages and room
until the whole world collapses.
Haunted: Lost Souls were wronged and are trapped
within the dungeon, exacting eternal vengeance and
pain on anyone entering it.
Lost Symbol of Hope: Though it houses scheming, evil
inhabitants, the dungeon was once a harbor of light.
Some pockets of that former glory remains, ready
to be rediscovered by weary Heroes seeking refuge
and solace.
Wild Magic Pockets: Something strange is going on
that causes magic to be even more unpredictable in
certain areas.
Power Behind the Throne: The threat you came to face
isnt the true threat after all; theres someone pulling
the strings.
Political Recall: Youre asked to call off your dungeon
raiding. The mayor may have sent you down there,
but after seeing the trouble, he wants you to stop
investigating.
I Am Your Father: An important piece of the dungeon
or person there has a strong connection to one of
the characters.
Red Herring: Roll again on the table, and thats the
rumored secret, but ends up being completely false.
THE DUNGEON
55
D10 RESULT
D10 RESULT
A Grand Beast
Undead Master
Dark Lord
Arcanist
Unholy One
Transdimensional
Xenian
Harvest a Resource
Small Fry
Revenge
10
Unfathomable/Alien
10
A Grand Beast: The villain is a large, intelligent, cunning monster such as a dragon, a giant, or some other
massive, powerful being.
Undead Master: A vampire, a mummified sorcererking, or a lich-mage that pushed its existence passed
the frontiers of life.
Dark Lord: A savage barbarian-prince, the Scion of
the orcish God of Strife. A dark elf slavelord or an
evil dwarven king.
Arcanist: The classic mad wizard, the secretive necromancer, the power-obsessed mage.
Unholy One: The Unholy warrior, the cult-leader of the
Coiled Ones, the Arch-Priestess of the Cannibals;
the villain is a representative of the darker divine
forces of the world.
Transdimensional: A fallen Archangel, an agent of the
planes of Chaos, or an elemental Duke.
Xenian: An alien, brain-eating entity from between the
fabrics of worlds, made of claws, fangs, and tentacles.
Small Fry: The sinister villain behind it all is...actually
a kobold on stilts?
Too Many Villains: The denizens cant agree on who
is actually in charge.
THE FACTIONS
D10 RESULT
D10 RESULT
Humans
Protecting Territory
Demi-Humans
Hunting/Raiding
Warring
Underworld Humanoids
Seeking
Aquatic Humanoids
Breeding
Sentient Undead
Scheming
Transdimensional
Hiding
Xenian
Trading
Weird
10
10
THE FACTIONS
57
WANDERING THREATS
D10 RESULT
1
Crafty Beast
Hunter/Seeker
Mindless Predator
Fugitive
Restless Undead
Bumbling/Clueless Idiot
Adventuring Party
Transdimensional/Xenian Prowler
Phantoms
10
RANDOM DUNGEON
ROOMS
10
Empty
10
Empty
58
BY SHREYAS SAMPA
THE SUPERNATURAL
IN ROME?
ama
59
EQUES
CREATING YOUR
CHARACTERS
60
BIRTH
PATRICIAN
One of your ancestors was a member of Romulus founding Senate, and consequently your forebears have enjoyed
certain legal benefits for many years. Many patrician
families own land and live in extensive villas, and most
public offices can only be held by male patricians.
Patricians get the same benefits as Rich characters in
the Smallville RPG (page 20). Patrician leads to: Voyage,
Rhetor, and Apprenticeship.
PLEBEIAN
Youre a Roman citizen, but you probably dont enjoy it
much. Plebeians who dont enjoy equestrian status (see
Eques, above) are, for the most part, artisans and laborers.
Its not an easy life.
Plebeians get the same benefits as Ordinary characters in the Smallville RPG (page 20). Plebeian leads to:
Apprenticeship, Agoge, and Paragon.
CHARMED
A Charmed character can be of any social order.
Soothsayers, demigods, prophets, the scions of heroes:
these are the Charmed, born with unusual talents and
mysterious gifts. When you choose Charmed, choose
Patrician, Plebeian, Eques, or Foreign, as well; you share
Heritage with Familia members of the chosen class.
Charmed characters get the same benefits as Alien/
Metahuman characters in the Smallville RPG (page 20).
Charmed leads to: Agoge, Paragon, and Voyage.
FOREIGN
Foreigners stand outside the social order of Roman citizenry. They do not generally follow the Roman concept
of Familia, and few apart from the wealthy manage to
find a home in Rome. Mechanically, a Foreign characters Familia constitutes all other characters of the same
nationality on the Pathway map.
Foreign characters get the same benefits as Strange
characters in the Smallville RPG (page 21). Foreign
leads to: Paragon, Voyage, and Rhetor.
Most Roman citizens enjoy some kind of education depending on the Resources their Familia has access to.
RHETOR
APPRENTICESHIP
Add a Distinction
Step up a Distinction
Step up a Relationship, Asset, or Resource
Choose Money, Life, or Status as your Focus Pathway
or
Step up a Distinction
Step up a Relationship, Asset, or Resource
Choose Science or Supernatural as your Focus Pathway
AGOGE
Male youths of a military bent may enter a Spartan-style
agoge, a military school, to develop their physical skills
and their abilities as soldiers and strategists. Students
at agoge are housed in loosely-organized groups called
PARAGON
Paragon remains unchanged from the version in the
Smallville RPG, except that it leads to Science rather
than Technology.
VOYAGE
There is much to do in the world outside of Rome herself,
and the character on a Voyage has taken the opportunity
to do it. Instead of settling down with an advanced education or a profession, Voyagers go to see the world.
Characters at Voyage get the same benefits as Outsider
characters in the Smallville RPG (page 22). Voyage leads
to: Science, Supernatural, or Money.
For those who choose not to hire or buy a teacher for their
children, apprenticeship is the way of teaching them a
trade or art that they will follow later in life. Access to
a master to learn from is a function of a Familias connections and status; if your Familia is plebeian you are
likelier to apprentice with a sandalmaker than with a
silk dyer or an ironworker. However, it also provides an
essential opportunity for social mobility.
Characters at Apprenticeship get the following:
EDUCATION
ama
61
FOCUS
Limits: Anger
DELPHIC ORACLE
As in the Smallville RPG, Heritage Distinctions describe characters who have unusual origins. You can use
the Heritage Distinctions provided in that book (pages
99-101) for a more four-colored style of game, where the
King of Atlantis or an Amazonian princess-priestess
wouldnt be out of place, or you can use Heritages like
the following for a more classically inspired game.
UNCANNY
Rome was cosmopolitan for its time, but its people were
still hidebound and xenophobic, as well as ignorant of
the worlds full cultural diversity, by modern standards.
For this reason, people are expected to conform to stereotypes, and the strange and powerful most of all. If characters choose an Ability that is not one of the Associated
Abilities for their Heritage, they gain a new Stress track:
Uncanny.
CHRISTIAN
In the Republican period, most Romans followed the
animistic Roman religion, and Christianity was in its
infancy. It was still the time of miracles, the age of the
New Testament. The few Christians within Roman borders were seen as witches and mysticsthey were not
necessarily reviled, but they were outsiders, foreigners,
and suspected of wielding mysterious abilities passed
down to them from their nameless and unknowable God.
d4: Earn a Plot Point when you are singled out or
mistreated by Roman authorities.
d8: Spend a Plot Point to Reveal that you know a guy
who is secretly Christian and will come to your aid.
62
SCIENCE
HERITAGE
ama
BY DAVE BOZARTH
KINGDOM LEVEL
ACTIONS
CREATING
COMPLICATIONS
A House, or the Kingdom that contains it, gains
Complications when rolling just like other Cortex Plus
Dramatic Roleplaying characters. This is the driving
force behind the Kingdoms worries and deficiencies.
Complications represent, among other things, a lack of
accessible resources, ideological shifts of the populace,
exposed spy networks, or the discontented vassals that
carry out the rulers will.
A Complication can be removed by spending one of
the Houses seasonal actions. They also act as a call to
player involvement, as they do not just go away with time.
Logging camps keep burning down? Send in some troubleshooters to see why. The Kingdoms new warship goes
missing and you want it back intact? Send in the player
characters to retrieve it.
Individual actions could provide Kingdom-level Assets
that may affect the seasonal Kingdom roll.
DEFINING A KINGDOMS
ATTRIBUTES
AEGIS
The military might of a Kingdom is represented in the
form of regular troops. Aegis encompasses the basic defenses of the Kingdom from both internal and external
threats. Its the ability to police insurrection, repel skirmishes, and conduct formal warfare.
Suggested Complications: Morale, Injuries, and
Inept Strategy.
SHADOWS
The extent of a Kingdoms intelligence gathering and
covert capabilities are defined by the Shadow. It is also
responsible for engaging in unorthodox and irregular
warfare, espionage, sabotage, infiltration, sedition, and
even assassination.
Suggested Complications: Double Agents, 5Th
Column Support, Compromised Endeavor.
63
ENDEAVORS
The industrious nature of the Kingdom is reflected by
this Attribute. The ability to create new Dominions or
improve on them typically uses Endeavors.
Suggested Complications: Labor Strikes, Native
Resistance, Infestations, Plagues, or Flawed
Design.
MYSTERIES
Arcane and esoteric knowledge is the providence of
priests, scholars, and madmen. This Attribute represents
the accumulated lore and scientific discoveries that the
Kingdom has uncovered. Whether hidden away in secluded abbeys or on display in the greatest universities,
Mysteries are used to enhance Traits of Units through
training or to create the unique Assets by rituals, uncovered lore, and scientific advancement.
Suggested Complications: Conspiratorial Agenda,
Church Resistance, Scientific Byproducts.
CULTURE
Every Nation claims the sovereign right and duty to cultivate and encourage the proper ways of life in its peoples.
Culture is useful in all actions from building diplomatic
inroads to encouraging the arts or hosting a gala event.
Suggested Complications: Rebellion, Ideological
Differences, and Embarrassing Diplomats.
PATHWAYS FOR
KINGDOM CREATION
The first step is like any other for the Pathways system
from Cortex Plus Drama: get a big piece of paper. This
can get complicated and sprawl out a bit. Familiarity with
the Pathways system is necessary for Kingdom creation:
see page 18 of Smallville for all the details.
The first section deals with the creation of a Major
House within a Kingdom (or other forms of major power),
detailing their Abilities, Resources, and the Relationships
that they have. This assumes that the group will be staying mostly inside the Kingdom in their rise to power.
The second section will detail the Relationships that the
Kingdom as a whole has to the outside world.
PATHWAYS WITHIN
THE KINGDOM
PATHWAYS OUTSIDE
THE KINGDOM
HOUSE PATHWAYS
Where your House has come from and the history you
have been dealt.
PROSPEROUS
Start all Attributes at d4
h Aegis OR Culture x2
Land x 3
Holding (Estate)
Agent (Lord)
Foil (Lord)
GIFTED
Start all Attributes at d4
h Mystery OR Endeavor x2
Land
Extra x 2
Resource
ORDINARY
Start all Attributes at d4
h Aegis OR Endeavors x2
Land
Holding
Extra
Dominion
AUTHORITY
Your ruling power stems from a source to which you are
beholden to maintain, lest your House come crumbling
down around you.
TRADITION
h Culture
Land x2
h Holding (Estate)
Agent (Lord)
h Extra x2
RELIGIOUS
h Mystery
h Agent (High Priest)
Land x2
hHolding (Church)
h Extra x3
Foil
MILITARY
h Aegis
Land x3
h Extra (Military Unit) x2
h Agent (General)
h Holding (Garrison)
Foil
PERSONA
h Shadow or Endeavor
Dominion x2
h Extra x3
h Agent
STATUS
What others see in your House is a reflection of your
standing.
LEGACY
ENIGMATIC
Start all Attributes at d4
h Shadow OR Mystery x2
Land
Holding
h Extra x3
Agent (Spy Master)
Foil
STAGNANT
h Culture OR Aegis
h Holding x2
h Extra
65
SHUNNED
h Mysteries OR Shadow
Agent
Dominion x2
h Extra x2
REASON
h Endeavor OR Shadow
h Agent x2
Land x2
Extra
DECLINE
hAegis or Shadow
Agent (SERVANT)
Land
h Extra x2
Foil
DEFINING MOMENT
ASCENT
h Endeavors OR Culture
Dominion x2
h Extra x2
Foil
IDEOLOGY
The ruling ethos of your House.
CONVICTION
h Aegis OR Shadow
Land x2
h Holding x2
h Extra (Military Unit)
VALOR
h Aegis OR Culture
h Extra (Military Unit) x2
h Holding (Garrison)
Land x2
COMPASSION
h Endeavor OR Culture
h Holdings x2
Agent
Land
FOCUS
Your Kingdom seeks this above all else.
COMMERCE
h Endeavor OR Shadow
Nation x2
Force
Loci
Foil
PRESTIGE
h Culture OR Endeavor
Nation x2
Agent
Foil
Natural Wonder
LIBERTY
h Aegis OR Shadow
Foil
Force x2
Agent
Loci
METHODOLOGY
Now that you know what your Nation wants, this is how
they do it. Agents elevated at this stage become accessible
by all Houses.
PIETY
h Agent (High Priest)
Force (Deity/Prophet)
DARING
h Agent (Hero)
Loci
PATRONAGE
h Agent (Diplomat) or h Agent (Engineer)
Nation (City-State)
IDENTITY
Your Nation is known as this; how does that affect your
aspirations?
TYRANT
h Aegis OR Shadow
h Agent (General)
Force (Enemy Army) x 2
XENOPHOBE
h Mysteries OR Endeavor
h Agent (Spy Master)
Force (Enemy Spy Network)
Agent (Spy Master)
LIBERATOR
h Aegis OR Culture
h Agent (Hero)
Force
Foil
PHILOSOPHER
h Mystery OR Culture
h Agent (Philosopher)
h Agent
h Loci (Academy)
This hack presents you a new kind of higher-level character that adds a whole new scale to playing. Enterprising
players can even add new elements to Kingdom management, having sessions with a more compacted time-scale
where several House actions are played out. Thus you
could create additional Assets, Extras and Wedges that
get mobilized to resolve Nationwide Drama. From wars to
catastrophes, from revolutions to decay, the possibilities
are there for you to exploit.
JUSTICE
h Aegis OR Culture
Nation
Force
Foil
Agent
Loci
SHADY
h Agent (Spy Master)
Force (Guild)
KINGDOM PATHWAYS
67
LEGENDARY PLAY
The themes and rules presented can be the basis for a new
game, or incorporated into other Cortex Plus settings.
The notion of Legend is meant to be broad and applicable
to many character archetypes. Later on, well discuss a
setting meant for a diverse group of Legends, but, needless to say, a playgroup with a scion of Zeus, Peter Pan, a
gambler with improbable skill, and Alexander the Great
might initially appear hard to manage. However, the
Legend mechanics are designed to make integrating all
different types of backgrounds and power levels of play
at the same table simple and straightforward.
68
TWIGG
LEGENDS IN PLAY
Each Legend begins with as a d8 and includes three different Aspects. These Aspects can be adjectives, or short
descriptions, that define a character. Whenever the player
believes that one of his Aspects applies in a situation he
may call upon his Legend and add its die to a roll, just
like an Asset in Action Roleplaying.
Similarly, the GM may choose to invoke an Aspect of
the Legend against a player when an Aspect would make
his Action more difficult, adding the die to the GMs dice
pool.
However, Legend dice do not behave as normal dice
do. Rolling a 1 still triggers Complications or adds to
the Trouble pool of a Drama game, but rolling the maximum result on the die triggers a step up in the size of the
Legend die. This step up is permanent and represents your
characters legendary prowess increasing.
These steps up occur until the die rating reaches d12.
Once a 12 is rolled on the d12 the Legend die steps all the
way down to a d4. This represents the danger of overextending your abilities, wearing out your fame, and tempting the fates. These moments provide the GM with great
opportunities to couple wild success with the harrowing knowledge that the characters Legend has effectively
burned out.
During game play, based on your characters actions
and development, you may find your Legend evolving.
Whenever your Legend steps down to a d4, you may
change an Aspect. Should you change an Aspect, discuss
with your GM and the other players the most appropriate new Aspect to reflect how your Legend has evolved.
City to further their own Legends, and the absurd difficulties of life within The Eternal City.
No one in The Eternal City is safe. A God can be torn
down and replaced, a Hero overshadowed, or a myth
forgotten. In a different realm, these Legends could have
unrivaled power, but they would always know that their
actions are but reflections of the events of others in The
Eternal City. The thought of relinquishing their ability
to shape reality in their image and instead being a powerless subject to The Eternal City is too much for most
Legends to bear.
69
CAMPAIGN TYPES OF
THE ETERNAL CITY
ATYPICAL LEGENDS
The mythic and the powerful, they take what they want.
We steal it back for you. And sometimes, it takes a Legend
to beat a Legend.
In The Eternal City, Legends play immortal games
against one another at the expense of the Typicals that
live in ignorance of The Eternal Citys true nature. In a
city filled with long memories, you play a team of Legends
that offers their services to those caught up in the power
struggles of other Legends. Unreliable Agencies, powerful
Legends, and indifference to the plight of Typicals shield
Legends from the consequences of their actions. Thats
where you come in.
The players take the role of Legends that are tired of
the strife among of their kind and are tired of the callous treatment of the Typical folk in The Eternal City.
Characters take on the Roles from Cortex Action and
craft a Legend for themselves. Adventures center around
assisting the downtrodden and ignored Typicals.
70
LEGENDS LOST
Life in The Eternal City is in constant flux, but recent
events have caused even greater than usual paranoia
among the Legends in The Eternal City.
In the multiverse at large, Legends are fading away,
gods are forgotten in record numbers, and old faces
return to The Eternal City fearing their own safety in the
multiverse. These events have their origins in a startling
trend of Legends gone missing. People live and die in
The Eternal City, but somehow, people are actually being
forgotten with implausible speed. Foul play must be afoot.
In the past, Legends rose and fell, reborn or replaced, but
somehow recaptured their glory.
Now, Legends are missing and no one knows why. The
jealously individualistic Legends have found that banding together is the surest way to stay safe. Some Legends
band together for protection, others have ideas on unraveling the mystery of lost Legends, and a few sinister
cabals suspect there is power to be gained by raising the
stakes and irrevocably destroying their fellows. As smaller
groups begin to band together for protection, the entire
Eternal City is threatened with unparalleled instability. Some voices urge caution and moderation, lest The
Eternal Citys strife be felt across the multiverse, but as
the number of disappearances grows the level of fear and
anxiety only increases. Amidst the ratcheting fear and
paranoia, great opportunities arise.
Players play a cabal of Legends (using Cortex Plus
Action, Drama, or even Heroic) during these paranoid
and difficult times intent on surviving whatever it is that
is happening and figuring out how to benefit best from
the interesting times.
BY ZACHERY GA
SKINS
Every successful job requires careful planning. The investigation of ones dream world is no different. Since
dreams can take place anywhere the investigative characters wish (or can reliably conjure), theyll want to use their
real-world skills to gather information about the Marks
life experiences. The team then attempt to incorporate
these elements in the dream, to encourage the Mark to go
along with the con. You can use the standard Leverage
Role stats for these types of activities without too much
difficulty.
BASIC RULES OF
DREAMING
EVERY DREAMS PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE
IS CONTROLLED BY A SINGLE WEAVER
In a given dream world, one person sets the framework
upon which the entire experience hangs, including landmarks, terrain, and basic laws of physics. All other participants are considered to be visitors within that world, and
must play by the Weavers rules, no matter how bizarre.
Ephemerealit
It is the Information Age. The worlds rising sense of paranoia has made secrets more valuable than oil, gold, and
land. Such a world is bound to spend unearthly amounts
of effort and resources to develop ways to acquire and sift
through the most protected of secrets. With technological
security rising to keep up, states and corporation turn to
a new breed of spies to hunt and extract what it seeks...
from the human mind.
A small percentage of the population possess the talent,
innate or technological, to lucidly enter the semi-permeable dream world. In this place, secrets may be found,
stolen, and manipulated.
Ephemereality is a hack for the Leverage RPG that
focuses on a party of investigators as they explore and exploit the dream worlds of the secret keepers of the world.
Can the party succeed in their mission without losing
their own grip on what is real and what is imagined?
This ruleset can be used to add a dimension to your
existing Cortex Plus Action Roleplaying campaign
by allowing characters to have their minds explored in a
heist-like fashion. It can easily be tailored to suit a fantasy setting (potions, magic spells, and ethereal planes),
postmodern science fiction (sleep-sharing devices, chemical sedatives), or more future-bound locales (cybernetic
neural interfaces, AI constructs, and virtual landscapes).
MODERN LIFE
Ephemerealit
71
MODERN LIFE
Ephemerealit
y
72
ROLES
WEAVER (HACKER)
The Weaver is the dream worlds builder. A Weaver
constructs the physical environment and maintains a
stable, convincing reality. Focusing singly upon this task,
Weavers design and shape the boundaries and limitations
everyone will encounter. If disrupted or removed from
this task, the world collapses quite quickly, as the others
have only a grasp of the worlds underlying detail and
must carry the weight.
This stat is used whenever a dreamscapes Weaver
must add to, remove from, or alter the parameters of the
dream. Other characters roll the Weaver die whenever
they navigate, overcome, analyze, or resist the dreams
physical nature.
Sample Weaver Talent:
TROMPE LOEIL
The Weaver is strong at creating architecture that fools the
eye into seeing depth where none exists, staircases that go
on forever, etc.
Activation: A Crewmember is pursued by subconscious
defenses in a tight, enclosed structure, or attempts to find
a shortcut to a location.
Effect: Add a d8 to the Crewmembers roll to evade
pursuers or quickly navigate a structure; alternatively,
add a d10 and a d4 (with a 1 signifying that the illusion
also fooled the team member in some fashion).
ARTIFEX (GRIFTER)
An Artifex is a master of deception, concealing her own
minds identity and desires within the dream. If a team
has a dedicated Artifex, she has the task of becoming
completely different people in the dream (friends and associates of the Mark with whom she can foster trust and
manipulate loyalty). Bear in mind that the portrayals
accuracy is only as good as the research performed prior
to the dream.
FACE-HEEL TURN
The team member is good at taking the qualities of an assumed identity and turning her personality quirks against/
towards the mark.
Activation: A Crewmember, disguised as another person,
is trying to behave in a manner that is severely unlike the
Marks perception of her; she is a friend whom the team
wishes to have the Mark distrust, or an enemy the Mark
needs to respect.
Effect: The player may reroll one of her dice, or all of her
1s (but not both).
LOOKOUT (HITTER)
MASTERMIND
The Mastermind keeps the grand plan in the forefront,
while several surreal and bizarre events occur simultaneously. Since the dream world can be just as detailed as the
real one, someone might forget they are actually lying on
the couch of a passenger carriage in a high-speed train.
Some may even start having misgivings about leaving a
dream where their fantasies and real-world ambitions
are finally realized. This is where the Mastermind steps
in, keeping his team focused and reminding them they
are still dreaming and must eventually return to the real
world.
While this team Role remains largely unchanged from
the Leverage RPG, the nature of the job suggests a greater responsibility and need for good support. If an aspect
of the dream causes the world to be too real, or if it fulfills
a desire or negates a fear, rolling the Mastermind die
will check whether the Crewmembers can still focus on
the Job. Failing that roll may mean theyre starting to lose
their grip and wish to stay rooted in the dream. In the
worst-case, Crewmembers who fail these rolls too many
times may not wake up, instead collapsing into a private
dreamscape.
Ephemerealit
Lookouts have a task more grounded in real-world strategy. Its their job to be vigilant about the collective subconscious mental and emotional defenses, which will slowly
sense the dreams foreign nature and begin to manifest
people and objects that will harass, obstruct, and attack
the team, forcing them to abandon their task.
Stat-wise, the Lookout die is rolled when one performs
an Action to thwart a defensive response; doubling-back
through a stairwell, fist-fighting in a hallway, or leading
an army of Persians through a narrow, rocky passage. It
takes a fervent belief in ones own physicality in the dream
(performing superhuman feats in a world not designed for
such will just attract more attention). Similarly, Lookout
is what a Mark would roll any time they witness an event
in the dream that would cause them to question the authenticity of the world.
Sample Lookout Talent:
INQUISITOR (THIEF)
MODERN LIFE
Use the Artifex stat when a character attempts to persuade the Mark or a subconscious persona of a forged
belief, hide her true motives, or determine the legitimacy of a persona the Mark is fabricating. A dedicated
Artifiex will use this stat to completely take on the identity of a specific individual and sell that performance to
the Mark. If convincing enough, the Marks memory and
persona of that individual may also be altered.
Sample Artifex Talent:
73
MODERN LIFE
NEW ASSETS /
COMPLICATIONS
ADVANCED DREAMING
TECHNIQUES
Ephemerealit
y
74
ARTIFICIAL INSPIRATION
While finding out secrets is easy, planting an idea in
someones head is not. However, if you take that idea
and break it down into smaller concepts and engineer
situations designed to elicit emotional responsesand
you go deep enoughthen its entirely feasible to change
someones mind. However, be warned that deep suggestion such as the ones caused by shared dreaming can
forever influence the Marks behavior with possibly disastrous results.
BY STEVE DARL
INGTON
ASPECTS
SAVAGERY
SENSE
MODERN LIFE
75
MODERN LIFE
SIZE
SOCIETY
There really is safety in numbers. Society isnt about
there being a lot of you, but about understanding and
communicating across any large group to keep those
numbers safe. Creatures with a gift for Society have an
instinctual awareness of where their Crewmembers are,
what theyre doing, and how to move them around to
achieve the best possible result. It also helps with making
sure they get moving when you tell them to. Wolves use
this to outflank prey with complicated tactical manoeuvres, buffalo use it to stop wolves from picking off the
SPEED
You dont need to win a fight if you can get away fast
enough. If you choose to stick around, your target may
not have time to dodge. Thieves will benefit from improved reflexes and agility, but every member of a Crew
needs to be able to move as quickly as possible, especially
when things take an unexpected turn. Speed of mind is
part of the package; it might not be chess-winning intellect, but the rabbit knows which way to run as well as how
fast. Thats perfect for Hackers or Grifters improvising
on the fly.
Speed is the province of dive-bombing birds and darting reptiles. Its also found in the charge of a rhinoceros,
the bound of a kangaroo, or the swing of a chimpanzee.
STEALTH
Stealth is more than just camouflage or silent movementit can represent the lyrebirds ability to mimic
sound or the opossums ability to play dead. Whatever it
takes not to get eaten when you cant run away.
Its always a good idea to keep your intentions hidden,
whether youre in the jungle or running a con. Not being
seen is the heart of theft and hacking, but since it also
includes deception, it is the soul of grifting. Hitters
know feints and distractions are always useful. and all
Crewmembers have times when theyre somewhere
theyre not supposed to be, and need to disappear.
Some Stealth is inbuilt: the tiger and the zebra have
coats to match the grasslands they call home. Others
adapt to their environment: the bat and the cat use their
powerful Senses to hunt in darkness.
EXAMPLE SPECIES
BUFFALO OR CATTLE
Savagery d6
Sense d8
Size d12
Society d10
Speed d4
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Horns)
ANTELOPE OR DEER
Savagery d4
Sense d10
Size d8
Society d6
Speed d12
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Horns)
CAT
Savagery d6
Sense d10
Size d4
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d12
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws), Special Movement (Climbing)
BAT
Savagery d4 Sense d12 Size d4 Society d6 Speed d8
Stealth d10
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Flight)
CHEETAH OR JAGUAR
Savagery d10 Sense d4
Size d8
Society d4
Speed d12
Stealth d6
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws)
BEAR
Savagery d8 Sense d10 Size d12 Society d6 Speed d4
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws)
MODERN LIFE
ALLIGATOR OR CROCODILE
Savagery d12 Sense d4
Size d8
Society d4
Speed d6
Stealth d10
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Fangs), Special Movement (Swimming)
MODERN LIFE
CROW
Savagery d6
Sense d12
Size d4
Society d8
Speed d10
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Flight)
LIZARD
Savagery d6
Sense d10
Size d4
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d12
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Climbing)
ELEPHANT
Savagery d6
Sense d8
Size d12
Society d10
Speed d4
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Armor, Natural Weapons (Tusks)
MONKEY
Savagery d4
Sense d8
Size d4
Society d10
Speed d12
Stealth d6
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Climbing)
ELK OR MOOSE
Savagery d4
Sense d10
Size d12
Society d6
Speed d8
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Horns)
FALCON OR HAWK
Savagery d8
Sense d12
Size d6
Society d4
Speed d10
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Flight)
FOX OR WEASEL
Savagery d8 (d10 for weasel)
Sense d10 (d8 for
weasel) Size d4 Society d4
Speed d12
Stealth d6
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Burrowing)
GORILLA
Savagery d8
Sense d4
Size d10
Society d12
Speed d6
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Climbing)
HORSE
Savagery d4
Society d6
Sense d8
Speed d12
Size d10
Stealth d4
LEOPARD OR TIGER
Savagery d12 Sense d4
Size d10 (d8 for leopard)
Society d4
Speed d6
Stealth d8 (d10 for leopard)
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws and
Fangs)
LION
Savagery d12 Sense d4
Size d10
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d6
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws and
Fangs)
OWL
Savagery d6
Sense d12
Size d4
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d10
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Flight)
RHINOCEROS
Savagery d10 Sense d8
Size d12
Society d4
Speed d6
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Armor, Natural Weapon (Horns)
RABBIT
Savagery d4
Sense d6
Size d4
Society d8
Speed d12
Stealth d10
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Burrowing)
RAT
Savagery d4
Sense d8
Size d4
Society d10
Speed d8
Stealth d12
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Climbing)
SNAKE
Savagery d6
Sense d10
Size d4
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d12
Suggested Talents: Special Movement (Climbing)
TURTLE, LEATHERBACK
Savagery d6
Sense d12
Size d8
Society d10
Speed d4
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Armor, Special Movement (Swimming)
WOLVERINE
Savagery d12 Sense d10
Size d6
Society d4
Speed d8
Stealth d4
Suggested Talents: Natural Weapons (Claws)
NATURAL WEAPONS
Youre never without a weapon when you need one. Of
course, that also means youre always using a weapon.
Activation: Youre engaged in a Fight Action. You must
announce if you are not using this Talent; if you choose
not to, the Fixer can give you a Plot Point to roll a d6
Complication against you for pulling your punches.
Effect: Add a d8 to your roll and include an extra dice.
If you roll a 1, you generate a Complication without
receiving a Plot Point. This usually reflects doing too
much damage, but could also indicate your claws getting
caught in something, or, because your attack is one big
pounce on a single target, exposing your flanks to other
attackers.
NATURAL ARMOR
This can represent a leathery hide, thick fur, or bone plating. The point is you can shrug off the damage. That might
not apply to the pain.
MODERN LIFE
NEW TALENTS
SPECIAL MOVEMENT
You can move in a way that the average human cannot.
Perhaps you can fly over, climb up, or dig under whatever is
in your way, and that provides a whole new way in or out.
Activation: Youre in a Location with a Location-based
Trait that would normally count against you in a roll.
Spend a Plot Point to activate this Talent.
Effect: Take the Location-based Trait, step it up by one,
and add it as an Asset until the end of the scene.
79
MODERN LIFE
Vampville
80
Vampville
BY ANDERS GABRIELSSON
The Cortex Plus Dramatic Roleplaying system described in the Smallville RPG is excellent to play games
based on vampire drama. You can have powerful vampiric abilities, dark secrets, and twisted relationships
while easily covering common themes such as recently
turned characters, scheming elders, and interacting with
other supernatural beings or mortals. This is made possible by the systems focus on social interactions between
characters and their priorities rather than mechanical
representations of their abilities.
To do so, you must first answer the following question:
What aspects of vampire drama do you want to focus on?
The choices are many, such as the allure of eternal life, the
conflict between retaining ones humanity versus feeding
on human blood, political conflicts between elders and
rebellious youngsters, or just plain playing with cool vampire powers? Unless you plan to run one-shot games or
very short campaigns, you shouldnt settle on too narrow
a focus. Thus youll avoid having a game that plays out
too soon.
This Cortex Plus variant will outline how you can
combine three different aspects of vampiric existence
into a fascinating game experience. This act will explore
their theatrical natures, the internal struggles with bestial
emotions, and conflicts with others over limited, vital
resources. This can be achieved through a few tweakings
of the Smallville RPG rules.
Lets start with the theatrical nature of vampires. A
common trope about vampires is that they lack a human
soul. This, coupled with their predatory nature, should
make them act quite differently from living humans. Yet
they are usually portrayed, especially in recent times, as
behaving much the same as when they were alive. Why
should that be?
What if they were faking it? Maybe they have to keep up
pretenses because they cant lose themselves completely
to their animalistic instincts and maintain their existence. Or maybe they stick to old behaviors out of habit.
Maybe its much simpler than that. It might simply be that
that losing their souls makes them unable to change their
original nature; they can just exaggerate it. While they
may they lack the internal drives that shape so much of
human behavior, they choose to maintain a semblance
of it.
VAMPIRE POSES
AND STRESS
Consequently, vampire Leads dont have Values as one of
their Traits categories. Values denote convictions, morality and opinions on right and wrong, something vampires
no longer have or need. Instead, vampires have Poses:
types of behavior they feel they should display, but are
not based on genuine emotions.
The Poses are:
Allure: Spending significant effort to appear pleasing
to the eyes of others.
Charm: Behaving in such a way to elicit a positive
emotional response from others.
Menace: A combination of body language and behavior that seeks to intimidate others.
Mystery: Maintaining a sense of the unknown,
making others wonder who you really are.
Style: Radiating a sense of confident style and attitude
that impresses others.
Unlike Values, Poses do not have statements and
cannot be challenged.
Vampires do have genuine emotions. They are usually very powerful, animalistic emotions they do their
best to control. These emotions are represented using
the Smallville RPG Stress mechanic, which is given
an expanded function as described below. Some of the
types of Stress are renamed and have slightly different
descriptions:
Afraid: The vampire fears for its wellbeing and/or
survival.
Angry: The repressed feelings of animalistic hate and
anger.
In Pain: Replaces Injured; vampires heal their wounds
very quickly, but can feel pain.
Insecure: The confusion brought by the internal conflict between vampiric and human nature.
Tired: Replaces Exhausted. Includes emotional fatigue and general sense of ennui.
Vampires also have a sixth type of Stress, Hunger,
which represents the vampires need for human blood. It
works differently from the previous five. Instead of being
a result of conflicts, Hunger is increased through the uses
of certain vampire-related Special Effects, as described
below.
MODERN LIFE
Vampville
81
MODERN LIFE
CHARACTER CREATION
3. CREATE RELATIONSHIPS
Start all your Relationships with the other characters at
d8. You can step down one to step up another as many
times as you like, as long as no Relationship is reduced
below d4. Write Relationship statements as per the
Smallville RPG (page 85).
Vampville
82
6. CREATE PRIZES
Describe three things your vampire cares enough about
that they might lose to the other Leads. This can be
almost anything, but common examples are Prestigious
Titles, Mortal Servants, Prime Hunting Grounds,
Nightclubs or other businesses. These function like
Resources and should be given keywords like Extras or
Locations. All of them are rated at 2d6.
CHARACTER CREATION
EXAMPLE
BY MATTHEW GARDNER
THE FRENEMY OF MY
FRENEMY IS MY FRENEMY
Wealth
Fame
Status
Respect
Influence
Narcissism
These represent the basic goals and desires of the Leads
and Features, the ultimate goal they are trying to achieve.
When it comes time to roll the dice, instead of asking
What Value motivates the character to perform this
action, instead ask, What Agenda are they trying to
further by doing this? A further exploration of each of
those Agenda Traits is done below.
Using these Agenda Traits in place of the default Values
can drastically change the flavor of your game, while
keeping the core mechanics essentially the same. These
particular Agendas are designed to make Leads especially
goal-oriented, tending toward more selfish motives. There
are numerous settings and concepts you can use for your
game, whether it be about in-fighting among the cast of a
morning news show, the drama surrounding a national
WEALTH
Who doesnt like money? Those who have it, enjoy it.
Those who dont, desire it. This Agenda represents the
desire to obtain more material wealth, to keep what you
already have, and flaunt it at the drop of a hat. It can certainly extend beyond simple cash; to some people, wealth
may mean having the biggest boat, or the nicest clothes,
or, of course, simply having the most spending money
in their purse.
Keep in mind that this value does not necessarily represent how much wealth you currently have, but rather how
much the desire to have it motivates you. Poor characters
with a d12 in Wealth may be solely focused on the acquisition of material goods. Conversely, rich characters may
have a d4 rating and not feel that keeping their money as
important to them as other goals.
FAME
Backstabbing BFFs
MODERN LIFE
Backstabbing BFFs
83
MODERN LIFE
SUCCESS
INFLUENCE
Youre clearly better than everyone else; that much is obvious. But does everyone else realize this? When Success
is whats important to you, your main goal is making
sure that the world knows that you are standing on the
top rung of the ladder. This may mean many different
things according to the setting. In high school, focusing
on Success may drive you to be associated with all of
the cool cliques or getting top marks in your class. In an
office one, it could mean youre working to be the first one
considered for that upcoming promotion.
Youre a trendsetter; you define what is and isnt popular and everyone follows your lead. When Influence
is important to you, your main desire is to be the one
pulling the strings. Maybe you want to remain behind
the scenes manipulating everything from the shadows,
or simply whispering in the ear of the one who makes
the big decisions. Conversely, you may want to be out
in the open, so everybody knows that youre the one in
control. Regardless of how you go about it, when you
have a high score in Influence, your goal is to get to be
the one calling the shots or subtly nudging everyone in
the right direction.
Backstabbing BFFs
RESPECT
Nobody talks back to you. You may not be the most successful, the richest, or the most influential person in town,
but what you do have over everyone else is esteem. Maybe
youre known as the person willing to make the tough
decisions, or as someone who always takes the moral high
ground, or perhaps you just never back away from a fight.
There are many ways to strive for Respect, but however
you do it, whats important is that you get it and keep it.
NARCISSISM
What you do isnt about other people. Its not about being
popular, or gaining power or influencing those around
you. Its all about yourself: making yourself feel better,
stroking your ego, and boosting your own self-image.
While most of the Agendas are inherently selfish in
nature, Narcissism comes into play when that selfishness in and of itself is its own end goal. For instance, a
class bully picking on everyone else to make himself feel
better would have a high Narcissism die rating.
84
lub
BY ELIZABETH SAMPAT
If youre familiar with childrens television staples like Ni
Hao, Kai Lan and Dora the Explorer, youre aware that
most childrens television follows a very rigid structure:
the team is presented with a problem, the team plans,
solves the problem, and then parties down. What you
might not have realized is thatminus the partiesthe
television show Leverage follows the very same structure. While you wont see the main character of your
son or daughters favorite show sticking it to bank executives and crooked politicians, you can use the Cortex
Plus Action Roleplaying system to do what kids love
best: assemble a team of friends to tackle an important
problem.
So what you get instead is the Junior Adventurers Club:
a group of plucky kids (or anthropomorphic animals, or
robots, or whatever else your kids are excited to be) who
find and tackle problems for their friends and loved ones.
MAKING THEMATIC
CHANGES
While the Roles in the Leverage RPG are juicy and fun,
theyre not entirely suited to childrens games. (You can
see the current roles in the Leverage RPG, starting on
page 18.)
Instead of the Mastermind, Grifter, Hitter,
Hacker, and Thief, you can use the following:
MODERN LIFE
lub
85
MODERN LIFE
DISTINCTIONS
AND TALENTS
EXPLORER
FOLLOWING THE PLAN
When another character rolls to do something you suggested, she gets an additional d8.
THINKING AHEAD
When trying to decide the best way to solve a problem you
havent encountered yet, you can roll an additional d6.
CHARMER
ENCOURAGEMENT
When another kid is rolling to do something other than
their main role, you can encourage them to do well. Spend
a Plot Point, say something to help give him confidence,
and he can roll an additional d8.
ITS OKAY
When dealing with an NPC that is scared or confused,
you can calm her down. Roll an additional d6 when
trying to soothe a scared NPC.
PROTECTOR
BULLY BUSTER
When youre rolling in a Contested Action (or a Basic
Action, in a simplified game) to defend or protect another
teammate, you roll an extra d8.
CHAMPION
Some kids get nervous about Puzzle Actions. Your teammates can spend a Plot Point to get your help on a Puzzle
Action if theyre having trouble.
BRAIN
RUMMAGING
The Brain can use a Resource as a Basic Action instead
of having to spend a Plot Point.
86
ANALYSIS
When a kid is having trouble with a Puzzle Action, the
Brain can spend a Plot Point for a hint.
SNEAK
SMALL
Any other teammate can hide the Sneak somewhere on
themin a pocket, in a backpack, or elsewhere. (That
implies that the Sneak is a very small child, or a very
bright, talking pet.)
SILENT
Get an extra d8 when trying not to be noticed.
STREAMLINING
THE SYSTEM
REPLACING
ACTION TYPES
KIDS
MODERN LIFE
87
MODERN LIFE
The Junior Adventurers' C
lub
88
EXAMPLE SCENARIO:
MURRAY THE FORGETFUL ROBOT
Murray the Forgetful Robot needs more memory! But
he forgot the way back to Dr. Gearmans house. Its up
to the Junior Adventurers Club to take him over the
Marshmallow River, through the Dark Forest, and deliver Murray to Dr. Gearmans house.
Each one of these three locations has two obstacles that
can be overcome through a combination of Roles:
The Marshmallow River is a big, wide river of marshmallow fluff that the team cant get past without help.
Theres a grumpy man with a boat, and also some cookie
islands the team might be able to hop across.
The Boatman is Grumpy, which is good for the
Charmeror maybe the Protector.
The Cookie Island minigame works for anyone, though
the Protector can help and the Brain can get tips on how
to do it best.
As a Complication, Murray may forget that he doesnt
have a tummy and try to gum up his insides by eating
marshmallow fluff.
The Dark Forest is a scary place full of wildlife. Theres
a fox outside, and lots of spider webs covering the trees.
The Spider is Scary, which is good for the Protector
or maybe the Sneak.
The Fox has a Riddle, which is good for the Brain (or
anyone good at riddles).
As a Complication, Murrays solar cells run out of
energy! The team has to figure out a way to get him some
sun.
BY JAMES RITTER
Cyberpunk Overdrive pays homage to the classic stories
of Gibson, Stephenson, and Sterling by tweaking elements of the Smallville RPG to make it into a playable
adventure.
INTRODUCTION
Little Goose and Mary Guns are just off a failed data
heist for the Yakuza, which saw the death of Mickey Finn,
Little Gooses mentor and Mary Guns lover. Mary Guns
has been hired as a bodyguard for Nancy Gibson, a faded
virtual starlet. Kimura, a ranked man in the Yakuza, is on
a mission from his Oyabun. Much of the scenario centers
on the Archology, an AI created by the Russian corporate
government, Komstar, to house the ghost personalities
of the deceased.
KIMURA
VALUES
RELATIONSHIPS
Mary Guns: The key to controlling her is to threaten
her reputation d6
Nancy Gibson: She will return my love when I convince
her of her perfection. d8
Little Goose: He is a thief, lacking all honor and discipline. d4
The Archology: The AI is a robot, a perfect vessel, but
nothin nothing more. d6
ASSETS
ON A MISSION D8
Earn a PP and Add a d6 to Trouble when you pursue
a mission.
Spend a PP to Reroll a die in a roll that contributes to
your mission.
EXTRAS/LOCATIONS
Hideo, The Blind Ninja (Sneaky, Traditional
Weapons) 2d8
Tea Garden (Serenity, Preparation) 2d4
MARY GUNS
VALUES
The Job: I do hurt people sometimes. Its how Im wired.
d8
My Rep: Steppin Razor, the scourge of Babylon. d8
Love: Everyone has lost someone, or is about to. d4
Power: Secrets are the root of cool. d10
Conformity: The street finds its own uses for things. d4
Nihilism: There is no future. There is only risk management. d6
Cyberpunk Overdrive
Cyberpunk Overdrive
RELATIONSHIPS
Little Goose: Little Goose got my Mickey killed. Im
going to even the score. d8
Nancy Gibson: I need to protect her; shes playing with
fire. d4
Kimura: Hes dangerous and serves a dangerous man. d6
The Archology: The Archology doesnt think like we
do and cant be trusted. d6
89
ASSETS
RAZORGIRL D10
Earn a PP and Add a d6 to trouble when your reputation draws unwanted attention.
Add a d6 to Trouble pool to Increase your ANGRY or
AFRAID Stress pool.
Spend a PP to Reroll a die in a roll involving your status
as a Razorgirl.
ENHANCED VISION D8
Effect: Sensory
Descriptors: Mirrored Lenses, Sight
Special Effects: Spend a PP to
See into a nearby scene youre not in.
See minute details others might miss.
See in all directions at once.
DARING D8
Add a d6 to Trouble to Reroll a die in a Daring roll.
Add a d10 to Trouble to Reroll two dice in a Daring roll.
FLECHETTE PISTOL D8
Limit: Gear
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to run out of
ammunition.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die when firing your
pistol.
EXTRAS/LOCATIONS
The Mole, Sm a ll Time Fence (Connec ted,
Technology) 2d4
The Spring Blossom Hotel (Espionage, Sex) 2d4
NANCY GIBSON
VALUES
The Job: An actress is all Ive ever wanted to be. d10
My Rep: Theyre obviously loving somebody Im not. d4
Love: A wise girl leaves before she is left. But who says
Im a wise girl? d6
Power: I dont care if its a mans world, as long as I get
to be a woman in it. d8
Conformity: The people that made me a star, but if Id
observed their rules, Id never have got anywhere. d8
Nihilism: Theyll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss,
and fifty cents for your soul. d4
RELATIONSHIPS
Little Goose: All his clocks are set for hustlers time. d4
Mary Guns: Mary Guns is someone you can rely on. d8
Kimura: His wealth and admiration will finance my
comeback. d4
The Archology: My feelings for him are more real than
anything Sense/Media can offer. d8
ASSETS
ALTERED GENETICS (DIRECT ACCESS TO THE MATRIX) D12
Effect: Control
Limits: Altered State
Special Effects: Spend a PP to
See through the eyes of electronic devices in scenes
other than your own.
Join a scene anywhere on the Matrix.
Take another character with you if they are connected to the Matrix as well.
Detect anyone investigating you or searching for you
if they use technology.
MANIPULATIVE D4
Earn a Plot Point and Give your opposition a d6 when
you ask them to trust you, even if you dont mean it.
ATTRACTIVE D4
Earn a Plot Point when your looks draw you unwanted
attention.
IN OVER YOUR HEAD D8
Earn a Plot Point and Add d6 to Trouble when you get
into trouble over your head.
Add a d6 to Trouble to Increase your Insecure or
Angry Stress pool against opponents who outclass or
capture you.
WILLFUL D6
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when you
put your foot down.
EXTRAS/LOCATIONS
Barry Mathers, Lawyer (Law, Resources) 2d6
Susan Pocket , Reporter (Investigation, Contacts)
2d4
The Chiba Grill, Restaurant (Crowded, Publicity)
2d4
VALUES
The Job: The best console cowboys are a breed apart and
I was one of the best. d10
My Rep: Washed-out data sniffer. d6
Love: The body is meat. Love is meat soup. d8
Power: Data is power, but you need money to get to it. d4
Conformity: A big score will get me back on top. d4
Nihilism: Sometimes the Darkness is the only game in
town. d8
RELATIONSHIPS
Mary Guns: I love her. She must see Mickeys death
wasnt my fault. d8
Nancy Gibson: Shes smarter than she looks. d6
Kimura: He doesnt realize how much he needs me. d6
The Archology: The AI is an asset that could fetch a
lot of scratch. d4
ASSETS
CLEVER D4
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to show off your
smarts in some annoying or frustrating manner.
GUILTY D8
Earn a Plot Point and Give your opposition a d6 when
your guilt stymies or confuses you.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die on any roll when
trying to make amends.
SMARTASS D8
Earn a Plot Point and Give your opposition a d6 when
youre being a Smartass in a dangerous situation.
When you Give a die for this Distinction, its now a
d10; however, if you inflict Angry or Insecure Stress
in that Contest, Increase your Stress pool.
EXTRAS/LOCATIONS
The Raylight Bar (Regulars, Shady) 2d6
The Spring Blossom Hotel (Espionage, Anonymity)
2d4
The Mole (Rumors, Connected) 2d6
Cyberpunk Overdrive
CONSOLE COWBOY D8
Add a d6 to the Trouble pool to Reroll a die when hacking into systems.
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal a fact about security holes
or other exploitable weaknesses in the target of your
Ice breaking.
LITTLE GOOSE
91
THE ARCHOLOGY
VALUES
The Job: It is my duty to preserve all personalities that
dwell inside me. d8
My Rep: Word of my sentience must not get out. d8
Love: Love is an alien, fascinating concept. d10
Power: I have no power as long as I am seen as property.
d4
Conformity: The rules of human society dont apply
to me. d6
Nihilism: The Net is more real than reality. d4
RELATIONSHIPS
Mary Guns: Her inner strength makes her a good ally.
d6
Nancy Gibson: Shes a fascinating curiosity. d8
Kimura: Kimura is a mindless minion who just follows
orders. d6
Little Goose: Little Goose is easily manipulated
through his ego. d4
ASSETS
Cyberpunk Overdrive
92
GENIUS D8
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal that youve studied a subject and know its basics.
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when you
assume others cant follow your complicated thinking.
EXTRAS/LOCATIONS
Distributed Information Archives (Information,
Technology) 2d10
Avatar (Disguise, Sneaky) 2d4
Turing Park At Sunset (Intimacy, Solitude) 2d6
REVEALS
1. The Oyabun blames Little Goose for screwing up the
job and getting Mickey Finn killed. He owes them
5 million eYen. He is now hunted by Komstar, but
the Yakuza will shield him as long as he works for
Kimura.
2. Mickey reveals to Mary that his ghost is preserved
inside the Archology.
3. Nancys agent tells her that the money has run out,
but there is a job offer for a SenSim show where the
audience participates in her relationship with the
Archology.
4. Mickey reveals to the Archology and Nancy that
there is a plot to steal and erase the AI.
5. Ivan reveals to Nancy that a biosoft has been implanted in her containing some of the Archologys
source code that can be used to hack the AI.
6. Oyabun sets up a meeting among Kimura, Little
Goose and Mary Guns and instructs them to steal
the Archology and erase all personalities, leaving it
a pristine vessel.
7. Ivan tells Little Goose that the failed job was a
Yakuza setup.
8. Oyabun wants Mary to kill Nancy and bring him her
cryogenically frozen brain. Threatens to finger her
to Komstar as part of the botched job.
9. Hideo reveals to Kimura that the Oyabun is dying
and wants to preserve himself inside the AI forever.
10. The Mole tells Little Goose that a large sum of
Russian money has been anonymously wired into
Marys account.
11. Hideo tells Kimura that the Oyabuns immortality
will mean that he will never advance.
12. Ivan reveals to Nancy that the biosoft can also be
used to download a personality and replace her own.
13. The proposal for Nancys show has roused the suspicion of the Agent Mitchell of CAPTCHA Authority,
tasked with assuring no AI achieves sentience.
WEDGES
IVAN
The Komstar Fixer
VALUES
The Job: Following Komstar directives is my sworn duty.
d10
My Rep: d8
Love: Love is the opiate of the masses. d4
Power: I must prove myself on this mission. d6
Conformity: All citizens must work together for the
glory of the New Soviet Republic. d6
Nihilism: People should be worth more than machines.
d6
ASSETS
Fixer d6
Athletic d8
Cosmopolitan d6
Big Brother d10
Russian Thugs (Intimidation, Brawl) 2d8
THE OYABUN
Yakuza Clan Leader
VALUES
The Job: I am the embodiment of our family kami. d10
Power: The truly powerful use those of lower station as
they see fit. d10
Conformity: It is right and proper for all to know their
place. d6
Nihilism: The way of the warrior is to choose death. d6
Love: Love is an illusion. d4
ASSETS
Clan Leader d10
Family Reputation d6
Tatami Room (Serenity, Security) 2d8
Swarm Of Ninja (Protecting, Capturing) 2d6
MICKEY FINN
The Ghost of a Dead Hacker
VALUES
The Job: Im getting too old for this. d6
Power: My friends need my help. d4
Conformity: The Archologys sentience must stay
hidden. d6
Nihilism: Lifes a bitch, and then you die. d10
Love: Ill do anything for love. d8
RELATIONSHIPS
Little Goose: The kid needs to loosen up. d8
Mary Guns: My everlasting love. d8
The Archology: Home is where the hard drive is. d10
Nancy Gibson: Nice girl like her shouldnt be messed
up in this. d6
ASSETS
Big Hearted d12
Fast Talker d8
Likeable d4
Turing Park At Sunset (Romantic, Isolated) 2d6
Agent Mitchell, Captcha Operative (Kidnapping,
Investigation) 2d10
Cyberpunk Overdrive
RELATIONSHIPS
Nancy Gibson: I cant let anything happen to her. d8
The Archology: I must protect him for the good of
Komstar and my ambitions. d10
Little Goose: The little thief is a threat to my mission.
d6
RELATIONSHIPS
Kimura: My loyal kobun; he does my bidding in all
things without question. d10
Nancy Gibson: Her place is beside me for eternity. d8
The Archology: It will serve me as well. d10
Little Goose: A petty criminal, but necessary to my
plans. d8
Mary Guns: Dangerous and wild, but even she can be
tamed. d6
14. Agent Mitchell wants Nancy to help capture and analyze the Archology. She should approach Mary Guns
with a cash offer to double cross Kimura.
93
TYPES OF
TRANSHUMANISM
Anything beyond the standard model human is considered transhuman, but the form a transhuman takes can
vary widelyfrom technology-augmented humans to
digital constructs that change bodies as easily as we slip
on a pair of shoes.
CYBERNETICS
When technology and humans combine, almost anything can happen. Nanobots that can repair your body?
A synthetic arm that can crush a car? Bionic legs that can
run faster than a cheetah? These humans use technology
to augment their physical formshumanity plus, if you
will. The classic cyborg is an example of a Cyberneticsenhanced human. While the options are seemingly limitless, this heritage is best suited for standard humans
with primarily physical augments. Characters that wish
to swap bodies or exist without a body altogether should
choose Ego or AI heritages.
JACKED
Jacked individuals are a specific type of Cybernetic
humanones that can swap out personality traits and
skills through the use of skillsofts, bits of neuro-formatted software stored on modules that can be loaded
through a direct neural interface, usually on the temple
or at the back of the neck. Most of the original personality remains the same; Jacked individuals augment
their minds rather than their bodies. Like Cybernetic
humans,Jacked individuals do not switch bodies or replace their entire personalities.
EGOS
Your perception of self, your personalitythese make up
who you are. An Ego in this case is a digital reconstruction of your mind, a reflection of your self, capable of
living inside of a computer or being downloaded into a
body or other kind of vessel. This is the standard human
mind, though freed from the constraints of the body.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Not all minds are human. Artificial intelligences (AI) are
purely digital constructions and often lack the drives and
emotions that distinguish a human mind from a computers (though they may fake it). In some cases, a nonhuman mind could be cultivated to reach sentience, such
as a house cat, or a cockroach, or any creature you can
imagine. AIs work the same way as Egos, but many prefer
to exist as an Infomorph, maintaining their consciousness
inside of a computer rather than imprinting onto a body.
LIVING DOLL
Regular Dolls are simply empty vessels, waiting to be
imprinted upon by an Ego or AI, but a Living Doll is
something else. Yes, they can have their personalities
completely overriden, but unlike regular Dolls, these
Living Dolls can sometimes remember previous imprints.
Characters that wish to explore an ever-changing identity
with a fixed body should choose this heritage; extremely
experienced Living Dolls can remember all of their previous imprints, and can swap between them at will.
A BRIEF LEXIC
ON
TRANSHUMAN
HERITAGE DISTINCTIONS
MORPHS
CYBERNETICS
The Cybernetic Systems Heritage Distinction on page 100
of the Smallville RPG is the place to start. This is ideal
for a standard human Lead who has been upgraded by
technology, but does not swap bodies.
TRANSHUMAN VESSELS
Transhumanism can also be achieved by the complete
separation of mind and body. Minds, both natural and
artificial, exist as data structures independent of their
physical vessels. The vessels need not be living, or even
humanoid. Since you can switch bodies or live in some
sort of machine, you get to pick a set of Abilities that corresponds to the physical entity you inhabit. Thus, when
creating an Ego or AI Lead, leave your Ability slots empty
during character generation. Whenever you enter a new
vessel, pick a set of Abilities that fits it.
There are two main types of vessels for Egos and AIs
to imprint upon.
DOLLS
Dolls are standard humans whose personalities have
been wiped, replaced with a simplistic, generic personality when not carrying an imprint. The original human
minds no longer exist and the base personality does not
remember previous imprints. A Doll could be anything
from an unaugmented human to a fully Cybernetic
one; the main defining feature is that a Doll was once a
normal humanborn, not grown.
JACKED HERITAGE
95
EGO
SYNAPTIC MATRIX
Your mental structure has been overwritten with a software equivalent that permits you to accept memory and
personality imprints. You are a Living Doll, with fleeting
glimpses of your previous imprints.
d4: Earn a Plot Point whenever your current imprint
is deleted or overwritten by a technological device,
leaving you in your vulnerable Doll Persona.
d8: Spend a Plot Point and add d6 to Trouble whenever
you have a flashback to a prior imprint and Gain a
temporary Distinction for a scene.
d12: Spend a Plot Point to Replace a die from your current
pool with the equivalent die from any prior imprint.
AI
IMPRINT TECHNICIAN
You understand more about the psyche and neural architecture than is healthy for your own sanity.
d4: Earn a Plot Point and add d6 to Trouble whenever
you Reveal that you know far too much about someones personality, motivations, or psychology.
d8: Spend a Plot Point to Increase your Afraid or
Insecure Stress pool by using neuro-linguistic techniques against someone.
OTHER TRANSHUMAN
DISTINCTIONS
97
ORIGIN
SETTING
LIFE-CHANGING EVENT
PATHWAYS
CAREER
FOCUS
ROAD
ORIGIN
RICH
You were born to great privilege prominent among the
aristocracy that the Earth Confederacy truly serves, or the
child of the Administrator of a Space Colony, or perhaps
the heir to a merchant-trading dynasty. Taught to wield
power from an early age, do you find yourself emotionally
crippled or empowered to embrace your destiny?
Rich gets: Same as the Rich choice in Smallville RPG.
Rich leads to: Science, Military or Business
Mechaville
Mechaville
EARTHER
You were born on Terra, cradled in the arms of an allproviding planetary government. Whether raised among
the administrative middle class or the laboring masses,
youve been instilled with notions of loyalty to the state,
and see the Colonies smeared as ungrateful and selfish,
withholding what others need to live. Did you buy into
this, or did you start to ask questions?
Earther gets:
Step up Duty or Truth twice or step up each once
Add a new Distinction
Step up a Resource
Step up a Relationship, Asset or Resource
Earther leads to: Military, Business or Labor
99
COLONIST
You were born in one of the Space Colonies, each orbiting one of the Sol System planets as far out as Jupiter.
Colonies perform the vital task of mining resources from
the planets via space elevator and shipping them back to
Earth. The ideals of democratic government resurfaced
in your parents generation and spread through the colonies. They are now rebelling against the totalitarian Earth
Confederacy. Do you see this movement as genuine, or
does it mask a more cynical agenda?
Colonist gets: Same as Ordinary in Smallville RPG
Colonist leads to: Business, Labor or Scavenge
SPACER
Born to space-faring wanderers, its possible youve never
been off your ship, and likely youve never set foot on
planet Earth. There are various reasons people wander the
system; self-determination and freedom from governing
bodies top the list. Whether your family gets by through
salvage, repair, intercolony trade, or dangerous excavation
of alien ruins, youve been raised with an independent
streak and mistrust for authority.
Spacer gets: same as Strange in Smallville RPG
Spacer leads to: Labor, Scavenge or Science
Mechaville
PRODIGY
You were always an unusual child, possessing an uncanny
aptitude for advanced skills. Whether a genius of science,
military tactics, psychic sensitivity, or the uniquely challenging pilot interface of Meta Frames, you have a gift that
showed itself at an early age. However, what set you apart
may have alienated you from your peers.
Prodigy gets: Same as Gifted in Smallville RPG, except
may substitute the last item for a Heritage with one free
Connected Ability.
Prodigy leads to: Scavenge, Science, or Military
CAREER
MILITARY
The life of a soldier whether a lowly grunt, proud officer, or commander is one of discipline and mettle.
And with the Solar System in turmoil, theres never been
a harder, bloodier time to serve. Did you skate through
the campaign with your head down, rise to the challenge
of duty and honor, or use your position to serve your
own agenda?
100
REVELATION
Youve discovered something amazing a new alien artifact, a chilling government secret, or a bold new stride in
human technology. Now, powerful forces will undoubtedly turn their attention to you, to control, exploit or suppress this new knowledge. Can you use it to accomplish
your ends before they catch up to you?
Revelation gets: Same as First Contact in Smallville
RPG
MONEY
Same as Money in Smallville RPG
DESTINY
Same as Destiny in Smallville RPG
FOCUS
STATUS
Same as Status in Smallville RPG
Status leads to: Lofty, Ethical or Straight and Narrow
LifeSame as Life in Smallville RPG
ROAD
All Road choices in Mechaville are identical to their
Smallville RPG counterparts.
LIFE-CHANGING EVENT
ADVANCEMENT
Same as Advancement in Smallville RPG
TRAGEDY
Same as Tragedy in Smallville RPG
NEW MECHANICS
HERITAGES
The Heritage examples in the Smallville RPG do not
apply to Mechaville. Use this Heritage Distinction for
Meta Frame Pilots:
META FRAME APTITUDE (NAME OF FRAME)
d4: Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when your
status as a Pilot attracts unwanted attention.
d8: Add a d6 to Trouble to use a Special Effect from a
connected Ability you dont have.
d12: Spend a Plot Point to access the hidden power of your
Frame, gaining an unconnected Ability for one scene
at a d6 die rating. Spend an additional Plot Point at
the end of the scene to add the new power to connected Abilities.
Mechaville
DISCOVERY
Same as Paranormal in Smallville RPG
101
MECHA SCALE
OTHER ABILITIES
AFTERWORD
Its up to you to take these ideas and flesh them out into a
full-fledged epic of brutal robotic warfare. Cortex Plus
Dramatic Roleplaying will carry you to great heights
of triumph, tragedy and titanic conflict. Seize hope in a
metal fist!
BY TOM LYNCH
BRAWYCHUS HERITAGE
103
Much of Cortex Plus Action Roleplaying is currently oriented around the Leverage episode structure.
We need to adjust that, to begin with.
The obvious first step is to re-examine the Roles;
Commander maps neatly to Mastermind, but otherwise
things change. Lay out what you want to emphasize in the
campaign; if you have a secret society of psionicists, that
could be a Role all its own, maybe replacing Hitteror
perhaps fill the same support slot as Hacker or even
Thief, while Security supersedes Hitter.
You might want to keep the Thief Role much the same
to use as an Infiltrator specialist, or expand the Hackers
domain, as so much more of the world embraces technology. Here is where your version of the space-based
Series will really become distinct from the game in the
next room.
Alien racial qualities, as with Dramatic Roleplaying,
are best treated as Distinctions, but will be simpler; the
Brawychus Distinction described earlier, for example,
works to the Crewmembers advantage when in combat
or when dealing with a race who knows of the Brawychus
honor, but to their disadvantage when their fearsome reputation doesnt helpand when you meet a new race, a
Complication or an Opportunity may define which stories they believe.
KER
SAMPLE TALENTS
MORE THAN HUMAN
Requirement: A Distinction indicating a non-human.
CHARACTER CREATION
MAKE IT SO
Requirement: Command primary Role
THE RECRUITMENT
MISSION
ENEMY STARSHIPS
107
NON-STARSHIP THREATS
108
RUNNING SCIENCE
FICTION ACTION GAMES
BY JIM HENLEY
Episodes at the End of Time lets you play an anthology
series of adventures using a variant of the Cortex Plus
Action Roleplaying rules. Player characters reappear
from episode to episode only by making themselves an
integral part of the story. (Players persist!) Character creation is quick, and much of it happens while youre playing.
A modified Situation Generator is used to set the cast and
plot of each new episode. Freed from prep, the GM becomes conductor and instigator of the fast-flowing action.
ANTHOLOGY SERIES
DYING-EARTH SCIENCE
FANTASY GENRE
Its so far in the future we cant tell you how far. Time
itself varies. The sun is small and dim, or huge and red.
Civilization has survived uncounted rises and falls, but
people can sense an end of human days. (Or maybe a renewal, as promised in legend.) Most people live primitive
lives. Isolated remnants of technology survive, but are sufficiently advanced that most people consider them magic.
There are cloistered specialists who can keep some ancient
wonders working, but theres no Scienceno culture of
positivism and experiment. Aristocracy and mercantilism
replace social democracy and market liberalism.
WHAT DO WE DO?
109
Everything starts with the Situation Generator, specifically tuned towards Dying-Earth science fantasy.
For the first Episode:
The GM rolls a d12 once on each of the five columns:
Who, What, When, Where, Why.
Each player rolls at least one d12 on the column of her
choice, but no more than three rolls on any one column.
Write each result down on a separate sticky-note or
card and spread them out.
Together, briefly discuss characters implied by the elements you rolled. The GM should quickly list these on
a single, separate card/note as everyone talks.
Players, start snapping up characters! I want to be
that guy. Grab a character sheet and dive into Fast
Recruitment.
GM, scratch elements off your list as players snatch
them up.
Once all the players have grabbed a PC, the GM is
left with a lot of scraps of paper. But good scraps! See
Sessions and Campaigns for what to do with them.
The Sit-Gen results imply more characters than just the
ones from any Who rolls you made.
Atonement implies someone atoning and someone
wronged. The slums of a great city suggests all kinds
of people.
Dont get bogged down! Get enough ideas to get started
and go. Whether GM or player:
Dont be afraid to be obvious.
Build on your fellow players idea.
Try to keep pre-play time under 30 minutes.
DIE ROLL
WHO
WHAT
WHEN
WHERE
WHY
Traveling
scholar(s)
Love letter
The eve of a
holy day
Busy thoroughfare
Escape
Entertainer(s)
between gigs
News of a lost
relative
The morning of a
public execution
A ship traveling
dangerous waters
Revenge
Magnificent
beast, theoretically tamable
A bandittroubled road
Atonement
Petty criminal(s)
and victim(s)
Just as an enemy
returns into
ones life
The ruins of
a once-proud
metropolis
Justice
Lover(s), spurned
Curiosity
Member(s) of
a great procession (pilgrimage,
caravan, army)
Relic revered by
competing sects
Slums of a
great city
Status
Important
official(s) on important business
Map to a cavern of
ancient treasures
A couple of
days since the
food ran out
Wealth
Victim(s) of a
terrible disaster
The start of a
long journey
A lonely dwelling
in the wilderness
Love or Lust
Master and
servant
An artificially
intelligent sword
The end of a
long journey
Labyrinth built by
a great civilization
Survival
10
Spacer(s) stranded
planetside
Mercy
11
Nonhuman(s)
passing as
human (alien,
mutant, robot)
An energy weapon
that sometimes works
Upon a meeting
of old friends
Renewal
12
Nonhuman(s) just
being themselves
A building whose
rooms open on
different eras
A wasteland rife
with mutates
and chimaeras
Forgetfulness
SIGNATURE ASSETS
Signature Assets: By default, you get none. But you can
buy one or two.
Step your Style or Arena d12 back to a d10 to open a
Signature Asset. This gets you either:
A d8 Asset thats fundamentally mundaneDads
Sword, an Apartment in Town, a Useful Friend.
A d6 Asset thats indistinguishable from magic
A Flying Car (yes!), a Useful Friend From The
Future, Dads Talking Sword; these should let you
do things you couldnt otherwise even attempt, like fly
or raise the dead.
ELEMENTS OF A PC
111
PLOT POINTS
You earn Plot Points for things that drive the game forward, entangle yourself with other PCs and NPCs, and
constructively engage fellow PCs in conflict. Earn them:
When you declare your first Imperative that involves
another PC (positive or negative)
When you declare your first Imperative that puts you
at odds with another PC or NPC
When you declare your second Imperative
If you finish pre-play character creation first!
When you Give In to end a Contested Action against
another PC
When you Defer or Renounce an Imperative. See
Ending an Episode
When the GM (only) spends a Plot Point to Include
extra die-values against you
Any time you roll an Imperative as a d4
For spending Plot Points, see page 13 of the Leverage
RPG.
At the end of an Episode, each player needs to know
how many total Plot Points were earned. The simplest
way to handle this is to use a distinct token type for each
player.
CHARACTERS
PRE-PLAY CHARACTER CREATION
Before you start play in earnest, do only these things.
Remember, some of these steps earn you Plot Points.
1. Get a blank character sheet.
2. Write a name and brief description.
3. Assign d12s to your top Style and Arena. Or, step a
d12 down to a d10 to open a Signature Asset, assigning a d10 instead.
4. Assign one other die from the standard array to a
Style and one other die to an Arena.
5. State at least one Imperative.
6. Choose any Signature Assets you bought.
7. Tell the GM, Im ready!
112
9. At the end of a scene you are in, you can fill in one
unfilled elementa Trait score, a Signature Asset,
or an Imperative.
Remember, once you assign a value youre stuck with
it for at least the rest of the Episode, and longer if you
replay this PC.
EXPERIENCE
Experience works just as described on pages 51-52 of
Leverage, except you cant buy or improve Talents or
Specialties.
ACTION MECHANICS
ACTIONS, SCENES AND BEATS
Episodes uses all three Cortex Plus Action Roleplaying
Types (Leverage, pages 68-75), with changes discussed
above in Dice and Complications. Also see Consequences
and Conditions below, which modifies the Taken Down
and Consequence rules.
When PCs and/or NPCs are at odds, and one side wants
something the other side just wont give them, either an
involved player or the GM can declare its time to roll
dice. The GM always gets initial say on which Action
TypeBasic, Contested, Timedwill be used.
If the GM decides to use a Basic Action, the losing side
cant turn the contest into a Contested Action. Unless the
winning side rolls a 1, then the losing side may choose
to take that Opportunity to extend the contest into a
Contested Action. The winning sides result stands and
the loser rolls again to attempt to raise the stakes. Follow
the Contested Action rules until resolved.
A Taken Down result gives the winner wide sway over
a defeated PCcapture, exile, and stolen or destroyed
Assets are just a few possible results a Taken Down character can expect. Remember the Giving In option.
Only a PCs player can declare her PC dead. You can
leave her for dead, but thats the limit. In Dying-Earth SF,
death might not be very final anyway.
SESSIONS AND
CAMPAIGNS
THE STUFF LEFT OVER
Youre the GM, looking at a pile of used sticky-notes left
over from Character Creation. Congratulations: its your
plot! Own the NPCs and setting bits suggested by the
results. Set and close scenes for the PCs, singly, in pairs,
and in groups. Give everyone a chance to satisfy their
Imperatives.
The important thing is simply to get the session
started. Stick something between a PC or two and their
Imperatives and your job gets easy. Anything could
happen. But at any given instant, only one thing has to
happen.
Timed Actions are great for things like competing
teams of PCs racing each other to the same destination.
Timed Actions also let you call for entertaining sequences of different Style + Arena combinations. Take every
excuse to throw in a Timed Action.
ENDING AN EPISODE
End an Episode when all PC Imperatives have been Won,
Lost, Renounced or Deferred.
Won: Your PC achieved the Imperative; e.g. escaped
the Temporal Thicket.
Lost: Your PC can no longer achieve the Imperative;
e.g. her husband was murdered despite her efforts.
Renounced: Your PC gives up on the Imperative; e.g.
Why are we even fighting?! Were both victims
here!
Deferred: Your PC has been balked, and youve reached
a good stopping point for the session.
Next, determine how likely it is each PC in this Episode
comes back.
Highest Sway.
Most deferred Imperatives.
Mutual agreement.
Random roll.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Design: Cam Banks and Ryan Macklin
Development: Cam Banks and Dave Chalker
Cold Fusion Setting: David Hill
Hunters of the Holy Setting: Steve Darlington
Based on the Leverage Rpg
THE BASICS
The Basics
116
GAMEMASTER
The Gamemaster provides the Mission, or adventure/scenario/situation, packed with exciting scenes, locations,
and Supporting Characters. A Supporting Character
TRAITS
Each Agents Agent Sheet is mostly a list of Traits and
related game statistics. The three main categories of
Traits belonging to Agents are Attributes, Roles, and
Distinctions. Theres also space on the Agent Sheet for
Talents, which cover special tricks and techniques the
Agents picked up in their line of work, and Plot Points,
which are a game currency you can spend to grease the
wheels in your favor. Well take a closer look at each category in a little bit. This book calls out most specific Traits
by using small caps, Like This.
Each Trait has a die rating. When that Trait comes into
play, youll roll that die. Bigger dice tend to roll higher,
but no die is safe from rolling a 1 (rolling a 1 is significantwell get to this later).
ATTRIBUTES
When it comes to describing raw physical and mental
ability, Attributes are the yardstick. Every time your
Agent does something where the outcomes uncertain,
youre going to be rolling an Attribute that relates to it.
Each Attributes die rating represents how significant
that Attribute is to your Agents performance. Every
Agent has the same six Attributes: Agility, Alertness,
Intelligence, Strength, Vitality, and Willpower.
ROLES
Your Agents place in the Agency is decided by where her
skill and expertise is most obvious. There are five broad
Traits that encompass these skills, and we call them Roles.
Your Agent has a die rating in each of the five: Brains,
Face, Muscle, Sneak, and Tech. The Role with the largest die rating is called your Primary Role, and that may
determine which Talents youre likely to pick up. You roll
one of these Traits with your Attribute whenever you do
something in the game.
Roles are also associated with Specialties, specific and
narrow fields of training. A Specialty can arguably fall
under multiple Roles, but youll need to decide on one in
particular. This covers things like driving, explosives, and
cooking. They have die ratings, too, but you can only use
them when you use the Role theyre attached to.
OTHER TRAITS
As well as your Agents Traits and any Assets or
Complications that might crop up in the course of a
Mission, many Supporting Characters are described by
Traits that are both descriptive and functional. In fact, a
Mook is not much more than a single Trait, like Seedy
Merchant, Chef, or Security Guard. Locations are
given Traits, too, when they might be useful as opposition to your Agents: Vault, Alarm System, and LaserFilled Hallway Of Death are similar to fixed Assets or
Complications that help the Gamemaster describe where
the action takes place.
TALENTS
Not every spy or special operative is the same, and this
is reflected in your Agents choice of Talents. These are
the things your Agent keeps up her sleeve or relies upon
to get the job done, and they frequently take the form of
exceptions to the normal rules. Most can only be used on
certain occasions or when some condition is met. They
dont have a die rating, but they do influence Traits that
have dice, or change dice that are already in play.
DICE
Action Roleplaying uses five different kinds of dice:
d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12. The number tells you how many
sides the die has, and the more sides, the bigger the numbers. If you see a number in front of the dsuch as 2d6
it means you roll that many dice of that type. We assume
that if theres no number there, its just a singleton.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
DISTINCTIONS
Is your Agent a Drunk? Is she Smarter han She Looks?
Maybe shes a Geek, or a Jock, or a Control Freak?
These are all examples of Distinctions, descriptive Traits
that fall outside of the area of Attributes and Roles. Most
Agents have three Distinctions. They can either help
you out or make life difficult for youor bothbut you
decide which is which, and when. Distinctions dont have
a specific die rating; how good or bad their influence is
depends on the circumstances. They exist to make playing
your Agent more interesting and, at times, get you into
all sorts of trouble.
TAKING ACTION
The Basics
117
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
COMPLICATIONS
The Basics
If you roll a 1 on any of your dice, the Gamemaster introduces a Complication. Whether your Agent succeeds
or fails at the action, a Complication means something
else has gone wrong, making life difficult.
When the Gamemaster introduces a Complication, you
get a Plot Point; aside from Distinctions, this is the main
way for you to gain Plot Points. The Gamemaster notes
down the Complicationsticky notes or index cards work
well for thisand adds a d6 next to it. For the rest of
the adventure, if that Complication comes into play, the
Gamemaster gets to roll an extra d6.
If more than one 1 comes up on your dice, the
Gamemaster may choose to step up the Complication
by one step for each additional 1 that shows on the dice.
For example, if you rolled three 1s on your dice, the
Complication starts out as d10. However, the Gamemaster
still only pays a single Plot Point.
If a Complication is ever stepped up beyond a d12, it has
overwhelmed your Agent and keeps you from acting further in the scene until its removed or no longer hinders
you. You can force action by spending a Plot Point, but
you may only keep one die for your total rather than two.
This is a severe handicap, but sometimes its necessary!
If the Gamemaster rolls a 1 on his dice, this is known
as an Opportunity, and any player can spend a Plot
Point to step an existing Complication back to a smaller
size die. A d6 becomes a d4, and a d4 goes away. If the
Gamemasters dice include multiple 1s, you may step back
existing Complications by more than one step. The player
still only pays a single Plot Point. Opportunities can also
be used to activate Talentssee page 126 for more on
Talent Activation.
COMPLICATIONS AS INJURY OR CONSEQUENCE
Complications may also represent those times when you
are hurt or suffer some manner of debilitating setback.
If a bad guy takes action against you and you fail to stop
him, youre usually at his mercy. Instead of being struck
118
GAMEMASTER FLOURISHES
If youre using the flourish die rules, the Gamemaster
doesnt pick up or use flourish dice. If the Gamemaster
rolls 5 or more than the player on his rolls, he instead
removes a flourish die from the Agent in question equal
to or less than the difficulty die he just rolled, or, if no
difficulty die was involved, the highest rolling die. If the
Agent had no flourish dice marked on her Agent Sheet
yet or no flourish dice of equal or lesser size, nothing happens. Either way, the Gamemaster narrates something to
justify the bad guy upstaging the Agent in that moment!
PLOT POINTS
Plot Points are a game currency that you spend to affect
the plot over the course of your Mission. Plot Points give
you more dice, make the dice you have more powerful,
and let you use some of your special Talents. You need
to keep track of your Plot Points somehow. One way is to
write them on your Agent Sheet as tally marks. Another
option is to use poker chips or some other kind of token
(pennies, paperclips, spent ammunitionyou get the
idea).
Everybody gets 1 Plot Point to start the Mission. Dont
worry, youll get more.
SPENDING PLOT POINTS
Plot Points can be spent to include more dice into your
total, to activate some Talents, and to create new Assets.
Including More Dice: After any roll, you may spend a
Plot Point to include more dice out of those you just rolled
in your total. In this way, your total may be three, four, or
five dice added together. The only limit to how many dice
you may add to your total is how many dice you rolled to
begin with and how many Plot Points you have available.
Activating Talents: Some of your Talents may have effects that must be activated by spending a Plot Point. Any
effect thats activated like this lasts for the duration of the
Action youre using it on; once you start a new Action,
the effect must be activated again.
Creating New Assets: You can create your own Assets
by spending a Plot Point. Your new Asset starts out as a
d6 and lasts for the rest of the scene. If you spend two Plot
Points, you can keep it for the rest of the Missionassuming something doesnt happen to remove or eliminate it. This allows you to give some dramatic weight
to an item (Length of Pipe d6), part of the scenery
(Unlocked Door d6), or even effectively create a new
The Basics
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
119
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Agent Creation
120
AGENT CREATION
So youre making your characteror Agentfor a highoctane game of Action Roleplaying. Great! Agents are
fairly quick to make, and this process is geared to get you
playing as soon as possible.
Agent Creation has two parts: making your starting
background before play and revealing details during play.
This gets you into playing faster, and it makes your first
session with this Agent feel like those movies and TV
shows where everyone finds out something cool about
each of your Agents constantly.
Each part of an Agent is described on the following
pages, along with how to make that part either before
or during play.
AGENT CONCEPT
The first thing you need is a concept. Are you some sort of
elite martial arts commando? Master of disguise? Hacker
extraordinaire? Superspy and brilliant thief? Think of a
few words that describe the Agent, and then move on to
your Action Traits.
ESTIONS
ACTION TRAITS
Your Agent has a total of eleven Action Traits, divided into six Attributes and five Roles. Some versions of
Action Roleplaying might be different. You dont select
all of your Action Trait dice ratings right up front; some
of them are assigned dice later.
ATTRIBUTES
AGILITY
This Attribute measures how quickly your body reacts
to what you want to do, how fast you can move around,
hand-eye coordination (crucial to things like firing weapons), and generally how flexible and athletic you are.
WILLPOWER
This Attribute details your mental resolve and ability to
withstand social pressure. Youll use Willpower when
youre concentrating on delicate work amidst distractions,
standing up to someone pressuring you, and even pressuring someone into caving by staring them down.
AGENT CREATION OVERVIEW
The first part of Agent Creation involves coming up with
a few core ideas.
Youll come up with a basic concept in a few words (page 120).
Then youll come up with some of your Action Traits:
Attributes (page 121) and Roles (page 122). Attributes
cover your approach to doing an action, and Roles cover
what action youre doing.
With each choice, youll be prompted with a question to
think about. You wont fill in all of the Action Traits right
away, just enough to support your basic concept.
After that, youll come up with one of your three
Distinctions (page 124). The other two will be filled
out in play.
Youll take one Plot Point as a starting Agent (page 126).
As you flesh out more details, youll gain and spend Plot
Points.
ALERTNESS
This is your ability to notice things and mental acuity,
how well you notice details others dont, react to sudden
changes in mood or environment, and think on your feet
in general. Alertness can be used actively whenever noticing things quickly is the key component to an action.
INTELLIGENCE
This reflects both vast sums of knowledge in your mind
and your ability to command that information to get
things done. That doesnt just mean what youve learned
in books, but also your experiences in life. It also covers
taking information you acquire and putting the pieces
together to form a whole.
STRENGTH
This Attribute focuses on your muscular capabilities,
useful for forcing something opened or closed, lifting
and moving things, and of course for fighting.
Action Traits
VITALITY
This covers your physical endurance; stress tolerance (like
being beaten in a fight) or your ability to survive and
thrive in extreme situations like the arctic, desert, being
underwatereven being dumped in a foreign alley where
you dont speak the language.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
CHARACTER CREATION QU
ations. (Of course, you could also be undercover, so nothing says what you come up with now is your real identity.)
The second part involves revealing new things about your
Agent in play (see Finishing your Agent During Play, page
121
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
CHOOSING ATTRIBUTES
Action Traits
122
ROLES
T he core of at tempt i ng somet h i ng i n Action
Roleplaying involves an Agents Roles. These five Traits
cover a wide variety of situations that Agents get into on
a mission. Roles are very broad, more about mindset and
the high concept of what youre doing rather than a specific set of skills. When you talk about doing something,
youll describe the action and the Gamemaster will tell
you what Role that requires.
Since Agents in Action Roleplaying are extremely
competent characters, you dont need individual skills to
tell us what you do: someone with Muscle d10 is equally
comfortable using fists, a baseball bat, firearm, rocket
launcher, wine bottle, frying pan, whatever. (Though you
might prefer one over the other, either just as a character
quirk or in the form of a Specialty, page 125.)
Many real-world situations are purely associated with
a single Rolethings like fighting, hacking, conning,
etc.that are listed with those Traits. Other situations
are flexible, as noted in Situations and Roles ( page 124).
CHOOSING ROLES
Situations: Physical fighting, gunfights, using explosive ordinance, or driving the getaway car. Includes
knowing all of the sort of stuff the heavy would
know, or an ex-soldier, or a thug.
SNEAK
The Sneak is all about action thats elusive and hidden
including your ability to detect others with those skills.
This Role is also about access, getting into places that
youre not meant to go, including locked doors, safes, and
anywhere else where physical barriers are.
Situations: Infiltrating, safecracking, avoiding notice,
casing, blending in. Its about knowing everything a
thief, scout, or similarly stealthy Agent would know.
TECH
The Tech is all about action involving gear, technology,
and, most importantly, information. This Role covers
dealing with machines and electronics, hacking into
networks to retrieve or alter data, and doing electronic
surveillance and counter-surveillance.
The Brains can be the toughest Role to play, because its usually less active than the other Roles, is tougher to pair with
physical Attributes, and also because the player has to try
to stay one step ahead of everyone else. Theres a few ways
to make this easier to manage if its an issue in your game.
First, you could just leave the Brains out altogether, either
by just not having anyone assign their d10 to it (and always
make it secondary) or drop the role completely (see page
152 for details on playing with 4 roles).
Second, instead of the combinations above, you could
make Brains a special Role that couples with the other Roles.
That would make the combinations:
Brains + Face: Research a mark and gather all the details on loved ones, habits, bank accounts, etc.; execute
a long con.
Brains + Muscle: Small or large scale tactics; battlefield
strategy.
Brains + Sneak: Develop backup plans for escape; put
key tools into place after a security checkpoint.
Brains + Tech: Plans for massive machines and other
technological undertakings.
That way, the Role becomes less focused on taking its own
actions, and more on helping the actions of the other Roles,
in much the way youd use an Attribute in the set of Action
Traits (see page 121.)
Brains + Intelligence: The go-to combination involving most analytical decisions; also recalling specific
information relevant to the plan.
Brains + Strength: Using force against a weak point or
structure; seizing advantage in a fistfight.
Brains + Vitality: Staying focused on an objective;
clearing your head of physical pain; motivating exhausted Agents.
Brains + Willpower: Improving morale when all
seems lost; asserting your own authority in a chaotic situation.
Action Traits
THE BRAINS
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
FACE
Face + Agility: Pick pockets while keeping a marks
attention; impress someone with your athleticism.
Face + Alertness: Read a room and know whos an
easy target and whos not; realize that someone else
is trying to con you; figure out someones emotional
state; fast-talk someone into give you access or letting you pass.
123
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Distinctions
124
TECH
Tech + Agility: Handle delicate work, like defusing a
bomb or tinkering with something inside a moving
vehicle.
Tech + Alertness: Find something useful among a
bunch of random parts so you can jury-rig or sabotage something; notice that a device or piece of code
is booby-trapped.
Tech + Intelligence: Construct or analyze some sort
of device or software program; recall a series of important weaknesses about a specific technical system.
Tech + Strength: Make heavy machinery do what you
want, or break it with physical strength so that it
cant be repaired anytime soon (or at all).
Tech + Vitality: Work in bitter cold or other conditions
inhospitable to either you or your tech; work into the
night and next day to get things done.
Tech + Willpower: Push tech to beyond its limits, like
that Scottish guy on the USS Enterprise.
DISTINCTIONS
Specialties
SPECIALTIES
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
CHOOSING DISTINCTIONS
CHOOSING SPECIALTIES
Youll either start with two Expert Specialties or one
Master Specialty.
Before Play: Dont write down your Specialties yet.
During Play: When you create your Specialties, you
have a choice between two Expert Specialties or one
Master Specialty.
If youre wondering why youd choose two Expert
Specialties instead of one Master Specialty, remember that each ones tied to a Role; this way you can
have two Roles covered by the same Specialty, if you
really wanted to. Whichever way you go tells everyone whether youre hyper-focused or an Agent with
breadth.
125
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
SIGNATURE ASSETS
Signature Assets
126
TALENTS
CHOOSING TALENTS
THE REST
MISSION SUCCESSES
You start with zero Mission successes. That doesnt mean
you havent been amazing before! These are used to track
getting better over time, so with every successful Mission
in play, you gain points that you can use to advance. See
Advancements on page 132 for more information.
YOUR IDENTITY
Of course, you need a name! It could be your real name,
a code name, one of many false identitiesanything to
get you started. You can (and should!) reveal more about
your identity over play, so a name is all you need at the
moment.
Likewise, having a sense of your nationality (or at least
whatever accent youre faking at the moment), government or criminal affiliation (which could be a cover), and
so on helps the first couple of scenes with other Agents
click and make sense.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
FINISHING YOUR
AGENT DURING PLAY
SURPRISING MOMENTS
If youve seen action movies where characters not only
surprise you with what they can do, but surprise the other
characters enough for them to comment, you know this
technique. Basically, when you write down a new Agent
aspect, describe with some flair how what youre doing
is awesome in a surprising or amusing fashion, and not
what people would expect to happen.
WHAT ABOUT GEAR?
Broken or Missing Gear: a Complication also might cause
basic equipment for that Role. Thats part of having that d6.
for a mission.
For d4 Roles, you dont even have that, unless its really obvi-
d4). And in those cases, the gear is likely going to cause you
Broken and lost gear should always push the story forward
somehow. Your lock picks break? They should do that when
some guards are on the way. Your awesome hacker software
suddenly corrupted? Thats because someone else is counter-
ference because someone else swiped them? You find out the
hard way when you have to fast-talk a guard into not throwing
you out.
(if you need one for a single Mission and get it during the
cial canvas.
game). In those cases, gear works like any other Asset (page
133), giving you an extra die to roll for your action. If any
to repair or retrieve it. That just means that for the moment,
youve got to live by your wits rather than rely on your tech.
up from a Complication.
lay
127
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
128
BEING DONE
Once youve filled in everything, youve got a full Agent!
No need to look at any more of these creation rules.
If you end up finishing the first session with some parts
of your Agent left open, fill them in before the next session. These rules only count for the first session of play.
(Though, if that ends up being a short session for some
reason, the Gamemaster might extend this to cover the
second session as well.)
COMPLETING BEFORE PLAYING
Playing out Agent Creation is a lot of fun! But if you dont
want to do that, its pretty simple to make a full Agent right
out of the gate.
Assign dice to all six Attributes, using either method
outlined on page 122.
Assign dice to all five Roles, as per page 122.
Write three Distinctions
Add two Specialties
Create two Signature Assets
Pick two Talents
Start with zero Mission Successes
Since you have a full Agent right away, youll treat the
first Mission just like any other, where you start with
one Plot Point.
MAKING A TALENT
If you have an idea for a Talent, youre not limited to existing ones! Here are some guidelines to making Talents
(which is more art than science). To start, look over the
list of Talents and get a sense of how they work and how
theyre written.
Then start with the Talents effectafter all, thats the
part of Talents that showcases Agents being awesome.
After that, figure out how the Talents activated. Finally,
assign a Role to it and come up with the rest of the flavor.
Manipulate Dice: This includes allowing for a reroll, nullifying Complications, etc.
Adding Dice to a Roll: This could be a specific die type
or referring to another Roles die or Attributes die.
For specific die types, make it a d6 if its frequent or
a d8 if its not. Some powerful Talents could make
the die a d10 or d12, provided the activation is correspondingly rare.
Manipulate Plot Points: Allow sharing of Plot Points
among other Agents under certain circumstances.
Manipulate Complications: Remove or suppress
Complications.
Allow Extra Benefits From Certain Actions: See the
examples in the settings on page 140 and 180.
ACTIVATION
This is the set of circumstances that allows the Talents
effect to kick in. It should be narrow enough that it doesnt
constantly come up in every scene, but not so narrow that
EFFECT
This is what the Talent does. Effects should have an
impact on that moment worth noting, but without being
overpoweringTalents with effects that make you say
Youd be crazy not to take this! need to be toned down
(or their activation made more restrictive).
Effects fall into a few broad categories.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
GOING HALFWAY
You might have a couple ideas on Agent Creation and
dont want to wait until youre playing to write them
down, but you dont want to be cheated out of the experience or the Plot Points. Go ahead and write them
down now! When you reveal that you have it, narrate that
flashback and gain or spend the Plot Point as needed. The
only difference is that you know right away what you want
to reveal, instead of discovering it in play.
The bonus to this option is that before revealing it, you
can completely change it as you react to the world in play
and discover surprising things about yourself.
lay
129
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
SAMPLE TALENTS
ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR
You can hyper-focus on the smallest details for use later.
Roles: Brains
Activation: You use Brains in a Notice Action, and
spend a Plot Point to bank an Asset for later, related to
something youve observed.
Effect: Write down the Asset, hidden from everyone else.
You cannot use the Asset in the current scene. When you
reveal the Asset at a dramatically appropriate moment in
a later scene, step it up.
EYE IN THE SKY
You are always aware of which Agents in your team could
use some extra help.
Roles: Brains
Activation: Youre in voice contact (face-to-face or
electronically) with the other Agents in your team.
Effect: Any Agent youre in contact with (including
yourself) can spend Plot Points to give a die to any
other member of your team youre in contact with (also
including yourself).
Sample Talents
DIRTY FIGHTER
You shot first.
Roles: Muscle
Roles: Brains
COLD READ
You gain startling insights into someone you just met.
Roles: Muscle
Roles: Face
130
1337 HACKER
Youve never met anyone as good as you at hacking.
Roles: Tech
MASTER OF DISGUISE
Your disguises are so convincing that you seem to be an
entirely different person.
Roles: Face
Roles: Tech
Activation: Spend a Plot Point.
Effect: Give another member of your team an extra d8
Asset by reminding him of the sweet piece of gadgetry
you gave him.
INSPIRED GENIUS
And to think they called you mad
Roles: Tech
Activation: You make a roll with Tech that involves a
hard science like physics or chemistry.
NO SWEAT
You shine when under a crunch.
UNUSUAL FIGHTER
You have an unpredictable fighting style.
Roles: Sneak
Roles: Any
PICKPOCKET
No wallet, keycard, or mobile phone is safe from you.
Roles: Sneak
Roles: Any
DRIVING ACE
Youre right at home behind the wheel of any kind of
vehicle.
Roles: Sneak
Roles: Any
Sample Talents
Effect: You may add a d8 to the roll and include one more
die in the result. You dont gain any Plot Points for any
Complications that arise from this Action.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
GADGETEER
You are sure to equip everyone in your team with some
extra tech just in case.
Effect: You may add your Alertness die to the roll and
include one more die in the result. If youre already using
your Alertness die, add a d8.
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
ADVANCEMENTS
While Agents start with as competent, experienced professionals, they change and grow during the course of the
Missions they take on happen during the game.
Each time your Agent completes a Mission, make a
note of the Missions name on your character sheet. This
is the Agents Record, and over time it provides history
of the Agents accomplishments.
CALLBACKS
The Agent may use the Record to make callbacks, references to events from other Missions that may be useful
towards the current Mission. To make a callback, the
Agent makes a reference to a Mission in her Record while
performing a task. While the name of the Mission might
be referenced explicitly, its more stylish to say something
like This is just like that time in Malta. When a callback is used in this way, the character may gain a benefit
immediately for anything that a Plot Point could be used
for. You can only make a callback to a specific Mission
once per session.
TRAINING UP
Advancements
OTHER CHANGES
Sometimes, Agents are changed by the events, or players
are no longer satisfied with options they have selected for
their Agents. If you want to adjust your Signature Assets,
Distinctions, or Talents, discuss with the GM some ways
to change that make sense and is mutually agreeable.
THE MISSION
This section covers the rules of the game, the nuts and
bolts of Action Roleplaying that directly influence the
outcome of the Mission.
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MANAGING TRAITS
READING TRAITS
Because higher dice mean a better chance of success, its
easy to assume that the only meaning to them is numeric.
A d6 is better than a d4 and so on. And, yes, thats true as
far as it goes, but theres more to it than that. Dice have
a meaning that goes a bit deeper than the straight numbers. The trick is that a d4 may be the lowest value, but
it actually means that the Trait is more important than
if it were a d6. While a d6 just means that something is
unremarkable, a d4 is a flag for something thats likely to
go wrong. This is why the Gamemaster is always happy
to give you extra d4s to rolltheyre unlikely to raise the
total of the roll, but they greatly increase the odds of rolling a Complication. Similarly, any time you can get the
Gamemaster to roll some d4s, it increases your chance of
getting an Opportunity. In plain English, when you see
the Trait values, they really read like this:
Managing Traits
d4Something Interesting
d6Dull
d8Noteworthy
d10Scary
d12Aw, Hell No!
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
ASSETS
Assets cover anything going in the Agents favor. Most
often, Assets enter play when a player spends a Plot Point
to create one. For a single Plot Point, you can create a d6
Asset thats useful for the duration of a scene, and for
2 Plot Points it remains useful for the duration of the
Mission. Some Talents improve this abilityTechs, for
example, are often at an advantage when coming up with
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
134
ACTIONS, SCENES,
& BEATS
BEATS
A beat is basically the smallest dramatic unit of the story.
If two characters exchange a password, thats a beat. If
an Agent picks a lock, thats a beat. If an Agent hides
behind a dumpster as thugs run past, thats a beat. If an
Agent spends hours researching a problem, thats a beat.
The trick is that it doesnt matter how long or short the
activity is, but how simple it is.
TAKING ACTION
VARIATIONS ON ACTIONS
Some examples of Basic Action variations include the
Notice Action and the Role Action, but anything you
can imagine taking place in one beat with a specific endgoal counts. Lifting a wallet, cracking a code, knocking a
guard unconscious, or scaling a wall might all be suitable
Basic Actions. Most of the time, the Gamemaster is the
one who calls for these Actions, which is why he rolls his
dice first to set the stakes.
NOTICE ACTIONS
Anytime you want to get a read on somebody, case a
scene, spot something out of the ordinary, or generally just use your senses, youre rolling a Notice Action.
Generally, these are based on Alertness, but you could
make a case for Intelligence or Willpower if the
situation is more about putting two and two together
ROLE ACTIONS
Like other Basic Actions, the Role Action is a single roll of
the dice to really exploit something a given Role is suited
for. In this case, though, the Agent using a Role Action is
setting the stakes, as opposed to trying to beat the stakes
the Gamemaster sets. With a Role Action, the oppositions
a Supporting Character. Role Actions set up the situation
in such a way as to make further actions more successful. One of the most common is the Face Action, based
(obviously) on the Face Role.
A Face Action starts with adding Face to the Action
Pool. Then, its a matter of choosing Willpower (for forcing your impression on the opposition), Alertness (for
sensing the right moment or exploiting the oppositions
tells), or Intelligence (for a display of knowledge, facts,
or logic). Roll the dice, spend any Plot Points, and when
youre done, youve set the stakes. The Gamemaster has
to roll higher than this to win.
The opposition to a Face Action (or any Role Action) is
a character, who the Gamemaster usually rolls for with
an appropriate Trait based on resisting what the Agent is
trying to do, plus a die for how difficult it is for the Agent
to impress the Supporting Character. If the Gamemaster
doesnt raise the stakes set by the Agent, the Role Action
works. If the Gamemaster does raise the stakes, it just
means you didnt really make an impression, set up the
situation, or move things along.
(Intelligence) or ignoring a lot of distractions and remaining focused (Willpower). The situation also tells
you which Role to roll in. For instance, if its sizing up
a bad guy, its Muscle. If its computer-based, its Tech.
The Gamemaster usually calls for a Notice Action, though
its just as valid for a player to ask for it. The stakes for a
Notice Action are set by rolling a straight 2d6unless
the Gamemaster decides otherwise.
With a successful Notice Action (you roll higher than
the Gamemaster), you gain some crucial information or
gather some useful intel. Most of the time you can use
this as justification for a cool Asset in a later scene. If
you spend a Plot Point after you succeed at your Notice
Action, you can bank the Asset until you need it, rather
than using it in the scene youre in. For instance, if you
see that the bad guys second security thug is a twitchy
kind of guy, you could bring in Nervous Number Two
d6 in the next scene, once you confront him.
With a failed Notice Action, youre not standing there
staring out into space, but you wont be able to get anything useful for later. If you dont beat the stakes set by
the Gamemaster, its business as normal, essentially.
Some Talents specifically work with Notice Actions.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Actions, Scenes, & Beats
136
two sides are involved, all sides roll their dice and the one
that gets the highest total has set the stakes. The other
sides can then choose to either give in right away (This
aint the fight for me!) or roll to raise the stakes.
WINNING THE FIGHT
As soon as youve raised the stakes high enough that
your opponent isnt able to beat it with his own total,
youve come out on top. Your opponents been Taken
Outknocked out, incapacitated, tied up, buried under
a mound of furniture, deeply embarrassed, whatever
and hes out of the action for the remainder of the scene.
If youre the one who lost, your Agents at the mercy of
the Gamemaster and the bad guys who won. Generally,
this leads to a scene where your Agents stuffed in a locker,
strapped to a chair in the bad guys warehouse by the
docks, or some other nasty situation.
Either way, there arent any long-lasting game effects
for losing a Fight Action, unless you came up with some
Complications during the course of it. As far as the
Mission goes, however, things may have gone completely
south if youre out of the picture and your Crew has to
come and rescue you.
You can automatically take down somebody by raising
the stakes by 5 or more (an Extraordinary Success). This
only works with a single opponent, however; if theres a
mob, this translates to taking down multiple goons in one
go. See Ganging Up later in this section.
GIVING GROUND: TAKING A COMPLICATION
After any beat in a Fight Action, if you think youre going
to lose the next beat and you dont want to be taken
down, you can instead choose to give ground, AKA take
a Complication (or step up an existing Complication
thats appropriate). You have to decide this before you
roll dice to raise the stakesyou need to make the decision before the dice leave your hand. When you give
ground, the other side wins the exchange, but you get to
walk (or jump, or fall) from the scene, taking only a d6
Complication as a consequence (like Bloodied d6 or
Exhausted d6). That Complication lasts until the end of
the next scene, unless you take care of it earlier, and the
Gamemaster decides what the Complication is.
You can, if you like, choose not to leave the scene but
shift to somewhere else within it. Say you spent one beat
going at it with the hired heavy in the stairwell, but he
kept the advantage and you chose to give in. You take
that d6 Complication and move the fight to the parking structure, starting another Fight Action in the next
beat. Of course, now the hired muscle has an extra die
to roll thanks to your Complication. You sure you want
to keep this up?
TIMED ACTIONS
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
GANGING UP
Supporting Characters often gang up in the desperately
misguided belief that more thugs are somehow more
dangerous. Youd think theyd learn, but no amount of
evidence seems to be able to persuade them. So, as long
as they keep doing it, heres how you handle it.
Each additional opponent adds a single die to the oppositions dice pool equal to the highest Trait they could
use in the fight. This doesnt change the number of dice
added together to set or raise the stakes (its still two), just
the number of dice rolled. The most common example of
this is a gang of six Thugs d6, which amounts to a roll of
6d6 (first thug is d6, each additional thug adds another
d6, so its 6d6).
Every time you raise the stakes against a side thats
got multiple assisting characters, you also knock one of
their dice away and they dont provide any more help.
This represents whittling away the opposition, one ugly
mook at a time. If you happen to raise the stakes by 5 or
more with an Extraordinary Success, you take out two of
the extra mooks instead of taking down the whole mob.
Once you get down to a single opponent, though, no more
dice get knocked off.
You and your fellow Agents can gang up in the same
fashion, handing over a single die of the appropriate type
to the player whose Agent is leading the charge. This is
risky because if the opponent raises the stakes, that die
gets removed, and the Agent is taken out (as if he had lost
the fight). Most Agents find this risk is a good argument
for letting the professionals do their jobs. Even if you
help an Agent out on one roll, though, you can always
choose to drop out before the dice are rolled to raise the
stakes next time.
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
ESTABLISHMENT FLASHBACKS
An Establishment Flashback creates an Asset and fills in
some of the story, thereby changing what is true about
past events.
To use an Establishment Flashback, somebody has to
trigger it, either one of the Gamemasters Supporting
Characters (How do you plan to get out of this one?)
or another Agent whos in the scene with you (I sure hope
you did that thing earlier.) You can then describe a brief
monochromatic flashback moment of your Agent doing
something, hand a Plot Point over to the Gamemaster or
the player who triggered the flashback, and youve got a
d6 Asset you can roll into your next action.
If you dont have anybody around to trigger the flashback for you, you can still make use of an Establishment
Flashback. You hand over a Plot Point to the Gamemaster,
like normal. In this case, however, you also have to roll
for it. Describe the scene, but now roll dice appropriate to
the Action you took in the past. The Gamemaster rolls his
own dice to set the stakes, based on the situation (usually
its d6 +d6, but it could be more than that). If you raise
the stakes, you get the Asset to use in the current scene. If
you fail, you dont, but youve still introduced that reveal.
Its up to the Gamemaster to explain why it doesnt necessarily help you out, even though it happened.
WRAP-UP FLASHBACKS
A Wrap-Up Flashback is a series of Basic Actions
played around the table by all the Agents at the end of a
Mission or at some critical point. The Crews Brains usually initiates it, because it uses the Brains Role and sets
up a final blow against the villains own plans.
Each Agent participating in the wrap-up plays out his
or her own individual Establishment Flashback, setting
up some cool thing he did that helps the Brains out or
tilt the odds in the Agents favor. The Brains player can
suggest an idea, but its best if the other players use whats
already happened on the Mission to think of the scene on
their own. Going around the table, each player describes
his or her flashback. They each spend a Plot Point in order
to take part; the Brains can spend the Plot Point for the
player, in which case he also gives the player his Brains
die to add to the pool of dice.
In almost every case, the Agent is the active party and
rolls dice first, setting the stakes. Then the Gamemaster
rolls an appropriate response.
If the players roll is a success (the Gamemaster failed to
raise the stakes) the Agent gives the Brains a d6 Asset
or may step up an existing Asset by one. No Asset can
ever be stepped up higher than d12.
If the players roll is a failure (the Gamemaster rolled
higher) the Agents efforts didnt have any real effect
on the wrap-up. The Gamemaster can describe why it
didnt help, but its better to let the player do that. Own
that screw-up! Itll make you a better person afterward.
Trust me.
Dont worry about Complications on any of these
Flashback scenes. If you roll a 1 when youre taking your
turn in a Wrap-Up Flashback, it just gets left out of the
total.
Once everybody but the Brains has had a shot at setting up the big reveal, its the Brains turn. His player
rolls an appropriate Attribute (usually Intelligence or
Alertness, but exceptions might present themselves)
+ Brains, also adding in all of the Assets his buddies
produced for him (and any that were already out there).
The Gamemaster then rolls for the villains, throwing in
as many Complications and other things that weigh in
the villains favor as currently are in play; this is no time
to be timid.
MINOR CHARACTERS
Any character that isnt a significant headliner in the
Mission, but is nevertheless going to interact with the
Agents in some fashion, gets at least three Traits that can
be anything. They dont have to be Attributes, Roles, or
Distinctions. Theyre just dice with appropriate labels, like
Corrupt Lawman d8, Fat d4, Big Nightstick d8. The
Gamemaster could also choose three Attributes he thinks
are significant and add a single Role, for a trimmed-down
Agent. The Gamemaster has a lot of flexibility with Minor
Characters, and can usually come up with them fairly
quickly if needed.
MOOK CHARACTERS
Mooks are unnamed characters with only one die.
Generally theyre useful because theyre the additional
die the Gamemaster rolls when he assigns a difficulty
die to an Agents opposition pool. They can also gang up
with a Minor or Major Character by just adding their
die to a roll. Something as simple as Hired Assassin
d10, Grizzled Scout d8, or Cut-Rate Thief d6 works
just fine. If you like, add another Trait in during play as
things progress. The Gamemaster can upgrade any Mook
Character to a Minor Character in this way.
Supporting Characters
SUPPORTING
CHARACTERS
MAJOR CHARACTERS
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
COLD FUSION
INTRODUCTION
Cold Fusion
A UNIVERSE AT WAR
At the tipping point, when the Cultivators attack, a few
species have the power to take up arms. These are not the
only species represented in the universe, just a taste of
whats out there. Choose which species you are by selecting it as one of your Distinctions.
140
RAKTAN
The Raktan people are immense, averaging eight to ten
feet of muscle, external bone, and leathery joints. To
humans, they look almost reptilian, and share many
biological features with large saurians. Theyre fierce
combatants from a no-nonsense tribal society that values
honesty and loyalty above all else. They dont trust the
Bellem, since they cannot naturally communicate. The
two cultures have developed minor computerized methods of communication, but theyre limited.
BELLEM
The Bellem are wiry, soft green beings that stand roughly
human height. Theyre genderless, and each one looks
identical to the last. Its impossible to determine differences by appearances alone; they differentiate through a
complex system of scents and subsonic sounds. They also
do not speak in any traditional manner, but communicate
telepathically. Fortunately, theyre able to communicate
with humans this way.
SINTRA
The Sintra are an eight-limbed, fur-covered species that
come from a planet covered in deep, thick jungles. They
hide like no other species in the universe, and can sense
acutely in any environment. Theyve expressed suspicion
of humanity, since the Cultivator menace reared its head
shortly after their arrival in collective space. They look
vaguely arachnid to human observers.
HUMANITY
Humanity is a young species, new to the cosmic community. They maintain a rugged, individualist approach
in their dealings.
RESCUES
In a Rescue, your character saves a small population of
potential casualties. Perhaps she rushes them onto an
escape shuttle. Maybe she leads them to cover. She might
defend them with her psychic shields or heal them with
her advanced medical tech. You can use Rescues to develop Talents, Specialties, Signature Assets, or secondary
Roles. As well, you can declare Distinctions, but the other
players must come up with the specific Distinction you
get.
Describe the rescue, and how it uses the relevant Trait,
and make a roll. For Rescues, the Gamemaster should
roll a d8 difficulty die plus Chaotic Situation d6 to
set the stakes. If the Talent would take a Plot Point, its
free this time. If the player succeeds, take the Trait, and
describe how your character accomplishes the rescue. If
the Gamemaster raises the stakes, you can either raise
the stakes right back, or take a Plot Point and make the
Rescue a Failing (see below).
Here are the five Roles, which replace the basic Action
Roleplaying roles as described on page 122. Each has
a handful of Talents. These Talents work differently than
Action Roleplaying by default. Each has two effects: a
normal version and a maxed version. The normal version is free to use. The maxed version costs a Plot Point
to activate.
CONFIRMED KILLS
In a Confirmed Kill, your character takes out one or more
Cultivators in an impressive, cinematic fashion. Choose
a Talent, Role, Signature Asset, or Specialty. If the Talent
would take a Plot Point, its free this time. Make a roll. The
Gamemaster should roll a d8 difficulty die and Chaotic
Situation d6 to set the stakes. If the player succeeds, take
the Trait, and describe how your character takes down the
COMMANDER
The Commander Role is in charge of keeping the squad
together. He acts as leader, as diplomat, and as a moral
hub for the group. Use Commander any time youre dealing with others through persuasion or threats, or when
youre dealing with squad mates or developing tactics. A
primary Commander should always be ready to delegate,
diffuse, and decide.
WRAPPING UP
Wrap the Tipping Point at any logical point, or when the
players all have full characters. If characters arent complete, players can fill out their remaining Traits before the
first Mission, or during play through additional Rescues,
Failings, and Confirmed Kills. The wrap-up should be
a cinematic conclusion, usually involving a large alien
monstrosity or a massive rescue effort.
Cold Fusion
FINAL NUMBERS
In the end, you should have all of your Roles and
Attributes defined. You should have two Talents, either
one or two Specialties, two Signature Assets, and three
Distinctions (including your species Distinction).
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
THE ROLES
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
COMMANDER TALENTS
FIRST AID
Your Commander has constant eyes on the battlefield, and
can intervene when his troops are in danger.
Normal: When a squad mate is making a roll that would
lead to her being knocked out, she can spend a Plot Point
to add your Commander die, if youre present.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point to return a squad mate to play
when shes been knocked out.
LEGENDARY
Your Commander is the stuff of war stories. Hes walked
close to death many times, and will always come back for
more.
Normal: Once per scene, when you are knocked out, gain
a Plot Point.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point when facing death. Return
from the brink at a dramatically appropriate time, and
count an additional die in your next roll.
MOTIVATION
Your Commander is a master of rousing speeches, and
knowing just the right thing to keep his squad fighting at
its level best.
Cold Fusion
142
SNIPER TALENTS
CLOAKING FIELD
With a little tech, and a lot of skill, your Sniper can move
throughout the battlefield without being seen.
Normal: Until your character engages in combat, she
can go uninhibited and unnoticed by anything without
advance scanning technology or psychic abilities. This
Talent must be activated when nobody can see her.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point to engage the cloaking field
in plain sight.
KILL SHOT
Your Sniper is an expert at hitting at the right place, at
the right time, to maximize the damage caused. She has
to take a moment to aim for Kill Shot to work.
Normal: You can reroll a single die on a roll to shoot an
opponent. You have to take the second total.
PERFECT SENSES
Your Sniper has trained her senses to a fine point. She
always notices details and ambushes before they become
problems.
Normal: Your character automatically succeeds in any
Notice Action.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point when making a Notice
Action. Not only does your character succeed, but the
Gamemaster must give you an important detail, and you
get a d8 when acting on that detail.
SOLDIER
The Soldier Role is the iconic combatant. Psychics and
Engineers use tricks to win a fight. Snipers use subtlety
to get one good shot. The Soldier just focuses on using
the right gun at the right time, and making bullets fly
in all the right places. Any general athletic rolls use the
Soldier Role, as well as rolls to take a hit or to endure the
environment.
SOLDIER TALENTS
GRENADE BOMBARDMENT
Your Soldier is always prepared. If the preparation needed
is a bandoleer of grenades, that is. He can toss a few off
with a moments notice.
Normal: You can add a d6 to any Fight Action against a
crowd of enemies.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point during any Fight Action
against a crowd of enemies. No matter the results of the
Fight Action, even if youre knocked out, theyre knocked
out at the end.
Cold Fusion
SNIPER
The Sniper stays back in the shadows, removing her enemies quickly and silently. Shes an expert at both starting
fights, and ending them. Any time your character has to
use espionage to solve problems, or go unseen, use the
Sniper Role.
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
PSYCHOKINESIS
Your Psychic can lift and throw things with his mind. With
effort, he can throw them with the force of a deadly weapon.
GUNZERKER
Your Soldier can unleash a massive hail of bullets from
multiple guns at the same time.
Normal: You can use multiple weapon Assets and
Signature Assets in the same roll.
Maxed: Spend a Plot Point to step up all gun Signature
Assets in a single roll.
SUPPRESSING FIRE
Your Soldier is adept at filling the battlefield with bullets.
This forces enemies to take cover, or to take a shot.
Normal: Enemies must make a choice: Step down their
biggest die once, or take the SUPPRESSED Complication.
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
CULTIVATORS
Cold Fusion
CULTIVATOR TALENTS
CARAPACE
The dense carapace on this type of Cultivator rejects any
attacks of limited strength. An Agent cannot roll d6s
against this Cultivator. Ignore the results of those dice
completely, unless they provide Complications.
144
DEVASTATOR
This Cultivator causes mobs of Cultivators around it
to explode when engaging the enemy. When in a Fight
Action, give the Agent a Plot Point. Roll an extra d6, and
count it to the total. If you do this, the mob explodes,
regardless of whether or not it knocks out the Agent.
HIVE MIND
With this Talent, the Cultivator becomes a hub of a hive
mind. All mobs in its presence roll an additional d6 in
all Fight Actions.
GHOST
This Cultivator can cloak itself like a Sniper, clouding
the minds of onlookers. Give the players a Plot Point to
prevent a Fight Action against it. It cannot be attacked
while cloaked, and can only be revealed by a Psychic, or
by taking a Fight Action of its own.
IMMORTAL
A Cultivator with this Talent never dies, so long as it has
another body to jump to. If its knocked out, you may
give the player a Plot Point and possess a member of a
Cultivator mob, so long as theres still a mob standing.
MASSIVE
This Cultivator is enormous, towering over land vehicles
and crushing people with a single step. Add a d12 to all
its rolls. However, when multiple characters take a Fight
Action against it, they all roll their dice together, and take
the highest three against it.
POSSESS
With this terrifying Talent, a Cultivator can possess a
living being of any species. An Agent can prevent this
Talent by spending a Plot Point or raising the stakes
against the Cultivator with a Psychic roll. Other characters get no such resistance. When the Cultivator leaves
the body for a new one, the old body dies.
RAVAGE
A Cultivator with this Talent has massive jaws, a devastating weapon, or some other implement of massive harm.
Always add a d4 to Fight Actions, and add three dice to
the total instead of two.
THE PITCH
AGENT CREATION
Recovering the lost treasures of history requires a lot more
than scholarly acumen. Relic hunters and tomb raiders
will find their skills much in demand, as will other kinds
of troubleshooters and operators.
Hunters of the Ho
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
ly
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Hunters of the Ho
ly
146
Scholar + Willpower: Swallowing the hideous delicacy without grimacing to show the tribe you know
their ways; avoiding being distracted by the fascinating insights into Sumerian agriculture while the
demon tries to escape; staying alert after staying up
all night cataloging slimes, molds and fungi.
SCHOLAR TALENTS
COLLECTOR
The Library of Alexandria? Warehouse 23? Theyve got
nothing on your collection of arcane and powerful items
you collected on your many travels.
Roles: Scholar, Tech
Activation: Choose a location in your games setting,
representing your personal collection of artifacts or
your laboratory, etc. This Talent only works while in this
location.
Effect: If anyone spends a Plot Point to add an Asset in
this location, it begins at d8.
FIND THE WEAKNESS
It may be a time-travelling demon, an undead slime monster, or an alien super-genius, but it still has a weakness.
Study long enough, and youll find it.
Roles: Scholar
Activation: You are in a scene featuring an opponent and
the Gamemaster rolls an Opportunity.
Effect: Spend a Plot Point to invent a weakness in your
opponent. From then on, when you or any of your team
attack the opponent you may aim for the weak point by
removing his highest rolling die and then adding three
dice to make your total.
THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENED
Once you have the pieces, you can solve the puzzle: Who
did what, to whom, in which room, and with which household object, even if it happened a thousand years ago.
Roles: Scholar
Activation: You trigger an Establishment Flashback
yourself (and pay the Plot Point as usual).
Effect: Add a d8 to your roll. Also, you may use this
Flashback to establish a Complication for an opponent,
instead of an Asset for you.
Hunters of the Ho
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
THE SETTING
ly
THE HOST
Angels are a diverse breed, varying in form and function as the Godhead designed them, and acquiring ever
more variety from any prolonged time away from Heaven
and contact with humans. Those who have fallen are less
likely to be monstrous, being bound to human form, but
will thus also be harder to find. The angels also vary in
their devotion to or understanding of their cause. Some
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ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Hunters of the Ho
ly
148
are still waging war in the Heavens, and ignore everything else. Some still see humans as innocents that must
be protected at all costs. Many are instruments of pure,
unfettered judgment that care nothing for human ideas
of morality. Many. Not all.
THE HORDE
The legions of Hell dont pretend it was all a frame-up
or that they have a heart of gold. Theyre realists, is all.
What matters is the world itself, not Heaven and Hell.
They want what everyone wants, what everyone deserves:
a nice place to live, and to be themselves. How much they
think this should impact the life of the average human
depends on the individual demon, and they are even
more varied than angels. Their forms are manifold, and
deception is their art form. And most frightening of all
for most humans: they look exactly like angels, for they
were cut from the same cloth. No horns or halos: both
are creatures of fire and madness in their true forms, and
both look like humans when they fall.
THE TAKEN
Celestials are creatures of purity: pure force, pure emotion. To be Taken is not simply to be possessed, but transformed. Rarely can the human beneath be salvaged after
the transformation is completewhich is not to say they
necessarily become something entirely alien or bestial.
Those who retain the ability to think, plan, and gather resources can and have done so, and will bring their extensive forces to bear against anyone who tries to take their
toys away. While most of the Taken are unique, patterns
exist and some even suspect that whole races of Taken
may exist. Whether this is because of hosts of angels with
similar powers, or because minute particles of the Demon
of Infection are being passed into victims blood systems
via biting the jugular vein, nobody is yet sure.
IGNUS DEI
The largest collection of historical artifacts in the world
lies inside the vaults of the Vatican. Of all the Relics
known or suspected to exist, the Catholic Church likely
already possesses half of them. They are not about to give
up the rest, not least because they believe they are theirs
by right. There is also the fact that many in the church
know or strongly suspect the Final War has begun, and,
either out of parochial pride or pure survival instinct,
believe this is a chance for the Church to regain dominance over the Earth. The Catholic Church never does
anything by halves, and it does not intend to shun the
spotlight for the final curtain, so it is bringing its full
force to bear on this issue. The body of the Church pursuing the acquisition of Relics is the secret society of Ignus
THE RELICS
Celestials vary greatly in their power; so too do the relics
that hold their power. As a general rule, the most powerful angels and demons walked the Earth longest ago, and
made their gambits for power when it was much easier to
raise a giant army of nomad horsemen and try to conquer
the Earth. Therefore almost all of the most powerful relics
are thousands of years old. Lesser angels are legion, however, and lesser relics can be found across all of history. It
was and is still common for wizards and monarchs alike
to bedeck themselves with as many talismans as they can
find, growing in power with each one they add to their
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Powers: The wearer reduces by one step all fire- or heatbased Complications, and may add a d6 to any rolls made
while suffering under said Complications. The wearer
may spend a Plot Point to ignore any such Complications
for an entire Scene.
THE DEVILS COIN
Level: d8
Description: A gold coin approximately four inches in
diameter, stamped with the fierce visage of an unknown
Mesoamerican god or demon. Possibly from the Toltec
empire.
History: Found by Catholic Spanish explorers in the 17th
century, it appears in records throughout the history of
the Mexican colonies. After the gold rush, tales of the coin
appear among California settlers, and now stories of its
legend are told as folk tales to Las Vegas tourists. Some
say it was thrown into the famous Bellagio Fountain by
its last owner.
Hunters of the Ho
ly
149
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
Hunters of the Ho
ly
150
Level: d10
Level: d12
d6Uncanny
d8Amazing
d10Incredible
Beyond
Hunters of the Ho
d12Miraculous
EXAMPLE RELICS
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
DIE RATING
ly
The Emera ld Tablet, The Unlock godlike superhuman Destroy the world or build
Obsidian Mirror, Mjolnir, powers permanently for you it anew; rewrite the time
Aladdins Lamp
and others
lines; forever alter rules of
physics or causality
151
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
CUSTOMIZING
ACTION TRAITS
RESKINNING ROLES
The most basic way to change your Action game is to
change the Roles, since theyre how you describe what
youre doing.
SETTING
The Roles inform what your Agents do in a given settingthe basic five being about the heist or espionage
film. Youll see different Roles in the included settings:
Cold Fusion and Hunters of the Holy. For a setting
thats more like a Le Carre Cold War Berlin story and
less like a Mission: Impossible vibe, changing Muscle
to something darker, like Killer makes it feel different
when you describe your actions. Rolling Intelligence +
Killer leads to a different mindset than Intelligence +
Muscle, even if the actions covered are the same.
Likewise, maybe youd throw Tech out, for a setting
that isnt about slick gadgetry and hacker access. The
and make stuff explode part of Tech could be covered
by a Muscle Talent that simply allows you to roll your
Muscle die when dealing with explosives.
You could also split up a large Role for a setting with
nuance in that department. Face is pretty universal, but
in setting with a prominent seedy criminal underbelly
and an equally prominent high society, you might split
Face up into Criminal and Socialite. They cover the
same set of actions, but in very different situations.
LANGUAGE
Nothing says that Roles actually need to be about, well,
Roles. Theyre really just giant sets of skills with occasional overlap and a sense of flair. You could just as easily
call them Skill Sets and use different, broad terms. If we
did that for the five Roles, we would probably call them
thoughts and emotions, but that setup will keep the same
quick pace of Action Roleplaying.
If you change the number of Attributes, use the following setups. Note that none of these have the dual setup
that six Attributes do:
RESKINNING ATTRIBUTES
As with Roles, if youve got a list that has more than six
or fewer than three, you need to revise that list.
CATEGORY
See this entry in Roles for ideas. The only difference is
that youll stop describing the way youre doing actions
with broad comments about hyper-competent physical
and mental aspects. But thats all right! When you change
the Attribute category to something else, make sure
whatever youre adding in compensates for that change
of description.
For instance, you could just as easily use the Motivations
idea to replace Attributes, and keep the Roles as they are.
Itll feel a little less like an action movie, and more like
an intrigue movie as youre constantly revealing inner
LANGUAGE
Changing how you describe the f lair or spin with
Attributes has as much impact as changing how you describe what youre doing with Roles. As with Roles, there
are many different ways to tweak the language.
You might start by just renaming one or two Attributes,
to better fit a given theme. With the swashbuckling idea
above, maybe Alertness becomes Wits, since both are
roughly the sameabout noticing things and reacting
quickly in a mental capacity. And saying Im using my
Wits! is a lot more in keeping with that vibe.
You could also combine or collapse them down into a
smaller set. Alertness and Agility are mental/physical analogs, as are Strength and Intelligence, and
Vitality and Willpower. If you dont care for the
mental/physical split, you could instead go with Finesse
(for Alertness and Agility), Power (for Strength
and Intelligence), or Resolve (for Vitality and
Willpower).
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
153
ACTION ROLEPLAYING
TYPED DISTINCTIONS
CHANGING TALENTS
There are already rules for making your own Talents,
and we talk above about how changing Roles means also
having to reexamine all the Talents, so the primary thing
to talk about here is changing the number of Talents for
an Agent.
Talents reflect special tricks that an already hyper-competent Agent has. Adding tricks increases that competency and gives the players more toys to play with, but that
adds a cost: having to keep in mind all the different special rules that your Agent has (and for the Gamemaster,
all the special rules every Agent has). After a while, thats
not worth the increased number of Talents.
Keep the maximum number of starting Talents to two.
If you want a simpler game of Action Roleplaying,
strip Talents out completelyespecially for a one-shot
of convention game where youre introducing the game
to people, Talents arent core to how Action works.
You could also do one Talent, either as a way to give
players something to try out in your game, or to reflect
that the Agents are young recruits or trainees just getting
into the profession.
All that said, if youre playing with advancement, gaining Talents over time is perfectly fine. Thats slowly adding
new options while getting used to the options already attached to an Agent, which doesnt create the same burden
as starting with a lot of Talents.
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
ROLES
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
WELL, ACTUALLY...
In the Smallville RPG, Features can spend Plot
Pointsthe GM pays out of her unlimited pool and
gives the Leads player a Plot Point for their trouble.
If thats your preference, go for it.
Many of the rules in this book are meant to streamline, but not necessarily supersede, the rules in the
Smallville RPG.
155
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Introduction
156
TRAITS
DICE
Like all Cortex Plus games, Dramatic Roleplaying
uses dice to help determine how conflict gets resolved.
Whenever a Lead faces off against Features, other Leads,
or challenges and speed bumps created by the GM, the
players pick up dice to see how the situation resolves and
to help to build the story.
In Dramatic Roleplaying, all Traits have die ratings. The more sides a die has, the better your chances of
success. It also reflects competency or attachment to the
thing the die defines. So, if you have a d8 in the Value
Love, (more on Values on page 157) youre much more
motivated by love than someone who has a d6 in Love.
This holds true for any Trait your character possesses. The
higher the die, the better you are at or with it, and the
more important what it represents is for your characters.
The dice used in the game are:
d4 = Troublesome: This frequently complicates your life.
d6 = Average: Whatever. You guess this is important.
Sometimes.
You tell your stories, you take your Leads on adventures, and you put them head to head against each other
and against the perils and challenges of your living and
breathing setting. But when do you roll the dice?
Dont sweat it; there are actually two times you roll the
dice and theyre pretty easy to define. You roll the dice
when a Lead does something risky (a Test,) or when your
Lead is trying to get something from or out of someone
else (a Contest.) Its that simple. But lets break it down
a bit further.
THE TEST
THE CONTEST
Heres the meat of Dramatic Roleplaying: when your
Lead runs into direct conflict with other significant
characters, you may enter a Contest. You have to want
something from them, and they have to not be willing to
give it to you without putting up a fight. Often, this manifests in conflicting desires. You want him to give you the
keys to his car, he wants to swerve home drunk. Pick up
your dice. Maybe she knows the secret of where your true
enemy resides, but wont tell you out of fear of him. Pick
Values
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
VALUES
157
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Values
158
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
CHARACTERS
AND VALUES
159
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
the statement, the more opportunities you have to challenge it. Challenging Value statements is a big part of
character advancement, and therefore something you
want to do as a player. (Example: Ive never met an
Honest man.)
You can format a Value statement in one of two ways.
You can directly reference the Value, or you can skip
mentioning the Value. Either way, youre making a powerful statement about that Value, just in different ways.
Consider that when youre writing Value statements.
Example: I have a Duty to protect my son, or, Duty
My son is what matters to me.
Both of those examples say something; while theyre
similar statements, the second says a bit more. That
doesnt make it a better statement, just one with a different nuance.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships
160
CHALLENGING VALUES
& RELATIONSHIPS
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Distinctions
DISTINCTIONS
161
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Example Distinctions
162
TRIGGERS
A Distinction trigger always has two parts: a drawback
and a benefit. You suffer the drawback in order to get the
benefit. Embrace your drawbacks and play them upyour
flaws are as much a part of your Lead as your strengths
are. Drawbacks get your Lead into trouble. They can up
the ante and twist the story. All of these things make
Dramatic Roleplaying better, and they help your character advancement.
Here are some things you can do with drawbacks
and benefits. Borrow from this list when creating your
Distinction. You can even twist them a bit, using them
as springboards for your own dice tricks, but check with
your GM and the other players to make sure everyone
agrees that what you came up with feels fair.
DRAWBACKS
Spend a Plot Point
Step back a beneficial die
Step up a non-beneficial die
Choose to do something risky/dumb/complicated
Add to the Trouble pool (works like a Complication,
see page 172)
For examples of drawbacks in action, take a look at the
list of Distinctions on page 162.
EXAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
Triggers:
Add a d8 to the Trouble pool to Create a d8 Minor
Asset representing your thorough preparation for a
particular scene.
Earn a Plot Point to Step up your opponents highest
die in a situation where your Meticulous tendencies
give them an advantage against you.
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal an out-of-place detail on
anything youre scrutinizing or investigating.
SMARTASS
Your sarcastic wit is always getting you into trouble. Roll
SMARTASS when cracking wise, goading others, or stirring up trouble in social situations.
COUNSELOR
Youre the one everyone turns to when they need a friendly
ear. Whether in an office or over a cup of coffee, you bring
clarity and calm to even the most distressing situations.
Roll Counselor when being a confidante would be helpful
to othersor perhaps provide you with secrets you can use.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Step back someone elses
Insecure, Angry, or Afraid Stress.
Step up your own Insecure, Angry, or Afraid Stress
to Reroll your Counselor die in a Test or Contest.
Add a d8 to the Trouble pool to Reveal psychological
issues or problems in any subject youve had a chance
to interview.
MORE DISTINCTIONS!
For more examples of Distinctions you can use in your
game, see the Setting Starters on page 181.
Abilities
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you when you Choose to shoot
your mouth off in a dangerous situation.
Step back an allys Angry or Afraid Stress and Add
a d6 to the Trouble pool when your sarcasm takes the
edge off a tense situation.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll any die involving your
verbal taunts and insults.
ABILITIES
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
can be difficult for you to handle situations where flexibility is required and chaos reigns. Roll Meticulous when
your attention to detail and organization comes into play,
whether as an advantage or a distraction.
THATS IT?
The listed possible effects of both special effects and
Limits are abbreviated for the sake of this book. For
more, and for more detail on Abilities, check out
Smallville RPG and The Watchtower Report.
Any of the special effects and Limits in those books
can easily be adapted to any Cortex Plus Dramatic
Roleplaying game.
SPECIAL EFFECTS
As you read on, youll notice similarities between special
effects and triggers for Distinctions. The key difference is
that special effects should be more powerful than triggers.
Because theyre more potent, all special effects require a
Plot Point to activate.
The benefit is usually a more encompassing version of
Reveal, giving the player a lot of power to narrate details
163
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Example Abilities
164
LIMITS
Of course, constant success rarely produces much in the
way of tension or excitement. A character has to stumble
or come up short to really shine. So even with Abilities,
theres a chance for failure. Rather than relying directly
on dice rolls to determine story-changing failure, you
create Limits that go along with your Abilities. A Limit
describes a circumstance or condition in which you either
cant use the Ability or it acts as an active hindrance.
Limits should be narratively appropriate and should be
things that can actually be fulfilled sometimesif your
Limit is too specific, it wont come into play enough to be
useful or interesting.
If someone uses your Limit against you in a Contest,
they get to triple the die of whatever Trait represents that
Limit. Of course, keep in mind that you can do this to
other characters with Abilities, too.
FULFILLING LIMITS
So a Limit is listed on a characters sheet, but how do
you get it into the story? Well, a character may have a
Resource to reflect that Limit (Silver Bullets 2d6).
By spending a Plot Point, a player can create a Minor
Asset to reflect having a representative of that Limit,
usually starting at a d6. If the GM would like, she can
create a Minor Asset to represent that Limit by taking
a die from the Trouble pool for her or the other players
to grab onto.
They can also spend a Plot Point to Shutdown your
Ability while the Limit is present, preventing you from
using its die or any special effects. You can Shutdown
the Ability of any other Lead or Feature if their Limit
is present.
You can also volunteer to do this to yourself, for a Plot
Point.
One common Limit often associated with Abilities is
Gear, which indicates that the Ability is attached to a
particular piece of equipment that can get lost, stolen,
broken, or otherwise put out of commission. You dont
get triple dice against someone using Gear, but you can
still spend a Plot Point to Shutdown the Gear if you can
describe what you do to disable it.
EXAMPLE ABILITIES
ENERGY BLAST
You wield elemental energies as a weapon, frightening and
injuring your foes. Roll Energy Blast when you attack
with a blast of your chosen energy type.
Limit: Choose something antithetical to the type of blast
you have. So if you have a heat blast, then cold might be
its limit. If your Energy Blast is magical in nature, then
countermagic or magical dampening might be its Limit.
Special Effects: Spend a Plot Point to...
Create a wide-angle sweep effect (see above) that inflicts Insecure or Afraid Stress.
Destroy an inanimate object as big as a car. Spend
two Plot Points for an object as big as a house. Spend
three for an object as big as a skyscraper or a river.
Make geysers of your energy type shoot up from the
ground beneath your foes.
Create a sweep effect that explodes on contact, inflicting Injured or Exhausted Stress.
MORE ABILITIES!
For more examples of Abilities and even more tweaks
on how to use Abilities in your game, see the Setting
Starters on page 181.
RESOURCES
If you framed your life as a novel or a movie, not everyone
who matters to you, who helps you out, or who has ever
helped you out is a major role. In fact, not everything that
keeps you going, day to day, is a person at all.
In Dramatic Roleplaying, these people and things
are called Resources. Resources represent the set dressing around youpeople you can call on for help and
places that are important to you. The connection you have
with a Resource isnt as deep or all-encompassing as with
a Relationship, but its significant enough to get you the
occasional benefit.
Your character will have a variable number of these
depending on how you create your Leads. Features also
have Resources at their disposal.
Resources are limitedyour Leads cant use them as
many times as they want. Your pull with the police department only gets you so far, and there are only so many
times your buddies from the Frat will help you move a
body. However, back off for a while and you can start
asking for help againResources are renewed at the beginning of each session.
Resources have two dice at whatever their rating is
(2d6, 2d8, etc.), as well as a pair of specialties describing
how they can help your character.
Specialties describe important details about a characters Resources and prevent them from being too generic.
The Cafe becomes more interesting when you describe
it with the Relaxed specialty. Or changes meaning if you
instead give it the Bustling specialty. Additionally, specialties say a great deal about your connection to your
Resources, sort of like miniature Relationships. If you
have a Mechanic Resource who keeps an eye on your
classic cars, giving her the Confidante specialty adds a
layer of interest that can stay in the background, or perhaps inspire her to grow to be a Feature some day.
Resources
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
POWER ARMOR
This suit of armor protects the wearer from most kinds of
attack. Roll this die whenever a bit of extra physical protection may be to your advantage.
165
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Minor Assets
SHARED RESOURCES
166
MINOR ASSETS
PATHWAYS
SCOPE?
The first step the GM takes when designing a Pathways
Chart is determining the scope of the game and reflecting it in how many Trait steps the characters can get
through the Pathways Chart. Trait steps are when you
Pathways
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
167
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Pathways
Now get a piece of paper (or maybe use index cards for
more flexibility), and plot the stages down the side. Give
yourself a nice bit of room for each. In fact, if you have
more than five, we recommend using two pages.
Next, on a separate sheet of paper, make a list of categories for each stage. Give them names. Consider archetypical characters that could come up in that part of life.
For example, in the high school years, you might choose
Jock, Cool Kid, Nerd, Overachiever, and Goth. If you cant
fill them all perfectly, dont worry just yet! Its okay. Just
build your list. You can tweak it later.
Starting with your final Pathways stage at the bottom
of your chart, start filling in the list of categories for each
stage. If you find any similarities between two or more
archetypes, you may want to put them beside one another.
Once youve finished a stage, move up and fill in the next.
Above each, place the option that most seems like it could
evolve into the later stage. For example, your Nerd in high
school could logically move into Tech Head in college. So
youd want to put the Nerd above the Tech Head. Keep in
mind that players can move diagonally through the final
chart, so keeping similar archetypes near each other can
be helpful.
Keep going until youve filled all the columns and all
the rows. Check it over and see what you might want
to tweakmake sure characters can at least somewhat
logically move vertically and diagonally through the
Pathways Chart.
Example: Devin breaks up her steps like this:
FAMILY BACKGROUND:
Wealthy
Professional Family
Deeply Religious
Blue Collar
Poor
YOUTH:
Easy and Carefree
The Golden Child
The Weird One
Student of Hard Knocks
The New Kid
TEENAGE/COLLEGE:
The Passionate Youth
The Academic
The Innocent
The Bad Boy/Girl
The Outcast
168
EARLY CAREER:
The Slacker
The Rising Star
Family Focused
New Celebrity
The Drifter
DARKEST MOMENTS:
The Abandoned Child
The Affair
The Mystical
The Murder
The Theft
DIVIDING UP TRAITS
Now that you have a full Pathways Chart, evenly divide
up the total Trait steps over your stages (see Scope? on
page 167 for guidance on determining total Trait steps).
Jot that number down next to each stage. With anything
left over, put one more in whichever stages you want to
emphasize most.
Then, go through your stages and plug in options for
each Trait. Your options are:
Resource (people, locations, or gearsee page 165)
Distinction, see page 161, or Ability, see page 163
Relationship with a Feature (see page 160)
Value (see page 157)
DIVIDING UP VALUES
Values are different from all other Traits. Each character starts with all six Values rated at d4. No matter
how many stages there are in your Pathways Chart,
there are nine Trait steps in Values. In the end, each
character has one Value at d4, two at d6, two at d8,
and one at d10.
These steps stay constanteven during Growth
(see page 179), to step up one Value, you must step
back another one. You can never step back a d4 Value,
which would remove the Value from your sheet.
As a rule, stages where a character would become
more attached to the world around them earn Resources.
Distictions and Abilities should come from major events
that twist and turn the characters direction in life.
She assigns Values first to make sure all nine Trait steps
are accounted for. With nine steps spread over five stages,
most stages allow for stepping up one Value twice or stepping up two Values once. For instance, she decides that at
the Deeply Religious in the Family Background stage will
have Family or Faith X2. This means that a character
can step up Family twice or Faith twice or Family once
and Faith once.
There are eleven Trait steps left for Distinctions,
Relationships, and Resources. The charactersLeads and
Featureswill have different numbers of these, based on
how they go through the chart. Devin makes sure there
are Distinctions sprinkled throughout, and then she fills
in the gaps with Resources and Relationships where they
seem appropriate.
The Student of Hard Knocks probably gets a Distinction
and possibly a Resource, such as an Extra who can provide information or a Location that offer refuge.
Family Focused is all about the Relationships
Relationship X2 makes sense there, allowing a
Relationship to be stepped up twice, or two Relationships
to be stepped up once.
Devin continues on like this until all of the Trait steps
are assigned. She creates a couple of Features, just to make
sure the Pathways Chart is working the way she intends
it to.
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Relationships should come from stages where the character would have the chance to relate to people. Values
should come from stages that reaffirm ones personal
beliefs.
Spread them out a bit. Avoid putting two Values on
the same stage unless you only have a few stages. You
should give a few Resources before you start handing
out Relationships. Distinctions and Abilities should only
come with a handful of entries on each stage.
ap
169
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Now that you know how Pathways Maps are drawn, youll
need to add Map actions to each stage of your Pathways.
Each will get two, except for the first stage, which also
gets, Add squares for each of your Leads. Draw an arrow
from each to each other. Dont fill them in yet. Choose
two for each step. Mix and match. Note, these are by
Pathway stageeach player, regardless of their choices
for that stage, will take the same action on the Map.
The Map actions you can add are:
Draw an arrow from your square to a new circle (a
new Extra).
Draw an arrow from your square to a new diamond (a
new Location).
Draw an arrow from any circle or diamond that you
added to any other circle or diamond.
Draw an arrow from any circle or diamond to any
circle, diamond, or square.
Draw an arrow from anything back to a square.
Draw an arrow from your square to an existing circle
or diamond.
170
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Usually, Features are made the same way Leads are, taking
them through Pathways. That can be time consuming, and
it may only be worth it for a few of the most important
characters.
As your players move through Pathways, theyll be creating and introducing some of the Features they want to
see. You can use this creative process to get a jump on die
ratings and statements.
When a player makes a connection from one Feature to
another Feature, to a Resource, or back to a Lead, the GM
may want to get a head start on making the sheet for the
Feature.
If you tweak the connection just a bit, it can define a
Relationship statement or become a Value statement. You
can even add a die value with that statement. Now the
Relationship Map has half a character sheet for many of
your important Features!
You can use that to write up full sheets, or you can finish
creating the Feature on the fly. Using the d4/d8 Distinctions
from The Distinction Job (see page 161) is one easy way to
assign die ratings. You can also assign Traits as they come
into play by spending from the Trouble poolspend a die
and add a Trait of the same rating to your Features sheet.
Now that you know about the different Traits that give
you dice, lets talk about what to do with those dice. As
in all Cortex Plus games, you build a dice pool that you
use in an opposed rolloften against the GM, but also
frequently against other Leads.
Whether its a Contest (see page 176) or a Test (see
page 175), you build a dice pool the same way. Describe
what youre doing, and then:
Pick up a die for a Value and for a Relationship. You
must always roll these two Traits into any roll. If you
dont have a Relationship that fits, you must immediately establish one at d4 (or spend a Plot Point to
establish the Relationship at d6).
Pick up a die for an appropriate Distinction OR an
appropriate Ability.
Pick up a die for every Minor Asset that helps you out.
Pick up one or two dice for a Resource that could help
you out in the scene. If you use the die of a Resource in
your final total, take the die off the table for the rest
of the session. See below.
Coach
Earl
Jerome
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
171
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Example: You roll d10, d8, d6, and d6, and get 4, 7,
3, and 5. You add the 7 and 5 together for a total of 12.
172
game session, and shes sure shell need their help later.
(Theyre a wily group.)
But thats not all she has available to her, and so she
looks at her Plot Point pile. She has four she can spend.
Marcys not driving a clunker. Earlier in the scene, the
GM described it as a souped-up hot rod with all the trimmings. Elin asks if she can spend a Plot Point to add the
car as a Minor Asset, and the GM is only too happy to
go along with it.
So tabulating that, Elin lines up her dice. She has:
Value: Bravery d8
Relationship: Grandson d6
Distinction: Former Badass d10
Resources: Knitting Circle d6 (leaving her with only
one more d6 from that Resource to use later)
Minor Asset: Hot Rod d6 (costing her a Plot Point)
She picks up the dice to see what happens. Since its
a Test, the GM picks up the Trouble pool to roll against
Elins roll.
COMPLICATIONS
Rather than punishing your character when you roll
badly, Cortex Plus Dramatic Roleplaying celebrates
the twist in the story brought on by a rotten roll. In essence, Dramatic Roleplaying acknowledges that when
a door closes, another opens. And that a new conflict,
threat, or drastic error can make the story betterand
even more dramatic! Thus, when you roll a 1, things get
complicated.
If you roll a 1 on any dice, you cant include them in
your total. Set them aside. These are called Complications.
If you roll a Complication, the GM can activate it by
paying you a Plot Point to use later, when you really need
it. If the GM rolls a Complication, you can activate it by
spending a Plot Point.
Complications have no effect on whether your roll succeeds or failsthey just let the Trouble pool (see page
173) make a little more trouble. Theres also no obligation for anyone to activate a Complication unless it seems
like it will make the story more fun.
Example: Tyson rolled his three dice, and hes got two
1s (or two Complications) on a d4 and a d6. He gulps
and the GM laughs. His other die is an 8 on a d8, a nice
roll. Since he cant add 1s (Complications) to his roll, he
cant add anything, and so his roll is an 8. The GM offers
him two Plot Points, one for each Complication he rolled.
Tyson takes the Plot Points, assuming hes going to need
them in the future. With those Complications activated,
things are about to get interesting.
PLOT POINTS
During the course of writing a good story or novel, sometimes an author exclaims, There was just this moment
where the characters came alive for me and seemed to
make choices for themselves! Because each player is
the advocate and voice for the Leads they play, Cortex
Plus Dramatic Roleplaying allows for the players to
achieve those moments of character agency. Players hit
those moments by spending Plot Points to temporarily
take control of the story.
You have a number of Plot Points that you can use to
play with the dice in cool ways or to influence the story.
You start each game session with a few, and your supply
should dwindle and grow through play. Well talk first
about how you earn Plot Points, and then what you can
do when you spend them.
HOW MANY PLOT POINTS TO START?
In the Smallville RPG, you determine starting Plot Points
by rolling all your Relationship dice and adding the highest
two together. The player with the highest total gets three
Plot Points, the player with the lowest total gets one, and
everyone else gets two.
You can use this method if you like. If it feels like Plot
Points arent flowing around your table in a satisfactory way,
consider using this method but giving two, three, and four
Plot Points.
Alternately, you can give everyone three Plot Points to
start, or whatever method seems to make sense to your
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
173
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Plot Points
174
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
TESTS
A Test is just a single roll between a player and the GM.
The player assembles a dice pool as normal; the GM rolls
all the dice in the Trouble pool, along with any relevant
Minor Assets or Resources.
Succeeding at a Test means the player accomplishes
whatever he was after; failure means he doesnt. In addition, the GM can specify that some Tests will inflict Stress
if you fail them, in which case the GM would reroll for
Stress (see page 177).
Example: Lana is about to play the most important
piano recital of her young life. Shes been preparing for
this recital for a year now, and if she does well, shell get
175
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
CONTESTS
Example: Winston could back off about the side mission, but his player, Tanya, doesnt think thats very in
character for him. Plus conflict is good for the game, so
Winston blusters and tries to shout Jean Luc down. Tanya
builds her dice pool and rolls it.
What happens next depends on whose roll was higher.
If the action roll is higher, the target takes Stress and
that ends the Contest. (If you win by five or more, you
also have the option of Stressing Out your opponentsee
page 178.)
Example: Isaac gets a total of 12, which Tanya cant
beat with her 8. Jean Luc wins the Contest, and Tanya
has a choice to make. Winston can either take Stress or
pay a Plot Point to Give In, thus abandoning the idea of
the mission and giving Jean Luc what he wants.
If the reaction roll is higher, then the target has turned
the tables. Now everything reversesthe initiating character must decide whether to Give In or attempt a reaction, describing how they respond and trying to beat the
new, higher number to keep the Contest going.
Example: Unfortunately for Jean Luc, Tanya just rolled
better, and so the tables are turned. Now Isaac has a choice
to either Give In or attempt a reaction. Isaac decides that
Jean Luc is going to push on, calling out Winstons temper
and telling him, point blank, what the other conspirators
think of him. Isaac builds a new pool, hoping to beat
Tanyas roll. He loses again, and takes Stress. If hed won,
the Contest would keep going, with the positions flipping
a second time.
It goes back and forth like that until someone either
Gives In or cant beat the high roll. The loser takes Stress,
and that ends the Contest. Giving your opponent Stress
doesnt mean you get what you want, though. That only
happens when your opponent Gives In.
GIVING IN AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE
Sometimes it happensyour character has been pushed and
pushed, and you run out of Plot Points. Worse, youre in a
Contest you cant handle, so you want to Give In. What do
you do?
You have two choices hereyou can either soldier on,
going through with the Contest even though your character
may be on his last legs, with no hope for escape. If you use
this option, the GM might award you a Plot Point at the end
of the Contest for having the guts to go through.
Otherwise, you can choose to step back a Relationship or
Value die by one step for the remainder of the game session
to reflect a new level of exhaustion for you. If this would
reduce that Trait below a d4, take the Trait off the table. You
cant use it until next session.
STRESS
Stress
INTERFERING
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
AIDING
ALTERNATE STRESS
Not every game of Cortex Plus Dramatic Roleplaying
needs the same five Stress tracks. In fact, introducing different kinds of Stress can change the moods, themes, and
manner of play just as much as changing Values.
When GMing Dramatic Roleplaying, make sure
the Stress fits the genre and style of play. Angry may
not be important for a game without angsty teenagers.
177
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Stress
MORE STRESS!
Want to see even more ideas for alternate kinds of
Stress? See the Setting Starters on page 181.
178
When your character is Stressed, the GM and other players can use it against her. Whenever youre in a Contest
or Test where your Stress would work against you, the
opponent gets to add your Stress die to his pool.
Example: Torres and Pinky are out in the backyard
throwing around the old pigskin for old times sake.
STRESSING OUT
If one of your Stress categories gets pushed past d12, you
get Stressed Out. In other words, you cant do anything
effective for the rest of the scene. Exactly what this means
depends on the kind of Stress youve takensomeone
with Angry Stress might storm out of the room yelling,
and someone who is Injured may fall unconscious.
This may also happen if you lose a Contest by 5 or more,
at the option of the winner.
Example: Against his better judgment, Torres keeps
playing footballtheres a lot riding on this game, after
all. Hes sitting at Injured d10 Stress. In the next Contest,
Pinky lays into him, pushing his Stress up to a d12. Things
look bad for Torres.
Still, he presses on and engages in one more Contest.
He pulls out all the stops and blows every Plot Point he
can. When the roll is settled, he beats Pinky this time. In
fact, his roll is six points higher than her roll. As a result,
she skips taking Stress and is Stressed Out all in one fell
swoop. Lyndsay loves this come-from-behind moment
STRESS RELIEF
GROWTH AND
EXPERIENCE
The best dramatic heroes grow with the story and are
changed by the challenges they face. Indeed, to some,
thats the very definition of a heroor, at the very least,
a protagonist. Even antagonists, if theyre interesting,
change over the arc of their story.
Your Lead gets new Traits and advances current Traits
through a mechanism called the Growth pool, which is
a pool of dice you build up over the course of the game.
You can get dice for the Growth pool in two ways:
Challenging a Value or Relationship statement (see
page 160)
Successfully recovering Stress with someone elses help
(see above)
TAG SCENES
At the end of every episode (usually a game session, but
some stories take a little longer to get to a logical narrative
pause), you have the opportunity to do a special kind of
scene called a tag scene, where you can try to improve
your characters Traits.
Tag scenes shouldnt be very longjust enough narration for everyone to get an idea of how you want your
Lead to change. After that, you get to do two things: rewrite statements and step up Traits.
Example: Missys character Greg has had a long day,
and the game session has been great. Shes got an idea of
what she wants to happen with Greg, and so she describes
her tag scene. In it, Greg looks mournfully out a window
while, as Missy describes it, sad-woman-at-a-piano music
plays in the background. It starts to rain, and he turns
from the window, picks up a picture of his girlfriend
Amina, and turns it down on its face. Then he sits down
to start reading his fathers journal, long left untouched
on his desk. Missy is going to rewrite Gregs statement
about Love, since things went so badly with Amina, and
hes going to step up his Relationship to his dead father as
described in the tag scene. The GM cant wait to play with
whats in the journal starting next session.
REWRITING STATEMENTS
For every Value or Relationship youve challenged (see
page 160), you get to make a choice: did your Lead
change perspectives? If so, you can rewrite your statement
to reflect your new belief about the Trait in question and
put it back to its original die level. Jason would never let
me down d8 might become Jason isnt the friend I thought
he was d8 or Jason will answer to me d8.
If your Lead didnt change perspectives, you can keep
the statement the same, but the Value or Relationship
must stay at the lowered die level. For Values, pick another
Value or Values to increase by that same amount, so your
total number of die steps remains the same (see Dividing
Up Values on page 168). So, if you stepped back Love
from d10 to d6 (two steps) during an episode and decide
to stay there, youd pick one Value to step up by two, or
two Values to step up by one.
For Relationships, if you stay at the lowered level, add
another die to your Growth pool equal to the new level.
So, if you stepped back Jason from d8 to d4, youd add a
d4 to Growth in addition to the d8 you added when you
originally challenged it.
You can then use that Growth pool to add new Traits
or improve existing ones at the end of an episode, in a
special kind of scene called a tag scene.
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
179
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
Creating a Piloy Episode
180
STEPPING UP TRAITS
You may select one Distinction, Ability, Resource, or
Relationship to step up, or pick a new one to add from
any of those categories. New Traits begin at d4. You cant
step a Trait up higher than d12.
To raise the Trait, you must succeed at a Test. You roll
your Growth pool plus your current highest Stress level.
The GM rolls one die equal to the Trait level you want to
step up to and a second die based on what kind of Trait
it is:
Ability d12
Distinction d10
Resource d8
Relationship d6
Unlike other Tests, you cant use Plot Points to affect
the outcome of this one. Ignore all 1s.
If you win, you get to step up your Trait or add a new
one.
If you lose or tie, you can do it anyway, but you have to
step something else down to compensate.
Example: Missy picks up some dice to see how far
Gregs Relationship with his father is going to change.
He has a Growth pool of d8 (from challenging his Love
Value that day), and a d6 thanks to his Angry Stress.
Greg would be going from a d6 to a d8 Relationship with
his dad, so the GM rolls a d8 (for the Relationship) and
a d6 for the type of Trait Missy wants to increase. They
both roll.
Missy wins the roll, so she can step up Gregs
Relationship with his father to a d8! Those dead daddy
issues are getting rough. If Missy had rolled lower than
the GM, she may still have stepped up Gregs Relationship
with his father by stepping back his Relationship with his
girlfriend. That would have been pretty poetic.
EXAMPLE SCENES
Think of the typical kinds of scenes you see in the pilot
episode of a TV series. Those are the kinds of scenes youll
want to run your players through. Here are two examples:
SETTING STARTERS
FOR DRAMATIC
ROLEPLAYING
Setting Starters
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
CREATING A
PILOT EPISODE
181
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
STREET JUSTICE
From the moment a bullet flies or a knife swings, a countdown starts. Every minute that passes from crime to trial
is a minute that could forestall or even prevent justice. In
the mean streets of the city, an elite team of investigators,
technicians, and attorneys work together to protect and
serve the citizenry.
Tips and Tricks: Take your favorite courtroom drama
or police drama. High-octane scenes of personal risk
while chasing down criminals and shootouts are easy
to run in Cortex Plus Dramatic Roleplaying with
Tests. Where this genre really shines, though, is in the
intense interpersonal conflicts in interrogation on the
investigative side, and in examination in the courtroom.
Conflicts should be high stakes in these situations. Dont
worry too much about accuracy when it comes to the legal
systemfocus on the interpersonal conflict, and youll
get a more rewarding experience.
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
Street Justice
SAMPLE VALUES
Ambition: Politics and the drive to get ahead.
Authority: Control and power.
Legalism: Following procedures and the letter of the law.
Justice: Following right and wrong by the spirit of the
law.
Truth: Whats really going on here.
Fame: What you want the world to see.
SAMPLE STRESSES
182
SAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
CONNECTED
You know people from all walks of life who are willing to
help you out in some way. Some may owe you a favor; some
may expect something in return. Either way, the connection
is there. Roll Connected when your network of contacts
or the threat of using them would positively influence your
outcome.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Create a d8 Relationship with
a Feature for the rest of the scene.
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose not to reveal
your sources, even though youll be reprimanded or
otherwise face negative consequences.
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal that you know a guy
who can provide you with information or material
goods.
GOOD COP/BAD COP
This is a Distinction shared by two characterseither two
Leads or a Lead and a Feature. Youre partners, and you
work more effectively as a team. Roll Good Cop/Bad Cop
when working with your partner to get information, bring
down a perp, or whenever your particular brand of teamwork might be to your benefit.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal that your partner is
nearby and able to jump into the scene.
Add a d6 to the Trouble pool to Step back Emotional
Stress inflicted on your partner in a Test or Contest
where youre around to provide support.
INVESTIGATOR
Youre adept at finding clues and putting the pieces together
to find a criminal or solve a case. Roll Investigator when
youre snooping around, trying to uncover clues, or getting
the scoop on something unknown or hidden.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal a key clue in an investigation youre pursuing. If this clue gains you some
sort of tangible advantage, you can take it as a d8
Minor Asset.
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to go off alone
in a dangerous situation.
Spend a Plot Point to establish a d8 Relationship
with an informant for the scene. After that scene,
its considered a d4.
PERSISTENT
You dont give up. Once you grab onto a theory, a suspect, or a line of attack, you keep going until you get what
you want. Roll Persistent when you wont take no for
an answer.
RANGE JUNKIE
You spend a lot of time at the shooting range, and all that
practice shows. You can hit any target within your weapons
range. Roll Range Junkie when making attacks from a
distance, sniping at a target, or getting a bead on an opponents position.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Step up the PHYSICAL Stress
you inflict in one Contest.
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to run out of
ammunition.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die in a Range Junkie
roll.
Triggers:
Add a d8 to the Trouble pool to Reveal a loophole
that works to your benefit.
Earn a Plot Point to Step up your Credibility or
Outreach Stress when you blatantly ignore justice
in favor of the letter of the law.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die in a roll that included Rules Lawyer.
UNSCRUPULOUS
Most people are guided by some moral code that prevents
them from using certain forms of persuasion. Not you.
The end justifies the means, and you dont much care what
you do to get there. Roll Unscrupulous when pursuing
a course of action that would make most people cringe,
such as planting or withholding evidence, using unreasonable force, or casting suspicion on someone you know
is innocent.
Triggers:
Step up your own Credibility Stress and Create a
d8 Minor Asset that helps your scheming.
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to do your job
in a way that is illegal and/or immoral.
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal a witness who will back
up your version of events.
Street Justice
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to the Trouble pool
when you get too pushy with someone you know
you shouldnt.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die when you repeat a
Test or Contest youve taken Stress from previously
in the scene.
Spend a Plot Point to Step back Mental or
Emotional Stress inflicted on you during a Test or
Contestyour persistence lets you ignore some of
that pressure.
RULES LAWYER
You know the letter of every law and each loophole that
it provides. Arcane and impenetrable legalese that confuses and frustrates even talented legal scholars instead
opens up pathways for you. You handle the most hopeless
of cases and somehow get them to turn out in your favor.
Roll Rules Lawyer when the letter and not the intent of
the law works to your benefit.
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
SAMPLE ABILITIES
Our version of this setting has no Abilities. Your Leads
and Features should have several varied Distinctions
since you have fewer categories of dice to build your pool.
SAMPLE RESOURCES
Friendly Judge (Warrants, Legal Advice)
Crime Scene Tech (Clues, Science)
The Expert Witness (Expertise, Credibility)
Street Contact (Street Knowledge, Backup)
Cop Bar (Talking Shop, Rumors)
183
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
IT SWINGS
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
It Swings
SAMPLE VALUES
Power: The one who has the power makes the rules.
Glory: All wealth and power follows popularity and
fame.
Progress: Change is good, right?
Tradition: Traditions are a sign of a strong civilization.
Compassion: Whatevers wrong is wrong because we
dont care about each other.
Self-Reliance: Its a cutthroat world; no one else is going
to take care of you.
SAMPLE STRESSES
Physical: Sometimes youre going to take a tumble.
Inebriated: Everyones got a little helper in their desk
drawer or purse, right?
Emotional: How many catcalls can you handle? How
many brow beatings from your boss before you flip?
184
SAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
SCOUNDREL
You have a certain ethical flexibility that allows you to act
and speak in ways that other people might findwhats the
wordreprehensible. While they may disdain your ethics,
they always come back to you when they need something
only you can provide. Roll Scoundrel when you disparage
loyalty or doing what others expect, when you call on your
shady experience, or when you can play on your ambiguous reputation.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when you
act for purely selfish purposes.
Add a d10 to Trouble and Gain a 2d8 Extra when you
have a shady contact in the area.
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to betray a
Lead or Feature with whom you have an existing
Relationship.
TEAM PLAYER
You know its not all about you. You work well with others
and you know your place on the team. Roll Team Player
when youre Aiding your buddies, carrying your share of
the weight, or figuring out whats best for your group.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to follow instructions and stick to the game plan when it would benefit you more to do otherwise.
Spend a Plot Point to allow another Lead or Feature
to Reroll a die in a Test or Contest that youve Aided.
Spend a Plot Point to Step back another Lead or
Features Emotional or Respectability Stress
in a Test or Contest when youre nearby to provide
support.
MANIPULATIVE
You thrive on twisting others to do your bidding or concede
your point of view. You have a tendency to get people to do
what you want them to do, even when they know full well
youre pulling their strings. Roll Manipulative in situations that hinge upon your persuasive or convincing nature.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to the Trouble pool
when you ask someone to trust you, even if you dont
mean it.
PEOPLE AS GEAR
In some cases, the help provided by a loyal assistant goes
well beyond the Aid that an Extra can provide a couple of
times per session. And often these helpers are viewed more
as things than people anyway. Consider using an Ability,
SAMPLE ABILITIES
HYPER-COMPETENT SECRETARY
Theres no way you could keep track of all of your appointments, meetings, travel plans, and phone calls. The office
would come to a screeching halt if it werent for that person
at the desk outside your office. Roll Hyper-Competent
Secretary to accomplish organizational miracleslast
minute travel plans, information on people and deals,
lunch meeting at exclusive restaurants.
hear a word from these people in playthey arent characters in the game and they mostly work behind the scenes to
help your Lead accomplish his goals.
Like Gear, these assistants have Limits that reflect being
lost or temporarily broken, like Sick Day, Overloaded
Schedule, or Scandal.
SMOOTH OPERATOR
You have a way with the ladies/gentlemen/whoever might
find you attractive. Youre charming, attractive, and everyone flocks to you. It seems that few can resist falling under
your spell. Roll Smooth Operator when you purposefully
use your charms to work to your advantage.
Limit: People who arent attracted to you
Special Effects: Spend a Plot Point to...
Create a d8 Relationship for the scene with someone
who finds you attractive.
Reveal the way to a particular persons heart
Flowers? Candy? A home-cooked meal?
Buy a round for everyone in a social situation,
Creating a sweep-effect that inflicts Inebriated
Stress on everyone in the scene.
Remove someones Emotional Stress by focusing
your attentions on him or her for the scene.
It Swings
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
SAMPLE RESOURCES
The Office (Work, Connections)
Your Bartender (Relaxation, Confession)
Bridge Club (Gossip, Solidarity)
Church (Social Standing, Comfort)
Your Better Half (Support, Status)
185
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
ST JEROMES HOSPITAL
When lives are on the line, its the doctors, nurses, and
support staff at St. Jeromes Hospital that you can count
on. Compassion meets passion in this high stakes world
of life and love, pain and pleasure. Theres no resisting the
pull as opposites attract, strange bedfellows are made, and
the proud staff of St Jeromes weathers life at a hospitals
frenetic pace.
Tips and Tricks: Dont get hung up on medical details.
(Unless thats a particular hobby for you and your players.
Or youre all medical professionals.) Whos sleeping with
whom is far more important than if that medical procedure would really cure that illness. Embrace jargon
itll help with the genrebut only to enforce mood and
themes, not to dictate character actions. Decide up front,
is a life-or-death surgery a Test, or is it a Contest with the
patient? Either way, very dramatic!
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
St Jeromes H
ospital
SAMPLE VALUES
Rationality: Some things are just science, just reality,
you cant change that.
Compassion: People need people, and the heart is the
most powerful organ, at least spiritually.
Love: When the day is ending, none of us want to be
alone.
Passion: It takes fire to burn so bright.
186
SAMPLE STRESSES
Exhaustion: Long hours at work and at play.
Health: Sooner or later, youre going to get sick. How
bad will it get?
Heart: Sick children or unfaithful lovers, what will break
yours?
Disgust: How much can you see before you lose it?
Confidence: From patients to the chief of staff, if your
confidence waivers, they wont be able to trust you
anymore.
SAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
ARROGANT
You have the training and the talent, and you know it. Its
not that you cant be fazed, but you face life with a general
attitude of I got this. Roll Arrogant when youre in
situations youre sure you can handle.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to act based on
your previous experience instead of evidence in front
of you.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll your Arrogant die in
a social situation.
Add a d8 to Trouble and Step back an allys Heart or
Confidence Stress in a Test or Contest when youre
nearby to explain why you have everything under
control.
AUTHORITARIAN
Its up to you to keep everyone in line. If the rules arent enforced, chaos will reign and people will die. You wont give
an inch to those who report to you. Roll Authoritarian
when using your clout and position in Contests against
those below you in the hierarchy.
Triggers:
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal evidence of an underlings wrongdoing, whether or not its true.
Add a d6 to Trouble and Step up an opponents
Disgust or Confidence Stress in a Contest when
youre in a position of authority over them.
GUILTY
Youve done something terrible that you cant reconcile in
your life. Its possible you werent even at fault, but you
blame yourself anyway. You would risk almost anything
to make amends. Roll Guilty when your desire to address
your mistakes, regardless of the costs, helps you achieve
your goals.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point to Step up your opponents highest
die when your guilt stymies or confuses you.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll Guilty on any roll when
youre trying to make amends.
Earn a Plot Point when you Step up Heart or
Confidence Stress inflicted on you during a Test
or Contest.
SAMPLE ABILITIES
SAMPLE RESOURCES
The Nurses Pool (Solidarity, Practical Experience)
Your Office (Rest, Authority)
Medical Library (Research, Quiet)
The Chapel (Solace, Hope)
The Drug Rep (Gossip, Drugs)
St Jeromes H
MIRACLE WORKER
You can make the diagnoses that no one else can. There
isnt a strange disease or unusual malady that can get by
you, and you know how to treat them all. Roll Miracle
Worker when faced with medical decisions that are
beyond the knowledge and experience of those around you.
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
ospital
187
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
LOCAL POLITICS
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
Local Politics
SAMPLE VALUES
Ambition: Theres always another rung on the ladder,
another person to climb over.
Community: Theres no politics without community.
Power: It might seem modest on the grand scale, but
what you have, you can sure flex.
Ethics: Theres a right way and a wrong way to do your
job.
Duty: You have a responsibility to people. How will you
engage that?
Pride: Arrogance? Or a deep sense of pride in your community and your position?
188
SAMPLE STRESSES
Clout: What kind of authority is dribbled down to you
from on high?
Poise: How many gotcha-questions until you buckle?
Personal: Balancing politics and your personal life is
never easy.
Approval: What does the ordinary citizen think of you,
really?
Attention: Political death can come at the hands of
obscuritywhat do you do when your five minutes
are over?
SAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
TOWNSHIP DICTATOR
You have a tremendous amount of power in a fairly small
arena and you wield it with an iron fist. Perhaps you came
into this power legitimately, but you maintain it with a
ruthlessness that cares little for the law or right and wrong.
Roll Township Dictator when you exercise your power,
when you threaten or intimidate, and when you square off
against challenges to your authority.
Triggers:
Add a d6 to the Trouble pool to Reroll Township
Dictator when you intimidate, coerce, or threaten
others.
Spend a Plot Point to Create a d8 Relationship with
someone who owes you a favor.
Add a d8 to the Trouble pool to Step up Clout or
Poise Stress you inflict during a Contest.
ETHICAL
You went into politics because you truly want to make a
difference. If everyone did whats right, things would work
better. Roll Ethical when it would be to your advantage
to do something underhanded in a Contest but you act
with integrity instead.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to confront a
situation head on and honorably rather than sneaking behind someones back.
Earn a Plot Point to Step up your opponents highest
die when your ethics give them an advantage against
you.
Spend a Plot Point to Step back Approval or Poise
Stress thats inflicted on you during a Test or Contest.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point to Step up your opponents highest
die when youre caught in a lie or exaggeration.
Add a d6 to the Trouble pool to Reroll a die in a Fast
Talker roll.
Spend a Plot Point to Create a d8 Minor Asset that
represents something youve already talked someone
into providing.
SAMPLE ABILITIES
LOCAL FUNDRAISER
Its expensive to succeed in politics. But your fundraiser
works miracles, and a lack of funds is rarely an issue for
you. Roll this die when your Local Fundraiser provides
you with the necessary resources to follow your agenda,
or whenever adequate funds might make it easier to meet
your goals.
Limit: Scandal
Special Effects: Spend a Plot Point to...
Revea l t hat you k now how to nav igate t he
bureaucracy.
Show that you have support from on high. You can
use this as a 2d8 Resource for the scene.
Reveal new laws or guidelines that will soon be
brought up or passed.
Protect yourself from Clout Stress for a scene.
VOTER DATABASE
You have access to the names, addresses, email addresses,
donation amounts, and more for all of the pertinent registered voters. Roll this die when youre using your Voter
Database to help you reach your supporters whether its
to get out the vote, raise funds, or bombard a public official
with phone calls.
Limit: System down, Hackers
Special Effects: Spend a Plot Point to...
Create an obstacle by bombarding a target with
emails, phone calls, letters, tweets, etc.
Garner vocal support for something youre doing.
You can use this as a 2d8 Resource for the scene.
Reveal that you know the views of the electorate.
Protect yourself from Approval Stress for a scene.
SAMPLE RESOURCES
Town Hall (Authority, Community)
The Intern (Errands, The Youth Vote)
Volunteers (Mud-Slinging, Phone Banks)
The Mobster (Persuasion, Shady Money)
The Union Leader (Solidarity, The Union Label)
Local Politics
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
FAST TALKER
Youve lost track of the problems your mouth has caused
over the years. But youve learned to use it to your advantage, and its now your first line of defense. Roll Fast
Talker when bluffing or browbeating someone, giving
evasive answers, or otherwise using your rapid-fire communication skills to your benefit.
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DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
Local Politics
SAMPLE VALUES
Belonging: Can you find your people and can you stay
tight with them?
Bravery: Youre a monster, but that doesnt mean you
dont have reason to be afraid.
Discovery: Theres so much more to the world than you
realized; what else is out there?
Individuality: Sometimes you just have to stay true to
yourself.
Popularity: It may not be deep friendship, but it still
feels like winning when everyone likes you.
Power: Forget all this humanistic crapyoure a monster, why not celebrate it?
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SAMPLE STRESSES
Humanity: How long before you freak out and hurt
someone?
Academic: How are your grades?
Status: Where do you stand with your peer group? What
happens if they kick you out?
Home Life: Every teen has to go home some time. How
much is that a strain on you?
Loneliness: Rejection, social slights, and abandonment
can drag you down.
SAMPLE DISTINCTIONS
BOOK WORM
While the other teen monsters are out raising hell, you
have your nose stuck in a book. Roll this when your book
learning gives you an edge.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to the Trouble pool
when you leave a social scene youre in to indulge
in a book.
Spend a Plot Point to Reveal useful information you
read about in a book.
Spend a Plot Point to Step back your own Academic
or Humanity Stress when something youve read
gives you insight into dealing with the situation.
POPULAR
Youre fashionable, trendy, admired, and hated. Youre at
the top of the high school food chain. Roll Popular when
using your social influence on the local crowd.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to be distracted
by your own reputation and popularity.
Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die in a Test or Contest
using Popular that involves people who arent already your fans.
Spend a Plot Point to Create a d8 Relationship for one
scene with a Feature with whom you dont already
have a Relationship.
REBELLIOUS
Its not that you cant seem to do anything rightyou just
always get caught when you do something wrong. The thing
is, you dont actually care that much. Roll Rebellious
when youre doing something against the rules and you
know youll get snagged and be punished for it.
Triggers:
Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to do something
to upset an authority figure.
SAMPLE ABILITIES
Supernatural Abilities likely play a significant role in stories like this. Heres a small selection of some Abilities
you might find useful.
CLAWS/FANGS
You have something sharp and pointy that you can use to
attack your foes. It causes as much fear as it does blood
and gore. You can roll this die for causing fear and bodily
harm, as well as for other more mundane uses for sharp
pointy things.
Limit: Stone, armor, other things claws and fangs wont
sink into
SUPER-SENSES
Your senses are broader and keener than any mortals
senses should be. You can see, hear, and smell things that
other people wouldnt notice. Roll this die when youre using
your Super-Senses to help you stay alert, be aware, or aid
you in perceiving things in your immediate environment.
Limit: Overload, Interference
Special Effects: Spend a Plot Point to...
Hear or see into a nearby scene youre not in.
Get the scent of a person or object and track the scent
to its source.
See in all directions at once.
SAMPLE RESOURCES
Your First Car (Freedom, Respect)
The Make-Out Spot (Excitement, Discovery)
The Science Lab (Science!, Experimentation)
The Guidance Counselor (Advice, Compassion)
The Student Paper (Rumors, Research)
Local Politics
DRAMATIC ROLEPLAYING
SUPER-SPEED
You can move so fast youre almost a blur. Roll this die
when your ability to move quickly would directly help you
out, whether its to get something done faster or to cover
more distance. When facing another character with SuperSpeed, you many Spend Plot Points to keep pace with them
or to counter their Super-Speed effects; this makes it into
a Contest.
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192
BASICS AND
HOW TO PLAY
ESSENTIAL TERMS
If youve played Cortex Plus games before, many of these
terms will be familiar. Well get you started with some
brief definitions; they will be covered in more detail later.
Action: Rolling dice to achieve a desired outcome.
Opposed by a reaction.
Action order: The order in which the characters act,
determined by the situation and then by the players.
Activate an opportunity: Spending a PP or a doom
die to gain a benefit from an opponents opportunity
(roll of 1 on a die).
Attack action: An action taken to inflict stress or a
complication on a target character or trait.
Asset: A beneficial effect die that can be added to a
heros dice pool, whose creation represented some
kind of risk.
Categories: Sections of a characters sheet and situations that contribute dice to a dice pool. Using more
than one die from the same category requires spending PP.
Combat Scene: A Scene focused on a physical conflict
of some kind in which time matters.
Complication: A problematic effect die that is added
to an opposing dice pool.
Characters in Heroic Roleplaying operate on a categories system for dice. Think of each category as a bucket
you can pull a die out of: when you take an action or
reaction, you assemble a dice pool using one die from
each category (with some exceptions).
In Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, those categories
include:
Affiliation
Distinction
Power Set(s)
Specialty
Distinction
Background Power Set
Class Power Set
Specialty
There are also additional dice that you might roll
during the course of the game that arent part of your
character sheet, each its own situational category:
Opponents stress
Opponents complication
A stunt, resource, or asset
For a more advanced game, we offer a number of options. See page 208 for examples on replacing Power Sets,
and page 207 for extra options to add more categories
to your game. Each of those can change the tone of the
game in different ways, so you can customize your playing experience.
Fantasy Heroic Roleplaying also uses one important new rule: whenever a hero or other character cannot
justify using a die in one of their categories (Distinction,
Background Power Set, Class Power Set, and Specialty),
you may instead just take a d6 for that category. However,
you cannot use any other ability of that category (no SFX
or Limits for Power Sets, no PPs for Distinctions, no splitting of dice for Specialties.)Consider it as shutting down
that particular category for the roll in exchange for a d6.
CORE MECHANICS
The game follows the following fundamental rules.
1. Describe what you intend to do. If you are the active
player and what you want to attempt has a chance to
fail, it is described in these rules as taking an action.
2. When taking an action, assemble your dice pool as
listed above.
3. Roll the dice.
4. Set aside any dice showing 1s; they cannot be used in
the action. These dice are called opportunities and
can be triggered after the roll resolves for a variety
of effects by an opposing party.
5. Pick any two remaining dice; add their values together for your total.
6. Pick any one other dice to use as your effect die. Only
the size of the die matters for your effect die, not what
number it is showing. If you have no remaining dice
for your effect die, the default is a d4.
7. Decide if you spend Plot Points (PP) (page 194) to
add additional remaining dice to your total, or add
lay
193
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
194
lay
195
COMBAT
Combat Scenes feature action-heavy scenes, usually
against opponents trying to physically hurt your heroes.
Combat Scenes can also be used in situations where
timing matters, since these scenes operate in action order.
At the start of a Combat Scene, the GM determines who
acts first, depending on how the action has begun in the
Scene or other situational elements. After a character has
taken an action, the player (or GM) controlling it chooses
who goes next, until every character has acted in a round.
Whoever goes last in a round may determine who goes
first in the next round (including themselves).
More advice on framing Combat Scenes as a GM is
on page 222.
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EXPLORATION
Exploration Scenes have heroes moving overland into
uncharted territory, cutting through a dangerous forest,
or navigating a dark dungeon. Exploration rolls take
place during Exploration Scenes, and are described on
page 219, along with other details of how to handle
Exploration Scenes.
Heroes may each take the following actions during an
Exploration Scene:
196
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197
HERO CREATION
Hero Creation
BACKGROUND
Where your adventurer comes from plays a big role in
their adventuring career. The Background Power Set both
draws upon an adventurers abilities that give them the
edge, as well as their physical and mental advantages.
Listed below are different options for Background
Power Sets. Choose one. They break down as follows:
NAME OF THE POWER SET
Explanatory flavor text that describes the Power Set
Power traits dX: These are the dice you can include in
your pool when using that power.
SFX: These are special abilities that you can call upon
to alter your dice rolls or other effects. Some use PP if
specified, others carry some other kind of risk or costs.
198
Hero Creation
LIZARDFOLK
The fierce lizardfolk are willing to go wherever needed to
oppose the destruction of the realm while fighting the prejudice of the warm-blooded.
HUMAN
The most numerous of all peoples of the realm, humans
are known to be adaptable and willing to give their all.
no longer affected.
You could even go further afield with your background
to support any number of character concepts:
WARHORSE
Enhanced Durability d8, Enhanced Stamina d8,
Exceptional Speed d10
SFX: Thunderous Charge. Step up or double Exceptional
Speed during an attack action. Afterward, shutdown power.
Recover on opportunity.
Limit: A Horse, of Course. Convert a Warhorse power into
a complication to earn a PP. Remove complication or participate in a non-Combat Scene to recover.
199
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Any Control where you have a
Resistance, Intangibility, Magical Aptitude,
Senses, any existing Resistance, Teleport
SFX: Elemental Being. Spend a PP to ignore physical
stress from a normal weapon attack if the stress is
less than a Resistance power you possess.
WOOD ELF
Elven heroes venture forth from their familiar forests to use
their abilities to oppose evil that would corrupt the realm.
Enhanced Reflexes d8, Enhanced Senses d8,
Enhanced Speed d8, Magical Aptitude d8
SFX: Elven Grace. Spend a PP to reroll an attack action,
adding Enhanced Senses to pool or stepping up the die
if already included.
Limit: Fae. Shutdown Wood Elf and gain a PP when
affected by cold iron or fae-specific magic. Recover when
no longer affected.
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Reflexes, Senses, Speed,
Magical Aptitude
SFX: Transcendent. Spend a PP to ignore complications from sleep, charm, or aging.
Hero Creation
CLASSES
Classes are the main representation of the role you bring
to the adventure. Many of the basic archetypes of fantasy adventuring are covered here. While Backgrounds
provide much of your characters physical and mental
attributes, the Class Power Set covers how you use them,
and certain Background/Class combinations are designed
to work together better than others (though no combination is ever completely worse off).
CUSTOMIZING CLASSES
The basic game provides these ready-to-go Backgrounds
and Classes as is. The assumption is that you wont have
any kind of Class overlap within your group. However, you
may want to customize the Classes to best fit your players.
Each Class contains a number of suggested traits, additional SFX, and other options. These abilities are mainly
used when characters spend XP on unlockables to improve
their characters. However, you may want to customize the
characters instead by simply swapping some of the traits or
SFX they start with for some of the suggested advancements.
The GM may also allow you to simply add another signature
trait or two that makes your character different.
200
BARBARIAN
Primitive warriors who are trained to wield both massive
weapons and their own fury.
Weapon d12, Enhanced Stamina d8
SFX: RAGE! Borrow a die from the doom pool for your
next roll. After the roll, return it to the doom pool and
step it up.
SFX: Sweep Attack. Spend a PP to attack multiple targets
in a Mob with Weapon. Add a d6 and keep an extra effect
die for each target beyond the first.
Limit: Heedless Swing. Weapon may not be used in a
reaction pool unless you spend a PP.
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Speed, Durability, Magic
Resistance, Fire/Cold Resistance, Stamina,
Shapeshifting
Replace Heedless Swing with Limit: Awkward
Defense. When used in a reaction pool, step back
Weapon.
SFX: Animal Totem. When using a Shapeshiftingcreated asset in your dice pool, step back the highest die in your dice pool to step up physical stress
inflicted.
SFX: Mighty Roar. You may spend a PP to convert
physical stress into mental stress. You may add a d6
to the doom pool to add your mental stress to your
dice pool, and then step it up afterward.
SFX: Regeneration. Spend a PP to use an effect die
to recover your own physical stress and step back
physical trauma.
SFX: SMASH! When targeting scene traits or an opponents trait that can be destroyed, add a d6 and
step up effect die.
BARD
Jovial storytellers, performers, and dabblers pick up whatever skills they need to get by, especially when it comes to
influencing others.
Mental Influence d6, Musical Blast d6, Sorcery d8
SFX: Silver Tongue. Add a d6 and step up effect die when
inflicting social stress or inflicting a social complication.
SFX: Morale Boost. Spend a PP to use an effect die to
recover your own or anothers mental or social stress.
Limit: Utility Magic. A dice pool containing Sorcery
cannot be used to inflict physical stress.
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Mental Influence, Blast,
Sorcery,
SFX: Inspiring Songs. When using Sorcery to create
a musical asset, add a d6 and step up effect die.
SFX: Jack-of-all-Trades. Spend 1 PP to gain any one
Specialty at Expert level for a Scene.
SFX: The Greatest Song in the World. For a single
action, step up any power from your Bard Power Set
and borrow a die from the doom pool and add it
your roll. If your action succeeds, take physical stress
equal to the effect die of your action and return the
die to the doom pool stepped down. If you fail, step
up the die when you return it to the doom pool and
take stress equal to your effect die.
SFX: Heroic Tribute. If an allys pool includes an
asset created by a Bard power, you may spend 1 PP
to allow them to reroll.
Replace the Limit: Magic from Music with Limit: The
Music Within. Gain a PP and shutdown Bard when
your music is hindered. Take an action against the
doom pool to recover.
DRUID
Ancient spirits of the wilderness guide an order guardian
to protect it, unleashing it when the need arises.
Nature Mastery d10, Shapeshifting d8
SFX: Bestial Form. When making an attack action
containing a Shapeshifting asset, step up physical stress
inflicted.
SFX: Natures Wrath. Add a d6 and step up effect die
when inflicting a nature-based complication.
Limit: Unpredictability of Nature. Convert a Druid power
to a complication to gain a PP. Remove complication to
recover power.
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Durability, Elemental Blast,
Flight, Mimic, Nature Control, Senses,
Shapeshifting
SFX: Charm Animal. If you stress out an animal of
natural origin in a conflict, you may add it as an asset
(using their Level die) for the next scene.
SFX: Plant Control. When using Nature Control
to create assets, add a d6 and step up your effect die.
SFX: Natural Perfection. Spend 1 PP to ignore stress,
trauma, or complications from fatigue, poison, aging,
or disease.
SFX: Natures Ally. When including an animal resource in your dice pool, you may split that resource
into two stepped back dice and keep an extra effect
die.
SFX: Bestial Regeneration. When including
Shapeshifting in a pool, you may spend a PP to
use an effect die to recover physical stress.
Hero Creation
CLERIC
Devoted servants of the gods are empowered both with
divine magics and arms to represent their religion in the
realm.
201
FIGHTER
Nearly every civilization in the realm has trained soldiers, guards, and knights, ready to protect and serve the
common man with only the force of arms.
Weapon d10, Enhanced Durability d8
SFX: Defender. Spend a PP to take physical stress intended
for a nearby ally.
SFX: Peerless Parry. On successful reaction against a
melee attack using a Weapon, inflict physical stress equal
to your effect die. Spend a PP to do this even if reaction
failed.
Limit: Gear. Shutdown Weapon or Enhanced
Durability to gain a PP. Recover by taking an action
against the doom pool.
Hero Creation
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Weapon, Enhanced Durability,
Reflexes
SFX: Tank. On a reaction using Enhanced
Durability, double Enhanced Durability die.
Remove highest rolling die and add three dice to
total.
SFX: Sword & Board. When taking stress using
Defender SFX while wielding a sword and shield,
step down the effect die for stress, and then create a
stunt of equal size.
SFX: Two-Handed Style. While wielding a two-handed weapon, split Weapon die into two stepped down
dice. Keep an extra effect die.
SFX: Polearm Mastery. If using a polearm Weapon
in a pool to inflict physical stress on an opponent,
double it for an action, then add second-highest rolling die from that action to the doom pool.
SFX: Tactical Genius. Spend a PP to borrow the highest die from the doom pool when creating tactical
assets. After rolling, return the die to the doom pool
and step it down.
RANGER
Wilderness guides with ancient training wield the power
of arms and natural secrets to protect the wilds.
Nature Control d8, Weapons d8
SFX: Tracking. Step up any natural asset or resource made
during an Exploration Scene.
SFX: Multiattack. On attack action, split Weapon die
into two stepped-back dice. Keep an extra effect die.
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SUMMONER
By harnessing a connection to the creatures of the world or
beyond, monsters of all kinds can be summoned to fight,
but they arent always well trained.
WARLOCK
A dark pact using forbidden magics gives access to power
at a price.
Mystic Blast d10, Sorcery d8
SFX: Eldritch Energies. Add a die from the doom pool
to your attack action. After attack, return the die and
step it up.
SFX: Unleashed. Step up or double a Warlock power on
action (1 PP for both). If action fails, add a die to the doom
pool equal to highest rolling die.
Limit: Utility Magic. A dice pool containing Sorcery
cannot be used to inflict physical stress.
Limit: Forces Beyond Comprehension. When including
a Warlock power in your dice pool, 1s and 2s count as
opportunities, but only 1s are excluded from being used
for total or effect.
Hero Creation
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Mystic Blast, Durability,
Sorcery, Stretching, Teleport,
SFX: Profane Pact. Spend 1 PP to recover your own
stress when you inflict stress with a pool that includes
a Warlock power.
SFX: Holy Pact. Add Sorcery to your dice pool
when helping others recover stress. Spend 1 PP to
recover your own or anothers physical stress or step
back your own or anothers physical trauma.
SFX: Fae Pact. When making a reaction to avoid a
physical or magical attack, add a die from the doom
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Hero Creation
Advancements:
Suggested Traits: Mystic Blast, Durability,
Shapeshifting, Sorcery, Teleport
SFX: Abjuration. You may spend a PP to add your
Sorcery die to an allys reaction roll. If that roll fails,
take d6 Mental Stress.
SFX: Conjuration. When creating a magical asset,
add a d6 and step up effect die.
SFX: Divination. If your reaction pool includes a
Wizard power, spend 1 PP to reroll. If rerolled reaction succeeds, use effect die to make a free Divination
stunt.
SFX: Enchantment. When inflicting a magical complication against multiple targets, for each additional
target add a d6 and keep an additional effect die.
Replace Limit: Utility Magic with Limit: Necromancy.
If you use Sorcery in a pool to inflict physical stress,
take d6 Mental Stress.
DISTINCTIONS
Distinctions define the personality and style of your adventurer, in ways that sometimes help and sometimes
complicate their lives.
Characters choose three Distinctions at character
creation (usually after selecting Background and Class,
but this can be done or changed at any point during the
204
SPECIALTIES
Specialties represent the training that an individual hero
has and the contacts made through its application. Some
will relate more directly to an adventurers role, like the
Fighter using Melee Combat, while others might come
up less often but still provide a breadth of training for
that character.
Specialties come in two types: Expert and Master.
Expert Specialties can be used as a d8, or split into 2d6.
Master Specialties can be used as a d10, or split up into
2d8 or 3d6. Choose one Specialty at Master and three
Expert Specialties for your character.
The basic Specialties are as follows:
Acrobatics: Youve had training in leaping, jumping,
contorting, and dodging out of the way. Youve got
a great sense of balance and youre not afraid of
heights.
Crafting: You can use, repair, and create physical
goods, from blacksmithing to traps, to siege devices
and alchemical items.
Diplomacy: You have a gift for understanding sentient
behavior and finding common ground with other
people and cultures.
Healing: Youve had training in treating wounds and
ailments of the body and the mind.
Intimidation: You know what scares others. Youre
familiar with how to get others to do what you want
through force, threats, menace, and fear.
DEALING WITH...
Hero Creation
Lore: You have a wide breadth of knowledge, from history to politics to sciences.
Melee Combat: Youre good in a fight with melee weapons and the training to act on the offensive, or if you
like, the defensive.
Merchantry: Youve got merchant acumen and know
your way around finances, appraisal, and trade.
This Specialty also implies a certain level of wealth
available.
Mystic: You have experience in occult dealings and
spellcraft. This Specialty encompasses both training
with magic and general magical knowledge for those
who have no magical ability.
Performance: You have training in entertainment of
all kinds.
Ranged Combat: Youre good in a fight with ranged
weapons and the training to act on the offensive, or,
if you prefer, the defensive.
Riding: You dont just know how to ride a horse, you
were born to ride.
Scouting: You have experience in the natural world, as
well as tracking and leading the way in a dangerous
situation.
Skullduggery: Youve got training in sneaking, infiltrating, breaking in, and hiding the truth.
205
RESOURCES
Resources are those aspects that adventurers can call
upon to help them when they have the time, drawing on
their training from Specialties. They represent situations
where the adventurer wants to generate a beneficial effect,
but where failure or risk doesnt come into play.
During a Social or Exploration Scene, a hero may spend
a PP to generate a resource from one of their Specialties.
An Expert Specialty makes a d6 resource, while a Master
Specialty makes a d8 resource. The resource lasts through
the current Scene and until the end of the next one, and
can be extended an additional scene by spending a PP
when the resource would run out. Resources can also be
made during a Combat Scene by activating an opponents
opportunity, in which case it only lasts until the end of
the current Scene.
Resources also provide information, allies, or other
ways to move the adventure along. Resources shouldnt
take the place of encounters or other situations where
the play is interesting, but instead are an easy way for an
adventurer to be creative with their abilities in a tangible
way. It gives players greater control over the story of the
game, as they are able to define certain aspects about
the situation. For example, instead of a Rogue asking if
he knows somebody in town, he spends a PP and declares he has an underworld contact in town based on
his Skullduggery Expert Specialty, which both grants
him an opportunity to talk in character with the contact
and gives a d6 resources on any related rolls. Of course,
CHECK YOUR KNOWLEDGE AT THE
DOOR
206
CUSTOMIZING SPECIALTIES
Specialties are one of the easiest things to change for your
own game to represent how much granularity you want.
New Specialties can be added for more diversity in skill
bases and for the kind of things you want to highlight
in your games, whereas the skill list can be pared down
significantly if you want the heroes to have more focused
experience
In the basic game, heroes (regardless of race or class) start
with the same number of Specialties, and then can train
more later. You may decide instead that certain Classes, like
the Rogue or Bard, start with additional Specialties or have
a specific list they can choose from. Alternatively, certain
Backgrounds (like Humans) may have a breadth of experience that is represented by having additional Specialties. You
may also decide to come up with a Specialties list to restrict
which Class can take which Specialties.
Specialties are also an easy category to drop in favor of
another optional category as listed on page 207.
AFFILIATION
Affiliation is a category used in Marvel Heroic
Roleplaying. Heroes have three Affiliations:
Solo, for when a hero is working alone in a Scene.
Buddy, for when a hero is working with exactly one
other hero in a Scene.
Team, for when a hero is working with two or more
other heroes in a Scene.
Traditionally, splitting the party in a fantasy setting is
a bad idea. However, if your game features a lot of situations where the heroes go off in different directions, only
to be reunited later, then this category might work for
your game. This option also makes the option of separating the party through the expenditure of doom dice
more interesting for heroes that work better alone or in
smaller groups.
Hero Creation
ESCALATION
As conflict rages on, the action gets more and more
intense, and the heroes slowly bring momentum of the
fight onto their side.
If you choose to have Escalation in your game, it represents a new category that heroes only get in their dice
pool during Combat and Social Scenes featuring conflicts. After the first complete round of combat, that die
is a d6. At the end of every round, that die steps up, to
a maximum of d12. Only adventurers get this bonus die
in their dice pools, not any rolls by the GM. However,
whenever that die steps up, the GM adds an equal sized
die to the doom pool.
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MILESTONES AND
SPENDING XP
Milestones are how characters earn XP that they use to
unlock character upgrades, as well as story unlockables
and to find magic items during their quest.
Characters have two Milestones. Often, one is shared
by the entire party, while the other is chosen personally.
The personal Milestone can come from a Background,
Class, the current Quest, or one developed for your specific character.
Milestones contain three different triggers:
A 1 XP Milestone that can be hit as many times as it
applies (or once per action).
A 3 XP Milestone that can only be hit once per Scene.
A 10 XP milestone that can only be hit once per session.
If it is a shared Milestone among the party, once this
Milestone is hit, it is unusable for any level until the
next session. If it is a personal Milestone, it closes that
Milestone completely, and the player should choose a
new one at the end of the session.
Milestones are usually triggered by the players actions,
with the GM verifying if theres any question whether one
has been triggered or not.
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ACCURSED
The infernal forces of the multiverse have picked you to
play some role in their unfathomable plans. Others call
you unlucky, but you recognize a growing blackness in
your heart
BLESSED
You were born under a divine star and followed a gods
calling. You spread the Word as you see fit so that you can
spread your gods blessings.
HONORABLE WARRIOR
I live by my reputation and the honor that burdens my
existence. Stand fast, foe! We shall let fate and our martial
skills determine your destiny!
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TREASURE HUNTER
Its not about amassing riches; its about acquiring and disposing of it in the most thrilling and entertaining manner
possible. You consulted maps, scoured rumors, raided
ruins, and killed monsters and its not even noon yet.
1 XP when you acquire or spend money.
3 XP when you search for treasure during a Combat
Scene.
10 XP when you find the big score, or when you spend
all of your money in an act of altruism.
QUEST MILESTONES
Quest Milestones can be offered by the GM at the start
of a Quest, or during the explanation of a Quest when
the players receive plot Hooks. Quest Milestones tie the
heroes directly into the story, giving them personal motivations (and XP!) for becoming involved in your story.
As each hero has two Milestones, a hero can replace his
current Personal Milestone with the Quest Milestone, or
if the GM allows, replace the Party Milestone until the
Quest Milestone is completed.
An Adventure lasts a single session, while Quests have
plotlines that stretch over multiple sessions. GMs are
strongly encouraged to come up with Quest Milestones
for any storyline that is expected to last multiple sessions.
Three to four Quest Milestones is a good number, though
none of them should be required, and which ones the
players take will often indicate which plotlines are the
most interesting to them. Some example Quest Milestones
are below.
RESCUE XANDER CASKERHALL
My son has been abducted by a band of Giants! I wont
stand for this affront to our family! Save him before its
too late.
1 XP when you ask somebody you just met about
Xander Caskerhall.
3 XP when you get a clue towards Xanders location.
10 XP when you rescue Xander, or decide to leave him
captured.
99 PROBLEMS BUT A LICH AINT ONE
A Lich Lord has been doing whatever nefarious things
Liches do in their dry, sealed tomb. You are tasked to
expose his dreadful plans and destroy him forever!
1 XP when you investigate one of the Lich Lords many
traps or puzzles.
3 XP when you make a resource related to the Lich
Lord.
10 XP when you destroy the Lich Lords phylactery, or
are defeated and become a minion of the Lich Lord.
SPEND 10 XP
Upgrade an existing power trait from d6 to d8.
Unlock a d8 magic item or ally from an asset.
Add a new SFX or other Advancement from a Power
Sets Advancements.
Add a power trait at d6 from a Power Set you do not
possess.
SPEND 15 XP
Upgrade an existing power trait from d8 to d10.
Upgrade an existing Expert Specialty to Master.
Unlock a d10 magic item or ally from an asset.
Add a new SFX from a Power Sets Advancement from
a Power Set you do not possess.
SPEND 20 XP
Upgrade an existing power trait from d10 to d12.
Unlock a d12 magic item or ally from an asset.
Magic Items
SPEND 5 XP
Train a new Specialty at Expert.
Add a new power trait at d6 from a Power Sets
Advancements.
Unlock a d6 magic item or ally from an asset.
MAGIC ITEMS
THINGAMAJIG EXPERIMENTS
That metal wall in the mountainside? You know the one
that is impenetrable? Well, it opened and all kind of strange
monsters have started plaguing the lands. Why dont you
have a look and explore its contents? Bring back souvenirs
for the princelings!
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Magic Items
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DRAGONSCALE ARMOR
d10 Class Magic Item
Weapon d8
DWARVEN PLATE
d12 Class Magic Item
Magic Items
ELVEN CHAIN
d8 Class Magic Item
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GAMEMASTERING
BASICS
RUNNING THE GAME
As the Gamemaster, you take up the role of everything
and everyone that isnt directly under the control of players. You populate and describe the game world, picking
exciting stories and epic plotlines. You get to create dynamic scenes and run them with gusto so players get excited. As such, you have the responsibility of directing the
story through vivid description, setting a pace that keeps
players at the edge of their seats, and cheerleading so everyone around the table feels motivated and empowered
to have characters perform the most daring, dangerous
acts we have come to expect from the genre.
In parallel, you must act as an arbiter of the rules,
making sure everyone works within the spirit of the
game while still granting everyone the fairest possible
chance to do wild heroic feats. While daunting at first,
Gamemastering remains, for many, one of the most satisfying aspects of roleplaying.
The Fantasy Heroic Roleplaying game handles
different styles of play, each requiring you to run things
slightly differently (see Adventure and Scene Creation,
page 228). Whatever style you settle on, some basics of
Gamemastering remain common.
The game plays out in distinct, more or less structured, Scenes. Think of a Scene as a box that contains
all the elements players get to interact with their heroes.
Fully fleshed Scenes contain the setup that explains the
initial situation. It has descriptions that set the table for
the players, letting them know what they see and hear. It
contains all the bits and pieces that characters can interact or clash with, including NPCs, monsters, and traps.
Finally, a Scene details how these elements interact with
heroes and how the Scene gets resolved, including likely
outcomes.
The games three types of Scenes (Exploration, Combat,
and Social) cover all the situations where heroes are faced
with challenges and downtime. Exploration Scenes are
used when heroes must travel a dangerous, uncertain
path to a reach a significant destination; classic examples
would be dungeon crawling, finding ones way without
getting spotted in a hostile city, or even doing arcane
research to unlock a strange gateway to another world.
Combat Scenes, while somewhat self-explanatory,
also cover a wider range of situations where heroes must
overcome challenges that involve physical and mental
BASICS OF ROLLING/OPPOSITION
At the core of Gamemastering FHRP is the following
question: is there a need to roll dice whenever a character performs a particular action? This decision is usually
easy to make. A Fighter charging a monster, or a Wizard
creating an illusion asset to hide a sneaking Rogue are
clear-cut examples of such rolls.
In other cases, especially when characters want to perform minor actions just to make their character look cool
without gaining any undue advantages, rolls should not
be necessary. For example, in a Social Scene where an
outraged merchant wants to confront a Rogue for not
keeping his promises, the Rogue player should not have
to roll to sneak up on the Merchant just so he can whisper
Why are you shouting? Im right here. That is, unless
the Rogue wants to establish an asset based on surprising
the angry merchant.
As a general guideline, whenever a character wants to
perform an action whose outcome is uncertain, establish
if any NPC, monster, or other threat would oppose that
action and why. If none come up, have the character roll
against the doom pool. This represents the character attempting an action whose outcome depends on luck, fate,
and the sheer chaos of the characters surroundings.
Whatever the case, always guide yourself with the two
following principles. First, make sure players tell you the
intent behind the actions of their characters. Literally ask
players, What is your intent here? By declaring intent,
players focus on what they want their characters to do
instead of how they would do it through the rules. Thats
your job, not theirs.
Example: Sarah is playing Sorshana, an Elven Wizard.
Shes fighting an onslaught of Kobolds that seem to be
pouring out of everywhere. She tells the GM that she
wants to cast a Web spell using her Sorcery, targeting
all the Kobolds. Before letting her build her dice pool,
the GM asks her what she hopes to accomplish if her
action succeeds. Thinking about it, she announces that
ASSETS
Assets are objects or situational elements that can provide a temporary boost to the actions of character and
are created through a successful action. While they just
grant an additional die to a characters dice pool, they
can add more flavor to an action than the advantage they
provide. Like all temporary traits, the specific wording
of an asset lends its full power to a characters actions. A
Wizards Eldritch Bolt becomes much more sinister
when it is launched from a Necrotic Wand d10. In
the same vein, heroes can totally exploit the advantages
of a Shield Wall d8 when blocking the onslaught of a
horde of Orcs.
When players create assets, encourage them to be as
evocative and precise as possible. The use of colorful adjectives and powerful nouns make for the best assets. This
is yet another good occasion to ask the player creating an
asset what the characters intent is. Stating the intent can
clarify what the players envisions and may make writing
Gamemastering Basics
SCENE TRAITS
Scene traits are elements that are part of the initial setup
of a Scene. They are things like pieces of furniture, or
features of a room or area where the action takes place
that are hard coded in a Scene from the start. They are
the Fragile Tables, Swinging Chandeliers, Glowing
Altars and Yawning Maws of Infinite Destruction
that pepper dungeon rooms, taverns, and lost temples.
Scene traits can usually be used as either assets or complications in any actions, but cant be used twice in any
action/reaction pair. Like any other Scene elements, you
can increase the die rating of a Scene asset through the
expenditure of doom dice when the Scene starts; see
Adding Trouble in the Adventure and Scene Creation
chapter, page 228.
she wants to entangle the Kobold mob and block the multiple holes in the cave they are pouring out from. The GM
then asks her if she wants to go for two effects: inflict
a Webbed complication on the Kobolds and target the
Kobold Warren d8 trick. He explains that by beating
it with an effect die of d10 or more, he wont be able to
add new kobolds to the Scene. After some more thought,
Sarah decides that she wants Sorshana to focus solely on
the Kobold Warren, leaving the others to deal with the
Kobolds.
Secondly, once youve described the major elements of
a Scene and established who goes first, encourage players
to bring colorful descriptive elements to a Scene through
the actions they wish to perform. Encourage them to describe what happens up to the moment of uncertainty.
Give players ample leeway to add minor objects and other
elements to the area where the action occurs. Notice those
elements: does a character jump on a table you described,
does another one run across a slippery mosaic floor, do
they all grab onto something as they do so? Such elements
become part of the Scene, usable by both PCs and NPCs
when they react to actions or perform their own.
Once a player has described the attempted action, its
time to build the active players dice pool, make the roll,
and establish the result and effect die (or dice). If an NPC
or other GM-controlled character opposes the roll, you
describe the reaction to the active characters action. If the
action is opposed by another players character, have the
reactive player describe things. In such cases, take special
care to ensure that both players play fair with the rules
and established scene traits to make the confrontation
exciting and fun for all.
In the case where the roll is opposed by the doom pool,
feel free to borrow elements from the overall Scene to
describe things that could make the action go awry.
If the action was successful, describe the results. Feel
free to prompt the player to provide the description of
such success. If the action is a failure, then you get free
rein in describing how things do not go as the character
intended. Additionally, you generally get the option to
turn the table on the active player, usually by spending a
die from the doom pool to apply the oppositions effect
dice from the successful reaction roll.
When determining a counter-reaction to a failed
action, be as creative with the Scenes environment as you
want to inflict stress or complications. Feel free to exploit
all scene traits, including assets added by players! Have
tables break under heroes to injure them, slippery floors
cause sprained ankles, and any object heroes reached for
turn into something they didnt expect!
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the asset easier. If you sense that a player is stuck for inspiration, nudge the rest of the table to provide suggestions
and brainstorm a bit. While it may slow down the game
a bit, this process is at the heart of what makes a scene
vivid and dynamic.
Dont forget to remind players they can make their
assets persistent by spending a PP after successfully creating them. Depending on the asset created, it might
become usable by the whole party. You must also remember that a character can only make use of one asset when
building a dice pool; you must ensure that the one picked
by any given character makes sense in the story.
Gamemastering Basics
COMPLICATIONS
The flipside of assets, complications are your best tool
for creating trouble for the characters. Of course, you
could use all your successful actions and counter-reactions against heroes to inflict stress. You should, however,
consider using effect dice to create complications that
players wont be able to ignore. For example, by creating Sprained Ankles d8, Anti-Magic Zones d10, and
Silence d12 complications in an action scene, you not
only change the tactical situation, you give a chance for
support heroes to shine by giving them new targets to
deal with.
As players master the rules, they may realize that
using complications can be a very efficient way of taking
a threat, especially large ones, out of a Scene. However,
contrary to stress, not all heroes might have the necessary
powers to step up the same complication past d12. For
example, if a Wizard successfully creates an Entangling
Snares d10 complication on an enraged dragon, the
partys Barbarian will likely not be able to step up that
complication during her turn. Of course, you should not
punish creativity; if players come up with entertaining
and daring ways to step up an existing complication, you
should encourage it. If the Barbarian explains how she
rips vines from the surrounding jungle so she can jump
on the dragon and tie it up further, then you should allow
the player to roll for it.
TARGETING TRAITS
Heroes are not going to be spending all their actions
trying to find the lost temple, kill monsters, and outwit
silver-tongued nobles. Many Scenes of the game will feature elements that have die ratings that heroes might want
to either destroy or strengthen. From furniture to traps to
curses, heroes and NPCs can target many traits. In fact,
both heroes and villains can attempt to shutdown traits
like assets, complications, gear, powers, and possibly even
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Gamemastering Basics
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218
rolling 1s. First, it can refill the pool as you use it. Second,
this is a core mechanic of the PP economy. Players often
will purposefully roll lower dice to get a higher chance
Theres no science to it, but you should aim at getting
about as many dice in the doom pool as the heroes have
categories when they build their pools, i.e. from 3 to 6,
and keep it at that point.
Its not enough to have a well-stocked doom pool. You
need to use it. In fact, its preferable to keep the doom pool
from growing too rapidly, both in number and size. Its
dice are made to be spent, and you should try to maintain it in the 3 to 6 range. This will ensure that the pool
provides a healthy challenge when you roll it to oppose
actions against it.
The easiest ways to do so are by using them as additional dice in the dice pools you build for the characters and
threats you control. This allows you to give a little extra
oomph against a particularly successful heroic action
or to show players you mean business with a particular
threat. In the same vein, you can spend them so you can
add more dice together to calculate your total after a roll.
Remember, you need to take out a die of the same size or
larger than the one you want to add to the total and you
dont actually roll that spent die. Finally, you can spend
dice to add one or more additional effect dice to the one
you obtained after a successful action. This allows you
to both inflict stress and inflict complications on a hero.
Once again, the dice you spend must be of equal size or
larger than the dice you wish to convert to effect dice.
Once you have mastered those three uses of doom dice,
you should explore further uses, like splitting the party,
activating a heros limit, making counterattacks, adding
trouble to Scenes like Scene complications, and enhancing
monsters and other threats when you start a new one
(see page 223). Finally, you should familiarize yourself with monsters, threats, or Scene elements that have
SFX or other triggers that require spending doom dice.
For example, some mob monsters can grow by spending
doom dice. In the same vein, a summoning portal might
bring in new monsters whenever you spend a d8 or more
from the pool.
With so many ways to use the doom pool, you should
be careful about abusing it. For instance, theres no
reason to race to fill the doom pool with two or more d12.
Having too many big dice in the doom pool makes it very
hard for the heroes to attempt actions like recovery and
asset creation against it. Additionally, you dont have to
use the biggest die for your total when making a roll with
the doom pool; you should gauge the state of the heroes
when making rolls and possibly keep the bigger dice for
EXPLORATION SCENES
ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTIONS
Exploration Scenes do not usually feature monsters,
NPCs, or other similar traits and complications. They
can have Environmental Distinctions. Such Distinctions
represent elements specific to the Scene that remain valid
as long as Exploration Scenes are carried out in the same
general area
For example, an Exploration Scene set in a dark forest
could have Light Absorbing Shadows. Similarly, a
Scene set in a large city could be Very Noisy.
Environmental Distinctions can only be used by the
GM when making rolls against the actions of heroes.
Thus, it mostly means rolling an extra d8 or d4 with the
doom pool. As usual, if the GM uses a Distinction as a d4,
the doom pool grows by a d6 or its lowest die is stepped
up. Heroes cant use them in their dice pool; they need
to rely on their own Distinctions. Like all Distinctions,
the GM can only use one per roll.
For example, the heroes are navigating through a
desert to find the lost tomb of a long forgotten desert
king. The Scene has an Environmental Distinction
called Sandstorm. The GM could decide to either add
a d8 to his doom pool roll as a reaction to the Rangers
Exploration roll. Conversely, if the party builds a Sand
Sailing Ship asset to ride the Sandstorm, the GM could
choose to use the Sandstorm as a d4 Distinction and add
a d6 to the doom pool.
Gamemastering Basics
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Gamemastering Basics
220
TRANSITIONING FROM AN
EXPLORATION SCENE
If Combat and Social Scenes are the heart of an adventure,
Exploration Scenes act as the connective tissue on which
they rest. If you imagine an Adventure as a flowchart,
Exploration Scenes can represent the various paths that
connect the boxes that represent your planned Combat
and Social Scenes. Whenever you need to have heroes
progress through an uncertain journey between those
two types of Scenes, Exploration is the way to go.
That means you should avoid having an Exploration
Scene leading to another one. The idea behind such
Scenes is to move the adventure and the story to the
next significant challenge. If your Adventure itself is a
long, somewhat linear journey, you should consider creating a string of Combat and Social scenes interspersed
with Exploration ones. Successful rolls lead heroes to the
next town, rest area, or even a Bandit encampment they
spotted in advance. Have a few non-Exploration Scenes
ready to drop on the heroes for their failed Exploration
rolls. Have them seek shelter in a Cave populated with
Ice Trolls, Dark Elves might raid their night camp, or
have the ghostly remnants of adventurers prevent passage until the heroes can dispel their haunting through
theological rhetoric.
The key to a good transition lies in using the result of
the Exploration roll to pave the way to the next Scene
in the most evocative way possible. Lets explore both
possibilities.
Gamemastering Basics
221
EXPLORATION TO COMBAT
Exploration leads to Combat Scenes, either when the
party is purposely heading to a place that might be inhabited by hostile threats or when you send them into the
jaws of threats after a failed Exploration roll.
When the Scene is successfully resolved, you give players sufficient information about what awaits them in the
next Scene so they can create an asset that is both useful
and makes sense in the story. For example, they could
create a Death from Above asset, a Tactical Battle
Plan or even prepare a Stealthy Spell. Depending on
how the Scene is set, a successful Exploration roll could
also grant the heroes initiative over whatever awaits them,
allowing them to set the order of battle: you remain the
final judge of that. For instance, you might establish that
a d10 or d12 Exploration effect die grants initiative to the
side that got it.
Sending the heroes into combat (or in the jaws of some
fiendish Death Trap) after a failed Exploration roll is a
great way to add excitement and danger to a session. You
can use the occasion to make a random encounter, a
planned ambush, or have the heroes stumble right into a
War Council between Orcs and Ogres. In such cases, you
get to use your Exploration effect dice to stack the deck
against the heroes a bit. If you cant think of an evocative complication, consider using your dice to bolster the
content of the room (See Adding Trouble to Scenes, page
232), or inflict some form of stress.
EXPLORATION TO SOCIAL
A Social Scene follows an Exploration Scene when heroes
either seek out someone for a specific purpose or stumble
upon NPCs that either expect something from the heroes
or may provide help. A Social Scene is a natural followup to an Exploration Scene framed as the heroes giving
chase or running an investigation.
As for Combat Scenes, when players successfully resolve their Scene, provide enough details about who
theyll meet, the whereabouts, and the context of the
meeting so they can formulate an interesting asset to help
them. They may start their audience with the Sun Priest
with Clever Flattery or sing a Soothing Ballad to
help calm an enraged crowd.
Sending heroes that fail an Exploration check into an
unplanned Social Scene is the perfect occasion to segue
into an embarrassing or awkward situation for the heroes.
This is where you spring Scenes that start like:
Where do you think youre going?
Its them, I saw them kill the Seneschal!
We dont sell to your kind.
No one is allowed in after nightfall.
COMBAT SCENES
A wave of orcs bust through the dungeon door. They wont
let the heroes escape with the treasure alive. Its time to
break out the weapon and fight.
The GMs job is to frame the Combat Scene. This includes setting the Scenes location, situation, and everything that the heroes can see: threats like monsters, traps
or tricks, and any Scene traits. See Adventure and Scene
Creation on page 228 for details and advice on creating
exciting Combat Scenes.
Once that all is laid out, the action begins. As the GM,
you choose who acts first based on how you framed the
scene. If the heroes got the drop on the monsters, you
probably select one of them to go first, especially if one
hero had been scouting ahead. If the monsters have the
upper hand, choosing one of them to go first is probably
best.
From there, the action order continues, as described
on page 196. Remember that you can spend doom dice
to interrupt the action order with one of your threats in
order to keep the heroes on their toes. Spending doom
dice to introduce new threats in the middle of the action
order can also prevent a Combat Scene from going stale.
Remember that not all combats need to end with one
side dead. Other objectives in the Scene, such as trying
to obtain, destroy, or protect something, make sure that
there are multiple tasks to worry about beyond just trying
to unload your best attacks on the bad guy. The more
heroes have to deal with at the same time, the more exciting and intense a Scene becomes. Battling Ogres while
trying to dismantle a Doomsday Clock that sends earthshattering shockwaves when it acts makes for an epic
confrontation beyond just facing armed foes.
SCENE TRAITS: SCENE ASSETS AND SCENE
COMPLICATIONS
From kicking the table into a group of angry villagers
to avoiding the poisonous gas cloud that fills the room,
the environment that a Combat Scene takes place in can
be just as important (if not more so) than the monsters
being fought.
A Combat Scene can contain two kinds of Scene traits:
Scene assets and Scene complications. They work like existing assets (page 195) and complications (page 194)
in how theyre used in dice pools, so you cant use a Scene
asset and an asset you create in the same dice pool without spending a PP. However, they usually begin in the
Scene from the beginning, giving heroes (and opponents!)
something to play off of right away in a Scene.
Chairs d6 (Breakable)
Stairs with railing d6
Chandelier d8 (Breakable)
Iron Door d8
Swinging Mizzenmast d8 (Breakable)
Arcane Cannon d10
Teleportation Circles d10
Elemental Node d12 (Breakable)
Scene Complications: While Scene assets are those traits
that could potentially help anyone who chooses to exploit
them, Scene complications are specifically bad news for
the party. Scene complications are created by spending
from the doom pool when the Scene begins. (See Adding
Trouble to Scenes, page 232.) Each doom die spent creates a Scene complication of equal size that affects each
hero in the Scene. For example, a d8 doom die creates
a d8 Scene complication like Missing Floor Tiles d8.
Scene complications are for easy features of a Scene that
make the heroes lives more difficult, while the opponents
Distracting Melody d6
Precarious Footing d8
Tough to Breathe d8
Magic Vertigo d10
Underwater d12
Volcanic Heat d12
ADDING NEW THREATS TO THE SCENE
Sometimes, the goblins will hit a gong and call for reinforcements, or the heroes will step on the pressure plate
that starts the spinning blades. Thats when new threats
are added to the Scene.
While you start out with a rough budget of threats to
start a Scene in, it might allow you to bring new threats
at the costs of dice from the doom pool. The Scene
usually explains how to add threats and at what costs.
Tricks are often the types of threats that have SFX that
allows you to bring additional monsters into a Combat
Scene (see page 238). For example, a Scene can feature
Summoning Portals that bring in a new d8 Infernal
Fiends into combat for the cost of a d8 from the doom
pool. Similarly, a Necromantic Pile of Bones might
bolster a d4 Skeleton Minions Mob by adding 2d4 for
each d6 you spend for the doom pool.
Alternatively, if you prefer a simpler, less structured
way to add a new threat to a Scene, you can do the following. You can add a new threat into any conflict Scene
by spending a doom die equal to the threats Level die.
This approach is especially good if you prefer an On the
Fly approach to adventure creation (see Adventure and
Scene Creation, page 228).
New threats are introduced into the action order whenever the GM has the chance to choose who goes next and
choose the new threat (and spend the doom die), or at the
bottom of the round once everyone else has acted.
Gamemastering Basics
SCENE TRAITS?
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Gamemastering Basics
224
COMBAT TO EXPLORATION
Going to an Exploration Scene after a Combat Scene is
probably the most common transition. After the monsters
are defeated, the heroes might poke around the area for
treasure and a clue of where to go next, or just resume
crawling the dungeon after a room is cleared.
Since Exploration Scenes usually take a longer amount
of time than a Combat Scene, a lot of post-Combat business can be wrapped up as the party travels onward.
Heroes bandage themselves up and scrounge for loot as
they move through the dungeon, while the party scout
takes the lead on figuring out where to go next. Remember
that in most cases, each hero will be allowed to do one
significant action (rolling recovery, making a resource,
finding an asset, etc.), so framing the Scene following a
Combat Scene is an important one to let heroes make
an informed decision about what to do with their time.
COMBAT TO SOCIAL
A post-Combat Social Scene could mean a few things.
First, the heroes may have defeated all the threats, but
decide to hold back from exploring or advancing so that
they can discuss and recover. The classic example of this
is deciding to set up camp for the night.
Another common transition is when the fighting turns
into a conversation or even a confrontationof words.
Even if its an uneasy truce, stopping a fight in order to
come to an understanding with an enemy, or perhaps dictating the terms of surrender, a Combat Scene could stop.
Afterward, both sides may focus on words (and social
stress) to come out ahead instead of strength of arms.
Such Social Scenes have a structure similar to Combat
and are covered in detail in Running Social Scenes on
page 225.
SLEEP HERE? ARE YOU CRAZY?
In the base rules, theres no real game mechanic reason
to sleep for the night, since it doesnt provide any benefit
beyond any other Scene. If the GM wants to add that as
a tactical decision, he could offer it as a way to reset the
doom pool to what it started at the beginning of the Quest,
provided the heroes make it fully through the night without
incident (and inflating the doom pool by other means). It
could also be a way to recover trauma in the middle of a
session, rather than having to wait.
COMBAT TO COMBAT
Sometimes, the heroes only have a few second to unwind
before another band of monsters comes through the door,
especially in a siege or other situation with relentless
waves of enemies. Transitioning from a Combat Scene
to another Combat Scene is different than just introducing new threats to the Scene. A full new Combat Scene
requires the situation to shift in a major way (necessitating new Scene traits and a whole new set of threats),
but closely packed together so that theres no time for a
breather.
Remember, following a Combat Scene with another
Combat Scene means that the heroes wont have time to
recover or make new resources to be at full strength for
the next battle. Back-to-back Combats are an extra challenge, so be sure to use them sparingly. If you want the
feel of relentless monsters, but want to give the heroes a
little edge, consider placing a small Social Scene instead
to let the heroes have a few quick words and a few short
actions before the next batch of bad guys comes tumbling in. Sometimes, even a short rest is enough to patch
a party up.
SOCIAL SCENES
A heros life isnt confined to the exploration of lost ruins,
uncovering strange rituals, and battling countless creatures. Events and schemes are afoot in and outside of the
dungeons that may sweep the heroes up and send them
into the kind of trouble that swords and axes cant solve
in a satisfactory way. From negotiations with rival humanoid factions of a multi-leveled cave complex to trying
to convince the king that his daughter did NOT elope
Noisy Marketplace d6
Drunken Revellers d8 (Breakable)
Helpful Urchins d6 (Breakable)
Gullible Mob d10 (Breakable)
Sanctified Podium of Debate d12 (Breakable)
Runes of Glibness d10 (Breakable)
Examples of Scene complications:
Publicly Discredited d6
Heckling Crowd d8
Bogus Accusations d8
Suspected of Regicide d10
Blasphemy! d12
RUNNING SOCIAL SCENES
The key to running great Social Scenes relies of trading
descriptions of moves and attacks for verbal sparring and
vivid renditions of how the environment reacts to the
players actions. Even the simplest scene of recuperation
can be made memorable if players decide to delve into
their shared backgrounds to flesh out their characters
more as they rest around a campfire.
Whatever type of Social Scene you stage, you start by
describing the environment the heroes are in. Based on
the context of the Scene, you then describe any significant
NPCs that may interact with the party.
Remember that heroes can attempt to recover from
stress. As described in Recovery (page 195), all stress
levels step back by one at the beginning of such Scenes
and further recovery requires rolling for it. Remember
that each hero cant recover from the same type of stress
or trauma more than once.
You should encourage players to provide the color for
the Scene, like who talks to whom and about what, even
in the simplest Scenes. Its true that such types of Social
Scenes can be played with straight dice roll, little to no
descriptions, and with minimal roleplaying. They are,
however, much more memorable when players add their
own story elements to it. These are the kinds of Scenes
where the Cleric admonishes the Barbarian for thinking
with her Axe or when the Bard suggests, once again, to
sing a lively tune to cheer everyone up.
Gamemastering Basics
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226
opposition out of action through stressing out or complications. In this case, heroes usually inflict Social Stress
or create complications that paint the antagonist in a bad
light or fluster them enough to distract them from their
goals.
Social Stress represents being shaken, disgraced publicly, and flustered. It means a mounting sense of dread and
distress at the thought of being proven wrong, of failing
to obtain what is sought, or the inevitability of crumbling
under the intense pressure applied by the opposition. The
effect of becoming stressed out through social stress depends on the Scenes context. It may represent the inability to maintain a barrage of convincing arguments
or follow an effective line of inquiries. Alternatively a
hero might succumb to the pressure of the opposition,
the inability to face public embarrassment, or the livid
rage at being proven wrong in front of peers.
A stressed out character can no longer act in the Scene.
If a side manages to take out all their opponents in a
Social Scene, it obtains what it was seeking. Interrogators
get the info they wanted, arguments get settled, and intimidation attempts are successful. The Dragon lets the
heroes pass just this one time through his territory or
the Demon Lord reveals the Truename of one of his minor
minions.
A character stressed out with social stress gains social
trauma, as described on page 194. This represents longterm social consequences of the conflict and it applies to
both heroes and any recurring NPCs. Social trauma can
take the form of spitefulness, ruined reputation, public
humiliation, and others. See Recovery (page 195) and
NPCs (page 240) for additional information on trauma
and recovering from it for both heroes and NPCs.
Other forms of stress can be dealt in Social Scenes. For
instance, mental stress could be inflicted against the opposition through the use of magic or psychic powers. Its
also quite possible that some less socially inclined heroes
could decide that diplomacy is not the way to go and may
HERO VS HERO CONFRONTATIONS
You might want to run the type of game where conflict and
differences of opinion between heroes is not strictly handled
between players. If you play adventures that call for excruciating moral dilemmas and painful choices, you might want
to use Social conflicts to resolve issue among the heroes
themselves. The rules as written support such conflicts, as
long as the GM ensures that players create assets and complications that make sense and dont abuse the flexibility of the
rules to get an unduly advantage. Feel free to frame Scenes
that pit the ideals of heroes against each others.
SOCIAL ASSETS
Social assets can be magical effects, newfound allies,
emotional states, or even temporary titles and influences
bestowed by outside forces to help the cause of heroes and
antagonists. Contrary to Scene assets, these only apply to
one hero or antagonist.
Here are a few examples:
Ironclad Confidence d6
Cheering Crowd d8
Benefit of the Doubt d10
Unnerving Stare d8
Blackmail d10
Blessed by the God of Song d12
SOCIAL COMPLICATIONS
Social complications play off the same types, but focus
on making it harder for the opposition to achieve its goal.
Once again, they differ from Scene complication in that
they are generated through actions and can only affect
one target.
A few examples:
SOCIAL RESOURCES
Social resources are the bits and pieces that make Social
Scene livelier. They bring the tangible elements that shape
how characters interact with one another.
Here are a few examples:
Forged Documents d6
Incriminating Evidence d6
Voice of the Gods d12
Bribed Official d6
Pre-Written Speech d8
Glibness Enchantment d10
Amulet of Elven Friendship d10
SOCIAL TO COMBAT
Social Scenes leading to Combat ones come in three types.
First you have the kind mentioned before where heroes
prepare to face hostile forces through recuperation and
resource creation.
A GM might decide that a recovering party gets attacked by wandering monsters, especially if some recovery rolls failed, but this type of transition should not be
abused or become the norm. Wandering monsters are
best used after a failed Exploration roll.
The second case is when a hero decides that theres
been enough talking and decides to take matters in his
own hands. A Barbarian might decide to figuratively
cut diplomatic negotiations short by drawing her sword.
When this happens, you might need a few minutes to
go over the traits of the characters in the Scene to see if
they are combat ready. Feel free to add a few to NPCs if
this sudden shift to a combat Scene took you by surprise,
if only to make the Scene a little bit more challenging.
Similarly, if heroes are defeated in a Social Scene, one
or more players might want to get into a more physical
revenge mode. In such cases, dont forget to remind the
players of the social consequences of such actions if there
are any. An adventure can take a very unpleasant turn if
Gamemastering Basics
Intimidating Stance d6
Hands on Swordhilt d8
Good Guard/Bad Guard Routine d8
Unnerved d8
Confused d10
Misdirected d10
Cursed Tongue d12
on the other hand, they fail to stress him out, they may
find themselves under house arrest, ready to be tried as
traitors to the Kingdom.
Social Scenes can be directly followed by any type of
Scenes, either those dictated by the adventure or new ones
that logically follow the last one. The key principle when
planning the following Scene is this: dont negate or undermine the success of the winning side. This is especially
true when combat directly follows a Social Scene without
any time passing between Scenes.
For example, if a warchief is rendered helpless with rage
(i.e., stressed out) in an argument Scene, you cant have
him draw an axe and attack. The heroes have beaten him
fair and square and the antagonist has been taken out
of the Scene. It is, however, fair game to have the nearly
inarticulate chief order his remaining thugs to attack
while he leaves the Scene, trying to save whatever pride
he has. He may also draw his axe and attack BEFORE
he becomes stressed out, but he still carries the existing
stress with him.
In all cases, the GM should be ready to move the
Adventure forward by staging the next Scene. The simplest transitions are those that follow recuperation and
resource creation scenes. The following Scenes usually
lead to the next planned Scene of an adventure as heroes
spent time to get ready for whats coming next.
Here are a few more things to think about.
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Gamemastering Basics
SOCIAL TO EXPLORATION
Social Scenes that lead to Exploration Scenes are usually
those that feature preparation for a journey. Heroes creating resources in a Social Scene are a perfect example. By
tapping into old maps in the castles library, the partys
Mage uncovers maps of the wilderness from the kingdoms original settlers, making this into a Surveyors
Map asset.
Alternatively, if heroes fail to get a villain to confess
his vile schemes, they may investigate for tangible proof
of conspiracy and other acts of malfeasance. This can be
played as an Exploration Scene as detailed on page 219.
Finally the outcome of a social confrontation might
lead the heroes on a journey, to seek something hidden
or hard to reach. For example, if they succeed in interrogating the second-in-command of the Thieves Guild,
they may be able to find the Guilds emplacement without
any problem. If they fail, they may have to seek the guild
the old fashion way, by exploring the city for clues and,
possibly, get sidetracked by the now very annoyed thieves.
SOCIAL TO SOCIAL
A Social Scene can lead to a new one without problem.
In fact a low-violence Adventure might be mostly made
of alternating Social Scenes interspersed with some
Exploration. A game focused on intrigue might consist
of pushing around minor NPCs to get access to major
ones to trigger world-changing events. If time is not an
issue in such Adventures, heroes should be allowed sufficient recuperation Scenes to get ready for the next ones.
228
Gamemastering Basics
CLASSICAL ADVENTURES
Countless fantasy RPG adventures have been published
since the creation of the hobby in the 1970s. Many of
those can be adapted wit -h some work. A lot of that resides in creating stats for the various monsters and NPCs
that will confront the heroes. In such cases, you should
focus on providing an adequate challenge that respects
the adventures theme rather than populate the adventure
with the same number and type of opponents.
You may run the adventure as is, picking the most appropriate Scene type depending on what heroes run into
and how they react to it. Feel free to play the adventure
as written, using classic exploration techniques like mapping and having players describe where and how they
explore (see the Exploration vs Traditional Mapping
sidebar below). Alternatively, you can simplify dungeons
and locations to a few key locations and use the games
Exploration Scenes mechanics to navigate from one significant room to the next.
229
Gamemastering Basics
231
MONSTERS, TRAPS,
AND OTHER THREATS
233
234
The following is a list of the most common SFX associated with Heroic characters and foes. Feel free to adapt
them when you create your own. You can rename them
to something evocatively tied to your threat and tweak
the effects to suit its needs.
Absorption: On a successful reaction against a TYPE OF
ATTACK action, convert your opponents effect die
into a POWER SET stunt or step up a POWER SET
power until used in an action. If your opponents
action succeeds, spend a doom die to use this SFX.
Afflict: When inflicting TYPE complication on a target,
add a d6 and step up your effect die.
Area Attack: Against multiple targets, for each additional
target add a d6 and keep an additional effect die.
Berserk: Add a doom die to your next attack action. After
your action, step back the doom die and return it to
the doom pool.
Boost: Shutdown your highest-rated POWER SET power
to step up another POWER SET power. Spend a
doom die to recover the power.
Burst: Against a single target, step up or double a POWER
TRAIT die. Remove the highest rolling die and use
3 dice for your total.
MOBS
A Mob is a group of threats (usually monsters or NPCs)
that act as one. Theyre built with the Threat Template
with the following changes:
The Level die gets a multiplier placed in front of it. That
multiplier usually varies between 3 and 6 depending on
the threats Level dice and the relative power that the Mob
represents in a Conflict.
235
TRAPS
Traps are unintelligent threats whose function is to hurt
and hinder opponents in the most direct way possible.
Traps created with the threat templates are those capable of action during a Scene, performing repeated attacks, or inflicting complications more than once. These
range from repeating darts, scything blades, and fireball
launchers to paralysis runes and more somber curses. If
MONSTERS
237
you want to have more static traps like Pit Traps, Trip
Lines, and one shot ensnaring lines, consider creating
them with Scene complications at the onset of a Scene.
See Adding Trouble to Scenes on page 232.
Traps are built exactly like monsters but they should
be even more focused in function. Limit the number
of Distinctions, powers, and Specialties to an absolute
minimum. Distinctions should cover how the trap functions and its potential features and issues. Things like
Hidden, Noisy, Slow to Reset, Immobile, Enruned,
and Steam-Powered are all examples you can use. As
usual, try to find Distinctions that can use both for and
against the trap.
You should give traps one Power Set with one, possibly two, power traits. The main one should be an active
power, like a Blast, Weapon, or Control power that
can cause stress or create complications against heroes.
The second one should be a reactive one that represents
any type of defensive systems the trap might possess.
Magical Resistance, Invisibility, and Durability
are good examples of such powers.
The choice of SFX is where you make a trap stand out
as an exciting threat. Once again, you should focus on
picking as few as you need that marry themselves to the
singular function of the trap. You should consider Area
Attack, Berserk, Boost, Berserk, and Unleashed for traps
that deal stress. In a similar way, if a trap creates complications, you should give it the Afflict SFX.
In terms of defense against being disarmed, destroyed,
or dispelled, you may consider granting traps some forms
of counterattack (it triggers when being tampered with)
or Invulnerability if they cant be targeted by certain types
of actions (like some forms of enchantments). Depending
on the form and power of the trap, you might forgo the
necessity of having to spend doom dice to prevent stress
and complications. In such cases, make sure that the trap
can be acted upon by at least one form of attack or action.
Traps can have Specialties, but theyll likely be limited
to either melee or ranged combat ones. The rating of such
Specialties should range from Rookie (d6) to Master (d10)
depending on craftsmanship and power.
Like monsters, you can make traps into Mobs (imagine
several mechanisms or magical traps triggering at the
same time). You could even create some forms of doomsday devices in the form of LSTs.
Dealing with traps depends on the type. Physical
traps can be destroyed or disabled by stressing them
out or shutting down its main attack power trait (see
Targeting Traits, page 216). Magical traps might be
disrupted through targeting its trait with Sorcery and
Magical Aptitude. Similarly, magic circle and runicbased traps may be disarmed through damaging runes
(possibly triggering countereffects) or through dispelling
with Sorcery. Think of a few ways the traps you designed
may be defeated, but leave room for the creativity of your
players.
In some cases, if a hero wants to take possession of a
disarmed threat, you should treat it like a magical item
and follow the rules found on page 211.
TRICKS
Tricks are the staples of the classic fantasy roleplaying
game experience. Certain objects, contraptions, and locations have abilities that can help or (more often) hurt
heroes, usually in unexpected ways. From strange altars
made of pulsating purple marble that spout tentacles to
Arcs that teleport those that cross it, tricks can liven up
a Scene by adding elements of mystery and wonder to the
usual fare of exploration and conflict. In fact, powerful
tricks can become the centerpieces of some Scenes, with
the heroes having to deal with it above and beyond having
to fight monsters and power-mad NPCs.
Tricks exist in the game to cover the wide range of
threats (and helpful features) that possess SFX that use
doom pool or PP triggers to produce unique effects.
Tricks have been around since the earliest roleplaying games, especially in Dungeons and Dragons.
Appendix H of the 1st Edition of the Dungeon Master
Guide is a goldmine of ideas for tricks, Scene complications, and complications you can inflict on your
players. In the same vein, 4e Edition Dungeon Master
Guide 2 presents several new forms of traps and interactive terrain that can serve as further inspiration.
These include Portals that bring new monsters to a
Combat Scene, Steam Powered Turbines that electrify its immediate surroundings and periodically sends
Electrical Pulses to stun everyone, and even pools
that can heal the stress of heroes if they are courageous
enough to bathe in it.
Tricks are designed exactly like traps, but they can have
a more diverse set of functions (and therefore powers
and SFXs). Distinctions should play into a tricks mysterious or hidden nature. For example, it could be NonDescript, Mundane, Alien, Outerworldy, Misty,
or Intangible.
Powers are chosen like they were for monsters and
traps. You should, however, focus on the nature of the
trick. You need to identify the devious (or beneficial)
purpose it serves. Tricks that take active roles in Scenes
Some tricks dont take active actions in a Scene, relying on their SFX triggers to contribute to the Scene. Such
tricks have the following Limit:
Limit: Passive (Threat Name) does not take an action
during a round. It can react when it is the target of an
action [and may spend Doom Dice to trigger its SFXs].
FORCEFUL TELEPORTATION
Some heroes and threats and have the ability to teleport
other objects or characters. In some cases, when theres no
real opposition to the action and the destination is familiar,
the action should be allowed without a roll. However, in
cases where theres active opposition or a question of timing
is involved, an action roll should be made. The same applies
if the destination is nebulous or when massive numbers of
people and/or objects are concerned.
Like any regular action, if theres a clearly defined opposi-
Finally, tricks can have Specialties, but it should be limited to the actions they take, possibly Mysticism. Most
likely, it will just have a Rookie d6.
PERSISTENT COMPLICATIONS: CURSES, POISON,
AND OTHER CORRUPTION
Most of the time, complications disappear at the end of
a Scene. If you want to have threats that can deal lasting
effects on heroes that dont involve stress or trauma, you
can use the following option:
A complication can be made persistent by spending
a doom dice equivalent or less than the complication to
make it last until the heroes deal with it through some
action. The persistent complication remains in play at the
same rating as the doom die you spent. This can represent
a particular Curse, a Poison, or any other form of encroaching Corruption that heroes will need to recover
from. The persistent complication can be targeted like
any other trait (see page 216) and may require special
knowledge, rituals, or ingredients to treat as decided
by the GM. Such complications can also be targeted by
threats to be made stronger when appropriate. If ever such
complication get pushed past d12, you may decide that
the character is taken out of play until a cure is found.
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Alexander Norris (order #4919874)
NPCs
240
NPCS
As the name implies, Non Player Characters (NPCs) represent the whole cast of characters that the GM controls
and uses to interact with the heroes. The difference between NPCs and monsters is mostly a question of semantics. In the context of this game, NPCs are considered to
be those that can play active roles in both Combat and
Social Scenes. NPCs arent limited to being humanoid;
they can be any type of intelligent creature whose goals
and motivations can potentially come into conflict with
those of the heroes.
NPCs
Elite NPCs (d8) are the lieutenants and highly competent people of your game setting. They are very good
at their craft and can give significant trouble for heroes
when confronting them in their arena of expertise. Many
recurring characters start out as Elite NPCs and may grow
as the heroes do. You should consider naming your more
significant Elite NPCs to bring your gaming world to life.
Concept hooks for Elite NPCs:
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242
MINIONS
(LEVEL DIE D4)
COWARDLY KOBOLD
Minion d4
Distinctions: Dragonkin, Not Worth The Trouble
Cannon Fodder: Primitive Weapons d4, All Claws
and Teeth d4
SFX: In the Way. Stress out Cowardly Kobold to step
down stress from a successful action against another
GM character.
SFX: Gang Up. Step up Cannon Fodder power when
attacking a foe already engaged by a Standard or greater
threat.
SHAMBLING SKELETON
Minion d4
Distinctions: Brittle, Mindless
Bonehead: Rusty Blades d6, Stamina d8
SFX: Undead Immunities. Spend a doom die to ignore
stress, trauma, or complications from negative energy
and poison.
Limit: Undead Vulnerabilities. Step up stress from divine
magic to step up the lowest die in the doom pool or add
a d6 doom die.
Specialties: Melee Combat Expert
Skeletons are shaky bothers barely worth noticing. Rather
than truly threaten the hero, a sprinkling of these monsters
can give faith-based characters an opportunity to flex their
muscle while rapidly building a moderately sized doom
pool to challenge the heroes later on. Considering using
them to foreshadow more powerful threats with connections to necromancy and undeath.
SHIFTY GOBLIN
Minion d4
Bestiar
BESTIARY
243
INSECT SWARM
Minion Mob 5d4
PEASANT MOB
Minion 5d4
S t i n g e r s : S t i n g e r s d 6 , I n ta n g i b i l i t y d 8
SFX: Poison. If a Poison complication has been inflicted
on a target, at the start of their turn you may spend a die
from the doom pool to step up that complication.
Bestiar
y
244
CURSED GRAVEYARD
Standard d6
Distinctions: Eerie, Misty, Necromantic Nexus
BANDIT AMBUSHER
Standard d6
Bestiar
STANDARD MONSTERS
(LEVEL DIE D6)
245
LARGE ANIMAL
Standard d6
Bestiar
y
246
FROSTPEAKS WYVERN
Standard d6
Distinctions: Icy, Reptilian, Screeching
HAUNTING WRAITH
Elite d8
Distinctions: Cold Disposition, Life Hating,
Between Worlds
Negative Energy Being: Chilling Touch d10, Flight
d6, Intangibility d10
ELITE MONSTERS
(LEVEL DIE D8)
WASP NEST
Elite d8 (Trick)
Distinctions: Fragile, Immobile, In a Hollowed Log
Bu zzi ng Nest: St i nger s d6, D u r a bi l it y d8
SFX: Leave It Alone! At the start of a round, spend d6
from the doom pool to create a 3d4 Insect Swarm or
add 3d4 to an existing one.
Limit: Inflammable. Add a d6 to the doom pool or step
up the lowest die to step up any stress or complication
caused by fire.
Bestiar
247
GIANT/HYBRID BEAST
Elite d8
Distinctions: Imposing, Unnatural, Magical Origin
Large and in Charge: Durability d8, Movement power
d8, Natural Weapons d10, Senses d10, Enhanced
Strength d8 and/or Enhanced Reflexes d8
SFX: Berserk. Add a doom die to an attack action. After
that action, step back the doom die and return it to the
doom pool.
SFX: Dangerous. Step back the highest die in an attack
action pool to add a d6 and step up physical stress
inflicted.
SFX: Multipower. Add more than one Large and in
Charge power die to a pool. Step back each Large and in
Charge power die in that pool once for each die beyond
the first.
Limit: Mind of the Beast. Step up mental stress from
magical attacks to step up the lowest die in the doom
pool or add a d6 doom die.
Specialties: Acrobatics Expert, Melee Combat
Expert, Scouting Master
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248
STUBBORN MINOTAUR
Elite d8
Distinctions: Hates Mazes, Strong as an Ox,
Stubborn
Bovine Beast: Big Axe d8, Bigger Horns d10,
Durability d8, Strength d10
Bestiar
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Bestiar
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250
BOSS MONSTERS
(LEVEL DIE D10)
LUMBERING GIANT
Boss d10
Distinctions: Freaking Huge, Thunderous Voice,
Slow as Molasses
Huge-Mongous: Big Freaking Club d12, Durability
d10, Long Stride d8, Strength d10
SFX: Om Nom Nom. When inflicting a Put in Mouth
complication on a target, add a d6 and step up the effect
die.
Bestiar
Elementals are creatures of energy alien to the prime material plane. However, powerful spellcasters can and do
contact elementals and bring them to this plane. This can
be done against their will, or for a term of service, but,
regardless, elementals do not stay indefinitely. When using
this monster, choose an energy type for their elemental affinity and narratively sensible energy for their elemental
weakness and use them when indicated in the datafile.
BOUND ELEMENTAL
Elite d8
251
Bestiar
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252
Bestiar
ANIMATED STATUE
Boss d10
COLOSSAL WURM
Boss d10
Distinctions: Bestial Intelligence, Subterranean,
Worm
Big Bad Worm: Burrowing d8, Poisonous Bite d12,
Durability d10, Senses d10, Strength d12, Swimming
d6
SFX: Area Attack. Against multiple targets, for each
additional target add a d6 and keep an additional effect
die.
SFX: Multipower. Add more than one Big Bad Worm
power die to a pool. Step back each Big Bad Worm power
die in that pool once for each die beyond the first.
SFX: Poison. If a successful Poison complication
is inf licted on a target at the start of their turn you
253
Bestiar
254
EPIC MONSTERS
(LEVEL DIE D12)
GREAT WYRM DRAGON
Epic d12
Distinctions: Ancient, Immense, Unfazable
Elder Scales: Bite d12, Claw d10, Durability d12,
Elemental Affinity Control d10, Elemental Blast
d12, Flight d8, Senses d10, Strength d12, Telepathy
d10
Bestiar
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KRAKEN
Epic d12
Bestiar
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ADAM MINNIE
DAVE CHALKER
AMANDA VALENTINE
Amanda Valentine is the editor, and sometimes developer, of many games, including the Smallville RPG,
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, the Dresden Files RPG,
and Little Wizards. She blogs sporadically about editing,
parenting, books, and other stuff at ayvalentine.com.
ANDERS GABRIELSSON
Anders Gabrielsson is a trained mathematician, programmer and linguist who chose not to work in any of those
fields. He has played games since before he could read and
made his own for almost as long. He resides in Uppsala,
Sweden.
CAM BANKS
DAVE BOZARTH
Dave Bozarth has been running games and dabbling
in game design since he started gaming with Rifts and
TMNT.
DENNIS TWIGG
Dennis M. Twigg has played and tinkered with tabletop
RPGs for nearly two decades. He is a regular columnist
on Critical Hits, a game designer, and a writer.
FILAMENA YOUNG
Filamena Young is a professional writer, working as both
a freelance and independently published game writer for
more than five years. In addition to writing fiction and
game design, she blogs about gaming and media criticism. She is a mother of three and a fan of the dramatic
in all forms.
Contributor Bios
DAVID HILL
Contributor Bios
JAMES RITTER
James Ritter is a husband, father and commercial banker
who has been gaming since 1979. He enjoys long walks
on the beach and pretentious arguments about the fine
points of RPG games on the internets. He really is quite
a wanker.
257
ADAM MINNIE
DAVE CHALKER
AMANDA VALENTINE
Amanda Valentine is the editor, and sometimes developer, of many games, including the Smallville RPG,
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, the Dresden Files RPG,
and Little Wizards. She blogs sporadically about editing,
parenting, books, and other stuff at ayvalentine.com.
ANDERS GABRIELSSON
Anders Gabrielsson is a trained mathematician, programmer and linguist who chose not to work in any of those
fields. He has played games since before he could read and
made his own for almost as long. He resides in Uppsala,
Sweden.
CAM BANKS
DAVE BOZARTH
Dave Bozarth has been running games and dabbling
in game design since he started gaming with Rifts and
TMNT.
DENNIS TWIGG
Dennis M. Twigg has played and tinkered with tabletop
RPGs for nearly two decades. He is a regular columnist
on Critical Hits, a game designer, and a writer.
FILAMENA YOUNG
Filamena Young is a professional writer, working as both
a freelance and independently published game writer for
more than five years. In addition to writing fiction and
game design, she blogs about gaming and media criticism. She is a mother of three and a fan of the dramatic
in all forms.
Contributor Bios
DAVID HILL
Contributor Bios
JAMES RITTER
James Ritter is a husband, father and commercial banker
who has been gaming since 1979. He enjoys long walks
on the beach and pretentious arguments about the fine
points of RPG games on the internets. He really is quite
a wanker.
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JIM HENLEY
ROB DONOGHUE
JOSH ROBY
Josh Roby has worked on many roleplaying games
throughout the years from his debut with the postapocalyptic Tribe 8 to being one of the lead designers of
the Smallville RPG. Writer, designer, layout artist and
editor, Josh so many skill points in the industry that some
suspect hes been houseruled.
LEONARD BALSERA
SALLY CHRISTENSEN
When not writing or editing, Sally crochets unspeakable
evil. She lives in the wilds of north Toronto, along with
two cats and a Portuguese viking.
SCOTT CUNNINGHAM
Contributor Bios
MATTHEW GARDNER
SHREYAS SAMPAT
MONICA VALENTINELLI
STEVE DARLINGTON
PHILIPPE-ANTOINE MNARD
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RYAN MACKLIN
Ryan Macklin is an award-winning game designer, writer,
and editor. Hes worked for companies from Evil Hat to
Paizo, and is always tinkering with a new project. Check
out his blog at RyanMacklin.com.
TOM LYNCH
ZACHERY GASKINS
Zach Gaskins is co-founder of Head Games Entertainment
and works on a variety of geektastic projects (including
the comedy web series Star Command) and spends his
spare time (hahaha!) coming up with diverse and interesting board game designs when he is not building worlds
in Minecraft.
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