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System Basics
Assign one of your die types (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) to each of the six skills- Fight, Flight, Brains, Brawn, Grit, and Charm. The higher a stat is, the better a character is at skills involving that stat - and the more likely they are to succeed when using that stat. While there’s no guarantee that you’ll roll your maximum, generally, characters will be better able to pass checks with their higher die.
Flight- This stat determines how fast a character is and how adept they are at evading their problems (both literally and figuratively). Characters with a high Flight will be fast and tough to trap physically and verbally.
Brains- This stat determines how book-smart a character is. It will determine how well they understand problems, how well they did or are doing in school, how quickly they’re able to solve academic problems, and how well they can determine information
Fight- This stat determines how good a combatant a character is with whatever weapons or fighting skills you decide your character knows. While a character with a high Fight stat won’t be able to pick up any weapon and use it effectively having never touched one before, it will make them good with weapons that they have experience with. Also, they’ll be able to learn how to use new weapons and fighting skills more easily if given proper training
Brawn- This stat determines how much brute strength a character has. It does not determine how well they can fight - just how well they can lift things and how much physical damage they can take. It also determines how physically intimidating a character is.
Grit- This stat determines how hard it is to break a character emotionally or physically. Characters with a high Grit will be better able to keep a level head in the worst of situations and will be able to keep their cool even when pushed hard. Finally, Grit also determines how street-smart a character is.
Charm- This stat determines how socially adept a character is and how good they are at reading the emotions of another person or group of people. Characters with a high Charm will be able to talk themselves out of tough situations and into good ones with relative ease - but within reason.
Spells- This stat is the ability to cast magick of any kind. It always operates on a ladder system- it starts at a d4 and moves up to the next die type every time it explodes.
Each character has 4 points of static bonus that they can distribute among their skills as they see fit, choosing anything from a +1 to four skills to a +4 in one skill. The Spells skill cannot get a bonus.
Exploding dice- When a die rolls its max value (a roll of 8 on a d8), it explodes! This means that you reroll the die and add the maximum value that you rolled the first time to the new roll. Your die may explode multiple times on a check.
Planned Actions vs Snap Decisions-
There are two kinds of skill checks: Planned Actions and Snap Decisions.
Planned Actions are skill checks when you have time to think about the best course of action and, perhaps, work with your friends. If the characters are sitting at a kitchen table trying to break a coded message that someone left for them and have all night to do it, that’s a Planned Action. Or, if your character needs to climb up a wall to sneak into a tower and has the cover of night and no one in pursuit, that’s a Planned Action. In short, Planned Actions are when the conditions are relatively optimal to achieve something. Because you have time to think and react calmly, you may either roll the appropriate die for that stat or you may take half the value of that stat’s die. [For example, if you have a d20 in Flight, you may choose to take a score of 10 for Planned Actions involving Flight instead of risking a roll.]
Snap Decisions, on the other hand, are choices that have to be made quickly under bad conditions - and are thus more chaotic and unpredictable. For example, if your character is being chased through a cave, checks they make while fleeing in panic will be Snap Decisions. Or, if the character is under any kind of great pressure, that would likely be a Snap Decision, too. Combat rolls, too, are always treated as Snap Decisions.
Failed Checks
If you roll below the number needed, you don’t get to do what you tried to do - but you do get a Moxie Token, which you can use to activate special skills or to add to later rolls.
Special Skills- choose 2!
Special Skills- choose 2!
Note: Other people cannot lend you moxie to activate a special skill.
Attendant: Spend 2 Moxie to just happen to have an attendant near you with one commonplace item you need.
Broomstick: spend 1 moxie to make any mundane object fly for 1 minute.
Busybody: +2 on checks when attempting to discover information about another character
Determined: Take 2 moxie when you fail a check
Escape Artist: +3 to checks when finding escape routes and hiding spots
Familiar: Spend 1 moxie to summon an animal and reroll your Spells die. Explain how they help you accomplish your task.
Favor: Spend 3 moxie to call in a favor from an NPC of your choice
Gift of Gab: spend 2 moxie to talk your way out of a tough situation with ease.
Intuitive: You can spend 3 Moxie to ask the GM one question about an item, your surroundings, or an NPC, within reason. The GM must answer honestly.
Loyal: Each Moxie you spend helping a friend gives them a +2
Menacing: Use Sharp instead of Slick when intimidating
Much Ado About Nothing: Moxie spent to deceive a PC or NPC is worth +2.
Needlepoint: +2 to checks that involve tasks that require skilled use of one’s hands (eg lockpicking)
Nerves of Steel: Spend 1 moxie to treat a Snap Decision as a Planned Action
Practical Magic: +3 to Spells when doing an action that a person could reasonably do without magic
Presence: Moxie spent on any Charm roll is worth +2 rather than +1
Protector: +3 bonus when defending your friends
Resilient: Moxie spent to resist attacks against you are worth +2
Sage Motivator: You can spend moxie to help a friend even when not present in the scene
Social Graces: Add +2 to checks on discovering the "proper" thing to do in a given social situation
Stealthy: Moxie spent when trying to hide is worth +2
Suspicious: Moxie spent when trying to determine if someone is lying is worth +2
Wealthy: Spend 1 moxie to improve a bad situation with cash
Reputation & Rumors
All of you have your character's name and a box next to it on the Characters landing page. They're your reputation trackers. Now, in polite society, your reputation is everything, and the way you behave out in the world will affect how people see you, how you are able to get the things you want from others, and what you think of yourselves as you move through this space and make your choices. So at the end of every session, we'll assess, and you'll see at the top of the next game where your reputation tracker is, and I encourage all of you to play with these mechanics. As people's stars rise, they are more desirable to you. They're better connections, better friends, more desirable lovers. And by that same token, as people's reputations begin to fade, that's not just an incentive to avoid them, but they're vulnerable. So do what you will. And follow your heart. And make good choices, or at least bad ones in private.
Each of you will start the game with two rumors circulating about you. You may choose one of these on your own, and the other will be chosen by the DM. If your reputation maxes out, you get the opportunity to start one rumor, about either yourself or another player.
Magic Items
Your Spells die, as we all know, is run on a ladder system; when it explodes, you graduate it to the next die type, until you explode on that one. Eventually, if you do enough magic, you will graduate to a D20. You've been building all of this momentum over time, reaching with your magic, trying to do something or gain something or save something, and all of it hits a pinnacle.
You can continue to roll with your d20. Magic will be made much easier while you have it. But when you decide the time is right (as long as it's before the end of the session in which you graduate to the D20), you have the ability to turn this apex of potential into a permanent magical item that belongs to you. You tell me what it does, and you have access to it and the ability to use it for as long as it exists.
However, these magic items are not invulnerable. They can break. If they are broken, the magical potential of the items will flow back into the person who broke it, granting them 10 Moxie, minus 1 for each time it has been used (yes, this can go negative).
Letters
Each session will begin with an epistolary (letter writing) phase. Each of you will have two opportunities to write a letter to someone here or at home, or command a letter from someone else. Correspondence is important here because, under the scrutiny of all of the other nobility who have their own machinations and plans in mind, the surreptitious trade of information is crucial to people's plots and plans.
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