System Notes

Basic Character Creation

Assign one of your die types (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) to each of the six skills- Training, Constitution, Determination, Charm, Intelligence, and Shrewdness. 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 dice.

• Training measures the physical power, the agility, and the skill with weaponry that your character can wield.

• Constitution is a measure of the health and hardiness of your character.

• Determination is a combination of force of will, spirit, and mental stability.

• Charm measures your character's skill with words and can also reflect their physical attractiveness.

• Intelligence is a rough measure of your investigator’s cunning and ability to make leaps of logic and intuition.

• Shrewdness is a measure of your character's ability to make the best practical decision, to attain what they want either directly or indirectly, and to observe and assess a situation. This is the "finding the pieces of the puzzle" skill, as well as the "street smarts" skill.

• Spells 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 maximum 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 & 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. 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, the 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 & Partial Successes

• If you roll within 2 of the number needed on either side, you get a partial success or a success with a drawback (GM’s choice). For example, if you were trying to draw a map from memory, a partial success would be that you only get partway through the drawing before realizing you can’t remember the rest. A success with a drawback would be that you finish the map, but you’re certain some parts of it are wrong. 

• 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.

Choose 2 that your character starts the game with. Moxie cannot be lent to other players to activate special skills. 

• Astute: Make an Intelligence or Shrewdness roll. Your roll, divided by 3 (round up), can be added to another player's check, as you point out something they didn't notice before. This roll is always a Snap Decision, and moxie cannot be used to affect it. 

• 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. 

• Healer: You can give expert medical attention, and can roll a DC 10 Charm check to guide someone through giving expert medical attention to you.

• Intuitive: You can spend 3 Moxie to ask the GM one simple 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

• Nerves of Steel: Spend 1 moxie to treat a Snap Decision as a Planned Action

• 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

• Stealthy: Moxie spent when trying to hide is worth +2

• Suspicious: Moxie spent when trying to determine if someone is lying is worth +2

One's Composure score is determined by the maximum value of your Determination die x 5.

Whenever you encounter stressful, traumatic, or fear-inducing things, you make a d100/d% roll against your current Composure score. If you roll equal to or over your current Composure, you lose 1d8 points. If you roll under, you lose 1d4. Composure dice do explode. 

Composure can also be converted point-for-point into moxie. 

As your Composure score slips lower, your character becomes less and less stable, and their ability to function decreases. 

• Under 50 Composure, you lose access to healthy coping mechanisms.

• Under 25 Composure, you take a -2 penalty to all checks.

• Under 10 Composure, your self-preservation instinct kicks in in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze.

  • FLIGHT: you run away at high speed. You can do nothing except to run full out in the direction farthest from what made you panic. Once you can no longer see or hear the thing that made you freak, you take 1d6 minutes to calm down before returning. 

  • FREEZE: a general "deer in the headlights" effect that persists until the stimulus ceases. This can be completely silent, or accompanied by screams and moans.

  • FIGHT: you attack the source of discomfort with any means at your disposal. You can't dodge or attempt any fancy moves. You just shoot or punch or start biting.

  • You act like this until the stress that triggered the behavior is gone. Until then, you must follow your choice. If you fight against someone who can beat the holy heck out of you, you are not able to run away. You fight until you or your opponent is dead.

  • While you're in this state, your Composure checks are automatically considered under your threshold, and Composure dice do not explode. You're too screwed up to process any other negative stimuli.

• If a character's Composure score reaches 0, they are permanently insane, barring divine intervention. 

Composure scores can be brought up by engaging in Coping Mechanisms, two of which (1 healthy, 1 unhealthy) you assign to your character from the get-go. 

Healthy coping mechanisms can be completed as many times as you want during any kind of rest, add 1d6 + the die type listed to your current Composure, and add the same number to your permanent max Composure.

Unhealthy coping mechanisms can only be completed during overnights or respites, and add 1d10 + the die type listed temporary Composure points. You can only perform these once per rest, and they cannot put you above your max Composure. 

Coping Mechanisms can be chosen from the following:

Healthy 

• meditating (di type you use for Shrewdness)

• journaling (di type you use for Intelligence)

• talking about it (di type you use for Charm)

• exercise (di type you use for Training)

• cry (di type you use for Constitution)

Unhealthy

• abusing some substances (di type you use for Constitution)

• violence, babyyyy (die type you use for Training)

• sexual activity (die type you use for Charm)

• overworking (di type you use for Intelligence)

• isolation (die type you use for Shrewdness)