Game Setup

Abilities

As a group, select the abilities relevant to your world. If you’re not sure or just want to get started, default to the following abilities:

• Strength (STR)
• Dexterity (DEX)
• Constitution (CON)
• Intelligence (INT)
• Wisdom (WIS)
• Charisma (CHA)

Character Creation

Basic Details

Determine the following for a character:

• Name: (Hopefully self-explanatory)
• Motivation: What drives this character?
• Flaw: What holds this character back?
• Characteristics: What else makes this character unique?

Amanita (name) is a naive (flaw) wood-elf (characteristic) who needs to prevent the shadow from overtaking the woods (motivation).

Ability Modifiers

Select what ability modifiers the character has (i.e. how above or below average they are). Every character has 4 ability points to spend, and can also choose to subtract ability points to add more ability points to their pool.

Specializations

Select specializations for the character, which are specific situations where a character has even better odds than their regular ability modifier would suggest. A specialization doubles the relevant ability modifier, and thus only applies to abilities with non-zero modifiers. A character can have a number of specializations equal to 2 + their level.

Skilled Lockpick (DEX): More-easily unlock even the trickiest of locks.

Gameplay

Mechanics

All rolls are made with a 20-sided die (D20).

Advantage: roll twice and take the higher roll

Disadvantage: roll twice and take the lower roll

Critical Hit: automatic success when a 20 is rolled

Critical Miss: automatic failure when a 1 is rolled

Energy & Resilience

Every character has 2 resilience points and 1 energy point per level.

Energy is used to power-up a particular action. It can either add 2 to your roll, grant you advantage, or force an opponent into a disadvantage. Energy can be applied before or after a roll, and can stack effects when using multiple energy points at once.

Resilience tracks your ability to bounce back from damage. If you take damage when you have no resilience points remaining, you fall unconscious.

Combat

Combat occurs in zones, roughly corresponding to a room. It is completed when either no opponents or players remain conscious or present.

Each character gets a turn in which they can take 2 actions from the following:

• Move to an adjacent zone
• Attack a character (who then gets the chance to defend). You can only attack once per turn.
• Prepare in order to gain advantage in a subsequent action
• Interact with the environment

Magic

Any character with an above-zero score in an ability that manages magic in your setting has the ability to cast spells.

Spells fall into one of four categories: offensive, defensive, interpersonal, and environmental. Low-potency spells in any of these categories can be cast without spending an energy point. Energy can be spent to increase a spell’s potency.