This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Change Log:
- 2017-05-22: Initial version.
- 2017-05-23: Simplified mutual attacks, clarified DEFEND action, added Task rules.
PREMISE: You project your spirit into the Astral Plane and start exploring.
CHARACTERS start with 12 Aura points. Choose three areas of Knowledge. Players and the Referee choose when and where player characters came from.
DISTANCE in the Astral is relative. Entities (Beings or Objects) may be Touching, Near, Far, or Away from each other. Entities that are Away from each other cannot normally interact or perceive each other.
TIME occurs in Ticks. All actions in a Tick happen simultaneously. Each Tick:
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All characters declare Actions.
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Each player Attacking, Blocking, or being Attacked rolls 2d6. A PC’s Combat Value (CV) is this number plus modifiers detailed below. An NPC’s CV is its pre-determined Target Number (TN), commonly 7, modified similarly.
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The table resolves all Attacks in any order.
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All other Actions take effect.
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Knocked Out characters suffer the effects.
ACTIONS include:
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ATTACK: Add +2 to CV if Touching the target, or -2 if Far from the target. Note this affects CV against attacks.
If target’s CV < attacker’s CV, the Target loses Aura equal to the difference in CVs. Two characters attacking each other with equal CVs each lose 1 Aura.
A character with 0 Aura or less is Knocked Out:
- PCs disappear for at least 2d6 + (starting Aura) Ticks. They return at full Aura.
- NPCs usually fall unconscious until PCs move Away. A PC disturbing it must roll above its TN or it awakens with 1 Aura.
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BLOCK: The intended target’s CV increases to the highest Blocker’s.
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DEFEND: Add +2 to CV, but opponents lose no Aura.
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EXAMINE: The Referee describes in detail one Entity the character is Near or Touching, taking into account the character’s Knowledge. Discovering some details may require experimentation.
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HESITATE: Do nothing. Indecisive players implicitly choose this Action.
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MOVE: Change distance between the character and one or more other Entities. Moving characters add +2 to CV. The change takes effect at the end of this Tick unless the character is Knocked Out.
A character that moves Away cannot return for at least 2d6+12 Ticks, or until after the final Attack, whichever is longer.
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REST: Regain 1 Aura point.
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WORK: Advance a character’s chosen Task.
Additionally, once per Tick each character may SPEAK an arbitrarily long message in a language they know to all Entities within Near range. One cannot SPEAK a response until the next Tick.
TASKS accomplish a character’s goal. The Referee determines how many Ticks and what resources, if any, a Task requires.
If the Task may fail, the Referee will set a TN. At the end a player rolls 2d6 and adds 2 if their character’s Knowledge is relevant. If the sum is:
- < TN: the task fails.
- > TN: the task succeeds.
- = TN: the task partially suceeds, suceeds at a cost, or is on the verge of failure. If the player thinks of a way to salvage their work, the Referee may allow them to roll again with a +1 to the dice. If the second roll ≤ TN, the Task fails completely.