Lester Burton

Design & Writing by Lester Burton “@lestortoise”

Artwork by Matias Viro “@doodleskelly”

Logo & Layout Design by Emmalene Meyers “@emmalenemariedesign”

Editing by Ginger Galaini

Contributions by Raleigh Baker, Ginger Galaini, William Galaini,

Mike Gold, Charles Lutz, Matt Mazurek, and Josh Rodgers

Inspired by greater games such as Cortex Prime, Electric Bastionland, Fate

Core, Freeform Universal, Index Card RPG,Knave, Numenera, Savage Worlds,
Shadow of the Demon Lord, Technoir, Troika!, and Vagabonds of Dyfed.

Dedicated to Joy & Killian. Thank you for everything.

Features of the game include:

An FKR/OSR inspired “Rulings-over-Rules” design
Challenge-oriented and adventure focused gameplay
Adaptability to any setting
Universal slot-based resource management system
Player-facing dice pool resolution system
Description based action modifiers
Player directed fail-forward mechanics

GROK?! © 2022 by Lester Burton is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

You are free to share and adapt this material for any purpose, including
commercially, as long as you give attribution.

i
 An adventure role-playing game where you
assume the role of an adventurer in a gonzo world
of boundless plausibility and use your ingenuity
and resourcefulness to overcome strange and
perilous threats.

ii
iii
Table of Contents
The Rules ..................... 1 The Director ......... 13-20
This Text ................................. 1 The Setting ......................... 13
To Play .................................... 1 Aspects ................................ 13
Assets ................................... 13
Actors ......................2-10 Director Characters ........... 14
Actions ................................ 14
Role-Playing ........................... 2
Threats ................................ 14
Aspects ................................... 2
Sequencing ......................... 15
Attributes ............................... 2
Difficulty ............................. 15
Actions ................................ 3
Distance .............................. 16
Outcomes ............................ 3
Scenarios ............................. 17
Advantage & Disadvantage ... 4
Optional Rules ................... 18
Traits
........................................ 4
DC Creation ........................ 19
Assets ....................................... 4
DC Sheet .............................20
Resource Slots ......................... 5
Containers ............................... 5
Quality & Quantity ................. 5 Planet GROK ........ 23-28
Purchasing Assets .................. 6 Before .................................. 23
Condtions ...............................6 After .................................... 24
Effort ........................................ 7 Now .................................... 24
Incapacitation ......................... 7 The Simulacrum ................ 25
Milestones ............................... 8 The Isles ............................. 26
Character Creation ................. 9 The Wastelands ................. 27
Character Sheet .................... 10 The Underworld ............... 28

Quick-Start Guide 31-32

iv
v
vi
 The Rules
The Rules in this book provide To Play you’ll need 2-6 players,
the framework for a tabletop role- a set of polyhedral dice, a pencil, and
playing game where you assume the this rule-book.
role of an adventurer and overcome One of you will be The Director, and
perilous challenges through ingenuity the others will be Actors.
and resourcefulness.
• As an Actor, you’ll control the
This game uses a universal player- Actions of a Character as they
facing resolution mechanic to support adventure through the world.
player liberty and emergent story
through challenge-oriented gameplay. • As The Director, you’ll arbitrate
This allows you to improvise rulings the rules and control the world
in-game and eliminates the need for around the Characters.
extensive written rules to cover every This game is played through
possible scenario. conversation; The Director describes
The mechanics of this game are also what challenges face the Characters,
independent from the context of the the Actors tell The Director what
setting, allowing you to effortlessly their Characters do, and The Director
port content from existing systems or describes how those Actions affect the
settings, or to create your own. world.
Actors will often roll dice to determine
This Text uses bold font to if their Characters’ Actions are
denote key terms, and blue text boxes successful. Only Actors roll dice, not
to indicate examples. the Director.
Polyhedral dice are used to determine
This is an example of an example text box. the outcome when it’s unclear how a
I had considered showing this with a text Character’s Action affects the world.
box inside of a text box, but figured it’s One set of dice is sufficient, but it’s
unfunny enough already. recommended to have up to 6 sets of
dice. A set of polyhedral dice contains:
You’re encouraged to change, remove,
or create rules to better suit your
group’s play style and preferences.
You are also free to share your adapted
rules for any purpose, including
commercially, as long as you give d4 d6 d8
attribution.

d10 d12 d20

1
Actors
Actors take on the role of their Attributes describe how
Character, using ingenuity and competent your Character is at certain
resourcefulness to overcome any types of Actions:
challenges they discover throughout •P
 hysical describes your
their adventure. Character’s ability to manipulate
or move physical objects through
Role-Playing a Character strength, agility, and coordination.
requires that you consider the world
from your Character’s point of view •M
 ental describes your Character’s
and narrate their actions using your ability to interpret and assimilate
best judgment. information through intelligence,
willpower, and comprehension.
If your Character’s Actions would be
detrimental to other Characters’ • Social describes your Character’s
goals, it’s important that you describe ability to perceive and manipulate
your reasoning to the other Actors. emotions through charisma,
If they’re opposed to your Action, composure, and emotional
consider doing something else that’s intelligence.
still in line with your Character’s Each Attribute is assigned a die type,
motives. indicating your Character’s
As Actors sharing an adventure, competency at those types of Actions.
your responsibility to one another’s A larger die type indicates greater
enjoyment comes before your competency.
responsibility to role-play your To determine your Character’s
Character. Attribute dice, select a set of scores
from the table below or roll a d12.
Aspects are words or short
phrases that describe things. Aspects
d12
may be explicitly stated or implied in a Result Physical Mental Social
description. Anything and everything 1 d8 d6 d6
in the game world can be considered
2 d6 d8 d6
an Aspect.
3 d6 d6 d8
What your Character can or cannot do
4 d10 d6 d4
is based upon who they are, what they
have, and the circumstances they 5 d10 d4 d6
find themselves in: all of which are 6 d6 d10 d4
described by Aspects. 7 d4 d10 d6
In this way, Aspects determine what 8 d6 d4 d10
Actions your Character is capable of. 9 d4 d6 d10
10 d12 d4 d4
11 d4 d12 d4
12 d4 d4 d12
2
 Actors
Actions are your Character’s Outcomes describe how
way of affecting change in the world. Actions change your Character’s
When you want something to happen, circumstances. An Action always
follow this order: results in an Outcome. Outcomes
• Describe the Intention: What do affect the world by developing an
you want to happen? Aspect in one of the following ways:

• Narrate the Action: What is • Creating a new Aspect

your Character doing to make it •C
 hanging an existing Aspect
happen? •R
 emoving an existing Aspect
• Determine the Outcome: What •P
 reventing an Aspect’s
happens? development
If an Action’s Outcome is immediately Any Character Action can be resolved
obvious, The Director can simply with a single Action Roll.
dictate the Outcome. If the Outcome
isn’t obvious, roll the die for the most
appropriate Attribute and compare the For example, if a Character intends to
result to the table below. douse a group of fire elementals with rain
by casting the spell “Control Weather”, the
If your intended Outcome isn’t Actor could use a single Action to affect
possible, but your Character wouldn’t multiple fire elementals, so long as The
know that, the Director might ask you Director is agreeable.
to make an Action roll and determine
an alternative Outcome in the case of
a success.

Roll Is the Outcome what you intended?

1-4 No, and... “No, it’s not as you intended, and something unfortunate happens.”

5-9 Yes... “Yes, it’s as you intended.”

10+ Yes, and... “Yes, it’s as you intended, and something fortunate happens.”

3
Advantage and Traits are Aspects that describe
who or what your Character is. Your
Disadvantage are the ways Character’s general knowledge,
that Aspects can modify an Action.
including the languages they speak
•A
 dvantage applies when a and the people they’ve met, can be
relevant Aspect increases the inferred by their Traits
likelihood of an Action’s success.
Your Character begins with 5 Traits.
For each Advantage, roll an extra
For these first 5 Traits, write a word or
die of the appropriate Attribute
short phrase that describes each of the
type and take the higher result.
following:
•D
 isadvantage is applied when
•P
 ersonality: Your Character’s
a relevant Aspect decreases the
disposition, morals, or social
likelihood of an Action’s success.
quirks.
For each Disadvantage, roll an
extra die of the appropriate •M
 otivation: Your Character’s
Attribute type and take the lower wants, regrets, or ambitions.
result. •B
 ackground: Your Character’s
Advantages and Disadvantages cancel heritage, vocation, or archetype.
out, so you will never roll both at •T
 rouble: Your Character’s greatest
once. When tallying Advantages and flaw, vulnerability, or problem.
Disadvantages, don’t count more than
5 Advantages and 5 Disadvantages. •A
 ppearance: Your Character’s
visage, countenance,
or morphology.
For example, since fire elementals are
vulnerable to water, attempting to harm Assets are Aspects that your
them with magic rain could give an Character maintains and has
Advantage. However, The Director could immediate access to, such as the
dictate that every fire elemental being equipment they carry, the information
targeted gives a Disadvantage. If the they’re keeping at the front of
Character targets 3 fire elementals their mind, or associates they keep
(3 Disadvantages) with magic rain on retainer.
(1 Advantage) then you would roll the
Your Character begins with a set
Action with 2 Disadvantages total, since
of clothes appropriate to their
the 1 Advantage cancels out 1 of the
Background and up to 4 other Assets.
Disadvantages.

4
 Actors
Resource Slots are used to Quality and Quantity
track how many Assets your Character of an Asset can be represented in the
can maintain at a time. When an Asset’s description, such as:
Asset is acquired, write the Asset
in an empty Slot. When an Asset is Masterwork Bow & Arrows
discarded, erase the Asset from that Half Bundle of Torches
Slot. Your Character cannot maintain Memorized Spell of Prismatic Spray
more Assets than they have available Despondent Hired Locksmith
Slots. Near-Empty Chest of Jewels
It’s not necessary to track Assets that Set of Full Plate Armor
are implied by other Assets or Aspects.
It’s usually best to approximate
For example, if your Character has a an Asset’s quantity, but in some
Guard’s Uniform, it’s implied that they’re circumstances it can be appropriate to
wearing boots, trousers, a shirt, etc.. track the specific quantity of a thing.
Similarly, a ranged weapon, such as a
bow or firearm, also implies the necessary For example, if an archer is alone in a
ammunition. survival situation, with very limited
resources and no means of resupplying,
Your Character begins with 7 then it may be appropriate to track exactly
Resource Slots. how many arrows they have. Conversely, if
an archer is stationed on a castle wall with
Containers can be implied in an abundant supply of arrows to resupply
an Asset’s description. If a container from, it’s not necessary to track arrows
holds a single type of Asset, one of the individually.
stored Assets can typically be retrieved
and used as part of the same Action.
If a container holds an assortment
of different Assets, it may require a
separate Action to retrieve the Asset
the Character is looking for.

For example, it would take some time

to retrieve an eye of newt from a bag of
miscellaneous spell components, requiring
an Action to retrieve it. Conversely, it’d be
relatively easy to retrieve a potion from a
bandoleer and use it in a single Action.

5
Purchasing Assets
is done like any other Action: If
the cost of the Asset is trivial, or
it’s immediately obvious that your
Character can afford the Asset, then
your Character may acquire it.
If it’s not obvious whether a Character
can afford an Asset or not, the
Character may attempt to trade other
Assets, make an appropriate Action
Roll to negotiate the price, or attempt
to acquire it by some other Action.

For example, if a Character is a

“Noble of Great Renown” it may be
obvious that they could afford common
food and lodging without affecting their
economic status. Conversely, it may be Conditions are Aspects that
obvious that another Character can’t buy describe physical, mental, or social
a diplomat’s services with the contents of duress to your Character. Conditions
a “Near-Empty Coin Purse.” However, they may be applied when a Character fails
may have luck acquiring the diplomat’s an Action or fails to prevent a Threat.
services in trade for state secrets or for
carrying out an act of espionage on the A Condition occupies a Resource
diplomat’s behalf. Slot and requires an appropriate
Action to be removed. If your
Character would acquire a new
As with other Assets, the quantity Condition, you might instead develop
or quality of a currency can be one of your Character’s Assets or
represented in the Asset’s description. preexisting Conditions. When an
Asset is developed as an alternative
For example, someone of meager wealth to incurring a Condition, it often
might have “A Few Coins”, but a wealthy affects the Asset’s quantity or quality,
person might have a “Briefcase Full of if the Asset isn’t destroyed or removed
Banknotes.” Similarly, a “Celestial Prince” altogether.
could likely acquire nearly any Asset they
want on credit. For example, a ranged weapon’s
ammunition may become depleted,
armor may be damaged or destroyed, or a
hireling may become wounded or resign.

6
 Actors
Effort is used to increase the Incapacitation describes
likelihood of an intended Outcome your Character’s inability to act. If a
at the cost of incurring a Condition. Condition would be applied to your
When you use Effort, re-roll the Character, but there are no available
Attribute die and add the previous Resource Slots, your Character
result to the re-rolled result to becomes Incapacitated, and the new
determine the Outcome. Condition is written as a Trait instead.
You may apply more than one Effort to Your Character cannot perform
an Action, allowing you to re-roll and Actions while Incapacitated. Anytime
add the results for each use of Effort. your Incapacitated Character would
For however many instances of Effort acquire a Condition, write it as a Trait
you use on an Action, your Character instead and decrease the relevant
receives that many Conditions. Attribute’s die by one size. When an
• If Effort is applied to an Advantaged Attribute die would drop below a
Action, re-roll the highest die result d4, your Character is functionally or
and add the previous result to the literally dead.
re-roll.
• If Effort is applied to a
Disadvantaged Action, re-roll
the lowest die result and add the
previous result to the re-roll.
The application of Effort, and the
coinciding Condition, may represent
any number of things depending on
the context of the Action and how the
Effort is described.

For example, Effort might be applied by:

sacrificing your familiar to bolster the
power of a necromantic spell; raising
your voice to win an argument, but losing
rapport with an ally; or by striking with
all of your might, but breaking your blade
when the blade connects.

7
Milestones are moments that
justify significant change to your
Character. Milestones may occur at the
conclusion of an adventure or during
the natural evolution of a Character
Trait through emergent story.
When your Character reaches a
Milestone, you may do one of the
following:
• Develop (create, remove, or change)
a Character Trait, Asset, or
Condition.
• Increase your Character’s
maximum number of Resource
Slots by 1.
• Decrease your maximum number
of Resource Slots by 2 and increase
an Attribute die to the next higher
size.
• An Attribute die cannot
exceed d12.

For example, if a Character regularly

talks their way out of situations, at the
conclusion of an adventure you might
remove 2 Resource Slots to increase the die
type of the Character’s Social Attribute.
Similarly, if a Character finds that their
once lost sister has been found wrongly
imprisoned, the Character’s Motivation
might change from “Find my lost sister” to
“Free my sister from imprisonment.”

8
 Actors
Character Creation done in three steps:
1. Select or roll a set of Attribute dice using the table below.
d12 Result 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Physical d8 d6 d6 d10 d10 d6 d4 d6 d4 d12 d4 d4
Mental d6 d8 d6 d6 d4 d10 d10 d4 d6 d4 d12 d4
Social d6 d6 d8 d4 d6 d4 d6 d10 d10 d4 d4 d12

2. Write a word or phrase for each Trait, or roll on the table below.
d20 Result Personality Motivation Background Trouble Appearance
1 Ambitious Avenge a wrong Ownerless Automaton Addicted Beautiful
2 Boisterous Become a legend Celestial Cartographer Blackmailed Bedraggled
3 Courageous Create a strife Changeling Spy Blinded Bloated
4 Cruel Defeat a rival Chrononaut Smuggler Condemned Bulbous
5 Cunning Defend an ally Cosmic Conquistador Deafened Corpulent
6 Curious Deliver an object Draugr Revenent Defrauded Delicate
7 Distrusting Discover a truth Dream Scalper Deluded Diminutive
8 Entitled Earn great wealth Dwarven Artisan Deranged Drooping
9 Focused Escape something Eldritch Summoner Discredited Elongated
10 Generous Fight an injustice Elven Ranger Diseased Filthy
11 Gullible Find a person Flesh Artist Disfigured Gaunt
12 Honorable Forge an alliance Halfling Rogue Exiled Hulking
13 Intolerant Locate an object Hermit Philosophist Framed Lean
14 Lackadaisical Prove oneself Human Vagabond Impoverished Massive
15 Nervous Reclaim a home Cyber-Runner Indentured Monstrous
16 Patient Repay a debt Orc Barbarian Possessed Repulsive
17 Pessimistic Restore peace Paranormal Inquisitor Pursued Rotund
18 Reckless Seize power Quantum Psychologist Replaced Semi-translucent
19 Selfish Solve a mystery Social Influencer Ridiculed Slumped
20 Stubborn Teach someone Space-Barge Captain Uneducated Unremarkable

3. Write an outfit and up to four other Assets, or roll on the table below.
d20 Result 1st Asset 2nd Asset 3rd Asset 4th Asset
1 Auto-Aiming Longbow 50ft of Self-Tying Rope Plasma Torch Bag of Replenishing Meat
2 Bunch of Acid Vials Spontaneous Meat Generator Radiation Calendar Cloth of Dematerialization
3 Blame Thrower Book of Illusions Attache of Forged Documents Detachable Mouth
4 EMP Baton Cold Iron Manacles Psychic ID Card Elastic Limbs
5 Pneumatic Exo-Arm Detachable Gills Half-Track Motorcycle Expandable Belly Button
6 Flying Cape Fake Identification Mole Rat Companion Flying Tea Saucer
7 Gravity Hammer Sack of Trail Rations Screw-On Replacement Head Glyph of Anti-Friction
8 Devolution Blowgun Local Isle Map Hired Coachmen Gullibility Goop
9 Invisible Shield Pheromone Emitter Hired Guard Inefficient Duplicator
10 Mask of Disguise Mobile Forge Hired Torchbearer Magic Magnet
11 Sentient Bastard Sword Healing Salve Trunk of Costumes Material Transmuter
12 Canned Heat Telekinetic Glove Auto-Inflatable Airship Permeable Pitons
13 Plasma Launcher Retractable 20ft Pole 3D Paint Brush Reality Virtualizers
14 Psychic Blundrebuss Saddled Sauropod Cerebral Stack Implant Remote-Seeing Eyeball
15 Rocket Boots Scroll of Imperceptibility Large Riding Bird Sentient Gauntlet
16 Unregistered Slugthrower Set of Locksmith’s Tools Pet Nanosaurus Spell of Mind Melding
17 Vintage Space Helm Spell of Lightning Bolt Indentured Laborer Stone of Fog
18 X-Ray Monocle Vial of Truth Serum Bottle of Pain Suppressants Teleportation Incantation
19 Phaser Sabre Ward of Protection Ancient Star Charts Turbo Inhaler
20 Meat Cannon Unlocked Datapad Textbook on Pseudophysics Universal Translator
9
 Character Name

Attributes
Physical Mental Social
O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

d4 d6 d8 d10 d12 d4 d6 d8 d10 d12 d4 d6 d8 d10 d12

Traits Resources
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O

Notes

Roll Is the Outcome what you intended?

1-4 No, and... “No, it’s not as you intended, and something unfortunate happens.”
5-9 Yes... “Yes, it’s as you intended.”
10+ Yes, and... “Yes, it’s as you intended, and something fortunate happens.”
10
11
12
 The Director
The Director is responsible Aspects can be written as brief
for adjudicating rules, narrating the or detailed as necessary to identify
world surrounding the Characters, and the Aspect’s form and function. If an
providing the Actors with challenges Aspect describes something that isn’t
and opportunities for discovery. found in our actual lives, err on the
With this responsibility, it’s important side of greater detail. What something
that the Actors trust that you are is and does should be made clear to the
creating challenges and adjudicating Actors if you want them to imagine it
rules fairly, and in the best interest or interact with it appropriately.
of everyone’s enjoyment. To create a At every opportunity, build from the
culture of mutual trust and respect, things the Actors show interest in.
give Actors the benefit of the doubt,
ask them to do the same for you, and Assets can have special
ensure that everyone is comfortable constraints that dictate how they’re
with the content and direction of the used, tying into either the game
game. mechanics or the context of the game.

The Setting of this game is For example, a blaster pistol’s power

implied within the Science-Fantasy cell may only have a discrete number of
genre: a gonzo amalgamation of charges before it’s depleted, a lycanthrope
futuristic technologies and ancient may have to bathe in moonlight to
magics, where anything is plausible. transform, or a necromantic spell may
However, the mechanics of the require the caster to physically harm
game are independent of the themselves to cast it.
setting, allowing you to create or
import any setting you can imagine. There’s often a trade-off between an
An appropriate setting facilitates Asset’s usefulness and its limitations.
adventurous and challenging
game play.
For example, in a world where magic
Before the game begins, ensure users can memorize spells, each spell
that the Actors are familiar with might require a separate Resource Slot,
the context and conventions of the but each spell could be used immediately
setting. and any number of times. Alternatively, a
Actors will often have ideas about tome of spells might only occupy a single
their Characters that have significant Resource Slot and provide the magic user
implications about the setting. with access to many spells, but referencing
Incorporate these ideas into the the tome requires a separate Action from
setting whenever possible to ground casting the spell.
the Characters and grant the Actors
ownership of their Character and the
setting.

13
Director Characters
(DCs) are Characters that you, The
Director, control. DCs can be described
by a single Aspect, or with a variety of
Traits and Assets much like an Actor’s
Character.

For example, a DC waiting to waylay the

Actor Characters could be described with
a single Aspect: “A Highwayman with a
Blunderbuss.” Alternatively, this DC could Threats are Actions that could
have the Traits “Highwayman,” “Snarky cause an unfortunate Outcome for
Attitude,” and “Missing a Hand.” This an Actor’s Character, and prompt
detailed DC has 4 Resource Slots, one Actors to make meaningful decisions.
occupied by his “Shoddy Cloth Armor” and Consider following this guide when
another occupied by his “Boomstick.” creating a Threat:
• Actors should have an opportunity
If a Condition would be applied to to prevent the Threat. This allows
a DC, but they have no available Actors to make decisions
Resource Slots, the DC becomes • If the Character is aware of the
Incapacitated. It’s also possible that Threat, clearly describe its likely
only a specific type of Condition can Outcome. This allows Actors to
Incapacitate a DC. make informed decisions.
• Failure to prevent a Threat should
For example, negatively charged have significant consequences. This
ectoplasmic entities might only become allows Actors to make meaningful
Incapacitated if damaged by concentrated decisions.
proton beams or if someone chants the
rites of exorcism in a dead language form
For example, if a Character triggers a gas-
a holy book.
trap in a locked room, you could describe
it as “a hiss coming from a small tube in
the wall that’s emitting an odorous smell
Actions can be performed by and making the Character feel light-
Characters or Aspects; anything headed.” The feeling of light-headedness
that happens can be considered an telegraphs the likely Outcome of the
Action. As the Director, any Action Threat, and describing the pipe creates
you narrate, including those of DCs, the opportunity to prevent that Outcome.
will result in your intended Outcome If the Character chooses to ignore the
unless prevented by the Action of an Threat, you should follow through with
Actor Character. the Threat and apply relevant Conditions
until the Character prevents the ongoing
Threat or becomes Incapacitated.
14
 The Director
Sequencing is a method of Difficulty of a Character’s
organizing multiple Actions and Action can be manipulated by
Threats that are occurring applying Advantage or Disadvantage.
simultaneously. If the acting Character isn’t aware
Sequences take place in the following of the Aspects that are causing the
steps: Advantage/Disadvantage, you can
simply inform the Actor of how much
•D
 escribe Threats: The Director Advantage/Disadvantage is being
describes any Threats known to applied without describing their
the Characters. sources.
•P
 erform Actions: The Actors Alternatively, you could simply
describe their Intentions, narrate assess an Action’s difficulty on a
their Actions, and determine the scale of 1-5 and apply that number of
Outcomes. Disadvantages to the Action.
•R
 esolve Threats: The Director Another option is to assign a difficulty
describes the Outcomes of Threats of 1-5 to an entire Sequence. With
that weren’t resolved by Character this method, every Action that occurs
Actions. in the Sequence incurs that number
•R
 epeat: Go through another of Disadvantages. You might even
Sequence if necessary. increase the difficulty after each
Sequence, making the situation more
Since Characters can only perform one challenging the longer it goes on.
Action in a sequence, encountering
multiple Threats can increase the
challenge of a situation. When
there are more Threats than there
are Characters, it prompts Actors to
prioritize the Threats or be resourceful
in how they overcome multiple
Threats at once.

For example, skeletal hands are erupting

from the ground and grasping at a
Character as a Lich casts a teleportation
spell to escape. If the Character grabs or
attacks the Lich, it might interrupt the
spell, but the Character will undoubtedly
become restrained by the skeletal hands.
However, if the Actor is resourceful, their
Character might jump on the Lich’s back
and ride the Lich to the spell’s destination.

15
Distance can be abstracted Distance might also be considered
into four increments, relative to the an Aspect that can be used to apply
position of the acting Character. Advantage or Disadvantage when
remote Actions are performed.
•W
 ithin Reach: Distance the
Character can reach without
moving. For example, firing a blunderbuss at a
target from a Far Distance might incur a
•N
 ear: Distance the Character can
Disadvantage, since it isn’t very accurate
move to as part of an Action in a
beyond a short range.
Sequence.
•F
 ar: Distance the Character can
Distance is also relative to the
reach if all they do is move in a
length of time you ascribe to a
Sequence.
Sequence.
•O
 ut of Range: Distance beyond
what the Character can reach in a
For example, in a Sequence where
single Sequence.
Characters are confronting Threats face
Distance is relative to the acting to-face, a Sequence might last only a
Character’s position, but also to their few seconds, with Distances determined
specific circumstances. based on where the Characters could move
within those few seconds. Alternatively,
For example, a human might consider a if the Actors are presiding over a large
destination 25ft away to be Near, but a battle, a Sequence might last an hour,
pixie might consider 25ft to be Far, since with Distances determined based on troop
it’s a greater distance relative to the pixie’s movement capability within an hour.
size. Similarly, an object that’s considered
Near for someone on foot might be
considered Within Reach for someone
with elastic limbs.
16
 The Director
Scenarios are a way of For example, a Character may be exploring
structuring interesting situations for an abandoned greenhouse when they
Characters to explore. Scenarios can be come across a spacesuit filled with water
used as a way to engage the Characters and operated by crayfish. This walking
in quests, provide context for role- crayfish aquarium refers to themselves as
playing and Character development, or Mr. Person Man, and their purpose at the
to reinforce the setting. greenhouse is to better understand the
When devising a Scenario, determine human condition.
the location, an interesting thing at
that location, and what the thing is The table below can be used to
doing there. generate Scenarios.

d20 Result A(n)... is... a(n)... in a(n)...

1 Ancient Wizard Befriending Aristocrat Abandoned Mine

2 Angry Tree Blackmailing Aroused Mate Artificial Shadow

3 Band of Cutthroats Browbeating Cloud of Despair Derelict Spaceship

4 Chrono-Knight Caring for Cyborg Ogre Fallout Shelter

5 Circuit-Eating Zomboid Conspiring against Duplicate of Itself Floating City

6 Despondent Dragon Courting Enormous Grub Gaudy Mansion

7 Excrement Elemental Debating Firebreathing Wagon Giant’s Corpse

8 Exiled Heretic Deceiving Gaggle of Goblins Haunted Castle

9 Fledgling Thief Devouring Illusion of Their Own Fears Mecha-City

10 Humorless Automaton Dissecting Mimic Mind Palace

11 Injured Sky Eel Excavating Mud Golem Petrified Forest

12 Lost Soul Fighting Musical Masterpiece Pillaged Village

13 Mischievous Faerie Hiding from Ornate Candleholder Robotics Factory

14 Mob of Miniature People Imagining Orphaned Child Sand-Buried Tomb

15 Paranormal Investigator Investigating Pride of Sphinxes Stormcloud

16 Pile of Worms Mocking Relic of Immense Value Teleportation Station

17 Putrid Ooze Teaching Shell Shocked Gatling Gun Time Loop

18 Reclusive Basilisk Torturing Starseed Trenched Battlefield

19 Sentient Mirror Trapping Tentacled Monstrosity Wizard’s Tower

20 Troop of Mushroomen Warring With Whispered Secret Zone of Forgetfulness

17
 Weapon Effectiveness is commonly
Optional Rules may be represented in other games with a die
incorporated into your game, as well as that applies a range of damage. If you
any rule change you think will better choose to use the Health Points rule
suit your play style. option, you can ascribe a die type to
Special Attributes can be applied to each weapon and have that die rolled
Assets. When these Special Attributes after a successful Action with the Hit
are relevant to an Action, the Actor Point Loss.
can use the die type for the Special If you do not use the Health Points
Attribute instead of their Character’s optional rule, you can still ascribe a die
Attribute. type to each weapon, and simply roll
an extra die equal to that weapon’s die
For example, a Mech-Suit has two Special type with Actions using that weapon.
Attributes: Targeting Systems [d6] and This works similarly to Advantage, but
Durability [d10]. When a Character the weapon adds an extra die equal
attempts to withstand an assault while to its die type instead of an extra die
wearing the Mech-Suit, the Actor can equal to the Action’s Attribute die.
use the Character’s Physical die or the Exploding Dice may be used if you
Mech-Suit’s Durability die to determine want characters with low die valued
the Outcome. Attributes to have a greater chance
of success. With this optional rule,
Health Points can be used instead of anytime a die results in its maximum
applying Conditions. Instead of having value, re-roll it and add the new result
7 available Resource Slots, Actors to the previously rolled maximum
remove 1-4 of those Slots to determine result. This works similarly to Effort,
their Character’s maximum Hit Points. except it only triggers when a die
When the Character would be harmed, lands on its maximum value, and the
instead of writing a Condition to Character doesn’t incur a Condition.
describe the damage, the Actor simply
deducts 1 Hit Point. At 0 Hit Points,
the Character becomes Incapacitated.
Wealth can be described by a die
type. Anytime a Character attempts to
purchase an Asset, they can attempt
an Action roll using the die type
of their Wealth, using Advantage,
Disadvantage, and Effort as normal.
If a Character would become
Incapacitated due to a finance-related
Condition, they instead lower the die
type of their Wealth.

18
 The Director
DC Creation can be done in three steps. The tables below can be used to
write hostile DCs. Neutral or friendly DCs can be written using the tables in the
Character Creation Guide in the Actor’s section.

1. Write 1-4 Traits or roll on the table below.

d20 Result Appearance Form Abnormality Motivation
1 Amorphous Aberration Artificial Exoskeleton Carnal Indulgence
2 Beautiful Anthropomorph Control of Elements Cause Destruction
3 Brittle Artificial Intelligence Corrosive Skin Chaos & Anarchy
4 Bulbous Beast Duplication Consume Flesh
5 Corrupted Construct Exists in Shadow Convert Others
6 Delicate Dragon Higher Dimensional End All Things
7 Festering Elemental Immense Strength Enthrall Others
8 Filthy Fiend Induces Madness Extermination
9 Furry Giant Invulnerability Feed Upon Suffering
10 Gaunt Humanoid Multiple Personalities Gain Immense Power
11 Grotesque Illusion Only Peripherally Visible Horde Riches
12 Horned Insectoid Power of Teleportation Immortality
13 Hulking Kaiju Rapid Regrowth Isolation
14 Luminescent Manifestation Semi-Ethereal Know All Secrets
15 Naked Monstrosity Shape Changing Mischief & Mayhem
16 Rotting Ooze Soul Leeching Proliferate
17 Sagging Plant Telepathic Powers Self Destruction
18 Scaled Sentient Object Too Many Heads Sew Deceit
19 Skinless Swarm Too Many Limbs Survival
20 Undulating Undead Two-Dimensional Torture Others

2. Allocate Resource Slots.

• Allocate 1-2 Slots for every Sequence you want a conflict to last.
• If there are multiple DCs in the conflict, estimate how many Sequences you
want the conflict to last, calculate 1-2 Resource Slots for each Sequence, then
divide the Resource Slots among all the DCs.

3. Assign up to 4 Assets or roll on the table below.

d20 Result 1st Asset 2nd Asset 3rd Asset 4th Asset
1 Abominable Scent Discombobulator Mask of Delusions Robot Servant
2 Acid Sacks Duplication Station Memory Module Rocket Bike
3 Active Camoflauge Enthralled Minion Minion Worshipers Rupturing Pustules
4 Bag of Baubles Explosive Limbs Pain Suppressants Satellite Uplink
5 Basilisk Blade Floating Ion Stone Palm Cannons Scroll of Scrying
6 Beguiling Tongue Flummoxed Companion Pet Marsupial Skin Suit
7 Bone-mail Armor Forged Passport Plasma Launcher Small Hot Air Balloon
8 Book of Lost Letters Fortune Teller Pneumatic Hammer Smell Vision
9 Book of Maps Gravity Controller Speaking Potted Plant Space Diorama
10 Book of Pass-codes Hired Guard Programmable Rock Spell of Mostly Death
11 Book of The Void Hover Disc Projectile Sticky Goop Sphere of Plasma
12 Bottle of Guilt Hover Tank Psychic Paper Sweat of Frictionlessness
13 Box of Nanites Hovering Light Orb Psychic Pulse Tome of Secrets
14 Burrowing Beak Indentured Servant Psychotropic Blood Trained Pig
15 Cloth of Re-materialization Instant Desiccator Putrid Breath Turtle-like Shell
16 Collapsible Elevator Instant Shelter Radiation Blaster Universal Button
17 Contagious Terror Invisible Hand Radiation Kite Universal Rebreather
18 Corrupting Aura Knowledge Orb Remote Whisperer Variable Frequency Drive
19 Cybernetic Prosthetics Laser Eyes Retractable Spikes Ward of Protection
20 Detachable Limbs Launch Codes Robe of Forgetfulness Winged Vest
19
Name Resources
1
2

Traits 4
3

5
6
7
8
9
10

Name Resources
1
2

Traits 4
3

5
6
7
8
9
10

Name Resources
1
2

Traits 4
3

5
6
7
8
9
10

Name Resources
1
2

Traits 4
3

5
6
7
8
9
10

20
21
22
 Planet Grok
Planet Grok was once When the harness was dispelled, it
a haven for transdimensional released a massive surge of raw mana
migrants and a bastion of advanced which erupted through the planet’s
technomancy, until a cataclysm crust.
rendered it a desolate hollow planet.
Feral monstrosities haunt its chasms, The planet cracked and split, creating
cities float among the clouds, and a gigantic rifts in the planet’s surface
derelict space station encapsulates that consumed whole continents.
the planet, saturating the world in Swathes of land were shorn from
perpetual phosphorescent radiation. the planet’s gravity, heaved into the
air, and allowed to float weightlessly
Before then, Grok was a planet among the clouds.
dominated by mankind, with a society
that promoted both arcane and The Voidstar’s turbulent mana
scientific advancement. During this flow made classical thaumaturgy
era, technomancers endeavored to unreliable, rendering nearly all
harness the Voidstar; an undulating thaumatechnology inert or perverted
black mass of negative space around from its designed purposes.
which the hollow planet had originally Being unable to rely on their greatest
formed. technologies, and with the world
Upon their eventual success, the imploding around them, billions
mana harvested from the Voidstar was perished; few survived.
used to develop inter-dimensional
travel, and brought about an age
of unparalleled advancement in
technology and thaumaturgy.
Not long after the harnessing of
the Voidstar, the Simulacrum was
constructed just beyond the planet’s
atmosphere; a jigsaw-like space station
that nearly encapsulated the planet.
Powered by mana shunted directly
from the planet’s core, this massive
structure housed migrants from
countless dimensions, and served as a
hub for interplanetary travel.
Centuries after its construction, a
malfunction in the Voidstar’s harness
brought about a cataclysm.

23
After the cataclysm, the Nomadic by nature, Vagabonds
descendants of those who survived typically gather in the shadows of
evolved in isolated clusters, their floating Isles and travel under patches
nature determined by the stratum of open sky afforded to them by the
their ancestors had occupied. gaps in the Simulacrum.
Separated for generations, countless
races and species were segregated into Underlings descend from those
four castes: who sought shelter in the rifts or
underground bunkers, or from those
Celestials are the descents of holdouts who survived aboard scraps of the
aboard the Simulacrum. The races that Simulacrum that plummeted to
survived the lack of oxygen and gravity the surface during the cataclysm.
eventually retrofitted its thrusters Secreted away in their underground
to operate on recycled mana. This hovels, the close proximity to the
prevented most of the Simulacrum Voidstar corrupted their minds and
from collapsing to the planet below, bodies, warping them into feral
and caused its corrupted emissions to monstrosities. Only the most fiendish
bathe the planet’s surface in a radiative horrors survived, preying upon one
phosphorescent twilight. another and unlucky Vagabonds for
Islanders are the descendants of those sustenance. Their ancestors’ redoubts
who were marooned on hovering scatter the Underworld, preserving
islands during the cataclysm. Each Isle ancient relics of profound power.
generates its own gravity, allowing its
inhabitants to build settlements on Now, civilizations have begun to
the underside, shielding them from grow from the ashes of the desolation.
the Simulacrum’s bombardment of Ancient magics manifest as the
radiation. Being elevated great heights Voidstar’s perturbations subside, and
from the planet’s surface, Islanders long abandoned relics of immense
are also isolated from the hellish power await those who would learn
landscape of The Wastelands. their forgotten secrets. Struggles for
power and the threat of caste warfare
Vagabonds are those who travel The loom on the horizon, and all the while
Wastelands of the planet’s surface, a creeping black nothingness peers up
often to carry out expeditions into through the cracks of the world.
the Underworld or to ferry trade
goods from one Isle to the next. Since
none stranded on the surface had
survived the cataclysm, Vagabonds
are commonly descendants from
Islanders, and are easily identified
by the various mutations afflicting
their people from constant radiation
exposure.

24
 Planet Grok
The Simulacrum is operated Being primarily populated by the
and governed by an artificial descendants of transdimensional
intelligence, commonly referred to migrants, the Simulacrum is
as AL. Prioritizing the Simulacrum’s brimming with strange and
preservation over the well-being of maddeningly alien creatures from
its inhabitants, AL maintains the beyond space and time.
Simulacrum’s infrastructure through The most pestilent of these creatures
mandated labor and subjugating have either been isolated by derelict
its citizens with strict rationing, adjacent districts or purposely exiled
obsessive surveillance, and merciless by AL. By traveling through secret
punishment. passages or networks of labyrinthine
Each hexagonal district of the ductwork and stripped electrical
Simulacrum is isolated from one conduit, those seeking otherworldly
another by reinforced walls and doors knowledge and artifacts are just
capable of withstanding the vacuum as likely to find these lost alien
of space. Although each district may monstrosities in torpor, ready at the
be very different in terms of content slightest disturbance to once again
and function, they are nearly identical enter the waking world.
in size and dimension. This expansive The table below can be used
network of organized districts ruled to generate districts within the
by a single authority makes the Simulacrum.
Simulacrum a prime environment
for urban adventures in an oppressive
metropolis rife with paranoid
troubleshooters or cyber-punks.

d20 Result A(n)... ... with... and rumors of...

1 Abandoned Archives Vault A Rodent Problem A God Reincarnate
2 Barbaric Artificial Habitat A Deafening Hum A Hidden Cache
3 Besieged Artisan’s Guildhall A History of “Accidents” A Lingering Curse
4 Claustrophobic Gambling Den A Shadow Infestation A Secret Passage
5 Compliant Illicit Drug Refinery Strange Moss Everywhere A Stolen Artifact
6 Decadent Incinerator Absolutely No Sound A Temporal Flux
7 Desperate Indoctrination Camp Contagious Eye Stalks An Assassin’s Guild
8 Dilapidated Mana Recycler Extreme Gravity Blood Feuds
9 Enlightened Marketplace Fantastic Food Cannibalism
10 Filthy MedBay Gold Paint On Everything Contamination
11 Hopeful Military Outpost No Atmosphere Experimentation
12 Immaculate Museum of Lost Tech No Color Insurrection
13 Impoverished Residential District No Gravity Missing Children
14 Labyrinthine Robotics Factory No Lights Ritualistic Sacrifice
15 Malfunctioning Ship Construction Yard No Network Connection Screams In The Pipes
16 Oversized Smeltery Non-Euclidean Architecture Serial Murders
17 Prosperous Spaceport Rampant Crime Stolen Identities
18 Refurbished Teleportation Station Restricted Entry Sympathizers
19 Secluded Thruster Station Standing Sewage Thought Control
20 Warped Waste & Food Recycler Toxic Radiation Xenophobia

25
The Isles careen haphazardly
among the clouds. Due to their
unpredictable travel patterns, and
the inherent difficulty of reaching an
Isle, the communities that inhabit
hovering islands are often extremely
isolated, with distinct cultures and
idiosyncrasies.
The aimless wandering of the Isles
also makes mapping them extremely
difficult. Vagabond cartographers have
endeavored to chart the movement of
the Isles with limited success, often
employing a a combination planetary
magnetic flux measurements,
meteorology, climatology, and
attempts to divine the perturbations
of the undulating black mass of
nothingness at the planet’s core.
The table below can be used to
generate communities and structures
that can be found on the Isles.

d20 Result A(n)..... ... inhabited with... ruled by...

1 2-Dimensional Battlefield Animated Objects A Caste System
2 Ancient Catacombs Assorted Anthropomorphs A Collective Consciousness
3 Besieged Chromed Metropolis Constructs A Coven of Witches
4 Blighted City of Flesh Crustaceans A Living God
5 Civilized Hive City Dreams Made Real A Maniacal Cult
6 Contested Holographic Hamlet Elemental Forces A Memoryless Robot
7 Depraved Industrial Farmstead Fiends & Devils A Military Regime
8 Dilapidated Launch Pad Humanoids A Random Phrase Generator
9 Festering Medieval Town Hyperintelligent Varmints A Republic
10 Magnificent Mega-Library Imaginary People A Senate of Wizards
11 Miniature Merchant Way Station Memories An Ancient Bloodline
12 Oversized Mining Community Miniature Giants An Artificial Intelligence
13 Peaceful Pilgrimage Site Oozes An Oligarchy
14 Putrid Renaissance City Personified Spells Anarchy
15 Savage Scrapyard Polymorphed Insects Deflection of Guilt
16 Sentient Stone Castle Sentient Plants Medicated Acquiescence
17 Squalid Stone-Aged Village Shadows Old & Illegible Laws
18 Starved University Slugmen Superstition
19 Thriving Wizard’s Tower Undead Thralls The Eldest Citizen
20 Wartorn Wood Fort Whispers The Threat of Damnation

26
 Planet Grok
The Wastelands are
what remains of the planet’s surface
after being ripped apart during the
cataclysm and constantly bombarded
with the Simulacrum’s radiation. The
table below can be used to generate
regions within the Wastelands.
d20 Result A(n)... ... with a(n)... that...
1 Ancient Canyon Network Ancient Monument Blinks In & Out of Existence
2 Benevolent Demolished City Bottomless Chasm Constantly Reassembles
3 Blinding Dormant Volcano Breeding Site Doesn’t Want You There
4 Burning Farmland Crashed Spaceship Doesn’t Want You To Leave
5 Desiccating Field of Jagged Stones Doorway to Another Place Exists Outside of Time
6 Expansive Forrest of Flesh Dormant Beast Feeds On Fear
7 Infected Lava Lake Dry Well Finds You Attractive
8 Labyrinthine Mind Palace Elevator to the Simulacrum Forgot What It Is
9 Lightless Petrified Forest Encampment of Savages Holds Great Riches
10 Malevolent Primeval Jungle Exposed Leyline Insights Violence
11 Memoryless River of Acid Fallen Simulacrum Fragment Is Actually A Mimic
12 Multidimensional Roaming Mecha-City Herd of Livestock Is Completely Edible
13 Putrid Salt Plain Madman’s Dwelling Is Cursed
14 Rotting Shattered Mountain Magical Spring Is Made of Glass
15 Shifting Shifting Spire Natural Cave Entrance Isn’t Really There
16 Sleepy Toothy Maw Vagabond Camp Knows You’re There
17 Soundless Toxic Swamp Pilgrimage Path Loops Time
18 Timeless Trenched Battlefield Portal To The Simulacrum Moves Backward In Time
19 Weeping Undulating Hills Staircase to the Underworld Reads Your Mind
20 Weightless Wizard’s Tower Temple to the New Gods Speaks In Riddles

To limit exposure to the Simulacrum’s Characters exposed to this radiation

corruptive emissions, Vagabonds accumulate transformations, which
often travel in the shadow of the are applied as Conditions. The table
Isles and limit their time on the open below can be used to generate these
Wastelands whenever possible. transformations.

d20 Result A(n)... ... with... ...

1 Acidic Antenna Amorphous Bones
2 Amoebic Appendage Contagious Ears
3 Atrophied Aura Corrupted Eyes
4 Bloated Body Detacheable Fingers
5 Brittle Claw Drooping Flesh
6 Fuzzy Face Giant Fungus
7 Gelatinous Head Grotesque Genitals
8 Hypersensitive Horn Hinged Gills
9 Inside-Out Limb Inverted Hands
10 Jibbering Mouth Metallized Holes
11 Magnetic Parasite Migratory Legs
12 Malleable Proboscis Miniature Memories
13 Photosynthetic Secretion Not Enough Organs
14 Proliferating Snout Opinionated Pustules
15 Secret Soul Radiating Roots
16 Stowable Stench Sloughing Scales
17 Talking Tail Sprouting Spiracles
18 Transparent Tongue Sticky Teeth
19 Uncontrollable Torso Tentacled Touch
20 Watercolor Voice Too Many Wings
27
The Underworld harbors For those brave enough to plumb it’s
monstrosities beyond imagination, depths, and lucky enough to survive,
and consists of near endless networks there are powerful relics to be found
of tunnels, caves, bunkers, research and reality-shattering secrets to be
facilities, and chasms that plummet learned. The table below can be used
down to the very core of the hollow to generate a general description of an
planet. Underworld complex.
d20 Result A(n)... inhabited with... ... that...
1 Aquifer Amorphous A Gaggle of Golems Are Allergic To Light
2 Archive Complex Beautiful Aberrations Are Mischievous
3 Cave Network Brittle Artificial Intelligences Are Overly Friendly
4 Death Labyrinth Bulbous Clockwork Automatons Breed Chaos
5 Fortified Bunker Corrupted Conflagrations of Wizards Can Read Minds
6 Mana Storage Facility Delicate Draugr Thralls Consume Flesh
7 Massive Hive Feral Dust Mites Enthrall Others
8 Military Complex Festering Fiends Feed On Lust
9 Missile Silo Filthy Figments of Imagination Forgot the…
10 Old Mine Gaunt Gelatinous Platonic Shapes Found Peace
11 Prison of an Old God Grotesque Hovering Eyes Like Shiny Things
12 Research Facility Horned Hybrid Creatures Must Proliferate
13 Sea Cave Hulking Insectoidroids Sell Bizarre Trinkets
14 Sewer System Hyperintelligent Living Nightmares Smell Delicious
15 Smuggler’s Tunnels Luminescent Myconids Think They’re Immortal
16 Sprawling Catacombs Rotting Nothingness Want Eternal Life
17 Subterranean River Sagging Reptilian Cultists Want Rebellion
18 Underground City Skinless Sentient Objects Want Solitude
19 Vast Dungeon Undulating Territorial Beasts Worship The New Gods
20 Worm Tunnel Wise Varmint-Men Yearn For Death

Each complex is a network of The table below can be used to

chambers and corridors that have generate points of interest within an
been modified and expanded by the Underworld complex. The complex
Underworld’s inhabitants since the description generated above can
cataclysm, resulting in unpredictable be used as a guide to describe these
floor plans and construction methods. points of interest with a coherent
theme.
d20 Result A(n)... ... with... and... ...
1 Abandoned Antichamber A Faulty Duplicator A Throne of Baubles & Gems
2 Bleeding Arena A Friendly Face Ancient Books & Scrolls
3 Charred Bridge A Lingering Dread Books about Bunk Beds
4 Cluttered Bunker A Lost Pet Cans of Buttons & Dials
5 Dilapidated Cave A Lost Wizard Chests of Cacoons
6 Forgotten Corridor A Mech-Suit Corrupted Corpses
7 Freshly Painted Crypt A Ponderous Orb Floating Excrement
8 Hidden Garden A Roaring Firepit Floor of Explosives
9 Immaculate Guard Post A Secret Passage Glowing Faces
10 Infested Holding Pen A Sentry Gun Hypnotic Firewood
11 Long Lake A Teleportation Station Illusory Flying Machines
12 Massive Larder A Tentacled Monstrosity Mind Altering Food & Water
13 Moldy Latrine A Weeping Statue Piles of Gadgets & Gizmos
14 Narrow Mineshaft An Angry Ooze Pillars of Mana
15 Pungent Nest An Elevator Shiny Medieval Armaments
16 Shallow Oubliette Floating Faces Some Plasma Throwers
17 Sunken Sleeping Quarters Large Eggs The Smell of Silver & Gold
18 Swampy Temple Ravenous Ghouls Trapped Sorcery
19 Waste-Ridden Vault Sleeping Cots Undulating Technomantic Relics
20 Winding Waterfall Stagnant Water Walls of Unhatched Eggs 28
29
30
 Quick-Start Guide
Aspects are short phrases that Actions are how Characters
describe things in the game world. interact with Aspects and affect the
Aspects provide context to what your world around them. The steps to take
Character can or cannot do, and how an Action are:
easy or difficult it is to do it. • Describe the Intention: What do
you want to happen?
Attributes describe how
competent your Character is at certain • Narrate the Action: What is
types of Actions: the Character doing to make it
happen?
•P
 hysical describes your
Character’s ability to manipulate • Determine the Outcome: What
or move physical objects through actually happens?
strength, agility, and coordination. If the Outcome isn’t obvious, roll the
•M
 ental describes your Character’s relevant Attribute die and compare the
ability to interpret and assimilate result to the table below to determine
information through intelligence, the Outcome.
willpower, and comprehension. If Aspects would make the Action
• Social describes your Character’s easier (Advantages) or more difficult
ability to perceive and manipulate (Disadvantages), tally them up to 5
emotions through charisma, each. After tallying the Advantages
composure, and emotional and Disadvantages, subtract one from
intelligence. the other.
Each Attribute is assigned a die If you’re left with Advantages, roll
type, indicating your Character’s extra Attribute dice equal to the
competency at those types of Actions. number of Advantages left and select
A larger die type indicates greater the highest die result to determine the
competency. Select a set of dice from Outcome.
the table below or roll to determine If you’re left with Disadvantages,
your Character’s Attributes. roll extra Attribute dice equal to
the number of Disadvantages left
d12
Result Physical Mental Social and select the lowest die result to
1 d8 d6 d6 determine the Outcome.
2 d6 d8 d6
3 d6 d6 d8
4 d10 d6 d4 Roll Is the Outcome what you intended?
5 d10 d4 d6 No, and... “No, it’s not as you intended,
6 d6 d10 d4 1-4 and something unfortunate happens.”
7 d4 d10 d6
8 d6 d4 d10
5-9 Yes... “Yes, it’s as you intended.”
9 d4 d6 d10
10 d12 d4 d4
11 d4 d12 d4 10+ Yes, and... “Yes, its as you intended,
12 d4 d4 d12 and something fortunate happens.”

31
Traits are Aspects that describe Incapacitation describes
who or what your Character is. Write a your Character’s inability to act. If a
phrase that describes your Character’s Condition would be applied to your
Personality, Motivation, Trouble, Character, but there are no available
Background, and Appearance. Resource Slots, your Character
becomes Incapacitated, and the new
Resource Slots are used Condition is written as a Trait instead.
to track Assets and Conditions. Your
Your Character cannot perform
Character begins with 7 available
Actions while Incapacitated. Anytime
Resource Slots.
your Incapacitated Character would
Assets are Aspects your Character acquire a Condition, write it as a Trait
keeps readily available, such as their instead and decrease the relevant
equipment, short-term information, Attribute’s die by one size.
and lackeys. Write up to four Assets for If an Attribute die would drop below
your Character. Each Asset occupies a a d4, your Character is functionally or
Resource Slot. literally dead.

Conditions are Aspects that Milestones are moments that

represent physical, mental, or social justify significant change to your
duress, and usually result from a failed Character. Milestones may occur at the
Action. Conditions occupy a Resource conclusion of an adventure or during
Slot, and can be removed with a the natural evolution of a Character
relevant Action. Trait through emergent story.

Effort is used to increase the When your Character reaches a

likelihood of an intended Outcome Milestone, you may do one of the
at the cost of incurring a Condition. following:
When you use Effort, determine • Create, remove, or change
an appropriate Condition with The a Character Trait, Asset, or
Director, then re-roll the Attribute die. Condition.
Add the re-rolled result and previous • Increase your Character’s
result together to determine the maximum number of Asset Slots
Outcome. by 1.
You may apply more than one Effort to • Decrease your maximum number
an Action, allowing you to re-roll and of Resource Slots by 2 and increase
add the results for each use of Effort, an Attribute die to the next higher
with each applying another Condition. size. An Attribute die cannot
exceed d12.

32
 Grok was once a haven for
transdimensional migrants and a bastion of
advanced technomancy, until a cataclysm
rendered it a desolate hollow planet.
Now, feral monstrosities haunt its chasms,
cities float among the clouds, and a derelict
space station encapsulates the planet and
bathes the world in perpetual phosphorescent
radiation.
Yet, a new era of enlightenment is dawning.
Civilizations grow from the ashes, relics of
immense power await those who would learn
their lost secrets, and threats of caste warfare
loom as leaders vie for power.
All the while, a creeping black nothingness
peers up through the hollow of the world.