1

back

If you're the game's Creator,

read the back for some
Rules (p6), Monsters (p7),
some Advice (p8), and a
Character Sheet (p9).
A little bit of nostalgia in an
even smaller package.

Start by making a character.

Choose a Class (p2) and
note your Attributes (p3).
Pick up Weapons (p4),
Armor (p4), and Spells (p5).

Console is a pen-and-paper
emulation of console-based
fantasy roleplaying games.

This is a tiny, folded

roleplaying game designed
to emulate some of the
original handheld RPGs.
The rules are simple, the
gameplay is condensed, and
the graphics are black-andwhite. After all, the memory
card won't hold much.

Console:
Handheld
It's a game in
your pocket!

SPD
+0
+5
+10
-5

Attributes:

MAG
+0
+10
-10
-10

Classes:

DEF
+0
-5
+5
+10

There are four stats in Console:

Attack, Defense, Magic, and
Speed (ATK, DEF, MAG, SPD).

ATK
+0
-5
+45
+5

Here are the starting values for

each one:

Human
Esper
Monster
Robot

You also have an HP Bar and an

MP Bar. Both start at 100%.

You start at 1st Level. Add your

Level to every attribute.

There are four classes: Human,

Esper, Monster, and Robot. Each
has a special ability:

Human: Can access all spells and

equipment. Carry 8 items.
Esper: Gets two free spells at
random that change every level.
Carry 4 items.
Monster: At the end of a fight can
copy the stats from a non-boss
monster that was in that fight.
They keep this until their next
change, adding their own
modifiers. Carry 4 items.
Robot: Starting items scale with
level. Weakness to Lightning.
Carry 4 items.
2
3

Weapons and Armor:

Spells:

You start with the following equipment:

Humans: Sword, Shield, Helmet, Armor.
Espers: Staff, Helmet, Armor. Can't use shield.
Monsters: Armor. Can't use weapon, shield or helmet.
Robots: Punch, Laser, Forcefield. Can't use other equipment.

There are three elements: FIRE, ICE, and LIT. Each has a
spell that causes damage equal to MAG +50. The BIO spell
poisons a character so that they lose 20% HP each turn after
they act. CURE restores 30% HP. HEAL fixes poison and
blindness. LIFE restores a dead character to life. CURA
restores 100% HP. HOLY destroys a single undead monster.
DARK gives its target 50% miss chance when attacking.

Weapon
Sword
Staff
Axe
Bow

ATK
+40
+35
+45
+35

Protection
Armor
Shield
Helmet

DEF
+10
+5
+5

FIRE, ICE, LIT, CURE, and CURA can be cast to affect a

whole group, but do half as much damage or healing.
Humans have to buy new spells just like they buy new
weapons and armor. They cost their Level in gold, and take
up item spots. Esper spells are always new (and random) each
level, but aren't items.

When you buy new gear, it has the rating listed here. Each
level, your gear decays one point (really, all the monsters get
meaner). Eventually you have to buy new gear.
Weapons cost Gold equal to Level + ATK - 35. Armor costs
Level + DEF. Robots never need to buy new gear (and can't
use it anyway). They always have a Punch (ATK +40), Laser
(ATK +35) (FIRE), and Forcefield (DEF +15) appropriate
to their level. Monsters only use armor. Low-level characters
get stuck with crummy equipment for a while, so the Creator
might want to give them some extra Gold to go buy new
stuff. High-level characters will have Gold to spare and
should be encouraged to spend it on plot-related things.
4

Esper
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Random Spells
FIRE
ICE
LIT
HEAL
CURE
LIFE
CURA
BIO
HOLY
DARK

MP Cost
10%
10%
10%
10%
5%
20%
20%
10%
5%
10%

Rules:

Monsters:

Outside a fight, the story flows more or less as the Creator

directs. There should be ample opportunity for the Players to
explore branching plotlines, speak to NPCs, solve puzzles,
play minigames, and so forth, but these are dependent on the
skill of the Players, not the prowess of their characters.

Monsters have attributes equal to their Level. They get +45

ATK , +10 DEF, +50 MAG, and +0 SPD. They have 100%
HP and MP at the start of a fight. They also have a Type that
gives them a special ability:

In a fight, the characters face several monsters. Play goes in

order of Speed. Once everyone has acted once, return to the
top of the order. Repeat until one side is dead or has run.
On your action you can attack (dealing damage equal to your
ATK minus the opponent's DEF), cast a spell (damage is
MAG minus DEF), block (+15 DEF), or run (leave the
fight). Be sure to use total ATK, MAG and DEF, not just
bonuses from your item, class, or spell. There is no miss
chance in this game. Standing in the back row during combat
gives you +10 DEF, but you can only attack by spell or bow.
You have to declare your row before the fight starts.
After each fight, the winning side gains one Level and gets
Gold equal to 3x the Level of the opposing monsters.
Characters can recover HP and MP and overcome the effects
of DARK or BIO in a town, for Gold equal to 1/10 their
level.

Beast: +5 ATK and SPD.

Boss: Immune to DARK, BIO, HOLY. Takes 1/10 normal
damage. Worth 2 levels. Often has another Type as well.
Dragon: Immune to FIRE.
Elemental: Immune to one kind of magic.
Mage: Can cast two spells each. +10 MAG.
Ogre: +5 DEF, but -15 DEF vs. magic.
Undead: Immune to DARK and BIO.
Most monsters attack randomly. Some are focused on one
particular type of character, but very few use strategy in their
assaults. Monsters should be equal in level to the characters.
Many monsters, especially Boss monsters, drop special items
that can be equipped and used in combat for unusual effect.
Some make people resistant to an element, or allow them to
dodge 25% of incoming attacks, or let them counterattack
50% of the time, and so on. The GM should be sure to hand
one of these out after every Boss battle, and from time to
time through the storyline.
7

Advice:

Character Sheet:

Customizing this game is not just useful, it is key. Add house

rules, a map, a setting, usable items, more classes and spells,
add anything, but make it your own.

Name: ___________________________

If you play this game as just a series of combat encounters

you lose half the fun. If you play it as just a forced plotline,
you lose the other half.

Class:

Player: _________________________

Equipment

Level: _________

Class

Total

ATK:
DEF:
MAG:
SPD:

Being silly with Console works if you have people who've

experienced console RPGs before. It doesn't work if your
players aren't familiar with the genre.
It's amazing what a bit of vague backstory can do. Toss in
references to an ancient race, a great disaster, a golden age, a
secret resistance group, and players will want to know more.
There is no official final level for the game. You can play to
level 99, level 70, level 22. It all balances out in terms of
character effectiveness and damage.
Look, one of you has to play the obligatory love interest, ok?
No you can't shop around for the best prices; there's only
one store in each town.
You call it a photocopier, I call it a save point.

____________

Items 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Written by Colin Fredericks. CC-BY-NC 3.0 License.
Art by Antifarea and Henrique Lazarini.