ALIGHT: #TTRPGImpactJam Notes In Progress

Copyright 2020 Jason Tocci. Published by Pretendo Games.

Rules built upon Knave, by Ben Milton, which is shared under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Foreword

As often happens with my projects, this one started out as a small, and
then exploded into something huge and unwieldy. I still love the idea of
POC in TTRPGs’s Impact Jam, though, so I wanted to make sure I got
something submitted in time. In a bitter twist of irony, of course, the one
thing that I haven’t worked out to my satisfaction is the “impact” part of
the rules. There are some notes at the end of this document to that
effect, but a much more fleshed out edition is still in the works. I
appreciate any feedback you can send my way at
jason@pretendo.games.

Overview

Alight is a game about salvaging what you can from a broken world.

In the unfathomably distant future, the struggling remnants of humanity

survive in a medieval world littered with technology so advanced that it
may as well be magic. No one can remember what kind of civilization
came before—why it fell, where they went, whether they were even
human themselves. But for whatever reason, we can still make some
sense of their ancient technology, almost as if it wants to be used. And
in a world this strange and dangerous—where towering automata can
unwittingly flatten entire villages, glowing storms transmute everything
in their path to sentient liquid, and the inhuman predators parents warn
children about aren’t just cautionary tales—having even just a few of the
ancients’ relics can mean the difference between life and death. Much is
expected from those brave few who are willing to delve into ruins that
still glow with eons-old power.
That’s where you come in. You’ll explore, salvage, and wield that power
—and, crucially, decide what to do with it.

Beyond these details, the setting is intentionally vaguely defined so you

can make it your own, or transplant it easily into your own favorite far-
future, post-apocalyptic, science-fantasy world.

What You Need to Play

Friends: Alight is intended for two or more players, with most

controlling their own protagonist character (PC), and one managing the
world and supporting cast in the role of game moderator (GM).

Time: A typical session might last 1–4 hours, but that’s largely up to
what you and your friends feel up for.

Supplies: You’ll need at least one full set of polyhedral dice, including
four- (d4), six- (d6), eight- (d8), ten- (d10), twelve- (d12), and twenty-
sided dice (d20). I advise at least a couple d20s, and two visually
distinct d10s—one for the tens place and another for the ones place to
roll together to make a d100. When the rules specify a number before a
die size, this means to roll that many dice and sum their results (e.g.,
2d6 means “roll two six-sided dice and add them”).

You’ll also need pieces of paper and writing implements to write notes
about your characters and anything else you want to remember, such as
notes about supporting characters, maps, or plans for the future.

Safety Tools

Before play—even with good friends you’ve known for a long time—it’s a
good idea to get on the same page about how to deal with potentially
sensitive content. As of this writing, at least, I recommend looking up
Big Bad Con’s “Safety and Calibration Tools” website, and Monte Cook
Games’ Consent in Gaming. At the very least, touch base about whether
any content should be off-limits entirely, or implied off-screen at most.
How to Use This Book

Alight is a game about scavenging for wondrous things and repurposing

them to cobble together something new. That applies not only to the
setting, but to the rules, which are synthesized from a range of other
roleplaying games. Feel free do likewise: scrap what you don’t need,
bolt on pieces from other sources, and transplant what you like from
here to another game entirely.

This isn’t to suggest that rules are unimportant—quite the opposite,

really. If rules didn’t matter, why go through so much trouble to tweak
them until they’re “just right”? I mean for these rules to emphasize
making difficult but meaningful decisions in a wide-open, wondrous
setting, with equal parts hope and dread. But no hard feelings if you
want to tinker under the hood. It’s your game now.

RULES OF PLAY

Most of the time, play consists of freeform roleplaying moderated by the

GM, without attention to rules. The players ask questions about what
their characters perceive; the GM describes what they perceive. The
players describe what they want their characters to do; the GM
responds with how the world or supporting characters react.

The following rules are engaged when the GM needs more guidance as
to how to adjudicate the results of challenging or complex actions, when
they could use some inspiration for what would be interesting to happen
next, or when the players describe doing something fairly dangerous,
and the GM would rather not get blamed for the likely terrible results.
The rules are not a bludgeon to discourage the players from taking
actions contrary to a pre-planned story by the GM or adventure writer.
Play to find out what happens.

Tests

If a character attempts something where the outcome is uncertain and

failure has consequences, their player makes a test: Roll a d20, and if
the result is greater than a difficulty specified by GM, the character
succeeds. If not, they fail. Difficulty ranges from 10 to 20, at the GM’s
discretion, but is 15 by default unless otherwise stated.

If the character rolling has a score in an ability that seems relevant, they
can add that to their roll. Use Strength for tests requiring physical force
and toughness, Reflex for tests requiring speed and agility, and Focus
for tests requiring careful attention and willpower.

If a test is opposed by another character, either character can make an

opposed test with a difficulty based on the other character’s
capabilities. When rolling against a player’s character, the difficulty is
their most relevant ability + 10. Supporting characters tend not to have
individual ability scores, so their difficulty is their level + 10. Note that it
doesn’t matter which side does the rolling, since the odds of success
remain the same.

Example: Nyk attempts to tackle a fleeing thief, played by the GM. This
is resolved as an opposed test using Nyk’s Reflex versus the thief’s
level. The GM may roll a d20 and add their level, hoping to exceed Nyk’s
Reflex + 10, or Nyk’s player may roll and add their Reflex bonus, hoping
to exceed the thief’s level + 10.

Advantage & Disadvantage

If situational factors make any roll significantly easier or harder, the GM

may grant the roll advantage or disadvantage. With advantage, roll an
extra die and disregard the worst single die. With disadvantage, roll an
extra die and disregard the best single die. Having both disadvantage
and advantage cancel each other out, unless one side obviously
outweighs the other.

Skills

If a character has a relevant skill when attempting a test that the

average unskilled person could also reasonably attempt—like running,
climbing, or sneaking—the skill typically grants an advantage to the roll.
Some skills, meanwhile, might be entirely necessary to perform a test
without a disadvantage, or to even attempt at all, like repairing a
damaged artifact, or performing surgery.

Rather than granting an advantage on rolls, being skilled with a weapon

allows the character to replace its damage die with a d12 when the
weapon is used in exactly the proper situation, such as attacking with a
dagger when already within arm’s reach of the target.

While the character creation process in this text does provide some
ready-made skills, there’s no comprehensive skill list; the GM should
use their best judgment to adjudicate when a skill is needed, or what
skills make sense to learn during play.

Critical Results

A roll of 20 on a test, before adding any other modifiers, counts as an

automatic critical success, conferring an additional benefit. The player
who rolled is encouraged to suggest what bonus effect they think
makes sense, such as dealing more damage on an attack, impressing
onlookers, or holding onto resources they otherwise would have spent.
The GM might amend this or suggest an alternative with an explanation
for why.

A roll of 1 on a test, before adding any other modifiers, counts as a

critical failure, leading to an additional complication. Again, the player
who rolled is encouraged to suggest what makes sense, such as losing
or damaging equipment, suffering harm, facing public shame, or being
left in a dangerous situation. The final call is up to the GM.

Action Sequences

In dangerous situations, where every moment counts, players take turns

describing what their characters do, though their actions are assumed
to take place practically simultaneously. It’s the GM’s job to moderate
this conversation and make sure everybody gets a chance to act before
anybody acts again. The period of time during which all characters in a
scene each act is called a round—after everybody has taken every
action they want and are able to take, a new round starts.

In cases where it’s not obvious whose actions should be resolved first,
follow this order:

1. Actions away from immediate danger, like ranged attacks.

2. Moving nearby.
3. Actions up-close to danger, like hand-to-hand attacks.

On their turn, a character can take two actions, such as moving

somewhere, attacking, using a power, attempting a stunt, or whatever
else the GM agrees makes sense. Only one action each turn can involve
a test, so a character might move nearby and attack, or move nearby
and then move again even further, but couldn’t normally attack twice, or
attack while cooking a meal.

Attacks & Defense

In combat situations, attacking and defending are handled as an

opposed test (as in the example above). Attacks and defense use
whatever ability seems most appropriate in context. Usually, this means
using Strength to make hand-to-hand attacks and to block with a shield,
using Reflexes to make ranged attacks and to dodge, or using their
armor’s Defense bonus in place of an ability. Make exceptions as it
makes sense to the table, such as opting to use Reflexes for light
weapons, or Focus to line up a ranged attack on a slow-moving target.

On a successful attack test, the attacker rolls their weapon’s damage

die and deducts the damage roll from the target’s Health. They may add
a bonus damage die if they exploited a target’s weakness, such as
using fire against a creature adapted to cold temperatures.

Death

When a character falls to 0 Health or below, they are grievously injured.

If the blow that took them there was from a critical roll, they are killed
instantly. Otherwise, they can cling to life, but are unable to do much but
crawl and grunt until someone spends an action to render first aid,
restoring them to 1 HP. Any character can stabilize another in this way—
it’s fairly common knowledge in a world as dangerous as this—but it
does tend to require some expenditure of resources (an herbal salve,
tearing off strips of clothing to staunch blood flow, etc.). If rendering
first aid puts them in danger or imposes other hardship, they may also
need to pass a Focus test.

If an injured character doesn’t receive first aid within a round, they must
make a test to face death. The difficulty is 10 + their negative Health. If
they succeed, they pass out, but are still eligible for first aid. If they fail,
they hold on for another round, and then either apply Effort to face
death again, or fall dead. This can be repeated as long as they have
Effort, or until they receive first aid. (And yes, a character can drop
everything they’re holding to immediately get back Effort to spend on
this.)

If a character dies in an action scene, their spirit inspires allies. Each

round, the dead character’s player can choose to either add a d12 to
another character’s roll, or fully replenish another character’s Effort.

Morale

Sentient creatures are not always inclined to fight to the death in

combat. If it becomes apparent that they are outclassed—such as when
a group loses half its numbers, a lone enemy loses half its Health, or a
group’s leader is defeated—they are likely to attempt to flee or
surrender. If the GM is unsure whether this makes sense for one of their
characters, they can roll 2d6; if they roll over the character’s level, they
give up. This also applies to companions or hired help that the players’
characters enlist for aid, especially if those characters are treated poorly
or asked to betray their convictions.

Stunts

Stunts are combat maneuvers such as stunning, shoving, disarming,

tripping, sundering armor, and so on. They are resolved with an opposed
test. Stunts may not cause damage directly, but may do so indirectly (for
example, pushing an enemy off of a ledge). The GM is the final arbiter as
to what can be attempted in a given situation.

Since a stunt requires an opposed test, it can’t normally be performed in

the same turn as an attack. If, however, they roll a critical success on an
attack, give up the bonus to their roll from an advantage, or give up
something else in exchange (such as accepting disadvantage, or
spending Effort, as described below), a character can combine an
attack and stunt into a single action. A character might, for instance, use
their momentum to strike so hard that they knock an enemy down
(trading away advantage), or recklessly rush an enemy at great personal
risk (accepting disadvantage).

Effort

Characters start with 5 Effort, representing their reserves of energy and

the strength of their convictions. Effort is used to activate many special
powers, and can also be used to enhance mundane actions.

Unless otherwise specified, when a rule indicates that a character must

“apply Effort” to do something, this means the player can spend 1 point
of Effort to produce an effect, and that this point is replenished when
the character takes some time to rest. When something specifies that it
requires “ongoing Effort,” the Effort is replenished as soon as the
character stops doing whatever demands the Effort. And when
something specifies that it “drains Effort,” the Effort is only regained
when resting for a full night’s sleep.

Uses for Effort are mostly open to players’ creativity and the referee’s
discretion. Some common uses could include:

● Grant advantage on a test if a trait or other detail in the fiction

applies.
● Add an extra damage die on a successful attack.
● Automatically block with a shield in hand.
● Automatically dodge when carrying no heavy items.
● Combine an attack and a stunt into a single action.
● Boost a critical success bonus effect—not just grant one die of
extra damage, for instance, but also perform a stunt.
 ● Carry an item that demands Effort. Light items are effortless to
carry, but other items require ongoing Effort to carry.

Effort does have some restrictions to keep it interesting, however.

Unless a rule elsewhere provides an exception....

Effort can’t be used to re-roll failed rolls or grant extra attacks. If it

could, most players wouldn’t use it for anything else.

Players can apply more than 1 Effort to a single action, but each Effort
must have a different effect. A player could apply Effort for advantage
on attack and for bonus damage, but not for two bonus damage dice.

Players should describe Effort use based on fictional details. Players

should go beyond simply spending Effort to declare a bonus, specifying
which traits, items, environmental features, or other established details
they are exploiting.

Load

Characters are limited in how many items they can carry based on item
weight and available Effort.

Light items are effortless to carry. A character can have as many on

their person as would reasonably fit in pockets, or on the body as
clothing and jewelry. That said, extra light outfits that are carried, not
worn, don’t count as light, and bundles of many of the same item, like
arrows, also don’t count as light.

Average items each demand 1 ongoing Effort to carry. This represents

items that can be comfortably held and used with a single hand, that
might fit in a backpack or hang from a belt, but that wouldn’t easily fit in
a pocket. Examples include a one-handed sword, a day’s rations, a
quiver of arrows, a frying pan, or a wooden staff (which could be used
with two hands, but doesn’t necessarily require it). It also represents
moderately thick armor that would slightly restrict movement and feel
tiring to wear after a while, like leather or mail.
Heavy items each demand 2 ongoing Effort to carry. This represents
items that require both hands to use comfortably, and that might be
hung from a belt or would require a large rucksack to carry (if they fit in
one at all). Examples include a massive club, a ladder, or an energy pack
worn on the back to charge a powerful artifact. It also represents
extremely obvious, bulky armor, like scrap metal hung together by
chains, or the hollowed-out shell of an automaton.

Apply Effort for carried items when they are added to a character sheet,
or when a character needs to pick up many items at once. Otherwise, to
keep play flowing smoothly, don’t bother tracking Effort for lone items
picked up during an action scene.

After dropping an item that demands ongoing Effort, the character

regains that Effort when they’re next able to act.

Supply & Condition

Some items represent limited resources, like a quiver of arrows, the

power supply remaining for an artifact, or the condition of armor. In
general, such items have three states: good, lowered, and lost.

By default, such items start at good, in sufficient supply or condition to

bear repeated use. After a day in which they were used (or the first time
they are used again after), check their status by rolling a die. If the die
comes up as a 1, place a mark next to the item on the character sheet to
indicate it has lowered in status. If the item drops again in this way
before it can be repaired, replenished, or otherwise restored, the item is
gone, or unusable until repaired. The size of the die rolled for such a
check is up to the GM, or specified in some items’ descriptions, based
on the nature of the item.

Clocks

To track progress toward events that might come to pass in time, the
GM can use roughly drawn clocks or checklists. At the time of making
the clock, the GM only needs to specify what happens at the first and
last steps. The GM doesn’t need to explain the specifics of clocks in
detail to the players, but when the characters consider decisions that
would take considerable time, potentially endangering their ability to
meet a deadline, the GM should remind them as needed that the clock is
ticking.

Rest

Characters must rest to restore lost Effort and Health. A short rest, or
break, restores all Effort (excepting ongoing Effort or drained Effort, if
applicable). If a character also consumes food and water, they also
regain d6 Health during a break. Characters can take up to three breaks
a day, each longer than the last—first a few minutes, then a half hour,
then at least an hour.

A longer rest, which includes sleep for several hours, restores an

additional d6 Health, or all lost Health if resting someplace safe and
comfortable.

Each time characters rest, there is a chance of ticking a clock.

Advancement

Characters earn experience by learning from tough experiences (usually

when one of their traits causes them trouble) and spending busy time in
settlements (1 Experience per span of downtime). Experience can be
spent on the following:
● An ability costs as much as you have in all abilities combined
● A point of Health or Effort costs as much as all your Health or all
your Effort
● A new trait costs equal to total number of traits (max 5), must make
sense in fiction, or might replace another, possibly keeping or
abandoning the old trait’s benefits
● A new skill, power, or expansion to a power (e.g., adding extra
targets to an attack power) costs equal to the combined number of
skills and powers you have

Supporting Characters
Each player besides the GM controls one character, while the GM
controls the rest in the world, which are known as supporting
characters. This includes allies, strangers, beasts, bugs, automata, and
beyond. All supporting characters are represented by a single stat: a
level, generally between 1 and 10.

When a character struggles against a supporting character in an

opposed test, the difficulty to beat is the supporting character’s level +
10. In combat, supporting characters have Health equal to their level,
and deal damage according to the weapon they wield (d6 by default, d4
if unarmed). If they wear armor that offers Defense higher than their
level (3 for moderate armor, 6 for heavy armor), they can defend with
this number, but otherwise, just defend with their level, and drop their
defense by 3–6 if a character does something that would break armor.
By default, human supporting characters should be around level 1–6 (or
d6).

Being represented by just a single number makes supporting characters

very easy for GMs to create on the fly, but this tends to be too little
information for those who stick around long enough to be an ally or an
antagonist. The GM should consider a supporting character’s primary
drive, whether they have traits or powers like the players’ characters,
and whether they have a bonus or penalty of ±3 to particular things
they seem like they should be especially good or bad at.

CHARACTERS
How to Create Characters

To create a character, each player (save for the guide) follows the steps
below. If you want to quickly create a random character, roll the dice
indicated beside each item below.

1. Bond: Discuss as a group what brings you together. By default, you

are a salvaging expedition sent from the same settlement.
2. Abilities (d4, 3×): Distribute +3 between Strength, Reflexes, and
2.
Focus, or roll d4 minus 1 for each.
3. Capacities: Health and Effort each start full at 5.
4. Traits (d4, d6, d20, d20): Choose 3 from the lists of Roles,
Qualities, and Quirks, or roll a d4, d12, and d20 to randomly select
one of each.
5. Items (d20, 3×): Record starting items as indicated by your traits,
and roll d20 once for a curio, and 3 times for relic fragments. All
characters are welcome to start with a light outfit and light weapon
(d6 damage) as well.
6. Choose names: Try to keep them similar in seriousness or silliness.

You can avoid mismatched expectations by deciding as a group how to

approach character creation. Here are a few suggestions.

Session Zero: If you are planning on a multi-session arc with consistent

players, you might want to devote your first session to going over rules
and collaboratively creating characters. The advantage to this is that
everybody ends up with equally fleshed-out characters, and characters
represent a range of capabilities that mesh well. This approach isn’t
ideal for quick pickup games, though, or especially dangerous
scenarios.

Random Generation: Roll dice to create characters in a matter of

minutes. If anybody is unhappy with the combination of traits they roll,
welcome them to reroll once and choose whichever combination of
results they like best. The advantage to this is that it is fast. It can,
however, generate characters without much player investment or
purposefully coordinated capabilities.

Coordinated Homework: Share the rules with the players and let them
puzzle over character creation options on their own, before meeting to
play. Pitch character ideas in a group email list or online chat, just to
make sure everyone puts together unique characters who could
cooperate.

And, of course, you can mix and match approaches as appropriate.

Bond
Practically speaking, what keeps the group of characters together is
that the players are hanging out together, and it's frustrating or dull if
their characters work at cross-purposes. Players tend to find it easier to
avoid that situation, however, when explicitly defining a reason for their
characters to work together.

Salvagers: The default premise of Alight is that characters are members

of a community in need of salvage, or in the employ of such a
community. Sooner or later, from great cities to small settlements, every
community will need to send out an expedition to collect critical
resources. Some of those sent are brave pillars of the community doing
what they must, while others are treasure hunters hoping to strike it big
and retire in luxury.

Explorers: Some expeditions are less concerned with bringing back

materials, and more concerned with charting the land, surveying ruins,
and conducting research on flora and fauna. These are most likely to be
funded by nobles looking to expand their territory, cities seeking to be
vigilant of future threats, research institutions in pursuit of knowledge,
and business ventures in search of the next technological marvel.

Emissaries: Groups explicitly in the employ of nobles and government

may be deployed as diplomats and messengers to other known cities
and settlements. This is a good option for groups that are more
interested in roleplaying social situations and intrigue.

Soldiers: These could include troops at war, guards in defense of a city,

or mercenaries hired to protect a more vulnerable expedition. Officers,
engineers, and spies are no less important than warriors on such teams.

Troubleshooters: Many groups will be a combination of all of the

above, and more. They may be freelancers taking whatever jobs keep
coin in their pocket and food on their plate, trusted agents of a higher
authority sending them on missions wherever they are needed, or even
leaders of their own community, doing their best to hold things together.

Discuss as a group whether the GM will introduce a community to start

in, or whether all players will take time before the first session to come
up with a community together. See the Communities section for more
information.

Abilities

Every character has three abilities—Strength, Reflexes, and Focus—

starting between +0 and +3. When testing whether a character
succeeds at something challenging, their player rolls a d20, adds the
most appropriate ability's score, and hopes to roll over a target number
ranging from 10 to 20—or 15, by default. Abilities can be raised over
time.

Strength is used for feats of brute force, physical endurance, and hand-
to-hand combat.

Reflex is used for feats of speed and agility, evasion and stealth, and
ranged combat.

Focus is used for feats of intellect and willpower, social interaction, and
arcane powers.

To determine starting abilities, either roll a d4 –1 three times, and assign

the results to Strength, Reflex, and Focus, or assign 3 points among
abilities however you like: (+3 +0 +0), (+2 +1 +0), or (+1 +1 +1).

Capacities

Characters have two resources that start at full capacity: Health and
Effort. Each starts with a capacity of 5.

Health is depleted by taking injuries, including in combat. At 0 Health or

below, a character is killed. Health is regained through resting and
treatment, such as by a healer or apothecary.

Effort can be applied to activate a variety of powers, to gain bonuses

related to traits, or—most commonly—to carry equipment. Light items
can be carried without applying Effort, but each roughly average-sized
item demands 1 ongoing Effort, and each heavy item demands 2
ongoing Effort. Nothing particularly bad happens at 0 Effort, except that
such a character can't use Effort for anything else until they regain
some. Effort is typically refilled by resting briefly, but some effects may
note other conditions.

Traits

Traits offer a few uses during character creation and in play:

● Starting assets: During character creation, traits provide a

combination of skills, powers, and items.
● Situational bonuses: During play, traits suggest what a character
should be especially good at. When a character is attempting to do
something that seems like it should benefit from a trait, a player can
apply Effort to gain an advantage on a roll, or bypass a roll entirely if
it seems obvious sometime with that trait would have no issue with a
test. Example: A mechanical character could get a bonus to
practically anything related to having implanted machinery, from
interacting with an automaton to hiding in a pile of spare parts.
● Fitting complications: During play, when a trait complicates a
character's situation, especially in a manner of their own making,
they earn 1 Experience. The GM can suggest opportunities for such
complications, or the player can initiate them. The ideal situation is
one where the player is simply acting true to their character's traits,
and incidentally happens to gain Experience. Example: A Bold
character recklessly breaks off on her own to pursue kidnappers,
even though this will leave her outnumbered if she catches them.
● Engaging descriptors: Traits are phrased as adjectives or nouns for
the sake of brevity, but also offer suggestions for how they can be
phrased as verbs to help describe dynamic, fun characters. A player
might describe their character as a Lighthearted Arcanist who Glows
with Firelight, or a Giant, Mechanical Warrior.

Player characters each start with three traits of three different types:
roles, personalities, and quirks. It's recommended—but not required—
to choose one trait of each type. This leaves the least risk of
nonsensical or contradictory combinations, and is most likely to produce
well-rounded characters with easy roleplaying cues. It may take some
extra thinking, on the other hand, to figure out how multiple quirks could
fit together.

Example: A player chooses two quirks, Mechanical and Shapeshifting.

Shapeshifting sounds like it might be a gelatinous being, or someone
composed entirely of programmable matter, but this player sees it more
like a cyborg with many modular, reconfigurable parts. They consider
asking the GM if it’s fair game to also pick Giant so they could
effectively be a robot who can change into a truck.

Note that all character have the option to start with a set of light
clothing, but most other items are contingent upon picking a role.

Roles (d4, then d6)

(1) Fighter. Skilled in a weapon of your choice. Where’d you learn to

fight?
1. On the field of battle. You might call yourself a Soldier or Warrior.
Start with either a spear (d6 damage) and shield (+1 Armor defense,
can be used to defend with Strength), or a two-handed blade (d8
damage, heavy).
2. In the streets. You might call yourself a Brawler.
3. In the arena. You might call yourself a Gladiator. Start with
4. In the finest school. You might call yourself a Duelist. Start with an
ornate blade (d8 damage, light) and a cape (light).
5. In a reclusive sect. You might call yourself an Adept. Start with an
additional skill in unarmed combat, and an additional random curio,
sacred to your sect.
6. As an honored guard. You might call yourself a Sentinel. Start with a
blade mounted on a pole (d8 damage, heavy) and metallic armor (+3
Armor defense).

(2) Arcanist. Skilled in the arcane power of Prestidigitation (parlor

tricks, hedge magic, etc.). Where did you learn the secrets of the
ancients?
1. A chance encounter in the ruins. You might call yourself a
1.
Channeler. Start with two random arcane powers.
2. A skilled crafter or smith. You might call yourself an Artificer. Start
with crafting tools and an arcane power that allows you to apply
ongoing Effort to keep a damaged object working properly.
3. The Grand Library. You might call yourself a Scholar. Take a book on
the topic of your choice and a random arcane power.
4. A mentor in healing. You might call yourself a Physicker. Take a
healing poultice (+d6 health, 1-in-6 chance to lower supply) and an
arcane power that allows you to diagnose symptoms.
5. Trinkets, found or inherited. You might call yourself an Antiquarian.
Start with two additional random curios.
6. In the employ of nobles. You might call yourself a Cipher. Start with
an arcane power that allows you to apply ongoing Effort to
understand any language or code.

(3) Scout. Skilled at stealth. What are you best at scouting for?
1. Game. You might call yourself a Hunter. Take a trained animal.
2. Salvage. You might call yourself a Salvager. Take machine-stripping
tools and d100 chips of salvage.
3. Paths. You might call yourself a Pathfinder. Take a compass and
map tools.
4. Undiscovered places. You might call yourself an Explorer. Take a
spyglass and a curio that glows brightly only when held.
5. Trouble. You might call yourself a Lookout. Take a loud whistle and
signal flare.
6. Secrets. You might call yourself a Spy. Take a disguise kit you are
skilled in using.

(4) Envoy. Skilled at communication. Why were you picked for this
expedition?
1. To teach you how to lead. You might call yourself a Scion. Take finely
crafted armor (+3 Armor defense, light).
2. To witness great deeds to tell of them. You might call yourself a
Chronicler. Take journal, pen, and a curio that records still images.
3. To arrange formal relations. You might call yourself a Diplomat. Take
a worthy gift (light).
4. To keep everyone in line. You might call yourself a Commander.
Take a light military outfit and a blade at your hip (d8 damage).
5. To keep spirits up. You might call yourself a Performer. Take a
musical instrument and juggling balls.
6. To tend to your flock. You might call yourself a Shepherd. Take light
vestments, and skill in offering words of solace and inspiration.

Personalities (d20)

1. Ambitious
2. Bold
3. Cautious
4. Charming
5. Cool-headed
6. Cooperative
7. Creative
8. Compassionate
9. Diplomatic
10. Friendly
11. Hardened
12. Honest
13. Inquisitive
14. Lighthearted
15. Penitent
16. Protective
17. Shifty
18. Tough
19. Weird
20. Zealous

Quirks (d20)

1. Mind-reading (reads minds). Apply ongoing effort to sense

thoughts; apply Effort and make an opposed test to influence
action or memory.
2. Clairvoyant (has a second sight). Apply ongoing Effort to “See”
remote locations, through barriers and illusions.
3. Prophetic (experiences visions). Apply Effort to re-roll any die,
made by anyone, declaring it was “just a vision.” You can only use
this once per round.
 4. Vanishing (vanishes from time to time). Apply Effort to teleport
nearby at any moment. This occurs automatically if you would take
damage from a source you perceive. Apply 1 additional Effort per
person to bring someone you’re touching with you.
5. Healing (heals the sick and injured). Drain 1 Effort to cure a target
of disease and toxins. Touch a target to transfer as much of your
Health as you choose to them.
6. Flame-wreathed (glows with firelight). Flicker with unnatural fire.
Apply ongoing Effort to suppress it such that it doesn’t burn
anything you touch; stop applying Effort to cause d6 damage per
round to whatever you touch. Start with a light, (more or less)
fireproof outfit.
7. Electric (courses with energy).
8. Frost-tinged (freezes with a touch).
9. Telekinetic (thrums with power). Move light or heavy items with
your mind, Effortlessly but clumsily. Apply Effort to move person-
sized objects, to move an extra object as part of the same action,
or to maintain a constant force like lifting or shielding. Tests are
made with Focus.
10. Magnetic. Low power field is always active, can be extended as an
action. 1 Effort to reverse polarity between attract or repel (no
action required). Defend with advantage against ferromagnetic
weapons.
11. Tainted.
12. Mechanical. Armor. Can implant tools/weapons; start with 1 of
each. Bond with machines.
13. Shapeshifting (changes shape). Apply ongoing Effort to shape
part or all of yourself, including into simple tools and weapons.
Apply Effort to
14. Subluminal (moves faster than the eye can follow). Apply Effort to
take a move action, or to repeat an action you just took, so long as
it did not require a test or other Effort expenditure. Supporting
characters generally won’t notice you moved if you return to the
same spot and they weren’t looking right at you.
15. Mineral. Armor. +STR.
16. Spectral / Phasic.
17. Body-swapping. Just a head or brain. Implant into other bodies.
18. Engineered / Cloned / Synthetic.
19. Giant
20. Animal
○ Aquatic. Amphibious, dark vision, scales (armor).
○ Subterranean. Scent, burrow/squeeze, ongoing effort to evade/
dodge.
○ Insectoid. Gliding wings, adhesive feet, exoskeletal armor.
○ Bestial. Scent, bite. Effort for pheromones, affecting reactions.
+STR, +DEX.
○ Reptilian. Venomous bite. Regrow limbs. Camouflage. +DEX.
○ Alien. Combine 3 features from random traits, or make up your
own with GM.

Custom Traits

GMs and players may wish to create their own traits as well. In that case,
use those listed here more as a blueprint than the final word on what's
allowed. In general:

Roles tend to grant a skill and 2 useful items.

Personalities tend to be very broad, with only implicit benefits and

drawbacks, so they can easily drive roleplaying, grant bonuses with
Effort, and generate Experience.

Quirks tend to grant 1–3 benefits, with more or greater benefits

associated with traits that make the character very unsuble. Characters
that glow brightly or whirr with machinery, for instance, tend to stick out
in a crowd, and have trouble sneaking. They are not necessarily shunned
for being different, however: These traits are known as “quirks” and not
“anomalies” because everybody and everything is just a bit weirder in
the far future.

RESOURCES

Work in progress. This is mostly just a Knave-style item list priced in

“chips” of raw material, plus....
● 100 curios (“trinkets” in D&D 5e terms, “oddities” in Numenera
 ●
terms)
● 100 relics (one-use magic items, akin to “cyphers” in Numenera
terms)
● Some number of arcane powers (a.k.a. “spells”)

COMMUNITIES & CONSEQUENCES

Work in progress, still very rough notes. I’m trying to encourage players
to consider the long-term ramifications of their choices a few different
ways, but right now it’s kind of a mishmash of Blades in the Dark
downtime, Apocalypse World fronts, and random-encounter-style tables
of possible consequences to certain categories of actions, which you
roll on when a clock ticks or when it is contextually relevant. It feels very
GMing-heavy to me right now, though, so I’m still thinking through it.
There are also some references to sample settlements and scenarios
that exist in my head in some detail, but aren’t written down yet.

Downtime: When you get back from an expedition and return to a

settlement, you have the option to take some downtime. Downtime is
measured in spans of indeterminate length.

● Each downtime span….

○ Costs 10 chips in living expenses, or a gift to someone who can
cover it for you [but I’m not sure I want to deal with money]
○ Ticks relevant threat clocks.
○ Heals d4 Health [if I go with meaner healing rules than those
written above]
○ Earns 1 Experience
● Choose how you spend a span:
○ Training for an additional 1 Experience
○ Working on a long term project (may incur additional material
cost),
○ Doing research
○ Socializing (may result in favors or contacts),
○ Doing odd jobs (no net loss of income)

Investing in community: When you get back from an expedition,

investing in specific aspects of a community should have consummate
gains in the fiction, which the PCs might benefit from directly or
indirectly. Giving a healing artifact to a medical clinic might get you a
free bed when they have space; giving that same artifact to a city guard
might get you off the hook for a minor infraction. The exact nature of
these benefits is left up to the GM, but make note of them for later
reference, and listen to what players suggest and hope for. When the
PCs show an interest in an institution, the GM should also create create
a threat clock for it, and optionally, a project clock that could be
advanced with salvage.

Countdowns and fronts: Threats don’t necessarily have to target the

community, but they should target the PCs’ bond, or the context of it. If
they are stand-out pillars of the community, then it is the community at
risk. If they are a band of travelers without a home, but they are brought
together by a love of treasure hunting, then there should be a
countdown that demands they hunt treasure — a debtor, the risk of
starvation, expensive treatment needed to manage their quirks, etc.

General clocks: create a clock every time they....

● Take a life: fallout from friends or family, reputation as killers,
nightmares or agitation / loss of focus. Might even ask “have you
ever killed anyone before?”
● Kill an apex predator: may affect local fauna for abundant game,
environmental effects, or rise of a new predator
● Leave behind a cleared ruin: may make room for settlers, thieves,
researchers, randomly rolled
● Steal from someone: [or wrap into other things? Or make “wrong
someone”]
● Exploit a resource: may have another claimant, unexpected side
effects of use, or shift local economy
● Donate salvage: crates a project clock or immediate use

Community threat clocks: For community advancement/risks, track

then separately. When there’s a looming threat, give it a clock mapped
to a table, a random event for each tick. Tick it at an appropriate interval
— every time they rest for the night if it’s an urgent event within a week,
every time they rest for HP if even more urgent, every week / every time
they take a downtime action if longer term, etc. The ticks indicate the
threat closing in. Make a few generic threat clocks, like a storm is
coming, enemies need to be thwarted, a critical resource will run out,
etc. And then — don’t tell them how to solve it. Don’t track XP toward it.
Let them come up with something. When they bring tech, they can
propose clever ways to use it, and their words will carry weight. Or they
can just barter with it, and the stuff they trade away will be traded away
in turn, or applied to random projects.