Theatre Noir

Playtester Guide

By
Ashton Saylor

Foreword
This guide is a no-lace-and-frills rulebook for use by playtesters. Here, we assume that you the reader already know
what Theatre Noir is and why you should be playing it (or at least have some idea!), as well as what a roleplaying game is
and the basics of how to play one. We’ll dive right into the rules without much by way of the art and flavor text which
would make this whole thing more appealing to newbies.

Theatre Noir in a Nutshell

In essence, Theatre Noir is a roleplaying game that can be used to tell many different kinds of stories, but the
commonality is that those stories all have a focus on regular human beings. We all are, in fact, vanilla humans (unless
you really have something to tell me!) and there’s something powerful about setting a story close to home. There are
rules for vampires, werewolves, and your typical selection of urban
fantasy critters and nasties, and you could absolutely do a game Mystery In Action
entirely focused around characters of one of those types, but humans I’ve run some great games where the
will never be left by the wayside in this system. Even in a world filled players were not sure what was really
with the supernatural and the mysterious, vanilla humans always feel going on. It’s always a delight to see, not
legitimate in Theatre Noir in a way that they often don’t in other just the characters arguing about whether
systems. The current iteration is designed with an urban setting in the legend is real or not, but the players
mind (often for a fantasy or horror flavor), but we have successfully themselves avidly discussing the question.
run games in historical and sci-fi settings as well.
 The cool thing about a rule system with this kind of Actor: What other games call players, we call Actors.
flexibility is the level of mystery it allows the Director to Everyone who is not the Director will usually be an Actor,
bring to the table. If you sit down to play a game called, although occasionally you’ll see Assistant Directors or the
“Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!” you can feel pretty like.
confident what you’re going to run into over the course of
the evening’s session (Spoiler: Zombies!). If you get The Core Mechanic
invited to a session of “The Haunting,” where you’ll be As with many roleplaying games, Theatre Noir uses dice
playing a paranormal investigator looking into a to resolve conflict in a manner that is both honest and
mysterious haunted house, you may play a character with fair. There are only two methods of rolling dice which are
a skeptical attitude, but you as the player will have a ever used. Every time dice are rolled, they will use one of
pretty good idea that the house is, in fact, going to turn these two mechanics, and usually the first of the two.
out to be haunted. With Theatre Noir, on the other hand,
Skill Test - Paired Difficulty Dice
there’s nothing to spoil the story in advance. The house
This method is used to determine success or failure, and
could actually be haunted, or it could be a malicious hoax
usually represents the willful exertions of a character in a
by the butler’s ex-wife. This allows for a type of suspense
situation where the outcome is uncertain. With this
most games don’t offer.
method, two difficulty dice are
Granularity of Difficulty Levels rolled and the result is compared
Genre Rules
For simplicity sake, we always alter both to the character’s Skill Number.
One thing about Theatre Noir is
dice when adjusting difficulty, but if you Any roll which comes up equal to
that the system is modular, giving
would like more fine control over difficult or lower than the character’s
you a lot of control over the style
levels, feel free to experiment with Skill Number is considered a
of game you run. The core rules
modifying the difficulty one die at a time success, while any roll that
are very simple and streamlined
(e.g. between 2d6 and 2d8 would be a exceeds the characters Skill
for quick play, but the advanced
difficulty level of d6+d8). If you do this, let Number is considered a failure,
rules are split into five plug-and-
us know how it plays! but within that restriction, a
play style themed rulesets called
“genres.” Each set of genre rules is compatible with all the higher successful result is
others, allowing you to play with some, all, or none of considered “more successful” than a lower successful
them so that you can get the style of game you want. result. That is to say, higher results are always better than
Action Genre: if you want a combat-heavy game lower results—unless the result exceeds the character’s
Gritty Genre: if you want the players to feel their Skill Number, in which case the character over-reaches
mortality her abilities and fails.
Horror Genre: good for evoking a Lovecraftian horror For example, a character with a Skill Number of 7 rolls
kind of vibe 2d8 to attempt a task with standard difficulty. A result of
Literary Genre: uses Aspects to add a thematic element 3 barely succeeds, while a result of 7 indicates the
and give the players more control character performed at the peak of his capabilities. Any
Drama Genre: to add depth to social relations result higher than 7 would indicate failure.
This modular rules system is at the core of what makes In this system, difficulty is modified by changing the dice
Theatre Noir so flexible. You can easily tell a gritty horror being rolled. The standard roll is 2d8, and if the Director
story, or a larger-than-life action story punctuated by fails to specify any other difficulty, the Actor should roll
melodramatic fight scenes. By changing which rules 2d8. However, in the case of external factors that make
modules you “plug-in” you can significantly alter the feel the task more or less challenging, the Director may modify
of the game. the difficulty in “steps” of one die size each. So, 2d6 can
be used for an easier task, or 2d10 for a more difficulty
Terminology one.
If you’ve played roleplaying games before, much about Critical Rolls: Any result of doubles on the two dice
Theatre Noir will appear familiar to you, but we do have indicates a “critical.” This means that the outcome has
our own vocabulary for certain things (not that you’re been exceptional in some way. If the result showing
required to use it!) would otherwise be a success, the outcome counts as a,
Director: What other games call the GM or Storyteller, “critical success,” meaning that the character succeeds
we call the Director. Usually one player takes on this role. with exceptional panache. However, if the result on the
The Director guides the game and plays all non-player dice would otherwise have been a failure (i.e. it comes in
characters. at a value higher than the character’s Skill Number) then
the outcome instead counts as a “critical failure.” I think
we all know what that means.
Total Value - Cumulative Six-Sided Dice
In the above method, it is possible to fail a roll, but in
some cases there is no possibility of failure, only varying
degrees of success. In these cases, a number of d6s is
assigned and rolled, and the total of all facing numbers is
the result. This mechanic is most often used when rolling
initiative or rolling damage.
Character Creation
There are seven steps, more or less, to creating a
character in Theatre Noir, not counting the creative step
of actually envisioning a lively, interesting character to
bring to the story. These steps do not strictly have to be
followed in order, as long as each gets completed.
1) Roll Intelligences
2) Assign Skills (21)
3) Assign Connections and Resources (7)
4) Choose Aspects (if Literary Genre)
5) Assign Bonus Points (10)
6) Fill in Genre-Specific information
7) Finishing Touches
Optional Rule: Song and Dance
A rule I personally always play with
is that any player who is willing to sing
a song or perform a short dance or
skit for my amusement is allowed a
re-roll. Use at your own risk…
Roll Intelligences
Instead of a traditional lineup of “Attributes” as you
may be familiar with from, oh… most rpgs, Theatre Noir
uses seven Intelligences based on the Theory of Multiple
Intelligences by Howard Gardner. You can easily google,
“Theory of Multiple Intelligences” for more information,
however here is a brief summary of how they are used for
the purposes of this game.
Logical: Abstraction, logic and mathematics, use for
many intellectual and observation skills
Spatial: Depth perception, spatial visualization, used for
combat, movement and visual perception
Linguistic: Words and languages, spoken or written,
used for speaking, writing and translating
Kinesthetic: Body awareness and control of motions,
used for athletics and combat
Musical: Tone, pitch, and musical perception, used for
music and auditory perception
Interpersonal: Understanding of other people, used for
body language and charisma
Intrapersonal: Understanding of your own self, used to
retain mental and emotional stability
When creating a new character, these traits are
determined by rolling 2d4 for each Intelligence. There are
two approaches to assigning results, and the Actor may
freely choose to use either.
 Fate Method: The Actor rolls 2d4 once for each any specialties, however since all points cost the same,
Intelligence and assigns each result to the appropriate there is very little reason to buy up the specialty first.
Intelligence as it is rolled. Once all have been assigned, Typically, Actors will write in relevant specialties on the
the Actor may pick two Intelligences and re-roll them, same horizontal line as the skill they branch off of,
keeping the better result. however if the character has many specialties in one area
Free Method: The Actor may roll 2d4 seven times and and few in another, the Actor can get creative with where
assign each result as desired to any Intelligence. However, specialties are written in on the character sheet, as long
with this option, no re-rolls are allowed. as it remains clear which specialty goes with which skill.
Which method you choose may depend on whether you
are coming in with a character concept already firmly in
mind that you want to portray, or whether you want to
roll the Intelligences first and see what kind of character is
inspired by the results. Either approach is acceptable; just
make sure you do have a character concept before you
move on to the next step!

Assign Skills (21)

Twenty-one points may be assigned between the seven Assign Resources (7)
core skills. One point costs one point; there is no The character’s personal capital and connections with
escalated cost as skill values get higher. The only the community are represented on the character sheet as
limitation is that no general skill can be raised past level Resources. There are five resources, as listed below.
four. In order to raise a specific skill higher than four, the Allies: These are specific individuals who will go out of
points must be invested into a specialty. their way to help you. Each dot either represents one ally
The relationship between skills and specialties can be of modest influence or ability and moderate loyalty, or
imagined like a tree. The “Athletics” skill can be raised up improves the power or loyalty of an existing ally.
to four, and those four points can be imagined as the Alternately, points of allies could represent groups which
trunk of the tree. Anything that falls under the category of your character has membership in, especially if those
Athletics, from sports to free running to weight lifting or groups are tightly bound—i.e. sworn to defend each other
rock climbing, is improved by taking points in Athletics. with their lives. Who a character’s allies are should be
However, the trunk only reaches so high. If you want to written in on the “details” line to the right. Note that
climb to the heights of the tree, you’ll need to leave the Allies represent relationships, not possessions. In order to
trunk at some point and climb out onto one of the keep allies, the character must invest time and energy
branches. Similarly, to reach true excellence, the into maintaining the relationship, often helping the ally as
practitioner will have to specialize past a certain point. often, if not more often, as asking for help. Also be aware
Points in a skill and in an associated specialty are always that, depending on the
genre and conventions Contacts or Allies?
cumulative; so if a character has four points in Athletics
and three points in Soccer, for example, she would be of a given game, allies The difference between
considered to have seven points of Athletics for purposes do not have to be Contacts and Allies is one
of Soccer. This could human. A dragon under of commitment. Allies will
Calculating Raw Skill New York who serves as stick their necks out for
be written as having
Whenever the total value of a mentor could be you, and expect you to do
seven points in the
a skill is required, you can counted as an ally, as the same. Contacts don’t
skill Athletics
always use the highest could a helfpful, if mind doing favors for
(Soccer).
specialty rating available. For annoying, ghost who favors, but they dry up
The twenty one
example, if you need to roll follows the character quickly if there’s any risk
points assigned at
raw “Athletics” for any reason, around, or a werewolf involved.
character creation
or if “Athletics” is required to sometime-boyfriend.
can go freely to either
calculate a derived stat, a Contacts: Contacts are similar to allies, but the
general skills or
character with 4 in Athletics relationship is more pragmatic and less personal. Contacts
specialties. It is not
and 3 in their highest Athletics represent an informal network of people who are willing
strictly required to
specialty (Soccer in this case) to help one another out in small, usually cost-free ways.
buy all four points of
would count as having 7 total Knowing who to call to get a friend hired in a Broadway
the general skill
Athletics. show, or to get a speeding ticket waived, or a building
before investing in
permit hurried through, would all be examples of
Resources Costs and Examples
Points Allies Contacts Equipment Status Wealth
1 Good friend Cousin in the PD Old volkswagen Well-respected Small inheritance
1 Budding romance Old flame writes for Survivalist Blogger with sway Lower-middle
the Tribune backpack on the internet class living wage
1 Local leader who College buddy in the Reliable handgun Local priest or A 401K or IRA with
will stick up for you Mayor’s office activist a bit in it
2 Established You know where to buy Shotgun/ Successful author Middle class living
romance on the street Hunting Rifle wage
2 Good friend with a Some connections in Stock of Medical Patron of the arts Modest savings or
special skill (hacker) the publishing industry Supplies in the community investments
3 Spouse Uncle is the police chief Shiny Sniper Rifle Local leader Notable
inheritance
3 Good friend w/ epic Well-connected among Slick new Jaguar CEO of a modest Upper-middle
skill (great hacker) the city’s elite corporation class living wage
4 Gang of street thugs You have the Mayor on Personal Labor organizer on Wealthy enough
who got your back speed-dial Helicopter a national level to retire
5 Devoted mentor is a You are the go-to man Iron Man’s House Three star general You own a yacht
genius in their field in Hollywood in the US military
contacts. Individual contacts do not always need to be him the Status in the first place, he may lose it. If the
detailed to the extent that allies should be, but the General issues a command that was not authorized by her
description should indicate the community or sphere of superiors, she will face swift and stern penalties.
influence in which a character has contacts. Contacts can Wealth: Where Equipment represents stuff the
be incredibly powerful in the right hands, opening doors character has at hand, Wealth represents the power of
where none would have been open before. money which the character controls. The difference is
Equipment: This represents useful items the character that Wealth takes time and connections to mobilize,
has immediately on hand. A single point represents either whereas Equipment is available at a moment’s notice.
a single very useful item, or a handful of moderately That said, Wealth is far more substantial on a points-for-
useful items. For example, an old, beat-up Volkswagon dollars basis, with higher ranges of Wealth indicating a
could be one dot of equipment, while a slick, new Jaguar character dripping with money. Note that Wealth
might be three. Actors should always check starting determines a characters living situation.
equipment with the Director first, and the Director will
determine how much each bit of equipment costs. Note
that multiple points in Equipment can represent multiple
level 1 items just as easily as a single higher level item.
Status: Status represents sway and prestige within a
given community. Sometimes Status represents a formal
position, such as the role of CEO within a corporation, or
the role of General within the command structure of the
US military. Other times, Status represents informal sway;
a well-respected philanthropist, known on the fundraising
circuits and often pandered to as a VIP, might also have
Status. Either way, the cost of Status should be varied to Choose Aspects (if using the Literary Genre)
represent how much of the organization or community If you are using the Genre: Literary rules, then each
can be swayed by the individual. To purchase the rank of character will have up to five Aspects that guide and
General would require very high Status because of the direct the character’s story. Aspects govern the use of
power that command gives, while being a farmer of good Plot Points; any time an Aspect is invoked, the character
repute in a small community might be represented with either gets a Plot Point, if the Aspect is invoked in a
only one point of Status, since the farmer can muster little deletirious way, or pays a Plot Point, if the Aspect is
support except the goodwill of the town. Keep in mind invoked in a beneficial way. Invoking Aspects allows the
that Status, though it grants power, always comes with Actor some limited control over game elements that
restrictions and liabilities. If the farmer starts behaving
erratically, out of keeping with the behavior that earned
would normally be the purview of the Director only. See
the Genre: Literary rules for a full description.
Gift: Internal and beneficial, such as “Good with
Numbers,” “Talented Artist,” or “Photographic Memory.”
Goal: External and usually invoked in a beneficial way.
For example, “Rescue brother,” or “Find the man in grey.”
Failing: Internal and deletirious, such as, “Can’t resist a
pretty smile,” or “Drink kills the pain.”
Obstacle: External and deletirious. May refer to a
specific enemy, such as, “Hell hath no fury…” or “The man
in grey.”
Star: Used to represent the theme or fate of a
character. E.g. “Lady Luck likes me,” or “Star-crossed
lover”
At character creation, you should choose at least three
Aspects, and you may define up to all five. It is
recommended to make sure to take at least one
deletirious Aspect, in order to ensure that the character
has a means of regaining Plot Points.
Aspects should be chosen in such a way that they are
additive to the story and the character. They may be used
to illustrate special advantages or weaknesses of the
character (Gift and Failing) or to flesh out relationships
and situations in the character’s world (Goal or Obstacle).
Choosing a Star Aspect can help define the overall arc of
your character’s story; it gives the Director a hint as to
what’s important to you about this character. Use Aspects
as an opportunity to give the Director some hooks into
your character’s story.
Of course, if not using the Genre: Literary rules, then
skip this entire step.
Assign Bonus Points (10)
Once all the starting Skill and Resources points have
been assigned, you get an additional 10 points as bonus
points to distribute as you will. I like to define Aspects
before assigning the bonus points, as working out the
Aspects often gives me additional insights into the
character, and bonus points can then be used to add
additional touches inspired by those insights, but it’s not
strictly necessary. Feel free to assign the bonus points
before fleshing out the Aspects if you prefer.
Bonus points can be spent freely to increase either Skills
or Resources, on a 1 for 1 basis, just like your starting
points. Alternately, you can spend three bonus points to
raise any Intelligence by one dot; this can be done
multiple times. Points spent here apply immediately,
meaning that the adjusted numbers will be used to
calculate derived traits in the following step.
You may also want to save a few bonus points. Some of
the other genres include traits which can only be raised
with these bonus points. Just make sure, if you wait until
the end to spend them, that you update any derived traits
if you modified or increased the traits which they are
derived from. For example, in the Genre:Action rules,
Action Points are determined by the average (rounded
down) of Kinesthetic and Fight(any). If you’re using the
Genre: Action rules, and you use bonus points to increase
either Kinesthetic or Fight(any), then make sure to update
your Action Points as well!
Fill in Genre-Specific information
Theatre Noir comes with five sets of “plug-in” rules,
each designed to shift the focus of the game in subtle
ways. If you want a more action-adventure game, include
the Genre: Action rules. If you want a more social game,
include the Genre: Drama rules. Each of these sets is
optional, but they play nicely together, so feel free to
include more than one, or even all of them.
For each set of Genre rules which is included, there will
be a few derived traits that need to be filled in. Generally
traits which are represented with dots are permanent and
do not change, unless the traits which they are derived
from change. Traits which are represented with little half-
squares represent an expendable resource—black out any
squares which you won’t be using, and use the rest as
checkboxes which you can mark (in pencil!) or erase to
represent the fluctuation of that available pool. Any traits
which are represented with a short line for you to write a
number on are simply quick-reference Skill Numbers,
useful so you don’t need to recalculate the value every
time it needs to be tested.
(Genre: Literary) Plot Points: Each character starts with
one Plot Point at the beginning of every session. Aspects
should already be defined, but if they aren’t, make sure to
write them in now.
(Genre: Action) Action Points: This is derived from the
average of Kinesthetic and Fight. i.e. (Kinesthetic +
Fight)/2 Make sure to round down. This represents how
many actions a character can take in a single round of
combat, though not all of them can be used deliberately;
half can be used actively and the other half are reserved
for defensive, or reactive, actions.
(Genre: Action) Deliberate Actions: This expendable
pool is equal to one half of the total number of Action
Points, rounded down. This represents how many
Deliberate Actions a character can perform in a single
round combat. Deliberate Action Points refresh at the end
of each combat round.
(Genre: Action) Reactive Actions: This expendable pool
is equal to one half of the total number of Action Points,
rounded up. This represents how many Reactive Actions a
character can perform in a single round of combat. This
pool refreshes at the end of each combat round.
(Genre: Action) Initiative: This is simply a quick
reference for the Initiative Skill Number, which is
composed of Wits(Reflexes)+Fight(any).
(Genre: Action) Armor: You will fill in your armor value
based on the equipment you’re wearing. Each point of
Armor reduces the dice of damage rolled by one, before
those dice are rolled. So if a character takes a three
damage gunshot wound to the chest while wearing a
leather jacket worth one point of armor, only two dice of
damage would be rolled. Note that Armor only applies if
the attack hits a part of the body which the armor
protects.
(Genre: Action) Melee and Ranged Attack: These quick
reference Skill Numbers are calculated with Spatial +
Fight(relevant weapon).
(Genre: Action) Melee and Ranged Damage: Fill these
numbers in based on the weapons you’re wielding. Each
point of damage turns into one rolled d6 if the weapon
hits successfully, although the value is reduced by armor
before rolling the dice.
(Genre: Horror) Sanity: Sanity represents how clear and
sound the character’s mind is. It contributes to the Sanity
Test, which is used to tell the difference between reality
and unreality. Also, if a character ever would have more
Insanities than points of Sanity, then that character
instead succumbs to madness and is no longer playable.
Fill in a number of dots equal to the average of
Intrapersonal and Willpower(any), rounded down. So,
[Intrapersonal+Willpower(any)]/2. As a side note, I usually
start at the bottom and mark them up, leaving the top
couple bubbles blank. You can do it however you like, but
make sure the whole group does it the same way to avoid
confusion.
The lines to the right are for writing in any Insanities the
character acquires. Cross off any lines that do not
correspond to a filled in bubble of Sanity. The number of
lines remaining indicates how many Insanities the
character’s mind can support before going completely
mad. If every available line is filled in with an Insanity, the
character is teetering on the edge, but still playable… for
now.
(Genre: Horror) Scarring: Mental Scarring indicates how
damaged the character’s mind is already from previous
encounters with the horrific and unknown. Humans are
adaptable creatures, and with repeated exposure we can
become numbed to even the most horrific experiences.
Mental Scarring reduces all Charisma-based Skill
Numbers, but provides some protection from Mental
Stress. Any time you would take Mental Stress, reduce the
amount taken by your Mental Scarring.
Mental Scarring is not a derived stat, and most
characters do not start with any. It can be purchased with
Bonus Points at character creation with Director approval.
Note that Mental Scarring is the only trait which you also
need to pay to buy it back down. Spending one character
point (either at creation or from experience) allows you to
increase OR decrease Mental Scarring. Typically Mental
Scarring doesn’t shift by more than one point per session,
and all purchases or reductions need to be approved by
the Director. Reducing Mental Scarring, even with the
cost, often requires some successful mental rolls and/or
counseling.
(Genre: Horror) Sanity Test: This is simply a quick
reference Skill Number, composed of Intrapersonal plus
Sanity. This is rolled any time a character faces confusion
as to what’s real and what isn’t, in order to be able to tell
the difference. The Sanity Test Skill Number may be
temporarily modified by the introduction of drugs or
poisons into the system, or other circumstantial effects.
(Genre: Horror) Stability Test: This is another quick
reference Skill Number, composed of
Intrapersonal+Willpower(any). Each time a character
takes Mental Stress, a Stability Test must be made at a
difficulty equal to the total Mental Stress accumulated
thus far. If it fails, the character succumbs to an
immediate Reaction. (See the Genre: Horror rules for a
full explanation.)
(Genre: Horror) Mental Stress: This is a temporary
measure of how much stress a character’s mind is under.
Each time the character is exposed to something horrific,
disturbing, or deeply upsetting, the character gains a
certain amount of Mental Stress, which may trigger a
Reaction. Mental Stress goes down with rest, comfort and
security, or when a character succumbs to a Reaction.
There is no theoretical upper limit, though eventually a
Reaction becomes inevitable, and any Reaction cuts the
current Stress level in half due to the violent release of
pent-up emotions.
(Genre: Drama) ???: TBD
(Genre: Gritty) ???: TBD
Finishing Touches
At this point your character is mostly complete. If you
haven’t already, make sure to write in a brief description
and backstory, as well as fill in the other character
information at the top of the page. Make sure your
Director knows any salient details; many Directors even
appreciate a few paragraphs of description and backstory
written up separately, though you should not assume this
is necessary unless the Director requests it.
This is also an opportunity to fill in any additional details
throughout the character sheet: Quick reference Skill
Numbers, details of any Equipment which you’ve paid for
and the Director has approved, details of any Resource
dots you’ve purchased but haven’t yet explained, and so
on.
A couple minor things you may miss… In the lower left is
a quick reference spot to right in your Shock Test Skill
Number, which is composed of Fight(any) and
Willpower(any). Below that, on the health chart, you’ll
notice that next to torso HP it says, “20+A,” indicating
that your torso HP is equal to 20 plus your Athletics(any)
skill. Right in the relevant value now.
Last but not least, make sure you have spent all 10
bonus points. If you really don’t want to spend them all
now, you can also save a few as experience.
Once all of these little details are taken care of, hand
the sheet to your Director for approval. You’re ready to
go!
Core Rules
The Theatre Noir rules are set up in such a way that that
core rules are fairly light and easy, yet sufficient in most
cases to handle most stories. If you want a game with
more crunch in certain areas, say, combat, or social
interactions, you can plug in the relevant genre-specific
rules module. But for quick games, you don’t even need
to; the core rules are absolutely sufficent for hours of
play.
Difficulty Steps
Description Difficulty Dice
Basic 4 2d4
Easy 6 2d6
Standard 8 2d8
Difficult 10 2d10
Implausible 12 2d12
Extreme 14 2d10+2d4
Extreme 16 2d10+2d6
Skill Tests
The most basic type of roll is the skill test. The core
mechanic was discussed briefly in the Introduction, but to
recap, all you do is…
1) Calculate the Skill Number
2) Determine the Difficulty Dice
3) Roll; equal or under is a success!
Skill Number: The Director will determine the most
relevant two traits to add together to determine the Skill
Number. Typically, this will be an Intelligence and a Skill,
but it could be two Skills. Usually there will be a specialty
which can apply; if so, the relevant skill and specialty
could be noted as “Skill(Specialty).” For example, to climb
a cliff face, a character might need to roll Kinesthetics +
Athletics(Climb). If this character has 5 Kinesthetics, 4
Athletics and 2 points in the Climb specialty of Athletics,
then her Athletics counts as 6 for the purposes of
climbing, meaning her total Skill Number is 11.
Difficulty Dice: The Director will also determine the
most
appropriate difficulty for the task. 2d8 is always the
standard level of difficulty, so if the Director doesn’t
specify a difficulty level, a difficulty of 2d8 should be
assumed. That said, if the Actor feels that difficulty
modifiers may apply in the specific situation, he may ask
the Director for more clarity. See the Difficulty Modifiers
Chart for ideas on what could cause difficulty penalties or
bonuses. Also see the Difficulty Steps Chart to see what
options there are.
 Note that at difficulty 14 and above, the dice model especially in Extended Skill Tests and Skill Contests,
changes; 10 points of difficulty are pulled out as 2d10, described below. Make sure not to leave it out!
which is then added to the normal difficulty of whatever is
left. This transition happens again at 24, 34, and so on, Extended Skill Tests
allowing for functionally infinite difficulty levels. For Sometimes a single successful result is insufficient for
example, difficulty 54 would be 10d10 plus 2d4. In other complete success. If a character is undertaking a
words, unlikely. prolonged task, such as climbing a high cliff or hacking
As an optional rule to simplify gameplay, the Director into a secure, remote database, the Director may ask for
may choose to not use the Extreme Difficulty levels. In several skill tests. With this variant, the character must
this case, 2d20 can be used as one final level of Difficulty accumulate a certain number of success points before the
called Nigh-Impossible, the next and only step past 2d12. task is considered complete. Each successful roll adds a
Roll: Once the difficulty dice are rolled, any result equal number of success points to the running total equal to the
to or lower than the Skill Number counts as a success, value of the successful result that was rolled.
while any result higher than the Skill Number counts as a Unsuccessful results indicate that the character made
failure. Within that restriction, a higher numerical result is no progress, but otherwise there is no penalty—unless
considered more successful than a lower numerical result. the Director imposes one. Critical Failures, however, can
have disastrous consequences, at the Director’s
Critical Results: discretion. At the very least, a Critical Failure is likely to
As described previously, any result of doubles on the result in utter failure of the entire Extended Skill Test,
difficulty dice indicates a “critical.” This means that the possibly with further negative consequences as well,
outcome has been exceptional in some way. depending on the nature and risks of the task at hand.
Critical Success: If the result showing would otherwise Timed Extended Skill Tests: Extended Skill Tests can be
be a success, the outcome counts as a Critical Success, given an additional bit of tension by putting a time limit
meaning that the character succeeds with exceptional on it. To impose a time limit, all the Director needs to do
panache. The Director may assign some extra bonus, is set a maximum number of rolls that can be attempted.
depending on the circumstances. If the character does not accumulate the necessary
Critical Failure: If the result on the dice would number of success points within the allotted number of
otherwise have been a failure (i.e. it comes in at a value rolls, then time runs out and the entire task fails. As a rule
higher than the character’s Skill Number) then the of thumb, allowing one turn for every five points of
outcome instead counts as a Critical Failure, often with success required is likely to offer a reasonable level of
disastrous consequences. challenge to skilled characters, though this should be
modified based on the particulars.
Skill Overflow
If a character’s skill is so great that it’s impossible to Assisted Skill Tests
fail—i.e. the Skill Number is higher than the maximum Sometimes several characters all want to attempt the
amount that could be rolled on the dice—then typically a same thing. Instead of having each roll separately, the
roll won’t be required. But if the Director asks for a roll Director may have them all work together, with one
anyway, then the character gets a character taking point and the
bonus due to his exceptional skill. Extended Example other characters assisting. In this
The Actor may go ahead and roll A character with a climbing skill number case, each assisting character
the difficulty dice as normal, but [Kinesthetics + Athletics(Climb)] of 11, is makes the skill test
after the result is determined, a faced with an easy climb of difficulty 2d4, independently, just as if they
bonus will be added equal to the and needs to accumulate 20 points of were attempting it alone. If this
difference between his Skill and success in order to reach the top. Since the test fails, no assistance is
the maximum possible result on maximum amount she could roll on the dice rendered, but if the test
the dice. This value, (Skill Number is 8, and her Skill Number is 11, she can’t succeeds, then the primary
- Maximum Possible Result) is fail, but the group still needs to know how character gets a bonus of +2,
called the “Skill Overflow,” and is many rounds it takes her to reach the top, which is added to the result of
usually only relevant when it’s so it’s important to know how many points the roll, after the fact, in a
important to know the exact of success she gets with each action. She has manner similar to the bonus that
amount by which the character a Skill Overflow of 3 (11-8), so on her first comes from getting a critical
succeeded. round, if she rolls 5 on the dice, she’ll count success.
Skill Overflow can have a as having 8 (5+3) points of success. Almost
dramatic impact on results, halfway there!
Scope of each Skill Test
The core rules of Theatre Noir are designed so that the
same basic rules can be applied in any situation, however
this requires some creativity from the Director. If a scene
of conflict comes up, the Director must determine how
many challenges to break the scene into and how to
represent those with Skill Tests. In a game about world
war, where the Actors play generals in the greatest war of
all history, an entire minor battle may be resolved by a
single Skill Contest of [Logical + Knowledge(Strategy)]. On
the other hand, if the Actors are playing grunts in that
war, down on the field of that “minor” battle, each Skill
Test or Skill Contest will have a much smaller impact,
representing challenges such as jumping a muddy stream,
shooting the enemy or diving behind cover.
Before any dice are rolled, the Director should make it
clear exactly what is at stake for the given roll. There is a
lot of flexibility in how fictional challenges are parsed into
physical dice rolls, but this flexibility is part of what makes
the Theatre Noir core rules so powerful. If you find that
you would like more granular and detailed rules for one
are of the game or another, consider using one or more of
the optional, modular Genre-themed rulesets.
Skill Contests
Skill contests happen whenever two characters attempt
tasks in direct opposition to one another. For example,
chess games or arm wrestling matches might be Skill
Contests. These are effectively opposed Skill Tests, and
are made very easy by the Theatre Noir rules. Any time
two characters attempt something in direct opposition to
one another, they each make a Skill Test. Whoever rolls
the higher successful result is the victor.
That’s it. Straightforward. Aside from adding the two
dice together, this system relies entirely on number
comparison, which is the easiest of arithmetic process to
do in your mind. All you have to do is compare the result
on the dice to your skill number, then, if successful,
compare the result on your dice to the result on the other
person’s dice.
If either character fails, of course, then they cannot win.
If just one character rolls a successful number, that
character is automatically the victor, regardless of how
low the successful result may be. If both characters fail,
then nothing happens. Otherwise, if they both succeed,
then whoever succeeded with the higher result is the
winner. Of course, it’s also possible that both characters
will roll the exact same successful number; in the case of a
tie, then consider neither character to have succeeded,
and nothing happens.
Note that in contested rolls, it is important both sides to
be given the same exact same challenge level, so that
they roll the same level of difficulty dice. Otherwise, the
mathematical probabilities of the contested roll don’t
work out quite right.
There are also a few options for running prolonged Skill
Contests…
Counting Coup: This is a simple model for resolving a
conflict using multiple rolls instead of just one. Each time
the opponents make their opposed Skill Contest checks,
the victor gains a single point. The Director establishes in
advance how many points are required to win, and once
either character attains the specified number of points,
that contestant wins.
To make things more interesting, the Director may
choose to base the victory limit on a trait taken from the
character’s sheets. For example, in attempting to cause an
angry character to snap, the victory limit could be that
character’s Willpower skill. In this model, it is perfectly
permissible for the victory limits to be different for each
contestant.
Races: Instead of using opposed Skill Contest rolls, each
character makes a sequence of individual Skill Tests,
adding up the cumulative number of success points as
described under Extended Skill Tests, above. The
challenge is to reach the required number of success
points before the other character does. In this type of
conflict, the Director does not have to give both
contestants the exact same roll; perhaps one chooses to
leap over a burning car, making an Athletics(Agility) test,
while the other tries to sprint around it, making an
Athletics(Running) test.
Chases: The race mechanics can easily be used to
describe a chase scene by giving one character a head
start in success points. In this case, if the character who
started with fewer points ever catches up, then the chaser
catches up to the chasee. Otherwise, a chase will end in
favor of the runner if the runner gets to a certain, pre-
defined, number of points (meaning they’ve crossed a line
they can’t be chased beyond) or when the distance
between the chaser and chasee increases to the point
where the Director rules the chaser to have lost his
pursuit.
Initiative Rounds: The most advanced method of
handling extended scenes of conflict is to switch to using
Initiative Rounds. In this model, each character who
wants to take an action makes an Initiative Roll, described
below, and all characters get to take a single brief action,
in order of Initiative.
When this model is used with the Core Rules (i.e. not
with any of the Genre rules) the Director will have to be
very clear about moderating the scope of each roll. A
single brief action should not be construed to allow too
much, nor too little. An action that mostly affects only the
character’s own person should be resolved as a Skill Test,
while any action that also affects another character
should usually be resolved as a Skill Contest, with the
target of the action having a chance to resist it. The
Director always has final say in what a roll means, and
whether a character has the chance to roll to resist
something or not.
In the Genre: Action rules, there are far more advanced
guidelines for how many actions each character gets, both
for initiative actions and for reflexive, defensive ones. It
still uses the same, basic initiative mechanic though,
which is described below.
the roll could be [Wits(Reflexes) + Charisma(any)]. This
flexibility allows the Initiative mechanic to be used equally
in many different types of situations, rather than being
restricted to combat alone.
Once initiative has been rolled, each character may take
a single brief action in order of initiative. The character
with the highest initiative result goes first, the next-
highest goes next, and so on down the line. Action
continues to cycle through the Initiative order until the
scene ends, or the Director calls for a re-test of Initiative
numbers.
It is up to the Director to decide whether to keep the
same Initiative numbers for the whole scene, or re-roll
every turn, just keep in mind that should initiative be re-
rolled, every character who is already involved will be
rolling 3d6, since their attention is now fully on the scene
at hand.

Initiative Dice
Alert and Ready 3d6
Inattentive 2d6
Focused Elsewhere 1d6

Initiative
When a situation gets tense, it’s important to have rules
Damage and Injury
to control the flow of action. In Theatre Noir, when a Many stories include an element of danger, so what
moment of crisis comes, an Initiative system is used to happens when a character crosses the line? Humans are
determine which characters respond the most quickly, capable of great deeds, but we are limited by the bodies
and who acts in what order. Initiative is a useful rule to in which we live, and those bodies can be fragile.
invoke whenever many characters all want to do In Theatre Noir, damage is rolled using a number of d6s
something at about the same time. (along the same lines as the Initiative mechanic). The
Initiative uses the Total Value dice mechanic described number of d6s rolled depends on how deadly the injury
in the Introduction, in which a number of d6s are rolled has the potential to be. A typical punch does just one d6
and the character’s Initiative Skill Number is added to the of damage, a kick or a knife two, a typical pistol, three,
result. and so on. See the Damage Chart for a guideline as to
The number of d6s a character gets to roll will depend how much damage each source of injury may do.
upon on how ready and attentive each character is. A Hit Location:
highly-alert character may roll 3d6 while a someone In Theatre Noir, damage is tracked separately by part of
slightly distracted will only roll 2d6. A character focused the body. Whenever a character takes damage, a twelve-
on something else entirely may only roll 1d6. The Director sided dice should also be rolled to determine which hit
always has final say how many initiative dice each location is struck. See the body chart (on each character
character can roll. sheet) to determine which body
The Initiative Skill Number, which What constitutes “a single brief action?” part each number on the d12
gets added to the result of the This is ultimately up to the Director to corresponds to.
Initiative Dice, is always equal to arbitrate, but as a good rule of thumb, a Note that when making
[Wits(Reflexes) + the most relevant character should be allowed to attempt a attacks, called shots are
other skill]. Which other skill is the single skill test per action. Often simple possible. When declaring a
most relevant will depend on the tasks, such as opening a door or moving a specific hit location as the target
nature of the circumstances of the short distance, will be abstracted out. For a of an attack, the attack roll
action. In a fight scene, the roll more detailed time management and takes a 1 step penalty if
could be [Wits(Reflexes) + actions system, consider using the Genre: declaring the torso or either leg,
Fight(any)], while in a social scene, Action rules.
a 2 step penalty if declaring an arm, or a 3 step penalty if Shock recovery for the minute during which the exertion
declaring the head as the target of the attack. takes place.
In the case of complete rest, Shock recovers more
Armor quickly, at the rate of one point per
If the hit location that has been Damage Chart combat round. But the only way this
determined is protected by any Punch 1d6 would typically happen during
armor, that armor will have a rating, Fall, per 10 Feet 1d6 combat is if a character succumbs to
usually between 1 and 5. This rating Kick 2d6 Shock and passes out. Otherwise, the
reduces the number of dice of Knife 2d6 physical exertion of combat prevents
damage the character takes. Baseball Bat 3d6 any shock recovery.
Pistol 3d6 If a character is passed out due to
Sword 4d6 Shock, she may make another Shock
Shock
Heavy Pistol 4d6 Test each round, after recovery of
Realistically, humans will often be
Assault Rifle* 5d6 the allotted one point of Shock. With
incapacitated by shock and blood
Shotgun** 6d6 success, she wakes up. She may take
loss long before their bodies are
Long Rifle 7d6 only limited action on the turn she
completely destroyed. In Theatre
Sniper Rifle 8d6 wakes up, using that turn mostly to
Noir, this is represented by the Shock * Assault Rifles fire in bursts. Randomize how
get up and re-orient herself, but the
rules. many bullets hit (1d3) and multiply damage Director may allow a small amount of
Any time a character takes physical ** Shotgun damage goes down with range
movement as well, say, to get behind
damage, she also takes an amount of
cover. The recovered character may join the action again
Shock damage equal to the number of dice of damage
as normal on the following round.
that get rolled. Because Shock affects the central nervous
system, all Shock damage is cumulative, regardless of the Injury and Death
hit location where it was sustained. If any hit location
Head Blows and Shock: Any blow which strikes the Optional Injury Penalties
takes more damage
head causes double the normal Shock damage, due to the In the basic game rules,
than its level of hit
overabundance of nerves, sensory organs and brain injury penalties are left at
points—noted on the
matter in the head. Furthermore, any blow which strikes the discretion of the
Body Chart—then that
the head always causes at least one point of Shock Director. As a general rule, if
part of the body
damage, even if armor would otherwise have reduced the the Director deems an injury
becomes severely
damage to zero. (that did not severely
wounded and can no
wound) would impact
Going into Shock longer be used. If the
performance, then the roll in
Whenever a character takes Shock damage that leaves head becomes severely
question is made with a +1
him with at least four Shock Points, that character must wounded, the
step penalty. More detailed
immediately make a Shock Roll. This is a roll of Willpower character immediately
injury rules are provided in
+ Fight at a Difficulty level equal to the number of Shock gets knocked out and
the Gritty section.
Points the character has accumulated (rounded down to can take no further
the nearest valid difficulty number). If a character fails actions. If the torso becomes severely wounded, the
this roll, he immediately goes into Shock and may do character does not necessarily pass out, but loses
nothing whatsoever until he recovers. effective use of her torso and legs.
If any hit location takes more than twice its hit points in
Recovering from Shock damage, that hit location is completely destroyed and will
Compared to other forms of damage, characters never recover. If a limb is destroyed, the character is
recover quickly from Shock. A character engaged in maimed and that limb is gone forever. If the head or torso
normal, light physical activity recovers from one point of are destroyed, the character is instantly killed.
Shock per The Genre: Gritty rules introduce more advanced rules
Shock Test Difficulty Levels minute. for sustaining injury, with all sorts of fun specific injuries
0-3 Shock No Test However, any and injury penalties, based on the hit location, type of
4-5 Shock 2d4 amount of damage, and luck.
6-7 Shock 2d6 physical or
8-9 Shock 2d8 mental exertion
etc. etc. will prevent
Guns Gear
Firearm Cost Damage Range Increment Item Cost
Pistol 1 3 20 m Old Car 1
Heavy Pistol 2 4 30 m New Car 2
Shotgun (range decreases 2 6 10 m Top Model Car 3
dmg and accuracy) Personal Helicopter 4
SMG (burst fire) 2 3 20 m Survival Gear 1
Hunting Rifle 2 6 70 m Medical Kit 1
Assault Rifle (burst fire) 3 5 50 m Stock of Medical Supplies 2
Sniper Rifle (lever action) 3 8 100 m Laptop 1
Burst Fire: -1 step bonus to hit, roll 1d3 for bullets that hit, multiple dmg by the result Smartphone 1
Lever Action: takes one full action to cycle the chamber between shots Bullet-proof vest 1

Recovering from Damage

A successful test of Logical + Knowledge(Medicine) at
difficulty 8 will allow the character to “bandage a wound.”
The extra support and the fact that the injured body part
no longer needs to be treated quite so gingerly means
that 1d6 can be rolled, and that many damage points
removed from the specified hit location. This also
eliminates the injury penalty, if the Director would
otherwise have ruled that there was one. Each body part
can only be successfully treated once per occasion on
which it took damage, and the damage healed cannot
exceed the damage taken.
If a body part becomes severely wounded, the difficulty
to treat that hit location becomes 12, though this can be
reduced with specialized equipment. If the medicine test
is successful, the character may recover 2d6 hit points of
damage. If the healing brings the body part above 0 hit
points, it becomes usable again, although it suffers a -1
step injury penalty until sufficient time and treatment has
allowed it to heal properly.
Equipment
When new characters are created, they can choose a
number of dots worth of equipment equal to the number
of points they put into the “Equipment” resource. Here
are a few items of equipment with relevant details.
Genre Rules
In this section we will go in depth into each of the five
sets of genre-themed rules. In Theatre Noir, we want to
support a variety of story-based games, beyond the
traditional hack-and-slash model. Despite this, we still
found ourselves with detailed combat rules and less
detailed rules in other areas. While we were shlepping the
game around to different playtest groups, one astute
playtester commented to be careful which rules we
include in the game, because the nature of the rules
shapes the direction and flow of attention of the players,
and therefore shapes what kind of game it becomes.
While certainly yes, you can take a game with rules
focused almost exclusively on combat, such as DnD 4th
Edition, and run a story-heavy session with it, that is
certainly not the normal usage, and furthermore, at that
point, why use that system? If the rules aren’t designed to
support the kind of game you want to run, you might as
well just play free-style.
Having recognized the importance of rules in shaping
the way the game turns out, we have decided to embrace
this fact rather than fight against it. As such, we’ve
provided five sets of modular rules, each of which adds a
dimension to the game and shifts the entire roleplaying
experience in one direction or another. All of them are
designed to work together, so you can feel free to use
them all if you feel so inclined. But each is optional, and it
is equally valid to play with just one or even none of
them. Once you understand them, it’s simple enough to
“plug in” the ones you want; we even have a
customizeable character sheet which can be easily
modified to provide any combination of genre-rules that
you prefer.
Each set of genre rules provides something which the
others don’t, adding depth and dimension to a certain
part of the game. Here’s a quick summary of each of
them, presented in alphabetical order.
 Action: The Genre: Action rules expand physical More to come…
combat, adding depth to combat scenes and moving the
entire game in a direction that feels more like an action
movie.
Drama: The Genre: Drama rules expand social relations,
adding rules for gathering Status and Reputation, and
providing for tense showdowns and conflict arcs between
characters or groups. These rules bring the focus more
toward interpersonal relations, without getting in the way
of the roleplaying.
Gritty: The Genre: Gritty rules remind us of all the hard,
uncomfortable frailties of being human, such as needing
enough food and water, suffering from injuries, and
occasionally getting sick and even dying. This is good for
creating games that do not have a larger-than-life
atmosphere.
Horror: The Genre: Horror rules intruduce Sanity and
Insanity as game mechanics. Characters can gain Mental
Stress from exposure to horrific or disturbing experiences,
which may cause them to break down or even go insane
over time.
Literary: The Genre: Literary rules introduce a mechanic
of Aspects and Plot Points, inspired by the Fate system
and others like it. Using these rules makes for a very
character-driven story and hopefully encourages
meaningful character development over time.