Facets
This game has the DNA of Cypher, Fate, a little of PbtA, and Bedknobs & Broomsticks.
Characters in this game have nine attributes that are used to accomplish tasks, from fighting to flirting. These attributes are:
Strength S
Finesse F
Endurance E
Intellect I
Wit W
Resolve R
Presence P
Guile G
Composure C
Attributes are separated into physical (S, F, E), mental (I, W, R), and social (P, G, C); and can also be separated into power (S, I, P); control (F, W, G); and into resistance (E, R, and C).
Each of these attributes is used for any number of actions and activities, which can be called Skills. Skills are nebulous, covering not a whole school of practice, thought, or experience, but instead a kind of action or circumstance. A character might gain a +2 bonus to their checks when attempting to lose a tail or evade capture, whether that’s while driving, wrestling, or running through a crowd (all Finesse, probably, but not necessarily).
Each attribute of a player character or non-player character is rated d4 through d20. That’s the die rolled on tests of that attribute. Training, or skills, may add to the result as mentioned above.
Rolled dice explode, meaning that a die that rolls its highest result (4 on a d4, 6 on a d6, etc.), is rolled again and the result is added. Rolls made under pressure don’t explode. Some abilities may cause a die to explode on a lower result than its highest.
A character in a relaxed circumstance, with no need to rush, can take double the usual time per check to make a check calmly, taking half the die’s highest result rather than rolling (i.e., 3 on a d6, 5 on a d10, etc.).
Checks are described as the attribute tested, the target number of the test, the number of successes needed to accomplish the task, the total number of attempts a character can make, and the time per attempt. That looks like [Finesse 8 - 2/5 - 30s], which would indicate a character making a Finesse check against a target number of 8. The attempt takes 30 seconds, and they need to make two successes on one or more checks. They have five chances to do so, so failing four times makes the task impossible.
Meeting the target number of a test means the goal is accomplished. Missing by up to 5 means the task is accomplished, but only halfway or with complications - it introduces a cost. Missing by up to 10 means it’s just failed - the thing doesn’t happen and it’s not going to happen. Missing my more than that means the character failed and incurred a cost. Exceeding a TN by 5 or more grants an advantage: a bonus or boon to carry forward. Many actions grant an advantage per every five by which the target is exceeded.
When a character fails a test they earn a point of effort. They earn two on a critical failure. Effort can be spent to improve rolls in the future, or sometimes to activate abilities. Effort can also be earned through good roleplaying.
Characters have two measures of resistance to the stresses around them: health and cool. Characters start with 10 of each, which may be increased or decreased during character creation or play. Health is used to measure physical well-being, while cool measures centeredness, calm, or social currency.
In character creation characters will pick three facets: descriptors that give their character an identity or boundary. At creation PCs will have a character trait, a background, and a calling.
A character trait facet is a foremost element of the character’s personality. Are they bold, meticulous, swift, or reasoned?
A background facet indicates a nationality, ancestry, or circumstance of the character’s upbringing. They’ll express that facet in some way, for good or for ill.
A calling facet is what your character does either professionally or as their passion.
Each facet offers one or more bonuses that affect gameplay. These aspects will lend the characters most of their initial training bonuses and traits.
Most facets have more than one bonus that characters can access. These are traits. A character picks one trait from each of their facets at character creation, and then gets to pick one additional trait from one of their facets, for a total of four.
Facets are either open or closed. An open facet can be taken by anyone when they earn a new facet. A closed facet has some requirement - a certain attribute, another facet, or similar - that a character must possess to select it. Traits within facets, too, can be open or closed, usually requiring a different trait from the same facet.
Characters that come into conflict may test their wit or fists against each other. A conflict is a set of several tests that wear down one or more parties to the conflict until they are forced to withdraw or are taken out.
At the start of a conflict characters roll initiative: Finesse or Wit - for physical fights or social fights or social fights, respectively - and the highest goes first. Once a character has acted they choose the next character to act. Once all characters have acted once, the exchange is over, and a new roll is made to start the next round.
On their turn in a conflict a character acts, either attacking, maneuvering, or overcoming an obstacle.
Attacking means a character is attempting to push for a certain outcome. The outcome in a physical fight may be “Sam is restrained and handcuffed,” or “all the constructs are destroyed,” or “the bullies are chased off.” Whether the goal is particularly violent or not is irrelevant: the means of reaching it is physical.
The outcomes of a social conflict might be “Sam is convinced of my argument,” or “Lord Shutterfly leaves in disgrace and crying,” or “I earn entrance to the secret back-room poker game.” Despite disparate aims, the tools are social: cajoling, threatening, or reason.
The aim of a conflict is called the stakes. Different participants will have different stakes but the conflict will only achieve one. Players should agree on the stakes beforehand, subject to approval by the game-master. For example, a social conflict with the aim to become king is probably out of the scope for a farmhand: no matter who he’s talking to, in what circumstances, a single interaction is not going to make him king. Convincing someone he’s the king is possible - unlikely, but possible - and therefore makes an okay stake to play for.
In a conflict characters make tests to reduce the health or cool of another party. This is usually an opposed test. On a success the attacker reduces their target’s health/cool. When a character’s health or cool is reduced to 0 they are taken out.
When a character is taken out they are removed from the conflict and aren’t returning for that scene. The last person standing earns their stakes. A character that is taken out suffers a consequence - a lasting injury or embarrassment that will hang over them until they can address it. A physical conflict results in a character being hurt, while a social conflict leaves the character weary.
A character can also withdraw from the conflict, simply leaving it behind. This means they can’t affect the scene any further, but also won’t suffer a consequence. Characters can’t always withdraw from a conflict; if another party wants to prevent the withdrawal they enter an opposed test, and only on a success can the running character withdraw. If they can’t also immediately get some distance, a chase my ensue. A character that attempts to withdraw and is prevented earns three extra points of Effort.
When a character gets hurt the individual that defeated them picks an attribute that was affected based on the nature of their conflict - Endurance, by default - and suffer a penalty to rolls made with that attribute. The consequence usually reduces the die size by two steps, imposes a cost on the first success in a scene, or prevents a player from spending effort on those rolls as long as they’re hurt.
If a hurt character is taken out they become injured, and suffer further penalties, and a character that’s taken out while injured becomes crippled, and suffers yet more penalties.
An injured character takes another penalty from the usual list, then applies that penalty to both the already-affected attribute and a second attribute. A crippled character does it again, applying three penalties to all three physical attributes.
Weary characters can become drained, and drained characters exhausted. This functions analogously to hurt, injured, and crippled.
In some cases it may be appropriate to suffer character death. In those cases rather than becoming crippled a character simply dies. A crippled character that gets taken out dies.
When a character takes out an enemy, part of the stakes for which they’re fighting may supercede, replace, or supplement hurting them. For example, when a character is taken out their attacker might offer to knock them out rather than hurt them. The defending (taken out) player can accept the deal or can resist. Resisting a deal like that means they spend a point of effort, regain one Health, are hurt, and stay in the fight rather than being taken out. If they can’t spend the effort, they can’t resist - they take the deal.
Weapons deal damage in physical conflicts. A character attacking with a medium weapon - a one-handed tool meant for combat, like a machete or handgun - deals 3 points of damage on a successful hit. A character with a light weapon - a small or quick weapon that is easier to use, like a knife - deals 1 points of damage. Heavy weapons - big weapons that require two hands, like a rifle, sledge hammer, or a sword - deal 5 points of damage.
Characters attacking with heavy weapons must use both hands.
Fighting unarmed, or bare-handed, is using a light weapon.
Optional Rule: Specific Defenses - Different types of defenses are better against different types of attacks. When you mis-match the defense, you leave yourself open to punishment. If you defend against a light attack using Strength you increase your die size by one step; if you defend with Finesse you reduce it by one step. The reverse is true with heavy weapons. It is easier to parry or block a knife slash than to dodge it; it is easier to dodge a sledgehammer than to stop it.
A character may make a second attack in the same action (such as by taking two shots with a pistol, swiping with a knife in both hands, and so on). When they do so they decrease their by two steps (such as from d8 to d4, or d12 to d8). A character using a heavy weapon cannot do this. A character using only light weapons (singly or one in each hand) reduces their die size by only one step instead.
A character that is hit by an attack and would receive damage reduces the damage by an amount equal to their armor rating, if they have it, to a minimum of 0.
Characters can defend against close or ranged attacks with Finesse, using it to dodge.
Strength can be used against close attacks if the defending character is armed or carrying a shield, or if the attacker is using their bare hands. A character defending with Strength successfully gains a token to use on their next attack.
A character can use Endurance to defend, but rather than eliminating damage on a success it instead gives the defending character 1 armor against the attack on a success (+1 per shift).
Social conflicts don’t use weapons, but instead rely on approaches. Like weapons, an approach can be light, medium, or heavy. A light approach is a gentle prod: a subtle question, a gentle put-down, or a veiled insinuation. It’s easier to cover and quick to deliver, but doesn’t carry as much weight as something direct. A medium approach is more direct, but still holding back for the sake of decorum or circumstance. A heavy approach means taking something of a risk: the threat looks silly if dismissed; the entreaty comes off as pathetic if not accepted; the deception falls apart if prodded too firmly. Like in a physical conflict each approach has advantages and disadvantages.
Light approaches reduce the target’s Cool by 1; medium by 3; and heavy by 5 - just like weapons of the matching category.
A light or medium approach can be used twice in quick succession. A light approach loses one die step, while a medium approach loses two. A heavy approach cannot be paired with another.
If you make only one approach and it’s a light approach, you gain a token toward defense in the next exchange. If you use a heavy approach and it’s unsuccessful, your opponent earns a token for their own use.
Optional rule: Positioning - Sometimes the right move in a conflict, physical or social, is to wait for an opening. In addition to making use of the maneuver action, characters that act later in the round gain a bonus. This is to represent finding an opening made by another, and to balance out the inherent advantage of acting first. It also represents moving to flank a target, the difficulty of defending against multiple attackers, and so on. Attacks against characters that have already acted in the exchange get a +1 bonus. A character can delay their action in conflict, passing to another character without acting and saving their opportunity for later. If two characters are each trying to delay beyond the other - such as two swordsmen waiting to draw - they act simultaneously and neither gains a bonus.
In both physical and social conflicts critical successes and failures have default outcomes. These outcomes may vary in a set of circumstances or based on traits of those in combat, but act as a set of baselines. All perspectives of success are from the point of view of the attacker.
Success with Advantage: the attack lands and deals damage, adding an extra point of damage for every 5 by which it exceeded the target’s defense. Alternatively, the attacker may gain a token against that target rather than dealing one extra damage.
Success: the hit lands and deals damage.
Success with a Cost: the attack lands and deals damage, but the defender earns a token - often used to riposte, or on their next defense.
Failure: the attack fails to connect or deal damage.
Failure with a Cost: not only does the attack miss, the defender earns a token as they take a superior position.
A hurt character must rest and recuperate to regain their strength. A character can remove the hurt condition - and its associated penalties - with a day of rest. An injured character needs a week to reduce their condition to hurt, and a crippled character needs a month to reduce their condition to injured. This time must be spent resting. Taking time off rest to work ‘pauses’ the recovery. Professional assistance halves the time.
Maneuvering is a key component of conflicts. Setting yourself or another character up for later success can be more helpful than dealing damage in the right circumstances. When you want to maneuver you determine whether you’re seeking an advantage or attempting to hinder another character.
If you’re seeking an advantage
Recovery from social ills takes about the same time, excepting that the character must remain somewhat withdrawn from socializing, and professional help looks like therapy or similar resources.
A character recovers Health or Cool over time. A healthy character recovers all their Health or Cool when they have ten minutes or so to catch their breath, usually between scenes. A hurt character recovers all their Health after four hours or so. If a character has less than four hours your game master may choose to prorate this (a character with 12 Health would recover 3 points per hour, or one per 20 minutes if that kind of granularity is needed, for example). However, it’s recommended that if it’s been longer than 10 minutes but less than 4 hours, characters regain up to half their normal maximum Health.
An injured character regains their maximum Health after three days, or one-third per day (3 points for most characters with 10 maximum Health). It takes only two days if they spend the time resting, or one day if they rest with good medical care.
Crippled characters regain one point of Health per day, two if resting, or three if resting and receiving medical attention.
Conceits
You have the ability to enter demiplanes that are in, and are, individuals. You leap into their shadow, entering an inverted place born from their minds and psyches. Sometimes you can bring them with you. By acting in these shadow worlds you can change the nature of the host - the titan - of the shadow you’re in. Small groups of individuals do their level best to steer the world toward or away from chaos through these means, pressing on famous or influential persons throughout history. These conspiracies often start out altruistic before becoming entangled in their own pursuit of power (always in the name of good) and the inevitable warping of personal identity via shadow-psyche-hopping… every conspiracy, in time, becomes subject to corruption, greed, and complacency until eventually upended by a new conspiracy.
You may or may not be a robot. This is also the case with everyone you know, as many people are secretly robots. There are also more evident robots out there. Society has experienced several tumults in which robots were necessary for the continuance of community, and their humanness had to be unimpeachable. However, now that the old missions are gone they are listless, and the organizations that managed them are defunct. Firmware is getting patchier and many robots are failing, or are vulnerable to bad actors. You, the players, must go about your lives potentially threatened by your own software, or maybe not if you are biological, and may question your own organic versus synthetic nature. If your identity ever becomes clear, your character is retired. In times of stress you make checks to determine if you are getting closer to a breakdown, and only in this catastrophic case will you know yourself. (Stray vs the Matrix vs Fallout 4 vs Blade Runner)
The universe, as we know it, has been crunched up like gravel. It is up to you - and a few friends - to put it back together again. Each shard of the beautiful jewel of reality is related to another, but follows its own rules. They are, for the most part, lorded over by small tyrants and monsters, each of which sets up the laws of their own space. Some are driven by good intentions, such as to preserve a fragment of the world where a library may be kept in solitude, or creating a space where their ill child never worsens or dies; but many are driven by a desire to subjugate and pillage. At the center of each shard is a fragment of the jewel that you must recover and return to its partners so that reality may be saved. You may have to participate in a play to earn it, or fight a skeletal emperor, or arm-wrestle a dad, or dive to the deepest part of an ocean and tickle an oyster, or etc. etc. These worlds have different themes, settings, and conflicts, but you stay the same.
The afterlife is not a heaven or hell, but a kind of ghostly bureaucracy that hides and serves the machinery of birth, death, and rebirth. The world of the living is a great hole in space a mile across that sits at the center of The Machine, which itself is at the center of The Court. You are a junior functionary of The Bureaucracy, working in or near The Court. You are tasked variously with eliminating the threats to the Court from the world of the living, The Outlands far beyond The Court, and otherwise keeping both your superiors and the living happy. When you move through The Portal you - a loose soul working off some debt until you earn rebirth - occupy a body. This body might be a living medium (some of whom form relationships with the dead), a newly-dead body, or a long-dead body. Each body comes with some skills and traits of their own, as well as their own goals, hungers, and desires. You, in turn, imbue your host with a range of powers and abilities. Similarly, ill spirits - demons - that would put a wrench in the great works have powers and bodies that they drive. Not all threats are in the world of the living; many are unhoused spirits that writhe through The Outlands, The City, and The Machine, with plans to disrupt the Great Works.
In the grim and gritty far future, someone still has to work the fryer. You are a small business owner - or similar workaday type - in a harsh land of neon and grime. You and your compatriots (your department at the insurance company, the neighborhood business association, or your coworkers at the coffee shop) must keep customers in seats and eep your community together. Gigantic megacorporations will attempt to replace you with cheap drone labor, buy your business, scare your customers away, or open across the road and compete you into the ground. You must sneak, speak, and sell well enough to stay afloat.
