Uune: The Resourceful RPG - Introduction - What is Uune? - How to use this guide - What You’ll Need - The Game Master - The Player Characters - The Setting - The Game-play Loop - Playing the Game - Stepping Stones (Mechanics for other mechanics) - Conflict Resolution - Character Abilities and Progression - Resting - Building a Character - Step One: The Idea - Step Two: Backstory - Step Three: Your first chapter - Step Four: Items - Reference: Character Features - Capability Features - Equipment Features - Fighting Features - Team Features - Navigation Features - Social Features - Meta Features - Optional: Powers - Nonhuman Features - Optional: Freeform Magic (WIP) - Magic Features - Spellcasting Components - GM: Running the Game - Difficulty Guidelines - Scene and Resource Guidelines - Specialty Scene Types - Item Rarity and Value - GM: Prepping the Game - NPC Roll Tables - Prompts (WIP) - City Building Introduction What is Uune? Hello, and welcome to the Uune Roleplaying Game! This game is the culmination of years of continuous effort, trial, and error. Some time into the hobby, it seemed to me that there aught to be a game that doesn’t constrict characters, doesn’t put too much on new players to learn, and doesn’t throw away an hour’s prep because someone made one bad roll. It also seemed to me that such a game should be free, because we are a community of tinkerers and homebrewers, after all. Ultimately, those ideas have coalesced into a classless, dice pooling system where players work together towards accomplishing their goals. One which can be adapted to fit a wide variety of settings and genres, and doesn’t try to make assumptions about the types of stories that will be told with it. As I’ve matured as a GM, I’ve also made steps to simplify how the game is run. Combat has evolved from a very heady time centric system, to just another scene like anything else, putting the focus almost entirely on the players and how they act. NPCs have gone from full character sheets to just names and ideas. Nowadays, as the GM I basically don’t roll at all! I can focus almost entirely on my players, the NPCs, and the environment. Making the game approachable and accessible is also an important goal to me. I’ve attempted to streamline the mechanics to lean on a few core concepts that can be picked up easily. Uune also uses readily available dice, and does not ask you to calculate complex character or monster stats. I’ve had players’ very first TTRPG experience be with Uune, and they picked it up and built a character like those who’ve been in the hobby for years! Given that experience, I’m hoping that we’re on the right track. There will inevitably still be tweaks and changes, but the game has come a long way since the start. My only hope is that you take this and have fun with it. If even a few people can have some fun with something I wrote, then it was worth it. How to use this guide First, you don’t need to read everything here from front to back to play the game. The first few chapters will lay the groundwork, with the rest being either topical or reference material that you’re meant to skim. There is also some material aimed at Game Masters in the back of the book, but that players can also read if they so choose. Ultimately, the rules in this book are subject to tweaking, additions, subtractions, etc as your GM sees fit. Specific modules or addons to the game may also change things, so you should always communicate with your GM (and GMs to your players) about the specifics of your game. What You’ll Need To get started, you’ll need the following things: - Someone to run the game, known as the Game Master, aka the GM. - At least one person, other than the GM, to play a dedicated player character. - A standard set of six sided dice. 5 dice is most common, but more or less will work. - Optionally, a coin. - A notebook and/or character sheet. These are available on uune.org or provided by your GM. The Game Master The most important role of the game is that of the Game Master. The person who plays the GM will act as the eyes and ears of the other players, detailing the events of the story as they occur. They are the mouth of the nonplayer characters, the judge and arbiter of player actions, and a guide to keep the story moving forward. The Player Characters Those who are not the GM are responsible for the player characters (or PCs). These are the main characters of our story, and it is their journey that we will be following. The PCs are the meat on the bones of what the GM presents, dictating much of the exact direction that the story takes. The Setting Dressing the stage for all other events to occur is the setting. Generally, the GM assembles the setting or uses one that is already made. However, many of the best stories are written when players can be left to create their own home lands, countries, cities, etc for their characters. There are many tools out there to help with both approaches, much of which is out of scope for this document. I have included some rule of thumb tools to help with this though towards the back of the book, loosely assembled as I find them. The Game-play Loop 1. The GM describes the scene, detailing important notes about the environment and a few important things that the players can interact with. 2. Each player tells the GM what they intend to do within this scene. 3. The GM tells the players how difficult their goals will be, and asks the players what they do to work towards those goals. 4. The players use their resources (roll dice) to tally up to the difficulty that the GM gave them, detailing how and what they do. 5. The GM details the outcome of the actions, and begins again with the next scene. Playing the Game Stepping Stones (Mechanics for other mechanics) Dice Rolls and Shorthands Uune mostly makes use of the six sided die, also known as the standard board game die. In many places, a shorthand for dice rolling will be used. This consists of the number of dice, followed by a D, followed by the size of the dice to be rolled. EXAMPLE - 1d6 would be 1 six sided die. - 3d12 would be 3 twelve sided dice. - 1d20 would be 1 twenty sided die. Thematic Rules NOTE: The inspiration for this comes from ThoughPunks’ article on minimalist worldbuilding, which can be found here Many story oriented mechanics in the game will make use of so called “Thematic Rules” to help nail down a specific idea or theme for something. These consist of two parts: an evocative title, followed by a brief description to expound on the title’s notions. This serves to help quantify thematic ideas and guide story and gameplay better to the expectations we set out with. EXAMPLE - LANGUISHING: The city stands, dirtier and messier than before. While much of the city still stands, buildings not in use are left to rot. - OUT OF MIND, OUT OF MIND: Things in this world exist because they are remembered, and they exist most prominently in the way that they are remembered. - CLUTTERED: There’s way too much stock for the space..but they’re making the most of the real estate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conflict Resolution Luck Checks If you need to determine the outcome of something purely by chance, you make a luck check. To do so, flip a coin. - ON A HEADS the outcome is in your favor. - ON A TAILS it is not in your favor. NOTE: You can also use a six sided die for this, treating a 1 to 3 as a tails, and a 4 to 6 as a heads. EXAMPLE - Checking if your character remembered to do something or grab something that wasn’t explicitly stated. - Checking if there’s an impromptu item somewhere. - Checking if the environment has a specific feature or layout. Scenes Each game session is broken down into scenes, each featuring both a location and a situation that your GM will describe at the start of the scene. Afterwards, your GM will ask you what you’d like your character to accomplish within this scene. A scene can be big or small, depending on how your GM paces the game. EXAMPLE - A single conversation. - A fight. - A heist, or a single step of the heist. - A travel or crafting montage. No matter the nature of the scene, every scene will have the following 3 things: - THE GOAL is the ultimate outcome that your character wishes to see. - THE DIFFICULTY is the number that you’ll need to beat to accomplish that goal. - THE POOL is the tally of all the points you’ve collected towards beating the difficulty. If multiple characters share the same goal, then they also share the same pool for that scene. For most scenes, your GM will set the difficulty based on the guidelines in the Running the Game reference in the back of the book. NOTE A good goal encompasses the outcome, not the actions for getting there. The actions are important, but those are separate from your goal. - DON’T “I pick the lock”. - DO “I’d like to enter the building, I start by using my lock picks”. Resources Resources are dice which represent your character making use of the things throughout a scene. When you use a resource, roll 1d6 and add it to your pool for the current scene. This represents how useful the given resource is all through the scene. You can chain different resources together to make them more applicable, allowing you to roll resources that might not have seemed as useful alone. You can only roll any specific resource once per scene, unless another mechanic says otherwise. This also applies to resources which are shared amongst a group. Additionally, any time you roll a resource, you gain 1 _XP_. Resource Types Your Faculties Each of your faculties represent a skill, background, or physical feature that can be a potential resource for you, when it makes sense. If you have a faculty that is occupied or obscured somehow (like being in the dark or being tied up) you won’t be able to use it. You can learn more about what specific faculties you have in the Character Abilities and Progression section. Information Pieces of information can also count as resources for you. If it’s been established and your GM approves, you can use bits of know how to help you. EXAMPLE - Knowledge about the guard rotation for a heist. - Having overheard the duke planning to start a war. - Having blueprints for an item you need to craft. Lies Telling a lie or a half truth can count as a resource. While not something you know, it is something you can make up on the fly to try to gain some leverage. When you do this however, it will require a risk check. Items You may name 4 items that you would reasonably have on your person, which all count as resources for you. You can change what these named items are whenever you take downtime. Additional items that you pick up throughout a game session do not count against these 4, but can be kept as notes when relevant. If you would like to use an unnamed item that your character would likely have on them, you may make a luck check to see if you have it with you. On a success, you gain a resource for this scene from that item. You can also have more general category items, such as a general set of hand tools. These give you advantage on your luck check for unnamed items. Finally, any items that you do not have on your person can often be purchased from a shop in most games, for an amount of money based on the item cost table in the GM’s reference. NOTE: Money does not count against your named items. Environment More broadly, many things in your environment can count as resources. Things like walls for shielding, the cover of darkness, a strategically placed staircase, etc. If your GM approves, then it can count as a resource for you. Karma Karma represents an acquired story token from something that your character did or that happened to them. You can only ever have 1 karma at a time. You may spend your karma at any time to give yourself a resource. Gaining a resource in this way allows you to very slightly alter the circumstances in your favor, represented by a one time resource. Resource Modifiers Advantage and Disadvantage Sometimes, a resource roll or luck check will be more or less likely to be helpful. Your GM may impose advantage or disadvantage depending on the circumstances. - ADVANTAGE means that you will need to roll / flip twice, and take the better outcome. - DISADVANTAGE means that you will need to roll / flip twice, but take the worse outcome. - Having both advantage and disadvantage at the same time means that they cancel out, and the roll / flip is normal. Critical Rolls Whenever you roll a 6 on a resource die, roll an extra die and add it to your pool. Risk When the actions you take can lead to unintended side effects, your GM may ask you to make a risk check. Make a luck check, and: - ON A HEADS no immediate consequence is had. - ON A TAILS a complication arises that the GM chooses based on the circumstance. This complication shouldn’t halt your ability to finish your goal completely, but it might make things more difficult now or in the future. No matter the outcome, you gain karma if you do not already have it. NOTE: Remember that risk can have advantage and disadvantage depending on how likely you are to experience a problem! Wounds Whenever your character takes a significant injury, they take a wound. Each wound you have subtracts 1 from any resource you use. You heal 1 wound whenever you benefit from sleep. Stamina Stamina represents your physical and mental fortitude, and using it means that your character is exerting themselves in some way. Your character starts with 5 points of stamina. You regain stamina during downtime. You may spend stamina to gain one of the following benefits: - FOR 1 POINT gain advantage on a resource, even after you’ve rolled it. - FOR 1 POINT add +1 to a resource roll. - FOR 3 POINTS gain karma. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character Abilities and Progression Chapters Chapters represent your character’s overall experience, they’re an easy way of keeping track of your character’s abilities as the story continues and we learn more about them. You progress to the next chapter whenever you gain enough total experience (XP) to reach it, and you gain XP by interacting with certain game mechanics. See the following list for chapter XP: 1. 0 XP 2. 40 XP 3. 80 XP 4. 120 XP 5. 160 XP 6. 200 XP 7. 240 XP 8. 280 XP 9. 320 XP 10. 360 XP - IN CHAPTER 1 you start with 2 features, 2 bonds, and 9 faculties. - FOR EACH CHAPTER AFTERWARDS you gain 1 feature, 1 bond, and 1 faculty. Bonds Bonds are elements of your character’s story and personality that are specifically called out on your character sheet. You may act on one of your bonds to gain karma from it. You may only gain karma from a given bond once per scene. Bonds can be for a variety of things, as approved by your GM. Some examples are listed below. - IMPORTANT PEOPLE such as a close friend, lover, mentor, or rival. - IMPORTANT PLACES such as a home or family residence, base of operations, place of business, or favorite place to hang out. - INTERESTS, PRIDES, OR OBSESSIONS such as a craft or skillset, far off land, forgotten treasure, or revenge plot. - MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS such as a military rank, guild membership, royal blood, or criminal status. - TRAUMAS such as the death of a significant person, being left for dead, taking part in a war, or an experiment gone wrong. - FLAWS such as addictions, tendencies, or compulsions. Faculties Faculties represent things inherent to your character that they can use as resources, such as skills, physical features, past experience, etc. Every character starts with 5 base faculties, and 4 custom ones. Most characters will have the following base faculties: - PHYSICALITY as in hands, movement, strength, speed. - VOICE as in words, shouting, singing. - SIGHT as in your eyes. - HEARING as in your ears. - SAVOR as in taste and smell. However, characters which are nonhuman, or which do not have all of their senses should feel free to exchange some of these for additional custom faculties. Each custom faculty is comprised of one or two words of your choice that explain it. You can have whatever faculties you can think of, so long as your GM approves it beforehand. Features Features are the extra flavor of character creation and progression. They allow you to add on new abilities, or to strengthen existing ones as your character grows and learns throughout their travels. You will mainly be taking features from the features reference, though there are some optional ones in other sections as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resting Scene: Downtime A downtime scene represents your character doing light activity, eating, recuperating, etc. Downtime scenes allows you to recover your stamina and exchange your named items. The amount of stamina you recover being determined by your total pool for the scene: Pool Stamina Recovered ------ ------------------- 5 1 10 2 20 5 Your character will need to use or do things which help them recuperate, each of which counts as a resource for them. EXAMPLE - Eating a meal. - Meditating. - Talking over the events of the day. - Practising a hobby. - Light training or learning. - Taking a nap. Sleep Sleeping allows you to regain more of your physical strain and wounds. Benefiting from sleep works as follows: - A FULL 8 HOURS you benefit from sleep automatically. - 6 TO 7 HOURS you benefit from sleep if you succeed at a luck check. - 4 TO 5 HOURS you benefit from sleep if you succeed at a luck check with disadvantage. - Sleeping for less than 4 hours counts as a nap during downtime. Building a Character Building a character in Uune is a relatively straightforward process. Follow these steps to build a character in the first chapter of their story. Step One: The Idea Uune is a character driven game. Rather than focussing on what build you want, first understand what kind of person you’d like to play. The questions below can act as a jumping off point for you. Note that the answers given are just examples and do not need to be followed. - WHAT IS THEIR SHTICK? Theme, Gimmick, Secret, or Skill. - WHAT DO THEY LIKE TO DO? Career, Hobby, or Obsession. - HOW OLD ARE THEY? Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Middle Aged, or Elderly. - WHAT ROLE DO THEY PLAY IN THE GROUP? Leadership, Support, Brains, Brawns, or Connections. - WHAT DO THEY WEAR? Fancy, Plain, Tattered, Traditional, or Rebellious. - WHAT IS THEIR BUILD? Thin, Heavy, Tall, Squat, Buff, or Lanky. - HOW DO THEY HOLD THEMSELVES? Polite, Stern, Sassy, Goofy, or Smart. - WHAT IS THEIR NAME? Step Two: Backstory Once you have an idea of who they are, you’ll need to figure out who they were before. Writing a backstory not only helps you to know your character better, but also helps the GM to know how they fit into the world. Consider the following questions: - WHAT WAS THEIR UPBRINGING LIKE? Nurturing, Reserved, Wealthy, Poor, Disfunctional, or Absent. - WHAT IS THEIR EXTENDED FAMILY LIKE? Close, Distant, Nosey, or Judgemental. - WHAT KIND OF WORK HAVE THEY DONE? Blue Collar, Academic, Military, Government, Exploration, Criminal, STEM, Office, or Religious. - HAS YOUR CHARACTER BEEN CAST OUT FROM ANYWHERE? Home, Guild, City, or School. - HAS YOUR CHARACTER LEFT ANYONE BEHIND? Family, Love, Rival, Friend, or Partner. - HOW HAS YOUR CHARACTER GOTTEN INTO THEIR CURRENT SITUATION? Hard times, Wanderlust, Favor, Forced, or Interest. Step Three: Your first chapter Next, you’ll need to write out and pick all the bits for the first chapter of your character’s story. You’ll need to fill out 2 features, 2 bonds, and 4 custom faculties. Information for each of these can be found in Character Abilities and Progression. Step Four: Items Finally, your character needs some stuff! Your character starts out with 4 named items that they could reasonably own and have on their person. Starting Money Roll 5d6 and multiply by one of the choices on the list below, based on how well-off your character is: - DESTITUTE 1 times - IMPOVERISHED 2 times - POOR 5 times - AVERAGE 10 times - WELL OFF 20 times - RICH 50 times Reference: Character Features Here is a selection of core features that your characters can choose from. These are intended to be useful across most games, though they will not necessarily be applicable to every game. Be sure to talk to your GM about any that they are excluding from their game, as well as any additional ones that they might be including. Capability Features FAST RECOVERY Feature All of your downtime resources have advantage. INTUITIVE Feature If you are unsure about your situation, or a course of action, you can fish for an intuition, and choose to trust your gut. Make a luck check, and: - ON A HEADS the GM will give you a vague “assured”, “uneasy”, or similar feeling about your quandary. The answer will truthfully reflect the situation, but does not need to give further insight than that. - ON A TAILS your intuition is neutral and gives no strong indication. JACK OF ALL TRADES Feature A Jack of all trades, master of none, is often better than a master of one. You gain +1 to your pool for every scene. UPGRADABLE: For each additional level, you can add 1 more to your dice pool. Equipment Features HONED Feature Pick either a type of item, or one of your faculties when you take this feature. You gain advantage on all resource rolls with it. REPEATABLE: You may take this feature multiple times, choosing a different faculty or item each time. IMPROVED CRITICAL Feature When you take this feature, write down one kind of item that you know how to use. You have improved your abilities with this item and roll critically on 1 number lower with it. REPEATABLE: You can take this feature multiple times, choosing a different type of item each time. SWIFT Feature When you take this feature, write down one kind of item that you know how to use. You are adept at using this, and gain an additional resource when you use it. REPEATABLE: You can take this feature multiple times, choosing a different type of item each time. UPGRADABLE: You can upgrade this feature, for each additional level you put into a type of item you gain an additional resource with it. CRAFTY Feature When you take this feature, name 1 type of trade or tool-set that your character would know how to use. You may now halve the difficulty for any crafting scenes which make use of said skill-set. REPEATABLE: You may take this feature multiple times, choosing a different trade or tool-set each time. WELL PREPARED Feature You can name 5 items on your person instead of 4. UPGRADABLE: For an additional level, you may have 6 named items instead of 5. Fighting Features AMBUSH Feature Once per scene, you may have a cut-away to attempt to ambush another character in the scene. This can be for an attack, but it does not need to be. You must either be out of sight when this begins, or be reasonably able to duck out of sight without being seen. If you succeed at your cut-away, you may add your pool from the cut-away to the main scene. BLOODLUST Feature Whenever you roll critically with a weapon, you regain a point of stamina. DODGER Feature Whenever you take a wound, you may spend a stamina to dodge out of the way and negate it. HUNTER Feature When you take this feature, write down 1 type of creature that your character has studied. You have advantage on all resources for scenes in which you track, hunt, attack, and interact with any creature that falls within that type. REPEATABLE: You may take this feature multiple times, writing down a new type of creature each time. UNDYING Feature Whenever you would lose a fight, you gain 1 final resource to try to push through. This must be the final resource rolled for the fight. Team Features DIRECTOR Feature Whenever your team makes a detailed plan to do something, you gain a resource for every person on your team. You may spend these at any time so long as you are following the plan. UPGRADABLE: For an additional level, you gain 2 additional resources from this ability. MEDIC Feature You may spend an hour to patch up another character, healing 1 wound of theirs. You cannot heal them again using this until they have benefited from sleep. UPGRADABLE: For an additional level, you can heal someone 3 times per day using this ability. COMPANION Feature This feature gives you a partial character (such as a trained animal) under your control. Your companion uses a regular character sheet, but does not have any bonds, nor does it gain XP. Additionally, you gain any karma it acquires. It often makes sense for a companion to take features from the nonhuman features section, as many are animals, robots, or otherwise. Your GM may be more stringent with the types of regular features it can take if your companion isn’t humanoid or intelligent. UPGRADABLE: For every additional level you put into this feature, your companion progresses to their next chapter. TEAMWORK Feature When you spend stamina, you may grant it’s effects to another creature. Navigation Features FLAWLESS NAVIGATOR Feature While present and aware at any location, you may memorize it’s position. While memorized, you can always find your way back. You may only have 1 location memorized with this ability at any given time. UPGRADABLE: For each additional level, you may memorize an additional location. Social Features BLACK MARKET Feature Because of your connections, you know people who can obtain certain illicit items and substances for you to purchase. You can do so discretely, and your GM may allow you to call in favors from NPCs you have history with instead of payment. KEEN EAR Feature Whenever you eavesdrop on a conversation, make a luck check. On a success: you interpret an unspoken detail that most wouldn’t have picked up on. Meta Features MOMENTUM Feature When you take this feature, you gain a special pool of points called “momentum”. You may spend these points like you would stamina, or give them to other characters to use in the same way. You may have up to 10 momentum at any given time. - You gain +1 momentum when you: - Finish a scene - Roll critically on a resource - Succeed on a risk check - You lose all momentum when you: - Fail to complete a scene’s goal - Fail a risk check UPGRADE: KEEP MOVING You gain the following momentum mechanics: - You may spend a stamina to keep your momentum if you lose it. - You gain +1 momentum when you roll 1 under a critical roll. GOOD LUCK Feature Whenever you roll a 1 for a resource, you may reroll that die. You must use the new result though, even if it is another 1. UPGRADABLE: For another level, you can reroll both 1s and 2s. Optional: Powers BOUND ITEM/COMPANION Feature You magically bind an item or a companion that you already have to your person. - FOR 1 STAMINA you can summon it. - You can dismiss it at will for free. TRANSFORM Feature Write down a brief description of an alternate form, as approved by your GM. - FOR 2 STAMINA you can shift into this alternate form. - You may unshift for free. TELEPATHY Feature You have the ability to communicate telepathically to anyone within line of sight of you. UPGRADE 1: For an additional level, you may establish a continuous connection with 1 person that can extend out of your line of sight. This person must be nearby to you and within your line of sight to establish the connection. UPGRADE 2: For a second additional level, you may establish a continuous connection with multiple people. PROJECTILE REDIRECTION Feature - FOR 1 STAMINA you may snatch a projectile, negating the wound. - FOR 1 MORE STAMINA you gain a resource as you fling it back at your opponent. REVENANT Feature Your soul is bound to this place, and refuses to pass on. If you are killed, your body will reanimate after 4d6 hours. Nonhuman Features PLAY DEAD Feature At will, you may put yourself into a temporary death-like state. While like this, you are limp and do not react to external stimulus. After 1d6 minutes, you regain your normal composure. ELECTRIC SHEEP Feature Instead of sleep, you may do light repairs on yourself while remaining awake. This takes half the time of regular sleep. Optional: Freeform Magic (WIP) This is an optional ruleset for worlds in which more varied magic and spellcasting would make sense. Spellcasting makes use of the GM’s difficulty tables towards the end of the handbook. Magic Features PATRON MAGIC Feature Your magic comes from a patron (such as a deity or other powerful being) to which you have gone into service or struck a deal with somehow. This being only has influence over certain things, which limits the power that it can grant you. When you take this feature, answer the following questions: - What is the being that your power comes from, if you know? - What is the nature of the service to your patron? - What are the domains that your patron has influence over? You gain a special pool of points this feature (name it what you like) representing your patron’s favor towards you. You may add these to your pool for any scene in which you use magic. This does not expend your points. This pool starts at 0, and can be increased in the following ways: - COMMITTING A SMALL ACT IN YOUR PATRON’S FAVOR: +1 - CONVERTING SOMEONE TO YOUR PATRON’S SERVICE: +5 - OBTAINING AN ITEM OF INTEREST FOR YOUR PATRON: +10 You lose 1 point from this at the end of each week. Additionally, you can lose favor with your patron in the following ways: - VIOLATING THE VIRTUES OF YOUR PATRON: -10 - COMMITTING A MAJOR ACT AGAINST YOUR PATRON: Resets your points to 0. COMPONENT MAGIC Feature You have studied a discipline of magic, and can summon or control it’s power through the use of magical components. You may use a special items, called magical components as a resource towards scenes where you are using your magic. You can gather components by first asking your GM to list some plants, animals, gems, and metals that are magically conductive in this world, and then rolling on the appropriate part and preparation tables to determine what you need to do before you can use it. When you take this feature, you start with 2 components. You can gather and prepare more components as you find them, rolling on the component tables as needed. Magical components do not count against your named items. CHAOS MAGIC Feature Your magic is..unpredictable. Sometimes, it’s extremely powerful, while other times it can fizzle out and leave you hanging. Maybe it’s innate, something you were born with and forced to master. Or perhaps you were taught by someone who dabbled on the edge of what’s usually considered safe. In any case, it’s unpredictability has lent itself to be both a help and a hindrance in your times of need. When you take this feature, write down in a few words what the theme of your magic is, and a lucky number from 1 - 6. The chaotic nature of your magic does not limit it in the same way that other’s magic is limited, but it tends to follow a pattern of manifestation unique to you, such as psionic, elemental, hemocraft, etc. You gain a resource from this feature for your spellcasting. However, it has some additional mechanics as outlined below: - Whenever you roll your lucky number, you crit. - You may also push your magic, adding an additional die but requiring a risk check when you do so. UPGRADABLE: For each additional level, you start with an additional die when you first roll this resource. Spellcasting Components Component Types Name Preparation ----------------- ------------------------------------- Beast Bits Roll for beast part and preparation Plant Bits Roll for plant part and preparation Gems and Stones Roll for preparation. Metals Roll for preparation. Beast Parts This is a two roll table. Roll 2d6 for the rarity, and 1d6 for the specific part. +---------+-----------+---------------------------+ | 2d6 | Area | Parts | +=========+===========+===========================+ | 2 - 6 | Common | 1. Knuckles / Fins | | | | 2. Teeth / Beak | | | | 3. Rib | | | | 4. Ear | | | | 5. Liver | | | | 6. Digit | +---------+-----------+---------------------------+ | 7 - 9 | Uncommon | 1. Horn / Antler / Hair | | | | 2. Heart | | | | 3. Claws | | | | 4. Spleen | | | | 5. Forepaw | | | | 6. Eyes | +---------+-----------+---------------------------+ | 10 - 11 | Rare | 1. Skull | | | | 2. Hide | | | | 3. Tail | | | | 4. Tongue | | | | 5. Intestines | | | | 6. Wishbone / Collarbone | +---------+-----------+---------------------------+ | 12 | Very Rare | 1. Brain | | | | 2. Spine | | | | 3. Femur | | | | 4. Tendon | | | | 5. Foot | | | | 6. Lungs / Gills | +---------+-----------+---------------------------+ Plant Parts 1d6 Part ----- -------- 1 Pedals 2 Bud 3 Bark 4 Stem 5 Seed 6 Pollen Plant / Beast Part Preparation 1d6 Name Description ----- -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Fresh Must be used within 1d6 days of harvest. 2 Powdered or Pasted Ground to a dust or spread. 3 Pickled Preserved in vinegar or brine. 4 Fermented Aged and preserved. 5 Tincture Dissolved into an alcoholic mix. 6 Lying Preserving with lye is a common way to cure certain foods. Metal / Gem Preparation 1d6 Name Description ----- ------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Ore Must be completely unrefined. 2 Powdered Ground to a fine dust. 3 Fork Shaped or cut into a two-pronged form. 4 Orb Formed into a smooth, spherical shape. 5 Instrument Must be formed into a whistle or other instrument that is sounded when used. 6 Container Must be formed into a container of some kind, used to hold another component and cause it to be more potent. GM: Running the Game Difficulty Guidelines You can use the following tables to help determine an appropriate difficulty for most goals: Complexity Tier Description Difficulty Modifier Examples ----------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- ---------- Straightforward A goal with little in the way of complexity or hiccups +0 Hindered A goal with some obstacles +10 Elaborate A goal with significant complexity to it or potential obstacles +20 Area of Influence Size Modifier Example ---------- ---------- ---------------- Tiny +0 A single item Small +2 A desk Medium +4 A room Large +8 A floor Huge +16 A house Gigantic +32 A neighborhood Abnormality +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ | Tier | Description | Difficulty Modifier | Examples | +=============+=============================+=====================+=============================+ | Everyday | Fairly mundane | +0 | - Lighting a fire | | | | | - Creating motes of light | | | | | - Hacking into a door | +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ | Implausible | Unlikely but technically | +10 | - Summoning a billow of | | | possible | | flames | | | | | - Creating an illusory | | | | | visage | | | | | - Reprogramming a purpose | | | | | built device | +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ | Miraculous | Firmly bending the rules of | +20 | - Instantly healing a | | | reality | | wound or sickness | | | | | - Controlling the | | | | | elements | | | | | - Brain interfacing | +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ | Absurd | Powerfully breaking the | +30 | - Restarting the sun | | | rules of reality | | - Bending spacetime | | | | | - Creating artificial | | | | | life | +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ | Maddening | So far beyond the norm that | +40 | - Summoning knowledge | | | it threatens the very minds | | from beyond the realm | | | of those around it | | - Resurrection | | | | | - Navigating an | | | | | extra-dimensional place | +-------------+-----------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------+ Scene and Resource Guidelines Changing Circumstance You can adjust the difficulty of a scene if your player changes their goal slightly. For example, your player might decide that in addition to scoping out a spot for them to hide, they also want to plant some tools for them to use later now that they’ve found somewhere to put them. Fights and Combat Running a fight in Uune is very similar to any other scene, you set a difficulty and allow the players to work their way through the scene. You should set the difficulty based on the number and power of the enemies. As an example, if your party is fighting 3 thugs who each have a difficulty of +10, the fight will have a difficulty of 30. You can also add additional modifiers for things as normal, such as having additional goals or requirements (like silent takedowns). Also note that losing a fight doesn’t always mean that the PCs die, in fact often times death isn’t the intended outcome. A robber really just wants their stuff, not a murder charge. A guard is likely going to try to detain them if they can. While death can be the outcome, it’s not always the case. For more notable enemies, you should feel free to give them special abilities that affect the PCs more directly. This might be something that wounds them, limits their ability to use certain resources, or affects the environment around them. Collections The “pile of stuff” can be a tempting source of nearly infinite dice for the players. Instead of checking for every possible item, instead give your players a set number of resources per room, or possibly per collection if there are distinct collections there. You should also feel free to allow specific stand-out items separate from this, but that should be the exception. Size of Collection Example Number of Resources -------------------- ------------- --------------------- Pile A surface 2 Heap Shelves 4 Horde A warehouse 8 Specialty Scene Types Cut Aways At times, you may want to draw focus onto the actions of a particular PC(s) in order to give more narrative weight to them. This can be accomplished by having an inner/child scene, which is separate but connected to the main scene. These should have their own pool, difficulty, and resource usage. I.e. faculties rolled in the main scene are available to the PCs for the cut away. While these should generally be kept short and focused, they can affect the main scene in ways that drastically shift the circumstances but do not directly add to the PC’s pool. You should consider adjusting the difficulty of the main scene, or even throwing out the original scene goal entirely if need be. Investigation Scenes Rather than setting a static difficulty for investigations, let the PCs roll resources and reward them with another clue for every 10 points they add to their pool. Persuasion Scenes If your players need to shift the mood of an NPC, first approximate the NPC’s standing towards them or the target of their words: - Helpful - Friendly - Neutral - Sour - Hostile Then, approximate the believability of the story the PCs are trying to tell, and chose the corresponding difficulty: Believability Difficulty --------------- ------------ Likely 10 Implausible 15 Outlandish 20 Absurd 25 Unimaginable 30 Finally, increase the difficulty by +5 for each step that the PCs want to move the NPC’s standing. --------- ----- 1 Step +5 2 Steps +10 3 Steps +15 4 Steps +20 --------- ----- Additionally, you can combine these rules with the area of influence table for crowds. Trekking Scenes If travel in your game is difficult, you can have your players work towards their travel with a collective trekking scene. Remember that everyone in the group will likely be contributing to the pool, so the difficulty will need to be decently high to matter. Distance Difficulty ---------- ------------ Close 20 Far 40 Very Far 60 For the duration of the travel, your players won’t be able to mechanically rest until they reach their destination, representing them burning through their resources and energy on the journey. If your players will be unable to reach their destination, they may need to alter course and stop at a closer destination to rest and resupply. This can be a town or city, or it could be a camping site. This will cost them some extra time, how much depends on how long they spend at the stop. Travel Event Scenes Credit for this travel system goes to Pointy Hat on YouTube. If you want to run cinematic travel, the Travel Events System gives a flexible way to avoid the gruel of day-to-day survival travel. The gist is this: when the party travels, the GM chooses a number of events depending on the relative length of the travel. Distance Number of Events ---------- ------------------ Close 1 Far 2 Very Far 3 With a few types of events to choose from, or mix between: - COMBAT like some kind of a hostile encounter, could be monsters, could be bandits, could be rival adventurers. - EXPLORATION like some kind of environmental obstacle or significant area. - ROLEPLAY like an interaction with other characters. You can adust the exact number of events as needed, more or less depending on how much time you want to spend on travel. Events can also shift based on circumstance and action, such as a roleplay event turning into a combat event if things go south. Combining with Trekking Scenes You can run both of these at once as well, having your players both have an overall scene as well as more zoomed in story moments as cut-aways. The travel events can also cause the trekking scenes to require more resources, as it may take further away from the player’s stock and force them to reroute and resupply. Crafting Scenes Crafting scenes have a difficulty equal to the cost of the item the PC is trying to make (see the cost and availability table below). Item Rarity and Value Whenever a character wants to purchase an item, you may reference the rarity table to determine it’s cost based on it’s PURCHASE RARITY and value. The table is currency agnostic and can be adapted to your specific game if need be. Item Availability - FOR GENERAL STORES roll a flat d6. If you roll equal to or greater than the rarity, the store has it. - FOR SPECIALTY STORES roll with advantage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Value ↓ Rarity → 1 - Everyday 2 - Frequent 3 - Common 4 - Scarce 5 - Rare 6 - Exotic --------------------- -------------- -------------- ------------ ------------ ---------- ------------ 1 - Worthless 1 5 10 25 50 100 2 - Cheap 5 10 25 50 100 500 3 - Affordable 10 25 50 100 500 1000 4 - Valuable 25 50 100 500 1000 10000 5 - Expensive 50 100 500 1000 10000 50000 6 - Luxury 100 500 1000 10000 50000 100000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM: Prepping the Game NPC Roll Tables One Word Mannerisms d100 Mannerism ---------- --------------- 1 - 2 Aggressive 3 - 4 Aloof 5 - 6 Analytical 7 - 8 Articulate 9 - 10 Arrogant 11 - 12 Artistic 13 - 14 Bold 15 - 16 Brawny 17 - 18 Charitable 19 - 20 Charming 21 - 22 Crazed 23 - 24 Confident 25 - 26 Courteous 27 - 28 Defensive 29 - 30 Diligent 31 - 32 Disheveled 33 - 34 Disrespectful 35 - 36 Dull 37 - 38 Eager 39 - 40 Energetic 41 - 42 Entitled 43 - 44 Envious 45 - 46 Empathetic 47 - 48 Fancy 49 - 50 Fake 51 - 52 Foolish 53 - 54 Genuine 55 - 56 Greedy 57 - 58 Impulsive 59 - 60 Intolerant 61 - 62 Jealous 63 - 64 Lazy 65 - 66 Modest 67 - 68 Mousy 69 - 70 Naive 71 - 72 Organized 73 - 74 Overcritical 75 - 76 Peaceful 77 - 78 Pessimistic 79 - 80 Perceptive 81 - 82 Pompous 83 - 84 Rude 85 - 86 Shady 87 - 88 Shallow 89 - 90 Stubborn 91 - 92 Tactful 93 - 94 Talented 95 - 96 Vain 97 - 98 Wizened 99 - 100 Zany Interests / Hobbies d100 Interest ---------- ----------------------- 1 - 2 Antiquing 3 - 4 Archery 5 - 6 Baking 7 - 8 Biking 9 - 10 Bird Watching 11 - 12 Board Games 13 - 14 Bonsai 15 - 16 Calligraphy 17 - 18 Camping 19 - 20 Cards 21 - 22 Climbing 23 - 24 Cooking 25 - 26 Dancing 27 - 28 Decorating 29 - 30 Diving 31 - 32 Drawing 33 - 34 Embroidery 35 - 36 Gardening 37 - 38 Ham Radio 39 - 40 Hiking / Running 41 - 42 Horseback Riding 43 - 44 Improv 45 - 46 Jewelry Making 47 - 48 Kayaking 49 - 50 Knitting / Crochet 51 - 52 Leathercraft 53 - 54 Martial Arts 55 - 56 Movies / Theatre 57 - 58 Mushroom Foraging 59 - 60 Origami 61 - 62 Painting 63 - 64 Photography 65 - 66 Plant Pressing 67 - 68 Playing a Sport 69 - 70 Playing an Instrument 71 - 72 Pottery 73 - 74 Quilting 75 - 76 Reading 77 - 78 Scrapbooking 79 - 80 Singing 81 - 82 Spelunking 83 - 84 Street Art 85 - 86 Swimming 87 - 88 Tap Dancing 89 - 90 Travelling 91 - 92 Video Games 93 - 94 Volunteering 95 - 96 Woodworking 97 - 98 Writing 99 - 100 Yoga Prompts (WIP) Quests WHO IS REQUESTING THE PARTY TO DO SOMETHING? - A faction - Underground Market - Government or Military - A company - A religious group - An academic institution - An independent actor - A criminal - A collector - An official - Someone not important - Something forgotten or secret WHAT IS THE PARTY INTERACTING WITH? - An Item - A Person - Information HOW DOES THE PARTY NEED TO INTERACT WITH IT? - Retrieve it - Protect it - Destroy it - Deliver it - Understand it WHERE DOES THE PARTY NEED TO GO? - Somewhere in use - Somewhere abandoned - Somewhere on the move HOW IS THE PARTY BEING REWARDED? - Money - A favor - An item - Transport - Information Villains WHAT TYPE OF MOTIVE DOES THE VILLAIN HAVE? - AGENT OF CHAOS. Just evil for evil’s sake. - THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS. Fanaticism or conviction. - ADVERSARIAL. They work against someone or something in particular. - JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS. They answer to a higher power. - SELFISH FULFULLMENT, SURVIVAL, OR DESIRES. HOW DID THE VILLAIN COME TO BE? - Moral corruption. - Evil by nature. - Evil by nurture. HOW DOES THE VILLAIN ENACT THEIR PLANS? - Brute force. - Planning and plotting. - Purely as a leader. City Building - List at least 3 thematic rules for this city (what stands out) - List 3 things that contribute to this city’s economy - List at least 3 city districts. and 2 thematic rules for each - For each district, name… - 1 place of lodging - 1 neighborhood - 1 store - 1 place of learning - 1 religious building - Give each of those 1 thematic rule - Give a district for each of your city’s… - City Hall - Post Office - Courthouse - Name 3 modes of transportation and how well they function (exceptional, good, poor, horrid) - Name 2 things that are illegal here that are happening under the table - Give a thematic rule for each - Roll up a random name to be associated with each of these places, and pick/roll two 1 word descriptors of them