You need a deck of cards and a word processor.

You can use paper, but

you will end up wasting a lot.

Basics
Competence is a measurement of your character’s general ability to
succeed in a situation. A character with higher competence will have
more cards in their hand for a scene than a character with a lower
competence. Competence is determined at the beginning of a scene, and
does not change until the character enters a new scene.

Competence is determined by a character's most relevant role and

level.

No Competence. A lack of any experience. This is for characters

trying something completely out of the purview of their role.
A character of no competence holds two cards in their hand, but
can only play the lesser valued card. Discard the card you do not
play.

Ex. A bewildered everyman attempting surgery on a wounded

goldfish. A confused baker determined to turn water to gold.

Little Competence. This is for characters doing something they

are passively familiar with, with little to no experience, or
something only barely related to their role.
A character of little competence holds one card in their hand.

Ex. A surly pirate at a fancy party. A pencil pusher

haggling at a black market.

Average Competence. This is for characters doing something they

have some familiarity with, or that is loosely related to their
role.
A character of average competence holds two cards in their hand.

Ex. An illegal street racer hitting a rival in a drive by. A

deep sea researcher fishing for food.

Good Competence. This is for characters who are skilled and

trained, but without overwhelming experience. Most characters
 doing something directly related to their role will act with good
competence.
A character of good competence holds three cards in their hand.

Ex. A vampire hunter stalking a suspected bloodsucker. A

hacker infiltrating a secure system.

Great Competence. This is for characters that find themselves in

situations that they have a great deal of experience and/or
training.
A character of great competence holds four cards in their hand.

Ex. A grizzled soldier fighting in the trenches. A

philosopher-king presiding over a passionate dispute.

Supreme Competence. The highest possible mastery. This level is

reserved for legendary characters performing actions central to
their role.
A character of supreme competence may choose any card in the deck
for their action once per scene

Ex. A legendary monk meditating on a great mystery. A

legendary accountant cooking the books for a crooked casino.
A legendary sailor tracking a great white whale.

A Role is a package of skills, abilities, and experiences, all

condensed into a word or two. Examples below.

Assassin, Doctor, Survivalist, Beast Handler, Bounty Hunter,

Ranger, Soldier, Paratrooper, Lawyer, Cowboy, Diplomat, Gambler,
Warlord, Actor, Slave, Journalist

Roles are open ended, but have a few restrictions. They are what your
character does, not what they are. Orc, God, or Cyborg are not roles.
You may add those as Features. An Orc Swordsman and an Elven Swordsman
would be competent in different scenes, features are used to
distinguish the two.

Roles also should ideally not be too broad or specific. Something like
Killer doesn’t give you enough information to help you determine
competence. On the flip side, an antique clock restoration artist
would probably only be useful in a very narrow set of scenes.
A Level is a description of seniority in your role. There are five
levels.

Novice characters are just beginning their role. They are

beginners, unskilled but with potential and drive.

Journeyman characters are skilled in their role. They are a dime

a dozen, but are reliable and tested.

Veteran characters are a cut above. They are battle tested, with
plenty of experience.

Master characters are operating at the peak of human capability.

Few can ever hope to reach this level.

Legendary characters are ascendant. They will be remembered

forever for their amazing feats. Only one Legendary character of
each role can exist at once in the world.

Your Level, Feature, and Role together are referred to as your

Description.

Traits are individual aspects of a character not covered by their

description. These are the things that make your character unique from
their peers. They can be hobbies, past times, skills, physical
descriptions, past experiences, or anything else you want to define.
Examples below.

Built like a Brick Wall, Light Footed, Wisdom of the Elders, Good
With Numbers, Knife Nut, Creepy, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Swarthy,
High Pain Tolerance, Too Lucky, Broadway Player, Maneater,
Hearing Voices, Pickpocket

Traits will allow you to play up to three cards, adding their values
together for your draw. [traits are loaded in downtime].

Difficulty will need to be chosen by each draw you make, and will
determine the number of cards you draw to determine your target
number. The difficulties are as follows.
 Easy tasks have a target number equal to the value of the lower
of two randomly drawn cards.

Average tasks have a target number equal to the value of one

randomly drawn card.

Hard tasks have a target number equal to the value of two

randomly drawn cards.

Extreme tasks have a target number equal to the value of three

randomly drawn cards.

Choose a difficulty based on how hard it would be for a character of

your description to complete your task.

A Scene is a loosely defined term, and what it means is ultimately up

to you. As a rule of thumb, you are in a new scene when you change
locations, or when your motivation shifts significantly.

Scenes can have traits of their own that may affect a character's
competence or the difficulty of actions in both positive or negative
ways. A vampire is less competent doing anything outside during
daylight hours, and a crime scene investigator would find some things
more difficult in the rain.
Example scene traits below.

Raging Fire, Strobe Lights, Rocky Waters, Foggy, Loud, Non-

Euclidean Architecture, Smell of Blood, Eyes Everywhere, Toxic
Atmosphere, Tense, Ley Lines, Surveillance Cameras, Circling
Wolves, Freezing Cold

Conflict Resolution
When your character enters a scene, choose a competence that best
describes how comfortable or experienced they are. Draw your hand
based on the competence you chose.

When you encounter a challenge, or a situation in which failure for

your character is possible or interesting, you will perform either an
action or take part in a conflict.

An Action is a singular act with the possibility of failure or

complications. Picking a lock, avoiding obliterating an unexpected
figure in the road with your car, or climbing a rocky cliff face could
all be considered actions. When performing an action, choose a
difficulty. Draw a number of cards depending on your chosen
difficulty, and play them. The value of these cards is your target
number.

Play a card from your hand. You may play multiple cards and add their
values if you have a relevant loaded trait.

Read the results based on the chart below. For the purpose of
determining blessing and curses, use the suit of the highest value
cards in both hands.

Difference Description

-3 Major Failure

-2 Moderate Failure

-1 Minor Failure

0 Redraw

+1 Minor Success

+2 Moderate Success

+3 Major Success

Suits Description
♠ < ♥
Greater Blessing

Lesser Curse
˅ ˄
Equal Neither ♦ > ♣
Success means that your character completes their main objective.

Failure means that your character does not complete their main
objective.

Blessings are additional benefits that happen as a result of your

action, unrelated to your main objective.
Curses are additional penalties that happen as a result of your
action, unrelated to your main objective.

[If at any point you are having trouble coming up with or justifying a
blessing or curse, just ignore them and move on. Treat the result as a
flat success or failure.]

A Redraw is a tiebreaker. You draw one more card from the top of the
deck and add it to the target number, then you draw another card from
the top of the deck and add it to your played cards. Continue this
until the tie is broken.

Some actions are too complicated to be performed with a single act. In

these cases, you will need to enter a conflict. A Conflict is a series
of interconnected actions that all serve a single purpose. Chasing a
wily thief over the London rooftops, going fist to fist with a bare
knuckle boxing champion, or navigating your ship through a deadly
asteroid field could all be considered conflicts.

Ultimately, what only requires an action and what will need a conflict
is at your discretion.

When you begin a conflict you will need to define the thresholds for
the conflict on both sides. Thresholds are possible endings to the
conflict. Once you pass one of the thresholds, the conflict ends and
that threshold comes to pass.

Thresholds are given a rating of at least 3. As each of your actions

come to pass, as a success or failure, will be counted toward one of
the thresholds ratings, depending on which threshold the results of
your action makes more likely.
Example scene below, with a conflict.

Capturing The Thief

Traits Dead of Night

Slippery Roof Tiles

Thresholds Thief Captured 3 - x

Thief Escapes 5 - x x
The scene above shows an active conflict. The character chasing the
thief has succeeded at one action, but failed at two, so there is one
point towards the Thief Captured threshold and two points toward the
Thief Escapes threshold.

As a general template, most conflict should have three thresholds; a

likely one rated 3, a less likely one rated at 4, and an unlikely one
rated at 5.

Characters
Characters are made up of Descriptions, Traits, Blessings, Curses, and
Inventory. We will go over how to create characters, as well as how
these pieces work and what they do.

Landon Rul Kheelu Nakami

Veteran Investigator Journeyman Pilot
Novice Raider Journeyman Raider
Traits Traits
Eagle Eye x Street Racer x
Crack Shot x Blood Rage xx
Flaws Flaws
Insufferable Drug Addict
Blessings Blessings
N/A Adrenaline High
Curses Curses
Exhausted Busted Leg
Inventory Inventory
Raider Kit Raider Kit
Holo-HUD Ceramic Wakizashi

Traits can be used to play multiple cards toward a single target

number. In order to use a trait, it must be loaded.

To Load a trait, your character must perform a Loading Scene. This is

a short scene where your character does something related to the trait
they are loading. Traits can be loaded up to three times. Per the
example above, Kheelu has the Street Racer trait. The loading scene
for that could include her tuning up her engine, going for a joy ride,
going to the car wash, or watching a race.
Each loading scene gives you one load, which you can spend one to one,
to allow yourself to play additional cards on actions related to that
trait for the rest of a scene.

Blessings and Curses is where you list all of the consequences of your
actions that affect your character, rather than the current scene.
Blessings can represent such things as good luck, momentum, secret
knowledge, positive relationships, or anything that is generally
helpful. Curses can represent physical damage, mental scars,
illnesses, or anything generally harmful.

Some blessings and curses may be temporary, only lasting for a scene,
a day, or some other predefined time period. Some, especially curses,
may be semi-permanent, requiring specific actions to remove them. If
either become truly permanent, they become a trait.

Your Inventory is a list of the items your character has on their

person. Items in your inventory will be either a Kit or an Artifact.

A Kit is a representation of a package of items, related to a role. It

is the set of items that professionals carry on them. Use it to
fictionally justify having an item when you need it. Kits have three
charges, which can be spent to declare that you have an item that a
character of that role would reasonably have. Charges can be
replenished at the society headquarters, or at the character’s
residence.

Items from a kit primarily serve to enable action or reduce its

difficulty, but do not give mechanical bonuses. It may be an easy
challenge to hunt a rabbit with a rifle, but an extreme action to use
a spoon. Finding buried treasure probably isn’t possible at all
without a metal detector or a treasure map.

Example Kits

Knight Kit - Broadsword, Heavy Armor, War Horse, Longbow, Orders

from the King, Holy Symbol, Misericorde, Heavy Cloak, Banner,
Battle Shield.

Spy Kit - Silenced Handgun, Cyanide Pill, Truth Serum, Hidden

Wire, Garrot, Radio Bug, Make Up Kit, Disguise, Pen Camera,
Collapsible Sniper Rifle.
An Artifact is a singular, pre defined item. Artifacts can be traded
between characters, and even stolen by other factions under certain
circumstances. When an artifact is used for an action, you may play an
extra card for that action. Artifacts do not have to be loaded, and
their effects can be stacked with other artifacts. A character can
hold no more than two artifacts at once.

Gameplay
The Societies is a game played from the point of view of your
organization as a whole. The Society is your character, despite the
fact that you will play as everyone in it. The characters are your
tools. You play the game in cycles, with you getting a turn and the
world getting a turn in response.

Your turn will begin with a spotlight move. A Spotlight Move is a

fully acted scene, starring one or more of your characters. Spotlight
moves are your way of achieving your objectives. A spotlight move will
play much like a session of a traditional RPG, albeit contained to a
single goal, or a handful of scenes.

Next, you will have your background move. A Background Move is a scene
that is set up and described in a few sentences, but is not
necessarily acted out. Background moves are limited to loading scenes,
recovery scenes, and vignettes.

Next, you will have your behind the scenes moves. A Behind The Scenes
Move is what you use to control your society from a more strategic
lens. In fact, behind the scenes moves will play much like grand
strategy games, or more like a traditional wargame. You will use these
to move your characters around the map, change the scope of or finish
projects, or swap out characters inventories. You may take one behind
the scenes move per character.

The World will often take turns as well, as a result of thresholds met
in a scenario.

A Scenario is a representation of possible future events. Each region

on your map will be home to at least one scenario, representing the
background events happening in that region. Scenarios will also form
as a direct result to your actions, successes or failures.
Scenarios function the same way as conflicts, with thresholds that
need to be met in order for real world effects to take place. The
difference being that scenarios are bigger picture events then
conflicts, and thresholds can be met without any player intervention
at all. Example scenarios below.

The King’s Sickness

Traits Preoccupied Doctors

Queen Rules

Thresholds King Recovers 5 - x / Mass Celebration

King Dies 3 - x / Succession Crises

This scenario shows the possible outcome of a sickly, bedridden king.

This could come about as a regional scenario via oracle consultation,
or maybe as a result of player action. Maybe the player is the cult of
a plague demon. Maybe you are a group of royal plague doctors who
failed to rid a deadly pestilence from the land.

The traits here apply to the region attached. Doctors are preoccupied
because many have been recruited to tend to the king, in a hands on or
research capacity. It will be hard to find a doctor to tend to your
society here. The Queen is the regent while the king recovers. She is
a more strict woman than the king, and the legal system is harsh under
her rule. Guards are extra vigilant, and judges are harsh in their
sentencing.

The thresholds show the possible outcomes of this scenario. Scenario

thresholds work differently than conflict thresholds, in that they
usually require supporting events rather than just singular successes.
A Supporting Event is a large scale event that can affect the outcome
of a scenario. A supporting event could be a move from the society;
maybe your society ventures out into the wilderness to find a rare
medicinal herb to treat the king, or maybe you spend a turn possessing
his chief physician with a plague demon. If you do not interact with a
scenario, do a likeliness draw (from the oracle section) to see how it
progresses without your intervention.

The less likely result is a recovery by the king, with five needed
supporting events. If this threshold comes to fruition, it will lead
to a scenario of a mass celebration. Feasting, parade, and revelry. If
the king dies, with three supporting events needed, then a succession
crisis will unfold. Will the regent Queen hold the crown, or will the
king’s son inherit?

Scenarios can be created in response to failed or successful draws as

part of a scene. A messy murder may result in a Murder Investigation
scenario. A successful rain dance ritual may result in a Week of
Storms scenario.

The Map is a representation of the world you are playing in. It does
not have to be an actual illustrated map, but it can be if you’d like.
The map is your largest division of location, and could represent a
city, country, planet, or even dimension. In some games, you may have
multiple maps to represent a game taking place over massive distances.

The map is made up of regions. Regions are subdivisions of the map

that act as self contained areas. Things in one region do not interact
directly with things in another region. Communication may not even be
possible, or easy between regions depending on your setting.

Regions can have traits, just like scenes. A desert may be Lawless, or
Dangerously Hot. A city street may be Haunted, Under Surveillance, or
Bustling. Regions are also the level at which your scenarios will
unfold.

Landmarks are the smallest division of location. Landmarks are the

areas that your characters operate in. A Battlefield, a Warehouse, a
Series of Rooftops. Landmarks have their own traits as well. Landmarks
are not predefined, and will be created in play.

In short, the Map is your total play area, Regions are groups of
related areas, and Landmarks are your character’s immediate
surroundings.

The Society
The Society is a collection of all of the playable characters, allies,
equipment, and/or locations at your disposal.

Your society can be divided into cells. Cells are divisions of your
society that operate in different locations or with different
purposes. A society that operates as a crime family may have a cell in
each neighborhood in the city with their own rackets. They may also
have a cell made up only of assassins, and a cell representing the
boss, his guards, and his manor.
Actor is a term used in this document to refer to people. Monsters,
androids, humans, animals, demigods, angry mobs, or barely sapient
forces. This term is used due to its generality, but also so that the
perhaps more appropriate term Character can adopt a more specific
meaning.

A Character is a singular, specific person. The gruff commander, the

silent hermit, the blind idiot god. Playable characters are described
above.

A Gang is a collection of actors that work together as one, in one

location and with a single purpose. A pack of wolves on the hunt, a
military company assaulting a city, a team of researchers working on a
single project together.

A Headquarters is a gathering place of a cell. Headquarters are always

landmarks, located in specific regions. They can have their own
traits, which can be added when creating the headquarters, or by
undertaking missions. They could be Defensible, Hidden, or Opulent.
These are places where your characters can recharge kits, reload
traits, and recover from curses. They also often provide places for
your character to live, work, and hang out in fiction.

Besides traits, the most impactful thing headquarters provide are

assets. Assets are physical things that can be used, passively or
actively, by members of your cell. Assets can have many benefits.

● Allow characters to attempt actions that would otherwise not be

possible for them.
○ The Librarium Satanis allows you to perform rituals to
summon demons.
○ The Forensics Lab can help us identify the poison.
○ A Hot Air Balloon can transport people or supplies.
○ An Orbital Cannon can wipe out a squad of mooks from space.

● Allow characters to gain new roles, traits, or artifacts.

○ Digging through the Rust Pile has yielded a Rusty Cleaver.
○ Hours of experimentation at the Underground Morgue has
turned you into a Dabbling Necromancer.

● Give all members of your cell a shared trait.

 ○ A peacekeeping office with a license to kill faces less
consequences when using deadly force.
○ A Shrine to the God of Life makes it much harder to catch
deadly diseases.

Assets need not be limited to only one of the above, and some assets
may do all in certain circumstances.

Society The Black Triangle

Type Necromancer Cabal

Cells The Winterhome Coven The Three Points

Region Winterhome Memorial Unfettered Forest
District

Headquarters Dilapidated Manor Gravesite Camp

Traits Rumors Locals are afraid Roving The camp moves twice
of this place. a week, to prevent
discovery.

Assets Ancient Catacombs Tannery

An old place that holds A station the bandits use
many secrets. to make leather from flayed
skin.
Garden of Death
A place of cultivated
flora, some deadly, some
with dark magical
properties.

The Oracle
The Oracle can be conceptualized as the other player of the game. It
is an impartial force that can be used to steer outcomes in a dramatic
manner, if so desired. The Oracle fills the role that gamemasters
typically fill in multiplayer RPGs.

Glossary ⭑ - Joker

♠ - Spades A - Ace

♥ - Hearts J - Jack

♣ - Clubs Q - Queen

♦ - Diamonds K - King
 This is an oracle to use for simple yes or
Yes / No no questions.

Draw Result Shift up 1 result level if a yes is likely.

Q,K Yes, and Shift up 2 result levels if a yes is very

likely.
10,J Yes
Shift down 1 result level if a no is likely.
8,9 Yes, but
Shift down 2 result levels if a no is very
6,7 No, but likely.

4,5 No Reconsider means take another look at your

question. Maybe you have made an unfounded
2,3 No, and assumption.
⭑,A Reconsider

Verb ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

A Kill Win Avoid Spoil

2 Sense Stage Freeze Purchase

3 Light Watch Sway Impress

4 Follow Share Dance Drain

5 Discover Birth Twist Spare

6 Gather Visit Wound Critique

7 Dream Warn Feel Pause

8 Hide Find Grow Wash

9 Chase Destroy Supply Lose

10 Perform Greet Measure Take

J Build Break Tend Forget

Q Accuse Defend Burn Steal

K Swallow Mourn Paint Whisper

Adjective ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

A Old Loved Sour Regal

2 Dense Fake Short Worthless

3 Wet Cool Pale Mixed

4 Many Slimy Strong Dire

5 Lost Sharp Endless Scarred

6 Warm Kind Scattred Tenuous

7 Close Suspicious Shiny Ethereal

8 Vile New Dead Small

9 Pretty Painful Crooked Trapped

10 Fierce Priceless Massive Hollow

J Sacred Brave Strange Taboo

Q Bloody Rare Young Deep

K Feeble Impossible Reverse Clear

Noun ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

A Statue Slave Mother Ocean

2 Home Hammer Dance God

3 Fist Fire Beast Treasure

4 Game War Dream Corpse

5 Life Coin End Light

6 Stone Wheel Trail Party

7 Monster Void Grave Peace

8 Seed Teacher Secret Pest

9 Blade Joke Entity Sanctuary

10 Scar Memory Story Mistake

J Toast Heart Beginning Rival

Q Regret Song Mind Point

K Family Door King Claw