CORE MECHANICS
RESOLUTION MECHANIC
All resolutions fall within one of three outcomes. Failure, Success with Consequences, and Full Success. The player rolls three dice, two of which are derived from the character sheet. They are the Level Die and Path Die. The third die is a difficulty die given to them by the GM called the Imposition Die (ID).
To determine how successful a task is, the player rolls all three dice and compares the individual values on the dice against one another. Their goal is to get the individual values of their two dice to meet or beat the value of the ID. If that is the case then it is a Full Success. The player gets exactly what they were going for.
If only one of their two dice meets are beats the value of the ID then they've encountered a Success with Consequences. While they may have achieved their goal, it comes at a cost. The cost should never override the success.
Finally, if the value on the ID is greater than both the Level and Path dice, then the character has failed at their task. The consequences for which can be minor setbacks to downright fatal (see Severity of Outcome).
Characters are not without their tricks, however. While the GM has the power to set the Imposition Die, the players have access to Aptitude (see Paths) which allows them the ability to lower the starting Imposition Die.
THE THREE DICE
LEVEL DIE
This die represents a character’s overall level or power and is rated on a scale of d4 to d12. It is the first of two dice the player rolls in order to overcome the Imposition Die. You are encouraged to name it something that instantly speaks to theme of your game. Spell Die, Martial Die, or Investigation Die all give an indication as to what the game is about. For the players this die will be the most consistent one.
For The Crypt Has Opened this die started at a d6, as the players were able to lower it for additional affects. This needn’t be the case for your game.
Dueling
An optional use for the Level Die is a mechanic for dueling characters. Much like an NPC has a Threat Die (see Enemy Design) a player can lower their Level Die, to a minimum of a d4, to raise the Imposition Die of their opponent. Meaning that if a character has a d12 Level Die, they have the ability to impose up to 4 levels of Imposition.
PATH DIE
This is the second die a player will roll to overcome the Imposition Die. This die will change the most from task to task. It is determined by whatever Path (see Paths) a player is using to overcome an obstacle. A character has many Paths to choose from, some more suited to achieving their goal than others. Each Path has a die associated with it that can range from a d4 to a d12.
IMPOSITION DIE
The entire system revolves around the Imposition Die. Set by the GM, this die represents how difficult a task or obstacle is prior to character involvement. It can range from a d4 (an easy task) up to a d12 (a challenging task). Is the character attempting to climb a rocky wall with climbing gear? Sounds like an easy task of a d4. Is it smooth? Perhaps a d6 is more appropriate. Is it a sheer surface with covered in oil? Definitely a d12.
NPC opponents also fall under this rating by using their Level Die (see Enemy Design).
The GM will always state the level of Imposition to the player so that they may make informed decisions. Having this information promotes making interesting and clever choices. Trying to intimidate a surly guard may be a d8 Imposition. But perhaps some honeyed words or the right bribe may mean a d6 or d4! Players are not committed to an action until the dice are rolled.
Characters are never stuck with the stated level of Imposition. Using their Aptitude (see Paths) they have the chance to lower the Imposition.
Constant Imposition
There may be circumstances where outside forces are acting on a character such that the base Imposition is raised by a number of Imposition Levels on an individual character basis. Perhaps an adventuring party is fighting a group of goblins, who each are rated as a d6. Anything the players attempt to do against the goblins starts at a d6. However, one party member is fighting off a poison affect, slowing them down. They could incur a level of Constant Imposition, making all of their tasks one level higher, thus turning the base Imposition of the goblins to a d8 for that character.
Irresistible Imposition
Some situations may call for a difficult situation to remain difficult, no matter how good a character may be. Irresistible Imposition means that a player cannot use their Aptitude to lower the Imposition and must face the problem head on.
Irresistible Imposition need not always be all or none. A GM may levee any number of levels, effectively reducing how much Aptitude a character may apply to a roll.
All is not lost, however, as a player may always spend Stress (see Stress) to reduce Imposition.
PATHS
Also known in other games as Attributes or Traits, Paths give the player an idea on what the game is about. They are genre specific actions a character undertakes to solve problems or overcome obstacles. When coming up with a set of Paths, think about what kind of actions you want the players to undertake that facilitate an interesting narrative. They should be concrete and actionable.
How many paths should there be? As many as you feel the players will need to overcome different problems. Let’s make a game about collegiate wrestling. We’ll start with these Paths: Overpower, Explosiveness, Conditioning, and Tricks. Each of the Paths helps to the player what they’ll expect out of the game. It’s clear we’re focused on the character’s ability to wrestle!
During the match we now have interesting choices to make. Maybe you just want to Overpower your opponent to put yourself into an advantageous position, or rely on your Conditioning to outlast them, or maybe sneak in a Trick to put them off their guard.
However many Paths you choose, or whatever you’d like to call them, they are each rated on a die scale of d4 to d12. At character creation every Path starts at a d4.
ASPECTS
Every Path has a number of Aspects listed under them. While a Path represents an action a player can take, the Aspect represents a specific area of that action the character is particularly good at. Using our collegiate wrestling example, we could have three Aspects for each Path. For Tricks we will have Trash Talk, Twisting, and Nope. Trash Talk is your character attempting to put your opponent off their game through words. Twisting is attempting to use illegal moves in secret to get an advantage on your opponent. Whereas Nope is your defense against being Tricked yourself!
Aren’t Trash Talk and Twisting essentially the same? Perhaps, but each may affect a character’s starting Imposition. If the referee is nearly on top of you both, making Twisting harder (d8). So perhaps Trash Talk a better option! Also, the narrative options for failing a Trash Talk versus Twisting become very different and may take the scene in wildly different directions.
Aspects are not rated by a die roll, but instead allow the player to lower Imposition per point of Aptitude within the Aspect.
Aptitude
Each Aspect can have up to five points of Aptitude. This represents just how good they are with that Aspect. Each point lowers the Imposition Die one step to a minimum of a d4.
A character’s Aptitude is limited by the Die Level of the Associated Path. So, a wrestler with a Trick of a d8 is only able to have three points in any or all of the associated Aspects Trash Talk, Twisting, and Nope.
STRESS
When a character has no more Aptitude to put toward lowering Imposition or wants to overcome Irresistible Imposition, they can use Stress. Characters have 9 points of stress they can spend on any roll they wish. Each point spent lowers the Imposition by another die level. The player may spend as much Stress as they’d like per roll, but there is a cost. For every 3 Stress spent they incur a Constant Imposition of +1 to all future rolls. Once all 9 points are spent the character passes out. The Constant Imposition is only added after the roll that would incur the penalty.
Stress can also be spent to re-roll any roll. If the player had spent stress previously to lower the Imposition Die, they do not need to spend it again. They only need to tick off another Stress box and roll. They can do this as many times as they want until they pass out.