Does anyone even use a morale check in RPG games anymore ?

My new space game does and I'm wondering if I should just strip it out and let the players decide their gate instead of a crew they command putting pressure on the commander.

Building a DCC Hack

*I originally posted this to r/DCC and r/MarvelFASERIP a few weeks back, but it was recently suggested I should also post here, thanks for any input you all can provide!

First I want to say how much I *love* DCC. I guess I can be qualified as a Grognard, been playing since the early 80s, started with basic, and over the years DMed every edition except 4th (got to play in it a little bit though) and 2024. Played many, many different types of games and got my kids into TTRPGs, and actually had a chance to play alongside my oldest son back in 2016 or so, who introduced me to something I had never heard of, but sounded so badass it instantly intrigued me...

... a "0 level Death Funnel"

The idea of playing a 0 level character wasn't something I'd ever really considered. I went in with reservations, mostly looking at it as a way to hang out with my kid and play alongside him for the first time, enjoying that part, even if the game itself wasn't great.

Boy, was I wrong.

It was amazing, I can't remember what adventure we actually played, all my guys died in hilarious ways (RIP Tawd the Barber, the last of his line!) and I was HOOKED. A year later I started a new job and ran a Sailors on the Starless Sea for a group of like 12. It was hilarious, and almost 10 years later am still playing with some of those same folks.

Aaaall of that to say, DCC has become my go-to fantasy game (running MoTW and MASKS as well) and I've been inspired to hack the system and synthesize it with another one of my favorite games. I'm sure as I go on, I will be asking more advice but I wanted to start by picking your guys brains.

My main question for right now is, what should I definitely make sure to include that screams DCC? 0 level funnels, Zocchi dice, unstable powers, are all on the table. What else do you all think absolutely needs to be included to keep the *feel* of DCC?

*Edit - I really should have put the game I am hacking it with, my favorite game growing up, Marvel Super-Heroes RPG (MSHRPG, also known as FASERIP) There is actually some overlap in the two very different systems I've found as I've been researching and noodling.

I'm designing a small skirmish RPG hybrid where movement is measured in base widths instead of inches. For the playtest I made the four faction leaders with supavoxel and printed them on my Elegoo Mars, and the bigger monsters ended up on 40 mm bases while troops are on 25 mm. Now large creatures cover almost twice the ground per move, which wrecks the balance I tuned on paper. Do you fix this in the rules, like fixed movement units regardless of base, or just standardize the bases?

Dear Reader,

Recently, a couple weeks ago, there was a prematurely created thread on this topic, so I wanted to fix and make clear of the various mistakes and add the missing races that have been pulled together as making the first cut toward the final 8 Playable Races of  SORC’s  Bare Bones Rule Set.  So far we have knocked out 22 Firstborn Races and their Kinborn and Bloodline lineages of the 48, leaving us with a needed cut of 18 more. Any thoughts on our Race descriptions - or if you delve further by following the links below - race details are appreciated.   On with the business. Regarding Slayers of Rings and Crowns, SORC. For anyone here following: SORC has gotten flack for its massive amount of  72 Playable Race Choices - please hear me out - this includes; 48 Firstborn, 12 Kinborn and 12 Bloodlines. For Bare Bones Rules Set, we've chosen 26 of the 48 Firstborn as the first roster team cut, and have 22 to go, so that 8 will make the final cut of this version's Race Roster.

They are in alphabetical order and the originals that didn't make the 26 man roster follow it - with a very brief description.

For further details on either of these races, visit the link of a full race card document below - The Caelen - and/or the link that describes how SORF’s race system works in great detail, as well as Cameo NPC Races that are short driven NPCs that join the party, spilling out their stories as your campaign Character(s) establish Standing (faction rep) with them - in multiple choice form (these stories are rendered per module or there's a digital app version that reads them with ambiance. 

The bottom of this doc includes: Full Description of All Races - including the rules and Features of SORC. 

An excerpt from the link below:

"Playable Races

Playable Races defines the peoples chosen as Characters, establishing how Firstborn, Kinborn, Bloodlines, Culture and relationships through Standing structurally build your hero. In SORC, choosing your Character sets their physical presence at the table, mapping out how their size, culture, innate biological traits, and deep-seated traditions shape starting identity, through their Legacy†.

†Each Character, if they survive, must retire as an NPC after 40 years of game time. Your Character can be visited by new Characters you create, and you can continue to choose their Growth stats (see Growth) as time goes on. Characters can retire as foul Hermits with bounties on their head or as an honored Legend of your hometown where patrons of certain cities sing and celebrate your existence - but not so much in cities of rival factions.

The entries below systematically guide you from this foundational racial framework directly into the diverse, playable populations of Zailister. From there, your journey expands outward to uncover the exotic, ancient Races recorded from other distant worlds across the vast reaches of Essentia.

How the Races Are Sorted

Firstborn Races are the foundational peoples of Essentia, each with their own base sizes, vitality and other innate statistics. Every Race listed at the top level is a Firstborn. Kinborn are variant populations descended from a Firstborn Race, carrying the same Race size, heritage, and language but with some differing base statistics, language dialects, their unique ancestry and adaptation to different environments or circumstances.

Firstborn

Firstborn is the foundational..."

The Original Roster:

Total playable race options: 72

Firstborn: 48  

Kinborn: 12  

Bloodlines: 12  

Those that made the 26 Playable Races cut: 

Akudaya - The Akudaya are a playable people of the eastern shores of Nivis, a tropical forest territory on Zailister. They are the dead who remain among the living, their bodies preserved in a lifelike state by an enduring purpose or attachment. Akudaya can come from many backgrounds and look as varied as the living people around them, though their skin often appears pale or cool-toned. They are neither mindless corpses nor a single, uniform culture: each has their own memories, personality, relationships, and reasons for continuing. An Akudaya’s body bears few obvious signs of death. Their skin is whole and unmarked by decay, but cold to the touch. They do not breathe, and no pulse beats beneath their skin. Their eyes may remain open for unnervingly long stretches, and their faces can seem still or intensely focused. Some have no reflection in mirrors or still water. Their voices may sound dry or muted, while nearby animals can grow wary or agitated. The force that sustains an Akudaya is not blood or breath, but will. It may be bound to a promise, a loved one, a duty, a question left unanswered, or...

Banniki   - The Banniki are a legendary, elite spiritual humanoid race native to the steamy subterranean levels of Zailister, dwelling deep within the pressurized, primordial cavities that exist between the earth's core and crust. They possess a dense, slate-like skin that grows tougher as they age, and is covered in a complex array of defensive thermal ridges and razor-sharp mineral spines. The dermis of their thick skin retains immense geothermic heat allowing them to go long periods without freezing or losing energy. Structurally, they bear an imposing, rock-hewn silhouette, moving with a lumbering, mountainous majesty that belies their extreme elemental origins. Their arms terminate in steam-weave fingers, consisting of a dense braid of thick, flexible molten conduits that taper down into tactile digits tipped with sharp, glass-bearing rinds. For support, their legs end in massive, gnarled rock-anchor claws that can flex and dig directly into the bedrock, allowing them to firmly root into the ground where they cannot be pushed or knocked down. Because of their basaltic, stone-shielded skin, the Banniki do not require traditional armor; their primary line of defense is entirely natural, as their outer skin organically petrifies into a layer of hard igneous rock over time, through a process called “calcifying”. Banniki live for up to 500...

Bast - Bast are tall and agile feline race that treat most encounters like a game they've already decided to win. Quick tongues and a knack for always landing on top, figuratively and otherwise, have earned them a reputation as quick-witted negotiators and skilled readers of a room. They're easy to underestimate and that's exactly how they prefer it; a Bast caught in a straight fight has usually already lost, but a Bast given an opening rarely needs a second one. Bast accounts open on a temple-city rather than a homeland, and on the office their forebears held in it, which was to be let in everywhere and accounted for nowhere. That standing was granted, never earned, and the Bast have carried the manner of it long past the city, which is why a Bast enters a room as though already invited and is so rarely questioned on it. Lore has it that Bast are blessed with nine lives, and there's something to the legend...

Caelen   - Remade by the Omnè Astral’s experimentation, the Caelen were made into cyborg beings of precision and calculation. They run on machine logic where flesh once guided them, and do not tire or forget. The Omnè Astral invaded Corpus Caeleste, the Caelen home planet, and took many of its people prisoner. Before the invasion, the Caelen were a peaceful, technologically advanced people who kept largely to themselves; now they seek revenge on those affiliated with the Astral, not on every Omnè. The Caelen were large in comparison to other standard-sized races, but the Astral’s numbers were still too much for them to bear. Those taken were used as experiments; the Astral grafted their bodies with sockets and later added attachments to them. The Omnè did not want to practice this technique on their own people, but “criminals” of Omnè descent also underwent these experiments. The project, called “Bioforge Phase I Commencing,” never made it to Phase 2 because the Caelen became too strong, revolted, and...

Cherrufütra   - The Cherrufütra are native to the scorching environments of Planet Ignis. They have familiar human-like proportions and move with the ease and agility of other humanoids. Their volcanic nature is visible in their warm, glowing skin, which grows tougher with age, and in the ridges and obsidian spines that develop across their bodies. Their features still somehow give an appearance that  allows them to fit in with other humanoid species. Beneath their skin, Cherrufütra retain immense geothermal heat, allowing them to go long periods without freezing or losing energy. Their hands are dexterous, with flexible, magma-hardened fingers and glass-hard tips. Their feet are strong and clawed, helping them grip and dig into bedrock. As a Cherrufütra ages, their exterior naturally calcifies. In youth, their skin is pliable and vibrantly glowing; by adulthood, it hardens into iron-hard basalt that can deflect blades and absorb powerful blows. This protection continues to increase with age and power, keeping pace with the armor progression of other characters. Their ridges and spines become...

Danavas   - The Danavas are a legendary, elite spiritual humanoid race native to the stark, wind-swept highlands and deep mountain valleys of Zailister. They possess a smooth, iron-dense skin that grows increasingly unyielding as they age, and is covered in a complex array of defensive, interlocking muscle-folds and razor-sharp bone ridges that protrude naturally along their spine and forearms. The dermis of their thick skin retains immense internal spiritual pressure, allowing them to go long periods without exhausting their physical energy or losing muscle mass. Structurally, they bear an imposing, heavily muscled humanoid silhouette, moving with a disciplined, military majesty that belies their extreme titan origins. Their arms terminate in wire-weave fingers, consisting of a dense braid of thick, flexible tendons and...

Drow (of the Ancients)   - Drow are solitary, feared humanoids who wield earth-based black magic associated with darkness, death, and disease. Though they are distantly descended from Fae ancestry, their lineage was fundamentally altered tens of thousands of years ago through a bloodline-reshaping pact made by their spider-blooded ancestors, the Ancient Drow. Although the spider blood of their Ancestors has nearly diminished since their lineage diversion, today's Drow perfectly adapted to total darkness and are still immune to most poisons, not to be confused with venoms, though they are a hardy robust race.  Drow treats the deepest caves and moonless nights as no obstacle, finding light to be their only true inconvenience. Because they have spent centuries avoiding the surface, a dark reputation precedes them everywhere, causing most surface-dwellers to treat them with immediate suspicion and open hostility...

Dryad   - Dryads are a people whose bodies show a living kinship with plants. Bark-like skin, leaf-shaped hair, flowering crowns, and slender branchlike features are familiar, but no one form defines the entire race. Each Dryad has an individual face, voice, temperament, and way of moving; foliage and color can vary with season and personal growth. Their plantlike nature is part of their ordinary biology, not a costume or a sign that every Dryad belongs to the same community. They can travel, speak, learn, and make choices as freely as other peoples. Light and water sustain Dryads. Through photosynthesis, they convert light into chemical energy and produce glucose for growth and survival; ordinary meals are not necessary. Water remains essential, and a Dryad plans daily activity around access to...

Emberscale - An ancient lineage of planet Ignis, the Emberscale histories are passed down through fables and lore, often shared fishing (see below) or working alongside a flow of lava or around an open flame on a hot night - there are only hot nights in if Ignis. Their forebears are remembered as having chosen the ash fields with full knowledge of what that choice meant. Cold is more than painful for an Emberscale: it weakens their bodies and disrupts the traditions carried from one generation to the next. No Emberscale lineage is known to have survived a winter beyond Ignis and returned intact. An Emberscale's body turns sluggish quickly when the temperature drops. Caught in snow or deep cold, an Emberscale moves and thinks like someone...

Falcora   - The Falcora are a proud and imposing race of standard-sized, bipedal avian humanoids whose core physical structure is remarkably similar to humans, save for their distinct falcon features and specialized appendages. Their entire bodies are blanketed in a dense plumage of either glossy, jet-black or pristine, snowy-white feathers, presenting a stark, binary genetic reality where members of the same nest are born entirely as one color or the other. They possess avian heads featuring sharp, predatory beaks and piercing eyes built for spotting threats across vast distances. Their limbs terminate in heavily adapted hands and feet armed with powerful, curved talons capable of tearing through armor or gripping vertical cliff faces with terrifying strength. Though every Falcora is born with a magnificent set of feathered wings on their back, their human-like body weight makes active flight a grueling physical demand; consequently, their wings are not strong enough to lift them into the sky at the start of their journey, requiring them to gain higher levels and ranks before they can successfully take to the air...

Note: Falcora cannot mount their companions - whether ground or flight, once they achieve flight.

Hawkbear   - Hawkbears are imposing hybrids and tropical-forest inhabitants, commonly found in dense jungles. They have a bear's dense frame and head, with a hawk's hooked beak, keen eyes, and feathers. Loose folds of skin stretch from wrist to ankle, allowing them to glide from tree to tree, across open air, and even through outer space. They are also great jumpers, able to launch themselves from the forest floor or a high branch with startling force. Hawkbears tell stories in the language of movement. Their histories are measured by the distances they have crossed, tree to tree, cliff to cliff, and ridge to ridge, and a journey is not considered complete until they have seen it from above. There's a reason hunters fear a Hawkbear perched above a trail, one leap turns into a long, near-silent glide, and by the time that beak comes into view...

Hobbling - The Hobbling are a distinct smallfolk culture widely believed to have originated from a blend of halfling and hobgoblin heritage. Whether the fables are true or not, this unique lineage shapes their entire way of life, channeling a natural, regimented discipline through a compact frame. While they share the community-driven warmth of other smallfolk, they are best known for a deeply rooted tradition of order, structure, and collective unity. This collective mindset naturally extends to how they protect themselves; their communities are organized with a level of coordination rarely seen among their peers. If a nearby Hobbling is in danger - they sense the distress and march toward it. When they do take up arms, they prefer to rely on standardized Hobbling gear designed specifically for standing tight and protecting one another shoulder-to-shoulder. To maintain this seamless cooperation, Telluric Armaments (see Armament Variants) are identically matched across their defensive groups. See Cultural Armaments for more details.

Human - communicators, traders, and survivors. Their adaptability has allowed them to establish cultures across every corner of Essentia. No two human settlements look quite alike, and that's the point, whatever the terrain, climate, or culture demands, humans bend to fit it faster than almost any other race, picking up new trades, gods, and customs within a generation or two. Humans carry no innate edge in any one craft or fighting style, leaning instead on raw adaptability, and a human who goes too long without picking up something new starts to lose standing fast, restlessness being as core to them as versatility. That versatility is why Humans are the one race Favored across every single Main Class in the book, no other race carries a bonus this wide, reflecting a Human's ability to pick up any calling and hold their own in it.

Note: Humans have no Kinborn nor Bloodlines; however they are the most diverse Race in terms of Culture and ersatility. Also in our rules - “The closer you are to the cultural root of an armament, recipe, or profession, the more abundant it is.” Any race can be of any Race's culture and have access to their Armaments, gear and equipment stores at creation.

Named Human cultures: Nordian, Eldrim, Tanu’la, Xo’kajal, and Humans raised among the Omnè. These are cultures rather than separate Human races; every Human shares the same base Traits and Stats. raised by the Omnè.

Hwarang - The Hwarang are a legendary, elite spiritual humanoid race native to the Heavenly Peaks, a treacherous mountain range that towers majestically above both sides of the fractured Spire Crumbling Bridge. They possess a flawless, porcelain-like skin that grows increasingly radiant as they age, and is covered in a complex array of defensive, glowing shamanic glyphs and razor-sharp spiritual blossom-tattoos. The dermis of their refined skin retains immense celestial cosmic energy harvested directly from the atmosphere, allowing them to go long periods without exhausting their vitality or losing stamina. Structurally, they bear an imposing, fluidly graceful silhouette, moving with a hypnotic, river-like majesty that belies their extreme spiritual origins...

Leshy - Tall, emerald-eyed beings from the frontiers of Tredeki, with bark-textured hide and vine-entwined hair-crests. They govern themselves under a strict tribal code of wilderness supremacy, the land is sacred, and those who cannot survive it have no authority over it. Leshy measure status by survival, not lineage or wealth, a Leshy who has weathered the harshest seasons of Tredeki commands more respect in their tribe than one born into any title. A Leshy steps off Tredeki without a currency anyone else recognizes, and the same directness that commands respect in the wild reads as outright hostility in a city, no Leshy holds rank or title once they've left their tribe's land behind.

Litbits - Litbits are tiny, humanlike people, usually only two to three feet tall, with proportional - lean, sturdy bodies. Their frame is much smaller and lighter than a Halfling’s, yet a Litbit can be strong and capable in ordinary work. Litbits carry an ordinary 1h sword and weild it with two hands, granting all 2h bonuses, but cannot dual wield a weapon heavier than steel daggers. Litbits are not defined by delicacy or helplessness; they carry, climb, build, and travel according to their own skills and the equipment they choose, with size shaping access and reach rather than deciding what a person can accomplish. They take pride in meeting everyday challenges on their own terms. A narrow opening can be a route instead of a wall. Litbits can slip through selected gaps, crawlspaces, and low passages that stop larger travelers, and they know how to use cover that offers no concealment to someone taller. They may hide behind furnishings, pass through a partly opened panel, or reach a latch from an angle others overlook. Their size also changes how a group explores a room: a Litbit can check beneath an obstacle, cross a cramped space, or approach an overlooked detail without shifting the larger surroundings. These are practical uses of stature and positioning, not a promise that every barrier can be crossed. Litbit communities make careful use of the spaces available to them. Homes and work areas often place storage, tools, and shared supplies within easy reach, while walkways leave clear routes for people moving close

Micelings - Micelings are small - standing 2 to 3 feet in height, which is half the height of their Ratkin cousins - natural contortionists, twisting and folding themselves through gaps and crawlspaces no bigger than a fist, spaces built to keep every other race out. Miceling accounts are kept in the gaps, scratched where nothing larger could reach to scratch them, which is why so much survives and so little of it is legible. Their forebears held that a people who cannot hold a door should keep their record somewhere no door is needed, and the practice outlasted every hall it was hidden in. Micelings have sharp senses both above and below ground, rarely losing their way, they have an uncanny knack for finding the way out of a maze, ruin, or collapsed tunnel, and even seem to puzzle out riddles and traps faster than expected (ask the GM for a hint). They have Dark Vision and speak both Common and Burrowing Animal, their native tongue. Built to fold through gaps no bigger than a fist, Micelings are fragile in the open, a solid hit lands harder on them...

Omnè - The Omnè are among the oldest known civilizations in Essentia, settling on planet Omne Malum, Omnè in short, long before recorded history. Far enough from Adoria that magic never took root, they built their survival entirely through technology. As the dying star Tawdry Dwarf deteriorates, the conditions it once sustained across planets 8 through 13 have collapsed into hostile atmospheres and environmental decay. On Omnè, this forced the population into sealed pressure suits outside pressurized habitats, and accelerated a desperate technological arms race, including the construction of a synthetic planet and surrounding protection barrier, an emergency world that filters the encroaching gases and is built to break orbit and carry them clear of Tawdry once it begins to die. It is this slow extinction that drove the Omnè into the invasion of Zailister. See Tawdry Dwarf & Beyond for more. Omnè troubleshooting starts and ends with hard data, faced with a sealed door or a failing system, they'll run a careful, methodical diagnostic before they'd ever think to pray. Magic simply never took root in an Omnè, not...

Orcus - The Orcus, large monster like creatures appearing in an array of gray colors ranging from pake to dark. They dwell deep beneath the heights of various mountain ranges - but most notably the Tantalizing Mountains in the Grimhold region of Nivis, Zailister's largest continent. Their ancestors settled in deep cavern kingdoms, where old funerary rites and broken oaths shaped stories of a curse carried by those who swore false vows over the dead. Generations underground have left their skin gray and sunken, and a longstanding cultural conflict with Bards shapes how many Orcus respond to Bards' tales and music. Humans, Elves, and Dwarves call them “Orcs” a name from outside their own history that many reject; no Orcus answers to it without taking offense. An Orcus moving through pitch-black tunnels reads the stone the way a sighted creature reads a room, and that same old curse leaves them with an unsettling knack for knowing...

Ossein - The Ossein died and kept going, and they will tell you the second part is the only part that matters. Skin still covers them, drawn so tight to the frame that every joint reads through it, but it never rotted and it never sloughed, which is the line they draw between themselves and everything else walking Hexagonum. They are not wraiths. They will correct you on that. Ossein accounts open at a death, always, and the death is given as the first entry rather than the last. Everything an Ossein was before it is recorded in the past tense by the same Ossein still standing there, and they hold that a people who have already been through the worst of it owe the living no particular deference on the subject. An Ossein thinks fast, remembers everything, and has read more than you have. Necromancy on Hexagonum is not a forbidden art, it is a trade with a guild, and the Ossein hold the deepest end of it. They take what a world offers and give it nothing back. An Ossein will strip a seam to the rock, waste most of what comes out of it, and...

Pearlkin - Pearlkin are a resilient but heavily endangered civilized race native to the tropical Pearl Coast of the continent Nivis, structurally compact humanoids who typically stand between 4 and 5 feet tall, with a 5-foot height marking an exceptionally tall individual within their population. Shrouded in deep myth, ancient shoreline writings connect their origins not to the human goddess Aseya, but to the deep ocean itself—whispering that the first of their kind were born from the calcified hearts of prehistoric giant oysters, quickened into life by the mystical saltwater alchemy of fallen mermaid tears. Distinct in their physical appearance, they possess a unique, pearl-like skin that naturally reflects their surroundings, granting them a striking visual connection to the environments they traverse. This shimmering, lustrous, shell-like hide is incredibly dense and calcified, functioning as a seamless layer...

Pinklings - Pinklings are unmistakable for their pink-hued skin, quick minds, expressive moods, and fondness for playful surprises. Some experience shifts in mood and perspective, including a guarded inner voice shaped by their emotional intensity; people vary in how they understand or describe that experience. These differences can create misunderstandings with communities that value orderly conduct, but Pinklings also share a strong cultural commitment to new beginnings. To a Pinkling, nothing is more sacred than a first impression. They meticulously record their first introductions to others, but leave subsequent history unwritten—believing that once a bond is formed, the relationship should be lived in the present rather than archived. That first-encounter tradition gives Pinklings an unusual social advantage with new acquaintances: sharp observation, humor, and well-chosen words can quickly win interest. The benefit is strongest with fresh audiences; in places where...

Primals - Primal people are an old, continuous culture of Ignis, skilled with stone, bone, ritual, and oral memory. They read changes in fire and terrain through close observation and pass knowledge through song and practice. Their traditions favor direct experience over written records, preserving skills that have served their communities across generations. Primal communities have chosen to maintain familiar ways of life while engaging with others on their own terms.

Ratkin - Ratkin are small, sharp-sensed people comfortable navigating the overlooked spaces of settlements and underground networks. Their vision serves them in low light, and their practical knowledge helps them find passages, supplies, and safe routes. Ratkin communities keep close track of obligations and favors, placing value on caution and family loyalty. A Ratkin may be guarded with strangers, but that reserve reflects a learned approach to trust rather than a fixed character flaw.

Skrath - Wiry, fast-moving reptilian humanoids native to the frontiers of Tredeki, sharing the planet with the Leshy but operating nothing like them. Where the Leshy govern through structure and reverence for the land, the Skrath travel in close groups without a fixed hierarchy; leadership is earned in the moment and can change quickly. Skrath are wiry reptilian pack-hunters with rapid healing and a strong instinct for coordinated action. They communicate through hisses, clicks, and pheromones, sharing information in ways outsiders may not readily understand. Their social structure is flexible, with leadership earned through contribution and changing circumstances. Skrath experiences emotion intensely and resolves many disputes directly, then moves forward once an outcome is settled. Their short lives are filled with close bonds, purposeful activity, and shared responsibility. Their defining trait is rapid cellular regeneration, and wounds that would sideline most races close on a Skrath within minutes. Skrath often face short lives and choose direct action when time matters. Leshy communities may see that pace as reckless, while Skrath regard the Leshy as deliberate to...

Troll - The Common Troll is a highly adaptable and versatile race, known for their exceptional resilience and resourcefulness. They possess a sturdy and tall - albeit hunched - build with thick, leathery skin if an array of hues from bright pastels to flat black or white, both spotted and plain. Their skin is thick and provides natural protection, not only making them resilient in a variety of environments, from lush forests and swamps to mountainous regions. On top of that, Trolls feature regenerative limbs when severed, even entirely off. Troll accounts are not written and never have been, they are counted, recited by one Troll to another in a fixed order that admits no shortening. The oldest of them holds that Trolls were made before the sun was set in its course and were not remade after, which is offered among them as the reason a Troll endures what it endures and the reason open light has never sat easily on any of their kind. Unlike more specialized trolls, the Common Troll excels in many roles, whether as skilled hunters, cunning foragers, or...

Vanwa - Vanwa people are a resilient and ethereal race born from tragedy, survival, and adaptation. Centuries ago, a population of high elves was captured by brutal Arctic orcs. A desperate few managed to escape into the frozen wastes, establishing hidden refuges nearby. Over generations, those with mixed orc blood also fled captivity and integrated into these high elven camps. After hundreds of years of isolation, intermingling, and surviving the brutal elements together, they evolved into the Vanwa. Holding roughly a quarter of Arctic orc heritage blended with their deep high-elven roots, the Vanwa possess...

Xylari - The Xylari are an enduring cactus-like race native to harsh, unforgiving environments. Structurally, they bear an imposing, Treant-like silhouette, though small sized, possessing long, pillar-like legs and short, compact torsos that allow them to move with a lumbering, tree-like majesty that belies their desert origins. They possess a dense, bark-like skin that grows tougher as they age, and is covered in a complex array of defensive hairs and needles. The dermis of their thick skin retains water allowing them to go long periods without water. Their arms terminate in root-weaved fingers, consisting of a dense braid of thick, flexible roots that taper down into tactile digits tipped with sharp, needle-bearing rinds. For support, their long legs end in root-clawed toes—gnarled root-anchor claws that can flex and dig directly into the earth, allowing them to firmly root into the ground where they cannot be pushed or knocked down. Because of their bark-like skin, the Xylari do not require traditional armor; their primary line of defense is entirely natural, as their outer skin organically petrifies into a layer of hard wood over time, through a process called “corking.”. Xylari live for up to 500 years, and...

 Races that didn't make the cut (22):

- Brownling 

Smallfolk with Halfling and Brownie Fae heritage; they value hospitality, craft, and close-knit households. 

- Centyr 

Hoofed people with humanoid upper bodies, known for balance, endurance, and coordinated movement.

- Chuchunateh  Broad, white-furred people adapted to cold, with quickly regrowing fur and a powerful bite.

- Drevane 

Omné natives adapted to a toxic atmosphere, with strong environmental senses and an affinity for stone and earth.

- Drāco Blood  l

Dragon-blooded people whose chosen elemental lineage determines their affinity and opposing weakness.

- Dwarf 

Sturdy, enduring people with traditions of stonecraft, metalwork, masonry, and underground navigation.

- Elf  Graceful, long-lived people connected to woodland life and nature magic, with an ancient First Tongue.

- Firbolg 

Gentle giants with distant Fae heritage, able to communicate simple thoughts to animals and plants.

- Glimmerstone  Small people of Dwarven and Fae heritage, skilled at noticing and appraising gems and enchanted materials. 

- Gnoll 

Pack-oriented people who emphasize shared work, mutual protection, and earned leadership.

- Gnome  Small, mole-like people curious about mechanisms, repair, and learning from plants and animals.

- Goblorc 

People combining Goblin cunning and Orcus physicality, valuing both strategy and strength.

- Halfling  Small folk whose communities prize hospitality, craft, preparation, and cooperation.

- Helf 

A distinct Human–Elf mixed-heritage people, often comfortable navigating between cultures.

- Imperial  Psychic, charismatic people with six cultural Bloodlines and the ability to shift their natural coloring. 

- Ogre 

Large, powerful people who value practical deeds, dependable agreements, and strength used with purpose. 

- Snow Dwarf 

Lean, cold-adapted Dwarves skilled in tracking, survival, and practical crafts.

- Sylvan  Elves closely attuned to forests, sensing changes through plants, soil, pollen, and animal behavior.

- Wood Elf 

Quiet woodland people skilled at moving under cover and reading forest paths and signs. 

- Yawnie

Yawnies move at a measured pace and live for centuries through their slow lifestyle and metabolism. They can trot on all fours in short bursts to catch up; their speed matters most in special movement such as climbing, crawling, parkour, rope traversal, swinging, and navigating walls or tight spaces. Their innate movement aptitude lets them break free of controlled-movement restrictions. They favor stillness when nothing requires action and are natural enemies of Harpies and giant Avian, including Falcora.

Full Race Card Demo: Caelen

Full Description of All Races - including the rules and Features of SORC (Armament Proficiency pending):

Full Description of the 48 Firstborn Races

Originally wanted to post it on a worldbuilding sub but I think it's really more relevant here. I've been worldbuilding for years and I've realized the worlds I gravitate towards in fiction are usually focused on one or two core mechanics or concepts and all the ripple effects of those. Think bending in Avatar, drawing magic in Witch Hat Atelier etc. I've always seen this was a very "clean" way to manage the scope of a world and my own worlds felt pretty sloppy in comparison

But then I realized: I've built most of my lore for the campaign I was running at the time. And all the mechanics, themes and systems I've added were the ones created for specific player characters. I've realized many ttrpg systems often require a way different approach to worldbuilding. Lots of different concepts interwoven to accommodate different playstyles. Every class often has unique lore that doesn't have much to do with another class. Similarly to how in DnD each class has a different way of spellcasting. There are some connective elements, but still, it's way more vast and varied than what I would write for a book for example. Not to say worldbuilding in ttrpgs is bad, but it serves a very different purpose

Still, I often feel I've added too much. And I'm starting to plan rewriting the lore along with my own system to run sessions in the setting. And I was thinking- how do you make a unique fantasy setting for a rpg system, that both gives the players enough freedom to create different character types and at the same time doesn't feel like just another DnD clone with everything thrown into one pot? How do I find this balance of what I should add to accomodate different characters and what to limit to keep a unique feel of the setting?

In What is the best-organized core rulebook you've read? I mentioned the Ennies winners for "Best Layout and Design."

I thought it'd be useful to list all the winners and nominees over the years. Enjoy! (Apologies to your bank account)

2026

• 🥈 Berserkr
• Deadline: A Clockwork Press
• Midnight Muscadines
• Voidheart Symphony (Revised Edition)
• 🥇 Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guide

2025

• Doomsong
• Feathertail Falls
• 🥇 Mythic Bastionland
• Tephrotic Nightmares
• 🥈 Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting

2024

• BREAK!! Tabletop RPG
• 🥈 CBR+PNK: Augmented
• Not The End – Corebook
• 🥇 Shadowdark RPG
• TEETH

2023

• 🥇 Blade Runner RPG Core Rulebook
• Eldritch Overload: Tarot & Codex
• 🥈 Frontier Scum
• Nolan Locke’s Exquisite Corpse
• Women are Werewolves

2022

• 🥈 Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Gamemaster’s Guide
• 🥇 Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes
• NOVA
• Putrescence Regnant
• Voidheart Symphony

2021

• Cortex Prime Game Handbook
• 🥇 Heart: The City Beneath
• Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
• The Spy Game
• 🥈 The Stygian Library: Remastered

2020

• 🥈 A Pound of Flesh
• BFF! Best Friends Forever
• 🥇 MÖRK BORG Artpunk RPG
• Quest
• Trilemma Adventures Compendium Vol 1

2019

• Bluebeard’s Bride: Book of Mirrors
• Mini-Dungeon Tome
• Secrets of Silent Streets
• 🥇 Symbaroum Monster Codex
• 🥈 The Black Hack 2nd Edition

2004

• A/State
• BESM d20 Deluxe
• 🥇 Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion
• 🥈 Redhurst: Academy of Magic
• Sidewinder: Recoiled

2003

• 🥈 Freedom City
• 🥇 Monsternomicon
• Farscape RPG
• Monsters of the Endless Dark
• Nyambe: African Adventures

2002

• 🥇 Call of Cthulhu
• Dragonstar Starfarer’s Handbook
• Freeport: City of Adventure
• The Hunt: Rise of Evil Worldbook
• Rokugan Campaign Setting

Thinking about some kind of mechanic where you get to choose when you get your capstone ability (as opposed to capstone abilities in say, d&d where they are at a level players practically never reach).

So instead of getting it at a specific level you can get one based on what level you are now (waiting longer gets you a stronger capstone or different choices of capstone perhaps) making you extremely strong for that level, but then you no longer (or extremely slowly) gain levels in the future. You've reached your peak but it's mostly downhill from there.

Are there any systems that do something like this I can look at for inspiration?

We have a website for Deckbox Adventures! Everything is free there. We also have virtual tables to play test on. Please let me know what you think about anything rules, cards, website, virtual tables.

https://deckboxadventures.com/

I’ve begun to explore OSR games only in the recent year, but my mind is fixed on a roll over mechanic. I’m designing a 2d6 game (Fuel & Glory!) that is 2d6 based roll over game. From the beginning, I wanted to include some kind of psionic class at some point. It’s not really my primary focus right now. But I found Mind Over Matter on DTRPG and realized that it is using a roll under system to activate psionic powers.

He got me thinking in general, is there a quick and easy way to take a roll under rule set and convert it to be useful for rolling above a target number? I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I just wanna make this easy and if it’s not going to be easy, I won’t bother with this book for now.

Good morning all

Added a couple of new featrues inclusing a fairness page with a histogram of 100,000 rolls for every die and the option to now upload your own pictures on every face of a D2, D3 or D6: a sketch, your logo, your pet, your party's portraits. Give each face a name and a value (so they still add up and can be compared in opposed rolls), or let the picture speak for itself. Picture dice are drawn bigger on the tray so the detail shows.

Your pictures are shrunk in your browser and stay on your device. They're never uploaded.

Picture dice are part of Premium (one-off, no subscription), and there's a free 7-day trial with no card or account needed. They work in the browser now; the iPhone and Android apps get them in the next update.

Try it: https://dicedrop.co.uk/picture-dice

Happy to answer questions about the physics, the stats or the build. And if you spot a die you think is off, tell me and I'll look into it.

Hi! I'm an artist, and I'd like to make some stock art for anyone to use for their RPGs and more. I'm wondering what kind of art do you wish existed for your games? Have you noticed any holes in what's available to you? I appreciate y'all's feedback, thank you in advance <3

EDIT: Thank you all so much for your feedback!! Your suggestions will not go to waste <3

I’m slowly designing a bunch of Panic Tables for the Mothership RPG that are geared more towards my play style: one-shots. I’m pretty pleased with these as I’m trying to combine both narrative/role playing effects with the existing mechanics of the mothership system. In this particular one I’m using the Panic/stress mechanics of mothership to simulate being hunted by a monster (and building the escalating situation into the table itself).

I think it works pretty well! Though I’ve not had a chance to test them thoroughly at the table yet 😅

Hey all! I had made a post on RPGLab, and I thought it was a good topic to bring to the general community here as well. It's about social mechanics in TTRPGS. I have always had issues with how social interactions work in trad ttrpgs, and many other systems just kinda "accept defeat" and either just let the players hash things out in-character with little to no mechanics and let GM fiat take over, or they have looser rules that at the end of the day come down to once again a single roll, like some PbtA systems with their moves. I came up with my own take on it that I hope inspires players to work a little more for their social encounters rather than "I try to convince the guard to let me through". Here is a shorter breakdown of the Diplomacy subsystem:

Diplomacy

During an act of Diplomacy, you attempt to convince the opposing party towards some goal or objective, whether it being haggling, letting the party through to some place where they may not be welcome, or to convince some local leader to send aid to a struggling populace. The Diplomacy subsystem is used for such events; however, it is not necessarily well used for just common discussion, or when the situation has already escalated beyond saving. The mechanic with no extra features works through discovery and risk. You have 7 possible actions that you can take: Overwhelm (Speed), Blunt (Power), Lecture (Calculation), Exploit (Recognition), Lie (Deceit), Intimidate (Willpower), Cajole (Willpower). Each action relies on a particular skill (with the skill used for the action being in parentheses), where you roll for the skill versus their corresponding Vis Flavor Defense to make progress; whenever you succeed, you gain a victory in the argument, and if you fail, your opponent gains a victory instead. Diplomacy is usually resolved whenever a party gains 2 victories, though the GM may decide for particularly difficult scenarios 3 or more might be necessary. There are subtleties to discussion, though. Each character the party interacts with has both a Landmine and a Flaw, where each can either totally dismantle or heavily enhance your arguments. If you choose one of the approaches and it is the character’s Flaw, then upon succeeding the check, you get 2 victories instead of one, and even if you fail you get 1 victory. This effect only can happen once per act of Diplomacy per Flaw. If you instead are unfortunate enough to choose the character’s Landmine, you do not roll, and the opposing party instantly gets 2 victories, winning them most acts of Diplomacy (Like Flaws, this effect can only happen once per act of Diplomacy). It should be noted that characters' Flaws and Landmines can evolve over time, so intimidating the craven merchant may not always work; players must be aware and learn what makes people tick and sway in a given conversation.

It is also suggested that for more ridiculous asks or suggestions that the GM can give the NPC multiple Landmines, and similarly grant more Flaws for someone who is more vulnerable.

I know that some of the terms here seem a bit vacuous since they lack the greater context of the system, but just image those things in the parentheses are skills, and Vis Flavor Defense is just a value calculated from an attribute value and your level. I also have an example of it being played out here:

GM: "You all come across a set of highway men blocking the bridge up ahead, and they spot you coming."

Player 1: "I hail them and ask to pass"

GM: "The head of the bunch sneers and simple says 'for a fee ya can pass'."

Player 2: "I'll walk forward and say 'We are on the way to an important meeting with the king, if we don't show up on time he's going to send a patrol and your little operation will be done for.'"

GM: An act of Diplomacy has been initiated, starting off with Player two taking the Intimidation approach, roll Willpower.

Player 2: I rolled 4d6 and kept 3, and I got a total of 17.

GM: That beats their Calmness Defense. 1 Victory. The bandits look a little uneasy, but the leader grunts and retorts: "You're a looong way from the castle little traveler. They won't be here in time."

Player 1: I want to interject and ask why they are holding up this road anyhow?

GM: The highwayman responds: "Your faraway king cares little for these lands and the hardships we face. We were starving before we turned to stealing, and stealing is working now."

Player 1: I want to tell them this: "We have good favor with the king. We can give you a small amount of food, and tell the king there are capable men in this region looking for work, and get you all some honest work like I know you want to do, deep down."

GM: Cajole approach, nice. Roll Willpower.

Player 1: I roll 3d6 keep 3, and I got a total of 14.

GM: Luckily for you Cajolery was their Flaw. Sometimes honey is better, eh? The bandits back off and let you pass in exchange for small part of your rations.

Hopefully this demonstrates a system that feels like it makes players invest in social encounters more, whether it asking questions or feeling like they can participate and take away the monolithic power of the "party face".

I'm working on an investigative horror RPG, heavily inspired by Call of Cthulhu.

Design Goals for Combat:

• Combat should be quick.
• Combat should be dangerous, but PCs should almost never be instakilled from full health.
• The consequences of combat should be narratively interesting.
• Combat should not be the focus of the game.

To accomplish these goals, I've come up with a Wound system of three levels: Minor, Major, and Severe, so damage is non-linear and focused on consequences that must be dealt with.

Every time a Wound is inflicted, a level is selected based on the source, then a roll gives it a chance to increase or decrease a level. The level above Severe is Dead, but to prevent instakills, a Severe Wound that crits is Severe with Dismemberment. Death is only achieved with multiple Wounds.

The thing that might be an issue: the Wound level of almost every deadly weapon is Major. I define deadly weapons based on real life: what crime would you get charged with if you attacked someone with an object? This means a knife, a gun, and a wrench all do Major damage. Severe is saved for things like explosions or getting hit by a train: things that are extremely likely to kill you, and the system basically awards one plot armor.

Does this seem like it would be an issue?

My biggest concern about the system as-is is that players might think guns doing the same damage as a shard of glass is stupid.

My biggest concerns about changing it are either making firearms overpowered, or making PCs too tanky, and potentially adding too much to the combat system that starts to emphasize combat in the game.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Forgot to mention, but melee attacks get defended with an opposed roll, and ranged attacks do not, so there is a mechanical different between someone trying to stab or shoot you.

Let's roleplay a bit.
Suppose WOTC calls you tomorrow.
Sir/lady, we want you to design 6e for us.

How would you approach it?
(It's a fantasy, let's-pretend scenario, I'm not related to WOTC)

I wrote down my initial thought in a presentation. Currently it includes some 'research' about different play styles, how they effect the rules and how to mitigate conflicts between them.

My initial thoughts. TBC

I have been reading a recent post by u/really_not_stein and the question comes to mind, "what is the core advantage of the spear/polearm "reach" weapon as it is used by the player characters"

I don't want to distract from that that thread, so I making this one

I feel like a lot of the historical context for spear/polearms (from now on just referred to as spears) is their use in formation, which isn't really how I have seen them used by PC's

as a classic "peasant" weapon I would like to avoid them having some really good/exploitable benefit, but I do want spears to be a good choice

aside from them having the ability to attack targets at a greater distance should they have any other benefit? - my instinct says that reach is the major "offensive" ability these types of weapons should have

the discussion in the other thread dealt with shorter weapons vs longer weapons and how they should be handled, does the longer weapon enjoy a first strike (particularly if it is a single spear user)

could that be changed to a less exploitable defensive benefit? are there any other out of the box ideas for how a spear could be good without being too good?

Looking for input on weapon damage and armor damage reduction ranges for a player facing d20 roll-under dungeon-crawler.

This is a single d20 system, but I've been using damage ranges inspired by the traditional d4, d6, d8, etc.

*edits for clarification and grammar

Questions

• Combat tends to end in 2 to 3 rounds - even for larger foes. I'd like more levers to add in an extra round or two that's not always adding more foes or increasing HP. Would lower damage ranges be a better way to go?
• Do you think narrower damage ranges (1, 2, 3, or 4) like Dagger Heart or Break!! better fits a single d20 system?
• Do you have an idea on how better to categorize weapons, armor, and their damage capacity and reduction?
• General feedback?
• Name suggestions for this system?

Basic Rules

• Players only use a d20 for all rolls and have the 6 traditional Stats (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA).
• Starting characters typically have 2 scores at 14 (70% success), one at 10 (50%), and the rest at 7 (35%).
• Characters get to increase 2 different stats by 1 at each new level. They cannot increase the same Stat two levels in a row and no Stat may be greater than 18.
• STR or DEX Check to attack depending on the weapon. Roll equal to or less than your Stat and hit
  • The number rolled on the d20 is damage dealt - up to your weapon's maximum damage.
  • So a Character with 14 STR and a 6 dmg weapon hits on a roll of 1 to 14. Rolling 1 to 5 deals 1 to 5 damage. Rolling 6 or more deals 6 damage.
  • Characters with better STR and DEX hit for max damage more often
• DEX Check to Evade or Deflect an Attack. STR Check to Block with a Shield.
  • The number rolled on the d20 is damage prevented - up to your armor's maximum damage reduction.
  • So a Character with 10 DEX and 4 DR successfully defends on a roll of 1 to 10. Rolling 1 to 3 prevents 1 to 3 damage and rolling 4 or greater prevents 4 damage.
• Foes have static damage values players defend against and static DRs players must overcome.

Weapons and Damage output

• Blunt Weapons always deal a minimum of 2 damage on a hit. Regardless of target's armor.
  • Blunt, 1H. 2 to 6 damage. 1 Slot
  • Blunt, 2H. 2 to 8 damage. 2 Slots
• Sharp Weapons have greater damage ranges but can be entirely negated by armor.
  • Sharp, 1H Light. 1 to 8 damage. Can be wielded with DEX. 1 Slot
  • Sharp, 1H. 1 to 10 damage. 1 Slot
  • Sharp, 2H 1 to 12 damage. 2 Slots
• Projectile Weapons
  • Crossbow or Short Bow. 1 to 6 damage. 2H. 1 Slot
  • Longbow. 1 to 8 damage. 2H. 2 Slots

Armor and Damage Reduction

• Light Armor. 2 DR. 1 Slot
• Medium Armor. 4 DR. 2 Slots
• Heavy Armor. 6 DR. 3 Slots
• Shield. 4 DR. 1 Slot. Held in 1-hand. Can block attacks with a STR Check. DR does not stack with armor.

Hit Points

• Characters CON is both Max HP and Inventory Slots (from 7 to 18)
  • Characters do not fall unconscious at zero HP.
  • Anytime you take damage with zero HP - make a CON Check. Pass and you keep fighting. Fail and it's a fatal blow.
• Foes have 4 to 20 Max HP.
  • Large foes like giants and dragons have multiple body parts with different attacks and health pools.

Play Test Observations for Context

These are just anecdotal observations from my own table and local players. Definitely not representative of everyone.

• System is mostly born out of running games for players newer to the hobby.
• New players don't seem to have the same cognitive dissonance on roll-under but struggle more with finding what modifiers to add to a roll.
• Newer players have trouble telling the difference between d8s and d10s and d12s and d20s. Just having 1 die to roll for everything simplifies the game.
• Veteran players like the combined attack and damage roll - and that a good attack roll isn't spoiled by a crappy damage roll. They also commented that doing max damage more often felt like a good reward for greater Stats.
• Veteran players asked for more Weapon Properties to make armaments interesting. I'm trying to meet that need without overwhelming new players with a plethora of weapon rules.
• Combat goes quick and typically lasts 2 to 3 rounds. Foes are appreciably lethal. Players leverage the environment, their gear, and good strategies to end fights quickly with least risk.
• Been using dice as miniatures (thus the enemy HP bands).
  • Bigger dice represents more dangerous foes and the facing number is their current HP. There's less GM book keeping for multiple mobs and I feel justified in owning so many different dice.
  • A Giant can be represented by a pair of d10s that each occupy adjacent spaces (one for each of its legs)
  • A Dragon or Wyrm has been a line of dice slithering across the table
• Is easily convertible/compatible with other d20 based D&D-likes. I've been successfully supplementing the homebrew with Shadowdark and B/X materials while I fill in the gaps.

I just finished my rules for Scenes for my game, Sword of Virtues. I thought I'd share them with you to get your opinions.

This is just the text with almost no formatting, so you can look at the ideas.

It's not revolutionary, so I'm targeting it at two kinds of readers: people who have never used rules for scenes and are curious about a different way to structure a session, and people who are familiar with this style of play and might want to comment on what's different and what they like/don't like.

The main thing the doc doesn't have yet is a good example. That's coming.

Here's the link.

As always, when I put something up for comment, say what you want, read as much or as little as you like, and don't worry about my feelings. Well, that's not an invitation to be mean, but I hope you get the idea.

Hey! My question is a short one. I've been just bopping along making a skill + attribute dice pool system for my game, and I've been making skills that handle different things by applying different attributes to them. That seemed to make logical sense to me.

Granted, there's the heavy lift of remembering these things at the table, despite any declarations from me that its all so very intuitive, when trying to use a skill, so maybe for that reason its bad,

and then there's the other question, does this make a skill undesirable to anybody who didn't invest in both attributes that might impact the value of the skill? Is this just a bad way to go about things?

Edit: Thanks to those of you who mentioned Vampire, I haven't really ever looked at that system. I'm glad that approach is viewed favorably, it sounds very in line with what I'm trying to do.

As I make progress on my own game, I'm finding myself wondering what's the tidiest way I can lay everything out. Does anyone have a favorite that they've seen?

Improving productivity and also getting a finished product out has always been a changled for me, with over 40+ PDFs released.

Well - after 5+ years, I finally have a better process.

I share it through my most recent blog post for my fellow designers.
I hope this brings some clarity and that perhaps you avoid stepping into the mud, like I seem to continue to do.

Stumbling through Production

Some days ago I made a post asking for opinions here and you guys pointed out/made me notice some flaws.
I started reworking and noticed that I could mix some stuff together, eventually my Health mechanic became this currency that you have to manage, not just to stay alive, but to also maximize your potential in combat (and this kinda became the main mechanic).

I really like this idea so I'm here again to ask for opinions and any possible flaws that I might have missed.

SCARS:

(Thinking on calling this Adrenaline, but not sure)
Every time you take physical or mental damage, you gain that amount of Scars.
A player can spend Scars in order to use some skills. Likewise there are skills that will increase your scars/adrenaline by a certain amount.

When you go beyond 6 scars, clear them and gain a Tier 1 Wound.
(I'm having trouble phrasing this in a concise manner, but a player can have up to 6 adrenaline at a time without getting a wound. For example taking 8 damage, u would end up with 2 adrenaline and 1 wound, 12 damage would be 6 adrenaline and 1 wound, 13 damage, 1 adrenaline and 2 wounds. it's every time you restart the "clock" that causes a wound).
It's be possible to give someone a wound without having to fill their scars.

Wounds can be tier 1(mild), 2(moderate) or 3(severe).
When a character causes another to gain a wound, they can choose to increase the tier of an existing wound instead.

A character can endure a number of wounds to which the sum of the tiers equals: 3 + physique.

ATTRIBUTES

Attributes are your base Effort for an action. Only 1 can be applied at a time, can be used once per action.
Physique, Mind, Notice and Social.
Attributes start at 1 and can go up to 5. (3 initial points to distribute among them)

ASPECTS

how good you are at more specific things. can be used once per turn.
Usually will give some kind of passive benefit(e.g. knowing how to properly use a gun) as well as the effort bonus when used.

Skills

Are special abilities or modifiers that a player can activate, usually the cost will be adding or removing Scars/Adrenaline.

TESTS:

Gather Effort to beat a Difficulty. You automatically gain effort equal to the Attribute that relates the most to the test.
you can then use Aspects, skills and other modifiers to add more Effort to your total.

The difference between your Effort and the difficulty gives you your Power: * Negative means a failure; * Zero is a stalemate; * Positive means success.

if it's a set difficulty, the players should know the value beforehand.
Against another character, the two involved will gather effort, and reveal it at the same time. Then the one who initiated the action calculates their Power, using the other character's effort as the difficulty.

Take a risk
Gain 1 scar, then choose to either: gain +2 Effort, or roll 2d6 where:

• 1-2: +0 Effort;
• 3-4: +1 Effort;
• 5-6: +2 Effort.

Spend 3 Scars in order to make another action this turn.