How to Play

What is a Role-Playing Game?

A role-playing game is a game in which you play the role of a character in a simulated world. That simulated world could be a simulation of the real world, a fantasy world, or a mix of both. The worlds role-playing games are set in are often a mixture of fantasy and reality, trying to emulate a genre of fiction that the players enjoy, such as sci-fi or fantasy.

The characters in these simulated worlds are often a mix of fantasy and reality as well. They are powerful wizards that wield magic with ease, something that is impossible in our world, but they are tragically ruined by their pride, something we can all relate to. They are warriors with heroic strength, cunning, and resolve, and they came from humble beginnings, a beggar on the street. Aspects of reality and aspects of fantasy, when mixed together, make characters that are fun to play.

A character in a role-playing game can be anything their player wants them to be, and the world can be anything the players want it to be.

When these elements are in place, a story that the players tell together emerges. This is a 'side-effect' of playing a role-playing game, but it is often what people find most enjoyable about them.

How to Role-Play

Many people are intimidated by role-playing, and understandably so! Acting out a character in front of others – even if they are friends – can be daunting.

This game includes mechanics meant to assist with role-playing, and they all revolve around one idea: motivation.

Think about what your character wants in any given situation, and act on that. If you do that, you will be a good role-player.

Required Gaming Materials

To play this game, you need pencil, paper, and dice.

Dice are notated this way: a 6-sided die is called a d6, and a 20-sided die is called a d20.

This game is best played with 2d20 and 6d6, but you can play even if you only have 1d20 and 1d6. The referee should have a full set of role-playing dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d10, d12, d20 - possibly multiple sets.

There are even smartphone apps that let you roll these kinds of dice, so use those to see if you enjoy the game before your invest money in dice.

The Referee

One of the players in this role-playing game must be the referee. 

While all the other players only worry about playing their characters, the referee plays all the characters in the world except for the ones the other players are controlling and describes everything the characters see, what happens to them, and the outcome of their actions. 

The referee also makes judgments about the rules of the game, especially when something happens that the rules don't cover.

Intent and Task

Whenever you tell the referee what you want to do, you must make sure that you tell him/her two things: what your character wants to do and how they plan to do it. Then the referee decides if you character has a chance to fail at their intent only or their intent and their task.

For example, do not say, “I throw the rock over the wall’s edge.” Instead say, “I want to knock the goblin off the wall,” (intent), “so I will throw the rock over the edge” (task).

There is no question as to whether you character can throw the rock over the wall, but there is a question about whether you can do it in such a way that the goblin will fall.

If you fail, you will not fail to throw the rock, but you will fail to knock off the goblin. This is called a soft failure.

If your character was crippled, dizzied by a curse, or held up in some other way, the Referee might decide that your character has a chance to fail at their task (throwing the rock over the wall).

In this case, if you fail, your character not only fails to knock the goblin off the wall. They also fail to throw the rock.

This is called a hard failure.

Often, a hard failure occurs when you roll over your attribute score, and a soft failure occurs when you roll under an obstacle. Let’s talk about what that means.

The Core Mechanic

Whenever your character wants to do something that they could fail, you make an attribute check.

To make an attribute check, you roll a d20. If you roll less than or equal to the attribute that is being checked, you succeed. If you roll higher, you fail.

When you fail an attribute check, you cannot attempt it again unless the circumstances change.

For example, if you failed a Dexterity check made to climb up a sheer wall, you cannot keep making checks until you succeed. You could, however, use a grappling hook and try again – likely with advantage!

Advantage and disadvantage

Sometimes your character is more likely to succeed or fail than they normally would be. In these cases, the referee will tell you to roll with advantage or disadvantage. 

Rolling with advantage means rolling twice and taking the best result. Rolling with disadvantage means rolling twice and taking the worst result.

Obstacles

Sometimes your likelihood of failure depends on factors outside of your character’s control. When this happens, an Obstacle is generated.

An Obstacle is a number that you must roll above while at the same time rolling equal to or under your attribute score. 

The default Obstacle for all rolls is 0, but it can be raised by factors noted later by these rules and at the referee’s discretion.

Obstacles help you determine your Degree of Success (DoS), a useful statistic.

Degree of Success

DoS is the difference between a roll and that roll’s Obstacle.

For example, if your character’s Dexterity score is 12, and you roll an 8, your DoS is 8. If your Obstacle was 7, your DoS would be 1.

DoS are often used as damage or any other time the Referee needs to decide how well you succeeded.

Critical Success and Failure

When you roll an attribute check equal to your attribute score, it is a critical success. 

The referee will give you an additional reward, or (if DoS are being used) the DoS can be doubled. 

When you roll a natural 20, it is a critical failure, and the Referee will introduce a complication in the scenario.