About | Guidelines | Random Tables | Character Sheet


About

Precipitate is a setting-agnostic tabletop roleplaying game that blends old school lethality, deep character roleplay, and modern mechanics to create high-stake scenes. Scenes and combat are collaborative and simultaneous without downtime. Creativity and teamwork are your lifelines.

Read the Guidelines to start playing!

Versions


Download the previous versions of Precipitate as PDFs using the links below. Each version has its own legal and licensing. The licensing of one version does not imply or apply to another version.

Print a page to get a PDF or printable version of the website.

StatusVersionNotes
Playtesting3.0 - 28 June 2025Lighter resolution mechanics & roleplay focus
Legacy2.0 - 15 October 2024Heavy exploration and item management (items, tables, legal, digital character sheet)
Legacy1.1 - 15 October 2023Economy updates
Legacy1.0 - 1 October 2023Initial release

Guidelines

Basics


The game master facilitates the game for one or more players who each play as a character.

These Guidelines are written be read from top-to-bottom, but I encourage you to blaze your own trail. Throw away, modify, and bolt on systems to craft a unique experience. Adapt the system to the story you all want to tell together.

Core Loop

  1. Game master describes the situation, highlighting danger and describing the intent of opponents
  2. Players ask questions to add detail to what they're interested in
  3. Each player declares their character's intent
  4. Game master narrates the results based on everyone's intents, asking for Challenge rolls as necessary

Descriptions, questions, detailed intent, and consistent world logic drive the game.

Combat is not special. This Core Loop applies to all scenes played. Things that can be done outside of combat can be done inside of combat and vice versa.

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • 2 blue 6-sided die
  • 3 red 4-sided die
  • 3 red 6-sided die
  • 3 red 8-sided die
  • 3 white 20-sided die
  • 3 lucky trinkets

Character Creation


Before you begin, come up with a character concept. Draw inspiration from anywhere. Work with the game master to shape your character while ensuring they fit within the world the group wants to play in.

Precipitate is designed to be simple enough to draw and fill out your own character in a notebook as the character is created. However, a Digital Character Sheet is available for convenience.

  1. Roll d6+16. Write down the result as your Hit Points.
  2. Finish the following sentences, use the linked tables for inspiration:
    1. I am a.. Vocation.
      • Implies the Skills you might be good or bad at
      • Skills are made concrete through play
    2. People think I'm the kind of person who.. Perception.
      • Your public mask or assumption others make about you
    3. Underneath, I'm someone who.. Truth.
      • Your internal vulnerability, contradiction, or core insecurity
    4. What I want most is.. Desire.
      • Your conscious goal, desire, or obsession
    5. But I keep making things worse by.. Flaw.
      • A recurring flaw
    6. The truth I'm resisting is.. Shift.
      • The necessary internal shift that you're avoiding
    7. A quirk of mine is.. Quirk.
      • A habit or noticeable pattern
    8. I bear the mark of.. Mark. I must.. , and mustn't.. .
      • Act in accordance of your Mark to earn Favor to spend on Prayers
      • Marks are optional for a setting. Use them or your favorite pantheon for settings with gods and other higher beings.
  3. Distribute 3 points between your choice of Favor and Luck.
  4. Write a sentence of what someone would see if they studied you for a few seconds.
  5. Name yourself.
  6. Forge a Bond with 1 or more other characters.

Characters are written in clay, not stone. They should change as they experience the story and grow, but not so often that they become unbelievable. Review the character every few game sessions.

Skills

A Skill describes a character's ability to perform a specific category of actions. They should be specific and a character's ability to perform related actions should be inferred. A "Good Equestrian" might be inferred to be understanding with animals, have good balance, and be emphatic.

Skills are determined through play. If a Skill seems to come up multiple times, write it down as a Skill. If it doesn't come up often after having it written down, remove it to make room for others that might be more relevant. Skills can always be re-recorded in the future.

Skills are broadly rated as Exceptional, Good, Average, Bad, or Terrible. They are based on the average Skill level of someone with that Skill in the world. Just having a Skill states that it is trained. Being a "Terrible Computer Programmer" means that the character is terrible in relation to the average computer programmer. They can still write programs and have better computer knowledge than the average character without any Skill in computer programming.

Applicable Skills might affect the Target Number of related Challenges. Remind the game master when one or more might apply to a situation.

A player might have 3-5 Skills that are recorded and referenced often. Stride for a balance of good and bad Skills. A character that is good at everything lacks depth. Based on what a character's background and their existing skills, what might they be bad at?

Exceptional and Terrible Skills should be rare and character defining.

Conditions

Conditions are short phrases that describe temporary effects that help or hurt a character. They are roleplay aids that may affect Challenges the character, or their opponent, tries.

The environment might apply Conditions. A slippery rock formation might give the "Unstable footing" Condition.

The game master tracks Conditions applied to the players and players track the Conditions they give to their opponents.

Challenges


The outcome of character actions are determined by logic. The game master might call for a Challenge when an outcome is uncertain with clear consequences. They interpret the rolled result and is the final arbiter.

Roll 2d6Result
Double 6sOverwhelming success, and gain a Luck
Equal to or greater than the Target NumberSuccess
Less than the Target NumberFailure
Double 1sOverwhelming failure, but gain a Luck

If the Challenge involves doing Damage, the Damage die are included and rolled as part of the Challenge roll.

Many times, only the acting character needs to roll for a Challenge. If opposing another character, they roll their own Challenge. This may lead to mixed results.

Use a high-level Challenge to resolve an outcome while keeping the game moving. Break it down into multiple Challenges with different decision points when the scene is interesting to focus on what's happening.

Target Number

The Target Number is determined by the game master based on the situation the acting character is in. The situation may include their skill, tools, or the skill of an opposing character.

SituationTarget Number
Ideal5
Favorable6
Neutral7
Unfavorable8
Grave9

This table is a starting point for game masters to use and should be adapted to fit the story being told.

Luck


Luck can be spent to force a reroll of all die involved with any rolled Challenge, including damage, or Prayer. Even if the spending character is not involved with the scene and is somewhere far away.

Luck is gained by rolling double 6s or double 1s during a 2d6 Challenge roll and can be spent on the roll it was earned in. Damage and Favor die do not generate Luck.

Characters can each have a maximum of 3 Luck. Luck persists between sessions.

Structured Time


Most of the time, play is unstructured. Players declare what their character is doing and the game master responds with the outcome. However, there are important moments where play needs to slow down to allow everyone to have a fair chance at making critical decisions. This is Structured Time.

The game still flows using the Core Loop, but Structured Time is played out in 10 second rounds of in-game time. Each round, players should work together to discuss plans and intents for their characters.

The game master will announce when play returns to unstructured time.

Hit Points


Hit points represent scrapes, bruises, sore muscles, and stress. These add up as a character takes damage and impact the character's ability to defend themselves.

A character that loses all their Hit Points suffers an incapacitating blow or a series of strikes. Characters suffering lethal Damage must roll Judgment. Otherwise, they are knocked-out and wake up after 2d6 minutes with d6 Hit Points.

Devastating hits might leave lasting Conditions. Hit Points are restored with Rest.

Damage

The Damage roll depends on the amount of stress caused to and effort expended by the defender to ward off the attack. The roll might represent a single arrow or a fury of attacks against a single opponent.

Stress and EffortDamage Roll
High2d8
Medium2d6
Low2d4

Overwhelming successes roll 1 additional damage die of the same type and adds the highest face of the die to the result. A 2d8 damage roll would turn into a 3d8+8 damage roll.

Damage can be applied to multiple targets if it was part of the stated intent of the Character. Damage is rolled normally, but the result is split evenly across the targets.

Damage is assumed to be lethal if it is able to be. The attacking character may choose to do non-lethal damage if they have an appropriate way to do so. This may impact the Target Number of a related Challenge.

The game master might rule for more or less damage or damage die depending on the situation.

Interrupts

Melee attacks interrupt ranged attacks and magic. Ranged physical damage interrupts magic. Combat-related actions interrupt non-combat actions. Timing matters.

A ranger might be able to shoot before a swordsmen gets to them. A wizard can cast a spell if the arrows coming for them miss. A thief picking a lock needs to be protected.

Rest

After a night of Rest, restore 2d6+5 Hit Points up to the character's maximum Hit Points.

Judgment

Judgment is a conversation with the divine. The character is in a last stand fighting for their life and their fate is now out of their hands.

When rolling Judgment, roll in private and do not reveal the result to other players or the game master. Another nearby character may spend 5 seconds to look at the die result and, if the knocked-out character is still alive, stabilize them.

Each turn while knocked-out, the player records how many rounds they have been knocked out for even if they are stable or dead. They may optionally recall a memory from the character to share with the group while they decide their intents for the next round.

A knocked-out character loses 1 round to live for each Damage they take. If they are stable, they are now unstable and have 8 - Damage rounds to live.

A stable but knocked-out character wakes up after 2d6 minutes with d6 Hit Points.

Roll d20Effect
20Adrenaline rush. The character stays up instead of being knocked out, but is knocked out at the end of the next round and must re-roll Judgment.
19-18Stable
17-144 rounds to live
13-103 rounds to live
9-62 rounds to live
5-21 round to live
1Soul already departed

Magic


To cast, reflect on 3 questions:

  1. What emotion am I feeling?
    • Positive emotions fuel constructive effects
    • Negative emotions bring out destructive or chaotic effects
    • The specific emotion shapes the spell, and stronger emotions are harder to control
  2. What's nearby?
    • Magic manipulates the elements and harmony of the surroundings
    • Spells can only use what is present, better or more materials create stronger effects
    • An area's atmosphere and the emotions of others can be harnessed like any other element
  3. What is my intent?
    • Intent gives purpose, the same energy takes different forms
    • Spells can harm, protect, transform, or influence based on the caster's goal
    • Magic follows the caster's purpose, clarity makes it stronger

Everyone has a unique magical signature, a personal flair that influences the manifestation of their magic.

Resolving Magic

Casting spells is a Challenge depending on the caster's intent and their skill using the kind of magic they are invoking.

Challenge ResultSpell Effect
Overwhelming SuccessSpell is cast with intended effect, and more powerful
SuccessSpell is cast with intended effect
FailureSpell is cast with a related, minor, but unintended effect
Overwhelming FailureSpell is cast with more power, but the caster loses control and the effect is unintended. The caster gains a permanent, undesirable, and interesting quirk related to the spell.

The same spell might produce different results each time it is cast.

Spellbooks

A caster’s personal notes record past spells and their effects. These are real player notes on paper, treated as notable Equipment.

Scrolls

To create a Scroll, a caster must cast a spell as normal and store the intent and result. This only succeeds if the Challenge result is an overwhelming success or success. On a failure or overwhelming failure, the Scroll is destroyed in the process, no magical effect is produced, and the caster gains a permanent, undesirable, and interesting quirk related to the spell they attempted to store.

Scrolls are used without rolling, treating the user as if they had cast the original spell. Once used, the Scroll is destroyed.

Linked Casting

Spells can target other spells to combine with or negate different aspects.

An incoming fireball might be countered from a caster throwing a bucket of water and manipulating it to target the fireball. But wherever the spells meet might explode into a cloud of boiling mist that is hard to see through.

Rituals

Rituals are a powerful, slow, and open form of magic that require clear intent. The more elaborate, detailed, and involved the Ritual, the more powerful and specific the effect.

Prayers


Prayers are freeform, delayed, and fueled by Favor earned by respecting your Mark. To say a Prayer, set a clear intent and give 1 to 3 d20 Favor dice to the game master based on the magnitude of the plea.

At a future time, the game master rolls the Favor dice together and takes the highest result to determine if and how the Prayer is answered. Higher numbers are better where a 20 is an overwhelmingly positive response and a 1 is an overwhelmingly negative response. Luck may be used to re-roll all rolled Favor die.

The character may propose additional bargains beyond Favor to plead with their Mark.

Favor

Favor is earned by acting in alignment with your Mark and can be lost by acting against it. If a character loses too much Favor, they might lose their Mark.

A character may hold up to 3 of Favor die at a time.

Favor d20 die are divine, treat them as such.

Equipment


Characters have the Equipment that would reasonably carry for their situation based on their background and experiences. Only unique and notable Equipment are tracked. The game master highlights scarcity and encumbrance as a Condition when relevant.

A normal sword isn't interesting enough to record, it can be assumed that your adventuring character has one. But the Guard Captain's Sword with a Ruby in its Hilt is unique and interesting. There may be interesting world and character reactions towards a character carrying such a sword.

Equipment, weapons, and armor may play into how the game master rules how favorable or not a situation is during Challenges.

Wealth

Wealth is narrative and untracked. If something seems expensive, it is, and acquiring it requires specific effort. Characters have enough money to keep their items stocked, afford a minor item or two during market trips, and keep some pocket money.

Travel


Travel is handled narratively by offering choices with different consequences or other peculiarities. One route might be safe, but be relatively slow and is patrolled by the guards that are looking for the players' characters. Another might be through the haunted woods and without roads, meaning the players' characters would need to leave their wagon behind until they return. Of course, the players can come up with any other routes or way to get to where they're going.

Not every destination needs something interesting. When not critical, travel is mundane and often hand waved.

Squads


Squads from a group of goblins to the armies of nations can be modeled as a character. The primary difference being the narration and scaling the actions being performed to represent the group. A Squad of enemies might do extra damage to a single character, normal damage to another Squad, and have no chance of doing anything against an army in a straight-up fight.

A Squad that is losing Hit Points can be thought of as actual loses of some of their members or the gradual loss of morale until the Squad breaks up and flees. The game master will narrate it depending on the situation.

Vehicles


Vehicles are modeled as characters but, like Squads, have a different narration and scaling. They can be anything from a horse, a single-seater fighter jet, to a massive capital ship in space.

Vehicles might have different crew stations that characters can operate. If using a vehicle with multiple crew stations for an extended period of time, each crew station should have interesting decisions and valuable contributions to make.

In a large enough vehicle, characters may move around and perform Actions like they normally would inside of or on the vehicle itself.

Random Tables

These tables are designed to spark the imagination. If you don't know where to start, roll on them and use the results to help discover the Character you want to play.

Having a few of these selected will help inspire what the rest might be.

Re-roll, choose, or come up with your own results.

Vocation


These Vocations are general themes. Adapt them to the setting and specify what you do within that general theme.

Roll d66Vocation
11Healer
12Scout
13Merchant
14Soldier
15Scholar
16Farmer
21Hunter
22Builder
23Smith
24Performer
25Priest
26Scribe
31Navigator
32Spy
33Cook
34Leader
35Messenger
36Artisan
41Teacher
42Guard
43Diplomat
44Explorer
45Judge
46Thief
51Tinker
52Musician
53Animal Keeper
54Prophet
55Lawkeeper
56Outlaw
61Herald
62Herbalist
63Diplomat
64Engineer
65Courier
66Oracle

Perception


Roll d66Perception
11always has a plan
12doesn't feel fear
13can fix any situation
14follows the rules without question
15won't take no for an answer
16cares more about results than people
21keeps their emotions locked down
22does the dirty work so others don't have to
23is all talk and no follow-through
24always walks away unharmed
25never forgives a slight
26knows more than they’re saying
31was born for leadership
32wants to be left alone
33fights for the right reasons
34never backs down from a fight
35won't compromise
36would die for the cause
41can't be trusted
42puts the mission first
43only looks out for number one
44laughs in the face of danger
45is chasing revenge
46doesn't understand what they've lost
51enjoys the violence too much
52hides how much they care
53will snap one day, it's only a matter of time
54wants to be a hero
55acts like they’re better than everyone
56won't stop until they win
61doesn't belong here
62was meant for something bigger
63has nothing left to lose
64is holding back something dangerous
65never learned how to lose
66doesn't believe in anything anymore

Truth


Roll d66Truth
11feels like an impostor in every room
12still wants to be chosen, not used
13is afraid I'll never be enough
14doesn't know who I am without a cause
15believes people only like me for what I do
16carries shame I've never spoken aloud
21wants connection but doesn't trust it
22is terrified of being ordinary
23fears I peaked a long time ago
24keeps waiting for everything to fall apart
25doesn't believe I deserve the good things
26feels responsible for things I couldn't control
31measures my worth in what I can survive
32can't stop comparing myself to others
33clings to anger because it's easier than grief
34never learned how to ask for help
35wants to forgive someone, but can't
36grieves someone I never really knew
41wants to belong more than I admit
42hides how much I care behind sarcasm
43feels invisible when I'm not useful
44still believes I have something to prove
45fears I'll become like the people who hurt me
46chose survival over honesty
51avoids stillness because I don't want to feel
52hopes I haven't already been forgotten
53needs structure because chaos terrifies me
54chased strength to avoid feeling small
55can't let go of a mistake I made
56never feels safe, even when I should
61doubt my own story, even as I tell it
62fear love because it never lasts
63learned to read people better than I read myself
64wish I could start over
65hold onto control like it's oxygen
66am still shaped by a promise I broke

Desire


Roll d66Desire
11to prove I matter
12to feel safe again
13to make it up to someone I failed
14to finish what I started
15to protect the people I love
16to never be helpless again
21to be left alone
22to finally belong somewhere
23to live a quiet life far from all this
24to be remembered for something good
25to feel whole again
26to earn back someone's trust
31to make them regret underestimating me
32to be free from the past
33to find someone who understands
34to stop running
35to destroy what destroyed me
36to take control of my own story
41to be seen for who I really am
42to matter more than the mission
43to hold onto something real
44to escape the role I was born into
45to win, just once, without compromise
46to break the cycle
51to stop pretending
52to protect what little beauty is left
53to uncover the truth, no matter the cost
54to build something no one can take from me
55to feel something again
56to start over and do it right
61to outgrow who I used to be
62to make them proud
63to silence the voice that says I can't
64to forgive and be forgiven
65to survive long enough to choose my own ending
66to be chosen, not needed

Flaw


Roll d66Flaw
11pushing people away before they can leave
12taking on more than I can handle
13pretending I'm fine when I'm not
14turning every choice into a fight
15lying to protect myself
16refusing to ask for help
21assuming the worst about everyone
22chasing danger to feel alive
23trying to fix things that don't want fixing
24lashing out when I feel small
25testing people just to see if they'll stay
26doing what's easy instead of what's right
31avoiding conflict until it explodes
32keeping secrets from the people who matter
33taking control of everything around me
34sacrificing too much to prove I'm loyal
35hiding behind humor or sarcasm
36making promises I can't keep
41hurting people to protect them
42burying myself in work to stay numb
43refusing to let go of old pain
44chasing approval from people who'll never give it
45believing I know what's best for everyone
46faking confidence I don't feel
51overreacting to small problems
52trusting the wrong people just to feel wanted
53running from anything that feels real
54waiting for something to go wrong
55taking things too personally
56trying to be everything to everyone
61failing to say what I really mean
62testing my limits just to feel in control
63blaming myself for things I couldn't stop
64pretending the past didn't happen
65making plans I know I won't follow through on
66using people before they can use me

Shift


Roll d66Shift
11I can't save everyone, and that's not failure
12being loved doesn't make me weak
13my past doesn't define who I am now
14I don't have to earn being cared for
15I'm allowed to want something for myself
16I'm not responsible for their choices
21I don't need to be perfect to be enough
22it's okay to not be okay
23forgiving myself doesn't mean forgetting
24I can't fix what refuses to change
25what I lost isn't coming back
26I don't have to carry this alone
31being angry isn't the same as being strong
32I can't control everything, no matter how hard I try
33trust is a risk worth taking
34I deserve more than just survival
35someone already sees the real me and stayed
36my fear is lying to me
41letting go isn't the same as giving up
42I was hurt, but I don't have to keep hurting others
43it's not too late to try again
44being vulnerable is how connection begins
45what I thought was strength was actually fear
46the people who hurt me don't get to define me
51I can stop proving myself, I already am enough
52I have nothing to prove to people who won't see me
53being alone doesn't mean I'm unlovable
54someone does care, I just haven't seen it yet
55I've mistaken silence for safety
56if I want change, I have to make it
61belonging takes effort, not just hope
62the life I want won't wait forever
63my story isn't finished yet
64I'm not broken, just bruised
65I can choose who I become
66healing doesn't mean forgetting, it means remembering without breaking

Quirk


Roll d66Quirk
11I count steps when I'm anxious
12I carry something I never use but can't throw away
13I always check the exits in any room
14I write things down I could never say out loud
15I trace the same scar when I'm thinking
16I hum the same tune under my breath when I'm scared
21I cook for people I care about, even if I say I don't
22I touch the ground when no one's watching
23I keep a token from someone I lost
24I sleep curled up like I'm still in danger
25I say people's names like a shield
26I always fix what's crooked, even if it's not mine
31I re-tie my boots when I'm nervous
32I knock twice on wood before I act
33I collect stories I never tell
34I practice apologies in my head
35I talk to things that can't hear me
36I press my fingers to my wrist to make sure I'm still here
41I keep a map of a place I've never been
42I braid and unbraid a leather cord when I think
43I whisper old prayers without believing them
44I stare too long at the stars when I think no one's looking
45I line up my tools before every job
46I leave notes I never send
51I name things that don't need names
52I tap a rhythm I learned as a child
53I can't fall asleep without my gear beside me
54I fold things the same way every time
55I hold my breath in moments I should speak
56I collect small broken things and keep them hidden
61I always finish a meal, even if I'm full
62I wipe my blade clean the same way every time
63I light candles I don't need
64I try to memorize every kindness
65I flinch when someone says my name too gently
66I keep one piece of clothing long past its usefulness

Mark


Roll d66MarkMustMustn't
11ThresholdsCrossStagnate
12HollowingEmptyCling
13KnotsBindUnravel
14WakingRevealIgnore
15SplintersFractureSmooth
16RustErodePolish
21VeilsObscureExpose
22EchoesRepeatForget
23AshesEndureRebuild
24SporesInfiltrateSterilize
25GrudgeRememberForgive
26ThreadWeaveSever
31LanternsIlluminateDarken
32GlassReflectDistort
33SaltPreserveRot
34CracksRevealPatch
35SpiralCycleFix
36TeethBiteHesitate
41MarrowStrengthenHollow
42NeedlesPierceBlunt
43DriftWanderAnchor
44StaticDisruptObey
45ChainsRestrainAbandon
46MireHoldEscape
51GlimmerInspireExtinguish
52WormsConsumeReveal
53CollapseTriggerSupport
54FrictionResistYield
55BloodSacrificeHarden
56NestProtectExpose
61ShiverSenseIgnore
62RopeRescueStrangle
63ScrapSalvageWaste
64KnellWarnCelebrate
65HissThreatenTrust
66MurmurWhisperShout

Bond


A Bond is between two Characters. Each player rolls a d6 to contribute to the shared d66 result. Work together to define the Bond between the Characters.

Roll d66Bond
11You survived a major disaster together. What was it?
12You once failed at something important together. What happened?
13You successfully kept a dangerous secret. What was it?
14You share responsibility for someone else's misfortune. Who and why?
15You both discovered something unsettling that you haven't shared with anyone else. What is it?
16You once risked everything for each other. Why?
21You traveled together but parted ways due to a disagreement. Over what?
22You overcame a powerful enemy together. Who, and how did you succeed?
23You each owe the other your life. What happened?
24You share the same important mentor. Who, and what did they teach you?
25You both ran from something dangerous. What chased you?
26You broke the law together once. Why, and what were the consequences?
31You once fought on opposite sides of a conflict. What changed?
32You both experienced the same strange event. What was it?
33You were involved in a complicated love triangle. How did it end?
34You've been mistaken for each other before. How did that cause trouble?
35You once made a reckless promise together. What was it, and to whom?
36You were stranded somewhere together for days. Where, and how did you survive?
41You worked undercover together. What were you investigating?
42You helped each other escape a life you didn't want. What was it?
43You once hunted or were hunted by something powerful. What happened?
44You helped someone together, but it backfired. How?
45You've seen each other at your absolute worst. What was the situation?
46You fought together in a pivotal battle. Who or what were you fighting?
51You share guilt over a decision you both made. What was it about?
52You once betrayed the same person. Who, and why did you both agree to it?
53You both received visions or warnings about each other. What did they say?
54You both were tricked or betrayed by the same person. Who, and what happened?
55You both competed fiercely for something valuable. Who won, and what was it?
56You helped each other achieve something impossible. What and how?
61You once lied together to protect someone else. Why was this necessary?
62You once rescued each other in rapid succession. How did that happen?
63You both made a decision that cost you dearly. What did you sacrifice?
64You once pulled off a daring heist together. What did you steal, and why?
65You kept watch over each other during a long and dangerous night. What was happening?
66You both swore an oath together. What did you promise, and why does it still matter?

Player Guide

TODO Keep the guides to a short set of themes and ideas kinda like the agile manifesto

Game Master Guide

Monsters


  • Monsters may have special conditions like skeletons being immune to piercing -- and skeletons needing to be smashed to bits to break their magic binds or something to stop them from re-animating them. monsters should be more than just some numbers on a page, each has unique world interactions and ways of working to encourage players to interact with them on a deeper and more interesting level and to help players start to work outside of the box.
  • fighting straight up engagements is reckless, but being prepared and creative tool use should trivialize encounters monsters should have counters, like beeswax in ears to ignore a siren’s call

Character Sheet

Character Sheet Usage


Data is auto-saved locally to your browser as you type. The data only lives in the browser where the data was entered.

  • Your data is not uploaded and others cannot read it. Read about Your Data in Legal.
  • Export your data to back it up between sessions and import it as needed
  • Use export/import to maintain multiple characters
  • Use ctrl+z to undo changes in an input field

Example Characters

Coming soon.

Character Sheet Controls


Input character name to confirm deletion or deletion & import

Import a character

Notebook


Notes are personal. This is one of many ways to get started with taking notes if you don't know where to start.

  • Start by only using the scratch section
  • Use the other sections if they become helpful
  • Find what works for you, including other digital tools or a physical notebook instead of using this
SectionContent
Scratch
General
People
Locations
Threads
Bestiary
Journal

Blog

Session Reports


These describe my process for running games from start to finish including theory and examples from the actual session.

  • Running Like A FKR (27 May 2025)
    • What is the FKR and how I prep and play in the FKR style

Running Like A FKR

Free Kriegspiel Renaissance


  • Abstract the system from the players
  • Immerse into the shared fiction
  • Play worlds, not rules

Worlds before rules states that the setting and how it works is the most important. In the world, how do things work? What kinds of stories are told in it? What are the common themes and feelings? A shared understanding between everyone allows the mechanical rules to fade to the background as everyone brings the fiction alive.

Roleplay at this level is like passing a notebook around the table, taking turns to write the next few lines of the story, while everyone shouts ideas for what might happen next. This immersive hivemind style of storytelling is what keeps me coming back to the hobby.

FKR is conflated with no-rules, almost make believe, play. Where the game master has all the pressure to figure out how to rule different character actions using their own knowledge and experience. The system being ran is in the head of the game master.

Instead, we select or craft game mechanics to reinforce the world. We use it to create a layer of shared understanding. Discuss how something might be ruled and provide a consistent ruling. Conversation to figure out how something might resolve is important, but too much takes us out of the fiction. Mechanics allow scenes to flow.

Any system can be used, even something as heavy as 5e. But lighter systems are simple to understand and are easier to meld into the background during play. They leave room to tinker with and pull in mechanics from other systems to model whatever is important for the world and fiction.

The rules are guidelines. The game master has final say on how to rule something. Abstracting the system from the players facilitates this. Not the entirety of the system, players should at least know how resolutions work, but any intricate details and edge cases should be handwaved and left to the game master. However, this requires trust between the players and the game master. The game is about coming together to tell an interesting story.

The Free Kriegspiel Renaissance is a style of play that can be applied to any roleplaying game. It is not a genre of games.

Session Prep


Following the core FKR principles, improv play is the heart of roleplay. The game master is a player and shares in the real-time creation of the fiction. They do not write it all alone and wait for the players to ruin their plans. They understand the world and note the interesting details. They trust themselves that knowing the world will let them fill in the blanks on the fly. They trust that players will ask questions to inject what is interesting to them.

A believable world is a reactive one. It responds to the actions of the characters. Having too much written down or spending hours in session prep makes it harder to be flexible in the moment.

Treating the game master as a player permits them the same freedoms as players. The game master can ask for a minute to think, use a random table for a spark of inspiration, or say "I don't know, what do you all think would happen?"

FKR Session Report


This is my approach and commentary for a virtual Discord session I ran on 22 May 2025, from inception to key highlights from play. An application of the FKR ideas for running a session.

My primary campaign fell through the night before. But a last minute Discord ping to my wider play group allowed us to pull together enough people for a one-shot.

However, we're scheduled to start playing in 3 hours and I estimated having only 15 minutes of real prep time at my computer to put together the 2 hour session. We land on running a spooky surreal modern game. Yikes. Lets dive in.

Creating Pine Hill

Prep comes in 2 stages. Stage One is the mess of physical and digital notes with inspirational media. Stage Two is the shut up and sit down phase where we pull everything into what we need to run the game.

For refined work, the 3rd stage is editing, but we can do that in the moment. A large volume of raw content provides flexibility.

Stage One

Normally, Stage One takes place over days, weeks, or even months. These are all the little ideas that are drempt up and worked on in the background of our everyday tasks. These are the things that keep us awake during dry work meetings and far into the night. Our unconscious mind iterates on the ideas for us.

I had 2 hours.

But, we do have some massive advantages. Modern games are great because we're living the world we're trying to model. The shared understanding is 80% there. It's not some made up fantasy world with dungeons and dragons in them. We were also gifted the Quinns Quest Review of Delta Green 2 weeks ago that is still fresh in my mind. It had some solid surreal horror ideas in it that left me inspired.

Deadlines force prioritization and keep us focused on producing something that's good enough for what is required. Given our timeline, where do we put our focus?

  1. The World
  2. Feelings
  3. Scenes

It's easy to improv when we're intimate with the surrounding material and the kind of game we want to experience. Focus on preparing what you need to improv well instead of session content. The answer will be different for everyone. Players should do this too, a handful of improv notes on their character sheet goes a long way towards roleplaying the character. The scenes are for if we still have time without going overboard. A few bullet points about the purpose of the scene and what the players are trying to get. A brainstorm to reference for how to invoke the feelings we're going for.

Lets invoke some fear and uneasiness. I'll start with the system since I have a staple go-to when I'm in a crunch like this. Knowing my players, they all have multiple years of experience with 5e. Knave 2nd Edition by Ben Milton is an easy choice. Same general mechanics, just simplified. Light enough for us to twist to fit our needs. Someone who knows 5e knows what 11 AC and 10 HP with just a pocket knife as a weapon in a world with guns. The system's mechanics play into the fear.

I start them off with a random amount of pocket cash, lets say 2d100. I'll have them roll on the d100 background table and I'll modernize whatever they roll. I cut out the item slots and all the fantasy elements. Nothing takes you out of the horror like looking at your spreadsheet of items and figuring out logistics. Since there are no item slots, I give them 10+CON HP. I go with my standard d6 ranged damage and d8 melee damage for any weapon (d4 unarmed), but guns are guns so they will do 2d6 instead. A gunshot should be scary and a firefight lethal.

The system took a few minutes to think about so we have the majority of the time to think about the story. Keeping it simple, a bunch of 20-something year olds get together for a weekend roadtrip to the beach. On the way, they stop at a small town to camp. Making up the high-level details, the players started a fire 12 years ago that killed a supposed cult leader. The players don't remember. The town buried the event. Maybe we can give them some flashback scenes, like they go to the camp site to sleep and everything is pretty much normal, but when they wake up they find out the campsite was burned down and abandoned and they are trespassing. I jot down these high-level ideas. We'll figure out the specifics during play.

I like doing async information between players. Beyond just having players with Knave 2e backgrounds, lets give them each a role to jump into the story with. Like a camper/climber that initiated the camping part of the trip, a driver that owns the car they are all in, and lets have a druggie that is the planner and leader of the group that organized the overall trip.

The last piece I have time for is the opening scene to set the tone for the session. It throws the players into the world and says "Go have fun!". I landed on having a cop pulling them over for no reason. Have the cop be creepy, pushy, and searching for a reason to lock them up. This works well with the druggie in the car with hidden drugs that the others don't know about. To lay it on, we should have the locals start to gather and stare at the traffic stop. We'll see where the players take it.

For my opening scenes, the players didn't choose to get into the siutation. So I try to take an easy on them and use them for world establishment. Sure, they can mess up and end up in jail or a firefight, but the intent is to show them what the town is about and to establish that unsettling mood. As soon as they pull away from the stop, the gloves come off.

Stage Two

An hour before the session, I have 15 minutes to pull all of my notes together into a 2 hour session.

I start with tlDraw and create a private game master board and a public table board to use as my virtual tabletop. I like the chaotic whiteboard layout for pulling my notes together instead of text documents. I write down some location ideas as stickynotes in tlDraw and come up with the name Pine Hill for the town. This takes about 5 minutes.

For the next 5 minutes, I start looking for some location images to see how easy it would be and turns out Pine Hill is a real place in New Jersey. I start going around in Google Maps picking out locations and images from the area. Images and other media are great for setting the tone and feel for the game. I rework my locations based on what I found and place them in tlDraw to make a map. I put the locations where I want them, not where they are in real life, then use the real roads as inspiration for drawing a few lines to represent the roads and where the campsite is.

Pine Hill Map

I spend the rest of my time looking up techniques cops use to pressure people into letting them search their car and how to catch lies. I write down a few ideas to reference for when my players fight back.

I have enough to start the session, I'll have a few minutes while they create characters to jot down any other ideas that come to mind.

Playing Pine Hill

At the start of the session, I send out the link to tlDraw and type out the character creation instructions so they can be self-sufficient. As they develop their character details, I create a sticky note for each player to put near their face on Discord. I like having critical player details right next to the players' faces as they talk, especially their name and how to pronounce it so I can refer to them as their character naturally during play.

During character creation, one of my players rolled a fortune teller. She started asking questions and fishing for world details related to it. She decides on being a Tarot card reader and asks if her character's visions are real. I deadpan say "Yes, they're real." while I side message my other players on Discord saying that their friend believes the readings are real, but they haven't seen any proof despite their claims. But they support them because they're friends. Again, I don't have any of this prepared and I haven't even thought about it until I was asked. I'm playing into the details the players are interested in.

I'll spare you, perhaps more so myself, the details of the entire session.

During the initial traffic stop, the officer taps the trunk of the car to ensure it's closed. Standard procedure. The officer has nothing, so I start spewing some nonsense about an out of state car with a bunch of teens in it going to a small town camping site. Just want to make sure you're all safe for the weekend. Then the officer starts to ask about anything dangerous in the car that he should know about. Any drinks or drugs?

The driver asks about the body cam. I didn't even think about body cams when preping. On the spot, I tell the players that he has one, and that the driver doesn't see the recording light on. The driver asks in character and the officer lies, saying that it is recording.

Questions drive detail. The scene, world, and game grows towards what is interesting to the table. The rest is glossed over.

My druggie player starts coaching the driver, telling her that she doesn't need to answer details about whats in the car. I use that as a point of escalation: "Execuse me, I'm talking to the driver right now. Ma'am, you have nothing to hide, right? Just step out and let me have a quick peek and we won't bother you for the rest of the weekend."

A subtle threat, but enough to get the druggie to make sure the driver doesn't get out. He speaks up again. The officer grabs the license and registration, calls for backup while there, then walks back to his car. This gives the players more time to chat about what to do next and for me to think about what to do to them.

As the game master, it's my job to facilitate and guide the session to allow the players to play their characters. The story, like any creative work, takes a form of its own that we all contribute to.

I wait for the players to start to get into a deeper conversation about planning what to say and do. That's when I have the 2nd cop pull up and the 1st get out of his car again. I disrupt their conversation to set the timer as the officer approaches. This gives the players a rushed few seconds to get their ideas out to each other.

I describe the officer touching the trunk again to ensure its closed. The druggie player's face lights up and I see him write something down in his notes. I make a mental note that the cop just planted an AirTag on the back of their car. I didn't have this idea during prep. I'm just playing off of what my players are giving me and the world and feelings we're trying to invoke. Having surreal stories and ideas at the top of my mind helps me improv things like the AirTag on the fly. Time spent immersed in the world is valuable prep time.

I don't do this every time. Sometimes I have something planned and the player is wrong, sometimes there is nothing to find, and sometimes I steal or augment an idea based on what the players are talking about.

After the traffic stop, the druggie tells the driver to pull into the next parking lot so they can see what the officer did. They don't need to roll to search the back of their car, they just find the AirTag. I only ask for a roll when there is risk and uncertainty.

From here the session continues on. The druggie wants to go to the police station to file a report based on the traffic stop, the driver calls her dad to rant and ask for advice, and the fortune teller decides to go with the druggie. They happen to be a 3 minute walk to the police station. They do what every good party should do, split it. The driver stays behind to talk to their dad. As the others reach the police station, I have the cop return and park across the parking lot from the driver and the session starts to write itself from there.

Aftermath


This post blew up because I wanted to share my current understanding of FKR play and what I think it means. I started running games with a prep-heavy workload and needing to have all the branching paths in front of me. But as I ran more games over the years, I've been drifting closer towards what I describe in this post. Discussions with other roleplay game designers and the FKR community pushed me off the cliff and lead to me running this one-shot using these techniques to see how it went. This ended up being one of my top 5 sessions.

Two weeks before this session, I ran a different one-shot in my safe style of almost over-prepared. It was my first time playing with a few of the players and I was not ready for their level of chaos. In a panic to hold control of the game, I stuck to the script I had prepared and the game failed. The players had a blast roleplaying together, but I know that I let it go off the rails. I didn't have the world react to their actions enough, so they were left to impose their will and we generated a lackluster story because of it.

The FKR is about reactive play.

  • Prep for improv, not content
  • Live in the world
  • Trust yourself

PV2 Character Sheet

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Notes

Characteristics


Character Name (pronouns)

Character Image

Description

Backstory

Core Belief
Dominant Trait
Fear/Vulnerability
Quirk/Habit
Hidden Desire

Stats


Stat Current Reserve Max XP Next
Luck -
Armor 0 3
Stamina -
Strength -
Agility -
Willpower -

Critical Injuries

Character Inventory


Coins Max Coins
1000
Used Slots Max Slots
0 10
# Item Equip
1
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10

Horse Inventory


Horse Name

Stat Current Reserve Max
Armor 0 3
Stamina
Coins Max Coins
1000
Used Slots Max Slots
- 10
# Item Equip
1
2
3
4
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6
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8
9
10

Wagon Inventory


Coins Max Coins
10000
Used Slots Max Slots
- 40
# Item
1
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# Item
21
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Stored Items


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20_ON_D20
8_ON_D8
6_ON_D6
4_ON_D4
6_ON_D6