These will be indicated like:

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

An implementation specific to Valiant Horizon will be here.

This subsystem is about tactical combat between the group of PCs and a group of GM-controlled characters.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This is prominent and expected in the combat-as-sport sense.

Liminal Void #

Physical danger, from combat or otherwise, is a risk. Combat is by-necessity rather than expected. Things like resource depletion, injuries over time, etc. matter.

This subsystem outlines a process for one-on-one conflicts (though a whole group can contribute).

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This comes into play with ship combat.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Duels are a prominent feature.

This subsystem covers character components related to personal challenges and tasks, as well as tools for generalized personal roll resolution.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Skillsets are prominent, both personal and archetypical.

Liminal Void #

Skillsets come up as character background, but equipment comes up just as much in practice.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Equipment comes up on the battlefield in the form of Frame capabilities.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This is mostly interpersonal stuff related to bonds.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This also has interpersonal bonds, but those are intertwined with faction relationships and the ways in which those conflict.

This subsystem is about perception of the groups of characters on axes relevant to the themes of the game.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This comes into play as the starting motivation: making a name for yourself.

This subsystem is about major powers, how characters are intertwined with their actions and machinations, and how they can be used in interesting ways.

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This is very prominent as the game is concerned with political maneuvering.

This subsystem is about characters being organized into a setting-defined group and how to map the challenges and responsibilities those can entail.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Ship ownership, and being the crew of a ship, is where this comes into play.

This subsystem covers earning, borrowing, and spending currency.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Making and losing money is a major thread throughout the game.

This subsystem is about both small-time slow-burn threats and plans, schemes, and events by major players.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This is a potential narrative hook for your initial ship ownership as well as a way to inject urgency into things.

Valiant Horizon #

This is a matter of creeping doom and big enemies taking opportunities to enact their schemes or take revenge as time goes on.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This ties in with factions and their motivations.

Every game in this is assumed to have the concepts of Level and Tier.

A character’s Level represents experience, level of proficiency, degree of mastery, etc. At each level, characters gain extra active or passive abilities. Levels typically range from 1 to 9. Depending on the game, there might also be a level 0 (representing characters in a sort of “prologue” who haven’t yet risen to greatness) or 10 (representing characters at the absolute theoretical apotheosis for the setting).

A Tier is a relative category that indicates whether a location, task, or enemy is operating in the same scope as a character: characters interacting with situations of a lower Tier are at a great advantage, while characters interacting in situations where a higher Tier is present will find themselves having more trouble. (Mechanically, you gain 1 Advantage if rolling for something below your character’s Tier, and gain Disadvantage if rolling for something above your character’s Tier.) Typically there are 3 Tiers representing Level 1-3, Level 4-6, and Level 7-9. Each Tier should have a name as well.

Relative to your concept, try to think about how advancement might work.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

1-3 is Fledgling Tier, 4-6 is Famous Tier, 7-9 is Renowned Tier. There’s also a Level 10, representing Heroic Tier: this is where characters do the things that engrave their legend on the world forever. Levels are gained by doing deeds heroic enough to gain recognition.

Liminal Void #

1-3 is Green Tier, 4-6 is Seasoned Tier, Level 7-9 is Elite Tier. There’s also a Level 0, representing the moments in which fairly mundane people have their lives changed forever. Levels are gained by gaining enough money, influence, and favors to pay off or clear debts, carve out more tenable situations for yourselves, and be able to maintain more and better gear.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Level 1-3 is Exceptional Tier, Level 4-6 is Important Tier, Level 7-9 is Prominent Tier. Levels are gained by becoming more integral to conflicts through both combat prowess and intrigue.

First, think about the game’s concept as it relates to conflict. What tone is being set? What are the important aspects? What part of the characters matter or don’t matter for combat? Does restriction on an archetypical level (i.e. character classes, etc) make sense?

You might end up using some character qualities (like Health, etc) and not combat at all. That’s entirely valid. Not every game actually needs an explicit tactical combat system!

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Characters engage in combat and face peril as per fairly rigid archetypes. Combat is an “as sport” thing where it’s not intended to be terribly lasting on characters.

Liminal Void #

It’s very much about what characters bring with them and what they have - suits, weaponry, gear - as well as training. Archetypes as such are less important. Combat as such is largely supposed to be dangerous.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Tactical Combat isn’t a system as described here: rather, your mech and pilot qualities will be used like equipment and skills on a battlefield.

Traits have small, passive effects. These should be useful and meaningful but not terribly complicated. Characters will have 1-3 of these depending on their level.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Traits come from a class.

• Lifegiver: Gain 2 Advantage when using Powers that restore Health. (Supporter/Heal)

Liminal Void #

Traits come from vocational training and background.

• Workhorse: Gain +1 Health and +2 Endurance. (Defender/Durable)

Powers are active abilities that can be used on a player’s turn. When using a Power, the character’s player rolls and uses the Effect to determine the Power’s effectiveness.

They usually use the following template:

Name
Target(s), Range, Type, (Provokes)
(X Uses/Charges)

Baseline outcome.

X+/X-/etc: Changes to the outcome based on the roll.

• Targets(s) describes who or what this ability can be used upon.
• Range is the range at which and is usually not inclusive (so Near doesn’t include Melee, for instance).
• Type usually refers to a Harm type for the purpose of determining what kind of Harm the ability does.
• Provokes is present if the ability provokes reprisal when used when enemies are in Melee range. (This is typically Mid Die, stepped up for every enemy past the first.)
• X Uses/Charges indicates that the ability can be Used X times before being expended or uses X Charges from a pool defined elsewhere. (Expended means it can’t be used again until a Recharge action makes it available again or until a total resource reset happens) Sometimes, several Powers can share Uses or Charges (such as if they’re associated with the same weapon and it represents ammunition or fuel). If omitted, the ability can’t be expended through use.
• Baseline Outcome is what always happens when using this power. It’s changed by the qualifiers below it if the Effect rolled matches any of the conditions noted.

Powers that don’t have limited Uses or take low Charges are called Standards. Powers can be grouped together as well (by something like a character class or by virtue of coming from the same piece of equipment).

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Powers and Standards are selected within a character’s Class. Powers have Uses.

Liminal Void #

Powers are largely facets of equipment that share Charges. Instead of Standards, some Powers just have a lower charge requirement than others.

Reactions are similar to Powers, but they can only be used when a Trigger condition is met. However, unlike Powers, they can be used at any time during anyone else’s turn as long as the Trigger is fulfilled (but a character can only use one Reaction to any given Trigger). Unlike Powers, you don’t have to roll. Any dice referenced are from the triggering event’s roll.

They usually use the following template:

Name
Trigger
(X Uses/Charges)

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Reactions are provided by archetype.

• Cleave (Attacker/Spread)
  • Trigger: Defeat an enemy in Melee with a Power.
  • 1 Use
  • Deal Low Die Harm to anyone in Melee with them.

Liminal Void #

Reactions are able to be purchased through cybernetics.

• Predictive Processing (Supporter/Command)
  • Trigger: An enemy moves within attack range of an ally.
  • 1 Use
  • That ally may immediately Hustle.

Resources are quantitative measures of how much capacity a character has to push themselves in various ways. These are tied into Recover (which restores Health in exchange for a resource) and Recharge (which restores Uses or Charges).

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

As noted, the plan is to keep resource management on a per-encounter level. We’ll give each character 3 Stamina, and each character can use it to either Recover health equal to a die or Recharge uses equal to half of a die. It’s restored at the end of combat.

Liminal Void #

We’re emphasizing gear, so we can emphasize it here as well. Each character has a number of gear slots dictated by their armor/outfit. Players can choose between stims (Recover health equal to a die or Recharge Reaction uses equal to half of a die), clips (re-adding Ammo to a weapon or Ammo-using tool), rechargers (re-adding Charges to a tool or more tech-based weapon), or can be used en masse to bring another piece of equipment. It can be restocked at a sufficiently large armory.

When characters gain levels, their base “numbers” don’t go up. Instead, they gain new features. As such character should gain at least one thing - a Trait, Power, or Reaction - per level.

Typically, characters start with at least 1 Trait, 1-2 Standards, and 2 Power uses at Level 1.

• They gain new Standards and Talents at level 4 and 7.
• They gain new Reactions at 2, 5, and 8.
• They gain new Powers at 3, 6, and 9.

But it won’t hurt to tweak these in any given direction. You can add minimum levels to future abilities, so the pool of available .

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This will stick to the standard progression: 1 Trait, 1 Standard, and 2 Power uses at level 1, to be chosen from a pool specific to your archetype. However, each set of qualities is tiered by minimum level, with new Powers, Reactions, Standards, and Traits being made available every time you get a new one. For the added Level 10, you get a “signature” version of one of your Powers - maybe it becomes a Standard or gains some extra effect.

Liminal Void #

At Level 0, your background gives you a Trait, some starting consumables, an outfit, and one weapon/tool, which has you a low-charge-drain Power and a high-charge-drain Power (as Liminal Void doesn’t have Standards). You can bring along more equipment to gain more powers, at the expense of less inventory slots for resources.

Swarms represent enemies that are mostly dangerous in packs. Each member of a Swarm has 1 Health. A Swarm always attacks as a group, and two groups can combine to increase their effective member count for one attack. A single-target attack can hit a number of Swarm members in range equal to half the Harm it would deal. Swarms are almost always Melee range attackers.

Minions represent enemies that are more of a threat than Swarms but still not a very powerful threat. They attack individually, don’t have many traits, and don’t have much Health (usually 4).

Elites represent enemies that are roughly 1:1 with player characters. They attack individually and can be dangerous.

They have a little more Health. Typically:

• 6 with some kind of specific resistance (Resist X, give Disadvantage to X kinds of attacks)
• 6 with two resistances and a vulnerability (Vulnerable to X, give Advantage to X kinds of attacks)
• 8 with a resistance and a vulnerability

Their abilities are usually on the level of PC Standards. They usually have 1-2 of them.

Primes represent enemies who are true threats and are worth about two Elites. Unlike other enemies, they can attack with both actions.

They have about double the Health of Elites, and should gain some extra bonus when Staggered. Their abilities are usually on the level of non-Standard PC Powers, and they might have a Reaction.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

• Pack of Dire Rats (Swarm)

  • Bite and Scratch
    • One Enemy, Melee, Weapon
    • Low Die Harm.
    • 15-16: Mid instead of Low Die
    • 17+: High instead of Low Die
    • Gain 1 Advantage for every two Swarm Members past the first currently attacking.

• Skeleton Lord (Prime, 16 Vigor): An ancient, malevolent undead commander.

  • Disadvantage to Near and Far attacks, Vulnerable to Spell.
  • When Staggered, adds Escalation to attacks.
  • Charge Attack
    • One Enemy, Near, Weapon
    • Move into Melee with the enemy, then deal Mid Die Harm.
    • 13+: High instead of Mid die.
    • 17+: Critical (Double Harm).
  • Hardened Bones - Self, Spell - Until next round, gain Resist Weapon. - 13+: Resist Spell as well.

Liminal Void #

• Corporate Security (Minion, 4 Endurance):

  • Rifle Fire
    • One Enemy, Near, Ballistic
    • Low Die Harm.
    • 13+: Mid instead of Low Die

• Riot Suppression Captain (Elite, 6 Endurance): A more heavily armored soldier with a riot shield.

  • Resists Ballistic, Kinetic.
  • Gives Advantage to Energy attacks.
  • Repulsor Smash
    • One Enemy, Melee, Kinetic
    • Low Die Harm.
    • 9+: Attacks against the target this round gain 1 Advantage.
    • 11+: Mid instead of Low Die.
  • Mobile Cover - Self, Melee - You can’t move for the rest of the turn. 1 Disadvantage to attack allies at your location this round from Near or Far.

First, think about the game’s concept as it relates to conflict. What tone is being set? What are the important aspects? What part of the characters matter or don’t matter for combat? Does restriction on an archetypical level (i.e. character classes, etc) make sense?

You might end up using some character qualities (like Health, etc) and not conflicts at all. That’s entirely valid. Not every game actually needs explicit personal conflicts!

This could also easily be repurposed for more “civil” conflicts, like arguments or legal battles.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This is used for ship combat. In a lot of cases these aren’t dogfights - this can also be used for an unarmed civilian ship maneuvering to escape or board another ship.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This is used for semi-formal mecha duels between representatives of Houses.

To engage with this system, characters need something representing their physical well-being. The generic term used going forward is Health (though the name will often change depending on the game.) If someone is at half or less Health, they’re considered Staggered, which is used as a condition for various abilities. You might make a distinction between “combat” Health, representing something more temporary, and “real” Health, representing more lasting harm. When they have 0 Health, they’re Defeated.

PCs should probably have 12 Health on average, going as low as 9-10 or as high as 15-18.

Health is reduced by Harm. Harm is most frequently a Low, Mid, or High die from a roll depending on the character or circumstance causing it (and as such, it’s usually in the 1 to 6 range).

For reference:

• Low Die Harm is on average 2 Harm.
• Mid Die Harm is on average 3.5 Harm.
• High Die Harm is on average 5 Harm.

As such, a character with 12 Health will take roughly 5-7 Low Die Hits, 3-4 Mid Die hits, or 2-3 High Die Hits before dropping.

Lower than average Health should probably come with some kind of benefit (like Disadvantage to or Resistance against attacks of a certain Harm type or at a certain range, or more Resources). Higher than average Health should probably come with a penalty (like Vulnerability to a Harm type, Advantage to attacks of a type, or less Resources).

Increase this for more durable characters, or decrease it for less durable characters.

When they hit 0 Health, a character has been Defeated. What that means should be different for each game depending on your game’s tone and intended harshness.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Health for ships is split into Integrity and Armor: Armor is outer layers of protection, while Integrity is the ship’s ability to hold together. When Integrity is damaged, the ship (and everyone inside it) starts to be in peril: like with Health/Endurance.

Integrity will be about 6-10 depending on the size of the ship, while Armor is about 2-8 depending on how combat-focused it is. The majority of ships don’t have both. When Integrity hits 0, the ship has been damaged enough to be disabled, and is at the mercy of any other nearby ship. Less military-oriented ships should mostly be trying to escape or launch a desperate boarding action rather than stick it out and fight.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Integrity is used here as well - assuming the intention is a “chunky” mecha feel, all Harm is an actual hit, if glancing. It’s based primarily on your mech, but a pilot trait or two might also contribute. When Staggered, something is disabled, like a particular weapon.

Integrity is about 12-18 on average. When it runs out, the pilot is permanently scarred in some way - or if they’re put in negatives, they run the risk of more meaningful harm. It’s a little higher than the average of 12 because I want there to be more of a choice: A pilot can eject prior to this if they don’t like their chances.

Traits are small, passive effects. These should be useful and meaningful but not terribly complicated. Characters will have 1-3 of these depending on their level. These are sometimes associated with one of those Stances but this has no mechanical effect.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Traits are various qualities of the ship. Sometimes these are fully related to ship combat, but sometimes they’re not.

• Sophisticated Sensor Package: The ship’s sensor package can be used as if it were equipment to analyze anything nearby. Survey actions gain 1 Advantage, and even without Survey you always gain a Tell against any Charge ability.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

The first Trait comes from your mech’s model, but later Traits are from pilot skill.

• Jump Thrusters: Step up the die whenever you gain Evasion.

Actions are the abilities that a player can declare. When using an Action, the character’s player rolls and uses the Total to determine what happens, and uses any dice to determine the Effect.

They usually use the following template:

Name
Stance, Keywords, (X Uses/Charges)

Baseline outcome.

X+/X-/etc: Changes to the outcome based on the roll.

• Targets(s) describes who or what this ability can be used upon.
• Range is the range at which and is usually not inclusive (so Near doesn’t include Melee, for instance).
• Stance is Aggressive, Defensive, or Indirect.
• Type usually refers to any keywords.
• X Uses/Charges only exists on Powers. This indicates that the ability can be Used X times before being expended or requires the use of X Charges from a pool defined elsewhere. (Expended means it can’t be used again for the rest of the duel unless something Recharges it.) Sometimes, several Powers can share Uses or Charges (such as if they’re associated with the same weapon and it represents ammunition or fuel). If omitted, the ability can’t be expended through use.
• Baseline Outcome is what always happens when using this power. It’s changed by the qualifiers below it if the Effect rolled matches any of the conditions noted.

There are several kinds of Actions:

• Baseline Actions: These are Actions that everyone has access to and works the same for everyone.
• Variable Actions: These are Actions that everyone has access to but change based on various common Traits, equipment, or similar other factors. In some cases, it’s the same action but it’ll gain advantage or disadvantage instead based on those factors.
• Powers: These are Actions that have specific effects and limited uses. These are usually entirely different from character to character.
• Standards: These are a subset of Powers that don’t have limited uses.
• Finisher: These are a specialized kind of Powers that are extremely effective but only at high Escalation. (This typically means outcome changes that trigger on an Effect of 18-20+.)

Each character should always have at least one Aggressive, Defensive, and Indirect action.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Every ship has Endure & Evade (Defensive), Ram (Aggressive), and Survey (Indirect). Powers and Standards typically come from weaponry or defensive systems bolted on for more civilian ships, or integrated weaponry for more military vessels. Finishing Moves are only present on the heaviest of military vessels.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Every Frame has Endure & Evade (Defensive), Feint, and Recharge; as well as a Standard, two Powers, and a Finishing Move specific to that Frame.

Resources are quantitative measures of how much capacity a character has to push themselves in various ways. (Health is also a resource, but is covered above. You could use it as an alternative to Charges though!)

Examples #

Liminal Void #

In this case, the main Resource in combat is Charges/Ammo on Powers. These can’t be recharged in combat.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Resources here are Uses of Powers. These can be recharged with a Recharge action.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

A ship’s capacity for Traits and Powers (as well as any standard loadouts of such) is initially decided by its base model. As levels progress, more modifications can be made. As higher Tiers represent increased prominence, more base models and more opportunities to refit are available.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Your Frame has a preset Trait, two Standards, two Powers, and a Finishing Move: it’s a standard military model and it’s outfitted as such. Everything else along the way is from the pilot: further Powers and Traits are signature maneuvers and qualities. At higher Tiers, you can customize your Frame as you gain status and fame.

A Tell is a more telegraphed action, or one that the other character has figured out how to anticipate. The default way to gain Tells is through the Feint action.

When actions are decided and revealed, one character may reveal that they have the appropriate Tell for the other character’s action. If they do, they can change their action to be any other action before resolution. If not, they gain 1 Advantage on their roll. Characters can’t reveal Tells on changed actions, which makes this a good opportunity to use strong actions that normally have Tells.

When both characters reveal Tells against the other character’s action, both may secretly decide to pick new actions or maintain as per one Tell.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

You mostly gain Tells through the Survey action. Some Traits will also give you free Tells on abilities with specific keywords (like Charge or Missile).

Machinations of Court and Frame #

The primary ways in which you gain Tells outside of Feinting is through Bonds with your opponent: if you’re known to each other, you each gain a Tells for a specific Power or actions. You can also share tells with other people who have faced the enemy in question.

A Clash typically ends when one participant is at 0 Health. You might be able to end a Duel in other ways, however:

• A participant could spend a certain amount of Escalation to escape.
• After a certain number of rounds the opportunity to continue the fight might be lost.
• Someone could interfere to break up the fight.

A Duel’s resolution could have other effects if it’s part of an overarching combat.

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

All participants start a duel as Recharged as possible. Anyone else could break up the fight, or interfere to ensure one party’s downfall, but they do so at social peril. Once a participant is at 4 Escalation, they can concede the fight in an honorable fashion; the other participant can choose to continue the fight at the expense of looking distasteful, but at this point it’s socially acceptable for allies to directly come to their aid.

If a conflict continues past a duel’s resolution, the victor’s side gains 2 Advantage to all rolls and the loser’s side gains 2 Disadvantage to all rolls.

Liminal Void #

At any Escalation, a ship may roll to attempt to escape or board the other craft. They have to roll under the current Escalation on a die based on either their ship’s characteristics (to escape) or the boarded ship’s characteristics (to board). This is declared as an action, so on a failure they’ve wasted a round while their opponent still acts.

Given that clashes are typically 1 on 1, and in many cases 1 Player-controlled character vs. 1 GM-controlled character, I recommend:

• Give the GM controlled character over to a different non-GM player, and as the GM focus on facilitating and introducing outside complications.
• Let multiple characters have input on one character’s actions (like 2 non-GM players controlling one PC and 2 controlling one GM character).
• Giving other characters things to do.

Sometimes, you’ll get a situation where several characters are engaged in a Clash with another character. If so, the following changes apply:

• Each side of a Clash shares an Escalation.
• Each character on each side picks an action at the start of a round. The side with multiple characters gets to choose which of their actions counts as the dominant action for Priority purposes after the reveal. (Both actions then count as that Priority this round.)
• Depending on the situation, characters may share Tells, or they might be independent.

If you’re in a situation where multiple characters are engaged in a Clash with multiple other characters, pair them off into individual Clashes wherever possible. Because they can stay independent and non-GM players are typically running both sides of an encounter, this shouldn’t be too chaotic from the GM’s perspective. (If this is something that will frequently come up, you may want to use Combat and Tactics instead: see Combining with Combat and Tactics below if you want characters who do both in similar contexts.)

Examples #

Liminal Void #

In general, the whole group should decide what the ship will do. If the ship starts to take damage, individual characters can break off to help mitigate it (quick repairs, patch jobs, medical attention, etc) while everyone else continues to make decisions.

Sometimes crews may find themselves outnumbered by enemy attackers. Conversely, crews may decide to acquire a smaller ship for advanced maneuvers, especially if they have a larger ship that can house it.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This is where giving players control of enemies really comes into play: given that most Clashes are semi-formal duels, both combatants are going to be on fairly equal ground. In addition, many enemies will be player-made, and as such the player who made the enemy may want the opportunity to play them!

Most of the time duels are going to be one on one for societal reasons - one commander against another. However, one side or another may decide to do something that breaks the rules, like attack someone who’s surrendered - or they may be tricked into doing something to that effect. In that case, all bets are off.

Before a combat situation starts, an Enemy is just a character, be they people or otherwise. Their motivating factors (what do they want out of a fight, do they even want a fight, will they fight to the death or run when things look bad, etc) are important to think about, because they’ll impact how they fight, who they target, etc.

Enemies in a Clash #

Mechanically, sometimes it makes sense to make Enemies as if they were PCs, especially if a lot of Clashes are between named characters. If that’s the case, have players make a handful periodically as you need more. Making more than one at the start of the campaign is recommended at this place, especially as it gives players a chance to use one they made in the past as an enemy!

If that’s not the case, you might be able to create a few suggested versions based on templates or stock models. If those aren’t a thing in this game, create a few for GMs to use when running the game. Above all, the last thing you want is for a GM to have to stat something up from scratch - provide enough examples so that they can either use whatever as-is or tweak it manually.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Most enemies in this context are just a type of ship. A few other enemies are provided for things like heavily improvised ships or unmanned drones.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Almost all enemies are going to be another pilot in a standard model of Frame. Players are typically expected to make at least two pilots each, partially so there are enemies to Duel but also so nobody is left out when the focus of conflict shifts.

Everything in this section expects the use of the General Challenge Resolution:

• 8-: PC’s choice: either the attempt fails with a minor consequence/twist or the attempt succeeds with a major consequence/twist.
• 9-12: The attempt succeeds with a minor consequence/twist.
• 13+: The attempt succeeds without consequence.

Any Asset that can help during this step can add:

• Gain 1 Advantage on the roll.
• Step up one die result used.

An Asset is defined by any character quality or situational quality that would benefit them. Each Asset can only be used to gain one benefit, up to two Assets per benefit.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

A character has two skillsets (one from their background, Chef, and one from their class, Ranger) available as Assets and is trying to forage for traveling supplies. The GM determines that on a success, the player will find an amount of supplies equal to Low Die. The player can choose: either they roll with 1 Advantage, or gain Mid instead of Low Die supplies on a success. They could use one skillset to gain Advantage while using the other skillset to step up the die result, narrating why each makes sense, or use both either for 2 Advantage or to gain High Die Supplies on a success. If the area is particularly bountiful, that would also count as an Asset: given the two benefits can only have two Assets, they could gain either 2 Advantage and Mid Die Supplies on a success, or 1 Advantage and High Die Supplies on a success.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

The same character provokes a consequence from that roll to find resources. The GM rules that it takes 10 - Mid Die extra hours: if their Mid Die is 3, for example, it takes 7 extra hours. If they take too long, it might be dark and they might get lost heading back. Before the roll, if they didn’t use either Skillset or the environment’s bounty as Assets, they could use one unused Asset to make that High Die (so if their High Die is 5, it becomes 5 extra hours).

Instead of using the above, the GM may call for a Hardship Roll when a consequence is in order. Unlike skill rolls, typically either Effect or individual dice are used. (When using Effect, 9+ is a 75% chance, 11+ is a 50% chance, and 13+ is a 25% chance.) If this is a major consequence/twist, the GM can add Advantage to the Hardship Roll or step up die results.

Any Asset or situational benefit that can mitigate hardship during this step can:

• Add 1 Disadvantage to the roll.
• Step down one die result used, if relevant.

Any Assets used on the original roll can’t be used, and each Asset can only mitigate hardship in one way. Some Assets can’t be used for mitigation even if they could be used to avoid it.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Instead of subtracting, the GM might decide that a Hardship roll is in order, with a number of extra hours spent equal to Mid Die - If that character didn’t use one of their two skillsets as Assets, or if they didn’t use the bountiful nature of the surrounding area, they could try to mitigate this by using one of them to add Disadvantage or use Low instead of Mid Die. If they saved all 3 Assets, however, they could still only do one or the other of those two.

Instead of that, the GM might roll hardship to see if a monster finds them as they look. On a 13+, some big monster enters the area. Because there, only one Asset can be used to mitigate this by applying Disadvantage. For subsequent consequences, this will be rolled with increasingly high Advantage on the Hardship roll.

Liminal Void #

A character has been poisoned by some kind of horrible creature. Until it’s addressed or passes, every time an appropriate amount of time passes, the GM rolls a Hardship Roll and deals Harm equal to half of the Low Die to the character’s Health. If the character has a skillset relevant to this (like exposure to chemicals making them more toxin-resistant) or some kind of mitigating treatment has been mustered (like an anti-toxin being administered), they can use those to either add Disadvantage on the roll or step down the die.

The GM might rule that only anti-toxins can be used step down the die used. Being personally tough helps keep harm to a minimum, but the poison will always do something without an external mitigating factor, and stepping down a Low Die has a chance to put results to zero.

In some cases, instead of a pure success, a task being addressed might call for a multi-step process, especially if done under pressure. In this case, this works similarly to combat Harm and Health. In this case, Harm is reconfigured as Progress, and Health is reconfigured as Resistance. Progress reduces Resistance; once it’s at 0, the task is finished. (10 Resistance is typical.)

If using it, typically Progress should happen anytime a success would happen in the general procedure, based on a die value (usually Mid Die on a 9+, Low Die otherwise). You can also forgo consequences/twists if this is being done during a particularly tense moment (like if it takes up a combat action) or burn extra actions/turns/time as consequences.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

A technician is trying to get a fortified security door open to free the rest of their crew in combat. The GM determines this is a fine case for default values: it’s a 10 Resistance door, and each roll will create Mid/Low Die Progress towards opening it. In this case, there’s no consequences provoked on a 9+, whereas on an 8- it takes both actions instead of one.

Depending on emphasis and how they’re meant to be used, the game can position skillsets in a few ways:

• Free-Form: Characters are given no limitations on the skillset.
• Themed: Characters can choose in a manner similar to Free-Form, so long as the skillset matches the concept. Oftentimes this comes into play when the skillset is associated with other character features.
• Pre-Set: Characters have to choose one from a predefined list, usually alongside other character features, but still decide in what context it comes up. This almost always happens when the skillset is associated with other character features.

Sometimes more than one these can apply within the same game.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Characters gain two skillsets at character creation. The first is personal and free-form. The second is Themed to their Class, representing skills gained alongside their combat abilities.

Using the example from before, a character takes the Chef Skillset as their Free-Form skillset, while Ranger is the Themed skillset they take based on their Warrior class.

Liminal Void #

Characters gain one Skillset at Level 0. This is a pre-set one based on the character’s profession, and comes along with a profession-specific Trait and equipment. At Level 1, they gain another Skillset that’s more free-form (but shouldn’t just be based on that same profession).

As an example, A Level 0 character has the Technician Pre-Set Skillset, which comes predefined based on the available professions. At Level 1, they gain a Free-Form Skillset. They choose Celestial Nomad: they’d only ever lived on stations and ships, but never a planet.

In its most basic form, equipment can be used similarly to a skillset. If a character has a piece of equipment and it would make sense to use, they can gain Advantage on rolls, step up dice, add Disadvantage to Hardship Rolls, and step down Hardship dice.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Every piece of equipment that has powers for combat can also be used outside of combat as tools. (Obviously equipment like guns have fewer uses outside of combat than former tools, which is factored in: dedicated weaponry is more powerful in combat as a result.)

Much like Skillsets can be attached to other character qualities, Equipment can overlap with other subsystems.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

As noted above, equipment is meant for both combat and standard uses. In addition to that, however, your combat resource is also represented by physical items: stimulants, quick-rechargers for electrical tools, and clips of ammunition. You can also find or prepare other items that have effects in or around combat, like specialized medicines or single-use weapons.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Frame equipment and traits are used this way on the battlefield rather than in a combat situation.

Depending on the circumstances, equipment can be temporary or limited-use in one of a few ways.

Consumable equipment is typically single-use. It’s generally more effective or more specialized than other equipment, or does something unique. Consequences with these might involve wasting them, or them having strange side effects.

Charged equipment has a number of charges that can be restored, either with resources or at certain stopping points. Typically one Skillset-like usage uses one Charge. When one of these is used you can easily incorporate using more charges than expected as a consequence.

Fragile equipment works until destroyed by a consequence. If something is slightly less fragile, it might have a Damaged step where it can be repaired if kept safe, or destroyed if another consequence is provoked. (This can also be combined with Charged, where instead of being destroyed, if it’s Damaged you can’t recharge it until repaired.)

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This is a game that has a focus on gear, so all of these are present. Primary equipment is Charged: characters can use the equipment’s charges or ammo either to perform Powers as listed or to use them as tools. There are also more dedicated tools that don’t give Powers but are Charged as well. Enterprising characters can also find or bring along Consumable items, which either give some tangible benefit (like clearing a consistent condition, like poison or limb damage) or grant a single-use Power in combat (like grenades). Finally, Fragile equipment exists as well, primarily in the form of sensitive scientific equipment.

Skillsets and Equipment can also provide granted, explicit capabilities to be used in place of the standard roll when doing specific things. These can either be always-available or resource-using abilities, much like Standards and Powers in combat. They should always work, with changes to them based on the Total.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Characters gain these from their class. For example:

• Come On, Work! (Power from Technologist)
  • You can now use a piece of technological equipment in Melee with you that wasn’t operating for the rest of this round and Low Die rounds afterwards, regardless of whether or not you knew how to use it beforehand. You gain a stacking 1 Disadvantage to use this on the same target repeatedly.
  • 11+: Mid instead of Low Die.
  • 13+: You don’t gain Disadvantage to use this again on this piece of equipment after it expires.

A Stunt is a more nebulous use of a Skillset or piece of Equipment that seems plausible but might feel like a stretch for normal usage. Sometimes there’s a limit on Stunts (like you can use it once per session, mission, etc), or sometimes it involves resource expenditure. You can also spend semi-related combat skills in stunt-like ways in this fashion, using them up as appropriate (or more than appropriate, depending on their normal usage).

When performing a Stunt, roll without any bonuses or penalties:

• 8-: The Stunt succeeds with a minor consequence/twist.
• 9-12: The Stunt succeeds.
• 13+: The Stunt succeeds, gaining some kind of extra benefit.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Characters can use any Skillset as a Stunt once per session. They can also repurpose combat abilities instead of employing a Skillset, with the expectation that they would need to be replenished as if they had been used.

Liminal Void #

Characters can use Equipment for Stunts, but it’ll burn far more Charges or Ammo than normal use.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Characters can use their abilities with Uses to perform Stunts on the battlefield, but those abilities are expended until a Recharge action is taken during a Clash.

Burdens can intersect with other subsystems to remove capabilities. These act like a reverse Asset: either it gives Disadvantage to rolls or Advantage to Hardship rolls in certain situations. Instead of simply reducing the capability, these can also provide extra consequences whenever consequences for certain rolls would happen, providing a caveat to that capability.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This comes up most often from low-Health events. Sustaining a chest injury, for example, reduces your Endurance in combat as well as add Advantage on Hardship Rolls for anything that requires sustained effort, while receiving an arm injury might give you Disadvantage on both rolls that require arm steadiness and rolls to attack enemies.

As another example, a character who is Bleeding takes 1 Harm to Health whenever they provoke a consequence while doing anything physical.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Character Burdens are primarily this: characters take a character trait like Clumsy or Forgetful. Whenever it comes up, a predictable thing happens instead of some other consequence: for example, a Clumsy character might either fall down or drop something, or a Forgetful character might forget some very important detail.

A character provokes a consequence when rolling to perform an important ritual. Their player decides that their forgetfulness should be the cause of some personal consequence rather than risking the ritual’s result: they use their Forgetful burden to say that they got distracted and forgot to finish one of the protective sigils, opening themselves up to Harm. The GM decides that this means a Hardship roll for mid die Harm.

The relationship between one character and another.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

These are the primary kinds of relationships: they’re typically between PCs and the friends and allies they meet along the way, as well as between PCs.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This is used for both friends and enemies that you might see on the battlefield: basically any time you and someone else feel strongly about each other.

The relationship between a character and an overarching faction or group of people. (This frequently ties in with Factions.)

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Faction relationships are used in conjunction with personal relationships to create tension between obligations and loyalty to power vs. other people in your position.

The relations between a character and an ideology, concept, or code. (This frequently ties in with Reputation and Perception.)

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Characters who are more motivated by an idea than allegiances engage with this rather than (or in addition to) with Faction relationships.

Bonds are the specific linkages that make up a Relationship. Typically, the number of Bonds on a Relationship determine its strength. They’re created when something meaningful has occurred to strengthen a relationship. A Bond is usually tied to a specific event or experience, either during the game or in the past. The number of Bonds is the main thing that

• Bonds between a PC and another character could be the result of events like growing up together or having been friends or enemies during pivotal moments. If these bonds are established in game, they’re likely the result of the PC doing something meaningful for or to that character.
• Bonds between a PC and a Faction are usually the result of exemplary service (or presence in something that damaged them greatly) or a recommendation/warning by someone the Faction trusts.
• Bonds between a PC and a concept are usually times when that PC reinforced their devotion to the concept.

You can have up to 6 Bonds in a relationship. Instead of creating a Bond, if the relationship already has 6 Bonds, you can instead replace an older one with one that’s more meaningful. If a player and the GM agree that a situation is meaningful enough to create a bond, simply create one and add it to the relationship. If there’s some disagreement, roll a die and compare it to the current number of Bonds. If it’s higher, add the Bond to the relationship.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

A character’s sibling is an NPC. The player decides they have two Bonds: one from a time when they were small children, and another a time from when they were older.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

A pilot has three Relationships. One is to their best friend, another pilot from another House who went to the same academy (two Bonds: one for the first time they met, another for a time when the best friend stood up for them). Another Relationship concerns their House: they have one Bond concerning their loyalties.) The third Relationship is with the concept of Victory - the pilot is obsessed with a need to always win, and risked a friend’s life for it once.

When a PC wants to leverage a Relationship to influence the other party in the relationship, the PC should roll and use a die determined by the GM (typically Low for something that’s not much of an ask or that they would normally do anyway to High for something they wouldn’t do normally). Depending on the roll, determine how it goes:

• If it’s lower than your number of Bonds, the result the PC would prefer happens.
• If it’s equal, the result the PC would prefer happens, but with a twist or consequence.
• If it’s higher and you have 2 or less Bonds, nothing happens.
• If it’s higher and you have 3 or more Bonds, something happens, but it isn’t what the PC wants.

If the other party is another PC and the roll goes lower than the number of Bonds, the other PC has a few options:

• Go along with the broad strokes of it to gain a bonus. If there’s a consequence or twist, the implementation is up to the influenced player.
• Refuse entirely and take a penalty. If there’s a consequence or twist, the influenced player may choose to instead make it look like they’re going along with it.

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

When asking for aid from a Faction, or when trying to influence someone’s actions, you roll against your number of Bonds after the appropriate amount of time has passed to find out their answer. (Or the GM/other player rolls secretly, depending on your preference.)

When influencing another PC, if they go along with it, the bonus is +1 Escalation when carrying it out, or -1 Escalation if they refuse.

Having a certain number of Bonds with someone (or something) can also be a prerequisite to gaining certain capabilities.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Relationships with NPCs and other PCs are how you gain other classes’ abilities.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

At 3 Bonds into a relationship with a Faction, you can use their mech models. At 5 Bonds with them, you can use their equipment in your custom models. (As noted, this is a quicker progression if your characters are part of that Faction.)

Sometimes, it makes sense for Relationships to do other things as well, especially with regards to other subsystems.

Depending on your game, you could use the Relationship as if it were an Asset. (Recommended is 4-6 Bonds, or less if there’s a caveat involved.) You could also leverage Relationships in the various kinds of combat.

In situations like that in which the Faction subsystem is in play, players are sometimes subordinates of Factions, though it’s not strictly needed to use the system. Treat this as a Relationship, but a few things are different: First, PC members should gain some extra benefits from gaining Bonds in that relationship. This can be as simple as treating the Relationship as if it had a higher number of Bonds, or as complicated as gaining unique privileges. However, being a member of that Faction has downsides. They will usually expect something from you for your membership! (If not, then it’s not much of a Faction as such.)

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

At 2 Bonds, you can use your Relationship like an Asset when doing something that would directly help or impact the other character. At 4 Bonds, you can use it like an Asset all the time. At 6 Bonds, one ally will fight by your side whenever you ask, no matter how physically far they should be: narratively, you and the GM can come up with a reason they’re there.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

At 3 Bonds, you can leverage your Relationship as an Asset when having the appropriate relationship with that person, faction, or ideology would make a difference, for better or worse.

At 2, 4, and 6 Bonds, you gain a Tell with an opponent you have a Relationship with. At 2 the Tell is their mech’s primary power, but at 4 and 6 it can be any Power, Standard, or non-Power Action they have. You can communicate these Tells to other characters, but depending on the circumstance, that may be cheating, or you might need to roll against your number of Bonds.

PCs who are members of a Faction (in this case, a noble House) treat their Bonds as double for the purposes of unlocking Asset use and mech access. (As such, they will effectively have full privileges at 3 Bonds.) However, PCs beholden to a House are required to work in that House’s interest. They’ll have to perform tasks as directed, recuse themselves from anything that would cause harm to that House, and answer for anything that causes harm indirectly. (Most missions are joint operations, so there’s some leeway on that front.)

These can be ways in which the group of PCs works or deals with others, such as:

• Honorable
• Bloodthirsty
• Subtle
• Businesslike
• Ingenious
• Destructive
• Honest
• Greedy
• Diplomatic
• Thorough
• Magical
• Technological

In general it’s best to predefine at least some of these.

Valiant Horizon #

Reputations are all positive qualities. This is intentional to emphasize heroic natures as opposed to negative traits.

The Reputation system here is mostly for groups based on the assumption that they’ll largely be doing the same things. But if that’s not the case, it may make more sense to make an individual Reputation instead.

If doing so, you may want to make distinctions between that and other individual-PC systems you may be using, like Relationships. There will end up being significant overlap.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

If you wanted to add a Reputation system to a game that’s heavy on Relationships such as this, you’d have to contend with how it interacts with Relationships with Factions and Concepts.

Given the scope of it, it might make sense to only start using Reputation at higher Tiers if characters are intended to start out local and become more well known.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Reputations start being explicitly included at Renowned Tier (i.e. 2nd Tier). The 1st Tier is mostly dedicated to feeling out characters through lower-stakes questing and things that set up bigger events later. The GM can also give Reputations early to groups who push limits, of course.

Reputation changes are a really great way to keep track of important deeds. Every one is tied to a specific action or event, so it ends up creating a record of everything important enough to make that change.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This is a game that’s explicitly about building out your legend. Reputation is the key building block of this: every major change (and especially every extended downtime or timeskip) is an opportunity to take stock of what’s happened so far and decide where that leaves the PCs. The end of the campaign is intended to use this as the character’s explicitly defined legend: What impact did that set of deeds have on the world as a whole?

Once you’ve gained a reputation, for better or for worse, it has to be reinforced to stick. If you did one thing to gain it, it’ll be forgotten eventually.

Each Reputation has an associated quality called Fame (or Notoriety, or to that effect) that starts at a maximum of 10. Whenever time passes where you haven’t done something to reinforce that Reputation, roll and subtract the mid die from Fame. (You can subtract the low die or the high die instead if you’ve done something semi-qualifying or semi-disqualifying, or if the community in question is slower or quicker to forget people.) When it hits 0, you lose that Reputation.

Whenever you do something that would reinforce your Reputation, reset Fame at maximum + 1. Once it’s above a threshold of your choosing (20 is typical, or you can also tier-gate it), you’re immune to losing Fame - your Reputation is sealed.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

During Famous tier, you have to maintain Fame. If you get Fame up to 20, however, you don’t have to. Once in Renowned Tier, your Fame increases by 2 instead of 1 every time you reinforce it. In Heroic Tier, your Reputation is always sealed.

A Faction is an important power player in the setting. They can interact with individual PCs via Relationships, but they can also create impact upon the group as a whole as well as other Factions, creating a dynamic situation for the game as a whole. As such,

Machinations of Court and Frame #

We’ll be using a sample noble House, House Montrant.

A Faction was usually gathered together for a reason, even if the original reason doesn’t match the current mode of operation.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

House Montrant is one of the newer Houses, founded by a bigger power as a way to control a certain planet.

What the Faction can actually do is important. Sometimes this will be generalized around things like wealth or influence being able to buy many things, but sometimes this will be very specific.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

House Montrant is fairly militarily weak, though it has a few dedicated champions. Most of its influence comes from trade networks and connections rather than being able to apply force directly.

These are the things that everyone knows about the Faction.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Everyone knows that House Montrant is seeking to be the middleman and negotiator for as many interstellar trade agreements as possible. Their founder used to be a common trader who got into good graces with someone very prominent who could provide their position.

These are the things that the Faction wants to accomplish. Short-term and long-term goals are both valid: short-term goals will change, while long-term goals are likely to stay the same until accomplished or change very slowly.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Short-term, House Montrant is looking to acquire a more diverse portfolio of money-making ventures. Long-term, House Montrant wants a more prominent military arm rather than having to rely on allies or mercenaries, which requires more investment in military pipelines: recruitment, factories, deals with arms-makers, etc.

A Faction has very limited value without relations to other Factions. Designate at least one other Faction as an enemy and one as an ally. (They can have other enemies/allies but this is a particular one.)

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Given their status as new money, House Montrant has probably not gained many friends among older, prominent Houses. But maybe they’ve gained an ally among one older, prominent House using their mercenary ways to try to get back up on top.

This is anything that most people wouldn’t know about. These can be facts, goals, rumors, and so on. These could be damaging, embarrassing, or just obscure. The degree of secrecy (i.e. how many people know it) is also key.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

House Montrant’s biggest secret is that the founder sometimes provides arms and supplies to their patron’s rival under a proxy company, which is how they can be so ready to provide their patron key supplies at key times. If the connection were to be revealed, it would greatly damage their relationship. A lower-stakes secret is that their founder has more than a few illegitimate children, which could be a problem for succession if that were to come to light.

But sometimes these are also relevant on a moment to moment basis, such as consequences and twists from generic resolutions.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

A pilot pulls some strings to ensure that their House can have more troops in a key battle, and provokes a consequence/twist. The GM decides that those troops were in a key place for the House they were taken from, causing increased casualties and damage in that area.

As noted in Relationships and Bonds, you can have Relationships between PCs and Factions. These are very likely to be somewhat one-sided: asking for significant help if you don’t have a strong enough relationship might have actual consequences.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

Trying to influence another House to do something can be dangerous or impossible. The scope of favor that you can ask is gated by the number of Bonds in the relationship, and a roll result that’s significantly higher than your number of Bonds can have drastic results.

The organization revolves around a physical location, vehicle, or method of employment.

Some examples include:

• A ship that can travel long distances
• A safehouse in the wilderness
• An adventuring company
• A vehicle caravan

Examples #

Liminal Void #

The PCs beyond Level 0 are intended to be the crew of a spaceship, which provides them both the means to eke out a living outside of the normal grind and a way to exist on the fringes of society. There might be other crew members or sub-vessels depending on the size of the ship and the tier of play, but they’re the primary crew members.

Think about aspects of the organization in question that have benefits.

For people, these could be things like:

• Someone has great survival skills.
• Someone is well connected to others.
• Someone has great technical knowledge.
• Someone can acquire money.
• Someone knows how to navigate areas well.

For infrastructure, these could be things like:

• The location has a great view of the entire surrounding area.
• The safehouse has an underground access that allows easy access to other areas.
• The caravan is coordinated enough to easily separate and rejoin when necessary.
• The ship has a dedicated medical bay.
• The company has established a connection with a certain Faction.

Usually these translate to effectively having extra subsystem features (effective Assets, effective Faction relationships, etc), gaining direct bonuses to various things (like cheaper maintenance or more upgrades), or are tied into direct capabilities (like access to certain kinds of jobs or opportunities).

These don’t have to be established up front: you can either establish them later in the course of play or build them up intentionally.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

As noted, the organization in question is the crew of a ship. So this includes both to some extent. Regarding the ship, this is largely how it’s outfitted: vessel size, presence of containment units, cargo bay capacity, speed, and so on. Regarding its crew, this could also represent things like secondary technical crew members, a boarding crew, connections to various kinds of companies to acquire certain kinds of supplies for cheap, and so on. If PCs stole or acquired the ship via salvage, there’s also a chance that it has a secret feature aside from the obvious ones. These features change the kinds of jobs that PCs can take on as well as their ability to handle things coming their way.

Conversely, think about things that could end up being problems.

For people, these could be things like:

• They’re being hunted by a major power.
• They can’t be seen in public.
• They have medical needs that require consistent intervention or supplies.
• They abhor the PCs’ methods and work counter to them.

For infrastructure, these could be things like:

• The location is on an easily spotted landmark, so it’s very easily found.
• The safehouse has a leaky roof.
• The caravan can only travel on actual roads.
• The ship’s power systems are insufficient and can shut off key systems at bad times.
• The company is notorious for having done something bad.

These often manifest in the form of opportunities for consequences and twists: when one would come up, the PCs can opt to engage with the Flaw. In the case of more major flaws, these represent reduced capabilities in a certain area.

As with positive qualities, these don’t have to be established beforehand and can be added in play, potentially alongside positive qualities.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

The nature of how you got your ship is a good source of risk: either you’re making payments on a legitimate purchase, you’re paying extra to maintain a salvaged ship, or you’re on the run with your stolen ship. There can also be problems tied to specific positive qualities: luxurious living quarters could put too much strain on the power system, for example, or a more sophisticated AI can sometimes glitch out and do unexpected things. More major flaws represent capability reduction or major risks: an inconsistent power system might prevent heavy machinery from being used until it’s fixed, or a glitchy AI could turn out to be actively harmful. These could also manifest themselves in stressful situations rather than being predetermined: for example, revealing extensive hull damage than expected when a high-speed chase would put more stress than normal, or finding out about a vermin infestation when something gnaws through a key power line.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

This is exactly how advancement in Liminal Void works. Level and Tier are determined by how capable your ship is because the only way you can afford to increase its capabilities is usually by accomplishing quite a bit: they correlate very strongly. Advancement can also do things like smooth out more major flaws into minor flaws: a poor power system can be fixed to be consistent enough for high-power operations, for example, even if it still sometimes shorts out. As qualities are introduced, the GM is given “headroom” to introduce new flaws (either on introduction or later) to keep things interesting. As Tier advancement occurs, the players have more pull to completely change or reconfigure their ship, getting something that meets their desires.

Before committing to using this subsystem for your game, it’s worth examining whether or not you need to. The rules detailed here are mostly for games that really care about the back-and-forth of gaining and spending currency, being flush with cash, being broke or in debt, etc. If these don’t make sense for the game’s concept, either don’t use these mechanics or use a more “traditional” currency model.

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

This is about heroism and adventure in a very generalized, high-level, idealistic sense. Counting out currency and being worried about adventuring expenses are not really the kinds of concerns that are appropriate to this game.

Liminal Void #

This is pretty much explicitly around balancing doing jobs with maintaining your ship, your debts, your personal health, etc. This is definitely a game that needs something like this.

Machinations of Court and Frame #

This isn’t about material concerns to the PCs so much as grand, sweeping political concerns that have material impacts on other, less privileged people. It wouldn’t be terribly appropriate here.

There can also be several kinds of currency. If so, typically at least one is indirect: it has a use that gives it value, but it’s not typically used to buy things, invest, etc. directly. Rather, it’s more commonly traded for other currency.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

There are two general types of currency.

• The indirect currency is trade goods. These are things like hydrocarbons, rare metals, bulk stocks of batteries, crates of tools, water. They’re the kind of things that stations need and workers extract or scavengers find. Usually you’d have to sell these in bulk to get anything out of them, but some stations might trade them directly. This can also include things like company scrip, which are more easily used.
• The direct currency is credits: these are issued by one particular company and are what corporations typically use to make deals with each other. You typically get these by trading other kinds of currency for them, often at exorbitant rates. These are required to move money at meaningful levels: any worthwhile banking works on credits.

When one character is trying to get the maximum value out of something, they roll to negotiate. This is a roll that generally doesn’t worry about the Total, but will often use multiple values.

When taking a job, the GM sets a die for the job (Low, Mid, High) based on its intended baseline value. If the job can be done more poorly but still to enough satisfaction that the employer would pay for it, set that price as the next die down. If the job has things that are worth extra credit, set that price as the next die up.

Similarly, when trying to sell something, the GM sets a die for the job based on how much the prospective buyer might want it. (Which can include “not at all”, of course.) If it’s similar enough to something they actually do want, use the next die down. If it’s a very specific thing they’re looking for or it’s exceptional quality, use the next die up.

For determining a price for services and selling goods, the characters negotiating may use character qualities to:

• Give the roll 1 Advantage.
• Step up one die used in the roll.

In both cases, for things at scale (like trying to perform a larger task or sell multiple things at once) multiply the die values as appropriate.

Correspondingly, when PCs are trying to buy something, the GM rolls, picking a die based on rarity, relative cost, etc. A PC can use those qualities to:

• Give the roll 1 Disadvantage.
• Step down one die used in the roll.

As noted above, each character quality that could be used for this can be used once per Commerce Phase. Larger purchases (such as ship equipment) can similarly be multiplied.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

A crew is trying to negotiate with a mining station who wants them to retrieve the black box from a vessel whose crew disappeared. The GM determines this is a fairly standard-pay task (and in this case, pay is in company scrip), and sets the die at Mid (with the expectation that anything else on the vessel is theirs, should they want it). They determine that the job could be done better or worse: they can find out more specifically what happened to the crew for more pay (High Die), or if the black box gets damaged or seems tampered with, they’ll get less pay (Low Die). One crew member uses a corporate background as a Skillset to roll with advantage, and the roll ends up as 2, 2, 6: the employer really wants to know what happened to the crew (is willing to pay 6 scrip for more information on that front), but isn’t terribly concerned about the black box so long as it comes back (2 scrip otherwise). If this were a bigger job where multiple vessels had been abandoned, they might offer the same 2/6 split per vessel.

After the mission, they try to sell 3 crates of ice that the mining vessel had been carrying. The station is remote enough that clean water is always at least somewhat welcome, so the GM sets the value of a crate at High Die scrip. Since that player had used their corporate background already and nobody else has anything they want to use, it can’t be used again for this Commerce Phase, so the player rolls without Advantage and gets 2, 2, 3: this station is evidently topped off and not desperate, so they’re willing to offer 3 scrip per crate.

The crew is subsequently trying to buy a mineral deep-scan sensor suite for their ship. This is a mining station, so they’re fairly common: the GM sets the die at Low Die, and rolls 4, 4, 5. (Maybe they have a lower than normal stock and are raising prices accordingly, or maybe by default they normally try to rip off itinerant traders.) The multiplier for this is 3x due to being fairly normal civilian equipment, so the cost would be 12 scrip. The crew managed to find out what happened to the crews of those mining vessels, however, and leverage that local sympathy to get a slight discount: the die is stepped down to 2, and as such they end up paying 9 scrip.

Expenses like maintenance, debt, and resupply are assessed one by one at the end of a Commerce Phase. As with purchases, each of these has either a die value (for variable situations) or a fixed value (for less variable situations). There may also be a starting die value no matter what.

Each roll is resolved individually and funds are subtracted in an order of the PCs’ choosing. If the total ends up being more than they can afford, that presents a hook to the GM for future consequences depending on any expenses that can’t be purchased.

Liminal Void #

At the end of their trip, their expenses are totalled. Refueling and Resupply start at Low Die no matter what if they’ve gone anywhere for the job; in this case, though refueling is Mid Die. Repairs are also Mid Die: the vessels they investigated were in an asteroid field and their ship had gotten scratched up. Payments on debt in Liminal Void, however, are set based on the amount of debt they currently have: in this case, their interest owed is 2 Credits.

The crew can use the scrip they’ve earned for repairs because of their remote location, and convert some of it to Credits through the same purchase methods as above, leaving them with 10 scrip and 2 Credits. They decide to prioritize debt, then repairs, then refueling, then resupply: the set 2 Credits from debt are deducted first, then they roll for the rest. The repair roll for Mid Die is 3, 4, 4, costing them 4 scrip and leaving them with 6. The refuel roll is 5, 5, 6, leaving them with 1 scrip: maybe they had a fuel leak, or fuel is expensive here because the remote mining station knows what they have and charge accordingly. The resupply roll, unfortunately, is 2, 3, 5: they’re 1 scrip short, which means that there might be some lean days ahead if they get stranded…

Depending on your currency, it may make sense for characters to be able to be in Debt. This is usually a consistent expenditure based on how much Debt it is, but could also be represented by a die (Low, Mid, High as normal). You can pay down debt by paying down the amount you’ve received: consistent expenditures represent things like minimum amount to pay back interest rather than paying down the principal.

However, if the situation is slightly different or the currency is less monetary in nature, Debt may not make any sense. In this case, Risk is probably a better fit. What this entails is that PCs are using more currency than they should be by removing currency intended for something else. Much like Debt, Risk has a numerical level: whenever the deprived quality is stressed, the GM decides a die (High for low stress, Mid, Low for high stress) based on how much stress it’s under, then the PC rolls against their current Risk. If the die value is lower than or equal to Risk, some kind of consequence happens.  

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Each level of Debt you’re in represents 10 Credits’ worth: so someone with 3 Debt has theoretically had access to 30 Credits’ worth of expenditures. (Obviously, this usually goes straight into a big purchase, usually ship-related.)

Groups who are willing to put off ship repairs and maintenance can do so by accumulating 1 Risk for every Commerce Phase where they skip it, or 2 Risk if the expected cost is 5 or 6. This can be paid down at a rate of 5 Currency per Risk: the longer it stays unmaintained, the more it’ll be to repay.

The counterparts to Debt and Risk are Investment and Self-Reliance.

Investment is a measure of having enough currency stored away that you always have some to mitigate small expenses. For every level of investment, when deciding on expenditures, players may step down one expenditure. Unlike normal cases, non-fixed Low Die expenditures stepped down this way become 0. (Fixed expenditures stepped down are reduced by 1 as normal.) It also might make sense to limit the amount of Investment that can happen by Tier.

You create and enhance Investments by spending an upward scaling amount of currency. Pick a number like 10-20 x the new level of investment to upgrade, scaled up or down depending on how many expenditures are expected, how much currency can be expected to be gained, and how much PCs have to spend on in general.

Self-Reliance is the corollary to Risk. Whenever something that relies on service is needed, PCs can potentially gain something that allows them to do it themselves. This can entirely remove a certain category of expenditure, usually of a certain die size or lower. Increasing the number and grade of expenditures that can be removed in this way is a good idea for higher tiers.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

Investments in Liminal Void are worth 20 Credits multiplied by the new Investment level - so 20 Credits to gain Investment 1, 40 to upgrade from 1 to 2, etc. These are a major method of getting ahead, as expenditures can be intense - more intensive missions and rarer cargo that would necessitate greater risk tend to be worth more. The kinds of things that would accept this level of investment, however, only pay dividends to parties that they have more confidence in - meaning PCs have to prove themselves first to gain a certain amount.

By default, ships can be outfitted with certain, expensive features, like a medical bay or a workshop. This can allow the automatic removal of Low Die expenditures of that kind. Refueling, resupply, and debt service are out of reach by default, but expanded access (at higher Tiers) can open up the possibility of higher-grade facilities to remove Mid and eventually High Die expenses, or high-grade engines that don’t run on fuel, and so on.

This kind of threat is usually a fairly small situation, probably with impact on the PCs in particular.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

The PCs’ current ship was formerly an emergency shuttle from a mining colony that got destroyed in a horrible accident, assuming the company would have written off everything already. Unbeknownst to them, the company had instead put out an all-points bulletin to have the colony’s shuttles returned or reimbursed. They’ll have to either get the serials changed, pay off the ship via debt, or fence it to get another.

This kind of threat impacts one or a few people in particular, but in a very major way.

Examples #

Liminal Void #

A friend of someone on the crew is wanted by one of the major corporations for crimes they may or may not have committed. Their face is all over various security bulletins, and any automatic facial scanners in more corporate ports will likely flag them for arrest and detainment if they’re seen in public…but unless they help, they’ll have to risk it to survive.

This kind of threat impacts a lot of people in a small way. (This could escalate to a larger impact later, however.)

Examples #

Valiant Horizon #

Under the new Emperor, the Empire is expanding greatly, and is making plans to capture and hoard crystals at a significant rate to fuel their machines. At first, this just means that surrounding villages will have their devices start to fail, making things harder for them day-to-day. This could have a heavier impact as time goes on: monsters will venture closer to villages as they run low on the means to keep them at bay.

This kind of threat impacts a lot of people in a major way.

Examples #

Machinations of Court and Frame #

House Montrant is aiming to entirely betray their current allies, turning the tide of a major conflict and possibly threatening certain other Houses’ existence.