A Rules-Lite, cinematic Role

genre and milieu. Recommended for beginners

(c) 2013. Ramon C. Macutay. January 2013

Lite, cinematic Role-Playing Game system adaptable for any

genre and milieu. Recommended for beginners

by RAMON MACUTAY

(c) 2013. Ramon C. Macutay. January 2013

Playing Game system adaptable for any

genre and milieu. Recommended for beginners

VERSION CONTROL

Ver. 1.0. Jan 13, 2013 by Mon Macutay (c) 2013 - Initial draft

Ver 1.1 Jan 28, 2013

• Added Combat rules and step-by-step

• Added "Other Actions"

• Added "Rewards"

Ver 1.2 Feb 3 2013

• Added "descriptors" in making characters

• Added WILD DIE in Core Mechanic

• Added Optional Combat Rules (Minis and speed, Optional Initiative)

Working Title: Table Stories

Players: 1 "Storyteller" (GM, DM, etc) and 2 to 6 other "Player Characters"

Play Time: 2 - 4 hours per game session

Age: 7 and up

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate

What You Need to play:

• A copy of this rules set

• Pen, Pencils, Paper, folders, graph paper (to make characters and for note keeping)

• Lots of 6-sided dice (A lot of a single color and some different colored ones)

• Table or flat surface for you to play

• (optional): tokens, miniatures to indicate characters and opponents

• (optional): Your iPad, Tablet or Notebook PC

INTRODUCTION

Table Stories is a tabletop role-playing game or TRPG. One player takes the role of a "Storyteller"

(otherwise called a Dungeon Master, a Referee, or a Game Master in other games such as Dungeons &

Dragons, Pathfinder, etc). The Storyteller crafts the adventure, plays the role of Non-Player Characters

(other characters aside from the Player Characters), decides on outcomes of battles, encounters and

story plots. The rest of the players play characters who are the main protagonists or heroes of the game.

Each player must make a character prior to the start of the game.

A TRPG is much like a board game but does not need a physical board or other elements to play. Unlike

traditional board games, TRPG's also don't have a defined way to "win" or "lose". Rather, you have story

or plot goals which must be (often) accomplished as a group through teamwork, skill and beating the

odds. So, "Winning" is basically advancing the story where the characters end favorably at the end of a

game night.

The Storyteller describes the scenario and manages the flow of time and action while the characters

react as the story progresses. The action takes place in the imagination of players and basically tell the

Storyteller what their characters will do in a given situation. With Table Stories, one can play ANY game,

milieu or genre imaginable. From the traditional fantasy characters such as elves, dwarves, wizards and

warriors set to delve into dark dungeons to slay evil dragons; to sci-fi games set in famous worlds such

as Star Trek of Star Wars; or even games or campaigns geared towards kids (or kids-at-heart) - where

they can enjoy games set in the world of Adventure Time, G.I. Joe, or Transformers. The possibilities are

endless, limited only by your imagination!

THE CORE MECHANIC

• Table Stories uses dice (normal six-side dice called "d6" by geeks and nerds) to look for

"successes" in order to resolve and determine if an action succeeds or fails.

• Take a number of d6 equal to your STAT + THE APPROPRIATE SKILL OR ABILITY You're looking

for SIXES. Each 6 is a success. The more 6's you have, that's good!

• Sometimes, monsters, NPCS or opponents will roll to "defend" or "resist" your successes. The

Storyteller will roll a number of dice. For each 6 or success, this negates your original success>

To succeed, you must have at least one 6 over and beyond the resist roll.

• Take note of WILD DIE (See below)

example:

Adventuring in an underground, lost, demon-temple, Findar the battle-priest rounds a corner and is

ambushed by 2 ogres! Findar, who has his Great Axe readied, moves in to strike one of the Ogres. Findar

has 5 dice to roll (based on his fighting score). He rolls all 5 dice and gets

That's 2 SUCCESS for Findar. The Ogre will now try to defend. For this example, the monster has 3 dice to

roll. The Storyteller rolls all 3 and comes up with only one SIX:

Findar, the dwarf, has more successes than the Ogre! The Great Axe cleaves through the Ogre's

kneecaps, snapping bone and sinew. The Ogre falls to the ground like a log, incapacitated and screaming

in anguish!

• If the player character nets a success (or more), the Storyteller allows the player to describe

what happens (subject to the Storyteller's approval, of course).

• If the player character fails, the Storyteller describes what happens

• Sometimes, via Items or Tools, you will have a better chance of success. Instead of looking for

SIXES, you will now be looking for FIVES. The Storyteller will inform players regarding this.

THE WILD DIE

Heroes (Player Characters) are known for doing epic and heroic things. Sometimes, against the odds,

they need something out of the ordinary to progress the story and beat the villains (think of how many

movies where the bomb read "1 second left" when a protagonist finally cuts the wire? or the many "lucky

rolls" of Indiana Jones in the movie with his name or Rick O'Connell in The Mummy?)

That's where the wild die comes into the core mechanic.

Whenever you grab the number of dice in your pool and ready to roll, make sure that all dice are of the

same color except one (usually all white and one single RED die). This different-colored-die will be your

wild die. Bullets are cool, so we'll continue with that

• If you roll a 6 on your Wild Die, reroll it

• If it's another 6, add it to your success(es)

• Keep re-rolling as long as you have 6's. Stop if you don't

• You re-roll ONLY ON A SIX and not on your modified target number (see Gear examples). But

your modified target number IS STILL a success if it comes up (say a "5" on the second Wild Die

roll)

• Re-rolling another 6 on your Wild Die means that something awesome happened! (A critical hit

or avoided "something bad")

EXAMPLE

SkyClad Nimblewind's halfling hands trembled without control. This was the first time he's encountered

an ancient magical trap - obviously of Imaskari design. The Old World Artificers protected their treasures

well. The rogue wiped the sweat from his brow...

Skyclad's player, Alex, asks the Storyteller what would it take for him to disarm the trap? "Alex, take your

BOD (3) and add your Disable Trap skill (2). Disarming the trap is extra tough. You need 5 successes! and

you're looking for 5's since you're using your Thieves' Tools!" said the Storyteller.

Alex grabs has a total of 5 dice (4 white d6 and 1 red d6). The pips come out as 5,5,6,2, and a 6 on the

Wild Die!

Skyclad now has 4 successes and needs another one on the Wild Die. He re-rolls the Wild Die - A SIX (5

Suceesses!), he re-rolls it again at it comes up as a 3.

Skyclad now has all the successes he needs. With a last-second decision, the halfling cuts one of the brass

wires. The mechanism falls silently dead!

"Never tell me something is impossible!" a beaming Skyclad tells his party mates.

MAKE A CHARACTER... STEP-BY-STEP

Every player needs a character to play. Making a character is easy! And you can do so in around 15

minutes or less.

Grab a piece of paper and jot down the following:

1. Name - the name of your character

2. Brief Background - a brief story of your character, his motivations, description, story about his

past. Work with your Storyteller on this.

3. "THIS IS ME" and "DESCRIPTORS" - Your "This is Me" this is a catch phrase of your "one unique

thing". Something that is "You". This can be anything under the sun subject to the Storyteller's

approval (see example later). Descriptors are usually adjectives or phrases that describe your

character (examples: Fear of heights, Cannot resist picking pockets, Obsessed with Martial Arts,

Ladies Man, NO ONE can touch my weapon but ME!). Please choose from 3 to 5 descriptors for

your character.

4. Statistics - each character has these "Stats". Assign a number from 1 to 5. The Storyteller

(depending on your campaign, may determine a "maximum" number per stat. Don't "power

game", your stat should reflect your character's role and his/her background. See the example

later)

a. BODY - this score is an amalgamation of inherent traits found in order RPG systems like

Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, etc. This is a base score of how strong, tough or fast

your character is. High scores are preferred for warrior-types, soldiers, mercenaries, etc.

You also use this score to defend against Physical Attacks or Combat.

b. MIND - again, an amalgamation of Intelligence, Wisdom, etc. How smart your character

is. Most "techy" types like scientists, professors, spellcasters, engineers have high scores

in this stat. This score is also used to defend against some non-physical attacks (Magic

usually) or a contest of wits.

c. SPIRIT (Optional) - This stat is often used in magic, psionics, religious zeal or mysticism.

Most "normal" humans have a stat of 1. This score is used to defend against non-

physical attacks (Psionics, Fear, etc).

d. HEALTH - Each character begins with 3 health. Varying degrees of health are 3 =

HEALTHY, 2 = WOUNDED, 1 = DYING, 0 = INCAPICITATED, < 0 = DEAD

e. LUCK - Each character begins with 1 Luck point. A luck point can be used ONCE PER

GAME SESSION. A luck point allows a PC to re-roll all non-successes in the Dice Pool.

5. Degrees of POWER - Just a benchmark, a 2 score in a stat is average for a "normal human". See

table below

6. FEATS. ABILITIES. TRAITS. SKILLS (FATS) - Next, you should note down a few skills or abilities

that your character has (called "FATS" in the game). Be creative and work with your Storyteller

on this. Each skill, power or ability starts with a score of 1. As per the Core Mechanic, you add

this to your base ability to come up with the dice pool that you will use for the success roll.

7. WHAT I HAVE - Tools, Equipment and Gear that your character has. If you use a tool, weapon,

armor to either determine success or to resist/defend, your success now increase from 6 to 5

(you're looking for 5's and 6's now instead of just a 6) giving you a better chance of success. Jot

down relevant items that your character has.

SCORE DESCRIPTION

1 Poor, mediocre score. Untrained.

2 Average score. Most normal humans. Basic training

3 Good

4 Above Average

5 Superior stat or training. The best that a normal human can (like an champion athlete)

6 The best. Hero-like

SAMPLE CHARACTER

NAME: Luke Skywalker (early years, Episode IV)

BACKGROUND: A simple farm boy in Tatooine who learns the Ways of The Force and is destined for

greatness.

BODY: 3

MIND: 3

SPIRIT: 4

HEALTH: 3

LUCK: 1

THIS IS ME: Son of Anakin Skywalker. The one who will bring balance to the Universe.

FEATS/ABILITIES/TRAITS/SKILLS

• Jedi training 1

• Excellent pilot 2

• Whiner 1

• Innocent 1

• Tech dude, inventor, robotics 1

• Lightsaber training 2

• Gullible 1

• Call Obi-Wan 2

WHAT I HAVE

• Lightsaber

• R2D2

• C3P0

• X-Wing

COMBAT

Sometimes, when push comes to shove, your characters will have to resolve conflict.

Combat in Tablewars is fast, cinematic and action-oriented. The focus is on resolving combat and

keeping things moving as opposed to number-crunching and math. The Storyteller will describe the

scene, the enemies and the situation and you, playing your character, must be able to react swiftly

based on your "FATS" and your weapons or gear.

In combat, time slows down to a round. This could either be 10 seconds, 6 seconds or even a minute

(the Storyteller decides) and in each round, there's a chance for the Player Characters to act and for the

enemy (or monsters) controlled by the Storyteller to also act.

FOES

There are two (2) types of Foes:

• "Fodder" - these are "mooks", "minions" or simply non-important monsters. Like in the movies,

these bad guys generally take one or two hits and they're either dead or incapacitated.

• Boss - now we're talking! These bad-ass opponents aren't killed with just one lucky shot. Boss

monsters (or NPCs) are stronger, more powerful. They're generally able to take (and soak up)

more damage and deal more damage to the player characters

COMBAT FLOW

Here's a simple step-by-step on how to resolve combat every round:

1. Roll for initiative (using 2d6) * if you have appropriate speed-related FATS, your Storyteller may

give you a bonus of +1 to +3 (she decides!) [if you are using the optional deck-of-cards initiative,

change this for that]

2. In order of initiative, combatants may do the following:

a. Move

b. Attack

c. Move AND Attack

d. Do something else (in place of an attack)

3. Roll to hit

a. Physical attacks. Take a number of d6 equal to BOD + appropriate FATS + Special (if

any)

b. Non-physical attacks (magic, spells, psionics, powers, etc). Take a number of d6 equal to

MIND (or SPI) + appropriate FATS + Special (if any)

4. Check Successes

a. For every 6 that comes up (or 5 if you have gear or weapons), it's a SUCCESS!

b. Take note of WILD DIE results

5. Opponent Resists

a. Your opponent resists with BOD (or MIND/SPI if non-physical) + appropriate FATS +

Special (if any) [take note of armor, 5's and 6's are now a success]

b. If there is a net success (attacker has at least one success over the defender, the attack

is a success). As a player, you should DESCRIBE what happens.

c. If you fail, the Storyteller describes what happens

6. Damage

a. Deduct the net success from the combatant's health

b. If the health falls to ZERO, the character is unconscious (and dying). He has X number of

rounds equal to his BOD before actual death.

MANAGING COMBAT

You may use minis or paper cut outs to represent your character (or opponents) in the table. Now, this is

all optional. In order to speed up play, please follow these simple guidelines to determine where (and

what each situation is) so that your character can know what to do (and what he or she can't) in a

gridless scenario

1. Engaged - you are near the opponent enough to make a melee attack

2. Nearby - you need to spend ONE (1) move action to be engaged

3. Far Away - you need to spend TWO (2) move actions to become engaged

In case of ranged attacks, just treat "Nearby" as short range and "Far Away" as long range. The

Storyteller can apply modifiers to the roll (for example, in Long Range -1 die or more)

OPTIONAL COMBAT RULES

If you (and the group) are ready to take in more rules and detail during your games, you can take in

some of the rules below

1. MINIS AND MOVEMENT

IMAGE CREDITS: http://dreamers.com/lichlair/varios/battlemat.htm

• As described above, you can use minis to represent your characters on maps. Some gaming

companies provide for a "Battle Mat" an erasable table grid with one-inch squares. Typically,

each square represents 5 feet in the game and a figure (PC or NPC) occupies a square. During a

combatant's turn, you may move your character based on below

• MOVEMENT RATES - depending on your character, you and your Storyteller should agree on

movement speeds (example, halflings or Hobbits are nimble and fast while humans and Elves

move normally). Check out below:

o SLOW - 20' feet (4 squares per round)

o NORMAL - 30' feet (6 squares per round)

o FAST - 40' to 50' (or sometimes more) 8 to 10 squares per round

• ENGAGED - Just as in the summarized versions of "Managing Combat" above, engaging in melee

means that your figure should be ADJACENT to your opponent

• OTHER MODIFIERS - Sometimes, your Storyteller will rule out that your are either moving

slower (carrying a lot of weight, wounded on your leg) or faster (you just drank a Speed potion,

magical speed, etc) than your movement rate. She will adjudicate this and inform you.

2. OPTIONAL INITIATIVE (with Playing Cards)

This optional system still has a degree of "randomness" during the chaos of combat but simulates

"strategical choice" - when you want your character to act in the combat round

WHAT THE STORYTELLER NEEDS

Image Credit: http://www.the1eyedjack.com

Take a standard 52 deck of playing cards. Add in the two jokers in the deck. Shuffle it

In terms of ranking, Aces are highest and Deuces are lowest.

2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A

Ties means that the actions happen simultaneously.

Jokers are wild (will be explained below)

HOW IT WORKS

• Storyteller shuffles entire deck (with the two Jokers)

• Deals five (5) cards each to each player and himself (for the monsters and NPCs)

• Deal an extra card for the Storyteller hand

• If a character or NPC has any FATs or special abilities that make him fast (or will most likely

justify him either moving first or controlling initiative, deal 2 extra cards to that player(s).

• Place the remaining deck (draw pile) face down at the center of the table.

• At the start of each combat round, players take one card from their hand and place it face

down on the table. The Storyteller also takes one card from his hand and places it face

down.

• Everyone reveals their initiative card at the same time. Used initiative cards are "consumed"

and place in the discard pile at the center of the table.

• Actions happen at the order of initiative based on the face value of cards

• Joker - if someone played a Joker, this means that the Player Character (or monster, in case

the Storyteller played it) can ACT ANYTIME IN THE ROUND (for that round only).

• Repeat this every round up to the 4th round (where normally players have only 1 card

remaining).

• After the 4th round, deal each player (including the Storyteller) 4 new cards each.

OTHER ACTIONS

The Core Mechanic already outlined the basic precept of the rules - roll your action which is then

resisted by a subsequent roll.

This being a role-playing game, where no graphic engine or computer code limits actions, there will

come a time when special types of actions need to be resolved. For example - trying to figure out the

combination of a bank safe; resist rolls will not come into play.

These actions will then be rolled against a difficulty set by your Storyteller.

You still roll the appropriate dice as in the Core Mechanic but instead, you're looking to have as many

successes (or more) against a difficulty.

DIFFICULTY TABLE

SUCCESS NEEDED DIFFICULTY EXAMPLE

1 Easy Opening a stuck door

2 Rather hard Shooting the tires off a speeding vehicle

3 Hard Unlocking a safe, disabling an elaborate trap

4 Difficult Looking for someone invisible

5 Insane Bypassing security codes on a military-grade base

6 (Almost) Impossible Trying to trick a god or deity

Example:

Rain, an expert burglar, attempts to unlock a CEO's safe to get vital documents to prove that company's

illegal deals. Rain has a MIND of 2, a skill of "Safe Cracker 3" and has a device that hooks up to her iPad

to help her unlock the safe. She determines the number of dice needed for the action check 2 (Mind) + 3

(Safe Cracker) = 5. The Storyteller tells her she needs 3 success to do this. Since she has gear, she needs 5

or above as successes. Rain's players rolls 5d6 and gets 5,5,2,1,6. A success! "Time to get out of here. My

mission's done!," Rain mutters to herself.

REWARDS

Unlike other traditional games, there is no clear-cut way to "win" or "lose" in a tabletop RPG.

Sometimes, just playing and being in the game session, completing story arcs and character

development are rewards in itself. (But don't quote me on that! Players, more often than not, want their

characters to become stronger. Sheesh. Read on)

A typical RPG game lasts for 2 to 4 hours for a single session or game night. A group of sessions, with

story continuity, is called a "Campaign".

So, Storytellers, here's a simple guide on how to give out rewards for your game

1. For every game session

a. Increase a FATS by 1. (generally, something that the character used or learned from the

adventure) or

b. Gain a new FATS starting at Level 1 (as approved by the Storyteller)

c. Everyone regains their LUCK of 1

d. Exceptional player characters (those who role-play good, executed an awesome idea)

get an extra LUCK. This luck is not regained at the end of the new game session.

2. For every 3 (or 4 or 5 depending on the Storyteller) game sessions:

a. Increase a Stat point (BOD, MIND, SPIRIT) by 1

b. Gain special FATS (subject to Storyteller approval)