3 | How to Play ARC

At its heart, ARC is a storymaking game. #

In this game the Guide narrates story beats, plot hooks, set pieces and scenarios which players can interact with, moving the group’s story along.

For example, the Guide could say, “You come across a koi pond—no, a koi lake—so huge it feels it can span over half your village. Your eyes are caught by a giant, pale-haired woman lying in the lake and looking a little bored. Large, colorful fish swim around her. What do you do?”

The players then discuss and carry out their next steps and the Guide narrates their action’s result. The situation reflects this change prompting another response from the players. So it goes until the tale is made.

Stories are built atop a foundation of collaboration and conversation.

※ Sample Play

Player 1: OK, aside from the giant, what else do we see?

Guide: Three or four orange koi swim in the lake, they’re about the size of a bus. There’s some wildlife but they seem very tame; they look at you curiously. It’s peaceful otherwise.

Player 2: The giant…does she match the description that the innkeep gave us? If so then I think she’s the one we’ve been looking for…

You take actions building the story. #

Each player role-plays a hero, a character in the game. When a hero performs a risky action in the story the deed’s outcome may be resolved using a Skill Check.

In our example above a player may say, “OK, I’ll grab her attention.” The Guide may respond: “She’s a little far out—you’re just a tiny speck in her vision—so I want you to make a Skill Check with Impose.”

When Skill Checks happen players roll 1d6 hoping to roll lower than a Threshold Number (TN). The TN is usually the hero’s ranks in a relevant Skill—in our example, it’s Impose—plus an applicable Approach Score. Approach Scores track how well a hero solves problems in a particular manner: creatively, carefully or in a concerted manner. These scores are determined at the beginning of the game in Hero Creation.

Other important rules such as Conflict, staying alive and growing from experience are discussed in the Core Rules.

※ Sample Play

Player 3: My Impose is 2. I think I’ll use a concerted approach to get her attention as enthusiastically as I can. I have a 1 in Concerted, so my TN is 3. I roll…a 2!

Guide: Your 1d6 roll is lower than the TN, so you succeed in getting the giant’s attention! She stands up to her full height. She’s so massive she casts a shadow over you all and blocks the sun. She growls, “Who dares disturb my reverie?” What do you do next?

While heroes move through the shared world, the Doomsday Clock ticks to its end. #

At set intervals the real-time Doomsday Clock advances, heralding Doom’s arrival. Heroes must address the impending dilemma within a time period or suffer its dire consequences.

※ Sample Play

Guide: Another hour passes, so the Doomsday Clock advances by one. Two moments to go—two more hours—before Doom arrives.

Notes on time, length and pronouns. #

Time. There are two types of time: in-story time and real-time.

In-story marks the passage of time within the narrative; real-time marks the passage of time in our real world. A rest taking 3 hours in-story, for example, can simply take up 2 minutes in real-time. These two types of time are labeled accordingly to avoid confusion.

Lengths & short distances are indicated by heights.

This approximates the average height of a person and is around 5–6 feet or 1.5–1.8 meters.

Pronouns. In several cases, this book uses “you” to refer to either you as the player (or Guide) or your hero.

Context clarifies which. As for pronouns you should use for other heroes or players, it’s best to ask first as a sign of respect.