1 | Overview
1 min read
He had journeyed far. Traveled unimaginable distances. Bore scars that still bleed. All to meet the Pale Witch…and destroy her with his own hands. At last he can claim revenge for his daughters. At last he can sleep without their voices haunting him.
He readied his sword. He could feel the heat of its flame through his gauntlet. The ember magic still worked: good. He would melt the Witch’s face off if need be.
Rules help provide a consistent and rewarding experience for everyone. However, custom rulings can also create a more fulfilling experience for the group—ultimately, you are free to add, alter or even ignore rules. Every game of ARC is your own.
Summary of Rules #
At set time intervals the Doomsday Clock advances, heralding the end.
Skill Checks determine the success of risky actions with a chance of interesting success or failure.
- To succeed roll 1d6 and compare to Threshold Number (TN) equal to Skill Rank plus Approach Score; modified, if applicable, by Difficulty Modifier and/or Assist Bonus. Rolls below TN succeed and above fail. For ties, choose: succeed with consequence or fail with opportunity.
- If you rolled 1 with a ranked skill, roll another 1d6. If it’s also a 1 your result is flawless and becomes a success with opportunity.
- Sacrifice 3 Blood or 3 Guts to upgrade a tied or failed result.
Assisting someone helps their Skill Check. Before they roll, add major levels of Bond to your ally’s TN if you have an applicable Skill. You can also sacrifice minor levels any time to allow a reroll.
Conflicts are fights or altercations where action sequence matters and is determined by what each characters plan to do (Initiative Category).
- Characters standing ground.
- Those taking non-harmful actions.
- Those attacking others.
- Those using Spells or Techniques.
- Those moving far (> 2 heights).
Heroes can move up to 2 heights freely during their turn. Stacking advantages helps improve others’ Skill Check TN. If attacking others, damage equals the TN of the attack plus any Bonus from Damage items. TN is reduced by the defense Bonus of the target’s armor plus applicable Difficulty modifiers.
If Blood or Guts become zero or less the hero still lives, though a subsequent hit will directly damage Approach Scores.
- Multiple Approach Scores can be hit at once. If all Approach Scores are 0 choose: die or live with randomly rolled, life-altering consequences.
- You can recover Blood & Guts.
- Heroes can take breaks to recover Blood & Guts through:
- short rest (one in-story hour) to recover 1d6 Blood and 1d6 Guts; or
- long rest (up to 10 in-story hours) to either reroll 2d6 + modifier Blood & Guts or distribute 7 points of health.
Heroes can only rest in safe places away from enemies.
XP can be spent to improve Approach Scores, Blood, Guts, and Skills.