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Get together a group of two to six people with some dice, paper, and d. Righteousness:
pencils (or digital equivalents).
i. Each HD spent counts as an automatic success when rolling to
One person is the Game Master (GM), who runs all of the non-player act Righteously.
characters (NPCs), describes the environment, and sets the Difficulty
ii. You are immune to fear, and allies in your presence gain +1AD
for various Tasks.
to resist fear.
Each other person plays one character. This character is an Arbiter
e. Understanding:
of the Order of Fasann, sworn to uphold the Tenets of Honor and to
make Sasara a better and more Honorable place. i. Each HD spent counts as an automatic success when rolling to
learn, understand, empathize, or deduce.
First, come up with a game concept (on the dangerous road; protect the
Enclave at all costs; remove the corrupt Lord from power; wipe out the ii. Spend an HD to know the Difficulty, Severity, and Threshold
adabhuta). of a Task or Enemy.
Then, each player makes a character that aligns with the game concept. 3. Rank your Skills (Awareness, Coordination, Influence, Knowledge,
Logic, Might, Resistance, Stealth) in one of four ways:
1. Come up with a character concept
a. 1 Exemplary, 1 Good, 5 Average, 1 Poor
2. Select two Oathsworn Tenets of Honor and choose one of the two
available Tenet Maneuvers that the Tenet offers b. 0 Exemplary, 2 Good, 6 Average, 0 Poor
a. Commitment: c. 1 Exemplary, 2 Good, 3 Average, 2 Poor
i. When you fail to complete a Task on your first roll, all subse- d. 1 Exemplary, 3 Good, 1 Average, 3 Poor
quent rolls against the same Task receive +1AD.
i. Exemplary succeed on 3–6
ii. When you sustain an Injury, you can spend HD to reduce its
ii. Good succeed on 4–6
Severity by one for each HD spent.
iii. Average succeed on 5–6
b. Compassion:
iv. Poor succeed on 6
i. Each HD spent counts as an automatic success when rolling to
make someone Compassionate, pacified, or merciful. 4. Write one Talent, a self-defined ability that gives a +1D (one die)
bonus to any relevant roll. (e.g., Tracker would give +1D while tracking,
ii. Each HD spent counts as an automatic success when rolling to
while Deadeye would give +1D while shooting ranged weapons.)
remove another’s Injury or Consequence.
5. Characters Advance when they have observed each of the five Tenets
c. Purity:
twice. Characters can’t Advance if any of their Tenets are Stained.
i. Each HD spent counts as an automatic success when rolling Advancement grants:
against an Enemy performing a Task that is Dishonorable, such
a. Increase one Skill’s rank (e.g., Poor to Average)
as lying or sneaking, but not attacking or defending.
b. Gain or improve one Talent
ii. You are immune to sickness, and allies in your presence receive
+1AD to resist sickness.
GAMEPLAY
All difficult actions are called Tasks. Tasks have a Difficulty of 1 to 5. Injuries directly affect the character and last for a number of weeks
Multiple Tasks make up a Scene. Players only ever roll; the GM never equal to the Injury’s Severity. A character might sustain an Injury 3, de-
rolls. grading her Might Skill by one step for the three weeks after the Injury
is treated. If you gain a combined Injury 5 or greater, you are defeated
Players roll a relevant Skill (Awareness, Coordination, Influence,
and can potentially die.
Knowledge, Logic, Might, Resistance, Stealth) to overcome a Task.
Rolls get 1D for free. Characters can add Honor Dice (HD) to their roll Consequences can generate new Tasks that must be overcome through
if they so choose. Once HD are spent, they are gone forever, and new the use of Skill rolls.
HD must be earned. They can also gain Advantage Dice (AD) if they
Injuries take time and healing. A Knowledge (for surgery, treating
are in advantageous situations or have the proper equipment.
sickness) or Resistance (for toughing through it) roll can expedite this
A Task can either be a Short Task, which must be completed in one process.
roll (e.g., jumping over a pit), or a Long Task, which can be completed
Especially difficult Long Tasks can have a Threshold. Threshold is the
over multiple rolls (e.g., climbing a wall). A Long Task’s Difficulty is
amount of successes necessary to start removing the Task’s Difficulty
reduced by the number of successes a player rolls. For example: Ekram
(e.g., a Task with Threshold 2 would require 3 successes to lower the
rolls 3 successes against a Difficulty 5 Task, making it a Difficulty 2 Task.
Difficulty by 1).
If a player rolls fewer successes than a Short Task’s Difficulty, the char-
Enemies function just like Tasks, with a Difficulty, Severity, and a
acter receives a Consequence or Injury. Consequences and Injuries are
Threshold. When an Enemy attacks, the character rolls a relevant Skill
based off of the Task’s Severity (which defaults to its Difficulty, but can
to defend (usually Might for blocking, Resistance for resisting poison
vary as the GM desires).
or mental attacks, and Coordination or Awareness for dodging attacks).
If a player ever rolls zero successes, their character suffers a Consequence
Characters must roll successes equal to the enemy’s attack Severity in
or Injury equal to the Task’s Severity.
order to successfully defend. Rolling fewer successes causes the char-
Consequences and Injuries can temporarily or permanently degrade acter to gain Injury equal to the difference between the successes and
a character’s Skill (e.g., Good to Average), increase all or certain Tasks’ the attack’s Severity (2 successes against a Severity 4 attack would
Difficulty (e.g., physical Tasks receive +1 Difficulty), force a new Skill cause Injury 2).
roll (e.g., roll Might), cause HD loss, or produce some other negative
If a character rolls no successes while defending, she suffers an Injury
condition or effect (sick, crippled).
and a Consequence.
A Consequence can affect the character, the party, or the Task itself. A
A Scene can have a combined Scene Difficulty, which combines all of
bad Consequence might be the bridge collapses; another might be you
the Scene’s Tasks and Enemies together into one easily trackable total.
trigger an avalanche.

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HONOR AND HONOR DICE
HD are earned by acting in alignment with one or more of the Tenets of
Honor. HD are gained at the end of a Scene.
HD are lost by violating one or more of the Tenets of Honor. HD lost
due to violations are marked off immediately. Also, violating a Tenet
forfeits all HD earned during the Scene.
HD earned or lost are doubled for that character’s Oathsworn Tenets
(e.g., 4 HD earned instead of 2).
The Tenets of Honor are Compassion, Commitment, Purity,
Righteousness, and Understanding.
A character can have a Stain upon one or more Tenets. Stained Tenets no
longer gain or lose HD due to a character’s Honorable or Dishonorable
actions. Violating a Tenet three times Stains it. A Stain can be removed
through a long-term quest of Redemption.
A character can make an Act of Sacrifice or Forsake a Tenet in or-
der to automatically overcome a Task or Scene. A Sacrifice requires a
Consequence or Injury (by default, equal to the Scene or Task Difficulty).
Forsaking a Tenet Stains the Tenet, and all the character’s HD are lost
when the Scene ends.

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