Firstly, it’s worth reading A Discovery of Tradecraft if you haven’t done so already. The article deals with Tradecraft in general, but it angles toward its value for plugging the gaps in Abilities.

What is a Mark?

I recommend thinking of a Mark as plot armour or steps toward finding a means to defeat an enemy or obstacle (in the example from A Discovery of Tradecraft, Gallowglass is not strictly an enemy, but while he distrusted Matthew for consorting with a witch, he wasn’t going to be any help).

It often happens in books or TV that a series has an enemy that appears and faces off against the good guys but isn’t defeated in one encounter. Imagine a series where a vampire is the enemy.

You need to:

• Rob the creature of the earth from its resting place [Magic],
• Discover the cult protecting the creature [Access], and
• Have possession of a special mirror to reveal it isn’t human [Kit].

You need to have all of these things sorted BEFORE you can fight and destroy it, and each Mark is bought by expending that type of Tradecraft.

Wrong Again

A common question is what happens if you start a mission, but make the wrong choice of Tradecraft. And how do you know what the right one is, anyway?

Well, that all becomes part of the investigation/adventure, as the Agents uncover the vulnerability, assistance, and/or means of identification to handle a threat. These don’t all come at once.

Effectively, realising that the vampire might have a vulnerability, as explained above, means that for Session Two, the group chooses Magic and then depletes the Mark to acquire the specific knowledge during the course of play.

What about session one? What happens when you don’t understand the true nature of the threat?

Well, most of the time, you have to assess the proposition and hope you choose well. But, you cannot be certain that you will choose the perfect Mark. It’s the responsibility of the Game Moderator to play the part of the “handler” for the briefing — whether that’s Mister Garland, a minion of Walsingham’s secret service, or somebody else — offering what foresight they can in explaining the mission. There’s no imperative to state you’re up against a vampire. Or, maybe the signs point to a vampire-like creature, but the truth of it is that a Zmaj Vuk lurks behind the scenes.

A Plan of Action

But, for the moment, assume that it is a vampire, Session One might just turn up a plan of action without real progress being made toward defeating the creature. If you choose Kit for Session Two, you might acquire the mirror. Access? You work out what cult is assisting the vampire, and find a way to neutralize their involvement.

In the end, it will take four adventures to resolve the story, but you might have other adventures in between. Imagine that this is like TV, and there are eight episodes, perhaps, but only four of them feature the vampire. The rest might reference it, but it doesn’t make an appearance.

That said, even if the vampire doesn’t make an appearance, you can still strike off the Marks if the events in those adventures allow. It’s a narrative flow that both the table and the GM should support. It’s meant to be a way to battle an enemy that cannot be laid low by force alone but by the clever accrual of items and knowledge defined as a mechanic within the game.

In a session, a player can use all kinds of personal resources generated at the genesis of their character. A simple thing like coming from the same town as someone, for example, can sway a decision or a reaction. If the character possesses a Swiss Dagger, they will have different options than someone with an Astrological Compendium.

Abilities are selected after you roll on the tables to determine your Occupation, Association and Focus. Those three rolls provide a list of eight possible Abilities, from which you can choose three.

Those three Abilities provide you with more depth to understanding your character, shape their presence within the setting, and provide a loosely defined skill set. It’s the skill set that’s worth considering, as both a player and a Game Moderator (GM).

Know What You’re Doing

When you have an Ability, a situation might seem to present a challenge to someone without any expertise but be simple for you.

For example, if you possess Infiltration and plan to enter a location without being noticed, both player and GM alike might argue that no challenge exists. You have the expertise to know how to act, dress and carry yourself – it’s there in your Abilities.

Without that Ability, the GM might set a Challenge to determine whether you fit in or stand out like an intruder.

Here, your selection of an Ability is rewarded by setting you apart from everyone else. Your character’s Abilities allow them to shine in situations where others will face a struggle.

Experience Makes You Grow

When you have an Ability and a situation presents a Challenge that could be open to anyone but on which you have an edge, then an Ability can offer a Step Up – or, possibly, prevent a Step Down.

If you and a colleague both search for a secret door but you have Observant, the GM will call for an Intellectual Challenge from both players, but offer you a Step Up.

Why might a GM take the opposite route of protecting you from a Step Down?

Perhaps the characters find themselves in a situation where they have to show present a display of skill and failure is more likely to show them for fools. Maybe in a grand party, the group dance calls for the precision of movement and poise – so, the GM asks for everyone to make a Physical Challenge Stepped Down, except the character with Dance who can make an unmodified roll.

Knowledge Opens Doors

A final situation might arise where possession of an Ability is essential to have a chance of achieving anything at all.

For example, scouring an alchemists library in search of a specific occult text on an obscure subject might only be possible if you possess Occult Lore. There are hundreds of books and you have limited time to search before discovery, so Occult Lore is like a passport to even entering the Challenge. There’s no Step Up because the Ability makes it possible, not easier.

The same might apply to professional skills or sciences, like Dentistry or Anatomy. Without the Ability, the GM might be loathe to allow a Challenge at all – or, they might Call to Fail. stating that if you progress with the attempt you will inflict damage on the subject and likely achieve nothing advantage, like soaking up blood rather than staunching the flow.

Considering Abilities

So, in summary:

• Possession of an Ability might allow you to do something without a Challenge, whereas others would roll
• Having an Ability may give you the edge, and a Step Up, or make you less likely to do something catastrophic, and offset a Step Down
• Sometimes an Ability is like having an invitation to participate; without it, you don’t get to roll at all, but with it you face a Challenge without any advantage

On the Discord, Guybrush asked:

Could someone please confirm whether or not someone can receive multiple step-ups or step-downs if multiple circumstances are given? e.g., d4 could be stepped up twice to a d8.

Now, as it happens, a part of this answer ties into the excellent four-part Dee Sanction Actual Play posted by Alun Rees, so stick with me!

The GM may increase or ease a Challenge’s difficulty because of environment, preparation, or enemy potency. But, broadly speaking, that step change — whether Advantage or Disadvantage — relates to one of each thing.

For example, if an Agent has fine tools and spent a week planning, that’s preparation – the GM can give one step up. It’s dark and stormy – so, the GM can give one step down from the environment. Prep and assistance – well, in that instance, maybe two steps up.

However, the GM should consider whether, if there are two steps up, is it worth rolling? Are they sufficiently prepared that it would be too easy to warrant a challenge?

The same goes for bad stuff. Lose all your die to steps down—it means a Call to Fail. But, maybe, that amount of Disadvantage should make the task impossible.

The bit that nudged me from watching the Actual Plays was this — Abilities DO NOT usually add Steps. The possession of Abilities makes things possible — which is why an Agent has a few, and generally, none will duplicate across a team.

The section of the Core Rules on page 22 — Step-Up and Step-Down — provides notes about the sources of advantages and disadvantages (as above, including prep, environment, and potency of a foe) and highlights that without an Ability, the GM can judge a task impossible.

The dice mechanic of the game already makes Agents capable — on a D6, they have a 66% chance of success.

A Challenge to fake a document for someone with Intellectuall D6 and Counterfeit does not roll a D8; it rolls a D6. Without Counterfeit, it wouldn’t be possible; or, perhaps, the GM might allow it with a Step-Down or make it a Call to Fail and leave the player to decide whether to risk success at the cost of certain peril, or accept outright failure.

That last option isn’t called out in the book, but a GM has the right to consider it. An impossible thing might be achieved at some considerable cost — generally more than just a Hit; something tangible that escalates the threat would be far preferable. In that instance, the GM offers a Call to Fail, outlines the nature of the peril and allows the player — and probably the Table — to make or deny that Call.

A ‘Mare Scenario

Agents Julian Dunham and Isabel le Bone arrive at The Gorgon in the shadow of the southern gate of London Bridge — laden with spikes surmounted by the mouldering heads of choice traitors — to meet their contact, a Clerk by the name of Thomas Strelley. He isn’t amongst the revellers, so they ask the patron of the inn and find Strelley has rented a room.

The agents ascend and can hear strangled gasping behind the door, so Isabel aims a kick at the centre of the door, busting it open. Inside, Strelley is asleep on his bed, foam bubbling around the corners of his lips. On Strelley’s chest, the grinning weight of a Mare, dark opalescent eyes wide at the intrusion.

A coin toss for initiative, each Moment — heads for the Agents, tails for the Mare. The GM states that the Mare inflicts 1 Hit per Moment on Strelley until the Mare moves.

Both Agents have 3 Hits, a Physicall of D6, swords, no armour. The Mare has 5 Hits and D8 Armour.

As player’s make all rolls, both their attack and defences mean they roll their Physicall to determine the outcome. The GM rolls for Hit Resolution by the enemy and can also roll for their Armour if any. An enemy’s Armour protects them if the roll is a 1 or 2.

Moment 1 – Agent’s win initiative

Julian’s immediate reaction is to draw and swipe with his sword. Physicall Challenge to hit, he rolls a 4. However, the Mare’s hide (Armour D8, rolls 1) deflects the blow.

Isabel’s tries to drag Strelley from the bed and topple the Mare. (Phy D6) rolls a 2. The Mare reaches for her arm (0 hits), and Isabel feels waves of fatigue wash over her (GM rolled a 3 on D8 for Hit Resolution; Isabel makes a Phy Challenge to resist — and rolls a 4). She pulls away sharply and slaps herself across the cheek, trying to snap herself back.

The Mare swipes back with sharp fingertips at Isabel (Isabel’s Defence — is a success), but her keen awareness means it misses.

Moment 2 – Agent’s win initiative

Realising the threat posed upon their contact, both Julian and Isabel press their attack — and both succeed in landing a strike without the hide of the Mare protecting it (Armour rolls 5 and 7, so -2 Hits total).

The Mare’s response is ineffectual (Defence — success), so the GM decides to take another approach.

Moment 3 – the Mare wins initiative

The Mare dissipates (the GM uses the Moment to activate the Mare’s Dream Stuff ability), and Strelley lets out a gasp as air streams back into his lungs. He rolls over and falls from the bed, coughing up a puddle of vomit.

Julian kneels to assist him while Isabel shifts about, casting her gaze around to locate any telltale sign of the nightmare spirit.

Moment 4 – the Mare wins initiative

Offended by the interference, the Mare leaps at Isabel but clearly misjudges (Isabel’s Defence is a — success).

Isabel swings back at the creature in response, but her weapon seems to glide through the dream stuff (Armour rolls 2, no harm).

A moment later, Julian is better timed — perhaps the Mare took time to coalesce — and lands a blow (Armour rolls 8, -1 Hit).

Moment 5 – Agent’s win initiative

Sensing that they have the entity on the back foot, Julian’s overconfidence leaves him vulnerable. As he swipes (Falter), the Mare bunches up and barrels into him. Julian tumbles into the bed and cracks something hard against the unforgiving frame.

(GM rolled a 7 on D8 for Hit Resolution, for a Flying Rush attack; Julian makes a Phy Challenge at a Step Down to resist and rolls a 3; instead of -2 Hits and a Consequence of Fallen, Julian only suffers -1 Hit)

Isabel and the Mare trade blows, but the Agent’s blade yet again slides off the creatures hide, but in turn, the Mare misses.

Moment 6 – the Mare wins initiative

… and fades once more (Dream Stuff). The Agents gather their breath — and Julian rights himself from his reclining position across the bed.

Moment 7 – Agent’s win initiative

Poised, the Agents scan the room, standing back to back with Thomas on the floor between them.

When the Mare reappears, it tumbles from above straight down onto Julian’s head. But, unfortunately, Julian fails to react in time.

(Julian’s Defence roll falters, with a 1 on D4 — due to the Step Down forced by the Mare’s surprise attack. GM rolls 1D6+2 — as this is an Attack by the creature rather than a response to an Agent’s falter — and rolls a 4, which means a 6 for the Hit Resolution — Pulverize; Julian takes another wound, -1 Hit).

Moment 8 – the Mare wins initiative

But, the Agents seem to have done enough. The Mare swipes at Julian once more but fails to connect. It glances toward the window of the room, and as the Agent swings (falter), it Makes Distance, crashing through the frame and out into Bull’s Court. Julian rushes to look, but there is nothing to see, just the darkness beneath and the faint silver of starlight reflecting off the Thames, visible between the buildings on the river edge.

Isabel stoops to help Thomas up and worries that this might not be the last time they encounter the Mare — or its master.

‘Mare Averted

In the aftermath, the Agents survived, and the entity escaped. Much of the detail comes from a to-and-fro of Theatre of the Mind storytelling for those at the table. The colour of the moment is important; otherwise, combat becomes a series of soulless dice rolls.

Julian is hurt, losing 2 Hits of 3 to the Mare. Isabel walks away unhurt. Their contact took a Hit from the Mare, but the dice favoured the Agents and saved Thomas from further harm.

The Mare suffered 4 Hits, bringing it close to absolute defeat, but few opponents will ever fight to the death—even supernatural ones. If it hadn’t won initiative and Julian faltered, the Agents might have chalked up a complete victory.

That’s quite straightforward. With multiple foes, the challenge increases and the need to be clear about the situation and the environment might lead you to draw a sketch map. I don’t think you need a full-on battle map; a sketch is enough to place counters down for the Agents and enemy to keep track of their rough locations and engagement.

In 1583, court spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham sent an adept gnostic team to Prague on a mission he didn’t commit to public record. These men journeyed through rough and heretic-infested lands engaged in a task of maximum-security in the defence of the realm from increasing Catholic-fuelled aggression.

In the beginning, The Dee Sanction was a slightly different game from one that exists today. At that moment in time, I had as much interest in creating a system to support a Brave New World-a-like called Complex 214 as I did to release tales of esoteric espionage into the world. Indeed, if you read 214 — the first post on this blog, which span off from another blog (I have so many) called Omega Complex — you can see that my key objective seems to have been to spout a riff on The A-Team introduction with Elizabethan trappings.

However, though I might have cast suspicion and paranoia aside, much of what The Dee Sanction was back in 2014 remains.

Never Inaccessible

I always wanted to leverage the notion of Elizabethan times that people had from school, casual reading, TV serials and movies over high-end academic insight. The classic paperback roleplaying game Maelstrom definitely inspired. That little paperback made me want to play AND study more about history while not teaching a tedious lesson of the 16th century itself. I wanted to step forward—away from the simple adventure of an assassin contained in the books, choose your own adventure—and enter the wider world that Alexander Scott’s game spread before me.

On top of that, I wanted simple. I had one mechanic (more or less) from the outset. I wanted that level of simplicity that has allowed a tsunami of amateur game designers to bring their creativity to a welcoming public.

I wanted something I could bring to a convention and not spend 30 minutes explaining everything before the adventure kicked off. I could run The Cthulhu Hack almost instantly, spending 5 minutes creating characters from scratch and 5 minutes explaining the mechanics. The Dee Sanction needed to be that, too.

I wanted something I could sell to gaming newcomers and veterans alike based on that accessibility as a concept and a gathering of mechanics. Roll a die to face a challenge; a result of 1 or 2 means making progress with a complication, while any other result means simple success. Three hits, and you’re down. Sometimes, you can work simple miracles. Now, go. Play.

Something like that.

Competence with Threat

I wanted a game where a character could be broadly competent in a small number of areas to ease the team into the concept of working together despite the paranoia and suspicion. In The Dee Sanction, there’s a death sentence egging you on to help your companions and get the job done. In Complex 214, the punishment for failure wasn’t much different or less terminal (although advanced genetic tech meant that the latter wasn’t a permanent thing).

At heart, the current iteration offers a 50/50 chance of success doing something that you have some skill in. An Ability makes it possible to face a Challenge, and a D4 in a Resource means a coin flip to succeed. In the original, with a skill, you had a 44% chance of success, wanting a 6, 7 or 8 on a roll of 2d6.

The threat isn’t about being incompetent or outclassed (well, OK… maybe); it’s about vulnerability—you’re fragile, death-marked, in enemy territory, and reliant on other people, no less vulnerable. And you’re facing inhuman forces, both natural and supernatural.

All in One

The Cthulhu Hack often sells because you can play the game with only that book. You have all you need, and once you have done playing that first investigation, you have the tools to go on. Along with a simple core mechanic and an easily carried form factor for the book, it could set the game apart from the competition.

The Dee Sanction needed to be just like that.

There were tokens, cards, and odd dice in the early days, but they fell early in the playtesting. People enjoyed the game but didn’t feel that the accessories would make it an easy sell. What if you didn’t have the cards for character creation? What if you didn’t have the dice to support the narrative twists? What if a gust of wind carries away all the tokens?

The version of The Dee Sanction available right now can be played from the book with a normal pack of playing cards. Without the playing cards, you can take a pencil and stub the back onto the character creation pages to determine occupation, associations and so forth. It’s tempting to create some tables—like the one for Combat in the back of the old Lone Wolf books—to make it possible to recreate dice throws without dice or another handy randomizer (trust in the Internet or apps to save the day when you forget your dice… unless the batteries dead).

For the former, The A-Team occurred to me, for some reason, though I can’t account for the precise connection. I had the notion that Saturday afternoon serials had this tendency to gift their characters with talents and connections that didn’t survive beyond the end of the episode.

The latter might well be the montage breakout from The A-Team as well, but it also connected to the notion that often players can’t account for all variable, and sometimes survival depends on pulling a rabbit from a hat. The revelation that saves their skin against an enemy. On the other hand, I also had the notion of End of Level Bosses from platform games that you can’t quite defeat on the first meeting — they survive to return later… and then again after that. You have the chance to recoup and find new weapons and power-up in the meantime, learning from your experience fighting the first time.

A Discovery of Witches

It features in the Recommended section at the back of the book. Season 2, that is. Watch the whole series at your own peril. If you haven’t watched it, do. If you plan to and don’t care for vague spoilers, don’t read on until you’re around Episode 3 or 4.

As an example of Tradecraft, here’s a quick (and inaccurate) synopsis of Episode 2, as a session of The Dee Sanction:

Diane and Matthew start their session of The Dee Sanction. They have been challenged with finding an answer to the question of Diane’s shadowy past and seek The Book of Life to bring clarity — Diane’s very existence otherwise might bring more terrors upon the Realm than the Pope, and King Philip combined.

The players chat and decide that their efforts might best be served by choosing System as their Tradecraft. While the who you know of Access might seem a possibility, it feels like what matters more to influence some obvious parties who could offer assistance.

In an encounter with Father Hubbard, Matthew chooses Politics as a weak spot in the teams’ Abilities — he uses the General Ability approach of Tradecraft to account for that. He manages to convince Hubbard that actions of the past might be resolved by reinforcing the relationship between Matthew’s family and Hubbard empire within the capital.

Over the course of the adventure, Diane uses Politics to swing both the Queen herself and John Dee to believe that a trip to Bohemia to see the Emperor might be worth their patronage — in both cases swinging the power of the Book of Life itself as a lure on the hook and indicating the value in asserting waning influence and power.

In the end, Matthew actually chooses to Deplete the Tradecraft, trading it to remove the Mark that would otherwise make his old companion in witch-hunting, Gallowglass, an enemy. The Mark dissolved, Gallowglass is turned — the GM and Players alike make notes on this point. For the GM, that change in balance will affect future adventures.

As it happens, the Depletion of the Tradecraft before the conclusion of the adventure means that neither Player has the know-how to de-rail Cecil’s suspicions or counter Hubbard‘s decision to raise the attention of Matthew’s father to his consorting with witches. But, perhaps the alliance with Gallowglass will make the difference.

Next Time

There. I hope that that makes some sense. As I say, I can’t ensure understanding in a single example, but I’ve tried. Oddly, I think there might be another comparable example if I walk through the plot of The Expendables 2.

For those who have a copy in hand (and those who don’t can safely stop reading now!), the following key changes were made to the original release.

What Changed between 0.9.9.8.1 and 0.9.9.8.3?

Aside from a peppering of minor spelling mistakes, the key differences between the two releases boil down to:

• Addition of the annotated Character Sheet in the Becoming Agents of Dee section — as a guide to where a reader can find the elements explained and/or generated.
• Tweak to Back Story around using the tables for character generation—you use Association, Focus and one of the Occupation tables.
• Change to both Favours and Abilities to note that there is no list of definitions for either and that it is down to the Table to make final decisions on reasonable limits.
• Abilities contain a bit of clarity over how many to start with and from where to choose them.
• An overhaul of Tradecraft, explaining the process of choice, use and expenditure, along with an ongoing example.
• Expanded explanation of Challenges—success as well as falter; lower than D4, higher than D12; insurmountable challenges.
• Availability of the Tools of Arch Defence.
• A small revision to Fortune.
• Additional explanation around Consequences and another instance where no specific definition exists.
• Brief description of Graveshorn added in Bestiary.
• Overhaul of the Glossary of Terms.
• Update of the Bookmarks, including adding entities and enemies mentioned in the book—where notable—into the Bestiary.

What Next?

All being well, the final PDF will follow, then the print run of soft and hardcover copies can proceed.

Don’t get me wrong, there does need to be some kind of structure otherwise how can you hand off a system to a random GM and imagine they will find there way. But, too much structure and control can lead to weaker creativity as folk worry themselves about keeping things Rules As Written.

I know a fair few of you will be chuckling and shaking your head at that point, seasoned veterans who haven’t run a game Rules As Written since 1982. However, I can’t write a game on the basis that everyone reading it will be as confident. In putting The Cthulhu Hack together, I have had many questions about detailed mechanics and a wish for lists of carefully balanced monsters—for many, that consistency matters, and they’re not wrong to want that.

As I say, it’s a fine piece of juggling to get it right without getting it too right.

For The Cthulhu Hack, having something too right didn’t make sense because the Mythos doesn’t. It shouldn’t make sense and it proved difficult to communicate that sometimes. In a wide world of games where massive monsters represent surmountable goals, how do you communicate the existence in insurmountable horrors?

Thankfully, The Dee Sanction isn’t too far from the cosmic horror, either. The world is filled with ordinary people facing the emergence of extraordinary challenges. The unravelling of the fabric of the world has cracked open the gates of Hell and far stranger realms and allowed egress for creatures of myth and folklore.

The Dee Sanction core book will not only present a short bestiary of creatures and common enemies but also provide some low-level guidance on how to customise them and create your own. You will have the means to present your Agents with relatively generic antagonists coloured by flare and personality rather than complex rules, as well as creatures fiendish in construction that will challenge through their wealth of powers.

Sometimes balance, other times less so. But somewhere in the mix, there should be a sense to the chaos.

At the same time, I have been trying to find the best way possible to make it pseudo-compatible with other “popular” game systems, so that I’m not completely closing off to the wider market. That’s as big a challenge as I had expected. I was not deluding myself that the prospect was going to be damned hard when I’m writing some kind of system from scratch, but want it to be broadly compatible. Anyone would think I like to create insurmountable challenges.

As well as having basic stuff like a name and a brief background, opponents have: 

• Hits – which is the number of Hits required to render a threat defenceless, defeated or dismissed. So, battled an arrogant swordsman might be to unconsciousness, but attempting to rid a location of a haunting spirit would run on until dismissed. Most of the time, zero Hits amounts to the same thing. The lever here is the quantity; player characters start with 3 Hits, so an opponent with one or two won’t last too long against such opposition, but neither would a single opponent with 6 Hits against three or four characters.
• Resistance – type and strength of defences, along with the dice thrown to avoid harm. The format is (UP or DOWN#, #d#), representing potency (UP or DOWN#) and armour (#d#). For potency, apply the Step-Down (DOWN #) or Step-Up (UP#) to an Agents die – with a higher number indicating an easier or harder target. DOWN is bad; the opponent is swift, powerful or highly skilled. For armour, roll the dice and a result of 1 or 2 resists a Hit. The armour is Physical unless otherwise marked; some might indicate Magical, which protects from both types of damage. An average opponent will have no protection or maybe a 1d12, while a tough and highly armour Forest Troll might have 1d4. Some opponents will have a third marker that signifies further resistance or invulnerabilities, like only be hurt by silver or blessed weapons or only being visible to those in possession of a Hand of Glory acquired from a thief hung on the Winter solstice. Those require the expenditure of Tradecraft by characters or that the Agents engage in additional tasks/quests to acquire the item(s) needed. As you can see, there is a world of levers there to consider when considering an enemy’s Resistance.
• Hit Resolution – a table of variable options the GM can use, at random, to inflict harm where a character Falters or has no means to defend against an enemy with many attacks. Some options will have additional variables (if the Resolution was an odd number or in a certain range) or might change as the tide of battle progresses (where a certain number of the enemy lie incapacitated or a certain Consequence – like Bleeding exists on three characters in the battle – exists). You can see a really simple and a slightly more complicated example of an enemy below, one with and the other without a Hit Resolution table; that’s the lever.
• Abilities – usually, this spot contains any other details about the potential the individual or entity has to cause harm, complication or run amok. If the threat has more than one attack, it will be listed here as Multiple Attacks: #. Many attacks make an opponent a challenge for a group even when they find a lone example; more than one creature with many Attacks will be a genuine threat worthy of running away from.

A really simple opponent is just:

• Opponent, 2 Hits (none)

It’s as simple as that; they can take two harm and deliver 1 Hit (the default) if the player character falters in their attack. Nothing formidable and as likely for them to run as anything.

And Angry Mob might be:

Angry Mob – d4+2 Hits (1d8)
 [1,2] Run Away: 0 Hits; roll 1d12 minus Hits taken; if Falter, break and run
 [3,4] Overrun: 1 Hit, Physical Challenge or character is Fallen
 [5,6] Confusion: target Step-Down-1 Physical Challenge 
 [7,8] Rally: Recover 1 Hit (4 people)
Overwhelm: The mob contains 4 x Hits people; it inflicts ½ x Hits (rnd up) auto-Hits per Moment (choose a random Agent; inflict 1 Hit damage).

The lever there is the added layer of action, reaction and response, making the opponent a more complicated target to deal with.

As I say, I’m considering how to provide a fair selection of ready-to-run enemies, while also providing a basic guide to creating your own and converting from other popular systems. The more levers the GM has to pull and make adjustments, the better.

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK.

When creating a character for the first time, a player chooses a playing card from a pack without Royalty (referred to as Unblooded in the game) or rolls a d4/d10 combo, then chooses a single word from those shown — or something similar. The fine detail can be worked with the table.

My favourite favour amongst those in the pre-generated characters I have been using for playtesting is Dirt — Once per game, create a molehill.

They’re minor effects; they’re meant to be. The Agents of Dee are not sorcerers or witches, but they’re also not common folk either. I wanted something that would set player characters apart; enough to raise an eyebrow in the wrong or wary company. It’s relatively open and intentionally vague; I think Numenera and Maelstrom have played their part in the concept. As noted, above, the fine details come with the agreement of the table—the GM and the other players—in approving the power level when chosen.

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK.