The business of experience does have the potential to make you more resilient, capable, or expert in something new, but there are no prestige classes or level packages. You won’t find new options for your build or acquire a new move. I hope that part of the immersion within the game will be the potential to unlock achievements through making new contacts, securing new alliances, and finding the means to strengthen the position of Britain on the European stage.

Part of the experience of the average Agent of Dee lies in keeping a journal and charting the discoveries, secrets, and challenges met in the course of your adventures. Sometimes, those events will impact the future; occasionally, they might even have relevance, or identifiable connections, with matters as yet unresolved, in play, in the past. It isn’t quite time travelling, but it’s certainly a sort of interactive flashback. Why is something the way it is? Is there more to a person, place or event than meets the eye?

The Dee Sanction isn’t anti-character development, it’s just less important than some more complex and crunchy game systems might seek to make it. Agents of Dee will find their road to self-improvement a more subtle and narrative affair.

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.

A key consideration is the changing landscape of belief, but that is not the only one. Indeed, in and of itself, change in faith and worship are themselves driven by wider changes in political, economic and social shifts. People were moving from the countryside into towns as landowners robbed them of their livelihoods, securing common lands that might have once allowed the unemployed to eke out a self-supported existence. The nations were at each other’s throats over territory, reach and religion, which in turn filtered down to the labouring classes as a need to provide support or a push to embrace a certain facet of faith.

The century is unsettled by warring personalities at stratospheric heights compared to the humble man working the land or tending to his trade; the collateral damage is like a fine rain of debris, noticeable for many, troublesome for most, directly impacting few in a way that causes immediate harm. In the end, that debris gathers and changes the landscape in ways impossible to predict at the outset.

The upheaval in belief and the clash of houses and nations unsettled belief and it makes for a rich unwilling of folklore. Strange occurrences and unexpected changes become targets for tales of the supernatural and uncanny. In The Dee Sanction, these strange events and occurrences become far more menacing; these manifestations threaten anyone and everyone because they presage unnatural forces that have little consideration for humanity. The conflicts of contemporary Europe are nothing compared to the ageless rivalries and dominion of the Fae, the spectral, the cadaverous, and the demonic.

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.

Following the break with Rome (1533) and the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-), we see Safety Lies in Fear territory, as a supernaturally defenceless England finds itself tested by entities pressing the unravelling boundaries between worlds. The slow collapse escalates with each new visitor and failing to find solutions to these incursions means that the GM can ramp up the threat in later adventures. This is “murder hobo” or “West Marches” territory, with lawless landscapes, vacated properties and ravaged monastic estates rapidly falling into ruin by local looting and supernatural sorties. Expect ghosts, carrion feeders, minor Fae, and similar.

In the 1560, with the Queen on the throne and unrest on all sides, All Along the Watchtowers sees peril probing every weakness in unprepared defences. By the middle of the decade, Dee has secured official powers through the Dee Sanction, but his friendship with the Queen is sufficiently solid that he might pay out of his own pocket to hire agents before 1564; after that, the standard material of The Dee Sanction core rules kick in, with efforts masterminded between Walsingham and Dee.

Gathering strength and enemies alike, Empire Under Siege sees the Pope declare open season upon the English with the excommunication of the Queen (1570) and the building frustrations of King Philip II of Spain. Spies, assassination attempts, intrigue, secret assignations — all an essential part of this period, as the esoteric spy network of he Sanction gathers potency and potential.

Whilst less obviously more of the same, the Pursuit of Angels is the portal to intrigue and espionage in Europe under the guise of the a quest of angelic enlightenment. Dee and Kelley take their wives and entourage on a complex tour of the kingdoms, during the early to mid-1580s, primarily in northern and eastern Europe, but with occasion to detour — certainly no reason for the Agents to be held back from going further afield.

However, by the time Dee returns, the intrigues within the Court at home has shifted, Spain has been defeated at sea, and the Great Library at Mortlake has been looted. Dee has fallen from favour and in place of the Sanction, the School of Night has risen to prominance under Henry Percy and Francis Drake. There’s nothing to be suspicious about here; certainly no possibility that the looting of Mortlake had anything to do with Percy and his ascendence to his role as the Queen’s new Archmage. Inter-agency action ensures seeking both the defence of the realm and a hint of the truth behind the School.

Potential aplenty and the possibility of jumping between eras to refine and deepen the story over many adventures means that stories of Elizabethan esoteric espionage needs never go stale.

Every day during August (and for a fair old while into September), 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.

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.

The GM should, for example, think plot rather than a story. Better yet, thinking plots, plural, would be even better, as then the GM can be in a better place from which to improvise (a little or a lot). That sort of living on the edge should never present more stress than it has to; if you do better with more prep, go for it, but the game will benefit from greater fluidity. You can’t be totally side-swiped by the players going off-menu if you only bought in the ingredients rather than preparing a single set meal in advance.

The players, as the bulk of the table, have characters who will never know the full story at the outset. And the fact that the game uses an alternate history where the unfolding of events has opened up the reality of magick as a force for change in the world means that even the history buffs can’t know everything in advance!

Another thing about being majority stakeholders at the table is that players shouldn’t stay out on the edge of being involved with keeping the game moving, entertaining and well-managed. Because the session will involve a fair amount of story-telling and setting creation on the fly, knowing a player (or players) will diligently keep notes in their Journal is reassuring for the GM and the others at the table. Maybe someone keeping an updated map would be good, too.

And yet another way off the edge of the unknown is to step away from the sidelines in prepping the session location, the play space, the beverages, and so forth. Sort the time out and the place. Let the GM know in advance if you can’t attend. Discuss at the end of the previous session — or certainly well before the next session — if there’s something, in particular, you think the party will want to do next time. If a thread of investigation caught the table’s interest, let the GM know so that this particular morsel can get appropriate prep time.

Working together as a table — as a coordinated gaming group — should add to the entertainment of venturing beyond the edge of the unknown without making it all the business of a minority (or even just one) to get it sorted and kept track of. 

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 you’re dealing with the supernatural and dabbling in the occult, you’re already dealing with a grey agenda, murky with heresy. The Agents have their own livelihood and service preservation to consider, facing forces that cannot hope to fully understand, whether commonplace — like the forces and agents of nations — or supernatural — like the Fae, demons, and other creatures born of strange forces.

However, I didn’t want to have the game devolve into an uphill struggle nor did I want to have failure become a barrier to advancement toward some kind of conclusion. Yes, that conclusion might be some pyrrhic outcome, but it’s an achievement nevertheless.

Therefore, we have success or failing forward when you meet a Challenge.

We also have enemies that don’t solely go out of their way to slaughter their opponents, seeking instead to disable them. If the Agents fail to stop an adversary, they survive to face the music and, perhaps, the opportunity to make amends.

The death of characters might not be rare, but pointless losses should be. Every Agent has the opportunity to leave their mark or become part of the ongoing story. The game encourages that one or more players keep a Journal; it might just be their character sheets and adventure notes, or they might consider something more in-depth.

The GM and the table as a whole benefit from the investment in something more making pointless encounters and meaningless conversations with non-player characters rare — there’s the potential for anything to come back later and reveal some hidden depth or return value.

I’m not looking to reinvent wheels or upset the tabletop paradigm (those things are rare), but I hope that The Dee Sanction makes use of a few more interesting ideas and common practices at the tabletop that will make sessions memorable.

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.

Like The Cthulhu Hack. The Dee Sanction is a game where the campaign matters. How close you are to the campaign happens to mean a lot more than getting bound up in the fate of a single character. That’s why keeping notes — even a Journal — matters; the details of your investigations and exploits will have an impact. The individuals serve as catalysts, nothing more.

If you pick up the histories of the period, you will see that time-and-again individuals have flown high and then crashed like Icarus ignoring Daedalus and flying too close to the Sun. The favourites of Court all too quickly find themselves ignored, side-lined, or even imprisoned. John Dee was not immune to this treatment, so why should your characters expect better?

As with The Cthulhu Hack, you’re better to consider The Dee Sanction a Troupe-style game with a dash of the West Marches, where characters come and go, but the game continues nevertheless. For flexibility, the history and Journals mean it’s also possible to not only push on with different characters, but you might even hop back and forth in time.

The core book contains a brief timeline that sets out some of the key periods, from the weakening of the veil into other realms following the break with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries (in the 1530s and 40s), to the decline of Dee (in the 1590s) and the rise of the School of Night. The table can work to tell tales and create stories across the whole period, revisiting old characters or making new ones.

But always thinking, you should never get too close.

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.

I have run sessions of The Dee Sanction, The Cthulhu Hack, Symbaroum and others where I aimed for grim and gritty but came away with something less. Oftentimes, that works out, because the moment of light counterbalances the greater darkness. Other times, that humour steals the darkness from the session.

I think, for example, that the humour in Lost in Translation works. It’s fleeting but intentional. I would compare it to the sort of humour that appears in many of Shakespeare’s serious works (though, I have no intent to compare myself in any other way, shape or form to the peerless art of the Bard).

On the other hand, when I ran a one-shot session of Symbaroum at a convention, the humour stole away from the claim of grimdark fantasy. When you’re showcasing a game for a certain quality, you may have to wrestle the atmosphere in the right direction — in this instance, the prevailing temperament of the players weighed too heavily against me to make it possible. In the end, rather than fighting it, I gave up.

It’s tricky. One-shots suffer when you’re not seeking it, but equally, you can have an incredible session when humour’s intended and the group at the table gel. In a campaign with a regular group, humour will become an aspect managed and maintained by the whole table. When the session requires it, it’ll be there naturally more often than not. When it isn’t required or desired, you’ll have a better handle on how to keep it low key or non-existent to enhance the immersion.

Whatever you do, I’d suggest you create the atmosphere rather than flagging it at the start of the session. If you propagate the darkness in the description and colour, then the players will become engaged and humour will only arise when natural and then only as a gasp for air in the sea of despair (pardon the accidental poetry!).

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.

The Better Part of Valour

Like The Cthulhu Hack, The Dee Sanction has the business of investigation at its heart. It might not always be the way, but generally, if you plan on surviving it needs to form part of your approach. Whether you’re facing the mortal forces of some short-tempered King or the preternatural allies of a Fae noble, knowing what you’re up against and how you might weaken it matters a great deal. Sometimes only the former information might come to hand but forewarned it still forearmed. If you know that the forces mustered against you are considerable, you might just choose subterfuge over a direct assault.

I have found that happens a lot when playing Lost in Translation, for example. Slowly, but surely, the characters — and their players — begin to piece together the situation and realise that something awful has happened. In The Gong-scourer’s Baby, the revelations not only suggest how to stop an immediate threat but also lead the Agents toward a possible means to apprehend the antagonists.

Sometimes it helps to know a little about history and personalities, other times it can get in the way. When Agents sought The Lost on the outskirts of Moldavia they might have been distracted by the immediate presence, front and centre, of a young Elizabeth Báthory. How can you uncover the fate of a missing girl when the easy answer is your host?

Narrative Bloom

I enjoy the process; listening to players discussing the facts they have to hand and trying to fit them together is fascinating. In a one-shot or convention game, that sort of discourse needs to be monitored for the time expended, but it’s well worth having. As GM, I have sometimes uncovered a more satisfying conclusion to an adventure in the ruminations of the players than the ones I might have had in mind. Improvisation makes the GMs job so much easier, feeding the fuel of the players’ imagination into the fires of invention.

The means to investigate does require that the GM provides detailed, colourful and consistent information. Without that, it would be like putting together a jigsaw with the picture on the pieces face down. You can still solve the puzzle, but it will take much longer and is more likely to frustrate and infuriate than entertain. Consistency means that the GM needs to monitor the narrative bloom at the table; it’s good to allow the players to contribute to the descriptions of the environment, but essential that doing so doesn’t muddy the clues.

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.