Set Up

Reward Pool

Play starts with each player having the following set of dice in their reward pool (this includes the GM):

3d4

2d6

2d8

2d10

1d12

During play the number and size of dice in this pool will vary.

Initial Situation

Play starts in the Black Boar Tavern, and this is the only thing we know about the world, that the adventurers have assembled at this appropriate place to discuss a matter before them of great importance that requires their attention.

Barkeep's Questions

Playing the role of the Barkeep at the Tavern, the GM asks the following questions, one per round, in an attempt to discover what it is the PCs are up to:

First round, before any player has taken their turn, “So, what brings you in here?”

“Who wants you to do that?”

“Is somebody in danger?”

“Why is it that they chose you for this job?”

“What dangers stand in your way?”

“What do you all get out of this?”

Character Abilities

What Are Abilities

Abilities can represent a wide variety of things; just about anything that the character might find to be an asset in play.

Skills

Talents

Heritage

Personality Traits

Physical Attributes

Mental Attributes

Magical Abilities

Relationships with NPCs

Special Equipment

Wealth

Each ability will have a name and a die rating.

Gaining Abilities

A player may, at any time, narrate something about his character's abilities. Perhaps they brag about them, or they can just think a thought regarding them; just so long as we get an idea of what the ability is. This narration must be linked to something in the game world that they create on the spot. When done with the narration, the player announces a name for the ability, and selects another player to judge who assigns a rating to the ability.

Selecting a Judge

The narrating player may select any other player to be judge (including the GM), but may want to consider the dice that player has left to give. If a player doesn't have a high die in their pool, they can't give you one. Players may offer to be judge, even jumping ahead to doing a very fast judging (see below), and stating what die they're offering the player. This can often streamline the process quite a bit. If somebody offers a die, and the player accepts it, then the ability is written on the character sheet as it was stated, and the die of the ability that was assigned is noted.

Judging Narrations

The player selected as judge decides on a rating for the ability in question. This player should score 1 point for each of the following:

Was the ability suitably narrow in application? If the ability was applicable to a very broad set of circumstances (especially those seem like they can be used all the time), then the narrating player doesn't get this point.

Did the player create an interesting part of the game world as part of their narration?

Did the player link their new part of the world to a part that already exists in an interesting way?

Did the player create an interesting linkage between the character's ability and the part of the world they created?

Based on the points scored, the judge may award the player the following die, or any lower than this die:

Points Scored	Potential Die
1	d6
2	d8
3	d10
4	d12

Lesser dice are often given simply because the ability in question doesn't sound as though it's a really important one, or for several other reasons, all of which are completely at the judge's discretion. And, of course, a judge may only give out the dice that they have in their pool.

Preposterous!

If the judging player finds the narration to be completely preposterous or uninteresting, they may refuse to give a die at all, in which case the player being judged may retract their narration completely… though this is likely rare. Players typically do a reasonable job with narrations. This rule exists just to inform the player that they can't toss garbage into the game and expect to be rewarded for it.

Negotiation

Often the player's narration is OK, but the judge may find part of it to be less interesting than it could be. The judge can offer a lower die, and counter-offer with a higher one to get the narrating player to alter their narration in some way. This power should be used only to make modifications, not take over the player's entire narration and alter it completely. The judge should work with the narrating player to come up with something interesting.

Other players are encouraged to kibbitz and offer suggestions. But in the end, it's up to the narrating player to decide if they want to make any revisions to the narration, and up to the judging player to decide what die they get (if any) as a result.

Be a Good Judge

The reward for being a tough judge is that the world and characters end up more interesting.

The reward for being a fair judge is that other players will treat you fairly as well when it's their turn to be judge.

Don't go too easy or too hard on the other players.

This entire process can be quite informal, with the judge not stopping to enumerate the points they're awarding, but simply leaping to announce the die they think is appropriate. The judge and player can discuss how important the ability is to the player… often the player will be satisfied with a lesser die, saving the big dice for more important things later. Part of being a good judge is moving the process along quickly so that play can proceed with the smallest interruptions possible.

Obstacles

To get more dice into their reward pool, players may wish to create obstacles. An obstacle is something that stands in the way of them achieving their goals. These may be personal goals for individual characters, or they may be the overall goal for the game. The player rates the obstacle by one of the die types, and then adds a die of the same size to their reward pool. The GM records the obstacle and it's rating.

Contradictions

The GM may decide that he'd prefer for something already established as fact by character narration, but not actually verified in play through experience, is incorrect in part or in whole. This is often done to spring surprises on the PCs. When the GM does this, they must award one of the dice in their pool to the player who established the fact, any die he prefers. If the GM is out of dice, this is not an option.

Sequels

If and when the matter at hand has been dealt with, the players may decide individually what they want to do from the following three options:

Play on! - the player keeps their character, and goes back to the Black Boar to invent a new adventure.

New Blood - the player may have their current character sit out the next adventure at the tavern, and create a new character to continue on. Often new characters can bring with them news of the next problem to be faced.

Retire - the player may decide to take a break and not play on in the next sequel.

If all players retire, then the game is over until a new batch of adventurous souls appears at the Black Boar.