particu-lar attention to this chapter. It covers all the basics for a Game Master, including how to run adversar-ies and other non-player characters (NPCs).
n arrative p lay
G
enesys and the Narrative Dice System ask you to step into your character’s role and use dramatic nar-rative to describe events and advance a story. Through this, you experience the excitement, drama, and epic scope of an infinite variety of settings and adventures from the perspectives of characters you create. While we provide specific rules for how to resolve actions, our game relies heavily on you and your Game Master to use your imaginations—tempered with common sense—to explain what happens.In Genesys, we represent combat and other situa-tions in an abstract fashion. Our game focuses on your characters and the heroic actions they take rather than on measurements, statistics, or other minutiae. Instead of taking a ruler and measuring the distance between characters on a map, you simply need to state, “I’m ducking behind the helicopter to get some cover while I pull out my pistol.” That sort of description paints a much better picture of the action taking place.
Action resolution also includes a narrative element.
The Narrative Dice System determines if a given task succeeds or fails. However, the dice reveal more than whether or not your character succeeds at something.
The different dice and their varied symbols tell a larger story, adding depth and detail to the scene your char-acters occupy.
Many dice resolutions set out to determine whether a task succeeds or fails. However, the Narrative Dice System goes beyond binary pass/fail results. It actually contains six possible results, and most of those results scale as well (for example, you can barely succeed, or you can succeed really well). Even if your characters fail, they may still make something good happen for
themselves or the rest of the party. However, even when characters succeed, they may generate the seeds for something dire later.
All this works to create some really interesting and exciting encounters, and keeps you constantly engaged with the game. Shared storytelling shapes the core of Genesys. As you become more familiar with the sys-tem, you can become as much a storyteller as your Game Master. If you are the Game Master, you get to run a game where your players are just as engaged with creating the narrative as you.
p layer C haraCters and n on -p layer C haraCters
Throughout this book, we talk a lot about player characters (or “PCs”) and non-player characters (or “NPCs”). Player characters are the charac-ters that players create and control, usually one player character per player.
Non-player characters are everyone else in the setting, from the bystanders in crowds to the evil villain that the PCs have to defeat. The GM con-trols all of the non-player characters. Most NPCs are governed by rules that are far simpler than the rules that govern a PC. Some are not gov-erned by rules at all, and your GM describes all of their actions narratively. This makes it easier for your GM to run multiple NPCs at once.
CHAPTER 1: CORE MECHANICS
W
hether flying a fighter jet through a storm, sword-fighting with an animated skeleton, or hacking into a computer network guarded by killer AIs, your characters often find themselves performing actions that require skill and no small amount of luck. To deter-mine whether these actions succeed or fail—or if they have any other unforeseen consequences—characters in Genesys perform skill checks. Skill checks are easy to use, and we break them into two key elements:1. Roll a pool of Narrative dice.
2. After all factors have been accounted for, if at least one Success symbol remains, the task succeeds.
When any character attempts an action, the first step involves gathering a number of dice and assembling the dice pool. Several factors influence the number and type of dice in the pool, including the character’s innate abilities, skill training, and equipment, as well as the inherent difficulty of the task being attempted.
Your GM may decide that the environment or the situ-ation warrants the addition of certain dice; fixing a car with ample time and the proper tools is one thing, but
attempting repairs in the pouring rain, without tools, and under a hail of bullets is quite different. Once you have assembled all of the necessary dice, you roll all of the dice in the pool.
The second step involves interpreting the results on the dice. After rolling, you look at the symbols on the face-up sides of the dice. Certain symbols work in pairs, one type canceling out another. Other types of symbols do not cancel each other out, and their effects are applied regardless of the outcome of the task. By comparing the first set of paired symbols—Success and Failure—you determine if the task succeeds. You then compare the second set of symbols—Advantage and Threat—to determine any beneficial side effects or negative consequences. Finally, you resolve any other symbols to add the last details to the outcome.
This core mechanic, the skill check, forms the foun-dation of our game. Other rules and effects either modify or interact with one of the two fundamental elements—the assembly of the dice pool and the inter-pretation of the results after the dice are rolled.
t he d iCe
T
his section takes a closer look at the Narrative dice and their symbols. When the action starts up, just about anything can happen. Dice symbols provide a narrative framework for the action—did your character hit their foe with a clean shot, or force the opponent to scramble for cover instead of attacking in return? Once you understand these dice and symbols, you gain a better understanding of our game’s core mechanic.This section also tells you how to assemble a dice pool and when to introduce extra dice based on the circumstances. Dice sets can be purchased sepa-rately, or players may use the Genesys Dice App to roll them electronically.
When your character makes a skill check in Genesys, the dice allow you and your GM to quickly determine a task’s success or failure, as well as its magnitude and narrative implications. To accomplish
this, Genesys uses six types of dice. Each type fulfills a specific function and purpose. Each die face is either blank or features one or more symbols that represent various positive or negative effects.
A typical dice pool contains somewhere between five and eight dice. This pool size covers the major-ity of situations. Difficult, complex, or epic situations may include more dice, while mundane situations may
include fewer dice. If the task facing your character is so easy that success is virtually guaranteed, you may not need to roll dice at all! In fact, we recommend that you limit generating and rolling a dice pool to the important tasks that can influence the story.
In Genesys, you can divide the types of dice into two categories. The first type features dice with symbols ben-eficial to accomplishing tasks. The second type features symbols that cancel those beneficial symbols and hinder the accomplishment of tasks.
Boost, Ability, and Proficiency dice are the beneficial, positive dice. Setback, Difficulty, and Challenge dice are the negative, disruptive dice (see Table I.1–1: Posi-tive and NegaPosi-tive Dice above).
p ositive D ice
Three types of positive dice have symbols that improve the odds of successfully completing a task or achieving beneficial side effects.
b
oostD
ice
Special advantages, or “boosts,” are repre-sented with light blue six-sided dice. Boost dice represent benefits gained through luck, chance, and advantageous actions
that your character takes. They reflect your character’s possession of some sort of benefit or advantage, such as having ample time to complete the task or having the right equipment. Boost dice and Setback dice are thematic opposites of each other. Boost dice are repre-sented by in text.
a
bilityD
ice
Ability is represented with green eight-sided dice. Ability dice form the basis of most dice pools rolled by the players. They represent your character’s aptitude or skill used when
attempting a skill check. These dice possess positive, beneficial symbols. Ability dice are opposed by Diffi-culty dice. Ability dice are represented by in text.
p
roficiencyD
ice
Proficiency is represented with yellow twelve-sided dice. Proficiency dice repre-sent the combination of innate ability and training. They are most often used when
your character attempts a skill check using a trained skill. Proficiency dice can also be added to a pool when you spend a Story Point (see page 27) for an impor-tant skill check. These dice possess a greater likelihood of success, and they are the only dice that feature the
p ositive d iCe and n egative d iCe
Each dice pool consists of a number of dice from several different sources. Essentially, these dice pools contain “positive dice” and “negative dice.”
Positive dice are added to the pool to help accom-plish a task or achieve beneficial side effects. These may reflect innate talents or abilities, special
training, superior resources, or other advantages that affect the specific task. Negative dice are added to the pool to hinder or disrupt a task, or to intro-duce the possibility of complicating side effects.
These may reflect the inherent difficulty of the task, obstacles, additional risks, or the efforts of another character to thwart the task.
TABLE I.1–1: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE DICE
Positive Dice Come From Negative Dice Come From
The skill used to accomplish a task The difficulty of the task attempted
The character's characteristic that is linked to the skill An opponent’s special abilities, talents, skills, or characteristics An applicable talent or special ability Opposing forces at work
Equipment or gear being used by the character Inclement weather or environmental effects
Using players’ Story Points Using the GM’s Story Points
Tactical or situational advantages Tactical or situational disadvantages Other advantages, as determined by the GM Other disadvantages, as determined by the GM
potent Triumph symbol (see page 12). Proficiency dice are the upgraded version of Ability dice (for more on upgrades, see page 21). Proficiency dice are rep-resented by in text.
n eGative D ice
Three types of negative dice have symbols that under-mine success or introduce unwanted complications.
s
etbackD
ice
In Genesys, certain complications, or
“setbacks,” are represented with black six-sided dice. Setback dice represent
prob-lems or minor obstacles during task resolution. Set-back dice represent relatively minor conditions that impair or hinder your character, such as poor lighting, obstructive terrain, or insufficient resources. Setback dice are not as potent as Difficulty dice. Add them to represent additional circumstances or environmental effects that would not in and of themselves increase the base difficulty of the task. Setback dice and Boost dice are thematic opposites of each other. Setback dice are represented by in text.
D
ifficultyD
ice
Difficulty is represented with purple eight-sided dice. Difficulty dice represent the inherent challenge or complexity of a task
your character attempts to accomplish. In simplest terms, the more Difficulty dice in a dice pool, the harder it is to succeed. Difficulty dice possess negative, harmful symbols that cancel out the positive, beneficial symbols found on Ability, Boost, and Proficiency dice.
Difficulty dice oppose Ability dice. Difficulty dice are represented by in text.
c
hallenGeD
ice
Challenge is represented with dark red twelve-sided dice. Challenge dice represent the most extreme adversity and
opposi-tion. These dice may be featured in place of Difficulty dice during particularly daunting challenges posed by trained, elite, or prepared opponents. Challenge dice can also be added to a pool when your GM invests a Story Point for an important skill check. These dice feature pri-marily negative, obstructive results, such as Threat and Failure, but they also feature the potent Despair result (see page 24). Challenge dice are the upgraded version of Difficulty dice (for more on upgrades, see page 21).
Challenge dice are represented by in text.
d iCe b reakdown
In the following table, we’ve provided a break-down of what faces show what symbol on each die.
This information could prove useful for you GMs,
especially when you’re adapting our game to fit into your own settings.
TABLE I.1–2: GENESYS DICE SYMBOL DISTRIBUTION
Die
Type 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Boost
die (d6) Blank Blank
Setback
die (d6) Blank Blank
Ability
die (d8) Blank
Difficulty
die (d8) Blank
Proficiency
die (d12) Blank
Challenge
die (d12) Blank
t en -s iDeD D ice
In addition to the Narrative dice described above, the game also uses standard ten-sided dice. We abbreviate these dice as “d10” in the text. Many standard d10s feature a numeral zero (0) on one side. If a zero is rolled, it counts as a ten. This allows the d10 to generate any number between one and ten. You can find ten-sided dice at any hobby game store, or on Fantasy Flight Games’ website.
In Genesys, a more common roll using d10s is called the percentile roll. When making a percentile roll, you
roll two dice, designating one die as the tens digit and the other die as the ones digit. A result of zero on either die means that the corresponding digit is zero in the two-digit number rolled. A result of “00”—zero on both dice—indicates a roll of 100. The percentile roll is abbreviated as d100. It is used most often as a random-izer, generating a number between 1 and 100. We use Percentile rolls to generate numbers that correspond to particular results on lookup tables. The one you’ll prob-ably be most familiar with (and use most often) is Table I.6–10: Critical Injury Result (see page 115).
d iCe s yMbols and r esults
T
he dice used in Genesys feature a number of unique symbols used to determine success or fail-ure, as well as to provide additional context and conse-quences during task resolution.We want to explain these symbols not just so you can play the game, but also so you can help contribute to the story. One of the unique aspects of the Narrative Dice System is that you, not just your GM, can have the opportunity to interpret the results of a skill check. You can add subtle narrative flavor (“I heal 1 strain with this Advantage , as I regain my breath and take a moment to take stock of the battlefield”) or even major cinematic changes to the scene (“what if, because of the four Threat I rolled, our ship smashes into the reef and we start taking on water?”)
This section introduces and defines the different symbols, then describes how they are used in play. Just like the Narrative dice, these symbols can be classified into several broad categories. The two types of symbols represent positive results and negative results.
p ositive r esults
Let’s say your character hacks the internal computer network of a government facility as they’re trying to break in. How successful were they? Did your character barely succeed in unlocking one electronic door, or did they do so well that they quietly deactivated the entire facility’s security systems? You determine these sorts of specific details by interpreting the positive dice results from a skill check.
You can find three positive symbols on the Narrative Dice System Roleplaying Dice. These symbols repre-sent Success, Advantage, and Triumph.
s
uccess
Success symbols are critical for determining whether a skill check succeeds or fails; basically, the more Success symbols you roll, the more likely the check succeeds.
Mechanically, one Success symbol is canceled by one Failure symbol . Based on the core mechanic, if at least one Success remains in the pool after all cancel-lations have been made, the skill check succeeds. The other thing to remember is that Success symbols can also influence the magnitude of the outcome. The more Success in a check after any symbols have been can-celed out by Failure symbols , the greater the magni-tude of the success (the more damage dealt, the more people persuaded, or the more wounds healed).
Success symbols appear on , , and dice.
a
DvantaGe
The Advantage symbol indicates an opportunity for a positive consequence or side effect, regardless of whether your character fails or succeeds at the task they attempt. Examples of these positive side effects include your character remaining unnoticed when hacking a computer network, finding unexpected cover during a firefight, or recovering from strain during a stressful situation.
It’s possible for a task to fail while generating a num-ber of Advantage symbols , allowing something good to come out of the failure. Likewise, Advantage can occur alongside success, allowing for significantly positive outcomes. Remember, Advantage symbols do not have a direct impact on success or failure; they only affect the potential side effects of the roll.
Advantage is canceled by Threat. Each Threat symbol
cancels one Advantage symbol . If a skill check generates one or more net Advantage symbols , you can spend that Advantage to apply one or more special side effects. These could include triggering a Critical Hit, activating a weapon’s special quality, recovering strain, or even performing additional maneuvers. The applications of Advantage are covered in more detail on page 102 and 121.
Advantage symbols appear on , , and dice.
t
riumph
The Triumph symbol indicates a significant boon or beneficial outcome. Each Triumph symbol provides two effects:
First, each Triumph symbol also counts as one Success, in every way Success has previously been defined. This means that the Success generated by a Tri-umph symbol could be canceled by a Failure symbol
generated during the same skill check.
Second, you can spend a Triumph symbol to trigger incredibly potent effects. You could think of this as a
“super Advantage,” although sometimes the effects are so impressive that no amount of Advantage could trigger them. Two common uses include triggering a Critical Injury upon a successful attack and activating a weapon’s special quality (in these cases, one Triumph can do the same thing as many Advantage). Triumphs may activate other potent effects as well, including effects above and beyond those triggered by Advantage. These effects may be set by the GM, or they may be defined by the environ-ment, a piece of equipenviron-ment, or a special character ability.
See pages 102 and 121 for more information on using the Triumph symbol to trigger effects.
You gain both effects with each Triumph symbol, so you don’t have to choose between the Success and the special-effect trigger. Although the Success aspect of the Triumph symbol can be canceled by a Failure symbol , the second aspect of the result cannot be canceled. Multiple Triumph symbols are cumulative:
each Triumph adds one Success, and each can be used to generate its own special effect.
The Triumph symbol only appears on the die.
n eGative r esults
While racing away from enemy agents in a stolen
While racing away from enemy agents in a stolen