How Epistlecore Plays

Epistlecore is light, but it has real dice. You roll when failure would be interesting, and the sheet does the arithmetic for you.

The roll

Roll 2d12 + the number on your sheet (a stat or a skill) and meet or beat a Difficulty.

The average roll is 13. Advantage means roll three d12 and keep the best two; disadvantage, the worst two. Double 12s is a critical: you succeed with something extra. Double 1s is a fumble. An ally who helps gives you +3.

Five stats in three groups

Body (strength, speed, toughness) | Soul: Mind (knowledge, tactics, tech), Will (resolve, nerve), Heart (empathy, charm) | Spirit (your connection, rolled to brood).

Composure is the average of Will and Heart. It is worked out for you. Stats run from 0 to 9 within the galaxy: ordinary people sit at 0 to 2, trained people at 3 to 5, the famous at 6 to 8, the peak of the galaxy at 9. Past 9 lies only beyond the galaxy, and only a Crossing, a story event at the very top, takes anyone there.

Skills

Every skill rides on a stat: Athletics, Agility, Endurance and Stealth on Body; Knowledge, Tech, Awareness and Piloting on Mind; Resolve and Intimidate on Will; Persuade, Deceive and Insight on Heart; Attunement on Spirit. Expertise in a skill adds +2. Your sheet lists every skill with its total.

Health, Stamina and Energy

Health is how much you can take. At 0 you are Down, not dead. Stamina fuels physical moves: strikes, weapon feats, athletic feats. Energy fuels Brooding Calls and tech.

A fight

You get 2 Actions a turn: move and act, move twice or act twice. To attack, roll 2d12 + your attack stat against the target's Guard. On a hit you deal your weapon's wounds plus half your attack stat, and the target's Plating takes some away. There are no reactions: nothing happens on someone else's turn.

Brooding

Brooding is a call and a response. Most people never do it. If you do, you say what you ask for, roll 2d12 + Spirit against the Call's Difficulty, and the response comes as a Surge, Answered, an Echo (half strength) or nothing at all. Some Calls are Settled: they never fail outright, only vary in strength. True Centre and True South Calls can be made on the move. True East and True West need you to hold still.

Drive and Momentum

Your Drive is what you want, in your own words. Acting toward it at a real cost builds Momentum; at +3 you can spend it for one success that cannot fail, once a session. Acting against it for comfort lets it drift. Chosen and Anointed Vessels move faster both ways: a Vessel reaches the inevitable sooner, and falls harder when they turn away. Nobody forces your Drive on you, and you can change it.

Rank

Your Rank is a letter that says how far your reach extends: F your circle, C a city, A a planet, S a galaxy. Most characters start at F. Rank rises at story milestones, and beings of very different Rank do not fight on equal terms.