Prototype exploring visual formats and grouping methods
This is a concierge-style onboarding experience for the Core Instructions of ChroniclesRPG. The goal is to make the system as easy as possible for new users to fully grasp and comprehend by providing logical grouping, expansive explanations, concrete examples, helpful recommendations, and rich visual aids (charts, diagrams, and illustrations where useful). Clarity is prioritized over conciseness — more words are welcome when they reduce friction and increase understanding. This is an experimental space for testing highly polished, friendly, and tutorial-like presentation methods.
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These seven ideas form the living core of ChroniclesRPG. Dice Groups are your basic unit of capability — small clusters of d6s that represent what a character can do in a moment. Tags give those dice their meaning by describing the world, the situation, and the fiction around them. When things get difficult, Die Penalties (Lag, Harm, and Friction) naturally reduce your dice in organic, story-driven ways. Challenges (Rolls and Requirements) are the moments where those dice are tested against the fiction. Leverage and Potency then let you push back creatively against those limits, while Improvisation and Criticals reward quick thinking and bold moments with surprising, dramatic results. Together they create a flexible, fiction-first system where the rules feel like natural extensions of the story rather than separate layers.
The Unstable Bridge
Your character has the Talent Swiftfoot (a Dice Group). The bridge has the single-word Tag Unstable. When you ask if you can sprint across, the Narrator poses a Challenge using a Default Roll. You roll your Swiftfoot Dice Group. One die falls short, but because the bridge is Unstable, the Narrator offers Leverage — you may reroll that die if you describe how you use the bridge’s instability. You succeed on the reroll.
The Guard’s Suspicion
You’re trying to bluff past a guard. Your Steady Gaze Dice Group is strong, but the guard has the Tag Suspicious. That Tag triggers a Die Penalty — Friction is added to your roll. You decide to Improvise by pretending to trip and spill your pack, using unprepared effort. Because this is Improvised, your Potency drops by one for the roll. The Narrator still lets it cancel the Friction, and you barely succeed on the Default Roll.
The Collapsing Ceiling
A cave-in begins. Your Stonehide Dice Group already carries Harm from earlier wounds. The falling rocks have the Tag Crushing. You make a Default Roll Challenge to dive clear. One of your dice shows a 6 — a Critical. The Narrator allows you to spend the Critical as an Instant Action to shove your companion clear as well, turning survival into a heroic act.
The Locked Vault
You need to crack a vault. Your Patient Hand Dice Group is strong, but the vault has the Tag Finicky. The Narrator sets a Requirement — you must have at least three dice showing 4 or higher in your Dice Group without rolling. You meet the Requirement by counting your current dice and succeed without ever rolling.
The Desperate Stand
You’re outnumbered. Your Ironfist Dice Group is reduced by Lag (two Actions already this Moment). The enemy has the Tag Bloodthirsty. You hurl a torch into dry brush — an Improvisation that lowers your Potency by one. The sudden fire gives the Narrator grounds to grant you Leverage on a Default Roll. Your strike lands, and the Critical success forces the leader back into the flames.