by Mark Humphreys

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EXPloRE

Other Worlds is a roleplaying game of heroic action and adventure for any genre. The game is driven by description: descriptions of characters, details of actions, and dramatic visualisations. Numbers and dice rolls are secondary to the action; in fact, you will � nd that in Other Worlds the rules serve to emphasise the story and increase the drama rather than getting in their way.

This book contains the following material:

• A comprehensive worldbuilding procedure that the whole group gets to take part in

• Over 100 ready-to-use character templates, from assassins to xenoarchaeologists and everything else in between

• Detailed guidelines on creating your own cultural archetypes, professions, trademark powers, supporting characters, and adventure locations

• A simple, elegant confl ict resolution procedure that can handle any situation

• Turn-based set piece rules to handle the more important confl icts of your story

• A wealth of practical advice on how to get the most out of play, based on real experience at the games table

• Quick-start genre packages for fantasy, horror, pirates, science � ction, superheroes, and the wild west

Written by Mark HumphreysIllustrated by Storn A. Cook

FAC 13 5201

www.OtherWorldsRPG.wordpress.com

FREE PREVIEW

A mEssAgE FRom thE AuthoR

This is the free preview edition of Other Worlds. It contains the full introduction chapter, a rules summary, character sheets, and an art preview. Please feel free to distribute this PDF to anyone you like, including prospective players, curious relatives, and billionaire investors with poor impulse control.

If you want to know more about Other Worlds please visit our website at:

www.OtherWorldsRPG.wordpress.com

And if you like what you see and want to buy a full copy of the game, in PDF or print format, please visit our storefront at www.RPGNow.com.

Thanks!

Mark Humphreys

WrittEn By Mark Humphreys

dEsiGnEd By Mark Humphreyswith Mike Holmes

AdditionAl tExt ByMike Holmes, Brian Isikoff , and Scott Mathis

illustrAtEd By Storn A. Cook

EditEd ByHarriet Evans

lAyout ByFred Hicks

sPEciAl thAnks to Brian Isikoff for sowing the seeds of this whole project in the fi rst place

PlAytEstErsRichard Green, Steve Jones, Paul Newland, Ben Reynolds, Ian Meachin, Eric Zimmer, Steven D. Leary,

Laura Shaff er, Brian Dean Jennings, John D’Amanda, Angelo Pampalone, Gioacchina Bonfi glio, Alessandro Damiano, Antonino Sansica, Francesco Minutolo, Giorgio Merigo, Dario Contardi,

Armanda Dautaj, Gianfranco Geroldi, Denys Mordred, Holly Campbell, Matthew Campbell, Robert Lionheart, Zack Smith, Jaime T. Matthew, Laurent Castellucci, Maery Morrison, Erica Glaser,

Patrick Masson, Caro Landry, Brennen Reece, Sarah Reece, Will Whatley, Jared Gullage... and valuable non-playtest feedback from Adam Dray, Steve Young, and Alfredo Sendín Domínguez.

Copyright © 2011 Mark Humphreys. All rights reserved. A Signal 13 production

FAC 13 5201

Go to www.OtherWorldsRPG.wordpress.com for more!

contEnts

1INTRODUCTION . . . 3How to Play Other Worlds . . 4A Rules Synopsis . . . . 6Key Principles of Other Worlds 8What’s in This Book . . . 10

2WORLDBUILDING . . 11What’s the Setting? . . . 12Who Are the Characters? . . 17What Kind of Game Will It Be? 20Flesh Out the Characters and Situation . . . . . 21

3CHARACTER GENERATION . . . 23Design the Character Concept 24Invent Personal Details. . . 25Choose Your Templates . . 28Describe Your Individuality . . 30Assign Ratings . . . . 32Create Story Hooks . . . 34Example Character: Sheridan Heist . . . . 36

4ABILITIES . . . . 41Ability Types . . . . . 41General Abilities . . . . 41Personality Traits . . . . 44Relationships . . . . . 44Goals . . . . . . . 45Flaws. . . . . . . 46

5CHARACTER TEMPLATES 49Using Templates . . . . 49Archetypes . . . . . 51Anatomy of an Archetype . . 52Creating Your Own Archetypes 53Modern-Day Archetypes . . 57Trademarks . . . . . 64Anatomy of a Trademark . . 64Creating Your Own Trademarks 66Trademark Categories . . . 67

6SUPPORTING CAST . . 81Creating Supporting Characters 82Supporting Character Abilities 84Archetypal Supporting Characters . . . . . 85Supporting Characters and Confl icts . . . . . 93Developing Supporting Characters . . . . . 95Other Supporting Elements . 96Supporting Characters for the GM . . . . . 99

7THE STRUCTURE OF PLAY . . . . .105Before the Game . . . .105During the Game . . . .106After the Game . . . .107

8CONFLICT RESOLUTION 109Step-by-Step Confl ict Resolution . . . 110Frame the Confl ict. . . . 110Allocate Screen Time . . . 113Calculate Your Total Rating . 114Determine the Opposition Rating . . . .120Determine the Winner . . .120Count the Consequences . . 125

9SET PIECES . . . . 131When to Use a Set Piece . . 131Frame the Overall Confl ict . 133Set the Turn Structure . . . 133Escalate or Resolve . . . 133Perform One or More Sub-Confl icts . . . . . .134The Final Confrontation . . 135

10SPOTLIGHT POINTS . . 139Earning Spotlight Points . .139Spotlighting a Confl ict . . .142Spotlighting Character Development . . . . .144

11PLAYING OTHER WORLDS . . 147Use Your Character . . .148Use the Rules . . . . .149Work Together . . . .150Tell a Story . . . . . 151

12THE GAMESMASTER . . 153Bringing the Ingredients Together . . . 153Story Prep . . . . . 155Running the Session . . .159Confl ict Management . . . 163Running Diff erent Types of Confl icts . . . . . .164Handling Special Abilities . . 167

13ADAPTING OTHER WORLDS . . 169Establishing Genre – Character Generation . . .169Reinforcing Genre – Confl ict Resolution . . . 172Introduction to the Genre Snapshots . . . . . 175Genre Snapshot: Fantasy . . 175Genre Snapshot: Horror . 180Genre Snapshot: Pirates . .183Genre Snapshot: Science Fiction . . . .187Genre Snapshot: Superheroes 191Genre Snapshot: Wild West .195

RULES SUMMARY . . 199GLOSSARY . . . 202INDEX . . . . 205

1Welcome to Other Worlds!

Other Worlds is a roleplaying game of heroic action and adventure. It provides a framework for telling stories populated with interesting, exciting charac-ters set in any worlds, universes, or timelines you can imagine. The game is driven by description: descriptions of characters, details of actions, and dramatic visualisations. Numbers and dice rolls are secondary to the action; in fact, you will find that in Other Worlds the rules serve to emphasise the story and increase the drama rather than getting in their way. So, if you’ve ever put down a book, switched off the TV, or left the cinema wishing you could step through the fourth wall and explore that world for yourself, then Other Worlds is the game for you.

Our system of player-authored traits and descrip-tors is designed to give you maximum freedom in creating your own unique characters and settings – if you can imagine it, you can represent it in the game. Moreover, our open-ended conflict resolu-tion system allows you to use those traits to focus the drama on the scenes and issues that you want to explore, letting everything else fade into the background. You will find that characters in Other Worlds are much more than just numbers on a page; they are living, breathing people whose deci-sions and beliefs are the driving force behind the whole story. Their fate is in your hands.

IntRoductIon

Large flying fish (Pesce Dirigibile) from Angelo's ‘The World

Over the Clouds’ campaign.

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An ExErcisE in shArEd crEAtivity

Communication and co-operation are the keys to enjoying Other Worlds – communi-cation of your own preferences so that you can get what you want, and co-operation with the other players to make sure they can get what they want, too. This isn’t the sort of game that has winners and losers; in fact, the only way you can ever lose in Other Worlds is if you don’t have any fun. It doesn’t really matter whether your character becomes a god, betrays everyone he’s ever loved, or gets squashed by a dragon – as long as it makes for a good story and an exciting game you can count yourself as a winner.

hoW to PlAy othER WoRldsThe purpose of playing Other Worlds is to tell a story. You and your friends will make up an inter-esting group of characters and use them to explore a particular story, theme, or world of your own invention. It is rather like writing a book, or acting in a play, except that it’s more immediate, more vis-ceral, and – dare we say it – more fun, too!

Note that when we talk about ‘story’ here, we’re not necessarily talking about something with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. A lot of this game is really about exploration – exploration of setting, exploration of situation, and exploration of charac-ter. This means that your stories can (and probably will) wander all over the place, from strange diver-sions and wild tangents to false starts, extended middles, and abrupt endings. That’s fine! Don’t feel like your stories have to fit into some kind of rigid three-act structure to be any fun.

Don’t think that creating the story is the particu-lar province of a single player, either. This game is specifically designed to give everyone the power to drive events forward and introduce new elements to the plot. The story you will create together is an organic thing; it cannot be scripted or story-boarded, edited or controlled. Instead it will evolve naturally from the characters you create, the set-tings you build, and the decisions you make during play itself.

WhAt you nEEdThe first thing you’ll need in order to play Other Worlds is some other people to play it with. Between four and six people is pretty much ideal, but it’s pos-sible to play with as few as two people or as many as eight (if not more!). If you don’t already have a regular roleplaying group, then some good places to find other players are local games shops, role-playing conventions, university club noticeboards, and (of course) the internet. Don’t forget that you can convert unsuspecting ‘normal’ people too! Everyone has at least one friend or relative who’s really interested in Tolkien or Babylon 5 or some-thing similar. Maybe it’s worth asking them if they’d like to explore these universes for themselves?

Aside from a copy of this book, you don’t really need much else to play Other Worlds. You’ll need some paper and pencils, so you can write out the details of your characters and make notes of their adventures. You’ll need two ten-sided dice per player, so you can quickly and easily determine the results of any conflicts that come up. And you’ll need somewhere to play, preferably somewhere comfortable and free from distractions. Turn those televisions and stereos off right now! If it’s not con-venient to play at home for some reason, it’s always worth checking out local pubs, community cen-tres, libraries, and the like – most will have some kind of function room that you’ll be able to book in advance. Many games shops also operate a club night, where you’ll be able to grab a table for your own game or even join in on someone else’s.

The final thing you need to be able to play Other Worlds is an active imagination. You’ve already got one of those; if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be read-ing this in the first place. Roleplaying might sound like something weird and complicated, but it really isn’t. If you’ve ever made up a story, acted out a role, or even just played cops and robbers as a child then you already know the basics. This entire book is ultimately just a way of structuring and channelling those sorts of activities into something even better.

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A notE on Pronouns

In order to make our rules and play exam-ples as clear as possible, this book uses the male pronoun (he, his) to refer to players and the female pronoun (she, hers) for games-masters. Obviously, being male, female, or a Strichnosian Technofiend has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to play or GM this game. (Although we hear that Strichnosian Technofiends can get extremely violent when they lose important conflicts... just a friendly warning.)

thE PlAyEr chArActErsMost of the players in a game of Other Worlds will take on the role of a player character (PC). The player characters are the protagonists of the story you and your friends will tell. They are the focus of the game and your window into the world you have created. If the game is set in a fantasy world, your character might be a famous warrior with a great destiny, a surly dwarf chieftain looking for gold, or a mystical sorcerer from across the sea. In a science fiction game, your character might be a brash young starfighter pilot, a cynical bounty hunter from another timeline, or an alien mind-reader with two heads. It’s entirely up to you to decide what kinds of people your collective story will be about.

Each player is responsible for creating and describ-ing his own character. We find it works best if everyone does this as a group, so that you can make sure all the characters fit in well with each other, but it’s not mandatory. Your character should have a distinct personality of his own, including goals, strengths, weaknesses, relationships, and probably a colourful background of some kind too. If your character isn’t interesting then the stories you tell with him won’t be interesting, either. Try to create someone who will be not only fun for you to play but also fun for the other players to watch.

During the game, you play the part of your char-acter. You describe what he does, say what he says, and at times even try to think like he thinks. It is your job to push your character into the story – and to decide how he will react when the story inevitably pushes back. Sometimes you must think like an actor – creating mannerisms, improvising dialogue, and reacting appropriately to events. At other times you will think more like an author or a director – driving the story forwards by putting your character into interesting situations, creating problems for him, and finding new ways to high-light particular aspects of his background or per-sonality. Some players and some groups will tend to prefer one style of playing to the other, and do that part more often – that’s fine! As long as everyone is having fun you are doing it ‘right’.

You can find more detailed notes on how to get the most out of being a player by reading Chapter 11, Playing Other Worlds, on page 147.

thE GAmEsmAstErOne of the players in the group must take the role of the gamesmaster (GM for short). The GM is a different kind of player because she does not have a character of her own. Instead, her job is to create interesting circumstances and opposition for the other players’ characters in order to make the over-all story as exciting as possible. With this purpose in mind, she will act as part actor, part referee, and part director – often all three at the same time!

While everyone else has a single character, the GM has several. She will create and play a large vari-ety of non-player characters (NPCs) – essentially, everyone in the world who isn’t one of the player characters. This includes each player character’s friends and family, their contacts and associates, and even the people they walk past in the street. It also includes each character’s foes – professional rivals, opposing forces, and sworn enemies. The GM is responsible for breathing life into these char-acters and using them to develop the story.

The GM also acts as a kind of referee, in that her role is to decide when to apply modifiers to some-one’s dice roll, when certain abilities can be used, and when certain kinds of consequences might be appropriate. That’s not to say that the GM is allowed to break the rules; the rules exist to provide support and creative constraints for everyone, not just the players, and it’s not really fair if one person can just change them at will. Instead, the GM acts as the interpreter of the rules – deciding when to roll, deciding when and how to modify those rolls, and deciding what the results of each roll mean for the story.

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Perhaps the most important function of the GM is to act as director. This means keeping an eye on the pacing of the game, making sure that things run fast in the action sequences and run more slowly in the exploration sequences. It means describing the action and the scenery in an interesting and colour-ful way that stimulates the imagination of the rest of the group. It means protecting and supporting the creativity of the players – encouraging their efforts to develop and show off their characters, helping them agree on the goals and stakes of each con-flict, and making sure that everyone gets an equal amount of time in the spotlight. It also means act-ing as the advocate of the story – creating obstacles for the characters to overcome, enemies for them to defeat, and dilemmas for them to resolve.

Being the GM can be challenging at times but it’s a lot of fun too! If you are interested in taking on this role yourself, make sure to read the comprehensive set of advice given in Chapter 12, The Gamesmaster, on page 153.

thE PlAy situAtionWhat makes roleplaying games different from other kinds of creative media is that you and your friends are both the creators of the story and the audience of the story, all at the same time. You can use your imagination to set up exciting scenes and make up all kinds of interesting details, characters, and plot twists, and yet still be surprised when the events of the story spin off in a new and unexpected direction. It is both a creative outlet and a source of immersive entertainment.

This dramatic uncertainty is achieved through the use of dice. Most of the game is simply talking: the GM describes the scene or acts out the part of an NPC, the players act out the part of their own char-acters and describe what they are trying to do, and

then the GM describes the consequences of those actions and the cycle of play begins again. When we get to a flashpoint in the drama, and we want to inject a bit of suspense into the story, we will roll dice to determine what happens next. Can our hero convince the guards to let him into the pal-ace, or will they raise the alarm? Can our hero jump over the chasm and rescue the princess, or will he fall into the middle of the snakepit? Can our hero defeat the Baron and get his revenge, or will he too be killed in ignominy by his own father’s murderer?

You can read more about conflicts in Chapter 8, Conflict Resolution, on page 109.

GAmE lEnGthAn individual game of Other Worlds is called a ses-sion. Sessions vary in length and frequency – some groups play for a few hours one night a week, others might play all day but only on every other weekend. Different groups get into different play routines depending on the needs and circumstances of the players involved. Find a routine that works for you.

A series of one or more sessions following the same story or incident is called an adventure. Some peo-ple like to treat each adventure as though it were a play or a feature film – a discrete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Once they have finished an adventure they might never return to those characters again, preferring instead to create a whole new story with a whole new cast of charac-ters. Other groups prefer to think of each adventure as merely a single chapter in a larger ongoing story called a campaign. Campaign play tends to resem-ble a long-running TV series or movie franchise in tone, following the same group of characters through a succession of stories and adventures in pursuit of some ultimate goal that could potentially take years to fully resolve.

A RulEs synoPsIsBefore you start reading about how to set up a new game and create your characters, we’d like to give you a broad overview of how the rules of this game work.

chArActErsEach character is described in three sets of terms: templates, abilities, and ratings.

Templates define what the character is. There are three different kinds of templates – cultural arche-types, professional archetypes, and trademarks. These describe where a character comes from, what he does for a living, and what makes him special, respectively. Some examples of character templates in a science fiction game might include Citizen of Galactarr, Deep Space Miner, and Unlicensed Telepath.

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Abilities define what the character can do. They might be skills he has learned, personality traits he has developed, relationships he has forged, or anything else besides. Some of your character’s abilities will come straight from his templates, but many others will be made up by you, the player. You  are  encouraged to invent your own ability names entirely from scratch in order to fulfil your vision and make your character more of an indi-vidual. Some examples of character abilities in a modern-day espionage game might include Speak Japanese, Curious, Loves Roberto, Chase Suspect, and I Ain’t Getting in No Plane.

Ratings define how well the character can do something. They are the numbers attached to each ability to show how useful they are in an actual con-flict. A character with a high rating in a particular ability is very effective at achieving things using that method. A high ability rating might represent a natural aptitude, a lot of training and experience, very deeply-felt convictions, or perhaps some kind of divine blessing. You write each ability’s rat-ing next to its name; for example, a character in a Tolkienesque fantasy game might have Ride Horse 25, Read Ancient Languages 30, Hate Goblins 20, and Eagle Eye Archer 40.

conflictsWhen two or more participants in the game dis-agree on what should happen next (or plain don’t know), we use a dice roll to determine the outcome. All conflicts follow the same six-step procedure:

1. frAmE thE conflictEach player describes what this particular conflict means to their character: what they are trying to do, how they are trying to do it, and what will hap-pen if they lose. This is a vitally important part of the process because it sets the tone for everything that happens next.

2. AllocAtE scrEEn timEOnce the conflict has been framed, the group may decide that the stakes of failure are not very inter-esting after all. In such cases they may decide to just let the action automatically succeed rather than rolling the dice.

3. cAlculAtE your totAl rAtinGIf the conflict is still going ahead, the player must calculate his total rating. This represents his char-acter’s overall chances of success in the impend-ing dice roll. The player uses the base rating of the ability he is using and then adds further bonuses for any other abilities he can use as support. For example, a character in a pirates game might sup-port his Cutlass Fighting ability with his Reckless Bravery ability. The GM might also apply additional modifiers based on circumstances, injuries, or how appropriate the base ability is to the situation.

4. dEtErminE thE oPPosition rAtinG

There are always two sides to any conflict – your character, and the opposition. Sometimes the opposition is another character in the story, in which case the GM (or perhaps another player) will pit that character’s abilities directly against yours. At other times the opposition will be something inanimate, such as the height of a mountain you are trying to climb, or the complexity of a bomb you are trying to defuse. In those cases the GM will simply make up an appropriate opposition rating based on how difficult she feels the task should be.

5. dEtErminE thE WinnErEach side now rolls a one-hundred-sided dice (or d100, for short) and adds it to their rating. The side that gets the highest total wins the conflict and gets what they want. The GM and players must now describe what happens – and who it happens to.

6. count thE consEquEncEsYou must now count the consequences of the conflict. One or more characters may have been changed by what has just happened – the losing side might receive a negative trait such as an injury or flaw, while the winning side might receive a new ability as a temporary bonus.

Once the conflict has been resolved, play returns to normal. The GM describes the scene and the players describe what their characters are going to do next. When you reach another potential cross-roads in the story, you might decide to break out the dice again and resolve it as another conflict. And so it goes: play consists of alternating periods of narration, where the group simply describes what happens, and periods of conflict resolution, where the group rolls dice to randomly determine what happens.

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KEy PRIncIPlEs oF othER WoRldsOur games design philosophy in Other Worlds can be summarised in three main principles: Anything Can Be an Ability, Anything Can Be a Conflict, and The Group Owns the Setting.

AnythinG cAn BE An ABilityEverything worth noting about a character can be articulated as an ability. Abilities can be absolutely anything – skills, attributes, relationships, goals, personality traits, magic spells, high-tech gadgets, even catchphrases and mannerisms. Further, all abilities are equal under the rules. It doesn’t matter whether your ability is an enchanted sword, prior experience in haggling with shadow elementals, or a natural sense of curiosity – if you can describe how it helps you, and what the consequences of failure might be, you can use it in a conflict.

This is important because it enables you to be as cre-ative as you like in describing your character. There are no restrictions other than what you decide is fun – if it’s interesting enough to write down, it’s interesting enough to make into an ability. Just give it a name and an ability rating and you can start using it straight away! This is a crucial advantage for a multi-genre game because it means you can bring in any new stuff you like without having to translate it into a game mechanic – it’s just a Cyclojet 20, or Spitting Snake Technique 25, or whatever. You can immediately understand how to represent and use every possible genre element.

AnythinG cAn BE A conflictThe corollary to ‘Anything Can Be an Ability’ is ‘Anything Can Be a Conflict’. Whenever two play-ers identify a potential turning point in the story, they make a simple opposed roll to determine what happens. All types of abilities and conflicts use the same rules structure and are treated equally in every respect. There are no special exceptions, rules, or modifiers other than what you decide is relevant to the scene at hand. What’s more, you get to decide what each conflict is really about, and what your character gets if he succeeds... or what he loses if he fails.

This puts the power to build up and reinforce the right atmosphere for your game in your hands. You’re in control. If you want to show the impor-tance of a particular scene, make it a conflict. If you want to show the effects of a particular detail or ability, put a modifier on the dice roll. If you want to show the after-effects of the conflict on a particular character, give him a new ability. Other Worlds lets you tell your stories how you think they should be told.

thE GrouP oWns thE sEttinGCharacters don’t just come from nowhere. Part of the fun of roleplaying is not just telling stories about the protagonists, but exploring their worlds as well. Hence the name of this book: Other Worlds. That’s not to say that the focus of the game shouldn’t be on the characters, of course – just that the setting gets examined through our opportunity to watch the characters go through that world and see how they are individually affected by it.

However, in Other Worlds, you don’t just explore the setting – you own it. Our setting and character generation systems are designed to harness the cre-ativity of the entire group when building a world to tell stories in. Everyone gets a say in designing the setting and everyone gets to add new details to it during play itself. Even if you’re playing within the constraints of a pre-existing setting or time period, the fact that you’re inventing your own templates, abilities, and characters on top of that means that you’re still making that world your own. What hap-pens in play is therefore not dictated solely by the rules or the vision of one person but by the com-bined imaginations of everyone sat at the table. The players are the writers of the story, the actors of the story, and the audience of the story, all at the same time. It is our experience that this approach helps make the game more rewarding, more dramatic, more surprising, and ultimately more fun for all concerned.

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ExAmPlE of PlAy: lEAfBlAdE in thE dArkTo give you an idea of what it’s like to play Other Worlds, let’s listen in on an excerpt from a fairly typical game session set in the epic fantasy world of Kosakia.

GM: In the darkness of the cave you can see a body.

Mark: [Playing Leafblade, a quickling ranger from the Jade Forest.] Hmm, OK. I’ll move in a little bit closer, holding my torch as high as I can to illuminate the scene.

GM: OK. The body you saw is that of a dwarf. He’s dead. He’s dressed in some kind of livery and there’s all kinds of stuff scattered on the floor next to him – an axe, a shield, a scroll case, and a whole bunch of papers and provisions.

Mark: Cause of death?

GM: Oh, that one’s easy. He’s got a great big hole where his chest should be. Like something just burst right out of him.

Mark: Like a rotmeat spyder, you mean? Dammit, I really hate those guys! OK, as soon as I see that I’m going to immediately do another sweep of the area with my torch. I’m looking for any weird shadows or signs of movement on the floor and in the area just behind the body. I know these things like to leap out at people from ambush.

GM: Seems clear. Apart from the occasional drip-dripping of water from the cavern roof, everything is deathly quiet. Whatever was here must have moved on to somewhere else.

Mark: [Doubtful] Yeah, maybe. You said there was a shield. I picked up Dwarf-friend as an abil-ity after that thing we did in Magma Peak. Do I recognise the heraldry?

GM: Yeah. He’s from King Thorgrim’s Citadel. Looks like he’s some kind of messenger, prob-ably quite high up. You notice that the scroll case has a rune of sealing on it.

Mark: Thorgrim’s Citadel, eh? [Mark uses his narrative authority to invent something about

the gameworld.] Aren’t they those really insu-lar guys who distrust quicklings and other fae-linked creatures? [The GM nods his approval of this development.]

Hmm, I wonder what this guy’s doing this far south. Is it just a coincidence that he got killed by a rotmeat spyder, or is the whole damn Citadel infected? Maybe he was heading down to try to get help from the Knights of Blackstone Mountain or something?

OK, I’ll use my Empathic Link to make the rest of the group feel really curious about this place and want to come further in. Maybe Stoneman knows a way to read this guy’s message without breaking the seal. Then, I’m going to approach the body and grab the scroll.

GM: As you kneel down you hear something drop down behind you and unfold.

Mark: What? Oh crap, he was on the roof!

GM: Yeah. You get a split second’s notice before he lashes out and tries to impale you with his bony stinging talon.

Mark: I’m going to just kick myself to the side out of pure reflexes, turning round and knock-ing him away with my Ring of Repulsion as I fall. After that I’m going to run for it.

GM: What’s your total rating?

Mark: I’m going to use Lightning Reflexes as my main ability, so that’s 30. I’m going to support that with my Ring at +15 and, oh, I’ve got Scared of Demonkin too, so that’s... 48.

GM: This guy’s pretty much got the drop on you here – I’m going to say that the opposition rat-ing is 60. So, if I win you get stabbed in the guts and maybe paralysed, but if you win you knock him away and scramble towards the exit, right? [Mark nods.] OK, I roll... 65, that’s a total of 125. You’ve got to beat that if you want to get away.

Mark: Oh man, I hope the other guys get here soon! [Mark rolls the dice.] Right, I got...

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WhAt’s In thIs BooKThe rest of this book contains the following material:

chAPtEr 2: WorldBuildinGA step-by-step guide to setting up a new game, from choosing a genre and determining the power level to describing the setting and brainstorming future adventures.

chAPtEr 3: chArActEr GEnErAtionA fully detailed explanation of how to create an interesting and believable character that will be fun to play, from character concept and backstory to individuality and story hooks.

chAPtEr 4: ABilitiEsA closer look at the different kinds of abilities and how you can use them in play.

chAPtEr 5: chArActEr tEmPlAtEsA full breakdown of the different kinds of arche-types and trademarks available to your char-acter, including a wide selection of ready-to-use examples.

chAPtEr 6: suPPortinG cAstAn examination of the different types of NPCs, from loyal followers and innocent bystanders to personal rivals and villainous megalomaniacs. Includes a detailed guide to building up your own supporting cast and over 20 fully realised example NPCs.

chAPtEr 7: thE structurE of PlAyThis chapter is primarily intended for new players. It gives a detailed breakdown of all the things that can happen in a typical game session, from con-structing in-character dialogue and exploring new scenes to pacing the drama and identifying poten-tial conflicts.

chAPtEr 8: conflict rEsolutionA step-by-step guide to the process of conflict reso-lution, from describing the action and setting the stakes to determining the winner and living with the consequences.

chAPtEr 9: sEt PiEcEsThis chapter presents a more detailed method of conflict resolution so you can give the truly impor-tant moments of your story the extra level of atten-tion that they undoubtedly deserve!

chAPtEr 10: sPotliGht PointsA closer look at the whole concept of spotlight points, showing how you can use them to direct the action and highlight the way your character changes over the course of the game.

chAPtEr 11: PlAyinG othEr WorldsAn explanation of how to get the most out of the game as a player – using the rules for best effect, creating interesting protagonists, and working with others to drive the story forwards.

chAPtEr 12: thE GAmEsmAstErCovers the whole process of running a game, from challenging and supporting your players’ creativity to using literary and cinematic techniques to make your stories more dramatic.

chAPtEr 13: AdAPtinG othEr WorldsThis chapter represents a peek behind the curtain of Other Worlds. It describes in detail how you can use the various tools built into the game – conflict framing, template creation, and thematic ability design – to build up the right atmosphere for your own chosen genre or setting. It also includes quick-start genre packages for fantasy, horror, pirates, sci-ence fiction, superhero and wild west games so that you can start playing right away!

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The INFECTED

Concept: The Nazis win WW2 by infecting Britain with the zombie plague. The survivors seal themselves into the London Underground and establish a network of underground colonies. We begin the action in 2013, when the virus has finally started to recede and people can once again return to the surface world. The characters are part of a special forces unit that has been sent out on a secret mission to rescue Prince Harry from unknown captors. Potential antagonists: Fast cannibalistic zombies - ‘the Infected’, rogue scavengers, anti-establishment types, infected animals like rats and dogs, collaborators and spies, Nazi scouting parties, other foreign troops.Grim and gritty tone. No magic or supernatural elements at all - the virus is a scientific weapon. Anachronistic tech. Rationing. Wartime propaganda.Power Level: 20

Archetypes: All the characters will have adapted versions of both the ‘Englishman’ and ‘Soldier’ archetypes.

Trademarks: One each, representing various specialist roles within the unit - sniper, medic, demolitions, etc

Campaign Idea:

Campaign Idea:

VIKING SAGA

Concept: The characters are viking raiders exploring a mythic, fantastical Europe.

Dark and gritty in tone - sudden, violent death is always potentially around the corner.

Explore ancient tombs, sites of mystical power, coastal villages, ruined castles, shipwrecks, and haunted forests.

‘Here be dragons’ - fight against goblinmen, dragons, werewolves, dopplegangers, faeries, and spirits of the dead.

Visionquests into the nether world.

Power Level: 20

Culture: Tribal variations on a common ‘Viking’ template

Profession: Roles in the party - scout, warrior, chieftain, etc

1 Trademark: Huscarls, berserkers, animal sidekicks, magic swords, great destinies, etc

RulEs summARy

WorldBuildinGstEP onE:

WhAt’s thE sEttinG? • Decide on a broad concept and genre. • Set the tone of the game. • Fill in the details of the setting, including:

• History • Geography • Technology • Magic • Factions • Conflicts

stEP tWo:

Who ArE thE chArActErs? • Discuss broad character concepts. • Decide on an overall power level. • Decide on number of trademarks.

stEP thrEE: WhAt kind of GAmE Will it BE? • Decide on the overall length of the game. • Brainstorm potential supporting characters. • Brainstorm potential future adventures.

stEP four: flEsh out thE chArActErs And situAtion • Create the player characters. • Create the supporting cast. • Create the opening scene.

chArActEr GEnErAtionstEP onE:

dEsiGn thE chArActEr concEPt • Summarise your overall character concept.

stEP tWo: invEnt PErsonAl dEtAils • Give your character a name. • Describe your character’s appearance. • Describe your character’s background.

stEP thrEE: choosE your tEmPlAtEs • Choose your character’s cultural archetype. • Choose your character’s professional archetype. • Choose your character’s trademarks. • Personalise your character’s relationships.

stEP four:

dEscriBE your individuAlity • Choose up to 8 general abilities. • Choose up to 4 personality traits. • Choose up to 4 relationships. • Choose up to 4 goals. • Choose up to 4 flaws.

stEP fivE: AssiGn rAtinGs • All abilities start with a rating equal to the

agreed power level. • Apply a +5 bonus to 1 ability from each template. • Apply a +10 bonus to 1 individuality trait and a

+5 bonus to 2 others. • Apply a -10 penalty to 1 individuality trait and a

-5 penalty to 2 others.

stEP six: crEAtE story hooks • Describe a preliminary supporting character. • Choose a temporary ‘prologue’ ability. • Collect 3 spotlight points.

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conflict rEsolutionstEP onE: frAmE thE conflict • Player describes his character’s actions. • Player describes his goals – what happens if

the character wins? • Player and GM agree the stakes – what hap-

pens if the character loses?

stEP tWo: AllocAtE scrEEn timE • Decides whether to roll or make it an auto-

matic success.

stEP thrEE:

cAlculAtE your totAl rAtinG • Choose a base ability and use its full rating. • Choose a supporting ability and add 50% of its

rating. • Choose up to 2 further supporting abilities

and add 10% of their ratings. • Each assisting character may provide 1 addi-

tional supporting ability modifier. • Highest negative trait subtracts 50% of its

rating. • Other negative traits subtract 10% of their

ratings. • GM may apply context or circumstance modi-

fier of up to +/- 20.

stEP four: dEtErminE thE oPPosition rAtinG • If the opposition is a fellow player, they calcu-

late their total rating as above. • Otherwise, the GM determines the total rating

of the opposition. • Standard = 1 x the base power level of the

game. • Challenging = 2 x the base power level of

the game. • Very Difficult = 3 x the base power level of

the game.

stEP fivE: dEtErminE thE WinnEr • Each side rolls d100 and add their total rating

to the score. • If the scores are equal the result is a draw. • If a side wins by 1 to 9 (ones) they gain a par-

tial victory. • If a side wins by 10 to 99 (tens) they gain a

standard victory. • If a side wins by 100 (hundreds), or on a

double, they gain a critical victory. • GM describes the final result of the conflict.

stEP six: count thE consEquEncEs • GM may apply one of the following options: • Either: The losing side gains a flaw equal to

the winning side’s total rating. • A partial defeat means that the flaw is

only temporary. • A critical defeat means that the character

also gains a restriction. • Or: The winning side gains a temporary ability

equal to the losing side’s total rating. • Any characters who provided support are also

eligible to receive consequences.

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Make sure to check original text for grayboxes!

sEt PiEcEsstEP onE: frAmE thE ovErAll conflict • Player describes his character’s initial actions. • Player describes his overall goal – what hap-

pens if the character wins? • Player and GM agree the stakes – what hap-

pens if the character loses?

stEP tWo: sEt thE turn structurE • GM decides which side goes first.

stEP thrEE: EscAlAtE or rEsolvE • Side A chooses to either escalate or resolve

the conflict. • If he chooses to escalate, run a new sub-con-

flict as per step four below. • If he chooses to resolve, move to the finale as

per step five below. • Side B then makes the same choice: escalate

or resolve. • Continue alternating actions until one side

moves to resolution.

stEP four: PErform onE or morE suB-conflicts • Player frames the sub-conflict – describe

actions, goals, and stakes. • Player calculates his total rating – abilities,

negative traits, and other modifiers. • GM determines the opposition rating. • Both sides roll d100 and add their total ratings

to determine the winner. • GM describes the results. • The winner gets a temporary ability or the

loser gets a flaw, as normal.

stEP fivE: thE finAl confrontAtion • Resolve the final confrontation using the stan-

dard conflict rules. • The newly generated temporary abilities and

flaws should all play a part.

sPotliGht PointsEArninG sPotliGht Points • Each player gets 2 feedback tokens to hand

out per session. • You gain 1 spotlight point when you lose a

meaningful conflict. • You gain 1 spotlight point if a supporting char-

acter you have a relationship to dies.

sPotliGhtinG A conflict • Spend 1 spotlight point to use more than

3 supporting abilities in a conflict. • Spend 1 spotlight point to reverse the polarity

of your dice roll. • Spend 1 spotlight point to raise the stakes of

the conflict and reroll.

sPotliGhtinG chArActEr dEvEloPmEnt • Spend X spotlight points to buy a new ability

(1 spotlight point per 10 rating points). • Spend 1 spotlight point to improve an existing

ability by +1 (maximum +20). • Spend 1 spotlight point to rename an existing

ability. • Spend 3 spotlight points to introduce a new

supporting character. • Spend 1 spotlight point to reduce a flaw by 10

rating points.

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suPPoRtIng cAst

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

Name: General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

Goals

Flaws

cultuRAl ARchEtyPE

General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

tRAdEmARK

General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

PRoFEssIonAl ARchEtyPE

General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

tRAdEmARK

General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

IndIVIduAlIty

General Abilities

Personality Traits

Relationships

goAls

FlAWs

tEmPoRARy ABIlItIEs

REstRIctIons

Name:Concept: Description:

Campaign: Feedback Tokens Given: chARActER shEEt

sPotlIght PoInts

by Mark Humphreys

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EXPloRE

Other Worlds is a roleplaying game of heroic action and adventure for any genre. The game is driven by description: descriptions of characters, details of actions, and dramatic visualisations. Numbers and dice rolls are secondary to the action; in fact, you will � nd that in Other Worlds the rules serve to emphasise the story and increase the drama rather than getting in their way.

This book contains the following material:

• A comprehensive worldbuilding procedure that the whole group gets to take part in

• Over 100 ready-to-use character templates, from assassins to xenoarchaeologists and everything else in between

• Detailed guidelines on creating your own cultural archetypes, professions, trademark powers, supporting characters, and adventure locations

• A simple, elegant confl ict resolution procedure that can handle any situation

• Turn-based set piece rules to handle the more important confl icts of your story

• A wealth of practical advice on how to get the most out of play, based on real experience at the games table

• Quick-start genre packages for fantasy, horror, pirates, science � ction, superheroes, and the wild west

Written by Mark HumphreysIllustrated by Storn A. Cook

FAC 13 5201

www.OtherWorldsRPG.wordpress.com