«Rolkorn»
RU
Universal rules for role-playing games.
Rolecorn is a set of keys for a world that does not yet exist. The mechanics are not strict laws, but guides for your imagination.
You are all the creators of this world. Roll the dice to set the direction, and your imagination will do the rest. Every failure is a new twist, every victory is a tense triumph.
Remember: these rules are the backdrop for your actions, not their confines. Use them only when you truly need to. Don't be afraid to add your own temporary bonuses for equipment, a clever idea, or great roleplaying. But remember: simplicity is the key to a dynamic game. Don't turn the story into bookkeeping.
# Character Creation
Describe your character in as much detail as possible... What they did, what they were interested in, what motivated them...
Highlight what they are very good at, their mindset, interests, and what they are very bad at, their phobias and pitfalls. If there are any distinctive features, those should be highlighted as well.
Now, during all d20 dice checks, if the character's backstory influences the roll, add or subtract from the rolled value:
[ 1 ]
Backstory indirectly influences the roll.
Your past experience provides a general understanding, but not a direct skill:
"I've encountered something similar before"
"I read about these ancient runes in the academy's library"
[ 2 ]
Roll touches upon significant aspects of the biography.
The situation directly involves your primary occupation, stated talents, beliefs, fears...:
"As a former blacksmith, I can assess the quality of this metal and the work of the hammer"
[ 4 ]
Roll tests the very essence of the character...
This is who you are. Action at the level of instinct.
"For me, tracking a target is not an action, but a state of being. I can sense it from a mile away"
The +4 bonus is not the ceiling. The value can grow as this part of their backstory is recognized to have reached a completely new level.
# SITUATION
The GM scenes rolls a d4:
| d4 |
Situation |
Effect |
| 1 |
Danger |
+5 to difficulty |
| 2 |
Complications |
+3 to difficulty |
| 3 |
Neutral |
+0 to difficulty |
| 4 |
Fortune |
-3 to difficulty |
Purpose: To assess the situation (atmosphere, mood of others, danger of the place, etc.). Determined once at the beginning of a scene or upon a drastic change in circumstances. The modifier lasts until the situation changes.
# DIFFICULTY
The GM scenes determines the difficulty in advance or rolls d20 + the situation modifier or the opponent's background.
d20=15 + Danger(+5) = Difficulty 20
Purpose: To determine how challenging the task is.
# ACTION
The player rolls d20 + background influence.
d20=10 + skilled warrior(4) + assistance(+2) = 16
Assistance: another player adds their background bonus or allows a reroll if they have no applicable bonus.
SUCCESS
roll is greater than or equal to the difficulty
# TENSION
The hero has 3 rounds of resolve or 3 "lives," depending on the situation.The player rolls a d4:
| d4 |
Result |
Difficulty |
Rounds |
| 1 |
Getting Worse |
+3 |
-3 |
| 2 |
Hard |
-1 |
-2 |
| 3 |
Perseverance |
-2 |
-1 |
| 4 |
Breakthrough! |
-3 |
-0 |
Defeat: if rounds are less than or equal to 0 — complete failure.
If you want to add a modifier to a throw instead of reducing its difficulty, simply replace the sign: -3 => +3; +3 => -3...
Improvise! Don't feel constrained by the number of rounds. Shorten them, interrupt them to introduce a new event or action. The main thing is that it is interesting and logical for your story.
"The hero is cracking a safe."
- Situation: Complications (+3 to difficulty)
- Difficulty: 13 (d20=10 + 3)
- Action: player rolls 8 + picked locks(2) = 10 (failure!)
- Tension: d4=1 => difficulty 16 (13 + 3), 2 rounds remaining
"You triggered the alarm! Sirens are wailing, there's little time left."
# PLOT TWIST
Use after key scenes to make the story develop unexpectedly.
| d4 |
Twist |
| 1 |
Setback/Escalation |
| 2 |
Dead End |
| 3 |
Fork/Clue |
| 4 |
Progress |
# Player vs Player Conflict
- Agree on the number of rounds: Some clashes might be resolved in a single attempt.
- Declare motives: Each side declares what they want to do.
- Simultaneous roll: Both sides roll d20 + background influence.
- Winner (higher roll): Achieves their goal.
- Loser (lower roll): Fails. If there is more than one round, #Tension begins.
- Each round: Sum up all your buffs and debuffs from TENSION and add them to your next roll.
Essentially, the opponent's roll sets the difficulty for you, so if you rolled a 3 in Tension (difficulty -2) it means you add +2 to your roll.
Conflict Example
ROUND 1
- Warrior: "I feint and try to knock the sword out of his hand!" (novice warrior +2). Roll: d20=13 + 2 = 15
- Rogue: "I dodge and try to slip past to strike his back!" (dexterous +4). Roll: d20=10 + 4 = 14
- The Warrior wins. He describes how his powerful blow forces the Rogue to drop his sword.
- The Rogue rolls for #Tension Roll: d4=1 (Getting Worse). He gets a -3 debuff to his next roll.
"You are left without a sword, slip, and fall to one knee. Now you are in a desperate position (-3)."
ROUND 2
- Motives change. The Rogue now wants to "retreat and draw a backup dagger," and the Warrior wants to "finish him off while he's vulnerable."
- When rolling, the Rogue will apply his debuff: d20 + background influence - 3.
- After the rolls, the Rogue successfully retreats, and the Warrior, rolling for #Tension d4=4, gets a Buff: +3 to the next roll.
"The Warrior missed but was able to analyze the Rogue's movements."
# CONDITION TRACK
Tracks allow you to monitor a character's progressive conditions. There can be any number of them and of any nature: from psychological state to infection.
Now think and write down under what circumstances the condition will worsen: horror, loss, conflicts...
And under what circumstances it will recover: time, rest, new hope....
Divide the condition into 5 stages and describe what changes occur at each of them. These stages are linked to the condition boxes.
Difficulty
The value needed on a roll to avoid gaining condition points. Starts at 10 and increases as condition boxes are filled.
Each time you face circumstances that worsen the condition, roll d20 + background influence against the current difficulty. On a failure, fill in one condition box or part of it.
Condition Boxes
You have 5 condition boxes, which you can subdivide into several parts if you want to stretch the progression time of the condition.
Once an entire box is filled:
-
its effects are applied
-
the difficulty increases by 2
When recovery occurs: roll a d4 to find out how many boxes or parts of boxes can be cleared.
(Optional) For some tracks, you can forbid clearing already fully filled boxes.
Example Sanity Track:
- Triggers:
- Worsening: see horror, get wounded, spend a night without sleep...
- Recovery: rest, new hope, joys of life...
- Stages
- Rare auditory hallucinations
- Increased nervousness
- New phobia, intensifying hallucinations
- Uncontrollable aggression
- Total madness
- Number of filled boxes: 2
- Current box being filled: 3
- Current difficulty: 14 (10 + (Number of filled boxes * 2))
- Roll: d20 + background influence