FOURS
a minimal but crunchy rpg
designed by Ken St. Andre
following a discussion with John Wick
in January 2019
Cover Art by Gilead
Copyright January 2019 by Ken St. Andre
All rights reserved
TROLLHALLA PRESS
CHARACTER RECORD
CHARACTER NAME: _______________________
CLASS: ________________________________
Power: _____ Health: _____
Smarts: _____ Intangibles: _____
Stuff: (at the beginning of any play session write down all
the important stuff that you think your character has. This
includes weapons, armor, clothing, money, food, tools. The
GM will take a look at your stuff and either allow it or not.
For example: all GMs should disallow stuff like infinite money,
slaves, magic armor that prevents all damage, etc. GMs should
disallow anything that will ruin the proposed adventure.)
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS CHARACTER IS THAT
SHE/HE CAN: __________________________
Note: All characters revert to their base attribute values at the
beginning of a new adventure.
FOURS, a minimal but crunchy rpg.
ALL THE EXPLANATION YOU’RE GOING TO GET
Once you know what roleplaying is, then style and play of the game is implicit in
character design. Figure it out.
CHARACTER CLASSES:
There are 4 character types Warriors and Thieves have no magical powers. Wizards
and Avatars have magic, but are not great fighters.
Each is associated with a suit of cards in a regular poker deck. Don’t use the jokers.
Warriors--Clubs, Rogues--Spades, Wizards--Diamonds, Avatars--Hearts.
Attributes: Every Character has 4 attributes: Power, Health, Smarts, Intangibles.
Power is used for every form of conflict including magical conflict, and for every
form of physical work or endurance. Health is how much damage the character
can take before being taken out of play. Smarts is used for every form of mental
challenge. Intangibles covers Luck, Charisma, and everything else not covered by
the other 3 attributes.
Attributes are assigned initially by shuffling the deck of cards and drawing 4 of
them. Each card has a number from 1 to 10. Face cards are worth 5 points and
draw another card. Players may arrange their four attributes however they wish.
In addition: Warriors get +4 to Power; Thieves get +4 to Intangibles; Wizards get
+4 to Smarts; Avatars get +4 to Health. Any player can increase their Power by
reducing their Intangibles rating on a 1 to 1 bases.
Warriors are professional fighters. Rogues are professional criminals. Wizards are
professional magic-workers. Avatars are demigods in disguise, often without even
knowing who they really are.
Conflict: Any weapon, even bare hands can be a deadly weapon. There are no
weapons tables. Characters may have whatever weapon is appropriate to the style
of game being played. Swords in the Middle Ages, blasters in the far future, guns
in the modern world--whatever.
Conflict has 2 aspects: it is either succeed/fail or it is struggle/compare. In succeed/
fail the player cuts the deck and takes a card face down. If the card corresponds
to the player’s class, then the character succeeds; if not, the character fails.
Additionally, any Ace drawn is a Critical Success; any Deuce drawn is a Catastrophic
Failure. In struggle/compare all parties draw cards and add their attribute to the
total shown. High total does the number of points shown on the card drawn to the
loser. In case of tie, neither character is harmed. In case of tie with critical success,
both players are harmed.
Magic: There are only 3 types of magic: Destruction, Healing, Effect. Destruction
magic is treated as combat. Healing magic is reverse combat--characters improve
attributes instead of losing them. Effect magic is Succeed/Fail. Magic happens
when a wizard or avatar says they are trying to do magic and explains the spell.
Either the character succeeds in what she is trying to do, or fails in it. In all 3
types of magic only a single card needs to be drawn to determine the effect. The
card drawn must match the character’s class for succeed/fail. High total wins in
struggle/compare.
The Game Master has almost absolute power. The Game Master sets the scene
and tells the story. The G.M. can arrange things however she wishes. If you don’t
like the way the G.M. does things, get another G.M.
The G.M. has one rule she must always follow. If the player succeeds in any task,
the G.M. must allow/enable that success to happen.
Example: player enters a small town, goes to an inn, and wants to buy a drink. To
do this, the character needs to determine if she has money or not. Draw a card. If
the player’s suit comes up, she has enough money.
Player vs. Player: Each player draws a card & adds the relevant attributes. G.M.
interprets the results based on character narratives of what they tried to do.
Go forth and wing it.
--Ken St. Andre, Imbolc 2019
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