14

Intr o
Du tio
c n
“
His hands shook. The sword
had never felt heavier than this
moment but the champion beside
him didn’t seem to notice—or care.
“Not to put too fine a point on it,
but erm,” he stammered, “won’t our
lives be in danger?”

She looked him dead in the eyes.

“The world is ending. It’s the least
we can do.”
 15

What
isArC?
ARC is a rules-light, tension-heavy
fantasy tabletop role-playing game
where anyone can create urgent
u r g e nstories
t stories

ticking down to a seemingly inescapable

A p o c a ly p s e
apocalypse.
16

Why
Play
ArC?
Play ARC to:

• Escape to a world filled with • Build a story together. Support each

memorable, heart-racing tales. other as heroes on a fantasy adventure
Challenge awaits you. Can you creating narratives that alter the course
overcome looming obliteration? of destiny.

• have fuN­—even when you’ve never played or run a tabletop role-playing game
before. It’s easy to feel anxious and uncertain with a new hobby. This book will
guide you on becoming heroes immersed in adventure so that you worry about the
Doom and not yourself.

ARC enables people wishing to run a game with limited experience. The Doom and its
Omens help create tension and manage the story’s pacing. The rules are approachable
so you can focus on helping make the best story for the table. Additionally, the last
chapter is filled with tips for creating a fun game for you and your friends.
 17

Play

ARC
if you’re
ready
to defeat the
Apocalypse
18

What do I
NEED
to play ARC?
You will need:

Peop l e
• one player, called the guide, to facilitate the game.
• 3–6 players to role-play as heroes. Simply referred to as ‘player.’

Too l s
• this book for referencing game rules.
• ARC character sheets to track heroes’ stats and capabilities.
Download digital copies at https://arc-rpg.com
• a stopwatch or timer—digital or otherwise.
• several six-sided dice. ARC can technically be played with one die
but having at least three is better.

An d l a st ly
• a few hours of free time, respect for fellow players, and a willingness
to save the world.

A note about dice

Throughout the book six-sided dice are referred to as “d6.” If there is a

number before that, you roll that many dice. A 2d6 roll, for example,
means you roll 2 dice simultaneously.
 19

WHO is
the GUIDE?
The Guide is a player who helps set up the story and world for the heroes.
They conceptualize the plot and build a sandbox that reacts to what the
other players do.

The Guide does this by describing scenes, role-playing as non-hero

characters, and building challenges and situations that other players must
tackle. The Guide also has the final say on rules.

Being a Guide is perfect if you

love planting story seeds for others
and growing it with them to make
a unique creation.
For many, though, it can feel scary or intimidating to take on this role. It's
easy to feel pressured to be as "good" as some popular game master or think
that everyone's fun hinges on them alone.

The Guide's fun and comfort is important, too. Chapter 5 delves into this
in more detail, but guiding a flawed but fun game is a healthy target for any
Guide to aim for.

To be a guide, all you need is an honest desire to make stories with everyone.
20
How do I play ARC?
ARC is a storymaking game.
In this game the guide narrates colorful fish swim around her. What do
story beats, plot hooks, set pieces and you do?”
scenarios which players can interact
with, moving the group’s story along. The players then discuss and figure
out their next steps, sharing with the
For example, the guide could say, guide, who narrates their action’s

“You come across a koi pond—no, a koi result. The players respond, declaring
lake—so huge it must span at least half what they do next, the world responds
a kilometer or about a third of a mile in and so it goes until the tale is made.
width and length. Your eyes are caught
by a giant, white-haired woman, lying in The ultimate goal is collaboratively
the lake and looking a little bored. Large, building a story.

player 1: OK, aside from the giant, what else do we see?

Guide: Three or four large koi swim in the lake, they're about the size of a bus. There's
some wildlife but they seem very tame and look at you curiously. It's isolated otherwise.

player 2: The giant...does she match the description that the innkeep gave us? If so then I

think she's the one we've been looking for...

You take actions building the story.

Each player role-plays a hero, a In our example above a player may say,
character in the game. When a hero “OK, I’ll grab her attention.” The guide
performs a risky action in the story may respond: “She’s a little far out—
the deed’s outcome may be resolved you’re just a tiny speck in her vision—so
using a Skill Check. I want you to make a Skill Check
with Impose.”
 21

When Skill Checks happen players a concerted manner. These scores are
roll 1d6 hoping to roll lower than a determined at the beginning of the game
Threshold Number (TN). The TN in hero creation.
is usually the hero’s ranks in a relevant
Skill—in our example, it’s Impose— A few other important rules such as
plus an applicable Approach Score. conflict, staying alive and growing from
Approach Scores track how well experience are discussed in Chapter 3.
a hero solves problems in a particular
manner: creatively, carefully or in

player 3: My Impose is 2. I think I'll use a concerted approach to get her attention as

enthusiastically as I can. I have a 1 in Concerted, so my TN is 3. I roll...a 2!

Guide: Your 1d6 roll is lower than the TN, so you succeed in getting the giant's attention!
However, she doesn't seem to like it...She stands up to her full height and casts a shadow
on the party. She says, "How dare you disturb my reverie?"

While heroes move through the shared world,

the Doomsday Clock inexorably ticks down.
At set time intervals the Doomsday Clock advances, heralding the Apocalypse’s
arrival. Heroes must address the impending dilemma within a time period or suffer
its dire consequences.

Guide: Another hour passes, so the Doomsday Clock advances by one. Five segments to
go—five more hours—before doom arrives.
Read Appendices 2, 3 and 4 for more play samples
22

How do I

read
ARC?

Guide, head to Chapter 1 to jump immediately into crafting and setting up a

story. Player, you may also read this chapter to learn about Doom and how it
impacts your adventure. The sections on Omens and the Doomsday Clock,
in particular, are important.

Player, you can make your own hero by following Chapter 2.

Chapter 3 delves into the game’s core rules: your foundation for playing the
story. The writing targets players, but the guide should also read it so they can
run the game.

Chapter 4 provides a handy reference for Spells and Techniques, including

details on enhancing and gaining further Spells and Techniques.

Guide, if you need help running a game, Chapter 5 is for you. It has tips and

principles applicable to any game. It also has a useful table for creating custom
characters and adversaries.
 23

Notes on
time, lengths
and pronouns

TIME There are two types of time: in-story time and real-time. In-story marks
the passage of time within the narrative; real-time marks the passage of time in our
real world. A nap taking 3 hours in-story, for example, can simply take up 2 minutes
in real-time. These two types of time are labeled accordingly to avoid confusion.

LENGTHS & SHORT DISTANCES are indicated by heights. This approximates

the average height of a person, and is equal to 5 to 6 feet or 1.5 to 1.8 meters.

pronouns In several cases, this book uses “you” to refer to either you as the
player (or guide) or your hero. Context clarifies which.

As for pronouns you should use for other heroes or players, it’s best to ask first as a
sign of respect.
Index 166
 167

Index

A
Actions during conflict See Conflict: Bonds 60
Actions Allocating Bonds 60
Advantage 75 See also Conflict: Assistance during conflict 76
Actions: Create Advantage
Assistance out of conflict 70
Approach Scores 43 A ddi n g m a j or l e v e l

Allocating Approach Scores 44 to T N 70

S acri f ici n g m i n or
At Hero Creation 43
level 70
Increasing Approach Scores 81
Increasing Bonds 81
Skill Combinations 68
Major and minor levels 60
Assistance See Bonds
Attack 74
C
B Complexity Rating 87

Conflict 73
Blood 45
Actions 74
Allocating at Hero Creation 46
A ssist 76
Increasing Blood 81 C r e at e A d v a n ta g e 75
Recovering and rerolling 80 H ar m oth e rs 74

Skills that damage Blood 74 See S ta n d g ro u n d 74

Index

Us e S p e l l or
also Conflict: Actions: Harm
T e ch n i q u e 76
others
168
Initiative Category 77
H
Movement 74
Height (measurement for length
Sacrificing Bonds 76
and distance) 22
Consequence 71

D I
Initiative Category 77
Damage 54, 74 See also Conflict:
Actions: Harm others
Items at Hero Creation 54 L
Death 80 Long rest 81

Difficulty Modifier 69

Doom 25 M
Setup 26
Movement during conflict 74
Doomsday Clock 32

O
E
Omen 30
Experience Points See XP
Opportunity 71

F R
Fallen heroes 80
Recovery See Rest
REM 88
G Resist 54, 74 See also Conflict:

Guts 45 Actions: Harm others

Allocating modifiers 46 Items at Hero Creation 54

Increasing Guts 81 Rest 81

Recovering and rerolling 80 Ritual 86

Index

Skills that damage Guts 74 See

also Conflict: Actions: Harm others
 169

S Replenishing Spells 86

Short list at Hero Creation 58

Short rest 81
Stand ground 74
Skill Checks 68

Assistance See Bonds
T
Consequence 71
Techniques 57, 85
Difficulty modifier 69
Complexity Rating 87
In conflict
C r e at e A d v a n ta g e 75 Full list 97

H ar m oth e rs 74 In conflict 76

Opportunity 71 Learning new instances or custom

Outcome 71 Techniques 87

Skill and Approach combinations Performing base or enhanced 86

68 Replenishing Techniques 86

Upgrading the outcome 72 Short list at Hero Creation 59

Skills 46 Threshold Number (TN) 68

Allocating Skills 50 Assist bonus See Bonds

Approach combinations 68 Difficulty Modifier 69

Categories 46 Summary 70

Random Skills table 51 TIC 88

Using Skills See Skill Checks Time (In-story vs. Real-time) 22

Spells 57, 85

Complexity Rating 87 X
Full list 88
XP 81
In conflict 76
Bonus at Hero Creation 62
Learning new instance or custom
Spending XP 81
Spell 87
Index

Performing base or enhanced 86