Mini Hack - Core Rules v0.

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Inspired by MiniSix and The Black Hack. 1

Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ https://flexd6.itch.io/mini-hack

Mini Hack is a collection of rules for playing a TTRPG. It is a mashup of MiniSix Special Ability: Each character has a special ability. For example, a cleric ability
which is based on OpenD6 and The Black Hack, a wonderful OSR game. The could be to turn undead. A pilot ability could be an expert navigator. The special
attributes and skills concept from MiniSix allow for creating very unique characters. ability should be tied to a specific skill the character can advance. Select from the
The roll under dice mechanic from The Black Hack puts the players in control and following abilities or create your own.
utilizes the characters abilities well. The combined concepts makes for a game ● Alert: You roll initiative with avantage.
which is very easy to learn and play. These rules are intended to get you started. ● Brawler: When fighting unarmed, you do +1 damage.
Play them as-is or hack them into your own game, genre, or setting. ● Connected: You know people who know people who know things. You roll with
advantage when determining someone who knows things.
Characters ● Dual Wielder: You can wield 2 light melee weapons at once. Once per round,
See the Sample Character for an example. you can counter attack with disadvantage when an enemy misses.
● Elbow Rubber: Knows how to deal with people in power and all rolls to deceive
Role: The role classifies the character for narrative and is used to determine the
or persuade them are with advantage.
character's specialized skills and ability. When assigning skills, consider the role
● Expert Tracker: Roll with advantage when tracking a person, creature, or
and what types of skills that role would have. See Attributes, Skills, and Special
animal in the wilderness.
Ability.
● Fast Fingers: Roll with advantage when trying to steal, pick-pocket, or do
Attributes: All characters have the same top level attributes. Assign the following sleight-of-hand.
numbers to the attributes: 12, 11, 10, 9. The bigger the number, the better the ● Fast Talker: Attempts to con or bribe someone are with advantage.
character is when testing that attribute. Consider the character's role when ● Fixer: Good at fixing things. Roll Repair skill checks with advantage.
assigning the numbers. ● Gambler: You roll with advantage when betting or playing games for money.
● In Charge: Rolls Command with advantage when instructing others to follow
Might: Represents physical strength, toughness, endurance. their lead or to perform a task.
Agility: Represents aim, coordination, and balance. ● Marksman: When using a ranged weapon, take one action to prepare the shot
Wit: Represents mental capacity, creativity, and intelligence. undisturbed. The next shot is with advantage.
Charm: Represents charisma, resolve, and leadership. ● Seeker of Truth: Rolls Intimidation with advantage when trying to extract factual
information from another.
Skills: When selecting skills, consider the character's role. For example, in a ● Stealthy: Hide/Sneak with advantage.
fantasy setting, the role of cleric would have knowledge of religions, good with ● Survivor: Roll with advantage when using the Survival skill to forage for food,
melee weapons, and perhaps persuasive. An ace pilot in a space setting would be search for water, seek or create shelter in the wild.
a good pilot, know about planetary systems, navigation, and probably how to repair
a ship. Skills should not be too specific or too general. E.g. An ace pilot will have a HP: Small (goblin) characters start with 6 HP, medium (human) start with 8 HP,
Pilot skill, not an X-Wing Pilot skill. The following list includes example skills for large (wookie) start with 10 HP.
inspiration. Pick 4 skills to start at 1 point. See Rolling Dice.
Advancement: Characters earn 10-20 XP at the end of each adventure. It costs 5
Might: Athletics, Brawling, Lifting, Melee, Stamina, Swimming XP to increase hit points by 1d3+1. To determine the XP cost to increase a skill by
Agility: Acrobatics, Climbing, Dodge, Driver, Hide/Sneak, Lock Pick, 1 point, add the base Attribute points to the current skill points. For example, if the
Pick-Pocket, Pilot, Shooting, Sleight of Hand, Throwing character has Might 9 and Melee: 2, it would cost 11 XP to increase the skill to 3.
Wit: Animal Knowledge, Cultures, Crafting, Diplomacy, Educated, Engineer, To go from 3 to 4, it would cost 12 XP. Skills max out when the skill + attribute is 18.
Gambling, Languages, Law, Mariner, Medicine, Navigation, Repair, Search,
Streetwize, Survival, Tracking, Traps, Value
Charm: Diplomacy, Persuasion, Intimidation, Command, Charismatic, Performer
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Rolling Dice Players can either roll for damage or use the fixed number for damage. Using fixed
Determine the target number by adding the attribute score and applicable skill. damage or rolling damage along with the attack will speed up play.
Equipment may also provide a bonus and the GM can include a bonus or penalty Armor: Soaks damage before the character takes damage.
based on the environment or the enemy. A max of 2 bonuses can be added to the
Armor Light - Ud8 Medium - Ud10 Heavy - Ud12
target number. The target number cannot exceed 18. Players roll 1d20 and if the
result is less than the target number, the roll is a success. Saves are rolled against HP Soaked 1 2 3
the applicable attribute. All rolls are player facing. Agility Penalty 0 -1 -2
After combat, roll the usage die. When the usage die runs out, the armor needs to
Advantage: Roll 2d20 and take the lowest. be replaced or repaired. Some armor imposes an agility penalty.
Disadvantage: Roll 2d20 and take the highest. Overrides Advantage.
Shields: Shields can be used to block all damage. Roll 1d6 when taking a shield to
1 unspent XP can be burned to re-roll any roll. Burnt XP is subtracted from unspent determine how many blocks the shield provides. When all blocks have been used,
XP. See the optional Grit rule for more options. the shield must be repaired or replaced before it can be used again.

Usage Die: Items which can expire or have limited use have a usage die. After Death
use, roll the Usage Die and on a 1 or 2, the die is reduced to the next level. Usage Death saves start when the character is reduced to 0 HP. Roll 3 successful
Die progression: Ud12 > Ud10 > Ud8 > Ud6 > Ud4. Stamina saves before 3 failures to recover 1 HP, otherwise the character is dead.

Combat Vehicles
Pick 2 Actions: Move, Attack, Skill Test. One action can be taken multiple times. Features: Vehicle features provide bonus points which are added to the
character's skill when rolling. For example, a spaceship will have a Shields feature.
Attack: Hand to hand attacks use Might. Ranged attacks use Agility. See Rolling
When a character uses the spaceship's shields, they will add their Wit base +
Dice.
Spaceship Systems skill + the ship's Shields feature to determine the target.
Defend: When attacked, roll the characters Agility: Dodge skill. See Damage.
Fuel: All vehicles have a fuel usage die. After an encounter, or at GM discretion,
Damage: When the attack roll succeeds or dodge roll fails, roll the damage die for roll the usage die to see if the vehicle is out of fuel. Small vehicles have Ud6, large
the weapon or use the fixed damage. See Armor, Shields, and Weapons. have Ud8, and huge have Ud10.
Stress Condition: Instead of taking damage, a character can take 1 stress point. Creation: Vehicle features start at +1. Structural HP starts at 10.
At 3 stress points, the character is Stressed and all tests are at a disadvantage.
Upgrades: Upgrades can be purchased to increase features to a max of +3. It
Natural Healing: 1 hour of rest recovers 1 HP. A full night's rest will recover all HP takes time and money to upgrade vehicles (GM discretion).
and remove all stress. 10 minutes of downtime removes 1 stress point.
Push It: Any vehicle feature can be pushed to its limit by diverting extra power to it.
Cover: When a character is under cover, they roll advantage when defending.
Pushing it grants the PC advantage on their roll to use that feature, but they must
Weapons roll the fuel usage die afterward.
Weapon Damage Notes Attacks/Round
Enemies
Unarmed 1d4 (2) Empty hand 2
Medium enemies and above will have skills and equipment which make them more
Light 1d6 (3) 1 handed 2
challenging to fight. Low to Easy enemies do not use Stress. Also, when an enemy
Heavy 1d8 (4) May only be used with 2 hands 1 (or the # of enemies) is reduced to 50% of its HP or less, roll a morale check.
Ranged 1d8 (4) Has Ud8 ammo. Roll at the end of combat 1
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Threat Not Low Medium High Heroic Action Attack Defend

HP 1 2-6 7-12 13-21 22+ PC Rolls 1 PC rolls 2 damage die PC gets 1 free opportunity attack
Wit (for Morale) 8 10 12 14 16 PC Rolls 20 Enemy gets 1 free opportunity attack Enemy rolls 2 damage die
Attack/Defend - - - -1 -2
Multiple Special Abilities: Characters start with 2 special abilities and can have
up to 4. When advancing, it costs 40xp to purchase a new special ability.
Optional Rules
Reroll With XP: Players can spend 1 XP to reroll any roll.
The following rules are optional and work seamlessly with the core rules.
Kill Die: When firing a ranged weapon at a target, roll an extra 1d6. When the shot
Encumbrance: Characters start with 8 inventory points + Stamina. Each item in
hits the target and the kill die lands on a 5 or 6, then the target must make a
inventory takes 1 point. When there are more items in inventory than points,
Stamina save. If they succeed, then the target is incapacitated and must be healed
movement related tests are with disadvantage.
back to consciousness. If they fail, then the target is incapacitated and must start
Item Wear: All items have a life cycle. Assign usage die to items based on how making death saving throws. If the kill die lands on a number less than 5, then the
durable it is. target only takes damage. NPC’s should never roll a kill die against a PC.
Durability Fragile Weak Sturdy Hardy Tough
Usage Die Ud4 Ud6 Ud8 Ud10 Ud12 Sample Character Sample Vehicle

Grappling: The character rolls a Brawling skill or Might save. If the save succeeds, Name: Nader Vehicle: Truck
then the character wins the round. Strong or larger challengers will likely impose a Role: Special Forces Operative Structural HP: 10/10
Description: Burly, always wears dark Fuel: Ud10
penalty at the GM’s discretion.
sunglasses
Grit: Grit represents the character's ability to persevere through a tough situation. Features:
Money: 10 ● Maneuver: +1
All characters start with 3 grit points at the start of each session. Grit points are
XP (Spent/Unspent): 0/1 ● Off Roading: +1
spent during the game and can be recovered by performing heroic acts (GM HP: 8/8 Stress: 0/3 Armor: 1/1 / Ud8
discretion). Shield: Weapons: Spiked Hubs (1d6)
Cost 1 Grit 2 Grit
Special Ability: Marksman: When using a
Benefit +1 to the Target Number Roll with Advantage
ranged weapon, take one action to prepare the Sample Enemy
shot undisturbed. The next shot is with
Friendly Fire: When firing into a crowd and the attack misses, roll 1d6. On a 1, the
advantage. Role: Thug #1
ranged attack hit a friendly. Increase the target number if there is a higher chance
Wit: 12
of hitting a friendly. If the roll is less than or equal to the target number, then a Specialized Skills: HP: 8/8
friendly is hit. ● Might (11): Brawling (1), Melee (1) Armor: 1/1 / Ud8
● Agility (12): Shooting (1), Dodge (1) Shield:
Group Initiative: Players roll against their Agility score plus any skill which may ● Wit (9): Attack/Defense Penalty:
help initiative. Those who pass go before all enemies, those who fail go after. ● Charm (10): Weapon: Pistol (1d8 / Ud8)
Crits: Rolling a 1 is a critical success and 20 is a critical failure. Outside of combat Inventory: Pistol, Protective Vest
Weapons:
either things go much worse or much better than expected. During combat, use the Pistol (1d8 / Ud8), Knife (1d6)
following table to determine what happens.
Inventory:
Pistol, Knife, Fatigues, Kevlar Vest, 2 clips