A Tabletop RPG I Made (for my wife, Jenny Suptic)

Written and created by Dan Suptic ©2022-2023

 Might
ATRIM Busting down doors, lifting heavy things, pushing stuff
around, withstanding harm and resisting physical
ATRIM is a tabletop RPG that can be used to run forces all fall under the Might trait. Might is also
games in any genre, setting and tone you desire. Like typically used for melee combat.
most tabletop RPGs, it requires one Gamemaster (GM)
and any number of players. The GM describes scenes Agility
and events to the players, and the players have their Picking locks, typing fast and accurately, getting into
characters (known as Player Characters, or PCs) or out of tricky spots, reacting quickly to unexpected
respond to what the GM presents them. The GM hazards and dodging incoming dangers uses the
considers the abilities and choices of the PCs to make Agility trait. Agility is also typically used for ranged
rulings, using dice rolls to determine success or failure combat.
when the outcome isn’t certain.
Smarts
Note for those new to the hobby - To see a tabletop RPG Figuring out puzzles and riddles, remembering
in action, just search “Tabletop RPG Live Play” in your obscure information, socializing in groups or one-on-
favorite search engine and pick one that looks cool! one, retaining willpower in mentally difficult
situations and resisting mental attacks are all done
Things players need with Smarts. Smarts is also typically used for magical,
psychic, or otherwise supernatural combat.
Not much! Just something to record your character
Devina needs to be quick and nimble as a Rogue. She puts
information on and at least 3 dice (standard six-sided
Agility next to the 2, 4, and 6 die faces on her character
dice). Or one six-sided die that you’re willing to roll up
sheet, choosing those specific numbers just because it
to 3 times. That would work too.
looks nice. Devina wants to be decently clever too - she
selects Smarts for the 3 and 5 die faces. Lastly, a bit of
Things GMs need RAWR can be helpful. Might is selected for the last die
face, 1. She doesn’t really worry about which numbers
3 dice as well, along with their adventure/campaign she selected for each trait; the numerical value rolled
information and their best improv skills. doesn’t affect her outcome when rolling, just whether the
trait’s number is rolled or not.
Character creation
Now for a few finishing touches. Work with your GM
To create an ATRIM character, first give them a Name, on these: 3 items of Notable Equipment that you
a Species (if not human), a Profession, and a always have on hand, 1 special item or extraordinary
Wheelhouse. This describes their basic persona, what ability for your Cool Stuff, any relationships, goals, or
their role is in both the game world and the PC group, extra notes for the Etcetera section, and any Money
and what they’re especially good at. If you’re artsy, the GM says you start with.
there’s a box for drawing your character too!
Devina and her GM choose a pair of daggers, a set of
For an example, we’ll make a classic Fantasy character lockpicks, and a concealing mask for her Notable
trope - the sneaky, stabby rogue! Equipment. For her 1 Cool Stuff item/ability, they come
up with the Ring of Light Steps, the GM determining that
Name: Devina. Species: Half-Elf. Profession: Rogue. it lets her reroll 1 die on any failed stealth attempt.
Wheelhouse: Sneaking around and stabbing her enemies Devina decides to be married to another PC, Seg Hapac,
whilst they’re unaware. and notes that under Etcetera. Finally, the GM has
already set the starting Money for all PCs, and Devina
Traits marks that down - 100 silver pieces.

Now you need to assign Traits to each of the die faces With Devina now fully created, her and her player are
on your character sheet (1 through 6, as expected for a ready to hop into the game and go on adventures! The
six-sided die). There are 3 different traits you can next page details all the rules required to play ATRIM.
choose for each number - you will have multiple of at
least one of the traits, and you’re not required to use
all 3 traits (or even more than 1 trait) for your
character. The more copies of each of the traits your
character has, the better they are with it. Having 2 of
each trait would be considered average in most
settings. The traits you can choose for each die face
are as follows:

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 more Successes gets an overall Success and has events
Playing the Game go as they intended. If both sides get a Failure, or if
both sides get the same number of Successes, then it’s
To play the game, the GM describes the scenes and a draw - perhaps the laser gun from earlier is smacked
events to the PCs, and the PCs make choices and
across the room, or they both get their hands on it and
interact with the world, scenes and its inhabitants (all
have to try to gain control with another Conflict roll
controlled by the GM) as they choose. When success is
next turn.
in question, players roll a number of dice according to
the difficulty that the GM chooses on the difficulty For longer conflicts (especially combat), each PC
chart. involved can take an action and make a roll against
one foe. Whoever rolls more Successes does a number
Difficulty Chart of Wounds equal to the difference (e.g., if Devina rolls
Impossible - No dice rolled; you just fail 3 Successes to stealthily stab someone, and her target
rolls 1 Success, she does 2 Wounds to her target). If
Hard - Roll 1 die both sides roll a Failure, then they both take 1 Wound.
Moderate - Roll 2 dice
Note for GMs – A group of supporting minions or
Easy - Roll 3 dice unremarkable opponents can be written as a single
Trivial - No dice rolled; you just succeed entity, allowing those with fireballs, hand grenades, or
missile launchers to attack a whole group at once!

Note for GMs - Moderate is always a good default

difficulty for rolls when you’ve not selected a difficulty
Wounds
beforehand and it’s not an Impossible or Trivial task. For each Wound, put a mark next to one of your
currently unmarked die faces of your choice. If any
When a PC rolls dice, they check the dice to see if any
further conflict roll comes up on die faces that ALL
landed on the number for whichever trait they’re using
have Wound marks, that PC is out of commission (the
for their action. If any dice land on that trait, it’s a
same applies to GM NPCs and monsters when
Success! If none land on that trait, it’s a Failure!
Wounded). This could mean knocked out, or pinned
• Success - Things go as the PC intended! down with no options, or even killed! Whoever or
• Failure - Things do not go as the PC intended. whatever put the other out of commission chooses the
result, within reason in terms of the conflict.
Note for GMS - Failure doesn’t mean full-stop! Find a
way to move things forward and avoid those dreaded Note - Rolling all Wounded die faces on a normal, non-
words, “Nothing Happens”. conflict roll, only results in a Failure (even if the Trait
used was rolled amongst the Wounded die faces).
Difficulty and your Wheelhouse
Healing
If you’re performing an action covered by your
Wheelhouse, drop the difficulty by one step on the PCs heal Wounds at whatever rate the GM deems
appropriate. Rest, hearty meals, and medical care can
chart.
speed up Wound removal. Dangerous environments
Devina is trying to sneak past a guard, something her and missing sleep or meals can cause Wound recovery
“Sneaking around and stabbing her enemies whilst to take longer, or even stop altogether.
they’re unaware” Wheelhouse covers. The normally PCs that have a healer-type Profession can roll a
Moderate difficulty is dropped to Easy, giving her 3 dice Moderate difficulty roll to heal someone faster. Each
for the attempt instead of 2. Success removes one Wound immediately. A PC can
try again later if they need to remove more Wounds or
Conflict if they failed the original roll. The GM determines
when an appropriate amount of time has passed to
Sometimes a PC wants to do something against allow a retry
another entity; some beast or monster, an opposing
NPC, or heck, sometimes another PC on the same Advancement
team! For that, each side rolls dice against the trait
PCs don’t “level up” like many other tabletop RPGs.
they're using. All Conflict rolls start at Moderate (2
Instead, advancement is done through new Notable
dice rolled) difficulty.
Equipment, Cool Stuff, Etcetera, and Money. Ending
For a quick Conflict (e.g. two space pirates grabbing up in control of the local mafia isn’t equipment, stuff,
for the same laser gun on the floor), whoever rolls or even money really, but it sure is a nice thing to have
in both your back pocket and your Etcetera section!
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That’s all!
This small document is all you need to play ATRIM in ATRIM is lovingly dedicated to my wonderful and
any setting, any genre, and any style and tone your amazing wife, Jenny Suptic. Love you tons, boodles!
group is looking for. There’s certainly a lot of gaps in
the writing (Spell lists? Equipment lists? lol), but
ATRIM explicitly empowers the GM to make the tough
calls! Thanks for reading and have fun playing!

Example character

Devina
Species: Half-Elf

Profession: Rogue

Wheelhouse: Sneaking around and stabbing her

enemies whilst they’re unaware

Traits

⚀ - Might
⚁ - Agility
⚂ - Smarts
⚃ - Agility
⚄ - Smarts
⚅ - Agility
Notable Equipment - A pair of daggers, a set of
lockpicks, a concealing mask

Cool Stuff - Ring of Light Steps (reroll 1 die on any

Devina with her deadly daggers. That top one is a dagger
failed stealth roll)
too, it’s just a long dagger. A REALLY long dagger, OK?
Etcetera - Married to Seg Hapac

Money - 100 silver pieces

ATRIM by Dan Suptic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This PDF has been designed using resources from PoweredTemplate.com
The title font is Roman Grid Caps, which is free to use from dafont.com
Jenny Suptic's picture is used by her permission
All other artwork is free to use under the Pixabay license

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