An Adaptation of Project Moon’s Universe as a TTRPG

Disclaimer: Based on the original works of Project Moon. All content within this document is
strictly non-profit. Please support the original source if possible.
Preface:

H ey, howdy, how’s it going? Welcome to the beginning. Not of the guidebook, but of this

TTRPG’s existence. I’d do that whole spiel of “this began as a passion project”, but it still is.
Other than currently one other writer, this entire system has so far been written entirely by
me. Hopefully, that changes over time, but for now, this is where we are. Thank you for all of
your support so far. It means the world to me.
​ The original reason I made this TTRPG was because I wanted to get my friends into
Project Moon’s games, and I felt like using something they already liked would be a great
way to show them the wonders of this terrifying world. I mean, it’s basically like Dungeons
and Dragons if the dungeons were facilities and the dragons were incomprehensible
horrors.
​ Now, some of you might be asking why I didn’t just use another system and flavor it
like Lobotomy Corporation. The answer to that would be that I hate taking the easy route.
Why would I use a pre-existing system when I can make an entire system with everything I
already want? Also, I just like writing. It wastes time and is still productive because I can use
the writing in the future. Like, for example, right now! Anyways, we should get to the actual
guidebook, shouldn’t we? I bet you’re itching to get your grubby little mitts on some sweet,
sweet UNOFFICIAL Project Moon content while you wait for the next Canto to get added.​
​

NEED-TO-KNOW TERMS:
Manager: The person in charge of running the campaign. In D&D terms, it’s the Dungeon
Master.

Employee: A player character.

Chapter 1: Character Creation

Your Life on a Single Page.

So, you want to work at Lobotomy Corporation. Well, you’re hired. Yes, we usually have a
process on how to get allowed into the company, but that’d be boring for the Manager to set
up. But enough about the company, let’s talk about you!
1.1: Character Sheet
As an employee of Lobotomy Corporation, it is imperative that we know of your strengths
and weaknesses so that we can give you the best experience you can get. Before we try to
explain anything, you should probably first look at the character sheet.
​
CHARACTER
Name:
Grade:
Modification:
Boon:
Background/Lore:

COMBAT
Health: ?/?
Sanity: ?/?
Stagger: ?/?
Light Points: ?/?
Armor Class: ?

STATS
Fortitude: ? (+?)
Prudence: ? (+?)
Temperance: ? (+?)
Justice: ? (+?)

I know, it’s a bit different than some other games you might have seen. Let’s go through it
one thing at a time. If you want an easy link for the character sheet, click here.

CHARACTER
The CHARACTER section is all just about general information regarding your character. This
can include their district, reason for joining Lobotomy Corp, and your looks. Here, let’s break
it down just a bit more.

Name: Your character’s name. Name them BongBong. Do it.

Grade: In D&D terms, this is your character’s level. Like stats, which you’ll learn later, your
character’s grade goes from I to EX, which is equivalent to 1-6. This means nothing yet, but
you’ll get there once you read more.
Modification: In D&D terms (again), this is your character’s race. Since the world of Project
Moon doesn’t have many sentient beings other than humans and abnormalities, this was the
best I could come up with as a replacement. Prosthetics, mutations, and any other
modifications buff or hinder your character in some way according to what’s been done to
your body. This part of the system is fairly do-it-yourself, meaning that whatever you want
your modification to be, it can be that. Modifications are designed by the Employee and their
Manager, allowing for both parties to decide their benefits and costs. However, there are
some rules to modifications.

The most important part of creating a modification is that it can never increase or decrease a
base stat. This means that if you have a V in Fortitude, you cannot have your Modification
increase it to EX. You can, however, increase that stat’s modifier. Secondly, there should
always be a downside. No matter the modification, there should be at least one thing that it
changes for the worse. If you can’t think of what that could be, here’s some simple ones:

-​ Prosthetics
Prosthetics, while very powerful in their own right, are also sometimes much heavier than a
normal limb. Because of this, a downside for a prosthetic could be a -1 to an Employee’s
Justice modifier.
-​ Mutations
Mutations come in a variety of forms and can give increased strength to those who know
how to use them properly. However, gaining a mutation can be an excruciating process that
breaks the mind of its victim. Because of this, a downside for a mutation could be a -1 to an
Employee’s Prudence modifier.

Don’t make the changes unnecessarily specific. When adding bonuses or downsides, it
should not be for specific scenarios like running or jumping. If you want to give them a
Temperance increase when talking to animals, just give them a Temperance modifier
increase.

Boon: A boon is a special perk designed by the DM that is given out at later levels that gives
the player an edge in combat and plays into their backstory and character. One quick
example can be found here:

Temporal Gloves: A pair of black gloves previously worn by the color fixer, the Black Silence.
Ability: Character may swap their EGO weapon mid-combat. This does not count as a move
and can happen in between attacks. Swapping more than once in a single turn costs 1 light
per swap. Decrease all WHITE damage taken by the character by 25%, rounded up.

Boons should almost always be exclusively beneficial for the player. Since they’re also made
for higher leveled characters, the ability itself should not be useless against WAW and
ALEPH abnormalities.
Background/Lore: This is exactly what you think it is. This part is all about the character’s
history in the City.

COMBAT
These are the pools and stats used during any combat encounter within this system.

Health: The first-most important combat stat. Health is the amount of physical (RED or
BLACK) damage the Employee can take before getting sent into a dying state. Employees
will not fully die unless either all other allies are put into a dying state or an attack is used
against them that says it kills characters. If an Employee’s allies run away, however, the
Employee will still be killed.

Sanity: The second-most important combat stat. Sanity is the amount of mental (WHITE or
BLACK) damage the Employee can take before panicking. Panic can come in 4 different
forms based on the highest stat a person has. If the Employee has multiple highest stats, the
panic type should be randomly chosen between those stats. A random number generator
can work perfectly for this.

MURDEROUS (FORTITUDE): When a character enters a murderous state, they gain an

increase of +5 damage to all attacks they do. Whenever the character chooses an attack,
they must roll a d4. On any roll but a 4, the character will attack a random character in
combat. This includes any allies at 0 Health. If an ally in a dying state is attacked, they are
killed.

SUICIDAL (PRUDENCE): Suicidal characters must roll a 1d4 on each attack they do. On a 1,
the character will hit themselves instead of the target. This attack goes past AC. If the
character lowers their own Health to 0, they are killed instead of being put in a dying state.

DISSOCIATING (TEMPERANCE): On the start of a dissociating character’s turn, they must roll a
d10. On a 1 or 2, the character will take double damage from all attacks until the character’s
next turn.

DISRUPTING (JUSTICE): On the start of a disrupting character’s turn, they must roll a d10. On
a 1 or 2, the character will randomly choose an ally. The chosen ally loses their next turn.

Stagger: The amount of strong attacks a character can take before being staggered. An
attack counts as a “strong attack” if the attack hits 4 or more above the character’s AC. For
example, if an enemy rolls a 15 against a character with 11 AC, that character’s stagger
meter will lower by 1 because the attack was exactly 4 above.
Once a character’s Stagger lowers to 0, they will enter into a staggered state.
Staggered characters lose all their actions the first and second round the state is activated
and take double damage on the second round. Once the character leaves the state, their
light will go to max.
Light Points: If you’ve played Library of Ruina, you might already know a bit about this. Light
points are the amount of actions a character can perform in a turn.

Armor Class: Also known as AC, Armor Class is the number someone must beat to hit you. If
you have an AC of 15, someone has to roll a 16 or higher to have their attack connect. Unless
affected by a move or gift, AC is equal to 10 plus the character’s Justice and Fortitude
modifiers.

STATS
The backbone of the character.​
A stat goes from I to EX, where EX is equal VI (6). The modifier connected to a stat, unless
changed by any number of things, is equal to the stat minus one. So, I has a modifier of +0,
and EX has a modifier of +5.
Depending on what the base stat’s number is, performing work on an abnormality might
change. Go to Chapter 2.2 for more information.

Fortitude: The character’s physical strength, including vitality. In addition to increasing

Health, Fortitude is also used for Instinct work. This stat is usually used for checks that
require large feats of strength or to survive against poisons.

Prudence: The character’s mental strength and intelligence. In addition to increasing Sanity,
Prudence is also used for Insight work. This stat is usually used for checks that require more
thought.

Temperance: The character’s street smarts. In addition to its numerous uses, including
flirting, intimidation, and sensing your surroundings, Temperance is also used for Attachment
work.

Justice: The character’s reflexes and speed. In addition to increasing maximum Light, Justice
is also used for Repression work.

While these stats are usually used for specific checks, employees and managers can be
creative with what stat is used for what. For example, one could use Fortitude to intimidate
someone by showing off the damage they could deal to them.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at an example character sheet.

CHARACTER
Name: Steven
Grade: I
Prosthetics/Mutation: Mutated Arm (-1 Prudence mod, +1 Fortitude mod)
Boon: None
Background/Lore: A strange man we pulled in from the streets of district 14. Their arm has
been mutated into an octopus tentacle. We still don’t know why.

COMBAT
Health: 40/40
Sanity: 90/90
Stagger: 3/3
Light Points: 5/5
Armor Class: 13

STATS
Fortitude: II (+2) [Increased because of Mutated Arm]
Prudence: I (-1) [Decreased because of Mutated Arm]
Temperance: I (+0)
Justice: II (+1)

Now, you might be wondering how we calculated health, sanity, and everything else. Well,
let’s talk about that.

1.2: Grades
Just like other systems, you will get stronger and be able to handle greater foes the more
you work at Lobotomy Corporation. When you level up, however, is completely up to the
Manager. If they feel like you’ve done good enough, you might get an upgrade! Yay!
​ There are 6 grade levels for players and a special one for some NPCs. For each
player level, they will gain a number of “points”. These points can be allocated to one of the
four stats to increase it from I (+0) to II (+1), IV (+3) to V (+4), or anything like that.

Grade 0: This grade is specifically for clerks, which players should not normally start as
unless for lore reasons.

Health: 30/30
Sanity: 100/100
Stagger: 2/2
Light Points: 4/4
Armor Class: 10
Passive Light Regen: 1​
No bonuses to stats.
Grade I: The beginning grade. Meant for brand new employees that have just been brought
into the corporation. ZAYIN abnormalities should be preferred, although TETH could be
possible.

Health: 30 + (FortitudeMod x 5)
Sanity: 100 + (PrudenceMod x 10)
Stagger: 3/3
Light Points: 4 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)
Passive Light Regen: 1d2​
Gain 2 points to allocate to stats.

Grade II: Still beginning employees, but they now have at least a semblance of what to do
each day. ZAYIN and TETH abnormalities are preferred.

Health: 40 + (FortitudeMod x 5)
Sanity: 100 + (PrudenceMod x 10)
Stagger: 3/3
Light Points: 5 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)​
Passive Light Regen: 1d2
Gain 2 points to allocate to stats.

Grade III: The middleground of grades. These employees most likely have a complete grasp
on their job and know combat decently well. TETH and HE abnormalities are preferred.

Health: 70 + (FortitudeMod x 5)
Sanity: 120 + (PrudenceMod x 10)
Stagger: 4/4
Light Points: 6 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)​
Passive Light Regen: 1d4
Gain 2 points to allocate to stats.

Grade IV: The term “veteran” would make sense for those in this grade level. These
employees have had more than enough time to figure out their job and have a strong grasp
on how to perform combat and live. Most don’t get this high. HE and WAW abnormalities are
preferred.

Health: 90 + (FortitudeMod x 8)
Sanity: 130 + (PrudenceMod x 10)
Stagger: 6/6
Light Points: 7 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)​
Passive Light Regen: 2d2
Gain 3 points to allocate to stats.

Grade V: A rarity, but still possible. These employees have survived long enough and
learned enough to probably run an entire facility of ZAYIN and TETH abnormalities by
themself. WAW abnormalities are preferred.

Health: 100 + (FortitudeMod x 10)

Sanity: 130 + (PrudenceMod x 15)
Stagger: 8/8
Light Points: 8 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)​
Passive Light Regen: 2d4
Gain 4 points to allocate to stats.

Grade EX: Near impossible to achieve, with only an average of 1 out of 100 surviving
employees getting this high. If you get this Grade, consider yourself a legend. WAW and
ALEPH abnormalities are preferred.

Health: 150 + (FortitudeMod x 10)

Sanity: 140 + (PrudenceMod x 20)
Stagger: 10/10
Light Points: 10 + (JusticeMod)
Armor Class: 10 + (JusticeMod + FortitudeMod)​
Passive Light Regen: 4d2
Gain 4 points to allocate to stats.

Alright. Got your sheets filled out? Great! Let’s get onto your job at…

Chapter 2: Lobotomy Corporation

Face the Fear, Build the Future.

As an employee of Lobotomy Corporation, your main job is wrangling up and working with
any abnormalities you are given and/or find. That’s right! You gotta work with literal
monsters and keep them happy! Anyways, let’s start off with the first part of the job…​
2.1: Finding Abnormalities
So, your job is to work with abnormalities, but where exactly do you get them? Well, there’s a
couple options.

GIFTING
Usually done at the start of a campaign or as payment for a job, Gifting is essentially just
being given an abnormality. When an abnormality is gifted to a facility, the only information
about the abnormalities the employees will have available to them is their Classification and
their Quote, which are both explained in Chapter 2.2.
​ Gifted abnormalities will have to be worked with a number of times until the Manager
sees fit to hand over their document. If you’re a Manager and don’t know whether or not to
give them the data, here’s some questions:

1.​ Do they know how to appease the abnormality?

2.​ Have they seen any and all events the abnormality has?
3.​ If you asked them to describe the abnormality both personality-wise and possibly
lore-wise, could they answer with some level of accuracy?

If you answered yes to at least 2 of those questions with confidence, it might be time to give
them the document.

COLLECTING
You didn’t think you’d get everything for free, did you? No, no, you have to find them.​
Like in any other TTRPG, there’s a whole world for you to explore. When your players are
done working in their facility, they have the choice to go out into the City and attempt to find
more abnormalities. Talking to certain faces outside the facility could potentially give hints to
creatures around the area and their possible dangers, allowing the characters to more easily
pick and choose which abnormality they want.
​ Depending on the information the party collected about their new abnormality
before locking them away, it might make sense to give them the entire file from the get-go.
This is entirely up to the Manager’s discretion, however.

2.2: Working with Abnormalities

Okay, so you’ve collected as many abnormalities as you want. Now it’s time to go to work.
As an employee, your task is to generate power for the City by keeping your abnormalities
happy. The main way to do this is through work.
Work comes in 5 different types, with 4 of them being influenced by the employee’s stats.

INSTINCT

Instinct is a work type categorized by stimulating the abnormality physically and sating their
physiological needs. For the most part, this also includes large amounts of physical contact
to the abnormality. The stat that is added to Instinct work is Fortitude.
 INSIGHT

Insight is a work type categorized by understanding and maintaining the abnormality’s

preferred environmental conditions. With this work type requiring large amounts of research
and brain power, it is done well by those with higher intelligence. The stat that is added to
Insight work is Prudence.
 ATTACHMENT

Attachment is a work type categorized by sating the abnormality’s social needs by acting as
a playmate. Extreme caution must be done while playing with the abnormalities, however, as
interactions with abnormalities are to be limited to what’s necessary. The stat that is added
to Attachment work is Temperance.
 REPRESSION

Repression is the opposite of every other work type, with it being categorized by forcefully
suppressing the abnormality and their respective desires. This is the one type of work
where abusing the abnormality is permitted. The stat that is added to Repression work is
Justice.
 SPECIAL

Special work is different from abnormality from abnormality and usually replaces one of the
previous four works. Although it is referred to as a work type, it’s not technically “working”.
For the most part, special work is done to either sacrifice something to the abnormality or to
make a deal with them, like having the abnormality fight beside you for some E-Boxes.

​
WORK TYPE BONUSES
When working with an abnormality, your roll will also gain a modifier based on your stat’s
level. Instead of explaining, let me show you.

Let’s say that an employee wishes to perform Attachment on an abnormality. That

abnormality’s bonuses will look like this:

Attachment
 I Very Low (-2)

II Low (-1)

III Common (+0)

IV High (+1)

V-EX Very High (+2)

This employee’s Temperance stat is IV (4), with a bonus of +3. So, to see how well they did,
they will need to roll 1d20+3. However, since their Temperance stat is IV (4), they will have to
add the corresponding bonus (Which in this case is High, or a +1) to the roll. This changes
their roll to a 1d20+4.

MOODS AND QLIPHOTH

Each abnormality has three mood levels, which are Good, Normal, and Bad. Whenever an
employee rolls for work, whatever they roll will be compared to the moods to see how well
they did.

For example, let’s say an employee rolls an 8 on their work and the abnormality’s moods
look like this:

Good Mood: 14-20+

Normal Mood: 11-13
Bad Mood: 1-10

Since the Bad Mood goes from 1 to 10, that means that this abnormality will be in a bad
mood.

Another abnormality stat that is connected to moods is Qliphoth. Qliphoth is the amount of
terrible work an employee can do before the abnormality decides to attack your facility.
When an abnormality’s Qliphoth meter lowers to 0, they will do whatever event is described
within their document. This can either be some sort of effect like, mind controlling someone,
or just breaching containment.

Now that you understand how to figure out how well the work went and what Qliphoth is,
let’s now explain exactly what these moods mean.

Good Mood: The abnormality’s Qliphoth meter will NOT lower when you get a good mood
unless stated otherwise.

Normal Mood: The Manager rolls a d2. On a 1, the abnormality’s Qliphoth meter will lower by
1.

Bad Mood: The Manager rolls a d2. On a 1, the abnormality’s Qliphoth meter will lower by 2.
Otherwise, it will lower by 1.

While this is normally how Qliphoth lowers, the Manager has the discretion of saying
ANYTHING the players do lowers or increases the Qliphoth meter. One fun example that I
have is from one of my first abnormalities, Express Train to Sleepytime Junction.

Express Train to Sleepytime Junction is an abomination (more info on abnormalities can be

found in chapter 3) of Express Train to Hell and Void Dream that can give the players tickets
to ride aboard their train. In one session, a player of mine began making fun of and
spreading rumors about the train. So, in anger, Express Train to Sleepytime Junction’s
Qliphoth went from full to 0 instantly. Have some fun with your breaches!

Chapter 3: Abnormalities
Fuel the Mundane with the Abnormal.

Okay, you know HOW to work with abnormalities, but what exactly is an abnormality? Well, I
mean, you might already know if you’ve played Lobotomy Corporation, but let’s just try to go
more in depth.

Abnormalities are, as the name implies, abnormal entities that are used by Lobotomy
Corporation as generators. The only thing that ties together every single abnormality is the
fact that each one is born from a concept of the human mind. Every single fear, fairy tale,
and idea birthed by humanity can and will become an abnormality.
​ Because of their roots in human thoughts, they work beyond the limits of reality,
giving them the dangerous capabilities that many know. In addition to their reality-breaking
abilities, abnormalities also have, in a sense, immortality. Even if the concept the abnormality
was based off of is completely forgotten to time, they will continue to exist, a reminder of a
forgotten past. When abnormalities are damaged enough, instead of dying, their physical
form will turn into an indestructible egg only to hatch some time later back into the
abnormality. While all abnormalities are different from one another, there are two
subsections of abnormality that are commonly known.
​ The first of these is aberrations. Aberrations are abnormalities that act as a sort of
subspecies to an original one, sharing the same concept but not taking it in the same way.
One example of an aberration is this system’s Krampanta. As an aberration of Rudolta of the
Sled, both abnormalities share the same original concept of Christmas, but Krampanta
instead goes the route of Krampus’ role instead of Rudolph’s.
​ The second subsection is one made by this system, abominations. Abominations are
similar to aberrations in some senses, with the main difference being that abominations are
combinations of two or more abnormalities. With the only abomination so far being Express
Train to Sleepytime Junction, I’ll use that. Express Train to Sleepytime Junction (which will be
referred to as ETSJ for brevity) takes the concepts of Express Train to Hell (ETH) and Void
Dream (VD) and combines them together. ETSJ takes the form of ETH, being a ticket booth
with the ability to summon trains, but then takes the personality and desires from VD,
meaning that their goal is to help others sleep. All together, you get an abnormality of a
strange ticket booth that sells train tickets to a dream world that gives you comfortable
sleep. Any combination of abnormalities can technically create an abomination, but the less
the concepts align, the weaker the abnormality will become, possibly ending in a concept
so convoluted that it stops existing out of the fact that no one has ever thought about it.

3.1: Abnormality Sheet

Just like employees, abnormalities have their own sheet where information can be filled out
about them. Let’s take a look at it. A link can be found to a base abnormality sheet here.

Name: The abnormality’s actual name, like Punishing Bird.

Risk Level: The danger level of the abnormality. There are five different levels of danger,
which are ZAYIN, TETH, HE, WAW, and ALEPH.

ZAYIN abnormalities are the weakest of the bunch. Although they are commonly seen as
harmless, there still is the possibility for abnormalities of this level to escape and possibly
kill.

TETH abnormalities are only slightly more difficult to contain than ZAYIN and have a higher
mortality rate.

HE abnormalities are easily capable of killing several employees if not handled with care.

WAW abnormalities are much more dangerous and must be cared for in an exact way.
Otherwise, the death toll will reach dozens.
ALEPH abnormalities are the pinnacle of danger, with them having the ability to destroy an
entire facility by themself if not cared for with the utmost respect and diligence.
​
Classification: The abnormality’s number in the database. There are some rules to this, so
let’s talk about it.

The first part of a classification is their origin type, a single letter that signifies where the
abnormality’s concept comes from.

O stands for original, meaning that their origin does not fit with any other category.

T stands for trauma, meaning that their origin is based on fears or traumatic events found
within society.

F stands for Fairy Tale, meaning that their origin is based on a fictional story created by
humanity.

M stands for Misinformation, meaning that their origin is based on temporary or inaccurate
beliefs. One example would be Y2K and the idea that all technology would stop working.

The second part of a classification is their body type, which is signified by a number from 01
to 07.

01 is for Humanoid abnormalities, meaning they resemble a human. This does not mean
they have to be bipedal and sentient, as even a sentient pile of bodies would count as
humanoid.

02 is for animal abnormalities, meaning they resemble a non-anomalous animal species of

some kind. This can include multiple species at the same time.

03 is for anything relating to religion or mythos.

04 is for inanimate objects. These abnormalities, while looking inanimate, still have the
possibility of moving.

05 is for machines or artifacts. The term artifact is fairly loose, and can mean any object with
a specific history behind it.

06 is for abstractions or amalgamations. These abnormalities either don’t fit in any of the
other categories or fit into too many to be shown as a singular type.
07 is for tools. These are special abnormalities that do not have to be worked on and instead
work as interactable items that may help the employees.

Good Mood: The level in which work makes the abnormality happy.
Normal Mood: The level in which work keeps the abnormality neutral.
Bad Mood: The level in which work angers the abnormality.
Qliphoth Meter: How many times an abnormality can feel anger before breaching
containment or performing their ability.

This Abnormality is capable of (negative)

This Abnormality is capable of (positive)
These two are just to let the employees and manager know what the abnormality is capable
of.

Quote: A section of the story that encapsulates the abnormality. When having the choice
between multiple abnormalities, the only data shown will be their classifications and quotes.

Story: A combination of both the abnormality’s lore, description, and more. This should have
things like logs, testing data, etc.
​
Events: Any events that activate either by specific actions or with a Qliphoth Meltdown
(when Qliphoth turns to 0).

___ Stats:
Health:
AC:
Stagger:
FORT:
PRUD:
TEMP:
JUST:

Resistances:
RED:
BLACK
WHITE:
​
Moves: (if it doesn’t have parts)

This section will be looked at during Chapter 4.

Now that we’ve been shown everything, let’s look at an example abnormality.
Name: Standard Training-Dummy Rat
Risk Level: ZAYIN​
Classification: O-00-0000
Good Mood: 11-20+
Normal Mood: 6-10
Bad Mood: 1-5
Qliphoth Meter: 1
This Abnormality is capable of Breach
This Abnormality is capable of Benefiting Lobotomy Corporation

Instinct

I Common (+0)

II Common (+0)

III Common (+0)

IV Common (+0)

V-EX Common (+0)

Insight
 I Common (+0)

II Common (+0)

III Common (+0)

IV Common (+0)

V-EX Common (+0)

Attachment

I Common (+0)

II Common (+0)

III Common (+0)

IV Common (+0)

V-EX Common (+0)

 Repression

I Very Low (-2)

II Low (-1)

III Common (+0)

IV High (+1)

V-EX Very High (+2)

Quote:

“If they wobble left and right, however, the candidate will be denied a spot as an employee.”
​
Story:​

“A standard training dummy created by Lobotomy Corporation to be used for employee

training exercises. The only defect seen on the dummy is the pair of stereotypical round rat
ears and a tail.”

“It is still unknown how Standard Training-Dummy Rat gained abnormal properties. Attempts
have been made to create more Rat-like copies of the training dummies, but none have
gained sentience. All failed tests have been sent to R. Corp as a gift.”

“Standard Training-Dummy Rat exhibits some level of human sentience, including being
able to listen and understand English and Korean. Since they do not have the ability nor any
hands to do sign language with, a system of wobbling left to right as a no and forward and
back as a yes. A list of all past questions can be found below.”

“
Q: Did you gain your abnormal traits right after being created?
A: Abnormality wobbled from left to right. No.
Q: Do you know when you got your abnormal traits?
A: Abnormality wobbled from left to right. No.

Q: Do you think you’re abnormal?

A: Abnormality wobbled from left to right. No.

Q: Do you believe you’re a human or a worker at Lobotomy Corporation?

A: Abnormality wobbled left and right, then forward and back. No, then yes.
“

“Because of their cooperation and seeming lack of danger, Standard Training-Dummy Rat
has been given an official job at Lobotomy Corporation as the combat tester for trainees.
Possible employees must show enough prowess in combat by attacking Standard
Training-Dummy Rat. If Standard Training-Dummy Rat nods forward and back after the test
is completed, the person will become an official employee of Lobotomy Corporation. If they
wobble left and right, however, the candidate will be denied a spot as an Employee.”
​
Events:

When a testing session begins with Standard Testing-Dummy Rat, they will enter combat
with whoever they have been assigned to.

Standard Testing-Dummy Rat Stats:

Health: 999/999
AC: 10
Stagger: N/A
FORT: EX (+5)
PRUD: I (+0)
TEMP: I (+0)
JUST: III (+2)

Resistances:
RED: Average (100% damage)
BLACK: Average (100% damage)
WHITE: Average (100% damage)​
​
Moves:

1.​ Roll Away

Special Effect: Increase the user’s AC by +2 until the next turn.
2.​ Bounce Back
To Hit: +JusticeMod
Damage: X
Special Effect: X is equal to the damage of the last attack the user was hit with.

Combat Events:

Once 10 rounds have passed, check Standard Training-Dummy Rat’s health. If it is at

959/999 or less…

Standard Training-Dummy Rat has wobbled back and forth. You have passed the exam.
Welcome to Lobotomy Corporation.

The tested person is given their standard issue baton and suit. Combat ends.
If their health is above 959/999…

Standard Training-Dummy Rat has wobbled left and right. You have failed the exam. Please
give back any gear given to you and leave.

The tested person has any and all E.G.O. equipment they had on them taken back. Combat
ends.

Now that you’ve seen an abnormality, you might still be confused about what any of the
Events area meant.
In the Event area, it will tell the employees and manager what will happen with
certain interactions or when the abnormality’s Qliphoth meter lowers to 0. This section is also
where encounters and any abnormality stat sheets will be held. In the abnormality stat
sheet, there is also a section called Combat Events. Combat Events work similarly to the
game Limbus Company. When the abnormality has a certain thing happen to them (mostly
regarding their current health), the players will have to undergo a challenge. These
challenges are usually started off with a small lore section that explains more about the
abnormality before giving out a stat check. This check, depending on whether the players
are successful or not, can either hinder the abnormality or the employees.

Chapter 4: E.G.O. And Combat

Serve and Protect.

4.1: E.G.O. Equipment

Unlike most other TTRPGs that have classes to signify the abilities of a character, The
City instead has E.G.O. equipment. E.G.O. (Extermination of Geometric Organ) equipment are
sets of items that are created from E-Boxes generated by an abnormality.
 E-Boxes are a type of currency created by performing work with abnormalities where
the amount made is equal to the roll’s total (Ex: Rolling a 16 means you get 16 E-Boxes).
E-Boxes are exclusive to the abnormality they were created from, meaning that a player
cannot work with a ZAYIN a couple times and buy an ALEPH’s E.G.O. equipment.

E.G.O. equipment comes in three different forms: a weapon, a suit, and a gift.

WEAPONS
E.G.O. weapons are the main way that employees are going to be able to combat
different abnormalities. Each weapon has different attacking moves that the employee may
use to their disposal. The versatility of a weapon is dependant on the risk level of the
abnormality it came from:

ZAYIN: 4 Moves
TETH: 5 Moves
HE: 6 Moves
WAW: 7 Moves
ALEPH: 8 Moves

Attacks themself have 5 different colors connected to them. The main 4 are in the
suits section just below this one, but there is one color that only weapons have. Whenever a
move is green, that means that it’s a support move. Support moves are moves that buff an
Employee or their teammates with the downside being that any light used on them is lost
the next turn, similar to if you missed an attack.

Weapons may also have special status effects that are exclusive to that weapon. It is
important to choose which weapon would be the best against different abnormalities.

While there is a list of status effects made for basic stat changes and such (which can
be found here), I highly recommend making some of your own status effects, especially for
higher risk level abnormalities. It gives the players a reason to test out new weapons so they
can find their favorite way to suppress the abnormal.

In addition to their normal moves, every weapon has a Realization. These are special
moves unlocked by wearing all three pieces of an EGO’s set and can only be used once per
day. If these moves are missed, or if the move is a support move, the user loses light equal
to half of their maximum. Since we already have an example abnormality, let’s make an
E.G.O. weapon for them. All the status effects used here are found in the status effects
document linked in the last paragraph.

Weapon: Wobble
Cost: 15 E-Boxes
Description: A spray-painted white spiked flail with a rat tail as the chain. No matter how
much the tail is pulled on, it will never break.
Moves:

1.​ Bite
Light Cost: 3
To Hit: +FortitudeMod
Damage: 3d8
Special Effect: Inflict 4 Bleed stacks on the target if successful.
2.​ Scurry
Light Cost: 2
Special Effect: Increase the user’s AC by +2 until their next turn.
3.​ Nibble
Light Cost: 1
To Hit: +JusticeMod
Damage: 1d8
Special Effect: Inflict 2 Bleed stacks on the target if successful.
4.​ Mousetrap
Light Cost: 4
To Hit: +FortitudeMod
Damage: 4d8
Special Effect: Inflict 2 Bind stacks that last 2 turns on the target is successful.

REALIZATION: Final Exam

Special Effect: Give yourself an 80 Health shield. If the enemies cannot break the shield
within 5 turns, all opponents take RED damage equal to double of the remaining shield.

SUITS
Suits are employee’s main form of defense against abnormalities and their attacks. However,
instead of increasing the wearer’s AC stats, suits give resistances to three damage types.
While we’re here, let’s actually talk about the four damage types.

RED: Red damage, signified with a red coloration, is damage done to one’s body. This is
mostly categorized with slashes and blunt force. Red damage is done to your Health pool.

WHITE: White damage, signified with a white coloration, is damage done to one’s mind.
This is mostly psychic attacks or anything that would traumatize, but not maim. White
damage is done to your Sanity pool.

BLACK: Black damage, signified with a dark gray coloration, is damage done to both the
body and mind. Black damage is done to both your Health and Sanity pool.
PALE: Pale damage, signified with a light blue coloration, is damage done to the soul. This
damage is similar to Red in the fact that it only hits the Health pool, but this damage type
cannot be resisted by any means.

Cool! Now, let’s see what our friend Standard Training-Dummy Rat’s suit could look like.

Suit: Wobble
Cost: 20 E-Boxes
Description: a white armored suit with an orange tie. Those wearing the suit have the desire
to roll along the floor.
RED Resistance: Resistant (75% damage, rounded up)
WHITE Resistance: Weak (125% damage, rounded up)
BLACK Resistance: Average (100% damage)

GIFTS
Gifts are the odd one out of the three E.G.O. types. While most other E.G.O. requires E-Boxes
to be created, gifts are exactly what they sound like. They’re gifts from the abnormality!
​ Gifts cannot be crafted like other E.G.O. gear but instead require employees to
interact with the abnormality in a particular way. Imagine gifts as rewards for completing a
puzzle. Let’s look at an example.

Gift: Wobble
Obtainment: Dealing 90 or more damage to Standard Training-Dummy Rat during a test.
Description: An oversized orange belt that hangs behind the wearer like a tail. The mood of
the person can be understood via the belt’s swaying, similar to a dog and their tail.
Ability: At the beginning of combat, gain a 25 Health shield.

Since Standard Training-Dummy Rat’s main thing is testing people, this gift’s puzzle is
dealing around double of the required damage. It’s simple and easy to figure out since this
abnormality is a ZAYIN.
Depending on the risk level of the abnormality it came from and the strength of the gift, the
obtainment method might be easier or more difficult. Don’t make the gift’s puzzle too hard,
however, as it decentivizes the employees to try and get it.

Now that you understand what E.G.O. equipment is, I believe it’s finally time to talk about
some people’s favorite part of TTRPGs…

4.2: Combat
Combat in The City is done almost exactly like in the game Library of Ruina with some minor
differences. Instead of having large rooms and ranges for an attack, you will be able to
choose any opponent unless they have a move that says otherwise. Now that you know that,
let’s talk about…

INITIATIVE
When combat starts, employees and their opponents will have to roll initiative. Depending
on how complex you want combat to feel, you have two different options.

1.​ Standard Initiative

Standard Initiative is exactly how it sounds. All characters roll a d20 with their justice modifier
and order is decided based on the highest number. Nothing fancy, but it does the job
perfectly.

2.​ Library Initiative

While similar in many ways, the Library Initiative method has one key difference. Every round
of combat, once everyone’s taken their turn, initiative is then rerolled. This method can add a
sense of tension, especially if you’re fighting an ALEPH that just got a 20 on their new
initiative, because it means that employees can’t predict the flow of combat and act as they
would.

Now that you’ve rolled your turn order, now what happens? Well, It’s time to take action!

ATTACKING
All weapons used by players have a set of moves with their own Light Cost, which is the
amount of light it takes to use that attack. In a single turn, a character can only use an
amount of light equal to their current light count. If a character misses an attack, they lose
that many light points next turn. Each turn after having less than your maximum light, you
will regain light depending on your grade. If my wording is weird, here’s an example.

1.​ Employee uses Light Attack, which requires 2 Light. The character has 4 maximum
Light. Employee misses their attack.
2.​ On their second turn, their available Light is 2/4. They successfully hit all of their
attacks without issue.
3.​ On their third turn, the Employee, who is grade I, rolls 1d2 and gets a 1. Their light
total for that turn is now equal to 3/4.

In addition to passive light regeneration, the character may decide to Defend. Defending is a
special action in which the character hunkers down, trading their ability to attack to instead
gain temporary Health equal to 5 times the character’s Fortitude modifier and temporary
Sanity equal to 10 times the character’s Prudence modifier. If a character decides to defend,
their light count will go to its maximum value next turn.
For abnormalities, however, attacking can be different.
Most abnormalities do not have Light at all and instead have Parts. Parts are subsections of
an abnormality that have their own Armor Class, Stagger, and Health bar that is separate
from the whole. Each part has one action, meaning that they can do one attack. When a
part’s health is dropped to 0, they are broken. This means that the limb cannot do any more
actions and the players can now hit that limb again to hit the main health bar of the
abnormality. Without breaking a limb, there is no way to hit the abnormality’s main health bar
and finish combat.
For abnormalities without parts, they can only attack a certain amount of times which
will be shown on the abnormality’s sheet. If they don’t have that on their stats, then that
abnormality can only attack one time per turn. Abnormalities, except for some exceptions,
will only have a Health pool instead of having both Health and Sanity. Because of this, all
damage done will hit the abnormality’s Health, including WHITE.

CLASHING
Clashing is a special action that both abnormalities and employees can perform when being
targeted for an attack.
If someone wishes to try and stop an attack, they can choose to clash right before
the attacker rolls to hit. The defender must choose a move that they have enough light
and/or actions to perform, then both parties roll. The person who rolls higher succeeds the
clash, meaning that they then hit the opponent, regardless of their Armor Class. Just like
normal attacks, if you fail, you lose any light you used on that attack.

For anyone who wants a quick cheat sheet for the different actions one can do in a turn, here
you go:

Attacking Using any Light you have to attack an opponent. If you miss, you lose that
light next turn.

Defending Health shield of 5xFortitudeMod and Sanity shield of 10xPrudenceMod.

Regain all Light next turn.

Clashing Reaction to an incoming attack. Choose an attack you have the light to do,
then both roll to hit. Higher roll wins and hits the target.

Perfect! For our employees, you now know everything you need to know about The City’s
system. You may now leave.
Unless, of course, you’re also planning on running a game of your own. In that case, let’s talk
about some…

Chapter 5: Managerial Tips

The Heart and Soul of a Facility.

As a Manager, your job is to create a world for your employees to explore and interact with.
With this, let’s talk about the first tip.

STORYBUILDING
When thinking about the world that you want to create for your employees, it might
make sense to have a story and plot line already completely planned out, like a book.
However, this really isn’t a good idea. Allowing the players to create their own goals and
allowing them to interact with the world how they want instead of being railroaded to a
specific goal can make the game feel much more exciting.
​

NPC INTERACTIONS
Since you are going to be playing as every NPC, it is a good idea to have some ideas
for personalities and characters already laid out, especially in some areas that you know are
going to be frequented by the players. Having these characters already planned out means
that you are more prepared for interactions and could possibly allow for more plot lines in
the future depending on the character’s backstory or lore in the world.

STAY NEUTRAL
You’d think this would be a given, right? Surprisingly, in many TTRPGs, people believe
that the DM, Manager, etc. needs to try and kill the players at all times. This shouldn’t be the
case, however. While the world of The City is filled with dangerous people and monsters,
that does not mean that the Manager should attempt to throw unfair scenarios at the
players. There is no reason to make an impossible fight unless the players make it
themselves, nor is there a reason to have bad things happen to the employees just because
you said so. You are not fighting against the players, nor are you trying to befriend them. Stay
a neutral party. Too much in either direction and you have angry players that kick you out or
you have bored players that don’t want to play the game anymore.
ABNORMALITY INTERACTIONS
While this could be inferred from “stay neutral” and “npc interactions”, it is still
imperative to know that not all abnormalities are malicious monsters that want to kill people.
When checking an abnormality’s document, read their story and attempt to find a
personality for that entity. Keep their speech and mannerisms in line with how the document
describes them, hopefully allowing players to both find the best way to work with the
abnormality and possibly collect their E.G.O. Gift without just being told. Don’t just make
them all evil.

TPK FIXES
It’s very common, especially in a world with so many dangerous monsters, that
eventually your employees are going to die. When this happens to all of them, however, it
might be difficult to find a way to keep the game running without just starting a new
campaign. So, of course, there are some plot lines that you could add in to allow the players
to continue and keep the game running.

1.​ Revival
Surprisingly, there are many methods of revival in this universe. Whether it be from R. Corp
or from any mysterious library owner, there are many reasons for your employees to be risen
from the dead. This also paves the way for new mysteries. Why did they get revived? Who
wanted them to be revived?
2.​ Time Loop
Pulling a plot point straight from Lobotomy Corporation, you could have the entirety of the
facility they work for be in a time loop. The employees get another chance and, possibly,
lose some of their gear as a punishment for losing. The details of this are entirely up to the
Manager, but this method still allows for more story points.
3.​ New World
If we’re to take things like Express Train to Hell literally, there could be other planes of
existence. Make your own! They could even collect some abnormalities on their way back to
their facility if they can survive the trek. This is probably the weirdest choice, but one that
could still be fun. It could also add a new map for the players to explore, meaning more
abnormalities for them to meet! Fun times all around.

Damn. That’s a lot of info, huh? Hopefully I made everything understandable. If you have any
gripes or complaints, please tell me on either The City’s discord server or my Tumblr page
(@funnyboxman). Thank you all, and have a wonderful rest of your day.