Fairy Tale Calculus: The Derivative

Face down a dragon as a brave knight, hack into a corporate security system as an elite runner, set sail in your airship. Unlimited adventure awaits you in Genesys, a new roleplaying system designed for a variety of settings and limited only by your imagination. The Genesys experience begins with the Genesys Core Rulebook, which features an explanation of the innovative narrative dice system and core mechanics of the game, an overview of five different settings in which to place campaigns, and advice for Game Masters to craft a myriad of adventures with unparalleled freedom. Cover 1 Genesys Core Rulebook 2 Credits 3 Contents 4 Introduction 5 Narrative Play 8 The Rules 7 Chapter 1: Core Mechanics 9 The Dice 9 Dice Symbols and Results 12 Lights, Camera, Action! 14 The Basic Dice Pool 14 Characteristic Ratings 15 Skills and Training 17 Difficulty 17 Building a Basic Dice Pool 20 Interpreting the Pool 24 Triumph and Despair 25 Other Types of Checks 26 Other Key Elements 28 Experience and Development 31 Derived Attributes 32 Chapter 2: Creating Characters 33 Step 1: Determine Background 35 Step 2: Select a Character Archetype or Species 36 Step 3: Choose a Career 41 Step 4: Invest Experience Points 45 Step 5: Determine Derived Attributes 46 Step 6: Determine Character Motivation 47 Step 7: Choose Gear, Appearance, and Personality 52 Chapter 3: Skills 53 Choosing Skills 54 Social Skills 55 General Skills 58 Knowledge Skills 67 Combat Skills 68 Magic Skills 71 Chapter 4: Talents 72 Talent Descriptions 73 Tier 1 73 Tier 2 76 Tier 3 78 Tier 4 80 Tier 5 82 Chapter 5: Equipment 83 Rarity 83 Encumbrance 85 Item Qualities 87 Item Maintenance 90 Weapons 91 Armor 93 Gear 94 Chapter 6: Combat Encounters 96 Narrative and Structured Gameplay 96 Incidentals 98 Maneuvers 98 Actions 102 Defense 105 Soak 106 Range Bands 106 Additional Combat Modifiers 108 Environmental Effects 111 Wounds, Strain, and States of Health 113 Critical Injuries 115 Other Ongoing Status Effects 115 Recovery and Healing 117 Chapter 7: Social Encounters 119 Structuring Social Encounters 120 Using Motivations in Social Encounters 124 Chapter 8: The Game Master 126 Gaming the System 126 Before Play Begins 127 Player Character Creation 128 Preparation Tips 129 Game Mastering Resources 130 The Narrative Dice 131 Adversaries 132 Adversary Profile 135 Settings 137 Setting Sheet 138 Chapter 1: Fantasy 139 Tropes 139 Example Setting: Runebound 142 New Starting Character Options 143 Setting-Specific Gear 144 Setting-Specific Adversaries 147 Chapter 2: Steampunk 149 Tropes 149 Example Setting: Sovereigns of Steam 151 New Starting Character Options 153 Setting-Specific Gear 154 Setting-Specific Adversaries 158 Chapter 3: Weird War 159 Tropes 159 Example Setting: Tannhäuser 160 Setting-Specific Gear 162 Setting-Specific Adversaries 164 Chapter 4: Modern Day 165 Tropes 165 Setting-Specific Gear 166 Setting-Specific Adversaries 170 Chapter 5: Science Fiction 171 Tropes 171 Example Setting: Android 174 New Starting Character Options 175 Setting-Specific Gear 176 Setting-Specific Adversaries 179 Chapter 6: Space Opera 180 Tropes 180 Example Setting: Twilight Imperium 182 New Starting Character Options 182 Setting-Specific Gear 185 Setting-Specific Adversaries 188 Game Master’s Toolkit 190 Chapter 1: Customizing Rules 191 Create a Skill 191 Create a Species or Archetype 193 Create a Talent 195 Create an Item 198 Create an Adversary 203 Chapter 2: Alternate Rules 205 Nemesis Extra Activation Rules 205 Uncoupling Skills from Characteristics 206 Item Attachments and Hard Points 207 Magic Rules 211 Vehicle Rules 221 Hacking Rules 233 Chapter 3: Build an Adventure 237 Constructing Encounters 240 Chapter 4: Tones 242 Horror 243 Intrigue 246 Mystery 247 Pulp 248 Romance and Drama 249 Superheroes 251 Character Sheet 255 Talent Pyramid 257 Back Cover 258 Jump into a fun, fast-paced roleplaying experience where every roll of the dice lets you tell a story! Powered by the critically acclaimed Narrative Dice System, Genesys lets you run adventures set anywhere from magical realms of fantasy to alien planets in the distant future. Blast hordes of reanimated skeletons with holy fire, explore new worlds in a steam-powered zeppelin, match wits with alien warlords, or invent your own entirely unique world. This core rulebook includes: complete rules for a unique dice mechanic that goes beyond success and failure; a character creation process that lets you play a wide range of characters; Six settings with advice on customization, themes, gear, and character options; Tones that let you play games of horror, intrigue, romance, mystery, pulp, and superheroes in any setting; and rules for vehicle combat, magic, computer hacking, and more