Basic Rules + Flavor of Gameplay.

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This is a homebrew set of rules based largely on White Wolf's "World of Darkness" and "Exalted" series.

The rules are designed for a story-telling style of play, much more flexible than the D&D style, and without the grid-tactics type of battling that's so hard to do over the internet. There are still a fair number of stats to keep track of, those will be on your character sheet, but you don't have to know exactly how many gp you have, how much sleep your character got last night, or what kind of stone the walls are made of.

You can do just about anything you can think of, or attempt it. Your nine base stats cover everything that's even possible to do, and the rest of your stats are about knowing what you're particularly good at, to give you a bonus on those types of rolls. Even if you have no "Swim" skill, you could still try to dive 50' to the bottom of a lake to retrieve a 60 Kilo treasure chest, and with just a little familiarity with the rules, you'll know how many dice to roll for it and whether you succeeded before I've said anything. (You did not.)

Every round of play is the same :
1 - The DM sets up a scene. I try to describe things in as much detail as possible, and you can always use those details whether I thought they were relevant or flavor.
2 - Each player describes what they're going to do. Also throw out ideas for what you might want to do in upcoming turns. If you know what dice to roll for this turn's action, roll 'em. If you don't, I'll roll 'em afterward. You can act in any order, since we're online and not necessarily at the same time.
3 - I'll roll any dice that need rolling, and describe what happens as a result. If your character is planning ahead, I'll note what should be rolled, and how likely your character thinks success is. It will be very rare for me to say "no, you can't do that" to what you're doing or what you're planning. I might roll some different dice, if I think your roll really doesn't apply. I might decide that the action fails, but it is always at least what your character tried to do.
4 - See 1

Every action you take is the same :
1 - Describe what you want your character to do. It may or may not actually work, but the better the description of what you want, the better the story.
2 - One Basic Attribute + One Skill (If you have it). This tells you how many dice to roll for the action, and it should usually be easy to know which ones to use.
~~That's it. That's all you have to do. But you can also...
3 - Note anything special ability or item you have that gives bonus dice, changes your success rate, or has some special effect.
4 - Take advantage of any special circumstance, environmental factor, detail of the scenery, lore tidbit or anything else that your character is going to use to give them an advantage. This sort of thing is limited to 1 advantage, and the bonus is almost always 1 die.
5 - If you're being creative with a skill or bonus that only *maybe* applies, describe how your character is applying it. If it makes enough sense, sounds cool enough, funny enough, or In-Character enough, I'll probably let it roll just like you said.

These steps are the same whether you're punching an angry mushroom (Strength + Fisticuffs) , trying to overcome a curse you've contracted (Conviction + Meditate or maybe Intelligence + Arcana:Curses), or trying to make a good impression at a Townie dinner party (Charisma + Empathy, or maybe Guile + Politics). It's just different basic attributes + different skills. Different combinations might be used to accomplish the same basic result, but they will also paint very different pictures of how you get there.

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Strength : Physical : Active / Direct : A rating of your muscle power.
Examples : Damage done by a punch that has landed, pushing boulders, arm wrestling, distance jumping, opening a stuck door, bending iron bars, dead-lift a log
Strength 1 : Weak. Might be able to lift a medium sized dog.
Strength 3 : Muscular. Can probably lift a person of similar size.
Strength 5 : Fantastically strong. Can probably lift a pony.
If something lowers this attribute to zero, you can barely stand. You can't lift or push anything of any weight, and you have great difficulty walking against a light breeze.

Dexterity : Physical : Reactive / Indirect : A rating of your bodily grace and precision.
Examples : Landing a punch, Dodging a punch, Balancing a boulder, Playing Slap-Jack, Throwing a Lasso, Shooting a target, picking a pocket
Dexterity 1 : Clumsy and slow.
Dexterity 3 : Uncommonly nimble.
Dexterity 5 : Inhumanly quick and graceful.
If something lowers DEX to zero, you move as if drunk. You have no reflexes, no sense of aim, and you bump into things constantly.

Constitution : Physical : Passive / Defensive : A rating of your internal health and hardiness.
Examples : Determines your Health, resisting a disease, resisting death at 0 Health, ignoring pain, holding your breath, running at full speed for five minutes
Constitution 1 : Often in poor health.
Constitution 3 : Tires slowly, is rarely ill.
Constitution 5 : Almost never sick or tired.
If something lowers CON to zero, you are not alive anymore. The End.

Intelligence : Mental : Active / Direct : A rating of your ability to perceive and process information.
Examples : Learn a skill, read a complex text, decode a message, understand a clue, construct a logical argument, apply knowledge to the situation, do math
Intelligence 1 : A dullard that never connects the dots.
Intelligence 3 : Quite bright, could do college level research.
Intelligence 5 : A true genius. Capable of learning and applying the most obscure knowledge.
If something lowers INT to zero, you cannot think. You are comatose.

Wits : Mental : Reactive / Indirect : A rating of your ability to make the best use of information immediately in the moment.
Examples : React to an ambush, notice a secret door, Guess at a riddle, discern an enemy's weakness, improvise a weapon or a trap.
Wits 1 : Always distracted. Not the sharpest hammer in the box.
Wits 3 : Clever and perceptive even under pressure.
Wits 5 : Seldom surprised. Files every odd detail for later use.
If something lowers WIT to zero, you are staggered. You can barely keep track of time or your own hat, let alone anything that's happening around you.

Conviction : Mental : Passive / Defensive : A rating of your confidence and ability to handle mental stress.
Examples : Determines your Sanity, resist a psychic attack, maintain a spell, Activate a Virtue, Resist a Vice.
Conviction 1 : Indecisive and Impulsive, sometimes delusional.
Conviction 3 : Not easily confused, uncommonly centered.
Conviction 5 : Rarely shaken or stirred, Unflappable.
If something lowers CNV to zero, you are insane. You exist in a constant delusion and your very personality becomes unstable.

Charisma : Social : Active / Direct : A rating of your ability to communicate your ideas and convince others to accept them.
Examples : Make a good impression at a tea party, Entertain or inspire a crowd of people, strengthen a friendship, ask an ally for a favor.
Charisma 1 : Awkward and Impolite, always saying the wrong thing.
Charisma 3 : Well spoken in professional or casual setting. Entertaining.
Charisma 5 : Can command the attention of any room. Inspiring.
If something lowers CHA to zero, you are incapable of communication.

Guile : Social : Reactive / Indirect : A rating of your ability to read people, understanding what makes them tick and how to manipulate them.
Examples : Guess what someone is planning, bluff your way into a party with no invitation, rile or confuse an angry crowd.
Guile 1 : Rarely knows why people do anything. Can't lie convincingly.
Guile 3 : A smooth talker, often seems to know what others are thinking.
Guile 5 : A true silver-tongue. Most people believe anything they say.
If something lowers GUI to zero, you don't understand emotions and can't lie.

Presence : Social : Passive / Defensive : A rating of your emotional reserve, how you carry yourself, and your ability to be objective.
Examples : Do something impolite without causing a scene, Refuse to become part of an angry mob, resist a social attack (i.e. slander or scapegoat), resist intimidation.
Presence 1 : Undignified, unrespected. Their posture, clothing and speech say 'doormat'.
Presence 3 : Reasonable and professional. People tend to think you're dependable.
Presence 5 : People bow to them. When they act against trends, they're starting tomorrow's trend.
If something lowers PRE to zero, you are constantly overlooked even by your friends. Among others, you are a non-person and an outcast.

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All dice are d10. All rolls are a certain number of d10, looking for a number of "successes".

Normally a success is 8, 9 or 10. You count up the dice that rolled high, and that's how much success (I'll abbreviate as "s") you had at your action. You're either trying to pass a certain number (you need 2 s to break down the door) or accumulate as many successes as possible (you had 4 s so you do 4 points of damage to the enemy / You're rolling your DEX(3)+Shoot(2) against the Enemy's DEX(2)+Dodge(4) to try to hit them.)

You almost always want as many successes as possible, because even if you're just looking for 2 successes, 4 successes might cause something special to happen. Generally the rule for this is that you get some kind of overwhelming success if you double the number of successes you needed.

The difficulty of the action raises the number of successes you need. Rarely, when something is not just difficult but unlikely, I might say you only have success on 9 or 10, or only on 10. When something is particularly in your favor, I might say success is 7+. But normally it's 8, 9, 10 that you're looking for.

Another thing that will happen is Advantage. If your action has Advantage, then it means that you count rolls of 8, 9 or 10 and then Re-Roll any 10s and count those as well, creating the possibility for infinitely large success. Extrordinary advantage of some sort might let you Re-Roll 9s and 10s, but that would be very rare.

If you roll no successes at all on your roll, then you have to look for 1s. They're only important if you have no successes at all, but if that happens, then any 1s indicate a fumble, and the more 1s, the worse it's going to be. Generally, if the count of 1s surpasses the number of successes you needed, then something truly awful happens.

One last kind of roll is a "Chance" roll. It's what you get to do when you try something you really have no business doing, where the rules add up to 0 dice (or less). If you choose to take a Chance Roll, you get to roll 1 die. If it comes up 1, it's a truly awful failure. If it comes up 2 - 7, it's a normal fumble. 8 or 9 is a normal failure. 10 - and only 10 - it's a success with advantage that you get to re-roll looking for 8, 9, 10, and re-roll on 10. Theoretically, you could do anything. Realistically, you're likely to fail, and and fail painfully.

0 s : Any task that a character should reasonably be able to do many times a day, every day without screwing it up is a no-roll.
1 s : A difficult, but every-day task that a person with some training could do regularly. Target Shooting. Lying with a straight face. Following badly written instructions.
3 s : A specialized task regular to only an expert who has specialized in this exact task. Lock Picking. Singing for a crowd. De-ciphering a code with an unknown key.
5 s : A task impossible for a novice, daunting even to an expert. Moving unseen through a busy courtyard. Calming a lynch-mob. Repairing a 400 part watch with no instructions.
7 s : A task considered all but impossible by everyone. Just within reason for the top expert in that field. Not recommended without very specialized tools and maybe some magic.

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HEALTH
Health is a measure of how much suffering you can endure before you just up and die. The HP here are no like in video games, where at 1/200 HP you're fully functional and at 0 you are fully dead. Like real people, if you're walking around halfway between Healthy and Dead, you don't feel good, and things are going to be harder to do. Likewise, you might keep taking more and more damage, but still just hang around at death's door like an annoying neighbor that just wants to chat.

Your Max Health is 2 + Constitution (without any special bonuses). So the weakest tiny baby has 3 HP, and Mr. Muscles McGlorious with the iron stomach probably has 7 HP.

So, you know. Try not to take damage. Without any special bonuses or magic, HP regenerates at a rate of 1 per night of restful sleep, or 2 for a full day of bed-rest.

At 2/3+ of your HP, you are Healthy, and take no penalty. At less than 2/3 HP, you are "Hurt" and you take a 1 Die penalty to any Physical action (STR / DEX / CON). When you're Hurt, you may also need to roll for some strenuous actions that don't normally require a roll. At 1/3 or less, you are "Wounded" and you take a 2 Die penalty to any Physical action, and a 1 Die penalty to all other actions. Any action more strenuous than walking slowly is going to take a roll. NOTE : These penalties do NOT apply to CON rolls you take to avoid unconsciousness, regain consciousness or fail at dying.

At 1 HP or above, if you are unconscious, you can make a CON roll each turn (2s) to regain consciousness.

At 1 or 0 HP you are horribly unsteady and barely able to remain standing. You fall Unconscious any time you take a hit - even one that does no damage.

At 0 or -1 HP, you are unable to regain consciousness if you are unconscious.

At -1 HP, you no longer lose HP. Any time you take a hit, you make a CON roll that requires 1s + 1s per point of damage done. If you don't get enough successes, you die.
If you are not suffering new damage, you make a CON roll each hour you are not completely at rest. If you get no successes, you die.

Healthy / Hurt / Wounded
CON 1 : o / o / o
CON 2 : oo / o / o
CON 3 : oo / oo / o
CON 4 : oo / oo / oo
CON 5 : ooo / oo / oo

SANITY
Sanity is much like Health, except it indicates how much of the Unknown's strangeness you can handle before you go mad. Like real people, if you're walking around halfway between Sane and Insane, you're not completely in control of yourself, and things are going to be harder to do. Likewise, you might suffer through a hundred different impossible things, and inexplicably be just fine. Yeah, so? It's weird here. Move along.

Your [b]Max Sanity is 2 + Conviction (without any special bonuses). So the most conflicted INFP probably has 3 Sanity, and Mrs. What with her wool socks probably has 7 Sanity.

Without any special bonuses or magic, Sanity regenerates at a rate of 1 per night of restful sleep, or 2 for a full day of bed-rest.

At 2/3+ of your Sanity, you are Sane, and take no penalty. At less than 2/3 Sanity, you are "Unstable" and you take a 1 Die penalty to any Mental action (INT/ WIT / CNV). When you're "Unstable", you may also need to roll for some complex actions that don't normally require a roll. At 1/3 or less, you are "going Mad" and you take a 2 Die penalty to Mental actions, a 1 Die penalty to Social actions, and to understand anything more complex than a 5 word sentence.

At 1 Sanity or above, if you are "Insane", you can make a Conviction roll each turn (2 s) to regain control of yourself.

At 1 or 0 Sanity you are overwhelmed by the Unknown. You go Insane any time your sanity is threatened, even if there's no damage done.

While Insane, you are only marginally in control of yourself, beholden to your Virtue and Vice, but you no longer receive any benefit from them. Any action you take must be with the goal of fulfilling your Vice or Virtue as quickly, repeatedly and grandly as possible. Any other action (with some exceptions) will be rewritten as "You tried to X, but instead you Y". You can no longer resist your Virtue or Vice if any opportunity arises.

At 0 or -1 Sanity, you are unable to regain control if you are Insane.

At -1 HP, you no longer lose Sanity. Any time your sanity is threatened, you make a CNV roll that requires 1s + 1s per point of damage done. If you don't get enough successes, you are "Lost" to the madness of the Unknown, and are an NPC forevermore. If you are not suffering any threats to your Sanity, you make a CNV roll each hour you are awake. If you get no successes, you become Lost.

Sane / Unstable / Wounded
CON 1 : o / o / o
CON 2 : oo / o / o
CON 3 : oo / oo / o
CON 4 : oo / oo / oo
CON 5 : ooo / oo / oo

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