Constellation Cards
Constellation Cards
CardsRules

Core Rules

Challenges

Any player may challenge a PC's action if failure is likely and success or failure are both interesting for the story.

When your PC is challenged, you must generate a hit in order to succeed. Other rules provide ways to generate hits.

If you fail to meet a challenge, your PC's intentions are thwarted, or complications arise. There's no challenge if this can't happen.

  • You're navigating rough terrain, and might fall or lose equipment
  • You're fighting or fleeing a dangerous monster, and might get hurt
  • You're working with complex magic or technology, and it might malfunction
  • You're confronting an emotionally fraught situation where harm is possible

Flip for additional rules.

Challenges

Challenges follow the principle of "say yes or roll the dice".

Use challenges to increase or decrease the difficulty of a situation. For example, a risky combat scene might pose several challenges in succession. A simple social encounter might pose only one challenge.

The player posing the challenge should give an idea of what failure looks like. That player, or the Storyteller, might narrate the specifics of failure.

The same action should not be challenged multiple times unless there are both distinct and interesting ways for it to fail. For example, a demonstration of new magic might go awry by itself, but might also anger a jealous wizard who observes it.

    Flip for additional rules.

    X-Card

    Start the game by reading this text aloud:

    "I'd like your help. Your help to make this game fun for everyone. If anything makes anyone uncomfortable in any way, just lift this card up, or simply tap it. You don't have to explain why. It doesn't matter why. When we lift or tap this card, we simply edit out anything X-Carded."

    "And if there is ever an issue, anyone can call for a break and we can talk privately. I know it sounds funny but it will help us play amazing games together and usually I'm the one who uses the X card to protect myself from all of you! Please help make this game fun for everyone. Thank you!"

      Lay this card at the center of the play area

      X-Card

      Start the game by reading this text aloud:

      "I'd like your help. Your help to make this game fun for everyone. If anything makes anyone uncomfortable in any way, just lift this card up, or simply tap it. You don't have to explain why. It doesn't matter why. When we lift or tap this card, we simply edit out anything X-Carded."

      "And if there is ever an issue, anyone can call for a break and we can talk privately. I know it sounds funny but it will help us play amazing games together and usually I'm the one who uses the X card to protect myself from all of you! Please help make this game fun for everyone. Thank you!"

        Lay this card at the center of the play area

        Character Cards

        Cards with this icon are character cards.

        To create a new PC, pick three cards from three different categories, e.g. Focus, Role, and Origin. You can choose cards at random, or select them yourself.

        These cards describe a PC's most important traits, or the traits that you want to see in the spotlight during the game. Just because someone else has the Courage card doesn't mean your character isn't courageous, only that it's not going to be the quality we see most often or most plainly.

        • Front: get a hit by flipping the card
        • Back: flip when a prompt is narrated by anyone

        Character Cards

        Cards with this icon are character cards.

        To create a new PC, pick three cards from three different categories, e.g. Focus, Role, and Origin. You can choose cards at random, or select them yourself.

        These cards describe a PC's most important traits, or the traits that you want to see in the spotlight during the game. Just because someone else has the Courage card doesn't mean your character isn't courageous, only that it's not going to be the quality we see most often or most plainly.

        • Front: get a hit by flipping the card
        • Back: flip when a prompt is narrated by anyone

        Condition Cards

        You've been affected by injury, delirium, debts, magical curses, or other problems.

        You can take a condition to get a hit. Describe how. Players who challenge you can suggest conditions to meet it.

        The condition is fictionally true and limits your actions. If you narrate an action the condition would interfere with, you must meet the challenge of the condition in addition to any other challenges.

        You can flip a front-side condition to worsen it and get a hit. Describe how.

        Clearing conditions takes time. Use this time to drive drama, build the world, or explore how you clear the condition.

        Discard any conditions that no longer apply in the fiction.

          Flip to see examples

          Condition Examples

          Conditions are a way to achieve success at a cost. You can use conditions in many ways.

          • You choose to take Disarmed to score a telling blow on the enemy.
          • The facilitator or another player thinks touching the idol will leave you Magicked.
          • A poisonous cloud envelops you. If you want to stay in it, meet the challenge by taking Weakened.
          • You're already Hurt, but you can worsen it to Wounded to get a hit. You attack, blood gushing from reopened wounds, and strike down your enemy before falling in a faint yourself.
          • You spend a scene being healed by a priestess to discard Hurt. You wanted to talk to her anyway, about...
          • You spend a week of downtime doing odd jobs to pay off Indebted. During that time, you listen for new adventure opportunities.

          Flip to see rules