This game runs directly towards dark subject matter. In other words, this game does not have a trigger warning. This game is a trigger warning. This game is designed to poke and prod at characters' issues while pushing further conflict between them. Despite this, it also strives to create a community out of its players, not as a result of its draconian mechanics, but specifically despite them.
This game is one that deals with difficult subject matter and values emotional vulnerability above all else. This combination is a difficult one, especially for many groups that regularly engage in lighter recreational roleplay and have not ventured into these depths before. First and foremost, before jumping straight in, ensure the following:
- Everyone involved is both ready for and alright with this prospect.
- Everyone involved is ok with the above, in the context of this group specifically.
If this is not the case, suprise suprise, don't play this game! Table this system until you can find a group that is. Many people don't want the above out of a tabletop RPG and would be much happier kicking in doors and beheading goblins.
And even if everyone involved does want this kind of experience out of a TTRPG, it is paramount that you have a group that works. Your group can be the difference between the best game you've ever played and the worst, many times, by no fault of any individual member. Assess your group and determine if everyone's goals are aligned. Have the GM go around to everyone individually and ask if they're alright with the group, and if there is any remedy, if they're not. If even just one person involved isn't ok with the group in this context especially, It is completely ok, and even encouraged to decide that this group just doesn't work and go play something else!
Taking care of yourselves is the most important thing. Pause play to check in with people. Designate certain flaws, vices, or troubles as "off limits". Take regular breaks. Whatever you need. Each individual's wellbeing is more important than the game being fun.
[!IMPORTANT] > Your priority is to your friendship with these people, not to the text of this document!
That said, this game is one designed to directly approach dark subject matter. To fully experience this system as intended, I encourage everyone to become comfortable in the tension of discomfort. Be aware of yourself enough to notice that pull in your stomach when you're uncomfortable with a situation or idea, and acknowledge it rather than suppress it. In fact, move towards it. Investigate what causes it. Poke and prod at it. See what it does, how it evolves. This game's systems are designed to help you do this, and to engage with other players doing the same.
To be abundantly clear, this is not saying you should grin and bear it through a panic attack, a dissociative episode, or anything similar. If you read it that way, reread the last section! I'm just some random person and these are just words! I can write literally anything here! Wackadoodle! Merk! Fibsquashe! Take care of yourselves, people.
In a treehouse or some equivalent base-adjacent location. Players play as high schoolers or college-age students. These characters will inevitably be wholly problematic and unwell, however despite this they must always have each other's best interests at heart, even if the ups and downs of the moment to moment don't fully illustrate that. If a character is created and does not have this core trait, either ask the whole party for full permission before proceeding (it could admittedly make for a great story), or go back to the drawing board. Potentially hand that character off to the GM as an adversary or other relevant NPC, but at the end of the day this game was designed for players to have each others backs.
The treehouse has been here longer than any of the players. Nobody really knows who built it; the eldest member was invited by those that have since gone, and those that invited them had no idea where it came from either. All anyone knows is that the treehouse has served as a safe haven for all that have had the privilege of being in its presence. It means something different to everyone, but the one constant between all members, despite their arguments, differences, and conflicts, is that the treehouse is uniquely valuable to them.
When someone joins the treehouse, usually via an invite (which requires unanimous approval from all current members), all the treehouse asks of them is a signed, hand-drawn self portrait. Players should take the time to create these for their characters, in character, then give them to the GM. In the fiction, these are placed into a chest in the general room and kept under lock & key.
Departing the treehouse results in a lantern meeting, as detailed later in this document, regardless of the circumstances. A character moving away to attend another college, their parents moving away, abandoning the group due to disagreements, or they have killed themselves/ died in some other way are all causes of a character's departure. These events might be informed by mechanics, or by player decision.
Status within the treehouse is gauged by seniority, or in other words, who joined the club first? Everyone should decide how long their characters have been there, and who is the eldest. The eldest is in charge of running meetings and mediating, however, can be replaced by 2/3rds vote.
The treehouse looks however you want it to. Simple or complex, large or small, well built or rickety, it's all up to you. It doesn't even need to be a treehouse! Perhaps you hold a session 0 to design your group's own treehouse or simply provide a simple description for them. Whatever you decide, There are two rooms that treehouses have almost ubiquitously. (If you decide not to have these, make sure to think up some way to maintain their functions!)
This room is the central hub of operations, the centerpiece of the treehouse. This is where members gather during meetings and usually features comfy spots to hang out before/ after meetings. There is also a small chest containing all of the portraits of current members.
The lantern room is off limits, with two exceptions. The first is by unanimous vote, and the other is upon a member's departure. The lantern room almost always has no windows, lit solely by... a lantern. The lantern room has a collection of picture frames painted either black or white, many already used to house the self portraits of the many that have come before, scattered around the outsides of the room. It is forbidden to intentionally touch the portrait of someone you didn't know personally.
The use of the lantern room is described later on in this document.
Here are some more ideas for other (optional) rooms that you may decide to add in full or in part to your group's treehouse.
- Library
- Thing 2
- TODO: Add more ideas here :3
The set of governing rules for the treehouse set out in this doccument serve simply as a place to start. They could feature as the system inherited by the players, one that is simply accepted as a universal constant, or one that is eventually overruled by the players, replaced by something that works better for them, or anything else. The only constant is that someone needs to run meetings and mediate conflict. The treehouse exists to serve those it houses then and there, and noone else.
Different groups have different opinions on GM-run treehouse members. Newer groups might benefit from beginning with a GM-run eldest treehouse member, at least for a couple of sessions, some groups might enjoy a larger community within the treehouse, populated by GM-run NPCs (that they might take on as PC's later on once their PC has moved on), and others might prefer a group that contains solely PCs.
The game attempts to keep all scenes rooted in the treehouse. Flashbacks occur regularly to show scenes that have occurred in the past, but with few exceptions the "present moment" of the game remains the treehouse. This allows most meta conversations that you might have while playing to reasonably occur in the fiction, in character as well, which should be taken advantage of by remaining in character as much as reasonably possible. For example, if you want to vent to someone but don't know who has the most spoons to deal with your vent, instead of asking the other players out of character whose character has the most spoons left to accommodate a vent, do it in character!
This game is structured around a series of days. At the beginning of each one, players must decide how the hours at their disposal are spent. Each "day" every player contributes one event that occurred at school, home, or elsewhere that day and the group can optionally play that as a scene. Remove 2 stress if the event is related to a flaw, vice, or trouble.
spare time is a resource that is evenly distributed to players.
Spare time can be spent:
Each player character keeps track of a few key statistics. These differ from those present in many RPGs in that they don't denote any predispositions for or against certain types of gameplay (as a strength or intelligence stat would, for example)
- Stress
- Spare time
- Inspiration TODO: positive token of progress to be spent on flaw, vice or trouble beat scenes
"Health" in this game is represented by a series of stress points, which can worsen into status effects, and finally into flaws, vices, and troubles (which are explained later).
Stress can either turn into status effects or new flaws vices, and troubles.
Stress are bad right now, status effects are bad for the short term, and flaws vices & troubles are bad long term.
All stress can be cleared by taking one flaw, vice, or trouble
smaller amounts of stress can be cleared by taking status effects.
Finally, time can be spent to clear stress during downtime.
-
When bad things happen (failed a check, discovered something awful, saw something disturbing, etc...) Characters can become saddled with certain status effects that negatively affect gameplay.
-
Each status effect should have a "when does the effect trigger"
-
Status effects act as the basic building blocks of the health system.
-
Each character starts with a limit of 4 status effects that they can handle at any given time, which can be increased as the game goes on. When they take a new one they roll the dice equivalent to their limit (lim 4 -> d4, lim 6 -> d6). If they roll below or equal to their current number of status effects (including the new one), they enter the "Crashing out" state.
-
If adding the new status effect would exceed the player's current limit, clear all current status effects, take a new flaw, vice or trouble, and add the new status effect to the now cleared status effect list.
-
Characters can attempt to clear status effects by venting to a friend.
Status effects can either be general (can apply to all players) or flaw/vice/trouble specific.
All status effects can be cleared by taking one additional flaw, vice, or trouble.
Having beef with another character grants you this special status effect. You can only have one instance of this status effect, regardless of how much beef you have, however it is only removed when you have no beef remaining, with anyone.
When making a roll, if you have beef with any character involved, subtract 1d8 for each point of beef you have, unless you are making this roll to vent this status effect to them.
Additionally, upon entering a social situation with the target of the beef, take one point of stress for each point of beef you have towards them if you do not immediately leave.
If this status effect is successfully vented to someone other than the target of the beef, the stress penalty, but not the 1d8 roll reduction, is suppressed for 1d4 days, but not removed.
You can remove status effects by successfully venting them to another player character. You may not vent to NPCs.
Before playing out the scene make a roll. This roll will serve as a starting point but not an outcome. The outcome should be achieved though rp
normal roll, except outcomes.
the reciever of the vent can optionally choose to shut down the vent by lashing out, turning on, or otherwise attacking the venter. in doing so they may clear all stress. if this occurs, the vent is failed and the venter must either take beef towards the reciever or take on the amount of stress they just cleared.
| outcome | roll | consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Success | 2+ 8s | Succeed & reduce stress |
| Success | 6-8 highest | Succeed |
| Failure | 3-5 highest | Fail & perform a crash out roll |
| Critical Falure | 1-2 highest | Fail & add one status effect |
TODO: Some kind of penalty for repeated venting?
Similar to the darkest self in monsterhearts.
TODO
Beef is unaddressed social pressure that builds up between individuals till it's talked through or violently explodes. Getting beef isn't overwhelmingly common but when it does show up, it makes things bad till it's addressed.
Every time you add a beef, write down exactly what caused it and who it's at. Beef can be reciprocal or it can be one-way depending on the situation. Anyone can call for beef to be invoked in regards to their character. If the GM calls for beef to be added, the player, or players in question can either accept the beef or split 5 stress among themsevles as they wish.
When beef is called everyone involved should discuss who has it, who it's pointed at, and if it's reciprocal. Once that's decided, those adding beef to their characters should do so, then add the special "beef" status effect to their character sheets if they have taken beef and do not already have it.
Note that while the status effect cannot stack, beef itself can!
One can remove beef by venting its associated status effect to the ire of their beef, or alternatively by cutting ties. The latter is achieved by cutting the target of the beef off as much as possible. Blocking numbers, setting boundaries, and keeping distance.
Note
If you end up in a situation where a PC is holding a lot of one way beef towards another PC and they refuse to resolve it, that might be a good time to pause, take a step back and have a discussion about everyone's goals. If Everyone involved (especially the player with all the beef) is cool with it and thinks it makes for good storytelling, great! But if not, it might be a good time to consider retiring the target PC or perhaps finding some way to alter their character to make the game more cooperative.
An IOU is a metaphorical token of debt. You did someone a favor, or perhaps have some information on them that they'd rather not see the light of day. IOUs are character-specific; You can't use an IOU you got from person A when talking to person B.
Regardless of how you get them, you can use IOUs to influence other characters when you need to.
IOUs can be spent at any time during conversation to create one of the following affects.
- Answer honestly
- Dodge the question and take 5 stress
- Dodge the question and mark one beef towards them.
Certain IOUs (GM discretion) can be shared with others to gain IOUs on them. For example, if you have a secret (an IOU) about person A, you can tell person B in order to gain an IOU on person B. Person B then might gain that same IOU on person A, if the GM thinks that would be appropriate.
(GMs: See On GMing later to determine when you should be calling for rolls!)
When performing a skill check, do the following:
What happens if you succeed? If you fail?
Players are welcome to propose ideas as to potential consequences (including players not involved in the current check!), but the final word is left to the player making the check and the GM.
Remember to account for effects imposed by status effects and/or flaws, vices, & troubles
Start with 1d8
-
Add 1d8 if you have experience with this (GM discretion)
-
Add 1d8 for each spare time block spent preparing for this check (max 2)
-
Add 1d8 by taking a deal with the devil (discuss with the GM to decide what this entails! TODO: better explanation)
-
Subtract d8's corresponding to your current level of Stress.
-
Subtract d8s equal to the check's difficulty, as determined by the GM:
| difficulty | dice subtracted |
|---|---|
| Contested | -0d8 |
| Challenging | -1d8 |
| Impossible | -2d8 |
Note
Easy checks are simply succeeded, unless the player wishes to roll anyway
If the final result is below 0, just roll one die and for each die below one your resulting total is, worsen the consequences by one step. and just roll one die.
| outcome | roll | consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Success | 2+ 8s | Succeed & reduce stress |
| Success | 6-8 highest | Succeed |
| Failure | 3-5 highest | Fail & perform a crash out roll |
| Critical Falure | 1-2 highest | Fail & add one status effect |
- Characters are mechanically built around their flaws, vices, and troubles. Some may only struggle with one, others with many, yet most pick up new ones as they go along. Players should decide how their character feels about each of their issues (despises it but feels helpless, has willfully ignored it long enough for it to lay slumbering in their psyche, actively fights any change refusing to accept it as a negative trait, etc...), Their past with each one, and more.
Conquering or coming to peace with a flaw, vice or trouble allows you to increase your status effect capacity
TODO
Personality flaws are the avenue in which this game provides players with juicy juicy progression, and in doing so influences the poking and prodding at the aforementioned flaws, vices, and troubles of everyone involved. Drama queens are pushed to engage vices if insufficient tea is extracted from others. Narcisissts have a deep seated urge to downplay other's struggles to feel alright themselves. Perfectionists are pushed to fix others' issues rather than reckon with their own.
TODO
- Push players to prod at others' flaws vices and troubles. All personalities should be a function of other characters' struggles in one way or another.
- Provide progression arcs a-la slugblaster.
- Provide defined goals for the GM and the player to strive for in the upcoming sessions a-la heart
- (summary: heart and slugblaster's beat systems kissed sloppy style and made this)
Each flaw, vice or trouble provides a series of beats that provide the framework for a story centered around that flaw, vice, or trouble.
TODO
When a member departs the treehouse by any method, a lantern ritual is held. Nobody is permitted to speak of the contents of the lantern ritual outside of the lantern room; what happens in the lantern room remains in the lantern room, out of respect for those that came before and the vulnerability of the ritual.
In real life, before a lantern ritual is held, pause the game, and have each player write a message on paper, in character, to the departing (or departed) character. This message can contain anything, and be of any length, but all must contain a story of the departed. This story can be one experienced in play, or made up on the spot (with the involvement of the departing character's player, and the GM, if at all possible). This can be one done in the moment, or perhaps an assignment to be completed between sessions.
To begin, the group gathers in the darkness of the lantern room. In real life, players are encouraged to turn out the lights and gather in a circle on the ground. The departing character, if they are capable of attendance, are put into the middle of the circle. If not, their hand drawn portrait is substituted. The same rules apply for players, though a player's character may not be able to attend while the player is, or vice versa.
In the fiction, the lantern is lit, and shuttered by the eldest member, or by the character closest to the departed, which is determined on a case-by-case basis. This can be an actual lantern, a phone flashlight, a candle, or any other light source players can get their hands on. The item within the fiction does not need to be a lantern either.
The player with the lantern waits in silence until the room becomes still. What this means differs for everyone, and it can be as long or as short as they desire. Once they are ready, they lift the shutter, shining the light into the center of the circle, illuminating the departed. They then read their message in its entirety, casting the paper into the circle once they finish. They then shutter the lantern, and pass it to the person on their left, who does the same themselves.
Once the circle completes, the departed is given a chance to respond to the stories and messages in the same manner. If they are dead or otherwise absent, a one minute silence is observed.
Finally, all of the messages are collected from the circle, and placed behind the departed's self portrait into a simple picture frame. If the departed has died, this frame is white, otherwise it is black. The frame is placed somewhere on the outskirts of the room alongside the portraits of the many that have come before.
A roll in a TTRPG is (in broad terms) a summary of what occurs; a simplification of more complicated events down to a simple success/fail, or perhaps slightly more depending on the system. The focus of this system specifically is the roleplay, thus if you're roleplaying something, why would you want to simplify the situation? Let it play out in all its complexity! Opt to use IOUs instead if mechanical intervention is strictly required.
In summary: Opt for roleplay over rolling & skill checks wherever possible.
Note
Optional Rule - IOU spending
Your players may want to spend an IOU to influence a roll. It is not recommended to allow this in purely social situations, however if a roll can be influenced by an IOU and you want to allow it, here are some rules to allow for such an event.
1 IOU = 1 extra die
Did a player willingly take a mechanical penalty to tell a better story? Make sure to reward them with TODO
This Game takes inspiration from a bunch of incredible TTRPGs. Here's what I'm drawing from:
John Harper's Blades in the Dark served as an incredibly strong starting point for this system's dice mechanics. Try as I might, its "deal with the devil" mechanic is a stroke of genius that that I just can't top. Baiting players to willingly make the situation more complicated and difficult by dangling an extra d8 in front of them is so evil and I love it so much.
Mikey Hamm's Slugblaster inspired this game's classes. Its framework for class-based storytelling was a tremendous inspiration for how this game handles its equivalent mechanic; flaws, vices and troubles. Providing each class with a vague yet structured story that it's designed to tell is such a useful concept.
Nathaniel Halpern's Tales From the Loop was a core inspiration for this system's status effect/ venting system. The idea of accruing mechanically damaging status effects that can then be shared with others to (potentially) alleviate them is an incredibly powerful idea when it comes to mechanically pushing players to engage in deep roleplay when they might otherwise opt to avoid more difficult, emotionally involved ideas & concepts.