Chapter 1: Introduction

Polyhedral is a role-playing game system with collaborative storytelling at its core, and it and shares similarities with other narrative forms including childhood games of make-believe, writing, and acting.

Polyhedral is fueled by its players’ imaginations. The scenarios that are described by storytellers to the players are backed by the structure of rules and mechanics that allow for fair arbtration of rules. To play Polyhedral, players create characters—some times these characters are heroes, some times they are villains. Polyhedral is best played in a group of four-to-five players, each playing their own characters. Together, the group might explore ancient ruins, a vampire’s castle, the outer reaches of the galaxy, and other places that are limited only by the group’s imagination. At these locations the group may talk with other characters that are part of the story’s tapestry, compete against adversaries, solve puzzles, and discover secrets long since buried.

Polyhedral presents the rules you need to run a game, and nothing you don’t. It is a system that is designed to be extended and modified to fit the needs of the game and the story being told.

Why Polyhedral?

There are innumerable games and game systems out there, so why choose Polyhedral? Polyhedral has been built to be compatible with popular games, as well as with a preference toward being an open system with no licensing. In addition, it embraces modularity.

True, open gaming. Polyhedral is free. It is open source. It has a permissive, industry-standard, license—the Creative Commons CC BY license. We want everyone to use Polyhedral, to remix it, build on top of, and to redistribute it without any barriers.

Modular by design. The core of Polyhedral is rules-light. It aims to include the absolute minimum set of game rules and details necessary to run a game of Polyhedral. Since all rules interact with the core mechanics, it is possible to add and remove systems mostly independently without impacting the other parts of the game.

Highly compatible. Polyhedral can be easily adapted for other gaming content, rules and guides for conversion can be found alongside this and other resources for Polyhedral.

Using this Book

The Polyhedral is divided into a few parts:

• Part 1 deals with character creation and character details, as well as a primer on important aspects of the game (how to make ability checks, etc.)
• Part 2 covers rules related to playing the game, combat, and magic.

Throughout this book the rules address you, the player or the storyteller. The book will occassionally refer to any character or creature taking an action with the more generic “actor”. As a player, “you” can mean either your character or a creature that you control.

Players

Everyone at the table who is playing Polyhedral is a player. One of the players takes on a special role of the storyteller.

Players take on the role of characters in the story, these characters can also be referred to as player characters (or PCs), differentiating them from non-player characters (NPCs, the characters that a storyteller controls). Sometimes a player also controls creatures or other characters.

What does the storyteller do?

The role of the storyteller is important to most games in Polyhedral because not only are they responsible for framing the world and the story that the other players are engaging with, but it is also their responsibility to act as a fair arbiter of the rules of the game.

Does every game of Polyhedral need a storyteller? More often than not, the answer is yes. There may be certain situations where a storyteller is not strictly necessary, though you may have a better experience with someone taking the role of the storyteller.

The storyteller does not need to be the same individual every time, in fact every player is encouraged to take on the role of storyteller as they gain confidence. This gives everyone a chance to play in, as well as run, games in Polyhedral and helps everyone enjoy the game equally.

Some of the things a storyteller does are:

Act as the story’s narrator. The storyteller is responsible for narrating the events of a story to the players, describing them in as best detail as he or she can so that the players can picture what their characters are seeing. As a narrator the storyteller aims to pace the story such that scenes flow seamlessly and give the players a chance to experience the world as if they were experiencing it first hand. In addition to providing descriptions, the storyteller is also in control of the individuals—both good and bad—that the characters encounter along their journey. The storyteller gives voice to the characters’ allies and their enemies alike. As the storyteller, your duty as narrator is the most important part you will play in a game.

As the story’s author. Many times a storyteller is not just the narrator, but they are the author of the story. They are responsible for the ideas and themes, along with the creation of the people and places that the characters will interact with on their journey.

Rules arbiter. During the game you will almost certainly need to resolve rules disputes. This will be easier the more familiar you are with the rules of the game and any modular content that is being used. As the storyteller it falls on you to decide how a given rule will be applied.

What the storyteller is not

The storyteller’s role often puts them in what is seemingly an adversarial position to the other players, after all they are the person who is presenting challenges and deterrents to the characters. However, the players are not trying to win against the storyteller and neither is the storyteller trying to win against the players.

How to Play

The following section is a quick overview of the elements of game play in Polyhedral. Some of this is discussed in more detail later in the book.

The D6

At its core, Polyhedral is designed to be played using only six-sided dice, also known as d6’s. Generally a player will roll three six-sided dice, or 3d6, when their character performs an action. This is sometimes referred to as the character’s dice pool. The result of this roll, along with any modifiers applied, determines outcome of the action. In order to simplify the presentation of game mechanics, the number of six-sided dice that a player should roll is denoted with the number of dice, followed by a ‘D’, e.g. 3D. The number of sides of the dice (6) is left off because all dice in Polyhedral use a six-sided die.

If a dice roll has a modifier applied to it, that will be denoted with either an addition or subtraction of the modifier after the dice representation, e.g. 3D+5 or 3D–1.

Dice Pool Modifiers

Sometimes your character might have a modifier to their dice pool. Most commonly this is when your character has advantage, disadvantage, or is unskilled. A modification to your dice pool is presented as either a −1D or +1D to the roll. Some circumstances may modify your dice pool by two or more dice, but these are less common.

Advantage. With advantage on a check, you have a +1D to that check’s dice pool. You either have advantage or you don’t. If multiple situations grant advantage, you only gain the +1D dice pool bonus from one of those situations.

Disadvantage. With disadvantage on a check, you have a −1D to that check’s dice pool. You either have disadvantage or you don’t. If multiple situations impose disadvantage, you only suffer the −1D to your dice pool from one of those situations.

Unskilled. If you are unskilled with or in a particular skill, tool, weapon, knowledge, saving throw or check that you are making you have a −1D to the check’s dice pool.

When you have both advantage and disadvantage, no matter how many circumstances grant or impose the benefit or penalty, the situations cancel each other out and you are considered to have neither advantage or disadvantage. For example, if you have advantage from two sources and disadvantage from a third, you do not have either advantage or disadvantage on the roll and there is not change due to these circumstances to your dice pool.

The above are only a few examples of common dice pool modifiers. There may be other circumstances that grant bonuses or impose reductions to your dice pool. Your dice pool for any check can not be reduced to less than 1D.

Critical Successes

A critical success occurs on any check you are performing where you roll two or more 6’s on the dice. You can only score a critical success when your dice pool is at least 3D, if your dice pool is greater than 3D (because of advantage or some other reason), you have a greater chance of scoring a critical success.

Applying Rules

If two rules seemingly contradict one another, the more specific of the two rules is applied. If it isn’t clear which rule should be applied or there are no rules for a given situation, the storyteller is responsible for adjudicating and resolving the situation. The storyteller may also decide that they are not using certain rules.

Always Round Down

Whenever a number is divided in the game, always round down if you end up with a fractional number, even if the fraction is one-half or greater. This greatly simplifies the math in the game.

Abilities

Every creature, including characters and non-player characters, has six abilities that are used to describe its general aptitude, those abilities are: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Mind, Spirit, and Presence. These abilities govern the physical, mental, and spiritual or magical aspects of a creature. The ranks of these abilities typically range in value from 3 to 20, though some creatures may have ability ranks as low as a 1 or well-above 20. The modifiers associated with these ability ranks are applied to almost every action in the game.

• Strength, a measure of raw physical prowess and power.
• Agility, a measure of speed and manual dexterity.
• Vitality, a measure of stamina.
• Mind, a measure of mental faculties including wit, reasoning, memory, and observation.
• Spirit, a measure of spiritual or magical attunement.
• Presence, a measure of social skills and personality.

A character interacts with the world by performing actions. These actions may be scaling a wall, searching for clues, or even making an attack. When you take an action, if there is a chance of failure or the outcome is uncertain you allow a roll of the dice to determine the result.

Making Ability Checks

Polyhedral is built around the idea that characters interact with the world around them as a direct result of the actions that they perform. The outcomes of those actions are resolved, primarily, through three types of rolls: ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Ability checks are made when a character or creature takes an action and there is a possibility of failure. If there is no possibility of failure, a storyteller does not (and should not) call for an ability check. Attacks, while they use your abilities, are resolved using different rules. All checks are made against a target number, the check’s difficulty. Making a check is easy:

1. Roll your dice pool and add modifiers. When you make a check roll your dice pool (typically 3D) for the check and add ability and skill modifiers to the roll.
2. Apply bonuses and penalties. Circumstantial bonuses and penalties from conditions, features, spells, equipment, and other effects are either added or subtracted from the check.
3. Compare the result with a target difficulty. Compare the total result of the check, after all modifiers, bonuses, and penalties are applied to a target difficulty. If the result equals or exceeds the target number the check is a success, otherwise it fails. The storyteller usually decides how difficult an action is, sometimes the players know the difficulty in advance other times it is unknown.

Ability Check Difficulties

When calling for an ability check, the storyteller decides which ability is relevant and the difficulty of an action being performed.

Very Easy. Tasks of this difficulty are ones that just about anyone can do. These checks should be rare and only if a failure has significant consequences to the scenario in play.

Easy. Most characters will have little trouble with these tasks, but an unskilled character may find a modicum of challenge in performing them.

Average. Even skilled characters may fail at an average difficulty task. Consistent success requires experience and training, or a character needs to be naturally talented.

Moderate. Tasks of this difficulty require higher levels of skill to be successful at. Unskilled characters may still succeed at moderate difficulty tasks but this often requires luck and advantageous circumstances.

Hard. These tasks are truly challenging, even to skilled characters. A character must either be very skilled or very lucky.

Very Hard. Tasks of this level of difficulty are those that masters of a skill or craft are capable of performing; few others will be successful.

Heroic and Nearly Impossible. Tasks of heroic and nearly impossible difficulties test even the most proficient, experienced, and skilled characters. Success often requires more than a modicum of luck or ideal circumstances.

Skilled vs. Unskilled Checks

If you are skilled in a check, also sometimes referred to as being proficient, your base dice pool for an action is 3D. When you make the check you can add your skill bonus to the roll modifiers. If you are unskilled, or not proficient, in a check your dice pool is reduced by −1D and you do not add your skill bonus when determining the result of the roll.

Passive Checks

Passive checks are special ability checks that resolve without rolling any dice. This type of check is usually used by a storyteller to determine the results of frequent or trivial tasks, especially where failure does not have a significant consquence to the current scene. For example, a storyteller may use a creature’s passive Mind (Awareness) check to determine if that creature notices something in a forest when it is otherwise not expecting any danger.

You determine the total for a passive check by:

10 + all modifiers that apply to the check

When a check would normally have a dice pool modifier, e.g. advantage or disadvantage, additional modifiers are applied to the passive check’s total:

• For every +1D that would be applied to a check’s dice pool, the passive check total has a +5 bonus.
• For every −1D that would be applied to a check’s dice pool, the passive check total has a -5 penalty.

For example, a character with a Mind of 14, is skilled in Awareness, and has a skilled modifier of +2 has a passive Mind (Awareness) of 14.

Providing Assistance

An actor can provide assistance to another creature by taking the Help action (see: Actions below). In order to assist another creature on an ability check, that actor must be proficient in the skill that you are trying to help with. By assisting another creature, that creature gains advantage on the skill check.

Group Checks

When three or more actors work together to accomplish the same action, they do so by making a group ability check. When a group ability check is made, each participant makes the check. If at least half of the group succeeds, then the group check is a success, otherwise it fails. A storyteller might ask for a group check if all of the characters are searching an environment for clues, or when a group is attempting to pass themselves off as an official delegation in order to gain access to a secure area.

Opposed Checks

When a character’s or creature’s action is directly opposed by another actor, the storyteller might call for an opposed check. This might happen when the two actors are attempting same action, or attempting to counter the effort of one another, for instance both are pulling on a rope in opposite directions.

When making an opposed check, both participants make an ability check. Instead of comparing the result of these checks to a difficulty, however, they are compared to one another. The actor with the highest check total wins the contest. In the event of a tie neither participant makes progress and the situation remains as it was before the opposed check was made.

Character Advancement

Your character’s growth is tracked in levels. For every 1,000 experience points (typically abbreviated as XP), you gain a level.

Everytime you gain a level, you can do one of the following:

• Increase one ability rank by +2, or two ability ranks by +1.
• Gain a rank in a job, provided you meet any necessary requirements.
• Gain a talent, provided you meet any necessary requirements.

While most play occurs in your character’s first 25-30 levels, there is no limit to the number of levels a character can gain.