GODWROT

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GODWROT is a narrative game of grubby fantasy inspired by Warhammer, Terry Pratchett and the British old-school. It is based on Simple World by Avery Adler, and the Powered by the Apocalypse World engine by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. With thanks to Morgan and Kat Rebelo for their conscientious playtesting and generous feedback.

Protagonists

In GODWROT you play as protagonists, individuals of dubious morality who are in over their heads. To create a protagonist in GODWROT follow these steps:

1. Assign attributes.
2. Assign trust scores.
3. Choose a flaw.
4. Choose your career move.
5. Pick 2 player moves.

Attributes

Assign the following numbers to your attributes: +2, +1, +1, 0, -1. The 5 core attributes for GODWROT are:

• Agility: reflexive or graceful.
• Cunning: inquisitive or exploratory.
• Strength: aggressive or forceful.
• Wits: calculating or methodical.
• Will: persuasive or assertive.

Trust

Every protagonist in the game has a trust stat with every other character. Assign the following trust scores that their protagonist has toward the other protagonists: +2 for the one they know best, -1 for the one they know least, and +1 for all others. Trust with all NPCs starts at 0.

Career Moves

A career move determines what your protagonist did before they were drawn into dire events. Career moves follow this format:

[Background] [Career]: When you do something related to your background or career, add +1.

Your background indicates the dubious circumstances of your birth. For example, you could be a humble halfling or a street urchin. A career is some kind of profession suitable for a protagonist, such as burglar or itinerant monk.

For example:

Halfling Herbalist: When you do something related to your background as a halfling or your career as a herbalist, add +1.

Player Moves

The next stage of creating protagonists is to pick 2 player moves. When a player picks a move, they pick an option from the list below, give the move a title, and fill in the blanks. Each move gets recorded on their protagonist sheet.

• When you do something relating to [speciality], add +1.

• You have the ability to [do some sort of active special power]. It counts as a basic move using [stat].

• You have [some passive special power that has a constant effect].

• You have a [thing]. When applicable, it adds +1 to [attribute] and [attribute].

• When you do [speciality], mark XP.

• Add +1 to [attribute].

Flaws

All protagonists in GODWROT are broken in some way. Flaws You can come up with your own flaws, but some care should be taken. Unplayable flaws that discourage roleplaying (like Shy), or risk conflict between players (such as Kleptomania) should be avoided. represent this and determine when you can takea mea culpa. Choose a flaw from the list below and record it on your protagonist sheet:

• Bolshy
• Bumbling
• Cowardly
• Devious
• Drunk
• Fanatical
• Greedy
• Gruff
• Reckless
• Treacherous
• Wicked

Rules

The game is like a conversation. People describe what their protagonists do, ask questions about what’s going on, and talk in character. Sometimes, the conversation will trigger moves and reactions, which should continually propel the game forward in interesting ways.

Whenever people look at the mod expectantly, the mod should make a regular reaction. This should create new things for the players to react to. The mod should then go on to say, “So, what do you do?”

Rolling

At some point, the mod will determine that something has triggered a move and requires a roll. The player rolls two six-sided dice and adds whatever modifiers apply to the sum. The effects depend on the move in question.

• When a player succeeds on a move (rolls 10+) , their success should be interesting and introduce new opportunities for them.
• When a player gets a 7-9 on a basic move, the dilemma and hard bargain should create compelling drama, and either choice should be interesting and take the story in new directions.
• When a player fails on a basic move (6 or less), the mod should respond with a hard reaction that fundamentally changes the situation and demands new kinds of action.

Mea Culpa

When you succeed on a move related to your flaw you can choose to take a mea culpa instead. When you do so, you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, allowing your flaw to overcome your virtue.

Rules-wise, a mea culpa is something of a hard bargain: you decide to fail a roll now so that you can succeed on another roll later. They are key to the see-saw mechanic of self-sabotage and unlikely luck that is core to the fiction of GODWROT.

When you take a mea culpa:

• Describe how your flaw intervenes to frustrate your goals and causes you to fail.
• Devise a suitable hard reaction with the mod.
• Make it grubby.
• It's not all bad: you get to hold luck.

Luck

When you take a mea culpa Lady Luck takes pity on your foibles and you hold luck. You may spend luck to accidentally succeed on any failed roll as though you had rolled a 7-9. Describe how fortune intervenes and allows you to succeed despite your failings. As always, make it grubby. The mod will then offer you a hard bargain or a cost.

For example:

Gregori succeeds on an attack move on a roll of 11. This move is related to his flaw, Reckless. He decides to take a mea culpa and fail the attack move instead, and hold luck.

Gregori's player describes him becoming off balance and the mod determines he takes a -1 penalty to his next Agility roll.

Later, Gregori is fighting Marcus, the Bandit King. It's an important fight but he fails an attack move at a crucial moment. Deciding to spend his luck, he somehow succeeds instead. His player describes his stroke of luck, saying "as I blindly attack, my broadsword swings wild, missing Marcus' head and instead slamming into a line of rope tying up a crate." The mod determines the crate slams into Marcus' head, blood and brains splattering everywhere.

You either do or do not hold luck. It doesn't stack and once you've used it you must take a mea culpa to hold it again.

Basic Moves

Taking Action

When you take an action that risks failure or opposition, the mod tells you which of your attributes is relevant and add that you roll.

• On a 10+, you succeed at your goal. As appropriate, the mod might award you: resource points, harm dealt or a bonus to carry forward. If the action is related to your flaw you can take a mea culpa instead and hold luck.
• On a 7-9, the mod will offer you a hard bargain or a cost. If you agree to that hard bargain or cost, you succeed at your goal (and as appropriate, the mod might award you resource points, harm dealt, or a bonus to carry forward).
• On a -6 you fail with a hard reaction. You can choose to spend luck to succeed as though you had rolled a 7-9 instead.

Helping or Hindering

When you help or hinder another protagonist, roll your trust stat with that person.

• On a 10+, add or subtract 2 from their roll.
• On a 7-9, the mod will name a cost; if you accept the cost, add or subtract 2 from their roll.

When you help or hinder a NPC, roll your trust stat with that person.

• On a 10+, they either succeed or fail - your choice.
• On a 7-9, the mod will name a cost; if you accept the cost, they either succeed or fail - your choice.

Trust Moves

Betray Trust

When you betray another character you gain a +2 bonus to carry forward, but their trust score goes down by 1.

Sacrifice

When you make meaningful sacrifices for another character your trust score toward that person will go up by 1.

Harm

Every protagonist has a harm clock with six sections. When characters take harm in the game, they mark a number of sections equal to whatever amount of harm the mod tells them they take. Point out the harm clock, and explain that when it’s filled all the way up, the characters are taken out of the action.

Dealing Harm

When someone succeeds on a Taking Action roll, it’ll sometimes make sense that they would deal harm to their opposition. Harm is typically physical or mental harm that’s brought about by violence or stress. When someone does harm to someone else, the mod will rate that harm from 1-3. protagonist harm gets marked down on the harm clock on their protagonist sheet.

NPC harm gets noted by the mod. NPCs can typically take 2 harm before they’re taken out, but tougher NPCs might have more.

Taken Out

When a character has all of their harm sections filled in, they’re dead and taken out of the action. If the character was a protagonist, the player should create a new protagonist.

Bonus to Carry Forward

Sometimes, succeeding on a Taking Action roll means that the protagonist is set up for future successes. In these cases, the mod can award a +1 bonus that the protagonist can apply to their next roll. The player should mark that bonus on their protagonist sheet.

Resource Points

When someone succeeds (with a 10+ or a 7-9) on a Taking Action roll, it’ll sometimes make sense to represent their success with a number of resource points. For example, if someone tries to read a person’s facial expressions and determine their true intent in a conversation, they might make a roll. If they get a 10+, the mod might determine that they have 3 conversation points, and they can spend those points 1-for-1 to get answers about the character’s motivations and goals during the conversation. Resource points are always given a name and function at the time they are awarded. In most cases, resource points should be temporary, lasting until the end of a scene or situation.

Moderation

The moderator (or mod) is responsible for running the game. In particular, the mod will have to make judgment calls about what requires a Taking Action roll, and what is outright impossible. The mod should use their veto right judiciously and sparingly. If someone wants to take an action that subverts the genre, that’s good! It’s only when they want to take an action that is impossible or nonsensical for a given genre that the mod should say that something isn’t possible. When the mod says this, they should use the line, “I don’t think that’s possible, but you could instead [make some other interesting choice], if you’d like.”

Early in the first session, the mod should juggle two responsibilities:

• Follow the protagonists around, and learn what they’re all about.

• Give the players a sense of what the world is like, and how it operates.

Astute players will realize that these two things can sometimes be at odds with one another. The way you navigate this combination of responsibilities is by honouring your agendas and your principles.

Agendas

Agendas are the reason you play GODWROT. They include:

• Make it grubby.
• Keep the protagonists off balance.
• Play to find out.

Grubby

GODWROT is about grubby fantasy, a sub-genre of low fantasy that is unique to the British old-school. To be grubby is to be farcical, bawdy, pessimistic, grotesque, bolshy and satirical. Revel in these themes, shamelessly.

Principles

The principles are things you should seek to do whenever you speak, in the game.

When you prepare the game:

• Create interesting dilemmas, not interesting plots.
• Create open-ended encounters, not scenes.

When you portray the world:

• Sprinkle grubby and convoluted details everywhere.
• Make the world seem real through (pseudo-)historicism.
• Name everyone, make everyone human.

When you run the game:

• Think offscreen, too.
• Respond with challenging circumstances and occasional rewards.
• Make the lives of the protagonists miserable.
• But also be a fan of the protagonists.
• Draw the protagonists into mystery.
• Taint everything with corruption.

When you speak:

• Address the protagonists, not the players.
• Make your reaction, but never speak its name.
• Ask provocative questions and build on the answers.
• Sometimes, reflect a question back upon the players.

Reactions

Reactions are the specific things you say in any moment. There are two different cases where you use the reactions, and you use them differently in each of those cases. When the players look at you expectantly, you make a regular reaction. When a player fails a die roll (getting 6 or lower), you make a hard reaction.

Regular reactions should...

1. ...follow logically from the fiction.
2. ...give the player an opportunity to react.
3. ...set you up for a future hard reaction.

Hard reactions should...

1. ...it follows logically from the fiction.
2. ...and it’s irrevocable.

The reactions are:

• Separate them.
• Put them together.
• Introduce a high-stakes situation.
• Deal harm.
• Trade harm for harm.
• Announce offscreen badness.
• Announce future badness.
• Take away one of their things.
• Demonstrate one of their things' bad sides.
• Give them a difficult decision to make.
• Tell them the possible consequences and ask.
• Turn their move back on them.
• Reveal a mystery that obscures.
• Introduce corruption to obstruct.