Senesce
Your character is victim to a terrible curse that will eventually consume them. To create a character, write a short paragraph describing them, and pick out traits. Rate the traits 1-3, where 1 is a significant aptitude and 3 is a near-supernatural affinity. The referee may veto characters deemed inappropriate for the game.
Once you’ve described your character, decide which curse afflicts them. (see below)
All characters should have a driving goal (an easy one: to become free of the curse), and — if there are multiple players — a reason to know of and cooperate with the other player characters.
You will start with 12 six-sided dice. Whenever your character attempts a difficult, uncertain task, the referee will ask you to roll for it, rating its difficulty 1-3. 1 is a task of moderate challenge, 2 a task of definite peril, and 3 is one sure to end in tragedy. If one of your traits assists you in the task, you may select and reroll as many dice as the trait’s rating.
Three things may happen to any dice: - It shows 5 or 6, and counts as a success. 6 is particularly special. - It shows 3 or 4, and does nothing for you. - It shows 1 or 2, and is a fumble, and the die is thereby cursed.
If you can count at least as many successes as the referee’s difficulty rating, you perform the action, and you may describe what happens. Otherwise, the referee describes what happens.
Then, you may pick up any dice that are not cursed. The cursed dice remain on the table in front of you.
However, before the successes are counted, you may turn dice showing 6 on their side, so that they shows 3 or 4. If you do this, you can also uncurse one cursed die for each, turning them so that they shows 3 or 4 as well.
When you can invest no dice into your actions, you are forever lost to your curse.
A few possible curses are:
- Withering. As time goes on, you fade away. Do you crumble into dust or transcend into an ephemeral spirit? The withered may count any number of cursed dice as successes. After the action is done, roll those dice. Those that come up as successes are uncursed. The others are now gone forever.
- Petrifying. Whether by the gaze of a gorgon or a terrible bone disease, your body is slowly hardening and locking into place. The petrified may take one cursed die, turn it to a success, and petrify it. Petrified dice can never be uncursed or turned. However, whenever you invest dice into a similar action, you can treat the petrified die as though you had rolled it as well.
- Overgrowing. With skin covered and body filled with fungus, creeping insects, or something more sinister, you are host to an malign parasite. The overgrown may roll cursed dice on any action. Those that roll a success can be counted as such and lost, or turned to another face. Those that roll a fumble become overgrown and lost to you. If you have any, one overgrown die is rolled whenever you roll cursed dice: if it rolls a fumble, curse one noncursed die; if it rolls a success, the same, but gain an additional cursed die.
- Possessing. You are corrupted, and spend episodes acting under a twisted influence, be it a demon or a psychosis. The possessed may count a cursed die as a success, letting it be possessed afterwards. When the referee deems appropriate, a possessed dice may be added to your roll, and the referee will propose a modified action that you may take along with any successes the possessed dice roll, or you may refuse both. When a possessed die fumbles, it is lost forever unless you turn a success to render it once again cursed.