How to Play Anesidora

Example Character Sheet

Anesidora is played through Scenes, which each contain one or more Rounds. At the beginning of each Round, the Chaos Deck is shuffled to determine the order of activation. Each player has their own card in the deck, along with individual or groups of NPCs, and Events. Enemies do not go into the Chaos Deck during Combat and instead act at the end of the Round.

When a Character’s card is drawn, they either take their Turn or can choose to delay, taking their Turn at any point later in the Round. During a player’s turn, their PCs can each move up to 2 Zones and take 1 Meaningful Action. A Meaningful Action is something that changes or affects the story in a Meaningful way. A Character can swap weapons, open and close doors, talk, or any number of other Minor Actions during their Turn.

If a PC takes an Action that is not guaranteed to succeed, that is called a Challenge. In order to overcome a Challenge, the PC must make a Fate Roll. Most Challenges occur when a PC chooses to do a specific action, but some can occur as a reaction, such as needing to move through Difficult Terrain. In those cases, the Challenge does not count as the PC’s one Meaningful Action for the Turn.

 

FATE ROLLS

Before rolling, the Game Master determines the Difficulty of the Roll, or the number of Circles needed to Partially Succeed. To make a Fate Roll, gather a dice pool consisting of 7 Fate Dice and a number of Rune Dice equal to the PC’s Skill Total (Rank plus their Tier Bonus).

Rune Dice Pool = Skill Rank + Tier +/- other Modifiers


 

READING THE RUNES

Once the dice pool is rolled, count the Circles and see if there are 4 or more of the same Fate symbol. If there are 4 or more matching runes, a Fate Effect happens immediately. 

After the Fate Effect resolves (or if no Fate Effect occurs), determine if the Character rolled enough Circles to Partially Succeed. If they roll 2 more Circles than they need, they Fully Succeed and 4 is a Heroic Success.

Infinity = 2 Circles

Circles = 1 Circle

Pair of Half-Circles = 1 Circle

Biohazards , Lightning, Valknuts (Triangles), and Wadjets (Eyes) = Only used for Fate

Hubris

If a Hero fails a Fate Roll and does not trigger a Fate Effect, they may give into Hubris to reroll. Before rolling, the GM and PC agree to the price of Hubris, which is a negative effect the Hero suffers if the second roll falls. For example, taking an Injury, breaking an item, losing Supplies, or damaging a relationship. If the second roll succeeds, the Hero succeeds as normal.

Heroic Success

If a PC rolls 4 more Circles than the Difficulty, the Challenge is a Heroic Success. Heroic Successes allow the PC to achieve more than originally aimed, gain help for later, or allow an additional Character to count as having succeeded on the same Fate Roll.

FATE RESULTS

Lightning - Insight - Treat all Lightning as Circles, automatically Succeeding the Fate Roll.

Valknut (Triangles) - Sacrifice - The player may choose to either automatically fail the roll or make a sacrifice to turn all their Valknuts into Circles. The sacrifice should be similar to the price of Hubris.

Wadjet (Eye) - Divine Intervention - The gods intervene to make the situation better for the PC.

Biohazard - Divine Punishment - The gods intervene to make the situation worse for the PC.

NPC FATE ROLLS

Most Fate Rolls are made by PCs, even if they involve an NPC actions (for example, finding a hidden NPC involves the PC making an Awareness Roll against a fixed Difficulty and hiding from an NPC means the PC making a Stealth Fate Roll against a fixed Difficulty).

SUPPLIES AND ITEMS

Supplies represent a Hero’s ability to carry and maintain Items. Instead of tracking every Item a Hero has on them at a given time, Heroes in Anesidora spend Supplies to access any Item in their Inventory or Items they can justify through roleplaying. Once the Supply is spent to access an Item, the Hero continues to have access to that Item until the party resupplies.

Heroes have 8 Supply each, and the party transport has 2 Supplies per Hero that can be used by any Character. These numbers can be adjusted via Traits. Characters always have Items associated with their Traits.

Heroes can resupply by taking time to rest and trade in a friendly populated area, and only need to spend Supplies for food and water when traveling in Wild areas.

Items that require large amounts of maintenance use additional supply. Heavy items take an additional Supply for every 20 pounds after the first 20.

EXAMPLE SUPPLY COSTS

1 - Powerful Single Use Items that give +1 Die or a similar effect.

1 - Items required for a Skill, such as climbing gear or melee weapons.

2 - Uncommon, large, or difficult to maintain items, such as ranged weapons and light sources.

2+X - Items that give a Trait cost 2+the Cost of the Trait.

THE SETTING

Anesidora is a mythic Sci Fi TTRPG, where you take on the role of a Hero destined for greatness. Anesidora is an alien world ruled by people who worship ancient crashed spaceships as gods. The Ascended brought back the gift of Magic in the Second Age, after it was lost when the gods fell in Ragnarok. During Fimbulwinter, a multi-century long winter, society divided into 2 groups; the Chosen who lived through Fimbulwinter in the Godcites and wield the power of the gods, and the Exiled who were banished into the cold to die. It has been almost 300 years since the end of the Fimbulwinter and the start of the Third Age. While new societies have been founded during the Third Age, the divide between the Chosen and the Exiled remains.

GLOSSARY

Ancients - The first people who arrived on Anesidora.

Ascended - Enigmatic Unliving beings who taught humanity the magic of the Ancients centuries after it was lost during Ragnarok.

Changed - Those whose bodies have been altered by the magic of the gods and Titans. 

Chosen - Those chosen by the gods to survive the Fimbulwinter.

Citizen - The highest ranking nobles among the Chosen. If another Fimbulwinter type event occurred, they would be the only ones allowed within the Godcities.

Exiled - The few who survived the Fimbulwinter without the help of the Godcites. After being abandoned by the Chosen, many worship Anesidora as the one true goddess.

Fimbulwinter - A multi-century winter that killed millions and split humanity into the Chosen and Exiled.

Godcity - The Godcites are great crashed spaceships many miles across. Since Ragnarok, cities have been built in and around them, under the protection of the god’s magic and weapons.

Godshards - A special material that is almost impossible to shape or damage. 

Hades - Hades is a shadow realm that exists parallel to the world of the living, where the spirits of the Ancients and the dead dwell

Khat - Khat are people who are not seen by the gods or affected by magic. They cannot enter Hades.

Shade - The spirits of the dead who exist within Hades.

Titan - Powerful terraforming robots that predate the gods and ancients. They have the power to shape the world itself and change life.

Unliving - Beings made of metal and godshard that served the Titans but were driven insane by Ragnarok. Their blood is poisonous and they generate a swarm of madness in Hades

SKILLS

Awareness is used to sense your environment.

Spot or Track enemies

Search a room

Investigate a crime scene

Craft is your ability to shape, fix, and create physical things.

Create items with the right materials

Repair damaged items and magical devices

Knowledge of objects and materials

Knowledge is used for the accumulation of information and any knowledge covered by another skill.

Understand new ideas and magic

Recall knowledge about a legend, cultural practice, combat tactic, etc.

Research new information

Magic is used to interact with magical devices and shades.

Commune with a magical power

Corrupt a magic force from its intended purpose

Knowledge of magic, Hades, and the Unliving

Melee is used to fight in close quarters hand to hand combat.

Fight enemies in close combat

Win a duel 

Knowledge of tactics and warfare

Physical is used for movement, strength and physical conditioning.

Perform acts of strength and dexterity

Resist the effects of poisons and the environment

Endure extended periods of physical strain, such as running long distances

Shooting is used to fight at range.

Shoot at an enemy or target

Knowledge of tactics and warfare

Social is used to connect with other characters.

Cover your lies

Convince others to help you

Knowledge of culture and society

Stealth is used to keep your presence unknown and includes thieving skills.

Hide from enemies

Cover up your presence

Avoid and disable security measures

Knowledge of security and infiltration

Wilderness is staying alive without the help of society at large.

Interact with animals

Gather materials and resources in the wild

Find a path through wilderness

Knowledge of survival and animal handling


Learn more and sign up to be notified when our Kickstarter launches Here!

Bruce Monach