Tablestuck RPG Rules

Quick Guide to Character Creation

Tablestuck uses a point buy system to create characters. Players are allotted a certain number of build points and uses these points to buy attributes, traits, and equipment. The recommended number of build points for a new character is 100. This will provide an average level campaign. However, the GM may elect to provide more or less points.

1. Assign base attributes
   1. There are six standard attributes that every character has. They can be improved by spending points, or degraded to gain points for other areas. The attributes are explained in more detail later, but in brief they are:
      1. Vitality Vial - the total health that a character has. The starting value is Vim * 10. Additional points can be bought at the rate of 2 build point per Vitality point up to 100 total Vitality points. A full table of exchange values is detailed later in this section.
      2. Mangrit/Feminine Wiles - the skill points available to a character. These are used to perform special actions. The starting value for this attribute is Fleetness + Gambit. No points may be spent to improve this value directly during character creation.
      3. Vim - the strength of a character. Vim begins with a rating of 4, or Average, at creation. The cost to improve Vim is listed in the section describing Vim in more detail.
      4. Fleetness - the speed of a character, often shortened into Fleetness or Flt. Fleetness begins at a rating of 4. Improvement costs are listed later in the section.
      5. Gambit - represents the persuasiveness and diplomacy of a character. Like the previous attributes it begins with a rating of 4 and improvement costs are listed later in the section.
      6. Imagination - the magic or uncanny knowledge available to a character. Like all other attributes it begins with a rating of 4.
2. Assigning a title and land.
   1. A character’s title and land are related to the quest that the character will undertake. These can be chosen at character creation or randomly generated. The table of possible combinations is listed later in the page.
3. Assign beginning Sylladex
   1. A character’s sylladex represents the skills they have. Each card represents a skill related to the item it contains. A player begins with four sylladex cards selected to represent the skills the character begins with. The selection of skills is detailed later in this page.
4. Assign an additional trait to your character.

Attribute Cost Table

Character Attributes

Vitality Vial

A character’s health is represented by the vitality vial. It contains a specific number of units of vitality gel. A player loses these units when injured and must refill their vial with gel dropped by slain enemies. A player who runs out of vitality gel is considered dead.

The variety of methods that Tablestuck offers players to reduce their vitality gel is detailed in the chapter on combat and damage.

A character begins with a Vitality Vial that can hold a maximum number of units equal to their Vim times ten (Vim*10). A player may buy more capacity for their Vial, but they may not return the assigned capacity for a point refund. The capacity of the Vitality Vial can be increased at a rate of 1 Vitality Gel for every 2 Build Grist.

Mangrit/Feminine Wiles

Mangrit and Feminine Wiles both do the same thing, the names are only for gender divisions. If a fine lady would like to use Mangrit or an established gentleman wishes to define his attribute as Feminine Wiles that’s perfectly acceptable. From here on out this page will use the term Mangrit, regardless of gender.

A character’s Mangrit represents his ability to utilize powers beyond the reach of an average person. By expending and temporarily depleting some or all of his Mangrit they can affect the world in a unique and special way. These actions are defined later on, but on the surface level it should be noted that a greater cost of Mangrit invokes a greater response.

At character creation the Mangrit of the character is determined by summing their Imagination and Gambit attributes (Img + Gmt). Additional points can be bought at a rate of 10 Build Grist per Mangrit point.

Vim

Vim is a measure of a character’s hardiness, body, and overall strength. A high Vim generally represents a character that can take a lot of punishment or that can hand it out in droves. Vim is the go-to attribute for tasks like physical combat, enduring harsh environments, and generally being a tough guy.

A character’s Vim begins at 4 during character creation and can be increased at a rate of 20 Build Grist per Vim point. Vim points can be sold back to the system for a refund of 15 Build Grist per point.

Note: a character with a high Vim score need not be a musclebound bruiser, and could instead represent the score by being a resilient and smart fighter, striking the enemy in weak points while deflecting attacks. However, we don’t discourage you from being a bruiser if you want.

Fleetness

A fleet character is quick on his feet. The Fleet attribute measures the speed and dexterity of a character. Fleetness is often used in tasks where ranged combat comes into play, or that require being faster or having a more delicate hand.

A beginning character starts with a 4 in Fleetness. Additional points in Fleetness can be bought for 20 Build Grist and can be sold back at a rate of 15 Build Grist.

Gambit

Gambit represents a character’s ability to smooth talk and finesse situations. A character with a high Gambit score would have no problem walking into an room full of enemies and convincing them that he was on their side. Gambit is used whenever something requires tact, luck, or just plain manipulation.

A character begins the game with a Gambit score of 4. Additional points can be bought at the standard rate of 20 Build Grist and sold back at 15 Build Grist.

Imagination

A character with a high Imagination has a connection to things not quite in the realm of a normal person. Imagination is often referenced when things involving magic are brought up. Imagination can also be used whenever a character’s knowledge is tested.

The beginning score and rates of exchange are standard. Characters start with a 4 in Imagination and can buy more for 20 Build Grist and sell it for 15 Build Grist.

Sylladex (Skills)

In Tablestuck a character’s base attributes are modified by the player’s dice roll/card draw as well as the character’s Sylladex. The Sylladex contains representations of both skills and equipment available to the player. Each character maintains their own Sylladex and draws cards from it at the beginning of an encounter or challenge. Cards are added to the Sylladex when new equipment is found/bought/alchemized or when a character gains new skills or improves existing skills.

Sylladex cards do not replace combat skills, but rather replace the more mundane skills (things like Tumble, Knowledge: Arcane, or Climb Rope). The Sylladex essentially abstracts these skills away and replaces them with a collection of items that would help the player perform certain tasks. This frees up the player from being concerned if they will ever actually need to use their Tumble skill and allows them to create an item that can be used in multiple situations.

What Makes A Card?

A Sylladex card consists of a Name, Attribute, and Rank. A card’s name provides an idea of what kind of item it would be. Examples of card names may be “Greasy Bunny” or “Trampoline.” Anything that could reasonable be stored in a Sylladex can be made into a card. The attribute of a card refers to the kind of contest (detailed later in the page) in which the card can be applied. The attribute is taken directly from the list of player attributes. This attribute is affected by the rank of the card. The card’s rank represents the modifier to the card’s selected attribute.

Using Cards in Play

Sylladex cards come into play when a character enters a contest. There are two ways that Sylladex cards may be used: random draw or at will.

Sylladex cards are used with a random draw when a character is under pressure or pressed for time. Contests in which the character is competing with someone or has a time limit should rely on the random draw. At the beginning of such a contest the player draws the specified number of Sylladex cards according to their level and the number of cards in their deck. These cards represent all of the resources they have access to during the contest.

For example, Alice is attempting to hack into a Sburb server to redirect a portal. She is racing against the clock to stop a meteor. She begins the contest by declaring that she’s using her Imagination attribute in the contest and draws her set of Sylladex cards. Alice has drawn the cards “Red Bull” and “Candy Corn” with the attributes Imagination and Vim respectively. Alice knows that the Candy Corn won’t help her and decides to use her Red Bull card. She sets aside the Red Bull card and proceeds through the contest appropriately, adding the rank of her Red Bull card to her Imagination score to resolve the contest.

In a situation where the cards are randomly drawn a contest requires more than one check for success more cards may be applied every check, but prior cards do not affect the result.

The other form of Sylladex use is at will. Sylladex cards may be used at will whenever time or outside stress is not an issue during a contest. During a contest where the GM has ruled that the Sylladex can be used at will the player may select as many cards as they may draw during a random draw contest and use them to improve their chances at success.

Making Cards

Sylladex cards are almost always created through Alchemy by the player. The only case where cards are not created by the player through Alchemy are the original cards created during character creation.

Alchemy, the method that creates new Sylladex cards, can take place at any time during a session when the player has the appropriate resources to alchemize new cards. The Alchemy process can take two forms.

Synthesizing Cards

By using the appropriate resource (Build Grist) a player can generate a new Sylladex card. When creating a new card the player must decide upon the Name, Attribute, and Rank of the card being created. The cost of the card created is determined by the rank of the card. Cards created using this method will cost more than cards created by combining other cards.

The grist cost of a card starts at 20 for a rank 1 card and increases by 20 points for every rank higher.

Combining Cards

Players can also combine cards from their existing Sylladex in order to improve them. Creating cards in this manner is cheaper in terms of Build Grist but requires one or more of the cards used to be removed from the player’s deck permanently. The procedure for combining cards is a bit more complicated than creating a new card from scratch.

The player should choose at least two cards to be combined and come up with a name for the resulting card. The player should also select what attribute the new card should affect from the attributes of the cards being combined. The new card’s rank is the sum of the rank of the cards being combined.

Cost of the new card is calculated based on the rank of the new card and the number of cards being sacrificed to create it. Consult the following funciton for the cost of a new card:

cost = (r*20)/n
r = Rank of the new card
n = # of cards being sacrificed
Round to the nearest whole number

Titles & Aspects

When a character first enters the Medium they find themselves in world that has been awaiting their arrival for some time. The character’s of each session are the prophesied heroes of their Lands and have a personal quest awaiting them there. A character’s title and aspect offer a hint at the role they will play in their quest and the abilities they will gain along the way.

A character’s Title is generally the easier of the elements to grasp as it represents their role in the party as a whole. A Title can be considered as similar to a class in a way. A Knight will find himself at the head of a party most often, defending the Mage or Witch while they work their more complicated talents. Their Aspect represents a more abstract part of a character’s destiny that is often not the clearest. It defines not only the unique flavor of their Title’s talents, but also the higher role that they will play in the whole of Skaia.

A player can select their Title and Aspect with the agreement of the party and the GM, or they can choose a random title based on a dice roll. When selecting a Title and Aspect willing it is important to avoid overlap in player role’s. A session that includes four Knights may have trouble dealing with certain challenges and probably won’t be as much fun. A session that includes more than one Time or Space Aspect character may find the natural flow of a game becoming more and more convoluted. If that’s okay with the players and the GM, then you should go for it, by all means. Just be aware of the challenges of running or participating in a game where Titles or Aspects overlap.¹⁾

Title

A player’s title is roughly equivalent to a class in Dungeons & Dragons or similar dungeon crawl style games. The Title provides a character with a set of Talents as well as defining part of his role in a game of Sburb. At character creation the Title offers a player a choice of two traits, one of which may be taken.

Aspect

The Aspect of a player’s character defines the flavor of his class and refines his role in Sburb. The Aspect defines their role in a greater extent outside of their specific Land and in whole of Sburb. For an example of how the Aspect affects a player’s role in the game Space is probably the best example. The Space player, no matter what their Title is, will always be in charge of the Grand Alchemy.

A character gains another trait from two possible traits when they reach level 4.

Land

Each character in a Sburb session is assigned a Land upon entering the Medium. This Land is tailored specifically for their quest and often contains prophecies of their arrival. A character’s Land often takes on characteristics related to their Title and Aspect.

Creating New Titles & Aspects

In creating a new Title or Aspect there are few limitations on the flavor and style you can provide. In order to create a new Title or Aspect you must first decide on the particular flavor you desire to bring to the game with this addition. If you are creating a new Title the primary focus should be on the role that Title will play in the party and the lesson that the character is meant to learn through Sburb. An Aspect should define the elemental touch to the Title of a player and should focus on that. It can also apply a greater role to the player in Sburb as a whole, such as the Space Aspect.

Outside of the flavor text provided by the Title and Role they also provide a set of traits and talents to the player. Both of a Title and an Aspect provide a set of two traits that a player can choose from. These traits provide a passive bonus to the player that does not need to be activated to take effect. A Title’s traits can be chosen at level 2 and an Aspect’s traits can be chosen at level 4.

Talents provide bonuses to a player or penalties to targets on activation. Title talents are taken at levels 2, 4, and 8. Aspect talents are taken at 6 and 10.

Sample Title & Aspect

Seer of Mind

The Seer is granted a unique position in the game of Sburb as they are able to see the branching timelines of possibility without risking their life. The Seer is almost always one step ahead of the other players, having already seen all the options and found the best one well in advance. However, their knowledge and skill at the game tends to attract powerful players within the Medium. The Seer will often find themselves caught in the machinations of Exiled Royals or Horror-Terrors in the Furthest Ring as they attempt to manipulate the Seer into assisting their trans-timeline agenda. Perhaps the biggest challenge to most Seer players is the eventual realization that they need to rely on their friends as much as their own abilities.

The Mind Aspect marks a Sburb player as a manipulator in the truest sense, whether they are willing to admit it or not. A player who is given the Aspect will often find themselves in the center of conflicts as a mediator or an instigator with no one really being clear which. The Mind Aspect is reflected in a character that can guide a session but must face their past manipulations and make their actions right.

Traits

Talents

Conflict Resolution

Tablestuck uses a method of conflict resolution similar to Dungeons & Dragons D20 skill checks, however in place of dice (hypothetically, if you have a random number generator that works too) cards are used. Each player uses a set of 13 cards. These can be any cards that are sequentially ordered. A group of four players could split a standard deck of playing cards into the four suits and each use a suit as their cards. A set of index cards labelled 1-13 would be just as effective. The cards should be effectively identical when facedown.²⁾

A conflict in Tablestuck encompasses any event that requires some kind of effort beyond the minimum for a character, or has some chance of failure. Some examples of possible conflicts are deciphering the riddles of a character’s sprite, hacking into a computer, or resisting a psychic assault.

Conflicts come in two basic flavors: contested and uncontested. Contested conflicts are challenges that pit the character against another character. These occur when trying to persuade someone or sneak around someone. Uncontested conflicts are simply the character against the environment or chance. A character attempting to climb a sheer cliff or play a particularly complicated piano concerto would engage in uncontested conflict.

Entering a Conflict

Conflict begins whenever the player or the GM feels that the character’s ability to succeed is dependent on how well they perform. At the beginning of a conflict three things must be determined:

1. Is the conflict contested or uncontested?
2. What attribute does the conflict depend upon?
3. If the player succeeds what do they gain? If they fail what do they lose?

The first criteria should be easy to determine. Is the player competing with someone? If not, it is uncontested, otherwise, it is a contested conflict.

Second, what attribute is at play in this conflict? The attribute chosen should be related to the task being attempted. A character wanting to hack a computer should not select Vim to represent his attempt. At the same time, a character wanting to pry a bronzed vacuum cleaner from a pedestal would not rely on their Gambit attribute. It’s best to use common sense when selecting the attribute to use in a conflict, however, if the GM and the player can agree on a reason to use a different attribute than the common sense choice it is perfectly acceptable.

The last part of a conflict is the goal and the consequence for failure. It is important to be clear about what is at stake in a conflict. Generally, the goal should be clear. A player wanting to persuade someone to spill their guts wants information and succeeding at the challenge should reward them appropriately. However, what is the consequence of failure? If they fail does the person they were interrogating clam up and refuse to talk to them for a while or do they get angry and attack the character? It’s important for the goal to be immediately clear to all players, but it is fine for the GM to hold back on explaining exactly what will happen if they fail.

It may be best to phrase the conflict in a verbose manner in order to determine all of these factors. For example, Alice wants to sneak past Bob in order to gain access to the fridge. This tells us that the conflict is contested because Alice is avoiding Bob. Alice is trying to sneak past Bob, so the attribute in play would probably be Fleetness. However, the argument could be made for using Gambit. It’s up to the GM and the player to come to an agreement on it. Lastly, if Alice succeeds she will get access to the fridge and all the sweets inside. Failure to sneak past Bob means getting caught in an incredibly boring lecture.

Resolving Conflict

Once a player has entered a conflict it’s important for them to get out of it through succeeding at the challenge or failing miserably. In order to determine the outcome there are a series of steps that are taken.

1. Draw your Sylladex hand
2. Play Sylladex cards
3. Draw/Roll
4. Resolve

Sylladex Play

The first step of conflict resolution is drawing from your Sylladex. The two methods of drawing were outlined previously in the Sylladex section. The GM should inform the player whether he can draw at will or if the draw should be random. As stated earlier, draws should be at random whenever the character is under undue stress, competing with another character, or pressed for time. In all other occasions the player should be allowed to select cards at will.

The player draws the number of cards allowed by their level and selects the ones they wish to play during this round of the conflict. The cards’ Attribute must match the Attribute being used in the conflict. The player can play as many cards as they can draw if they so desire. The cards they select to play are set aside to indicate their use before the next phase of the conflict and no cards can be added to them after moving on to the Draw phase.

Draw/Roll

Once a player has selected the Sylladex cards they want to use for the conflict they then draw a card from their deck of 13. The cards should be shuffled before drawing and only the top card should be drawn. This card should be set aside with the Sylladex cards to be used in the resolution.

Resolution

After all Sylladex cards have been selected and the random draw has been performed the conflict can be resolved.

All conflicts have a difficulty that must be overcome or met in order for a character to succeed. In an uncontested conflict this difficulty is represented by a number decided upon by the GM from the general difficulty table listed below. The player must either meet or exceed the number presented by the GM in order to succeed at the challenge. The GM does not have to tell the player what he needs to succeed and is generally discouraged from doing so, especially in situations where the character is attempting to gain information from someone and should not know if this information is strictly true or not.

In a contested conflict the player does not have a hard number to compete against but rather must deal with another character performing the same actions as they are to resolve the conflict. In situations such as this the player must meet or exceed the other character’s result in the conflict.

In order to determine the amount of success in a conflict the player totals the rank of any Sylladex cards used with their randomly drawn card and adds this to the contest’s chosen attribute.

Sylladex Rank + Random Draw + Character's Attribute = Success Score

Difficulty Table

Sample Conflict

Combat

Running A Combat Encounter

Determining Initiative

The first step in running a combat encounter is to determine the order of movement for all characters involved. This is determined by the characters’ initiative scores. Each character involved in the combat should draw a card from their deck and add the card’s rank to their Fleetness Attribute. Combat turns will go from the highest initiative score to the lowest. If any character’s initiative scores are equal the one with the greater Fleetness attribute goes first.

Combat Actions

Once a character’s turn in the initiative roster is reached they can choose from a variety of actions to perform during their turn. A character’s position during combat is irrelevant for the most part.³⁾ It may be best to imagine combat occurring in a manner similar to the abstracted combat of most computer role-playing games where the two sides line up in columns opposite of each other and take turns performing actions. Each side has two columns. The front column of each side can only attack each other, barring any reaching or ranged weapons. This allows a certain level of strategy concerning how a party is arranged in battle.

Aggress

Aggress is the simplest form of combat action. A character that chooses to aggress attacks with a weapon from their Strife Deck. When a character aggresses they take steps similar to a contested conflict.

1. Select the weapon to use from Strife Deck
2. Select the target of the aggression
3. Draw a random card
   1. At this point the player should compare the sum of their weapon’s attribute and their random card (in addition to any bonuses provided by their weapon or Talents) with the sum of their target’s Fleetness attribute and their random card (in addition to any bonuses from armor/gear). If the aggressor’s result is higher the attack succeeds and damage is calculated as detailed in the next step.
4. Assuming the attack succeeded calculate the damage done. Roll the dice appropriate for the strife-kind and apply any bonuses or special circumstances appropriate to the weapon or strife-kind in addition to the weapon’s attribute modifier. Subtract any armor or resistance that the target has. The result is the damage inflicted.

Abjure

Abjure temporarily increases the defense of a character until their next turn. A character who chooses to abjure damage adds the lower of their halved Vim or Fleetness, rounded down to a whole number, to their armor value until their next turn. This bonus is added with any other bonuses to their armor.

Abscond

Absconding is simply retreating from the battle. This can be used as a way to simply leave the combat phase and attempt to escape altogether, or to escape combat and attempt to negotiate using words instead of violence. In order to abscond the character absconding and the last opponent to attack them draw a card and add the result to their Fleetness attribute. If the absconding player’s score is higher they escape and can proceed with actions from their. If they fail they remain in battle and suffer a -2 penalty to their defense the next round.

Arrange

Arranging is simply changing positions in battle. A character may swap positions with another character in the column ahead of them or behind them. This action can only be performed once per turn and may be taken with another action other than absconding.

Strife Specibus

The choice of what Kind Abstratus a character will use in Sburb is an important consideration in a session as most often the character will not get a chance to change their selection. This is why the decision should be based on what will look best when you strike a pose with your team. Of course, you could just go with what would be most hilarious. If you want to be really boring you could examine the chart and list of types in this section to decide what best suits your character’s fighting style.

The possible Strife Specibi listed in the following section represent an abstraction of the variety of weapons that are available to players. A level one player can choose one of these types to represent his primary tool of aggression. Most Strife Specibi have two modes: one or two handed. These modes can be switched at will once per turn. The table below will provide values for the damage done in either of these modes. The table also shows what attribute to apply to chance to hit.

Auto-Parry

A character that is only using a one-handed weapon and has the other hand free can add one point to their defensive bonuses. This represents their increased ability to parry with their free hand.

Strife Specibi

Finesse-kind

Finesse-kind represents the small agile weapons that can fit easily in the hand and lend themselves to pinpoint attacks. Finesse weapons can be used in a single hand or doubled up for twice the power. Finesse-kind also provide a special randomness to attacks as they are capable of weak pinpricks or precise damaging strikes. Whenever a strike using Finesse-kind weapons is successful note whether the card drawn is odd or even. If the card is odd use the first (lower) damage value. If the card is even, use the second (higher) damage value.

Finesse-kind weapons include small knives, clawed gloves, and knitting needles.

Blade-kind

Far more reliable in terms of power compared to Finesse-kind, the Blade-kind includes many more weapon like items such as cheap katanas, sickles, or anything with a bladed edge. They work well for any character that wants the versatility of a one-handed fighting style with the power of a two-handed weapon.

Crusher-kind

Only have a hammer on hand? The Crusher-kind is suitable for any weapon that requires some hefting and a lot of Vim. Of course, your wild swings may encourage some of your allies to dissuade you from using it. This specibus extends to any kind of hammer, flail, or any weapon that requires a good swing to do damage.

Reaching-kind

Strike from a distance using a spear, whip, or scythe. The Reaching-kind falls under a slightly different set of rules due to the fact that Reaching-kind weapons are always used with two-hands. Reaching-kind weapons have the advantage of being able to hit targets that are using ranged weapons, however, when in a Defensive stance they lose this ability but gain Auto-Parry.

Fist-kind

The grittiest and simplest specibus. Fist-kind suffers from being a bit behind the other specibi on the damage curve, but makes up for it in a few ways. Fist-kind users are proficient at using everything available to them as a weapon. This means they don’t suffer any difficulty in fighting with their hands full. However, they must still be in the Jab mode if they wish to benefit from Auto-Parry. Finally, it’s very rare to be caught so off guard as to not have their weapons with them.

Ranged Combat

Ranged combat in Tablestuck proceeds similarly to melee combat. The same basic actions may be taken, however, a character wielding a ranged weapon can strike anywhere on the battlefield. This allows ranged characters to take cover behind the upfront fighters and avoid taking damage. Most ranged weapons suffer from a debilitating defensive posture, and make it difficult to fight on the front line.

Ranged Strife Specibi

Light Ranged-kind

Any pistols, crossbows, pocket-sized siege engines, throwing darts, throwing knives, slings, arrows, gil, or just general small arms fall under this category. The Light Ranged-kind is the only ranged class that still benefits from Auto Parry bonuses when using one-handed modes. The Light Ranged-kind also lacks the disadvantageous weight and overall oafishness of larger ranged weapons.

Heavy Ranged-kind

All manner of heavy artillery fall into this category. Heavy rifles, telekinetic blades, boulders tossed at your foe, psychic eye beams, powerful grimdark spells. Of course, all that power comes at a price. Heavy Ranged-kind weapons are incapable of performing Auto Parries and suffer from a -1 defense bonus on all attacks against the user.

Random-kind

Think you have all the luck?⁴⁾ This specibus is for you. Random-kind represents the will of some higher power, or the conjuration of unpredictable forces, or just the roll of some dice. Random-kind attacks are always prefaced with a roll of 1d4. This roll determines the damage that the attack will cause if it succeeds. Random-kind users may never benefit from Auto Parry and suffer a -1 defense bonus when attacked.

Non-player Characters

The world of Sburb is filled with a number of non-player characters. Worrying about the motivations, reactions, and general wellbeing of most of these characters is absolutely ridiculous because the majority of them are hostile. However, there are a decent number of good, upstanding beings in the Incipisphere that won’t attempt to kill you on sight and suck the grist from your bones.

This section will introduce the friendlier (or at least, not immediately hostile) NPCs that can be found in a game.

Kernelsprites

The Kernelsprite is one of the first NPCs that the average Sburb player will encounter. It is almost guaranteed that a player will meet them as they are released from the Cruxtruder when it is first opened. The Kernelsprite begins as a fairly useless ball of light (the Kernel) and must be prototyped to become a useful character⁵⁾.

Prototyping serves two purposes. First, it supplies the Sprite with a personality and knowledge of the game. It also allows Skaia to take on its final form in order for the game to be completed properly. Every Sprite can be prototyped twice and must be prototyped at least once before the Session proper begins in order for the game to be winnable. Kernelsprites are drawn towards deceased or doomed objects, but do not have to be prototyped with such. However, prototyping with something capable of speech is generally useful. A twice-prototyped Sprite that can speak will be able to dispense their immense knowledge of Sburb and Skaia to the players, however, they tend to dispense this in the form of rather obtuse riddles. A Sprite is also only as intelligent as its components. A Sprite with a human component will be much more intelligent than one with a cat component for example.

Sprite Creation

As Sprites are meant to guide and protect the player in the early phases of the game and act as a companion in their quest at later levels. In order to facilitate this they often begin as rather powerful beings.

Sprites also have a set of Traits and Talents that benefit their ability in combat.

Playing a Sprite

Effects of Prototyping on Skaia

Each prototyping that occurs prior to Session entry adds a possible template to enemies that the players will encounter in the game. Below are some possible templates that could be added through prototyping.

Prototyping Templates

Additional Traits