Basic Rules
Dice Rolls
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All outcomes of actions the players take that are uncertain are determined by rolling a 20-sided die and adding the appropriate modifiers. To succeed in your action, you must either beat the opposing die roll or a static score set by the Game Master (GM).
In combat, success can mean either physically subduing your opponent, fleeing the scene, or enslaving your opponent to your will. Combat is won by whomever first succeeds 3 cumulative times in either beating the opponent physically or succeeds 3 cumulative times in his attempts to mind control the opponent.
In combat, players have the choice to either engage in physical combat making contested athletics checks or attempt to mind control each other by making a charm check for the attacker contested by an intellect check for the defender. They can only attempt one of these actions per turn. They may also try other things related to their environment, using rolls determined by the GM.
When combat is initiated, initiative is rolled. All participants in combat roll their dice and add their appropriate modifiers to determine the order of combat. The one with the highest result goes first, the second highest goes second and so on. Ties are rerolled using the same modifiers to determine who goes first.
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Mind Control
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There are different methods of mind control with a varying array of conditions to become active. The form your mind control takes is determined by your class.
Both players roll their die, add their modifier, and the one with the higher result wins this round. To successfully mind-control someone you need to beat their defensive intellect die rolls with your offensive charm die rolls three cumulative (but not necessarily successive) times (3/3) before they beat you three times with either offensive charm rolls (for mind controlling you) or athletic rolls (for physically subduing you /fleeing).
Successful attempts between allies do not stack. This means that one ally may have made 2 successful attempts at physically subduing or mind-controlling someone and another ally has made 2 as well. However, this does not bring up their total to (4/3) successful attempts. They each separately have (2/3) successful attempts.
If you are proficient with charm you add +5 to your offensive rolls to mind control. If you are proficient with intellect you add +5 to your defensive rolls against being mind controlled. If you are proficient with athletics you add +5 to any rolls made in physical combat.
NPCs use a static mental resistance score instead of doing intellect rolls for their defense against mind control. This score may range from anywhere between 1-10.
Slave Limit: Each player can only have 5 mind-controlled slaves at a time unless their class abilities state otherwise.
Duration Limit: NPCs are mind-controlled until freed or released, whereas PCs get to roll an intellect check once per ingame-day against an opposing charm roll by their captor. If they win that roll, they are freed, if they lose, they stay enslaved for another day. They can make their first attempt to break free no sooner than 24 hours after they were enslaved.
Each successive day a player is enslaved adds a cumulative +2 on their die roll to free themselves, additionally to any other modifiers that may apply to their intellect rolls.
This means that if a PC lost their roll to free themselves for 3 successive days, they get a +6 on their next roll. If they fail the roll for that day as well, they get a +8 on the roll after that and so on.
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Physical Combat
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For any attack that does not use mind control, contested Athletics checks are used. Both players roll their die, add their modifier, and the one with the higher result wins this round. You need to win 3 physical rounds in total to successfully subdue your opponent by physical force. You can also use 3 rounds won in total to successfully escape your opponent.
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Character Creation
Abilities
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There are 3 abilities that are used to determine the outcomes of any action: Intellect, Charm and Athletics. You may choose 1 of these to be proficient with.
If you are proficient with them you add a +5 to any die rolls that use them. If you are not proficient with them, you use the straight result of your roll.
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Intellect
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Intellect is used to determine if you know certain things, are able to use or hack certain technology and solve complex situations.
You may also add +5 to any rolls you make in an attempt to resist being mind-controlled by someone.
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Charm
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Charm is used to persuade or talk yourself out of socially challenging situations. It is NOT mind control but can help you for example when explaining to someone what you were doing when you get caught or influence people’s decisions slightly in your favor.
You may also add +5 to any rolls you make in an attempt to mind control someone.
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Athletics
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Athletics are used to determine the outcome of any action that is physically challenging, like balancing on a rooftop, lifting heavy weights or trying to enter somewhere stealthily.
You may also add +5 to your initiative rolls as well as to any rolls made to physically subdue your opponent or flee the scene.
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Classes
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You have 3 points to spend in total in choosing your class. You may spend all 3 points on one class to unlock additional features or you may split your points between classes.
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Arcanist
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1st point spent: You gain the ability to use an arcane ritual to bind someone into your service. You need your victim to stand in an arcane circle with a maximum radius of 5 metres to start the ritual. To prepare this circle requires 1 hour. The circle may be hidden under a rug or something similar and still work. To bind them into your service using the ritual requires 3 successful charm attempts. Otherwise the ritual fails. As soon as the ritual starts arcane energy prevents your victim from leaving the circle. The resulting slaves gain a glowing sigil on their foreheads and mindlessly obey your every command.
2nd point spent: You have burned arcane sigils into your own body to increase your own intellect. You add a +2 modifier to any intellect checks made to resist being mind-controlled by someone.
3rd point spent: You have gained the services of a familiar. This familiar takes any form you wish and is invisible to anyone else. It can physically interact with the world but not mind-control anyone itself. However, it can prepare your arcane circle for you without requiring any utensils. It also tries to wake you up, should you ever be mind-controlled. This allows you to make checks to wake up from being mind-controlled twice as often as you would be able to otherwise.
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Hypnotist
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1st point spent: You gain the ability to use a hypnotic focus (like for example a pocket watch) to enslave someone. You need to swing it in front of their eyes for 3 successful charm attempts for your hypnosis to take effect. Otherwise the hypnosis fails. As soon as they looked once at it during your attempt to mind-control them they cannot look away. The resulting slaves are in a trancelike state, mindlessly obeying your every command, but always seem dazed to others.
2nd point spent: Your hypnotic skills have improved. You add a +2 modifier to any charm checks made to hypnotize someone with your pocket watch.
3rd point spent: You have gained the ability of mass suggestion. Once per day, you may speak a hypnotic command that can be heard for 100 metres. Any PC in this radius makes an intellect check against your charm check. If they lose that check, they obey that singly command for 10 minutes. Any NPC in that radius with a lower mental resistance score than your charm check obeys that command for 10 minutes as well.
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Parasitist
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1st point spent: You gain the ability to enslave people by infecting them with parasites. You need to manually insert their eggs into someone’s body for this to work. If someone ingests the eggs unnoticed, they automatically become your slaves after a period of five days. You are not able to use your parasites in a mind-control battle. However, you may physically subdue your opponent to insert your parasite’s eggs into them after. The resulting hosts are forced by the parasite to obey your every command but may seem to move unnaturally to others.
2nd point spent: You chose to infect yourself with the parasite queen and bonded with her. You are now able to infect others by having sex with them. The bond has also made you physically stronger, so you add a +2 modifier to any athletics checks made to physically subdue someone.
3rd point spent: You have evolved your hivemind to the point where you can control 10 slaves at once instead of only 5. Your parasite’s eggs also now hatch in only three days, instead of five.
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Slave Modification
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You may choose 1 of these customizations to apply to your slaves.
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Awake servants
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Your slaves act indistinguishably from their former selves if you do not choose otherwise. However, they will still obey your every command.
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Loyalists
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Your slaves can make attempts to break free of your mind-control only every two days instead of every day.
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Enslavers
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Your slaves are able to attempt mind-control themselves using any method of mind-control available to you. However, they do not gain any of your modifiers in doing so.
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Combat Example
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Participants
Lillith: Charm, Hypnotist 3, Awake servants
Adam: Athletics, Parasitist 3, Enslavers
Initiative
1. Lillith engages Adam in combat.
2. Lillith and Adam roll their initiative. Lillith rolled a 13. She has no modifiers to add, so her total result stays 13. Adam rolled a 9. However, since he is proficient with athletics, he gets to add his modifier of +5 to his roll. This makes his total result a 14. Adam’s result for initiative is higher than Lillith’s, so he goes first.
1st Round
3. Adam as a Parasitist has no way of attempting to directly mind control Lillith, so he chooses to attempt to physically subdue her. He rolls an athletics check contested by Lillith’s athletics to see if he gains a successful attempt at doing so. He rolls a 3. However, he gets to add his athletics modifier of +5 as well as his modifier from his second class ability of +2, bringing his total result up to a 10. Lillith rolls a 7 in her athletics check to resist him and has no modifiers to add. Adam’s result is higher than Lillith’s, so he gains one successful attempt at physically subduing her.
4. It is now Lillith’s turn. She attempts to put Adam under her control using a pocketwatch as her hypnotic focus. She rolls an charm check contested by Adam’s intellect check to see if she gains a successful attempt at doing so. She rolls an 8. However, she gets to add her charm modifier of +5 as well as her modifier from her second class ability of +2, bringing her total result up to a 15. Adam rolls a 12 in his intellect check to resist her and has no modifiers to add. Lillit’s result is higher than Adam’s, she gains one successful attempt at mind-controlling him.
5. The first round is now over. Adam has gained one successful attempt at physically subduing Lillith (1/3) and zero attempts at successfully mind-controlling her (0/3). She has gained one successful attempt at mind-controlling him (1/3) and zero successful attempts at physically subduing him (0/3).
2nd Round
6. It is Adam’s turn again. Again, he tries to physically subdue Lillith. He rolls a 13 in athletics, with his modifiers adding up to a 20. She rolls a defensive 13 in athletics and has no modifiers to add. Adam’s result is higher than Lillith’s, so he gains one more successful attempt at physically subduing her.
7. It is now Lillith’s turn again. Again, she tries to mind-control him. She rolls a 9 in her charm check, with her modifiers adding up to a 16. He rolls a defensive 14 in intellect and has no modifiers to add. Lillit’s results is higher than Adam’s, so she gains one more successful attempt at mind-controlling him.
8. The second round is now over. Adam has gained two successful attempts at physically subduing Lillith (2/3) and zero attempts at successfully mind-controlling her (0/3). She has gained two successful attempts at mind-controlling him (2/3) and zero successful attempts at physically subduing him (0/3).
3rd Round
9. It is Adam’s turn again. Again, he tries to physically subdue Lillith. He rolls a 19 in athletics, with his modifiers adding up to a 26. She rolls a defensive 20 in athletics and has no modifiers to add. Adam’s result is higher than Lillith’s, so he gains one more successful attempt at physically subduing her.
10. Adam has gained 3 successful attempts at physically subduing her (3/3). Combat is now over, and Adam has won. He chooses to knock her out and insert his parasite’s eggs into her. In 3 days’ time they will hatch and make her his slave. She may try to free herself once per day, using the rules under Mind Control.
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