EARLY EDITION

v4.4

Game design and writing by Dustin DePenning

Additional writing and editing by Alexis Roy
Illustrations by Vladislav Orlowski

Additional Credits:
Submit feedback to get credit in the final edition of the game!
Contents
INTRODUCTION  5
How THIS is Played  6
Player Characters (PCs)  6
GM AND NPCS  6
Portraying Darkness  8
Crafting Believability  9
Does (Blank) Exist?  10
The Ending is Unknown  11
CORE RULES  13
When to Roll Dice  13
Scoring Hits  13
Ranks and Rerolls  14
THE ATTRIBUTES  15
CUES LIST  16
ACTING UNDER PRESSURE  21
ZONES AND VANTAGES  24
OTHER RULES  25
DYING  28
SESSION ZERO  33
The Setting Sheet  33
the Genre Elements  36
Define The Darkness  38
a Strange, Common Thing  42
(Advanced) Custom Rule  43
CHARACTER CREATION  47
Archetypes  52
Skills  52
Power Moves  56
Sample Power Moves  60
GEAR & EQUIPMENT  63
Crafting or Buying Gear  63
 Defining Gear  63
SAMPLE EQUIPMENT LISTS  68
CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT 73
CUSTOM MOVE DESIGNER  78
CUE DETAILS  80
OTHER POWER MOVE  88
MODIFIERS  88
UPGRADING OLD  89
POWER MOVES  89
MANTLES  89
MANTLES LIST  90
GAME MASTERING  93
Your Job  96
Choosing Difficulties  96
GM Cues  101
DARK POINTS  102
CREATING NPCS  103
Calculating Threat  108
HAZARDS  110
AFFLICTIONS  112
PLANNING SESSIONS  115
The Entry Point  115
Objectives Anatomy  118
Objectives Success
and Failure  124
Total Party Kill (TPK)  127
ENDING THE SESSION  127
CHAPTER NINE:  131
HEALTH SCORES  131
Dark Decay  132
ENDING TRACKS  134
Narrate the Epilogue  135
CHAPTER FIVE
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
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CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
From Gilgamesh to Infinity War, stories abound of heroes
who confront a dark evil that is trying (and succeeding) to
undermine the world. All that is good — family bonds, love,
support, respect for one another, health and life itself — all
of these things are endangered by the darkness.

In Heroic Dark , that Darkness is real. It exists as a

malevolent force — sometimes intelligent, sometimes not
— that stands as the major threat to the world.

Fortunately, just as in Gilgamesh, there are heroes willing

to stand against that darkness. These heroes are ready to
fight the good fight, sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed,
and take a stand for those things that are good in the world.

Heroic Dark is the story of that fight. Whether it takes

place in the 1950s with a ragtag team of Hollywood
weirdos fighting McCarthyism, or in a far-flung galaxy
at the edge of the universe battling entropy itself, Heroic
Dark gives you and your gaming group a toolset for telling
the story of an epic heroic conflict between that which
destroys, and the individuals trying to stop it. The heroes
bravely risk life and limb to fight until the Darkness is
finally defeated - or the heroes lose too many battles, and
Darkness reigns forever.

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How THIS is Played
Heroic Dark is meant for 3-7 players. Each player should
have a set of five six-sided dice (5d6). The group should
also have a deck of playing cards. Like many tabletop RPGs,
one player becomes the Game Master (GM) and the rest
become Player Characters (PCs).

Player Characters (PCs)

PCs receive a character sheet, and then create a single
character for the story that will unfold. They have a history,
unique thoughts, feelings, goals, and most importantly,
special abilities to fight the Darkness. PCs gain experience
over time, unlocking new abilities and growing in strength.

GM AND NPCS
After the Game Master (GM) and PCs work together to
establish a game world, the GM controls it, its contents,
and non-player characters (NPCs). These could be anything
from allies of the PCs, to neutral third parties, or even the
forces of Darkness. The GM uses session sheets and NPC
sheets to help keep track of all the elements.

Negotiating Fiction
As an RPG, Heroic Dark is a shared storytelling experience
about risking life and limb to save the world. The PCs and
GM work together to craft fiction, never quite knowing
what will happen next. The GM will have surprising
challenges for the PCs, and the PCs will surprise the GM
with how they overcome those challenges. This journey
will require both the GM and the PCs to create story
details. At all times, the told story is a negotiation between
the PCs and the GM. The GM has the final say of what is or

6
is not possible. However, the PCs are encouraged to
advocate for their characters, providing reasonable
explanations of what they think their characters can and
cannot do. A PC might imagine they can use their forge
skill to craft a highly-durable sword, or perhaps they can
use their “Ghost Crafting” power move to make a gun that
can dispel phantoms. Perhaps martial arts can be used to
disarm an opponent, or trip them up to gain an advantage.
No matter the course of action described, unless the PCs’
explanations violate logic and expectations, the GM should
side with the PCs’ point of view.

3 Elements of Fiction
Whenever a fictional event is proposed, it should align
with at least one of the following principles:
• Heroism: Playing the game only by what is believable
could lack drama. This is where Heroism comes in. The
players are expected to undertake dangerous risks and
push their limits in pursuit of a higher goal.
• Darkness: How can heroism exist without adversity?
The GM is expected to be the enforcer of Darkness
by setting up challenging and dangerous situations
that stand between the players and their goals. These
situations should carry serious risk of bodily harm
or even death.
• Believability: Not to be confused with “realism,”
believability is when the story matches the shared
expectations of the players and the GM. As events
unfold, there’s little surprise or dissonance about what
is and isn’t possible. While some feats of skill are much
harder and rarer than others, nothing should break the
collective understanding of the game universe.

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Displaying Heroism
Part of being heroic is stretching the boundaries of what
is and is not possible. The PCs have the following ways to
push limits:
• Heroic Points: This currency lets a PC recharge to face
challenges they’d normally be too worn to handle.
• Power moves: This is what makes a hero truly
unique. Power moves are custom abilities designed
by the player and come baked in with special effects,
as well as a level of realism the move violates. For
example, a player might have a “Holy Strike” power
move that lets them channel spiritual energy into a
sword so that they can easily defeat evil spirits.
• Special Gear: When in doubt, amazing things can
be accomplished with the right tools. A player with
the right power move is intrinsically able to fight
werewolves, but allies might be able to help if they
find an enchanted sword.

Portraying Darkness
Grim threats keep the PCs on their back foot and set
meaningful stakes. The GM interacts with Darkness in the
following ways:
• Dark Points: The GM has a currency they can use to
boost the power and threat of enemies, or to help the
forces of darkness conquer the game world.
• Creating Challenges: Nothing important that the
PCs set out to do should be simple. There should
always be an element that makes achieving their goals
dangerous. Do the players need to travel to a shack in
the mountains? Torrential rain and storms are in
season, and the path will be anything but easy.

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• Creating Threats: Facing physical harm is a central
theme of Heroic Dark. Some elements the GM creates
will actively try to maim and kill the PCs. Are the PCs
looking for a lost campsite in the woods? Perhaps a
rabid bear has been spotted in the area, and it has been
aggressively attacking hikers.

Crafting Believability
Believability is the glue that holds Heroic Dark together.
As an open-ended, genre-less game, players can create
diverse stories with unique characters and events. But if
the game were left unstructured, these ideas would lack
cohesion and be difficult to track. When trying to maintain
believability, focus on these elements:
• Respect the universe: When the players craft
their game’s setting, ideas about what is and is not
possible will be set up. In a world with ghosts, surely
there will be ghost hunters. In a world with advanced
bio-machines, it is reasonable to assume that man and
animals can be fused to them. But a game world that
says nothing about the existence of magic should not
be expected to allow for a player’s use of voodoo on
opponents.
• Consider what your PC might know how to do:
This is a difficult negotiation, but an important one.
It should not be assumed that a car repairman can
hack computers unless a skill or ability suggests it. It
definitely shouldn’t be assumed that a 10th century
peasant understands modern day sanitation and germ
theory. But do not be completely unforgiving in this
area; a high school football player might know some
basic chemistry tricks from class, or a call center

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 employee might have slightly above standard
computer skills, such as knowing how to set up a VPN.
• “Remind” other players what they know: Players
can be distracted; they’re having fun telling jokes
with their friends at the table, or they’re extremely
engrossed in the story and not focusing on the
details of their character sheet. Maybe a player is
portraying a character they don’t identify with in
real life — a literature major playing as an advanced
nuclear physicist isn’t going to have a firm grasp of
their character’s knowledge and abilities. Instead of
exploiting blind spots, both the PCs and the GM are
encouraged to share thoughts and ideas that seem
appropriate to each other’s characters.
• Be cognizant of what tools are needed: Just because
your character knows how to do something doesn’t
make it automatically possible. Having experience
making a sword doesn’t suddenly bring it into being;
a forge and raw materials are needed. Knowing how
to hack a computer doesn’t bend every device to your
whim, either. You must find access points or splice into
a network with your own device.

Does (Blank) Exist?

Part of Heroic Dark is making your own game setting. This
means you will have to make judgment calls on what types
of special abilities, magic, and technology exist. At some
point, a player is going to want to unlock a special ability
or buy a piece of gear not yet accounted for in your game
world. As you all wonder if that thing exists, ponder these
two answers:

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• I don’t see why not! This is the default answer. If a
player wants to include something in the game, and
there’s no obvious conflicts, go for it! Of course, this
doesn’t mean players can automatically get a dragon-
slaying crossbow. They’ll still have to earn enough
resources to buy it, or adventure in a dangerous realm
to find it. However, if it makes sense for something to
exist, it should!
• That idea conflicts with… If an established game
element conflicts with a new idea a player is proposing,
the established element takes priority. That doesn’t
mean the new idea should be rejected outright; maybe
the idea can be modified, softened, or restricted in
some way so that it can exist without stepping on the
toes of the established setting.

The Ending is Unknown

Above all, the resolution of any conflict in Heroic Dark
should be unknown. Success is never guaranteed, nor
is failure a certainty. This idea is woven into each game
session as the PCs try to achieve their objectives, and holds
true for the entire game itself: the PCs might save the world,
or they might fail permanently.

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12
CHAPTER TWO:
CORE RULES
The fundamental engine behind Heroic Dark involves
discussing actions to evaluate the stakes involved, and to
determine what success or failure might look like. After
discussing the action, the player in question rolls the dice
to see how successful the character is.

When to Roll Dice

Whenever a character (NPC or PC) attempts to alter the
game world, check to see if the following is true:
• There is a meaningful chance of failure or danger.
• The character is likely to succeed, but how well they
succeed matters.
• The result of the action has stakes important to the
story.
If any of these are true, discuss the situation in a little
more detail. As a general rule, whenever attempting
something, don’t jump straight to rolling. Take a minute to
fully comprehend what your character is doing and how
they are trying to achieve their goal, and then roll. This is
important, as the practice of description both enhances
the roleplay of the game and helps the GM determine what
attribute is needed and what difficulty to set.

Scoring Hits
Hits are the core unit of success in Heroic Dark. Hits are
scored by rolling 5d6 and counting all dice that come up
as six. Additional hits can be gained automatically from
character skills and situational bonuses. An easy task
that still has a chance of failure will require scoring 1 hit
to succeed. An almost impossible task will require 8 hits.

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Sometimes you don’t roll against a difficulty, but instead
roll against another character’s roll - for example, if acting
against a PC or NPC. When two characters are rolling
against each other, the character initiating the action wins
ties.

Ranks and Rerolls

Whenever checking the outcome of an action, you roll 5d6
and set aside the dice that have already come up as a six.
Next, look at the attribute involved in the action and check
your rank. Attribute ranks run from 0-5, and indicate how
many failed dice you get to reroll. Collect the failed dice
up to your rank and reroll only one more time, looking for
additional sixes. The final tally is how many hits you rolled.

Odds of getting a hit change significantly with attribute

rank. Below is a chart giving you a quick explanation.

Odds of rolling at least one hit per rank:

Rank 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 5

60% 67% 72% 76% 84%

Lead
Sometimes you will score more hits than is necessary to
achieve the action. These extra hits are called “lead.” When
this happens, negotiate with the GM to improve the quality
of your success. This chapter contains specific guidelines
about how well to improve your result based upon the
number of extra hits you scored.

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THE ATTRIBUTES
On your sheet you have five attributes. Each attribute
can be used for almost anything, so long as the course of
action described matches what that attribute is used for.
These uses are very broad; two very different characters
could end up using the same attribute for different things.
However, such characters would have completely different
skills to affect the roll.

MIGHT
Physical prowess, including strength, endurance, and
resiliency, are uses of Might. A boxer, climber, or a
stuntman who can take a punch would all rely on a good
Might attribute.

AGILITY
Dexterity and alacrity are described through Agility. A
ballet dancer, gymnast, or even a sharpshooter would all
rely on a good Agility attribute.

Focus
This attribute represents mental power. A psychologist,
engineer, or a doctor would all rely on a good Focus
attribute.

Influence
Diplomacy, deception, and negotiation are uses of
Influence. A politician, conman, or lawyer would all rely on
a good Influence attribute.

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Senses
Awareness and connectedness to the outer world are
measured through Senses. This attribute is all about
gleaning information and knowing when to act. A
detective, animal tracker, or poker player would all rely on
a good Senses attribute.

CUES LIST
Since Heroic Dark is an open-ended game, sometimes it
can be hard to know what characters can and cannot do.
It may seem like there are too many options, and once
you think you know what you want to do, it can be hard
to know how to resolve the situation. To help with this,
Heroic Dark uses a list of possible actions called “cues.”
Cues are a quick description of a course of action and list
possible outcomes from scoring lead. As both the players
and the GM become more familiar with the game, this
process will become intuitive and require less referencing
of the cues list. Players might even think of new actions
that don’t fully fit in a cue, but still make good sense. This
is encouraged! You and the GM might have to quickly
improvise a lead chart for a good roll, but go for it. For
new groups, or in situations that lack clarity, it will be
useful to rely heavily on the existing cue list to keep
the game moving.

Before Choosing a Cue

There are two basic questions you should ask before
referencing a cue:
• What is your character trying to achieve? How radical
is the action’s effects, and how permanent? The GM

16
 will use this information to set the base difficulty
of the action.
• How is your character trying to accomplish this?
Access to important knowledge and tools will help
the GM finalize the difficulty; the more your character
would know and have to use, the more believable the
action and the lower the difficulty.

SPENDING LEAD
Each cue has a list of lead effects, based upon how many
extra hits you scored. You spend lead equal to the cost
listed to gain an effect. If you have leftover lead after
choosing an effect, you may choose additional effects so
long as you have more lead to spend, though you may only
choose each effect once.

MOTIVATE
To change the perspectives and behavior of NPCs (and not
PCs), use the Motivate cue. Explain what your character
does or says to influence attitudes. Lead:
• 1 Lead: Double the time frame the target has to hold to
your expectations.
• 2 Lead: Add new restrictions to the way the
target must fulfill expectations so they can’t weasel
their way out.
• 2 Lead: Choose additional material support that the
target must provide to help you.
• 3 Lead: Require the target to be willing to expose
themselves to danger to hold up expectations.

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Manipulate
To alter the state of objects, use the manipulate cue. This
includes crafting or breaking gear. Explain how your
character interacts with and alters your target. Lead:
• 1 Lead: You achieve your results in half the time it
would normally take.
• 2 Lead: The benefits of your manipulation last twice
as long as they normally would. A jalopy car keeps
running; a precariously balanced object stays up.
• 2 Lead: Your manipulation target can do something it
normally couldn’t, such as a computer catching fire, or
a car driving on two wheels.
• 3 Lead: You are exceptionally prepared for future
challenges. You receive +1 hit that can later be spent on
any one action reasonably connected to the target of
your manipulation.

Position
When physical location could enable or prevent a course
of action, use the Position cue to your advantage. This can
be used to check success for difficult movements, such as
with jumping or climbing. If the circumstances permit, a
position action allows you to move to an adjacent zone,
which is explained at the end of the chapter. Position only
has lead effects in special situations, which are explained
under “Acting Under Pressure.”

Reveal
To gain relevant information (including the state and
location of vital people and objects), use the Reveal cue.
Explain how your character can observe or discover the
information. Lead:

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• 1 Lead: Even if the GM decides you can’t find what
you’re looking for, you generally know how to find it.
• 2 Lead: Even if the GM decides you don’t recognize
what you found, you have a general idea what it is.
• 2 Lead: Even if the GM decides what you found doesn’t
specifically point to anyone, you have a general idea
who is involved.
• 3 Lead: Any extra information gleaned isn’t general,
it’s exact.

Obscure
To hide people, things, actions, and information from
others, use the Obscure cue. Explain how your character
makes it difficult for others to sense or discover your target.
Lead:
• 1 Lead: Your obfuscation lasts a moment longer than it
normally would, such as enemies failing to notice you
hiding right after turning on the lights.
• 2 Lead: You can obscure twice as many targets. If you
are hiding yourself, you can hide an ally as well. If you’re
telling a lie, you can float two equally specious lies.
• 3 Lead: You receive +1 hit on your next action
reasonably associated with revealing your secret, such
as attacking from an ambush location.

Assist
To help others succeed in a course of action, or set
yourself up to succeed at a future non-assist action, use
the assist cue. Multiple characters can make this move
simultaneously. Explain how your character increases the
effectiveness of other endeavors. Note: you can only use
this move if your character can believably assist the other,

19
and it would not work in a situation where your character
lacks suitable knowledge or skill. The GM decides which of
the following two situations the action encompasses. This
limits how you can help:
• In a Finesse situation, things are complex and nuanced.
Sheer numbers can’t fix everything. Out of everyone
assisting, only the character scoring the highest
number of hits can add theirs to the ally’s action.
• In a Force situation, things are simple and
straightforward. All help is good help. All hits scored by
all parties are added to the ally’s action.

Resist
To hinder others’ actions, or any external forces, including
natural forces such as cold or rain, use the resist cue.
Sometimes, when directly targeted by an action such as
wrestling or pushing, you automatically make the resist
action out of turn. If plausible, multiple characters can
contribute to a resist action. You can only use this action
if you are directly opposing another character to make
things harder for them, and not when a character is acting
against something indirect to you, like a trap you laid. In
that situation, the character would roll against what the
GM thinks is the difficulty of the trap, and not an out-of-
turn resist cue. Explain how you are well positioned or
prepared to mitigate the success of your opponent. As with
assist, there are limits to how much you can influence the
situation:
• In a Finesse situation, things are complex and nuanced.
Sheer numbers can’t fix everything. Out of everyone
resisting, only the character scoring the highest

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 number of hits subtracts theirs from the
opponent’s action.
• In a Force situation, things are simple and
straightforward. All help is good help. All hits scored by
all actors are subtracted from the opponent’s action.

ACTING UNDER PRESSURE

Usually, characters take actions in whatever order feels
organic and right. But in some situations, such as a fight or
a car chase, more information is needed. First off, it might
be important to determine the acting order of characters
by using an “Action Deck.” Additionally, the Position cue
becomes more important, with detailed lead effects that
can change the number of actions a character can take.
Finally, three more special cues might come into play,
which are known as React, Attack, and Defend.

Action Deck
When trying to determine what order characters act in, get
a deck of playing cards. Pull out a number of pairs for each
character, such as two aces, two kings, etc. Assign one card
from each pair to each character. Take the matching cards
for all characters aware of the conflict and shuffle them
into a pile. Shuffle the unaware character’s matching cards
in a separate pile and then place it underneath the first.
This forms the Action Deck. Reveal the top card, and the
character assigned the matching card gets to take a single
action. If they do not wish to act, they can switch their
assigned Action Card with any other willing character.
Next, reveal the following cards one at a time until all
characters have acted. To start a new round, reshuffle all
the action cards together and begin drawing again.

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Position Lead
When acting under pressure, the Position Cue has a chance
of letting characters take extra actions or take their turns
in a different order. As such, characters should always
roll when activating the Position Cue even if the difficulty
would be 0, to see how much lead is scored. When you roll
Position, no matter how much lead is scored, you can only
choose one lead effect. Also, if you activate Position two
times in the same round, you do not get any lead effects for
the second activation. Lead:
• 1 Lead: Set your revealed action card aside. When the
round resets, reshuffle such set aside cards separately,
and place them on top of the Action Deck.
• 3 Lead: Shuffle your revealed action card back in the
deck, allowing you to take a second action this round.
• 5 Lead: Immediately take a second action this turn.

React (senses)
When a character’s action card is revealed, challengers still
have a chance to act before them. Challengers must have
not yet acted this round, and must be aware of the original
acting character. First, challengers expend energy (more
on this later). The original character and all challengers roll
Senses, and add any relevant skills that would allow one to
act faster than normal. See which character scores more
hits; ties go to the defender. Then the following happens:
• If the original acting character wins the roll,
they continue their turn uninterrupted. No other
characters can attempt React against them, and
failed challengers cannot attempt the React Cue
any more times this round.

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• If a challenger wins the roll, they switch assigned
Action Cards with the character, and can take their
turn now. No other characters can attempt React
against them this turn.

Attack (agility/might)
When a threat needs to be removed from a conflict, use
the attack cue. Decide your course of action to determine
if you are targeting a threat’s Body or mind HP (mind HP
is usually targeted by some form of magic). Use Agility for
ranged attacks and Might for melee attacks. If you tie or
exceed the target’s Defend roll (assuming they get one), you
deal 1 damage plus extra damage from powers or weapons.
The GM has the option to double your damage if the target
is completely undefended, such as tied up. Lead:
• 1 Lead: Ignore 1 point of damage reduction (DR).
• 2 Lead: If you deal damage, inflict a minor affliction
or disarm the opponent. Upgrade this to a moderate
affliction if you are using a melee weapon, as the
injuries are more severe. Disarmed opponents
must take a full action on their next turn to re-arm
themselves if no one else has grabbed their weapons.
• 2 Lead: Ignore 2 points of DR (stacks with first option).
• 3 lead: If you deal damage, inflict a moderate affliction.
Upgrade this to a severe affliction if you are using a
melee weapon.

Defend (agility/might)
You can automatically make the defend cue whenever
you’re the target of an Attack, without having to spend an
action. Explain how you are strategically positioned or well
equipped to withstand attack. If you tie your attacker, they

23
still hit, but have no lead. Unless you can take defensive
actions like parry, or have cover, you cannot use this cue.
Use Might to block melee attacks or Agility to dodge
ranged attacks. Lead:
• 1 Lead: Take no damage.
• 1 Lead: Receive +1 hit the next time you act against your
attacker.
• 2 Lead: Receive another +1 hit the next time you act
against your attacker.
• 3 Lead: Any hits bonus can be used two times.

Heal (Focus)
While the only way to recover HP is through expending
energy, it is possible to heal allies’ afflictions through use of
this cue. Spend resources equal to the numerical penalty
of the affliction, and roll against a difficulty equal to that
same penalty. On a success, reduce the severity of the
affliction by one level (to a minimum of minor). Lead:
• 1 Lead: Reduce the resource cost of using this cue by 1
(to a minimum of 0)
• 2 Lead: Cut the recovery time of the healed affliction in
half
• 3 lead: Reduce the severity of the affliction by two
levels (up to and including fully healed).

ZONES AND VANTAGES

With all the different types of cues, many situations can
arise where positioning matters. So who can reach who?
To keep track of this, the game suggests that you quickly
jot down a location’s zones and vantages, as well as which

24
character is in which. Consider taking a piece of paper and
roughly outlining each zone, like a simplistic top-down
map showing which areas are connected. Mark notable
features in each zone to help keep track of what sorts of
elements characters can interact with.

Zone
A zone is an area that is roughly 30’x30’. Zones can be
slightly smaller or larger depending on the difficulty of the
terrain, the presence of walls and doors, or other elements
that could affect the movement of characters. By default, a
character can take any one action against anything in their
zone. This might bend believability a little bit, but Heroic
Dark is not meant to be an overly tactical, action economy
driven game. Your character can only do one thing per
turn, so to get the most out of it, assume they can do
any and all movement necessary to affect targets
within their zone.

Vantage
Vantages are “mini-zones” that exist within a larger zone.
These are areas that, while not necessarily outside the
30’x30’ area, are difficult to reach or access. A vantage
might be a tall rock, a locked bunker, or a sniper’s nest.

OTHER RULES
There are a few other details and numbers to keep track of
when playing Heroic Dark .

Body HP (4+Might Rank)

Any physical attack is put against body HP. Most of time,

25
damage reduction (DR) from equipped armor will mitigate
any damage applied to body HP. However, well-aimed
attacks or attacks that plausibly cannot be stopped (like
armor piercing weapons) ignore DR. You recover 1+Might
body HP after facing 4 objectives (a unit of session time the
GM uses).

Mind HP (4+Focus Rank)

Any mystical, psychic, or mental attack is put against mind
HP. Damage against mind HP can never be reduced. You
recover 1+Focus mind HP after facing 4 objectives.

Energy LEVELS
Characters have an Energy Levels track on their
sheet that represents how much power a character has left.
PCs start at rested, and spend levels down the track for the
following benefits:
• +1 success on any roll (1 energy level, maximum 3 per
roll)
• Recover all HP (2 energy levels)
• Activate certain power moves (varies)

Players revert to the rested energy level after completing 4

objectives.

When a player marks an energy level that says “+ AFFL”

(which means “plus affliction”), they must take a temporary
minor affliction of the GMs choice, or upgrade a temporary
affliction to a higher severity. Below these levels are three
dotted line boxes that can also be spent as energy levels,
but only by PCs that have been upgraded to have additional
energy levels. Lastly, there is a final level called “PERM

26
AFFL.” Checking this box gives your character a permanent
affliction of the GMs choice.

If you check an affliction level, but there isn’t an obvious

way your character could become hurt, the GM is
encouraged to apply mental and vigor related afflictions,
such as exhaustion or depression. The GM might also add
additional narrative details to the scene in which you gain
the affliction, to better explain why and how you got it.

HEROIC POINTS
Characters start out with 2 Heroic Points, and can never
have more than 3. Heroic points can be used to restore
the character to rested status early. The GM hands out
additional Heroic Points throughout the session when
players succeed in their objectives.

AFFLICTIONS
Whenever an attack injures you mentally or physically, you
receive an affliction. An affliction describes a limitation
that can cause difficulty in the future. Whenever an
affliction comes into play, the GM decides the severity of
the penalty (1-3 hits).

Afflictions come with a time frame and resource cost

to recover. At worst, they last weeks and require 3 resource
to be spent.

Afflictions can never motivate you to take action. For

example, a “Short Temper” affliction cannot force you to
act irrationally. However, the GM could decide your short

27
temper penalizes you if you take actions to negotiate with
difficult partners, or attempt to talk your way out of a fight.

Permanent Afflictions
Whenever a character has two temporary afflictions, the
next received affliction is permanent. This means it can
never be removed, only mitigated through drugs, magic,
or prosthetics. Even if a cleric helps you regrow a missing
hand, the new one is never as good as the old one.

Heroic Afflictions
If you ever receive a permanent affliction, you can counter
and make it Heroic. You must spend 1 Heroic Point at any
time after the affliction is received. If you do, you receive
5 XP that can only be spent on power moves that are
plausibly related to your affliction. For example, if you
receive a permanent “Doom Curse,” you could make it
heroic and get a power move that gives you access to black
magic, though you are still affected by the curse.

DYING
Whenever a character reaches 0 HP in either Body or
Mind HP, they receive a severe affliction, are unconscious,
and will die by the end of the scene. However, if allies are
victorious and are able to recover unconscious allies,
casualties can spend 2 energy to regain HP, but retain any
afflictions. If a character at 0 or less HP and cannot spend
any energy, they die. Also, if a character ever reaches -3 HP,
they immediately die.

28
Dying from Afflictions
If a character ever has two permanent afflictions and
would gain a third permanent one, they instead suffer a
fatal wound and die immediately.

Replacing Dead Characters

Ultimately, death is a major theme in Heroic Dark, and
permanent character death is a fundamental risk of the
game. Rules for resurrection are not included. However,
when a player’s character dies, they are not expected to
quit the game. Instead, they should make a new character
reasonably connected to the old one and bring them
into the fray. This new character is rising to the status
of hero, and will join forces with the other PCs to fight
the Darkness. Wait for a natural break in the session or
between sessions to make the new character. When
making a new character, follow this process:
• Make a fresh character using the rules from Character
Creation. This character might be considerably weaker
than the previous one because of the lack of XP earned.
• Count the XP spent on the dead character to set a
benchmark for the new character.
• Until the character reaches the same XP as the dead
character, they receive 2 bonus XP at the end of the
session that can be assigned to any pool of their
choosing.

Remembering the Dead

Sometimes timing is such that a player’s dead character
cannot be replaced in the middle of a session. The player
should not be expected to sit out until a new character
can be introduced. Instead, the player can assist other

29
characters through their memory.
• The dead player is given a total of 3 Heroic Points
to spend.
• Whenever another PC is in need of help, the dead
player can invoke an emotional memory that their
character shared with the other. This can even be a new
memory — something revealing and poignant. The
dead character and PC can even play out a short scene
to explore the memory.
• This boost of emotion lets the dead player transfer one
of their Heroic Points to the player in need.
• When the dead player is out of Heroic Points, they can
still invoke their memory. This allows them to reroll
any and all failed dice another player rolled. However, if
the action is still a failure after this reroll, it counts as a
blunder (a special kind of failure the GM tracks).

Mantles
Becoming a hero is a massive responsibility.
Replacement characters, though rookies, are special in
that they have committed themselves to the dire fight
against Darkness even though they might be considerably
weaker than the other heroes. Because of this, replacement
heroes may take up an additional character trait called a
“mantle.” For more information, see mantles in Chapter 6:
Character Advancement.

30
31
32
CHAPTER THREE:
SESSION ZERO
The first time the players meet should be about setting up
the world their particular game of Heroic Dark will occupy.
After this, the PCs will make their characters. All of this
should take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours. Quick
and improvisational GMs are encouraged to begin play
immediately after this, but more methodical and planning-
focused GMs might want some time to prepare the first
session.

The Setting Sheet

Filling out the setting sheet is how you create your own
universe for Heroic Dark. It requires the process described
below. Each point is explained in more detail in the
following sections.
• Go around the table and determine what genre
elements and themes you’re working with. Does your
game include arcane magic, evil spirits, and modern
technology?
• Decide the scale of your game. Is this a global problem
affecting the whole world?
• Determine what the Darkness is. Are malicious
ghosts opening a portal in the internet, and then
possessing people in the real world?
• Explain how your team of heroes fights the
Darkness. Do you use a combination of spiritualism
and internet tech to disrupt the ghosts and their plans?
• Decide how long your team has been fighting. Is this
a recent problem? Have the ghosts just barely begun
their dark work?

33
 HOW YOU FIGHT THE UNUSUAL, COMMON THING

SETTING
SHEET THE VITAL, RARE THING

THE DARKNESS
HOW LONG YOU’VE FOUGHT THE MORAL QUANDARY

THE OPRESSED SOCIETY THE AFRAID SOCIETY THE DENIAL SOCIETY

PLACES/INSTITUTIONS PLACES/INSTITUTIONS PLACES/INSTITUTIONS

HEROIC ENDING TRACK VICTORY DARK ENDING TRACK FAILURE

+2 (+3) +4 (+6) +7 (+10) +10 (+14) +13 (+17) +16 (+21) +20 (+26)

SETTING NOTES
MONSTERS
MAGIC
TECHNOLOGY

RACES

SCALE
SPIRITS

To download the Setting Sheet, go to:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/
product/276284/Heroic-Dark-Setting-Sheet
34
• Define the three societies: afraid, oppressed, and
denial. Are spiritualists and mediums afraid of fighting
the Darkness? Is the common man terrorized and
oppressed by the Darkness? Does the government
deny that the Darkness even exists?
• List and describe one place/institution for each
society. The Great Mystic Lodge in Louisiana is
where the spiritualists commune with one another
and plan their next moves. Middle America is where
the darkness has its stranglehold. The pentagon
represents the seat of the government’s power and
denial of the darkness’s existence.
• Determine what strange thing has become common
because of the darkness. Are people frequently
receiving emails from their dead relatives?
• Decide what vital, important thing has become rare.
Is good cell reception difficult to get because of all the
ghosts in the airwaves?
• Identify the moral quandary with fighting the
darkness. Maybe not all the ghosts are evil? Perhaps
closing the dark portal in the net will cut off the living
from their lost dead relatives.
• (Advanced) Consider a custom rule. If ghosts are on
the internet, maybe when players die, they become
ghosts too! For the cost of two Heroic Points, perhaps
they can possess an unwitting soul and return to the
land of the living.

35
the Genre Elements
Starting with the GM and moving clockwise, each player
should look at the back of the setting sheet and make a
decision about the genre elements of your game world.
A player can either add an element, block an element,
connect and explain elements, or ask a question. When
a player has a strong idea of what the Darkness is, and
everyone agrees the setting genre is suitably developed,
move on to the next step.
• Add an element: Look at the five genre ideas,
find one that intrigues you, and choose to include it
in your game. You can even think up an entirely new
genre idea not provided and write it in one of the blank
spaces on the sheet. The initial five ideas are magic,
technology, races (i.e. ors and elves), monsters, and
spirits. These are broad categories that shape the scope
and important elements of your setting. Choosing
a specific element won’t mean much until it is later
explained. After you suggest an element, check to see
if the other players agree. If so, this is now part
of your game.
• Block an element: If a specific genre feature seems
uninteresting to you, say magic, you can move to
block it. If the other players agree, this element is now
out of your game. That thing does not exist in your
game world, and all other elements must abide by
that rule. For example, say you block magic but later
on someone includes spirits. It would be natural to
include spiritualist magic in a world with spirits, but
you’ve already determined magic is not in your game.
Instead, the spirits must be explained through some

36
 sort of other phenomena, such as being manifested by
powerful psychic energies that can be
scientifically measured.
• Connect and explain elements: Pick one or more of
the included elements and explain what they really
mean. Always start with one element, and come up
with a specific idea of what it is. Only choose and
explain other included elements if they meaningfully
connect to the idea you’re explaining. For example, you
might have a game that includes technology, monsters,
and spirits. You might decide the technology in the
game is advanced biomechs that seem like mystical
monsters. These biomechs are powered by nanite
“spirits” that give them a consciousness. With their
varied forms and abilities, these biomechs are used as
a means of travel, as laborers and beasts of burden, or
even soldiers.
• Ask a question: When another player connects and
explains elements, you might be spurred to ask a
question. For example: If the world has advanced
biomechs, do other advanced technologies exist?
Are there laser weapons, jet packs, teleporters? Pose
the question to the group, and as you all collectively
answer, freely include and explain any new genre
elements necessary to the answer.

Whenever a player makes a statement or decision about

the game world, the other players are encouraged to go
along with it. If something doesn’t seem quite right to you,
or you’re not exactly interested in it, do not try to undo the
contribution of another player. Instead, ask meaningful
questions to expand and add to the element. Don’t like

37
robots, but some players want to include them? Ask
yourself what would make robots more interesting to you,
perhaps something like whether or not the robots have a
soul and how that affects their behavior, and pose that idea
to the group.

DEFINE THE SCALE

Concurrently with selecting and defining elements,
nail down the scale of your game. Is this fight against
Darkness limited to a single city? A country or continent?
A whole planet? The entire galaxy? Keep in mind that
whatever scale you choose should be supported by the
genre elements you choose. A game that is galactic in
scale necessitates interstellar travel, which is most likely
accomplished via high technology or powerful magic.

Define The Darkness

The first player who has an idea for the Darkness is
encouraged to voice it. The Darkness should be a force
or entity that is enacting a bad change upon the world.
For example, if your group has created a game setting
that includes mystical races like elves and orcs, it might
occur to you that the Darkness is the elves waging a
genocidal campaign against the orcs. The other players are
encouraged to expand and add to the idea of the Darkness
to make it better fit the game world. This might require
going back to the elements step to further refine some
ideas in response to what the Darkness is. When most
players feel the setting ideas, elements, and the Darkness
are engaging, it’s time to move on. Don’t wait until
everything is fully explained, however! You want things

38
just detailed and explained enough to be exciting. The rest
of the details can be filled in during play, both by ideas
from players and surprises from the GM.

Fighting The Darkness

How your team of heroes fight the Darkness sets the tone
for the whole campaign. Think of goals, methodologies,
strategies – any and all ideas the players have should
be dissected, discussed, and possibly included. Is the
Darkness of your world an elder god corrupting the
material realm? Perhaps arcane research is an important
part of fighting the darkness. Violent conflict with the
god’s agents might also be necessary, and convincing
others that the god exists could be crucial to success. No
matter what, be sure to include some elements of physical
danger and life-or-death stakes. Jot these ideas down in
the corresponding section of the Setting Sheet.

How Long You’ve Fought

The length of time that your team has been battling the
Darkness will help determine how characters know each
other. Is the battle against the Darkness ancient? Maybe
characters belong to a holy order and have known each
other since childhood. Is the battle against the Darkness
recent? Maybe the characters randomly met in a crisis and
have been sticking together since.

The Three Societies

Important factions are going to define the shape of your
game world. As you discuss elements, the Darkness, and
the nature of the heroes’ fight against it, always be on the

39
lookout for a society idea. At minimum, you must identify
societies that fit the following categories:
• The Afraid Society: This group of individuals knows
the power of the Darkness and want to stop it. They
see the Darkness’ influence and fear what will happen
if it’s left unchecked. In a game where demons are
terrorizing farmers and livestock, the Afraid Society
might be a priestly order. Don’t just stop with who the
society is, though; jot down a few ideas of what they do.
Perhaps this priestly order has started collecting lore
on the demons and sending exorcists to drive out the
spirits. The Afraid Society should reflect the goals and
methods of the heroes, and will be their primary ally.
• The Oppressed Society: This group is mired in the
Darkness. They might be fighting back, but they
cannot succeed without help. Continuing the demon
example, the Oppressed Society would be the farmers
and country folk themselves. They have to deal with
the reality of the demons every day, but don’t have the
means to do much about it.
• The Denial Society: One group of people is
going to pretend the Darkness doesn’t exist. Using our
example, perhaps the king’s knights deny the existence
of the demons. But ask yourself, what reasons do they
have for this belief? Perhaps they’re skeptical, and
assume an enemy nation are the ones perpetrating
atrocities against the farmers. Maybe some of them
think demons might be real, but admitting this
would cause massive chaos among the peasants and
maintaining political control is more important than
facing the truth.

40
Places and Institutions
Heroic Dark tracks the health and power of nine
important places/institutions; three are assigned to each
society. In Session Zero, it is important to define at least
one for each society. You can wait until future sessions to
determine the other six institutions as necessary. As you
further explain the Darkness and each society, be on the
lookout for ideas for institutions. Is the Afraid Society a
group political activists opposing the machinations of an
evil mega-corp? Perhaps a campaign headquarters is an
important place to establish. This is the very real physical
base of operations that the activists work from. Is the
Oppressed Society immigrants who are being exploited
by the mega-corp? Perhaps they share a common faith,
and a religious group is important to organizing them. Is
the Denial Society other businesses who value capitalist
freedom and are resistant to the activists’ ideas for reform?
Perhaps Wall Street, where all their equity is traded, is their
most important institution. Each of these places will give
you an idea about the game world and a place or specific
group of people to interact with.

After defining at least one for each society, it’s time to

assign a health score to each institution, including the
undefined ones. This health score will affect the powers
of the heroes and the Darkness, and help determine who
is closer to victory. A high score is good, and a low score is
very bad. These numbers will go up and down depending
on the heroes’ success in their missions. Do the following:
• For the three afraid institutions, set one at 7 and the
rest at 6.
• For the oppressed institutions, set one at 3 and the
others at 2.
41
• For the denial institutions, set one at 5 and the
others at 4.
• Note that these health scores remain public, allowing
the heroes to make strategic decisions about which
areas to travel to when fighting the Darkness.

a Strange, Common Thing

An element of your game world will be noticeably warped
by the presence of the Darkness. As a group, define what
strange phenomena has now become commonplace. If the
Darkness is in the form of monsters from space, perhaps
disturbed and rabid animals have become common. They’re
negatively altered by the radiation and biology of the
monsters out in the woods, and they’re running to the city
and causing problems. The strange thing does not need to
be dangerous, but it needs to be interesting, evocative, and
usable to explain or create conflict
during the game.

a Rare, Vital Thing

The Darkness is disrupting society and making
something very important hard to come by. This will
present a constant conflict for your team of heroes,
and constrain their resources. If alien clones are taking
over people’s lives, perhaps valuable drugs and medical
supplies are going missing. The aliens are stealing whatever
pharmaceuticals they can get to use in their abominable
labs. Make this a very interesting conflict – one that the
heroes will often run up against.

42
The Moral Quandary
If fighting the Darkness was always good, the game
wouldn’t be that interesting. In all great stories, opposing
the enemy has shades of gray. If an enemy nation is
invading, maybe many citizens of that nation are good,
normal people who don’t know what their government
is doing. Perhaps the invaders bring clueless citizens as
settlers to hold their ill-gotten lands, and driving them
away could doom these innocent people to starvation and
famine in their home nation. Whatever you pick, it should
be something that all the heroes would feel bad about.

(Advanced) Custom Rule

With all the strange and imaginative details your group has
come up with, Heroic Dark’s core rules may not be enough
to model your game world. Consider coming up with a
simple rule change that makes the game world feel alive.
For example, in a world where people are turning into
monsters, maybe if you gain three magic afflictions your
character turns into an evil NPC monster, forcing you to
roll up a new character.

Other Considerations
The setting you create may have some interesting
challenges to the players not already covered by the rules.
For example, you might imagine a world where the forces
of Darkness can blend in and appear as normal humans. So
how do the heroes find the forces of Darkness? Can they
ever truly know who the enemy is? Or perhaps the forces
of darkness are spirits and don’t have the same physical
limitations as the heroes. Do the heroes need specialized
equipment to hurt the agents of Darkness? Will they have

43
to cast spells to trap the spirits and make them material?
It will be important to think through these sorts of
situations and openly answer any questions that are raised.

Note: The Story Evolves as you Play

These setting creation rules are intended to frame a story
that starts out with engaging, interesting elements already
in place. However, they are not meant to limit the story
and keep it from evolving. As the heroes make progress in
their journeys and the Darkness reacts, circumstances may
change. The “Rare, Vital Thing” situation might be solved,
so the Darkness must find another way to put pressure
on the heroes. And perhaps as the plans of the Darkness
are better revealed, even more “Moral Quandaries” are
discovered, further complicating life. The important thing
is to understand that the Setting Sheet is where the story
starts, not where it ends.

44
45
46
CHAPTER FOUR:
CHARACTER CREATION
Each PC in Heroic Dark is created using the same process:
1. Determine which of the three societies your
character is from
2. Imagine a “call to action;” something happened to your
character that spurred them to fight the Darkness
3. Choose a career to determine your character’s main
source of knowledge
4. Choose a style to set what sort of situations your
character is extra effective in
5. Select an archetype to set your character’s attributes,
number of skills, and remaining XP to spend on power
moves
6. Decide what your character is good at by selecting skills
and specializations
7. Use your remaining XP to select power moves, filling in
the blanks to customize them for your character
8. Choose 8 “Resource” worth of equipment (listed in the
next chapter)

Society
When first making your character, start big. Which
of the three societies does your character hail from? Think
about how it shapes their view of the Darkness and their
willingness to fight it. Are they rash and daring? Reluctant
and cautious?

Example:
Your character hails from the Frost Tribes, a denial society
that refuses to recognize the corruptive magical fog in the

47
 CHARACTER
MIGHT
1 2 3 5

SHEET
BODY HP MIND HP
[MIGHT + 4] [FOCUS + 4]

AGILITY
1 2 3 5 NAME
DESCRIPTION
FOCUS
1 2 3 5
AFFLICTIONS SOCIETY
CAREER
INFLUENCE STYLE
1 2 3 5

CALL TO ACTION
SENSES
1 2 3 5

SKILLS (+1) SPECIALIZATIONS (+1) ATTACKS/DEFENSES

ENERGY LEVELS
RESTED RECOVERIES
[PER 4 OBJECTIVES]
HEROIC POINTS
BODY HP
+AFFL [MIGHT+1]
+AFFL

3 PERM AFFL
MIND HP
[FOCUS+1]

POWER MOVES NOTES GEAR LOAD NOTES

LIGHT MED. HEAVY BONUS (MIGHT)

LOAD
-1 -2
RESOURCE

UNSPENT XP
MANTLE BONUS ENERGY SKILLS POWER MOVE

ENERGY LIMITATIONS XP NOT ASSIGNED TO ATTRIBUTES GO IN

THESE POOLS. ONLY 2 XP MAY BE ASSIGNED
HEROIC VIRTUE TO THE SKILL POOL PER SESSION.

To download the Character Sheet, go to:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/
product/276283/Heroic-Dark-
48 Character-Sheet
south. You want to call your proud people to battle to
protect the realm. Their hesitation drives you
almost to tears.

Call to Action
Before the first session starts, something already caused
your character to begin fighting the Darkness. How has
the Darkness personally affected your character? What
happened? Was it tragic, or inspiring? Were other PCs at
the table involved?

Example
Your character almost died at the hands of a werebeast, but
you were saved by one of the other PCs. Your eyes are now
open to the lycan scourge, and you want to make sure no
one suffers the fate that almost befell you.

Career
What is/was your character’s main profession? This will
serve as your primary knowledge base to justify being
able to perform actions. A career doesn’t guarantee your
character is good at something (that’s what a skill is for),
but it determines what your character generally knows
about. Careers typically conform to one of the following 6
choices. Fill in the parentheses to make it specific to your
PC and the game setting you’ve designed.
• Crafter ( )
A crafter makes something complex and valuable.
A carpenter, draftsman, or artisan baker would
all be crafters.
• Expert ( )
An expert knows a lot about a specialized subject. They

49
 might be a consultant, a professor, a researcher –
really any type of worker whose career is based
upon knowledge.
• Communicator ( )
A communicator facilitates the expression and
interpretation of information. A politician, negotiator,
or litigator would be examples of communicators.
• Laborer ( )
Laborers perform valuable work, but may not know
the deep complexities of what they do. Their skills
are more practical and hands-on. A construction
worker, factory lineman, or basic repairman are good
examples.
• Vanguard ( )
Vanguard are on the frontlines of dangerous work. A
soldier, police officer, or even park ranger would have
a career in which they have to put themselves in risky
situations where survival is at stake.
• Performer ( )
Performers entertain people through unusual,
demonstrable skills. Singers, comedians, and jugglers
could all be counted as performers.

Example
For a futuristic setting, each career could be filled out as:
• Crafter (Cybernetics fabricator)
• Expert (Nano-medicine practitioner)
• Communicator (Interplanetary trade commissioner)
• Laborer (Mega-factory drone technician)
• Vanguard (Planet-fall shock trooper)
• Performer (Slave battle dancer)

50
Style
This is a short word or phrase that describes your
character’s personality and nature, and creates
circumstances where your character can be extra effective.
Whenever you expend energy to get bonus hits, and the
action you’re performing matches your style, you gain an
additional +1 hit.

The GM might limit the use of your style in dubious

situations. For example, if you had the style “Deceitful,”
hiding from an enemy wouldn’t be a fair situation to
use it in. After all, even honest people will hide from
enemies when their life is in danger! Your style must
meaningfully change the way your character acts vs.
how another character might act. And while you are
free to make up any style you want, it is important that
styles are suitably specific and descriptive. They should
represent an interesting truth about your character.
Here are some examples:

• Relaxed • Deep
• Formal • Surface
• Impulsive • Subtle
• Careful • Showy
• Honorable • Honest
• Unscrupulous • Deceitful
• Friendly • Cooperative
• Intimidating • Defiant

51
Archetypes
Archetypes decide how you’re allowed to build your
character. Behind the scenes, they allocate 21 XP among
attributes, skills/specializations, and power moves. If you
want a generally reliable character, choose The Natural for
their good attributes. If you want to have highly useful but
specialized abilities, choose The Prodigy. If you want to
have an array of unique and strange abilities centered on
one attribute, choose The Wild Card.
• The Natural: You fill in the XP for two attributes to
rank 2, and another two to rank 1. You receive two skills
and one specialization. You receive 6 Power Move XP.
• The Prodigy: You fill in the XP for one attribute at rank
2, and another two to rank 1. You receive three skills
and two specializations, as well as 4 Power Move XP.
• The Wild Card: You set one attribute at rank 2. You
receive one skill and 16 Power Move XP.

Skills
Initial skills you choose should be related to
your character’s career in order to explain how well they
performed. Skills represent areas of extreme confidence.
A skill can be any suitably broad area of expertise, such as
Ranged Combat. You receive +1 hit whenever making a roll
related to a skill. The GM and the players are encouraged to
use the sample skills in this book to make up their own as
needed, during Session 0 and even after.

Specializations
Specializations are an advanced version of a skill. They
allow you to get an additional +1 hit, totaling +2 hits
when making a roll associated with a specialization.

52
Specializations are less broad than skills, building upon
the broad area of expertise needed for a skill. For example,
a good specialization would be Ranged Combat: Pistols.
As with skills, the GM and players are encouraged to
customize their own lists of possible specializations as the
game progresses.

Skill and Specialization Examples

Presented in the format of (Skill):(Specializations)

Generic Settings
• Athletics: running, climbing, swimming, lifting
• Martial arts: striking, blocking, grappling, disarming
• Acrobatics: jumping, balancing, tumbling
• Stealth: darkness, wilderness, urban
• Thievery: pick-pocketing, picking locks, fencing goods
• Comprehension: logic, memory, insight
• Lore: folk tales, history, mythology, theology
• Speech: persuasion, lies, flirting, intimidation
• Searching: food, valuables, clues
• Perception: motion, body language, noise
• Hunting: animal tracks, field dressing, camouflage

Medieval Setting
• Melee Combat: clubs, axes, daggers, swords, polearms
• Ranged Combat: bows, crossbows, slings
• Riding: control, jousting, leaping
• Agriculture: crops, livestock, weather
• Forge: armor, weapons, tools
• Medicine: herbs & minerals, binding
injuries, midwifery
• Sailing: knots, steering, weather

53
• Navigation: roads, wilderness, sea
• Etiquette: nobility, clergy, folk

Colonial Setting
• Ranged Combat: musket, blunderbuss, cannon
• Riding: control, jousting, leaping
• Agriculture: crops, livestock, weather
• Machining: guns, clockwork, steam engines
• Science: astronomy, physics, chemistry, engineering,
biology
• Medicine: trauma surgery, vaccines, sanitation
• Sailing: knots, steering, weather
• Navigation: compass orienteering, sextant,
cartography
• Etiquette: pirate, aristocratic, native, pioneer

Modern Setting
• Ranged Combat: pistols, shotguns, rifles, ordinance
• Repair: cars, appliances, electronics
• Computers: programming, security, encryption
• Science: aerodynamics, rockets, neurology, atomics
• Medicine: endoscopic surgery, pharmaceuticals,
general practice
• Driving: cars, motor bikes, trucks, boats
• Piloting: helicopters, small planes, large planes,
jets, drones
• Etiquette: civilian, law enforcement, gangs

54
Futuristic Setting
• Melee Combat: vibro blades, plasma swords,
gravatic hammers
• Ranged Combat: beam rifles, plasma cannons,
rail pistols
• Driving: land speeders, mech walkers, hover bikes
• Piloting: space shuttles, star fighters, space freighters
• Computers: AI programming, fractal security,
molecular encryption
• Science: spaceflight technology, xenobiology,
inter-dimensional physics
• Fabricate: robots, cybernetics, energy weapons
• Medicine: nano surgery, genetic fusing, organ cloning
• Etiquette: planetary alliance, star explorers,
warrior races
• Navigation: hive worlds, frontier, deep space

Fantastical Setting
(Some will probably require a power move to justify use)
• Spell casting: summoning, elemental magic, illusions,
black magic
• Magic enchantment: offensive, defensive, utility
• Psychic Manifestation: telekinesis, telepathy,
teleportation, mind control
• Divine invocation: blessings, purification, holy healing
• Ghost hunting: detecting, communing, banishing
• Demonology: summoning, binding, exorcising
• Dungeon taxonomy: weaknesses, immunities, taming

55
Power Moves
Power moves are unique abilities your character has.
They allow your character to do something a normal
person could not attempt. Either you’re using a skill to
do something it normally wouldn’t be used for, or you’re
doing something to a much greater effect than would
usually happen. While more advanced rules for designing
power moves are described later, your starting powers
should be selected from this list. If you’re a more advanced
player and want to design your own moves, the moves
you make can cost no more than 6 XP. Any XP left over
after character creation is lost. You can only choose one
of each move listed below. A move will have a description
with some blanks for you to fill in. Create suitably specific
information for these blanks to tailor the move to your
character. The proper way to fill out a power move is
following this format:

Use (a skill or specialization) to [use cue against targets] by

(a cool description that explains your unique ability).

In addition to a description, power moves have the

following elements:
• Range: Close range can only affect people in your zone.
Medium range can affect targets in your or an adjacent
zone. Longer range power moves are not available at
character creation.
• Energy Cost: Many Power Moves can be activated
at any time, but some moves require you to expend
energy to use them.

56
• Tools Required: A power move that requires believable
tools can only be used when circumstances are
believable for a real person, such as having a gun for an
attack or unrestricted legs for a feat of athletics. Power
moves that use magical tools bend believability and let
your character do things a normal character could not
with the same tools. Good examples would be a magic
wand or enchanted shoes. You will notice that some
moves give you a choice between using believable or
magical tools, which then affects other elements of the
power. Choose which one the power always requires
during power creation.
• Reactive: A reactive move means you can use it during
an opponent’s turn when they use a certain trigger cue.

6 XP Power Moves
• Multi attack
Use (skill/specialization) to attack two targets by
(course of action). Requires believable tools at medium
range, or magical tools at close range. Targets body HP,
is affected by DR.
• Boost Attack
Use (skill/specialization) to attack an enemy by
(course of action) and deal +1 damage. Requires
believable tools at medium range, or magical tools at
close range. Targets body HP, is affected by DR.
• Group powerup (2 energy)
Use (skill/specialization) to assist allies trying to
(cue) by (course of action). Affects all allies in a zone.
Requires either believable tools at medium range, or
magical tools at close range.
• Enemy Debuff (2 energy)
Use (skill/specialization) to resist enemies
57
 trying to (cue) by (course of action). Affect all
enemies in a zone. Requires believable tools at medium
range, or magical tools at close range.
• Interrupt (1 energy)
Use (skill/specialization) to resist an enemy trying
to (cue) by (course of action). Reactive. Requires
believable tools at medium range, or magical tools
at close range.
• Intervene (1 energy)
Use (skill/specialization) to assist an ally trying
to (cue) by (course of action). Reactive. Requires
believable tools at medium range, or magical tools
at close range.

4 XP Power Moves
• Reveal
Use (skill/specialization) to reveal (vague information
associated with a specific kind of thing) by (course of
action). Requires magical tools. Close range.
• Obscure Self (1 energy for self)
Use (skill/specialization) to obscure self orsmalobject
by (course of action). Only works in a specific favorable
condition, like low light. Duration: until circumstances
change, like an increase in light. Requires
magical tools.
• Obscure Object
Use (skill/specialization) to obscure small objects
by (course of action). Only works in a specific
favorable condition, like low light. Duration: until
circumstances change, like an increase in light.
Requires magical tools.

58
• Manipulate (Tinker)
Use (skill/specialization) to modify/craft a small
change in (class of object) by (course of action).
Modify a general class of object using believable tools,
or a narrow class of objects using magical tools.
• Manipulate (Push)
Use (skill/specialization) to very slowly and softly
move/reorient any object by (course of action). Move
something up to your bodyweight with magic tools,
or something up to twice your bodyweight with
believable tools.
• Motivate
Use (skill/specialization) to motivate others to (speak
truthfully and/or avoid a course of action) by (course
of action). Close range. Requires believable tools and
must be observed/understood to work.
• Attack
Use (skill/specialization) to attack enemies by (course
of action) . Close range. Requires magical tools or
unbelievable skill with those tools. Targets Body Hits,
is affected by DR.
• Position
Use (skill/specialization) to position along a surface by
(course of action). Move across challenging, tenuous
surfaces with believable tools, or move across rigid,
strong surfaces with magical tools. Can only be used
on yourself to move one zone.

2 XP Traits
Reminder: Each can only be purchased once.
• +1 Body HP
• +1 Mind HP
• +1 Energy level (located before the PERM AFFL box)
• +1 DR (Does not stack with armor) 59
Sample Power Moves
6 XP Power Moves
• Multi attack
Use elemental magic to attack two targets by shooting
arc lightning. Requires a wand. Close range. Targets
body HP, is affected by DR.
• Boost attack
Use pistols to attack an enemy by extremely careful
aim and quick reflexes. +1 damage. Works at medium
range. Targets body HP, is affected by DR.
• Group powerup (2 energy)
Use nanite mastery to assist allies trying to defend
against damage by creating energy fields that deflect
attacks. Requires a nanite controller. Affects all allies in
a zone. Close range.
• Enemy debuff (2 energy)
Use machine guns to resist enemies trying to
attack by laying down excessive covering fire.
Requires a machine gun. Affects all enemies in a
zone. Medium range.
• Interrupt (1 energy)
Use ninjitsu to resist an enemy trying to attack by
throwing a smoke bomb. Reactive. Medium range.

4 XP Power Moves
• Reveal
Use magic to reveal nearby treasure by making
anything gold emit a low hum. Close range. Only
reveals the general location of the treasure.
Requires a wand.
• Obscure Self (1 energy for self)
Use theatre expertise obscure your identity or small

60
 objects from cursory inspection by using perfectly
lifelike prosthetics or clay sculpting. Duration: until
exposed to elements like moisture or wind. Requires a
makeup kit and putty.
• Obscure Object
Use sorcery to obscure small objects by making
them appear translucent and dull. Only works in a
cluttered, distracting environment. Duration: until
the environment cleans up/calms down. Requires an
enchanted magnifying glass.
• Manipulate (Tinker)
Use electrical engineering to slightly alter almost any
electronic device’s core functions by using eidetic
memory of schematics. Close range. Requires an
electronics kit.
• Manipulate (Push)
Use telekinesis to slowly push an object up to your
bodyweight one zone. Requires a psychic stone ring.
• Motivate
Use melee combat to motivate an enemy to stand
down by showing unparalleled battle prowess.
Close range. Requires a sword and that the target
can observe you.
• Attack
Use rodeo tricks to attack enemies by quickly tripping
and strangling with lassos. Close range. Requires a
rope. Targets body HP, is affected by DR.
• Position
Use parkour to position by running along precariuos,
near vertical surfaces for up to one zone. Can only be
used on yourself. Requires suitable shoes.

61
CHAPTER FIVE
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
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62
CHAPTER FIVE:
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
Equipment and gear justify the use of cues. Anything that
can believably be done with a piece of equipment in real
life can be done in the game. While both this chapter and
the example Heroic Dark settings have equipment lists,
they are not intended to be the final authority on what
exists or is available in your game. Following the principle
of believability, the GM and PCs are supposed to negotiate
what gear exists and what each thing does.

Crafting or Buying Gear

Gear can be either bought or crafted. When buying,
characters need to spend a reasonable amount of time
finding the gear, and then spend resource (more on this
later). If crafting gear, the character needs knowledge or
skill associated with creating the type of gear, and then
can roll to make it. The number of hits scored reduces the
resource cost of the gear by that much. The character can
choose to abandon making the item if it is too expensive,
but still loses 1 resource for the attempt.

At character creation, if a character has the ability to craft

gear, instead of rolling, assume the character has 5 extra
“tinker” resource that can be spent on anything that
character can craft.

Defining Gear
Gear has several elements to consider when being
brought into the game. The following things
should be considered:

63
• Mechanical Ability: As stated earlier, whatever could
believably be done with a piece of gear in real life
should be assumed possible in the game. However, you
might need to decide what other ways equipment can
modify the rules of the game.
• Resource Cost: The universal measure of wealth in
Heroic Dark is resource. Resource is non-linear, in that
the more you have, the significantly more it is worth.
An item that costs 5 resource is much more than 5x
more valuable than something that costs 1 resource.
• Load: This method is used for tracking how much gear
your character can carry without any penalties. Light
items are 0-1 load, while heavy items a person can
reasonably carry can be up to 5 load.
• Damage: Whenever creating a weapon or using an
item as a weapon, consider how much damage the
item adds to a successful attack cue. A knife or club
might deal 1 damage, while futuristic energy weapons
deal 8 damage.
• Damage Reduction (DR): Armors and extremely
durable clothes provide DR to protect your character
from damage. Light, minimal armor provides 1 DR.
Futuristic or magical armors might provide 5 DR.

Mechanical Ability
At minimum, gear should reduce the difficulty associated
with a move, such as how a climbing kit would make it
easier to position when climbing a mountain. To nail
down mechanical details further, consider range and
area of effect. These descriptors are given in “zones,” a
contiguous area of roughly 30x30 feet. For example,
a missile launcher with an HUD scope could have an

64
effective Sight Range and target all individuals within a
zone. Here are the general guidelines on how
to determine this:
• Range: This measures the maximum distance an
item can be reliably used. At GM discretion, anything
beyond this range is either impossible, or extremely
penalized with increased difficulty.
°° Close Range: Anything within your zone.
°° Medium Range: Anything up to 1 zone away.
°° Long Range: Anything up to 5 zones away.
°° Sight Range: Anything you can see with the use of
scopes or other gear.
• Area of Effect: Consider how many targets a piece of
gear can affect at once.
°° One Target: Usually, a piece of gear can only affect
a single target.
°° One Zone: Items that emit fields or explosions
might be able to affect multiple targets, such as all
things within a zone.
°° Multiple Zones: Something that could affect
multiple contiguous zones would be cataclysmic
in strength. In general, only a super powerful
weapon should hit two zones at the same time. But
if in your game it makes sense for something to hit
a larger area, take the risk.
• Special Effects: Not everything a piece of gear can do
will be tied up in range and area. Some items are very
specific, and describe how they can be used in cues.
For example, maybe a magic sword is burning, and its
aspect of fire can be used either when rolling against a
Manipulate cue, or to cause a burning affliction from a
successful Attack cue.

65
Resource Cost
Resource represents favors, negotiating skill, and
economic resources. Its wealth is not linear - the more you
save, the more valuable it becomes. For example, over the
course of time, you could spend 8 points of wealth on 8
cheap items like phones and tools, and so on. Or you could
save it all up and spend 8 points at once to buy a small
house. Some items cost 0 resource. These only require
time and effort to acquire. If you ever need to liquidate an
item back into resource, you can sell it for 3 points less
than that item usually costs. Here are the guidelines for
setting resource costs:
• 0 (common items): cheap tools, food, discount
clothes, ammunition, extremely basic weapons
(clubs/knives)
• 1 (good items): specialty tool sets, phones, thief tools,
high quality clothes, rent/mortgage payments, light
armor
• 2 (important items): top of the line computers, full
tool box, designer clothes, jalopy vehicle, expensive
mortgage payment, basic weapons (pistol/bow)
• 3 (vital items): quality weapons (sword/rifle), used
vehicles, heavy armor, grenades or ordinance
ammunition, alchemist potions
• 5 (rare items): military grade or illegal weapons (sniper
rifle/magic sword), new vehicles, down payment on a
cheap house
• 8 (status items): cheap house bought with cash, down
payment on expensive house, military ordinance
(missile launcher/catapult), luxury vehicles
• 13 (prestige items): an expensive house bought with
cash, military vehicles

66
Load
All gear has load. A small item ranging from 5-10 lbs. is
about 1 load. Anything less than that is 0 load, but should
be combined with similar small items until you reach
1 load. Also, consider putting vital items in a pack you
can put down. Normal people can’t navigate a violent
encounter while carrying all their gear. On the character
sheet, it lists how much load a character can carry. The
default is up to 5 load at no penalty, 6-8 at a -1 hit penalty, or
9-13 at a -2 hit penalty to actions that could be impeded by
weight. The GM makes the final call about when penalties
from load apply. Characters can carry additional load at no
penalty equal to their Might rank. Here are some examples
of load:
• 0: a sewing kit, a knife, some fruit
• 1: A first aid kit, a week of rations, a medium sized
weapon (sword, submachine gun), bullet-proof vest,
magical cloak
• 2: light armor, moderate tool kit, two-handed weapon
(great sword, shotgun, shield)
• 3: heavy armor, heavy weapon (long range rifle,
missile launcher)
• 5: fully loaded camping pack, large tool kit

Damage
Whenever a character makes a successful Attack cue, they
deal a minimum of 1 damage. Weapons involved in the
strike could increase the damage further, ranging from 1-8.
Here are the guidelines for how much bonus damage an
item provides:
• 0 (Minimal): Unarmed attacks, or possibly a light
projectile such as a dart

67
• 1 (Light): Knives, clubs, or sling rocks
• 2 (Heavy): Two-handed melee weapons, bows, pistols
• 3 (High-Power): Modern rifles, grenades, magical
medieval weapons
• 5 (Wrecking): Industrial explosives, magical or high
tech guns
• 8 (Annihilating): God-like magical weapons, futuristic
energy weapons

Damage Reduction (DR)

Armor absorbs damage to protect characters, usually
ranging from 1-5. You should note, however, that armor
is bypassable, such as in the case of using armor piercing
bullets vs. a vest, or rolling extremely well on an attack cue.
Here are examples of each rating:
• 1 (Light Armor): Chainmail, a bullet proof vest
• 2 (Heavy Armor): Plate mail, SWAT armor
• 3 (Enhanced Armor): Magical or high-tech
heavy armors
• 5 (Stalwart Armor): Legendary, mythical, or
super-tech armors

SAMPLE EQUIPMENT LISTS

Medieval Fantasy
Tools
Exploring Gear: 0 resource. Includes a pack of rations,
some rope, and torches.
Basic Tools: 1 resource. Can be used to make simple
repairs or disassemble items.
Thieves Tools: 2 resource. Allows for picking locks and
disabling traps.

68
Iron Forge: 3 resource. Allows the creation of swords,
armor, and other ironworks.
Woodshop: 3 resource. Allows for all manner of wood
crafting, including wagons

Weapons
Blowgun: 1 resource. 0 damage at far range. 1 load.
Sword/Dagger: 1 resource. 1 damage at close range. 1 load.
Sling: 1 resource. 1 damage at medium range. Sling + bullets
is 1 load.
Great Sword: 2 resource. 2 damage at close range. 2 load.
Longbow: 3 resource. 2 damage at long range. Bow, quiver,
and arrows are 3 load.
Ancestral Blade: 5 resource. Blade burns with magical fire,
and can hurt evil spirits. 3 damage at close range. 2 load.

Armor
Chainmail: 2 resource. 1 DR. 2 load.
Plate mail: 3 resource. 2 DR. 3 load.
Paladin’s Plate: 5 resource. Amor has a chance to deflect
arrows, allowing wearer to roll Defend against them even
when there is no cover. 3 DR. 3 load.

Modern Crime
Tools
Phone: 1 resource. Allows for basic internet searches and
communication.
Stakeout Gear: 2 resource. Includes binoculars
and ranged listening devices for keeping tabs on a long
range target.
Hacker Rig: 2 resource. Allows for remotely hacking
internet connected devices.

69
Maker’s Workshop: 3 resource. Allows the creation of
basic electronics and 3D printed gear.
Mechanic’s Garage: 3 resource. Allows for repairing and
assembling complex mechanical objects like cars.
Machinist’s Shop: 5 resource. Allows for forging and
grinding all manner of metal goods.

Weapons
Sword/Dagger: 1 resource. 1 damage at close range. 1 load.
Pistol: 2 resource. 2 damage at medium range. 1 load.
Hunting Rifle: 3 resource. 3 damage at long range. 2 load.
Frag Grenade: 2 resource. 3 damage to a zone at medium
range. 1 load.
Sniper Rifle: 5 resource. 3 damage at sight range. 3 load.

Armor
Tactical Vest: 1 resource. 1 DR. 1 load.
Swat Armor: 3 resource. 2 DR. 2 load.
Bomb Suit: 5 resource. 3 DR. 3 load.

Space Opera
Tools
Communicator: 0 resource. Allows for basic star-net
searches and communication.
Surveillance Kit: 2 resource. Includes macro-zoom
binoculars and listening beams for keeping tabs on sight
range targets.
Fabrication Shop: 3 resource. Advanced printers can
synthesize any mechanical device for which you have
designs or plans.

70
Drone Micro-Factory: 5 resource. Allows for forging
advanced gear like hover vehicles, or super-hard crafting
materials like ultra-ceramic.

Weapons
Vibro Sword/Dagger: 1 resource. Is extremely effective
when using the Manipulate cue to break or destroy objects.
2 damage at close range. 1 load.
Beam Pistol: 2 resource. 2 damage at long range. 1 load.
Beam Rifle: 3 resource. 3 damage at sight range. 2 load.
Plasma Grenade: 2 resource. 5 damage to a zone at
medium range. 1 load.
Fusion Blaster: 5 resource. 5 damage at long range. 3 load.
Star Knight Blade: 5 resource. Can preternaturally deflect
incoming projectiles, allowing the wielder to use the
Defend cue even when they don’t have cover. 5 damage at
close range. 2 load.

Armor
Trooper Vest: 2 resource. 2 DR. 1 load.
Hazard Armor: 3 resource. 3 DR. 2 load.
Dreadnaught Armor: 5 resource. Comes with strength
assisters, allowing the user to push or lift extremely heavy
objects when using the Manipulate cue. 5 DR. 3 load.

71
72
CHAPTER SIX:
CHARACTER
ADVANCEMENT
As the PCs play Heroic Dark , their characters will increase in
power. In addition to gaining resource that can be used to
buy new gear, they will receive experience points (XP) that
can be used to upgrade attributes and skills, as well as to buy
new power moves.

Assigning XP
For a given session, the PCs will always receive 4 XP.
Throughout the session, players can assign one of the
session’s XP to specific areas:
• If a PC rolls either lead or failure with an attribute, 1
XP may be spent toward upgrading that attribute. An
attribute can receive a maximum of 1 XP per session.
• Any time a player attempts something they wish they
had a skill or specialization for, they may assign 1 XP to
the skill pool. A maximum of 2 XP may be placed in the
skill pool per session.
• Any remaining XP at the end of the session is applied to
the Power Move pool.

73
Spending XP
Between sessions, players may spend XP to increase
attributes, buy skills or specializations, or unlock new
power moves. To see how to spend XP, check this chart:

Spending XP Comes
XP Cost
XP On From
Each rank must be
bought individually,
in order. Cost
XP spent per rank:
Attribute Rank
during session • 1: 1 XP
• 2: 2 XP
• 3: 3 XP
• 5: 5 XP
Skill Skill Pool 2
Specialization Skill Pool 3
Change an existing
Power move style: 1 XP
Style
pool Gain an additional
style: 2 XP
Each rank must be
bought individually,
in order. Cost per
Power move
Trait rank:
pool
• +1: 2 XP
• +2: 3 XP
• +3: 5 XP
Per move design
Power move
Power move (consult move
pool
builder)

74
STYLE
As the story progresses, you may feel your character’s style
no longer represents who they really are. You can spend 1
XP to change their style. Or, you may feel they have grown
into a more complex personality, warranting an additional
style they can choose to activate. You can spend 2 XP to
gain an additional style. However, it’s important to note
that only one style can be used per objective.

TRAITS
There are four stat increases you can purchase that
aren’t exactly power moves, but still make your character
impressive. They range in bonus from +1-3, but you must
increase in rank in the same way as an attribute. For
example, if you want to get extra energy levels, you must
purchase the +1 upgrade before you can increase it to +2,
and then +3.

Rank Cost:
• (2 XP) +1
• (3 XP) +2
• (5 XP) +3

Stat increase Options:

• Extra Energy Levels (located right before the
permanent affliction box)
• Extra body HP
• Extra mind HP
• Innate DR (does not stack with armor)

75
POWER MOVES
A power move is an astounding ability your character has.
When using a power move to do something unrealistic,
you ignore additional difficulty modifiers (1-3) of the
action, even though it would be much harder for others.
For example, it’s reasonable to assume someone can use
the Resist cue to lay down covering fire and pin down
an enemy, but a power move would let you do it to a
whole group of enemies without increased difficulty. It’s
reasonable to assume that someone can use the Reveal cue
to read body language to intuit an opponent’s intentions,
but a power move might let you directly read their surface
thoughts. Most people can try scaling a craggy wall with
Position, but a power move would let you scale an almost
smooth brick wall.

The Formula
You can construct a power move by writing a short
statement about what that move can do. Use the
following format:

(Skill or Specialization) + (Cue) + (Description of methods)

The skill or specialization helps determine the scope

of when and why you can use the power move. The cue
helps determine what you can accomplish with the power
move. The methods explains what your character actually
does,and what their unique exception is, such as the
unrealistic nature of the move.

76
Move XP Cost
Once you have this figured out, it’s time to determine
how much XP the move costs. Many details, such as range
and whether or not the move requires any specific items,
can affect its cost. Certain abilities, like being able to affect
a whole zone of enemies, might make a power move have
limited uses and require spending energy points. Here are
some moves based upon our initial examples, as well
as a few more:
• Use Arcane Magic to Reveal the chaotic surface
thoughts of a nearby character by amplifying your
senses to almost hear them think. First, you pay
the base power move cost (3 XP). It reveals vague
information (0 XP), and requires a magic staff (1 XP). It
costs 4 XP.
• Use Climbing to Position across nearly smooth walls.
First, you pay base cost (3 XP). It only works on yourself
(0 XP), is surface-limited (0 XP), and requires no tools (3
XP). It costs 6 XP.
• Use Rifles to Resist enemies trying to position by
laying down an impressive blanket of covering fire.
Base cost is 3 XP. It affect enemies who are medium
range (2 XP) and affects an entire zone (3 XP and
requires energy), but requires believable tools like an
automatic rifle (0 XP). It costs 8 XP, and requires an
energy level to be used.
• Using Telekinesis to attack an enemy by throwing a
brutal psychic punch. Base cost is 3 XP. It is an innate
ability requiring no tools (3 XP), can work on a single
enemy at medium range (2 XP), and is powerful enough
to deal +2 bonus damage (3 XP). This power costs 11 XP,
but could potentially be made it cheaper by having it

77
 eat 1 Mind HP for each use (-1 XP). The final tally is 10 XP.
• Use Arcane Magic to attack enemies by summoning
a cloud of poison gas. Base cost is 3 XP. It requires
magic tools like a staff (1 XP), can affect medium
range enemies (2 XP), affects an entire zone (3 XP and
requires energy), and ignores DR (3 XP and costs 1
energy). Its base is 12 XP. However, we can decide this
power requires a Heroic Point to use (-5 XP). This gets it
down to 7.

CUSTOM MOVE DESIGNER

The following is the detailed system for how you build a
power move and determine its XP cost:
1. Pay base cost (3 XP)
2. Choose range of effect
3. Think of tools and skill required
4. Fill out cue details
5. (Optional) Special boosts
6. (Optional) Limitations

Base Cost and Difficulty Modifiers

All power moves cost 3 XP before any other modifiers.
This is because they ignore the first 3 points of difficulty
associated with an action. This doesn’t add any bonuses
when rolling against another character or NPC, but lets
you do something that might be more difficult than usual
without extra complications. For example, if you tried to
stab an enemy with a pen and deal damage, the GM might
say that this is an extremely difficult action and increase
the NPC’s defend roll by 3. That’s not the case when you
use a power move! Likewise, if you were to try and climb
a completely blank wall, the GM would add a “poorly

78
prepared” difficulty modifier of 3 in addition to whatever
the normal difficulty would be. But with the power move,
rolling to climb that wall is like rolling to climb a normal
wall with handholds.

Range
What is the range of the power? For most cues, range
determines how near your target must be for you to use
your power. For Position, the range affects how many
zones you can move as a result. For React, the range affects
how close the stimulus must be for you to roll.
• (0 XP) Close range/move: 1 zone
• (1 XP) Medium range/move: 2 zones
• (3 XP) Long range/move: 5 zones
• (5 XP) Sight range/move: any zone that can be seen

Tools and Skill Required

What sorts of tools and abilities are required to
accomplish this move? If a special move bends reality
and requires fewer tools than it normally would, it costs
more XP than a move that uses believable tools. Consider
the following:
• (0 XP) This move requires believable tools as well as
believable skill with those tools, such as a special
attack requiring a gun or a human-level feat of
acrobatics requiring unrestricted legs.
• (1 XP) This move is something that requires fantastical
tools and/or incredible skill with those tools, such as
a dangerous attack only requiring a pencil or a special
ability relying on a magic wand.
• (3 XP) This move would require tools of some kind, but
is magically able to be achieved without any. Examples
of this would include those such as telekinesis or
magic fireballs thrown from the hand. 79
CUE DETAILS
What follows is an extended list of all the special
considerations for your move, depending on what cue
you chose as its basis. For example, if you chose to make a
Motivate power move, you only need to worry about the
considerations under “Motivate Details.”

Motivate Details
Choose the specificity of the Motivate:
• (0 XP) There is a specific course of action that all targets
of this move will have to take.
• (2 XP) You can decide on the fly what is expected of the
target so long as the effect is the same or less XP than
the one you choose when creating this power.

Is your Motivate cue communication dependent?

• (0 XP) Yes, the target must believably be able to see/
understand the move.
• (2 XP) No, any target in range can be affected.

What specifically can you motivate them to do? The level

selected includes previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) Speak truthfully, or at least stop them from lying.
• (0 XP) Feel a certain way, though not necessarily force
them to do something.
• (1 XP) Avoid something, such as a place or action you
don’t want them to take.
• (2 XP) Do something risky, especially against their own
interests.
• (5 XP) Do something dangerous, such as explore a
hostile area.

80
How many targets can you affect? The level selected
includes previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) One
• (2 XP) Two
• (3 XP) A whole zone (activation costs +1 EP)

Manipulate Details
First, how are you using Manipulate?
• To physically move/destroy something (see section A).
• To interact with/alter something (See section B).

Section A: Physically move/destroy something

This covers any exertion of force upon the physical world.

How big of an object can you manipulate?

• (0 XP) Something your weight, like large furniture.
• (1 XP) Something twice your weight, like a heavy log or
large animal.
• (2 XP) Something requiring multiple people to lift, like
a motorbike.
• (3 XP) Something immense, like a car (activation costs
+1 energy point).

How do you affect the object?

• (0 XP) Move it at your walking speed (too slow to use in
a fight).
• (1 XP) Move it quickly (like a throw) to a distance equal
to the power move’s range.
• (2 XP) Move it up to the Power Move’s range with
enough force to deal damage (allows triggering an
attack cue as a result).

81
Section B: Interact/Alter Something
This covers tinkering/repairing, hacking, or otherwise
skillfully manipulating something. In general, this type
of power move will use the difficulty modifiers to ignore
penalties for how quickly they are able to act, or be able
to accomplish something a normal person couldn’t, like
magical crafting.

What can you Manipulate?

• (0 XP) Specific class of objects, like modern computers
or automobiles.
• (1 XP) A general class of objects, like all computers or
any motorized vehicle.
• (2 XP) A broad class of objects, like any digital devices
or any mechanical object.

When modifying something, how do you affect the target?

• (0 XP) Small change, such as fitting it for a related
purpose (force a computer to execute a standard
command, use pre-made wheels and wood to build a
cart).
• (2 XP) Big change, like making it do something it
normally wouldn’t (get a computer to execute a custom
command it isn’t meant for, or use wooden furniture to
jury-rig a cart without pre-made wheels).
• (3 XP) Immense change, like making it do something it
normally couldn’t (get a computer to catch fire, make
rigid wheels out of woven fabric).
• (5 XP) Transformative change; the item becomes
something almost entirely new (get a simple computer
to behave like a supercomputer, turn common objects
into a projectile gun).

82
Position Details
What kind of surface can you use to Position yourself?
• (0 XP) A solid, appropriate surface (like rock climbing
or parkour).
• (1 XP) A tenuous or difficult surface (like a nearly
vertical wall, or thin tree branches).
• (3 XP) Any surface (think Spiderman climbing,
water walking).
• (5 XP) No surface (movement is independent
of gravity).

Do barriers, such as walls, disrupt your movement?

• (0 XP) Yes
• (3 XP) No

Can you move allies in addition to yourself? The level

selected includes previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) No
• (2 XP) One ally
• (3 XP) Two allies
• (5 XP) A zone of allies (costs 2 energy)

If yes, how close must allies be to benefit?

• (0 XP) In your zone
• (2 XP) Up to one zone away

Reveal Details
What specifically can you Reveal?
• (0 XP) Specific class of object or information, like the
presence of evil robots.
• (2 XP) A general class of object or information, like the
use of deception.

83
• (3 XP) A broad class of object or information, like the
presence of valuables of any make or origin.

How detailed is the information?

• (0 XP) Vague, such as the general location of something
or the vibe of a person.
• (3 XP) Useful, such as the number of targets present or
someone’s intentions.
• (5 XP) Specific, such as the exact location of something
or a person’s specific plan of action.

By what method do you reveal?

• (0 XP) Direct senses (requires hard evidence to be
present).
• (2 XP) Intuiting, like a sixth sense.

Obscure Details
Under what circumstances can you obscure?
• (0 XP) Specific favorable conditions, such as in
shadows or dense forest.
• (2 XP) Any neutral situation, like dim light or bushy
foliage.
• (3 XP) Unfavorable situations, like being under direct
observation.

Can you obscure objects or information?

• (0 XP) Only Objects
• (0 XP) Only Information
• (2 XP) Both

84
Object Obscure
What can you Obscure?The level selected includes
previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) A small object
• (1 XP) Yourself
• (2 XP) Any person or person-sized object
• (3 XP) Any two persons/objects
• (5 XP) An entire zone of persons/objects
(costs 1 energy)

Information Obscure
How big of a lie can you tell?
• (0 XP) A suspicious lie
• (1 XP) A hard to believe lie
• (5 XP) A lie that violates logic

How long do targets/information stay Obscured?

• (0 XP) Until circumstances moderately change, like
the target moving slightly, increased light, or minorly
conflicting information comes to light.
• (2 XP) Until circumstances majorly change, like the
target moving a long distance, a complete change
from darkness to daylight, or majorly confliction
information comes to light.

Assist and Resist Details

What types of cues can be affected?
• (0 XP) Select one type of cue
• (2 XP) Select two types (but only affect one at a time)
• (5 XP) Select three types (but only affect one at a time)

85
How many targets can be affected? Assume Assist only
affects allies and Resist only affects enemies. The level
selected includes previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) One
• (2 XP) Two (costs 1 energy)
• (3 XP) A whole zone (costs 2 energy)

React Details
A React power move lets you take the React action even if
you’re caught unaware and wouldn’t normally be able to
interrupt. What types of danger can you React to?
• (0 XP) One specific kind of danger, like animals.
• (2 XP) Any physical danger.
• (3 XP) Any danger, even psychic or magical.

Attack Details
What damage does the Attack deal?
• (0 XP) No bonus damage, only what is provided by the
action and weapons.
• (2 XP) +1 damage on top of any weapon bonus.
• (1, 3, 5 XP) Innate damage. Does not stack with weapon
damage. Deals +1, +2, or +3 damage, respectively.

What type of damage is dealt?

• (0 XP) Body HP
• (3 XP) Body HP, ignore DR (costs 1 energy)
• (3 XP) Mind HP. Damage can’t be increased by physical
weapons, only special weapons determined to affect
mind HP.

How many targets can be affected? Assume it only affects

enemies. The level selected includes previous levels that

86
cost fewer XP:
• (0 XP) One
• (2 XP) Two
• (3 XP) A whole zone (costs +1 EP)

Defend Details
What types of attacks are you able to Defend that a normal
person couldn’t?
• (0 XP) A specific type of attack (guns, blades, etc).
• (1 XP) All attacks against either mind or body
HP (your choice).
• (3 XP) All types of attacks.

What allies can use the Defend cue when you

activate this move?
• (0 XP) Only yourself, when attacked.
• (2 XP) Yourself and an ally, when attacked (activation
costs 1 energy).
• (3 XP) All allies in a zone, when attacked (activation
costs 2 energy).

Heal Details
What can you heal that others cannot? The level selected
includes previous levels that cost fewer XP.
• (0 XP) Fully recover one ally’s HP for 2 resource and 1
energy (no roll required)
• (2 XP) Fully recover one ally’s HP for 2 energy (no roll
required)
• (5 XP) Reduce the resource cost of downgrading
a permanent affliction’s penalty. Resource cost
is reduced by hits rolled. Must roll separately for
downgrading to -2 and then -1 (explained in the GM
chapter).
87
OTHER POWER MOVE
MODIFIERS
Boosts
Choosing one or all of these powerful abilities adds an
Energy cost of 1 to your ability. If your power already costs
Energy, then the total cost is unaffected.
• (1 XP) Lucky: Spend an additional 1 energy beyond the
power cost to roll the dice again (including attribute
rerolls). You must take the second result.
• (2 XP) Reactive power: Once per round, you can
interrupt turn order to use this power immediately,
preempting another action. Must declare what type of
action this power move interrupts. Does not count as
your action.
• (1 XP) Set up power: Choose a cue. Whenever you
activate this power, an ally in your zone gets one
special benefit to use on a matching cue or power
move costing 4 XP or less. They must activate the
cue before your next turn. Benefits they can choose
include:
°° +1 zone of range, including movement for position
°° +1 lead if successful
°° +1 extra target
Limitations
These penalties make the power cheaper than it would
normally be. No matter what you choose, the power
cannot cost fewer than 2 XP.
• (-1 XP) Exhausting: can be selected up to three times.
Makes the power cost 1 more energy level than it
normally would.
• (-5 XP) Heroic cost: using this move requires spending

88
 a Heroic Point. Replaces the need for energy points, but
cannot be combined with Exhausting.
• (-1 XP) Draining: using this move causes you to lose
your choice of 1 Body or Mind HP. Choose which when
creating the power.

UPGRADING OLD
POWER MOVES
When spending XP, a player can decide to upgrade one
of their old powers to a more expensive version with
additional abilities. Simply pay the XP difference between
the original power and the new version.

MANTLES
If circumstances are dire enough, replacement characters
get bonus abilities to represent the serious weight of
their responsibilities. These bonuses come in the form
of a Mantle. Depending on how many points are in the
Dark Ending track (as discussed in Chapter 8), Mantles
come into play at different strength levels. Characters
with Mantles do not gain additional abilities while in
play—Mantles only increase in strength when creating a
new character. . They have whatever ability is listed in the
current level, and the levels before.
Dark
Ending 3-8 9-15 16+
Points
+1 Extra
Mantle +1 Extra + Heroic
energy slot
Gains energy slot Virtue
(2 total)
Extra energy point slots: These Energy slots
can only be spent on specific things as set by the Mantle,
such as certain Power Moves or HP. Unlike bonus energy
89
power moves, these slots can be spent before reaching the
affliction boxes. These slots refresh whenever you recover
your energy to rested, either from completing 4 objectives
or spending a heroic point.
Heroic virtue: Once per session, when the character
displays this virtue, they get a Heroic Point regardless
of success.

Selecting Mantles
There are 6 Mantles to choose from, each focusing
on a Heroic Virtue. It’s important to select one that is
meaningfully connected to the fallen hero that is being
replaced. What forms of heroism did they display? Perhaps
the replacement character is directly following in their
footsteps. Or what if that hero had a fatal flaw that lead to
their demise? The replacement character might choose a
different path, to make sure they won’t die the same death.

Passing the Mantle

The fallen character and the new characters must be
meaningfully connected in order for the new character to
truly assume continuation of their legacy. Perhaps the new
character was friends with the previous character, and the
two exchanged letters prior to the death. Maybe the new
character is a relative, and inherits valuable belongings
from the old character. Or possibly the new character
heard tales of the old, and sought them out to become a
student only to find that tales of their deeds are all that
remain. Think about this and let the GM and other players
know your answer.

90
MANTLES LIST
Courage
Energy Limitations: Attack Power Moves and
recovering HP.
Heroic Virtue: Make a stand in a fight where the odds are
against you.

Vengeance
Energy Limitations: Attack power moves and
Resist power moves.
Heroic Virtue: Deny quarter to a surrendering foe, or refuse to
cooperate with agents of darkness.

Knowledge
Energy Limitations: Reveal Power Moves and
recovering HP.
Heroic Virtue: Pursue information and knowledge, even
when it is dangerous or difficult.

Inspiration
Energy Limitations: Motivate power moves and
Assist power moves.
Heroic Virtue: Help the oppressed, at risk to yourself.

Truth
Energy Limitations: Reveal power moves and
Motivate power moves.
Heroic Virtue: Confront people who don’t believe in the
darkness, even when it could hurt your cause.

Perseverance
Energy Limitations: Defend Power Moves and
Recovering HP
Heroic Virtue: Take risks for the cause, despite debilitating
afflictions or low HP.
91
92
CHAPTER SEVEN:
GAME MASTERING
There are quite a few values to balance when being a GM.
When these values conflict, it can be hard to know which
to prioritize. The following section has advice on what will
be most important to your game.

Reason before Chaos

It’s your goal to make sure things feel cohesive and make
sense. This includes encouraging your players to select
power moves that blend into the genre of game you
are playing. If you’re playing a traditional noir detective
game, discourage players from trying to select magical or
psychically explained powers. While this might mean that
your players end up with a wide range of lower-cost power
moves that are less impressive. However, well-rounded
characters with a stable of believable abilities make much
more sense for a noir game than a player who dumps all
their XP into telekinesis.

Engagement before Happiness

Everyone wants to have a fun, happy time while playing
a game. But a good RPG does more than just make you
happy – it engages your deeper emotions and makes the
experience feel meaningful. So while it is important to
let the players enjoy themselves, sometimes it’s your job
as GM to put them in difficult situations where they must
make tough choices and rise to the challenge.

Drama before Frustration

As you attempt to challenge and engage the players,
it might be tempting to make everything a fly or die

93
situation. This is not a good idea, as it will lead to a high
amount of frustration from the players as they never catch
a break. When you want to go hard on the players, ask
yourself: is this conflict suitably dramatic? If the answer is
no, consider going a little easier on the players so that they
can enjoy themselves and move on to another situation
where conflict is more meaningful.

Fairness before Compromise

Part of being a GM is making judgment calls and resolving
player conflict. It might be tempting to always take a 50/50
approach when resolving conflict, trying to ensure that
both parties get a little bit of something. However, 50/50
isn’t always fair. Sometimes, when a conflict arises, one
player is being unreasonable. They shouldn’t be entitled to
half of what they want just because you want to resolve the
situation. Before making a compromise, ask yourself if the
decision you’re making is actually fair. It can also be a good
idea to ask the opinion of other players not involved in the
conflict. Whatever you decide, express to the players that
you’re acting in the best interest of being fair.

Generosity before Rigidity

While fairness is important when resolving conflicts
between players, as the GM it’s your job to be flexible
and gracious toward the players. Always solve situations
in terms of what is good for them, either in that of their
happiness, their engagement with the story, or their
freedom to make decisions. You might be tempted to be
an iron-fist ruler in your judgments and play style, but this
may drive some players away. Make sure your players feel
welcome, and that their concerns are heard.

94
Respect before Edginess
As you attempt to engage and motivate your players,
you might be tempted to dive into controversial subject
matter to get a reaction. Keep in mind that not everyone
is comfortable with the same things you are, and may
have different limits on what is acceptable to talk about.
Games are a voluntary social activity, and you shouldn’t
require players to subject themselves to sensitive topics
and emotional discomfort. Especially when playing with
a new group, it’s a good idea to discuss ahead of time what
subject matter is allowed, what subject matter should only
be implied, and what is completely off the table.

No Favorites
Make sure you always consider all the players when
making a decision. It might be tempting to give more to
a super-star player who is well engaged and dramatic in
their play. But the less involved players will withdraw even
more if they detect any favoritism. Your goal is to provide
a balanced experience where all players are drawn into
the story and have their chance to shine. The hardest
part of this principle lies in the fact that sometimes you
simply have to say no to your star player. Make sure they
understand that you still value them and enjoy their
contributions, but that you’re trying to give other players a
chance to add something to the game.

95
Your Job
As a GM, you’re expected to create challenging yet fair
situations for the PCs as they fight the Darkness. You
set up the details of situations, including what form the
Darkness takes, as well a the Darkness’ goals, strengths,
and weaknesses. You will imagine and describe the people
and places that the heroes interact with, and combine
creativity and fair judgment to bring the world to life. You’ll
use game elements to help you along the way, including
setting difficulties and activating GM Cues. You’ll also
be expected to create NPCs as needed, but that will be
explained later.

Setting Interesting Stakes

When you plan a session (explained in the next chapter),
it’s important to set dire circumstances. The final stakes
should always be high, and often include the risk of bodily
harm or death to the PCs and their allies. There may be
hazards, fights, difficult negotiations; whatever you do,
make sure something dramatic will happen if the heroes
fail. Here are some ideas to work with:
• Hostages will be put to death
• Villagers will starve
• Games of chance are played to the death
• Trial will end with capital punishment
• Plagues will spread

Choosing Difficulties
Deciding the difficulty of an action is the most important
part of GMing. This determines what the players’ chances
of success and failure are. There are three ways to think
about setting difficulties for the game:

96
• Intentional Unskilled Challenges: If you intend the
players to face a specific challenge and none of them
have related skills, set the difficulty around 1 or 2.
Use the difficulty chart below to imagine a suitable
situation that matches that difficulty.
• Intentional Skilled Challenges: When the players
encounter an intentional challenge and you know
they are quite skilled in that area, you should set the
difficulty around 3 or 4. This still gives them a dramatic
chance of failure, without the task being impossible.
Again, use the chart to describe the situation to the
players so they know the risks involved.
• Organic Challenges: Whenever you and the players
find yourselves in an unplanned situation, such as
when the players are pursuing a course of action that
fully surprises you, imagine the situation first, and
then use the chart to find the difficulty afterward. If
the players are being smart and using the environment
to their advantage, this could result in a very easy, low
difficulty, no matter what skills the PCs have. If the
players have backed themselves into a corner and can
only think of risky, dangerous courses of action, this
might result in a very high difficulty that they aren’t
prepared to face.

Calculating Difficulty
Whether you choose a difficulty ahead of time or need
to calculate a difficulty after the fact, the process below
can be used to understand the link between a situation’s
description and its difficulty. Determine the following:
1. Base Action: If circumstances were fair, how likely
would success be in this situation? Set this at 1 for

97
 believably easy, 2 for challenging, and 3 for
extremely difficult.
2. Tough Circumstances: Consider any extenuating
circumstances that make the situation more difficult
than usual. This could include time pressure,
dangerous conditions, or active opposition from
enemies. Depending on the severity, increase the
difficulty by +1 to +2.
3. Ill-Preparedness: Determine if the player has the
relevant knowledge or equipment required for the
situation. This is perhaps the hardest part of the
process. If characters are ill-prepared, increase the
difficulty again by +1 to +3.

Here is a chart of how to build a difficulty:

Difficulty Tough Ill-

Base Action
Modifier Circumstances preparedness

Having to
improvise with
A believable sub-standard
move with a tools or
well-explained knowledge.
An
course of
inconvenient
action. E.G. You don’t
set up.
know the NPC
E.G. Lying to an you are talking
E.G. The
NPC by telling to that well,
NPC you are
them exactly but you do
+1 talking to is
what they want know about
short on time
to hear in clear, their brother,
and agitated.
concise words. who might be
Room you are
Searching for similar. You
searching has
a hidden item don’t quite
extremely low
by checking know what you
light.
clever or logical are looking
hiding places for, just that it’s
in the room important and
possibly in this
room.
Difficulty Tough Ill-
Base Action
Modifier Circumstances preparedness

Little frame of
reference or
A very
very poor tools.
challenging
situation.
A difficult E.G. You’re not
course of familiar with
E.G. The
action with a the model
computer you
reasonable risk of computer
are fixing has
of failure. you’re fixing,
fire damage
but it does
+2 and the
E.G. Fixing use common
components
a broken technology.
are difficult to
computer. You only have
identify. The
Safely moving a few pieces of
object you are
a very heavy lumber to make
trying to move
object. a lever to move
is precariously
the object;
perched, and
no ropes,
it’s raining.
crowbars, or
pulleys
Almost no
frame of
A high-
reference and
risk course
useless tools.
of action
that would
E.G. Climbing
challenge
a wall with
even the most
nothing
skilled.
more than a
metal dowel
E.G. Scaling a
(No additional that could
+3 fifty foot wall
modifier) potentially be
with very few
pushed into
handholds.
one of the
Asking an
very narrow
NPC to act
handholds.
against their
Negotiating
own interest
with an NPC
without
through a
compensating
challenging
them.
language
barrier.

99
Giving Players Bonuses
Sometimes, even though there’s a chance of failure,
circumstances are greatly in the player’s favor. In this
situation, instead of situational or gear-related difficulty
increases, give the player hits bonuses. Both of these types
of bonuses, even when added together, should never
exceed 2. If you think the bonus is higher than 2, chances
are the player can succeed in the action without rolling.

Bonus Exceptional
Good Circumstances
Hits Preparedness

A favorable situation
Extremely good tools or
where failure is
very specific knowledge.
mitigated.
E.G. Using a master’s
E.G. Forging a sword
workshop to forge a
+1 with no time pressure
sword. Decrypting a
of any kind. Decrypting
hard drive that uses an
a hard drive that doesn’t
encryption method
have any failsafe
you’ve encountered
security, so multiple
before.
attempts won’t wipe it.
Superior tools or
Unbelievable luck or information.
fortune.
E.G. Attacking a
E.G. Attacking an enemy stationary, unaware
whose guard is down target with a long-range
+2 and back is turned. rifle, range-finding
Negotiating with a scope, and a tripod.
business rival when you Negotiating with a
have controlling stakes business rival that you
in the exact business spy on, with knowledge
venture they desire. of the most intimate
details of their life.

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GM Cues
While NPCs that the GM controls use the same cues as the
PCs, the GM itself has special cues to use. These are meant
to shape the game world as the PCs explore it. GMs don’t
need to roll for these cues.

Introduce Objective
To use this cue, the GM mentally defines a world state
needed to achieve players’ goals. If the players are trying
to track a fugitive, a good objective might be “discover the
fugitive’s last known location.” The GM then considers
what elements need to fall in place to make this objective
happen, such as gaining access to the fugitive’s credit card
statement or convincing witnesses to talk. The GM should
then imagine some challenges that stand between the PCs
and success, including obstacles and threats. There is more
to learn about setting objectives, discussed
in the next chapter.

Introduce Challenge
Something significant should stand between the PCs and
their goals. Using the fugitive example, perhaps the credit
card company won’t share the records with strangers
and the PCs have to access the documents through social
engineering. Or perhaps the witnesses that saw the
fugitive last are tight-lipped and must be coerced to speak.

Activate Threat
Not all challenges are safe. Some actively try to hurt the
heroes. Triggering a trap laid by the fugitive, or NPCs
becoming violent to resist coercion are examples of
activating threats.

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Activate Failure
When the PCs bungle a particular challenge, there should
be consequences. Especially on a failed roll, the GM is
encouraged to penalize the PCs in the form of:
• Drawing unwanted attention
• Losing resources
• Losing valuable time
• Suffering afflictions

Fail Objective
After repeated failures against challenges, the GM can
declare an objective unobtainable. The final consequences
of failure, as well as tracking progress through use of a
Blunder Clock, is further explained in the next chapter.

DARK POINTS
At the beginning of the campaign, the GM receives 2 Dark
Points. These are a currency that is used to make the game
harder for the PCs. The GM receives more Dark Points
whenever the heroes fail an objective, as explained in the
next chapter. Dark points carry on between sessions, but
the most a GM can have is 5. Dark Points can be used in the
following ways:
• Completely reroll a hostile NPC’s action, and take the
higher result.
• Force a hero to completely reroll an action taken
against a hostile NPC, and take the lower result.
• Increase the threat level of NPCs to make a fight harder
than usual (more below).
• Decay an institution toward darkness (more
in chapter 9).

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CREATING NPCS
Part of making the game world come alive is inventing
and controlling non-player characters (NPCs). Most of the
time, the GM will just make up a name and description,
and roleplay as the character when the PCs interact with
it. Sometimes, though, the NPC will activate a cue and roll.
When this happens, you’ll need to determine what the NPC
is good or bad at. To keep things easy for yourself, use the
NPC sheet with the reminder rules and NPC stat boxes.

NPCs have the following qualities in their stat box:

• Concept: Think of two or three words that hint at the
NPCs main skill and identity. This could be something
like “Military Guard,” implying good use of awareness
and combat ability, or something like “Skeptical
Survivalist,” which would provide hardy wilderness
skills and shrewd interrogation skills.
• Weakness: This is one or two things that describe
what the NPC is particularly bad at, or vulnerable
against. A fighting robot might be bad at cognition
and social skills. A vampire could be weak against
sunlight and silver.
• Level: Set at 1, 2, 3, or 5, level denotes how strong an
NPC is. This number denotes how many dice the
NPC can reroll when taking any action, just like a PC’s
attribute rank.
• High, Mid, Low: These numbers substitute for an
NPC’s possible skills and specializations. They are
treated as bonus hits the NPC gets when taking
certain actions. The high number is added to anything
associated with the NPC’s concept. The low number
is added when doing anything the NPC is weak in, or

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 NAME LEVEL NAME LEVEL
CONCEPT HIGH [ ] CONCEPT HIGH [ ]
MID [ ] MID [ ]
WEAKNESS LOW [ ] WEAKNESS LOW [ ]

THREAT THREAT
BODY HP MIND HP BODY HP MIND HP
AOE AOE

NPC
LONG LONG
ARMOR ARMOR

SHEET
DISTANT DISTANT
WEAPON WEAPON
MOB MOB

LEVEL 1-2 H: 1, M: 0, L: -1 LEVEL 3-5 H: 2, M: 0, L: 0 NAME LEVEL NAME LEVEL

CONCEPT HIGH [ ] CONCEPT HIGH [ ]

LEVEL EXTRAS THREAT WEAKNESS

MID [ ]
WEAKNESS
MID [ ]
LOW [ ] LOW [ ]
- 0-2 +0
THREAT THREAT
1 3-4 +1 BODY HP MIND HP BODY HP MIND HP
AOE AOE
2 5-6 +2
LONG LONG
3 7-8 +3 ARMOR ARMOR
DISTANT DISTANT
5 9-12 +5 WEAPON WEAPON
MOB MOB

NAME LEVEL NAME LEVEL NAME LEVEL

CONCEPT HIGH [ ] CONCEPT HIGH [ ] CONCEPT HIGH [ ]
MID [ ] MID [ ] MID [ ]
WEAKNESS LOW [ ] WEAKNESS LOW [ ] WEAKNESS LOW [ ]

THREAT THREAT THREAT

BODY HP MIND HP BODY HP MIND HP BODY HP MIND HP
AOE AOE AOE

LONG LONG LONG

ARMOR ARMOR ARMOR
DISTANT DISTANT DISTANT
WEAPON WEAPON WEAPON
MOB MOB MOB

To download the NPC Sheet, go to:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/
product/276285/Heroic-Dark-NPC-sheet

104
 when acting against the NPC’s concept. If the NPC’s
low number is negative, the lowest they can roll on an
action is still 0 hits. The mid number is added in all
other situations.
• Threat: This describes how dangerous the
NPC is. The calculation is explained later, but it’s
important to remember that the difficulty of an
objective determines the maximum threat a single
encounter can have.
• Body and mind HP: NPCs have 4 HP in each category,
plus their level if their concept implies hardiness in
either mind or body HP.
• Weapon: If an NPC is carrying any weapons or has
powerful attack skill, note how much bonus damage
they get when hitting with an attack. Limit this number
to be no higher than their level + 1.
• Armor: If an NPC is wearing armor or is particularly
hardy, note how much they reduce incoming damage.
Limit this number to be no higher than their level + 1.
• Traits: NPCs can have special traits that increase their
abilities, as explained in more detail below. The more
traits they have, the higher the threat.
• Power moves: Can an NPC do something unusual?
Quickly check the cues in the NPC box to determine
unique power moves they have. As the GM, use your
best judgment to quickly determine the scope and
power level. Each power move also increases threat.

105
High, Mid, Low Numbers
There are two sets of numbers used based upon the
NPC’s level:

Level 1-2

High Mid Low

+1 0 -1

Level 3-5

High Mid Low

+2 0 0

Traits
In the NPC stat box, there are 4 selections that can make a
character more powerful. Each costs a certain amount of
“extras” points, which are used when calculating threat.
• Area of Effect (“AOE,” 1 pt): Do you think any of the
NPC’s attacks or power moves affect more than one
character at once? To simplify things, assume it can
affect an entire zone of characters within range. Also,
keep in mind that most AOE power moves the PCs can
access have limited uses. Perhaps limit the NPC’s uses
to 1+ High number.
• Medium Range (1 pt): Can any of the NPC’s attacks or
power moves hit distant targets? Selecting the medium
range trait can give them a range up to one zone away.
• Long Range (1 pt, requires Medium): After selecting
medium range, you can spend 1 more point to upgrade

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 the range of associated attacks or power moves to hit
targets up to five zones away.
• Mob (3 pts): Want to make a dangerous group of
characters? The Mob trait means the NPC is actually
3 characters who all share the same abilities, but they
divide the HP evenly among themselves with the
remainder applied to one of them.

Power Moves
If the NPC can do anything powerful or unusual,
whether from innate ability or exceptional gear, note
a Power Move on its stat box. While it’s up to you to
determine how strong and unique the move is, don’t
make things unfair for the PCs. Also, if the power move
comes in the form of a piece of gear, keep in mind the PCs
might be able to steal that gear and get the same power
for themselves. As a refresher, the following cues can be
selected for power moves:
• Motivate: An NPC with this power move
could be a well-trained negotiator, or may even have
psychic prowess.
• Manipulate: Maybe the character is an exceptional
tinkerer, or has unique tools.
• Position: Extreme athletic skill, or even the innate
ability to fly, would qualify as a position Power Move.
• Reveal: An unparalleled investigator or mind reader
might have a Reveal power move.
• Obscure: A sniper in a gilly suit or a mutant with
chameleon skin are good examples of an Obscure
power move.
• Assist: This power move could come in the form
of a cleric that can offer godly blessings to knightly

107
 warriors’ swords, or even as a marine medic with
futuristic combat stim packs.
• Resist: A wizard slayer with a magic dampening field or
frightening dragon that can make foes afraid to attack
are good examples of a Resist power move.
• React: This move might come in the form of
catlike reflexes, or even the ability to see slightly
into the future.
• Attack: If the character can do something like
summon bolts of flame or shout sonic screams
that cause damage, consider an attack power move.
Selecting this move is necessary if you want the NPC
to be able to affect mind HP. Affecting mind HP should
count as an additional point, making this a two-point
power move instead of one.
• Defend: An NPC with this move might be fast enough
to actually dodge bullets, or could have a force field that
dampens all incoming attacks.

Calculating Threat
The danger level of an NPC is important to consider when
keeping the game fair and balanced. The NPC’s base threat
is equal to the NPC’s level. It is then increased, as shown on
the chart below (also appearing on the NPC sheet), based
upon “extras.” Extras are:
• The amount of damage from weapons or abilities
(count Mind HP damage as double)
• The amount of DR from armor or abilities
• Any points spent on traits
• Any points spent on power moves

108
Note: If you’re playing a high-power game where starting
characters easily buy weapons that deal 3+ damage, or
wear armor with 3+ DR, you might consider ignoring two
points of extras when calculating threat.

Threat Limit
The amount of threat you can put in a single encounter
is dependent upon the difficulty of the objective, though
the GM will get extra threat points to increase above these
limits later in the game:
• Easy: Included threat across the whole objective
can only be equal to half the number of players
(rounded up).
• Medium: Included threat across the whole objective
can be equal to the number of players, but a single
encounter can only have up to half (rounded up).
• Hard: Included threat across the whole objective is
equal to the number of players +1, and can be spent all
in one encounter.

Increasing the Threat Limit

To make an encounter particularly difficult, the GM can
use higher threat in the following ways:
• If this is not the first game session, such as in a longer
campaign, the GM gets an amount of bonus threat
based upon how many Heroic Ending points the
players have scored (more on this later). The Heroic
Ending track on the Setting Sheet lists how much
bonus threat the GM gets at each point total. The
first number listed is to be used against parties of 3-4
players. The second number is used against parties
of 5-6. This bonus threat can be spent among any

109
 encounters thrown at the players, raising them above
the usual threat limits.
• The GM can also spend Dark Points to increase the
threat, at a 1:1 exchange rate.
• If there are any allied NPCs helping the heroes in the
encounter, their threat is added as a bonus to the limit
for the enemy side.
Maximum Threat Limit
When the GM gets extra threat from additional sessions or
spending Dark Points, there’s a limit on how high they can
make a single encounter. The highest threat encounter can
only have a limit three times higher the lowest encounter.
If the GM is only planning a single encounter, assume the
lowest encounter is half the party size (rounded up) plus
any extra assigned threat.

Tip: Keeping Combat Challenging

To make things easier on the GM, it might be
tempting to have multiple NPC enemies act on a single
action card draw. This is problematic, because it gives
the PCs an advantage of having more cards in the deck,
and therefore more chances to go first. To keep combat
appropriately challenging, each enemy should have its
own card assigned.

Remind the Players: Things get harder

Because of the constant increase in Threat limit the GM
gets, encounters in late campaign sessions will be much
more difficult than the earlier sessions. Players might be
used to always winning, and never backing down. As the
GM, when the game gets more challenging, it’s important
to remind the players they can’t solve every problem by

110
killing it. They might have to run away, regroup, and find
more clever ways to defeat extremely dangerous enemies.

HAZARDS
Sometimes the PCs will face dangers that aren’t necessarily
an opposing character. In this case, you need a hazard.
Hazards should be treated like NPCs and use the same
rules for creation, with the following exceptions:
• Hazards usually don’t move.
• Hazards generally only harm players when they fail
a roll to notice, avoid, or disable the hazard. Use the
Attack cue to determine how much damage is dealt.
• Hazards face the same threat limits as NPCs, but
so long as hazards and enemy NPCs aren’t present
simultaneously, hazards get a separate pool of points
to count against. This means if you’re allowed 3 threat
points for NPCs, you’re allowed an additional 3 for
hazards so long as the hazards and NPCs are never in
the same encounter.
• If a hazard is persistent and can attack multiple times,
it deals normal damage based on its stats.
• If a hazard only attacks once (such as a bomb), it deals
+2 damage (not calculated against its threat).

Medium and Hard Hazards

Some hazards are much worse than others, and require
multiple rolls to overcome. If a related objective is medium
or hard, note the following:
• Medium hazards require two rolls to overcome.
• Hard hazards require three rolls to overcome.

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Ideas for Hazards
Adding life or death conflicts to your game can require
some creativity. Here are some ideas to base hazards off of:
• Presence of poisons or toxic chemicals
• Magical curses
• Mechanical traps
• Fire and lava
• Blizzards and other inclement weather
• Swarms of stinging insects

AFFLICTIONS
The last big piece of being a GM is adjudicating the severity
of afflictions. As a refresher, an affliction is a negative
quality a character has received that makes them less
effective, such as a sprained ankle or even as intense
as a severed limb. Afflictions can also be metaphysical
things, such as a doom curse cast by a witch. Whenever it
makes sense, it’s your job as the GM to enforce the penalty
such an affliction would cause a character. If a character
with a sprained ankle tries to run, they should clearly be
penalized. If a character with a missing arm tries to wrestle
someone, they should be penalized. A character with a
doom curse would be penalized when trying to resist
danger in any form.

Severity
The GM should decide how severe an affliction is based
upon story considerations. If the affliction is gained as
a consequence for a failed roll, use the context of the
situation to set the severity, such as how much danger the
character was in, or how risky a move they tried to pull. If
the character gained an affliction from an Attack roll, the

112
lead of the roll determines the severity. The level chosen
for the affliction determines how bad its associated
penalty is, how long it takes to heal, and if any resources
are required to treat it. Each level has a few combinations
of these qualities to choose from. Consult the chart below.

Minor -2, hour rest, -1, 1 day, 1 -1, 1 week, 0

Affliction 0 resource resource resource
Moderate -3, 1 day, 1 -2, 1 week, 2 -1, 2 weeks, 2
Affliction resource resource resource
Severe -3, 1 week, 2 -2, 3 weeks, -1, 3 weeks, 5
Affliction resource 3 resource resource

Permanent Afflictions
When a PC has two temporary afflictions, and would gain
a third, it is instead turned into a permanent affliction.
Permanent afflictions are intense, irreparable damage to
a character, such as the severed limb example. Permanent
afflictions always start out at a -3 penalty, but can decrease
in severity when resources are spent on treatment. Note
the following:
• If a PC spends 3 resource on treating a permanent
affliction, its penalty is reduced to -2.
• If a PC spends an additional 5 resource, the affliction is
reduced to -1.

113
114
CHAPTER EIGHT:
PLANNING SESSIONS
Heroic Dark revolves around a mission structure in which
the PCs are trying to foil the plans of the Darkness. In each
session, you will determine what the Darkness is trying to
do, and then use Objectives and Challenges to break the
session up into discrete segments.

The Entry Point

Before you get to the objectives, the players must begin the
session with the following information:
• Which of the 9 Institutions is involved in the
mission: This will serve to set the stage, denoting
where things are going on and what is happening.
The players should decide which institution they are
investigating, so GMs that need to plan ahead should
coordinate this information with the group before
meeting to play.
• What the Darkness is doing to the institution:
This could be anything you imagine, but there are
three guidelines to help you based upon the
institution involved:
°° Darkness is infiltrating (denial institution): The
Darkness does not want any denial institutions
directly involved in the fight, but may seek to
weaken them or co-opt their resources. The heroes
will have a sense of what’s going on, but they will
be hard pressed to find allies or exert authority in
pursuit of the Darkness.
°° Darkness is attacking (afraid institution): The
afraid institutions are already battling with the

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 OBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE TYPES
DISCOVER INFORMATION CHALLENGES CLOCK
BYPASS DANGEROUS OBSTACLE
MOTIVATE OTHERS
OVERCOME TRIAL
CREATE DEFENSES

RETRIEVE RESOURCES
AVOID RAISING ALARM PASS/FAIL?

SESSION
SURVIVE VIOLENT CONFLICT
GAIN ACCESS

SHEET
NEGOTIATE CONFLICTING INTERESTS
CONFRONT DARKNESS
DEFUSE BRIMMING HOSTILITIES

LOCATION OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE

CHALLENGES CLOCK CHALLENGES CLOCK
BYPASS DANGEROUS OBSTACLE BYPASS DANGEROUS OBSTACLE
DARKNESS IS…
INFILTRATING ATTACKING PREPARING OVERCOME TRIAL OVERCOME TRIAL

AVOID RAISING ALARM PASS/FAIL? AVOID RAISING ALARM PASS/FAIL?

SYMPTOM SURVIVE VIOLENT CONFLICT SURVIVE VIOLENT CONFLICT
MISSING PERSONS RESOURCE SHORTAGE
NEGOTIATE CONFLICTING INTERESTS NEGOTIATE CONFLICTING INTERESTS
DEAD PERSONS SABOTAGE
STRANGE PHENOMENON DEFUSE BRIMMING HOSTILITIES DEFUSE BRIMMING HOSTILITIES

NOTES OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE

CHALLENGES CLOCK CHALLENGES CLOCK
BYPASS DANGEROUS OBSTACLE BYPASS DANGEROUS OBSTACLE

OVERCOME TRIAL OVERCOME TRIAL

AVOID RAISING ALARM PASS/FAIL? AVOID RAISING ALARM PASS/FAIL?

SURVIVE VIOLENT CONFLICT SURVIVE VIOLENT CONFLICT

NEGOTIATE CONFLICTING INTERESTS NEGOTIATE CONFLICTING INTERESTS

DARK POINTS
DEFUSE BRIMMING HOSTILITIES DEFUSE BRIMMING HOSTILITIES

To download the Session Sheet, go to:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/
product/276286/Heroic-Dark-Session-Sheet

116
 Darkness, and trying to remain strong. Open
conflict is happening, and the heroes will face
hostile forces.
°° Darkness is preparing (oppressed institution):
Darkness has a stranglehold on such institutions,
and will be coordinating resources and plans to
make attacks elsewhere.
• What is the symptom of the Darkness’ activities:
Again, this can be anything you imagine, but
something needs to tip off the heroes that Darkness is
afoot. Here are a few ideas you can use:
°° Missing persons: A noticeable amount of people
have mysteriously disappeared. Is there a pattern?
°° Dead persons: Bodies have been discovered,
and the killers are unknown. Are authorities
investigating?
°° Sabotage: A vital community facility or function
is no longer working. How is the institution
negatively impacted?
°° Resource shortage: Items that sustain the
institution are in short supply. How are they
becoming weakened against the Darkness?
°° Unusual phenomenon: Nothing bad has directly
happened, but there are strange, unexplained
things going on. What explanation is there to
reconcile strange witness accounts?
• Where to look first: You are going to plan several
objectives for the players, but they won’t know all of
them right away. You must tip them off to an initial
investigation site where they can pick up the info to
find the rest of the objectives.

117
Planning Session Length and Difficulty
Now that you have the basis for the session, it’s
time to lay out the objectives and challenges in detail.
Follow this process:
1. First, determine roughly how long you’d like to play.
°° For however many hours you choose, plan up to
twice that many objectives. For example: if you
want to play 3 hours, plan 3-6 objectives.
2. Next, determine how tough the objectives are.
°° At least one objective should be easy, and at least
one objective should be hard. Others should
probably be medium.
°° This will determine factors explained later such
as how many challenges an objective has, as well
as the power level of hostile NPCs and how many
mistakes the players can make.
°° For now, just make a note about the difficulty so
you remember later.

Objectives Anatomy
An objective is made up of the following:
• Objective Goal: This should be a quick two- or three-
word identifier that lets you know what the main goal
of the objective is.
• Objective Type: This serves as a general concept to
help you structure the types of conflict involved
in the objective.
• Challenges: These are specific high-stakes events that
the PCs need to pass to achieve the objective. An easy
objective should have 1-2 challenges, medium should
have 2-3, and a hard objective should have 3-5.

118
 Objective Goal
A good objective has a clear goal, but it should
be open-ended and allow for multiple paths to success.
When possible, avoid goals that assume the players must
talk to a particular character or go to a particular place.
The heroes might fumble through the mission trying
to find the right “trigger,” and in reality you should be
rewarding them with success and information so long as
what they are doing makes sense and is a believable way
to achieve the goal. For example, a bad goal would be “Get
the sheriff to admit there’s a cover up.” This is too narrow
and will cause difficulty for you and the players. Instead,
try something like “Discover the cover up.” This allows
multiple paths to success.

Objective Type
While you’re encouraged to improvise and think of your
own ideas, an objective type can help you structure your
missions in a focused and clear manner. When looking at
the list of objective types, remember that it’s suggested that
you do not use more than two of the same type of objective
in one session.
• Discover Information: This is a very common
objective that will be included in most missions.
Darkness is often subtle and secretive, and both its
goals and means will need to be flushed out.
°° Failure Consequences: Perhaps another objective
becomes inaccessible because its existence is not
known, though no more than one such objective
should be locked out. Or the needed information
is found, but at great cost, alerting enemies and
increasing the difficulty of other objectives.

119
• Motivate Others: The heroes often cannot achieve
their goals on their own. Perhaps they will need to
convince others to become allies, or convince people
who are in danger to course correct
and save themselves.
°° Failure Consequences: No aide or change occurs,
and the heroes must continue in their fight alone
with increased difficulty. This means they could
later be outnumbered, or have a harder time saving
those in danger.
• Create Defenses: Sometimes Darkness cannot be
stopped, and all you can do is prepare. Laying traps or
shoring up weak points can be a valuable activity when
preparing for an attack.
°° Failure Consequences: If the heroes are defending
themselves, they are unprepared for the coming
attack and start out in suboptimal positioning.
If the heroes were defending allies, the allies are
caught off-guard and vanquished.
• Retrieve Resources: Sometimes specific things are
required to fight Darkness, such as a dark entity that
can only be harmed by silver. Also, resources might
be required to give material support to allies; perhaps
rations or medical supplies are needed.
°° Failure Consequences: If the resources would
simply make the heroes’ later work easier, these
resources are not even gained. If the resources are
absolutely necessary to achieve a later objective,
they are still gained, but at great cost.
• Gain Access: The heroes might need to be in a specific
place before they can achieve their goals. Agents of

120
 Darkness might be hiding in a fortress, or perhaps the
item the PCs require is locked away.
°° Failure Consequences: If access would simply
make the heroes’ work easier, access is completely
denied. If access is necessary to further the story
and achieve a later objective, the heroes get in but
at least one following objective becomes more
dangerous (up one difficulty level).
• Confront Darkness: This is very often the climax of a
mission. Darkness has appeared and is directly facing
off with the PCs. Open hostilities will result in violence,
while more subtle avenues will require discrediting or
sabotaging agents of Darkness.
°° Failure Consequences: The darkness greatly
damages the heroes, their allies, or both. Allies
might be slain or captured, while the heroes could
be wounded and gain afflictions, or even killed. If
the conflict is not violent, then the heroes could
be locked out of a later objective, though no more
than one such objective should be denied this way.

Challenges
No objective should be a cakewalk – there should
always be meaningful conflict standing between the
heroes and success. If you’re a GM that likes to plan ahead,
pre-select challenge types to help you know what to throw
at the players. If you’re a more improvisational GM, let the
players take the lead formulating their plans, and choose
challenge types on the fly that fit with the direction the
game is heading. Better yet, do a combination of both.
Pre-select the challenges that make sense to you, but swap
some of them out for new ones that make more sense as

121
the players shape the session and think of plans of action
you might not have considered. Below is a short list of
challenge types. You may think of challenges that don’t
quite fit these guidelines, and that’s ok! This list is just to
provide inspiration.
• Bypass Dangerous Obstacle: Something hazardous is
in the way between the heroes and their goal. Perhaps
they need to climb a cliff or cross a rickety bridge.
Maybe they have to disable a trap!
°° Failure Consequences: Try to limit yourself to lost
resources or afflictions. It’s not interesting for a
character to die when dealing with an inanimate
object.
• Overcome Trial: A test of skill or strength is
required of the heroes. Perhaps they have to
successfully analyze a crime scene or craft a
barricade to slow the enemies.
°° Failure Consequences: Increase the difficulty
of another objective by one step. Easy becomes
medium, medium becomes hard.
• Avoid Raising Alarm: The heroes must go
undetected. Maybe they are undercover and trying to
interrogate an enemy, and they can’t afford to tip off
their plan. Or they could be infiltrating a stronghold,
trying to bypass guards.
°° Failure Consequences: As with a failure to
overcome a trial, increase the difficulty of another
objective by one step. Easy becomes medium,
medium becomes hard.
• Survive Violent Conflict: A fight happens, and the
heroes are caught in the middle of it. They could

122
 be assaulted by bandits, or dealing with corrupted
denizens of a magical forest.
°° Failure Consequences: This is a case in which
death should be on the table, but there may be
other consequences for inelegant handling of the
fight. Perhaps an enemy is able to destroy or steal a
valuable item, or an important ally is slain.
• Defuse Brimming Hostilities: Opposing parties are on
the edge of striking each other, and if things get worse
it will hurt the plans of the heroes. Perhaps the heroes
must convince border guards to allow them to pass
unmolested, or assuage the anger of two valuable allies
at each other’s throats.
°° Failure Consequences: Things could escalate to a
violent conflict, or one party could destroy valuable
resources to sabotage the other.
• Negotiate Conflicting Interests: An NPC
wants something, and their cooperation is
necessary to the heroes achieving their goals. Maybe
an informant knows the identities of agents of
Darkness, but won’t reveal them unless they feel fairly
compensated. Perhaps an explorer knows the way up
the mountain, but won’t lend aid unless a personal
problem is dealt with first.
°° Failure Consequences: Aid is not lent to the
heroes, and maybe the NPC even works against
them. This increases the difficulty of later
objectives. The informant could tip off the agents
of Darkness, or the explorer could suggest the
worst route up the mountain.

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Objectives Success
and Failure
No plan completely survives contact with the enemy.
When the PCs dive into the session, they’re going to have
a mix of success and failure. While your goal as a GM is
not to punish and demean the PCs, you’re to provide tense
situations where the outcome is uncertain. Failure should
be a very real possibility, and you should consider the
consequences of failure at all times.

Blunder Clock
On the session sheet for each objective is a “clock”
with 4 spots. This is how you set the level of mess-ups
allowed before an objective becomes unobtainable. In
an easy or medium objective, there can only be blunders
equal to the number of challenges. For a hard objective,
there can only be blunders numbering one less than the
amount of challenges.

For example, an easy objective with two challenges

should allow two blunders. A medium objective with two
challenges would also allow two blunders. A hard objective
with four challenges would allow three blunders.

Use your best judgement for what counts as a blunder

on the clock. A single failed roll in a critical moment
might count - such as a position roll to jump across a
gap. However, in a negotiation, you might only mark off
blunders for an extremely offensive choice of words, or a
string of failed Motivate rolls making an NPC feel overly
pressured. Blunders can also be used as a resource when
there’s time pressure; if the heroes need to take a long rest

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while the enemies continue their work, mark a blunder!
Blunders can also be used to track the tide of battle: each
time a hero dies (not just falls unconscious), consider
marking a blunder.

Consequences of Success and Failure

Whether the heroes win or lose, something interesting
needs to happen as a result of their action. In addition to
the standard consequences for facing an objective, the
following happens:
• Immediately upon success, a Heroic Point is handed
out to the player of the GMs choice. The GM should
award the point to a player who was particularly
critical to achieving the objective, or roleplayed
extremely well. However, some players might be
pushed out of the limelight by dominant players, or
may simply have bad luck with rolls. In such situations,
it’s important to hand out a Heroic Point to a player
even if they weren’t integral to any scenes, especially if
they haven’t received one in a while.
• If the heroes failed instead, a Dark Point is immediately
handed to the GM.
• Finally, at the end of the session, the Institution’s health
score will be affected by the results of the objectives.
More on that is explained later.
• Note: if a PC died during an objective, it cannot be
treated as a success. However, the players can still
achieve their goals to avoid treating it as a failure.

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Failing Sideways
Some great RPGs have a concept called “failing forward,”
in which defeated heroes aren’t locked out of achieving
their goals, but must continue on in more complicated
and dangerous circumstances each time they fail. Heroic
Dark slightly modifies this concept to “failing sideways.” As
explained under objective consequences, it’s possible for
the heroes to be completely locked out of achieving their
goals. However, this should have minimal impact on play
duration. You don’t want to end a session early because
players bungled a negotiation or failed too many rolls.
The fight against Darkness should always continue, and
there’s always more work to do even if the heroes lose at
something vital. The heroes, upon failing, should usually
be presented with new goals to pursue to keep
the game moving.

Gate Objectives
As stated, a good objective allows for failure and has
consequences. However, when an objective stands in the
way of later accessing multiple objectives, failing it could
radically impact play duration. This is known as a gate
objective. Failure in this case should not stop the players
from moving forward. Gate objectives should have other
consequences, perhaps in the form of lost resources,
estranged allies, gained afflictions, or simply making later
objectives more difficult to achieve.

While gate objective should not be “find the bandits,”

something like “find the bandits while unnoticed” would
work. If players fail to avoid notice, they still find the
bandits, but now they are on alert and will put pressure on

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the players when trying to achieve later objectives. Also,
note that the sample objective is not “find the bandits’
hideout.” As explained earlier in the chapter, that objective
might be too location-specific, and will get in the way of
the players exploring their options.

Total Party Kill (TPK)

Sometimes a poorly timed fight or surprise trap can defeat
all the PCs in one fell swoop. Things may seem hopeless,
and it might feel like the game is over. But don’t worry!
Heroic Dark handles TPKs slightly different than normal
deaths. In the case of a TPK, do the following:
• Mark a Dark Ending point on the Dark Ending track
(explained in the following chapter).
• “Rewind” to the beginning of the objective.
• One of the players has a heroic “premonition” of the
danger to come, allowing the players to modify their
strategies and actions in an attempt to win. The players
can even choose to abandon the objective that caused
them to die if they feel it is too dangerous.
• Repeat as necessary, noting that each TPK marks a
point on the Dark Ending track.

ENDING THE SESSION

After all the objectives are wrapped up, it’s time to
check how the heroes’ actions influenced the game
world. Did they weaken the enemy, or did the Darkness
grow stronger?

Awarding Resource
The heroes should receive raw resource points that can be
used to buy gear later, either in the form of a found treasure

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horde, patronage from allies, or paid bounties. Here is how
the resource should be awarded:
• The group receives a shared pile of 1 resource for every
successfully completed objective.
• Each Hero gets 1 resource if they helped successfully
complete any objective.
• They get an additional 1 resource if they were involved
in confronting Darkness and won.
• During the Institution health phase, if the Institution’s
score reaches 8, each Hero receives 2 additional
resource.

Institution Health
Next, modify the health score of the Institution involved in
this session.
• An easy or medium objective is worth 1 point.
• A hard objective is worth 2 points.
• Failed objectives have no effect, and successful
objectives increase the health score equal to
their point value.

It’s possible that all the objectives will cancel out and the
final score will not change. That’s ok! It just means that
despite all the heroes’ efforts, only the status quo was
maintained.

The State of the World

Other Institutions in the world have their own battles with
the Darkness, whether or not the heroes were involved. At
the end of each session, Institutions not part of the session
can have their health scores decreased. This process is
further explained in the Running The World chapter.

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Narrating the Changes
As the GM, it’s important for you to put the
health score changes into narrative context. Let the PCs
know the results of their labors. Think back on all the
consequences, good and bad, of the PC’s actions. Imagine
how these wrap up into the larger story of the fight against
Darkness. If the institution’s health score went up, imagine
how Darkness loses ground. If the health score barely
changed, imagine how Darkness gained a foothold that
could be exploited later. If you’re comfortable improvising,
tell the players immediately upon the end of the session.
If you need time to plan, think about it while getting the
next session ready, and let the players know the next time
you meet. Whenever you tell the players, the update should
come through the story of the game, not just a narrated
epilogue. Perhaps they receive a report from an ally, or they
are able to witness the results first hand.

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CHAPTER NINE:
RUNNING THE WORLD
Whether or not the Darkness will succeed in ruling
the realm is in the hands of the PCs. This is an important
concept to grasp; campaigns in Heroic Dark have a set
ending, and that ending is not always a happy one. If the
heroes do well on their missions, the Darkness will lose
control and the realm is secured. But if the heroes fail
enough times, the Darkness grows so strong it can
never be defeated

HEALTH SCORES
At the start of the game, each Institution was given a health
score to signify how much the Darkness is beleaguering
it. Their score falls somewhere between 0-8, and based on
the results of the PCs’ missions, these numbers will go up
and down. These scores remain public so the heroes can
decide what areas need the most attention. Based upon the
score range, you can determine the state of the Institution:
Health
Status
Score

0-1 Darkness Stronghold

2-6 Neutral Ground

7-8 Heroic Stronghold

Darkness Stronghold
An Institution such as this, whether it knows it or not,
is rife with Darkness. The heroes will face violence or
treachery at every turn.

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Neutral Ground
This type of Institution is caught in a struggle between
heroic forces and agents of Darkness. Both sides have
influence here, and are competing in a power struggle.

Heroic Stronghold
Darkness is nearly absent from this Institution. It is firmly
on the side of the heroes, and is able to lend aid in the fight
for the realm.

Dark Decay
At the end of each session, the world struggles on its own
against Darkness. This further modifies health scores after
the session results are calculated. Follow this process:
1. Look for Dark Influence. Societies that have more
Darkness Strongholds than Heroic Strongholds
are under Dark Influence; otherwise, the Heroic
Strongholds cancel their influence.
2. Count the number of objectives that were involved in
this session. The GM chooses a number of Institutions
equal to this number to suffer decay.
°° The Institution in which the session took place
cannot be chosen.
°° When decaying an institution, decrease
its score by 1.
°° If a society is under Dark Influence, one of its
institutions may be decayed by 2 instead of 1.
Other institutions in that society may only be
decayed by 1.
3. If the GM wishes, Dark Points can be spent to decay
additional Institutions not yet decayed. Each bonus
decay costs 2 Dark Points.

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4. If the heroes need an extended rest between missions,
the GM can decay any Institution other than the last
visited by another 1 point per week of game time that
the heroes are out of commission.

Suicide Missions
Sometimes the heroes fall so far behind the Darkness,
that even if they go on a string of perfect missions, the
Darkness will still have too many strongholds. In this
situation, the players are encouraged to nominate one
or more of their characters for suicide missions to save
far away institutions on the brink of collapse. Here is the
general process, taking place after Dark Decay:
1. Choose an institution whose health score you want to
increase.
2. Select one of the active PCs to travel to that institution
to go on a suicide mission.
3. The GM narrates an impossible situation, describing
epic challenges that await. The player whose character
is going on the mission quickly narrates the team they
form and the sacrifices they make, ultimately losing
their life but saving the day.
4. The institution’s health score increases by half the
number of sessions that PC has played in, rounded up.
For example, if a player has had their character in 6
sessions and sends her on a suicide mission, the target
institution’s health score increases by 3.
5. The sacrificed PC is permanently dead, and the player
must make a new character for next session.
6. The players can send as many characters on suicide
missions as they want.

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ENDING TRACKS
On the campaign sheet are two tracks: the Heroic Ending
track and the Dark Ending track. They both start empty,
and fill up based upon the events of the game. They signify
how close each side is to final victory. Like Health Scores,
the information on the ending tracks is public to all the
players. When the Heroic Ending track is full, the campaign
ends with the heroes winning. If the Dark Ending track fills
first, the campaign ends in the final defeat of the heroes.

Filling the Tracks

After the Dark Decay happens, it’s time to check the
progress on the ending tracks. First, modify the Heroic
Ending track based upon the following:
• If the heroes increased the score of an institution, add
one point.
• If the heroes made an institution become a Heroic
Stronghold, add an additional point.
• Add an additional point for each institution whose
score is at 8.

After modifying this, it’s time to check the

Dark Ending track.
• If the heroes failed in their mission and did not
increase the institution’s score, add one point.
• If any Institutions decayed into becoming a Dark
Stronghold, add another point.
• Add an additional point for each Institution whose
health score is at 0.

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Bonus Dark Points
Whenever the Dark Ending track receives marks, the GM
receives an equal number of Dark Points.

ENDING THE CAMPAIGN

Whenever any ending track is three away from being full,
the campaign is near the end. Darkness pulls out every
trick it has to either catch up, or ensure victory.

Near The End Sessions

When running a session that is near the end, at least two
objectives must be hard difficulty. It is also important to set
epic stakes—the heroes are either grasping for final victory,
or attempting to delay the apocalypse.

Before reaching the end of the campaign, perhaps when

one of the ending tracks is half way through, it’s important
to start thinking how the heroes can finally defeat the
Darkness. Think of a singular weakness in the Darkness’
plans, and start hinting at it to the players. If the heroes
make it within striking distance of the Heroic Ending, the
missions they go on to finally save the world should be
making sense with the already established fiction and not
a total surprise.

The same is not necessarily true for how the Darkness will
achieve final victory. Each time the players begin a session
near the end of the Dark Ending track, the Darkness’ plans
being revealed can be a total surprise. Whatever it is, the
Darkness succeeding should mean catastrophic damage
to the heroes and their cause.

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Completing a Track
Whichever track fills first after the session signifies the end
of the campaign. Because the Heroic Ending track is filled
out first after a session, the PCs have an advantage. As said
before, if the Heroic Ending track fills completely, it’s time
for a victorious ending. However, if the Dark Ending track
fills completely, the realm is forever lost.

Narrate the Epilogue

This is the final collaborative event that happens in any
Heroic Dark campaign. The final fate of the world and
important characters will be decided:
1. First, the GM narrates what the end looks like. What
did the heroes or Darkness achieve that decides the
fate of the realm? How are each of the three societies
affected in the aftermath?

2. Each player describes what happens to their PC. If

victorious, do they continue their good work? Do they
finally rest? Do they find happiness? If all is lost, do
they live in exile? Do they never give up the fight? Do
they tragically die?
3. Lastly, the GM gives a closing thought. Choose an
Institution or high-profile NPC, and narrate a vignette
involving it. What small, symbolic event happens to
signify the new world? This is the final window into
the campaign, so poignancy is encouraged.

Starting Again
If the GM and players are aching to continue playing
Heroic Dark , it’s time to start a new campaign. Return
to the “Starting Your Game” chapter and begin again!

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You have a few options here. You could make an entirely
different world and conflict to explore, going for
something fresh and new. Or, you could stay in the same
world you just crafted, only to spring forward in time and
describe a new struggle with brand new societies and
conflicts to discover.

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