the One-Page Role-Playing System

Attributes and Basics

Find some standard dice (d6) and a twenty-sided die (d20). Draw a 3x3 grid, like the one below. In the first line, describe your adventurer under the headings Alias, Biology and Career. In the second line, you have 30 points to share between your three main Attributes (Arms, Brains, Charms). Then in the same box describe a special skill (or Ability) under each Attribute. For each one, roll a d6 and write the result as a bonus (+1, +2 etc.). Finally, in the last line, describe your adventurer’s possessions under the headings Artefact, Baggage and Credit. Example: the Earth has been invaded by Aliens, so let’s create a hero to save the world! We draw up an ABC grid and in the first line, we write Alias: Gero Nimo, Biology: Human Male from Terra, and Career: Freedom Fighter. In the next line, we assign 30 points as follows: Athletics: 13, Brains: 10 and Character: 7. Under each Attribute we choose an Ability (and roll 1d6 for each): Athletics: Hunting +4, Brains: Electronics +3, and Character: Command +2. Finally, our hero has an Artefact: Sonic screwdriver, Baggage: Outdoor survival pack, Cash: 90 Megacredits.

Alias

Choose a name that will go with the adventure setting, and write it in this box.

Biology

Choose a body type, gender or species: android, barbarian, cyberman, etc.

Career

Choose a career or social class: academic, burglar, cleric, diplomat, engineer, etc.

Athletics

Choose a physical ability such as: acrobatics, boxing, chariot racing, diving etc.

Brains

Choose a mental ability such as: awareness, biochemistry, code-breaking, deduction etc.

Character

Choose a social ability such as: artistry, bluffing, chivalry, diplomacy etc.

Artefact

You have a small object of great value: amulet of communication, burglar ’s tools, conjurer’s staff, etc.

Baggage

You have a Backpack (includes: army knife, blanket, costume, drinking flask, elastic bands, flint & tinder...)

Cash

You have some coins or credit, according to the setting e.g. 3d6 x 10 gold pieces, 3d6 x 10 galactic megacredits, etc.

Challenges

During the adventure, the game-master (GM) sets you various challenges and decides which of your Attributes will be tested. If the GM tells you that the task is difficult, you subtract points from your Attribute, if the task is easy, you add points to your Attribute. You then roll a twenty-sided die (d20). If the result of your roll is less than or equal to your Attribute, you pass the test. A roll equal to your Attribute is a special success, but a roll of 20 is a failure. Sometimes an Attribute is over 20: in this case, you add the points over 20 to your roll and a result of 20 or more is a special success. The loser of a challenge usually suffers a (temporary) loss from one Attribute. Example: Gero Nimo stumbles across a crashed Alien vehicle. Gero says that he’ll try to sneak up to it. The GM says that this will be an opposed challenge between Gero’s Athletics (A=13) and the Machine’s detectors (its ‘Bridge’ Attribute, which the GM decides is 25), and our hero will be able to use his ‘Hunting’ discipline (a Bonus of +4). His target to roll is therefore 13+4 =17. Gero rolls the d20 and gets 17, a special success! The GM now rolls for the Machine, which gets +5 to its roll (its Attribute is over 20). The GM rolls d20, gets a 11 (+5) =16. This is also a success, but it is less than Gero’s total and not a special success. The GM therefore rules that the Machine stays in standby mode. Next, Gero says he’ll try to squeeze into the Machine and hack into its computers. The GM says that this is a test of Gero’s Brains (10) plus a Bonus for his Electronics ability (+3), but with a penalty for messing with Alien technology (-5). The target to roll is thus 8 or less. Geronimo rolls the d20 and gets 9, a miss! The GM rules that Gero causes a neural circuit to blow and takes 2d6 points of damage (the GM rolls 2d6 and gets 7: this reduces Gero’s Athletics to 6). As alarms sound and dark steam rises from the Machine’s oily membranes, the GM asks what Gero Nimo wants to do next...

Development

If you finish an adventure successfully, you get to add 1 point to a one of your existing Abilities. Alternatively, you may use this point to improve your adventurer in some other way.

Extras

You can use the ABC system to describe special equipment and places, such as Astroships and Baseworlds. To build an Astroship, you spend 80 points on Attributes such as: (a) Armour (hull, size) (b) Bridge (computers, sensors) (c) Combat (cannon, laser, missile) (d) Defence (screens, shields) (e) Engines (manoeuvre drive) (f) Furnishings (cargo bay, fuel pods, life support, science bay, ship’s boat, teleporter, tractor beam) (g) Generators (power source: dark matter, fission...) (h) Hyperdrive (jump potential). Similarly, a Baseworld has 80 points in the following Attributes : (a) Astrometric size (b) Breathable atmosphere (c) Coverage of water (d) Demography (e) Executive type (f) Formalities and law level (g) Gadgets and technology level (h) Hyperspace facility code.