Dire Familiar
A game of magical creatures, wizards, and petty squabbling.

Elevator Pitch: Play familiars vying for the favor of their Wizard to become the Dire Familiar and be imbued with greatness that you can lord over the other magical creatures.

Assemble:
	1.	Yourself and 3-4 Friends/Enemies
	2.	Notecards & Pencils
	3.	Dice: Find all the d4s (caltrops) in your home. d4s are probably not weighted correctly, so make sure to say the appropriate rituals above your favorite d4. Dice shaming is encouraged.  
	4.	Optional: Tokens for Favor, props to establish your totally sweet magical creature, libations to sway the fickle Wizard to your side

----Roles----
Wizard (1): One of you shall play the role of Wizard. Decide what kind of wizard you are and what you want. Maybe an up and coming wizard, struggling to gain respect in the ranks of the old guard. Maybe a crochety old wizard trying to get your name in the Hall of Dread Wizards. Maybe the omniverse’s greatest wizard - but how is it that love still escapes your dread fingers?

Familiars (3-4):
The rest of you play familiars vying for the Wizard’s Favor. Common familiars are a dime a dozen, but with the strength from the Dire Familiar Bond spell you could really make it big and show these other chumps what a real magical creature can do. Decide what kind of ridiculous magical animal you are, and fill out your Bestiary Entry.

----Bestiary Entry----
See example entry at the end.
 
	•	Distribute the values 1, 2, 2, and 3 to your four Facets. This number represents how many d4s you roll when doing a task related to that Facet.
	⁃	Swole: Rough one of these other contenders up a bit. Carry something big and cool somewhere. Break into restricted areas.
	⁃	Clever: Pull a trick on one of these other contenders. Impress the Wizard with your magical dread neurons. Win a quip-off. Open a puzzle-lock. 
	⁃	Dread: Strike fear into the hearts of mortals. Sinister deeds. 
	⁃	Charm: Slither your way into the good graces of others. Sinister long term goals allowed.
	•	Fill in a 1-2 sentence answer to Look, Ecology, Quirk, and Background.
	•	Determine a Strength and Weakness. These are situations where you will gain a positive d4 (a Boon) to help a roll or a negative d4 (Bane) to represent your weakness this situation. Work with the Wizard to determine these. Give them cool names.
	•	Your Essence starts at 10/10. Essence represents your life force, and is something you can spend to add Boon or Bane d4s to someone’s roll. It refreshes at the end of a day.
	•	Favor starts at 0, is gained through doing things for your Wizard.

----Gameplay----
Before the game starts, determine either a number of days to play through or an amount of Wizard favor to reach. Days are comprised of roughly 3 scenes. The familiar with the most Favor becomes the Wizard’s Dire Familiar, gaining powers and immense street cred.

Core mechanic: When something has a chance of interesting failure, roll the number of d4s indicated by your relevant Facet and compare the sum against a Doom Level the Wizard sets. If two familiars are opposing each other, each narrate their approaches and roll the d4s from the relevant pools against each other. Whoever gets the highest sum, plus any Boon or minus any Bane d4s, wins. The difference in rolls is subtracted from the loser’s Essence!

Doom Levels
2 Easy: someone bad at this type of thing can still succeed half the time
4 Challenging
6 Tough
8  Formidable
10 Dread: only familiars with their highest stat have a natural chance at this

Essence
	•	At 0 Essence, you get taken out of the rest of the day’s scenes as you slink back to your hiding place and recover your magical life force. It starts back at 10 the next day.
	•	2 points of Essence can be spent to add a Boon d4 or a Bane d4 to anyone’s roll before it is rolled. You must shout a silly incantation to represent the Boon or Bane as you roll it.

Gaining Favor
The Wizard may assign tasks, or familiars can take initiative in helping. Other familiars can sabotage their colleague’s attempts. Another perfectly legitimate strategy is to bribe the Wizard by bringing her libations (preferably in and out of character).

----Possible scenarios----
	1.	The Wizard’s arch-nemesis has entered the same Dread Talent Show as her! Help sabotage the arch-nemesis’s act, or bolster your Wizard’s!
	2.	The Wizard’s favorite Dread Cloak of Terror has gotten a tear! He couldn’t possibly enter the Dread Wizard pageant this year without it - make him a new garment or fix up the old one!
	3.	A demon from the Dread Plane of Procastination arrived just as your Wizard is finishing his take-home wizarding final! 
	4.	The Wizard’s crush is coming over in 3 days! Get the tower ready and give her your best romantic advice! 

----Random events----
	1.	A cauldron explodes, causing a huge mess!
	2.	The Wizard’s cockatrice got its claws on his Grimoire!
	3.	A potion containing 3 free Boon/Bane die is found!
	4.	An impromptu cocktail party has been called to the Wizard’s home!

----Example familiar----
Barbara the All-Seeing Human Skull
Facets:
Swole: 1
Clever: 3
Dread: 2
Charm: 2

Look: Neanderthal skull with glowing series of orbs circulating within the empty eye sockets. Jaw stays articulated with skull to mimic speech for maximum sass.
Ecology: Technically graveyards, but these days prefers to be out carousing. Keeps ending up in the hands of some would-be wizard. 
Quirk: Smells of lilacs, rather embarrassed about it
Background: Current wizard won her in a bet from another wizard, hoping to gain use of her knowledge.
Strength: Font of Trivia: When trying to recall a piece of trivial lore, gain a Boon.
Weakness: Ex-Leggy Blonde: When trying to run away, gain a Bane.

Essence: 10/10
Favor: 0