Voyage of the Promethean

Voyage of the Promethean is a game about people in a ship in space trying to make their way through the problems and dangers of the universe. One of the people may also be a ship.

Gameplay consists of players setting up Plots and the consequences for failing them, and the mucking around screwing up until it gets too dangerous and they decide to actually try to solve them. It also consists of emotional connections and relationships and how those things work or don't.

Things start kinda light, but slowly get worse/wierder/more dramatic, unless all the players just wanna screw around.

It's aimed at multi-session play of some kind, although the math probably works out to the players eventually reaching an endpoint.

SETTING ASSUMPTIONS

You can go in a lot of directions with this game. But there are a few things that the rules assume about the setting, and you should thus follow:

1. The PCs are the crew in a giant spaceship.
2. There's a bunch of NPCs on board too.
3. Your initial Role and skill setup says more about what place you have in society/how you were created/etc than your own talents.

SETUP

First of all, as a group, decide Why Are You Travelling Through Space?

You can have individual reasons, but what do you as a crew/ship do?

Do you move here and there, on a fight against an enemy of some kind?
	If so, what kind of enemy? How do you fight them? Are there any limits on your fighting with 
	them – is it closer to sparring, or a battle?
Do you run from an implacable opponent?
	Who are they? What will happen if they catch up?
Do you explore new planets?
	For what purpose?
Do you try to earn cash?
	Legally? Illegally? Any way you can?
Something else?
	As long as your group agrees to it, there's no wrong answers!

It can be a combination, of course – just try to get a general idea of what you're doing in space.

Give each player 3 Plot Points.

Next, each player selects a character. You can only have one of each type, but note that this is a big ship of some kind, and there's a lot more NPCs on it.

Each player selects their starting Mood.

CHARACTER ROLES

Promethean

You are the thing inside the ship that makes it work. You are also the ship itself. You are carrying all the rest of the crew with you.

How do you feel about your role in the universe? How do you feel about the tiny beings you carry inside you?

If no one chooses this, the ship is a NPC played by all players.

Special Thing: You are the ship everyone flies in. If you die, all NPCs on you die, and all PCs on you take one wound and barely escape.

You have the following skills:

Gigantic Ship: 3 (Scale)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Overprotective Towards Tiny People
					Can't Be Bothered
					Everything's Falling Apart

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Cameras and Manipulating Arms Everywhere: 1 (Trump)
Cute Robot Body: 1 (Detached)

Lord Captain

You're in charge due to a hereditary position. You've been given more in life, and come to expect more. 

How do you see your ship? As a child, as a tool, or a trusted ally, perhaps?
How do you see the rest of your crew?

If no one chooses this role, there is no Captain. The crew must figure out who's in charge as best they can.

Special Thing: You are in charge. If you give a command, NPCs always try to obey. PCs may either obey, pretend to obey, or loudly challenge your authority – they must in some way recognize you are the authority here, even if they do it by challenging you.

Command Authority: 2 (Scale)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Only Cares About Cash
					Gotta Be Number One
					Beholden to a Higher Authority
					
Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Right-Hand Lieutenant: 2 (Detached)
First-Class Diplomat: 2 (Emotion)

First Sword

You're not only the best person at fighting on the ship, you're one of the best in the galaxy. You command the rest of the fighty people on this ship, if any.

If no one chooses this role, there is no First Sword, or other fighty NPCs.

Special Thing: You can take wounds and other drawbacks for others if you're in the position to do so.

Battlemaster: 3 (Amor)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Battlethirsty
					Code of Honor
					Inferiority Complex

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Loyal Fighters: 1 (Detached)
Songmaster: 1 (Emotion)

Psilot

You have the inbred ability to link minds far better than anyone else. In difficult situations, you help the ship navigate, or help the Captain to give out commands, or any other critical mission.

Of course, your mental link is only as good as long as your relationship with them....

Who do you feel you have to link with? Who do you actually want to link with?

If no one chooses this role, there is no Psilot - the ship is generally on it's own as far as piloting is concerned.

Special Thing: You're not as vulnerable in a mind link – when a mind link ends, you don't lose Mood, and if you haven't yet taken an action this round, regain your Action token.

Psychic Link: 2 (Linked)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Sycophantic Coward
					Adrenaline Junkie
					Control Issues

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Universal Empath: 2 (Emotion)
Intuitive Understanding Of The Universe: 2 (Science)

Computation Unit

You were made or trained to be some kind of living computer. You can calculate possibilities far beyond most think is even possible.

If no one chooses this role, there is no Computation Unit – people are left with the best math they can figure out.

Special Thing: Once per session, immediately after taking an action and making relevant rolls, you can decide you did not in fact do that thing, and that it was all you seeing the future. Entirely rewind the game to just before you took that action.

Calculate Optimal Future: 3 (Trump)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Doesn't Understand Social Rules
					Superiority Complex
					Needlessly Complicated Plans

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Act In Unison: 1 (Link)
Built For War: 1 (Armor)

The Heir

You're young – possibly a kid, possibly just a little young and naïve. You're kind of new to this whole thing, but you're doing the best you can! You might be able to work out emotional things, but in other arenas you aren't particularly useful quite yet.

...And you're the heir to a legacy you're too young to fully understand. (a great thing to throw secrets at)

If no one chooses this role, there might be a kid kinda like this among the NPCs, but there might not. They won't have the Special Thing, though.

Special Thing: People may take Risks and Consequences in place of you if it makes sense.

Heart On Your Sleeve: 3 (Emotion)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	I Am In Despair!
					Random Silliness
					Too Young To Know					

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Cute Pet: 1 (Detached) – you can specify a more specific kind of cute pet in the skill description if you want.
Biosuit: 1 (Armor)

Master of Science

You have learned pretty much all the Science that is known. You are a walking book of exposition.

By your exposition, you can change what the game is about.

If no one chooses this role, science might be a bit more of a mystery to people.

Special Thing: Once each session, you can announce you have Figured Out A Secret. Roll 1d6 – 1-3, it affects a few people. 4-6, it affects everyone on the ship. 6, it affects the entire setting.

Master of Science: 3 (Science)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Distracted By Exposition
					Physically Inept
					Substance Abuse – specify

Choose one of the following skills. They don't come with a matched flaw, although you may add one whenever you like.

Robot Servant: 1 (Detached) – you can specify a more specific kind of robot servant in the skill description if you want.
Utility Toolbelt: 1 (Trump)

Mech Pilot

You just came out of a test tube. You know how to drive this giant mech, and... that's pretty much it.

If no one chooses this role, there is no pilot, nor any giant mecha.

Special Thing: Your Mecha has two tags!? This would normally be illegal, BUT NOT FOR YOU.

Giant Mecha: 4 (Detached, Scale)
	Choose one matched Flaw:	Consumed By Angst
					Corrupted By Mecha's Alien Symbiote
					Wildly Overconfident					

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS

Everyone starts with 1 action token. People roleplay freely, and use action tokens for the following things:

1. Introduce a new Plot. See Plots for more detail.

2. Complicate a plot. Choose a Plot, and a flaw, or introduce a new flaw(linked to one of your skills, or all on it's own). Roll 2d6 and compare the plot's Danger score – if the lowest die is below or equal to it, add one point to the Flaw and take the plot's Risk. Otherwise, add one point to the Flaw, and tick up the Danger of the Plot by 1.

3. Attempt to solve a plot with a Skill. Choose a Plot, and roll a number of d6s equal to the number of the Skill. 5s and 6s are Successes, anything else is not. Additionally, 6s Explode – roll an additional d6 for each 6 you roll, cumulatively.

If you don't roll any successes, roll 2d6, and compare the danger – if the lowest die is below or equal to it, take the Plot's Risk.

Before rolling, You may discard a Flaw point from the related Flaw to the Skill to give it the relevant Tag for this roll only, and you may discard any number of Flaw points from the related Flaw to add an equal number of dice to this roll only.

If you roll at least one more success on a Skill Roll than it's current score, add one point to that Skill(to a maximum of 5 – skills can't progress beyond 5).

When you solve on a plot, you must tick up your mood by 1.

You can't choose to do this on your own Plot.

4. Attempt to solve a plot using Flaw points not yet related to a skill. You can do things outside of your current skills to this.If you roll at least one success, create a skill relevant to what you were trying to do, set it at 1, and choose a Skill Tag for it.

When the second to last person uses their Action Token, the remaining person with an Action Token must use their Action Token in some manner immediately after it's resolved.

5. Reset a single emotional connection. This is one switch, not one person. Put it to a –. Cutting connections is emotionally hard.

6. Mind-Link with a willing PC, or joing an existing willing Mind-Link if you are not already part of one.

Once everyone has used their Action Token, do the following in order:
1. All Plots tick up 1 Danger.
2. All plots roll 2d6, take highest – if the lowest die is below or equal to the Danger, the plot goes off, and immediately causes any Consequences. Either way, each player involved in the plot should narrate a little bit about how the danger is increasing.
3. All players gain a new Action Token.

NPCS

In the game, there are various NPCs – non player characters. Anyone can play these, and control of them switches fluidly between whoever plays them, unless someone invests Plot Points in them and takes control of that character.

Once a player does, no one else can use that NPC without their permission.

PLOTS

Each Plot consists of quite a few things: 
1. A name of the plot
2. A description of the plot
3. Up to one Tag on the plot.
4. How Many Successes are needed
5. How many successes have been obtained
6. What the Consequence(s) of the failure of the plot as a whole is – this is the only set of things that can be multiple.
7. What is Risked by putting oneself in danger with the plot.

Name and description of the plot can be /anything you want/. They'll help determine what sort of skills are reasonable to use here. Try to stay vaguely within the theme of what's come before.

Each player has a pool of Plot Points. This pool starts at 3. You can invest them in plots – put them on the plot, and when that plot ends, you get the points back plus 1.

The number of successes required to resolve the plot successfully are equal to the number of Plot Points invested with it.

You can also buy a Tag, or an expensive Consequence or Risk with the pool of plot points, but they remain in the pool – you just can't spend more on the three of them put together than the total number of plot points invested in the plot.

Notably, Consequence targeting happens immediately, but don't actually take effect until the danger roll happens.

Write down all this stuff on a 3.5 card, and then when you use your Action Point to introduce it, narrate a bit of how it's happening.

Plot Tags
1 – Emotional. Only Emotional skills can fix this by default.
1 – Scale. Only Scale skills can fix this by default.
1 – Science. Only Science skills can fix this by default.
Multiple Emotional/Scale/Science tags may be used, but they have to be split up among the various successes needed – they don't overlap. If Dramatic is used, it counts for each individual split of Emotional/Scale/Science tags.

2 – Hidden. Hide the consequences until they are resolved – fold them over. Note you can not, however, change the plot consequences after they are made.
3 – Dramatic. The Plot does not successfully resolve unless the final skill roll for it is at least half the successes(rounded down) needed for the plot overall. If all successes are obtained but this has not been met yet, the plot rolls 3d6 rather than 2d6 when rolling for Danger conditions. This can be used with other Tags.

Plot Consequences
1 – Harm PC: Choose a PC this targets, and what narrative harm or boon will happen to them if it isn't stoppped, except injury or death. Tick their Mood down by one
2 – Harm PC(All): Same as above, but hits all PCs.
3 – Injure: Choose a PC targets. Injure that PC.
4 – Injure(All): Same as above, but hitting everyone.
6 – Kill PC: Choose a PC target. Kill that PC if this plot succeeds.
7 – Kill PC(All): Kill all PCs if this plot succeeds.

1 – Harm NPC: Choose an NPC this targets. Spell out what this does to them if it doesn't succeed –except death. Can't choose this more than once.
2 – Kill NPC: Same as above, but kill them.
2 – Harm NPC(Group): Same as harm an NPC, but a small group on the ship.
3 – Kill NPC(Group): Same as above, but kill them.
3 – Harm NPC(Ship): Hit all NPCs on the ship.
5 – Kill NPC(Ship): Same as above, but kill them.
6 – Harm NPC(All): Hit all NPCs in the world. PCs don't happen to get hit much by it for some reason.
7 – Kill NPC(All): Same as above, but kill them.

2 – Secret. If it resolves via failure, the player who made the Plot reveals a secret that changes or recontextualizes one or a few people's lives. If it doesn't, the player who resolves at the Plot reveals one of their own, or chooses to keep everything the same.
4 – Secret(Ship). Same as above, except it changes or recontextualizes everyone's lives on the ship.
6 – Secret(Setting). Same as above, except it changes or recontextualizes the entire setting.

1 – Don't Help PC: If this isn't resolved by a PC, the targeted PC isn't helped. If it does, they are, and may increase their Mood By One. Kinda a reverse Tag.
1 – Don't Help NPC: Same as above, but with NPC.
2 – Don't Help PC(All): Same as the single, but targeting all PCs.
2 – Don't Help NPC(All): Same as the single, but targeting all NPCs.

For Secret Consequences, do not reveal what the secret will be precisely, just what surrounds it and who it's targeted at.

The person who resolves it, regardless of if it's the player who made the Plot or someone else who resolved it, must use most of the elements of the plot setup, but can run in any direction with it.

Note that if you're targeting characters with plot points with anything, including (group) (all) or (setting), you need to include the Plot Point cost of those characters in your calculations, either positive or negative.

Plot Risks
0 - Embarrassment – Tick the failing PC's Mood down by one.
2 - Injury – The failing PC takes a wound.

How To Create A Plot

Try to make something that feels fair – don't target other PCs for no reason unless they're cool with it, especially not repeatedly.

Reincorporate bits of plots and other plot stuff that happened earlier as much as possible – writing new plots is a way to do ongoing story, although 'new alien species' or 'new disease' or whatever works just as well.

That said, you should also be attempting to target something that the PCs care enough to act on – a plot that no one cares enough to act on will keep all your plot points for a /while/.

Your character can be directly or indirectly involved in the plot, as can any NPCs you control, even if they aren't targeted – you can have your character try to shame some other PC or NPC, for example. This is basically the only form of direct PvP.

This doesn't mean it's always a good idea to do so, it's just an option.

Plot Investment

You can also invest your plot points in your PC, or in an NPC no one else has invested it in.

If someone else wants to run a plot targeting them, it costs that many plot points more unless you give your okay.

If you run a plot targeting the plot invested PC or NPC, you can count those plot points as invested in the plot and PC/NPC at the same time – when the plot finishes, they return to solely counting for the PC/NPC instead of to you.

If it is an NPC, you also have general narrative control over what they do/what they say/etc – they are a secondary character of yours, although they still count as an NPC.

If your PC or NPC dies, the plot points invested in them return to you.

SKILLS

Each skill consists of 5 things: The Skill Name, a Value, a single Plot Tag, a Flaw, and how many points the flaw has accumulated.
For example:
Gigantic Ship: 3 (Scale) 	< 	>	Competitive: 1

In this example, the Skill is Giant Ship – the player may roll dice whenever they are giant-ship relevant things.

The Tag, Scale, means it functions at Ship-level rather than Personal level – most skills don't have a chance to destroy a ship/fight a planet/drag a ginormous asteroid around.

One can accumulate points in the Flaw – in this case, Competitive means they can choose to mess up the plot from being resolved by being Competitive instead of trying to resolve it. When they do so, they accumulate a point to the flaw that can be spent on future Gigantic Ship rolls.

Skill Tags

Scale
	Can function at Ship-level rather than Personal level – most skills can't destroy a ship/fight a planet/drag a ginormous asteroid around. But skills with Scale can!

Emotion
	Can function at Emotional-level rather than personal level. Most skills can't make friends or heal a broken heart. But skills with Emotion can!

Science
	Can function at Science-level rather than personal level. Most skills can't cure a disease or repair an isometric diometer. But skills with Science can!

Trump
	Flaw dice on this skill can be rolled /after/ seeing the results of all other dice rolled, up to a maximum number of this Skill's rating. Additionally, if it makes sense, they can be rolled to help out other characters on their rolls. Rolling in these ways does not help a skill be promoted.

Detached
	When you would take Risk and it makes sense that this Skill could get damaged instead of you personally, you can cross off the skill instead of taking the Risk. Whenever you spend an Action Point, you may place it on a crossed-out Detached skill. Once it reaches 3 points on it, refresh the skill.

Armor
	When you would take Risk from using a Armor skill(but not an armor Flaw), you can instead discard 1 Flaw die from it and take no damage or consequences.

Linked
	This ability counts as having a single tag that someone else in a Mind-Link with you used this round of actions.

MOOD

You have 5 emotion switches which are set to + and -. You can set them however you want when you create a character. Switches set to + are generally happiness, enthusiasm, etc, whereas Switches set to - are generally unhappiness, despair, etc.

You can't roll more dice from a raw skill than you have +s. You can't add more dice to a roll from failures than you have -s, to a minimum of 1.

Essentially, if your mood is negative, you will have to act out and mess stuff up a lot just to get the energy together to succeed, and when your mood is positive, you'll be too optimistic to learn from your mistakes.

Whenever something says you increase mood, flip a – switch to +. Whenever something says you decrease a mood, flip a + switch to a -.

However, you can make switches immune to this and function off something else entirely, through...

Emotional Investment!

Any time you want, you can put one of your empty switches towards another PC or a NPC controlled by another player. Write their name next to it. They can make it flip from – to + or + to – just by having that character ICly acting nice or mean towards your character(their judgement), giving them a level of control over you, but if things are good, they'll help you stabilize.

You can't remove this emotional investment without using an action.

You shouldn't punish things people do creating a Plot by hitting their Emotional Investment switches, unless their character is written in as causing it.

MIND LINK

You can spend an Action Token to Mind Link with another PC if they're willing.

Mind-Link has some big benefits:
1. You pool your action tokens between you.
2. You can decide who between you takes any Risks.
3. You can both use either of your skills and flaws.
4. If you use two different Skills, you can add them together for counting for the total successes for an Overcome Consequence.

However, it only lasts as long as both of you agree on actions both ICly and OOCly. The moment you disagree on something, even momentarily, the Mind Link ends, and the following happens:
1. All pooled actions are discarded before any current action can be attempted.
2. Each PC who was in the Mind Link loses 1 mood.
3. If the PCs were about to take a Risk, they /all/ take the Risk.

People can Mind Link with an already existing Mind Link and thus work together even more.

LIFE

I will live forever
I will live a hundred years
I will live another decade.
I will not die until the final session of this game.
I will not die until this session ends.
I will not die until this adventure is finished(fill in an adventure in progress):
I am dead.

The highest non-crossed off phrase applies to you. Whenever you take a wound, cross off the highest.

When you reach the '...I will not die' ones, you're on a clock. When that time comes to pass, you're dead.

When you reach '...until this adventure is finished', fill in with an adventure you'd like to finish. You must act on that adventure or tick that adventure up by one and roll the danger dice each time you take an action.

When you hit 'I'm dead', or the 'I will not die until...' comes to pass, you die. Take some time to narrate your death. Other people can chime in with how they're reacting. Have fun with it! Someone dying can often be a good end of session time, but if not, make up a different character of a different class.

Plot Table

Trying to create a plot, but unsure exactly what to do? Roll a d12 and see what is related to inspire you! Or use tarot cards or something if you have them? Any means of gathering ideas!

1: A disease ravages the ship.
	(Harm or Kill some people)
2: A monster is loose on the ship.
	(Harm or Kill some people)
3: The ship meets another ship who is interested in it in some fashion.
	(Could be any number of things. Hidden Tag works well here for mystery)
4: A strange piece of technology is discovered. What does it do?
	(Secret Consequence and/or Hidden Tag work well here)
5: Factions have formed on the ship, and they aren't getting along well.
	(Secret or Harm NPC)
6: There's a fantastic opportunity for a PC on the ship, something they always wanted.
	(Help PC)
7: An NPC tries to solidify a power base and gain a positional advantage on the ship.
	(Harm/Help NPC)
8: An NPC tries to use a emotional hold or debt to get something from a PC.
	(Harm PC)
9: SPACE PIRATES!
	(Hurt/Kill PC(Ship) or Kill(Ship) NPCs + Hurt all(PCs))
10: An NPC falls in love with a PC, and is perhaps not the most constructive about it.
	(Harm PC)
11: A misunderstanding between two people is slowly spiralling out of control.
	(Harm PC/NPC)
12:  An alien species is encountered, and communication is attempted. For what did they come?
	(Hidden tag is usually the right call here, although Secret Consequence could work as well)