Why does the Brachyr System use the term 'Narrator'? The concept of a single player handling the logistics of plot and its characters—except for those handled by the other players sitting at the table—is a common sight in TTRPGs. The term used for this role usually falls into 8 groups;
You and your group are more than welcome to use any of these in your games. The Brachyr System prefers to view this player role as one of storytelling—with no implied control over the nature of the plot. You have as much control over the story as the group agrees you should, what matters is that the story is narrated in its own way. That is why we call this role the Narrator. If you prefer a different title, use that instead!
As the Narrator, it is your job to control the actions of the opposition. What does the monster do with its actions? What does the nobleman say or believe? If the group wants a directed story, you place the basic roadmarkers for the direction of that story. But it should be understood that you are a player just like everyone else. Your fun is just as important as theirs, and you are a part of the group, not their enemy.
You choose the actions of the enemies, but you are not the enemy. Its not the Narrator's job to beat the other players, but to work with everyone to craft an enjoyable story and experience. There is no story without stakes after all.
How much authority you have in this story is ultimately up to the group at large. Traditionally, the Narrator decides what the story is, what the opponents do, where the treasure is, how hard any given action is. Some groups however make it a group decision which complications apply to a given action or which sections of the rules to expand on or ignore.
The balance and 'authority' of your role is a part of the social contract that everyone signs by agreeing to the game. Though it is important to make sure everyone understands the expectations of those boundaries.
To compare Nasvene to other worlds, one may call it a "medieval fantasy". Specifically, Nasvene's technology is at the late end of the Medieval period and early end of the Renaissance; roughly equivalent of late 15th century eurasia. Nasvene is a world of hard distinctions; there is a line between the civilized lands, and the wilderness. But anything can be an enemy in such times, the only ones you can trust are those working with you.
Settling a land despite the hostile wildlife, fending off an encroaching army, rising up against a tyrant. At its core, these are stories of a group of people coming together to be greater than the sum of their parts; tales of cooperation against mounting odds. These are the kinds of stories one finds in abundance in these games.
The world of Nasvene is a heavy, dangerous place, where the greatest light in the darkness is those around you. You'll see many times throughout this book, mention of teamwork, 'the group', 'allies', 'aiding' and so on. This is a game built on working together and making the most of a sense of community, whether big or small. These games are meant to have a tone of hope and comraderie. This is not a grimdark game, not gritty or hyperrealistic, this is a game for friends around a table or over a call to play together and feel like they are helping each other. The world we live in wants to treat us each as an unthinking, unfeeling piece of the machine. It's nice to be able to see the humanity in the people around us.
Of the many forms of Conflict prevalent in fiction, The Brachyr System is particularly effective at "Character vs Society", "Character vs Nature" and "Character vs Technology";
Character vs Society; games that highlight the difference between teamwork and extortion; unity vs "a cog in the machine". These sorts of stories are about working against an oppressive group or individual in control of the area; kings, corrupt councils, conquerers etc.
Character vs Nature; games that focus on the conflict between civilization and the wild natural world. Stranded on islands, wolf pack's raiding a village, dangerous weather or natural disasters ripping apart a small settlement. Lycanthropes are a common "Character vs Character" inclusion in these stories.
Character vs Technology; games with a focus on the mounting complexity of technology. Strange machines, golems, and weaponry or even some kinds of magic being used to control or harm the common folk. Technology as a tool of those in control is a great way to draw distinction between the have's and the have-nots.
While you are the Narrator, you don't need an exhaustive understanding of the rules of the Brachyr System for the games to move forward. It's far more important to have a firm grasp of the basic mechanics, and an interest in propelling the story forward. That's not to say you shouldn't learn every rule, what grabs your attention in the system varies from person to person after all. But the Brachyr System can have some very niche rules and very expansive subsystems, and it's okay if you don't know it all off the top of your head. The rules are designed to be easily referenced at the table or simple to extrapolate in general when you understand the logic.
Sometimes, players get very interested in parts of the rules, and can(even accidentally) commit certain rules to memory. When one player knows a particular subsystem's rules well enough that they're right most times you check; he's fine to just let them remember the rule for you. Some people like to enjoy that feeling of being helpful in that regard, and it's very rewarding to be asked about a rule you made an effort to remember. This can lead to houseruling by accident; when over the course of time a rule quoted from memory is accidentally changed. As long as the story flows onward, no-one is really bothered by the shift, and the change doesn't cause any serious mechanical upset, it's fine to just let the change be how your group plays. The rules are secondary to the experience after all.
The abilities and spells available to players are typically limited to one or two sentences for exactly this reason; to make them easy to remember. It's quick to look up how an ability works, and usually fairly simple to remember, so referencing doesn't slow down the game.
If you've played out several stories or 'campaigns' of the Brachyr System, perhaps you and your group have developed house rules that you know and accept very easily. It might help to write these down and present them for discussion during the initial character creation of later stories or campaigns, to keep everyone on the same page.
Homebrew, House rules, custom rules, whatever you want to call them, are a tradition in all forms of gaming as old as the games themselves. If a group of players doesn't like the rules of a game, the only thing stopping them changing those rules is themselves; no matter how much the games designers wish it. Homebrew isn't always changing the existing rules either; a homebrew rule or subsystem may exist to fulfill a niche the original designers did not consider. This is a natural result social play and we have no desire to discourage it.
Homebrew however is divisive and can result in arguments or even, clashes with the existing rules. Where homebrew clashes with a systems rule, often leads to more homebrew, and into a spiral that can result in whole new rulesets and arguments. This kind of clash often arises from a misunderstanding of the intention of the existing rules; by not understanding why the health system works like it does, a houserule could feel clunky or strange, or perhaps unintentionally clashes with another rule that exists because of some underlying philosophy that connected to the original health system.
That's where this section comes in. Here we will explain the reasoning behind various rule decisions(mathematically, conceptually, or tonally) so that you have a better understanding if your group wants to change any of these rules.
Core Mechanic: You roll 1d8+skill to perform a task, with the possibility of tool or aid dice. In total, no check involves more than 3 dice, and barring few exceptions; four total numbers. The Base d8 is reminiscent of other systems focusing on a single die(d20 and d6 are the most common). A d8 has a limited range, making for smaller numbers to add and giving a less punishing difference between the maximum outcome and the minimum. The maximum result of 8 having a liklihood of 12.5% gives an outcome close to 10%, while also making DC 10 checks impossible without training, tools, or assistance.
Complication based DCs: Most things we do in our day to day life, we only attempt to do when we have a instinctive sense of success. You don't think about walking as making an acrobatics check for each step, there's nothing inhibiting you afterall. But when something makes a task more difficult, then we actually pay attention; like a slippery floor making walking slightly more awkward. So the idea is that DCs begin at 0, and each thing that makes a task more difficult increases the DC. Complications in this fashion can allow fast discernment of DCs, and even rapid approximation useful by players; you know looking at a situation if it's well beyond your capabilities.
Complications = +5: At the gameplay level, the two easiest numbers to add to themselves are 2 and 5. We selected 5 as it interacts best with the d8; the average result of a d8 is 4.5, meaning a single complication is slightly more difficult than an "average action". Two complications of +5 are impossible for a d8 without some other addition(being particularly skilled, a tool or prop, help from someone else) while it would take five complications to achieve the same result if a complication was +2. The balance of Complication to Base Dice being +5 and d8 is intentional and is the core structure everything else in the system is predicated on.
Tools and Aid Dice: The main conceptual goal of these rules is to facilitate creative, tactical play and teamwork. Tool dice encourage the diverse application of objects in varied manners to different tasks and in inventive ways. Aid dice encourage working together to grant fellow players bonuses. Only one aid die and only one tool die limits the number of dice that need to be rolled, caps the maximum amount of numbers that need to be added together at any one point, and(in the case of aid dice) encourage full group interaction. Allowing multiple aid dice often results in multiple people aiding one person at a time, while the limit of one aid die, means that additional players can interact with each other, or form aiding chains(where player A aids player B, player B aids player C, and player C aids player A).
"+1" die: The existance of '+1' as a tool option fills several purposes. At the simplest level, a +1 makes DC 5 into an average task, while two +1 'dice' makes a DC 10 check achievable without prior training. Mathematically, the "+1 die" is an extension of expectations of the other dice in that the average of each die can be rounded down to an expected bonus; "+1" = 1, d4 = 2, d6 = 3, d8 = 4, and d10 = 5. This makes a quick and easy ratio to consider for the narrator; from terrible but functional(+1) all the way to epic(d10) with 'great nonmagic/basic magic' sitting in the middle at "3". The "Specialty" rules simply allow a character to treat a tool as one step better along this scale.
d10 maximum: The d10 maximum is achievable in two ways; a specific epic item, or specialty in a d8 item. Epic items gaining a d10 is a simple concept; the tool itself is better than the 'luck range' a character can achieve. A d10 has the capacity to effectively counteract 2 complications, without overshadowing a player's own capacities. Specialty pushing a d8 tool into becoming a d10 allows the player character themself to seem epic; as they are drawing this greater capacity out of a tool that is itself as good as a regular person; greater than the sum of their parts.
Hex grid vs Square grid: An ongoing and heavy debate among roleplaying communities is the merits and drawbacks of Hex grids and Square grids. These rules ignore that debate for the most part and instead take a side for stylistic reasons. These rules are based on hex grids as they allow for more unique and strange creature structures on maps, different tactical decisions, and an easier 'reach' measurement on diagonals. Additionally, navigation in the world of Nasvene is based off a single central mountain, rather than an overworld grid system; reflecting at the root level something more akin to hex maps. These are the only reasons for this decision, and provided you have a consistent movement ruleset and can translate consistently from the hex measurements listed to an associated square measurement, there should be very few consequences from switching map styles.
Initiative sequence: Initiative handling movement from slowest to fastest, and then attacks from fastest to slowest, is designed to allow characters with more combat experience to make tactical decisions with more accurate information. The concept is roughly that all creatures move at the same time, however; those with more tactical experience are able to account for the movement and intentions of others easier. This is also the reason for attack actions resolving from fast to slow; allowing more experienced combatants to take actions that may adjust the battlefield and disrupt the plans or tactics of others; such as the shove, trip, or disarm actions.
Resiliency: Rather than having health points or wound points, the resiliency system is designed to add a level of uncertainty to combat health. Characters with particularly low resiliency are likely to be knocked out or even killed by particularly dangerous hits from more skilled combatants or even random monsters; requiring more assistance from allies and more tactical decisions in order to protect themselves. Meanwhile, characters with very high resiliency will find the gamble of unconsciousness vs death to be a tactical decision both in their own health and on which opponents to target. This is also why some healing methods grant tools or aid to resiliency rather than repairing damage; to increase that unconsciousness 'window' and keep that gamble a valid consideration. Resiliency being resolved at the end of a round of combat, after all actions(regardless total damage dealt) is to allow a narrative opportunity for a final strike before unconsciousness or death. If a character has amassed enough damage before their attack action to guarantee death, that final action itself carries a distinctly different flavour.
Aid actions: While it would be quite simple to make the act of aiding an ally consume another action(argument, attack, or movement); doing so creates an implicit choice between moving the story forward/contributing to resolving the scene, and aiding an ally. This is not a choice we want players to have to make in this game. The choice should not be "between contributing and assisting" but rather "who to help while contributing". This is why aid gets its own action that can be performed at any point during a round. Limiting the aid action to once per round per character, allows for it to be accounted for by other characters; can a character count on being aided? or perhaps they can prevent someone else being aided. These kinds of decisions allow for more versatile, more active, and more tactically engaging combats and debates.
Skill maximum +23: This may seem like an arbitrary cap to apply, but the reason comes down to several factors. Firstly; due to the way the selecting of abilities works(with requiring more abilities in the tier x-4 to qualify for an ability), the cap of +23 means a character cannot have more than two tier 9 abilities in a single skill, meaning the choice of which abilities to get maintains its weight. Secondly; a character with +23, no tools, and no aid, has a minimum roll of 24; the same as the maximum result of a skill-less character with a d8 tool and d8 aid. The intention here is to reflect that society(technology and cooperation) can with luck, raise someone to the unassisted level of a master. Of course, a master(+23) is unlikely to be without tools or aid even in their area of concern, so such a direct comparison is unlikely to result. Still; the mechanical relationship is an intentional element of the underlying storytelling of this system.
Ability tiers: The tiers of abilities fills multiple functions, the main one being to gatekeep more powerful abilities; limiting access to them to characters with an existing foundation in the skill. Additionally, tiers allow a guide to the scaling of the improvement of certain ability concepts; some abilities add tool or aid dice, some grant access to unique actions or strange uses of the skill that override or combine with other skills. Splitting abilities into tiers allow such effects to be roughly balanced against each other. Tiers also allow a quick guide to roughly how skilled someone is in something in a different way to a modifier. A character with a higher tier in a skill is likely to be able to use that skill in more unique and varied ways than someone with the same modifier but a lower tier. Finally, Some abilities key off tier, allowing them to scale separately from the modifier itself and to a maximum of 9.
3 tier skills: Most of the skills presented in this book contain only 3 tiers, with monster species skills being the only exception. In fact the intention is for all skills to have 9 tiers, however including all 9 tiers for every skill in the one book leads to analysis paralysis(the inability to make decisions due to the sheer number of options) for many players. As such, this book contains only 3 tiers per player available skill, with other sourcebooks granting access to higher tiers(as well as more items, associated magical effects, monsters, and even example scenes). This also allows a group to choose to ignore certain(or all) such supplements for a more restrained game style that forces more diverse characters.
Species differences: While a contentious issue, these rules do ascribe certain proclivities and differences to the various Species of Nasvene. This is not meant to reflect any aspect of the real world and is instead a reference to the different results of evolution and various societal factors and pressures from the soul sea in-universe. Species skills can be used for social interactions in addition to their being a source of abilities for each particular species, though this use can be subsumed by the Persuasion skill if it makes the group uncomfortable. Additionally the use of species as a skill does allow for a kind of intentional, mechanical stereotyping; players can spend their starting ability points entirely in their species skill(as every species ability acts as a +1 to another skill as well), effectively treating Species as a 'class' like exists in other systems. This allows new players to get more of a handle on the basics of the system, draw similar connections to each species that the characters in world would have, and act as a guiding root from which a character can be diversified.
Lastragons: You are likely to notice that the only non-monster species skill not presented to players are the Lastragons. The Lastragon abilties and capacities are designed to be more powerful in general than any other species, allowing them to be uniquely threatening individuals that can hold their own against groups, or be terrifying groups in themselves. Lastragons, from a design standpoint, are intended to be something that causes fear in players from a mechanical standpoint whether there is one or many of them. They are designed to blur the line between civilized NPC and wild monster. In Nasvene they are an alien and feared threat from an insular and territorial civilization. Lastragons are a perfect representation of both the Wilderness fighting back, or the overbearing extreme of civilization. They aren't intended to reflect any particular real world group, but the concept of racism and "the ingroup-outgroup" mentality as a general theme.
Strain: The Arcane skill's "Strain" mechanic is meant to reflect growing difficulty and rising complexity of multiple spells in one day. It's an obvious limitation mechanic in the family of spell slots or mana. Strain however is designed to map similarly to the resiliency system, where points accrue rather than a resource being spent. Strain does encourage more powerful spells(i.e. spells with higher Cast values) being used first, which progresses to every simpler spells over the course of a day. The intention of this kind of mechanic is to encourage the player to juggle the decision of when to cast and when not to. Do you cast the big one when it's easier, even if that's overkill and spikes your strain? Do you hold off on casting spells at all so you're more capable of throwing big things at a dangerous boss? Or perhaps you aim more for "small" and "medium" spells, treating your medium's as big? Or maybe it's not about the raw output of a spell, but the utility it could theoretically be used for. Strain is a punishment mechanic for the most powerful magic, as a balancing effort.
The Primer spell: The wording and stats of the primer spell are intentionally vague and weak. The intent is that the primer can be used to aid as when you aid someone; the aid die you grant is equal to the tool die you possess. Primer simply states it provides a tool to the next spell, meaning it can be used to aid any of the kinds of magic. The low cost is designed specifically so that it can be attempted a couple times a day even by characters with no modifier for Arcane.
Godlist: Nasvene has a large list of deities, but none can really be packaged into the traditional boxes of "god of magic", "god of sunlight", "god of water", "god of forges", nor can most be considered good or evil. These entities are meant to be ascended people; people with varied interests, merits, flaws, and differences in opinions. People in world will flock to whichever deities they agree or identify with, in many cases ascribing them portfolio elements not part of their ascension.
Tools have been a symbol of the intelligence of various species for as long as history has been recorded. Even to this day, some animals being able to use or even create tools is seen as a mark of their intellect. So of course, tools are included in these rules as a representation of civilization itself. While it is possible to ascribe every tool a bonus to every skill it could be used with, in every circumstance and manner that could ever come up; Such an attempt would be so massive undertaking that this book would be a bookshelf in itself. Instead, the notion of the dice being used to represent tools is used; the higher the roll, the better the tool is suited and utilized in the situation at hand.
The fact that Aid dice are based on tools is also intentional; I can loan you a tool to use, and use another tool of my own to assist you. Players and their characters may develop some attachment to certain tools, but the ability to quickly and easily pass tools to each other is supposed to help drive forward the interplay inherent in these stories.
These rules assume characters have ready access to tools, not necessarily good tools, but tools nonetheless. If a player suggests and can explain how a tool they have could be applicable to a situation that it normally wouldn't be considered for, it can be fun to let them try. The narrator, and group at large, can agree that a particularly unsuited tool should count as a certain number of steps worse of course. But the system assumes tools are always available, so let the creative mind of the player find tools whereever they search for them. This can encourage players to grab random objects from their environment such as brooms or curtains for use as balancing poles or robe bindings.
The Specialty rule is another part of this concept; a player character invested in a tool is likely to try and find ways that tool can suit the scene at hand. "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" as the saying goes. This is part of why the far more versatile items tend to have lower tool values from the start. Specialty in rope is amazing given how useful rope is in many circumstances, and so that rope is not the best tool in any circumstance; just to give opportunities for better ideas.
While there are many kinds of player motivations and reasons for playing games like these, there are three main ways those players measure 'progress' in a game; mechanical advancement, wealth, and plot.
The main way of characters advancing in this system is to acquire a new ability.
Mechanical advancement: Every Two or three sessions that a character participates in, they gain 1 new ability. The number of sessions required per ability depends on the intended pace of the game; two sessions for faster games with more consistent rewarding of participation and overall a more powerful feeling faster.
While the difference may seem minor at a glance, in a campaign that meets every week for a year, those that advance every 2 sessions will gain 26 new abilities while those who advance every 3 sessions will only gain 17.
The other form of major character advancement is specialties. The gaining of a new Specialty should not be timed to time played but to plot advancement. Serious major plot points, such as the end of an arc, should be rewarded with a new specialty for each character. Specialties make tools more powerful, even weak ones, and can be some of the most significant boons in these stories.
Wealth advancement: The Trade system doesn't lend itself to a playstyle of players collecting everything not nailed down and selling them when they find anyone willing to buy. Instead the ability to purchase things is assumed based off skill and social class. As such, there are two main ways players can get better gear; find it, or improve a skill in order to acquire it.
NPCs might grant players rarer or more niche and expensive items as payment for services, or players may quest specifically to find and acquire some specific tool or item that they feel may be of use or interest.
Art objects and trade bars(gold or silver) are the closest to traditional treasure one might find. An Art object has absolutely no use outside of being sold, as such, they come with an added benefit of decreasing trade strain by an additional 1 for every 10 of their trade DC. Regardless the value of such items, they don't give player characters the capacity to buy things they normally couldn't, they simply make the impact of buying difficult things less.
In short; if players are looking for a particular fancy item and its outside of their capacity to make a single check to acquire; that item is a quest hook that can be dangled to inspire them.
Finally is plot advancement. While harder to list in a numeric or systematic fashion, plot is what sticks around in the mind of players the longest. The last bossfight or engaging puzzle, the interplay of clues or the developmental arcs of their own or other players characters stick around in the mind longer and easier than anything that can be tied directly to the mechanics of the system. Don't try and force these sorts of events, let them play out and come to fruition on their own! Trust in the world and story being engaged in, and let the impact of the players be felt by the story; it helps the players feel the story in turn.
There are three general lengths of tabletop roleplaying games; Short, medium, and long. Also called one-shots, adventures, and campaigns. Episodes, Arcs, and Stories, and so on. The Brachyr system works best with Arcs and Stories, giving plenty of time for character development, plot development, a variety of locations and types of encounters.
Sometimes, Short stories are useful as part of longer periods. A plot entirely contained within a single session can be good as a palette cleanser from a more intense story, or as a 'filler' in the event a player can't make it to the game. Some good quick, one-shot stories might be a missing person investigation, a murder investigation, hunting down some nearby bandits to get on the good side of a noble, etc.
Full length stories, which can take months or more, are excellent chances to include multiple character development arcs, subplots, and to showcase the consequences of choices. Some types of stories are better suited for longer games, such as 'Character vs Self', 'Character vs Society' or 'Character vs Destiny' and some are better suited for shorter games; 'Character vs Character', and 'Character vs Supernatural' being perfect examples.
Scenes
Every session of a game can be broken down into a series of scenes. A scene might be investigating a crime scene, setting up camp, a conversation on the road, meeting a noble, dinner at a gala, a fight, shopping at a blacksmithery, or any other self contained set of events. There are two main approaches to scenes; focus and team. A focus scene is one where one or two player characters are the main highlight of the moment, such as a jousting competition for the knight character. Team scenes are scenes designed to allow everyone to participate more or less equally, such as a round table negotiation or planning scene.
The Brachyr System works better with a large number of team scenes and the occasional focus scene. Not everyone likes being the center of attention, but everyone plays the game to at least be involved. Team scenes should be designed so that even if it's a category or situation that one player character is weak or not particularly designed for; they can still assist. A fight where there are no options except attack, is a focus scene for the combatant. A fight where some of the opponents can be talked into surrendering or switching sides, or where the terrain can be shifted to change tactical advantage; is a team scene.
Every story should try and include a focus scene for each character, sometimes a player will intentionally make a character who can't really take the spotlight or the player will withdraw from such a situation. That's fine, don't try and force it. It's better to turn such a moment into a team scene than to attempt to force the player into an uncomfortable situation.
On the other hand, sometimes multiple characters would suit the same focus scene. In those kinds of situations, it often helps to attempt to make the scene personal to the plot of one character over the other, and revisit the same style of scene for the other character later.
Tool Inclusion
Almost any item can be a tool in the right circumstance, and as such; tools can be found just about anywhere. To this end, it's good practice in the Brachyr System, to include a 'tool' suitable to the situation at hand in each scene. This gives players a reason to engage with the environment, rewards creative thinking, and ensures there's always a tool available to solve any problem. There's little worse than getting stuck on a problem because no-one is properly equipped to handle it.
NPC Momentum
Many NPCs and Monsters will have abilities that utilize momentum, just like the players. These particular creatures don't actually consume momentum however; they generate it. If a monster has an ability that requires it spend 1 momentum to gain some effect, using that ability instead grants the party 1 momentum. This only applies to opposition with the ability; if a player character gains access to a normally monster only ability, either from a pet, a minion, or maybe through lycanthropy, that ability spends momentum as normal.
There are also a small number of fairly easy to gain abilities that "spend" momentum, without actually being a detriment to the player characters if an opponent uses it. This is intentional. Sometimes the players have a run of bad luck. The dice don't go their way, momentum generating abilities don't come up, etc. In these kinds of situations, monster generated momentum is a means by which you can give the players some momentum without it seeming like a handout, as a bonus these abilities can twist scenes in unexpected directions and potentially shake up rutts that may have formed!
Weather is one of the greatest drives of civilization and tool use. You cannot, short of extremely powerful and difficult magic, slay a storm. You merely withstand it. Weather is the truest state of civilization vs nature.
Thankfully, the rules for Weather are simple. Each kind of weather phenomenon can be represented by a set of complications, and perhaps a special effect unique to that kind of weather. Some weather elements, such as Lightning, are better represented as Perils. When a character attempts a skill check while in a particular weather phenomenon, the weather's associated complications are added to the normal complications for the check if they are applicable to the skill in question. You have ultimate decision on what weather events occur when, use them as frequently or sparingly as suits the story your group is telling. Weather can cause heavy difficulty spikes and if used too frequently can lead to players prefering to remain indoors so as to not have to deal with constantly excessive DCs.
Below are some example Weather complication sets with a couple associated special effects:
Windy = Weather, Wind.
Rain = Weather, Wet.
Cold = Weather, Cold.
Snow = Weather, Cold, Cold. Special: After the snowfall ends, remove "Weather". 2 Hours after end of snowfall; Cold, Wet. 4 Hours after end of snowfall; Wet. Effect dissipates after 8 hours.
High Wind = Weather, Dangerous, Wind, Wind. Special: half species movement speed when moving against the wind.
Hurricane = Weather, Dangerous, Dangerous, Noisy, Wind, Wind, Wind. Special: species movement speed = 1 when moving against the wind. If your weight class is "low" you must make Athletics checks or be moved 6 hexes in a direction of the hurricane's choosing instead of your movement action.
Storm = Weather, Wet, Wind, Wind.
Blizzard = Weather, Cold, Cold, Darkness, Wet, Wind, Wind. Special: half species movement speed when moving against the wind.
Heat Wave = Weather, Dangerous, Hot, Hot.
Sandstorm = Weather, Darkness, Wind, Wind.
Fog = Weather, Darkness.
Hazards have three main elements; A Manifestation, an Effect, and Complications.
Manifestion: How the Hazard occurs. Is it a pit that opens when enough weight is atop it? An effect that triggers when you put on a cursed necklace? A poisonous bush that pricks you as you pass? The manifestation can imply how the Hazard might be noticed.
Effect: What does the Hazard do to someone caught in it. The Hazard may cause damage, or apply some other ongoing rule or situation to its target or victim.
Complications: Each Hazard has a list of associated complications drawn from those listed for various other skills. If someone attempts to interact with the Hazard, these complications can be used to determine the DC. Whether it is to notice the Hazard, escape from it, defend, or disarm it.
Easements: Sometimes Hazard will have associated Easements. Typically these are in relation to a particular type of magic or a specific other skill such as languages or writing. Using that skill to attempt to disarm the Hazard treats the check as having 1 fewer complication per easement.
Quicksand
Manifestation: A section of the ground seems to give way under your feet, dropping you into a strange slurry of ground and water. Every motion begins to pull you downward.
Effect: The character has 5 actions before they are subject to the drowning rules.
Complications: Hazardous, Dangerous, Momentum, Moving Terrain, Natura, Time Limit, Time, Underwater, Unpredictable, Wet, Wilderness.
Rockslide
Manifestation: The ground collapses, either under you or onto you. In any case, the cascade and tumbling rocks are going to hurt.
Effect: The character defends with any applicable skill against the appropriate DC. Failure results in damage as if the DC were an attack.
Complications: Dangerous, Dangerous, Falling, Mountainous, Mountain, Moving Terrain, Natura, Time Limit, Unpredictable, Unstable, Weight, Weight, Wilderness.
Special: Avalanche's work exactly the same but also have the Cold and Slippery traits.
Cave in
Manifestation: The surrounding cave is not structurally sound. Suddenly, it collapses in; a cascade of debris that can both harm and separate.
Effect: The character defends with any applicable skill against the appropriate DC. Failure results in 3 damage per 5(or part thereof) the defense failed by. Additionally, multiple characters may become separated by the resulting rocks.
Complications: Added Weight, Complex, Concealed, Dangerous, Dangerous, Darkness, Hazardous, Hidden, Momentum, Motion, Natura, Noisy, Squeeze, Time Limit, Unmapped, Upheaval, Weight.
Pit
Manifestation: One or two panels on the floor open up, dropping you into a deep pit.
Effect: Defend with an applicable skill against DC 5. If the defence fails, make an Acrobatics defence against DC 10 for falling damage.
Complications: Balance, Hidden, Dangerous, Falling, Constructed Wall / Natural Wall, Trap.
Special: To make the pit more deadly, increase the number of Falling traits, increasing the Acrobatics DC by 5 for each additional falling trait. This also increases the height for Climbing out.
Snare
Manifestation: Suddenly, you are caught by the foot and hoisted upside down.
Effect: The snare makes a Grab attempt with a modifier equal to 5 times its Weight value. On success, the target is grabbed.
Complications: Falling, Hidden, Rope, Trap, Weight, Wilderness.
Swing Log
Manifestation: A large log swings out of the branches, slamming into you painfully.
Effect: The trap makes a trauma attack at the target with a bonus equal to 5 times its weight value.
Complications: Dangerous, Hidden, Momentum, Rope, Showy, Trap, Weight.
Shadowtrap
Manifestation: An area strewn with raw meat and the shattered pieces of corpses, untouched by the wildlife.
Effect: Entering the area deals 2 damage. Every check is accompanied by a DC 5 Athletics check. If the athletics fails, the accompanying check fails as well. Every failed check(except the associated athletics) deals 1 damage, every successful check(except Athletics) deals 2 damage.
Complications: Active Danger, Complex, Concealed, Hazardous, Hazardous, Magic, Showy, Time Limit, Wilderness.
Easements: Lei, Jent Ghun.
Echoed Predator
Manifestation: A local terror prowls eternally from the fear it instilled.
Effect: A spectral animal gains +2 to all defences, hunts at night, and returns every night even if slain in combat.
Complications: Active Danger, Beast, Concealed, Emotion, Magic, Subconscious, Unpredictable, Wild.
Easements: Tapplis, Omerianism.
Darkwater Strip
Manifestation: The strip or area of water is freakishly dark compared to the water around it.
Effect: Creatures moving through the area, including aboard vessels, are rocked by an immense force and must make a Willpower defence against DC 10. Failure results in being thrown overboard and directly into Aquibah.
Complications: Charting, Fast Water, Hazardous, Multiday, Natura, Road-less, Size, Underwater
Easement: Lei, Arithmancy.
PORT
PORT
NPCs, or "non-player characters" are everyone other than the focal characters represented by most of the playres of the group. From the local bartender, the beggar, the watchman, to the weaver are NPCs. The vast majority of NPCs are nothing more than the set dressing; colouration in the background to show a place has life and interest. At least, that's how the players end up seeing them. In truth, every person has a vibrant and vivid life, but to give the attention to every life that one gives to the "PCs" is so much work as to be a futile and torturous exercise for the Narrator.
A far better way to think of NPCs, and the work that goes into them, is through the literal concept of blurring the background. In this way, NPCs fall into 5 focus'; Background, Cookie Cutter, Stand out, Memorable, and Unique.
Background NPCs don't need stat blocks. At most they are a manifestation of the culture around them. The players try to gather rumours and hear from "a Gorun" or "a guard" or someone else, some tidbit of information you wish to convey. These characters may never come up again, or they might get a little more interesting down the line. In the Tabletop Gaming space, there is a common joke of the players inquiring as to the name, background, and history of random NPCs that have none of that. These Background NPCs are the most common victim of that joke. If a player tries to interrogate the personality of one of these characters, either the character brushes them off, or the player makes them more important wherein they fall into a later category.
Cookie Cutter NPCs have the most basic stat blocks. These characters are little more than Background NPCs except that they have some kind of mechanical interaction with the PCs. In these cases it's helpful to have a single stat block per "archetype" of NPC you intend to use. A local guard, a bartender, a thief, etc. Unlike PCs, and many monsters listed in the Bestiary, you don't even need to decide exactly which abilities they have for each skill. Simply stating what their modifier is for the skills of importance to the NPC's purpose is sufficient. This is actually helpful for quick generation of these generic statblocks, and helps with generating "stand-out" NPCs. Cookie Cutter stat blocks can make it very easy to give a sweeping mood to a group. For example; guards in one city might have +4 Shortsword and +3 Light Armour, while those in another may have +3 Bows and +3 Unarmed(with Parry), making the running of their stats quick but allowing them to manifest in discussions in distinctly different ways.
Stand out NPCs are a tiny step up from Cookie Cutter, and are a quick intermediary step between Background or Cookie Cutter and Memorable. A Stand Out NPC is just a cookie cutter stat block with a minor addition to give a touch more flavour. If Background NPCs are just a blur in the crowd and cookie cutters are nameless faces, the Stand out is the side character pointed out as having a backstory, or interest, or something, to suggest they are more of a person. For Example, the thug wearing a holy symbol of Nalyth, with +4 faith and +1 Navigation is a Stand Out. The City Guard with +2 Jent Ghun and +1 Engineering, the guy who takes his work a step further by helping fix damage the community suffers is a Stand Out. They don't need to come up often, Stand Out NPCs are just a little way to occasionally hint that a character has more depth, and by that virtue that all characters and the world at large, possess an unseen depth only unimportant because it's not the point of the story at hand.
Memorable NPCs have names, have concepts and backstories, and interact with the players on a regular basis. But they are still just a modified or fleshed out Cookie Cutter stat block. Guard Captains, Detectives, The friendly Courtier, the Moneylender, or even the local priest that guides the characters. Any of the previous groups of NPCs can become Memorable based on how important they end up being the story, or how much the players choose to make them important.
Unique NPCs are the ones that those familiar with Roleplaying Games would be most interested in here; the Big Bad, the close associate, the Patron. People with names, motivations, and a diverse set of skills. In truth, due to how big their impact is on the story, the only difference between a Unique NPC and a PC, is which player is running them. Their stats are built using the same rules as the PCs. Due to the level of work that can go into making Unique NPCs, you shouldn't worry about making many of them. Most named NPCs you'll encounter in a story are Memorable NPCs who's stats develop organically over play. Unique NPCs are those the story hinges on, the ones you need to know from the start.
Magic in Nasvene is a massive and complicated beast. The nine kinds of magic used by the people of the world are simply different perspectives and viewpoints of the same unwieldy beast of a concept.
Kepera magics are those that endeavour to have something else create a magical effect on your behalf; gemstones, wands, or a mixture of items.
Lei magics see magic as a whole as a mathematically consistent if obnoxiously complicated beast. If you can understand it, and you account for all the factors, you can solve for any situation.
Tapplis magics are a consequence of imposing your will directly against the fabric of magic itself.
While this is how the people of Nasvene see the magic, and so how the rules of the Brachyr System handle it, this is a simplification of a spectrum. A set of abitary lines drawn by flawed people. The magic that occurs naturally, or is invoked by the gods(who are themselves an element of the concept of magic itself) is not necessarily bound to the boxes of mortals.
With all of this said, the important part that needs to be addressed is; how do you use Nasvene's magic as a story element. The three pillars to focus on are; the rules, acting on behalf of something else, and reflection of belief. Unexpected magical effects can occur in Nasvene when any significant upset occurs and causes some spasm in the fabric of reality. This can be good things, such as the destruction of a statue triggering a pattern(which would seem like Jent Ghun to an Analyst or Architect) that causes lush growth in nearby farms suddenly. It could be bad things; A pine tree grows in just the right way to entwine with the soul and perception of a local predator, creating a phantasmic, haunting creature that cannot be killed directly. Truly ugly things can come from the whims and complexity of the magic; such as the Avianosi "focus-mind" being so readily accepting of Slavery and Theft due to the weight of assumptions and stereotypes of whole civilizations around them. But it can also create beautiful or touching effects; like a trans person being affirmingly transmuted magically due to being able to convince enough people around them of this state of reality, even if accidentally.
Like a river can be a great source of trade on ships, it can power a waterwheel, and is a source of food but can also flood cities and drown people. Magic is Nasvene is a raw piece of nature, it can be controlled only so far, and the tighter people hold on, the more violent it lashes out when released.
When using Magic as a narrative element in this way, you're not really asking the players to kill a particular person to 'fix' the problem, but instead inviting them to figure out the source of the effect and choose whether to destroy or tweak it.