Thrice-Forged RPG

This quickplay product is your entry into the Thrice-Forged RPG.

Your player character and the campaign they were created for may be richly detailed and full of depth and history, but there is no reason the underlying game system needs to be so. Ultimately, the Thrice-Forged RPG is a set of guidelines for running shared storytelling sessions. It’s about the campaign and its participants, not the rule system.

The Thrice-Forged RPG is designed to be invisible, working behind the curtain while you narrate or play. This streamlined, no-nonsense game is simple enough for casual players, but full of extensive options for more hardcore gamers.

The Thrice-Forged RPG is no retro-clone, but an original build, a meat-and-potatoes tabletop roleplaying game, where spells are the real wealth and treasure.

What It Has

• A single dice mechanic, using only 6-sided dice, for everything.
• Character creation is fast, using only dice and player choice, no cumbersome point systems.
• The same rules apply across the board to heroes, foes, and support characters. They all have the same set of stats, levels, progression, talents and disabilities. A warhorse or ogre, for example, is defined in game language the same way a hero is.
• Hero advancement is based on roleplaying, problem solving and teamwork. The hero doesn’t have to be a murder hobo or combat-based character to advance. Peaceful heroes may grow as experienced and skilled as martial heroes.
• A robust combat system with a single roll for attacking and damage. Action moves quickly and dramatically, yet is still full of deadly consequences. Action flows as it would in a novel or movie, not some tedious mathematical equation.

What It Doesn’t Have

• Alignment—People are complex, good and evil are subjective, and the players may define characters by their intentions, aspirations, and what they do and say.
• Challenge Rating—There is no artificial game balance. When is real life fair and balanced? Heroes must use cunning and common sense to succeed, not an artificially leveled playing field.
• Character Classes—Without classes, all heroes have the seeds of sword-swinging, spell-casting rogues in them.
• Combat Magic—Magic is not a bazooka. Magic is subtle, but that also makes it more profound. The magician is expected to be cunning and to employ their power in clever ways.
• Damage Dice—Striking and damage are governed by the same roll.
• Initiative Checks—Whoever starts the combat goes first, thereby establishing the order for the rest of the combat.
• Skill List—The hero is not limited by specific skill lists. Instead, skills are generalized. If it makes sense for a hero to have skill, they do.
• Spell Slots or Points—Magic has no arbitrary restrictions. Magic’s cost is measured in uninterpreted time and, for more powerful spells, the logistics of teamwork. How often and how many times may a hero attempt to cast spells they know? It’s unlimited.
• Superheroes—These characters are not over-powered superheroes ma squerading as medieval characters. Instead, injury has consequences, and death is ever present.