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 Ursa Minor
Ursa Minor is a concise guidebook for using characters to drive the plots of role-playing games (rpgs).

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Crafted to be easily added onto existing rpgs, Ursa Minor is a prognosticator allowing character emotions to
carve plot points from the uncaring environment, their own struggles, or even the proud vagaries of fate.

Ursa Minor is not an rpg system in itself. To play at least one additional rulebook (not included!) is needed.

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My personal favorite rulebook is Tom Moldvay's 1981 "Magenta" edition of Gygax and Arneson's Dungeons
and Dragons. Nonetheless Ursa Minor should work with the core of most rpgs in any genre (e.g. my own fantasy
rpg, To Blave!). Players need only characters, common dice, and an eagerness to make the most out of metaphor.

Contents: The features which Ursa Minor offers for almost any existing rpg include the following...
Motivations and Idioms: These 36 common-sense traits can be chosen or randomly rolled for each character.
They combine to imply goals which shape the plans the character employs to navigate the seas of fate. (pg. 1-3)

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Solo Notes: Most of these rules work very well for allowing the DM to be a player too. Notes included point out
when to invoke the rules, how to interpret them fairly, and recording their results (pgs. 3, 4, 5, 8, and 11).

Turmoil: The specter of things done and left undone can drive the plot, variously slamming the player characters
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onto the rocks of their own ambitions, or leading them through darkness to their own salvations (pg. 4).

The Limner and The Fray: two systems which quickly and efficiently solve any contention. The Limner simply
combines a 3d6 roll with the DM's intuition for a quick answer. The Fray uses straightforward conversions and a
4d6 roll to allow opposing attributes or challenges to contest one another across an equitable field, even if from
different contexts or entirely different rpgs. The Fray also incorporates the concept of gray areas and extremes,
creates Incidents which can alter the plot, and allows Turmoil to exert pressure on outcomes (pg. 5-8)
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Rolls, Goals, and Plans: "Bihex" and "Trihex" rolling are defined for large randomizations (36 and 216
possibilities respectively). The characters' choices of goals affect their plans. Knowing these sets the stage for
cooperation, compromise, and conflict as the plans proceed or Incidents complicate them (pg. 9-10).

Incidents and Augury: characters' goals and plans are antagonized by fate. The Incident Engine describes these
challenges and the Augury system provides hundreds of descriptors to flesh them out (pg. 11-18)
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Creative Commons Licensing: See the declaration near the end of this document. The news is good! (pg. 18)

Appendices: bathe in statistics and likelihoods -- from the odds of 4d6 rolls to the conversion of Trihex rolls into
percentages (ascending, descending, and randomized). Impressive how powerful a few cubes can be. (pg. 19-21)

Six-sides aplenty! Ursa Minor is compatible with almost all rpg rating systems and dice, d6, d20, d100, etc. It
even contains methods for converting amongst them. Nonetheless, the only dice you need to use Ursa Minor are
the six-sided cubes we all know and love (especially 19mm milled acrylic casino dice… good times!)

We say "DM": The Doer of Most, the Designer of Mayhem, the Director of Miscellany or the Dungeon Master
-- there are many names for the docent of motley, but whether you call him/her game master, GM, judge, keeper,
referee et al. game-runner -- (s)he is, herein, for the sake not of dogma but of practicality, the "DM."
Character Motivations and Idioms
When creating characters in any role-playing game, rolling or choosing Motivations (over-arching reasons for
the character’s actions) and Idioms (the particular ways in which those actions tend to be performed) can quickly
give them significant dimension and dramatic weight. They also serve as cues for how the player can
consistently adopt the role and mannerisms of the character. And, in these rules, they provide extra traction for
driving plot lines, especially if using the Incident Engine (as defined far below).

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Whenever a character creation is complete, or, at least, complete enough that the player has a strong concept of
the character formed, roll or choose 1-2 Motivations and 0-2 Idioms from the tables below. Whenever you have
more than one, list the more important ones first. This simple step can add many dividends later.

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Motivations
Choose or roll 1 or 2 Motivations. Alternatively, using these examples, suggest your own to the DM.

To select a random motivation, roll a d6 twice (the first roll narrows, the second one decides).
1st d6 2nd d6 Motivation Potential description of the Motivation
1 Altruism You advocate for others, especially underdogs. You are generous.

1-2
2
3
4
Apotheosis
Competition
Destiny
e You think you are a mythic hero, you dedicate your life to proving it.
You compete to be the best at your craft, profession, etc.
You feel compelled to fulfill a prophecy or great cause.
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5 Detection You are driven to expose secrets, crimes, legends, etc.
6 Enterprise You work avidly for a business, government, or similar organization.
1 Exploration You are driven by wanderlust to explore the wonders of the world.
2 Fame You desire popularity and a celebrated lifestyle.
3 Greed You want as much treasure and wealth as you can possibly amass.
3-4
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4 Hedonism Pleasure, especially your own, is your primary objective.

5 Hypnosis You follow the dictates of a powerful post-hypnotic suggestion.
6 Knowledge You crave to learn and document ancient and new arts and science.
1 Love You always consider a particular beloved person or family before you act.
2 Philosophy You seek to comprehend and pioneer a science or mysticism.
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3 Piety You follow the dictates of one deity, dogma, or sect leader.
5-6
4 Power You seek personal influence and authority however possible.
5 Survival Your primary desire is self-reliability and resilience.
6 Vengeance You seek to destroy some person or group you feel wronged you.

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Take a moment to form a rough idea of the character's ethics based on these motivations. As an example, if Love
(let's say, for a sister) and Greed are chosen, the character would almost always consider stealing items he
wanted, but he would also almost always by mindful of his sister's welfare. The order of these matters, so decide
which is more important to the character. In this example, if Greed is primary, then the character would, in
desperate circumstances, consider stealing even from his beloved sister, but if Love were primary, the character
would always put the sister's needs first.

As another example, if a character's only motivation is Competition, will the character approach this in a
sporting or ruthless way? Does the PC make a habit of checking notice boards for opportunities to prove herself?

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Does she feel compelled to "one up" anyone she overhears telling a story? Etc. Most of these general
descriptions of how the Motivation might be followed are, in fact, Idioms…

Idioms

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Whether a character is seeking to advance a lifelong Motivation, or just to solve a very short-term goal (such as
"Get out of this snake pit!"), Idioms can provide clues as to how the character will tend to approach the
objective. Choose or roll 0-2 Idioms (Idioms are optional and may be altered, added, or discarded any time the
PC has a change of heart.) Idioms can always be changed, but knowing one or two in advance can help a player
improvise within a consistent style, imbuing the character with recognizable habits and personality.

To select a random idiom, roll a d6 twice (the first roll narrows, the second one decides).
1st d6 2nd d6 Idiom Potential description of the Idiom
1
2
3
Anarchic
Charitable
Disruptive
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You give the benefit of the doubt, especially to the downtrodden.
You constantly do the unexpected, often to everyone's detriment.
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1-2
4 Dissociative You view the world through hallucinations and act accordingly.
5 Exasperating You have near-infinite patience, a trait those around you don't share.
6 Harmonious You seek balance and the most agreeable solution to conflicts.
1 Honorable You follow a code of honor and expect disaster when breaking it.
2 Impassive You don't usually have any strong opinions of your own. "Meh."
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3 Jocular You are a farceur who strives not to take anything too seriously.
3-4
4 Melancholic You seek an (impossible?) ideal and see everything as imperfect.
5 Nefarious You are always scheming, intending delusion and betrayal of others.
6 Obsessive You have at least one concern whose details demand utter attention.
1 Oppositional You are always the "devil's advocate," a contrarian on principle.
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2 Passionate You approach almost every situation with zeal and fervor.
3 Pragmatic You prefer naked facts to any ideologies or superstitions.
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4 Quixotic Extravagant and eccentric (a mix of Honorable and Dissociative)
5 Ruthless Callous and severe, you don't care about consequences to others.
6 Sanguine You are usually cheerful, optimistic and (perhaps over-) confident.

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Turmoil
Turmoil is an optional but useful concept for a DM to
introduce and is very easily tracked. Turmoil is simply
a number between -6 and 10 but tends to add the most
to the story when between 0 and 4.
Turmoil measures the amount of uncertainty in the
setting. If the Turmoil value is high, it suggests the
current plot contains many unresolved loose ends for
the PCs to tie up, and, because of this, unexpected
Incidents (including obstacles and sidetracks) are
much more likely to occur. When Turmoil is low, it
means business as usual is the rule of the day, with
few complications or digressions appearing. The DM
should consider any occurrence causing a large change
in Turmoil as a significant evolution within the plot.
The DM may set Turmoil to any value, but a good
staring-quest value is 2, then evolving naturally via:
• When PCs reach plot points which convince
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the DM that the players have followed a plan
which resolved more uncertainties than it
produced, Turmoil should be reduced by 1.
• When the PCs are acting to plan (e.g. "Ask
nonchalantly about the crime."), but the DM
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becomes convinced consequences are piling
up (e.g. "Townsfolk must be getting
suspicious."), then increase Turmoil by 1
• When the PCs have acted rashly, picked a
public fight, sounded an alarm, or otherwise
lost control of the situation, the Turmoil
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should increase immediately by +1, +2, or
even +3 points at the DM's discretion.
• Incident Checks (see below) can change the
value of Turmoil when the Incidents take
effect.
Turmoil usually comes into play in four ways.
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1. Every time an Incident Check is made (see
below) Turmoil is added to the roll, making an
Incident more likely to occur. The check itself
often changes the value of Turmoil. The table
is designed to increase Turmoil when things
are too calm and to decrease Turmoil by
forcing purgative events (fights, chases, etc.)
when circumstances come to a head.
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2. Add Turmoil to Fray rolls (below) whenever
one side would benefit from general disarray.
For instance, "After the holiday there was a lot
of drinking in the fort last night. Did all of the
guards abstain, or is it going to be easier for us
to sneak in?" The DM may add the current
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Turmoil value as a bonus to the infiltrator's
Fray roll.
◦ DM option -- Random Turmoil: this effect
is easily randomized to represent partial
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effects (e.g. there was much revelry, but
the guards are professionals). Roll a d6
and subtract it from the current Turmoil. If
the result is still positive, use it as the
modifier, otherwise use 0.
3. When The Fray is being used (especially for
full plots, see below) the PCs are usually the
Actor and the Target is the setting in general.
If the ambient uncertainty in the current plot
would, as is usually the case, make the PCs
actions harder, then the Turmoil may be added
to the Target's Potency (the Random Turmoil
DM option can also apply as in #2 above).
4. If a reality-bending action such as a spell,
psionic feat, giant botnet activation, etc.
(DM's discretion as to what qualifies)
succeeds or fails spectacularly (e.g. a
"critical" or a "fumble") alter the Turmoil --
down -1 if the protagonists are successful, or
up +1 if the protagonists fail or if the
antagonists scored a critical success against
the protagonists.
If the DM chooses not to use Turmoil, its value should
simply always be treated as 1.
Note: Turmoil for Solo Play
Turmoil is an excellent tool for solo gaming. The rules
cause it to swing like a pendulum, from turbulent
intervals of high risk back to calmer periods useful for
the PC to heal, practice, and re-equip. Combine it with
the Incident Engine and a few clever questions for The
Limner and The Fray (all below), to enjoy a self-
driving quest line.
The Limner
The Limner can provide a reasonable answer to a
simple question when the DM wants to resolve Yes or No?
contrary plot elements randomly, but just rolling a die
"odd for 'yes,' even for 'no'" seems too arbitrary. After considering all the factors To Limn:
bearing upon the question, the DM is 3d6 equal
The Limner is a simplified method for finding suspects the response would be: to or more

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believable Positive-or-Negative answers or for
Almost surely Positive 6
choosing between two dichotomous responses (e.g.
true/false, singular/plural, plant/animal). While being Probably Positive 9
more realistic than simply flipping a coin, the Limner Unclear, roughly even odds 11

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does not consider the relative strengths of forces in
opposition. It does not represent gray area results such Probably Negative 13
as deadlocks nor other shades of meaning. Also, it Almost surely Negative 16
does not contain any rules for scaling across subjects
or game systems and is unaffected by Turmoil. (The
If the 3d6 roll meets or exceeds the target number,
DM is free to factor these into his opinions, but the
then the response is Positive (or "Yes", "True", etc.).
Limner does not otherwise model them). When these
more complex forces need to be modeled, use The
If the roll is less than the target number, the response
Fray (below). The Fray is designed to account for
is Negative ("No", "False", "None", etc.)

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those complexities and produce a range of results.

The Limner simply relies on the DM's opinion of how

likely any given question will receive a Positive
answer (and that the only other option is a Negative
DM option -- Extremes: The Limner is essentially too
simplified to capture any information subtler than yes/
no. Still, the lowest and highest rolls are rare enough
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that the DM can safely consider a roll of 3 as "Hugely
answer). Any such question can be posed.
Negative" and 18 as "Hugely Positive."
For instance: "Do I have an extra bowstring?" the DM
DM option -- Fighting Turmoil: The Fray (below)
decides the answer is probably negative, because the
better captures the effects of Turmoil. However, the
character just bought this bow. If a roll of 3d6 meets or
Limner can model Turmoil in one way -- as a negative
exceeds 13 (unlikely but clearly possible), then the
force (i.e. only when more disarray implies more
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answer turns out to be "Yes, luckily you find one

negative responses). To do so, simply add the current
tucked in the quiver." Otherwise, the answer is "No,
Turmoil value to the "To Limn" threshold. When
you didn't ask for one, so they didn't include one."
Turmoil is high, this makes positive results rarer.

Note: The Limner for Solo Play

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Solo adventure usually involves one person playing both the role of the DM and the player. That can get very predictable,
especially if the player is trying to discover something the DM already knows. Thankfully, both The Limner and The Fray
(below) excel at answering yes-or-no questions. We know from the classic game "Twenty Questions" that almost anything
can be described with enough clever dichotomous questions, and "What happens next?", "Who wins the fight?", etc. are no
exception to this rule. Still, since asking twenty questions to get to each fact can be exhausting, we look to Augury (see
below), which can quickly provide a few out of many hundreds of useful hints as to what might wait around the next corner.

When DMing a solo adventure, try to leave everything unknown until the player discovers it. For instance, are you sure that
antivenin the PC bough will work? If so, make a note to Limn an "Almost surely Positive" result when (and only when) the
PC uses it. If the roll comes up 5 or below, then both the DM and the PC will be interestingly surprised! Also, when in
doubt, Augur, and make a quick note of your results (see Augury, below). Doing this can turn today's record of a
randomized solo adventure into tomorrow's detailed module full of twists and turns for future players to explore.

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The Fray
The Fray is, once you get used to it, a quick and
abstract means for adjudicating between opposing
forces which may come from different sources or
contain shades of meaning. (If there is only one force
involved and only simple yes/no answers are needed,
consider using The Limner, above, instead.)
The Fray compares the "potency" of an Actor to the
potency of a Target or challenge and determines
which prevails. The Fray also accommodates the gray-
area where the dichotomy breaks down as well as the
extremes where one quality utterly eclipses the other
(in most games these are "criticals" or "fumbles").
Asked a dichotomous question, The Fray has one of
five replies: "certainly not", "no", "perhaps", "yes",
and "absolutely."
The Fray can provide a reasonable outcome when
factors like competition, Turmoil, or shades of
meaning make The Limner too coarse a tool to use.
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Such cases might be as simple as determining if
today's rain will cause flooding in the plains ("no"
implies safe travel, but "certainly not" suggests a
possible drought), or as complex as if a favored
political party has won the debate in the capital
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("perhaps" suggests a compromise, "absolutely" might
indicate historically brilliant rhetoric or even a coup).
The Fray can be used to combine a series of many
rolls, or even whole side-quests into a single roll for
simplicity. Indeed, whenever it is simpler than existing
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rules, using The Fray can provide the DM with a quick
result while still capturing the relative strengths of the
opposing parties. Even very common actions (attack
rolls, skill checks, etc.) could be resolved this way as
in principle. Although, since The Fray is an abstract
evaluation, it may be cleaner to use rules specific to
the action when available, or The Limner otherwise.
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The Fray can also quickly simulate a contest without
actually making all of the necessary rolls. This could
be a "game within a game" (e.g. the protagonist and
antagonist jousting their way through a game of
baccarat or chess), or it could represent the thought
processes of an NPC. For instance, a cleverly hidden
Note: The Fray for Solo Play
Use The Fray to answer deep or contested questions like "Does Dino's sworn loyalty to me outweigh his personal greed?"
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thug might not simply charge to an attack but, instead,
size up the PC before emerging from cover. In that
case, making a Fray roll (thug vs. PC) represents the
thug's mental picture of how the fight might go -- if,
within this imagined fight, the thug believes he will
lose then the thug might choose to prudently stay
hidden and simply wait for the PC to pass safely by.
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The DM can also clearly use The Fray to determine
plot points outright, especially if actually playing
through them is too complex. For instance, two NPC
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courtiers, Millicent and Contessa, are both trying to
dance with a PC at a ball. Millicent intends to whisper
the secret pass phrase that the PC has been searching
for (the PC is likely to then rush away to a hidden
meeting), but Contessa intends to stab the PC with a
needle coated in a soporific (knocking the PC out for
the rest of the ball). Instead of a prolonged NPC vs.
NPC aside, the DM can use The Fray to determine
who reaches the PC first (e.g. Contessa's stealthiness
or slight-of-hand versus Millicent's charm or
awareness). So, without having to directly confront
one another (nor even to be aware of one another) the
efforts of Millicent and Contessa can be compared in
The Fray to determine whether the PC gets the secret
meeting information or a poisoned needle to the ribs.
To use The Fray, all that is required is to assign a
"potency" to both the Actor and the Target. Most
systems include a concept of "character level", "skill
level", or "hit dice", "ability dice", or, possibly, "spell
level", or "difficulty level." Comparing these one to
another may be easy if they are on the same scale, but
if they use different scales (or even entirely different
systems) it may not be apparent how they relate.
Nonetheless, to model this, all we really need to know
is the typical minimum and maximum of each rating,
their current values for the Actor and Target, and the
comparison rules below.
Since Actor and Target potencies are defined
independently, they can be compared between
different subjects or ranking orders, or even across
entirely different game systems.
Follow these steps to make Actor and Target roughly comparable (notes on each follow further below):
• Bigger should be better: This will usually be true (i.e. Lv. 5 is better than Lv. 2). If so, skip this step. If
not, we fix this by subtracting all the ratings from the highest (worst) number.
• Minimums should be 0: If the minimum is not zero, we fix it by subtracting the lowest value from all
the others (the min, max, actor's rating, and target's rating), 1-20 becomes 0-19, 3-18 becomes 0-15, etc.
• Find the Scale of the Actor's rating and then of the Target's rating (i.e. how "wide" is the original range).
If we've got a min-max range that doesn't quite fit, that's not a problem, just use the range that is closest:
◦ handful ~0-3: multiply the rating by a scale of 8
◦ half-dozen ~0-5: multiply the rating by a scale of 4

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◦ dozen ~0-11: multiply the rating by a scale of 2
◦ two-dozen / twenty ~0-23: multiply the rating by a scale of 1 (no change)
◦ four-dozen / fifty ~0-47: multiply the rating by a scale of ½
◦ hundred ~0-99: multiply the rating by a scale of ¼

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• These scaled results (one for the Actor, one for the Target) are the Potencies
◦ *The DM may add +1 to one Potency if she feels one side clearly has the upper hand situationally
◦ *The DM may add Turmoil to one Potency if it benefits from tumult (see Turmoil, above)

The Fray Core Mechanic:

4d6 + Actor's Potency - Target's Potency (+/- DM*)
if < 8: certainly not (fumble) the roll has utterly failed. Also, make an Incident check for consequences.

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if < 14: no (a failure) alas, the Actor must accept his/her limitations -- one cannot always succeed.
if 14 exactly: perhaps, (a gray-area) This might be a deadlock or compromise, if unclear...
make an Incident check. If no Incident, then, though minimal, this is a success
if an Incident does occur, the Roll has failed; evaluate the Incident immediately
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if > 14: yes, a success!, the Actor's plan has won out, his/her designs have succeeded.
if > 20: absolutely! a critical success!!, Now that's how you do that!

The process above has high tolerance for approximation, and after you've converted an "AC" or a "DC" or a
"Skill Bonus" once, the same conversion will work every time (below are some helpful examples) .

If the bigger is better rule must be enforced (i.e. the original rating gets better as it descends), then subtract each
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rating (min, max, actor, and target) from the highest (worst) number practical in the original range.
For example, if an original rating ranges from a high of 10 (meaning, for instance, "most vulnerable") to a
practical low of, say, -2 (let's say this means "least vulnerable") then we take the highest common number
(10, in this case) and subtract the extreme values from it to get the new max and min (so 10-10 == 0; and
10 - -2 == 12). This gives a new range of 0 (the most vulnerable is now the minimum) up to 12 (the least
vulnerable is now the maximum). We do this for all the values, so, if the Target originally had a
vulnerability rating of 1 (good, but not the best), then we would subtract that from 10, giving a 9. On the
now-modified bigger-is-better scale of 0-12, this 9 is obviously a good-but-not-best rating.
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Since the minimum should be zero, if it isn't, we fix that by subtracting it from all the other ratings.
For example, if (when we only consider practical situations, not hopeless ones) a rating of 5 means "least
difficult" and a rating of 30 means "most difficult"and we have a target which is somewhere in the middle
(let's say 20) then we subtract 5 from all the ratings, giving us a min of 0, Target of 15, and max of 25.

The Potencies are the ratings changed as above, then multiplied by the scale. If the min-max range is broad, the
scale will be small, if, however, there are only a few numbers between min and max, the scale will be large.
Looking at the examples above, the first one has a Target of 9 in a range of 0-12. This is closest to the
"dozen" range, so we will be multiplying the target by the scale of 2 (9 x 2 == a Target's Potency of18).
In the second case we have a range of 0-25, closest to the two-dozen / twenty range. So, in this case we
multiply the target by the scale of 1 (keeping Target Potency at15 in this second case).

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The DM can also use The Fray for any necessary
quick numerical approximations. For instance if 5
assailants were trying to pull open a gate, but 3
defenders are pulling in the opposite direction, the DM
could roll on The Fray comparing an Actor's Potency
of 5 with a Target's Potency of 3 (and so treating each
participant as on par and contributing a single rating
point). The DM might conjecture that as many as a
dozen could reasonably access each side of the gate,
so the scale factor would be 2. This gives the Actors 5
x 2 == 10 and the Targets 3 x 2 == 6. We subtract (10 -
6 == 4) and the DM makes a 4d6 + 4 roll. If it is > 14
(which is likely) then the action of the 5 assailants
overpowers the 3 defending targets, opening the gate.
A Full Plot via Fray Rolls (extemporizing
details and even full story sequences on the fly)
The DM can use The Fray and some common sense to
author entire plot-lines. She starts by setting the
Actor's Potency to any realistic value (10 is a good
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choice). Next the DM can estimate the Target's
Potency based on how challenging she thinks the
situation should be for the Actor. If the Actor has a
roughly even chance for success or failure 10 is a good
choice here as well, but 12, 14, even 17 would be fine
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if circumstances reasonably warrant a challenge. If the
unresolved tension in the plot is the main opposition,
9 + Turmoil is captures this well. Next, she can adjust
her estimate of the Actor's Potency up or down based
upon conditions (e.g. poor visibility, expert assistance,
etc.). Lastly, she can adjust the Target's Potency up or
down based on any conditions that might aid or inhibit
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the Target. The Target in this abstract case can be
almost any concept naturally opposing the Actor.
For instance, the PC Paxon has lost his map. His
player might wonder "Can Paxon find the way back
home?" The DM sets the Actor's Potency at 10, then
thinks "If everything were equal, he should have a
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fairly good chance of finding the way back." So, the
Target begins as the challenge of finding home and
DM sets the Target's Potency at 8. Next the DM
considers conditions. The day is overcast, so
determining direction may be harder than usual. She
increases the Target's Potency to 10. Also, Paxon lost
food and other supplies when he dove into a raging
river to escape pursuit, so, the DM models this stress
by subtracting three points, leaving him at 7.
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Then the DM considers the roll. It will be 4d6 + 7 -
10. Since 14 is the average result of a 4d6 roll, she
knows this roll (4d6 - 3) will be noticeably, though not
terribly, harder than average (a +0 being even odds).
There are many ways the DM could use these odds.
She could have the player roll once or twice per day
until finally succeeding in stumbling upon enough
familiar landmarks to become re-oriented. Or, she
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could consider the statistics (see Appendix A) to see
the odds are that 4 tries would be needed to get a
success. Seeing this, she might declare the trip will
take 4 times longer than it would if the map had not
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been lost. Either approach works well dramatically.
Another interesting method would be for the DM to
make the 4d6 roll herself and keep it hidden.
Regardless of the results, she tells the player, "You are
not certain. You are distracted by cold and hunger; the
missing map and cloudy afternoon make navigation
more complicated. Still you think you can find the
way." Now the DM has hidden knowledge of whether:
• Paxon is on the right path (the hidden 4d6 - 3
roll was greater than 14) or
• Paxon is potentially getting further off track
(the hidden roll was too low).
Whatever the result of the roll, the DM will spring it
on the player later, once she feels the character has
explored enough to gain this knowledge. In fact, the
DM could even "hide" this from herself. She could
make a note "Fray 4d6 - 3 when Paxon gets oriented.
Success = found homeward path, Failure = lost in
random direction." Doing this can add suspense for
everyone, since not even the DM knows yet if Paxon
has found his way or gone astray into danger.
Using The Fray in ad hoc ways is very powerful. Any
unknown fact (as long as it can be phrased in "find it
or not", "succeed or fail", or similarly dichotomous
fashion) can be determined on the fly. The DM should
feel free to use The Fray in this way at any time, but
should avoid the trap of posing infinite reductions (e.g.
Did the character make it home? Did he make it half-
way home? Did he make it a quarter of the way? How
about an eighth?… etc.). Usually four Fray rolls (one
general, one common-sense, and one or two specific
follow-ups) should be enough to sketch in the broad
strokes of the plot, and the DM and players should
provide remaining details through their narratives.
Bihex and Trihex ordered d6's
A Bihex roll uses two d6's and a Trihex roll uses three
d6's, but, in these cases, it is important to track the
order of the d6 rolls. These can easily be called "first",
"second", and "third" or, if different colors of dice are
available, declare the order of their colors beforehand
and then they may all be rolled at once. For example
The Incident Engine
Using the Incident Engine can add spice to the plot,
discover facts which were not prepared in advance, or
even ad lib entire sections of the story. The Incident
Engine is, in principle, a way of quickly determining
the gist of events (especially unplanned occurrences)
which emerge naturally as the PCs move through the

"red", "green", then "blue." The result each die creates
is called a "hexit," but we can think of them simply as
digits in the range of 1-6 (no zeroes, no sevens, eights,
or nines).
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story. In practice, it is a fairly simple set of rules to
help the DM in these situations. The DM should feel
free to use them whenever helpful and ignore them if
ever they might deviate too far from the planned

Experienced rpg players may have used a similar
mechanic to roll digits with "d100" and "d1000" with
two or three ten-sided dice. Bihex and Trihex rolls
work similarly, but produce hexits using only d6's.
So, a Bihex roll will create a result in the range of 11-
66. For instance if the red (first) die comes up 2 and
the green (second) die comes up 5, then the Bihex
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campaign.
A very important ingredient in using the Incident
Engine is to declare the goals of the PCs, NPCs, and
other sapients involved in the story. In the case of the
PCs, simply asking the player should be enough. The
player should be able to provide a Motivation (above)
for the character. These often produce life-long goals
which can be simply stated, such as "Get rich." or

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result is 25. Counting the possible results shows there
are exactly thirty-six possible outcomes of a Bihex roll
(11-16 and 21-26 and 31-36 and 41-46 and 51-56 and
61-66 totals thirty-six unique outcomes). Each of these
has equal probability (1 out of 36 odds for each).
"Rule this Land." et al. The player should also be able
to explain at least one current goal that is directly
related to the action in the game (e.g. "Escape this
dungeon.", "Destroy the mad robot.", "Find a way to
revive our comrade." etc.). Even if the player claims to
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be wandering aimlessly the character's goal should be
Similarly, a Trihex roll creates a number in the range articulated in some positive way such as "Explore the
of 111-666. We simply read the numbers in first, area." In fact a PC drowsing through every day has a
second, third (or red, green, blue) order to get the goal, even if it is simply "rest," "heal," or "luxuriate."
result. Some math (six to the third power) should show
that there are exactly 216 possible outcomes of a Stating these goals allows the Incident Engine to move
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Trihex roll (so, even though "666" is an infamous
number in common literature, in a Trihex roll all it
means is "the 216th outcome of 216 possible
outcomes"). Trihex roll results also have equal
probability and are very useful for determining sub-
percentage-level chances. If you would like to use
Trihex rolls to calculate actual 1-100 percentages,
Sa
them closer to or farther from the characters as the
adventure develops. It also allows the competing goals
of NPCs, larger and more diffuse pressures such as
politics, and even effects which act without an agenda
such as the weather, the tide, etc. to contribute to the
uncertainty of the action, often sidetracking, opposing,
or bolstering the PCs' goals.

there are some helpful tables in Appendix B (below).

Note: Incidents and Goals in Solo Play

Keeping the goals of the character(s) in mind, the DM can make Incident checks (as below) one after another to drive plot
discovery. Also, the steps for starting encounters can be solved using the Limner. Ask, for instance, "Do we see each other at
the same time?" if the answer is no, then ask "Do they see us first?" to determine who gains the upper hand. Similarly "Is
this basically a fair fight?" if negative, can be followed up with "Are they the stronger group?" (Turmoil could optionally be
added to that roll). If the foes are clearly stronger, you could ask "Can we tell we're overmatched?" If the answer is positive,
then the PCs might run. If negative, then they may foolishly stay and fight. Lastly, be free with Augury (below). Just a
couple of Trihex rolls can furnish a half-dozen words describing the encounter and its level of hostility.

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Character Goals:
Goals are the fuel which drives the Incident Engine.
Incident Types either bring actors closer to their goals,
drive wedges between them and their goals, or move
the plot in a perpendicular direction, neither gaining
upon nor frustrating their wishes. A player can name
any goal for her PC, although the more reasonable
unnecessary to write these down, but they should be
spoken when they bear on the plot and held in the
DM's and players' minds. This imparts consistency
and believably to the characters' choices and the
consequences of those choices as they unfold.

ones ("get some sleep") are more likely to come into
play than irrational ones ("get elected president via a
write-in campaign").
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Character Motivations as Goals:
Knowing a character's Motivation also helps quickly
construct immediate goals. No one should be surprised

The Usual Goals of Adventurers:
If ever unsure, the DM should simply ask each player
for a brief description of any character's apparent
short-term goals. These goals should be no more than
a sentence each, and guided by the common-sense of
the DM and players. Declaring goals does not require
disclosing secret plans. For instance, simply "I'll cover
the leader's back," could be the stated goal of either a
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when a character motivated by greed stops following
the goal of "Scout ahead." and, instead, adopts the
goal of "Grab the loot of the fallen party member."
Each PC and significant NPC should have at least one
Motivation. A Motivation can almost always be used
generate a goal, and Incidents affecting the progress of
that goal can then be tracked. For instance, Hedonism
might generate a goal of "Steal the wine, " Piety might

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stalwart Cleric or an unscrupulous Assassin. (The
Cleric's plan is likely "heal the leader if the he is
wounded", the Assassin's plan might be quite different,
e.g. "Stab him as soon as he is distracted."). Players
can, of course, declare long-term plans whenever
create "Obey the Abbess," etc.

Knowing the Motivation of any intelligent characters

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desired, but stating the immediate goal (in this case
"I'll watch his back") is all that is required.
If a PC's goals are currently unstated, the leader (or
leader-of-the-moment) of the party will likely have
some short range plan already (e.g. "We cross the
room to the door on the opposite side, taking care to
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who persist within the story-line is very valuable for
driving the plot. Not only does this make choosing
their reactions much easier, but it also enables their
goals to interweave with those of the PCs, presenting
many opportunities for drama.
Character Idioms as Goals
Idioms, though entirely optional, can still be quite

look for traps en route.") and all players who tacitly
agree have the default goal of "Follow the leader."
Characters can have as many short-term goals as they
want and these can easily change from minute to
minute based upon the situation. Usually it is
Sa
useful in determining how an Incident affects a
character (Jocular PCs strive differently than Ruthless
PCs). With DM approval, the PCs should feel free to
(re)define their Idioms at any point, and the DM can
roll Idioms to add flavor to NPCs or even creatures
whenever desired.

The Current Plan

A Plan is a path toward a goal. All characters are always following at least one plan designed to achieve a goal.
Characters with contrary plans will need to compromise or compete to resolve them. This might be done with
role-played discussion, within the mechanics of any game system, or by using The Limner or The Fray above.

Plans continue moving from goal to goal one at a time, until the goals change, the plans collide with each other
(requiring either mutual tact or contested resolution), or Incidents (below) affect the progress of the plans. The
plot is the fabric these plans weave as they circumvent obstacles and move over, past, or through one another.

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Incidents:
An Incident is a point in the plot in which immediate, external, or arbitrary forces impinge upon the best laid
plans of the PCs and their cohorts. They begin as fairly vague statements, but just a few "Augury" rolls strongly
hint how each will alter the plot, potentially veering sharply into new territory.

When to check if an Incident occurs:

• Whenever the DM wants one (it is possible to stock whole dungeons and towns or even run entire

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adventures using only Incidents).
• Whenever the DM permits one (Incidents add drama to the story, color to the setting, and fun to the
play. If the DM suspects none of these will happen, the Incident should be ignored.)
• When defining an unscripted or pivotal object, character, place, or event might be helpful.
• The gray area: Whenever The Fray is used and the middle result of exactly 14 occurs.

fil
• Rare Rolls: The DM may choose a few "spooky" numbers to trigger random Incident checks, but they
should equate to ~1-6% likelihood per roll. If a game uses 20-sided dice, choosing any one number that
does not normally have a special meaning is a good idea (for instance, any natural 13 on a d20). If d6's
are used, a 2d6 total of exactly 2 ("snake-eyes") or a 3d6 roll of "triples" (all three dice get the same
result) etc. -- whenever these results appear during normal play, the DM can make an Incident check
right away (even before interpreting the roll's result).
• Stunning successes/failures: If an act, especially something reality-bending such as a spell, psionic feat,
giant botnet activation, political coup, etc. succeeds or fails decisively (e.g. a "critical" or a "fumble"),
modify the Turmoil as usual. After this, if the Turmoil is 1 or higher, then make a check for a

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consequential Incident (similarly magical, psionic, online, et al.) possibly occurring.

If any of these conditions are met and the DM is willing to permit an Incident, then roll 2d6 on the following
Incident Check table and add the current Turmoil (note that the results may change the Turmoil after the roll, but
pl
not before or during).

The Incident Check:

2d6 + Turmoil Description of possible Incident Turmoil +/-
1 or less Too quiet: an Incident alters a Scheme unbeknownst to the PCs +4
2-3 Progression: plot continues roughly as planned, Turmoil is unchanged +0
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4 Quiet: as Furtherance (below), but smoother, Turmoil decreases -1

5-7 Furtherance: plot continues as planned, but Turmoil increases +1
8-9 Complication: an Incident adding significant complexity to the existing +1
plan happens in1-2 rounds, Turmoil increases
10 Digression: an Incident occurs in 1-2 rounds which departs significantly +1
Sa

from the plans of the characters, Turmoil increases

11 Sidetrack: an Incident occurs immediately which departs decisively from -2
the plans and expectations of the characters. The reduction in Turmoil
applies once the PCs have resolved or avoided the sidetrack.
12+ Obstacle: an Incident occurs immediately which at least temporarily -3
derails the plan of action. The reduction in Turmoil occurs when the PCs
have cleared the obstacle or made a new plan which avoids it.
(notes on this table are on the following page)

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