by jonas tintenseher

a narrative, diceless, action-adventure RPG

supported on Patreon:
ash • Danielle Evans • D.A. Sonneborn
BASICS
Every character in impulse is a costar in fast-paced, action-packed adventure. They start with an
Archetype that consists of an adjective and a noun, like Snarky Mercenary, Nervous Socialite, or
Gloomy Hacker, Your Archetype shapes your character concept and defines your special abilities.
Your character also has three Impulses: Cognition, Motion, and Volition. Each Impulse has three
Hooks, earned by roleplaying and expended to accomplish difficult tasks, resist consequences,
and generally do cool stuff. There’s also a unique tenth Hook, Fortune, with a special use case.

EARNING HOOKS
Each Hook has a number of associated Tags. When you hit a Tag as part of the fiction of a
scene, mark that Hook on your character sheet. You can later spend that Hook, erasing the mark,
to make a Move and affect the scene. There’s only one condition: hitting a Tag has to advance
the scene, for better or worse. You don’t mark Momentum just because you bunny-hop all the
way to work, unless you work in a volcano and you need to jump over lava to get to your office.

SPENDING HOOKS
Hooks can be spent to make Moves, which are basic storytelling beats that change the scene in
some way. Moves don’t hit Tags. Moves are broad and open-ended; interpret them to best fit
the action you want to take, and if none of them seem right, pick the closest one and keep things
moving. If you want to hold onto a Hook or just don’t have the right one, you can Push Yourself to
make the Move anyway — but you get a Condition that lasts until it’s cleared!
Your character also starts with a unique Aspect. Each Aspect is an ability based on your Archetype
and tied to an Impulse, like a Nervous Socialite’s Call in a favor (Volition) or a Gloomy Hacker’s Shut
down the system (Cognition). To use an Aspect, you can spend any Hook from its Impulse, or
spend Fortune. You then lose the Aspect until next session.

GM TIPS
impulse is meant to be a quick, cinematic game. Start each scene as late in the action (or dialogue,
or exposition, or whatever) as possible, and move on as soon as the scene is done. Be generous
when the players earn Hooks — it’s your job to confirm when they hit an appropriate Tag — and
collaborate with them to interpret their Moves. Hand out Conditions when they come up naturally.
Narrate like you’re directing a movie, and create conflict like you’re writing one: bad guys roll up with
guns! The plane’s gonna crash! The building is on fire! Focus on action and reaction: “therefore”
and “because of that”, instead of just “and then”. And always frame the goal like this: “The heroes
want to X, but it won’t be that easy because of Y — and they still don’t know about Z...”
 CHARACTER PROFILE IMPULSES AND HOOKS
FORTUNE CEDE VICTORY AT PERSONAL COST

NAME PRONOUNS COGNITION

FOCUS CONCENTRATE • ISOLATE • REASSESS
INSIGHT INVESTIGATE • PONDER • RESEARCH
ARCHETYPE ADJECTIVE / NOUN PREPARATION BUY • PLAN • PRACTICE

MOTION
STYLE YOUR LOOK AND VIBE BALANCE DELAY • EVADE • RELAX
GRIT BRACE • PROTECTOR • STEADY
MOMENTUM LEAP • RUSH • WIND UP
DRIVE YOUR CENTRAL MOTIVATION
VOLITION
HARMONY COMFORT • EMPATHY • SYNC UP
FLAW YOUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS MOXIE COURAGE • ONE-LINER • RECKLESS
PRESENCE BARGAIN • CAROUSE • PERFORM

ASPECT #1 COG MOT VOL THE MENTAL MOVE

focus: Identify and see through patterns, solve
difficult problems, track targets
ASPECT #2 COG MOT VOL
insight: Know or notice something important
preparation: Do something you couldn’t do
ASPECT #3 COG MOT VOL without setup, have a useful flashback

CONDITIONS THE KINETIC MOVE

anger: You’re seeing red. CLEAR: Lash out at balance: Climb and fall safely, keep your
an ally or break something you care about. footing, pick locks and pockets
daze: You’re disoriented. CLEAR: Take time grit: Endure difficult conditions or weather,
to ground yourself in your surroundings. resist being moved, take hits on the chin
fatigue: You’re exhausted. CLEAR: Rest. momentum: Do parkour, get anywhere fast,
fear: You’re terrified. CLEAR: Face your fear strike with great force
head-on, or receive comfort from a friend.
wound: You’re hurt. CLEAR: Get some first THE SOCIAL MOVE
aid and take a breather.
harmony: Help an ally or pull off a team move
ADVANCEMENT moxie: Persuade by sheer force of will, push
At the end of every adventure, choose one: gain through negative emotions, rally allies in need
a new Aspect; change a word in your Archetype; presence: Charm or intimidate them, command
erase your Flaw; mark any three Hooks. attention, negotiate a good deal