captcorajus
Explorer
Dire Fate Rules
This alternative to the standard Dread RPG rules introduces a completely different set of task resolution systems and uses those in place of the 'pull' and use of the Jenga tower. This system not only adds more dynamic options to the game, and eliminates the need for 'manual dexterity' on the part of the actual player, but also lends itself to multi-session stories and campaign based play, while still maintaining the 'Dread' tension of the original rules. I call the variant of the rules 'Dread Fate' for reasons that will become obvious, below.
Components:
1 Standard Tarot Card Deck. Recommend the Joseph Vargo Gothic Tarot Deck.
1 or 2 twelve sided Die. Ideally, get the 'Cthuhlu Die' from Steve Jackson Games
3 six sided (Death Dice). Dice with SKULLS for the ones are ideal
36 Glass tokens, 18 each of two different colors
2 Condiment bowls
Task Resolution Systems.
The three systems below replace the 'pull' Jenga Tower systems from the Dread RPG game. Rather than pulling, they are called 'The Turn', 'Death', and 'Cthulhu'. The Host may ask for any one of them, a combination of the three, or any number of variations based on the action the character is trying to perform. While I have gone into some detail to describe how these systems work, in actual play it resolves quite rapidly, so don't be intimidated by the length of the descriptions.
Fate and Sanity
Characters have two attributes. Fate and Sanity. A detailed description of what these are and how they are used in play follows the description of the task resolution systems.
1. The Turn
This is the standard resolution for most tasks and parallels the Jenga tower, but with several caveats. I Suggest acquiring, if you can a set of 'Gothic Tarot Cards.' One of the reasons I choose Tarot Cards over standard playing cards was their innate connection to the occult, use in the horror genre, and the beautiful artwork on the cards. Gothic Tarot cards take that a step further, by directly invoking horror images on each card. For a 'Dread Fate' Game I highly recommend the Gothic set by Joseph Vargo
To use the tarot cards, the host has the player 'turn' over one or more cards on the top of the Tarot Deck and put them in a discard pile. If a Major Arcana card does not come up the task is a success. If a major arcana card does come up, the task fails, and the player suffers the results as outlined below, based on the card revealed. For especially difficult tasks the Host may ask for more than one Turn. For example, "Turn 2" or "Turn 3". If more than one Major Arcana card comes up, they are applied in the order that they are revealed. (See The Major Arcana below for Turn results).
Adding Turns increases the difficulty of the accomplishing the task. Its a great way to increase the difficulty of a Death Dice or Cthulhu Die tasks as well. When adding Turns to a Death Dice Or Cthulhu Dice task, if the Turn fails, the task fails.
Example Tasks:
- Trying to spot a clue
- Attempting to uncover the hidden manuscript
- Attempting to locate a secret door
- Trying to bypass a password on a computer
- Attempting to Translate a foreign language.
The Major Arcana
Reading the results
Most of the descriptions below are self explanatory. You may also be called upon to take additional Turns from the deck, roll the death dice or the Cthulhu die. In these cases it will usually just say 'Cthulhu' which means roll the Cthulhu Die, or 'Death', in which case you roll 3 of the six-sided dice and loose 1 fate point for each skull (1) that comes up. There are variations to the standard results described above, and those are clarified in the descriptions below. When Arcana is revealed the player MUST follow the instructions given here. See explanation of Fate and Sanity under 'Character Attributes' below.
The Magician - Take a fate token from the player to your right and left, loose 1 sanity.
The priestess - The player with the fewest fate tokens gains one fate. The player with the fewest sanity gain 1 sanity. Roll off players who have tied attributes.
The Empress - Pick another player for Death
The Emperor - Pick another player for Cthulhu
The Hierophant - The player gains insight about some in game mystery, gain 1 sanity
The lovers - Pick another player (not yourself) to gain either 1 fate or 1 sanity.
The Chariot - You and the player to your right each Turn one time. Results are applied to the turning player.
Strength - The Player actually succeeds! Loose 1 Sanity, Gain 1 Fate.
The Hermit - Roll for Death, and Cthulhu
Wheel of Fortune - Roll for Death. If no skulls come up, gain 3 fate tokens. Otherwise, loose a fate token for each skull rolled. Roll Cthulhu.
Justice - Pick one player to roll for death. If no skulls are rolled that player gains up to 3 fate tokens. Gain 1 Sanity
The Hanged Man - Roll for death, loose 1 Sanity
DEATH - Loose 5 fate tokens. If you have no fate tokens left you DIE! If still living, loose all Sanity tokens but 1. At this time remove the discard pile from the game. Return DEATH to the remaining cards and shuffle. If Death ultimately ends up on the bottom, randomly select 20 cards and death to form the new deck.
Temperance - Roll for Death. Lose Sanity instead of fate. If no skulls rolled gain up to 3 sanity.
The Devil - Roll for death. The player to the left of you looses fate for each skull rolled instead of you. If no skulls are rolled, gain up to 3 fate. Loose 1 sanity. Cthulhu.
The Tower - Turn, Death, Cthulhu
The Star - Gain 1 Sanity
The Moon - Gain 1 Fate
The Sun - Gain 1 Sanity, Gain 1 Fate
Judgment - Cthulhu
The World - Starting at your left, all players may gain 1 fate. Cthulhu
The Fool - Loose 1 Sanity
2. Death Dice (Death)
This is a secondary task resolution method that the Host might ask for. It generally comes into play when the character is attempting something especially dangerous, such as jumping over a chasm, fighting a werewolf or climbing a rope, however the host always determines exactly WHEN it is appropriate to roll the death dice. Roll the 3 six-sided dice. If a 'one'(skull) comes up the task fails, and the character looses 1 fate for each one (skull) rolled on the die. If no ones (skulls) come up, the task succeeds.
Example Tasks:
- Firing a gun at the killer
- Running across a Rickety rope bridge
- Fending off a pack of rabid dogs
- Climbing up the side of a cliff
Sanity check
A host may also ask for a Sanity roll using the death dice when a character sees something horrific, with the character loosing 1 sanity token for each skull or one rolled rather than fate.
3. Cthulhu (12 sided die)
This is the third type task resolution that the host may call for. This comes into play generally when the player is attempting something to do with the occult, such as trying to perform a ritual, cast a spell or research ancient and forbidden lore. If you don't have an actual 'Cthulhu' die you can substitute a standard 12 sided die and use the following table to determine results:
1 = Elder Sign
6 = The Eye
12 = Cthulhu
2-5 = Tentacle
7-11 = Yellow Sign
Cthulhu Die Results
Yellow Sign - Success. Gain 1 sanity
Tentacle - Fail. Loose 1 sanity
Elder Sign - Success. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose 1 sanity, gain 1 fate
Cthulhu - Fail. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose all fate and sanity but 1 of each.
The Eye - Success. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose 1 fate, gain 1 sanity
Example Tasks:
- Trying to preform an exorcism.
- Trying to cast a spell
- Trying to uncover some hidden lore.
Combinations of Resolution Tasks
The Host may also ask for a combination of any of the three types of task resolution for especially difficult tasks or when a character is attempting several different tasks at one time. For example the host might say, "Turn 1 and Death." or "2 turns, and Cthulhu" or any combination thereof based on the situation and what it is the player is trying to accomplish.
Example Tasks:
- Trying to cast a spell, while fending off a rabid dog. Cthulhu for the spell resolution, and Death Dice to defend.
It is entirely up to the host to interpret the narrative results of failed tasks.
The Walking Dead
As with using the Jenga tower it is entirely possible for the 'DEATH' card to be on the top of the Tarot Deck and the player is killed on the first Turn of a card, or the player rolls the Death Dice and gets three skulls on their first roll. In these cases the Host may want to apply the 'Walking Dead' rules from page 34 of the Dread Rulebook. In this case the player no longer Turns from the Deck, or rolls Death Dice. They may still roll the Cthulhu die, ignoring any results that removes Fate. The player still looses sanity and may suffer psychosis results.
Player Versus Player
It is entirely possible (likely?) that during the course of the session players will come in conflict with each other. When resolving player versus player conflicts the Death Dice and the Cthulhu die are NOT used, only turns from the tarot deck as dictated by the Host.
Character Attributes
Characters have two Attributes. Fate and Sanity. Generally, each player begins the game session with three Fate Tokens and three Sanity Tokens. The character may also start with more depending on the results of Cthulhu Dice rolls (see below).
Fate
Fate is essentially your character's link to life. During the game through a variety of methods your character will loose and gain Fate tokens. However, if at any time your character is out of Fate tokens the character dies or is removed from the game as soon as it is dramatically appropriate for them to do so... just like if the Jenga tower had been knocked over. Each time you loose a fate token it is added to the 'Fate Pool' in the middle of the table. If you are called on to gain a Fate Token, you may only do so if there are Fate Tokens in the Fate Pool.
It is important to keep in mind that Fate is NOT a measure of your character's health, injury, hit points or life. Loosing Fate does not necessarily mean the character is injured, it only means that they are closer to death. Fate is a measure of how close your character is to death. A character could be perfectly healthy and have only 1 fate point left, or they could be ravaged by bullets, bleeding, and cut and have 6 fate points. However, one can loose fate quickly, and thus when the hammer does fall, a heavily injured character would have a logical reason to expire. The host will tell the player if their character has sustained injury or not. Character injuries, like in standard Dread, are entirely within the narrative control of the Host.
At the beginning of a new game session you always start with a number of fate tokens equal to your Fate total (usually 3).
The maximum number of Fate points (tokens) a character can have regardless of game results or experience is 6.
Sanity Tokens
Sanity Tokens represent your character's current mental stability, and will rise and fall during the game based on the horrors your character encounters. You may loose sanity through a variety of methods, either when the host says you loose sanity or when its called upon by the Tarot Deck or Cthulhu die. When you loose sanity your token(s) gets added to the sanity pool in the middle of the table. If you are called on to gain sanity you may only do so if there is a sanity token in the pool available. Otherwise you don't gain sanity. When your character looses all sanity tokens then the character suffers a psychosis. Roll 1 six-sided die and consult the chart below:
Roll Psychosis
1 (skull) Homicidal. For the rest of the session your character will immediately attempt to kill anyone they encounter, including friends and allies.
2 Paranoia. For the rest of the session you believe that someone you thought you could trust wants to kill you. You must kill them first! Try to convince the other players as well! Secretly choose another player character, and try and kill them.
3-5 Catatonic. Curl up into a ball and whimper for the rest of the session. You just can't take it any more.
6 Gain back 1 sanity. You're okay! (for now)
The maximum number of Sanity a character have regardless of game results or experience is 5.
At the beginning of a new game session you always start with the same number of sanity tokens you had at the end of the previous session, so at the end of a session be sure to write down on your character card your new sanity total.
Fate and Sanity Token Pools
In the center of the table, within easy reach of the players should be two condiment bowls. One is for Fate tokens and represents the 'Fate Pool', and the other is for 'Sanity tokens' and represents the Sanity pool.
The Host can increase or decrease the level of difficulty of a game session by adding to or taking away tokens from the Fate and Sanity pools at the start of the session. The standard difficulty of the game is to start the session with 1 fate and 1 sanity token in each of the pools. To make things easier the Host can add more tokens, but no more than 1 or 2 additional tokens should be added. The pools are not required to have matching totals at the start of the session.
Remember, Dread is a game of Horror and Hope, so it is entirely appropriate for the host to add Fate or Sanity tokens to the pool during play, perhaps as a reward for reaching a story goal.
Character Death or Removal
Whenever a character meets their final fate, and is removed from the game, the host should also empty the Fate and Sanity token pools of all but 1 token each.
Character Creation (Optional Addition)
Create your character as normally using the standard Dread Questionnaire rules. Your character usually begins the game with 3 'Fate Tokens' and 3 'Sanity Tokens'.
However, each player may also choose to roll the Cthulhu die from 0 to 3 times. The number of rolls is decided by the player before the player's first roll. Once the number of rolls are determined, the player MUST complete all the rolls, and record the results as follows:
The Eye: Gain 1 Sanity token
Elder Sign: Gain 1 Fate token
Cthulhu: Choose. Loose 1 fate token or 1 sanity token.
Yellow sign or Tentacle: Gain nothing
NOTE: Try not to kill yourself before the game even begins.
Tokens gained this way do NOT come from the token pool, but are simply added to the character's attribute score. Record the result on the character card. The character will always begin the game session with this many FATE tokens... HOWEVER, Sanity is a different story. You always begin the game session with a number of Sanity Tokens equal to your sanity total from the previous session.
Gaining Experience
The Host may award 'survival points' to those characters not killed at the end of a session, usually 3 to 5 points. Players may use survival points to increase their Fate and Sanity scores.
Fate may be improved by spending an number of Survival Points equal to their current Fate score times 10. i.e. if you have 3 Fate points it takes 30 survival points to raise it to 4. The maximum number of Fate points a character can have is 6.
Sanity may also be improved, with your current sanity score multiplied by 5. Maximum sanity score is 5.
Hosting Dread Fate
Monsters and Combat
Combat is resolved relatively simply using the Death Dice. Characters are either attempting to inflict injury or avoid it, thus the host never needs to roll a die, merely describe the action as it occurs. Play proceeds around the table with each player describing their action and the host telling the player what they need to succeed. Usually, this will simply mean rolling the Death Dice, for physical attacks, or the Cthulhu Dice when using or avoiding magic. Also remember that even though a character may not loose any FATE from a monster's attack that does not mean they escaped injury. Don't be shy about turning characters in to bloody pulps. They won't die until they have no FATE.
Monsters only have one statistic and that is their Dedication. Dedication is a measure of an NPC's commitment to their story goal. Loss of Dedication does not mean that the NPC dies, only that they leave the story for that game session. Though for minor 'minion' type NPCs and creatures, it can.
Minor or minion NPCs usually have a dedication of 1 or 2 points, while major NPCs and 'big bads' can have Dedications of 10 or more. During the story, once dedication is lost in may not be recovered.
Order of Play
In general, players just tell the Host what they are doing and the Host responds with what happens. However, when things become 'cyclic' then play should proceed in a particular order until the cycle is over.
In general this takes place during combat, but defusing a bomb, or a chase scene also fit the bill. Play could simply proceed around the table from left to right or in any order the Host dictates. After all the players have gone, if the host any active NPCs that need to act, they do so at that time.
Game Sessions
A games session is defined as several hours of continuous play, usually 4 or 5 hours, or more. The story may not resolve in a single session, and while Dread Fate can be played easily as a one shot session, it is to be played in a series of sessions or campaign. The host is encouraged to vary the level of difficulty between sessions, and to award Survival Points at the end of each session.
This alternative to the standard Dread RPG rules introduces a completely different set of task resolution systems and uses those in place of the 'pull' and use of the Jenga tower. This system not only adds more dynamic options to the game, and eliminates the need for 'manual dexterity' on the part of the actual player, but also lends itself to multi-session stories and campaign based play, while still maintaining the 'Dread' tension of the original rules. I call the variant of the rules 'Dread Fate' for reasons that will become obvious, below.
Components:
1 Standard Tarot Card Deck. Recommend the Joseph Vargo Gothic Tarot Deck.
1 or 2 twelve sided Die. Ideally, get the 'Cthuhlu Die' from Steve Jackson Games
3 six sided (Death Dice). Dice with SKULLS for the ones are ideal
36 Glass tokens, 18 each of two different colors
2 Condiment bowls
Task Resolution Systems.
The three systems below replace the 'pull' Jenga Tower systems from the Dread RPG game. Rather than pulling, they are called 'The Turn', 'Death', and 'Cthulhu'. The Host may ask for any one of them, a combination of the three, or any number of variations based on the action the character is trying to perform. While I have gone into some detail to describe how these systems work, in actual play it resolves quite rapidly, so don't be intimidated by the length of the descriptions.
Fate and Sanity
Characters have two attributes. Fate and Sanity. A detailed description of what these are and how they are used in play follows the description of the task resolution systems.
1. The Turn
This is the standard resolution for most tasks and parallels the Jenga tower, but with several caveats. I Suggest acquiring, if you can a set of 'Gothic Tarot Cards.' One of the reasons I choose Tarot Cards over standard playing cards was their innate connection to the occult, use in the horror genre, and the beautiful artwork on the cards. Gothic Tarot cards take that a step further, by directly invoking horror images on each card. For a 'Dread Fate' Game I highly recommend the Gothic set by Joseph Vargo
To use the tarot cards, the host has the player 'turn' over one or more cards on the top of the Tarot Deck and put them in a discard pile. If a Major Arcana card does not come up the task is a success. If a major arcana card does come up, the task fails, and the player suffers the results as outlined below, based on the card revealed. For especially difficult tasks the Host may ask for more than one Turn. For example, "Turn 2" or "Turn 3". If more than one Major Arcana card comes up, they are applied in the order that they are revealed. (See The Major Arcana below for Turn results).
Adding Turns increases the difficulty of the accomplishing the task. Its a great way to increase the difficulty of a Death Dice or Cthulhu Die tasks as well. When adding Turns to a Death Dice Or Cthulhu Dice task, if the Turn fails, the task fails.
Example Tasks:
- Trying to spot a clue
- Attempting to uncover the hidden manuscript
- Attempting to locate a secret door
- Trying to bypass a password on a computer
- Attempting to Translate a foreign language.
The Major Arcana
Reading the results
Most of the descriptions below are self explanatory. You may also be called upon to take additional Turns from the deck, roll the death dice or the Cthulhu die. In these cases it will usually just say 'Cthulhu' which means roll the Cthulhu Die, or 'Death', in which case you roll 3 of the six-sided dice and loose 1 fate point for each skull (1) that comes up. There are variations to the standard results described above, and those are clarified in the descriptions below. When Arcana is revealed the player MUST follow the instructions given here. See explanation of Fate and Sanity under 'Character Attributes' below.
The Magician - Take a fate token from the player to your right and left, loose 1 sanity.
The priestess - The player with the fewest fate tokens gains one fate. The player with the fewest sanity gain 1 sanity. Roll off players who have tied attributes.
The Empress - Pick another player for Death
The Emperor - Pick another player for Cthulhu
The Hierophant - The player gains insight about some in game mystery, gain 1 sanity
The lovers - Pick another player (not yourself) to gain either 1 fate or 1 sanity.
The Chariot - You and the player to your right each Turn one time. Results are applied to the turning player.
Strength - The Player actually succeeds! Loose 1 Sanity, Gain 1 Fate.
The Hermit - Roll for Death, and Cthulhu
Wheel of Fortune - Roll for Death. If no skulls come up, gain 3 fate tokens. Otherwise, loose a fate token for each skull rolled. Roll Cthulhu.
Justice - Pick one player to roll for death. If no skulls are rolled that player gains up to 3 fate tokens. Gain 1 Sanity
The Hanged Man - Roll for death, loose 1 Sanity
DEATH - Loose 5 fate tokens. If you have no fate tokens left you DIE! If still living, loose all Sanity tokens but 1. At this time remove the discard pile from the game. Return DEATH to the remaining cards and shuffle. If Death ultimately ends up on the bottom, randomly select 20 cards and death to form the new deck.
Temperance - Roll for Death. Lose Sanity instead of fate. If no skulls rolled gain up to 3 sanity.
The Devil - Roll for death. The player to the left of you looses fate for each skull rolled instead of you. If no skulls are rolled, gain up to 3 fate. Loose 1 sanity. Cthulhu.
The Tower - Turn, Death, Cthulhu
The Star - Gain 1 Sanity
The Moon - Gain 1 Fate
The Sun - Gain 1 Sanity, Gain 1 Fate
Judgment - Cthulhu
The World - Starting at your left, all players may gain 1 fate. Cthulhu
The Fool - Loose 1 Sanity
2. Death Dice (Death)
This is a secondary task resolution method that the Host might ask for. It generally comes into play when the character is attempting something especially dangerous, such as jumping over a chasm, fighting a werewolf or climbing a rope, however the host always determines exactly WHEN it is appropriate to roll the death dice. Roll the 3 six-sided dice. If a 'one'(skull) comes up the task fails, and the character looses 1 fate for each one (skull) rolled on the die. If no ones (skulls) come up, the task succeeds.
Example Tasks:
- Firing a gun at the killer
- Running across a Rickety rope bridge
- Fending off a pack of rabid dogs
- Climbing up the side of a cliff
Sanity check
A host may also ask for a Sanity roll using the death dice when a character sees something horrific, with the character loosing 1 sanity token for each skull or one rolled rather than fate.
3. Cthulhu (12 sided die)
This is the third type task resolution that the host may call for. This comes into play generally when the player is attempting something to do with the occult, such as trying to perform a ritual, cast a spell or research ancient and forbidden lore. If you don't have an actual 'Cthulhu' die you can substitute a standard 12 sided die and use the following table to determine results:
1 = Elder Sign
6 = The Eye
12 = Cthulhu
2-5 = Tentacle
7-11 = Yellow Sign
Cthulhu Die Results
Yellow Sign - Success. Gain 1 sanity
Tentacle - Fail. Loose 1 sanity
Elder Sign - Success. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose 1 sanity, gain 1 fate
Cthulhu - Fail. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose all fate and sanity but 1 of each.
The Eye - Success. Gain insight about some in game mystery. Loose 1 fate, gain 1 sanity
Example Tasks:
- Trying to preform an exorcism.
- Trying to cast a spell
- Trying to uncover some hidden lore.
Combinations of Resolution Tasks
The Host may also ask for a combination of any of the three types of task resolution for especially difficult tasks or when a character is attempting several different tasks at one time. For example the host might say, "Turn 1 and Death." or "2 turns, and Cthulhu" or any combination thereof based on the situation and what it is the player is trying to accomplish.
Example Tasks:
- Trying to cast a spell, while fending off a rabid dog. Cthulhu for the spell resolution, and Death Dice to defend.
It is entirely up to the host to interpret the narrative results of failed tasks.
The Walking Dead
As with using the Jenga tower it is entirely possible for the 'DEATH' card to be on the top of the Tarot Deck and the player is killed on the first Turn of a card, or the player rolls the Death Dice and gets three skulls on their first roll. In these cases the Host may want to apply the 'Walking Dead' rules from page 34 of the Dread Rulebook. In this case the player no longer Turns from the Deck, or rolls Death Dice. They may still roll the Cthulhu die, ignoring any results that removes Fate. The player still looses sanity and may suffer psychosis results.
Player Versus Player
It is entirely possible (likely?) that during the course of the session players will come in conflict with each other. When resolving player versus player conflicts the Death Dice and the Cthulhu die are NOT used, only turns from the tarot deck as dictated by the Host.
Character Attributes
Characters have two Attributes. Fate and Sanity. Generally, each player begins the game session with three Fate Tokens and three Sanity Tokens. The character may also start with more depending on the results of Cthulhu Dice rolls (see below).
Fate
Fate is essentially your character's link to life. During the game through a variety of methods your character will loose and gain Fate tokens. However, if at any time your character is out of Fate tokens the character dies or is removed from the game as soon as it is dramatically appropriate for them to do so... just like if the Jenga tower had been knocked over. Each time you loose a fate token it is added to the 'Fate Pool' in the middle of the table. If you are called on to gain a Fate Token, you may only do so if there are Fate Tokens in the Fate Pool.
It is important to keep in mind that Fate is NOT a measure of your character's health, injury, hit points or life. Loosing Fate does not necessarily mean the character is injured, it only means that they are closer to death. Fate is a measure of how close your character is to death. A character could be perfectly healthy and have only 1 fate point left, or they could be ravaged by bullets, bleeding, and cut and have 6 fate points. However, one can loose fate quickly, and thus when the hammer does fall, a heavily injured character would have a logical reason to expire. The host will tell the player if their character has sustained injury or not. Character injuries, like in standard Dread, are entirely within the narrative control of the Host.
At the beginning of a new game session you always start with a number of fate tokens equal to your Fate total (usually 3).
The maximum number of Fate points (tokens) a character can have regardless of game results or experience is 6.
Sanity Tokens
Sanity Tokens represent your character's current mental stability, and will rise and fall during the game based on the horrors your character encounters. You may loose sanity through a variety of methods, either when the host says you loose sanity or when its called upon by the Tarot Deck or Cthulhu die. When you loose sanity your token(s) gets added to the sanity pool in the middle of the table. If you are called on to gain sanity you may only do so if there is a sanity token in the pool available. Otherwise you don't gain sanity. When your character looses all sanity tokens then the character suffers a psychosis. Roll 1 six-sided die and consult the chart below:
Roll Psychosis
1 (skull) Homicidal. For the rest of the session your character will immediately attempt to kill anyone they encounter, including friends and allies.
2 Paranoia. For the rest of the session you believe that someone you thought you could trust wants to kill you. You must kill them first! Try to convince the other players as well! Secretly choose another player character, and try and kill them.
3-5 Catatonic. Curl up into a ball and whimper for the rest of the session. You just can't take it any more.
6 Gain back 1 sanity. You're okay! (for now)
The maximum number of Sanity a character have regardless of game results or experience is 5.
At the beginning of a new game session you always start with the same number of sanity tokens you had at the end of the previous session, so at the end of a session be sure to write down on your character card your new sanity total.
Fate and Sanity Token Pools
In the center of the table, within easy reach of the players should be two condiment bowls. One is for Fate tokens and represents the 'Fate Pool', and the other is for 'Sanity tokens' and represents the Sanity pool.
The Host can increase or decrease the level of difficulty of a game session by adding to or taking away tokens from the Fate and Sanity pools at the start of the session. The standard difficulty of the game is to start the session with 1 fate and 1 sanity token in each of the pools. To make things easier the Host can add more tokens, but no more than 1 or 2 additional tokens should be added. The pools are not required to have matching totals at the start of the session.
Remember, Dread is a game of Horror and Hope, so it is entirely appropriate for the host to add Fate or Sanity tokens to the pool during play, perhaps as a reward for reaching a story goal.
Character Death or Removal
Whenever a character meets their final fate, and is removed from the game, the host should also empty the Fate and Sanity token pools of all but 1 token each.
Character Creation (Optional Addition)
Create your character as normally using the standard Dread Questionnaire rules. Your character usually begins the game with 3 'Fate Tokens' and 3 'Sanity Tokens'.
However, each player may also choose to roll the Cthulhu die from 0 to 3 times. The number of rolls is decided by the player before the player's first roll. Once the number of rolls are determined, the player MUST complete all the rolls, and record the results as follows:
The Eye: Gain 1 Sanity token
Elder Sign: Gain 1 Fate token
Cthulhu: Choose. Loose 1 fate token or 1 sanity token.
Yellow sign or Tentacle: Gain nothing
NOTE: Try not to kill yourself before the game even begins.
Tokens gained this way do NOT come from the token pool, but are simply added to the character's attribute score. Record the result on the character card. The character will always begin the game session with this many FATE tokens... HOWEVER, Sanity is a different story. You always begin the game session with a number of Sanity Tokens equal to your sanity total from the previous session.
Gaining Experience
The Host may award 'survival points' to those characters not killed at the end of a session, usually 3 to 5 points. Players may use survival points to increase their Fate and Sanity scores.
Fate may be improved by spending an number of Survival Points equal to their current Fate score times 10. i.e. if you have 3 Fate points it takes 30 survival points to raise it to 4. The maximum number of Fate points a character can have is 6.
Sanity may also be improved, with your current sanity score multiplied by 5. Maximum sanity score is 5.
Hosting Dread Fate
Monsters and Combat
Combat is resolved relatively simply using the Death Dice. Characters are either attempting to inflict injury or avoid it, thus the host never needs to roll a die, merely describe the action as it occurs. Play proceeds around the table with each player describing their action and the host telling the player what they need to succeed. Usually, this will simply mean rolling the Death Dice, for physical attacks, or the Cthulhu Dice when using or avoiding magic. Also remember that even though a character may not loose any FATE from a monster's attack that does not mean they escaped injury. Don't be shy about turning characters in to bloody pulps. They won't die until they have no FATE.
Monsters only have one statistic and that is their Dedication. Dedication is a measure of an NPC's commitment to their story goal. Loss of Dedication does not mean that the NPC dies, only that they leave the story for that game session. Though for minor 'minion' type NPCs and creatures, it can.
Minor or minion NPCs usually have a dedication of 1 or 2 points, while major NPCs and 'big bads' can have Dedications of 10 or more. During the story, once dedication is lost in may not be recovered.
Order of Play
In general, players just tell the Host what they are doing and the Host responds with what happens. However, when things become 'cyclic' then play should proceed in a particular order until the cycle is over.
In general this takes place during combat, but defusing a bomb, or a chase scene also fit the bill. Play could simply proceed around the table from left to right or in any order the Host dictates. After all the players have gone, if the host any active NPCs that need to act, they do so at that time.
Game Sessions
A games session is defined as several hours of continuous play, usually 4 or 5 hours, or more. The story may not resolve in a single session, and while Dread Fate can be played easily as a one shot session, it is to be played in a series of sessions or campaign. The host is encouraged to vary the level of difficulty between sessions, and to award Survival Points at the end of each session.
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