Divergence Mechanism
Neon. Brass. Revolution in the gutters.
In Divergence Mechanism, you and your crew of street‑level punks carve out a life in The City—a sprawling industrial labyrinth where the wealthy rule from gleaming spires and everyone else fights for scraps in the shadows below. Power hums through the streets, alchemical tech crackles in back‑alley workshops, and every choice you make sends ripples through a world on the brink of upheaval.
The magical power of the Other permeates the City, the acrane forces of The Engine controlling it's mystical forces, creating fantasical zones in the arcane cyberspace of The Pattern.
This is a card‑driven fantasy-cyberpunk RPG where style is as sharp as steel and survival demands both grit and ingenuity. Build and tweak your deck to shape your character’s abilities, pull off daring maneuvers, and bend the odds in your favor. The system blends fast, tactical combat with story‑forward play, giving you the freedom to narrate bold actions while still delivering crunchy, high‑stakes encounters.
Whether you’re sabotaging the elite, defending your turf, or chasing the spark of something bigger, Divergence Mechanism puts the future of The City in your hands. Gear up. Shuffle the deck. Start the uprising.
Gameplay
Divergence Mechanism uses an innovative card-based mechanic, where you build your deck from a traditional playing card deck. You start with the 40 number cards and 2 jokers, but as your characer buys "trumps" you can add picture cards in, replacing the numbers and suits that you don't want. Low cards are more likely to generate successes on a draw when performing an action, but are also more likely to be pruned from your deck when you suffer damage. Suits are also important for some game effects, so you can strip out cards from the suits you don't want to maximise your chances of drawing the suits you do.
Picture cards also have a special deck manipulation mechanic when you play them, so they are a real force multiplier when you can add them into your deck. We've also designed a set of playing cards inspired by the characters and art design of Divergence Mechanism, which also have these trump effects incorporated into their design.
The combat system further manipulates this system, as you draw a hand for a round, and must use it to make all of your moves, attacks, and defences, to activate all of your arcane powers and special tricks.
There's also a flexible system for equipment design that allows you to design your own wondrous arcane technology and powerful cyberpunk weapons and armour.
Magic
The mysterious Other is the source of all magic in Divergence Mechanism. A dimension beyond the material realm where the ancient magical forces of The Dark, The Burning, and The Dreaming clash, and to which The Engine seeks to dominate and bring order. The wild alien realm of The Other, and structured zones of The Pattern built insode it act as a cyberspace for the people of the City. Places where they can send their consciousness; where Punks go to explore and escape, where whitecollar workers spend their days in drudgery, and where the elite industrialists and Spire lords plot and take their leisure time.
Magic also seeps into the material, giving some people exptraordinary abilities, jumoing between shadows, enhancing their phsical abilities, or integrating machinery into their bodies. Others can manipulate the stuff of The Other itself, transforming The Pattern or breaking down its barriers and escaping into The Wilds.
This magic has also tained the people of The City, changing their biology and transformin their bodies. From the wondrous Fey, corrupted by The Dreaming, to the undead Dreygur; from the mechware-enhanced Machinoi, to the hulking Lubberkin masses, enslaved on Sweet Mlik to make them passive and compliant.
What to Expect
The Divergence Mechanism core rulebook provides you with details of the setting, all the rules need to play this fantasic game, printable character sheets, a plethora of enemies for your "pack" of Punks to face, and an introductory adventure that explores several key aspects of the game and different areas of The City.
(Dungeons & Dragons)
Rulebook featuring "high magic" options, including a host of new spells.
