Hm, before we go any farther, I should explain how rolling is going to work, even though I can't pin it yet...?
When I ask for a "check +<stat>", I will note any adds you have for that move, and then I will need:
-- 1d6 plus the stat and those adds, which are
Your Dice,
-- and two 1d10 rolls, called the
Fate Dice.
If the d6+ meets or exceeds one d10, it's a weak hit. If the d6+ meets or exceeds
both, it's a strong hit. If it's less than both, it's a miss, and we shall have to
Pay the Price. Yes, this is softer than
Ironsworn. That's intentional.
There is one special case--
Doubles on the Fate Dice indicate a plot twist, for good or for ill. It is, definitionally, always a strong hit or miss, and these represent strokes of fortune. While these are sometimes ignored if the Oracles don't seem relevant, they are
always a strong hit or miss, and will be scored accordingly.
At the most extreme,
Two Ones is always a
Major, beneficient twist of fate. Two Tens is always both a
miss AND a
Major Plot Twist.
When I say you may "Reroll one die", it means precisely that-- either
Your Die or one of the
Fate Dice.
When I say you may "Reroll
any dice", it means that you get one reroll, Yahtzee rules-- pick any dice you want to keep, and re-roll the others.
General considerations:
-- HARD is the stat of physical strength, directness, and physical endurance. It's for things like lifting boulders, pushing cars, and delivering a hammer blow.
-- QUICK is the stat of manual dexterity, snap aim, fast-talking, and sprinting. It's for things like confusing people, sleight of hand, deception, and picking locks.
-- THOUGHTFUL is the stat of keeping our wits about us, staying cool under pressure, making plans, and understanding information. Chances are, if you have a plan, at least some of its execution comes here. This is also the stat we use when rolling initiative (not that we'll be doing that often.)
-- RAPPORT is the stat of kindness, compassion, charisma, and mental strength. It's the stat you roll when making
Iron Vows, calling on bonds, or rallying your sisters in battle. This stat is always important, but in this quest it's essential. As a special note,
Testing Bonds is a +RAPPORT roll, and so are certain magics.
-- RESOLUTE is the stat of courage, loyalty, and sheer force of will. It's a special case stat, usually used for
Enduring Stress. While RAPPORT seeks to make bonds, RESOLUTE seeks to maintain one's iron in the storm.
-- LUCK is a special stat. You will never roll it directly. Most of the characters you meet don't have it; instead it's replaced by their MAGIC-- be that the more human witchery of SHADOW, or DIVINITY, or some other thing. You, as an entirely normal human, we swear, have LUCK instead. Once per full week, you may reroll
any die
once, to save you from a horrible twist of fate. Your LUCK is then expended.
-- BODY and STRESS are the trackers you might expect them to be-- physical and mental energy. They may
never be above +5.
-- MOMENTUM is also special. It goes up as we get hits, or if there's fan art or fan fiction posted in the thread, that'll get +1 momentum too. It goes down as an option when we
Miss. At a player's option, upon seeing the result of the dice, they may instead opt to
burn momentum, which changes the result of the d6 to our current Momentum. At the end of burning momentum, the momentum resets to +2, and begins rising and falling as our fates do.
Momentum may never rise above +10.
Assets
Assets bend the rules in the character's favor. We start with three and may add more later.
Bonds
Bonds are people you are directly connected to. These are people with whom you have
worked together on problems,
defended the lives of personally, or
undertaken and completed quests for.
Each Bond fills the bond track one tick. As a special consideration for this game only,
You may bond with a person more than once, but be warned,
Bonds can be Tested and fade if stressed.
Bonds are incredibly important if and when we end this Quest.
DIFFICULTIES
Any form of
progress track, from Vows, to Journeys, to Delves, to extended combat, has an associated
difficulty. Progress gets filled in
boxes, four ticks to a box. You'll note that Bonds are also a track, in this same regard-- every Bond fills the track one
tick.
[] empty
[/] one tick
[X] two ticks
[⁎] three ticks
[⁑] full box
Only full boxes count for checking progress directly against Fate.
- Troublesome things are things that will inconvenience you, and might do a little harm, but generally aren't that powerful. Think an unarmed tough, or joining the Judo Club when you got to Nationals in high school and had several awards from it. Progress on Troublesome things goes three full boxes at a time.
- Dangerous things are on an equal footing with you-- they are risky to take on, and will challenge you if you aren't careful or lucky. Marking progress on dangerous is done two boxes at a time.
- Formidable things are a little bit tough. They're longer quests, or a fight against tough opponents, or several on relatively equal footing with you. Formidable tracks fill one box at a time.
- Extreme things are not attempted lightly. They're deadly quests, long delves, combat against ancient beasts, or journeys on foot across half the continent. Extreme quests take two ticks every time they make progress.
- Epic things are exactly what they sound like-- the stuff of legend and song. Fight gods, shake the heavens, reach enlightenment, satisfy a memory of your parents that will not remember you. Epic undertakings mark one tick per progress, just like the Bond track does. (Truly, the most epic thing is the friends we made along the way.)
Progress and Menace
When you overcome obstacles, secure support, or win out over opposition to completing your goals, you get progress! Progress is good.
Some vows have Menace. Usually, this represents rivals, major opponents, or the time-sensitive nature of the Vow. (You can't be somewhere by the next full moon if it's already passed!)
Menace is another form of clock-- In this case, it was to avoid being caught with a bunch of
actual escapees. It is
individual to each Vow or Progress track in which it applies.
If the menace track fills, we must
immediately roll to fulfill Progress (be it "reach your destination", "Fulfill your vow", etc) or accept that our objective is out of reach ("Forsake Your Vow").
Most importantly,
You must have at least as many boxes filled as Menace to Fulfill A Vow.
Failures
As a QM note, I
will fail Mei forward, which is to say,
I will not cut off any avenue because of a roll of the dice, no matter how costly.
That said, Mei has the option to learn from her mistakes, one tick at a time-- specifically, whenever she scores a
miss. When she has a chance to rest and recover properly, and takes it, she will attempt to
Learn From Her Failures, a progress check off how many boxes of Failure have been filled.
ETA: The Doubles and the Oracles.
ETA 2: Re-roll rules.
ETA 3: DIFFICULTIES.
ETA 4: How ticks work, and Learn From Your Failures. 
