rush99999
Guardian Angel Haruki
mickilennial
Chronic
Lurking Krog
rabidbacon
Lemons
Snowdrops
Pilatus
mattmanganonSince Household appears to be climbing rapidly in interest, I'll go ahead and do a more thorough explanation of its mechanics and situations so that people can confirm their interest.
To begin, the system is simple and intended for an episodic style of adventure rather than a lengthy campaign like one would typically envision for a D&D game. Your progression as a character in Household is limited, and the system is narrative and character action driven rather than mechanically driven. In short, there's more than one way to skin a cat in Household and your particular choices will affect this more than anything else.
Trust a sprite if you pay them
A boggart if they give their word
A fairy if they sign their name
And a sluagh when they say
“you should never trust me”
Household Proverb
The core mechanic of the game is pairing 'Fields' with 'Skills' to amass a die pool, then rolling and searching for matching sets of results. This is where player agency shines, as you get to decide how your character is approaching a scene or obstacle and pitch it to the GM (There would rarely be a situation where I would feel the need to arbitrate these decisions).
There are four fields (Society, Academia, War, and Street), and twenty skills. On the character sheet they are grouped by typical associations, but this is not a restrictive grouping.
When an action carries a risk, or when it can lead to important Consequences that would influence the development of the story, then it’s time for you to roll the dice.
There are two kinds of dice rolls in this game:
Ӵ ACTION ROLLS: For these rolls, you are the one who states the Action, and you can freely choose the Field and Skill you’ll call into play.
Ӵ REACTION ROLLS: For these rolls, the Narrator asks you to React to a specific event, calling into play a specific Field and Skill
you could approach a situation by trying to be stealthy, warranting a Street+Caution to sneak and bypass hostile presences, or perhaps in a party you may be trying to fly under the radar whilst remaining present on the ballroom floor and that would fall under Society+Caution. A situation of a precarious alchemical laboratory in the midst of a firefight requiring you to juggle reagents and components? Could just as easily be Academia+Craft as it could Academia+Dexterity to avoid cataclysm. This is the primary interface with which the players interact with the world, by choosing a Field and Skill, justifying the choice, then rolling the dice and acting out the results.
The difficulty of these actions is decided by the GM, ranging from 'Basic' to 'Impossible' (one pair to five of a kind), but there are nuances to these rolls and your ability to interact with them, but that can be delved into later if folks are still interested in this game. 'Critical', AKA Three of a Kind, is the 'standard' difficulty to be expected for most tasks that are worth rolling for. If you somehow roll 6 of a kind, that's called a 'Jackpot' and it basically allows you to take over the narration of the scene as a whole and describe how you achieve your goal for the scene. Hey, it gives me a break as GM, I'm all for it.
Reaction rolls are similar to Action rolls, except that I, the mighty GM, would dictate what roll is appropriate for the declared action. This comes up in Combat, unexpected circumstances, emergencies, and otherwise dramatic moments. Enemies do not roll to hit you; you will be called on to React to them, as deemed appropriate by the GM, to avoid harm and embarassment.
The core mechanic of interaction with rolls is 'Rerolls' and 'Free Rerolls', which all I'll elaborate on for now is that you can risk what you currently have to try and improve the result- unless it's 'Free', in which case always take your reroll as it cannot harm you!
Characters will have access to specialized maneuvers called 'Moves' which give them unique abilities or access to 'Free Rerolls'; think of these like Feats in D&D.
Instead of tracking HP you have 'Stress', and it acts as plot armor, social graces, physical might, whatever you need to fluff it as to understand this system is an abstract and simple portrayal of the heroics and struggles of these little folk. Taking too much 'Stress' results in becoming Overstressed, and risking 'Bowing Out' of the scene- the game does not overtly risk death upon anyone without their consent outside of few remarkable circumstances. Situationally you may suffer 'Conditions', which modify die pools in relevant fashions. Becoming Hurt, for example, makes it harder to wield your War field and imposes maluses on your physical efforts.
There are some other nuances and mechanics, and a limited method of advancement, but this covers the 'mechanics' of Household to an extent that it should help you decide if this style of gameplay seems fun to y'all.
If this doesn't scare people away or still seems fun to folks, I'll start nosing into the Household book more in depth. I'll let this sit up for another day or two as an active IntCheck just to see if any other folks show up and have other opinions that might influence things.
To begin, the system is simple and intended for an episodic style of adventure rather than a lengthy campaign like one would typically envision for a D&D game. Your progression as a character in Household is limited, and the system is narrative and character action driven rather than mechanically driven. In short, there's more than one way to skin a cat in Household and your particular choices will affect this more than anything else.
Trust a sprite if you pay them
A boggart if they give their word
A fairy if they sign their name
And a sluagh when they say
“you should never trust me”
Household Proverb
The core mechanic of the game is pairing 'Fields' with 'Skills' to amass a die pool, then rolling and searching for matching sets of results. This is where player agency shines, as you get to decide how your character is approaching a scene or obstacle and pitch it to the GM (There would rarely be a situation where I would feel the need to arbitrate these decisions).
There are four fields (Society, Academia, War, and Street), and twenty skills. On the character sheet they are grouped by typical associations, but this is not a restrictive grouping.
When an action carries a risk, or when it can lead to important Consequences that would influence the development of the story, then it’s time for you to roll the dice.
There are two kinds of dice rolls in this game:
Ӵ ACTION ROLLS: For these rolls, you are the one who states the Action, and you can freely choose the Field and Skill you’ll call into play.
Ӵ REACTION ROLLS: For these rolls, the Narrator asks you to React to a specific event, calling into play a specific Field and Skill
you could approach a situation by trying to be stealthy, warranting a Street+Caution to sneak and bypass hostile presences, or perhaps in a party you may be trying to fly under the radar whilst remaining present on the ballroom floor and that would fall under Society+Caution. A situation of a precarious alchemical laboratory in the midst of a firefight requiring you to juggle reagents and components? Could just as easily be Academia+Craft as it could Academia+Dexterity to avoid cataclysm. This is the primary interface with which the players interact with the world, by choosing a Field and Skill, justifying the choice, then rolling the dice and acting out the results.
The difficulty of these actions is decided by the GM, ranging from 'Basic' to 'Impossible' (one pair to five of a kind), but there are nuances to these rolls and your ability to interact with them, but that can be delved into later if folks are still interested in this game. 'Critical', AKA Three of a Kind, is the 'standard' difficulty to be expected for most tasks that are worth rolling for. If you somehow roll 6 of a kind, that's called a 'Jackpot' and it basically allows you to take over the narration of the scene as a whole and describe how you achieve your goal for the scene. Hey, it gives me a break as GM, I'm all for it.
Reaction rolls are similar to Action rolls, except that I, the mighty GM, would dictate what roll is appropriate for the declared action. This comes up in Combat, unexpected circumstances, emergencies, and otherwise dramatic moments. Enemies do not roll to hit you; you will be called on to React to them, as deemed appropriate by the GM, to avoid harm and embarassment.
The core mechanic of interaction with rolls is 'Rerolls' and 'Free Rerolls', which all I'll elaborate on for now is that you can risk what you currently have to try and improve the result- unless it's 'Free', in which case always take your reroll as it cannot harm you!
Characters will have access to specialized maneuvers called 'Moves' which give them unique abilities or access to 'Free Rerolls'; think of these like Feats in D&D.
Instead of tracking HP you have 'Stress', and it acts as plot armor, social graces, physical might, whatever you need to fluff it as to understand this system is an abstract and simple portrayal of the heroics and struggles of these little folk. Taking too much 'Stress' results in becoming Overstressed, and risking 'Bowing Out' of the scene- the game does not overtly risk death upon anyone without their consent outside of few remarkable circumstances. Situationally you may suffer 'Conditions', which modify die pools in relevant fashions. Becoming Hurt, for example, makes it harder to wield your War field and imposes maluses on your physical efforts.
There are some other nuances and mechanics, and a limited method of advancement, but this covers the 'mechanics' of Household to an extent that it should help you decide if this style of gameplay seems fun to y'all.
If this doesn't scare people away or still seems fun to folks, I'll start nosing into the Household book more in depth. I'll let this sit up for another day or two as an active IntCheck just to see if any other folks show up and have other opinions that might influence things.
