Delta World

Rules of the Game

The game is played with a set of cards, dealt from a deck by the game master (GM). Each player controls one character in the fictional setting being managed by the GM.

A Player's Deck: Each player is dealt three cards:

• a Concept card (defining the core traits of his character)
• a Schtick card (providing the character with some distinctive set of techniques, tools or unusual abilities)
• a Twist card (giving the character a background of some sort to work from).

Players may be dealt additional Schtick or Twist cards as the game progresses, and may accumulate other dice in their hands.

Example: a player may be dealt the Samurai Concept card, the Legendary Swordsmanship Schtick card, and the Wandering Loner Twist card.

Dice Pools: Each player has a dice pool, made up of 6-sided dice.

• A player always has at least as many dice as he has cards in his hand
• Players gain more dice as a reward for good role playing or because they're more competent, luckier, or more powerful than before.

Example: a starting character will have 3 6-sided dice. After a session, the GM may assign him another permanent die for good character development. Later, he gains a new Schtick card, along with another die to go with it.

Rules and Rolling: Each card in a player's hand has one or more Rules on it.

• When a character declares an Action, he rolls his dice pool and activates Rules by assigning a die to them.
• He may not assign more than one die to a given Rule unless the Rule says he can.
• He may activate multiple Rules on a card.
• He may activate Rules on any or all cards in his hand.
• Any Rule that didn't have a die assigned to it is treated as though a "1" were assigned.

Actions and Challenges: The game is made up of Challenges (presented by the GM to the player characters, either as a group or individually), and Actions (dramatic events instigated by the players or NPCs).  Challenges and Actions take place inside a scene; several scenes make up a story.

• Examples of Actions are "attack my enemy", "cure a child's illness" or "decipher a riddle".
• Examples of Challenges are "figure out how to open a locked door", "climb the mountain", or "convince the king to listen to your plan".
• Characters overcome Challenges by taking Actions which can reasonably do so.  For example, a thief character may overcome the challenge of a locked door - but so might a swordsman, by cutting open the lock.
• If an Action is directed at another character, that character may immediately respond with an Action of his own.  During combat, all PCs and NPCs declare their Actions, and all are resolved simultaneously unless a specific Rule applies.
• When two Actions directly conflict with each other, the player with more dice wins.  If both parties have equal numbers of dice, sum the total of all dice; higher sum wins.

Locked dice: Several types of Actions, such as attacks during combat, can lock one or more dice in a character's pools.  Some Rules require that the character lock dice assigned to that Rule as well.

• Locked dice cannot be rolled during the scene.
• Locks release themselves once a scene ends, unless a specific Rule says otherwise.  Players can voluntarily keep dice locked.
• Releasing a lock deactivates any Rule associated with it.
• Rules which say they "inflict" or "avert" some number of dice will lock that many dice out of an opponent's pool, or prevent a number of dice from being locked out of your own.

Example of Play

Stony Smith, Space Patrolman, is investigating the supposedly uninhabited moon Saturn 7.  As a Rugged Hero, Stony has a Rule on his Concept card that reads:

"Adventurer: 1-3 = No effect; 4-6 = You overcome a Challenge through your wits, brawn, perseverance and adherence to your moral code."

Stony has 3 dice in his pool.  He rolls, getting 5, 3 and 1.  Assigning the 5 to "Adventurer" activates the Rule, allowing him to overcome the Challenge he's facing - the fact that space pirates are using the moon as a secret base!  He has nothing else he can immediately use the 3 and 1 for, so they are ignored.

Later, Stony gets into a fight with one of the pirates.  As a Rugged Hero, he has another Rule, which reads:

"Fight: 1-2 = No effect; 3-5 = Inflict or avert 1d6 on your opponent; 6 = Critical hit! Inflict or avert a total of 2d6"

Stony rolls and gets 2 3 6.  He assigns the 6 to Fight, choosing to avert 1d6 of damage that round and inflict 1d6 on the pirate.  With this damage, the pirate's own dice pool drops from 2 dice to 1, as 1 die is locked.  He has nothing else to do with the 3 and 2 at the moment, so they are ignored.

During actual play, characters will probably have multiple Rules that they will find useful.  They must choose how to assign their dice to overcome the odds and win the day.