BREATHLESS

The first sign of the infection was the memory loss. Then, for some, the change. Those became the Breathless; ravenous dead who tore the world apart. One bite wakes the sickness inside, and soon you join their endless swarm. You are alongside strangers, what remains is to LOOT, SHOOT, SURVIVE.

This is a survival horror adventure game in which one person acts as the game moderator (or GM). The GM guides the story, presents challenges, and relies on rules to handle uncertainty in the fiction. Everyone else is a player who controls a character’s actions in the story and plays to find out what happens as a result.

When creating a character, players write their name, pronouns, and prior occupation.

Characters rely on six Skills:

• Bash : wreck, move, force.
• Dash : run, jump, climb.
• Sneak : hide, skulk, lurk.
• Shoot : track, throw, fire.
• Think : perceive, analyze, repair.
• Sway : charm, manipulate, intimidate.

Each player assigns a d10, a d8, and a d6 to three Skills they think their character is good at, and sets the remaining Skills to d4. Then they set their Loot Skill to d12, choose one Item their character has with them, and note it down as a d10 Item.

ROLLING TABLES

WEAPONS

1. Splintered plank
2. Baseball bat
3. Sledgehammer
4. Crowbar
5. Cast iron pan
6. Golf club
7. Rusted katana
8. Shovel
9. Machete
10. Police baton
11. Pitchfork
12. Banjo
13. Chainsaw
14. Skateboard
15. Dumbbell
16. Cricket bat
17. Fire axe
18. Lead pipe
19. Pickaxe
20. Hatchet

LONG-RANGE WEAPONS

1. Revolver
2. 9mm pistol
3. Hunting rifle
4. Shotgun
5. Bow
6. Flamethrower
7. Sniper rifle
8. Assault rifle
9. Crossbow
10. Molotov cocktail
11. Grenade
12. Pipe bomb

OCCUPATIONS

1. Chef
2. IT technician
3. Nurse
4. Fitness coach
5. Content creator
6. Police officer
7. Architect
8. Teacher
9. Soldier
10. Mechanic
11. Park ranger
12. Student
13. DJ
14. Engineer
15. Drifter
16. Contractor
17. Bartender
18. Firefighter
19. Farmer
20. Scientist

LOCATIONS

1. Apartments
2. Mall
3. Market
4. Hospital
5. Church
6. Arcade
7. School
8. Hotel
9. Worksite
10. Club
11. Factory
12. Motel
13. Gas station
14. Parking garage
15. Subway station
16. Warehouse
17. Police station
18. Pharmacy
19. Fire station
20. Sewers

COMPLICATIONS

1. Another survivor is yelling for help.
2. You’ve attracted a swarm of Breathless.
3. Bandits are on your tail.
4. A new and nasty kind of Breathless.
5. A stranger firing at anything that moves.
6. You meet another group of survivors.
7. The zone you’re in is booby-trapped.
8. You’re out of ammo.
9. One of your items suddenly breaks.
10. The only way out is blocked.
11. You meet someone you knew before.
12. You face a pack of feral animals.

MISSIONS

1. Your group is almost out of supplies.
2. Someone in your group is very sick.
3. Thugs kicked you out of your safe zone.
4. The military is planning to bomb the city.
5. You’ve met someone who’s immune.
6. The government planned a supply drop.
7. A cult is giving people to the Breathless.
8. You’ve met a scientist who has a cure.
9. Someone in your group was captured.
10. You’ve heard of a sanctuary filled with survivors on the other side of the city.
11. There’s a fire raging across the district.
12. Your group has found itself in the middle of a gang war.

CHECKS

When a character tackles a challenge or tries to avoid a Consequence, the player makes a Check. First determines the risks. The player then chooses the Skill that best fits the character’s approach and rolls the die that matches its rating. If another character helps, their player also makes a Check, but shares the same risks.

Keep the highest result:

• 1-2 : The action fails. When facing a Consequence, it is suffered in full.
• 3-4 : The action succeeds, but with reduced effect. When facing a Consequence, it is lessened.
• 5+ : The action succeeds. The higher the result, the greater the effect. When facing a Consequence, it is fully avoided.

After the Check, every player who rolled steps down the Skill they used by one step: d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4. A die rating can never step above d12 or below d4. This system can also be used to test for luck, choosing a die size based on the odds: 1–2 trouble, 3–4 twist, 5+ fortune.

POSITION

When the fiction has a significant impact on a Check, set the roll’s Position.

• Absolute : The action succeeds outright.
• Good : Roll a stepped-up Skill die.
• Standard : Use the Skill die as is.
• Bad : Roll a stepped-down Skill die.
• Impossible : The action is beyond reach.

GRIT

When a character performs a feat of pure determination, the player may consume their Grit, which acts as a single-use d12 rolled in place of a Skill die during a Check.

HARM

When a character faces a Consequence, they may suffer between 1 to 3 Harm, depending on the severity of the threat. Whenever a character reaches 5 Harm, they become Vulnerable. From that point on, failing a Check could mean being taken out or sudden death.

CATCH YOUR BREATH

When a character takes a second to Catch Their Breath, all their Skills reset to their initial ratings and their Grit is restored. Afterward, the GM introduces a new Consequence to the scene. This can happen even in moments of high tension. If multiple characters Catch Their Breath at the same time, it is resolved as a single event.

SAFE REST

When a character finds a safe shelter and rests there for at least a day, they gain the same benefits as if they were Catching Their Breath, but without having to suffer any Consequence as a result.

A Safe Rest clears between 1 to 3 Harm, depending on the conditions of the rest.

LOOT CHECKS

When a character scavenges a location, the player makes a Loot Check by rolling the die that matches the character’s Loot Skill.

• 1-2 : They find nothing, and a Consequence occurs.
• 3-4 : They find an Item of lower quality or quantity, with a lower die rating.
• 5+ : They find an Item. The higher the result, the higher its die rating.

After the Check, the player steps down the character’s Loot Skill by one step. Looting is only possible when the fiction allows for it.

ITEMS

Every Item a character carries has a die rating, from d4 to d12, that reflects its quality or quantity. When an Item is used, the player rolls its die.

• 1-2 : The Item die steps down. If it was Stressed, or would step below d4, it is depleted, worn out, or consumed.
• 3-4 : The Item is marked as Stressed. Its die rating does not change.
• 5+ : The Item remains unchanged.

A character may try to repair an Item with a Check, as long as they have the right tools or skills. Characters can carry as many Items as the fiction allows. Items are used to improve a Check’s Position or lessen a Consequence.

Breathless Design Guidelines

Use the following guidelines while developing your own “Breathless Game.”

Your Setting

The setting explains where the game takes place, what the story is mainly about, and what kinds of challenges the characters will face. Breathless works well when characters are pushed to keep going while their options slowly run out. This can mean survival horror, doomed expeditions, dangerous missions, heists gone wrong, political pressure, cosmic dread, or anything else where rest comes at a cost. For your game, think about what gives the characters a clear reason to act now. There should be pressure around them, danger ahead of them, and something worth risking themselves for.

Your Check

Checks resolve risky actions, challenges, and consequences, but each Check also prompts a character to step down one of their Skills. To resolve non-risky actions, Breathless uses the same outcome format as a way to test a character’s Luck. For your game, think about whether Skill dice should always step down after a Check, or whether another mechanic should affect when they do. For a more heroic feel that still stays true to the core of what makes a Breathless game, we suggest not stepping down Skills after every Check. Instead, use this mechanic:

Push Yourself: When a player is not satisfied with the result of a Check, they may have their character push themselves. When they do, they reroll the Check and keep the best result. Afterward, they step down the Skill die they used.

Your Position

Position helps the GM rely on the fiction and translate its impact into how Checks are resolved. For your game, think about what makes challenges easier or harder to overcome. You do not need to change how Position works directly, but answering this question will help you design character resources, enemies, obstacles, and Consequences more easily.

Your Grit

Grit gives players a break from constantly stepping down their Skills during Checks by giving them a one-off d12 to use for a Check. This drastically increases their chance of success for a challenge that matters to them. For your game, think about what characters rely on. Is it Hope, Focus, Fury, Faith, Blood, Instinct, Luck, or something else? How do they recover it? Also think about the kind of moment Grit is supposed to create. Is it heroic, desperate, violent, spiritual, reckless, cinematic, strange, or something else?

Your Harm

Harm allows characters to resist the most serious Consequences tied to their actions. It also acts as the default health pacing mechanism of the game. For your game, think about how much Harm characters can withstand before becoming Vulnerable. Should characters feel stronger? Weaker? Do characters have more than one Harm track? What happens when they fill their Harm track, and how do they recover from Harm?

Your Catch Your Breath

Catch Your Breath allows a character to reset all their Skills to their initial ratings, but prompts the GM to introduce a new consequence into the scene. For your game, think about how characters should Catch Their Breath. Can they do it at any time, do they need to rest, or do they need to be in a specific location? Is there a cost to doing this?

Your Safe Rest

Safe Rest allows a character to gain the benefits of Catch Your Breath without introducing a new Consequence. This gives characters a break when tension is lower. For your game, think about what counts as safety. Is a Safe Rest easy to find? Is there a cost to resting? Do characters need special resources to rest? Does it attract danger?

Your Loot & Items

Loot Checks allow characters to search for useful assets that can make their lives easier and improve their Position for future Checks. But looting always carries the risk of bringing more danger into play. For your game, think about what helps characters survive in your world. Do they scavenge supplies, search for treasure, gather clues, recover memories, call in contacts, or something else? Would it be useful to have more specific looting tables and ratings for the Items that can be found through this mechanic?

Your Skills

Skills allow players to tackle challenges and avoid Consequences from the fictional world through their characters. For your game, think about how to reskin the Skill list so it better fits the tone of your setting. Keep the list short, broad, and easy to understand. Each Skill should suggest a clear kind of action, while still leaving enough room for creative approaches and interpretation.

Kits (Classes)

Kits are not part of the original Breathless game, but have been used in other games we have published. They can work as archetypes, backgrounds, classes, or playbooks for players to choose from. Each Kit can include pre-assigned Skills, starting Items, a custom number of Harm boxes, special rules, questions for the player to answer, or flavourful rolling tables. For your game, think about whether all characters should start from the same baseline, or whether you want to offer a list of starter Kits.

Your Rolling Tables

Rolling tables allow the GM to disclaim decision-making, reduce friction during play, and make character creation, adventures, and enemy generation easier to manage. For your game, think about adding rolling tables for the things that matter most in your world.

Your Game

This is your game, so make it yours. The goal of this document is to give you a starting point and help break the blank page syndrome you may get when starting a new project. Start from here, make as many changes as you see fit, and finish your project. Once it is published, send me a message at farirpgs.com/contact so I can tell others about it and add it to the Breathless Games collection. Have fun!

• RP