Introduction
This Game is Breathless
Breathless is a condensed survival horror roleplaying game published in 2022 by Fari RPGs (that’s me!).
Since then, over 300 Breathless Games have been published on itch.io and talto.cc (in Japanese), with more constantly being released. The engine behind the original game has inspired a lot of people, and my goal since day one has been to make it as easy as possible for creators to design their own Breathless games.
This is why this document exists: the Breathless Creator Kit.
It includes the Breathless System Reference Document (SRD), which includes the open-licensed game text, as well as design guidelines to help you understand the thinking behind the rules and how to adapt them. It also includes the SRDs for all the sibling games published by Fari RPGs, which you can use as examples of how to take the core rules in different directions.
It also includes guidelines for how to use the open license, plus resources like logos and attribution text to help you identify your game as part of the Breathless family.
Breathless in a Nutshell
Breathless is a survival horror RPG where you play a survivor trying to stay alive in a world overrun by the living dead. The whole game fits on two sides of a letter-sized sheet of paper.
The heart of the game is a single mechanic that creates a constant push and pull between risk and recovery.
Tension, then release.
When the fiction has a significant impact on a Check, establish the character’s Position for the roll.
- On a 1-2, the action fails. When facing a Complication, it lands in full.
- On a 3-4, the action succeeds, but with reduced effect. When facing a Complication, it is lessened.
- On a 5+, the action succeeds. The higher the roll, the greater the effect. When facing a Complication, it is fully avoided.
Here’s the catch: every time you roll a die, it steps down one size (d12 > d10 > d8 > d6 > d4). The only way to reset it is to Catch Your Breath, but every time you do, the GM introduces a new Complication for the group.
That one rule is the core foundation behind almost everything in Breathless.
This Creator Kit
Since publishing Breathless, I’ve released several other Breathless Games under Fari RPGs, each one pushing the original rules into a new genre or theme.
This design document collects all of those games’ SRDs in one place, alongside guidelines and resources to help you build something of your own.
A New Kind of SRD
Traditionally, an SRD is just a block of rules you copy, paste, and adapt. That’s useful, but I think the format can do more.
For me, an SRD has two parts. The first is the rules themselves: the actual words you can lift and use as a foundation for your game. Coming up with the right phrasing for mechanics is hard work, especially when English isn’t your first language. I’ve already done that work, so I’m making it available for you all. The second part is the design points: short, conversational notes that explain the thinking behind each rule. They’re there to help you understand not just what a rule does, but why it works the way it does, and what questions you should be asking as you adapt it. Design points won’t be repeated across games; if something is explained in the Breathless SRD, you won’t see it again in the Nomadic SRD.
This is a living document. I’ll keep updating it as new games come out and as the community tells me what would help them.
Where to Start
Start by thinking about the game you want to make. What does the world look like? Who are the players going to be? What themes matter?
Once you have a rough idea, read the Breathless SRD. Then create a new text document and start writing.
You don’t need to read this whole thing cover to cover; the original SRD is enough to get you moving. The sibling games like Nomadic (solo space exploration) and Stoneburner (demon hunting and community building) are worth reading eventually.
Open Licensed
All the mechanics and setting details across every game in this document are available under an open license. You can distribute and modify the text as long as you provide attribution and share your adaptations under similar terms.
You can use this to build your own game, or to create supplements: backgrounds, adventures, NPCs, monsters, tables, setting material, whatever you can imagine.
Attribution Text
If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us like this:
This work is based on Breathless, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com/), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas. This product is licensed under the ORC License available online at various locations including www.azoralaw.com/orclicense. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein.
Logos
Fari RPGs’ Breathless Games
Here are the Breathless games published or in development by the Fari RPGs team:
- Breathless — A zombie survival horror RPG, and the original game.
- Renegade — A sci-fi space opera set in the used future.
- Nomadic — A solo sci-fi RPG of exploration and survival.
- Stoneburner — A solo-friendly sci-fantasy RPG of demon hunting and community building.
- Tales of the Burned Stones — A solo-friendly dark-fantasy RPG of journeying and dungeon delving.