The content of the previous chapter contained every core rule needed to play Charge. With this, you are fully equipped to have a really fun time playing either just a quick one shot or a full-fledged year-spanning campaign.

Now, this next chapter is about Extras.

Extras are additional mechanics that you can add in your games to mimic certain types of gameplay or to tailor the game more to your liking.

Making an Extra

Charge is open, which means anybody can submit additional extras to be added to the game.

To do so, submit your idea on Charge’s Community Board using the extra-submission tag.

We have a group of volunteers who will review it and provide feedback, comments and suggestions.

Once the extra is approved by the community, you can send a message to RPDeshaies to include it in the game.

You can contact RP on Discord (RPDeshaies#4116) or on Twitter.

While markdown documents are preferred, we will accept and consider others types of documents such as google docs, word documents, PDFs, and ideas posted directly to the Community Board!

To make Charge has homogeneous as possible, you can find below a markdown template that you can use to design your extra.

We can’t wait to see what you will be creating!

\# {Name of the Extra} | Extras

{short description}

\- By {author name}

——

{detailed description of the extra and what it should be used for}

\## {Name of the Extra} Rule

{Bulk of the document explaining how to use the extra and all of its rules}

\#### Example

_Example of a game using the extra_

\## Credits

- {credit #1}
- {credit #2}

\## Recap

{Abbreviated version of the extra to be used as a quick reference}

Asset Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to make item discovery interesting

- By René-Pier Deshaies

Assets are an extra that you can use as an alternative to pushing yourself or adding tension to a scene to get a bonus die when making an action roll.

Loot Assets Rule

The Loot Asset is an additional mechanic that gives you the chance to find good loot that will have a mechanical impact on the game when you scavenge a place.

After a conflict between multiple parties is resolved, or when the general tension in a scene is reduced, you can do a fortune roll of 1d6 to find loot or to search a location.

On a 6, you create 1 asset.
On a 66, you create 2 assets.

Take note of this asset on your character sheet, and use it when the time is right to get an extra 1d6 or increased effect on an action roll.

#### Loot Roll

Roll 1d6.

On a 1-5: nothing happens.

On a 6: you create one asset

On a critical (66): you create two assets.

If an asset was created, take note of it on someone’s character sheet.

Boon Asset Rule

It’s always amazing when a player loses themselves in their character, or has an amazing idea that is just too brilliant to ignore.

To make those moments shine even more, the GM can reward that player with an asset.

This is how the GM says: this was amazing, here’s 1d6 or increased effect for a future roll.

Solo Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to make unfair fights more awesome

- By Valdy

Sometimes you want to play a game with only one Player Character, and other moments you are alone or your team was taken out.

This extra is for these moments.

The Last Standing Rule

When you are alone, you are the last standing.

If this happens, pushing yourself will only cost 1 momentum per push.

Why to use this?

This is intended to those moments when, you are by yourself, you are the last hope, and then you find a new flame that allows you to overcome the impossible odds stacked against you.

Design considerations

I have a tendency to make one to one games (one GM and one player), and Charge revolves around Momentum being gained and spent.

Almost all mechanics about spending Momentum relies on having someone else available to assist you. So, by reducing the cost of Pushing Yourself, you allow for a higher flow of Momentum, which is more fair since no one can Assist each other.

So, in short:

If you are alone, you have fewer options to be awesome.
So we reduce the cost of the remaining options.
This allows Solo situations to be equally awesome.

Attachment Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to bring more focus on certain character details.

- By René-Pier Deshaies, Nugat & Keita Creation

The Attachment Extra is an extra that you can use to make certain aspects of your characters more important to the game.

Attachment Extra Rule

Characters are defined using details to represent who they are, what they are like and who they are linked to. By default, details don’t have any mechanical uses in the game apart from providing narrative liberties.

If you want some of those details to feel more important in your game, you can consider them as attachments.

An attachment could be an important piece of equipment (a sword, a shield, a staff, a book, an armor), a relationship (an ally, a tie), or even a familiar.

An attachment is a character detail that you can choose to temporarily lose to resist an incoming consequence.

Doing this is called “breaking” the attachment and cancels the consequence outright. That means that the player does not have to make a determination roll.

However, this can only be done when it makes sense narratively, and that particular attachment cannot be used until time is taken to repair or reacquire it.

Since they can be used to cancel consequences entirely, characters only have between 1-2 attachments each.

#### Example

Jean-Loup’s character is surrounded by a horde of monsters while inside his Mech. He just failed a desperate action rolls which will tick 3 segments of his character’s stress clock.

To avoid this, Jean-Loup proposes to break his attachment Mech’s Core Reactor to trigger an explosion, kill some monsters and give his character an opportunity to escape.

The GM agrees and ask Jean-Loup to start a new project progress clock if he wants to require a new core in the future.

Recovering an Attachment

Like character details, attachments provide narrative permissions to characters. When they are broken, those narrative permissions are lost.

To re-require or repair an attachment, the PC needs to start a project progress clock and track it on their character sheet.

The clocks starts at 4 segments, but may have more segments if the attachment is complicated to repair, if it was heavily damaged, or if it is difficult to reacquire.

To make progress on the project, a character may only roll to repair a “broken” attachment when they have the appropriate amount of downtime.

The amount of action rolls taken should be narratively related to the amount of downtime the character has. Pulling an all-nighter by a campfire may only be one roll, but if the character has a free week they may get three rolls or more.

Depending on what is being repaired, the player may have to make different action rolls, or may have multiple progress clocks at once. Repairing an armor may just require a Tinker action roll and some time at the forge, but contacting a demon and convincing them to work with you again may require first to Focus on a ritual, then try to Bond with them. The amount of segments ticked is usually tied to the effect rating of the action roll.

Once the project is completed, the character is permitted to use the attachment in the fiction, and is allowed to block a new consequence by breaking it once again.

Attachment Condition

Maybe you want an attachment that degrades over time, with use or by soaking up consequences. You can do so by introducing the Condition mechanic from the character sheet on your attachment.

Then, the more damage your attachment takes (or the more you use it), the more this clock fills, and the attachment’s condition changes.

Once the clock is full, the item is either irredeemably lost or unusable until it is partially or fully repaired (Which can happen during downtime or through action rolls).

If using the aforementioned repairing mechanic, you can have the repair clock be used as the item’s stress clock, with each succesful repair clearing one (or multiple, your choice) segments.

Credits

Parts of this Extra were originally part of a work by Keita Creations which you can find on his itch.io page. Reprinted with permission.
Thanks Nugat for the addition of Attachment Conditions
Thanks Lynn Jones for finding the name attachment which is way better than the previous name this extra had.

## Recap

Each character has 1-2 attachments

Attachments are like character details. They give narrative liberties to the PCs.

If a PC wants, they can choose to break their attachment to outright cancel an incoming consequence. Doing so renders the attachment unusable in the narrative.

A PC can repair/require their attachment by creating a 4 segment project progress clock that they can work on in their downtime.

World Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to make the world feel more alive

- By René-Pier Deshaies

The World Extra is a additional mechanic that is mostly useful if you want to make a custom Powered by Charge game that feels unique.

This extra also requires the GM to use a standard deck of playing cards.

World Extra Rule

During sessions, the PCs will go on missions to accomplish objectives. They will then come back to their H.Q. to debrief, rest and recover.

At the start of a campaign, or every time the PCs come back to their H.Q., the GM draws 3 hook cards of a standard deck of playing cards.

The first card tells us about something related to [Theme #1].
The second card tells us about something related to [Theme #2].
The third tells the GM what the PC’s next mission is going to be.

The GM can use those hooks to create narrative threads for the PCs to explore and bring life to the world.

#### Designer Note

Change the themes to match your game’s settings.

A game about a the crew of a space ship trying to make ends meet could have: The Ship / The Crew / The Next Job.

A game about a thieving crew could have: The Crew / The Other Factions / The Next Score.

A game about super heroes fighting crime in a metropolis could have: The City / The News / The Next Crime

1st Card: [Theme #1]

- Ace: [prompt] - 2: [prompt] - 3: [prompt]

4: [prompt] - 5: [prompt] - 6: [prompt] - 7: [prompt] - 8: [prompt] - 9: [prompt] - 10: [prompt] - Jack: [prompt] - Queen: [prompt] - King: [prompt]

2nd Card: [Theme #2]

- Ace: [prompt] - 2: [prompt] - 3: [prompt]

4: [prompt] - 5: [prompt] - 6: [prompt] - 7: [prompt] - 8: [prompt] - 9: [prompt] - 10: [prompt] - Jack: [prompt] - Queen: [prompt] - King: [prompt]

3rd Card: The Mission

- Ace: [prompt] - 2: [prompt] - 3: [prompt] - 4: [prompt] - 5: [prompt] - 6: [prompt] - 7: [prompt] - 8: [prompt]

9: [prompt] - 10: [prompt] - Jack: [prompt] - Queen: [prompt] - King: [prompt]

Once the 3 cards are drawn, the GM uses the prompts on the first two to explain what happened while the PCs were away. The PCs can then spend time exploring those threads as they see fit.

When the PCs are ready for their next mission, the GM makes a mission roll.

To do so, the GM looks at the 3 cards they’ve drawn, and builds a dice pool of 1d6 for each red card (♥ ♦).

If there’s no red card, roll 2d6, and select the lowest number.

The result of this roll tells us what is going to be the initial risk the PCs will find themselves in when starting their next mission.

On a 1-3, the PCs start in a high risk situation.
On a 4-5, the PCs start in a moderate risk situation.
On a 6, the PCs start in a low risk situation.
On a 66, the PCs start in a low risk situation, and gain some additional benefit.

The GM introduces the mission to the PCs, and they decide how they will approach the situation.

Once they’ve decided on a strategy, the GM cuts to the first scene of the mission using the result of the mission roll to describe the PCs current risk level.

Once the mission is over, the PCs go back to their H.Q., and the loop starts anew.

#### Example

The PCs just got back to their space ship after pulling a very successful heist. As they come back, the GM draws 3 cards from a deck of cards.

The GM then reads the 3 prompts associated with the cards

The AI: The AI of the ship just discovered sarcasm. (Red Card)

The Ship: There are no more food-tubes in the kitchen. (Black Card)

The Next Score: A bounty was just put on a group of crazy pirates near the asteroid belt. (Red Card)

The GM then gradually reveals those narrative hooks to the players as they interact with their ship.

When the PCs are ready to start their next mission, the GM rolls 2d6 (one for each red card). They get a 4, so the mission will start with a moderate risk situation.

The GM then thinks about a way to make the bounty on the pirates more complicated. They decide that when the PCs arrive, there will already be another crew of scoundrels there trying to catch the bounty as well.

## Recap

When the PCs go back to their HQ, the GM draws 3 card from a standard deck of playing cards.

Each card gives a new story prompt to the GM to make the world feel more alive.

To determine how the PC’s next mission is going to start, roll 1d6 for each red card that was drawn. The result of this roll tells us what is going to be the initial risk level the PCs will find themselves in when starting their next mission.

On a 1-3, the PCs start in a high risk situation.

On a 4-5, the PCs start in a moderate risk situation.

On a 6, the PCs start in a low risk situation.

On a 66, the PCs start in a low risk situation, and gain some additional benefit.

Quick Charge Extra

A Charge RPG Extra that simplifies the game for a reduced “time to table”

- By René-Pier Deshaies

Quick Charge is an extra that simplifies the core rules of Charge so that it’s easier to pick-up and play.

Use it for a quick one-shot, to introduce the Charge to new players, or simply because you prefer those streamlined rules.

Some text was copied over from the rest of the game to make this Extra stand on its own, but here’s a quick rundown of the modifications for the Charge veterans reading this:

There’s only 2 character details: the concept and the appearance.
The action list was reduced to 6 actions. Start with 4 action dots at character creation:
- Muscle: you your force to move, overcome or wreck the obstacle in front of you.
- Finesse: you employ dexterous manipulation or subtle misdirection.
- Move: you quickly shift to a new position or get out of danger.
- Study: you scrutinize details and interpret evidence.
- Talk: you reassure, socialize or influence with kindness, guile, charm or argument.
- Focus: you concentrate to accomplish a task that requires great strength of mind.
The effect rating is determined by the action roll’s result:
- A 66 gives a +3 effect.
- A 6 gives a +2 effect.
- A 4-5 gives a +1 effect.
The consequence rating is determined by the action roll’s result:
- A 1-3 creates a +2 consequence
- A 4-5 creates a +1 consequence
Progress clocks are filled using the effect rating of an action roll.
Danger clocks are filled using the consequence rating of an action roll.
The stress clock is also filled using the consequence rating of an action roll.

Quick Charge

Character Creation

Characters are defined by descriptive traits called details. These highlight who they are, and what is important about them. Those details aren’t just information to give the character color, but should be the aspects of the character that we pay attention to in the story. They are also used as a guide to know the different narrative liberties that a character has in the fiction.

When creating a new character, write down their:

Concept: an elevator-pitch version of who the character is.
Appearance: what the character looks like, what they wear, etc.

Actions

When a PC needs to overcome an obstacle and there is a risk, they use one of their actions.

At character creation, players assign 4 action dots among the following action list:

Assign 4 action dots in:

Muscle: you your force to move, overcome or wreck the obstacle in front of you.
Finesse: you employ dexterous manipulation or subtle misdirection.
Move: you quickly shift to a new position or get out of danger.
Think: you scrutinize details and interpret evidence.
Talk: you reassure, socialize or influence with kindness, guile, charm or argument.
Focus: you concentrate to accomplish a task that requires great strength of mind.

Condition

A character’s condition is tracked using a clock divided in 4 segments called the stress clock ⨁.

When they get hurt, that clock gets filled.

When the 4 segments of the stress clock are filled, the PC is taken out for the scene, and their stress clock is cleared. Because they were taken out, the next scenes should handle how the character’s recovery is going to happen in the fiction.

Rolling Dice

The game uses six-sided dice. You roll several at once, which we call a dice pool, and read the single highest result.

If the highest die is a 6, it’s a full success. Things go well. If you roll more than one 6, it’s a critical success and you gain some additional advantage.
If the highest die is a 4 or 5, that’s a partial success. You do what you were trying to do, but there is a consequence.
If the highest die is 1-3, it’s a bad outcome. Things go poorly. You don’t achieve your goal, and suffer a consequence.

If you ever need to roll but you have zero (or negative) dice, roll two dice and take the single lowest result. You can’t roll a critical when you have zero dice.

Most of the game’s mechanics revolve around this basic format.

Action Rolls

When there’s a challenge that needs to be overcome, and there’s a risk of failure, a player makes an action roll.

The number of dice to roll depends on the action the character is doing.

The action roll acts as double duty. Which means that it resolves what the PC is doing, as well as the NPC.

Here’s what happens when a player makes an action roll:

1. Player Sets Their Goal

The player states their goal and, which action they are using.

2. The GM explains the risk

You would not be rolling if there were no risks. So the GM should explain to the player what they are getting themselves into.

3. Player Evens the Odds

The player decides if they want to even the odds.

They can either

Push themselves: Consume 2 momentum to get +1d6 or an improved effect rating.
Add tension to the scene, to get +1d6.

They can also receive assistance from another PC for an additional 1d6.

4. Roll the Dice

Finally, the player rolls the dice, and the group judges the result.

On a 66 it’s a critical success. You greatly achieve your goal with a +3 effect
On a 6 it’s a full success. You achieve your goal with a +2 effect
On a 4-5 it’s a partial success. You achieve your goal with a +1 effect, but there’s a +1 consequence.
On a 1-3 it’s a bad outcome. Things go badly, and there’s a +1 consequence.

If the result of the dice is higher than 3, the PC gains momentum from their action except if they pushed themselves.

Momentum

When a player makes an action roll, that roll has a chance generating momentum.

You start every session with 2, and generate more momentum when making successful action rolls.

On a 4-5, you gain +1 momentum.
On a 6, you gain +2 momentum.
On a 66, you gain +3 momentum.

PCs consume their momentum to boost their actions, assist an ally or resist a consequence.

When momentum is spent for a roll, that roll cannot in turn generate momentum.

Boosting Action Rolls

If you want, you can add bonus dice to your action roll by using one of the following methods.

Push Yourself

When you push yourself, you consume 2 momentum per push to gain one of the following bonuses.

Add +1d6 to your dice pool.
Gain +1 effect rating for your roll.
Take action even if you were taken out.

Add Tension

When you add tension to an action roll, you can ask the GM “What would adding tension would look like here?”. The GM then offers a consequence, like ticking segments on a danger clock, inflicting stress on your character, or adding more drama to the narrative.

If you accept the consequence, add +1d6 to your current dice pool.

Team work

The PCs can help one another in different ways to assure that the teams overcome the different challenges that are facing them.

Assist

When you assist a PC, you consume 1 momentum, to give +1d6 to their roll. When doing this, you also expose yourself to possible danger.

Protect

When you protect a PC, you step in to confront a consequence they would otherwise face. Describe how you intervene, and suffer the consequence for them.

You can make a determination roll to try to reduce or cancel the consequence.

Set up

When you perform a setup action, you make an action roll to have an indirect effect on an obstacle. If your action has its intended result, any member of the team who follows through on your maneuver gets +1 effect level for their roll.

You choose the benefit, based on the nature of your setup action.

Determination Roll

If a character suffers a consequence that you, as a player, don’t like, you can try to resist it.

You do so by calling for a determination roll to see how well you resist the consequence.

Build a pool of d6s by adding +1d6 for each charge of momentum you are willing to consume for the roll.

Once you’ve decided how many charges you want to consume, roll and interpret the results:

On a 1-3, the consequence still happens.
On a 4-5, the consequence is reduced.
On a 6, the consequence is avoided.
On a 66, the consequence is avoided, and you get some other benefit.

Clocks

Clocks are circles divided in either 4, 6 or 8 segments.

Use those to track a task’s progress or escalating danger in scenes.

When a PC succeeds an action roll, you can tick 1 segment of a progress clock for each effect rating.
When a PC suffers a consequence from an action roll, you can tick 1 segment of a danger clock for each consequence rating.

When a clock is filled, a narrative element in the story is now resolved. Either the PCs got closer to their goal, or danger has come to fruition and makes the situation more complicated.

Recovery

As time passes, PCs will get better, and their condition will improve.

If the fiction allows it, once per session clear 1 segment off a PC’s stress clock.

Fortune Rolls

When the outcome of a situation isn’t certain, and the players aren’t involved, the GM makes a fortune roll to see what happens.

Add +1d6 per likeliness level of that thing happening.

On a critical success, great results, and something exceptional happens.
On a full success, great results.
On a partial success, mixed results.
On a bad outcome, bad results.

Flashbacks

Players can call for a flashback scene if they want to declare that their character tried to prepare for a certain situation even though it hasn’t been discussed at the table yet. That being said, a flashback scene isn’t like time travel and can’t undo what was already established in the narrative.

When a player calls for a flashback, the GM looks at the fiction and sets a cost in momentum (from 0 to 2) that the player needs to pay before moving forward.

Afterwards, the player narrates a short scene of what their character attempted to accomplish in the flashback. Depending on the narrative and the character’s actions, the GM decides between one of the following:

The flashback happens and the character’s actions have a impact on the narrative.
The flashback happens, but a action roll is required to determine if the character’s actions were successful or not.
The result of the character’s actions are left to chance and determined by a fortune roll.

Magic Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to guide you on how to introduce magic in your game

- By Nugat

This extra is meant to emulate low-level magic, so it may not be the best to use in high-powered settings, or setting where magic is everywhere.

The Magic Dial

First, you want to decide which action to use, though you are not restricted in how many you select in the same setting or for a single spell :

Is magic made of drawn-out rituals that require you to spend a long time gathering some amount of magic power ? Then you need Focus

Does magic require careful movements or even danses that you have to execute perfectly ? That would require some amount of Finesse

Is magic made of alchemy and enchanting ? This sounds like Tinkering

Is magic something made out of a runic language that you have to decipher, arias you need to know by heart or complex drawings ? I hope you’re a good Study (but Focus could work, especially if you have a book in hand!)

Do you use Hypnosis or Kototama (japanese word magic)? It might be Sway or Command

Maybe you need to use your Bond with a specific god to call upon their particular powers.

Be creative with magic! Maybe one spell requires multiple actions, maybe one spell can be cast in multiple different ways.

For her specific game about mages with books and incantations, Alice has decided that magic can be done in two ways : Either the character can Focus on reading from the book, or they could simply remember a prior Study if the character doesn’t have their book on hand. But, for a ritual to summon a being from another world, she has decided that the spell require a clock to be filled. Half of it must be filled with Focus as the character reads incantations from the book, but the other half has to be done with Command, as they must bind the being to their will.

The Cost of Magic

Depending on the tone of your game, magic can have different costs and have different effects :

For a cost, magic could require any of :

Some amount of momentum.
Time (require a clock to be filled).
Risk (put you in a certain position by default).
Danger (a clock to tick on consequences that is in your character’s complications on their sheet).
Materials (no need to keep an inventory, use common sense).
Casting Prerequisites (at night; on-site; with a spell tome).
Casting Limits (once per day; once per session; once in the whole campaign).
Drawbacks (create collateral damage; take stress).
Long-term effects on the caster (maybe it takes a toll on their health, maybe it even corrupts them [if someone makes a corruption extra, add it here].).

Just be sure the effect that you’re giving magic fits the cost, so that your players will always be tempted to use it.

For the summoning ritual from before, alice decides it should be a time-consuming process with a lot of care put into it. She decides that the spell is an eight-segment clock, and that each segment represents one hour of game time where the character has to conclude the ritual. Obviously, it’s also going to require an entire empty room dedicated to the summon. If the character fails at any point, she could make the entire spell fail, but she decides on something else : for every consequence, she ticks a segment from a four-segment clock. When it is filled, the being is summoned, but they are hostile to the player who summoned them.

The Effect(s) of Magic

Magic with Multiple Uses and Magic Items

When creating a magic item, or when using magic that may be used multiple times in the same cast, you should likely define limits to the spell :

Either use the Attachment extra for a protective item.
Use a “magic charge” clock that depletes with use (may or may not be replenished by the caster) that can be tracked on the character sheet, using projects.
For both of the aforementioned items, you may use Keita Creation’s repairs and restoration rules
Make the spell much harder to cast and more dangerous on further uses in the same scene.
Make further uses of the effect have a cost (see above).
For an item, allow the character wearing the item to roll for the spell in lieu of the caster (give them narrative permission to do something).
You may treat the item as an Asset for spells with delayed effect
You may also treat them as an Asset for spells multiple uses using a clock, either with fixed effect, or with different effects depending on the number of segments ticked (see below)

The effect of magic

Use the effect rating of the spell, or empty segments (if the spell is a clock), to determine its effect. When ticking clocks, follow the normal rules. If the spell is meant to help an ally or hinder the enemy, it applies a bonus (only on rolls where the effect might be relevant) :

A spell with limited effect (1 segment) will only have a small impact on whatever you’re doing : it only provides a better effect or a better position

A spell with normal effect (2 segments) is stronger : it gives you an extra d6 when rolling

A spell with great effect (3 segments) is powerful : it gives you both better effect or position and gives you an extra d6 when rolling.

Critical successes on spells raise the effect by one level for every additionnal d6 besides the first. A critical success on a spell that already had a great effect can have two effect : either it provides better effect, position and an extra d6, or it simply lets the character automatically succeed on a roll where the effect applies (in that case, the effect rating stays the same).

The being has been summoned succesfully, and it is now represented by a post-it that has a name and a clock. She decides that the spirit is a normal spiritual being that may be commanded any time the summoner wants to provide an extra d6 when rolling a dice when it would make sense that the spirit could act on behalf of the character. Since it acts instead of the character, Alice decides that the being has its own stress clock to tick on consequences.

But, since this is a powerful effect, it also has a powerful drawback : Using the spiritual being is taxing on both body and mind, and any uses of the being tick one segment of the character’s condition clocck. Furthermore, as soon as the character is taken out, the being breaks free of the spell and turns hostile to the party.

Scars Extra

This extra introduces new a type of detail that permanently changes your character when the stress clock fills up.

- By Krister Svanlund

CW: This Extra handles topics of graphic bodily harm and touches on subjects that can be associated with mental health.

This extra is intended to replace the simple default rule of “When your stress clock reaches 4 filled segments, you clear it, and are taken out for the scene.” in a way that makes putting yourself in risky situations have an actual permanent effect.

Games that could benefit from these rules are primarily those going for a grittier tone where the hero doesn’t just bounce back, but rather where they are forced to deal with the consequences of their actions.

This extra adds a few concepts to the basis of Charge RPG, namely;

scars — A new type of character detail that indicates a permanent change to your character, either physically or mentally.
bowing out — The act of leaving your friends to deal with a conflict to avoid more severe consequences to yourself.
being hardened — The beneficial aspects of having a scar detail; allows you to take more stress in some circumstances.

## Scars disclaimer

The topics of this Extra have a complicated relationship to both real life and tropes in popular media. Therefore when you use these rules, keep that in mind that pop culture generally hasn’t treated disabilities kindly but that we, collectively, have an awesome chance to change that. These rules are not meant to make your character broken or unplayable, they are meant to create a permanent record on your character sheet and how you portray your character of the adventures you have been on. But always; be mindful and listen to what other people you share the table with have to say about it, and always respect those that want you to stay away from certain conditions or disabilities.

These rules give you a chance to embrace the changes to your characters and show how it doesn’t make them less competent even if they have their struggles due to the scars they have. The purpose of this isn’t to cause a death spiral but to make the world have an impression on the character similar to how the characters make an impression on the world.

Scars Rule

When your stress clock reaches 4 filled segments, you do not clear it but instead, add a scar to your character details and update the condition to something that represents you being incapacitated. When you come to from being incapacitated, either by getting help from a friend or from just crawling back on the scene, you clear half of the stress clock and update your condition accordingly.

An incapacitated character can not take more scars but further harm to the body can change the nature of the scar, such as a burn having a wider reach, or instead of having a deep scar you get an intricate net of deep scars.

### Overlapping scars

In some cases scars end up overlapping in what it affects, such as losing your left arm after leaving your left hand, and in those cases, it is perfectly acceptable to merge those scars into a single scar. If a scar doesn’t change anything about your character it has no use on the character sheet either.

Remember to also update your looks if necessary as you add scars.

### Optional dial setting: Bleeding out

For some games, a fresh scar should require some kind of action from another character to get the scared character back in the game. This can be being “talked down from the ledge”, “staunch the bleeding”, or “taking care of the burns”. This rule, in particular, can be a bit too much for some groups, so make extra sure to include this with consent, as with all rules dealing with bodily or mental harm.

Definition of a scar

A scar is a character detail that is based on the condition you got from filling up the stress clock. Similar to conditions, physical and mental scars aren’t kept separated but rather tracked as the same list of details. The important part is that the scar isn’t the condition itself but rather what stays behind after some time.

##### Examples of scars

“a deep scar across the abdomen”

“missing left hand and underarm”

“intrusive thoughts of the scarred non-blinking eye of Gazh”.

Similar to conditions certain scars may restrict the narrative liberties you are allowed. For example, you normally can’t hold two weapons if you only have one hand.

Being hardened

When you have a scar it also means that you are hardened to some extent, this means that whenever any of your scars cause you or your friends’ real trouble you are allowed to clear one tick on the stress clock by consuming 1 momentum. What defines as “real trouble” is up to the GM but it should be consequential to what your purpose as a character, or group, is.

#### Examples of real trouble

Being chased out of the small town because the burn scars are seen as a sign of evil.

Forgetting about the missing hand and using it to try and catch the weapon thrown at you.

Cowering in fear, unable to come to your friends’ aid, from hearing the cursed bells tolling.

#### Note Scars as slapstick

An important note here is that scars causing you “trouble” aren’t intended for comedic effect. This will naturally vary between groups but remember to treat scars with the same level of respect as any other character detail.

Optional dial setting: Compensating

In some cases, and for certain settings, it can make sense to allow for some way to “compensate” for a scar, this doesn’t remove or negate it but rather compensate some part of the loss of ability. Examples of this can be buying a clockwork prosthesis, getting a skin graft, or just receiving therapy. This doesn’t block you from utilizing being hardened but it does lessen the chances of the scar causing problems.

An important balance issue for the GM to have in mind for this is that a compensation shouldn’t, by default, allow for anything a character without the scar can do, nor should it be held against the character as a weakness. But it can be used as an in-character target for future improvement, depending on the type of setting and tone.

Bowing out

This rule might not be suitable for all groups. Don’t use this if it risks creating interpersonal conflicts among the players. The purpose of the rule is to allow players some agency when it comes to getting a scar or not. If leaving your friends in trouble isn’t seen as a cost, this rule isn’t for your group.

As you get closer to filling up the stress clock you have the option to bow out instead of taking a consequence that would fill up your stress clock. You do this by telling the GM before you roll for your final action that risks filling up your stress clock, that you wish to bow out. This means that you narrate how the result of the action causes you to leave the scene or be incapacitated, and you can’t rejoin the group during the same scene. If this ends up leaving at least one friend in trouble you also get to clear 2 ticks of your stress clock.

#### Example: Bowing out

Player 1s character is at 3 stress, with the condition “overwhelmed and stabbed through the right shoulder”.”

GM: The Brute rushes towards you as the bullets fly through the air, it looks to go in for tackling you into the wall behind you, you’re in a desperate position.

Player 1: Ok, so I want to move out of the way but since I’m at 3 stress I also want to bow out.

GM: Yeah, sure that’s fine, you have standard effect for that, but it will leave Player 2 in pretty deep shit with you gone and having to deal with both the Brute and the Slice. How do you leave the fight?

Player 1: [Rolling dice] Ok, I actually succeed at the move without complications, so I move out of the way and use my effect to cause 2 stress damage to the Brute as it smashes into the wall. But my only way to move out of the way was to throw myself over the edge to the right so I fall into the river below and get carried away.

GM: Ok, so clear 2 ticks from your stress clock and you get to come back when the fight is over.

Optional dial setting: Starting the game with scars

Scars are the character’s history etched into their body, mind, and soul. For that reason there is no option to take scars to gain extra talents, action dots, or similar, if you want your character to start out with scars there needs to be a story that goes along with that scar. A story that has fundamentally shaped them into who they are at the start of the game. Preferably each scar should have a story that could be told around a campfire, even the scars that get added during play.

But naturally, not all scars need to be scars in the mechanical sense, a purely decorative scar is just part of your character’s looks and personality.

### Example of taking a scar

Player 2s character has only taken 1 stress so far and is “winded”.

GM: The Slice has gotten up and as you wipe your face shield clear you see how it’s stalking towards you.

Player 2: Ok, but I saw that Player 1 got over the railing, right? So I start circling the Slice to get to where I can look down and see if Player 1 survived.

GM: Sure, but that will also mean that you come closer to the Brute, even tho you know it’s pretty inattentive and, at the moment, looks pretty out of it after going face-first into the wall.

Player 2: Yeah, that’s fine. But I want to take a chance and look over the edge for Player 1, that’s a notice action right?

GM: Sure, that works. You have a risky position and standard effect on that roll.

Player 2: [Rolling dice] I got a 4?

GM: So you look over the railing and see Player 1 floating in the river, being kept afloat by the auto-inflated vests you both are wearing. But while you’re looking over the edge the Slice sees an opportunity and makes a lunge towards you, putting you in a desperate position.

Player 2: I try to move out of the way. [Rolling dice] my highest is a 2 so I guess not! And I’m out of armor from the earlier attack.

GM: Ouch, as you try to move out of the way you feel the burning sensation of the blade gliding in between your ribs on the right side and the speed of the Slice causes both of you to go over the railing. You’re at 4 stress now right?

Player 2: Sure am, I guess the hit knocks the wind out of me and I barely notice as we fall towards the river, at least until the cold water hits me.

GM: You come to as you feel the vest inflate around you but you have distinct trouble breathing and your right side hurts like nothing before. You don’t see a trace of the Slice after that and manage to crawl to shore a bit further downstream where you fall into unconsiousness until Player 1 finds you barely patched up by the auto-doctor in the vest. You can clear half of your stress clock and write down a new scar that’s called “badly healed scar tissue, right lung”. What do you do now?

Credits

#charge-rpg-talk at the Fari Discord
Blades in the dark by John Harper – This is heavily inspired by the trauma mechanics.

## Recap

Scar: When you fill-up your stress clock, clear half of it and turn your condition into a scar.

Hardened: If the scar causes you problems, consume 1 momentum to clear one tick of the stress clock.

Optional – Bow Out: Announce before your final action that you wish to leave the scene. If your friends end up in a worse situation from it you get to clear 2 ticks of stress.

Goals Extra

An alternate way to think about progression in Charge

- By othelarian

It’s sometimes easier to grasp how a character progresses by declaring goals and see if they manage to reach them. Here you, dear reader, will find a way to simulate this.

My Words, My Goals

What is a Goal?

A goal is something a character wants to accomplish, like a mission or a quest. It’s also a way to define what the character has to do, what they up for.

A character can have a single important goal, or multiple small ones. These can be set at creation or emerge during play.

When defining a goal for their character, a player has to think about two things:

The goal’s name
The goal’s difficulty

The name must be detailed enough for everyone, leaving little room about if the goal is progressing or not.

The difficulty can be easy, medium or hard.

Advancing a Goal

A goal has an associated clock with 8 segments (see options later for more ideas on this point). When a character makes progress towards one of their goals it’s time to tick segments, depending on the goal’s difficulty:

Difficulty	Number of segments ticked
Easy	3
Medium	2
Hard	1

Note: to follow the chassic Charge progression, a good guideline is to ask for the progression at the end of a session.

Finishing a Goal

When a goal’s clock is full, the goal is complete, and the character receives a number of talent dots based on the difficulty.

Difficulty	Number of talent dots gained
Easy	1
Medium	2
Hard	3

The character can apply their freshly acquired talent dots immediately, but must keep it thematic to the goal. For example, it may not be a good choice to put a dot into Muscle if the goal is “writing a delicate recipe with flowers as main ingredient”.

Dial: Rolling to Advance

Instead of automatically ticking a number of segments when a goal progresses, it’s possible to roll to see if it advances even partially, or not.

As Charge is a narrative game at its heart, to determine the dice pool follow this guideline:

Did the character take a risk just to advance their goal?
Did working on the goal impact the character (condition related, etc)?

If it’s complicated, here a fast and simple rule: use 2 dice.

The number of segments ticked depends on the result and the difficulty.

Result	Name	What it means
1-3	Bad Outcome	No segments ticked
4-5	Partial Success	-1 segment ticked (so no tick at all for easy)
6	Full Success	Tick segments normally
66	Critical Success	+1 segment ticked (so 4 segments for easy)

Dial: Rolling to Resolve

Another option is to roll to resolve the goal. The 2 ideas behind rolling to resolve are:

Add a way to create more narrative around the goal’s resolution
Authorize a player to test their luck and try to finish a goal earlier

The roll is similar to an Action Roll, with the number of dice rolled related to the goal clock’s status:

Clock’s status	Number of segments ticked	equivalent in action dot
Less than 1/4 of the clock	0-2	No roll, it’s too soon
Between 1/4 and 1/2	3-4	Like having 0 dot
Between 1/2 and 3/4	5-6	1 dot
More than 3/4	7	2 dot
Full clock	8	3 dot

Note: “number of segments ticked” is for a 8 segment clock.

Time to discover how to read the result:

Result	What happens
1-3	The goal is lost, it’s a failure
4-5	Partial success, one less talent dot or suffer a consequence
6	Success! Get your talent dots!
66	Critical Success! Get one more talent dots than expected!

Dial: Changing the Clock

It’s totally possible to change the default clock, to accelarate how often players obtain milestones. A good idea before doing so is to reread the clock chapter.

Also, if you want to character progression harder, try a new clock: the 12 segment clock!

Credits

The original idea comes from Ironsworn’s vows. Goals are a humble adaptation of them for Charge.

Special thanks to LynnJones who enhance the readibility, RP for the useful feedback to make it more Charge, and therabidbanana for the progression guideline.

Party Extra

An Extra for Charge to add both narrative structure and mechanical benefits to the group of characters represented by the players.

- By David Haslem

Overview

The group of players is referred to in this extra as a party. This group has a separate party sheet which tracks details of how they are perceived by the world around them, as well as maintaining party-level danger and progress clocks.

The party sheet can represent things such as their “HQ” or “Ship”. It can also be used to represent relationships with important factions or specific NPCs.

#### Example

The play group wants to tell the story of a small band of resistance fighters that want to rebel against an evil space empire. They decide they want to start their story with a stolen prototype spaceship and not much else. They have some ideas for characters and they know they want to start on an out-of-the-way space station.

Party Details

The party sheet tracks details about the party, in much the same way as character sheets have details about the character. Much like with the character sheet, these details might offer narrative liberties to allow the party to take certain actions. Additionally these details have a disposition which might be positive, negative, or neutral. The disposition impacts any rolls related with the detail on the party sheet.

Supporting details are collected into four categories, summarized under four broader details called key concepts. If the majority of details under the key concept are positive (or negative), the disposition of the key concept also becomes positive (or negative). The disposition of the key concept works the same as supporting details, but at a broader scope, impacting all rolls related to the category.

#### Example

The party decides on the following to start their party sheet to represent the story they came up with:

Authority, representing the evil empire, with a key concept of “Enemies of the Kabraxian Empire”, and two negative supporting details of “thorn in the side of the regional governor” and “falsified spacecraft registration”

Assets, with a key concept of “scrappy band of fighters ready to fight” and positive supporting detail of “recently ‘liberated’ state-of-the-art spacecraft”.

Allies, with a key concept of “nobody likes the Empire”, a positive supporting detail of “Maven, a bar owner friendly to rebels” and a neutral supporting detail of “dock workers tired of Empire soldiers pushing them around”.

Adversaries, with a key concept of “enemies of my enemies are my friends?” and a single neutral supporting detail of “Jebralt, the sketchy arms dealer”.

Because all of these key concepts are still neutral in disposition, the party will only receive advantages or disadvantages to rolls when dealing with the specific supporting details listed. Authority will become negative if it gains one more negative supporting detail - the team will have to keep a low profile and take care of that “falsified spacecraft registration” if they want to prevent being put into desparate situations every time they roll against the Empire.

Party Danger and Progress Clocks

In addition to key concepts and their related supporting details, the party sheet also has a progress and danger clock.

If an action roll results in a consequence, the GM can evaluate marking the danger clock on the party sheet to represent a complication that might affect the group later. This clock tracks a generally deteriorating position in society - loss of assets, adversaries growing more hostile, or alliances shifting. Similarly, the progress clock is available for when significant events happen in a session that might improve the party’s position.

When any of these clocks are filled, they are cleared and one of the supporting detail changes. If the danger clock fills, this change is generally for the worse. If the progress clock fills, the change is generally for the better.

How the Party Sheet Impacts Rolls

Details on the party sheet can offer mechanical support in addition to their narrative impact.

When key concepts or supporting details have a positive disposition, any rolls related to them can receive a bonus to effect or position. Negative disposition impacts rolls in a similar way.

In a pinch, the ticks on the progress clock can also be used as a substitute for momentum.

Concepts and Details

#### Designer Note

Key Concepts and Supporting details can be a way for game designers to help drive the kinds of stories that make sense in their setting. The categories provided below are intended to be a generic starting point that can be made setting specific - renaming them per setting is an easy customization to set the right mood!

Further structure can be added to the supporting details to drive home key points in the setting, for example, asking players to choose a specific adversary and ally from a list of available world forces.

Starting positions for these key details can help further drive a story for the group of players to build on. A crew looking for their first big score might not have a lot of assets or allies, but they probably aren’t big enough to be on anyone’s radar as an adversary either. A resistance group against a repressive regime might start in a horrible position against authority, but have a larger list of allies to lean on.

Both supporting details and key concepts are details as described in Charge’s Character Creation rules. Supporting details should be specific people, places or things, such as specific world forces, while key concepts are more wide-reaching.

Like with character creation, details on the party sheet are facts about the party that can be used for story telling. They also offer narrative liberties, potentially giving players permission to take certain actions. While the GM will have the final say, the entire party should have a chance to help develop and decide on these details at character creation. Much like character details, there will also have the chance to change these over time through play.

Zooming in and out

Each key concept is a detail that focuses broadly on the position of the party in an important category. Narratively they zoom out and share more of the big picture. Key concepts are wide-reaching - they create an assumed default for anything related to that category that isn’t already a supporting detail.

Supporting details add color to key concepts by zooming in on specific people, places, or things related to the party in some way (for example, a relationship with a specific world force).

The four key concepts describe the party’s standing in the following categories:

Assets - This represents the available resources of the party, including money and any available equipment.
Allies - This represents allies to the party, which might be specific key contacts or whole organizations ready to back the party.
Adversaries - This represents the adversaries of the party, which could be specific powerful enemies or a whole civilization bent on your destruction.
Authority - This represents the party’s relationship with authority - how much they have, or how much those who have it like (or dislike) the party.

Examples for each key concept and related supporting details are available further on in this document.

Dispositions

Supporting details have either a positive disposition (good for players, +1 to key concept), or a neutral disposition (+0 to key concept), or a negative disposition (bad for players, -1 to key concept). These dispositions can be used to alter the position of a roll. Disposition can alter the consequence rating of a position, and might be directly used by the GM to help set the position of a roll when it makes sense.

Disposition	Default Position	Consequence Rating
Positive (+)	Controlled	-1 Consequence Rating
Neutral (0)	Risky	No change to Consequence Rating
Negative (-)	Desperate	+1 Consequence Rating

The collection of supporting details for a key concept can be converted to a numeric score between -4 and +4. The overarching key concept is considered neutral until the majority of supporting details are negative (score less than -2), or positive (score greater than 2) - changing the disposition of the key concept to match. When the key concept changes disposition it should be rewritten to represent the change in fortunes for the party.

In cases where supporting details or key concepts have conflicting dispositions that both might impact a roll, they will end up cancelling each other out to a neutral disposition.

Party Creation

At the start of a campaign, the party should generally start with each key concept at -1, 0, or +1 with one or two supporting details written for each concept. This keeps the play group from having to do too much planning up front and offers room to expand as the story goes. This can be pushed further to create interesting balances that fit the story the play group wants to tell.

More Examples

1. Assets

This represents the available resources of the party, including money and any available equipment. A positive key concept might be something like “a well funded and equipped organization”, while a negative one might be something like “a ragtag group that’s always behind on their rent and looking for a big score”.

Positive (+) Supporting Details

Positive supporting details for assets might include a fancy ship with the latest equipment, access to large banking accounts, or a secret stash of gold doubloons.

Neutral (0) Supporting Details

Neutral supporting details for assets might be equipment or assets that come with drawbacks - the party might have a ship that’s constantly in need of repair or have access to a loan that will definitely come with strings attached if the party tries to use it.

Negative (-) Supporting Details

Negative supporting details for assets might be a big loan that the party can never quite pay off, or a broken down ship that will cost more than it’s worth to repair.

2. Authority

This represents how people in power feel about the party, or, depending on the game how much power the party has. A positive key concept might be something like “leaders of a thriving business empire”, while a negative one might be something like “considered enemies of the kingdom”.

Positive (+) Supporting Details

Positive supporting details for authority might include a group of freedom fighters ready to follow your lead or a being the king’s go-to problem solvers.

Neutral (0) Supporting Details

Neutral supporting details for authority might be an easily bribed bureaucrat willing to look the other way for now, or a legal decree that could end up causing trouble for the party.

Negative (-) Supporting Details

Negative supporting details for authority might be the captain of the watch out to get you or a bounty on everyone’s heads for their latest crime.

3. Allies

This represents people that might be willing to help the party, or who have reason to be connected with the party in some way. While typically positive sounding, negative dispositions could be used to represent obligations or relationships turned sour. A positive key concept might be something like “lots of powerful allies”, while a negative one might be something like “everyone expects our help whether they deserve it or not”.

Positive (+) Supporting Details

Positive supporting details for allies could be people or groups that are both friendly to the party and have the means to be helpful.

Neutral (0) Supporting Details

Neutral supporting details for allies could be people that are willing to help but don’t have the means or maybe a group that hasn’t decided for sure whether the party is worthy of being helped.

Negative (-) Supporting Details

Negative supporting details for allies could be people that you’re connected to that cause more trouble for the party than they might be worth, or estranged relationships.

4. Adversaries

This represents people or groups that are against the party, or possibly even harsh conditions & impending doom. While typically negative sounding, positive leaning dispositions could represent friendly competition or forces of nature that can be treated as both friend and foe. A positive key concept might be something like “with friends like these, who needs enemies?”, while a negative one might be something like “hunted by nearly everyone”.

Positive (+) Supporting Details

Positive supporting details for adversaries could be people or groups that might still help the party if they were in mortal danger, sworn enemies that are comically bad at their jobs, or maybe enemies that don’t yet realize the party exists.

Neutral (0) Supporting Details

Neutral supporting details for adversaries could be enemies that have bigger fish to fry and consider the party beneath them, or powerful desert sandstorms that can be used to the party’s advantage if they can survive.

Negative (-) Supporting Details

Negative supporting details for adversaries might include powerful enemies sworn to destroy the party, or impending doom of an inbound asteroid.

Danger and Progress

#### Designer Notes

The pace at which the supporting details of the party change can be a dial for changing the feel of the game, especially in games where additional mechanical benefits are offered for building up positive supporting details. By default, the intended pace is an average of no more than one detail changing per session.

The party sheet holds two clocks which fight against each other, one dragging the party down, and the other pulling the party up. By default, both of these clocks have eight segments.

Ticking the Danger Clock

As the PCs take risky or even desperate actions, there will be times when those actions will result in big consequences. When that happens, the party can evaluate if that consequence should be applied to the danger clock of the party sheet. As it has long-term implications, this option should not be taken lightly - no more than a couple of times per session is probably a good rule of thumb. Marking the danger clock as a consequence adds segments to the equal to the consequence rating.

#### Example

The party is in a spaceship being chased by multiple authorities (supporting detail “falsified spacecraft registration”). They need to make a quick, clean getaway to get medical equipment to a dying friend. They are in a desperate position - their pilot rolls a 5, indicating success with a consequence. The play group suggests they get away but they’ve pushed their ship to its limits (supporting detail “state-of-the-art spacecraft”). The GM agrees - they can take the consequence on their party sheet instead of risking the life of their friend.

Filling the Danger Clock

When the danger clock fills up the players should decide, based on recent events, what makes the most sense in the storyline:

Add a new supporting detail - the disposition of this detail should generally start at neutral. Note supporting details should all be specific, unique details that tie back into the fiction that are expected to show up again.
Downgrade the disposition of an existing supporting detail (moving from positive to neutral to ** negative**).
Remove or replace an existing neutral supporting detail. If all the spaces that make sense are taken or negative, consider whether recent events might have completely supplanted an existing supporting detail. This could be a good fit for story elements that have served their purpose or didn’t really get much play.
Create a new immediate threat - the GM exposes a danger and threatens the players with a negative supporting detail unless they complete a mission to prevent it.

#### Example

The danger clock fills from the strain placed on the starship engines racing to help a dying friend.

The party decides it makes the most sense to downgrade the Assets supporting detail “state-of-the-art ship” (+) to “damaged ship” (0).

Ticking the Progress Clock

Generally players should be given a chance to advance the progress clock a couple of times per session - this can be as the result of completing a project and/or as a reward for successful completion of a mission.

#### Example

Saving a person in need has completed a story arc for the players. The GM grants them a milestone and two progress on the party sheet. One player has a long term project to find allies and rolls successfully during downtime, adding two more.

Burning Progress

The segments of the progress clock can be used as a shared pool of momentum. Players may decide to sacrifice their long term goals for a short term boost and spend filled segments of the progress clock as momentum, on a one-for-one basis.

#### Example

The party is running from an enemy in their spaceship. It’s not fully repaired yet (supporting detail “damaged ship” (0), but they have been working toward that goal. The pilot says they’re going to have to give it everything they’ve got - the mechanic curses under his breath and agrees - they erase one progress from the progress clock as momentum to allow the mechanic to assist and add an extra die to the pilot’s roll.

Filling the Progress Clock

When the progress clock fills up the players should decide, based on recent events, what makes the most sense in the storyline:

Add a new supporting detail - the disposition of this detail should generally start at neutral. Note supporting details should all be specific, unique details that tie back into the fiction, so this is a good chance to promote NPCs to recurring characters, or lean into interesting bits of the story.
Upgrade the disposition of an existing supporting detail (moving from negative to neutral to positive).
Remove or replace an existing neutral supporting detail. If all the spaces that make sense are taken or positive, consider whether recent events might have completely supplanted an existing supporting detail. This could be a good fit for story elements that have served their purpose or didn’t really get much play.
Create a new immediate opportunity - the GM exposes an opportunity and offers the players with a positive supporting detail if they complete a mission to obtain it.

#### Example

The party is back at spacedock and has gathered enough progress to fill the progress clock. They collectively decide they would like to get the target off their back. They choose to improve the authority supporting detail “falsified spacecraft registration” (-), and rewrite it as “overhauled ship hides stolen past” (0). They haven’t completely gotten rid of the mysterious origin of the ship, but it won’t put them in such disadvantageous positions any more.

Uses for Party Details

#### Designer Note

Certain games may pick and choose between the following options - while they do not add a large amount of complexity, using the full set of rules grants the players many additional options to see them through tough spots.

Details Affect Position

When dealing with a situation that directly relates to a supporting detail or more broadly relates to a key concept, the disposition of the detail (positive or negative) may be impact the position of the roll. In cases where supporting details or key concepts have conflicting dispositions that might impact a roll, they cancel each other out.

Improved Effect

When dealing with a situation for which a supporting detail or key concept could be a useful advantage, players may opt for +1 effect rather than an improved position. Which option is being used must be decided before the roll.

Losing Progress via Add Tension

Progress toward improving details can be burned as momentum. Taking this concept a step further - if it makes sense, the players might suggest downgrading the disposition of a supporting detail as a consequence to add tension if they don’t have progress to spare.

Dials

These rules can be adapted in a few different ways. Below are some ways to tweak them to better fit how the play group wants to use them.

No Clocks

Rather than track progress and danger on abstract clocks, the party might decide to update the party sheet whenever it makes sense narratively. Rather than keep track of additional clocks, the players can decide to update details

This works best with the Attachment extra rules (for absorbing consequences) and Losing Progress via Add Tension (for offering benefits to rolls). The players can use long term projects to improve specific details on the party sheet directly.

More Clocks

Progress and danger are kept as abstract clocks to prevent the bookkeeping load of tracking a variety of complications and projects on the party sheet. If the play group wants to have more direct narrative ties to improvements and complications, they can track them individually as clocks and follow the same rules for danger and progress - damaging supporting details with consequences and taking on projects to improve others.

Detailed Disposition

To avoid getting too complicated, disposition is either positive, negative or neutral. It’d be possible to allow a range of values for disposition (for example from -4 to +4) to allow more nuance on given supporting details. If using this approach, you’d probably want to allow players to gain progress and danger more quickly, and only treat >+2 / < -2 as “positive” / “negative” for purposes of changing effect or position on rolls.

No Neutral Disposition

Neutral supporting details are often a mix of positive and negative traits and have no direct impact on rolls. You could avoid using them completely by:

Clearing negative supporting details rather than upgrading them to neutral.
Clearing positive supporting details rather than downgrading them to neutral.
Adding new details from progress and danger clocks directly as positive and negative, respectively, or by presenting opportunities and threats which will add supporting details based on how the party reacts.

Combining with other Rules

Attachment Extra

For some supporting details it may make sense to take damage directly to a supporting detail rather than mark a consequence on the party’s danger clock. In this case you might drop the danger clock completely and do damage directly to the details on the party sheet.

World Forces

An straightforward way for Powered by Charge games to make the party sheet easier to fill out is to define some world forces and allow players to pick some as allies or adversaries.

World Extra

The World extra offers options to help the GM plan the next mission. One of the three cards drawn could refer to a specific supporting detail to tie the adventure into the existing fiction found in the party sheet.

To help tie to a specific key concept, Hearts are Allies, Diamonds are Assets, Spades are Adversaries and Clubs are Authority.

Goals Extra

Granting progress on the party sheet could happen when milestones or long-term projects are completed. Goals are another way to offer progress to players - allowing them to focus on specific supporting details to upgrade. In this case, no more than a few goals should be available at once.

## Recap

Supporting details are party level details that offer narrative liberties and altered position or effect (if they are positive or negative). They relate to specific people, groups, places or assets that hold narrative weight for the party.

Key concepts are 4 higher level details that supporting details are grouped into. Having three or more positive (or negative) supporting details makes the key concept positive (or negative), and can alter positions of all rolls related to that category.

Supporting details can be upgraded or downgraded based on filling the progress and danger clocks, respectively. The danger clock might be filled as a consequence, while the progress clock is filled each milestone and as the result of long-term projects. Ticks on the progress clock can be burned as momentum on a one-for-one basis.

Threat Level Extra

An alternate way to think adversity in Charge

- By othelarian

Sometimes, enemies are so specific they have a special effect over characters, hindering their ability to fight back.

Threat Level is an extra about how adversityit can affect the character’s actions.

What is a Threat Level?

Threat Level is a way to represent a special type opposition, affecting the characters capacity while let it’s position untouched. It can be seen as a passive way to alter character’s chances of success.

How to define a Threat Level?

A Threat Level has two main components:

A defined source of the Threat Level
A rating associated with the source

The source must be clearly identified so that there’s no room for players’ interpretation. Also, the source must define how it generates the Threat Level.

#### Threat Level example: the mist

The mist wraps the characters in its damp texture, overwhelming their every move, hindering their perception, and blunting their dexterity.

A heavy mist is a simple threat, with a rating of 1, just enough to slightly affect the characters. A poisonous mist can be lethal, and more than just a hindrance. The protection needed to survive it is a reason in and of itself to raise the Threat Level to a 2.

#### Threat Level example: the hexer

More than a simple witcher, the hexer is a real issue for a group of intrepid adventurers, plaguing them with curses, slowing them.

Spells made by hexers can be seen as a Threat Level applied to a single character or the entire group, depending on the hexer’s power.

Is there a limit to the Threat Level rating?

Depends on the group, but a good range would be between 1 and 3. Keep in mind that a higher rating means a greater chance to totally cancel a character’s roll and make them fail really hard.

Rolling with the Threat Dice

Now that the Threat Level is clearly defined, let’s go over how it has an impact on the mechanics.

When a player makes a roll and the threat can be tied to a reason why that roll might be impacted (e.g. perception with the mist example), the player also rolls the number of dice equal to the Threat Level rating at the same time.

Let’s call the character’s dice pool the action pool, and the dice roll for the Threat Level the threat pool.

Once the two pools are rolled, each die from the threat pool cancels a single die of the same value in the action pool.

For example:

#### Example #1

The action pool contains 2d6, and since the Threat Level has a rating of 3, the threat pool is made of 3d6 (let say a poisonous mist (2) with a little curse from the hexer (1)).

Then, the player rolls the action pool and gets a 3 and a 5. In the same time, they rolls threat dice and gets a 2, a 3 and a 6. Because both the threat pool and the action pool contain a 3, the 3 from the action pool is canceled.

The result is 5.

#### Example #2

Like in the example #1, the action pool contains 2d6, and with a rating of 3, the threat pool is made of 3d6. With the action pool the players gets a 3 and a 5. But this time for the threat pool the player gets a 2, a 3 and a 5. Because both threat pool and the action pool contain a 3 and a 5, then all the action pool is canceled.

The result is 0, a critical fail!

Tune it to make it deadlier

One way to customize this is to turn the extra so that it hits a bit harder. This can be done this way: each 6 of the threat pool automatically cancels one of the highest die on the action pool, no matter its value.

#### Example #3, with this dial

The action pool contains 3d6, and since the Threat Level has a rating of 2, the threat pool is made of 2d6 (only the poisonous mist here).

The player gets a 2, a 3 and a 5 on the action pool, and a 3 and a 6 on the threat pool. The 3 from the threat pool cancels the 3 from the action pool, and the 6 from the threat pool cancels the 5 (the highest die of the character’s dice pool).

The result is 2.

Another way to change this mechanic could be that each die from the threat pool cancels one die from the action pool that is equal or inferior.

#### Example #3, harsher

The action pool contains 3d6, and since the Threat Level has a rating of 2, the threat pool is made of 2d6.

The player gets a 2, a 3 and a 5 on the action pool, and a 4 and a 6 on the threat pool. From the threat pool over the action pool, the 6 cancels the 5 and the 4 cancel the 3.

The result is 2.

GM rolling the threat

Instead of letting players rolling the threat pool, it can be the GM who roll it. If so, it can do that in the same time, or after the player’s roll to add some intensity.

## Recap

A Threat Level is a threat source with an associated rating. This rating turns into a dice pool. Each die of the threat pool cancels a die of the same value from the action pool.

Credits

This extra is a direct inspiration of Neon City Overdrive.

Corrected and enhanced by RP Deshaies and David Haslem.

Resource Pool Extra

A Charge RPG meta-extra that helps you build your own Resource extra.

- By Logan Bowyer

This meta-extra helps you create a Resource extra to supplement Momentum and refine your playstyle.

Resource Pool Rule

The first step is to determine what kind of resource fits your genre. Are you playing an Old West game that uses Grit? Does your game take place in a wizarding college where Mana would be more appropriate?

It’s important to limit the number of Resource Pools you create so you don’t give your players too much to keep track of.

Next, determine whether the resource is Shared or Personal. Something like Expedition Funds might belong to party, while something like your Android’s Battery Power might be personal. As a general rule, either all players have a personal pool, or none do. Note that not all players have to use the same personal pool.

You might also determine whether the resource can be taken or given, like siphoning off a tank’s Petrol Reserves.

Ask yourself, how will your players get it and how much will they get? Does your Cowboy get one point of Grit when he takes damage? Maybe your Android has a solar panel it uses to recharge. Are there multiple ways to get it, like drinking a Mana potion or resting for eight hours?

Do you want getting it to require a roll, like filing a university funding proposal for Expedition Funds using a Sway roll? If it does, how much do you want your players to get? A good rule of thumb is to let your players roll for resources with their best actions and reward a single serving of resources on a partial success, a double serving on a full success, and a triple serving on a overwhelming success. If players feel like they don’t have enough of a resource or they can’t get enough of it they’ll start hoarding it and never use it.

Most importantly, what happens when your players consume it? Maybe your Cowboy can spend 2 points of Grit to ignore a consequence for one turn. What if Mana is used to power a special action like Burn or Transmute? Can your tank’s Petrol Reserves be put into your flamethrower instead?

Does your resource replace an established mechanic? Maybe your group doesn’t like tracking items and spending Expedition Funds lets them have what they need.

When can your players get it back? Maybe Expedition Funds can only be replaced between expeditions. What if some of the treasure you find can be sold and converted to Expedition Funds? What’s the conversion rate? Can a mage drink more than one mana potion a day or does it give them mana sickness?

Do you want your players to be able to retain a resource? Maybe rolling a full success on a Transmute action doesn’t use Mana. This is a good idea to help your players stretch their resources further if they can’t get them back right away. On the other hand, maybe your players are hoarding a resource. A good solution to that is to let all or part of a Resource Pool expire after a certain condition is met.

Lastly, It’s important to clarify if your Resource has any special qualifiers. We’ve already touched on a few ideas, like how Expedition Funds might replace item management. What if each point of Mana lets you add a d6 to your Transmute action dice pool? Should you cap the rolls at 3d6 (3 points of Mana?)

Feeling generous? Fortune dice rolls can be used to give out Resources at opportune times. Maybe a mysterious benefactor chose to donate to your upcoming expedition (1 point for every full success on a 3d6 roll.) Or what if instead your android found a spare battery with 4 charges?

Here are a few of the examples we already talked about in greater detail along with a new one:

#### Grit Example

Each Cowboy has a personal pool of Grit. Each time you take damage, gain 1 point of Grit. Spend 2 points of Grit to ignore the narrative restrictions of a consequence for 1 turn reflecting your tough “shrug it off” demeanor.

#### Expedition Funds Example

Everyone in the party helps draft a University Funding Proposal by rolling Sway. For each partial success gain 1 point in a shared resource pool called Expedition Funds. For each full success gain 2. For each overwhelming success, gain 3. Spend 1 point whenever an action would require a specific, notable or unique item. Expedition Funds can only be recovered between expeditions.

#### Mutagen Example

Mad Scientists can Tinker during their downtime to create a Mutagen. Mutagens are tied to a biosignature, and can only affect the creature they are made for. Consuming a Mutagen changes your biological makeup permanently, allowing you to move two action dots and rendering subsequent doses fatal. Crafting a Mutagen requires an incredibly rare catalyst unique to each individual.

#### Mana Example

Each Mage gains 4 points of Mana after 8 hours of uninterrupted rest. Mana can be used to fuel your Magic action. For each point of Mana you spend that turn, add a d6 to your Magic action dice pool. Rolls are capped at 3d6. Mana potions can be consumed on your turn to restore 2 points of Mana. Consuming more than 1 mana potion between rests inflicts the consequence Mana Sickness which causes intense headaches and nausea until you get 8 hours of uninterrupted rest.

### Recap

Name your Resource. Avoid making too many.

Determine if it’s shared or personal. Can it be taken or given?

Ask yourself how your players get it. Does it require a roll? Can they get enough that they won’t feel the need to hoard it?

Figure out what it’s used for. Does it replace an existing mechanic?

When can your players get it back? Can they retain it? Or will it expire?

Don’t be afraid to add any special qualifiers.

Economy Extra

An abstracted form of economic interaction that models a fluctuating market system

- By Dylan Greene

This is a genericized version of the Marketplace and Shard system that I designed for No_Stalgia. It’s meant to be an abstracted form of economic interaction that models a fluctuating market system. In No_Stalgia, interacting with the Marketplace is a core gameplay function, which combined with its hacking rules makes for a highly exploitable economy. It may be tempting to include this extra for the sake of being comprehensive, but remember that it should add to whatever you’re designing.

The Market Clock

When players buy and sell goods on the market, they need to make a market roll. Every market roll starts with 1d6 but the economy ebbs and flows over a day which might add or remove dice to the roll. Players can also spend money to add 1d6 to a roll per money spent.

Empty: Equilibrium
One segment: Low (+1d6 when buying, -1d6 when selling )
Two segments: High (-1d6 when buying, +1d6 when selling)
Three segments: Low (+1d6 when buying, -1d6 when selling)
Full clock: High (-1d6 when buying, +1d6 when selling)

The market clock automatically ticks forward once per scene and automatically resets after filling up.

Money

Money is represented in a ten-point scale that’s abstracted for the sake of gameplay. This is very similar to how Blades in the Dark handles money. Design for price points at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. A very basic commodity like an average week’s wage can represent 1, while massive expenditures like property can represent 10.

It’s helpful to conceptualize your pricing tiers by what players will have to do to earn that amount of money. For example, your basic 1 money tier may be a purse of gold pieces in a high fantasy game that would be a simple quest reward. By contrast, making 10 money would require doing lots of favors for a kingdom or acquiring an extremely valuable treasure.

Narrative Gear Extra

A Charge RPG Extra to make the gear you have matter

- By Groov

Narrative Gear is an extra that lets a character use their equipment to get a bonus die when making an action roll, or avoid the worst of a consequence.

Gear Rule

Gear is a mechanic that lets you bring a number of pieces of equipment into a scene to have a mechanical and narrative impact.

When you leave your home base or equipment stash, you decide your loadout and have a number of significant items based on which you choose. If you want a normal loadout, you can declare up to 4 items; with a heavy loadout, you have up to 8, though characters with a heavy load are slower and stand out in a crowd.

Declaring Gear

You don’t decide what items are in your loadout before you leave. Instead, you declare you have an item on the fly as long as it makes narrative sense based on your details. When you do so, you may also spend 1 momentum and choose for that item to be assisting gear or defensive gear to gain the mechanical benefit listed below. Once declared, write down the gear on your character sheet. You still have the item, if it isn’t lost or consumed, but it gives no more mechanical benefit.

You may still push yourself or be assisted when you declare gear.

Assisting gear may include a particularly nasty knife, a local map, or anything else that might help in a specific situation. When you declare you have assisting gear, you either make an action roll with +1d6, or choose to increase your effect rating.

Defensive gear represents defensive preparation the character may have done, such as wearing reinforced armor or carrying a shield. When you declare you have defensive gear you reduce stress taken by the number of loadout “slots” you’re willing to use for this item. You may only get this benefit once if you have a normal loadout, or twice if you have a heavy loadout.

#### Example

Jaden’s character Oza, a goblin thief, is looking to scale a wall into a noble’s estate. To help get over, they declare they have a grappling hook, spending 1 charge of momentum and adding +1d6 to their action roll. Jaden marks that they have a grappling hook on their sheet, so if they need it in the future, they can pull it out again (though they won’t get the +1d6 bonus). After landing on the other side of the wall, Oza finds themselves face to face with a patiently waiting mercenary, who stabs them in the chest. Instead of taking two stress, Jaden declares that Oza was wearing a reinforced plate just in case, marking off another momentum and two more gear slots on their loadout.

## GM Notes

If your game has more of a focus on equipment, you may want to allow the mechanical benefit when you declare an item to be free, but keep in mind this will make characters a good deal more powerful. Alternatively, you can decrease the loadout to 3 and 6 respectively, giving the players a tough decision to make when they want their gear in the spotlight.

As GM, don’t forget you can always reflavor mechanics for your game. Maybe instead of gear, this represents remaining magic or battery power.

Credits

This system is adapted from Blades in the Dark by Groov for use with Charge RPG

## Recap

Pick a normal loadout (4 slots) or a heavy loadout (8 slots)

Declare gear, and spend 1 momentum for assisting gear or defensive gear

Assisting gear adds +1d6 or improved effect rating on an action roll

Defensive gear prevents stress equal to the slots of gear used. You can only do this once with a normal loadout, or twice with a heavy loadout

Gear always provides narrative freedom