Charge SRD - Charge Creator Kit

The official Charge SRD with design guidance, licensing details, and reference text for publishing games Powered by Charge.

Charge SRD - Charge Creator Kit hero art

Introductions

The Charge SRD is a condensed version of the rules of Charge RPG that you can use to make your own Powered by Charge games.

This document follows a certain format that you can use as a base framework for your game, but also offers design advice so that you can hack it while still keeping the “Charge feeling”.

You can fill-in the gaps, or tear-it down to make something completely different.

We can’t wait to see what you will build with this. Enjoy!

Designer Note

Text inside blockquotes (like this) is for you, the game designer.

Designer notes will contain relevant design information, or offer different dials and options you could use for your game.

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The Game

In this game, you and your friends get together to tell an interactive story about a group of fictional characters facing, and trying to overcome obstacles. You decide how the characters resolve those challenges, and how the world reacts to those actions.

What You Need To Play

Here’s what you’ll need to play:

  • Between two and five friends to play with one acting as the Game Master.
  • Character sheets, one for each player.
  • A bunch of six-sided dice. At least 6 would be ideal.
  • Index cards, sticky notes or similar slips of paper.

Content Warning

We want to take a moment to be transparent about the themes present in this game. If some of them make you or anyone at your table uncomfortable, it’s important to talk about it as a group. You can then decide to either remove them from your game or play something else. Stay safe and be empathetic with everyone you are playing with.

This game includes references and expressions of the following themes: […]

Designer Note: Content Warning

Take the time to fill out the themes present in your game with the section above. Being transparent will go a long way to ensure a safe playing experience for everyone at the table.

Game Master & Players

One person in the group needs to act as the Game Master, or GM. The GM is responsible for the world and the characters that live in it (those that aren’t directly played by the rest of the table). We call those characters “non-player characters”, or NPCs.

The rest of the group are Players. The players create a character that experiences compelling stories inside this world. We call those player characters, or PCs.

While the GM is usually the main person in charge of the way the world changes over time, everyone at the table is in charge of the story.

Everyone at the table contributes to make the story successful, and captivating.

Game Structure

To play this game, you meet-up with other people either in real life or online to collaborate on creating an interesting story together.

Each session is its own unique experience and is made of multiple scenes stitched together, like in a movie. Each scene plays out as a bunch of back-and-forth between the GM and the players. The GM describes what the scene is like, the players tell the GM what their characters do, and the GM makes the world react to those actions depending on the outcomes of dice rolls.

We roll dice because we want to be on the edge of our seats. We want to be surprised by where the story takes us next.

Safety Tools

If at any point during the game creation process, or when playing a scene, something doesn’t click with someone at the table, the game needs to be paused and things need to be aligned and discussed so that everyone is on the same page.

One way the GM can help make the table safer for everyone is by using safety tools like the X-Card by John Stavropoulos, or Beau’s Script Change RPG Toolbox.

This is super important, and should not be taken lightly. Everyone at the table should feel safe and comfortable.

If you don’t feel safe at a table, it is totally OK to quit and find another group of people to play with. Don’t feel bad, and more importantly, respect yourself.

Character Creation

Details

Characters are defined by descriptive traits called details. Each character usually has between 2-5 of them to 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 on your character sheet their:

  • Concept: an elevator-pitch version of who the character is.
  • Appearance: what the character looks like, what they wear, etc.
  • Ties: 1-3 relations that the character has with certain people or organizations in the world.

Designer Note: Hacking the Details

An easy way to customize Charge is by changing the default details of the characters. They are a simple yet effective way to reinforce what is narratively important in your setting.

Are the PCs parts of noble houses? Or are they magically imbued with certain types of powers? Define details around those concepts to support important aspects of the game.

You can aim to have around 2-5 details.

Actions

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

At character creation, assign 7 action dots among the following action list:

  • Muscle: you use your force to move, overcome or wreck the obstacle in front of you.
  • Move: you quickly shift to a new position or get out of danger.
  • Finesse: you employ dexterous manipulation or subtle misdirection.
  • Sneak: you traverse skillfully and quietly.
  • Shoot: you carefully track and shoot at a target.
  • Tinker: you understand, create, or repair complex mechanisms or organisms.
  • Study: you gather, scrutinize and analyze information.
  • Notice: you observe the situation and anticipate outcomes.
  • Bond: you reassure and socialize with friends and contacts.
  • Command: you compel swift obedience with skills and respect.
  • Focus: you concentrate to accomplish a task that requires great strength of mind.
  • Sway: you influence with guile, charm, or argument.

At the start of the game, a single action cannot have more than 2 action dots.

Designer Note: Hacking the Actions

Words are important so you should look at changing the default action list to better fits your game’s aesthetic.

First, look at what you think characters will do the most in your game. Are they going to fight a lot or are they going to play a political game? Depending on what you are aiming for, adapt the action list to reflect your intentions.

If you use less than 12 actions, you might want to look at reducing the initial action dots PCs get at the start of a the game. A good ratio is something like number of actions / 2 + 1.

Here are a couple of generic examples you can use as is or as an inspiration for your game:

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.
  • 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.

Assign 3 action dots in:

  • Strength / Agility / Intelligence / Charm

Assign 2 action dots in:

  • Power / Speed / Focus

…etc

Talents

Talents are specific abilities your character gains when they reach certain milestones in the story.

A talent either gives a new action dot to invest in a character’s actions, or a new situational talent which gives a temporary boost to their character in specific circumstances.

At the start of the game, characters begin with zero talents. They will gain those special abilities when they achieve certain milestones in the story.

Designer Note: Hacking Talents

The default character sheet in Charge has a talent tree containing 13 talents. That being said, we don’t necessarily think you should do the same for your game.

Taking into consideration that Charge is generic by default, we wanted to offer more leeway for the group to make their characters progress at their own pace. That’s the reason the talent tree is that big.

Since the average campaign lasts for around 6 sessions, having a talent tree with 4 or even 6 talents should be more than enough.

Designer Note: Making Playbooks

Playbooks are character sheet presets that often represent a certain archetype. They are partially filled to make character creation smoother for the players.

Limiting choices is often a good way to kickstart creativity, and that’s exactly what happens with a game that uses playbooks. They are also a great way to introduce the group to the kind of characters the story is going to be focused on.

To make a playbook in Charge, you first need to find a cool name. Look for something catchy that will be easy to remember, and fits the theme of the game. Once you’ve found one, write it down as the concept of that playbook.

For the other details of the character, offer multiple options for the players to choose from. For example, a list of possible ties or relations the characters might have.

For the actions, assign 3 starting action dots in what you think this playbook is skilled at. The remaining 4 are left for the player to assign. If you decided to use increase or reduce the default number of actions, you should adjust those numbers accordingly.

The last thing you need to make a playbook is to define its talent tree. Each playbook can have between 4 or 6 distinct talents which makes playing this playbook a fun, and unique experience.

A good way to get started with this is to think about what makes the playbook you are designing special. Think about its powers, abilities or the cool gear they might be using.

Give each talent a name and describe what they do. A talent can do many things including, but not limited to:

  • +1d6 when __
  • Lower the risk when __
  • Increase the effect when __
  • Use [action] instead of [action] when __
  • [New narrative liberty] when __

Mechanics

In this game the GM and the players tell a story, and afterwards look at the rules to see if something needs to be resolved using the game’s mechanics. You don’t look at the rules first, you look at the fiction first.

See those mechanics as tools in a box to use as needed. They exist to resolve situations where you don’t know the direct answers to a question.

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 list of possible action can be found in the character creation section.

In this game, NPCs don’t roll for their actions. NPCs succeed unless the players attempt to stop them, in which case the action roll does double-duty: it resolves the action of the PC as well as any NPCs that are involved. The action roll tells us the results, and the consequences of an action at the same time, encouraging players to be active participants in the story.

To make an action roll, we go through the following steps:

1. Player Sets Their Goal

First, the player states their goal, and which action they are using. Then, they gather a number of d6s equal to the chosen action’s dot rating to build their dice pool.

2. GM Sets the Risk

The GM sets the risk of the action based on what has been established in the narrative.

  • When the risk is low, things are under control. Even if things go wrong, there is a way out.
  • When the risk is moderate, the situation is dangerous. If you fail, there will be repercussions.
  • When the risk is high, the odds are against you. Attempting to go against them might backfire heavily.

By default, an action roll has a moderate risk. You wouldn’t be rolling if there was no risk involved.

3. GM Sets the Effect Rating

The GM sets the effect rating of the action.

  • With a great effect, you achieve more than usual.
  • With a standard effect, you achieve what we would have expected.
  • With a limited effect, you achieve a partial or weak effect.

4. Player Evens the Odds

As the player, you decide if you want to even the odds by adding bonus dice to your pool.

You can normally get two bonus dice for your action roll.

For one bonus die, you can get assistance from a teammate. They consume 1 momentum, say how they help you, and give you an extra 1d6.

For another bonus die, you can either:

  • Push yourself: Consume 2 momentum per push to add an extra 1d6 to your pool or get improved effect on your action.
  • Add tension to the scene: Work with the GM to think of a new complication to throw at the scene to get an extra 1d6.

5. Roll the Dice

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

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

If the result of the dice is higher than 3, the PC gains momentum from their action except if momentum was used for their action.

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.

Designer Note: Momentum Dial

If you want your game to feel grimmer or bigger than life, a simple way to do this is by changing when momentum is gained and how much is gained. This is called changing the momentum dial.

Changing this dial is an easy way to change the whole vibe of a game. Since pushing yourself and making determination rolls to resist consequences rely on momentum only, the momentum dial has a big impact on the game.

If you turn up the momentum dial, PCs will be able to boost their rolls more often and will have an easier time resisting consequences. Turn it down, and PCs will instead need to rely more on their initial action dots to make their action roll. Consequences on the other end will hit way harder with a dial turned down.

Tune it and test this until it feels right for your game. One thing to keep in consideration is that by default momentum is gained for participating in the game. We do this to make the players more interested in taking risks. Your game should try to do the same to keep that “Charge” feeling.

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 an extra 1d6 to your dice pool.
  • Increase the effect of 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 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 an extra 1d6 to your current dice pool.

There could be scenarios where adding tension isn’t an option. In that case, the GM can simply communicate that to the player so that they look into other ways to even the odds.

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 an extra 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 either gets an improved effect or a reduced risk for their roll.

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

Consequences

If you make an action roll and you get a partial success (4-5) or a bad outcome (1-3), you suffer a consequence.

The GM chooses one of the following:

  • Reduced Effect: reduce the effect of the action by one level.
  • Complication: tick segments matching the per consequence rating on a new or existing danger clock.
  • Escalated Risk: increase the risk of future related action rolls by one level.
  • Lost Opportunity : what you tried didn’t work, you need to use another action.
  • Worse Condition: take stress matching the consequence rating.

The consequence rating is determined by looking at the risk for the roll.

  • A low risk has a consequence rating of 1.
  • A moderate risk has a consequence rating of 2.
  • A high risk has a consequence rating of 3.

Determination Roll

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

To do so, call for a determination roll, and this will tell us how well your character you resists 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 the risk of your next roll is lowered.

Designer Note: Hacking Determination Rolls

Determination rolls act as a mechanism for the players to resist and say “no, I don’t think so” when something bad happens to their character.

There are two important things you should look at if you want to hack this mechanic. First, how does one resist a consequence. Second, what should be the cost of trying to resist a consequence.

By default, you try to resist by spending momentum to build a determination pool in the hope of reducing or even canceling an incoming consequence. In this case, the cost is paid in momentum since you won’t be able to spend more later to push yourself or assist an ally.

Perhaps that for your game, characters resist consequences by making a roll based on certain stats - allowing players to choose if they want to sacrifice momentum for a better roll. Another option might be for the PCs to sacrifice certain assets, previously defined as details, to outright cancel a consequence.

The thing to keep in mind is that this mechanic should encourage players to truly take the time to consider if what they are sacrificing is worth the shot.

Clocks

Clocks are circles divided in either 4, 6 or 8 segments used to track a task’s progress or escalating danger in a scene. They can also be used on a PC’s character sheet to track the long term projects that they are working on or the complications that follows them in their adventure.

Generally, the more complex the problem, the more segments the clock has.

When a PC succeeds an action roll, you can use a progress clock and:

  • Tick 1 segment for an action with a limited effect.
  • Tick 2 segments for an action with a standard effect.
  • Tick 3 segments for an action with a great effect.

When a PC gets a consequence from an action roll, you can use danger clock and:

  • Tick 3 segments when the risk of the action is high.
  • Tick 2 segments when the risk of the action is moderate.
  • Tick 1 segment when the risk of the action is low.

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.

Health and Condition

When a PC gets hurt as a result of a consequence, they take stress. Each stress ticks a segment on the PC’s stress clock ⨁.

As the stress clock gets filled, you also need to update the PC’s condition by writing a small descriptive text below the clock. The character’s condition imposes narrative restrictions as to what the character can or cannot do.

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.

Designer Note: Hacking Health

Health in Charge is an expendable resource. It has a clock that gets ticked when you get stressed, and it is linked to a detail that the new condition of the PC as the clock is filled.

If you want, you can have other types of expandable resources. Things like reputation, money, or even corruption can be represented using a similar mechanism.

When designing new clock-based mechanics, think about how PCs fill them, what happens when a clock is filled and how they can be cleared.

For example, you could make it so that a clock only gets filled by certain actions or only when the PCs are at a certain location.

Once filled, perhaps the clock changes the character. Granting them a temporary or even permanent bonus. Or perhaps it changes them negatively and impacts their life for the rest of the campaign.

This mechanism adds new types of pacing mechanism that are very useful to reinforce the different aspects and themes of your games.

Recovery

When a PC takes stress, their condition worsen. Though, as time passes, they will get better, and their condition will improve.

The only way to recover from stress is in-fiction. You can either rest, lay low or seek medical attention. When doing so, the GM will look at the fiction and tell you how much stress (1-4) you clear on your stress clock.

As your character gets better, you also need to update your condition to represent your character’s current state.

Progression

As the story progresses over time, so do the player characters.

At the end of every session, players can update their character’s details to represent how they’ve grown over the course of the session.

When a big event is concluded in the story, the GM can decide to award the group a milestone. Players invest those milestones in their respective talent tree to make their characters stronger and more versatile.

A talent either gives a new action dot to invest in a character’s actions, or a new situational talent which gives a temporary boost to their character in specific circumstances.

When a player gets a situational talent, they need to decide on a specific situation that activates the talent. The player chooses what they think works best for their character and note their decisions by filling in the blanks on their character sheet. For inspiration look at what has already been established in the world, and pick something that makes your character shine.

Designer Note: Hacking Progression

The longer it takes for a milestone to happen, the longer it will take for characters to become stronger.

This is important to keep in mind depending on what kind of progression curve you want to have.

Do you want to have a short campaign where characters will grow stronger pretty quickly, or are you looking for a year-spanning one where the characters will mostly evolve by changing their character details and where milestones will be more scarce?

You could go as low as giving the player character only 2-3 Talents during an entire campaign, or reward them more often.

There isn’t a right or wrong answer here. It depends 100% on what kind of game you want to have.

Fortune Rolls

The fortune roll is a tool that the GM can use to disclaim decision making in a situation the PCs aren’t directly involved in. It can also be used by the players when no other roll applies to the situation at hand. The result of the roll helps guide the outcome as to where the story goes next, but doesn’t feature momentum nor consequences.

To make a fortune roll, build a dice pool by using a specific action or by adding 1d6 per likeliness level of a thing happening. Roll, and interpret the results.

  • On a 66, it’s a critical success. There are great results, and something exceptional happens.
  • On a 6, it’s a full success. There are great results.
  • On a 4-5, it’s a partial success. There are mixed results.
  • On a 1-3, it’s a bad outcome. There are 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:

  • No roll is required, the character’s actions have a direct impact on the narrative.
  • An action roll is required to determine if the character’s actions in the flashback were successful or not.
  • A fortune roll is required, as the success of the character’s actions in the flashback were more a matter of luck than talent.

The Setting

Designer Note: Your Setting

Use this section to explain the setting of your game.

To make your world be as vibrant and compelling as possible, think about what the general story of your game is about and how it should play out.

Establish a history of recent events so that the players have a sense of the setting. They can then start making connections between their character and the world they inhabit. How would they have reacted if they have taken part in those events?

Highlight important locations, cities, districts, or whole regions, that the PCs can choose to explore. What would scenes set in those locations look like? What actions would the PCs be taking there?

Fill those locations with notable NPCs that the GM can use if needed. These don’t have to be complex. A simple list with a name, an occupation, or role, and a couple of adjectives describing their respective personality can go a long way.

Do these NPCs belong to different organizations or factions? Continue to the next chapter to see how to define those as World Forces.

World Forces

World forces are independent organizations with their own unique agendas that the GM might use during the game to make it feel more vibrant. Each force has a specific goal that it will try to achieve by using certain methods.

If the GM feels it makes sense, they can create a progress clock to represent the force getting closer to their goal. They then mark progress on the clock when it fits the narrative - either as a consequence or as a result of player actions helping the force.

Designer Note: Making World Forces

Charge games usually come with a couple of world forces.

A force is something or someone with goals looking to change the status quo in significant and narratively interesting ways.

This could be a person, but it could also be an organization, a country, a planet, mother nature, or the space-time continuum!

For each force you create, define what their goal is. Their goal defines the impact the force will have on the world. A goal isn’t necessarily good or bad— it is merely what the force wants to accomplish. It can also be considered to be “good” by the Force itself, but others might have different view on the subject.

Lastly, define 2-3 methods the force is going to use to interact with the world in the hope of achieving their goal

Here’s an example of what a world force could look like:

Force Example

The Rebel Forces want to get rid of the usurper that sits on the throne by:

  • Finding dirt on the noble houses to expose corruption.
  • Convincing the real king to take back what is theirs.
  • Finding money to hire mercenaries to fight the war that is to come.

Designing world forces is an efficient and simple way to fill the world with interesting factions that the players will be able to interact with if they so desire.

Before We Start

Here are a couple of tips and tricks you should read before you start playing the game.

For the GM

  • Be a fan of the players. You aren’t there to trap them or see them lose. You are there to help facilitate an interesting story. Be on the edge of your seat when they are challenged, and cheer when they succeed!
  • Don’t plan, play. You don’t need to spend hours planning all the details of each and every session. No plan survives an encounter with the players, so save yourself some time and play to find out what happens instead.
  • When in doubt, ask questions. The players have tons of wonderful ideas if you just listen to them. It’s OK to not know about everything. Ask your players questions and fill the world with their answers.
  • This is a game, not a simulation. Everyone is here to have fun, so try to stay away from hyper-realism. If it looks cool and feels like it could be possible, let the players try. The dice will help guide you towards the rest of the story.

For The Players

  • Let everyone have their moment. Everyone enjoys it when their character does something cool and the spotlight is on them. So for that reason, try to make sure everyone at the table gets a fair amount of screen time!
  • You are a writer, not a spectator. The GM will help guide the story, but you are as much a part of the writing process as them. Embrace this narrative control and fill out the world with your ideas.
  • Take risks. This isn’t like real life, you’re allowed to play dangerously. The only thing that will come out of you doing so, is a fantastic story. Don’t be scared of engaging with the fiction.
  • Rise up. When your character takes actions, they might fail or consequences might arise. But that’s OK, failure and consequences make for a more interesting story. When at first you don’t succeed, get back up and try again using a new approach.

Extras

Designer Notes: What are Extras

Extras are additional mechanics that you hack into your games to tailor it to a specific genre or style.

You can see the full list of extras here but this SRD contains a couple of pre-condensed extras that you can use as is.

World Extra

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 the game, 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 position.
  • On a 4-5, the PCs start in a moderate risk position.
  • On a 6, the PCs start in a low risk position.
  • On a 66, the PCs start in a low risk position, 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 position.

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

Attachment Extra

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.

An attachment is a character detail that you can choose to temporarily lose to resist an incoming consequence. If you want to resist a consequence, but don’t want to make a determination roll, you can decide to break one of your attachments. Doing so cancels the consequence outright.

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.

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

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.

Licencing

The Charge SRD is released under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY.

That means you are free to use the content of this SRD for your own game, provided you give proper credit.

Because Charge is based off Blades in the Dark, you would also need to credit the creators of this game as well.

To do so, copy the text below in your game, and things should be good to go.

This work is based on Charge, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com/), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas , and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

This work is also based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), product of One Seven Design, developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Powered By Charge

If you want, you can also include the following images in your game to say that it’s powered by Charge.

Credits

This work is based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), product of One Seven Design, developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).