Prologue

What is Playright?

It is a description centric, rules light, role playing game with a qualitative approach that makes it fun, versatile, and easy to play.

Rules light role playing game?

Everything you need to know fits on a double sided sheet of A4, character sheet fits on an index card, etc.

Descriptive centric? Qualitative approach?

Less numbers, points, countings, and maths. More words.

How versatile?

From high seas to low fantasy. Cowboys and aliens. Vampires in a dangerous time. Space samurai, ninjas, and accountants adventuring together. If you can dream it, Playright can bring it to life!

But how? How is this even possible?

It combines the very clever character creation of

Risus: The anything RPG by S. John Ross

with the equally clever descriptive combat system of

Dungeon World by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel

Sounds like there's lots to cover. Is there a summary or something?

Yes there is. Check out the guides in the quick starts section.

How does it compare to other role playing games?

You may, or may not, be familiar with terms and concepts like character class, initiative, and hit points. While many role playing games share these concepts, Playright is a bit different:

Character classes

There are no character classes in Playright. Instead, there are clichés; a concept borrowed from Risus which is simply, a few words that describe what your character knows how to do. For example:

Ranger

It’s a start but what kind of ranger?

Ithilien Ranger

Interesting. How do you fit in? Are you a leader or a follower? Are you still an active member?

Captain of the Ithilien Rangers retired

A solid cliché for a Tolkien-esque story. One more thing. How good are they at being that kind of ranger?

Captain of the Ithilien Rangers retired (3)

Excellent! Note that the number at the end is referred to as the advantage of the cliché.

It could have just as easily been an 

Over enthusiastic space ranger that’s been to infinity and beyond (3)

But that's a much different kind ranger for a much different story.

Character races

There are races and species and even supernatural beings in Playright but they are incorporated into the character clichés. For example:

• Surly battle dwarf (4)

• Vampire pirate or better Sullen vampirate with a tragic past (2)

• Three headed Hydra security guard (3)

Initiative

There is no initiative in Playright! Instead it borrows the concept of a running dialog from Dungeon World, in which players respond to the game master’s (or GMs) descriptions in real time and the GM directs the action. More on this later.

Character stats and bonuses

There are no character stats or stat bonuses in Playright. If they are worth mentioning then they are incorporated into the characters cliché either directly as

Freakishly strong elvish impersonator (2)

or as a cliché specialization

Elvish impersonator (2) 

with unusual strength

Either approach communicates the fact that the character is strong and in the right situation that advantage can be brought to bear.

Experience

In Playright there is no experience, but there is inspiration. Inspiration is a borrowed game concept from D&D 5e with a few differences. When a player does something “inspiring” in a game the GM may award them one or more points of inspiration. 

Later, when a player has accumulated enough of these points, they can use them to improve their character by:

• Adding a new cliché to their character

• Increasing the advantage of a cliché

• Adding a specialization to a clichés

Or they may end up using them sooner as detailed below.

Rolling to hit

There is no rolling to hit in Playright. In fact, there is only one dice rolling mechanic in the entire game and it’s called a cliché roll. These rolls are made by players to determine the outcome of an action their character has attempted.

When a Space samurai (5) is demonstrating to his pupil how to lift a space fighter out of a swamp, a cliché roll will have to be made to see how well things turn out.

Here’s how to make a cliché roll:

• The advantage of the cliché tells you how many six sided dice you get to roll so in the example above five six sided dice or 5d6 will be rolled.

• Before the roll is made the player may decide that this action requires extra effort and trade inspiration points for more dice to add to the roll. Typically each extra die will costs 1 point of inspiration but the game master may up the cost, limit the number of dice, or not allow extra dice depending on the situation.

The outcome of an action is determined as follows:

• If at least one six was rolled then the action is said to be successful.

• If no sixes were rolled but at least one five or one four was rolled then the action is said to be partially successful.

• If no sixes, fives, or fours were rolled then the action is said to have failed.

So, if the person playing the Space samurai (5) character decides they need to make an extra effort to ensure all goes well with the lifting of the space fighter, they can trade two points inspiration to get two additional dice which mean the cliché roll is made with the seven dice.

Let's say that when the dice are rolled they get a 3, 4, 1, 5, 2, and a 5 and another 5. This means the attempt is partially successful. The GM will think about the result and come up with a plausible explanation. For example, the space fighter is out of the swamp but the landing gear got a little bent when it was not so gently sent down.

At this point, if the player is not happy with the outcome, they may decide to make an heroic effort and again trade inspiration points for more dice to roll. Typically the cost for is 2 points of inspiration for each die but the GM may choose to up the cost.

Note that if there is a specialization on cliché that is applicable to the action being rolled for, then all dice showing ones are re-rolled until no ones are showing.

There may be times when a player will want or need their character to perform an action that does not follow from any of their clichés. One way to handle this is to have the GM decide how just how much a stretch this is for the character and choose from one of the following:

The outcome of an action is determined as follows:

• Is it close to something they know how to do? Then sixes, fives, and fours mean the action was partially successful. Three or less means failure.

• Vaguely similar? Then sixes and fives mean the action was partially successful. Four or less means failure.

• Way out in left field? Then only a six means the action was partially successful. Five or less means failure.

Note that extra effort and heroic effort are usually allowed on the roll but in some cases the GM may not allow it.

Hit points and rolling damage

There are no hit points or rolling damage in Playright. Instead there is the concept of disadvantage. It's like hit points in that a character getting smacked will be at a disadvantage but it also covers other things like being poisoned, or being blinded by the sun, or being on the receiving end of a devastating comeback from a comedian. Think of it as anything that impairs a character’s ability to act.

What this means is that when a cliché roll goes horribly wrong or even mostly right one of the many consequences could be that the GM assigns your character a point or two or five of disadvantage.The number of disadvantage points your character accumulates is the number of dice to remove from future cliché rolls. For example:

The Ninja baker (2) is surrounded by samurai and wants to use one of his flash bang muffins to escape. With a cliché roll that yields a 2 and a 5 for the action using the muffin, the GM decides that the consequence of the partial success is that not only are the samurai blinded but also the Ninja baker (2) is partially blinded and at a disadvantage of 1. This means that until the spots from their eyes fade, the Ninja baker (2) will be rolling a single die.

How and when does that disadvantage go away? With time, bed rest, healing potions, and possibly group therapy.

One last thing to note about disadvantage. It can be general in that it applies to all the character’s clichés or specific to one cliché depending on the situation. Being hungover from the drinking contest the night before, for example, would be counted as general disadvantage whereas swearing an oath on your magic and later breaking that oath would be counted as specific disadvantage when trying to use said magic.

+3 long swords and +2 chain

In Playright enhanced weapons and armour are considered bonus gear. If they are helpful then their bonus is added to the cliché roll in the form of more dice. 

A +3 sword or Harm giver (3), in bonus gear notation, would give you 3 extra dice to roll with the rest of your cliché dice. The same would be true for +2 chain or the Surprisingly light chainmail (2) armour assuming that your character’s action is to use their sword and rely on their armour when engaging some nasty foe.

If your character is trying to sneak up the castle stairs then the GM will most likely not allow the bonuses for the gear. In fact you might incur a temporary disadvantage of one or two points for all that rattling chain!