Broken Sorcery
Chapter 1

Gameplay

For 2 or more players in which you play fictional fantasy Characters in a unique story—forged by your decisions and the luck of the roll.

  • Broken Sorcery is a homebrewed RPG which shamelessly borrows established fantasy game concepts

  • The rules are raw and uncut; gameplay aims to be simultaneously crunchy and streamlined

  • The game is purposefully not “balanced” and won’t always be fair; reality isn’t balanced—your fantasy world isn’t either

  • Your Weapons and Armor will break; your Spells will Fizzle and backfire

  • Your Character may be destroyed!

  • Each Species and Class has distinct advantages and disadvantages, aimed at making your Character unique and specialized

  • All rules are Optional, therefore no rules are marked as Optional

  • The only point is to have fun!

  • Your game may be played in one or more Sessions; a long running game may span years (in and out of game)

  • Gameplay is streamlined to a core Checks mechanic

  • The Game Master (GM) describes the environment, monsters, and humanoids you interact with, called Non-player Characters (NPCs)

  • The GM’s goal is to make your world feel alive and dynamic—providing the setting for the story you unravel

  • You describe your Character’s Actions in pursuit of accomplishing your Objectives

  • Objectives can be anything from short-term Character goals to long-term narrative story arcs

GM A ship smashes into the bow of your boat amongst the storm and havoc breaks out! Orcs swing by ropes onto the deck of your ship! Rogar, you’re in the crow’s nest, what do you do?

Rogar I swing down from the crow’s nest and power kick one of the Orcs overboard!

GM Nice! Roll an unarmed Attack to see if you can nail him. You need a 14 to hit.

Rogar I rolled an 18 plus 3 for my Strength, that’s a 21!

GM Okay. You grab a rope and jump from the crow’s nest, swinging in a wide crescent arc. You plant your boots square in the first Orc’s chest, sending him hurling over the side of the boat. You land on the deck amid battle, what’s next?

Your story is limited only by your imagination.

Maybe you're infiltrating the cavern of a Dragon’s lair to lift a magic ring, negotiating trade deals with a foreign empire, or mapping out an ancient ruin on the edge of town?

The adventure is yours to write!

No Rules!

This document provides detailed yet inherently incomplete and opinionated rules to run a structured fantasy role-playing game. Add, ditch, break, or bend.

You can describe anything you wish your Character to attempt (trying to pick a lock for your first time ever, powersliding down a cliff, or casting a Spell you don’t even know).

Maybe your Character has never cooked before in their life. Preparing a roast Griffin fit for a king is going to be pretty tricky to pull off—but not impossible!

Your GM is the final arbiter of what rules to use and when. They might ignore some rules completely or make up new ones on the spot to fit the scenario.

Disagreements, if any, should be handled in a brief post-session Retrospective. GMs should listen to feedback and incorporate suggestions into future gameplay.

Checks

Broken Sorcery is played with polyhedra dice: d4, d6, d10, d12, d20, d100.

Checks use a twenty-sided die (d20), “roll high” mechanic.

Checks determine the outcome of sticky situations—and who stands victorious at the end of battle!

Combat, Spellcasting, Stealth, diplomacy, and Engineering are just a few examples of things which might use Checks.

Difficulty

On your Turn, announce the Action you wish your Character to take.

Your GM determines the Difficulty from 5 to 25, typically stating the target, and asks you to roll a Check using a specific skill or one of your generic Ability Scores.

  • If the result, plus any Bonuses and/or Penalties, is greater than or equal to the Difficulty, your Action succeeds

Rogar I swipe the Potion out of the wizard’s hand!

GM Okay, roll a Dexterity Check vs Difficulty 15 to grab the Potion from the wizard.

Rogar I rolled an 8 plus 3 for my Dexterity, that’s an 11…

GM You’re too slow, Magus the Mystical yanks his hand back then proceeds to quickly chug down the Potion.

Rogar Uh oh… that’s not good…

  • 5 to 10 represents a trivial task

  • 11 to 15 is moderately difficult

  • 16 to 20 will be particularly tricky

  • Checks over 20 are extremely difficult

Combat Checks might include things like swinging a Weapon, hurling a fireball, shoving an enemy off a cliff, smashing a chair over someone’s head, shanking a Goblin from behind… you get the idea.

Non-Combat Checks might include sneaking by a guard post, deciphering ancient runes, casting a Scry Spell to spy on a suspicious inn keeper, convincing a cannibal to go vegan… it could happen.

Advantage

Sometimes you get to roll with Advantage! Roll 2d20 and use the higher value. Bam!

Disadvantage

Roll 2d20 and use the lower value. Dang!

Advantage and Disadvantage may also be applied to Hit Point (HP) increases, Healing, Damage, or other non-d20 rolls.

No Check

Your GM may determine an Action requires No Check (an automatic success or failure), to balance story and unpredictability.

Mystery Check

The GM may conceal a Check’s Difficulty to add suspense and uncertainty by rolling a Check for your Character in secret.

Critical Success

A Natural 20 (the result before Modifiers) is an automatic success. Boom!

Attack and Spellcasting Checks which roll a Natural 20 are Critical Hits!

Fumbles

Rolling a Natural 1 is an automatic failure and might result in additional consequences.

Competitions

When you go one-on-one with someone (like arm wrestling) each side rolls a Check: High value wins. On a tie your struggle continues until your next Turn.

Examples of Competitions might include: tackling a Minotaur (Strength), snatching a Gem from a Halfling (Dexterity), chasing a Bandit (Constitution), solving a puzzle faster than Magus the Mystical (Intelligence), guessing the hidden object in a shell game (Wisdom), or out-flirting an NPC in a bar (Charisma).

Group Checks

If your group takes an Action together it can resolve in one of two ways:

  • Lowest Common Denominator: The Check is restricted to the weakest link in the group (such as sneaking across a courtyard; if anyone is spotted, everyone is spotted). The least likely to succeed at the given Check makes the roll for the entire group.

  • Combined Effort: The Check is reinforced by the group (such as everyone trying to push a Giant over a waterfall together). The most likely to succeed at the given Check makes the roll for the entire group with Advantage.

Objectives

You set your own goals, either explicitly or intrinsically. It’s recommended to state and record your goals, allowing your GM to prep and tailor your game to your Objectives.

Your GM should try to avoid premeditating or assigning goals; your GM’s sole responsibility is creating and presenting your game world.

Your GM might jumpstart your sandbox mid-storyline, but you decide where it goes!

  • Your GM describes where you are and what is happening

  • You set your Objectives (both group and individual) and describe the Actions your Character takes as you work towards accomplishing your goals

Your game’s story is interactive; work with your GM to find a good balance between story progression, goals that excite and motivate you, obstacles, and difficulty.

You may even present an Objective before your game begins: “My Paladin, Bogart the Honorable, seeks a Holy Sword, so with it they might vanquish the most fearsome of demons!“

GM As you settle down by a cozy fire at the local pub, mug in hand, you overhear locals gossiping, “It was a hideous spider-scorpion thing! Sprang from the rooftops. Impaled Big Jimmy! I tried to wrench him away but the beast was far too strong. I must have hit my head and passed out. Someone's gotta do something about it!”

Rogar I lean over my chair and say, “A hideous spider-scorpion thing you say?”

As Rogar learns more about the town’s spider-scorpion infestation—possibly offered a bounty for dealing with it—they set their focus on capturing the beast. Rogar has just set their Objective, and will be rewarded in XP (and possibly GP) to accomplish it.

Maybe shortly thereafter, Rogar learns the beast has been conjured by none other than Magus the Mystical! Rogar adds a secondary Objective: find and stop the evil Wizard Magus who is opening rifts in reality.

Rogar might not care that Magus is fracturing reality, it’s all good in Rogar’s book. Maybe Rogar plots to harvest the monster’s poison?

Sessions

Gather a group of friends (or really nice strangers) around a table, spread out some dice and snacks (don’t forget the snacks!), and start playing!

Each gathering is a Session.

Session Zero

Your first session, Session Zero, is a chance to meet your group and discuss what kind of RPG you want to play.

Do you want your game to be combat heavy, exploration focused, full of political intrigue, or a series of dungeon crawls? Maybe all of the above.

  • Create your Characters

  • Contribute to Worldbuilding

While your GM will do the majority of Worldbuilding, each player should contribute Worldbuilding concepts. This might lean into your Character concept, but doesn't have to.

Rogar The world has no concept of coins. Commerce is exclusively based on precious stones and gems.

Retros

At the end of a Session take a few minutes to stop role-playing and have a Retro.

  • Discuss what happened in the Session

  • Award XP

  • Any new Objectives?

  • Any feedback for players or the GM?

Afterwards, you or the GM should record a brief entry in a log.

Session 4 – Day 2 of Spring, Year 123

Rogar and company discover an underground lair at the bottom of the town well and defeat the spider-scorpion inhabiting it—which had been liquefying residents.