What This Game is
Bright-Dark 3d6 Role-Playing Game (Bright-Dark) is a table-top fantasy role-playing game about creating a specific feel. It is:
- Rules-Lite
- Fiction-First
- Player-Skill-Forward
- Human-Scale Stakes
- Grounded Fantasy
- Low Magic
- Low Fantasy
- Simple, Fast, Intuitive
- Assumes realism as a basis for how the world works
- Class-less
- Skill-less
- Tone-Driven
- Combat is deadly, not a sport
Bright-Dark Tone
Bright-Dark is not bright against dark, it's bright within dark. Light does not triumph, but darkness does not fade.
The world is wounded. The is not a literal wound, it's a metaphor for a central tension that affects everyone, everywhere. It characterizes the world and the people in it.
People carry a quiet grief. Wonders are fading, but they remind us that there are things worth struggling for. Kindness, courage, and hope are important because they're needed. It's melancholy but warm, and without nihilism.
Heroes are ordinary people with small but meaningful goals. They face danger because they care. They want to help one significant person, one forgotten village, or one lonely shrine.
The Core Mechanic (3d6)
This game uses a 3d6 roll-over mechanic. You roll three six-sided dice (3d6), add a bonus or penalty from an attribute, and a bonus from one appropriate Talent. Try to roll equal to or greater than a Difficulty Target Number (TN).
Rolls of 3-4, before bonuses and penalties are added, are automatic failures. The GM may add a narratively appropriate consequence to the outcomes of these actions. Magic backfires. Complications arise.
Rolls of a 17-18, before bonuses and penalties, are critical success! The GM may add a narratively appropriate consequence to the outcomes of these actions. Attacks add a bonus 2d6 damage. The action goes just right!
The 3d6 produces results that, when graphed, create a bell-curve distribution. About 67% of all rolls fall between 8 and 13. This means that the middle results are common, and the highs and lows are uncommon and rare. Dice rolls feel less swingy. Your characters will more reliably succeed at what they specialize in which encourages niche protection and teamwork.
Light Bonus & Dark Penalty
This game uses a variation on the 3d6 mechanic that reinforces tone. The GM applies these when they are emotionally meaningful in a scene.
Light Bonus
When acting with hope in a bleak situation, when protecting someone at personal risk, or when facing great fear with others would ordinarily run, players gain a Light Bonus. They roll 4d6 and drop the lowest.
Dark Penalty
When giving into temptation and taking the easy path, when abandoning others to protect yourself, or when giving into despair, players gain a Dark Penalty. They roll 4d6 and drop the highest.
Character Creation
Players must make characters who suit the tone and setting. A pdf of the character sheet is available here.
Wounds
Start by creating a wound. A wound is an internal conflict caused by a past trauma, a mistake, a fear, a lie, a burden, or a betrayal. This wound is an internal conflict or struggle, and it should inform how you play your character.
Goals
Your characters need a personal goal to pursue in play. What do they want and why is it important to them? What happens if they fail? These are what motivate your character.
Discuss your wound and goal with your GM before play.
Attributes & Modifiers
There are six attributes:
- Strength: Melee, physical exertion
- Endurance: Physical resilience
- Agility: Ranged, physical coordination
- Mind: Knowledge, Tools, Gadgets, Crafts
- Will: Resistance to external influence and control
- Emotion: Expression and passion
Next, assign each of these modifiers to your attributes as desired:
+2, +1, 0, 0, -1, -2
Talents
Talents distinguish your character. Some talents add small bonuses, some grant use of skills or powers. At character creation, choose one talent. A short list of talent is provided in these QuickStart rules.
- Attractive Presence: When you trigger a reaction roll, roll 4d6 and keep the highest three instead of 3d6. Something about your presence draws attention or eases tension. It might be beauty, confidence, authority, or an inner quality that others respond to.
- Brute: Add +1d6 to melee weapon damage, but subtract 1 from your Defense. You hit harder than most, but your aggressive style leaves you more exposed.
- Diehard: Add +1 to resist fatigue, disease, poison, harsh conditions, long exertion, or heavy physical strain.
- Marksman: You do not suffer penalties to hit due to range, and you do not suffer penalties to called shots while in Near range.
- Magic-User: You can use magic. Refer to the Magic section for rules and additional magic talents for magic-users to choose as part of character improvement.
- Signature Weapon: Choose a weapon type (staff, mace, hammer, sword, great sword, dagger, longbow, etc.). When you use this weapon, you gain a +1 to hit and damage rolls.
- Thievery: add +1 to rolls to sneak, hide, pick locks, palm, lift or plant objects without notice, and perform delicate tasks with your hands.
Resources
Your character has three resources: Health, Stamina, and Ether.
Health
Health describes your body's capacity to sustain wounds and injuries. Any lost health abstractly represents a wound or injury. Characters begin maximum health equal to 10 + Strength.
Stamina
Stamina describes your ability to exert yourself. Spend 1 Stamina to roll 4d6 and drop the lowest on an action. Characters begin with Stamina equal to their Endurance, minimum 1.
Ether
Ether is the substance that magic and spirits are made of. Spend 1 Ether to cast Minor Spells, or 2 Ether to cast Major Spells. Characters begin with Ether equal to either their Mind, Will, or Emotion (their choice), minimum 1.
Bonus Resource Points
Once your resources are determined, you have three bonus resources points you may add to your resources as desired to finalize your resources. For example, if your Health is 12 (10 + 2 from Strength), you may add all three of your resource points to raise it to 15.
Equipment
Equipment exists within the fiction, not the character sheet. Encumbrance is not tracked. Your characters can begin with anything they need that suits their character (but not everything they want).
Armor and Defense TN
Your Defense TN does not describe the character's skill; it describes how exposed they are. Armor provides protection.
- Unarmored = 8 Defense TN
- Light Armor (cloth or leather) = 9
- Medium Armor (banded, scale or chain) = 10
- Shield (Wooden) = +1 to Defense TN
Weapons
All weapons deal 1d6 + attribute damage as a base. Some Talents may apply. For variety:
- Barehanded strikes deal 1 + Strength
- Improvised weapons deal 1d3 + Strength
- Small, light weapons deal 1d6-1 (minimum 1) + Attribute
- Average weapons deal 1d6 + Attribute
- Large, heavy weapons deal 1d6+1 + Attribute
How to Play
The medium of the game is conversation, not mechanics, procedures, or rules. The gameplay loop looks like this:
- First, the GM describes the scene.
- Second, the players describe what they do and how.
- Third, the GM determines and describes what happens.
- Repeat until the scene is resolved, then establish a new scene.
This is how combat, exploration, and social interaction work.
Social interaction
Dice are not used. Social interaction is resolved with conversation, roleplay, and descriptions only. Think of it as exploration of a character (the NPC). Players goals are:
- Find out what the NPC needs
- Offer the NPC something in exchange for something the players need
- Hear out the NPCs objections, if any, and adjust there offer
Combat (Basic Rules)
Side-Based Turn Order
Each side gets a turn in combat:
- The GM side
- The Player side
Transitioning into and out of combat should feel seamless; Turn order is determined by the fiction, not die rolls.
Player Turns are handled in two phases: first a declaration phase, then a resolution phase.
- Declaration Phase: All players declare their action. Players can make one action, and they can move up to their normal move (a pencil length) as part of their action.
- Resolution Phase: All players roll their dice, then the GM determines what happens.
GM Guidance
Think of yourself as a narrator of a story in which the players are the characters. It's the kind of story where the narrator can talk to the characters but does not give anything away. Describe the world around them freely and honestly, including danger, and give them opportunities to make choices. Let consequences follow naturally.
The GM takes on the role of the setting and the characters who live there. The GM prepares a situation, not an outcome. There is no right solution, only the player's solution. Let them surprise you and react to their choices with improv.
Simulation vs Adjudication
Dice in Bright-Dark are a tool for simulation, not adjudication. Roll when the fiction presents an uncertain physical outcome that cannot be resolved through description and rulings alone. Combat, climbing a cliff, leaping a gap, forcing a door, enduring a storm.
Adjudication is different. When the outcome can be reasonably judged through common sense, lived experience, or narrative logic, the GM rules on what happens. Social interaction, exploration, and problem-solving fall into this category.
Realism is the basis for adjudication and assigning Difficulty TNs. If a real person with a proficiency would reasonably succeed at something in real life, then the character succeeds in the game. TNs describe difficulty in a world based on realism, not to create artificial challenge or game balance.
Difficulty should be based on fiction grounded in realism. What is not intended is assigning TNs for the sake of the risk tuning or to make the game feel more challenging or fair.
Sample Scenario
I have three scenes for you. Together they describe a short story that your characters can play through. They are the characters and they make the decisions.
Scene 1. Village of Fairbaren
An Evrwyr traveler is panicked and angry at the villagers and is making a scene.
Players need to reveal the conflict.
- Intervention: They can interrupt the Evrwyr traveler before he says something he can't take back, earn his trust, and learn what the conflict is.
- Observe: They can observe and do nothing as the Evrwyr yells furiously and incoherently at the villagers until the sheriff will eventually arrest the man and put him in the pillory. He may be open to talking to the players if they're kind.
- Investigate: After the scene, the players can ask anyone who may direct the players to the young boys of the village, or their parents.
Revelation: The conflict is that the Evrwyr travels with his daughter Nelly and his dog Odo. The boys in town have dared the daughter to test her bravery by going inside the abandoned watchtower outside of the village. They showed her the way and left her there. The Evrwyr traveler is furious at the villagers who don't offer him any help and little remorse because he's an outsider.
Bonus: Curious players can inquire about the history of the abandoned watchtower. Only then do the villagers explain that the abandoned watchtower is home to a cursed guardian who defends it against any mortals. This is why the tower is still abandoned.
Scene 2. The Wolf Woods
The watch tower is built on top of a hill that stands out of a forest. The players can take the winding road which is the longer but safer path, or they can take the dangerous, shortcut through the dark, dangerous forest and up the steep rear side of the hill.
- The road: Players who take the road will arrive at the old fortress with a one-hour delay, but they will be safe. The one-hour delay means that Nelly's dog Odo will become impatient and alert danger to Nelly.
- The forest: Players have a chance to encounter something dangerous. Roll 1d6:
- 1 = A pack of hungry wolves.
- 2 = a group of brigands who want to collect a toll, possibly by force.
- 3 = a hypervigilant troll who mistakes the party for monster hunters.
- 4-6 nothing.
Scene 3. The Abandoned Watch Tower
Players who arrive at the back will be find that there is no rear entrance and will have to walk around to the open front gate (unless they want to climb). The gate is broken it. Anyone can walk inside.
The Evrwyr girl, Nelly, fulfilled her dare and went into the watch tower. She's trapped on the top floor with her loyal, protective pet dog, Odo. She's too afraid of Garrison to come out of hiding or call or help.
What the GM Knows: Fifty years ago, there was a surprise attack on the watch tower. One of the defenders betrayed the others and let opened the doors for their attackers in exchange for his life. One known only as Garrison was desperate to repel the invaders and defend the village - his home. He watched it burn in the distance from the top of the watchtower. He gave his life, but he didn't perish. His undead form still guards the watchtower, mistaking anything as an invader and attacking.
Garrison has a 1 in 1d6 chance of appearing on any floor of the tower. There are three levels and a basement.
Garrison
An undead swordsman concealed by armor and a helmet.
Health: 15
Attributes: +1, -1
Damage: 1d6+1 (longsword)
Defense TN: 11
Morale TN: 7 (very brave)
Wound: He failed the village.
Shield: He won't fail again.
Goal: Protect the village.
Obstacle: In his undead state, is unaware that the village survived.
Redeeming Traits: Honorable, brave
Note to GM: Garrison is a complex NPC. In Bright-Dark, complex NPCs have a wound, a shield, a goal, and obstacle, and redeeming traits. These help you to portray the NPC, and it can help the players diffuse the situation.
The Wound of The Abandoned Watchtower
Searching the barracks reveals that one man called Tanner kept a journal in which he detailed his betrayal. He was desperate to survive and deeply conflicted about his decision. He is responsible for food poisoning which caused the men to be unable to defend the watchtower. This can always be read out loud to Garrison. Upon completion, he will stop swinging his sword at the players, appreciating them as allies for this revelation.
Possible Resolutions
Ultimately, escaping with Nelly will end the scenario.
- Garrison's undead body takes only 1 point of damage from mundane weapons. If magic is used, make a morale check with a Morale TN of 10. He returns with a crossbow and fights from range. Magic damage can destroy him.
- Players notice Garrion's movement is slow, and so he can be kited around. If they're careful, some of the players can distract Garion's while the others search for Nelly.
- If the players took the long, safe route, the one-hour delay has cause Nelly's dog Odo to give them away. Odo is prepared to defend Nelly to the death, but Nelly is not prepared to abandon her beloved pet.
- Garrison doesn't speak and ignores attempts at persuasion or intimidation, believing it to be deception. However, if the players can convince him that the village survived, or appeal to one of his other complex NPC traits in a way that makes sense within the fiction, the conflict may soften.
- Discover Tanner's journal and read it aloud to Garrison.
