CORE RULES ~ CHAPTER I

I. Foreword & Welcome

I.1. Foreword

‘If you are not the game master, stop reading here!’ this was one of the salient incipit of role-playing games when the reading was reserved to GMs only. In this game, I believe this is the most outstanding aspect that references traditional RPGs and in particular those with a fantasy setting. The VI·VIII·X game is a way of seeing RPGs from the eyes of a player who started back in 1983 with a red box and who then went through so many situations that he started rethinking the game model to make it more interesting both for the game master, the GM, and players. In any case the old incipit is still valid:

If you are a player, stop reading here!
Otherwise, you will waste all the fun of this game!

In this game most of the activities related to the mechanics are done by the GM. The players are still involved in each phase of the game but their role is lighter so that they may better enjoy the setting and the unfolding of in-game events. There is not a single rule which states this paradigm, but this approach has been applied as much as possible to all the game mechanics. These ‘new’ rules can be seen as innovative or simply different from the other RPGs, what does change is the resulting game play and the subsequent experience.

The underlying logic is straight-forward: if a player knows every detail of the mechanics (paradoxically often even better than the GM) as well as the information of the environment where his PC acts, he will get soon bored by the game if the GM is not creative enough to keep game tension high. With a game system where there are many more unknowns, the attention of the players (hence their pleasure) will be at a higher level than in the previous scenario.

Besides the indications on the underlying logic, my last message to the reader is much more intimate than any mere game mechanic. The ultimate goal of my work is the return to a strong consideration of human values, even during a ‘light’ activity such as a role-playing session. In our times, our reasoning is often based on concepts of ‘I want something quick, easy and good looking regardless of how I did to get it’; my point is that the ‘way’ is likely the most important aspect and it could be hard to follow according to the fundamental human values we should always look after. If the ‘way’ is followed, the effort could be excessive and maybe a shortcut could turn out to be a good option: this represents the paradigm ‘cool regardless of the way’. To my eyes what is important is the ‘way’ we get to our goals: in this RPG my intention is to revamp this aspect that is considered less and less important compared to the achievements. I am more than sure that any in-game achievement will be enjoyed by the players more than any ‘cool’ RPG.

A final note to the reader: if you have never played an RPG, my sincere apologies. Possibly, for the first time in the history of this industry, this book does not include a primer on what is a Role-playing Game, how does it work, the funky dice that are required to play and so forth. My assumption is that this book is in the experienced hands of a veteran GM who is trying to understand whether this game is worth it or not and who does not find any use in any sort of introduction to RPGs...

...should that not be the case, then you have not read the incipit...

I.2. Introduction to the VI·VIII·X game

This game was born somewhere between 2003 and 2006, it has never seen the light of the day but has been subject to continuous revisions over the last decades. What you have in your hands, dear reader, is the result of many reviews deriving from real experiences to offer a more engaging and mature gaming experience.

The basic assumption is that this game is based on the concept of a traditional RPG (in the sense that there are some players with their PCs, one GM, a bunch of polyhedral dice, levels, classes and so forth) and in the meanwhile, it revises many aspects to bring innovative (and hopefully positive) aspects. The game envisages a considerable gap in terms of know-how between GM and players: while the GM must be a person with a considerable gaming experience, the players can be neophytes; as a matter of fact, considering how the system is set, the less the players know the better it is. This is an RPG model that I call ‘keep uneducated paradigm”, or, KUP.

I.3. What a KUP RPG is

In a KUP (‘Keep Uneducated Paradigm’) RPG, the most outstanding difference compared to a traditional RPG is information asymmetry: the GM knows every detail of the game while the players are expected to not see the full picture. Therefore, the GM is called to know, manage and play with a much greater depth of knowledge than traditional RPGs: he has to take charge of many activities that are assigned to the players in traditional RPGs. The players, on the other hand, are relieved of several tasks so that they can fully concentrate on the understanding and enjoyment of the in-game events. In this concept, both positive and negative aspects can be identified: the game master is in charge of many tasks, but this allows players to fully enjoy the game and the narration.

A KUP RPG requires that a part of information is reserved to the GM only, freeing the players of much of the load and game mechanics. Some of the KUP features in this RPG include:

• players don't know all the information of their PCs, as it is not needed to know the precise value of a PC stat in order to role play;

• some rules are known by the GM only so that particular reactions of the players (often illogical if translated in the real world) are reduced;

• gamers are asked to focus on their PC background and on the consistency of their PC development; the importance of having a logic behind the full history of a character is crucial in order to avoid the creation of nonsense concepts like a half-demon pirate/ninja;

• players must pay greater attention to their own morality and to role-play appropriately to it; this aspect is stressed in several mechanics and helps to keep consistency in every act performed by the PCs.

I.4. How this book works

This book is for the GM only. It contains all the rules for both players and GM to run a VI·VIII·X single game or a campaign. The final target is to keep the players uneducated as much as possible on every unnecessary detail. It would be a wasted opportunity to provide players with details of rules or other information (that are not reserved to them). The game would otherwise turn into a traditional RPG.

The rules have key words highlighted, reducing the time spent in searching and reading them. In addition, the reader can also find some (hopefully) useful examples of play, using the following format:

This is an example of the above mentioned rule, the example is useful and helps the reader to understand the rule application.

This book has a ‘he/his’ form for a better readability, however this refers simultaneously to female, male, and diverse individuals. Even if the ‘he/his’ form uses gender-specific language for the sake of readability, it is not intended to exclude any gender identity. I respect that gender is diverse and personal and exists on a spectrum beyond traditional binary concepts.

A couple of remarks for the reader: in this book you will find the term ‘malus’. This means penalty and, as the term ‘bonus’ is used, consistency with the opposite Latin word ‘malus’ is granted instead of the more common word ‘penalty’. Secondly the book contains information on weights and distances according to the metric system. Below is a short table showing a proxy of conversion to facilitate a quick transition to the Anglo-Saxon system and vice versa (the proxy is not precise, it is built to ease calculations):

Hereby a list of the acronyms used in this book: