Just a Game – Playtest Packet – Copyright Luke Green 2016

This packet contains updated playtest information for the Powered by the Apocalypse version of the Just a Game concept.

Included are some summarized play suggestions, summarized basic moves, prototype persona books, avatar books and profile sheet,
three sample settings, and summarized Dev’s section. There is more discussion on the genre in the other playtest packet as well as
the Fate Core and GUMSHOE rules which I have not started to look at again yet.

Note that the pictures used on the prototype Persona and Avatar books are drawn from pictures of my characters from various RPG
games over the years. As such, yes, they are all female. They are being used because I own the commercial rights to the work as
per conversation with the artist who can be found at avionetca.deviantart.com. Some of the portraits fit better than others.
Likely when I get the real game kickstarted (likely next year) I will try to have enough money to hire the same artist to do
similar art. In that case, the art will be substantially more diverse in terms of genre, ethnicity and gender.

I am aware of some issues such as the fact that the prototype sheets do not have the check boxes normally used to check off PbtA
experience point advances or moves. I plan to hire a professional sheet designer for the finished product.

One thing I would like to hear about is whether the inclusion of both Compiling (Transcendance) and Fragmenting (Insanity) should
be reconsidered. Fragmentation will at least be kept to represent the potential of characters in these settings going insane as
occasionally happens, but I may drop Compiling.

Also, the function of Bonds and Gear Upgrades. Burning a Bond (a mechanic drawn from Worlds in Peril) is a powerful tool for
success. So far I have found that players of PbtA are often more interested in the interesting results of failure, but it still
has the potential to be abused. In concept this is balanced by the fact that burning a Bond will cause some sort of complication
either immediately or down the line since it means that a relationship of the character’s falls apart somehow.

On a related note, the Schemes of the Strategist are Bonds renamed as their Extra description notes, but Schemes are limited in
that when they are burned the situation must somehow connect to the named scheme while the relationship fraying of burning a Bond
can be set later and doesn’t necessarily directly relate to the event where the Bond was burned. Gear Upgrades are similar but
give a simple bonus both to distinguish them from the Bonds and because there is less in-story consequence to burning a Gear
Upgrades.

Note, the assumed standard is that characters have multiple Bonds and Gear of ranks 1 to 3 rather than a single massive Bond or
Gear of 5 to 10. The Elite with their Raid Veteran extra might be likely to lean toward one or two Gear Upgrades with high ranks,
however, but this isn’t much of a problem since, again, Gear Upgrades don’t create as much of a complication when they dwindle.

Elements in this version of the rules have been borrowed from Monster of the Week, Spirit of ’77, Worlds in Peril, Urban Shadows,
and Masks.

Brian Lai (order #9070417)

Brian Lai (order #9070417)

Lexicon
Player – The person controlling a
character in a Just a Game campaign.
Dev – The gamemaster in a Just a Game
campaign.
Character – A character in the Just a
Game campaign.
Protagonist – A PC in a Just a Game
campaign.
Real World – The setting where most of
the characters are from, presumably a
version of our own Earth.
Game World – The setting where most of
the characters are trapped. This could
represent interconnected settings from
different games or just a single game.
Newcomer – One of the people from the
real world.
Native – A sentient resident of the game
world.
Mob – Unintelligent resident of the game
world.
Patching – The term used to replace
“Mark Experience” found in other PbtA
games.
Brian Lai (order #9070417)
Foundations
Your foundations represent your
confidence in what you believe to be the
truth of various aspects of reality and
identity. The higher your rating in a
Foundation, the more certain you are
that your view on that facet of reality
is correct. High ratings in a Foundation
mean you are more likely to succeed at
actions that deal with that facet of
reality, but also mean you’re less
likely to have the flexibility to handle
upsets to that area of understanding.
Ability – This represents your
confidence in your own abilities and
understanding of your limits. This
includes both physical and mental skills
and capabilities. A high rating implies
you are used to maximizing your ability
and circumventing your limits. A low
rating implies a lack of confidence in
your ability to do things.
Forum – This represents your confidence
in the predictability other people and
society in general. A high rating
implies that you have a firm view on the
nature of people while a low rating
indicates that people confuse you. It
doesn’t say whether your view is
idealistic or cynical or a mix of the
two.
Role – This represents your confidence
in your sense of purpose and belonging
in the world. A high rating implies that
you have a firm idea of what purpose you
best serve in any given instance and are
comfortable with that position. A low
rating implies you either have no sense
of purpose, no sense of belonging or an
inflated or distorted sense of purpose.
Self – This represents your confidence
in your image of who you are. A high
rating means that you do things your way
in the end but you likely accept advice
and will change your mind when it is
reasonable to do so, but it is usually
your decision. A low rating means that
you rely on others to make your
decisions or else are incredibly
stubborn, in either case you are easily
manipulated and influenced.
World – This represents your confidence
in the way the world works. A high
rating means that you find the world to
be predictable and are confident in
making plans based on that. A low rating
means that you find the world doesn’t
really make sense and it sometimes
inhibits your plans. These views can
range from optimistic to pessimistic,
what matters is your belief in how
predictable the world is.
Bonds
Each Bond represents an important
relationship between the character and
an individual or group. Bonds with
 positive numbers represent
relationships that benefit the
character while those with negative
numbers represent unhealthy rivalries
and other adversarial relationships. A
Bond at 0 means that either you are
unaware of each other, your relationship
is undefined, they’re actively avoiding
you or they may be too busy to talk to
you.
Starting Bond
Every Protagonist starts with a Bond of
1 with each of the other Protagonists
plus 3 more Bond points to be placed as
desired. These can be used to increase
the Bonds with other characters or to
create new Bonds such as with a guild.
Bond Threshold
Protagonists start with a Bond Threshold
equal to the number of players +10. The
total number of all positive Bonds
cannot go higher than this.
Burning Bonds
Sometimes events in the fiction will
make it reasonable to assume the Bond
worsening. However, a player can also
voluntarily Burn a Bond. Doing so
upgrades the success of a roll by 1
level at the cost of worsening your
relationship with the person or group
named by the Bond.
Brian Lai (order #9070417)
When Burning a Bond, a 6- becomes a 7-
9, a 7-9 becomes a 10+ and a 10+ becomes
a 12+ for those moves where 12+ has a
separate result. At some point, either
immediately or later on in the story,
show how your relationship with the
other person or organization worsens.
You can only Burn one Bond per move, and
you can only Burn a positive Bond. A
Bond will only go to negatives as a
result of consequences or developments
in the fiction. The more negative a Bond
becomes, however, the more frequently
and seriously that relationship will
impact your life.
Comparative Bond Levels
The Bond between two Protagonists does
not have to be at identical levels.
Whenever a character improves their bond
with another Protagonist the second
Protagonist can choose to improve their
Bond as well but do not have to. When a
Bond is burned it is only burned on the
side of the Protagonist doing the
burning.
This can represent both sides of the
Bond having different views of the
relationship. For example, if another
Protagonist has burned their Bond with
you from 1 to 0, you may angry with them
and not want to deal with them. Or it
may be that other responsibilities keep
you apart. You might still have a Bond
of 1 with them, meaning they might still
look forward to patching ties. Or it
could be that they have less concern for
the relationship than you do but are
still willing to balance the books and
do you a favor.
In the cases where one person has a
positive Bond but the other person has
a negative Bond, then it might indicate
that the character with the positive
Bond is holding something over the other
character so that they are useful, but
the other character doesn’t like them.
Or one might honestly think they and the
other character are friends but the
other character dislikes them intensely
for some reason, merely finding them
useful.
Also be aware that just because two
Protagonists have positive Bonds with
each other doesn’t mean that they
actually like each other. A positive
Bond just means that there is healthy
relationship that both sides benefit
from and some mutual respect. They could
still dislike each other intensely.
Depending on circumstances, revealing
comparative Bond levels might require a
Realization Strikes move.

Gear Upgrades
Gear Upgrades work similarly to Bonds
but represent the relative quality of
your gear.
Each Gear has a name representing the
piece of Gear it represents whether that
is a weapon, piece of armor or something
else. For example, you might have a Gear
piece that you call “Op-Camo Weave” or
one called “Iksar’s Ring of Power”.
These names and descriptions are up to
you but will imply where you can use the
Upgrades on that Gear.
You can burn Gear Upgrades to gain a +1
bonus to a roll. You can only use one
Gear Upgrade per roll. This can include
using it to impress people in a Chat
move, stealthing past an enemy or it
could relate to slaying a dragon. As the
number of Gear Upgrades you have
dwindles, the closer you are to out
leveling a particular piece of gear.
Note that if a character has a condition
such as “Broken Sword” then none of the
Gear Upgrades for their “Sword of the
All Mighty Sandwich” can be used until
that Condition is cleared. However, once
the condition is cleared, the sword
remains as relevant to the current level
as it had always been. Of course, if
they have a second piece of gear that’s
a sword they can use that, but that
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still leaves the broken one tying up
some Gear Upgrades.
It is possible to increase the Upgrades
on a particular piece of Gear. This
could mean that the gear levels up with
you, that there are higher quality
versions of the item that can be crafted
or earned, that you can modify the gear
somehow, that you are renaming later
pieces of gear to have the same name as
earlier ones or just that that gear
keeps remaining surprisingly effective
despite the fact that it appears to be
way under level.
When a piece of gear gets to 0 you can
abandon it with something else or go
grinding and add more upgrades to it
depending on whether you want your
character to pick up a new weapon or
not. In actual MMOs players often go
through lots of gear changes but in a
lot of the stories of characters stuck
in an MMO the characters generally stick
to a specific signature weapon and move
to new ones only based on character
development. Either method is doable.
You cannot, however, move a Gear Upgrade
from one piece to another. If you want
to move on to new gear then you should
let the gear you no longer want around
dwindle away via use. Also that some
players might want a large variety of
gear for different uses rather than one
item that is unlikely to ever wear out.
Protagonists start with 3 Gear Upgrades
and can have a maximum of 6 to start.
Loadout
Your loadout represents your current
build and playstyle. Each Protagonist
has two loadouts to start. Each Avatar
will suggest some example loadouts, but
you are free to come up with your own.
Loadouts provide a fictional basis to
support player actions as well as
providing the same to support Dev moves
to make the situation of that
Protagonist more complicated. For
example, a loadout describing your
character as a Knight would allow for a
lot of tags dealing whittling down an
opponent’s health bar but while they
could possibly give a Stunned Tag by
smashing summon with the pommel of their
sword, it would take a Mage to give a
Frozen tag. On the other hand, a Knight
taking a blow from a golem might be
Bruised while the Mage might go straight
to a Condition of Terrified.
In some games, the actual in-universe
loadout can be easily changed with a few
minutes’ fiddling, but in every game
there are some limits to retweaking a
build that are not easily overcome. For
example, a character in a game like The
Secret World might have unlocked every
 skill in the game, but unfortunately
only have a handful of really worthwhile
pieces of gear limiting which skills
they can make the most use out of.
Playstyle is also a thing that does not
often change quickly without a period
of discomfort. One doesn’t shift from
burst damage to damage over time all
that quickly.
Loadouts can represent classes and
playstyles but they can also represent
damage types like Fire, Poison, Psychic
and the like. Getting extra loadouts is
possible via Elite moves, an Elite Patch
Patch Updates and two general Patch
Updates. So it is possible to have a
very diverse character if you build in
that direction.
Consequences
Tags
Tags are lasting complications that
arise from attacks, accidents and other
such situations. They will have a name
describing the nature of the
complication.
Tags can result whenever the fiction
calls for it, usually a result of a
failed Move or an attack of some sort.
Tags themselves don’t produce any direct
mechanical impact but might turn an
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action that would be automatic into one
requiring a move.
Conditions
Conditions are a more severe version of
Tags. The most common manner that they
happen is when a move or situation calls
for a Tag but a relevant one already
exists such as “Mana Inefficiency”
upgrading to “Completely out of E-
Potions” or “Mistrust” upgrading to
“Paranoia”.
Typically Conditions are not going to
be physical injuries since those don’t
last long in a video game world.
However, a Tag like “Sliver of Life”
might upgrade to “Terrified” since the
low Health will go away quickly but the
fear might leave lingering nightmares.
Another option might be “Angry” since
it will push them into reckless actions.
Each Condition applies a -1 whenever
rolling on a move that a Condition would
logically interfere with.
Anyone character can suffer up to four
Conditions and remain active, but if the
fiction calls for a fifth Condition then
they become inactive in the scene,
either running away, being defeated or
otherwise being taken out of the scene.
Clearing Conditions and Tags
Most Tags can be cleared by focusing
some effort and handling the situation.
This effort will usually take time or
else cause some sort of trouble. You
might give into anger and break
something, spend some time digging
through inventory to find some more
potions or whatever other action makes
sense. Tags will also be cleared
automatically whenever there is enough
downtime to take a Downtime move.
Clearing Conditions is similar but more
difficult. A broken piece of equipment
would require facilities to repair it
or perhaps even a quest to replace it.
The Bonding Exercise downtime move is
also used to clear Conditions.
Existential Woes
Whenever something happens that
challenges the Protagonist’s views on
reality it becomes possible that they
are forced to deal with this new
information. The Protagonist may deny,
reframe or assimilate the incident or
any of a number of other things, but
whether these reactions are healthy or
not is another thing.
When the character marks Compiling it
means that they are moving toward a more
functional and rational understanding
of the reality they live in.
 When the character marks Fragmentation
it means that they are moving toward a
more erratic and distorted view of
reality.
Once you have marked one of these traits
five times, take the next appropriate
Advance and erase the current marks to
return to an empty log. When a
Protagonist has marked the last
available Compiling or Fragmentation
Advance then the character is retired
becoming an NPC in the game. If they
retired due to Compiling then they
become a reliable ally or mentor but if
they retired due to Fragmentation then
they become a dangerous menace.
Stat Talk
The Protagonists are people stuck in a
video game. It makes perfect sense for
them to start talking about
walkthroughs, guides, classes, skills,
stats and the like. If the characters
are stuck in a VR sim then they will
likely be able to pull up stat screens
and talk about how a recent piece of
gear they’ve gotten has increased their
HP regen by 1.23% or something similar.
If they are in an alternate reality
similar to, or even based on the game,
then they might still be able to pull
up those stat-screens and still have
their HUD…or they might only view the
new world via their old senses.
Brian Lai (order #9070417)
Regardless of the precise situation, the
game assumes that the Protagonists
generally live under the rules of video
game physics and anatomy even if all the
natives in the world they find
themselves in have more normal biology.
This might mean that the characters find
that they have an Intellect stat for
their character. In some settings, this
stat might simply reflect some in-game
abilities of the Protagonist’s Avatar.
In other settings, the characters might
end up starting to embody their Avatar’s
stats and even background. IE, someone
might find their intelligence modifying
to match their stats and they might
slowly come to believe their own bio.
For that matter, they might slowly start
to encounter people that only existed
in their bio before. To further confuse
the matter, it might be that only one
person is showing signs of this shift
and it’s because they are losing their
mind due to the stress they’re under.
In the digitally-trapped games I’ve run,
regardless of system, one of the surest
signs of players getting engaged and
having fun is when they start getting
emotional over made-up stats that the
player knows have no mechanical effect
on game play (though sometimes that
might come up in plot).

Basic Moves
Ability Moves
Take the Offensive
When you move to push the offensive;
whether that’s swinging a sword, casting
a spell or tossing a glue grenade into
someone’s face; roll +Ability.
On a 10+ choose one of the above:
 Deal a Tag to the opponent.
 If the target has a Tag in place
that you are able to take
advantage of, place a Condition
instead.
 Take something from the
opponent.
 about a sentient entity’s personality
Force the opponent where you
want them to be.
On a 7-9 you choose one of the 10+
options and two of the options in the
Miss section.
On a Miss, choose one of the following
options:
 No one else is put into danger.
 You are not placed in a dangerous
situation.
 You do not suffer a Tag yourself.
 No collateral damage is done.
Brian Lai (order #9070417)
Pass Obstacle
Video games and life present all sorts
of obstacles in your path ranging from
riddle challenges to block puzzles to
jumping courses to dialogue trees with
programmed entities. Or even when you’re
just trying to avoid Getting Flamed from
a direct attack. When you seek to defeat
one of these, roll +Ability.
On a 10+ You pass the obstacle or avoid
the danger with flying colors.
On a 7-9 You get a worse result, a hard
choice or a price to pay.
On a Miss you can either back off or
suffer the consequences. If you were
facing an attack you will suffer a Tag.
Forum Moves
Chat
When you try to persuade, manipulate or
intimidate people and other sentient
entities, roll +Forum
For NPCs on a 10+ they do what you want
as long as it is within their character.
If it is out of character they will
provide an alternate solution or tell
you how to gain a solution.
On a 7-9 they will do it if you do
something for them in return right now.
If you asked for too much, they will
tell you what they need for you to do
in order for them to help you.
On a Miss they refuse to do what you
want and pressing the issue may result
in trouble or even Burning a Bond.
For Protagonists on a 10+ if they do
what you ask, they Patch and gain a +1
Forward.
On a 7-9 they Patch if they do what you
say.
On a Miss, it is up to them how offended
they are by your request. If they refuse
to do what you say, then they Patch.
Read the Profile
When you try to figure out something
or habits roll +Forum.
On a 10+ you hold 2. On a 7-9 you hold
2 and choose 1:
 Gain 1 less Hold.
 One of the answers gives
dangerous information.
 One of the answers gives
inaccurate information.
 The answers are all vague or seem
irrelevant.
 The target figures out what
you’re doing.
 The target learns something
about you as well.
 On a Miss you can choose 1:
 Gain no hold and suffer no
consequences.
 Hold 2 and choose 2 from the 7-
9 list.
You can spend Hold 1 for 1 to ask the
following questions to gain relevant and
useful information (depending on the
result of the roll, of course) :
 What sort of life did this person
have before the game?
 What is their emotional state?
 How can I convince them to _____?
 How can I form a Bond with this
person?
 What is the character worried
about?
 What are they most interested in
right now?
Role Moves
Take Aggro
When you move to defend someone from a
barrage of insults, an attacking monster
or anything else using whatever means
you have available, roll +Role.
On a hit you protect the victim and
Choose one. On a 7-9 you also expose
yourself to danger.
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 Place a Tag on the source of the
danger.
 Increase or Create a Bond with
the person you protect by +1.
 Give +1 Forward to one of your
teammates or allies, self-
included.
On a miss, you make matters worse.
Teamwork
When you move to support the actions of
a team-mate, you roll +Role.
On a 10+ add +1 to the team member’s
roll.
On a 7-9 add +1 to your friend’s roll
but expose yourself to danger.
On a miss you make matters worse.
Self Moves
Keep Cool
When you try to keep your emotions when
things are going wrong then roll +Self.
On a 10+ you keep your head and act as
you desire.
On a 7-9 take +1 Ongoing while you take
rash, dangerous actions out of panic,
anger or other emotion. This action does
not have to endanger anybody else.
On a Miss begin to act in manners that
endanger everyone around you.
Stay True
When you are faced with unusual
temptations roll +Self.
On a 10+ you hold fast and gain a +1
ongoing against the source of the
temptation.
On a 7-9 you are tempted, Patch if you
find a way to accept the offer without
seeming to endanger your friends. If you
resist, gain a +1 Forward to act against
the source of the temptation.
On a Miss you are sorely tempted but you
can resist giving in by refusing the
normal Patch gained for failing a roll.
World Moves
Read the Story
When you do research into the world
around you roll +World.
On a 10+ hold 2, on a 7-9 hold 2 and
choose 1.
 Gain 1 less Hold.
 One of the answers you get is
dangerous.
 One of the answers you get is
inaccurate.
  All the answers are vague or seem
to be fluff at first.
 Following through on one of the
answers will likely challenge
someone’s Foundation.
On a Miss, choose 1:
 Gain no Hold and no
consequences.
 Gain 2 Hold and choose 2 from the
7-9 list.
Spend Hold 1 for 1 to ask the following
questions to get relevant and useful
information (dependent on choices from
a Miss or Partial success of course:
 What is concealed here?
 Are there any bugs in this part
of the game?
 Has anything changed about this
subject recently?
 What do we need to do here?
 What dangers will be faced?
Watch the HUD
Whenever you take in the world
immediately around you to analyze the
immediate situation roll +World.
On a 10+ Hold 3, on a 7-9 Hold 1
Spend the hold to ask questions 1 for
1.
 What’s the best way in?
Brian Lai (order #9070417)
 What’s the best way out?
 What dangers haven’t we seen?
 What’s the biggest threat?
 Where can I be the most help?
 What is the enemy’s focus?
If you act on the answers you receive
you get a +1 ongoing while you are
acting on the information and it remains
relevant.
On a Miss choose one:
 Hold 0.
 Hold 1 but open yourself up to
danger.
 Hold 2 but one of the answers is
dangerously inaccurate.
Consequence Moves
When your character suffers an assault
of some sort there are two moves. One
is for extremely powerful physical or
mental assaults while the other is for
dealing with existential crises.
Get Flamed
When you find yourself facing a
potentially devastating hit, whether it
is social, physical, mental or
otherwise, deliberate or accidental,
roll on the following move. Roll
+Conditions
On a 10+ choose 1:
 You are removed from the scene
in some way, describe what
happens.
 You lose control in some
terrible way.
 You take two of the options from
the 7-9 list.
On a 7-9 choose 1:
 You lash out verbally: Burn a
Bond to invoke rash action or
inflict a Tag on teammate or
other ally.
 You give ground and the opponent
takes a move.
 You bear through the pain and
suffer two Tags.
On a Miss you stand strong, Patch as
normal and explain how you resist the
attack.
Realization Strikes
When something happens that overturns
one of your fundamental beliefs about
your reality or identity roll this move
and add your relevant Foundation.
If something happens that makes you
question either your capabilities or
your limits, add +Ability. (Yes,
learning you’re stronger than you
thought can harm your confidence, but
would have to be something more than
 just a basic strength increase. Learning
you can left about twenty more pounds
is surprising. Learning you can survive
being impaled is mind-bending)
If something happens that makes you
question how you understand people then
add +Forum.
If something happens that makes you
question your place in the team or
society in general, add +Role.
If something happens that makes you
question your central identity, add
+Self.
If something happens that makes you
question your understanding of the way
the world itself works, add +World.
On a 10+ choose 1:
 The Dev gains 1 Hold which they
may spend to cause you to utterly
fail an action taken with the
Foundation in question.
 You immediately lash out in
denial against whatever provoked
the realization. This will not
end well.
 You choose 2 from the 7-9 list.
On a 7-9
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 Take a -1 ongoing to the
Foundation until the end of the
scene.
 Fragment
 Erase Compiling progress
 Work past the chaos and
insecurity, mark two Tags.
On a Miss you are able to assimilate the
new discovery. Describe how you accept
this new information and change your
Foundation motto if appropriate. Then
Choose 1:
 Compile
 Erase Fragmentation progress
Downtime Moves
Whenever there is an extended period of
time between active quests, each
character can take one of the following
actions. Any one of them could end up
resulting in a new quest of its own.
Bonding Exercise
When you take the time to work on a Bond
by taking part in a special event or
spending time shopping for near gear or
trying out crafting recipes roll this
move.
When dealing with a group roll +Role.
When dealing with a person roll +Forum.
On a 10+ Clear a number of Conditions
equal to your current Bond and then
increase the Bond by 1.
On a 7-9 choose one and describe the
scene to explain how you gain the
benefit:
 Increase the Bond by 1.
 Clear a number of Conditions
equal to your current Bond.
 Get both of the above options but
the Dev will break into your
scene description to describe a
complication or danger that
arises.
On a miss choose one of the following:
 Nothing especially productive
happens.
 Increase the Bond by 1 OR clear
a number of Conditions equal to
your current Bond and describe
how you clear the issue. At some
point the dev will cut in to
describe a complication or
danger that arises from your
activity.
Grinding
When you take some time between quests
to level up, obtain new gear, work on
some skill masteries, earn some gold or
other such circumstance roll on this
move.
 If your grinding description is based Introspection o Choose Avatar Move
on your impressive knowledge of the game o Decide Look
or other environment and how it works When you take some downtime to ponder  Set Bonds
then roll +World. on the mysteries of identity and reality o Bond 1 to Each other
roll +Self. Protagonist
If your grinding description is based o 3 Bond to set as desired
on your sheer capability and confidence On a 10+ Open your mind to possibilities
o Maximum total Bonds
to handle any problems, then roll and Hold 2;
starts at number of
+Ability. players +10.
On a 7-9 Consider the possibilities and
Hold 1;  Set Gear Upgrades
On a 10+ Choose One:
o 3 Gear Upgrades to set as
 Gain 2 Gear upgrades. Holds can be spent to: desired.
o Maximum total Gear
 Change two Loadouts
 Add +1 to a Stay True or Keep Upgrades to Start 6.
 Gain 1 Gear upgrade and Change 1
Cool Move
Loadout
 Subtract -1 from a Realization
On a 7-9 Choose One: Strikes move

 Gain 1 Gear upgrade. On a Miss, either some complication or

danger arises which interrupts your
 Change one Loadout
meditations OR you calcify your frame
On a Miss something goes terribly wrong of mind and the Dev holds 1 with which
that will impact you next quest. Give they may:
the Dev 2 Hold. They may spend the Hold
to:  Add +1 to a Realization Strikes
move.
 Introduce a danger or  Subtract -1 from a Stay True or
complication based on your Keep Cool move.
previous grinding description.
 Inflict 1 Tag on you related to Character Creation
what went wrong. Things like
“Underleveled” or “Ill-Suited  Choose a Concept
Gear”  Choose a Persona Book
 Cancel one Gear Upgrade as it is o Set Foundation
being used. The Upgrade is still o Choose Persona Moves
lost.  Choose an Avatar Book
o Set 2 Loadouts

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 Dev Agenda Dev Moves Newcomer Moves
 Make the world dramatic.  Warn of incoming danger.  Reference pop culture and
 Merge the digital and the  Inflict Tags as established. history from the real world.
physical.  Take advantage of existing Tags  Assume natives are just
 Play to find out what’s real. and Conditions. programs.
 Tempt them with rumors and  React badly to being trapped in
Dev Principals glory. the game.
 Challenge their assumptions.  Look to others for guidance.
 Blur the line between the  Make them research and  Be reckless.
reality and perception. experiment.
 Make the spotlight both  Make them fetch things. Native Moves
harrowing and glorious.  Make them build things.
 Teeter between Wonder and  Imply off-screen danger.  Reference pop culture and
Horror.  Ask them to escort people. history from the game world.
 Address the Protagonists not the  Offer an opportunity and a cost.  Assume newcomers are aliens,
players.  Warn of consequences. demons, gods, mutants or
 Use the Dev Moves but don’t say  Take their stuff. something else.
their names.  Separate the team.  React badly to being told their
 Be a fan of the characters.  Put someone in danger. world is a game.
 Establish a coherent mythology.  Give them hard choices.  Seek to claim their world back.
 Apply video game logic.  Use a custom move.  Be cautious.
 Make the normal absurd and the  Ask them “What do you do?”
absurd normal. Mob Moves
 Ask questions and build on the Sentient Moves
answers.  Follow Programming.
 Confuse the line between  Show emotions.  Be relentless.
programmed and sentient natives.
 Make choices.  Glitch out.
 Mix existential crisis with  Respawn.
 Reveal (maybe false) Information
physical danger.
 Recognize and exploit patterns.  Give canned dialogue.
 Let the characters punch out  Spontaneously gain sentience.
 Change tactics.
Cthulhu.
 Try to help or hinder the
 Leave the truth always in
Protagonists.
question.
 Imitate a mob.

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 Setting Design
There is no one setting suggested for
running a Just a Game campaign. Each
group of players and Dev should design
the setting for themselves to fit the
sort of game they desire.
Also note that the initial setting
encompasses mostly what the players
assume to be real. Always remember that
the nature of reality is in question.
There are two things to consider when
designing a campaign and that is the
nature of the Real World and the nature
of the Game World. Since the assumption
is that most if not all of the campaign
will occur in the Game World it is best
to start with that.
The Game World
While there is plenty about the Game
World that you can leave undefined to
start or consider changing later, there
are some things that will be immediately
obvious as presented by the following
questions.
 What is the fiction genre of the
game you are stuck in?
 What is the game genre of the
game you are stuck in?
 How are characters made and what
sort of characters are there?
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Multiple Titles
In most Just a Game campaigns, the
characters are a stuck in a single game
world, however, there may possibly be a
campaign where the Protagonists have
access to multiple different titles. In
this case there are some other
questions:
 What links the various games
that the Protagonists have
access to? Are they all from the
same console or company? Did
they all use the same open source
software engine?
 How can characters travel
between Titles and how dangerous
is it?
The Real World
The real world does not need to be
defined right away. However, there are
some questions that will come up.
 What tech is used to play the
game people are stuck in?
Different questions are asked
when sucked into a desktop than
when trapped in a VR sim.
 Is there anything about the Real
World that is significantly
different from Earth as we know
it?
 What was life like in the Real
World?
Some Pressing Questions
In addition to the obvious questions,
there are some questions that will
immediately arise though it might take
a good long while before they can be
answered. In other cases, some of these
questions are answered immediately.
 What happens if you die in the
game?
 Are you still in the game or an
alternate reality? If the
alternate reality is the truth,
did the game come first or the
alternate reality?
 What caused you to get stuck in
the game?
 Are the natives of the game
sentient?
 How can you get home?
And for romantic storylines there are
some other questions which may occur in
some games or be ignored in others:
 Can the characters consummate a
relationship in the game?
 Can characters have children in
the game?
 Can newcomers and natives
produce a mixed child?
 Meat Space and Digital Worlds Beyond all this there are the forces Create a Spawner
that have set all this in motion to
While the rules focus on a campaign begin with. It might be that all of Defend a Target
where characters are stuck in a game, this is a side effect of the
Destroy an Object
perhaps they aren’t stuck and some other progress of computer technology
blurring of the video game and reality pushing the boundaries of reality
Attack Healers
is occurring. In which case: and perception. It could be that
humanity has stumbled onto a bridge Curse Enemies.
 Do Protagonists keep their between alternate dimensions. Or
abilities in the Real World? there could be some sinister Obey Programming
 Can Natives to the Game World extradimensional force with its own
enter the Real World? reasons to push this boundary.
 How does travel between the
What sort of dangers you are dealing Sentient Motivations
worlds work?
with will vary from campaign to
Protect my Home
Dangers campaign but there are some basic
standards to use in creating Bring Sentience to my People
There are many dangers in the Game Dangers.
World, most of them appear as rather Seek Peace
obvious attackers. Programmed mobs will Motivations of Dangers
attack without provocation traps and Gain Power
puzzles may have to be completed at the The motivations of Dangers determine
how the Danger acts and what drives Get Home
risk of harm or death. Raid bosses, like
natural disasters, threaten to it. Motivations range from the very
Acquire Knowledge
obliterate everybody. simple programmed impulses of a mob
to the intricate goals of a
Learn where the Newcomers came from
There are other, subtler, dangers. A sentient. Here are some sample
sentient mob will surprise a Protagonist Motivations: Find my True Love
by revealing that they can make their
own decisions rather than act according Mob Motivations Prove my Worth
the programmed behavioral responses and
Seek and Attack Newcomers Discover the Meaning of Life
aggro control. Natives have their own
agenda and will move to protect Seek and Attack Natives Become Famous
themselves from monsters and newcomers
both. Other newcomers might be allies Remain in this area and attack Gain Wealth
or they might be dangerous lunatics intruders.
driven mad by the circumstances. Protect myself

Brian Lai (order #9070417)

 Whatever motivation you give your
Dangers, use that to figure out what
they would choose to do in response
to the situations the Protagonists
create. Sometimes you might want to
alter the Danger’s motivation,
perhaps it has accomplished a minor
goal or maybe it is now seeking
revenge for a foiled plan.
Danger Scales
The second matter to consider is the
scale of a danger. In general, as this
is a game that simulates an MMO setting,
there are four scales of dangers,
described in terms of physical conflict
to start.
Grind Dangers – These sorts of
dangers aren’t any sort of serious
threat. In order to face a real
threat from these, a Protagonist
would have to push on recklessly
without rest and fall apart from
sheer attrition after who knows how
many of these are faced. For
defeating a Grind Danger, it
shouldn’t take more than a programmed elements of the game or
Condition. For a trap one or two
successful rolls should handle it.
Bleed Dangers – These sorts of
dangers are meant to drain
Protagonist resources rather than
seriously threaten them. It is
logical to assume that someone will
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come away from an encounter with player-killers that anybody who’s
Bleed Dangers with a few Tags and played a video game has faced within
maybe a Condition. As for beating a a few minutes of starting a tutorial
Bleed Danger, it will take at least and the same sort that you face in
dealing a Condition, possibly two. the End-Game raids.
For traps it might require a handful
of successful rolls. Examples
Kill Dangers – These sorts of  Grind – Tutorial monsters,
dangers are meant to prove a danger 1st level newcomers, common
to a solitary Protagonist. If one is minions
not careful a Kill Danger will, in  Bleed – Lieutenant monsters,
fact kill you. It will take at least town guards, mid-level
three Conditions to bring them down newcomers.
in a fight and possibly most of a  Kill – Boss monsters,
scene to bypass safely in the form knights, high level
of trap. newcomers.
 Wipe – Event bosses,
Wipe Dangers – These sorts of legendary bosses, signature
dangers are meant to put an entire heroes, epic level newcomers
party of Protagonists at risk of
death. It will take at least four Puzzle Dangers – Slightly less
Conditions to defeat a Wipe Danger common, these represent traps,
monster and a trap would take environmental hazards, logic
cooperation from the entire party to puzzles, jump puzzles, block
bypass successfully. puzzles, dialogue trees and the like
that might face someone playing a
Danger Methods video game. Puzzle dangers are
Besides the Dangers’ motivations and natural hazards that are part of the
scales. There’s matter of how it world. There is a set answer or
endangers the people around it. method of handling them that cannot
be negotiated with in the way you
Combat Dangers – These are likely to would negotiate with a sentient
be the most common sort of Dangers entity. Though it might be possible
the Protagonists face. These are the to find a loophole or glitch to find
sort of monsters, bandits and an easy way through.
 Examples:
 Grind – Starter traps,
starter level environment
hazards, well known riddles,
simple dialogue trees, one
level jump puzzles
 Bleed – Multi-stage traps,
wilderness zone hazards,
branching dialogue trees,
jump puzzles at great
height.
 Kill – Trapped traps, Unique
riddles of questionable
logic, touchy dialogue trees
that can trigger a tough
fight if failed.
 Wipe – Death-trap rooms,
erupting volcanoes, moving
platforms, vanishing floors.
Intrigue Dangers – These sorts of
characters are always sentient and
will hide their motivations for the
most part. They will likely place
many layers between them and the
Protagonists or they might appear to
be the Protagonist’s ally for
several stories.
Examples
 Grind – Jealous peasant,
sentient goblin, ambitious
newbie.
 Bleed – Greedy mobster or
quartermaster, sentient
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goblin king, guild second-
in-command.
 Kill – Prejudiced space
station governor, sentient
dragon, guild master.
 Wipe – Native emperor,
sentient program function,
legendary newcomer.
Existential Dangers – Not all of these
are going to actually be physical. In
fact, the majority are going to be
abstract concepts and ideas. Some of
these examples might be ones that the
Protagonists have already encountered
before the start of the campaign but
represent the sort of things that might
drive a person to question their
existence.
Examples
 Grind - Trapped in a game.
Wounds heal ridiculously
fast.
 Bleed – Death is real. The
natives are sentient.
 Kill – Repeated respawning.
Meeting a person who is half
Native and half Newcomer.
 Wipe – Learning your mind has
been digitally uploaded.
Realizing the laws of
reality the Real World are as
mutable as those in the Game
World.
Raids
Raids are major events within the world
of an MMO. Depending on the desires of
the Dev and the players a Raid might
last for several sessions or else be
summarized very quickly. You could see
the entire first part of Sword Art
Online with the attempt to climb the one
hundred levels as one long and very
lethal raid.
An extended Raid plan is summarized
here.
Recruitment – In this stage the
Protagonists either try to find people
to join a raid they are leading or else
try to convince the leaders of a raid
to take them on. The motivations of the
raid could be any of a number of things.
Perhaps there is something in the raid
they need to unravel a personal mystery.
Or there might be a monster that guards
the way to getting everybody out of the
game. This will be mostly social
interactions and gaining supplies but
might also extend into dueling contests
and quests to prove the Protagonists’
worth.
Exploration – The raid has started and
begins to push through the various areas
of the raid zone trying to map out the
 routes to find the objectives. This
involves dealing with cunning traps,
dangerous monsters and possibly the
actions of a killer in the raid party
itself. These stages are meant to drain
the raid party’s resources while they
seek out the location of the Raid boss
and then force them to take a rest
before actually engaging in the fight.
Regrouping – Once the raid team has
secured a safe place, some of which
might be built into the raid zone. The
raid party engages in downtime and the
stores of supplies that brought with
them dwindle unless they can find fresh
supplies. Depending on the nature of the
raid zone, it might be possible to find
a whole settlement of natives stuck
within the Raid Zone and unable to get
out.
Raid Boss – Raid bosses, and there might
be multiple ones, are marked by periods
of intense danger where the raid party
tries to identify the boss’s current
pattern and adapt to it. This is
followed by a period of relative calm
where the raid party has learned the
patterns so well that they are in no
real danger. This period is spent
recovering and preparing for when the
raid boss gets low enough on Health to
change patterns and starting the cycle
again.
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Note that raid bosses in an extended Dungeons and Dragons (cartoon)
raid scenario do not fall into the same
categories of dangers as were listed Ultima Series (games)
before. Each Battle Stage might involve
The Matrix (movies)
fighting a Wipe Danger and possibly
waves of minions. Defeating the Wipe
Lawnmower Man (movie)
Danger doesn’t actually kill the boss,
at least not the first time. It just Code Lyoko (cartoon)
gets the Protagonists to the Pacing
Stage where the physical dangers become Star Trek: Next Generation (Holodeck
background to the players performing episodes, TV)
various actions like placing buffs,
Reading the Story, Watching the HUD and Not a Villain (webcomic)
so on waiting for the Dev to push to the
next Battle Stage. Eventually the
Protagonists get through the last Battle
Stage and the Raid Boss goes down.
Inspirations
dot/Hack (manga, game, anime)
Sword Art Online (novels, anime, manga)
Log Horizon (novels, anime, tabletop
RPG)
The Thirteenth Floor (movie)
Tron (movie)
Ready, Player One (novel)
The Guilded Age (webcomic)
The Gamer (manhwa)
Captain Power (cartoon)

The Great Mysteries
Sample Setting
Game World Genre: Urban Fantasy
Game Setting: Early 2000s
Real World Setting: 2070s
Tech Used: VR Deep Immersion
How Trapped: Terrorist Attack (claimed)
When Trapped: Game launch. Everyone was
1st level.
Getting Out: Defeating the main PvE
story of the game will allow everyone
out.
Death: Death is real, or seems to be.
The players have been told that if they
die in the game they will be fried by
the VR gear in real life.
Inspiration: The Secret World,
Fate/Stay Night
Character Design: Classless system. Any
player can eventually learn all skills
in the game. Each player can have
limited number of Active and Passive
skills operating at once. Skills are
tied to types of Gear. Different weapons
and different outfits allow use of
different classes of skills. Players
combine two weapons and an outfit to
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make their build. Various accessories
add some global, passive bonuses on top
of skills. The quality of gear
determines the player ability analogous
to level.
Game Quirk: Every player has a unique
companion called an envoy. The first
companion is built in the tutorial from
pieces gained in that zone. Combination
of different pieces results in a
different companion. No two companions
are identical even using the same
summoning components. Companions can be
set aside later and replaced if desired.
It is possible to have a Companion from
the “wrong” Faction. Envoys can appear
to be human warriors, androids, maids,
drones, golems, small dragons or
anything else fitting the themes.
Player Factions: There are three
playable factions. One is focused on
psychic abilities, one is focused on
magic and one is focused on tech. There
are enemies in the game targeted at each
group which represent the three “Great
Mysteries” of the game (Mind, Soul and
Matter). The factions compete for
control over powerful artifacts which
grant bonuses to all in that faction.
In addition, each faction is trying to
protect the world from various threats.
So there is an equal mix of PvP and PvE
and fans of either were attracted.
Guilds: Can have members from multiple
factions but it is considered a bad idea
to do so as the guild will only get a
percentage of global bonuses based on
faction-controlled artifacts dependent
on the percentage of their membership
that matches that faction.
Mathematically speaking the most
effective guild would be one with equal
numbers of all three factions but nobody
has noticed this yet.
Secrets: The terrorist attack is a
front. The game is being used as a test
bed for control software and connected
experimental weapons. Each faction is
testing a different line of software and
equipment line. The dead are being
digitally uploaded to a new server for
other tests or continued simulation.
Unbeknownst to anybody, the Envoys,
which are meant to be helper programs,
are sentient.
Protagonist Creations: Protagonists can
be the trapped players or the envoys.
Each Protagonist should have at least
one Bond related to their envoy or, if
they are an envoy, their master. If a
Protagonist envoy’s master is an NPC,
they can be at the threat of being set
aside or deleted by that master without
warning.

The Unscripted Server
Sample Setting
Game World Genre: Fantasy
Real World Setting: Near future earth
Tech Used: VR Tech
How Trapped: Not trapped, allow for
change between Real and Game Worlds
Death: When the characters are in the
VR under normal operation, Death is
Cheap. If they are either in the Real
World or astrally projecting to the Game
World, Death is Real. Real resurrection
may be available.
Inspiration: Various
Character Design: The game uses a
Class/Race/Level system. When I ran the
setting using Fate Core I based the game
world on an old D&D campaign of mine
with 14 unique races. Any similar
campaign as desired by the Dev is
fitting.
Game Quirk: There are rumors that every
once in a while, people will find
themselves in the game and everything
will seem frightfully real and even the
people and monsters will seem to behave
less like programmed entities and more
like real things. The game rotates
between various servers so as to keep
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the experience continuous and
maintenance is generally only performed
on servers not currently in rotation.
There is often a flicker or other sign
of when a server change occurs. Most
people associate the server change as
one of the things that happens just
before everything turns very real for a
few minutes.
Player Factions: There are some basic
factions but the focus of the game is
PvE rather than PvP.
Guilds: Guilds work along the same lines
as the way they do in other MMOs
Secrets: The VR Tech used for the game
is very subtly enhanced by magical
means. It is meant to act as a crutch
to “help” someone astrally project. Most
of the time it functions exactly as it
is meant to. Occasionally, however, the
machine rotates to a hidden “server”
which causes players to astrally project
into an alternate universe which is when
the world seems so real. If people are
injured or healed during this period of
astral projection, then their soul heals
as if it were the created character.
Thus players that find themselves in the
rumored “Unscripted Server” often
slowly find their Real World body
matching their Game World avatar in
appearance, gender, race and even
powers.
An ancient entity of great insanity and
evil has contacted agents in the Real
World to create the game as a way of
generating monsters to swarm into the
Game World. Some of its lieutenants are
also gaining power this way.
Fortunately, one of the good deities of
the other world has also arrived and has
modified the situation to create heroes
as well.
In the Fate Core game, the evil entity
was the ancient god of corruption, Dian,
and the good one was the goddess of
fate, Amarth, his daughter and sworn
foe. In the Real World she took the
identity of the Korean voice actress who
voiced one of the game’s signature
characters.
Protagonist Creations: Anything is
available, note that if one or more
players makes a native then they might
end up stuck in the Game World while the
newcomer protagonists are stuck in the
Real World. It is likely that Natives
will find a way into the Real World.
For operating in the Real World, it is
simplest to assume that the Protagonists
adapt a video game body relatively
quickly even before they notice their
bodies changing. They might be the only
ones changing so quickly because they
are the ones that the good entity has
bet on. Or they might have a talent for
astral projection they didn’t realize.

The Adeptive Engine
Sample Setting
Game World Genre: Many
Real World Setting: Modern earth
Tech Used: Conventional desktop
computers.
How Trapped: They created a character
and clicked to enter the tutorial and
found themselves really there.
Death: Cheap in most worlds. Real
between. Each death tends to make
backstory more real.
Inspiration: Log Horizon, Captain Power
Character Design: The Adeptive Engine
is an open source software game engine
that has been used by multiple companies
to create MMOs for almost ten years. It
is a class/race level system. Each game
has nine base classes organized in a
grid of theme and role. For example a
horror game might have races for human,
demon-blooded, Nephilim and changeling.
Classes would include three “Arcanist”
classes, three “Divine classes” and
three “Psychic” classes with one each
of the three being a damage dealer,
support or tanker. Usually one of the
themes focuses on speed, another on
power and a third on strategic layering
of effects. There are also a number of
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“subclasses”. Subclass slots are
unlocked at 1st level and further slots
are unlocked later. A subclass can be
lower level than the slot it is in but
it cannot be higher level than such a
slot.
Secrets: Every time a character is sent
to a tutorial in an Adeptive Engine
game, a copy of the player’s psyche is
made used to create a sentient entity
that believes itself to be that person
trapped in the game it was just
starting. All the games created using
the Adeptive Engine are linked by a
place called “Between” by those that
know about it. People that die Between
usually don’t come back to life.
Time relative to the Real World is
passes differently in the Game World(s).
If the Protagonist made a character in
an older game or one he’s played many
times, he may come out of the tutorial
to find the Game World looks nothing
like the game he remembers.
Each game world is swarmed by mindless,
programmed mobs, but some of these
appear to be normal natives. For example
the mobs in a World War II themed game
may appear to be human soldiers.
In some worlds, newcomers have
eliminated mob spawn points and taken
over. In other worlds, newcomers have
worked with natives to make a safe
place. In other worlds, the mobs have
destroyed all the resurrection shrines
making those worlds as dangerous as
Between. In other words, Natives have
sealed away spawn points and
resurrection shrines leaving the mobs
and newcomers in those worlds waiting
to be released.
The mobs and newcomers seem to be the
chosen agents of either side of a
multidimensional war, but nobody knows
for sure. It’s possible that the
mechanism of the war is continuing long
after the creators have ceased to be.
Or both sides of the war could be
controlled by the same entity.
Protagonist Creations: As normal,
realize it is possible for a Protagonist
to meet an alt created by their player.
Players should be allowed to take a
“Glitch” Loadout if they want
representing a glitch that gives a
newcomer the power to act as function
such as a trainer or a resurrection
shrine. Glitches usually can’t remove
the glitch which takes up their first
level subclass slot. They are invaluable
for their ability to circumvent certain
limits (for example, normally a newcomer
can only unlock new subclasses available
from their home game, but a newcomer
with the Trainer glitch could teach a
Star-Trek-esque spaceship captain the
Exorcist subclass) and often need to be
protected from stronger newcomers.
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