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24-System

A tactical survival-horror tabletop RPG framework centered on body commitment, positional control, and consequence-forward play.

This README compiles the current markdown rules and setting notes in fiction/24system.

Design Premise

The 24-System is built around these ideas:

  • Competent characters under escalating pressure
  • Choices about commitment and risk, not action-point optimization
  • Injuries that degrade capability over time
  • Fear that biases behavior without removing agency
  • Fiction-first resolution with fast adjudication

Core Resolution (core.md)

  • Roll skill dice plus Leverage dice (if any)
  • Result is sum of the two highest dice, plus flat bonus
  • Compare against DC (raised by Pressure)
  • Outcome bands:
    • Legendary Success (24+)
    • Partial Critical (any die at max)
    • Success
    • Miss
  • Optional push-your-luck reroll:
    • Accept Minor Complication and reroll
    • If reroll still fails, escalate to Critical Failure and Major Complication

Leverage/Pressure replacement for advantage/disadvantage:

  • Leverage adds a bonus die by tier (d4 to d12)
  • Pressure increases DC instead of removing dice

Action Economy: RHLF / “Ralph” (RLHF.md)

Characters commit body anchors to perform actions:

  • L: primary hand
  • R: secondary hand
  • H: head (attention, targeting, intent)
  • F: feet (movement, balance, stance)

If an anchor is injured, related actions degrade. If disabled, those actions can become unavailable.

Combat Overview (combat.md, defense.md, movement.md, weapons.md, wounds.md)

Baseline Combat Concepts

  • Guard is automatic when aware, unengaged, and not committing H
  • Combat uses range states (Separated, Melee, Grappling), not grid distance
  • Advancing into guarded space is contested
  • Multiple guards stack by +2 DC per extra defender
  • Dodge is preserved after normal movement, but Sprint/Leap normally consumes Dodge until next turn

Core Declared Actions

  • Attack (L)
  • Focused Attack (L+H)
  • Full Martial Attack (L(R)HF)
  • Advance (F)
  • Move (F)
  • Covering Fire (L+H, ammo, attention disruption)

Reactive Defenses

  • Base defense (no active defense): attack DC 13
  • Dodge: athletics-based avoidance, stamina cost
  • Parry: melee-based interception/deflection, weapon risk
  • Block: interception/absorption, strongest with shields

Cover and Concealment

  • Concealment primarily affects perception/hit chance
  • Cover at range increases DC
  • Cover in melee is mostly active/interposed and depends on committed limbs/position
  • Cover stacks with active defenses where applicable

Movement

  • Movement Rate (MR) baseline 6 (human, unencumbered)
  • Armor/packs apply only worst movement penalty source
  • Sprint costs stamina for temporary MR increase
  • Leg injuries reduce MR cumulatively

Weapons and Identity

Weapon identity is driven by partial-critical behavior and qualities:

  • Primary properties: Precision, Chopping, Crushing
  • Qualities: Reach, Parry, Brace, Improvised
  • One-handed baseline: 1 wound
  • Two-handed baseline: 2 wounds
  • Ranged tools differentiated by limb commitment and reload friction

Wounds, Armor, and Trauma

  • Region tracks: each arm, head, shared legs, core
  • Wound progression: OK -> Injured -> Disabled -> Missing (region-specific behavior)
  • Armor is a single worn unit that converts wounds to stamina loss (Light/Medium/Heavy)
  • Core wound thresholds drive failing, dying, death states

Stress Model (fear-and-madness.md)

Fear track runs 0-6:

  • Lower levels increase caution/hypervigilance
  • Mid levels introduce hesitation entering hostile danger
  • High levels reduce available anchor commitment
  • Top level causes breakdown/withdrawal

Madness is emergent from accumulated survival scars (Banes), not a separate meter.

Status Effects (status-effects.md)

Common tactical conditions are defined in one place:

  • Blind
  • Prone
  • Grabbed
  • Pinned
  • Restrained
  • Disoriented
  • Stunned
  • Silenced
  • Incapacitated
  • Unconscious
  • Bleeding

Character Growth

Character Creation (charactercreation.md)

  • No attributes (no STR/DEX/INT)
  • Assign 1 specialty, 1 strong, 2 competent skills
  • Competent tier is d10 + d12 + 2 (Rank 1)
  • Unassigned skills use vanilla roll (2d12)
  • Choose 2 traits
  • Add gear and narrative details

Advancement (advancement.md)

  • No XP or levels
  • Advancement at story-arc boundaries
  • Declare one training focus per arc (skill or trait)
  • Gain one skill tier (pyramid-limited) or one earned trait per arc

Skill Framework (skills.md)

Action-centric skills define what can be attempted:

  • Athletics
  • Melee
  • Ranged
  • Thievery
  • Lore
  • Social
  • Magic
  • Science

Key framework updates:

  • Contested checks: initiator rolls against defender average (rounded up)
  • Unified legendary conversion rule
  • Per-action duration tags (Instant, Short, Extended, Scene, Sustained)
  • Stealth awareness ladder and scene-based stealth handling

Perception Philosophy (perception.md)

No passive perception stat. Discovery is narrative and interaction-driven:

  • Players ask specific questions and describe methods
  • Guide seeds fair clues for secrets/traps
  • Hidden features should be foreshadowed through sensory/environmental evidence

Magic Model (spells.md)

Spellcasting axioms:

  • Magic always works in type
  • Rolls determine manifestation quality and consequence, not binary success/fizzle
  • Failures escalate through backlash, danger, and cost

Current spell writeups:

  • Elder Sign
  • The Colour Out of Space
  • The Call
  • Pseudo-Apotheosis
  • The Unveiling

Playtest Materials

Setting / Thematic Documents

  • Atrocitas.md: Atrocitas Sine Auctore concept (atrocity without authorship)
  • monsters/echo-born-other.md: Echo-Born Other entity and stat block
  • authors-note.md: design intent and authorship note
  • quote.md: thematic line

File Index

Notes for Next Pass

Likely cleanup targets identified while compiling:

  • Standardize anchor naming (RHLF vs RLHF, and F vs “Legs (L)” in one defense section)
  • Resolve encoding artifacts (smart quotes/dashes rendering as mojibake in terminal output)
  • Align push-your-luck language between core.md and playtest-packet.md
  • Fill unfinished sections (Blocking cover heading)
  • Unify terminology for Guide/GM and action labels across reference docs
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