Rules
The game rules
Everything you need to play. The full manual goes deeper, but these pages are enough for your first table.
1. The deck, not the dice
The whole game revolves around a deck of French playing cards: 52 + 2 Jokers. No dice, no app, no roller. A €2 deck from the supermarket is enough.
Cards have a numeric value and a suit. The value matters for actions; the suit gives flavour to the storytelling.
| Card | Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 2 – 10 | 2 – 10 | Normal value |
| Jack (J) | 11 | +1 XP on success |
| Queen (Q) | 12 | «Elegant» success — you describe the detail |
| King (K) | 13 | «Powerful» success |
| ★ Ace | 14 | Epic Moment — see §5 |
| Black Joker | — | Chaos State — the Master triggers a plot twist |
| Red Joker | — | Narrative rescue — a player rewrites the scene |
The four suits, four themes
| Suit | Theme | When it «rings true» |
|---|---|---|
| ♥ Hearts | Patience | Empathy, waiting, dialogue, care |
| ♦ Diamonds | Strength | Athletics, direct combat, damage |
| ♣ Clubs | Cunning | Deception, thievery, manipulation |
| ♠ Spades | Agility | Dodging, reflexes, escape, precision |
The Jokers are wild cards: the player chooses the suit and value when they draw them. That is the difference between luck and direction.
2. Attributes
Three attributes, nothing more. You assign them at character creation (see §7) and they grow with Experience Points.
- PF — Hit Points. How much you can take. Drop to 0 → out of the scene (not dead, unless the player decides otherwise).
- PP — Patience Points. How ready, clear-headed and present you are. It is your role-play state, not a resource to spend.
- AGI — Agility. Coordination, reflexes, initiative. The highest card on AGI speaks first.
3. Resolving an action
- The player declares what they want to do and with which attribute.
- The Master sets a threshold (see table below).
- The player draws a card from the deck.
- Add up: card value + attribute + any bonuses.
- ≥ threshold → it succeeds. Below → it fails, but with a narrative complication, not a flat «no».
| Difficulty | Threshold | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 8 | Pick the lock of an old door |
| Medium | 12 | Disarm a distracted opponent |
| Hard | 16 | Smash through a brick wall |
| Heroic | 20 | Jump from a rooftop onto a moving train |
| Impossible | 25+ | Attempted only with powers (and their side effects) |
Example · in play. «Tempus tries to stop the bullet half a metre from his temple.» The Master sets Heroic (20). Tempus has AGI 8. He draws a 10 of Spades. 10 + 8 = 18. Below threshold → the bullet gets through, but Tempus turns his head 2 cm: instead of dying, he loses an ear. «Old story. Not interesting.»
4. Powers & Side Effects
Every PC has 1 to 3 powers. Each power has:
- A cost in points (1–50). Paid from the total pool of character creation.
- A mandatory Side Effect, written on the sheet. Not optional.
The Side Effect triggers when the power succeeds, not when it fails. The stronger the power, the higher the price.
5. The Epic Moment
When you draw an Ace on any action: automatic success, regardless of the threshold. Not only that: for those 30 seconds you are the director.
Describe the scene as if you were editing a film. Slow motion, details, close-ups, memorable lines. The Master falls silent and listens. What you say becomes canon.
The four Aces in the deck are «spent» — when an Ace comes up, you set it aside. They go back into the deck only at the start of a new game day (see §8). Knowing how many Aces are left changes the tension at the table.
6. Combat
A combat scene is a series of actions, in initiative order.
- Initiative: everyone draws a card. Higher + AGI = acts first.
- Attack: draw a card, add it to the right attribute. Compare with the target’s defence.
- Damage: if the attack lands, the card value is the base damage.
- Defence: the target can draw to reduce it. Below threshold → they take the hit.
A fight scene should not last more than 4-5 turns in total. If it is dragging on, someone has to find a plot twist (Black Joker, Ace, an NPC stepping in).
7. Character Creation
You have 50 points to distribute among:
- Attributes — PF (health), PP (patience), AGI (agility).
- Superpowers — one major (15–30) or two minor (5–15 each).
- Side effects — one per power, mandatory, chosen by you.
Each point is worth 1. No mandatory minimum, but below 5 in any stat you are a «glass» character: one successful hit takes you down.
8. Cards of the Day
At the start of each «game day» (= after a night’s sleep in the fiction), every PC draws one card for each stat and one for each power. The cards stay physically on the sheet until the next night.
So a PC with one power has 4 cards on the sheet (PF, PP, AGI, Power). A PC with two powers has 5. The average bonus per draw is 7 (the deck’s median).
What resets on sleep
- Cards of the Day: all redrawn from scratch.
- PP: back to 100%.
- Power uses: reset (1 use per 5 points invested).
- AGI reduced by major powers: recovers.
- PF: NO — physical healing takes time and the Master.
Enough to play?
Yes. Open the Quickstart, pick a pre-gen, and go. The full manual adds: a Master chapter, the Chaos City setting, 12 Non-Player Characters with secrets, FAQ, extended examples.
