Lacuna

Lacuna Part I. The Creation of the Mystery and the Girl from Blue City is an experimental roleplaying game…and you’re part of the experiment, whether you realize it or not. If you’re unfamiliar with the activity of roleplaying, this might not be the best choice for your first game. Then again, I’ve had people tell me it’s the first game they’ve played. This is the “second attempt” of the Game, as I call it (rather than a “revision” or “second edition”). The first attempt was successful but incomplete. With this second attempt, I hope to repair any damage I may have caused.

Proceed with caution. And remember: if you search for meaning, you will find it.

Overview

Lacuna Part I. The Creation of the Mystery and the Girl from Blue City is an experimental roleplaying game. Players use six-sided dice to decide success or failure when using their attributes. Talents add a bonus die after normal dice are rolled. Weapons and equipment may grant a bonus to Force or Instinct die rolls. Risky actions may reduce the character's Force or Instinct attribute by 1 die. Characters recover all lost attribute points in between missions. Player vs. Player conflicts are resolved through dice rolls. Compromising the TVA or fellow employees may provoke an immediate response from the TVA. Static is earned by the team as a whole, and triggers special events based on the level of Static.

Resolution

Players use six-sided dice to decide success or failure when using their attributes. The player rolls a number of dice equal to the attribute being used, hoping to roll at least a total of 11. This number is added to the character's Heart Rate. Failure to roll at least an 11 causes the character to fail the attempted action.

If the player wishes to push the roll, he can make another roll in hopes of rolling an 11. The drawback to additional attempts is that each roll adds the sum of the rolled dice the character's heart rate.

Talents add a bonus die after normal dice are rolled. Although this die is counted toward the total roll, it also adds the sum of the rolled dice to the character's heart rate. The advantage of using a Talent is that it can turn a failed roll into a success (without the player needing to roll all the dice again).

Talents and equipment increase the probability of rolling a success with only two dice.

Complications

Several factors can add or subtract dice from a player's roll:

Weapons and Equipment

Aside from the basic uniform, all equipment must be procured within the multiverse or requisitioned from the TVA. A successful Access (Logistics) roll is required to transfer the equipment to the employee. Equipment gained during the course of the mission may assist in Force or Instinct die rolls. Equipment adds +1 to a roll per Access die rolled. The higher this bonus is, the more impressive or useful the equipment turns out to be. Equipment procured within the multiverse grants a +1 bonus, regardless of its nature or utility. Equipment may grant a Force or Instinct bonus but not both (weapons always grant a Force bonus).

This bonus does not add to the Agent’s Heart Rate.

Risky Actions

A character that performs a risky action could impair his abilities in the field. “Risky actions” include combat, high-speed chases, falling or environmental hazards. Failing a risky action reduces the character's Force or Instinct attribute by 1 die. In most cases, the TVA (or the team leader) will request that an impaired employee ejects from the mission.

If the character's Force drops to 0, he must IMMEDIATELY make an emergency Access roll to eject from the Multiverse or die in the timestream. If an character's Instinct drops to 0, she must IMMEDIATELY make an emergency Access roll to eject from the multiverse or suffer severe psychological trauma and be forced to retire.

Characters making Force or Instinct rolls while at above their Maximum Heart Rate are always considered to be performing risky actions.

Recovery

Characters recover all lost attribute points in between missions. Any equipment gained in the course of a mission is lost upon ejection. Characters that have died, gone insane, or are permanently removed from play.

Player vs. Player

If two or more player-controlled characters come into conflict, the following rules are used:

One point of Static is immediately earned per character involved in the conflict.

All participating characters state their intentions and make the appropriate die rolls (using either Force or Instinct) – the results are added to their Heart Rates.

The character that rolls highest wins the conflict unless another wishes to escalate the conflict, in which case everyone who wishes to continue rolls again. This generates more Static (one point per character rolling again). Characters are free to drop out of (and forfeit) the conflict anytime before the dice are rolled. If the characters are engaged in life-threatening behavior, the risky action rules should be used (penalties are applied once the conflict is resolved).

This process continues until all the characters drop out or the conflict stands.

Impaired Access

If an employee compromises the TVA or her fellow employees, it could provoke an immediate response from the TVA. The employee must make an Access roll (Commendation Points may be spent but neither talents nor Techniques may be used). Failure results in temporary loss of one point of Access. If Access ever falls to 0, that employee is immediately pulled from the mission, labeled a security risk, and removed from active duty.

Static

Static represents the level of distrust and unreliability that separates the TVA from employees in the field. A Low Static mission is one where things run smoothly and egos don’t come into conflict. High Static missions are fraught with misinformation, incompetence, and outright betrayal. TVA employees do not have individual Static scores. Instead, Static is earned by the team as a whole.

Teams begin each mission with 0 Static. Static increases by one point when:

• A character fails their first roll when attempting an action

• A character uses a Technique (except Seniority, which is used to reduce Static)

• A character is insubordinate to the Team Lead or fails to perform an order

Two or more points of Static are earned when:

• Characters come into conflict with one another (+2 Static when an character vs. character roll is made, +1 per additional character that joins the conflict)

• Characters encounter one or more of the Hostiles (+1 Static per Hostile)

Every time Static increases, a Static-related event is triggered.

Low Static (Static between 1-10)

• Contact with a Variant

• A Variant becomes a re-occurring character in future missions

• The TVA's attitude toward the employee shifts in tone from succinct and professional to obtuse or even hostile

• Minor or surreal events are triggered

Medium Static (Static between 11-20)

• Contact with a Special or high-ranking TVA employees

• Contact with a Hostile Variant

• The TVA starts to relay faulty information to the employees

• The TVA deliberately misinterprets requests from the employees

• Major or especially surreal events are triggered

High Static (Static higher than 20)

• Lose contact with the TVA or the TVA becomes antagonistic toward the team

• Contact with Black-level TVA employees

• Contact with Special Agent Osborn-1697

• Contact with The Watcher

• Contact with the Time-Keepers

The Game Mediator may choose to make a pre-mission chart detailing the various Static scores, the events triggered by each one, and any special parameters for gaining Static. Triggered events occur any time after the team has reached that level of Static. The Game Mediator should take into account the presence of any Purple-level employees involved in the mission and adjust their lists accordingly.

Static levels reset once all TVA employees eject (or are ejected) from the Multiverse. The Game Mediator should monitor all Static levels during the mission. These levels are classified White-level information and as such are freely available to members of the TVA.