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Augur

is the name for this playtest stage of the Mossy Antler RPG.

You can learn more about it on the Mossy Antler Patreon or by following along on the Mossy Antler YouTube Channel.

The game

The goal is to create a Low Fantasy, Narrative, Hardboiled, Mystery RPG.

It's the game I want to play and run! Let's break down each of those terms and what they mean, because they will guide design:

Mystery:

The gameplay is focused around an unanswered question. This mystery with an answer is at the heart of the story, and the players discover it through play by acting as detectives or semi-detective characters.

It also means the world is mysterious; filled with awe and wonder. That feeling of awe could include pure terror, witnessing incredible power, or finding something truly beautiful.

Low Fantasy:

There is magic, but it's strange, rare, and enigmatic. It sets important things in motion, but isn't very accessible most people. The few who can wield it must often pay a high price.

The capabilities of the characters lean towards realistic rather than mythic.

Much of the world is unexplored, unknown, and dangerous. Monsters have rational (if unidentified) origins.
The common folk are superstitious because caution is prudent.

Narrative:

This means the story is what focuses and guides gameplay.
It also means the flow of the game is “fiction-first”. That's a bit of jargon that just means the players are thinking about roleplaying and considering the fiction as a way to play first, and looking at play sheets to activate a mechanic comes second.

Your choices in the game aren’t immediately constrained by the mechanics, they’re constrained by the established fictional situation.
As often as possible during play, you say something about the fiction before you choose a mechanic. The mechanics are only brought in after the fictional action has determined which mechanics we need to use.

You'll be familiar with this type of play if you've played a game that is narrative-focused like Blades in the Dark, Brindlewood Bay, Monster of the Week, or Ironsworn.

Hardboiled

For our purposes, "hardboiled" also means morally complex choices. There are morally difficult decisions to be made by the Players/PCs, and the story and resolution of the mystery centers around these decisions.

The goal is not to create a game that is morally ambiguous or morally grey.
Moral complexity is characterized by there being difficult moral choices, not obscured ones. It also doesn't mean the world is full of only nihilistic & selfish people.
Players should be asking "Who is in the right?" or "Who do we choose to help?"

Hardboiled is a genre term that means the characters fight against organized crime and institutional corruption, and that will be built into the setting.
Hardboiled can also mean a character's moralistic response to the terrible things that happen in the world. Players don't always have to make this character choice, but design should support it.

Other Design Goals

Character Connections

I really love the relationships and dynamics in stories like The Witcher, Princess Mononoke, and many fantasy novels like Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

I think creating PC and NPC relationships before and during the adventure is important to capture this feeling:
Geralt is searching for Ciri, has a past relationship with Triss, a complicated ongoing relationship with Yennifer, a mentorship with Vesemir, and many other relationships that make him who he is. He doesn't just adventure from place to place killing monsters as a lone wolf, his purpose is in direct relation to people he knows and cares about. He's trying to help someone he met. He's trying to find Ciri, or Yennifer.

I want to give the GM tools to hook into these ideas too.

The Ticking Clock

Mysteries are about beating a ticking clock before something terrible happens. That could be the classic "the murderer will kill again", or something like "the magic is creating repeatedly creating more chaos".

The system should reflect and support this. The game is about the players/PCs racing against this clock.

Mystery Guidance for GMs

I've seen a lot of advice online about how to run mysteries, but not all in once place, and usually the advice is missing key details that make things way easier on the GM.

The RPG will have pre-written adventures, of course, but I want to teach the framework I use to create compelling mysteries so GMs can create their own without getting overwhelmed.

Inspirations

Augur is being built on the shoulders of giants.
Here is a list of games and mechanics that inspired me:

The setting

𝟚𝟝𝟘 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕠

the logging town of Biennia wasn't much to speak of. While it provided a safe home to many against the rugged countryside of Rhone, the looming threat of monster attacks and invasions from rival duchies made it a place like any other.

But one day a two-mile tall, blue-grey skinned giant walked inland from the Long Sea, stepped over the stone walls of the city, and promptly collapsed through it. The city was never the same.

No one knows how the giant got the name Upagid (though many will claim they do), but now he is slowly mined for the substance of his body, called pith.
The ever-faithful clerics of the goddess Aotha, called the Sones, believe he is her fallen son. They protect Upagid through their stern upkeep of the city walls and their security detail in the pith mines, but they aren't the only faction who has a deep impact on Biennia.

The Magistrates keep the city running and the King's Legion supplied, despite all of their ambitions and political maneuvering.
The Vointa Pospul (the self-proclaimed "Will of the People") keep their criminal alliance strong and secretive.
And the Workhands keep their tradesguild running smoothly, balancing the needs of the loggers, farmers, artisans, and (perhaps most importantly) pith miners.

Once the pith is processed (it is extremely hard), it is used for many things: a compact energy source, restorative substances in alchemy, a sacred paint in religious rituals that helps users touch the divine, and varied forms of snake oil. Everyone could use a bit of pith.

In Biennia, the ringing bells of the faithful regularly drowns out the clamor of the mining, logging, and shouts of merchants touting their goods. Proud flags flutter outside homes & businesses alike, depicting a teal lion with a red snake in its jaws, the king's colors, despite most folk's distrust towards systems of authority. Clerics, tradesmen, tourists, faithful pilgrims, and regular people all bustle about their business amongst the holy statues, bright purple sparrows, and walled off sinkholes from unmaintained mines.
⠀⠀— — —
While the people of Rhone try to go about their lives, a war churns in the background.
A conquerer from the far east, Anteac the Paragon, has built a following and army in Saalzych. His naval prowess subjugated the countries further east, Tagal and Apierto, and his battles with the elves to the north are successful more often than not.

Anteac recently made progress in taking Falkow, the capital of Rhone, by capturing King Casimir and forcing him to swear fealty. But his overreach has been stalled by a harsh wilderness, potent Rhonic forces, and the stubborn Rhonic people.

Your character

You are a resident (or long-term visitor) of a complex city. Biennia is all at once a sophisticated, corrupted, earnest, threatening, tangled, religious, delightful, and diplomatic city.

What you do day-to-day is determined by your Calling. But what drives you on, who you're allied with, and how you handle repeated hardship say a great deal about you.

Depending on the job your organization tasks you with, you might delve into the pith mines with dwarven guidance, hunt witches with church inquisitors, or play politics against the nobility to discredit an ominous enemy.

You'll act (at least in-part) as a detective, searching the city and nearby countryside for answers. You just have to hope that you don't get too jaded from the horrible things your work exposes you to.

Inspirations

A list of some media that acted as touchstones: