#chacaille

[chacaillejdr]

The basics of the Scalecat system - the dice rolls

The Scalecat system is made to have simple rules, its goal being to be highly adaptable. In this optic it is based on a classic D6 roll system, but with a slight twist.

For every action the player will roll a definite amount of D6, and will only count the number of those that obtained a 5 or a 6. This value is called the score of the roll.

The GM will define a Difficulty Level for the action, which will be substracted from the roll score. This final value is called the result of the roll.

According to the result value, several options are possible : 

if the result is zero or negative, the action is failed

if the result is 1, it is a small success

if the result is 2 or 3, it is a medium success

if the result is 4 or higher, it is a high success

The only exception being the defense (parry or evade), in which case the rule is even simpler : 

if the defense result is negative, the defense fails

if the defense result is zero or positive, the defense succeeds

So far everything seems simple. But there is one more rule, which will change everything. Simultaneously to their roll, the player will use two more D6, which will not count in the score. These are the Critical Dices, which will only affect the action if they both roll a 1 or a 6 ; else they are simply ignored.

if the action succeeds and the Critical Dices both roll a 6, it is a critical success : not only is the action considered a high success, but positive effects can be added. The critical success can grant experience points.

if the action fails and the Critical Dices both roll a 6, it is a salvage : the action is considered a small success despite the failure, but negative effects can be added.

if the action fails and the Critical Dices both roll a 1, it is a critical failure : not only is the action failed, but negative effects will be added.

if the action succeeds and the Critical Dices both roll a 1, it is an overkill : the action is still a success, but negative effects will be added, as if the character overdid it.

Let’s say that a character tries to pick a lock. What would the effects of the Critical Dices be ?

critical success : the character picks the lock in a few seconds, in absolute silence. Moreover they gain a perfect understanding of the lock mechanism, and will have a bonus for picking subsequent similar locks.

salvage : the character needs a lot of time to pick the lock, and when they finally succeed they break their lockpicking tools and won’t be able to use them anymore.

critical failure : the character doesn’t succeed in opening the lock. Worst : they make a bad move and drive their lockpicking tools into their hand, injuring themselves.

overkill : the character succeeds in picking the lock… and goes way beyond that since the whole metallic bolt falls noisily to the ground, alerting the guards.

Let’s be honest, the overkills are the funniest options for the GM, since they’re the occasion to mess with the players while letting them carry on with the scenario !

Aaaand… that’s all folks ! The dice rolls rules aren’t more complicated than that. Are you interested by this system ? Do you have any questions ? Don’t hesitate to discuss in the comments !

[chacaillejdr]

What is the Scalecat system ?

The Scalecat System is a TTRPG rules system that I crafted over several years as a framework for the Tales of the Grey games. 

It is a D6 system built around 4 main objectives : 

provide rules that are both simple to master for beginners and offering a lot of freedom for dedicated players

focus on the imagination of the players and the roleplay

give the GM a large adaptability towards the players, but give the players full responsibility over their actions and destiny

decorrelate the rules system from the universe in which the scenario occurs, to be able to use the same system in different worlds.

So, what makes the Scalecat system different from other existing rpg rules systems ?

First of all, it is a system where only players, and not the GM, will throw dices, limiting the number of rolls for each action and making everything faster and more fluid.

It is also a system which offers an original rule for critical rolls, which is more coherent with PC progression (and avoids high level characters just absurdly piling up critical failures) while bringing a touch of malice in the hands of the GM.

Last but not least, the rules system is built in two parts : a “core” part, common to any scenario, and a “universe” part which adapts to the world, the technology, the magic system, etc. for every specific scenario. That makes it the ideal rules system to master TTRPG in original universes and to explore all their possibilities.

Moreover, the Scalecat System will be published with a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence, meaning that anyone will be able to use it for their own (non commercial) creations !

More details on the Scalecat System coming soon in future posts, so stay tuned ! And meanwhile, don’t hesitate to ask any question you might have on this system !

[chacaillejdr]

How to avoid railroading in your scenario ?

When you guide your players in a roleplaying game, either as an author or as a GM, there are two extremes that harm the experience : to direct them too much, or not enough.

A game that does not direct its players enough will leave them lost, unable to determine where the scenario wants to take them. This will lead to a drop in the energy, or even in your players’ interest, and the GM will be forced into a loop of “well, what do you do now ?”, or even have to use Deus Ex Machinas to move the story forward.

On the other hand, a game that directs its players too much, and does what is called railroading, will be frustrating for its players. No, I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to talk with this NPC. What if I negotiated with the Big Bad instead of attacking them ? You know what, this tavern feels shady, I’ll take a look at its accounting and loot its wine cave.

What will you do then ? Stop them and kill the fun, or let them be and lose control of your scenario ?

The best way to do it is through anticipation, to have a balanced scenario. I’ll give you here some tips I use and that, according to my victims my players, are somehow efficient.

First of all, as seen in the previous article “How to write a TTRPG scenario”, a good first step is to divide your scenario in several scenes, and to identify the “fixed points”, who must have a predetermined resolution, and the “mobile points” where the PCs have more leeway. Then you’ll have to play with the proportion between fixed and mobile points, to let your players breathe between the scenario-heavy scenes, while not divulging which point is which.

Then, always prepare different roads, whether it be in a dungeon map or in the solution of an investigation. This will give a more organic feel to the story progression since choices will be made. And it doesn’t matter if they all reach the same destination. I often feel that three is a good number of roads, to avoid weighing too heavily on the writing and preparation while still avoiding binary choices. And these roads can be drastically different, for example on a model fight/puzzle/social.

You can widen even more the field of possibilities by adding scenes that are completely open-choice, as long as it doesn’t take too much space in your scenario. This could be an obstacle where you don’t write any predetermined solution : you let your players think about it and, if they suggest a solution that seems plausible enough, you let them use it.

You can also give your players a time span in universe where they are exceptionally free of any pressure and they are free to do as they please. For example they might have an appointment the next day with an investigator, but they have nothing planned until then.They can explore side quests, go talk to their favorite NPC, or interact between them.

Something that is always interesting while writing a scenario divided in scenes is to use conditional writing. When the PCs encounter a situation, you may have prepared elements like “if at this previous mobile point the PCs did this, then they encounter option A, else they encounter option B”. This gives the PCs the impression that their choices had more impact, since their past actions have present consequences. Of course, if you want, A and B can only be cosmetic options leading to the same conclusion, but the effect remains.

Finally, I can’t advise enough in favor of the use of recurring NPCs : as described in the previous article “how to write a remarkable NPC in your campaign”, some NPCs should come back at different points in the scenario. Make them remember some specific things from their previous encounters. Create a few NPCs whose character arcs are only made of mobile points, so the PCs can shape them through their interactions. This will give a large freedom to your players on elements that will not derail your scenario.

And while we’re talking about NPCs, this last advice should not be used more than once or twice in a full campaign to avoid becoming a cliché : the Gathering. Juste before a critical moment the PCs meet in a known place (a “recurring place”, following the article “How to write a place for your TTRPG”) with all the NPCs the players bonded with. Emphasis on the “have bonded with” : if the players have bad beef with an NPC, or if they just didn’t interact much, this NPC won’t come. On the other hand if they got particularly close to a specific NPC, this one will have a major role in the Gathering. Moreover, when you’re writing these scenes, you can give some bonus to the PCs according to which NPC came to their Gathering ; this way the players will be comforted in the decision to bond with them.

There you are, I hope these few tips will be useful to you. What about you, do you have other techniques to avoid railroading your scenario ? How much do you guide your PCs in your stories ?

[chacaillejdr]

Contes du Gris - Prévalence

Début du financement participatif !

Mesdames et messieurs, amis rôlistes, nous y sommes. Après des années d’écriture et une quinzaine de mois de préparation, le jeu des Contes du Gris - Prévalence entre en phase de financement participatif !

Pour rappel, Prévalence, qu’est-ce que c’est ? Il s’agit d’un jeu de rôles Steampunk Fantastique se déroulant au début du XXe siècle, dans un univers où la majorité de la population peut influencer l’un des cinq éléments : l’eau, le feu, la terre, l’air et la lumière. Le tout utilise un nouveau système de jeu, le système Chacaille, qui fait la part belle à l’improvisation et est très simple à prendre en main.

Pendant les quatre semaines qui viennent, ça va être la course ! L’objectif est de réunir suffisamment de fonds pour pouvoir payer la mise en page, la relecture, les illustrations et l’impression pour que vous puissiez avoir accès à tout le matériel nécessaire pour mener vos propres parties, voir toute une campagne, dans le monde de Prévalence. Le tout, bien sûr, avec de la qualité !

Pour rappel, deux livres vous seront proposés : un contenant les scénarios courts, et l’autre la campagne. Chacun peut être choisi au format numérique et/ou en version physique imprimée et reliée. Vous pourrez aussi choisir la version Deluxe, avec plein de goodies, ajouter une carte postale de l’Ostenticia pour les fans du webtoon Blue Cloud, et même l’inscription à une masterclass pour avoir des conseils et des astuces pour mener vos parties et écrire vos propres scénarios dans l’univers de Prévalence, ainsi que des annonces sur la suite du projet des Contes du Gris !

Le financement participatif se fait sur la plateforme Gameon Tabletop, toutes les informations et les liens nécessaires peuvent être trouvés sur le blog.

A bientôt dans l’univers de Prévalence !

[chacaillejdr]

Magie ouverte VS Magie fermée

Il y a globalement deux approches principales à la magie (et aux pouvoirs en général, qu’ils soient thaumaturgiques, technologiques, psychiques ou autre… pour simplifier on va parler de magie) : la magie ouverte et la magie fermée. De quoi s’agit-il ?

La magie fermée va être par exemple l’approche de Donjons et Dragons : vous avez accès à une liste de sortilèges dont l’effet est parfaitement décrit et sera le même à chaque fois, hors effets cosmétiques ou libertés prises par le MJ. Un autre exemple classique est celui de Harry Potter, où chaque sort est connu et défini.

La magie ouverte va par contre être une boîte à outils donnant des cadres pour la magie mais sans définir clairement ses effets. Un exemple typique de magie ouverte est celle de Avatar : Le dernier maître de l’air, où chaque personnage contrôle un élément, mais a toute liberté pour utiliser cet élément comme elle ou il l’entend.

Il existe bien entendu d’autres approches, qu’elles soient fondamentalement différentes ou qu’elles soient une combinaison des deux, mais celles-ci sont les plus communément répandues.

Elles ont toutes les deux des avantages et des inconvénients. J’ai personnellement tendance à trouver la magie fermée plus contraignante et frustrante, en tant que joueur j’ai déjà été confronté à des situations où je voulais “interpréter” un sortilège, mais n’en avait pas la possibilité. Cela ouvre par ailleurs des questions intéressantes au niveau du lore : pourquoi est-ce que tel sortilège fonctionne et pas un autre ? Par contre la magie ouverte demande d’être plus strict dans la gestion de la partie, et peut mener à des embrouilles entre MJ et PJ pour éviter d’être trop puissante.

Dans la première campagne des Contes du Gris, dont le financement participatif commence début 2026 (plus d’informations à venir), j’ai opté pour un système de magie ouverte basée sur la manipulation des éléments et sur des rituels : le PJ décrit ce qu’il veut faire dans un cadre donné, le MJ lui indique si c’est possible et défini un niveau de difficulté pour l’accomplir. Ceci dit d’autres campagnes de la même série, se déroulant dans d’autres univers, adoptent la magie fermée avec des listes de sortilèges.

J’ai tendance à considérer qu’un système de magie fermée peut être plus utile si vous voulez mettre l’accent sur les règles et les combats stratégiques, et la magie ouverte si vous voulez vous appuyer sur le RP et l’immersion. 

Et vous, quel système de magie préférez-vous ? Avez-vous de bons exemples de ces catégories, et d’autres approches qui ne sont pas couvertes par celles-ci ?

[chacaillejdr]

How to write a location for your TTRPG

An important, and for some people fastidious, part of writing a TTRPG scenario is to fill the universe. Some improvise this part, and I admire them (from afar, they scare me), but others like me need to prepare things. I suggested in a previous article some techniques to write NPCs, let me share here a few others to write places, you never know, it might come handy.

Before even starting to look at individual places, a technique that I really like and that helps a lot for players' immersion, and for giving a coherence to your universe, is the regionalization technique. It consists in dividing your universe in zones (regions, city districts, or even time periods or sociological groups) and give each a few minor characteristics. For example the houses in a given region are built from a local ochre stone, little pale blue flowers grow in another, architects from a given time period always placed the kitchen on the left just after the front door, or people from a given origin use furniture from a recognizable style.

These are purely cosmetic elements, but for one they’ll regroup your places as part of the same world, and then they’ll give you substance to fill your descriptions in a credible and easy way.

Once the regionalization is done, let’s focus on individual places. The first thing to do is to determine what is the function of your place, to place it in one of three categories : the passage location, the quest location and the recurring location.

The passage location is a place that only serves as a background for a one-off scene, for example a shop or a campsite. Your focus point for this type of place is its atmosphere. You must describe it to your players for their immersion’s sake, but mustn't dwell on it lest they might get distracted from the scene. I’ll give you advice that would make a lot of literary professors’ blood boil : use chichés. You want to build an ambiance in a few words ? That’s what stock expressions are for. Why describe a whole waterfront when “Dream beach with coconut trees” exists ? Or “Dusty crypt” ? Or “Cutthroat alley” ? Just sprinkle a bit of regionalization on it, and it will even become a unique place !

I’d tell you not to abuse clichés but… on a larger scale don’t abuse passage places. You’d get a very generic and blank universe if you did.

Now let’s see the quest location. It’s a place where a challenge occurs (puzzle, NPC discussion, battle, even a whole dungeon). While the passage location focused on the ambiance, here you’ll have to prioritize the gameplay. You have to determine what will serve the challenge, and only then will you be able to furnish the environment. Will your NPCs move on walkways over a chasm ? Will there be acid lakes around them ? Are rocks flying in the air ? Those are the main elements of your background.

Once you have your gameplay elements, the trick to avoid pulling your players out of immersion is to make them coherent in your universe. Why is the place built like this ? Is it realistic for the function it carries ? How does it work ? You actually only have to answer one level of precision, it is enough to maintain the immersion. The walkways over the chasm may decay rapidly and be difficult to repair, so their great number may be a redundancy and the players will find them at different degradation states. The acid lakes may be a natural resource and extraction equipment can be spotted since the prices for this specific acid are high on the market. The flying rocks may have a glowing mushroom growing on their underside, giving them their antigravity properties. Not only will this enrich your universe, but it may also give ideas to your PCs to exploit the environment and, in the end, play with your world instead of just going through it. Another pinch of regionalization and you’re good !

One last tip specifically about dungeons : if you don’t use a battlemap covering all of it… then don’t make a map at all ! It will only lengthen the exploration part of your adventure without giving anything to your players. It will be easier to make a logigram, with blocks for every important room and lines to connect them. It would also allow you to make your dungeon modular to adapt it to your players’ choices (and avoid backtracking if they missed something !), after all you want them to have fun, not lose them or waste their time.

Finally, on to the last category : the recurring location. This is a place where PCs might have to come back several times, to meet with important NPCs for example, or because a lot of crucial points of the scenario happen here. The main characteristic of this kind of place is to be recognizable, and to make vivid memories.

Those are the places you’ll have to write with the most care, because they must be remarkable and they will give your universe its identity. The first time your PCs enter such a place, the description must be long and detailed enough that they understand this location is important. Besides the (now traditional) regionalization, it is important that each one of these places has at least one outstanding element. A tavern may be adorned with a dreadfully stuffed deer head. A castle may be carved out of a unique gigantic crystal. A train station may have a monumental clock on its façade. Whatever it is, this element must be well described : this way, every time the PCs come back to this place, you only have to evoke this one characteristic to bring back the whole place.

Moreover, if you’re writing a campaign, some of these recurring places might need to evolve along the scenario. You should consider cosmetic, or even functional elements that may change with the actions and choices of the PCs. A window may be in good condition at the beginning, broken during a certain scene, then hastily fixed with newspapers afterwards. A whole building may be partially destroyed, and the following scenes will happen in its ruins (will the outstanding element be intact or damaged ? Your choice !) The emotional weight of the location will be reinforced by this.

A last little bit of advice for all kinds of places : add at the beginning of your notes one to three adjectives to define the atmosphere. You can refer to it for improvisation needs, and to choose the right tone to read your description.

There we go, I hope these techniques will be of use to you, or at least pleasant to read ! I’ll come back later with other articles, so stay tuned !

Index

[chacaillejdr]

Je suis ravi de vous présenter le logo officiel du système de jeu Chacaille ! Merci à @gaalika pour la conception artistique !

[chacaillejdr]

Les bases du système Chacaille - les jets de dés

Le système Chacaille est fait pour avoir des règles simples, son but étant avant tout d’être adaptable. Dans cette optique, il se base sur un système de jets D6 assez classique, avec toutefois quelques subtilités.

Pour n’importe quelle action, la joueuse ou le joueur va lancer un certain nombre de D6, et ne va compter que le nombre de dés ayant obtenu 5 ou 6. Cette valeur est appelée le score du jet.

Le MJ va associer à l’action un Niveau de Difficulté, qui sera ensuite retranché au score du jet. La valeur finale sera appelé le résultat du jet. 

Selon la valeur du résultat, plusieurs cas de figure sont possibles : 

si le résultat est nul ou négatif, l’action est échouée

si le résultat est de 1, il s’agit d’une petite réussite

si le résultat est de 2 ou 3, il s’agit d’une réussite moyenne

si le résultat est de 4 ou plus, il s’agit d’une grande réussite

La seule exception étant la défense (parade ou esquive), où la règle est encore plus simple : 

si le résultat de défense est négatif, la parade est échouée

si le résultat de défense est nul ou positif, la parade est réussie

Jusque là tout paraît simple. Mais il y a une règle supplémentaire, qui va venir perturber tout cela. En même temps que son jet, la joueuse ou le joueur va lancer deux D6 supplémentaires, qui ne rentreront pas dans le décompte. Ces dés sont les Dés Critiques, et ils ne vont influencer l’action que s’ils font tous les deux 1 ou tous les deux 6 ; le reste du temps ils seront ignorés.

si l’action est réussie et que les Dés Critiques font un double 6, il s’agit d’une réussite critique : l’action est non seulement considérée comme une grande réussite, mais des effets positifs peuvent être ajoutés. La réussite critique peut être accompagnée d’un gain d’expérience.

si l’action est échouée et que les Dés Critiques font un double 6, il s’agit d’un rattrapage : l’action est considérée comme une petite réussite malgré tout, mais des effets négatifs peuvent être ajoutés.

si l’action est échouée et que les Dés Critiques font un double 1, il s’agit d’un échec critique : l’action est non seulement échouée, mais de plus des effets négatifs vont être ajoutés.

si l’action est réussite et que les Dés Critiques font un double 6, il s’agit d’un overkill : l’action est toujours une réussite, mais des effets négatifs vont être ajoutés, comme si le personnage en avait trop fait.

Imaginons par exemple qu’un personnage essaye de forcer une serrure. Quels seraient les effets des Dés Critiques ?

réussite critique : le personnage force la serrure en quelques secondes, dans le plus grand silence, et a une telle compréhension du mécanisme qu’il aura des bonus pour les serrures similaires du lieu.

rattrapage : le personnage met du temps à ouvrir la serrure, et après moult difficultés parvient à le faire, mais en faisant cela il casse ses outils et ne pourra plus s’en servir.

échec critique : le personnage ne parvient pas à ouvrir la serrure. Pire : il dérape et se plante un de ses outils dans le doigt, se faisant des dégâts.

overkill : le personnage parvient à forcer la serrure… et va même au-delà puisque le bloc métallique du verrou se détache de la porte et tombe bruyamment au sol, alertant les gardes.

On ne va pas se mentir, les overkill sont les options les plus drôles pour le MJ, puisqu’elles permettent de mettre les joueuses et joueurs dans l’embarras, tout en les laissant progresser dans le scénario !

Eeeet… c’est tout ! Les règles du jet de dés ne sont pas plus compliquées que cela. Est-ce que ce système vous intéresse ? Est-ce que vous avez des questions à ce sujet ? N'hésitez pas en commentaires !