E.N.Core RPG Rulebook
Welcome to Ethnis, presented in TTRPG format via our E.N.Core Engine. This Engine is built to tell the kinds of stories that Ethnis is meant to have.
Life in Ethnis is rough. The lows are grim, the highs are bright. The Great Drama of the Wheel affects all, even the wild frontiers at the far ends of the WayHall—the expansive, shifting web of wormhole lanes criss-crossing Ethnis.
The Cradle Worlds are Eden—formerly known as Earth, and Jhoutai—the cradle of the Verin, who then made the Sazashi. There are many Kinds of Sazashi, and a few Kinds of Verin.
The Hub Worlds are the cluster of the most industrialized and populated worlds. There are eight. You, Character, can name all of them, if you’re allowed a moment to take inventory. Everything beyond that is a haze of inner worlds, outer worlds, battlezones, firebreaks, and quarantines.
You can’t keep up with it. It’s hard to visualize the whole thing, or care. The worlds relevant to you are your own and those within a week of travel of it—between 1 and 6, depending on how far into the cosmic backwater your world is, and how good your ride.
You’re about to learn a whole lot more about all that out there. You’re about to go on an adventure.
Getting Started
ENCore begins with character creation, but we are going to get into that later. You cannot create your character without an idea of what the two of you are getting into.
The Deck
ENCore uses standard a poker deck of 54 cards, including Jokers.
| Deck | From which you draw all your cards. Placed facedown in the playspace for all to see. | |
|---|---|---|
| Royals | Abilities require a Royal to Trigger; some specify which Royal. Jokers are Royal Wildcards. | |
| Numerics | - |
Any card with a numeric value. Used to take Actions and Reactions. |
| Suits | Some Actions specify different outcomes depending on the Suit of the card played. |
The Character
Every Player Character (PC) has Skills, Attributes, Stats, Abilities, Values, Magic, Stamina, and an Inventory. You also track their Traumas; some will be psychic, some will be physical, there will be many.
Skills affect your success with Actions, Attributes affect the outcomes of your Actions.
As you increase your Skills, these Attributes will grow in tandem, but you may also speed the process up with implants and geneboosting. Attributes provide passive bonuses, such as affecting turn order, movement speed, and base damage.
Attribute | Governed Skills |
|---|
| Upper Body | Rend | Brawl | Grapple | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Body | Vault | Agility | Sprint | Swim |
| Vitality | Armor | Immunity | Toughness | Resistance |
| Reflex | Weaponry | Evasion | Ballistics | Piloting |
| Acuity | Biology | Engineering | Anthropology | Navigation |
| Metaphysics | Divination | Immolation | Combination | Manipulation |
| Nerve | Aesthetic | Storytelling | Culinary | Performance |
There are 28 Skills and 7 Attributes. Each of the 7 Attributes governs 4 of the Skills. You may use any of these 28 Skills, but you’ll live longer if you focus your efforts. Find friends to make up the difference.
The Game
As you draw and play cards from the Deck, they are organized as follows.
| Hand | Represents your focus. The Numeric cards used for actions. Held in Hand. | |
|---|---|---|
| Adrenaline Pile | The Royal cards used for Abilities. Placed face-down in a stack by the deck. | |
| Damage Pile | Represents Damage taken. Cards here cannot be Refreshed without medical attention. | |
| Discard Pile | Played and Discarded cards are placed in this pile, and are returned to the Deck next Refresh. |
Your deck represents your character. Your hand size represents how divided their focus is. Playing a card represents them taking an action. When you Refresh your deck (shuffling played and unplayed cards back into a complete deck), they lose Stamina. When they are traumatized, you mark up or remove their cards.
Cherish your deck. By the end of a good campaign, it and the character behind it will be a bit battered. You are holding their life in your hands.
Conflict
Conflict is how Ethnis handles scenarios of danger, discord, and disagreement. Whenever a challenge rises—a long voyage through a lush jungle, a firefight between space pirates, a fiery debate over the fate of a prisoner—the outcome is determined through Conflict.
Rounds
Conflict is divided into Rounds wherein each Actor is a Belligerent. Players Ante first, then all Belligerents act in order of highest RFX score to lowest, and finally the Narrator takes their turn. Ties favor a Boss over a PC, and a PC over an NPC, for PC vs. PC its at coin toss or Narrator Discretion.
Rounds are ~5 seconds long
Events occur in series, not parallel
Turns are ordered by Belligerent RFX. ()
Once the Conflict is resolved, the final Round continues until all characters have acted.
1) Ante
As a group, players draw their cards. Each Action requires a Numeric played with it. You are helpless once you're out of cards, so Ante tactically! A larger hand means more cards for Actions, but it also means increased difficulty.
There is no hand size limit, however...
Your Ante is the Base Difficulty of any Action
You may Refresh at this time
2) Actions
Starting with the Belligerent with the highest RFX and working to the Belligerent with the least, everyone either Holds or takes their turn.
On your turn, you declare your Actions, and the Narrator resolves each according to the Skills page.
NPC Belligerents act and are resolved according to the Behaviors and Stats of their stablocks.
PC Belligerents act as described by their player, and the Narrator resolves their Actions.
3) Upkeep
The cards in your Hand go into the Discard Pile
Your played Cards go into the Discard Pile
You may Refresh at this time
The Narrator updates the battlefield
You may only declare an Check on your turn. You may make a Save whenever you are Targeted.
1: Assess — Through roleplay and inquiry, look for Factors which may affect your checks.
2: Declare — Tell the Narrator what you want to do, and with which Skill. Play a Numeric, and calculate your check by subtracting your Ante and adding your Skill Mod.
3: Resolve — The Narrator reveals the Check Target, including any unseen Factors. If your Check is greater or equal to this Target, you succeed. Refer to the Skills page for more details.
Action Types| Type | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Takes no thought, requires no Cards. | E.g. |
| Partial | Takes no skill, but still requires a Card. | E.g. |
| Check | Made on a Target on your turn. Has a risk of failure. | E.g. |
| Save | Made as a response to being the Target of an Action. | E.g |
Abilities are unique capabilities gained and upgraded by spending Plot. They are activated according to their Effect text, and typically require you to play a Royal to Trigger them. If a Royal is not specified, any Royal will do. Jokers can be played as any specified Royal.
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