In Sons of the Singularity Kickstarter and Crowdfunding projects, we like to invite interested Backers to create their own Lore Sheets; 175 word mini-narratives which describes a relationship a character has with another character or part of the game world. We will edit the Lore Sheet, attach it to a game setting, and publish it. We will also give you a writing credit for your contribution as well.
For Lore Sheet submissions, we have the following rules and suggestions:
Backer-created Lore Sheets should be somewhat “generic”, meaning that they can be handed out for any pre-made or player-made character. Therefore, the character name the Lore Sheet belongs to should not be mentioned. In general, it better to not specify race nor sex within the Lore Sheet
You can be creative in describing quests, connections, resources, and experience related to other characters and places. You can and should specifically name other characters the Lore Sheet is related to, just not the character the Lore Sheet is attached to. Note that Lore Sheets are for individual characters; what’s on one sheet does not apply to other players
For published Lore Sheets, the “upper” paragraph can contain settings information about an NPC or something / place in the world. You don’t have to create “settings” though; the upper part can be just about a specific and colorful NPC. In this section, you add to the game world in some way. In historical games (The Sassoon Files, Project Chicory), we want this section to be grounded in a well-researched place or event.
The “lower” paragraph is more about a PC’s relationship with what was described in the upper section and/or some specific experience that the PC has. This should be written in 1st person. This can and should contain at least 1 of the following (and can contain all of this):
A resource (like a relationship ) that is limited and exploitable for benefit (money, credit from a bank, relationship with an informant, a mercenary who owes you favors, knowledge of a rival’s fencing habits). Ideally, this is tied somehow to the upper paragraph.
Information that is relevant to the campaign and tied to something in the upper paragraph.
Description of a quest or conflict that can be resolved. For level 1 Lore Sheets, this can be as simple as “make a report”, or “establish a relationship”, and can easilly be achievable in one game session while pursuing other goals. For level 2 Lore Sheets, the conditions can be more advanced.
Below is an example of a Lore Sheet. It is annotated to see the elements of the Lore Sheet, but these annotations should not be shown to players.
□□ My Lover’s Body
Cade Laurious was a special investigator for the City Watch. [describe related NPC] He was investigating a growing and politically active cult called “First Voyagers”. The First Voyagers adhere to a reactionary belief that sentient life is but one stage in a longer journey, and as such, should not be prolonged with resurrection magic. [create a settings element] Laurious believed that there was some sinister relationship between the First Voyagers and a Merchant on the Alderman’s Council; Denetar Choi [Create plot hook and another NPC] . Denetar Choi was killed under mysterious circumstances. Choi was resurrected yet does not have any memories about how he died. internal investigators with the City Watch found evidence that Laurious was the murderer. A judge sentenced Laurious to soul-wiping.
My lover, Cade Laurious, was innocent [describe relationship]. Yet he was convicted and soul-wiped, probably because my lover’s body was beautiful. During the trial, I talked with many public advocates and administrators, as well as his friends on the Watch [describe relationship that can yield wealth, equipment, information, etc]. They may be able to help me. Laurious’s soul is bound, kept in the Soul Stone vault. But someone else is walking around town with his body. I must somehow bring back my Lover, which also means taking back my lover’s body [describe a quest to resolve].
The Lore System was originally built for this Rational Magic setting. The Lore 100 System uses the unique elements of the Lore System and marries it to a traditional d100 system. These systems should give you a fast and meaningful role playing experience which also ties a character’s story and development into the game world. It was developed by looking at some of the best (in this author’s opinion anyway) features of such games as FATE, GUMSHOE, Barbarians of Lemuria, and Microlite20. Additionally, Lore 100 was inspired by Mongoose Legend d100 system and BRP.
The Lore Systems was made for “traditional” GMs who want to create parts of the game world, game settings, and / or “story arc” of the game campaign, while also providing “story manipulation” power to players to use in-between sessions. The Lore System was also made to help GMs share unique settings with players whether or not they read this book. The system excels in running campaigns with custom-created “genre-bending” settings because the Lore Sheets help bring players up-to-speed on the outlines of the settings. However, this game can be played in different ways; it works well for allowing player-generated plot direction and settings-development without GM-control.
Before a campaign starts and sometimes before a game session, the GM has to prepare Lore Sheets which describe Game World settings and relationships. Most likely, the GM will also put some thought into possible story arcs the players may want to follow. The Lore System will not reduce GM prep time compared to other “traditional” games. However, these GM-facing rules are here to help the GM maximize the impact and relevance of the effort he/she puts into building the Game World and Story Arc, as well as increase the likelihood that players will want to follow a story arc.
All Lore System and Lore 100 System SRDs can be found on the DTRPG page and downloaded at zero cost.
The following are SOS’s Lore System Games:
- Rational Magic
- The Camlann Chronicles
SHAMUS combines the basic mechanics of GUMSHOE with a few extra subsystems in order to provide exciting gameplay, as well as help the Game Master (GM) deliver a vivid roleplaying experience. SHAMUS rules include rules for Lore Sheets, as well as (in this designer’s opinion) a more robust combat system.
The SHAMUS rules (2/2/2021 currently in play-test state) are available on DTRPG and downloaded at zero cost.