Rules for Lore Sheets and Backer-created Lore Sheets

This post contains the section “Optional Rules: Lore Sheets” for The Sassoon Files campaign book.  

The first section of this post relays the optional rules of Lore Sheets, a mechanic which was developed for the upcoming “Rational Magic RPG”. 

Following these rules are more specific instructions for Kickstarter Backers who wish to develop Lore Sheets for The Sassoon Files.

Lore Sheet Rules - Introduction

Lore Sheets are handouts that provide players with extra background information about their characters and the game world, and Lore Sheets can be used to assign special roles to each player character. Player characters gain mechanical advantages through Lore Sheets, therefore they should not be regarded as mere “fluff”.

One benefit of Lore Sheets is that complex information about the setting can be distributed quickly and without the need for including a tedious history lesson as part of the game. This optional rule is best used when playing an extended campaign, where the GMs and the players are comfortable with investigators pursuing “secret goals” as part of the campaign game play.  

In the Lore Sheet example, to the right, players receive settings information about Huang Jinrong and the Green Gang, and the player character would have a secret role related to a faction the Green Gang

How to Use Lore Sheets

The Lore Sheet mechanic here is adopted from the Rational Magic RPG for use in both GUMSHOE and Call of Cthulhu systems.  

In GUMSHOE system games, Lore Sheets act exactly like Investigator Abilities, with a point pool equal to the number of □ set out on the Lore Sheet.  In the above example, a player may use the Lore Sheet to narrate about a Green Gang safe-house. This can be used to influence gang members, pay bribes to police, and access weapons through gang contacts.

In Call of Cthulhu system games, spending a point from a Lore Sheet can be used to add a Bonus Die to a roll directly related to something on the Lore Sheet.  Players need to describe or narrate the special skills, knowledge, or relationship that is utilized by the point-spend.

The Lore Sheet points are refreshed at the end of each scenario.

(GUMSHOE Example)

Little Fengmi is the secret son of Huang Jinrong and Chen Hua (see Huang Jinrong Lore Sheet, above).  Fengmi is currently tracking down an artifact for Victor Sassoon – The Jade Comb of Delight.  Fengmi’s real responsibility is to report on Sassoon’s activities to her father, who is inexplicably also interested in the same artifacts.   Fengmi needs to find the hideout of a 4 Seas Gang enforcer, who reportedly has the artifact.  Feng me calls on her Green Gang contacts (Lore Sheet point) to gain clues as to the 4 Seas Gang enforcer’s whereabouts.  

(Call of Cthulhu Example) Fengmi spends a Lore Sheet point to gain an Bonus Die on the roll to influence the Green Gang contact to give information on the 4 Seas Gang member’s whereabouts.

How to Give Out and Change Lore Sheets

As a GM, first you should decide with your table if this is a mechanic you wish to use. We advise you use this if your table is unfamiliar with modern Chinese history or you would like to include some secret roles and goals into the campaign.

For The Sassoon Files, Lore Sheets should be handed out in secret. However, each player must be able to independently decide whether they want to accept and use a Lore Sheet. Lore Sheets should not be forced upon players. Therefore, this mechanic is best utilized when there is a “Session 0” and the GM can communicate with players in private before the campaign officially starts. At the very least, you will need the ability to have a private conversations with each of your players.

There will be many Lore Sheets included in The Sassoon Files. Feel free to copy them and cut them out. When you are ready to talk with players one-on-one, select a Lore Sheet to generally describe to the player; it is important to explicitly alert the player to any faction allegiance described in the Lore Sheet. However, feel free to obfuscate specific details. Ask the player if they would like to take on this additional secret role which comes with additional details about the campaign settings.

If a player does not like a Lore Sheet – or does not like any Lore Sheets – you can work with them to write their own. But be sure that any newly created Lore Sheets are in some way related to campaign background information and settings.

Once a player has selected a Lore Sheet, have them staple it to their character sheet. Remind them that there may be consequences of sharing the contents of the Lore Sheet with other players.

Included in The Sassoon Files are “Campaign Lore Sheets”. These Lore Sheets that do not have □. They contain background settings information that may be handed to players. In this game, Campaign Lore Sheets have no “mechanical” value and the Keeper may give them out to all players. Or, if the Keeper wishes, she can be selective about which player receives which Campaign Lore Sheet. This might encourage the players to talk about their knowledge and share notes while reducing the amount of time spent silently reading the settings material.

Many Lore Sheets included in this book have a “Resolve” condition; a portion of text that is underlined. If the player manages to accomplish what is described as the Resolve condition, they gain a reward.

In Call of Cthulhu system games, investigators Resolving a Lore Sheet may check the box next to a skill during development phase, even if the investigator never successfully used the skill during play. Only 1 “free” box may be checked in this way by an investigator per scenario.

In GUMSHOE system games, investigators Resolving a Lore Sheet three times gain a Build Point. However, only 1 Build Point may be given out to an investigator at the end of a scenario.

GMs should speak with players about updating Lore Sheets to reflect current relationships and goals after any scenario in which a Lore Sheet is Resolved. Here, players can describe the motivations of their investigators and other human NPCs described in a Lore Sheet.

GMs may offer new Lore Sheets any time after a Lore Sheet is Resolved. These Lore Sheets can be pre-generated and provided as part of this book or they may be written by the GM with input from the player.

Lore Sheet Created By Backers

We would like to invite interested Backers to create your 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. We intend to include at least 20 faction-oriented Lore Sheets in The Sassoon Files and we might include a lot more in a separate digital publication, to be used as handouts.  

For Lore Sheet submissions, we have the following rules and suggestions:

  1. Backer-created Lore Sheets should be “generic”, meaning that they can be handed out for any pre-made or player-made character.  Therefore, the character the Lore Sheet belongs to should not be mentioned.  In general, it better to not specify race nor sex within the Lore Sheet

  2. You can be creative in describing quests, connection, resources, and experience related to other characters and places. You can 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 the group of investigators.

  3. For The Sassoon Files, Lore Sheets come in two parts.  The “upper” part can contain settings information about an NPC or something / place in the world.  You don’t have to create the “upper” section if you really don’t want to; you can just name the part of the city or the historical character and we will complete this part of the Lore Sheet using our research.  The “lower” section is about a PC’s relationship with what was described in the upper section.  This should be written in 1st person.

  4. We will not publish anything in any medium which could be construed as racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ, and/or promoting of religious intolerance.

  5. We will include Lore Sheets related to the characters, factions, and places below.  

  • Zhou Enlai / CPC- leader of the CPC in Shanghai

  • Big Ears Du / Green Gang – leader of the Green Gang (and allied with the KMT / enemies of the CPC)

  • Soong Sisters – one married Chiang Kai-shek (“for love of power”), one married the richest man in China (“for love of wealth”), and on married Sun Yat-sen (“for love of the people”)

  • Victor Sassoon – Bon Vivant, mega-developer of Shanghai, anti-Mythos crusader and inheritor of an opium trade fortune.

  • The Bund – fashionable banking and commerce district on the Huangpu river

  • Stirling Fessenden

  • The French Concession – controlled by the France

  • The Old Shaolin Temple

  • Wudang Mountain

  • Chinese Old City

If you are interested in contributing to The Sassoon File by creating a Lore Sheet, please contact us by email (ogami.itto.meifumado AT gmail.com) or by message through Kickstarter.  Let’s discuss!

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