Brachyr System
Core RulebookCore Mechanic
Roll a d8 'base die' plus a skill modifier equal to the number of abilities you possess in that skill, and meet or exceed a difficulty class assembled from +5 'complications' counted up for the task. You may add one tool die (sized d4 for a basic object up to d10 for a quality magical one) and one aid die supplied by a helping ally, all added together, though a check is hard-capped at those three dice (plus the modifier) so the totals never balloon. Attacks and debate arguments are resolved against a defence check the target rolls with a skill of their own, and the margin between the two rolls becomes the damage dealt to health or to a position.
Best For
Groups who want a crunchy, classless fantasy game where teamwork is mechanically central — coordinating tools and aid raises the whole party's odds, combat on a hex grid is deadly enough to demand cooperation, and social conflict gets the same tactical depth as a fight.
Highlights
Most usable objects grant a tool die and an adjacent ally can lend an aid die, both added to your d8 base roll, while a hard cap of one tool die and one aid die per check keeps a coordinated, well-equipped party ahead of a lone expert without letting the totals balloon. Debates run as a full parallel to combat with their own initiative, rounds, and 'damage' dealt to a position, where gathered evidence acts as tool dice and named fallacies like Straw Man and Beg the Question function as special attacks. Weapons are assembled from a point-buy list of traits — Damage, Reach, Range, Parry, Aiding — rather than picked from a fixed list, so an improvised rope dart, torch, or household tool can be statted as readily as a sword.
Considerations
Player options in the core rulebook reach only the lowest three of nine ability tiers, so the most powerful character abilities are defined but not accessible from this book alone. Resolution rests on a single d8 base die that tools and ally aid can supplement but never replace, so even high-skill characters see swingy results from roll to roll. There is no money or tracked coin — gear is acquired through an abstract Trade check against an item's difficulty scaled to social status, abstracting economic play away entirely.