SAKE
Full RulesCore Mechanic
Roll d20 + Skill Ranks + attribute modifier against a Difficulty Level. Characters are built with a point-buy system using Experience Points to purchase Skill Ranks, abilities, Health Points, and spells. In combat, the attacker rolls d20 + Attack against the defender's d20 + Parrying, with weapon damage reduced by armour's Damage Reduction. Sorcery uses Spellpoints and is divided into six schools, each with its own risks — failed casting rolls can trigger consequences from exhaustion to madness to summoning hostile spirits.
Best For
Groups who want a comprehensive sandbox toolkit that seamlessly blends traditional adventuring with domain-level strategy — managing kingdoms, trading across oceans, waging wars, and navigating a detailed early-modern caste society.
Highlights
Four modular systems — Adventuring, Sorcery/Otherworld, Domain/Warfare, and Trade/Seafaring — each function independently and integrate with the others. Domain management operates through quarterly Domain Turns with taxes, construction, random events, espionage, and faction politics. Overseas trade system models supply, demand, and piracy across a mapped world with named trade regions and goods. Magic carries real consequences — learning spells risks madness, failed castings can summon hostile spirits or damage the caster's soul.
Considerations
590-page rulebook requires significant reading investment before play, even with modular adoption. Character creation can take several hours for first-time players. The default setting (Asteanic World) is deeply integrated into many rules — the caste system, trade routes, and political factions assume that setting.