VRBS
System Reference Document 1.0.0Best For
Groups who want a tiny, open d6 engine to build their own short GM-less game, or who are happy to invent verbs and mission prompts together at the table.
Core Mechanic
To try something interesting, roll 1d6 and add the tally marks (up to 3) on the matching verb, or nothing if your sheet lacks that verb. On 1–4 you get what you want with a complication and the team loses one energy. On 5–6 you get what you want. On 7+ you get what you want and the team gains one energy.
Interesting actions use one d6 plus a verb's tally marks, with a shared team energy pool as the only resource. Characters grow only by adding tallies or new verbs after rolls of 1–4.
- Free to tryFull core rulesLegally free as an SRD, PDF, or official web rules
- Get it nowAvailable nowFree to download or read online
- –IndexNo back-of-book index or page-keyed reference tables
- –GM guidanceNo how-to-run chapter
- –Examples of playNo worked examples of play
- ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
- –Cross-referencesRules rarely point to each other by page
1 of 5 book tools found in the core book
Highlights
The roll sets how much energy an action costs rather than whether it works, so a mission is lost only when the team's shared energy pool runs out. A roll of 1–4 adds a tally to the verb used (up to three) or writes a new verb onto the sheet, so characters improve by attempting what they are bad at. A mission aims for three scenes plus one per player, so the story's length scales with the group.
Considerations
Mission and scene d6 tables are left blank for the group to write, so play needs that content invented beforehand or improvised prompt by prompt. The book has no rules for combat, harm, equipment or opposition beyond the single roll, so the table decides what complications and antagonists do. Rolls have no task-difficulty adjustment, so rolled actions with the same verb bonus use the same outcome odds.
Third-Party Publishing
Rules license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Under CC BY 4.0, the entire VRBS SRD may be reused in other games, settings, adventures and other content, with the attribution statement printed in the SRD placed alongside the work's copyright notice. The VRBS logo may be used to indicate compatibility when those guidelines are followed.
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