Draconis task resolution

This is the core task resolution mechanism of Draconis, a TRPG design I started work on in early 2024. It uses a standard French deck of 52 playing cards for each player, and one for the GM.

PCs have four main attributes, currently called Force, Mind, Heart, and Guts; these are rated on a 1-4 scale. They also have a number of skills, rated similarly.

To do things, a player declares their character's action, and the GM decides a difficulty level (examples for various skills will probably appear in the book whenever there's a book) – usually this will be around 2-5, sometimes higher for very unusual or difficult tasks. The GM then draws that number of cards from their deck, places them face-down on the table, and names the attribute and the skill the player should use to overcome the task.

The player, having seen the number of cards, can withdraw if they decide against the course of action. Assuming they commit, they draw a number of cards equal to their character's score in the relevant attribute, and the same for the named skill, if they have it. They can then choose how many cards to play against the GM's hand; not every task warrants maximum effort, and it's not advisable to exhaust yourself on trivial things.

Once the player decides on the cards they want to use, they place them down on the table face-up, and the GM flips over their own cards. The totals are then compared: aces are worth 1, and face cards (jack, queen, king) are worth 10. If the player gets an equal or higher total, their character succeeds at the task: otherwise, they do not. GMs are encouraged to interpret narrow or wide differences in the card totals as indicative of wild successes, catastrophic failures, last-second near-mishaps, and so on.

The player then places all the cards they used in the task on their personal discard pile, and any cards they chose not to use on the bottom of their deck (in any order). The GM places the cards they used on their own discard pile and describes the result of the player's actions, whether successful or not.

Eventually the player's main deck will run low; if it ever runs out entirely their character becomes exhausted; they flip over a final card and can use only that to perform tasks until they get a chance to rest fully. When resting, the player shuffles their discard pile back into their deck ready to start again the next game day.