GENRENAUTS rpg first thoughts (Patreon)

I got a burst of inspiration for how to do a GENRENAUTS RPG in the Forged in the Dark design style. I'd thought about it right when Blades in the Dark first debuted, but now that I have played a lot of FitD games and seen even more in play as other designers iterate on the FitD designs of others, I have a much better sense of what I think it would take.

This isn’t even Minimum Viable Playtest, this is me getting a bunch of thoughts out of my head all at once and then rolling with it as far as my steam could take me. Maybe one more jag like this would get me to the point where I could run an internal playtest with people that both know FitD games very well AND know the Genrenauts premise well enough to fill in the gaps.

I share this here as a WiP and to give myself an extra push to come back to it.

Game goals
Use the cut-to-the-action, fiction-first, and mission/downtime structure of Forged in the Dark to tell stories of a Genrenauts team.

Major influences

Girl by Moonlight (Sea of Stars readiness/darkness/etc tracks)
Sig: City of Blades (modular design, genre regions get their own sheets plus playbooks have special bits for each region)
Prime Time Adventures – seeing narrative structure.
Court of Blades – cool intangible/improv gear
InSpectres – Workplace procedural

FitD mechanics re-skins
Twist Die = Devil’s Bargain
Ripple instead of Heat – Breach instead of Wanted

Team sheet Plus Region sheets? HQ resources are on Team sheet, field resources on Region sheet?

Playbooks – Is the frame Narrative Archetypes or Storyteller Approaches?
Shirin’s playbook (Fixer?) has a move where you get extra/more from contacts.
Do Genre Specialties come from the playabook or player choice? Pick 2 from the list of five given in the playbook? Pick two from the list of X used in the game?

Each genre has its own item list? Do only genres have item lists?
AND/OR Utility/Genrenaut items (communicator, out-of-genre items)

Series Mechanics
Readiness (HQ/the team)
Increased with Downtime Action (and maybe playbook/team moves). Forms baseline for engagement rolls.

Instability (Dimensional storms, breach, long-term plots by antagonist forces)
Increased by actions in the field, leaving breaches un-fixed. Informs Tier of challenges/types of

Readiness downtime action? Influences engagement roll?
Highest level of Breach/Instability track means that the PCs have to either
Do a mission outside all of their specialties
Fix/do a mission in a crossover
?

ACTIONS
Forged-style actions OR Girl by Moonlight-style actions more at the broader narrative level?
Mental – Study, Survey, Operate
Action – Traverse, Combat, Prowl,
Social - Deceive, Empathize, Rouse, Consort
GbM
Sun – Defy, Empathize, Express
Moon-Confess, Forgive, Perceive
Stars-Analyze, Conceal, Flow

Roll20
Made up sheets for the five core Genrenauts and playbooks to represent them. Should have 2-3 more.
One for more brute-force storytelling (new team lead) that plays with Ripple/Twist Dice and pushing other teammates?
-Other type of storyteller? More hands-off counter-narrative person? Media manipulator/rube Goldberg machine of story?
SHADOW (or GRIP? PA?) - More traditional Lurk/Hound thief type – planting evidence, stealing stuff, stakeouts, etc.
-Maker Of Stuff Within The Worlds? As Leech analogue?

PLAYBOOKS

The Face (Mallery) – A Versatile Performer
Starting actions – 2 Sway, 1 Consort
Suberterfuge
You may expend your special armor to resist a consequence from suspicion or persuasion, or to push yourself for subterfuge.
All The World’s A Stage
Take 2 stress to roll your best action rating while performing a different action. Say how you adapt your skill to this use.

(Cloak & Dagger) – keep the throw off a disguise part, but rework
When you use a disguise or other form of covert misdirection, you get +1d to rolls to confuse or deflect suspicion. When you throw off your disguise, the resulting surprise gives you the initiative in the situation.
Like Looking Into a Mirror
You can always tell when someone is lying to you.
Trust In Me
You get +1d vs. a target with whom you have an intimate relationship.
Ships In the Night
When You [Sway] someone, you may cause them to forget that it’s happened until they next interact with you.
I’ll Have What She’s Having
When you [Rouse] to draw attention to yourself, [Something]
Sharing Spotlight
Two times per mission, when you assist a teammate, you grant them two bonuses instead of one (ex. They may take +1d and improved position, etc.). They may not take the same bonus twice.

Face Gear
Fine costume & accessories
Fine disguise kit
Fine Backstory
A concealed weapon
A useful anecdote

Hitter (Roman) – A Relentless Fighter
Starting Actions – 2 Skirmish, 1 Command

Battleborn
You may expend your special armor to reduce harm from an attack in combat or to push yourself during a fight.
Come With Me If You Want To Live
When you protect a teammate, take +1d to your resistance roll. When you gather info to anticipate possible threats in the current situation, you get +1 effect.
Loaded For Bear
Your load limits are higher. Light 5, Normal 7, Heavy 8
Not To Be Fucked With
You can push yourself to do one of the following: perform a feat of physical force that verges on the superhuman – engage a small gang on equal footing in close combat.
Die Hard
[Reduce Harm Penalties Move]
I’m Your Huckleberry
When you engage an enemy in combat, they cannot attempt to escape you or disengage without the GM filling a special 4-clock.
Action is Story
Once per action sequence, ask a gather information Q and get +1 effect acting on it (or share as if a set-up action).
Hitter Gear
Fine hand weapon
Fine Heavy weapon
Unusual weapon
Fine CQC style
Convenient terrain



FIXER (Shirin) – A Resourceful Organizer and Networker
Starting actions – Network 2, Survey 1

Lando’s Not a System
Once per mission, name a contact and add them to the region sheet. Say how you know them and whether you owe them or they owe you.
The Right Tool For the Job
Once per mission, you may make an Acquire Asset action for free when you go to your contacts to get the team what they need.


Quartermaster
When declaring load for a mission in a region where you have specialty, every member of the team without specialty in that region may select an item from the specialist list.

Fixer Gear
A fine ranged weapon
Fine documents
Shady goods

Dramaturge (King) – A Clever Mastermind

Starting Actions – 2 Study, 1 Network


Foresight
Two times per misson, you can assist a teammate without paying stress. Tell us how you prepared for this.
Stage Manager
Due to your careful planning, during downtime, you may give yourself or another crew member +1 downtime action
Mastermind
You may expend your special armor to protect a teammate or to you push yourself when you gather information on or work on a long-term project.
Executive Producer
[Slippery move from crew sheet?]
Failing Forward
Once per scene, when you get a complete success or a crit on an action roll, you may change your result to a 4-5 and ask the following question: What will go wrong next in this story? The team takes +1 effect when acting on this information (needs clarity that it’s not just the consequence you’re giving yourself]. Is it maybe about advancing readiness? How does that apply in-mission?
Checkov’s Gun
[Something about flashbacks?)
Showrunner
When You [Readiness move] or work on a Long-Term Project related to helping your team, take +1 result level.
Dramaturge Gear

Blueprints
Fine escape plan
Fine improvised weapon
Fine advice
Improvisor (Leah) A quick-thinking jack-of-all-trades
Starting Actions
Sway 2, Traverse 1

Tight Five
When you hold a group’s attention, anyone acting on the opportunity provided gains +1 effect (per a set-up action) [how is this not just a set-up action?]
Yes And
You may expend your special armor to resist a consequence from breach or [X], or to push yourself for a feat of [attention-grabbing or X].
Daredevil
When you roll a desperate action, you get +1d to your roll if you also take -1d to any resistance rolls against consequences from your action.
The Show Must Go On
[I’ll carry you move from The Couth in Court of Blades?]
Walk This Way
Choose one of your action ratings. When you lead a group action using that action, you can suffer only 1 stress at most regardless of the number of failed rolls.
Whose Line Is It Anyways?
When there's a question about who acts first, the answer is you (two characters with this ability act simultaneously).

Widely Read
Even when you deploy in a region where you don't have a specialty, select [something from specialty load or a move]. [Lesser effect in regions where you do have specialty?]
Improvisor Gear
Fine monologue
A lucky break
Fine Physical Comedy
An unexpected prop

PLAYBOOK ABILITIES
Playbook notes – every playbook should have explicitly storytelling-oriented moves (Failing Forward, Action is Story, etc)
Failing Forward -- Dramaturge
Once per scene, when you roll a complete success or a crit on an action roll, you may change your result to a 4-5 and ask the following question: What will go wrong next in this story? The team takes +1 effect when acting on this information.
[Name]
Ability where you choose one (threat) clock [bad thing happens when it fills] and it can only advance when you suffer consequences (no one else’s failures can tick it up).

“I am Not Left Handed” – something about improving position from desperate or some form of getting the upper hand by revealing you’ve been holding back.

Region Playsheets

Romance
Specialist Moves

Specialist Items
A Fine Gift
An alluring costume
A unique date (or is this a set-up/flashback special move?)

Utility Items

Troupe Players (Contacts)
Joan, a wedding planner
Zero, a gossip
Alex, a rival suitor