This site describes the rules of QuestWorlds. You may incorporate the rules as they appear here, wholly or in part, into a derivative work, through the use of the ORC License. You should read and understand the terms of that License before creating a derivative work from this site.

Introduction

QuestWorlds is a roleplaying rules engine suitable for you to play in any genre.

It is a traditional roleplaying game in that there is a GM and players. The players play characters, each guided by the internal thoughts of their character as to what decisions they make, and the GM plays the world, including non-player characters (NPCs) and abstract threats.

It features an abstract, conflict-based, resolution method and scalable, customizable, character descriptions. Designed to emulate the way characters in fiction face and overcome challenges, it is suitable for a wide variety of genres and play styles. It is particularly suited to pulp genres (including their descendants comic books) and cinematic, larger-than-life, action.

It is a rules-light system that facilitates beginning play easily, and resolving conflicts in play quickly.

We refer to a rules-light but traditional roleplaying game as a storytelling game, after Greg Stafford’s definition in Prince Valiant.

Why QuestWorlds?

QuestWorlds is meant to facilitate your creativity, and then to get out of your way. It is well suited to a collaborative, friendly group with a high degree of trust in each other’s creativity.

Characters in QuestWorlds are described more in terms of their place in your imagination and the game setting than by game mechanics.

If your group are often at odds and rely on their chosen rules kit as an arbiter between competing visions of how the game ought to develop, or use mechanical options to decide “what action to take,” QuestWorlds is not a rules set that provides that structure. Make sure to discuss with your group whether you are collectively on board with trying a new play style dynamic, or if you would rather stick to more structured systems.

Participants

Players

You and your fellow players each create a Player Character (PC) to be the “avatar” or “persona” whose role you will play in the game. The PCs pursue various goals in an imaginary world, using their abilities, motivations, connections, and more to solve problems and overcome story obstacles that stand in their way.

When we say ‘you’ in this document we may mean either the player or their PC. Which of these we’re addressing should be clear from the context or explicitly noted.

Game Master

Your Game Master (GM) is the interface between your imagination and the game-world in which the PCs have their adventures; describing the people, places, creatures, objects, and events therein. Your GM also plays the role of any Non-Player Characters (NPCs) with whom your PC interacts in the course of your adventures.

We generally refer to the GM as ‘your GM’ in this document’s player-facing language. However, if you are the GM for a given game, this naturally refers to you.