01 Core Mechanics

Welcome to Apprentices. This chapter covers the fundamental mechanics of the game, how to trigger moves, and what your character's attributes mean.

Core Resolution Mechanic

The engine of Apprentices uses a Player-Facing system focusing on mental struggle, magical precision, and pushing the human body to its absolute limits.

The Move

When your character does something in the fiction that matches a Move's trigger (e.g., "When you strike an enemy in close combat," or "When you shape a spell matrix"), you roll the dice.
You roll two six-sided dice (2d6) and add the relevant Attribute.

• 10+ (Strong Hit): You succeed completely. You get what you want, and often get to choose a bonus from the Move's list.
• 7-9 (Mixed Success): You succeed, but there's a cost, complication, or compromise. The GM will offer you a hard choice or an enemy will retaliate.
• 6- (Miss): Things go wrong. The GM will make a "Hard Move," altering the fiction to introduce danger, damage, or an unexpected setback.

Roll Modifiers

Sometimes a Move or situation will grant you a mechanical modifier to your 2d6 roll:

• +1 Forward: You get a flat +1 bonus to your very next relevant roll.
• Advantage: You roll 3d6 and keep the highest two dice.
• Disadvantage: You roll 3d6 and keep the lowest two dice.

Memorized Spells & Joint Casting

• Memorized Spells: You can hold a vast collection of formulas written in a Grimoire, but you can only keep a number of Memorized Spells equal to your Memory rating ready in active recall. Memorized spells reduce Mana Track cost by 1 (minimum 1), cast faster in the fiction, and can be swapped when you are not in combat or a tense roleplaying scene.
• Joint Casting: Two players can work together using the Joint Casting move. When you assist another mage, you choose to either provide Advantage to their roll through mental coordination (using your Calculation) or shoulder the Mana cost (Ticks) of the spell yourself.

Narrative Action Flow

Apprentices does not use rigid initiative systems or turn orders. Action flows naturally based on the narrative.

1. The Conversation: Play is a conversation. The GM describes the situation and asks, "What do you do?"
2. Player Action: A player describes their action. If it triggers a Move, they roll.
3. The Roll Dictates the Flow: The GM does not usually roll. Enemies deal damage and act as a consequence of a player's 7-9 or 6- rolls.

The 7 Attributes

Characters in Apprentices are defined across seven distinct attributes. "Skills" and "Traits" have been collapsed; if your character ought to be good at something (like Lockpicking), they simply take the relevant Playbook Move (e.g., Thief in the Night).

1. Magical Attributes (The Soul's Shaping)

These represent the inherent power, processing speed, and physical mana capacity of the Student's magical mind. Base: 1. Max: 3.

2. Mundane Attributes

These represent your physical and intellectual capabilities. Base: 0. Max: 3.

Survival, Health & The Soul

Physical Health (The Body State)

Every character typically has 7 Physical Health Boxes (unless altered by a Playbook Move). As you take damage from attacks or hazards, mark off these boxes. Instead of abstract math penalties, damage imposes Conditions that the GM uses to alter your fictional positioning or make Hard Moves.

• Bruised: Barely scratched.
• Hurt (Condition: Battered): Minor cuts, bruises. You struggle with agility or prolonged physical strain.
• Injured (Condition: Bleeding): Significant tissue damage. You are leaving a trail and getting weaker over time.
• Wounded (Condition: Broken): Severe bleeding, fractures. A limb is literally useless. The GM will declare certain actions physically impossible.
• Mauled (Condition: Critical): Major trauma. You are moments from collapsing.
• Crippled: Barely conscious. Can only crawl or speak weakly.
• Incapacitated: Unconscious and bleeding out. Death at the end of the scene if untreated.

Channel Strain & Harm

There is no abstract "mana bar" to track. Instead, whenever you push magic beyond your safe limits or roll a 7-9 on Shape the Matrix, your organic channels tear. This strain inflicts actual Wounds on your Physical Health track.
In legacy shorthand, this same consequence may appear as Matrix Strain or Neural Strain in older notes; treat those as channel-strain harm, not separate subsystems.

• A partial rest (sitting quietly) gives you time to focus and can heal 1-Wound caused purely by magic.
• Using unstructured magic or casting city-destroying level formulas will demand taking explicit Wounds before you even roll.

Sanity & Morality

Erosion Trigger Move

When facing trauma or committing atrocities, roll the Resist Erosion Move.
(Roll 2d6 + Willpower)

• 10+: You steel your mind. No ill effects.
• 7-9: You are shaken. The GM will offer you a choice: take 1 permanent Sanity damage, or take a temporary condition (Paranoia, Tremors) until the end of the quest.
• 6-: The horror breaks you. Lose 1 permanent Sanity, and the GM makes a Hard Move concerning your mental state.

At 0 Sanity, your character becomes a "Hollow".

Tiers of Madness

• Sanity 7 (Detachment): Develop the Alienated Condition. You struggle to connect with normal humans; the GM will leverage this in social scenes.
• Sanity 4 (Dissociation): Develop a Derangement (Paranoia, Phobia).
• Sanity 2 (Apathy): You must roll +Willpower just to take action in stressful situations.

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