Telling The Story

Gameplay in Aspirant is generally split into a few different types of gameplay: Combat, Narrative Time, Travelling, Resting.

Combat

Combat is the most rigorously kept time in Aspirant; as it is when you are most likely to be injured and die. Combat is covered in more detail here, but in general, characters take turns acting in 5 second increments.

Narrative Time

Narrative time involves characters in a place of interest doing activities, exploring, and progressing the story directly. The passage of narrative time can be a bit more ambiguous compared with Combat. There aren’t rules for narrative time, this is when characters will be directing the focus and the story themselves, doing Action, and roleplaying.

Flashback

Sometimes an ability or necessity will require you to explore a scene that happened in the past. If this occurs it is similar to Narrative Time with the following additional rules.

  • Nothing can occur that would contradict the present.
  • The Game Master gets the final say on if a Player Character behavior is appropriate.

Dealing with non-linear time can be complicated and everyone should attempt to behave in good faith.

Downtime

This tends to happen when you are in a safe area. When in a friendly settlement with no impending danger your characters can choose to take 5 days and rest focusing on yourselves, your work, and resting up. While doing downtime each character:

  • Gain the benefits of Recovery.
  • Consider your Needs met.
  • Performs 1 Downtime Activity.
  • Pay for Lodgings.
  • While performing downtime, players should be encouraged to still take part in scenes in Narrative Time, maybe they meet local artisans, haggle with a shopkeeper, or find the start of an adventure. Time shouldn’t exclusively be occupied with a Downtime Activity, but it will help explain what you are doing when not otherwise occupied.

Recovery

  • Reset Stress to 0.
  • Reset uses of all Once Per Downtime abilities.
  • Remove any Injury that is non-permanent.

Lodgings

Each settlement will have a cost for 5 days of lodgings, usually it will be 2 silver which will cover your food and housing for the duration.

Creating New Content

If a player has an idea for something their character wants to do that should require training but isn’t covered in the rules, then if reasonable, you should let them perform it! Usually, since it is without training, there will be a large associated negative, but at that point work on making a Concept that is appropriate. They don’t need an expert or school to start the training, their character invented it!

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