Rules of the game

The core rules for challenge resolution and character creation should be applicable to most games that use the Heroic Tales system. Subsystems that can be added or removed without affecting the core rules follow in the “optional rules” chapter.

Heroic Tales is a storytelling game of heroic problem solving. To play it, you will adopt a persona called a character through whose eyes you will experience the story. Your character may adventure alone or with a group.

You will roll dice to determine how well your character navigates the obstacles they encounter during their adventures. Depending on how the dice fall, your character may achieve great success or endure terrible failure.

While the dice will determine whether your character succeeds or fails at a challenge, which represent the internal and external obstacles that stand in your way, you will always be in control of their thoughts and emotions. This is your story — if you’re ever uncomfortable with how the game is progressing, you can make any change you feel appropriate.

This is a good opportunity to set the stage for the player by including specifics about the role they’re playing, the world they’re playing in, and the nature of the challenges that they’re going to face.

What you need to play

To play Heroic Tales, you’ll need the following in either analogue or digital form:

• An active imagination, a desire to be creative, and a place where you can focus.
• A journal, blank paper, or copies of the provided record sheets.
• A handful of six-sided dice (abbreviated d6).

Rolling dice

When you’re asked to roll the dice, the text will tell you how many dice with a notation like 2d6. That means you need to roll two six-sided dice at the same time and sum the results.

Occasionally, you’ll see a notation like 3d6+1. In this case, roll three six-sided dice, sum the results, and then add one to the total. If you see 2d6×100, that means roll two six-sided dice, sum the results, and then multiply the total by one hundred. Every time you see the d6 notation, you need to sum the result of the dice roll before applying any other arithmetic.

The only exception is a special type of roll called d66. When you see this type of roll, use two six-sided dice, treating one die as the tens digit and the other as the ones digit. This will give you a range of results from eleven to sixteen, twenty-one to twenty-six, thirty-one to thirty-six, and so on.

If your game doesn’t include the types of rolls in the second and third paragraphs above, feel free to omit them.