Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Credits
Written and designed by:
Ben Dutter
Freeform Universal,
OneDice Universal, Fate,
Wushu, Apocalypse World
,
and many others
Inspirations:
Playtesters:
Artwork:
Special thanks:
Contents
Getting Started
Gameplay
What is this?
17
A universal toolbox
Roll 1d6
17
As a group
And or But
18
Pick the GM
Game Concept
As a player
Doing stuff
16
Traits
Is it relevant?
Abilities
17
19
19
20
10
Unique talents
20
Character concept
10
20
10
Advantage when
20
Ability
11
Permission when
20
Rank Skills
11
Vitality
12
23
As the GM
13
23
Character creation
13
24
Inciting incident
13
Starting Play
Advantage
Difficulty
23
25
14
GM Gauges
25
14
Assign a modifier
25
14
25
15
25
Advancement
27
Source
27
Items Purpose
35
Frequency
27
Items Traits
35
28
Items Abilities
35
New Abilities
29
Mechanical impact
36
30
Weapon damage
37
30
NPC damage
38
The outcome
31
Damage reduction
38
Defeating NPCs
31
Effect of hits
39
Detailed conflict
32
Suffering wounds
40
Damage
34
Healing
41
Conflict
Equipment
35
G
ETTING
S
TARTED
What is this?
Cornerstone is a tabletop roleplaying game. You and at least
one other friend take on the role of characters in the
in-game universe, essentially cooperating to create a story.
Get a group of 2-6 people together with some dice, paper, and
pencils. One player is the
Game Master (GM)
, who runs all of
the
non-player characters (NPCs)
, describes the
environment, and determines what happens when your
character
fails
.
The rest of the players make one
character
.
Agree upon a
Game Concept (adventurers exploring
dungeons, an elite sci-fi military unit, the crew of a 15th
Century merchant vessel), then each player will come up
with a
character concept
that fits.
Most of the game itself is played through a dialogue. You and
the other players say what you want your characters to do,
and the GM will take care of the rest. The group of characters
the players control is sometimes called a
party or a
group
.
Your party will interact with one another, the NPCs, and the
world, all under the guidance of the GM, the dice, and the
rules.
A universal toolbox
Cornerstone is built to be a universal, generic toolkit
designed to get you and your friends quickly and easily into
your preferred setting. It does fantasy, modern, action, sci fi,
supers, or just about any other common genre.
That means that Cornerstone can be your groups foundation
to cover a variety of different game types. If youre anything
like me, you constantly get inspiration to run a new game in
the setting of your favorite universe, or want to create some
kind of mashup that is too obscure to warrant its own book,
or play in a new setting. Thats what Cornerstone is for.
As a Group
Agree on who is going to
GM
Decide on the
Game Concept
Heroic fantasy, space opera, sci fi, supers, horror, or
your favorite book or movie or video game setting
Pick the partys
Purpose
(heroes, mercs, cops)
Agree on the
Color
(gritty, silly, gonzo, epic)
Add
two Skills
to the
Standard Eight
Awareness
Coordination Influence
Knowledge
Logic
Might
Stealth
Resistance
As a Player
Come up with your
Character Concept
Think of your
Background (distant history) and
Foreground
(recent history)
.
Stick to the Game Concept and openly
collaborate with the other players about your character.
10
Example Ideals
Honor, selfishness, might makes right, ambition, protect the
innocent, justice, vengeance, duty, freedom, redemption.
Example Method
Direct, passionate, logical, careful, brutal, efficient, heroic,
flamboyant, dishonest, selfish, cowardly, valorous, patient.
Example History
Barbarian, second son of the King, served hard time, escaped
from a slave camp, life among the stars, hullborn, outcast.
Share, collaborate with, and get approval from the rest of the
players - especially the GM.
Define your
Ability
Create your characters
Ability - something theyre uniquely
skilled at. Your Ability allows you to
never fail certain
actions, do
better than others with certain actions, and some
actions that
you can do but
others cant
. This
must be
approved by the GM. Read more on
Abilities
(pg 20).
Two
Skills are
Bad
Four
Skills are
Average
Two
Skills are
Capable
Two
Skills are
Great
11
(success on 5-6)
(success on 4-6)
(success on 3-6)
(success on 2-6)
Calculate your
Vitality
Every character starts out with 5 Vitality, but adds 1 Vitality
for each
Skill Rank
their
Resistance
is above
Bad
.
Resistance is Bad:
Resistance is Average:
Resistance is Capable:
Resistance is Great:
+0 Vitality
+1 Vitality
+2 Vitality
+3 Vitality
12
As the GM
Guide
the groups character creation
Curate and
collaborate with the group on their characters.
Dont be afraid to
ask questions
,
add complications
, or
veto
.
Create an
inciting incident
Cornerstone games should start with a bang. Theres nothing
worse than an awkward, slow-moving first session.
Heroic fantasy
Fight a dragon. Delve a dungeon. Prepare for and defend a
city from a horde of orcs. Stop a dark ritual.
Space opera
Rescue captured royalty from a space station. Discover a
new planet. Use a time machine. Crash land your ship.
Sci fi
Wake up early from cryosleep, only to find 90% of the ships
crew is dead or missing. Stop an asteroid impact.
Supers
Assemble the super team to stop the super villain. Save a
city from an alien invasion. Try to end World War III.
13
Starting Play
The GM
sets
the
scene
Throw the characters into the determined
inciting incident
right away. Give a succinct and intense description of the
relevant variables.
Give
their hammers
nails
In order to proactively engage with the scene, the players
need some nails to hammer. What are the
immediate and
pressing issues,
obstacles
, or enemies that are threatening
the characters? What are some obvious
options
?
14
What do you
do
?
After the
inciting incident has been revealed, the GM should
ask the players
What do you do? Initially focus on their
characters thoughts and conversation, then dive straight
into the action.
Ask them specific questions about their actions and
intentions. Establish connections to the
Game Concept
.
Bring up a
Trait
for each player if necessary.
Most importantly: get them talking, asking questions, and
doing stuff
.
15
G
AMEPLAY
16
Doing Stuff
Describe
what youre trying to do
Players describe their characters
actions
,
intended outcome
,
and
approach
.
Player:
Ishkhan tries to efficiently chop the bandits arm
off with his axe so that she cant attack Barina.
Roll
1d6
Only roll when an action:
is
possible
has a chance of
failure
has an
interesting
consequence or outcome
The player
rolls 1d6. Compare the
face-value (1-6) to the most
appropriate
Skills Rank
to determine
success
or
failure
.
Success
What the player wants to happen, happens.
Failure
The GM narrates what
actually happens, usually not what
the character wanted to happen.
17
Player:
My Might is Capable (3+), and I rolled a 4. Thats a
success, so off goes the bandits arm!
Determine
And
or
But
If the roll is
Even
(2, 4, 6), modify the outcome with an
And
. If
the roll is
Odd
(1, 3, 5), modify it with a
But
. Players can
suggest
Ands
and
Buts
, but the GM has the final say.
Failure And
Failure But
Success But
Success And
Player:
And since I rolled a 4, I got a
Success And
!
GM: Ishkhans axe lops off the bandits arm,
And hes able
to knock her down prone.
If the Player had rolled a 5 (
Success But
) instead:
GM:
Ishkhans axe lodges in the bandits arm, mangling it
severely,
But
it gets stuck and pulled down with the limb.
Note: always read the
adjusted value of the dice after
applying any modifiers (such as from Traits).
18
Traits
Is a Trait
relevant
to your action?
If one of your
Three Core Traits is beneficial and relevant to
your attempted action, you can
trigger
before the roll and:
Add
+1
to your roll
Add
an extra
And
or
But
Cancel
out an
And
or
But
Only
one Trait can be used
per action
. GMs can trigger a
characters Trait if it is
detrimental and relevant to their
action, applying the
reverse
of the options above.
Player: I want to use Ishkhans
Battlefield Commander
Trait to add another
And
to my success.
GM:
Okay, what do you want that to be?
Player: Ishkhan would give an intimidating battlecry,
making the other bandits possibly freeze, surrender, or
flee.
GM: Sure that works. After they see Ishkhan chop off one
of their members arms and hear his ferocious battlecry,
the ragtag group of bandits hesitates in springing their
ambush. Barina gets to act before them now.
19
Abilities
Define
your unique suite of
talents
Each character starts out with one
Ability - something that
sets them apart from the rest of their group and helps to
define their connection to the
Game Concept
.
Think about a word or phrase that really encapsulates what
your character is capable of - their role in the team, their
profession, the name of their ancient Order, whatever.
You
dont
have to roll
Define a specific type of Task that
never requires a roll from
your character. It cant be an attack or defend, but some
simple action youre expected to accomplish routinely.
Only
you have
permission
to roll
Figure out a specific type of Task that others would find
impossible - only you can roll for this type of Task.
Remember, it should still be
somewhat
conceivable.
20
21
22
Advantage
Advantage:
roll
twice
, pick the
best
If you have an
advantage
toward completing an action (good
position, helpful item, etc)
roll two dice
and
23
Disadvantage:
roll
twice
, take the
worst
If youre at a
disadvantage
, roll twice and
take the worst
.
Kettefiss tries to hotwire an airlock, but has
disadvantage
from improper tools. She rolls Knowledge twice and gets 2
and 5. Since she has disadvantage
she has to pick the 2, a
Fail And
.
Cancel
, but dont
stack
Multiple sources of advantage and disadvantage
cancel each
other out, but
dont stack
. A character with three advantages
and two disadvantages rolls as if they had one advantage.
24
Difficulty
The GM
gauges
the Tasks
Difficulty
The vast majority of Tasks fall within an actions normal
range, but at times the GM might judge whether a particular
warrants a
Difficulty modifier
or not.
Assign a
modifier
Easy:
Possible:
Difficult:
+1 bonus to roll
requires a roll
-1 penalty to roll
GMs, make sure you alert the player whether their intended
action has earned a Difficulty modifier.
Cancel
, but
dont stack
Just like Advantage and Disadvantage, multiple sources of a
Difficulty Modifier can
cancel each other out, but
dont stack
.
Players never apply more than a
+1 or
-1 to their roll from
Difficulty Modifier.
Stack
with
Traits
Difficulty modifiers
stack with
Trait modifiers up to a
maximum bonus or penalty of
+2
or
-2
.
25
Player:
I want Ishkhan to melt through the stone wall with
his Sculpting Magic.
GM:
This flagstone is massive and dense, so thatll be
Difficult with a -1 modifier to the roll.
Player:
Okay, can I use my
Tenacious Trait to cancel that
penalty out?
GM:
Yep, but I just realized youre also shackled and in a
lot of pain, so thats another source of Difficulty. Go ahead
and roll with a total -1 modifier.
26
Advancement
Most stories told with Cornerstone involve the characters
changing and growing over time - this growth is called
Advancement
.
Discuss the
source
of Advancement
As a group, talk about what type of
actions and
factors
contribute to a characters Advancement, and how those
factors originate from and align with the Game Concept.
The
source drives and motivates character action - so it
should be something defining of the genre and the type of
stories your game focuses on.
Determine Advancement
frequency
How many sessions or scenes or obstacles need to be
completed in order for characters to Advance? Is it a flat
number each time? Does it increase each time the
characters Advance? Keep it simple and easy to track.
27
Rank Up
one
Skill Rank
(Good to Great)
Gain
+1 Vitality
Gain one new
descriptive Trait
The option of
changing
one
Core Trait
28
Gaining new
Abilities
If the group agrees and the game concept allows, every few
Advances characters can gain access to new
Abilities
. These
need to make sense in the narrative, and should be on par
with the rest of the characters Abilities.
If allowed, its recommended that every
three Advances
grants a new Ability, or the option to change an existing one.
29
Conflict
Most conflicts are
Tasks
Usually when a characters action
opposes an NPC - such as
combat, an argument, a chase, a battle of wits, whatever - the
GM can treat it as a normal
Task
. The player states their
action and intent, rolls, and determines the outcome.
Most NPCs wont apply a modifier to the characters roll, but
especially weak or powerful enemies can add +1 or -1 just
like an Easy or Difficult Task.
30
The conflicts
outcome
The point of most conflicts is to achieve some kind of
mutually exclusive
goal (get there first, exert more force).
Strictly the players roll determines if their character - or
their opponent - achieved the desired
outcome
. Players roll
their characters
attacks
and
defends
- the GM never rolls.
Defeating
NPCs
NPCs have
Vitality just like characters. Most NPCs are
fodder
, and only have 1 Vitality, while
tougher opponents
have 5 to 10 Vitality. An NPC is
defeated when they reach 0
Vitality. The nature of their defeat depends on what manner
of conflict is taking place - killed or knocked out in combat,
captured, persuaded, outrun, or outmatched in some way.
31
Actions
during
detailed
conflict
Sometimes a conflict requires a great amount of detail,
zooming in to blow-by-blow combat or a tit-for-tat repartee.
In these cases, those involved in the conflict take one
action
per
turn
, and one turn per
round
.
An action consists of one roll
- essentially a Task. Who goes
when largely depends on what makes
sense in the narrative
,
the aggressor goes first, their allies can jump in to protect
them, their opponents respond when possible, quick actions
take less time than long actions, etc.
Whenever a character
attacks or
defends themselves, the
player must
roll
. The GM, and by extension NPCs,
never roll
.
Defending - or any
reaction to an NPCs action -
doesnt
count as the characters one allotted action per turn. If a
character has to roll Might in order to catch themselves after
the floor collapses - thats a reaction and doesnt count
toward their limit.
As the GM, make sure you highlight every player and
combatant
equally
, prompting others to speak to their
characters actions if they havent already.
If your group isnt comfortable with this fluid method of
taking turns, you can base the
order of actions
off of a Skill
or a roll of said Skill (such as Awareness or Coordination.)
32
GM:
The Carhai Raiders grip their spears and draw their
bows, preparing to strike out against the Arbiters and their
caravan.
Player:
Can Murasada quickly step forward and speak
before they attack?
GM:
Sure, talking is quicker than charging with a spear.
What do you say or do in character?
Player:
Murasada wants to stop the Raiders in their tracks
with the gravitas of her words and the potency of her
presence.
GM:
Okay, go ahead and roll Influence. Thatll be your one
action this turn, thats all you can do for now.
Player:
Okay. I rolled and got a 6! Success And! Not only
do I want them to stop charging, I want my allies to have
ample time to prepare for battle!
GM:
Your allies are ready, the enemy has stopped. Not
waiting for the negotiations, one of the caravaneers looses
a quarrel from their arbalest! A raider falls and dies off of
his steed. Enraged, the raiders draw steel against the
caravaneers and battle erupts. An arrow whooshes
through the field toward your head, youll need to roll a
Defend.
Player:
Ack, okay. I will roll Awareness so I can try to see
the raider about to shoot and move out of his line of fire in
time. Darn, a 2 - thats a Fail And.
GM:
You get hit in the shoulder,
and you drop your shield
from the pain in your joint.
33
34
Equipment
Whats the equipments
purpose
?
Is a piece of gear meant for
combat
? Is it meant to kill or to
capture? Is it a helpful
tool
, or a defensive shield, or an
ancient and puzzling artifacts cipher?
Ishkhans
Volcano Forged Poleaxe is a
weapon of war and
a
symbol
of Clan Razmehks power and authority.
35
Only
some
gear has mechanical
impact
Only when equipment is
significant to the narrative and the
current Tasks does it have some measure of mechanical
impact -
Traits
,
Abilities
, that sort of thing.
36
Character weapon
damage
Character weapons deal
damage when they
hit (the result of
a
successful attack
) their
target
. Weapon damage is listed
with two values - the amount of damage dealt with a
Hit And
and the amount dealt with a
Hit But
.
37
NPCs deal
flat damage
The partys opponents and allies simply deal a
flat number
of damage, as the And or But is related to the characters
defend roll and
damage reduction
. Most enemies deal
around 2 damage, tough around 4, and deadly around 6.
Character
damage reduction
Characters can have
damage reduction
(
DR
)
, often granted
by some form of ablative or defensive equipment - armor,
shields, kinetic absorbers, etc.
DR
reduces the amount of
damage a character takes when
they fail a
defend roll. Just like weapons, DR is usually listed
with a
Got Hit And (Fail And) value and a
Got Hit But (Fail
But) value. The Got Hit And DR value is less than the Got Hit
But DR value.
38
Ishkhan wears a
Mastercraft Plate Harness
, which grants
him 2 / 4 DR. If he rolls a
Fail And on a defend, he only
reduces the incoming damage by 2, and a
Fail But reduces
it by 4.
The
effects
of
getting hit
The majority of combat and conflict will have semi-abstract,
narrative
effects based upon the characters intended
outcome and the status of their roll.
39
Suffering
wounds
When a character reaches 0 or less Vitality and is
defeated
,
they can choose to
keep fighting and
suffer a wound or
succumb to defeat
.
A
Got Hit But
delivers a
minor wound, while a
Got Hit And
delivers a
major wound. Minor wounds serve as
negative
Traits - they are triggerable by the GM when appropriate and
give a
roll penalty
. Major wounds serve as
negative Abilities
- blocking permissions, downgrading a Skill Rank, making
certain actions with Disadvantage, etc.
40
Healing
Damage can be
healed - wounds reversed, Vitality restored as a
Task
. The amount that is healed depends on the
equipment being used for healing (treated just like weapon
damage, with an And and But value). Certain
Abilities or
other narrative effects might affect healing (such as Magic).
The
severity of the injury takes more time to heal, which
largely depends on your
Game Concept
. Characters in a high
power fantasy setting will heal and behave very differently
than a gritty war simulation.
Immediate
:
Post-scene
:
Post-session
:
Post-arc
:
41