This SRD
The Breathless SRD is a creation toolkit that helps you design a game where every mechanic ever-increasingly rises the tension until the characters are forced to suffer dangerous consequences. This survival focused system is simple, condensed, and already powers more than 300 different games.
Based on Breathless, you will find here everything from rules, to design guidelines, to help you make your own game Breathless Game.
Breathless in a Nutshell
Breathless is a survival horror RPG where you play a survivor trying to stay alive in a world overrun by the living dead. The whole game fits on two sides of a letter-sized sheet of paper.
The heart of the game is a single mechanic that creates a constant push and pull between risk and recovery.
Tension, then release.
When you face a risky situation, you make a Check. You pick the Skill that best fits your approach and roll the die that matches its rating, anywhere from a d4 to a d12.
On a 1-2, the action fails. When facing a Complication, it lands in full.
On a 3-4, the action succeeds, but with reduced effect. When facing a Complication, it is lessened.
On a 5+, the action succeeds. The higher the roll, the greater the effect. When facing a Complication, it is fully avoided.
Here’s the catch: every time you roll a die, it steps down one size (d12 > d10 > d8 > d6 > d4). The only way to reset it is to Catch Your Breath, but every time you do, the GM introduces a new Complication for the group.
That one rule is the core foundation behind almost everything in Breathless.
Resources
GAMES & JAMS
INSPIRATIONS
Attribution
This work is based on Breathless, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com/), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas. This product is licensed under the ORC License available online at various locations including www.azoralaw.com/orclicense. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://rpg-trader.com/products/159/breathless-system-reference-document