HyperQuest

Characters

In HyperQuest, your character is defined by a few words or phrases.

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  Tags. Choose three Tags that describe your character: one Class (wizard, paladin) and two Traits (half-elf, sailor). Tags grant permission to know, deduce, or act. The Priest automatically knows the old rites. The Smuggler is already familiar with the local routes.
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  Skills. Every character has three Skills: Might, Mind, and Guile. Assign a +2, a +1, and a 0.
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  Vitals. Stress equals 10 + 2 × Might. Power equals 2 + Mind + Guile.
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  Rests are an easy day in a safe place that restore all Stress and Power. Breathers are 10-minute breaks, twice per Rest, that restore 3 Stress and 1 Power.

Resolution

An Action rolls 2d6 and adds a relevant Skill.

• 10+: Success. Resolve 3 Tension.
• 7–9: Partial Success. Resolve 2 Tension, but it may come at a Cost.
• 6−: Failure. The GM may make a GM Move.

Critical Rolls. When you roll doubles, restore 1 Power. If it’s a Success, also resolve 1 extra Tension.

Modifiers. ±1 for Basic context (cover, tools, or familiarity) or ±2 for Extreme context (total darkness, hurricane winds, or legendary artifacts).

Threats

A Threat is anything stopping the party: a dragon, a locked vault, an erupting volcano, or a tense trial. Every Threat has Tension. When it hits 0, the Threat is resolved—defeated, opened, or convinced.

Threats have the same actions and rules as players, but inflict Stress instead of resolving Tension. Deploy them alone or in groups, and give each Threat 1–3 Tags to guide its abilities.

Difficulty determines Tension, Roll Bonus, and Power:

Minor5 / +1 / 1A guard, a door, a bribe.

Major10 / +2 / 5A knight, a cell, a debate.

Deadly15 / +3 / 10A dragon, a vault, a trial.

Epic20+ / +4 / 15A titan, an eruption, a revolution.

Stress & Scars

Threats inflict Stress through rolls, Tags, or Costs. At 0 Stress, you’re Down—unconscious, arrested, or broken—and can’t act. You stay Down until you’re Healed or the Scene ends.

If all players are Down, the Scene ends without the players meeting their goal, and something bad may happen. If a player goes Down in a dangerous situation, they gain a Scar. At 3 Scars, your character’s journey is over. Scars go away after a Rest.

Powers

Spend Power to perform heroic deeds:

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  Clutch (1). +2 to a roll or −2 to incoming Stress for yourself or an ally.
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  Triumph (2). Reveal a reasonable narrative truth about a scene, or use a Tag to do something extraordinary.
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  Heal (1). Use your Action to restore 2 + Mind Stress to someone Near.
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  Burst (1–3). Affect 1 additional target per Power spent. Targets must be within range. Roll once and apply modifiers per target.