Grey Yonder • 2016 supplement

Grey Yonder

It’s the oldest profession in the world: Bureaucrat. Refined to perfection in the writing cubicles of the Han-dynasty and the executive monasteries of the Byzantine Empire, it’s a staple of Humanity. Even in the Paleolithic age a caveman had to stamp a red handmark in the cave wall to see the senior cave manager.

An applicant must have many things: right papers, right information right contacts, even knowing how to apply. There are also the illegal methods: Forgery, bribery, intrigue, intimidation, murder.

The system below is for when the PCs are trying to get something from a bureaucracy. It simulates the painstaking process of getting all the necessary information, documents and stamps together.

Determine difficulty (4-10) and time frame (hours-years). GM Roll dice = difficulty and line the result up. 

The player rolls dice = difficulty. Matches dice from result to GM’s result. Remove matched dice.

0 dice left: The bureaucratic action is successful. 

1+ dice remain: Roll a d6, that’s how many units of the time frame that passes before next attempt.

Subsequent attempts: Player dice = dice left.

Able characters can be given an advantage
Major advantage: Change the result of one dice.
Minor advantage: Reroll one dice