Zodiac Echoes: Introduction

Hey! A quick post to showcase some of my current work on Zodiac Echoes, the first in a series of small(ish), single-session role playing games which make use of cards to allow for faster gameplay and character creation.

You'll be glad to know that playtest materials for this game are pretty much complete - however, I had to do them in Italian first, since I'll be bringing the game to my local game club week after week, and not everyone is comfortable with English (I know I know, Italy and the whole English knowledge issue).

So, what is Zodiac Echoes about? Well, this is the basic premise:

During a night of Full Moon, the moon takes on an eerie glow. The exact appearance will depend on the scenario designed by the GM, but it is a weird and somewhat ominous phenomenon. Everyone in town is talking about it; but some people know that things aren't like they were before.
The Player Characters are teenagers who realized the now-waning moon is an herald of Cogito, a supernatural reality where thoughts and emotions can gain physical shape. Twelve days from now, a New Moon will be followed by the Last Dawn - and the End of our world as we know it. Humanity will be replaced, destroyed or otherwise denied the right to create its future... and it will be because the people's darkest thoughts have been granted their ultimate incarnation. Hope will fall silent.

Now, our PCs aren't super-heroes or anything like that: they are high school students who happen to possess a strong spirit. Their determination is fueled by their bonds with other characters, but they also suffer under a king - an oppressive presence in their mundane life, constantly threatening to crush them and destroy their will to fight.

Example of an ID card. Each PC has four Approaches, which are freely determined by the player. Each approach is tied to a card suit. Each suit is also tied to a Bond with another character.

Fortunately, the Player Characters aren't alone in their struggle against the End: the twelve Zodiacs will provide assistance and grant our protagonists the ability to summon a spiritual avatar, a legendary figure made flesh within Cogito: an Echo of their very soul. Why the Zodiacs are getting involved is a mystery in and of itself, and may very well be among the key elements of a given scenario.

Example of an Echo card. Each Echo grants four powers, some of them Attacks - these will be used in battle. Suggested Echoes for Gemini are Morgana le Fey, Loki, Janus Bifrons and Lewis Carrol's Alice.

And finally, each PC has a Secret: now, this is really a secret. The game features six secret cards, and is designed for one GM plus 3-4 players. Which means in any given session, some secret cards will not be given to anyone: no one can look at these unused secrets, and no one can look at a character's secret except for that character's player. When those secrets get revealed, it will be a surprise for everyone else - GM included!
Now, I won't even try to hide this: most secrets are going to make your life difficult, both in roleplay terms and mechanical terms. They are designed to "bounce off each other" and possibly wreck an entire scene.
But that's what happens when teenagers have to save the world, right?

BUT WAIT, HOW DOES THE GAME PLAY?

I'll try to keep this short and sweet (which means I can go translate the playtest material sooner :P).

• The game has three main phases: Introduction, Twelve Days, Last Dawn.
• During the Introduction, the GM narrates the prologue to the scenario and each player introduces their character, while also forming a bond with an NPC of their own invention.
• The PCs get Twelve Days before the Last Dawn. Each day corresponds to a game action, basically: players take turns (going clockwise, usually) performing these actions, which means in a game with 3 PCs you'll get four days each.
  Each day can be spent to Recover (heal Trauma), Socialize (create or increase Bonds), or to attempt an Incursion against a Clue. Clues are characters or locations that always translate into a battle; there are four clues in each scenario, two initial and two secondary (a Cult and a Prophet). Successfully defeating the Cult and/or Prophet will significantly weaken the End (see below).
• During the Last Dawn, each secret that hasn't been yet revealed will become public (and its effect will trigger). Then, all Player Characters will face the End, a powerful boss enemy. This battle will determine the fate of our world, and will be followed by an Epilogue narrated by the GM or, in case of a victory, by the GM and the players together.

UMMM... WHAT'S WITH THE CARD SUITS?

While the game also uses six-sided dice, its main resolution mechanic (called the Test) uses a Poker deck (with two Jokers). I'll spare you the details for later, but know that:

• An Echo's attack powers will correspond to one of the character's approaches - this is chosen by marking the appropriate suit icon in the power's description.
• Having Trauma in one approach will cause tests to escalate more often, with the PC paying a price for their success.
• For each card suit, Jacks and Queens of that suit have a value corresponding to your bond in that suit (zero if you have no bond tied to that suit).
• If you flip a King, the test is an automatic failure.
• If you flip a Joker, you can treat it as a Jack or Queen of any suit you choose.

And that's the basics for Zodiac Echoes! I estimate patrons will have access to the full card set and playtest rules within a couple weeks - playtest might lead me to tweak and change a thing or two, obviously.

And before you even ask, yes, the Shin Megami Tensei series was a huge source of inspiration for this, together with Monsterhearts, City of Mist, Fables, and Fate/Stay Night.

Eager to know your thoughts about this!