Rules
How Spindrift Plays
Start with the shape of play, then go directly to the part of the game you need. The detailed rules can come later.
00
Spindrift in 30 Seconds
A persistent world, a simple core roll, and a limited number of meaningful choices each month.
Resolve Uncertainty
1d20 ≤ RatingRoll equal to or under the tested Rating to succeed.
Each Month
4 DeedsSpend your character's time on the things that matter.
Shared Calendar
1 week = 1 monthThree real-world weeks carry the kingdom through one season.
Think Seasonally
EndeavoursUse sustained seasonal work for ambitions larger than a Deed.
Advantage Dice, Complication Dice, Critical Successes, Critical Failures, and detailed resolution belong under Game Structure.
02
Game Structure
Spindrift is asynchronous. Players act as their schedules allow; the GM resolves Deeds as the GM's schedule allows, while the shared calendar continues to move.
The Calendar
A Living Month
Each real-world week advances Léoneth by one in-game month. Three weeks make one season.
Core Resolution
Roll Against a Rating
The d20 answers uncertainty. More specific dice rules cover Advantage Dice, Complication Dice, critical results, opposed rolls, and unusual circumstances.
Resolution
Fiction First
Roll when the outcome is uncertain and matters. The GM and player use the result to determine what changes in the shared world.
03
Your Character
Five ideas describe who your character is, how they relate to the world, what they can do, and what play has made true about them.
Traits
How do you tend to act?
Bonds
Who matters to you?
Capabilities
What are you able to do?
Prestige
How much weight does your name carry?
History
What has happened to you?
04
Deeds & Endeavours
Deeds govern the attention you spend this month. Endeavours govern the larger changes you pursue across a season.
Monthly
Deeds
Four per character, each month.Travel, send correspondence, meet someone, investigate, influence, acquire, prepare, recover, or pursue another meaningful action.
A Deed asks: What will you do this month?
Seasonal
Endeavours
One season = three real-world weeks.Restore an estate, establish an institution, conduct research, organize a campaign, train a force, or pursue another sustained ambition.
An Endeavour asks: What are you trying to change this season?
05
Factions & Houses
Institutions have identities like people do, but they also control places, people, and material resources.
Shared with Characters
Institutional Resources
Holdings
Lands, estates, buildings, workshops, temples, docks, and other places controlled.
Personnel
Troops, retainers, workers, clergy, agents, specialists, and organized labor.
Assets
Pearls, trade goods, vessels, equipment, stores, and other movable wealth.
07
Reference
A quick lookup for the concepts you will use most often during play.
06
Social Play
Spindrift is a game about people whose relationships overlap. Bonds, reputation, institutions, and competing intentions turn conversation into consequence.
Bonds
Relationships are not flavor text. Bonds are the primary mechanic used when trying to influence another person socially.
Standing Matters
Prestige, office, House, Faction, and History shape the context in which characters meet one another.
Intentions Collide
When people resist one another or plans conflict, use the relevant resolution rules rather than assuming conversation alone decides it.