Monad System

Monad Overview

Monad is a system for running various events and challenges, such as (but not limited to) Tartarus, Palaces, and working at WilDuck Burger. It includes prompts per round for a full scene, can reflect either mundane or supernatural events, and is customizable for a variety of situations. Put another way, it's a system to deliver plot and scene ideas that would ordinarily require a dedicated GM without necessarily requiring one. It's a fully-fledged subsystem, with its own stats and conditions, and a typical Monad run will take an evening of play.

• Monads can be supernatural or mundane. They can represent a trip up the tower Tartarus or a shift at a part-time job.
• Monads may be repeatable or single-play. With a variety of prompts, a run through a Monad can be different each time! However, some represent discrete events that only happen once.
• Monads can be run with the GMing duties dispersed among a group, or with one person running all the prompts.

What is a Monad?

A Monad consists of a number of challenges or prompts, called cards, assembled in sequence. Typically a Monad consists of five to six rounds of play. There are five challenge cards and one 'conclusion' card. It is recommended not to spend too much time before the first challenge 'setting up' in pose; you can roleplay both beginning the Monad and beginning the first challenge in the same round. Similarly, sometimes a Conclusion speaks for itself, and sometimes people will want to react to it. This is why a Monad can be six (or more) rounds even though there are only five challenges.

How is a Monad played?

A Monad is played by drawing a 'card,' the GM for the round posing that card, and each player responding to that prompt with one pose. They will also, including the GM, make use of a command that indicates how their character is approaching the challenge. When the round is complete, another command displays the results, and this determines success or failure for each challenge. Then, the process is undertaken another four times.

There are three possible conclusions for a Monad: Revelation, Passage, and Withdraw. Revelation is the best result; it indicates that not only is the Monad complete, but it's completed with distinction or some bonus. Passage indicates that the Monad is complete and that a moderately good result has been enacted. Finally, Withdraw indicates failure. Depending on the Monad's parameters, this may be a total failure or a 'fail forward'--that is, you may still achieve a result but with complication or difficulty instead.

The mechanics of a Monad require explanation. In order to run Monad, you need 2-5 players, and each of them must have the necessary stat block. That stat block includes five traits (Guts, Academics, Understanding, Proficiency, and Charm) and three Approaches. Approaches are specialized versions of traits that bring with them certain bonuses and Qualities that help in the run. Finally, you must have a 'deck'--that is, an individual Monad ready to run.

Each round, characters have a 'group' roll--representing the group's overall progress--and an 'individual' roll, representing the character's own progress. Group successes add to a value called Reach, which makes it easier to score a higher-grade Result in the final round. Each success grants 1 point of reach, with the final round counting for 2 points. Individual failures result in points of Fatigue, typically one per round, modified by various Conditions and mechanics. At the end, the party's Fatigue is compared against a value based on their Reach, calculating the final result. The higher the Reach, the easier it is to achieve a better result. In other words, a single party member excelling will not necessarily achieve victory for the group.

In addition to the rewards of the Conclusion card, a party accumulates 'Loot' over time. Loot is a mechanic that abstracts things you might find in a dungeon--money, equipment of various kinds, items. Depending on the Monad, different varieties of loot are available. At the end of the Monad, succeed or fail, you acquire an amount of Loot which the group can divide up and use ICly. Sometimes this is an excuse to request an equipment unlock; sometimes it's just an excuse to have some extra pocket money IC. In any case, Loot represents tangible rewards in addition to various plot rewards.

Cards

That deck consists primarily of 'cards,' which are what allow the Monad to work. A card has the following characteristics:

• Name: A name for the challenge.
• Approach Options: Which Approaches (traits) you can use on this card.
• Round#: Which Round(s) the card is available in.
• Prereqs: Which prerequisite cards must have been drawn in order to draw the card.
• Difficulty: A Difficulty rating, between 1 and 4 inclusive.
• Conditions: Various attributes to the card that affect the characters' stats or some other aspect of the round.
• Description: The text of the card and the pose prompt it gives.

Traits

Approach traits are as follows:

• Academics: Book smarts, reasoning ability, or technical knowledge.
• Charm: Charisma, friendliness, ability to get people to do what the character wants.
• Guts: Bravery, recklessness, stubbornness.
• Proficiency: Technical skill, physical power or dexterity, sneakery.
• Understanding: Kindness, empathy, ability to get how others feel.

Approaches and Qualities

Approaches, meanwhile, are specialized versions of traits that characters possess. An Approach is a general description of how a character handles an interaction within a Monad--for example, if your character would death-glare at a Demon to intimidate them (using their Guts), or if they would make a sexy pose to seduce a surly guard (using their Charm), or perhaps wave fans to encourage a friend (using their Understanding).

Approaches bring with them certain bonuses and Qualities that help on a Monad run. Each Approach typically has two points' worth of Qualities, and each character will typically have three Approaches. Qualities are as follows:

• Bravery - Party gains 1 Guts this round. (1)
• Smarts - Party gains 1 Academics this round. (1)
• Empathy - Party gains 1 Understanding this round. (1)
• Diligence - Party gains 1 Proficiency this round. (1)
• Friendliness - Party gains 1 Charm this round. (1)
• Patra - Cleanse 1 condition. (1)
• Focus - Approach is stronger. (+2). (1)
• Amrita - Guaranteed to remove 1 fatigue from the user. (2)
• Specialty - Approach is stronger (+3) (2)
• Efficient - Gain 1 use. (1)

Some Qualities are only available to Navigators. Each may be taken on one of the character's three Approaches. They are simply better than other Qualities. However, they are available to anyone who has taken one of the Navigator passives in their Arcana System stat block. Navigator-only Qualities are as follows:

• Automap - Each party member gains +1 to their relevant approach. (2)
• Escape - Each party member has a random chance to lose 1 fatigue, to a minimum of 0 fatigue. (1)
• Find- Party gains 1 Item/Money/Gear. You lose 1 fatigue. (1)

Conditions

Card conditions change what that particular card does when drawn. Conditions are as follows:

	Down	Up	Down L2	Up L2
Academics	Stupor	Educational	Mind-numbing	Enlightening
Charm	Bothersome	Smooth	Annoying	Magnetic
Guts	Scary	Heartening	Terrifying	Bolstering
Proficiency	Clumsy	Skillful	Ineptitude	Sublime
Understanding	Hard	Soft	Stony	Kind

• Scary - For two rounds (including this round), Guts decreases by one.
• Heartening - For two rounds (including this round), Guts increases by one.
• Terrifying - For two rounds (including this round), Guts decreases by two.
• Bolstering - For two rounds (including this round), Guts increases by two.
• Stupor - For two rounds (including this round), Academics decreases by one.
• Educational - For two rounds (including this round), Academics increases by one.
• Mind-numbing - For two rounds (including this round), Academics decreases by two.
• Enlightening - For two rounds (including this round), Academics increases by two.
• Hard - For two rounds (including this round), Understanding decreases by one.
• Soft - For two rounds (including this round), Understanding increases by one.
• Stony - For two rounds (including this round), Understanding decreases by two.
• Kind - For two rounds (including this round), Understanding increases by two.
• Clumsy - For two rounds (including this round), Proficiency decreases by one.
• Skillful - For two rounds (including this round), Proficiency increases by one.
• Ineptitude - For two rounds (including this round), Proficiency decreases by two.
• Sublime - For two rounds (including this round), Proficiency increases by two.
• Bothersome - For two rounds (including this round), Charm decreases by one.
• Smooth - For two rounds (including this round), Charm increases by one.
• Annoying - For two rounds (including this round), Charm decreases by two.
• Magnetic - For two rounds (including this round), Charm increases by two.
• Bless - Add one point per character to the Group roll.
• Curse - Subtract one point per character from the Group roll.
• Shuffle - Draw one Minor Arcana, with one of the following effects:
  • Wand - Add one to the duration of positive conditions.
  • Cup - Cleanse 1d3 negative conditions.
  • Sword - Add 1 to each character's chosen Approach stat.
  • Coin - Add 1 Item/Money/Gear to the group's Loot tally.
• Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative conditions.
• Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure to each character..
• Reaper - Add 1 Fatigue on success or failure to each character..
• Box - Add 1 Item/Money/Gear to the group's Loot tally.
• Chest - Add 2 Item/Money/Gear to the group's Loot tally.
• Lunchbox - Remove one point of fatigue from each character.
• Fairy - Remove one point of fatigue from each character who succeeds on the challenge.

Conclusion Conditions:

• Revelation - Best result. Full success.
• Passage - Good but not the best result. Completion, but you might've missed something.
• Withdraw - Worst result. Typically 'fail forward.'

Further Notes

Any Focus character can go to any Monad unless something about that particular Monad disqualifies them. Similarly, any Nemesis character operates under the same restrictions. However, a Chorus character in general can only participate in non-supernatural Monads. This is because Chorus characters typically will not be equipped to participate in supernatural events. Chorus characters in a supernatural Monad are someone to be rescued, not someone overcoming its challenges.

Command Glossary

• +party/create <#> - Creates a party for the Monad number designated. You'll typically want to *+party/reset first, just in case.
• +party/join <Name>- Joins a party for a Monad. You will usually want to +party/reset first, just in case.
• +party/leave - Leaves your current party. Can be used mid-run.
• +party/reset - Resets your Monad status for a new run. Equivalent to AS's +heal/full.
• +monad, +monad <#> - Checks your current Monad stats, or another form's Monad stats.
• +monad/view # - Views the information on an extant Monad by its index number.
• +monad/enter (also +party/enter) - When everyone is in the party, draws the first card.
• +menu - Shows various status information on a Monad run.
• +challenge/view - Views the latest challenge. Useful for disconnects!
• +draw - Draws the next card.
• +act/complete - Completes a round after everyone has acted.
• +act/cancel - Cancels your action, allowing you to choose again. Only works before *+act/complete.
• +act <Approach|Stat> - Acts using a given Approach or stat.