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Welcome to the system behind your story.
The Simple Approach system comes from practice. From scenes that moved and sessions that held. From character-first games where story led and the rules stayed clear. Every part of this book was tested through use. Every piece that remained earned its place.
You create traits and give each one a rating from 1 to 5. When your character takes meaningful action, you roll a number of six-sided dice equal to that rating. The gamemaster sets a difficulty, also from 1 to 5, and rolls that many dice. You compare totals. If yours is higher, your character succeeds. If the gamemaster’s total is higher, your character fails. This is the resolution structure. It carries the game.
Each result creates complications. The outcome changes something. A door closes. A new pressure appears. Someone else is affected. These complications push the story forward. They shift character relationships, bring factions into motion, or reveal a cost that lingers beyond the scene. Every roll moves the fiction. Nothing stands still.
Traits are the structure. They do different work depending on context. Character traits guide action, identity, and spotlight. Setting traits shape tone, tension, and narrative limits. Faction traits hold power, secrecy, reach, and long-term pressure. Each kind of trait is used in its own way. Each one supports a different type of storytelling.
The core mechanic stays the same across all three. Traits express risk. Dice reveal results. Complications grow from what has already been established. Character action might affect another character. Faction action might change the shape of a region or an arc. Everything scales from the same base.
This edition clarifies without expanding. The structure remains light and direct. There are no subsystems, no exceptions to the rule. What applies in one scene applies in the next. You’ll learn it quickly and won’t need to stop for interpretation. You’ll use what is in front of you, when you need it.
The Simple Approach is system-adaptable. You can use this framework as written, or carry its parts into a setting or other system that you already run. Lift traits, complications, spotlight tools, or the resolution structure itself. Nothing in this book depends on a single world, tone, or genre. The system supports your table, not the other way around.
Hero points support creative decisions. They encourage players to take bold action, hold narrative weight, and lean into moments with emotional clarity. They give you space to stretch or stand when the scene demands more. They don’t overwrite failure. They draw attention. They reinforce story-first play.
The approach is simple. The story is yours.
Who This Is For
This system favors collaboration, not calculation. It’s for players who want to shape their own tools, create their own stories, and speak in full sentences instead of fixed moves. You describe what happens. You define your traits. You create meaning by making choices that matter.
If you're looking for tactical combat or pick-lists of prewritten, rigidly-defined abilities, you won’t find them here. The Simple Approach doesn’t track positions on a board or define what you can do by where you're standing. There’s no map to measure. There’s only what happens next.
It works best for players who value agency, trust, and narrative complication. You can be new or experienced. You just need the desire to co-create something worth remembering.
If you get it, you’ll get it fast. If you don’t, you might not be the audience we’re aiming for. That’s alright. This system wasn’t built for everyone. It was built for the people that need it.
What You Can Do With This Book
This is your toolkit. Every section gives you something practical for shaping story, character, and tone. You can use the whole system or just lift the parts that serve your table. You won’t need to change your setting or rewrite anything to make it fit.
Build Character From the Inside Out: Trait-based character creation helps you anchor emotion, show motivation, and leave space for arcs that shift with what happens in play.
Give Settings Narrative Pressure: Worldbuilding tools focus on what matters to the people who live there. You’ll define threat, absence, and memory in ways that shape scenes, not just maps.
Make Factions Matter in Play: Faction creation tracks power, secrecy, and intent across sessions. These groups respond to character action and apply pressure without forcing outcomes.
Run Strong Sessions With Less Prep: A single hook or source of tension is enough to begin. The system helps you build momentum during play, not before it starts.
Think Like a Story Editor: Built-in prompts help you place tension, guide spotlight, and pace emotional turns. You’ll shape scenes without stepping outside the fiction.
Speak With Confidence: The glossary and bibliography give you shared terms, storytelling foundations, and real-world references that help you stay grounded in tone and purpose.
Use This Book at Any Table: Every tool here is system-adaptable. You can carry them into another game without losing what already works at your table.
This is a working book. It was created for people who play, create, and collaborate, not those who collect. The Simple Approach is about utility, not being clever or chasing awards. Everything in these pages is here to help you tell stronger stories with more clarity and less strain.