Seeds of Rebellion

This is a game about memory and magic and fighting back against fascism, capitalism, and an eldritch, unknowable corruption. Play to find out:

• How and why do we fight?
• How do we keep each other safe?
• What do we want the world to be?

One player has a different role: they will play not a single character, but the entire city. This Director will set scenes, establish stakes, and ask:

• What do you do?
• What does that look like?
• How are you feeling?

The flow of play section contains further guidance for the Director, as well as tips for maintaining consistent tone.

Character Creation

Create your character by choosing a name, at least one set of pronouns, and an Archetype.

The Edge is driven by spite, pain, and retribution. Play an Edge to be on the front lines and fight back with direct and painful action.

The Heart is driven by their ties to friends, family, and communities. Play a Heart to foster connections between people and groups.

The Inspired is driven by a connection to divinity or spirituality. Play an Inspired to explore questions of faith in a world that wants you hopeless.

The Nourisher is driven by kindness, tenderness, and healing. Play a Nourisher to patch wounds and to offer gentle words and a quiet shoulder.

The Visionary is driven by brilliant hope for the future. Play a Visionary to lead the fight with words and deeds that spark the fight in dormant hearts.

More details on the Archetypes and their relevant mechanics are at the end of the text. This is to encourage you to read the full game text before playing, even if you’re not the one running the game.

The Anatomy of a Rebel

A character in Seeds of Rebellion is represented with three statistics: Bloom, Blight, and Health.

Bloom represents your optimism, determination, hope, and positivity. It’s your confidence and willingness to be kind, gentle, thoughtful, or helpful.

Blight represents your pessimism, determination, spite, and negativity. It’s your confidence and willingness to be cruel, violent, aggressive, or petty.

Bloom and Blight are measured in dice. You begin with one Blight and one Bloom, so you have one Blight die and one Bloom die. You’ll roll these to take action or to use magic. As you advance, you’ll gain more Bloom and Blight, increasing the number of dice you roll and opening up new effects and new chances of success.

Health is an abstraction of your well-being, physical or otherwise. Health is a static number equal to your Bloom and Blight combined (or your total number of dice, if you want to think of it that way).

Don’t worry about the mechanical severity of one wound over another. If an injury is enough to impair your actions or change your appearance, lose one health. If it’s scrapes and bruises, you’ll be fine.

Healing and Care

There are two ways to restore Health: magical healing and mundane care.

Healing is faster, but less effective. It can be used in the field and on the run. Whenever you receive healing from magic, regain 1 Health. See Using Magic for more details.

Care is much more effective, but is a long-term endeavor. We carry our wounds close to our heart, and they can be difficult to set aside. When you take an hour to yourself to reflect and mend, you regain 1 Health. When you are tended to by another person, regain 2 Health per hour.

When you are out of Health and would lose more, you have an opportunity to either end your story or take it in a new direction. See the Crossroads section for more information.

Taking Action

Unlike many RPGs, characters do not roll to accomplish every task they attempt. For many tasks, the players may simply narrate what they wish to do. Dice only come into play when your character does not have confidence in their ability to perform the task at hand. In game terms, we refer to action in this context as taking action.

When you take action, roll either your Bloom dice or your Blight dice, depending on what emotion is most intensely driving the character to act.

Results of 1-3 are failures, and results of 4-6 are successes. If anyone believes your character is spurred by false hope or overconfidence, they may remove one success from your final result. Only one success per roll can be removed in this way.

Subtract the number of failures rolled from the number of successes rolled. If you have successes left afterward, you succeed. If you have nothing but failures or no result at all, you fail.

The drama of this game is drawn from our relationship to confidence and the ways in which circumstance can alter it. Always be honest about how your character sees the world around them and how they react to it.

Using Magic

Magic is wild and nebulous, fueled by emotion and connection as much as memory and ritual. When you use magic, describe what emotions are driving you. Whether hope or spite, your magic will be greatly affected by your emotional state and immediate intent.

Then, roll all your dice.

Add up the results from all of your Bloom dice, and do the same for your Blight dice. Subtract the smaller number from the larger, and you’ll be left with either Blight or Bloom points, which can be spent for the effects outlined below. These points remain until spent (or the end of the scene).

Spend Bloom for the following effects:

• 1 Bloom: Heal someone’s wound
• 2 Bloom: Cleanse an area of corruption
• 3 Bloom: Offer warmth to a cold heart
• 4 Bloom: Make something beautiful & permanent

Spend Blight for the following effects:

• 1 Blight: Inflict a grievous wound
• 2 Blight: Control the corruption (for now)
• 3 Blight: Stoke the spite in those around you
• 4 Blight: Permanently destroy an enemy

Consequences

When you fail a roll, the Director will choose a consequence for you to face. There are three consequences they may choose from (Unless you spend Fate to choose for yourself):

• Harm
  • If this consequence comes to pass, you will be hurt or injured, whether physically or not.
• Entanglement
  • If this consequence comes to pass, an NPC will do something detrimental and dramatic that will make your life more difficult (and exciting).
• Loss
  • If this consequence comes to pass, your character or the group at large will lose something. This could be anything from a lost opportunity to the destruction of something cherished.

Fate

As you move through the world, you will gain Fate. Fate is a currency meant to be used freely. It is your way of taking authorship of the world and story you are sharing with the others at the table. You can spend Fate to accomplish any of the following:

• Succeed, even in the face of doubt.
• Choose a Consequence yourself.
• Declare an event that will soon come to pass.
• Add a detail to the world or a character.

Veto

You may alter or disregard the effects of another player’s Fate. It does not cost any Fate to issue a Veto, and the vetoed player regains the Fate they just spent.

Advancement 

If you roll dead equal Blight and Bloom while using magic, that’s called zeroing out. This is the primary means of character progression in Seeds of Rebellion. When you zero out, add one Bloom or one Blight to your character’s dice pool and increase both their current and maximum health by one.

Zeroing out means that, for a moment, you lose yourself in the magic and the emotions and memories that you were focusing on as your connection to the magic deepens irrevocably. Work with the other players to determine the most compelling reaction for the story at hand.

Don’t fret if you interrupt the flow of play with flashbacks and memories. Much like our real memories, stories often get jumbled in the telling.

Be sure, however, not to be insensitive or use this to hoard the spotlight. Just as one character reacts to a memory, so too should the others present have space to respond as well.

When a character reaches 5 Bloom or 5 Blight, they have an opportunity to end or alter their story. See the crossroads section for more information.

Crossroads

There come times when a character approaches the precipice of change and arrives at a crossroads. There are three ways characters do this: by being brought below zero Health, or by gaining 5 Bloom or Blight.

When you reach a crossroads, Select an option from the following list:

 

• Retire from the fight. Describe the life you live in the city and how it is impacted by the amount of Bloom and Blight you have.

 

• Give yourself fully to the cause. Describe how you die, and give each surviving character a die from your own pool that represents your lasting impact.

• Experience a revelation and a shift of goals or priorities, and change to a different Archetype.

 

 

When you change to a new Archetype, reset your dice to one Bloom and one Blight, plus one die of whichever type you had 5 of before. Don’t change your Health; its maximum remains whatever it was when you changed Archetypes, and increases as you continue to gain dice. Beyond your second crossroads, your Health is locked in and may not increase.

The State

You may have noticed that very little work has gone into defining and explaining the core opposition of the game. Living in 2019, it feels as though all potential readers will be intimately familiar with what a fascist, capitalist country looks like. But, we can give some space to it here.

They deny your memory and establish a false mythology of meritocracy and personal excellence.

They deny your magic and deem even the most peaceful rebels violent insurrectionists with eldritch power.

They deny your humanity and enforce a rigid and unbending hierarchy of class, gender, race, and ability.

Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Leaders march their war machines through the streets. Those who don’t fit in are crushed into dust under cruel, oppressive laws.

Use these prompts to inspire your portrayal of the State, and feel free to tailor them to suit your group’s needs and desires. Make sure to discuss what kind of portrayal you want to have, and keep your friends’ safety in mind at all times.

The Corruption

As if the cruel boots of fascism and choking smog of capitalism were not enough, another danger lurks within the city. It is an eldritch thing, slipping between thoughts and creeping in through dreams.

All attempts to understand the nature of the corruption have failed. It seizes those who drift too deep into it, twisting them into horrid creatures bent of destruction, consumption, and pain.

This has not deterred everyone. Some still peer into the abyss and seek its power. Oh yes, there is power there. A negative force that stills and rends. With enough will, one can wield this power.

For a time.

Dip your hands in its ichor if you wish, use it to break walls and twist weapons. But when you let that whispering voice into your head, you won’t be able to get it out alone.

Remember that the corruption is no ally to those who rule. It is a wild card, and corrupted creatures see little difference between a law enforcement patrol and a rebel out past curfew.

Planting Seeds

When our time with the game has come to a close, whether the end of a session or the end of a story, we plant seeds for the future. These seeds are optional, and are meant to accomplish three things:

• Make player desires clear and visible
• Reward play geared toward those desires
• Keep players safe

Talk freely about how you feel, should you be comfortable doing so. Take a moment to vent and revel and soak in the raw emotions of the session.

Talk to the other players about the moments where their actions brought you joy or comfort. This game isn’t just violent revolution; rebellions are born of rebels, and rebels have hopes and feelings and hearts.

Take a moment to discuss anything from the session that made you uncomfortable, anxious, or disappointed. There’s a difference between drama and heartache, and you want the former.

Share what you are excited about seeing, doing, or resolving in the next session. If you have finished your story and do not intend to play again, this is a good point to consider an epilogue.

Archetypes

Each Archetype defines in its own way your relationship to magic and the cause. Mechanically speaking, each one gives you new options to spend Blight or Bloom on when using magic when you focus on specific types of memory.

When you use a memory to augment a roll, you might want to define it before touching the dice, so that you’ll have a narrative springboard in case you zero out. (You don’t have to do this if improvisation isn’t a priority at your table!)

Additionally, each Archetype has a handful of character questions. You don’t have to answer them, especially if you already know your character very well, but they’re provided in the hope that they are helpful in fleshing out your character’s context within the story.

The Edge

You are the knife, the fire, the shout. You stand in the front lines and get your hands dirty for the cause. But underneath the fury, there is pain. Underneath the mask, there are scars. People don’t just throw themselves into the fire without cause. Are you justice, avenging losses and righting wrongs? Or are you bitter revenge served cold in the city’s half-drowned gutters?

Why do you consign yourself to this violence?

What scars do you bear?

When the pain is too great, how do you lash out?

Where do you find peace?

When you take action or use magic, you may describe a memory of pain and add an extra Blight die to your roll. In addition to the normal options above, you may spend Blight or Bloom while using magic to:

• Reopen an old wound
• Inflict excruciating pain
• Plant a seed of corruption
• Embrace the darkness inside you

As the Edge, you gain Fate when you defend someone from harm, bring harm to people or property, or draw the attention of hostile eyes.

The Heart

You are the thread that winds with others to create a strong cord. You bring people together, crafting bonds that grant stability, security, and safety. But there are those who would take advantage of your kindness, and you have learned well how to read the heart. You are the shepherd who protects the flock. Guard it well, for the city is rank with wolves.

Who do you crave a connection with?

What bond do you miss the most?

When the pain is too great, how do you disconnect?

Where do you find peace?

When you take action or use magic, you may describe a memory of friendship and add a Bloom die to your roll. In addition to the normal options above, you may spend Blight or Bloom while using magic to:

• Detect and interpret nearby emotions
• See the connections between people
• Uncover a mystery in someone’s heart
• Share a moment of perfect connection

As the Heart, you gain Fate when you defend someone from harm, meet someone new, or bring hope to a broken heart.

The Inspired

You are devout and dedicated. You have fostered a connection to the divine, and your faith in things beyond here and now has granted you relief in the face of adversity. This connection might come with beliefs and rituals, or it may be a purely internal bond, but either way you have something to comfort you, and something with which to comfort others.

Where did your faith come from?

What ritual or history do you hold dear?

When the pain is too great, what do you doubt?

Where do you find peace?

When you take action or use magic, you may describe a memory of service and add a Bloom die to your roll. In addition to the normal options above, you may spend Blight or Bloom while using magic to:

• Know what someone needs most right now
• Hear the city’s prayers
• Ease someone’s pain, and get them on their feet
• Show them something to believe in

As the Inspired, you gain Fate when you defend someone from harm, share a ritual with someone, or tell a story from your faith.

The Nourisher

You are soft words and gentle, guiding hands. You take the world, broken and hurting, and you mend it piece by piece. It can be draining to pour yours into helping people, to fill their cracks and nestle them in warmth and succor. But it’s the role you have chosen, and it’s the role you fulfill.

Why do you build, rather than break?

What have you mended in yourself?

When the pain is too great, who do you neglect?

Where do you find peace?

When you use magic, you may describe a memory of charity and add a Bloom die to your roll. In addition to the normal options above, you may spend Blight or Bloom while using magic to:

• Mend something broken
• Understand how something came to harm
• Permanently guard against corruption
• Restore something that was lost

As the Nourisher, you gain Fate when you defend someone from harm, sacrifice something to soothe someone’s pain, or show someone else the true beauty of the world.

The Visionary

And so we come to you, dreamer. Eyes cast ahead, gaze steady. You are the hope, the dawn above the darkness, the icon that leads the fight. Your words are trumpets and your face is a banner. Lead on, visionary. Lead us to freedom, to peace, to tomorrow.

When did you first consider the future?

What phantom haunts your past?

When the pain is too great, who do you let down?

Where do you find peace?

When you take action or use magic, you may describe a vision of the future instead of a memory of the past. If it’s hopeful, add a Bloom die to your roll. If it’s not, add a Blight die. In addition to the normal options above, you may spend Blight or Bloom while using magic to:

• See someone else’s vision
• Unravel all present falsehood
• Describe one thing that will happen in the future
• Perfectly present your vision to someone else

As the Visionary, you gain Fate when you defend someone from harm, tell an ugly but necessary truth, or openly flout the conventions of society with your vision.

The Flow of Play

As you play, considering the following pieces of advice:

Make the city dark, but not hopeless.

This is a game about revolution, about reclaiming something lost. It’s an ultimately triumphant game, though the players will struggle. There should always be a glimmer of hope on the horizon, no after how dark the night gets.

Show them consequences.

This is different from dissuading them from action. Revolution is messy, and actions often have consequences that are impossible to predict. Show them contrast; a hidden benefit to a setback or a hidden cost to a victory. Never invalidate their choices, but show that the world is more complex than they knew.

Turn their motivations against them.

When the magic takes hold of a character, think about the memory or emotion that’s driving them. This is your opportunity to plant seeds of doubt, making future actions more precarious! Crush their optimism and demystify their idealism. Scramble their spite with affection and their nihilism with hope.

Make the world dangerous and mysterious.

There’s always another secret, as the saying goes. Draw curtains and reveal the skeletons in people’s closets. Everyone has something to hide in this city, and they’ll usually go to great lengths to keep those things hidden.

Lean into the chaos.

Magic is left somewhat vague in this game. Use that space to create something bizarre. The city is grim and bereft of passion. Embrace the weirdness that those who rule seek to suppress–and remember that there are forces without affiliation that are stranger still.

Adjust the stakes as needed.

You can make the game weirder and brighter and faster by rolling for magic every time you use it and spending all points immediately rather than throughout the whole scene. Whiplash is a valuable tool, but use it wisely..

Keep the action rolling.

A failed roll never results in nothing–an attempt was made, a resource was spent, or an opportunity was lost. When you don’t know where to point the spotlight next, look to the above agendas. There’s nothing wrong with asking the other players “So, what do we think happens next?” if you get stuck!

Lineage

This game owes a great deal to a few other games, and if you like it I would very much request you support those games as well.

Seeds of Rebellion is powered by the apocalypse. That means that it takes inspiration from Apocalypse World by Meg and Vincent Baker. Some of that inspiration was mechanical, but the bulk of it was tone and passion and the desire to depict a tomorrow.

This game is also a game of belonging outside belonging, meaning that like Avery Alder’s Dream Askew & Benjamin Rosenbaum’s Dream Apart, it depicts a community that is hopeful and tenuous, doing their best to create a space for themselves when there isn’t any left for them.

This game wouldn’t exist were it not for The Republic by Ash McAllan, Vincent Baker, and Mark Redacted. It’s a game about element bending and social justice, and makes its themes explicit in ways that have greatly inspired me in my own work.

Additionally, this game is based on an older game of mine called Rise and Shine, which was in turn inspired by a moodboard curated by Taylor Smith as part of our yearly Aesthetic Swap two-person game jams. You can find Taylor’s work on Patreon and Itch; he deserves your support.

Support

If this game speaks to you, and if you have the means, you can purchase a pdf of it on itch here. Additionally, you can buy me a coffee or even become my patron.