Drifter Basic Rules

Basic Rules v 8.0 Andreas Walters
Heart Machine

Metal Weave Games



DIRECTED BY Credits
Andreas Walters
ARTISTS
DESIGN BY Alex Bartlett
Biovyx
Andreas Walters Casey Gu (Nightmargin)
Kyle Carty Eka Pramudita Muharram
Litza Bronwyn Ilmutus Games
Banana Chan Koit Paales
Rose Frye

EDITORS PUBLISHED BY
Metal Weave Games
Scott Vandervalk

Gareth Hodges

Koit Paales illustrates a
scene of drifters taking a
standing triumphantly.
Behind them looking the
spector of Judgment.

Special Thanks to Alx Preston and the Heart Machine team.
To all of our Kickstarter backers for making this possible.

To all of our supporters, playtesters and contributors who helped shape the game.

ISBN LEARN MORE AT

Digital: 978-1-952885-62-4 Metal Weave Games
Softcover: 978-1-952885-63-1 www.MetalWeaveGames.com

PDF v8.0 Heart Machine
www.HeartMachine.com

HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER: TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING GAME and its content are ©2022 Metal Weave Games.
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HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER and its logo are trademarks of Heart Machine LLC.

All this material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unau-
thorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of
Metal Weave Games. This product is a work of fiction.

Navigation

Credits 3
Navigation 4
A Quick Overview 6
Fundamentals 24
Roll Actions 25
Reading your roll result 26
Resources 28
Talents 32
Equipment 33
Character Creation 34
Classes 42
The Warrior 43
The Versifier 44
The Wielder 45
The Wayfinder 47
The Delver 46
Disciplines & Skills 48
Talents 52
Reading an Talent 52
Combat Talents 54
Social Talents 56
Manipulate Talents 58
Exploration Talents 60
Survival Talents 62
Equipment 64
Gearbits 64
Weapons 66
Armor 70
Assets 71
Narrating & Roleplaying 72
Roleplay 73
Narrating 74
Collaborating 75

Consequences 76
Narrative Consequences 78
Mechanical Consequence 80
Resource Mechanics 86
Health 87

Running out of Health 87
Energy 88

Running out of Energy 88
Woe 89
Corruption 94
Drifter's Epilogue 96
Phases 98
Game Flow 99
Unstructured Roleplay 104
Example Game Flow 105
Combat Phase 100
Player Turns 4
Consequence Points 4
Adversaries 122
Exploration Phase 136
The Delve Deck 139
Delve Cards 142
Travel Phase 150
Montage 152
Downtime Phase 156
Downtime Slots 158
Downtime Activities 160
Session Zero 166
Content Rating 168
Gameplay Style 169
Lines and Veils 170
House Rules 170
Rules of the Table 171
Appendix's 172

A QUICK OVERVIEW

You and your friends take on the mantle of drifters, adventurers, and
explorers in a broken world. Each player creates their own drifter char-
acter, and your group will collaborate and roleplay their characters to tell
the stories of challenges and triumphs that, together, you will overcome.

Below is a quick overview of the core mechanics that you’ll use in a game
of Drifter. We’ll go into more depth about each of these mechanics later on.

ACTION MECHANIC

If there’s some task or action that you want your drifter to perform that
requires effort, concentration, or focus, or if the action could trigger an
interesting result, you might be asked to pay a resource and/or make a roll
to determine the outcome.

WHEN MAKING A ROLL:
1. Determine the Consequence Level.

oTuhtecoCmoenfsoerqutehnecae cLtieovnely(oCuLa)r—e paelsrofosrhmowinng.aAs [◈ba]s—eliins ethCeLwo1rsits possible
equiva-
lent to 1 Health damage, but outcomes are not just limited to physical
adnamuangeex—petchteedy ccoomulpdlibceaatinoynthtointghefrsoimtuaatdivoenrsaatrhieasngda.ining an advantage to

2. Pick the discipline the player is rolling against.

Any roll you make will use one of five skill groups called disciplines:

CSkoimllsbafotr fighting SEkxiplllsofroartiloonng-distance
and strategy. travel and navigating
SSpekooiclpilaslelfoarndwocrrekaintugrwesi.th environments.
SMkailnlsipfourlawtoerking with SSkuirlvlsivfoarl hunting
remnant technology. and camping.

If it isn’t clear which discipline to use, pick the one you think best fits and
describe why it fits.

6

3. Spend resource cost (if applicable).

Depending on the context of the action, it may incur a resource cost such as:

Energy (representing tenacity) Ingredients
Woe (stress and bad luck) (collected organic materials)
Dashes (useful personal tech) Components
(collected technology pieces)

4. Roll dice.

You only need to roll one die, and in Drifter we use a twenty-sided die (d20).

5. Compare the result.

Compare the number from Fortune
your die roll against the Full Success
Fortune and Temperance
"thresholds" next to the disci- Temperance p[◈ar−ti2a]l
ptolinmeeyeot uorarbeeautsitnhgo.sYeotuhrneesehd- Success with
olds to obtain that result. Consequence
Otherwise, you recieve a
Judgment result. JSuudccgemssewntit[h◈f]ull
Consequence

6. If the player wants to, they can mitigate their result.

Boosting: Dashes
Spending Energy to Reduces Health or Energy
increase your roll result. damage in half (rounded up).

Intervention Points Talents.
A shared resource that can be Certain Talents may have
spent to upgrade your result. their own particular way
to change a roll result.

7. Describe the outcome and include any Consequences (if any) in the
narration.

mDaestciorinbeorhorweotrhdeeracetvieonntsanind eavnenetfsfoprltaytoomuta. kFeeetlhfereaecttioona,ddountecwomine,foorr-
Consequences dramatic. Remember, the goal is to create cool visual moments
and, ultimately, to have fun with your friends!

7

GAME PHASES

As you play a game of Drifter, your group will transition between various
game phases. Each phase operates a little differently, and they are not
intended to be rigid. Instead, they are meant to be a tool, to help the game
move from beat to beat.
COMBAT PHASE
This phase runs much like combat in a tactics video game and features
the Combat Board. Players take turns (in no particular order) to perform
actions. After each player’s turn is an adversary’s turn. Instead of triggering
Consequences during their turn for each player’s actions, Consequence
Points (CPs) are generated and pooled together that adversaries can spend
on their turns to increase the effectiveness of their actions.
EXPLORATION PHASE
This phase involves exploring an area, typically a ruin or facility, and uses
the Delve Deck to help facilitate this. Starting from the entrance of the
delve, you’ll place down delve cards as your drifters explore, connecting
rooms and doors to each other and creating a unique delve. Each card has
a feature that helps to inform the group what they will find in each part
of the delve. The Delve Deck can also be used as a planning tool for narra-
tors to create delves ahead of time.

8

TRAVEL PHASE
This phase features the montage mechanic, where each player in turn
contributes to the events of a journey, including picking a skill and making
a roll against that skill’s thresholds. The Travel Phase typically uses a
hex-based map to show the path of the drifters’ journey.
The group together weaves and interconnects the actions and experiences
of the drifters into a cohesive journey. For each hex traveled, there are
usually two rounds of contributions.
DOWNTIME PHASE
This phase gives the drifters the time to sit down, rest, and take care of
themselves and their allies. Here, the narrator grants everyone a number
of slots that can be spent on Downtime activities. If the drifters are in a
sanctuary, this would also be the time to spend any gearbits on advance-
ments, crafting, or shopping.

9



INTRODUCTION

Echoes of a dark and violent past
resonate across a torn and sundered landscape.
Venturing outside the sanctuary reveals a dangerous land,
steeped in ancient lore, the blood of the unlucky,

and treasures of old.
Around every corner lurks danger,
from the vicious and warped creatures
to the hidden hazards that will crush the unwary.
You are a drifter, one who ventures into ancient ruins,
collecting forgotten knowledge, lost technologies,

and broken histories.

11

WAY OF THE DRIFTER

Welcome to the Basic Rules of Hyper Light Drifter: Tabletop Roleplaying
Game (shortened to Drifter in this book). This game is based on and
inspired by the popular award-winning video game Hyper Light Drifter
published by Heart Machine and directed by Alx Preston. You don’t need
to have played the video game to play Drifter, and we’ll do our best to
describe the core themes that make Hyper Light Drifter so beloved.

Drifter is a tabletop roleplaying game where you or a group of your
friends tell a story about drifters in a broken world, using resources and
occasionally the roll of the dice to see what happens next.

Donning the mantle of bold adventurers called drifters, you will delve
into overgrown ruins, protect sanctuaries from danger, and discover secrets
to build a brighter future. Unlike a video game with pre-established char-
acters and stories, in Drifter you are the creators of the story, giving the
players free reign to go in any direction and tell the kinds of stories you
want to tell.

Each player gets to create and control their own drifter character, who
serves as their window to interact with the game world. As well as playing
their drifter, everyone involved with the game is responsible for contrib-
uting to and helping shape the locations, quests, consequences, characters,
and adversaries they’ll encounter. It's important to make sure that everyone
is having fun and the spotlight is shared amoungst everyone, as this is a
collaborative experience.

AS A PLAYER

As a player, you will create your own drifter and together
with your friends you will:

• Roleplay as your character, describing what your
character says, thinks, and does in the events that
emerge during play.

• Collaborate with everyone in the group to create
interesting places to explore or compelling characters
to interact with.

• Roll dice to perform actions in the game where there
is uncertainty to the outcome or where complications
could change the story in interesting ways.
12

NARRATOR ROLES

As you play Drifter, you’ll transition between four game phases to help the
game move from beat to beat. In each phase, at least one player will take
on the role of the narrator. It is the narrator’s role to help facilitate each
game phase and bring everyone’s ideas together. Each phase has its partic-
ular responsibilities, but throughout this book we’ll use the term narrator
to describe the player in this role.
Some of the responsibilities include the following:

• Battlemaster: Controls the actions of adversaries in the
Combat Phase.

• Dungeonmaster: Builds out the delves for the Exploration Phase
and finalizes any challenges and discoveries found in the delve.

• Cartographer: Runs montages for the Travel Phase and manages
the world map, creating new places of interest to be discovered.

• Quartermaster: Determines the number of Downtime slots avail-
able for the Downtime Phase and tracks the drifters’ resources.

These roles can be distributed however the group sees fit, whether you’re
taking turns with the roles as they come up or assigning particular roles
to each player at the beginning of each session.

WAYS TO PLAY

There are three game modes for Drifter, with each depending on how many
players you have available, and how you and your friends want the narrator
roles to be distributed amongst the group. These game modes are:

• Single Player: A game for one player telling the story of their
drifter. Here, you handle all narrator roles yourself. Your focus
should be on your character’s journey and how their actions and
consequences build an immersive adventure.

• Co-Op (preferred): Drifter is best experienced with a group of
players. You, and at least one other player, will create and tell the
story of your own drifters and equally share the narrator roles.

• Narrator Guided: In this game mode, one player forgoes having
a drifter character and takes on all narrator roles, spending more
effort to direct a story experience for everyone. If you use this
option don’t forget to change up who the narrator is now and again,
either by session, adventure, or campaign.
13

THE WORLD OF DRIFTER

The world of Drifter is a broken place, ruined and reeling in the wake of
its violent past. Inhabited by folk of an anthropomorphic or technolog-
ical nature, the peoples of Drifter build an uneasy life. The majority of
dwellers reside in sanctuaries, small towns and safe havens dotted across
a torn landscape, often isolated from each other. Most of the peoples live
a relatively simple life, though there is a general fear around technologies
of the past and the warped creatures that roam outside sanctuary walls.

Though the recorded and spoken history of the world is patchy, it is
known that decades ago the last civilization excelled in numerous advanced
technologies. Today, we’d recognize these technologies as those we might
see in a science-fiction or science fantasy setting. For reasons unknown, a
great conflict took place that nearly destroyed the planet. The remnants
of this conflict, its automatons, experiments, and technologies, have left
their mark upon the world, and some still remain, many of these going
unchecked for years. One of these remnant threats is the Corruption, a
sort of disease or radiation that’s lingered across the land and is especially
prevalent in underground ruins. Nearly every drifter who ventures out
into the world becomes aff licted with the Corruption and, like a poison,
it slowly consumes them. Corruption has also had unusual interactions
with the f lora and fauna of the world, sometimes reshaping and warping
those around its sources.

The small number of adventurers who choose to leave the safety of their
sanctuaries in search of treasure, knowledge, technol-
ogies, and answers to the woes of the world are known
as drifters. Some drifters are feared because it is
thought they could bring back with them even greater
terrors than the ones they fight, while other drifters
are revered for the knowledge and technologies they
retrieve.
You are a drifter, and it’s up to you to determine
what you discover beyond the safety of the sanc-
tuary walls.

14

SETTING FEATURES

REMNANT TECHNOLOGY

Old technology and the ruination it has brought is abundant in this world.
More often than not, you will find ways to salvage and repurpose these
technologies into something useful.

TITANS OF A PAST AGE

Littered across the landscape are the remains of great titans and the
machines of war. Many fear that they will rise again and unleash their
destructive power upon the world once more.

THE HYPER LIGHT

The last civilization discovered an invaluable resource that kickstarted the
research and development of many advanced technologies. Research facil-
ities and out-of-control experiments that draw upon the hyper light are a
common occurrence in the world.

A HAUNTING CORRUPTION

The Corruption is a disease that aff licts anyone who delves too deep
into the ruined reaches of the world, and it has no known cure. In time,
Corruption will lead to your eventual demise, so it’s important to make the
best of the time you have. This Corruption can be sensed in others and it
can manifest in people, objects, places, and creatures.

SCATTERED SANCTUARIES

There are pockets of society and civilization across the world, mostly sepa-
rated by large swathes of ruins and wilderness. These are small towns and
villages, each with their own traditions, values, and cultures.

QUIET VISTAS

Despite the scars on the world, there is still beauty to behold. There are
places where nature has regrown in astonishing ways, and there are places
where the sheer scale of the world is breathtaking as it spreads out beneath
your feet, reaching into the horizon as far as the eye can see.

15

GAME FEATURES

The world in a game of Drifter is vast, and it is a world to make your own.
Below are a few things that we think the game does best.

DISCOVER AND EXPLORE

The vast landscape is dotted with overgrown ruins and stunning vistas.
Technology has not only brought about destruction throughout the world,
but it has also had unusual effects on the environment and the ecosystem.
Although the world can be harsh, through all the bloodshed and death,
there are still beautiful things to experience.

• Unusual energy discharges f lash in the distance, lighting up the
horizon.

• A forest of crystals forms in the wake of an ancient war machine as
it rumbles across the landscape.

• A large object burns iridescent through the sky before it crash-
lands nearby.

TRAVERSE AND SURVIVE

Sanctuaries are isolated from each other. Drifters are natural wayfinders
and can help connect these distant communities. Perhaps there is hope, if
the world can be made safe again.

• A band of drifters sets forth from Wildwort to scout out a safe path
to a neighboring sanctuary.

• The merchant cadre of Moooncrest makes a request of the drifters
to map and explore beyond the mountain range from which no-one
has previously returned.

• An impending danger requires everyone in Fickle Burrow to resettle,
and the drifters must find a suitable place for a new sanctuary.
16

DEFEND AND PROTECT

The world is a dangerous place, and many things lurk in the overgrown
wilderness and dark ruins. Your skill in battle will mean the difference
between life and death.

• Beast attacks have been on the rise on the banks of the Great River.
The drifters must seek out the source.

• A facility nearby was once a war-factory. Someone has rebooted it
and the factory is now producing machines that are wandering off
and setting the countryside ablaze. The drifters must do what they
can to prevent further destruction.

• Masked soldiers from a neighboring valley have invaded the dale
and enslaved those in their path. The drifters must defend the sanc-
tuary. and find a resolution to the conf lict.

ENGAGE AND CONNECT

From sanctuary residents to sentient machines, beasts, bandits, traders,
and other drifters, there is a colorful array of characters for your drifters
to interact with. Some may be peaceful travelers, while others hold mali-
cious intent. It will be up to you to forge or break alliances—possibly
making enemies along the way—for better or worse.

• A famous benefactor seeks the drifters’ assistance to recover specific
pieces of tech from various facilities. What could they possibly want
them for?

• A drifter who has reached the late stages of Corruption asks the
drifters to help them partake in one last delve.

• A young apprentice inventor has the ambition to repair the old tele-
porter network found across the land. The inventor asks the drifters
to help scrounge the technology they need to re-establish the
network.
17

CREATE AND REBUILD

Amid the ruins of civilization are lost technologies that remain func-
tional, but most folk are afraid to touch this remnant tech. Although their
purpose and function may be unknown, these engines and materials can
be utilized in creative and distinctive ways, either causing vast destruction
or helping to rebuild civilization. The choice is yours to make.

• Spores from the Poisoned Forest are spreading beyond its borders.
Can your drifters build something from the technological scraps
found in a nearby medical facility before the spores reach the
sanctuary?

• An engineer has transcribed schematics from a relic device that
can accelerate the growth of crops. If the drifters can help build it,
the sanctuary would never need to venture beyond its walls to hunt
for food.

• An exo-suit lies ruined in an impact crater at the heart of the sanc-
tuary. If the drifters could help scavenge the right parts, it just
might be usable again to defend the sanctuary.

18

19

WHAT YOU NEED

When setting up your first session of Drifter, be sure to gather the
following items since they’ll be helpful during play:

• Dice: Drifter only uses a twenty-sided die, also known as a d20. We
recommend that each player has at least one d20 available for them
to use.

• Character Sheet: The character sheet tracks everything you need
to know about your character. You can use the character sheet that
comes with the Basic Rules or you can make your own version of the
character sheet. Alternatively, choose one of the pre-made drifter
character sheets available with these rules or from our website.

• Tokens: There are a few resources in Drifter that you’ll need to
track as you play, so having some sort of physical token to represent
these will help out a lot.

• Notepad: A notepad, blank pieces of paper, or anything else to take
notes with will be helpful to keep a record of play or to track any
locations and adversaries encountered.

• Other Game Aids: Some game phases are easier to facilitate with
their specific tool such as the the world map for the Travel Phase,
the delve deck for the Exploration Phase, and the combat boards for
the Combat Phase. You can find physical copies and free digital
versions on our website.

20

STARTING THE GAME

Before getting into the story in a game of Drifter, it is recommended to
have a Session Zero. This is a game session that focuses on character
creation and working out the details of how your group might work during
play (see more on Session Zero on page 166).
You might perform some of the following in a Session Zero:

1. Create your drifter characters.
2. Decide how the narrator roles will be distributed.
3. Discuss any particular features to your world or starting area.
4. Talk about the different kinds of stories you want to explore.
5. Decide on which safety tools you’re going to use.
6. Discuss and understand everyone’s boundaries and limits.
7. Create an inciting incident to start your adventure.

PLAYING THE GAME

While playing Drifter, there are a few things to keep in mind:
• Roleplay: Your drifter’s thoughts, ideas, and actions—no matter
how large or small—only become known to everyone else in the
group when you share them.
• Share the Spotlight: Drifter is a collaborative experience, so it’s
important that everyone has their moment to contribute and shine
in the game.
• Contribute to the World: The world is full of adventure, and the
next compelling adversary or plot twist might be your idea. Make
sure everyone gets the chance to contribute ideas to the world and
the story.
• It’s a Game: It’s important to remind everyone that, like all games,
you’re all there to have a good time. If something’s not fun, take a
moment to pause and assess the situation. Don’t be afraid to walk
back on ideas or choices if they negatively affect the play experience.

21

FLOW OF THE GAME

Once you begin a game of Drifter, you might follow this pattern of play for
a particular scene in the story:

1. Set the Scene: Using their own ideas or by collecting ideas from
the group, the narrator sets the scene for the players, describing
the backdrop to what’s going on for the drifters. Think about the
senses: what do the characters see, smell, hear, or feel?

cYaonuhdeolnp’ttonesepdartko dtheescirmibaegainsacetinoeni.n exhaustive detail, but even little details
Not everything in the area needs to be clearly defined. Details can always
be added in or clarified as you go.

2. Invite Action: Each game phase has specific rules on how it plays
out, but these scenes are otherwise a chance for the drifters to act,
interact, and react with each other or with the world.

Not every player has to contribute in a given scene, but everyone should
have the opportunity to do so.
Sometimes an action that a drifter makes may require effort or have an
unknown outcome. At this point, the group may agree that making a roll
or spending a resource is be necessary before proceeding.

3. Pose Outcomes: How does the world around the drifters react
when they interact with it? Any sort of outcome is possible, and
if a roll is made where the outcome is uncertain, use the result
as a guideline to what follows. Everyone can contribute potential
outcomes, and the narrator should try to patch the events together
to make a cohesive scene.
You might continue this pattern for a few scenes before transitioning
to a new game phase, and starting it all again.

22

GAME PHASES

To help guide events and facilitate the story, there are four game phases to
Drifter. As your drifters adventure, you will naturally transition back and
forth between the phases. Each phase features its own mechanics, as well
as guidance for the respective narrator roles.

• Combat Phase: For when swords cross against the drifters and the
fighting breaks out.

• Exploration Phase: For when the drifters are exploring ruins,
dungeons, or facilities.

• Travel Phase: For when the drifters are traversing long distances
and journeying across the landscape.

• Downtime Phase: For when the drifters have the chance to rest,
leaving time for shopping, crafting, and recovering from their
ordeals.

23

Fundamentals

Now that you’ve started your adventure, you’ll want your drifter to do
perform actions and do things in the world. Depending on the level of
effort and uncertainty of that action the narrator can opt to proceed with
that action in a few different ways.

IT JUST HAPPENS

In many cases, anything straightforward you want your drifter to do will
just happen—describe what you say or do—and the roleplay continues.
Examples of these actions include:

• Talking a town guard
• Sifting through rubble to find an object

SPEND A RESOURCE

For actions that are generally low risk, but require some effort to pull off,
typically these actions would cost 1–2 Energy or 1 Woe, but could include
other resources (see page 28). Examples of these actions include:

• Forcing open a ruined door
• Crossing a rushing river
• Crafting a ladder using Components

ROLL THE DICE

For actions that do not require much effort but where the result is uncer-
tain, or if an interesting complication might arise, roll the dice to determine
the outcome. Examples of these actions include:

• Trying to not spook a beast
• Sneaking past cultists
• Convincing someone to help you

SPEND A RESOURCE & ROLL THE DICE

For actions that require some effort and where the outcome could yields an
unknown result. This requires spending a resource—and rolling the dice.
The majority of the use of Talents will fall into this category. Examples of
these actions include:

• Climbing a treacherous cliff
• Throwing an explosive at an enemy
• Activating a Talent

25

READING YOUR ROLL RESULT

Once you’ve rolled the dice, you’ll need to compare the result against the
relevant threshold (meaning, Fortune and Temperance). If you don’t like
the result, you still have the chance to mitigate the outcome before you
trigger any Consequences.

DISCIPLINES

All actions that require a roll will fall under one of five disciplines, each of
which broadly covers an array of skills. These disciplines include:

• Combat: For fighting and strategy.
• Social: For working with people and creatures.
• Manipulate: For working with remnant technology.
• Exploration: For movement and navigating environments.
• Survival: For hunting and camping.

Iaf siut’gsgneostticolneatrowhhelipchydoiusccihpolionsee.to use in a given situation, ask the group for

THRESHOLD

As you'll see on your character sheet, each discipline is accompanied by
two values known as thresholds. One value is Fortune and the other is
Temperance—each of these is a value that your roll result must meet or
beat in order to obtain that outcome. There are three possible outcomes
for a task:

• Fortune: The highest value. Meet or beat this value to succeed
exceptionally at the task at no Consequence.

• Temperance: Always lower than Fortune. Meet or beat this value
to succeed at your task, but with a reduced Consequence.

• Judgment: If you fail to meet or beat your Temperance (the
lowest score), you still succeed at the task, but you trigger a full
Consequence.

In the Combat Phase, instead of actions triggering a Consequence, you
will generate Consequence Points that the narrator can spend on adver-
sary actions.

26

CONSEQUENCES

In addition to the thresholds that you’re rolling against, every action you
make a roll for will have a Consequence Level (CL). This indicates the type
of the outcome that could occur, depending on the result. A CL will range
anywhere from 1 to 8+, with 1 being equivalent to 1 Health damage or a
minor setback, and the Consequences scaling upwards above this.

Talents and abilities that trigger Consequences will be marked with the
Consequence symbol [◈] after the description of that threshold’s effect.
• Fortune thresholds usually do not trigger any Consequences and
are considered exemplinary successes.
• Temperance thresholds commonly trigger a reduced Consequence
[a◈re‒2c]o,nasniddewreidll always be lower than the Fortune threshold. These
success at consequence or mixed successes.
• Judgment thresholds will trigger a full oCrofnasileiqnugefnocrew[a◈rd],. these are
considered success at full consequence,

Before you make any roll, you should always know what the action’s disci-
porlintheeagnrdouCpo! nsequence Level are. If you’re not sure, just ask the narrator

MITIGATION

If you don’t like your roll result, you have a few options to change the final
roll result, often using some form of resource. These options included:

• Boosting: You can spend Energy to improve your roll result. For
each Energy spent, increase your roll result by the relevant Boost
Score: Grit for physical actions and Nerve for mental actions.

• Intervention Point: These are a shared resource that any player can
use to shift a threshold up one step (Temperance to Fortune, or
from Judgment to Temperance).

• Helpful Assist: Each class specializes in one of the five disciplines.
If an ally makes a roll using your specialized discipline, you can
spend your Energy to boost their roll—using your Boost Score—
just as you would to boost your own roll result.

Once a final threshold has been determined and your drifter is about to
take on damage, you have additional options, from spending your Dashes,
using your Armor pools, activating talents to general talents abilities to
reduce or negate damage.

27

RESOURCES

On your character sheet, you will find a few elements to keep track of,
much like you might find in a video game. These are the various resources
used in a game of Drifter. These resources include:

• Health
• Energy
• Woe
• Dashes
• Corruption
• Intervention Points
• Armor
• Crafting Materials

HEALTH

Health represents how much physical damage your drifter can take before
they are overcome. This is your character’s health bar.

• Some Consequences deal Health damage to your drifter.
• Some consumables, Talents, and Downtime activities

restore Health.
• When your drifter drops to 0 Health, they fall unconscious and

take on 1 Corruption.

ENERGY

The Energy Pool represents how much vitality and willpower your drifter
has available to them. Much like a stamina bar in a video game, your
Energy Pool is used to perform various actions.

• Spend Energy to perform or activate most actions and Talents.
• Some consumables, Talents, and Downtime activities restore

Energy.
• You can spend Energy to increase (boost) your roll result using your

Boost Scores (see page 88).
• Your drifter can still act if they run out of Energy—you just can’t

spend any more of it.

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WOE

Woe represents a drifter’s stress, fear, uncertainty, and bad luck. Woe is
something that your drifter slowly accumulates until they hit a breaking
point. Each drifter has a capacity of 12 Woe before they become tested.

• Some Consequences will cause you to take on points of Woe.
• You can spend Woe as a resource to activate some abilities.
• Some Downtime activities and abilities can remove Woe.
• When your drifter’s Woe fills up to capacity, they become tested

and take on either a boon or a burden (see "Tested" on page 89).

DASHES

Each drifter comes equipped with a Dash Module, a useful piece of tech-
nology containing mobility power that allows them to dart around the
battlefield. You recharge 1 Dash charge whenever you enter a new phase.

• You can spend 1 Dash to reduce damage (rounded up).
• You can spend 1 Dash to move any direction on the Combat Board.
• You can spend Dashes to activate special Talents.
• You can spend Dashes to cover distances quickly in narrative scenes.

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CORRUPTION

Corruption is a sickness that haunts the land, afflicting drifters in one way
or another, and which leads to their eventual death.

• Your drifter will take on Corruption if they are reduced to 0 Health.
• You may take on Corruption while exploring corrupted areas,

fighting corrupted creatures, or interacting with corrupted objects.
• The narrator should always inform you when your drifter is about

to interact with something that is corrupted.
• Sometimes you might take on Corruption from direct exposure to

a source, or you might be allowed a roll to prevent taking on any
Corruption.
• Methods to remove Corruption are extremely rare.

INTERVENTION POINTS

Intervention Points (IP) are a communal pool of points that can be used
by all players to influence a game of Drifter in a variety of ways. The IP
pool will grow and shrink over the course of a game, depending on certain
factors.

• Add 1 IP to the pool when you roll either a 1 or 20.
• Add 1 IP to the pool via community recognition for good

roleplaying.
• Add 1 IP to the pool by downgrading your roll result one threshold

(from Fortune to Temperance, or from Temperance to
Judgment).
• Spend 1 IP to upgrade the threshold of your roll result (from
Judgment to Temperance, or from Temperance to Fortune).
• Spend an IP to activate your class special.

30

ARMOR

Armor represents any gear or ability that improves a drifter’s resilience.
Armor is a pool of points granted by Talents and equipment spent to
absorb or reduce Health and Energy damage. There are two types of
Armor: Protection and Resistance.

• Protection Armor: Used to prevent Health and Energy damage
during the Combat Phase.

• Resistance Armor: Used to prevent Health and Energy damage
during the Exploration Phase or Travel Phase.

• Both Armor pools refresh after the Downtime Phase.
• If you have multiple sources of Armor, they stack.

CRAFTING MATERIALS

Drifters may harvest or discover various materials on their adventures
that can be used to craft useful items—these materials are represented by
Ingredients (organic materials) and Components (technological materials).
These materials can be used for the following:

• You can use crafting materials as a f lexible resource to perform
certain actions.

• You can use Ingredients and Components for crafting during the
Downtime Phase (see Downtime Phase page 156).

• You can trade crafting materials with other beings in the world.

31

TALENTS

Talents are abilities that drifters can activate that allow them to interact
with the world or the story in particular ways. When you create your
drifter, pick 3 Talents to add to both your Talent List and Ability Bar.

• Talent List: This is the full arsenal of Talents that your drifter
has acquired across their adventures. You will select some of these
Talents to be active on your Ability Bar.

• Ability Bar: The current active Talents that your drifter can use
while adventuring.

ABILITY BAR

The Ability Bar is a set of Talents currently equipped from your Talent
List. Talents are broken up by discipline and organized into three catego-
ries that correspond to the slots on your Ability Bar. These categories are:

• General Talents (3 slots)
• Dash Talents (1 slot)
• Passive Talents (1 slot)
Other important things to know about your Ability Bar include:
• You can place up to 2 Talents from each discipline on

your Ability Bar.
• There is no limit on how many Talents you can slot in

from your specialized discipline.
• You can swap Talents around from your Talent List to your Ability

Bar using the [Swap Talents] activity in the Downtime Phase.

32

EQUIPMENT

Your character is assumed to have the most basic adventuring gear, so you
don’t need to track whether you have things like rations, rope, bedrolls,
or any other mundane equipment. This means you can focus on providing
your characters with special or unique equipment that you craft or discover
that provides mechanical benefits.

EQUIPMENT SLOTS

Much like your Ability Bar, you also have equipment slots, which contain
the available items that you can quickly use.

• You start with 4 equipment slots and can purchase more as part of
advancement options.

• Any equipment that provides a mechanical benefit must be slotted
in using a drifter’s equipment slots. This can include weapons,
armor, assets, augments, and consumables.

• You can swap equipment between equipment slots for free during
the Downtime Phase using [Swap Loadout].

33

Character
Creation

If you want to get right into the game, there are some pre-generated
drifter characters available to use with the Basic Rules. Otherwise, grab a
blank character sheet to start making your own character. The process of
creating a character in Drifter is a straightforward process. There are ten
steps to follow, though they can happen in any order you choose:

• Pick an affinity. • Pick a character knack.
• Select your class. • Create character drives.
• Set thresholds. • Establish character bonds.
• Pick Talents. • Name your drifter.
• Choose an equipment set. • Define memorable features.

Let’s create a character together!

PICK AFFINITY

The world is full of anthropomorphic peoples of varying shapes, sizes, and
likenesses. The most commonly found affinities are avian, canine, feline,
lizard, otter, raccoon, frog, and robotic, but you’re not limited to just these
options.

Otters are my favorite aquatic mammal, so I’ll make my character an
otterfolk!

35

SELECT CLASS

There are five classes to choose from in Drifter. Consider what kind of
drifter you might be and what your character might be focused around.
Each of the classes specializes in one of five disciplines. You can pick
between the following classes:

• The Warrior is adept in fighting. They specialize in the Combat
discipline.

• The Versifier is a master communicator and someone who collects
local legends. They specialize in the Social discipline.

• The Wielder is a tinkerer and jury-rigger of remnant technology.
They specialize in the Manipulate discipline.

• The Delver seeks to explore the ruins and depths of the world. They
specialize in the Exploration discipline.

• The Wayfinder is a wilderness expert. They specialize in the
Survival discipline.

See page 42 for details about each class.

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go with the Wielder class.

36

SET THRESHOLDS

Each drifter has five disciplines: Combat, Social, Manipulate, Exploration,
and Survival. Each of these disciplines has two values—Fortune and
Temperance—that you roll against to determine the outcome of an
action. If you fail to meet or beat these scores, this is a Judgment result.

• All Fortune thresholds start at 18 and all Temperance thresholds
start at 10.

Your Fortune threshold is always larger than your Temperance threshold.

• The specialized discipline from your class reduces both thresh-
olds by 2 (so you start with Fortune 16 and Temperance 8 for the
specialized discipline for your class).

• You then have 8 points to distribute amongst your thresholds. Each
point applied to a threshold reduces that value by 1. You cannot
reduce a threshold by more than 4 points.

It’s important to remember that when making a roll, you’ll be comparing
the die result against these thresholds, so the higher the value of the
threshold, the more difficult (and less likely) it will be to hit that threshold.

After reducing Wielder’s class specialized discipline, I distributed the points
as follows:

Discipline Fortune Temperance
Combat 16 (−2) 10
SMocainailp ulate 1165 ((−−12))( class −2) 810(c lass −2 )
Exploration 16 (−2) 8 (−2)
Survival 18 9 (−1)

37

PICK TALENTS

Talents are special actions that your drifter can perform. Your Talent List
is a repository of all acquired Talents for your drifter, while the Ability Bar
contains the currently equipped Talents, available for use.

Talents are broken up by discipline and separated into three categories:
General, Dash, and Passive. Your Ability Bar has five slots available for
use. This contains:

• 3 General Talents slots
• 1 Dash Talent slot
• 1 Passive Talent slot
Pick any three Talents from the Talents section (page 52). Write them
down on your Talent List, and also slot them into your Ability Bar. You
won’t have a full Ability Bar to start with, but there will be an opportunity
to develop your character later on. It’s important to note that you can only
slot up to two Talents from each discipline onto your Ability Bar, unless
they’re from your specialized discipline.

To start out, I’ll go with the following Talents for my character:
[Hex Burst] (Manipulate | General)
[Pidgin] (Social | Passive)
[Analyscan] (Manipulate | Dash)
[Hex Burst] will give me a little more oomph in combat.
I’ll make [Pidgin] a new piece of tech I’ve been tinkering
pweirtshontaol schaenlnperw, liikthe thtreatnhisnl ag tAiolonys.haAs fnrdom[HAonraizlyosncaZne]ro wDiallwnb.e my

38

EQUIPMENT SET

Your drifter is assumed to have any basic gear they need to adventure
in the world, so detailed equipment lists are not tracked in Drifter. The
only gear that’s important to track are those with special or distinctive
effects (often weapons, armor, and assets). Much like Talents, you have an
equipment list to pick from, and equipment slots for gear that is readily
available. You have 4 equipment slots to work with. Some pieces of equip-
ment will take up more than one slot.

Starting characters pick from pre-made sets of equipment. You can find
these in the Equipment section (see page 64).

I want my drifter to be helpful to others, so having a stimpack on hand
would be nice. So let’s take the Caretaker Set (which includes a 1-slot melee
or ranged weapon and two stimpacks).

CHARACTER KNACK

Each character is particularly good with a specific skill. Perhaps this
comes from your background or training, or perhaps it’s a skill that you
have extra luck with. Pick any skill from the Skill List (page 49). When
rolling for this skill, reduce your Temperance threshold by 2 .

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all of the remnant tech they discover back with them to the lab to study.

CREATE DRIVES

Each drifter has something that motivated them to become a drifter in the
first place. Consider your drifter’s character drive. This is just a sentence
that ref lects your drifter’s personal goals and motivations. It’s best to start
with just one or two drives since they can help ground your character and
give direction to the stories you want to tell with them.

One method to create a drive is to pick one of your drifter’s skills and
form a goal around it.

Perhaps my drifter’s interest with technology will be a drive like “With
Cartography I will map the world!” or perhaps just shorter to “I want to
map the world.”

39

NAME YOUR DRIFTER

Sometimes the hardest thing in creating a character for Drifter is finding a
suitable name for them. Drifters come from a wide variety of places, back-
grounds, cultures, and histories. Give your drifter a name that’s fitting
for their character. You might need to f lesh out some of the other parts of
your character before your character idea starts to gel together and you’re
able to find the right name.

Oh gosh, I suck at names! Let’s go with something like… Sera! Yeah, that
sounds surprisingly good, and they use they/them pronouns as well.

MEMORABLE FEATURE

Give your drifter an interesting character feature. Consider something
noteworthy or memorable about your character. Do they have a particular
speech pattern? Do they have an affectation that they wear? Do they have
any rituals they observe on a daily basis? A drifter’s feature does not have
any game mechanics associated with it—it’s there to give more definition
to your character and to help with roleplaying them.

An artificial leg is a feature works well for Sera being a Wielder. Perhaps
they sustained a leg injury and found the device while on one of their excur-
sions. This feature serves as both a reminder of the blessings of technology
and of the dangers below.

40

ESTABLISH BONDS

Bonds are the connections your drifter has to the characters around them.
Creating bonds with other characters in the game is often best done once
you’ve finished with the rest of the character creation steps. While estab-
lishing bonds is primarily intended to create connections between player
characters, this doesn’t have to always be the case. Bonds can also be
formed with other important characters in the game.

Present your drifter to the group. Describe their appearance, their atti-
tudes, or relate any relevant backstory to them. Then create at least one
personal bond with another character in the party. What kind of shared
history does your drifter have with each of the other drifters? Are they
family or friends? Were they once enemies? Was one of them a mentor to
the other?

This bond can take a few different forms, but some example prompts
include:

• Someone I admire:
• Someone I owe:
• Someone whose respect I want to earn:
• Someone I disagree with:

Kaiden’s making a drifter who’s very distrustful of technology, so perhaps
rite’ms mnayngtotaelctho. earn their respect and have them learn to better understand

41

CLASSES

There are five classes to choose from in Drifter. Consider what kind of
drifter you might be and what your character might be focused around.
Each of the classes is specialized in one of five disciplines. You can pick
between the following classes:

• The Warrior is adept in fighting. They specialize in the Combat
discipline.

• The Versifier is a master communicator and someone who collects
local legends. They specialize in the Social discipline.

• The Wielder is a tinkerer and jury-rigger of remnant technology.
They specialize in the Manipulate discipline.

• The Delver seeks to explore the ruins and depths of the world. They
specialize in the Exploration discipline.

• The Wayfinder is a wilderness expert. They specialize in the
Survival discipline.

Each class will provide you with the following:
• Starting Health: The initial Health available to your drifter.
• Starting Energy: The initial Energy available to your drifter.
• Starting Boost Scores: The starting values for the Grit and Nerve
Boost Scores.
• Specialized Discipline: The starting bonus when setting your
drifter’s initial thresholds. The specialized discipline also allows
you to slot more than two Talents from that discipline into your
Ability Bar.
• Helpful Assist: This allows you to spend Energy to boost the rolls
of your allies when they use a skill from your specialized discipline.
• Class Special: Each class has a special ability available only to them
that is activated through the use of Intervention Points.

THE WARRIOR
Health: 12 Grit: 2
Energy: 10 Nerve: 1

• Specialized Discipline (Combat): You can slot in as many Talents
from the Combat Talent List as you see fit.

• Helpful Assist: When an ally uses a skill from the Combat disci-
pline, you can spend your Energy to boost their roll.

• Tactician (Class Special): In the Combat Phase, spend an
Intervention Point to grant any ally an extra turn. This additional
turn does not trigger an additional adversary turn.

43

THE VERSIFIER
Health: 10 Grit: 1
Energy: 12 Nerve: 2

• Specialized Discipline (Social): You can slot in as many Talents
from the Social Talent List as you see fit.

• Helpful Assist: When an ally uses a skill from the Social discipline,
you can spend your Energy to boost their roll.

• Storyteller (Class Special): Spend an Intervention Point to ask the
narrator one question that they must answer truthfully. After the
narrator answers the question, you and the group can decide how
your drifter obtained that information.

44

THE WIELDER
Health: 10 Grit: 1
Energy: 10 Nerve: 2

• Specialized Discipline (Manipulate): You can slot in as many
Talents from the Manipulate Talent List as you see fit.

• Helpful Assist: When an ally uses a skill from the Manipulate
discipline, you can spend your Energy to boost their roll.

• Awaken the Ancients (Class Special): Spend an Intervention Point
to awaken a dormant machine that will provide one service for you
and your party. Upon completion of the service, the machine either
runs out of energy, deactivates, or continues moving about the world
on its own, impartial to you and your mission.

If the machine is used in combat, it has 10 Health, and can make the
[Strike] action (costing 1 Energy, which the Wielder player spends) on your
turn. The machine has a base weapon damage [w] of 2.

45

THE DELVER
Health: 11 Grit: 1*
Energy: 11 Nerve: 1*

*Distribute 1 point between Grit and Nerve as you see fit.

• Specialized Discipline (Exploration): You can slot in as many
Talents from the Exploration Talent List as you see fit.

• Helpful Assist: When an ally uses a skill from the Exploration
discipline, you can spend your Energy to boost their roll.

• Delver’s Luck (Class Special): Spend an Intervention Point to
grant each drifter in the party the ability to make one re-roll on
any die roll, allowing them to keep the highest result. This re-roll is
available until the next Downtime Phase.

46

THE WAYFINDER
Health: 8* Grit: 2
Energy: 8* Nerve: 1

*Distribute 6 points between health and energy as you see fit.

• Specialized Discipline (Survival): You can slot in as many Talents
from the Survival Talent List as you see fit.

• Helpful Assist: When an ally uses a skill from the Survival disci-
pline, you can spend your Energy to boost their roll.

• Safe Respite (Class Special): Spend an Intervention Point to find
a safe place to hide and rest. that provides everyone in the group
with 2 Downtime slots. These Downtime slots can be added to an
existing Downtime Phase.

47

DISCIPLINES
& SKILLS

There are five disciplines in Drifter that each cover a broad range of skills.
Most actions that you make a roll for in the game will fall under one of
these categories. Below, each discipline is split into a list of skills you
can reference during play. This is a soft skill list, meaning they’re not
exhaustive. If there’s another skill you think should fall under a particular
discipline, feel free to use it. These skill lists can be helpful when you’re in
need of inspiration on the sorts of things your drifter can do.

SKILL LIST

COMBAT
DISCIPLINE

Skills that are used primarily for fighting in combat, though some of these
skills may see action outside of combat.

• Aim: Using ranged and projectile weapons and objects against a
target.

• Assess: Ascertaining and understanding a creature’s or weapon’s
threat or danger.

• Fight: Fighting in close quarters combat, using melee weapons, fists,
claws, and the like.

• Maneuver: Moving effectively across the battlefield and being able
to engage and disengage with opponents.

SOCIAL
DISCIPLINE

Skills that are used to interact with other creatures and characters.
• Empathy: Determining the emotional state of a target character or
creature.
• Handle Animal: Familiarity with taming, rearing, and riding
various creatures.
• Inf luence: Changing someone’s behavior to get them to do what you
want them to.
• Intimidate: Getting others to do what you want them to through
the use of fear or threats.
• Lead: Rallying or encouraging a group of individuals to take certain
actions.
• Negotiate: Getting the best agreement, price, or terms on an
arrangement or trade.
• Perform: Staging a memorable or distracting performance.

49

MANIPULATE
DISCIPLINE

Skills that are used to interact with remnant technology.
• Access: Activating or deactivating facility and technology functions.
• Build: Taking remnant technology and making something useful
with it.
• Repurpose: Using remnant technology in an unintended way.
• Salvage: Harvesting Components from remnant technology that
can then be useful for building or crafting.

EXPLORATION
DISCIPLINE

Skills that encompass overland travel and navigating the environment.
• Awareness: Noticing unusual details around you or searching for
clues and odd behavior.
• Balance: Remaining upright, steady, and positioned, so that you
don’t fall or drop.
• Cartography: Drawing and interpreting maps.
• Climb: Scaling and traversing walls and surfaces.
• Jump: Propelling yourself over obstacles and chasms.
• Lift: Pushing and lifting heavy objects.
• Ref lex: Reacting to dangerous environments and dodging hazards.
• Swim: To move or maneuver through aquatic environments or other
liquids.

50