Recently, Critical Role started a new campaign, and this new one isn’t D&D. Instead, they’re playing Candela Obscura, a Steam-Punk-and-Magic game built on the engine of the Illuminated Worlds RPG. This is our first look at a new RPG system we’ll get a deeper look at in August at GenCon.
Here’s what we know: the game uses a d6 dice pool system, similar to the one used in the ALIEN RPG. However, in Illuminated Worlds, a roll of 1 to 3 is a failure, a roll of 4 or 5 is a limited success (“Yes, but…”) and a roll of 6 is an unmitigated success. Rolling multiple 6s is a critical success which means you not only succeed, but something else good happens as well (“Yes, and…”).
There are three stats (Nerve, Cunning, and Intuition) each of which is broken into three actions. For instance, the three Nerve actions are Move (run, dodge, navigate), Strike (punch, break, knock down), and Control (drive, shoot, finesse). When you want to perform an action, you’ll roll the number of dice you have associated with that action. In each Stat you also have a limited number of re-rolls.
What other games call a Class, Candela Obscura calls a Role. We’ve seen four so far: Muscle, Scholar, Face, and Slink, and each is what you’d expect from those names. Roles are further broken down into Specialties (think sub-classes from D&D). This gives players some flexibility in how they want to take on their role.
We’ll be getting a more detailed look at this RPG at GenCon. If you have questions about it, feel free to ask the RPG experts at your local Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy®. But don’t ask about the other promised RPG, Daggerheart, just yet. There are some secrets we can’t yet speak of. But soon, my friends, soon…
