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Mechanics & Rules

InSpectres uses Dice Pools (skill + Franchise bonus − Stress penalty) to resolve risky actions. Stress is the central resource: it accumulates from failures and when it hits 6+, agents need Recovery. Franchise operations (managing Resources and Stress) create ongoing campaign pressure.

Complete Rules Reference​

For the complete, official rules including all edge cases, charts, and the full rulebook text, see:

  • reference/inspectres-rules-spec.md in the repository
  • The official InSpectres rulebook from the creator

This section provides an overview. For disputes or ambiguities, consult the official rules spec.

Dice Pools & Rolling​

Skill Roll​

When an agent tries something risky, they roll a Skill Roll. Calculate Dice Pool: Skill rating (0-3) + Franchise bonus (if helping, +1) − Stress penalty (1 per point above 3). Roll that many d6; each 4-6 = 1 Success.

Interpret: 0 Successes = failure (gain Stress). 1-2 = marginal success (gain Stress, complication). 3+ = clear success.

Difficulty Modifiers​

The GM can increase or decrease the difficulty:

  • Easy roll: +1 die
  • Hard roll: -1 die
  • Very hard roll: -2 dice

Modifiers are applied before rolling.

Stress System​

Gaining Stress​

Agents gain Stress from: Failed Skill Rolls (1-2 Stress), gruesome discoveries (GM discretion, 1-2 Stress), traumatic events (story-based, 1-3 Stress), or losing mission resources (1 Stress).

Managing Stress​

At Stress 0-5, agents play normally. Stress naturally decreases slowly (about 1 per mission) when resting between investigations. At 6+, the agent is incapacitated and requires Recovery (see below).

Stress penalty: For every Stress above 3, lose 1 die from your Dice Pool. Example: 5 Stress = 2-point penalty. 6 Stress = 3-point penalty (minimum 0 dice).

Recovery System​

When an agent reaches 6+ Stress, they are out of action and need Recovery. The GM sets a recovery duration in wall-clock days (real-time, not in-game rounds). The agent rests and is unavailable for missions. When the deadline passes, the agent's Stress resets to 0 and they rejoin the team. Recovery clears automatically when the calendar advances past the deadline.

Agent hits 6 stress during a bad investigation. GM decides: "You need 2 days of downtime to recover."

GM advances the calendar 2 days. The other agents handle other activities. When the calendar catches up, the recovering agent rejoins at 0 stress.

See Recovery: Incapacity & Downtime for complete mechanics, examples, and how to track recovery in Foundry.

Franchise Operations​

Your agency has resources that determine how much help you can offer in rolls.

Resources​

  • Starting: 3 resources (typical)
  • Max: 5 resources
  • Use: Spend 1 resource per mission to add +1 die to agent rolls
  • Refresh: Gain resources between missions (based on franchise level and success)

Franchise Stress​

Like agents, the franchise itself has stress (0-6).

  • Franchise stress makes missions harder (reduces available resources)
  • Franchise stress increases when missions fail or resources are wasted
  • Franchise stress decreases slowly between missions

Types of Rolls​

Skill Roll (Agent)​

Agent rolls a skill to accomplish something risky. Covered above.

Stress Roll (Encounter)​

When encountering something frightening, agents roll Psyche (or sometimes Guts or Weird) to resist stress gain.

  • Success: Gain 1 stress
  • Failure: Gain 2 stress

Equipment Roll (Resource Failure)​

When using special equipment or resources, roll to see if they work:

  • Success: Works as intended
  • Failure: Equipment breaks or fails; lose the resource, gain complications

Death & Dismemberment​

Agents can be injured or killed, depending on the situation:

  • Wounded: Agent is injured but recovers naturally over time (same as stress recovery)
  • Dead: Agent is killed; the player rolls up a new agent or takes over an NPC

The GM decides based on the fiction whether a failure means death or just injury.

Franchise Bankruptcy​

If the franchise stress reaches 6 and doesn't recover, the agency goes bankrupt:

  • Agents lose their jobs
  • Campaign likely ends or resets
  • Starting a new franchise is possible (new campaign)

Mission Chaos​

InSpectres doesn't use pre-built adventures. Instead, missions emerge from chaos:

  1. Set a vague problem (e.g., "Strange sounds at the old factory")
  2. Agents investigate — Their rolls determine what they find
  3. Complications from failures — Bad rolls add twists and dangers
  4. Play to find out what happens — You don't plan ahead; you react

This keeps the game unpredictable and failure interesting.

Franchise Dice Pool​

When deciding if the franchise can help an agent's roll, use the franchise's stress rating to determine available resources:

  • Low stress (0-2): Franchise can help most rolls
  • Medium stress (3-4): Franchise can help, but carefully
  • High stress (5+): Franchise is struggling; help is limited

See the rules spec for the exact franchise mechanics and resource management rules.

Questions About Mechanics?​

If you encounter a situation not covered here:

  1. Check the rules spec: reference/inspectres-rules-spec.md
  2. Check troubleshooting: Troubleshooting
  3. Ask on GitHub: Open an issue

Want reference tables, charts, or the full rulebook? See the official InSpectres rulebook and the project's rules spec document.