You hold the tools to forge legends.

Use this compendium to learn the game, build a character, or look up a rule during play. If this is your first tabletop roleplaying game, start with What Is a TTRPG?. For supplies and player roles, read What You Need to Play Narateer. The rules index groups the remaining chapters by what you need to do.

It is both a rules compendium and a narrative springboard. Learn it. Bend it. Breathe life into it.

Carve your name in story and dice!

Playing as a Narateer

As a Narateer, you play a character tied to Shatterholme’s fate. You make choices, face trials, and leave marks on a shared world. This rules compendium helps you build a character, learn the system, and shape story through consequence.

Create a Character

• Choose a Bloodline, tying your ancestry to divine echoes or broken realms.
• Select an Origin, grounding your character in survival and culture.
• Train in a Class, unlocking tactical power and narrative potential.

Master the Mechanics

• Learn how to roll and manage Narateer Dice.
• Track Vitality (VIT) to gauge endurance.
• Use Skill Checks, Combat, and Magic to shape the game world.

Enter the World

• Discover gods, ruins, factions, and timelines across a splintered setting.
• Tie your character to objects, events, or locations with narrative weight.
• Use setting details to drive quests, roleplay, and development arcs.

Shape the Story

• Collaborate with fellow Narateers and the Guide to create scenes with impact.
• Drive the plot through action, intention, and interaction.
• Each scene is a shared canvas. Paint boldly.

Player Tip: Great players bring momentum. Don’t wait for the story—help create it.

Guiding as a Narateer Guide

You are not the author of the story—you are its gravity.

As the Narateer Guide, you facilitate play, create dramatic structure, and bring Shatterholme to life. This rules compendium helps you manage rules, create scenes, and adapt to player direction without breaking flow.

Use the Core System

• Apply the core mechanics like Vitality, Action Dice, and the skill system to build responsive challenges.
• Maintain rhythm and escalation with clear action economies.
• Scale threats using Stats, Conditions, and Encounters.

Build the World

• Draw from a fractured realm shaped by myth, ash, and broken timelines.
• Anchor player stories in regions, factions, and legendary relics.
• Weave player backstories into the world’s lore and tension.

Manage Narrative Systems

• Use Scene Modes to choose how you describe and track position and distance.
• Follow Character Development to track Story Checkpoints and Story Milestones, award Story Points, and guide character growth.
• Recognise initiative, intent, and meaningful roleplay through the unfolding fiction.

Guide Tip: Don’t plan every detail. Frame bold questions and trust your Narateers to answer them.

It Begins

This rules compendium is not just a collection of rules—it’s a foundation.

Whether you’re a first-time player or a seasoned Guide, you’ll find tools, systems, and inspiration to build your own saga.

You are a Narateer.

This is your story.

All for one, and one for all.

Let’s begin.

Summary

• This rules compendium teaches both players and Guides how to use the Narateer system.
• Narateers create characters, roll dice, and make impactful choices.
• Guides facilitate the world, balance mechanics, and guide collaboration.
• Use this rules compendium as a rulebook, story engine, and shared creative tool.