Realis is a diceless tabletop roleplaying game for those with a soft spot for semantics. It's a "setting for moon-hopping adventure, arcane discovery, fatal conflict, and meditations on the ever-changing nature of the self, society, and history." And one that's available for pre-order as of yesterday.
Sounding very much like something I would nominate for the best tabletop RPG list, failure is key in this storytelling game. Designer Austin Walker puts a great deal of emphasis on player characters' specificity of intent – a lack of which could cost you dearly. Realis seems like the kind of system that will really hammer home the belief that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Player characters are built with a collection of sentences that give your actions weight. These are known collectively as your character's Means, and consist of Class Sentences that describe their general behaviour, a couple of important Bonds, and a Dream to give your character purpose.
The more vague your Means, the weaker your actions will be. Over time, your character's intentions become sharper through their failures. As the sentences are Realized you modify them, drilling down from "I do lots of damage" to a far more pointed "When my friends' lives are at stake, a great wave of power overtakes me."
Speaking to Rascal news, Walker goes over some of the more mechanical aspects. He notes that more specific Realized sentences add up to a +3 to their character's interactions, and potentially give them an edge when they have to square up to a Counteractor.
The world itself is described as an "uncanny solar system where a thousand satellites orbit a massive, incandescent planet" from which "only the saint-like Radiant have ever returned." It's sandwiched by a great churning void and a corpse sun shining dimly in its death throes.
With additional design from Jack de Quidt and some writing by Janine Hawkins, Realis looks like a fascinating system. And while it takes away the much-loved act of rolling, Realis brings a more purposeful feeling to characters as they manifest their internal reality, rather than relying on the fates to guide their story.
Still in development, Realis is available for pre-order now but won't be shipping physical copies until some time in late 2025, or 2026.
Until then, why not check out the best D&D books or best cooperative board games if you're into games that encourage your table to work together.
