Introduction

“It’s Fiiiine” — a Storyteller describing something definitely not fine

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“The sunsets and sunrises of civilization are inevitably separated by intervals of isolated darkness.

The night that followed the Roman sunset was long and uncertain, and the turmoil it brought consumed countless men.

But mankind itself did not yield. With its gaze fixed on a distant future, it persevered.

Until the first rays of a new dawn at long last penetrated the horizon.”

— Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History

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Welcome

This Guide provides the concepts, procedures, and context needed to run and play Kodranni — a tabletop role-playing game system.

Many concepts interconnect. The Guide is ordered so that each chapter builds on the previous ones; when something is introduced early and resolved later, links point you forward.

Playing requires understanding these concepts. The mechanical load is kept light so immersion is not broken by constant rule-checking.

For Storytellers, the Guide outlines principles, approaches, and common pitfalls — see especially Campaign Setup and the advice later in this chapter.

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What the system is for

The system supports campaigns with:

1. No magic or supernatural beings
2. Pre-industrial setting
3. Characters who are ordinary human beings

Whether the campaign is semi-historical or invented fantasy, if those three conditions hold, Kodranni can serve you.

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Core ideas

“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” — Mahatma Gandhi

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• Immersion: Mechanics are meant to be non-intrusive and intuitive. Role-play takes precedence over mechanics.
• The Story of Life: Characters are mortal human beings. Magic, supernatural strength, and similar elements are neither supported nor encouraged. Motivations, struggles, hopes, and dreams form the campaign. Death — whether of old age or in battle — will come.
• Advantage over modifiers: Context is often innumerable. Rather than stack modifiers, the table judges who holds Advantage or Disadvantage and shifts the die tier (d6 · d8 · d12) where it matters.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — Gandalf the Grey

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• Player Agency: The system is permissive. Creativity, desperate attempts, and bold ideas are encouraged. The system will not stand in your way, but how you handle risk is your responsibility.
• Cooperative Struggle: Campaigns centre on a community — a tribe, village, noble house — which the players must nurture. Actions, honourable or otherwise, shape that community’s future. If the community is destroyed, the campaign ends.
• Death and Continuity: A player’s actions can outlive their character. Heroic deeds, wise counsel, and pivotal events may define the community. Echoes of those actions strengthen and guide future characters. Legacies and Foundation Myths carry the accomplishments of earlier deeds.
• Automation Support: Bookkeeping and an intricate roll stack are made playable by automation. See Automation for the table-facing contract.

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How the Guide is organised

Section	What it covers
Dice Mechanics	When to roll; then Marks & Tiers, Omens, Tide
Human Potential	Foundations, Skills, Traits, Exertion
Echoes	Personal stakes, Fortunes, Foundation Myths
Harm	Injury, Dying, recovery
Hierarchies	Standing, Reputation, Legacies, the Diagram
Inventory	Explicit possession, armour, food, water
Campaign Setup	Storyteller work before characters exist
Character Creation	Concept, Foundations, Skills, The Weighing
Automation	Shared sheets, bots, table workflow
Glossary	Quick definitions of every major term

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Grim reality vs fun

This is a key point: without it, campaigns will not work with this system. Kodranni is not a horror TTRPG, nor does it shield players from consequences or provide plot armour. It is designed to mimic the grim reality of pre-industrial societies.

The fun is in challenge and achievement. Odds are stacked against the characters, yet the system rewards steps that remain in the campaign regardless of what happens to individual characters.

Everyone wants, at times, to be the hero or the main protagonist. Kodranni does not forbid that. It ensures that when you fall, you can continue without losing the meaning of prior accomplishments already built into the campaign.

Two patterns that ruin the table

1. Players who churn out characters designed to die for short-term chaos.
Why care for a character destined to die?

Yup, it is fun short-term — but the player will get bored of it, immersion will go, the campaign will be ruined, and it becomes the most boring campaign-ruining experience they have ever sat through.

2. Storytellers who punish for the sake of punishment.
Why invest in a character the Storyteller will just kill?

You do not need to overplay the grim — the system already does; you’ll usually be as relieved as the players when a risk works; if you act as an adversary, they play against you, not the foes in the game.

In short: Embrace the Contrast. Do not shield. Allow creativity. Craft stories that are grim but filled with meaning.

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