Echoine

BRETT (playing Sneeky Peet): “I sneak up slowly on the camp, taking care to watch out for lookouts or patrols.”

ANDY (the Game Referee): “Roll a Stealth Challenge - you’re being opposed, so just tell me the result.”

BRETT: “Crap, okay… 1d6 for Talent and 2d8 for Training… 15!”

ANDY: “Very nice. Okay, you slide up to just outside the campfire’s ring of light; it doesn’t appear as though anyone has noticed you. There are four - no, wait, five people there - mercenaries by the look of them. A tall human is tending to his equipment, and there’s an imposing-looking drakkhozhn telling a ribald story to her comrades in a deep, resonant voice. The rest are sitting and eating - there’s a pot over the campfire they dip into for seconds.”

BRETT: “Could one of them be the gnoll we’re looking for?”

ANDY: “One of the mercs eating and listening to the drak could be a gnoll - the silhouette is about the right size, but between the unsteady firelight and the fact that their backs are to you it’s hard to be sure.”

BRETT: “If I move to a different vantage point could I make a better guess?”

ANDY: “No guarantees, but it’s possible. What do you do?”

What follows are rules for players, with instructions on how to get playing as fast as possible, how to get the most from customizing your character, and some example templates to work from if you’re looking for inspiration

CHAPTER 1: BUILDING CHARACTERS

You’ll learn the character-building process from beginning to end, and wind up with a playable character in under ten minutes.

CHAPTER 2: STATS AND BONUSES

A primer on specifically how Aspects and Qualities help you when you’re trying to get something done - or when someone’s trying to stop you!

CHAPTER 3: SPECIES OF THE LENS

Humans and Jotun and Kâlind - oh my! We’ll dig into each of the playable species in The Lens, cover their strengths and weaknesses, and help you decide how to choose one based on your character concept.

CHAPTER 4: BACKGROUNDS

Picking a Background is as important as picking a Species, and it’ll inform not just game mechanics, but your character’s backstory and lived experiences to date.

CHAPTER 5: ABILITIES

Choosing Abilities is the meat of the game - Abilities determine the things you can do and how well you can do them.

CHAPTER 6: CHALLENGES

Knowing how to do something is great - but being able to do them under pressure is better! Challenges represent how you’ll roll dice to determine how, and if, you succeed at difficult tasks - whether in a tavern or on a battlefield.

CHAPTER 7: PROGRESSION

With your character built, where do you go from there? You’ll learn about Experience, upgrading your Aspects, Qualities, and Abilities, and other ways to progress while you’re playing the game.