Optional Rules
TL-N Core
This game has many optional rules. They are divided into three categories: character rules, trait rules, and test rules.
Core Characters
Each player controls one core character of their creation.
The control of the narrative concerning the decisions and actions of a core character is not equally shared by all players, belonging only to the player who created it and who currently owns it.
A core character may be replaced by a new core character if the player wants to and if the circumstances allow it (or obligate it).
Core Characters Creation
All core characters are created with the same number of trait points, usually 6, 8, or 10, which are then spent on trait levels, on a 1-1 ratio.
At the moment of creation, the maximum level of the essential traits of a core character is equal to half the total number of trait points (thus, usually 3, 4, or 5).
Also at the moment of creation, the maximum amount of additional trait points a character may gain from certain negative traits is equal to half the total number of trait points (thus, usually 3, 4, or 5).
Core Traits
The players may decide that all of their core characters must have at least one trait from a predefined list of options, which may or may not be chosen by more than one character. Those are called core traits.
Core Characters Advancement
As the game progresses, core characters may gain trait points, either to be spent on existing traits or new ones. A player may also decide to change how a character’s trait points are allocated, removing a trait to add a new one, for instance.
The players may decide that all core characters gain 1 trait point after a predetermined number of game sessions, after the completion of a predetermined goal, or even after an important moment of the narrative.
Or the players may decide that all core characters gain 1 advancement point after each completed game session or narrative milestone.
Both the initial number of advancement points of a core character, depending on the total number of its trait points, and the number of advancement points that a core character must accumulate to increase its total number of trait points, are found in the following table.
Essential Traits
When describing an essential trait, list two or three things a character with that trait would be good at, two or three things a character with that trait would be bad at, one or two things a character with that trait would be more inclined to do, and one or two things a character with that trait would be less inclined to do.
An essential trait should be written like this: trait name (1).
Conditional Traits
A conditional trait is similar to an essential trait, but the character will not always be able to use it, like a special tool that may not be at hand, or a special power that cannot be used under certain circumstances. Each conditional trait level costs 1 trait point; however, after allocating the trait points, add +1 to the trait level.
A conditional trait should be written like this: trait name (2*).
Auxiliary Traits
An auxiliary trait applies positively in certain situations and negatively in others, helping or hindering an essential or conditional trait. An auxiliary trait does not have a cost in trait points and has 1, 2, or 3 trait levels, which may apply as a bonus to an essential or conditional trait of the character (in positive situations) or as a bonus to an essential or conditional trait of an opposing character (in negative situations).
An auxiliary trait should be written like this: trait name (±1).
Advantageous Traits
An advantageous trait applies positively in certain situations, helping an essential or conditional trait. An advantageous trait costs 1 trait point and has 1, 2, or 3 trait levels, depending on how often it may apply (frequently, eventually, or rarely).
An advantageous trait should be written like this: trait name (+1).
Disadvantageous Traits
A disadvantageous trait applies negatively in certain situations, hindering an essential or conditional trait. A disadvantageous trait does not have a cost and instead gives the character +1 trait point, and has 1, 2, or 3 trait levels, depending on how often it may apply (frequently, eventually, or rarely).
A disadvantageous trait should be written like this: trait name (--1).
Bonuses from Auxiliary, Advantageous, and Disadvantageous Traits
An essential or conditional trait may not receive bonuses from auxiliary, advantageous, and disadvantageous traits that exceed the number of the trait’s levels. That is, the level of an essential or conditional trait may, at most, be doubled by bonuses from auxiliary, advantageous, and disadvantageous traits.
Consumable Traits
Positive consumable traits (support, resource, goal, luck, reward, and power traits) have consumable levels. Each level consumed grants a +1 bonus to the level of an essential or conditional trait, for a single test. The limit of trait points a character can allocate to a positive consumable trait is equal to the limit it can allocate to an essential trait.
The players determine when the consumable levels of the positive consumable traits (except for reward traits) are recovered, for instance, at the beginning of a game session.
A positive consumable trait should be written like this: trait name (+3/+3).
Support Traits
A support trait may apply only to a specific essential or conditional trait and only with a specific goal. Each trait point gives a support trait 5 consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 25 consumable levels.
Resource Traits
A resource trait may apply only to a specific essential or conditional trait but with any goal. Each trait point gives a resource trait 4 consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 20 consumable levels.
Goal Traits
A goal trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait but only with a specific goal. Each trait point gives a goal trait 4 consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 20 consumable levels.
Luck Traits
A luck trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait and with any goal. Each trait point gives a luck trait 3 consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 15 consumable levels.
Reward Traits
A reward trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait and with any goal. However, it starts with all of its levels “consumed”, and they are not recovered like other positive consumable traits: to recover a level, the character must perform a certain kind of action. Each trait point gives a reward trait 5 maximum consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 25 maximum consumable levels.
Power Traits
A power trait, instead of granting a bonus to the level of an existing essential or conditional trait, gives the character a new essential trait with a number of levels equal to the levels consumed +1, which can be used on a single test. Each trait point gives a power trait 3 consumable levels, for a maximum of 5 points and 15 consumable levels.
Instead of giving the character just an essential trait, a power trait could also give the character an auxiliary trait, or a pair of one advantageous and one disadvantageous trait.
Also, instead of giving new traits for one test, a power trait could exchange the character’s traits, removing, for instance, one essential trait and one auxiliary trait, and replacing them with traits of the same types. The trait levels granted by the power trait would then be added to the levels of the original essential trait to determine the levels of the new essential trait. This could be called a form trait.
Negative Consumable Traits
Negative consumable traits (curse, obsession, jinx, and punishment traits) have consumable levels. Each level consumed grants a +1 bonus to the level of an essential or conditional trait of an opposing character, for a single test. However, it is not the player who controls the character with the trait that decides when and how to spend its levels, but the other players.
The players determine when the consumable levels of the negative consumable traits are recovered.
A negative consumable trait should be written like this: trait name (-3/-3).
Curse Traits
A curse trait may apply only to a specific essential or conditional trait but in any situation. It may only have 4 consumable levels, and instead of having a cost, it gives the character +1 trait point.
Obsession Traits
An obsession trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait but only against a specific goal or in a specific situation. It may only have 4 consumable levels, and instead of having a cost, it gives the character +1 trait point.
Jinx Traits
A jinx trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait and in any situation. It may only have 3 consumable levels, and instead of having a cost, it gives the character +1 trait point.
Punishment Traits
A punishment trait may apply to any essential or conditional trait and in any situation. However, it starts with all of its levels “consumed”, and they are not recovered like other negative contingent traits: when the character performs a certain kind of action, the trait recovers a level. It may only have 5 consumable levels, and instead of having a cost, it gives the character +1 trait point.
Pairs of Reward-Punishment Traits
A reward trait and a punishment trait may have opposite recovering actions, in a way that an action that recovers a level from the reward trait instead consumes a level from the punishment trait if it has at least one consumable level, and vice-versa.
Shared Consumable Traits
A consumable trait may belong not to a single character, but to many characters (usually belonging to all core characters). All characters should contribute the same amount of trait points to the consumable trait, and its maximum number of trait points and consumable levels is multiplied by the number of characters who share it.
Bonuses from Positive and Negative Consumable Traits
An essential or conditional trait may not receive bonuses from both positive and negative consumable traits that exceed the number of the trait’s levels. That is, the level of an essential or conditional trait may, at most, be doubled by bonuses from positive and negative consumable traits.
Resistance Levels
Essential and conditional traits may receive damage to their levels. Thus, they may have resistance levels, which are not counted to determine the trait’s maximum level, but which may absorb damage. One of the trait’s points may be spent on resistance levels, which adds 2 levels if it absorbs all types of damage, or 3 levels if there are types of damage it does not absorb.
An essential trait with resistance levels should be written like this: trait name (2/4). If the resistance levels do not absorb all types of damage, it should be written like this: trait name (2/5*).
A conditional trait with resistance levels should be written like this: trait name (3*/4). If the resistance levels do not absorb all types of damage, it should be written like this: trait name (3*/5*).
Sub-traits
An essential or conditional trait may be composed of many sub-traits of the same type. The total trait points of the sub-traits are equal to the trait points spent on the trait, multiplied by the number of sub-traits. If the trait is conditional, after allocating all trait points, add +1 to the trait level of each sub-trait.
The maximum level of sub-traits is the same as that of regular traits.
Essential sub-traits should be written like this: trait name (2): sub-trait name [1], sub-trait name [2], sub-trait name [3].
Conditional sub-traits should be written like this: trait name (2*): subtrait name [1*], sub-trait name [2*], sub-trait name [3*].
Resolving Ties
When two or more rolls of a test are tied, the narrative control goes to the player(s) with the highest trait level and, if those are also tied, the roll is remade.
However, the players may decide that a tie has its own consequence, the narrative control thus not going to any of the parts involved but returning to all players.
Inapt Traits
An essential or conditional trait may still be used, but not be the best option for a certain test, and that grants a bonus to the level of the trait of the opposing character. A minor inaptitude of the trait grants a +1 bonus to the opposing character’s trait, and a major inaptitude grants a +2 bonus to the opposing character’s trait.
A trait that is completely inapt simply cannot be used on a certain test.
Difficulty Level
Instead of being put to test against another character’s essential or conditional trait, a character’s trait could be put to test against a difficulty level, which is like an essential trait’s level, but which is determined by the players, based on the difficulty of the test or on a comparison to the character’s trait level.
Group Tests
Two or more characters with similar essential or conditional traits may add up the levels of their traits and make a single roll for a test, either against a single character or against another group of characters.
Assistance and Hindrance
A character may attempt to assist another character on a test. To do so, the assisting character must make another test, with an appropriate trait (which does not have to be similar to the other character’s trait), against a difficulty level equal to half the level of the opposing trait (rounded up). If the roll is higher, the assisted character gains a +1 bonus to the trait’s level on this test.
A character may instead attempt to hinder another character on a test. Like when a character is attempting to assist, the hindering character must make a test and, if the roll is higher, the opposing character gains a +1 bonus to the trait’s level on this test.
The bonus from assistance and the bonus from hindrance are not cumulative with each other.
Effort
A character may make an extraordinary effort to grant a bonus to one of its essential or conditional traits on a test. An effort gives a +1 bonus to the level of a trait but, after the test, the trait level receives 1 point of damage.
Exploding Dice
With this optional rule, when the maximum value of a die is rolled in a test, the die is rolled again and added to the roll. Repeat if the maximum value is rolled another time.
Half Value
Some of the optional test rules require the use of the half value of an essential or conditional trait level, which is equal to the trait’s level maximum value, divided by two, found in the following table.
Fixed Difficulties
Instead of rolling the dice of all traits involved in a test, some of the rolls could be replaced by the trait’s half value. This is especially suited for difficulty levels, but not so much for core characters’ traits.
Safer Dice Rolls
Instead of rolling two dice, which the players may think is too random, they may prefer to roll one die and add a fixed value. This is called a safer dice roll and you may find the possible rolls of each trait level on the following table.
If the players choose to use this rule, all dice rolls should be safer rolls, and the half value should be replaced by the safer half value also found in the following table.
No Dice Rolls
Or, instead, the players may choose not to roll dice at all. If they choose to use this rule, a test is made by comparing the essential or conditional traits’ levels. The player(s) with the highest trait level gain narrative control. This rule works better if all core characters have positive and negative consumable traits.
Degrees of Control
The control of the narrative gained through a test may have different degrees, which depend on the difference between the highest roll and the opposing roll, as found in the following table.
If the players chose not to roll dice, the degree of control is merely the difference between the highest trait level and the opposing trait level.
Details
The control of the narrative gained through a test must be limited to the consequences of the test. With the use of this rule, the player may add a number of details to the narration equal to the degree of control, up to three details. Or, if the player had a degree of control of 1 or 2, the player narrates what happens and adds one or two details, and the players with the second-highest and third-highest rolls add the remaining two or one details.
Consequences
The degree of control of a test could be used to determine some other consequences of a test, beyond narrative ones.
For instance, obtaining a degree of control of 3 or more could grant a +1 bonus to the level of a trait on a second test that could be positively influenced by the first test.
Or, obtaining a degree of control of 3 or more could immediately trigger a second test, provided it was only made possible by the first one.
Finally, obtaining a degree of control of 3 or more could grant a core character 1 additional advancement point.
Maximum Total Bonuses
A character’s essential trait with 5 levels may gain up to +5 bonus levels from the character’s or another character’s auxiliary, advantageous, or disadvantageous traits, up to +5 bonus levels from the character’s or another character’s positive or negative traits, up to +2 bonus levels from another character’s inapt traits, +1 bonus level from another character’s assistance or hindrance, +1 bonus level from the character’s effort, and +1 bonus level from another test’s degree of control, for a maximum total level of 20 for any test.
Damage
When an essential or conditional trait is used in a test and does not gain narrative control, the trait may receive 1 point of damage. This may happen if the players think the test should be considered dangerous or risky in any way. Thus, damage does not represent only physical injuries, but anything that may make the characters weaker.
When a trait receives 1 point of damage, its level is temporarily reduced by --1.
When the level of a trait is reduced to 0 due to damage, that trait may no longer be used in tests, not even with bonuses.
If a trait has resistance levels, the damage is caused to those levels first, unless it is a type of damage that the resistance levels are not able to absorb.
If a sub-trait is used on a test and is damaged, the damage is caused to the regular trait, but it applies to all sub-traits. If the regular trait can no longer be used because it was reduced to 0, so do the sub-traits.
If a group of characters fails to gain narrative control on a group test, each character in the group receives 1 point of damage to the trait each of them used in the test.
Degrees of Damage
If this rule is used, instead of receiving 1 point of damage, the traits that were used in a test and which did not gain the narrative control receive a number of points of damage equal to the degrees of control obtained by the highest roll.
Damage Recovery and Healing
The players determine when damage is recovered, depending on the nature of the damage and other circumstances. Damage may take longer to recover, or require specific circumstances, if a trait level was reduced to 0.
Recovering from damage may also require a test. This test may, for instance, be made against a difficulty level 1, and the character recovers an amount of damage equal to the degreee of control obtained in the test.
Or, if the test should be harder, it may be made against a difficulty level equal to the current damage to the trait, also recovering an amount of damage equal to the degree of control obtained in the test.
A character with an appropriate trait may attempt to heal another character. To do so, the healer character must make a test like the ones described above.
Death
Usually, when a non-core character has the levels of all of its essential and conditional traits reduced to 0 due to damage, and that damage is considered lethal, the character dies.
The players decide if this also applies to core characters, or to important and recurring non-core characters.
They may decide, for instance, that a core character may not necessarily die when this happens, but that it must be retired and replaced by a new core character.
Or, they may decide that a core character could avoid death by losing all unspent advancement points, or by paying 1 trait point, which would reduce the level of one of the character’s traits.
Finally, they may decide to ask a question to determine if a character dies.
Questions
A test may be used not to determine who has the control of the narrative, but to to determine what should be narrated. This is called asking a question.
One way of doing this is attributing a trait to each possibility, with levels determined by the likelyhood of each option. The option with highest roll is the one that happens.
If the question has two options and the players want the answer to be more nuanced, they may proceed as it follows.
If both anwers are equally likely, test a level 5 trait against another level 5 trait. If one answer is more likely than the other, test a level 6 trait against another level 4 trait. Or, if one answer is much more likely than the other, test a level 7 trait against another level 3 trait.
If the rolls are tied, either the answer is indeterminate or ambiguous, or another question should be asked, which may mean the original question is not the right question to be asked in that situation.
If the degree of control is 1, the option with the highest roll receives the answer “yes, but”, and the option with lowest roll receives the answer “no, but”.
If the degree of control is 2, the option with the highest roll receives the answer “yes”, and the option with lowest roll receives the answer “no”.
If the degree of control is 3 or higher, the option with the highest roll receives the answer “yes, and”, and the option with lowest roll receives the answer “no, and”. 
