GM Guide

Run the game like the room can break

The Gains Master role is not subtle arbitration. It is pressure management. Tell the players what stands in their way, reward specific letters, and let the world remember every loud success and every humiliating fumble. When words materially assist the action, they should change the explosion threshold instead of merely coloring the description.

First principles

Keep the pressure visible

Every scene should make the table feel the risk: collapsing masonry, rival crews, curses, alarms, or hungry things.

Reward specificity

If a word fits perfectly, count it as 2 toward word value. Muscle Wizard is stronger when specificity changes the explosion threshold.

Build enemies like headlines

Use acronym creatures and obstacle words so every threat advertises what it does best the moment it appears.

Carry consequences forward

Injuries, cursed items, damaged reputations, and debts should still matter two scenes later.

GM Scene Builder

Assemble a session frame fast

Job

Recover a singing relic mace before tonight's arena exhibition.

Countdown

Blue stormfire starts falling in six rounds.

Ugly choice

Save the job or save your local reputation.

Building threats

NPCs, obstacles, artifacts, and lairs can all be built from the same acronym logic as player characters. A goblin threat can use the same method: pick words the table can remember, then let those words explain its behavior before any dice hit the surface. The chart sets how hard the table has to push back.

Apply the same standard to players. If a MUSCLE or WIZARD word contributes knowledge, preparation, or leverage, it can still count toward word value even when the final move lands on the other side of the sheet.

- Greedy

- Odorous

- Breakneck

- Little

- Irritating

- Nimble

Example action: the goblin darts under a wagon, snatches the crew's coin purse, then ricochets up a drainpipe laughing. That move leans on Breakneck, Little, and Nimble all at once.

Pick a threat tier first, then use that row's target number or dice size.
Let context shift the row up or down instead of improvising contradictory math.
Name enemies so the threat is memorable at a glance.

Threat chart

Use the target number column when you want one clean threshold. Use the dice size column when you want the threat to roll loud on the table. Both columns describe the same difficulty band, so choose the version that keeps the scene moving.

Difficulty	Target Number	Dice Size
Trivial	2-6	d4-d8
Easy	7-14	d10-d20
Moderate	15-30	d20-2d20
Challenging	31-50	3d20-d100
Ridiculous	51-99	5d20-2d100
God-tier	100+	10d20-2d100+

Start ordinary jobs in Easy or Moderate, push named boss moments into Challenging, and save Ridiculous or God-tier for scenes the whole campaign should remember.

Flexhaven use

Flexhaven is the home base because it can absorb repeat play. It is high-fantasy, high-magic, and populated by people who understand that some citizens solve problems by lifting statues and others solve them with weather magic.

That mix lets you pivot quickly between jobs, rival crews, civic trouble, guild disputes, tavern rumor, and dungeon aftermath without changing the campaign frame.

Chart use

Use one row for the whole threat unless the fiction changes hard.
Bump the row up when the room turns hostile, unstable, or magically unfair.
Drop the row when players secure leverage, intel, or crowd support.
Keep the threat words visible so players know why the chosen row matters.

Hardcore mode

The packet already points toward a stricter mode where only words made from the MUSCLE WIZARD alphabet are allowed, fumbles are nastier, items degrade, and background trouble matters immediately. Use it when the table wants a harsher comedy and a tighter identity.

Scenario prep

Write one job, one countdown, one crowd, one ugly choice.
Prepare two named rivals and one obstacle word list.
Choose one consequence that will still matter next session.
Keep one reward visible enough that the crew wants it badly.