What you need in the gym bag
- A rules reference, booklet, or site access
- A full polyhedral set, including percentile dice
- A character sheet plus pencil or access to the VTT
- Two or more people and a few hours to play
Player Guide
Rules, reps, and righteous explosions.
Core Action Loop
Understand what happens when the GM calls for a roll.
Describe the action in the fiction before anyone reaches for dice.
Choose every ability that honestly helps the attempt. The GM may veto an ability only when its connection to the described action is logically flawed or simply unrelated.
Spend Gains before the roll if you want to raise one chosen ability die.
Use the highest die size among the accepted abilities as the roll's starting die.
Calculate one Explosion threshold before rolling. Subtract 1 for each additional imperfect fit and 2 for each additional perfect fit from the die's maximum.
Apply Spotting to that threshold, then roll. Item dice and flat bonuses are added only after the Ability roll resolves.
If the first die is 1, Fumble immediately. Otherwise, resolve the result and any Explosion chain before adding items.
Worked example
One roll at the table
Brontessa shoulder-charges an enchanted gate against DC 8. Might (M) supplies the d8 starting die, and Leverage (L) is an additional perfect fit worth 2. The Explosion threshold is 6: the d8 maximum of 8 minus 2. A first-die result of 6 or more Explodes and adds a d10. A first-die 1 Fumbles before any item modifier can be added.
What are your stats, and how weird can your swolecery get?
Abilities are your Words of Power
Your sheet is built from named abilities under MUSCLE and WIZARD. You can use ANY word as long as you can justify it to the Gains Master (GM). During character creation, every unlocked ability starts at the chosen archetype's base die: d4 for a Muscle Wizard, or d6 on the active side for a True Muscle or True Wizard. The GM may veto a Word only when the player's logic is flawed or the Word is unrelated to the action. Once a Word is accepted, its effect on the Explosion threshold follows the same fixed calculation as every other ability.
Muscle
- MUSCLE abilities are non-magical, generally for force, stunts, grit, movement, and physical nonsense.
- Magic for the letter M in MUSCLE? Sure, perhaps your character has incredible sleight of hand and is skilled in deceptive card tricks.
- Levitation (L) in MUSCLE? If you can explain how it works without magic, then go for it. Maybe your character has incredible thighs and treads the air like a swimmer.
Wizard
- WIZARD abilities are magical. This often means even more creative freedom. It is up to the GM to establish limits and balance to allow for scaling.
- The letter I could be for incantation. How you cast your spells could bolster their effectiveness. Or be more direct: Z for zap, to blast your enemies with lightning.
- Some magic can be inherent: W for werewolf or A for Auspicious. Not every ability needs to be something you cast; many are passive.
Judgment rule
How silly can you go? How far can you stretch logic? Establish the scope of your game with the GM ahead of time. There is nothing less fun than undermining your fellow players.
PC growth
Leveling up!
Gains are the points that make your Words of Power stronger. Bigger dice mean a higher floor, better rolls, and a lower risk of fumbling.
Starting Size
Every Word of Power starts at d4 for a MUSCLE WIZARD or at d6 for a true MUSCLE or true WIZARD.
Choose Growth
Spend Gains to raise your chosen abilities to larger die sizes.
Risk and Reward
Larger ability dice improve the likelihood of better rolls and reduce the chance to fumble, but they also lower the chance to earn additional Gains from EXPLODING!.
Build Direction
Choosing which abilities deserve long-term growth is part of building your character.
Level Up Gains Cost
1 Gain
2 Gains
3 Gains
Everyone loves a bit of power creep and a little pump.
Earning and spending Gains
Gains are points earned through play. Bank them for long-term growth or spend them before a crucial roll.
How you earn Gains
Mechanical
- Exploding during rolls
At GM Discretion
- Meaningful interactions with NPCs or other players
- Impactful decisions and sacrifices
- Moments the GM judges as memorable and game-shaping
Spotting allies
A good spotter changes the odds.
Declare that you are spotting before the other player rolls.
You must be near enough or otherwise available in the scene to help.
Count how many of your abilities can meaningfully support the attempt.
Every two supporting abilities lower that player's Explosion threshold by 1. This stacks between players.
Gains earned from EXPLODING!
| Die Size | Gains Earned |
|---|---|
| d4, d6, d8 | 1 Gain |
| d10, d12 | 2 Gains |
| d20 | 3 Gains |
| d100 | 10 Gains |
Damage, injury, and healing
Players take damage when the fiction says they get hurt. In Muscle Wizard, that damage comes off your abilities, not a separate health bar, because even your suffering is build-specific.
Table shorthand
Injured means the ability is offline until it is healed again. If that same injured ability takes any more damage, the Muscle Wizard is wizard toast.
When damage happens
Know the trigger, then brace for the bruise.
Damage happens when:
- You fail a roll that would cause you to be hurt.
- A Fumble causes an injury because of the action or its consequence, as decided by the GM.
- A Cursed Item triggers, or you become Cursed by a Curse that would hurt you.
Then resolve it like this:
Choose an ability used, or a relevant ability that would've been damaged by the effect.
Decrease its ability die size by one.
If an ability's die size ever goes below d4, it is Injured and cannot be used until it is healed again.
If an ability that is Injured takes any more damage, you die.
Healing
Recovery is simple, but even magic hates skipping the bill.
You can get healed by:
- Spend Gains to get healed.
- Succeed on a roll with abilities that can provide magical or practical healing properties.
- Use items that have healing properties.
External modifiers for your flexecution.
Items and curses
Items
- Items in Muscle Wizard can be found and created by players.
- Items generally give an additional die to rolls they can be used in, or a flat bonus equal to half of the item's die size.
- Item modifiers are added after the Ability roll and any Explosion chain. They never alter the Explosion threshold.
- If the first Ability die Fumbles, no item die is rolled and no flat item bonus is added.
- Found items can either be predetermined, or the GM may require a roll to find them.
- When players create items or roll to find them, the booklet uses an item table to determine the die size or flat bonus.
Curses
- Bad item results can create a Cursed Item instead of a useful one.
- Cursed Items and Curses can trigger harmful effects that directly hurt you.
- Because curses can damage abilities, they are part of the same risk loop that leads to injury and death.
When the rep goes bad.
Fumbling
What matters most
A Fumble always starts on the very first roll, and once it happens the roll turns into a spectacular fail.
When a roll collapses
This is the price of overflexing.
1
Whenever the first die of a roll lands on 1, you Fumble. You cannot add more dice or item bonuses, and other players cannot assist you.
2
Fumbles always result in a spectacular failure. Depending on the action and the table's playstyle, the GM may apply ability damage or choose another negative consequence.
3
Only the first roll can Fumble. Extra rolls from Exploding do not, even if they roll the lowest number.
4
An item cannot cancel a Fumble because its modifier is added only after the Ability roll resolves.
Explode!
Use the threshold walkthrough to calculate one fixed target from your die, imperfect fits, and perfect fits. Item modifiers are added later and never enter this calculation.
Step 1
Choose the die you are rolling
Use the highest die among the abilities that apply to the described action. That ability supplies the starting die; the accepted additional abilities determine how far its threshold comes down.
Current Die
Step 2
Count imperfect fits
Each additional applicable ability that is an imperfect fit contributes 1 to the calculation. The GM may veto an ability only when its proposed connection is logically flawed or unrelated to the action; difficulty and dramatic circumstances do not adjust this value.
Imperfect Fits
Step 3
Count perfect fits
Each additional ability that perfectly matches its part in the described action contributes 2. Add those contributions to the imperfect fits before doing the subtraction.
Perfect Fits
Step 4
Apply help from teammates
Spotting is separate from your own fits. Every two supporting teammate abilities lower the Explosion threshold by 1, provided the help was declared before the roll.
Helping Abilities
Current Die
d20
Fit Contribution
0
Spotting Reduction
0
Explosion Threshold
20+
Formula
D20 max - 0 fit contribution - 0 Spotting = 20+
Items are added after the Ability roll. They never change this threshold and add nothing to a Fumble.