The modern sci-fi role-playing game formerly known as Riftbound

Capital is a TTRPG that I've been working on for a long time. (There is text in the rules that has not been changed since 2020!) I want to keep it approachable for beginners, but maintain a lot of depth for experienced players. It's now a fully-playable RPG that is constantly improving.

I'm trying to combine wargame-y and roleplay-focused elements so there's something for everyone.

I am working on Capital by myself, with a great deal of help from playtesters and people who know things about guns.

Try it out

draftCore rules draftCharacter sheet (A5) draftExtended character sheet (A5)

Changelog

(upcoming)

• A proper digital character sheet, maybe
• More content
• Balance changes

alpha3b

• Small fixes, improvements and clarifications
• New Ability: Cybernetic Shell

alpha3

• Reformatted the rules into a proper book layout. There are still a few things missing, including lots of flavour text and artwork, but this gives an idea of what the final book will look like. If the layout is weird or there are blank pages, that is because the space will be filled with art :)
• Enhanced, corrected and re-ordered rules text
• Balance changes
• Renaming
• Roles are now Classes. This is more intuitive for players of other TTRPGs now that Classes aren't their own thing.
• Systems are now Abilities.
• "Ignores the Point Blanc rule" has been replaced with "Is considered a Melee Attack" to improve compatibility with other rules that care about Melee Attacks.
• Cleaning up
• Rolled all Vehicle Systems into the profiles of the Vehicles themselves. Vehicle Abilities will be added back later in a simpler form that is more similar to character Abilities.
• Removed Innate Systems. Innate features that could be given out for free have so little impact that they no longer have explicit rules. Innate features that could not be given out for free weren't supported by the concept of Innate Systems anyway. They are now regular Abilities that can be taken at higher levels.
• Removed all Signature Augmentation options except the one that gives you Slots. All the others are now Abilities that you can take for Slots.
• Removed and refactored many redundant subtypes.
• Level 10
• Added rules for higher levels up to 10
• However, most Classes can't actually go up to Level 10 yet because some Abilities are missing.
• Started adding Class Powers, a new kind of Ability tied to your Class you get to choose at higher levels. Most of these are missing for now but others will be added soon.
• New Abilities
• Attribute Bonus, which lets you use slots to increase your Attribute Scores
• Several Trickshots (Lancer Class Powers)
• Various telepathic abilities
• Natural armour and weapons

alpha2.1

• More experimental changes and small usability improvements :)
• Trying out a lower base stat total of 36. This might allow for the possibilty of increasing them at higher levels.
• Reintroduced the Locked keyword to make it clearer how Systems with no Slots cost work
• For consistency, the Cooldown rule is now also an Attribute Check (so far always WIL) instead of a 1d6 roll. This makes WIL more appealing for The Captain and The Scout.
• Renamed Signature Systems to Ultimate Systems in order to rename Special Assets to Signatures
• Removed Signature Augmentation: Attribute because it's boring
• The +2-ening
• Strengths, Training, Stories and Weaknesses now work on Attacks.
• To compensate, reintroduced armour. Everyone starts with armour that gives them +2 to all Defense rolls. Most enemies have natural armour now. Armour has been made into a keyword to support this. Companions and vehicles do not get Armour for now.
• Most enemy attacks also get +2 to hit.
• Simplified the Heavy keyword - now it just stops you moving twice in a turn.
• Patch Up is now an Attack. Its healing can be increased by damage buffs. This makes it slightly less consistent and more interesting.
• Try That Again can now be used on any dice while making an Attack. This makes it more useful when The Lancer hits most of the time anyway.
• Intercept no longer allows The Tank to make their own Defense Roll. This makes The Tank's HP a more meaningful resource.
• Grit has been replaced with a reworked version of Prestige. Now you can spend 3 Prestige to use one of several Prestige Powers. These special boosts are most helpful out of combat and are designed to get the party unstuck.
• Attacks made during STI no longer generate Attack Counters.
• All weapons now have values in mC.
• Boss enemies now get an extra turn each round.
• Wording improvements

alpha2d

• Added the quick reference sheet
• Wording fixes
• Heavy no longer has a movement penalty
• The Signature rule is now a WIL check instead of a 1d6 roll

alpha2c

• There are now explicit rules for an unlimited number of characters helping on an Attribute Check.

alpha2b

• Renamed Jury-rig to Tinkerer
• Adjusted the point buy system. Now your scores start at 3, but you have 8 additional points to spend. This results in the same stat total but allows you to have more impactful weaknesses if you want.
• Photosynthesis, a new Innate System
• More page breaks in the core rules
• Minor clarifications

alpha2

• A complete overhaul! I have reviewed the game from the ground up to be more cohesive and streamlined. These notes will not be able to cover everything, but here's an overview:
• Rolling dice
• The way you make Attribute Checks, probably the most fundamental system in Capital, has been completely changed.
• Now, every check is "contested". You either roll against another character or directly against the GM. Also, you only roll 2d6. Rolling 2d6-2d6 like this gives a flatter distribution than the old 3d6 system.
• Attribute Scores are now between 0 and 10 instead of -5 and +5. Attribute Ratings have been removed.
• Prestige has been replaced by Grit. Gain Grit for failing or doing cool stuff and spend it to increase the result of any roll. Grit is more effective when you spend it on something important to your character.
• Skills (now Training) can now be added to Attribute Checks the same way as Traits (now Strengths and Weaknesses).
• Rolling for your Attribute Scores has been replaced with a point buy system.
• Terminology & reformatting
• Many things in the game have been renamed for clarity. In particular, equivalent features of characters and vehicles have been merged.
• Abilities and Systems are now Systems.
• SP and Watts are now Energy.
• AP, Slots and Cost are now Slots.
• EHP is now Bones.
• Traits are now Strengths and Weaknesses, and always give you +2 or -2.
• Skilled is now Training.
• Quirks are now your Personality.
• Your Signature Equipment is now a Special Asset.
• Locked Systems now just have no Slots cost.
• Limited is now Requires.
• Hit and Dodge rolls are now Attack and Defense Rolls.
• Now that Charge (the keyword) is no more, Blitz (the system) can finally be called Charge again.
• Slightly changed the formatting of System profiles and made the subtypes (e.g. Gun Weapon Equipment) more meaningful
• Attack changes
• The new Attribute Check system naturally lends itself to attacks, so I couldn't justify keeping the old wargame-style Attack system. Attacks are now also Attribute Checks. This should remove most of the problems with Attacks being inconsistent, and as such it will probably ruin the balance of combat.
• Attacks now specify their own Defense Attribute. Lighter Attacks that are hard to dodge now use STR by default. Sorry Scout.
• New keywords: Aim, Block, Shots (now a special rule), Spread, Regeneration (now a global keyword) and Crit. Read the rules to find out what they do.
• Buffed Attacks. Everything does more damage. Unexpected, I know.
• Redundant stuff
• Classes have been removed (based) but Signature Equipment, now Special Assets, have not.
• Very similar weapons with different damage types have been merged.
• Removed armour and plating. It doesn't really add anything to the game.
• Removed Charge and Ammo. Weapons still need to reload, but managing Charge and Ammo long-term never proved particularly interesting.
• Indirect and Module/Modular are no longer keywords.
• Special Asset improvements
• Companions now have Bones :)
• Special Vehicles come with fewer weapons built in, and vehicle weapons have been nerfed.
• Vehicles now Level Up. More features of Vehicles and Companions are now tied to their own Level.
• Because Special Assets are no longer tied to Classes, there are now robot Companions.
• System improvements
• The Systems that used to be tied to Classes are now available for everyone at the cost of Slots, except Simple but Effective which was boring and would probably be OP.
• The list of Systems available/not available for Slots have now been separated.
• Generally, less Systems have Requirements, so more people can take them.
• Rally now has an effect for the Grapple Action.

alpha1.1

• Power Play II, That's an Order II and Focus II
• More Abilities for the Scout: Defensive Focus, Offensive Focus and Tactical Focus
• It now costs an additional 2SP to get an extra action from Focus. This might be too expensive but we'll see.
• Added a new effect to Patch Up. Healers can now continue to buff their allies once they reach max HP, and are incentivised to keep their allies fully healed.
• Added armour for vehicles in the form of Light Plating and Heavy Plating Mk1.
• The Signature Vehicle (Tank) now starts with Heavy Plating Mk1. In exchange, it has 10 less HP.
• Hyperlinked most references to Roles, Classes, Abilities, Equipment, Vehicles and Systems in the Core Rules. Added a list of Simple Weapons.
• Added an extension page for Traits to the extended character sheet because why not.
• Assorted tiny clarifications and adjustments.

alpha1

• Major version increase 😎 wow. I decided to increase the major version because the core systems are now feature-complete. Obviously there will be more levels, equipment, vehicles, abilities, etc in the beta version but all the core systems are in place.
• Engineer
• Added the Engineer, the fourth and final (for now) Class option with a focus on working with machines.
• Added their Signature Equpiment, the Signature Augmentation, and their Ability, Jury-rig.
• I am looking at buffing the Healer because Jury-rig does feel like it's stepping on their toes a bit. It's not like they're doing particularly well to begin with.
• The Scout
• The sixth and final (for now) Role is an AGI-scaling burst DPS.
• Added their abilities Focus and All Out.
• I'm not very confident in their current state (I think the free actions from Focus might be too strong and I think the reward for building AGI might not be strong enough)
• Vehicle rework
• Vehicles have been streamlined: they should be easier to understand and play with. Pilots should simultaneously enjoy reduced busywork and increased strategic depth. Here are some highlights:
• Vehicles explicitly do not require any Watts outside combat. Pilots are no longer required to calculate their Charge spending during downtime and travel.
• Watts and the economy surrounding them have been overhauled. Watts no longer expire at the end of each round: the original implementation was interesting in theory, but now that Vehicle Actions are considered full Actions, the Watt costs were basically redundant.
• Engines have been replaced with Capacitors, which store Watts instead of Charge. Now the only interaction between vehicles and Charge is a single Action to convert Charge into Watts. (Engines will return later as a way to regenerate Watts over time using fuel.)
• The total number of Watts available on a "full tank" has been significantly lowered to make Pilots consider leaving their vehicles from time to time.
• System Weight is largely unchanged, but it has been rephrased as Slots which I think is a clearer analogy. Slots are tied to specific types of System, which might be reverted later as Signature Equipment becomes increasingly modular.
• System profiles have been made generally shorter. All Vehicle Actions now say their Watts cost in brackets at the front, and all Systems now use 1 Slot by default.
• The new character sheet
• Feast your eyes on all eighteen pages of the new and beautiful extended character sheet, now updated for Capital alpha and rendered for your viewing pleasure in a moreish A5 form factor.
• The revolutionary expansion page system means the new and beautiful extended character sheet supports UNLIMITED Abilities, Attacks, Equipment and more. Capital now has THE LONGEST CHARACTER SHEET EVER MADE (until you run out of paper).
• Pilots and Biologists will love the all-new Vehicle and Companion sheets, all in one convenient place.
• And if that wasn't enough, the new and beautiful extended character sheet also includes your very own blank page for truly limitless customisation.
• In order to support these enhancements I have bravely removed the editable form fields from the PDF. If you want them back please add them yourself (and then send it to me). I actually can't stand working with PDFs.
• Misc.
• Buffed Surge because the Scout can basically do that every other turn at level 1.
• Patch Up explicitly does not work on Vehicles to differentiate it from Jury-rig. I don't think it would be fair to the Healer or to Robot PCs to also stop it working on Robots, though.
• Renamed Charge (the Damage Ability) to Blitz to distinguish it from Charge (the keyword) and Charge (the resource).
• Assorted tiny clarifications and adjustments.

indev4.1

• Generally added more shots to weapons and enemy attacks, aiming for about 2-3 more damage per attack, and buffed enemy defenses
• Patch Up now costs 1SP, but has 2 extra healing to compensate
• Lessened the effect on Indirect to -2
• Actually explained what HP and SP are
• The Robotic Ability no longer reduces your HP and SP (for now)
• Changed a certain enemy's Webbed condition to use the Grappled status effect
• Clarifications & corrections

indev4

• The third Class option, the Biologist, and their Signature Companion
• The fifth Role option, the Sentinel - another Defense Role
• The Signature Ability rule now applies to single Actions rather than whole Abilities to avoid confusion with Lockdown's two active effects.

indev3.2

• Several clarifications and corrections

indev3.1b

• Renamed Move Carefully to Simple But Effective to better fit its new effect
• Added The Captain to the Building your character section
• Reverted the Operate Action. Vehicle Actions now use one Action each. The Operate Action meant you could Prepare WIS for free every turn which was cringe.

indev3.1

• Added the Operate Action which lets you take as many Vehicle Actions as you like. I think this is how I originally intended vehicles to work because otherwise Watts don't mean much for single-operator vehicles.
• Evasive Manoeuvres has been replaced by Backup, which lets a Pilot call on their Signature Vehicle for aid even when it's not right next to them. This change and the next change are meant to give Pilots something to do when they are inside a building.
• Both Classes now additionally start with a choice of a few different weapons. This replaces the Gunner's simple melee weapon.
• Move Carefully now gives Gunners some extra stats to bring them more in line with Pilots.
• Added the Signature Vehicle (Mechsuit) and its Systems.
• Added a ramming Attack to the Giant Wheels Mk1.
• Clarified rules for the range of Vehicle Attacks.
• Updated the Building your character section appropriately.
• The engine Systems now tell you the total number of Watts they generate from a full charge for convenience

indev3b

• The defensive Skilled effect for melee weapons is now the same everywhere (reroll 1 die). I don't want another indev1 light armour situation.

indev3

• Vehicles
• Added rules for vehicles. Currently the only vehicles are the Pilot's Signature Vehicles.
• Pilot
• Added the Pilot, the second Class option. They are focused on Vehicles.
• Added their Signature Equipment, the three different Signature Vehicles
• Added Evasive Manoeuvres, their level 1 Ability
• The Captain
• Added The Captain, the fourth Role and the second Support Role. They are focused on manipulating turn order.
• Added some Abilities for them.
• Skilled
• Added the Skilled keyword. The Traits system was great for roleplay stuff, but it didn't allow your character to be good with a particular kind of weapon, for example. That's what Skilled is for.
• Your Class and Signature Equipment now make you Skilled with certain weapons, or vehicles in the Pilot's case.
• Most weapons and vehicles now gain an additional bonus when you are Skilled with them. In summary:
• Most vehicles cannot be piloted unless you are Skilled with them.
• Melee Weapons can be used as worse shields against only Melee attacks.
• You can only Attack with a shield if you are Skilled.
• You can only Grapple with a whip if you are Skilled.
• Pistols can be Reloaded/Recharged as an Instant instead of an Action.
• The longer-range Attack on rifles can now only be used if you are Skilled.
• Cannons are not Heavy if you are Skilled.
• You can now choose to spend your Prestige to do something that would normally require you to be Skilled, or to reroll something as before.
• Misc.
• Added the Quick Ability
• Renamed Photon Gun to Photon Cannon to make it clear that it's a Cannon.
• Fixed various typos

indev2

• First playtest brought up enough QoL issues to warrant a minor version increase! There are some serious breaking changes in this one. (The new Classes will have to wait for indev3.)
• Attribute adjustments
• Renamed Celerity (CEL) to Agility (AGI). A thesaurus is not part of Riftbound's intended user experience.
• VSN ended up being used a lot. Observation, investigation, ranged attacks and stealth cover a lot of situations. Changed the guidance to suggest using WIS for detailed investigation and AGI for stealth.
• AGI is now at serious risk of becoming overloaded. For this reason, the Move Action no longer considers AGI. Everyone now moves a nice round 10m.
• (WIS is also at risk of becoming overloaded in indev3 when piloting becomes relevant. I'm looking into the options for separating piloting from WIS: after all, the archetypical sci-fi pilot is not particularly wise.)
• Signature Weapon adjustments
• Renamed Signature Armaments to Signature Weapons.
• Generally buffed Signature Weapons. Since all Gunners get a Simple Melee Weapon, their Signature needs to feel special. Some Signatures needed more help than others because they were just bad.
• Signature Weapon (Melee):
• Split the Signature Weapon (Melee) into multiple separate profiles.
• One-handed: Shots 1 ⟶ 4, Damage 6 ⟶ 2 (Max damage 6 ⟶ 8)
• Two-handed: Shots 1 ⟶ 2, Damage 8 ⟶ 5 (Max damage 8 ⟶ 10)
• Added Heavy and Spear options.
• Signature Weapon (Ranged):
• Ballistic Pistol: Shots 2 ⟶ 4. Uses 2 ⟶ 1 Ammo. (Max damage 4 ⟶ 8. I want the Pistols' unique strength to be their Ammo/Charge efficiency.)
• Laser Pistol: Damage 2 ⟶ 4. Uses 10 ⟶ 5 Charge. (Max damage 4 ⟶ 8).
• Ballistic Rifle and Laser Rifle:
50m: Shots 4 ⟶ 5. (Max damage 8 ⟶ 10)
100m: Shots 2 ⟶ 3. (Max damage 4 ⟶ 6)
• Ballistic Cannon: Shots 1d6 ⟶ 2d6 + 2. Damage 2 ⟶ 1. (Max damage 12 ⟶ 14. I want to lean into the Ballistic Cannon's chaotic and random identity.)
• Laser Cannon: Damage 8 ⟶ 12. (Max damage 8 ⟶ 12. On the other hand, I want to lean into the Laser Cannon's all-or-nothing identity. Both Cannons are meant to be about risk and reward.)
• Signature Weapon (Shield):
• One-handed: Shots 1 ⟶ 2. (Max damage 2 ⟶ 4)
• Two-handed: Shots 1 ⟶ 2. Automatically block 2 ⟶ 1 shot(s). New: The Instant effect can be used any number of times per Dodge Roll. (Max damage 4 ⟶ 8)
• Signature Weapon (Whip):
• The Whip's Snaring effect has been moved to the Grapple Action. Now, the Whip's special effect is that it can Grapple at a range of 2m.
• Because it lost this unique strength, it needs more damage. Shots 1 ⟶ 2.
• Now ignores the Point Blanc rule (see below).
• Also added weaker, non-signature versions of the Laser Pistol, cannons, shields, Whip and Heavy Melee weapons.
• Rethinking Shots
• During the playtest, most Attacks completely missed. Everyone was rolling below average, but this meant they did no damage at all - much more frustrating than doing only a little damage. The only weapon that felt good was one character's Signature ballistic cannon - a weapon with lots of Shots. Almost every time it fired, it at least did something.
• As such, most weapons are having some of their power shifted from Damage to Shots. The only weapons with one Shot will be ones where being all-or-nothing is part of that weapon's identity (like the previous example of the Laser Cannon).
• Here's an exhaustive list of those weapons (apart from the Signatures, which were mentioned earlier).
• Hardlight Bayonet: Shots 1 ⟶ 2, Damage 6 ⟶ 3.
• Precision Rifle: Shots 2/1 ⟶ 4/2, Damage 3 ⟶ 2. (Now it's more similar to the Signature Ballistic Rifle.)
• Primitive Bayonet: Shots 1 ⟶ 2, Damage 4 ⟶ 2.
• Simple Baton/Shortsword: Shots 1 ⟶ 3, Damage 6 ⟶ 2.
• Simple Club/Longsword: Shots 1 ⟶ 2, Damage 8 ⟶ 4.
• Simple Dagger (Melee): Shots 1 ⟶ 4, Damage 4 ⟶ 1.
• Simple Spear: Shots 1 ⟶ 2, Damage 6 ⟶ 3. New: This Attack ignores the Point Blanc rule. (explained below)
• Sonic Rifle: Shots 2/1 ⟶ 4/4, Damage 8/4 ⟶ 2/1.
• Standard Pistol: Shots 2 ⟶ 3. (Damage unchanged because I don't want it to be that much worse than the Signature.)
• The enemies have also been given more Shots.
• Armour changes
• For the same reason, both kinds of Armour have been fully reworked. They are now generally weaker. This should give The Tank, and especially the poor Healer, a reason to exist.
• On the other hand, it'll also let the Tank take damage from time to time, so their HP is a meaningful resource that can run out.
• Heavy Armour: Heavy 0. You must use 4+ instead of your ▯AGI for Dodge Rolls.
• Light Armour: You can choose to use 5+ instead of your ▯AGI for Dodge Rolls.
• The Point Blanc rule
• Unless you and the target were in Melee range of each other, you could previously fire non-Melee attacks into and out of combat with no penalty. This was an unintended oversight.
• Named this rule Point Blanc so it's easy to make specific Attacks ignore it (e.g. spears), and added it to the Don't Forget section.
• Now, if you use a non-Melee Attack:
• If the target is in base contact with their enemy, you suffer -1 to hit.
• If you are in base contact with your enemy, you suffer -2 to hit instead.
• Grappling
• Moved the Whip's Snaring effect to a Grapple action that everyone can use, and added an additional option to apply the Grappled status effect.
• Added the Grappled status effect for when another creature is holding you so that you can't move.
• Overwatch tweaks
• Overwatch can now be triggered by any movement, not just the Move Action, including involuntary movement.
• Overwatch can now be cancelled by taking damage and failing a WIL check.
• You can't take any other Actions after taking Overwatch. That way, you have to stand still.
• Misc. changes
• When you use Intercept's Reaction (both I and II), you now move to either the unit or the attacker. It was hard to visualise The Tank blocking shots when they were a whole 3m away from the action. This should also open up some fun ways to get into Combat.
• The Alien Beast was absolutely matrix dodging everything. Reduced its ▯AGI to just +1, a value more befitting its Level, giving it a healthier 4+ to dodge.
• The Guard Robot II's Cleave Attack now only does one type of damage, and no longer has random Damage.
• You now have to use your shield before you make a Dodge Roll, not during. The Shield is now also a Melee Weapon, which I don't think changes anything.
• Dual wielding is now explicitly allowed, but it doesn't exempt you from Attack Counters.
• Each Attack Token now gives you -2 to hit. They weren't impactful enough to discourage Attack spam.
• It's now possible to stop being prone.
• Adjusted some wording.
• Improved the formatting of the character sheet's editable fields.

indev1.4b

• The whip now specifies that it does sharp damage
• You can now choose to start with Professional outfits as well as Everyday

indev1.4

• Reworked Ammo and Charge to generally be more forgiving
• Renamed Ammo Clips to Ammo Magazines upon instruction from someone who knows what they're talking about
• Made Ammo Magazines twice the size - this means you now start with twice as much Ammo
• Made Ammo Magazines into Adventuring Gear and gave them a mC value (oops)
• Made Batteries bigger and cheaper
• The Adventuring Kit now contains extra Batteries for each Charge equipment you have.
• Added the Solar Array, an expensive but situationally powerful Adventuring Gear option that lets you generate Charge while off the grid.
• Gave the player more control over their Attribute Scores
• Added a pity system when rolling for attributes
• Let the player choose what scores to keep, i.e. they can be bad on purpose
• Fixed Gunner description to reflect the growing number of Signature options
• Added Hedonism, another suggested Ideal

indev1.3b

• Clarified wording of the Active keyword, Seizing the Initiative and the Signature Armament (Whip)
• Added Pep Talk, a Support Ability aimed at The Captain but available to everyone
• Reduced the AP cost of Clear Mind and clarified (haha) its wording. 3 Actions is a lot so hopefully this will make it more appealing for all Support characters.
• Attack Counters are no longer lost when your turn starts. This reverts an unintended buff to Seizing the Initiative.
• Added the minimum HP gain to the Don't Forget section

indev1.3

• Added Attack Counters to nerf Attack spam and buff Overwatch.
• Added somewhere to keep track of easy-to-forget rules that aren't referred to anywhere on the character sheet.

indev1.2

• Added Prone and Taunted status effects
• Added Signature Armament (Whip), another option aimed at Tank/Gunners (and eventually Sentinel/Gunners)
• Added more Simple Melee Weapons for Gunners to choose from
• Added unarmed and improvised Attacks

indev1.1b

• Heavy Armour now only reduces CEL by 1

indev1.1

• Minor Ability adjustments
• Changed some wording

indev1

• First version!!
• The Lancer, The Healer and The Tank
• Gunner
• Up to level 4