In Spectres - System

System

Like most roleplaying games, InSpectres has a method of conflict resolution using dice. However, InSpectres uses an adversarial system in which the player describes what happens if the result is good and the game master if the roll is bad. If the player succeeds, they earn "franchise dice", and when enough are collected the current case is solved. Players can at any time use confessionals, in the style of reality television, to add traits to other players' characters or steer events their way.

InSpectres was written as a solution to the whodunit problem in role-playing games. In any kind of investigative adventure, the players follow a series of clues provided by the game master, which eventually enables them to find out what happened and "who done it". Managing the injection of clues into such a game can be quite difficult; if they come too fast or easy, the players will get bored or simply sit back and enjoy the game master unrolling the plot for them, if the clues are too hard to find, the players will become frustrated and spend their energy following dead ends. InSpectres deals with this problem, by allowing the players to invent their own clues, while the game mechanics regulate the flow of clues to give the players time to develop them and come up with an interesting story.