Start strong. Get weaker. Buy it back.
A dice pool that cares how you do things, wrapped around a character sheet that is quietly falling apart.
A pool of d8s, counting successes.
E-Scape employs a dice pool, count-successes mechanic using eight-sided dice, with a twist on the common stat types that focuses on how PCs perform tasks — placing narrative agency in the players' hands.
Because the stats describe approach rather than raw capability, two characters can clear the same obstacle by completely different routes, and both have to narrate how. Every test becomes an opportunity to tell the table something about who your Ghost is.
Degradation, Glitches, and Bugs.
The central conceit is the constant battle to stave off digital degradation. Characters don't begin weak and grow strong; they start strong and get weaker. XP buys back levels lost to Glitches and Bugs, while test results let PCs slowly improve.
Barely failed a test? Pushing can get you over the top — and brings you one step closer to your next Glitch. Players weigh the cost of failure now against failures later. That decision, repeated across a campaign, is the game.
The rules, explained by the people who wrote them.
Basic Rules
The foundation for every test in the game. Once you have this, the rest falls into place.
Degradation, Glitches & Bugs
How deterioration is tracked, and what it does to your character sheet.
Casting Magical Effects
Magic in virtual reality — bending the world's power supply and data flows.