4d4

 Four directions. Four-sided dice. One shared scene.

4d4 is a tabletop roleplaying game about choosing an approach, committing a pool of d4s, and deciding what the patterns mean.

Matching dice become Clusters and determine who controls the outcome. Dice left over become Stragglers: help, complications, opportunities, and movement in the scene. North, South, East, and West describe how characters act, while Normal, Combo, Power, Damage, and Armor dice make commitment matter across a turn.

START HERE

The 34-page Quick Start 0.6 is a complete basic game. It includes the full core rules, three ready-to-play characters, and The Ironbridge Ledger, a 60-90 minute heist.

Download Quick Start 0.6 here on itch. All six current PDFs - the Quick Start and five companion books - remain free at https://roll4d4.com/4d4.html.

BUILD OUTWARD WHEN YOU WANT MORE

• Quick Start 0.6 - 34 pages: the complete basic game, ready-to-play characters, and The Ironbridge Ledger.
• Expanded Rules 0.3 - 70 pages: character creation, tactical square and hex play, vehicles, scale, groups, and Get That Scrap!
• Skills & Powers 0.5 - 356 pages: 94 Skills, 103 Powers, 72 Statuses, ability construction, counterplay, and reskin tools.
• The 4Caster's Toolbox 0.3 - 330 pages: zero-prep Scenes, Agents, 3/4 engines, items, organizations, lairs, subcharts, and eight linked jobs.
• Space Miners: The Drift 0.2 - 128 pages: industrial salvage, hard vacuum, strange signals, and a complete play-tonight 4Cast.
• 4d4 System Reference Document 0.3 - 29 pages: the open CC BY 4.0 foundation for independent compatible work.

PLAYTEST STATUS

The core procedures are complete and playable. The larger libraries are intentionally marked as unproven where table evidence is still needed. If something creates hesitation, make the smallest ruling that keeps the scene moving and tell us what happened.

Written and designed by Aron Pence
Published by Roll4d4