Instinctive

a rules-light horror role-playing system

It takes courage and instinct to change fate. But courage comes in short supply and only at the expense of your instincts. To replenish what is lost, one must let go, forget about reason and give in to their instinctual passions and impulses.

Instinctive is a rules-light role-playing system I developed, mainly for horror RPG adventures.

Characters are simply a collection of instincts (traits with ranks basically). Each character also has courage which is like a generic instinct: it can be used in any situation but is easily depleted.

The main resolution mechanism is a system of vetoes: The GM narrates everything except what the players do and when a player doesn’t like an outcome they can veto and pay with courage and/or relevant instincts to get their way.

Giving in to impulses allows a character to increase the rank of their instincts. Cannibalising the rank of instincts allows them to increase their courage points.

For full details, take a look at the rulebook pdf (it’s only 4 pages!).