Heart and Fur
Playtesting Notes Thank you for downloading this playtest package. It’s thanks to people like you that Hear t and
Fur can exist. This package contains the core rules and a few sample races. r aces. The full game will also contain three settings and over a dozen races. You are free to t o share this playtest package with your gaming group, but please do not share anywhere else on the internet. If you know someone else who would be interested in the game , please direct them to SheathStudios.com so they can download their own copy. I hope you enjoy t he game contained here, and if you have any suggestions, comments, critiques, or just want to say hi, please contact me at
[email protected] or leave a comment at SheathStudios.com. That way, we can make this game the best it can be. In addition, if your game group is willing, I would gr eatly appreciate it if you would record and send me a game session, so that I can get a better idea of how the game works during actual play. Any kind of recording will do, be it a simple voice recording or a video. If you do make a recording, and send it to me at
[email protected] [email protected],, I will send you one of the game’s settings as a thank you. Good luck, and happy hunting. -
Zed
Playtesting Notes Thank you for downloading this playtest package. It’s thanks to people like you that Hear t and
Fur can exist. This package contains the core rules and a few sample races. r aces. The full game will also contain three settings and over a dozen races. You are free to t o share this playtest package with your gaming group, but please do not share anywhere else on the internet. If you know someone else who would be interested in the game , please direct them to SheathStudios.com so they can download their own copy. I hope you enjoy t he game contained here, and if you have any suggestions, comments, critiques, or just want to say hi, please contact me at
[email protected] or leave a comment at SheathStudios.com. That way, we can make this game the best it can be. In addition, if your game group is willing, I would gr eatly appreciate it if you would record and send me a game session, so that I can get a better idea of how the game works during actual play. Any kind of recording will do, be it a simple voice recording or a video. If you do make a recording, and send it to me at
[email protected] [email protected],, I will send you one of the game’s settings as a thank you. Good luck, and happy hunting. -
Zed
Contents
Part One: Game Welcome to Heart and Fur. Heart and Fur is a character-centric roleplaying game, where characters’ relationships and personalities are their most important traits. While other roleplaying
games aim to tell stories of adventure, where the main character s slay monsters and save worlds, Heart and Fur is different. It aims to tell stories that are smaller in scope, focusing on the lives, goals and emotions of a group of people and their immediate friends and lovers. It’s a much more intimate kind of game. If you’ve ever played a game of text-based roleplay with a friend over the internet, t hen you are familiar with the kind of story that Heart and Fur aims to tell. If this kind of story isn’t for you, that’s fine.
Future supplements will expand on the kinds of games that can be played using Heart and Fur. If t his kind of game does appeal to you, however, then you’re in for quite a ride.
A roleplaying game is a game that is played almost entirely within the minds of its players. It’s a
shared imaginary world, a collaborative story and a r ules-based game all in one. It’s an exper ience unlike any other, where you have complete control over the course o f the story and the actions of the characters within it. In a roleplaying game, the players don’t compete with one another. Rather, they
take turns describing what their c haracters do in the imagined game world. When co nflict happens, be it between two characters or a character and the environment, rules are used to resolve how the conflict ends. The golden rule of a role-playing game is to have fun. Every other rule in this or any other book should ultimately lead toward that end goal. If something in this book impedes the game you want to play or the story you want to tell, then change it. It’s as simple as that.
In order to play Heart and Fur, you need only a few things. First, you’ll need a copy of this book. Second, you’ll need some copies of the character sheets found at the end of the book, as well as some blank paper and pencils. You’ll also want some tokens to track character’s Heart points. Beads, poker chips and small candies work fine for this purpose. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll need some dice. Specifically, you’ll need twelve -sided dice (d12s). Each players should ideally have their own
die, while the GM may want to have more than one. How these dice are used will be covered more later on.
Heart and Fur is best played with a group of between three and eight people. One of these people takes on the role of Game Master, hereafter shortened to GM. This person describes the setting and scenario, role-plays all of the supporting characters and prepare s adversaries and challenged for the player characters. Whenever a dice roll is needed, they set the difficulty and describe the action’s
results. In short, they make the game happen.
Everyone else takes the roll of a player character, or a PC. These are the heroes (or antiheroes) of the story. They are the ones the action and drama centers around. Each player is responsible solely for their own PC, and has complete control over their personality and actions. If the game were a movie, the PC would be the stars, and the players would be their ac tors, writers and makeup artists.
The role of GM is a challenging one, but you don’t have to do it alone. If the gaming group agrees, the responsibility of GMing can be shared o r rotated among the gaming group.
If everyone is willing to take some responsibility for being the GM, the role can be rotated among the gaming group. Each week or game session, a different person takes on the role of GM, running the game and portraying all the supporting characters until its someone else’s turn. This style of
GM works best for episodic stories that last a session or two and then end. Th at way, a GM can come in, tell a short but cohesive story, and then give the seat over to someone else.
In this method, each player takes on some responsibility for running the game. Rather than having one person control all non-player characters, each player controls one or two NPCs. Whenever those characters are on-screen, their player is responsible for their actions and any Conflict involving them. The players as a whole dec ide on the direction that the story w ill move in, and the task of creati ng a compelling story is split evenly between them. Each player takes some responsibility for creating and running a region or section of the game. These can be physical locations (the castle, the woods, the coast) or aspects of t he narrative (a mystery, Conflict, the world’s history). Whenever the players are interacting with that facet of the story, its
creator takes over being GM. Whenever a character attempts to accomplish something, another character’s player is responsible for cre ating the challenges they must overcome in order to succeed.
This model works best for games that focus on character interaction and social dynamics, as it is difficult to run a complex plot using this method. Still, sharing GM responsibilities can be a uniquely rewarding experience.
Let’s be honest, Heart and Fur is about sex. It’s also about character inter action, emotion and relationships, but it’s still about sex. In light of this, it’s im portant to discuss with each player about their
comfort level and expectations. It’s never a good idea to put a player in a situation they aren’t comfortable with, especially one that involves sex. Presenting their characters with novel challenges and new experiences is one thing, making that character’s player feel unsafe or like they are being forced into something they don’t like is by far another. There’s a simple way around this though, and that’s being honest with each other about w hat each person wants to experience and what they don’t. The
cardinal rule here is consent, j ust like in real life.
If your gaming group is not comfortable meeting in person, or is separated by great distances, there is an easy alternative to in-person play. It’s a website called Roll20. The site is com pletely free to join, and is designed specifically as a roleplaying platform. Using it, players and the GM can c ommunicate over both video and text. Dice can be rolled right in the chat interface and appear on screen as actual dice. The w ebsite has a host of useful features including integrated support for miniatures, health tracking for all c haracters and even the option of adding music. All very cool. It’s worth checking out for groups who have difficulty meeting in person.
Every rpg has goals: what it is tr ying to accomplish or be about. Heart and Fur is no different. Its primary goals are twofold: sex positivity and social focus.
Heart and Fur aims to do something never before done in an rpg: to present sex in a manner that is both positive and fun to play. Some games have made reference to sex, or even involved it in their mechanics, but it is rarely more than a footnote compared to the game’s other elements. Heart
and Fur is different. Sex is integrated into almost every aspect of t he game, and can play a crucial role in the stories and adventures told using this system. In addition, Heart and Fur aims to be as inclusive as possible, providing rules for portraying a wide number of sexual prefer ences and activities, some real and some pure fantasy, without forcing any of them on the character or story.
Heart and Fur places a great emphasis on social interaction and the relationships between characters. The core idea of Heart and Fur is that our relationships make us more powerful, and define in a way who we are as a person. The challenge of portraying a real and dynamic character, complete with relationships and quirks, is what the game is fundamentally about. As such, Heart and Fur can lend itself to a different form of play t han many roleplaying games. Campaigns that center solely on character interaction and the complex net of relationships between characters are possible. Entire game sessions can focus solely on building or altering relationships, rather than on more conventional roleplaying staples like mystery or combat. Running a game like this can be a truly unique experience. It’s not for everyone; some people by far prefer simply blowing things up and killing monsters. That’s perfectly fine as well, but the option remains there for those who are
interested.
Chapter One: Character Characters are the core of any story, and this is no different in a role-playing game. The characters you create will be your avatars in the game world. Through them, you’ll interact with the rest
of the setting and have grand adventures. The mechanics outlined here represent a wide variety o f character traits, including their core personalities, skills, relationships and species.
In most role-playing games, a character’s core capability are represented through attributes or abilities like strength, dexterity and intelligence. Not so in Heart and Fur. In this game, a character’s
personality is their main source of strength. Who t hey are as a person, how they act and what is important to them are the most important traits that they have. In light of this, each character in Heart and Fur possesses a number of Personalities. These are simple, one-word descriptions of their nature and demeanour. How they are used in the game is covered later. Just know t hat characters gain bonuses when they act in line with their Personalities, so their traits should be ones that you will like to roleplay. This section lists a selection of Personalities to use in your game. More can be created by both players and the GM.
The aggressive are always ready for a fight, and never back down. They aren’t necessarily angry
people, they just hate to lose or surrender. This can often get t hem into problems, but it also means that they won’t give up going after something that matters to them. The aggressive often:
Start conflicts with someone else
Pursue goals regardless of obstacles.
Refuse to back down from a fight or confrontation.
An aloof character keeps their thoughts and motives to themselves. They act as though they are disinterested in the world around them, perhaps as though it’s beneath them, perhaps as though it
simply bores them. There is a distance between them and the rest of the world, one which they create and maintain. You act aloof when you:
Withhold information about yourself.
Act disinterested in what’s going on around you
Give others the cold shoulder.
The carefree don’t take life too seriously. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s that they know that you can’t get too attached to things. They are laidback and easygoing, making them easy to g et along
with. Even when the going gets tough, they never lose their relaxed attitude, and just keep reminding themselves that they’re going to be alright. The carefree normally:
Make light of a serious situation.
Encourage others to relax or calm down.
Act calmly even when surrounded by difficulty.
A compassionate character cares deeply about the feelings and wellbeing of others. This may be a select group of friends, but is more likely to be everyone t hey meet. The compassionate are typically known for being supportive and kind, and can often overextend themselves w hen seeing to other’s
needs. The compassionate normally:
Come to the aid of those in need.
Defend those who can’t defend themselves.
Take other people’s feelings and desires into account when acting.
The curious are always looking for new information and experience. Some may be book smart, seeking new knowledge in tomes and academics, while others try to learn from life itself, seeing each new experience as a new lesion. When presented with new experiences, the curious often can’t resist
jumping in, just to see what it is like. The curious often:
Seek out new information.
Ask frequent questions.
Look for new experiences.
The determined act with resolve and self-assurance. They will stop at nothing when pursuing their goals and objectives, and let nothing stand in their way. When presented with an obstac le, the determined never stop looking for a w ay to go around, through, or over it. Even when anyone else would have long since given up, the determined stay strong and keep trying. They normally:
Persevere even when success is not assured.
Keep with the same course of action rather than changing it.
Ignore obstacles and pursue goals regardless of them.
The dominant thrive on being in charge. Regardless of the situation, they always try to be in control. Some see themselves as natural leaders, whose leadership is the best option in any set of circumstances, while others simply love telling others what to do. The dominant don’t take people
questioning their control lightly, and will defend their position of dominance against any threat. The dominant normally:
Try to take control of a situation.
Act with authority even when they ar en’t given any.
Command others to do their bidding.
The eager are always open to new experiences and adventures. They love life, and love diving into it feet first. They are often friendly and likeable, and their friends know that they are open to anything. They come at all situations with a willingness to experience and enjoy, be they friendships, work or sexual encounters. The eager:
Leap into new situations.
Express desire and willingness.
Agree to new experiences or courses of actions.
The flamboyant treat life as a great stage. To them, everything is a performance, and they are the star performer. Why be small when you can be large, they ask. Everything about them is larger than life, from their clothing to their mannerisms. Not everyone may like them, but everyone notices them, and that’s good enough for them. The flamboyant typically:
Act with eccentricity or strangeness.
Make a big deal of themselves.
Draw attention to themselves through their ac tions and words.
The independent prefer to act and work alone. It isn’t necessarily that they don’t like people,
they simply prefer to be by themselves and act alone. They are typically assured of their own abilities and don’t like relying on others for help. More than that, they often rej ect the society around them,
preferring to find their own ways o f living and doing things rather than accepting those of others. The independent normally:
Ignore offers of help from others.
Strike out on their own.
Ignore dominant social conventions or expectations.
The loyal care deeply about their friends, allies, or superiors. They would never dream of betraying those they care for, and want to do whatever they can to help their allies and friends. The may not necessarily be obedient or submissive, but the w ill act in the best interests of t hose they are loyal to whenever they can. Their loyalty runs deep, and is often their main motivation for doing what they do.
Sticking with the people you know well.
Deferring to a leader or authority figure.
Take action to benefit their friends or allies.
The passionate are driven by their emotion. Be it anger or lust, their feelings burn hot and dictate most of their behaviour. The passionate often leap into situations without thinking them through first, acting on whatever feeling is strongest at the time. They may be easy to enrage or seduce, but they are always true to themselves.
Act on emotion without thinking things through.
Attempt to seduce someone because of lust.
Start a fight or conflict because of anger.
To the playful, everything is a game. All of life is an opportunity to have fun and experience new things. They can take any situation, from a business meeting to a gathering or friends, into sport. I n their personal relationships, they are always looking for ways to have fun and play.
Turn serious situations into games.
Encourage others to have fun or play.
Make light of difficult situations or circumstances.
The practical are concerned with the world that can be seen and touched, not the world of abstracts and ideals. They act based on what they think will work, not high-flying morals or principals. For the practical, results come first, all else second. The practical typically:
Try to find down to earth solutions for problems.
Act for realistic reasons, not based on ideals or notions of how things should be.
Reason through a problem rather than acting o n intuition or emotion.
The proper care about the correct ordering of their actions and relationships. For them, social standing and proper behaviour are of the highest importance. They don’t argue with their betters or
violate the established social order. At le ast, they don’t do so openly. The proper typically:
Defer to those of higher social standing.
Demonstrate etiquette and decorum.
Deal with problems calmly and civilly.
The proud are full of self-worth and confidence. They may not necessarily think that they are better than others, but they are fully aware of how amazing they are, and expect everyone else around
them to be aware of it as well. Some walk a fine line between self-esteem and narcissism, while others fall off that line entirely, but all value themselves highly. The proud typically:
Speak about themselves in glowing terms.
Expect respect and deference from others.
Act like they are in charge or otherwise a leader.
The random are impossible to predict. Their actions are often nonsensical and strange, following a logic that is apparent only to them. No one can predict them, and that’s just fine with them. People
who know them know that they o ften make no sense. But sometimes, through chance o r some invisible plan on their part, their crazy actions work and produce results. Often, when this happens, t hey are the most surprised of anyone. The random often:
Take actions that make no sense.
Change courses of action part way t hrough taking them.
Suggest plans or actions that come out o f left field.
The character doesn’t care about risk and acts as though it doesn’t exist. Either they don’t realize how dangerous a situation is, or the y don’t care. Some reckless characters actively like danger,
while others are simply inured to it. Some are thrill seekers or rabble-rousers. Some simply like a good fight. Reckless characters often:
Jump into a situation without thought.
Provoke a fight or confrontation.
Ignore the potential risks for an action or plan and take it anyway.
The rowdy like to party. Whether it’s a night out drinking or a night in with friends, they like to have a good time. Regardless of what they are doing at the time, they can turn almost any situation or gathering into a party. The rowdy like to:
Proposition someone for sex or another activity.
Try to arrange a party or gathering.
Try to make a serious situation into a party.
The serene are bastions of calm and self-control. They are controlled under pressure and act with tranquility in all that they do. They are m ore than just relaxed. They are immovable objects, never allowing the world to get the better of them. Nothing can get them riled up, and just being in their presence makes other people feel more at ease. The serene are known to:
Not react emotionally to events.
Try to deescalate a situation.
The serious are solemn and contemplative. They are not inclined to joke or make light of a situation, and always focus on the task at hand. They are formal and to the point, never deviating from what they want or are there to do.
Remain focused on a goal regardless of distractions.
Ignore frivolous behaviour and jokes.
Bring conversations or situations back to their goal or objective.
Encourage others to be calm and t hink things through.
The shy dislike being the center of attention. They don’t like when others are focused on them, or when they stand out. They may dislike people, or they may just be introverted, but t he result is the same, they like to blend into the background whenever possible. This shouldn’t be mistaken for cowardice, however, as the shy can be just as courageous as anyone else.
Misrepresent their goals or motives to others.
Attempt to manipulate people into doing what they want.
Use subtlety and guile rather than outright action or persuasion.
The sly are cunning and mischevious. They get what they want through manipulation and misdirection, never through direct means. This doesn’t make them bad people, as they can just as easily
bring people together through their sc hemes. It just makes them subtle. The sly never act overtly if they can help it, always planning and maneuvering others to their advantage. The sly often:
Misrepresent your goals or motives to others.
Attempt to manipulate people into doing what you want.
Use subtlety and guile rather than outright action or persuasion.
A sociable character like to talk and relate to others. They are gregarious and easily liked. They prefer to spend their time talking with other people rather than alone, and make friends easily with those they meet. Even when there is no benefit to it, they can always be found striking up conversation with strangers and passers-by. Sociable characters often:
Start conversations with strangers.
Try to use words to solve problems.
Flirt and have fun with other people, e ven strangers.
The character likes it when others take control of their actions or a situation. They might be timid introvert or a proud bottom, but e ither way, they prefer that someone else be in control. They may make this preference into a lifestyle, where they let other people direct them, or restrain it to certain parts of their life, such as romance or their work, but either way, the like to be dominated. A submissive character will normally:
Let others make their decisions for them.
Agree with another person’s ideas or point of view.
Not express their opinion or point of view.
A character’s talents and learned aptitudes are represented by their Skills. Skills cover a broad
range of possible capabilities, and help to define a character ’s life and history. Mechanically, Skills have three possible ratings, +1, +2 and +3. Whenever a character attempts an action that they have a relevant Skill for, they gain the Skill’s rating as a bonus to that action. Only one Skill can be applied to any given
action.
Athletics represents a character’s ability to perform all manner of strenuous physical activities,
including climbing and swimming. It is a broad Skill with many potential uses, which makes it va luable in many different situations. Someone with high Athletics is likely an outdoors sort, or perhaps uses climbing to navigate an urban area.
Anyone with Athletics +2 can climb up rough surfaces at a yard a turn.
A character can dodge an incoming Fighting attack using Athletics.
A character can swim at five yards per turn with Athletics +1.
Crime is the ability to perform a variety of illegal acts. This includes picking some’s pocked,
disarming a trap or detection device and picking locks. This Skill is normally possessed by career criminals, but is occasionally known by locksmiths and similar professionals.
Picking a lock requires a Crime roll against a Difficulty set by the GM.
Picking a pocket requires a Crime vs Perception contest.
Impressing someone with sleight of hand requires a simple success o n a Crime roll.
This is the ability to bluff and come up with reasonable lies in short spaces of time. Using it, character can hide the truth or create outright falsities. This Skill is often possessed by con artists and thieves, but is useful to anyone who has an interest in deceiving others.
Lying to someone requires a successful Deception vs
Coercing someone in a Conflict requires a De ception roll, contested by Integrity or Empathy.
A character can project a false Motive or Personality through Deception. All Empathy rolls to read their Motives or Personalities must beat a Deception roll in a contest or read the false trait instead.
Empathy represents the ability to read other people’s emotions, intentions and actions. Someone with high Empathy can figure out things about a person that they themselves might not know. Someone with high Empathy likely has a natural talent for re ading people, or has been trained to notice subtle gestures and facial motions.
Empathy is used to contest Deception rolls.
Whenever someone nearby uses a Personality in a roll, a simple Empathy success can reveal what Personality they used.
Whenever someone in the Scene takes an action to pursue a Motive, a simple Empathy success can reveal what Motive they are acting on.
The Fighting Skill is used whenever a character wields a short-ranged weapon. This includes swords, spears, awes and flails, as well as innate weapons like claws and horns. A character skilled in Melee is likely a warrior of some k ind, perhaps a soldier or a knight.
Fighting is used to make physical attacks in Conflicts.
Showing off your impressive combat skills can be used to seduce or impress someone.
Contests of strength, like arm wrestling, use Fighting as their roll.
Fighting can be used to make social attacks through intimidation.
The Grapple Skill represents the ability to grab and hold other characters. It is mainly useful in combat, but a clever player could always find alternative uses for it. It is comply possessed by wrestlers and other fighters, but is also possessed by rough lovers.
Grapple can be used to restrain o ther characters in Conflict.
A simple success on a Grapple roll can allow a character to reposition someone else in the middle of sex.
The Hypnosis Skill is the ability to put others into altered states. It is useful both in and out of combat situations, but despite this, it is a r arely used Skill. Most societies distrust people who are skil led at hypnosis, and they often have good reasons to fe el this way. Someone with a good Hypnosis rating may be a performer, or they may just have a knack for wo rming their way through someone else’s mind.
Hypnosis is rolled to hypnotise others, which is covered in its own section.
The Integrity Skill is used to resist mental influence and coercion. It represents a character’s
ability to retain their mental footing in the face of emotion and seduction. Someone with high Integrity had likely been around a lot of seduction attempts, whether because of their job or simple natural beauty.
All forms of social attack can be r esisted with a contest of Integrity.
An Integrity roll, contested against a Pleasuring or Arousing action, can allow the character t o ignore the Pleasure or Arousal gain from that action. This is entirely optional.
The Knowledge Skill represents broad learning and knowledge of many different fields. Someone with the Knowledge Skill is likely an academic or expert in their chosen field. Some sample fields are as follows.
In a Conflict, you can use your Knowledge to argue for your point of view.
Impressing someone with your vast Knowledge is a good way of seducing them.
A simple success on a Knowledge roll c an produce a fact useful in whatever situation is at hand.
Lick represents a character’s ability to use their mouth to perform sexual actions. This includes
licking, sucking and blowing. This Skill is less commonly possessed than Thrust, and knowing it can quickly set a character apart from others.
Lick is used to pleasure a partner in sexual encounters.
The Perception Skill is used to notice things of importance in one’s surroundings. While Empathy
is used to read other people, Perception is used to read one’s environment. Perception is usually gained through a childhood noticing things, be they wild beasts in the wilderness or dangers in a city’s back
alleys.
Seeing a hidden switch or trapdoor requires a Perception roll with a Difficulty.
Noticing something obviously amiss requires a simple Perception success.
Picking up on a physical Scar can be done with a Perception vs Deception contest.
Persuasion is the ability to get other people to agree with you, do t hings for you and feel what you want them to feel. It’s useful in a wide array of social situations and endeavours. People with a high Persuasion Skill may be natural leaders, or have t raining in the arts of interpersonal interaction.
Persuasion can be used to make social attacks in Conflicts.
Seducing others with word or attractiveness uses Persuasion.
In bed, Persuasion can be used to arouse a partner.
Stability is a unique Skill. Rather than allowing the character to perform certain actions, it prevents certain things from happening to them. A character with the Stability Skill is naturally resistant to Transformation and similar effects.
Stability makes it less likely that a character will undergo Transformation, and is detailed in its own section.
The Thrust Skill measures a character’s skill at making love using their natural hardware. Thrust is about more than just speed, it’s about knowing how to respond to one’s partner and g ive them what they didn’t know they wanted. This Skill is perhaps the most common Skill in the world, but still, most
people never move above basic competence in it.
A character can attempt to make someone else see their point of view with a well-timed reference to their skill as a lover.
Thrust is used in sex to pleasure a partner.
The Touch Skill represents skill at using one’s hands to pleasure and arouse another. It comes from a combination of manual dexterity and careful practice, and people with a high Touch Skill are often renowned for their ‘magic hands.’ This Skill is common among professional courtesans and less to
among common people.
A character can arouse a sexual partner using Touch.
Touch can be used to comfort othe rs and induce trust in social situations.
A character’s inner personality, convictions and relationships are important in Heart Roll, j ust as
important if not more so than their Skills. All of these complex feelings and connections are repre sented through Bonds. A Bond is any strong relationship that a character has, be it to another individual or to an ideal or principal. Bonds form a roadmap to the character’s heart, giving insight into what drives them and what they feel is important. Bonds come in three ranks. Rank-one Bonds represent general friends and acquaintances, people that the character knows well but who aren’t particularly close. Rank -two Bonds are close friends and significant romantic partners. The character would feel lessened if these people weren’t in their life.
Rank-three Bonds represent the most intimate of mates and lifelong friends. These are people the character would defend with their life.
At any one time, a character can have two Bonds per Personality they possess, regardless of the Bond’s strength. Starting characters can therefore have up to six Bonds.
Bonds are created through a sequence of steps known as a Stand (think one-night stand). A stand has three stages: interest, proposition and climax. The first phase of a Stand is intere st. Both parties must be interested in forming a Bond with one another. Somehow, both parties must convey this interest to each other. This must be done without expressly stating it. The two can use innuendoes, veiled references or flirtation, but they must not outright state that they are interested in one another. To do so would ruin the chase, and remove all challenge from the process of Bond formation. Next, one party must make a proposition to the other. This proposition can be for any kind of intimate activity, from a date to a walk in the park to an afternoon at a coffee shop. If both agree to the proposition, the Stand can more forward to c limax. If one party proposes the other, and their supposed partner is not interested, the proposing partner becomes rejected and cannot form any new Bonds for the rest of the Scene. This climax can take many forms. Sleeping with the person works, but might have unpleasant consequences for the character’s other Bonds. A night spent discussing each party’s philosophy of life or playing a game of skill with one another also count. Anything where the people involved interact in a caring and constructive way can count as a climax. Once the Stand reaches climax, the Bond is formed at the rank-one level and is recorded on both character’s sheets. Successfully completing a Stand restores three Heart to both characters.
Bonds can grow stronger through cer tain circumstances. Normal interaction isn’t enough to
make a Bond grow; progressing such an important relationship requires much more than that. In order to improve a Bond, the people involved must overcome some sort of challenge, known as a Cr isis. It is through surmounting shared obstacles and overcoming difficulties that relationships are tested and proven. Crises can take many forms. One of t he Bond members may get kidnapped or threatened by an enemy. They may come down with some rare disease or condition. They may be affected by some foul magic or transformed into some monstrous being. The key facto r of a Crisis is that is must threaten the individuals’ relationship. Battling a band of pirates doesn’t provide much direct threat to the Bond, while
battling a gang of pirates intent on capturing one of the Bond members does. A Crisis doesn’t always have to come from an external source. Obstacles can be developed
within the relationship as well. These often center around some personal difference between the people involved, like different world views or core values. One may desire a lifestyle that is completely different from what the other finds acceptable, or may have made a major decision without taking their partner’s
views into consideration. These Crises can and often will grow organically from good roleplay, but should the players be stumped, the GM can be asked to arrange a Crisis for them. Regardless of where it comes from, the most important part of a Crisis is good roleplay. The players need to portray how the Crisis affects their characters, and w hat kind of measures they are willing to take in order to mend or protect their relationship. They may need to portray the characters getting into a fight or being taken apart by circumstances, as well as how the problems brought up by the Crisis are resolved and the characters come back together. Once the people involved have played out the Crisis to resolution, they can upgrade their shared Bond to the next level.
For the most part, Bonds don’t degrade over time. A character w ith a Bond has a special place in
their heart for its subject, and time or distance cannot change that. Should a player desire to remove a Bond from their character, they can simply remove it. The character finds that they no longer have strong feelings for another as they once did, and moves on from there. Some characters may find that forming Bonds appeals to them more than keeping or reinforcing them. These characters are likely to form Bonds quickly, and then abandon them just as quickly. This can lead to a string of one-night stands and short-lived relationships. This is not a bad thing necessarily, although it can lead to many disappointed or angry ex -lovers.
Forming a Bond has many benefits. First and foremost, it restores Heart. Taking an action that helps the object of a Bond recovers that Bond’s rating in Heart. This action can be virtually anything, but
should take some degree of effort on the part of the character. Giving someone a compliment isn’t enough to gain Heart. Setting up a candlelit dinner is. Going for a walk with someone on t heir lunch break isn’t enough to gain Heart. Taking time out of a busy day to take someone on a tour of the city
does. These events are referred to as Moments. Getting upset when someone insults your friend isn’t enough to gain Heart. Personally coming to their defence, even if it puts you in an aw kward situation, does. They are events that form memo ries for all involved, and show how important the Bond is to the character. A character can benefit from one Moment per Scene. An additional benefit of Bonds is their ability to aid in teamwork. Whenever two Bonded characters work together on something, they both gain the Bond’s rating as a bonus. In a Conflict, a
character can help another by sacrificing their action for the round. Doing so grants the receiving character their Bond rating bonus.
Characters in Heart and Fur are more than average. They possess inner reserves of power and determination beyond what ordinary people do. These stores of internal power are represented by Heart points. Heart is a resource that characters can spend to gain bonuses to their actions. By spending a point of Heart, a character can gain a +2 bonus to a single roll. This can be used at most once per
action. This represents the character digging dee p into themselves and putting their all into whatever they are doing. Alternatively, Heart can be spend to make some narrative change to the Scene in question. Say a character needs an ally, so they use a point of Heart to make an old acquaintance just happen to drop by. Or they need to buy something quickly, and they use a point of Heart to find a fantastic deal that they desperately needed. These changes should be re latively small, but can be of virtually any sort the player desires. The maximum number of Heart points a character can possess is based on the number of Bonds they have. Each rank of Bonds that the character possessed adds one to their maximum Heart pool. So a character with two rank-one Bonds and one rank-two Bond can have a maximum of four points of Heart at a time. Characters can gain Heart points by helping the subject of a Bond, as previously explained. Characters can also transfer Heart points between themselves. To do this, one character must interact with the other in some intimate manner. A passionate kiss, a word of encouragement at a key moment or a furtive glance while under duress are all suitable actions. Characters can only transfer one point of Heart per turn. It’s worth noting that only important characters should have Heart points. Minor characters who don’t have much impact in the story should not have any Heart points. Somewhat important characters
should have at most one or two. Only truly important characters, those the player character s will be encountering on a regular basis, should have large pools of Heart to draw from.
Everyone has a comfort zone, a r ange of activities that they are acc ustomed to. While this allows them to feel at home doing what they usually do, there is a ce rtain benefit to going beyond one’s
normal limitations and trying something new. It not only provides an opportunity for the person to learn something new about themselves, but they might enjo y themselves in the process. To represent this, characters in Heart and Fur have Limits. Each Limit represents a situation or action that the character has never tried before, something completely new to them. Some sample Limits include sleeping with a hermaphrodite, trying a body-altering potion, or having sex for the first time. Not all Limits must be sexual in nature. Going on a first date, having a first kiss or attending a college party for the first time all work just as well. The important thing is that the Limit lies outside of the character’s current comfort zone, and is a genuinely new exper ience for them. Also, Limits should be
general, not specific. Going on a date with a lizard is a suitable limit. Going on a date with the specific lizard who works in accounting two floors down from the character is not. Characters can have three Limits at a time. These should be things that the character has never done, and things that the player would like to roleplay. When a character completes a Limit, the y gain three Experience, and their player can select a new Limit to replace it. In addition, the character’s player has some licence to make changes in the character. Having had a new experience, the character’s
horizons are expanded and they have an opportunity to learn new things about themselves. The character’s player can use this as an opportunity to add a Preference to the character, or to swap out
one of their Personalities for another one. This r epresents the character growing and changing as a result of their experiences.
Now that you know the basic traits possessed by characte rs, it’s time to design one of your own. This will be your avatar in the game world, and it’s best to create a character that you think will be fun
to play. No one wants to get stuck with a character that they later find boring or uninteresting.
The first step in making a character is determining what kind of world they will exist within. Talk with GM about the setting they will be telling your story in. Making a suave swashbuckler is of little use in a sci-fi setting where everyone fights with rayguns. Perhaps a suave pilot would be a bette r fit. This book contains a few sample settings, but othe rs can easily be substituted for them.
Come up with an idea or short phrase that sums up your character. Ideally, this phrase should give you some indication as to their personality and profession. The previously mentioned suave swordsman is a good example. In particular, t hink about how your character responds to Conflict. Are they going to be a frontline fighter or a social manipulator? It’s worth checking in with t he rest of your
gaming group at this point to make sure you have some variety in your characters. Having everyone play a swordsman leaves a lot of bases uncovered. Also, think about what race you would like your c haracter to be, and how that fits into your concept of them.
Choose both your character’s physical gender and their gender identity. Their physical gender
decides what sexual Traits they start with. There are three genders to choose from: male, female and hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodites occur naturally in the world of Heart and Fur, and although they are uncommon, there is no special stigma attached to them.
Male: Penis, Testicles
Female: Vagina, Breasts
Herm: Penis, Testicles, Vagina, Breasts Record your character’s Traits on the Regions section of the character sheet, and your gender in
the gender line at the top of the sheet. (These Traits will be explained in more detail in the Traits and Mechanics chapters.) If you want to, you c an mix and match genders, giving a characte r some traits of both without making them a full hermaphrodite. They may have a v agina but no breasts, or a penis and breasts but no testicles. The choice is completely yours.
Next, select your character’s gender identity. This is how the character inter nally identifies and
views themself. It does not need to be the same as your character’s physical gender. There are three main options to choose from, each with a preferred pronoun. Record your choice of identity on t he character sheet.
Male (he and his)
Female (her and hers)
Herm (shi and shis)
You probably already have an idea of the race you would like to play. If not, re ad through the Races chapter and pick a race that you like. Select a Race that you think would be fun to roleplay, not one that has the best Traits, as you’ll be far happier with a fun rac e than a mechanically optimized one. Record your race’s Traits and Personality on your character sheet and make note of how many bonus
points that race gets.
All characters in Heart and Fur have a body type. This has no mechanical impact, but gives you a chance to make your character more unique in appearance and concept. There are five body types to choose from.
Balanced - Your character is of average height and build.
Lithe - Your character is thin and spry.
Muscular - Your character is well muscled and large .
Petite - Your character is short and slim.
Weighty - Your character has a few extra pounds on them.
Now comes the mechanical side of character creation. First, you need to select your character’s
Personalities. Starting characters have three P ersonalities, one from their race and two t hey choose, and more can be gained later through Experience. Select two Personalities from the list e arlier in this chapter, or create your own.
Now comes the point where you ge t to make your character unique. Selecting Skills sets your character apart from the others in your group. You get seven points to put into Skills. Raising a Skill from 0 to +1 or +1 to +2 costs one point. Raising a Skill from +2 to +3 costs two points. You have two options when selecting Skills. Your character can have a high rating in relatively few Skills, or a moderate rating in a large number. The choice is up to you. If you want a combat specialist, put a large number of points into F ighting and Athletics. If you want them to be a social expert, invest in Persuasion, Deception and Integrity. Being a specialist means that you will be very capable in a narrow range of activities, but generally not useful outside of those tasks. Being a generalist
means that you’ll normally have a Skill relevant to any situation, but you won’t be as good at any one
thing as a specialist will. This is especially useful if there are many Fighting or social specialists in the group already.
The next step of character creation is selecting your character’s starting Bonds. Characters begin
with two rank-one Bonds and one rank-two Bond. Some of these can and perhaps should be towards other player characters. This ensures that you’ll have an easy way of replenishing Heart during play. Some Bonds should be towards non-player characters or to ideals, as they help to flesh out your character and provide hooks that the GM can use to create stories in the future.
Select any number starting Preferences for your character. These are sexual likes and interests that your character has, and can be rated as either weak or strong (Preferences are explained in greater detail in the Mechanics chapter). These can be for anything you like, including certain body types, sexual acts and kinks. Make sure these are for things that you would enjoy roleplaying, as they are likely to come up through the course of the game.
Based on your choice of Race, you’ll have a number of bonus points to spend on whateve r you like. Each bonus point can raise two Skills form 0 to +1 or +1 to +2, or raise a single Skill from +2 to +3. Characters can also spend bonus points on Traits. Each Trait costs one bonus point, regardless of if it’s internal of external. It’s worth noting that some people in the world o f Heart and Fur possess Traits that don’t come from their species. They are rare mutants or have a hint of some other race’s blood in them.
At this point, you may want more bonus points. These can be obtained by selecting Flaws, which are traits that in some way harm or inconvenience the character. Each Flaw gives you one bonus point, and you can never have more than three Flaws in total.
Your character is almost done. The final step is to determine a good motivation for your character. As gameplay in Heart and Fur is driven by character motives, it’s important to give your
character a few overall goals that they can pursue. Do they want t o become a famous singer or performer? Help win an ages old feud with another family? Or do they just what to make love to as many beautiful women as possible? Decide what motivates your character and why they do the things they do. Characters also start with some equipment. They begin with one Tool and one Outfit. All characters also begin with twenty Wealth.
Characters are not static. Through their life experiences they learn and grow, becoming more than they were. Characters in Heart and Fur track this growth through Experience. Experience is measured in points, with characters gaining more points by completing their goals and having new experiences. Once a character has Experience points, they can spend them to improve their Skills and gain new Personalities. The costs to do so are outlined below.
Upgrade a Skill from 0 to +1
7
Upgrade a Skill from +1 to +2
7
Upgrade a Skill from +2 to +3
10
Gain a new Personality
15
Chapter Two: Races The world of Heart and Fur is populated by a wide array of races. From t he noble stallion to the mysterious bat to the honourable wolf, there is a startling variety of people who call the wor ld home. This chapter outlines the most common races found in the world of Heart and F ur. If a race you want to play is not on this list, feel free to create them using the Traits found in the Traits chapter, and the r ules presented at the end of this chapter.
Dogs are cousins of wolves, and share many traits in common with them. They are loyal and confident, but not as aggressive or hierarchical. More than anything, dogs are friendly. The love meeting new people and forming relationships. It’s here that their loyalty o ften expresses itself. Dogs make
faithful companions and lovers, and never turn their back on someone they care about. Dogs are always eager to meet new people and try new things. They make new friend easily and love spending time with them.
Traits: Fangs, Tail, Acute Scent, Fur
Personality: Eager
Bonus Points: 2
Foxes are sly and clever, renowned for both their cunning and their sense of humour. They are mischievous at the best of times. They are known to find the exceptions and loopholes in any set of instructions or rules. A fox can find their way into and then out of just about any situation imaginable. A fox’s instincts drive them to be subversive and clever, always looking for indirect solutions to problems
and roundabout, but often strangely effective, ways of ge tting what they want. No one ever can be quite sure what a fox is thinking or planning, but one cannot doubt that those plans will work.
Traits: Claws, Tail, Fur
Personality: Sly
Bonus Points: 3
Humans are perhaps the most diverse race, w ith a wide array of outlooks, personalities and temperaments. Ambition often defines humans, be it for wealth, prestige or discovery. They are never satisfied with what they have and always seek out more. Humans are naturally curious and innovative. They’re driven to seek the boundaries of the known and push through into the unknown. Lacking in
natural weapons or powerful instincts, humans make complex societies around themselves, building
through social structures what other races have naturally through instinct. Humans make excellent explorers, but also experimental craftsmen and ambitious leaders.
Traits: Skin
Personality: Curious
Bonus Points: 5
Lions are powerful and courageous. A lion never backs down from a fight, confrontation or disagreement. They move and act with the self-assurance that comes with being a to p predator. In all things they do, they bring absolute confidence and an aware ness of their own innate power. Lions are driven to always be in control. They need to be in charge of any situation that they encounter. This can often lead to disagreements in relationships between lions (especially if the lions are of the same gender), but also makes lions exceptional leaders, as managing t he actions of others comes naturally to them.
Traits: Claws, Tail, Fur
Personality: Proud
Bonus Points: 3
Tigers are power personified, and their every action flows with both gracefulness and strength. They are strong and persistent, and br ing their trademark strength into everything they do. They are less arrogant than lions, but no less liable to e xert their authority over others. Tigers are also fiercely independent, driven by deep instincts to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. They are solitary creatures by nature, and seek out pursuits where they can excel on their own. Tigers can seem standoffish to people they don’t know well and rarely e xpress their true feelings, but their authority over their domain cannot
be questioned.
Traits: Claws, Tail, Fur
Personality: Independent
Bonus Points: 3
Wolves are physically powerful and full of self-confidence. They thrive on social structure and often need to be part of a group in order to feel at home. This instinctual need for knowing one’s place
sometimes translates in to a love of dominance or submissive play, but it’s just as likely to be expresses through natural leadership or group loyalty. If there’s one thing a wolf is, it is loyal, often to a fault.
Wolves can also be highly territorial, working har d to protect and keep whatever t hey claim as theirs, be
it a piece of land or a sexual conquest. Wolves have many sub variates, including the common grey wolf, the white arctic wolf, and the ruddy red wolf. Other possible colourations include black and tan.
Traits: Claws, Tail, Acute Scent, Fur
Personality: Loyal
Bonus Points: 2
In the world of Heart and Fur, interracial mating is quite common. People fall in love, or just have sex for fun, across the t he lines of race and species. Some societies frown on these mixed relationships, but most are open enough that t hey get only the occasional glance or w hispered comment. Form these relationships are born hybrid offspring, individuals born with the traits of both parents. These hybrids are usually sterile, their mixed he ritage preventing them from having children of their own, but some are not and can pass on their t heir unique heritage to their children. Mechanically, playing a hybrid allows you pick Traits from both parent races. You can choose any Traits that one parent possesses, but can never have more than five Traits total. Covering Traits, including fur, feathers and scales, do not count toward this maximum. To calculate your hybrid race’s
bonus points, subtract the number of Traits they possess from five. Again, do not include Covering Traits. All hybrids gain one Personality, chosen from one of their parents. A hybrid usually looks like a cross between their t wo parent species, with fur or o ther covering that is a mixed shade or pattern between their two parents. Someone with lion heritage likely has a mane and tail, while someone decedent from a bird would have wings and possibly a beak. Crosses between mammals and reptiles often look particularly unique, with patches of fur scattered around areas of scales or skin.
Chapter Three: Mechanics A roleplaying game is essentially a collaborative story. There are many different voices and ideas all trying to have a say in the overall outcome of the narrative: each player wants their character to succeed, while the GM wants to tell a cohesive story. In order to mediate between all of these different goals, role-playing games make use of rules and dice rolls. Dice rolls and rules are necessary to provide some form of structure to a game. They provide a means of arbitrating results and resolving conflicts that come up during the course of play. They also make the game more exciting, e xciting, providing an element of risk and uncertainty.
Every time a character goes to take an action, and there is a reasonable chance of their failure, the character’s player makes a dice roll. This uses a single twelve sided dice, a d12, and adds to it the
rating of their most relevant Skill. If they possess no Skill relevant to the situation, they add nothing, but still make the roll. There are three kinds of rolls r olls in Heart and Fur: simple rolls, compared rolls and contests. In a simple roll, the character makes a single dice roll and the resulting number is compared to 6. All results of six or above succeed. These rolls are used when there isn’t much m uch chance of failure involved in the action. In a compared roll, the result is compared to a difficulty set by the GM. Compared rolls are good whenever a character is attempting to overcome some part of the environment around them, such as busting open a locked door or disarming a trap. The following difficulties are general guidelines to use then setting a difficulty for a player. A s always, select a difficulty that best suits the story being told.
Easy
6
Moderate
8
Challenging
10
Difficult
12
Very Difficult
14
Sometimes, two character’s actions are directly opposed to one another. In these cases, both
characters make a roll and the one with the higher result succeeds. This is most commonly used in Conflict and other direct conflicts. Contests function almost identically to simple rolls, in that players roll a d12 and add Skill, with relev ant bonuses and penalties applied to the roll. But rather t han roll against a set difficulty, both characters get t o make a roll, with the highest result winning the contest. If one character gets a result five or more higher than their opponent, their roll is an epic success.
Sometimes, circumstances conspire to help a character. In these cases, the dice roll gains a bonus, often a +1, which adds to the final roll result. This is often due to a character’s equipment. More beneficial circumstances can grant larger +2 o r even +3 bonuses.
Other times, circumstances make an action harder. Trying to climb a mountain in the rain, aim a bow in heavy fog or reason with a drunken man all make the character’s action harder. In these cases, the character’s roll takes on a penalty. Subtract the penalty from the character’s final roll result. The
most common penalty is -1, but -2 and -3 penalties can be inflicted for particularly difficult situations.
Depending on how well a character rolls, their action can have one of many levels of success or failure.
When a character’s roll result is lower than the target difficulty, the character fails in their action. They do not get the result re sult they wanted, but aren’t significantly harmed in the process. If
appropriate, this failure should be humorous. The character goofs up in some interesting or memorable way, as dictated by the GM. G M.
If the character’s final roll result meets or exceeds the target difficulty, their action succeeds.
The GM narrates how they obtain their desired result or how circumstances work out to favour them.
When a character gets a result five or more above the target number, they get an epic success. When this happens, the character gains some extra bonus on top of their action succee ding. If they are attacking, they deal an additional Wound. If they are trying to recall information, they gain additional clues they weren’t even looking for. In these circumstances, it is a good idea to let the character’ s player narrate how their action goes, allowing them control over their character’s climactic victory.
With Skills, the highest bonus a roll can g ain is +3. If this seems small, that’s because it’s supposed to. In Heart Roll , Skills aren’t the main determinant of whether an action succeeds or fails. Personalities are. Whenever a character takes an action that is alignment with one of their Personalities, they gain a +2 on the roll. If they act in alignment with two, they gain a +4 bonus, and so on. This is the core challenge of Heart Roll, to portr ay characters well enough to get bonuses from their Personalities.
Note that the same action can be used for multiple different Personalities, depending on how the player describes their character acting. If the character is asking a question, they could ask is quietly and meekly, for the Shy Personality, o r they could demand to be told immediately, for the Aggressive Personality. If there’s any doubt over whether a character is expressing a Per sonality, the play group can vote on it. If the majority thinks the Personality is evident in the character’s actions, then they gain the
bonus for it. If the majority t hinks it is not, then they do not. In general, the group should accept any genuine effort to portray a Personality, only voting when the matter is truly not c lear.
Gameplay in Heart and Fur is divided into segments called Scenes. Each Scene is a set of events that take place in one place and at one time. Think of it like a scene in a movie. Each scene has a place where it is set, a time when it happens, and involves a relatively stable group of characters. When the main characters move to another location, or when enough time passes, a new scene starts and the old one ends. This is exactly how Scenes work in Heart and Fur.
Heart and Fur is designed to support a variety of play styles. The default mode of play matches that commonly found in RPGs, namely that the GM leads the plot and the player characters participate, but that isn’t the only way to play the game. Heart and Fur is designed to allow for a second style of
play, where the characters’ motives and personal lives come to the forefront of the game. Both of t hese play styles are outlined below.
In classic play, the GM is responsible for providing the game group with problems to solve. Normally, this takes the form of a long plot line with many smaller goals and conflicts contained within it. This style of play can be thought of as a long series of problems that the main characters need to solve, or as one overarching problem t hat they must tackle in smaller pieces. In this style of play, Experience is rewarded for two things: completing goals and showing up. Each time the characters compete an objective related to the overarching plot, they all gain one to four Experience, depending on how important the objective was. In addition, each character gains one Experience at the end of each session, simply for showing up.
In character play, the characters and their goals take centre stage. Rather than follow a narrative built by the GM, the characters define their own goals, and lead the story where they want it to go. Experience is rewarded based on how w ell the characters fulfill their own desires and drives, not on how well they complete objectives set by an outside source.
This kind of play isn’t fore everyone, but that isn’t to say you shouldn’t try it at least once. It’s
designed to emulate the kind of free form character-driven roleplay found on internet forums and chat rooms, where characters don’t have m ajor problems to solve, and instead focus on having fun
interacting with one another and the game world. Of course, these two styles of play can be combined. Your group could spend a session or two dealing with an overarching plot or conflict, and t hen spend a session playing out the character’s
personal lives and the hijinks they get up to in them. The choice is yours. Character play involves a few concepts that aren’t found in standard play, including Motives,
Complications and reward Scenes. These are given their own descriptions below.
In character play, when a player character enters into a Scene, their player declares a Motive. This is a goal that the character will attempt to pursue during the Scene. This can be anything that could reasonably accomplished within the time and location that the Sc ene it set in. For example, a Scene set at a party could lead to Motives such as “meet a nice girl” or “get to know the host.” Most characters involved in a Scene possess a Motive. Minor characters who are in the background of a Scene don’t
need one, but all major players do. This is the reason they are in the Scene to begin with. Whenever a character completes a Motive, they gain one Experience, to be cashed in later for character advancement. A character cannot abandon a Motive mid-scene. Once set, their Motive remains until the Scene ends. If a Scene ends and a character still hasn’t completed their Motive, they
can then elect to change or keep it. If they choose to keep it, it cannot be changed again until the next Scene ends.
At the beginning of a Scene, when each character declares their Motive, a character can decide that their Motive is to help another character achieve their own Motive. They are then referred to as a wingman. If the primary character achieves the ir Motive, then they and all wingmen they had g ain one Experience. There is a penalty for having a wingman, however, which is covered in the next section.
If playing Heart Roll was as easy as entering a Scene, picking a Motive, achieving it and gaining Experience, the game would be so easy it would get boring fast. But luckily, it’s not that easy. It’s the job of the GM to provide challenges and o bstacles that the player characters must overcome in order to complete their Motives. These problems are referre d to as Complications, and can take many different forms. As a rule, completing a Motive re quires overcoming one Complication. If there are more than one character with the same Motive, or one character has w ingmen, then accomplishing that Motive requires overcoming one Complication per character. So a character with two wingmen must overcome three Complications to reach their goal. This is a general rule, however. If all the players of a five player
group want the same thing, it isn’t necessary to present f ive Complications. Three or four would suffice.
So long as the characters have to work for what they want, the specifics are irrelevant. Should the GM be stumped on what Complications to present the players, they can ask the players for help in creating them. Alternatively, in the shared GM style outlined in the introduction, everyone at the table is responsible for creating Complications, even for their own characte r. A few sample types of Complications are presented here, while more can easily be created by the GM during play.
Someone else wants the same things that a player character wants. If they’re going after a girl, someone else if already flirting with them. If they’re trying to win an award, someone equally qualified is
trying for it as well. If they’re stealing something, there’s another thief out that night trying to steal the same thing. They must find some way to overcome o r outsmart their opponent to achieve their Motive.
Social Complications are the most varied and diverse. In them, the character must convince someone to do something or agree with their point of view. They need to convince someone to go out with them, give them an important piece of information, or help them achieve some other goal. Virtually any Skill can be used in these Complications, but for the most part, the Complication can be resolved entirely through roleplay between the various characters involved.
A Puzzle Complication challenges the player’s creativity and ingenuity. Rather than presenting
them with another person as an obstacle, it presents them with a task o r riddle. The characters need to find the combination to a locked door, locate an individual in a crowded room or find a piece of information amid a library. Puzzles can also have to do w ith other people in the Scene. Someo ne may not want to cooperate with the players until they figure out something about them, like their favourite food or what they want form the players.
A Task Complication gives the players a smaller goal that must be accomplished before their main Motive can be achieved. This can result in a small story all its own, or simply require a bit of extra legwork on the characters’ part. For example, if a character is trying to convince someone to help them,
that person may require that the character solve one of their own problems. They may want some errand run, or personal conflict settled or . In helping someone out in this way, the character earns their future support, and possibly achieves a Motive.
Let’s illustrate all this with an example. Three men, all player character s, walk into a bar. Each of
these characters has a reason for being there. Len, t he wolf, knows that his former girlfriend, Laura is in the bar, and wants to convince her to take him back. Ryan, the tiger, can’t decide on a Motive of his own
and elects to become Len’s wingman, helping him to win back his ex-lover. Tyler, the lion, has simpler
things in mind. He just wants to hook up with someone and get laid. But things aren’t going to be easy for them. Len manages to find his gir lfriend, only to see her
chatting with another wolf, this one large and muscular. He knows that Laura has a thing for muscle, and he needs to get the wolf away from her if he’s going to have any luck that night. This is a competition
Complication. He has several options for doing so. He could attempt to e nter a Conflict with the wolf, trying to convince him to leave. Alternatively, he could be sneaky. He orders a drink for the wolf and pays the bartender extra to say it’s from a table of women sitting in the corner of the room. Interested by the prospects of getting with a group of women, the wolf leaves to try his luck elsewhere, giving Len a chance to move in. As there are two characters who want Len to get back with his ex-girlfriend, he must overcome two Complications in order to do so. Once the wolf is gone, Len and Ryan still have to co nvince her to actually take him back. This is a Social Complication. She is reluctant at first, mentioning how lousy of a boyfriend Len has been. At this, Ryan chimes in and mentions how much Len has changed in the last few months. He also casually says that Len has started going to the gym, which he knows Laura will find attractive. This is a lie, and requires a Deception roll, which succeeds. After a few more rounds of dialogue, Laura agrees to take Len back, fulfilling both of their Motives. Meanwhile, Tyler finds a girl he thinks is attractive and attempts to woo her. The girl, however, has decided to play hard to get . She challenges Tyler that, if he can guess her name, she’ll sleep with him. This is a Puzzle Complication. Tyler could simply attempt to guess her name, but instead opts to ask the doorman. After some convincing, the doorman says t hat her name is Jessica. Tyler retu rns triumphant and Jessica agrees to a night of fun with him. This Scene lasts for as long as the main characters remain in the bar, provided there isn’t a large
time jump of some sort. Should they leave the bar before they resolve their Motives, each player could either keep their Motive intact or elect to change it to something suiting their new location.
There are some kinds of Scenes where is isn’t necessary, or productive, for the characters
involved to set a Motive. The three m ost common types of these Scenes are outlines below.
In a Setup Scene, the GM establishes the premise or setting of the story. These Scenes exist to show the players where and when the story is going to be taking place, or to give them a starting point to determine where the story goes from there. For example, if the gaming session has just begun, the GM could say “It’s a Friday night. You all have had a long week at work, and you’re looking for a good t ime. You’ve met up downtown and night is
beginning to fall. What do you want to do?”
A Reward Scene happens after the main characters have accomplished a major Motive or other objective. Rather than presenting them with new challenges, the GM narrates how they attain what they want and the effects that it has. It’s often a good idea to give the players some degree of control over Reward Scenes, as they represent their personal victories and accomplishments. For example, carrying forward from the example above, after Tyler figures our Jessica’s name, she invites him back to her place for the night. Everything that happens at her place is a Reward Scene, as it centers on Tyler getting what he wants. The player can the n play out their night with Jessica, likely including sex, in as much or as l ittle detail as they like.
Consequence Scenes are the opposite of Reward Scenes. They take place after the main characters have lost a Conflict. When t his happens, the GM narrates to them how they go along with the wishes of the winners. The GM can simply describe this, or the players can act it out, but either way, the main characters don’t get want they want from the Scene. Once a Consequence Scene is over, the
characters can go back to setting Motives as usual. For example, after losing to a group of bandits, the main characters are convinced to give them all their money. The players can either act this out or let the GM describe their characters actions, but they can’t fight back against the people they’ve already lost to once. Once the bandits leave, a new
Scene starts, and the characters can set new Motives.
Should the players not have an idea of what t hey want to do next, or if they have satisfied all their Motives and need something to do next, the GM can step in and provide them with a Problem. This is a task or situation that requires the players take some action to solve it. Unlike a Motive, a Problem often has multiple components that must be completed in order to resolve it. Characters can then set each step along the way as a Motive, and have their goals set out for them for the next several Scenes. Each step or task required for a Problem typically comes with its own Complications, making each one a small story in itself. It’s a good idea for the GM to come to each night of play ready with a Problem, in case there is a lapse in the main character’s Motives.
Alternatively, if your group desires more structured play, the GM can provide a string of Problems woven together into a single cohesive plot. Each Problem begins shortly after the previous one ends, possibly with a Scene or two o f unstructured downtime between them. This gives the players less control over the course of the game, as it isn’t their character’s Motives that drive the plot forward, but
does make a more structured and unified story. For example, let’s take our trio from the bar earlier. It’s the next day, and they have recovered from their night of drinking and fun. The players aren’t sure what to do next, so they ask the GM for a
Problem. At this, Tyler gets a call from a mutual friend of theirs, Tim. Tim is putting together a birthday
party for his new girlfriend, Vanessa. The party is supposed to be a surprise, so he c an’t do any of the
prep himself. He needs the trio of main characters to do a few things for him. First, he needs them to figure out her favourite colour so he can pick out decorations. Next, they need to order and pick up a cake from her favourite bakery. Finally, they need to create a distraction to get her out of the house for an afternoon while Tim sets things up. The trio agrees to help Tyler. First, they set off to find out Vanessa’s favourite colour. As all three
of them make this their Motive, t he GM will need to place around three Complications in front of them before they can succeed. Sample Complications include finding Vanessa, getting her to talk to them and finding a way to bring up her favourite colour.
Some Motives are more ambitious than others. While setting Motives, a player can choose to set a Motive that is larger than a normal Motive. These are more ambitious goals, which likely can’t be accomplished in one Scene alone, and will drive the story for a longer time. For example, another character could join Len, Ryan and Tyler to the bar, but rather than try to win a girl or have a good time, they want attend an open mic night in the hopes of being picked up by a record label. Or, rather than help Tim throw a party, they aim to throw their own party and make it better than his. These Motives take longer to complete, but are worth more when they are finished. Completing a large Motive rewards each player involved with two to five Experience, depending on how large and ambitious the Motive is. The player and G M should work together to set the Experience reward for a Motive when it is made. There is, however, a drawback to having a Large Motive. For each additional Experience the Motive is worth, the GM provides one additional Complication to the characters pursing it. This number of Complications is multiplied by the number of people pursuing the Motive, as normal for Motives. So three people pursuing a Motive worth two Experience would face around six Complications in order to get what they want. It should be noted that Experience is only gained upon completing a large Motive in its entirety. Completing half or two thirds of the required steps has no reward on its own.
During the course of play, characters c an attempt to induce emotions in other c haracters, and therefore influence their behaviour. These emotions are called Passions. In order to inflict a Passion on someone, a character must succeed in a Persuasion vs Integrity contest. This represents the character using their persuasiveness and personality to sway how someone else feels about them or the situation at hand. If the roll is successful, the targeted character is subject to a Passion. Later on in the same Scene, the character who caused the Passion can cash it in. Doing so allows them to dictate one action that the character with the Passion will take. This must be an action that is in line with the character’s Personalities and t he specific Passion created. Passions cannot be used to
directly accomplish a Motive, but they can be used to remove or resolve Complications. A characte r can only be subject to a Passion once per Scene. For example, Ben, a fox, is trying to learn the phone number of a woman at a bar, part of a Motive to form a Bond with someone. He k nows that coming out and asking for it would be too direct, so he strikes up a casual conversation with her. During the conversation, he uses Pe rsuasion to instill a Passion of curiosity in the woman. He succeeds on the roll, and after a few more minutes of dialogue, he cashes it in. Ben makes the woman ask him for his phone number, which provides an opportunity to ask her for hers. Passions function differently in Conflict. Rather than allowing a player to narrate another character’s actions, they allow them to gain a bonus on a single attack. The player must dec lare that
they are using the Passion when they describe their attack, and must target the attack against the bearer of the Passion. Doing so removes the Passion from play, and grants the attack a +2 bonus.
Conflict is a staple of any story. Presented he re are rules for running Conflicts between characters. These mechanics are intentionally left open to interpretation. A Conflict could represent an all-out battle against two opposing forces, but it j ust as likely represents a heated argument or a seduction attempt. Conflicts most commonly happen when two characters or g roups of characters have opposing Motives. These are not just different Motives, but ones that are actively detrimental to one another. As neither side is willing to sacrifice their goals, they come into Conflict. Note that this can even happen within the group of main characters, as some want to take one course of action and the others want to take the opposite. There is nothing wrong with having a Conflict between main characters, so long as the players don’t take it too personally and are alright with it happening.
Conflicts can also happen as a result of Complications. If the GM puts a group of characters between a player character and their Motive, it’s only logical that Conflict will result. For the most part, however, Conflict shouldn’t be the first re sponse to a problem. The characters should try to t alk out their differences first and see if they can’t reach some sort of compromise. Only if both sides are
unwilling or unable to reach an agreeme nt should Conflict result. Conflict is divided into turns, each one lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Each character involved in the Conflict has one turn, which they take in order. To decide who acts first, each character involved in the conflict rolls a d12. Rank the results from highest to lowest, with ties rolling again as a tie breaker. This is the order that characters will act in. Once each character takes their turn, the round of Conflict ends and the characters begin acting again from t he top of the list, and continues on until one side of the Conflict wins. When in a Conflict, characters can still use their Personalities as normal. If the player describes their character acting or attacking in a manner consistent with a Per sonality, they gain a bonus from it.
However, there is another way to use Personalities in Conflict. If the character’s P ersonality got them
into the Conflict in the first place, such as by starting a fight or refusing to back down from an opponent, then all rolls they make during that C onflict gain the benefit of that Personality. Only one of a character’s Personalities can be used t his way per Conflict.
Each turn, a character may make an attack against another character. This attack may be physical or social, and uses one of the characte r’s Skills. In order to make an attack, the character’s player must narrate what their charac ter is doing. If they are swinging a sword, describe the sword swing. If they are arguing, state the arguments that they make. If they are trying to seduce someone, describe how they swing their hips and speak in soft tones. Better descriptions make for a more enjoyable experience for everyone. Similarly, the defender should narrate what they do in re sponse to an attack. Do they attempt to block a punch, or duck out of the way? Do they argue back, or try to withstand the onslaught or wor ds? Do they seduce in turn, or try to ignore how attractive their opponent is? Each type of attack lists the Skills that are usually used to oppose it. A character if perfectly free to use a different Skill, provided they give a description of how they use it in response to the attack there are receiving.
The character makes a physical attack against another character, using fists, claws or a weapon.
Roll: Fighting
Opposed By: Fighting or Athletics
The character uses their strength and battle prowess to strike fear into their opponents.
Roll: Fighting
Opposed By: Integrity
The character attempts to instill lust in their opponent.
Roll: Persuasion
Opposed By: Integrity
The character attempts to convince their opponent through appeals to emotion and sentiment.
Roll: Persuasion
Opposed By: Persuasion or Integrity
The character lies to their opponent in order to gain the upper hand.
Roll: Deception
Opposed By: Empathy or Integrity
The character uses facts and knowledge to win over their opponent.
Roll: Knowledge
Opposed By: Knowledge or Persuasion
Each time a character fails an attack contest, they must either make a Concession or take on a Wound. A Concession is a compromise of some sort. The character doesn’t want to fight any longer and so gives in to whatever demands or desires their opponent has. This doesn’t mean that they give in totally to their opponent’s demands. Rather, they try to reach a compromise of some sort. If someone is
attempting to seduce the character, they agree to sleep with them, but at a time and place of the character’s choosing. If bandits are trying to rob the main characters, they offer to give up some of their
valuables but keep the things they truly value. If the opponent agrees to the Concession, then the Conflict between them and the character making the Concession is over. The other mem bers of the Conflict can continue fighting, but the character who made the Concession has no more reason to. A character’s other option is to take on a Wound. This Wound can be physical or emotional, as is
most appropriate to the Conflict in question. Either way, the result is the same. The character has been hurt in some way, and loses some of their will to fight. The more Wo unds a character has, the harder it is for them to keep fighting. Each time a character takes on a Wound, if they have three or more Wounds already, they must roll a single d12 without any Skills. If they fail the roll, they Surrender. When a character Surrenders, they give in completely to their opponent’s demands. If someone
is seducing the character, they agree to go out with them whenever and wherever their opponent wants. If the main characters are being attacked by bandits, they give up all their possessions and valuables. The action they take cannot last longer than the end of the next Scene, but can have consequences that last longer than that (such as losing all your possessions). A Scene in which the characters follow the demands of their opponents is called a Consequence Scene. Characters do not get to set Motives for a Consequence Scene, as their actions during that Sce ne aren’t fully their own.
Wounds
Roll Difficulty
1 Wound
0
2 Wounds
0
3 Wounds
0
4 Wounds
6
5 Wounds
8
6 Wounds
10
7 Wounds
Automatic Surrender, Scar
Most characters Surrender or make a Concession long before they reach the ir last Wound. If, however, a character manages to keep fighting long enough to receive seven Wounds, they take on Scar. This Scar is a special wound that does not heal with time, and inflicts lasting penalties on the character. Scars can be physical, a bad leg or wrist, but are more commonly emotional. Having failed spectacularly, the character loses faith in themselves, or starts to harbour doubt about their worthiness and abilities. Other characters can exploit a character’s Scars to gain advantage over them in Conflict. Making
an attack that targets another person’s Scar grants the attack a +4 bonus. Any type of att ack can target any type of Scar, be they physical or emotional. When targeting a Scar, the attacking character must describe how they do so. If they’re attacking a physical Scar, they may aim their weapon at the weak part of their opponent’s body, or verbally call out the weakness and use it in their att ack. Targeting an
emotional Scar is as simple as mentioning it in t he attack description. For example, when attacking a character who has a Scar about failing to protect their friends, the attacker could say “You’ve already failed once before. Don’t make it a second time.” Then they can
proceed to make their social attack, and gain a +4 bonus on the roll. A S car can only be appealed to once per Conflict, after which the character bearing it becomes inured to the negative emotions or physical difficulties it causes them. A character c an identify another character’s Scar with a simple Empathy roll while in the character’s presence.
To remove a Scar, the character’s player must first roleplay how their character tries to overcome it. If they feel like they failed their friend after a complete loss, they could mention to their friend group how they feel and re ceive support and encouragement from them. If they feel like they’re not good enough, they could form a new relationship with someone who encourages them to fee l better about themselves and see their own worth in a new way. If the Scar is physical, they could go see a doctor or healer and have it treated. Once the roleplaying requirement is out of the way, the character must spend five Experience to finally remove the Scar.
Conflict can happen between characters who have Bonds just as readily as it happens betwee n them and others. This kind of Conflict carries a special risk, however. If one character takes on a Scar as a result of the Conflict, both sides of the Conflict lose one Bond r ating from their relationship. Someone has gone too far and genuinely hurt their opponent, and their connection suffers as a result. This Bond must be upgraded as normal to restore it to its previous intensity.
In order to add more challenge to a Conflict, the GM can de clare a Restriction. This is some type of action that the characters cannot take during that Conflict, usually a type of attack that they cannot make. The most common Restriction is against the Fighting Skill. If they characters are trying to seduce someone or bargain with a wealthy noble, pulling out a sword and attacking isn’t an appropriate course of action. Other Restrictions include not using intimidation, not trying to use certain emotions or not using Deception.
A character can forego their attack for their turn and spend it actively defending themselves. They do not get to make an attack, but until their next turn t hey can roll all defensive rolls twice and take the better result. This applies to both physical and social defences.
While in combat, a character can attempt to grab hold of another character. This is referred to as grappling. In order to grapple another character, the character must be in close-combat range of the character they wish to grapple. The attacking character rolls Grapple against the defending character’s Athletics. If the attacker wins the contest, they successfully grab and hold onto their t arget. While grappled, a character cannot take any physical actions. The can still speak and perform mental and social tasks. The grappling character can m ove both of them at five yards a turn, but cannot attack or take similar actions (unless they possess Traits like Extra Arms or Tentacles). Both the grappled and grappling characters lose their ability to defe nd against physical attacks (any attack against them automatically succeeds), but can still defend against social attacks as normal. On the grappling character’s turn, they can attempt to strip or disarm the grapple’s target. This
requires a simple Grapple roll. If a character is stripped, they lost the benefits of their Outfit until they spend a turn putting it back on. I f they are disarmed, they lose t he benefits of their Tool until they spend a turn picking it back up. Each time it is their turn, the grappled character can attempt to break free from the grapple. They roll Athletics against their grappler’s G rapple. Should they win, they break free from t he grapple
and can act normally on their next turn.
As a reward for completing an important Motive, befriending the right character or asking the right questions, the GM can reward a player character with a secret. This is some piece of information that the other non-player characters don’t know. During Conflict, the character with the Secret can spend their action for the turn dramat ically revealing the Secret to all involved. Doing so allows them to automatically win one attack contest, as their opponent is shocked and overwhelmed by the new
information. The Secret must have some relevance to the Conflict at hand in order to be used during it. Some sample Secrets are outlined below.
A character’s mother wasn’t their birth mother.
A character is hiding the fact that they are a hybrid.
A character is actually a famous criminal living under a false name.
Should every member of one side of a Conflict Surrender, that side of the Conflict loses. Losing a Conflict is not the end of anything, nor is it something that cannot be recovered from. No one dies when a Conflict is lost, they just give into someone else’s point of view and demands. After the Consequence
Scene plays out, the characters can go back to pursing their Motives as normal, perhaps a little worse for ware, but not unable to recover.
Heart and Fur is fundamentally about people and relationships. It aims to pre sent character ties, motivations and personality in an interesting and enjoyable way. And in relationships, especially intimate ones, sex is unavoidable. Rather than skirt around the to pic, or mention it in passing but never elaborate on it, Heart and Fur aims to do things differently. Presented in this next section are complete rules for sex, covering all manner of sexual situations and preferences. These rules are designed to be simple, flexible and, above all, fun to play with. There’s no reason, however, why these rules have to be used. If your gaming group would
prefer to adlib sex and just make things up as they see fit, they are more than welcome to. These mechanics are presented to give sexual situations some more structure and, potentially, make them more rewarding to play as a result.
Sexual intercourse takes place in t urns like Conflict does, although the pace of these turns is much slower than in combat. Each round of sex represents between one to five minutes of intercourse. Characters roll Initiative and take their turns in order just like in re gular combat. Sex divides a character’s body into various regions. A charac ter can take one sexual action per
region each turn. A character does not have to use every available region each turn. All characters possess the regions of hands, mouth and anus. Male characters also possess the penis and testicles regions. Female characters possess the vagina, c litoris and two breasts. Hermaphroditic characters possess all the regions that males and females possess. Some Traits add additional regions the character can make use of. The actions a character can take with each region are outlined in more detail later in this chapter.
Characters can perform minor actions like opening a nearby drawer or shifting positions without interrupting the flow of intercourse. In other words, they can rearrange themselves and still make a full suite of sexual actions that turn. Moving around or rearranging positions is assumed to happen at the start of a round of intercourse, allowing the character to make use of their new position and the sexual actions it allows. Talking is always allowed during intercourse, provided the character isn’t using their
mouth for something else. In addition to regions, characters have Preferences. These act somewhat like equipment, adding bonuses to certain sexual actions. These are ex plained in full later in this section.
Mechanically, sex revolves around two concepts: Arousal and Pleasure. Arousal repre sents a character’s internal desire and lust. It’s the mental and emotional component to intercourse. Pleasure represents physical contact and stimulation. It’s the bodily and tactile component to intercourse.
Characters require both in order to reach climax. Arousal and Pleasure are tracked using circles at the bottom of the character sheet, referred to as the character’s sex track. The two are tracked using the same continuum of circles, each from an
opposite direction. Pleasure is tracked from left to right, using right-slanted lines (\), while Arousal is tracked from right to left using left-slanted lines (/). Various sexual actions can cause character s to gain either Pleasure or Arousal. Characters continually become more aroused over time. Each day that passes that a character has not had sex checks one of their Arousal circles. Pleasure is the opposite. Without constant stimulation, a character’s Pleasure decreases. Remove o ne Pleasure each sexual round in which the
character receives no Pleasure. This can be prevented by using a dildo. Having a dildo inserted into any of a character’s sensitive orifices (not their mouth) prevents Pleasure loss. Furthermore, a vibrator
provides a flat one Pleasure per sexual round so long as it is on and in co ntact with one of a character’s sensitive regions. Some sexual actions (most notably anal intercourse) can cause one partner Pain. Pain is marked with a horizontal line ( –) in the first available circle on the left side of the character’s sex track. The character cannot gain any more P leasure until the Pain is removed from their t rack. Pain fades away at a rate of one point per round of sex. Some Preferences change the way Pain behaves, making it act like Pleasure. Whenever a character is subject to an action that grants them Arousal or Pleasure, compare the result of that action to the following list to determine how many points of Pleasure or Arousal they gain.
Roll Result
Points
6
1
10
2
14
3
Pleasure is tracked from left to right and Arousal from right to left. Whe n the two meet and overlap, the character reaches climax and has an orgasm. Upon reaching climax, erase all Pleasure and Arousal on the character’s sheet. A character can have as many consecutive orgasms as they want, but
only the first one a day has mechanical benefits. Males in the world of Heart and Fur don’t suffer from refractory periods, and can keep having sex until they are exhausted. There are a few requirements for a character having an orgasm. Their P leasure and Arousal must overlap, resulting in one or more circles being marked with both a right facing and a left facing slash (an X). The left- most circle in the character’s sex track can only be marked with Pleasure, while the right-most circle can only be marked with Arousal. In other words, the characte r must have at least one Pleasure and one Arousal to reach climax. There are benefits to reaching climax. The first time in a day that a character climaxes, they regain a number of Heart points based o n the Bonds they have with their partners. Add up the total ratings of all Bonds whose subjects are present in the sexual encounter. The characte r gains that many points of Heart. Should the character re ach climax on the same round as one o f their partners, everyone involved in the sexual event regains one additional point of Heart. A character can only gain one point of Heart from simultaneous climax per day.
The following are the most common actions that a character can take in a sexual encounter, along with the regions they use, their roll (if any) and whether they give Pleasure or Arousal.
Regions: Penis and partner’s anus The lover inserts their penis into their partner’s anus and begins thrusting. The first time
an hour a character has something inserted into their anus, they gain one Pain. Should their partner use a lubricant, they gain no Pain. During anal intercourse, the top thrusts in and out, rolling (Strength + Thrust) and adding to their own Pleasure based on the result. The bottom gains a flat one Pleasure per minute from their partner’s thrusts, once their Pain has faded away.
Regions: Hands The lover gently touches and holds their partner. They make a Touch roll and give their
partner Arousal based on its result.
Regions: Mouth The lover describes in great detail what they want their partner to do to their body.
They make a Persuasion roll and add to their partner’s Arousal based on the result.
Regions: Both parties’ penises or vaginas The lover rubs their penis or vagina against their partner’s, pushing them together and
generating friction between them. Frotting adds a flat one Pleasure to both character’s sex
tracks.
Regions: Hands The lover aggressively gropes and fondles their partner’s body. They make a Thrust roll
and give their partner Pleasure based on its result.
Requires: Mouth and partner’s mouth
The lover makes out with their partner. Both parties gain a flat one Arousal form the kissing.
Regions: Mouth The lover traces their tongue across their partner’s body. They roll Lick and add to their
partner’s Arousal based on the result.
Regions: Mouth and partner’s penis, vagina, clitoris, testicles, anus, or breast
The lover licks, sucks, or deepthroats one of their partner’s sensitive areas. The lover rolls Lick and adds to their partner’s Pleasure based on the result.
Requires: Penis and partner’s vagina The lover inserts their penis into their partner’s vagina and thrusts. The male partner
rolls Thrust and adds to both partner’s Pleasure based on the result.
Not everyone is adverse to Pain. Some people f ind it to be enjoyable in its own right, while others turn to it in order to add variety to their lovemaking.
Requires: Hands, partner’s butt One partner spanks, smacks or paddles their partner’s ass. The receiving partner gains
one Pain.
Required: Hands One lover brings a whip, cord or belt down on their partner’s body. Roll Fighting and
apply the result as Pain.
People are complex, and their desires even more so. To model the different likes and sexual kinks of characters, Heart and Fur makes use of Preferences. A Preference is any object, situation or idea that makes the character become aroused. Preferences come in two varieties: weak and strong. Weak preferences act somewhat like equipment, adding bonuses to sexual actions. Every sexual action that incorporates one of a character’s Preferences gains a +2 bonus. More than one Pref erence can apply to a given roll,
potentially resulting in some high bonuses. These bonuses only applies to the character the preference is towards. Other characters involved in the sexual action do not gain the bonus unless they share the Preference. Strong Preferences are more powerful than weak Preferences. Each time a character encounters the object of a strong Preference, they gain an automatic one Arousal. This can happen once per sexual round. A character who remains in contact with a strong Preference will continue to gain Arousal each round. For example, Rell the Lynx has a weak Preference for bondage. If she is tied up or otherwise bound, all sexual actions toward her gain a +2 bonus. If she had a strong Preference for bondage, being tied up would grant her an automatic one Arousal per round.
A particular size of person gets the character off (small, regular, large or massive). Applies When: Someone of that size takes any sexual action toward the character.
The character has a thing for people of a specific body type (Muscular, Lithe, Balanced, Petite, Weighty). Applies When: Someone of that body type makes any sexual action towards the character.
The character likes to be bound, restrained or otherwise prevented from moving. Applies When: The character is restrained using any form of bondage gear, rope or handcuffs.
The character likes to be in control, telling others what to do. Applies When: Giving orders to others and when others are obeying your instructions, or are otherwise under your control.
The character likes to be seen while having sex. Applies When: Someone is watching you in a sexual situation but not directly participating.
The character enjoys pain. This Preference causes all Pain the character incurs to be treated as Pleasure. Applies When: The character receives Pain from any source.
The character loves the look, feel or smell of a material, such as leather, latex or plastic. Applies When: The character comes into contact with this material.
The character likes to give pain to others. Applies When: The character gives Pain to another in any way.
The character likes to be ordered around, dominated and controlled. Applies When: Someone else takes control of a sexual situation or gives the character an order.
The character likes to watch others having sex, possibly while masturbating. Applies When: Someone nearby is having sex that you’re not directly involved in.
With sex comes the change of impregnation. To determine if pregnancy results from a given sexual encounter, have both the male and female players roll a d12. Pregnancy results if the two player’s rolls match one another. If more than one male ejaculated within the woman
during the encounter they each roll a die. If there is more than one match, the GM determines whose child the pregnancy is. Make this roll when the encounter is over, when the characters are resting or getting dressed. The female character’s player has the option of vetoing any pregnancy they would otherwise gain. A player should never be forced to portray a pregnancy if they don’t want to.
An average pregnancy lasts for three seasons, and imposes some penalties on the character in the later stages. Starting at the second season, all physical actions take a -2 penalty, while in the last month they take a -3 penalty. Giving birth takes a day and removes these penalties.
In the world of Heart and Fur, th ere are many forces that can change someone’s body. People can be transformed through magical means, through contact with certain substances and because of the actions of spirits. All of these physical changes are represented as Transformation. Characters track Transformation using points, which are tracked on the character sheet. Transformation points are gained from a variety of sources. Some sample ones are outlined
below, but the GM is encouraged to add more based on the type of setting they are using in their game.
Becoming a Taken or riding a spirit adds one point of Transformation.
Consuming a mutagenic alchemy adds one point of Transformation.
Being exposed to radiation or mutagenic chemicals adds a point of Transformation.
Being the subject of a magical effect that transforms the body in some way adds a point of Transformation.
Certain plants contain transformative properties. Eating one adds a point of Transformation. Transformation points add up over time. Each time a character gains a point of
Transformation, they must roll a d12 without any Skill or Personality bonuses. The roll’s Difficulty is based on how many Transformation points they have. When they fail this roll, they gain a new Trait. The GM and the player should work together to determine an appropriate Trait based on the circumstances of the Transformation. Mark this new Trait with an asterisk to show that it is not natural to the character. 1
4
2
6
3
8
4
10
5
12
There is a danger in too much Transformation. If a character gains too many new Traits, they risk totally becoming a different species. Each time a character gains a new Trait through Transformation, add up the number of Traits they have asterisks next to. If they have more starred Traits than they have natural, unstarred ones, they undergo Total Transformation. All of their natural Traits are replaced by the Traits of another Race of the GM’s choosing. This means
that Races like humans, who have few or no innate Traits, are more susceptible to Total Transformation than others. If a player doesn’t want their character to be Transformed on a regular basis, they can invest in the Stability Skill. If a character has this Skill, whenever they would usually be Transformed, they can instead roll Stability. If their result is greater than twice the number of Transformation points they possess, they are not Transformed, and their Transformation points are reduced by one. Stability protects against Total Transformation in the same way, except that the roll’s
difficulty is twice the number of unnatural Traits (ones with asterisks next to them) that the
character has. Characters always have the option of forgoing a Stability roll if they want to be Transformed.
The average person consumes around four pounds of food a day, one or two at any given meal, but can eat up to six with only mild discomfort. Smaller characters can get by with two or three pounds, while larger characters require six or seven pounds of food a day. Someone who is forced (or chooses) to eat beyond thi s limit has their body expand in order accommodate their additional intake. Each additional two pounds of f ood will cause their belly to expand by one inch. As the body is flexible in the world of Heart and Fur, there is no limit to the amount of expansion a person can experience as a result of overeating. Excess stomach size is lost at a rate of one inch per day, until the character’s normal stomach size is
regained.
The desire for sex and pleasure runs hot in the world of Heart and Fur. Being given pleasure, but prevented from reaching climax, can quickly erode someone’s will to fight and
resist. In order to induce orgasm denial, one character must pleasure another character, but stop just short of giving them an orgasm. A character can withstand a little while of this, but not extended periods. If they are kept in orgasm denial f or a number of hours equal to their Integrity, they must make an Integrity roll, difficulty 6, or immediately make a Concession or tae a Wound. If the denial continues, they must repeat this roll each Integrity hours, adding two to the difficulty each time. The difficulty resets when they lose the roll. However, should the denial continue, the character must continue making rolls, until they are released or they Surrender.
Using a combination of soothing voice and mesmerizing motions, a character c an attempt to put another character into an altered state. They must make a Hypnosis roll in a contest against their target’s Integrity. If the attacke r succeeds, the defender is hypnotized. The defending character must be
able to see the attacker for this to take effect. While hypnotized, the character cannot initiate any actions of their own and is highly suggestible. They will obey any instructions their hypnotizer gives them, although their ability to act is highly limited. A hypnotized character can only carry out simple commands like undressing or licking. They cannot be made to attack anyone. A hypnotized character is easily swayed, taking a -2 to all rolls to contest social attacks, while being the subject of a physical attack immediately ends the hypnosis.
Hypnotised characters can be made to strip or drop their Tool with a successful Hypnosis vs Integrity contest. The hypnotized character can attempt to break free each turn, rolling their Integrity against their hypnotizer’s Hypnosis. If the hypnotized character gets a higher result than the hypnotizer, they
break free and can act normally on their next turn. A hypnotized character w ho Surrenders cannot rouse themselves from hypnosis for the rest of t he Scene, unless they are attacked or otherwise physically shocked.
Chapter Four: Traits Traits define aspects of a character that aren’t captures by their other statistics. If a character is a good fighter, that’s a Skill, but if they have sharp claws that add to their combat prowess, that’s a Trait. Traits have two varieties: internal and external. Internal traits are things
that cannot be seen but affect the character in some way, like being ambidextrous. External Traits are visible parts of the character’s body, like claws, horns or wings.
In general, Traits can only be obtained during character creation, as they represent innate capacities or physical structures. If the GM allows Traits to be gained during play, the character needs to have a reason for obtaining the Trait in question. Perhaps they drink a mysterious potion, or maybe there is a kind of magic in the setting that can add Traits to a character. If a character has permission to gain a Trait, it costs one milestone.
You possess a nose capable of picking up minute traces of scents. You can make Perception rolls to pick up scents like others would sights and sounds.
You have unusually keen eyes. You gain +2 to all visual Perception rolls.
The character can use both hands equally well. They have an additional hand region for use in sexual encounters.
The character has extra musculature in their anus, allowing them to actively pleasure anyone thrusting into them. When your character is having anal intercourse, they can roll Strength + Thrust and apply the result as Pleasure to both partne rs.
You have pads on your hands and feet that allow you to climb easily. You can always move at your full movement rate while climbing. You must be barefoot and not wearing gloves to gain this benefit.
Your body possesses two wombs. You can carry two pregnancies at the same time, and can give birth to each one individually.
You are capable of hearing high-pitched sounds and using them for navigation. You can see perfectly in darkness and dim light, but extremely loud sounds temporarily ‘blind’ you, rendering your echolocation useless for a round.
Your body is designed to survive off sexual fluids. You can live off nothing but semen or vaginal secretions. You must have oral sex at least once a day or you begin to suffer the effects of starvation, and you must swallow any fluids released during sex. Most people with this ability can eat normal food as well.
Your eyes can create hypnotic patterns, glow with magical light or are simply unusually captivating. You add +2 to all hypnosis rolls where the target can see you.
Your butt is unusually loose and easily accepts a partner’s thrusts. You suffer no Pain
when receiving anal sex.
Your body naturally produces an alchemical substance. Select one alchemical Effect. One of your bodily fluids carries this effect at the Moderate Quality. Alternatively, you can release the alchemy as a pheromone, which has the Watery Quality, and affects everyone in ten yards of you. Regardless of the delivery method, the alchemy never affects you. Some sample uses of this Trait include lubricating sweat, aphrodisiac precum and toxic saliva.
You possess eyes capable of seeing in low light conditions. Treat all light as being on e category better than it is to determine how well you can act and see (dim light becomes normal, darkness becomes dim).
You possess chlorophyll in your skin or organs. You can survive off nothing but water and six hours a day of sunlight.
Your feet are as dextrous as your hands. You can use your feet to hold objects and gain them as a region to use in sexual encounters.
Your body is designed to speed through pregnancy. You take half the usual time for pregnancy to develop.
The character has an unusual degree of control over their vaginal muscles. If someone is having vaginal intercourse with your character, on your turn you can roll Strength + Thrust and add your result to both characte r’s Pleasure, as you actively pleasure both you and your partner by undulating your vaginal muscles. You must possess the Vagina Trait to have this Trait.
The character possesses the ability to bind others in webbing. After a successful grapple attempt, the character can spend a turn weaving webs around their target. After this, the target remains grappled, but the web-spinning character can move and act freely. The roll to escape from the webbing is the same as the one to escape from a normal grapple, and still relies on the grappler’s Athletics.
These Traits affect how a character looks and what capabilities they have.
You have an extra pair of breasts of the same size as your regular ones. Gain t wo additional Breast sexual regions on your character sheet. You must have breasts to gain this Trait.
Each of your breasts has four nipples. All pleasure received by one of your breasts in increases by one Pleasure.
Your nipples are sensitive openings rather than small buds. Your nipples can be targeted by thrust actions and gain one Pleasure per round of thrusting. They can also have dildos inserted into them.
Cosmetic Traits alter a character’s appearance or other outward look in some way. They
are not mechanically useful, but they are also free. Cosmetic Traits never cost anything to obtain at character creation.
Your semen has an unusual taste, scent or colour. It may be blue, taste like raspberries or smell like sweet honey. It may be unusually hot or strangely cold.
Your fur, scales, skin or hide has an unusual or unnatural colour. This makes you stand out in a crowd, but has no mechanical effects.
When not erect, your penis is covered by a furry sheath. This Trait is mostly possessed by wolves and other canines
Your body gives off a dim natural light, from your palms, feet, mouth and genitalia. It’s
not enough to see by, but it does make the character stand out in a crowd.
Covering Traits define a character’s skin covering. All characters start with a covering Trait. On the character sheet, record the colour of your character’s covering as well as the type. For example, a grey wolf would write ‘Grey Fur’ in the Traits section of the character sheet.
You are covered with a layer of hard exoskeleton.
You are covered with a layer of fine or thick fur.
You are covered in scales, with larger scales across most of your body and finer ones around the joints.
You are covered in soft skin or rough hide.
These Traits define your character’s basic sexual regions.
Your character possesses a pair of breasts, adding two breast regions to their character sheet for use in sexual encounters. Also record your character’s breast size in cup size (A, B, C, etc.)
You possess a penis. You gain the penis region f or the purposes of sexual intercourse. There are three kinds of penises: knoted, flared and straight. A stra ight penis resembles a human’s member, with foreskin and a glans. A knoted penis resembles a canine’s member, with a bulging knot at the base and a pointed tip. A flared penis resembles a horse’s, with ridges
along its length and a tip that flares outward. On the character sheet, record your penis’ type. Also record your penis’ size in inches.
Your character possesses a pair of testicles. Add testicles to their list of sexual regions, and also make a note of their size (golf-ball, tennis-ball, grapefruit, etc.).
Your character possesses a vagina. Add a vagina and clitoris to their list of sexual regions.
Your tongue is a fully functional penis. You gain Tongue Penis to your list of sexual regions. Due to this penis’s placement, it cannot receive the usual sexual actions that a penis can. Instead, whenever you give someone oral sex, you gain the effects of the roll in Pleasure along with your partner. When aroused, this penis gets in the way of speaking. Whenever you have more than one point of Arousal in your sex track, you take a -4 to all attempts to communicate.
Your tongue is unusually long and dextrous. You gain a +2 to all rolls involving the Lick Skill.
Your mouth is shaped like a vagina, and functions as one. This vagina can receive the same suite of sexual actions that a regular vagina can. Also, you gain one automatic Pleasure from kissing someone. Having a mouth vagina makes it difficult to speak, inflicting a -2 penalty to all attempts at communicating with words.
You have beads along the underside of your penis. All Thrust rolls involving the penis that you make area at +2.
You possess an extra penis, either right beside or directly below your original. You gain an additional Penis sexual region. This Trait can be gained multiple times.
Your penis can move and bend of its own accord. You can hold objects with your penis and can maneuver it better to get at sensitive places. All thrust attempts you make are at +2.
You possess an extra pair of arms. You gain a +2 bonus to all grapple attempts, and can continue to take actions and make attacks even while grappling someone.
You have an extra eye or pair of eyes. You gain +2 to all visual Perception rolls.
You have an extra head. This head has its own personality and may want different things than your other head does. You can roll all Knowledge rolls twice and take the better result. In addition, you gain an additional mouth region. This Trait can be obtained multiple times .
You are a centaur, with four or more pairs of legs. This grains +2 to Athletics rolls involving speed and running.
You have a pair of antennae on your he ad, which are sensitive to scents and pheromones. They allow you to take scent-based Perce ption rolls. If you already have this ability, they add +2 to all sce ntbased rolls.
Your tongue is forked like a snake’s. T his is part of a scent detecting mechanism within your
mouth, giving you +2 to all scent-based Perce ption rolls.
You have gills on your neck. You can breathe underwater indefinitely.
You have hard hooves, enabling you to travel extremely fast. You can run at 40 mph, and move twenty yards in a turn, should it e ver be necessary to do so.
Your body has a large open cavity within your c hest or stomach. When successfully grappling another character, you can take them into your inner compartment with y our action for the turn. While inside of you, the character cannot be attacked or attack others and cannot perceive their surroundings. They can escape only escape from your body if someone else rescues them, re quiring they beat you in an Athletics contest.
You possess ears larger than most species’. You gain +2 to all hearing-based rolls.
Your body is fluid and can shift shapes at will. You cannot be gr appled or held in any form of constraint. When grappling another character, you keep them inside of you until they break free.
You can lay eggs with one of your organs, usually your tail. These eggs can be laid within another’s anus or vagina. In order to lay eggs within someone’s body, you must either be grappling them
or have their consent. Laying eggs takes a turn, after which they cannot be removed without medical intervention. The eggs hatch one week later, and tiny offspring emerge from the appropriate cavity.
Your lower body is like that of a snake. You have no legs, only a long prehensile tail. You can use this tail to make grapple attempts, while keeping your hands free for other ac tions.
You possess a pair of functional wings. You may fly at ten yards a turn. On the character sheet, record what kind of wings you have. The choices are feathered (like a bird’s), leathery (like a bat or
dragon) and membranous (like a dragonfly).
Size Traits alter how large your character is. These Traits have no mechanical effects, but can be the subject of Preferences.
Your character is massive, at least eight feet tall. You must possess the Large Trait to gain this Trait
Your character is very large, at least seven feet tall.
Your character is petite and adorable.
You have a pair of tentacles growing o ut of your back or groin (your c hoice). You may use these tentacles to make grapple attempts, adding a +2 to the grapple roll. You c an hold someone in a grapple using your tentacles and still be able to move and act regularly on your turn. Tentacles count at their own sexual region and can make gro pe and caress actions, and can thrust, but do not receive any Pleasure from thrusting. This Trait may be obtained multiple times, adding a new sexual region each time, but the bonuses it provides to grappling do not increase.
Your tentacles are capable of fine manipulation of objects. They can wield weapons, open doors and pick locks. You must possess tentacles to gain this Trait.
Your tentacles end in penises of the same kind as your own. Your tentacles can be targeted by sexual actions as though they were e ach a penis, and can gain Pleasure from t hem as normal. You must possess tentacles to gain this Trait.
You possess an insect’s abdomen. This has all the mechanical effects of having a tail, but a
different look.
You possess a long tail. It may move to show your mood, but you can control it consciously if you want to. You gain a +2 to all rolls involving balance and gracefulness.
Your tail is sensitive and dextrous. You can pick up and wield obje cts as though it were a hand. You must possess a tail to have this Trait.
Your tail ends in a functional penis. Add Tail Penis to your list o f sexual regions. This region can make and receive all the actions a penis can, and contributes fully to its host’s Pleasure. You must
possess a tail to have this Trait.
Your tail has a mouth, and possibly eyes. It can m ake bite attacks using the statistics for t he Fang trait, and may be able to speak. (If it can speak, decide whet her you control it or if it has a mind of its own). You must possess a tail to have this Trait.
Your tail contains or ends in a functional vagina. Add Tail Vagina to your list of sexual regions. This region can receive all sexual ac tions that a regular vagina can, and contributes fully to its host’s
Pleasure. You must possess a tail to have t his Trait.
You have more than one vagina. Gain one additional Vagina sexual region.
Your clitoral hood is long and capable of moving on its own. It can make grope and caress actions during intercourse.
These Traits give your character natural weapons that cannot be removed or disarmed. All Weapon Traits function the same way, gr anting +2 to all Fighting rolls that the character makes.
Possessing more than one Weapon Trait, or c ombining the Trait with a conventional weapon, does not increase this bonus further.
These Flaws can be taken during character creation to provide more bonus points. A character can never have more than three Flaws.
Some event in your past has left you with emotional baggage. You begin play with one Sc ar.
Your diet consists solely of meat, which is typically more e xpensive than plant-based foods. Most races can eat plant foods if they need to, as meat may not always be available to them. You, however, cannot. This increases the cost of all meals you eat by one half.
You have a set of rules or principals that you live by. You must always follow the strictures of your creed. These rules must be something that can inconvenience you during play. Sample Creeds include to always help those in need, to never leave a potential sexual conquest alone or to always give your enemies a chance to surrender.
Through an accident, birth defect or purposeful removal, you’ve lost your claws. Declawing is
used in some societies as a punishment for particularly severe crimes, but more modern cultures view this as barbaric. You must originally have the Caws Trait to gain this Flaw, and you lose it upon purchasing it.
You are physically weak and mentally unstrong. You can sustain one fewer Wounds before you must roll for Surrender.
Whether deserved or not, you have a foul reputation. People are inclined to dislike or work against you as a result. Anyone who is aware of your reputation will likely treat you poor ly and will be less likely to help or cooperate with you (possibly inflicting a penalty on rolls made to influence them).
You have a hard time controlling your actions when you’re feeling horny, and you’re always
feeling horny. All attempts to induce a P assion in your character that involves lust or sex gain a +2 bonus.
During a certain season, you enter into rut. Your libido skyrockets and ever instinct you possess urges you to find a mate and have children. Choose one month of the year. Duri ng this month, your Arousal never falls below two and you take a -2 to all rolls to resist social attacks involving seduction and lust.
You have a soft spot for a cert ain action or kind of person. It could be blonds, bondage or reptiles, but regardless of the specifics, the results are the same. Any roll you make to resist a social attack that involves your weakness takes on a -2 penalty.
Chapter Five: Equipment This chapter presents the rules for equipment that the player characters are likely to come across, as well as how to purchase them.
Heart and Fur is about the subtleties o f character interaction and relationships. It is not about tracking every penny that a charac ter possesses. It is also a game designed to be played with many different settings, ranging from fantasy to contemporary to sci-fi. In order to accommodate such variety, the game uses a much more simple system of tracking wealth than many other role-playing games. Characters track their money using points called Wealth. Each Wealth represents an approximate amount of money, rather than a hard v alue. Each thing a character could buy has a rating in Wealth, which is the amount of Wealth the character must pay in order to acquire it. Most characters have some sort of job or career that provides them with a regular supply of Wealth. To represent this, characters gain points of Wealth each month that passes in t he game. The amount depends on the specifics of the characte r’s job, but should usually be between 10 and 30
Wealth. This ensures that the character always has a bit of spending cash.
A weapon
15
Pendulum
10
Book
3
Ammunition
5
Week’s cheap food
5
Week’s fine food
10
Month’s provisions
10
Dinner out
3
Fancy meal
5
Banquet
10
Night’s drinking
3
Cask of ale
7
Single beer
1
Cheap wine
3
Fine wine
7
Shot of spirits
3
Bottle of spirits
15
Average Outfit
10
Fine Outfit
20
A hovel
5/month
An apartment
10/month
A house
20/month
A mansion
40/month
An estate
70/month
An island
50/month
A used car
30
A car
50
A sports car
100
A fishing boat
30
A house boat
70
A private jet
150
A trip on an airline
10
Haircut
2
Massage
2
Hair colouration
3
Cheap prostitute
10
Skilled courtesan
15
High-end escort
30
Strip artist
20
Professional entertainer
20
Bondage Gear
5
Dildo
3
Vibrator
5
In Heart and Fur, a character’s choice of clothing does more than just express their sense of
aesthetics, it provides important mechanical effects. These sets of clothing are referred to as Outfits. Each Outfit is associated with a Personality. When wearing clothing for a certain Personality, the bonus that Personality provides increased from +2 to +3. If a character doesn’t possess the Personality for an Outfit they are wearing, they gain that Personality at its usual intensity until they remove the clothing. By presenting themselves in a certain way, a character can experiment with new ways of acting and relating to others. A character can own as many Outfits as they like, but can only wear and benefit from one Outfit at a time. Choosing what to wear to an event or night out therefore becomes an important decision. Outfits are presented here for the most common Personalities that characters can have. More can easily be created by the GM and paired with new Personalities.
In addition to outfits, characters can also gain Markings. These may be permanent tattoos, or dye applied to the fur or skin, but either way the mechanics are the same. Having a set of Markings functions like an Outfit does, but only when the c haracter isn’t wearing an Outfit. This means that when
the character is having sex, or if they are stripped in combat, they can still benefit from the effec ts of an Outfit. A character’s Markings can look like whatever t hey want, but should tie in somehow to the
Personality they enhance. Aggressive markings should be spiky and harsh, while playful ones should be bright and fun. A character can o nly have one set of Markings at a time, and cannot change them. They are recorded on the character sheet under the equipment se ction as Marking: Personality.
Aggressive
Aloof
Carefree
Compassionate
Curious
Determined
Dominant
Eager
Flamboyant
Independent
Loyal
Passionate
Playful
Practical
Proper
Proud
Random
Reckless
Rowdy
Serene
Serious
Shy
Sly
Sociable
Submissive
Tools are useful objects that a character can wield to enhance a certain Skill. Each Tool is tied to one Skill, and adds a +1 to all r olls made using that Skill. A character can own and carry as many tools as they like, but can only wield one at a time. Wielding a Tool grants the character its bonus. Switching out which Tool a character is wielding re quires forgoing their attack for the turn as they root through their equipment. Tools can take any number of forms. Some are literal tools, while others are accessories or jewelry. Characters should feel free to invent new Tools that suit their character’s tastes and talents.
A book contains useful information on a variety of subjects. It adds +1 to Knowledge rolls.
A keepsake from someone well loved. It reminds you of what’s important to you. Add +1 to
Integrity rolls. Mementos cannot be purchased, but a character can start with one at the beginning of play.
A pendulum is used to hypnotize others. It adds +1 t o Hypnosis rolls.
A strap on is a dildo that can be mounted on the wearer’s pelvis. It adds +1 to Thrust rolls.
Thieves’ tools include lockpicks and similar gadgets. They add +1 to Crime rolls.
A weapon can take any form the character desires, from a sword t o a gun to brass knuckles. Regardless of form, it adds +1 to Fighting rolls.
A whip can be used to bind and entangle opponents, adding +1 to Grapple rolls.
This section presents the rules for a wide variety of sexual equipment, from dildos to vibrators to bondage gear.
These coverings bind the individual’s arms together, removing both their hand regions from
play.
Beads are a form of dildo that is shaped like a string of beads. Putting beads into an orifice or taking them out grants a flat one Pleasure. While they are left in, they prevent the gradual loss o f Pleasure that normally occurs over time.
Blindfolds prevent their wearer from seeing, making them fail all sight based Perception rolls.
Dildos are any object designed to be inserted into a sensitive orifice for pleasure. When inserted, they prevent the loss of Pleasure over time. Dildos may be found in some pre-modern settings, made of stone or heavily varnished wood (you wouldn’t want splinters form it). They may be rare, the
domain of nobility and the elite, or commonly available to the public.
A gag removes the wearer’s mouth region from play, and prevents them from speaking. There
are a wide variety of gags in existence. Ball and bit gags ar e the most common. Ball gags are soft balls attacked to straps, while bit gags are rods that have harnesses attached. Some ball gags have an open center, allowing objects to be inserted into the wearer’s mouth. If a penis is inserted into it, its owner
gains a flat one Pleasure a round.
A favourite of wolves and other canines, leashes and collars can be used both for bondage and as a fashion accessory. When someone is wearing a leash, the holder can direct their movement and make them follow the holder around.
A spreader bar attaches to both of its wearer’s legs and holds them apart, making it impossible
to walk or deny someone access to their nether regions. Someone we aring a spreader bar cannot close their legs.
A tail raiser attaches to the wearer’s tail and back and lifts the ir tail up to allow for easier access
to their hindquarters.
A vibrator is a dildo or other sm all device that vibrates for pleasure. They are the e xclusive domain of modern and advanced settings, barring some form of magic, and provide anyone they are inserted into with one Pleasure per round.
In the world of Heart and Fur, people regularly make and consume a wide variety of potions. These elixirs can arouse, enlarge and t ransform, among countless other effects, and are collectively known as alchemies. Alchemies have three tr aits: their Quality, Delivery and Effect. In the following entries, potions are listed as follows:
Quality Effect Delivery For example, a potion listed as Strong Toxin F lask would have the Quality of Strong, the Effect of
Toxin and the delivery of Flask.
All alchemical potions have a quality, which determines both the potion’s cost and its effectiveness. A potion’s cost is based on its Quality. More importantly, a potion’s quality determined
the bonus the potion gets to its effect rolls. This is referred to as its quality roll. Quality
Bonus Price
Weak
+2
6
Moderate
+4
8
Strong
+6
10
Potions have many different delivery methods for their effects. Presented here are the more common ones.
A draught is a potion designed to be consumes orally. The user drinks it in order to make it take effect. Some people are known to take a draught, without swallowing it, and then give it orally to another. Many alchemists mix flavours into their draughts in order to make consuming them more appealing.
A flask is a small glass bottle designed to break on contact with its target and splash them with its contents. Using a flask requires throwing it at a target, requiring a successful Coordination + Ranged attack. Once successfully thrown, the flask’s contents get on the target and take effect.
Musks are airborne potions. They are aerosolised either by uncorking them and allowing them to evaporate or by burning them like sticks of incense. Once released into the air, the musk affects everyone who enters a ten yard radius around it. In enclosed spaces, this reg ion can be smaller. Due to their dispersed effects, musks act as though they were one quality lower than they actually are. A special class of musks are pheromones, which some creatures are capable of releasing naturally. These musks have no effect on the creature releasing them, but affect everyone else nearby as normal.
A salve is a paste that is applied to a weapon before use. After a salve is applied, the next successful attack that the weapon makes w ill carry the potion’s effects. Applying a salve requires t he user’s action for the turn. Once applied, salves lose their effectiveness in an hour.
A suffusion is an alchemy that builds up in th e body and is released in the individual’s fluids. After taking a suffusion, the individual’s saliva, breast milk, semen, sweat and vaginal secre tions all take on the potion’s qualities. Anyone consuming these fluids is automatically effected by the potion . The
individual who takes the suffusion is also affected by it.
Aphrodisiacs are a class of drug that induce arousal and sexual desire. They are often employed by courtesans and more socially-minded adventurers. Many bars and taverns serve drinks laced w ith mild aphrodisiacs, while providing rooms for their patrons to retire to (for a fee of course). When used, aphrodisiacs automatically roll their quality roll as a social attack, which is contested normally. Should the target be willing to have sex, the potion instead acts as a normal arousing action.
Weak Aphrodisiac Draught This is a tea-like drink common in many parts of the world. When consumed, it fills the
drinker’s body with pleasant warmth, which gradually settles in their groin.
Moderate Aphrodisiac Draught
This hard beverage has a complex, woody taste and is often mixed with other drinks. Some regions of the world are famous for its production.
Moderate Aphrodisiac Musk This honey-coloured liquid evaporates quickly when uncorked. It has a sweet fragrance,
and causes feelings of arousal in anyone who smells it.
Moderate Aphrodisiac Suffusion This sweet tasting liquid is consumed in large quantities by devotees of certain faiths.
They then have oral sex with parishioner as part of their sacred rituals.
Constricting agents splash over their target and then harden into ropy strings, binding them in place. Constrictors must be used as a flask. When thrown, the constrictor potion makes a grapple attempt against its target using its quality roll. The potion continues to roll as an opposition to its target breaking free each turn the target struggles against it. Should the target break free, the potion has no further effect.
Moderate Constrictor Flask This white potion quickly hardens into ropy strands that form a mesh of hard webbing.
A contraceptive potion is designed to prevent pregnancy resulting from intercourse. When taken by a woman, it prevents all pregnancies for a full day per quality rating.
An endowment potion increases the size of a man’s penis or a woman’s breasts. When taken, a man’s penis increases in length by one inch per quality rating, and a woman’s breasts
increase by one cup size per quality rating. These effects last one hour per quality.
Fertility enhancers promote conception and pregnancy. They improve the virility of a man’s seed or the receptibility of a woman’s womb. For species with a designated mating
period, they artificially force the body into mating mode. A fertility drug allows an extra die per quality rating to be rolled when determining if a pregnancy takes place (so a moderate Quality potion allows two extra die to be rolled). The effects of a fertility drug last for a day.
A lactate potion causes a female to begin producing milk. After it is taken, the woman’s
breasts will swell slightly and then begin lactating. They will release a small trickle mil k constantly, or a large stream if suckled on. Lactate potions last for one hour per quality rating.
Looseners cause certain muscles to relax and make penetration easier. They are often used before anal sex to allow the bottom an easier time taking the top’s penis. Taking a
loosener means that the bottom experiences no pain upon entry. Looseners come in only one quality, weak, which is sufficient for their effects to take place.
Lubricants are undoubtedly the most popular variety of alchemy. They are used to lubricate genitalia during intercourse, enhancing pleasure and reducing any possible discomfort. Higher quality lubricants contain substances that tingle or cause other pleasurable sensations. Lubricants are applied to a penis or fingers, and add their quality bonus to all pleasuring rolls that involve that region.
Mutagens are a special class of potion that change their target’s biology. They grant
their consumer a single external Trait. Once consumed, a mutagen takes a minute to take effect. During this minute, the subject’s body rapidly shifts and transforms, taking on a new form or aspect. After the minute of transformation is over, the potion remains in effect for two hours per quality rating.
Moderate Mutagen Draught This potion gives its drinker a pair of feathered wings, which are perfectly capable of
holding them aloft in flight.
Moderate Mutagen Draught Sea-breath temporarily grants its consumer functional gills, which allow them to breathe
underwater as easily as they do on land.
Strong Mutagen Draught
This potion is designed for those who want to see how the other side lives. There are two varieties of this potion, one for men and one for women. The male version grants its consumer breasts and a vagina, while the female version grant a penis and testicles.
Sensitivity boosters enhance the sense of touch and hone sexual desires to a cutting edge. These potions make it easier for their subject to become aroused and feel pleasure, decreasing their inhibition. Sensitivity boosters increase all Pleasure gained by one, and last for their quality in hours.
Moderate Sensitivity Booster Draught This potion is used by courtesans whose clients wish an especially intense, if short-lived,
experience.
Part Two: Setting The rules presented in the previous section are designed for a certain kind of roleplaying. They’re made for stories that center on character interactions and re lationships, with risks and dangers that are of a personal, social nature. Failure in these stories might jeopardise a relationships or a night’s fun, but doesn’t have far reaching consequences for the world as a whole.
The following settings are designed with this kind of roleplaying in mind, although each one puts a different twist on it. The City of Lamina takes our modern world and turns the sex up to eleven. It’s
designed for groups wanting as much eroticism and sex as possible in their stories. Student Bodies focuses on the lives and work of students at a university for wizards. It is designed for more characterdriven roleplay, with sex taking a backseat t o stories of self-discovery and friendship. The Strain offers a dark future to our own world, w here the world has been ravaged by an alien disease that transforms people into furries. It’s designed for stories of survival and ingenuity, with sex hanging over it all like a
brooding storm cloud. Should none of these settings appeal to your group, they are perfectly free to make up their own. In time, more settings will be released by Sheath Studios that can be used with the core rules presented here. Heart and Fur’s core system can also be used to tell stories in other kinds of settings, with only a
few tweaks to the kids of Motives that characters set and the kinds of Complications the GM presents to them. Some sample genres are presented here, along with ideas for Motives and Complications to use within them.
Adventure stories see the main characte rs trek into unknown lands in search or riches, glory, or exploration, or battling the forces of darkness that hail from those unknown lands. Characters in them may be dashing swashbucklers, curious researchers, or life-long t reasure hunters. Look to Indiana Jones and the Tomb Raider for inspiration.
Discover an ancient artifact before a corrupt government does.
Be the first to find an unknown land.
Become wealthy from discovering ancient artifacts.
The characters have to cross a deep ravine.
Statues come to life and block the character’s way.
The door to a ruin requires a puzzle be solved in order to open.
