1 - Mechanics

#mechanics
The system is based upon the bell curve created by rolling 2d6, called Taking the Measure. The impetus behind this was trying to model success and failure as a window, including misses both above and below the target, and then I thought about craps. Ignoring 11 and the point system, the goal in craps is to roll a 7, which appears in 16.67% of all rolls and is the single most likely result on 2d6. 6 and 8 are the next most likely, then 5 and 9, 4 and 10, 3 and 11, with 2 and 12 the least likely. It's a pretty steep drop off.

7 = 16.67
6 or 8 = 13.89
5 or 9 = 11.11
4 or 10 = 8.33
3 or 11 = 5.56
2 or 12 = 2.78

So then I thought about what happens if instead of a flat bonus to hit and using Apocalypse World's 2d6 + stat vs a goal of 10+, what if the goal was just to get more consistent at hitting. Instead of adding modifiers to the roll, increasing a stat widens the character’s window of success around the central 7.

A character with a success window of 6 - 7 succeeds 30.56% of the time.
13.89 + 16.67 = 30.56

A 6 - 8 success window makes it 44.45.

A 5 - 8 success window, which represents a +2 widening of the window, produces a 55.56% success rate, roughly comparable to needing an 11+ on a d20 roll. The difference is distribution. A d20 has flat probability, where every result has an equal 5% chance of occurring. The Measure system clusters results around 7, creating more consistency, fewer extreme outcomes, and a much stronger sense of momentum and composure under pressure.

Because success is centered rather than thresholded, failure can occur on either side of the target. Rolling too low may represent hesitation, poor timing, or lack of commitment, while rolling too high may represent overextension, recklessness, or loss of control.

We can further modify that to have not just hits and misses, but also incorporated graduated successes.

Rule of 7 - A 7 always hits. We call it The Rule of 7. It's like a critical hit in D&D, except it doesn't double damage or whatever. It just does damage straight to the Health (or the Nerve).

Fumble - A 2 or a 12 is always a miss, called a Fumble. Fumbles always carry States with them.

Window - The target numbers you're rolling for are called your window. The base window starts at 7 for everyone.

Ability Bonus - For each bonus to an ability, the window when rolling that ability opens 1. Abilities can never go above +2.

Hit - Rolling anything inside window counts as a hit, remembering that 7s are special.

Complication - If you miss your window by 1 in either direction, that's a complication and in general you have a choice. You can hit and also take a repercussion, or you can choose to pull back into a miss. If you go through, you've accepted a risky opening to get a hit. Those repercussions may be traded damage or losing your footing or other potential repercussions (more on that later). Or, if you pull back, that represents your knowledge of the opening you would leave if you committed, and instead you deliberately pull back so as to not open yourself.

Miss - If you miss your window by 2 or more (except 2 or 12 - more on those in a bit), that's a miss. You recognize at the moment of the swing that what you were aiming for has either been covered up, or wasn't really an opening to begin with, but you can't recover in time, and suffer a repercussion. The standard repercussion is being Off-Balance, which widens the attack window your opponents are aiming for by 1. Skill trees can alter those repercussions, which are detailed elsewhere.

Fumble - If you roll a 2 or a 12, that's a Fumble. If you rolled high, you overcommitted to the attempt and cannot pull back in time, opening yourself to States. The standard repercussion for a Fumble is being Exposed, which turns all Complications into regular hits. Skill trees can alter those repercussions, which are detailed elsewhere.

Actions
Every character gets two Actions per turn, unless a Means says otherwise.
Attack - 1 Action - Only one action per turn may be used to attack, unless a Means says otherwise.

Reposition - 1 Action - This is the basic movement action. Distances are not measured in precision, but are Melee (close enough to touch something without moving), Close (within range of 1 Reposition), Medium (within range of 2 Repositions), Far (within range of 4 Repositions), and Line of Sight (within visual range). Repositioning away from Melee causes an Opportunity Attack against you.

Disengage - 2 Actions - This is the careful movement out of Melee. You can move up to Close distances without provoking an Opportunity Attack.

Use a Means - 1 Action - Means require their own Action to perform.

Cast a Spell - 1 to 4 Actions - Spells are special types of Means. The Means description will note the casting time in Actions. Casting a Spell while within Melee range causes an Opportunity Attack against you.

Rub Some Dirt In It - 1 Action - Rubbing Some Dirt In It is quick non-magical tending to a Wounded appendage until such time as proper First Aid or Magical Healing can be applied. Remove the Wounded State but keep track in case the appendage is wounded again. Using this action while within Melee range causes an Opportunity Attack against you.

First Aid - 4 Actions (or during a Rest) - This is the proper care and treatment for cuts, bruises, strains, and sprains particularly to appendages. Using this Action removes Wounded or Bleeding states. Keep track of Wounded or Bleeding appendages even you Rubbed Some Dirt In it or received First Aid.

Resting
Short Rest - No less than 15 uninterrupted minutes during which Characters take their breath, check their armor, apply bandages, hydrate, or eat a snack. Vitality, Armor, and Grit and any applicable Means reset. Wounded and Bleeding states are also cleared.

Overnight Rest - No less than 8 hours of downtime during which at least 6 hours must be spent sleeping. The rest of the time can be spent in quiet contemplation, meditation, prayer, applying First Aid or Healing, reading grimoires or tomes, communing with nature, talking with others, singing or playing music, cooking, sharpening weapons, conducting minor repairs to armor or clothing, or standing watch. Characters taking an Overnight Rest regain 1 Health and 1 Nerve, in addition to resetting Vitality, Armor, Grit, or any states such as Wounded or Bleeding.

Long Rest - A full 48 hours of downtime adhering to the same restrictions as Overnight Rest. Any strenuous activity, including working at an occupation, adventuring, marching, martial training, or vigorous exercise interrupts the Long Rest and resets the counter to 0. Characters taking Long Rests regain 3 Health and 3 Nerve, in addition to resetting Vitality, Armor, Grit, or any states such as Wounded or Bleeding.

Corruption
Using magic, whether Arcane, Divine, or Primal, is altering reality to bend to your will. When that happens, you are corrupting the very essence of existence. Creatures from outside time and space take notice of your breaches, divine beings fueled by the faith of men recognize your existence, or the very entropy resulting from the decay of matter and energy itself touches you directly. Each time you get noticed, you risk opening a rift to other dimensions, or having a deity siphon your soul to enhance its power, or the accelerating the decay of everything in localized pocket of entropy.

Integrity and Void - All characters start with a Void die that starts on 6. This is the state of the characters' metaphysical wellbeing. Whenever a character Fumbles when casting a Spell, or uses certain higher level Spells, they mark Corruption. Whenever the character's Corruption equals the value of their Void Die, they suffer a Mutation. Then reset Corruption to 0 and reduce your Void Die by 1.

Mutation - A physical or metaphysical scar reflecting the characters' repeated attempts to alter the fabric of reality.

Act of Anchoring - Any time before hitting the threshold of the Void Die, a caster may attempt an Act of Anchoring. This is a deliberate act of penance or creation—something tangible that in some way repairs arcane fractures in reality, redirects the attention of divine beings, or replaces some of the primal energy fueling the universe. Successfully performing an Act of Anchoring reduces Corruption by 1. Anchoring requires real investment of time and dedication. When you create something that does not use magic - e.g. a poem, a crafted item, a work of art, a prayer, a koan, a song - Take the Measure of whichever Ability applies to your Act. One a Rule of 7, reduce Corruption by 2. On a Hit, reduce Corruption by 1. You may attempts Acts of Anchoring once after each Long Rest, during which you must have spent at least eight hours creating something new to add to the world.

The End State - As the Void Die continues to drop (from 6 down to 1), the threshold for suffering a Mutation becomes increasingly tighter. When the die reaches 0, the caster is no more. They have been replaced by some non-Euclidean creature, absorbed by a god to fuel their divinity, or consumed by the primal universal energy in its inevitable march to entropy.