Story

On September 23, a new diceless roleplaying game is set to Kickstart a renewed, refined edition, beefed up with much more content. It’s already got a surprisingly active following, with a Discord community of about 400 members running games on a daily basis.

I have complained before about how limiting categories and taxanomies can be for discussion, so let me be clear when I say that Enclave doesn’t really follow the Game in RPG in the traditional sense. It’s more a structure for stories, dealing little with traditional ideas like game mechanics and damage systems. There are diceless games that lean more heavily into those ideas, like Amber or Nobilis. But where Nobilis retains an economy of Miracle points and its own godlike power scale, Enclave is more interested in the story itself. The rules, such that there are, are as light as possible, built more to facilitate improvisation than to drive decisions. They lean on logic, negotiation, and storytelling. If your character should reasonably be able to do something, then they can. For moments where the outcome is more uncertain—or even a little over-the-top—the game uses a Luck mechanic. Luck lets players “pitch” something into the story, with more outlandish ideas requiring a higher Luck score. Pitching is tied into other stats, with Luck granting options your innate abilities don’t cover.

The overall play experience depends on conversation between players and the Conduit (the game’s facilitator/GM). Combat and other challenges are framed around what makes sense narratively rather than strict rules. If an outcome is unclear, what in other games would be determined by a dice roll, the Conduit is the deciding factor. Players can always ask for clarification on the Conduit’s rulings, though the Conduit ultimately makes the call.

Mechanically, the system remains fluid. Stats are being reworked; some are being combined or refined. One of the most interesting additions in the upcoming edition is a system of inferences. Players can ask yes/no questions about a situation, and depending on their stats, they may get additional insights. A character with high Intelligence, for example, might uncover more detail than one with low Intelligence. Spirit, among other stats, ties into this inference system as well.

Enclave also includes 12 base classes, some of which have been designed directly by players. 6 of those classes come from the base game Advent, with 6 more coming in Aspirant. The design philosophy behind classes is simple: they should be recognizable archetypes, to make clear to other players how your character functions within the narrative. There’s also a kind of “meta” progression, where creative work you do outside of sessions—such as art, writing, or other contributions—can feed back into small in-game benefits.

The setting, called Manifold, is described not as a single world but as an entire universe containing many different worlds. This approach is meant to support multiple genres, so a group could explore fantasy, sci-fi, or anything in between. Characters can even move between different groups while retaining continuity, which opens up opportunities for shared play across the community.

Game designer Robby Howell, has a track record of experimenting with unusual RPGs—one of his past designs, Homonculus, tasked each player with controlling a different part of a body as it moved through situations. This new project is his most ambitious yet, aiming to blend collaborative storytelling with player-driven creativity in a highly flexible framework.

You can find out more information at the Kickstarter page or jump into the action now on the Enclave Discord.

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