About the Synergy Engine

The Synergy Engine is a tabletop roleplaying system built on a single core philosophy: The Party is the Character.

In most RPGs, a group of heroes is just a collection of individuals fighting side-by-side. In a Synergy game, the characters are components of a single, modular machine. You are not defined by what you can do alone, but by how you empower the ally standing next to you.

The Core Concept: Emitters & Receivers

The engine relies on a unique mechanic called Synergy.

• The Emitter: A player uses their action to project raw elemental energy (Force, Order, Life, or Entropy) to an ally.
• The Receiver: The ally uses that energy to perform feats they could never accomplish alone.

This turns every combat round into a tactical puzzle. You don’t just ask, “What do I do?” You ask, “Who needs me right now?”

The Four Fundamental Forces

The engine replaces traditional attributes (Strength, Intelligence, etc.) with four universal Suits.

These Suits change flavor based on the setting (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror), but their mechanical function remains constant.

• CLUBS (The Force of Impact): Physicality, Violence, Instinct, Discipline, Rage, Physical Stamina, Nature, Primal Connection.
• DIAMONDS (The Force of Order): Logic, Technology, Structure, Tactics, Arcane Magic, Mental Stamina.
• HEARTS (The Force of Connection): Life, Emotion, Society, Biology, Nature, Diplomacy, Divine Magic.
• SPADES (The Force of Entropy): Shadow, Stealth, Uncertainty, Deception, Revenge.

Is it weird that HEARTS is effectively Charisma and Diplomacy, and Divine Magic, and Healing? Yes, which is why it is important for the Setting document to choose how, specifically, they will manifest as Abilities in that Setting. Yet the Core here already begins to guide us:

• Hearts Primary with Spades Secondary (unknown 2nd Secondary) – Diplomat, or Con Artist
• Hearts Primary with Spades and Diamonds – Charlatan
• Hearts Primary with Clubs Secondary – Druid or Ranger
• Hearts Primary with Diamonds Secondary – Devout Cleric

It is also easy to come up with many other combinations. This is where Authors are encouraged to write, or modify, a Setting to the desires of what works for their Players and themselves as Guides

• Clubs with Hearts – Paladin (Melee plus Divine)
• Clubs with Hearts – Berzerker (Rage with Emotion)
• Clubs with Hearts – Justicar or Inquisitor (Discipline with Society)
• Hearts with Clubs –

The Deck: Stamina & Luck

The Synergy Engine uses a standard 52-card deck to track your character’s stamina and fate.

• Solo Action: If you act without help, you must draw from your deck. Drawing the right suit grants success; drawing a Face Card of the wrong suit triggers a Complication.
• Burnout: Your deck is your lifeblood. Reshuffling requires you to permanently Burn Cards for the session. If your deck runs dry, your character suffers Burnout, degrading their stats from Master to Novice.

A Universal System

The Synergy Engine is designed to be genre-agnostic. The System Author is free to com up with names that combine a Character’s Primary Suit with their Secondary Suit that has the most points in it. If the Secondaries are equal, the Player Chooses. These names are for both clarity as well as roleplay value but have no in-game effect. Some examples:

• In Fantasy, a Club + Diamond character might be called a Spellsword (Might + Arcane).
• In Sci-Fi, a Club + Diamond character might be called a Breacher (Kinetics + Tech).
• In Horror, a Club + Diamond character might be called a Skeptical Detective (Violence + Reason).
• In Fantasy, a Club + Diamond character might be called a Spellsword (Might + Arcane), but if they put more points into their other Secondary (let us say Spades), when their points in Spades equals or exceeds their points in Diamonds, they would change from Spellsword to Thug (or Brute, Bandit, Skirmisher, Shadowblade, Stalker, Bounty Hunter… anything that in a vague way combines Might with Subterfuge).

All of these Terms for various Primary and Secondary Suit combinations will be defined by the author of the Setting in which you are playing. They are meant to bring the game alive for the Player. While the Core Concept only requires one name for each potential combination of a Primary / Secondary Suit, Author’s are free to have as many as they like – or let the Player come up with their own with Guide approval! It is very easy to argue that if this Character has 6 Points in their Primary (Clubs – Might), and a split of 5 and 1 in Spades – Subterfuge and Diamonds – Arcane, it might be very appropriate for that combination to have a different Roleplay “Class name” than a Player with a more even split of 3 and 3 in each of their Secondaries, but chooses to be a Clubs/Spades combination as well.

The rules remain the same. The story is yours to tell.

What is a Character then?

While there is still a Level concept, the notion of starting at Level 1 and progressing from there is not the Syngery standard. A Character’s “Level” describes how many points they have in their Primary Suit, which incidentally will be equal to the number of points they have in their two Secondary Suits added together.

If a Character has chosen Hearts to be Primary, and Diamonds and Clubs to be their two Secondaries (which means the fourth Suit, Spades, would be called their Void Suit), then a Character with 6 points in Hearts, and 6 points spread however they choose between Diamonds and Clubs, would be considered a “Level 6” Character to roughly describe their power and experience.

For those quick at their Math, this does indeed mean that a starting Charater must be Level TWO! — They will have two points in the Suit they chose as Primary, and one poit each in the two Suits they chose as Secondary – this also means that no Secondary can ever equal their primary, and will always be at least one point below it.

A Big Change – Leveling

While we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves now, since we have not explored what these points in Suits do, nor how this concept of “buffing” other player via Syngery, please bear with me for a moment:

Players Level up at the START of an Adventure, after comparing notes with the other Players who will be joining them!

This means your Level 2 Starting character will begin their first Adventure at Level 3, after a group comparison of who can do what, and spent a third point that must go into their Primary, and spent a third point into a Secondary of their choice.

A Player might make this choice to better suit the Adventure after the Guide reads the introduction (“We really need someone skilled in Nature and Tracking, no one is Nature Primary, but I have that as my Secondary, so I will put a point into it.”)

or to Synergize (a “buffer”, or Emitter, for a fellow Player – “We seem to have Damage and Healing well covered, and Sally is Hearts Primary so our Diplomat. I have Hearts as a Secondary I am happy to expand, so I will increase my Hearts to be able to boost (Emit) her Hearts Abilities (Sally is the Receiver).“

Another Big Change to Discuss later in more Detail – Character Death!

A Character cannot die. In such a situation, they gain a Nemesis – their “killer” or other Guide-Approved concept becomes a permanent part of the Setting and the Narrative, and ideally becomes a recurring part of the overall Story unfolding. These Nemesis are effectively promoted to Player Status. The possibilities are endless and will always be chosen by the Guide, preferably with as much input from the Party and the affects Player who triggered the Nemesis to make it a group decision that enhances the Narrative being built! There are no wrong answers. “Death” now is a critical moment where the Players and Guide co-write a side-plot into their Story (or Narrative, I use both terms interchangebly).

Example – Sally is struck down by what was supposed to be a nameless Goblin. The Party tosses around ideas, and with Guide Approval decide they want this Goblin to become a hero from their amazing feat, and develop their own tribe of followers. The Guide imagines them showing up at random times, blocking a key bridge or looting their camp while they are sequestered in some Dungeon… and of course this Goblin and it’s Tribe will need cool names and a backstory! — Another opportunity for the Players to contribute! The Guide can ask, why did this particular Goblin do so well? Is he from somewhere interesting? Does it put Pineapple on it’s food?

The Goblin, now permamently part of your Campaign/Story/Narrative, was jointly written by the Party, with the “dead” Character taking the lead, and now controlled by the evil Guide to use as a tool to create side-plots. plot twists, and outright catastrophes!

Example 2 – Sally is struck down by what was supposed to be a nameless Goblin. Sally tosses out the idea that, clearly, this Goblin must have had Divine help. The Players like this and decide this Goblin was actually a Shaman and has divine favor and spells! And this becomes Canon and Lore. Sally announces (optionally but to add to the Story) that her Character is now a sworn enemy of this Goblin’s God and she becomes a zealous Crusader (minor in-game benefit, but designed to enhance the Story). We call these voluntary changes, driven by events, Pivots:

• Epiphanies – (A Mental Shift) –
  • The Vibe: Sudden, intense clarity. The Character sees the world differently after a trauma.
  • The Mechanic: An Epiphany allows an Immediate Suit Drift.
  • Scenario: The Diamond (Logic) Mage loses to a Divine caster. They realize logic is flawed!
  • The Pivot: They declare an Epiphany. They instantly swap their Primary Suit into the Primary of their Nemesis, and the replaced Suit becomes Secondary. They didn’t train for it; they just believe it now.
  • If the Math is not at all clear on that – Sally Had 5 points in her Primary of Clubs, a Melee character.

Example 2 – Sally is struck down by what was supposed to be a nameless Goblin.