Who broke the mirror? Who broke the glass? Who took my yesterday And let it pass?
One piece remembers, One piece lies, One still dreams With borrowed eyes.
Gather the pieces, One by one. When they are mended…
Which one have I become?
You wake with no memory and empty spaces where a person ought to be.
You do not know your name. You do not know where you are, what you have done, or why someone is trying to break through the door.
Your mind remembers nothing.
Your body remembers everything.
MIND FRACTURES is a game for two to five players and a Referee. Each character begins as an empty sheet. Whenever you need an ability, you discover that you had it all along. Write it down, give it a die, and make it part of your past.
With the launch of the 2026 One Page RPG Jam, I decided to make a super-light version of AME.
Characters
AME uses Step Dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12. A d8 is competent. Characters have two Attributes and one Career.
Body covers strength, movement, endurance, reflexes, violence, injury, and physical survival.
Mind covers perception, knowledge, willpower, judgement, persuasion, investigation, craft, and technical skill.
Your Career is what you are: Detective, Pilot, Sailor, Wizard, Soldier, Scholar, Thief, Doctor, Medium, Engineer, and so on. It replaces skills and applies whenever your training, background, reputation, or habits would help.
System
When an action is risky and uncertain, roll:
Attribute + Career
The Referee chooses whether the pressure falls on Body or Mind. The player explains how their Career applies. If it does not apply, roll the Attribute alone.
One Success means the action works. Two or more Successes mean it works cleanly, quickly, quietly, or with extra benefit. No Successes means failure, delay, cost, exposure, or a worse position.
A Complication happens even if the action succeeds. It may mean harm, stress, lost time, damaged gear, witnesses, suspicion, debt, or future trouble. A Disaster means the situation turns sharply against the character.
Each character begins with 1 Nudge per session. A Nudge raises one die after rolling, usually enough to turn failure into success or a 1 into a 2. It always represents strain, luck, desperation, or cost.
Harm
Characters have no hit points. Harm comes directly off Attributes. Physical injury usually reduces Body. Shock, terror, exhaustion, psychic damage, poison, or mental collapse usually reduces Mind.
If an Attribute reaches 0, the character suffers a Critical and is incapacitated. They are out of the scene unless stabilised, rescued, or allowed one desperate final action.
Weapons
Weapons inflict base Harm on a successful attack.
1 Harm: fists, clubs, knives, improvised weapons, minor attacks. 2 Harm: swords, axes, pistols, rifles, shotguns, serious claws or bites. 3 Harm: heavy weapons, explosions, vehicle impacts, monstrous attacks, military firepower.
Extra Successes may add +1 Harm, disarm, knock down, pin, drive back, bypass cover, or create another advantage.
Armour
Armour reduces incoming Harm by its rating, from 1 to 3.
Lost Attribute points recover through rest, treatment, or genre-appropriate healing. Eight hours of rest restores 1 Attribute point. If an Attribute reached 0, the character needs urgent help before recovery can begin.
Now, if you want some help in how to integrate AME into your game, get in touch!
Main change is the clarification and standardisation of Harm when Fighting or Shooting. We present the option we use most, with a sidebar on how else it can be used.
We also fully justified the text as it was annoying AJ.
Arcane Manifold is pleased to announce Time Killers, a compact tabletop roleplaying game created as part of PocketQuest 2026.
The title began, appropriately enough, as a riff on the phrase “doing something to kill some time.” From there, it became something stranger, sharper, and much more dangerous. In Time Killers, players take the role of agents dispatched through history to ensure that certain deaths happen exactly as recorded. Not because those deaths are good, just, or merciful, but because continuity demands it.
Armed with limited equipment, buried instructions, and a fragile understanding of cause and effect, the agents arrive at critical moments where hesitation can fracture the future. Their work is ugly. Their orders are precise. Their existence may depend on obedience.
Designed for fast play, moral pressure, and time-bending complications, Time Killers combines dark humour, historical tension, and uncomfortable choices in a small but lethal package.
We’ve uploaded the AME web dice roller to the site so you can test out the probabilities and have a way of having a neat way to roll dice using a simple online tool.
It works on mobile (as you can see) and builds in the Nudge mechanics.
This is the first in a series of tools to help AME GMs understand and use the Arcane Manifold Engine system.
Plain Example of an Action
A character attempts to climb a rough stone wall.
The character rolls Dexterity d8 + Athletics d6.
Dice rolled: d8, d6
Result: 6, 1
Outcome:
The 6 counts as 1 Success.
The 1 creates 1 Complication.
The character successfully climbs the wall, but the Complication means the ascent is not clean. The GM rules that loose stones fall during the climb, making noise and potentially alerting anyone nearby.
Plain Example of Assistance
Two characters attempt to move a heavy crate blocking a doorway.
Lead: The Lead character rolls Vitality d8 + Athletics d6 Assistant: The Assistant contributes Vitality d10
All dice are rolled together: d8, d6, d10
Result: 7, 5, 1
Outcome:
The 7 counts as 1 Success.
The 1 creates 1 Complication.
The crate is successfully moved aside, clearing the doorway.
The Lead decides the Assistant takes the Complication. The Assistant slips while lifting and strains their back, slowing them for the next task.
