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Expertise Engine Rulebook

Expertise Engine

by QuestWorks

A professional development-themed tabletop RPG where your expertise shapes every action. Each character has a HeroType with three unique Areas of Expertise that define how they solve problems.

Just like in the real world, success in Expertise Engine comes from knowing how to apply your expertise and work with others. It's about:

  • Learning when and how to use your professional skills
  • Figuring out when to lead and when to support
  • Growing beyond your comfort zone
  • Building trust and taking smart risks together
  • Finding creative ways to solve problems

How to Play

You can do anything that suits your character and comes to mind—fight, persuade, avoid danger, share your expertise, search for clues, etc. But you'll probably have to roll the dice!

NOTE: Expertise Engine always uses six-sided dice.

Rolling Dice

Step 1: Declare your action

Think about what your character is good at, and what they would do in this situation. Then ask, how big of a risk do I want to take? The more risky or challenging the task, the more dice you'll be required to roll. You can act alone or strategize as a team.

NOTE: Risk is contextual. The same goal may be harder or easier depending on your HeroType, the environment, your level, and what's already happened in the story.

Step 2: Quest Guide sets the difficulty

The Quest Guide sets a difficulty level between 1–9+ dice: 1 being trivial, and 9+ being near impossible. This number represents how much luck it'll take to succeed.

NOTE: Creating a favorable context with lower-risk moves first (distracting the guards, tossing a smoke bomb, breaking in at night) makes tasks that would be quite difficult (like silently taking out a target) much easier.

GM Tip: Narrate your difficulty decisions aloud by stacking context clues. This helps players follow your logic and get better at estimating risk.

Example:

"You're trying to cross a frozen bridge under fire? The wind is brutal, the bridge is unstable, and there's an archer firing at you from the cliffs. Sounds like 4 dice."

Step 3: Ready your roll

You must roll enough dice to match or exceed the difficulty. You cannot roll if you don't. You can do this by:

  • Applying expertise—each expertise used adds 1 die, as long as it clearly applies. Each expertise can be used once per action. Get creative!
  • Triggering special moves—each one reduces the difficulty by 1—but you must leave at least 1 die to roll.
NOTE: You can always roll extra expertise dice to earn more XP—but each die adds risk.

Step 3.5: Get help or scale back

    Can't meet the difficulty?

  • The team can add more expertise dice, or reduce difficulty by applying special moves
  • Adjust the goal to lessen the risk and lower the difficulty.
  • Create better conditions first—set a trap, make a distraction, scout ahead. Then come back and crush it.
NOTE: Only dice in the pool can earn XP, so special moves don't.

Step 4: Roll the dice and resolve

Once you decide to roll, the pool is locked, and all dice must be rolled sequentially in the order they were committed. Stop rolling right away when a 6 or a 1 is rolled.

  • 6: Success—the goal is achieved, cleanly
  • 1: Failure—face consequences, loss, or harm
  • 2–5s only: Look to the highest result
    • 2–3: Failure with a silver lining
    • 4–5: Success with a complication
NOTE: More dice means more chances for a higher result—but also more chances for a 1!

XP: Each player gains 10 XP for each die they personally rolled. Dice that aren't rolled due to a 6 or 1 don't grant XP.

All helpers share in both the outcome and the risk, even if they only contributed special moves.

Pacing

To keep things tense, the Quest Guide may set a Countdown Clock—a limit on how many actions the party can take before something big happens. This helps incentivize players to take higher-risk actions.

Example: You have 6 rolls before the cult finishes their ritual. Rolling a lucky 6 could extend the clock, while a 1 could speed it up.

In addition, every roll is governed by a Tension Timer—a tool for managing pacing and introducing time-based challenges. The timer adds urgency and pressure to player decisions by providing a limited window to:

  • React to a situation (30 seconds - shortest duration)
  • Sync efforts or make a quick collective decision (60 seconds - medium duration)
  • Plan next moves more thoroughly (90 seconds - longest duration)

The Quest Guide sets the timer as soon as the situation is described. Within the allotted time, players must declare their intent, learn the difficulty, AND build their dice pool. If they fail to complete all steps before time runs out, the action fails automatically.

Beyond Failure & Success

Once per session, you may do the following:

Push Your Luck: After rolling a 6, you can roll another die to press your advantage—but risk undoing your success if you fail.

Pay a Price: If a 1 is rolled, you can pay a price to avoid the instant failure and continue rolling. Pay a price by sacrificing something important to you that fits the context—like your supplies, your reputation, or extra health.

Combat & Health

Combat is simple and high-stakes. Describe what you're trying to do (gain a tactical advantage, disarm, wound, decapitate, etc.) and the Quest Guide will set the difficulty—just like any other action.

Enemies are defeated when it makes sense to the Quest Guide that they would be, and they deal as much damage to players as makes sense to the Quest Guide considering the context, their might, and the player's roll results. 1 damage for glancing blows, up to 6 damage for beyond-lethal ones.

NOTE: This system doesn't use stat modifiers or numerical penalties to rolls. Damage is tracked through health and armor. Any consequences beyond that are fictional—like being separated, disarmed, or stuck—until you recover or regroup.

Armor

Armor can absorb damage, point for point. When it runs out, your health is at risk. Damaged armor is useless until it is repaired.

NOTE: Opponents and NPCs never roll. Only players do.

Defeat

At 0 HP, you're temporarily out of action—with lasting consequences to your wellbeing. Recovery requires proper rest or healing.

You have two options instead of simply being knocked out:

Last Stand: When you hit 0 HP, you may immediately succeed at a final heroic action of medium difficulty before you're knocked out. Choose one of your expertise to fuel the move—it becomes completely unavailable until you complete a quest to restore it. No roll required.

A Hero's Death (Level 7+): If your character is level 7 or higher, you may choose death. In exchange for the ultimate sacrifice, you succeed at an impossible task—something no combination of rolls, moves, or strategy could have accomplished. The cost: your character dies permanently, and you'll start over with a brand-new character at level 1.

Edge

Each character has one of these Edges, granting a once-per-session special move:

  • Plotter: "I already planned for this."
  • Crafter: "I can make a gadget for this…"
  • Driver: "I beat them to it!"
  • Spotter: "I know a better way…"

Character Sheets

The Rogue

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Areas of Expertise

1. Finesse

Sneaking, acrobatics, lockpicking, sleight of hand, precise strikes, careful words—when delicate touch beats brute force. You're agile and have killer reflexes.

2. Insight

Assessing situations, finding weak points, spotting traps, spying, identifying patterns—you see opportunities that others miss.

3. Adaptability

Street smarts. Blending in. Manipulating situations. Doing things that have never been done before.

Special Moves

  • Roguish Talent: Choose one talent (use this during play):
  • Mastermind: When a teammate follows a plan you set up during a heist, infiltration, or sabotage.
  • Backstab: When you attack from the shadows.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 10
  • Leather Armor (1 armor points)
  • Twin Daggers
  • 3 Throwing Knives (Restock as needed)
  • Adventure Gear: 5 uses (e.g., rope, tools, etc.)
Inventory
Journal

The Mystic

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points
  • Regeneration: In combat, you can use a turn to regenerate one health.

Areas of Expertise

1. Connection

You are inextricably linked to all of nature—flora, fauna, and fungi.

2. Balance

You understand how everything fits together—people, ideas, places, environments.

3. Flow

Change, energy, and transformation. You are one with it.

Special Moves

  • Animal Whisperer: When you want to speak with an animal.
  • Shape Shift: When you turn into a non-magical animal and act in a way that suits that form.
  • Boon: When you alter the natural landscape around you to help your team reach a hard-to-access location.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Robes - No Armor Points
  • Steel-Pointed Staff
  • Herbs: 5 uses (heals 1 point of health per use)
Inventory
Journal

The Ranger

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Animal Companion

Areas of Expertise

1. Environment

Your familiarity with the wilds—and the creatures that inhabit them—make you a skilled tracker, scout, hunter.

2. Vigilance

Your watchful eye, survivalist knowledge, and swift reflexes help you keep people alive in harsh conditions. Think archery, trap-setting, crafting, or standing guard.

3. Direction

Your instinct for navigation guides you through uncertain territory and sharpens your aim.

Special Moves

  • Always Alert: When you enter combat and act before anyone else.
  • Tools of the Trade: When you need to make a specific weapon, tool, or substance.
  • Trusty Bow: When you shoot an arrow in a moment of crisis.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Leather Armor - 1 Armor Points
  • Spear (throwable)
  • Hunter's Bow with a bundle of 5 arrows (ammo = how many times you can miss)
  • Adventure Gear: 5 uses
Inventory
Journal

The Maverick

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points max

Areas of Expertise

1. Risk

Odds, chances, and big swings. Your second nature.

2. Chaos

Disorder. Mayhem. Upheaval. Revolution. It's like your oxygen.

3. Power

Who has it, who wants it, who's gonna get it next. And, if something takes brute force, you're the one for the job.

Special Moves

  • Vice: When you give into your vice.
    Choose your vice:
  • Bold Gambit: When you act on an aggressive, unconventional plan with total confidence.
  • Rage: When a teammate gets hurt and you strike back immediately.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Chainmail - 3 Armor Points
  • Great Axe
  • Adventure Gear: 5 uses
Inventory
Journal

The Vanguard

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Areas of Expertise

1. Leadership

Commanding attention, rallying allies, intimidating foes.

2. Tactics

You know your way around conflict—and any weapon, tool, or technique involved.

3. Strategy

You can read and predict the flow of conflict.

Special Moves

  • Signature Weapon: You carry a unique weapon. Using its special quality counts as a special move.
  • Charge: When you see a chance to turn the tide of battle.
  • Protector: When you stand in direct defense of a teammate.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 22
  • Plate Armor – 2 Armor Points
  • Shield
  • Enter Signature Weapon name here
  • Adventure Gear: 5 uses
Inventory
Journal

The Magister

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points
  • Arcane Shield: You have a magical shield that passively blocks 1 damage.

Areas of Expertise

1. Theory

Casting spells, understanding magical forces, and applying your academic or arcane knowledge.

2. Analysis

Breaking puzzles, revealing illusions, solving riddles—when complex situations need solving.

3. Research

You're a quick study and learned scholar. If it happened, might happen, or could happen, you've probably read about it.

Special Moves

  • Magic Specialty: Choose your specialty:
  • Magic Bolt: When you shoot pure magic (ice, fire, psychic—you decide!) at a target.
  • Wise Wizard: When a teammate asks for your help, your advice is always relevant.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Robes - No Armor Points
  • Staff or Wand (Describe it!)
  • Bag of Books: 5 uses (Add a die when you share your expertise)
Inventory
Journal

The Saint

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Areas of Expertise

1. Faith

Support, belief, protection, and healing. Your connection to the divine.

2. Spirit

Birth, death, the afterlife—you're deeply familiar with it all.

3. Empathy

You are emotionally, mentally, and physically attuned—extraordinarily so.

Special Moves

  • BLESSED ONE: When you channel your god's power to make magic within their domain or pray for information.
  • HOLY WARD: When you protect or heal someone—or something—using divine magic.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Robes (Describe them!) – No Armor Points
  • Divine Staff (Describe it!)
  • Poultices & Herbs: 2 uses (Heals 1 point of health per use)
Inventory
Journal

The Charmer

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Areas of Expertise

1. Influence

You just… get people. You know what makes them tick.

2. Expression

The arts, the emotions, the performance—you've mastered them.

3. Culture

You can show up anywhere and fit right in. You've been there, you've done that—you've probably even heard songs about it.

Special Moves

  • Arcane Art: When you perform art to create a magical effect–influence, healing, empowerment, and more.
  • Been There: When you reference a person, place, or trend to gain trust or open doors.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Leather Armor – 1 Armor Point
  • Needlepoint Sword
  • Pipeleaf: 5 uses (extra die to persuasion rolls when smoked with someone)
Inventory
Journal

The Warden

Basic Information

  • Name: Enter your info
  • Level: 1
  • Health: 3 points

Areas of Expertise

1. Justice

You know every law and code—and when to break them for the greater good.

2. Judgment

You can always tell what's… off.

3. Control

You naturally command respect and inspire order. Your movements project focus and discipline in all things—from speech to steel.

Special Moves

  • Virtuous: When you act in a way that honors your vow:
  • Places, Everyone: When a teammate follows your direction in combat.

Gear

Equipment
  • Coin: 5
  • Weapons & Armor:
    • Scale Armor – 2 Armor Points
    • Longsword
  • Bandages: 5 uses (heals 1 point of health per use)
Inventory
Journal

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