Esoteric Enterprises: Maintenance and Preservation Player's Guide

I've been thinking about running Esoteric Enterprises in person at a game store. The amount of paperwork necessary (class reference sheets, huge equipment list, huge spell list, starting tomes, starting gods...) put me off at first, but the Maintenance & Preservation concept lets me discard all that and fit everything on a single double sided page. That plus a character sheet with some info pre-filled in (like saving throws) gets us most of the way there. I have no idea what resonates with normal people but I know the "blue collar urban exploration horror" concept has been popular lately in games like Lethal Company.

I ended up not converting the skill system to d20 roll-under because I want to limit how much of the base game I rewrite. 

Welcome to Maintenance and Preservation, an industrial horror adventure game of urban exploration. This document will teach you how to make a character and play.

1: ABILITY SCORES
To generate ability scores, roll 3d6 each for

• Strength (fighting, athletics and breaking things)
• Dexterity (shooting, stealth, avoiding damage)
• Constitution (toughness and resilience)
• Intelligence (medicine, translation, intellectual tasks)
• Wisdom (perception, magic defense)
• Charisma (charm, contacts, reaction rolls)

Ability scores are used to generate ability score modifiers, which affect other things on your character sheet.

Raw Ability Score	Modifier
3-	-3
4 to 5	-2
6 to 8	-1
9 to 12	0
13 to 15	+1
16 to 17	+2
18+	+3

If your attributes don’t look good to you (more negative modifiers than positive), you can invert them. Subtract 21 from each ability score to get its inverted value. You must either invert all scores or none.

2: FLESH AND GRIT
You’ve got two types of HP: flesh and grit. Grit is a fast replenishing HP pool that protects your vulnerable flesh, which is harder to restore. Some nasty attacks bypass grit and go straight to flesh.

You start with D6 of each. Apply your constitution modifier to the numbers rolled.

When you level, you gain D6 grit and 1 flesh.

3: STARTING EQUIPMENT
You start the game with the following items.

• CHOOSE Light Weapon (D8+STR, Light) or Hand Weapon (D10+STR)
• Protective Coveralls (12+DEX AC, Light)
• Flashlight (Light)
• Respirator
• CHOOSE Crowbar or Shovel
• CHOOSE Skill Specific Item (eg Toolbox for Technology, Climbing Gear for Athletics, etc)

A character can carry 5 items (modified by STR) before they take encumbrance penalties to their skills. The penalties worsen at 10,15 and 20 items. Light items don’t count against the total. Remember to leave room for things you find in the underworld.

4: SKILLS
There are 10 skills in the game. The base rating for all skills is 1 in 6, adjusted by your ability score modifiers.

You can add 6 more skill points to these modified ratings. Skills can’t go over 6.

Each time you level up, you get to add 2 additional skill points.

• Athletics is modified by STR. It lets you run away, climb things and wriggle through tight spaces.
• Charm is modified by CHA. It lets you make a good first impression, and convince people to do things (or not do things) for you.
• Contacts is modified by CHA. It lets you gather information, track down items you want to buy, and get warnings about danger from people you trust.
• Forensics is modified by WIS. It lets you track people and monsters, and search for hidden clues that aren’t obvious to the casual observer.
• Medicine is modified by INT. It lets you stop people from dying of horrible wounds, heal lost Flesh, and diagnose/treat exotic diseases.
• Perception is modified by WIS. It lets you detect NPCs and creatures, and traps before triggering them.
• Stealth is modified by DEX. It lets you sneak around without being noticed by NPCs, and scout ahead of the group to defeat ambushes.
• Technology is modified by INT. It lets you interface with computers, repair machines, disarm traps and pick locks.
• Translation is modified by INT. It lets you read other languages, but its main use is casting spells from scrolls.
• Vandalism is modified by STR. It lets you smash things, open things and perform feats of strength to unblock obstacles.

 

5: CHARACTER CONCEPT
Now that you’ve got the mechanical details ironed out, think about what kind of person your character is.

PLAYING THE GAME

HOW DO I…
Attack?
Roll a D20 and add your STR modifier if attacking with a melee weapon, or your DEX modifier with a ranged weapon.

Make a Saving Throw?
Roll a D20 and add whatever ability score modifier is associated with the save, and try to get equal to or over the number listed on your character sheet.

• Stunning and Poison are adjusted by your Constitution modifier.
• Hazards is adjusted by Dexterity
• Machines is adjusted by Intelligence
• Magic is adjusted by Wisdom

 

Test a Skill?
Roll a D6 and try to get equal or under your skill rating, plus or minus any modifiers.

• Skills at 6 in 6 only fail if you roll two 6s on 2d6
• Skills at 0 in 6 (or lower) only succeed if you roll two 1s on 2d6

 

Level Up?
To get to the next level, complete jobs equal to your current level. That means you need to complete one job to get to Level 2, then two MORE jobs to reach Level 3, etc. Retreating or abandoning a job counts as half for advancement purposes.

When you level, you gain D6 grit, 1 flesh, and 2 skill points.

ROUNDS VS TURNS
A round is the time it takes to perform an action in combat. It lasts a few seconds

A turn is the time it takes to perform an exploration activity, like searching a new room. It lasts a few minutes.