Broken Compass is a cinematic tabletop RPG designed to emulate high-octane adventure stories like Indiana Jones Tomb Raider . The game uses the Fortune System
, a fast-paced d6 dice pool mechanic that prioritizes action over complex math. Core Mechanics: The Fortune System
Instead of adding numbers to meet a target, you roll a pool of d6s and look for matching sets Success Levels : A pair (2 of a kind). : Three of a kind. : Four of a kind. Impossible : Five of a kind. Taking Risks
: If you don't roll enough matches, you can "Take a Risk" by rerolling non-matching dice. However, if the risk fails, you lose a level of success from your original roll.
: If you have expertise in a skill, you can reroll non-matching dice without the penalty of losing success. Character Creation Characters are defined by
—archetypes like "The Pilot" or "The Professor"—which provide your starting skills and fields. Skills & Fields
: There are six main skills, each with three sub-fields. You fill "diamond slots" based on your tags to determine how many dice you roll for challenges.
: This acts as your "Health." You start with 10 Luck Points. Failing to overcome a danger reduces your Luck; when it hits zero, your character faces "Certain Death". Game Structure Fortune Master (FM)
: The game's narrator who sets the scenes, manages rivals, and controls the "Doomsday Clock". Episodes & Seasons broken compass rpg pdf work
: Games are structured like a TV show. A single session is an "Episode," and a campaign is a "Season" (typically about 10 sessions). Doomsday Clock
: A 12-slot timer that advances when the story takes a dark turn, leading to a final climax. www.gamingtavern.uk Where to Find the PDF The game was originally developed by Two Little Mice but was acquired by (CoolMiniOrNot).
Broken Compass is an adventure tabletop RPG inspired by cinematic icons like Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, and Nathan Drake. It uses the Fortune System, a rules-light mechanic where players roll pools of six-sided dice to find matching sets (pairs, triples, etc.) to overcome challenges.
The following narrative is a representative "story" of how a typical game session—or "Episode"—unfolds using the rules found in the core Adventure Journal PDF. The Heist at the Cenote: A Gameplay Story
The scene opens in the humid jungles of a remote island. Our protagonist, an "Ordinary Librarian" with a knack for trouble, has just found a clue: to find the hidden treasure, they must "go up to go down, and down to go up".
The Climb (The Challenge): The Adventurer scales the highest peak of the island and discovers a hidden cenote. To proceed, they must dive into the water and swim through a flooded tunnel. The Fortune Master (GM) declares this a Critical Challenge (requiring a triple match).
The Dive (The Roll): The player rolls their pool of dice. They don't get a triple, only a pair. Because Broken Compass uses a "fail forward" mentality, the player still makes it through the tunnel, but at a cost—they lose Luck points (the game's version of health).
The Trap (The Danger): Inside the ruin, a crushing ceiling begins to descend. This is a Mortal Danger. If the player fails their roll here and has no Luck left, they must flip their Luck Coin to stay in the story. Broken Compass is a cinematic tabletop RPG designed
The Treasure (The Goal): Reaching the final chamber, the Adventurer finds a massive stone door with six icons: a skull, a sword, a crown, a castle, a cross, and an anchor. After debating which icon fits their earlier clues, the player turns the key. The door grinds open to reveal Henry Morgan's missing ship, laden with gold.
The Rival (The Climax): Just as they reach for the gold, their Rival—a ruthless mercenary—blasts through the cavern wall. The Adventurer doesn't just fight; they escape by firing the ship's ancient cannons, sinking the Rival's luxury yacht in a cinematic chase back to the open ocean. Core Storytelling Elements
The narrative structure of a Broken Compass game is designed to mirror a television series:
Pilot Episode: A standalone session used to introduce the characters and world.
Seasons: A connected series of episodes (typically 3–6) forming a complete story arc.
The Doomsday Clock: A 12-slot timer that advances when the story takes a dark turn, building tension until the "Midnight" finale. Available PDF Resources
If you are looking for the official digital works, they were originally published by Two Little Mice and CMON:
Running Broken Compass online requires specific "broken compass rpg pdf work" to translate tactile dice rolling into a digital format. DriveThruRPG: The gold standard for RPG PDFs
The first step to making the PDF work is ensuring you have a clean file. Broken Compass is published by Two Little Mice. You can purchase the PDFs directly via:
Warning: Pirated scans often lack OCR (Optical Character Recognition). If your PDF viewer cannot search for the word "Adventure" or "Success," the file will not work for quick rules lookup.
| Issue | Possible Fix | |-------|---------------| | PDF won't open / is corrupted | Re-download from your library. Try a different PDF reader (Adobe Acrobat, Foxit, Preview on Mac). | | Hyperlinks don't work | Some readers (e.g., Chrome PDF viewer) disable links. Use dedicated software. | | Missing bookmarks | Update to the latest PDF version (CMON released v1.1 or v1.2 for core rules). | | Form-fillable character sheet not saving | Save a copy first, or use "Print to PDF" after filling. | | Page layout shifted / fonts wrong | Ensure you're not using "Fit to Width" with scaling. Reset zoom to 100%. |
Broken Compass solves a specific problem in the tabletop space: it makes adventure pulpy without being cumbersome. Unlike Savage Worlds (which can be crunchy) or Fate (which can be abstract), Broken Compass hits a "medium crunch" sweet spot.
The PDF work complements this by being searchable and portable. For a game about traveling the globe—from the icy peaks of the Himalayas to the jungles of the Amazon—the PDF format allows a GM to carry an entire campaign's worth of setting lore and bestiary in a single file.
The search for "broken compass rpg pdf work" usually begins with a technical headache—a slow file, a lost table, or a confusing rule. But once you master the workflow (using the right reader, printing the GM appendix, and understanding the Fortune economy), this PDF transforms from a static document into a jet engine for adventure.
Broken Compass works best when you treat the PDF as a toolkit, not a rulebook. Take the maps. Steal the Q.T.F. sequences. Ignore the obscure modifiers. The system is designed to be broken—in the sense that it wants you to abandon rigid simulation for cinematic storytelling.
So download your PDF, extract those cheat sheets, gather your dice, and ask your players one question: "What do you do?"
Because in a broken world, a broken compass is the only thing that points true north.
Have you made the Broken Compass RPG PDF work for your group? Share your homebrew rules and VTT tips in the comments below!