Guided Walkthrough: Your Ren Journey

This section covers the arc of your character’s relationship with Ren, from the first moment they sensed it to how they learned to wield it, which faction they ended up attached to, and where they stand in the world now.

These results are some of the most important for understanding your character’s motivations. Pay attention to what comes up.

Record on Your Sheet

The moment you first sensed Ren
Why and how you learned it
Your faction(s) and any relationships from that period
Ren Texture
World Standing
Write down any Relationships you might have gained while learning Ren (a colleague, a friend, your mentor/master). (put this in the favor section)
write down any faction relationships you have, and your main faction (put this in the favor section)

Sensing Ren

At Realm 1, you’ve sensed Ren. This is always a response to an extreme emotional or physical state. Roll d12.

d12	Moment	What Happened
1	Overwhelming Grief	At a funeral, hospital, or loss: something in the air felt heavy.
2	Blinding Anger	In a fight or argument, the world narrowed and something pulsed outward from you.
3	Terror	You were certain you were to die, and something responded.
4	Protective Instinct	Someone you cared about was in danger, and the space around you sharpened.
5	Crushing Shame	After humiliation, you felt the weight of attention like a tangible pressure.
6	Ecstatic Joy	A rare, perfect moment where everything felt connected and bright.
7	Deep Isolation	Alone for a long time — and you began to feel something watching or echoing you.
8	Moral Conflict	You had to choose, and the choice changed you.
9	Physical Exhaustion	Pushed past your limits, something steadied you from within.
10	Betrayal	In the instant trust shattered, you felt something fracture or crystallize.
11	Awe	Witnessing something vast, a storm, mountain, a crowd… and feeling its presence.
12	Quiet Realization	No drama. Just a sudden awareness that the world wasn’t empty.

Think about what that moment meant for your character. Who was involved? What were the stakes? This is one of the defining memories of their life.

Why You Learned Ren

Sensing Ren is involuntary. Pursuing it is a choice, and rarely an easy one. Roll d20.

d20	Origin	Common Values Formed
1	You were going to die if you didn’t	Survival/Strength, Freedom/Independence, Faith
2	Someone you loved was harmed	Sacrifice/Love/Companionship/Mercy, Justice, Strength
3	You were powerless and humiliated	Ambition/Wealth, Authority/Status, Mastery
4	Your family expected it of you	Tribe/Community/Family, Honor/Respect, Tradition
5	You needed answers no one could give	Understanding/Curiosity, Purity, Innovation
6	A mentor chose you	Faith, Discipline, Legacy
7	You sought out a master	Mastery, Honor/Respect, Ambition/Wealth
8	It awakened by accident	Understanding/Curiosity, Innovation, Freedom/Independence
9	You were forced into training	Survival/Strength, Authority/Status, Freedom/Independence
10	You needed to escape control	Freedom/Independence, Strength, Innovation
11	Others depended on you	Tribe/Community/Family, Sacrifice/Love/Mercy, Discipline
12	Religious revelation or calling	Faith, Purity, Equilibrium
13	A rival pushed you	Mastery, Ambition/Wealth, Honor/Respect
14	You caused harm and swore control	Discipline, Justice, Purity
15	You were weak or sickly	Strength, Mastery, Survival
16	You wanted recognition	Authority/Status, Legacy, Beauty
17	You needed to fix something broken	Mercy, Understanding/Curiosity, Innovation
18	It was something expected because of inheritance	Legacy, Tradition, Faith
19	You pursued it for the experience	Play, Curiosity, Freedom/Independence
20	Ren reacted uniquely to you	Faith, Purity, Ambition/Wealth

How You Learned Ren

Once you had a reason, someone or something had to teach you. Roll d20.

d20	Teacher	Description
1-8	Faction Group Training	Outcome-focused training. You were shaped to fulfill a role efficiently.
9-12	Military or Government Training	Standardized Drills, Battlefield application, discipline under command
13-16	Direct Apprenticeship with a Master or Specialized training	Slow correction OR High-performance environment.
17-18	Religious Discipline or academic study	Meditation, doctrine, ritual purification, Theory before Execution
19	Forbidden / Stolen / Found Texts	Knowledge without guidance
20	Survival Necessity, on your own	Learned while starving, hunted, or desperate. Trial and error without supervision.

Write down any relationships that came from this period: a mentor, a fellow student, a rival from training. Roll their status later in Who You Are Now.

Faction

Learning Ren almost always comes with strings. Very few Rennim operate without any institutional attachment. Roll d100.

d100	Faction
01–18	Lesser Guild or Local Faction (Keldar)
19–40	Eventide Brigade
41–58	Government (Imperial Dynasty, Sand Swept Princes, Tribal Council, Hammer Accord, The Assembly, A Highborn House of Dosharen)
59–73	Ren Sect (Frozen Flower / Maelstrom / Daemon / Celestial Sword)
74–79	The Gate of Zerathrain
80–85	Temple Religion
86–90	The Black Tower
91–94	Yrialin
95–96	Yliasen
97–98	The Silver Hand
99	None
100	Cult (Black Chalice, Awoken, Thousand Tongues)

Faction Relationships

Roll d100 to determine your standing with your faction. Each faction you record in the Favor section uses one of these statuses.

d100	Status	Meaning
01–14	Member	You belong and operate under their rules
15–25	Affiliated	Cooperative, no obligation
26–36	Agent	Sent to act on their behalf
37–47	Bound	You owe a debt and cannot freely leave
48–57	Independent	No formal ties, no protection
58–65	Watched	They monitor you without committing either way
66–72	Tolerated	Your presence is permitted, not welcomed
73–77	Secretly Hunted	They pursue you without anyone’s knowledge
78–81	Secretly a Member	Full membership, concealed from outsiders
82–85	Secretly an Agent	You act for them; your role is hidden
86–87	Secretly Bound	A hidden obligation holds you
88–90	Secretly Protected	Protection is real but not acknowledged
91–94	Secretly Affiliated	You work together; the connection is concealed
95–97	Hunted	Openly pursued by this faction
98	Sponsored	They support you; return is expected
99	Protected	They shelter you from outside threats
100	Secretly Sponsored	Support flows quietly; strings attached

If you rolled Hunted or Secretly Hunted, roll a d6. On a 6, you currently do not belong to a faction. On a 1–5, roll the faction table for a new faction and set your relationship status with that faction to Protected or Secretly Protected.

Faction Nuance

Roll d8. On a 1–7, the faction that taught you Ren is the same faction you’re working for now. On an 8, they’re different. Reroll the faction table for your current affiliation.

Add the faction(s) to your Relationships section

See Factions for full descriptions of each.

Ren Texture

Ren Texture describes how your Ren circulates. It determines when boons and complications trigger on a roll. Roll d6.

d6	Texture	Triggers
1–2	Tranquil	Min and Max values only
3–4	Volatile	Min, Min+1 and Max-1, Max
5–6	Rampant	Min, Min+1, Min+2 and Max-2, Max-1, Max

Tranquil is stable: fewer surprises in either direction. Rampant is swingy: more chances for things to go spectacularly right or badly wrong. Think about which fits your character’s relationship with their power.

See Ren Texture for the full mechanical breakdown.

World Standing

Now that you have a faction, roll d20 to determine your current standing within that structure and the world at large.

d20	Position
1	Hidden (existence intentionally concealed)
2	Tolerated / Hunted
3	Protected (a faction shelters you)
4	Sponsored (support with expectation of return)
5	Watched (a faction monitors you)
6–8	Independent (no faction, no protection)
9–11	Affiliated (cooperative, no obligation)
12–14	Agent (sent to act on faction’s behalf)
15–17	Bound (you owe a debt and cannot freely leave)
18–20	Member (you belong, operate under rules)

Most characters will be Members or Bound. If you rolled Independent but also have a faction, you’re in a liminal position worth exploring.

Next Step

Who You Are Now ->

License