About the Game — The World of Qualin

What is The World of Qualin?

The World of Qualin is a tabletop roleplaying game — a cooperative storytelling experience for a group of friends. Most players take on the role of a single character, called a Player Character (PC). One player takes the role of the World Master (WM), guiding the story, voicing the world, and adjudicating what happens when fate steps in.

The game unfolds as a back-and-forth: the WM describes the scene, players say what their characters do, and dice are rolled when the outcome is uncertain. Out of that conversation grows shared adventures full of risk, wonder, and unforgettable moments.

Adventure in Qualin takes many forms — combat, exploration, crafting, conversation, and discovery.

Awakened Characters

Your character is one of the awakened animals of Qualin: creatures who rose to consciousness on the day the world changed. Choose from species across ten broad families — canines, felines, ursines, avians, amphibians, weasels, rodents, reptiles, ungulates, bats, and insects — each shaped by where they grew up and how they were raised.

Building Your Hero

Species: the natural gifts of your kind.
Environment: the land that raised you — forest, plains, mountains, swamp, urban, and more.
Upbringing: the society and culture that shaped your worldview.
Packages: training paths such as Combatant, Healer, Explorer, Knowledge Mage, Padfoot, Performer, Artificer, Survivor, and many others.
Life Path: a personal narrative spanning your past, present, and future ambitions.

Your Life Path turns mechanics into story — every hero has a past worth remembering.

Core Attributes & Skills

Heroes are defined by four core attributes — Body, Coordination, Mind, and Presence — supported by a wide range of skills. Together they form dice pools used to resolve any uncertain action.

Dice Pools & Checks

Qualin uses a clean, narrative dice-pool system. When a character attempts something risky, they assemble a pool of dice from their attribute, relevant skill, tier, and any abilities or assistance, then roll against a difficulty target. Each die that meets the threshold counts as a success, and exceptional rolls produce exceptional results.

Skill Checks for general actions — perception, athletics, stealth, lore, and more.
Ability Checks for the special powers granted by your packages.
Reaction Checks when the world acts upon you.
Opposed Checks when two wills meet head to head.

Build your pool, roll, and let the dice carry the story forward.

The Trek System

Travel is not a fade-to-black in Qualin. The Trek System turns every journey into its own story, divided into legs defined by terrain, climate, ambient hazards, and distance. Each leg unfolds across three phases:

1. Planning Phase

Before setting out, the party prepares: gathering knowledge, choosing routes, securing supplies, and weighing risks. Players consult maps, seek local advice, and make decisions that will shape what comes.

2. Journey Phase

As the party travels, the world reveals itself in unexpected ways — hazards, strangers, hidden wonders, and unforeseen dangers. The journey is a test of resourcefulness, teamwork, and the ability to seize opportunities as they arise.

3. Arrival Phase

At the end of each leg, the party reaches a milestone: a safe haven, a new frontier, or the threshold of their destination. The party reflects on what they have gained, lost, or learned, and the results of their trek shape the next steps of the adventure.

Diverse trek environments — Each landscape brings its own challenges and rewards.

Trek encounters — Encounters can be dangerous, helpful, or stranger still.

Resources & Crafting

The world is rich with raw materials waiting to be gathered and transformed. The crafting system in Qualin is built around resources, skill checks, and materials that matter — the choice of oak versus ironwood, of common steel versus moonsilver, changes what your finished item can do.

Resource Categories

Plant-based — woods, fibers, herbs, and reagents.
Animal — hides, horn, bone, and rare components.
Mineral — ores, stone, and crystal.
Arcane & Magical — essences and rare reagents bound to the planes.
Salvage — the relics and remnants of the lost civilizations.

What You Can Make

Forge weapons and armor, brew potions, refine poisons, and assemble traps and adventuring gear. Talented Artificers, Alchemists, and tinkerers can turn raw resources into items with unique properties drawn from the materials themselves.

A crafter at work — Craft worthy gear from the bones of a broken world.

Brewing potions — Alchemy lets you bottle the strange and the wondrous.

Combat & Conflict

Combat in Qualin is fast, tactical, and storytelling-first. Turns are tracked through a flexible combat order, with positioning, difficult terrain, and cover all mattering. Armor soaks damage, takes wear, and can be repaired. Conditions, resistances, and vulnerabilities give every encounter its own texture.

Position, planning, and a little luck decide the day.

Magic & Spellcraft

Magic in Qualin is woven into the everyday and the legendary alike. Spells are organized around the situations they shine in:

Damage Spells — the fire and fury of conflict.
Trek & Travel Spells — magic that bends the road to your favor.
Exploration Spells — light, sight, and the unraveling of secrets.
Social Encounter Spells — subtle charms, persuasions, and revelations.

From a candle's flame to the shape of the storm.

Downtime & Companions

The time between adventures matters. Use downtime to gather information, conduct focused research, or train new skills. Form a Companion Bond with a loyal animal partner, build relationships in the towns you visit, and turn rumors into your next quest.

The Companion Bond brings a loyal ally into the story.

For the World Master

The World Master guides the story, runs the creatures and characters of the world, and helps the players experience Qualin. The rulebook includes guidance on running the game, building fair and interesting combat encounters, designing exploration, distributing rewards, and structuring full campaigns.

Step into the World →