LINK: RISE is a hack of the game LINK by Riley Rethal (at https://metagame.itch.io/link). In the game of LINK, two pilots are synchronized when driving a mech, and must keep that sync going even as memories flood their connection. LINK: RISE adds mechanics to add a mechanical endpoint to the game and escalate its pace.

New Rules

Scenes

At the beginning of the game, three 7-step clocks are set to zero: mission, danger and enemy. The mission clock represents the PCs furthering the mission they set for themselves; the enemy clock represents the enemy of the LINK game getting what they want. The danger clock represents the escalation of threats: when it fills, the player characters are removed from the action by those dangers.

Players play LINK, except that rather than pull cards from the top of the deck, they each have a hand of three cards and choose a card from their hand to play each round in turn. They also cannot tell each other what cards they have in hand; the player whose turn it is to play the first card can, however, can tell the other player about the color or numeric value of the card they’re about to play. Once the round is done, a new one starts where the other players tells the other the same characteristic (color or value) for the card they are about to play. Then play continues in turn with players telling each other value, then color, then value, and so on.

When it’s a player’s turn to play a card first, they also get first say in setting the scene for that specific prompt unless the prompt says otherwise.

After each scene, players note down which combination was played (that is, which rule of LINK they followed to build their narration) and ask themselves the following questions:

• Did what happened aid the characters in completing their mission? If so, the mission clock advances.
• If no: Did what happened put the characters in increased danger? If so, the danger clock advances.
• If no: Did what happened help the enemy reach their objectives? If so, the enemy clock advances, unless we want to put ourselves in more danger (then the danger clock advances).

A scene can be Safe, Risky or Dangerous:

• a safe scene can have all the questions be answered by a no. It may mean, for example, that a scene that doesn’t advance the mission clock does not necessarily advance one of the negative clocks.
• a risky scene requires at least one question to be answered yes; if you don’t know which one, you generally advance the fiction to figure out which (typically the danger clock). This means that if the mission clock doesn’t advance, a negative clock will.
• a dangerous scene is like a risky scene, but then you must advance the danger or enemy clock one additional time. Players describe what this means in the context of the fiction; as per the prompts above, advancing the danger clock means that the fictional position of the players worsens, while advancing the enemy clock means that the enemy has gotten closer to achieving what they desire.

To figure out which kind of scene this is, look at the number of times your combination has been played:

• If it’s the first time, it’s safe; otherwise, it’s risky.
• Overloads are the exception. If it’s the first two overloads, it’s risky; otherwise, it’s dangerous.
• Every third scene, the minimum a scene can be is risky. So, if you get two safe scenes and you get a third that would be safe, it is instead upgraded to risky. This only affects scenes that would be otherwise safe; risky and dangerous scenes remain risky or dangerous respectively.

Then, players refill their hand. If their danger clock is 0 or 1, they draw until they have 3 cards in hand. With 2 or 3, they draw until they have 2 cards instead. With 4 or more, they draw to one, and no longer can tell each other color or value before playing for the rest of the game.

Ending

In addition to the rules for ending the game in LINK (at the end of the deck, or at the end of the narrative), the clocks may also end the game. If any clock fills, the game is immediately over.

Once the game is over, the players decide on their outcome, which depends on the degree the clocks were filled:

• If the mission clock was filled, then your decisive action accomplishes what you are hoping for. If it wasn’t, but it was at least 4/7, then, no matter what happens, something you hoped for comes to pass.
• If the danger clock is filled, you are removed from the action at great cost to you. If it wasn’t, but it was at least 4/7, then, no matter what happens, it comes at some cost to you.
• If the enemy clock is filled, your enemy wins every objective they set out to achieve. If it wasn’t, but it was at least 4/7, then, no matter what happens, something happens that gives your enemy say about your future.

Play notes

If I had to play this again, I would probably shrink the danger and enemy clocks to 5 instead; the ending rules would kick if it’s half-filled (3/5 or more) instead of 4/7.