No-Dice RPG is built in layers, not silos.
Each layer answers a different question and can be combined flexibly to support many play styles and genres.

At a high level:

Core Rules define how to play.
Extensions define how the game behaves.
Content Packs define what exists in the world.

This separation allows No-Dice to remain rules-light at its core while scaling up to support complex campaigns and many genres.

Question answered:
What is the minimum needed to play No-Dice?

The Core Rules contain:

• The Core Kernel (conflict resolution, cards, bids, outcomes)
• The absolute minimum additional rules needed to run a card-driven, quasi-RPG experience

With only the Core Rules, you can already:

• Resolve conflicts
• Represent Actors
• Run short scenarios or tactical encounters

The Core Rules are:

• genre-agnostic
• setting-neutral
• intentionally small and stable

Everything else in the system is optional.

All entities in No-Dice are represented as Actors.

Actors can describe:

• People (PCs, NPCs, monsters)
• Places (terrain, buildings, cities, planets)
• Things (equipment, vehicles, objects)

Actors may:

• participate in conflicts
• hold Extensions
• apply Abilities or Conditions
• inherit effects from other Actors

This unified model allows content from almost any RPG system to be translated into No-Dice without special cases.

Question answered:
How detailed, gritty, or complex is play?

Extensions are optional rule modules that add or modify mechanical behavior.

They:

• introduce new systems (not new fiction)
• define how things work, not what things exist
• are setting-agnostic by default
• can be enabled or disabled independently

Examples of what Extensions do:

• define how equipment functions
• add hit locations or injuries
• introduce magic or other extraordinary powers
• enable social conflict, vehicles, or downtime play

Key rule:
> Extensions never depend on Content Packs.

An Extension must stand on its own and degrade gracefully when disabled.

Question answered:
What kind of world are we playing in?

Content Packs are curated collections of fictional material designed to work with one or more Extensions.

They typically include:

• lists of People, Places, and Things
• genre-appropriate assumptions
• example Actors and templates
• guidance for converting material from other RPGs

Content Packs may:

• recommend Extensions
• assume certain mechanics are available
• suggest optional rules for tone or grit

Key rule:
> Content Packs may depend on Extensions.

Extensions never depend on Content Packs.

This one-way dependency keeps the system modular and future-proof.

A GM builds a game by choosing:

1. The Core Rules (always on)
2. A small number of Extensions (how crunchy?)
3. One or more Content Packs (what kind of world?)

Examples:

• Fantasy + Sword & Sorcery Content Pack
  • with Equipment and Injury Extensions
• Modern + Espionage Content Pack
  • with Social Conflict and Reputation Extensions
• Sci-Fi + Space Opera Content Pack
  • with Vehicles and Mythic Extensions

Nothing is locked in. Everything is remixable.

No-Dice is designed to emulate, not replicate, other RPG systems.

Using:

• Conversion Guides
• Extensions
• Content Packs

a GM can take:

• characters
• monsters
• equipment
• adventures

from another RPG and represent them as No-Dice Actors with equivalent narrative weight and mechanical function.

The goal is not 1:1 math — but 1:1 meaning at the table.

If it can be described as People, Places, and Things,
> it can be played in No-Dice.

Everything in the system exists to support that promise.