The Grit System One-Page SRD

Get the system behind Stillfleet

The Grit System is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) engine that was designed to help players new and old weave stories that contain moments of high drama—and to let the players direct that drama.

The Grit System's dice-rolling is intuitive, and its powers are unforgettable. The designers set up this combination of features to support all genres of game, from the simplest of dungeon-delves to the most biting political satire.

The Grit System is a "rules-bright" set of rules in which a player character's scores are dice, and they have a resource called grit (GRT) that can fuel special powers or boost any roll.

The Grit System powers the sci-fi roleplaying game Stillfleet, the cartoon animal eco-apocalypse game Blister Critters, the low-fantasy historical game Danse Macabre: Medieval Horror Roleplaying, the high-fantasy portal fantasy game The Sometimes Kingdom RPG, and many other games to come.

Get the simplified rules "system reference document" or SRD (well, part of it) for free here! Full SRD to come soon.

Features of the Grit System

• Fast to learn, fast to play – Your scores are dice, and the math—when needed—is simple. There’s no barrier to diving in. We think of the system as “medium-crunch”: good at simulating lots of high-stakes situations, but not complicated, bogged down by constant arithmetic.
• Narrative-focused – Your powers often have immediate narrative effects. Moreover, the ability to boost rolls by burning points called grit allows for big swings.
• Naturally epic – The ranges rolled—typically, from a d6 to a d12—are satisfyingly different, one to the next, yet unified in that success and failure feel fair, since they’re tied to the scores’ sizes and whether or not you boost a given roll.
• Player-empowering – Immediate power effects and the ability to boost rolls are formidable tools for players. How will you burn your grit?
• Highly extensible – Because scores are dice, and because powers are unique, it’s easy and fun to add to—or hack apart—the system.

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SFS80111 ☉ The Grit System One-Page System Reference Document
Version 1.0 ☉ August, 2025
System by Wythe Marschall
Design by Anthony Grasso

© 2025 Wythe Marschall and Stillfleet Studio