The Loop of Play

Momenta Core Rules · Prologue · Welcome · Chapter 01

Momenta is two games that take turns: a tactical wargame and a visual novel. One is played on a grid, in rounds, with every Vigor point counted; the other is played in scenes, in conversation, with dice only when the outcome is in doubt. Neither half is the “real” game. The story happens in both, and the whole design is built so that what you do in one half matters in the other.

The shape of a campaign

A campaign is a series of missions. A mission is a sequence of encounters and scenes, separated by interludes, and it ends in downtime before the next mission begins.

                          ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   MISSION begins ──────► │  ENCOUNTER ──► INTERLUDE ──► SCENE ──► ENCOUNTER … │ ──► DOWNTIME ──► next MISSION
                          │  (combat)      (rest,        (narrative   (combat)   │    (recover,
                          │                short scene)   play)                   │     advance)
                          └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Missions are the unit of story. Each has objectives, a mission clock that measures how much time the party has, and a campaign difficulty that sets the stakes. See The Mission Loop.

Encounters are the tactical half. Combat runs in rounds on a grid; sides alternate turns; you spend Vigor to act and you win by achieving the encounter’s objectives, not by clearing the map. See The Shape of a Fight and the rest of Moment 4.

Scenes are the narrative half. The GM frames a situation, you say what your character does, and you roll only when success is uncertain and failure would be interesting. Your Threads (who you’ve been) and Bonds (who you care about) are the tools of this half. See Narrative Actions.

Interludes are the breath between encounters: a short rest, a chance to recover, and room for one meaningful scene — a conversation by the fire, a vigil, a confession. See Interludes.

Downtime is the long rest between missions: full recovery, advancement, and the personal projects and relationships that grow when the pressure is off. See Downtime.

What crosses the line

Two resources belong to both halves, and they are what make the halves one game.

Momentum is the party’s shared pool. It is earned by achieving objectives, seizing dramatic moments, and playing your character truly — in combat and in scenes alike — and it is spent on the biggest swings in both: Limit Breaks in a fight, Momentous Feats and Developments in a scene. See Momentum.

Resolve is personal grit. It pays for pushing yourself, for invoking the Bonds that drive you, and for recovering from what a mission does to you. Spend it in a scene and you have less for the fight; spend it in the fight and you have less for the scene. That tension is deliberate. See Characters at a Glance.

Bonds are the third bridge. They are written and grown in scenes, and once they are strong enough, they change what you can do in combat. See Bonds and Bonds in Combat.

Reading the loop at the table

You are in combat when the GM calls for initiative and puts the grid on the table. You are in narrative play the rest of the time. The GM decides when to switch, and the switch is always a story beat: the ambush springs, the villain flees, the dust settles. When it does, Momentum you’ve built carries across, Threads and Bonds you’ve invoked are still true, and the mission clock keeps ticking.