The game is designed so that it can be played with zero or near zero prep. The narrator picks a monster and makes a few choices about it. They then set the first scene and describe the characters all stood round a body, sailing across the sea of Marmara or being ambushed by bandits. The players then get to go round the table and introduce their characters. They say what they look like and invent some juicy details. The narrator then asks them in turn to add something to the narrative. "Tell us about this ship you are on." "Who was this dead body you see before you in life?" "What season is it and what's the weather like?"

After scene 1 the players then drive the narrative forward by deciding where they go and what they do next. They can use their skills, backgrounds and origins to add narrative elements to the story which aid them in their quest to discover what dastardly monster is behind the recent spate of deaths. The narrative is directed primarily by the players scene by scene as they uncover clues, investigate what is going on and track the monster to its lair.

To make a skill check roll 5d6s aiming to get as many 5s and 6s as you can. Each 5+ is a "hit" and 4 or less is a miss. Three or more hits are required to succeed with 4 hits and 5 hits being better than 3.

Then re-roll a number of misses equal to the character's relevant virtue + skill. A melee combat roll would use Virtus + Militus for example.

Finally you will have a number of hits between 0 and 5. Zero hits is critical defeat (perdo), 1-2 is defeat, 3-4 is success and 5 is critical success (vinco).

The clever thing about this is that all the outcomes from 0 to 5 are always possible no matter how good or how bad your character is at the task. No matter how many re-rolls you can never get more than 5 hits and even with negative re-rolls (which is possible when facing dangerous opponents) you still can't get worse than 0 hits and 5 is still possible.

Note that a carnifex (monster hunter) never fails. They are bad ass, super powered, grizzled monster butt kicking veterans. They do not make mistakes. However sometimes the forces arrayed against them, the Fates or God himself has other plans for the characters and circumstances or their enemies force them into defeat.

Defeat, not failure.

Each player has coin with them that they can flip just like flipping a coin to get heads or tails. Doing so is called Tempting Fate and allows you to gain extra hits on dice rolls. Every time the coin lands Doom side up however your character gets a Doom point. Reach 3 Doom in one session before having a chance to atone and your character's supernatural gift becomes stronger and darker and they are dragged towards the monstrous side of their nature. Do this repeatedly and your character is eventually lost to their Doom and becomes an unplayable NPC.

Every half day each character can perform one act of investigation or preparation. They can interrogate locals, research local historical records, perform divination, examine a body, scout the surrounding country side, prepare spells and alchemical devices. Every evening the Sinister level increases by one. Defeat on these investigation rolls also leads to an increase in Sinister. As the Sinister level increases the machinations of the enemy, the chaos, destruction, murder and kidnap increases. Once Sinister reaches 6 things really get out of hand. Wholesale local destruction, madness and mayhem ensue and the characters will be scrabbling to try and put a stop to things or salvage what they can from the wreckage of their mission.

Because Sinister increases with defeat on rolls and defeat can, usually, be avoiding by tempting date repeatedly, it is possible to avert Sinister at the risk of increasing Doom. In other words Sinister which affects the whole cohors, the local population and the mission can be traded for personal Doom. The wellbeing and success of the group can be traded for personal tragedy.