Monster Taming · Tabletop RPG
Arcana Beast
Wonder, partnership, and elemental companions.
A short tour of the setting before your first session.
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The game
What is Arcana Beast?
Arcana Beast is a tabletop roleplaying game for one Game Master and two to five players. Every player creates a Partner Duo — a young Beast Binder and the Arcana Beast that has chosen to walk beside them.
The table starts with a place, a promise, and a problem. Someone describes the scene. You answer as your character. If the outcome is genuinely uncertain, you roll a small pool of dice and let the result change the story.
Play is not only about fights. The game rewards listening, caring for a partner, reading the land, repairing trust, resolving a conflict, and deciding when a dangerous thing should not be done.
A session usually lasts two to four hours, and the story can continue for as long as your table wants. Towns, sanctuaries, roads, and wild places are all part of the same world.
A session in five beats
- The GM sets the world, the people, and a choice with consequences.
- You speak for your Binder, with their values, fears, and goals.
- Your Arcana Beast answers from instinct, feeling, and trust.
- Dice decide only the part that is truly uncertain.
- The Bond changes, the town remembers, and the next scene begins.
Combat exists, but it is only one kind of problem. Talking, negotiating, tracking, protecting, refusing, and mending are all playable actions.
Tone
Partnership, not capture
Partners, not prizes
Wild Arcana Beasts have wants, fears, and boundaries. You earn a Bond. You do not collect a trophy.
Wonder is local
Old orchards, flooded ruins, cliff roosts. The extraordinary sits in everyday places if you look with care.
Growth costs something
Trust is repaired in public. Evolution waits on a true Breakthrough, not a stat threshold.
You do not need the video-game instincts of catching everything. This world rewards listening.
How the world lives
The Triad of Creation
Arcana Beasts are not summoned from a list. They crystallize where three forces meet — a pattern first set by Arcanella.
Raw Aether
The current
Invisible energy in subterranean veins and sky-currents. Formless and volatile on its own.
Environment
The template
Habitat shapes a body. Classification and Element arrive here — Tide in a river, Stone under a hill.
Emotion
The catalyst
Fear, courage, play, calm. Feeling crystallizes Nature, and a someone wakes from energy.
The Creator
Arcanella
Pearlescent, crowned in celestial gold, she poured Aether into the world’s veins and left Emotion as the spark that turns energy into someone. She does not rule by decree.
Sightings are rare and disputed: a white silhouette above a sanctuary at dawn, a golden wheel glimpsed through mist. Use her as cosmology, omen, or pilgrimage — not a common NPC.
People and partners
Who lives here
Beast Binders
Young people who form a primary Bond with one Arcana Beast. Communities treat it as a coming-of-age path — not every child walks it, but those who do become local figures of hope, trouble, or legend.
Arcana Beasts
Elemental creatures with habitats, habits, and social ties. They communicate through behaviour long before they trust words. They may refuse a Bond, offer friendship, or become a rival.
Society expects Binders to protect a partner’s dignity as well as their safety — and to learn from failure in public, not hide it.
The story engine
The Bond
“I won’t command you. I’ll walk with you.”The Promise at Ember Bridge
The Bond is the emotional current between Binder and Beast. It is not a meter to min-max. A healthy Bond shows up as shared goals, promises kept when they cost something, and honest repair after harm.
When it strains
- Commands pick up Setback
- Evolution stalls on mistrust
- Partners talk past each other
Consent, not capture
Wearable Vessels
When a bonded Arcana Beast is not manifested, they may rest as condensed aether inside a Vessel the Binder wears — a ring, pendant, crown, gauntlet, or any form both partners accept.
Two truths must both be true: the Binder chooses the form, and the Beast accepts it as a safe place to rest. Forcing a vessel against a Boundary strains or breaks trust.
At the table
- Manifest — the Beast steps into the scene
- Call Back — they return to rest, often to Devolve or leave a fight with Boost
- A lost vessel is a story crisis, not a soft lock
The spectrum
Fifteen Elements
Every Arcana Beast is bound to one Element. Advantage grants Boost; disadvantage grants Setback. Each Element is strong against two and weak against two. There is no neutral.
Classification
Body and habitat family — Beast, Bird, Dragon, Flora, and more. Boosts in fiction, never raw stats.
Nature
Personality: a positive side, a negative side, and a passive feat. Play it; it is not a buff sticker.
The wheel
You do not need to memorise fifteen matchups. Ask at the table, or open the Element Chart in a fight.
How they grow
Evolution Stages
Stage 0
Slumbering Rest
Wild baseline. Conserves energy. No Special Attacks.
Stage 1
Stabilized Companion
A Bond anchors the template. Everyday partnered form.
Stage 2
First Breakthrough
Unlocked by a true emotional trigger. Die size steps to d8.
Stage 3
Mature Manifest
Another Breakthrough, new Qualities. Earned, never bought.
Stage 4
Absolute Culmination
Peak form. Free when the trigger is true, then Devolve home.
Wild Beasts cannot climb past Stage 1 alone. The Bond is the conduit. Forced evolution without a true trigger produces Strain.
Geography
A working map
The Veiled Sea — the waters that frame the continent. Moonpier keeps a lantern harbor on one bay.
Forett & Eldenpeak — inland forest and a high northern peak. Sanctuary groves hide in both.
Sunfesa — warmer southern hills. Harvest roads, old orchards, and the odd greenhouse gone wild.
Shared ground — towns and wilderness are not halves of a map. Beasts live in both, and so do you.
Scale — a Binder pair is remarkable because they can leave. Most folk cannot simply walk to the next sanctuary.
What it is like to live here
Everyday life
Sanctuaries
Old orchards, flooded ruins, cliff roosts. Shared ground where pairs and wild Arcana Beasts negotiate peace. Towns keep shrines, bulletin boards, and grove rest-stops between adventures.
The road is still a road
No teleport network, no aether trains. News arrives late and secondhand. A letter from Moonpier to Eldenpeak takes patience. Four capable, mobile people are already a story.
Magic is not plumbing
Vessels hold a partner. They do not light the street. Candles, firewood, and human muscle do the actual work. A Beast manifested in the market is something people remember.
Discovery, not capture
Field Guide steps: Observe, Understand, Connect, Befriend. Record a Friend, Guide, Rival, or Sanctuary Ally. Completed entries earn Discovery Marks — never a Pokédex of prisoners.
Hollow Orchard stayed because three pairs documented every nest instead of starting a fight. Shared ground is the point.
A quick glossary
Words you will hear
World
- Sanctuary — shared ground for pairs and wild Beasts
- Aether — formless living energy in veins and sky
- Arcanella — the Creator who set the pattern
People
- Beast Binder — a person with a primary Bond
- Arcana Beast — an elemental someone, not a tool
- Partner Duo — Binder and Beast as one pair
The Bond
- Bond — the emotional current between partners
- Vessel — an accepted wearable rest-form
- Boundary — a line the Beast will not let you cross
Growth
- Stage — 0 through 4; die size climbs with it
- Breakthrough — the story moment that unlocks a Stage
- Devolve — returning safely toward Stage 1
The dice
- Boost — succeed on 3+ instead of 4+
- Setback — succeed on 5+ instead of 4+
- Stamina — Binder resource; fuels Bond Surge
Play
- B.E.A.S.T. — Brawn, Endurance, Agility, Spirit, Technique
- Quality / Talent — ranked traits on Beast / Binder
- Zero Power — a once-per-scene signature when its trigger is true
Nobody expects you to memorise these. Ask at the table — that is what session zero is for.
How play works
At the table
The Game Master
Presents the world, plays everyone you meet, and referees the rules. They are not your opponent.
The players
Each of you plays one Partner Duo — a Beast Binder and their bonded Arcana Beast. Describe what they do and why.
A typical beat
“The flame fox will not cross Ember Bridge. The gorge wind is lying again.”
Binder: I sit down. I don’t command. I offer the jacket.
GM: Roll Spirit to see whether they trust the gesture.
Binder: *rolls* Three successes. I wait with them until the wind changes.
The GM frames a scene. You answer in character. When the outcome is in doubt, the dice decide.
The dice
How a roll feels
Pool of dice · 4+ is a success
1
Build a pool
Binders always roll d6: Stat + Talent. Beasts add Quality (and Special Attack when it applies). Die size climbs with Stage — d6, then d8, d10, d12.
2
Count the hits
Each die showing 4 or higher is one success. Beat the Difficulty, or beat the other side in an opposed test. Dice never subtract.
3
Boost and Setback
Boost succeeds on 3+. Setback needs 5+. They cancel. Two of the same become Double. Element and care both change the weather.
Difficulty 1 is routine, 3 is hard, 5 is legendary. Miss by exactly one and the GM may offer a costly success.
What the numbers mean
The five stats
B.E.A.S.T. · Binder and Beast each have all five
B
Brawn
Force and impact. Sets the damage an attack lands for.
E
Endurance
Staying power. Sets how much HP you have to spend.
A
Agility
Speed and evasion. Sets both Dodge and Initiative.
S
Spirit
Presence and heart. Carries persuasion, calm, and trust.
T
Technique
Precision and craft. Sets how many Special Attacks you get.
HP
4 + 3×Stage + 2×Endurance. A Stage 0 Beast uses 2×Endurance instead.
Damage
Brawn + Stage, plus one for every success you beat the defender by.
Dodge
Equal to Agility at every Stage, before defensive Qualities are added.
Stamina
The Binder’s own resource. Spend it to push your partner when it counts.
A starting Binder has 1 in each stat plus 10 points to spread, maximum 4 in any one. You will never need to do this maths at the table — the sheet does it.
When talking has run out
A combat turn
1
Set the order
Everyone rolls their Beast’s Agility against each other. Highest goes first, and that order holds for the whole fight. Caught by surprise? Roll it with Setback.
2
Command, then act
Your turn has two halves. The Binder gives a Command first, then the Arcana Beast takes an Action. Either of you may also move one distance band for free.
3
Land the hit
Attack pool against the target’s Dodge. More successes than them means a hit. Damage is your base, plus one for each success beyond theirs.
What a Beast can do
- Attack — melee at Close, ranged at Close or Near
- Defend — Boost on every Dodge until your next turn
- Reposition — two bands, or claim high ground or cover
- Guard — attacks aimed at a Close ally hit you instead
- Assist — hand a Close ally +1 die on their next roll
- Retreat — Agility against Difficulty 2 to get out
Swings and misses
- Three or more dice showing 6+ is a Critical — double the base damage before extras
- Tie on successes and the defender wins; no damage
- Special Attacks run on uses equal to Technique, and refill after every fight
Nothing here forces a fight to the death. Retreat is always on the table, and so is surrender.
The Binder’s half of the turn
Commanding your partner
You never roll to make your Arcana Beast obey. You roll to help them — and this is the whole list of how.
Direct
No roll. Their next Action gains +1 die. The bread-and-butter command.
Encourage
Spirit against Difficulty 1. Clear one negative condition, or add +1 die to a Dodge this turn.
Strategize
Technique against Difficulty 2. Their next attack ignores one positional advantage the target holds.
Call Back
No roll. They Devolve one Stage on the spot, or leave the fight with Boost on the escape.
Use Item
Reach for your Stuff. The GM decides what it does and whether it needs a roll.
Bond Surge
No roll, but it costs 1 Stamina. Your partner gains Boost on every roll this turn.
Bond Surge is the mechanical shape of the whole game: your Binder spends something of their own so their partner can do more.
Who you play
Your first pair
A Beast Binder
Type, talents, a Flaw, a Desire, and five B.E.A.S.T. stats. One sentence is enough: “a bookworm who has never left the lantern streets.”
An Arcana Beast
Element, Classification, Nature, Want, Fear, Instinct, Boundary. Start at Stage 1 if you are already bonded — Stage 0 if you are still wild.
The Bond between
Record an accepted Vessel. Decide what you owe each other. The sheet is a reminder; the table is where the Bond becomes visible.
You start as a nobody with everything to prove. That is the point.
Example Beast Binders
Three Binders to steal
Every Binder starts the same way: pick a Type, take two of its Talents at Rank 1, one Flaw, and one Desire. Here is what that looks like finished.
Bookworm · Knowledge is Power
Yara Sunmola
- Talents — Academic Knowledge, Photographic Memory
- Flaw — Terribly Shy
- Desire — “I need to have all the answers”
- Stuff — a battered encyclopedia
Knows the migration charts by heart. Has never once spoken first.
Wild Child · Survival Instincts
Rook
- Talents — Tracking, Climbing
- Flaw — Impulsive
- Desire — “I need to be free”
- Stuff — a rope and grappling hook
Grew up past the last lantern. Reads weather better than people.
Gentle Heart · Kindness Matters
Tomas Reyes
- Talents — Empathic, Good Listener
- Flaw — Can’t Say No
- Desire — “I must make everyone smile”
- Stuff — a well-worn comfort plush
The one every hurt creature walks toward. Cannot turn any of them away.
Thirty-one Types are in the book — Delinquent, Gamer, Sanctuary Keeper, Retired Vanguard, and more. Your Flaw is not a penalty; it is the thing the table will love you for.
The story waits
Game on.
You know the world. You know the Bond.
Now make a pair who belong in it — and walk out the door.
Arcana Beast is an original TTRPG by Sylanael. Setting and rules © the author. For personal table use.
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