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:INTRO ALL MATERIAL INCLUDED WITH THIS PACKAGE, EXCEPT THAT WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO THE GREYHAWK CAMPAIGN WORLD, ARE COPYRIGHT (C) 1992 BY JOSEPH TELLER AND IS NOT USABLE FOR COMMERCIAL MEANS OF ANY KIND. THIS IS A BETA RELEASE VERSION AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS - EVERYTHING WILL BE UPDATED IN THE FUTURE. If you have never played a roleplaying game, this system will not appear to be complete - its created with an experienced player in mind. The system does not uses classes, it is purely skill based with a combination of randomness and design to produce a balanced effect. This is a skill and not a class based system - that is players choose from a variety of skills and not a single controlling class that will manipulate their capabilities. Simple conversion tables will be made for AD&D equivalents, but players should be warned that a character from this system will not be easily translated back into AD&D terms. This is also a GROWING system - that is it is designed with the concept that one must tinker with a basic system in order to find perfection, it can be improved by player suggestions and play results into a more vibrant system that is playable and fun. It is not meant to be stagnent! :Apprenticeship Because of the nature of human society it is likely that a player character has at one time their youth been an apprentice or trainee in a particular trade. Humans, and the Half-Human race variants thus have a chance to have been partially trained in a field in their youth. The chance for such for PC's is 25%, if they have then they get a roll on the following table: ROLL SKILL GAINED 01-23 Agriculture 20-24 Animal Handling 25-35 Carpentry 36-39 Cobbler 40-49 Sailing 50-55 Tracking 56-59 Pocket Picking 60 Bowyer 61-64 Cooking 65 Engineering 66-68 Fishing 69-70 Hunting 71-75 Leatherworking 76-79 Mining 80-81 Seamstress/Tailor 82-83 Stonemasonry 84-85 Weaponsmithing 86-90 Weaving 91-95 WheelWright 96-00 WoodCarving :Armour Armour cushions a weaponed attack (and some magical attacks) reducing or eliminating the damage inflicted to the character. Armour thus has a maximum absorption rate for a blow, but it can also wear out, and thus has a Damage Capacity rating, which is lowered by the amount of damage that is absorbed in each combat. Damaged armour can be repaired with the right tools, skills and supplies, so long as the armour has at least 1 point of Damage Capacity. Armour has a drawback in that it reduces ones Prowness defensively against attacks, depending on its weight and design. ARMOUR ABSORBS DMG CAP PROW MOD. COST ------ ------- ------- --------- ---- Heavy Clothing 2 6 1 n/a Soft Leather boots 2 10 0 4 sm. Soft Leather Jacket 2 10 1 6 sm Soft Leather trousers 2 10 1 8 sm Soft Leather Cloak 2 10 1 8 sm Soft Leather Headgear 1 10 0 2 sm Quilted Armour Suit 6 20 4 20 sm Hard Leather Boots 2 16 0 8 sm Hard Leather Suit 10 40 5 35 sm Ringmail Suit 12 60 8 40 sm Chainmail Suit 12 120 9 60 sm Doublemail Suit 15 150 10 80 sm Scale Mail Suit 15 180 12 100 sm Splint Mail Suit 15 210 15 130 sm Plate Mail Suit 20 240 20 300 sm Note - leather cloaks can be added to ANY suit of armour. Boots and leather headgear can be added to Quilted armour suits. :Background Characters background is often left entirely up to a player. If a character is Human, 1/2 Human, Elven or Dwarvaen, the following section will help flesh out some basic background: A) Legitimate - important in male dominated societies, 01-75 Legit 76-00 Illegitimate 1) If Illegitimate was the character raised under the same roof as father's family (Child of a servant, etc): 01-50 Yes 51-00 No 2) If Illegitimate and NOT raised under fathers roof was the PC raised by mother (01-50) placed into a fosterage (51-90) or raised by a charity group orphanage (91-00)? B) If the Child was Legitimate or was raised by a natural parent if illegitimate, number of siblings: 01-25 None 26-50 One 51-65 Two 66-75 Three 76-85 Four 86-95 Five 96-00 Six! For each sibling (if any) roll on the following: ROLL Sex Older? Alive? 01-05 F Y Y (S means a Twin) 06-15 M Y Y 16-24 M N Y 25-36 M N N 35-49 M Y N 50-59 F N Y 60-74 F Y N 75-79 F N N 80-85 F S N 86-89 F S Y 90-95 M S Y 96-00 M S N Parents have a 50% chance each of still being alive. If a Character is the eldest male child AND is Legitimate, and both parents are dead, the Character gets +5 Wealth for an inheritance. If eldest male, legitimate and father is dead then Character gets +3 Wealth. If character is illegitimate and living under fathers same roof, Character gets +1 Wealth. :BackStab A backstab is, in simplest terms, an attack from behind. In actuality it means any attack that an opponent can't directly see coming for some reason. Such an attack gains the attacker a 20% chance to strike addition over normal (Does NOT apply to magic!) Backstab does NOT increase damage as some game systems infer, only the above increase in potential to strike. :Combat Physical combat primarily involves a skill roll with the weapon or attack mode by the assailant, whoose chance is the percentage of skill less the Prowness of the target being attacked. Certain modifiers come into play upon the GM's discretion to add to or subtract from this chance to hit. A struck target receives the damage inflicted by the weapon* minus the damage absorption of their armour* (if any). If the armour absorbs more damage than the weapon inflicts then the result means the attacker takes damage from making the attack... an example, for realists, is the person who tries to punch a man in plate armour with a bare fist - the puncher takes the damage not the man in armour. If the attack is with a weapon then there is a 50% chance that the weapon breaks from the action (25% if the weapon is magical). Missile* attacks are handled based on the idea of target coverage. A target using natural cover or a shield gets a reduction beyond the natural prowness factor from hitting. On the other hand a target hit by a missile gets no reduction from armour in regards to damage. A 96-00 is a CRITICAL_MISS and the [Fumble.#01] table should be consulted when such occurs. Likewise a roll of 01-05 is a CRITICAL_HIT*. :Critical_Hit When an attack roll is made and a 01-05 is rolled, this is an automatic hit and also one that has CRITICALED and will do extra effect (roll on following table): ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-25 Double Damage 26-50 Double Damage & Target must roll vs Hardiness or is knocked unconscious for 1d10 rnds. 51-75 Double Damage, Target is Stunned for next round. 76-95 Triple Damage, Target losses a limb (01-75) or eye (76-00) and must roll vs Hardiness or unconscious 2d10 rnds. 96-00 Instant Kill :Experience Experience is actually broken into TWO types in the Oerth Campaign. The first is Standard Experience points, the Second is Training Experience points. The GM will award these points separately, dependent on activity and action. Basically Training experience points are ONLY for the learning of new Skills, or the learning of Totally New Spells (Research). Standard Experience Points are used to improve skills that are already possessed. These are from lessons learned from doing. These can be used to improve ones RANK* in a known spell (cost = 500 exps. per rank bought) or to gain skill levels in a particular skill based on your current Education Level in that skill, as per the following chart (an education level adds 10% to success with a skill): Current Skill Levels Experience need for next skill Level ------------------------ ----------------------------------- 1 (10%) 250 2 (20%) 500 3 (30%) 1000 4 (40%) 2000 5 (50%) 3000 6 (60%) 5000 7 (70%) 7500 8 (80%) 10000 9 (90%) 15000 10 (Or greater) (100%+) 20000 This means that it gets harder to get better in a skill you are already well trained in, and that there is an advantage to more specialization at the beginning of one's career then to generalization. One final usage for Standard experience Points is to improve one's Statistics. 250 points can be spent to add 1 point to Hits-to-Kill, making it harder to kill the character. An increase to HTK* does NOT increase one's hardiness as was stated in the early versions of these rules, else everyone would be body builders by the time thinks finished. Once an experience point is spent it is gone - don't make the mistake of thinking this is like TSR's AD&D game where one keeps a running total! Training Experience Points are used to purchase NEW skills or NEW spells (for mages). To learn a new skill you NEED to have access to a teacher, have 1000 training points saved up and in many cases need to pay for the teachers skills at teaching. This will give you 1 (one) skill level in the skill (10%) plus your BASE in the skill to perform it. A New Spell can be bought with training points from a trained teacher for 500 Points (If You go to a GUILDHOUSE to learn the spell you must also PAY for the teachers time for a day to teach you the spell). And will be able to cast it at your normal level in that guild. OR if you wish to develop a NEW spell or learn one without a teacher 1000 points are needed in the training pool. :Gems Commonly used for magic, decoration and alternatives to currency. A D10 Roll determines which of the 10 tables to use, and a 1d10 is generally used for Karats (though upto 1d30 can be used). Roll Gem Result Silver Marks /Karat ---- ---------- ------------------- 01-05 Amethyst (Pale Purple) 20 06-10 Amethyst (Deep Purple) 25 11-20 Aquamarine (Pale Blue-green) 40 21-25 Azurite (Deep Purple, pure) 40 26-30 Azurite (Deep Purple, mottled) 20 31-35 Banded Agate (Opaque) 2 36-40 Black opal (Smoky Black) 400 41-45 Black Sapphire (Black-blue) 100 46-50 Bloodstone (Dark green w/red specks) 10 51-60 Blue Quartz (Pale Blue) 5 61-75 Blue Quartz (Medium Blue) 10 76-80 Carnelian (Translucent) 1 81-85 Carnelian (Opaque) 2 86-90 Carnelian (yellow-brown) 2 91-95 Carnelian (brownish red) 5 96-00 Chalcedony (Blue Grey) 5 [This is one of 10 gem files!] ROLL GEMSTONE Silver Mark/Karat ---- -------- ----------------- 01-05 Chalcedony (Pale Blue) 10 06-10 Chalcedony (Blue-white) 15 11-15 Chalcedony (Opaque) 2 16-20 Chrysoberyl (Trans. Greenish yellow) 3 21-25 Chrysoberyl (Transparent Green) 5 26-30 Chrysoberyl (Greenish yellow w/catseye) 10 31-35 Chrysoprase (Translucent -apple green) 10 36-40 Chrysoprase (Dark Green) 15 41-45 Chrysoprase (Dark Green w/brown veins) 10 46-50 Citrine (Trans. pale yellow) 5 51-60 Citrine (Trans. medium yellow) 10 61-65 Citrine (Trans. Clear yellow-brown) 15 66-70 Diamond (off white) 25 71-75 Diamond (Clear White) 35 76-80 Diamond (Blue White) 40 81-00 Emerald (Bright Green, Deeply Flawed) 10 ROLL GEMSTONE Silver Marks/Karat ---- -------- ------------------ 01-05 Emerald (Bright Green, Flawed) 15 06-10 Emerald (Bright Green, Slight Flaw) 25 11-15 Emerald (Bright Green, unflawed) 90 16-25 Eye Agate (Banded, Agate in eye form) 10 26-30 Fire Opal (orange Transparent) 25 31-35 Fire Opal (Orange-red, transparent) 35 36-40 Fire Opal (True Red) 75 41-50 Garnet (Purplish red) 15 51-55 Garnet (Red-Brown) 5 56-60 Garnet (Black) 10 61-65 Garnet (Green) 20 66-70 Garnet (Violet) 35 71-80 Hematite (reflective grey) 75 81-85 Jacinth (Trans. orange) 20 86-90 Jacinth (Trans. red-orange) 25 91-00 Jacinth (Trans. Fiery red-orange) 50 ROLL GEM RESULT SM/Karat ---- ---------- ------------ 01-05 Jade (Translucent Green) 10 06-10 Jade (Translucent White) 15 11-15 Jade (Transparent Bright-green) 25 16-20 Jade (Dark Green) 5 21-25 Jade (Yellow) 10 26-30 Jade (Spinach Green) 40 31-35 Jade (Cinnabar Red) 25 36-40 Jade (Earth Brown) 10 41-45 Jade (Black) 10 46-50 Jade (Lavender) 60 51-60 Serpentine (Yellow) 5 61-65 Amazonite (Crystalline, translucent) 10 66-70 Halite (Crystalline, light green) 15 71-75 Quartz (White) 5 76-85 Quartz (Pink) 10 86-90 Quartz (Rose) 15 91-00 Apatite (Crystalline, yellow) 1 ROLL GEM RESULT SM/Karat ---- ---------- ------------ 01-05 Apatite (Crystalline, white) 3 06-10 Apatite (Crystalline, brown) 3 11-15 Apatite (Crystalline, green) 5 16-20 Apatite (Crystalline, violet) 10 21-25 Apatite (Crystalline, blue) 15 26-30 Jaspar (Opaque, oily Blue) 10 31-35 Jaspar (Opaque, oily black) 15 36-40 Jaspar (Opaque, oily brown) 20 41-50 Jaspar (Opaque, oily red) 30 51-55 Jaspar (Opaque, oily green) 40 56-60 Jaspar (Opaque, oily yellow) 50 61-70 Jet (Glossy opaque black - coal base) 3 71-90 Lapis Lazuli (dense, opaque blue) 75 91-00 Malachite (Banded greens) 10 ROLL GEMSTONE RESULT SM/KARAT ---- --------------- ------------ 01-10 Moonstone (translucent white) 50 11-20 Moss Agate (greenish Grey) 10 21-25 Onyx (Opaque Black) 5 26-30 Onyx (Opaque White) 20 31-40 Opal (Pale Blue) 100 41-45 Opal (Pale Blue-white) 75 46-50 Opal (Pale Blue-white w/red highlights) 125 51-55 Opal (Pale Blue-white w/green highlights) 150 56-70 Pearl (Grey) 5 71-80 Pearl (Off White) 20 81-85 Pearl (True White) 30 86-90 Pearl (Yellow) 35 91-95 Pearl (Pale Rose) 40 96-00 Pearl (Deep Black) 200 ROLL RESULTING GEM SM/Karat ---- ------------- ------------ 01-05 Peridot (Clear yellow-green) 20 06-10 Peridot (Near-emerald green) 40 11-15 Peridot (Olive Green) 30 16-20 Opal (Transparent) 10 21-25 Rhodochrosite (Medium red) 20 26-30 Ruby (Moderate Red) 200 31-40 Ruby (Deep Red) 300 41-50 Sapphire (Moderate clear blue) 50 51-60 Sapphire (Moderate clear blue cats eye)150 61-70 Sapphire (Deep clear blue cats eye) 200 71-80 Sardonyx (Opaque white) 35 81-90 Smoky Quartz (Transparent gray-brown) 10 91-00 Smoky Quartz (Transparent brown-black) 5 ROLL GEM RESULT SM/Karat ---- ---------- ------------ 01-10 Spinel (Gray-green) 5 11-20 Spinel (Deep Blue) 15 21-35 Fluorite (Crystalline, violet) 5 36-40 Star Rose Quartz (translucent pink) 40 41-45 Star Ruby (Translucent,white star) 1000 46-50 Star Sapphire (Deep blue) 1200 51-70 Tiger Eye (Golden brown w/yellow) 30 71-75 Topaz (Transparent yellow) 10 76-80 Topaz (Transparent gold) 20 81-85 Topaz (Pink) 30 86-90 Topaz (Transparent Blue) 40 91-95 Topaz (Opaque Blue) 10 96-00 Turquoise (Opaque blue) 15 ROLL GEM RESULT SM/karat ---- ---------- ------------- 01-10 Turquoise (Opaque greenish blue) 5 11-20 Turquoise (Transl. Sky-blue) 25 21-25 Zircon (pale Blue-green) 5 26-30 Zircon (Orange red) 10 31-35 Zircon (Brownish-yellow) 10 36-40 Zircon (Reddish-brown) 10 41-45 Zircon (Green) 15 46-50 Zircon (Purple) 25 51-60 Salarvyanian Amethyst Cats-eye (RARE) 500 61-65 Salarvyanian Emerald (Glows in dark) 700 66-70 Salarvyanian Golden Topaz 90 71-75 Amber (Pale Gold) 10 76-80 Amber (Near Black) 5 81-85 Amber (Deep Gold) 20 86-90 Amber (transparent) 30 91-00 Amber (W/insect or leaf) 250 ROLL GEM RESULT (SPECIALS) SM/KARAT ---- ----------------------------- ------------ 01-25 Magestone (Clear with pulsing red 350 heart-beat. Holds 1d100 of spell points within) 26-50 Lifestone (Clear, changes to green 150 if touches poison until it drys) 51-75 Starstone ??? 76-90 Saa Turquoise (Looks like ordinary 1000 turquoise but denser. Will regenerate wearer 1 hp/rnd. but not after death! 91-00 Blackstone (Prevents teleports 25' rad) 25 :Head_Damage In the event a character receives damage to their HEAD that is 75% or more of their entire HTK the character will suffer effects of such damage as outlined in the [Insanity.#01] file. :HTK This is a non-starting Statistic. At start a character receives their Hardiness score for their HTK score. Later, as experienced is gained, HTK is increased thru the spending of Standard Experience* points. It takes 250 experience points to increase one's HTK by 1 point. There is no maximum of HTK on a character. Previously Hardiness was used to represent HTK but by doing so this also caused all PC*'s to become massive body builders, a silly concept and result when you think about it. :Initiative Initiative in non-combative situations is purely at GM's discretion. In combat initiative is decided by each involved individual rolling 1d10 and adding this to their Prowness. Highest goes first, and then downwards in numeric order to lowest. If two match they have simo action. :Magic Magic is, within game terms, the transformation of energy or matter into a new state or form. The primary catalyst varies based upon the desired effect, but always involves the will of an intelligence, the tapping of natural energies and/or matter. Nothing can be generated from a void. Spellcasters gather and hoard energy, for without it they cannot cast. Each spell has a base cost in points, which then can be modified by several factors such as range, duration, targets to effect etc. The primary means of generating or acquiring energy known to most mages are as follows. Not all practice the particular forms involved, much depends on their actual training and preferences. Remember that there are some plants, gems and creatures that may produce Magical energy as well for a knowledgeable mage... Blood : Not an actual power source, but a means of transforming something into a source, on occasion a cast may find themselves without energy to cast a needed spell and need to improvise. By cutting themselves they can utilize the cut as a means of drawing from their own life force. That is, they can convert their own Hardiness into Spell points in an emergency, at a ratio of 1:1. The problem, of course, is possible death if they fail to remember to bind the wound or fail to calculate properly and draw off too much blood and lifeforce and die from the wound. Death : Ritual murder can produce great power for the unscrupulous or the desperate. As with any ritual it must be done with great care and under Spellcast_Ritual* rules. If the victim is non-sentient the murderer receives one Spell point for their bank per Hardiness (Hit Point) the victim possessed. If the victim is Sentient they receive the victim's Intuition value in Spell points (and if the victim is also a mage ALL the victim's remaining spell bank). Some say that Ritual murder can have dire consequences for the caster's karmatic life. A KNOWN side-effect is that ritual murder weakens the area where the murder took place so that in a 10' radius of the body it becomes one level lower on the Power_Level* Scale. Since ritual magic always works as a source of power even in a barren area there are certain magical sects that practice it regularly in a single spot (or altar) to supply them. Eating : The simplest means to generate magic energy is to do so internally by consuming a meal. Eating transforms food into other forms of matter and into energy and the energy of magic is also generated when food is consumed by a mage. This is why oftentimes a mage after casting a powerful spell may suddenly feel hungry - the body realizes there is a void to be filled and a certain amount of the nutritional value of any recent meals has been lost in the process of casting. Each meal eaten will generate 1 energy point per pound of food intake (1-2 pounds is the average consumed by most humans at a meal). This also explains why most mages fall into two categories - extremely thin from having been heavy casters or extremely overweight from overcompensating their food intake to generate magic. Full Moon : The Full Moon is a source of power itself, for as poetry has always said, the Moon IS magic. Drawing energy from the moon requires a ritual of sorts (See SpellCast_Ritual*) which can only be performed once per full moon. This ritual will generate D100 of energy, divided equally among those involved in the ritual (NOTE that if a being is a non-mage the energy they would receive is lost in the process and cannot be used by the mages present). Meditation: Meditation is the practice of attuning ones body and mind with the forces of the Universe, reducing stress and separating emotion from the decision process. Meditation also, in the process, allows the drawing from the universe its background energies that lie in many places. This does not work within magically Barren areas, but in normal magic leveled areas it functions reasonably well, generating 2 points per hour of uninterrupted meditation. Unlike many power raising practices, Meditation does not increase its results in High Magic zones. A meditation is broken if the mage is injured, physically touched, forced to move or forced to defend themselves. Meditation is NOT a replacement for sleep. Taking the Skill of Meditation will double the rate of power that is generated. Meditation is a Non-Leveled Skill (you only have to buy one skill level of it). Sex : The performance of a sex act between two or more persons produces a lot of excess energy. Normally this is purely channeled into the attempted creation of a new life form, but in the hands of mages sexual energies can be rerouted from this purpose into the production of magical energies. It takes special training to understand how to tap this production, but the trained can generate a random amount of energy pleasurably thru this activity. For each being a 1d10 is rolled for energy production - if only one of the involved is a magic user then that one alone gets the total in points, else the total points is divided evenly between the involved mages. Certain circumstances and locales may add or subtract from the generated result, by GM's decision. Tantrics skill can, when applied successfully, improve the result. A successful Tantrics roll will add 1d10 to the resulting power result. A Critical Tantrics Roll will add 2d10 to the resulting power result beyond the normal levels generated. Starstone : This is recent meteoric rock that has fallen from the skys and has magical properties gained during passage thru the atmosphere. A star stone is good for 50 energy points per ounce of weight to it, and can be drained thru ritual for this power. Once emptied a starstone has nearly no value and cannot be recharged in any way. Starstone is rare and thus valuable. Storms : Major storms, be they thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards or Ice storms are natures way of balancing magic levels in the world. The energy of magic accumulates along with water droplets in the clouds, and so when precipitation occurs it causes an outpouring of accessible magic at its start. It is said that the particles of magic or the molecules it clings to are heavier then water, and so some of the most High Magical areas in the world are the bottoms of the seas and of the rivers, where centuries of such energy compounds. A mage may, by standing within the fury of a storm exposed to the elements, absorb 4d10 of energy. This can be done only once per storm. :Magic_Guilds In order to become a mage one must be trained in the concepts and processes and rituals of magic. There are many institutions and organizations that one may learn magic in, but all magic falls into certain categories which are generically called 'Magic Guilds' or 'Magic Schools' (depending where in the world you are at the time). One can belong to more than one Guild of this sort, and they are not guilds as craftsmen might belong to. Again these are GENERIC terms, true guilds, brotherhoods, Universities etc use these as categories for understanding. BLUE - Influencers of Change, Transition and alteration EBON - Necromancy, Death and afterlife GREEN - Life and Living Things ORANGE - Summoning from elsewhere & Illusions PURPLE - Peacekeeping and Warmaking RED - Blood & Bone (Healers) SILVER - Divination & Information YELLOW - Flame & Air Each Guild a character wishes to belong to is a separate skill to utilize, and to learn each a would-be mage must also give up a Wealth point at start as it is expensive to be a mage. Mages will know 5 spells per guild plus one spell for each additional education point invested in the skill at starting point. These are randomly rolled on their Guild Tables. Additional spells and increased ranks on known spells will be gained thru experience, experiments and discoveries. Spells may be Bought from a Guildhouse by a mage separately, but prices must be negotiated for the particular spell. For More on Spells see : [Spells.#01] :Magic_Range ~RANGE~ adds to the cost of a spell. All spells are range 0 (Touch) at start, unless energy is placed into the spell. The following chart gives the costs based upon range as compared to those produced by game weapons etc. Normally Line of Sight is needed to target with a spell unless special area effects or categories are involved in the spell. ⁄ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¬ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒø ≥RANGE CLASSIFICATION ≥ADDITIONAL COSTS≥ √ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ≈ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¥ ≥Touch (Requires RTH) ≥ none ≥ ≥Short (Dagger) 30' (10y)≥ 1 ≥ ≥Medium (Spear) 60' (20y)≥ 3 ≥ ≥Long (Bow) 90' (30y)≥ 5 ≥ ≥Far (Crossbow) 120' (40y)≥ 10 ≥ ≥Extreme (Ballista) 360'(120y)≥ 15 ≥ ≥Anything LOS beyond 360' ≥ 20 ≥ ¿ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒŸ (See also : Spellcasting_Blind* ) :Magic_Targets ~TARGETS~ adds to the cost if multiple beings are to be targeted by a spell. Each additional being after the first adds another 5 points to the spell cost and calls for a separate casting roll to affect each of the involved targets (so that all get defensive factors). Range, Duration etc do NOT have to be paid for a second time. :Magic_Duration ⁄ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒø ≥DURATION COST ADDITION≥ √ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¥ ≥additional Round after 1st 1 ≥ ≥10 minutes (60 rounds) 3 ≥ ≥1 hour (60 mins, 360 rounds) 5 ≥ ≥1 day (24 hours, 8640 rounds) 10 ≥ ≥1 week 30 ≥ ≥1 month 50 ≥ ≥1 year 75 ≥ ≥10 years 200 ≥ ≥(each additional 10 years beyond)+ 100 ≥ ¿ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒŸ Under this duration system there is no such things as an eternal magic item, simply VERY long lived ones. :Military Humans, and the 1/2 Human crossbreeds, have a 25% chance of having been drafted into the military forces of their home country for a year at one point or another (Player characters are notoriously BAD at staying in due to independent mindsets and thus wouldn't stay in the military for more than that). If this is true then the player adds 1 year to their age and adds (roll three times): 01-05 Reading & Writing their native tongue (1 Level) of Training 06-25 Riding, groundbased (horses etc), 1 level. 26-30 Foraging, 1 Level 31-35 Climbing, 1 Level 36-40 Dagger Use, 1 Level 41-45 Quarterstaff Use, 1 Level 46-75 Shortsword, 1 Level 76-80 Animal Handling, 1 Level 81-85 Intimidation, 1 Level 86-90 Spear, 1 Level 91-95 Crossbow, 1 Level 96-00 Cooking, 1 Level :Missile Missiles are weapon attacks that consist of throwing or firing a propelled object at increased velocity where 50% of the damage or more is caused by the velocity. Ranges are considered for 'accuracy' in the following information and are NOT necessarily the maximum range. If an attempt to use a missile is at a Longer range than below, subtract 25% from the users chance to hit target for EACH additional range class increase. One Missile attack per round is possible unless a character has 10 skill levels or more with the weapon, in which case ONE additional attack can be accomplished with the missile on the same target. This does NOT apply to Crossbows, Slings, Spears or Javelins. Crossbows and Prods take 1 full round to reload unless they are the 'repeating' design style found in some oriental cultures. SHORT = 30' MEDIUM = 60' LONG = 90' FAR = 120' Extreme = 360' ⁄ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¬ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¬ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒø ≥ WEAPON ≥ DAMAGE ≥ RANGE CLASS ≥ √ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ≈ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ≈ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¥ ≥Axe,hand (hatchet) ≥ 1d10+6 ≥ SHORT ≥ ≥Bow, Compound Light ≥ 2d10+4 ≥ LONG ≥ ≥Bow, Compound Heavy ≥ 2d10+8 ≥ FAR ≥ ≥Bow, Long ≥ 1d10+8 ≥ FAR ≥ ≥Bow, Short ≥ 1d10+6 ≥ LONG ≥ ≥Crossbow, Heavy ≥ 2d10+10 ≥ FAR ≥ ≥Crossbow, Light ≥ 1d10+8 ≥ LONG ≥ ≥Crossbow, Repeating ≥ 1d10+8 ≥ MEDIUM ≥ ≥Dagger, Throwing ≥ 1d10+4 ≥ SHORT ≥ ≥Dart ≥ 1d10+3 ≥ SHORT ≥ ≥Javelin ≥ 1d10+4 ≥ MEDIUM ≥ ≥Prodd ≥ 1d10+3 ≥ LONG ≥ ≥Sling ≥ 1d10+1 ≥ LONG ≥ ≥Spear ≥ 1d10+6 ≥ MEDIUM ≥ ≥Throwing Stars ≥ 1d10+3 ≥ SHORT ≥ ¿ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ¡ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒŸ NOTE : 2 Throwing stars can be thrown in one round normally, 3 if trained at 10 skill levels (100%) or better The repeating crossbow is an expensive and relatively rare device. It holds a clip of 5 bolts and allows them to be lever loaded, so that no time is lost between shots in reloading as in a standard crossbow. Of course when the 5 shots are gone then it DOES take 2 rounds to fully reload the clip. When firing it is necessary for a character to roll, after hitting, a target's body locale that the missile enters, on the following table. They can then apply the SPECIFIC armour absorption for that area to the damage, but not their overall armour absorption. If a character has bought a 'suit' of armour then they will get 1/3 of the suits absorption value to the specific missile attack. Chart is for humanoids ONLY. :Missile_Hit_Locale ROLL LOCATION ---- -------- 01 Eye (target is Blinded in that eye!) also must save as if head hit. 02-05 Head (target MUST save vs Hardiness or fall unconscious) 06-25 Upper Body - will reduce all attacks that call for arm usage by 10% accuracy and will prevent usage of all 2 handed weapons. Roll save vs Hardiness or punctured lung for additional 10% skill reduction. 26-50 Lower Abdomen - save vs Hardiness or Stun for one round. Save vs Hardiness or spend additional round vomiting stomache's contents. 51-60 Left Arm - unusable if damage more than 10% of characters HTK sustained. 61-70 Right Arm - unusable if damage more than 10% of characters HTK sustained. 71-80 Left Leg - unusable if damage more than 10% of character HTK sustained. 81-90 Right Leg - unusable if damage more than 10% of characters HTK sustained. 91-92 Genitals area hit. Stunned for 2d10 Rnds and in severe pain. If sustained at 50% of characters HTK character is unconscious for 1d10 hours. Loses usage of such for 1d10 days from damage even if healed afterwards (but recovers fully from regeneration). If damage was 50% or more then roll save vs Hardiness or damage leaves unable to reproduce without a fertility spell. 93-95 Buttock hit. Stun 1 round. Unable to ride a horse for 1d10 days. 96-00 Tail hit - ONLY for humanoids with tails, wings and other extra appendages. Effect based on appendage. Otherwise the damage locale is considered a non-essential hit and has no special effects. :NPC Shorthand term for 'Non-Playing Character' in the game. NPC's are all characters NOT played by an actual player but utilized by the Gamemaster in the adventure for plot, roleplay and combat. :PC Shorthand for 'Player Character' in this game, that is a character run by a player in the game, in contrast to NPC* a character played by the Gamemaster as part of the adventure occurring. :Power_Levels Magic power levels fluctuate in the world, some places are great pools of resources and others are nearly barren of energy. A mage may find great difficulty if trying to do magic in a place with low or no natural occurring magic sources. In magic barren place there are very few ways a mage may actually recover their spent energy. Except for ritual murder (usually frowned on in most cultures) or draining stored energy from other beings or from a magical device there is no known means of energy recovery within a barren place. A low magic area allows recovery of mana thru most normal means, but except for the above means, they work at half normal efficiency. Average Magic areas are those the system is designed based on and all normal point recovery means work at normal in them. High Magic areas are rare, but a few may exist, often at dimensional nexus points or holy places, and they cause normal energy generation to work at twice the levels of an average area. :Races Race is one of the areas of character creation that is decided randomly in this system, to add variety and realism to the design. Players can choose to be purely human or can roll on the Race table. To be fair players who roll receive 2 chances on the race table. ROLL Race & Notes ---- ------------ 01 1/2 Human, 1/2 Godsblood. Child of one of the Gods or Goddesses of the world, destined for greatness or great treachery. +2d10 (rolled separately) to EACH of the 6 stats at start. See Gods* for info on birthrights etc. 02 1/2 Human, 1/2 Demonsblood. Regenerates 1 Hardiness each round unless reduced to 0. If a Mage begins with twice as much energy on hand as normal. 03-06 Gray Elf : +5 Prowness, Appearance, Education & Intuition. Hardiness -5. Immune all Sleep & Charm oriented spells. Infravision 60'. Automatic skill levels in one sword type (players choice) and one bow type (except crossbow). 07-10 High Elf : +5 Prowness, Appearance & Intuition. Hardiness -5. Immune to all Sleep & Charm spells. Infravision 60'. Automatic skill level in Stealth, One Guild of Magic, one bladed weapon type, riding. 11-15 Wood Elf : +10 Prowness, +5 Intuition. Hardiness -5. Immune to all Sleep & Charm Spells. Infravision 60'. Automatic skill levels in Stealth, Wilderness Survival, Climbing, Quarterstaff, one bow (except crossbow). 16-18 Aquatic Elf : +5 Prowness, Intuition. Hardiness -5. Immune to all sleep & Charm spells. Infravision 60'. Amphibious. Automatic Skill training level in Swimming, fishing, spear. 19-20 Dark Elf (Drow) : +5 Prowness, Education. + 10 Intuition. Immune to all Sleep & Charm spells. Infravision 60'. Automatic skill levels in Stealth, One Guild of Magic, one bladed weapon type, one bow type (except crossbow), Mining. 21-25 Dwarf : height 4-4.5 feet. Infravision 60'. +5 Hardiness, Wealth; -5 Intuition, Appearance. One automatic skill level in Mining & Gemcraft. Lifespan of 350 to 450 years. Dwarves Get to add Their HARDINESS to their INTUITION for defense against magical attacks or when a Magic save is needed vs Intuition. Dwarves are 90% protected against poisons. 26-30 Gnome : +5 Hardiness, Education, Prowness. One automatic skill level in mining and one guild of Magic. Infravision 60'. Lifespan of about 600 years. Cousins of the Dwarves, they do not share their magic defenses, but DO share their poison protection (but at 75%). 31-35 Halflings : +5 Prowness, -5 Appearance. One automatic skill level in sling, Stealth and cooking. Infravision 30'. Lifespan of about 150 years. 36-38 1/2 Orc 1/2 Human : -10 Intuition, -5 Education, -5 Appearance, +5 Hardiness. Infravision 30'. Automatic skill in one weapon (players choice) at 3 levels. 39-54 1/2 Elf, 1/2 Human : +5 Intuition, Appearance, Prowness. Lifespan of about 250 years. Infravision 60'. 55 Foxari : +5 Intuition, +5 Prowness, -5 Wealth. The Foxari are shapeshifting foxes who can take on humanoid form as well as their birth form of a fox. They are descendant from a Fae-Folk Fox crossbreeding experiment. In both forms they retain their reddish brown fur, animal ears and tail. They have their own spoken language and often hide among human and Elven communities. Unlike a normal Fox their lifespan is about human average and if they breed with an elf or human blood being the resulting offspring (if any) is ALWAYS Foxari. 56 Changeling : +5 Intuition, -5 Hardiness, -5 Wealth. The changelings are a race of humanoids with natural shapeshifting abilities. They are a hidden race, as most of humanity now believes them either mythical or extinct. It is said they were once human, a subrace created by a mage to serve as spies in the old wars for the Crown of the Great Kingdom. Changelings can, at will, change their appearance, able to take on any humanoid form between 2' and 7' in height with an apparent mass to fit, of any race within those ranges. They do NOT modify their actual stats, but can manipulate their appearance to appear less or more attractive as needed. They are so complete in their changes as to be able to even change their sex to suit a need. They are able to breed with other races, but the offspring are 90% true to their mates race and 10% become full changeling (their are no half-blooded ones!). If trained in Disguise they can take the shape of SPECIFIC persons, based on that skill roll. 57 Deryni : +20 Intuition. The Deryni are nearly human in appearance and nature, and tend to be a 'secret race' among the people of this world, due to persecution after an ancient war. Since Psionics and Magic within this system are assumed to be nearly identical they are for all purposes considered extremely magically adept. It is said by some that the Deryni came from another Dimension to conquer this one and failed - others claim they are descendant from demons. They have natural magical abilities so that they can AUTOMATICALLY reduce the spell point cost on spells they cast by half. A Deryni character will be trained in at least one Magic Guild, with an automatic 10% in such, but cannot be trained in Ebony magic. Deryni have their own, hidden culture that involves its own rituals and concepts of honor. 58 Wemic : +10 Hardiness, -5 Appearance. The Wemic are a grasslands/plains nomadic people, their lower half that of a lion, their upper torso, head and arms being human, basically a lion-centaur. Wemics do NOT get along with ordinary centaurs. They get automatic skill level in Hand-to-Hand combat (Claw attacks by them do 1d10+6 dmg) tracking, and javelin. They can jump 10' upward and 30' forward. Unlike Centaurs they WILL use magic. The prides are male-dominated and females are NOT allowed to carry weapons, but can fight HTH. A female using weapons would probably be an outcast driven out of her pride for such an offense. 59 Quickling : +10 Prowness, +5 Intuition, -5 Hardiness. Aprox 2' in height these are a Fae race similar to brownies, but with very thin bodies and keen hearing. Quicklings have the advantage of extreme speed, they can act twice in each combat round, always the first to act and also the very last action in a round. In natural cover they are unable to be seen when not moving, unless being searched for specifically (and even then are 50% prowness modifier for being attacked physically due to camouflage. Automatic skill level in Elvish spoken language. Lifespan of 15 years is average. 60 Korred : +5 Intuition, Prowness, Hardiness. -5 Appearance. Aprox 3' in height, the Korred are wild, dance loving folk. Automatic skill level in Weaving, Club, Dancing, barbering. Rolling vs weaving they can create ropes and snares with hair they carry in pouches. Their laugh must be saved against by all in earshot (roll vs Intuition) or it stuns for 3 rounds. Korred Warriors and mages are feared by many. Each week the Korreds have a holiday when they dance and play music. Those who interrupt such must save vs Intuition or dance themselves, losing 1d10 hardiness in wounds until dead, restrained or the korreds flee. 61-65 Brownie : Divide Hardiness by 2 and take the removed points and add then to Intuition. Add 5 to Prowness. Brownies automatically get a level in training in Blue Magic. All brownies suffer from an allergy to Rhubarbs and sneeze when with 50' of them uncontrollably. Height 4-6". Believe that all life centers around shoes. Gets 3 automatic levels in cobbling skills at start. 66 Ogre : +30 Hardiness, -10 Intuition, -5 Appearance, -10 Prowness. Height 8-10'. Nightvision 60'. 67-69 1/2 Ogre, 1/2 Human : +20 Hardiness, -5 INTUITION, -5 Appearance -5 Prowness, -5 Wealth. Height 7'-9'. 70 Ogrillion (1/2 Orc 1/2 Ogre) : +15 Hardiness, -5 Intuition, -5 Appearance, -5 Wealth. Infravision 30'. Height 6-7' 71-72 Kasheen : (Warrior Felines) +10 Prowness. 5-5 1/2' in height. Natural claws do 1d10+6 damage. Tails usable as extra limb. Humanoid in Shape. 1 Level climbing, 3 levels HTH Combat to start. 73-79 Centaurs : Equine/Human Crossbreeds caused centuries ago in one Wizard-kings attempt to breed a better calvary. The Centaurs are highly individualistic, yet tribal. Hardiness +5 Appearance +5, Wealth -5. Automatic skill level in one bow type (except crossbow). Centaur Mages are driven out of their tribes as being unethical, even Red Mages. 3 Levels HTH combat to start (using own limbs etc). 80-81 Satyr or Nymph : aprox 5' tall humanoids. The males (Satyr) have hoofed feet and backwards bending knees and are fairly hairy. The females are human appearing but lack body hair except on the head (various shades). Nightvision equal to their day vision. Prowness +5, Appearance +5 (For Nymphs ONLY) Hardiness -5, Wealth -5. 82-84 Ultharian : (Shapeshifting Cats) These are descendants of magical beasts from the plane of Dreams that mated with humanoids and Kasheen thousands of years before, developing a new race. They are shapeshifters with three forms, one much like a normal housecat, one of mostly humanoid form (most different visible points are feline eyes, fine body hair, and a tail), and one true cat like form of a panther, lion or wildcat with all the natural abilities of that form. 85-88 Winged Folk : Humanoids, 4-5' tall with great feathered wings and a very slight frame. Flight speed is based on locale winds and gliding conditions but does not exceed human running speed. Hardiness -5, Intuition +5. 89 Shado : Descendants of the dimensional travelers known once as Shadowlords. They are RARE in the reality now and their blood thinned over centuries of crossbreeding. 5-6' tall swarthy humanoid males and pale light-haired females of 4'9-6' in height. +5 to ALL Stats. Infravision 60'. Do not appear to age beyond 25. Immune to all known diseases. 90-95 Wolfen : Canine Humanoids, militaristic and more prolific than humans they threaten to one day outnumber man. Hardiness +10. 96 Booka : Fae Folk, about 9-12" tall humanoids with leathery wings, the booka are cousins of Pixies. -10 Hardiness, +10 Prowness, +5 Intuition, -5 Appearance. Infravision 120'. Can become invisible at will in ANY setting. Get 1 automatic Level in BLUE magic. Cannot Learn EBONY or PURPLE Magic. 97-98 Pixies : fae folk, about 9"-12" tall humanoids. -5 Hardiness. +5 Prowness +5 Intuition. Infravision 60'. Can become invisible in natural settings (woods, fields etc) at will for +50% Prowness defensively. 99 Leprechauns : Fae Folk. about 2' tall humanoids. -5 Hardiness +10 Prowness. Natural language ability lets them speak and understand ANY language. Love to drink alchol. 00 Sysop Special :Ranks Ranks are a way to apply ordinary experience points. A rank is bought with a particular Spell by a mage, which can increase the effect of the spell (as described in the details of the spell in the spell listings). Not all Spells allow additional ranks. The advantage of a rank is usually increased effect (like MORE damage dice) without increased spell energy costs. :Relationships Player characters have existed for some period of time before the game and MAY have developed some romantic relationships over this time that would fall into the characters history. This section is optional. ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-05 Virgin with NO physical relationships or emotional ones ever in lifetime up to now. 06-15 Platonic emotional relationship in the past that ended in sorrow. 16-20 Character (IF living with Parent - See Background*) was the victim of undesired incest. 21-25 Character (If Living with Siblings) had experimental sexual involvement with sibling. 26-35 Character had sex only once in a casual encounter. 36-40 Character had sex only once in a PAID casual encounter 41-50 Character had a regular sexual relationship that didn't last beyond a year with one individual. 51-55 Character had a sexual relationship with a teacher or person they were apprenticed to. 56-75 Character had a long-term sexual relationship with a peer that lasted longer than a year. 76-80 Character had a long-term sexual relationship that ended due to the death of the partner. 81-90 Character has had several regular sexual relationships. 91-95 Character has an illegitimate child from a long-term relationship (Does not APPLY if character is not heterosexual) 96-00 Character has had to resort to selling sexual favors in order to survive poverty at one point in life. :Religions There are many religions in the universe, some connected with deities, some with magic, some with natural forces and others with codes of behavior. A religion may utilize magic as part of its teachings, but the practice of magic has little to do with religion within the terms of the games, save when magic is presented directly into a situation by a divinity. A Player who wishes to run a Priestess/Priest or other clergy should be prepared to pay for the benefits of the position. The GM will present a collection of ethical beliefs/rules that the character must follow to remain in the good graces of the religion and its divinity (if any) and had best be prepared to follow them to avoid loss of benefits. Benefits begin with 15 extra education points, 1 extra Wealth point, and if a mage, the ability to recover 1 magic energy points for each 8 hours spent on holy ground of the religion involved (which can be also compounded with any normal means to recover energy). Other benefits and restrictions will be mentioned under the specific religion in the [RELIGION.#01] file. :ROUND A Combat round is 6 seconds of real time activity, there are 10 rounds to the minute. Combat in real time tends to be fast paced and often lasts only a minute or two in many situations before a conclusion occurs. :Shields SHields allow a character to possibly deflect entirely an incoming missile attack. A roll is made vs the character's Prowness and if successful then the missile was knocked aside instead of hitting. The shield ONLY applies if the character can see the attack coming in. :Specials The specials table is used in character generation to add more individuality to ones character. Some of its entries are special abilities, others are simply unique modifiers. A Player Character gets one roll on this table at start : 01-05 Natural Linguist! +3 to Base on ALL language skills. 06-10 Subnormal body temperature, 5% improvement to save vs cold based attacks/spells, 5% decrease to save vs fire and heat based attacks/spells. 11-20 Chronic Insomniac (reroll if an elf!) +25% to chance to save vs sleep spells and effects. 21-30 Fear Competent - unaffected by all fear-based effects. 31-40 Book Competent - can learn new skills just by reading! 41-45 Excessive Pheromone production. +5 Appearance to members of the opposite sex within 15' radius. 46-50 Snake Competent. Never attacked by snakes unless trying intentionally to do them harm. Able to befriend and train them easily. 51-60 Perfect Balance - never thrown from riding animals. +25 to chance to succeed for Tightrope, Trapeze, Tumbling and Tumbling skills. 61-70 Naturally invisible to lower forms of Undead (Zombies, skeletons, Wraiths, ghouls, Shadows and Spectres). 71-75 Natural Musical talent. Gets +10 to base for Singing, PLaying Musical Instruments and Dance. 76-80 Shock Resistant. Gets only 1/2 damage from all electrical attacks and spells. 81-85 Natural Immunity to ALL diseases, even magical ones! 86-90 Reincarnated by some divine act but has no memory of past life. Knows one Ancient Language (GMs Choice) fluently! 91-95 Mind Shielded! Cannot be charmed, telepathically read or conversed with, cannot be teleported against own will or feebleminded in any way. 96-98 Photographic memory. Able to remember word for word any words in a language they can read/write in. 99-00 Spirit receptive : can see ghosts, disguised and hidden gods, demons, nearby ethereal and astral travelers. :Spell_Casting Spell Casting is NOT an instantaneous or simple process. Magic takes time to work, requires concentration and effort and isn't done without price. A spellcaster can APPEAR to be as fast as a fighter only by pre-planning ahead of time. The easiest means is to cast properly, which means the usage of a ritual casting that takes time. A mage in the field doesn't always have the time to set up a ritual, and thus spellcasting is risky business on some levels. A spellcasting roll of 96-00 always means EXTREME failure or what we call KLUTZ* results. IT takes two full rounds of preparation to cast a spell 'on the fly' during which the mage cannot receive damage, exert themselves with more physical effort than a walk or perform any other functions. During this time a mage is at 1/2 normal prowness for defenses. So, on one round the player announces to the GM that they are 'preping' a spell, and on round two they continue this. On Round three the spell goes off.. presuming they haven't been interrupted. In an emergency a mage MAY attempt to 'Rush' the casting of a spell so that it takes less than 3 rounds. For every round they try to reduce the casting time by in this way they decrease their casting success by 20%. This is why mages often train themselves beyond the 100% level, in order to compensate for the speed factor. :Spell_Defense Any sentient being gets a defensive modifier when attacked by a spell if they are conscious. Their own INTUITION level is subtracted from the mage's spell success chance, unless they are willingly submitting to the spell's affect. Certain spells also act as defenses against other spells, and of course these may also be connected to a magical device of some sort to protect the non-mage. :Spellcasting_Blind This is the term used when a mage needs to cast at a target that they cannot see line of sight when casting. This may be caused by actual blindness, a physical object being between the caster and the target (ex: A Wall), the target being invisible etc. The result is the spell caster doesn't have an exact form to aim the spell at or even an exact direction. The spellcaster must be able to give some sort of idea of who or what they wish to aim the spell at. Be it 'The space directly behind this wall on the other side' or 'Whoever it is hiding in that doorway in the shadows' or 'The Person who stole my purse' or 'The goblin following behind me'. A blind spell cast reduces the chance of success by 25%. Such a cast also will fail if the mage fails to put enough energy in for the range the target is actually at. On the other hand, this gives the mage the opportunity to succeed that an archer or other fighter can't do at all - a balancing of potential with difficulty. :Spellcast_Ritual Rituals are used by mages to uplift their mental states to the proper level to access their energy sources and memories in the production of spells, devices etc. The Ritual differs from mage to mage but usually includes the cleaning of a space physically, placing themselves within that space, protecting the area psychically and then performing those elements needed to prepare themselves, items, and draw forth the results sought. Oftentimes rituals are used to combine energies with several different mages within the space in order to cast a more powerful version of a known spell or to attempt to create a new spell from their combined knowledge and experience. Mages rarely will do this with persons who they do not trust entirely - because within a casting space they cannot lie unto each other without being caught in such a lie and they cannot use combat magics of any type against someone they invited within the space. The Space is referred to as a circle. Spectators may be present at a spellcasting in circle to assist the mages in raising energy etc - spectators are usually required to chant, hold light sources or perform mundane protection against any intrusion on the circle from mundane means. Each spectator adds one point to the available pool in spellcasting, even if they are a non-mage, merely by their involvement. A full ritual casting takes an hour, that is 360 combat rounds, and raises the chance of successfully casting by 25% plus 1% per caster involved and each spectator involved. In many cases this makes spells nearly foolproof, except for the potential 96-00 failure. Many mages choose to experiment with a new spell only by setting up a ritual, to increase their success to cast correctly the first time they try a new spell or try a new Spell_Stacking idea. :Spellcast_Tools One way for a mage to reduce the cost of a spell is to develop tools for the practice of magic. These are a little different than the making of a magical device. They are not magical themselves in nature, nor will they detect as such. What they are are focuses for a mage for magic, which assist in the reduction of spell costs by their nature. Spellcasting tools MUST be made by the mage themself, and must be made with great care and effort. Any mage tool takes twice as long to make as its regular counterpart and is usually ritually linked with the mage. The danger here lies in the items destruction or loss - a mage who learns a spell with a tool must realize that without the item they cannot cast the spell, and that if the item is destroyed the caster permanently loses a percentage point of Intuition. More than one spell may be linked by the spellcaster to the item, to reduce the amount of baggage the mage must carry. Using such a tool reduces the casting time of a spell to 2 rounds, on one the player announces the intention and on 2 the actual spell is released. Additionally the cost of the spell is reduced by half the total of its needs (base + Targets + Duration + Range) when actually cast. Note that if a mage casting with a tool klutzes the casting roll the tool is automatically destroyed! Tool Examples : Silver Dagger Holy Symbol Walking Staff Obviously this is merely an option to the mage and not all mages practice magic this way. :Spell_Hanging Spell hanging is one way to provide faster spell casting results. The mage prepares a few spells for usage later on, by linking the spell to a power word of their own making. They LOSE the energy for that spell immediately and it is stored in a 'Hanging slot' until the word of power is uttered. One Spell per 5 points of Intuition possessed by the caster can be 'hung' and a hung spell MUST be used before the slot can be reused. Thus it is most probable a mage has at most 4 or 5 such spells pre-prepared. A Hung spell can be cast in a single round, as it only requires the caster to speak the power word out loud. A mage cannot tap the energy stored in their hung spells, nor can they otherwise access them. They also have to specify range and duration and number of targets when the spell is made, leaving no ability to modify the spell. It is suggested that GMs insist that players using the Hung spell method keep the details of the spells hung written down with the intent of keeping the players honest. In order to HANG spells the mage must go through a Spellcast_Ritual*. :Spell_Stacking This is a spell design variant, where a magic using character combines 2 or more spells together to produce a new effect, and in the interim reduces the overall cost. Opposite effects cannot be linked this way (EX: Fireball & Fire-Extinguish). It is also risky the first time it is done, and has an additional 20% failure rate to be cast. The advantage is that duration and range costs are only paid ONCE instead of for EACH of the spells, thus reducing costs. Also, once such a combination has been cast successfully the player can consider the innovation a NEW spell for their selection from that point on without the penalties. :Stats Character Statistics are intended to represent a mathematical value for scale purposes in various game events. The higher the value the 'better' that the statistic involved. Statistics are modified by racial results and certain game events. Beginning Points to divide among Stats = 100 points. Additional, Rolled Points, are randomly generated by the use of 2d10, taken at face value and added together (EX: 3 + 7 = 10 more points to distribute as wanted). If doubles are rolled, then the player can roll again and add the second roll to the total as well, and continue as long as doubles are rolled. It is suggested that stats be restricted to a maximum of 25 points each, with the exception of E and W. Appearance (A) - A measure of physical beauty & Presence, and its ability to influence others. Education (E) - This is a measure of training levels acquired up to this point in life. Used to buy skills. Hardiness (H) - A measure of health and physical strength, this also measures how much abuse/wounds can be survived Intuition (I) - A measure of linkage to nature and the supernatural, including luck and magic. Prowness (P) - A measure of coordination & body awareness, it includes defensive values in close combat. Wealth (W) - A measure of property value, Social standing and influence. This affects starting possessions. The choice of using a limited stat system is done to ease game play, reduce paperwork and enhance speed of usage. Characters do not have Intelligence or Wisdom definitions, as I feel these must be undefined as being part of the concepts and personality of the player that brings the character to life under the system. Statistics are limited to a minimum of 1, for logical reasons, and the upper limit is to prevent characters from becoming wildly out of balance, especially if using scenarios made for other game systems that don't allow stats outside this range even for divinities. Stats are also used to define the base chance to perform a skill. The number of Skill levels in the skill plus the base stat equals the percentage roll needed to succeed. This allows a player to do simple math instead of consulting lots of charts and graphs. A character has one skill level per education point in that stat. Each skill level equals a 10% capability in the skill. A player may invest as many levels as wished in a skill, and thus can start as skilled in a way as they wish. Additional skill levels are gained after the initial ones through experience. Remember that a Player character is NOT a 'normal' everyday person. They are usually better trained and far wealthier than the average person in the society they are in (of course, in the societies involved which are mostly Feudal to Renascence in nature, 75% of the population live in what we would consider poverty, 5-10% (dependent on country and race) are Wealthy and the remaining (15%-20%) are in the realm of middle class and its from that percentage that player characters are assumed to come from, because only persons in that area would be involved in personal adventuring and personal free-trade concepts. :Strength Other systems utilize STRENGTH as a major Statistic, while this system incorporates it into the HARDINESS stats* result, as well as our using this to also represent the amount of wound damage a character can take. This is out of need to streamline paperwork and increase roleplaying features of the game. This is also because physical hardiness is not necessarily represented by muscle alone - some of it is related to not mass but control of that mass, and some of it to ones immune system and bone structure. A high Hardiness also does not assist greatly in combat - yes, a super strong character may occasionally do more damage in hand to hand damage, but with most weapons the weapon is an equalizer. If a character is involved in hand-to-hand combat then we shall give a modifier. A normal Fist blow does 1d10 damage. To this, for every 10 points of strength possessed by the character add 1 to the damage done. A Normal kick does 1d10+2 damage - and this too will get the strength add of damage the same way. As a measure for lifting weights, figure HARDINESS * 10 as being the maximum pounds the character can lift without causing physical harm. Figure that for an encumbrance (pack) weight Hardiness * 5 is a fair result. Of course, all this is with BEGINNING Hardiness, and does NOT apply to Hardiness gained after the character has been in play from experience etc. :Wealth Character starting wealth is determined by the Wealth Statistic. This is used to determine starting funds, and assumes the character has been saving funds for some time before play begins. The character starts with WEALTH * 10 in Silver Marks, the standard currency used by most of the mercantile families. This should then be spent on equipment. For every 20 points of Wealth a character gets 1 (one) item from the treasure tables, to promote early survival..... :Weapon Weapons are used to inflict damage (we all knew that right?) The system in this case is designed to keep combat damage results simple and easy to calculate. Each Weapon has a damage rating that is a numerically based on the D10 with modifiers, so that a whole lot of extra dice aren't needed during play. If a CRITICAL_HIT occurs, by rolling 01-05 to Hit, extra damage may be inflicted by the weapon beyond the stated and that table should be consulted. Each weapon is considered to need a separate skill investment to learn, but certain weapons may be considered similar enough that you will receive a partial training consideration when fighting with them if you are trained in a like weapon. Ex: A Broadsword and a longsword are handled in similar ways, but differed by length weight and balance. A person skill trained in broadsword would receive 1/2 that skill in using a Longsword if they are NOT trained in a long sword but are forced to use one temporarily in a situation. What classifies as similar is the GM's decision. WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES Axe, Battle 2d10+6 -2 Prowness when using Ball & Chain 2d10+4 -2 Prowness when using Bo Stick 1d10+6 +2 Prowness when using Bullwhip 1d10+8 (Disarms opponents on critical instead of double dmg if possible) Cat-Of-9-Tails 1d10+6 Claymore 2d10+4 +2 Prowness VS all swords Club 1d10+4 Dagger 1d10+3 Flail 2d10+2 Flamberge 2d10+2 Frying Pan (Tool) 1d10+4 Halberd 2d10 -4 Prowness when using Hammer (weapon) 1d10+8 Hammer (tool) 1d10+4 Jo Stick 1d10+5 +2 Prowness when using Knife 1d10+2 Lance 3d10+2 -4 Prowness when used on Foot Mace 2d10 Nunchakus 1d10+6 +2 Prowness when used Pick, Military 2d10 Pick (Tool) 1d10+6 -2 Prowness when used Pike 2d10 -4 Prowness when used Quarter Staff 1d10+6 +5 Prowness when used (except vs mounted) Rapier 1d10+8 +5 Prowness when used (except vs 2 handed swords and bastard swords) Sabre 2d10 +2 Prowness (except vs 2hand/bastard) Scimitar 2d10+1 Scythe 2d10 Shovel (tool) 1d10+2 Spear 1d10+8 +2 Prowness when used on foot Sword, Bastard 2d10+2 Sword, Broad 2d10 Sword, Long 1d10+8 +2 Prowness when used Sword, Short 1d10+6 Sword, Two-handed 3d10+2 Trident 2d10