From: [j b ridson] at [kean.ucs.mun.ca] Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives Subject: RPG: ARM version 1.2 Date: 25 Feb 93 18:02:28 GMT ARM: Advanced Role-Playing Mechanics version 1.2 by R. E. Bridson Copyright 1993 Robert Edward Bridson This document may be distributed freely and free of charge as long as the words are not changed, any additions are labelled as such, and no profit is made from the distribution. Introduction.......................................................... ARM is an adaptable generic RPG, designed by a minimalist author. This means that details are often left up to the GM and the players - I prefer that room for my imagination to work, and I dislike getting bogged down in complex rules. While there will be plenty of *guidelines* on how to manage things in Section 2, the few rules that exist are contained in Section 1. SECTION 1: THE RULES Scale................................................................. ARM uses a logarithmic scale for all its mechanics. It is this scale which allows ARM to handle a huge variety of things, from the very small to the very big, while still using small numbers. Also, it means that multiplication and division are almost completely absent from the system, while the effects of multiplying and dividing are still there! How it works is that there are two sorts of values used. One is called a measure value, which is a regular value that you can directly use. The other is called a log value (log is short for logarithm). For every measure, there is a log. Logs never have fractional parts or decimals, even though their corresponding measure might. Whenever you add 5 to a log value, you are multiplying its measure by 10. Whenever you subtract 5 from a log value, you are dividing its measure by 10. The following is a table to use in converting logs and measures back and forth. It will only give you close approximates, but this is generally good enough for a game. Log Measure Log Measure Log Measure -40 0.000 000 01 10 100 -35 0.000 000 1 0 1 15 1000 -30 0.000 001 1 1.5 20 10 000 -25 0.000 01 2 2.5 25 100 000 -20 0.0001 3 4 30 1 000 000 -15 0.001 4 6 35 10 000 000 -10 0.01 5 10 40 100 000 000 -5 0.1 45 1 000 000 000 Now, if you know the log value and want to find its measure, you would follow these steps: 1. Find the multiple of five that's closest to, but less than, your log. (eg. 10 would be the number to find for 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15) Call this number X. 2. Look at your log again, and see how much bigger than X it is. (eg. 16 is 1 greater than 15) Call this number Y. 3. Multiply the measures of X and Y together (both of which are found on the chart) The measure of X will only have a 1 and some 0's in it; the measure of Y will be 1, 1.5, 2.5, 4 or 6. For example, say we wanted to know the measure of -3. The closest multiple of 5 less than -3 is -5. Looking that up on the chart, we get 0.1. -3 is 2 greater than -5. Looking 2 up on the chart we find 2.5. Multiply 0.1 and 2.5, we get a measure of 0.25 for the log value -3. On the other hand, if you have a measure and want to find its log (approximately), you would follow these steps: 1. Look at the first two digits of your measure (or first digit, if it only has one). Match them up with the closest pair of digits in the middle column of the table (1, 1.5, 2.5, 4 or 6). Find the corresponding log, and call it X. 2. Figure out in what place the first digit of your measure is (eg. tens, hundreds, thousands, ones, tenths, etc...) Match your answer with the measures of multiples of 5. Call the corresponding log Y. 3. Add X and Y together. The sum is the approximate log of your measure. For example, to find the log of 1342, you would do this. The first two digits, 13, are closest to 1.5. Looking it up, we see 1.5 has a log of 1. The first digit, the 1, is in the thousands place. Looking up 1000 on the chart, we find a corresponding log of 15. Adding the two logs together, we get 16 (15+1=16). The log of 1342 is roughly 16. It is pretty simple, and you can quickly become so used to the numbers that you don't need the table any more. [Note to the math-tolerant: the scale is actually an approximation to a base 10^(1/5) logarithmic/exponential scale. If you have a calcula- tor capable of exponents and common logarithms, you can replace the steps above with calculator operations. To find the log of measure A, enter <*> <5> <=>, where <*> means the multiply button. To find the measure of log B, enter <5> <=> <10^x>, where means the divide button and <10^x> means the "10 raised to the exponent x" button.] Stats................................................................. There are six stats in ARM, aimed mainly at humans or similar characters. Most animals can be effectively created with just these. (However, for the odd campaign that involves something which is not handled by these six, you will possibly need to make a new stat or change them all! Bear in mind that ARM seems to work better with a small number of stats.) Fitness reflects agility, strength, reflexes, body coordination and so forth. Most physical tasks are based on Fitness. Dexterity reflects a combination of manual coordination, hand-eye coordination, lack of "shake" in the hands, nimble fingers, and so on. Most fine work is based on Dexterity. Toughness is a measure of health, hardiness, resistance to illness, stamina, endurance, and so forth. Wit reflects intellect, cognitive abilities, memory, observatio- nal skills, and so forth. Mental problems are solved with Wit. Charisma represents the ability to interact with others. Persua- sion, dominance, trickery, insults, leadership and haggling all make use of Charisma. Willpower is self-explanatory. Resisting pain, breaking addic- tions, staying true to your opinions, etc. are all tasks involving this stat. Each stat is assigned a log value. For humans, an average log value would be 6 in each. Humans almost always fit in the range 4-8, with 3 and 9 being possible. Movement rates are very similar to stats; see further on. Situational Modifiers................................................. Stats from the basis of all actions. However, six stats are not really adequate to differentiate between characters. As such, ARM uses another sort of trait: Situational Modifiers, or mods for short. These are basically finer details, and serve to modify stats somewhat in certain situations, or to let the character attempt certain activities. There are three sorts of mods: signed mods, special mods, and absolute mods. Together with stats, these are enough to describe almost all of a character's intrinsic skills, powers, strengths, weaknesses, abilities, talents, etc... Signed mods are numbers (usually in the range of -3 to +3) that are added to stats when appropriate. The name of the signed mod gives an indication of when it is applied. For example, "-3 Short-Sighted" would mean that in activities involving looking at things in the distance, the character would suffer a -3 penalty. However, if the character looking at something close, the penalty would not apply. Other examples of signed mods are "-1 Endurance", "+5 Musically Gifted", "-2 Bad Hearing", "+1 Empathic", etc... Special mods are a type of signed mods. They apply to abilities which only some possess (most super-powers, for example). Characters without the special mod may not attempt actions requiring that ability. Absolute mods are used for traits which, while they make a difference, are not necessarily good or bad. Absolute mods do not give a + or -; just an absolute value. This value is subtracted or added, depending upon whether the mod is good or bad for the character in the situation. For example, size is an absolute mod. A huge giant might have "4 Large". If the giant was trying to get over a wall, the 4 would be added as a bonus. If the giant, on the other hand, was trying to dodge gunfire, the size is a weakness and the 4 would be subtracted as a penalty. Task Resolution....................................................... This is quite a simple mechanic. First establish the difficulty number. This may be assigned arbitrarily by the GM, according to this rough guide (assuming an average human is making the attempt): Trivial 1 (-5) Simple 4 (-2) 50/50 6 Tough 8 (+2) Very Tough 11 (+5) On the other hand, if the task is against something or someone else, the difficulty number will be decided differently. The action that the other is using to compete with the first person is considered. The stat that is being used is taken with the appropriate situational mods added. Then the GM may impose extra modifiers based on anything else (eg. weather, past injuries, cover, light level, drama). If you are unsure of exactly what modifiers, you can use the modifiers in parentheses above as a guide. Section 2 gives guidelines for several activities, difficulty numbers and modifiers included. Once the difficulty number is established, the character attempting the task takes the appropriate stat, adds any appropriate mods, and then makes a die roll. They roll and add a d6, then roll and subtract another d6. Henceforth this roll will be called d6-d6. Now, the difficulty number is subtracted from this sum, to get the log of the "result" of the attempt. Here's a little guideline as to what the result means: Result Meaning -5 or less Complete and utter failure, character possibly does not even realize this. -4 or -3 A bad failure, but character knows this. -2 or -1 Failed in general, but did some things right. 0 A draw, or a marginal success at best. 1 or 2 Succeeded, but not convincingly. 3 or 4 Definite success. 5 or more Astonishing success. If the result is positive or 0, certain actions may call for additional calculations on the result. These may include the addition of other modifiers. Occasionally, the result will be added as a modifier to another resolution. Sometimes there will be a table to go with an action, on which you look up the final result. Here it will tell more precisely what happens. Often it involves converting to the measure of the result. Some activities involve more than one stat, or involve so many subtasks that one roll seems insufficient. In this case, try to break down the task into smaller, more straightforward ones. For example, you could break writing a computer program into the following tasks: analysis of program's goal, coding, debugging. Keep in mind that the subtasks should have lesser difficulties than the entire task. Once these tasks are resolved, the problem is how to interpret their results. This is where the idea of limits comes in; the result of the entire activity is only as large as the worst result of all the subtasks. However, it is essential to treat unnecessary tasks differently from the subtasks mentioned above. These unnecessary tasks are possibili- ties to improve odds (if you have the time), but are not required. In these cases, there are two cases. If the unnecessary task has a large effect on the outcome of the main task, then add the result of the unnecessary one, if positive, to your total on the main one. If it has a small effect, only add +1 to your total on the main task (as long as you succeed in the unnecessary task). For example, in the programming example above, the character decides to research other people's approaches to the problem it would be an unnecessary, yet beneficial task. So the result of his research wouldn't limit his programming results; it would help them. Having an example before you is a major help, so the GM says that the character will get the result of his research roll added to his programming rolls. Another possible complication of task resolution is when characters band together in an attempt (eg. several people trying to push a massive boulder off a cliff). This is the one case where ARM's logarithmic scale is a hindrance - the only reasonable way to do this is to convert all the stat+mod log values to measures, add the measures, and convert the sum to a combined log. However, if all the characters have roughly equal stat+mods (no two are more than 1 apart), then it becomes simpler. Select one of the people, add the log of the number of other helpers to his/her stat+mod, and use that. Movement Rates........................................................ Movement rates are similar to stats in that they are a final value, not a modifier. While often related to some stats, it is simpler to consider them as independent. When establishing a campaign, it's a good idea to figure out a basic set of methods of movement (eg. Run, Walk, Swim, and Climb), which are common to nearly all characters. Normally, a movement rate is the log value of the measure of the speed at which the character can move. However sometimes this does not work (eg. in a near frictionless medium, such as space). In these cases, the movement rate is the rate of acceleration, and finding speed takes a little more time. Remember that the movement rate you calculate is the log value of the speed/acceleration. When you actually move, you have to look it up on log chart to find the measure of how fast you are moving/accelerating. Damage................................................................ Damage is decided with the task resolution mechanic described above. It is a contest of the quality of a blow against the character's Toughness. The result is translated into wound and shock damage. If the character is wearing some sort of protection, its Armour Value may be added to the character's Toughness (if the GM permits). The level of wound damage is measured in six states: Unharmed, Light, Moderate, Severe, Mortal, and Dead. Wounds are also classified into these six states, and then added to the character's present wound level, by this table: Unharmed = 0 Severe = 3 Light = 1 Mortal = 4 Moderate = 2 Dead = 5 So a moderately wounded character (2) who took a severe wound (3) would be dead (2+3=5). Damage from shock is divided up similarly, with six states: Unharmed, Dazed, Giddy, Reeling, Fainting, and Unconscious. They also corres- pond to the numbers 0 to 5. A dazed (1) character who took a giddy blow (2) would be Reeling (1+2=3). Here is the damage table, where you can look up the result of a blow and find what wound and shock damage it did. Result Wound Shock -------------------------------------- 0 Unharmed 0 Dazed 1 1 Light 1 Unharmed 0 2 Light 1 Dazed 1 3 Light 1 Giddy 2 4 Moderate 2 Dazed 1 5 Moderate 2 Reeling 3 6 Severe 3 Giddy 2 7 Severe 3 Fainting 4 8 Mortal 4 Reeling 3 9 Mortal 4 Unconscious 5 10 Dead 5 Fainting 4 11+ Dead 5 Unconscious 5 16+ Destroyed. Note that armour often protects against wound damage better than it does against shock damage (or vice-versa). In this case the armour will list two armour values. When finding damage, roll only once, but make two subtractions: one with the defender's Toughness + Wound armour value (for wound damage only), one with defender's Toughness + Shock armour value (for shock damage only). If a certain type of blow is more of a stunning attack (eg. untrained punches), subtract one from the Wound damage and add one to the Shock Damage. Sometimes, you may have to ignore one of the sorts of damage (eg. a mental attack that can't physically harm another person). GM's are recommended to use imagination when dealing out wounds. For example, that bear isn't just inflicted with a Light (1) wound, but is enraged when a burst-laser burns a small hole in its left ear. Some GM's may even want characters to record exactly what their wounds are (and their is a maximum of five wounds per character). Thus the shattered ankle you got from the fall might never heal properly... Pushing (Optional rule)............................................... If a character really needs a success, or a better result, they may elect to "push". You can only push once per d6-d6 roll. If you decide to push, you roll a third d6. On a 1, nothing happens. On a 2-5, you add a +1 to the die roll, but your Shock damage is also increased by one (from the exertion). On a 6, you get the +1, but at no cost in Shock Damage. Pushing may also be used when moving. Usually you wouldn't have to roll to move - you automatically go at the rate on your character sheet. However, for each round you move, you can make a push roll (as above) to increase the log value of your movement rate. Remember that it is the log value that you are adding 1 to. It may not seem like much, but when you convert the result to real measures, the +1 is equivalent to adding 50% more effect! Rounds................................................................ The word round was mentioned above; what exactly is a round? It is a unit of time, decided by the GM. It may be as short as a picosecond, or as long as a year, depending upon the circumstances. Basically, it is how long it takes to complete the average action of the scene. In a huge battle, the average action of deciding a skirmish might take 10 minutes - making the round 10 minutes. In an intense computer racing game, the average action of changing direction and moving might take only half a second - making the round worth half a second. When an action sequence begins, the GM decides the length of the round. Players then say what they're attempting to do that round, and the GM will decide what NPC's and the environment will do. Attempts are resolved mechanic. Values are updated, the GM decides if anything new happens, and then the next round starts. Most games have rounds of only one standard length. However, this is restrictive, as some situations obviously call for finer detail, or get boring because everything is happening too slowly. So the game has to use and define more set units of time. The effect usually is that there's a horde of different time-lengths to be learned, the system still is not as flexible as ARM, and players are tied to one units that they might not be happy with. So ARM has no standard round length. The bad part of being so flexible is that rates of movement, healing, and so forth must be converted to new units depending on the size of the round. This means multiplication or division. But ARM uses a logarithmic scale - multiplying and dividing is equivalent to adding and subtracting logs. So to convert from a standard movement rate to something you can use for the current round length is a simple matter of chart look-ups and addition. Some commonly converted units are listed on the following table: From ??? to standard From standard to ??? -------------------- -------------------- kilometres... +15 kilometres... -15 metres... 0 metres... 0 centimetres... -10 centimetres... +10 millimetres... -15 millimetres... +15 inches... -8 inches... +8 feet... -3 feet... +3 miles... +16 miles... -16 seconds... 0 seconds... 0 minutes... +9 minutes... -9 hours... +18 hours... -18 days... +25 days... -25 weeks... +29 weeks... -29 years... +37 years... -37 * N.B. If a speed is expressed in ??? per time unit, reverse the sign of the translation (eg. to go from standard to ???/min, add 9). * N.B. Both time units in an acceleration unit must be converted. Let's use examples to better illustrate the process of converting speeds and accelerations. Corven is an assassin. The log value of her sprint speed is 5. Converting to a measure, this means she can run at around 10 metres per second. However, in a chase scene, the GM has decided that the round will be worth 3 seconds, and unfortunately the map they're using is in feet. First of all, to convert from standard to feet means +3. Adding +3 to her log value gives 8. This means that the log value of her speed in feet per second is 8. Next, we have to consider the round size. It is in seconds, so we don't need to convert that. However, we want to see how far she runs in 3 seconds, not 1 second. Obviously, she can 3 times as far. The log value of 3 is roughly 2. So we add 2 to the previous result of 8, arriving at 10 for the log value of her speed in feet per 3 seconds. Converting this to a measure, we get her running at 100 feet every round. Now, let's say that the starship Decius has a log value of 3 for its acceleration in space. Standard acceleration is in metres per second per second. However, the space map is at a scale of millions of kilometres. Also, the GM has decided that the round size will be one hour on this journey. So we need to convert the standard log value (in metres per second per second) to a log value in million km's per hour per hour. Converting from standard to kilometres is -15. Subtracting 15 from the ship's value of 3 gives us -12. Converting from kilometres to millions of kilometres means dividing by a million, or subtracting 30. We are now at -42. Converting standard to hours is -18. However, we are using per hours here, so we switch the sign to get +18. We have to convert both "per hour"s, so we have to add +18 twice. So the log value of the ship's acceleration in millions of km's per hour per hour is -6 (-42+18+18=-6). Converting to a real measure, we get 0.06. Remember that this an acceleration value, so that we have to keep track of our speed separately. If we want to accelerate for one round, we add 0.06 to our speed in millions of kilometres per hour. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite simple. Putting It All Together............................................... Now you have all the basics of the ARM system. However, this is not really enough to play with yet. You probably want rules for resolving combat (both hand-to-hand, distance, and large-scale), using magic, driving vehicles, creating a character, and a host of other specific situations. However, exactly how these are done depends upon personal taste for the most part, and there are many ways to do each of these. SECTION 2: GUIDELINES Character Creation.................................................... There are no set lists of mods in ARM; even the stats may be altered. So "systems" for character creation will differ from campaign to campaign. However, here are a few possibilities for a character creation system. Firstly, the GM can of course create a group of acceptable characters, and let the players choose which one they would like to play. Among the advantages to this are that the characters often fit better into the campaign. Also, it can make things go faster. However, some players balk at the idea of "premades"; it does limit players severely in what they can play. A compromise between premades and player-generated characters are "templates". These are meta-characters, who have their stats filled in, some mods already fixed and chosen, equipment picked out, and maybe an outline of a background and/or personality. The players pick a template they like, and then flesh it out with additional mods, a more complete background and personality, and other details. Of course, the GM might want a system on how the players may select additional mods (or arrive at the values of mods). Finally, there are systems which let the player create reasonable characters without a GM (or let a player flesh out a template). This might involve random elements. As random systems usually only work for one genre, I will discuss here the basis for a non-random, point- based character creation system. The players are all given a certain number of character points (chp) to build their characters with. Good, advantageous things cost chp, whereas bad, disadvantageous traits give chp back to the creator. Note that advantages might not only be higher stats or good mods, but also resources (equipment, spells, cybernetic enhancements, money, etc...) or better status. The first thing to establish (after the character concept has been figured out) is the racial limits on stats and movement rates. For example, humans may be restricted to these ranges: Fitness: 3 to 9 Wit: 3 to 9 Run: 2 to 6 Dexterity: 3 to 9 Charisma: 3 to 9 Walk: -2 to 4 Toughness: 3 to 9 Willpower: 3 to 9 Climb: -3 to 3 Swim: -4 to 3 Then, the GM establishes a cost per level for each stat. Generally, Fitness and Wit seem the most useful, and therefore should be worth the most. The GM might say that Fitness and Wit cost 10chp per level, and all the others cost 5chp per level. So getting a Fitness of 6 would cost 60chp, whereas getting a Willpower of 8 would only cost 40chp. Then mods may be bought. Signed mods can be bought just like stats, at a set cost per level. For trivial mods that won't be terribly useful, the cost might only be 1chp/level. For often used mods, the cost might be as much as 5chp/level. Special mods should never be disadvantages (ie. give points back to the owner). Having them start out at -10 (for a certain cost) might be a good idea, with lesser values not allowed. For really powerful special mods, the cost could go up to as high as 10chp/level, or even more! Absolute mods are also never disadvantages. The cost/level should vary according to how great an effect the absolute mod will have. The cost is symmetrical here; 1 Size (small) will cost the same as 1 Size (large). It is rare that a signed mod does not fall into the range of -3 to +3. The other two types don't have any normal range. Resources are more difficult to price. Consider the effectiveness - how much of an edge an item gives the character - compared to increasing a stat. The cost should be such that players looking for an edge have a tough time making decisions! GM's might find it handy to keep a list of mods and their cost or cost/level. This way, you are saved the task of re-evaluating common mods every time a character uses one in building a character. Also, a list of many possible mods sometimes inspires players in character creation. To determine a reasonable number of chp to give to the characters, the GM should make up a character of the power level they want, then rate its point cost according to their list. Note that chp need only be tracked and recorded during character creation; it's a hassle keeping track of chp during adventures, and not really necessary or realistic. Once play begins, characters should change in accordance with the world, not by GM rewards and player whims (eg. if you want to increase the signed mod "computer programming", the character must sign up for a course and practice in the imaginary world). Combat (Melee)........................................................ Role-playing games often involve melee combat. This is combat of swords, fists, clubs, etc.: close-range attacks. There is no set way to do this, but here is a guide you might follow... Combat should be dramatic - it is a major and very dangerous conflict! As such, detail and flexibility is necessary, and a sense of being able to use strategy and cunning is a must. No part of a role-playing game should ever end up as a stream of boring dice rolls. I tend to prefer 2 second rounds. This is somewhat realistic, but not so short that trickery and cunning is too difficult. The most basic action in combat is trying to hit an opponent. The difficulty for this action should differ depending upon the opponent. The base difficulty should be 4, with small size added and large size subtracted. If the target is moving (as opposed to standing and fighting) the base difficulty should be 6. The attempt would normally be based on Fitness. Now, if the attacker succeeds in this roll, their weapon (or fist, or leg, etc...) is on the right path towards their opponent. If the opponent doesn't try to avoid this, the attacker will hit. However, the opponent may be able to try to dodge, or block, or parry the blow. The difficulty for this should be the result of the attacker's attempt, added to 4. If the defender had prepared for the attack, and was waiting for it, the base difficulty should be 2. This is also a Fitness action usually. If a blow is ever landed, find first the result of the successful attempt. Then add the weapon's damage value (possibly with a Strength mod added, if applicable). Add d6-d6 to this, and subtract the defender's Toughness and armour value. If the result is positive or 0, look it up on the damage table. Of course, there are many other options in combat. For example, you often find opponents circling each other, looking for a weakness. If a combat is at a relative standstill (ie. the combatants aren't in close swinging away), you can assume that they are prepared for an attack. There, they should have a +2 bonus on their defensive attempts to reflect this. However, if they circle, they can make attempts to find a weakness. One combatant makes a roll for his own Wit against the other's Wit (with combat experience mods added). A successful result gives a +1 to an attack next round. Sometimes, combatants will make a berserk charge, a frenzied attack with no thought for defense. In this case, the GM might give a +1 bonus to attack, but rule that that they will have a -2 penalty to any action next round. Counter-blows, when a defender takes the opportunity to strike back, should have a -2 to the dodge/parry attempt. While sacrificing your defense, you can take advantage of the situation to land an extra blow. In one round, each combatant should normally have only one action (eg;. attacking, defending, circling, moving, etc...) The one common exception is the counter-blow, where the defender both defends and attacks immediately afterwards in that round. This means that if both parties decide to attack on the same round, neither will get defense rolls. So to summarize my guidelines for melee combat: Attacking and defense are separated. Rounds are 2 seconds long. Combatants only have one combat action per round, except for counter- blows. Action Difficulty ------------------------------------------------------- Attacking 4, large size subtracted. Attacking moving target 6, large size subtracted. Defending 4, attack result added. Prepared defense 2, attack result added. Counter-blow (defense) 6, attack result added. Counter-blow (attack) 4, large size subtracted. Berserker attack 3, large size subtracted. (automatic -2 to next action) Also, an opponent may circle (automatically preparing a defense), and try a Wit vs. Wit test to find a weakness in the other. On a success, they get a +1 to attack next round. Some guidelines for weapons or types of attack are here presented: Attack Damage Value Attack Parry -------------------------------------------------- Fist 1 (stun) 0 -1 Trained Fist 3 (stun) 0 0 Kick 4 (stun) -1 -2 Club (50cm) 3 (stun) 0 0 Knife (20cm) 5 0 -1 Sword (100cm) 7 -1 -1 Sword (150cm) 8 -2 -2 Rapier 4 +1 +1 Axe (90cm) 8 0 -3 Shield (50cm) 0 (stun) -1 +3 These should be enough to give you an idea. Note that strength mods should be added to damage values for most melee combat weapons. Also, armour values might go along these lines: Armour Armour Value: Normal Stun -------------------------------------------- Leather +2 0 Chain +4 +2 Plate +7 +4 Now, let's look at an example of combat. We'll have three characters: Alex (a slippery criminal), Brad (a big warrior), and Christine (a fencer). Here are their stats, mods, and equipment: Alex Brad Christine ------------------------------------------------- Fitness 6 8 7 Dexterity 7 5 7 Toughness 5 8 6 Wit 7 4 6 Charisma 8 5 7 Willpower 6 7 5 Armour Chain (4N/2S) None Leather (2N/0S) Weapon Sword (6D/0A/-1P) Axe (8D/0A/-3P) Rapier (4D/+1A/+1P) Mods +1 Swords +1 Strength +2 Rapiers The setting is a banquet hall in an abandoned castle. Chairs and tables lie around the room. Alex at the far end of the hall, greets Brad and Christine as they come in: "Hahaahaaa! So you have come at last, you [etc...]" Brad yells a battle-cry, and charges at Alex. Alex sees this coming - Brad had the entire hall to run down - and prepares to dive under the axe swing. Brad adds his Fitness (8), rolls a +3 and a -5, and generates a total of 6. Subtracting the base difficulty (4) from this, he gets a successful result of 2. Alex tries to dodge under the accurate swing, and so takes his Fitness (6), rolls a +4 and a -1, and generates a total of 9. Subtracting the difficulty (2 + Brad's 2 = 4), he gets a successful result of 5. Christine instead chose to run carefully towards Alex, making sure he doesn't escape. She just reaches him in the first round. The next round, Alex decides to try and trick Brad and Christine by calling out "AAHH!! A DEMON!!". The GM decides this is a task for Charisma, and can be resisted only by Willpower. Alex rolls a +2 and a -2, adds this to his Charisma (8), and generates a total of 8 against Brad. Subtracting Brad's Willpower of 6, Alex gets a successful result of 2! Brad whips around in fear, looking for the demon, instead of attacking (as he wanted to do). Rolling against Christine, Alex gets a +2 and a -6, for a total of 4. Subtracting Christine's Willpower of 5, Brad gets a failing result of -1. Christine was not fooled. Christine was going to circle this round, so she takes her Wit (6), rolls a +2 and a -1, and generates a total of 7. Subtracting Alex's Wit of 7, gives a marginal result of 0. The GM decides that this is a success, as Alex was spending the turn shouting instead of concentra- ting on the combat. Christine gets a +1 on her attack against Alex next round. The next round, Alex decides to try and dodge under any blows and run for the door. Christine will lunge at him with her rapier, and Brad will attack with his axe again. Christine adds her Fitness (7), her Rapier mod (+2), the attack modifier of her weapon (+1), and her circling bonus (+1) to a dice roll of +3 and -4. Her total is 10. Subtracting the base difficulty of 4 from this, she gets a successful attack with result of 6. Alex adds his Fitness (6) to a dice roll of +4 and -3, getting a total of 7. The difficulty is 8 (base of 2 + Christine's 6). This is a failure, so Christine's blow strikes him. The damage value of the rapier (4), plus the result of the blow (6), plus a dice roll of +2 and -5, gives a total of 7. Subtracting Alex's Toughness (5) gives a result of 2. However, for the wound damage, Alex's chain-mail blocks 4 (no wound damage is done), and for shock damage it blocks 2 (0 damage). Looking up the 0 on the damage chart we find that Alex is Dazed only. The GM rules that the rapier struck him weakly on his side, but was deflected by his armour. Brad also swings. His Fitness (8), with a dice roll of +6 and -3 added, gives him a total of 11. The GM decides, however, that since Alex was dodging under a blow already in an effort to escape, he was a moving target. So the GM ups the base difficult to 6. Brad still generates a successful result of 5, though. Since Alex already used up his action when he tried to dodge Christine's attack, Brad can go right ahead to calculating damage. The result of his blow (5), plus the damage value of his axe (7), plus his Strength mod (+1), plus a dice roll of +2 and -2, give a massive total of 13. Subtracting Alex's Toughness (5) gives a result of 8. Alex's chain armour blocks 4 points for wound damage - looking up 4 (8-4) on the damage chart we find the blow did Moderate damage. Alex's chain armour only blocks 2 points for shock damage - looking up 6 (8-2) on the damage chart we find the blow also did 2 levels of Shock (Giddy). Alex is now moderately wounded, and reeling from shock. The GM decides the axe blow hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the floor. The GM also rules that because he is Reeling, Alex will will get a -2 on all actions next round. Combat will continue like this, until victory is claimed by one of the combatants. Combat (Ranged)....................................................... Ranged combat is combat at a distance, with arrows, stones, bullets, and other "missile" weapons. It's a little more complicated, because of distance factors. The most basic thing to do is try and hit someone. First find the log of the distance between you and the target (converting to standard if necessary). Compare this with the maximum range for the weapon (this range will be based on your Fitness stat for some types of weapon). If the target is in range, your shot stands a chance of hitting it. If launching the weapon is a throwing task (eg. spears, stones), use Fitness to generate a total. If it is an aiming task (eg. bows, guns) use Dexterity instead. Add the accuracy of the weapon, and a d6-d6 roll. The base difficulty is exactly the same as it was for melee combat (4 - large size, 6 - large size for moving targets). However, also add *TWICE* the log of the distance to the target. Also, modifiers for cover (eg. trees in the way), weather (eg. strong winds), and so forth. Do not add negative distance logs - treat them as 0 instead. Certain slow weapons (eg. stones, spears) may be dodged. Note that this is normally impossible for weapons such as bullets, arrows, burst lasers, and so forth. Dodging is handled in exactly the same way as it is in melee combats: the base difficulty is 4 (6 if the defense is prepared), with the result of the hit added. On successful hits, damage may be caused. Add the result of the hit, the damage value of the weapon (possibly modified by a Strength mod), and a d6-d6 roll. The difficulty is the Toughness of the defender. Remember to take into account armour as well. Some sample range weapons are given here: Weapon Damage Accuracy Max. Range ------------------------------------------------------- Long bow (and arrows) 5 +15 FIT+7 Handgun (and bullets) 7 +17 12 Burst-laser rifle 10 +20 15 Magic................................................................. You can construct a useable magic system, where magical characters can only learn set spells. These may be given a difficulty to cast (for Wit or Willpower), and appropriate stats for figuring results. There may be provisions to link spells together in some way. Spells may be organized into certain groups (eg. a fire group, a mind group, a transmutation group, etc...). Here is a sample spell, the beloved fire-ball: Fire-ball Difficulty to cast: 7 Fire-ball creates a red glowing baseball-sized sphere in the caster's hand. The caster may then fling it at the target, with an accuracy of +20. It moves too fast to be dodged, and the range is unlimited. Upon impact, the glowing ball explodes into a fire-ball of 1m radius. This fire-ball has a damage value of 12, to all within 1m of it. If miscast, it might explode while in the caster's hand, or simply fail to explode at all (fizzling out). Others prefer improvisational magic systems. In these, there is normally an explanation of how magic works, exactly how spells are cast. Magical characters can then cast all sorts of spells, limited only by how the magic works and their imagination. A sample premise is given here: There are two worlds: the real world, and the soul world. Every "real" object also has some sort of presence in the soul world. However, there are many things in the soul world that are not visible in the real world: emotions, thoughts, magical creatures, and so forth. Characters with the special mod "Magically Able" can see in the soul world, and can affect it by force of willpower. Often effects upon a real object's soul will affect the objects itself. The wizard has several basic options: Moving soul-matter, creating Shaping bubbles around soul-matter, Transmuting soul- matter (changing it from one thing into another), and Imbuing soul-matter with special powers and properties (eg. giving it the power of thought). All of these basic actions are based on Willpower, with the Magically Able mod added. Moving has a difficulty of 4, with the result being how far the soul-matter was moved in one second. Shaping has a difficulty of 6, with the result indicating how well-formed the Shaping bubble is. Transmuting has a difficulty of 7-9, depending upon how similar the initial object is to the final object. Imbuing an object has a difficulty of 8 for implanting simple, repetitive, unconditional movement commands. Imbuing complex but unconditio- nal movement commands, or simple actions with conditions, has a difficulty of 10. Imbuing complex, conditional actions has a difficulty of 12. [etc...] A "spell" under this system might go something like this: Purpose: To launch a fire-ball at a target, and have it explode. Firstly, if the mage has no large fire close at hand, they Transmute the soul-matter of some air into fire. Immediately, the source of fire (natural or Transmuted) is compressed with a Shaping bubble into a small baseball-sized globe. The mage then Moves the globe (magically) towards the target. Upon hitting the target, the mage releases the Shaping bubble, and the contained fire explodes, doing serious damage. The mage might have Imbued the globe with a simple conditional action (move towards the stated target, release its Shaping bubble upon impact), for surer results. Improvisational magic systems are often more difficult to create than set spell systems; balancing the power and flexibility is challenging. Novice GM's probably wouldn't want to start out by attempting to make one. There is one easy option to include magic in your campaigns without bothering with a system. Simply don't allow the players to have magical characters - other characters, or possibly only equipment alone, will be magical. In this case, you can arbitrarily decide what wizards can or cannot do on the spot.