ALMA MATER Oracle Games 3460. Dorothy (Copy 1962 by Oracie Games Le Ituseatone Copynght 1962 by Ero! Ot and Owen Outen (as neste) [Al git ecerved under inatonal and Par-Amencan Copyight Corwentions |sopoton of ths back maybe sepradiced ay oem wihou writen pormssion ‘tom te Publshar,excn! by a magazine 0” newepaper renews who may Que? ‘et passages as pan of ns ponea reve Ath characters and events portayed nth book ae ton and any resem ‘ance rea people ov meet spur) earner Ponte n Canaca Fst Pontog ly 1962 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS sou Ey ‘0 than CREDITS eo ote, Giesory. Cann oto Jee Pes Sous Swe and edward Wine auemamoes see ale a oe ton sage! ke ‘oat ot 20 charactor Shoat 6 avaible {07 $880 US tromcomma arene BH CONTENTS eerste cong Piel Anacis 2 ‘Stencive Opine B a a Wemponsange B ‘A Few Words From the Authors <0... 3 pee = Bice a ‘ B CREATING CHARACTERS 4 : cumin ds a ae a 2 Brine : : 3 sling Damas a Ca Eom 2 : ron 3 etna : So Met a fouk : 4 Bee tat a ed a : 2 cuewsrey, By sect ave 5 SSEEE P Gigine cciums: “ ae ata PEeESeS § SM dig Ages SIN ae Abe s eee teas : = § soar kus : “ eat Problem tiesoeenneee Fliring EES = ae : ¢ Bin 2 Bona Ries SOON 8 BiMEssdy 2 = = = : Bh ie Ne oie z = aoe 3g hint esc ees 8 Rship : z tha ical fet : com: gimme : : coging Aton Values pam os = ee —_ } ALCOHOL AND DRUGS... 28 SE Bestions 3 acapesaics vseeneee 38 rein iti 3 “estes a coon : a Renton 2 Cheating agian : ¢ | aSee ia : 2 eines ae cog Sredagseation % Sates a © Mune Shoal 00000002 : % Satine moe Bins Ping 3 svocess an Prine 3 NN 3 Brag : : 2 vemcues 2m Parad : 3 Bpecting & Vehicle % Fin a 3 nna te Yb % 3 ; 3 ——Bamage to Perens B Hemi 8 isceLLaNeous Homewedt : co Hla Seas Sen x Inmication Inti i Shiinasor . u fol 3 piston : % Uectpilibe ‘estan nai i ting. - ‘Duties of a SchoolMaster oo Se Rien or be Monee Shoaib au Mem : inforation or Payers % Moe tient ; % Ee ie siete EXAMPLE OF PLAY ss Sone : ‘ceNTRAL HGH : Skoda : Shatter ined ona a Shine Punish spon Raped 20000000 faches votes se : o Seems IT! : a Siciote o ® ENCOUNTERS .. SERINE recomendations un & z Day PLANS m0 ® STARR'S PARTY a 7 : & : & aire Peto : & Set eich & or ao we 7 - GLOSSARY eee a7 List OF ABBREVIATIONS ” INDEX oINTRODUCTION Alma Mater is @ role-playing game. One (or more) of the participants acts as the referee [ar SchoolMastes) and is respons ble for the overall play coordination. ‘The Schoolmaster uses this rule bodk to form's trame-work for his game. He controls the ‘non-player characters (NPCs) with which the players interact ad ‘dosigns day-to-day events and scrmarios for usa during the course of the game, “The other players use the guidelines herein to create player ‘charactors (PCs) aid play in situations devised by the Schoolmas- tor. The players should react according their charactors distinct, personality” as this is the essence of good role-playing. “The object of the gume i to attain ge much Social, Academic, and General Success as possible by playing a character through four years of high school ‘The game is generally meant to be realistic, balanced with fun and excitement. All the rules given cover sit acer I North American high schools: Some may seem farfetched, bit they do occur ‘Deviations from the rules may be made by the Schoolmaster if hebeliovesit will result inamore enjoyable gime. This isespecia I te of sections such ax Reactions where only the general dis: position of the NPCs encountered (positive, neutral, ornogative) is tremore appropriate forsote play. Itshoutd be noted th we diseuss the rules with reference tahoe intend for to be played by both soxes [A Few Words From the Authors Some people may find this game sexist in paris, especially the character lass descriptions. No discrimination is intended. Ploase keop in mind that wo are trying to simulate storotyper thal fone sees i school. We have tried to balanee the game by ltmiting Some classes for males as well as others for females. Tt shoul also be noted that this game contains some rathor ‘mature subjoet matter, especially in regard to sex and drugs. We aro not making a stand for or against either. but both are common. in modern high schools, We have tried 40 devise a game that simtlatos the modern high school stent, some of whom take 2 ‘more liberal approach tothese subjects. Finally, do not be shocked cillustrations. As the warning an the back cover indicates, ‘subject ares ‘sided polygon, 10-0" etched Into it, This means that each number will appear twice on the same die (ir example there aro two "0". two "2's. and so on). This die can be purchased ‘with. or without thonumbors colored. If Use murs are colored, then each run of “Oto will be different (e-one run of red the other of groon). I is the SchoolMaster's sponsibility to ensure that nevly purchased dice have correctly colored numbers. ‘A twonty-sided die Is very vorsatilo. 1 can bo used as @ sited. a twenty-sided, and a 100-sided (norcentle) die ter Ha number betweon 1" aid "10" is requited, then each ‘number on the die corresponds (othe appropriate nunabor within that range, "O" being equal to "10" This isa ten sided die. To ‘obtain amumberfrom:"1"'to""20" we take advantage ofthe fat that ‘ach runof "0" toa" is colored differently. Lat ssay thatomne ran Isted and that tho othor run Is graon. We further stat thatthe red ‘numbers shall represent therange'"11"to"20" Now roll the die- 1 the number rolled isa red"5", then the result(s a""15". A red "0 ‘would represent a""20" a groan "0" would represent @ "10 Ha number between "1" and "¥00" le required, the procedure seven simpler Tota the dieasa 1O0-sided di, we simp rll t twwice. The first roll represents the tens place and the second ‘denotes the ones place. Far example: "0" and "6" reprosent 6: a "7" and "8" represent 78;"'0" and"0" represent 100. When Sing the tieenty-siced die as a 100eaided de, the number color is ignored. ‘Nojation such as “2—" and “3.+" ts found frequently Uheoughout these rules. A number followed by a mlaus sign ind Cates that the number shown of less is pertinent in the situation. A. number followed by a plus sign moans that the number shown oF Greater Is pertinent. For example: Table 2 shows the attribute Teuirements for the various character classes. For ‘Tough. reads Strength 7+, Courage 6.+, Intelligence 5, and Loarning Drive 4. This means that a Tough requires a Sirongth of 7 oF more, a Courage of © or higher. an Intelligence 5 or less. and’ a Learning Drive of or less ‘Whenevera rule states that a fraction such as 2/10 is needed it means that "2""(2 of loss) miust be rolled om TD10 (1 ten-sided ‘i) for the result to apply. For example: Calvin has a 4/10 chance lof getting a dato with Doe. If he rolls 1.2, or he fs successful Anything higher means he has fatled. Similarly, 2010 would indicate that you must rall two 10-sided dice, 3D10 moans throe Osided dice are rolled; 4D6 indicates four 6-sided dice: 205 donotus two S-sided dies: and so on. The most commonly used dio is the D10. Unless otherwise ted all rolls are done on D10. “Toreprosent the random nature of some situations. a variable modifier has been developed. When either a D6 variable or a D10 variable fs needed, use Table 1 to determine the modi Added to.or subtracted from the number being computed Table 1. Variable Dice Modifiers 7s Modifier. «070 x =a 1 a =a 2 4 4 4 5 +2 5 0 Rolling “against” an attribute means a 1D10 rol! less than oF equal to the attribute in question is successful A roll higher than the attribute fails, Forexample: Randy hasan BCO. He wants tosht Sandy in close combat. Ta bo successful, he must rel 6 ‘Toruse some skilis: the character must roll less than a esulton 110 to be stiecessful. For example: Jim has 8 INT. 6 APP. and level 3 Lying, Terry has 9 INT- For Jim to lie successfolly to Terry bho must roll less than 8 { (86) +29). on 1DAD (see Lving). ‘When computing numbers, all fraciions or decimals should bbe rounded to the nearest whale umber. "There is elwayes chance that something.can goright or weong even when the numbers rieeded seem to indicate automatic suc ‘oss or failure. A roll of"1" Is always succossful, and a roll of "10" fon 1010 or "20" op 1D20 ie always failure. No matter how thumsy a porson may be there Is alseays a chance that he will be blot hi someone, oven if the chance is Very small. Likewise. no ‘atter how good looking a guy is there is always a small chance that a el wil turn him down whom he asks fora date. Suceoss oF failure docs not apply tn situations which are absolutely impossi- ble such as attempting to pick a lock with bare hands. Its the SchoolMastor’s responsibility to decide if'« purposed action ts Within the realm of possibilty