The Free RPG

Written By
Nathan Reese Maher

Sticks & Stones

The free rpg

The Playtest Credits

Author

I couldnt have done it without you.

Nathan Reese Maher

To my future Play Testers, for helping me

balance the system and getting Sticks &
Stones off the ground.

Editors

Copyright and Disclaimer

Nathan Reese Maher and Samantha Maher

Sticks & Stones The Free RPG, and its

logo, images (excluding public domain
images) and information herein are
copyrighted, July 2012, in the USA and other
countries, all rights reserved. Fonts belong
to their respective creators.
Sticks & Stones The Free RPG, is a free
distribution through all digital formats and
may be printed for personal use only.
Commercial distribution for profit is strictly
prohibited.
Advertisements contained herein are nonpaid and are not to be removed without
permission from the author.

Dedication
To my wife, Sam, for supporting me
through this venture and to Jevin Pierson for
introducing me to tabletop role-playing
games.
(In Order of Appearance)
To Jevin Pierson, David Martin, Joshua
Bauer, Paul Elledge, Davy Hoffman, James
Wheeler,
Pete
Gygi,
Christopher
Christopherson, Jon Zuremuehlen, Daniel
Harrison, Mark Slayton, James Lundberg,
Charles Hagin, Samantha Maher, James
Paton, Daniel Shepherd and Joe Baker and
all the countless hours we gamed together.

Play Test 1st Edition, July, 2012

Copyright 2012, Nathan Reese Maher.
Cover Design in by Nathan Reese Maher.
STICKS & STONES THE FREE RPG, All Rights Reserved
Book ISBN 978-1479172115

Printed in the United States

Introduction
THE PLAYERS

Welcome to Sticks & Stones The Free

RPG, a tabletop role-playing game designed
with over 20 years of gaming experience,
with intent to bring you the best aspects of
the tabletop industry today.
The goal of Sticks & Stones is to give
both players and Overseers the ability to
create their own world and unique
experiences without diving into their
pocketbooks. This game intends to open up
your creative mind and give you
streamlined gaming sessions without being
bogged down with complex rules.
For either the experienced tabletop
gamer or those of us who are still new,
Sticks & Stones delivers an easy learning
curve thatll allow total immersion. But,
before we begin, let us take a moment to
identify a few amazing features that Sticks
& Stones offers.

Generally comprised of 3 to 5 (or more)

people who take on the roles of their own
uniquely designed characters. Each player
is given the opportunity to create one or
more characters before the gaming session
begins. It is the role of the player to react to
the Overseers descriptions and interact with
the individual non-player characters that the
Overseer has created. Players can have
their characters speak and perform any
action as if they would in real-life, except
that the actions they take are within an
imaginary world.

Winning and Losing

There is no winning or losing in this
game of the imagination. The goal is to
enjoy your interactions through the story
and achieve the goals set forth by the
Overseer.
Just like in real life, player
characters can potentially die, and
sometimes people get very attached to their
characters. Please keep in mind that this is
simply a game, and while death may spell
the end of that potential character, it does
not in any shape or form prevent a player
from making a new character and rejoin the
game.

WHAT IS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME?

A role-playing game is a process where
one (or more) individuals take on the role of
a Overseer and player characters.

The Overseer (Storyteller)

The Overseer or Overseer, as this game
identifies it as, weaves a story to the players
who play as characters in the story. The
Overseer is tasked with preparing
adventurers or scenes, setting individual
challenges, and then act out the roles of nonplayer characters that are essential to the
storyline.

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND

While playing, the goal of the game is to
have fun. If there are rules or restrictions
present in Sticks & Stones that are
dampening the gaming session, please feel
free to change them. Some Overseers can

put new rules to a vote and then monitor

them accordingly so that the new rules do
not disrupt other portions of the game.
Ultimately, it is the Overseer who has the
final say on anything, including the rules in
this game. Whatever the Overseer says,
goes, but this does not prevent a player from
being able to sway an Overseers ruling.

combat, you will see your character

improving in those areas he or she favors
most.
Flaws Players have the opportunity to
purchase flaws for their character to aid in
role-playing scenarios, but instead of leaving
the flaw for the right opportunity or
whenever the player feels it would best fit,
purchased flaws are trusted into the hands
of the other players and (depending upon
severity) the Overseer. Players holding onto
these flaws can elect when the best situation
to use them is, and it can sometimes lead to
very embarrassing or hilarious outcomes.

WHY STICKS & STONES?

There are several different types of roleplaying games out on the shelves, so how is
Sticks & Stones different than all the other
games out there?
Sticks & Stones is not a replacement
game for any that are currently out on the
shelves, but is designed for people who are
looking for something different and
new. Sticks & Stones features a long and
exciting list of rules that are outside the
normal scope of todays top most roleplaying games.
Below is a non-comprehensive list and
description of the most compelling aspects
of Sticks & Stones for both Players and
Overseers alike:

Strategic Combat System Combat has

been enhanced to allow armor to act as
armor and absorb damage as opposed to
simply deflecting it. Also, characters have a
Stamina bar that limits their ability to
perform certain actions in a combat turn,
this means players must be very careful
when using high stamina costing traits else
they find themselves tired before combat has
even begun. The combat cycle is designed
to monitor a characters reaction speed, and
each action costs time in a combat cycle.
Those wielding a knife can generally strike
faster than those with a long sword.

For PLAYERS

Magick
Points
Opposed
to
Spell
Memorization Characters need not
memorize spells at the beginning or ending
of each day and instead are thought to have
mastered their respective spell sphere. Each
caster draws upon magick points that
replenish themselves throughout the gaming
session. This avoids the all too common
occurrence where magick users find
themselves out of spells and are unable to
contribute to the rest of the game.

Point-Buy Character Creation Creativity is

placed into the hands of each player by
giving them the ability to build their
characters race, flaws, attributes, skills, and
traits through a well-balanced point-buy
system.
Improve by Doing Player characters
improve their characters not through an
experience system that later allows one to
level up, but instead through in-game
actions and simply by doing. If you favor
magick over a weapon, or social graces to

Customizable Magick System Characters

gain access to Spell Spheres that act as a

source or type of magick, that may then be

customized and tailored to better fit the
current challenge or scene.
This gives
players the opportunity to put their
creativity to work and see what unique
combinations they may bring to the gaming
session.

cut back the hours of preparation so you can

focus more on playing.
Build Your Own World Inside this book
you will find guidelines, not rules, to help
you design your own world by looking at
city economics, social strata and giving you
hints and tips of how magick and magickal
items can affect your world.

For Overseers
Easy to Modify Rules Sticks & Stones was
created with the Overseer in mind. Rules
are designed to create a framework for the
Overseer to work off of, but not to restrict or
give a rule for every unique scenario that
may arise. Rules can be easily modified to
fit your gaming session and the constant
need to reference this book is nearly
eliminated; meaning more time for gaming
and less time reading.

WHAT NOW?
So your interest is peeked, but you need
to know how to begin? Like all games that I
have personally ran, most games begin with
the players. Now I shall introduce you to
the hosts of Sticks & Stones, Tye D. Sticks
and Shelly F. Stones.

No More Hack & Slash While those who

are interested in running Hack and Slash
style adventures are not to be discouraged,
for gamers who are looking for a more
intricate world filled with Mental and Social
challenges on top of the Physical now have
the tools available to create as exciting of a
challenge in shrewd negotiations as with
one designed to engage a dragon in battle.
Improv. Friendly While some Overseers
enjoy spending hours preparing for the next
gaming session, Sticks & Stones offers an
edge on improvising situations and choice
encounters without having to pause the
game to write down statistics or flip through
pages of pages of noteworthy treasure that
would best fit for the situation. Monsters
are streamlined, traps are can be made up on
the spot and even treasure itself can be
grouped together which allows players to
use their Scavenge skill to look for specific
types of items. Within are easy rules to help

Letter to Play testers

Tye:
Hello,
play
testers! My name is Ty
D. Sticks and I, along
with my co-host Shelly
F. Stones, are here to
welcome you to Sticks
& Stones The Free
RPG.
Say hello
Shelly.

Shelly: Look Ty, lets

not be so formal, we
ditched those clothes
from page 7 in the
books gutter, so there
is no need to be so
polite. Lets just call it
what it is.

Shelly: Hello.

Tye: Fine.

As play
testers, if you feel the
want to contribute,
Sticks & Stones will
gladly accept the help
and give credits to
those who do.

Tye:
Were
both
thrilled that you are
here for the ride.
Shelly: And thrilled to
be out of those Art Deco
clothes from page 7.

Everyone
please note that this is
a free project and in
order to keep it free we
cannot
give
dispensation of any
kind outside of a
special thanks and a mention. And, if you
feel the need, we also take other forms of
help.
Shelly:

Tye: Yes, well, that

somewhat transitions us
into why were here.
Shelly: You mean in
regards
to
being
hurriedly drawn, with a
couple more lines than what is needed, and
being strangely ill-proportionate?
Tye: You shouldnt insult the artists like that.

Tye: Such as?

Shelly: Artist, singular, who just so happens to

be the same person who wrote this game. He
just needs help in more than one way

Shelly: Money!
Tye: Shelly!"

Tye: Precisely! What this play test needs is

people who are willing to help with edits,

balancing suggestions, contributions and

Shelly: There is nothing wrong with asking for

a donation or two. If people give us money then
we can hire artists and do some cool
promotional stuff.

Shelly: Artistic skill?

Tye: Shelly

Tye: I guess you are right, but were not

looking for profits. The goal here is to bring a
fun tabletop RPG experience to fellow gamers.

to keep copyright and just ask politely for their

permission to use their suggestions.
Shelly: Exactly what I was going to say. Keep
in mind it was my idea to begin with and the
copyright belongs to me but Ill allow you to
use it for awhile.
Tye: Thats um awfully nice of you.

Shelly: So then why do the physical book

copies cost money then?

Tye: Because, we dont own our own press

and it costs money to print. Its a whole lot
cheaper to buy the physical copies, if you
want one, instead of taking it to your local
office supply store and print it off for 10
cents a page.

Shelly: Isnt it? Now, lets not waste any more

time. These people are here to check out the
game and not waste too much time with us.
Tye: Well see you all inside the game! Please
enjoy yourself and remember to have fun. So
Shelly, by the way, Im curious

Shelly: But you do know that Sticks &

Stones makes a little bit off the physical
copies right? Whats with that?

Shelly: Yes?
Tye: What is your hair made out of?

Tye: Its just a way to bring in some extra

revenue Shelly, its not going to break our
fans. Besides, the extra money can help to
fund additional projects for the future!

Shelly: Lichen. Why do you ask?

Tye: No reason.
Shelly: Please, everyone be sure to thank the
mermaid at the bottom of the page for being
naked! Enjoy!

Shelly: What happens if someone drove up to

our house with a truckload of money to buy
Sticks & Stones, how will our contributors know
that their work is protected in the case of sale?

Tye: This is going to be a long ## pages.

Tye: We would have to allow our contributors

Chapter 1
Character Creation
Young Adult
Adult
Middle Age
Old Age

The character creation process is very

simple, despite the number of steps, and of
course having a character sheet is very much
part of the character creation process and can
usually be acquired from your Overseer or
downloading it yourself from off the Sticks
& Stones website. Once you have your
character sheet and a pencil, please follow the
steps below:

*Note: The above milestones are not what

the characters are able to achieve, but what
the typical character would start off at in
those ages. It is recommended to start off in
the 150-200 range.
Once the Overseer determines how many
milestones to give to each player, some may
elect to add a little variance to each milestone
amount by allowing the player to roll a die
and then add that result to their totals as
well. It is recommended to keep the die roll
constant for each player and to have the die
not be larger than 1d10, else risk a large
imbalance between player characters.

STEP 1 - MILESTONES
In this step, the Overseer must advise you
of how many milestones your character is
going to start off with. Think of milestones
as a form of currency that you are going to
use to purchase your characters abilities.
Also, milestones are used to help determine
the experience level of your character so that
the
Overseer
can
create
challenges
accordingly.
Before the start of the campaign/
adventure, the Overseer decides exactly what
power-level to start the player characters off
at.
This is determined by starting
milestones. These starting milestones are
then used to purchase ability scores or be
used for extra-ordinary traits or advantages.
Typical milestone allotment is based
upon the age group of characters the
Overseer wishes to create:
Age Group
Infant
Child
Teenager

144-179
180-359
359-584
585+

STEP 2 RACIAL TRAITS

Depending on the world that the
Overseer has created, there may be specific
races that dominate the population. These
races may already be drawn up and listed as
a template or package that can be purchased
with little variation. In these cases, most
dominate species can be purchased at a
discount in milestones to give incentives to
players in order to take part in the growing
world. On the other hand, ambitious players
may decide to create their own race by
purchasing racial traits at a cost of their
starting milestones. These unique races may
play very little, if any, role in the campaign
world, but perhaps, with approval from the

Milestones
45-71
72-116
117-143

Overseer, the players character can change

all that. It is best to spend no more than
about 10 to 15% on racial traits as anything
more than that could reduce the effectiveness
of your character.
*Note: Do not spend all your milestones
on racial traits, else there may be none left
over to purchase ability scores.

*Note: The sense in question is nonexistent and cannot be used to interact

with the gaming world.
**Note: The sense of awareness cannot be
altered in levels of acuity due to causing
issues with the characters motor
functions and constantly questions his or
her own being.
Additional traits are available under
character senses. These racial traits are main
examples, but are not a complete
comprehensive list. If there is a particular
sense trait you want your race to have, then
discussed it fully with the Overseer for
proper implementation and milestone cost.

Cosmetic Changes (Cost: 0)

Cosmetic changes do not cost any
milestones. These types of changes have
little to no affect in game, except giving other
players a general identifying (usually visual)
trait that identifies that character of that
particular race.
Examples of cosmetic changes: Eye Color
& Shape; Hair Color, Location & Shape; Ear
Shape & Location; Mouth Color, Location &
Shape; Nose Color, Location & Shape; Skin
Color & Texture; Distinguishing Marks;
Vestigial Limbs or Other Additions

Sight
Night Vision (Cost 5):
Allows the
character to see just as well at night as they
do during the day. This ability does not
grant the ability to see in complete darkness,
but as long as there is some source of light
(no matter how small), the character can see
at night. Night vision is usually due to the
race having a tapetum lucidum behind or
within their retina.

Senses (Cost: Variable)

Senses include sight, smell, hearing, taste,
touch and awareness. Each level of positive
increase in sense gives that character a
favorable condition when detecting something
with their particular sensory organ, and each
decreased level causes the character to suffer
an unfavorable condition.
Levels of Acuity
Useless/Non-Existent*
Ruined/Handicapped
Vulnerable
Weak
Normal (Human Standard)
Acute
Keen
Superior
Godlike

Ultraviolet Vision (Cost 10):

Also
dubbed by some as life vision, ultraviolet
vision allows the character to see
electromagnetic fields as well as certain
chemical processes in living creatures. Those
with Ultraviolet Vision can see normally
invisible patterns and designs in the world
around them making the world more vibrant
and beautiful. While this ability does not
grant the character to see completely in utter
darkness, it does grant the ability to see some
creatures and chemicals that other creatures
would not be able to see in those utter dark
conditions.

Cost
-10
-7
-5
-2
0
+5
+10
+15
+20

Thermal Vision (Cost 10): Allows for the

10

character to see variances of temperature in

the environment as well from living
creatures. This ability does allow for one to
see in complete darkness, as thermal vision
does not rely on visual light. Thermal vision
works equally well in both day and nighttime
conditions.

While having hyper-acute sense of smell

may, in of itself, seem like it confers the
ability to track by smell, this is not the case.
The bloodhound trait allows the character to
be able to isolate a particular molecule of
odor and follow it. When trying to track
down a certain individual or object by scent,
the character gains an additional favorable
condition on top of all other modifiers.

Motion Vision (Cost 10): Is the ability to

see objects only as they move. Completely
stationary objects are difficult to discern and
thus the character would sustain three
unfavorable conditions (as if handicapped
vision) to determine the difference between a
stationary
person
versus
the
static
environment. However, if an object moves
(moves 1 square) the character acquires three
favorable conditions (as if superior vision) in
locating the intended target.

Hearing
Infrasonic (Cost 5): There are some
frequencies that are far below the human
level of hearing. These frequencies generally
follow geological movements and shifts in
the earth. Also, there are some species that
communicate in lower frequencies, especially
underwater due to the sound being able to
travel long distances and not dissipating
easily. This also allows for the character to
hear spirits, since they speak in lower
frequencies. This allows the character to hear
frequencies to -40 decibels (dB) (below the
human ability to hear a 0 decibels). See the
Chapter 6 Magick, under the sound sphere
for more information on sound and decibels.

Fey Sight (Cost 10): Is usually a trait of

those who are fey-blooded or have been
blessed (or cursed) by the fey. Fey sight
allows one to see the world as a creature of
fey. The character can see statues come to
life, discernable messages in the fluttering of
leaves, hidden passageways or doors that
lead into the faerie realm as well as see
through a fey-creatures natural invisibility.
Being fey-sighted can unveil a very unusual
world.

Ultrasonic (Cost 2): This ability allows

for one to hear sounds that are beyond the
normal scope of humans. While not all that
useful in the living world outside of being
able to hear creatures that communicate in
the ultrasonic, it does allow one to detect the
echolocation techniques of others as well as
hear aquatic uses of sonar. This ability grants
the ability to hear 140 decibels (above human
average of 120) and not suffer any pain or
discomfort.

Smell
Accessory Olfactory (Cost 5): This trait
allows for the characters race to be able to
sense the chemical pheromones that are
created by other species and be able to
discern the general mood and state of
animals.

Empathic Vocation (Cost 10):

Your
character can hear slight fluxuation in an
individuals speech that allows you to
determine their emotional state, as well as

Bloodhound (Cost 2): While not as the

name suggests, this trait grants the character
the ability to track by scent of smell alone.

11

determine whether or not that person is

telling the truth. When using Sense Ruse the
character gains a favorable condition to
determine whether or not someone is lying.
Characters may make a Wits challenge with a
favorable condition vs. an opponents Wits in
order to determine their emotional state.

this, your race has developed a unique

immune system that can fight off most
diseases. You gain a favorable condition when
fighting against disease.

Touch
Vibratese (Cost 2): Your particular race
has its own unique means of communication
through touch. You can communicate as if
speaking to another member of your race (or
others that are capable of being taught),
strictly by being able to touch them.

Taste
Photographic Tastes (Cost 2): With but a
small morsel your character can taste every
single ingredient in a recipe and easy
reconstruct it. When conducting research on
any form of recipe, if the character has tasted
it before, he or she gains a favorable condition
to recreate it.

Body, Shape and Size

Not every race is humanoid in shape;
some like centaurs have the lower-half of
their body shaped like a horse and the uppertorso of a human. There are many other
different shapes that creatures can come in
(not to mention sizes), so why should your
character be limited?

Herbivore (Cost 5):

Fruits, nuts,
vegetables and everything green is on your
food palate, but certainly not meat. While
some omnivores may choose an herbivorelike lifestyle, your race cannot stomach meat
(not to mention the smell). Though limited in
diet to a typical omnivore, it does have
unusual benefits. Your race gains a favorable
condition in all social situations with
omnivores due to missing that hungry
look.

Body
The standard default size is 5 for Body
and that is for most characters and creatures.
However, a higher or lower Body can be
purchased with milestones to acquire a
particular size.
Body helps with increasing hit points as
well as increasing stamina points. The bigger
the Body the more physical activities it can
perform as well as take additional
punishment in combat. Also, Body can aid
whenever the character sustains damage
from a source. Body is subtracted from all
damage sources after the damage has been
assigned. If Body reduces damage to zero or
below, then the damage is effectively
negated, although it is still counted as being a
successful hit.

Carnivore (Cost 0): Meat from other

creatures (and possibly other intelligent
species) is the only thing you can eat. Your
races exclusive diet causes others to be on
edge. While you gain a favorable condition on
threats, trying to convince others of your
good intentions is a different story. You
suffer an unfavorable condition when trying to
convince others of your good-intentions.
Dead Eater (Cost 2): While incredibly
frowned upon by all civilized society, your
race has the ability to not only ingest, but also
enjoy the taste of a rotting cadaver. Due to

12

Table: 1.1 Body Scores

Body

Height
Range

Lift Base
(lbs.)

Brawn
Bonus

Agility
Bonus/Base
Speed

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

1-11
1-111
2-211
3-311
4-411
5-511
6-611
7-711
8-811
9-911
10-1011
11-1111
12-1211

1
8
15
25
50
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180

-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
+2
+4
+6
+8
+10
+12
+14

+10/0.1
+8/0.5
+6/1
+4/2
+2/3
0/4
-2/4
-4/5
-6/5
-8/6
-10/6
-12/7
-14/7

Even though you have purchased a

different Body, perhaps you dont quite
agree that your character should be the
suggested height. There are different types
of racial traits that can be purchased to better
represent how Body influences your
character vs. your idealized size.
Short & Stocky (Cost -2): Though you
have a high Body, you are actually counted
as being 2 Body less when determining Base
Speed and height.

The cost in milestones for a different Body

size for your race follows the below pricing
point.
Body
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Thin & Fragile (Cost -5): Your muscle

mass isnt quite what your Body score gives
you, your lift base and brawn bonus act as 1
point lower on the Body Scores table.

Cost
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
+5
+10
+15
+20
+25
+30
+35

Long-Legged (Cost 2): Your race is

renown for being long-stridders. You gain an
increase to Base Speed as if having 1 point less
in Body.
Broad Shouldered (Cost 2): Stronger
shoulder bones and upper-body strength
allows your race to have a lift base as if
having a Body that is 1 point higher than it
currently is.

Shape
Not all races are humanoid in shape (2
arms, 2 legs, 1 head). There are several other
races that have differing shapes that make
them unique. Below are a few traits that can
be purchased to allow for races that are
outside the norm.

Some Overseers may wish to limit the size

of Body to a maximum of 7 and a minimum
of 3 in order to keep characters within a
manageable size. Get characters with higher
ranges and it may impede role-playing
situations with NPCs who may question
whether the character is a side-show
attraction or just an unusual though
interesting new species.

Centaur-Like (Cost 20+): This race has

the upper body of a humanoid, but the lower
half of a quadruped (or more legs). The
lower-half is chosen by the player from the
below table. Please note that though the

Size

13

lower-half chosen may denote having some

form of natural attack, natural attacks must
be purchased separately. However, natural
attacks that are located on the feet of the
centaur-like race can be used one at a time or
two at once in a single attack. Those that are
made in a single attack have one attack roll,
but do twice the normal hoof damage and
strength damage is increased by 1.5x.

Claws I, the race suffers an unfavorable

condition when attempting fine manipulations.
Fangs Are predominately located in the
races mouth and can also be retractable.
Some fangs have been known to be able to
inject venom or some other undesirable
chemical, or in rare circumstances, extract
liquids from the victim. Special attacks must
be purchased on their own. When fangs are
exposed, it can make it difficult for one to
speak clearly, but not impossible. In most
social situations, exposed fangs is considered
taboo and imposes an unfavorable condition in
those instances.
Talons Are hands or feet that have large
claws that do not impede a characters ability
to grasp or manipulate objects.
Talons
oftentimes belong to reptilians or birds, and
are renown on dragons. Talons, unlike
Claws, are not retractable.
Quills Are a natural form of defense
such as in the case with porcupines. These
quills act as a deterrent from anyone who
dares to attack the character with a natural
attack. Natural attacks against the quilled
character suffer damage as if struck by a
volley of quills. Quills can be shot from the
character out to 2 squares, +1 additional
square per additional milestone at purchase.
There are a limited number of quills that can
be fired, as it takes time for them to grow
back. Characters have 10% of their own
personal hit points in quills that can be fired
and return within 24 hours.
For each
additional milestone, the character may add
an additional 10% of their hit point total to
their quill total. Keep in mind that as the
character increases in hit points, so to do the
number of quills.
Lash Lashing is used in the case of
having certain appendages like a tail or
tentacles that can deliver a whip-like attack
or is large enough that the appendage can be

Natural Attack (Cost 2+): Besides ones

fists, having a natural attack to aid in
situations leave one virtually unarmed is
always a plus. These natural weapons must
be located on some part of the body, with the
more unusual types at the discretion of the
Overseer. The cost of associated natural
attacks is per pair (even if there is only 1
location that includes the attack). The type of
damage the natural attack causes must be
declared at its purchase and cannot be later
changed. The natural attack only deals 1
damage but may be increased by 1 additional
point per every two points spent in addition
to the cost. Thus you can have a 10 natural
attack with your claws for the price of 20
milestones.
Table: 1.2 Centaur-Like Lower Halves
Cost

Speed Bonus

Examples

15

+2

Dog, Cat, Fox, ect.

20

+4

Deer, Cheetah, Spider, ect.

25

+6

Horse, ect.

Description of Natural Attacks.

Claws are generally retractable that are
oftentimes located at the end of fingers or on
paws and/or feet. Outside of Claws I, it
becomes difficult to wield objects or perform
fine manipulations. For every level beyond

14

used to bash into an opponent.

Buffet Is an attack that is employed by
races that have wings or similarly large
membranes that can be clapped against an
opponent. The shock of being hit by both
membranes or wings at the same time causes
the opponent to be stunned which imposes an
unfavorable condition to all actions until the
characters next combat turn.
Stinger Is a needle-like (or sometimes
larger) natural weapon that can be used to
inject chemicals into a target or even attempt
to siphon chemicals from a target.
Hoof is a natural attack best equip with
horses, deer, or other similar creatures or
like-races that can employ them towards
bashing their opponents.

higher levels or to reach lower levels by

eventual descent. Rate of descent and rate of
climb is difficult to determine unless you are
good at physics. For game purposes, if the
situation isnt dire assume the glide is
successful (within reason), if the situation is
dire then rely on a basic Luck roll to ensure
the character makes it okay.
Buoyant is a different type of flight
where the race is able to inflate its body in
one way or another with a light gas that
allows the race to float like a blimp. In this
case, the wings serve more as a means of
propulsion than as the true purveyor of
flight.
Heavy drafts and high winds may cause
flight to be difficult if not impossible.
Buoyant races may find themselves tossed
about to who knows where, and can
oftentimes be fatal.
Bird-Like is the more easily observed
type of flight where wings act as thrust and a
strong lift may require a runway. Some birdlike fliers simply leap into the air and then
beat their wings quickly in order to get the
lift they need for a more horizontal flight.
Either way, in normal flight, the bird-like flier
cannot turn on a dime and needs plenty of
room to circle around. The typical turning
arc requires their full movement for that turn
to come about.
Having a rectrice (see tail) can improve
this turning arc.
Hover is following the flight abilities of
the humming bird. Hovering allows a race to
immediately fly in the air and maneuver just
as easily as if they were on the ground. A
hovering flier can move sideways and
backwards without giving it much thought
and can turn around completely if need to.
Having a rectrice would allow the character
to turn in place without paying the speed
cost.

Wings (Cost 20+): Your race is now

considered amongst the aviarials, a exclusive
membership to all those who can fly. No
longer a simple ground dweller, you have
wings (feather, bat-like, gossamer, ect.) that
allow you to fly. The cost of flight is high,
and depending upon your ability to
maneuver and speed, may make it even
higher.
Table: 1.3 Maneuverability Cost
Cost

Maneuverability

20

Glide

25

Buoyant

30

Bird-Like

35

Hover

Glide is a type of flight that allows races

to spread their wings or extend a hidden
membrane out in order to ride thermals to

15

In order to have normal manipulation

(such as a hand), then the cost must be met
for 5 milestones per unfavorable condition to
eliminate per tentacle. Thus if the race has 6
tentacles and the player wants to have
normal manipulation in each, he/she would
have to spend 5 milestones per tentacle (30
milestones), 5 milestones per unfavorable
condition (10 milestones) times 6 tentacles (10
x 6 = 60 + 30 = 90 milestones) for a total of 90
milestones.

Table: 1.4 - Flight Speed

Costs
Cost

Base Speed

10, ect.

10

Cold-Blooded (Cost 5): Instead of relying

on metabolic processes in the body to warm
them, most cold-blooded creatures must rely
on external sources to warm them. Because
of this, cold-blooded creatures are highly
subject to changes in temperature and suffer
an unfavorable condition when fighting these
extremes. On the flip side, due to having
slowed
metabolic
rates,
cold-blooded
individuals have longer life spans and only
require a single meal over a course of a week
before needing to eat again. Cold-Blooded
creatures (at low temperatures) can enter into
a state of torpor that slows their body
metabolism almost to the point where life
signs are undetectable. While in torpor the
race does not age and does not need food and
may be able to stay in this state indefinitely.
If ever the torpor character needs to wake, it
can take up to 2 hours before returning back
to an animated state.

Base Speed The base speed cost is equal

to 1 milestone per square. Agility also adds
the speed bonus to an individuals flight
speed, much as it would to ground speed.
Extra Arm (Cost 15): An extra limb (also
implying a hand as well) is as it says: it gives
your race the advantage of having an
additional arm. Most extra arms come in
pairs, but for character creation a purchase
only gifts your race 1 additional arm. This
arm can be used to manipulate objects and
attack (see rules on multiple attacks).
Extra Leg (Cost 10): An extra leg (also
implying a foot) gives the race the ability to
move faster. For each additional leg, the
races base movement is increased by +2
squares.
Tentacle (Cost 5): Having tentacles is
weird, but some races employ them without
taboo. Each tentacle purchases (1 tentacle per
5 milestones), allows the character to
manipulate objects poorly, meaning that
every action suffers as if having 2 unfavorable
conditions. When used to help in tasks that
involve multiple hands, the character gains a
favorable condition for every pair working
with his or her own pair such as climbing,
pushing, pulling, ect.

Tail (Cost 2+): There are a variety of tails

outside of the general spectrum of lions and
cat tails that one thinks of with the word.
Aquatic creatures have tails to help them
swim, while birds have tails to help them
steer, improve their balance while perched
and some even display them for social
situations much like a peacock. The type of
tail and its benefit.

16

rudder, allows a flying race to use half their

full movement to turn around instead of their
full movement. Example, a race with a flight
of 10 squares only needs 5 squares to turn
around.

Table: 1.5 Tails

Cost

Type

Examples

Benefit

Social

Dog, Fox,
Horse, ect.

Helps comm.unicate
emotions and or
social signals.

Display

Peacock,
Birds of
Paradise,
ect.

Shows a beautiful display of

feathers used to
aid courtship.

5+

Locomotion

Fish,
Mermaid,
Whale, ect.

Allows the race

to swim quickly
and effectively.

Balance

Cat,
Kangaroos,
ect.

Gives the race a

strong sense of
balance.

5+

Prehensile

Monkey,
Opossum,
ect.

Gives an extra
limb to help
climb; poor
manipulation.

Rectrices

Most birds

Improved Skin (Cost 5+): All creatures

have some form of skin that protects them
from bodily harm, other creatures may have
toughened skin, hide or even scales that
protect them from danger as well. No matter
the type of skin the race has, the damage
absorption it offers can be improved at a rate
of +1 per 5 milestones purchased. Thus, a
character with scales (cosmetic) can purchase
an improved skin granting him/her race a +5
damage absorption from physical attacks for
a cost of 25 milestones.

Essence and The Enchanted

Some races are more attuned to the
magical world than others, and some
speculate it is because there is more life-force
or empyreal energies that animate the
individual race. Without Essence there is no
life. There are others who are enchanted by
powers outside of their own comprehension,
or blessed by the gods or even cursed by
them. The following traits follow these
stellar events, which have been known to
mold a single races destiny.

Helps with
maneuvering
during flight.

Social can communicate just using

emotions amongst others of the character
races species, while others, with proper
observation, can also pick up on this cues.
Display allows for a favorable condition
during courtship rituals within ones own
species, as well as gifts a favorable condition in
dealing with species outside of their own race
during peaceful negotiations.
Locomotion are typically finned-tails that
can increase a swim speed. The base swim
speed is increased by 2 squares, plus 1
additional square per 2 milestones spent on
this ability.
Balance the race gains a favorable
condition whenever they are in situations
where their balance is tested.
Prehensile see the entry on tentacle.
Rectrices often times referred to as a tail

Essence
Much like Body, an increase to Essence
can be purchased at the same rate. Purchases
in Essence are typically permanent and will
forever define your race as a whole. It would
only be in the case of an in-game event that
could cause your Essence to increase such as
an adventure, magickal items or maybe even
a boon from some other creature or being.

17

Essence
Cost
0**
-25
1
-20
2
-15
3
-10
4
-5
5
0
6
+5
7
+10
8
+15
9
+20
10
+25
11
+30
12
+35
**Special Note: Having an Essence of zero
means that the character race is dead or, with
the permission of the Overseer, undead.
Without an Essence score, the undead race
may not cast magick (but can still learn
magick). Some undead creatures have found
other ways to cast their spells, which can
oftentimes come from feeding off the living.

choosing a magick sphere, once chosen it is

permanent and cannot be changed. The race
now has access to that particular sphere and
may improve on it as they use it. The
magickal talent starts off at a number of
milestones equal to 10% of the total character
milestones, 1d2 magick die and x5 the
amount of sphere milestones in magick
sphere points to spend on die improvements
and sphere traits. The character also begins
with a Magick Attack and Defense milestone
equal to 0 and must transfer Combat Attack
milestones to their Magick Attack and
Combat Defense milestones to their Magick
Defense if they wish to have milestones in
this area.
If this ability is purchased a second time,
character race only gains access to another
sphere.
Resistance (Cost 2+): Some creatures
have a natural resistance to a type of magick,
physical or supernatural effect.
Such
resistances offer their bonus whenever the
race is affected by that type of attack. For
every 2 milestones, the race gains 1 point of
resistance to that type of damage. Resistance
reduces the amount of damage or the DS of
any challenges against that source.
A list of damage sources or unnatural
attacks are listed, but are not limited to, the
ones below:
Fire & Heat, Cold & Ice, Acid, Normal &
Magickal Poison, Unnatural & Magickal
Diseases, Curses, Transformations, Mind
Control/Psionics, Unnatural & Magickal
Paralysis, Death-effects, Life Drain/Ability
Drain, ect.
With a particular resistance, if it feels that
the races enchanted/natural resistance
would protect them against an ill-defined
source of damage than it couldnt hurt to rule
in favor of the player.

The Enchanted
Those who are enchanted have some form
of magical trait that sets them apart from the
other races. These traits can come in the form
of innate spell casting abilities, continuous or
permanent effects that do not require the use
of incantation or gesture, or even a
supernatural attack that cannot be explained
via dissection. Below is a list of purchasable
traits as well as a description of each.
Innate Spell Abilities (Cost 15): An
innate spell-caster is able to reproduce a
magical effect or spell by simple thought
alone. To the character race, it is as easy to
produce the effect as it is to breathe. There
are no special gestures, incantations or
material components in order to create a spell
effect.
The innate-spell ability starts off by

18

Long Lived (Cost 5+): Some races have a

natural ability to live longer than the human
standard. For every 5 points spent, the
characters age doubles, i.e. for 5 points a
character is middle-aged at 80 and can live
up to 200 years, for 10 points the character
can live up to 400 years, ect.

plus or minus) the new body size must be

purchased at the positive rate as listed under
Body. Keep in mind the cost is also at half
the rate, therefore, if the form moves from a 5
Body to a 2 Body it costs 15 milestones
(positive) and of the milestone cost would
be 7.5 rounded up to 8.
Shape shifting can never increase or
decrease a characters Essence. Every time
the character changes form, it costs 5 magick
points and those magick points are held in
suspense until the character transforms back
to their natural form. Magick points spent in
this way return at the normal rate.

Immune (Cost 25): If you wish your race

to be immune to a particular source of
damage, you must purchase this skill and
then specify the source of damage (see
Resistance). Once this ability is selected it is
permanent. In order for the race to be
immune to a type of damage or unnatural
effect, the player must meet the milestone
cost again.

Magickal Blood (Cost 5): Your races

blood holds a magickal property used in spell
rituals. Outside of this, certain spells or
magickal effects such as magickal items may
require someone of your particular race to
perform. Without it, the spells, items, ect., do
not function.

Damage Absorption (Cost 25):

This
ability requires an immunity to the source of
damage (see Resistance) that the character
race is going to be able to absorb. With this
racial trait, any time the character is struck or
encounters the type of damage he or she has
this trait in will heal the character.

Luck and Fate

Some races are luckier than others, where
as some are seen as being cursed or blessed
to a particular fate. Whatever these traits are
can be found in this portion of the racial
traits.

Shape Shift (Cost 10+): Some creatures

have more than one form they may shift into.
For every 10 milestones the character
acquires an additional form that he or she can
transform into. The transformation takes a
single combat turn to complete.
Each new form is simply cosmetic, and
does not grant any new racial traits unless
purchased additionally under the new form
at the normal milestone cost now or during
the game (as the form is learned). The shape
shift ability does acquire its own milestones
and also has skill die that can be improved
over time. When fooling others via a first
impression, the character would use his or
her shape shift skill to defend against a
Perception challenge.
If the form switches body size (no matter

Luck
Much like Essence, an increase to Luck
can be purchased at the same rate. Purchases
in Luck are permanent and will forever
define your race as a whole.
Essence
0
1
2
3
4

19

Cost
-12
-10
-7
-5
-2

5
0
6
+5
7
+10
8
+15
9
+20
10
+25
11
+30
12
+35
The luckier the race, the more likely
positive things will occur when they are
needed most. Some races may even be
unlucky and tend to suffer from one calamity
to the next.

Those traits and abilities that do not fit in

the above categories are listed below.
Skill Affinity (Cost 2+): Whether it is
due to particular muscular structure,
different brain algorithms, or even socialcustoms, the character race has a deep
understanding and ability with a particular
skill. At a cost of 2 milestones, the character
race gains a favorable condition when
employing that particular skill. For a cost of
4 milestones, the character race acquires two
favorable conditions; while a cost of 6
milestones grants the character three favorable
conditions.

Heart of Gold (Cost 10): Races with a heart

of gold are always pleasant in nature and
easy to deal with. In social situations, the
characters race always acquires a favorable
condition as long as their intentions are pure.
Also, having a heart of gold also gives the
character race a internal moral compass that
advises them generally of whether their
actions would be bad or good.

Weapon Affinity (Cost 5): Some races

find a sort of bond with a particular weapon
type. Whenever that race employs the use of
that weapon, they gain a favorable condition to
attack rolls.

Race Examples

Sense Danger (Cost 15): Some races have

a natural affinity towards recognizing
imminent danger ahead of time.
Some
believe this to be an inherit psychic ability,
whilst others would say its based on
recognizing hidden cues that others tend to
miss. Either way, the characters race can
discern danger before it happens. This ability
acquires a skill sphere, and improves just like
any other ability. This skill is rolled against a
perception challenge first (and typically
moments) before the characters perception.
If the danger sense discovers some form of
danger, the character races is allowed to act
first as if having just ambushed the danger.
This skill does not advise what the danger is,
but does advise what direction the potential
threat is coming from.

Human
Description: Humans have always been
the most versatile and adaptive race.
They range in different skin tones, hair
color and eye color. Culturally they are
just as diverse as they are plentiful. In
order to add flavor to any campaign
session, some Overseers may create
different human groups with variations of
racial traits.
Racial Trait Package (6): Body 5; Essence
5; Luck 5; Cosmetic, x2 Skill Affinity I.

Elf
Description: Elves have a long history in
all fantasy games. Elves are typically
described as shorter than the average
human with pointed ears and angular

Miscellaneous Traits

20

features. They are also known for their

agility and expertise with a bow.
Racial Trait Package (25): Body 4;
Essence 6; Luck 5; Cosmetic (Pointed
Ears, Angular Features); Eyes I, (Acute);
Ears I, (Acute); Night Vision; Resistance I,
(Mind Control); Magickal Blood, (Elf);
Weapon Affinity I, (Bows).

up in a hotter climate. Whenever faced

against a challenge which involves heat, you
gain a favorable condition to shrug off its ill
effects.
Animal Affinity (Cost 5): Whenever any
animal is encountered, both character and
animal recognizes the characters natural
affinity. In such cases, all interactions the
character has with animals gains the
character a favorable condition.
Variant: Instead of all animals, the player
may specify one type of animal (felines,
birds, canines, equines, ect.) and gain two
favorable conditions. In this variant, the bonus
only pertains to that specific animal and does
not aid with others.

Dwarf
Description:
Dwarves are short and
stocky, with broad shoulders and
muscular physiques. They are typically
depicted living in mountains where their
society prizes the earths metals. They
grow long beards that trail to their knees.
It isnt uncommon for dwarves to be
depicted as heavy drinkers.
Racial Trait Package (23): Body 6;
Essence 4; Luck 5; Cosmetic (Long
beards, Hardened Features); Short &
Stocky; Broad Shouldered; Night Vision;
Resistance II, (Poison); Weapon Affinity I
(Axe, Hammer or Pick).

Artistic (Cost 2): The character has a

natural talent with a particular art whether it
is drawing, painting, sculpting, writing,
poetry, ect. In such cases, whenever called
upon to create such as piece of art the
character gains a favorable condition.
Child at Heart (Cost 5): No matter your
age, whenever engaged in a social challenge
with a child, you gain a favorable condition.

STEP 3 GENERAL TRAITS

General traits may be purchased much
like racial traits, except that these traits are
not race specific but instead unique to your
character alone. These are traits that any race
can pick up and are considered to have been
with the character since birth. These traits
must be purchased at character creation and
cannot be lost.

Companion (Cost 15):

You have a
companion that has been with you forever.
This animal, creature, or whatnot is magical
in nature and has a prolonged life
expectancy. You gain 50 milestones to create
a companion character. You may purchase
this ability a second time to boost the
milestones of that companion by an
additional 50 or you can have a second
companion for 50 milestones.

Acclimated to Cold (Cost 5): You grew

up in colder climates.
Whenever faced
against a challenge which involves cold, you
gain a favorable condition to shrug off its ill
effects.

Easily Rested (Cost 5): You only require

4 hours of sleep in order to feel completely
rested. You dont regain hit points, stamina
or magick points back any faster and must

Acclimated to Heat (Cost 5): You grew

21

still rest in order to reacquire them. This trait

only reduces the amount of sleep your
character requires every day.

milestones as well. Thus, if the character has

200 milestones, the character would have 20
extra magic points.

Flexible (Cost 10):

You were born
unusually flexible. Whenever having a good
flexibility comes into play, the character gains
a favorable condition. This also helps when
using dodge when defending against an
attack.
As long as the character is
unhindered by weight and wearing light
armor, the dodge defense die is considered 1
die higher.

Keen Sense(s) (Cost 5): Your character

has a particular sense that is stronger than
average. This sense can be sight, smell,
hearing, touch or taste. This may only be
purchased once per sense. Whatever keen
sense the character now possesses, grants the
character a favorable condition for all instances
where the sense is called upon.
Magickally Blooded (Cost 20): While
some races are born with magickal abilities,
some rare individuals are blessed with
further talent. Upon choosing this ability, the
character gains the abilities as if purchasing
the racial trait Innate Spell Abilities.
Unlike those who spent points in the skill
Academia (Magicka) those who are
Magickally Blooded do not require training
or have to roll to see if their spell succeeds.
Their power comes to them naturally,
allowing the player to purchase new traits
and spheres in the middle of game-play.

Giant (Cost 10): You are larger than the

average for your race. You are counted as
being 1 Body size larger.
In order for you to spend Magickal skill
points, you must acquire training or perform
research.
Increased Energy (Cost 10):
The
character gains a +1 stamina bonus every 10th
milestone, including all previous milestones
as well. Thus, if the character has 200
milestones, the character would have 20 extra
stamina points.

Petite (Cost 5): You are skinnier than the

average of your race. This trait treats you as
if you have a Body score of 1 less in regards
to Lift and Agility bonus.

Increased Girth (Cost 10):

You are
simply wider and bulkier than those of your
race. Your large muscles and strong bones
treats you as if your Body score was 1 point
higher in respects to Lift and Brawn bonus.

Respected Name (Cost 10): You bear the

name of a well-respected family or perchance
a past hero that everyone recognizes. In any
social situation where the individual knows
your name, it grants your character a world
renown of 3.

Increased Health (Cost 10): The character

gains a +1 hit point bonus every 10th
milestone including all previous milestones
as well. Thus, if the character has 200
milestones, the character would have 20 extra
hit points.

Well Bred (Cost 5+): You were born in a

higher social stratum than Freeman, where
most adventurers come from. At a cost of 5,
you were raised from the Merchant Social
Class, for 10 you were raised out of the

Increased Magick (Cost 10):

The
character gains a +1 magick point bonus
every 10th milestone, including all previous

22

Clergy Social Class, for 15 you were raised

out of the Noble Social Class. See Starting
Wealth from Chapter 7 and Social Class from
Chapter 8 for additional benefits.

have an equal amount of cards before anyone

gets a second card. The Overseer never starts
out with any flaw cards.
Flaw cards are meant to stimulate roleplaying scenes and give other players
(including the Overseer at times) to influence
another player characters actions in-game.
At any time, a player may activate a flaw
card belonging to someone else that forces
the player character to act in accordance to
their flaw. For example: If player 1 has the
flaw, Overly Curious, and player 2 has player
1s flaw card, then player 2 can activate the
flaw card to cause player 1 to be overly
curious in that particular scene. This can
have some humorous or sometimes
dangerous effects, depending upon the
situation.
There are three levels of severity for each
flaw: minor, moderate and severe.
Minor flaws can only be used once in a
game session. Once the card is activated, the
card is discarded for the rest of the game
session.
Moderate flaws can be used multiple
times throughout a game session, though
preferably no more than a half-hour to an
hour apart.
Once a player activates a
moderate flaw card, then the card is passed
to the person to their left (no matter how
many cards they have).
The card can
continually be used throughout the game and
in each instance the card is passed to the next
person to the left. If ever the card reaches the
player it belongs to or the Overseer, then it is
passed to the next player. Neither the player
who owns the card or the Overseer ever get
to activate or hold the card. Once the flaw
card returns to the original person who it
started the game with, the card is then
immediately discarded.
Players who activate flaw cards can never
put the character in harms way. If there is
an instance where the player activating the

Small (Cost -5): You are smaller than the

average height of your race, treating you as if
you were 1 Body size less.
Unnatural Allure (Cost 5): Some thing
about you exudes sexuality that attracts those
who are particularly fond of your gender.
Whenever trying to seduce someone, your
character gains a favorable condition towards
that challenge.

STEP 4 FLAWS
Every character has at least 1 flaw. Each
flaw grants a milestone bonus that the player
may use to purchase additional traits or save
to invest into ability scores. Players may
chose to have more than 1 flaw, but should
be limited to a total of 3.
Flaws are represented in-game in the
form of cards. These cards can be 3 x 5 index
cards or however the Overseer sees fit. The
card should have the following information
written on it:
Player Name
Character Name
Flaw Name
Flaw Description
Level of Severity
All character flaws are gathered together
face down and shuffled together at the start
of the game session. Then the Overseer
divvies them out starting from the player to
his or her left and moving around the table in
a clockwise rotation. If a player receives his
or her own flaw, then that flaw must be
traded to another person. All players must

23

card does so to harm that character

involuntarily and the whole table agrees that
the action would cause the character undue
harm, then the table can veto the cards
activation.
Severe flaws are much like Moderate flaws
except that when the card passes to the
Overseer, the Overseer can hold the card and
activate it themselves in-game. Whenever
the Overseer activates a flaw card anything
goes. Therefore, if the flaw card would place
the player character in danger the flaw card
can still be used. Also, a severe flaw card can
never be discarded, once it returns to the
original person the card started with, it will
continue to be able to be activated and
passed to the next person.
A severe flaw card is not, in any shape or
form, to be used as a means to kill off
anyones character. In situations where it
could potentially kill the character, at the
very worse case scenario, it would render the
character unconscious at zero hit points.

flaws give 7 milestones. Below is a list of

different flaws:
POWER HUNGRY
Your character has ambitions great,
ambitions. You crave power above all things
and will stop at nothing to acquire your
goals.
Activation: When a player activates your
flaw, you do whatever it is you must in order
to further your power-hungry agenda.
NAIVE
Your character believes everyone is kindhearted and overall good, which leads you to
being way too trusting.
Activation: When a player activates your
flaw, you have a hard time seeing bad
intentions as anything but good. Therefore,
all Sense Ruse rolls fail and you must act as if
they telling the absolute truth.
CARELESS
You are not very detail-oriented and
sometimes you forget crucial things to the big
plan.
Activation: Your character forgets
something, doesnt tie a knot tight enough, or
fails to remember to add a very important
ingredient to a potion he or she is brewing.
Either way, something bad comes of it and
everyone is always blaming you.

Limiting Card Hoarding

In the case where players may hoard or
even form alliances with one another to
prevent their own cards from being activated,
the table can force a card to be passed to the
next person. In this case, the Overseer could
be the deciding vote, or in the case that the
Overseer prefers a democracy, he or she can
put it to a vote (with his or her own vote
counting as 2 votes). The majority rules and
if the vote finds a player guilty of card
hoarding, then all cards are taken, reshuffled,
and then distributed back out to every
player. This effectively resets moderate flaw
cards.

CLUMSY
All right, you admit it you are clumsy.
You trip over the cracks in sidewalks, you
stumble down stairs, and there always seems
to be a notch in the rug that sends you
tumbling into embarrassment.
Activation: You trip, you fall, you drop
something. Thats the gist of it.

Flaw Cards

COWARDLY
When the going gets tough, you run the

Minor flaws grant the character 3

milestones, Moderate flaws give 5 and Severe

24

other way.
Activation: You know the meaning of the
better part of valor. You hide in fear, you
run away or even wet yourself.

with acquiring money. Steal, lie or cheat, you

do what you have to do in order to fill your
pockets.
NARCOLEPTIC
You cant help it you try your best
but no matter what you do, you cant stop
from Zzzzzzzzz.
Activation: You fall asleep for a scene.

CRUEL
So what if you enjoy pushing grannies
down a flight of stairs, or knocking a sleeping
cat off a wall. Its just something you do.
Activation: However the opportunity
presents itself, your goal is to do harm no
matter the cost.

HEDONISTIC
You can never turn down an invitation for
a good time. You enjoy all worldly vices as if
there were no tomorrow.
Activation: Your character indulges
themselves on drink, food or any other
luxuries that may be available at the time.

COMPULSIVE LIAR
Reality is boring and you are here to
spruce it up. You cannot help but tell lies,
besides they make a better story anyway.
Activation: You cannot help but lie, even
if it could harm your relationship with that
individual (or potentially kill them).

BAD TEMPERED
You are very hot-headed and take every
insult way too personally.
Activation: Your character will not back
down from a fight, nor will they resist the
urge to start one if you are the slightest bit
offended.

ENVIOUS/JEALOUS
Everyone seems to have better stuff than
you, are happier, and have better
relationships. Its your goal to take what is
rightfully yours or make it so no one can
have it.
Activation: The source of your affection
either becomes yours or you destroy it, one
way or another.

DAY DREAMER
When not preoccupied with a particular
task your mind will wonder to better things.
Activation: Day dreaming causes your
character to miss out on the world around
him/her. One Perception roll automatically
fails.

FANATIC
Whatever be your cause, you are willing
to lose your life over it or cause others harm
to accomplish your goals.
Activation: Obsessed with your cause,
any sacrifice to accomplish those goals is a
just one. You do what it takes to get the job
done.

LUSTFUL
You tend to pursue the pleasures of the
flesh way too often. You do what you have
to do in order to satisfy this yearning.
Activation: Your character will never turn
down an invitation to sate his/her appetite.
Even if the opportunity doesnt present itself,
the character oftentimes can create an
opportunity on their own.

GREED
Money makes the world go round and it
all should belong to you.
Activation: Your character is obsessed

25

MEGALOMANIAC
The world must be conquered, dominated
and subverted into your rule and power can
never be shared with anyone.
Activation: You will announce your
intentions for world domination and may
even go so far as letting all those who have
helped you thus far know that they are
simply pawns in your overall scheme. That,
or perhaps you have found the means for
which you can begin your reign for
supremacy you can never pass up such an
opportunity.

can handle it yourself or die trying.

WEAK STOMACHED
Its not that you cannot stomach killing
someone but does there have to be so
much blood.
Activation: It can sometimes be hard for
you to kill something, especially if you have
to witness the aftermath. In scenes filled
with gore, your character has difficult time
keeping his stomach contents where they
belong.

UNLUCKY
Sure you have luck, perhaps that is what
has allowed you to live so long. Strangely,
things happen to you that dont normally
happen to other people. Its as if misfortune
follows your every move.
Activation: Something bad happens to
you.

STUBBORN
No compromise. Youve set your mind to
something and you are going to keep to it no
matter what.
Activation: No matter if it is the right
course of action; your character must go
through with his or her plan despite the
contrary or refuses to take part in someone
elses plan.

OVER CONFIDENT
You can do anything that you can set
your mind to. Its a pity the environment
doesnt agree.
Activation: No challenge is too tough!
You will risk anything to prove you are
better than everyone else.

KID IN YOU
You may be all grown up, but no one
takes you seriously, Youre just a kid.
Activation: No matter how true or
important the subject you are speaking about,
no one takes you seriously and may dismiss
what you have to say.

PARNOID
Everyone is out to get you, even your
friends. The key is to be ready when they
turn on you.
Activation: You believe that someone
close to you is about to betray you. You need
to act to preserve yourself and everything
you hold dear.

[INSERT FLAW HERE]

Dont see the flaw you want, chose this
one and make your own!
Activation: Talk to your Overseer about
this one. You may have stumbled onto
something thats going to make the game
more interesting.

STEP 5 ABILITY SCORES

PRIDEFUL
You are too proud for your own good.
Activation: Even if you desperately need
it, you will refuse any aid that is offered. You

Ability scores (See Chapter 2 Ability

Scores) are then purchased after General
Traits and Flaws. What milestones remain

26

are then distributed between the nine ability

scores at a 1 for 1 ratio. All Ability Scores,
regardless of starting milestone, start at 5. So
if a player character wishes to place 10
milestones in the ability score of Brawn then
the score would reflect having a milestone of
15.
Players may wish to keep at least 15 to
20% of their remaining milestones to
purchase Ability Dice, or another means
would be after assigning milestones to the
respective scores, you may then subtract the
cost of purchasing the respective Ability Dice
from the total milestones. See Step 6
Ability Dice before distributing all the
milestones.

11
13
15
17
19
21
24

1d10 1d12
1d12 1d14
1d14 1d16
1d16 1d18
1d18 1d20
1d20 1d20 + 1d2
1d20 1d20 + 1d4

Ability Dice are also important when

rolling for Hit Points, Stamina Points and
Magick Points (See Step 7 The Status Bar).

STEP 7 THE STATUS BAR

The Status Bar on the Character Sheet,
reflects a characters Hit Points, Stamina
Points and Magick Points (See Chapter 4
The Status Bar, for more information).

STEP 6 ABILITY DICE

Where ability score reflects the overall
power a character has, the ability die reflects
how well the character can put the power to
use towards other in-game aspects. While
the milestones for ability scores help in all
Ability Challenges, it does not transfer to aid
in other aspects of the character. The ability
die, on the other hand, transfers over to aid in
skill rolls, attack and defense rolls and
magick attack and defense rolls.
During initial character creation, despite
the number of milestones awarded, every
character starts off with 1d2 for all ability
dice.
Players may spend milestones to
increase the ability die to the next highest die
level. When purchasing new dice, consult
the table below:

HIT POINTS
To determine Hit Points, take number of
milestones in Brawn and multiply that by the
characters Body score. This initial number is
considered the base hit point total. Then, the
player may roll their Brawn Ability Die a
number of times equal to the total amount of
milestones in Physical Abilities divided by
10. Thus, if a character has 20 in Brawn, 15 in
Fortitude and 19 in Agility the total
milestones in Physical Abilities would be 20
+ 15 + 19 = 53 and this divided by 10 would
be 5 (rounded down). In this example, the
player would roll the Brawn die 5 times and
add that total to the base hit points. Once the
character reaches 60 milestones in Physical
Abilities he or she gets to roll their Brawn
ability die to add to hit points.

Table: 1.4 Ability Die Purchase

Milestone Cost
Die Level
3
1d2 1d4
5
1d4 1d6
7
1d6 1d8
9
1d8 1d10

STAMINA POINTS
Stamina points are calculated in the same
manner as hit points, except that instead of

27

using Brawn the player uses Fortitude

multiplied by Body to get the base stamina
points.
Just like hit points, the player is able to
roll their Fortitude ability die a number of
times equal to the total number of milestones
in physical abilities divided by 10 and then
add this number to the base stamina points.

60
70
80
90
100
110

1d12
1d14
1d16
1d18
1d20
1d20 + 1d2

This table only affects prior major

milestones (every 10 milestones) and does
not affect where the die was purchased to in
the closest major milestone.
Using the
example above for hit points, if the player
bought an ability die for Brawn to be 1d8,
with a 53 in total milestones in physical
abilities, this would mean that at major
milestone 10, he or she would roll 1d2, at 20
he or she would roll 1d4, at 30 he or she
would roll 1d6, at 40 and 50 he or she would
roll their normal 1d8.

MAGICK POINTS
Magick Points are also calculated in the
same manner as hit points and stamina
points, except that the player uses the
characters Will ability score times the
characters Essence score to get the base
magick point total.
Then the player rolls their Will ability die
a number of times equal to the total number
of milestones in mental abilities divided by
10. Add the total of the die rolls to the base
magick point total.

STEP 8 SKILL POINTS

Characters gain a number of skill
milestones equal to their ability milestones
per category. For instance, a character with
42 physical and 15 mental and 34 social
milestones will have 42 skill milestones to
distribute in physical skills, 15 skill
milestones to spend in mental skills and 34
skill milestones to spend in social skills. Skill
milestones are used to purchase milestones in
each respective skill category while skill
points are used to increase a skill die and
purchase skill traits.
Then in order to determine how many
skill points a character has in each category
(Physical, Mental, Social), multiply the total
amount x2, and the result is the total amount
of skill points your character has in that area.
For example: If the character has a Brawn
of 19, Agility of 16 and Fortitude of 23, then
the total in Physical Abilities is 19+16+23 = 58.
You take the total of 58 and multiply it x2, 58

NATURAL PROGRESSION
Even though the characters die may be
high in some of the abilities, especially
starting with high milestones, the character
progresses into their die as opposed to
getting the highest roll on all dice. In other
words, the character naturally progressed
from a low die to a higher die when they
were younger. When rolling ability dice for
the status bar, consult the table below to see
what the maximum die that can be rolled:
Table: 1.5 Max. Die Roll per Major
Milestone
Major Milestone
Maximum Die
10
1d2
20
1d4
30
1d6
40
1d8
50
1d10

28

x 2 = 116. The player has 116 skill points to

place into Physical Skills. You would then
perform the following for Mental Abilities and
Social Ability Scores.
*Keep in mind that distributing skill
points in this fashion only happens at
character creation. In the future, all points
gained must be done either through in-game
experience or down-time training.
After all the skill milestones have been
tallied for each category of skill, the player
may distribute the skill milestones to each of
the skills in that category at a 1 to 1 ratio.
Thus, if the player wishes to put 5 points into
the skill HIDE, then it would only cost 5 skill
milestones. Be sure to subtract the amount
from the total skill points that you have. Skill
milestones can not be saved at character
creation.
Keep in mind that there are restrictions to
the total number of skill points that one can
place into each skill during, and only during,
character creation. In order to determine the
maximum amount of skill milestones a
character can have in any given skill (only
during character creation) take the character
milestone divided by 20. So, if a character
has 200 milestones, the most he or she can
have is a 10.

in table 1.4.

STEP 10 SKILL TRAITS

Skill traits are different ways a character
can incorporate their skills into the actions
they perform. You cannot purchase a physical
trait with skill points from either the mental
or social skill point pool or vise versa.
Occasionally, certain skill traits have specific
requirements that must be met before they
can be purchased by the character. A list of
skill traits and their descriptions can be
found in Chapter 4 Skills.

STEP 11 ATTACK MILESTONES

Depending on the level of combat the
characters have seen in their life times or how
combat proficient the Overseer wishes to
start the party off at, depends upon the
amount of attack milestones he or she wishes
to award.
A recommended starting point for the
beginning adventurer is 10% of the total
number of character milestones. Thus, if the
Overseer started the players with 180
milestones, the attack milestones would start at
18.
In-game, the attack milestone represents
the characters overall ability to fight in
combat no matter the weapon. Weapon
proficiencies are represented by nine
different categories are reflected in Step 12.

STEP 9 SKILL DICE

Just like in Step 6 Ability Dice, player
characters may purchase dice for their
respective skills.
Skill dice allows for
characters to be able increase their skill
beyond the milestone restriction at character
creation and also gain some additional
benefits depending upon the skill. Also,
the higher the skill dice, the less chance the
character has at rolling a critical failure
(rolling two 1s on the dice roll).
The cost for purchasing dice is described

STEP 12 WEAPON PROFICIENCIES

The nine attack proficiencies are: Blades,
Axes, Clubs, Pole-arms, Bows, Crossbows,
Thrown and Unarmed.
Players may

29

purchase dice, much like in Step 6 and Step 9

to be able to increase the characters
proficiency in the given weapon category.
Much like skills, for every milestone a
character has in Attack, he or she gains 2
attack points to spend on either increasing
the attack die in any of the attack categories
or to purchase attack traits.

points per defense milestone. These can be

reserved to purchase just dice or they may be
used to purchase defense traits.

STEP 16 DEFENSE TRAITS

Much like in Step 13, players may
purchase defense traits from the list provided
in Chapter 6 Combat, under the subsection
of Defense. Each trait provides a unique
advantage to the character in combat that
may be essential to surviving special encounters.

STEP 13 ATTACK TRAITS

Attack traits are much like skill traits, in
that they may be purchased at the cost of
points which is generally in lieu of
purchasing increases to die levels.
A full list of attack traits can be located in
Chapter 5 Combat, under the subsection of
Attack.

STEP 17 MAGICK
Characters who have access to magick are
those who purchased Innate Spell Abilities,
Magickally Blooded, or placed skill points in
Academia (Magicka).

STEP 14 DEFENSE MILESTONES

Mostly like Step 11, the Overseer assigns a
number of defense milestones to the character
based upon what level of combat the
characters may have encountered thus far in
their lives. The recommended level is equal
to that of the attack milestones which is 10% of
the character milestone.

INNATE SPELL CASTERS

In cases of purchasing either the racial
trait of Innate Spell Abilities or the general
trait of Magickally Blooded, the character
starts off with a Magick Attack & Defense
Milestone equal to 0 and must subtract points
off their Combat Attack milestones and
transfer it to Magick Attack milestones, and
subtract points off their Combat Defense
milestones and transfer it to Magick Defense
milestones. This reflects where the character
focused the most of their combat skills in.

STEP 15 DEFENSE PROFICIENCIES

Much like attack proficiencies, there are
four different defense proficiencies such as
Dodge, Shield, Cover and Parry, and each
may be improved by purchasing defense dice
in any of them. See table 1.4 for the cost of
purchasing an increase in die level.
In order to purchase dice in defense
proficiencies, a character receives 2 defense

ACADEMIC SPELL CASTERS

Much like Innate Spell Casters, Academic
spell casters must also transfer their
milestones from Combat Attack & Defense to
Magick Attack & Defense to reflect where the

30

character focused the greatest amount of

their training in. One major difference, is
that for every skill point placed into
Academics (Magicka), the character gains 2
points to spend on purchasing access to
Spheres and improving the Spheres total
milestones. A list of Spheres and their costs
can be found in Chapter 6 Magick.

the case of an Academic (Magicka) spell

caster, the Sphere must be purchased in order
for the spell caster to have access to it.
Only those who are Blooded may
purchase access to Spell Spheres during the
middle of an adventure. Innate spell casters
may not purchase further spell spheres and
Academic spell casters must take down time
equal to 1 month per skill point spent on the
Sphere.
As a reminder, every milestone placed in
a Sphere grants 2 sphere points to spend on
purchasing the next highest sphere die or can
be used to purchase sphere traits.

STEP 18 MAGICK ATTACK

Step 17 describes how the magick attack
milestones are calculated, and now Step 18
describes how to utilize the milestones. For
every milestone in Magick Attack, the
character gains 2 magick attack points to
spend on magick attack traits or to improve
magick attack proficiencies.
Magick Attack has four different magick
attack proficiencies: Touch, Blast, Thrown
and Target.
Further information on magick attack
traits and proficiencies can be found in
Chapter 6 Magick.

STEP 21 SPHERE TRAITS

Sphere traits may be purchased at a cost
of sphere points (2 sphere points per sphere
milestone). These traits can be found in
Chapter 6 Magicka.

STEP 22 EQUIPMENT
Once the final details are placed on the
character sheet, the final step is to purchase
equipment. See Chapter 8 Equipment to
find how much the character gets in starting
wealth.
After the equipment is purchased, the
character is ready for their first adventure!

STEP 19 MAGICK DEFENSE

Magick defense works the same as Step 18
Magick Attack, except that Magick Defense
has also four proficiencies, but they are:
Damage Shield, Physical Shield, Deflection
Shield and Spell Parry.
Further information on magick defense
traits and proficiencies can be found in
Chapter 6 Magick.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

STEP 20 SPHERE PURCHASE

After following these steps your character

is ready to embark upon his or her first
adventure.
While the numbers will
accurately depict the characters actions, it is

If the character is an innate spell caster,

the cost of spheres is irrelevant. However, in

31

up to the player to bring the character to life

by giving him or her a unique personality.
Some questions to ask yourself when
developing this character are as follows:

What is/are my characters goals?

What aspects in personality does

my character find admirable in
others?

What is/are my characters regrets?

What frightens my character the
most?

Are my parents alive or dead?

What does my character hate?

What are five good adjectives to

describe my characters personality?
What does my character love?

While in no shape or form a substitute for

a strong character history, these questions
will help formulate what the player wishes in
their character and can act as type of outline
when role-playing the character for the first
time. Once a couple of adventurers are
under the players belt, the idea of the
character has began a metamorphosis into
something unique and possibly something
different than the original outline please
know that this okay.

What aspects in personality does

my character find detestable in
others?
Where was I born?
How was I raised?

32

Chapter 2
Abilities
While in the real world, a persons weight
is typically a determining factor of how much
or how little weight he or she can sustain
without harming themselves, for S&S its
better to measure ones raw power by human
standard.

On the character sheet (as provided at the

back of this book) you can find a series of
ability scores listed as follows:
Brawn,
Agility, Fortitude, Smarts, Wits, Will, Looks,
Presence and Charm. Each of these nine
scores represents a certain aspect of how, and
to what extreme, your character can perform
certain tasks.
Tasks performed under abilities are
simplistic in nature such as pushing, pulling
or throwing. In the case where an action
becomes more complex such as picking a
lock, balancing on a tightrope or constructing
a piece of furniture ability scores do assist,
but a characters skill will be of greater
assistance (See Chapter 4 on
Skills).
Below is a list of the ability
scores presented on the character
sheet in descending order, and
also a detailed description of each.

METHOD OF STANDARDS: The

optimal weight for a 10 year old boy or a girl
is approximately 70 lbs, and a height of
approximately 4 ft. (weight varies by gender
and by age, but for game purposes well keep
this standard).
ACTION: LIFTING: The average human
can lift their own weight over their head (also
known as press).
To
determine
how
much
weight your character can
lift over their head you
must take your Brawn score
and multiply it by 2
pounds. This number (in
pounds) is then added to a
base of 50 (due to the
characters height of 4 ft.
which gives him or her a
Body score of 4).
The
average ability score for a
non-player
character
(otherwise known as a
NPC) is based on their age.
Using the Method of
Standards from above, a 10
year old has an average
Brawn score of 10. If you
take the Brawn score of 10

Brawn
The physical strength of a
given individual, Brawn is the
ability score that measures ones
muscular prowess. Actions such
as carrying, lifting, pushing,
pulling, jumping; to name a few,
are all managed by a characters
Brawn.

33

and multiply it by 2 it would equal 20 lbs. (10

x 2 = 20). Then you take the 20 lbs. and add it
to the base of 50 which will equal 70 lbs. (20
lbs. + 50 lbs. = 70 lbs). In this case, the 10
year old can lift 70 lbs. over his or her head.
In the case of a 25 year old, whose Brawn
score is 25 (his or her age) you multiply it
times 2 and add the base of 50 [(25 x 2) + 50 =
100]. In this case, the 25 year old doesnt
quite reach his optimal lift due to his average
weight of 130. However, because 25 yearolds tend to be five-foot or over, this will
increase another statistical score which is
Body. As far as lifting is concerned, the base
will increase from 50 to 75 and thus
increasing the 25 year olds lift by 25 lbs.
Sound complicated? Not to worry, once
you properly calculate out your lift, youll
only have to change it by 2 lbs. every time
you gain a point in Brawn.

69-92 a -3 penalty and so on. In the case

where the character decides to lift something,
the object being lifted has its weight is added
to the characters total carried weight for
determining how fast they can move. If
speed is ever reduced to zero, the character
cannot move.
Any time a character lifts more than three
times their weight allowance they lose
stamina at a rate of 2 points per round for
every square of movement beyond the 2nd.
Thus in the case of the child above, if the
child carries 69-92 lbs. he or she will suffer 2
points of stamina loss every round, and from
93-116 it would be 4 points of stamina loss
every round.
ACTION: PUSH/PULL:
When a
character is pushing or pulling an object,
typically the maximum weight of the object
can no more than their lifting weight times 5.
So in the case of the average 10 year old with
a lift of 70 lbs, the character can push or pull
and object approximately 350 lbs. (70 x 5 =
350).
Of course, the heavier the object is the
slower it moves and the lighter the object is
the faster itll move. In such cases, use your
best judgment on how far or how fast you
can push things. Typically, this can be
resolved by an ability check. A good rule of
thumb is to divide your Speed by the total
amount you can push or pull. Thus our 10
year old child has a Speed of 5 (Body 4 +
[Agility 10 / 10 = 1] = 5) and so we divide
that the 350 lbs. by 5 which equals 70. Every
70 lbs. our 10 year old pushes or pulls costs the
child 1 square of movement. So a 280 lbs.
object can be pushed or pulled a total of 2
squares, 210 lbs. a total of 3 squares, 140 lbs. a
total of 4 squares, and something weighting
only 70 lbs. is at 5 squares per combat turn.
In the case of favorable or unfavorable
conditions such as a slick floor or mud, the

WEIGHT ALLOWANCE (CARRYING):

Typically, the average individual can carry
only 33% of their weight without becoming
encumbered. Instead of going into detailed
calculations, the best method to determine
your characters weight allowance is to take
his or her lifting capabilities and multiply that
by 33%. Thus, with our example with the 10
year old with a lifting capability of 70 lbs., the
child could carry approximately 23 lbs. (70 x
.33 = 23.1).
A character can carry more than their
weight allowance, however they will suffer
penalties to their speed. This is calculated by
taking the characters weight allowance, and
for every additional amount equal to the
characters weight allowance he or she carries
it reduces their speed by 1. For example, our
10 year old has a weight allowance of 23 lbs. so
at 23 lbs. the child can move at maximum
speed (no penalties). If he or she carries
anything between 24-46 lbs. the child suffers
a -1 penalty to speed, 47-69 lbs a -2 penalty,

34

GM (Game Master) should treat the object as

if it were one level of the characters weight
limit to be heavier or lighter than what it
already is.

Take the characters Agility score and divide

it by 10. In the case of our above 25 year old
who has a Body of 5, the average score for
Agility is 25. Take the Agility score of 25
and divide it by 10 which will equal 2.5 (25 /
10 = 2.5) and round down which will result
in 2. Add the rounded down result to the
characters Speed.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: Add the full

Brawn score to damage with thrown and
melee weapons, and add Brawn to the
characters Attack value with
melee weapons.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: Add

the full Agility die to the Attack roll
with all thrown and range weapons.
Agility is added to Dodge to aid in
avoiding attacks, and also to the
Reaction roll when determining who
acts first in a round.

Agility
Reactions, quickness, flexibility and overall dexterity are
all that is measured beneath the
score of Agility. Many actions
can claim to be influenced by
ones Agility such as the ability
to aim, dodge and run; to name
but a few.
A persons Agility can
sometimes be greater than
others of equal stature and
form. Natural flexibility comes
and goes with every generation,
and sometimes families who
tend towards being rigid can
occasional spawn a member
who is very dexterous.

Fortitude
Health, vim and constitution are
all ways to describe Fortitude. Hit
points, personal stamina, resistances
such as disease and poison, as well as
the ability to perform tasks for
extended periods of time are all
aspects that Fortitude can influence.
METHOD OF STANDARDS:
An average 25 year old has a
Fortitude score of 25. The average 25
year old can hold their breath for 45
seconds.

METHOD
OF
STANDARDS: In the case when a character
is in direct competition with either a PC
(player character) or NPC (non-player
character) the character with a lower Body
score, gains a bonus to some of their Agilitybased actions such as aiming, dodging and
Agility influenced skills (see Chapter 3
Attributes, subsection Body).
SPEED BONUS: A characters Speed is
influenced by the characters Agility score.

ACTION HOLDING YOUR BREATH:

Sometimes youll find yourself in a situation
where your character will need to hold his or
her breath for an extended period of time,
this could be due to poisonous gas,
swimming under water or even oxygen
deprivation. In these cases, a characters
Fortitude may be the only thing between
them and almost certain death.

35

To determine how long a character can

hold their breath, take a base of 20 seconds
and add the characters Fortitude score to
equal the total amount of time the character
can hold their breath without suffering
penalties. Thus our average 25 year old with
a Fortitude score of 25 would be able to hold
their breath for 45
seconds (20 seconds +
25 = 45).
When your character holds their breath
for longer than their
total time (45 seconds
for the 25 year old),
then
they
suffer
damage
to
their
Stamina Points at a
rate of 10 cumulative
points every 20 seconds
beyond the total time if
they fail a Fortitude
challenge vs. a DS
(Difficulty Score) of 25
plus 5 for every 20
seconds beyond their
total amount of seconds they can hold their
breath. Thus if our 25 year old tries to hold
his or her breath for 2 minutes, the first 45
seconds does not require a challenge roll, 4665 seconds the character will need to make a
successful challenge roll vs. a DS of 30 (25 +
5) or suffer 10 points of Stamina damage; at
66-85 seconds, the character will need to
make a successful challenge roll vs. a DS of
35 (25+5+5) or suffer 20 points of Stamina
damage; at 86-105 seconds, the character will
need to make a successful challenge roll vs. a
DS of 40 (25+5+5+5) or suffer 30 points of
Stamina damage; 106-125 (goal of 120)
seconds, the character will need to make a
successful challenge vs. a DS of 45
(25+5+5+5+5) or suffer 40 points of Stamina

damage. If the characters Stamina Points are

reduced to 0, then the character starts to
suffocate (see Suffocation in Chapter 9
Adventuring).
LIGHT ACTION:
A character can
perform light actions for an extended period
of time equal to their
Fortitude score in minutes.
Every ten minutes beyond
your Fortitude score, the
player will have to roll a
challenge against a DS of 25
plus 5 for every 10 minutes
beyond their total time. Thus
our average 25 year old who
plans to jog for 45 minutes
doesnt have to make a
challenge until after the first
25 minutes; he or she must
succeed on a challenge vs. a
DS of 30 (25 + 5) or suffer a
cumulative 5 points of
damage for each additional
10 minutes for which he or
she fails the next challenge.
So therefore between minutes 36-45, the
character will need to succeed a challenge
against a DS of 35 (25 + 5 + 5) or suffer 10
points of Stamina damage.
MODERATE ACTION: A character can
perform moderately exerting actions for a
period equal to half their Fortitude scores
rounded down. The challenge for extended
moderate action is the same as light actions
except that the check is needed every 5
minutes instead of every 10. Thus in our
above example, if the character was running,
the challenge at 36-45 minutes would
appear as needing to succeed at a DS of 60
(25 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5) or suffer 35
points of Stamina damage.

36

HEAVY ACTION:
A character can
perform heavily exerting actions for only a
short period of time. This is equal
only to their Fortitude score in
rounds. An challenge is required
every round thereafter vs. a DS of
25 plus 5 for every additional
round beyond their Fortitude
score (as per above). Damage is
also treated as the same, 5 points
of cumulative Stamina damage
for each round after the initial
provided by Fortitude.

METHOD OF STANDARDS:
For
purposes of stand-ards, average persons IQ
score
is
90-109.
Therefore, an average
25 year olds Smarts
score
which
is
typically 25 would
equal an IQ of 90-109.
ACTION
REASON:
Some
instances a player has
difficulty being able
to fully play a
character
that
is
smarter than them.
Therefore,
in
a
situation where a
character needs a
clue, or needs a hint in an otherwise hopeless
situation the character can attempt a
challenge vs. a DS assigned by the Overseer.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: The

Fortitude score is added to the
characters Hit Point total every
Milestone obtained. .
TABLE: 1.1 - Types of Light, Moderate
& Heavy Actions
Not Important

Walking, riding, sitting,

bending, twisting, etc.

Light Actions

Jogging, opening/closing
items and doors, pulling
and pushing, etc.

Moderate Actions

Running, jumping, lifting, dancing, etc.

Heavy Actions

TABLE: 1.2: Typical Reason DS

Fighting, holding on for

dear
life,
acrobatics,
heavy dancing, etc.

Smarts

Easy

Characters Smarts + 5

Average

Characters Smarts + 10

Difficult

Characters Smarts + 15

Hard

Characters Smarts + 20

Mind Racking

Characters Smarts + 25

Unimaginable

Characters Smarts + 30

In cases where the character has other

clues or valuable pieces of information
available, the character will gain favorable
circumstances which can aid in acquiring a
hint.
*Special Note If the character fails the
challenge the character cannot perform
another one until a new clue or piece of
information becomes available.

Intelligence, reason and logic are all

things that describe a characters Smarts.
Remembering critical details, research and a
characters ability to learn is all based on the
individuals Smarts.

37

Wits can be used in social situations to help

level the playing field against those great at
leaving first impressions.

Wits

Will

Wise, sly and

clever are all
elements of the
Wits score. First
impressions,
discovering a lie,
as well as skills
that pertain to
creativity
or
having a keen
observation are
all influenced by
Wits.

Psyche, strengthof-mind
and
perseverance are
all words that best
describe
a
characters Will.
Under the Will
ability
score,
characters
can
wrestle with fear,
break
through
magical
charms
and above all keep
their sanity.

METHOD
OF STANDARDS: Measuring creativity and
an individuals observational skills are very
difficult in the modern world. For in-game
purposes, let us assume that the average
score for a 25 year old is simply 25.

METHOD OF
STANDARDS: A
characters age, such as our 10 year old child
or the 25 year old adult, creates the base score
for the average ability score.
Since an
individuals ability to carry-on is hard to
measure in real life, for purposes of this game
a Will score for a 10 year old would be 10
and 25 for a 25 year old.

ASPECT PERCEPTION: Players may

be called upon, from time to time, to make a
challenge to notice something new or out of
place. This will only be called upon when a
character is not on alert and the GM wants to
bring something to that individuals
attention.
If a player has already announced and/or
is acting cautious then certain skill sets may
be used instead. This can also act as a 6th
sense where something appears out of place,
but there is no other sense that can feel it.

ASPECT MORALE: It is sometimes

possible for a character to be placed in a
horrific circumstance which calls for the
character to perform a Morale challenge. See
Chapter 9 Adventuring.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: Wits influences

an individuals ability to perceive things in
the fantasy world. Wits can also be used in a
variety of artistic endeavors or in trying to
use a given item outside its conventional use
a sort of thinking outside the box. Also,

ACTION RESIST CHARM: When a

character is assaulted by a magical
compulsion to act outside his or her
character, a challenge must be rolled vs. the
power or opposing Will. If successful, the
character immediately identifies the mental

38

struggle that had occurred as well as the

direction from whence it came (if visible) and
breaks free from the compulsion. On a
failure, the character still identifies the
individual compelling them forward (if
visible) and proceeds to act in accordance to
the compulsion.

character with a
high Looks may
influence others to
hold the door or
pull out his or her
chair with but a
glance, but those
with a low Looks
score may notice
scoffs, people not
wanting to touch
them,
or
worse
being ignored (See
Chapter
9

Adventuring,
subsection Social Encounters).

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE:
Sometimes
there are some gruesome scenes for which
your character will have to witness and not
everyone is physically and mentally prepared
to deal with these situations. Fear and
Horror are all aspects that are ruled over by
an individuals Wits. Sometimes, depending
on the sheer scope of situation, a characters
sanity may even be under attack.
A
characters Wits protects them from these
things (See Chapter 9 Sanity).

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: Looks modifies

all aspects of the game where a characters
physical
appearance
is
addressed.
Oftentimes, a good looking character can
avoid being outright slain vs. imprisoned or
held for ransom.

Looks
Appearance, countenance and cast, these
are all words to better describe and
individuals Looks. Initials reactions during
social situations, an individuals sex appeal
and a means for manipulation Looks plays
an important part in a characters daily
interactions.

Presence
Majesty, charisma and allure are all
words that describe a given characters
Presence. Characters with high Presence are
able to command both the respect and
attention of those around them.
From
leading men and women into battle, to giving
a daring performance upon a stage, Presence
is what distinguishes those who follow and
those who lead.
METHOD OF STANDARDS:
The
average 25 year old may hold sway over a
few handful of people, generally no more
than 5, these are typically close friends or
acquaintances who dont mind letting him or
her influence them. For game purposes, the
average Presence is a score of 25.

METHOD OF STANDARDS:
The
average 25 year old has a Looks of 25, much
like a child of age 10, has the average Looks
of 10. Looks are always determined by age,
therefore a 25 year old with a Looks score of
10 is considered to have been hit several
times with the ugly stick and a 10 year old
child with Looks of 25 is considered angelic.
ASPECT INITIAL REACTION: When
seen for the first time, a character impresses
upon others a certain initial reaction without
that character even saying a word.
A

39

third-party on his or her friends behalf, will

suffer an unfavorable condition due to exuding
a hint of doubt or betraying a lack in
confidence in how the rest of the group will
accept the terms. This can easily harm the
result of negotiations and in rare cases lead to
disaster.
He or she who wears the Crown of
Leadership can make decisions on where the
party needs to go next. If in a situation
where the party find themselves disorganized, the individual with the Crown of
Leadership can compel the group to go a
certain direction. Those who dont follow
will suffer an unfavorable condition to their
next roll, while those who follow do not.
Also, if during the course of play that the
one originally bestowed the Crown of
Leadership falls, is kidnapped or for any
reason is unable to lead (depending on the
circumstance) then the entire party becomes
disorganized.
Until the crown holder
recovers, the party suffers an unfavorable
condition on all rolls.
The Crown of Leadership can be wrestled
from character to character. When a single
party member has had enough of the
decisions (good or bad) that the other
character has been making, he or she can
attempt to wrestle the Crown of Leadership
from the other character.
This can be
accomplished with an opposing challenge,
with the winner being the one who gets the
highest score. If the character who tried to
wrestle for the crown loses, he or she suffers
a cumulative unfavorable condition every time
its attempted during a course of a game
session. Thus if the attempt is made twice
and the character lost twice, then he or she
suffers 2 unfavorable conditions. This reflects
the growing lack of trust and respect the rest
of the party has for that character. Wrestling
the Crown of Leadership is generally started by
an argument or a declaration of taking

ASPECT
CROWN
OF
LEADERSHIP:
In a given party
of heroes or
adventurers,
the crown of
leader-ship is
typically
bestowed upon
the player who
in real life holds
the
most
respect.
However,
despite
previously attributed hierarchy
in your circle of friends, the crown of
leadership can be gained by those who have
the strongest Presence.
When originally determining who obtains
the crown of leadership, all players must
perform a challenge of Presence vs. the other
characters Presence. It is better to pit the
two highest scores against one another and
then pit the lowest scores together, the
resulting winners are then pit against one
another as well. Or, if no one wants to fight
for the Crown of Leadership it can be
unanimously given to any character.
Once established, the Crown of Leadership
renders that character as the established
leader of the group who generally can act on
behalf of all the characters without suffering
immediate backlash of disagreements. That
is, during a social situation the character
holding the Crown of Leadership can enter into
a contract with a third-party on his or her
friends behalf without suffering an
unfavorable condition.
Characters without the Crown of
Leadership, if entering into a contract with a

40

charge.
As long as the crown holder is in good
health and can be seen, all party members
receive a favorable condition on all morale and
sanity challenges.

charmer is oftentimes aware of how an

individual high in Looks is so easily able to
gain favor. A character not wanting his or
her downfalls of appearance to intercede
with their social interactions can attempt to
sway an initial reaction gone sour from a
critical failure.
In this case, the player
performs an ability check against the opposing
characters Wits.
If you succeed, the
unfavorable condition gained from the initial
reaction is eliminated. If you lose, nothing is
gained or lost, but in the chance of a critical
failure a second unfavorable condition is gained
after you just convinced the other individual
that their initial reaction was right about you.
A character with a high Charm can also
influence peoples initial reaction with other
individuals. This can be represented as a
comment about a certain individuals
appearance or point out some kind of flaw
(seen or unseen) to smudge their image in the
other persons mind. In such a case, an
challenge must be made against the
individuals Wits. If you succeed, you can
affect the initial reaction result by 1, from
nothing to favorable condition, from favorable
condition to 2 favorable conditions, from
favorable condition to nothing, or from nothing
to unfavorable condition, or from unfavorable
condition to 2 unfavorable conditions.
ITEMS OF INFLUENCE: Charm affects
the grand majority of social skills.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE:
There are
several skills that require a large Presence,
especially in the art of commanding others or
when delving in stage work. Presence also
influences a persons leadership and how
many men and women are able to follow his
or her lead.

Charm
The silver-tongued,
the beguiling and
the smooth talker,
all of these are
words that best
describe a characters ability to
Charm.
Whether
persuading,
bribing,
seducing or lying a
character
relies
heavily in all social
situations in their
ability to Charm
others. Without it, a
character is sure to
have several social blunders and may find
themselves in a very sticky situation.

Ability Improvement
Gaining sticks & stones in Ability scores
are not as easy as gaining in a given skill.
Ability scores may only be improved by
performing tasks that fall outside of a given
skill and when it is imperative to the story, or
when the Overseer calls for a challenge that
requires only the ability score. Such tasks are
up to the Overseer on whether or not they
qualify, below are some given examples

METHOD OF STANDARD: A persons

ability to communicate is difficult to
measure, but in this instance let us suppose
that for a 25 year old the average is a score of
25, where a 10 year old is a score of 10.
ACTION

SWAYING
INITIAL
REACTIONS:
A particular well-versed

41

based on each ability score:

Brawn Bashing down an important door
or chest; holding up a collapsing ceiling or
fallen portcullis for friends to escape; ect.
Agility Beating an enemy on a reaction
roll to a important item; being quick enough
to catch a friend from falling off cliff; ect.
Fortitude being knocked to zero hit
points and living to tell the tale; surviving a
deadly disease or poison; ect.
Smarts figuring out a story-important
riddle or puzzle; finishing a dice heavy
research project; ect.
Wits successfully undertaking a dice
heavy battle of wits; spotting a story-device
and having enough time to react to save the
PCs or friendly NPCs from potential demise;
ect.
Will resisting a dangerous attack
against the characters own mind; fighting off
a story-changing element of fear, horror or
madness; ect.
Looks changing the intent or disposition
of others during situations of high danger on
looks alone; meeting a high social expectation
in grooming; ect.
Presence giving a momentous speech or
performance that alters the direction of the
story; keeping the crown of leadership for the
entire adventure (not gaming session); ect.
Charm dazzling or beguiling important
figures whose influence can alter the story;
performing a romantic gesture under
dangerous circumstances and/or while being
threatened; ect.
Please note that simply performing a task
without there being a negative consequence
outside of what would naturally occur from
failing the task does not improve your ability
scores. See Chapter 8 Adventuring for
more details.

42

Chapter 3
ATTRIBUTES & STATUS BAR
character or BMI. The average 25 year old
with a height of 59 and weighting at 130
lbs. has a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 21.
However, to keep things simple, Body is best
identified by a persons height rounded
down. Thus a character at 59 would have a
Body of 5.

Character attributes are much like ability

scores except that after character creation,
they cannot be improved by experience, but
can only be improved by special
circumstances that arise during the game.
Players will rarely be called upon to make an
challenge as attributes do not directly
influence the game world.
So what are attributes? They are the three
items listed in descending order on the
character sheet of Body, Essence and Luck.
Each score influences a certain aspect of the
character. A detailed description of each
attribute is listed below.

ASPECT HIT POINT BONUS: Upon

character creation, multiply the characters
Body score with the Brawn score to get the
initial hit point total. This bonus can change
throughout gameplay in cases where the
character either increases or decreases Body
or Brawn.

Body

ASPECT

DAMAGE
ABSORP-TION: The larger the
body, the less damage an average
size weapon will inflict upon it.
Therefore, whenever damage is
assigned to the character it must
first be subtracted from their
Body. Therefore, if the character
is struck for 12 points of damage,
5 points are subtracted from the
damage total (in the case of a
Body of 5) and therefore only 8
will harm the character.
If all the damage is absorbed,
such in the case of a Body of 12 and 12
damage is dealt to the character, then no
damage goes through and the hit is
considered but a scratch. No damage is
dealt, but the hit still was made. In case of
poison or other type of status effect that

Anatomy, figure and

form are all words that
describe a characters Body.
Body is generally how
much space a character
takes up, including height
and weight. The higher the
score a character has in
Body
the
larger
the
character, the smaller the
character is the lower the
score. Body takes on a large number of rolls
in character design.
METHOD OF STANDARD: Body most
resembles the general mass of a

43

requires the character to be injured, the

defending play is affected even if no damage
went through. Sometimes a scratch is all one
needs.

with life and ties it to the physical plane of

reality.
METHOD OF STANDARDS: Because a
persons spirit is currently immeasurable by
modern standards, it is safe to assume that
the average human (no matter what age) has
an Essence score of 5.

Table: 3.1 - Body Scores

Body

Height
Range

Lift
Base
(lbs.)

Brawn
Bonus

Agility
Bonus/
Base
Speed

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

1-11
1-111
2-211
3-311
4-411
5-511
6-611
7-711
8-811
9-911
101011
111111
121211

1
8
15
25
50
75
90
105
120
135
150

-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
+2
+4
+6
+8
+10

+10/0.1
+8/0.5
+6/1
+4/2
+2/3
0/4
-2/4
-4/5
-6/5
-8/6
-10/6

165

+12

-12/7

180

+14

-14/7

11
12

ASPECT BONUS MAGICK POINTS:

When determining magick points, the
character multiplies his or her Essence score
with their Will score to get the base magick
point total. In gameplay this base magick
point total may change in cases where either
Essence or Will increases or decreases.
ASPECT SPIRITUAL DEFENSE:
During game-play, there may be situations
where a characters life force comes under
assault. In which case, Essence acts like a
shield and
adds
its
score to the
characters
defense.
This is not to
be con-fused
with
damage
absorption
like
what
occurs with
Body.

ITEMS OF NOTE: Certain circumstances

can allot for characters of varying races be
able to have a different Body score than the
above table.
However, for purposes of
standard character creation the table should
be used for a general standard.

Essence

ITEMS
OF
INFLUENC
E:
Essence rarely changes throughout
gameplay unless the character loses a portion
of their Essence to an attack.

Soul, spirit and life matter are all words

that describe a characters Essence.
Where Body is a measurement of a
persons physical space, Essence is the
measurement of a persons spiritual makeup.
Essence holds the Body together, it infuses it

44

a piece of paper. If Luck is called upon a

second time, then the character suffers a -1
penalty to the Luck roll, as well as increase
their chance at encountering bad luck (botch
results on a 1 and a 2 at a -1; 1,2 and 3 on a -2
penalty and so on).
Once the player
encounters bad luck or the gaming session
ends, the characters luck penalties are
erased.

Luck
Good fortune, karma and serendipity are all
words that can des-cribe a characters Luck.
During the gaming session, characters
may encounter certain situations that rely
mostly on fortune. Also,
Luck can be substituted
when a player asks the
GM to be more particular
about a certain detail of
the room. When fate or
fortune
is
to
be
determined, Luck is what
factors it.

ITEMS OF INFLUENCE:
Besides the luck roll the Luck
score doesnt influence much
else in the game. However,
there may be some magickal
items that require a certain Luck
score in order to use them
correctly.

METHOD
OF
STAND-ARDS: For the
average, 5 ft. human the
Luck score is 5. There is
no real world application
where Luck can truly be
measured. Most humans
have a Luck score of 5.

STATUS
BAR
The status bar portion of the character
sheet is comprised of Hit Points, Stamina
Points and Magick Points. Each represents
an aspect of the character that will be in
constant flux throughout the gaming session.
When writing down the numbers in the
status bar it is recommended that players use
light marks, preferably pencil, in order to
allow for easier erasing.

ASPECT THE LUCK ROLL: Whenever

a situation arises that falls within the
category of fate or fortune, the player needs
to make a Luck attribute roll. The player
must roll below their Luck score on a d20. A
successful roll means the character
encounters good fortune and whatever
favorable result would arise does. If the roll
fails, that means that the favorable result
does not happen. If there is a botch result
(Rolling a 1 on 1d20) then bad fortune occurs
and the exact opposite of what is favorable
turns unfavorable.
Luck should not be tried continuously, as
those with good luck tend to lose it the more
they use it. Therefore, when good luck is
experienced the GM should log the event on

Hit Points
Hit points determine the overall health of
a character. Whenever the character sustains
damage (no matter the source) the character
temporarily loses hit points. In retrospect,
whenever a character is healed (via resting,

45

magick, etc.) that characters hit points

increase. Characters cannot regain hit points
over their maximum hit point total unless via
certain magickal spells or outside effects.

they would have suffered 18 hit points

beyond zero. Therefore, the GM would roll
whatever the environment die is (lets say a
1d6 for this instance) which results in a 3, add
the 3 to the 18 from the damage, plus 10
equals a DS of 31. If the character only
sustained 8 points beyond zero, he or she
would only need to roll against a DS of 21.
During the last ditch effort, the character
can perform one action that doesnt use more
than 50% of their total stamina. This could be
an attack, using an item, using a technique,
spell or a power.
Once the action is
performed the character is officially knocked
out and unable to perform any additional
actions until healed.

STARTING HIT POINTS: Hit points are

determined by taking a characters Body
score and multiply it by the characters
Brawn score. This is considered the base hit
point total. If either Brawn or Body is
reduced in the game, then so too are the hit
points respectively, and vise versa in case
that Brawn or Body is every increased.
GAINING HIT POINTS: Hit points are
gained every time a character reaches a major
milestone (every 10th milestone). Once the
character reaches a major milestone, the
player may roll their Brawn die and add that
to the total amount of hit points. This is
considered a permanent change and cannot
be rerolled or increased, even after a higher
level die is purchased.

RECOVERING HIT POINTS:

A
character can recover hit points at a rate
equal to their Fortitude scores divided by 10
per day of complete rest. Complete rest
would be either sleeping or doing little to no
activity.
Therefore, a character with a
Fortitude score of 25 would recover 2.5
(rounded down) hit points per day.
Light activity such as reading, nonstressing crafting such as sewing or weaving,
drawing, or playing musical instruments
(depending on the type) allow the character
to recover half the above hit points 1.25
(rounded down) per day.
Any other activity or if the character is in
combat does not allow for the character to
recover hit points.

BEING REDUCED TO ZERO OR

NEGATIVE HIT POINTS: If the character
sustains enough damage to reach zero hit
points the character is knocked unconscious.
Even if the character sustains damage that
would place them into the negative, the
character still is reduced only to zero hit
points.
While at zero hit points, the character
cannot perform any action. For all tense and
purposes, the character is effectively out-forthe-count until healed to at least 1 hit point.

BANDAGED HIT POINTS: Hit points

may be bandaged by someone skilled in First
Aid. Bandaged hit points are healed at a rate
separate from natural hit point recovery and
at twice the rate. Thus a character with a
Fortitude score of 25 would heal at 5 hit
points per day with no activity, or 2.5 hit
points with little activity. This is in addition
to the normal healing rate.

ACTION LAST DITCH EFFORT: A

player can decide to perform a last ditch effort
by making a Will challenge roll vs. a DS of 10
plus the environment die and a +1 DS per
point of damage sustained beyond zero hit
points. Thus if the character was hit for 20
points and they only had 2 hit points left then

46

Bandaged hit points also act as temporary

hit points equal to the total number of
bandaged hit points divided by 2. Thus, if a
character has 30 bandaged hit points, he or
she has 15 temporary hit points. If damaged,
the damage always goes against the
temporary hit points first, and for every point
of temporary (bandaged) hit points the
character loses, he or she loses 2 points of
bandaged hit points.
Characters that lose their bandaged hit
points may be bandaged again.

A characters ability to perform certain

actions is measured on their energy level or
stamina. Like hit points, stamina is measured
in a numeral value. Whenever a character
performs an action, that action subtracts its
energy cost from the characters stamina.
Unlike hit points however, a character does
not require days in order to regain lost
stamina and can oftentimes require those lost
points in a matter of rounds.
STARTING STAMINA POINTS: These
are determined by taking the current Body
Score and multiplying it by the Fortitude
Score, these are considered the base Stamina
Points. If ever Body or Fortitude is reduced
in game, so too are the base Stamina Points,
and vise versa, if either score increases
through out the game, so too do the base
Stamina Points as well.

MAGICKAL HEALING: Characters can

be magickally healed by certain spells. Most
spells heal the character only to their
maximum hit point total. There are a few
spells however that can add additional hit
points to the characters total. These are
called temporary hit points.
Characters who are magickaly healed
have their non-bandaged wounds healed first
before their bandaged wounds.

GAINING STAMINA POINTS: Stamina

points are gained every time a character
reaches a major milestone (every 10th
milestone). Once the character reaches a
major milestone, the player may roll their
Fortitude die and add it to the total number
of stamina points much like hit points. This
is considered a permanent change and cannot
be rerolled or increased, even after a higher
level die is purchased.

TEMPORARY HIT POINTS: Hit points

that go beyond the characters maximum
drop off at a rate of 1 hit point per hour
(excluding the temporary hit points gained
through being bandaged).
Thus if the
character has a total of 18 hit points and he or
she gains 5 additional temporary hit points,
the first hour the character will have 23 hit
points, second hour 22 hit points, third hour
21 hit points, fourth hour 20 hit points, fifth
hour 19 hit points and sixth hour back to the
characters normal hit point total.
Whenever a character is damaged, the
damage is automatically subtracted from the
temporary hit points first before they are
subtracted from the characters normal hit
points.

ZERO STAMINA POINTS: A character

that is reduced to zero stamina points, either
from using up all their stamina in actions or
by being hit with a spell or other ability that
reduces that characters stamina will leave
them winded and unable to perform any
actions.
At zero stamina, a character can only
move 1 square per round or perform an
action that requires 1 stamina point or less.

Stamina

RECOVERING STAMINA POINTS: A

47

character can recover stamina points at a rate

equal to their Fortitude scores divided by 5
per minute. A character with a Fortitude
score of 25 would recover 5 (rounded down)
stamina per minute of complete rest (no
activity), or half that with light activity.
There are some actions that are
considered so exhausting that they can
suspend the recovery of some stamina points.
These temporary suspended stamina points
can only be recovered by taking no action for
a full round.

below to determine how many stamina

points are used to sustain and/or enact
certain abilities.
This is in addition to
sustained actions.
Table: 3.2 Stamina Cost Per Action
Action
Cost
Not Important Sitting,
Reading, Riding, Walking,
n/a
Talking, Ect.
Light Action Using an
Item, Reading a Scroll,
3
Drinking a Potion, Ect.
Moderate Actions
Jumping, Climbing,
5
Pushing/Pulling, Lifting,
Attacking, Ect.
Heavy Actions Walking
while overburdened,
7
hanging on for dear life,
bench pressing your limit.

MAGICKALLY INVIGORATED: Characters can be magickally invigorated by

certain spells. Most spells just return a
certain amount of stamina points back to the
character (thus able to perform additional
actions). There are a few spells however that
can add additional stamina points to the
characters total. These are called temporary
stamina points.

Magick Points

TEMPORARY STAMINA POINTS:

Stamina points that go beyond the characters
maximum drop off at a rate of 1 stamina
point per hour. Thus if the character has a
total of 18 stamina points and he or she gains
5 additional temporary stamina points, the
first hour the character will have 23 stamina
points, second hour 22 stamina points, third
hour 21 stamina points, fourth hour 20
stamina points, fifth hour 19 stamina points
and sixth hour back to the characters normal
hit point total.
Whenever a character loses stamina
points, the loss is automatically subtracted
from the temporary stamina points first
before they are subtracted from the
characters normal stamina points.

Magick points are what determine a

characters ability to cast spells. Much like
stamina points that are deducted whenever an
action has taken place, magick points are
spent whenever a spell is cast. All characters
have a magick point total, regardless if they
use spells or not.
STARTING MAGICK POINTS:
A
characters magick point total is calculated by
taking the Essence score multiplying it by the
Will score. This is considered the base
magick points. If either Essence is reduced
or Will is reduced, so too do the base magick
points.
Magick points are then added
retroactively whenever Essence or Will is
gained.
Thus if an average 25 year old with a Will
score of 25 has an Essence score of 5, he
would have 100 base Magick Points.

USING STAMINA POINTS: Most

actions taken by the character use a certain
amount of stamina points. Consult the table

48

GAINING MAGICK POINTS: Every

time the character reaches a new major
milestone in the character milestones (every
10th milestone) the character gets to roll their
Will die and add that to their total magick
points. This is considered a permanent
change and cannot be rerolled or increased,
even after a higher level die is purchased.

Additional Status
Some Overseers may tailor their
campaigns to incorporate additional status
bars, such as Psychic Points (for Psionic
campaigns). In these situations, Overseers
are encouraged to add their own status bars
and to follow the above examples of how
they are presented.
Examples:
Psychic Points could be
influenced by Will, with a Psychic Dice
purchase option.

RECOVERING MAGICK POINTS: A

character recovers their magick points at a
rate of their Will score divided by 5 per
minute of complete rest (no activity). If the
character performs light activity, then the
amount recovered is halved.
INFUSED: Characters can be infused by
certain elements in the game that give them
additional magick points. Most elements just
return a certain amount of magick points back
to the character (thus able to cast additional
or more powerful spells). There are also a
few instances that can add additional magick
points to the characters total. These are
called temporary magick points.
TEMPORARY
MAGICK
POINTS:
Magick points that go beyond the characters
maximum drop off at a rate of 1 magick point
per hour. Thus if the character has a total of
18 magick points and he or she gains 5
additional temporary magick points, the first
hour the character will have 23 magick
points, second hour 22 magick points, third
hour 21 magick points, fourth hour 20
magick points, fifth hour 19 magick points
and sixth hour back to the characters normal
hit point total.
Whenever a character spends magick
points, the magick points are automatically
subtracted from the temporary magick points
first before they are subtracted from the
characters normal magick points.

49

Chapter 4
SKILLS
Skills are how a character is able to
perform simple to complex tasks in-game.
Anything from seeing something far into the
distance to forging a sword is detailed within
each skill. Skills are each separated into three
distinct categories by what ability score they
are influenced by. The three categories are
Physical (influenced by Brawn, Agility and
Fortitude), Mind (influenced by Smarts, Wits
and Will) and Social (influenced by Looks,
Presence and Charm).

Overseer must set a difficulty score thats

equivalent to the task; the harder the feat, the
harder the difficulty.
Examples of Use:

Forward flipping over an opponents head.

Running up a wall and performing a backflip.
Kicking off multiple surfaces to leap over a
wall.
Swinging from a rope or flying trapeze.

ASPECT FALLING DAM-AGE:

If ever a character is falling from a severe
height (more than 8 feet) the player can roll
an acrobatic skill check to see how many feet
he or she can reduce the damage by, while
trying to grab on to things to slow their
descent and/or tucking and rolling.
Players must roll a skill check vs. a
difficulty score of 15, plus the environment
die. Every point above the DS the player
succeeds
by
reduces
the
fall
by
approximately 1 ft. Therefore, if a player has
a total skill of 12, then rolls the ability die as a
5 and then rolls the skill die and gets a 4 has a
total score of 21. If the DS is 15 plus the
environment roll of 3 (1d4 in this case) the
total difficulty is 18. The player won by 3
points which converts into 3 feet worth of
damage reduced.

Physical Skills
As mentioned above, Physical skills are
influenced by a characters Brawn, Agility
and Fortitude. A comprehensive list of these
skills, including the ability score that
influences them and details for what can be
performed under each skill, is listed below.

Acrobatics
Influence: Agility
Somersaults, back flips, cart wheels, kip
ups, forward flips, etc. are all the types of
actions for which are learned under
acrobatics.
Anything from street performance to the flying trapeze, the acrobatics
skill covers all sorts of differing feats of
dexterity.
Whenever a player wishes his character to
perform an acrobatic maneuver such as
swinging from a chandelier or leaping out a
window to land on a saddle-ready horse, the

ACTION SWINGING:
Obviously, there is a lot of physics
involved when a player wants to see if their
character can swing from a common
chandelier to another spot in the room, or to
see if a nearby vine is long enough to carry
them across a chasm (without stopping to

50

analyze it). In these given cases, so that game

isnt disrupted with mathematical equations
perform the following:
Step 1: Have the player roll an acrobatics
skill roll vs. an Easy DS (typically 20) and
add the environmental roll.
Step 2: If the rope/vine isnt properly
secured (such as in the case of a trapeze),
have the player roll a Luck roll to see if the
rope/vine is strong enough to carry their
weight. Penalties may be assessed based on
the weight of the character vs. the strength of
the item they are swinging from.
If the Luck roll succeeds, the vine is
strong enough. If the Luck roll fails, then itll
break the moment they reach their location.
If the Luck roll critically fails (botches) then
the rope snaps in mid-swing.
Step 3: Then determine the length of the
rope from the point where the character
connects with it. If the character connects at
the bottom of a 10 ft. rope, then the point of
connection is at 10 ft., or if the character
connects at the lower quarter of a 20 ft. rope,
then the characters point of connection is
3/4th distance (20 x .75 = 15), being a point of
connection at 15 ft.
Step 4: With the typical swing, the
character can achieve the same angle that
was used to originate the swing. Thus if a
character attempts to swing across a pit, with
the rope being at 90 degrees the swinger can
usually reach the opposite angle of 270
degrees. The center of the circle below is the
point for which the rope is connected. It is
still possible to swing from 30 degrees to 330
degrees, but the situation would probably
need to have the rope connected to an
outcrop, or in the case of a chandelier, the
only option for the swing (typically) would
be 90 to 270.
Note: Most swings are performed at the
120 degree angle to the 240 degree angle.

Step 5: Take the point of connection (15

ft. for this example) and times it by 2 to find
the diameter (15 x 2 = 30 ft for this example).
This is the maximum distance the character
can travel.
Step 6: Then take the angle of swing to
the other intended side and determine how
many degrees of a swing is being created
(120 240 = 120 degree swing for this
example). Then after determining the degree
divide it by the total degrees possible (lets
use a chandelier with the possible total swing
of 90 to 270, therefore theres a total of 180
degrees available, take 120/180 = 1.5). Take
the results times the length of the point of
contact (15 ft. x 1.5 = 22.5 ft.). In the example,
the character can swing a total of 22.5 feet or
4 squares.
The character could technically leap from
the rope at the pinnacle of the swing to gain
additional squares in distance, but that is
handled under the skill Jumping & Leaping.
RESTRICTIONS OF USE:
When performing acrobatics, a character
cannot move outside of their total squares
allowed. Therefore, a character with a total
of 6 squares cannot perform an acrobatic
maneuver that places them outside of the 6
squares, except for in the case where the
character is swinging.

51

The difficulty of moving up an object all

depends upon the surface and the
circumstance modifiers that influence the
climb. For all purposes a typical climb (no
matter the surface) is a difficulty score of 30.
Several factors must be taken into
consideration when determining how
difficult a climb can truly be.

Balance
Influence: Agility
Balance is the art of keeping your footing
on unstable ground. Walking across narrow
ridges, tightrope walking, fighting on logs
that are racing down a river, and or walking
outside in the dark are all things that balance
helps with.
Obviously, the smaller the room the
harder it is to balance. Any bridge or
walkway that is more than 2 feet wide does
not require the player to roll for balance.
However, every inch minus 2 feet (24 inches)
increases the difficulty score by 2. Therefore,
to balance across a beam that is only 1 foot
wide would generate a difficulty score of 24
(1 ft converts to 12 inches, x 4 difficulty score
= 24).
There are also several factors that can add
both favorable and unfavorable conditions such
as: there is a support rope or railing
(favorable), the path to walk across is
rounded like a pipe (unfavorable), the
ground is sticky (favorable), the ground is
slippery (unfavorable), the path is sloped
(unfavorable), the path is rough and/or
rocky (unfavorable), etc.
Each time the character is either distracted
or hit for damage, the player will need to
make another balance roll to keep from
falling.
When balancing, characters must move
cautiously (1/2 their normal squares). A
player may elect to move at the normal pace,
but the difficulty score increases by 50%.

Favorable Circumstances

Character has climbing gear

There is a rope available and/or a ladder
There are handholds, ledges or branches
Character has multiple limbs
Receiving a boost or hand up from a friend

Unfavorable Circumstances

The surface is loose and can crumble

The surface is slick by water or ice
The surface is flawlessly flat
The surface is covered in sand or dirt
The character is climbing down
There is a heavy wind
It is raining or snowing
The characters weight allowance has been
exceeded by 1 step (this unfavorable condition is
cumulative per step)

While climbing, a character does not gain

any benefit to speed from their Agility score,
however they gain bonuses to speed from
their Brawn score exactly as they had for
Agility (See Chapter 1 Ability Scores,
subsection Agility).
The stronger the
character is, the quicker he or she can climb.
Characters who climb may only climb at
their burdened speed (1/4th speed) but may
try to climb faster using their cautious speed
(1/2 speed) but will suffer an unfavorable
condition for doing so.

Climb
Influence: Brawn
Scaling the side of a mountain, climbing a
rope or ladder, hoisting yourself up the side
of a moving carriage are all ways that the
climb skill can be utilized.

ACTION CATCHING YOURSELF

FROM A FALL: If falling, a character can
attempt to grab hold of a wall or ledge,
however they suffer a -15 penalty to the

52

climb difficulty score.

ACTION CREATING AN ITEM: The

item intended to be created is all dependant
upon the general size of the item and the
amount of money that the character is willing
to put into it. The more money and time
placed into an item, the better the quality.
The less time and money placed into an item,
the worse the quality.
Whenever creating an item follow steps
below:

Escape Artistry
Influence: Agility
Wiggling lose from being tied up,
escaping
manacles,
slipping
through
someones grasp are all different ways escape
artistry can help a character get out of a bind.
Escape Artistry works as a series of
opposing checks. When the character is tied
up using rope, the player must make an
opposed check vs. the binders Rope Work
skill. In the case of manacles, the Escape
Artist must make an opposed challenge vs.
the craftsmanship of the manacles. When it
comes to escaping someones grasp, the
Escape Artist must make an opposed check
vs. the grab or hold.

1.

Forge & Fashion

Influence: See Below
Be it a full fledged craftsman or an
occasional hobbyist, all forms of objects can
be made through this skill.
Whenever Forge & Fashion is selected as
a skill it applies to a different field of
craftsmanship.
Below is a semi-list of
different sorts of professions that create items
or varying types of works for commission:

Stonemason Influence: Brawn

Armor Smith Influence: Brawn

Blacksmith Influence: Brawn
Bookbinder Influence: Agility
Bowyer & Fletcher Influence: Agility
Carpenter Influence: Brawn
Cobbler Influence: Agility
Gem Cutter Influence: Agility
Glass Blower - Agility
Hatter Influence: Agility
Leatherworker Influence: Agility
Locksmith Influence: Agility
Seamstress/Tailor Influence: Agility

2.

53

Determine General Use: Is the item simple,

average or complex?
a. Simple Items Are like nails, belts,
mugs, daggers, stools, etc. The
typical household object is usually
simple in construction and isnt all
too hard to put together. The base
DS for Simple Items is 5. These items
can usually be made on an hour-tohour basis.
b. Average Items Are items such as
wagon wheels, axles, nightstands or
benches, hide armor, short swords,
axes, etc. Items that youd see
outside the general store and or
sometimes special ordered would be
average. The base DS for a Simple
Item is 15. These items can usually
be made on a day-to-day basis.
c. Complex Items Are items that
require long term investment and a
lot of up front costs. These can
typically be clocks, plate mail,
wedding
dresses,
stain
glass
windows, etc. The base DS for a
Complex Item is 30. These items can
take weeks to create.
d. Epic Items Here you are looking at
ship building, houses, or even
dungeons. These are very labor
intensive and (with a sizable
workforce) can be created within
months. The DS for Epic items is 45.
Determine Quality Or essentially, how well

its made.
a. Flawed These are items that,
though somewhat function, are
obviously misshapen and poorly
constructed. These items tend to
function at 50% less than average
items. Most refuse to use them and
with good reason. The DS for the
item is reduced by 15.
b. Cheap Are items that are made
poorly or made in a hurry. These
items tend to function at 20% less
than normal. A cheaply made items
tend not to be overly desired, but
can sometimes pass off as items of
average quality to the untrained eye.
The DS for the item is reduced by 5.
c. Average These are items generally
found on the market. There is
usually nothing all that exceptional
about them and they are practically
priced.
d. Exceptional Items that are
commissioned or expertly designed

3.

54

in order to both show off ones

craftsmanship and to improve
functionality tends to be of
exceptional quality. These items are
generally 20% better than those of
average quality. The DS for the item
is increased by 10.
e. Masterpiece A true test of skill for
any craftsman. These items exceed
any other good on the market and, a
great majority of the time, are oneof-a-kind. These items function 50%
better than most other items. The
DS for the item is increased by 20.
Time Frame Sometimes time is an issue,
consult below to determine how quickly the
item needs to be created in.
a. Immediately This item needs to be
fashioned yesterday. The average
time to create the item is cut in half.
The DS for the item is increased by
10.
b. Rush - Theres a little urgency in the
creation of this item. The time it

4.

5.

6.

takes to create the item is reduced

by 20%. The DS for the item is
increased by 5.
c. Steady Pace This is the atypical
pace that most craftsmen use to
furnish their goods.
d. Slow and Steady If the craftsman
wishes to take his or her time in
order to not have any mistakes, this
will add approximately 20% to the
length of time it takes to create it.
The DS for the item is decreased by
5.
e. All the Time in the World Time is
not an issue, the craftsman does not
care at what point the project gets
done. The length of time it takes to
create the object increases by 50%.
The DS for the item is decreased by
10.
Add Value Some craftsmen like to add
silver, gold or even gems to the items they
create. This tends to be done as a means of
showing off an individuals status as opposed
to adding functionality to the weapon.
Whenever adding additional value to the
item, just add the cost of materials to the
base price.
a. Differing Materials For each type
of material of value being added to
the item, increase the difficulty by 5
points. (I.E. If a weaponsmith added
2 amethysts and gold inlay to a
sword, itll be +5 to the DS for the
gems, and +5 to the DS for the gold).
Add Material Costs Material costs are the
raw resources used to create an item of any
caliber. The typical cost of resources used is
generally 1/3rd the cost of the original item.
Creating The Difficulty Score In order to
create the item of note, the difficulty score
must be created and met. Tally up all the DS
from above and that is the Difficulty Score in
which the craftsman must roll against. (For
Example, an armor smith wants to create a
normal set of plate mail, because its a
complex item the base DS is 40. Since the

7.

8.

55

armor smith wants to make one of average

quality, it will not affect the current DS. Also,
the armor smith plans to take her time so itll
reduce the DS by 5 making the total DS
currently 35. However, the buyer wants some
silver inlays, which will increase the DS by +5,
making the DS back to 40. The total DS is 40).
Construction Time Go back to whatever
item is being created: Simple, Average,
Complex, Epic and note the general time
frame. So if a tailor was making a wedding
dress (which is a complex item) the time
frame to make it is on a weekly basis. If say
we were to rush its construction, it would be
20% off the time frame, being 5.6 days
(roughly). Now, value plays into how long the
dress (item) will take, so if the dress is
supposed to be valued at 240 silver pieces
due to the type of fabric, and gold embroidery
the GM must divide the value of the dress by
1/3rd to get the material costs (240 / 3 = 80) of
80 silver then we must take the material costs
of 80 silver and divide it by the DS of 55 (30
Complex Item, +15 Rush, +5 for Gold, +5 for
Special Fabric = 55) which would equal 1.4
rounded up to 2 DS checks the character
would need to make. If there is no failure on
any of the roles, then the dress can be
expected to be completed in 11.2 days
working 8 hours each day. This time frame
can be cut down by hiring additional people to
help with the dress.
Adding Additional Laborers In order to get
large projects done in time, sometimes
craftsmen have to hire on additional help.
These individuals, though capable of adding
and subtracting time onto the project
depending upon their work habits, can be
tedious to micro-manage for role-playing
purposes. In order to keep the process
simple, for every laborer take the amount of
time needed and divide it by the number of
people working on it. Thus, in the case of the
dress with 11.2 days to finish the job, if 4
people were working on it, the time frame
would become 2.8 days. If you then take 2.8
days and divide it by the time frame of 5.8

current speed is 6 plus the run bonus, which

makes 9. The total speed is then divided by 2
which makes 4.5 rounded down to 4,
granting the Jumping & Leaping skill a +4
bonus. With the +4 bonus to the skill roll, the
Jumping & Leaping result is a 23. The result
is then divided by 2, which results in 11.5
rounded down to equal 11 feet.
The
character, in this case, is able to move a total
of 9 squares and then is able to leap a total of
2 squares and lands at the very edge of the
3rd square for a total of 12 squares. The
pinnacle of this jump is reached in the middle
of the jump at a height of 2.875 feet.
Special Note: When leaping, whatever
the results of the feet traveled (11.5 feet in the
example) must be divided by 5 to see how
many squares the character has traveled. In
the example above, the character is able to
cross a 10 foot gap (2 squares) and land at the
edge of the 3rd square about 1.5 feet in. In the
case where a character is able to be placed
into the next square (or third square as
notated above) if the landing square is less
than 1 foot in, the Overseer may require that
character to make a balance roll in order to
not fall backward into the square behind
them.

from above, the craftsmen will then only have

to perform 1 check (2.8 days / 0.48 days = 1
DS checks) instead of the 2. Just dont forget
to pay your workers.

Of course, there is always the part

where the craftsman gets to set the
price of the items for which they make
as the market value of the object can
fluxuate depending of course upon the
economics of the region. (See Chapter
9 - Adventuring Economics).

Jumping & Leaping

Influence: Brawn
This skill allows for the ability to vault
over fences, ravines, fallen tress, small dogs
and many other obstructions of note.
ACTION HORIZONTAL JUMP:
When performing a long jump, the character
must take a running start, typically the faster
the character is moving the farther he or she
can propel themselves in a jump.
Step 1: Have the character perform a
running skill check. Whatever the result of
the run, add the additional speed to the
characters speed. Take the total adjusted
speed and divide it by 2, this adds as a bonus
to the Jumping & Leaping skill.
Step 2: Roll the appropriate die for the
Jumping & Leaping skill and add all
appropriate modifiers. Whatever the result
of the skill roll, that is how many feet divide
by 2 the character travels.
During the pinnacle of the jump
(midrange of the distance traveled) the
character will reach a height of 1/4th the
distance traveled. Thus if 20 feet were
jumped, at the pinnacle of the jump the
character will reach a height of 5 feet.
Example: The skill result for the run is 18
(using boost) and that adds a bonus to the
characters speed of +3. The characters

ACTION VERTICAL JUMP: A

standing jump consists of a persons reach
and how high they can jump without a
running start. The average person (as long as
they are proportionate) can reach 1/3rd
above their height. Example, someone who
is 55 tall have a reach above their heads of
21.
At a standing leap, the character then rolls
their skill check. Whatever the result, divide
it by 2 and thats how many inches theyve
jumped.
Example, the skill roll results in a 34. 34
divided by 2 results in a 17 (rounded down).
Therefore, the jump results add to the 72

56

(55 plus the 21 plus the 17) which would

be 89. Thus, the character is able to jump
21 high and can reach ledges that are 89
taller than them.
If grabbing onto a ledge, the character can
perform a climb check to hoist themselves
up.

additional unfavorable condition for 1/4th

reduction in time, or 2 unfavorable conditions
to get a lock open in the time.

Pick Pockets
Influence: Agility
Cutting purses, pilfering pockets and
taking the proverbial stone from the masters
hand is a skill learned by the pick pocket.
Not only does this skill allow for the swiping
of others articles, but it allows for the
placement of items on others as well.

Lock Picking
Influence: Agility
The job of the lock smith is to be able to
find ways to unlock that which has been
locked. Be it through the usual tumbler to a
high-end combination safe, lock pickers
always have a chance to get around them.

ACTION STEAL: A character can

make a skill challenge versus the opponents
Perception. A crafty pick pocket takes into
consideration the alertness of his or her
marks. Thus, it is easier to pick the pocket of
someone who is sleeping or in a lull, as
opposed to someone who is on-alert. If the
pick pocket beats the perception score of the
target (and those keeping especial watch on
him or her) then the pick pocket is able to
pilfer the item.
Weight does factor into the item wanting
to be stolen. For every pound of weight the
item has being stolen or being placed on
someone it adds an unfavorable condition to
the skill roll.

ACTION PICKING A LOCK: When a

lock smith creates a lock, his or her skill adds
to the DS of the lock. Thus, if a lock smith
has the skill in Forge & Fashion of 60, the
lock smith has the potential of creating a lock
with a DS of 60. Thus, whenever a character
attempts to pick that lock that was fashioned
by another, that character will need to roll a
skill check against the difficulty of the lock.
Table: 4.1 - Typical Lock DS
Type

Difficulty Score

Diary Lock

Common Door

15

Secured Chest

25

Money Changer Safe

Ride
Influence: Agility
Whether it is from the back of a horse, a
wolf, griffon or dragon, riding is a skill born
of chivalry and elegance. This skill allows for
characters to perform multiple feats of fancy
while straddling the back of a domesticated,
or sometimes wild, beast.
ACTION COVER: Meeting an Ride
challenge against a difficulty score of 20, will
allow a character to use their mount as cover
against ranged and some melee attacks

35+

It takes one minute per 10 DS of the lock in

order to properly open it. If ever the lock
picker is distracted from doing his or her
work, then he or she suffers an unfavorable
condition. If ever the lock picker needs to
hurry open a lock, he or she suffers an

57

(depends on the circumstance). This will

grant the character 3/4th cover. However, all
attack rolls that miss the character but are
high enough to strike the mount deal damage
to the beast instead.

Run
Influence: Fortitude
Sometimes characters just need to get
somewhere or away from somewhere in a
hurry, this is where their skill in running
comes into play. Also, when trying to
determine who would win in a footrace or
when needing to see if the character can catch
up to an already fleeing individual, run is the
skill to have.

ACTION BREAK: In order to tame a

wild mount, the character must meet a DS
score of 30 plus the creatures Wild score.
Thus if the creature has a Wild score of 35,
the DS would be 30 + 35 = 65 DS. After
breaking the potential mount, it will allow for
future riding without its Wild score affecting
ride attempts.

ACTION BOOST: In order to gain a

boost in speed, a character can roll their run
skill. For every time the roll result can be
divided by 5 gains the character a +1 to their
Speed for that turn.

Rope work
Influence: Agility
Creating a lasso, hogtieing a victim and
tying knots are all different means in which
rope work can be utilized. It can also be used
with whips for purposes of grabbing.

ACTION SUSTAINED RUN: When

needing to run a marathon or whenever the
character needs to run a long distance, the
character can max out his or her die roll over
a period of 10 turns. Thus, if a character has
a run score of 30 and a maximum die
potential of 6, they have a total score of 36.
That score is divisible by five 7 times and
thus gains the character a +7 speed bonus.
The speed bonus is only sustainable for a
number of minutes equal to half the
characters Fortitude score. For every minute
beyond that, the character begins to lose
breath and slows down by -1 Speed as well
as suffers from a -1 point to Stamina. Thus, if
a character has a Fortitude of 25 he or she can
run for 12.5 minutes. After 15.5 minutes, the
character suffers -3 to Speed and -3 to
Stamina. In order to recover from the
Stamina loss, the character must rest 1
minute per point of Stamina he or she wants
to recover.
A character may opt to jog instead of a
full out sprint. In such case, he or she gains
only the Speed bonus rounded down, and

ACTION LASSO: Creating a lasso is

easy but actually lassoing someone or
something is another story. When using a
lasso to make a grab a character may use this
skill instead of the normal attack roll. A roll
must be made to see if the victim is pinned
just like normal.
ACTION HOGTIE: In the event a
character can lasso a victim, the character can
attempt a hog tie as long as the victim is
pinned. A victim cannot resist being hogtied
due to their pinned status. The difficulty
score to wiggle out of bind is set by whatever
the rope work skill roll is.
ACTION KNOTS: Any knots made by
the character are set at a difficulty equal to
the characters roll. Also, any knots the
character encounters can also be untied using
the characters rope work skill.

58

can jog for 1 minute per point in Fortitude.

Mental Skills

SNEAK

Mental skills are influenced by a

characters Smarts, Wits and Will.
A
comprehensive list of these skills, including
the ability score that influences them and
details for what can be performed under each
skill is listed below.

Influence: Agility
Moving silently to creep away or up on a
particular someone is all governed by the
sneak skill. Sneak is utilized whenever the
character is trying not to be heard while
moving.

Academics

ACTION SNEAK: By moving at half

speed a character can quiet his or her footfalls
so as not to be heard. The DS to detect the
sneaking character is equal to their skill roll.
Characters sneaking at 3/4th their movement
suffer a unfavorable condition.

Influence: Smarts
Academics covers a lot of various topics
including basic education such as math,
geography, literature, science, etc. These are
everyday topics available to all characters
even if not skill points are allotted to it.
However, a character may choose a few
specialized points of study (each with their
own individual skill point gain) that can be
utilized through the game. Such studies
include
languages,
history,
science,
entomology,
geography,
monsters,
dungeons, magicka, religion, to name a few.
Most characters start with Academics
(General) which covers most school taught or
home schooled subjects of importance and
then pick a few additional subjects of
specialization.

Swim
Influence: Brawn
If the character plans on getting wet, it is
always a good idea to have some skill in
swimming. Whether for recreational use or
escaping from a vicious tide, swimming is
essential when entering (and exiting) a body
of water.
ACTION SWIM SPEED: Without any
skill points in swim, all a character can do is
struggle to stay afloat. Without the aid of a
floatation device or some other form of
assistance the same character will inevitably
drown.
The base movement speed for
swimming is 0. To determine how fast the
character can swim, make a skill roll then
take the result and divide it by five rounded
down, the result is then used as Swim Speed
bonus. Example, the character has a score of
21 and then rolls 1d6 and gets a 4 making a
total of 25, this would give a base speed of 5.

ACTION RECALL KNOWLEDGE:

Any time there is a moment where some
additional information could help the given
situation, a character may attempt to recall
some additional facts on the particular
subject. Depending on the type of question
the player poses can influence the difficult of
the DS. The Overseer must determine how
common that knowledge is versus how
restricted the information is.
SPECIAL (MAGICKA) A character
may focus their study in magick, giving them

59

access to Spell Spheres and the ability to

research new spells and abilities. For every
skill point placed in Academics (Magick), the
character gains 5 magick skill milestones to
spend on purchasing Magick Spheres and
improving milestones in the respective
spheres.
Regardless of how many milestones a
character has in a given sphere, the character
must perform a Academics (Magicka)
challenge against a DS equal to the spell
point cost of the spell in order to cast it
correctly. If the challenge is successful, then
the spell goes off, if the challenge is
unsuccessful the spell fails and if the spell
results with a critical failure, then the spell
could go awry (up to the Overseer for the
effects).
If the character has innate spell abilities of
any kind, they must separate the spell
spheres into innate and learned magick
categories, even if the sphere is redundant.

closer to the actual value.

For example, if the DS is 36 and the skill
roll is 21, the difference is 15. The actual
value is 100%, a roll of 1d4 comes up as the
character under assessing its value. Subtract
15 from the 100% to make 75%. Therefore the
value of the object is 15% under assessed in
value.
If the character meets the DS or higher,
they then know exactly what the objects base
value is.
ACTION DETERMINE NATURE:
A
character may determine the exact purpose of
an item as well as any secret abilities or traits.
This is determined by rolling the analyze skill
vs. the target DS set by the Overseer. A
successful analysis will reveal 1 trait about
the object previously unknown, then 1
additional trait for every 5 points above the
target DS. Some harder to analyze or cryptic
objects may require to be researched before
these traits are revealed. Analyze cannot
determine magickal abilities but may be able
to identify an object as magickal.

Analyze
Influence: Smarts

Common Knowledge

Analyze allows one to learn more about a

certain object such as flaws, inscriptions or
even trying to determine the objects value or
intended purpose.

Influence: Wits
Common knowledge is not as the name
suggests, but is knowledge usually possessed
and taught by commoners to their children.
These skills can range in subject, much can
also be learned by trial and error, and tend
not to be subjects taught in a place of higher
learning. Some subjects include: Survivalism,
Animal Husbandry, Logging, Animal
Taming, Herbalism, Alchemy, ect.

ACTION ASSES VALUE:

When
determining the value of an object the player
rolls against a DS equivalent to the objects
rarity. Depending on the DS, the character
can either under assess or over assess the
objects value. This can be determined by
either gauging a players disposition towards
the object or by simply rolling 1d4 odds its
over assessed, evens its under assessed. Take
the difference of the actual first roll and the
assigned DS and subtract (in the case of
under assessed), add it (in case of over
assessed) it from the percentage to make it

ACTION RECALL KNOWLEDGE:

Any time there is a situation where some
additional information could help the given
situation, a character may attempt to recall
some additional facts on the subject in

60

question. Depending on the type of question

the player poses can influence the difficult of
the DS. The Overseer must determine how
common that knowledge is versus how
restricted the information is. Consult the DS
chart when determining the difficulty of the
information.

disguise could possibly pass a group of

people off as a higher title (maybe even a
king), sometimes even a crude disguise can
fool a dim witted guard.
ACTION DISGUISE SELF/OTHERS:
In order to hold a proper disguise the player
must perform a skill roll when first
employing the disguise.
This disguise
remains into effect as long as the character
wishes to hold that disguise. In order to fool
someone (at least visually) the opponent
must make a perception roll vs. the disguise
DS. If their roll fails, they believe the
character to be who they disguised
themselves as. If successful however, the
individual sees through the characters
disguise and will act accordingly.
Not having a disguise kit will cause the
character to suffer an unfavorable circumstance.

Common Sense
Influence: Wits
Otherwise known as street smarts, this
skill helps characters make assessments of
good judgment whenever finding themselves
in doubt.
ACTION ASSESS DIFFICULTY:
Characters may make a DS against the
assigned difficulty of the upcoming
challenge. If the roll succeeds, the Overseer
can let the player know the exact DS they
need to meet with that particular challenge.
A failure results in additional doubt and the
characters guess at this point is as good as
anyones.

Forgery
Influence: Wits
Occasionally, the need for forged
documents or otherwise becomes necessary
for life/death situations or even personal
gain. Not only can documents be falsified,
but even items can be replicated with the
corresponding skill.

ACTION GOOD IDEA, BAD IDEA:

Characters with a high common sense skill
will find themselves be called to make skill
rolls vs. an assigned DS when about to do
something that may not end well for that
particular character. If the DS is met, then
the Overseer should advise that their course
of action may turn out badly. It is up to the
player at that point to see if they wish to
continue with that same course.

ACTION FORGE DOCUMENTS: The

character creating the forgery must perform a
skill roll, then whatever the result is the DS
that is used vs. an opposed perception skill
roll to determine if it is a fake or not.
ACTION IMITATION: In order to
replicate an item to pose as the real thing the
character must either have the corresponding
skill (Forge & Fasion Weapons, if making a
sword, etc.) or have access to someone who
does. With proper instruction, the forger can
assist someone else to create a fake or create

Disguise
Influence: Wits
Cosmetics, props, change of dress, masks,
etc. are all things that can be employed to
make the character or someone else appear
completely different. While a master of

61

one themselves (with the skill). The skill roll

result of the Forgery acts as the DS when
someone examines the item with Perception.
Typically fakes are worthless, easily
breakable and completely ineffective at
whatever function the item originally was
supposed to serve.

cure a disease or physical ailment. The DS is

set by the Overseer. If the skill roll succeeds,
the character reduces the time the patient is
ill by a manner of 50% plus an additional 5%
reduction in sick time per 5 points over the
assigned DS. In order to reduce sickness
related penalties, the character must employ
certain herbs or medicinal remedies to relieve
the symptoms (See Academics Herbalism).

FIRST AID
Influence: Intellect

Hiding

Bandaging, stitching wounds shut,

sutures, setting bones and prevent their
patients from bleeding out are all actions that
work beneath the First Aid skill.

Influence: Wits
Whether hiding his or herself or hiding an
object, this is the skill of choice. Hiding is a
skill that matches wits against a perceptive
adversary, and depending upon the
environment as well as the alertness of the
person the character is hiding from, she who
hides tends to hold the advantage.

ACTION BANDAGE: A character may

attempt to heal any individual that is
currently wounded. This action can only be
used after someone sustains damage. The
healer may roll their skill to determine how
many hit points are able to be bandaged. It
takes 1 minute per hit point the target is to be
healed to clean the wound, apply the proper
ointments, stitch the wound shut and then
bandage it. Hit points healed in this way are
considered bandaged hit points.
See
Chapter 3 Attributes and Status Bar under
Hit Points for more information.

ACTION CONCEAL SELF/OBJECT:

Anytime the character needs to disappear
from sight, or to hide someone or something,
a skill roll must be made. The result of the
roll is the DS set for the adversary to match
with a Perception roll.

Investigate
Influence: Wits

ACTION DIAGNOSE: A character

may attempt to diagnose the medical
condition of a person or determine the
external cause of death. The DS is set by the
Overseer and if the skill roll succeeds the
character learns 1 symptom of 1 cause of the
death on the patient/corpse. For every
points on the roll over the target DS, the
character learns 1 more symptom or 1 more
cause.

While perception allows one to see things

that are immediately there or hidden, it does
not however confer any special meanings.
Those who are skilled at investigation are
trained to look for the extra unordinary in
order to better piece together possible clues
and things that are meant to remain secret.
ACTION FIND CLUE: If a character is
investigating an area for clues, he or she may
perform a skill roll vs. a DS set by either the
Overseer (if the clue was not left on purpose)
or the opposed Hide roll results (If the clue

ACTION TREAT SYMPTOM: Using a

combination of rest and home remedies, a
character skilled in first aid can attempt to

62

was concealed on purpose). If the character

succeeds, not only is he or she able to locate
the clue, but also identify it for what it could
mean.

it a means of absolving ones sins, asking for

guidance on a difficult challenge, or trying to
come to terms with some tragic or horrific
event are all but a few scenarios that can be
aided with this skill.

ACTION REVEAL SECRETS: A clever

mind has the ability to spot secret doors or
find hidden traps that have been purposely
concealed. A skill roll must be made vs. the
DS set by the person who originally hid the
secret door or trap. A successful roll allows
the character to locate the secret item, a
failure means the character may pass right
over it.
Unlike perception, if the character is
inactively looking for the secret trap or door
then he or she will miss it.

ACTION FOCUS: A character may

either turn inward or seek otherworldly help
to aid them in an upcoming challenge. Every
hour of meditation or prayer a skill roll can
be made against the upcoming feat. The DS
is set by the Overseer and is typically a hard
or harder DS. If the character succeeds in the
roll, he or she gains a higher die in the
respective skill. For every 5 points above the
DS, the characters die thatll be used for the
challenge also increases temporarily by 1.
This bonus only works for the respective
challenge and will not work on others. Once
the challenge is met, the bonus is lost
regardless of whether the challenge was
successful or not. The challenge must be
either an ability roll, skill roll, magic roll or
attack roll. In cases where the individual
meditates/prays for the destruction of an
adversary the character retains the bonus
until the end of the combat.

Mechanics
Influence: Intellect
Mechanics encompasses all things
mechanical in nature, be it mechanical traps,
clocks, wheels on carriages or even siege
weapons. This skill does not confer the
ability to create these items, but grants a
general understanding of how they work and
how one may go about operating them.

ACTION VISIONS:
Players who
employ this skill may be granted visions of
their upcoming hardships as warning
provided to them by some otherworldly force
or even by psychic intuition. A skill roll must
be made after 5 consecutive hours of
meditation or prayer. The DS is set by the
Overseer and is usually Very Hard or
Impossible for that character to perform. If,
however, the skill roll is successful, then the
Overseer can unveil a vision of what is about
to come. How the character interprets this
vision is up to the player.

ACTION OPERATE/DISARM: When

encountering a mechanical trap or perhaps a
something with a complex gear system, the
character may perform a skill roll to operate
it or disarm it. The DS to operate the object is
set by the Overseer, but the DS to disarm the
object is set by the craftsmanship of the item.
It takes 10 minutes per item to disarm, minus
1 minute per 5 the DS is beat by.

Meditation/Prayer
Influence: Psyche
Finding a semblance of peace with oneself
or ones environment can be a trying task. Be

Perception
63

Influence: Wits

influences it.

Sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing are

all covered beneath the perception skill.
Whether the character is trying to see a far
distant object, listen for footfalls outside his
or her door, detect the scent of poisonous gas
or even feel their way out of a dark cave,
perception will aid in each of these
endeavors.

ACTION OCCUPATIONAL KNOWLEDGE: In cases where the characters

experience working in their field or location
could allow for some insight into the given
situation the player may perform a skill roll
against a DS set by the Overseer to determine
if he or she knows anything about it.
ACTION EARNING A WAGE: Wages
are not only determined by skill alone, but
also due to the local economy and the current
demand for such workers. In such a case, the
base wage earned can be determined by
performing a skill roll per week of undivided
work. The result reflects how much one has
earned (typically in bronze).

ACTION SENSE: In order to perceive

something that is amiss or notice a certain
something that is relative to the characters
situation the player may perform a skill roll
vs. a DS set either by the Overseer or the
opposed skill of an opponent from sneak or
hide.
If the character is not actively trying to
sense something outside his or her
immediate surroundings the character is
considered to be passively-sensing. Those
who are passively-sensing suffer an
unfavorable condition and the Overseer will
roll for the character in secret to determine if
they sense whatever is lurking in the dark.

Scavenge
Influence: Wits
Finding goods and treasure are one thing,
but being able to search through it all and
being able to find that one item that you need
in order to face an upcoming challenge is
another thing entirely.
ACTION SCAVENGE: Whenever the
character encounters a generic grouping of
items, such as Common Goods or Alchemical
Goods, ect, the character can make a skill roll
vs. a DS set by how common the item is. If
the DS is met, the character locates the item,
or something like it, to meet whatever need
they have. For example, the character locates
a grouping of General Goods of value equal
to 50 silver. The character is in need of a
crowbar, and thus rolls their Scavenge skill to
see if they can find a crowbar in amongst the
General Goods. See Chapter 8 Adventuring
under Treasure for more information.

Trade
Influence: Wits
Similar to the Forge & Fashion skill, Trade
reflects service or labor oriented professions
such as chambermaids, teamsters, sailors,
merchants, stable hands, ranchers, farmers,
ect. Trade is just the general name for a long
list of individual skills. Each time that Trade
is selected as a skill, the player must
determine at its selection which trade itll
encompass. Since each individual trade is
unique, the ability score that influences it
may be outside of the Wits and possibly even
outside of Mental Ability Scores altogether.
Each profession may be discussed with the
Overseer if not listed below to best determine
the corresponding ability score that

Research
64

Influence: Intellect

Influence: Looks

There are occasional challenges that

require a little more knowledge in order to
overcome them. When ones own academics
are fleeting, it is time to turn to research.
Whether its to determine the alchemical
properties of a strange herb or trying to learn
the weakness of a seemingly invulnerable
monster, research can always place the
character on the right path.

Arts (or THE Arts) are a combination of

performance, creativity, design and craft. It
is a means of expression and prestige to the
artist, while to the glory hounding financer
its a way of increasing his or her personal
reputation as a patron of the arts as well as
means of making money.
Much like Trade and Forge & Fashion,
artists and performers may make a daily
wage as well as have access to their artistic
specialty. Each art is taken separately as its
own skill and may be influenced by different
ability scores.

ACTION QUICK SEARCH: If time is

limited and all the character needs to find is a
small inscription, a certain passage, or sort
through a diary for a certain date or entry the
player can perform a skill roll vs. a DS set by
the Overseer. Finding it may take 1 minute,
minus 10 seconds per every 5 points the skill
roll is above the DS.

ACTION OCCUPATIONAL KNOWLEDGE: In cases where the characters

experience working in their field or location
could allow for some insight into the given
situation the player may perform a skill roll
against a DS set by the Overseer to determine
if he or she knows anything about it.

ACTION IN-DEPTH RESEARCH:

Some projects are longer and with higher (if
not multiple) DS rolls.
These research
projects are based on a days worth of
research and are assigned a certain number
of sticks or stones that must be reached. If
the skill roll meets the assigned DS the
project acquires 1 stick. If it fails, no progress
is reached that day. Some research projects
are so difficult that they could be assigned a
certain amount of milestones that must be
reached before a breakthrough.

ACTION EARNING A WAGE: Wages

are not only determined by skill alone, but
also due to the local economy and the current
demand for such artists. In such a case, the
base wage earned can be determined by
performing a skill roll per week of undivided
work. The result reflects how much one has
earned (typically in bronze).
ARTIST EXAMPLES:

Social Skills

Social skills are influenced by a characters

Looks, Presence, Charm and occasionally
Wits. A comprehensive list of these skills,
including the ability score that influences
them and details for what can be performed
under each skill is listed below.

Artist (Presence) You create works of art

through paint, sketches and occasional
sculptures.
Sculptor (Looks) You chisel statues, busts
and other images out of stone.
Dancer (Presence) Agility is not enough,
your ability to dance must also depend on
your ability to captivate an audience.

Etiquette
Influence: Looks

Arts
65

This is how a character must act in front

of polite society.
When it comes to
addressing someone of title, proper dinner
wear, as well as traditions surrounding
proper courting are all ruled beneath
etiquette.

Guard
Influence: Presence
Guard represents an individuals resolve,
stubbornness, inability to change, idealistic
view of the world and or simply their
unwillingness to budge outside of their own
mutual benefit. Whenever someone tries to
influence the character in a certain direction,
especially if the character is unwilling, they
can use guard to defend against the
compulsion.

ACTION KEEPING FACE: Whenever

faced with an instance that requires an
etiquette skill roll it is set against the DS set
by the Overseer or by an opposing etiquette
roll. Failure to meet the DS could result in a
loss of reputation, gossip and/or penalties
when interacting with other members of that
society.
It can also be noted, that if etiquette is not
properly utilized around royalty that the end
result may be the loss of ones own head.

ACTION REBUFF: To avoid going soft

and lending a favorable attitude towards
other, the character may perform a skill roll
vs. either the opponents persuade or
deception skill. If successful, the character
does not have to concede on the point of
discussion or personally act upon it
(although
depending
on
certain
circumstances the individual may do so
willingly and is just trying to put up a strong
face).

Deception
Influence: Charm
Persuading others is reserved for the
honest or more trustworthy individuals,
while those who intend to lie, cheat and
overall mislead others fall heavily on the
ability to deceive. Whether it is to lure others
into a false sense of security, making
promises you dont intend to keep, or trying
to hide something that otherwise could pose
hazardous to your future relations are all
things reserved for the Deception skill.

Persuade
Influence: Charm
While having a strong wit is always good
in a debate, swaying others to your point of
view is more about your choice of words and
presentation rather than cold simple logic.
Whether trying to haggle for a reduced price
on a purchase, convincing someone the
difference between right and wrong, or even
negotiating a treaty, persuade is the skill of
investment.

ACTION LIE: Whether it is a white,

grey or black lie, lying is simply lying
intentions do not matter. The goal is to keep
ones face or tone of voice from betraying
your true goals. When trying to deceive
someone, the player must perform a skill roll
vs. the opponents Sense Ruse roll. If the roll
is successful, the lie is treated as the truth.
However, the opponent may then decide on
whether to guard against the idea or to act on
it.

ACTION SWAY OTHERS: In order to

gain favor to any of your present ideas or to
convince others of your honesty a skill roll
must be performed vs. the opponents guard.
If successful, the character has convinced the
opponent of his point of mind and may cause

66

the individual to act in favor of the character.

skill to invest in. Sometimes diplomacy

breaks away and the only other option is to
remind someone of the cold consequences of
what could happen if action is not properly
utilized.

Sense Ruse
Influence: Wits
While technically a mental skill, since it is
used in social situations it was placed here
for better convenience.
Whenever the
character believes that he or she is facing a lie
they can use Sense Ruse to try and judge an
individuals body motions, fluxuation in a
persons
voice
and/or
simply
the
outrageousness of the claim. Sense Ruse
must be announced by the player and is not a
passive ability. If the player doesnt find
claim as being a possible lie, than neither
does the character.

ACTION FORCED MY HAND:

Regardless if the intent is to offer violence, or
if it is a dire warning of things to come
(sometimes outside of the characters control)
the result is heavier-handed than if
performed with a Persuade. Occasionally,
the threat in of itself can lend favorable
conditions to the characters cause if the
threat has been previously perceived. In
which case, in order to have an opponent act
to the characters whims the player must
perform a skill roll vs. the opponents Guard
skill.
If successful, the opponent will
acknowledge the threat and may act in
accordance to the characters suggestions or if
it fails, the opponent may either dismiss the
threat entirely or react negatively against the
character for having the audacity of
threatening them.

ACTION UNCOVER LIES:

To
discover a lie as its being told, the player may
perform a skill roll vs. the opponents
deception roll. If successful, the character has
identified the individual as lying or hiding
something. If the roll fails, then the character
does not uncover the lie for what it is and
accepts it as the truth.

Traits

ACTION DISPEL ILLUSION: When

faced with an illusion, the character may
attempt to look for flaws in the given illusion.
The player may perform a skill roll vs. the
Illusion skill roll. If successful, the character
recognizes the illusion as being completely
false and may act in accordance, if the roll
fails however, the character does not notice
that anything is amiss.

Skill traits are unique abilities that the

character has learned to greatly enhance his
or her specialization in a particular skill type.
Skills can be read as follows:
[Name of Skill]
Cost: Is how many skill points it costs to
purchase the ability.
Requirements: Is what the character must
already have before being able to
purchase the trait.
Benefits: Is how the trait benefits the
character and how it is activated.

Threaten
Influence: Presence
Whenever the intent is to threaten
another individual with either physical harm
or other unmentionable consequences in
order to achieve a certain result, this is the

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character gains a favorable condition.

Physical Traits

RUNNING BALANCE
Cost: 9
Requirements: 11+ milestones in Balance
and Steady Balance skill trait.
Benefits: The character is a master of the
balancing act. He/She can run across any
area that requires a balance check without
penalty. If he/she decides to walk at
normal pace, the character gains a
favorable condition, and if he/she moves
cautiously they gain two favorable
conditions.

ACROBATIC DODGE I
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Acrobatics
and a Defense milestone of 10.
Benefits: The character incorporates their
skills in acrobatics to dodge incoming
blows. As long as he/she is wearing
nothing heavier than light armor, then
he/she gains a +1 higher die in Dodge.
Example: 1d6 becomes 1d8, 1d8 becomes
1d10, ect.

FAST CLIMB
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Climb
Benefits: The character is used to
climbing and can do so at a quicker pace
than others. He/She no longer suffers an
unfavorable condition when moving at a
cautious rate (1/2 squares) and gain a
favorable condition when moving at a
burdened rate (1/4th squares).

ACROBATIC DODGE II
Cost: 7
Requirements:
11
milestones
in
Acrobatics, a Defense milestone of 20 and
the Acrobatic Dodge I skill trait.
Benefits: The character incorporates their
skills in acrobatics to dodge incoming
blows. As long as he/she is wearing
nothing heavier than light armor, then
he/she gains an additional +1 higher die
in Dodge.
This benefit stacks with
Acrobatic Dodge I skill trait. Example: 1d6
becomes 1d8, 1d8 becomes 1d10, ect.

SPEED CLIMB
Cost: 9
Requirements: 11 milestones in Climb
and the Fast Climb skill trait.
Benefits: The character is an expert
climber and can do so at a quicker pace
than others. He/She no longer suffers
any penalties when moving at a normal
rate (normal squares) and gain a favorable
condition when moving at a cautious rate
(1/2th squares) and another favorable
condition when moving at a burdened
rate (1/4th squares).

STEADY BALANCE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5+ milestones in Balance
Benefits: The character is so well
balanced that he/she doesnt have to
walk cautiously. He/She can move at the
normal amount of squares without
penalty. If the character wishes to run
across an area that requires a balance
check, the character suffers two
unfavorable conditions, if the character
decides to move cautiously across the

WALL KICK
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Acrobatics
and Leaping/Jumping

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Benefits: Whenever a character faces a

corner of a wall (or set of walls), the
character can perform a Leaping/
Jumping challenge for a standing jump
and effectively kick off the wall for
additional height using acrobatics (no
roll) and then can perform a second leap
(suffering an unfavorable condition for
performing 2 actions in a round), at a
standing jump for additional height.
A Wall Kick can normally be performed by
a character without this trait, however the
player would be required to meet an
Acrobatics challenge as well, and be
counted as if performing a grand total of 3
actions in a round.

workers demand their pay and could

possibly riot.
HIGHER STANDARDS
Cost: 9
Requirements: 3 milestones in Forge &
Fashion, 10 in Renown (Local).
Benefits: Your character stands by his or
her work and refuses to build items that
are less than average in quality; he or she
may even place some form of symbol
somewhere on the piece in order to show
that it was made by them. Your work
comes with a guarantee, and people are
always willing to pay extra for it.
Whatever your craft, you sell your goods
at an extra 5%.

WALL RUN
Cost: 11
Requirements: 5 milestones in Climb, 11
milestones in Run and Wall Kick skill trait.
Benefits: If the character is running,
he/she may step onto a wall and continue
running horizontally. The character must
end his/her movement on the floor else
immediately fall.

CHEAPLY AVERAGE
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Forge &
Fashion, 5 milestones in Forgery
Benefits: Youre good at making things
that appear higher in quality than what
they actually are. Whenever someone
tries to assess the quality of your goods,
they suffer an unfavorable condition.

PAY YOU TUESDAY

Cost: 9
Requirements: 5 milestones in Forge &
Fashion, and 5 milestones in Persuade or
Ruse.
Benefits: Even if the character doesnt
have any money to pay his or her
workers, the character can perform a
social challenge DS of 15 to have them
continue to work for an additional week.
Every week thereafter that the workers
arent paid, the character can perform an
additional social challenge but at a
cumulative
unfavorable
circumstance.
Example: Week 3 the DS would be 20
(week 1 = 15 , week 2 = 18, week 3 = 20).
If ever the social challenge fails, the

WORKHORSE
Cost: 9
Requirements: 5 milestones in Forge &
Fashion.
Benefits: Your character works longer
than the average person and doesnt lose
concentration. All projects take 5% less
time to make.
TASKMASTER
Cost: 9
Requirements: 5 milestones in Forge &
Fashion and 5 milestones in Threaten.
Benefits: Youre paying these people to
work, not to dilly-dally. Your workers
work 5% faster when youre behind the

69

whip.

is passively-perceiving.

IMPROVISED LOCK PICKS

Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Lockpick
Benefits: When using an item such as a
dagger, bobby pins, needles, ect. In the
place of lock picks to open a lock, the
character does not suffer an unfavorable
condition.

SKILL EXPERTISE I (Skill Name)

Cost: 5
Requirements: 3 milestones in skill of
choice.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
when using the skill of your choice. This
is usually notated in the skill trait
description box as SE-Name of Skill I.

HURRIED BREAKIN
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Lockpick
and Tumbler Focus.
Benefits: The first unfavorable condition
one suffers from hurrying a lock pick
attempt is ignored.

SKILL EXPERTISE II (Skill Name)

Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in skill of
choice and Skill Expertise I with the same
skill name.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
when using the skill of your choice. This
stacks with the previous Skill Expertise
purchased for the same skill. This is
usually notated in the skill trait
description box as SE-Name of Skill II.

TUMBLER FOCUSED
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Lockpick
Benefits: Whenever distracted while
trying to open a lock the character does
not suffer a unfavorable condition.

SKILL EXPERTISE III (Skill Name)

Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones in skill of
choice and Skill Expertise II with the same
skill name.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
when using the skill of your choice.This
stacks with the previous Skill Expertise
purchased for the same skill. This is
usually notated in the skill trait
description box as SE-Name of Skill III.

IGNORE WEIGHT
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Pick
Pockets
Benefits: You are used to flitching objects
that they dont seem to be all that heavy.
You do not suffer an unfavorable condition
when picking the pockets of others for
objects that are less than 2 lbs.

SKILL EXPERTISE IV (Skill Name)

Cost: 11
Requirements: 9 milestones in skill of
choice and Skill Expertise III with the
same skill name.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
when using the skill of your choice. This
stacks with the previous Skill Expertise
purchased for the same skill. This is

OPPORTUNIST
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Lockpick
and 5 milestones in Perception.
Benefits: You have a knack for catching
people when they are vulnerable. You
gain an automatic favorable condition
whenever you pick someones pocket that

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usually notated in the skill trait

description box as SE-Name of Skill II.

Requirements: 5 milestones in Perception.

Benefits: You suffer 1 less unfavorable
condition when trying to perceive
something in less than full daylight.

SPECIALIZED TAMER
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Ride, 5
milestones in related Academics and
Animal Bond
Benefits: You specialize in a certain type
of mount and you gain a favorable
condition whenever taming the animal you
have the animal bond with. This trait
only works for one animal, not all, for
which the character has an animal bond
for.

QUICK BOOST
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Run.
Benefits:
Whenever
boosting
for
additional speed, you gain favorable
condition to your Reaction roll for an
entire combat cycle.
HASTE
Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones in Run and
Quick Boost.
Benefits: You are able to maximize your
skill die in half the amount of time when
performing a sustained run.

ANIMAL BOND (Animal Name)

Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in related
Academics.
Benefits: You have an unnatural affinity
towards a particular type of animal.
Whenever interacting with this specific
animal, you gain a favorable condition.

HIDE & SNEAK

Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Hide and
Sneak
and
Dedicated
Hider.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
whenever an opponent fails a Perception
vs. your Hide skill challenge roll to your
next Sneak skill roll.

IMPROVISED ROPE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Rope
Work.
Benefits: When short on rope, improvised
rope such as vines, cables, wire, and ect.
do not impose an unfavorable condition.

CAUTIOUS SNEAK
Cost: 5
Requirements: 7 milestones in Sneak.
Benefits: You ignore the first unfavorable
condition whenever moving faster than
your speed.

BLIND TOSS
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Rope
Work and skill trait Night Eyes.
Benefits: You do not suffer from any
unfavorable conditions if blinded or in any
stage of darkness when using the Rope
Work skill.

WALKING SNEAK
Cost: 9
Requirements: 11 milestones in Run and
Cautious
Sneak
skill
trait.
Benefits: You ignore 1 additional
unfavorable condition whenever moving

NIGHT EYES
Cost: 7

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faster than your Speed while sneaking.

whenever perform research in a library or

using books.

SWEATY ESCAPE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Escape
Artist
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
whenever attempting to escape from a
grab or a pin.

BOOK FAMILARITY
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Academics
and Research and the Book Affinity skill
trait.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
whenever attempting to research a subject
you have 5 milestones in Academics with
due to your familiarity with how such
books are categorized.

SINKING CONFINES
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Escape
Artistry and Swim.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
when trying to escape any bulky item
weighting you down while swimming.

DOCTOR OF
Cost: 20
Requirements:
15
milestones
in
Academics (subject), conferred by a place
of higher education and Expert of your
Field skill trait.
Benefits:
You are a source of information and people use you as a point of
research. Whenever performing research,
you can use yourself as a source or others
may use you as a source instead of
needing to reference libraries. This allows
for characters to make up their own
theories. This ability only works with 1
subject but may be purchased multiple
times.

WATER-WEIGHTED
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Swim
Benefits: You suffer 1 less unfavorable
condition when carrying more than your
weight allotment when swimming.

Mental Traits
RELATED AREA OF STUDY
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Academics
(Subject)
Benefits: You can perform a Academics
challenge roll pertaining to somewhat
related subjects of your area of expertise
at your milestones in Academics. I.e.
Academics (Geology) for related subject
of Academics (Archeology).

EXPERT OF YOUR FIELD

Cost: 5
Requirements:
10
milestones
in
Academics (subject)
Benefits:
When it comes to recalling
information, your character holds a wider
array of knowledge than the common
scholar. You gain a favorable condition
when recalling information that is hardly
known (HARD) or lower.

BOOK AFFINITY
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Research.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition

EYE FOR WORTH

Cost: 5

72

Requirements: 5 milestones in Appraise

Benefits:
When appraising items for
their worth, during a failed DS challenge
roll, the missed value is 5% closer to the
actual value.

Knowledge and 5 milestones in Research.

Benefits: Apprenticeship in your field of
study has taught you to try things, many
things, even if others have previously
advised you that its not a good idea.
When researching subjects pertaining to
your Common Knowledge with a
milestone of at least 5, you gain a favorable
condition due to finding new ways.

TRUE APPRAISER
Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones in Appraise
and Persuade.
Benefits:
When you succeed at an
Appraise challenge by achieving the
actual value you may add 2% additional
value to the actual object per 5 points
beyond the target DS. This reflects your
ability to find certain details about an
object that others neglect and are willing
to pay more for.

EXPERT SKILLSMAN
Cost: 5
Requirements: 10 milestones in Common
Knowledge (subject)
Benefits:
When it comes to recalling
information, your character holds a wider
array of knowledge than the common
skillsman. You gain a favorable condition
when recalling information that is hardly
known (HARD) or lower.

FAMILY LESSONS
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Common
Knowledge.
Benefits:
Your upbringing is so engrained in you that it occasionally rubs off
on those around you. Whoever has spent
more than a full week in your presence
may have you roll a skill roll, with the
results divided by 2. This roll represents
a tidbit of information that they have
picked up in conversation or overheard.
This trait may only be used by your
companions when you are otherwise
unable to perform it yourself or even not
present. If ever you are separated from
your companions for more than 1 full
week, this ability can no longer be
utilized.

MASTER OF
Cost: 20
Requirements: 15 milestones in Common
Knowledge (subject), agreed upon by a
large group of people and Expert
Skillsman.
Benefits: You are a source of information and people use you as a point of
research. Whenever performing research,
you can use yourself as a source or others
may use you as a source instead of
needing to reference others. This allows
for characters to make up their own
theories. This ability only works with 1
subject but may be purchased multiple
times.
YOURE DOING IT WRONG
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Common
Sense.
Benefits: When a fellow companion fails
a skill challenge by less than 5, you can

UNCONVENTINONAL
EXPERIMENTATION
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Common

73

throw in your two cents and point out the

obvious. If you succeed at a common
sense skill challenge vs. the same DS as
the challenge their companion is
attempting, you provide a favorable
condition to his or her roll. This ability
also functions in situations where
multiple people are working at the same
DS. You cannot be assisting in the skill
challenge your companion or companions
are working towards to use this ability.

Art (Slight of Hand).

Benefits: You prepare your disguises in
advance and switch between them in a
blink of an eye. You can switch into a
new disguise in 10 seconds instead of
minutes.
IMITATE FUNCTION
Cost: 11
Requirements: 9 milestones in Forgery
and 5 milestones in Forge & Fashion
(item).
Benefits: You can make forgery items
that you have a Forge & Fashion
milestone of 5 or more in that can hold
up for a few uses before they break
and/or are discovered as frauds. The
number of uses are equal to the skill die
result.

IF I WHERE YOU
Cost: 10
Requirements: 10 milestones in Common
Sense and 5 milestones in Perception.
Benefits:
Whenever you try and
determine the past actions of others you
gain a favorable condition when trying to
follow so to speak in their footsteps.
If I were a smelly goblin, where would I
hide something?

COPY WRITER
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones Forgery.
Benefits: As long as you have a copy in
front of you, you gain a favorable condition
when trying to make a forged copy.

IMPROVISED COSMETIC
Cost: 3
Requirements: 3 milestones in Disguise
and Scavenge
Benefits:
You do not suffer an
unfavorable condition for improvised
disguises.

QUICK BANDAGE
Cost: 3
Requirements: 3 milestones First Aid
Benefits: You can spend a single combat
cycle to restore 2 bandaged hit points to a
wounded target. You may do this once
per person per combat scene.

UNFAMILIAR ANTICS
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Disguise
and 5 milestones in Deception
Benefits: Whenever you do some-thing
that is outside the character you are
disguised at and trying to portray, you
gain a favorable condition against
someones Sense Ruse.

COMBAT MEDIC
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones First Aid and
Quick Bandage skill trait.
Benefits: You can spend a combat cycle
and bandage a target for an amount of
bandage hit points equal to your skill die
roll. This is performed by a combination
of bandages and quickly applied solvent.

QUICKCHANGE
Cost: 11
Requirements: 9 milestones Disguise and

74

This can only be performed once per

combat scene per target.

sweep of a room for traps and secret

doors without having to spend several
minutes overturning every leaf. You
suffer an unfavorable condition when doing
so.

TRAINED PHYSICIAN
Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones First Aid and
Academics (Medicine)
Benefits:
You may treat patients for
extended periods of time. Each day
under your care, you may roll your First
Aid skill die and you may heal a number
of bandaged hit points per patient.
This ability is in addition to a persons
natural healing rates.

DETECTIVE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Investigate
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
whenever searching for clues.

LIGHT-HIDDEN
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Hide
Benefits: You suffer one less unfavorable
condition hiding in light conditions greater
than torchlight.

TIS ELEMENTARY
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Investigate
and 5 milestones in Common Sense, and
Detective skill trait.
Benefits: Whenever finding a clue, you
gain a favorable condition towards any Wits
roll when trying to make a link (see
Challenges)
between
other
clues.

FADE IN THE CROWD

Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Hide and 5
milestones in Perception.
Benefits: You gain a favorable condition
whenever attempting to hide in a crowd.

QUICK DISARM
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Mechanics
Benefits: You can disarm or arm any
trap in the time without suffering an
unfavorable condition.

VANISH WITHOUT A TRACE

Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones Hide and
Walking Sneak skill trait.
Benefits: All it takes is for someone to
take their eyes off you and you can
effectively vanish.
Whenever unobserved, you may immediately move
your SPEED to a hiding place without
having to perform a Sneak skill challenge.

LIGHT OF STEP
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Mechanics
and Sneak.
Benefits: You step lightly naturally. As
long as you are not carrying more than
your weight allowance, you gain a 25%
chance that you wont trigger a floor
based trap.
SIMPLE BYPASS
Cost: 7
Requirements: 5 milestones in Mechanics
and Quick Disarm skill trait.
Benefits: Whenever you disarm a trap,

QUICK SWEEP
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Investigate
Benefits:
You can perform a quick

75

you can instead choose to simply bypass

it, leaving the trap untouched and active.

two items to focus instead of one. This

ability does not work in collaboration
with Confer Blessing or Mass Blessing
skill traits.

CONFER BLESSING
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Meditation/Prayer.
Benefits: When meditating or praying
for a focus, the character can transfer the
bonus to someone else in the form of a
blessing to aid them in a similar
challenge. Once the bonus is transferred,
you no longer gain its benefits until you
return to mediation or prayer.

LIGHT SLEEPER
Cost: 5
Requirements:
5
milestones
in
Perception.
Benefits:
When sleeping, you dont
suffer an unfavorable condition to perceive
something that is amiss. You still suffer
the unfavorable condition for passiveperception.

COMMUNION
Cost: 5
Requirements:
5
milestones
in
Meditation/Prayer.
Benefits: You have been touched by a
particular deity or have a profound
oneness that you can hear its calling
whenever you meditate or pray. You gain
a favorable condition whenever you try for
visions.

NIGHT AFFINITY
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Perception.
Benefits: You are better at perceiving
things at night than during the day. You
suffer one less unfavorable condition during
the night. This ability also confers itself
even when the character cannot tell it is
day or night, such as being underground.

MASS BLESSING
Cost: 7
Requirements:
7
milestones
in
Meditation/Prayer and Confer Blessing
skill trait.
Benefits:
Whenever using the Confer
Blessing skill trait, you can transfer the
foucs to multiple people (including
yourself) to a total number of people
equal to the amount of milestones in
Meditation/Prayer.

ALERTNESS
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Perception.
Benefits: Whenever the Overseer rolls
for your passive-perception, you do not
suffer an unfavorable condition.
SIGNATURE SERVICE
Cost: 3
Requirements: 3 milestones in one Trade
skill.
Benefits: Theres a unique flare that you
bring to your work that sets you aside
from most others. You gain a favorable
condition on most reputation rolls, when
determining your yield of the current
demand.

DUAL FOCUS
Cost: 9
Requirements:
9
milestones
in
Meditation/Prayer.
Benefits: When meditation or praying to
acquire a focus, you instead can choose

76

even when not, you tend the find the

objects you need in order to get the job
done. Any time your character scavenges
through General Goods, your die is
increased to the next highest die.

CONFIDANT
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in one Trade
skill.
Benefits: Some people prefer a certain
amount of ambiguity when purchasing a
service and they know they can trust you
to keep their comings and goings secret.
You gain a favorable condition in keeping
your clients information safe, even under
torture. Also, if you ever open your doors
to darker dealings, you gain a favorable
condition in reputation rolls when
determining your yield of the current
demand.

UNCOMMON COMMONALITIES
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Scavenge
and either Always Prepared skill trait or
Treasure Hunter.
Benefits: Whenever searching through
Trade Goods or Treasure groupings, you
treat uncommon items as if they were
common items as far as the DS is
calculated.
QUICK ASSESSMENT
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Scavenge skill.
Benefits: You can tell, just by a quick
look, generally where someone would
most likely place the item you are
searching for. When encountering several
smaller grouping of like categorized items
(such as General Goods, Treasure,
Apothocary Goods, ect.) you may roll
your Scavenge roll to determine which
grouping is going to have the item you
are searching for. This is performed just
like a normal Scavenge roll, except that it
doesnt take up a turn action. This ability
only locates the item, a full minute is
required to search through the items to
get to it. This ability can be used on
multiple stacks of items at the same time,
as long as they are open to view and not
hidden inside containers.

MORE THAN YOURE WORTH

Cost: 9
Requirements: 7 milestones in one Trade
skill.
Benefits: You charge a little extra more
than most and strangely no one seems to
notice. You gain 10% more monies at the
end of each week after rolling your trade
and after determining demand.
TREASURE HUNTER
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Scavenge skill.
Benefits:
You are always looking for
treasure and have found that you are
quite good at it. Whenever scavenging
for a particular type of treasure, your
characters die roll is increased to the next
die size. This ability only aids when
searching through Treasure groupings.
ALWAYS PREPARED
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Scavenge skill.
Benefits: You are always prepared, and

MAGICKAL MAGNETISM
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Scavenge
and
Treasure
Hunter
skill
trait.

77

Benefits:
When scavenging through
General Magical Items, you tend to find
the Magical Item that you need the most.
You gain the next highest die when
scavenging through Magical Items.

category with an unfavorable condition in

order to learn something.
ARTISTIC DEMAND
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in one Art
skill.
Benefits: Artists are always able to make
their own art seem important, even if
there isnt a demand for it.
When
determining weekly wages based on
demand, demand is counted as one die
level higher for the character.

BOOK AFFINITY
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Research skill.
Benefits:
When needing to perform
research while using books or a library,
you gain a favorable condition when
performing a quick search.

BAD REPUTATION IS GOOD

Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in the one
Art skill
Benefits: Everyone loves a bad-boy or
girl in the artist world. Having a bad
reputation is treated as having a good
reputation when calculating weekly
wages.

CREATIVE GENIUS
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Research.
Benefits:
Perhaps one of the more
innovated people of your time, you are
able to reduce the time it takes to research
a large-scale project by 5%.
NOT A TOTAL LOSS
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Research skill.
Benefits: Whenever you fail a skill roll
for large-scale projects, it counts as half a
stick instead of zero as you learn from
your mistakes.

DO AS ROMANS DO
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in the
Etiquette skill.
Benefits: If you are able to observe your
fellow socialites for more than 10 minutes,
you may increase your die to the next
highest die when required to keep face.

Social Traits

TRENDSETTER
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Etiquette.
Benefits: Your blunders are looked upon
as more of a new trend than an
abomination to manners. If you fail an
etiquette roll by no more than 5, you do
not lose reputation, but instead gain a
point in reputation. The etiquette roll is
still considered a failure.

ARTISTICALLY MINDED
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in one Arts
skill.
Benefits: Though you may be trained in
only one Art, it doesnt stop you from
learning about the others. You can roll for
knowledge under any other artistic

78

SCAPEGOAT
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Etiquette
and
3
milestones
in
Deception.
Benefits: If ever there is a failed etiquette
roll, your character can blame it on
someone else with a proper Deception
roll. If the deception is a success, the
character does not lose a point in
reputation.

lie.
FACE OF INNOCENCE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Deception.
Benefits: You have an innocent face that
causes others to underestimate you. All
opponents attempting to Sense Ruse
against your Deception rolls suffer a
unfavorable condition.
STUBBORN
Cost: 5
Requirements: 3 milestones in Guard.
Benefits: You are not a fan of change, or
at least, a fan of other peoples ideas. You
gain the next highest die when Guarding
against either a deception or a persuade
attempt when someone is attempting to
sway you.

WHITE LIAR
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Deception.
Benefits: Everyone lies from time to time
and as long as your lies are good-natured,
your skill die increases to the next highest
die.
GREY LIAR
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Deception
and White Liar skill trait.
Benefits:
A grey lie, is when neither
good or bad is immediately intended.
Whether it is for a joke, embellishing a
story, or boasting of ones fictious deeds,
whenever you roll a skill die it is
considered the next highest die. When
telling a white lie, you gain the next
highest die for a total of 2 higher dice in
combination with white liar.

BARGAINER
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Guard.
Benefits: You like better prices and you
wont be satisfied until you get it. You
gain the next higher die when trying to
negotiate prices.
NOTHING NEW
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Guard.
Benefits: Youve heard it before and its
nothing new. Ideas are great, but you are
one for staying the course. You gain a
favorable condition whenever guarding
against being persuaded or a deception.

BLACK LIAR
Cost: 9
Requirements: 9 milestones in Deception
and Grey Liar skill trait.
Benefits: Malicious and cruel, your lies
are intended to do harm. Whenever you
try to deceive someone with bad
intention, you gain the next highest skill
die to that roll. When telling a grey lie
you gain the next highest die, also you
gain 2 additional die when telling a white

SHREWD NEGOTIATOR
Cost: 9
Requirements: 9 milestones in Guard and
a Reputation (Local) of 9.
Benefits: Your reputation precedes you
and unnerves those of lesser reputation.

79

Whenever embarking in negotiations, you

gain a favorable condition against those of
lower reputation than you when guarding
against deception or perception rolls.

Benefits: Everyone lies and everyone

hides something. It is your job to find out
what that is. Whenever using Sense Ruse,
for every 5 points above the DS or
opposing skill roll, you learn a flaw.

HONEST FACE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Persuade.
Benefits: You have an honest face that
people trust. You gain the next highest
die when trying to persuade someone.

EAR FOR LIES

Cost: 9
Requirements: 9 milestones in Sense
Ruse.
Benefits: Whether there is a certain air
about lies, you tend to catch wind of
them.
You passively listen for lies.
Whenever someone lies to you, but you
do not announce that you are performing
a Sense Ruse on their claim, the Overseer
will roll a Sense Ruse for you at an
unfavorable condition.
Only successful
results will be disclosed to you as the
player.

SILVER TONGUE
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Persuade.
Benefits: You are naturally good with
words, enough to put things delicately
and make things truly inspiring. You
gain the next highest die when trying to
persuade someone. This bonus stacks
with Honest Face.

PHSYICAL THREATS
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Threaten.
Benefits: When making threats of bodily
harm, you can use your Brawn die as
opposed to your Presence die.

DIPLOMATIC
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Persuade.
Benefits:
There is an aristocratic air
about you that most like. You gain a
favorable condition when negotiating.

IMPOSING WILL
Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Threaten.
Benefits: Whether real or imagined, you
can dominate your foes with sheer force
of will. You gain the next highest skill die
when threatening others.

PERFECT JUDGE OF CHARACTER

Cost: 5
Requirements: 5 milestones in Sense
Ruse.
Benefits: You have a sense of character
and can tell, just by looking at someone, if
they are lying to you or not. When an
opponent attempts to deceive you, you
gain the next highest die when rolling
Sense Ruse against it.

TORTURERS HANDS
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Threaten.
Benefits: You dont need tools in order
to yield its benefits, as you are just as
effective with your bare hands. You gain
a favorable condition when torturing
someone with just your hands.

INQUISITOR
Cost: 7
Requirements: 7 milestones in Sense
Ruse, Perfect Judge of Character.

80

Chapter 5
Combat
The Weapon Die

Combat, like skills, are determined by a

characters familiarity with the type of
combat needing to be performed.
This
chapter covers the offensive portion of
combat as well as the defensive portion of
combat. Because everyone likes to know just
how good ones character is at smash things,
we will start with the section that covers
attack.

Weapons are categorized into like

groups that determine a characters ability to
utilize them efficiently in combat.
The
groups are as follows: Blades, Axes, Clubs,
Pole-Arms, Bows, Crossbows and Thrown.
Of course, depending upon your campaign
type, guns may not be available.
The die represents both the additional
ability to strike in vital places to cause even
greater harm to ones enemies. Like skills,
the weapon die can be increased by allotting
unspent milestone points to purchase the next
higher die. See table 1.4 in Chapter 1 for cost
of increasing dice.

Attack
Each character has a milestone that
represents their ability to stab, chop, poke,
prod or whatever type of action the player
wishes to take with his or her character. As
per abilities and skills, each time a character
successfully hits a target the player fills in a
stick. As soon as the player receives their
forth stick, all sticks are erased and the
player then fills in a stone. Once the forth
stone is filled in, the player increases the
characters attack milestone by one. Each
milestone gained is then placed as a single
point section labeled as unspent.
These
unspent milestones can later be used to
purchase special traits that can enhance the
characters ability to fight.
The combat roll is determined by the
following formula: attack milestone +
weapon die + weapon balance = attack
results.
The attack milestone represents a
characters ability for strategic positioning (in
their square).
It acts as a means of
understanding ones enemy and anticipating
their next attack.

Weapon Groups
Each weapon is associated with a
particular group which will determine a
characters ability to effectively use that
weapon. A brief description of each weapon
group is listed below.

81

Blades:
General cutting, thrusting and
slashing weapons that are typically comprised
of a long piece of metal that is sharpened on
the edges or at the tip. Such as daggers,
knives, short swords, long swords, bastard
swords and even katanas to name a few.
Axes: A sharpened, usually metal, wedge or
dual inclined planes that is best used to chop,
sunder or split. Such weapons as battle axe,
shepherds axe, tomahawk or hand axe,
double headed axe, ect.
Club: Is a general weapons group that is
reserved for mostly medium-sized blunt
weapons that are heavy at one end to sap,
smash or pummel.
Such weapons are
generally clubs, table legs, saps, hammers,

dodges a target the player fills in a stick. As

soon as the player receives their forth stick,
all sticks are erased and the player then fills
in a stone. Once the forth stone is filled in,
the player increases the characters defense
milestone by one. Each milestone gained is
then placed as a single point section labeled
as unspent. These unspent milestones can
later be used to purchase special techniques
that can enhance the characters ability to
defend.
The defense roll is determined by the
following formula: defense milestone +
defense die + agility bonus + armor
deflection bonuses = defense results.
The defense milestone represents a
characters ability to strategically place
themselves (in their square) and their ability
to anticipate their foe.

flails, maces, or even a virge.

Pole-Arm: Is a weapon that is generally
placed at the end of a long shaft made
typically from wood to pierce, impale, or even
to extend ones reach. Such weapons are
spears, halberds, staffs, glaives, poleaxes, ect.
Bows: Is a projectile weapon that is generally
made of wood that acts as a spring when
drawn by the cord. Such weapons are
longbows, shortbows, composite bows, etc.
Crossbows: is like a bow, save the crosspiece
is attached to a stock which allows for a
mechanism to draw the cord. Such weapons
are hand crossbows, heavy and lighter weight
crossbows.
Thrown: All weapons can be thrown, the
idea is whether or not they will be effective or
not. Some light weight weapons such as hand
axe, daggers, grenades, ect.
Unarmed: can translate to boxing styles,
wrestling, or even martial arts that make use
of a persons body instead of relying upon
weapons.

The Defense Die

The type of defense which is utilized is
called the defense die.
This die is
comprised of four separate types of defense:
dodge, shield, cover and parry. Lets go into the
specifics of each.

The weapon die represents a characters

ability to effectively use the categorized
weapon with efficiency.

Attack Traits

Dodge: Dodging an opponent or object is

the most used defense action. Whether it is
to dodge the blade of a spiteful enemy, keep
from being hit by a stray bottle, or jumping
out of the way from a jet a flame this is the
defense die to use and invest in.
While the defense milestone focuses on
strategic placement and ability to anticipate
their opponents next move, dodge represents
a characters ability to get out of the way
when such placement and anticipation isnt
enough.
In order to dodge an attack, the character
must know where the attack is coming from
(see the attacker). Also, when dodging large
objects, the character must have enough
Speed available to move out of the respective

Fighting styles can be purchased to

greater specialize in a certain traditional of
warfare or as a means to specialize in a
specific type of weapon outside of the
general categories. The cost of the trait and
its requirements are listed in the last section
of this chapter.

Defense
Much like attack, a character has a
milestone that represents their ability to
duck, weave, roll or whatever type of action
the player wishes to take with his or her
character to avoid being hit. As per abilities
and skills, each time a character successfully

82

area of effect.
Shield: This particular defense die relies
upon the employment of an actual shield.
This shield is kept in the off-hand and is
utilized (with intention) of either deflecting a
blow, or absorbing a blow entirely. Even
though the name reflects it, many other nonintended objects can be used as shields. The
idea alone is to put something between you
and your attacker with hopes that itll fend
off their advances and/or displace the attack.
When using a shield (or object to act as a
shield), the common use is as a deflection in
order to bat away the coming blow.
Whatever the shield die roll amounts to (if the
roll is necessary), the result is added to the
defense roll and the opponents roll is
treated as object damage against the shield.
However, this damage is only done to the
shield if the Material of the weapon is equal
to or greater than the Material of the shield.
Thus if a stone knife with a Material hardness
of 3 strikes a bronze shield with a strength of
4, no damage is dealt to the shield.
The benefit of using a shield comes from
being able to fully block an attack. If after
subtracting the Defense milestone from the
attack and the shield roll successfully blocks
the attack, the character may counter attack
(See Rules of Engagement below).

75% or less = +3 to next cover die; 99% or less

= +4 to next cover die; 100% object takes the
brunt of the damage (more on this in Rules of
Engagement).
When using an object such as a shield or
to act as a shield, the object takes whatever
the cover die roll results and that is assigned
as damage to the shield (or other object) as
long as the projectiles material is equal to or
greater than the material of the shield (or
object). If the cover roll is enough after the
defense milestone is subtracted from the
attack, the attack is considered to have struck
the shield (or object) instead of the character.
If the cover die roll on top of the defense
milestone is not enough to thwart the attack,
the character is considered struck and the
cover die roll is subtracted from the end
result of the Defense Roll.
Example:
An archer rolls an attack
against the character having an attack
milestone of 15 and a 1d6 in bows, with a
weapon balance of 2. The result of the bow
roll is a 3, giving a total attack roll of 20. Rigs
uses his shield to take cover from the arrow.
His defense milestone is also a 15 with a 1d6
in cover. Because his shield is large (granting
a 40% coverage) it boosts him to a 1d10. Rigs
rolls and gains an 8 which adds to his 15 to
make 23. Rigs defends against the arrow.
However, had Rigs rolled a 4, the attack from
the archer would have gone through and his
end defense roll would have been 15 plus his
armor deflection of 2 for a total of 17. Rigs
would have taken 3 points of damage plus
the damage from the arrow of 4 for a total of
7 damage.

Cover:
Whenever the character is
assaulted by a ranged projectile the character
may opt to take cover. Cover is only utilized
when the character is using object to
essentially absorb the incoming strike such as
in the case of having a shield or employing
an object like a shield, or even using a wall or
tree.
When using objects as cover, the
stationary object grants the character a cover
die bonus depending on the percentage the
character is covered: 25% or less = +1 to next
cover die; 50% or less = +2 to next cover die;

Parry: Much like using a shield, when

using parry the characters off-hand weapon
is used to deflect the attack. A parrying
weapon such as a dagger, main-gauche or
even a longer blade can be used to block
incoming attacks or at least reduce their

83

overall effectiveness.
Whatever the parry die roll amounts to (if
the roll is necessary), the result is added to
the defense roll and the roll is treated as
object damage against the weapon.
However, this damage is only done to the
weapon if the Strength of the weapon is equal
to or greater than the Strength of the parrying
weapon. Thus if a stone knife with a strength
of 3 strikes a bronze knife with a strength of
4, no damage is dealt to the weapon.
If an attack is completely parried by the
character, that is, if the defense milestone
plus the parry die together is enough to
thwart the attack, the character gains the
opportunity for a counter attack.

of 6. This allows that creature to move a

grand total of 6 squares during the course of
combat.
Different terrains and/or obstacles that
are in the characters way may increase the
cost of movement. Such if the character is to
move through a thicket, it costs twice the
amount of movement per square (2 Speed
instead of 1). Below are a few examples of
terrain that costs 2 Speed to move onto:

Agility Bonus

Sand or Loose Soil

Thickets, Brambles, or Heavy Undergrowth
Climbing Stairs
Rocky Terrain
Above Knee Water or Other Liquids
Debris
Moving Diagonal (in Grid maps)

As always, the Overseer has the ability to

determine what sort of terrain would cost 2
Speed but must alert the players of cost
prior to them settling into the square. Even if
the miniature or representation of the
character has already moved into that square,
the Overseer can still make the player aware
and if the player decides against it they may
chose a different path without additional
cost.
Where there are instances where the
terrain can cost 2 points to move through,
there are also instances where terrain can cost
as much. In these instances, the character
moves 2 squares per 1 point of Speed.
Examples of these terrains are listed below:

A character gains a bonus to their defense

score that is based of their agility score. Take
whatever the characters agility score is and
divide that by 5 and round down. Whatever
the result, add that after the defense
milestone is added and before the defense
die is rolled.
This bonus can sometimes act as a
negative depending upon the movement
restrictions of the type of armor the character
is wearing.

Rules of Engagement
This section of the Combat chapter covers
basic movement, facing, and additional
tactics that can be employed during a scuffle.

Movement
The most important aspect of strategic
combat is the proper placement of your
character in relation to the enemy. Every
character and NPC have a Speed attribute
that details how many squares they can move
on the strategic map (hex or grid) per turn.
Take for instances a monster with the speed

Poured Concrete or Solid Surface (Highways)

Ice (may require Balance skill rolls)
Running down a hill or slope
Descending stairs

When running (using Boost under Run

skill) the character generally sprints in a
straight line, however the character can shift
to the side or jump squares so to speak to
continue with the sprint. Anywhere the

84

character may appear to lose some

momentum by shifting directions may be at
the discretion of the Overseer that such a
change may warrant a cost of 1 Speed in
addition to the terrain cost.

attacks using shield cover and parry defense

modes against the NPCs attacks from the
squares labeled as Shield Cover.
Characters being attacked from sides that
are not covered by the shield or parry
weapon must rely upon their dodge defense
mode instead.

Facing
A characters facing
multitude
of
different things such
as their flanking,
what
they
can
defend against and
where they can see
and/or strike.

determines

CHANGING FACING: A character

may change his or her facing any time
whenever
the
character
moves
(changes squares), also, if the character
simply wishes to change the direction
he or she faces without having to
change squares it costs the character 1
speed.
Changing your facing does not
provoke a counter attack.

FLANKING:
When
facing
forward (indicated
by the arrow) the
Player Character (PC) can be flanked on both
the left and right sides as well as behind them
on the diagonal. When attacked from these
sides the NPC attacking them gains a
favorable condition to strike the character. This
favorable condition continues until the player
character changes their facing. A back flank
gains 2 favorable conditions to strike the
character.

Attacking
Most melee weapons allow a character to
attack on his or her left and right flank and
the three squares in front of their facing.
These areas may be attacked with a melee
weapon that has a range of 1. However,
some melee weapons have a range that is
greater
than
1
square such as a
spear that gives a
range of 2. In such
a case the squares
that the player
character can strike
is increased.
Opponents who
enter the outside
squares
of
the
player characters
strike range are subject to a free attack by the
player character, that is if we assume the
player character is aware of the opponent.
More on free attacks later.

SHIELD COVER/PARRY: Assuming the

character is
right
handed,
with
the
shield/parr
y
weapon
on the left
side,
the
character
can
only
attempt to
defend
against the

85

Damaging an Opponent

Multiple Attacks

After successfully attacking an opponent,

that is the attack subtracted from the defense
of the target is a positive number, the attack
deals damage to the opponent. Damage is
calculated by the following formula: X +
Weapon Damage + Brawn Die + additional
modifiers, where X equals the number that
surpasses the opponents defense.
For example: An attack is made at a total
of 25 vs. a defense of 18. The attack beats the
defense by 7 points. The weapon damage is 5
and the characters Brawn Die is 1d6 .
Therefore, if no additional modifiers exist,
the damage dealt to the opponent would be 7
+ 5 + 1d6 = 13-18 points of damage.

Characters may opt to make multiple

attacks in a round. The number of attacks are
left to the discretion of the attacker. Each
attack that is made outside of the first, is
made at a cumulative unfavorable condition to
their attack. Therefore, if a character wishes
to make 4 attacks in a given turn, the first
attack is at the normal rate, -3 penalty for the
second, -5 penalty for the third, and a -7
penalty for the 4th. So why wouldnt a
character want to make as many attacks as
possible in a round despite the penalties?
Because each attack costs
the attacker
stamina points.
For creatures with multiple arms, treat
each pair of arms as if it were a second
attacker. That being, that the creature gains 2
attacks without penalty, 2 attacks at a 3
penalty, 2 attacks at a -5 penalty and so on.

One-Hand Fighting
Fighting one-handed is a style of fighting
that is practice in order to keep the off-hand
(or hands) free for other maneuvers such as
dirty-fighting, switching between a twohanded strike and back to one hand, or to use
the other hand as a means to grapple an
opponent. No matter what additional means
are employed, the off-hand steadies the
character and grants them the next highest
Defense Die during combat, i.e. 1d6 becomes
1d8.
This increase is not a permanent
increase and disappears once the character
decides to stop fighting one-handed.

Attacking
with
Off-Hand Weapon

an

Characters who wish to fight with two

weapons do so at a different penalty
depending upon the size of the off-hand
weapon and their proficiency with their other
hand. See the table below.
Table: 5.1 - Off-Hand Attack Penalties
Attack Traits
None
Two Weapon
Wielder
Expert Two
Weapon
Wielder
Specialization of
Two Weapons

Two-Handed Fighting
Whenever fighting one-handed, the
individual can switch to bringing their offhand to aid with a powerful attack. Fighting
in this way gives the character a bonus to the
Brawn portion of the damage by increasing
the Brawn die to the next highest die. This
increase is not a permanent increase and
disappears as soon as the character stops
fighting two-handed.

Off-Hand
(Light)
-5 penalty
-3 penalty

Off-Hand
(Medium)
-7 penalty
-5 penalty

No penalty

-3 penalty

+3 bonus

No penalty

*Keep in mind that what determines a

weapons weight category (light, medium,
heavy) is based upon a % of the characters
body size. Light category = 1/4th Body in

86

Weapon Size, Medium category = 1/3rd Body

in Weapon Size and the Heavy category =
1/2 the Body in Weapon Size.

whenever attacked by an unskilled unarmed

combatant, when an attack is successfully
parried or blocked, or other deemed
appropriate circumstance.

Fighting Unarmed

Free Attacks

Much like fighting with weapons, there is

no penalty when fighting unarmed and
players may even choose to have their
characters fight with their off-hand as well.
Damage dealt by unarmed attacks deal half
to hit points and half to stamina. Thus, if an
unarmed attack deals 15 damage gets
through an opponents defense then 7 points
are dealt to hit points and 8 points are dealt
as damage to stamina (when divided by 2, hit
points always sustains damage rounded
down). It is only when there is no additional
stamina points does unarmed damage do full
damage to a opponents hit points. If ever an
instance where an attack would reduce an
opponent below 0 for stamina, the remaining
damage is assessed against that opponents
hit points.
Without
proper
training,
fighting
unarmed provokes a counter attack from an
opponent per attack.

A free attack occurs in very rare

circumstances, and are mostly reserved in
cases where a character has held an attack
from the previous turn (that is, elected to not
take an action last turn to gain a free attack in
the next turn), or in the case that an opponent
enters into a square that is currently being
guarded by another opponent.
Free attacks are made at the full attack
rate (minus environmental factors) and only
1 free attack is given per turn cycle. Free
attacks are also not influenced by the speed
of a weapon, so it does not hinder your
reaction roll, the attack happens immediately.

Guarding Squares
You can elect, instead of attacking, to
guard a square. These squares are those that
can be reached by your weapon. Any time
an opponent enters or exits a guarded square,
you have the opportunity to immediately
perform a free attack. A square stops being
guarded as soon as someone enters or exits
the square. Once you move, or perform any
other action, you are no longer guarding a
square.

Counter Attacks
Certain instances in combat may provoke
an opponent to have the opportunity to
counter attack. This is a voluntary attack that
can be made at a cumulative unfavorable
condition against the attacker. If the attacked
has already performed multiple attacks or
counter attacks in a given turn, those
unfavorable conditions also apply to the
counter attack as well. Example, opponent1
has made 3 attacks this turn and currently
suffers under 2 unfavorable conditions, making
a counter attack would impose a 3rd
unfavorable condition and the attack would be
at a -7 penalty.
Counter attacks are generally granted

Ambush
Whether it is hiding in the bushes or
waiting behind walls to catch someone
unaware, an ambush is intent on robbing
someone of their chance to react by shock
and surprise. An ambush only occurs when
all parties are undetectable by the opponents
as possible threats. When the ambush is
sprung, the opponent cannot have previously
detected the ambush. However, those who

87

do detect the ambush may be able to act

normally once the ambush is sprung, but in
order for the rest of their party to act, the
detector must have had time to warn those
around him (and they in turn, time to
comprehend what is being warned).
Those who are surprised during an
ambush, are robbed of their turn through an
entire cycle. Meaning, that though all players
may roll their reactions to determine their
place in a given combat cycle, the are
surprised and cannot act until the next cycle.

instances where a character would like to

strike one particular part of an opponents
body. These are called, Called Shots.
When the attack roll is made, the
character takes an additional unfavorable
conditions to their attack rolls based on the
size of the area. Going off a base Body size of
5 and that the target is considered humanoid
(2 arms, 2 legs, 1 head, 1 torso, ect.) consult
the table below to determine the difficulty of
striking the body part.
Table: 5.2 - Called Shots

Reaction Roll

Location

The reaction roll is what determines a

characters place in a combat cycle or in timesensitive scenes. A characters reaction is
determined by rolling their Agility. For
example, if a character has an agility of 18
and a die of 1d6 in Agility, if that person rolls
a 4, it gives them a reaction roll of 24.

Head
Eye
Throat
Shoulders
Chest

Unfavorable
Conditions
7
9
8
4
1

Heart
6
Lung

Charging
Whenever someone decides to charge,
they must be able to move 2 squares running.
For each two squares a character runs, they
gain a favorable condition to attack, but suffer a
unfavorable condition to defense against the
intended target. Thus, if a character moves
12 squares total, the bonus is +13 to attack,
but a -13 to defense. This adjustments last
only for that cycle of combat.
A character must be able to run in order
to perform a charge.

Arms
2
Hands
Hips
Crotch

5
4

Legs
Feet

Special Effects
X2 Damage, Stunned
X3 Damage, Blinded
X2 Damage, Choking
X2 Damage, Impaired
Damage also applies
to Stamina
X3 Damage, 50% loss
of hit points, 50% loss
of Stamina
X2 Damage, 50% loss
of Stamina
Unfavorable
Condition on all
actions involving use
of arms.
Rendered Useless
X2 Damage, Crippled
X3 Damage, Morale
Check Required
-2 to Speed
Speed reduced to
50%

For every 2 points of Body the opponent

has above the characters performing the
Called Shot, reduces the unfavorable conditions
imposed by 1. For every 2 points of Body the
opponent has below the characters who is
performing the Called Shot, increases the
unfavorable conditions imposed by 1.
Special Note In some monster
encounters, the Overseer may make each
individual body part have its own hit points

Called Shots
In most cases, when damage is assigned
to an individual it is distributed against the
persons total hit points. This represents that
throughout combat, the damage is random to
what part of the body is being struck and
arranged
accordingly
just
through
storytelling.
However, there may be

88

Reaction Roll

due to the enormous size of the creature.

Status aliments may not take into effect until
after the hit points are reduced to zero.

Every time a character moves 1 square, he

or she must subtract 1 from their initial
reaction roll. Thus if a character has the
initial reaction roll of 24 and wishes to move
4 squares, he or she must subtract 4 from
their reaction roll, bringing them to a current
reaction of 20. This means, that if the
characters current reaction roll drops below
someone elses, their turn is paused until the
other individual is able to perform their turn.
Once a combat cycle ends, a new reaction
roll must be made.

Status Effects
During combat, characters can be affected
by an assortment of different status affects.
A list of some status effects and their
descriptions are located below:
Blinded the character cannot see and
suffers 2 unfavorable conditions on all
perception rolls.
Choking the character is having
problems breathing. All actions take twice as
much stamina to perform.
Deafened the character cannot hear and
suffers 1 unfavorable condition on all
perception rolls.
Paralyzed the character cannot move
and can only perceive what is happening
around them. They can still breathe.
Petrified the character has been turned
to stone and cannot move or act in any way.
While petrified the character is placed in a
suspended animation until he or she is
returned to a normal state.
Prone the character has been knocked to
the ground and must spend all their Speed to
stand back up. While on the ground the
character suffers an unfavorable conditions on
all defense rolls.
Stunned the character suffers 1
unfavorable condition until the end of the
combat cycle on all actions.

Attacks
Speed

Pending Attacks
When an attack is pending against an
opponent that square is considered guarded.
If the opponent attempts to leave that square
on their reaction turn, the attacker gains a
free attack. Also, leaving a square that has a
pending attack on it by an adjacent character
allows for the attacker to acquire two
favorable conditions due to that individuals

Alternately, in order to add an additional

sense of realism to each combat cycle,
everyone can elect to play by the advanced
rules.

and

Weapon

Whenever attacking an opponent, a

character must subtract their weapon speed
from their current reaction. Thus, if in the
example above where the character moved 4
squares (which is -4 to the initial reaction
roll), then attacks with a long sword that has
a speed of 8, that means that after the
movement is resolved at current reaction
time of 20, then the strike made from the long
sword occurs at 12 (20 8 = 12). If the
modified current reaction drops below any
other individuals current reaction, then
those actions must be resolved first before the
characters strike.
When someone is
attacking but other actions are taking place
before that attack carries through, this is
called a pending attack.

Advanced Rules
Movement

and

The

89

back being turned. Turning ones back to an

attacker can be resolved by acrobatics or
similar skill that allows one to escape a
guarded square.
The benefit of having pending attacks is
that if the attacker is defeated before the blow
goes through, the attack fails.

characters act.
The type of actions a character can
perform in a given turn depends upon their
physiology. A typical humanoid creature (2
arms, 2 legs, 1 head), can make use of their
arms and make use of the legs and think at
the same time.
Therefore, a humanoid
character can run to the full extent of his or
her speed as well as use his or her arms to
perform a single action such as attack, use an
item, ect. A humanoid can also say a single
sentence and make use of all his or her senses
at the same time.
Keep in mind that a single combat cycle
takes 3-5 seconds long, so some actions may
be deemed by the Overseer as something that
may take several cycles before its completed.
A combat cycle is when everyone on the
board (or mat) has been able to take their
turn or their turn is skipped.
Example of the Combat Cycle: Nick, Roberta,
Cadence and Mike all have a single character
they preside over and they are being attacked
by 3 monsters under the control of the
Overseer. All players and the Overseer roll
their reaction roll which tallies up as follows:
Nick gets a 14, Roberta gets a 21, Cadence
gets a 18, Mike gets a 20 and the Overseer
rolls reaction for the group of monsters who
all have similar statistics and gets a 17. In
this combat cycle Roberta goes first, then
Mike, then Cadence, then the monsters and
then Nick. Since Roberta is first, she gets to
take her turn.

Movement and Ranged

Attacks
If ever there is a pending ranged attack
against an opponent, but that opponent is
able to move one square before the attack
carries through, then the attacker suffers an
unfavorable condition to strike the moving
target. Ranged pending attacks do not guard
a square and do not acquire a free attack.

The Defense Dodge

When defending against attacks, a
character may elect to use their Dodge
defending skill. However, in order to avoid a
unfavorable condition per the multiple action
rules (now including dodge into that rule),
the character must sacrifice 1 speed for that
round. If 1 speed is not sacrificed, then the
character suffers an unfavorable condition for
that dodge. If the character has to dodge a
second time in that same round and does not
have 1 speed to sacrifice, then he or she
suffers 2 unfavorable circumstances to dodge.

The Combat Cycle

Attack Traits

Combat is designed in a form of cycle or

circle. At the start of combat, each combatant
rolls a reaction roll to determine who is first
to react in combat. Once all numbers are
written down, the person with the highest
reaction roll has the ability to decide what he
or she is doing for their turn.
A turn is a designated period of time
where a player or the Overseer can have their
controlled
characters
or
non-player

Attack traits are means of performing

special offensive maneuvers during combat
to give you an edge over your opponent.
Each attack trait is categorized beneath its
fathering weapon, has a purchase price,
description and stamina cost in order to use
it. Occasionally, there may even be a magick

90

cost to the maneuver as well depending on

the nature of the attack.
Milestones: Starting character creation, a
character receives their total ability
milestones divided by 10 to determine their
Attack milestones.

Weapon Expert for.

Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have improved your
knowledge in wielding your weapon that
you have become a specialist. Whenever
attacking with the weapon you are an
specialist in, increase your specialty die to
1d6. If you specialized in unarmed, you
no longer suffer from counter attacks
when attacking using unarmed attacks.

GENERAL TRAITS
FAVORITE WEAPON
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
One weapon stands out
above all the rest and you enjoy using it.
Whenever attacking with your favorite
weapon, you may roll on top of your
normal die a specialty die that starts at
1d2.

WEAPON MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in an attack die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Weapon,
Weapon Expert and Weapon Specialist.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon, Weapon
Expert and Weapon Specialist for.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have now attained the
level of master. Students everywhere
flock to you to learn your secrets.
Whenever attacking with the weapon you
are a master in, increase your specialty die
by 1d8.

WEAPON EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in an attack die of the
appropriate category, Favorite Weapon
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon for.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You wield your favorite
weapon so well that you have become an
expert. Whenever attacking with the
weapon you are an expert in, increase
your specialty die to 1d4. This ability is
cumulative with Favorite Weapon.

WEAPON HIGH MASTER

Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in an attack die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Weapon,
Weapon Expert, Weapon Specialist and
Weapon Mastery.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon, Weapon
Expert, Weapon Specialist and Weapon
Master.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: When attacking in combat,
your weapon is treated as one level of
hardness stronger than it currently is.
Also, increase your specialty die to 1d10.

WEAPON SPECIALIST
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in an attack die of the
appropriate category, Favorite Weapon,
Weapon Expert.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon and

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weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: This is an improvement on
the Disarm I attack trait. In this instance,
if you fail during a Brawn challenge, the
opponent does not gain the upper-hand
and may not attempt a counter attack.

WEAPON GRAND MASTER

Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in an attack die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Weapon,
Weapon Expert, Weapon Specialist, Weapon
Mastery and Weapon High Master
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon, Weapon
Expert, Weapon Specialist, Weapon Master
and Weapon High Master.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: When attacking in combat
and a 12 or more is naturally rolled on
your attack die, you may roll the die again
as if it were a separate die and add it to
the total attack. Increase your specialty
die to 1d12.

DISARM III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: This is an improvement on
the Disarm II attack trait. In this instance,
you gain a +2 bonus to your Brawn roll
for every 5 points you succeed on the
attack.
TRIP I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You gain the ability to trip
your opponent.
At an unfavorable
condition you can attack your opponent. If
you succeed in the attack (no damage is
assigned), you then must roll an opposed
Agility challenge against your enemy.
You gain a +1 bonus to your Agility roll
for every 5 points you succeed on the
attack. If you succeed during the Agility
challenge, you manage to trip your
opponent and they are now considered
prone. If you fail your Agility challenge,
the opponent then gains the upper hand
and may attempt a counter attack.

DISARM I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description:
You gain the ability to
disarm your opponent in combat. At an
unfavorable condition you can attack your
opponent. If you succeed in the attack (no
damage is assigned), you then must roll
an opposed Brawn challenge against your
enemy. You gain a +1 bonus to your
Brawn roll for every 5 points you succeed
on the attack. If you succeed during the
Brawn challenge, you manage to disarm
your opponent.
The weapon will
generally land 1d4 squares away. If you
fail during the Brawn challenge, the
opponent gains the upper-hand and may
attempt a counter attack.

TRIP II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5

DISARM II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in a single non-ranged

92

Description: This is an improvement for

Trip I. In this instance, if you fail during
the Agility challenge, the opponent does
not gain the upper-hand and may not
attempt a counter attack.

material strength.
BREAK III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: This is an improvement for
Break II. Your weapon does not suffer
damage when breaking weapons, armors
or shields equal to 1 material strength
higher or less than its current material
strength.

TRIP III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: This is an improvement for
Trip II. In this instance, you gain a +2
bonus to your Agility roll for every 5
points you succeed on the attack.

GRAB I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in unarmed weapon
category.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You gain the ability to grab
your opponent in combat. At an
unfavorable condition you can make an
attack roll against your opponent. If
successful, you have grabbed hold of your
opponent and now must make an
opposed Brawn challenge. You gain a +1
bonus to your Brawn challenge for every
5 points you succeed in the attack. If
successful, you may choose one of the
following actions:
Push/Pull (2 Additional Stamina Cost):
You are able to drag your opponent into a
nearby square, causing them to move one
square to the left or right, as well as
pushing them back one square or forward
one square.
Deny Defense: (2 Additional Stamina
Cost): You deny your opponent the ability
to defend against oncoming attacks,
including your own for the rest of the
combat cycle.
You deal automatic
damage to your opponent, excluding
excess from the attack roll.
Pin (5 Additional Stamina Cost): You

BREAK I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description:
You gain the ability to
break your opponents weapons, armor or
shield. At an unfavorable condition, you
may attack your opponent. If successful,
instead of dealing damage to your
opponent, you instead deal the difference
of your weapons material strength, your
Brawn ability die and any magical
modifiers in damage to the opponents
weapon, armor or shield. Your weapon
suffers damage equal to the weapon,
armor or shields difference in material
strength.
BREAK II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: This is an improvement for
Break I. Your weapon does not suffer
damage when breaking weapons, armors
or shields equal to or less than its current

93

block your opponent from doing any

additional actions during this combat
cycle, up until your next turn due to them
being pinned. Once its your turn, a new
Brawn challenge must be made in order
to keep the pin. If failed, then the
opponent is free to take their turn.
Keeping an opponent pinned uses up the
characters turn.
Each round the
opponent is pinned, you deal your
unarmed damage, plus 1 point of
additional damage from difference in the
Brawn Challenge, to the opponents
stamina.
Take Object: You take an object from
your opponent that isnt otherwise tied
down. This can include any item that is
being currently held by the opponent.
If you fail in the attack roll, your
opponent gains the upper-hand and may
counter attack. If the opposed Brawn
Challenge fails, the characters hand is
simply knocked away. Performing a Grab
with a secondary hand adds and
additional unfavorable condition to the
attack roll and a single unfavorable
condition to the Brawn Challenge (unless
the character is ambidextrous). You must
have a free hand to perform this attack.

category.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: This is an improvement to
Grab II. In this instance, your opponent
does not gain the upper-hand if your
attack fails and may not perform a
counter attack and you gain the next
highest die when rolling your Brawn
Challenge when performing a grab. This
is cumulative with Grab II.
QUICK REACTIONS
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: n/a
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You gain a +3 bonus on all
Reaction Rolls.
UNCANNY REACTIONS
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Quick Reactions.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You gain a +5 bonus on all
Reaction Rolls.
QUICK DRAW
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: n/a
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You may draw your
weapons without losing 1 speed during
combat.

GRAB II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in unarmed weapon
category.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: This is an improvement to
Grab I. In this instance, you gain the next
highest die when rolling your Brawn
Challenge when performing a Grab.

IMPROVE BALANCE I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in a single weapon
category.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You add your own balance
to a weapon, gaining a +1 to attack rolls.
IMPROVE BALANCE II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in a single weapon

GRAB III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in unarmed weapon

94

category, Improve Balance II.

Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You add your own balance
to a weapon, gaining a +1 to attack rolls.
This ability is cumulative with Improve
Balance I.

Stamina Cost: 7
Description: If you score a successful hit,
after damage, you must roll an opposed
Brawn challenge against your opponent.
If the challenge is successful, you cause
your opponent to be knocked down and
prone. Your opponent then suffers an
unfavorable condition until your next turn
on all rolls.

RETRIBUTIVE STRIKE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in a Weapon
Proficiency
Stamina Cost: 7
Description:
Whatever damage you
sustained on the previous combat cycle,
you may divide that by two and add it to
this attack only.

BLEED
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in a single weapon
category, uses a weapon with at least 1
point in Edge or Point.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description:
Your attack causes the
opponent to bleed. During the next
combat cycle at the beginning of your
turn, the target opponent suffers your
weapons Edge or Point in damage.

SLAM
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in a single non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You put more power into
your attack and those who are struck by
it, suffer a unfavorable condition until your
next turn on all rolls.

WOUND
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in a single weapon
category, uses a weapon with at least 1
point in Edge or Point, Bleed.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description:
Your attack causes the
opponent to bleed. During the next
combat cycle at the beginning of your
turn, the target opponent suffers
weapons Edge or Point in damage. Then
the opponent suffers 1 point of damage
for a number of Combat Cycles equal to
your weapon die.

KNOCKBACK
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in a single non-ranged
weapon category, Slam.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: If you score a successful hit,
after damage, you must roll an opposed
Brawn challenge against your opponent.
If the challenge is successful, you cause
your opponent to be knocked one square
backwards and suffers an unfavorable
condition until your next turn on all rolls.

CRUSH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in a single weapon
category, uses a weapon with at least 1
point in Blunt.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: Your attack cripples your

KNOCKDOWN
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d8 in a single non-ranged
weapon category, Slam.

95

opponent. Upon successfully struck, your

opponent suffers an unfavorable condition
to both attack and defense until the
beginning of your next turn.

category.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
When
wielding
two
weapons you suffer only -3 penalty when
wielding weapons that are light in your
off-hand, and a -5 penalty when wielding
medium weapons.

CRACK
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in a single weapon
category, uses a weapon with at least 1
point in Blunt.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: Your attack cripples your
opponent. Upon successfully struck, your
suffers an unfavorable condition to both
attack and defense until end of combat.

EXPERT TWO WEAPON WIELDER

Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in a single non-ranged
category, Two Weapon Wielder.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
When
wielding
two
weapons you suffer no penalty when
wielding weapons that are light in your
off-hand, and a -3 penalty when wielding
medium weapons.

POWER STRIKE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in any non-ranged
weapon category.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: You sacrifice your ability to
hit for a concentrated attack, maximizing
the damage. You may take an unfavorable
condition when attacking and if damage
goes through to the opponent, you deal 1
extra Brawn die in extra damage. You
may take as many unfavorable conditions as
you want, however, each additional
unfavorable condition beyond the first adds
+2 to the Stamina cost.

SPECIALIZATION IN TWO WEAPONS

Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in a single nonranged category, Two Weapon Wielder,
Expert Two Weapon Wielder.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
When
wielding
two
weapons you gain a +3 bonus when
wielding weapons that are light in your
off-hand, and a no penalty when wielding
medium weapons.
CHOKE HOLD
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: Grab I, 1d8 in Unarmed
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: After a grab is performed
and an opponent is pinned, you can
attempt to perform a choke hold. After
the Brawn challenge is resolved for the
pin, take the difference by what the
Brawn challenge is won by and add it as a
bonus to your next roll for the choke hold.
Now you must roll a Brawn versus the
opponents Stamina challenge. If you win

DEFENSIVE STRIKE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in Blades
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You sacrifice a one attack
die and gain one die to your next defense
roll. You may sacrifice as many dice as
you want in this fashion
TWO WEAPON WIELDER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in a single non-ranged

96

LONG BLADE AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Long blades such as long
daggers, short swords, long swords,
rapiers, ect, feel more natural in your
hands than small or heavy blades. Your
weapon attack speed is decreased by 1
when using long blades.

the challenge, the opponent has been

knocked unconscious for your unarmed
damage die roll in minutes.
PALM STRIKE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in Unarmed, Slam.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: When you strike an
opponent and deal damage, the opponent
is stunned, and now suffer a unfavorable
condition on all their actions until the end
of their next turn. The palm strike also
incurs a -2 penalty to the opponents
rolled reaction check.

HEAVY BLADE AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Heavy blades such as
bastard swords, two-handed swords, ect,
feel more natural in your hands than
other size blades. Your weapon attack
speed is decreased by 1 when using long
blades.

COUNTER THROW
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d8 in Unarmed, Grab I,
Grab II, Grab III
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: If you successfully defend
against an attack and you are able counter
attack, you may chose to instead perform
a grab and if successful, you may throw
your opponent to the ground. Throwing
your opponent in this matter stuns them,
imposing a unfavorable condition on all
actions until the end of their turn and
reduces their reaction roll by -2.

STEALTHY BLADE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades, Quick
Draw
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: Any time that you are able
to draw your weapon and attack, using a
small or a long blade, and as long as that
target is surprised (unable to act that
combat cycle), you double your attack
dice for that one hit.

BLADE TRAITS
SMALL BLADE AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Smaller blades such as
knives, daggers, stilettos, needles, ect, feel
more natural in your hands than other
larger blades. Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using small
blades.

BACKSTAB
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in Blades, Stealthy
Blade
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: During combat, if you attack
someone whose back is turned to you
using a small or long blade, you can
double your attack dice for that one hit. If
in use with Stealthy Blade, this damage is

97

tripled.

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades
Stamina Cost: 1
Description: You may choose not to
physically wound an opponent and
instead strike them with just the flat of
your blade. You deal damage to Stamina
instead of Hit Points with the Edge
portion of the blade.

FLANKSTAB
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d8 in Blades, Backstab
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: When using a small or long
blade, if your opponent is flanked on the
opposite side by an ally, you may double
your attack dice against that opponent. If
in use with Stealthy Blade, the attack dice
are tripled.

HEAVY THRUST
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in Blades, or 1d4 in
Pole-Arms.
Stamina Cost: 2
Description: You thrust heavily with
your weapon, increasing your Blade
proficiency die to the next die.

IMPROVED FLANKSTAB
Purchase Cost: 12
Requirements: 1d8 in Blades
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: Much like Flankstab, except
you do not need an ally to flank the
opponents opposite side.

TACK THEM TO THE WALL

Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Blades, or 1d8 in
Ranged. Must use either a blade weapon,
bow or crossbow.
Stamina Cost: 4
Description: You suffer a unfavorable
condition to attack, but if successfully hit,
you can decide to deal stamina damage or
no damage. Either way, your blade,
arrow or quarrels have now tacked your
opponent to either the floor, wall or an
object of some kind. If it was no damage,
then the opponent is tacked by some item
of clothing or equipment they are
wearing, but if lethal, they are tacked by
their own body. A Brawn challenge must
be made vs. the DS of the attack in order
to free themselves. While tacked, the
opponent is unable to defend against
attacks. This ability causes the character to
temporarily lose their weapon if
performing this attack with a blade.

FLOURISHING ATTACK
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in Blades
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You attack with a flourish
of movements that distracts your
opponent and leaves them defenseless.
You decrease your opponents defense die
roll by 1 die when defending against this
attack.
IMPROVED FLOURISH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Blades, Flourishing
Attack
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You attack with a flourish
of movements that distracts your
opponent and leaves them defenseless.
You cause your opponent to suffer two
unfavorable conditions.
FLAT OF THE BLADE

Blunt TRAITS

98

momentum. You suffer a -1 die to your

defense roll until your next turn in
exchange for doubling your Brawn die
when attacking and assigning damage.

LIGHT BLUNT AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Axes
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Smaller blunt devices such
as light maces, light hammers, light flails,
clubs, ect, are easily managed and feel
more natural in your hands than medium
or heavy blunt weapons. Your weapon
attack speed is decreased by 1 when using
light blunt weapons.

POWER SMASH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: 2
Description: You add more guff to your
attack, increasing your Blunt by one
additional die for this single attack.
PENETRATE ARMOR
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d8 in Blunt or Axe,
Weaken Armor, Power Smash.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description:
Your
attack
smashes
through your opponents armor as if it
wasnt there. This attack ignores all
armor damage reductions.

MEDIUM BLUNT AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Medium weight blunt
weapons
such
as
maces,
flails,
morningstars, ect, are easily managed and
feel more natural in your hands than light
or heavy blunt weapons. Your weapon
attack speed is decreased by 1 when using
medium blunt.

WEAKEN ARMOR
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 in Blunt or Axe, Power
Smash.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You dent your opponents
armor enough to open a weak spot. That
opponent suffers a -2 to their armors
damage reduction when attacked from
that side. This lasts until the armor is able
to be repaired (or in rare cases healed).

HEAVY BLUNT AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Heavy weight blunt devices
such as a war hammer, two-handed
hammer, heavy flail, ect., are easily
managed and feel more natural in your
hands than light or medium blunt
weapons. Your weapon attack speed is
decreased by 1 when using heavy blunt
weapons.

Axe TRAITS
LIGHT AXE AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Smaller axes such as hand
axes, throwing axes or shepherds axes

OVERHEAD SWING
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You swing your weapon
over
your
head
for
additional

99

are easily managed and feel more natural

in your hands than medium or heavy
axes.
Your weapon attack speed is
decreased by 1 when using light axes
weapons.
MEDIUM AXE AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Medium weight axes such
as battle axes are easily managed and feel
more natural in your hands than light or
heavy axes. weapons. Your weapon attack
speed is decreased by 1 when using
medium axes.
HEAVY AXE AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Blunt
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Heavy weight axes such as
the executioners axe, double-headed axe,
or two-handed axe, are easily managed
and feel more natural in your hands than
light or medium axes. Your weapon
attack speed is decreased by 1 when using
heavy blunt weapons.
CLEAVE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 Axe.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: If your strike drops your
opponents hit points into the negative,
take the remaining damage and add it to a
second follow-up attack against the
nearest enemy. You still suffer unfavorable
conditions for multiple actions.
REND
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 Axe, Cleave.
Stamina Cost: 7

100

Description: If your strike drops your

opponents hit points into the negative,
take the remaining damage and add it to a
second follow-up attack against the
nearest enemy. If that enemy also is also
dropped to zero or more hit points, take
the remaining damage and add it to a
third follow-up attack against the nearest
enemy.
You still suffer unfavorable
conditions for multiple actions.
ARMOR BREAKER
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Cleave, Rend.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description:
Your axe attack breaks
through armor. You ignore 2 points of
armor reduction at a cost of -1 to your
attack.
SUNDER
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 Axe, Cleave, Rend.
Stamina Cost: 9
Description: Like Rend in all aspects,
except that every time you reduce an
opponent to zero hit points or less, you
may move 1 square in any direction
without a cost to your total speed.

Pole-arm TRAITS
LIGHT POLE-ARM AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Pole-Arms
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Smaller pole-arms such as
cudgels, quarterstaff, short spears, ect.,
are easily managed and feel more natural
in your hands than medium or heavy
pole-arms. Your weapon attack speed is
decreased by 1 when using light polearms weapons.

MEDIUM POLE-ARM AFFINITY

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Pole-Arms
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Medium pole-arms such as
spears, halberds, glaives, tridents, ect., are
easily managed and feel more natural in
your hands than light or heavy pole-arms.
Your weapon attack speed is decreased by
1 when using medium pole-arms.
HEAVY POLE-ARM AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Pole-Arms
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Heavy weight pole-arms
such as a heavy lance, ect, are easily
managed and feel more natural in your
hands than light or heavy pole-arms.
Your weapon attack speed is decreased by
1 when using heavy pole-arms.
MAN CATCHER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Hooked Pole-Arm
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: Any pole-arm equipped
with a hook allows you the opportunity to
catch any armored rider and attempt to
drag them to the ground. When you
attack a rider and hit successfully, you
can choose not to deal damage and
instead hook your opponent. You then
must do an opposed Brawn challenge,
with the rider at an unfavorable condition.
If you win the check, the rider is pulled
from the saddle and falls to the ground. If
you fail then the rider has managed to
unhook him or herself and can attempt a
counter attack.
WIDE SWEEP
Purchase Cost: 12

101

Requirements:
Weapon
Familiarity,
Weapon Expert, Weapon Specialist,
Power Strike.
Stamina Cost: 9
Description: You make one single attack
roll but strike in a sweeping motion
against three targets 2 squares away from
you. These targets must be at least 1
square away from each other in order to
be included in this attack and they must
be within your weapons reach. Your
opponents each must roll a separate
Defense roll against your attack. Damage
still applies as normal.
POLE-VAULT KICK
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Pole-Arms and
Unarmed, 1d6 in Jump Skill
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You may plant the blunt
side of your pole-arm into the dirt and
launch yourself into the air to perform a
powerful kick to an opponent. The attack
can be performed on any target within
weapon range. If the attack is successful,
you deal unarmed damage to the
opponent as normal, but that opponent
must succeed at an opposed Agility
challenge. If they fail, they fall prone in
one square away opposite your attack. If
they succeed they just stumble into the
next square. If the attack fails, then you
fall into their square and your opponent
may make a counter attack.
SET FOR CHARGE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Pole-Arms
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You set your pole-arm to
receive a charge from an opponent. Once
your opponent enters your guarded
squares, you immediately gain a free

attack with a favorable circumstance to your

attack and double your weapons
damage. The polearm must be able to
deal Point damage to set for a charge.

Ranged TRAITS
BOW AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using bows.
CROSSBOW AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using crossbows.
THROWING AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using thrown
weapons.
SLING AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using slings.
DART AFFINITY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Your weapon attack speed
is decreased by 1 when using darts and
blowguns.

102

QUICK NOTCH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Ranged, Bow
Affinity
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You are able to notch your
arrows quicker than most. Your weapon
attack speed is decreased by 1 when using
a bow.
RAPID FIRE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Ranged, Bow
Affinity and Quick Notch. Attack with a
bow.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You fire a second arrow
right after the first (weapon speed still
applies) without suffering an unfavorable
circumstance due to multiple actions. If a
third attack follows, you suffer the normal
multiple attack penalties sans the Rapid
Fire.
AIMED SHOT
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Ranged.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You take your time with
your shots. You can hold a shot until the
end of the combat cycle and you gain a
favorable condition to that attack only.
HONED SHOT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Ranged or Thrown,
Aimed Shot
Stamina Cost: 3
Description:
You do not suffer an
unfavorable condition when firing at an
opponent engaged with a friendly
combatant.

ARROW STAB
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Ranged, Quick
Notch. Attack with a bow.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: If an enemy moves adjacent
to you, you may perform a melee attack
using the Ranged attack skill using just
the arrow. If the attack incapacitates the
opponent, you may fire the arrow as a
Free Attack.
TWO ARROW SHOT
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Ranged, Quick
Notch, Rapid Fire. Attack with a bow.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You may notch two arrows
at once and perform one single attack
against two separate targets.
The
opponents must defend against the single
attack as normal.
THREE ARROW SHOT
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Ranged, Quick
Notch, Rapid Fire and Two Arrow Shot.
Attack with a bow.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: Just like two arrow shot
attack feat except that you may notch
three arrows at once.
RICOCHET
Purchase Cost: 12
Requirements: 1d10 in Ranged, Weapon
Familiarity, Weapon Expert, Weapon
Specialization.
Stamina Cost: 9
Description:
You may ricochet your
ranged or thrown attack off one person or
target to reach another. For each time the
attack ricochets, the attack suffers an
unfavorable condition.

103

CALLED SHOT, I
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d6 Ranged, Aimed Shot,
Honed Shot
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever performing a
called shot, you suffer one less unfavorable
condition.
CALLED SHOT, II
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d8 Ranged, Aimed Shot,
Honed Shot, Called Shot I
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
Whenever performing a
called shot, you suffer one less unfavorable
condition. This bonus stacks with Called
Shot, I.
FAST RELOAD
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 Ranged, Crossbow
Affinity, Weapon Familarity, Weapon
Expert, Weapon Sepcialization. Applies
only when using a Crossbow.
Stamina Cost: 2
Description:
Whenever reloading a
crossbow, it takes 30 seconds (6 Combat
Cycles), to reload as opposed to the 1
minute.
EAGER MARKSMAN
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 Ranged. Restricted to
use with Crossbow only.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: It takes very little training
to learn how to use a crossbow. Every
crossbow you use to attack with gives you
a favorable circumstance to hit.
KICK
Purchase Cost: 5

Requirements: 1d6 in Unarmed.

Stamina Cost: 3
Description: A form of dirty fighting,
you kick your opponent to cause them to
stagger. If the attack is successful deal
regular damage, but then have the
opponent roll an opposed Agility
challenge vs. your attack. If the opponent
fails, he falls backward and prone in the
opposite square, if he or she succeeds,
then they are stunned. This does not
allow a counter attack from your
opponent.
ALL OUT ATTACK
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in one chosen attack
type.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description:
When purchasing this
ability a weapon skill must be selected
and furthermore this ability will only
affect that specific attack type. For the
Stamina cost of this ability, it will increase
your next attack to the next highest attack
die. This bonus affects this roll only.
WEAPON CATCH, I
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Unarmed and
Disarm I.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: If you successfully disarm
an opponent, you may elect to launch
their weapon in the air and can then catch
it with an open hand. This ability also
allows you to catch weapons tossed to
you from allies without having to roll and
agility check.
WEAPON CATCH, II
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Unarmed, Disarm
I, Weapon Catch, I.

104

Stamina Cost: 5
Description: You may elect to catch an
opposed attack roll from a thrown
weapon (such as a dagger, hand ax, ect.).
Roll your unarmed attack against the
attack of your opponent. If you succeed
in the challenge, you have caught the
weapon without suffering any damage. If
you fail, you take the full damage from a
called shot to your hand.
WEAPON CATCH, III
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Unarmed, Disarm
I, Weapon Catch I and Weapon Catch II.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: As long as you have a free
hand open, you can attempt to catch an
arrow or a quarrel that is fired at you.
Instead of defending against the attack,
you must roll your unarmed attack
opposed to their attack. If you win the
challenge, you catch the missile in your
hand without suffering any damage. If
you fail at the challenge, you take the full
damage from a called shot to your hand.

Defense traits
Defense traits are means of performing
special defensive maneuvers during combat
to give you an edge over your opponent.
Each defense trait is categorized beneath its
fathering mode of defense, has a purchase
price, description and Stamina cost in order
to use it. Occasionally, there may even be a
magick cost to the maneuver as well
depending on the nature of the defense.
Milestones: Starting character creation, a
character receives their total ability
milestones divided by 10 to determine their
Defense milestones.

GENERAL TRAITS
IMPROVED DODGE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You receive one dodge roll
during Combat Challenges per combat
cycle without having to sacrifice speed or
any other penalties for multiple actions.
ACROBATIC-DODGE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Dodge, 1d6 in
Acrobatics, Improved Dodge
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: As long as you have the
space to perform acrobatic feats, and as
long as you not more than lightly
encumbered, you may add 1 additional
die to your Dodge die when defending
against Attacks for every 2 dice you have
in Acrobatics. 1d6 = 1 dice, 1d10 = 2 dice,
1d14 = 3 dice, ect.
REACTIONARY DODGER
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Improved
Dodge
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
If you beat out your
opponent in the initial reaction roll, you
gain a +1 die when dodging against that
opponents attacks.
GUARD BREACH
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Improved
Dodge
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: Whenever you move into
or out of a guarded square, you may
spend the Stamina cost of this ability to
negate the opponents free attack.

105

FAVORITE ARMOR
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge, must be
wearing the majority of pieces of your
favored type.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You favor one type of
armor set over the others. Any time you
wear this armor you gain a specialty die
that starts at 1d2 that may be rolled along
with your normal set of dice when
dodging an attack.
ARMOR EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Dodge, Favorite
Armor.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
defense trait for the same armor set used
when Favorite Armor was purchased.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become an expert
in wearing your favorite type of armor
set. As long as the majority of the armor
pieces you are wearing are from your
favorite armor set group, your specialty
die increases to 1d4, which is rolled when
dodging an attack.
This bonus stacks with the bonuses
acquired from Favorite Armor.
ARMOR SPECIALIST
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Favorite
Defense, Armor Expert
Restrictions: May only purchase this
defense trait for the same armor set used
when Favorite Armor was purchased.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You
have
become
specialized in wearing your favorite type
of armor set. As long as the majority of
the armor pieces you are wearing are

from your favorite armor set group, your

specialty die increases to 1d6, and is
rolled when dodging an attack. Also, you
suffer 2 less in Agility Penalties that come
from wearing heavy pieces.
This bonus stacks with the bonuses
acquired from Favorite Armor and Armor
Expert.
ARMOR MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Dodge, Favorite
Defense, Armor Expert, Armor Specialist
Restrictions: May only purchase this
defense trait for the same armor set used
when Favorite Armor was purchased.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become a master
at wearing your favorite type of armor
set. As long as the majority of the armor
pieces you are wearing are from your
favorite armor set group, your specialty
die increases to 1d8 when defending with
dodge. Also, you suffer 2 less in Agility
Penalties that come from wearing heavy
pieces. Students everywhere flock to you
to learn your secrets. This bonus stacks
with the bonuses acquired from Favorite
Armor, Armor Expert and Armor Specialist.
ARMOR HIGH MASTER
Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in Dodge, Favorite
Armor, Armor Expert, Armor Specialist and
Armor Master.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
defense trait for the same armor set used
when Favorite Armor was purchased.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have mastered a high
level of use with your armor of choice.
Your armor is treated as if having a
hardness level 1 higher than normal.
Also, your specialty die increases to 1d10.

106

ARMOR GRAND MASTER

Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in Dodge, Favorite
Armor, Armor Expert, Armor Specialist,
Armor Master, Armor High Master.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
defense trait for the same armor set used
when Favorite Armor was purchased.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You have become an
Armor Grand Master. Any time that you
roll a 12 or higher on your Dodge roll,
you may roll that die again and add its
bonus to your roll. Your specialty die
increases to 1d14.
DISARM DEFENSE, I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against disarm attacks. You gain the next
highest die on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
DISARM DEFENSE, II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Dodge, Disarm
Defense I
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against disarm attacks. You gain the next
two highest die on both the initial Dodge
roll and the ability challenge.
DISARM DEFENSE, III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Disarm
Defense I and Disarm Defense II.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against disarm attacks. You gain three die
levels both the initial Dodge roll and the

ability challenge.
TRIP DEFENSE, I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against trip attacks. You gain one die
level higher on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
TRIP DEFENSE, II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Dodge, Trip
Defense
I
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against trip attacks. You gain one die
level higher on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
This is
cumulative with Trip Defense, I.
TRIP DEFENSE, III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Trip
Defense I and Trip Defense II.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against trip attacks. You gain one die
level on both the initial Dodge roll and
the ability challenge. This is cumulative
with Trip Defense, I and Trip Defense, II.
BREAK DEFENSE, I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against Break attacks. You gain one die
level higher on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
BREAK DEFENSE, II
Purchase Cost: 3

107

Requirements: 1d6 in Dodge and Break

Defense I.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against Break attacks. You gain one die
level higher on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
This is
cumulative with Break Defense, I.
BREAK DEFENSE, II
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d8 in Dodge, Break
Defense I.
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You are good at defending
against break. attacks. You gain one die
level higher on both the initial Dodge roll
and the ability challenge.
This is
cumulative with Break Defense I and
Break Defense II.

SHIELD TRAITS
FAVORED SHIELD
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements:
1d4
in
Shield.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You may select one type of
shield that will forever serve as your
favored shield. Every time you wield this
shield type, you gain the next highest die
when rolling the Shield Defense trait.
SHIELD EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Shield, Favored
Shield.
Restrictions: Only works with the shield
type selected with Favored Shield.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become an expert
in wielding your favorite shield type.
While wielding this shield, you gain an

additional +1 die when using the Shield

defense skill.
This bonus stacks with the bonuses
acquired from Favored Shield.
SHIELD SPECIALIST
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Shield, Favored
Shield, Shield Expert
Restrictions: Only works with the shield
type selected with Favored Shield and
Shield Expert.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You have become
specialized in wearing your favorite type
of shield. While wielding this shield, you
gain an additional +1 die when using the
Shield defense skill. Also, you suffer 2
less in Agility Penalties that come from
carrying it.
This bonus stacks with the bonuses
acquired from Favored Shield and Shield
Expert.
SHIELD MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Shield, Favored
Shield, Shield Expert, Shield Specialist
Restrictions: Only works with the shield
type selected with Favored Shield, Shield
Expert
and
Shield
Specialist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become a master
at using your favorite type of shield.
While wielding this shield, you gain an
additional +1 die when using the Shield
defense skill. Also, you suffer 2 less in
Agility Penalties that come from carrying
it. Students everywhere flock to you to
learn your secrets.
This bonus stacks with the bonuses
acquired from Favored Shield, Shield Expert
and Shield Specialist.

108

SHIELD HIGH MASTER

Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in Shield, Favored
Shield, Shield Expert, Shield Specialist and
Shield Master.
Restrictions: Only works with the shield
type selected with Favored Shield, Shield
Expert, Shield Specialist and Shield
Master.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have mastered a high
level of use with your shield of choice.
Your shield is treated as if having a
hardness level 1 higher than normal.
SHIELD GRAND MASTER
Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in Shield, Favored
Shield, Shield Expert, Shield Specialist, Shield
Master and Shield High Master.
Restrictions: Only works with the shield
type selected with Favored Shield, Shield
Expert, Shield Specialist, Shield Master
and Shield High Master.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become a Shield
Grand Master. Any time that you roll a
14 or higher on your Shield roll, you may
roll that die again and add its bonus to
your roll.
HOLD YOUR GROUND
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6, Favored Shield,
Shield Expert.
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: Whenever you successfully
defend against an attack with your shield
designed to move you out of your given
square, you may pay the Stamina cost of
this ability and remain unmoved.
RAIN DEFENSE
Purchase Cost: 7

Requirements: 1d8 in Shield, Favored

Shield, Shield Expert, Shield Specialist.
Stamina Cost: 7
Description: Whenever struck with an
area of effect based attack, you utilize
your shield to take the brunt of it. You
use your shield defense roll instead of
agility to defend against the assault. If
successful, you take no damage, if on a
failed roll, you simply take the difference
in damage.
IMBUE SHIELD, I
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Shield
Stamina Cost: 3
Magic Cost: 3
Description: Whenever using your shield
to defend against a magical attack, you
may imbue your shield with your essence
to better defend against it. Your shield is
treated as if having 3 points of hardness
higher when defending against magical
assaults.
IMBUE SHIELD, II
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Shield
Stamina Cost: 5
Magic Cost: 5
Description: Whenever using your shield
to defend against a magical attack, you
may imbue your shield with your essence
to better defend against it. Your shield is
treated as if having 1 point of hardness
higher when defending against magical
assaults. This bonus stacks with Imbue
Shield I.
IMBUE SHIELD, III
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Shield
Stamina Cost: 7
Magic Cost: 7

109

Description: Whenever using your shield

to defend against a magical attack, you
may imbue your shield with your essence
to better defend against it. Your shield is
treated as if having 1 point of hardness
higher when defending against magical
assaults. This bonus stacks with Imbue
Shield I and Imbue Shield II.
MAGICAL REDIRECTION
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Shield, Imbue
Shield I
Stamina Cost: 5
Magic Cost: 7
Description: Whenever you successfully
defend against a magical ranged attack,
you may redirect the attack against
another target as a separate free attack at
a strength equal to the difference that the
original attack was beat by. Example, if
the character successfully defends against
a magical fire attack, with the fire attack
at a 45 and the shield defense was 62, then
the character may redirect the attack as a
17 against another target.
DESPERATE DEFLECTION
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Shield
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You give it your all to
defend against this attack and therefore
increase your shield die to the next
highest die. This bonus is only for this
roll.
DESPERATE DODGE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Dodge
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You give it your all to
dodge against this attack and therefore
increase your dodge die to the next

highest die. This bonus is only for this

roll.

COVER TRAITS
DESPERATE COVER
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Cover
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: You give it your all to
defend against this attack and therefore
increase your Cover die to the next
highest die. This bonus is only for this
roll.
IMPROVISED COVER
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Cover
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You are specifically good at
finding a means of cover when otherwise
there wouldnt be. In cases where there
would be nothing to use as cover, the
character has found something that will
impart a 25% cover bonus. Essentially,
this means that the character always has
cover available. Special note, is that while
someone observing the character may
take mental note of the space they used
for cover, it does not allow them to use
the cover themselves as this ability also
imparts the knowledge on how best to
maneuver ones body to make the most
efficient use of the cover.
SUCK IT IN
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Cover
Stamina Cost: 5
Description: When using cover, you can
make your body seem smaller than what
it is, thus improving the cover % by the
next level, 25% becomes 50%, 50%
becomes 75% and so on. This can never

110

go higher than 100% and cannot improve

skills such as improvised cover (since the
skill already takes one squeezing into a
tight spot as is).

PARRY TRAITS
QUICK PARRY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Parry
Stamina Cost: 3
Description: If you successfully parry an
incoming blow, you gain a +2 bonus to
your current reaction time. This bonus
goes away at the end of the combat cycle.
TWO WEAPON PARRY
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Parry, Two
Weapon Fighting
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever wielding an offhand parrying weapon, you may roll the
next highest die whenever rolling to
Parry.
REPOSTE I
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Parry, Quick Parry,
Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever you successfully
parry an attack, you may counter attack
once per combat cycle without incurring
an unfavorable circumstance.
DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Parry.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever you parry with
your weapon, you roll 1 die higher than
you normally would.

EXPERT DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Parry, Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become an expert
at parrying. Whenever you parry with
your weapon, you roll 1 die higher than
you normally would. This bonus stacks
with the bonuses acquired from Duelist.
SPECIALIZED DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Parry, Duelist and
Expert Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You have become
specialized in parrying attacks. Whenever
you parry with your weapon, you roll 1
die higher than you normally would.
Instead of the usual 3 Reaction Penalty for
defending, instead you only suffer a
penalty of 2. This bonus stacks with the
bonuses acquired from Duelist and Expert
Duelist.
MASTER DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Parry, Duelist,
Expert Duelist, Specialized Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description:
You have become
specialized in parrying attacks. Whenever
you parry with your weapon, you roll 1
die higher than you normally would.
Instead of the usual 3 Reaction Penalty for
defending, instead you only suffer a
penalty of 1. This bonus stacks with the
bonuses acquired from Duelist, Expert

111

Duelist and Specialized Duelist.

HIGH MASTER DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in Parry, Duelist,
Expert Duelist, Specialized Duelist and
Master Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have mastered a high
level of use with parrying attacks. Your
parrying weapon is treated as 1 level
higher for material hardness when
parrying attacks.
GRAND MASTER DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in Dodge, Parry,
Duelist, Expert Duelist, Specialized Duelist,
Master Duelist and High Master Duelist.
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: You have become a Grand
Master Duelist. Any time that you roll a
14 or higher on your Parry roll, you may
roll that die again and add its bonus to
your roll.
REPOSTE II
Purchase Cost: 12
Requirements: 1d14 in Parry, Quick
Parry, Duelist, Expert Duelist, Specialized
Duelist
Stamina Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever you successfully
parry an attack, you may counter attack
once per combat cycle without incurring
an unfavorable circumstance. This ability is
cumulative with Reposte, I.

Chapter 6
Magic
Who can forget the fantasy portion
of most RPGs, which is the magical
element?
However, in this gaming
system a person can easily be as skilled
in magick as they are with blade. So
why doesnt everyone take up both?
Well, determined upon your world, you
can! But most Overseers prefer that
there is a separation from spell casters
and the fighting type. A single fighter
may focus his or her entire attention to
their blade and ability to chop people
into bits, but if attentions are divided
between both blade and spell, the
character in question may find
themselves at odds with those who have
dedicated themselves solely to a single
pursuit as opposed to two.

What is Magick

different than using a tool. Worlds may

vary in their view of magick, sometimes
by continents, sometimes by regions, its
up to you to decide who magick is
viewed.
Magick is as still a mysterious force
as it was when it was first discovered.
Currently, the highest circle of
thaumaturgists have identified twentytwo domains of magick labeled as
Spheres of Influence, but each agree that
there may be other, less known, Spheres
waiting to be uncovered. Whenever a
spell caster, or magick user, calls upon
one or more of these spheres, either by
use of spell or energy manipulation, the
results can vary by the skill of the user.
The next few sections will touch upon
the
differences
between
energy
manipulation (or weaving) and casting
from spells.

While magic (no k) is a term

reserved for showman and those skilled
with slight-of-hand, Magick (with a k)
is the term casters use when referencing
the arcane arts. Magick is a force
existing in any given space, much like
the forces of gravity, but exists as a
moldable form of energy as long as one
knows the proper incantations. Magick
is difficult to control, and those who do
not take special precautions in learning
its dangers, find themselves being lead
down the path of disaster. Some view
magick as a danger, others as a practice
of demons, where others may find it no

Spells are what fills volumes upon

volumes of books, research that has
been compiled over the centuries of how
domains interact and what are the best
practices for getting the most out of a
spell mix. Spells are heavily sought
after by casters due to the edge that they
bring onto the battle field or in spell
duels. Spells have been researched and
perfected, granting casters reductions
on magick point costs, larger area of
effects, increased damage, harder to

Spells

112

resist the difficulty challenges, and so

on. Without a spell to call upon, a spell
caster must use their own limited
knowledge on how to draw off the
domains to manipulate the magickal
energies around them to create the
intended result.

Engery Manipulation
Energy Manipulation happens to be
how most magick is wielded. When an
intended effect is needed, the caster
chooses one Magick Sphere (or more) to
start with as a base, then selects the
intended delivery through magick
attack, then selects modifiers using
magick attack traits on how the magick
will affect someone, then the caster
chooses a sphere trait to create the
magickal effect. This process is called
energy manipulation and pales in
comparison to the raw power of a single
spell, however energy manipulation
does allow one to get more versatile
results despite using the purely
primeval energies of magick to get the
job done.

Tailoring
Magick
Magick may be tailored to fit the
casters desires by imagining first the
desired effect. If the caster needs to
simply blast an enemy into oblivion,
then the sphere traits are relatively low
and all the caster has to focus on is how
to deliver the attack. However, in the

case that a caster wishes to create an

intelligent fire elemental that can both
fight and perform actions at the casters
behest, then the delivery is not as
important as the Sphere traits.
While Attack Traits and Sphere
Traits are used as a guide to help design
or emulate a specific effect, they are not
intended to limit the imagination of
what magick can be capable of. If there
is an effect that a character or monster
needs to perform collaborate with the
Overseer to either make additional traits
to fit that type of outcome or combine
the traits already listed to reach that
goal.

Sphere Mixing
Spell casters may choose to use two
spell spheres for their initial base type of
magick as opposed to the traditional
one. In this case, the effect does not
double or benefit from the milestones of
both spheres, instead it is designed to
grant more versatility when selecting
sphere traits to produce a more
extravagant effect.
When using more than one sphere,
in cases of damage, one can only use the
highest sphere die as the maximum
potential. Thus, if the Sphere of Fire
with a milestone of 30 and a sphere die
of 8 is mixed with the Morphology
Sphere that has 14 milestones with a d4,
then the maximum potential of the
magick is a milestone of 30 and a sphere
die of 8. The caster may decide to then
use the full die 4 of the Morphology
Sphere, but that would reduce the Fire
Sphere die down to 4 as well (8 4 = 4).
If the caster wants to use the 10
milestones from the Morphology Sphere

113

(total of 14) then he or she may only use

20 (10 milestones from Morphology
minus the 30 milestones from Fire
Sphere = 20) milestones for the Fire
Sphere. While this does not necessarily
always mean for a stronger attack, it
does sometimes mean, with the correct
combination of spheres and traits, that
one could create a unique magickal
effect; (in this example) turn into a fire
elemental themselves.

Spell Research
Those who are skilled in Academic
(Magicka) as well as in Research, may
dedicate time to creating their own
spells. A good rule of thumb is that for
every sphere used add 3 stones for
every trait add 1 stone and every
time the spell cost is reduced by 1
magick point add 5 stones. Using the
skill research, the caster may spend
days, weeks or even months trying to
create an actual spell. However, once
the spell is complete, then the caster will
have a brand new spell that can be used
as often as he or she still has access to it.

Magick Attacks
Each character, whether magically
adept or not, has a milestone that
represents their ability to toss spells and
deliver dangerous touch attacks. As per
abilities and skills, each time a character
successfully hits a target the player fills
in a stick. As soon as the player
receives their forth stick, all sticks are
erased and the player then fills in a

stone. Once the forth stone is filled in,

the player increases the characters
attack milestone by one.
Each
milestone gained is then placed as a
single point section labeled as unspent.
These unspent milestones can later be
used to purchase special techniques
that can enhance the characters ability
to fight.
The combat roll is determined by the
following formula: magical attack
milestone + magical attack die = attack
results.
The attack milestone represents a
characters
ability
for
strategic
positioning (in their square). It acts as a
means of understanding ones enemy
and anticipating their next attack. If
magick strikes an opponent who is
wearing armor, the magick deals
damage to both the armor and the
wearer if the damage surpasses the
material strength. The material strength
of the armor acts to reduce the amount
of damage received thru a magick
attack, but it does not protect any
further from that.

Magick Attack Die

Magical attacks are categorized into
the type of action required for that
particular spell. Some spells require the
opponent to be touched, while others
are directional and are fired in a straight
line, and some are tossed like a grenade.
Each of these actions have their own die,
that can be upgraded as the character
gains in skill.
The die represents both the
additional ability to strike in vital places
to cause even greater harm to ones

114

enemies. Like weapons, the magical die

can be increased by allotting unspent
milestone points to purchase the next
higher die. See table 1.3 in Chapter 1
Character Creation.

Magick Attack Groups

Each magical attack is associated
with a particular group which will
determine a characters ability to
effectively use that magickal attack. A
brief description of each magick attack
group is listed below.

Touch: is when a particular spell needs

to be delivered by hand. The caster
must be able to touch the opponent in
order to expel the magical energies.
Most attempt to use some kind of a
shield or dodge this type of magical
attack.
Blast: Is a directional attack where the
spell in question is concentrated in a
single line of fire. This attack is
equivalent to firing a crossbow, there is
no arch to the attack, and the attack is
subject to cover, shields and dodge.
The attack can also be parried, but only
by other spells keep in mind that the
damage from the spell does transfer to
the object it strikes. A blast has an
optimal range of twice the characters
magick attack milestone in feet.
Throw: -ing a spell into a group of
enemies is great for spells that affect
large areas. This allows for the spell
caster to try and reach a particular
square by tossing it over obstructions.
Throwing or tossing a spell has an
optimal range of the characters magick
attack milestone in feet.
Target Automatically hits your
designated target despite your roll and
it cannot be defended against.

Targeting a creature requires 5

additional magick points when using
this magick attack. While armor still
acts to absorb damage, the spell acts as
if the subject didnt dodge.

Casting Times
Much like swinging a sword, casting
a spell requires time to bring it into
being. The more magick points it takes
to cast the spell, the longer the spell will
take to cast it. For every 2 magick
points (rounded up) that it takes to cast
a spell, it costs the caster 1 point from
his or her Reaction roll to complete it.

Casting Costs
To cast a spell, the caster must first
meet the casting cost of the spell. To do
this, he or she must select the desired
attack die. It costs 0 extra magick points
to use touch, 3 mp to use blast, 3 mp to
use throw and 5 mp to use target.

Magick Defense
Much like magical attack, a
character has a milestone that
represents their ability to shield
themselves, utilize cover or parry a
spell. As per abilities and skills, each
time a character successfully abates an
attack the player fills in a stick. As soon
as the player receives their forth stick,
all sticks are erased and the player then
fills in a stone. Once the forth stone is
filled in, the player increases the
characters defense milestone by one.

115

Each milestone gained is then placed as

a single point section labeled as unspent.
These unspent milestones can later be
used to purchase special traits that can
enhance the characters ability to
defend.
The magickal defense roll is
determined by the following formula:
magical defense milestone + magical
defense die = defense results.
The defense milestone represents a
characters ability to strategically place
themselves (in their square) and their
ability to anticipate their foe.

Magick Defense Die

The type of defense which is utilized
is called the magickal defense die.
This die is comprised of two separate
types of defense: magical shield and spell
parry. Lets go into the specifics of each.

Damage Shield: A damage shield does

not protect the caster from receiving
damage, but instead deals the spheres
die roll in intensity (milestones + die
roll) to the weapon, or if struck by a
creatures natural melee attacks then
the damage is dealt to the creature. If
either the weapon or the creature is
destroyed by the damage shield, then
no damage is assigned to caster. If the
weapon and or creature is only
damaged (or not damaged at all), then
the caster takes the full damage from
the attack.
Physical Shield: The shield becomes
physical and is able to block both
normal and magical attacks as if the
caster is wielding a regular shield. (See
shields for more information). The
shield doesnt have to be worn on the
arm, it could be created at the end of

the hand or suspend in mid-air, but

after the single attack is over, the
shield dissipates. The material strength
of the shield is a base of 5, with hit
points equal to 2 times the magick
defense roll.
Deflection Shield: A deflection shield
acts to either slow the attack to a
standstill or redirect the attack as to
allow for no damage to push through.
The shield acts as if the character is
avoiding the oncoming attack. (See
Dodge in chapter 5).
Spell Parry: Much the way like using
Magical Shield, a spell parry can be
used to intercept the spells of other
casters, whether the spell is directed
at the defending spell caster or not.
Spell Parry can only be used on
directional magical attacks such as
blast and toss.
In order to make use of a spell
parry, the character must spend the
appropriate magick points detailed
under the appropriate spell spheres
description. Then, the spell parry
defense roll must be equal to or
greater than the magick attack roll in
order for the opponents spell to be
effectively parried (these spells can
either extinguish themselves or bound
off in another direction, up to the
Overseer).
If an attack is completely parried
by the character, that is, if the defense
milestone plus the parry die together is
enough to thwart the attack, the
character gains the opportunity for a
counter attack, unless the defender
decides to boost (see Magick Duels).

Magick Duels
116

Magical duals are always bound to

happen in a world where mages exist.
Depending upon the campaign world,
the rules for civilized duels may vary,
however the rules presented in this
section apply only to those duels that
exist in the wild and are unsupervised.
These particular conflicts are oftentimes
very dangerous and destructive not for
the spell casters themselves, but also
those who witness it; not to mention the
repercussions against the environment.
One observable instance of a magic
duel is when combatants decide to forgo
creativity and instead they throw raw
magical energy at one another. When a
blast from an attacking spell caster is
parried by a defending spell caster, then
the attacking spell caster can elect to
boost their spell power by paying the
spells cost again. If the defending spell
caster also elects to boost (also paying
the magic point cost of their spell a
second time), then the two blasts of
magical energy lock together to create a
nexus.

The Nexus
The nexus is the point where both
streams of magical energy collide and is
also where the strongest concentration
of magical energy resides. In most
duels, the nexus begins direct center of
both spell casters.
The nexus is
comprised of both spell spheres
element, so in the case where one caster
is using Water (Ice) and the other is
using Fire (Flame), then the nexus is
comprised of both elements struggling
against one another at the maximum
possible damage threshold.

Example: If the attacking spell caster

has a 34 in skill and has a magical die of
1d8, then the maximum damage
threshold is 34 + 8 = 42. The same goes
for the defending spell caster as well.
In the above example, if both spell
casters are of equal power, then the
damage potential of the nexus is 42 of
both elements for a total damage of 84!
If ever one link to the nexus is ended,
then the remaining boosting spell caster
pushes it in the direction where the
previous link was until the nexus runs
into a solid object, at which time the
nexus explodes. If ever both links to the
nexus are ended at the same time, the
same results occur; the nexus explodes
and releases both elements.
An exploding nexus will deal the
total amount of damage it has acquired
at its center and then explode outward.
Every square away from the center of
the nexus reduces the damage by a
cumulative 10 points, and the energy
continues until it is reduced to 0. So
therefore, a nexus of 84 deals 84 points of
damage to everything in the nexus, then
1 square away deals 74, 2 squares away
deals 64, 3 squares away is 54, ect.
Keep in mind, that as the nexus
builds in power, it too will grow in size.
Most nexi are mostly sphere-like but are
awash in chaotic energies that churn
and become intertwined. For each 10
points of magical energy (damage) it
absorbs, it grows 1 inch in diameter.
Thus a nexus that is 84 in total damage,
is approximately 8 inches.
Nexi are formed when two streams
of energy collide. Thus in our example
above, the nexus begins at the maximum
damage threshold of each spell caster.
Then, each turn the spell caster decides

117

to boost the player (or Overseer) must

roll their magical die and add it to their
maximum damage threshold previous
created. Thus, using the above example
where the damage was 42 and the
magical attack die is 1d8, the spell caster
would only roll 1d8 and then add the
result to 42. Then, when it is the
opponents turn, that individual must
roll their die and add it to their results.
At the end of the combat cycle, whoever
has the higher damage threshold, moves
the nexus one square closer to his or her
opponent.
Keep in mind, that each combat
cycle, the nexus builds bigger and
bigger. Some spell casters, if the nexus is
not properly managed, may find
themselves in a very dangerous
situation that could threaten to not only
destroy them both, but everything else
as well.

Suspense
Certain spells require that the
magick point cost is held in suspense as
long as the spell is continued in use.
That is, some spells may be semipermanent or made to be continuous
through regular magick upkeep. In
order for this to occur, the magick point
cost must be regularly maintained, but
instead of having it drain the casters
magick reserves in a matter of rounds,
the caster may elect to hold those
magick points into suspense. Magick
points held in this way are spent on the
initial casting, but held off to the side
while the spell continues in effect.
These magick points do not return, nor

can they be restored, until they are

released. Once released, the spell using
them comes to an end and the magick
points can be restored again by normal
means.
Example: Your character wishes to
make him/herself invisible. This spell
costs 7 to use. To remain invisible for
multiple turns (and possibly hours) it is
best to hold the 7 magick points in
reserve. If your character has 70 magick
points, that would leave him/her with
only 63 magick points left and 7 in
suspense. If he or she cast a spell that
subtracted from the 63 remaining
magick points, it would leave him or her
minus that amount (lets save 10) at 53
points and those 10 points would return
at the normal rate.

Spell Spheres
Spell Spheres are considered the
differing types of magick that a spell
caster may draw off of. These are
considered sources of power and
generally what kind of magick the caster
will control.
Spell Spheres are
purchased during character creation and
may be purchased later throughout the
game.
A full listing of all the spheres and
their overall affects can be located on the
next few pages.
FIRE (HEAT)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: The element of fire
now bends to your commands. By
simply paying the cost of sphere,

118

you can manipulate a source of fire

to increase in intensity or douse it
equal to your die in intensity, you
can ignite flammable materials with
a wave of your hand, and you can
even cause fire to spring into your
hands without being harmed. You
may also choose to control aspects of
heat. For every die you have in the
fire sphere, you can reduce the local
heat by your sphere roll or increase it
in temperature.
The number of
square radius that you can influence
in this fashion is equal to the number
of milestones you have in the ability.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damage shield of flame, or a
deflection shield made of heat.
WATER (COLD)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You can control and
conjure the element of water. By
simply paying the cost of the sphere
you can cause water to raise and
lower a number of feet equal to your
sphere roll, or you can cause water
to part a number of squares equal to
your sphere roll. This lasts as long
as you continue to hold the magick
points in suspense.
You also can conjure a ball of
water to your hands that is equal in
intensity of your sphere, although
water in of itself does not harm most
creatures unless they have a
vulnerability to it. You also have the
ability to drop the temperature in a
given area to equal your sphere roll
in intensity.
The area you can
influence is equal to the number of
milestones you have in this ability in

a square radius. You can make your

hands build up with water and
freeze them to deliver chilling touch
attacks.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: A
deflection shield made of pure water
or a physical shield made of ice can
be created.
AIR (ELECTRICITY)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You can conjure and
control the wind, lightning and
weather. By simply paying the cost
of the sphere, you can create gusts of
wind equal to the intensity of your
sphere roll, whatever the result, it
acts as if having a Brawn score equal
to that roll. Also, you can create
lightning from your fingertips at the
intensity equal to your sphere roll.
You may also change the weather in
a radius equal to your spell sphere in
miles. The weather can be changed
as follows and takes 10 minutes to
transition.
You must meet the
difficulty score of the challenge to
add or remove the weather type.
Table: 6.2 Changing the Weather
Weather Examples
Decibels (bD)
Clear
15
Cloudy
20
Ground Fog
20
Light Fog
25
Heavy Fog
30
Light Rain
35
Heavy Rain
40
Hail
50
Sleet
60
Snow
50
Hurricane/Tornado
80
Monsoon
70

119

Table: 6.1 Magickal Sphere Summary

Major/Minor
Sphere
Magick Cost
Magicks (Cost)
Fire
Minor (5)
3
Water
Minor (5)
3
Air
Minor (5)
3
Earth
Minor (5)
3
Sound
Major (10)
5
Shadow
Minor (5)
3
Luminance
Minor (5)
3
Darkness
Minor (5)
3
Void
Major (10)
5
Rejuvenation
Major (10)
5
Death
Major (10)
5
Wards
Minor (5)
3
Mind
Major (10)
5
Binding
Minor (5)
3
Eternity
Major (10)
5
Portals
Major (10)
5
Sending

Minor (5)

Entropy
Morphology

Major (10)
Major (10)

5
5

Enchantment

Major (10)

Flora
Fauna

Minor (5)
Minor (5)

3
3

Description
Grants control over fire and heat.
Grants control over water and cold.
Grants control over air and electricity.
Grants control over earth and chemicals.
Grants control over sound.
Grants control over shadows and illusion.
Grants control over light.
Grants control over darkness.
Gives you control over the powers of oblivion.
Grants the ability to heal oneself and others.
Grants control over the powers of death.
Grants control over protective wards.
Grants control over the minds of others.
Grants the ability to bind objects and creatures.
Grants the ability to control time.
Grants the ability to create portals and teleport.
Grants the ability to speak with otherworldly
creatures and send aspects of oneself to distant
locations.
Grants the power over entropy and decay.
Grants the spell ability to shape shift.
Grants the ability to enhance people and create
magickal items.
Grants control over plants.
Grants control over animals.

MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can

create a deflection shield made of air, or a
damage shield made of electricity.
EARTH (CHEMICAL)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You can conjure the earth
soil, rocks, and minerals and manipulate
them, as well as the chemicals that boil
and churn deep beneath the ground. By
simply paying the cost of the sphere, you
can cause the ground to raise or lower a
number of feet equal to the sphere roll.
You may also have the earth part a
number of squares equal to your sphere
roll. This lasts as long as you continue to

hold the magick points in suspense.

When attacking with this sphere, you
can cause the ground to strike at your
opponents for you, or you can conjure a
deadly chemical like acid to eat away at
your opponent that deals damage equal to
your sphere roll.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damage shield made of acidic
chemicals or your can create a physical
shield made of earth.
SOUND (VIBRATION)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You can control and conjure
sound. By simply paying the cost of the

120

sphere, you can increase or decrease a

given sound by an amount of decibels
equal to the sphere roll, or a reduction
and/or increase to the local sound within
an affected area radius of 1 square per
point roll (i.e. a 15 would be a 15 square
radius).
Consult the table below to
determine standard levels of hearing and
given decibels.
Table: 6.3 Standard Decibels
Sound Examples
Decibels (bD)
Atmosphere Noise
20bD
Whispering
30bD
Leaves Rustling,
40bD
Footsteps on Ground
Light Rainfall,
50bD
Footsteps on Hard
Surface
Heavy Rainfall,
60bD
Normal Conversations
Alarm Clock, Wagon,
70bD
Horses running
Noisy Taverns,
80bD
Screaming Child,
Inside a Windmill
Saw Mills, live music,
90bD
police whistle
Fog horn, jackhammer 100bD
Lions roar, Thunder
110bD
[distance]
Thunderclap
120bD
[immediate danger],
(anything above this is
replaced by pain).
Dragons Roar, 30ft.
130bD
from a 4 Engine Jet.
Air Raid Siren
140bD
Rocket Launch Pad
180bD

At higher decibels for the average

human of above 120bD will cause
immediate damage equal to 1 point of
damage per point above 120bD.
With use of this sphere, the caster can
also create a concentrated blast of sound
that deals the sphere roll in damage. This
attack cannot be defended against unless

121

the opponent is deaf, unaffected by sonic

attacks, or has some form of sound
dampening
equipment.
Sound
dampening equipment reduces the
damage, but sometimes does not
eliminate it completely.
Each time an opponent is struck with
a sonic attack that deals damage, they
must roll an opposing Fortitude roll or be
deafened for a number of combat cycles
equal to the die roll. While deafened, the
opponent can no longer be damaged by
sonic attacks, but can still have their
deafened status extended by a number of
combat cycles equal to the die roll of the
next attack.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damage shield made of pure
sound, or a deflection shield of vibrations.
SHADOW (SHADOW)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description:
You can manifest and
control shadows to elongate, morph or
otherwise move by will alone. By paying
the cost of the sphere, you can increase or
decrease a given shadow by a % equal to
twice your sphere roll, and even change
its shape.
These shadows can be
controlled to perform reflect multiple
actions, but in retrospect are considered
illusions that do no actual harm, even if
the shadow shows that its stabbing
someone in the back.
You can also create shadows where
there were none previously. The amount
of shadow is equivalent to the roll in
squares and lasts as long as the cost in
magick points are held in suspense.
You can also create a blast of
concentrated shadow that strikes for the
sphere roll in damage.
MAGICK SHIELDING: You can

create a damage shield made of shadows

or you can create a deflection shield made
of shadows.
LUMINANCE (LIGHT)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 4
Description:
You can manifest and
control light to create high and low
intensity light. You can increase the
lumens (strength of the light) by rolling
your sphere die and adding the milestone
to the result and multiply that by 10.
Consult the table below to show the
average strength of common lights.
Table: 6.4 Lights per Lumens
Light
Distance Lumens
Examples
Seen/In
Shadow
1 Firefly
n/a
0.324
1 Candle
2 feet/5
13
feet
Torch light
20 ft./40 130
ft.
Camp Fire
30 ft./60 195
ft.
Twilight
n/a
500
Daylight
n/a
2630
Note: A good rule of thumb for
determining light radius with the amount of
lumens you create is by taking the number of
lumens and divide it by 6.5 and thats how
many foot radius of light. Then take the
radius of the light and multiply that by 2 and
that is the shadow radius.
You can make the light shine like a
torch with a radius or make it turn into a
spotlight which you then take the number
of lumens x 2 feet to equal how far the
spot light would shine.
You can also concentrate the light to

122

cause damage equal to the sphere roll in

intensity.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damage shield made out of light
or you can create a physical shield made
of light.
DARKNESS (DARKNESS)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description:
You can manifest and
control magickal darkness. The darkness
you create cannot be pierced except by
magical light (luminance) and is immune
to normal daylight. Even creatures that
can see naturally in the dark cannot see
through the darkness that youve created.
You can create a darkness equal to your
sphere roll in a foot radius. In order for
luminance sphere holders to break
through your darkness, they must roll a
challenge against your darkness sphere
roll. If they succeed, your darkness is
broken, if they fail your darkness
continues to exist.
You can also create intense darkness
that can be used to inflict pain and
suffering on others. The damage dealt is
equal to the sphere roll (milestones + die
roll).
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damage shield made completely
out of darkness, or you can create a
physical shield of darkness.
VOID (OBLIVION)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control powers of the
beyond, or it is better to say, they control
you. A power usually forbidden in most
circles, the Void sphere works with
magicks deeming to unmake existence.
Players are encouraged to get the

Overseers permission before ever taking

this sphere.
This power does not deal damage to
health like most other spheres, but instead
attacks a characters magick points. Each
time someone is struck with the sphere,
they suffer oblivion damage which works
to unmake their existence. If ever a
character is reduced to zero magick points
by this power, the power then attacks the
characters Spirit score. Once the Spirit
score is reduced to zero, the character
vanishes from existence, forever lost to
the Void.
This power also allows for the
character to seek answers from the Void.
The character must roll their sphere
against a challenge level set by the
Overseer. Consult the table below for
some standard challenge levels:
Table: 6.5 Average DS Challenges for Void
Sphere
Difficulty to Answer
Difficulty
Score
Common Knowledge, Local
Lore, 1 to 2 hours of Asking
15
Around
Average Effort for
Investigation, One Days
Worth of Research,
20
Interrogating a Mildly At-Risk
Prisoner
Learning a Closely Guarded
Personal Secret, 1 Weeks
Worth of Research,
25
Interrogating a Moderately AtRisk Prisoner
Learning of a Closely Guarded
Local Secret, 1 Months Worth
30
of Research, Interrogating a
Life Threatened Prisoner.
Learning a Closely Guarded
Belonging to a Secretive Cabal
35
of Spell Casters, 1 Years Worth
of Research.

Learning of an Ancient Secret,

10 Years Worth of Research.

40+

The Void divulges its secrets to those

who are willing to do its bidding. Every
week, the Void Sphere will compel the
caster to perform some sort of atrocity to
either him/herself or upon others. The
compulsion comes in dreams and varying
voices inside the characters mind. In
order to break free of the compulsion, the
character must roll a Will challenge
against his or her own Voice Sphere to
ignore it. This does not, however, prevent
the nightmares or voices from plaguing
the caster. Each week the caster ignores
the compulsion, he or she suffers an
unfavorable
condition
to
the
next
compulsion. Inevitably, Void can only be
ignored for so long.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: Void can
create a damaging shield made of the
powers of oblivion.
Because of the
unmaking will of the magick, it does not
allow the caster to create physical or
deflection shields.
REJUVENATION (HEALING)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control the powers
of healing and restoration. By paying the
magick point cost of the sphere you can
restore hit points equal to the die roll in
any given combat cycle, and/or the full
sphere roll (milestone + die) outside of the
combat cycle. Characters restored in this
fashion cannot exceed their maximum hit
point total.

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Also, you can attempt to cure a disease

by the sphere roll versus the DS of the
disease. If successful, the disease (and its
symptoms) are purged from the character.
If the roll fails, the disease persists.
If a character suffers from any sort of
ability score damage, this power can be
used outside of combat for a period of 1
full minute (where the power cost is held
in suspense) and it can restore the lost
ability score at a rate of the casters die
roll.
MAGICKAL
SHIELDING:
This
power does not allow any form of
magickal shielding.
DEATH (HARMING)
Purchase Cost: 10

124

Base Magick Point Cost: 5

Description: You control the powers of
death. With this magick, you can inflict
pain upon others, causing wounds to
open on and in their body. You deal the
spheres roll in damage with this ability.
This type of damage can only be inflicted
on living creatures.
Also, you can wither an opponent
dealing your die from your sphere to an
opponents ability score of your choice.
This is a temporary loss that returns at a
rate of 1 point per day. When taking
ability score damage, the opponent may
roll against your challenge difficulty score
set by your sphere roll (milestone + die).
If they succeed, they suffer half damage.
If you succeed, they suffer the full

withering effect.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a damaging shield of death and
harm, this only affects living creatures.
WARDS (GLYPHS)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You can create protective
wards and glyphs to either keep out
certain creatures or when mixed with
other spheres, to cause ruin to those who
trespass over them.
The size of the ward is a radius equal
to the characters sphere roll (milestone +
die) in feet. This ward can be used to
multiple ways. Those inside the ward are
protected by its power. The caster can
willfully allow others into the circle
without them suffering any ill effects.
Also, a ward can be placed on a single
square or like areas (such as windows and
doors) to expand the reach of their
protection (if they trust the walls of the
place they currently reside) these are
called Warded Lines. You can create
warded lines equal to the area of the circle
in feet. To find the area of a circle, you
take the Pi (3.1416) and multiply it by the
square root of the radius (in feet)
[
]. Thus if you have a 30 foot
radius Ward, you take 3.1416 x 5.477 (the
square root of 30 is 5.477). Divide the
result by 5 and that is how many squares
you can ward individually.
Hedge Out Is the most common form
of a ward, as it prevents a type of
creature, damage source, or specific type
of individual from entering the ward or
otherwise piercing the boundaries of the
ward. Any time a creature or designated
force tries to breach the boundaries, they
must perform a challenge against the
strength of the ward (the casters sphere

125

roll).
If the hedged out individual
attempts to cross the boundary its a Will
challenge vs. the DS of the sphere roll.
Contingency is a type of ward that
occurs whenever a creature or designated
type of individual crosses the boundaries
of the ward or upon uttering a secret
word. Without any type of Sphere mix,
the ward simply acts to alert the caster
that someone or something has trespassed
over the ward. If used in conjunction
with any other sphere, the ward then
activates the indicated spheres power.
Both the ward and the sphere that is being
used with the contingency must both
have their magick points held in suspense
in order for the ward to stay activated. If
working with another spell caster, the
individual who is using the Ward Sphere
takes on the additional magick cost of the
other sphere used, not the other spell
caster.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a physical shield or a deflection
shield that materializes as an invisible
barrier, or a barrier filled with magickal
glyphs.
MIND (CHARM)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You hold sway over the
minds of others.
You can invoke
compulsions,
alter
moods
and/or
dispositions as you choose. Characters
who are affected by the mind sphere are
not aware they are under its influence until
after the effects have worn off. Unless they
have personally witnessed the caster using
the sphere on them, those who fall out of
the compulsion do not know who affected
them, but can speculate on who had done
it (generally whoever benefited the most
under their compulsion).

Below is a list of actions that can be

taken under the Mind Spell Sphere:
Compulsion is a means of acting out of
accord with the persons normal means of
acting. Such as giving over their days
earned wages to a perfect stranger, or
repeating a set of words to whether
insulting or not to someone else. The act
must be short term and able to be
accomplished in a number of minutes
equal to the sphere roll (milestones + die).
The compulsion cannot be used to inflict
physical harm on oneself or those he or she
deems as friends else the compulsion fails
and the character comes to their senses. To
avoid the compulsion, the character
enspelled must perform a Will vs. the
casters Sphere roll challenge.
If the
character succeeds, the compulsion fails,
but if successful, the character becomes
complacent and willing to perform the
service.
Alter Disposition You can cause a
change in an individuals disposition by
rolling your sphere (milestone + die)
against your opponents Will score. If
your opponent fails, you take the
difference of your roll and add it to
improve your future Social dealings with
that individual (this can apply to Charm,
Presence and Looks challenges). You may
also choose to change an individuals
disposition towards someone else for good
or for worse.
Charm You can briefly charm someone
to perform actions not only against their
will, but also against their moral character
and against family members and friends.
You must roll your Sphere (milestone +
sphere) against your opponents Will as a
challenge. If you succeed, the opponent is
temporarily under your spell and must be
told how to act. Every new combat cycle
when it reaches your reaction roll, the

126

charmed individual may make an

additional roll against your charm at a
cumulative favorable condition. Once the
charmed opponent wins the challenge they
are free from the spell and can then act
accordingly on their turn. However, this
does not prevent the caster from renewing
the charm. To keep the charm active, the
caster must keep the charm cost in
suspense.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
only create a deflection shield, using your
strength of will in order to foil the attack.
This shield is useless against those who are
immune or otherwise protected from being
affected by the Mind Sphere or Charms.
BINDING (PARALYSIS)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You gain control over the
ability to bind, hold or otherwise hinder
people and objects from performing
certain actions.
There are several different types of
bindings that you can perform, consult
the list below to see what initial bindings
are available:
Bind Objects You can prevent the
moving of, activation, or opening of
objects. Whether it be keeping a sword in
its sheath, keeping a door shut, or binding
a mug of ale to the tavern table, this spell
sphere keeps items and their use out of
reach of others. When trying to move,
activate or otherwise use these objects,
they must succeed at a Brawn challenge
versus the difficulty score set by your
sphere roll (milestone + die). If they do
not succeed, the object remains in place
and the binding continues. If it fails, then
the binding spell is broken. You must
continue to keep the magick points in
suspense to allow for the object to remain

bound.
Bind Legs You bind a person or
creatures legs to the ground.
Your
opponent must roll against your sphere
roll (milestone + die) using their Brawn
score as a challenge. If you succeed
against them, they cannot move for that
combat cycle. You may choose to keep
the magick points in suspense to have the
spell continue indefinitely. Each round
the individual is bound, they cannot
perform any movement actions except to
try and break free of the bind. This
results in another Brawn challenge
against the originally rolled Binding.
Arms Bind You bind a person or
creatures arms (1 pair) to themselves or
at their sides. Your opponent must then
roll a Brawn challenge against your
sphere roll (milestone + die) to see if they
can break free. If you succeed on this
challenge, your opponents arms are
bound and no actions that require the
movement of arms can be done. You may
choose to keep the magick points in
suspense to have the spell continue
indefinitely. Each round the individual is
bound, they cannot perform any action
using their arms except to try and break
free of the bind. This results in another
Brawn challenge against the originally
rolled Binding.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You can
create a deflection shield that temporarily
attempts to binding and constrict the
attacks of others.
ETERNITY (TIME)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control the passing of
time and with it you are on the path of
meeting eternity. Meeting the cost of the
spell sphere allows you to use your

127

sphere roll (milestone + die) instead of

Agility for your Reaction Roll.
At the same cost, you can instead alter
the flow of time for either yourself or
others. Consult the below abilities and
how they affect others:
Accelerate Time (Arms): You can
accelerate how
time
affects
one
individual, making it appear as if they are
moving faster, while from their
perspective, everyone is moving slower.
They are able to take one more action in a
round while suffering one less unfavorable
condition. Also, because of the speed of
their arms, you grant the sped up
character your spell spheres die to their
attack roll.
Accelerate Time (Legs): You can
accelerate how fast someone moves. To
determine how many additional squares a
character can move, you take the result of
the sphere roll (milestone + die) and
divide it by 10 rounded down. Therefore,
if you roll a 26, that character can thus
move 2 additional squares. Also, because
of the speed of the affected characters
legs, they gain your spell spheres die
(die) to their non-magickal defense roll.
Decelerate Time (Arms):
You can
decelerate how time affects one
individual, making it appear as if they are
moving
slow,
while
from
their
perspective, everyone else is moving
super fast. The individual suffers an
unfavorable condition on all actions,
including the first action he or she takes in
the combat cycle. Also, because of the
reduced speed of your opponents arms,
any attack roll they make suffers your
spell spheres die (die) as a negative.
Decelerate Time (Legs): You can
decelerate
how
time
affects
on
individuals ability to move, making it
appear as if they are moving slow, while

from their perspective, everyone else is

moving fast. The individual suffers a loss
in movement equal to 1 speed per the
sphere roll (milestone + die) divided by
10. Therefore, if you roll a 32, that
character thus moves at 3 squares less.
This ability can even make it to the point
where the opponent moves so slow that
they dont appear to be moving. Also,
because of how slow the character is
moving, they also suffer your spell
spheres die as a negative to their nonmagickal defense roll.
MAGICK SHIELDING: Through a
combination of speeding up and slowing
down you are able to create a deflection
shield that impends an opponents hit.
PORTALS (TRANSPORTATION)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control the powers of
portals, dimensional gates, planar shifting
and teleportation. By paying the cost of
this spell sphere you teleport a number of
feet equal to your sphere roll (milestone +
die) per combat cycle. By holding the
spell sphere cost in suspense, you can
teleport that distance every combat cycle
as a naturally part of your movement.
This can enhance your overland travel
speed, but most prefer to use the spheres
other approaches.
Portal (Here/There) You can create a
portal, or gateway, that is equal to your
spell sphere roll (milestone + die) in
diameter. The first portal, usually called a
Here portal, is placed locally but is
inactive until a There portal is placed.
Once both portals are placed, any creature
or object can pass through from either
side. To properly work, both a Here and
There portal must be met in magick point
cost and must be placed in suspense until

128

properly used. The size of the portal is

equal to the sphere milestones in feet in
diameter
Teleport (Overland) To teleport a
person or object a long distance it requires
a lot of concentration and magick power.
For every minute you concentrate as well
as pay the respective magick point cost of
the spell sphere, you may travel a number
of feet equal to 1 miles spell sphere roll
(milestone + die).
Thus, if you
concentrate for 10 minutes and pay the
spell spheres cost 10 times, and roll a 19,
you travel 19 x 1000 which equals 19000
feet or 3.6 miles.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: Using
quick teleportation techniques, you are
able to create a unique form of a
deflection shield.
SENDING (DIVINATION)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You control the ability to
send and receive messages from the
divine, visions from the other realms, as
well as from other people.
Divining You ask questions of those
in another realm, world, or even send
your questions to the great divines that
hold sway over the powers of the
universe. You dont always know where
your visions come from directly,
although, sometimes the sender makes
themselves fully known.
Getting the
answers to simple questions are generally
easier than getting answers to those that
are a bit more complex. Consult the table
below to see what needs to be rolled in
order to acquire an answer.

communication
to
represent
the
relationship the character has with that
entity.
Sending Those with the spell sphere
of Sending can elect to send an aspect of
themselves such as a sense (sight, hearing,
taste, touch, smell, voice, ect.) a deal of
distance to each either a specific spot or a
specific individual. This requires a great
deal of concentration, but can allow one
to reach out distance equal to their sphere
roll (milestone + die). Thus, a roll result
of 32 has a distance of 32 miles and the
individual caster can choose to view the
area, listen to the area, speak or whatnot.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING: You may
elect to shield yourself from the Sending
Spell Sphere or like Divinations, granting
you limited deflection shield.

Table: 6.6 Average DS Challenges for

Divining
Difficulty to Answer
Difficulty
Score
Common Knowledge, Local
Lore, 1 to 2 hours of Asking
15
Around
Average Effort for
Investigation, One Days
Worth of Research,
20
Interrogating a Mildly At-Risk
Prisoner
Learning a Closely Guarded
Personal Secret, 1 Weeks
Worth of Research,
25
Interrogating a Moderately AtRisk Prisoner
Learning of a Closely Guarded
Local Secret, 1 Months Worth
30
of Research, Interrogating a
Life Threatened Prisoner.
Learning a Closely Guarded
Belonging to a Secretive Cabal
35
of Spell Casters, 1 Years Worth
of Research.
Learning of an Ancient Secret,
40+
10 Years Worth of Research.

The answers dont always come in the

form of words, but can often come as
visions, dreams or even nightmares. The
elusive answerer may even speak in
riddles as a means to test the individual
caster at a game of wits in order to see if
that individual is worthy of its wisdom.
Also, it is good to know that some
sources dont like being bothered about
simple or otherwise, lazy, spell casters
who have nothing better to do than ask
questions all day. For every question
asked in a day, the caster gains an
unfavorable condition to their next divining
roll. Keep in mind, a failed roll doesnt
necessarily mean that no information is
acquired, and sometimes, if the Source is
particularly annoyed, may give the wrong
information. Overseers may even wish to
create renown with the source of

129

ENTROPY (WITHERING)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control the powers of
decay, disease, corrosion and disrepair.
You hold sway over the effects of time
over both objects and people, able to
watch as wood falls to rot, and stone to
dust.
Decay Objects are perhaps the most
vulnerable to this power, as you can
weather away an objects material
hardness and make it turn brittle. For a
cost of the spell sphere, you may roll your
sphere (milestone + die) and elect to deal
that much damage to the object as well as
reduce the objects material hardness by
your sphere roll divided by 10. Thus if
you rolled 24, you would deal 24 points of
damage to the object as well as reduce its
material hardness by 2. Once an object
reaches a hardness of zero or more, then
the object crumbles to dust.
Disease Much like Decay, you may

elect to inflict horrible disease on living

creatures. For the cost of the sphere, you
may roll your sphere (milestone + die)
and elect to deal that much damage in
disease towards the individual as well as
reduce one of the individuals ability
scores by the resulting die roll. Thus, if
you rolled 4 and had a milestone of 20,
you would have the damage potential of
24 points and 4 points from one specific
ability score.
Ability score loss is
considered temporary and may be healed
through normal or magickal means.
MAGICKAL SHIELD You may
create a damaging shield either decay or
disease, depending upon how you were
attacked.
MORPHOLOGY (SHAPE-SHIFTING)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description: You control magicks that
allow one to transform one creature into
another. By paying the cost of the spell
sphere, you can then look through the
racial traits and select an ability by paying
its cost as well. Thus, if you wish to
change your hair color it would only cost
the base magick point cost of the ability
since cosmetic changes are 0, while you
could give yourself an extra arm for 15
additional magick points, wings for an
additional 20+ or even become centaurlike for 20 magick points.
Shape shifting can always be held in
suspense to keep a certain shape for
indefinite periods of time. However,
some casters warn that prolonged shape
shifting may result in a permanent
change.
Its up to the Overseer to
determine if this is something she or he
wishes for their campaign world.
MAGICK SHIELDING: The caster
can create a physical shield by morphing

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into something with natural armor.

ENCHANTMENT (INFUSE)
Purchase Cost: 10
Base Magick Point Cost: 5
Description:
You control and study
means of enchanting objects and creatures
with unique magickal traits.
Enchanting an object or person, even
temporary, is no easy feat. At first, the
enchanter is limited in the number of
magick points he or she can infuse within
an object equal to his or her milestone.
Thus, a character with a milestone total of
32 can only add magickal traits and
attributes equal to 32. The enchanter may
attempt to press his or her skill to its
limits by adding their die roll to the
results, but if the die roll comes short in
the enchantment, the enchantments fail to
take hold. Also, an enchanter must take
heed of the object or persons magickal
threshold, that being their own maximum
potential for enchantment which doesnt
always correspond to the skill level of the
enchanter. Keep in mind too that in order
to enchant things, an enchanter must have
access to other spells to use in conjunction
with the Enchantment Spell Sphere or
may need to rely on the aid of fellow spell
casters. Whether it is from the enchanter
themselves or from outside help, the
magick point cost needed to hold the
power in suspense is the enchanters
burden alone. Thus, if an outside spell
caster uses the Fire Spell Sphere to add
flames to a sword, the enchanter not only
has to pay for the Enchantment Spell
Sphere magick point cost, but also must
pay for the Fire Spell Spheres cost as well
to keep it going.
Enchant Object Objects have a limited
magickal threshold equal to their material
hardness in magick points that they can

be enchanted with. Thus, if an enchanter

wishes to infuse a iron weapon, it would
be a total of 5 magick points worth of
enchantment versus gold that gives only
3. An enchanter may elect to offer some
of his or her own magick points (which
add to the spell cost as well as to the
amount of magick points that have to be
held in suspense) in order to increase the
items magick threshold.
For example, if the enchanter wishes
to further enchant the item to give it the
ability to use the Water Spell Sphere to
make the weapon touch with Cold
damage, it would cost 3 magick points for
Cold Sphere and zero magick points (0
mp) to allow it to use Touch as the magick
modifying trait, or three additional
magick points (3 mp) to allow it to use
Blast. In the above instance, an iron
weapon could be enchanted easily and
with no additional cost to the enchanter to
simply allow it to deal Cold damage
every time it strikes something, or have to
pay 3 magick points in addition to the 5 to
boost the threshold far enough to sustain
the added modifier. Keep in mind that
the enchantment cost of 5 mp would be
added to the 3 mp of the Cold Sphere
cost, for a total of 8 magick points, or in
the instance with Blast the cost would be
14 (5 for Enchantment Sphere, 3 for Cold
Sphere, 3 for Blast and 3 for the increase in
magick threshold) to enchant the weapon
including holding it in suspense. In
instances where the enchantment requires
a milestone to determine its efficiency, the
milestone of the enchantment is equal to
the magick threshold, such in the case for
damage or like needed numbers.
The enchanter may also, instead of
using an additional spell sphere, may
instead elect to enchant an object with
their Ability Boost or both.

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Enchant Creatures While objects seem

complex, enchanting living things are also
difficult.
Creatures have a magickal
threshold equal to their Essence Scores. If
no Essence score is present (such in the
case for quick monsters), it is generally
equal to the Body of the creature. An
average human has a Essence score of 5,
for example, and thus can only be
enchanted up to a 5 magick points worth
of spell effects. The only way to increase
this, is by having the enchanter pay the
additional cost just like enchanting an
object.
For example, if the enchanter wishes to
enchant his friend Thorin with a shape
shift of horns that can deal 8 points of
Blunt damage, it would cost the enchanter
(assuming all this was through Touch) in
magick points 5 for the Enchantment Spell
Sphere, 5 for the Morphology Sphere, 16
for the Horns, and 16 for the increase in
Magick Threshold (5 for Morphology
Spell Sphere, 16 for the Horns = 21 minus
5 for the characters Essence Score) for a
total of 42 magick points. Usually in this
case, it would just be easier to use the
Morphology Sphere on Thorin for a cost
of 21 instead. However, the Enchantment
Sphere allows for the recipient, Thorin in
this case, to bypass his own magickal
threshold voluntarily and take on the cost
of the spell with his own magick points.
In this case, the Enchanter would only
pay 26 magick points and would only
have to keep 5 points (the cost of the
Enchantment Sphere) in suspense, while
Thorin keeps the remaining 21 in
suspense. Thorin or the enchanter may at
any time cancel the spell.
Ability Boost An enchanter may elect
to pay the cost of the spell sphere to
potentially increase another characters
ability score, skill, attack or defense by a

number of milestones equal to their spell

spheres milestone divided by 5 and
increase that scores die to the same die as
the enchanters. Thus, if the enchanter
has a milestone of 15 in the spell sphere
and a d6 for the die, the enchanter can
increase any creatures scores by 3
milestones and allow them to roll a d6
instead of any lower dice. If the creature
has a die that is higher than the d6, the
creature would instead use that die.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING An
enchanter does not have the ability to
create a magick shield of any kind.
Instead, he or she may elect to use their
Ability Boost spell on themselves to
increase their defense.
FLORA (PLANTS)
Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You control the secrets of
mother nature, causing plants to bend to
your will. With the cost of the spell
sphere, you can cause plants to grow and
move at your accordance or draw special
salves and poisons from local herbs.
Plant Growth You can make the local
plant life grow a percentage equal to your
spell sphere roll (milestone + die). For
example, if used on a tree that is 14 feet
tall, and the roll is 27, you would increase
the tree 27%, which would increase it to a
total of 17.78 feet tall. This can be used to
increase a plant larger than its normal
size, or you can use this ability to increase
a budding seed to grow to its normal
maturity at a rate of 27% per round.
There are some plants, like grass and
vines that have no maturity size and thus
can be grown constantly, where as a rose
bush that is considered a climber can
increase to 22.9 feet tall. One thing to
keep in mind, is that while growing

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smaller plants may not have any

consequences, larger plants require a lot
of nutrients and may die if the ground is
not supportive enough.
Ensnare You have the ability to cause
local plants to reach out and ensnare your
opponents. The local foliage has physical,
attack and defense scores equal to your
sphere roll (milestone + die) and will
automatically attempt to grab at your
opponents. Once a grab is performed,
they will then attempt to keep the
character from performing any other
actions.
Extracts You can cause local plants to
give up their extracts. This is good for
fashioning curative salves, and/or
poisons to use on opponents. These salves
are meant for ingestion, contact, or
injection, some may even be designed as
spores.
Consult the table below to
determine the type of delivery:
Table: 6.6 Extract Delivery Challenge
Levels
Unfavorable
Delivery Method
Conditions
Ingestion
0
Injection
1
Spore-like
2
Contact
3
Depending on the type of delivery, can
change the strength of the salve or poison.
In either case, the strength of the salve or
poison is equal to the spell sphere roll
(milestone + die). Thus, if the spell caster
wishes to create a healing salve, with a
delivery of ingestion, then the character
would heal their spell sphere roll
(milestone + die) to the other character.
Keep in mind, that the spell caster must
have access to the plants needed in order
to create either the poison or the healing

salve.
In order to have access, the
character can utilize the Scavenge skill.
Consult the table below to determine the
plant value of the local flora.
Table: 6.7 Value of Local Planet Life
Level of
Difficulty Score
Vegetation
Barren (deserts,
30
tundra, ect.)
Light (grasslands,
20
plains, farmland,
ect.)
Moderate (forests,
15
glades, valleys,
ect.)
Dense (jungles,
10
marshes, ect.)
Whatever the character rolls above the
DS is gained as Plant Value in the
characters inventory. This plant value is
used up every time the character uses the
Extract Spell Sphere. For example, if a
character rolls a 28 in Light Vegetation,
then the character has found 8 in Plant
Value. Making a Healing agent costs the
caster 1 in Plant Value, while making a
Poison agent costs 2.
The healing agent and the poison
agent must be kept in a container of sorts
for storage, but the Flora caster can
stockpile their salves.
This ability
becomes useful when additional magickal
traits are gained, and both healing agents
and poisons can start taking on
interesting properties.
MAGICKAL SHIELD: You can cause
the local vegetation to leap to your
defense, creating a deflection shield or
you can create a shield of brambles, wood
or woven vines to act as a physical shield.
FAUNA (ANIMAL)

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Purchase Cost: 5
Base Magick Point Cost: 3
Description: You have gain power over
beasts and other creatures of nature. By
paying the cost of the spell sphere you
can sense the emotions of animals and
even control their actions.
Animal Empathy You may use your
spell sphere against the creatures WILL
score to be able to sense their emotional
state. Knowing the emotional state gives
the caster clues as to the animals next
intended action and gain a favorable
condition when attempting any social
challenge against that particular creature.
Control Animal - You gain powers
similar to the Mind Sphere, except that
they only work on animals.
MAGICKAL SHIELDING You
temporarily summon swarms of local
creatures such as insects, birds, bats, ect,
to come to your aid and act as a deflection
shield or a damaging shield.

Sphere Limits
Characters may choose to limit their spell
spheres for the gain of additional magick skill
points to spend on traits and boosting their
magick dice. Limits are permanent unless
the character is able to retrain themselves and
pay twice the skill points the limit granted.
Limits can grant between 1 to 10 skill points.
Limit One Less Damage
Skill Points Granted: 5
Description: If your spell sphere had a
damaging attack, you may choose one
and that type of attack is not accessible to
you.
Limit One Magick Attack Only
Skill Points Granted: 10

Description: You can use only 1 type of

Magick Attack with this Spell Sphere.
Limit One Magick Defense Only
Skill Points Granted: 5
Description: You can only use 1 type of
Magick Defense with this Spell Sphere.
Limit Easily Parried
Skill Points Granted: 3
Description: You suffer a unfavorable
condition whenever someone attempts to
spell parry your spells from this sphere
and their nexus starts at 1 square closer to
you if you enter a duel.
Limit No Damage
Skill Points Granted: 10
Description: Your spell sphere cannot
cause any form of damage.
Limit Subdued
Skill Points Granted: 5
Description: Instead of dealing damage
to hit points or magick points, your spells
can only deal damage to Stamina points
with this sphere.
Limit One Spell Trait Wonder
Skill Points Granted: 10
Description: You can buy only one spell
trait to work with your spell sphere. The
10 skill points gained can be used to
purchase another spell sphere or the same
spell sphere, but only if this limit is taken
for that sphere as well, no additional skill
points are gained for those spheres
purchased.
Limit Once Per Day
Skill Points Granted: 15
Description: You can only use your spell
sphere once per day, despite how much
magick points you have.

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Magick Attack Traits

Magick traits are like Attack and Defense
traits, in the effect that the act as a modifier to
the existing action. Magick traits can act as
means of conveyance for the spell (such as
blast, target, touch, split, ect.). These, along
with means of specialization, can add
additional damage to the rolls as well.
Magick attack traits may be purchased in lieu
of magick attack dice.

How to Read
[NAME OF TRAIT] Is the name of the
magick trait. If it has (Additive) next to it, it
means that it can be added on top of the
current trait being used, for every additive
included in a spell, it costs an additional 2
cumulative magick points on top of the
regular costs.
Purchase Cost: Is how many magick skill
points it will cost in order to purchase the
magick trait.
Requirements: Is what the character needs
to have previously purchased before this trait
can be purchased.
Restrictions: Describes any type of
restrictions in use with this trait.
Magick Cost: Is how much the trait will
add to the spell in magick point cost.
Suspense: Is whether or not the trait is
able to be held in suspense. Those that can
be held in suspense continue their effects
until the spell is broken or otherwise ended.
Those that cannot be held in suspense, must
be individually cast each round.
Description: Is the description of the
magick trait and what it does.

Bonus Traits
Every character that has access to spell
spheres automatically gain the magick traits
of Touch, Blast and Target.

General Traits
FAVORITE MAGICK ATTACK
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: One magick attack stands
out above all the rest and you enjoy using
it. You must select one magick attack.
This is now considered the magick attack
that this trait affects. Whenever using
your favorite magick attack, you may roll
on top of your normal die a specialty
die that starts at 1d2.
MAGICK ATTACK EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in the Magick Attack
die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Attack
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Attack for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description:
You wield your favorite
magick attack so well that you have
become an expert. Whenever using the
specified magick attack you are an expert
in, increase your specialty die to 1d4.
This ability is cumulative with Favorite
Magick Attack.
MAGICK ATTACK SPECIALIST
Purchase Cost: 7

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Requirements: 1d8 in the magick attack

die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Attack, Magick Attack Expert.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Attack and
Magick Attack Expert for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have improved your
knowledge in wielding your magick
attack that you have become a specialist.
Whenever using the specified magick
attack you are a specialist in, increase
your specialty die to 1d6.
MAGICK ATTACK MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in the magick attack
of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Attack, Magick Attack Expert,
Magick Attack Specialist.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Attack,
Magick Attack Expert, Magick Attack
Specialist for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have now attained the
level of master. Students everywhere
flock to you to learn your secrets.
Whenever attacking with the magick
attack you are a master in, increase your
specialty die by 1d8.
MAGICK ATTACK HIGH MASTER
Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in the magick attack
die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Attack, Magick Attack Expert,
Magick Attack Specialist and Magick Attack
Mastery.
Restrictions: May only purchase this

attack trait of which the character already

has purchased Favorite Magick Attack,
Magick Attack Expert, Magick Attack
Specialist and Magick Attack Mastery.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have become a Magick
Attack High Master and it costs 1 less
magick point to cast this Magick Attack.
Also, increase your specialty die to 1d10.

Roll (Unarmed).
If the attack is
successful, the subject is affected, if the
attack fails, nothing happens. Touch also
allows the caster to select himself as the
recipient of the spell as well without
having to roll an attack roll.
Holding the spell in suspense will
allow the caster to continue to make touch
attacks with the spell without having to
pay the additional cost.

MAGICK ATTACK GRAND MASTER

Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in the magick attack
die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Attack, Magick Attack Expert,
Magick Attack Specialist and Magick Attack
Mastery and Magick Attack High Master
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Attack,
Magick Attack Expert, Magick Attack
Specialist and Magick Attack Mastery and
Magick Attack High Master
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: When rolling your specialty
die and you roll a 12 or more, you may
roll the die again as if it were a bonus die
and add it to the total result. Increase
your specialty die to 1d12. Using your
Magick Attack costs 1 magick point less
and is cumulative with Magick Attack High
Master for a total of 2 less magick points.

BLAST
Purchase Cost: 0
Requirements: None.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell is formed into a
projectile that will affect the target if a
successful Magick Attack Roll (Ranged) is
made against the subjects Defense.
Holding the spell in suspense will
allow the caster to continue to make
ranged attacks with the spell without
having to pay the additional cost per use,
but may only make one such attack per
combat cycle.

TOUCH
Purchase Cost: 0
Requirements: None.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 0
Suspense: Yes
Description: You spell only affects what
you can touch. If the subject is resisting,
you will have to roll an Magick Attack

136

TARGET
Purchase Cost: 0
Requirements: None.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell affects one
target that you can see without having to
roll a Magick Attack roll.
Holding the spell in suspense will allow
the caster to continue to make a target
attack, but may only make one such
attack per combat cycle.
JET
Purchase Cost: 5

Requirements: 1d6 in Blast, 1d4 in the

Sphere.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell is formed into a
jet of its type and affects anyone caught
within its path. The jet is 1 foot in length
per milestone of the spell sphere with a
width of about 1 foot.
In order to affect a creature, you must
make a successful Magick Attack Roll
(Ranged) against the subjects Defense.
Once the jet strikes an obstacle, the jet
doesnt proceed further until the obstacle
is destroyed or the jet is redirected.
The jet can be redirected, but it
temporarily shuts off until the new
direction is acquired.
Holding the spell in suspense will
allow the caster to sustain the jet.
CONE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 Blast, 1d6 in Sphere, Jet.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell is formed into a
cone, with a length equal to your spell
spheres milestone in feet, with a starting
width of 1 foot and an ending width of
your spell spheres milestone in feet. A
successful Magick Attack Roll (Blast)
against the subjects Defense must be
made to affect the target with a cone.
Once a portion of the cone strikes a
person or an object that portion of cones
effects do not proceed past it that is, it
does not proceed on to anything behind
it.
Holding the spell in suspense will
allow the caster to continue to make a
target attack, but may only make one such

137

attack per combat cycle.

SWEEP (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Blast, Jet, Cone.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: You can redirect your spell
without having to shut it off. You may
sweep an area by simply changing your
facing.
CLOUD
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d10 in Any Magick
Attack, Burst, Explosion.
Restrictions: none
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell affects an area in
diameter equal to your spell sphere in
milestones. The spell is a cloud that
affects everyone within. The cloud lasts
for as long as it is held in suspense and
then for the spell spheres die in combat
cycles after it is no longer held in
suspense.
CONTINUOUS (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Blast, Jet.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: No.
Description: Your spell does not stop at
barriers and proceeds to affect all those in
the spells area of affect.
BURST (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Any Magick Attack,
Ripple.
Restrictions: None.

Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: No.
Description: When your spell strikes a
target, it creates a minor explosion that
affects anyone within a 1 square radius.
EXPLOSION (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Any Magick Attack,
Burst.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: No.
Description: Your spell affects everyone
within a diameter equal in feet to your
spheres milestone.
SPLIT (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Target, Blast or
Thrown.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 1
Suspense: No.
Description: You divide your damage
evenly (rounded down) amongst multiple
targets when using the Target, Blast or
Thrown Magickal Attack Die. The number
of targets is up to you.
Holding the spell in suspense allows
for future splitting.

Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in Any Magick Attack.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: No.
Description: Your spell deals the effects
of the sphere rolled only with the sphere
die to the opponent during the beginning
of your next combat cycle. If it is damage,
then the damage proceeds normally, if it
is an effect, then if the spell was
successful, the die is added to any
challenges the affected must roll against it
for this combat cycle only.
Each time this additive is included in
the spell, it adds a duration of 1
additional combat cycle.
REPEATER (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Any Magick Attack,
Lingering.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: No
Description: Your spell affects the same
target the next combat cycle as if you had
cast it a second time.

RIPPLE (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Any Magick Attack
Die.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: No.
Description: Your spell deals its sphere
die in damage to those within 1 square of
the target(s).

LINK (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in any Magick Attack
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: No
Description: Your spell affects 1
additional individual within a number of
feet equal to your magick attack milestone
from the original target and from a target
affected by Chain.
May be added to the same spell
multiple times.

LINGERING (ADDITIVE)

CHAIN (ADDITIVE)

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Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Blast, Jet.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell affects 1
additional individual within a number of
feet equal to your magick attack
milestone, but must originate from an
individual affected by the Link additive.
May be added to the same spell
multiple times.
CONTINUOUS (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Blast, Jet.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell is does not stop at
barriers and proceeds to affect all those in
the spells area.
ENDURING (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in any Magick Attack
die.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description:
Your
spell
becomes
stationary, affecting the same squares for
multiple combat cycles for as long as you
hold the spell in suspense. If the original
individuals who were affected by this
spell happen to move out of the square,
the spell remains behind.
MOBILE (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Enduring, 1d10 in any
Magick Attack.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 7

139

Suspense: Yes
Description: Your spell acts as if it were
affected by the Enduring Magick Trait,
but can move on your turn a number of
squares equal to your spheres milestone
divided by 10.
QUICK (ADDITIVE)
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 1+
Suspense: No.
Description: Your spell casts faster. For
every magick point you spend, it reduces
the casting time of the spell by 2.
FAST CASTER I
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Supense: n/a
Description: You cast spells faster than
most, reducing all your casting times by 1.
FAST CASTER II
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Fast Caster I
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You cast spells faster than
most, reducing all your casting times by 1.
This is cumulative with Fast Caster I.
FAST CASTER III
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Fast Caster I, Fast Caster II
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You cast spells faster than
most, reducing all your casting times by 1.

This is cumulative with Fast Caster II.

SILENT CASTER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: none
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may roll your Sneak
skill to dampen the sound of you casting a
spell.
SPELL ASSASSIN
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: Silent Caster
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: If you catch your opponent
unaware or from behind, you may double
your Magick Attack Die.
CHANNELER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: none
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: Whenever you channel your
magic through a dagger, wand or staff,
you may increase your respective magick
attack die by one.

Touch TRAITS
HAND WIZARD
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You prefer using your hands
to deliver your spells.
Whenever

140

delivering a touch spell you may increase

your touch die to the next die.
DAZZLER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: Hand Wizard
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: Whenever you deliver your
spells with your hands, you dazzle others
with wide sweeps and fluid motions. You
may roll your Presence against your
opponents Will. If you succeed the
challenge, that individual becomes
distracted and you gain a favorable
condition against them. This ability only
works once with each opponent for the
rest of the scene.
OPEN PALM, OPEN SPELL
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Unarmed Attack Die
and Touch Magick Attack Die.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may deliver your touch
spells with a punch. You may perform a
natural unarmed attack against an
opponent (using Magick Attack Touch)
and damage them with that attack as well
as affect them with your spell.
HIDDEN HANDS
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Touch
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may roll your Hide skill
to keep your opponents from noticing
your hands from moving while you are
casting a spell.

HAND TRANSFER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Touch, Hand Wizard
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 2
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may touch the hands of
another living individual and transfer a
readied spell to that person. The recipient
is not affected by the spell, but instead
may now cast it upon someone else as if
they had cast the spell. The original caster
must hold the spell in suspense as normal
until the spell is released.

Blast TRAITS
RAYMAN
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in Blast
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have perfected your aim
when firing spells off like a projectile.
Whenever delivering a spell by Blast, you
may increase your magick attack die to
the next highest die.
MAGICK EYE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Blast and Rayman
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You are better at called shots
than most. You suffer one less unfavorable
condition when attempting a called shot
with your spells when using Blast.
RICOCHET I
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Blast and Rayman

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Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may bounce your spell
off objects or people in order to reach an
obscured target. Items you ricochet your
spell off of or people are not affected by
the spell and only affect the intended
target. Each time you ricochet the attack,
your attack suffers a unfavorable condition.
RICOCHET II
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d10 in Blast, Rayman and
Ricochet I.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may ricochet your
attack once without suffering an
unfavorable condition.
RICOCHET III
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d12 in Blast, Rayman,
Ricochet I and Ricochet II.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may ricochet your
attack one additional time on top of the
one provided by Ricochet II without
suffering an unfavorable condition.
SPELL PROJECTILE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Blast, Rayman
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 2
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may fashion a spell
projectile that can be fired from either a
bow, crossbow or dart gun.
This
projectile carries the affects of your spell

and may be fired by the caster him or

herself or given to another. The spell
must continue to be held in suspense until
the projectile is fired, else the projectile
dissipates.

Blast TRAITS
SPELL GRENADIER
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d6 in Toss.
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have learned how to
manipulate magickal energies to be
affected by gravity and have become
more skilled in tossing spells than most.
Whenever using the Magick Attack
Thrown, you may increase the magick
attack die to the next highest die.
SPELL ROLL
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Thrown, Spell
Grenadier, Spell Ball
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: Instead of throwing the spell
at an opponent or target, you may elect
instead to roll the spell like a ball or
similar like-item. The item acts like a
grenade weapon and if the magick attack
misses the target square, roll 1d8 to
determine direction and the spell rolls 1
square in that direction for every 5 points
the attack failed by. Whatever square the
spell reaches after the attack, it goes off as
normal.
JUGGLER OF MAGICK
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d8 in Throw, Spell Ball,

142

Spell Grenadier
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You may juggle your spell
balls as if they were real balls. You must
roll an Arts (Juggler) skill challenge
versus a difficulty score of 15 to keep
juggling the balls, and must roll
additional challenges if your character is
distracted. You may juggle as many balls
as you like, but each ball beyond 3 creates
an unfavorable condition. If not distracted,
you must roll a new skill challenge every
minute, if distracted or in combat, its
every turn. If you fail your juggling roll,
you drop one ball for every 5 points you
failed the challenge by. If you drop the
ball, the spell goes off in your square. If
successful in your juggling, you can
throw two spell balls at one or multiple
targets in a given combat cycle without
suffering any unfavorable conditions, or you
can elect to throw all the balls at a single
target as a single attack without suffering
any penalties.
SPELL BALL
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Throw, Spell
Grenadier
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: 2
Suspense: Yes
Description: You may create a ball or
similar like-shape of magick that contains
a readied spell. You can save this spell
and keep it on your person or you can
give it to someone else. Once the item is
thrown, it gives off the spell effect to
whomever or whatever it strikes.
To keep the spell ball in existence you
must keep the spell in suspense else the
spell ball will be dismissed.

target TRAITS

Magick Defense Traits

AUTO-MAGE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Target
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have a strong tenacity
in striking your targets without the need
for attack rolls. Any time you use Target
to deliver a spell affect, you may increase
your Target die to the next highest die.
PROXIMITY TARGET I
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Target, Auto-Mage
Restrictions: None.
Magick
Cost:
n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: When making multiple
Magick Attack rolls Target against
opponents who are within close
proximity of one another, you suffer one
less unfavorable condition for performing
multiple attack actions in a single turn.
Close proximity is determined by taking
your Magick Attack Milestone and
dividing it by 5 (rounded down) to see
how many squares they must be from one
another.
PROXIMITY TARGET II
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in Target, Auto
Mage, Proximity Target I
Restrictions: None.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: This trait functions as
Proximity Target I, except that the caster
suffers two less unfavorable condition
instead of one.

143

Much like magick attack traits, there are

magick defense traits that may also be
purchased in lieu of defense dice. The list is
presented below.

General Traits
FAVORITE MAGICK DEFENSE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: One magick defense stands
out above all the rest and you enjoy using
it. You must select one magick defense.
This is now considered the magick
defense that this trait affects. Whenever
using your favorite magick defense, you
may roll on top of your normal die a
specialty die that starts at 1d2.
MAGICK DEFENSE EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in the Magick Defense
die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Defense.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Defense for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description:
You wield your favorite
magick defense so well that you have
become an expert. Whenever using the
specified magick defense you are an
expert in, increase your specialty die to
1d4. This ability is cumulative with
Favorite Magick Defense.

MAGICK DEFENSE SPECIALIST

Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in the magick defense
die of the appropriate category, Favorite
Magick Defense, Magick Defense Expert.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Defense and
Magick Defense Expert for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have improved your
knowledge in wielding your magick
defense that you have become a specialist.
Whenever using the specified magick
defense you are a specialist in, increase
your specialty die to 1d6.
MAGICK DEFENSE MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in the magick
defense of the appropriate category,
Favorite Magick Defense, Magick Defense
Expert, Magick Defense Specialist.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Defense,
Magick Defense Expert, Magick Defense
Specialist for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have now attained the
level of master. Students everywhere
flock to you to learn your secrets.
Whenever using the magick defense you
are a master in, increase your specialty die
by 1d8.
MAGICK DEFENSE HIGH MASTER
Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in the magick
defense die of the appropriate category,
Favorite Magick Defense, Magick Defense
Expert, Magick Defense Specialist and

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Magick Defense Mastery.

Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Defense,
Magick Defense Expert, Magick Defense
Specialist and Magick Defense Mastery.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have become a Magick
Defense High Master and it costs 1 less
magick point to cast this Magick Defense.
Also, increase your specialty die to 1d10.
MAGICK DEFENSE GRAND MASTER
Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in the magick
defense die of the appropriate category,
Favorite Magick Defense, Magick Defense
Expert, Magick Defense Specialist and
Magick Defense Mastery and Magick Defense
High Master
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Magick Defense,
Magick Defense Expert, Magick Defense
Specialist and Magick Defense Mastery and
Magick Defense High Master
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: When rolling your specialty
die and you roll a 12 or more, you may
roll the die again as if it were a bonus die
and add it to the total result. Increase
your specialty die to 1d12. Using your
Magick Defense costs 1 magick point less
and is cumulative with Magick Defense
High Master for a total of 2 less magick
points.

Damage Shield
Traits

MAGICK BACKLASH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Damage Shield
Magick Cost: 5
Description: Instead of the damage dealt
by the magick damage shield, you can
elect to send a touch attack spell through
to the individual who attacked you if they
are within range of a touch spell. You do
not suffer a unfavorable condition for
using this ability. This can only be used
once per turn.
SPHERE MIX
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Damage Shield and
1d6 in relevant Spell Sphere.
Magick Cost: 3
Description: Whenever you are struck
and you defend with your damage shield,
you may include your spell spheres die
when calculating damage.
VAMPIRIC LEECH
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Damage Shield,
Spell Sphere Trait Vampiric
Magick Cost: 5
Description:
Whenever damaging an
opponent with your damage shield, you
can absorb the amount of damage you
dealt to that living opponent and regain
them as hit points.
RESIST DAMAGE
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Damage Shield,
Spell Sphere Trait Resist
Magick Cost: 3
Description:
Your damage shield can
absorb damage from the same type of
source (i.e. fire, water, earth, air, light,
shadow, ect.). If your damage shield roll
is greater than the damage dealing source,

145

you take no damage, if it is less, then you

take the difference in damage.
ABSORB DAMAGE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Damage Shield,
Spell Sphere Trait Resist, Spell Sphere
Trait Absorb, Resist Damage.
Magick Cost: 5
Description: If your damage shield is
struck with the same source of power as it
is (fire vs. fire, ect.) then the result of your
defense roll is the amount of the damage
you absorb (gaining them as temporary
hit points), and then if there is damage
remaining you resist the rest of it equal to
the result of your defense roll. If there is
still damage left over, it deals damage as
normal.

Physical Shield
Traits
IMPROVED SHIELD
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Physical Shield
Magick Cost: 1+
Description:
Your shields material
strength rating increases by 1 step per
magick point spent upon manifestation.
This must be announced prior to its
manifestation.
LACED WITH MAGICK
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Physical Shield
Magick Cost: 1+
Description:
Your shields hit points
increase by your defense roll in hit points
per magick point spent. This must be
announced prior to its manifestation.

HOLD YOUR GROUND

Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6, Favored Magick
Attack (Physical Shield), Magick Defense
Expert (Physical Shield).
Magick Cost: 5
Description: Whenever you successfully
defend against an attack with your
physical shield designed to designed to
move you out of your given square, you
may pay the magick cost of this ability
and remain unmoved.
RAIN MAGICK DEFENSE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Physical Shield
Magick Cost: 7
Description: Whenever struck with an
area of effect based attack, you utilize
your shield to take the brunt of it. You
use your physical shield defense roll
instead of dodge, shield or cover to
defend against the assault. If successful,
you take no damage, if on a failed roll,
you simply take the difference in damage.

Deflection Shield
Traits
DESPERATE MAGICKAL DEFLECTION
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Deflection Shield
Magick Cost: 3
Description: You give it your all to
defend against this attack and therefore
increase your deflection to the next
highest die. This bonus is only for this
roll.
RICOCHET
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Deflection Shield
Magick Cost: 5

Description: You can direct the deflected

attack against another target at an attack
strength equal to the difference you beat
the attack by.
REFLECT MAGICK
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Deflection Shield or
Physical Shield, Ricochet
Magick Cost: 7
Description: Whenever you successfully
defend against a magical ranged attack,
you may redirect the attack against
another target as a separate free attack at
the strength of the original attack.
Example, if the character successfully
defends against a magical fire attack, with
the fire attack at a 45 and the shield
defense was 62, then the character may
redirect the attack as a 45 against another
target.
DEFLECTIVE PUSH
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Deflection Shield,
Telekinesis Magick Sphere Trait.
Magick Cost: 3
Description:
Your deflection shield
pushes outward at anyone within 1
square of you, as per the Telekinesis
Sphere Trait. Your deflection shield roll
acts as a Brawn challenge against an
opponents Brawn. If the opponent fails
the challenge, he or she is pushed back
one square.

Spell Parry
Traits
QUICK SPELL PARRY
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Pell Parry
Magick Cost: 3

146

Description: If you successfully parry an

incoming blow, you gain a +2 bonus to
your current reaction time. This bonus
goes away at the end of the combat cycle.
REPOSTE
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in Parry, Quick Parry,
Duelist.
Magick Cost: n/a
Description: Whenever you successfully
parry an attack, you may counter attack
once per combat cycle without incurring
an unfavorable circumstance.
MAGICK DUELIST
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: 1d4 in Spell Parry.
Magick Cost: 1
Description: Whenever you parry an
opponents spell, you roll 1 die higher
than you normally would.
REPOSTE II
Purchase Cost: 12
Requirements: 1d14 in Spell Parry, Quick
Spell Parry, Magick Duelist
Magick Cost: 3
Description: Whenever you successfully
parry an attack, you may counter attack
once per combat cycle without incurring
an unfavorable circumstance. This ability is
cumulative with Reposte, I.
BOOSTER
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Spell Parry.
Magick Cost: n/a
Description: You prefer dueling the old
fashioned way. Whenever dueling with a
Nexus, you roll one die higher for your
Spell Parry.
FORCE NEXUS

147

Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in Spell Parry, Booster
Magick Cost: Special
Description: You may Boost a third time,
forcing the nexus 1 square closer to the
opponent wizard. The magick cost must
be met in order to Boost.

Sphere Traits
Spell sphere traits act as additional
descriptors that are added into a spell. While
spell spheres act as the type or source of
magickal power, sphere traits are additional
additives, like ingredients, that make for
more complex and interesting spells. Unless
it states otherwise, there are not restrictions
on what spell spheres these descriptors can
use, but when adding them in, one must be
aware of the spell spheres influence and how
the spell trait can be justified. For example,
using telekinesis spell trait with the Fire Spell
Sphere may not make sense using flames, but
may make more sense when utilizing the
heat aspect of the sphere. When in doubt,
advise what you are doing before doing it, to
see if the Overseer will allow it.

General Traits
FAVORITE SPHERE
Purchase Cost: 3
Requirements: none
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description:
One sphere stands out
above all the rest and you enjoy using it.
Whenever using your favorite sphere, you
may roll on top of your normal die a
specialty die that starts at 1d2.

SPHERE EXPERT
Purchase Cost: 5
Requirements: 1d6 in the Sphere die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Weapon
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Weapon for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description:
You wield your favorite
sphere so well that you have become an
expert. Whenever using the sphere you
are an expert in, increase your specialty
die to 1d4. This ability is cumulative with
Favorite Spell Sphere.
SPHERE SPECIALIST
Purchase Cost: 7
Requirements: 1d8 in the sphere die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Sphere,
Sphere Expert.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Sphere and Sphere
Expert for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have improved your
knowledge in wielding your sphere that
you have become a specialist. Whenever
using the sphere you are a specialist in,
increase your specialty die to 1d6.
SPHERE MASTER
Purchase Cost: 9
Requirements: 1d10 in the sphere die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Sphere,
Sphere Expert and Sphere Specialist.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Sphere, Sphere
Expert and Sphere Specialist for.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a

148

Description: You have now attained the

level of master. Students everywhere
flock to you to learn your secrets.
Whenever attacking with the weapon you
are a master in, increase your specialty die
by 1d8.
SPHERE HIGH MASTER
Purchase Cost: 11
Requirements: 1d12 in the sphere die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Sphere,
Sphere Expert, Sphere Specialist and Sphere
Mastery.
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Sphere, Sphere
Expert, Sphere Specialist and Sphere
Mastery.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: You have become a Sphere
High Master and it costs 1 less magick
point to cast from this sphere. Also,
increase your specialty die to 1d10.
SPHERE GRAND MASTER
Purchase Cost: 13
Requirements: 1d14 in the sphere die of
the appropriate category, Favorite Sphere,
Sphere Expert, Sphere Specialist, Sphere
Mastery and Sphere High Master
Restrictions: May only purchase this
attack trait of which the character already
has purchased Favorite Sphere, Sphere
Expert, Sphere Specialist, Sphere Mastery
and Sphere High Master.
Magick Cost: n/a
Suspense: n/a
Description: When rolling your specialty
die and you roll a 12 or more, you may
roll the die again as if it were a bonus die
and add it to the total result. Increase
your specialty die to 1d12. Using your
Sphere costs 1 magick point less and is

cumulative with Sphere High Master for a

total of 2 less magick points.
ALTER
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence affects the magick of other
magickal effects. Thus, a bolt of lightning
fired from an opposing spell caster can be
manipulated to take on a completely
different effect. The rival spell caster
must make an opposed Spell Sphere roll
against a DS equal to yours. If you
succeed, your spell takes over and the
magick point cost to keep the spell in
suspense is split between both spell
casters. If one cancels their spell, then the
magick spell cost must then be
shouldered by the other spell caster. If
both spell casters cancel the suspended
spell, then the spell cancels.
Example: The Void Sphere changes a rival
spell casters Healing Cloud to deal damage
instead of healing.
ANIMATE
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of spheres influence
is animated and moves at your direction.
The animated aspect has all qualities of
what it would be in-game and physical
ability scores and dice are equal to the
spell spheres milestones and dice. If the
animated object is destroyed, then the
spell ends despite whether the caster
keeps the spell in suspense.
Example: The Earth Sphere could animate
stone statues.
ARMOR

149

Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of the spheres
influence creates a skin-like armor that
does not hinder or encumber the wearer.
The armor offers protection against all
sources equal to a base of 1 per 10 points
of the sphere roll. This protection stacks
with all other protections worn by the
subject.
Example: The Flora Sphere could create
bark-like skin.
AURA
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of the spheres
influence creates an aura around a subject
that affects all those within a 1 square
radius of the subject.
Example: The Rejuvenation Sphere could
create a healing aura around an ally.
AWAKEN
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of the spheres
influence gains sentience and both mental
and social ability scores equal to the
sphere roll. Each ability score may be
rolled individually.
Example: The Fire Sphere could grant a
bonfire intelligence to later communicate with.
CAMOUFLAGE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence grants camouflage to hide an
effect, object or person. In order to see the

target hidden by camouflage, the

opponent must roll a Wits challenge
against the DS of the spell spheres roll. If
successful, they see the object hidden, if
not then they miss seeing it entirely.
Example: The Flora Sphere uses vines,
leaves and other plants to render themselves
nearly invisible to a passing troop of goblins.

complex, but the caster must have

knowledge in how to physically create
these things. The items cannot exceed an
area equal to the milestone of the sphere
in square feet.
Example: The Portal Sphere could
construct a cottage out of materials the caster
teleports in.

CLAIRVOYANCE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of the spheres
influence allows the caster to send and
receive one sensory type (sight, hearing,
smell, ect.) from what is being witnessed
by another of aspect of the spheres
influence as long as he or she is aware of
the viewed through aspect.
Example: The Water Sphere caster can
look into a pool of water at a monastery up on
a mountain and view out of a rain barrel that
is located at the city below.

REOCCURS
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: Aspect of the spheres
influence reoccurs after the original spell
has finished for as long as this spell trait
alone is held in suspense.
Example: The Death Sphere could grant
an undead creature a Regenerative healing
affect with his Harm aspect.

COMPREHENSION
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: You may understand the
language or other sort of means of
communication utilized by sentient
beings that are aspects of the spheres
influence.
Example: The Fauna Sphere can
understand the sounds made by animals.
CONSTRUCT
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: You are able to construct
physical items out of aspects of your
spheres influence. These items can be

150

CONTROL
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of the spheres
influence can be controlled. If the target
is sentient, it may make a Will challenge
roll versus the sphere roll. If the target is
controlled or animated by another, then a
challenge must be made against the
opponents sphere roll for control.
Control may be used to simply cancel out
anothers control, if the caster so deems.
Example: The Charm Sphere can attempt
to wrestle control over a charmed or otherwise
controlled ally.
COSMETIC
Purchase Cost: 1
Magick Cost: 1
Suspense: Yes
Description: The caster may change the
way the spell manifests itself visually in-

game.
Example: The Darkness Sphere makes it
appear like giant black skulls are being thrown
at its opponents.
CREATE
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: No.
Description: You bring into being an
aspect of your spheres influence into
existence, creating a physical body equal
to your spheres milestones divided by 10.
Example: The Earth Sphere creates a
human-like body out of clay.
DELAY
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: No
Description: Aspect of the spell doesnt
occur until a set time afterwards. The
maximum time allowed is the spheres
milestone in minutes.
Example: The Air Sphere creates a blast of
air, but not until 3 combat cycles later.
DESTROY
Purchase Cost: 12
Magick Cost: 12
Suspense: No
Description: You destroy an aspect of
your spheres influence permanently. The
amount destroyed is equal to the
milestones in square feet. If the target is
sentient, it may make a challenge roll
using its Fortitude versus the sphere roll
to avoid this effect completely.
Example: The Death Sphere attempts to
kill a person outright by vaporizing the
individuals living tissue.
DETECT
Purchase Cost: 1

151

Magick Cost: 1
Suspense: Yes
Description: Allows the caster to detect
the presence of an aspect of his or her
spell sphere.
Example: The Enchant Sphere wants to
know if the item he is touching is magickal.
DISPEL
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes.
Description: You attempt to dispel or
otherwise cancel out the magickal effect
created by another. You must succeed at
rolling your sphere against the opposing
spell effect, and if you succeed the spell
effect is canceled.
Example: The Shadow Sphere attempts to
dispel the magickal darkness effect from a
Darkness Sphere caster.
DREAM
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence affects someone, but only in
their dreams. Any damage sustained
while in a dream is dealt to stamina
instead, and any spells that require
movement or actions, occur until the
subject wakes. All challenges needing to
be rolled to avoid the effects are done at
an unfavorable condition.
Example: The Charm Sphere makes an
opponent sleep walk to carry out an
assassination.
DUPLICATE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres

influence is duplicated exactly until the

spell is no longer held in suspense.
Example: The Ward Sphere duplicates a
ward that he or she encounters so that there
are two.
EMOTION
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: You influence the emotional
state of some aspect of your spell sphere.
The being affected must roll a Will
challenge against the DS of your Spell
Sphere Roll. If you succeed, you may
change their emotional state, for example:
fear, anger, calm, peaceful, friendly,
depressed, anxious, ect. This spell lasts as
long as you hold the spell sphere cost in
suspense.
This ability does not allow the direct
control over whoever is being affected,
but causes them to act differently under
the new emotion.
Example: The Fauna Sphere influences the
emotions of an aggressive dog to be pacified.
STAMINA
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence affects the Stamina of a target
instead of the hit points.
Example: The Rejuvenation Sphere heals
Stamina instead of hit points.
ENLARGE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence increases in size by 25% for
every 3 magick points spent, example,

152

25% for 3 mp, 50% for 6 mp, 75% for 9

mp. This does not change the amount of
damage or the DS challenge, but may
increase the area of affect.
Example: The Morphology Sphere may be
used to increase an individuals size.
FLY
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is granted the ability to fly as if
it had the racial trait of fly (hover). The
speed for which the aspect can fly is equal
to the Spell Sphere roll divided by 5 in
squares.
Example: The Fire Sphere causes fire to
erupt around and individual and propel them
with flight.
HANDS
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is given hands, allowing you to
manipulate items at a distance. These
hands are able to carry all aspects of your
sphere and may be used to attack and
deliver touch spells. These hands may
move on their own at a rate of 1 square
per how many times your sphere roll is
divided
by
5.
Example: The Earth Sphere creates acidic
hands using that are used to eat away at the
ropes to a suspended bridge.
HYPNOTIZE
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: No
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can attempt to hypnotize

someone, putting them into a trance that

allows one to plant verbal suggestions.
The individual may roll a WILL challenge
against the DS of your spell sphere roll. If
you succeed, then that person falls into a
trance and cannot make any actions. You
may then plant a single suggestion and
the person must attempt to perform it.
While attempting to perform the
suggestion, the person remains in a trance
and may be woken up by damage, loud
noises, being shook, ect. If that person is
woken up, they dont remember anything
prior to the trance.
If that person
managed to reach their objective, if the
suggestion is against their morale
character, then may make a second Will
challenge right before the suggestion is
finished out against the same DS. If they
fail the second DS roll, then the
suggestion carries out and the person
wakes up.
Example: The Light Sphere makes several
quick lights flash into an opponents eyes to
hypnotize the guard to unlock the gate.
ILLUSION
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence creates a visual illusion. This
illusion can be anything the spell caster
can think up and can be of any size equal
to the aspect used. Opponents who
arent convinced with the illusion and
suspect that there is something amiss,
may roll a WITS challenge against the DS
of the spell sphere roll. If they fail, then
they believe the illusion and act
accordingly.
Example: The Shadow Sphere turns the
shadow of a wagon into a terrifying monster
to frighten away the bandits.

153

INVISIBILITY
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence renders an effect, object or
person completely invisible. Opponents
must rely on other senses in order to
locate you. Invisible targets impart a
unfavorable condition on all perception rolls
where sight is the primary sense of that
race.
Example: The Death Sphere renders the
spell caster invisible towards undead
creatures.
KILL
Purchase Cost: 12
Magick Cost: 12
Suspense: No
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is able to be destroyed outright.
The target must be sentient, as the spell
sphere simply delivers a deadly blow,
effectively killing them. The opponent
must make a Fortitude challenge against
the DS of the spell sphere.
If the
challenge fails, the opponent dies.
Example: The Fire Sphere causes an
opponent to spontaneously combust; The
Death Sphere causes your body to die.
LEVITATE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence grants an affect, object or person
to levitate as if having the racial trait Fly
(Float). Like the ability, you do not have a
rate of speed, but instead are subject to
other means of propulsion such as wind,
heat, fire, or pushing oneself along a

surface.
Example: The Ward Sphere creates a glyph
on a wooden elevator to allow one to simply
pull on a rope to bring everyone to a higher
level.
MAGICK
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence affects the magick points of a
target as opposed to hit points.
Example: The Rejuvenation Sphere heals
Stamina instead of hit points.
MESSAGE
Purchase Cost: 1
Magick Cost: 1
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is able to deliver a message
where the spell caster speaks through the
aspect. This does not confer the ability to
understand the message, just allows the
caster to speak whatever language he/she
chose through the medium.
Example: The Water Sphere has a friends
bathwater ripple and speak to her directly to
warn of an attempt on her life.
MOLD
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can be molded like clay. This
does not give the spell caster any artistic
talent, but does allow artistic talent to be
incorporated into the mold. Once the
object is fully molded, it remains in the
shape even after the spell is ended.
Example: The Earth Sphere molds a bar of
gold into a beautiful statue.

154

MUDDLE
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can be used to confuse or
otherwise misdirect an opponent. Those
affected may make a Will challenge
against the DS of the spell sphere or be
unable to perform any action. While
muddled, the person may forget who they
are, not know where they are at, how they
got here, and tend to stare blankly. Those
who are muddled will walk around in
random directions (roll 1d8 to determine
direction). Muddled individuals do not
notice physical dangers and may find
themselves walking over a cliff.
Those who are muddled may make
additional WIL challenge against the spell
spheres DS each time they are attacked,
damaged, in immediate danger (such as
near the edge of a cliff), shook violently,
slapped out-of-it, ect. to break free of the
spell.
Example: The Air Sphere creates a
muddling cloud of mist that confuses anyone
who walks through it.
NAUSEA
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence causes nausea in a target
opponent. The opponent must roll a
successful Fortitude challenge against the
spell spheres DS or be forced to throwing
up (unable to perform any other action).
The opponent may roll against the
challenge every combat cycle thereafter to
attempt to stop throwing up and break
the spell.

Example: The Entropy Sphere forces the

scent of rot and decay into the nose of an
enemy.
PARALYSIS
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can be paralyzed. The target
win a Fortitude challenge against the spell
spheres DS or be completely paralyzed.
When paralyzed the subject cannot move
or perform any actions, although body
functions (in cases of living beings)
continue normally. The paralyzed target
remain so until the spell caster decides to
dismiss the spell.
Example: The Binding Sphere paralyzes
any target, while the Air Sphere can paralyze
air elementals.
PETRIFY
Purchase Cost: 9
Magick Cost: 9
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is turned completely to stone.
The sentient target must win a Brawn
challenge against the spell spheres DS to
avoid being petrified. Once petrified, the
target remains such until the spell is
dismissed. Those who are turned to stone
take on all aspect of stone including
material hardness, weight and hit points.
While petrified, the individual is placed
into a suspended animation and does not
require food, drink and doesnt age.
Example: The Earth Sphere turns a friend
into stone in order to stay the poison going
through his veins until a cure can be found.

Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence allows your target to become
incorporeal.
While incorporeal, only
those affected by the same sphere and are
incorporeal or opposing sphere can harm
those who are affected. Those who are
incorporeal can travel through physical
barriers and cannot be harmed by objects.
Example: The Shadow Sphere makes
himself a incorporeal shadow in order to pass
through the cracks of a door.
POCKET DOMAIN
Purchase Cost: 12
Magick Cost: 12
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence creates a pocket domain made
entirely out the spheres source. This
pocket has a physical door made of your
aspect that allows entry and exit and it
must be placed within range of the spell.
The entrance may take up as a space
equal to or less than the spell spheres
milestones in feet. Inside the pocket, the
caster can have any sort of object and or
non-living accommodations but they
cannot be taken outside the pocket. The
pocket itself is equal to the sphere roll in
diameter, but can be sectioned off into an
equal square area if desired. While inside
the pocket, time flows at the same pace as
the outside world but the temperature is
always at comfortable levels and there is
always an abundance of air to breathe.
Example: The Light Sphere creates a pocket
domain that accommodates his comrades with
a place to rest.
PROJECTION
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3

PHASE
Purchase Cost: 5

155

Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can be projected from one realm
into another realm of existence. This does
not confer the ability to perceive what is
happening in the other realm.
Example: The Glyphs Sphere has been
harassed by teleporting fire ants, so she places
wards in the fire realm as well as the physical
realm just to be on the safe side.
PURIFY
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence allows you to purify a target of
your spheres influence or an opposing
sphere. When purified, it means that any
prior influence is removed and the
individual is whole again.
Example: The Enchant Sphere purifies any
influence on a host item before enchanting it.
The Air Sphere purifies an area of stench.
QUAKE
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence allows you to cause a target to
shake uncontrollably. Those who are
shaken must win at an AGILITY
challenge against the spell spheres DS
per combat cycle or be unable to perform
any actions and can only move at half
their normal speed. Objects that are
affected find themselves being vibrated
and if not properly weighted down or
secured, may start moving in random
directions. The quake is considered to
have a BRAWN score equal to the spell
spheres roll.
Example: The Fire Sphere superheats the

156

ground underneath her

causing the earth to quake.

opponents

feet

REGENERATION
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can regenerate, restoring any
lost influence. Items that regenerate do so
at a rate of 1 hit point per how many
times the roll can be divided by 5.
Example: The Earth Sphere regenerates
damage dealt to her armor.
REMEDY
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence counters an existing effect,
causing it to be negated. This can only
work on targets your sphere holds
influence over or is in opposition to. To
remedy a target effect, an opposing spell
sphere challenge must be rolled. If you
win the target is remedied.
Example: The Darkness Sphere remedies a
glowing light created by the Light Sphere, or
may negate another Darkness Spheres area of
darkness.
REVERSE
Purchase Cost: 9
Magick Cost: 9
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence reverses an affect turning it on
its originator. This can only work on
targets that your sphere holds influence
over or is in opposition to. To reverse a
target affect, an opposing spell sphere
challenge must be rolled. If you win, the
affect is reversed back to its originator

who is then the new target of the affect.

Example: The Mind Sphere reverses the
spell cast by another Mind Sphere, causing
the opponent to become the target of his own
muddle.
SHIELD
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: You extend one aspect of
your spell spheres shielding ability onto
another. The strength of the shield is
equal to your spell sphere roll.
Example: The Morphology Sphere grants a
target a deflection shield made of tentacles.
SHIFTING
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence allows you or a target to step
into the realm presiding over your sphere.
Those who are affected are granted the
ability to exist in the subject realm
(breath, talk, walk, fly, ect.) but does not
make them immune to environmental
dangers such as lava pits, whirl pools, ect.
Once the spell is no longer held in
suspense, the effected individuals return
to their native realm.
Example: The Fauna Sphere shifts into the
realm of Animals where beasts speak, build
houses and rule kingdoms.
SHRINK
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence can shrink in size divisible by
25% for every 3 magick points spent,
example, 25% for 3 mp, 50% for 6 mp,

157

and 75% for 9 mp. This does not change

the amount of damage or the DS
challenge, but may increase the area of
affect. Those unwilling to change in size
must win at a Fortitude challenge versus a
DS set by the spell spheres roll.
Example: The Rejuvenation Sphere shrinks
a 6 foot opponent spends 3 magick points, to
reduce his size by 50%, making him only 3
feet tall and reducing his BODY to 3.
SLEEP
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence is put to sleep. The target must
win at a Will challenge against the spell
spheres DS or fall asleep. The subject
cannot be woken up while the spell is
held in suspense. If the spell is dispelled
or dismissed, the subject wakes. If the
spell caster desires, he or she may pay 2
additional magick points to cause the
effects to linger in the target. This must
be paid at the spells inception. Targets
that have been affected by a lingering
sleep remain asleep after the spell has
been dismissed and will wakeup a
number of hours equal to the spell
spheres die roll or when jostled.
Example: The Flora Sphere summons a
garden of opium poppies that causes anyone to
fall asleep who walks through them.
SPEAK TO
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: A target is granted the
ability to free converse and understand an
aspect of the spell spheres influence.
Example: The Portals Sphere can speak can
converse with an existing portal to ask who

has stepped through it in the past twenty-four

hours.
SPEED
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spell
spheres influence gains additional
movement speed equal to the sphere roll
divided by 5; or the speed for casting the
spell is reduced equal to the sphere roll
divided by 10; or an aspect of your spell
spheres influence gains one additional
action for every time the sphere roll is
divisible by 20.
Example: The Light Sphere grants a boost
of speed to a friend, causing beams of light to
push against his body for a boost.
STATUS
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: You are able to learn the
general statistics of an aspect of your
sphere of influence. This only confers the
knowledge of what it is and what it can
do, not what it has experienced (See Speak
To).
Example: The Glyph Sphere learns how
long a ward has been placed on the tomb, how
strong it is, and what it will do.
STUN
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spheres
influence stuns an opponent. The target
must succeed at a Fortitude challenge
against the DS of the spell spheres roll, or
become stunned. Those who are stunned
suffer cannot take any actions. While the

158

spell is held in suspense, the opponent

may make an additional challenge roll to
recover from being stunned. Once the
target recovers, the spell ends.
Example: The Sound Sphere causes loud
boom that stuns an opponent.
SUMMON
Purchase Cost: 7
Magick Cost: 7
Suspense: Yes
Description: You summon an aspect of
your spheres influence. Summoning can
bring objects and creatures to the targeted
area. The tougher the creature, the harder
it is to summon and control it. You may
summon a number of creatures equal in
milestones to your character milestones
plus your spell sphere in total. Creatures
that are summoned are compelled to
follow your commands regardless of
language barriers and look upon you as a
friend. After the spell is dismissed, the
summoned creature returns to where it
came from unharmed.
Creatures who are equal to or stronger
than your character milestone must roll a
Will challenge against your spell spheres
DS to see the caster for who it is and that
the creature is being manipulated
magickally. If the creature recognizes that
it has been summoned, it can attempt to
break free of the casters will by making
an opposed Will challenge. If the creature
wins the challenge, it can choose to either
return, or may break free of the spell
completely and act on its own. Some
creatures do not look fondly on being
summoned
or
controlled.
Example: The Flora Sphere summons a
swarm of bats (5 milestones each) to distract a
guard.
TELEKENISIS

Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spell
spheres influence grants the ability to
move objects from afar. The spell is
considered to have a Brawn score equal to
the spell spheres roll.
Example: The Fire Sphere creates a patch
of heat to flip a lever to the portcullis.
TELEPATHY
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spell
spheres influence gains the ability to
communicate silently, mind-to-mind,
with the given target. This spell forms a
link and makes the caster susceptible to
the Mind Sphere or Mind based attacks
(suffering an unfavorable condition).
Telepathy can operate at any distance but
may be blocked by the target resisting the
telepathic bond by succeeding at a Will
challenge against a DS equal to the spell
spheres roll. A number of additional
factors can cause for the telepathic bond
to be difficult such as not being familiar
with the target, or if the target is hostile.
There are positive factors that could
contribute towards the success of a
telepathic bond such as knowing the
target, being emotionally involved with
the target, friendliness, them sleeping and
so on.
Those who are affected by
telepathy know that they are being
contacted and generally a few words may
be spoken before a full connection is
made. Once a connection is established
by either the target not resisting or failing
their challenge, a full conversation can be
had in the manner of seconds, which can
involve images, sounds, words, emotions

159

or other means of communication.

Example: The Water Sphere communicates
mind-to-mind with the Giant Squid in an
attempt to dissuade it from devouring the
ship.
TRANSMUTE
Purchase Cost: 9
Magick Cost: 9
Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of the spell sphere
is changed into something different. If
the object being transmuted into
something valuable, the object remains so
until the spell is dismissed and then it
returns to what it previously was. Objects
of equal value can be transmuted into
other objects of equal value and remain
transmuted even after the spell is
dismissed.
Example: The Fire Sphere changes fire to
heat or heat to fire; The Water Sphere changes
ice to water or water to ice; The Earth Sphere
changes lead to gold or dirt to stone;
VAMPIRIC
Purchase Cost: 5
Magick Cost: 5
Suspense: Yes
Description: Whenever your sphere
damages something, you regain half the
damage in hit points. Hit points gained in
this manner that restores more than the
casters maximum gain them as
temporary hit points, but can only have a
number of temporary hit points equal to
the spell spheres milestones.
Example: The Entropy Sphere rots a tree
for 20 points of damage and is healed for 10
hit points.
WEAPON
Purchase Cost: 3
Magick Cost: 3

Suspense: Yes
Description: An aspect of your spell
spheres influence and spell is embodied
in the form of a physical weapon. This
does not enchant a weapon, but instead
forms a weapon out of thin air to deliver
the spell per strike. While the weapon
appears as the weapon type, it does not
confer the edge, blunt or point of the
standard weapon. Those who are skilled
in the type of weapon that is formed can
apply their attack traits when attacking
with it. Each time the weapon strikes an
opponent, they are affected as if through a
touch version of the spell. The weapon
can be given to others and continues as
long as the spell is held in suspense.
Example: The Rejuvenation Sphere creates
a staff that heals others whenever it strikes.

160

Chapter 7
Equipment
Outside of deeds and racial traits, a
characters equipment is what truly
defines them as a hero. The better
prepared the character, the higher
possibility of living to tell the tale.
Sometimes, a single piece of equipment
can mean the difference of life and
death, and for adventurers who see
perilous dangerous on a day-to-day
basis, having the right tool is a plus.

Currency
Every campaign setting will
have its own
monetary system.
Most role play
settings
use
precious metals
minted in coins,
but do not feel
restricted
in
using them if you
feel there is a
better
system
available, not to mention better suited,
for your world. Since precious metals
are always a favorite, we shall use gold,
silver, bronze and copper as a way of
determining money.
Table: 7.1 - Coin Weight and Value
COINS
Gold
Silver Bronze Copper

161

Gold
(1/4 oz)
Silver
(1 oz)
Bronze
(1 oz)
Copper
(1 oz)

(1/4th
oz)
1:1

(1 oz)

(1 oz)

(1 oz)

1:15

1:900

1:2700

15:1

1:1

1:60

1:180

900:1

60:1

1:1

1:3

2700:1

180:1

60:1

1:1

The Gold Piece

The gold piece [gp] (just a little
smaller than a US Quarter) is generally
not in the hands of the average
commoner, not to mention most
probably havent even seen a gold coin
in their entire lives some may not even
want one. Some adventurers have been
known to tip a gold coin or two for
wonderful service. A wise craftsman
must take care not to arouse awareness
to his neighbors, else risk bringing
trouble to their door step. The gold coin
is used in larger transactions such as
paying for large quantities of goods,
heavy construction, fueling armies,
commissioning magical items and so on.
Gold is best reserved for those who
have the ability to protect it, and usually
deemed inappropriate for common
merchants.

The Silver Piece

Silver pieces [sp] (about the size of a

US half-dollar) are the perfect coin for
single uncommon (daily) transactions
such as commissioning a weapon,
purchasing a suit of armor, buying
livestock, ordering alchemical or
magical potions, ect. The silver piece is
the boon of all adventurers.

The Bronze Piece

The bronze piece [bp] (about the size
of a US half-dollar) is a local favorite
amongst every-day people.
It is
considered the high coin for common
transactions and in most cases is always
coupled with the copper piece. Bronze
coins are sometimes minted at the local
level, as long as there is enough silver or
gold to back it up.

The Copper Piece

The copper [cp] (about the size of a
US half-dollar) is the low coin in daily
transactions. People use this for tiny
purchases such as meals, drinks, tips,
minor services and general household
items. Copper coins are sometimes
minted at the local level, as long as there
is enough silver or gold to back it up.

Real-World
Application
Since we have never lived in a
fantasy world setting or the majority of
us havent used coins for monetary
transactions, it may be difficult for the
Overseer or likewise any player, to
envision the true value of the coin and
how it relates to given world. Below is a
table on how each coin translates to

current day (2012) values. If ever these

values seem out of date with current
standards, please just check the value of
1/4th ounce of gold and translate
accordingly.
Table: 7.2 - Real World Values of Coins
COINS
Gold
Silver Bronze Copper
(1/4th
(1 oz)
(1 oz)
(1 oz)
oz)
USD $
500.00
33.33
0.55
.18
British
315.97
21
.35
0.11

Euro
381.39
25.42
0.42
0.08
Russian 14883.5 992.13
16.37
5.36
Ruble
Yuan
3152.3
210.13
3.47
2.08
Yen
38390
2559.07
42.23
13.82

Starting Wealth
Wealth
can
obviously
vary
depending
upon
a
characters
background and what social strata the
character belongs to.
All this is
generated at character creation, and
social modifiers must be added in
separately from the beginning wealth
tables. The following table is designed
for average wealth that is acquired
through previous adventurers and
lifetime acquisitions based on starting
milestones.
Table: 7.3 Starting Wealth by Milestone
Milestones
Gold
Silver
Bronze
100
36
125
4
7
150
8
14
175
12
28
200
1
9
56
225
3
4
52
250
6
9
42
275
13
4
24

162

300
325
350
375
400

26
53
106
212
424

8
2
4
9
4

48
28
56
52
44

Bows, Crossbows, Pole-arms, and Thrown.

Social Class & Starting Wealth

All player characters are assumed to
have come from the Freeman Social
Class. If the character is a Slave, then he
or she starts with the normal wealth,
while characters from the Merchant
Class start off with 1 times the wealth,
Clergy get 2 times the wealth and
Nobility get 2 times the wealth.

Money Changers
In order to speed up gaming
sessions, especially with equipment
purchases, as long as the characters are
within the same region as the
predominate currency and there are no
exchange rate penalties, all money
exchanges (gold for silver, silver for
bronze, ect.) is considered to happen
behind the scenes. Most merchants do
not have enough money in their tills or
safes in order to cover any large coin
exchange, but there is usually a money
changer in the area, if not one located at
the local tax office or village magistrate.

Weapons
There are multiple different types of
weapons, each categorized into likegroups that correspond to the
appropriate type of attack die. These
categories include: Axes, Blade, Blunt,

Each weapon has its own statistic

scores to represent its usefulness in
combat. Knowing how to read and
understand these statistics will allow for
one to know which weapon to choose
over any other. These statistics are
named as follows: Name, Type, Balance,
Material, Hit Points, Weight, Edge, Point
and Blunt.
Name Indicates the name of the
weapon.
Type Describes the size of the
weapon such as if it it Tiny, Small,
Medium, Large, Extra Large or Huge.
While Tiny weapons can be held in the
palm of the hand, small weapons are
usually 12 inches at most and can only
be wielded with one hand, medium
weapons are up to 24 inches and also
can only be wielded in one hand, large
weapons must be wielded in 2 hands,
but can be wielded with 1 with a
unfavorable condition on attack rolls and
damage, Extra-Large wepons require 2
hands and cannot be wielded in one
hand, and Huge weapons require
special training.
Balance Is how well the weapon
was forged to fit to the human hand. A
good balanced weapon offers its
numeral value to attack rolls.

163

Material Is what the weapon is

made out of followed by its material
strength score when encountering other
materials.
Those materials that are
equal to the material of the weapon do
no damage to either the weapon or the
target material. In cases where the
material strength is higher on the
weapon than the target material, the
target material suffers damage to its hit
points equal to the difference in the
material strength and the strength of the
wielder (or momentum). In the case
where the material strength of the
weapon is lower than the target
material, then the weapon takes damage
to its hit points equal to the difference in
material strength and the strength of the
wielder (or momentum).
Hit Points Is what constitutes a
weapons makeup. If ever a weapon is
damaged, the weapon loses hit points.
Once a weapon is damaged, the weapon
loses 1 point from all its damaging
statistics (Edge, Point, Blunt) and will
lose 1 additional point per additional
damage at each quarter value (-2 at 25%,
-3 at 50%, -4 at 75%). A weapon that has
been damaged can be repaired at a rate
of 20% of the weapons value per point
returned. If ever a weapons hit point
total is reduced to zero, the weapon
breaks and must be replaced or reforged
at the cost of the weapon.
Weight Describes the weapons
physical weight. Weight is also a factor
when determining hit points. When
determining hit points, the material
strengths is multiplied by the weapons
weight times its blade width times 10.
A weapon may be reinforced to carry
more hit points at additional cost.
Edge Is the amount of damage that

can be performed when using the

edged portion of the weapon in an
attack. If the attack is successful, when
calculating damage, edge is added to
the result.
Edge comes with a sharpness statistic,
represented by parenthesis after the
edge score (i.e. Edge 3 [3]) Sharpness is
always kept up if the character has a
whet stone and is able to take 10
minutes to refresh the edge on the
weapon. Sharpness is reduced by 1 point
per day of regular use or in the case of
using the weapon for anything it is not
intended for (i.e. using a sword to cut
down a tree).
For every point of
sharpness that is lost on a weapon, the
weapon suffers a -1 penalty to edge
until the sharpness of the weapon is
returned.
Point is the amount of damage that
can be performed when using the
point of the weapon in an attack. If
the
attack
is
successful,
when
calculating damage, point is added to
the result.
Blunt is the amount of damage that
can be performed when using the
blunt portion of the weapon in an
attack. If the attack is successful, when
calculating damage, blunt is added to
the result.

Types of Materials
Weapons can be made out of
different materials. While the material
that the weapon doesnt change the
amount of damage the weapon typically
inflicts, it does make it so it can bypass
armor and cut through stronger
materials. Consult the table in regards
to the weapons hardness.

164

Blades
There are a many assortments of
blades from smaller types like stilettos,
daggers and needles, to longer blades
such as the long dagger, long sword and
rapier to heavier blades such as bastard
swords and two-handed swords.
Table: 7.4 Material Strength of Weapons
Material
Costs per
Hardness
Lbs.
Hide
5 bp.
2
Bone
n/a
2
Leather
8 bp.
3
Wood
2 bp.
3
Copper
10 bp.
3
Silver
16 sp.
3
Gold
16 gp.
3
Hard Wood
4 sp.
4
Bronze
16 bp.
4
Platinum
12 gp., 8 sp.
4
Stone
30 bp.
5
Iron
1 sp.
5
Glass
3 sp.
6
Steel
2 sp.
7
Hardened Steel
4 sp.
8
Mithril
500 gp.
9
Diamond
64,000 gp.
10
Adamentium
125,000 gp.
12

Daggers
Baselard Is a longer style of dagger
that has a hilt that is H-shaped, with a
longer blade of about 14.5 inches. The
pommel is heavier than most daggers,
which tends to allow for blunt attacks.
Dagger (Generic) Is a small
concealable weapon that varies in blade
length, typically between 5 to 8 inches,
that is double bladed with a sharpened
point. Many cultures use daggers for
close combat or ritualistic purposes.
Knife (Generic) Much akin to the

dagger, the knife is similar in blade

length and varies in degrees of
sharpness. What distinguishes a knife
from a dagger is typically the shape of
the handle and that the blade is carries
only a one-sided edge.
Needle Is similar to the stiletto
except that there is no handle, which
makes it a very unbalanced weapon or a
weapon to be used in general combat.
Needle daggers are typically hidden
somewhere in ones clothes or placed
into ones hair in order to avoid
detection. The needle is designed more
to deliver bouts of poison.
Stiletto Is a long dagger with a thin
blade and a needle-like point. It is
primarily used as a stabbing or
thrusting weapon and rarely used for
slashing. It is a weapon favored by
most assassins, due to how easily it is
concealable and how little blood is shed
in comparison to most other daggers or
knives, and may be illegal in most parts
of world.

Parrying Daggers
Main Gauche French for left
hand is a dagger designed primarily
for parrying incoming attacks. It is
generally held in the secondary hand,
but can be used to attack if ever the
opportunity presents itself.
When
parrying, the dagger offers a favorable
condition on all parrying defense rolls.
Trident Daggers Are much like the
main gauche except they are equip with
spring activated blades that jet
outwards from the main blade. This
creates a means of trapping blades
easier. While parrying using the offhand trident dagger, you gain a favorable

165

Table: 7.5 Blades

Name
Daggers
Baselard
Dagger
Knife
Needle
Stiletto
Parrying Daggers
Main Gauche*
Trident Dagger*
Small Swords
Dress Sword
Rapier

Cost
-

Type
-

1 sp
45 bp
25 bp
1 sp
1 sp, 35
bp
2 sp
2 sp
3 sp, 38
bp

Hit Points
-

T
T
T
T

Speed
2
2
2
1
2

Balance
-

Edge
-

Point
-

Blunt
-

35
35
10
35

Weight
.74 lbs.
.5 lbs.
.5 lbs.
n/a
.5 lbs.

4
2
1

3
2
1
4

1
1
2

35

.5 lbs.

35

.5 lbs.

63

1.8 lbs.

77

2.2 lbs.

70

2 lbs.

63

1.8 lbs.

122

3.9 lbs.

S
T

7
3

102
26

2.9 lbs.
.75 lbs.

9
4

3
1

3
-

56

1.6 lbs.

88

2.5 lbs.

67

1.9 lbs.

95

2.7 lbs.

63

1.8 lbs.

70

2 lbs.

Sickle-Blades
Falx
Khopesh
Scythe
Scythe Sword
Sickle
Short Swords
Anelace
Arming Sword
Celtic Sword
Cinquedea
Degen
Falcata

3 sp, 53
bp
3 sp, 24
bp
2 sp, 28
bp
3 sp
30 bp
2 sp, 41
bp
6 sp, 4
bp
4 sp, 56
bp
4 sp, 16
bp
2 sp, 50
bp
2 sp, 28
bp

condition on parrying rolls. You also

gain a favorable condition whenever
attempting to trap an opponents blade.

Small swords
Dress Sword It is a long thin blade
that is worn by those of the
gentlemans class and are often worn
at court and used for dueling. The hilt
is often designed like a shell and is
considered lighter weight and in
balance than a typical rapier.
Rapier It is a longer blade than
most dress swords, detailed with two
sharp edges but mostly used as a
thrusting weapon. The blade length is

typically 39 inches with a width of .98

inches to the tip. The rapier is used
primarily with civilians, with higher
tendencies in the upper-class, with poor
military application. It is favored due to
its speed and lack of reliance on brute
strength. In military campaigns, the
rapier gives way to the short sword.

Sickle-Blades
Falx Is a sickle-shaped blade that
has been sharpened only on the inside
(like a scythe), is 27 to 39 inches long
with an average blade length of 19.5 to
24 inches. There are two variants, a onehanded falx and a two-handed falx.

166

Table: 7.5 Blades Continued

5 sp, 43
Falchion
bp
2 sp, 31
Gladius
bp
4 sp, 30
Katzbalger
bp
Kopis
2 sp
Makhaira
3 sp
3 sp, 34
Xiphos
bp
Long Swords
6 sp, 38
Long Sword
bp
Mameluke Sword
4 sp
4 sp, 48
Scimitar
bp
5 sp, 34
Spatha
bp
5 sp, 22
Viking Sword
bp
Bastard Swords
Basket Hilt
6 sp
8 sp, 32
Estoc
bp
6 sp, 24
Mortuary Sword
bp
5 sp, 42
Walloon Sword
bp
Great Sword
11 sp, 33
Claymore
bp
15 sp, 10
Executioners Sword
bp
Flambard
13 sp
Zweihnder
11 sp

67

1.9 lbs.

53

1.5 lbs.

77

2.2 lbs.

M
M

5
5

53
53

1.5 lbs.
1.5 lbs.

5
5

3
3

2
2

70

2 lbs.

116

3.3 lbs.

12

63

1.8 lbs.

67

1.9 lbs.

74

2.1 lbs.

10

70

2 lbs.

10

81

2.3 lbs.

11

XL

10

140

4 lbs.

15

11

98

2.8 lbs.

12

88

2.5 lbs.

12

XL

11

192

5.5 lbs.

22

17

XL

133

3.8 lbs.

18

XL
XL

11
11

192
192

5.5 lbs.
5.5 lbs.

23
21

16
16

8
8

One-handed falx are used to hook

shields and get to vulnerable spots in an
adversaries armor.
Khopesh Also known as a sicklesword, the typical khopesh is 20-24
inches long. It is designed to hook
opponents shields or disarming them.
Unlike other sickle-blades, the Khopesh
is sharpened on the outside. It is sickleshape, as the category suggests. It
evolved from the epsilon, although it
does not strike as an axe but instead
slashes much like a regular sword.
Scythe Normally a farmers tool, a
scythe can still be a deadly weapon
when utilized in combat. The blade is
typically 24 to 35 inches long attached to
a shaft that is 40 inches tall. The blade is
sharpened on the inside of the edge.
Scythe Sword Is an improvised
weapon where the blade from a scythe

is attached to a basic crossguard and

hilt. Because of the nature of the blade,
the weapon is sharpened on the inside
of the edge. It is 24 to 35 inches long
with an overall length of 31 to 42 inches.
Sickle Is primarily used as a tool
for harvesting grain or trimming weeds
and bushes. The weapon is curved at
the blade and in combat is used to hook
into shields and trap or disarm
opponents. The overall length averages
20 inches with the blade being
approximately 15 to 18 inches.

Short swords
Anelace Shaped much like the
cinquedea, the anelace shares the Vshape blade, is double-edged but with a
sharpened tip. It is a weapon notably
carried in cities, while traveling on

167

horseback or out on a hunt. It defends

well against other blades, but is not
readily used in military campaigns. The
weapon is 24 inches overall, with an 18
blade.
Arming Sword Also known as the
knights sword, it is a one-handed
cruciform hilt and a straight edge
double blade approximately 27 to 32
inches.
Celtic Sword A precursor to the
gladius, the celtic sword is designed
with a hilt to match the scabbard with a
handle generally made of wood or bone,
making the weapon less heavy than
most. The sword blade is generally 28.5
inches in length.
Cinquedea A civilian short sword
or long dagger, with a V-shape blade,
the cinquedea (meaning five fingers),
it is double edged with a tapered or
rounded tip. The blade is heavy and
ranges in size from 10 inches to 28
inches, with an average blade length of
18 inches. It tends to be carried next to
the buttocks so that it can be drawn
laterally.
Degen Is typically a non-standard
infantry
side-weapon.
It
is
distinguishable by its traditional
double-crescent shaped guard.
The
blade ranges in length from 20 to 28
inches.
Falcata Not to be confused with a
falchion, a falcate is a sickle-shaped
weapon that gains like-momentum of an
axe while maintaining the cut of a
sword. The handle is usually hookshaped and the blade has only one edge,
although there are some rare falcatas
with two-edges. The sword is typically
22 1/8th in length with the blade being
17 long.

Falchion Like the falcate, it has the

weight and power of an axe, but cuts
like a sword. The blade only has a
single edge and has a slight curve
towards the point.
The hilt is a
quilloned crossguard and the sword is
about 37 inches in length of which 31.5
inches is the blade.
Gladius Is a two-edge sword with
a tapered point. It has a knobbed hilt
with possible ridges for fingers. It was
the main sword used by our Roman
soldiers which was later replaced by the
Spatha. The hilt tends to be made of sea
shells and is often ornate. The swords
overall length is 26.5 inches, with a
blade length of 19.25.
Katzbalger Is a short arming
sword that is distinguished by its
distinctive S-shaped (or figure 8) guard.
The katzbalger name means catgutter. How the sword got its name
ranges from the tight-quarter use of it
by archers, crossbowmen and pikemen
that rely on it when their primary
weapons are useless in such ranges, to
how the S-shaped hilt resembles two cat
tails. The weapon is 29-33 inches in
length. The weapons average weight
varies between 2.2 lbs to 4.4 lbs.
Kopis Primarily used as a tool for
cutting meet, slaughter animals or as
sacrifice, the kopis eventually made its
way into military combat and was
favored mostly by horsemen due to
their height advantage against nonmounted adversaries. The blade was
generally 18-23 inches with a handle of 7
inches. It is similar to the falcate.
Makhaira Much like the Kopis, the
real distinction is that instead of a hooklike hilt the makhaira has a straight hilt.
Xiphos Is a single-handed double-

168

edge sword where the blade is shaped

like a leaf. The overall weapon is 19 to
23 inches long. It is a secondary weapon
when the spear is discarded in combat
due to close proximity of ones
adversaries. Also, it is mostly carried in
a baldric under the left arm (for righthanded fighters).

Long Swords
Long Sword (generic) Is a straightblade, with a double edge, often
characterized with a cruciform hilt that
can be wielded either one-handed or
two-handed. The blade is ranges 39 to
48 inches and an overall length of 47-59
inches.
Mameluke Sword is a scimitar-like
curved sword that has a cross-hilt and
was derived from the Mamelukes in
Egypt. Some use the weapon as a dress
sword for officers or higher level
military personnel. The blade is 30
long with an overall length of
approximately 38.
Scimitar Is a sword that is drawn
from the back that has a curved blade.
The blade is typically 30 to 36 inches in
length with a hilt of approximately 8
inches. It is mostly a slashing weapon.
Spatha Evolved from the gladius,
the Spatha is a long blade of 30 to 39
inches long and was considered the
standard heavy infantry weapon the the
Roman Empire. It is a straight-blade,
and double edged.
Viking Sword Not completely
restrictive to the Vikings, the Viking
sword evolved from the spatha and it
too is a straight blade with the double
edge. The blade length varies from 28 to
33 inches long with an overall length of

35 to 40 inches. Fullers were added to

the basic spatha and allowed for greater
strength and reduced weight.
The
weapon is one-handed with a pyramid,
lobed or crocked-hat pummel.

Bastard Swords
Basket-Hilt Sword Are so named
due to basket-like hilt designed into the
hilt that protects the wearers hand
during combat. The basket-hilt made it
so that gauntlets were not required. The
sword is approximately 40 inches long
with the blade being 33.5 inches in
length.
Estoc Or otherwise known as a
tuck, the estoc has a cruciform hilt
with a grip capable of two-handed use.
It has no cutting edge, but it has a long
sharpened point designed to pierce
through armor. The size of the blade
varies by region, but averages from 36
to 52 inches long with a hilt of
approximately 10 inches. Estocs are
typically hung from a horsemans
saddle or from the belt. Estocs can also
be used as a lance from horseback when
the original lance splinters. The average
weight is 4 lbs. to 6 lbs. with 6 lbs. being
the longer blade.
Mortuary Sword This is a twoedge with a half-basket hilt and blade
length of 35 to 41 inches long and a
handle of 8-9 inches. Occasionally the
hilts are designed with martyrs or dead
kings.
Waloon Sword A type of baskethilt rapier, the waloon sword is favored
by both military and civilians due to its
light weight and flexibility. It is 39
inches with a blade length of 32.75
inches long. It is a strongly balanced

169

sword.

case the wielder wishes to hold the

weapon like a polearm.

Great Swords
Claymore is a variant of the twohanded longsword created in medieval
Scotland. The sword is distinguished by
having a cross hilt with forward sloping
quillons with quatrefoil. It averages 51
inches long in total, with a blade length
of 42 inches.
It is a two-handed
weapon.
Executioners Sword is a sword
designed specifically to decapitate the
heads of criminals. It is not intended for
combat due to lacking a point. The
quillions are short and straight, while
the pommel is pear-shaped or faceted.
The sword is two-handed, but the
overall length of the sword is only 46.5
inches. The blade itself averages only 35
inches.
Flambard otherwise known as a
flame-bladed sword, this great sword
received its name due to the flame-like
wave the blade takes on. This weapon
has a long grip as well as a long ricasso
equipped with a set of flukes. This
weapon is like the Zweihander but the
blades attributes can be added to onehanded weapons as well such as long
swords or rapiers. The blade style offers
+2 edge damage but adds 5 silver pieces
to the cost of the blade, or 4 silver to be
added to a previously owned pommel.
Zweihnder German for two
hander is the primary two-handed
sword. The sword can be up to 6 feet
long from the base of the pommel, with
a 4-5 ft. blade. The pommels are usually
pear-shaped and the ricasso allows for a
hand to be placed below the lower
guard in order to shorten the grip in

Axes
Axes were primarily used as tools,
but were later found to be very efficient
in combat. Because axes concentrate
their power in a single point, they have
the ability of punching through tough
armors, even platemail, allowing them
to ignore 1 point of armor to better
wound their foes.

Hand Axes
Francisca Is a throwing axe that
was primarily used by real world
Franks, and is characterized by an archshapred head. The top of the head is
usually S-Shaped. The weapon has a
haft length of around 16 to 18 inches
and a 4 inch cutting edge. This can be
thrown.
Hatchet Is a tool used to cut and split
wood but in a moments notice can
prove advantageous in combat.
A
hammer head is always added to the
hatchet to allow for multi-purpose. Not
technically a hand-axe, it was added to
the repertoire due to its common use.
Hatchets may also be thrown.
Shepherds Axe is a long thin axe
that duals as a walking stick. It is
generally used by shepherds, as the
name implies, and can be carved. The
length of the shaft is no more than 3 ft.
long, with a small metal head-piece that
is sharp on one side while flat on the
other to act as a hammer. The headpiece is also designed in such a way that

170

Table: 7.6 Axes

Name
Hand Axes
Francisca
Hatchet
Shepherds Axe
Tomahak
Combat Axes
Battle Axe
Double-Bladed Axe
Horsemans Axe
War Axe
Great Axes
Great Axe
Double-bladed,
Two-Headed Axe

Cost
1 sp, 14
bp
1 sp, 34
bp
2 sp
1 sp
6 sp, 24
bp
6 sp, 58
bp
7 sp
8 sp, 34
bp
10 sp
11 sp, 18
bp

Type
-

Speed
-

Hit Points
-

Weight
-

Balance
-

Edge
-

Point
-

Blunt
-

Sm

46

1.3 lbs.

Sm

88

2.5 lbs.

Sm
Sm

6
4

80
70

2.3 lbs.
2 lbs.

7
5

2
2

116

3.3 lbs.

14

147

4.2 lbs.

16

133

3.8 lbs.

+1

14

172

4.9 lbs.

17

XL

11

203

5.8 lbs.

21

XL

10

196

5.6 lbs.

+1

18/18

it can fit comfortably in the hand so

weight may be applied and used as a
walking stick.
Tomahawk Is comprised of a shaft
that is less than 2 feet in length with a
cutting edge no longer than 4 inches.
The poll can have a small hammer,
spike or is simply rounded off. It can be
used as a throwing weapon or close
hand-to-hand.

Horsemans Axe Is like the battle

axe, except that it has a longer shaft that
allows for combat from horseback
against both mounted and ground
adversaries.
War Axe Much like its battle axe
cousin, this axe has a larger blade that is
19 inches in length with a shaft of
approx. 3 feet long. Its opposite facing
is a hammer.

Combat Axes

Great Axes

Battle Axe Is a one-handed

weapon that has an average length of
2.5 feet long tipped with a strong head

Great Axe Is an oversized version

of the double-bladed axe, its shaft is 4
ft. in length with a double-head. It can
only be wielded two-handed. The blade
measures a good 22 inches in length.
Double-Bladed Two-Head Axe
Like the double-bladed axe, the bladed
edge keeps to 19 inches long on all
heads, but instead of having a pommel,
the axe carries a second set of doubleheads that allows for twice as much
cleaving area.
The weight of the
weapon reduces the overall speed of the
weapon but allows for a stronger

designed specifically to cleave off limbs.

The heads range from a bearded axe
or even a crescent head.
Double-Bladed Axe Much like the
battle axe, this axe carries a shaft of
approx. 3 feet in length with a doublehead. It can be wielded both with one
hand or two hands. The double axe
allows for a backswing, thus increasing
the speed of the weapon.

171

balance and more powerful swing.

Clubs
Clubs are a broad term used to
describe any type of blunt instrument
that can be used in combat. Such
weapons include clubs, maces, flails,
morning stars, war hammers and picks.
As heavier armors were employed in
combat, blunt weapons became favored
on the battlefield due to their ability to
penetrate armor and inflict terrible
damage on their foes.

Clubs
Club Is a piece of heavy wood fit
with a handle, tending to be wrapped in
leather for a firmer grip, that is used to
bash enemies.
Table Leg (Improvised) Like a
club, but just a bit awkward in ones
hand, a table leg (or sometimes a chair
leg) can be useful in a moments notice
combat situation.
Tree Branch (Improvised) Even
worse than a table leg, a tree branch can
be useful when one finds nothing else to
defend oneself with.
Sap is a leather covered lead rod,
that is primarily intended for head
strikes to stun and or render an
opponent unconscious.

Maces
Bar Mace Around 29 inches in
length, the bar mace is a long bar that
is attached to an eight inch handle.
Flanged Mace - Is approximately 2
feet in length with 4 to 5 flangs

(protruding pieces of metal) at the end

of the head designed to pierce enemy
armor. Due to the shape of its head,
flanged maces deal both its point and
blunt damage.
Footmans Mace Is a piece heavy
iron shaped in a ball that is affixed to
two to three foot long shaft made of
wood or iron. Maces are designed to
combat opponents wearing heavy
armor, as even though it doesnt
penetrate the armor, the blow itself
crushes the opponent.
Horsemans Mace Is much like the
footmans mace, except that the handle
is longer so that the horseman are more
effective against ground opponents as
well as given reach to strike nearby
mounted opponents.
These are
generally 3 feet in length or longer.
Iberian Mace Lighter than most
maces and fit with a handle, this mace
has a head that is cylinder in shape and
fit with pyramid-shaped studs that are
used to deliver a high impact. Its head
is 5.125 inches in length with the overall
length of the mace being 24.25 inches
long.
Plancon a Picot Is much like the
Iberian Mace except that the head does
not contain studs, but instead houses
sharp spikes that arguably place it in
with the morning star category. The
spikes can range from 1.5 to 2 inches in
length. Due to the shape of the head,
Plancons deal both their blunt and
point damage with every swing.

Morning Star
Holy Water Sprinkler Named due
to its resemblance to the aspergillum,
the holy water sprinkler is 74.5 inches

172

long with six flanges on the head,

forming three spikes each, and a thick
spike of square cross section at the top.
Due to the shape of the head, holy water
sprinklers deal both point and blunt
damage to their target.
Morning Star - Is much like the
mace, except that on its head jet out long
spikes that are designed to pierce
through enemy armor as well as deliver
a high-impact blow. Due to the shape of
the head, morning stars deal both point
and blunt damage with every swing.

Flails
Bar Flail Developed originally
from an agricultural tool, the handle is
attached to a metal bar by chain and is
best utilized against armored foes. The
shaft is 21 inches in length with a metal
bar of 11 inches long. The bar is often fit
with studs or small spikes to deliver
additional piercing damage.
Military Flail Much like the bar
flail, except it is a two-handed weapon
with a shaft ranging between 4 to 5 feet
in length with a bar of 3 feet in length.
One-Ball Flail 24.5 inches in
length, the shaft is made of wood or
metal that is affixed at one end with a 10
inch chain and a spiked ball. Due to the
shape of the head, flails deal both point
and blunt damage to their targets.
Two-Ball Flail Same as the oneball flail, except it has two balls at the
end instead of one.
Three-Ball Flail Same as the one
ball flail, except that it has three balls at
the end instead of one.

Hammers

Maul In resemblance to a modern

day sledge hammer, the maul can be
single
or
double
headed
and
occasionally are fixed with a spike at the
top to add a little more versatility. It is a
two-handed weapon that is 31 inches
long and weights about 10 lbs.
War Hammer Made of various
materials, a war hammer is a singlehanded weapon that delivers damage
via a hammer-like head. The weapon is
approximately 21 inches in length, and
is often created with a double-head.

Picks
Hakapik Originally designed for
killing seals, this weapon holds a small
hammer head, and a long hook at the
damaging end. The shaft ranges from
3.4 to 5 feet long with a 12 oz metal head
attached at one end. While civilian
versions of this weapon have a shaft
made of wood, the military version
holds a shaft of metal that adds an
additional 4 lbs to its weight.
Horsemans Pick Is a like a war
hammer with a metal shaft. On the
opposite end of the hammer is a long
pick that curves slightly downwards.
The length is 23 inchs long.

Pole arms
Pole arms are weapons that are
attached to a long shaft. The idea
behind pole arms is to give one enough
reach to be advantageous in combat, or
to utilize the full sweeping motion of the
weapon to gain additional damage. The
types of pole arms staves, spears, lance,
hooked, winged, blade, fork, hammer
and long axe.

173

Table: 7.7 Blunt Weapons

Name
Clubs
Club
Table Leg
Tree Branch
Sap
Maces
Bar Mace
Flanged Mace
Footmans Mace
Horsemans Mace
Iberian Mace
Planon a Picot
Morning Stars
Holy Water
Sprinkler
Morning Star

Cost
1 sp
n/a
n/a
40 bp

Type
SM
SM
L
T

Speed
4
6
8
2

4 sp
6 sp, 42
bp
3 sp, 4
bp
3 sp, 34
bp
2 sp, 26
bp
2 sp, 47
bp

SM

3 sp, 45
bp
4 sp, 16
bp

Hit Points
-

Weight
2 lbs.
2.3 lbs.
3 lbs.
1.4 lbs.

Balance
-1
-2
-

Edge
-

Point
-

Blunt
4
5
6
3

4.6 lbs.

13

SM

10

6 lbs.

15

SM

3.8 lbs.

4.2 lbs.

10

SM

2.13 lbs.

SM

2.6 lbs.

SM

4 lbs.

10

SM

4.4 lbs.

12

2.8 lbs.

Flails
Flail, Bar
Flail, Military
Flail, One-Ball
Flail, Two-Ball
Flail, Three-Ball
Hammers
Maul
War Hammer

3 sp
8 sp, 14
bp
3 sp
4 sp
5 sp
12 sp, 24
bp
3 sp, 26
bp

XL

6.8 lbs.

13

SM
M
L

6
7
8

3 lbs.
5 lbs.
7 lbs.

4
6
8

8
10
12

14

10 lbs.

22

3 lbs.

10

XL

12

4 lbs.

14

XL

14

8 lbs.

16

4 lbs.

12

12

Picks
Hakapik
Hakapik, Military
Horsemans Pick

3 sp, 42
bp
9 sp, 14
bp
5 sp

Staff
Long Staff Is a long wooden shaft
of wood that ranges between 11 to 12
feet in length.
Quarter Staff Also known as a
short staff, is a long wooden shaft
primarily made of wood that ranges in
length from 6 to 9 feet long.

Spear
Javelin Is a type of throwing spear
that is 8.5 feet long that is tipped with a

sharp spear-point designed to make it

more aerodynamic. The Javelin can be
thrown up to 250-300 feet at the
Olympic level.
Partisan Is designed as a spear that
sets on a pole that varies in length
between 8 to 13 feet long, with a sharp
spear-point at one end, and small
protrusions on edge side of the blade
that act to parry sword blows. Due to
this feature, Partisans grant a favorable
circumstance to parry swords.
Pike A spear that is 10-25 feet long.
The longer pikes tended to add 1

174

additional lbs. per 2.5 feet to the weapon

and became harder to wield against
close combat adversaries if it ever
exceeds 12 feet.
Sarissa A 13 to 21 feet spear used
in ancient times. It has a butt-spike at
the opposite side of the spear that is
used for bracing the weapon into the
ground when set against a cavalry
charge and can be used as a weapon
(Point 4) if ever the spear would break.
Spear Thrusting spears are from 6
to 8 feet long wooden shafts tipped with
a leaf shaped blade at the end. These
spears can also be used for throwing
with an optimal range of 45 feet.

Lance
Lance, Light Is a charging weapon
used for light cavalry, that ranges from
6 to 10 feet long that is designed to
knock down and skewer mounted or
ground targets. In its short form it
resembles a spear or javelin. In its
longer lengths it allows for greater
reach. For purposes of game, the lance
is a 10 ft. weapon.
Lance, Heavy A heavy lance is a
shock weapon that averages between 10
to 15 feet in length and has a thicker
diameter than the light lance. Equipped
with the point of war this sharpened
lance is designated to smash through
enemy lines and heavy armors.
Lance, Jousting Like the heavy
lance, except that it is not equipped with
a point and instead is fixed with a
coronal, a crown-shaped metal cap with
four prongs to help catch on opponents
shields to better dismount an opponent.
The lance itself is manufactured with
hollow and/or fluted break away

lances that snap when an opponent is

struck.
Due to the nature of the
construction, the lance only has a
material strength of 2 and half the
normal hit points.

Winged
Chauve-souris Bat-shaped threeheaded bladed attached to a 6 to 8 feet
long pole. Designed primarily as a
means of pole-arm-fencing, the wings
also aid in keeping the blades from
going in too deeply as to lose the
weapon from a deep cut.
Ranseur Thought to be a
derivative of the spetum, the ranseur is
comprised of a long spear-tip with a
cross hilt at its base. Occasionally the
hilt would even be crescent shaped,
giving it a trident-like appearance.
Much like most other polearms, the
Ranseur is about 6 to 8 feet long. The
shape of the wings aids in disarming
opponents
and
dismounting
adversaries.
Spetum is a three pointed metal
head that is 12 to 14 in length that is
set on a pole that is 6 to 8 feet long. The
three points are sharped on each side
that are perfect for slashing and
thrusting.

Hooked
Bill Derived from the agricultural
bill-hook, the bill is recognized by a
wide blade with a hook at the end of it
designed to catch the armor of mounted
foes and pull them out of their saddles.
The blade is set atop a wooden pole of 5
to 9 feet in length. Hooked weapons
grant a favorable condition when trying to
demount a rider.

175

Table: 7.8 Pole-arms

Name
Staff
Long Staff
Quarter Staff
Spear
Javelin
Partisan
Pike
Sarissa
Spear
Lance
Lance, Heavy
Lance, Jousting
Lance, Ring

Cost
2 sp
1 sp

Type
XL
L

Speed
8
5

Hit Points
130
76

Weight
6.5 lbs.
3.8 lbs.

Balance
-

Edge
-

Point
-

Blunt
12
8

1 sp
7 sp, 8
bp
10 sp, 23
bp
30 sp
2 sp, 19
bp

25

1.7 lbs.

XL

10

80

4 lbs.

14

XL

18

140

7.3 lbs.

18

25

300

15 lbs.

24

88

4.4 lbs.

10

XL
XL

14
11

140
66

7 lbs.
5.6 lbs.

18
14

86

4.3 lbs.

XL

11

112

5.6 lbs.

12

12

XL

12

112

5.6 lbs.

16

XL

11

120

6 lbs.

10

14

XL

13

108

5.4 lbs.

11

XL

14

110

5.5 lbs.

13

XL

12

106

5.3 lbs.

12

XL

10

102

5.1 lbs.

14

XL

11

114

5.7 lbs.

15

XL

12

120

6 lbs.

17

12

XL

12

116

5.8 lbs.

16

XL

13

124

6.2 lbs.

14

XL

14

130

6.5 lbs.

14

14

L
L

11
10

96
90

4.8 lbs.
4.5 lbs.

13
15

3
3

XL

161

3.8 lbs.

14

XL

158

4.5 lbs.

16

XL

122

3.5 lbs.

12

XL

126

3.6 lbs.

15

XL

10

98

4.9 lbs.

13

10 sp
2 sp
4 sp, 24
bp

Winged
Chauve-souris
Ranseur
Spetum

6 sp, 12
bp
6 sp
6 sp, 30
bp

Hooked
Bill
Fauchard
Guisarme

7 sp, 40
bp
8 sp
6 sp, 14
bp

Blade
Glaive
Sovnya
Svardstav
War Scythe
Hammer
Bec de Corbin
Lucerne Hammer
Forked
Military Fork
Trident
Long Axes
Bardiche
Halberd
Pollaxe
Sparth
Vouge

6 sp, 37
bp
7 sp, 43
bp
8 sp, 31
bp
8 sp
7 sp, 30
bp
9 sp
6 sp
7 sp
6 sp, 45
bp
8 sp, 39
bp
6 sp
7 sp, 24
p
6 sp

Fouchard Much like the glaive, but

it only has one sharpened edge being
the concave or outer edge and it has a
hook on the opposite side. Hooked
weapons grant a special condition when
trying to demount a rider.
Guisarme The blade of the

guisarme is like that of the blade is leafshaped, approximately 33 inches long

and a hook on one of the sharpened
sides. The blade sits on a pole of 6 to 8
feet long. Hooked weapons grant a
special condition when trying to demount
a rider.

176

Blade

Forked

Glaive the blade of a glaive is 18

inches long and is leaf-shaped. The
weapon is designed for slashing and
thrusting, but doesnt have to stopping
power of a spear. The glaive sits on a
pole that is 6 to 8 inches long.
Sovnya is a polearm with a curved
blade, much like a falchion or scimitar,
fixed at the end of a 6 to 8 foot pole with
a blade length of roughly 31 inches long.
Svardstav Or, otherwise known as
a sword-staff, is a sword blade and cross
guard affixed to a 6 to 8 foot long pole.
The blades length varied from 35 to 48
inches long.
War Scythe Is a farming scythe
attached vertically to the end of a pole
that is 6 to 8 feet in length. Since most
war scythes were from faming scythes,
the blades tend to range from 24 to 36
inches in length.

Military Fork Tracing its

beginnings to the pitchfork, the military
fork has two outer prongs that are forklike. The head can range from 24 to 36
inches long, affixed to a standard pole of
about 6 to 8 feet long.
Trident Is a three-prong spear
originally used for fishing but
eventually it evolved into a military
weapon. Some tridents even have barbs
at the end to ensure the catch doesnt
get away. The weapon is usually 16 to
28 inches long and is affixed to the
standard 6 to 8 foot pole.

Hammer
Bec de Corbin meaning beak of
the crow, it got its name due to how
the weapon appears to have a beak-like
spike on one side. One the other side is
a hammer, but during combat, the
hammer tends to see little use as the
beak tends to best penetrate armor
while the hammer portion of the
polearm is used as a counterweight.
The pole-arm tends to be from 6 to 8 feet
in length.
Lucerne Hammer Typically
mounted on a 7 feet long pole, is a threepiece combination weapon with one
side being a beak-like spike and the
other side being a spiked hammer, and
then the top fixed with a spike as well.

Long Axes
Bardiche Otherwise known as a
long pole-axe, is a type of glaive. The
blade is long and shaped like a cleaver
that is 2 feet long attached to a pole no
longer than 5 feet.
Halberd is a two-handed polearm
consisting of an axe blade topped with a
spike with a hook on the opposite side
of the blade to grapple with mounted
combatants.
This is fixed to pole
measuring about 5 to 6 feet long.
Pollaxe Often mistaken for a
halberd or a bardiche, the pollaxe is
simply an axe head attached to a long
pole that is 4 to 6.5 feet long. The
damaging face carries either a hammer
or axe while the reverse face has a spike,
hammer or fluke.
Sparth

this
weapon
is
characterized by a larger head and a
broader blade attached to a long shaft
varying from 4.5 to 6 feet long.
Vouge Is a axe-like blade that is
affixed horizontally to the standard 6 to

177

8 foot pole, with a curved wedge-like

blade intent on piercing armor. The
head is from 16 to 22 inches in length

and some versions are fixed with a

stabbing edge at the top.

Table: 7.9 Ranged

Name
Bows
Longbow
Shortbow
Composite
Longbow
Composite
Shortbow
Crossbows
Light
Crossbow
Heavy
Crossbow
Pistol
Crossbow
Repeating
Crossbow
Slings
Sling
Staff Sling
Atlatl
Misc.
Blowgun
Whip
Ammunition
Bodkin
Point
Arrows
Blunt
Arrows
Broadhead
Arrows
Dart
Quarrel, L
Quarrel, H
Sling Stones
Stones

Cost

Type

Speed

Hit Points

Weight

Balance

Edge

Point

Blunt

6 sp, 20 bp
3 sp, 40 bp

XL
XL

10
7

60
40

3 lbs.
2 lbs.

+4
+3

8 sp, 20 bp

XL

11

60

3 lbs.

+5

5 sp, 40 bp

XL

40

2 lbs.

+4

5 sp, 18 bp

80

4 lbs.

+7

9 sp, 12 bp

XL

160

8 lbs.

+12

3 sp, 42 bp

SM

40

2 lbs.

+3

8 sp, 20
bp

100

5 lbs.

+7

30 bp
1 sp, 30 bp
1 sp

SM
XL
SM

4
8
5

10
60
20

n/a
3 lbs.
1 lbs.

+4

+4
+6
-

40 bp
1 sp

M
M

7
6

20
40

1 lbs.
2 lbs.

+1
-

12 bp

1 lbs.*

10 bp

1 lbs.*

14 bp

1 lbs.*

1 bp
10 bp
14 bp
1 bp
-

T
T
T
T
T

2
4

2
2
2
20
20

1 lbs. *
1 lbs. *
1 lbs. *
1 lbs.
1 lbs.

-2

1
5
7
-

2
2

* Indicates the weight of the item per 10 of those items.

of a longbow.
Composite Longbow Is made up
of wood for lightness and balance in the
Bows
core, horn to store energy for areas of
compression and sinew in areas for
Longbow A longbow is designed
tension. The result gives the composite
to be roughly as long as the person is
longbow a better tension and strength
tall who is wielding it. The weapon is
for launching areas, granting better
made generally of hard-though-flexible
distance and damage to foes.
woods such as the yew tree and is
Composite Shortbow is much like
designed to launch an arrow at a target
the composite longbow, except with
at intense speeds.
same length as the shortbow.
Shortbow The shortbow is about
half the size of the person wielding it,
Crossbows
and has a lower optimal range than that

Ranged

178

Light Crossbow is a weapon

mounted on a stock with a mechanism
which holds the string to launch a
quarrel or bolt at a target.
It is
approximately 18 to 24 inches in length.
Due to the strength in the string, it
requires either a lever or a crank in
order to reload the weapon. It takes a
full minute to reload the crossbow.
Crossbows can be preloaded before
combat and due to this, gives a Free
Attack.
Heavy Crossbow is a heavier
version of the crossbow that averages
about 24 to 42 inches in length and fires
larger bolts. While the reload is still the
same as the regular crossbow, it offers
stronger
stopping
power
and
penetration against armored foes.
Crossbows can be preloaded before
combat and due to this, gives a Free
Attack.
Pistol Crossbow Is a small, singlehanded crossbow with very little
stopping power, but is a favored
weapon among assassins due to its
ability to deliver poison from a distance.
The optimal range is not as good as the
light crossbow, and it takes 1 minute to
reload the weapon. Crossbows can be
preloaded before combat and due to
this, gives a Free Attack.
Repeating Crossbow is a modified
version of a crossbow that holds a total
of 5 quarrels at any given time. It uses a
lever to draw back the string or a crank.
It only takes one action to reload a
quarrel and an additional action to fire
it. Once all 5 quarrels are spent, it takes
a full minute to reload the weapon.
Crossbows can be preloaded before
combat and due to this, the Repeating
Crossbow gets one Free Attack.

Slings
Sling Is a rope that is attached to a
cradle or a pouch in the center, used to
launch stones or other such projectiles at
opponents.
Sling Staff Is a staff of hard wood
that is about 4 to 5 feet in length with a
sling attached to one end. The added
pole to the sling design acts like a
miniature catapult or trebuchet and
gives the wielder a longer distance.
Atlatl It consists of a shaft with a
cup to hold the dart or spear. The atlatl
is held in one hand and the spear or
javelin, in the other. Then, acting like a
lever, the atlatl aids to launch the
projectile at a specified target and
multiplies the distance such a weapon
can be thrown by x3.

Misc.
Blowgun Is a long cylindrical tube
that is hollowed out, designed to launch
darts over longer distances than if
thrown.
The blowgun requires the
wielder to be able to force air through
the opposite end of the gun to give the
dart distance. The optimal range of a
dart is increased by x3 distance while
being shot from a blowgun.
Whip is a long, occasionally
barbed, piece of intertwined strips of
leather that is designed to inflict mostly
flesh wounds upon targets. The crack
noise from the whip is used to herd
animals or drive them, and rarely used
to inflect harm on them due to
damaging the livestock. Due to the grip
of these weapons, the whip can be used
to disarm opponents, latch onto limbs or

179

other protrusions, and even be used to

grab objects. The length of a whip can
vary, but most have a reach of at least 15
feet. When using a whip for noncombat purposes, one uses the rope
work skill.

Ammunition
Bodkin Point Arrows Are arrows
affixed with a spear-like, thin, arrow
head that allows for quick manufacture
and longest distance. The arrow is
designed to penetrate up to chain mail.
Blunt Arrows Are unsharpened
arrows used for mostly game hunting
where the goal is to rather stun the
target than have them bleed out. Blunt
arrows are also used for target practice
(such as shooting stumps) or in some
harsher cases, crowd control.
Broadhead Arrows Are like
Bodkin Point arrows, except that the
arrow head is more triangular, with two
to four blades designed to cause
massive bleeding and trauma in those it
strikes, not to mention additional
damage when pulled out of a victim.
Whenever pulling out an arrow (or
pushing it through), the arrow deals its
damage to the victim. A successful First
Aid easy skill roll can determine
whether the arrow needs to be pulled
out (for max damage) or pushed
through (for half). The victims luck
will determine if it can be pushed
through.
Dart Is a small projectile, usually
no longer than 6 inches in length has a
long tip with a small wooden base with
a plume of feathers at the opposite end
to give it lift. The dart does little
damage on its own, but is usually

employed to deliver poison at a

distance.
Light Quarrel Is a long shaft that is
arrow-like in appearance but with a tiny
tip to allow for penetration of heavy
armors. The quarrel is designed for use
with crossbows, pistol crossbows and
repeater crossbows only.
Heavy Quarrel is much like the
light quarrel except that it is larger and
designed
specifically
for
heavy
crossbows.
Sling Stones Are rounded stones
to best fit inside the pouch of sling.
Due to their size and shape, they allow
for a longer distance than if using a
rough stone right off the ground.
Stones Are tiny rocks that are
found right off the ground.
This
pertains to a 1 lbs. stone that can be
picked up and thrown.

Optimal Ranges
Optimal ranges are what distance a
weapon can be fired without incurring
any sort of penalty to accuracy. Each
time the optimal range is exceeded, the
character suffers a negative condition to
strike the target.
Table: 7.10 - Optimal Ranges
Weapon
Longbow
Shortbow
Comp. Longbow
Comp. Shortbow
Light Crossbow
Heavy Crossbow
Pistol Crossbow
Sling
Staff Sling
Javelin
Spear
Dagger

180

Distance
120 feet
80 feet
140 feet
100 feet
80 feet
120 feet
40 feet
50 feet
80 feet
30 ft.
20 feet
10 feet

Hand Axe/Tamohawk
Dart
Club

10 feet
10 ft.
10 feet

If a character wishes to shoot a target

that is 360 feet away, he will suffer two
negative conditions to hit that target.

Body Locations and Armor

Each piece of armor is labeled by
its location of where it is worn on the
human body. A list of those locations
and what can be worn are located
below:

Armor
Armor is protective
wear
that
characters
wear in order to aid in the
deflection and absorption
of damage sustained in
combat or when being
assaulted by the elements
and or environment.
There
are
several
different types of armor
and certainly there are
types of armor made from
differing materials that
may
not
even
be
covered in this edition.
Armor pieces can be worn
individually, especially for those wouldbe adventurers who do not have enough
to buy an entire set of plate mail but
would enjoy the protection of at least
some of the pieces.
In this section we will cover where
each armor piece can be worn in certain
body locations and what classifies
each. Then we will cover the
different types of armor available
and the materials they are, and also can,
be made out of.
Each piece of armor confers its own
level of protection and ability to absorb
a certain amount of damage.

HEAD Hats, Helmets, Crowns,

Circlets, Bandanas, Ect.
NECK Gorgets, Necklaces,
Broaches, Ect.
SHOULDERS Pauldrons, Cloaks,
Ect.
CHEST Breast Plates, Cuirasses,
Coats, Mail Shirts, Surcoats, Ect.
ARMS Vambraces, Epaulieres,
Bracers, Ect.
HANDS Guantlets, Gloves, Ect.
WAIST Tasset Belts, Skirts,
Belts, Girdles, Ect.
LEGS Greaves, Pants, Ect.
FEET Boots, Ect.

Each piece can be

worn individually or be
worn in a set. Typically it
is better to wear the complete set as each
set grants additional bonuses for being
crafted to fit together.

Types of Armor
There
are
several
types
of
armor ranging from simple leather to
being forged from mystical elements
such as mithril or adamentium. Certain
armors can even be improved upon
depending upon the skill level of the
armorsmith or hide worker.
Below is a comprehensive list of
most types of armors that can be
purchased or found in the field:

181

Hide Armor armor made from the

cured hide of animals, the level of
protection can vary depending upon
the type of hide used in its creation.
Leather Armor armor made from the
tanned hide of animals, but is stronger
than most hide armors.
Brigandine Armor is metal plates that
are covered by leather and fastened
together to create a combined level of
protection.
Coat of Plates is much like Brigandine
armor except that it carries heavier
plates.
Splinted Mail is metal strips with a
leather backing, which helps to deflect
blows and also provides overall
protection.
Mail Armor Or otherwise known as
Chain Armor, is a type of armor
comprised of tiny chain links that
fasten together to better protect
against edged weapons. It does not
have all pieces like most other armors
and thus, tends to be incorporated into
other pieces of armor.
Scale Armor is a type of armor
fastened together by tiny overlapping
plates or scales that block out most
edged or pointed weapons.
Plate Mail is armor typically made of
iron that is forged to fit the person
wearing it.
Plate mail offers the
strongest protection against damage
and is designed to deflect damage as
well.
Shields Carried, rather than worn,
shields offer a strong amount of mobile
protection to deflect incoming blows or
to absorb them entirely.

Types of Materials
Much like weapons can be made of

wood, stone or steel, so too can armor.

The type of the material adds a level of
additional protection to the wearer
depending upon material used. While
the material does not add to deflection,
as that is more in the design of the
armor, it does increase in the amount of
damage that can go through, not to
mention the fact that against an
opponent wielding a steel sword, the
individual wearing mithril plate mail is
sure to break the opponents weapon
after too many successful hits.

How to Read
The chart below details each set of
armor that is available for purchase.
Entire sets may be purchased or each
piece may be purchased individually.
Pieces that are worn in this manner are
called piece-mail armor.
Please view table 7.4 for material
costs and hardness.
NAME Is the name of the armor
set and the individual pieces listed
underneath. Consult the section on
Body Armor and Location to know where
each piece is worn on the body.
COST Is the monetary cost of
having to purchase the armor piece
and/or set.
TYPE Is a distinguishing
characteristic that identifies the overall
bulk of a certain set of armor. Armors
are separated into light, medium and
heavy categories. Light armors are freeflowing and act suitably to cloth in that
it doesnt restrict movement. Medium
armors are stiff and rigid and makes it
difficult for one to maneuver; for each
medium piece of medium armor worn,
the character suffers a -1 penalty to all

182

agility-based actions. Heavy armors are

highly restrictive in that it prevents one
from moving even further, so is the
price one pays for stronger protection;
for every piece of heavy armor worn,
the character suffers a -2 penalty on all
agility-based actions.
MATERIAL Is what the armor is
made primarily out of.
DEFLECTION Certain armors are
designed in such a way that blows are to
be deflected and otherwise turned away
from getting a central concentrated
strike. When wearing a piece of armor
that adds deflection, it grants the
character a bonus to add to their defense
roll.
HIT POINTS Is how many blows
the armor can receive before becoming
useless. When an piece of armor loses
enough hit points to drop below 75% of
its total hit points, then too, does the
armors hardness and deflection. This
occurs each additional time the armor is
reduced by another 25% until finally
reaching 0% where the armor has
become completely useless.
Armor hit points increase as the
hardness increases as well. The formula
for calculating hit points for armor are
as follows:
Hardness x Weight (in lbs.) x 10 =
Armor Hit Points.
Shield hit points are calculated as
follows:
Hardness x Weight (in lbs.) x 5 =
Shield Hit Points
WEIGHT Is how much the piece
weighs.
EDGE Is the amount of damage from
Edged weapons that is absorbed if the
character is successfully hit.

POINT Is the amount of damage from

Pointed weapons that is absorbed if the
character is successfully hit.
BLUNT Is the amount of damage from
Blunt weapons that is absorbed if the
character is successfully hit.

Shields
Like armor, shields also have varied
in use and in material as well. For
purposes of standard game, most
shields are made of strong steel in order
to better protect against strikes. While
armor is used to absorb most blows,
shields are designed to deflect blows.
Kite Shield Kite shields come in
different shapes, one being a reverse
tear drop, and then others where the top
is flat. Preferred by most riders due to
the shield being able to cover the entire
flank, the kite shield also picked up
popularity with melee fighters due to its
ability to protect their foreleg.
Heater Shield Named thus due to
the shields resemblance to a clothing
iron, the Heater shield is reknown for us
in melee
combat and jousting
tournaments. Heater shields used for
jousting usually have a notch for the
lance.
Buckler The buckler is a small shield,
usually around 6 to 18 inches in
diameter and round. It is used in the
secondary hand to deflect against melee
attacks. Due to how small it is, the
buckler is terrible at blocking incoming
arrows and thus only gains half its
deflection when defending against
ranged weapons.

183

Table: 7.12 Lighter Armors

Name
Cost
Type
Hide, Full
L
10 sp,
26 bp
Helm
1 sp
L
Gorget
30 bp
L
Pauldrons 1 sp, 32
L
bp
Cuirass 2 sp, 10
M
bp
Vambraces 1 sp, 32
L
bp
Gloves 40 bp
L
Tasset
1 sp
L
Greaves 1 sp, 42
M
bp
Boots
1 sp
L
1 gp, 2
Leather,
sp, 40
L
Full
bp
Helm 1 sp, 40
L
bp
Gorget
1 sp
L
Pauldrons
2 sp
L
Cuirass
3 sp
L
Vambraces
2 sp
L
Gloves
1 sp
L
Tasset 1 sp, 30
L
bp
Greaves 2 sp, 10
L
bp
Boots 1 sp, 40
L
bp

Material
Hide

Deflection
-

HP
600

Weight
35 lbs.

Edge
8

Point
5

Blunt
4

Hide
Hide
Hide

40
20
60

4 lbs.
2 lbs.
4 lbs.

1
-

1
-

Hide

120

6 lbs.

Hide

60

4 lbs.

Hide
Hide
Hide

40
80
100

2 lbs.
4 lbs.
5 lbs.

1
1

1
1

1
-

Hide

80

4 lbs.

Leather

600

20 lbs.

Leather

60

2 lbs.

Leather
Leather
Leather
Leather
Leather
Leather

30
30
120
60
30
90

1 lbs.
2 lbs.
4 lbs.
2 lbs.
1 lbs.
3 lbs.

3
1
1
-

1
2
1

1
2
1

Leather

90

3 lbs.

Leather

40

2 lbs.

184

Table: 7.13 Medium Armors

Name
Brigandine,
Full *
Helm
Gorget
Pauldrons
Cuirass
Vambraces
Gloves
Tasset
Greaves
Boots
Coat of
Plates, Full*
Helm
Gorget
Pauldrons
Cuirass
Vambraces
Gloves
Tasset
Greaves
Boots
Splint Mail,
Full**
Helm
Gorget
Pauldrons
Cuirass
Vambraces
Gloves
Tasset
Greaves
Boots
Mail, Full***
Coif
Gorget
Pauldrons
Shirt
Sleeves
Gloves
Tasset
Greaves
Boots

Cost
1 gp, 9
sp, 27
bp
2 sp
1 sp, 30
bp
3 sp
5 sp
3 sp
1 sp, 30
bp
3 sp
3 sp
2 sp
2 gp, 2
sp, 15
bp
2 sp, 15
bp
2 sp
4 sp
7 sp
4 sp
2 sp
4 sp
4 sp
3 sp
2 gp, 12
sp
3 sp
3 sp
5 sp
9 sp
5 sp
3 sp
5 sp
5 sp
4 sp
3 gp
4 sp
4 sp
1 gp
10 sp
4 sp
8 sp
-

Type
M

Material
Leather/Steel

Deflection
+2

HP
1000

Weight
25 lbs.

Edge
14

Point
12

Blunt
8

L
L

Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel

120
80

3 lbs.
2 lbs.

1
1

1
1

1
-

M
M
M
L

Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel

+1
+1
-

80
200
120
80

2 lbs.
5 lbs.
3 lbs.
2 lbs.

2
4
2
1

1
3
1
1

1
2
-

M
M
L

Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel

120
120
80

3 lbs.
3 lbs.
2 lbs.

2
-

2
1
-

2
2

Leather/Steel

+2

1500

30 lbs.

17

12

Leather/Steel

150

3 lbs.

L
M
M
M
L
M
M
M

Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel
Leather/Steel

+1
+1
-

100
125
325
175
100
175
175
125

2 lbs.
2.5 lbs.
6.5 lbs.
3.5 lbs.
2 lbs.
3.5 lbs.
3.5 lbs.
2.5 lbs.

1
2
5
2
1
1
3
1

1
2
3
1
1
2
1
-

1
2
1
2
2

Steel/Leather

+5

2100

35 lbs.

24

17

11

M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
-

Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel/Leather
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
-

+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
-

210
150
180
480
240
150
240
290
180
2800

3.5
2.5
3
8
4
2.5
4
4.5
3
40 lbs.
4
3
15
8
3
6
-

2
1
3
7
2
2
1
3
2
29
2
2
15
4
2
4
-

1
2
2
4
2
1
3
2
1
25
2
2
10
4
2
4
-

1
1
3
1
2
1
2
6
4
1
1
-

* - Denotes Armors Hardness of 4, due to its construction.

** - Denotes Armors Hardness of 5, due to its construction.
*** - Denotes Armors Hardness of 6, due to its construction.

185

Table: 7.14 Heavier Armors

Name
Cost Type
Scale, Full
H
4 gp,
14 sp
Helm
Gorget 5 sp
M
Pauldrons
Cuirass 1 gp,
H
10 sp
Vambraces 1 gp
M
Gloves 6 sp
M
Tasset 5 sp
H
Greaves 10 sp
H
Boots
9 gp,
Plate, Full
H
11 sp
Helm 10 sp
H
Gorget 10 sp
H
Pauldrons 1 gp
H
Cuirass 3 gp
H
Vambraces 1 gp
H
Gloves 8 sp
H
Tasset 10 sp
H
Greaves 1 gp
H
Boots 10 sp
H
Table: 7.15 Shields
Name
Cost

Material
Steel

Deflection
+6

HP
5250

Weight
75 lbs.

Edge
35

Point
28

Blunt
14

Steel
Steel

+3

280
2100

4 lbs.
30 lbs.

3
17

2
13

1
7

Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
-

+2
+1
-

700
350
770
1050
-

10 lbs.
5 lbs.
11 lbs.
15 lbs.
-

5
3
2
5
-

4
2
3
4
-

2
1
1
2
-

Steel

+18

10500

150 lbs.

80

66

37

Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel

+2
+1
+3
+5
+3
+1
+1
+2
+1

700
350
1260
3500
910
420
1050
1610
700

10 lbs.
5 lbs.
18 lbs.
50 lbs.
13 lbs.
6 lbs.
15 lbs.
23 lbs.
10 lbs.

5
3
14
30
7
4
5
7
3

4
3
12
25
5
3
5
6
3

3
1
8
10
4
2
3
4
2

Type

Material

Deflection

HP

Weight

Kite Shield

4 sp, 42 bp

Steel

+5

350

10 lbs.

Heater

5 sp, 24 bp

Steel

+6

420

12 lbs.

Buckler
Pavise

1 sp
6 sp

L
H

Steel
H.Wood

+1
+8

70
320

2 lbs.
16 lbs.

4 sp, 20 bp.

Steel

+4

280

8 lbs.

Scutum

9 sp

Steel

+15

770

22 lbs.

Hoplon

6 sp

Steel

+8

542

15.5 lbs.

Targe

Pavise Is a large complex shield that can

be used to protect the entire body. It is
typically carried by archers and crossbow
men to hide behind while reloading their
weapons. Some pavise have spikes at the
bottom that can be set into the ground to give
the weilder the free use of his or her hands.
Generally, these types of shields are reserved
for use during a siege and are made of some

form of hard wood.

Targe Is a shield that is typically round,
between 18 to 21 inches in diameter and
concave.
The name targe generally
translates out to target which is just
something to strike at during combat.
Scutum A shield designed like a semicylindrical rectangle that is typically 42
inches in height, a chord of 26 inches and a
curve of about 34 inches; although, variations
are created from time to time. In the real

186

world, the Scutum were best known for use

by Roman Legionaries. The metal boss in the
center of the shield is a great punching
weapon, able to deal 4 points of blunt. Plus,
due to the size of the shield, it provides
excellent defense against arrows because of
how much area of the body it can cover. The
Scutum can be used for a cover defense, as
opposed to just using the deflection in
combat. Despite its size, the design of the
shield makes it very light to carry.
Hoplon Originating its name from the
Greek Hoplites, the Hoplon is a concave
shield and an ancient ancestor of the Targe.
Much like the Targe, the Hoplon is round,
but is larger in size, generally averaging 3539 inches in diameter. Due to its weight and
awkwardness during the sound of the retreat,
most Hoplons must be dropped in order to
reach ones full speed. While wielding a
hoplon the Run skill suffers an unfavorable
condition.

Gear
Most equipment in Sticks & Stones can be
purchased in like-categories or in bulky,
unnamed groups of related items such as
General Goods, Tools, Food, Clothing, ect.
These items, while not very specific, are
designed to take the place of long, ever
expanding equipment lists belonging to other
role playing games. Those players who
prefer to have detailed equipment lists may
purchase things al a carte.

Grouped Items
Whenever a character purchases a group of
items, there is a general description that each
group carries and is assumed to have the
essentials of that grouping. For instance, a
character purchases Camping Gear, which

187

describes having a bedroll, flint & steel, a

couple torches, a cup and bowl and a hatchet
for fetching firewood. The character may
add additional funds to allot to the purchase
such as on top of the 2 silver it costs to
purchase the Camping Gear, the character
purchases 5 more silver pieces worth of
Camping Gear. This extra 5 silver pieces is in
cases there is something that comes up in
camping that would require a different item
outside of the description. When a character
wishes to check if he or she has the item in
question, he or she rolls their Scavenge skill
to see if they can locate the item. If they do,
then price the assumed purchase price of that
item needed a la carte is subtracted out of the
suspense of 5 silver and the character now
has that item and can add it underneath their
package.
Table 7.16 Standard Equipment
Adventuring Gear
Name
Cost
Backpack
1 sp, 12 bp
Blanket, Winter
2 sp
Blanket
1 sp
Caltrops
50 bp
Map Case
1 sp, 24 bp
Flint and Steel
20 bp
Lantern, bullseye
3 sp
Lantern, hooded
2 sp
Lock
Easy
1 sp
Average
2 sp
Hard
3 sp
Impossible
4 sp
Manacles
Easy
6 sp, 40 bp
Average
8 sp, 35 bp
Hard
10 sp, 30 bp
Impossible
12 sp, 25 bp
Mirror, compact
1 sp
Bandages, Roll of
10 bp
Oil (1-pint flask)
20 bp
Rations, per day
30 bp
Rope, Hemp (50 ft.)
1 sp, 26 bp
Rope, Silk (50 ft.)
10 sp
Sack
26 bp
Spyglass
1 gp
Tent
5 sp
Torch
20 bp
Waterskin
30 bp
Whetstone
1 sp

Weight
2 lbs.
3 lbs.
2 lbs.
1 lbs.
2 lbs.
n/a
3 lbs.
2 lbs.
1 lbs.
----3 lbs.
----n/a
0.1 lbs.
1 lbs.
1 lbs.
10 lbs.
6 lbs.
1 lbs.
1 lbs.
18 lbs.
1 lbs.
5 lbs.
1 lbs.

Musical Instrument,
wood
Musical Instrument,
Metal
Spellbook, blank
Bag of Marbles

Name
Block & Tackle
Crowbar
Hammer
Sledge
Pick, mining
Spade
Shovel
Skill Kit
Grappling Hook
Camping Kit
Medical Kit

7 sp

1 lbs.

1 gp

4 lbs.

2 gp
1 sp

1 lbs.
1 lbs.

Tools & Kits

Cost
1 sp, 56 bp
2 sp
1 sp, 34 bp
3 sp
4 sp, 50 bp
44 bp
46 bp
5 sp
4 sp
5 sp
3 sp

Weight
7 lbs.
5 lbs.
2 lbs.
10 lbs.
10 lbs.
8 lbs.
7 lbs.
4 lbs.
4 lbs.
10 lbs.
2.5 lbs.

Clothing & Accessories

Name
Cost
Cloak
2 sp, 46 bp
Vest
1 sp, 34 bp
Corset
2 sp, 56 bp
Girdle
1 sp, 54 bp
Dress
1 sp
Surcoat
3 sp
Pantaloons
40 bp
Pants
30 bp
Shirt
30 bp
Kirtle
25 bp
Chemise
40 bp
Smock
30 bp
Houppelande
1 sp
Doublet
1 sp
Hose
10 bp
Ring, Signet
3 sp, 2 bp
Cloak, Hooded
3 sp
Coif
20 bp
Shoes
1 sp
Boots, common
2 sp
Boots, riding
3 sp
Sandles
50 bp
Skirt
30 bp
Undergarments
20 bp
Crown/Circlet
4 sp
Earrings
2 sp
Rings
2 sp
Belt, Pockets
1 sp, 34 bp
Pouch, Money
1 sp
Belt
50 bp
Necklace/Amulet
1 sp
Holy Symbol, wood
1 sp
Holy Symbol, silver
5 sp

Name

Weight
2 lbs.
0.5 lbs.
1 lbs.
0.5 lbs.
2 lbs.
2 lbs.
1.5 lbs.
1 lbs.
0.5 lbs.
n/a
n/a
n/a
3 lbs.
2 lbs.
n/a
n/a
2.5 lbs.
n/a
1 lbs.
4 lbs.
5 lbs.
n/a
0.5 lbs
n/a
1 lbs.
n/a
n/a
2 lbs.
1 lbs.
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a

Healing Salve
Healing Potion
Stamina Potion
Magick Potion
Love Potion

1 sp
8 sp
10 sp
1 gp
10 sp

0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5

lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.

Name
Barding
Dog, Guard
Dog, Riding
Dog
Cat, Riding
Cat
Donkey or Mule
Horse, Riding
Horse, Draft
Horse, Military
Pony, Riding
Pony, Military
Riding Gear
Saddle, Riding
Mount Feed
Stabling
Falcon, Hunting
Saddle, Pack
Saddle, Military
Falcon, Riding

Animals
Cost
Varies
8 sp
3 gp
3 sp
1 gp
1 sp
3 sp
1 gp, 11 sp
4 gp
8 gp
1 sp
2 gp
2 sp
1 sp
20 bp/day
1 sp
3 gp
1 sp, 20 bp
2 sp
6 gp

Weight
Varies
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
5 lbs.
20 lbs.
10 lbs.
n/a
1.5 lbs.
10 lbs.
35 lbs.
n/a

Adventuring Gear
Below are a list of items and their
descriptions. Only items that require a more
in-depth explanation will be touched on.
Bandages A roll of bandages can be
used to treat 10 hit points worth of damage.
A prepared medic usually carries more than
1 roll with them at all times.
Blanket, Winter This blanket gives the
character a favorable condition when trying to
keep warm during cold or otherwise winterlike conditions.
Caltrops Are a four-prong tack that is
sharp and deals damage to those who
attempt to walk through it. Caltrops can
cover up to four 5 ft. squares, and
immediately deals an Edge of 5 to any who
pass through.
Lantern, Bullseye This lantern is

Potions, Salves & Extracts

Cost
Weight

188

designed to shine a light in a single direction.

marbles that can cover to 5 ft. squares. Those
It can create a beam of light that is shaped
who attempt to traverse across this area find
like a cone that is 60 feet long, but casts
themselves prone to falling and must succeed
shadows out to 120 feet long. It can only
at an Agility challenge versus a DS of 30 or
hold 1 pint of oil and can burn for 18 hours.
else trip and fall.
Lantern, Hooded A hooded lantern is
much like the regular lamp, except that it can
be carried in one hand and has a metallic
hood over it to keep the light from escaping
Skill Kit A kit designed to have a
skyward. This increases the light radius to 30
multitude of different tools and necessary
feet and a 60 feet
Household Items
items to help aid in the
Cost
Weight
shadowy
illumination. Name
completion
of
tasks
2 sp
10 lbs.
The lantern can only hold Barrel
related to the relative
30 bp
0.5 lbs.
1 pint of oil and can stay Basket
skill. Those with a skill
Bell
38 bp
1 lbs.
lit for 18 hours.
Bottle
10 bp
0.5 lbs.
kit gain a favorable
Lock Is a mechanical Book
2 sp
1 lbs.
condition when using it
10 bp
n/a
metallic device that can Glass
along
side
their
20 bp
0.5 lbs.
be opened with a key. Plate
respective
skill.
A
skill
Bucket
40 bp
1 lbs.
The difficulty of opening Candle
kit must be individually
6 bp
n/a
a lock without the key is Cauldron
30 bp
10 lbs.
purchased per each skill.
2 sp
10 lbs.
set by the maker of the Chain (10 ft.)
Camping Kit This
44 bp
1 lbs.
lock. Typical locks may Canvas (sq. yd.)
kit
comes with a bedroll,
Chalk, 1 piece
2 bp
n/a
be purchased with the
2 torches, flint and steel, a
Fishhook
1 bp
n/a
following DS challenges: Fishing net, 25 sq. 24 bp
5 lbs.
small hatchet, 2 wooden
Easy 20, Average 30, ft.
cups , 2 wooden bowels,
8 bp
0.5 lbs.
Hard 40, Impossible is 50. Flask (empty)
2 small wooden spoons, 1
Ink (1 oz. vial)
8 bp
0.25 lbs.
Manacles Are a pair Ink pen
iron skillet, 1 iron pot and
40 bp
n/a
of shackles that are fixed Jug, Clay
8 bp
0.5 lbs.
a blanket.
by
the
wrist
and Ladder (10 ft.)
3 sp
20 lbs.
Medical Kit Comes
1 sp
2 lbs.
connected by a heavy Lamp
with a variety of medical
2 sp
1 lbs.
chain. The manacles are Mirror, hand
supplies, including 2
Mug
6 bp
n/a
to reduce a prisoners Paper (sheet)
1 sp
n/a
healing salves, 10 rolls of
ability to harm others and Parchment (sheet) 30 bp
n/a
bandages,
1
surgical
12 bp
1 lbs.
makes it easier for them Pitcher, clay
knife, a setting board and
20 bp
n/a
to be transported without Piton
a canvas for making a
Pole (10 ft.)
45 bp
8 lbs.
event.
Manacles are Pot, Iron
makeshift stretcher (poles
1 sp, 25 bp
4 lbs.
difficult to escape from Sealing Wax
20 bp
n/a
not included).
and
or
be
picked. Sewing Needle
1 bp
n/a
30 bp
0.5 lbs.
Manacles
may
be Signal Whistle
Silverware, 5 piece
1 gp
20 lbs.
purchased
with
the set
following DS challenges: Soap (1 lbs.)
15 bp
1 lbs.
Easy 20, Average 30, Vial, glass
16 bp
0.25 lbs.
Hard 40, Impossible is 50.
Lamp is a common lamp that uses a
Marbles, Bag of A bag filled with
wick in a below base of oil that can create a

Tools and Kits

Household
Items

189

15 ft. radius light, with a 30 ft. radius shadow

after the initial 10 ft. A single pint of oil
allows it to burn for a total of 18 hours. The
lamp can hold 2 pints of oil. The lamp can be
thrown, dealing 2d6 points initially and 1d6
points of fire damage every round after that
until the fire is doused.
Silverware, 5 Piece Set This set is made
of real silver and has forks, salad forks,
knives, soup spoons and regular spoons
enough for 5 place settings.

Potions, Salves and Extracts

Healing Salve When applied directly to
the wound, this salve can heal 1 point of
damage after 24 hours. Each salve has up to
25 applications.
Healing, Stamina and Magick Potions
These potions can restore 4d6 worth of either
Hit Points, Stamina or Magick Points
respectively.
Love Potion Is a potion that whoever
drinks it experiences strong emotions and
feels for the first person they see after its
consumption. This effect lasts for 4d6 hours.

Animals
Animals may be found in Chapter on
Monsters, under the subsection of animals.
Barding Barding is armor specially
made for animals and mounts. The armor
type provides the same level of protection as
the normal full set of armor, except that its
weight and cost is respective to the size of the
creature. Thus if you are creating barding for
a mount with a Body of 8, then that is
effectively 1.6 more than a intended armor
for a Body of 5, and would cost 1.6 times
more and weight 1.6 times more (for a
humanoid) and then x2 for a quadruped. So
if you wish to give Full Plate Mail for a horse,

190

it would cost (9 gold x 1.6 = 14.4 x 2) + (11

silver x 1.6 = 17.6) = 14 gold, 23 silver, 40 bp x
2 = 28 gold, 46 silver, 80 bp and weight (150 x
1.6) x 2 = 480 lbs.
Saddle, Pack Is a saddle that allows for
items to be stored onto mount but does not
allow for a rider. The mount may carry up to
its total carrying weight.
Saddle, Military Military saddles allow
for the rider to be tied in. This prevents a
knocked down rider from being thrown off
his or her mount during battle. Also the
saddle gives the rider a favorable condition
when trying to overcome battleground
challenges that may interfere with his or her
control over their mount.

Chapter 8
Adventuring
Life of an adventurer is not an easy one.
There are several challenges and obstacles
one must face before one is ever rewarded.
Some rewards are monetary whilst others
grant knowledge.
Occasionally an
adventurer may be faced with tough
decisions that may impact the lives of many,
it is these decisions that will ultimately shape
the world in which the character lives in.
The most important thing about
adventuring is to know a challenge for what
it is and to be able to properly assess whether
or not a situation is within the characters
means or too far beyond them that to try
would only spell certain doom. The next
section touches on the types of challenges
one will meet in the game and how to
navigate them.

Challenges
Challenges are obstacles that the Overseer
sets forth in front of the player characters to
keep them, or dissuade them from their
goals.
Some challenges imply no
consequence, such as in cases where the
player character wishes to talk a merchant
down on a price but fails; other challenges
carry a more grisly cost such as trying to leap
out of harms way before a heavy boulder
crushes them. Each time a character succeeds
at a challenge, he or she fills out a stick on
their skill or ability advancement. If the
character fails, the player does not get to
advance their character in that respective

191

skill or ability but may later do so described

in the subsection Learning From Mistakes.
Whether it is a running contest, or a
challenge of wits, each required action falls
within either an Ability challenge, a Skill
challenge, a Combat challenge or a Magick
challenge. However, before we review the
differences in each of these types of
challenges, we first must know the mechanics
behind them.

MECHANICS
There are two different ways of how
challenges are calculated. The first type is the
unopposed action, where the difficulty score
(or DS) is set by the Overseer and the player
must roll their characters respective score
against it. Then there is the opposed action,
where the player must roll their characters
respective score against another character or
NPC (non-player character), where the
highest score wins.
Example of Unopposed Actions: The
players character needs to jump across a
creek. The Overseer checks the width of the
creek and the height at which the character
needs to reach in order to reach the other side
and assigns a Difficulty Score of 18. The
player rolls his Jump skill and rolls the
respective ability and skill die and adds it to
his or her milestones in order to meet the
score the Overseer has assigned. Most of the
time, the difficulty score is not released to the
player.
Example of Opposed Actions: The

players character decides to enter into a arm

wrestling contest. The Overseer states that in
order for either person to win, it requires 3
successful Brawn challenge rolls in a row to
win.
The contest begins when both
participates roll their ability scores and add it
to their milestones, whoever has the highest
score wins the round. The rounds continue,
in this example, until one contestant has at
least 3 successful Brawn challenges in a row.
In this case, the Overseer may require each
contestant to use 3 Stamina Points each time
they roll and opposed challenge.

ABILITY CHALLENGES
Ability challenges are called for when a
skill or other respective score will not due for
the situation. For physical challenges such as
pushing objects and lifting things, a Brawn
challenge would best fit, or if a character is
attempting to enter into a battle of wits with
another individual then Wits would be the
score better rolled.

Optional
Rules:
Sanity (Will)
To add a spark of darkness into a
campaign, an Overseer can implement this
option rule that deals with a characters
Sanity. Characters begin with a maximum
Sanity score equal to the characters total
mental milestones (Smarts, Wits and Will).
These Sanity Points act much like Hit Points,
Stamina Points or Magick Points and are
restored at the same rate as Hit Points.
When characters encounter situations of
fear, horror or madness they must make a
challenge roll against a DS (difficulty score)
set by the Overseer in relation to the event.
Often times, in cases of monsters, a certain

192

creature may have a presence that invokes

fear. In which case, the character must roll an
opposed Will challenge against that
monsters Presence.
The amount of Sanity damage inflicted by
each failed Will challenge is equal to 1 die
level per every 5 points the DS is divisible by.
Thus if the challenge DS is 20, the damage
would be equal to 1d8.
Once the characters Sanity Points are
reduced to zero, the character loses all grips
on realty. At this point the character may
acquire
paranoia,
phobias,
mental
derangements or possibly even amnesia. The
severity of the insanity loss is between the
player character and the Overseer. The
insanity could be long-term or short-term,
and is intended only to act as another means
of role-playing.
Once an insanity trait
becomes too hinder some to the game, its
time to eliminate it.

SKILL CHALLENGES
Skill challenges are any actions that fall
under the skills section of character creation.
These would include Jumping, Running,
Academics, Perception, ect.
For more
information on skill challenges, please see the
Skill section.

COMBAT CHALLENGES
There are times when combat is necessary
in game to resolve a challenge. However,
oftentimes player characters eager to show
their characters prowess tend to leap into a
combat more often than what may be
necessary. It is important to note that there
may be encounters that may seem easily won
through combat but turn out to have some
horrific outcomes.
Or, there may be a
situation where the monster that must be

slain is too much for the characters to handle.

Combat challenges are detailed in the
Chapter on Combat.

MAGICK CHALLENGES
Magickal challenges can be more than
simple opposed challenges or using the
magickal talents inherent in the character to
overcome obstacles, sometimes the challenge
may be magick in nature and is not expressed
or detailed in either the characters past
history or in the Sticks & Stones rulebook.
There are instances where the Overseer has
poetic license with magick, it is still a very
mysterious force; no matter how much any
NPC can claim to be an expert.
Magickal challenges and rules for
challenges are detailed in the Chapter of
Magick.

Difficulty scores
When determining difficulty scores or the
DS of a challenge, a good Overseer must
determine whether to use a fixed difficulty
score such as in the case of climbing a tree, or
an adjusting difficulty such as a masterful
lock that needs to be picked.
Table: 8.1 Character Milestone DS Examples
Character Avg.
Easy
Average
Hard
Milestones Die
DS
DS
DS
25
d2
2
3
4
50
d2
7
9
11
75
d4
9
11
13
100
d4
12
14
16
125
d6
15
17
19
150
d6
18
20
22
175
d6
21
23
25
200
d8
24
26
28
225
d8
27
29
31
250
d8
29
31
33
275
d8
31
33
35
300
d10
35
37
39

325
350

d10
d10

38
40

40
42

42
44

Fixed DS is when a set DS is assigned to

a task that no matter how old, size or shape,
the difficulty remains the same.
As a
character progresses in ability, the same tasks
they found difficult are now becoming easier.
A character returning to his old childhood
creek in order to jump over a ravine he had
previously fallen into from a similar attempt
years before is a common example of having
a fixed DS. The nature of the challenge hasnt
changed and thus neither should the DS for
this challenge or similar challenges.
Adjusting DS An adjustable DS is one
that when encountered is variable.
A
character-thief who attempts to steal into a
heavily guarded mansion should expect to
have difficult challenges. When tailoring
adventurers,
most
difficulty
scores
encountered will be adjusted to fit the
character milestones of the players.
Table 8.1 shows examples of what a
typical difficulty score would appear as for
characters who use average scores. Keep in
mind that when the characters in the story
start to specialize, that the average difficulty
score may be too easy and the Overseer will
have to adjust accordingly.

Favorable Conditions
Favorable and unfavorable conditions are
situations where there is a positive or
negative factor that is working for or against
the character.
Favorable Conditions Having a grappling
hook when climbing a wall, having a
balancing pole when walking a tightrope,
being on higher ground when attacking a foe,
are all ways a favorable condition can be
acquired.

193

Unfavorable Conditions The wall is

covered in mold, the ingredients are old, the
door is reinforced, are all examples of ways
unfavorable conditions can come into play.
Favorable conditions and unfavorable
conditions can cancel each other out, so it is
easier to calculate either the bonus or the
penalty.
Whether favorable or unfavorable, the
bonus or penalty counts by odd amounts, 3,
5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and so forth.
Therefore, if a character has 3 favorable
conditions he or she would have a +7 bonus
and if he or she had 3 unfavorable conditions
he or she would suffer a -7 penalty.

The Environment Die

are three sticks that may be earned, then once

the fourth stick is acquired, a stone may be
filled. Once all three stones are filled and the
fourth one is finally achieved, then the
character earns a milestone.
Milestones
translate into points to be used to purchase
traits and abilities.

Optional Rules:
Quicker Advancement
If the character advancement is not to the
pace of your gaming group, consider
permanently filling in either a stick or a stone
to increase character

Learning from your mistakes

The environment die is reserved for

circumstances where the current environment where the characters are located is
unpredictable, sinister or downright evil.
With every challenge a die is rolled,
determined by the Overseer, and it is added
to the characters DS score as a penalty
against them or in cases where unseen forces
of good are helping out the party, the
environment die may add to the DS of those
who are opposed the player characters.
A good example of this is that the
characters enter a dark swamp that is
haunted by the ghosts of all those who have
drowned.
The Overseer may say that
because of how many people have died a 1d6
environment die is called for as the ghosts are
sinister and working against the characters
with hope that they too will slip up and be
claimed by the swamp as well.

Advancement
Characters advance in milestones from
successfully completing challenges that earn
them a stick towards the milestone. There

194

At the end of every adventure (not

necessarily every gaming session) the
Overseer may award a number of sticks or
stones as a free reward to represent their
characters learning from their mistakes.
Generally, the awards may only be applied
after the characters have had a full nights
sleep to allow time for their subconscious to
digest the information.
Overseers are
encouraged to keep the end of the adventure
rewards low to encourage players not to rely
on it.

Down Time
There are times between adventures, or
when players are not able to make the
gaming session, when a character may
experience down time. During this time,
characters may train in their abilities or work
on projects such as working the forge or
researching a new spell.
Whenever a character is on their own
time, they can perform any action that they
have the capacity of doing, regardless of

those actions, the character gains 3 sticks to

for every week of downtime. These sticks
can be used to improve any score.

Training
Whenever a character wishes to purchase
a new trait or magick sphere, the character
must spend an amount of time equal to 1
month per point cost. Thus if a spell casting
character wishes to purchase an magick
attack trait that costs 3 to purchase, it would
take 3 months to train in that particular trait.
Training does count as downtime, so
player characters still benefit from the 3 stick
per week bonus while training.

Towns & Economy

In an adventurers travels it is inevitable
that one encounters a city, town, village or
even a hamlet, be it from his own race or
another. Towns are a great place to resupply,
trade goods, catch up on local gossip, and
find leads to the next adventure.
Not all towns are created equal and
depending upon the trade, supply and
demand neither is the economy or the quality
of living. Selling to a hamlet that has no need
for a set of plate mail may not result in a
good price, but instead may be interested in a
good horse or perhaps a blanket or two.
Each population center has a level of
population, an economic level and a treasury.
There are other miner details such as imports
and exports, or economic events that may be
in affect based on the campaign world that
may increase the value of certain trade goods.

Population Level
Population levels tells of the general
demographics of the type of people who are

195

currently living in the area and what their

trades are. Also, the higher the population
means for a larger economy as well as for a
larger boost in tax revenue that keeps the
town treasury high.

Taxes and the Average Wage Earner

The average wage earner makes about 14
bronze pieces per week, which are taxed by
the local magistrate, on average, 15%. This
means that for every person living in the
area, they give 3 silver and 10 bronze pieces
per year to the city treasury. This then, in
turn, has anywhere from 30-40% given to the
local lord, who in turn gives 30 to 40% to his
or her liege and so on and so forth.
Individual tax rates may vary, but when
creating a settlement for the characters to
visit, keep in mind that the people living
there do contribute to the overall treasury.

Population and City Level

Population dictates the city level of the
settlement. The more people, the higher the
economy, the higher the taxes, as well as the
need for trade.
Wild Land (-1): Is uninhabited, with rare
encounters with traveling merchants. The
population living here is 0 and usually for
good reason.
Dispersed Dwellings (0) Every so many
10 miles or so a dwelling may be seen. There
could be anywhere from 1 to 8 people living
in a 10 mile square.
Hamlet (1) A hamlet has a very small
population that is less than 100 people and
has few buildings. Generally, hamlets are
ruled over by elders or one dominate family
head.
Village (2) A village has a population

between 100 to 1000 people who live close to

one another in multiple dwellings. There are
a few shops, most centered around living
needs, but few services. Usually, villages are
ruled over by an elder or perhaps a
magistrate.
Town (3) A town holds a population of
1,000 to 20,000 people, with a few curious
shops or establishments geared towards
services. Towns are ruled over by a mayor
(in cases where people are elected) or a
magistrate (in cases of where one is
appointed).
Large Town (4) A large town holds a
population that is greater than 20,000 and no
more than 100,000 people.
City (5) holds a population of 100,000 or
more people.
Large City (6) caters to populations that
are just shy of 1 million people.
Super-City (7) Is a metropolis that has 1
million people or more and an incredible
economy.

Social Class and Occupation

Population can be grouped into several
distinctive social classes. Generally, there are
five social classes: Indentured, Freemen,
Merchant, Clergy and Nobility. Some may
even include a sixth social class like Slaves if
such laws allowed in the campaign world.
Looking at the population size of a given
settlement, one can expect a certain
percentage of the people there to fall within
these social classes and occupations. Keep in
mind that culture may dictate these numbers
different and may also slightly vary per
region.
Nobility 1%
Bureaucrats 42%
Rulers 8%
Knights 14%
Leisure 36%
Clergy 2%

196

Spiritual Leaders 20%

Temple Servants 80%
Merchant 5%
Artisans 45%
Servicemen 30%
Traders 25%
Freemen 38%/20%*
Laborers 90%
Artists 1%
Soldier 5%
Other 4%
Indentured 54%/30%*
Farmers 90%
Servants 10%
Slave 42%*
* - If slaves are present in campaign
world, and slaves may be of any occupation.
While the differences between the
nobility, clergy, merchant and slave social
classes are obvious, the indentured social
class belongs to those who have either
committed crimes and are paying back
society through work, or have become
indebted to someone else and must work off
their contracts before they would be free. A
Freeman/Freewoman is part of the
peasantry, those who are free of debts and
are able to go as they please. Most are
laborers who strive to earn enough money to
feed their family or some who decide to take
to adventuring with hopes of increasing their
lot in life.

Treasury
The treasury of a settlement is important
for several reasons. It gives the Overseer and
idea of how much the settlement can afford
to pay towards adventurers or use toward
purchasing much needed goods. Quests for
adventurers could be designed around the
treasury of a settlement alone, and later used
to purchase new buildings or invest in ways
to increase the economy of the town.

As mentioned in population level, the

number of people contribute to the treasury
level every year (and in some cases
quarterly). It is the job of the town tax office
or magistrate to ensure that there is enough
in the city treasury for basic services,
emergency funds, improvements, currency
exchange and taxes to be paid to the local
ruler. Also, the city-level can sometimes
determine the amount the population is
taxed. Some rulers, with interest in boosting
the population of an area, may make it so
that hamlets only have to pay 5% taxes, while
cities may have to pay 25%.
Table: 8.2 Average Taxes Per City Level
Income per
City Level
Tax Rate
Person (Year)
Wild
0%
0
Dispersed
0%
0
Dwel
Hamlet
5%
36.4 bp
Village
10%
72.8 bp

Town
Large Town
City
Large City
Super City

15%
20%
25%
30%
35%

109.2 bp
145.6 bp
182 bp
218.4 bp
254.8 bp

To determine the treasury, take the

population times the income per person per
year and that is how many bronze pieces the
city has. To get the silver, divide the bronze
by 60. After paying taxes to the lord of 4060% the rest of the remaining funds are left
for the city coffers to use on improvements,
pay for administration costs and upkeep on
the city-owned buildings.

Economic Power
The economic power of a city represents
how expensive of an item can be found in a
city, as well as, how much one can buy or sell
items for in that area.

197

In order to determine the economic power

you take the city level times the number of
times the population is divisible by 100.
Thus in the case of Village with a city-level of
2 with 450 people living there, it would be 2 x
(450 / 100) = 9 which is the number of bronze
pieces that can be purchased here.
BUYING - In order for a player character
to purchase an item that is higher than 9
bronze pieces, the player must roll a Luck
challenge (rolling beneath their Luck score
on a d20) a number of times equal to how
many times the economic power of the city is
divisible by the cost of the item in bronze.
Thus, if the character wanted to purchase a
Healing Salve that costs 1 silver or 60 bronze
pieces, he or she would need to make 6 Luck
challenge rolls in order for the shop or
vendor to have one available for purchase.
This does not, however, prevent one from
being made for the character. If the Luck
challenge succeeds, then there so happens to
be one for sale at a price equal to the number
of times the economic power is divisible into
the item cost (in bronze pieces) divided by 2.
Thus, if in the above example the 1 silver
piece cost is divisible by rounded down by 6.
Take 6 and divide that by 2 and thus the
healing salve would cost 3 silver instead of 1
silver because of its rarity.
SELLING - When selling items, most
vendors haggle for the lowest price, that
being 25% of the items listed value. Take
our healing salve example from before, since
its value is 1 silver piece or 60 bronze pieces,
25% of that value is 15 bronze pieces. This
25%, however, can only be expected to fetch a
good price in areas where it the economic
power is equal to 60 or more. Anything
below a 60, such as in our 9 example above,
will reduce the percentage by the amount
equal to the number of times the item is
divisible by the economic power in bronze
pieces (previously determined as 6). So

198

therefore, if the character decides to sell a

healing salve to the same village, the starting
negotiating price would start at 25% - 6% =
19% of the value of the item (60 bp x 19% = 11
bronze pieces.

Market Events
Economy is ran by supply and demand
and a smart merchant keeps his or her ears
tuned for news of high demand for goods.
These events are created at the Overseers
behest, where certain settlements require any
sort of good or service and is willing to pay
top coin, such as 10-20% more over any other
settlement. These events make it worth a
merchants wiles to skip a neighboring
town on his or her route and instead sell to
those offering the better prices.
At times this can create a competitive
market where other neighboring towns also
wish to purchase the same type of goods and
a bidding war may begin.

Reputation
Every place of business has a reputation
as being the best at or the worst place to go.
Those who have a higher reputation tend to
be the first on peoples lips when others ask
where to get a certain good or item.
In cases of player characters who are also
business owners, it is a type of reward one
can gain for providing a quality of service or
good that appeases others. While the opinion
of the common people is important,
sometimes all it takes is the word from a
celebrity or local hero to boost the reputation
of a business enough to outshine the
competition.
When determining a business cut of a
market, take all the reputations of similar
establishments and add them together. So if

we have three establishments with a

reputation of 23, 18, and 5, then the total is
40.
Then divide the reputation of the
establishment by the total reputation of all
establishments.
In the above case, the
reputation of 23 has 57.5%, the 18 has a 40.5%
and the 5 has a 12.5% of the total market in
that settlement. This means that of the total
economic power of the settlement, 9 in our
example from before, of 9 bronze pieces the
establishment with 57.5% gets 5 (rounded
down) bronze pieces in business every week.
Though a bit disappointing (and below the 14
bronze pieces the average person makes per
week), in areas of high traffic such as a
booming Large City with a population of
800,000 (6 x [800,000 / 100] = 48000 bp / 60 =
800 silver) the 57.5% is 460 silver pieces.
Now all that the business has to do is have
enough workers and product to cover that
size of the market before a competitor does.

Social Encounters
It is inevitable that a character will need
to interact with others.
While brief
encounters may be left at a simply hello or a
hellish threat, when trying to make friends,
get information or even bargain with
someone the player character and Overseer
fall into a dialogue that is backed by
opposing social challenges to see who comes
out on top.

Initial Reaction
The first part of a social interaction is the
initial reaction. This is a gut feeling about a
person and physical appearance.
Each
person participating must roll a Wits
challenge opposed by the DS of the other
individuals Looks roll. If the Wits roll is
successful, and has a higher number of
milestones in Looks than the opponent, then

199

that individual gains a favorable condition for

this conversation only. If the Wits roll was
successful but the Looks milestones are less,
then nothing happens. If the Wits roll is
unsuccessful, then the opposing character
gains a favorable condition. If the Wits roll is
unsuccessful and the opponent has a higher
number of milestones in Looks then he or she
receives an additional favorable condition.

Large Groups of People

The initial reaction, in cases where there
are multiple people, the Overseer may create
a generic template to represent the majority
of non-essential characters and have but a
single set of statistic scores and thus but a
single roll to determine the success of an
initial reaction. This initial reaction carries
throughout the time the group has to
encounter the individual.

Age Difference
Age is a large factor in cases of a
characters Looks score. For every 10 years
younger the character is from another, he or
she gains a favorable condition. For every 10
years old the character is from another, he or
she gains an unfavorable condition.

Downplaying Beauty
If a character is successful in winning the
first Wits challenge against the Initial
Reaction, that person may attempt to
downplay the individuals beauty by
pointing out physical flaws both real and
imagined to others. This is accomplished as
an opposed Wits challenge against the other
individuals Wits. If successful, the flaws are
seen just as you describe them and the
bonuses acquired from the initial reaction are

lost. If the challenge is unsuccessful, then

nothing happens and the mentioning is
brushed off as a difference in opinion. If
there is a critical failure (where both dice are
showing a 1), then the character who was
trying to downplay the other individuals
beauty is looked upon poorly by the one who
he or she was attempting to sway and thus
gains an unfavorable condition when dealing
with that person for the rest of the social
encounter.

Social Status

Player characters may purchase at

character creation their social class that they
would prefer to belong to. In some cases,
depending on the nature of the campaign
setting, the Overseer may provide the players
a specific social class for free. When a
character purchases a social class, he or she
does not have to play as the preferred
occupation, but is considered to have been
born out of that social stratum and thus will
gain the benefit of the social status if it is not
being concealed.

Next, people always compare themselves

to others in the state of wealth or social
standings. Favorable conditions are awarded
to those of higher social standings due to
cultural norms. Compare the chart below to
see how many favorable conditions are granted
during interactions.

Dress Code & Presence

Table: 8.3 Favorable Conditions & Social

Class

What to wear?

Social Class

N.

C.

M.

F.

I.

Noble
Clergy
Merchant
Freeman
Indentured
Slave

0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5

1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4

2
1
0
-1
-2
-3

3
2
1
0
-1
-2

4
3
2
1
0
-1

5
4
3
2
1
0

While the table does show negative

numbers, this does not mean that one
receives both unfavorable conditions and the
higher social class individual receives
favorable conditions, or vice versa. Whoever is
the higher in social class receives the favorable
condition, no unfavorable conditions are granted
through social status.

Player Characters & Social Class

200

Sometimes the way one is dressed is able

to make up for short comings in physical
looks or charm. Every social event has a
dress code sometimes mentioned, other times
expected and wearing the right thing may
steal the admiration of the entire room.

When creating social encounters that

require a dress code, the Overseer sets a
monetary value to the social scene and this
amount represents the average price of all
fashionable items worn by its guests.
Wearing a dazzling dress or fitting oneself
with expensive jewelry may be a great way to
meet this goal. One must be careful though
not to overdo it, because if not properly
assessed it could lead to others believing you
to just want to flaunt your wealth or are
just looking for attention.
BENEFITS OF FASHION For every
10% above the set dress code in monetary
value the character is wearing, it grants the
character a favorable condition over those
values he or she is better than. This bonus
also applies for those who are dressed better
than the character, they too, if their dress is

better than the characters, achieve this same

bonus. This bonus lasts for the entirety of the
social scene.
DISASTERS OF FASHION The
maximum one ever wishes to reach is no
more than 150% more than the set dress code.
If the character strays over the 150% margin,
then for every 10% over the character suffers
an unfavorable condition for the entirety of the
social scene.

Its how you wear it!

Presence is key when attempting to wear
garments and adornments.
Those with
strong Presence have their charisma shine
through their clothes and can steal the hearts
of those who witness it.
AWKWARDNESS: Those who dress in
clothing that is reserved for another social
class, find themselves at a distinct
disadvantage. They dont feel comfortable in
the clothes and thus lose the confidence in
themselves during social exchanges. Any
time a character is wearing clothes belonging
to another social class, with intent of
blending in with that stratum, suffer a
unfavorable condition for every step above or
below their own.
To avoid such
awkwardness a character may roll a Wits
challenge against a DS of 15, +5 to the DS for
every additional level above his or her own.
Thus, if the player character is a Freeman and
wants to blend in with the Nobility, he or she
will need to roll a DS against a social class
that is 3 steps above his or her own; making
the DS 30. If the character fails the roll but
manages to blend in with a lower stratum
such as Clergy at 25, then the character is able
to
eliminate
the
favorable
condition.
Awkwardness can also be replaced with a
skill challenge through Acting but if found
out, it carries its own consequences.
OWNING IT: Despite the awkwardness

201

of the clothes, a character may attempt a

Presence challenge against a DS set against
the Presence score of the room. If the
challenge is successful, then the character
gains a favorable condition for the rest of the
social scene.

Renown & Reputation

A good reputation and personal notoriety
can get one far in a social scene.

Renown
A persons renown is separated into three
categories: Inner Circles, Local and Worldly.
In cases of Inner Circles, this is amongst
friends, guildsmen, family. Local renown is
how well known you are in the surrounding
territories, villages, hamlets, towns and cities.
Wordly renown is how well known is your
character throughout the world.
INNER CIRCLE: Inner Circle renown is
gained point by point when a deed is
performed for a family or friend to their
satisfaction. News of this event, as long as it
isnt a secret, is spread to other friends and
family who share the same connection to that
person. Inner Circle renown is added to
Local renown and Worldy renown when
calculating the total renown for people in the
characters Inner Circle.
LOCAL This type of renown reflects the
opinion and deeds performed to the
satisfaction of the locals. Locality can be
determined by how familiar the character
becomes with a region. At times what seems
local may be the hamlet the character grew
up in, may eventually span the entire
kingdom. When calculating total renown on
the local level, the character adds 50% of
renown from his or her Inner Circle and
100% from Wordly.

WORLDY Is reserved for events that

the character had a major roll in that affected
a large amount of people. Slaying a fearsome
dragon that has been plaguing the locals may
only quality as local, but slaying a dragon
that has plundered major cities around the
world is legendary and its story now
becomes part of your own. When in a
foreign place, a character may use 50% from
Local renown and add it to Worldy.
Renown comes into play when the
question comes to mind of, Have you heard
of me? or perhaps in instances where a
characters own renown catches up with him
or her and someone immediately recognizes
them based on the rumors and stories of
others.
Whenever
a
character
encounters
someone, they gain a favorable condition if the
total renown score is more than the
individual you are speaking with. If your
renown doubles that of the person you are
speaking with, you gain a second favorable
condition.

Reputation
A person is judged by their actions and
each action can lead one to be honorable or
dishonorable, moral or immoral, logical or
passionate, compassionate or even cruel. Not
every action is witnessed by others and when
people talk and rumors circulate, the things
that people saw or may have seen are
reflected different than how the character
really is.
Whenever a character is forced with a
decision of having to act in any of the below
ways, he or she gains a point in the respective
score.
HONORABLE Vs. DISHONORABLE
Can easily be measured in fairness. Being
armored and fighting an unarmed opponent
is considered dishonorable, but removing

202

ones armor to even the score would be

considered honorable. Keeping promises the
character makes is honorable, while breaking
them is considered dishonorable.
MORAL Vs. IMMORAL Morales are
created by society and imparted, partially, on
our consciousness that impacts our
behaviors. Acting morally or immorally can
be best determined in cases where choosing
to put others over oneself is considered
moral, while putting oneself over others is
considered immoral. Having an affair with
another would be considered immoral, while
denying a like encounter would be
considered moral.
Oftentimes the lines of immorality and
cruelty can be skewed, best to keep in mind
that most immoral acts are more selfish in
nature
with
unintended
negative
consequences (no matter how conscious one
is of them) while cruelty would be intending
personal harm on others for ones own
enjoyment or gain.
LOGICAL Vs. PASSIONATE Acting
logically and with reason is valued in society
while being passionate and following ones
own heart, despite reason, can sometimes be
viewed as reckless or part of the mistakes by
youth. While planning an attack is logical,
running head long into battle is considered
being passionate.
Interfering with the
execution of a criminal because you believe
him to be innocent is passionate, while
leaving him to his fate due to the facts that
lead to his sentencing is logical.
COMPASSIONATE Vs. CRUEL
Feeling the pain or suffering of others and
acting to improve their situation is an act of
compassion
especially
with
personal
sacrifice. On the other hand, causing pain
and suffering on others or failing to act even
with little sacrifice of ones self is considered
cruel. Giving a coin to a beggar on the street
is an act of compassion, while berating the

beggar and/or physically harming him

would be an act of cruelty.
When any of the above situations occur in
which the character gains a point consider
whether or not the deed is witnessed. If no
one saw what had happened, or in some
cases saw more than what typically
happened, then a point gain is only needed in
the How you are portion of the reputation. In
cases where it was witnessed, then a point in
What Others See would be needed as well as
the How you are section.
Some characters may appear to be the
most
honorable
and
compassionate
individuals, but deep inside they are
dishonorable and cruel. While most actions
should only warrant a point or two, the
Overseer may deem that certain actions gain
the character 5 or maybe more points in a
given area, especially in cases where the
player characters are framed for crimes they
never committed.
Any time where a player character shares
a trait over its counter trait with another
individual, the character gains a favorable
condition. Any time a characters traits arent
in line with another characters traits, the
player character suffers an unfavorable
condition. This is based solely off what side
the player character wishes to show to that
individual, the How you are or What Others
See.

Conversation
Game mechanics jump into play when the
usual small talk becomes something a little
bit more involved such as gathering
information or trying to impress someone.
Conversations can require skill challenge
rolls such as Persuade, Guard, Threaten or
Deceive. These challenges can be something
simple as a single opposed roll, or can often
times lead into long negotiations or debates

203

that can require several successes on the

player characters side before ever a victory
can be claimed. It is up to the Overseer to
decide how many successes a character must
achieve before the NPC is willing to go along
with whatever the player character wants.

Taking it Down a Notch

In most situations the player character
just wants to know is the NPC trustworthy
and how much to negotiate for a price. In
these cases, initial reactions, dress code,
status and so forth may not be required. A
simple Sense Ruse skill challenge can be used
to determine whether or not the individual is
trustworthy and then a few Persuade vs.
Guard challenges could be rolled to see about
haggling the price.

Traveling
Player characters may travel on foot, by
horse, by sea or by air. Not mountain peak
or vast oceans have stopped the wayward
adventurer seeking his or her fame and
fortune.
The average walking speed is 5 feet per
second, which amounts to 3.4 miles per hour.
That is, of course, at a very slow pace (70-90
steps per minute). With an average combat
cycle of 10 seconds, the average traveler has a
SPEED score of 6 squares or 30 feet.
Walking 9 hours a day, with about an
hour for the occasional break, the character
can travel a total of 27.2 miles for that day.
Outside of walking, the best way to
determine overland travel is to use the below
formula:
SPEED x 5 ft. x 6 x 60 / 5280 = Miles Per
Hour Traveled

Example: A Light Horse with a SPEED of

24 can move at 8 miles per hour at a regular
trot.

Navigating Terrain
Terrain can slow the natural progression
of traveling character. Some terrains affect
the character more than others such as in the
case of trying to climb over a mountain or
trudge through a swamp, while some such as
open plains and paved streets increase a
characters movement. Refer to the table
below to determine how each terrain affects a
character.
Table: 8.4 Terrain Bonus & Penalties
Movement
Terrain Type
Speed
Roads, Paths, Gravel
x2
Plains, Grasslands,
x1
Dirt
Sand, Hills, Rocky
x0.75
Terrain, Forest
Swamp, Marsh,
x0.5
Wetlands,
Mountain
x0.25
When encountering obstacles, such as
dense underbrush or trying to navigate
through some old ruins, a good rule of
thumb is to just make the movement cost 2
SPEED to move 1 square.

Light & Shadow

Visibility can easily be disrupted
depending upon the amount of light in the
area. While in bright daylight a character can
see as far as the distant horizon, as it gets
dark ones ability to see is greatly reduced.
There are six levels of light in the natural
world, those being Dawn, Daylight,
Overlight, Daylight (again) Dusk, Night,
Overnight and Night (again). Each level

204

accounts for a certain period of time and

positioning of the sun or moon.
DAWN Is a period of twilight that is 30
minutes between the transitions from Night
to Daylight. During this period, visibility is
reduced to a couple of miles and grants a
favorable condition when Hiding.
DAYLIGHT Is a 4-5 hour period during
the morning right after Dawn, and then an
additional 4-5 hour period after Overlight.
During daylight, there are no penalties to
normal vision or viewing distances.
OVERLIGHT is a 2-3 hour period when
the sun reaches the highest point overhead.
This is a period where there are no shadows
and visibility is heightened for searching
distances.
DUSK Is another period of twilight that
is also 30 minutes on average before Daylight
transitions into Night. As dawn, visability is
reduced to a couple of miles and grants a
favorable condition when Hiding.
NIGHT Is a dark period of 4-5 hours
after Dusk and again right after Overnight.
When the moon is full, the character only
suffers 2 unfavorable conditions when visually
trying to perceive something, 3 unfavorable
conditions when the moon is waxing or
waning and completely blind when the moon
is in eclipse or not showing.
OVERNIGHT is a 2-3 hour period
when the moon is at the highest point
overhead and the world is at its darkest
point.
Characters suffer 3 unfavorable
conditions when the moon is full and 4
unfavorable conditions when it is in wax or
wane.
Without special types of vision,
characters are considered to be blind during
the eclipse or when the moon is not showing.

Illumination
When needing to light an area, please
consult the Illumination Sphere from Chapter

7 to understand the properties of different

sources of illumination and the area of sight
they provide.

World Dangers
There are a lot of dangers that
adventurers will eventually have to face.
Some are from the natural world, such as
harsh weather or environmental hazards
such as lava pits, but there other sources such
as traps, poisons, disease and even such
dangers that come from a characters own
mind.
A wise adventurer learns about what type
of dangers are out there and the best ways to
survive them if not use them to his or her
own advantage.

Altitude
In areas of high altitude 5,000 feet or
more, the air thins and makes it difficult to
breathe. All actions suffer an unfavorable
condition as well as all actions requiring the
use of stamina costs twice as much.
In areas of very high altitude, 15,000 feet
or more, the air is impossible to breathe and
stamina is lost at a rate of 5 points per hour.
Stamina points do not return while in high
altitude and only magick can keep them from
disappearing entirely. Once a character is
reduced to zero stamina points, he or she
starts to lose hit points instead. Once all hit
points are reduced, the character starts to die.

long). At the onset of middle age, which is

generally the age of 40, characters will suffer
a -1 penalty to all physical abilities for every
year after 40. So at age 55, the character will
suffer 15 point penalty to his or her physical
abilities.
Characters who have acquired dementia
or other disease that affects the mind can also
expect a -1 penalty on all social and mental
abilities per year over the age of 40 as well.

Avalanches
When creating an avalanche an overseer
must determine the strength of the falling
snow and debris. They travel at 60-80 miles
per hour (rock avalanches travel at that
speed) and can achieve this speed in less than
5 seconds. Once an avalanche reaches a
character, the individual is struck initially
with the debris field that can range from 40120 points of Blunt damage. Those struck,
are then buried. Those who are buried have
to perform Brawn challenges in order to dig
themselves out but oftentimes, due to being
disoriented, can sometimes dig in the wrong
direction. The challenge of digging oneself
out is up to the Overseer.
If a character cannot dig themselves out,
they feel the weight of the debris and begin
to be crushed, this is usually represented in
blunt damage at about 10% of what the initial
debris damage was.
Eventually, if a
character is not able to free themselves in 10
minutes start to suffocate or with a proper
knowledge may extend it to 30 minutes.

Cold

Aging
Whether it is the natural progression of
ones lifespan or through some sort of a
magical attack, aging will inevitably catch up
to your character (if the campaign runs that

205

In 40 degree Fahrenheit, characters suffer

1 point of Cold damage per hour. At 30
degrees Fahrenheit, characters suffer 1 point
of Cold damage per 30 minutes. At 20

degrees its 1 point of cold per 10 minutes; 10

degrees is 1 point per 5 minutes, 0 degrees is
1 point every minute. At -10 degrees and
every additional 10 degrees below that, the
damage increases by 1 point per minute. If
ever a character is wet, the liquid attempts to
freeze: at 25% the character takes twice the
amount of damage, three times the amount at
50%, four times the damage at 75% and five
times the damage at 100%. If the character
doesnt get out of the wet clothes and warm
soon, he or she may freeze to death.
Also, depending on the speed of the wind
in the area, for every 10 miles per hour that
the wind is blowing, it will make the
temperature colder by 10 degrees. Thus if the
wind was 30 miles per hour and it is -20
degrees below 0, the cold damage would be
treated as if being -50 below the character
would take 5 points of cold damage per
minute.

does not infect them, but the character may

still carry the disease with them and spread it
by accident to others.

Carried Time
Carried time, is the time it takes for the
disease to be completely eliminated out of a
characters system. Diseases are carried for a
certain number of days after it the character
resists the disease or after the disease has ran
its course. While still within the carried time,
the character is considered to be contagious.

Onset Time
The onset is a period from when the
disease is initially contracted to when its
symptoms start to appear.
This is
determined by the Overseer.

Symptoms

DISEASE
Disease can be picked up in multiple
ways, whether it is airborne, direct contact,
via and exchange of fluids, injected or
imbibed. Disease can also be as common as a
cold or as rare as a mutated strand of a flesh
eating virus. Diseases are a way of hindering
characters to make them weaker when facing
a challenge.

Strength of the Disease

Diseases can be created at the whim of the
Overseer and their potential is up to its
designer. When creating a disease, first the
Overseer must determine its strength. The
strength of the disease is used as part of the
opposed challenge roll, using Fortitude to
defend against it.
If the character is
successful with their roll, then the disease

206

Symptoms of the disease are a way of

telling the type (and often times the cure) to
the disease. These can include things such as
a shortness in breath, a cough, fever, chills
and so forth, or something as bizarre as
hearing a ringing inside your head or even
seeing ghosts. The Overseer can implement
any combination of symptoms from
temporary or permanent ability point loss,
status loss or whatever the case may be.

Period of Illness
The period of illness is the time from
when the first symptoms emerge to when
they start to alleviate. This could be as long
as a couple of days or even months,
depending on the type of disease. Whenever
the period of illness is up, the character may
roll a Fortitude challenge against the DS of

the Strength of the Disease with a favorable

condition for every time the period of illness
has passed. If the roll is not successful, the
disease continues as normal and the character
must wait until the period of illness arrives
again to make another roll against it. If the
roll is successful, then the disease is beaten.
You retain a resistance to that disease equal
to 1 favorable condition plus 1 additional
favorable condition per time the Illness period
has passed before it was purged from the
characters system. The favorable condition
dissipates at a rate of 1 condition per week.

Drowning
Drowning occurs when the character can
no longer hold their breath and starts to
inhale water. See Suffocation.

Falling
The average distances an average person
can fall is 8 feet. Meaning that with a Body of
5, a character may fall 8 feet without
suffering injury but anything above 8 feet can
cause some serious injury, but depends on
the surface you are falling on. For every foot
the character falls beyond 8, he or she suffers
1 point of blunt damage.
While falling an average character can
reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour in the
first 3 seconds, 108 miles per hour in the first
8 seconds and then 120 miles per hour at 15
seconds. Terminal velocity is hit at 16
seconds, moving at a total speed of 122 miles
per hour. A character can bring their legs
and arms close to themselves and thus fall
faster (by reducing drag) and achieve speeds
of up to 200 miles per hour.

FOG

207

Fog can cause visibility issues that makes

it impossible for characters to see past a
certain depth.
Fog is something that
gradually collects, but may roll in on the
characters in a thick mass if by some
unnatural force.

Hail
Hail makes it difficult for people to hear
things, causing people to suffer a unfavorable
condition when attempting to perceive
anything audible. Also, hail can sometimes
get large enough that it deals 1 point of Blunt
damage per 10 seconds to anyone caught in
it.

Heat
In situations of extreme heat, generally 90
degrees Fahrenheit or more, can cause
exhaustion and possibly death.
At 90
degrees, characters suffer 1 point of heat
damage to their Stamina Points per hour they
are exposed. At 95 degrees characters suffer
1 point of heat damage to their Stamina
Points per 30 minutes. At 100 degrees,
characters suffer 1 point of heat damage to
their Stamina Points for every 10 minutes. At
105 degrees the characters suffer 1 point of
heat damage to their Stamina Point for every
minute. At 110 degrees characters suffer 2
points, and 1 additional point for each
additional 5 degrees.
If ever a character is reduced to zero
stamina points while in heat, he or she is
dehydrated and starts to lose hit points
instead. Once all hit points are lost, the
character faints. If help is not received soon,
the character could die.
If a breeze is present, for every mph the
wind is traveling it will reduce the feel of
the temperature by 1 degree Fahrenheit.

Ice

Poison

Ice starts to form once temperatures drop

blow 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice has a material
hardness of about 1.5 but can vary depending
on the temperature and liquid. Ice forming
from water can also vary in thickness and
can, at times, be difficult to chip away.
While on ice, characters must make a
Balance skill challenge against a DS of 14
when moving faster than the cautious rate
(1/2 speed).
Characters may acquire
unfavorable conditions when on ice if they
move faster than a normal rate, engage in
battle or other movement-like actions. If the
challenge fails, then the character slips on the
ice and take 1 point of blunt damage as
causing the ice to crack.
Ice has hit points equal to its hardness x
its thickness in inches x 10. So in cases where
the ice is only 3 inches thick, it would have
(1.5 x 3 x 10) 45 hit points. When moving
cautiously across ice, the character is
considered to weight half the amount that
they normally due in respects to the ice
risking to break away. If the character is
remaining still, the ice senses them at only
25% their normal weight. If ever a character
or object is heavier than the ice, the ice starts
to crack. Every 10 seconds, the ice suffers the
difference in weight divided by 10 in
damage. So if a 250 lbs. character moving at
cautious speed is sensed at 125, and the ice
has only 45 hit points, then the ice will start
to crack the first round and then the second
round take 8 points of damage. If ever the ice
reaches 50% hit points (in the above case 22
hit points) the ice starts to break up and the
character risks falling through the ice with a
50% chance every combat cycle. If the ice hit
points reach zero, then the ice collapses
entirely and whatever was on it sinks into the
water beneath it.

Poison is much like disease, except that it

is not contagious and only affects the person
afflicted by it. Follow the same rules for
disease.
Special Note Some poison may not
allow for a Fortitude challenge to resist it and
instead any type of resistance would only
reduce the length of time one is affected.

208

Rain
Rain can sometimes be very loud and can
cause for the character to suffer from an
unfavorable condition to all audible perception
challenges. Also, rain tends to make things
slippery and thus adds an unfavorable
condition to most Agility based skills. Rain
can also impede visibility in cases where it is
coming down quickly.

Sandstorms
Also known as dust storms, are the result
from loose dirt, sand or grit that is picked up
by winds blowing at least 25 miles per hour,
creating a thick wall of dust and other
particles that obscures visibility like fog and
at higher speeds can flay the skin off a
person.
If ever a dust storm reaches winds of up
to 30 miles per hour, then anyone caught in it
suffer 1 point of stamina damage per 10
additional miles per hour the wind reaches
per minute. This represents the sand and dirt
creating a choking hazard. If the characters
stamina is reduced, please see Suffocation.

Slopes & Inclines

When attacking from higher ground, even

on a slope, grants the character a favorable
condition to the attack. However, if charging
down a slope, it grants the character a
favorable condition as well as speed bonus of 2,
but the character has to succeed at a Balance
challenge against a DS of 15 to avoid
stumbling 1d4 squares down the slope before
ever the character regains their balance; upon
a critical fail the character trips the same
distance and falls.

Smoke Inhalation
Smoke inhalation occurs when the
character is surrounded by smoke and has no
protection to block it out of being inhaled
into the lungs. Each round the character
suffers from 2 cumulative points of stamina
damage. One round 2 the character suffers 4
points, round 3 he or she would suffer 6
points, and so on. Once stamina is reduced
to zero, see rules on suffocation.

Suffocation
Suffocation begins the moment air has ran
out and the character no longer has any
stamina points. Then the character suffers
physical damage every 10 seconds or combat
round for a total of 1 cumulative point. Thus
on round 5 the character suffers 5 points of
hit point damage, on round 10 it would be 10
points of damage. Once the characters hit
points are reduced to zero, the character is
dead.

Tornado
Tornados can be natural or magickal in
nature, even if at a safe distance there is still
the risk of being struck by debris. Tornados
can move anywhere from being stationary to

209

60 miles per hour and have internal wind

speeds from 40 to 350 miles per hour.
If caught within the funnel of the tornado,
which can sometimes be 30 feet to a 1 miles
in diameter, the character will thrown about
and struck by debris. This debris will deal
1d10 points of damage per 10 miles per hour
of the winds per combat round. Each round
the character must make a Luck score roll to
be tossed from the tornado. If tossed from
the tornado, the character is thrown 1d10 feet
per 10 miles per hour of the wind speeds
from a height of 1d10 feet per 10 miles per
hour of the tornado.
In an example where a character meets a
tornado that has a wind speed of 120 miles
per hour and is sucked into it, he or she will
suffer 12d10 per combat cycle (10 seconds)
and if lucky and is thrown from the tornado,
will be thrown a distance of 12d10 feet, at a
height of 12d10.

Water Flow & Undercurrents

With cases of being caught in a raging
river or struck by a heavy burst of water, it is
important to note that no matter how good of
a swimmer you are, that the undercurrents
are strong enough to pull you under and
dash you against outcropping surfaces and
other such debris. Drowning, in these cases,
are generally rare unless the source of water
is free of most obstacles.
The lateral force of 1 foot of water moving
at 10 miles per hour is 500 lbs. which is
equivalent to a person with a Brawn score of
13 and a Body of 5. If the water is moving at
20 miles per hour, the push is doubled to
1000 lbs. which is the equivalent to a person
with a Brawn score of 63 and a Body of 5.
An opposed Brawn challenge would need to
be made to avoid being knocked over.
Also, due to the rules of buoyancy, a foot
of water can displace a % of the weight it

encounters. In the case of a person that

weighs 150 lbs., if the character is 68 inches
tall, then if the water is 1 foot tall (12 inches)
and moving at 10 miles per hour and the
person is 2.2 lbs per inch of height, then the
water will displace (12 x 2.2) approx. 26.4 lbs.
The character could then technically be swept
away by the current (if the character is
standing) at 3 feet moving at 20 miles per
hour or, if the character has fallen over (most
likely at 2 feet), then his body is then at least
50% displaced by water which would be
enough to carry him off somewhere.
Once the character is being swept away,
he or she will suffer 1d6 points of blunt/edge
damage per the miles per hour divided by 10
and then multiplied by the number of feet.
So in the above example we would have 20
miles per hour at 2 feet which would be 2 x 2
= 4d6 every minute the character is carried
away. The character may roll a Luck roll
each minute to avoid damage completely if it
is successful, and the character may make a
Swim score challenge every minute to fight
against the current.
It is up to the Overseer to determine how
far the current will carry the character,
usually there is a point where the water starts
to slow and a Swim challenge is easier to be
obtained.

Wind
Wind has an effect on heat and cold for
temperatures as well as affected the way that
tornados are formed. Wind can also be used
to make it difficult for characters to reach
certain areas or have to fight against heavy
gales. See wind speeds and their effects in
the table below.
Table: 8.5 Wind Speeds, Strength & Effects
Wind Speed Brawn Effects
(mph)
Score

210

1-7

8-12

13-17

18-24

25-30

12

31-38

15

39-46

18

47-54

21

55-63

24

64-72

27

73+

30+

Felt on skin, smoke

indicates
direction,
moves wind vanes.
Leaves
and
small
twigs move, small
flags extend
Loose paper and dirt
rustles, small branches
move.
Branches sway, leaves
move on small trees
Trees sway, whistling
is heard, barrels knock
over
Movement reduced by
25%
Movement reduced by
50%, twigs break
Movement reduced by
75%, branches break,
small trees blown
over.
Trees are broken off or
uprooted,
saplings
bent or mangled.
Widespread damage
to vegetation as well
as roof damage on
several homes, aged
stone work broken or
cracked
Damage to homes,
vegetation, sheds and
barns, debris hurled
about.

In cases of a tornado with a wind speed of

350 miles per hour, it would be considered
having a Brawn score approximately 210.

Lava
Lava is dangerous in all fashions, but one
can get exceptionally close to it depending on
the right approach. When some lava reaches
the surface in a non-violent way, the lava
tends to form a surface skin that acts as an
insulator (reference pahoehoe lava tubes). As
long as the skin is not ruptured, you can look

at it, and do to how hot it is, there isnt a way

you can accidentally step in it. If it is
ruptured and a character is within 30 feet, the
character will suffer 5 points of damage
(mostly skin blistering) in the initial exposure
per combat cycle, however the lava will
regain its skin the following round.
Active lava, such as with Aa flows
(typically imagined with lava), as long as one
is downwind, can run up to it and back
without suffering any type of damage. If the
wind changes however, burns and blisters
will start to form at a rate of 5 points of
damage per combat cycle. The rate of speed
of wind can bring the heat closer to the
character, for every 10 miles per hour of the
wind, the lava heat can reach 10 feet.
If ever the character falls into lava or is
splashed with lava, the character does not die
immediately. It depends upon how quickly
the character can escape from it.
FALLING INTO LAVA If the character
falls into lava, the amount of damage is equal
to 1 points of heat/fire combination per
combat cycle per % point of the characters
body that is hit with lava. For example, if the
lava is 1 foot deep and the character falls in
backwards, then 30-40% of the character will
be covered in lava and he or she will suffer
30-40 points of damage per combat cycle. If
the character escapes the lava, he or she will
take 50% of the damage sustained on the
previous round as the lava continues to burn
but hardens. The damage will continue to
taper off as the rounds progress, such like 40
damage initially, 20 once out of the lava, 10
the 3rd round, 5 the 4th round and so on.
SLASHED WITH LAVA Being
splashed with lava will cause injury but
usually depends on the amount.
Most
slashes of lava are small and would amount
to no more than 2d6 points of damage and
then those within 5 feet would take 1 point
from it being splashed about. Much like

211

falling into lava, being splashed with lava

does deal next combat cycle damage at 50%
of what the character took the subsequent
round until all the damage is less than 1
point.

Fear & Morale

Encountering the master vampire for the
first time, watching your friends be devoured
boat-and-all by a gigantic sea creature, being
outnumbered two to one, all of these things
have a tremendous impact on a characters
psyche and should inspire in them a strong
sense of self-preservation. Fear is that which
ensures a persons survival and while
heroism and the battle-hardened can resist
most types of fear, there are times when even
the most jaded can break.
Morale can be called for on both sides,
where the Presence of an enemy or scene acts
as the DS in an opposed Will challenge.
Favorable conditions can be one based on
several factors, such as the enemy appears
invincible, being outnumbered, the enemy is
frightening, the enemys reputation, and so
forth. Morale is called when things become
bleak and the Overseer believes that it is the
best time for self-preservation to kick in. If
the morale challenge is successful, the
characters may continue their acts as normal.
If the morale challenge fails, then they flee as
fast as they can from whatever it is that
caused the morale challenge in the first place.
Characters will flee for 1 minute for every 5
points they failed the morale check for, at a
minimum of 1 round.

Death
Occasionally

characters

may

find

themselves in a deadly situation where hit

points are reduced utterly. In these cases, it
is best to allow the character to simply slip
into unconsciousness. So many characters
have died due to a poor die roll, but just
because the character is unconscious doesnt
mean that there isnt still the danger of death.
There are certain circumstances where the
monsters may not take any prisoners, or
perhaps the necromancer wants to raise the
party as undead minions, or maybe the
demon they are facing wants to torture them
to death. Whatever the case may be, death is
still something that characters should fear
and in cases of death, keep in mind that new
characters can always rise out of the ashes.

Traps
Many adventurers encounter traps set by
others to ensnare, harm or kill those looking
to plunder the treasure that the traps
themselves are intended to protect.
Traps can be mechanical or magickal in
nature and may be detected with an
Investigate challenge roll initiated by the
player. Traps are cleverly hidden and only a
trained mind can find them.
Each trap is hidden at the level of its
creators Hide score (rolled at time of its
creation) and its level of complexity is set by
the skill of the creators Mechanics skill. To
detect the trap one must roll an Investigation
challenge against the Hide roll of the creator
and then to disarm it an opposed challenge
roll of the characters Mechanics versus the
traps complexity.
There are several different types of traps
such as arrow traps, spear traps, crushing
walls, pits with spikes, rolling boulders, jets
of flame, sealing the doors while pumping in
poisonous gas, its all up to the imagination
of the Overseer.

212

A good rule of thumb is not to create a

trap that is going to eliminate the player
characters entirely, but to wear them down
and eat up their resources so that when they
reach the end of the respective adventure that
they may be too weak to defeat the villain or
snag the treasure.
Example of a Spear Trap:
SPEAR TRAP
Hidden: 18 DS
Complexity: 22 DS
Brawn: 22 (Same as Complexity)
Spear: 10 Edge + 22 Brawn
Description: Strikes upward at anything
on the same square. Character may perform
a DODGE roll to avoid it. *Special note:
Having multiples of these in a single area
with at least guarantee maybe 1 or 2 hits as
players must perform multiple actions to
avoid them.

Treasure
Treasure is not simply measured in gold,
silver and bronze but often times in goods or
in horrifying circumstances, lives.
Overseers are encouraged to create
suitable rewards for players but not too much
to overpower their position in the campaign
world. One idea is to keep the treasure
values no higher than 1 silver piece per
character milestone divided by 10. Thus a
character with a 180 character milestones
should not expect much more than 18 silver
pieces.
When goods are discovered, you can
always make these more expensive since
selling them may not yields a grand amount
for the adventuring party. Overseers may
place these items individually or place them
in groups like General Good 20 silver, and
Treasure 50 silver so that game play isnt

disrupted and characters who are great at

Scavenging may see if the item they need to
complete a task is located amidst those items.
Magickal items are also rewards that may
come, but have no monetary value. Magickal
items are not an object that can be bought or
sold as they are unique and inherently
priceless.
While a sword that simply
provides a bonus against goblins is weak in
comparison to a sword that can spit fire, they
still do not have any market value to speak of
and are rather traded based on that needs
and wants of the individuals engaged in the
sale.
The next chapter briefly touches base on
magickal items.

213

Chapter 9
Magic ITEMS
The majority of magical items should not
be bought or sold. Assigning a market value
to a magickal item, no matter how large or
small, makes it just another piece of
equipment and devalues the inherit
uniqueness of the item. While some times
share the same properties, their histories are
much different. Magick items are, by nature,
items of mystery and magick. These items
are rare to come by and coveted by those
who possess them. Because one cannot
simply go to the store and pick up a
quarterstaff that can summon lightning bolts,
encountering one is a special encounter and if
ever one were to possess it, that individual
no matter good or evil, cannot guarantee that
the person whom they may trade it to may
not eventually use that contrary to
everything that person stands for or has
worked towards. Imagine a key that can
open any door despite the level of complexity
of the lock, and that it was originally used to
free a princess from the hands of an evil spell
caster and was sold to an assassin who used
the key to enter the bedchambers of the king
or queen to fulfill a deadly contract or act of
vengeance. A single magickal item can turn a
harmless lunatic into a dangerous madman.
For these reasons, it is recommended that all
magickal items are kept close by those with
the strength to protect them or otherwise
kept under lock and key which is why most
trap-laden dungeons were created to begin
with.

214

Creating Magickal Items

Only a spell caster with access to the
Enchantment Sphere can create magickal
items. While the Sphere description talks
about how to enchant both people and
objects, the spells cast only last for as long as
the caster continues to hold the spells in
suspense. Once the spell is no longer paid
for, the enchantment dies and so too do the
effects. The question now lies in how one is
able to make the effects last long enough for a
single use without paying the suspense
amount or make an item that can retain its
magickal properties indefinitely?

One Time Use

Examples of a one time use item is
something like a potion, a scroll, or any other
sort of miscellaneous object. When making
these types of magickal items, the Enchanter
draws on the Essence of the object, especially
those that are symbolically more attune to the
magickal sphere being used to enchant the
item with, and molds the objects Essence to
pick up the magick enchantment and hold it
in suspense instead of the Enchanter.
The Enchanter will need the sphere traits
Magick and Mold to be able to enchant an
item for one time use. The Magick traits
allows for the spell caster to affect the magick
points and Mold allows for the spell caster to
warp them in such a way that the items

Essence accepts the enchantment.

It can take 1 hour per magick point cost of
the spell to create a one time use magickal
item.
However, there are special rules
governing potions, scrolls and items with
several one time use or charges.

against them.
The cost to making a scroll costs 1 silver
piece per magick point cost of the
Enchantment.

Potions

Some magickal items may just be given

charges or enchanted multiple times with
One-Use effects.
These are generally
represented by things such as amulets, rings,
wands or staves.
In the case of enchanting a wand, the
Enchanter must calculate the material
strength of the wood, then must also have
access to the Binding Sphere as well. Instead
of enchanting the wand with the intended
affect, the spell caster enchants the wand to
bind a spirit or Essence of another creature
(typically a spirit or elemental of some kind)
into the wand. Then, the spell caster uses
that creatures Essence (and magick points)
to hold the spell in suspense. The spirit or
elemental bound is generally neutral to the
hold binding ritual and is set free once it
expels all its magick points (as it can no
longer sustain itself to exist in this world).
Depending on the magick points of the
creature summoned or bound, depends upon
how many times the spell can be cast. For
instance, if there is an Elemental of Fire with
50 magick points, and the Enchanter bound it
to cast a touch Fire Sphere, then it would cost
3 magick points per use, giving the wand a
total of 17 uses (rounded up) before the wand
becomes useless.
There are no special costs to charged
items.

A potion is not brewed individually; they

are brewed in mass quantities. The reason
for this is that the ingredients are small and
dont have the Essence to spare on their own,
but when combined with other ingredients
and brewed their Essence can be molded
together and enchanted.
Each batch creates 5 potions, still only
takes 1 hour per magick point cost of the
spell, and costs 30 bronze pieces or a silver
piece per magick point to brew the potion.
Great thing about potions is that they do
not always have to be imbibed to get the full
effects, but can be poured on the area to
acquire the effect.

Scrolls
Scrolls are written in arcane writings that
can only be understood by those who have
Academics (Arcane or Magick). Special Inks
and paper must be used in order to create
them simply because paper and regular ink
do not have a powerful enough Essence or
magickal properties to be enchanted on their
own. To use the scroll, one must roll an
Academics (Arcane or Magick) challenge
against the Enchanter Sphere roll.
Once the scroll is used and the magickal
effect goes off, the ink lifts off the page;
leaving behind a blank sheet of paper. More
paranoid enchanters, for 1 magick point cost
more, makes the sheet burn up afterwards to
prevent others from using it somehow

215

Charged Items

Permanent Use
Permanent use magickal items are items
that retain their magickal effects and

properties indefinitely. These items may be

used over and over again and only lose their
magickal properties if ever destroyed.
To make a permanent magickal item, the
Enchanter requires the sphere traits of:
Magick, Mold, Alter and Create. He or she
will also need access to the Binding Sphere as
well as the Armor sphere trait when
enchanting armor, Weapon sphere trait when
enchanting weapons and Construct sphere
trait when enchanting items.
Much like Charged Items, a enchanter
will bind a spirit or elemental, or possibly the
spirit of an animal or the soul of a person.
The more the caster adds to the magickal
item, the strong the effects he or she can place
into the item.
Once all the spirits are bound to the
magickal item, the enchanter uses the Mold
and Magick sphere traits to combine the
Essence of all the beings together and then
use the appropriate sphere trait (Weapon,
Armor, Construct) to designate its role, then
place the spell (paying for the magick point
cost) and use Alter and Create to finish up
the magickal item. Occasionally, a enchanter
may use Awaken to have the magickal item
gain sentience.
It is important to note that while a
magickal item is being enchanted, the spell
caster does not regain spell points, and may
only take brief 10 minute breaks and sleep no
more than 8 hours each day. Enchanting a
permanent item takes 1 day per magick point
cost of the Enchantment (which can often
lead to months). If ever the spell caster is
killed during the binding phase of the spell,
he or she risks being bond to the magickal
item themselves. If the spell caster is bound,
the magickal item remains in the binding
phase of the enchantment and can be
completely by another caster.

216

Magick Item Examples

Magickal items are best to be created for
custom campaigns as it will give your
adventures a unique flair. Below is just a few
sample examples of what may be found:

Potion of Healing
TYPE: Potion
SPHERE: Rejuvenation
MILESTONE: 32
EFFECTS: This potion of healing will restore
32 hit points if imbibed or poured upon the
wound.

Armor of Leaves
TYPE: Leather Cuirass
SPHERE: Flora
MILESTONE: 35
EFFECTS: This leather cuirass is covered in
leaves that changes color and pattern to
match the background. The armor absorbs 3
points of damage from Edge, Blunt and
Point. Also, it grants Camouflage of 35.
Opponents must roll against the camouflage
and then the wearers hide roll in order to see
them.

Boots of Levitation
TYPE: Leather Boots
SPHERE: Air
MILESTONE: 17
EFFECTS: These leather boots allow the
wearer to levitate by speaking a command
word.

Sword of the Seasoned Warrior

TYPE: Long Sword
SPHERE: Enchantment

MILESTONE: 15
EFFECTS: This long sword provides a +3
milestone bonus when attacking and may roll
1d6 instead of normal die.

Bow of Shadows
TYPE: Longbow
SPHERE: Shadow
MILESTONE: 27 (1d8/1d6)
EFFECTS: This longbow can fire arrows of
pure shadow that deal 27 plus 1d8 and 1d6
points of damage. This bow can also fire
arrows that originate from the shadows as
opposed to from the bow itself. This gives
the wielder additional angles from which to
fire. The wielder must still take range into
affect and must be able to see the target.

217

Chapter 10
Monsters
Monsters, villains, creatures of all size and
shape can be created upon a whim or with
planned encounters. Each monster has its
own unique flaws, vulnerabilities, strengths
and traits. While most monsters that are
created are there simply for the player
characters to slaughter, other monsters may
have a more vile purpose to slowly whittle
away at the characters resources and
strength before coming in for the kill.
Monsters can be created much like a player
character can, but can sometimes take too
long when the need is for simple
improvisation. Overseers are encouraged to
spend through the character creation process
when creating a major villain, but for
improvised or for monsters needing very
little details, the following rules should be
observed.

Step 1: Character Milestones & Monster Difficulty

First, calculate out the average character
milestones of the party by adding them all
together and dividing it by the number of
player characters in the game. This is the
average character milestone that will be used
when determining the level of monsters to
use.
Easy monsters are 20% less than the
average character milestone; Challenging
monsters are 10% less than the average
character milestone; Equally matched

218

monsters are equal in milestones; Hard

monsters are 10% higher in character
milestones and Deadly monsters are 20%
above the characters milestones.
Making a Goblin, we have an average
character milestone of 175 but we want the
creature to be easy at 20% less of 175 which is
140.

Step 2: Racial Traits

It is a good idea not to use more than 20%
of the monsters milestones to purchase racial
traits. In this case it would be a total of 28
milestones. However, the Goblin did not
need the full 28 as I purchased him as
follows:
Cosmetic: Black Hair, Green Skin, Yellow
Eyes, Long pointed ears, jagged teeth
Senses: Weak Sight (-2), Acute Hearing
(+5), Acute Smell (+5),
Vulnerable Taste (-5)
Night Vision (+5)
Body 3 (-4 Brawn, +4 Agility, Base Speed
2) -10 points
Claws II (+4)
Teeth III (+6)
Essence 3 (-10)
Luck 7 (+10)
Skill Affinity (Hide II) +4
Total: 12
The total purchase comes out to 12
milestones and this brings the total down
from 140 to 128.

Step 3: Monster Abilities

& Status Bar
Determine the type of challenge the
monster is going to pose for the characters. Is
it strictly a combatant or is it a monster that
poses a social challenge? Whatever the case
may be, separate the milestones in the
following order:
Primary is 50% of the milestones are
divided among the primary abilities
(Physical, Mental or Social).
Secondary is 35% of the milestones are
divided between the two remaining abilities.
Tertiary the remaining 15% goes to the
last ability score.
Focus only on the Primary abilities and
secondary abilities are only worried about in
cases where it comes up. In an example that
we are making a goblin, we want Goblins to
be physical so we give 50% of the milestones
of 128 is 64. We put the normal 5 milestones
in all respective scores: Brawn, Fortitude and
Agility and then arrange the attributes as we
see fit. Its a good idea to save back 20% of
the milestones for die purchase which would
be 13, leaving us with 51 to distribute.
In the Goblin example, we will place the
Goblins scores as follows taking into account
the Body adjustments.
Brawn: 5 (-4) + 21 = 20
Fortitude: 5 + 11 = 16
Agility: 5 (4) +21 = 28
Body: 3
Essence: 3
Luck: 7
We now purchase dice in the following
order: Brawn gets 1d4 (cost of 3), Agility gets
a 1d6 (cost of 7) and Fortitude is upgraded to
1d4 at a cost of 3) minusing one off Fortitude
for the purchase. (Fortitude 15 instead).
Another way is to forget about the purchase
and just divide the ability scores by 10 and

219

that is how many times the dice are

increased.
Brawn: (17) 1d4
Fortitude: (13) 1d4
Agility: (21) 1d6
Body: 3
Essence: 3
Luck: 7
Due to the Goblin not being a spell caster,
the status hit points is as follows, simply
average 1d4 Brawn which is 2.5 x (140 / 10) =
25 + (Brawn X Body = 60) for a total of 85 hit
points. Stamina is done in the same manner.

Step 4: Skill Points

Skills are mostly held in suspense and not
chosen until the characters decide to create
an opposed skill challenge.
In these instances simply take the
number of milestones in the respective score,
lets say 35% of 128 which is 44 for our Goblin
for Perception. For every 10 milestones in the
respective score, the Goblin will have a
primary skill. Therefore, the goblin gets 4
primary skills. The player character decides
to use Hide and Sneak. The Goblin now gets
to have a primary skill chosen, 1 being
Perception. Primary skills should comprise
of 10% of the total milestones in that
respective ability, in this case 4. Therefore,
the Goblin has a milestone of 4 in Perception.
To handle dice, just buy up the die that
equals the score, in this case 1d4. So, in this
instance we just improvised a 4 milestone
with a 1d4 for the Skill and respectively the
Ability as well. So the Goblin gets 2d4 + 4 to
perceive the character (minus 1d2 due to bad
vision), but may also roll 2d4+4 (plus 1d2
due to good hearing) to hear the character.
In most cases, as the Overseer, you can
always adjust a monsters scores to make
things more challenging. Instead of the

above process, the Overseer can just choose a

score that is best fitted for the scenario.

Step 5: Skill Traits

Skill traits are purchased as needed. If
there is a particular skill trait that you want
your monsters to have right away then give it
to them. If you want to wait and tailor the
monster in the middle of the game, you can
do that too.

Step 6: Combat Abilities

Whatever the level of the monster -10%, 20%, 0, 10%, 20%, minus that off the average
combat milestones of all characters. So, in
the case where there is a 20 Attack
Milestones, since our Goblins are supposed
to be Easy, we subtract 20% off which is 4,
makes their attack 18. We take their 18
divide that by 10 and we get 1 (rounded
down) die to purchase making the Attack roll
18 + 1d4 Attack Die, +1d4 Brawn Die.
Combat and Defense traits are purchased
on an as needed bases, so if the goblins are
losing and there is a trait that will spice them
up a bit, then just give it to them. They
probably wont be around long enough for
the numbers to matter anyway.
Result: Goblin Template,

Monster Examples:

Goblin
Description: Goblins are short 3 foot tall
creatures with green skin, wide mouths

220

filled with jagged teeth, matted black hair,

yellow eyes and long pointed ears. They
are very cruel creatures, albeit not very
smart, who think with their stomachs
more than with reason. Goblins live in
tribes that can number in the hundreds
and since goblins have a very short
gestation period of about 4 months and
are born in litters of 2 to 4 they can
replace their numbers in a very short
amount of time. Goblins steal and
scavenge for food and they eat constantly.
Once food starts to run out, so too, do the
goblin hordes.
Racial Trait Package (12): Body 3;
Essence 3; Luck 7; Cosmetic, Senses:
Weak Sight (-2), Acute Hearing (+5),
Acute Smell (+5), Vulnerable Taste (-5),
Night Vision (5), Claws II (4), Teeth III (6),
Essence 3 (-10), Luck 7 (10), Skill Affinity
(Hide II) 4

Horse
Description: A horse is a four legged
mammal that feeds mostly off hay and
other vegetation. It is used as a laborer in
cases of draft horses and can be rode by
humanoids to help get place to place
faster.
Racial Trait Package (57): Body 3;
Essence 3; Luck 7; Cosmetic, Senses: Sight
Keen (10), Hearing Acute (5), Smell Acute
(5), Touch Acute (5), Awareness Keen
(10), Night Vision (5), Herbivore (10),
Broad Shouldered (2), Natural Attack
Hooves IV (8), Extra Legs (20) +4 Speed,
Tail - Social (2), Improved Skin - Hide (5),
Luck 6 (5), Flaw Animal (-4