Races
Framework: Genesis ships without custom races as we leave it up to the setting to provide their own unique races. We don't want to put developers into a box, so we leave the creation of races in their creative hands. We do, however, provide the Human race as a template.
Human
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Attribute Points: Your Human has 2 points to assign to any Attribute/Attributes.
Skill Points: Your Human has 12 points to assign to their Core Skills, Vocational Skills, and Combat Skills.
Vocations
Vocations represent the path your character takes. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Vocation. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Vocational skills. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Combat Skills. Including, but not limited to: Unarmed, Small Weapon, Medium Weapon, Large Weapon, Reach Weapon, Short Stringed, Long Stringed, Hand Ballistic, Shoulder Stocked Ballistic, Heavy Ballistic.
Vocational Skills and Combat skills may NEVER be assigned a negative skill point at character creation.
Drifter
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Vocational Skills: Nirvana (INT)
Combat Skills: Unarmed or Small Weapon
Commerce Points: Your Drifter begins at commerce level 1
Progression
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Awarding Destiny Points
A Destiny Point represents the character’s influence on fate, their place in the universe and how their will may affect it. Destiny Points are awarded at the end of every session. All players will leave a session with one additional Destiny Point, but the narrator may also award players additional Destiny Points throughout the game for exceptional role-play.
Awarding Commerce Points
If a character has multiple Vocations, commerce levels are not combined! Only the highest commerce level is considered. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
EXAMPLE ITEM VALUE
Level 0 A simple meal, second-hand clothes, a can of beer, a magazine, admission to a public venue such as a pool or gym.
Level 1 Basic food for the day, night at an inn, a new item of clothing, a sturdy rope, a bottle of rum.
Level 2 An extravagant night out, a basic weapon, common livestock, camping gear, simple transport (old car, mule and cart)
Level 3 A well-crafted weapon, a decent horse/car/vehicle, average armor, a small building/house/flat
Level 4 A very fancy horse/vehicle, a nice home, extravagant weapon, full plate armor, bodyguard
Level 5 A mansion, luxury transport, estate, a personal guard or security force, established business
Level 6 A castle/skyscraper, enterprise level company, large army, a town, a significant military asset
Level 7 Metropolis, armada, small country
Level 8 Kingdom, nation, established planet
EXAMPLE LEVELS OF WEALTH
Level 1 Pauper
Level 2 Commoner/Paycheck to Paycheck worker
Level 3 Tradesperson/craftsman
Level 4 Accomplished Career, Small Business Owner
Level 5 Wealthy, successful Merchant, Minor Nobility
Level 6 CEO, Nobility
Level 7 Magnate/Tycoon, Baron
Level 8 King/Queen, Head of Megacorporation
Purchasing an item/service equivalent to your Commerce Level will subtract/cost 2 commerce points
Purchasing an item/service equivalent to 1 point less than your Commerce Level will subtract/cost 1 commerce point
Purchasing an item/service equivalent to 2 points under or less than your Commerce Level will not remove any commerce points
Quirks of Wealth
If a character has four or more commerce points, they must choose a Quirk of Wealth. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Scrooge. You will not spend a cent on anyone except yourself.
Patron. You support an impoverished creative, and cannot refuse their requests.
Stolen. Your wealth is in part stolen from someone else who would very much like it back.
Expensive Tastes. There is an aspect of life where you will only accept the absolute best. (Eg: Food, wine, lodgings)
Philanthropist. You are extremely charitable to those in need, even to your detriment.
Loan Shark. You will spend your money on others, but demand it back with interest. No exceptions.
Hidden Price. If you buy something of value for another, you will expect a favor of significance in return. If refused, you will demand your item.
Tight Pursed. You will only purchase things with item value of two or more less than your commerce level.
Blood Money. Your wealth secretly stems from a dark source that is kept secret.
Family Ties. Your money is tied up in a trust, or controlled by someone else. All spending is monitored, and spending that would decrease your CL must be approved by them.
Fame. Your wealth has brought you fame appropriate to your CL. (Local celebrity, business owner) – But this attention is unwanted, you stand out and people recognize you. Constantly seeking your advice or attention.
Debt. Your wealth is balanced against huge credit/debt, but you’re afloat due to your income. Should you lose your income for a month, you immediately lose 2 Commerce Level.
Elitist. You treat people with lower commerce level than you as inferior in an obvious manner.
Ladder Climber. You are groveling and overly nice to those with a higher commerce level than you.
Romantic Giver. You are prone to over-spending on romantic interests to win their hearts in over the top displays of love.
Closed Trade/Unique Market. Your source of wealth is limited in scope and only renewable in the locale you come from. This could be a niche business, or a trade good only valuable in one area. You treat your CL as two points lower when outside this area. (Scope depends on game setting and narrator discretion)
Unethical Business. People know your money stems from a source most don’t like. It isn’t necessarily illegal, but the common folk dislike you for it.
Superiors Favor. Your success hinges on the support and recommendation of a major celebrity, CEO or noble. If they withdraw that support, your business will collapse.
Risky Investor. If the potential exists for profit, you will spend money even if it reduces your profit level. Somewhat susceptible to accomplished con-artists.
Employees. Your wealth and investments support some employees, you are obligated to ensure their needs are met, but they can perform basic services for you too. The way you treat them will spread fast.
Awarding Skill Points
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Awarding Attribute Points
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Disabling Characteristics
If you choose a Disabling Characteristic from the table below, or create one that the Narrator approves, you will receive one additional Skill point to spend in character creation.
A player may apply as many disabling characteristics as they want, unless the Narrator stops them past a certain point. However you will only receive bonus skill points for the first TWO disabling characteristics you take.
Missing a bodily extremity/limb. The obvious example is that the character could have lost their hand or foot, but this may also include another extremity such as a nose or a reproductive organ.
Feeble. This may mean the character is malnourished, genetically weak, or may be the result of an injury. The character is far weaker than a normal person.
Heavy. The character may be big boned, have lots of muscle, or be excessively overweight.
Dim-witted. A result from a bad head injury, or the character may simply be stupid.
Phobia. This is a debilitating fear that the character possesses that is to be selected by the narrator and can range from heights, to spiders or little children.
Extreme Prejudice. Species, culture, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religion. The Narrator is free to be creative, for example, making the character want to kill every person that supports a specific sports team, or hold irrational hatred to those who wear anything with ribbons.
Compulsive liar. This characteristic needs to be played in the right way – the player shouldn’t lie about everything to the point that it’s impossible to hold a conversation with them. Generally, it would be about anything concerning their achievements or anything that would give them an advantage no matter how small, like claiming the gold coin a character found on the ground, or inventing feats of heroism to impress locals.
Kleptomaniac. Kleptomania is not necessarily the desire to steal but rather a compulsive need to have most things they see for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. Many of the items a kleptomaniac steals are useless to them and the item’s value does not weigh in on their compulsion at all, thus most items a kleptomaniac steals are worth very little.
Paranoia. The extreme belief that every person they meet will eventually betray them, that the government is run by an evil cult or perhaps that stepping on a crack in pavement will cause their death.
Over-emotional. An over-emotional character has a specific emotion that causes significant issues for them. It could be an inability to control their anger that sense them into senseless rages, or perhaps an incapacitating and incontrollable grief that is triggered when being reminded of a past trauma. Extreme joy can be equally problematic, a character who simply cannot contain their constant joy and enthusiasm would make fast enemies at an important funeral.
People Pleaser. Your character will do whatever they can to make other people happy, often at the expense of their own happiness or goals.
Very Forgetful. This does not mean forgetting everything to the point that the character is an unintelligible drooling oaf. This characteristic can manifest in such ways as a character always forgetting where they are and getting lost all the time, forgetting plans, directions or instructions. They might never be able to remember the names of people, towns or countries, or they may constantly forget where they put their items.
Short Temper. A character with a short temper will react out of proportion to the norm when angry. The subject of the characters’ short temper may be broad (they are generally angry – the ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ type), or specific (small animals make them furious!)
Overconfident. You are extremely overconfident in a specific skill, such as stealth, and will feel that you’ll always succeed in any activity using it. You will readily resort to any method that can employ the said skill and volunteer to use it whenever the opportunity arises. That unfounded confidence has caused no effort to be spent actually learning or training in the skill.
Incapable of Lying. This is not a blanket restriction, the character will be able to lie, but not in circumstances the narrator specifies – such as not being able to lie to a certain gender. It might also mean a character can’t speak any ‘untruths’ but are still able to mislead people (like the Aes Sedai in ‘the Wheel of Time’ novels.) It may also mean the character has a very prominent physical tell whenever they lie such as sneezing or farting.
Addiction. This is not simply a preference of a certain thing, it is a disabling addiction, something that the character has withdrawals from if the addiction isn’t satisfied often. The addiction itself can include things like sex, drugs, specific foods, or even murder.
Delusion. Your character truly believes something to be real beyond the scope of simple faith. They see and hear and feel that belief into their own reality. Examples: having an imaginary friend, hearing voices, or honestly believing that pot plants are secretly an invading alien race.
Imperceptive. Your character is withdrawn, paying little heed to the world around them as they move through it. They could be a daydreamer or a shut in, but either way, they are the sort of person most likely to walk out onto a road without looking, oblivious to the danger.
Gullible. Liable to believe what is told to them, a gullible character is terrible at detecting lies and motives and generally believes in good faith that what they are told is true. While they can tell particularly outlandish lies, they’re at a significant disadvantage detecting good ones.
Impressionable. Easily convinced by friends and trusted allies, even by regular folk. Impressionable characters are easily convinced to take particular paths to action and easily convinced to lend a helping hand to those who ask for it.
Attributes
Three attributes compose a character's physical and mental abilities. Each attribute will have a number of points assigned to it. Each attribute also has an associated perk based on the amount of attribute points assigned.
Strength
Physical Power. For every point in strength the character can, once per combat encounter, reduce a victory level achieved against them in combat.
0 Points Average
1 Point Professional Soldier or Career Rock-climber
2 Points Olympic level weightlifter or world champion fighter
3+ Points Supernatural/Technological enhancement
Reflex
Physical and Mental Agility. As combat is conducted in a round by round format, the player with the highest reflex gets priority in that round.
0 Points Average
1 Point Circus Acrobat, Accomplished Thief, or Chess Master
2 Points Gold medalist gymnast/martial artist or Military strategist
3+ Points Supernatural/Technological enhancement
Intelligence
Mental Prowess. For every point in intelligence the player receives 3 additional skill points to spend.
0 Points Average
1 Point University science professor or a Career Politician
2 Points Award-winning particle physicist or ace detective
3+ Points Supernatural/Technological enhancement
Rolls
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Advantage and Disadvantage
Sometimes, abilities or situations may cause the narrator to impose advantage or disadvantage on a pool roll. In these situations you will do the following:
Advantage. Base Three are replaced with d8's.
Disadvantage. Base Three are replaced with d4's.
Dice Pool
Rolls in FG fall into three categories:
Task Roll. Action VS Challenge Level
Passive Conflict Roll. Action VS Perception
Active Conflict Roll. Action VS Action
Each roll requires the player to roll a group of dice known as a Dice Pool. The default die used to fill out this pool is the d6. The size of your dice pool is determined by a characters attributes and skills. A success on a die is considered to be 4+, and a success for a roll is determined by comparing the total die successes to the win condition for the specified roll. Destiny Points may be spent before a pool roll to give advantage or after a pool roll to convert one fail die to a success die.
Base Three + Skill Points + Associated Attribute Points - Negatives = Dice Pool Size
Task Roll
When a player wishes to undertake a task within the game against something that cannot intentionally resist, it is referred to as a Task Roll. Characterized as an action versus a challenge level, Task Rolls will be the most common roll in FG. After rolling, compare the amount of wins in your pool to the assigned CL. If the amount of wins in your pool is greater than or equal to the CL You have succeeded!
Challenge Level
For every action the players wish to perform, it’s the Narrator’s job to assess each request and judge how difficult such a task would be. As well as this, it is the Narrator’s responsibility to set the skill that the player will be using for this challenge. While often a player will suggest a reasonable skill and the narrator will be happy to go with that choice, the final decision of the appropriate skill is up to the narrator.
Often, the skill selection will occur organically at the table.
Challenge levels are assigned to any task that has a reasonable chance of failure. The more difficult the task, the higher the CL. These CL ratings are classified as follows:
Using these classifications, they choose an appropriate skill alongside the player and assign the CL.
A narrator may be tempted to assign a higher or lower CL to a more capable character because such tasks would be easier to them based on their skills. This is not necessary as CL’s should be always be assigned based on how difficult the task would be to a regular person in that setting. It is a character’s skills (or lack thereof) that will affect their potential to succeed in an action – not an altered CL!
Skills
Skills represent a characters learned or unlearned abilities. Each point in a skill represents an additional dice in the Dice Pool. Every skill has an attribute it is based on.
list.skills
Additionally there are Vocational skills associated with a player's chosen vocations.
Passive Conflict Roll
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Active Conflict Roll
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Using Attributes
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Using Strength
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Endurance. Endurance is the physical trait that represents your body’s ability to process toxins and resist disease. Resisting food poisoning, hot and cold weather and pushing past exhaustion are all the domain of endurance. Endurance also makes wearing and fighting in heavy armor easier.
Athletics. Athletics covers physical activity largely related to raw speed and strength. Long jump, high jump, sprinting and weightlifting are all covered by Athletics.
Grip. Grip encompasses hand strength and your ability to hold on to things. Climbing, holding squeezing and crushing are all the covered by Grip. Grip can also be used by animals and monsters in several ways, an alligator death roll or a T-Rex crushing a fence with its jaw would all fall under Grip.
Swim. Swim covers all situations where characters are attempting to move in liquids. It is also applicable to science fiction settings in Zero gravity environments. Swimming may be more difficult if a character is wearing heavy clothing or resisting conflicts at the same time, at the narrators discretion.
Throw. Throw covers the physical task of launching objects from yourself, and successfully receiving them. The ancient arts of shotput and discus are the domain of the Throw skill.
Using Reflex
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Perception. Perception is the art of detecting things through sight sound or scent, it can even cover ‘gut feelings’ or intuition. It is used as the defense against deception, persuasion, and stealth; it will be common for the Narrator to require players make environmental ‘Perception Checks’ to gauge how much the characters notice regarding current happenings or places, whether obvious or subtle. While intellect can be vital in perception, it is the speed at which one notices things that can turn the tide in one’s favor. It is important to note many types of skills may commonly be used to assist with perception, especially vocational ones.
Acrobatics. Acrobatics covers movements requiring agility and finesse as well as balance. Parkour, backflips and walking tightropes are all the domain of Acrobatics. Acrobatics is also the skill used for dodging things and avoiding traps or pitfalls.
Ride/Pilot. Any time a creature wishes to take passage on something the Ride/Pilot skill can be used. Riding a horse, driving a car/cart or surfing a wave would all be considered Ride/Pilot checks. When the ride skill is chosen the player must choose what type of animal or craft it applies to. The check should only need to be made if active effort is required to maintain control. A person riding a train would not need to make a Ride/Pilot check, but the driver would. Clinging to a giant as it walks would be a grip check, unless you were in control and directing its movement.
Sleight of Hand. Activities that require highly dexterous control of the hands are covered by Sleight of Hand. While more obvious tasks such as picking pockets come to mind, the skill also covers things such as weaving a small basket or threading a needle.
Stealth. Sneaking, hiding from others and moving with no noise forms the basis of the Stealth skill. Stealth can be used for setting up ambushes and laying traps. Stealth is often countered by Perception, and the two forces of hide and seek clash constantly.
Using Intelligence
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General Knowledge. General Knowledge is the art of listening to rumors, recalling information and applying it where it is needed most. It aids in many tasks while being very specifically only usable on non-specialized tasks.
Deception. Deception is used to mislead others. This can be done in a variety of ways, from complicated disguises to outright lying. Deception also covers forgery and willfully sending the wrong impressions through body language.
Infiltration. If stealth is the art of going unseen, Infiltration is the art of going unnoticed. Hiding in plain sight or making the right social connections to ease into a niche social circle are equally valid uses of Infiltration. Infiltration also covers the ability of knowing and tracking patrol routes and weak points in defenses.
Persuasion. Persuasion is the art of convincing people of your point of view. Persuasion can be used in innumerable ways, but bartering, charming people, and making sound arguments are the primary focus of the skill.
Survival. Survival is the skill associated with staying alive in all environments. It covers scavenging for food, basic first aid as well as finding safe places to rest and lighting fires. In the city, survival keeps you from going to close to dangerous gang territory, it lets you know who to avoid, and where to avoid. In the wilderness, it tells you which berries will make you sick, which meat is spoiled and more.
Combat
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Armor
Armor can be used to reduce injury level (not victory level, which only Strength can reduce.) Wearing lots of armor will also add weight which negatively affects a player’s combat roll.
Armor levels are set by the type of armor the character is wearing, described below. In the case of shields, the armor rating stacks with worn armor. A character wearing full plate (4 armor) and using a shield (2 armor) will have an armor rating of 6. This is the highest armor rating in the game, but will also remove -3D6 from their combat roll.
A character with high endurance is considered much more capable than average of functioning with heavy armor on. As such, for every point in the Endurance skill (NOT including the base 3D6 or any strength modifiers) the negative to the combat roll is reduced.
Armor level 1: Leather armor, Gambeson (padded), Chain shirt (hauberk), small shield
Armor level 2 (-1d to combat roll): Breastplate, Full Chainmail, Large Shield
Armor level 3 (-2d to combat roll): Full plate armor
Armor level 4 (-3d to combat roll): Full plate armor + small shield
Armor level 5 (-4d to combat roll): Full plate armor + large shield
Weapons
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Order of Combat
Every action within Round by Round conflicts happen almost at the same time or in direct succession of one another. This means that one character’s action is NOT explicitly followed by another character’s action. It should be considered as everything happening together.
To make sense of this potential ‘chaos’, there is a declaration phase and a performance phase.
Declaration phase
The Character with lowest reflex declares what they are doing first. That might seem odd as you could think characters with higher REF should get to move first – but this is the declaration phase – no one is moving yet. If two Characters have the same REF, they each roll 1D6, where the highest resulting roll gets to declare later for the rest of the combat encounter.
Players who declare LATER hold an ADVANTAGE in combat.
Once a player has declared what they are going to perform, they cannot change their mind. They are locked into performing that action in this round. The players who declare after another can chose an action that counters or complements the declared action of another character.
This means that characters with highest Reflex can see or react to what their opponents are going to do.
Performance phase
Once all characters have declared their action, they make their rolls. Though things mostly happen simultaneously within the round, it’s sometimes important to know which blade landed before another, or who managed to perform their action a little bit faster than another. In these situations, the character with higher reflex will always win.
Where ‘declaration’ happens in reverse (slowest players declare first), during ‘performance’, the order is reversed, players with the fastest Reflex in that encounter acting out their intentions first.
Movement in Combat
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Actions in Combat
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Combat Rolls
When a character’s life is on the line, every asset they possess is brought to bear in order to win. Thus every attribute; strength reflex and intelligence, can be added to the combat roll.
Combat Dice Pools are calculated by adding:
Base Three + Combat Skill Points + All Attribute Points
Defense Rolls
A Defense Roll is a variant of the Combat Roll. It is used when a character is either in a position where they cannot perform any type of Combat Maneuver to their opponent (E.g. too far away from an opponent using a ranged weapon against them while only armed with a melee weapon), or they want a greater chance to survive as their standard Combat Roll is too low (such as fleeing after receiving an injury.)
A Defense Roll is calculated in the same way as the Combat Roll but adds an additional +2D6 to roll with. No matter the result of the Defense Roll, the character cannot achieve a level of victory because the character was purely focused on protecting themselves, and not on attacking.
Victory levels
A successful combat roll results in a level of victory against your opponent(s). Your combat roll stands as both an attack and defence. It represents your character’s overall combative performance for that round, and not necessarily a single ‘swing’ of their weapon.
Each character’s combat roll is compared to that of the character(s) or non-player character(s) they oppose. Every win a character has over another’s roll, means a level of victory, from which they may choose an outcome.
Level 1 victory
- Minor Injury, opponent receives – 1D6 to all physical based dice checks but will naturally heal over the next few days, or faster if treated actively. This can be negated by strength or armor.
- Stagger (-2D6 for one round)
- Enter into close combat (not available to ranged combat rolls)
Level 2 victory
- Medium injury – 2D6 to all physical based dice checks and must be treated relatively soon, otherwise further penalties may apply (infection etc.) – this can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
- Disarm
- Any lower outcome
Level 3 victory
- Serious injury – 3d to all physical based dice checks and the character will die in time if the wound is untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
- Trip
- Any lower outcome
Level 4 victory
- Fatal injury – 4d to all physical based dice checks, incapacitated, and will die very soon if untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
- Knockout Blow – Render your opponent unconcious, and apply a Medium Injury to the opponent in addition.
- Dismember arm or leg, which also gives a serious injury to the opponent. (not available to ranged combat rolls unless magic or explosive projectiles are involved)
- Any lower outcome
Level 5 victory and higher
- Death blow. An instant kill unless the character has a high strength or is wearing armor and uses them to reduce either the level of victory or injury.
- Any lower outcome
Injury levels do not stack in fatality but do stack in dice penalty – meaning two medium injuries do not equate to a fatal injury where the character will die immediately if untreated, but the character does receive -2D6 to all physical dice checks TWICE, meaning they will have -4D6 in total.
Close Combat
‘Close combat’ means the fight is so close in physical proximity that the character’s bodies are pressed up against each other in a grapple or wrestle. Being in close combat negates the use of larger weapons and thus the weapon bonuses of any weapon, medium and larger, are lost when in close combat.
In this scenario, a character using a medium (or larger) weapon is considered ‘unarmed’ and as such will receive any applicable penalties.
Entering into close combat is a maneuver which minimally requires victory level 1.
Injury reduction from armor is not applicable while in close combat.
Additionally, you can use a medium weapon in close combat if your opponent is using a reach weapon.
Circumstantial modifiers
High Ground (+2D6): Bonus received through achieving a height advantage against an opponent, IE standing on a table, riding on a mount etc.
Flank (+2D6): Bonus received when attacking an opponent actively engaged in something else, IE attacking another character, picking a lock, etc.
Staggered (-2D6 for one round): Penalty received if the opponent selects to stagger through a victory level, or if the Narrator applies it, IE sand is thrown in a character face, or they slip on oil, etc.
Off Guard (CL in lieu of defense roll): CL determined by Narrator IE, attacking a soldier from behind may require a successful ‘Stealth’ check, then the attack (which they cannot defend against) will be a CL assigned by the Narrator, which the player will roll against with a normal combat roll (without a flanking bonus). Any wins achieved over the CL counts towards the level of victory. Failing the CL commences the next round of combat, where the opponent is then engaged.
Lying Down / Prone (-4D6): Penalty lasts for one round or until the character readies themselves, unless they are incapacitated/sleeping. In combat, the penalty counts as taking place during the action of getting up while defending.
Unequal Equipment (how unequal the difference): In combat or out of combat, the task will be much more difficult if the character is not equipped to do so. Picking a lock is much more difficult without lock picks but not impossible. A master lock picker might be able to improvise. Killing a person with a stick is much harder than with a sword. If a character is attempting to perform a task without the appropriate tool, the Narrator assigns an appropriate bonus or penalty to the player, which they must apply when rolling against the CL or when in combat.
Distance (-dice based on excessive distance): A thrown axe will receive greater penalties at distance then a longbow
Charge (+1D6): If there is enough distance between the character and opponent, they may ‘charge’, adding momentum to their attack.
Brace (+2 wins to a combat roll against a Charge): A brace is a move purely to counter a charge and can only be done if they have fast enough reflex, or a full round before the charge to prepare. A character with a higher reflex will be able to declare their action after a player who declares their charge. Bracing uses the opponent’s charge momentum against them, enabling a prepared defender to more easily stagger, trip or injure the charging opponent.
Incapacitated: If a character is incapacitated, they are held in place, tied up, or unconscious and therefore cannot fight back or defend themselves. Armor levels are disregarded and the CL a character must exceed to obtain ANY victory level against them is CL1.
Chases
Chases are far more common than you might think. Just watch any action movie and see if there’s a chase scene (there usually is.)
Chases begin by the Narrator setting a distance level out of 3 categories to the characters in the chase, those being a close distance, medium distance, or long distance.
At a Close Distance, the characters engaged in the chase are relatively near each other, but not near enough to engage in combat without ranged weapons. Narrators must keep ‘relativity’ in mind when deciding on a level of distance – a Close Distance in a car chase might be considered far away for a chase on foot.
When on foot, the characters use the athletics skill to make chase rolls
When using a vehicle (including mounts) the characters use their ride/pilot skill.
From the initial distance set by the narrator, the players roll against each other using the applicable skill (athletics or ride/pilot.) Please note that other skills, vocations and proficiencies can be used to assist the chase role, such as using acrobatics to jump and weave through obstacles to lose your pursuer.
If the pursuer wins the chase roll, the distance between the characters is reduced. If a pursuer wins the chase roll against the target in a close distance, the pursuer ‘catches’ those trying to flee.
If the characters trying to flee win the chase roll, the distance between them and their pursuers increases until a successful roll at a long distance, whereupon the characters have successfully fled.
When the distance is closed, the target trying to flee were literally stopped, IE their horse can be tripped over, dismounting the target, or their car was run into a tree or wall, damaged so it no longer functions – or they ran into a corner with no easy escape or they were tripped up and are now prone.
The level or severity in how the characters were stopped will depend on how severely they failed the final chase roll. The narrator might even use a destiny roll to determine how bad.
Narrators should use chase scenes as an opportunity to bring excitement to the narrative. Be careful not to let chase scenes become a simple turn-by-turn scenario of “you get closer” or “you get farther away”. Instead, describe the obstacles, and make it difficult and exciting.