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:INTRO ~MYSTIC EARTH ROLE PLAYING GAME RULES~ ALL MATERIAL INCLUDED WITH THIS PACKAGE ARE COPYRIGHT (C) 1993 BY JOSEPH TELLER, CYNTHIA SHETTLE & KIRALEE MCCAULEY AND IS NOT USABLE FOR COMMERCIAL MEANS OF ANY KIND. ` You were born to live with Magic ` ` We all were, the whole human race.` ` We're never more than half alive ` ` unless we have it....` ~ - Zalazar~ :PREFACE This is a skill and not a class based system - that is players choose from a variety of skills and not a single controlling class that will manipulate their capabilities. This is also a GROWING system - that is it is designed with the concept that one must tinker with a basic system in order to find perfection, it can be improved by player suggestions and play results into a more vibrant system that is playable and fun. It is not meant to be stagnant! The system is designed with DART Hypertext usage in mind, as such the files may appear slightly odd in the way they are organized when printed out or read mearly as text files. You can often click your mouse (if you have one, else TAB to the word in question) on a word to look up additional information on a subject. If you have NEVER played in a roleplaying game before, then I suggest reading thru the file we have prepared on the subject: ~<!Concept.#01>~ :Character_Generation Character Generation in Mystic Earth is designed to be easier then other systems, and leaves much to the decisions of the players and GM for final result. There is NO such thing under this system as rolling a new character up in 10 minutes - expect to spend anywhere from an hour to a week to properly design a character for player usage. This means devotion to design. If you don't think you can deal with this then ask the Game_Master* to assist you in an idea or design a character for you that they feel would fit the situation and group in general. There were several goals in mind when we undertook the design of the mechanics of Mystic. First the player had to have a lot more control of character design then in other games. Second we wanted roleplaying to be the main objective and not necessarily deal with combat type situations in each adventure/module/scenario. Third we wanted an improved Magic system with both versitility and creativity in mind. We also wanted simplicity in play, that is, the character generation stage would be the HARD part and need the most referencing to the rules by players and GM alike. First one rolls 3 d10 dice and add them together. If you have a double or triple then you get to reroll those dice involved again and add them to the total until you stop matching. To this you add 175 and the total is your character construction points. Then you begin the process by following the tables... ┌───────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ TABLE │ Quick Info │ ├───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ * Races │ Humans & Non-Human options │ │ Disadvantages │ (and Personality quirks) │ │ Character_Advantages│ Great Things cheap! │ │ Weight │ General build for your height etc │ │ Stats │ What they mean - Then Calculate Stats! │ │ Background │ Legitimacy, Siblings, Inheritances │ │ Childhood │ Was it good, bad, indifferent? │ │ Handedness │ Which hand do you use etc? │ │ History │ Forming basic info on your past │ └───────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────┘ <!skills.#01> The list of available skills to buy with your Education. <!trads.#01> If you choose MAGIC then you need to go onto to determine the hows and whys of it.... Make sure to read the main rulebook areas on spellcasting and magic, its not as easy as it looks! ┌───────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ TABLE │ Quick Info │ ├───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ * Property │ What do you have? │ │ Relationships │ Optional info about your love life. │ │ Age │ Calculate the characters Chron. Age │ │ Wealth │ Primary cash on hand & Income │ └───────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────┘ <!EQUIP.#01> Let's Go Shopping & Buy Equipment! :Advanced_NPCs This primarily is for the GM's running the game and does not apply to players. Occasionally there is a need to design a more experienced character for the players to deal with, and this is a quick, rough system to do just this. For each YEAR of age older the character is to be over their base design you can add the equivilant of 10 character construction points to their start to reflect earned interest. :Advantages Character advantages allow one to craft a bit of the unusual and more individualistic into a character. They cost points, which are purchasable with standard point or those gotten from disadvantages. Note that a Mundane* might also have an advantage, so not all mundanes are quite 'normal' by player perspectives.... COST ADVANTAGE ---- --------- 2 ~Absolute Time Sense~ : This is the ability to accurately gauge the passage of time without using a watch, viewing the sun orother external means. This can be useful when timing explosives, coordinating assaults and infiltrations, estimating distance traveled and so forth. No roll is needed, this ability is ALWAYS on and successful. 1 ~Additional Spells~ The character has extra spell construction points over that granted at start, with an additional Aptitude worth of Spells for each construction point spent on this advantage. These can be applied to ANY of their traditions. 15 ~Ageless~ This person ceased to age at a Player decided lifepoint and has continued on since looking basically the same. Their body has long-term cellular regeneration, so that scars fade after a year and that even lost body parts eventually will grow back after a period of time. They will not die from 'old age' but are vulnerable to other forms of death - if they are careful they might live hundreds or even thousands of years. They still die upon passing the -10 HTK point, but are unaffected by age-based magic that is directed at them. An ageless character WILL know that they are such. (Ageless ability is much like the Shadoe racial aging factor). For more ageless notes see notations on the rest of the character generation tables. 3 ~Ambidextorous~ : This is being neither left nor right handed and thus being able to use both hands at the same time. It gives a +1 to PROW Potential and will allow the use of 2 one handed weapons (with seperate skill rolls on each with no modifiers from handedness). 3 ~Automatic Weapon Permit~ : Gives you all the rights and privilages of a normal weapon permit AND a conceal Weapons permit, but also allows it to be pertained to automatic rifles and pistols. This is not available to criminals, any alien, anyone with a misdomeaner record, any minority (unless a pervious or current goverment agent) and is NOT an automatic with being a certified Gunsmith (they MUST buy this to deal with the automatic weaponry!). 7 ~Beast Friend~ gets a +20% base for animal training and handling skills. A Beast friend can befriend any animal (NOT Fish, microbes, insects, bacteria, worms, spiders, molluscs, crestaceans!) They will never be intentionally harmed by ANY animal, unless trying to harm such themselves. 10 ~Body Density~ This character has a 'thick' skin and strong bones. It adds a +.25 factor to weight calculations (but doesn't change their weight category). They have a Natural Absorbtion of 5 points of damage from all attacks armour would apply to. They get a +10% to hardiness when saving against things like being stunned by a critical hit by a weapon or the breaking of a bone. They get a +1 to all damage they do in HTH Combat or Martial Arts. 3 ~Canine Competent~ Gets a +10% base to animal training when dealing with any canine. Can befriend dogs, foxes and other canines easily and will not be harmed by them unless seeking them harm directly. 10 ~Charismatic~ This charactor naturally projects a feeling of peacefullness, friendship and warmth to all sentients that they meet. Those who meet the person for the first time must save vs INT, those who fail will trust them easily, and they will have a +10 to APP in their eyes in general. They would also have to make a save to actually try to harm hurt or annoy the person with this ability directly. 5 ~Chronic Insomniac~ Gives +25% to chance to save vs sleep spells and effects. Cannot sleep more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period. 5 ~Combat Sense~ This means you have an inate feel for combat situations and can fight even while in darkness or blinded. This means they do NOT lose their chance to defend in such a situation (Normally if blinded or in darkness you cannot use your evasive combat skills) and can make hand to hand attacks while blinded (but cannot use ranged attacks!). 2 ~Concealed Weapon Permit~ : This allows you to carry a handgun in a concealed manner for personal protection, plus all the abilities under a Firearm Permit. Unavailable to Criminals and aliens. Automatic if you are a goverment agent or a gunsmith that is certified. 15 ~Diplomatic Immunity~ : Character is an ambassador, member of an ambassadore's immediate family or staff member to such at an embassy. They cannot be American born and are required to spend large amounts of time at said embassy on the job or in residence. In return they are immune from all legal prosecution from the country they are in, no matter their actions (but sufficiently outrageous actions will result in their recall home or other embarrasement within their system). This is a RARE option. 3 ~Direction Sense~ : this is having an innate sense of direction. With it you will always know the points on the compass in reference to where you are standing, without any point of reference and be able to tell if you are above or below grow and a rough idea of how far above or below. It does not mean you could instantly find your way out of a maze, but will give you advantages if navigating such. 1 ~Distant Relative (Mundane)~ This is an uncle, aunt or other distant relative that the character might hear from once every few months and doesn't live within 100 miles of the character's home. They might prove useful if the character needs to go to where the relative is living for a day or two's stay once a year at most. There is a 5% chance each month of a distant relative dying and possibly leaving the character something in their will. 3 ~Equine Competent~ Gets a +10% base to Riding Landbased and/or animal handling or animal training if any of these skills are taken. Never attacked by Horses unless they try intentionally to do them harm. Able to befriend them easily. 3 ~Excessive Pheromones~ Gets +5 Appearance to members of the opposite sex within 30' radius. This can be bought in multiples. If GAY this is bought as a DISADVANTAGE since the character attracts people sexually they don't want activity with! 1 ~Explosives Permit~ : This is a special permit for the purchase, transport and usage of explosives, primarily used with the construction industry, military contractors, some goverment agents and the entertainment industry for use of fireworks etc. One must be Certified in Demolitions to buy this permit, and not be a criminal, have a criminal record or be an alien of any type. 5 ~Fame~ This is the PC being famous in some way. They might be the author of a book, have designed a particular spell, be known as a TV personality, Talk Show Host, Movie Star, Columnist, Theatrical Performer, Stage Magician, or other factor that makes them visible to at least part of the public. It does NOT have to be associated with Magic activity, UNLESS they are also a PUBLIC MAGE. 5 ~Fast Metabolisim~ Gets a +5 to all Initiative rolls. Heals at double the normal rates for daily recovery (2 per day without physician, 4 with physician) and gets a +10% to all saves to avoid infections & diseases. Cannot be bought in multiples or bought with Hypermetabolism. Cannot be bought by Lycanthropes. 5 ~Fear Competent~ Is unaffected by all fear-based effects. 3 ~Feline Competent~ Gets a +10% base to animal training when dealing with any feline. Can befriend housecats, lynx, tiger, lion, panther, puma and other felines easily and will not be harmed by them unless seeking harm directly. 7 ~Firearm Competent~ has a natural affinity to Firearms, calculating shots with lightning accuracy. The Firearm competent gets a +10% base to any firearm skills. 1 ~Firearm Permit~ (unneeded if you are a certified Gunsmith) this allows you to own a firearm, buy ammunition for it and transport it openly for hunting etc. Not available to illegal aliens, criminals etc. Unnessary if you are a goverment agent. 15 ~Forgotten~ This character projects a low level continuous mental ability that makes them forgettable to others. When encountered their face, actions, voice etc will only be remembered by a person (mundane or otherwise) as long afterwards as they had been around them. This does not work on machines, Naturally Mind Shielded People or mages who have a spell to memorize a person that casts such on them. It also does not affect close relatives (parents, siblings etc) that grew up around them as the ability does not become apparent until after puberty. 10 ~Household Name~ This is Fame taken one step beyond. This is someone who everyone can remember easily by name with a simple INT save in most cases - that is, at least 20% of the population will know who this person is by their name and may also know their face. A Famous Actress, Comedy Act, Politicians, Big name writers (say Steven King), Popular Singers etc fall into this category. This is NOT Bought with fame. If a Public Mage you WILL be known for this as well among your info. 20 ~Hyper Metabolisim~ This person has an extremely excellerated metabolisim. It gives them a +10 to all Initiative rolls. They get a +20% to save vs all infections and diseases. They recover from physical damage at an extreme rate of 1 HTK per hour without care (but cannot regenerate lost limbs, digits, bones, etc). Cannot be bought in multiples. Cannot be combined with Fast Metabolism. Cannot be bought by a Lycanthrope. 3 ~Influential Contact~ : This is a contact from which you can pull a valuable favor or two along the way. It could be the owner of an art gallery that would display your work, A clerk in the FBI that might do a computer search for you, or a millionaire that might get you an invitation to the big social event for the year so you can mingle, or a billionaire that might fund marketing your big invention or play if it works. 1 ~International Driving License~ Only takeable if you are a certified driver and have a regular drivers license, this allows you to use your vehicle skills in ANY country of the world. 15 ~Lightning Calculator~ this person has the ability to do complex mathematics in their head quickly, gets a +20% to Billiards/Pool, Gambling, Mathematics and firearm bases. 3 ~Light Sleeper~ : This is a natural tendancy to sleep lightly and thus cannot be surprised in their sleep. They will automatically wake when someone enters the room, approaches their bed etc. 7 ~Lover Mage~ This is as close as an NPC can get. This is an NPC who would risk anything for the character. They do not literally have to be a physical lover - a twin of the PC that lives with them could also fall within this category. Usually these should be fully written up and have their own character sheet as they are also likely to NEED the PC's help in return (its a two edged sword). This advantage is ONLY with the GM's full agreement and co-operation! 3 ~Mage Contacts~ : This is a friendship or other loose relationship with a member of the Magical Community. It is not someone who would risk their life for you, but might provide things like a Close relative would and also might do so into the magical realm (like casting a spell for the PC, or loaning them energy or a book or helping in a ritual cast or acting as an introduction to an important teacher etc.) A Wiccan Tradition mage would consider the other Coven Members at least this. 7 ~Mage Organization~ The character is a member of an organized religion or occult group that will offer them some level of assistance or resources, including possibly access to a magical library, a temporary teacher, legal aide etc 25 ~Magical Dampner~ This rare ability can only manifest in someone who has a magical aptitude of 20 or less. They actually dampen all spells cast within a 30' radius of them, their own as well as someone elses, reducing 1 rank from the spell effects (and negating entirely those of only one rank). This ability cannot be turned off by them or manipulated by them in any way. [Multiples CAN be bought of this, adding to the number of ranks dampened out but not affecting the radius]. 25 ~Magic Ampliphier~ This rare ability can ONLY manifest in someone who has Magical Aptitude of 5 or more. This person actually ENHANCES all spells cast with a 30' radius of them, both their own and everyone else, adding 1 rank to the effect of all spells (but this does NOT apply to things like reduced casting time, only effect intensity). This ability cannot be turned off by them nor manipulated by them in any way. [Multiples CAN be bought of this, adding 30' to the area of effect] 5 ~Mentor Mage~ This is a character's Teacher, or a High Priestess whoose coven they are in, or someone equally important that would risk much to help the character in an emergency (but not necessarily their life) and would provide advice or training. 5 ~Military Support Weapons Permit~ : Gives you all the cumulative privilages of the Automatic Weapon Permit but also includes all military support weapons (like anti-tank weapons etc). Primarily available to goverment agents, previous goverment agents, and such. Not available to gunsmiths without 10 ranks certified and a position with a military contractor/sub-contrator. RARE. 5 ~Missile Competent~ Character gets a +10% to all base skills of usage of missile weapons and ALWAYS gets a roll vs their PROW to avoid missile attacks even if they lack a shield. Does NOT apply to Bows, Crossbows or firearms! 1 ~Mundane_Contacts~ These are mundanes that the character has buisness or loose friendship associations with and who might provide a source of information or temporary refuge etc. The player must specify the relationship data and a rough idea of the person (EX: Casual Boyfriend they go out with once every week or so). A boss or fellow employee is NOT a Mundane Contact you pay for. They are unlikely to be vital to a situtation, but are as unlikely to be in danger. 3 ~Natural Linguist~ All languages are EASY (1000 eps) to learn in gameplay. The Linguist can buy 2 languages per construction point instead of the normal one. 7 ~Natural Immunity~ to ALL diseases, even magical ones! (Note obviously cannot buy HIV positive as a disadvantage!) 10 ~Naturally Fireproof~, takes no damage from natural fire and takes only 1/2 damage from magical fire. 5 ~Naturally Invisible to Undead~ (Wraiths, Shadows, Ghosts and Spectres etc). 20 ~Naturally Mind Shielded~ Cannot be charmed, telepathically read or conversed with, cannot be teleported against own will or feebleminded in any way. NOTE this advantage cannot be bought by a Mentalist Tradition Character! Also note that a being with this advantage CANNOT lower the shield by choice - it is ALWAYS on, period. 2 ~Notary Public~ : The character has an official stamp and power to witness documents, useful in legal situations. Cannot have a criminal record or be a wanted criminal to have this! 15 ~Patron~ : Instead of a normal income system or working a job you have a Extremely wealthy benefactor backing your efforts. This MUST be an NPC normal or a private Organization (ex: Ross Perot, GreenPeace, McDonalds, etc) and they WILL have an agenda to set before you that you must follow to have their continued support. They will supply you with credit cards or other means of buying what you need to get by, and your budget will be based upon your wealth plus 10 points. 10 ~Perfect Balance~ Automatically makes all saves vs PROW. Gets +10% to base for those physical skills oriented towards personal balance, such as Dancing, Juggling, Climbing, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, trapeeze, Tight Rope, and martial arts. 5 ~Phonographic Memory~ Character can remember ANYTHING they have ever heard in their life perfectly. For musicians and singers this allows them a wider repertoire in their ability and thus gives them a +10% to their base success. A person with Phonographic Memory will never forget verbal instructions and gets also a +10% with Voice Mimicry, Singing, Ventriloquism and duplicating Animal Noises. If the character is a bardic mage they get a +10% to their spellcasting success and can add +5 to the calculation of Their Q-Factor when learning new spells from other Bards For details on Q-Factor see : <NewSpell.#01> 10 ~Photographic Memory~ Able to remember written words in any language they can read/write in. This reduces all learning times by 10% on the teaching table. Also a person with this skill whoose READ thru a library of magical reference books never needs to own one to do research! 1 ~Power To Marry~ This is a legal power, held by either a civil justice of the Peace (purchase with Notary to have said title) or by a member of the Clergy (Certified in a Religion). 10 ~Shock Resistant~ Gets no damage from all electrical attacks, and 1/2 damage from spells of this nature. 3 ~Snake Competent~ Never attacked by snakes unless trying intentionally to do them harm. Able to befriend and train them easily (+10% to train). 2 ~Street_Contacts~ These are usually mundanes that the character can tap as a purchasing or resale outlet or contact for the criminal underworld. The player must specify the type of each. Note that a contact is NOT always accessible and may even cheat a character that has a low Streetwise score or expose them to the authorities if they are treated badly themselves. A street contact has NO LOYALTY in the long term. Specify type: General Goods Fence (Buys/sells most stolen property) Availability varies, higher prices charged. Specialized Fence (deals in a limited line, but pays better, better availability. Examples: Aircraft & Their Parts Artwork & Collectables Automobiles & Their Parts Drugs & Chemicals Electronics & Appliances Explosives Firearms ID Cards, Licenses, & Documents & Credit Cards Information on Other People (Informant) Jewelry & Precious metals Marine Craft & Supplies Military Hardware & Vehicles Trucks & Their Parts Note that you CAN have street contacts without Streetwise skill but you will ALWAYS pay as a minimum the prices in the <!EQUIP.#01>* List and often times more. An Informant (above) does not necessarily have to be connected into the underworld directly and does not have to be a criminal. A Reporter or detective might have informants such as a contact in City Hall or an officer on the police force, or a friend that works for a credit agency. 3 ~Subnormal Body Temperature~ Gives 5% improvement to save vs cold based attacks/spells, 5% decrease to save vs fire and heat based attacks/spells. This can be bought in multiples to compound effectiveness. 15 ~Superior Statistic Potential~ This character has a GREATER than racial POTENTIAL to one of their Stats. They Must define which stat this is bought for, and can by multiples of it. IT allows them to raise DEX, PROW, HARD, INT or MA during play thru the normal progression rules but adds 5 to their usual racial maximum limit in that stat. (See Experience* for the details on raising a Stat in Play). 10 ~Trust Funded~ This character works in a slightly different set of rules in regards to their finances. They have a source of income that provides them their WEALTH* financial factors without having to devote any time to their normal income. They still MUST invest in a wealth Stat in order for this to be of use. 1 ~Union Card~ This means the character has an advantage in a field that uses unions (Entertainment Industry, construction and some positions like vehicle drivers) that helps them keep from losing their jobs too easily and gives them advantages when looking for a job. A union may also offer legal assistance, and ensure the character has health care for job-related injuries. 5 ~Universal Digestion~ This gives the character complete immunity to ingested poisons (note that it can be bought for 2 points by a dwarf or gnome) and allows them to eat almost any natural material and gain nutritional value from it to survive. Thus they may eat ANY plant, any food type that might on someone else cause indigestion because of spice levels, and can even consume thin lumber or leather or hemp rope for nourishment. 2 ~Useful Close Relative (Mundane)~ this is a relative who might supply sleeping space in an emergency, a small loan, borrowing of a car etc. They may also be used AGAINST a character under some circumstances (like being held hostage). They are important to the character but not someone they see daily, but should be in the area the player lives in. :Age To calculate a player character's starting age we take a simple calculation : You begin with a base of 14, and add 1 year for every 5 EDUCATION points the character has invested. To calculate birthdate : Roll 1d12 for month, 1d30 for day or simply choose a date you are comfortable with knowing the perception you have for the character. Aging can reduce a character's effectiveness in some ways regarding their body. As a character grows older some stats are lowered accordingly if they are aging normally (there are some ways to reduce or temporarily stop aging effects): RACE AGES EFFECTED HARD PROW APP INT MA ----------- ---------------------- ---- ---- --- --- -- Human * 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 -1 -2 -1 0 0 1/2 Elf 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 -2 0 0 0 0 High Elf 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 -2 0 0 0 +1 Dark Elf 500, 600, 700, 800 -2 0 0 0 0 Gypsy 100, 150, 200, 250 -1 -1 0 0 0 Dwarf 100, 200, 300, 400 0 -1 -2 0 0 Gnome 300, 400, 500, 600 -1 -1 0 0 0 Giant 30, 40, 50, 60 0 -2 -1 -1 0 Nymph 400, 450, 500 -2 0 0 -1 0 Shadoe 750, 800, 850, 900, 950 -1 0 0 0 +1 * Humans include Lycanthropes, 1/2 giants, Vasharu and merefolk Unaffected entirely by aging are Changelings Thus at each age bracket their stats are subtracted from as per the chart. Players are cautioned, especially when designing humans or giants, to pay CAREFUL attention to the effects of investing EDU points on their characters capabilities! The above, of course, can be prevented if the character has the UNAGING advantage or has spells to keep them rejuvenated in some way. :Aimed_Blows To aim a blow of an attack or to aim a particular body part for a missile attack takes a particular modifier to the chance to hit due to the difficulty of the action. On missile hits these will correlate to the Missile Hit Locale Table. For Hand Weapons or HTH/Martial Combat at such a locale the effects listed below would apply (if any): MODIFIER LOCALE HAND NOTE -------- ------ --------- - 80% Eye If damage is greater than 1/4 of their total HTK then they are blinded in that eye (save vs Hardiness to avoid perm.) - 50% Head If damage is greater than 1/4 of their total HTK then they must save vs HARD to avoid unconsciousness. If a mage they will lose concentration on any spell they are casting or must actively control. - 30% Any Limb (Arm/Leg). If damage is 10% of their HTK or more they must make a PROW roll to hold on to any weapon in that limb. If damage is 1/4 or better than their HTK they must make HARD save or the limb is broken. - 60% Genitals If damage is 10% of their HTK or more they must save vs HARD or be stunned and in pain prone for 1d10 rnds. If damage sustained is 50% of HTK or better then unconscious for 1d10 minutes from the pain and must save vs HARD or cannot function sexually until has a regeneration or Full Heal cast on them. - 10% Abdomen If damaged, save vs HARD or stunned for one round from having breathe 'knocked out'. If damage is 50% or better of HTK then must make a save vs HARD or spend one round vomiting stomache's contents as well. :Armour Armour cushions a weaponed attack (and some magical attacks) reducing or eliminating the damage inflicted to the character. Armour thus has a maximum absorption rate for a blow, but it can also wear out, and thus has a Damage Capacity rating, which is lowered by the amount of damage that is absorbed in each combat. Damaged armour can be repaired with the right tools, skills and supplies, so long as the armour has at least 1 point of Damage Capacity. Armour has a drawback in that it reduces ones Prowness defensively against attacks, depending on its weight and design. ARMOUR ABSORBS DMG CAP PROW MOD. COST ------ ------- ------- --------- ---- Heavy Clothing 2 6 1 n/a Soft Leather boots 2 10 0 $50 Soft Leather Jacket 2 10 1 $120 Soft Leather trousers 2 10 1 $50 Soft Leather Headgear 1 10 0 $30 Soft Leather Gloves 1 4 1 $5 Soft Leather Skirt 2 8 0 $40 Hard Leather Shoes 1 10 0 $40 Hard Leather Boots 2 16 0 $70 Flak Jacket 6 60 4 $350 Kevlar Vest 12 60 5 $700 Kevlar Helmet 6 36 0 $300 Lexan Mesh armour 15 90 6 $900 Motorcycle Helmet 6 6 0 $100 Ballistic Cloth Suit 20 120 2 $5000 Advanced Polymer suit 25 250 3 $20000 Starlite Body Armour 15 300 6 $10000 [Starlite is a miracle plastic. Its real value is against flame and heat where it acts as ABS 50 and loses NONE of its capacity against such an effect; it also is ABS 50 against Lasers and other light based attacks]. Armour subtracts from a Mage's chance to cast by the Prowness modifier multiplied times 2, if their tradition requires movement to cast. Availability of Kevlar, Lexan, ballistic and polymer armours to civilians is rare and usually is bought thru underground contacts. Starlite is primarily used by Firefighters and is very rare. :Background Characters background is often left entirely up to a player. The following section will help flesh out some background: Legitimacy - important in male dominated societies, 01-80 Legit 81-00 Illegitimate 01-30 Raise By Both Parents 31-45 Raised by mother alone 51-55 Raised by Father alone 56-65 Raised by mother & step-father/significant other 66-75 Raised by father & step-mother/significant other 76-90 Raised by other relative (grandparent etc) 91-93 Raised in Group Family with Both parents and extended family members 94-95 Raised in Group Family with Father only Present 96-99 Raised in Group Family with Mother only Present 00 Raised in Group Family without Parents Present If Illegitimate the Character is assumed raised under the welfare system of the state (if born in the USA or one of the other Industrialized nations) or in a fosterage situation. All such get a +3 Wealth to be applied to one certified skill, based on state provided schooling. If the Child was Legitimate number of siblings are rolled: 01-25 None 26-60 One 61-75 Two 76-85 Three 86-90 Four 91-95 Five 96-00 Six! For each sibling (if any) roll on the following: ROLL Sex Older? Alive? 01-05 F Y Y (S means a Twin) 06-15 M Y Y (or triplet etc) 16-24 M N Y 25-36 M N N 35-49 M Y N 50-59 F N Y 60-74 F Y N 75-79 F N N 80-85 F S N 86-89 F S Y 90-95 M S Y 96-00 M S N Parents have a 50% chance each of still being alive. Do not role for parents if not legitimate. [Note if the Character has the advantage ~Ageless~ then there is only a 25% chance of each parent being alive]. If both Parents are Dead and child is Legitimate then the character gets a roll to possible inheritance modifiers to their wealth via the following : From ten maximum rolls, minus one roll from this for each LIVING sibling of the character, and one for each older sibling (with a minimum of 1 roll on the table) then roll on the following table: ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-05 +5 to WEALTH 06-15 +4 to WEALTH 16-30 +3 to WEALTH 31-50 +2 to WEALTH 51-80 +1 to WEALTH 81-90 one additional roll on the PROPERTY* table 91-00 nothing received for this roll If the character is legitimate and either parents are alive they get WEALTH * $15 in cash on hand instead of a Wealth modification. :BackStab A backstab is, in simplest terms, an attack from behind. In actuality it means any attack that an opponent can't directly see coming for some reason. Such an attack gains the attacker a +20% chance to strike addition over normal (Does NOT apply to magic!) Backstab does NOT increase damage as some game systems infer, only the above increase in potential to strike. :Certification If you have more than 2 skills that are 'Teacher Level' (10 ranks!) then you MUST certify all such skills after the first two for balance. Far too many people have been avoiding the certification system and trying to function without such, which is not viable under the system. If you are performing a skill as your main income source it MUST be certified, even if you are NOT teacher Level in it! For specifics on what requires certification, see <!SKILLS.#01>* :Changing_Weapon A character who needs to draw weapon or who is changing Weapon must minus 10 from their initiative roll on the round they are doing so. A character that is switching from armed combat to magic or from magic to a weapon must ALSO lose 10 from their initiative roll (20 if the second weapon is a bow weapon that must be strung before usage). :Childbirth Although rare in a Roleplaying Game, for consistancy sake, the basic rules for survival of a childbirth of both the child and the mother are as follows: Normal Childbirth survival rate = Hardiness + HTK Add +20 if the woman is attended by a midwife, EMT or otherwise skilled person for delivery +30 if the Woman is attended by a Physician +10 if the woman is in a clinical/hospital environment +2 per year under the age of 45 +5 for every child the woman has given birth to previously (NOTE that for long lived non-humans the age calculation is +1 for every year under the age of 200). A 96-00 is always accidental death of the subject. Note that Childbirth Labor takes 3d10 Hours minus 1 hour per child the woman has previously had (BUT never less than 1 hour in length). If the GM has determined that there are complications then add 1d10 to the hours of labor and minus 20% from the survival roll. Remember a seperate roll is made both for woman and child, but they are based on the woman's calculations from above. A newborn child will have only 1 point in each Stat (and none in MA if both parents have no MA, 50% chance if one parent has MA and a 75% change if both parents have MA) and will gain 1 character construction point each month thru their early years. Detail beyond this should NOT be expected of the GM by the players. :Childhood General Experiences ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-05 Exceptionally good childhood! : +1 APP and EDU 06-65 Good childhood : no mods 66-80 Nomadic childhood : 1 additional language learned 81-90 Frightening Childhood : must take a phobia 91-95 Confusing Childhood : Sexual deviation must be bought and add 5 when rolling on RELATIONSHIPS table. 96-00 Tragic childhood : +1 HARD and add 7 when rolling on relationships. Schooling (Not for Giants, Merefolk, Gypsies or Elves) (or persons outside the Industrial nations) (minus five from the roll if Wealth >30 ) ROLL RESULT ---- ------ -05-05 Private Schools attended. Auto Skill Rank in: Read/Write, One additional Modern Language, Typing, History (national), mathematics, History (World), Computer operation, Speed Reading, Politics (theory), Physics, Philosophy, Economics, First Aide. Two Sports Related Skills from the Following : Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Gymnastics, Swimming, Skating, Skiing, Bowling, Billiards, Bows, Swords (lightweight), Riding (land based), Pole Vault, Running, Rowing, Hanggliding, Golf, Firearms Rifle (For skeet). 06-20 Quality School System Attended. Auto Skill Rank in: Read/Write, One additional Modern Language, Typing, History (national), mathematics, History (World), Computer operation, First Aide. One Sports Related Skill From The Following : Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Gymnastics, Swimming, Skating (ice or roller), Bows, Pole Vault, Running, or Bowling. 21-85 Public School System (normal) Attended. Auto Skill Ranks in: Read/Write, Mathematics, History (national), Typing, First Aide. One Sports Related Skill From The following : Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, or Gymnastics. 86-00 Poor Public School Attended. Auto Skill Ranks in: Alertness, Dagger & Knives, Concealment, HTH Combat, Streetwise, Bludgeons, Urban Survival, Security Systems, And Either Basketball or Dance. :Combat A Physical Combat attack may take some time under these revised rules but will closer approach realism without detracting fun from the overall play. The attacker makes their roll to Hit, based on their skill chance to hit. There are no modifiers to this except those modifiers that affect the attacker personally (ex: Armour PROW modifiers, any spells on them that might reduce their chance, aiming modifiers etc). The target being then receives, if the attacker was successful, a saving throw. This chance is based on their PROW plus or minus any modifiers like physical cover (against a missile attack) etc. If they save then they are NOT hit. If the target is using a weapon that gets PROW mods then they receive such mods to their chance. If they are using a viable parrying weapon against a weapon that can be parried then their save is increased by 1 point per RANK (upto 10) that they have in their weapon skill. Thus two experts in rapier with 25 PROW each would each have a roll to hit of 125% (missing on a 96-00) and a save against an incoming attack of 40% against the attack. A critical Hit (01-05) can only be saved against with a critical save (01-05). A struck target receives the damage inflicted by the weapon* minus the damage absorption of their armour* (if any). If the armour absorbs more damage than the weapon inflicts then the result means the attacker takes damage from making the attack... an example, for realists, is the person who tries to punch a man in plate armour with a bare fist - the puncher takes the damage not the man in armour. If the attack is with a weapon then there is a 50% chance that the weapon breaks from the action (25% if the weapon is magical). Missile* attacks are handled based on the idea of target coverage. A target using natural cover or a shield gets a reduction beyond the natural prowness factor from hitting. Gernade attacks are made not against a being but the space they occupy and thus their defensive value is NOT applied against the attack (But a miss may place the grenade in a different area then they occupy, sometimes still resulting in a need for damage saves). A 96-00 is a CRITICAL_MISS and the <!Fumble.#01> table should be consulted when such occurs. Likewise a roll of 01-05 is a CRITICAL_HIT*. :Critical_Hit When an attack roll is made and a 01-05 is rolled, this is an automatic hit and also one that has CRITICALED and will do extra effect (roll on following table): ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-25 Double Damage 26-50 Double Damage & Target must roll vs Hardiness or is knocked unconscious for 1d10 rnds. 51-75 Double Damage, Target is Stunned for next round. 76-95 Triple Damage, Target losses a limb (01-75) or eye (76-00) and must roll vs Hardiness or unconscious 2d10 rnds. 96-00 Instant Kill if opponent fails a HARD save, else does Triple Damage. :Death Death occurs when a character has been in negative HTK for 10 rounds or more. If this happens, then they will be unrevivable except by any extraordinary means such as the spell 'Kiss of Life', act of the divine etc. A character that is -10 Hit points or more is dead instantly. :Deities The deities of the Mystic Earth do NOT usually appear in physical or even spiritual manifestation upon the world or its adjourning planes as it violates much of their concepts of power. Many work through the plane of dreams, or the dreamtime as means of contacting their followers. Deities do not directly manipulate the physical world, and are part of the concepts of Jungian Collective Consciousness that exists. They possess power that affects the minds and spirits of beings and they absorb into themselves their followers for a time when they die, only to reform them again in a new lifeform later (a form of both afterlife and rebirth). Ghosts are astralists without bodies, or beings who died without being claimed by a deity in some way. Their abilities are limited when affecting the material world. The system is left purposely vague for GM's to deal with as they would and to cease from imposing any one belief system on the game. Leave it to the fact that the gods don't show up very often and cannot remain upon the material world for long without risking loss of power and position. When on the material world they can only be in one place at a time, but while immaterial they can be with all their followers simultaneously in thought. :Disadvantages This is an OPTIONAL set of the rules. Players do NOT have to take these in designing their character, but may find it advantageous to do so overall in their character design in both developing a more interesting character and in developing character background and personality. Each option taken has a set value of construction points to them, and will give points that can be added to your total creation pool. Note that these problems and disadvantages CANNOT BE BOUGHT OFF as in other game systems thru experience, so be careful on what you purchase in order to get extra points. Also you cannot get two contradictory ones (ex: Code vs Killing and Bloodlust) or two that are nearly similar except in intensity (Code vs Killing, Disdain for killing and Avoids Bloodshed are similar variations on a single theme, while two different Sexual Deviations would be acceptable). OPTIONAL POINTS GAINED -------- ------------- Annoying Habits : Picks teeth, complains regularly, 1 scratches constantly, Belches or passes gas loudly and publicly, sloppy eater etc. [ONLY 3 maximum allowed] Aged : Only appliable to persons who are take 5 an actual age that is older than their calculated based on Education, and whoose race begins to lose stat maximums at that age. Thus at 40 or greater, if you are human. Does apply to someone who is ageless if they are age-frozen at an age that takes detriments by the table. Albinoism : Has no natural pigmentation; hair and 5 skin are pink-white and eyes are pink. (Not takable by Dark Elves!). They are memorable and cannot blend into a crowd (-20% for Shadowing base). Have no resistance to sunburn; -10% for any Awareness and ranged weapon skill rolls made in sunlight. Alcoholic : must save vs INT to avoid drinks etc 3 Alcoholics are -25% to perform all skills for 3 days after finishing a drinking binge. Allergy : Allergy's are of one of two kinds, 2 (airborne) air borne or internal. Air borne 3 (internal) allergies cause a watering of the eyes, skin irritations, joint swellings and possibly breathing problems. They do no physical damage when encountered, but will make the victim suffer a -20% to all leveled skill rolls while exposed. Internal is a food allergy or an allergy to something that is drank or injected (such as a bee sting). These do physical damage (with no saves or absorption) when encountered, at least d10 (for minimal) dose effect; to 5d10 for maximum effect. GM decides the dosage effectiveness. Anosmia : Has no sense of smell or taste. 3 -20% base to cooking and brewing. Asthma : Character has difficulty breathing in any 5 skill usage that requires physical exertion. -10% base to all physical based skills like HTH Combat, Martial Arts, Tantrics, Acrobatics, Contortionist, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Hanggliding, Hunting, Juggling, Jumping, Masonry, Mountaineering, Rowing, Skating (roller), Skating (ice), Skiing, Trapeeze, Tumbling, Bludgeon Weapons, chopping weapons, Swords (any category), Staffs. [Non-leveled skills in this list are NOT purchasable by the character except at TRIPLE normal cost] Aversion To Killing : This is someone who can only kill 3 if its absolutely necessary in their mind and MUST make an INT save to be able to do so at the last minute. This is the person who might kill if their child's life was on the line or if it was a matter of their life or the other persons but would make a terrible soldier and never an assassin. Bad Liar : This is someone who lies badly and is not 5 believed (and even when they are telling the truth is often not believed because of their body langauge). Can't be taken with Truthfulness. Blindness : You have no eyesight and no means to recover 25 it. You cannot see and thus cannot use ranged attacks except with HUGE minuses. BloodLust : If in a fight this character kills, period. 10 They do not fight for the fun of it, and have no morale controls preventing them from liking killing a foe. They do not accept surrender from others and avoid such themselves. Once fighting they won't quit till the foe is dead. Not recommended for player characters. Caffeine Addiction : Gets headaches after 6 hours without 2 caffeine in some form, leaving them -10% to perform all skills until caffeinated. Clumbsy : The opposite of perfect balance, this 5 person has imperfect balance beyond belief. Gets -10% to base for those physical skills oriented towards personal balance, such as Dancing, Juggling, Climbing, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, trapeeze, Tight Rope, and martial arts. Automatically FAILS all Prowness Saving throws. Code of Ethics : This is a code amoung Mages in how one 5 uses ones powers and abilities amoung mages and non-mages. It is not to be confused with a code of honor or a code against killing. The code of honor includes such things as unduly risking the exposure of the magical community to the notice or ridicule of the mundanes (Subtle Action instead of obvious); Avoid 'outing' a private mage into public status against their will. Avoid using ones powers to benefit oneself unduly : Using a spell to cheat at cards; reading a mind to blackmail a person; Using telepathy or empathy based magics to force someone to act against their normal will to cause them harm; Stealing a Soul; Possesing a sentient and getting them killed; Using magic to keep someone under your control by a love spell. All are breaches of ethics. When in doubt if something is ethical in the system ask the GM.... Code Of Honor : This is a code of how one handles oneself 3 in business and in combat, and is often considered vital to a Taoist or martial artist to be properly played. It is NOT a purely oriental concept. Under this code one does NOT Directly Lie, Cheat at games of Chance (or skill) or directly steal from a competitor (though one may pay a professional to steal for you). In combat one does not stike opponents from behind unaware, use weapons against unarmed opponents (unless you disarmed them), or fight 'dirty' (Throwing dirt in ones opponents eyes, striking the sexual organs, twisting a blade after it is in a wound). Code vs Killing : Will refuse to kill foes 5 Color Blindness : (total only) cannot distinguish beyond 3 'shades of grey' and has problems with anything that is color coded. Combat Paralysis : This is someone who is shocked by 5 violence that touches their life. They must make a save each round of melee vs INT or simply stand unmoving in shock. (once successful they are fine for the rest of the combat). They are at PROW 0 while in shock. Receiving a wound negates this paralysis too.... Compulsive Carousing : You are the ultimate party animal. You 3 go in search of a social gathering at least once a day and participate for at least an hour or more. You will try any mind altering substance without a second thought and aren't picky about your romantic partners. You like like your music loud, your drinks cold and your sex partners hot. You like to start the day with beer and cornflakes. Other Party types will react positively to you, but solid citizen types react negatively. Corporate Enemy : This is the result of a character that 3 has earned the hatred and scorn of a major corporation, either as a rival or a previous employee. It means a -5 to their rolls when Job Hunting or seeking advancement within their job (if not self employed). It also means that the Corporation may be seeking to find various ways to harm their lives, spy on them or even may go so far as to seek to eliminate them thru a hit man subtly. Additional corporate enemies after the 1st are worth only 1 point. Criminal Record : This is someone who has been in jail 5 previously at one time for criminal activity and might be watched by some authorities. Cursed : When anything goes wrong for your party, it 30 most likely happens to you, first and worst. If something goes right it often misses you. And any time the GM feels like pulling your chain he/she can and you have no complaint coming because you are cursed. You can't dispose of this except by figuring out what has cursed you and dealing with it to end the curse. Only one of these in a party! Deafness : (Complete) all language skills cost double 7 normal at start (except Lip Reading and Read/Write) and are maximum difficulty to learn in play. Ventriloquism, animal noises and voice mimicry skills are not possible. All music oriented skills cost twice normal to buy and increase skills in. Also -20% to base for awareness skill rolls. Defender : Fights only when attacked using only 7 what is needed to defend and no more Will refuse to kill. Dependent NPC : This is a child, elderly mother, or other 5 character built on 1/2 the normal base points and always mundane. The character must help provide for their survival and must care about them and be subject to psychological stress if they are threatened or harmed. Dependents MUST live with the PC. Drug Addiction : This is an addiction to an illegal 5 substance, such as cocaine. This requires that you take an advantage of a contact (streetwise or other) that can supply you with the drug involved (since it is illegal). Cost to the character is $150 per week. If they miss a week or more then they lose 10% with all skills for each week without it for upto 4 weeks cumulative. On the 5th week they take a loss of 1d10+2 HTK permanently as well, but will on the 6th week be back to normal success and be free of the disadvantage (and still considered to be mathematically 'balanced'. Players CANNOT choose to go without a drug on purpose unless a character has been in constant play for at least a MONTH. Eats Food Live : The opposite of Vegetarian and considered 15 repulsive by most, you will only eat meats and seafood while it is still alive and kicking! No resteraunt will serve you and your friends will never dine with you. Pet store owners and livestock venders tend to become regular contacts, since you are a very definite repeat customer. The ASPCA would oppose your every day if they knew about you. Epilepsy : (Severe) suffers seizures in stressful or 10 life threatening situations if fails a HARD save, that lasts 1d10 minutes during which they cannot act, think, speak or pay attention to their surroundings. Eunich : You are a male who's sexual organs have been 15 altered so you can no longer function sexually with them or receive pleasure from them. This is a painfully embarrasing subject with you and is the source of much mental anguish. They cannot be restored or replaced in any known manner. Fanaticism : This character has a mental belief that 5 overrules everything else in their life. This may be faith in a religion, political cause or patriotism. They will go out of their way for their cause beyond all else, even risking personal harm..... Fear Of Firearms : Cannot use a firearm and will react 3 negatively to firearms in the hands of friends. Glory Hound : You will ALWAYS take time to talk to the 5 press, pose for photographs or even sign autographs. You insist on being in the limelight, and you always take great risks and lead the charge etc. You get advantages when dealing with the media, small children and teenagers, and an increased chance of negative reaction from coworkers, fellow mages etc. A Successful Glory hound might eventually become a Household Name... Government Agent : This person is an agent for a specific 15 government bureau (CIA, FBI, FDA, NSA, Medusa, Interpol, etc) and thus must follow orders in dangerous situations and maintain a cover from the general public etc. Gets automatic RANK in STREETWISE skill. Government Employee : This person is an employee of the 3 government in their job and may have to work extra shifts, holidays, and in emergencies, giving them less free time. Gullible : You believe what people tell you far too 5 easily, are a sucker for a sob story and easily swayed in opinion by strong personalities that speak elequently. If a villian says he's giving his word of honor you believe him, even if he's broken it the last three times! Hedonist : You seek pleasure and new experiences 10 constantly, above all else. Hedonists cannot hold down regular jobs easily and take risks for the thrill of it. They consider Party Animals easy prey for their desires and aren't above blackmail, deceits or using sexuality as a lure to receive pleasure or cause shock. (If you take this you cannot take any sexual deviances from that list). Height* : See seperate section on Height effects. Hemophilia : When wounded will continue to bleed at a 7 rate of 1 HTK/rnd until wound is properly treated by EMT/Physician skills or by magic means to close the wound. Hidden Secret : This character has a secret, which MUST 5 be worked out with the GM, that is something that they do not want exposed to some or many persons in their life as it would be damaging to job, relationships, etc and for which they MIGHT even be blackmailed for. HIV Positive : This person has been exposed to the AIDS 7 virus but so far does not have full blown AIDS (but may become such later). Illegal Alien : This person has to hide their identity 4 and may have to purchase false ID etc. Impulsive : This character hates talk and debate and 3 will act first and think later. Avoids major planning sessions or waiting for anything. Indecisive : Gets a -5 to Initiative Rolls in 3 combat situations. Cannot Take a Fast or Hyper Metabolisim advantage! Inferior Statistic Potential : This is applied to any 10 of the base Stats (APP, INT, PROW, HARD, or MA) and reduces the maximum they can have in that stat by 5 points (But cannot be used to lower a stat potential below 5 points). IT Can be bought in multiples on on a Stat or several stats. If used on a stat that would normally have a racial bonus potential you LOSE the racial Bonus before you can apply the inferior option! Inquisitive : You are naturally Curious about everything, 10 always looking for something new to explore or try, even if there are risks involved. When presented with an interesting item or situation you must make a roll vs INT to avoid examining it if it is dangerous. GOOD roleplayers won't try to make this roll to often but will follow thru on the curiousity. You will pull levers, push buttons, open doors, unwrap presents, and generally do anything to investigate any new situation. You will rationalize your curiousity to others who try to talk you out of it, and common sense won't really help. If you are a mage you will experiment continiously, and try new concepts and ideas that may be detrimental. Jinxed : You are to bad luck what a plague carrier is 20 to disease. It doesn't affect you but it gets everyone else around you! The other members of your party constantly are at a disadvantage and get a +10% on all saving rolls rolls to affect them. Ulysses was the perfect example of a Jinx. He was tough, clever and determined and he survived everything thrown at him, but all his friends died along the way. Lame : Moves when walking/running at 1/2 the normal 5 rate of distance covered due to bad leg. Gets a -20% to base of martial arts, HTH, Dance, Trapeeze, acrobatics, gymnastics. Legal Alien : This person has a work visa and green 2 card equivalent in the USA. Lethargic : The opposite of a Insomniac, this person 3 needs more sleep than the average person. If they have less than 10 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period then they are at -10% to perform any skill until they do get a solid 10 hours sleep. They also get a -10% save vs Sleep spells. Longwinded : This character will insist on lecturing people 5 on his/her opinions, ideas, history, science etc even if they know nothing on a subject. A prime example was Cliff the Postman on the tv series cheers. If a villian they will insist on telling a captured hero every last detail of their plans. Lost Eye : This person has lost an eye in such a way 5 that it cannot be repaired, regenerated, regrown or restored in any way. They get a -20% to any sight oriented skills, including all Firearms, all missile weapons, all drafting, gem craft and Awareness. Loyalty : Blood and friendship are thicker then ethics 5 and law. A loyal character will never abandon a friend in need. Magic Susceptable : This character has a reduced save 7 against all spells cast at them, as they do NOT get their INT save (if mundane* they have only a 01-05 chance to save!). They cannot have the advantage Natural Mind Shield. They Will get a save based purely on their aptitude. Mental Illness : ANY true insanity (not phobia or 10 sexual deviations) see ~<!Insanit.#01>*~ Minority Group Member : If the character falls into a 3 racial, Sexual or Religious Minority then they can take this disadvantage (NOTE that American Indians in Mystic are NOT minorities and are treated with respect in the society on Mystic Earth USA). Being Female is NOT a minority status, while being Black is. Being Homosexual is being in minority status, being a Necrophiliac isn't (Its a sexual deviation). Being non-human doesn't count. Misdomeaner Record : The character has previously been fined 3 or short term jailed for a Misdomeanor. This could be from such things like being arrested at a Nuclear Power Plant Protest, Assault, Shop Lifting, Vandalism, Public Drunkeness etc. It means that police will take a less than happy view of their actions if they involve them and may suspect them of lying etc. Mute : Cannot speak or produce any sounds with 10 voice (Mimicry, ventriloquism etc). Should buy Sign language, read/write or similar to communicate with others. This is VERY difficult for a player character to have. Nearsighted : -10% to base chance to use Missiles/guns 1 (This can be bought upto 3 times, BUT the negative is cumulative to skills and they require from the second on that the character wear glasses or contact lenses, and on the third buying MUST wear glasses only). Without their glasses/contacts they cannot read, are at an additional -20% with the listed skills etc. Negative Reputation : This is the opposite of the 5 Fame Advantage. This is someone who is known and not appreciated in the magical world or their field of endeavor. If a reporter this is the calling card of a yellow journalist. If a politician, the people feel you're a crook. If an actor you've done some really visible bad work. If a wanted criminal your picture is in every post office and there are APB's sent out regularly on you. If a mage, the majority of the community consider you unethical, dangerous or a fraud and will avoid you or try to foil your plans. No Sense Of Humor : You never get any jokes and think 5 people are dealing with life as being serious enough. You put your nose to the grindstone and consider a Party Animal the most useless thing in the world. You're cautious and spend hours honing your skills and knowledge. Notorious Reputation : This is the opposite of a 10 Household Name advantage. You are a well known something that lots of people hate, dislike, distrust, or are disgusted by. Your reputation preceeds you and lots of folks will shun you (Richard Nixon would fall into this category, among politicians, Mordred, Morgan leFay and Uri Geller would among mages (two unethical and one a fraud). One Arm : Cannot use 2 handed weapons or devices. 7 All driving & piloting skills cost double. Typing and glassblowing cost double. Cannot juggle, perform trapeeze, climb. On The Edge : Sometimes you don't care if you live or die. 10 You are not actively suicidal but you will take unreasonable risks in the face of mortal danger. Mel Gibson in the First Lethal Weapon Movie fits this description. Combined with overconfident its usually fatal. It cannot be combined with no sense of humor. Sensible people will avoid you, others may mistake your own disregard for your life for bravery. Outside Own Timeline : This is used for a character that 5 has time traveled from the past or is from an alternative version of the worlds timeline. It can be used in tangent with 'Unfamilair with Modern tech.' This person will have an INCOMPLETE version of history or one that differs greatly. They must pay +1 additional for any History, Area Familiarity or in some cases language skills to match their new world/Timeline/Present's actuality to be fully functional with them. If newly arrived they cannot take disadvantages of Wanted Criminal, Corporate Enemy, Underworld Enemy, Rivals (unless they have followed!), Governement Agent (any type) or advantages like Contacts (unless they followed!). Any skill certification skills they have must be rebought (legally or illegally) in the new locale to be accepted. This disadvantage is ONLY usable with the GM's permission! Overconfident : Proud, boastful, fails to plan 3 ahead for possible defeats, refuses to retreat in combats unless INT save made successfully. Overdeveloped Sense of Vengeance : This character will be 3 seeking to kill or ruin an enemy on a regular and constant basis and will risk anything for revenge. The swordsman from "The Princess Bride" was a perfect example, spending 20 years learning his trade just to hunt down and kill in combat the man who slew his father. Once offended they don't stop and even logic fails against vengeance. Pacifist : Refuses to take violent action even 10 to defend self and NEVER kills foes. Will lecture those who aren't pacifists to convert them to become such. Paraphobia : The fear of causing Paradox. This is far more 10 life affecting then other phobias for a mage and thus its value. Paraphobes must make a save vs their INT to cast a spell that may cause paradox effects in non-threatening situations (Thus using magic to escape a situation would NOT require a will save, but using it for fun would). This cannot be taken by a non-mage! Since Paradox is an optional rule for GM's consult with your GM to see if the rule is being used - you can't take this disadvantage if they don't use it! Personal Limitation : This is a catch all for a number of concepts that don't quite fit the other many disadvantages. It is a limitation, often physcological in nature, that limits their actions, capabilities or magic system beyond that normally existant. An example would be a character that would would never directly harm a member of the opposite sex, or a mage who would refuse to fight any member of their own tradition, or a mentalist who insisted their powers would only work on a person if they could look them in the eyes etc. The belief is absolute and unremovable from them, it is as much a part of them as their own body parts. It is not a psychological problem (like a phobia or delusion) but a definite LIMIT on their ability which they cannot overcome. Value of it in play is based on the Frequency that it will be encountered in a situation: Constantly 10 Daily 5 Now And Then 3 Thus a mentalist who must look targets in the eye would be a CONSTANT. A Mage who refused to fight anyone of their own Tradition would be a Now and Then Situation. A Character that refused to harm any member of the opposite sex counts as a Daily (even though they might not be in a fight daily) while a character who insisted their magic just wouldn't work on members of the opposite sex would be a Constant. A mage that believed they could only perform their spells as rituals would be dealing with a Constant. Be Careful not to badly cripple your character by taking too many Personal Limitations. Be creative! Phobias : roll vs INT to overcome if encountered 1 TEMPORARILY (See ~<!Insanit.#01>*~ for list) (Maximum of 5 allowed) Prejudice : A prejudice is caused by ones upbringing or 1 experience, usually founded on false beliefs or stereotypes one has of another race, religion, race or society. When encountering one's prejudice you will act irrationally and make poor judgements based on it. Examples: Gay Men; "all gay men are wimps who grew up without a good father figure and have no value in combat. They are all sexually peverted and want to convert others, especially small boys. They do make good hair dressers, interrior decorators and flower arrangers but have no place in men's businesses. Never drop the soap in a shower at the Gym, they'll pounce without thinking and they let their hormones rule them and once they get you you're doomed to be one!" is an exteme and absolutely incorrect prejudiced viewpoint. People with prejudices will act upon them, make judgements on them and will avoid the subject of such. (Think ARCHIE BUNKER!). Pc's only get credit for their first 3 prejudices, but can have an unlimited number. Previous Government Agent : This is someone who WAS a government agent (see above) and left their Agency. They are either subject to occasional reactivation or subject to attempts to eliminate them. Gets automatic rank in STREETWISE. Subject to reactivation, foreign government 5 Subject to reactivation, of US government 7 Subject to Termination, of Foreign Government 15 Subject to Termination, of US Government 20 You CANNOT be both a current Agent of a government AND a previous agent of that same government! If you are a government Agent you cannot be a previous agent of another government, except with the termination clause - and if you are the Previous is only worth 1/2 normal value. If you are a previous agent for more than one government then the first one is worth full value, the second is only 1/2 value and the third on (if any) is worth ONLY one point. If you are a previous government agent of the US subject to termination then you ARE a wanted criminal automatically and cannot buy that disadvantage again. You are also bound by the rules under Wanted Criminal. Public Mage : This person has publicly let it be known 5 that they practice a form of magic, via group involvements, protests, blatant displays etc and may be harassed, approached by people wanting help, etc Rivals : This refers to the next three categories, of Rivals. If you have more than one rival of any of the three types then you only receive 1/2 the value for the second. A Third or further is only worth 1 point. Rival, Known : This is a rival, oftentimes a rival mage or 5 professional in the same field, whom the character has an ongoing rivalry with. This may lead to attempts of embarrassing the character, hurting reputation, damaging them financially or simply surpassing them on a social or academic level. The character can either respond in kind or try to ignore them. An example of a friendly rivalry would be that between SHerlock Holmes and Inspector Lastrade. Rival, Stalking : This is the opposite of an unknown Rival, 5 where the character is seeking to harm as such someone who doesn't know that they are out to cause them harm. An example for this can be found in the move "Amadeus'. Rival, Unknown : This is a rival that the character is NOT 7 aware of, but who will be behind the scenes trying to set them up for embarrassment, financial damage, disrupting their life etc. (GM gets to decide the nature of the rival and their actions). Roomate/Housemate : This is an NPC that shares living 3 space and reduced the rent of the PC by 1/2. They are a mundane, and easily endangered because they live with the PC but don't understand about the world as the PC knows it. They are important to the PC as they may restrict activity or cause a need for lots of explanations. GM decides detail on the NPC. Scruffy : You dress and smell like someone who changes 7 their clothes seasonally. Most people don't want to associate with you and avoid you like a plague. This should NOT be taken by a team character or one expected to work with a team. Sexual Deviation : See ~<!Insanit.#01>*~ for list 2 (Maximum of 3 allowed) Shyness : This character will almost never take charge, 3 approach strangers for information or strike up a conversation willingly. Slow Healer : This is a person whoose Immune system and 3 healing functions bodily are at 1/2 that of the normal rate under all conditions of natural healing. They get a -10% to save against diseases. Social Stigma, Communist : You are presently or were in recent 7 years a card carrying member of the Communist Party. You cannot acquire a position with the US Goverment. You risk ridicule and intollerance for your position. Social Stigma : Disbarred Lawyer. You can take this ONLY 5 if you have legal skill and it means you can NEVER act as a lawyer in the USA as you were disbarred for unethical or illegal activity of an extreme nature. This could be something on the order of breaching the client confidentiality (like perhaps exposing that your client had confessed to you they had done the crime but was pleading innocent). Sterility : Cannot have children/reproduce normally 2 Cannot be taken with Eunich. Stubborness : You want your way and you'll push to get it 3 when others are in the way. Tobacco Addict : This is the constant smoker who goes 2 thru at least a pack a day. Smoking is on the downtrend in Western Civilization and is worse than an annoying habit. Truthfulness : Cannot lie knowingly to anyone 5 Unalertness : Cannot EVER get the skill of Alertness. 5 Gets a -5 to all initiative rolls and only notices things on an awareness roll VS INT on a roll of 01-05. Underworld Enemy : (Not takable if you are on the Witness 3 Protection Plan). You've gotten a major criminal organization out to get you. They fight dirty, they fight for keeps and they don't hold back. Like the Witness Protection plan this means you are in definate DANGER reguarly from being discovered and eliminated. Unfamiliar With Modern Technology : This is a person from a 3 'backward's ' country, or outside their original timeline for some reason. They cannot use many modern devices or must be taught to use them. Among things they can't use: Computers Electric Typewriters Modern (Post WWII) automobiles, trucks etc Modern (Post WWI) Airplanes Television Teletypes Most modern shop machinery (Post WWI) Video Games Video Recorder Stereos CD Players Cassette Tapes Unfamiliar With Technology : Takes the Modern one step further. 5 This is the person who cannot use or understand anything developed or made after about 1890 in the way of equipment or devices and will need things like running water, Flush Toilets, Street Lights, and lots more explained to them to understand. Unusual Appearance : You don't look quite normal. Your eyes 5 might glow red, or your hair is flourescent blue, you have an extra didget on each hand or enlarged canines like a classic vampire. Some people might find this interesting, but many will think negatively of you... Vegetarian : You will not eat meat of any kind, even fish, 3 and may lecture those who do as being horrible flesh eaters. Folks hate to go to resteraunts with you. Wanted Criminal : This person is wanted for a felony of 7/12 some sort or is a military deserter. Can be from some other country (first number) or within the country game is in (second) Crime must be of a felony equivalent (minimum 10 year sentence). Remember that a Wanted criminal cannot be working from their Legal ID, they must buy illegal ID if they wish to function in society and may have to change such regulalry to avoid capture. There is a 5% chance each month that you are recognized and reported to authorities if you stay within an area (not cumulative though). You CANNOT start with a vehicle larger than a car or van (no planes, trains, Tanks, Boats, Ships, Hovercraft, jets, etc) and must have such registered under another ID that you have bought. Weight* : See seperate section on Weight ranges. Weirdness Magnet : Strange and Bizarre things happen to you 7 with alarming frequency. You are the one that demons will stop and chat with. Magic items with disturbing properties will find their way to you. The only talking dog on 20th century Earth will come to you with his problems. It will always be terribly inconvient and annoying. Not takable if you are a MYSTERY MASTER MAGE. Witness Protection Plan : You were a witness to a major 5 criminal procedure and have been given a false identity by the government (with appropriate ID) in return to testify against an organized crime figure. You start with an extra $1500 from the government but cannot have ANY Relative contacts, or receive any inheritances after game begins. Additionally you must be careful as somewhere there are hitmen/assasins looking for you for revenge. You cannot be a wanted current criminal, government Agent (present/previous), Public Mage, posses fame, household name, negative reputation, legal alien, illegal alien, notoroius reputation or have a dependent NPC at start. The GM reserves and has the right to refuse any chosen disadvantage from this chart or problems from the Insanity Table based upon their opinion of character design needs. :Disarming Disarming is a maneuver used with any weapon that gives a prowness add when used in combat. To perform it one must announce such as ones intent before the attack and specify the weapon they are attempting to knock away from the opponent's grasp. Disarming is MUCH harder then attacking to wound, and so it is done at -50% of one's normal success with the attack. If successful the opponent's weapon is knocked away and out of play. It takes 1d10 rounds to find and recover a weapon. :Electricity Occasionally it may occur that someone will encounter a bare wire or other contact with electricity thru accident, attack or spell. The following should be noted when dealing with such: House Current (110v AC) does 1d10+1 damage for the initial contact and an additional 2 points per round afterwards in contact with the same source . Industrial Current (220v AC) does 2d10+2 damage for the initial contact and 4pts/round afterwards. Copper, Iron and steel can be used to extend the reach of an electrical attack - sending a current along a metal banister on a staircase will do damage to all along it, but reduces the damage by 1 point per 10 feet it must travel. Water can be used to conduct and extend the effects of electricity, again affecting all in contact with the body of it, but reduces the damage by 1 points per 10 feet it must travel along it. Electricity does NOT pass thru glass, a sure way of protecting yourself from its effects. A being in flight or otherwise NOT grounded, takes less damage then one that is - damage is halved for a non-grounded target. :Experience Experience is a value in the mystic earth Campaign used for improving existing skills, HTK, MCAP and Spell Ranks and to learn new skills and spells. It represents learning experiences and personal accomplishments of the character involved. The GM will award these points dependent on activity and action. Points are earned for combats, for usage of skills while in play successfully, for roleplaying and for special learning experiences. Any character that is NOT involved in active play earns 5 experience points each day, no matter what they are doing, unless they are unconscious, simply healing, or otherwise absolutely inactive. No other experience will be gained in downtime, except the SPENDING of experience points to learn new skills or Spells (see teacher rules), or the Teaching of said skills to others (and earning as per the teacher rules - ~<!SKILLS.#01 Teacher>*~, that will affect the character's experience levels. A player might specify other activities, but Will NOT gain experience for such. Side runs may occur outside the normal game, at the GM's discretion if the character wishes to do something of import outside the normal vein of the game. These may be done face-to-face or thru the mail or any other means the GM considers viable. The GM's basic system for awarding experience is covered under ~Gaining_Experience*~ under these rules. Experience Points are usually used to improve skills that are already possessed. These are from lessons learned from doing. These can be used to improve ones RANK* in a known spell (cost = 500 exps. per rank bought) or to gain skill levels in a particular skill based on your current Education Level in that skill, as per the following chart (an education level adds 10% to success with a skill): Current Skill Levels Experience need for next skill Level ------------------------ ----------------------------------- 1 (10%) 250 2 (20%) 500 3 (30%) 1000 4 (40%) 2000 5 (50%) 3000 6 (60%) 5000 7 (70%) 7500 8 (80%) 10000 9 (90%) 15000 10 (Or greater) (100%+) 20000 This means that it gets harder to get better in a skill you are already well trained in, and that there is an advantage to more specialization at the beginning of one's career then to generalization. Standard experience Points can be used to improve one's Statistics. 250 points can be spent to add 1 point to Hits-to-Kill, making it harder to kill the character. Or one can increase Magical Capacity by 1 point for the same 250 points. Increasing other stats (PROW, HARD, INT, APP) can be accomplished but only by much greater effort and ONLY if the stat is less than its racial maximum (25 points for a human). It costs 1000 eps to raise a statistic by 1 point. Once an experience point is spent it is gone - don't make the mistake of thinking this is like TSR's AD&D game where one keeps a running total! Experience Points are used to purchase NEW skills or NEW spells (for mages). To learn a new skill you NEED to have access to a teacher, have training points saved up and in many cases need to pay for the teachers skills at teaching. This will give you 1 (one) skill level in the skill (10%) plus your BASE in the skill to perform it. See the <!SKILLS.#01>* Section for details on costs. Information on teachers is also available : ~<!SKILLS.#01 Teacher>*~ Generally costs to learn a new skill are broken down into 3 learning cost categories, costing 1000, 2500 or 5000 eps to learn the new skill. New spells are learned at an eps cost of 100 * the Base Energy cost for the spell. Thus a spell with a 1 point base costs 100 eps to learn, while one with a 20 point base costs 2000 eps to learn and one with a 50 point base costs 5000 eps to learn. If a player character is acting as the teacher for another player for a spell, or as teacher for a skill that they have 100% Training in or are certified and have a Teacher's certification then they can gain experience by teaching the other character. Such a teacher would gain 10% of the eps spent by the character to learn the skill. For More on Learning spells from a teacher see <NEWSPELL.#01> Experience points can also be used to purchase ranks in spells that are already known to the caster. ALL Spells can have additional Ranks. The main thing Ranks do (it costs 500 points for a rank add) is reduce the time to cast a spell by one round each rank, but no spell can be reduced below a 1 round casting time, for obvious reasons. Some Spells will list a RANK option - this means that adding ranks also increases the effects of the spell in some way in the description. ~See Also : Gaining_Experience* ~ :Explosives The following are used in demolitions, mining and such: Dynamite, stick 4d10 dmg 5' radius/stick Fulminated Mercury (oz)1d10 dmg 5' radius/oz Nitroglycerine (Pint) 6d10 dmg 10' radius/pint Plastique, pound 8d10 dmg 20' radius/pound Claymore mine 8d10 dmg 15' radius Satchel Charge 10d10 dmg 30' radius Note that special skill is needed to use most explosives and that fuses, electric detonators or blasting caps are needed with many of the above to set them off. Also there is strict control over the purchase and application of such in the USA and other countries. To plant, set timers on, construct/use fuses on and otherwise USE explosives requires the skill Demonlitions. A person with this skill AND Chemistry skills can MAKE their own explosives and gernades. :Firearms Firearms always present a problem in game design because they tend to be very powerful, firing high speed projectiles that are difficult to work with. For simplicity we are dividing them into the skills: Firearms_Black_Powder* (all varieties) Firearms_Shotguns* Firearms_Pistols* Firearms_Rifles* Firearms_Automatic_Pistols* Firearms_Automatic_Rifles* Firearms_Military_Support* Like most weapon skills, they are all PROWness based. Shields are useless against firearms, but damage is accrued overall except when the shooter uses Aimed_Blows* . The exception is a Lexan shield, such as police use, which offer a +20% to the users defense to reduce chance of being hit in the first place. Note that most guns are in some way controlled within the USA and many other countries and that ownership is difficult in many cases or illegal (such as in the case of automatic weapons), without special permits, licenses and such. A Certified gunsmith doesn't have these drawbacks, though. :Firearms_Black_Powder WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- .22 Derringer 1d10+3 Medium 1 3 .32 Derringer 1d10+5 Medium 2 3 .40 Flintlock Pistol 1d10+6 Long 1 7 .45 Revolver (cap & ball) 1d10+8 Far 6 5 .75 Musket 1d10+8 Extreme 1 5 .30 Buffalo Gun 2d10 Extreme 2 5 .600 Express rile 2d10+2 Extreme 2 5 Black Powder weapons are considered ANTIQUE and their possession is NOT as highly regulated as other firearms in most states (Except New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois). :Firearms_Shotguns WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- .12 flechette firing 1d10+8 Long 1 or 2 1/2 .12 slug firing 2d10 Long 1 or 2 1/2 .10 flechette 2d10 Far 1 or 2 1/2 .10 slug firing 2d10+2 Extreme 1 or 2 1/2 Semi-automatic .10 slug 2d10+2 Extreme 5 (clip) 1 You cannot purchase a shotgun in the USA legally if you are a wanted criminal in the USA. :Firearms_Pistols WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- .22 revolver 1d10+6 Medium 9 2 .22 Target pistol 1d10+6 Far 1 1 .32 Auto pistol 1d10+7 Long 10/clip 1 .9mm Auto pistol 1d10+7 Far 10/clip 1 .7mm HP Auto Pistol 1d10+8 Extreme 10/clip 1 .38 special revolver 1d10+7 Far 6 2 .45 revolver 1d10+7 Far 6 2 .45 Auto pistol 1d10+7 Long 8/clip 1 .357 Mag Revolver 2d10 Far 6 2 .357 Auto Mag 2d10+2 Far 10/clip 1 .44 Mag. Revolver 2d10+3 Far 6 2 .44 Auto Mag 2d10+4 Far 10/clip 1 The above cannot be bought legally if you are a wanted criminal. :Firearms_Rifles WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- .22 Rifle 2d10 Extreme 10/clip 1 .22 Carbine 2d10 Extreme 10/clip 1 .30 Rifle 2d10+1 Extreme 10/clip 1 .30 Carbine 2d10+1 Extreme 10/clip 1 .30 HP Rifle 2d10+2 Extreme 10/clip 1 .30 HP Carbine 2d10+3 Extreme 10/clip 1 .40 HP Carbine 2d10+4 Extreme 10/clip 1 .50 HP Rifle 2d10+5 Extreme 10/clip 1 9mm HP Rifle 2d10+4 Distant 10/clip 1 The above cannot be bought legally if you are a wanted criminal. :Firearms_Automatic_Pistols WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- 2mm Needler (Full_Auto*) 2d10+4 Long 20/clip 1 9mm Machine Pistol (FA) 2d10+4 Far 30/clip 1 You cannot purchase the above legally unless you are a gunsmith, government agent or foreign diplomat. :Firearms_Automatic_Rifles WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- 7mm Assault Rifle (Full_Auto*) 2d10+2 Extreme 30/clip 1 2mm Needler Rifle (Full_Auto*) 2d10+2 Extreme 40/clip 1 .45 Thompson SMG (Full_Auto*) 2d10 Extreme 100/drum 5 M-16 Assault Rifle(Full_Auto*) 2d10+4 Distant 30/clip 1 AK47 Assault Rifle (FA) 2d10+3 Distant 30/clip 1 12mm HP Sniper Rifle (FA) 2d10+6 Distant 10/clip 1 9mm Uzi 2d10+4 Distant 40/clip 1 You cannot purchase the above legally unless you are a gunsmith or government agent. :Firearms_Military_Support WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE # OF Shots Reload Rnds ------ ------ ----- ---------- ----------- 40mm Grenade Launcher TEAR GAS Extreme 1 1 10mm Light Machine Gun (FA) 2d10+8 Extreme 50/belt 5 10mm Machine Gun (FA) 3d10 Extreme 50/belt 5 Flamethrower 6d10 Medium 6 150 HARD 15+ M16 Grenade launcher by grenade Distant 1 2 LAW (Light Anti-tank) 8d10+5 Extreme 1 not reloadable SAM (stinger missile) 8d10+20 Distant 1 5 Gyrojet Pistol 3d10+2 Distant 1 1 You cannot purchase the above legally unless you are a government agent. :Full_Auto Full auto (fully Automatic) means that the weapon fires in bursts of 3 or more bullets each time the trigger is pressed, the longer the pressing the more shots fired. (Unless single shot firing) Roll 1d10+2 to determine number of bullets released in the burst over the first, maximum being the actual number in the clip. Each additional bullet adds 2 points to the inflicted damage to the attack. Maximum number of shots that can be fired is the number in the clip, of course. A shooter CAN choose before the roll to 'Empty The Clip' into the target, in which case there is no roll for number of bullets fired as it is assumed that ALL the remaining shots are fired at that ONE target. Strafing is a practice with a full auto weapon, to fire at two or more adjacent targets in a single burst. To do this the player declares the action and the targets, then rolls the number of bullets fired and decides how many at each target (at least one per target). Targets must be with 5' of each other at the time of firing. There is a -20% to hit the targets, applied as if additional defense to the target. The player makes a single roll vs their skill and wether they hit each target is determined by the differential between roll and defense on each target. :Gaining_Experience This is always a tough part of a system to design, and often is a cause of major disputes. In Mystic Earth the Emphasis is on CHARACTER portrayal, not combat or necessarily saving the world every 10 minutes from certain doom. Experience falls into two categories in the system, automatics and calculated. Players are expected to handle the automatics, while the Game_Master* handles the calculated numbers. The GM has final arbitration and decision rules regarding the calculated eps, no exceptions. `~Automatics:~` Combat - For every point of damage actually inflicted by a weapon weilded by your character BEFORE armour modifiers, intentionally to an opponent you will receive one point. This may seem low to you but falls into the category of our de-emphasizing the value of such in the system. Spells - For every point of energy expended in casting a spell by your Character, EXCEPT that which is lost thru bad skill rolls (Klutzes DO count as experience as you learn thru your mistakes) you gain one point. Mundane - All characters receive an automatic 5 points daily for mundane ordinary life if they spend that day conscious and active in some way. This may seem small compared to some systems but makes it more important to be in play than in downtime and to be experiencing life. Skills - Using a non-level skill is worth NO experience in play. Using a leveled skill successfully (Except spellcasting and weapon skills!) is based on the GM specified difficulty level of what you're doing with it: Level 0 = (no roll) 0 points 1 = (no mods) 1 point 10 = -10% success 10 points 20 = -20% success 20 points 30 = -30% success 30 points 40 = -40% success 40 points 50 = -50% success 50 points A Level 0 is considered an automatic success. Note that some weapon based skills, such as an archery contest, may be worth experience under this table IF the GM states such. `~Calculated:~` The system that seems to work best for this is for the GM to set up a work table to track on, with categories running down a column on the left and character names running across the top in a classic X/Y coordinate grid. The categories should be: Concept Creativity Daring Do Decisiveness Goals Intelligence Leadership Misc Personality During play the GM should, depending on the actions of the characters, award a tally mark in a category to a character from events. Each Tally should be worth a certain number of points (Suggested : 50). At the start of the next session these should be given to the player and a clean slate started. Characters can invest eps when the Game_Master* declares it reasonable, in downtime or at the start of the evening's play etc. An average session should net, if a player is being reasonable, between 200 and 1000 eps from these calculateds. Some characters will only gain limited eps in an area, for example not everyone can get leadership eps in a situation, or a character might be designed as a 'follower' and it wouldn't be in character to lead - but they would get points within Concept or Personality instead for sticking to their character's design or mindset! It all works out in the end. :Grenades Grenades do not take a special combat skill to use properly, simply the easy non-leveled skill 'Familiarity : Grenade'. When a character throws an actual grenade they must choose a target locale and then hurl the weapon at such. Grenades can be thrown a maximum of 50 feet plus 1 foot per point of Hardiness over 10. They affect a 10' radius with damage to all who within the area. Targets do not get their PROW modifier. A person with Throwing Weapons skill can use that skill to target a grenade more accurately if they have a higher chance of hitting such. Normally the chance to hit with a grenade is INT+PROW %. Additionally a skilled thrower gets a +1 foot per rank of that skill. A klutzed grenade throw results in a special roll: 01-50 Forgot to pull the pin, grenade doesn't do anything 51-75 Grenade hits but was a dud! nothing happens 76-00 Character threw pin and not the grenade... it explodes in their hand and makes hand unusable as well as normal damage. Anti-Personnel Frag. Grenade 3d10 damage Smoke Grenade (obscures) Tear Gas -25% all skills; obscures Black Powder (homemade) 2d10 damage Moltov Cocktail (fire based) 2d10+3 damage White Phosphorus 3d10+1d10 burn damage Thermite 4d10 heat based Concussion 2d10 & save vs HARD or unconsciousness. :Handedness This simple table is to determine the handedness of any character with hands: Roll Result ---- ------ 01-10 Ambidextrous (Gets +1 to PROW Potential 3 point bought Advantage!) 11-30 Left Handed 31-00 Right Handed Using a weapon with the hand you are not skilled with is a -25% from the skill usage. :Head_Damage In the event a character receives damage to their HEAD that is 75% or more of their entire HTK the character will suffer effects of such damage as outlined in the <!Insanity.#01> file. :Healing Normal healing rate for characters is at a rate of 1 HTK per DAY. This presumes that bleeding has been stopped. Use of First Aide skill will give an instant HTK point when first applied and stops the bleeding. It does NOT otherwise modify the healing rate. In the case of a broken bone, First Aide will allow the setting of the bone in 10 rounds time. A set bone gets 2 HTK instant recovery and will insure that the injury can be dealt with (usage of splint obviously) so that the slow-down from it will only reduce prowness by 2 points while the bone is on the mend. Thus a character with a broken leg will not be entirely incapacitated from the adventure.... An EMT applying their skill to a recent wound (within 10 minutes) that has not been otherwise treated will stop the bleeding (if still present) and give back 2 HTK when first applied but otherwise does not affect the healing rate. A Physician applying their skill and possessing the correct tools, to a recent wound (within 10 minutes) that has not been otherwise treated can return 3 HTK. A physician's care for a patient daily will increase their normal HTK rate to 2 pts per day with the proper tools. Characters with the ~Ageless~ advantage will heal at twice the stated healing rate under the care of a Physician daily. :Height I don't believe in forcing a particular height on a player. So long as their chosen height is within the RACE limits of their character then they are fine. BUT considering that characters are working within human society as we perceive it you can consider the following: 01-05 Little : Disadvantage for 3 points. This person is less than 4' in height and has to deal with the stereotypes and problems therein. This person has to buy their clothes in the children's department of stores (-10% to costs) but must equip their furniture etc specially (+20% to cost). Gives an effective -3 to appearance to anyone taller than them due to society prejudice. -3 from thier doing HTH or Martial arts damage. 06-15 Small : Disadvantage for 1 Point. This person is less than 5' tall in height. If female they buy Petite clothes but has to often alter the clothing by hand or pay for it to be altered. They all -1 from doing HTH/Martial damage. If male gives -3 APP to anyone taller then them due to prejudice within society in general. PROW potential gets a +1 over racial. 16-80 Average : 5' to 6' is average range for people and offers no special modifiers or costs. 81-95 Tall : 6'1 to 6'5 is tall. Disadvantage for 1 point. Adds 10% to clothing costs, if male, 20% if female. If female it gives them a -3 to Appearance when dealing with males of lesser height. 96-00 Towering : 6'6 to 7'5. Disadvantage for 3 points. Adds 30% to clothing costs. Gives a -3 to Appearance when dealing with anyone of lesser height. Movement indoors is slowed by 1/4 due to doorway heights etc. Gets +1 to all HTH/Martial Damage due to leverage factors. PROW potential is lowered by 3 from normal racial maximums. :History Player characters ALWAYS have had a past life before they became Adventurers. Each character gets a roll on the following table to help flesh out this information: ~Ageless~ advantage characters can roll TWICE on this table and choose which of the two results is the one they want. ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-25 Character has been living a mundane life for the past year working rather boring but stable positions and has an additional $1500 saved up in the process. Job has now ended, leaving them at loose ends. 26-30 Character has recently had a very close friend die from tragic accident and partially blames themselves for the death. 31-32 Character has recently had a close friend or relative die from AIDS. 33-34 Character has recently had a distant relative pass away and leave them a stipend of $250 in a will - they never really knew the relative. 35-40 Character has been eating well and exercising regularly, +1d10 HTK. 41-60 If character is a mage, they've been training in spare time, increases one spell of their choice to +1 Rank. Else the character has recently had a VERY successful business activity pay off and has an additional $500 on hand. 61-89 If character is a Mage then they have managed to expand their capacity +10 thru regular practice; Else they have had another $500 windfall on a lottery ticket. 90-95 Character has had a frightening experience in the past month that has had a lasting impression. Roll Once on Phobia Table. 96-00 Character has been severely ill or wounded recently, and is just now recovered. -1 HTK. :Initiative Initiative in non-combative situations is purely at GM's discretion. In combat initiative is decided by each involved individual rolling 1d10 and adding this to their Prowness. Highest goes first, and then downwards in numeric order to lowest. If two match they have simo action. Drawing Weapon reduces the initiative by 5 for things like swords, reduces it by 10 for bows that need to be strung before usage. Initiative may be modified by GM's determination of the situation, or by things such as character disadvantages. SURPRISE can occur in a game, just leading into combat, under certain circumstances, in which case anyone who is surprised will not be able to act that round. This usually occurs in the case of an ambush.... :Latent A Latent is someone who has a Magical Aptitude of at least 1, who has had no spellcasting training. They will APPEAR to be mundane until they are made to realize their potential by a mage in most cases (A few may discover things themselves, becoming either a Wild Latent or a Rogue Mage). A Wild Latent is a Latent who can tap some of their Aptitude and Capacity, producing effects with some slight success. In mechanics this means a roll vs their INT whenever they try to make something work (in a rather uncontrolled fashion). These should not be confused with a 'One Trick Pony' (also called a singlespeller or a One Shot Mage). These are persons who have had training in a single Tradition enough to know a Single spell only, but may have many ranks with that one spell built up over a period of time [an extremem specialist]. These folks KNOW the score, but either left training prematurely or chose the path as they felt the one effect they have was all they wished out of magic in life. These terms have all fallen into usage by their usage initially within the technomage tradition, who have been responsible for much of the distribution of magical information in the past ten years thru bulletin boards, disks and CD libraries. :Learning_Spells_In_Game Spells take 100 eps per power point base needed to cast them, so a 1 point spell costs 100 points and a 20 point spell costs 2000 points to learn. The learning of spells works differently then that of learning a new skill when it comes to the TIME required to do so, and the fact that one does NOT have to be a trained teacher or a teacher rank in Spellcasting to teach a single spell, since it is only a small fractional part of applying spellcasting knowledge. To Calculate the time needed to teach a spell we use a different calculation and table the is used in standard skills. In the following Formula Mage1 is the one who knows the spell, Mage2 is the student. Both MUST be of the same tradition! Spell Q Value = (Mage1 Intuition + Mage1 Aptitude + Mage1 Spellcasting Rank) + (Mage2 Intuition + Mage2 Aptitude + Mage2 Spellcasting Rank) Or in simplest terms: (M1(I)+M1(M)+M1(R)) + (M2(I)+M2(M)+M2(R)) Add 5 to the Spell Q Value if Mage1 has teacher skill. Add 5 to the Spell Q Value if the Mages have an active Apprentice Link spell between them. Add 3 for all other mental links or active telepathy (EXCEPT MIND-SPEECH EQUIV.) Q_Table ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPELL POINT BASE Q-Value's Time To Learn in HOURS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I 6-10 11-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101-125 126-150 151+ --------------------------------------------------------- 1 6 5 4 3 2 1 .5 .5 2-3 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 .5 4-5 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 6-10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 11-15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 16-20 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 21-25 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 26-30 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 31+ 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- :Magic Magic is, within game terms, the transformation of energy or matter into a new state or form. The primary catalyst varies based upon the desired effect, but always involves the will of an intelligence, the tapping of natural energies and/or matter. Nothing can be generated from a void. Magic is such that no machine or other false intelligence can tap and utilize its energies, and thus the rejection of science as to its existence. The exception to this is the creations and devices that are manipulated by Technomages. The existances of these beings is what has spawned some level of interest in magic by the goverment and a few foundations and corporations in recent years. All persons who perform magic are considered mages, no matter what tradition they may follow or philosophy they may believe. Anyone who becomes a mage is reminded that "Once you've begun to walk the paths of magic, there's no getting off it." Besides mages there are also Mundane and ~Latent*~ characters. Mundanes* have a tendancy to write off magical events occuring around them to coincidence, illusions created by machines or hypnotism, drug induced hysteria or advanced technology. They are often immune to some kinds of magic because of their ignorence and lack of Magical Aptitude. :Magic_Capacity Magical capacity represents the maximum amount of energy that a character can contain and control within themselves. It regenerates with rest, based upon the character's Magical Aptitude Statistic. A character can contain more energy then they can regenerate, but cannot hold more than their capacity. They can expand their capacity with experience* . Capacity begins as twice the character's Magical Aptitude. An additional point is added for each education RANK spent on the character's Primary Tradition at creation, upto 10 ranks. Spent energy recharges upto the Capacity, based upon sleep or meditation performed (for more on Meditation see ~<!SKILLS.#01 Meditation>*~). A Character that has the ~Ageless~ advantage gets an extra Capacity point at start. Additionally at Character generation a player can spend some of their generation points to increase Capacity directly, getting 5 points of Capacity for every Point spent in this manner. Spent energy returns from sleep based upon one's aptitude (round up when calculating this) and cannot exceed one's capacity (Excessive energy is simply lost in dissipation): Eight Hours Sleep = 100% of Aptitude regenerates Seven Hours Sleep = 85% of Aptitude regenerates Six Hours Sleep = 75% of Aptitude regenerates Five Hours Sleep = 60% of Aptitude regenerates Four Hours Sleep = 50% of Aptitude regenerates Three Hours Sleep = 35% of Aptitude regenerates Two Hours Sleep = 25% of Aptitude regenerates One Hour Sleep = 10% of Aptitude regenerates Sleeping beyond 8 hours does not regenerate additional energy. :Magic_Duration DURATION COST ADDITION First Round 0 additional Round after 1st 1 5 rounds 2 1 Minute (10 rounds) 3 10 minutes (100 rounds) 5 1 hour (60 mins, 600 rounds) 10 1 day (24 hours, 14400 rounds) 30 At the end of the duration of a spell the caster can choose whether to maintain it again for that length of time or to let it expire. If they Choose to Maintain it they again pay the Duration cost in energy but do NOT have to recast the spell or pay other costs for it. :Magic_Range ~RANGE~ adds to the cost of a spell. All spells are range 0 (Touch) at start, unless energy is placed into the spell. The following chart gives the costs based upon range as compared to those produced by game weapons etc. Normally Line of Sight is needed to target with a spell unless special area effects or categories are involved in the spell. RANGE CLASSIFICATION ADDITIONAL COSTS Touch (Requires RTH) none Short 30' (10y) 1 Medium 60' (20y) 3 Long 90' (30y) 5 Far 120' (40y) 10 Extreme 360'(120y) 15 Distant 720'(240y) 20 Anything LOS beyond 720' 25 (See also : Spellcasting_Blind* ) Remember that the range is the MAXIMUM the effect can reach, not the minimum it can be used on! :Magic_Save A saving throw against a magic spell ONLY applies when the effect is against a sentient target that is conscious and not willing their defenses down. The save against a spell is the Target Being's INTuition plus, if they have any, their Magical Aptitude. Against this they make a save percentage roll and if they make the number or less then they have saved and the spell effect fails. Some Characters will have modifiers to saves against certain kinds of magic forms or traditions as well to improve their chances. :Magic_Targets ~TARGETS~ adds to the cost if multiple beings are to be targeted by a spell. Each additional being after the first adds another 5 points to the spell cost and calls for a separate save for each of the involved targets (so that all get defensive factors). Range, Duration etc do NOT have to be paid for a second time. :Magic_Traditions All magic practitioners are usually trained by a tradition. This is the format that a person has learned how to do magic in. Not all magic traditions are compatible or even hospitable to each other, many are in positions of rivals or competitors and some even as enemies. Each tradition has certain skills it associates with itself that an initiative must learn as a basis of the tradition (Ex: A Technomage MUST have at least computer operation skill). They may also have some restrictions in their operation (such as Alchemists) and practices. From a Tradition a Mage learns a collection of skills, and of course will learn SPELLCASTING, the skill needed to cast a spell (its what being a mage is all about, of course!) Mages do NOT require certification in Spellcasting or in the related skills, just that you can perform them and deal with the basics. Spellcasting is an INT based skill, but DOES require the person to have a Magical Aptitude of at LEAST one point to utilize. Normally it cannot be learned as a NEW skill within gameplay, since a large amount of time is involved, so if you wish to be a mage you should take at least one rank in it at start for ease of play. A Mage, after investing the number of educational ranks they have placed in the skill gets their EDUCATION invested multiplied by their Aptitude in spells from their own Tradition list, so a Mage with a 20 Aptitude and 2 EDU invested would get 40 Points worth of spells (base) that they pick from that Traditions spell List. They could pick 40 one point spells, two 20 point spells, or a wide mixture of everything, so long it adds up to the total. They cannot buy a spell with a HIGHER Base casting cost then their MAGICAL APTITUDE stat and be able to cast it themselves. Since ALL spells in the system now get some benefit from having multiple Ranks (except some of the VERY simplest of spells) when choosing spells a player may for the character choose to buy the same spell TWICE (or more) and for each additional 'purchase' they get to add a rank to their knowledge of the spell. A mage can have a second Tradition, so long as it is not one that conflicts specifically with their MAJOR tradition. A second tradition is always that, so that the mage will always be -20% from their normal Spellcasting percentage to cast spells in that tradition, and only get their Aptitude in Spells in that tradition (no multiplier), but has to expend an extra education point to have it (though it helps not their casting ability). A third tradition (rare) would be at -40% to spellcast from, get only Aptitude in spells in it and would also cost an extra education point. You cannot take a second or third tradition if it negates the training base of spellcasting (if you have 2 education in spellcasting you cannot take a second tradition, if you have less than five education points invested you cannot take a third tradition etc). Remember that if you take more than one tradition you still MUST get all the requisite skills for the other traditions you take, so it can get quite expensive in points to have too many traditions. To gain a new tradition while in play takes a teacher, the learning of all the prerequisite skills for the tradition, and the time and experience to learn a difficult skill (see ~<!SKILLS.#01>*~). For info on specific traditions : ~<!trads.#01>*~ :Missile Missiles are weapon attacks that consist of throwing or firing a propelled object at increased velocity where 50% of the damage or more is caused by the velocity. Ranges are considered for 'accuracy' in the following information and are NOT necessarily the maximum range. If an attempt to use a missile is at a Longer range than below, subtract 25% from the users chance to hit target for EACH additional range class increase. One Missile attack per round is possible unless a character has 10 skill levels or more with the weapon, in which case ONE additional attack can be accomplished with the missile on the same target. This does NOT apply to Crossbows, Slings, Spears or Javelins. Crossbows and Prods take 1 full round to reload unless they are the 'repeating' design style found in some oriental cultures. SHORT = 30' MEDIUM = 60' LONG = 90' FAR = 120' Extreme = 360' Distant =720' WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE CLASS ------- ------ ----------- Axe,hand (hatchet) 1d10+6 SHORT Bow, Compound Light 2d10+4 LONG Bow, Compound Heavy 2d10+8 FAR Bow, Long 1d10+8 FAR Bow, Short 1d10+6 LONG Crossbow, Heavy 2d10+10 FAR Crossbow, Light 1d10+8 LONG Crossbow, Repeating 1d10+8 MEDIUM Crossbow, hand 1d10+5 MEDIUM Crossbow, Sniper 2d10+5 EXTREME (Can add Sights too) Dagger, Throwing 1d10+4 SHORT Dart 1d10+3 SHORT Javelin 1d10+4 MEDIUM Prodd 1d10+3 LONG Sling 1d10+1 LONG Spear 1d10+6 MEDIUM Staff Sling 1d10+4 FAR (no SHORT shots) Throwing Stars 1d10+3 SHORT NOTE : 2 Throwing stars can be thrown in one round normally, 3 if trained at 10 skill levels (100%) or better The repeating crossbow is an expensive and relatively rare device. It holds a clip of 5 bolts and allows them to be lever loaded, so that no time is lost between shots in reloading as in a standard crossbow. Of course when the 5 shots are gone then it DOES take 2 rounds to fully reload the clip. Unlike Oerth RPG, damage is considered to be applied overall and any armour is applied, with specific locale modifiers, except when the attacker is using aimed blows. This is in the interest of combat simplicity. :MOVEMENT We assume for game mechanics that a person can move easily at a rate of about 30' per round (just shy of 2mph) while performing other actions. They can move unobstructed at a rate of 60' per round if not taking any physical action. They can move 90' per round over flat, clear, unobstructed terrain while they perform no actions physical or mental for short periods of time after spending a round in movement. Thus at the middle range we are assuming they can achieve a 10 minute mile (10' per second) rate with normal encumbrance and non-hazardous terrain. A cluttered terraine reduces progress by 1/3 of the stated footage above, as would attempting to move stealthily/silently or to follow a trail while doing so. Thus someone moving across a cluttered terraine, stealthily while prepping a spell can cover 30-10=20-7 = 13'/round. :MUNDANE A Mundane is the term used within the rule system and among many magicians for a personage who does not really believe in magic or who lacks any Magical_Aptitude* points entire. Mundanes are the majority of the population of the world and often go about blindly unrealizing that magic abounds around them and that the supposedly structured and organized world they perceive as real is far more complex then they perceive. Player characters are never really mundanes. They may be not possessing of magical aptitude, but will always be 'different' and more open minded to the existence of magic even if they cannot perform it. Once their lives have been touched by magic, non-human races and the like they will never be the same again. Unusual Mundanes DO exist, who may possess Advantages, making them challenges for mages to deal with. :NPC Shorthand term for 'Non-Playing Character' in the game. NPC's are all characters NOT played by an actual player but utilized by the Gamemaster in the adventure for plot, roleplay and combat. NPC's are just like real people in many ways and deal with all the usual problems associated with such. Experience gain for NPC's is based on one of two factors, if an NPC is heavily involved in a game run then they get the average of the roleplaying eps earned by the player characters as a group. If an NPC is only mildly involved in a run then they receive only 10% of the experience average for the run. NPC eps are always rounded to the nearest 10. :Paradox_Effects These are caused by a slow saturation of an area with uncontroled magical energy agitated by multiple castings occuring there. They are NOT covered in the main rules, and are not within the realm of player information. The general GM outline of rules for them are found in: ~<!Paradox.#01>~ Note that Paradox is an optional rule set, and up to the GM whether or not to use at all in th game, since it required some paperwork on their part. :PC Shorthand for 'Player Character' in this game, that is a character run by a player in the game, in contrast to NPC* a character played by the Gamemaster as part of the adventure occurring. :Previous_Play This is an ADVANCED rule and is used only with GM agreement. It allows a player that is retiring a character, or who has lost a character to death or who is placing a character into long term down time from the rest of the party and introducing a new character to avoid being quite so disadvantaged. Basically the GM awards 1 construction point for each play session that the player's previous character was involved in, including side runs. It does NOT include sessions where the character was in NPC mode, earned NO experience or was run by another player because the player didn't attend the game. It benefits players who keep characters alive for long periods of time and disadvantages those who keep changing characters or who keep dying foolishly or who only make an occasional game. This seems fair and an evenhanded way of handling the situation. :Property The character gets 1 roll plus 1 roll for every 20 points of WEALTH they have after purchasing all skill training. If roll duplicates (ex: rolling two vehicles and they possess only one vehicle skill, then take the second option on the entry.) ~Ageless~ advantage characters get an extra roll on the table as well. ROLL RESULT ---- ------ 01-20 Tools for One Specialized Trade Skill (EX; Thieves Tools, Leatherworking kit, Sewing kit, Armour repair kit, cooking gear, etc) that the character is trained in. Player chooses which skill. Otherwise +$100 to cash on hand. 21-25 One weapon the character is trained in, non-magical. (If has no weapon skills then add + $300 to cash on hand.) 26-55 One vehicle the character is trained in driving or Pilot skills. Otherwise +$1000 to cash on hand. Vehicle is assumed to be used but in good condition. Vehicle is owned outright (no outstanding loan). 56-60 Character has STOCK in a major corporation that pays a quarterly dividend of WEALTH * 10 and has the latest quarters dividend in cash on hand at start. (GM's choice of stock - stock was an inheritance!) 61-65 If character has computer operator skills or better then they have a computer system of their own (used 586, 600 Meg Drive, modem, CD Rom & FLoppy drive with SVGA). Second roll they get a portable with a 300 Meg drive. Third roll, or if NOT a computer competent then they get +$1000 to starting funds. 66-70 Character owns a condo with an annual service and tax fee of $3500 (and is assumed to have just paid the years fee). If second roll the character owns a small Townhouse (6 rooms) and pays annual taxes/fees of $5,000 on it. With annual fee having been just paid recently. 71-75 Character owns reasonable furnishings for their apartment, dorm, group house, condo or house (if second roll then +$250 to starting cash, unless the character is self employed in which case they can have office furnishings). 76-85 One major appliance for their place of residence from the following list (or +$100): Refrigerator VCR Freezer Washer Color Television Dryer Stereo System 86-89 +$50 in cash! 90-98 Any 12 pieces of excellent clothing from the price lists. 99 Complete set of Encyclopedia Britanica (2 years old) (if second roll then +$25) 00 Nifty cheap digital watch (if second roll on this then +$10). :Races Races can either be chosen (with GM's agreement) or be rolled randomly (as per the table below). Non-humans are normally hidden among humanity while growing up and most humans do not believe in the presence of such among them. Note that the stat modifiers listed (for example to PROW) are NOT added to the stat by the race choice - these simply increase the allowed RANGE that the stats can be bought up to by in character generation and for later experience increase of stats. Remember the ONLY statistic that can be 0 at start is Magical Aptitude, and this does NOT apply to races that have an aptitude above 25 by pluses below (they MUST take the minimum!) Non-Humans have an advantage or disadvantage value, represented by a positive or negative construction point cost. ROLL Race & Notes ---- ------------ 01-79 Human : the standard in the system, it has a maximum 25 in A, H, I, P, M. Minimum of 3 in each, except M (min. 0). Construction Cost = 0 80 High Elf : +10 M. +5 P, A & I. -5 H. Immune to all Sleep & Charm spells. Infravision 90'. Nightvision 60' Lifespan averages 1200 years. Height 5' - 5'5. Elves tend to be slighter of frame than the human norm. and possess pointed ear lobes. Construction Cost : 20 81 1/2 Elf, 1/2 Human : +5 I, A, P, M. Lifespan of about 250 years. Infravision 60'. Construction Cost : 5 82 Dark Elf (Drow) : +5 P. + 10 I, M. Immune to all Sleep & Charm spells. Infravision 120'. Nightvision 60'. Height 4'5 - 5'5. Lifespan averages 800 years. Drow are Dark skinned elves that range from a dusky grey tone (as found among Human Egyptians etc) to a full dark brown/Black (as found among Africans and those of African descent). Construction Cost : 15 83 Gypsy : +5 I, A. +10 P, M. Night vision 90' They add +2 for each 10 APP if rolling on Relationships table Have their own spoken-only tongue that isn't taught to an outsider (Language Skill : Romany). Lifespans are about 250 years. (A Gypsy at 100 looks like they are still in their 20's, around 200 they look about 40 etc.) Gypsies are a nomadic people, said to have a distant connection to the elves in the past, and 25% of all gypsies have elf-like ears. Gypsies do not own land and do not respect the rights of land owners. They believe they may travel as they would over the face of the world. Gypsies primarily wear brightly colored clothing, to distinguish themselves from the Ganjo. Gypsies believe in a true tribal mentality and guard their own from the Ganjo, the outsiders. Gypsy culture has not the sexual problems that modern man does, they are polygamous, with group families that span and grow. It is said that the Gypsy curse is a strange power of these people, and acts different on whoever it is cast, resulting in great sorrow in the victim of it. How, why and what it works and does cannot be explained here. They are friendly with the occasional Werecreatures and have been known to have such as allies. They dislike Dwarves and Gnomes, and will go out of their way to antagonize them. There are tribes of gypsies who are human and not in descendancy from elves in any way, but which are part of the culture. They Have Normal Human vision and lifespans, no pointed ears, and the only racial discrepancy is that they have a slightly higher (+5) add to M. Construction Cost : 10 84 Dwarf : +5 H. -5 I, A, M. height 4-4.5 feet. Infravision 60' Nightvision 60'. Lifespan average of 450 years. Dwarves Get to add Their HARDINESS to their INTUITION for defense against magical attacks or when a Magic save is needed vs Intuition. Dwarves are 90% protected against poisons. Although Dwarves are more limited by their racial maximums, there ARE Dwarves who take up magic, who can end up with potent saving throws if they have maximized stats (I 20 + M 20 + H 30 = 70%!). Construction Cost : 10 85 Gnome : +5 H, P, M. Infravision 60'. Lifespan of about 600 years. Cousins of the Dwarves, they do not share their magic defenses, but DO share their poison protection (but at 75%). Construction Cost : 15 86 Changeling : +5 I, -5 H. Lifespan is unlimited. The changelings are a race of humanoids with natural shapeshifting abilities. Changelings can, at will, change their appearance, able to take on any humanoid form between 2' and 7' in height with an apparent mass to fit, of any race within those ranges. They do NOT modify their actual stats, but can manipulate their appearance to appear less or more attractive as needed. They are so complete in their changes as to be able to even change their sex to suit a need. They are able to breed with other races, but the offspring are 90% true to their mates race and 10% become full changeling (their are no half-blooded ones!). If trained in Disguise they can take the shape of SPECIFIC persons, based on that skill roll. Changelings can only have 1 memorized form per I. point. Construction Cost : 15 87 MereFolk : +5 A, M. Can breathe both air and water (Amphibious) Begin with Swimming as a natural skill. +5 Initiative while in water. Merefolk take double damage from all fire based attacks. Merefolk take double damage from Exposure to dehydrating weather effects. Lifespan averages 80 years (like humans) Construction Cost : 5 88 Vasharu : +5 A, M, P. -5 H. Height 5-6' Weights -.25 from normal range. Natural Hermaphrodites (both male & female sexual features) (They have both primary and secondary organs). Vasharu among their own kind breed true. If mating with a non-Vasharu they are unlikely to produce offspring, but if they do there is a 80% probability of such being Vasharu, otherwise it will be of the race and traits of the other parent. Lifespan averages 80 years Construction Cost : 5 89 Giants : +20 H. -5 I, A, P, -10 M. Height 7'-9' See Also HEIGHT* disadvantages Lifespan averages 60 years. Construction Cost : 0 90 1/2 Giant, 1/2 Human: +10 H. -5 P, M. Height 7'-8' See Also HEIGHT* Disadvantages Human range lifespan Construction Cost : 0 91 Nymph : +5 A, M, P. -5 H. Height 5'-5'5 Nightvision 60' +12 to roll on Relationship table if taken Lifespan averages 500 years These females are human appearing but lack body hair except on the head (various shades). Nymphs are capable of mating with humans and elves, but produce offspring rarely due to a limited fertility period. Nymphs always breed true and produce Nymph children. Construction Cost : 5 92 Shadoe : + 5 A, H, I, M, P. Height 4'9 - 6' Infravision 60' Immune to All known Diseases Lifespan averages 1000 years (do not appear to age beyond 25) Males are swarthy skinned and dark haired, females are light haired and pale skinned. Descendants of the dimensional travelers known once as Shadowlords. Construction Cost : 20 :Lycanthropes (weres) All Lycanthrope sub-races possess unique factors to themselves, but there are some similarities that are shared by them all as a category: Three forms : One human, one pure animal and one hybrid Animal forms are generally described below, by category, player decides specific. The hybrid form shares qualities of both human form and of animal, including speech capabilities. and ability to use tools with limbs etc. They can cast HUNG spells in any form without penalty. They usually take penalties for no voice or hand gestures when in animal form. They regenerate at a rate 1 HTK per hour, except when in contact with silver. Silver weapons and silver plated weapons do double damage. Lifespan is normal human range Immune to Polymorph-type spells Lycanthropy is NOT a disease spread by bites etc, it is purely hereditary in nature. Lycanthropes control their shifting between forms via an EASY, INT-based skill, SHAPESHIFTING. A klutz on the skill causes them to be stuck in one form for a period of time. If a lycanthrope is stuck in a form, he is immune to involuntary changes. The moon's phase can affect how easy it is to change by 10%. Untrained lycanthropes will frequently change involuntary, and occasionally get stuck. Lycanthropes who are under stress may assume animal form and will be unable to change back until the stress is removed. Lycanthropes may assume human form when they fall asleep (or are knocked unconscious). Normal clothing worn by a lycanthrope will be assumed into the form and reappear when reverting to human. A skill roll is required for heavy or loose items. Anything made of silver will be left behind. Other were's are by GM's discretion and should be discussed with such in regards to design (ex: dolphins, seals, sharks, alligators, elephants, etc). 93 Apes : +5 H, I, P. +20% to climbing when in hybrid/full forms Enhanced hearing in hybrid/full forms. Tail counts as extra limb in full form +5% added to all Prow saves/skills in full form examples : chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, spider monkey Construction Cost : 10 94 Avian : +5 I, M. -5 H. Enhanced Distance vision in Hybrid/full Flight in most Full forms, thrice running speed of man +10 to P added when in flight in Full form only. If flightless then double running or swimming speeds Talons 1d10+4 in Full form if raptor examples : Eagle, Emu, Hawk, Parrot, Raven, Sparrow Construction Cost : 5 95 Canine : +5 H, I, P. Enhanced Sense of smell in Hybrid/full Enhanced Sense of Hearing in Hybrid/full Bite does 1d10+6 dmg in Hybrid/full Double running speed when in full form examples : Fox, Dog, Wolf Construction Cost : 15 96 Equine : +5 H. Enhanced Sense of smell in Full Form. Hoof stomp does 1d10+6 dmg in Full Form Double running speed when in full form Double carrying capacity in weight in full form Examples : burro, Horse, mule, zebra Construction Cost : 5 97 Feline : +10 P. +5 M. -5 H. Enhanced hearing in hybrid/full form Enhanced nightsight (all forms) Claw attack does 1d10+4 in hybrid/full form Claws help with climbing (+20%) in hybrid/full forms examples : housecat, lion, panther, tiger Construction Cost : 10 98 Rodent : + 5 P. -10 H. Enhanced hearing in hybrid/full Enhanced sense of smell in all forms Enhanced nightsight in hybrid/full Bite attack does 1d10+4 in hybrid/full Claws help with climbing (+20%) in full form Radar Sense & Flight at twice running (if bat) in full Gliding in full form at running (if flying squirrel) examples : bat, gerbil, hamster, mouse, rat, squirrel Construction Cost : 5 99 Serpent : + 5 P, M. - 10 H. Enhanced sense of Taste in all forms Enhanced sense of Smell in Full form Resistance to Heat based attacks (1/2 dmg) in hybrid/full Double movement speed when in full form Bite 1d10+4 (if venomous then save HARD or additional 1d10) examples : black snake, coral snake, rattlesnake, waterviper Construction Cost : 5 00 Ursine : +10 H. -5 I. Enhanced Sense of smell in full form. Claw attack does 1d10+8 in Hybrid/full form Bear HUG attack does 2d10 crushing dmg in full form. Resistant to cold based attacks (1/2 dmg) in Full form examples : any bear (black, brown, grizzly, etc), Yeti Construction Cost : 20 :Ranks Ranks are a way to apply ordinary experience points. A rank is bought with a particular Spell by a mage, for 500 points of experience. This will reduce the Casting Time of the spell by one round per additional rank over the initial first the spell is known at, but never below a one round casting time. Some spells also increase their maximum effects by increasing ranks, such as increased damage or area of effect, and these will be noted on the spell lists. A caster CAN choose to reduce the effect of a spell they are casting, but NEVER below the effects of the spell at Rank 1. :Regeneration Certain races, beings and creatures regenerate. You cease to regenerate once you are in negative HTK for 10 rounds or more (See Death*), or below negative 9 HTK. You cannot regenerate someone dead back to life. Regeneration is NOT possible from negative HTK if the damage was caused by fire or acid. :Relationships Player characters have existed for some period of time before the game and MAY have developed some romantic relationships over this time that would fall into the characters history. This section is optional. ROLL RESULT ---- ------ -10-05 Virgin with NO physical relationships or emotional ones ever in lifetime up to now. 06-10 Platonic emotional relationship in the past that ended in sorrow. 11-15 Character (IF living with Parent - See Background*) was the victim of undesired incest. 16-20 Character (If Living with Siblings) had experimental sexual involvement with sibling. 21-25 Character had sex only once in a casual encounter. 26-30 Character had sex only once in a PAID casual encounter 31-50 Character had a regular sexual relationship that didn't last beyond a year with one individual. 51-55 Character had a sexual relationship with a teacher or person they were apprenticed to. 56-75 Character had a long-term sexual relationship with a peer that lasted longer than a year. (1) 76-80 Character had a long-term sexual relationship that ended due to the death of the partner. 81-95 Character has had several regular sexual relationships. (1) 96-98 Character has an illegitimate child from a long-term relationship (Reroll if character is not heterosexual) (1) 99-100 Character has a Legitimate Child from a long-term relationship (Does not apply if the character is homosexual). (1) 100-105 Character had been involved in a three member relationship for a period of time. (2) 106+ Character has had to resort to selling sexual favors in order to survive poverty at one point in life. When rolling on this table for ELVES always add +10 to the roll. Also characters should add +1 to their roll for every 5 points of APPearance they have. Dwarves and Gnomes Minus 10 from the roll due to culture influences. (1) Character MAY have a current sexual partner (NPC) By agreement and arrangement with GM. (2) Characters may still be involved in the Menage a Trois and the other members may be PCs or NPC's by agreement and arrangement with the GM. :Religions A bountiful number of religions exist, but their value to a character is limited. Unlike OERTH there is no advantages to being a priest/minister/rabbi/clergy to ones stats or skills, but there may be social, political or financial advantages at times. A clergy person must take religion and philosophy skills of at least 3 ranks. But spends no extra points for their status otherwise. Players are warned - play a religious leader and you will be expected to act in character accordingly to the ethics/beliefs of that system. Religion is broken down to a specific Skill of Religions in general, leveled, which includes understanding other religions, and Familiarity skills (NL) with particular religions. A Priest etc must be CERTIFIED in religion skill to be doing such as an income source. Layfolk (non-Priests) are best off to take simply Familiarity skills. A Priest is considered to have, as part of their religion skill, familiarity with 3 religions including their own. All others must be studied seperately. Having familiarity gives you basic understanding of the belief system and its holidays etc, while having Religion skill gives you an understanding of your own religion's rituals, scriptures etc and the ability to perform such. :Rogue_Mage The Rogue Mage is a Mage that hasn't learned magic thru the traditional concept of existing mage types but has instead rushed to try to learn specific spells. Rogue Mages DO have an advantage beyond the variety of spells, they can try to learn spells thru observing other mages cast spells. When doing so they cannot be involved in any other activity beyond watching. After another mage has successfully cast a spell then they may attempt to learn the effect, by making a roll against their INT+Magic Aptitude. If successful they add the spell to their selection, else they have failed. The rogue mage MUST spend the EPS to learn the spell even if they fail the learning roll, thus it is difficult for them to acquire new spells, BUT they learn it at the rank they saw it cast. They cannot put eps into buying new ranks with the spell and cannot relearn a spell at a higher rank then they already know it at until reaching their teacher level. If the being they saw cast it was casting it with tools then they MUST only cast it with duplicates of said tools. They CANNOT memorize a Hung spell going off as such a spell is incomplete. Rogues cannot teach others their magic until they have achieved TEACHER rank in Spellcasting. At that point they cease to be true rogues and instead are the founders of a new Mage Tradition Type, losing the learning advantages of a Rogue, but gaining the ability to create NEW spells. Rogues gain advantages if the have ~<!SKILLS.#01 Spell_Analysis>*~ As they make a skill roll vs it when observing a spell casting for learning purposes, and if successful then they get a plus 10% to their chance to learn the spell. Rogues cannot do research for Spell_Design*, Spell_Stacking* or Spell_Modification* until they have reached TEACHER rank (10 EDU) in spellcasting and thus are founders of their own tradition. Rogues cannot learn another tradition, until after they have reached teacher rank in spellcasting. :ROUND A Combat round is 6 seconds of real time activity, there are 10 rounds to the minute. Combat in real time tends to be fast paced and often lasts only a minute or two in many situations before a conclusion occurs. :Sexual_Preference Its not my desire to make characters unplayable, so players can decide their character's own sexual preferences (Hetero, Homo or Bi), though quirks and things of a similar nature may occur via the insanity and mental quirks table. Note that some sexual practices may be considered placing a character into a Minority group for disadvantage points. :Shields Shields allow a character to possibly deflect entirely an incoming missile attack. A roll is made vs the character's Prowness and if successful then the missile was knocked aside instead of hitting. The shield ONLY applies if the character can see the attack coming. Shields also assist against HTH attacks with light weapons (any one handed weapon) against one such an attack per round. Under these circumstances they add a +10% to the defense of the target against the attacker. Shields for the most part offer NO protection from firearms. Sheilds can be used as a makeshift Bludgeon (see Weapon_Bludgeons*) :Shooting When using a firearm, the GM can assign modifiers to the chance to hit target. Normally all that is subtracted from the chance to hit is the targets PROW, but additional factors come into gunplay that affect things. The GM has the final decision on this! Attacker is moving while firing -20% from chance to hit is drawing and shooting -40% from chance to hit Vision obscured by smoke, etc -20% from chance to hit Target is moving +20% to Defensive Save is immobilized +60% to chance to hit is surprised -20% to Defensive Save is under partial cover +20% to Defensive Save is within 30' range -10% to Defensive Save at/beyond weapon maximum range -40% to hit Strafing Targets (FA only) +20% to Defensive Save For other details see Firearms* :Spell_Casting Spell Casting is NOT an instantaneous or simple process. Magic* takes time to work, requires concentration and effort and isn't done without price. A spellcaster can APPEAR to be as fast as a fighter only by pre-planning ahead of time. The easiest means is to cast properly, which means the usage of a ritual casting that takes time. A mage in the field doesn't always have the time to set up a ritual, and thus spellcasting is risky business on some levels. A spellcasting roll of 96-00 always means EXTREME failure or what we call KLUTZ* results. The time it takes to cast a spell is based on the Base Cost in Energy that the spell takes to cast (except in the case of a RITUAL). Thus a spell that base costs 10 energy points takes 10 combat rounds to cast in full, during which the mage cannot allow themselves to be distracted, interrupted or exert any physical efforts beyond the casting of the spell. During Casting a Mage is at 1/2 their normal Prowness. Note that Base cost is the spell listing cost of the spell, and does not include any modifiers for tools, rituals etc. The casting time to cast a spell can be reduced by two methods, the first is to buy additional RANKS* in the spell thru experience, at a cost of 500 eps per Rank. Each Additional rank reduces the casting time on that spell permanently by one round (with a MINIMUM of one round). The second Method is to RUSH the casting - this is dangerous and for each round that they try to reduce the casting time by they must remove 10% from their chance to cast, thus rushing a ten point spell down to one round is a -90% chance of success! :Spellcasting_Blind This is the term used when a mage needs to cast at a target that they cannot see line of sight when casting. This may be caused by actual blindness, a physical object being between the caster and the target (ex: A Wall), the target being invisible etc. The result is the spell caster doesn't have an exact form to aim the spell at or even an exact direction. The spellcaster must be able to give some sort of idea of who or what they wish to aim the spell at. Be it 'The space directly behind this wall on the other side' or 'Whoever it is hiding in that doorway in the shadows' or 'The Person who stole my purse' or 'The goblin following behind me'. A blind spell cast reduces the chance of success by 20%. Such a cast also will fail if the mage fails to put enough energy in for the range the target is actually at. On the other hand, this gives the mage the opportunity to succeed that an archer or other fighter can't do at all - a balancing of potential with difficulty. :Spellcast_Ritual Rituals are used by mages to uplift their mental states to the proper level to access their energy sources and memories in the production of spells. The Ritual differs from mage to mage but usually includes the cleaning of a space physically, placing themselves within that space, protecting the area psychically and then performing those elements needed to prepare themselves, items, and draw forth the results sought. Often times rituals are used to combine energies with several different mages within the space in order to cast a more powerful version of a known spell or to attempt to create a new spell from their combined knowledge and experience. Mages rarely will do this with persons who they do not trust entirely - because within a casting space they cannot lie unto each other without being caught in such a lie and they cannot use combat magics of any type against someone they invited within the space. The Space is referred to as a circle. Spectators may be present at a spellcasting in circle to assist the mages in raising energy etc - spectators are usually required to chant, hold light sources or perform mundane protection against any intrusion on the circle from mundane means. A full ritual casting takes an hour, that is 3,600 combat rounds, and raises the chance of successfully casting by 20% plus 1% per mage involved and each spectator involved. In many cases this makes spells nearly foolproof, except for the potential 96-00 failure. Note that a Primary caster MUST be designated in the spellcasting, and their percentage is used to do the casting. When mages who are of the same Tradition combine efforts to cast a spell that they personally all know ritually, there is an advantage that occurs, as they can ADD their ranks in the spell together. That is if one knows the spell at rank 3 and another knows it at rank 2 then they effectively cast the ritual at Rank 5. This cannot be applied to a mage casting of a spell that normally has a limit to its ranks to cast greater than that limit. If mages of different traditions try to work a ritual together of a spell they know then they count but a single rank for each caster except the primary caster (who gets all their normal ranks). Those within the ritual can transfer energy within the circle into the casting cost so that the primary caster doesn't have to supply all the initial casting energy, even if they do not know the spell or are of a different tradition. When a ritual is going to be maintained beyond its original duration the primary caster must make the decision and deal with the energy costs. ~Spellcast_Tools*~ can be used in the ritual to reduce the cost in energy to some extent as well, and improve the success chance. Everyone within a Circle is considered in TOUCH range for the casting if they need to be targeted. Additionally, if they are casting a spell on a target being outside the circle and have a personal possession of the target (ex: Lock of hair, Blood Sample, Ring, etc) or can physically see the target thru the casting within LOS, then the target is considered also to be at TOUCH range, an advantage to say the least. :Spellcast_Tools One way for a mage to reduce the cost of a spell is to develop tools for the practice of magic. These are a little different than the making of a magical device. They are not magical themselves in nature, nor will they detect as such. What they are are focuses for a mage for magic, which assist in the reduction of spell costs by their nature. Spellcasting tools and must be made with great care and effort. Any mage tool takes twice as long to make as its regular counterpart (if made my the mage themself) OR must be of excellent quality. The tools must be consecrated by the mage (a process that takes an hour per tool). Using such a tool reduces the energy cost of the spell by one point per two spellcasting of the caster in general from the base cost (it will not reduce cost for points spent on Duration or Range or Targets). If the mage decides to use multiple tools in a spellcasting it reduces the base cost cumulatively per tool, to a minimum of one (and again only from the BASE). Using a tool also increases the chance of successful casting by 5% if they are less than teacher level in casting (but a 96-00 will ALWAYS klutz!), or it lowers the opponents SAVE by 10 if they are teacher level. The drawback of the tools is their physical cost, their time to be made and consecrated and the fact that each tool used in the spell adds one round to the time used to cast the spell in the first place. Tool Examples : Silver Dagger Candles Chalice Holy Symbol Incense Silver Bell Walking Staff Brazier Obviously this is merely an option to the mage and not all mages practice magic this way. Some traditions may have specific tools that are acceptable only, and others may accept NO tools at all. :Spell_Design Characters who are members of a tradition can experiment and design new spells based on their knowledge. This breaks down into several different forms of experimentation : Spell_Modification* Spell_Stacking* and downright spell design. Spell design is the creation of a spell from scratch, using one's understanding of the theories of magic to produce a new effect that has no direct connection to an existing spell that you know. Spell Design may be a matter of careful study or desperation. If studied the player must give the GM* a full description of what they think the spell does. The GM will assign a point cost and a decision in regards to options and whether the spell actually would be within the characters tradition. Studied design requires a period of 40 hours of research work, 10 if the character has access to a good magical library. The usual experience for the spell must be spent. If insufficient experience is available then they can't learn the spell. Desperation works differently. This is raw trying - they describe the effect to the GM and the GM tells them if the effect would fit within their tradition. If yes then they try by casting; the GM tells them after the spell is begun the energy cost, and they cannot abort the spell prematurely, even if the spell takes more than the energy they have on hand. They cast against 1/2 their normal chance for success, and cannot rush the spell on the first casting. Desperation casts ALWAYS use the energy. If the spell fails it will klutz, no exceptions. If it succeeds then they know the spell as part of their tradition. They Must spend the usual experience needed to gain the spell (if they do not have enough, the GM may choose to let them keep a negative balance to be paid from all experience gained from that point on). If they failed to cast under desperation they also lose the experience spent on the spell. If a player insists on a character developing a spell outside their tradition(s) then the GM will label it as such and it will, wether made from design or desperation, be considered in a separate tradition category of its own and the appropriate casting minuses will be attached to the spell from then on (and it will always be their least known tradition for calculations sake). :Spell_Hanging Spell hanging is one way to provide faster spell casting results. The mage prepares a few spells for usage later on, by linking the spell to a power word of their own making. They LOSE the energy for that spell immediately and it is stored in a 'Hanging slot' until the word of power is uttered. One Spell per 5 points of Intuition possessed by the caster can be 'hung' and a hung spell MUST be used before the slot can be reused. Thus it is most probable a mage has at most 4 or 5 such spells pre-prepared. A Hung spell can be cast in a single round, as it only requires the caster to speak the power word out loud. A mage cannot tap the energy stored in their hung spells, nor can they otherwise access them. They also have to specify range and duration and number of targets when the spell is made, leaving no ability to modify the spell. They cannot recover this energy as well until the spells are actually cast, so care should be taken not to devote too much to this area. It is suggested that GMs insist that players using the Hung spell method keep the details of the spells hung written down with the intent of keeping the players honest. Hanging a spell takes Fifteen Minutes (150 combat rounds). :SPELL_KLUTZ_LEARNING Characters can LEARN from a spell klutz of their own a new spell, except for Rogues (See Rogue Rules), Rituals and spells performed with Tokens or Tools, in the following Manner. The character must either HAVE uninvested Eps or the player must agree to invest ALL new eps to be earned into the new spell until it is paid for. Cost of the spell is according to the BASE COST (this is usually, but not always, the same as that of the spell they were intending to spell when the klutz occured - GM has descretion on estimating this but its never more than the points spent for the original casting). The GM will also decice which modifier (Duration, Range, Targets, etc apply). There is no roll to learn it, as there was under other systems. The eps cost is 100 * the base (thus usually between 100 and 2500 eps). No time is spent in memorizing your own klutz this way. The klutz will always be in the guild of the original casting. If the spell is bought with future eps then no other spell can be learned while the present klutz is being paid for in this manner, and until it is paid for there is an additional -20% to cast this spell again. :Spell_Modification This is a spell design variant, where a mage takes an existing spell in their repertoire and modifies it to produce a variant effect. Example of such is a spell to make an automobile engine fail to start, being modified to also affect a Jet engine. Modifications are easier then Designing a new spell or developing a Spell Stack, but have a smaller range of application. The GM will assign a modified cost for the new effect, the character must spend 1/2 the usual experience cost to learn a new spell. If done as a design project the character must spend 20 hours in research (5 hours with access to a magical reference library); if done in desperation the character will be at a flat -20% to cast the spell the first time (Failure though does cause loss of the eps in the case of desperation casting). The spell, of course, is learned in the same tradition as the one it was based on. :Spell_Stacking This is a spell design variant, where a magic using character combines 2 or more spells together to produce a new effect, and in the interim reduces the overall cost. Opposite effects cannot be linked this way (EX: Fireball & Fire-Extinguish). A Spell Stack, like a spell modification, costs 1/2 the normal experience to learn. It is also risky the first time it is done, if done in desperation or as a spur of the moment casting idea, being at -20 % of the character's normal chance to successfully cast the spell as per the tradition it is in. They will spend the appropriate experience (EVEN IF THEY FAIL TO CAST IT, IN WHICH CASE THEY LOSE THE EXPERIENCE) to learn the spell. If the stack is done as a design project and not as a desperation or spur of the moment concept, the character must take 20 hours (5 if they have access to a magical library) to do the design work, and spend the appropriate experience. There are no minuses to cast the first time if a stack is done this way, and no risked lost experience. The advantage is that duration and range costs are only paid ONCE instead of for EACH of the spells, thus reducing costs. Also, once such a combination has been cast successfully the player can consider the innovation a NEW spell for their selection from that point on without the penalties. If a character has multiple traditions they can combine spells from each tradition this way to make a new spell. They MUST place the new spell in the weaker of the Traditions involved for casting percentages, but can be taught to other mages trained in BOTH traditions, if they so wish. :Stats Character Statistics are intended to represent a mathematical value for scale purposes in various game events. The higher the value the 'better' that the statistic involved. Appearance (A) - A measure of physical beauty & Presence, and its ability to influence others. Education (E) - This is a measure of training levels acquired up to this point in life. Used to buy skills. Hardiness (H) - A measure of health and physical strength*, this also measures how much abuse/wounds can be survived as it is the base for HTK. Intuition (I) - A measure of linkage to nature and the supernatural, including luck and magic. Prowness (P) - A measure of coordination & body awareness, it includes defensive values in close combat. Wealth (W) - A measure of property value, Social standing and influence. This affects starting possessions. Magical Aptitude (M) - A measure of magical ability and capability. The Aptitude * 2 becomes the starting Magical_Capacity* of the character. It is also used to calculate the regeneration of magical energy while in rest or meditation. It also ADDS to the Character's chance to save against a hostile spell cast directly at them (see 'Magic_Save*'). The choice of using a limited stat system is done to ease game play, reduce paperwork and enhance speed of usage. Characters do not have Intelligence or Wisdom definitions, as I feel these must be undefined as being part of the concepts and personality of the player that brings the character to life under the system. Statistics are limited to a minimum of 1, for logical reasons, and the upper limit is to prevent characters from becoming wildly out of balance, especially if using scenarios made for other game systems that don't allow stats outside this range even for divinities. Non-Humans MUST take as a minimum the additional range to their Race. If the race has +5 I then they must take at least an Intuition of 5. Stats are also used to define the base chance to perform a skill. The number of Skill levels in the skill plus the base stat equals the percentage roll needed to succeed. This allows a player to do simple math instead of consulting lots of charts and graphs. A character has one skill rank per education point. Each skill level equals a 10% capability in the skill. A player may invest as many levels as wished in a skill, and thus can start as skilled in a way as they wish. Additional skill levels are gained after the initial ones through experience. ALL skills at start have a maximum ceiling limit of 10 ranks (100%), but can be raised beyond this in play. Remember that a Player character is NOT a 'normal' everyday person. They are usually better trained and sometimes wealthier than the average person in the society they are in. Additionally all player characters are assumed to not be ~mundane*~ Characters at START can also have extra Magical Capacity bought, at a rate of 5 points for every 1 Point of character generation spent into this. Like-wise they can purchase extra HTK at start at a rate of 5 HTK per Character Generation point. :Strength Other systems utilize STRENGTH as a major Statistic, while this system incorporates it into the HARDINESS ~stats*~ result, as well as our using this to give the base amount of wound damage a character can take. This is out of need to streamline paperwork and increase roleplaying features of the game. This is also because physical hardiness is not necessarily represented by muscle alone - some of it is related to not mass but control of that mass, and some of it to ones immune system and bone structure. A high Hardiness also does not assist greatly in combat - yes, a super strong character may occasionally do more damage in hand to hand damage, but with most weapons the weapon is an equalizer. If a character is involved in hand-to-hand combat then we shall give a modifier. A normal Fist blow does 1d10 damage. To this, for every 10 points of strength possessed by the character add 1 to the damage done. A Normal kick does 1d10+2 damage - and this too will get the strength add of damage the same way. As a measure for lifting weights, figure HARDINESS * 10 as being the maximum pounds the character can lift without causing physical harm. Figure that for an encumbrance (pack) weight Hardiness * 5 is a fair result. :Support Just a quick note for readers who aren't part of my local roleplaying group, that I run a Support BBS for ROLEPLAYERS and real Life Pagans called 'The Silver Mage's Guild' at 617-899-9483, bauds upto 14.4, in Waltham Mass. Joe Teller :Teleportation Several spells include the ability to teleport objects or persons. It should be noted for GM reference that you cannot teleport something when you are on a different plane of existance from it. Thus you cannot teleport someone who is astral, or teleport from the material plane to the astral plane or the ethereal. Likewise someone on the astral plane cannot teleport a person on the material plane. The exception is a device made by an enchanter with Astral Effectiveness as part of its design. :Token_Magic Token magic is a variation on Magic which has both its own advantages and disadvantages in regards to casting. Token mages still have a regular tradition, and some traditions do NOT have token mages at all. A token mage will create a focus that is used but once to cast a spell, and is often thrown at a target or in some other means expended in the casting (a common one is a small satchet of herbs that are burned, consumed or tossed at an opponent). The token mage may have several tokens for the same spell. Like a Hung spell, a token spell is pre-set, its Duration, range, number of targets etc must be chosen when the token is made, and the energy is imbedded in the token. Unlike a Hung spell it cannot be erased from the caster's memory (but a token can be stolen or destroyed before its usage). The energy bound in a token is not counted against the caster's total like a hung spell, and can be recovered back as per normal. A Token spell NEEDS the caster to be free to move for the most part to cast it, since a physical object must be used. A token takes an hour to prepare, limiting the number a mage may have ready by the amount of time. Additionally they MUST list what the concept of the characters tokens are based on (Herbs, Beads, Glass figurines, etc) and ALL their spells must be based on a similar concept (ex: different herb mixes for each spell, different figurine shape for glass figurines, different colored bead for each spell). Anyone can activate a token by throwing it at a target - but knowing what a token does is entirely something only another token mage can possibly analyze. A token at hand takes but a single round to use, more if the particular token must be searched for. Each token costs at least $5 to create in materials. Token magic does NOT reduce the cost of spellcasting, nor can they utilize HUNG spells like ordinary mages. They cannot do spell inventing by desperation but MUST be involved in careful scholarly Spell_Design*, Spell_Stacking* or Spell_Modification*. :Wealth Character starting wealth is determined by the Wealth Statistic. This is used to determine starting funds, and assumes the character has been saving funds for some time before play begins. A starting character, after the purchasing of skills and spending off of required wealth points for such etc gets a starting fund of their Wealth * $25 which can be used to purchase possessions. If the character is working a full time job then the receive an annual income equal to their WEALTH * $1000 to pay bills etc with. Note that by working a full time job the character will spend 40 hours a week at work during weekdays plus another 5 hours probably spent in commute time and getting ready for work, leaving little time but weekends for 'adventuring'. If the character is working Part time from their chosen occupation then they make their wealth * $400 a year. This assumes a 20 work week and 5 hours spent in commute time and preparation. (This is a 2,3 or 4 day a week job). If a shorter Part time job is assumed then assume they can make from a 10 hour per week job wealth * $200 a year. Also assume 2 hours of commute time (this is a 1 or 2 day a week job). If the character is a student they carry a 16 hour weekly schedule mon-fri, are assumed to be either on campus or in a near-campus group house that is being covered by parents, grants, loans etc, and have wealth * 200 in aide to work with each year. 4 hours weekly of labs, assignment time etc is expected under this additionally, but leaves more free time. A student MIGHT have a part time job as well to make the extra spending money they want. Weekly income is equal to annual income or aide /52 weeks. If the player's character has decided to 'live by their wits' or is self-employed in some way (such as a detective) then they do NOT receive a weekly paycheck, but get at start their WEALTH * 50 in starting cash to work with (unlike the above). Employed Characters (NOT students or live-by-their-wits) can start the game with a credit card that they can purchase on the equipment table. This will give them a credit line equal to 20% of their annual income, at an interest rate to be stated by the GM (anywhere from 11% to 20% annually). A self-employed character (such as a detective) CAN start with a credit card as well to purchase equipment on the table. Their credit line will be (WEALTH * WEALTH) in dollars at a GM rolled interest rate. [GM decides interest rate for card as 1d10+10%] If a character is Employed or Self-employed (NOT a student, but also if patroned or having a trust fund) wishes to purchase a Building (Condo, townhouse, house, mansion, store, apartment building, office building, warehouse etc) they can do so via the prices in the <!EQUIP.#01> listing and can optionally take a mortgage on the property, by taking the total estimated cost, deciding the time period and adding the appropriate amount of interest: 10 year - add 15% 20 year add 25% 30 year add 35% 15 year - add 20% 25 year add 30% Divide by the number of years, and then dividing that by 12 months of the year to figure out their monthly owed (yes this is simplex, and does not totally reflect real world financing, but is easy enough to calculate and close enough in game terms). Note that the interest will include the property taxes on the property. A vehicle loan can also be gotten, but requires putting $500 down on the vehicle and then the loan payment plan is based on: 6 months - add 10% 18 months - add 20% 1 Year - add 15% 2 years - add 25% If a character's job does not in any way involve their adventuring life and vice-versa, then their Wealth Stat (for calculation purposes) may increase. After every year on the job a 1d100 roll is made. To this is added +3 if the character is CERTIFIED in the job they are doing, +10 if the character is at 10 ranks EDU ('teacher level') in the skill if it is leveled, and +1 for every year after the first that they have held the job. -1 for every week of missed work because of adventuring (including hospitalization time). If they have a Union card add +5. Then consult the chart: Total Result ----- ------ -52 to 05 Fired from the position. 25% chance of collecting unemployment for 6 months at 1/3 normal income while job hunting. 06 to 20 Layed off from the Position. 75% chance of collecting unemployment for 6 months at 1/3 normal income while job hunting. 21 to 30 Layed off as company went Bankrupt or moved out of the country. 100% chance of collecting unemployment for 6 months at 1/3 normal income while job hunting. 31 to 60 No change in job status or wealth. 61 to 80 +1 to Wealth but job remains the same 81 to 90 +2 to Wealth but job remains the same 91 + +5 to Wealth and job title has changed Note that going to unemployment wastes 2 hours a week, daytime. Job hunting is done by rolling on the following table each week when unemployed or looking Roll 1d100; -5 if fired; +3 if certified in main skill for the job; +5 if Rank 10 in the skill ('teacher level'); +1 for each year after the 1st at last job; -1 for each week out of work; -5 if a minority group member; -5 if legal alien; -10 if illegal alien; -10 if Public Mage; -10 if Criminal Record; -20 if wanted Criminal in USA; +5 if Unionized;+10 if still employed when job hunting. NOTE: The minuses for being out of work are NOT applied if a character is looking for their first job or if the time since leaving their last job was spent in a certified school (such as a college or technical school). Job hunting takes 4 hours a week. TOTAL RESULT ------------ ------------------- Less than 20 No Useful prospects at all 20 To 25 Job Lead. Add +5 to Next Weeks Roll. 26 To 70 Interviewed. Add +10 to next weeks roll. 71 To 80 Job offer, but at -5 to present Wealth if taken 81 To 95 Job Offer, with no change to Wealth if Taken 96 To 98 Job Offer, with +1 to Wealth if taken 99 To 100 Job Offer, with +3 to Wealth if Taken 101 To 105 Job Offer, with +5 to Wealth if Taken 106 or higher Job Offer, with +7 to Wealth if Taken :Weapon Weapons are used to inflict damage (we all knew that right?) The system in this case is designed to keep combat damage results simple and easy to calculate. Each Weapon has a damage rating that is a numerically based on the D10 with modifiers, so that a whole lot of extra dice aren't needed during play. If a CRITICAL_HIT occurs, by rolling 01-05 to Hit, extra damage may be inflicted by the weapon beyond the stated and that table should be consulted. Weapons are divided into skill categories. If a weapon you feel is appropriate for your character is not listed then PLEASE speak to the GM about it so that she/he can add it appropriately. Characters that train their weapon skill to 10 EDU ranks and beyond get DOUBLE the prowness adds defensively listed below for the weapons. Those who train in a weapon with negative prowness to use reduce the loss of PROW defensively by 1/2 the listed amounts if at 10 EDU ranks or better. Characters that train to the point of 20 ranks or more get a second attack with the weapon as the last action of the round. :Weapon_Bludgeons WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Brass Knuckles +2 to HTH Punch damage only Cestus 2d10+2 -4 Prowness defensively when used Club 1d10+4 Frying Pan (Tool) 1d10+4 Hammer (weapon) 1d10+8 Hammer (tool) 1d10+4 Mace 2d10 Nightstick 1d10+4 Shield (norm) 1d10+2 [Used to 'bash'] Shield (Spiked) 1d10+6 [Used to 'Bash'] Shovel (tool) 1d10+2 -2 Prowness when used :Weapon_Bows WEAPON DAMAGE RANGE NOTES ------------------- ------ ----- ------------- Bow, Compound Light 2d10+4 LONG HARD 10+ to use Bow, Compound Heavy 2d10+8 FAR HARD 20+ to use Bow, Long 1d10+8 FAR HARD 15+ to use Bow, Short 1d10+6 LONG HARD 10+ to use :Weapon_Chopping WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Axe, Battle 2d10+6 -2 Prowness when using [Must be at least 4' tall to use] Axe (tool) 1d10+6 -2 Prowness when using Machette 1d10+5 (no Prow Mods) :Weapon_Crossbows WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ -------- ---------------------------------- Heavy 2d10+1 HARD 20+ to use Light 1d10+8 HARD 15+ to use Repeat 1d10+8 HARD 15+ to use Hand 1d10+5 HARD 5+ to use Sniper 2d10+5 HARD 10+ to use :Weapon_Daggers WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Dagger 1d10+3 Ice Pick (tool) 1d10+3 Knife 1d10+2 Main Gauche 1d10+5 +4 Prowness when used w/Rapier else +2 vs Daggers, Light swords, Sai Swiss Army Knife 1d10+1 :Weapon_Exotic WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Blowgun 1d10+1 60' range, darts may be poisoned for extra damage or effects. Boomerang 1d10+4 Throwable from 30-120' range (no shorter) returns if misses target. Electro-Baton 1d10+2 and make save vs HARD or unconsciousness M.A.C.E. Sprayer 1d10-5 Blinds attacker for 2d10 rounds Needle (tool) 1d10-2 Nunchakus 1d10+6 +2 Prowness when used against itself, Sai, Light Swords, Staffs and knives/daggers. [Must be at least 3' tall to use] Sai 1d10+4 Can disarm swords on a critical Can parry vs Light Swords, Katanna, knives, Daggers, Chopping Weapons & whips or flails. +5 prow when used defensively, +10 for pair Stazer 1d10-4 make save vs 1/2 HARD or unconsciousness Tear Gas Sprayer 1d10-4 Blinds attacker for 3d10 rounds :Weapon_Swords_(Heavy) WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Claymore 2d10+4 +2 Prowness VS all swords [User must be at least 5' tall] Flamberge 2d10+2 Scimitar 2d10+1 [Must be at least 5' tall to use] Sword, Bastard 2d10+2 [Must be at least 5'5 tall to use] Sword, Broad 2d10 [Must be at least 5' tall to use] Sword, katana 2d10 +3 Prowness vs all Heavy Swords, Sai Lightswords & Daggers. Sword, Long 1d10+8 +2 Prowness when used against heavy swords [Must be at least 5' tall to use] Sword, Two-handed 3d10+2 [Must be at least 6' tall to use] :Weapon_Swords_(Light) All These can be used to Parry each OTHER, Katana or any Dagger/Knife but not other Heavy Swords etc. WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Sword, Short 1d10+6 +1 [Must be at least 3' Tall to use] Sword, Stick/Cane 1d10+6 +2 Prowness when used Rapier 1d10+8 +5 Prowness when used (except vs 2 handed swords and bastard swords) [Must be at least 4' tall to use] Sabre 2d10 +3 Prowness (except vs 2hand/bastard) [Must be at least 5' tall to use] :Weapon_Staffs_&_Polearms Those with PROW adds can be used to Parry each other or Light Swords and Daggers/knives. WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Bo Stick 1d10+6 +2 Prowness when using Halberd 2d10 -10 Prowness when using [User MUST be at least 5' tall] Jo Stick 1d10+5 +2 Prowness when using (single Hand!) Lance 3d10+2 -5 Prowness when used on Foot, and only 1d10+2 damage. Pick, Military 2d10 Pick (Tool) 1d10+6 -5 Prowness when used Pike 2d10 -5 Prowness when used [Must be at least 4' tall to use] Pitchfork (tool) 1d10+6 -5 Prowness when used Quarter Staff 1d10+6 +5 Prowness when used (except vs mounted) [Must be at least 4' tall to use] Scythe 2d10 [Must be at least 5' tall to use] Spear 1d10+8 +2 Prowness when used on foot Staff Sling 1d10+5 +5 Prowness when used (except vs mounted) [Must be at least 4' tall to use] Trident 2d10 :Weapon_Throwing WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Dart 1d10+2 if ambidextrous gets 2/rnd Knife 1d10+4 if ambidextrous gets 2/rnd Shuriken 1d10+3 2/rnd, 3rd if ambidextrous :Weapon_Whips_&_Flails WEAPON DAMAGE NOTES ------------ ------ ---------------------------------- Ball & Chain 2d10+4 -5 Prowness when using Bullwhip 1d10+8 (Disarms opponents on critical instead of double dmg if possible) [Must be at least 3' tall to use] Cat-Of-9-Tails 1d10+6 Flail 2d10+2 Horse Whip 1d10+3 -5 Prowness when using Morning Star 2d10+6 -5 Prowness when using on foot :Weight 01 - 10 Obese (Use 3.75 base for male, 3.25 for female) Obesity is a Disadvantage and the player can reroll or take 3 points of disadvantage construction points and stay obese. Cannot be APP over 15 or PROW over 10. 15 - 25 Pot-bellied (Use 3.25 base for male, 2.75 for female) This is an overweight character and should reroll or take 2 points for this as a disadvantage. Cannot be APP over 20, or PROW over 15. 26 - 40 Husky (Use 3.00 base for male, 2.25 for female) This is a 1 point disadvantage. Reroll if not suitable to character concept. PROW cannot be over 20 or APP over 25. 41 - 70 Average (Use 2.75 base for male, 2.00 for female) 71 - 95 Athletic (Use 2.50 base for male, 1.75 for female) This is a 1 point advantage, and you should reroll if not suitable for concept. Prow & HARD Maximum for Character gets a +3 to range allowed. 96-00 Underweight (Use 2.25 base for make, 1.25 for female) This is a 2 point disadvantage. Character gets -1 to dmg for punch/kick in combat. Reroll if not suitable to character concept. Weight for Height is height in inches * above number. Shadoe and Elves minus .25 from the calculation. Giants, Dwarves and Half Giants add .25 to the calculation.