Usurper Ruleset

Universal Simple Role Playing Ruleset! a.k.a. USRPR or Usurper"

Overview
Welcome to my short, simple RPG rule set. Well there arent that many actual rules, but thats the idea. !

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to introduce my in-laws to table top RPGs. Im no table-top zealot and mostly play computer games, but I used to have a lot of fun playing D&D growing up. The had limited time and there was just no way we could source the rule books, teach them to everyone and get a game going in an evening or two. I wasnt even sure they would like it.!

! !

The goal of the USRPR rule set is to allow anyone to have a proper role playing session up and running in ve minutes regardless of the level of experience of the players or for that matter the Game Master (GM). ! Too many existing rulesets require a long, intimidating look at unfamiliar and complex rules. Often the rules are complex because they are awed: in my opinion bad rules add complexity in order to try and balance the game to avoid unscrupulous players taking advantage of some particular skill or weapon that's just too powerful. So, we aimed for USRPR to be self-balancing and for many of the rules to be made up and modied as the game progressed with balance in mind.!

! Without further delay, let's get straight into our rst gaming session!! !
Let's Get Started

Anna, Braam, Chris and David (conveniently A,B,C and D) are about to start out their rst table top RPG session ever. Braam has never played any RPG before at all and is not all that keen. The others are vaguely familiar with role playing while David already knows USRPR and is going to act as the Game Master (Umpire, Storyteller, etc. all rolled into one).!

! !
"1

D: Right all, lets get started. You guys seemed keen on a standard fantasy setting, think of Lord of the Rings, Conan, you know the story. By the way we can do sci- with this ruleset, spies, Romans whatever you like?!

Usurper Ruleset A: No, fantasy is ne. Lets stick with something we know for our rst characters.!

D: Sure. Ok then, the rst step is as always, to create your characters. Your character can be anything you like. You can be a dragon for example, but that will be a bit awkward in most settings. You can be a wannabe knight, a wizard, a politician, a witch, a psychic, even a humble farm boy who doesnt know what life might have in store for him.!

! B: Why would I be a farm boy if I can be like a huge Troll or something?! !

D: Aha Braam, so thats the rst rule in this game: no matter what you do, the game is going to be fair and hopefully fun. Thats my job as the GM. You can be that troll if you like, but Im going to make sure that you dont get an unfair advantage. So lets say youre super strong and cant be beat in a ght. That would be very boring, so we have to balance it out somehow. For example, you would have to be very slow-moving, or not very bright. When the other characters can easily tell someone is lying to them, for example, your character will probably fall for it.!

! B: No free lunch.! ! !

D: Exactly. And we dont have to go make a pile of rules for it, its common sense most of the time.! D: Now let me tell you about your setting. I need you all to be fresh. unskilled characters and I need you all to be in the same place so we can get the game started. I have some very rough notes here on the fantasy world you nd yourselves in, but I havent done nearly as much preparation as I would for other RPG games. Call it part of the casual nature of USRPR. Maybe Im just lazy :)!

D: Lets see We,come to the desert trading post of Kamendra. This is a dusty town in the middle of the great Eastern Desert. O"cially its part of the Tikkan Empire, the superpower of the time, but out here theres not much sign of that authority. The town is busy though, its a cross-roads for caravans crossing the Desert north-south and east-west. Theres always something going on in town.!

D: A bit more about your world. Its a fantasy setting. There are all sorts of races around: orcs, lizard men (although not out here in the desert), kobolds, elves, dwarves, goblins, whatever. Magic exists and works well. There are powerful mages out there who can mess with space and time. On a more mundane level the local pub here in Kamendra is probably cooling its ale with magic as well. Then there are the creatures the Eastern Desert is a dangerous place. Fifteen minutes by camel from town and you can probably come across anything from a giant scorpion to a pack of goblin raiders to a nasty Wazzaka.!

!
"2

Usurper Ruleset C: Whats a Wazzaka?!!

! D: I just made that up, but youll know it when you see it. ! ! C: Ok, I get it. ! ! D: Enough background, lets hear about your characters! Anna?! ! A: I dont really know. I liked the dragon, but you say thats impractical. ! !

D: Well yes, good luck getting into the pub. Mmm, if you like the dragon idea lets see what we can do. How about youre a Weredragon? You take human form most of the time, but sometimes when the moon is full, or you get burnt in re, or something, you turn into a young dragon No? Ok what about having a pet dragon?!

! !

A: Thats cool, I like that! I have a pet dragon just a small one. It can do the ghting for me! ! D: Ok, well base your character around your pet dragon. A bit unusual but that will work just ne. So, when your character gains skills, they will be either for yourself, such as maybe dragon riding, or for your dragon, something like re breath. You still have to make up a bit of history for the game, tell me what you look like, etc.!

A: Mmm, let me think about that. Probably a girl, lets say human. Blonde, a bit shy but great with animals.!

! D: Next, how about you Braam?! ! B: OK I'll be a farm boy then. Since you don't like Trolls.! ! D: Farm boy it is. Anything special about this farm boy?! ! !

B: Nothing at all. No skills, no heroics, just a regular kid. Let's see if you can make that a fun experience Mr Game Master!! D: No problem! Farm Boy is destined for greatness, just wait and see. At least please give him a name, describe him a bit and tell me how it is that all your characters ended up here in Kamendra at this point in time. And you Chris?!

! C: I love magic. I always play mages. Im going to be a mage.! ! D: Sure. Junior mage? An elf or something?! !
"3

Usurper Ruleset C: Nah, human. Lets say a smart 18-year old. Loves books, maybe even a bit geeky. Very good at magic of course!!

! ! !

D: Great. Ok, you can describe him as very good at magic thats ne. But Im going to then work on your stereotype there Im going to say youre not very strong, not much good at sport and all that.! C: Be my guest. Im a mage, Im not going to carry a two-handed axe. But what if I wanted to be strong, as well?! D: If you really wanted that we could accommodate that, too. Lets say you wanted to be the all-around hero type: strong, fast, and smart too. You could be all those things but in this game well make sure you never get an unfair advantage. One problem is that you would struggle to improve all those skills all the time. If you focus on one or two skills you could probably get quite good at them quite quickly. If you wanted to improve your weapon skills, magic skills and strength all at once, they would all improve slower. Theres no hard and fast rule for that, but its the GMs job to keep all your characters useful, likeable, and balanced.!

! C: I see. Ok Im sticking to my stereotype mage. Maybe a re specialist! ! ! !

D: No problem and dont worry, he could develop into something quite di#erent as time goes on if you want to.! (The players spend a bit of time choosing names for their characters and writing them down in a character notebook or a sheet of paper. There are no dice to roll for this, they make it up as they go along.)!

! A: Dave, so what can my Dragon do? I mean how do the rules work? ! ! !

D: Ok, the rules to this game are very, very simple. You can play your character any way you like. You dont have to choose to be good or evil or anything like that. If you happen to do nasty things to nice people, well then your character is not a very good person but thats just how it is. ! D: The way your character works all depends on the skills they have or want to use. Whenever your character wants to try do something that requires some skill, like swing a sword properly at an enemy, you will have to roll a normal, 6sided die. So just a reminder here guys: the highest you can roll is 6, the lowest is 1. Just a normal die, no strange shapes. Higher is always better in this game and as a rule of thumb you will have to roll 4 or better most of the time. Anyway, you want to hit someone with a sword. The thing you want to do must be in character! Thats another golden rule! For example while Farm Boy here is probably well built and used to swinging a scythe, your mage is not going to

"4

Usurper Ruleset learn much about sword play. So I will allow Farm Boy to swing the sword and ask Mage to think about something else. !

D: If this is the rst time you are actually swinging a sword, you could now be learning a brand new skill! Ill ask you to write down on your character sheet the name of this skill, lets call it Sword Attack. Because its a brand new skill youll have to roll 4 to hit with your sword most of the time, the default roll. You should write that down with your skill. If you later on get to be an incredibly good swordsman, that might change to a 3, making it much easier. Exercising skills can also have side e#ects - common sense ones like getting tired. If it doesnt take that much out of you to swing a sword or we know youve probably done it before so Im going to say you dont have any side e#ects.!

D: If an enemy is particularly easy to hit, you could also have to throw something di#erent to your default roll. So lets say its a weak little Goblin. Ill give it a 3 to hit for you, instead of a 4. In fact everybody attacking it would likely get a roll 1 easier than usual. Want to practice?!

! B: Ok, Im rolling its a 5. I hit it?! !

D: Yep, a nice strong hit. Simple enough? Now in this case, if this were a skilled enemy, they could try and use a skill of their own to prevent the hit. For example if this Goblin has a shield, it could try and actively block your hit with its shield. Also, if it had equipment that would help prevent your hit, it could roll for that, for example armour. The shield blocking can only be rolled for if the goblin is facing you and aware of the attack. Armour would work even if you are surprising it and hitting it in the back.!

! B: I wouldnt do that!! !

D: Well see. Lets say it had a shield, it would have to roll a default roll to use it and block your attack, namely 4. I can modify this if I think the goblin is stronger or weaker, or if you roll much higher than you needed to.. but there are no set rules here, just GMs judgment. Instead of using a shield, it could also dodge, for example, same kind of thing. In this case our little goblin has no special skills! You hit it well, its just a little goblin you kill it.!

! B: Cool! Just like that? No roll for damage, hit points, health and all that? ! !

D: Nah. Well just use common sense. Sometimes Ill have you roll for damage if it seems relevant. But you wont have to keep health points and stu# on your character sheet. It sort of also keeps USRPR more realistic. In some games you gain so much health as you level up that you can hardly be killed. Then the GM has to introduce more and more powerful monsters, like an arms race. USRPR doesnt work like that. Even a little goblin can kill you under the wrong circumstances. ! "5

! C: How about my Mage? I would have cast a reball on the goblin.! ! ! C: Oh, great. Well what can I do?! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Mmm Chris, youre a brand new, junior mage. Conjuring a massive, explosive, reball from thin air sounds di"cult to me. I dont think you have the skill yet. Maybe when youre getting more experienced you can give it a try.!

D: Skills are very roughly divided into families. For Farm Boy, hes sort of picked the one-handed melee attack family. For example if he now wants to swing a dagger Im not going to complain: its kind of similar. Magic is also divided into families of skills. If you like the idea of reballs, maybe you should choose re skills as a family? So we say that from your books and your natural talent you can put down Fire Magic. Youve done it before so Ill give you no penalty to the skill, you get the default roll of 4. !

D: Complicated and powerful skill usage also takes a toll on you. For example if you want to light the camp re by magic to show o#, I bet you can do that a hundred times a day. But the rst time you try to really blow up a room full of Orcs with a reball, its going to take 2 turns to cast, Im going to ask you to roll a 6, give you only one a day and you are going to be exhausted for half an hour afterwards. When we get to it, you should write that on your sheet so we can keep it consistent.!

! !

C: Ok, Im beginning to get it. So I will write down Fire Magic as a skill, and Fireball as another skill, with a roll 6 to succeed, 2 turns to cast, once a day, rest 30 mins?! D: Sure, after you succeed a few times it will improve. You can call it additional detail for your Fire Magic skill, or call it a brand new skill, it doesnt really matter. Then these skills improve over time. If you manage to blow up Orcs on a regular basis, I could tell you that youve improved to where you only need a 5 to succeed. Well improve all the characters at the same rate so everybody feels useful.!

! C: Alright, so as a junior mage right now, what would I do with that Goblin?! ! ! A: Eew!! ! D: Magic can be cruel.! !
"6

D: Well, I would say as a junior you can at least set things on re. I would let you roll the same attack sort of attack roll as Farm Boy to set the Goblin on re. If you succeed, it uh, burns to death.!

Usurper Ruleset C: Ok, but if it has a shield, that wont help, right?!

D: Good point. So in fact your Fire Magic is a bit more useful against a Goblin with a shield than Farm Boys sword. Thats ne, sometimes it will be more useful, sometimes less. Later on when Farm Boy is learning how to slash through three Goblins with one blow, well improve your Fire Magic to allow you to set a group of Goblins on re, or to cast a re wall or something like that. Provided youve been using it of course.!

! ! !

D: You can also get help or hindrance from the environment. If you are in an ice cave, re magic will be harder. If youre in a foundry full of open res, I might allow you to set the whole room on re given all the res that are already going. Its up to you to suggest creative uses for your skills.! C: And what about the skill families? Lets say now I want to throw a bookcase over onto an enemy using magic?! D: That doesnt sound like a Fire magic family spell, its more of a sort of Force Magic family, which would include stu# like levitation, magic throwing knives, forcing doors open that sort of stu#.!

! C: So will you allow me to do it? ! !

D: Mmm. If you tell me youre going to be really interested in that sort of magic going forward, Ill allow you to try it. But if thats the rst time its going to require a very high roll. Maybe Ill just say not yet but allow you to learn some Force Magic from a master mage on one of your many adventures. !

! A: How do I play my little dragon? ! ! ! ! !

D: It can probably bite people for much the same kind of damage as Farm Boy could do with a sword for now. It can probably y a bit, maybe it learns to use re breath or ice breath a little later.! A: Got it! Thats easy. So can we start now? Why are we in this desert town anyway?! D: Yes lets start. Youll pick up some more rules on the way, but theres not much left to learn. Do you guys know how your characters turned up in ? Otherwise Ill make something up.! B: Yes, I know. Farm Boy ran away from the farm. He hitched a ride with a caravan that came past, and he got o# here.!

! D: Good. Why did he run away?! !

"7

Usurper Ruleset B: Uh, not sure yet. Ask me later.!

! D: A mystery, cool. Use that to deepen your characters story later on. Anna?! ! ! D: Perfect: so you have all the world ahead of you. How about you Chris?! ! ! B,C,D : (laugh)! ! ! !

A: My character is a girl called Pandra. Shes here far away from home because her dragon killed someone to defend her. They had to ee her home town and disappear forever. She wasnt going to hand him over to be put down!!

A: Ok, Im still enrolled with the great Mage University in the capital, but this is my practical project. !

A: Seriously. My family is ne, Im ne, I even have some spending money for the project. Im supposed to meet a tutor mage here in town and practice my magic. Then I have to write it all up of course.! D: Ok sure! Good thinking. So the last thing Ill add in is that you guys have just met each other for the rst time here in the tavern (pub). You are having a drink together and you get along just ne. Or dont you?! B: We do. I bet Farm Boy likes Pandra. And Chris sounds like a nice guy. Hope youre not a snobbish sort, Chris?!

! C: Oh no, my mage is very easy-going.! ! A: Is my Dragon in the pub too?! !

D: You know what? Lets play that part out. Lets say the others were already in the pub and youre also headed that way but the last to arrive. Your dragon is with you. People in the street dont really look at you twice, theyre used to that sort of thing out here. You get to the pub and it says No Beasts clearly above the doorway.!

! A: Oh. Guess Ill leave her outside?! !

D: Well you dont have to do what it says. You can behave any way you like in this game.!

! A: Its ok, Ill ask her to wait outside and keep a low prole.! ! !
"8

D: Sure. Ok, so the three of you are in the tavern. I can kick o# the adventure now, or you guys can suggest that you are up to something and Ill improvise.!

Usurper Ruleset B: Sounds like you have a lot to do, Game Master. !

D: Well yes, this game requires more from its Game Masters than many other RPGs. You have to be able to tell a challenging story, make up rules and keep things fair all at the same time.!

! C: Ok Mr GM, surprise us!! !

The Adventure Begins

D: Well met gang, you are now a party of friends. Chriss Mage was buying as hes the only one with any money at all. By the way Chris: lets say you have a decent little money purse on you that your parents provided for the trip. Enough for lodgings, food, books etc. For one person, anyway. Farm Boy, Pandra you two have nothing more than the clothes on your backs. And those are getting pretty worn out, too. Exactly how did you guys make it this far anyway?!

A: Youre asking us? My Dragon has been catching food for us. Do I need a skill for that?!

! D: No thats fair enough. Im sure its great at catching food.! ! ! !

B: Farm Boy is a likeable guy and the Caravan people gave him some food. He did chores for them, tended to the camels and whatever.! D: Ok, fair enough. Maybe well let you roll for making friends with particular people in future, but that seems reasonable. By now your Caravan has left town and your only friends are here in the pub. ! D: Well adventurers, your Mage has a reason to be here in town. You have to go meet your tutor. He has a magic shop at the end of the main street. Its getting late, you guys should get a move on.!

! C: Sure. Well I pay up at the bar and we head out into the main street.! ! ! C: What? Oh. Rough town this, right? Whos watching me?! !

D: Great. As you pay with that nice little coin purse of yours, you have this feeling that you are being watched. !

D: Welcome to your rst real die roll of the game, gang. To nd out whos watching you for sure could be tricky. You need some social awareness or at least some observation skills. Chris your character is not going to be dripping with people skills, agree?! "9

! C: Sure. What about Farm Boy or Pandra?! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Mmm, Ill allow them to try and notice but its not really natural to any of their characters either. Actually I would say Pandras dragon is probably good at sensing danger, but hes outside the pub.!

! A: Great. Can I write that down as a skill? ! ! ! A: (writes new skill on sheet)! ! ! (A rolls a 2, B rolls a 4)! !

D: Sure. Dragon Danger Sense. Roll a 4 to succeed. But lets say just once a day, otherwise youll be using it *all* the time. !

D: Farm Boy, Pandra you can roll a 5 to try and see whos watching the Mage so intently.!

D: Sorry ladies and gentlemen, your characters dont notice. Anyway, you make your way onto the main street. Picture Kamendra a bit like Egypt in the adventure stories. Narrow streets, outlandish clothing. Sand! Lots of di#erent people and creatures. Camels and other, stranger pack animals on every corner. Most people are covered up to avoid getting sand in their faces. All the buildings are made of sandstone or mud and everything is a bit run down. The main street is a more open and broader than the alleyways, but not much. Its getting late and the sun is going under which gives everything a golden tinge.!

! B: What are these buildings? ! !

D: Ill draw you a map (draws on a piece of paper). This is the pub, these ones you dont know, theyre not marked. This one is marked as a general store, this one is a blacksmith, this one is a small temple to some local deity, and this one here is where youre headed: the magic shop. This one is the local customs o"ce. Theres also a large Camel yard over here. There are wells here and here. The ones o# the main street are mostly houses. Would you like to stop over anywhere?!

! B: We dont have any money.! ! C: I could spend some cash on you two if you like?! ! B: Thats ok, we can shop later. Lets get over to the magic shop.! !
"10

D: Right, well you make your way over. Its not much to look at from the outside. Same sandstone building type with a sparkling blue curtain acting as

Usurper Ruleset the front door. Theres a symbol painted by the side of the door. Its obviously magical. Theres a large sign above the door saying Magicke Emporium.!

! C: Well lets go in.! !

D: Wow, you try to but the curtain doesnt budge at all. Its like its made out of steel. You cant even see around it. But as you push on it, the symbol glows slightly.!

! A: Its a doorbell, isnt it? I touch the symbol.! !

D: An image of a womans head appears by the doorbell. She has dark hair, dark eyes and slightly pointy ears. She says: sorry were closed today. Oh, its you! Come on in. You can bring the dragon. !

! C: Finally some hospitality! Great. Lets go in.! !

D: You enter the store through the curtain which now behaves more like a normal curtain should. Its a bit dark inside but there are shelves and tables everywhere, overowing with interesting-looking items. Potions, scrolls, wands, daggers, bows, staves, hats, cloaks, you name it. Theres another curtain at the back but theres no-one in the room.!

! A: Hello?! !

D: As you call hello you notice the light move in the room. Its strange, in fact its not the light moving, its the shadows! Quickly three deep, dark shadows form into shapes. They look almost human but they have longer arms with shadowy claws for hands. One is right next to you, the other two are further back in the room. The near one raises its claws, the others turn towards you.!

! B: Its a trap. These things are attacking us, right?! ! D: Yes, I would say they look hostile. ! ! B: Then lets ght them!! !

D: Sure. Welcome to your rst ght! Well learn a few of the last missing rules here as well. Right, the most important thing to remember is that this is not a computer game. You dont have to stick to a few xed options. You can try something creative, or just run away, whatever you like. Often you will use your skills, though. !

D: Combat is, as usual for RPGs, split into turns. During a turn everybody gets to do one thing. If you are attacked many times and you have defensive skills like dodging, you can use them every time you get attacked, though. Very fast "11

Usurper Ruleset or advanced characters might also get two attacks by default. If you are incapacitated in some way you may have to skip your turn. Some actions take more than a turn to complete, in which case you are just busy in the turns before you complete your action.!

D: Every turn we have to decide who goes in what order. For this, we just roll one die. Higher is better, and characters who have naturally quick reexes or a skill might get a +1 or other modier. If theres a tie at a given number and it matters, the tied characters can just roll amongst themselves until its resolved. With weak or slow enemies the GM can save time by just having the characters all go rst. If the characters are clearly surprised or ambushed, the GM might have all the enemies go rst instead!!

! D: Lets do a normal round here. Roll for your order please!! ! (A rolls a 6, B rolls 2, C rolls 4. The shadows roll 3,3 and 5.)! !

D: Ok, Anne rst, then a shadow at the back, then Chris, then two more shadows, then Braam.!

! A: I have a dragon! I want my dragon to attack the shadow nearest to us.! ! ! A: Attack! (rolls a 5). Hit! ! !

D: Right, pretty simple. A normal attack at melee range, you just use your Dragon Bite attack. Do you have that on your sheet? If not, pencil in the skill. These shadows need your regular 4 to be hit. !

D: Good. Now as it happens these shadows are creatures from the Nightmare realm. Theyre not always all here in our physical world. Physical attacks can go right through them if they choose to use this skill in defence. The shade you hit tries to do this. Ill make a roll for it, it needs a 4, too. (GM rolls 2). Sorry Shadow, your dragon sinks its sharp little teeth right into it and it shrieks and disappears.!

! A: I rock. What about Pandra, my girl? Can she act as well?! !

"12

Usurper Ruleset D: She was directing your dragon. Im going to treat the two of you as one character a lot of the time. Well done anyway, now there are just two shadows in the corners on the far side of the room. One of them goes next. Well, they cant do much from that distance. It makes an angry hissing sound and comes ying across the room, right at your dragon. But that is its turn done. Chris youre next.!

! !

C: I have Fire Magic. I can try and set the nearby one on re. But these are just Shadows surely they dont like re? Maybe I can just light up the room and keep them away from us? Will that work?! D: I like your thinking. Well lets see. You are a smart Mage from a good school in the Capital. Im going to give you a skill called Lore to help us determine whether your character has learnt about Shadows before, and many other types of academic knowledge. Please write it down on your sheet. To see if you know anything about Shadows, you need to roll a regular 4.!

! C: Thanks! (Rolls a 4). Got it!! ! ! !

D: Nice. So it turns out you read about Shadows in second year at Mage school. They do best in dark places. They cant approach re at all. They are dangerous. If they touch you, they can suck the life out of you.! C: Im going to create a nice bright ame in the air in front of us and keep it there. Can I do that?! D: Well you can do re magic, you should be able to. Im going to say its pretty easy to just create a light. You need to roll a 2. The higher you roll the better the e#ect.!

! C: Here goes (rolls a 2). ! ! ! C: Good enough for me.! !

D: Not a great roll, Mr Mage but good enough. You slap your hands together and produce a limp little re in the air in front of the party. Its not great but you can see the nearby Shadow recoil a bit. Its not going to be able to harm you in the next round.!

D: Next up is the last shadow on the far side. It hisses at you and moves up to the circle of light from your ame to join the other one. It sort of just glided over, it doesnt look too keen to enter the light and attack you. Next up is Braam.!

! B: Finally. Im going to whack these two shadows with my sword.! !

"13

Usurper Ruleset D: Not so fast Farm Boy, remember you dont even have a sword. You only have the clothes on your back.!

! !

B: Geez, what can I do then? Im just a farm boy, remember? were in a magic shop and you said there were objects all around. Anything I can grab and swing at these guys?! D: Sure! Well, theres a basket full of decorated wooden staves right at your feet. You could grab one of those and swing it? !

! B: Cool! I pick one that looks the most dangerous.! ! ! B: Fine.! !

D: Mmm, Farm Boy sorry but you have no Lore-like skills at all when it comes to magic. You have no idea which sta# could work. Want to pick one at random?!

D: Ok, a word of warning here. Im going to make you do a random roll. If you roll very low, you could end up grabbing something very inappropriate and cause a lot of trouble. This is a bit of a long shot, you need to roll a 6 to grab a good sta# and actually have an e#ect on the Shadows.!

! B: Im going for it. (rolls a 6) Yeeha!! !

D: Well done. Time to tell you about the very last die rolling rule. If you roll a 6, you can roll again to see just exactly how well you did. If you will another 6 you have done very well indeed. You can an extra special result. Unfortunately the same goes for rolling 1 during an attack. You have to roll again and if you roll another 1, you get a disastrous result of some kind.!

B: I rolled 6 so I roll again to see if I get another 6. (rolls 6). Hey! There you go! 6 and 6!!

! D: Ok! Farm Boy comes through! Good roll, its the max.! ! A: Great! What happened?! !

D: Farm Boy grabs a sta# from the basket and in the same smooth movement swipes it in the direction of both shadows. Theres an incredibly bright ash of light and a crack of thunder. The shadows shriek loudly. Papers utter from all the desks and a couple of potions topple over. When your ears stop ringing and your eyes adjust, you see that the room is much lighter now. Theres no sign of the Shadows. Instead, you see your host standing in front of you, smiling. Shes somewhat scantily dressed but this is the desert after all. Shes a sort of golden colour and she, well, has a tail with a barb at the end of it. Not bad! she says to you. Not bad at all.! "14

! C: Ah this was all a test. I wonder if those shadows were real.! ! ! C: Clement. ! ! ! ! ! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: She carries on: I am Ismila from Lunia. Welcome to my humble home and shop. You Chris, whats your Mages name?!

D: Thanks. You - Clement, I am expecting. Pretty weak ame spell, youre going to have to sharpen up a lot for your review. The rest of you, well done. I like people who can take care of themselves. Youre going to need it out here in the desert.! A: Well we introduce ourselves, obviously. Do we need to, uh, introduce ourselves to you, Dave?! D: Doesnt matter, depends on how much role playing you want to do. You can do it all in the third person or you can pretend to be talking to me. Whatever you prefer.! B: Ok, Im just telling you that we introduce ourselves. I like RPG-lite. Im not going to dress up or act out.! D: Got it. She o#ers you dinner. You walk through the second curtain at the back and it opens up into a beautiful courtyard. There are palm trees, water fountains and lush green grass to sit at around a low table. The table is decked out in more food than you can eat. Theres a big bowl for your dragon lled with plump desert rats.!

! C: Awesome. How does food work in this game?! !

D: Common sense again! Your characters will get hungry and thirsty and will need sleep, too. If you dont get food and rest Im going to start giving you penalties. You could even starve. But Im not going to ask you to write down your food and water numbers and stu# like that. As long as you show me you are buying supplies and taking breaks for meals when you can, thats ne. You were very hungry by the way, this meal comes at the right time.!

! !

B: I already like Ismila. What does she do out here? What are we supposed to do here anyway?! D: Ismila is very hospitable and you get to talk a lot over dinner. Shes not from the desert, as her name suggests. Lunia is a very distant land and somewhat mythical. She knows a lot about this place though. In fact she knows a lot about everything. You think she might be much older than she looks. Eventually Chris asks her about his project, right Chris?! "15

! C: Of course.! ! ! C: Yes?! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Clement - youre starting your nal year. Im not sure the University ever makes this su"ciently clear: do you wonder sometimes why there are so few fully qualied mages in the world?!

D: Because of the nal year projects my dear she says. They are often fatal. The university has high standards. If you survive, they know you can take care of yourself in the real world. They dont graduate poor mages.!

! C: Uhm, how does death work in this game, Dave?! !

D: Ah, death. There are so many ways to die out here in the Desert. But dont worry, it should always be fair and were here to have fun. If you really like your character, the GM should never let it die. For example: you are ghting a giant spider and it successfully bites you with two giant fangs right in the face. You fail to dodge and you are not immune to poison. Basically youre going to die! But if you like that character, well say that you immediately fall unconscious and go deathly green from the poison. Your party will have to get you to a temple or hospital of some sort to get you revived and healed. I may even reduce some of your skills, or give you a new Fear of Spiders property so that you have a penalty when you ght them in future, for a while. You may have a scar. Mostly penalties will be light, like I said the idea is to have fun.!

D: Alternatively, if you decide its time to switch characters or the current one is really not working very well for you let him die! You can then set up a new character at the same sort of skill level and well inject her into the story. Sounds callous but this is often a great way to refresh the game for yourself. Tired of spell casting? Try an Elven archer!!

D: Ismila goes on: Ive been studying this desert for some time, particularly the area here around Kamendra. The desert is dangerous enough as it is but theres more to it than that. There shouldnt even be a desert here, actually. But the rain clouds from the East just oat right past as if they darent rain here. Even when it does rain, the water is sucked into the sand leaving it just as dry as before! And the creatures? Therere no friendly desert bunnies or meerkats in these parts. Instead there are scorpions three feet long. And leathery vultures that will suck the life out you. What do they even eat? Its all predator and no prey. Life is out of balance in this place. She sips on her wine, thoughtfully.!

D: She puts down the wine glass and snaps her ngers. A scroll comes ying out of the shop curtain and lays down on the table in front of you. Some of the dishes simply move to make room for it.! "16

! C: I want to learn these spells. ! ! D: Sure! In time. You have a lot to learn, young mage. ! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Ismila continues: Two months ago I nally found this. Along with a lot of the other junk back there in the shop. Theres a lot of magic lying around the desert - youd like it. This is a map. Its very old, at least eight hundred years. You can see the mountains here, and the roads are the same. Kamendra is right here at the crossroads just as always. Notice anything di#erent? Clement you are the lore-guy. You may as well roll quickly.!

! C: Ok, a Lore skill roll. I roll 3.! !

D: Haha still not great, but its good enough for this. You notice that Kamendra was huge! It was some sort of capital. And the desert wasnt a desert. It was a jungle. !

! A: This is amazing. So what changed? What happened here?! ! ! !

D: Ismila: Exactly! My theory is that there was a disaster of some sort and we are still feeling its e#ects today. Thats why everything is so broken here.! C: And you want us to go and investigate the surrounding area and nd out more?! D: Right again, and that is your nal year project. Plus two essays and a report. I suggest you start at the nearby caves of Alakka two days ride from here. Notice that on this map they are not marked as caves. They are marked as Generatorium 3 and they are quite prominent. One last thing, my little friends. Do you not wonder why you can read the writing on this map at all?!

! B: What language are we even speaking in the game?! ! ! B: So the map is annotated in standard Imperial.! ! ! !

D: Youre all speaking Imperial. Its the standard way of communication on this continent, even the creatures speak some form of it, when they speak.!

D: Ismila: Well done Farm Boy. This map is over eight hundred years old. Our empire is only four hundred years old. Just saying. You get the feeling Ismila knows a lot more about all this than she is telling you.! C: The map is older than the Empire but uses the Imperial language. Oh, so this place here is connected to the Empire and predates it.!

"17

Usurper Ruleset D: Possibly anyway, its now completely dark and Ismila o#ers you rooms in the back, through another curtain, to sleep over. Then you can set out in the morning.!

! !

B: Just a sort of question though: why should we even go on this quest? Its for Chris, isnt it?! D: Ismila must have seen the look on your face. Before she leaves for her own room, she turns around and says: As for you two. Theres a lot more to nd out there than the pieces in this store. Gold, Magic and Adventure. You two can stay here in town in the local tavern if you like and eventually take on the sort of dusty appearance of the locals. Maybe you will grab the rst caravan out of here and head for the capital to become shoemakers or accountants or something. Or you could give Clement here a hand and have a story to tell about it. That much I can guarantee. She goes o# to bed while the dishes simply disappear! No housekeeping required in Ismilas world.!

Candy Store
D: Its a beautiful morning and you all sleep particularly well. You wake up at dawn precisely as the rst rays of the sun reect o# of some decorated mirrors onto your pillows. Theres also a nice tough desert robe for each of you. The locals here just wrap that around themselves and they last forever. When you emerge into the courtyard, Ismila is nowhere to be found but theres a lovely full Imperial breakfast laid out and some delicious live de-clawed desert chickens for your dragon. A note on the table says:!

Im away on Business. Enjoy breakfast and then help yourselves to an item each from the shop. Dont be greedy. Have fun in the desert and dont get killed. Best, Ismila from Lunia.!

! A: Shes so nice. Magic items! I change into my new clothing of course. ! ! B: Great, us too. Lets nish breakfast and get our items. I know what I want!! ! ! B: Im taking that lightning sta#.! ! D: Sure. When you get to the basket, you see a little note attached to it: ! ! !
"18

D: Ok, you look like locals in your robes and it will even protect you from the sun a bit. You make your way into the shop what are you going to pick?!

Dear Farm Boy. I said, dont be greedy. Anyway you were lucky you didnt blow us all up yesterday. You are no magic user! Ismila!

Usurper Ruleset B: Man, she is thorough. What if I take it anyway?!

! ! !

D: You can do that but I think it would end badly. I wont penalise you but you are going to keep needing high rolls to make the sta# work. If you ever roll a 1 and 1 you are going to blow up and die.! B: Whoah, alright no need to get nasty. I need a weapon, or maybe some armour.! D: Aha, youre beginning to choose a direction for Farm Boy? Going to be a ghter type?!

! B: Sure. Farm Boy likes the idea of cutting up bad guys.! !

D: No problem. Well, there are many di#erent kinds of ghters. Think a bit about what kind of weapon you want to use, whether you want to be fast and light, or heavy and slow. Two daggers? A giant hammer? Bows? !

! B: Im not sure yet. Lets just start out with a sword, I guess.! ! ! !

D: Theres some armour lying around. Looks like leather but it looks really tough. Itll give you an armour item skill with no penalty to your movement. There is also a sword rack against the other wall with some lovely swords on it.! B: I wonder. Im going to take the armour. I can buy a regular sword at the blacksmiths probably, right?! D: Sure! Now, please make a note on your character sheet that you have some equipment. Best to keep a page in your notebook for all your items, or perhaps a block on the character sheet. You have acquired Hamzaks Shirt - magic leather armour, very light. !

! B: How does it work? And how much can I carry anyway?! ! !

D: No xed rules, but youre a strapping young lad and can carry a lot. Ill warn you if things get too heavy. ! D: Items work like this: a typical enemy would still need a normal roll to hit you guys with a sword if they were just medium skilled, something like 4. With your armour, you get an Item Skill while you wear it. If someone hits you, your armour will automatically give you a roll to defend with. Its passive: your armour will work under most circumstances. For example if you can dodge and you have armour, both defence rolls can apply to an attack. Depending on the armour, you would have to roll, say a 4 to completely stop an average attack. You can use this every time you get hit even during the same round.!

"19

Usurper Ruleset D: Usually you will only be able to use one active skill to defend yourself with for each attack, like dodge. Also, item skills should not stack up too much. If you have a magic helm and magic chest armour, youre not going to get to do two rolls in defence. You can ask the GM which part of you is getting hit.!

! ! ! B: Armour, that sounds great. I feel safer already. Now I just need a sword.! ! D: Anna, what are you picking? ! ! ! D: Do you see her in metal armour?! ! A: No, not really. But she can hide, or try to stay low or something.! !

A: Well what bugs me is that while my dragon is o# attacking people, Pandra just sort of stands around and she doesnt have armour.!

D: Why not turn her into a rogue- or thief-type character? Picking locks, hiding, sneaking around? And your dragon can do the ghting for you!!

! A: Yes thats perfect. Shes no angel, shes denitely a bit of a rogue!! !

D: Ok, please write that down, its an important step for your character. Ill even say that you may have one or two rogue skills already when we need them, as youve been living by your wits since eeing your home town. In this game Rogue skills are about much more than picking locks, hiding and stabbing in the back. They can include anything you think will be in character! Sounds like fun?!

! A: Totally. Ok Im writing that down. ! ! ! A: Ill take it. What is it?! !

D: The shop has something you might like. Theres a cupboard in the back with coats. One of them seems really hard to focus on properly. It might make you harder to spot.!

D: Lets call it Snu$es Missing Cloak - Improves actual hiding and generally makes you attract less attention. So, whenever you hide well make you harder to detect. (A scribbles this down).!

! D: Clement, its you. ! ! C: I dont need weapons, I have re magic. Maybe a wand or something?! !
"20

Usurper Ruleset D: Spoken like a true Mage. There are a number of things here you might like. Lets see a magic water bottle that keeps on pouring (useful for the desert), a hat that expands when falling (like a parachute), a ruby ring that gives you a +1 on Fire Magic rolls and so on!!

! C: The hat! The hat! Not only fashionable but very useful. Ill write that in.! !

D: Call it: Cranfords Olde Safety Hat - expands for safety in times of gravitational crisis. All set? Ready to set out?!

! B: Yes, lets go! Well get supplies and some weapons in town.! ! D: O# you go out the shop! You werent being particularly careful, were you?! ! B: No, er yes what do you mean?! ! !
A: So mean! Thanks a lot.!

D: You do remember you were being watched yesterday. Unfortunately you walk out of the store into a trap. If you had told me you were being careful about it, you could have avoided it.!

Not according to plan

D: You step through the curtain and nd yourself surrounded in the street by a gang of bandits wearing desert gear. They look like caravan people, their heads and faces are covered to keep the sand out. There are a dozen of them standing in a semi-circle with clubs, and one taller one wearing an Aladdin-like outt with two broad sabres at his sides. Given that they have clubs, they are probably trying to capture you alive. This becomes even clearer as a big net drops over all of you from the roof of the shop where two more of them were hiding. !

! B: This is so unfair! We cant ght all these guys!! ! ! !

D: Sometimes life is not fair. Im never going to blatantly kill your characters out of spite, dont worry! Sometimes the odds are just not in your favour. It doesnt go wonderfully all the time. And by the way this is perfectly fair because you already knew this was a dangerous town and you were attracting attention.! B: Ok, ok. Well Im not going down without a ght. I want to overpower one of them and grab a club.! D: Sure! Well you rst you have to avoid the net. All of you are allowed to throw a 5 or better to avoid the net. Chris, you need a 6. Pandra, you can throw once for you and your dragon.!

"21

Usurper Ruleset (A rolls a 3, B rolls 5, C rolls 1, has to roll again to check for another 1 and rolls another 1!)!

D: Pandra, Im afraid you and your dragon are tangled up in the net. Farm Boy, you actually made it. You dive to the side but now youre right on top of three of these brigands. Clement o dear. The tragic 1 and 1. You get a story. With that roll, not only do you get stuck under the net, you also completely entangle yourself. You cant move your hands and hence no more spell casting.!

! C: Harsh! Well Farm Boy its all up to you.! ! B: Lets ght! ! ! ! B: Ive thrown a 4. ! ! ! B: Mmm.! !

D: Right Farm Boy, there are three brigands next to you and 9 more outside immediate melee range. Theres also the dangerous-looking leader with the two swords. Throw for priority.!

D: For the three nearby brigands I throw 3, 5 and 5. For the 9 faraway ones, Ill split them into two groups of 4 and 5. They throw 2 and 4. The leader throws 2. That means the two brigands next to you go rst.!

D: Well lets see. They want you alive, they are both attacking with clubs. If they hit you, they will have a reasonable chance of incapacitating you, but you have a lot of protection from your armour. As usual they need 4 to hit you, but you can defend with your armour now.!

! D: (Rolls 4 and 2). One hit, one miss. You get clubbed by the one brigand. ! ! B: I can roll to defend with my armour. (Rolls 2). Mmm, that didn't work.! ! ! B: My turn! ! !

D: Maybe he went for your head? Your armour roll doesnt defend you. Now Im going to say he needs to roll a 4 to knock you out or hurt you badly enough to subdue you. (Rolls 3). Aha! You get a nasty blow but youre still ghting. Lets say no penalty from that.!

D: Not so fast, four other brigands rolled the same as you. (Braam and Dave roll again. B gets a 5, the brigands get a 6. They go rst.) Four brigands use their turn to all close in on you. The other ve will go later but theyre going to move in on the net and secure Pandra, her dragon and Clement. They cant escape any more at all by the end of the turn.! "22

Usurper Ruleset

B: This is not looking good. I have seven bad guys around me and their boss hasnt even gone yet. I dont even have a club yet and you guys are out of action!!

! D: Well, its your turn Farm Boy, youre going to have to do something special.! ! !

B: I can run away! But that wouldnt really be in character, Im supposed to be quite brave. Ok, Im going to try and wrestle a club from one of the brigands. I have armour, maybe I can ght them o#.! D: This is a long shot but Ill allow you to try. You dont have any particular Kung Fu skills or anything like that at all, so youre going to struggle to try and get a club o# an enemy. Youll have to roll 6.!

! B: Ah man, whatever. (rolls 5). Fail.! !

D: Ok, its a decent roll but you dont get the club from the brigand. The only enemy left to play is the leader, but hes playing it cool and just watches. So, its the next turn. Anne and Chris are trapped under the net with 5 brigands on top of them. Braam is surrounded by seven guys with clubs and he has no weapon. The leader shouts at you: Surrender you fool! Or we may decide we only need some of you!!

! ! ! !

B: Well I think were beat, gang. Theyre going to capture us, Im not too keen on getting Farm Boy killed, though. I put my hands up and surrender.! D: A brigand steps up and forces you to your knees. You get clubbed on the back of the head and everything goes black.!

Cages, Camel and Canyons

D: You are all waking up at the same time. A camel is making a loud snorting noise close to you. The rst thing you realise is that the ground is not level and its moving. You are aching all over. Pandra, your dragon has probably been awake all the time and its looking at you with very concerned, teary eyes. Its snout is tied up with rope. The four of you are all together in a wooden cage on top of some sort of huge pack animal. Larger than an elephant and smells far worse. Its walking steadily onwards. You have your hands tied and you dont have your lovely hat, armour and cloak anymore. Instead, there are four large brigands on camels in front of you, and they are each wearing something of yours! The guy with the hat looks ridiculous but he must think its quite fetching. Behind you are many more brigands, some on camels, some walking. Some of the camels tow carts and there are two more of these giant pack "23

Usurper Ruleset animals further back. They have brigands riding them, sitting under some contraptions to give them shade - they must be senior guys. !

! C: Were basically ne? I want my hat back.! ! A: Where are we going? ! ! ! !

D: You must be deep in the desert. You dont really notice tracks in front of you but the ground is rocky and hard. There are sand dunes to either side, forming a shallow canyon. Far in the forward distance you make out some rocky hills.! B: And I want my armour. Lets get out of this cage. Are we being closely watched?! D: There are no guards on your animal (which is called a pluup), just your cage. This is a docile pack animal a bit like an overgrown ant eater, but with six legs and patchy fur. You are higher than the camel riders but the boss on the pluup about 20 meters behind you can see you clearly. The four camel riders in front of you dont look back all that often, but one of them does now and notices that you are awake. He drops back to come alongside of you.!

! D: Are you comfortable? hes mocking you. ! ! B: Just ne thanks! Why did you capture us?! !

D: We thought you were rich tourists, and so you are! He takes out Clements money pouch from his belt and holds it up triumphantly. Clearly he got the pouch, and the other three front camel riders got your items. And now well make even more money when we ransom you back to your families! Stupid children! he laughs.!

! !

B: I tell him to go @$% himself, or whatever passes for swearing out here in the desert.! D: He points at you and draws his hand across his throat, then he laughs and catches up with the other guys.!

! A: We need to get out of here. What can we do? How tough is the cage?! ! ! A: A lock! Im a thief, remember? I bet I can pick it.! ! D: Maybe with your hands free and with a piece of wire or a tool.! !
"24

D: The cage is very tough, made from some sort of dried cactus wood. It has a little door and thats secured by a thick metal lock.!

Usurper Ruleset A: Come on, my character is made for these kind of situations. I bet I can wiggle free.!

D: Well, you have small hands, youre a thief, youre not that closely watched Ok Pandra, Im going to give you a shot at that. In fact, lets give you a formal skill for that, call it Escape. One attempt to wiggle loose from being bound.!

! A: Thats more like it (writes a new skill on the sheet).! !

D: This is not a particularly tough case, they didnt tie you too thoroughly because youre in a cage anyway. Alright, you need a 4 or higher.!

! A: (rolls 4). Did it! Yeeha!! ! B: Good stu# Dragon girl! Now get us out of here as well.! ! ! C: Roll it!! ! !

D: Theres a chance the boss on the pluup behind you is going to notice, but he needs a 5 or higher.!

D: (rolls 5). Haha sorry, he does. As Pandra is untying you both, he sits up in his sun chair and looks right at you.! A: Can I nish untying Clement? With his hands free he can do his magic!!

"25

! ! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Yes, you have time. You untie Clement, Farm Boy and your dragon but the boss is now shouting instructions at the camel riders in front of you and they are dropping back to where you are.! C: Hands free! I am a re mage gentlemen, and I have a plan. I bet these pluups are not all that docile when their tails are on re.! D: I like it, very original. You want to light up the pluups tail? Theres a bit of fur there on the tip might just work. It will take you a turn and you still have to roll a normal re magic roll. The brigands on camels next to you are going to try and stop you when they see whats up. Youll need a standard 4 for that, Clement. Lets roll for priority.!

! (all the players roll, the brigands get 2, 5, 6 and 3. A gets 3, B gets 5, C gets 4.)! ! ! D: Its you next, Farm Boy. Your hands are free but you are still in the cage. ! ! B: Can I punch him through the bars? ! ! ! B: Not really. Farm Boy doesnt know Karate or anything. ! ! D: Lets just call it Fist Fights. Youre a natural!! ! B: (writes it down). Punching! What do I need? 4 as usual?! ! ! B: Ok. Well I roll a 3.! ! D: You miss. Next up is Clement! ! !
"26

D: One camel rider goes rst. He doesnt have a ranged weapon, just the usual scimitar. So he gets on top of his camel and attempts to jump onto your pluup. I would say he has to roll for that, but its not that hard. He needs a 3 (rolls a 4). Well he makes it. This is the guy with your armour, Farm Boy.!

D: Sure, hes hanging on to the cage. But its going to be harder than usual. In fact, lets write down a skill for you for unarmed combat. Its not really any particular style, is it? !

D: Nope, this is through the bars. Id say you need a 5 but he is also wearing your armour. These are tough brigands and normally they should be able to defend themselves with a skill, too.!

C: Perfect. I slap my hands together, mutter the arcane magic words required and set that tail right on re!!

Usurper Ruleset D: Roll a 4 for us, please.!

! C: (rolls 4) Got it!! !

D: Things go according to plan. The pluups tail catches brightly alight. It bellows loudly and sprints forward at full gallop. Ever seen a pluup gallop before? Its quite something to behold. On board, things go totally crazy. The cage is jumping up and down and you are being thrown in all directions. The brigand outside is hanging on to the cage for dear life and the three tough camel riders are galloping after you. You can just make out the rest of the caravan halt in the dust behind you before you round another corner in the canyon.!

B: Were getting away! Nice one Clement. I assume this was the whole plan? Or do you have a way to get us out of this cage?!

! C: Not really, that was sort of all of it.! !

D: No worries, brave adventurers, this situation will resolve itself soon enough. Cages are not fastened onto pluups with galloping in mind. The pluup keeps going at full speed for a minute or two. Neither you, the camel riders or your passenger can do anything but the caravan is now far behind. Eventually the cage bounces once too many times, slides over to the side and you, the cage, the camel riders and the pluup end up in a loud, sandy crash of cactus splinters, camel legs and ailing arms and legs. The pluup struggles onto its feet and walks away. You are free but badly shaken, as are your captors. !

! B: Fight!! !

D: Yes it sure is. You have time to grab some cage splinters as weapons and then its time to roll for priority. The four bandits roll 4,4,2 and 1.! (A rolls 5, B rolls 2, C rolls 6)!

! D: You rst Clement.! ! !

C: Standard ght, Im going to try to set one of these guys on re. Oh, lets do the brigand with the armour, as his armour isnt going to protect him against that. ! D: Alright, you need to roll 4. Also, he does not get a chance to dodge if you succeed.!

! C: (rolls a 5) Fire in the hole! ! !

"27

Usurper Ruleset D: Cruel but e#ective! The Brigand with Farm Boys armour suddenly bursts into re. He falls to the ground and rolls around, screaming. Hes not going to bother you any more in this ght.!

! !

A: Im next. I want Pandra to attack the brigand wearing my hiding cloak, please! Assuming I can nd him. ! D: Yes, you know what you are looking for so the cloak isnt going to help him right now. He also has no hiding skill. !

! A: Alright, Pandra orders her dragon to take a nice big bite out of him.! !

D: Sure. They are not armoured but they do have dodge ability. You only need a 4 to hit.!

! A: (rolls 6, rolls again to check for another 6 but only gets a 2). Normal hit.! ! ! C: Oh man.! !

D: Brigand needs 4 to dodge. (rolls 4). Sorry Pandra, the brigand does a very athletic little sideways roll and your dragon ends up with a mouth full of empty turban. Next is one brigand that rolled 4. Hes going to attack Clement. Clement Im sorry but you dont have armour or dodging. He needs 4 to hit you.!

D: (rolls 4). Mmm, its a hit, only just. Youre not very tough Clement, this is going to hurt. You get a nasty slash across your chest and you collapse on the ground with a groan. !

! C: Man oh man, am I dead or what?! ! ! ! !

D: You are gravely wounded but of course youll live. However, you are going to have to get to a healer before we do anything else in this game. ! C: Im going to have to invest in some sort of magical protection if I cant wear armour. Cant believe I just got myself killed (almost).! D: Farm Boy, we need to see who wins the tie at priority 2 between you and a brigand. ! D: (B rolls 5, D rolls 2). You rst, Farm Boy.! "28

! B: You said I could pick up a piece of the cage as a weapon? ! ! D: Yes. You could use it as a spear or a club. ! ! B: Which is better?! ! D: Well you dont really have weapon skill yet, I would use it as a club.! ! B: Ok. I need 4 to hit as usual?! ! D: Yes thats ne. But your brigand can also dodge. ! ! B: Im going to try and club the one that hasnt acted yet. (rolls 5). Got him!! !

Usurper Ruleset

D: Well he can roll 4 to dodge (rolls 3). Well done, your brigand has had a bad club to the head. Lets say he stays down since he already failed the dodge. Theres one brigand left to act. Two of them are out of action altogether. Its the one with the money purse. Well, guess what, gang? He has a purse full of money and three adversaries to face next turn. Our brigand turns around sharply and runs for one of the camels now standing around a bit bewildered. !

! !

D: It is now a new turn, with one brigand left in melee range, one going for a camel and three of you. The close one rolls a 5 for priority, the runner rolls 5 as well.! (A rolls 4, B rolls 1)! D: Its the brigands rst. The rst one mounts his camel successfully, the second also runs towards a camel. This is the one with Clements hat.!

! C: My hat! Stop him!! ! D: Hes out of melee range.! !

A: He still needs to mount the camel. Im going to have my dragon chase after him and try to bite him next round.!

! D: Alright, that would work. Farm Boy?! ! ! !

B: You said I could use this splinter as a club or a spear. Can I throw it at the runner with Clements hat?! D: Nice yes ok, but its not that easy for someone without training. Youre going to need a 6. ! B: Ill do it (rolls 6, checks for another 6 but gets a 4). Happy? ! "29

Usurper Ruleset

D: That was lucky, but well done. As the brigand with Clements hat runs towards the camel, Farm Boy takes a step back, then hurls his cage splinter through the air. It strikes the brigand in the middle of the back. He falls, rolls and remains motionless on the ground. The other brigand looks back once then spurs his camel to full gallop and makes o# in the direction of the caravan.!

A: Lets not hang around here. They might be back in full force. Three camels left?!

! D: Yes, the camels are ne.! ! A: We collect our magic items from the dead brigands and get to the camels.! ! B: Hang on, what else did the brigands have on them?! ! ! !

D: You have time for a quick look I guess. They had some small change, and of course their scimitars. Nothing much else of value. ! B: Oh good, we nally have weapons better than broken sticks. We take those for sure!! D: No problem. Theyre bulky but you can fasten them to yourself with the brigand belts. One is burnt but its still useable. !

! A: Yuck.! ! ! ! !

D: Free swords! And camels, too. Which way are you going to ride? Onwards through the rocky canyon, climb out of it, or back towards the caravan?! B: Not back towards the caravan! Lets ride up and out of the canyon, otherwise theyll just catch up with us.! A: Mmm, ok. We ride out of the canyon. Oh, by the way we have of course loaded poor Clement onto one of the camels, too. Is there anything we can do for him?! D: If you had healing skills, maybe. Hes out cold and he has a nasty gash in his chest. Hes bleeding a lot. He might not make it unless you help him.!

! B: Where are we?! ! !

D: You dont know, but you head out of the canyon. As you reach the top of the canyon you are startled by another gure in a full desert robe, holding a wooden sta#. Must have been watching the whole thing from up there!!

"30

Usurper Ruleset B: Oh no! Weve already lost Clement! Roll for priority, well ght.!

D: Fortunately no need for that. The gure throws back her hood to reveal her rather lovely face. Its Ismila!!

! A: Excellent!! !

D: You stop and she explains: I heard about your abduction outside my shop. Nobody kidnaps my customers. I see you managed to escape again, not bad. But Clement doesnt look good.!

! B: Can you heal him?! ! ! !

D: Im not a healer but Ive come across some very useful things out here in the desert over time. Lay him down here.! A: What about the caravan? If they come round here theyll see our tracks, Im sure!! D: Ismila answers darkly: They wont be bothering you again, I took care of that. You lay Clement on the sand and Ismila takes a potion from a bag she wears on her belt. Its in a little ruby bottle that looks like a large gem with a stopper. She removes the stopper and simply pours the contents over Clements chest while muttering some presumably magic words. His chest bubbles and a small red cloud of vapour rises from it. Clement sits up like a shot and reaches for where his hat should be.!

! C: Haha yes of course.! ! D: He is fully healed.! ! B: We did it! ! ! ! ! !

D: Well done, young adventurers. You had some help but you didnt do too poorly. From here you can set o# for the caves, it turns out theyre not far away. Or perhaps you could explore the area a bit more? I think you are also getting a bit better at your skills. Im going to reward you for this season as follows:! Anna, your dragon is growing up a bit. How about we give him a Claws attack. Attack two targets in one round, at -1 penalty skill?! Braam, you were pretty good with that improvised spear. Lets say youre a natural, and we give you Weapon throwing - one throw at close range without penalty.!

"31

Usurper Ruleset Clement, you were defeated close to the end but you all shared the adventure. How about a more advanced re spell?!

! C: Thanks! Two targets on re at the same time?! ! ! C: Sure. (writes down addition to skill)! !
Next

D: Ok add that to the skill description, but its going to be at -1 penalty just like for Annas dragon.!

D: Thats it for todays session! Well done all. Hope you enjoyed it.!

I hope this session illustrated the key points of USRPR. There have to be some rules otherwise the game will have no balance and wont be a challenge. Testing skills against dice rolls adds randomness that makes it unpredictable and more fun and the storytelling part by the GM and players makes it an adventure. No need for pointy 4-sided dice or rule books. !

! !

One issue with this style of RPG is that the GM has to be good at telling stories. Fortunately the world is full of good storytellers. Grandpa could be a GM, if he could learn to judge the required roll on a die to match an achievement in the game. ! Another issue is maintaining consistency and balance. If you needed a 4 to hit a goblin half an hour ago and nothing has changed, it should be 4 again. To facilitate consistency it might help if characters or the GM wrote down what they needed to hit in a particular situation and then to try and not deviate from that without reason.!

Finally, the GM and characters should be inventive in the creation of skills. An expert re mage should be able to do all sorts of wonderful things with re, all of which can become sub-skills. A sword ghter could end up with many di#erent combo moves that combine attacks, blocks and tumbles in cool ways. We could probably do with a list of example skills for di#erent scenarios, such as fantasy, sci-, Western and other settings. I encourage happy users of this set of rules to contribute.!

Enjoy!

"32