liGhtmaster

pulp Fantasy retro roleplayinG

—Core ruleBook—
 Contents
Foreword........................... 6
How Accurate is This Clone?.............. 6
Important!.......................................... 6
The Game’s Setting. ........... 7
Feel and Inspiration.............................7
The World.............................................7
Cosmology & Metaphysics..................7
The Structure of the Universe................... 7
Lightmaster Ships.....................................8
Souls and the Afterlife..............................8
Religion....................................................8
Magical Teaching.....................................9
Quality of Life.................................. 10
The Setting’s Inhabitants.................. 10
Levels and Demographics..................11
Levels as an In-Character Measurement.11
Novice Characters (level 1–4)................ 11
Seasoned Characters (level 5–9).............12
Veteran Characters (level 10–19)............12
Renowned Characters (level 20–29).......12
Legendary Characters (level 30+)...........12
Basic Mechanics............... 13
Dice................................................... 13
The Extended d20...................................13
Creature Attributes............................14
Ability Scores.......................................... 14
Strength (abbreviated to “Str”)............... 14
Dexterity (abbreviated to “Dex”)............ 15
Constitution (abbreviated to “Con”)...... 15
Intelligence (abbreviated to “Int”).......... 15
Wisdom (abbreviated to “Wis”).............. 15
Charisma (abbreviated to “Cha”)............ 15
Skills....................................................... 15
Magic & Spells...................................16
Divine Magic.......................................... 16
Arcane Magic.......................................... 16
Psychic Magic......................................... 16
Fighting.............................................17
Armour Class.......................................... 17
Saving Throws........................................ 17
Experience And Levels.......................18
Character Classes...............................18
Skills............................... 19
Skill Bonuses.....................................19
Skill Checks...................................... 20
Simple Checks........................................20
Taking 10 And Taking 20......................20
Opposed Checks.................................... 21
Armour Penalties.................................... 21
Ability Checks...................................21
Other Bonuses And Penalties................. 21
Detailed Skill Descriptions.............. 22
Aimed Spell (Magical Skills)..................22
Armour (Armour Skills).........................23
Bluff (Social Skills)................................. 25
Climb (Outdoor Skills).......................... 25
Debate (Social Skill)............................... 25
Disable Device (Subterfuge Skills)......... 25
Handle Animal.......................................26
History (Lore Skills)...............................26
Intimidate (Social Skills)........................26
Language (Lore Skills)............................26
Magical Lore (Lore Skills)......................26
Mana Focus (Self Discipline Skills)........26
Mana Transfer (Magical Skills).............. 27
Nature Lore (Lore Skills)........................28
Orate (Social Skill).................................28
Pick Locks (Subterfuge Skills)................28
Read Magic (Magical Skills)...................29
Religious Lore (Lore Skills)....................29
Ride (Outdoor Skills).............................29
Search (Perception Skills).......................30
Sense Lie (Perception Skills)...................30
Sense Magic (Perception Skills)..............30
Sneak Attack (Subterfuge Skills)............ 31
Spell Path Research (Spell Path Skills)... 31
Spot (Perception Skills)..........................32
Stealth (Subterfuge Skills)......................32
Contents
Swim (Outdoor Skills)............................33
Toughness (Self Discipline Skills)...........33
Use Magical Device (Magical Skills)......34
Weapon (Weapon Skills)........................34
Creating a Character...... 36
Step 1: Choose Class......................... 36
The Adventurer.......................................38
The Annihilist.........................................39
The Bounty Hunter................................40
The Chirurgeon...................................... 41
The Clairvoyant......................................42
The Conjurer...........................................43
The Empath............................................44
The Mountebank.................................... 45
The Necromancer...................................46
The Occultist.......................................... 47
The Priest................................................48
The Runesmith.......................................49
The Spellsword........................................50
The Telepath........................................... 51
The Warden............................................ 52
The Warlock........................................... 53
The Warrior............................................54
The Witch............................................... 55
Step 2: Choose Sphere...................... 56
Step 3: Ability Scores........................ 56
Step 4: Buy Skills...............................57
Step 5: Update Totals........................ 59
Step 6: Finishing Touches................. 60
3
 Equipment........................ 62
Money............................................... 62
Starting Money......................................62
Encumbrance And Weight................ 62
Mundane Items................................. 63
Weapons............................................ 66
Armour............................................. 69
Healing Herbs................................... 72
Land Transport..................................75
Sea/Air Transport..............................77
Buying Magic................................... 79
Magic............................... 80
Spheres Of Magic............................. 80
Mana Focusing.......................................80
Divine Magic..........................................80
Arcane Magic..........................................80
Psychic Magic.........................................80
Spell Paths.........................................81
Mana..................................................81
Casting A Spell................................. 82
Arcane....................................................82
Divine.....................................................83
Psychic....................................................83
Spell Format..................................... 83
Saving Throws.................................. 83
Multiple Saving Throws..........................84
Graduated Saving Throws...................... 85
Bonuses for Non-Characters.................. 85
Common Magical Effects................. 86
Contents
Invisibility..............................................86
Illusions and Conjurations.....................86
Symbols..................................................88
Light and Darkness................................88
Summoned Creatures.............................89
“Person” Spells.........................................89
Spell Combinations................................89
Crafting..................................................89
Necromancy & Undead.................... 90
Husks.....................................................90
Shades....................................................90
Skeletons................................................90
Undead Minions..................................... 91
Adventuring.................... 93
Time & Movement............................ 93
Indoor Movement...................................93
Overland Movement..............................93
Mixed Terrain........................................94
Fatigue....................................................94
Doors................................................ 95
Traps................................................. 95
Environmental Damage.................... 96
Falling....................................................96
Fire.........................................................96
Drowning and Suffocating..................... 97
Mapping............................................97
4 Gaining Experience...........................97
Experience for Treasure..........................98
Experience per Session............................98
Levels Only............................................99
Combat........................... 100
The Combat Round......................... 100
Statement Of Intent........................ 100
Initiative.......................................... 101
Actions............................................. 101
Activate Magic Item............................. 101
Attack................................................... 102
Cast Spell............................................. 103
Charge.................................................. 103
Concentrate.......................................... 103
Fighting Withdrawal............................104
Prepare Spell.........................................104
Run......................................................104
Set Spear...............................................104
Use Non-Activatable Item.................... 105
Attack Rolls.....................................105
Reading An Attack Table.....................106
Reading A Critical Table......................106
Specific Critical Effects........................ 107
Temporary Critical Effects...................108
Attack Modifiers...................................108
Haste & Slow.................................. 109
Two Weapon Fighting......................110
Missile Weapons & Melee.................... 110
Effects Of Damage...........................110
Bleeding............................................... 110
Dazed....................................................111
Down....................................................111
Dying....................................................111
Lose Initiative........................................111
On The Defensive..................................111
Out........................................................111
Penalty...................................................111
Stunned................................................ 112
Timing Of Status Effects.................112
Helpless Targets...............................112
Injury and Healing........ 115
Physical Injuries..............................115
Hit Points............................................. 115
Specific Injuries.................................... 115
Death and Dying.............................116
Raising The Dead............................116
Poison And Disease......................... 117
Blood Venom........................................ 118
Consumption....................................... 118
Food ‘Poisoning’................................... 118
Gastric Poison...................................... 118
Lycanthropy......................................... 119
Muscle Venom...................................... 119
Nerve Venom........................................ 119
Plague................................................... 119
Rabies................................................... 119
Respiratory Poison................................ 119
Zombie Infection.................................. 119
Crafting........................ 120
Making An Enchanted Item........... 120
Magical Metallurgy.............................. 121
Enchanting Metals............................... 121
Enchanted Item Values................... 122
Weapons and Armour...........................122
Skill Bonus Items................................. 125
 Mana Enhancers................................... 125
Spell Scrolls.......................................... 125
Single Use Items...................................126
Potions..................................................126
Wands, Rods and Staves.......................126
Daily Use Items.................................... 127
Constant Items..................................... 127
Automata And Golems......................... 127
Artificial Limbs.....................................128
Lightmaster Sails............................ 129
Crafting Summary......................... 129
Lightmaster Travel. ...... 131
Take Off & Landing....................... 132
Leaving the Planet................................ 133
Ship to Ship Combat...................... 133
Boarding Actions.................................. 133
Ship Weapons....................................... 133
Damage to Ships..................................134
Repairing Ships....................................134
The Cosmos..................................... 134
The Void...........................................135
Gravity................................................. 135
Air and Breathing.................................136
Movement & Travel............................. 137
The Celestial Sphere........................ 138
Astronomical Bodies....................... 139
Luminiferous Aether...................... 139
Air & Breathing.................................... 139
Movement & Travel.............................140
Extras........................... 141
Reading The Extra Statistics............ 141
Animals........................................... 142
Artificial Life...................................143
Beings from Other Worlds...............145
Demons............................................147
Dragons...........................................149
Miscellaneous Monsters................. 150
People..............................................152
Undead............................................ 154
Open Game License......... 156
Open Game License Version 1.0A........ 156

Contents
Lightmaster: © 2019 Blacky the Blackball

Released under the Open Game License V1.0a. All text is hereby declared to be “Open Content”
by the terms of that license.

Art Credits
◊ Aaron Lee (p9, p14, p54, p113)
◊ Joyce Maureira (p67, p126)
◊ Mohammed Agbadi (p86)
◊ Tan Ho Sim (Cover, p79)
◊ Veikk0.ma (p11*)
◊ 1manstudio.de (p22*, p28*, p64*, p100*, p110*, p128*)

Rights to all artwork (except *) held by Kevin Crawford/Sine Nomine Publishing. All artwork
used under license. Artwork is not “Open Content” by the terms of the Open Game License
5
V1.0a.

Permission is hereby granted to print/photocopy/distribute the contents of this book.


obvious: If you don’t recognise the
rules, don’t worry; you don’t need
to know anything about the old
game in order to play this one!
Open Game License: The full text
of this license is printed at the end
of this book. All text in this book
is declared “Open Content” under
the terms of that license.
Behind the Curtain
Throughout this book, you’ll occa-
sionally see a “Behind the Curtain”
note like the one below. These box-
es contain design notes about the
game, either to give you an insight
into why various design decisions
Foreword
have been made, or just because I
thought that you might find them
interesting.
Behind the Curtain
A quick note on the usage of pro-
nouns: throughout this book I will
be mostly using the “singular they”
construction to refer to people of
indeterminate gender such as ge-
neric characters.
While this can sometimes lead to
slightly clumsy sentence construc-
tion, I feel that this is preferable to
other less gender-neutral language.
6
Foreword
Welcome to Lightmaster! This game is a retro-clone of a particular edition of a popular role-
playing game from the late 1980s. Unfortunately, for legal reasons that game can’t be named here,
but if you check out the attack tables and critical hit tables in the back of the book it should be
obvious which set of rules this game emulates.
You’re not going to find a “what is a role-playing game” section in this introduction. I’m assum-
ing that you wouldn’t have got so far as to be reading this if you weren’t already familiar with
role-playing games.
How Accurate is This Clone?
If you’re a fan of the original game on which this is based, you are probably interested in how
closely the rules of this game emulate their source of inspiration.
The answer to that question is that this clone greatly simplifies and streamlines the original game
while keeping its essential character. In particular, character generation is much simpler; with its
core mechanic for developing skills being inspired by one of the spin-off games related to the
main game that is being emulated.
Many of the simplifications in this game come from a more recent edition of a different role-
playing game-the world’s most popular role-playing game, in fact (which, again, I can’t name
for legal reasons). As the game’s author, I find this particularly ironic because the more complex
mechanics of the original game were originally developed as a set of house-rules for that other
game; so blending the two back together brings things full circle.
As such, there is pretty much no part of Lightmaster that is a direct mechanical emulation of
the equivalent part of the original game. This game instead aims to feel like the original while
having simpler, smoother, and more consistent mechanics. As the author, I still consider this to
be a clone in intent, but one that can sit alongside the original for those who prefer something
that runs more smoothly, rather than on that is intended to replace the original warts-and-all.
If all that sounds unnecessarily vague, it’s because much as I would like to give credit where
credit is due; the terms of the Open Game License under which Lightmaster is released explic-
itly forbid the use of any trademarks (which would include the name of the game that inspired
this one) in a context that might be construed as a claim of compatibility with that trademark.
Example: Rose is a Lightmaster character who will be used as an example throughout this book,
along with her companions. Whenever you see an example picked out like this one, it will contain
an excerpt from play that illustrates the particular rule or rules that are being discussed.
The Game Master for the group is Dean, and the players are: Sofia, playing Rose (a Bounty Hunter);
Liam, playing Lucius (a Necromancer); Steph, playing Asenath (an Empath); Elena, playing Cal-
low (a Warrior); and Gene, playing Gregor (a Spellsword).
Important!
This book contains the rules for the Lightmaster game, but it is not sufficient to play the game.
You will also need the Book of Tables, the companion book to this one. That book contains all
the combat charts and spell paths that you will need.
 The Game’s Setting
The game of Lightmaster is primarily set on a world that is superficially similar to our own, but
which has some striking differences. The most obvious difference, of course, being the presence
of magic and monsters and similar fantastic elements.

Although this chapter describes the setting in broad terms, you will find no detailed maps or flesh out yourself: The assumed
long timelines full of the dates of invented historical events. Such details are left for you to setting of Lightmaster should be
flesh out yourself in as much or as little depth as you like. However, by default the game does flexible enough that you can easily
make some assumptions about the setting that you are using, and this chapter describes those adjust bits of it to set the game in
assumed setting elements. It is intended to act as a springboard for your imagination, not as a almost any existing published fan-
strict canon that you must stick to. tasy setting, if you prefer to do that
rather than fleshing out the default
setting with your own details.
Feel and Inspiration
The assumed setting for Lightmaster is inspired by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Clark
Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, H. G. Wells, H. P. Lovecraft, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan
Doyle. It is a place of pulp adventure where you can take a flying ship and visit the jungles of Ve-
nus, or battle against cultists who worship alien entities. As such, there is little “Tolkienian” about elf: Of course, if you prefer it you
it, and you are more likely to meet a crustaceanoid alien from Pluto than you are to meet an elf. can introduce elves, dwarves and
similar “races” to the setting if you
That’s not to say that the setting is designed to be one of Lovecraftian horror. It is still a fantasy like, but by default they do not ap-
game, and most fantasy tropes still hold, but it is fantasy with a twist of pulp. pear in this game.

The World

The Game's Setting

Lightmaster assumes that the world is on a technological level that varies between being the
equivalent of Earth’s Bronze Age and Earth’s Renaissance period. It is a world that has had people runesmith: This is one of the pro-
using magic for all of its recorded history and beyond, and this makes it rather hard to pin down fessions that the player characters
to being the technological equal of any particular period in Earth’s history. can have in the game. As with the
other professions mentioned here,
For example, runesmiths are able to make iron, steel, and titanium by magical means. On the you can find details of them in the
one hand this means that the world has the knowledge and use of those metals, but on the Creating a Character chapter.
other hand, it means that creating the metals is a “solved” problem and non-magical methods
of smelting them have never been developed. This means that you have advance materials, but
not the industrial base that you would expect to need to be able to make them.

Similarly, farming is much more intensive in the game than in the real world, since plants and
crops can be greatly enhanced using magic. Towns and cities can be therefore supported by much gravity: The way gravity works is
less farmland than in the real world, needing less support infrastructure. detailed in the Lightmaster Travel
chapter.

Cosmology & Metaphysics

The universe of Lightmaster is not our universe. It doesn’t run on our scientific principles of
physics and chemistry. If you break down matter you don’t get the chemical elements of our
periodic table, but instead you get the classical elements of alchemy. Similarly, gravity doesn’t
decay with distance, instead having a fixed strength out to its limit and then dropping to noth- celestial sphere: Full details of the
ing suddenly, and things like the “inverse square” law that prevents large arthropods from being cosmology of spheres and aether
able to breath don’t apply. can be found in the Lightmaster
Travel chapter.
While this may sound as if the setting is very different to our world, the intent is that it is su-
perficially the same. It’s only on the very large scale (such as a planetary one) and the very small
scale (the molecular one) that it’s different. On the scale of human senses, it behaves pretty much
in the way that you are familiar with.

The Structure of the Universe

Although the planet that the game is set on is assumed to be similar to Earth, the larger universe
is not. The solar system is heliocentric, and has the same planets as ours, but the stars are not
physical objects but are windows in a huge celestial sphere that surrounds the solar system
7
through which the light of the luminiferous aether shines. Beyond this, currents in the aether
join the sphere to other spheres containing their own solar systems of varying types.

lightmaster ships: Ships equipped
with magical sails that allow them
to sail through the sea, the air, and
even through space along currents
of light. These are fully described
in the Lightmaster Travel chapter.
new type of magic: This new type
of magic is the sphere of psychic
magic. It is possible to play a char-
acter who uses psychic magic.
divine magic: One of three types
of magic that you can use in Light-
master. Divine magic is generally
associated with healing, life, and
fertility, rather than flashy effects;
but there are a few exceptions.
priests: Priests are one of the pro-
fessions that a player character can
have.
The Game's Setting
Mars: Mars is a dry, dead planet
with little surface life; but it con-
tains numerous underground cities
where undead martians still dwell.
arcane magic: One of three types
of magic in Lightmaster. Arcane
magic is the more flashy and spec-
tacular magic of stereotypical fan-
tasy wizards.
shades: Shades are non-corporeal
undead who can interact with the
world only weakly but have all the
memories of their former life.
skeletons: Skeletons are physical
undead who, unlike zombies and
husks, are sapient and free-willed
and retain all the abilities they had
in life
8 teaches eternal life through necromancy, and the blend of divine and arcane magic it provides
Lightmaster Ships
One of the most important aspects of the world that really changes things socially and geographi-
cally is the presence of lightmaster ships, (after which the game is named). These ships are able
to sail through the sky and, providing they are piloted by an experienced spell caster, can reach
anywhere in the world in around a week. This means that messengers, diplomats, and goods
(not to mention adventurous player characters) can relatively easily get to any city on the planet
that is either coastal or has a dry-dock in a short time frame.
One consequence of this ease of air transport, combined with the relative lack of farmland be-
tween cities, is that there are many loose alliances of city-states that each control a small amount
of land around themselves and has a few satellite towns and villages, and the land between them
is relatively wild. While there are still remnants of larger empires (lightmaster ships have only
been in use for a century or two), they are fragmenting politically as long distance trade roads
become less used and less maintained, often becoming overgrown and disappearing completely.
Lightmaster ships are not only able to fly through the sky, they can fly through space as well and
reach other planets and even break out of the celestial sphere and sail through the luminiferous
aether to other stars. Humans have visited many other planets and moons, meeting new species
and finding new resources and even learning a whole new type of magic from aliens.
Souls and the Afterlife
All sapient beings are known to have souls, and these souls hang around after death for a couple
of minutes before disappearing to whatever afterlife awaits. If a person is healed within this
crucial period, their soul will re-enter their body and their time as a disembodied soul will be
remembered as an out-of-body experience.
Beyond that grace period, the soul goes somewhere else. Where it goes may be known in your
version of the setting or may be unknown, but there is nothing in the game that requires it to
be any particular place or state of being. All that matters to the game is that powerful magic can
bring the soul back (or possibly reconstitute/recreate it) as either an undead or by bringing the
person back to life. Again, it’s up to you whether or not people brought back from the dead in
this way remember anything of the afterlife that they were brought back from, or even if there
is one. Whatever lies beyond death is out of scope of the game.
Religion
Religion plays a big part in the world, since people with strong beliefs can learn to use divine
magic, and this magic is of great usefulness to the general population. Whether the mainstream
religion is monotheistic or polytheistic is up to you, as is whether there is a single religion
throughout the world or many different religions in different regions and cultures, and how
much syncretism exists between different religions. Similarly, it’s up to you whether the gods
that are worshipped are actual entities that exist or are a human invention.
As far as the game is concerned, priests (or the equivalent) of all the mainstream religions all
get the same divine spells, regardless of who they worship and how, and this goes a long way
towards religious tolerance.
There are some minority religions that use different divine magic to the mainstream religions,
and this difference picks them out as being unusual.
Firstly, there is the “Old Faith” practised outside the cities. This religion pre-dates most of the
mainstream religions and is organised around reverence of nature rather than gods. While a
distinct minority, the magic provided by this religion to its adherents is essential for keeping
crops bountiful.
Secondly, there is the worship of the dead gods of Mars. This is a new religion that has only
spread to the Earth since humans first travelled to that planet in lightmaster ships. The religion
allows the re-animation of the dead into shades and skeletons. This is naturally a rather con-
troversial religion, and there is a large amount of friction between it and the other religions. The
attitude towards shades and skeletons varies from place to place, with them being considered
anything from full people with as many rights as everyone else to being abominations that must
be destroyed. It’s up to you how much of an issue to make this in your version of the setting,
depending on how much interest there is in your group for player-character necromancers or
even player-character undead.

Thirdly, there is the worship of the alien Plutonic philosophy of Annihilism. As with the Mar- necromancers: Necromancers are
tian religion, this is a new arrival on Earth that has only started to take hold since humans have one of the professions that a player
fairly recently encountered it. It is a strangely nihilistic religion that teaches that nothing we character can have.
do ultimately matters in the face of the cosmos so we may as well do as we want. The Plutonic
religion is actively banned in many countries and thought to be morally suspect, although since
it doesn’t involve the creation of undead it is less visible than necromancy and it is easier to
practice in secret. Its priests use a combination of divine and psychic magic (itself considered
new and alien) to cause destruction of all types.
Plutonic: The sapient crustaceans
Magical Teaching that live on the icy world of Pluto
The divine magic described above is usually taught by its respective religions, but there are also have very alien mindsets compared
secular organisations that can teach magic. to that of humans.

Arcane magic is taught in an academic context. While there are many smaller independent schools
that teach it, the two largest and most prestigious are the College of Sorcery and the University
of Arcane Arts. The two schools between them have a campus in almost every major city, and
there is a great deal of (mostly friendly) academic rivalry between the two. Both are ancient
institutions that have been teaching arcane magic since it was first discovered and developed,
and in truth there is little difference in the quality of magical training that each provides.

The Game's Setting

conjurers: These are spell casters
who specialise in the conjuring of
semi-tangible constructs of force
and light.

While both the University of Arcane Arts and the College of Sorcery have a heavy overlap in
terms of the type of wizards that they train, they are not identical. It was mages from the College
of Sorcery who first brought back the practice of necromancy from Mars and for a couple of
decades the College trained necromancers. Eventually, however, they bowed to public pressure Jupiter: Technically, the insectoid
and expelled those following the Martian religion – who went off to found their own School of philosophers live on Io, one of Ju-
Necromancy, which is as much a religious organisation as an academic one. piter’s moons. Jupiter itself is a gas
giant with no indigenous life.
The University of Arcane Arts never taught necromancy, but it too has shown an interest in
combining arcane magic with other forms. Researchers at the University have managed to suc-
cessfully blend arcane magic with psychic magic, resulting in the training of conjurers who use
both traditions.

Speaking of psychic magic, this is the relative new kid on the block when it comes to magic,
since it was originally developed by at least one alien race and has only recently been discovered
by humans. Humans initially encountered it being used by the insectoid philosophers of Jupiter,
although it is also used on Pluto and presumably in other as-yet undiscovered places too.
9
Psychic magic is all about the strength of one’s mind and personality, and as such it is more
easily taught in a master-apprentice manner than in a classroom format. There is therefore no

consent: Naturally, consent is not
needed for a psychic spell caster to
stun an enemy in combat with a
mental blast, it is only needed for
the use of mentally invasive magics
such as those that read thoughts or
memories and those that control a
target’s behaviour. Some countries
waive this consent requirement if a
psychic is acting on behalf of the
state to help interrogate a suspect-
ed criminal, but others don’t allow
evidence gained in this manner to
be used.
goblins: Goblins are small green
humanoids that are considered by
humans to be mischevious at best
and evil at worst. Goblins are not
available for use as player charac-
ters.
The Game's Setting
Selenites: Graceful insectoids that
live on the moon. It was Selenites
that first introduced humanity to
the concept of Lightmaster sails.
Mercurians: A race of sapient and
mobile plants. They love to farm,
and occasionally come to Earth
because of its rich and diverse
vegetation.
dragon: Dragons nest in the as-
teroid belt, and are the only cur-
rently known species that can fly
through space under their own
power. Lightmaster sails are made
from the wings of slain dragons.
10
academic facility that exists to teach psychic magic. The various practitioners of the art act as
mentors and pass it down to individual apprentices.
However, psychic magic tends to scare people more than arcane or divine magic does, since its
nature can be more insidious. Because of this, most people who use psychic magic belong to the
Psychic’s Guild. While not an academic institution per-se, the Psychic’s Guild exists to promote
psychic magic and as part of this promotion it can connect potential apprentices with mentors.
The Psychic’s Guild encourages its members to follow a strict code of conduct about consent to
having psychic magic used on you, and also encourages its members to wear the guild’s emblem
to identify themselves as members of the guild.
Naturally, not all psychics are members of the guild, some prefer to be anonymous and keep their
talents hidden, but most find that being trusted as a guild member is worth the inconvenience
of having to identify yourself, and the University of Arcane Arts insists that all conjuration
students are members in good standing.
Quality of Life
The impact of magic in the world goes beyond infrastructure and agriculture. Magic makes the
day-to-day life of people easier. Injuries can be healed, and diseases cured, and in emergencies
food and water can be magically conjured from nothing. Even death can sometimes be reversed
if caught in time. Automata can perform dangerous or repetitive tasks, providing power for
mills and keeping forges stoked.
This is not to say that the world is a utopia, of course. While such magic is useful, it doesn’t
cure all of society’s ills. For a start, while almost everyone can learn a low level spell or two, only
those who are both naturally talented and dedicated to their studies can master more powerful
magics, so more powerful magical effects are – while still occasionally available – not every day
experiences for the average person.
The Setting’s Inhabitants
The majority of the planet’s inhabitants, at least the majority of the planet’s sapient inhabitants,
are humans of varying culture. However, humans are not the only people on Earth. In fact,
they’re not even the only indigenous people.
Humans share the earth with goblins. Goblins and humans are so different psychologically
that they struggle to live together. Goblins find human civilisation with all its laws and social
mores to be extremely oppressive, and only a tiny minority can stand to share it, and similarly
most humans find goblins far too wild and chaotic to live with. Goblins see humans as big, slow,
ponderous giants with nonsensical and arbitrary rules and expectations, whereas humans see
goblins as bundles of chaos who can’t be trusted.
Because of this fundamental difference in nature, goblins tend to live in wilderness areas away
from human settlements (and vice versa) and there is much friction between the two species.
Trading and friendly contact is sporadic at best, and the presence of local goblins is often seen
as a nuisance or threat to a stable life. The only reason goblins haven’t been driven to extinction
is that most of them live underground in places that humans can’t find or can’t get to easily and
that their shorter lifespan is coupled with a frenetic breeding rate.
Apart from the goblins, there are many other dangers in the wilderness. A wide variety of magical
creatures exist, from deadly basilisks to vicious manticores.
As well as its natural inhabitants, the Earth is also home to visitors from other worlds. While a
few delicate Selenites or bulbous Mercurians live on the Earth, the majority of Earth’s visitors are
Plutonians and (undead) Martians, both of whom have religious compatriots here. A less frequent,
but far more noticeable, visitor is the dragon. There are never very many dragons on Earth at
any given time, but the presence of such a huge and powerful beast in an area is of great note.
All these visitors are from our own solar system, of course. There are sometimes visitors from
other systems, but they are much rarer (and their details will vary from campaign to campaign
and are therefore left for the game master to decide).
 Levels and Demographics
As characters increase in level, they go from being raw novices to being some of the most capable
people in the world. However, they are not the only people with character classes. The world is Behind the Curtain
full of people with similar abilities to player characters, people who have trained as runesmiths The game assumes that characters
or become witches; or even guards and soldiers that are experienced warriors. will start at first level and as such
they will be inexperienced, but if
Levels as an In-Character Measurement you don’t want your characters to
Generally, character levels can be divided into four broad ‘tiers’. These tiers are not anything that start as such novices you can start
is used in-setting to describe people, they’re just an out-of-character label to help you visualise a campaign with higher level char-
how the player characters compare to those around them and to give you an idea of what sort acters.
of level non-player characters found in various locations are likely to be.
To do this, follow the guidelines in
Having said that, people in the setting do have a rough idea of the concept of levels. Spell casters the Adventuring chapter for when
have spell paths that have spells that are at discrete intervals on the path, and use a number of a character joins an existing cam-
points of mana to cast based on their position on the path. It’s a short step from describing a paign that is at higher than first
spell as a “five mana spell” to describing a spell as a “fifth level” spell; and therefore most spell level, but do that for all the char-
casters can be accurately described in-character as “being able to cast seventh level spells” or acters at the start of the campaign.
“being able to cast a fifteenth level spell”. Obviously, this is not an exact science. There are not
spells at every level, so if two characters can both cast twentieth level spells there is no easy way This is not something that I ever
to distinguish between them until one or the other manages to cast a twenty fifth level spell. do, because I prefer characters to
grow organically from their begin-
Similarly, it’s possible (although it would be very unusual for a player character) that a spell caster nings rather than starting in media
could be high enough level to cast a spell of a given level but to have never actually learned any res, but it’s not as if the Game Po-
spell paths to that level. A twelfth level character who has only ever learned spell paths to tenth lice are going to come and arrest
level will be pretty indistinguishable from a tenth level character. you if you prefer to do things dif-
ferently.

The Game's Setting

The same thing applies to non-caster characters. While even non-casters can learn a few spells
with difficulty, they can’t learn any spells higher than fifth level. It might be obvious from the
amount of mana that someone has access to and how skilled they are in various fields that they
have progressed far beyond the capabilities of most spell casters who can cast fifth level spells, but
skill levels aren’t easily and objectively measured like spell levels are, so it’s much more difficult
to pin down someone’s exact level.
level: If it really bothers you to
It’s not impossible, though. Theoretically, it’s possible to work out someone’s level from how hear people refer to the “level” of
much mana they have (assuming you have a way of determining that), and there are some spells characters and monsters in-charac-
that can detect someone’s exact level. ter, try substituting a different term
such as “circle”, “grade”, or “rank”.
To sum up, it’s acceptable for player characters and non-player characters alike to refer to some- It’s surprising how big a difference
one’s “level” in-character, and shouldn’t be considered to be metagaming. However, the exact it makes to use a term that you’re
level that someone is might not be readily apparent (and the level of non-sapient extras is even more comfortable with.
less apparent).

Novice Characters (level 1–4)

Beginning characters are rank novices in their chosen field or profession. A first level warlock,
for example, is someone who has just finished their studies at one of the magical academies and
has learned the basics of arcane magic but is barely able to cast more than the simplest spell;
and even then they can only cast them a couple of times per day before running out of mana. warlock: An arcane spell user
They may be able to boil some water or shine a beam of light from their palm, but they’re by whose spells manipulate the ele-
no means masters of magic. ments.

The vast majority of people with levels fall within this range. Many people are sent to get an
education for its own sake, and therefore learn a little bit of magic but then return to a mundane
life afterwards and never make the effort to progress much further. Similarly, people who have
trained in martial techniques are likely to join a militia or get a job as a guard and never get the
heavy combat experience needed to progress beyond there.

People with classes at levels 1–4 are not considered exceptional, and are common throughout
the world. Even small villages are likely to have a few, and while hastily organised militia might
mostly consist of people without class levels, professional guards and the like will be level 1–4.
11

Behind the Curtain
The level demographics here are
only one possibility, of course. If
you want to run a low level cam-
paign, you might decide that in
your setting there aren’t any re-
The Game's Setting
nowned or legendary characters,
and even the most powerful and
famous people are only in the vet-
eran tier.
Conversely, you might decide that
there is some secret organisation of
legendary characters who control
things from behind the scenes (or
even multiple rival organisations)
and that they are therefore both
much more common and much
less visible than these demograph-
ics would suggest.
12
Seasoned Characters (level 5–9)
By the time characters have reached fifth level, they have started to leave the masses behind them.
Characters of levels 5–9 stand out as being noticeably more competent than those around them
and able to take on much greater challenges and produce much greater effects.
The talents of a seasoned character outstrip those that can be commonly found in smaller vil-
lages and towns. There might be the occasional person in a position of importance who is on a
par with or even more powerful than characters of this level, such as the high priestess of a local
temple or the captain of the local garrison, but characters of this level will be more powerful
and competent than everyone else (barring unusual circumstances).
In big cities, it’s a different story. While the majority will still be novice tier or not have levels
at all, the sheer population density means that cities will usually be home to many seasoned
characters. Such characters will be making a good living plying their talents.
Veteran Characters (level 10–19)
A character reaching level ten is sufficiently out of the norm that they are likely to be locally
famous. In rural and small-town areas they’re likely the only people of this power level in the
area, equalling or surpassing people like high priests and the local wizard.
Characters of this level are more common in cities, although even there they are still noteworthy
for their ability. They are likely to have political clout and hold respected positions in guilds
and academia.
Renowned Characters (level 20–29)
Very few people make it to the heights of twentieth level in their chosen profession, and those
who do are usually well known and have celebrity status as experts in their field. There may only
be one or two such people in a large rural area, and only a small handful in even a major city.
In the city they are likely to run institutions such as guilds and academies of some kind, and
in more rural areas they will likely be famous throughout the area and receive many visitors.
In either case, characters of this level are likely to be widely known by reputation and there will
be stories about their deeds.
Of course, this assumes that the character in question wants to be known. Some characters of this
tier will want to avoid the public eye and will make an effort to stay as anonymous as they can.
Still, whatever deeds they did to reach this high level are likely to still be the source of rumours
unless those deeds were all done out of the public eye, such as on other worlds.
Legendary Characters (level 30+)
Characters of this level are extremely rare, to the point of being “one in a million”. There are
likely only a few characters of this level on the entire planet, and even most major cities will
not contain one.
While characters of this level may be famous, the fact that they are quite this experienced and
powerful may not be known by the general public. People will be unsure of just what characters
of this tier are capable of, and many of the stories of their great deeds will be exaggerated or
outright fabricated (or widely belived to be outlandish fabrications when they are actually true).
Legendary characters are somewhat paradoxically more likely to still be active than renowned
characters, because these are the characters who were not content to rest on their laurels and take
on some prestigious role, but instead kept going out and pushing themselves (whether through
choice or because it was necessary) to greater heights.
Partly because of this greater activity, and partly because characters of this power level are rather
intimidating, legendary characters tend to get left alone to do their own thing rather than receiv-
ing many visitors asking for their advice or help. Situations have to be pretty dire for characters
of this power level to be your only hope.
 Basic Mechanics
Like any roleplaying game, Lightmaster has a system of rules that are used to determine the
success of actions and resolve issues where characters come into conflict. That’s what makes this
a game, rather than just a freeform roleplaying experience.

Dice
In Lightmaster, dice will be needed to resolve a lot of situations where the whims of fortune polyhedral dice: These dice can
have an effect on the outcome of a situation. Instead of the traditional cubic dice numbered be bought both individually and
from one to six, the game uses a couple of other dice of different shapes. Since these each have in sets at most game shops, and
different numbers of sides, they are often called polyhedral dice. also online. They are mostly
based on the Platonic solids, and
Each player will need one die with twenty sides, and one or more with ten sides. the most common ones are those
with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 20 sides.
In order to distinguish between the different dice that you can use, Lightmaster uses a standard
terminology throughout. Each die is referred to using the letter ‘d’ followed by the number of
sides that the die has. A die with ten sides is referred to as a d10, whereas a die with twenty
sides is referred to as a d20.

Occasionally, you will need to roll more than one d10 at the same time. In this case, there will
be a number before the ‘d’ as well as after it. The number before the ‘d’ shows how many dice
must be rolled. If this number is one then it is sometimes skipped. When rolling multiple dice in
this way, simply add the numbers rolled on each die together in order to generate a single result.

Therefore if you are told to roll 3d10, you should roll three ten sided dice and add the numbers
rolled together. If you are told to roll 2d10, you should roll two ten sided dice and add the

Basic Mechanics
numbers rolled together. If you are told to roll d10, then this is exactly the same as being told one or more: You can get away
to roll 1d10, and you should roll a single ten sided die. with just a single ten sided die, roll-
ing it multiple times in a row if
necessary, but you’ll probably find
it more convenient if you have two
or three that you can roll together.

The Extended d20

In addition to the normal die rolls described above, Lightmaster also makes frequent use of an
extended d20 roll.

An extended d20 roll is like a normal d20 roll, except that if you roll a natural 20 (i.e. a 20 is
actually showing face up on the die – this doesn’t include rolls where a 20 is achieved by rolling modifiers: Sometimes, after roll-
a different value and then adding modifiers) then you roll again and add the second die roll to ing a die, you will then have to
the first. If the second die is also a natural 20, roll and add a third die. If the third die is also a add numbers to what you rolled
natural 20, roll and add a fourth die, and so forth. to obtain a total

Similarly, if the first die is a natural 1 (again, this means a 1 is actually showing face up on
the die – and does not include rolls where a 1 is arrived at by rolling a different value and then
adding modifiers) then you roll again and subtract the second die from the first. If the second
die rolls a natural 20, roll and subtract a third die. If the third die is also a natural 20 then roll
and subtract a fourth die, and so forth.

An extended d20 roll is labelled in these rules as 1E20, to distinguish it from a normal (not
13
extended) d20 roll.

climbing check: This is a skill
check. See the Skills chapter for
full details on how skill checks
work.
extras: Although creatures and
characters controlled by the game
master are referred to collectively
as extras, they are not necessar-
ily merely set dressing. Intelligent
extras – particularly ones that the
players interact with socially as op-
posed to fighting – may form an
Basic Mechanics
important part of the campaign.
characters: Only characters who
are fully detailed such as pcs and
npcs are given ability scores. Ex-
tras, with their less detailed write-
ups, don’t have them.
14
Example: Rose is trying to climb over the wall of the palace gardens in order to steal one of the rare
deer that graze there. This requires a climbing check, which involves rolling 1E20 and adding
her climbing bonus, then modifying the result by the difficulty that the palace wall has to climb.
Sofia rolls a d20 for Rose’s check, and rolls a ‘1’ on the die.
Because she has rolled a natural 1, she rolls again and must subtract her second roll from the first.
Rolling the die a second time, Sofia groans in horror as she rolls a natural 20 – which means that
she must roll yet again and subtract again. Her third roll is a much more reasonable 7. Therefore,
her total for the roll before adding her climb bonus is 1–20–7=–26. Rose isn’t going to be climbing
over that wall any time soon.
Later, after having been caught in the palace garden by the guards, Rose is thrown into the cells.
While the guards are having dinner, Rose tries to pick the lock of her cell with a chicken bone from
her own meagre supper. Dean informs Sofia that this will be hard to do because a chicken bone
isn’t exactly a good lock pick, so she will take a penalty to her roll.
Rolling anyway, Sofia rolls a natural 20! She rolls again and adds, this time getting another
natural 20. This is going to be a great roll. Rolling a third time, she rolls a natural 1. This doesn’t
mean she now has to start rolling and subtracting; that would only have happened if the 1 had
been her first roll. Instead, her roll total is 20+20+1=41. Even with a chicken bone, you can’t
keep a good bounty hunter down...
Creature Attributes
Creatures (including people) in Lightmaster are split into two broad categories: player characters,
(often abbreviated to pcs) which are the adventurers controlled by the players; and extras which
are the other creatures and people in the world controlled by the game master.
Since the varying capabilities of different creatures and characters can have a large impact on the
success or failure of various actions that the players wish their characters to take, these capabilities
are recorded as (mostly numeric) values and traits that can be used to modify or provide target
numbers for die rolls, or to determine what sort of actions are possible.
Because player characters play the largest part in the game and are the centre of most of the
action, they have the most recorded values and traits. Extras that are expected to only be in the
game for a short while (for example a single fight) are described in less detail.
Some characters created by the game master will be too important to simply have the less detailed
extra statistics. Instead, the game master may wish to create them as fully fledged characters
in the same way that player characters are created. Such characters are often referred to as non-
player characters (often abbreviated to npcs).
Ability Scores
The innate abilities of characters are described by six values, called ability scores; three measur-
ing the physical abilities of the character and three measuring the mental abilities.
These represent the core abilities of the character and rarely change. These values are strength,
dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. In normal humans, these ability
scores will normally range from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 18, with the average being 11.
Adventurers, being somewhat above the norm, will have higher than average ability scores.
These ability scores show the innate physical and mental strengths and weaknesses of the
character, as opposed to learned skills. Additionally, each score also has one or more bonuses
or penalties associated with it that are used to modify other die rolls and checks (usually skill
checks), and each score also has other numbers associated with it such as skill points and mana.
The Ability Score Table in the Creating a Character chapter shows the modifiers and values
for different ability score values.
Strength (abbreviated to “Str”)
Strength needs little explanation. It represents the raw muscle power of a character. Strength
bonuses and penalties apply to a character’s melee attack skills and those with thrown weapons,
along with athletic skills such as climbing and swimming.
Dexterity (abbreviated to “Dex”)
Dexterity represents the co-ordination and agility of a character, as well as the speed of their
reflexes. Characters with a high dexterity will be agile and graceful, whereas those with a lower
dexterity may be clumsy and awkward. initiative rolls: These are rolls
that are made during combat to
Dexterity penalties or bonuses are applied to a character’s attack skills with thrown or missile see how quickly each character is
weapons, initiative rolls in combat, subterfuge skills, and also to their dodge bonus. able to act.

Constitution (abbreviated to “Con”)

Constitution represents the toughness and general healthiness of a character. Characters with
a high constitution are likely to be fit and healthy, whereas those with a low constitution are
more likely to get ill and get winded easily.

Constitution bonuses or penalties are applied to the Toughness skill which determines how dodge bonus: This is a score that
much damage characters can withstand in combat before being incapacitated, and to attempts you have, based on both your dex-
to resist poisons and diseases. terity and your skill with a weapon,
that acts as a penalty to anyone try-
Intelligence (abbreviated to “Int”) ing to hit you in combat.
Intelligence represents the memory and reasoning power of a character. Characters with a high
intelligence will be able to perform difficult calculations and make deductive leaps, whereas
those with lower intelligence will only do such things more slowly if at all. Intelligence bonuses
and penalties apply to knowledge skills, some magical skills, and to both casting and resisting
arcane magic.

Wisdom (abbreviated to “Wis”) damage: Although having a high

Wisdom represents a combination of intuition, common sense, and spirituality. To a lesser ex- constitution won’t stop you get-
tent, wisdom also represents the perceptiveness of a character and their ability to notice subtle ting a broken arm or a punctured
clues and things out of place. Characters with high wisdom are likely to possess these traits, and lung, it will mean that you can

Basic Mechanics
be more level headed, whereas those with lower wisdom may be rash or act without thinking. take more pain and fatigue before
collapsing.
Wisdom bonuses or penalties apply to some magical skills, to spotting hidden things, and to
both casting and resisting divine magic.

Charisma (abbreviated to “Cha”)

Charisma represents the force of personality of a character. Characters with a high charisma
are born leaders and orators, whereas those with lower charisma may be boring or find it hard
to communicate. On a physical level, charisma is unrelated to how attractive a character looks;
although charismatic individuals often have better bearing and confidence which enhances Mana Transfer: The ability to pass
their attractiveness. magical energy to another person,
or to use it to fuel a Lightmaster
Charisma bonuses or penalties apply to social skills, mana focusing skills, and to both casting sail.
and resisting psychic magic.

Example: As a Bounty Hunter, Rose is a rather physical character. She has a particularly high
dexterity, and also a reasonable strength and constitution. Her intelligence is above average,
enabling her to make plans and deal with the unexpected, but her wisdom is somewhat lacking;
leading her to be somewhat foolhardy and rush into places and situations she probably shouldn’t Mana Focus: A crude use of magic,
have. Her charisma is merely average – she’s no great leader but she can present herself in public developed before the invention of
without being boring or uncouth. spell casting, but still in use, that
uses magic to temporarily boost
Skills your physical capabilities.
Whereas ability scores represent the innate abilities of characters which rarely change, learned
abilities which improve with experience are represented by skills. Skills range from mundane
abilities (such as Swimming and Climbing) to obscure magical talents (such as Mana Transfer
and Mana Focus), and different characters will have different levels of proficiency with them.

In most cases a character gets a bonus for one of their ability scores when using a skill, although
a few skills work in an alternate manner. Generally, a skill will be used by rolling 1E20 and
adding any relevant bonuses, and trying to achieve a target number. See the Skills chapter for
more details of how skill checks work.
15

aligned: For a non-spell caster, be-
ing aligned to a sphere affects the
type of magic items that the char-
acter finds it most easy to use, and
(should the character later decide
to learn a few spells) which spells
they can learn.
Gods: The Setting chapter gives
Basic Mechanics
more details about the types of re-
ligion that are assumed to exist in
the world, and how the differences
between them affect the exact vari-
ety of divine magic that a believer
has access to.
Jovians: The insectoid beings that
live on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons.
16
Magic & Spells
As well as mundane skills, Lightmaster assumes the existence of magic. Many creatures have
magical abilities, and it is possible for any character to learn to cast magical spells.
Magic has changed over the centuries as people have learned new ways to manipulate it. The
oldest forms of magic are the Mana Focus skills. These allow people to use the magic that flows
through them to enhance their physical capabilities, but they don’t allow spell casting.
More recent knowledge of magic has become more refined, and allows the casting of specific
spells from one or more “spheres”. There are three of these spheres of magic in Lightmaster.
These are Arcane Magic, Divine Magic and Psychic Magic, and every character, even those un-
able to cast spells, will be aligned to one (or possibly two) of these spheres.
Divine Magic
Divine magic is the magic of the Gods. It was the first type of spell casting to be discovered,
and for a large period of history all of magic was considered to be a divine gift. Divine spells
often deal with nature and healing, or with light and sound rather than more elemental forces.
Arcane Magic
Arcane magic was the second type of spell casting to be invented, and is the magic of the world
around you. Arcane casters draw their power directly from their surroundings and their spells
tend to deal with objects and the elements that they are made from. This tends to be the flashiest
magic and most suited for combat, and is the magic associated with traditional mages or wizards.
Psychic Magic
Psychic magic was unknown on Earth until explorers first started travelling to other planets us-
ing Lightmaster ships and met the Jovians, but it has proven easy for humans to learn and is
becoming more popular. Psychic magic is the magic of the mind, and its spells are drawn from
the strength of the caster’s own psyche and are particularly effective when influencing the caster
themselves or a single intelligent target.
Within each sphere of magic, spells are divided into spell paths, each of which contains a
number of thematically related spells of increasing difficulty and power. Some paths (“Lesser”
paths) are easy for any user of that magical sphere to learn, others (“Greater” paths) are more
difficult. Some (“Class” paths) are exclusive to a specific character class and only available to
members of that class.
Example: As a Bounty Hunter, Rose gets no class spell paths and will find it difficult to learn any
spells. Even if she does, she will be limited to only some basic lesser spells from her chosen sphere.
Sofia still needs to select a sphere for Rose to be aligned to, however. Since Rose’s best mental ability
score is her intelligence, Sofia chooses the arcane sphere, which is linked to that score.
See the Magic chapter for more details on spells and spell casting. The spell paths themselves,
and all the spells that they contain, are found in the Book of Tables. armour class: One of the twelve
named categories based on how
heavily armoured a combatant is.
Fighting Each of the different types of attack
When it comes to fighting, time is divided up into rounds, each of which represents ten seconds that a combatant can do is better
of combat. This results in a level of abstraction where the game does not attempt to model every or worse against each different ar-
single thrust, parry and cut. mour class.

In a single round, most characters and other creatures will make a single “attack”. Although
this is resolved in a single roll, an attack does not represent a single swing of a sword or a single
punch. During a round, a character will swing repeatedly and also block, parry and manoeuvre hit points: A value showing how
and the attack roll represents the sum total of this activity (although some creatures may get much shock, pain, blood loss, and
more than one roll if they are particularly effective in combat). fatigue a combatant can take be-
fore collapsing or even dying.
The attacker’s roll based on their relevant attack skill is compared with the defender’s armour
class and dodge bonus, and the result of this (with various modifiers – see the Combat chapter
for more details) shows what the attacker needs to roll to hit the defender.

If the attacker hit the defender, the defender will lose a number of hit points. If the hit suc- critical strike: Physical damage
ceeded by a large enough margin, the target may also take a critical strike which represents beyond mere bruising and pain.
more specific damage such as broken limbs and may even kill the target outright in a single hit. There are eight different types of
critical strike representing different
Armour Class types of damage, and each one has
A character or creature’s armour class represents how heavily armoured they are. There are five severities.
twelve armour classes in total, eight for humans (and other humanoid races) who are wearing
different types of artificial armour, and four for other creatures with different types of naturally
protective skin or scales.

Basic Mechanics
target number: The target number
It is important to note that more or thicker armour is not necessarily better in all circumstances. for a spell is based on the level of
Heavy armour slows a combatant down and makes them heavier, and depending on what they the caster (and their relevant abil-
are attacked by it may make them more vulnerable to the attack rather than less vulnerable. ity score if they are a player char-
For example, characters who are wearing metal armour should be particularly wary of lightning acter or non-player character).
based attacks. See the Magic chapter for more
details.
Saving Throws
Not all attacks work in the graduated manner described above taking into account things like
armour and dodging. Some attacks – such as many spells – are an all-or-nothing affair.

These types of attack are assumed to work unless the target manages to resist them. This resistance demon: Demons are malicious
is resolved by a die roll called a saving throw which is handled in a similar manner to a skill creatures that claim to come from
check. The defender will have a bonus, and will roll 1E20 and add this bonus, trying to get a Hell, a place of torment where they
total that matches a particular target number or higher to succeed in resisting the attack. As with torture the souls of those they have
skill checks, a modifier will be applied to the roll based on how difficult the attack is to resist. claimed. Whether this claim is true
or not is up to you – demons are
Resisting the effects of poison and disease is handled in the same manner, by using saving throws. expert liars, after all.

Characters have six saving throw bonuses, one for each of their six ability scores. The rules
will tell you which of the six to use in a given situation.

Example: Rose is in combat with a demon, and it casts a Daze spell on her. The Daze spell is a dazed: A dazed character can’t at-
psychic spell and requires a saving throw to avoid its effects. The target number for the saving tack or cast spells, and has limited
throw is 16. ability to defend themselves.

Because this is a psychic spell, Rose must use her charisma saving throw bonus to resist it. Her
charisma saving throw bonus is only +3, so Sofia needs to roll 1E20+3 and get a total of 16
or higher to resist the spell.

She rolls a 11, which gives her a total of 11+3=14. This is not enough (the target number was 16),
so Rose is dazed for the spell’s duration.
17

experience points: These are
points that are awarded by the
game master over the course of
an adventure. Not all game mas-
ters will choose to use experience
points. Some will simply award
levels at an appropriate time. See
the Adventuring chapter for more
details of the options available.
Basic Mechanics
not possible: Although it is not
possible for someone outside a par-
ticular class to buy the class spell
paths of that class, many of the
individual spells on those paths are
also found (albeit usually at higher
level) on other spell paths as well.
18
Experience And Levels
As mentioned previously, the adventuring careers of player characters are split up into levels.
Each character normally starts at first level, which means that they are inexperienced and have
never adventured before. As a character has various experience while adventuring, they learn and
improve and get better at what they do. In game terms, this means that they increase in level
for doing adventurous things – slaying foes, recovering treasure, undertaking quests, and so on.
When a character has acquired enough experience points, their level increases. An increase in
level is sometimes accompanied by an increase in one of the character’s ability scores, and is
always accompanied by an increase in the character’s skills, showing that the character is now
more experienced and becoming more capable in their chosen adventuring profession.
Character Classes
Even if they are the same level, not all player characters are the same. Although they are all
assumed to be adventurers, their backgrounds may be rather different from each other. For ex-
ample a young person that has just finished a five year course at the College of Sorcery and has
now mastered the essentials of arcane spell casting is going to be very different than a warrior
who has spent every weekend doing combat training in case of bandit attack.
In the game, this difference in the background, upbringing and training of characters is repre-
sented by character classes. Each player character (and some important non-player characters,
if they are also adventurers) has a class based on their background. As a player, you have a free
choice of class for your character when you create them, although a character’s class may not be
changed during play. See the Creating a Character chapter for more details.
A character’s class determines which skills are easy or hard for them to learn (which is represented
by the number of points they get to spend in each group of skills) based on their background.
However, no character is ever completely barred from learning a skill. It might cost a few more
points, but a characters of any class are able to buy any skill if they want.
Most classes also provide a number of class spell paths, containing spells that only that class
can learn. Unlike skills, it is not possible to acquire a class spell path if you are not a member
of the class to which it belongs – they are truly exclusive to the class in question.
There are eighteen different classes within Lightmaster:
◊ Three of them have no class spell paths (but can learn a few basic spell paths from a sphere
of their choice with effort) and represent people who spent their adolescence doing physical
training: Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, and Warrior.
◊ Three of them (one for each of the spheres of magic) represent people who divided their
adolescence between both physical training and magical training in a single sphere: Moun-
tebank, Spellsword and Warden.
◊ Nine of them (three for each sphere) represent people who spent their adolescence learning
the deepest secrets of a single magical sphere: Chirurgeon, Empath, Telepath, Occultist,
Priest, Runesmith, Clairvoyant, Warlock, Witch.
◊ Three of them represent people who spent their adolescence learning a broad range of magic
from two spheres: Conjurer, Necromancer, and Annihilist.
Each of these character classes is fully described in the Creating a Character chapter and the
class spell paths for each class are provided in the Book of Tables.
 Skills
Skills are at the centre of all Lightmaster characters, in that most things that a character does
will be resolved by making a skill check of one kind or another. Skills are the things that a
character has learned, rather than their inherent strengths and weaknesses.

Although some skills have special rules, most work in a similar manner. If a skill works in a
different way to that outlined below, or has any other special rules that apply to it, this will be
described in the skill’s full description later in this chapter.
Standard Rank Bonuses
inherent: A character’s inherent
Rank Rank Bonus Rank Rank Bonus Rank Rank Bonus strengths and weaknesses are rep-
0 –5 13–14 +16 50–54 +28 resented by their ability scores.
1 +3 15–16 +17 55–59 +29
2 +5 17–18 +18 60–64 +30
3 +7 19–20 +19 65–69 +31
4 +8 21–23 +20 70–74 +32
5 +9 24–26 +21 75–79 +33
6 +10 27–29 +22 80–84 +34
7 +11 30–33 +23 85–89 +35
8 +12 34–37 +24 90–94 +36
9 +13 38–41 +25 95–99 +37
purchased: Characters can nor-
10 +14 42–45 +26 100–104 +38 mally purchase up to two ranks
11–12 +15 46–49 +27 105+ +39 in a skill each time they increase
in level. See the Creating a Char-
acter chapter for more details on
Skill Bonuses buying skills.

Skills
Each skill has a skill bonus. This skill bonus is made by adding the following components
together:

◊ The rank bonus for the total number of skill ranks the character has purchased in the skill.
This bonus is found in the Standard Rank Bonuses table. Note that purchasing no skill
ranks in a skill will normally result in a –5 penalty to the skill rather than simply no bonus.

◊ The character’s ability score bonus for the ability relevant to this skill. The relevant ability
for each skill is listed in the skill descriptions later in this chapter.

◊ Any miscellaneous bonuses for items, active spells or other effects.

Example: Sofia has been diligently buying two ranks in the sneak skill every level for Rose, her bonus: Ability scores can range an-
Bounty Hunter character. At seventh level, Rose therefore has fourteen ranks in the skill, which ywhere from 1 to 20 in value, but
gives her a rank bonus of +16. Rose also has a dexterity of 17, which gives her an ability score will mostly be in the teens. Each
bonus of +3. On her adventures, Rose has managed to acquire a magical Cloak of Hiding that possible value has a corresponding
gives her an additional +2 to her stealth skill. bonus or penalty that it gives to
skills, ranging from –5 to +5.
Adding these together, Rose therefore has a total skill bonus for her stealth skill of:

16+3+2=21

When Rose tries to sneak, Sofia will therefore be rolling 1E20 and adding 21 to the total. This
is quite an impressive stealth skill, and Rose is going to be very capable of sneaking around past
anything but the most perceptive of foes.

It is best to record your total skill bonuses on your character sheet to avoid having to re-calculate
them each time you want to use a skill. 19
 Behind the Curtain
If you compare the numbers on the
Standard Rank Bonuses table to
those on the Standard Difficulties
table you will see that when char-
acters reach very high levels (and
therefore very high skill ranks)
most checks will become really easy
for them to pass.
With opposed checks, this isn’t a
problem since they will be opposed
by epic foes who have similarly
high skill values.
For standard skill checks, though,
you will see that at the highest skill
ranks characters will never fail even
at checks with an “Absurd” TN34
difficulty unless they roll a natural
‘1’, and even then they may be able
to avoid failure over half the time
once you take their ability score
bonuses and any magic items or
spells into account.
Even with large situational penal-
ties, high level characters will still
find these checks easy to pass.
Skills
This is by design. Characters at
such high levels are the stuff of
legend and should be capable of
feats of skill that bend realism to
breaking point or even beyond.
They should be swimming up wa-
terfalls and climbing sheer glass
walls. They should be disabling
fiendish locks armed only with
a stalk of straw or sneaking past
alert and well trained guards while
manacled.
ability check: Sometimes there is
no suitable skill to cover a particu-
lar situation, so you might need to
roll a check using a ability score
instead of a skill bonus. This is
described in more detail later in
this chapter.
20
Skill Checks
A skill check is normally made by rolling 1E20, and adding the character’s total skill bonus
for the relevant skill. This roll is then compared to a target number (usually abbreviated to TN)
based on the difficulty of the task being attempted. If the roll’s total is greater than or equal to
the TN then the check has succeeded, and if it is less then the check has failed.
Standard Difficulties
Difficulty Check Target Number (TN)
Routine 14
Easy 16
Light 18
Medium 20
Hard 22
Very Hard 24
Extreme 26
Sheer Folly 30
Absurd 34
Simple Checks
Usually a skill check occurs in a situation where there is a simple pass/fail criterion and in which
the odds of success are relatively fixed based on the situation at hand.
In these situations, you should roll a simple check with a fixed TN. The standard difficulties
for skill checks that are used throughout the game are listed in the Standard Difficulties table.
Example: Rose is trying to swim across a deep river. While she’s not in any danger of drowning,
the river is quite fast flowing and there’s a good chance that she’ll be carried downstream instead
of alighting on the other bank where she wants to.
Dean informs Sofia that given the speed of the river, crossing it here will have a difficulty of Light,
and therefore a TN of 18. Sofia decides that Rose will take the chance and dive in, so she needs to
roll a skill check for Rose based on her swimming skill. Rose’s skill bonus for swimming is +9,
so Sofia rolls 1E20+9.
Sofia rolls a 17 on the d20, for a total of 17+9=28.
Rose confidently swims across the river, swimming upstream as she goes to counteract the flow, and
arrives neatly on the other bank where she was hoping to.
Taking 10 And Taking 20
In situations where the character is calm and there is no immediate danger or undue pressure,
they can take 10 on a skill or ability check. Instead of rolling 1E20 and adding their skill total
and comparing the result to the TN, they simply add 10 to their skill bonus and compare the
result to the TN. By doing so, the character can automatically succeed in a skill check or ability
check that they would succeed with on an average roll.
If there is no penalty for failing the check because the character is in a situation where they can
simply keep re-trying until they succeed, they can take 20 on a skill check or ability check.
In this case instead of rolling 1E20 and adding their skill total and comparing the result to the
TN, they simply add 20 to their skill bonus and compare the result to the TN. However, doing
this takes 20 times as long as performing a simple skill check or ability check would do, as
the character is assumed to keep re-trying until they get the best result they can. For example,
taking 20 while picking a lock will take 3 hours and 20 minutes rather than the normal 10
minutes that the skill takes to use.
Note that taking 20 does not allow the character to roll the die again and add as if they had
rolled a natural 20.
Each detailed skill description will say whether a character can take 10 or take 20 with that
particular skill. Skills that let a character re-roll in order to stop a failure having a negative effect
do not let the character take 10 or take 20 on the re-roll even if they could have taken it on the
original roll. These re-rolls always count as being under undue pressure.

Opposed Checks
Sometimes a skill check or ability check will need to be checked against an opponent who taking 10: The more passive actor
has a skill or ability of their own, rather than just against a static difficulty. The most common in an opposed check will always be
case where this happens is when someone uses the Stealth skill to sneak past someone else who considered to take 10 with their
is using the Spot skill to try to see them, but it also occurs quite often when people are using skill even when in a high-pressure
opposing social skills. situation where a character could
not normally take 10. This is done
In these cases, the character who is using their skill in a more passive manner adds 10 to their to avoid situations where a large
skill bonus as if taking 10 on a skill check, but without a TN to determine success or failure. passive group each rolling dice in-
Instead, just take note of the total that they got. Then, the character using their skill in a more dependently would mean that the
active manner uses that total as the target TN for their own check. odds of at least one of that group
rolling unusually highly would be-
Example: It’s early in Rose’s adventuring career and she needs to get into a goblin cave without come extremely high and it would
alerting the guards. Rose has a Stealth Bonus of +13, and the two guards have Spot bonuses of +8 be unfair on the active character.
and +10 respectively.

Since Rose is the active character in the situation (she’s actively sneaking while the goblins are pas-
sively standing guard) the guards are assumed to take 10 on their Spot checks, getting totals of 18
and 20. Sofia then rolls 1E20+13 for Rose’s Sneak check. She rolls a natural 20, followed by a 6,
for a total of 20+6+13=39. The guards have no clue that she was ever there.

Later on, Rose has caused quite a commotion in the goblin caves and the guards are searching for armour penalty: The armour
their intruder. This time she is that passive character (she’s just hiding) and the guards are the penalty for each type of armour is
active characters since they’re actively searching rather than just passively keeping an eye out. This given with the armour’s descrip-
time Rose is assumed to take 10, getting a total of 23, and Dean rolls for the goblins. The first tion in the Equipment chapter.
rolls 1E20+8, rolling a 2 and therefore getting a total of only 10. He’s not going to find Rose. The Armour penalties can be reduced
second rolls 1E20+10, rolling an 18 and therefore getting a total of 28. by use of the various Armour Skills
described later in this chapter.

Skills
Since this beats Rose’s Sneak total, Rose has been spotted!

Armour Penalties
Wearing armour restricts movement and flexibility, and therefore makes it more difficult to use
some skills, particularly skills requiring physical agility such as Stealth or Swimming.

When using any skill to which armour penalties apply (this will be indicated in the skill de- Behind the Curtain
scription), the character’s current armour penalty is subtracted from their skill check. Armour You may prefer to always consider
penalties are also subtracted from generic dexterity checks made for manoeuvring that does a player character to be the more
not correspond to any particular skill. active one in an opposed check so
that players aren’t in put in a situ-
ation where something happens to
Ability Checks their character because the game
There are times when there is no suitable skill for the task at hand. Maybe a character needs to master rolled well rather than them
dance impressively at a social function, or maybe they need to lift a heavy object. having rolled badly.

In these cases, you should make a simple ability check rather than a skill check. To do this, The odds of success for the char-
roll 1E20 and add the character’s relevant ability score (the actual score, not the bonus). De- acter aren’t significantly different
pending on the exact task being attempted, the game master may wish to also subtract the either way, but there’s a big psycho-
character’s armour penalty from the total. logical difference when it comes to
the player feeling in control of their
Other Bonuses And Penalties character’s destiny.
The game master should apply other bonuses or penalties to skill checks depending on such
things as weather conditions, light level, lack of tools, or other environmental factors.

However, no bonus or penalty of this type should normally be larger than +/–2 unless those fac-
tors are extreme, and players should always be made aware of circumstances that will make skill
use easier or harder in this manner before they commit their characters to using a skill (unless
there is a good reason why such circumstances would be unknown to the characters, of course).
21
 Skill List
Category Skill Ability Score
Armour (Light) -
Armour (Leather) -
Armour Skills
Armour (Chain) -
Armour (Plate) -
History Int
Behind the Curtain Language* -
Different groups have different lev- Lore Skills Magical Lore Int
els of comfort when it comes to the
use of social skills. Nature Lore Int
Religious Lore Int
Some groups prefer to just “role- Mana Transfer Wis
play it out” where the players do
Read Magic Int
the talking and the game master Magical Skills
determines the results of that with- Use Magical Device Int
out skills being used or rolled for. Aimed Spell* Dex
Others prefer to have the players Climb Str
simply describe their characters’
Handle Animal Cha
arguments and speeches in gen- Outdoor Skills
eral terms and to make success or Ride* Dex
failure determined by skill checks. Swim Str
Still others prefer to use skills but Search Wis
give bonuses or penalties based
on the eloquance with which the Sense Lie Wis
Perception Skills
player describes their character’s Sense Magic Wis
speech. Spot Wis
Mana Focus* Cha
There is no right or wrong way to Self-Discipline Skills
Skills

do this, and you need to decide as a Toughness Con

group what you are most comfort- Bluff Cha
able with. Debate Cha
Social Skills
Intimidate Cha
Orate Cha
Spell Path Skills Spell Path Research* -
Disable Device Dex
Pick Lock Dex
Subterfuge Skills
Sneak Attack -
Stealth Dex
some spells: The individual spell
Weapon Skills Weapon Group* Str or Dex
descriptions in the Book of Ta-
bles will indicate which spells are *Skill comprises a group of separate skills
weapon-like and whether they are
unskilled or skilled by giving them Detailed Skill Descriptions
a W(U) or W(S) tag.
Aimed Spell (Magical Skills)
Ability: Dexterity Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: No
This skill is actually a number of skills which must be learned independently.

Although most spells that affect an opponent have an all-or-nothing effect with the target either
resisting the spell or being affected by it, some spells – usually those which create some kind
of elemental blast that is fired at an enemy – work like weapons instead. These are referred to

22 as weapon-like spells.

Some of these weapon-like spells affect a large area, and cannot be accurately aimed. These are
called unskilled weapon-like spells. Spells that affect a single target with a precise strike can
be accurately aimed and are known as skilled weapon-like spells.
Attack rolls with skilled weapon-like spells use the Aimed Spell group of skills; and there is an
individual skill for each spell, in which ranks must be bought independently of each other. The
exception to this is that spells that differ only in numeric values (e.g. Magic Missile (100’) and
Magic Missile (300’)) share the same Aimed Spell skill rather than having one each. These skills
use the normal skill progression, and they use a character’s dexterity bonus. Armour penalties missile penalties: Some armour’s
do not affect these skills, but they are affected by armour missile penalties as if the character bulk or lack of flexibility makes it
were firing a missile weapon. more difficult to aim missile weap-
ons while wearing it. This penalty
A character cannot spend skill points on ranks in an Aimed Spell skill unless they are high is given with the armour’s descrip-
enough level to cast that spell (or are in the process of gaining that level) and they have learned tion in the Equipment chapter.
the spell using an appropriate Spell Path Research skill.

This latter restriction may be fulfilled at the same time that the character buys the skill in that if
a character buys a Spell Path Research skill during a particular level increase then they can buy
additional ranks in the Aimed Spell skill for one of the spells covered by that path skill during
that same level (providing they are also high enough level to cast the spell).
Spell Path Research skill: A skill
Example: Liam is creating his character Lucius, who is a necromancer. At first level, Lucius that allows the character to learn
does not yet have any spell paths which include aimed weapon-like spells, so he can’t buy any part of a spell path so that they
Aimed Spell skills. can cast the spells on it. Spell path
research skills are described later
At second level, Lucius spends a skill point on the Spell Path Research (Darkness) skill, mean- in this chapter.
ing that he now knows the first to fifth level spells on the Darkness spell path. This includes the
third level spell Bolt of Darkness (100’). However, he can’t yet buy any ranks in the Aimed
Spell (Bolt of Darkness) skill because he is not yet high enough level to cast the spell.

At third level, Lucius now knows the spell and is also high enough level to be able to cast it. He is
now able to start buying the Aimed Spell (Bolt of Darkness) skill.
Darkness: This is a class spell path
At ninth level, Lucius is now high enough level to cast Bolt of Darkness (200’) too, and has for the necromancer class that lets
spent another skill point in the Spell Path Research (Darkness) skill. Since this differs from them manipulate and solidify

Skills
Bolt of Darkness (100’) in numeric values only, he does not need to buy a new skill. He can use darkness, including firing bolts of
the same Aimed Spell (Bolt of Darkness) skill with both spells. it at people. The spells on this spell
path are described in the Book of
At twelfth level, Lucius has not bought the Darkness spell path at levels beyond tenth yet, so he Tables.
decides to buy it at this level. He spends another skill point on the Spell Path Research (Dark-
ness) skill. This gives him access to the twelfth level Black Lightning (100’) spell. This requires
a separate Aimed Spell skill; this time Aimed Spell (Black Lightning). Lucius can start buying
that skill at this level because he is high enough level to cast the spell and he has also bought the
relevant research skill at the same time.

Armour (Armour Skills) greaves and a helmet: Greaves and

Ability: None Progression: Normal a helmet are optional extras that
Armour Penalty: n/a Take 10/20: n/a can be worn with most armour.
The Armour skills allow a character to manoeuvre in armour with a lessened penalty. Each of They don’t change your armour
these four skills is a separate skill and skill ranks in it are bought independently of the others, class, but they do provide pro-
although they all work in the same manner. tection from some critical strike
results – at the cost of increasing
Armour skills are an exception to the normal rule that a character can only buy a maximum of the armour’s penalties when worn.
two ranks in a single skill per level. Providing you have the skill points, you can buy as many
ranks in an Armour skill as you like.

Each type of armour has an initial armour penalty and a minimum armour penalty. These
initial and minimum penalties may also be increased if greaves and a helmet are worn with
the armour.

Characters who are unused to wearing armour start with the initial armour penalty, and this
can be offset by buying ranks in the various armour skills. See the Equipment chapter for details
of the different types of armour available. 23
Skill ranks bought in an Armour skill reduce the penalty when wearing that type of armour by
their skill bonus. However, no matter how many ranks in an armour skill are bought, the penalty
cannot be reduced below the armour’s minimum armour penalty.

types of armour: The various
types of armour are described in
more detail in the Equipment
chapter, but a quick summary of
them is:
◊ Hides: Untreated animal
hides or fur, or padded linen
of a similar consistency.
◊ Brigandine: Flexible leather
or padded linen with metal
plates sewn into it.
◊ Leather: Thick leather that
has been boiled in wax to
harden it, usually in the form
of a chestpiece and skirt.
◊ Chain Shirt: A shirt made
of relatively light chain links
that covers the body and up-
per arms.
◊ Hauberk: A long tunic made
Skills
of heavy chain links that fully
covers the arms and covers the
upper legs.
◊ Breastplate: A solid metal
plate covering the body.
◊ Plate Suit: A series of metal
plates covering the whole
body, arms, and legs.
24
Note that the –5 penalty for not having any ranks in the Armour skill (mitigated by adding your
dexterity bonus to it to generate your total skill bonus, of course) cannot increase the penalty
beyond the initial armour penalty for the type of armour being worn.
Armour skills do not affect the dexterity bonus reduction of the armour.
The types of armour covered by each skill are:
Armour (Light) = Hides, Brigandine
Armour (Leather) = Leather
Armour (Chain) = Chain Shirt, Hauberk
Armour (Plate) = Breastplate, Plate Suit
In any of these cases (with the exception of Hauberks and Plate Suits, neither of which are worn
with greaves) the same skill covers use of the armour both with and without greaves.
Example: Rose likes to wear a chain shirt under her coat for protection. In the Equipment chap-
ter, a chain shirt is listed as having an initial armour penalty of –14, a minimum armour
penalty of –2, and a dexterity bonus reduction of –1. Rose’s dexterity is 16, giving her a +3
dexterity bonus.
At first level, before buying any ranks in the Armour (Chain) skill, she would have had a skill
bonus of –5 (for no ranks) +3 (for her dexterity bonus) for a total of –2. Since this can’t increase
the penalty for wearing the armour beyond its initial armour penalty, if Rose wore a chain shirt
she would merely get the full –14 armour penalty instead.
She actually buys three ranks in the Armour (Chain) skill at first level – remember that the two
rank maximum doesn’t apply to Armour skills. This gives her a skill bonus of +7 (for three ranks) +3
(for her dexterity bonus) for a total of +10. This is added to the initial armour penalty of –14
to get an armour penalty of –4. Rose will therefore have a –4 penalty to sneaking and climbing
and similar skills when wearing her chain shirt.
At second level, Rose could buy three more ranks in the Armour (Chain) skill to bring her skill bonus
up to +10 (for six ranks) +3 (for her dexterity bonus) for a total skill bonus of +13. Theoreti-
cally, this would bring her armour penalty to –1 (–14+13) but the minimum armour penalty
for the chain shirt is –2 so instead she would still have an armour penalty of –2. Since she would
gain nothing from this, she only buys two ranks and spends the third skill point elsewhere instead.
None of this affected the armour’s dexterity bonus reduction, which remains at –1. Rose will
have a –1 penalty to her dodge bonus and to using missile weapons while wearing a chain shirt.
Bluff (Social Skills)
Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: No
This skill is used to lie and dissemble convincingly. There is no fixed difficulty for the use of this Behind the Curtain
skill. Instead, the skill should be used in opposed skill checks with the Sense Lie skill of the Of the four social skills, Bluff is the
people listening to the lie. only one that should ever be used
against a player character.
Note that this skill is independent of the actual nature of the lie being told. Whether a character
tells a simple white lie like claiming to have had a pet cat as a child when they didn’t, or tells a If an NPC wants to persuade a
complete whopper like a claim that the moon is made of green cheese; the check is the same. player character of something or
appeal to their emotions or imtimi-
A successful bluff says nothing about how believable the bluff itself is, only that the character date them, it should be up to the
seems sincere when they say it. player how their character reacts to
the speech rather than up to a dice
Climb (Outdoor Skills) roll based on the NPC’s skill.
Ability: Strength Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: Yes Take 10/20: 10 only Basing it on the NPC’s skill would
This skill is used for climbing anything from tall trees to sheer rock faces. Such simple tasks as take away the player’s agency to de-
climbing a knotted rope or a ladder should be automatically successful and not even require a termine how their character reacts.
skill check unless there are extenuating circumstances (for example trying to climb a wet rope
in a storm).

The default difficulty of “Medium” (TN 20) should be used for attempts to climb normal brick
or stone walls with plenty of handholds, and that difficulty should be adjusted up or down as
necessary depending on exactly what is being climbed.

An experienced climber can easily assess the difficulty of a climb, so the TN of all climb checks
should be told to the player before they start climbing.

If a character fails a climb roll, they have not necessarily fallen from the surface they are climbing.

Skills
A single failed roll means that the character is unable to progress further and must re-roll the
check. If the re-roll is also a failure then the character will fall a random percentage of the way
through the climb.

Debate (Social Skill) reasoned argument: If you are

Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal making emotional appeals rather
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes than reasoned argument, use the
The Debate skill is used when a character tries to use reasoned argument to persuade an audi- Orate skill (described later in this
ence of something. The difficulty of a Debate check should be set by how plausible the fact is chapter) instead.
that the character is trying to reason towards, what is at stake if the audience accept or reject that
conclusion, and optionally the quality of the argument made by the player when role-playing
the debate.

This skill assumes that the character is arguing in good faith. If the character is not doing so,
they may also need to use the Bluff skill in order to appear sincere while making their argument.

Disable Device (Subterfuge Skills)

Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Only if not dangerous.
This skill is used to disable traps and other mechanised devices without setting them off. Generally,
a reasonably complex trap such as a pressure-plate activated poison gas dispenser will require a
“Medium” (TN 20) Disable Device check, and other traps will require easier or more difficult
checks depending on how complex and how well made they are.

Failing a Disable Device check will not automatically set off the device that the character is
attempting to disable. A single failed roll means that the character is unable to disable the device
and must re-roll the check. If the re-rolled check is also a failure then the character has set off
the device accidentally. If the character fails to disable the device the first time (and survives the
trap being sprung if necessary) then they may be able to try to use the skill again – assuming
25
that the trap wasn’t a single-use trap that has just gone off.

Each use of the Disable Device skill takes ten minutes.


Behind The Curtain
The default assumption in Light-
master is that all characters are lit-
erate and can read and write any
languages they know at the same
proficiency that they speak them.
If you prefer to separate literacy
from spoken fluency, set the read-
ing and writing ability of charac-
ters to half their spoken ability and
have them buy further ranks if they
want to be able to read and write
above that level.
each language: It is up to the game
master how many languages exist
in their setting and where (and by
whom) each is spoken. These may
or may not include some kind of
“common tongue” or “trade tongue”
that is widely known and used for
Skills
commerce.
Mana Transfer: The ability to pass
mana to another willing character
or use it to power a Lightmaster
sail. The Mana Transfer skill is
described later in this chapter.
spells: Casting a spell normally re-
quires an amount of mana equal to
the level of the spell.
26
Handle Animal
Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
This skill is used to control domesticated animals, to herd them, and to impart basic conditioned
behaviours into them.
The complexity of behaviours and “tricks” that can be taught to an animal using this skill will
heavily depend on the type of animal involved.
History (Lore Skills)
Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
The History skill is used when a character needs to recall or understand the significance of some
historical fact. The difficulty of the History check should be based on how obscure the fact is.
Intimidate (Social Skills)
Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: No
This skill is used to instil fear into an audience in order to persuade them to comply with instruc-
tions, by threatening some unpleasant consequence for non-compliance.
The difficulty for the Intimidate check will depend on how plausible it is that the character can
and will make good on their threat, how bad it would be for the audience if the character did
make good on their threat, and what the consequences for the audience will be if they do comply.
Language (Lore Skills)
Ability: None Progression: Special
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: n/a
This skill is actually a whole series of skills, one for each language. The fluency that a character
has with a language is based on the number of skill ranks in it that they have bought:
◊ 1 Rank: Knows a few words and can recognise the language.
◊ 2 Ranks: Can understand simple words and phrases when spoken slowly, but cannot speak
the language beyond simple individual words.
◊ 3 Ranks: Can understand slowly spoken sentences and speak in broken phrases.
◊ 4 Ranks: Can conduct a (slowly spoken) conversation about everyday matters.
◊ 5 Ranks: Can converse at a normal pace unless technical or unusual words and concepts
are being used.
◊ 6 Ranks: Normal language proficiency of a native.
◊ 7 Ranks: Has an extensive vocabulary and can discuss obscure or technical matters with ease.
◊ 8 Ranks: Understands the roots of the language and can translate archaic or obscure dialects.
Characters are assumed to start with six skill ranks in their native tongue.
Magical Lore (Lore Skills)
Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
The Magical Lore skill is used for knowing factual information about the various types of
magic, the abilities of magical creatures, and how magic works. The skill does not represent the
character’s ability to use any individual form of magic, but instead represents their academic
knowledge about magic in general.
Mana Focus (Self Discipline Skills)
Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: Sometimes Take 10/20: 10 only
This is a group of five related skills, each of which must be bought independently. Each of them
allows the character to focus their internal mana reserves in order to perform superhuman feats
of physicality. Focusing mana developed historically as a crude precursor to actual spell casting,
but it is still useful nonetheless.
Note that a character does not need to possess any “surplus” mana of the sort that they could
cast spells with or use with the Mana Transfer skill in order to be able to use Mana Focus skills.
Mana Focus skills rely only on the internal mana that all creatures inherently have.
In a combat situation, all of these skills (with the exception of Landing Focus – see below) are
used in a similar manner. During the round in which the skill is to be used, the character de-
clares in the Statement of Intent phase that they are focusing their mana (and which particular
mana focus skill they are using). The character then suffers a –4 penalty to any actions taken
during the round. round: a period of ten seconds of
combat during which each com-
At the end of that round, the character rolls a skill check with a standard “Medium” (TN 20) batant has a chance to move, at-
difficulty. If they fail the check then nothing happens, but if they pass the check then they may tack, cast a spell, or perform some
use their focus the following round to perform superhuman feats depending on the individual similar action.
skill used:

Grace Focus: The character using this skill may use their Grace Focus skill bonus rather than
their dexterity score in any dexterity checks made during the round to perform miscellaneous
tasks requiring grace or balance, even if those tasks take more than one round to perform. This
bonus does not replace skills used in skill checks used to perform such feats, only raw ability
checks. Statement of Intent: A phase
that happens at the beginning of
Landing Focus: The character may subtract their Landing Focus skill bonus from the effective each round of combat, during
height (in feet) of any fall, although the effective height of a fall may not be reduced below 10’ which each combatant decides
in this manner. Unlike the other Mana Focus skills, this can be done instantly and does not what action they will perform in
require a round of focus beforehand. Instead, the character takes a –4 penalty to all actions the that round and whether they will
round after the fall as they regain their mana balance. rush that action to try to perform
it before others or take their time
Leap Focus: The character using this skill may use their Leap Focus skill bonus rather than so they have chance to react to the
their strength score in any strength checks made during the round to perform miscellaneous actions of others.
tasks requiring jumping or leaping. This bonus does not replace skills used in skill checks used
to perform such feats, only raw ability checks.

Speed Focus: The character is hasted for the round. See the Combat chapter for details of haste.

Strength Focus: The character receives a +5 bonus to raw ability checks using strength, and

Skills
receives a +2 bonus on all melee attacks made during the round with such attacks doing double
normal damage (excluding critical strikes, which do normal damage). may use: At lower levels, when a
character has bought very few skill
Mana Transfer (Magical Skills) ranks in a Mana Focus skill, their
Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal skill bonus may still be less than
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: n/a their ability score. In this case, the
The Mana Transfer skill is used when one character wishes to pass some or all of their mana to character does not have to use the
a second character so that the second character can use that mana to power spells. skill bonus if they don’t want to.

To transfer mana in this way, the donor of the mana must know the exact location of the recipi-
ent, either because they are within sight, they are in mental contact of some sort, or they are
waiting at an exact pre-arranged location familiar to the donor. Mana may not be transferred to
an unwilling recipient, and the transfer must be initiated by the donor. The recipient may not
“suck” mana from the donor, even if the donor would be willing.

Transferring mana requires no skill check, however it is not entirely efficient. When a mana mana: The total amount of mana
transfer takes place, add together the Mana Transfer skill bonuses for both the donor and a character has is based on the rel-
recipient, and double the total. Treat the result of this as a percentage (with a minimum of 0% evant ability score for their chosen
and a maximum of 100%) that indicates the proportion of donated mana that is received. Only sphere of magic and their level. See
a whole number of mana points may be received: drop any fractional mana points. the Creating a Character chapter
for more details.
When transferring mana, the donor is aware of how much (or how little) the recipient is going
to receive when they make the initial contact.

At the same time as transferring mana, the donor may also transfer a spell that they can cast
along with the mana. If they choose to do this, then they must ensure that they donate enough
mana so that the recipient receives enough to cast the spell.

Transferring a spell along with mana in this way allows the recipient to immediately use the
27
mana they have received to cast the spell – even if they cannot normally cast it – but also means
that the mana that has been transferred cannot be used for any other purpose.
 Receiving mana through the mana transfer skill can take a character above their normal mana
total for the day. This is not dangerous, but any extra mana not used at the end of the day will
be lost at dawn when the recipient’s own mana refreshes.

This skill is also used to transfer mana to a Lightmaster sail in order to power it. In this case,
the sail is assumed to have the same Mana Transfer skill bonus as the character transferring the
mana to it. When using the Mana Transfer skill to transfer mana to a Lightmaster sail, it is not
possible to “hold back” any mana. You must transfer all of your mana to the Lightmaster sail.

Example: After successfully defending a village from an attack by a chimera, Asenath is healing
injured villagers. Running short of mana, she asks Lucius for help and he offers to transfer some
of his remaining mana to her.

Lucius has eight skill ranks in the Transfer Mana skill, giving him a rank bonus of +12, and
has a wisdom bonus of +3. This gives him a skill bonus of 12+3=15. Asenath has nine skill
ranks in the Transfer Mana skill giving her a rank bonus of +13, but only has a wisdom
bonus of +1. Therefore her skill bonus is 13+1=14.

Adding the two skill bonuses and doubling the result, we get (15+14)x2=58. Therefore, however
many points of mana Lucius donates to Asenath, she will receive 58% of them (rounded down)
and the others will be wasted.

Lucius gives Asenath his last nine points of mana, and she receives 9x58%=5.22, rounded down
to 5 of them.

Grateful for the extra spell power, Asenath wastes no time using the donated mana to cast more
healing spells on the grateful villagers.

Nature Lore (Lore Skills)

Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
Skills

The Nature Lore skill is used for knowing factual information about plants, animals, and natural
phenomena. The skill does not represent the ability of the character to forage for food and sur-
vive in the wilderness, but instead represents their academic knowledge about nature in general.

Orate (Social Skill)

emotional: The Orate skill is not Ability: Charisma Progression: Normal
used for attempts to persuade us- Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
ing logic and reasoning. The De- The Orate skill is used when a character tries to use an emotional appeal to persuade an audi-
bate skill is used for that. ence of something.

The difficulty of an Orate check should be set by how appealing the conclusion is that the char-
acter is pushing towards, what is at stake if the audience accept or reject that conclusion, and
optionally the quality of the speech made by the player when role-playing the oration.

This skill assumes that the character is arguing in good faith. If the character is not doing so,
they may also need to use the Bluff skill in order to appear sincere while making their appeal.

Pick Locks (Subterfuge Skills)

Ability: Dexterity Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: yes
The Pick Locks skill is used for picking mechanical locks of the type normally found on doors
or chests.

To pick a reasonably expensive keyed lock is a “Medium” TN 20 task, with simpler or poor
quality locks being easier to pick and complex or exotic locks being more difficult. If a lock is
trapped, then picking it will normally set off the trap regardless of whether the attempt to pick

28 the lock is successful or not.

Attempting to pick a lock takes ten minutes. On a failed roll, the character may spend another
ten minutes to try to pick the lock again as normal.
Read Magic (Magical Skills)
Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: 10 only
The Read Magic skill allows characters to cast spells from scrolls. Characters automatically
understand and are always able to cast spells from scrolls that they have written themselves, but
understanding a spell that someone else has inscribed onto a scroll requires a successful Read scrolls: Scrolls are made by rune-
Magic skill check. smiths. Any spell user who knows
the Scroll Writing lesser arcane
The first time a character encounters a given scroll, they may make a Read Magic skill check spell path can then write a spell
to recognise and understand the scroll. The difficulty of the skill check depends on what the onto the scroll, effectively storing
character knows about the scroll: it for later use. Anyone can then
attempt to read the spell from the
◊ If the character knows which spell is on the scroll, the difficulty is “Easy” TN 16. scroll, at which point the spell will
be cast.
◊ If the character does not know which spell is on the scroll, but knows what sphere of magic
the spell is from, the difficulty is “Medium” TN 20.

◊ If the character does not even know which sphere of magic the spell on the scroll is from,
the difficulty is “Very Hard” TN 24.

Additionally, if the character has researched and can cast the spell (whether they know this or
not) then they get a +6 bonus to the roll, and if the spell is of a sphere of magic that the character
cannot cast spells from (whether they know this or not) then they get a –6 penalty to the roll.

If the skill check succeeds, then the character learns what spell is on the scroll (if they didn’t learn: Note that if the re-roll after
already know) and may use the scroll at any time without further rolls being needed. failing a Read Magic skill check
succeeded, the character may have
If the skill check fails, the character must roll a second time. If the re-roll also fails then the just learned for the first time what
character learns nothing about the scroll. If the re-roll succeeds then the character learns what spell is on the scroll and may there-
spell is on the scroll, although they still may not use it. fore immediately qualify to try to
read the same scroll again since

Skills
In either case, a failed skill check means that the character cannot try to understand this scroll they have just learned more about
again unless they learn more about it (the sphere or exact spell) or they increase their Read it.
Magic skill bonus.

All scrolls are unique, and when a character learns how to use one scroll with a particular spell on
it, this does not help the character use or recognise other scrolls even if they contain the same spell.

Religious Lore (Lore Skills)

Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
The Religious Lore skill is used for knowing factual information about different religions and
their rites and beliefs. The skill does not represent the strength of a character’s faith in their own
religion, but instead represents their academic knowledge about religions in general. Ride (Horse): Horses, donkeys,
and mules are similar enough to
Ride (Outdoor Skills) each other that they can all be rid-
Ability: Dexterity Progression: Normal den using the Ride (Horse) skill,
Armour Penalty: Yes Take 10/20: 10 only even though they are technically
The Ride skill is not a single skill, but is a group of related skills. Each type of animal has its different types of animal.
own ride skill, for example Ride (Horse), Ride (Elephant), Ride (Shark), Ride (Camel), Ride
(Sandworm), Ride (Dragon), each of which must be learned independently.

Skill checks are not normally needed for merely sitting on a passive animal as it walks, swims or
flies gently. However, tricky situations such as controlling a panicking animal or getting an animal
to perform unusual manoeuvres will require rolls with a difficulty based on the circumstances.

Additionally, when fighting from the back of an animal in mounted combat, the character uses
their relevant weapon skill bonus or their ride skill bonus whichever is less. A character cannot
take 10 when using the skill to fight in this manner. 29

actively: If you need to check to
see if a character notices something
out of the ordinary while they are
not actively looking for anything,
use the Spot skill.
deceitful: The Sense Lie skill will
only detect deliberate attempts to
be deceitful. If someone genuinely
believes what they are saying, this
skill will not pick it up as a lie even
if it happens to be untrue.
Skills
30
Search (Perception Skills)
Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
The Search skill is used when a character is actively looking for something, such as a hidden
item or a catch to open a door. It is also used when a character searches for traps. The difficulty
of a Search check is determined by how well hidden the thing that is being searched for is.
Sense Lie (Perception Skills)
Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: 10 only
This skill is used when a character is trying to determine whether someone is being deceitful, is
hiding something, or has an ulterior motive for their actions.
There is no fixed difficulty for the use of this skill. Instead, the skill should be used in opposed
skill checks with the Bluff skill of the person telling the lie.
Sense Magic (Perception Skills)
Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
The Sense Magic skill is used to pick up on the faint sensory effects that the presence of active
magic leaves behind. By using this skill, the character can detect the presence of magic in an
area or an object.
The stronger the magic, the easier it is to detect. The difficulty of using this skill to detect an active
magical spell or similar effect when examining an object or area closely is found by subtracting
the level of the spell or effect from thirty.
The magic within enchanted items is more self-contained than that of an active spell, so detecting
that an item is enchanted has a fixed difficulty of “Medium” TN 20.
If the skill check fails, the character fails to detect the magic. If the skill check succeeds, the
character may roll a second skill check at the same difficulty – a second success means that
the character can determine the sphere of magic that the spell or effect is from. In the case of
enchanted items, the character learns from this second success that the item is an enchanted
item rather than an object that just happens to have an active spell on it.
Sneak Attack (Subterfuge Skills)
Ability: None Progression: Standard
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: n/a
This skill lets a character place their attacks with great precision, vastly increasing the chance of
killing their opponents outright.

This skill is never rolled as a check. Instead, for each five points of skill bonus a character has
(rounded down), they may adjust the critical strike roll for any hits they make on opponents critical strike roll: A d20 roll
by +/–1. This does not increase the chance of getting a critical strike or the severity of the strike; made to determine the specific
only the roll once the severity has been determined. detailed injury caused by an at-
tack over and above the hit point
The Sneak Attack skill may only be used if the victim is completely unaware of their attacker. loss due to pain and shock that the
It may not be used when the attacker is simply flanking or behind the victim but the victim attack inflicts.
knows that the attacker is there.

Additionally, if the victim of the sneak attack is vigorously moving around, for example if they
are already in a combat situation, then the attacker may only adjust the critical strike roll by +/–1
per ten points of skill bonus (rounded down).

Sneak attacks may be made with melee attacks or with missile or spell attacks, providing the
victim is within close range of the attacker.

Spell Path Research (Spell Path Skills)

Ability: None Progression: Special
Armour Penalty: n/a Take 10/20: n/a
This skill is used for learning new spell paths. It is actually a group of independent skills rather
than a single skill. There is one Spell Path Research skill (usually just called a “path skill”) for
each spell path, named after the path. For example the Divine Light spell path has an associated Divine Light: A lesser divine spell
skill called Spell Path Research (Light Mastery). Each skill rank in a path skill gives access to path containing spells that pro-
five levels of spells from the spell path. One rank gives access to the 1st to 5th level spells, two duce light in various forms and
ranks the 1st to 10th level, three ranks the 1st to 15th level, and so on to an absolute maximum quantities.

Skills
of ten ranks giving access to the 1st to 50th level spells (i.e. all of them).

Each character will have a number of core spell paths based on their class:

◊ Full Caster (Single Sphere): 6 class spell paths based on their class, plus four additional
spell paths of their choice taken from the lesser and greater paths for their sphere, for a
total of ten core spell paths.
◊ Full Caster (Dual Sphere): 6 class spell paths based on their class, plus two additional spell
paths of their choice taken from the lesser paths for their two spheres, for a total of eight
core spell paths.
◊ Partial Caster: 5 class spell paths based on their class, plus one additional spell path of
their choice taken from the lesser paths for their sphere, for a total of six core spell paths.
◊ None Caster: None.

The maximum number of skill ranks in a given path skill that a character can buy depends on core spell paths: Spell paths that a
whether the skill is for one of their core spell paths and, if not, what type of path it is for. This character is practised with and can
means that characters won’t be able to learn all the spells from a path unless it is one of their learn to the highest levels.
core spell paths. Additionally, some non-core paths may require two skill points to be spent
to gain a single skill rank in the skill.

These maxima and costs are summarised in the table below:

Spell Path Skills
Max Ranks Max Ranks
Max Ranks
Caster Type (Non-Core, (Non-Core,
(Core)
Lesser) Greater)
Full Caster (Single Sphere)
Full Caster (Dual Sphere)
10
10
4
2
4
2* 31
Partial Caster 10 2* 0
Non-Caster - 1* 0
* These ranks cost two skill points each

Undead Summons: A path full
of spells that let you summon and
control the shades (incorporeal
spirits) of dead people.
Undead Creation: A path full of
spells that let you animate bodies
into husks and lets you give bodies
to shades to create skeletons.
Mystic Movement: A path full of
spells that let you fly, teleport, and
otherwise move around in unusual
Skills
ways.
first to fifth: Although Lucius
knows all the spells on these paths
from first to fifth level, he can still
only cast spells that are of his level
or below.
32
A character may not spend skill points on skill ranks in a path skill unless the character’s level
is at least equal to the level of the first additional spell that the skill rank gives access to over and
above spell levels that prior ranks have already given access to, for example a character cannot
buy a third rank in a path skill until they are 11th level, since the third rank gives access to
level 11–15 spells (level 1–10 spells having already being accessed by the first and second ranks
in the path skill).
If it takes two skill points to buy a rank in a path skill, both points may be spent at the same
level, or they may be spent at different levels. However, a character does not gain the skill rank
(and therefore cannot use the additional spells from the path) until the second skill point has
been spent.
Example: Liam is creating his character, Lucius, who is a necromancer. Looking at the class spell
paths for necromancers, he sees that the Undead Summons and Undead Creation spell paths are
pretty central to the class, but wants to be able to do other things as well as just mess with undead.
After reading through the arcane and psychic paths, Liam decides that Lucius would definitely
like to be able to fly and teleport, so he will learn the Mystic Movement greater arcane path.
Unfortunately, as a dual sphere caster, Lucius can’t have greater paths as his core paths, so he will
need to learn it as a non-core path. It will take him more effort to learn, and he’ll never be able to
master the path beyond level ten spells, but it will still be very useful. He therefore decides to spend
two skill points on the two core spell paths at this level and a third on Mystic Movement (he’d
like to spend more, but doesn’t think he can afford to).
Liam allocates one skill point to buy a rank in the Spell Path Research (Undead Summons)
skill, spends a second to buy a rank in the Spell Path Research (Undead Creation) skill, and
spends a third on the Spell Path Research (Mystic Movement) skill.
At first level, Lucius has learned all the first to fifth level spells in the Undead Summons and
Undead Creation paths, but has not yet learned any spells in the Mystic Movement path. Because
he is a dual sphere caster and this is a non-core greater path he needs to spend two skill points for
each rank in the skill to gain a rank in it.
When Lucius reaches second level, Liam spends another skill point in the Spell Path Research
(Mystic Movement) skill. Since he has now spent two skill points in the skill, even though he
did not spend them at the same level, he has a single skill rank in it and has therefore also learned
all the first to fifth level spells in that spell path.
Spot (Perception Skills)
Ability: Wisdom Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: Yes
This skill is used for noticing things. Although primarily visual, the same skill can also be used
for hearing or smelling things. The most common use of this skill is in opposed skill checks
with the Stealth skill to notice that someone or something is sneaking up on you, but it can be
used to notice other types of danger too, such as loose rocks or unsafe ladders.
The difficulty of static spot checks for noticing things should be determined by circumstances,
although see the Stealth skill below.
Stealth (Subterfuge Skills)
Ability: Dexterity Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: Yes Take 10/20: No
The Stealth skill is used for both hiding from view and for moving silently to avoid being heard.
There are no standard difficulties for stealth checks.
When a character attempts to hide from a creature that is actively looking for them, then use
this skill in an opposed skill check with the Search skill of the seeker, with the seeker being the
active party in the check.
When a character attempts to move silently in order to sneak up on or sneak past one or more
other creatures, use this skill in an opposed skill check with the Spot skill of the targets with
the sneaker being the active party in the check. If the Sneak check fails against any of the targets
then the opposed skill check must be rolled a second time. If the re-roll results in the sneaker
succeeding then they are unable to get closer to the target quietly and must remain in place in
order to stay unnoticed. If the re-roll results in the sneaker failing a second time then they have
accidentally alerted the creature or creatures whose Spot checks they failed to match.

Example: Rose is trying to sneak past a couple of guards in order to enter an enemy camp. This
will therefore require an opposed skill check matching Rose’s Stealth skill with the guards’ Spot
skills. Rose has a Sneak skill bonus of +13; whereas the guards, being nothing special, only have
a Spot bonus of +4. This should be pretty easy for Rose to do.

Since Rose is the active party (she’s actively trying to sneak while the guards are just passively
standing around) the guards will be assumed to take 10 with their Spot rolls and the resulting
total (4+10=14) will be used at the target number for Rose’s roll. As this is a potentially dangerous
situation, Rose can’t take 10 with her Sneak skill and must roll.

Unfortunately, luck is not on Rose’s side tonight. Sofia rolls 1E20 and gets a natural 1, followed
by a 12. This gives her a total of 1–12+13=2. This is below the target number of 14, so Rose
has failed to sneak past the guards.

Because her sneaking failed, the skill check must be re-rolled to see if she was spotted or she merely
didn’t have an opportunity to get past. The circumstances of the re-roll are the same as for the initial
roll, so again Sofia is rolling against a target number of 14. This time she rolls a 3 on her 1E20
roll – not great, but good enough. Her skill total is therefore 3+13=16, which beats the TN of 14.

Dean describes how Rose was about to sneak past the guards in the dark when, with terrible tim-
ing, there was a change of shift. New guards came out to replace the existing ones, and with them
all milling about and moving around with lanterns there was no opportunity for Rose to get past
them unseen.

Sofia decides the Rose will retreat and wait for half an hour for the new shift of guards to settle in
and get bored before she has another go at sneaking in. pain: Toughness increases the
amount of general damage you

Skills
Swim (Outdoor Skills) can withstand in the form of pain
Ability: Strength Progression: Normal and bruising, but does not protect
Armour Penalty: Yes, x3 Take 10/20: 10 only you from the specific injuries done
All characters are assumed to be able to swim short distances when unarmoured, but when a by critical strikes.
character needs to swim in less straightforward circumstances – such as swimming long distances
or in rough or fast moving water; or when trying to swim while wearing armour – then this
skill is used.

The difficulty of the swim check should be judged based on the conditions; but remember
that even a “Routine” TN 14 check will be failed by an untrained person over half the time. A
failed swim check may or may not result in the character beginning to drown, depending on
the circumstances. hit points: When a character
reaches zero hit points or lower,
When working out a character’s skill total for Swim checks, apply triple the character’s armour they lose consciousness from pain,
penalty. fatigue, and blood loss until their
hit point total becomes positive
Toughness (Self Discipline Skills) again. When a character reaches a
Ability: Constitution Progression: Special hit point total equal to (–5 x their
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: n/a constitution ability score), usual-
The Toughness skill is used to determine how much pain a character can take before falling ly from continuing to bleed heavily
unconscious. Most of the time this pain will be due to being hit in combat, but traps and envi- after falling unconscious, they die.
ronmental sources of damage can also hurt a character.

When fully healthy, all characters have a number of hit points equal to five times their Tough-
ness skill bonus. If this value would be lower than the character’s constitution score (their
whole ability score, not their bonus) then the character has hit points equal to that score when
healthy, instead.
33

wands and staves: These are items
created by runesmiths that hold a
number of charges of a given spell
in them. When the charges are all
used up, a runesmith can recharge
them.
single use items: These are items
created by a runesmith that hold
a single charge of a given spell.
Once used, the item is spent and
no longer magical.
daily use items: These are items
created by a runesmith that hold
a small number of charges of a
given spell. If any of these charges
are used, the item automatically
Skills
recharges itself the following dawn.
learn: Note that if the re-roll after
failing a Use Magical Device skill
check succeeded, the character
may have just learned for the first
time what spell is in the item and
may therefore immediately qualify
to try to understand the same item
again since they have just learned
more about it.
34
Use Magical Device (Magical Skills)
Ability: Intelligence Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: 10 only
The Use Magical Device skill allows characters to cast spells from charged items such as wands
and staves, single use items, and daily use items. Characters may always cast spells from items
that they have made themselves, but understanding how to use an item that someone else has
crafted requires a Use Magical Device skill check.
The first time a character examines a given item, they may make a Use Magical Device check to
recognise what spell it contains and how to activate it. The difficulty of the skill check depends
on what the character knows about the item:
◊ If the character knows which spell is in the item, the difficulty is “Easy” TN 16.
◊ If the character does not know which spell is in the item, but knows what sphere of magic
the spell is from, the difficulty is “Medium” TN 20.
◊ If the character does not even know what sphere of magic the spell in the item is from, the
difficulty is “Very Hard” TN 24.
Additionally, if the character has researched and can cast the spell (whether they know this or
not) then they get a +6 bonus to the roll, and if the spell is of a sphere of magic that the character
cannot use (whether they know this or not) then they get a –6 penalty to the roll.
If the skill check succeeds, then the character learns what spell is in the item and may activate
the item at any time without further rolls being needed.
If the skill check fails, the character must roll a second time. If the re-roll also fails then the
character learns nothing about the item. If the re-roll succeeds then the character learns what
spell is in the item, although they still may not activate it.
In either case, a failed skill check means that the character cannot try to understand this item
again unless they learn more about it (the sphere or exact spell) or they increase their use magi-
cal device skill total.
All items are unique, and when a character learns how to use an item with a particular spell in
it, this does not help the character use other items even if they contain the same spell.
Weapon (Weapon Skills)
Ability: Strength or Dexterity Progression: Normal
Armour Penalty: No Take 10/20: No
This is a group of skills rather than an individual skill, and each skill in the group must be bought
separately. The twenty Weapon skills in the group each cover a number of weapons that are
used in roughly the same manner.
Some particularly versatile weapons may be used with more than one weapon skill, as shown
in the Weapon Skills table, although melee skills and thrown skills for the same weapon may
not be used interchangeably.
When using a weapon, the character’s attack bonus may be derived from any Weapon skill that
is applicable to the weapon in hand, and each one follows normal skill progression.
Weapon skills do not suffer from armour penalties, but all missile or thrown weapon skills are
subject to the armour missile penalty for the armour that the character is wearing.
The twenty weapon skills are listed in the Weapon Skills table. The first column of that table
shows the list of weapon skills that you can buy, and the second column shows which weapons
can be used with each of those skills (remember, you’re buying skill ranks in the whole skill,
not an individual weapon).
Example: Sofia is creating the character of Rose and is deciding what weapon skills she should
buy. Deciding that daggers are versatile and easily concealed, Sofia looks to see which skills will
let her use them.
Looking at the Weapon Skills table, she sees that when used in melee daggers come under the
Blades, Short skill; and when thrown they come under the Thrown, Short skill. Seeing that
the Blades, Short skill also includes the use of short swords, she decides to buy two skill ranks in
that, and that Rose will carry a short sword when adventuring and hidden daggers in situations
when openly carrying a sword would draw unwanted attention.

She also buys one skill rank in Thrown, Short so that she can throw a dagger if necessary and
one skill rank in Firearms so that she can use a pistol, thinking that she can carry the pistol when
adventuring and again have the hidden daggers for emergencies or for when stealth is needed.

Weapon Skills
Skill (Ability) Weapons
Axe, Battle
Axes, Long (Str)
Pole Arm
Axe, Hand
Axes, Short (Str)
Sword, Short
Sword, Broad
Blades, Double-Edged (Str)
Sword, Short
Blades, Long (Str) Sword, Two-Handed
Dagger
Blades, Short (Str)
Sword, Short
Sword, Falchion
Blades, Single-Edged (Str)
Sword, Scimitar
Sword, Rapier
Blades, Thrusting (Str)
Sword, Short
Bow, Composite
Bows (Dex) Bow, Long

Skills
Bow, Short
Blackjack
Brawling (Str) Cestus
Other Improvised
Chains, Long (Str) Flail
Chains, Short (Str) Morning Star
Pistol
Firearms (Dex)
Smoothbore
Club
Hammers, Long (Str)
War Mattock
Club
Hammers, Short (Str) Mace
War Hammer
Line Weapons (Dex) Bolas (Thrown)
Lance
Javelin (Melee)
Pole Arms (Str) Pole Arm
Spear (Melee)
Trident (Melee)
Slings (Dex) Sling
Club
Staves (Str) Quarterstaff
Spear (Melee)

Thrown, Long (Dex)

Javelin (Thrown)
Spear (Thrown)
Trident (Thrown)
35
Dagger (Thrown)
Thrown, Short (Dex)
Axe, Hand (Thrown)
Whips (Str) Whip
 Creating a Character
Creating a character for Lightmaster is pretty straightforward, and involves a number of steps;
some of which are only followed at character creation and some of which are repeated when a
character increases in level.

◊ Step 1: Choose a character class (first level only)

first level: If you wish to create a ◊ Step 2: Choose sphere of magic (first level only)
character that is higher than first ◊ Step 3: Assign (at first level) or improve (at later levels) ability scores
level, for example to replace a dead ◊ Step 4: Buy skills (every level)
character in the middle of a cam- ◊ Step 5: Update totals (every level)
paign or because the campaign is
designed to start with higher level Normally, a beginning character will start at first level, and will then increase in level as a cam-
characters, just create a first level paign progresses up to a maximum of fiftieth level, although not all campaigns will last that long.
character as normal and then ad- There are a number of different options for how this progression may be measured, and these are
vance them in level repeatedly un- detailed in the Adventuring chapter. Regardless of how progression from one level to the next
til they reach the desired level. is handled, the levels and the benefits given at those levels are shown in the Level Table below.
Level Table
Ability Score
Experience Points* Level Experience Points* Level
Increase**
0–1,249 1 160,000–169,999 26
1,250–2,999 2 +1 170,000–179,999 27
3,000–4,999 3 180,000–189,999 28
Creating a Character

5,000–7,499 4 +1 190,000–199,999 29
not all campaigns: See the Ad- 7,500–10,499 5 200,000–209,999 30
venturing chapter for more details
10,500–13,999 6 +1 210,000–219,999 31
on pacing campaigns for desired
length and estimated level at cam- 14,000–17,999 7 220,000–229,999 32
paign end. 18,000–21,999 8 +1 230,000–239,999 33
22,000–26,999 9 240,000–249,999 34
27,000–31,999 10 +1 250,000–259,999 35
32,000–37,999 11 260,000–269,999 36
38,000–43,999 12 +1 270,000–279,999 37
44,000–50,999 13 280,000–289,999 38
51,000–57,999 14 +1 290,000–299,999 39
experience points: Some groups 58,000–65,999 15 300,000–309,999 40
prefer to just increase in level when 66,000–73,999 16 +1 310,000–319,999 41
the game master decides that it is
74,000–81,999 17 320,000–329,999 42
appropriate, rather than tracking
experience points. See the Adven- 82,000–90,999 18 +1 330,000–339,999 43
turing chapter for more details. 91,000–99,999 19 340,000–349,999 44
100,000–109,999 20 +1 350,000–359,999 45
110,000–119,999 21 360,000–369,999 46
120,000–129,999 22 370,000–379,999 47
130,000–139,999 23 380,000–389,999 48
140,000–149,999 24 390,000–399,999 49
150,000–159,999 25 400,000+ 50
*Not all campaigns will use experience points
** Ability scores no longer increase after 20th level

Step 1: Choose Class

36 Your character’s class represents their pre-adventuring background and upbringing. While it
is possible for characters of any class to learn any skill, the years of training (whether formal
or incidental) that a character will have had during their youth and apprenticeship will mean
that some skills come more naturally to them than others. In game terms, this is represented by
skills being split into a number of skill categories and each class being given a number of skill
points with which to buy skills from each skill category. Additionally, the various magic-using
classes (that is all of them except for Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, and Warrior) each have a list
of class spell paths that are learnable only by members of that class.

The class that you choose at first level remains with you for the rest of your adventuring career.
It is not possible to swap between classes as you increase in level. The classes in Lightmaster are:

◊ Adventurer: A Jack-of-all-trades who is not a spell caster, and is otherwise not specialised.
◊ Annihilist: A full divine/psychic spell caster who wields spells of pure destruction.
◊ Bounty Hunter: A non-spell caster who specialises in stealth and ambushing.
◊ Chirurgeon: A full divine spell caster who heals others and creates artificial limbs.
◊ Clairvoyant: A full psychic spell caster who specialises in divination of all types.
◊ Conjurer: A full arcane/psychic spell caster who creates illusions and force constructs.
◊ Empath: A full psychic spell caster who takes the injuries of others onto themselves.
◊ Mountebank: A partial psychic spell caster who has spells devoted to lore and sound. primary ability scores: These are
◊ Necromancer: A full arcane/divine spell caster who creates and controls undead. the ability scores that are most
◊ Occultist: A full arcane spell caster whose spells deal in confusion and misdirection. important for each class. With
◊ Priest: A full divine spell caster who brings and sustains life. the exception of the ability score
◊ Runesmith: A full arcane spell caster who creates enchanted items. from which a class derives mana,
◊ Spellsword: a partial arcane spell caster who uses magic to enhance their fighting ability. the primary ability scores are just
◊ Telepath: A full psychic spell caster who commands mental powers. listed to give you an idea of how
◊ Warden: A partial divine spell caster who excels in wilderness exploration and survival. each class will work in play. There
◊ Warlock: A full arcane spell caster who uses the elements to create powerful attacks. is no game mechanic attached to
◊ Warrior: A non-spell caster who excels in combat. the concept of a “primary ability
◊ Witch: A full divine spell caster who uses nature magic. score”.

Creating a Character
See the Class Skill Points table below to see the primary ability scores for each class and how
many skill points characters of each class are given to spend on each skill category.
Class Skill Points
Self-Discipline Skills

Subterfuge Skills
Perception Skills

Spell Path Skills

Outdoor Skills

Weapon Skills
Armour Skills

Magic Skills

Social Skills
Lore Skills

Adventurer (Str/Dex)
Annihilist (Cha*/Wis)
Bounty Hunter (Dex/Str)
Chirurgeon (Wis*/Int)
Clairvoyant (Cha*/Wis)
Conjurer (Int*/Cha)
Empath (Cha*/Con)
Mountebank (Cha*/Int)
Necromancer (Wis*/Int)
Occultist (Int*/Dex)
Priest (Wis*/Int)
Runesmith (Int*/Wis)
Spellsword (Int*/Str)
Telepath (Cha*/Str)
Warden (Wis*/Str)
Warlock (Int*/Dex)
Warrior (Str/Con)
Witch (Wis*/Str)
*Character derives mana from this ability score
4 2 1 2 3 2 3 0 2 3
1 4 3 1 2 1 2 2 0 0
3 2 0 1 3 2 3 0 4 4
1 3 3 1 2 1 3 2 0 0
1 3 3 1 5 1 3 2 0 1
0 3 4 1 3 1 2 2 0 0
2 2 3 1 2 3 4 2 0 0
1 5 1 2 2 2 5 1 1 1
0 4 3 1 2 1 3 2 0 0
0 2 3 1 2 1 2 2 3 0
1 4 3 1 2 1 3 2 0 1
0 3 5 1 1 2 2 2 0 0
0 1 2 2 3 5 2 1 1 2
1 3 3 1 2 1 3 2 0 1
2 2 1 4 4 2 2 1 2 2
0
5
4
1
4
0
1
2
2
2
1
4
2
2
2
0
0
1
0
5 37
1 3 3 4 1 1 3 2 0 1
 The Adventurer
The Adventurer
Magic
Caster Type None
Sphere Any
Mana Ability Varies

Class Spell Paths None

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 4
Lore Skills 2
Magical Skills 1
Outdoor Skills 2
Perception Skills 3
Self-Discipline Skills 2
Social Skills 3
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 0

Subterfuge Skills 2
Weapon Skills 3
An adventurer is a Jack-of-all-trades. Adventurers can fight fairly well, learn a bit of magic, be a
bit stealthy, and learn miscellaneous skills too. While an adventurer will never be the best at any
of these activities – specialists will always be better – they will be good enough to stand alongside
those specialists as a back-up or second rank, and can competently replace a specialist if needed.

Becoming an Adventurer: Adventurers go through no formal apprenticeship or training, being

generally self-taught. When a commoner who hasn’t been trained for a specific profession starts
adventuring, this is what they become.

Social Status: Being an adventurer has no kind of social recognition. In fact adventurers rarely
even describe themselves as such. An adventurer will usually consider themselves to still be a
member of whatever trade or profession they had before they decided to trade that life in for
a life of adventure. A few do embrace the change of lifestyle and actively refer to themselves as
“adventurer” or “explorer” or something similar.

Role in an Adventuring Party: As generalists, adventurers will usually be welcome in any party
as a good back-up for any other member of the party who needs it. Although they will never
be strong enough spell casters to be a party’s primary spell caster for any particular sphere of
magic, they can often provide a few back-up or utility spells if they are that way inclined, and
they make a good second rank fighter or rear-guard.

38
 The Annihilist
The Annihilist
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Divine & Psychic
Mana Ability Charisma
Destroy Bodies
Destroy Gasses
Destroy Liquids
Core Spell Paths Destroy Minds
Destroy Solids
Destroy Souls
(+ Any two lesser divine/psychic)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 4
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 2

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
When humans left the Earth and started exploring other planets, they came into contact with
aliens of various types. Not only did these aliens have strange ways of doing magic, they also
had strange gods and religions that humans had not previously encountered. Annihilists are full
spell casters of both the divine and psychic spheres, who worship the alien philosophy of the
crustacean-like Plutonians and who specialise in spells of death and destruction.

Annihilists believe strongly in cosmic balance, but rather than feeling the need to try to enforce
that balance, they think that the balance will keep itself. It doesn’t matter which philosophical
“side” you are on in any particular axis of behaviour or morality because the universe will prevent
either “side” from winning – so you are free to just go with what you prefer. If you want to be
nice then be nice, and if you want to be nasty then be nasty. Whatever you do you’ll find plenty
of opposition to it that needs to be overcome, and the spells that the Plutonian philosophy
provides give ample ability to destroy that opposition.

Becoming an Annihilist: New annihilists are initiated and trained in temples to the Plutonian
religion of Annihilism. These temples are rather rare on Earth and the religion is very much
in the minority. Its emphasis on nihilism, and determinism only appeals to a few. Although
annihilists use psychic magic, The Psychic Guild does not train annihilists, nor does it allow
annihilists to become members.

Social Status: Annihilists are generally unpopular with the public. Their religion is little under-
stood and is widely seen to be dangerous and alien. Although annihilists are supposed to behave
in an amoral manner rather than an immoral one, this distinction is lost on many and they have
a reputation for being hedonists at best and psychopaths at worst. Annihilism has been banned
in many countries, and in places where it is allowed, people known to be annihilists are not
trusted and are carefully watched.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Annihilists make good adventurers, with their powerful and
destructive magical abilities proving useful in a variety of situations. Adventuring parties are
often rather more open-minded and worldly than the general public, and it’s easier for annihil-
39
ists to find acceptance there.
 The Bounty Hunter
The Bounty Hunter
Magic
Caster Type None
Sphere Any
Mana Ability Varies

Core Spell Paths None

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 3
Lore Skills 2
Magical Skills 0
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 3
Self-Discipline Skills 2
Social Skills 3
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 0

Subterfuge Skills 4
Weapon Skills 4
In theory, there is no such thing as an assassin. There are bodyguards and bounty hunters, but
not assassins, and the name of this profession reflects this. The Guild of Bodyguards and Bounty
Hunters is found in many cities and claims to teach the skills needed for a good bodyguard or
bounty hunter – the ability to disarm and avoid traps, the ability to pick locks, and the ability
to strike people unawares in careful ways to disable them while avoiding accidentally killing
them. Of course, the tricks and techniques it teaches are easily misused, and the guild is openly
referred to as “The Assassin’s Guild” by almost everyone. It only manages to stay open because
the legitimate uses of the skills it teaches are technically legal and because it’s former students
make themselves invaluable working as spies and agents for the very people who would other-
wise close it down.

Becoming a Bounty Hunter: The guild takes in apprentices and trains them over a four year
period. The training is difficult, and requires brains and social skills well as agility, ensuring that
qualified bodyguards and bounty hunters must be able to fit into any social situation. The edu-
cation is so good, in fact, that nobility will often send their children to be trained at the guild
even if they have no intention of pursuing this profession, if those children are not magically
gifted enough to go to one of the magic schools.

Social Status: Few people like bounty hunters (or assassins), but everyone fears them. In general,
it is only the rich who have recourse to use them, and only the rich who are targeted by them;
so the common folk tends to be less wary. The guild goes to great lengths to protect its reputa-
tion. As well as the kayfabe of bodyguarding, it also makes sure that its members are known for
their honour and honesty.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Bounty hunters are good in a fight, and great at sneaking around.
Their training also comes in handy for dropping foes quickly – and anything that ends a fight
more quickly is popular with adventurers because it means there are fewer chances of them

40 getting injured or killed. Adventuring parties also tend to have a bit more of a cavalier attitude
to killing than most common folk, so they tend to be more accepting of someone who may or
may not do it for a living.
 The Chirurgeon
The Chirurgeon
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Divine
Mana Ability Wisdom
Artificial Limbs
Mend Blood
Mend Bone
Core Spell Paths Mend Flesh
Mend Muscle
Mend Nerves And Organs
(+ Any four lesser/greater divine)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
Most divine spell casters are able to heal others. Some take this one step further and specialise in
healing spells of all types, including the creation of prosthetic limbs. Chirurgeons are full divine
spell casters whose spells are dedicated to healing the wounds of others.

Becoming a Chirurgeon: Chirurgeons belong to the mainstream religion, and gain their abili-
ties after much meditation, prayer, and theological learning. The temples do not actually train
chirurgeons any differently than other priests. All go through the same initiation and teaching,
and whether they come out as a chirurgeon or a priest depends on their personality (and pos-
sibly divine whim).

Social Status: Everyone loves and respects healers, and chirurgeons often get free lodging and
other favours wherever they go. Given the ubiquity of mainstream religion, chirurgeons are known
and revered even in the smallest backwater, even by folk who follow the Old Faith. Within their
religion, they are generally given free rein to travel wherever they feel guided to travel and stand
outside their temples’ hierarchy. That’s not to say they’re treated as outsiders – their opinions and
advice are well respected and they talk to everyone from the lowest lay member to the highest
hierophant as equals.

Role in an Adventuring Party: As would be expected, the healing abilities of a chirurgeon are
very useful to an adventuring party. This makes them very popular, and they can always find a
place in an adventuring group despite their relative lack of combat ability. They do tend to be
something of a one-trick pony, however, since there is a large amount of overlap between their
class spell paths and the shared divine spell paths.

41
 The Clairvoyant
The Clairvoyant
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Psychic
Mana Ability Charisma
Connected Vision
Mental Vision
Penetrating Vision
Core Spell Paths Postcognition
Precognition
True Seeing
(+ Any four lesser/greater psychic)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 5
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 2

Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 1
Those psychics whose talents lie in oracular visions and extra sensory perception are known as
clairvoyants. Clairvoyants are full psychic spell casters, and are usually members of the Psychics’
Guild.

Becoming a Clairvoyant: Clairvoyants are taught using a standard master/apprentice method

just like the other psychic professions. The path of the clairvoyant tends to attract more quiet
and introspective people than the other psychic paths. Because of this, almost all clairvoyants
are guild members.

Social Status: While clairvoyants are not feared as much as telepaths because there isn’t the
worry that they will melt your brain or control you, the general public often see them with a
mixture of awe and nervousness.

Clairvoyants are commonly treated as if they know everything, and the general public will often
consult them for advice even on matters that have nothing to do with their profession or talents.
Conversely, people often feel shy and embarrassed around a clairvoyant – assuming that the
clairvoyant knows their secret thoughts and desires.

Role in an Adventuring Party: While the spells of clairvoyants aren’t all that great in combat
situations, they do have their uses there. Still, adventuring parties who do more exploring and
scouting find the talents of a clairvoyant extremely useful. Being full casters means that they are
handy with miscellaneous spells too.

The often introverted and thoughtful nature of clairvoyants means that few have a desire to go
off adventuring, but those that do are competent and tend to fit in well within the diversity of
an adventuring party.

42
 The Conjurer
The Conjurer
Magic
Caster Type Partial
Sphere Arcane & Psychic
Mana Ability Intelligence
Disguise
Greater Conjuring
Light Conjuring
Core Spell Paths Physical Conjuring
Sound Conjuring
Tricks of the Mind
(+ Any two lesser arcane/psychic)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 4
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 3
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 2

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
A conjurer is a full spell caster of both the arcane and psychic spheres who specialises in creating
things from nothing. Although the things they create are unreal, made purely from magic, they
easily fool the senses and even have a limited physicality to them which lets them be used as if
they were solid items or creatures.

Becoming a Conjurer: Of the two main magical schools, only the University of Arcane Arts
teaches conjuring as a course, and the subject is considered new and exciting there, being the
most recent type of magic to be discovered. Students tend to be guided into this course if they
prove to be perceptive and imaginative – both traits that will enhance the effect of the things
they conjure. Because conjurers are taught psychic magic as well as arcane magic, they are
automatically enrolled into the Psychics’ Guild. The University will not teach conjuring to a
non-member of the guild, for fear of damaging its reputation.

Social Status: Conjurers are generally well liked by the common folk. Although like most
mages they are seen as being somewhat nerdy, their magic is both flashy and (for the most part)
nonviolent. This tends to make people admire them rather than be scared of them, and they
are often the most socially outgoing of the mages; being neither as lab-bound and insular as
runesmiths, as shifty as occultists, nor as volatile as warlocks.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Conjurers are well liked in adventuring parties. Their spells are
almost always useful and can help a surprising amount in combat if used imaginatively; yet can
also be subtle when needed.

43
 The Empath
The Empath
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Psychic
Mana Ability Charisma
Blood Repair
Bone Repair
Lay On Hands
Core Spell Paths Muscle Repair
Nerve And Organ Repair
Skin Repair
(+ Any four lesser/greater psychic)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 2
Lore Skills 2
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 3
Social Skills 4
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 2

Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
Empaths are full psychic casters who have the unique talent to be able to take on the injuries of
others and then heal themselves. They are almost always members of the Psychics’ Guild

Becoming an Empath: Like most psychic casters, empaths are taught over a number of years
by a mentor. Only those with great compassion are able to develop the talents needed for this
profession.

Social Status: Empaths are well liked by the public. Because their spells are almost entirely
beneficent, they are trusted more than any other psychic caster. For this reason, the Psychic’s
Guild encourages empaths to be the ‘face’ of the guild. Even those rare empaths who operate
outside the guild are generally trusted and liked.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Everyone likes a healer, and one that can also cast other useful
psychic spells is bound to be popular. Empaths can almost always find an adventuring party
that wants to take them, and an adventuring life gives them plenty of opportunities to do good
and to heal people.

The nature of the empath’s healing abilities makes them particularly suited to operating as part of
an adventuring group, since by taking on the wounds of another party member they can get that
party member back to full strength almost immediately at the cost of being injured themselves.

44
 The Mountebank
The Mountebank
Magic
Caster Type Partial
Sphere Psychic
Mana Ability Charisma

Appraisal
Linguistics
Patter
Core Spell Paths
Sound Mastery
Vocal Control
(+ Any one lesser psychic)

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 5
Magical Skills 1
Outdoor Skills 2
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 2
Social Skills 5

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 1
Subterfuge Skills 1
Weapon Skills 1
Not everyone with a talent for psychic magic joins the Psychic’s Guild. Whether through lack
of funds to pay for the education or a temperament that would find formal guild membership
stifling, no small number of talented psychics forgo joining the guild and instead channel their
talents into becoming mountebanks. Mountebanks are partial psychic casters whose talents lay
in the areas of language, sound, and information.

Becoming a Mountebank: Becoming a mountebank is simply a matter of finding an existing

mountebank and tagging along with them pestering them to teach you how to do the things
they can do. There’s no formal apprenticeship, since being a mountebank isn’t a formal profes-
sion. Still, those with an aptitude for it are welcomed. There’s nothing most mountebanks like
better than having someone around that they can show off to.

Social Status: While some mountebanks make a good living from their linguistic talents en-
tertaining the rich, the majority are seen as con-artists, scoundrels and wastrels who flit from
tavern to tavern leaving a trail of broken hearts and unpaid bar tabs. That reputation isn’t
entirely deserved, and in many cases it is mostly the product of jealousy. Mountebanks tend to
be very charismatic and popular, and many common folk wish they had the magical aptitude
to become one.

The Psychic’s Guild likes to point to mountebanks, and their somewhat lurid reputations, as
evidence of why people should only trust fully paid up members of the guild.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Mountebanks make great additions to an adventuring party.

While not exactly combat monsters they can usually hold their own in a fight – being used to
the rough and tumble of seedy bars teaches them to protect themselves. Their magical talents
for information gathering and linguistics are also incredibly useful for any adventuring parties
who are going to venture far from home, and mountebanks are ideally suited to act as a party’s
“face”, negotiating on their behalf.
45
 The Necromancer
The Necromancer
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Arcane & Divine
Mana Ability Wisdom
Darkness
Decay
Undead Communication
Core Spell Paths Undead Control
Undead Creation
Undead Summons
(+ Any two lesser arcane/divine)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 4
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 2

Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
Necromancers draw power from the dead alien gods of Mars, augmenting this power with arcane
magic. Although this style of magic was originally learned by visitors to Mars, its practitioners
have set up a School of Necromancy back on Earth to teach and expand their arts.

Becoming a Necromancer: The School of Necromancy enrols and teaches students in its arts in
formal classes just like the other magical colleges. Its teachings tend to have a more philosophical
bent than those of the other colleges, as it also acts as a temple for their worship.

Behind the Curtain
The spells found in the necro-
mancer’s class spell paths can be a
little complicated for new players
as they have a large amount of in-
terdependency. I don’t recommend
playing a necromancer unless you
are familiar with how their spells
interact with each other.
Neither the mainstream temples nor the Old Faith approves of necromancy, since the creation of
undead goes against both religions’ teachings, although as an independent religion it is officially
outside the remit of either of their policing and being a necromancer is not a crime. This doesn’t
stop the more firebrand priests and hierophants from watching necromancers like hawks for
any sign of secular law-breaking.
Social Status: The general public mostly dislike necromancers. They are seen as creepy and their
magic is thought of as unhealthy. However, when someone wants to be able to talk to or spend
time with a deceased loved one, the necromancers are the people who can enable that.
Role in an Adventuring Party: Necromancers find themselves more accepted by adventuring
types than by the common folk. This is partly because their magic can prove very useful for
information gathering and also because they can provide an almost endless supply of cannon
fodder in the form of husks or even skeletons.

46
 The Occultist
The Occultist
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Arcane
Mana Ability Intelligence
Change Gasses
Change Liquids
Change Solids
Core Spell Paths Confusion
Greater Hiding
Polymorph Self
(+ Any four lesser/greater arcane)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 2
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 2

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 3
Weapon Skills 0
Occultists are full arcane spell casters who specialise in the magic of chaos and change. Both the
University of Arcane Arts and the College of Sorcery teach occultists.

Becoming an Occultist: Occultists are taught at the magical schools alongside warlocks, rune-
smiths, conjurers, and spellswords. As with the other types of mage, students first enrol at the
school and are then directed into the occultist course if their personality and aptitude shows
that it will be a good fit for them.

Social Status: Occultists make people nervous. Although they still have the nerdy air of a mage,
the confusing nature of their magic worries people more than with other mages. Those less well
versed in the magical arts often don’t know what to expect from an occultist, and their talent
for subterfuge makes them feel a bit dodgy even if their motives are pure.

That same talent for subterfuge makes them popular with the Guild of Bodyguards and Bounty
Hunters. While they are not considered full members of the guild (they haven’t been through
the guild’s apprenticeship), they may become associate members and often find work with or for
the guild. Naturally, those who do this are even less welcomed by the general public.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Occultists make excellent spies, scouts and infiltrators; and they
are supremely useful to any adventuring party in need of such roles. However, as with any mage
their academic background makes them unsuited to fighting and their spells tend to be a bit less
combat oriented than those of other mages.

Because of this, they often find themselves in the role of the “backup” mage playing second fid-
dle to a warlock or conjurer in combat but stepping to the fore when situations suited for their
specialist skills and spells crop up.

47
 The Priest
The Priest
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Divine
Mana Ability Wisdom
Artificial Life
Detect Life
Protect Life
Core Spell Paths Raise Dead
Summon Life
Turn Undead
(+ Any four lesser/greater divine)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 4
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 2

Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 1
Priests are full divine spell casters who form the backbone of the mainstream religion. Their
spells deal with life in all its aspects, and they back this up with a small amount of martial ability.

Becoming a Priest: The temples accept believers who wish to become priests and take them
through a period as an initiate which lasts for three years. During this time, the initiates learn
theology and spend much time in meditation and prayer. While a few drop out, and some go
on to become chirurgeons, the majority of those who go through initiation become priests.

Social Status: In the cities, priests are the pillars of the community, and its moral guardians.
They range from wishy-washy do-gooders to firebrand preachers, but all are respected. Out in
the countryside where the Old Faith holds more sway, priests have it a bit harder. While they are
still respected, they often feel as if they are being merely tolerated and condescended to and their
attempts at moral guidance tend to be ignored. Still, as they are the only people who can raise the
dead reliably they are still in demand even if people often only pay lip service to their teachings.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Priests tend to form the moral backbone of an adventuring
party. Their divine magic is useful in many situations, not least in the raising of the dead; and
this makes them popular adventuring companions.

Those priests who seek a career of adventuring are usually the more open-minded types, who
won’t object to closely associating with people of other religions, such as necromancers, annihil-
ists, wardens and witches.

48
 The Runesmith
The Runesmith
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Arcane
Mana Ability Intelligence
Arcane Charging
Crafting
Magical Enhancement
Core Spell Paths Metallurgy
Non-Arcane Charging
Potions
(+ Any four lesser/greater arcane)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 5
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 1
Self-Discipline Skills 2
Social Skills 2

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
A runesmith is a full arcane spell caster who specialises in the crafting of enchanted items.

Becoming a Runesmith: To become a runesmith, you need to undergo formal training in the
profession at either the College of Sorcery or the University of Arcane Arts. Both of these magical
schools teach crafting, and students are selected for the runesmith course based on aptitude and
temperament. Crafting items takes great patience and attention to detail, and not all prospective
mages are suited for the task.

Social Status: Runesmiths are very popular in society, since many people want the enchanted
goods that they can craft. Since they are craftspeople as well as mages, non-magical folks tend
to empathise with them better and see them as less aloof than other spell casters and more of a
relatable fellow-worker.

Within the magical schools the converse is often true, with runesmiths being looked down on Behind the Curtain
slightly as if their brand of magic is less pure than that of other spell casters. However, neither Because the spells of a runemaster
school denies that the items made by runesmiths are not only useful for the other mages in the require many weeks of downtime
school but are also a great source of income for the school. to use, it is worth checking with
your game master to see if this sort
Role in an Adventuring Party: Runesmiths don’t fit very well in adventuring parties. While of downtime will be available be-
they can decide to go off to explore the world and have adventures as much as anyone else can, tween adventures before choosing
their particular talents require them to work in smithies and laboratories for weeks on end and to play one.
this is often at odds with an adventuring lifestyle. Still, many adventuring groups will put up
with that in exchange for the potential for cheap (or even free) items.

49
 The Spellsword
The Spellsword
Magic
Caster Type Partial
Sphere Arcane
Mana Ability Intelligence

Awareness
Body Control
Dodging
Core Spell Paths
Regeneration
Transcendental Moves
(+ Any one lesser arcane)

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 1
Magical Skills 2
Outdoor Skills 2
Perception Skills 3
Self-Discipline Skills 5
Social Skills 2
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 1

Subterfuge Skills 1
Weapon Skills 2
Although everyone who attends the College of Sorcery or the University of Arcane Arts must be
intelligent enough to learn magic, not all who attend are academically minded. For those who
are more physical in nature, both places offer the more introspective course of the Spellsword.

Spellswords are partial arcane casters whose magic is almost entirely focused inwards, with most of
their spells affecting their own body. Spellswords are the oldest arcane casters, predating the magic
schools in origin, and they tend to blend spell casting with the older mana focusing techniques.

Becoming a Spellsword: Spellswords learn from the College of Sorcery and the University
of Arcane Arts just like other arcane casters, although the course involves a lot more physical
training and less academic work, with magical and combat training happening simultaneously.

Other students tend to look down on spellswords, thinking of them as not being proper mages,
or being out of date and not with the modern times, although no-one denies that they are ef-
fective in their own way.

Social Status: Although the self-discipline of spellswords can often make them austere, the fact
that their magic is so self-contained makes them more relatable than most mages. Someone able
to somersault, bounce off a wall, and land on their feet, is viewed with more admiration than
fear. As such, they tend not to have the nerdy-but-scary reputation that other arcane spell users
all too often acquire, and they are quite popular as champions and duellists due to the flashy
ways in which they fight.

Role in an Adventuring Party: The relative lack of magic affecting others that a spellsword
has, and their concentration on combat, makes them fit into an adventuring party quite well;
although they do tend to be viewed as simply one of the warriors – albeit one with an unusual
fighting style – rather than being viewed as a mage.

50
 The Telepath
The Telepath
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Psychic
Mana Ability Charisma
Distractions
Mental Controls
Mind Blast
Core Spell Paths Mind Meld
Mind Sense
Telepathy
(+ Any four lesser/greater psychic)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 1
Telepaths are full psychic spell casters. Their psychic talents lie in their ability to directly contact
the minds of others for communication, control or direct mental assault.

Becoming a Telepath: As with the other psychic professions, telepaths are taught using a master/
apprentice method. Most potential telepaths will seek out a master who is in the Psychics’ Guild
and will join that guild themselves. However, not all telepaths are in the guild and it is possible
to find a non-guild master if the apprentice prefers (although those who apprenticed to a non-
guild master may still join the guild themselves, of course).

Social Status: The ability of telepaths to get into your mind makes them far more feared than
most mages to the average person in the street.

While a mage of some kind might be able to kill you with a spell, that’s not inherently more
dangerous than someone who can stab you in the back with a dagger when you’re least expecting
it. Telepaths, however, can read your thoughts; know your secrets; and make you do things you
don’t want to do then make you forget you ever did them. It was largely this fear of telepaths
that led to the creation of the Psychics’ Guild in the first place.

Role in an Adventuring Party: The abilities of a telepath can prove very useful to an adventuring
party for locking down and dealing with single opponents. As full spell casters they are also able to
bring a wide variety of miscellaneous psychic spells to the situation as well. Telepaths – particularly
non-guild ones – often take well to an adventuring lifestyle since amongst adventurers they are
either with others who are also disliked (and can therefore find comradeship in that) or are with
others who are trying to be heroes and can have a chance to bask in the popularity that it brings.

51
 The Warden
The Warden
Magic
Caster Type Partial
Sphere Divine
Mana Ability Wisdom

Camouflage
Exploring
Protection
Core Spell Paths
Survival
Tracking
(+ Any one lesser divine)

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 2
Lore Skills 2
Magical Skills 1
Outdoor Skills 4
Perception Skills 4
Self-Discipline Skills 2
Social Skills 2
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 1

Subterfuge Skills 2
Weapon Skills 2
Wardens are followers of the Old Faith, worshipping nature itself rather than the gods. They are
partial divine spell casters who back up their nature oriented spells with good fighting ability.
As explorers, survivalists, and protectors of the wild they are without equal, although they are
somewhat of a fish out of water in an urban environment.

Canny wardens are able to adapt their talents to life in the city, but they always feel more at
home in the wilds.

Becoming a Warden: Most wardens come from smaller villages and towns where the mainstream
religion has less influence and their Old Faith has more sway. Wardens are initiated by witches,
and will normally have a more experienced warden act as a mentor while they are still learning the
ropes. This is not a formal apprenticeship, however, being more of a friendship amongst equals.

Social Status: The mainstream religion generally frowns upon the Old Faith, seeing it as a threat
to its hegemony. City folk and people influenced by the priests therefore have a tendency to view
wardens as country bumpkins who don’t know any better. Those who live in the wilds, however,
know how useful wardens can be and don’t underestimate them in this manner.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Wardens are particularly useful for any adventuring party that
will be exploring or travelling through the wilds. Adventurers tend to be less judgemental about
the Old Faith than regular city folk, so wardens get on with them well – especially when they
have a common goal of making the world a safer place for farmers and settlers.

52
 The Warlock
The Warlock
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Arcane
Mana Ability Intelligence
Air Mastery
Earth Mastery
Fire Mastery
Core Spell Paths Frost Mastery
Light Mastery
Water Mastery
(+ Any four lesser/greater arcane)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 0
Lore Skills 4
Magical Skills 4
Outdoor Skills 1
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 2

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 0
Warlocks are full arcane casters who deal with the elements. Their spells are rarely subtle, and
often violent.

Becoming a Warlock: Both the College of Sorcery and the University of Arcane Arts teach
warlocks. It is the least subtle of any arcane magic, but can also be the most powerful in its own
way. There is no real criterion for channelling students into this type of magic. The elements
themselves are varied and students of all temperaments can find themselves excelling as warlocks
by specialising in different elements.

Social Status: Within the magical schools, warlocks are seen as the backbone that holds the
schools together. Although warlocks weren’t the first arcane spell casters, both the main schools
were founded by warlocks. Outside those schools they are also treated with respect as academics.
However, the fact that their magic often has little use outside of violence makes the common folk
a little bit more wary of them than they are of other arcane casters. A warlock is metaphorically
always carrying a loaded gun, and that tends to make people nervous.

Role in an Adventuring Party: With their ability to throw around fireballs and lightning bolts,
warlocks are always hugely popular with adventurers. They are often considered to be the best
type of caster to have around in a fight, and their magic has its uses at other times too.

53
 The Warrior
The Warrior
Magic
Caster Type None
Sphere Any
Mana Ability Varies

Core Spell Paths None

Skill Points Per Skill Category

Armour Skills 5
Lore Skills 1
Magical Skills 0
Outdoor Skills 2
Perception Skills 2
Self-Discipline Skills 4
Social Skills 2
Creating a Character

Spell Path Skills 0

Subterfuge Skills 1
Weapon Skills 5
Warriors fight. They fight better than members of any other class and are adept with multiple
weapons. Like adventures, warriors tend not to come from a single background, but can come
from a variety of different upbringings. The only thing they have in common is intensive combat
training.

Becoming a Warrior: Most warriors have learned their skills in the army or as a palace or city
guard. Most people without formal combat training in one of these places will end up as ad-
venturers rather than warriors; but some folk who have had a particularly combat-filled youth
(through choice or not) may end up as warriors without formal training.

Social Status: Warriors are basically seen as normal folks with a job to do. Their down-to-earth
skills (rather than exotic or magical talents) make them fit in well with the common folk, and
they’re generally the sorts of adventurers (if they are adventurers) that people would be most likely
to sit down and have a drink with. Sometimes soldiers and guards get an undeserved reputation
for being slow of thought and just “dumb muscle” that fades into the background while the
“important” people are doing the talking, and some warriors will exploit that reputation to get
close to people or overhear things they shouldn’t.

Role in an Adventuring Party: Although the role can be filled by some other classes, there’s
nothing quite like a heavily armoured warrior to act as the first line of defence against hostile
foes. Most adventuring parties welcome a warrior to fill that role, and warriors themselves find
the challenge and excitement of adventuring to be a welcome change from the boredom of guard
or army duty. They’re also often happy to be in a group where their individual skills are valued
and they aren’t taken for granted as merely one of a large group of similar warriors.

54
 The Witch
The Witch
Magic
Caster Type Full
Sphere Divine
Mana Ability Wisdom
Animal Companions
Animal Lore
Nature’s Bounty
Core Spell Paths Nature’s Eye
Plant Lore
Wild Shape
(+ Any four lesser/greater divine)
Skill Points Per Skill Category
Armour Skills 1
Lore Skills 3
Magical Skills 3
Outdoor Skills 4
Perception Skills 1
Self-Discipline Skills 1
Social Skills 3

Creating a Character
Spell Path Skills 2
Subterfuge Skills 0
Weapon Skills 1
Witches are the priestesses (or priests) of the Old Faith, the religion that existed before the
mainstream religion gained in popularity. This faith has its roots in nature worship, rather than
the worship of gods, and witches are powerful spell casters whose spells deal with nature in all
its forms. They are full divine casters. Witches are rarely seen without animal companions that
accompany them in pacts of mutual protection.

Becoming a Witch: To become a witch, you must be initiated and taught the secrets of nature
by an existing witch. This is not a formal apprenticeship but rather it is a friendship, and the
teaching witch and learning witch treat each other as respected equals; as do all witches and
wardens (the Old Faith has no hierarchy of any kind, merely individuals who are more or less
respected by their peers).

Social Status: In the city, witches are something of a rarity and are generally looked upon as
country bumpkins at best and dangerous cultists at worst. This is chiefly due to the temples’
influence and the preaching of its more hard-line members. Although the temples are not allowed
to persecute witches or try them for heresy (they are legally a separate religion and therefore
outside the temples’ remit), the mainstream religion does not like the Old Faith and would
prefer it not to exist. Out in the countryside where the temples have less influence, witches are
respected members of the community who fulfil the spiritual needs of the locals and use their
magic to help the folk around them.

Role in an Adventuring Party: As full divine casters, witches are useful to have around for their
ability to cast healing spells, although not as good in that respect as a dedicated healer such as
a chirurgeon or an empath. However, the witch’s own spells are incredibly useful for any ad-
venturing party that is going to be travelling through or surviving in the wild for any length of
time. Similarly, their animal companions can be very useful to a party in a variety of situations
(depending on the type of animal).

55

Arcane: Arcane magic is magic de-
rived from academic study. It is the
most flashy of the types of magic,
but can’t be used while wearing
armour of any type.
Divine: Divine magic is magic
derived from faith. It is associ-
ated with healing and nature, and
can’t be used while wearing metal
armour.
Psychic: Psychic magic is magic
derived from willpower and the
strength of mind. It is best at af-
Creating a Character
fecting the caster themself and can’t
be used while wearing a helmet.
easier: See the Read Magic and
Use Magic Device skills in the
Skills chapter for more details
about using magical items of dif-
ferent spheres.
56
Step 2: Choose Sphere
At first level, after choosing your class, you must choose the sphere of magic that your character
will use: Arcane, Divine, or Psychic.
For most classes, this sphere will be listed in the class description. If you have a dual-sphere
class (Conjurer, Necromancer or Annihilist) this will be two spheres. However, if your class is
one that doesn’t normally use magic (Adventurer, Bounty Hunter or Warrior) you must select
one of the three spheres.
For a non-magic-user, there is generally little reason not to simply choose the sphere which
matches the mental ability score into which you plan on putting the highest value:
◊ Arcane: Intelligence
◊ Divine: Wisdom
◊ Psychic: Charisma
Selecting the sphere that matches the highest of your ability scores will give you the most mana.
Even though you can’t cast spells, you will still be able to transfer your mana to other people or
use it to power a Lightmaster ship, so having as much as possible is still useful.
However, the other thing to consider is that it is easier to use magical items which are powered
by the same sphere that you use; so if you think you might want to use magic items of a particu-
lar type, you may want to select that sphere even if it doesn’t match your highest ability score.
Example: Lucius is going to be a necromancer, so his spheres are fixed. He will use the Arcane
and Divine spheres of magic. Only characters who are members of dual-sphere classes like the
necromancer will use two spheres in this way. Others will only use a single sphere.
Step 3: Ability Scores
For your starting ability scores at level one, choose one of the following sets of six scores and
arrange them to your liking.
◊ Specialised: 18, 13, 13, 12, 10, 9
◊ Balanced: 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9
◊ Two Primes: 16, 16, 13, 11, 11, 8
◊ No Penalties: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10
When increasing in level beyond first, your ability scores will increase every even-numbered level.
At each of these levels, you increase one of your ability scores by a single point, to a maximum
value of 20.
 Example: Since Lucius is going to need a good wisdom and a good intelligence, Liam consid-
ers going for the “Two Primes” set of scores. He decides this is a bit too specialised, however, and
instead goes for the “Balanced” set. This “Balanced” set of scores gives him 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9.

Looking at the Ability Scores table, Liam sees that the 16 will grant him the most mana per level, class spell paths: When a dual
so he puts that into Lucius’s wisdom. sphere caster casts spells from
their class spell paths, they use the
Aware that most of the offensive spells he casts will be from his class spell paths, he decides that he same ability score to determine
doesn’t need such a high intelligence. He therefore puts his 14 in dexterity instead. As an arcane the spells’ success that they use to
caster he’s not going to be wearing armour, so a couple of points of dodge bonus will come in determine their mana.
handy. It will also be handy for his weapon-like spells.

There is only one score left that will give him an ability score bonus, so he puts that into his
intelligence. It might not be his highest priority, but it would be embarrassing to have no bonus
in it at all.

Liam splits the remaining three scores between Lucius’s strength, constitution, and charisma. He dodge bonus: Your dodge bonus
puts the 12 into constitution, because a higher score makes him less likely to die even without acts as a penalty on the rolls of any-
a bonus, the 11 into charisma (he’s aware that Lucius is in a profession that many consider a bit one who is attacking you, making
creepy, so he doesn’t want a penalty to social skills) and the 9 into strength. He’s not expecting you harder to hit.
Lucius to be doing much melee combat or athletics.

The effects of having a particular value for an ability score are given in the Ability Scores table.
Ability Scores
Ability Score Value Ability Score Bonus Mana per Level less likely to die: When running

Creating a Character
20 +5 4 out of hit points, you fall uncon-
19 +4 4 scious when your hit points reach
zero, but don’t die until your hit
18 +4 3 points reach a value of –5 times
17 +3 3 your constitution score (your
16 +3 2 whole ability score, not your bo-
nus).
15 +2 2
14 +2 1
13 +1 1
12 +1 0
11 +0 0
10 +0 0
9 –1 0
8 –1 0
7 –2 0
6 –2 0
5 –3 0
4 –3 0
3 –4 0
2 –4 0
1 –4 0

Step 4: Buy Skills

When creating a first level character, and again at each level after first level, you are given a
number of skill points to spend on each category of skills.

The number of skill points you are given to spend in each category depends on your class and
is listed in each class description and also summarised for all classes in the Class Skill Points
table, which can be found in Step 2: Choose Class. The skills that each category contains are
57
listed in the Skill List table on the next page.
 Skill List
Category Skill Ability Score
Armour (Light) -
Armour (Leather) -
Armour Skills
Armour (Chain) -
Armour (Plate) -
History Int
Language* -
Lore Skills Magical Lore Int
Nature Lore Int
Religious Lore Int
Mana Transfer Wis
Read Magic Int
Magical Skills
Use Magical Device Int
Aimed Spell* Dex
Climb Str
Handle Animal Cha
Outdoor Skills
Ride* Dex
Swim Str
Search Wis
Sense Lie Wis
Creating a Character

Perception Skills
Sense Magic Wis
Spot Wis
Mana Focus* Cha
Self-Discipline Skills
Toughness Con
Bluff Cha
Debate Cha
Social Skills
Intimidate Cha
Orate Cha
Spell Path Skills Spell Path Research* -
Disable Device Dex
Pick Lock Dex
Subterfuge Skills
Sneak Attack -
Stealth Dex
Weapon Skills Weapon Group* Str or Dex
*Skill comprises a group of separate skills
For a full description of how each skill works, see the Skills chapter.
more than two: Armour skills are
an exception to this rule. You can When buying skills, the following rules apply:
buy as many skill ranks in an Ar-
mour skill as you can afford. ◊ One Rank per Point: All skills have the same cost – one skill point per skill rank. Each
skill point you spend on a given skill gives you one rank in that skill.

◊ Skills Are Cumulative: The skill ranks bought in a skill at one level always add to skill
ranks that have been previously bought in the same skill.

◊ Two Ranks Maximum: In an individual level, you can’t buy more than two skill ranks

58 in the same skill. Note that if a listed skill is actually a group of skills rather than a single
skill, the different skills in the group count separately and (providing you have enough skill
points) you can buy up to two skill ranks in each skill in the set.

◊ Moving Points Costs Two for One: You can move skill points from one skill category to
another in order to buy more skills from that category than you would normally be able to.
 However, this is done at a two-for-one cost. For each extra skill point you wish to spend
in a category, you must forfeit two skill points from other categories. The two skill points
forfeited may come from the same category or different categories. Note that this is the only
way in which you can buy a skill from a category for which your class does not normally
get any skill points and that the two rank maximum in any individual skill still applies.

◊ Use Them Or Lose Them: The skill points gained at each level must be used immediately.
They can’t be saved from level to level.

Example: As a necromancer, Lucius gets the following skill points: Armour: 0, Lore: 4, Magical: 3,
Outdoor: 1, Perception: 2, Self-Discipline: 1, Social: 3:, Spell Path: 2, Subterfuge: 0, Weapon: 0.

Having a quick look through the necromancer class spell paths, Liam sees that there are no real
offensive spells at first level, so he decides that Lucius should buy a Weapon skill. Since he gets no
skill points in Weapon skills, he is going to have to transfer two points from other categories. He
takes one from the Magical category and one from the Lore category, leaving him with 3 and 2 quarterstaff: As an arcane spell
skill points in those categories respectively, and puts the resulting point in Weapon skills into the caster, Lucius will be unable to cast
Weapon (Staves) skill so that he can use a quarterstaff. spells if he carries too much metal
on his person. Using a wooden
With that decision out of the way, he starts going through the other skill categories assigning skill weapon like a quarterstaff means
points to individual skills. that it won’t count against this
weight limit.
For Lore skills, he only has three points available (he transferred one to Weapon skills) and he
decides to put two of those into Religious Lore and one into Magical Lore.

Similarly, he only has two points available for Magic skills because he transferred one. He spends

Creating a Character
these on one rank in Mana Transfer and one rank in Read Magic.

He puts his single Outdoor skill point into Swim, thinking that knowing how to swim could
save his life at some point.

His Self-Discipline point is an easy choice, going into Toughness because he’ll need the hit points.

He has three points to spend in Social skills, and decides to put one of them into Orate. He’d have character sheet: You can find a
liked to put all three into Orate, but the limit is two per individual skill, and he wants to transfer blank character sheet for printing
the other two to Spell Path skills to get more spells. or copying in the Book of Tables.

Finally, but importantly, he has three points to put into Spell Path skills (two default points plus
the one transferred from social skills). He puts two of them into Undead Creation and Undead
Summons, getting one rank in each skill because those paths are core paths for him, and the third
into Mystic Movement. Since this isn’t a core path for him, it only gets him half a rank – not
enough to cast spells from it yet, but he’ll be able to add to that half rank next level.

Step 5: Update Totals

Once you have finished spending your skill points, you need to update the totals on your char-
acter sheet. Your skill totals will have changed for any skills for which you have either bought heavy armour: See the Equip-
more ranks or your ability score relevant to the skill has changed. ment chapter for details on heavy
armour and its penalties to dodge
If your constitution has changed or you have bought ranks in the Toughness skill then you bonus.
will need to re-calculate your character’s hit points. Your new hit point total will be five times
your Toughness skill bonus. If this value is less than your constitution ability score (the score
itself, not the bonus) then your hit point total will equal your constitution ability score instead.

Your dodge bonus is equal to your dexterity bonus (although heavy armour may reduce this).

Your mana is equal to the mana per level value for the ability score that matches your chosen
sphere multiplied by your level. If you use dual spheres of magic, you only use the ability score
for one of your spheres, not both: 59
◊ Conjuror: Intelligence
◊ Necromancer: Wisdom
◊ Annihilist: Charisma

saving throw: Each saving throw
is used both defensively (as the bo-
nus to your check when you make
a saving throw) and offensively (as
the difficulty of the check when
an opponent must make a saving
throw against a spell you cast.
native tongue: All character start
with six skill ranks in their native
tongue. See the Language skill in
the Skills chapter for more details.
Creating a Character
60
Your base saving throw is based on your level, and is shown in the Base Saving Throws Table
in the Magic chapter. Your saving throw for each ability is equal to your base saving throw
plus your ability bonus for that ability. For example, your wisdom saving throw is your base
saving throw plus your wisdom bonus.
Example: Liam is filling in Lucius’s character sheet after choosing which skills to buy at first level.
Going down the list of skills, he skips the Armour skills since he’s never going to wear armour and
starts with the Lore skills.
For the History skill, he has a –5 rank bonus for having no ranks, and a +1 ability bonus for
his intelligence, which means he has a skill bonus of (–5+1)=–4.
Language skills work in a special way in that they don’t have bonuses, so he simply notes that he
has 6 skill ranks in his native tongue.
He bought one skill rank of Magical Lore, so he has a +3 rank bonus, which together with the +1
ability bonus for his intelligence gives him a skill bonus of (3+1)=+4.
He bought no Nature Lore, so like History that has a –5 rank bonus and +1 ability bonus
for a total skill bonus of –4.
And he bought two skill ranks of Religious Lore, which gives him a +5 rank bonus. This,
together with his +1 ability bonus, gives him a skill bonus of (5+1)=+6.
Liam continues down the skill list filling in the totals for the rest of Lucius’s skills in a similar manner.
Once his skills are finished, he turns to the other values on his character sheet.
Since he’s not wearing armour, his dodge bonus is the same as his dexterity bonus, which is +2.
As a necromancer, his mana per level is based on his wisdom score, and his wisdom of 16 gives
him 2 mana per level, which is simply a total of 2 at first level.
Finally, his base saving throw is given on the Base Saving Throws Table based on his level,
and at first level it is 1. His saving throw bonus for each ability is therefore the ability bonus
for that ability plus 1.
Step 6: Finishing Touches
Your character needs details like a name, a gender, a physical description, and so forth.
Additionally, some players like to create a back-story for their character, detailing their life before
they became an adventurer. This can be anything from just a sentence or two to a lengthy writ-
ten history. Back-stories of this nature are not compulsory, but they can help people understand
and empathise with their character better, and they can be a way to provide information and
plot hooks to the game master to aid them in setting up situations that will be interesting for
you. There is no correct answer to whether or not back-stories should be used and (if they are
used) how complex they should be. You should decide these things as a group before people
start creating characters.
Finally, a new character will need equipping with starting gear. See the Equipment chapter for
more details about starting money and equipment.
Example: Liam already knows that his character is going to be male, and called Lucius. After
chatting to Dean about the campaign setting, he comes up with a background involving Lucius
having been brought up as a devout worshipper of the Martian gods by parents of that faith rather
than being a convert, and being someone who had therefore been around undead since childhood
with some family members being skeletons or shades.
After visiting the city and seeing a Lightbringer ship for the first time, Lucius immediately knew
what he wanted to do. He dreamed of becoming the captain of just such a ship, flying around with
a crew of skeletons, and as soon as he finished his apprenticeship he set off to seek his fortune and
make his dream a reality. And who can blame him.
 Lucius
Name: _________________ 1
Level: _________________
Necromancer
Class: _________________ Experience: _________________
9 13 16 14 12 11

-1 +1 +3 +2 +1 +0
Strength Intelligence Wisdom Dexterity Constitution Charisma
Ability Rank Ability Misc Total
Skill Ranks
40'/rnd
Movement Speed:_______ Score Bonus Bonus Bonus Bonus
Aimed Spell ( ) Dex
Wisdom
Mana Ability Score:_______ Aimed Spell ( ) Dex
Aimed Spell ( ) Dex
Aimed Spell ( ) Dex
Aimed Spell ( ) Dex
2 30 Armour (Chain) -
Armour (Leather) -
Armour (Light) -
Mana Hit Points Armour (Plate) -
Bluff Cha 1 +3 +0 +3
Climb Str
-5 -1 -6
Debate Cha -5 +0 -5
Armour Class Disable Device Dex -5 +2 -3
Handle Animal Cha -5 +0 -5
Unarmoured
____________ History Int -5 +1 -4
Dodge Bonus Intimidate Cha -5 +0 -5
+2
________
Language (Tradecant ) - 6 6
Language ( ) -
Language ( ) -
Magical Lore Int 1 +3 +1 +4
Mana Focus (Grace) Cha -5 +0 -5
Saving Throw Bonus Mana Focus (Landing) Cha -5 +0 -5
Base Save +1 Mana Focus (Leap) Cha -5 +0 -5
Strength Save +0 Mana Focus (Speed) Cha -5 +0 -5
Intelligence Save +2 Mana Focus (Strength) Cha -5 +0 -5
Wisdom Save +4 Mana Transfer Wis 1 +3 +3 +6
Dexterity Save +3 Nature Lore Int -5 +1 -4
Constitution Save +2 Orate Cha 2 +5 +0 +5
Charisma Save +1 Pick Lock Dex -5 +2 -3
Read Magic Int 1 +3 +1 +4
Spell Path Core? Ranks Level Religious Lore Int 2 +5 +1 +6
Undead Creation Y  1  5 Ride ( ) Dex
Undead Summons Y  1  5 Ride ( ) Dex
Mystic Movement N  1/2  - Search Wis -5 +3 -2
Sense Lie Wis -5 +3 -2
Sense Magic Wis -5 +3 -2
Sneak Attack -
Spot Wis -5 +3 -2
Stealth Dex -5 +2 -3
Swim Str 1 +3 -1 +2
Toughness Con 1 +3 +1 +4
Use Magical Device Int -5 +1 -4
Weapon ( Staves ) Str 1 +3 -1 +2
Weapon ( )
Weapon ( )
Weapon ( )

Bartering: Within a community
where everyone knows one another,
such bartering is not usually the
formal “I’ll give you three chickens
for this barrel of beer” type, but is a
much more informal swapping of
services and favours in which eve-
ryone contributes their particular
service or goods to the community
in the expectation that others will
too.
commodity currency: Money that
is made from some precious metal
such as gold or silver, and which
derives its value directly from the
value of the material from which
it is made, rather than deriving its
value from a promise of future re-
payment from some government
or other body.
Equipment
large: Around the world there
are a wide variety of silver coins
minted with different names and
sizes. This might mean that in one
place “1sp” is actually two to five
physical coins, for example, rather
than just one. This can be glossed
over, in the same way that (in the
real world) you can gloss over
whether someone is paying $1 us-
ing a single dollar coin or a handful
of nickels and dimes. The amount
is still the same.
same amount: This means that
weight for weight, gold is twen-
ty times as valuable as silver. A
pound of gold is worth the same
amount of money as 20 pounds of
silver: 20gp or 200sp. Copper is
worth one tenth as much as silver,
so a pound of gold is worth the
same as 200 pounds of copper.
62
Equipment
The purpose of adventuring is often to get rich, but in order to succeed at that characters must
first invest money in the equipment and tools that they will need on their journeys.
Money
In Lightmaster, money is nearly always in the form of coinage. Bartering is popular amongst
common folk, but travelling adventurers need easily transportable cash like merchants and
tax collectors do.
Throughout the world, there are many different types of coinage in use, but most of it is com-
modity currency and therefore interchangeable without needing to worry about exchange rates.
For the purposes of the game standard coin values are assumed, rather than messing about with
different local coin variations. A standard “silver piece” (abbreviated to ‘sp’) is a large silver
coin weighing around 1.6 ounces (45 grams). Ten of these coins therefore represent a pound
of silver, and a “gold piece” (abbreviated to ‘gp’) weighing half that (0.8 ounces or 22.5 grams)
is worth the same amount.
Two silver pieces is a standard hour’s pay for an artisan or other skilled worker – although un-
skilled labour will generally pay less and master craftsmen or specialists will be able to charge
more for their services. This means that, given an eight to ten hour working day, ten gold pieces
is a good week’s wage for a skilled worker.
For small transactions, there are a variety of copper coins used. Again, for game purposes a
standard “copper piece” (or ‘cp’) worth a tenth of a silver piece is assumed, although unlike
silver and gold pieces, one “copper piece” is very unlikely to be an individual coin.
10 copper pieces = 1 silver piece
10 silver pieces = 1 gold piece
100 copper pieces = 1 gold piece
Starting Money
All new characters are assumed to start with normal peasant clothing (and a change of clothes),
a heavy cloak or coat and boots for weather protection, a dagger or knife for general use
and 50gp to spend on equipment.
If a character is introduced in the middle of a campaign (to replace a dead character) then the
game master should give the character money and equipment in line with the amount that
the rest of the party have. Similarly, if a campaign starts at higher than first level then charac-
ters should start with wealth commensurate to their level. In either case, see the Adventuring
chapter for more details.
Encumbrance And Weight
The weights of most items are measured in Pounds (usually abbreviated to lb.).
While these weights are important for spell casters – particularly arcane casters – because of the
strict limits on what they can carry and still be able to cast spells; for the most part, it is not
important to weigh everything that a character carries. See the Magic chapter for the effects
of weight on spell casters.
Instead, both the player and game master should simply use common sense about how much
a character can carry, taking into account the character’s strength score.
For the sake of simplicity, characters’ movement rates are just determined by the type of armour
they are wearing rather than exactly how much they are carrying. Situations where a character
is slowed because of a heavy load (such as when someone is pulling a mine-cart) should be
judged on a case by case basis.
 Mundane Items
Mundane Items
Item Weight Cost
20 Arrows 1 lb.. 5gp
Backpack (holds 40 lb.) 2 lb.. 5gp
Belt 0.5 lb.. 2sp
30 Bolts 1 lb.. 10gp
Boots (plain) 1 lb.. 2gp
Boots (fancy) 1.5 lb.. 5gp
20 Bullets 0.4 lb.. 2gp
Cloak (short) 1 lb.. 5sp
Cloak (long) 1.5 lb.. 1gp
Clothes (peasant) 2 lb.. 5sp
Clothes (merchant) 2 lb.. 5gp
Clothes (noble) 2 lb.. 20gp
Clothes (royal) 3 lb. 50gp+
Collar (lead) 1 lb. 5gp
Grappling Hook 8 lb. 25gp
Hammer (small) 1 lb. 2gp
Hat 0.3 lb. 2sp
Holy Symbol 0.1 lb. 25gp
Holy Water (small vial) 0.1 lb. 25gp
Iron Spike 0.5 lb. 1sp

Equipment
Lantern 3 lb. 1gp
Mirror (steel) 0.5 lb. 5gp
Oil (flask) 1 lb. 2gp
30 Pellets 0.6 lb. 1gp
Pole (10’) 10 lb. 1gp
Purse 0.2 lb. 5sp
Quiver 0.5 lb. 1gp
Rations (1 week’s, dried) 7 lb. 15gp
Rations (1 week’s, fresh) 20 lb. 5gp
Red Powder (flask) 1 lb. 5gp
Room (shared), plus stew - 5sp
Room (individual), plus meal - 1gp
Room (luxury), plus fine meal - 3gp
Rope (50’) 5 lb. 1gp
Sack (holds 20 lb.) 0.1 lb. 1gp
Sack (holds 60 lb.) 0.5 lb. 2gp
Tent 20 lb. 20gp
Thieves’ Tools 1 lb. 25gp
Tinder Box 0.5 lb. 3gp
Torch 2 lb. 2sp
Water skin (empty) 0.5 lb. 1gp
Water skin (full, 1 day’s) 3 lb. 1gp

Arrows: Arrows are the ammunition used by bows. The same arrows are usable in either long
63
or short bows. Arrows are often broken in use. At the end of a combat, a character will only be
able to recover half (round down) of the arrows fired during that combat. The rest are either
lost or unusable.

lead-lined: See the Crafting chap-
ter for more details about how
metals interact with magic.
Equipment
some undead: Skeletons, shades
and husks are unaffected by holy
water, but against self-propagating
undead such as vampires, and zom-
bies a flask of holy water damages
them as an attack on the Fireball
table with a +5 bonus.
64
Backpack (holds 40lb.): A leather or canvas backpack with shoulder straps for carrying things
while leaving the hands free.
Belt: A sturdy leather belt.
Bolts: Bolts are the ammunition used by crossbows. The same bolts are usable in either heavy
or light crossbows. Bolts are often broken in use. At the end of a combat, a character will only
be able to recover half (round down) of the bolts fired during that combat. The rest are either
lost or unusable.
Boots (plain): Simple yet sturdy hard leather boots for walking or riding in.
Boots (fancy): Ornate boots, possibly including fold-down tops or designs and patterns on
the leather.
Bullets: Bullets are the ammunition used by firearms. The same bullets are used in both pistols
and smoothbores. Bullets are not recoverable after they have been fired. Those that have not
been lost will have been deformed beyond use.
Cloak (short): A waist length weatherproof outer garment.
Cloak (long): A knee or ankle length weatherproof outer garment.
Clothes (peasant): Simple clothes that a peasant or manual labourer (or even slave) would wear.
Clothes (merchant): High quality clothes such as those that a middle-class artisan or merchant
would wear.
Clothes (noble): Fancy clothing that a minor noble or other rich person would wear.
Clothes (royal): Extravagant and ostentatious clothing fit for a king or even an emperor.
Collar (lead): A lead-lined collar that will prevent the wearer from casting any spells.
Grappling Hook: A large iron hook that is tied to the end of a rope and then swung over a
target such as a wall or branch. The hooks catch on the target and support the weight of someone
climbing the rope.
Hammer (small): A working hammer, for hammering nails, spikes or tent pegs.
Hat: A weatherproof hat made out of waxed linen.
Holy Symbol: This is a small symbol, usually metal, that represents an icon of the character’s
religion. Most priests carry holy symbols, although they can operate without one.
Holy Water (small vial): Water that has been especially prepared by a priest. It can be used in
some religious ceremonies and can damage some undead foes.
Iron Spike: A 9” long iron nail. These find a multitude of uses, from wedging doors open (or
shut) or to use as tent pegs. They are most useful if accompanied by a hammer for driving them
into hard surfaces.
Lantern: An oil fired lamp that gives of light within a 30’ radius. A single flask of oil will last 4
hours.
Mirror (steel): Useful for personal grooming, and also for seeing around corners or fighting
creatures without looking at them directly. Fighting in such a manner gives a –2 penalty to
attack rolls.
Oil (flask): Fine grade lantern oil. It will burn, but it is not flammable enough to explode if
thrown.
Pellets: Pellets are the ammunition used by slings. Pellets are easy to lose in use. At the end of
a combat, a character will only be able to recover half (round down) of the pellets fired during
that combat. The rest are lost.

Pole (10’): A stout wooden pole often used to probe ahead or to prod suspicious looking piles
of refuse.

Purse: A small leather or cloth purse or pouch that ties to a belt.

Quiver: A leather container that holds 20 arrows or crossbow bolts.

Rations (1 week’s, dried): Enough dried, smoked, or otherwise preserved food to feed a person
for a week. The preservation means that this food will last for two months before going bad. go bad: The Preserve Corpse
spells that are used to stop dead
Rations (1 week’s, fresh): Enough fresh food to feed a person for a week. The food will go bad bodies from rotting will also stop
after a week. food from going bad, although this
is often overkill.
Red Powder: Red powder is a naturally occurring magical substance with unusual properties.
In large quantities such as in a barrel it is perfectly safe, but in small quantities it becomes
dangerously flammable or even explosive. Although it is normally found in large underground
deposits with the consistency of talc or other soft rock, it is normally ground up (in a water bath
to stop it igniting) and then sold in powdered form. Water temporarily suppresses the explosive
properties of red powder, but does not spoil it – it is usable again once it has dried sufficiently. Behind the Curtain
The properties of red powder may
Red powder is normally used to power firearms; a single flask is enough to power 100 gun shots seem a little strange at first reading,
or a single cannon shot. However, in an emergency a full flask can also have a wick or fuse stuck but they are there for game balance
in it and lit, and then be hurled as a grenade-like weapon, in which case it uses the Fireball purposes.
attack table.
The intent is that the system can
Because of red powder’s unusual self-stabilising property, multiple flasks cannot be combined have firearms, cannons, and make-

Equipment
in order to make larger explosions. shift grenades, which make for a
fun aesthetic; but without open-
Room (shared), plus stew: The price of a place to sleep in a shared room in a cheap inn, with ing up the game to player character
a pot of miscellaneous stew for dinner. shenanigans such as rolling barrels
of the stuff into the lair of a power-
Room (individual), plus dinner: The price of dinner plus a rented room for a night in a mod- ful monster that they would other-
erate inn. The room will have privacy, and a bolt on the door. The price includes a hearty but wise be unable to fight.
simple dinner in the main room of the inn.

Room (luxury), plus fine meal: The price of a rented room for the night in a high class estab-
lishment. The room will have privacy and a lockable door, with a luxurious bed and a fine meal
delivered to the room.

Rope (50’): A strong hemp or silk rope that can support up to 750lb. (approximately three
people and their equipment).

Sack (holds 20lb.): A canvas sack for either carrying in one hand or loading onto a horse or
other beast of burden. Small enough to be tied around a belt.

Sack (holds 60lb.): A canvas sack for either carrying in two hands or loading onto a horse or
other beast of burden.

Tent: A waxed canvas tent with wooden poles. Although heavy, such tents are invaluable when
travelling through inclement weather and cold nights.

Thieves’ Tools: A variety of lock picks, needles, wire, pliers, etc. Characters cannot use the Pick
Lock or Disable Device skills without a set of these tools.

Tinder Box: A set of fire making equipment in a water resistant box. Starting a fire with a tinder
box takes 1d3 rounds.
65
 Torch: A 1’ to 2’ length of wood dipped in pitch or tallow. A torch gives off enough light to see
in a 30’ radius and burns for one hour. If used in combat, a torch has the same statistics (and
uses the same skill) as a club.

Water skin: A water skin is a flexible bladder that can hold up to two pints of water or other
liquid, enough for a person for one day.

Weapons
See the Skills chapter for a detailed description of how weapon skills work.
Weapons
Item Weight Cost
Axe, Battle 6 lb. 7gp
Axe, Hand 3 lb. 4gp
Blackjack 0.5 lb. 5gp
Bolas 0.5 lb. 5gp
Bow, Composite 3.5 lb. 30gp
Bow, Long 3 lb. 40gp
Bow, Short 2 lb. 25gp
Cestus 1 lb. 4gp
Club 5 lb. 3gp
Dagger 1 lb. 3gp
Flail 7lb. 10gp
Hammer, War 5 lb. 5gp
Javelin 2 lb. 1gp
Equipment

Lance 18 lb. 10gp

Mace 3 lb. 5gp
Mattock, War 15 lb. 6gp
Morning Star 4lb. 8gp
Pistol 2 lb. 250gp
Pole Arm 12 lb. 5gp
Sling 2 lb. 2gp
Smoothbore 7.5 lb. 150gp
Spear 3 lb. 3gp
Staff 4 lb. 5gp
Sword, Broad 6 lb. 10gp
Sword, Falchion 8 lb. 12gp
Sword, Rapier 3 lb. 15gp
Sword, Scimitar 5 lb. 8gp
Sword, Short 3 lb. 7gp
Sword, Two-Handed 10 lb. 15gp
Trident 2.5 lb. 5gp
Whip 10 lb. 10gp

Axe, Battle: A battle axe is a two handed axe 2’–4’ in length, usually with a double blade or a
spike on the reverse of the blade. A battle axe is used with the Long Axes skill, and attacks using
the Battle Axe table.

66 Axe, Hand: A hand axe is a one handed axe 1’–2’ in length, usually with a single blade. A hand
axe is often thrown while its owner rushes towards melee range. A hand axe is used with the Short
Axes skill in melee or the Short Thrown skill when thrown, and attacks on the Hand Axe table.

Blackjack: A blackjack, also known as a cosh, is a small leather club that is usually filled with sand.
Blackjacks are too soft to do significant damage, but are very useful for temporarily knocking
people unconscious without doing permanent damage. A blackjack is used with the Brawling
skill, and attacks using the Brawling table.

Bolas: A bolas is a set of weights (usually three) on the ends of connected ropes 3’–4’ in length.
The bolas is whirled around and then thrown at the opponent in order to entangle or even
strangle them. A bolas is used with the Line Weapons skill, and attacks using the Bolas table.

Bow, Composite: A composite bow is a 4’–5’ bow, made from a composite of different woods.
A composite bow requires both hands to fire. Bows require the use of arrows as ammunition. A
composite bow is used with the Bows skill, and attacks using the Composite Bow table.

Bow, Long: A long bow is a 4’–6’ bow, made from a single piece of wood. A long bow requires
both hands to fire. Bows require the use of arrows as ammunition. A long bow is used with the
Bows skill, and attacks using the Long Bow table.

Bow, Short: A short bow is a 3’–4’ bow, made from a single piece of wood. A short bow requires
both hands to fire. Bows require the use of arrows as ammunition. A short bow is used with the
Bows skill, and attacks using the Short Bow table.

Cestus: A cestus is a spiked or bladed metal band that may either be worn around the hand or
built into a gauntlet. A cestus is used with the Brawling skill, and attacks using the Brawling table.

Club: A club is a crude blunt weapon – little more than a roughly shaped piece of wood – that Behind the Scenes
can be used in one hand. A club is used with either the Short Hammers skill or the Staves skill, The weapons listed here are mostly
and attacks using the Club table. “western” weapons that were in use
in medieval or renaissance Europe.
Dagger: A dagger is a short light blade which is 18” long or less. Daggers are popular weapons However, many weapons from oth-
because their small size makes them easy to conceal and they can be either thrown or used in er cultures or times are sufficiently
melee. A dagger is used with the Short Blades skill in melee and the Short Thrown skill when similar to these for them to use the
thrown, and attacks using the Dagger table. same game statistics.

Equipment
Flail: A flail consists of multiple chains of around 2’ long attached to a 2’–3’ handle that is The various attack tables give sug-
wielded in two hands. Each chain has a weighted spike or blade on the end. A flail is used with gestions for what other weapons
the Long Chains skill, and attacks on the Flail table. they might be useful for.

Hammer, War: A war hammer is a one handed hammer, usually 2’ to 3’ in length. The head
of a war hammer is often symmetrical to aid in balance. A war hammer is used with the Short
Hammers skill, and attacks on the War Hammer table.

Javelin: A javelin is a light one-handed throwing spear. Although primarily used as a thrown
weapon, it can also be used as a melee weapon. In melee, a javelin is used with the Pole Arms
skill and attacks on the Spear table. When thrown, a javelin is used with the Long Thrown skill
and attacks on the Javelin table. A javelin is too short to be used in a horseback charge or to be
set against a charge.

Lance: A lance is an extremely long spear, 9’ to 12’ long. It is too unwieldy to use on foot, and
can only be used when mounted – in which case it can be used in one hand despite its length.
A lance is used with the Pole Arm skill, and attacks using the Mounted Lance table when used
to charge and the Spear table otherwise.

Mace: A mace is a one handed melee weapon consisting of a 2’–3’ long shaft with a heavy metal
head. The head can be smooth (round or pear shaped), can contain flanges or studs, or can even
be sculpted into the shape of a fist or skull or other roundish object. A mace is used with the
Short Hammers skill, and attacks using the Mace table.

Mattock, War: A war mattock is a large hammer with a 5’–6’ long shaft, effectively the hammer
equivalent of a pole arm. A war mattock is only ever used in two hands. A war mattock is used
with the Long Hammers skill, and attacks using the War Mattock table.

Morning Star: A morning star consists of a 1’ chain attached to the end of a 2’ handle that is
67
wielded in one hand. On the end of the chain is a spiked ball. A morning star is used with the
Short Chains skill, and attacks using the Morning Star table.

Behind the Scenes
Many games have special rules for
firearms, making them much more
powerful than other weapons while
giving them all sorts of penalties to
do with load times, misfires, and
keeping one’s powder dry.
In Lightmaster, the use of semi-
magical “Red Powder” rather
than chemical gunpowder makes
things simpler, and aims to make
the choice of using a gun or a bow
mostly an aesthetic one rather than
a mechanical one.
Equipment
68
Pistol: A pistol is a short firearm, 9” to 12” long. It can be fired using only one hand, but needs
both hands to reload. Pistols require both bullets as ammunition and red powder to fire them.
A pistol is used with the Firearms skill, and attacks using the Pistol table.
Pole Arm: A pole arm consists of a blade (usually single sided, but occasionally double sided)
with a 6’ to 8’ long shaft. It is swung in both hands like a large two-handed axe or thrust like a
spear. A pole arm is used with the Pole Arm skill, and attacks using the Pole Arm table.
Sling: A sling is a long (4’ to 6’) leather cord with a pouch half way along. The wielder straps one
end of the cord around their wrist and holds the other end in the same hand. They then place a
lead pellet in the pouch and swing the cord over their head. At the mid-point of the swing, they
let go of the loose end, which releases the pellet. Slings normally require pellets as ammunition,
although they can be used with stones taken from the ground, albeit with a–1 penalty on attack
rolls. A sling is used with the Slings skill, and attacks using the Sling table.
Smoothbore: A smoothbore is a long firearm, 3’ to 5’ long. It requires two hands to both fire
and reload. Smoothbores require both bullets as ammunition and red powder to fire them. A
smoothbore is used with the Firearms skill, and attacks using the Smoothbore table.
Spear: A spear is a 5’ to 7’ long shaft with a stabbing blade on the end. Despite its length, a spear
is a well balanced weapon and can either be used in melee one-handed or thrown. In melee, a
spear is used with either the Pole Arms skill or the Staves skill, and attacks on the Spear table.
When thrown, a spear is used with the Long Thrown skill and attacks on the Javelin table. Ad-
ditionally, when used from the back of a charging horse (or when set to receive a charge) a spear
attacks using the Mounted Lance table.
Staff: A staff is one of the simplest of weapons. It consists of just a length of wood 5’ to 7’ in
length, which is wielded in two hands. A staff is used with the Staves skill, and attacks using
the Quarterstaff table.
Sword, Broad: A broadsword is a straight one-handed sword with a straight blade 2’ to 3’ long
that is used to both stab and slash. A broadsword is used with the Double-Edged Blades skill,
and its attacks are resolved using the Broadsword table.
Sword, Falchion: A falchion is a one-handed sword with a heavy curved blade around 3’ long
that is used to slash but not thrust. A falchion is used with the Single-Edged Blades skill, and
attacks using the Falchion table.
Sword, Rapier: A rapier is a thin one-handed sword with a light straight blade around 3’ long
that is used primarily to thrust. A rapier is used with the Thrusting Blades skill, and attacks
using the Rapier table.
Sword, Scimitar: A scimitar is a one-handed sword with a light curved blade 2’–3’ long that
is used to slash and parry but not thrust. A scimitar is used with the Single-Edged Blades skill,
and attacks using the Scimitar table.
Sword, Short: A short sword is a straight sword with an 18” to 2’ blade. An extremely versatile
weapon that can be used to chop, stab and slash, this small blade can be used in one hand. A
short sword may be used with either the Short Blades, Double-Edged Blades, Thrusting Blades
or Short Axes skill, and attacks using the Short Sword table.
Sword, Two-Handed: A two-handed sword, also sometimes known as a greatsword, is a large
and heavy sword with a 4’ to 5’ blade. It is always used in two hands. A two-handed sword is
used with the Long Blades skill, and its attacks are resolved using the Two-Handed Sword table.
Trident: A trident is a short (4’ to 6’) spear which is split at the end into three tines, like a fork.
Each tine is usually barbed. A trident is used in one hand either in melee or as a thrown weapon,
and is often used as a fishing spear, since the barbs on the points can lift the fish out of the water
when the trident is withdrawn. In melee, a trident is used with the Pole Arms skill and attacks on
the Spear table. When thrown, a trident is used with the Long Thrown skill and attacks on the
Javelin table. A trident is too light to be used in a horseback charge or to be set against a charge.
Whip: A whip is a woven leather cord from 5’ to 15’ in length that is used in one hand. Whips
do little damage, and are more often used for corporal punishment than for serious combat. A
whip is used with the Whips skill, and attacks using the Whip table.

Armour
Armour is toughened clothing, made out of leather or metal, that protects its wearer. In game
terms, this changes the armour class of the character wearing it from the default class of Unar-
moured to a different class. Although in general the armour classes achieved by wearing heavier

Equipment
offer more protection against serious damage than those from wearing lighter (or even no) armour, armour class: Each armour class
heavy armour does have its drawbacks that must be balanced against this increased protection. is better or worse against different
types of attack. While heavier ar-
Firstly, bulky and heavy armour slows its wearer down. Characters wearing heavy armour will mour is usually better on average
have a slower movement speed and will take a reduction to their effective dexterity bonus when at preventing or reducing critical
they are trying to dodge, thus reducing their dodge bonus. This penalty is shown on the Armour strikes, characters wearing it do
table. Note that this reduction can only reduce an effective dexterity bonus to a minimum of tend to get hit more often for su-
zero. It will not give a character a negative dexterity contribution to their dodge bonus, neither perficial damage.
will it increase an existing negative dodge bonus caused by having a low dexterity.

Secondly, armour restricts the wearer’s movement. Each type of armour comes with an armour
penalty that is applied to certain skills and to general ability checks used to manoeuvre or bal-
ance. This penalty starts as an initial armour penalty for those untrained in wearing armour,
and can be reduced by Armour skills to a minimum armour penalty. See the Skills chapter
for more details about armour penalties. drawbacks: Against some spells
and grappling attacks, wearing
Thirdly, the awkwardness of armour makes it more difficult to aim missile weapons precisely. heavy armour (particularly metal
Characters wearing heavy armour will take a reduction to their effective dexterity bonus when armour) may be worse than wear-
using missile weapons. This penalty is the same as the penalty to dodge bonus, and the same ing none at all. For example metal
restrictions apply – it will not take a character’s dexterity bonus to attack skills that use missile armour will make lightning-based
weapons below zero and neither will it increase an existing negative dexterity bonus for having spells much more dangerous.
a low dexterity.

Finally, although heavier armour makes it less likely that a character will be severely injured in
combat it does not do so by making the character more difficult to hit. It actually makes the
wearer easier to hit, but reduces the damage done by each hit and makes them less likely to
cause a severe injury. See the Attack Tables section of the Book of Tables for more details about
exactly what effect armour class has on different types of attack.
69
 Armour
Initial Minimum Dexterity
Item Weight Cost Armour Armour Bonus Notes
Penalty Penalty Reduction*
Shield, +2 to dodge bonus,
5 lb. 7gp - - -
Buckler strapped to arm
Shield, +4 to dodge bonus,
10 lb. 10gp - - -
Small held in hand
Shield, + 5 to dodge bonus,
20 lb. 15gp - - -
Large strapped to arm
Hides 20 lb. 20gp –2 - - 30’ Move Speed
Brigandine 30 lb. 30gp –8 –2 –2 30’ Move Speed
Leather 35 lb. 35gp –10 –3 –1 30’ Move Speed
Chain
40 lb. 40gp –14 –2 –1 30’ Move Speed
Shirt
Hauberk 55 lb. 125gp –24 –5 –4 20’ Move Speed
Breastplate 40 lb. 60gp –18 –3 - 30’ Move Speed
Plate Suit 75 lb. 250gp –30 –7 –6 20’ Move Speed
Protects from
Greaves 1 lb. 10gp –4 –1 –1
critical strikes
Protects from
Helmet 1 lb. 12gp –1 - -
critical strikes
*The dexterity bonus reduction reduces the effective dexterity bonus used for both
dodge bonus and missile attacks, but cannot reduce the dexterity bonus used in these
circumstances below zero. This reduction only applies to dodge bonus and missile attacks,
not to other skills that use a dexterity bonus.
Equipment

Shield: A shield is a large piece of wood or metal that is either held in the hand (in the case of
a small shield) or strapped to the arm (in the case of a buckler or a large shield) and is used to
deflect attacks. A shield does not change the user’s armour class, but it does add to their dodge
bonus in combat. Using a shield prevents its wielder from using a two-handed weapon or a
weapon in their off hand. However, having a shield strapped to your arm does not prevent the
hand movements needed for spell casting (although the weight of the shield itself might prevent
spell casting, depending on the sphere of magic being used: see the Magic chapter for details).

hand movements: Casting a spell
requires the caster to have a free
hand with which to make mystical
gestures. See the Magic chapter for
more details on spell casting.
Hides: This armour consists of a jerkin or coat made from soft leather, hides, or furs. It changes
the wearer’s armour class to hides. Hide armour can be enhanced by adding greaves and a helmet.
Brigandine: This armour consists of a jerkin or coat made from soft leather or padded linen
with hard plates or scales (usually made of metal) sewn onto it. It changes the wearer’s armour
class to brigandine. Brigandine armour can be enhanced by adding greaves and a helmet.

Leather: This armour consists of a rigid breastplate, back plate and shoulder guards, and often
a skirt of rigid plates. Each piece is formed from leather that has been boiled in wax and then
shaped before being allowed to cool. The resulting rigid leather is much tougher than leather that
has not been treated in this way, but is also much less flexible. It changes the wearer’s armour
class to leather. Leather armour can be enhanced by adding greaves and a helmet.

Chain Shirt: This armour consists of a long shirt made from thousands of small metal rings or
links riveted together to form a strong yet flexible material. It changes the wearer’s armour class
to chain shirt. A chain shirt can be enhanced by adding greaves and a helmet.

Hauberk: This armour is made of similar rings or links to a chain shirt, but it is made from

70 stronger (and heavier) links and also covers the arms and upper legs. It changes the wearer’s
armour class to hauberk. A hauberk can be enhanced with a helmet, but not greaves since it
already covers the arms and legs.

Breastplate: This armour consists of a rigid breastplate, back plate and shoulder guards, and
often a skirt of rigid plates. Each piece is formed from solid metal. The resulting armour is much
tougher than even a chain hauberk, but is also much less flexible. It changes the wearer’s armour
class to breastplate. A breastplate can be enhanced by adding greaves and a helmet.

Plate Suit: This armour consists of a full set of rigid plates that cover the whole body, including
the head. The resulting armour provides the heaviest protection possible, but at the largest cost
in terms of freedom of movement. It changes the wearer’s armour class to plate suit. A plate
suit already includes greaves and a helmet, and therefore they cannot be added separately in
order to enhance it.

Greaves: This armour consists of a set of rigid plates made of either leather or metal that are
strapped onto the arms and legs for additional protection. Technically only the leg plates are
greaves – the arm plates are called vambraces. However, the price and statistics given here are
for a full set to cover all four limbs. Greaves do not change the armour class of the wearer, but
they do negate or reduce the effects of certain critical strike results. Additionally, greaves increase
the penalties associated with the armour that they are worn with.

Helmet: A helmet is a rigid covering for the head, usually made from metal but occasionally
made from leather. A helmet does not change the armour class of the wearer, but it does negate penalty from armour: The skills
or reduce the effects of certain critical strike results. Additionally, a helmet increases the penalties that take a penalty from armour
associated with the armour that it is worn with. are Climb, Mana Focus (Grace),
Mana Focus (Leap), Ride, Stealth,
Example: Callow likes to wear as heavy armour as he is able. At low level, he bought a breastplate and Swim. See the Skills chapter
with the money he acquired from his first adventure. While a breastplate on its own didn’t provide for more details about using these
him with arm or even head protection, it uses the same armour skill as a plate suit so he won’t skills.
need to replace one skill with another later. He also uses a large shield.

A breastplate has an initial armour penalty of –18, giving Callow a huge penalty to skills that
take a penalty from armour. However, he starts buying the Armour (Plate) skill to offset this.

The breastplate gives him no dexterity bonus reduction, so he can use his dexterity bonus

Equipment
of +1 as both a contribution to his dodge bonus and a bonus to attacks with missile weapons.
His dodge bonus is therefore +6 (+5 for his shield and +1 for his dexterity bonus).

Once he’s reduced the armour penalty to a more manageable level, he buys a helmet and a set of reduced: See the Skills chapter for
greaves to supplement the breastplate. These provide protection against many critical strikes, but details on how the Armour skills
add to the armour’s penalties. Between them, they push the initial armour penalty all the way reduce armour penalties.
up to –23, and increase the minimum armour penalty from –3 to –4. They also give Callow
a dexterity bonus reduction of –1, which cancels his dexterity bonus. His dodge bonus is
now +5 and his missile attacks will no longer benefit from a +1 dexterity bonus.

At higher level, he switches from the breastplate to a plate suit. He no longer needs separate greaves
and a helmet, since both of these are an integral part of a plate suit. The much bulkier plate suit
gives him an initial armour penalty of –30, so he will need many more skill ranks in Armour
(Plate) to offset that, and the minimum armour penalty is now –7, so no matter how many ranks
he buys in the skill he’ll always have a significant penalty to skills that take an armour penalty.
critical strikes: Whether or not ar-
Additionally, the plate suit has a dexterity bonus reduction of –6. Although his dodge bonus is mour will protect against a critical
normally +6, this penalty only reduces it to +5, not +0, since a dexterity bonus reduction can’t strike is specified in the description
take his dexterity bonus below zero and doesn’t cancel out the bonus from his shield. Similarly, of each critical strike itself in the
he will have an effective dexterity bonus of +0 to missile attacks, since the penalty can’t reduce Critical Strike Tables section of
this below zero either. the Book of Tables.

Although these are pretty significant penalties, Callow feels they are worth taking in exchange for
the amount of protection that a plate suit provides him. Besides, he rarely used missile weapons
anyway. Had he used missile weapons as his main method of attack in combat and relied on a high
dexterity bonus to be effective with them, he would have chosen less heavy armour that would
provide less (or even no) dexterity bonus reduction.

71
 Healing Herbs
Healing Herbs
Herb Usage Cost
Wild Balm Heals 1–10 Hits 10gp
Admonindes Heals 5–50 Hits 60gp
Bitter Bane Heals 10–100 Hits 120gp
Devil’s Winony Heals 20–200 Hits 210gp
Warriorscup Removes Stun (1 rnd) 30gp
Stillwort Removes Stun (3 rnds) 90gp
Asaraliany Removes Stun (5 rnds) 120gp
Maniannis Heals Light Burns 20gp
Sali Berry Heals Serious Burns 50gp
Jumin Grass Heals Critical Burns 80gp
Edrel Vine Heals Light Frostbite 20gp
Fumimusaca Heals Serious Frostbite 60gp
Shepherdstongue Heals Critical Frostbite 90gp
Faerie Thorn Heals Light Fracture 10gp
Nightosa Heals Serious Fracture 30gp
Heals Shatter/Critical
Swampbalm 120gp
Fracture
Jubwort Heals Cartilage 20gp
Elpiasil Heals Damaged Joint 50gp
Stingingroot Heals Light Muscle Damage 10gp
Equipment

Heals Serious Muscle

Ansind Leaf 20gp
Damage
Heals Critical Muscle
Bargulach 120gp
Damage
Moon’s Root Heals Tendon Damage 30gp
Monksbark Heals Light Nerve Damage 20gp
Heals Serious/Critical
Druid’s Crown 50gp
Nerve Damage
Mountaincreeper Cures Paralysis 120gp
Joins Limb
Groomsberry 270gp
(1–10 day recovery)
healing properties: See the Injury Bitterbulb Joins Limb 600gp
and Healing chapter for the effects Regenerates Limb
of the various types of injury that Kalrel 660gp
(24 hour recovery)
a character can take and how par-
Tamiapetal Regenerates Whole Body 3,000gp
tially or fully healing them gets rid
of those effects. Healer’s Valerage Cures Bleeding (1/rnd) 20gp
Alali Cures Bleeding (3/rnd) 50gp
Borany Cures Bleeding (Any) 60gp
Sagesbulb Heals Organ Damage 90gp
Golden Bark Heals Brain Damage 210gp
Sorbena Preserves Body (1 week) 60gp
Sweetbulb Soul Keeping (1 day) 90gp

72
Alethmile Raises Dead 300gp
King’s Wort Removes Decay 120gp

It is no surprise that the steamy jungles of Venus are home to a wide variety of magical plants
as well as magical beasts. What is surprising, though, is just how many of them have healing
properties. Sages and philosophers may vehemently disagree whether the existence of such
healing herbs is an act of divine benevolence or whether it is a facet of nature’s balance; but all
will agree that such plants are incredibly useful.

Unfortunately for those wishing bring them back to Earth and farm them, they’re rather sensitive
to background magic and tend to only grow sporadically in magical places. Most of them have
been introduced to Earth over the years, but so far all attempts to cultivate them commercially
have failed utterly, and so they are still gathered from the wild by experienced collectors who
know what to look for and are willing to brave the dangers of the places they may be found.
Naturally, this scarcity keeps the price of herbs rather high, with many being simply too expensive magical places: It is up to the
for most commoners to afford. game master to decide what in
their campaign world constitutes
Somewhat more fortunately, the majority of these plants can be dried and stored without losing the sort of “magical place” where
their effectiveness, so people wishing to use them are not at the mercy of their growing seasons. herbs might grow.

The prices of healing herbs and a summary of their effects is given in the Healing Herbs table.
Each price is for a single “dose” of the herb, and each dose of the herb can only be used once.
Even if using the herb does not physically destroy it, it will have used up its potency.

A more detailed description of each individual herb and how it is used is given in the list below:

Admonindes: When brewed into a tea and drunk, the heady flavour of Admonindes leaves clears
the mind and makes 5d10 hit points worth of fatigue and pain fade away. Behind the Scenes
The lack of ability to cultivate
Alali: If the Alali mushroom can be ground into a paste using water and painted onto a wound healing herbs commercially is, of
before bandaging, it will slow the bleeding of the wound by up to 3 hits per round. course, a game contrivance to en-
sure that there is a reason to hunt
Alethmile: When this small blue flower is placed in the mouth of a corpse that is less than a for them on Venus and/or Earth
year old, the corpse will return to life. The normal rules for Raise Dead spells apply, in that (or any other planet that the game
if the body is not in a condition where it can support life, it will immediately die once more. master decides they might grow)
and thus provide a source of ad-

Equipment
Ansind Leaf: When Ansind Leaf is wrapped around a location, it stimulates muscle regrowth venture.
and repair. A single dose of Ansind Leaf can heal any one damaged muscle providing that the
damage is not critical.

Asaraliany: If an Asaraliany berry is bitten, it releases powerful juice that shocks the chewer out
of up to five rounds worth of stun-like conditions.

Bargulach: If powdered Bargulach root is sprinkled onto a damaged muscle (or onto the skin
over that muscle), it will be absorbed into the flesh and heal the muscle damage regardless of how it is used: The exact details of
its severity. how long it takes to brew an infu-
sion or apply a paste to a bandage
Bitter Bane: A roll of Bitter Bane leaves burned under a character’s nose acts as a stimulant or whatever is generally handwaved
banishing 10d10 hit points worth of pain and fatigue. as unnecessary detail. If it matters,
assume that most preparations can
Bitterbulb: If a large yellowish onion-like Bitterbulb is crushed and made into a paste using be done in advance; and anything
water, it can be applied to both a lost body part and the stump that it was lost from. When the that does more than removing stun
two surfaces are placed together in the right orientation, they will knit and heal re-attaching takes an action to use in combat,
the body part. whereas a single herb that removes
stun can be used during the state-
Borany: When a blood-red Borany berry is powdered and then sprinkled into a bleeding wound, ment of intent phase of a round.
it will bind with the blood and form a strong yet flexible scab that will remain until the wound
is healed. This scab will stop any amount of bleeding from a single wound.

Devil’s Winony: When the flesh of the Devil’s Winony toadstool is ground up into a chalky
powder and then inhaled, it will clear the head and remove 20d10 hit points worth of fatigue
and pain.

Druid’s Crown: If the petals of the Druid’s Crown flower are eaten, they will promote nerve
regrowth, repairing all nerve damage short of total paralysis or brain damage. 73
Edrel Vine: The leaves of the Edrel Vine will heal an area of light frostbite when pressed gently
to the affected location.
 Elpiasil: If an injured joint is wrapped in bandages soaked in a strained infusion of Elpiasil
berries, it will repair any damage done to the joint.

Faerie Thorn: If a needle-like Faerie Thorn is gently pushed into the flesh near a lightly fractured
bone, it will move to and be absorbed into the bone, repairing it. It is unable to repair serious
or critical fractures, or shattered bones.

Fumimusaca: If the flesh of the Fumimusaca fungus is made into a paste with water and painted
onto an area with light or serious frostbite, it will cure the frostbite.

Golden Bark: If an infusion of powdered Golden Bark is carefully poured into the ear, it will be
absorbed and stimulate the brain to repair any amount of damage to it short of complete removal.

Groomsberry: If a lost body part is strapped back on using bandages that are soaked in Grooms-
berry juice, the body part will re-attach itself over the course of 1d10 days.

Healer’s Valerage: If a Healer’s Valerage leaf is pressed onto a bleeding wound, it will reduce the
rate of blood loss by 1 hit per round. Only one does is effective per individual wound.

Jubwort: If a joint is wrapped in Jubwort leaves and then bandaged, any cartilage damage present
in the joint will be healed.

Jumin Grass: Powdered Jumin Grass sprinkled on a burn injury of any severity will completely
heal the burn, leaving only a reddening of the skin that takes a week to fade.

Kalrel: If the juice of a Kalrel fruit is poured onto the stub left by the loss of a limb (or other
extremity such as an ear or nose), a new body part of the appropriate type will grow in its place
over the next 24 hours.

King’s Wort: When a character who is living drinks a tea made from the root of the King’s Wort
Equipment

plant, it will cure any decay that they might be suffering from after having been recently raised
from the dead or having had a severed body part re-attached.

Maniannis: An area of burns of light severity can be healed by swabbing the area with mois-
tened Maniannis leaves.

Monksbark: If powdered Monksbark is dissolved in water and drunk, it will promote nerve
repair, curing one area of light nerve damage per dose.

Moon’s Root: If an area with a damaged tendon is covered in paste made from the pulp of the
Moon’s Root plant, the tendon damage will be healed.

Mountaincreeper: Placing a single seed from the fruit of the Mountaincreeper vine under the
tongue of a paralysed person and letting it dissolve slowly over the course of a few minutes will
cause severed nerves to re-join and completely cure the paralysis.

Nightosa: If bandages are sprinkled with powdered Nightosa fungus before being applied to a
wound, they will cause a light or serious break in a bone (but not a shattered bone) to re-knit
and be totally healed.

Sagesbulb: When the oil of a Sagesbulb is squeezed onto an injury, it will promote organ
regeneration; healing any single organ damage injury except for one involving brain damage.

Sali Berry: If the juice of a Sali Berry is applied to an area of burns of up to serious severity, it
will heal those burns.

Shepherdstongue: An area of frostbite of any severity can be cured by wrapping it in Shep-

74 herdstongue leaves.

Sorbena: If the sap from the Sorbena cactus is painted onto a dead body or body part, that body
or body part will be preserved and not start to decompose for a week. After that time, another
dose of sap may be used to preserve the body for another week, but multiple doses cannot be
applied together. Each dose must be applied at the end of the week when the previous dose is
flaking off.

Stillwort: If the aromatic seed pod of the Stillwort plant is chewed so that it bursts in the
mouth, the sudden burst of tiny pungent seeds shocks the chewer out of up to three rounds of
stun-like conditions.

Stingingroot: If Stingingroot leaves are rubbed onto an area with light muscle damage, they
will cause the muscle to repair itself; although this is rather painful for the patient.

Swampbalm: When a tea-like infusion is made from Swampbalm flowers and then applied to an
area with a shattered bone or joint, it will dissolve the fragments of bone and cause the original
bone to re-grow; healing the shatter.

Sweetbulb: If a Sweetbulb is put in the mouth of a dead body whose soul has not yet left, it will
prevent the soul from leaving for twenty four hours. If the body is healed to a survivable state
during that time, it will come back to life. As the twenty four hour period is finishing and the
existing Sweetbulb is almost shrivelled up, it can be replaced with a fresh one to keep the soul
with the body for another twenty four hours.

Tamiapetal: If a body part is placed in a bath of Tamiapetal flowers, over the course of the next body part: Any body part the
eight hours it will regrow any missing parts until the body is whole. If this is done to a live body, size of a finger bone or larger can
the body will be fully healed of any damaged or missing parts. If this is done to a dead body, the be regenerated to a full body this
body will be healed as a live body is, and will not start decomposing until after the eight hour way. See the Injury and Healing
period is finished, at which point it will decompose at the normal rate. chapter for more details of how
regeneration and raise dead inter-
Warriorscup: If a Warriorscup mushroom is bitten into, it releases a sour juice that shocks the act when there is the possibility of
chewer out of a single round of stun-like condition. multiple bodies.

Wild Balm: The seeds of the Wild Balm are ground into a powder and made into a paste which

Equipment
is allowed to dry to form blocks. If one of those blocks is eaten, it soothes fatigue and pain heal-
ing the eater of 1d10 hit points.

Land Transport
Whether trekking across a desert, riding from city to city, or driving a caravan of wagons filled
with a dragon’s hoard, adventurers often need land transport other than walking.

Pretty much all land transport is powered by animals of one kind or another, and the vast majority
of these animals are horses and mules, ranging from the smallest pony to the largest draft horse.

The speeds listed in the Pack and Riding Animals table are for the animals when carrying a
load up to their listed carrying capacity. Animals can carry twice the listed load, but can only
move at half the listed speed while doing so.
Pack and Riding Animals
Carrying
Item Speed Cost
Capacity
Donkey 200 lb. 30’/rnd 20gp
Horse (Draft) 450 lb. 30’/rnd 40gp
Horse (Riding) 300 lb. 80’/rnd 75gp
Horse (War) 400 lb. 40’/rnd 250gp
Mule 300 lb. 40’/rnd 30gp
Pony 200 lb. 70’/rnd 35gp
Animals that are pulling vehicles use the carrying capacity of the cart or wagon rather than their
own capacity, and cannot be loaded whilst hitched to a vehicle in this manner. When pulling a
vehicle, an animal moves at its normal speed when the vehicle is carrying up to its capacity and
at half speed when the vehicle is carrying up to twice its capacity.
75
 Land Transport Equipment
Carrying
Item Weight Cost
Capacity
Saddle and Tack 20 lb. 30 lb. 25gp
Saddle Bags 80 lb. 10 lb. 5gp
Trap (1 donkey/mule/pony) 200 lb. - 50gp
Cart (1 horse or 2 mules/ponies) 400 lb. - 100gp
Cart (2 horses or 4 mules/ponies) 800 lb. - 100gp
Wagon (2 horses) 1,500 lb. - 200gp
Wagon (4 horses) 2,500 lb. - 200gp
Padded Barding - 25 lb. 40gp
Brigandine Barding - 40 lb. 75gp
Chain Barding - 60 lb. 150gp
Joust Barding - 500 lb. 600gp
For overland travel, assume that each 10’ of movement per round translates into approximately 6
miles of movement per day over open ground (increased by up to half as much again on paved
roads, and decreased by up to half on rough or broken ground).

Brigandine Barding: This is a suit primarily composed of leather plates that have had metal
scales or studs sewn onto them for added protection. Brigandine barding gives an animal that
has an armour class of furred creature or scaled creature an armour class of brigandine.

Cart: A medium sized two-wheeled vehicle pulled by one or more horses. A cart is designed for
carrying cargo, and may optionally have a seat for a driver. If there is no seat, the horse must be led.

Chain Barding: This is a suit primarily composed of small metal rings that are linked together
Equipment

to form a flexible protective material. Chain barding gives an animal that has an armour class
of furred creature or scaled creature an armour class of chain shirt.

Donkey: Donkeys are rarely ridden, but they make a cheap – if somewhat stubborn and wil-
ful – pack animal.

Horse (Draft): A large strong horse that sacrifices speed for power and can carry very heavy
loads over long distances.

Horse (Riding): A typical horse, fast and light but easily spooked and not suitable for combat
situations.

Horse (War): A large horse specially trained to not panic in combat situations.

Joust Barding: This is a suit primarily composed of overlapping metal plates that completely
protect the front of the animal, to protect it from injury in jousting competitions. Joust barding
gives an animal an armour class of plate suit, unless the animal’s armour class is solid creature.

Mule: A cross between a donkey and a horse, combining the best features of both. It is both
larger and stronger than a donkey, and smarter than a horse.

Padded Barding: This is a suit primarily composed of padded and quilted heavy duty linen.
Padded barding gives an animal that normally has an armour class of furred creature an ar-
mour class of hides.

Pony: A small light horse that is cheaper to feed and easier to care for than other breeds of horse,
but lacks their strength.

76 Saddle and Tack: A saddle, blanket, bridle and reins – everything needed to ride a horse safely.
It is possible to ride a horse bareback without these items, but and ride checks made to control
the horse will be made at a –3 penalty. The 20lb. carrying capacity of a saddle and tack does not
refer to the weight of the rider, but to the weight that can be carried in the bags and pouches
that come with it.
Saddle Bags: Saddle bags are long pairs of sacks sewn together at the top with a length of ma-
terial. They are slung over a horse’s saddle so that one bag hangs down either side of the horse
distributing the weight evenly.

Trap: A small two-wheeled vehicle with two seats that is pulled by a single pony, mule or donkey.
Although a trap can be used for transporting goods or luggage, it is primarily designed as a means
of personal transport rather than cargo transport.

Wagon: A large four-wheeled vehicle, pulled by a team of horses. Wagons are mostly used for
cargo transport, although some travelling people live in them as an alternative to tents.

Sea/Air Transport
For long distance travel, it is much more efficient to travel by boat than by land – and depending
on the destination, land travel may not be possible. Some boats and ships may even be equipped
with a Lightmaster sail, allowing them to fly through the air or even through space. space: See the Lightmaster Travel
chapter for more details on how
If the characters are travelling along an established route, they can book passage on an existing ships with Lightmaster sails work.
ship. If not, they may need to buy a ship and hire crew to sail it. All ships and boats need skilled
crew to sail them, and some also need unskilled rowers. If more than 5 crew are needed one
of them must be a captain, and if more than 15 crew are needed one of them must be a captain
and one of them must be a first mate.

Crew (and troops, if mentioned in the description) do not count towards a ship’s carrying capacity.
Ships and Boats
Min Move per skilled crew: Skilled crew, assum-
Item Weight** Capacity Cost
Crew Day ing they are freely hired rather than
Barque 400 tons 2,000 lb. 20 crew 90 mi 20,000gp prisoners, will demand a wage
of  10gp per week. The captain

Equipment
Cannon 1,000 lb. - 1 gunner - 1,000gp
Canoe, River 100 lb. 600 lb. 1 crew 18 mi 50gp and first mate will require 50gp
per week and 30gp per week re-
Canoe, Sea 300 lb. 600 lb. 1 crew 18 mi 100gp spectively.
10 crew,
Galley* 50 tons 1,000 lb. 90 mi 10,000gp
60 rowers
Longship* 30 tons 1,500 lb. 75 crew 90 mi 15,000gp
Passage, Average - 600 lb. - - 1sp/5 mi
Passage, Basic - 150 lb. - - 1sp/20 mi
Passage, Luxury - 1,500 lb. - - 1gp/mi
Passage, Lightmaster Travel - 1,500 lb. - - 1gp/mi
unskilled rowers: Unskilled row-
30 crew,
Quinquirime 120 tons 6,000 lb. 72 mi 60,000gp ers, assuming they are freely hired
300 row
rather than prisoners, will demand
Raft, Professional 500 lb. 1,000 lb. - 12 mi 100gp a wage of 5gp per week.
Raft, Scavenged 500 lb. 500 lb. - 12 mi -
2 crew,
River Barge* 10 tons 4,000 lb. 36 mi 4,000gp
8 row
Rowing Boat* 500 lb. 100 lb. - 18 mi 1,000gp
Lightmaster Sails 50 lb. 100 tons 1 caster varies 50,000gp
Skiff* 5 tons 2,000 lb. 1 crew 72 mi 3,000gp
Sloop* 70 tons 500 lb. 10 crew 72 mi 5,000gp
20 crew,
Trireme* 80 tons 3,000 lb. 72 mi 30,000gp
180 row
Troopship 400 tons 3,000 lb. 20 crew 54 mi 30,000gp
* Ship may be equipped with a Lightmaster sail
** 1 ton = 2,000 lb. 77
Barque: A barque is a three masted ocean-going ship 100’–150’ long and 25’–30’ wide, with
a draft of 10’–12’. There are raised decks at the fore and aft, and the ship can be fitted with up
to four cannons. In addition to its crew, a barque may house 50 troops.

Equipment
Voidspeed: See the Lightmaster
Travel chapter for more details on
voidspeed and atmospheric travel.
dragons’ wings: Dragons nest in
the asteroid belt, and can naturally
fly through space.
78
Cannon: Cannons are large firearms that can be fitted to ships or can be used in sieges. The
technology to have rows of cannons on the side of ships is not available, so when fitting cannons
to ships, individual cannons must be placed on the ship’s deck in appropriate places. Cannons
can fire every round, using an entire flask of red powder for each shot. A cannon shot uses the
fireball table, with a fixed attack bonus of +5.
Canoe, River: A canoe is a small boat 15’ long and 3’ wide with a 1’ draft. A canoe is normally
made of waxed canvas or hides stretched over a wooden frame, and has one or two seats. Ca-
noes are designed for use in rivers and swamps, and can easily be carried across land. A canoe
weighs 100lb. if carried – but two people can share the weight.
Canoe, Sea: A sea canoe is a small boat 15’ long and 3’ wide with a 1’ draft, with one or two
floats held out either side for stability. A sea canoe is normally made of waxed canvas or hides
stretched out over a wooden frame, and has one or two seats. Sea canoes are designed for use in
coastal waters, and can be carried across land. A sea canoe weighs 300 lb. if carried – but two
to four people can share the weight.
Galley: A galley is an ocean-going ship 60’–100’ long and 10’–15’ wide with a 2’–3’ draft.
Because of its shallow draft, it can travel along rivers as long as they are wide enough for it. The
listed speed for the galley assumes that it is under sail. If becalmed, it can be rowed at 18mi/day.
A galley has a single line of rowers. A galley can be fitted with a ship’s ram (at a cost of 3,000gp)
and up to two cannons. In addition to its crew and rowers, it will normally house 20 troops.
Longship: A longship is a single masted boat 60’–80’ long and 10’–15’ wide, with a 2’–3’ draft.
It is designed for troop transport along rivers and coasts. The 75 crew normally act as both row-
ers and troops when necessary. The listed speed is for the longship under sail. If becalmed, it
can be rowed at 18mi/day.
Passage, Average: Average passage includes a small shared cabin that can hold up to 100 lb. of
luggage plus the character, basic meals, and an additional 500 lb. of hold space.
Passage, Basic: Basic passage includes a bunk in a shared hold with space for 50 lb. of luggage
plus the character, no meals unless the character brings their own food or pays for ship’s food
separately, and 100 lb. of hold space.
Passage, Luxury: Luxury passage includes a spacious private cabin that can store up to 500 lb.
of luggage plus the character, excellent meals, and an additional 1,000 lb. of hold space.
Passage, Lightmaster Travel: Lightmaster travel passage is on a ship equipped with a Lightmas-
ter sail, which enables it to fly at great speed. This price is for atmospheric travel only. Voidspeed
travel is charged at 100gp/day in addition to the mileage to the edge of the atmosphere.
Quinquirime: A quinquirime is an ocean-going ship 120’–150’ long and 20’–30’ wide with
a 4’–6’ draft. Because of its width, it cannot usually travel along rivers. The listed speed is for
the quinquirime under sail. If becalmed, it can be rowed at 12mi/day by five tiers of rowers.
Raft: A raft is a flat platform 10’ long and 10’ wide, with a 3”–6” draft. A raft is the most basic
of vessels, and is normally limited to swamps, lakes, and slow moving rivers. Up to 12 rafts
can be lashed together to make a single larger raft with proportionally higher carrying capacity.
River Barge: A river barge is a flat-bottomed sail-less boat 20’–30’ long and 10’ wide with a 2’–3’
draft. It is normally used for carrying cargo up and down slow moving rivers.
Rowing Boat: A rowing boat is a small sail-less boat 20’ long and 4’–5’ wide, with a 1’–2’ draft.
Rowing boats are often stored on larger ships and used to transport people to and from shore
or, in an emergency, used as lifeboats. Each rowing boat stored in this manner takes up 500 lb.
of its parent ship’s capacity.
Lightmaster Sail: A Lightmaster sail is a magical sail made from the membranes of dragons’
wings. These magical sails catch sunlight and use it to power the ship, allowing it to fly through
the air (and even space) at great speed. Lightmaster sails can be attached to most boats and
ships that weigh 100 tons or less, although some very small boats such as rafts and canoes are
unsuitable as they have nowhere to fasten them.
When fitted to a new ship for the first time, the sail must be left in place for a week in order to
attune to that ship. During that time, the sail changes shape to fit the rigging of the ship.

Once attunement has taken place, the sails can be hoist (on that individual ship) or stowed
repeatedly without losing the attunement. However, a Lightmaster sail can only be attuned to
one ship at a time, and cannot be used on a different ship – not even one of the same design – at the most: Spells can normally
without being re-attuned. be cast within a single ten-second
combat round, but depending on
See the Lightmaster Travel chapter for detailed rules on using Lightmaster sails to fly a ship. the level of the caster and the level
of the spell they may up to two
Skiff: A skiff is a single masted ship 15’–45’ long and 5’–15’ wide with a 3’–8’ draft. It is de- ten-second combat rounds of men-
signed for lakes and coastal waters, and can sometimes be too deep keeled for river use. Skiffs tal preparation before casting can
are commonly used as fishing boats. A skiff can be fitted with a single cannon. take place.

Sloop: A sloop is a one or two masted ocean-going ship 60’–80’ long and 20’–30’ wide with a
draft of 5’–8’. There may be a raised deck at the aft. In addition to its crew, a sloop may house 25
troops. A sloop can be fitted with up to two cannons.

Trireme: A trireme is an ocean-going ship 120’–150’ long and 15’–20’ wide with a 3’ draft.
Because of its shallow draft, it can travel along rivers as long as they are wide enough for it. The
listed speed is for a trireme under sail. If becalmed, it can be rowed at 18mi/day by three tiers of
rowers. A trireme can be fitted with a ship’s ram (at a cost of 10,000gp) and up to two cannons.
In addition to its crew, it will normally house 50 troops. standard rate: Most temples will
waive this fee for healing magic.
Troopship: A troopship is a three masted ocean-going ship 100’–150’ long and 25’–30’ wide, Some do this because they feel it
with a draft of 10’–12’. The hull is the same as that of a large sailing ship, but the ship has been is their religious calling to give aid
converted to carry the maximum number of troops. A troopship often has large fold-down doors to others. Some do it because it
on its sides so that troops – often including cavalry – can rapidly exit. In addition to its crew, a is an effective form of evangelism.
troopship will normally house 100 troops. Some do it because the lay wor-
shippers pay tithes to the temple

Equipment
and the provision of healing is a
Buying Magic service that the tithes pay for.
Although most adventuring parties will contain at least one spell caster, there will often be situa-
tions where the party need a spell which none of them can cast personally. While any spell caster It is up to the game master which
can be approached and asked to cast a spell on someone else’s behalf, by far the most common temples in their campaign will
scenarios are the purchase of healing spells and the purchase of magic items created by runesmiths. provide free healing, and to whom
they will provide it.
For a spell caster, casting a spell for someone else is a relatively trivial activity. It only takes around
thirty seconds at the most. However, it is both an imposition on the spell caster’s time for
someone to come bothering them and asking them for spells (especially if the customer doesn’t
know exactly which spell they require and needs to spend time discussing it with the caster) and
also something that uses up a limited resource since the spell caster only has a limited amount
of mana that they can use each day.

Because of this imposition on their time, most non-divine spell casters will charge a flat rate for
a consultancy based on their own level, regardless of whether the consultancy results in them
casting a spell or not. runesmith: This also applies to
priests being asked to make golems
The standard rate is 5gp per level of the caster. and constructs, and chirurgeons
being asked to make artificial
Runesmiths are a somewhat special case. If a runesmith is hired to craft an item, this will take limbs.
them a number of weeks rather than being a one-off event. Therefore the base price is com-
mensurately larger. See the Crafting chapter for more details on the making of magic items.

The cost for a runesmith to craft an item is 10gp per level of the caster per week needed to cre-
ate the item. Naturally, adventuring being the dangerous profession it is, most runesmiths will
require payment in advance, in case the customer never returns.

79

mana focusing: Members of any
class can learn mana focusing, al-
though spellswords, warriors, and
empaths find it the easiest.
with practice: See the Skills chap-
ter for details on the Mana Focus
group of skills and how they work.
divine magic: Chirurgeons, priests,
necromancers, annihilists, wardens,
and witches all use divine magic.
arcane magic: Conjurers, necro-
Magic
mancers, occultists, runesmiths,
spellswords, and warlocks all use
arcane magic.
psychic magic: Conjurers, em-
paths, telepaths, annihilists, moun-
tebanks, and clairvoyants all use
psychic magic.
some of those planets: Specifically,
it was the Jovians who live on one
of the moons of Jupiter that were
the race who first taught human-
ity how to use psychic magic, al-
though annihilists use Plutonian
techniques.
80
Magic
Many characters in Lightmaster have the ability to use magic. In fact, all characters are capable
of using at least some magic – although some find it much easier than others. This chapter
describes how magic in Lightmaster works.
Spheres Of Magic
People have been using magic since time immemorial, although as civilisation and culture have
developed, new ways of using it have been discovered.
Mana Focusing
The earliest form of magic to be developed was that of mana focusing. Mana focusing involves
using the magic that is inherently in your own body to push your body beyond its normal capa-
bilities and potentially beyond the laws of physics. It is a very limited form of magic, since it only
allows the focuser to do a very limited number of effects and doesn’t allow the casting of spells
or allow the focuser to affect anything outside of their own body. It is also somewhat unreliable
and the focuser can’t always get the effects to happen when they want them to (although with
practice, the success rate can get very high).
Divine Magic
The first form of proper spell casting to be developed was divine magic. Divine magic is wielded
by religious worshippers, and was developed when people started living in towns and building
shrines and temples to their gods. Whether this magic is a natural result of their worship or
whether it is granted to the spell casters by the deities or powers that are worshipped is unknown.
Divine casters themselves usually assume the former, but more cynical people sometimes sug-
gest the latter.
Thematically divine magic tends to be the most subtle sphere, with many protective spells and
little in the way of flashy “whizz-bang” magic like much of the arcane sphere. However, the one
thing that divine magic excels at more than anything else is healing.
Because of its connection with nature, divine magic casters are not prevented from casting spells
by carrying or wearing organic (i.e. leather and wood) armour and equipment. Metal equipment
or armour still disrupts their spell casting, however.
Arcane Magic
The next type of magic to be developed was arcane magic. Arcane magic is magic derived from
study of the world, and was discovered when society had developed to the point where institu-
tions of learning were springing up in cities. Learning arcane magic is an academic task, and the
magic tends to be the flashiest of the three spheres; with many elemental effects. However, the
down side of this is that it is very difficult to heal using arcane magic.
Arcane magic is very sensitive to the conditions of the caster, and arcane casters find that they
cannot wear any armour or even carry much weight without disrupting the flow of magic around
them and rendering themselves temporarily unable to cast spells.
Psychic Magic
The most recent type of magic to be used is psychic magic, and it has the distinction that it wasn’t
developed by humans at all. It wasn’t until humanity visited other planets on Lightmaster ships
that psychic magic was discovered – already in use by the inhabitants of some of those planets.
Psychic magic is the magic of mind over matter, and is used by certain talented individuals.
Unlike arcane magic, learning psychic magic does not require formal study. Instead it requires
a strong personality and much reflection and introspection.
Psychic magic is excellent at manipulating the caster’s own body and mind, and is reasonably
good at affecting other living individual targets although area effect psychic spells are rare.
Because the power for psychic magic comes from within the caster’s mind, psychic spell casters
have no limits on how much they can wear or carry whilst still being able to cast spells – with
the exception of helmets. Wearing a helmet or even a thick hat will prevent a psychic from
casting spells.
 Spell Paths
As mentioned in previous chapters, all spells are split into spell paths. A spell path is a set of
related spells ranging from level 1 to level 50. No spell path has more than one spell at the same
level, and no spell path has a spell at every level.

Each sphere of magic contains ten lesser spell paths and these contain the simplest spells of that

Magic
sphere. Any character who can use the sphere can learn lesser spell paths (although a character
from a none spell casting class is limited to learning those paths to level 5, and only a character learn: See the Skills chapter for
from a spell casting class specialising in the path can learn them past level 10). how Spell Path skills work, and
the Creating a Character chapter
In addition to those lesser spell paths, each sphere of magic also contains ten greater spell paths for how to learn them.
that contain more complex spells that only those well versed in the sphere’s magic can learn and
use. Only full casters can learn these spell paths at all, and only those specialising in the path
can learn them past level 10.

Finally, each of the spell casting classes has a number of class spell paths. These spell paths a number of: Partial spell casting
contain the “trade secrets” of each class and only members of that class can learn them at all. classes each get five class spell paths
Some of these class spell paths will contain spells that are not available on the lesser or greater each, and full spell casting classes
paths, and some of them will contain spells at lower levels than their equivalents on those paths. get six each.

Mana
Casting spells costs magical power. This power is called mana, and it is common to all three
spheres. There is no such thing as “arcane mana” or “psychic mana”. There is simply mana.
Casting spells: Using Mana Focus
All characters – even those who cannot cast spells – have mana. Each morning at sunrise a skills does not use mana in this way.
character’s mana refreshes to its normal daily total. This amount is determined by checking
the character’s relevant ability score on the Ability Score Table in the Creating a Character
chapter to find their Mana per Level, and then multiplying that value by the character’s level.

The relevant ability score for arcane spell casters is intelligence, for divine spell casters it is wis-
dom, and for psychic spell casters it is charisma. In the case of dual sphere casters, the description
of the character class in the Creating a Character chapter will tell you which ability score to
use; and in the case of none spell casters the player will have chosen a sphere at character creation. 81
As a character casts spells, their mana total will be reduced until it reaches zero; each spell that
is cast costs mana equal to its level. Some spells, called free spells, do not cost mana to cast.

Mana Transfer: See the Skills
chapter for more information
about how the Mana Transfer
skill works.
Magic
Statement of Intent: This is a
short time at the beginning of each
round where the players and game
master declare what the various
combatants under their control
will do. See the Combat chapter
for more details.
82
Running out of mana is not dangerous and has no ill effects other than preventing any further
spell casting (other than the casting of free spells) until the character regains their mana. A
character cannot cast a spell if they do not have enough mana to power it.
It is possible to send mana from one character to another using the Mana Transfer skill. By
using this skill, it is possible for a character to temporarily end up with more mana than their
normal daily total. This is also not dangerous, although if the character still has excess mana at
sunrise when their normal mana refreshes then this excess will be lost at that time.
Casting A Spell
Normally, casting a spell requires a few seconds of words and gestures and the expenditure of
mana equal to its level. However, spell casting is difficult and spells that the caster is not inti-
mately familiar with also require a period of mental preparation that can take up to twice as
long as the casting itself.
In game terms, this familiarity is measured by comparing the character’s level with the spell’s level:
◊ If the spell being cast is at least 6 levels below the caster’s level (e.g. a 10th level caster cast-
ing a spell of 1st to 4th level) then no preparation is required and the spell can be cast in a
single combat round.
◊ If the spell is at least 3 levels below the caster’s level (e.g. a 10th level caster casting a spell
of 5th level to 7th level) then the spell requires a single combat round of preparation plus
a round of casting.
◊ If the spell is less than three levels below the caster’s level (e.g. a 10th level caster casting
a spell of 8th to 10th level) then the spell requires two full combat rounds of preparation
plus a round of casting.
Some spells, called snap spells, are very quick to cast and can always be cast immediately without
needing preparation rounds. In a combat situation, these spells can be cast during the Statement
of Intent phase of a combat round.
In order to cast a spell, the caster must fulfil the following criteria:
◊ Must be able to speak clearly in at least a whispered tone (i.e. must not be gagged). Magical
silence does not stop spell casting – the caster can still speak the words of the spell, they
just won’t be heard.
◊ Must have one hand free to gesture. This does not have to be the character’s primary hand,
and there is no penalty for off-hand spell casting.
◊ Must have prepared themselves for the required number of rounds.
◊ Must have learned the spell using the relevant Spell Path Research skill.
◊ Must be at least as high level as the spell. Characters cannot cast spells that are higher level
than they are, even after they have researched them as part of a spell path.
◊ Must have enough mana to cast the spell.
In addition, the following requirements also apply, depending on the sphere of magic that the
caster is using. Casters who use more than one sphere use the restrictions relevant to the sphere
of the spell being cast, or all the requirements of both spheres if the spell is from one of their
class spell paths:
Arcane
◊ May not be wearing armour or a helmet.
◊ May not be carrying/wearing more than 20lb of non-living organic (wood, leather, cloth)
material.
◊ May not be carrying/wearing more than 5lb of inorganic (metal, stone) material.
 Divine
◊ May not be wearing metal armour or a metal helmet.
◊ May not be carrying/wearing more than 10lb of inorganic (metal/stone) material.

Psychic
◊ May not be wearing a helmet.
Behind The Curtain
When a character casts a spell, there is a chance that it might not work. This might be because The spell descriptions in the Book
the target of the spell resists the magic, or it might be because the caster makes a mistake when of Tables have been formatted as a
performing the words and gestures – or it might even be because the spell technically worked single spell path per page. I advise
but simply missed its target. that spell casters print out copies
of the individual spell paths that
their character has learned at least
Spell Format part of from a PDF version of that
Spell descriptions use the following format: book, and use a highlighter pen to
mark on each print-out the portion
2) Magic Missile (100’) W(S) of the spell path that their charac-
Range: 100’ Duration: Instant ter has learned.
Shoots a spark-like missile at a target within range. The attack is resolved on the Magic
Missile attack table. Keeping these print-outs with your
character sheet will save you a lot of
The top line of the spell description (in bold type) shows the level and name of the spell on the tension-breaking passing around of
left, and shows the spell type or types on the right. The following spell types may be present: books and trying to find the right
pages in the middle of an excit-
◊ A: The spell is an automatic spell. It will automatically cast itself if the caster is unconscious or ing combat or other action scene,
stunned and the spell is needed. Automatic spells cast themselves in order from highest level since you will have details of all the
to lowest, one per round until the caster runs out of mana. The caster may subconsciously spells that your character can cast
choose whether each spell gets cast or not, and may therefore be considered a willing target to-hand.
of the spell even though they are unconscious.

Magic
◊ C: The spell is a crafting spell. The spell must be cast repeatedly over a period of time in
order to have an effect. These spells are used for making enchanted items, although they are
not cast on the items being made. Instead the caster casts the spell on themselves in order
to give themselves the ability to fashion and enchant the item.

◊ F: The spell is a free spell. It does not use any of the caster’s mana to cast it, and can be cast
even if the caster has no mana left.

◊ S: The spell is a snap spell. It can be cast during the Statement of Intent phase of a round. initiative: A roll to determine in
It requires no rounds of preparation regardless of the level of the caster, and it will take effect what order combatants are able to
immediately, before initiative is rolled. act in a round. See the Combat
chapter for more details.
◊ W(S): The spell is a weapon-like spell that uses a skill for aiming.

◊ W(U): The spell is a weapon-like spell, but it does not use a skill for aiming.

Below the name of the spell is a second line in italic text. (In the actual spell descriptions this is
on the same line as the spell’s name.)This shows the range and duration of the spell. A duration in
the form “C (1 min/lvl)” means that the spell lasts until the caster stops concentrating, but has a
maximum duration (in this case one minute per level) even if the caster continues to concentrate.

Below the range and duration line is a text description of what the spell does.

Saving Throws
Whenever someone casts a spell, it must overcome the natural resistance of the spell’s target in
order to work. This resistance is represented in game terms by giving the target of the spell a
saving throw against it. 83
A saving throw is a check rolled in a similar manner to an opposed skill check. The spell caster
adds +10 to their relevant saving throw bonus for the spell, as if taking 10, and this total

Behind The Curtain
It may seem strange that the target
of the spell is considered to be the
active participant and the caster
the passive one, especially since the
target of the spell may be an inani-
mate object. The reason for this is
that graduated saving throws, mul-
tiple targets, and repeated saving
throws all work much more intui-
tively if the target is the one that
is making the roll and the caster is
the one with the fixed value.
For this reason, you are strongly
advised to always have the target
of a spell as the active participant,
even if you are otherwise using the
option of making players the active
participant by default.
extra: A minor character or crea-
ture controlled by the game mas-
ter. Because extras are only minor
(probably only appearing for a cou-
ple of scenes or a single combat)
they aren’t described using the full
Magic
set of statistics that a player charac-
ter has, and they don’t have ability
scores.
conscious: In the case of automat-
ic spells, the caster may subcon-
sciously decide whether to cast the
spell or not; and therefore counts
as willing even if unconscious or
comatose.
know: A particularly duplicitous
caster may, of course, decide to lie
to the target to get them to drop
their defences and then cast an of-
fensive spell instead of the benign
one that the target was expecting.
84
becomes the TN which the spell’s target must equal or beat by rolling 1E20 and adding it to
their own saving throw bonus.
The saving throw bonus to use is the one that matches the sphere of magic of the spell:
Arcane = Intelligence
Divine = Wisdom
Psychic = Charisma
In the case of dual sphere casters casting spells from their class spell paths, the saving throw
bonus to use is the one for the ability from which they derive mana:
Conjurer = Intelligence
Necromancer = Wisdom
Annihilist = Charisma
The target of the spell always uses the same saving throw that the caster does, and if either the
caster or the target is an extra, just use their base saving throw instead.
Saving throws are modified by a number of factors:
◊ If there are multiple targets that might be affected by the spell, then each target rolls their
saving throw separately. This may result in some being affected by it and others not.
◊ If the target of a spell is an item carried or worn by someone, the bearer of the item makes
a saving throw on the item’s behalf.
◊ If the target of a spell is an unattended item, it has a saving throw bonus of –10.
◊ If the caster is the target of their own spell, they must still make a saving throw check to
overcome their own innate resistance to magic, but they will likely be a willing target (see
below).
◊ If a target actively desires the spell to affect them (which is usually the case when a charac-
ter casts a spell on themselves, but may sometimes also be the case with other targets who
desire useful spells such as healing spells), the target may voluntarily take a –20 penalty to
their saving throw check against the spell. The target must be conscious and aware of the
spell to take this penalty, although they do not necessarily have to know what the spell is.
◊ Weapon-like spells are an exception to the normal saving throw rules. Instead of the target
rolling a saving throw, the caster rolls a spell attack as if it were a weapon attack. If the
spell is Weapon-Like (Skilled), the character adds their Aimed Spell skill with the spell
(even if their skill total with that skill is negative). If the spell is Weapon-Like (Unskilled),
the character adds a static +10 to the roll. In the case of area effect attacks, the attack rolls
against each target are made independently.
There are two possible outcomes to the saving throw check:
◊ Pass: If the target’s check total is greater than or equal to the TN of the check, the spell has
worked but the target has resisted it. The caster spends the mana for the spell (assuming it
is not a free spell) but there is no further effect.
◊ Fail: If the target’s check total is less than the TN of the check, then the spell has worked
and the target is affected by it. Most spells will have an all-or-nothing effect, although the
effect of some will be determined by the amount by which the check succeeds.
Multiple Saving Throws
Some spells, particularly those with an ongoing effect or with a delayed effect, may require
multiple saving throw checks before the duration of the spell is finished.
In these cases, remember (or make a note of ) the TN that the initial saving throw had, and
re-use this same TN for all further saving throw checks.
 Graduated Saving Throws
Some spells have an effect on a target that varies depending on how well the saving throw against
the spell failed. The target may be dazed or have some other penalty for a period of time “per
point by which the saving throw fails”.

In this case, take the difference between the target’s saving throw check result and the TN and Behind The Curtain
multiply the penalty or time by that difference. Because player characters will
have ability score bonuses which
Occasionally a time period or penalty may be given “per two points by which the saving throw they can add to their base saving
fails” or some similar number. In this case, round the amount of points by which the saving throw, their saving throws will be
throw failed up to the next nearest multiple; so failing by one or two points would be a single higher than those of an extra of the
multiple and three or four points would be a double multiple, five or six points would be a same level, who does not have these
triple multiple, and so forth. bonuses. This is particularly true
when a player character is cast-
Bonuses for Non-Characters ing a spell, since they will likely be
When a spell targets (or is cast by) an extra, the extra does not have ability scores and there- adding one of their best bonuses to
fore just has a single base saving throw that is based on their level. For the same level range as the TN of the extra’s saving throw
player characters (first to fiftieth), these base saving throws are the same as those of player check.
characters of the same level. For the base saving throws of both player characters and extras,
see the Base Saving Throws table below. Because of this, player characters
are often able to “punch above
Base Saving Throws
their weight” and take on extras
Level Save Level Save Level Save that are higher level than them,
1 1 16–19 10 60–64 19 or even higher level that it is pos-
2 2 20–24 11 65–69 20 sible for a player character to
reach. This effect is significantly
3 3 25–29 12 70–74 21 pronounced at higher levels where
4 4 30–34 13 75–79 22 the base saving throw of an extra
5 5 35–39 14 80–84 23 doesn’t rise in line with their level.

Magic
6–7 6 40–44 15 85–89 24
For example, a level  20 player
8–9 7 45–49 16 90–94 25 character with a +5 ability score
10–12 8 50–54 17 95–99 26 bonus to their saving throw has
13–15 9 55–59 18 100+ 27 the same saving throw bonus as a
level 40–44 extra.
These base saving throws are also used when a spell is cast on another spell to dispel it or have
some other effect on it. Use the level of the target spell to determine the base saving throw
that the target spell has.

Depending on the campaign setting, there may be certain magic-resistant materials that also Flash of Darkness: A fifth level
have a “level” for purposes of resisting magic rather than taking the usual –10 base saving throw spell from the Darkness necro-
that unattended objects normally take. mancer class spell path. It creates
a sudden flash of darkness (hence
Example: Lucius is casting the spell Flash of Darkness against a couple of goblins. Assuming the name) that will daze those
the spell works, the goblins will each be dazed for one round per two points by which they fail within it.
their saving throws. Because the Flash of Darkness spell is on one of the necromancer’s class spell
paths, Lucius uses his mana producing ability score (i.e. wisdom) for the saving throw. Had
he cast an arcane spell instead he would have used his intelligence because that is the ability
score for arcane spells. dazed: A dazed creature can’t at-
tack or cast spells, and can only
Lucius is seventh level and has a wisdom of 19. This gives him a wisdom saving throw of 6 defend itself against attacks.
(for his level) + 4 (for his ability score), for a total bonus of +10. The target number for the
save checks that the goblins need to make is therefore 10+10=20. Since this spell is potentially
affecting two goblins, they each roll their saving throw check separately. They are each level three
extras, so they use their base saving throw of +3 in the check.

The first goblin gets an 8 on his 1E20 for a check total of 8+3=11. This failed to reach the re-
quired 20 by nine points, so since the goblin is dazed for one round per two points by which it
failed it is dazed for five rounds (the nine points are rounded up to ten).
85
The second goblin is luckier and gets a 19 on its 1E20 roll, for a check total of 19+3=22. Since
this is higher than the TN of 20, this goblin is unaffected by the spell.

radius: Note that if an invisibility
spell has no radius and it is cast on
a creature, the creature’s clothing
and any items they carry will not
be covered by the spell’s invisibility.
Magic
offensive: Any spell cast on a crea-
ture that is not willing, and which
therefore means the caster has to
push past their magical resistance,
is considered to be offensive. Spells
cast on willing targets or unat-
tended inanimate objects are not
considered to be offensive.
86
Common Magical Effects
Some common magical effects need more detailed explanation than there is room for in the
individual spell descriptions. These effects are described in the following sections.
Invisibility
Invisibility spells are normally targeted on a single object or creature, and may or may not extend
to a radius around the target.
Anything wholly within the radius when the spell is cast becomes invisible, and stays invisible
until the spell is broken (see below) or the duration of the spell expires.
Objects or creatures that enter the radius after the spell has been cast do not become invisible,
but objects or creatures that leave the radius after the spell has been cast do become visible once
more. An object leaving the radius and becoming visible does not affect the visibility of the other
invisible objects, and does not break the spell.
If the target of the spell moves or is moved, the radius travels with the spell. If this causes an
object to be left behind then it is treated as if it has left the radius as normal.
Although objects that enter the radius after the spell has been cast do not become invisible, objects
that are entirely enclosed by an invisible object (e.g. eaten, put in a pocket, wrapped in a cloak)
do become invisible but only while they are enclosed. If they become no longer enclosed then
they become visible once more, despite still being within the radius of the spell. Again, this does
not affect the visibility of other objects within the radius.
If any invisible object within the spell’s radius is knocked sharply, the invisibility is broken and
all objects become visible once more. In a combat situation, such a sharp knock is likely to be
because something struck the invisible object, or because the invisible object struck another
object. In a non-combat situation, such sharp knocks may come about accidentally due to
moving creatures bumping into each other or stumbling or tripping over things because they
can’t see their own limbs.
When an invisible creature tries to walk around, they must make a Sneak check against a “Rou-
tine” TN 14 difficulty each round (they may take 10 or take 20 on this check). If the check is
failed then they have broken the invisibility.
If a character is actively sneaking while invisible, they need not make multiple checks. They
make a single check against the higher of the difficulties, and if they fail that then they have
broken the invisibility (although they may not have been noticed providing they don’t fail the
re-roll – see the Skills chapter for further details on sneaking).
Characters who run, jump or fall while invisible will automatically break their invisibility.
Casting an offensive or weapon-like spell will also break the invisibility, but casting an inof-
fensive spell will not do so.
Remember – if the invisibility spell is broken for any individual creature or object, then all
creatures and objects within the spell effect become visible.
Illusions and Conjurations
Conjurations and illusions are not mind-affecting spells. They are real creations of light, sound,
smell, etc. This means that there is no way to “resist” or “disbelieve” an illusionary or conjured
object or creature. Whether a character believes that the illusionary or conjured object is real or
not, they can still see it, and in some cases be hurt by it.
Conjurations are static scenes or objects, whereas illusions move under the mental control of the
caster. However, the components of a conjuration can be moved by external influences if they
have a touch aspect (see below); for example a conjuration of a rock with a touch aspect can be
picked up and carried. Illusions and conjurations (or parts of them) can be moved out of the
original spell radius in this manner without disappearing.
Illusions and conjurations are given a number of aspects when cast. Each aspect allows the fol-
lowing to be added to the illusion or conjuration:
aspects: The specific spell descrip-
◊ The illusion/conjuration can be seen. tion in the Book of Tables will tell
◊ The illusion/conjuration can be heard. you how many (and which) aspects
◊ The illusion/conjuration can be smelled. can be used in a given spell.
◊ The illusion/conjuration can be tasted.
◊ The illusion/conjuration can be touched.
◊ The illusion/conjuration is doubled in size.
◊ The illusion/conjuration is doubled in duration.
◊ The illusion/conjuration is created at double the normal range.

Aspects that add senses (vision, sound, smell, taste, touch) can only be added to an illusion if
the caster of the spell can also cast the corresponding Conjure <sense> spell, although it is not
necessary to actually cast that spell at the same time as the illusion or conjuration spell.

Some illusions and conjurations have more than one “touch” aspect. An illusion or conjuration
with at least one touch aspect has real substance to it and can interact with – and even harm –
other objects or creatures.

However, although such illusions and conjurations are solid and can support a great deal of
weight if that weight is applied gently, their touch aspects are fragile and will be cancelled by a
sharp knock.

In a combat situation, each blow that an illusion or conjuration strikes or is struck cancels a
single touch aspect.

Regardless of what it looks like, an illusion has an armour class of unarmoured with no dodge transferred: At the start of each
bonus and has an attack bonus equal to the caster’s skill with the Aimed Spell (Illusion) skill combat round, combatants decide
(a single skill covers all illusion spells). This attack bonus can be transferred to dodge bonus as how much of their attack bonus
the caster would divide their own attack bonus with a weapon. they will transfer to their dodge

Magic
bonus in order to fight more de-
Outside of a combat situation, each sharp knock will also cancel a single touch aspect. If a fensively.
character wishes to walk across or climb on an illusionary or conjured object (such as climbing
a conjured ladder or walking across a conjured bridge) then they must make a Sneak check
against a “Routine” TN 14 difficulty each round. If the check is failed then they have cancelled
one of the illusion or conjuration’s touch aspects. The character may take 10 or take 20 on the
Sneak check.

If a character is actively sneaking across an illusionary or conjured surface, then they need not
make multiple checks. They make a single check against the higher of the difficulties, and if they
fail that then they have cancelled one of the illusion or conjuration’s touch aspects (although
they may not have been noticed providing they don’t fail the re-roll – see the Skills chapter for
further details on sneaking).

Characters who run, jump or fall on an illusionary or conjured surface will automatically cancel
one of its touch aspects.

As long as an illusion or conjuration still has at least one touch aspect remaining, it will remain
solid. However, when the last touch aspect is cancelled, the illusion or conjuration immediately
loses its solidity. It will still be fully visible and audible (assuming it had those aspects to begin
with) but any object will pass straight through it.

Some spells allow an illusion or conjuration to be “delayed”. In this case the caster of the illusion
may specify a delay before the illusion or conjuration appears. This delay may be an absolute time
delay (e.g. “delayed for four hours”) or may be dependent on a condition (e.g. “until someone
speaks the word ‘Bandersnatch’”).

If the delay is dependent on a condition, the condition must be detectable by one of the aspects
included in the illusion or conjuration.
87

Magic
nox obscura: Darkness spells that
create nox obscura will say so in
their description in the Book of
Tables.
88
Symbols
Symbols are magical runes that are etched into a non-mobile surface. Once a symbol has been
cast, it remains indefinitely until triggered, and then it activates once and vanishes.
The triggering condition for a symbol can be any one of the following:
◊ A member of a specified species passes within 20’ of the symbol.
◊ A member of a species other than a specified one passes within 20’ of the symbol.
◊ A member of a specified class passes within 20’ of the symbol.
◊ A member of a class other than a specified one passes within 20’ of the symbol.
◊ A command phrase of 10 words or less is spoken within 20’ of the symbol.
◊ A specified object (which must be present when the spell is cast) is brought within 20’ of
the symbol.
◊ A specified object (which must be present when the spell is cast) is taken more than 20’
from the symbol.
◊ The symbol is touched.
A symbol will only activate when exposed. A covered symbol remains dormant until uncovered,
even if the conditions that would normally trigger it occur. Similarly, the radius from which
symbols can be triggered only applies to the front of the symbol. If a symbol is on a pillar, for
example, the pillar can be safely approached from behind.
Light and Darkness
It is possible to create magical light and darkness. In isolation, neither of these is problematic,
but when different light and darkness sources of varying strength interact, some explanation
may be needed.
The following is a list of all light/darkness sources in order of power. If in doubt, a more powerful
source trumps a less powerful one.
◊ Natural Darkness: This is the darkness that is caused by there simply being no light sources.
◊ Natural Light: This is normal light, from the sun or from burning torches or other non-
magical sources. Natural light overrides natural darkness but not magical darkness.
◊ Magical Darkness: This is darkness from any spell that creates darkness and does not
explicitly state that it is creating nox obscura. Magical darkness overrides natural light but
not magical light.
 ◊ Magical Light: This is light from any spell that creates light and does not explicitly say
that it is creating lux clara. Magical light overrides magical darkness but not nox obscura.

◊ Nox Obscura: This is a very powerful form of magical darkness that comes only from lux clara: Light spells that create
spells that explicitly say they are creating this type of darkness. Nox obscura overrides even lux clara will say so in their de-
magical light, and also overrides magical abilities that let one see in the dark. However, it scription in the Book of Tables.
cannot override lux clara.

◊ Lux Clara: This is a very powerful form of magical light that comes only from spells that
explicitly say they are creating lux clara. This form of light will override all forms of dark-
ness including nox obscura; and will affect certain creatures (e.g. vampires) as if it were
natural sunlight.

Summoned Creatures
There are many spells that summon creatures to do the caster’s bidding. Most of these summon
animals, but some summon more esoteric creatures such as demons.

When creatures are summoned using these spells, they must be made to appear in an environ-
ment that is suitable for them. Air breathing creatures cannot be summoned underwater, and
vice versa. Similarly, creatures cannot be summoned into mid-air unless they are capable of flight.
You can’t summon an elephant above someone’s head so that it falls on them!

Also, creatures cannot be summoned where there is no room for them. They won’t squash or
push other things aside.

When a creature is summoned, it does not appear to come from the local area; and creatures
can be summoned even in lifeless deserts. The creatures that appear always do so in full health,
and are average adult members of their species. Using the same summoning spell more than
once will not get you the same creature repeatedly; you will get a random creature of the type
you summoned each time.

Magic
“Person” Spells
Whereas most spells that affect another creature can be cast at any such creature, other spells
specifically target other people and cannot normally be used on other creatures or plants such
as dogs or trees. Such spells will generally have the word “Person” as part of their name, such as
the Charm Person spell on the Enchantments greater arcane path.

Spells that specifically target people in this manner can be cast on any other human, as well as
goblins, Martians, and Selenites. Skeletons, shades, vampires, and liches of these species are also
considered to be people.

If a non-humanoid (for example a dragon) is somehow able to cast one of these spells, instead
of affecting humanoids it will affect creatures similar to the caster – in the case of a dragon this
would be other dragons and dragon-like creatures.

Spell Combinations
There is often more than one spell capable of giving as similar bonus to an action or doing the
same thing. As a general rule, you should allow the bonuses from different spells to stack (e.g.
the saving throw bonuses from a Divine Shield and Resist Magic spell), but not allow the
bonuses from multiple castings of the same spell to stack, using only the largest applicable bonus.

Spells with a similar name except for numeric qualifiers (e.g. Resist Magic +1 and Resist
Magic +3) should be considered to be the same spell for this purpose.

Similarly, weaponlike spells with a similar name other than such qualifiers (e.g. Magic Missile
(100’) and Magic Missile (300’)) can be used with the same weaponlike spell skill, but spells with
different names each need their own skill even if they use the same attack table for their attacks.

Crafting
The class spell paths of runesmiths (and some of those of priests and chirurgeons) deal with the
89
creation of magical items. Unlike most spells, the spells on these paths are not simply cast once
and then forgotten about. They must be cast repeatedly over a period of time in order for their
effect to be realised.

natural undead: This includes
things like zombies and vampires,
that make more of their own kind
by biting.
grace period: The period after
death, lasting around two min-
utes, during which the soul of the
deceased hangs around near their
body before departing for the af-
terlife. If a body is healed during
this period, the soul may re-enter
it and it will return to life.
raised: Certain priest spells and
certain healing herbs can bring a
dead body back to life even after
the grace period has expired.
Magic
combat ability: Although a shade
can’t touch anything, passing its icy
cold hands through an opponent
can cause damage from frost.
socially accepted: Most people
find skeletons rather spooky, but
since they are not rampaging mon-
sters but are as personable and
friendly as living people there isn’t
usually any kind of severe backlash
against them. They may find them-
selves discriminated against and
made to feel a little unwelcome,
but they are unlikely to be chased
out of town or attacked except in
the most rural and unsophisticated
of places.
90
In general, a magic item will require multiple spells and take a number of weeks to make, and
each spell that is required to make it must be cast each day during this crafting period.
See the Crafting chapter for more information on the making of (and cost of ) magical items.
Necromancy & Undead
While there are many types of natural undead that either reproduce in various ways or arise
spontaneously, there are also some types of undead primarily created and controlled by the spells
from the class paths of necromancers.
Husks
A husk is an unintelligent physical undead that can be temporarily created by a necromancer.
Husks are useful as short-lived servants, but their utter lack of any intelligence – they don’t even
have any basic survival instincts – means that unless mentally controlled by their creator they
will simply stand motionless until their duration runs out and they collapse to the floor.
To create a husk, the necromancer simply uses one of the Animate Dead spells on the Undead
Creation path. The spell will not work if the corpse is still in its grace period. The corpse’s soul
must have already departed for it to be made into a husk. However, since the animation of the
husk neither uses nor contains the corpse’s soul, it doesn’t matter whether the soul has been raised
in another body or even whether it has since become an incorporeal undead such as a shade.
The level of the husk and its statistics in combat depend only on the level of spell used to create
it. The level or species that the corpse belonged to while alive are irrelevant.
Husks are particularly weakly animated, and if a priest’s Turn Undead spell is used against them
the saving throw always fails and they always disintegrate.
Shades
A shade is an intelligent incorporeal undead that can be summoned and controlled by a necro-
mancer. Shades have full memory of their life and how they died, and retain all the intelligence,
knowledge, skills, and free will that they had in life. A shade of a spell caster retains the knowledge
of how to cast spells, but without a body it does not have the physical means to cast them. It
can, however, use the Mana Transfer skill to transfer its mana to another caster.
To create a shade, a necromancer must use one of the Summon Shade spells from their Undead
Summons path. This must be done at the largest remaining piece of the corpse of the sapient
creature whose soul the caster wishes to summon. Unlike a husk, a shade can be summoned
from a corpse while the corpse’s soul is in its grace period as well as when the soul has left the
corpse. However, if the soul has already been raised in another body or if it has already become
an undead then it cannot be summoned. Once summoned, a shade retains the personality it had
in life and continues to have free will, and it may or may not be friendly with the necromancer
who summoned it.
The level of a shade is exactly the same as the level of the person or creature that died. However,
a shade has little in the way of combat ability regardless of that level, since their incorporeal
form makes normal combat abilities useless and they are incapable of casting spells. A shade is
capable of gaining experience just as they did when alive, and it is possible for a shade to increase
in level. Should the shade be later killed and then raised from the dead, the raised person keeps
any experience and memories they gained while they were a shade.
Once a shade has been created, it lasts indefinitely until it is killed once more, and a person
cannot be raised from the dead while their soul is in the form of a shade.
Skeletons
A skeleton is an intelligent physical undead that can be permanently created by a necromancer.
Skeletons tend to be the most common (and the most socially accepted) of all undead creatures.
Skeletons have full memory of their life and how they died, and retain all the intelligence, knowl-
edge, skills, and free will that they had in life. A skeleton of a spell caster retains the knowledge
of how to cast spells, and may cast them just as if alive.
To create a skeleton, a necromancer must first somehow persuade or coerce a shade into touching
a corpse of a sapient creature, and then cast a Create Skeleton spell (from the Undead Creation
path) on it. This is normally done by either simple persuasion (the shade might want to gain
the use of a body, particularly if it is already friendly to the necromancer); summoning a shade
from a corpse with a Summon Shade spell and then quickly casting the Create Skeleton spell quickly: When a shade is first
to bind the shade into its own body before it has time to move away; using a Control Shade or summoned, it is unable to act for
Command Shade spell to force the shade to touch the corpse; or by making the shade a minion a round. A necromancer will have
using the Undead Minion spell and then ordering it to touch the corpse. time to cast a Create Skeleton
spell during this round of inaction,
A skeleton, as the name implies, is skeletal. Although the corpse may contain flesh at the time providing they are high enough
of animation, this will decay at the normal rate until only the skeleton is left. Fastidious or level to cast the spell without re-
hygiene-conscious skeletons will either use Preserve Corpse spells or will scrape the flesh off quiring any preparation rounds.
leaving clean (and in some cases polished or painted) bones.

The corpse used for a skeleton does not need to be the one that formerly belonged to the shade
inhabiting it. In fact it doesn’t even need to be the same species. In any case, the level and skills
of the skeleton are exactly the same as the level and skills of the shade that is inside it, with the
only difference being that the skeleton can cast any spells that the shade knows. However, it is
not possible to create a skeleton out of a corpse that is still in its grace period. The shade cannot
“move in” until the original soul has left.

Because the skeleton’s bones are being powered by the magical soul energy of the shade rather
than by muscles, the skeleton’s physical ability scores remain as the shade had in life, regardless
of the species or original ability scores of the corpse that it possesses.

A skeleton is capable of gaining experience just as they did when alive, and it is possible for a
skeleton to increase in level. Should the skeleton be later killed and then raised from the dead,
the raised person keeps any experience and memories they gained while they were a skeleton.

Once a skeleton has been created, it lasts indefinitely until it is killed once more, and a person
cannot be raised from the dead while their soul is in the form of a skeleton. Killing the skeleton

Magic
also kills the shade that is inhabiting it, and this is the only way to end the inhabitation. The
skeleton does not count as the body that the shade’s soul died in for purposes of being raised
from the dead or being re-summoned as a shade again (unless, of course, it also happens to be
the soul’s original body).

Undead Minions
The Undead Minion spells from the necromancer’s Undead Control path allow the caster to per-
manently enslave one or more intelligent undead (whether corporeal or incorporeal) as minions.

Undead minions retain their free will, but must obey any command (even suicidal ones) given
to them by their master with no saving throw available. The master simply gives a command
in any form of communication they can, and if the minion understands it then it must obey.

Although they can be commanded in this way, undead minions retain their personality and free
will, and are able to use their imagination to fulfil the command – possibly twisting the words of
their master while keeping within the letter of their command if they resent their enslavement.
Obviously, the way in which their master treats them will mitigate this. If their master provides
them protection and doesn’t mistreat them or send them into danger they may be less inclined to
be obstructive. Similarly, if they fear their master they may not dare act in an obstructive manner.

Regardless of whether they are acting on their master’s command or whether they are acting on
their own initiative, there are two things that a minion cannot do.

◊ A minion cannot harm its master either directly or indirectly unless specifically ordered to
do so (and it can’t twist the words of an innocuous command and creatively interpret it as
an instruction to harm its master). However, it can stand idly by while its master comes to
harm if its master does not (or cannot) command it to come to their aid.

◊ A minion cannot move out of the control range (10’ per level of its master) voluntarily.
91
Neither may it remain stationary when its master moves away in order to get itself outside
control range, providing it is aware of its master’s movement. The minion may only move

Behind The Curtain
It is possible for a player character
to become a shade or skeleton and
remain as an adventurer. This is
fine, and it provides lots of role-
playing opportunities. In fact, with
the group’s agreement, you can
even create a player character that
begins play as a shade or skeleton.
However, groups going down this
route should be aware of the spec-
tre (pun intended) of the character
becoming the minion of a necro-
mancer and thereby causing the
player to lose a lot of control in
terms of their character’s actions.
This can be a particular problem if
the necromancer is a fellow player
character; and it can cause out-of-
character resentments and argu-
ments.
I recommend that you discuss
the issue as a group and come up
with a consensus about whether
Magic
player characters remain as player
characters in this situation; and
about whether to put in place an
out-of-character agreement that a
player character necromancer will
not enslave other player characters
without their player’s permission.
92
out of range of its master if specifically commanded to do so (and it can’t twist the words
of an innocuous command and creatively interpret it as an instruction to leave its master).
A necromancer may only have one minion per level at any one time, and if they want to gain a
new minion they may have to release an existing minion of their choice to make room. Obviously
this must be done with care in case the newly released minion will become hostile or seek revenge.
The minion status of an undead may be broken in one of five ways:
◊ The minion moves out of range of the spell (10’ per level of its master), or the minion’s
master moves out of range and the minion can’t keep up.
◊ The minion dies.
◊ The minion’s master dies.
◊ The minion’s master chooses to release it prematurely.
◊ The undead becomes the new minion of a different Necromancer. An undead can only have
one master at any given time.
If the undead is merely temporarily controlled or turned by someone, then this does not break
its loyalty to its original master; although such control can force it to do things such as attacking
its master or leaving the control range involuntarily.
Should a minion die and be re-summoned as a shade or raised from the dead, the re-summoned
shade or live person is no longer a minion.
Example: The party are far from civilisation, and thus far from anyone who could raise a fallen
party member from the dead. Upon discussing the situation, Angelo, the warden that is guiding
them through the wilderness, says that should he die he would rather be brought back as a skeleton
than remain dead; and Lucius promises that he will bring him back in that manner if it is possible.
Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for our example, Angelo does die in a fight shortly afterwards,
having his skull smashed. All is not lost, however, since Angelo was only a first level warden and
is therefore low enough level for Lucius’s spells to work on him.
Once the fight is over, Lucius casts Summon Shade (1st level) on Angelo’s body. Angelo appears
before the party in a ghostly form that radiates coldness.
Checking out Angelo’s corpse, Lucius notes that with a smashed skull it is too damaged to be able to
become a skeleton, and none of the party has good enough healing magic to repair such an injury.
Lucius gives Angelo three choices. He can remain a shade, incorporeal and unable to touch anything.
They can kill him once more so that his soul moves on to whatever afterlife awaits. Or they can use
the bones of one of the warlocks that they were fighting (who was killed with a shot through the
lung and whose bones are in good condition) to make him into a skeleton.
Angelo chooses the latter option, and Lucius instructs him to hover over the corpse of the warlock
while he casts Create Skeleton (1st level) on him. This binds Angelo’s shade to the corpse and
it stands up.
Although the corpse is that of a warlock, the new skeleton has Angelo’s soul inside it and knows
nothing of warlock magic. Instead it has all Angelo’s warden abilities from when he was alive. It
also has all the warlock’s dead flesh still attached to it, and that will rot and fall off over the course
of the next month or so to leave a bare skeleton if it is not cleaned before then. Since the rotting
flesh will stink rather badly, Lucius suggests removing it before it starts to smell.
However, the fact that the warlock’s corpse that Angelo is walking around in is still fresh and apart
from a wound to the chest looks very much like it did in life gives Rose an idea, and she suggests that
before his decay starts to show, Angelo in his new body could help them sneak into the warlock’s camp
since he still looks like the warlock so he will be recognised and can wave at them to open the gate.
 Adventuring
Much of the time when player characters are adventuring, there are no special rules needed.
Interactions with other characters and with the environment are mostly resolved either by back-
and-forth discussion between the game master and the players or by the use of skill checks and
ability checks when uncertainty plays a factor in whether or not actions will succeed.
activities: Combat is covered in
However, there are some adventuring activities that need more detailed rules and guidelines, its own chapter, the imaginatively
chiefly exploration and movement and interaction with particular environmental features. This titled Combat chapter, rather than
chapter covers those, as well as how characters increase in level during their adventuring career. this one.

Time & Movement

When exploring, indoors or out, time is simply measured in straightforward hours and minutes.
However, the movement speeds of characters are normally measured in feet per round. This is
because accurate representation of movement in a combat situation is much more important
than, for example, being precise about whether it took a minute or seventy seconds to walk round: During combat, time is di-
from the inn to the stables. vided into ten second long rounds,
during which each combatant gets
A character will normally have a 40’ per round movement speed, but being encumbered by to take an action.
armour may reduce this.

Indoor Movement
If you do need to know how far someone moves in a given time in non-combat situations, more
general movement rates can be extrapolated from per-round combat speeds.

When exploring indoors, characters normally move at three times their normal movement speed armour: See the Equipment chap-
per ten minutes. This may seem rather slow, but this is because it assumes that characters are ter for details of how much each

Adventuring
moving slowly and cautiously while checking for unsafe conditions. When moving over familiar type of armour reduces movement
routes that are assumed to be safe, characters can move at full combat rates just extrapolated up by.
from ten second rounds as shown on the table below:
Short-Term Movement Rates
Per-Round Cautiously Distance Sprinting Swimming
Walking
Movement Advancing Running (max 2 min) or Climbing
10’ 30’/10min 60’/min 200’/min 400’/min 15’/min
20’ 60’/10min 120’/min 400’/min 800’/min 30’/min slowly and cautiously: If it helps,
think of the way Indiana Jones
30’ 90’/10min 180’/min 600’/min 1,200’/min 45’/min carefully picks his way through a
40’ 120’/10min 240’/min 800’/min 1,600’/min 60’/min lost temple.
50’ 150’/10min 300’/min 1,000’/min 2,000’/min 75’/min
60’ 180’/10min 360’/min 1,200’/min 2,400’/min 90’/min
Although many actions, such as casting a spell, have the time taken to complete them measured
in rounds, it is not necessary to switch from general timekeeping to round-by-round timekeeping
for simple actions such as someone casting a spell or picking a lock. However, when it looks like
a fight is about to break out then you should start counting off time round by round. casting a spell: Casting a spell
takes a round plus from zero to
Overland Movement two rounds of preparation. See the
Characters travelling overland normally do so either on foot or on mounts of some kind. Riding Magic chapter for further details.
horses are the most common mount, but in desert environments camels may be more suitable
and characters with a lot to carry may prefer wagons or other vehicles. The distance that a group
can move in a day is based on the movement speed of the slowest member of the group.

On open terrain, a group or individual can move 60% of their per-round movement speed in
miles. For example, the movement rate of an unencumbered human is normally 40’ per round.
Therefore, an unencumbered human can travel 24 miles per day on open terrain.

Difficult terrain such as desert, forest, hills, broken ground; or difficult weather conditions
93
such as snow or heavy rain reduces this movement speed by a third, to 40% of their per-round
movement speed in miles.
 For example, the movement rate of an unencumbered human is normally 40’ per round. There-
fore, an unencumbered human can travel 16 miles per day on difficult terrain.

Extreme terrain such as mountains, jungle, swamp or glaciers reduces the open terrain movement
speed by half, to 30% of their per-round movement rate in miles.

Finally, paved roads increase movement speed by a half, to 90% of their per-round movement
rate in miles, except in snow conditions; and established but unpaved trails increase movement
speed by a half, to 90% of their per-round movement rate in miles, except in snow or heavy
rain conditions.

The Overland Movement Rates table shows the movement rates (in miles per day) on each type
of terrain for creatures with base speeds ranging from 10’/round to 80’/round.
Overland Movement Rates
Per-Day Movement Rate
Broken
Per-Round Movement Ground Glacier
Rate Road Open Desert Jungle
Behind the Curtain Trail Terrain Forest Mountain
The game uses imperial measure- Hills Swamp
ments, since mixing metric with Snow
medieval fantasy always seems a 10’ 9 miles 6 miles 4 miles 3 miles
weird anachronism. If you prefer
to use metres and kilometres then 20’ 18 miles 12 miles 8 miles 6 miles
a quick (but not entirely accurate) 30’ (e.g. Horse and Cart) 27 miles 18 miles 12 miles 9 miles
conversion for them is: 10’=3m; 40’ (e.g. Human) 36 miles 24 miles 16 miles 12 miles
and 1mi = 1½km.
50’ (e.g. Camel) 45 miles 30 miles 20 miles 15 miles
Adventuring

60’ (e.g. Horse with Rider) 54 miles 36 miles 24 miles 18 miles

70’ (e.g. Pony) 63 miles 42 miles 28 miles 21 miles
80’ (e.g. Riderless Horse) 72 miles 48 miles 32 miles 24 miles

Mixed Terrain
If someone is travelling on a mix of terrain during the same day it is best to simply assume that
they travel at a rate governed by the majority of the terrain that they travelled across.

The sole exception to this (and this only happens in very rare circumstances) is that this method
can sometimes result in someone travelling across more of a particular terrain type in a partial
day than they normally could in a whole day, because they spent the majority of the day travel-
ling on a much less difficult terrain.

In this rare case, the person’s travel distance over the more difficult terrain is limited to the
amount they could normally travel on that terrain in a whole day.

Example: The party are riding across country to get to the city. Since they have riding horses and
they are travelling on open terrain, they can travel 36 miles in a day. After thirty miles they reach
the mountains that they have to cross. Rather than try to work out exactly what fraction of a day
it took them to get there and what fraction they spend riding through the mountainous terrain,
the game master simply assumes that they travel the full 36 miles; 30 across the open terrain
and 6 across the mountains.

Fatigue
Creatures that are travelling long distances must rest for a full day for every six days that they travel.

Failure to do so results in a cumulative –1 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks due to long
term fatigue per six days (or part of six days) of continuous travel after the initial six.

94 This penalty is reduced by 1 for each full day of rest taken.
 Doors
With the exception of the most basic natural cave lair, almost every building contains doors of
one type or another separating areas, and for some reason these doors play a much larger part
in the lives of most adventurers than any other type of furniture.

Most internal doors are made of wood. In well maintained and occupied areas, they are likely
to be in a good state of repair and may or may not be locked, but in old dungeons and tombs,
they may be swollen with seeping damp or otherwise stuck. In some cases they may have even
been magically locked.

The difficulty of opening a door depends on its state. Obviously there may be individual situa-
tions in some places that are different – such as metal or stone doors – but usually they fall into
one of the following categories.

Normal Door: Characters can simply push or pull this door open and walk through.

Stuck Door: A door that has become stuck must be shoulder-barged open. One character may
attempt this per round, and must roll a “Medium” TN 20 Strength Check in order to do so. If
the first attempt is not successful, then whatever is at the other side of the door will be alerted
by the noise and has no chance of being surprised.

Locked Door: A locked door may be barged open in the same way that a stuck door can be,
although the Strength Check is made with “Very Hard” TN 24 difficulty.

Alternatively, someone can attempt to pick the lock. The difficulty of doing so will depend on
the quality and complexity of the lock. Generally, a failed attempt to pick a lock will not alert
creatures on the other side of the door.

Adventuring
Barred Door: A door that is heavily barred may be barged open in the same way as a stuck
door, although the Strength Check is made with a “Sheer Folly” TN 30 difficulty. A character heavily barred: Characters wish-
cannot use their Pick Lock skill to open a barred door unless there is a mechanism for lifting ing to impress their friends by
the bar from the front of the door. breaking open a heavily barred
door by brute force may wish
Magically Locked Door: A magically locked door might or might not be able to be physically to look into the Mana Focus
forced open. The magic might need to be bypassed or dispelled in some way (the exact details (Strength) skill.
will vary depending on the specific magic used). It may be necessary to take an axe or similar
implement to the door and physically destroy it.

Secret Door: A secret door is a door that has been camouflaged so that it does not appear to
be a door. Typical secret doors include walls that shift out of the way when a lever is pulled,
fireplaces or bookshelves that rotate, or simply wooden doors that match the wooden panelled
walls of a room.

Searching for a secret door takes 10 minutes per 10’ section of wall searched, and each character accidentally notice: While ac-
searching must make a Search check (with a difficulty based on how well hidden the door is) tively searching for traps uses the
to find it. Note that if characters split up to search a room more efficiently, only one is likely to Search skill, accidentally noticing
search the location of the secret door. a badly concealed trap uses the
Spot skill.

Traps
Traps are a common hazard in dungeons, temples, ruins, and the other sorts of places to which
adventures are drawn, and are always a danger to the inexperienced or foolhardy. The most
common types of trap are often the simplest – pits with fragile covers that will give way when
someone walks over them; poison needles in locks so that someone trying to pick the lock will
prick themselves on them; blades or spears that are rigged to shoot out of the wall when a flag-
stone is stepped on; and so on.

Generally, adventurers will have no chance to accidentally notice these traps – although some
individual traps that are crude or badly made may offer a chance. Traps must instead usually be
95
detected by magical means or by actively searching the area using the Search skill. The difficulty
of finding a trap will depend on its sophistication and quality.

set off: See the Skills chapter for
more information about the Dis-
able Device skill and the possibil-
ity of accidentally setting off traps
while trying to disarm them.
Adventuring
size: The size of an attack deter-
mines the maximum result that it
can have. See the Combat chapter
for more details.
96
Searching a 10’x10’ area for traps takes 10 minutes, just like searching for secret doors, and
characters can search for both types of thing at the same time.
When a trap is found, adventurers generally have three options.
◊ They can try to get past the trap without setting it off.
◊ They can try to set off the trap without getting hurt by it.
◊ They can try to disarm the trap using the Disable Device skill.
If the attempt to disarm the trap fails, then the trap may be set off – although they may or may
not get hurt by this, depending on the way in which the trap works. Should the trap be one
that can be triggered more than once without needing to be manually reset, the character may
attempt to disarm it a second time.
Example: Rose discovers a trap door rigged to open under the weight of a person and deposit them
into a pit. She tries to remove the trap, and fails; also failing her re-roll (see the Skills chapter for
details on how the Disable Device skill works). The trap door swings open.
Although she was not standing on it and therefore hasn’t fallen in, it is now open revealing a 10’
wide pit that the party must work out how to cross.
Later, the party are walking up some stairs when Callow steps on a trapped step and a blade scythes
out catching him on the leg. While Asenath heals his wound, Rose attempts to remove the trap so
that it won’t go off again and hurt anyone else.
Not having a good day, she fails both the initial roll and the re-roll again. The blades scythe once
more, but she is rather sensibly not standing on the trapped step so they do not hit her.
Eventually, the party come to a treasure vault containing a pedestal upon which sits a golden chalice.
Rose discovers that the pedestal is trapped and if the chalice is removed then some gas or liquid will
be squirted out of it. She tries to remove the trap and fails both the roll and the re-roll yet again,
cursing her dice. Poisonous gas is ejected from the pedestal and fills the room.
Unfortunately, since this fills the whole room leaving nowhere safe to stand, it will affect Rose.
Environmental Damage
Whether falling down pits, being squirted with burning oil, or being trapped in a room that is
slowly filling with water; characters can be subject to a variety of harmful environments while
adventuring – not all of which are the result of traps!
Falling
Landing in an uncontrolled manner is handled by the character taking an attack rolled on the
Crush attack table with a bonus equal to +1 per 5’ fallen. The character may not use their dodge
bonus against this attack roll.
If the character has deliberately jumped down rather than simply fallen down, they may make
a strength check and reduce the effective falling distance by the check total (no TN is used for
this check, simply add the 1E20 roll to the character’s strength score).
If the character lands on something softer than rock (e.g. sand, snow, soil, a haystack) then the
size of the fall attack may be reduced to a smaller size, at the discretion of the game master.
Fire
A natural fire the size of a camp fire will do an ’A’ severity Fire critical strike each round that
a character is touching it.
Being in a fiercely burning building will do ‘C’ severity Fire critical strike each round that a
character is in it.
Extremely hot substances such as molten metal or lava will inflict ‘E’ severity Fire critical strikes
on any who touch them, and those standing or suspended directly above them will take an ‘A’
severity Fire critical strike each round.
If a flask of oil is lit and thrown it will burst and cover nearby creatures in burning oil, but not
violently explode. Make an attack roll on the Fireball attack table against each creature within 5’
of its target using the attacker’s Brawling skill. The attacks are limited to a “Small” size. If the
flask is thrown at a specific creature rather than just an area, the attacker gets the normal +5
attack bonus against that creature (but not against other creatures in the radius).

Drowning and Suffocating

Characters who suddenly find themselves unexpectedly unable to breathe (because they’re being
choked or because they’ve suddenly been plunged into deep water, for example) can hold their
breath for a number of rounds equal to half their constitution score. If the character expects
the situation and makes an effort to take deep breaths and hold their breath before entering it,
they can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their full constitution score.

Once the character can no longer hold their breath, they will start gasping uncontrollably and/or
drowning; and will be at a –5 penalty to all activities (and be unable to cast spells) for 1d10 rounds.

Finally, the character will fall unconscious for a further 2d10 rounds before dying. If the character
is brought to somewhere where they can breathe during this time, or during their grace period, grace period: The period after
they can be revived by a character spending three full rounds helping them recover, or by any death, lasting around two min-
magical curing spell that heals hit points. utes, during which the soul of the
deceased hangs around near their
If a spell that heals hit points is cast on the character at any time before death but without remov- body before departing for the af-
ing them from the situation in which they cannot breathe, it will bring them back to the start terlife. If a body is healed during
of the suffocation or drowning process, as if they had just taken a deep breath. this period, the soul may re-enter
it and it will return to life.

Mapping
When in dungeons, mazes, or other complicated areas it is common for one player to draw a
map as the party progresses. The game master should encourage this, and should help the play-

Adventuring
ers to draw such a map quickly and accurately. Remember that while the players are limited to
whatever description the game master gives them, the actual characters can see all around them.

While it is somewhat unrealistic for the game master to give exact dimensions for rooms and
corridors, it is nonetheless good practice, because it helps to offset the fact that the spatial memory
of the characters would prevent them getting lost far better than the verbal memory of the players
remembering the game master’s descriptions will prevent them getting lost.

The players’ map should not be considered an in-character item that can be lost or destroyed. It
is an out of character prop to remind the players of what their characters can remember.

Gaining Experience
Although characters generally start out as novices in their class, as they progress in their adventur-
ing career they will gain experience and increase in level (and therefore competence).

Although in reality an increase in experience level for their character allows a player to spend
skill points wherever they like, including on skills their character has never used before, you can
assume that within the game world this isn’t simply an arbitrary increase but is the result of the
character having practiced those skills over the course of gaining the experience level (even if all
the practise was done “off camera” and therefore not mentioned during play).

The rate at which levels are gained by characters is left entirely up to what the game master and
players are comfortable with. Some groups prefer to have characters increase in level every other
session (particularly if they only play occasionally) while others prefer to go anywhere from four
to ten or more sessions between level increases.

Since characters are assumed to start at level 1 and have a maximum level of 50, the rate of level
gain should be tailored to the expected length of the campaign. An epic campaign designed
to last years needs a slow rate of increase to keep things going, whereas a short campaign can
afford a higher rate of increase without the characters getting to maximum level while there is
97
still lots of campaign left to go.

experience points: See the Creat-
ing a Character chapter for how
much experience is required for
each level.
Behind the Curtain
The experience for treasure rules
can also be used for determining
the starting wealth of characters
who join a campaign at above first
level.
For example, according to the
Creating a Character chapter, it
takes  7,500 experience to reach
fifth level. Therefore, a character
starting at fifth level can be as-
sumed to have acquired 7,500gp
over the course of previous adven-
Adventuring
tures in order to have gained this
amount of experience.
Obviously, the character would
have spent some of that money
on non-permanent things during
those previous adventures too, so
they wouldn’t start with 7,500gp
in their pocket.
I would advise starting a higher
level character with  75% of the
gold they would have needed to
reach their level, assuming the oth-
er 25% has been previously spent.
Therefore, a character starting at
fifth level would begin the game
with 7,500 x 75% = 5,625gp to
spend on equipment.
98
Another factor that the group needs to consider when deciding how quickly characters should
increase in level is the general tone of the world. If the world is full of Big Damn Heroes, then
the player characters should probably be rising to high level in order to join the ranks of those
heroes. On the other hand, if you are playing in a lower powered game where simple survival is
more of a goal than heroics, having characters get to the high teens in level can be incompatible
with the desired genre.
There are three options for handling level increase in your game, and each is presented here below.
Your group must decide which one they prefer to use.
Experience for Treasure
The most complex way of handling experience gain is to use accumulated treasure as a measure
of how experienced the characters are getting.
To use this method, have the players keep a running total of all the wealth they receive, whether
from looted or found treasure, payments for services, or whatever other income sources they
have. Each gold piece worth of treasure that a player character gains gives them an experience
point, and when they have accumulated enough experience points they advance to the next level.
Even if experience points are given out on an encounter by encounter basis as treasure is acquired,
characters should not increase in level unless they have ample time to reflect on their experiences.
Therefore characters must at least rest overnight for the benefits of an increase in level to kick in.
This system has the advantage that it ties experience gained directly to actions that the party have
taken, so that the players feel rewarded for having their characters go out and seek their fortune.
It also means that you don’t have to worry too much about the economics of the game. Because
the party will have an experience level directly derived from the amount of treasure they have
acquired, it means that you are never in the situation where the party will have way too much
or way too little treasure for their level.
However, this system also has the disadvantage that it is a little more fiddly and requires more
bookkeeping than the other options.
If you are using this system, you should take into account the following guidelines:
◊ Experience should not be given for treasure acquired by the selling of magic items or other
valuable goods. The experience for these items will have already been given when the party
acquired the items in the first place.
◊ Experience should only be given for treasure that the party acquires from outside sources.
Characters can’t simply acquire experience by giving each other money!
◊ It is fairer to total up all the treasure acquired by the party as a whole and divide the experi-
ence equally between party members than it is to count each character’s income separately.
Experience per Session
If you are running the type of campaign where seeking treasure is not a major part of the char-
acters’ activities, or if you just prefer a less complex system, then you may wish to simply give
each character a standard award of experience per session.
This has the advantage that it’s pretty straightforward and if you have a good idea of how long
the campaign is going to last and what level you want the characters to finish the campaign at
then you can tailor the per-session experience awards accordingly.
The Expected Level by Session Experience table shows the resulting level of characters after
differing numbers of sessions with six different per-session experience awards. Giving 1,000xp
per session will result in characters rising to twentieth level after a hundred sessions – approxi-
mately two years of a weekly campaign – and giving out less or more will slow down or speed
up the rate of level increase accordingly.
For example, if you’re running a campaign that’s expected to last for around six months (so
around 25 weekly sessions) and you want the characters to finish the campaign at around sixth
level then you could award them 500xp per session and this will achieve the desired result.
Although this system is simpler than giving experience for treasure, it does have a couple of dis-
advantages. Firstly, getting the same experience award every session regardless of how much or
how little their characters achieved in that session can sometimes leave players feeling unfulfilled
as if their in-character actions don’t really have any meaning. Secondly, if characters are acquiring
large amounts of treasure in a game where experience is independent of that, it can sometimes be
hard to judge whether the amount that they are acquiring is suitable for characters of their level.

Obviously this last factor may or may not be an issue, depending on the type of campaign that
you are playing.
Expected Level by Session Experience
Experience per Session
Sessions
250 500 750 1000 1500 2000
5 2 2 3 4 5 5
10 2 4 5 5 7 8
15 3 5 6 7 9 10
20 4 5 7 8 10 12
25 4 6 8 9 11 13
30 5 7 9 10 13 15
35 5 7 9 11 14 16
40 5 8 10 12 15 17
45 6 9 11 13 16 18
50 6 9 11 13 17 20
55 6 10 12 14 18 21
60 7 10 13 15 18 22

Adventuring
65 7 11 13 15 19 23
70 7 11 14 16 20 24
75 8 11 14 17 21 25
80 8 12 15 17 22 26
85 8 12 15 18 22 27
90 9 13 16 18 23 28
95 9 13 16 19 24 29
100 9 13 17 20 25 30

Levels Only
The third option for handling increase in character level over the course of a campaign is to ignore
experience points completely and just have the characters increase in level at appropriate times.
sandbox: A style of campaign
Of course, what counts as an appropriate time will vary depending on the style of the campaign. where the setting is presented to
If it is a plot-heavy campaign then appropriate times are likely to be when subplots are revealed the players and it is up to them to
or dealt with, whereas if you are playing in more of a sandbox style campaign where the action pro-actively explore it, rather than
is more player driven rather than tied to any particular type of plot then appropriate times would a campaign where there are specific
be when the characters achieve a success in their endeavours. game master created plots for the
player characters to get involved in.
Using this system is even simpler than awarding experience each session, although it doesn’t
make it as easy to pace level increase for a campaigns duration (unless you have a very tight plot
with level increases written into it at various points).

Using levels only tends to be more popular with players than weekly experience for sessions as
there is more of a sense that their characters’ progression happens for a reason and is less arbitrary,
but it still suffers from the same potential issue with treasure in that it doesn’t help you judge
whether you’re being too generous or not generous enough with it.

Again, depending on the type of campaign that you are playing, this may or may not be an issue.
99

usually: Characters who are hast-
ed or slowed may get more or
fewer actions. See the Haste and
Slow section later in this chapter
for more details.
opponents: In the rare case where
player characters are fighting each
other, you should take it in turns
Combat
for who counts as the “opponents”
each Statement of Intent phase.
snap: The individual spell descrip-
tion in the Book of Tables will in-
dicate whether or not a spell is a
snap spell.
100
Combat
Combat, with all the interactions between luck, fate, and tactics that it contains, demands a
higher level of detail than most activities do. When a fight breaks out (or a fight is about to
break out) between two groups of characters or extras, timekeeping in the game is handled in a
series of ten-second rounds, and the rules in this chapter are followed.
Although in reality combat is fluid with actions happening simultaneously, in Lightmaster the
action is split into a number of discrete rounds during which each combatant usually gets one
action. Within the round, the action of each combatant is handled one at a time, in order of
their initiative.
The Combat Round
Each combat round is a period of ten seconds. During this time, each combatant will normally
perform a single action and possibly also move. The round is split up into three phases, which
are always performed in order:
◊ Statements of Intent
◊ Initiative Roll
◊ Actions (in initiative order)
When all three phases have been performed, a new round starts with the first phase again. This
continues until there is no more combat or round-by-round action (such as chasing fleeing
combatants) happening.
Statement Of Intent
At the start of each round, each of the players must announce what their characters are intending
to do in the round, and the game master announces what their opponents will do.
The statement of intent phase is split into three segments, which proceed in order.
◊ Firstly, players may announce what actions their characters will be doing this round if they
wish their characters to do such actions urgently. If a player announces their character’s action
at this time, their character is assumed to be pressing on with that action quickly, and the
player will get a +2 bonus on their initiative roll this round. However, the disadvantage of
announcing at this time is that their intent is being flagged to their enemies in an obvious
manner, and those enemies may decide how to respond accordingly.
◊ Secondly, the game master announces what actions the enemy combatants will be doing
this round, taking into account the fact that the enemies will be aware of the intentions of
the players that have already announced such intentions.
◊ Thirdly, players who wish their characters to fight in a more cautious manner must announce
what their characters will be doing this round. They have the advantage of not declaring (or
deciding) until after they know what the other side are doing, but pay for this hesitancy by
having a –2 penalty on their initiative roll this round.
When announcing their actions, people must specify whether they are going to attack (including
target and how much of their attack bonus they will convert to extra dodge bonus), run (including
intended destination), cast a spell (including which spell and which targets), or do another action.
Certain spells are labelled as snap spells. These spells require no preparation, and are cast during
the Statement of Intent phase of the round. On the rare occasion that two conflicting snap
spells are being cast during the same round, the casters should roll a simple 1E20 roll to see
which one happens first.
Each combatant may only cast a single snap spell in a round, and combatants who cast a snap
spell during the Statement of Intent phase may not cast a second spell during the Actions phase,
but they may start preparing a spell during that phase for casting in a later round.
 Initiative
Once everyone has announced their actions for the round, everyone rolls for initiative, in order
to see who manages to complete their actions first.

The basic roll for initiative is 1E20, although there are various situations or abilities that can
modify this roll:

◊ A player who declared a statement of intent before the opponents did gets +2.

◊ A player who waited to see what the opponents were doing before declaring a statement
of intent gets a –2.

◊ All characters add their dexterity modifier to the initiative roll.

◊ Some extras get a bonus or penalty to their initiative roll. extras: Extras do not have ability
scores, so this bonus replaces their
In some cases, an item or ability or critical strike result will specifically indicate that a character dexterity bonus on initiative rolls.
or extra will either automatically win initiative or automatically lose initiative. See the Extras chapter for the sta-
tistics of various extras, including
If there is only one combatant with such a status in a round, then the effect is straightforward. initiative bonuses/penalties.
The combatant does not need to roll for initiative, and instead automatically wins or automati-
cally loses depending on the ability.

If there is more than one combatant who “automatically wins” initiative then those combatants
will all act before everyone else, but they should roll initiative normally in order to determine the
order in which they go in relation to each other. Similarly, if there is more than one combatant
who “automatically loses” initiative then those combatants will all act after everyone else, but
they should roll initiative normally in order to determine the order in which they go in relation
to each other.

Combat
When two or more combatants roll the same initiative total, their actions should take place wand: A short stick that is charged
simultaneously with the results of both actions being resolved after both actions have taken with multiple instances of a spell
place. Common sense should prevail here, although if both make attacks on each other, then it and which allows the wielder to
should be possible for both to kill each other simultaneously. cast that spell.

When rolling for initiative, the players should each roll individually for their characters. The
game master should roll once per different type of extra that the players are fighting, and also
roll separately for each leader and/or other special character.

Actions
The following actions are commonly performed by combatants during Lightmaster combat.
The list is not exhaustive, as unusual situations may require unusual actions to be performed,
such as breaking down a door.
scroll: A piece of enchanted parch-
In these cases, extrapolate from the listed actions in order to determine when the action can be ment or paper that can hold a spell
done, how it affects initiative, and whether a character can also move in the same round. temporarily. After the spell is cast,
it can be replaced with a new one.
Activate Magic Item
A combatant who declares that they are activating a magic item (such as a wand or scroll) must
declare which item they are activating, which of the item’s powers they wish to use, and who
the targets are (if any).

Only some magic items need to be activated in this way. See the Crafting chapter for more
details about magic items.

The combatant is considered to be in the process of activating the item from the start of the
round until their action is resolved. If they take any damage before their turn (because someone
who beat their initiative attacked them, for example) the activation is disrupted.
101
A combatant who is activating a magic item may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their
dodge bonus.

Behind the Curtain
Most of the actions that are tar-
geted at an opponent (attacking,
casting a spell, using a item) re-
quire the combatant to select their
target during the Statement of In-
tent phase. They then do not allow
that target to be changed during
the round, even if the original tar-
get is no longer valid.
The reason for this is that in the
Statement of Intent phase, half
the combatants in the fight will
be choosing their action based on
what they can see of their oppo-
nents’ intents. It would not be fair
to those combatants if the oppo-
nents could change their intended
targets.
For example, when faced with a
large wolf a spell caster might want
Combat
to wait and see who it is going for
before deciding whether to try to
cast a spell (which would be dis-
rupted if the wolf bit them) or de-
fend themselves from it by attack-
ing it with all their attack bonus
transferred to their dodge bonus.
If the wolf could change the target
of its attack during the round, it
would not be fair to the spell cast-
er’s player, who both delayed their
character’s action and chose what
that action would be based on the
wolf ’s initial choice of target.
102
If the activation is disrupted, the item still counts as having been used. Depending on the item
and power being activated, this may result in charges or ‘per day’ usages being used up.
A combatant may abandon their activation action entirely if they so choose (for example if their
chosen target is no longer valid or if the activation got disrupted) but may not otherwise change
the target, item or power during their action.
Attack
A combatant who declares that they are attacking (whether in melee, by throwing something, or
by firing a missile weapon) must declare who they are attacking during the statement of intent
phase. The combatant must also declare how much of their attack bonus they will be transfer-
ring to their dodge bonus when they declare their attack. Under normal circumstances, this
may be anywhere from none of it to all of it; although the effects of some critical strikes may
limit the amount that may be transferred in this manner.
A combatant who declares that they are attacking with a two handed melee weapon automati-
cally loses initiative.
A combatant who is attacking can move their normal per-round movement distance (40’ for an
unarmoured character; 30’ for a lightly armoured character; 20’ for a heavily armoured character)
before making the attack, but may not move after the attack.
Normally a combatant can make only a single attack per attack action, but some combatants
are capable of making multiple attacks. These multiple attacks occur as part of the same action
and on the same initiative, and the combatant cannot move between attacks. If a combatant
has multiple attacks, then they must declare the target for each attack during the statement of
intent phase.
When taking their action, the combatant must move toward and attack the target(s) that they
declared attacks on. They cannot change targets during the round, although they can simply
abandon either the movement or the attack or both, and simply not make one or the other if
they choose.
If a combatant abandons the attack, they may not change their action, and they still retain any
attack bonus that they transferred to their dodge bonus.
 Cast Spell
A combatant who declares that they are casting a spell must declare which spell they are casting
and who the targets are (if any). If the spell is one that requires preparation, the combatant must
have spent the required number of consecutive previous rounds preparing the spell.
preparation: Most spells will
The magical special abilities of extras are considered spells for this purpose, even if they do not require one or more rounds of
exactly match the description of a standard spell. preparation before casting. See
the Magic chapter for more details.
In order to cast a spell, the caster must be able to speak and must have at least one hand free to
gesture. Additionally, any other specific requirements determined by the sphere of magic that
the spell comes from must be met.

The caster is considered to be in the process of casting the spell from the start of the round until
their action is resolved. If they take any damage before their turn (because someone who beat
their initiative attacked them, for example) the spell casting is disrupted.

If the spell is disrupted, the mana is still used up.

A combatant who is casting a spell may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge
bonus.

A caster may abandon their spell casting action entirely (for example if their chosen target is
no longer valid or if the spell got disrupted) but may not otherwise change the target or spell free: When casting a spell from
during their action. an item such as a wand, the “free”
hand will actually be holding the
Charge item from which the spell is being
A character can only charge if they are using a spear or lance and if they are mounted. cast, rather than being empty.

A combatant who declares that they are making a charge must declare the target during the

Combat
statement of intent phase.

The character’s mount moves up to the mount’s normal per-round movement speed, and the
character makes a single attack against their target the end of the movement.

The attack is resolved on the Mounted Lance attack table rather than the Spear table.

A combatant who is charging may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge bonus.

Concentrate
Some spells or other effects require ongoing concentration. A combatant who declares that they
are concentrating to maintain an effect must declare what the effect is that they are concentrat-
ing on, and if the effect is one that can be changed or moved by concentration they must also concentration: A spell’s individual
declare how they are changing or moving it. If the combatant also wishes to move in the round description in the Book of Tables
that they are concentrating, they must also declare where they are moving to. will tell you whether or not it
needs concentration.
A combatant who is concentrating may move up to half their normal per-round movement speed
during their action (20’ for an unarmoured character; 15’ for a lightly armoured character; 10’
for a heavily armoured character).

The concentration is assumed to last for the entire round, so if the combatant who is concen-
trating takes any damage during the round they will lose their concentration and the effect that
requires concentration to maintain will end.

If the effect that the combatant is concentrating on is one that can be changed or moved by
their concentrating, this change or move happens when the combatant takes their turn in the
initiative order.

A combatant who is concentrating may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge
bonus. If their concentration has been disrupted before their action, they may still make their
103
declared movement.

Behind the Curtain
The fighting withdrawal action
may seem counter-intuitive at first
glance. Why include it when you
already have the attack action?
The reason for the fighting with-
drawal action is that implicit in
the attack action is that all your
movement occurs before your at-
tack happens.
This is fine if you are moving to-
wards an opponent in order to me-
lee them, or moving around to get
a good shot, or even if you are in
melee with one target and wish to
move and attack a different target
instead.
But the normal attack action
doesn’t allow you to give ground
to an opponent and retreat without
losing the opportunity to attack
them. You can’t attack first and
then move away.
Combat
Similarly, while the run action lets
you move further away from your
opponent, it does nothing to dis-
courage them from following you.
This is the purpose of the fight-
ing withdrawal. It lets you retreat
from an opponent without giving
up the opportunity to attack them
should they try to follow. If you
retreat and they let you go then
you’re away from them; and if you
retreat and they follow you then
you still get to attack them after
having given ground.
104
Fighting Withdrawal
This action may only be declared if the combatant is in melee at the start of the round.
This is similar to a normal attack action in that the character can first move their normal per-
round movement rate (40’ for an unarmoured character; 30’ for a lightly armoured character; 20’
for a heavily armoured character) and then make one or more attacks.
As with a normal attack action, the character must also declare how much of their attack bonus
they will be transferring to their dodge bonus.
However, instead of being committed to attacking their target, and moving if necessary to reach
the target; the combatant is instead committed to moving away from their target.
If the target acts before the character doing the fighting withdrawal, the withdrawing character
gets their full defences against any attacks the target might do.
If the target acts after the character doing the fighting withdrawal, and follows them in order to
attack them, the withdrawing character interrupts the attacking character’s action after move-
ment but before their attack in order to make their own attack.
Prepare Spell
Some spells will require one or two rounds worth of preparation before they are cast. A combat-
ant who declares that they are preparing a spell must declare which spell they are preparing, but
does not have to decide which potential targets the spell will have or what any other variable
parameters of the spell will be until they cast it.
If the combatant also wishes to move in the round that they are preparing the spell, they must
also declare where they are moving to.
A combatant who is preparing a spell may move up to half their normal per-round movement
speed during their action (20’ for an unarmoured character; 15’ for a lightly armoured charac-
ter; 10’ for a heavily armoured character).
The spell preparation is assumed to last for the entire round, so if the combatant who is prepar-
ing a spell takes any damage during the round they will lose their preparation and must start
preparing again the following round. If the preparation for a spell is disrupted in this manner,
the caster does not lose the mana for the spell.
A combatant who is preparing a spell may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge
bonus.
A combatant whose spell preparation is disrupted before their action may still make their de-
clared movement.
Run
A combatant using the run action can move up to three times their normal per-round move-
ment speed (120’ for an unarmoured character; 90’ for a lightly armoured character; 60’ for a
heavily armoured character).
The combatant must declare where they are running to during the statement of intent phase –
although this may be towards a moving target such as towards another combatant.
A character who chooses to do the run action may not change where they are running to, but
may stop running at any time short of their intended destination.
A combatant who is running may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge bonus.
Set Spear
A character can only set a spear if they are using a spear or lance. A combatant who declares that
they are setting a spear against possible charges does not need to specify targets. The character
braces their weapon against the ground for the whole round, and waits for incoming attacks.
If, at any point during the round, the combatant is attacked by someone using the charge ac-
tion, they may interrupt the charging character’s action after movement but before their attack
in order to make their own attack.

This attack is made using the Mounted Lance attack table rather than the Spear table.

A combatant who is setting a spear may not transfer any of their attack bonus to their dodge
bonus.

Use Non-Activatable Item

A combatant who declares that they are using a non-activatable item (such as a potion) must potion: A liquid infused with a
declare which item they are using, which of the item’s powers they wish to use, and who the magical effect. It does not require
targets are (if any). If the combatant also wishes to move in the round that they are using the any skill to activate; although fish-
item, they must also declare where they are moving to. ing a potion bottle out, opening
it, and drinking the contents still
Only some magic items can be used without activation in this way. See the Crafting chapter for takes time to do and therefore
more details about different types of magic item. takes your action.

A combatant who is using a non-activatable item can move their normal per-round movement
distance (30’ for a lightly armoured character) before using the item, but may not move after
using it.

A combatant who is using a non-activatable magic item may not transfer any of their attack
bonus to their dodge bonus.

When they take their action, the combatant cannot change which item they are using or the
targets (if any) of the item’s effects during the round, although they can simply abandon either
the movement or the usage or both, and they can simply not make one or the other if they choose. weapon-like spell: These are spells
such as Lightning Bolt or Fire
If a combatant abandons the usage, they may not change their action. Ball that are aimed like weapons

Combat
are rather than resisted like most
spells. Some of these spells rely on
Attack Rolls a character’s skill to aim them and
Before an attack is rolled, you need to know four things. others have a fixed attack bonus.

◊ Firstly, you need to know the attack bonus of the attacker. It the attacker is a character, this
will normally be the same as their skill total in the Weapon skill for the weapon or weapon-
like spell that they are using. This skill total will normally have the character’s relevant
ability modifier already factored into it, as well as any penalties for armour worn. In the
case of extras, their attack bonus with a particular attack is listed as part of their statistics.

◊ Secondly, you need to know the armour class of the defender. For a character, and for some
extras, this will depend on what type of armour they are wearing. Other extras will have
inherent armour classes.
chooses: Even if you are fighting
◊ Thirdly, you need to know the defender’s dodge bonus. For characters, this is normally defensively and have transferred
comprised of the character’s dexterity modifier (possibly reduced by the armour that they all of your attack bonus to your
are wearing, see the Equipment chapter for details) plus the bonus provided by their shield dodge bonus, it is usually still
(if they are using one). If the armour or shield they are using is magical, it may provide an worth making an attack with an
additional bonus. When declaring an attack or fighting withdrawal action, characters may attack bonus of 0. There’s noth-
choose to transfer some of their attack bonus over to their dodge bonus in order to fight ing to lose, and you might roll a
more defensively. Points transferred in this way no longer add to the character’s attack this natural 20 on your 1E20 and hit
round (if the character chooses to make one) but do count towards the character’s dodge anyway despite your low attack
bonus against all incoming attacks during the round. bonus.

◊ Fourthly, you need to know the cap of the attack. For most attacks made with weapons or
spells the default cap of 30 is used. However, the natural attacks of creatures will be given a
size – small, medium, large or huge. This determines the cap for the attack. Similarly, for
characters using improvised weapons the type of object being used as a weapon determines
the cap for the attack, and when falling the length of the fall determines the cap for the
105
“attack” made to see how much damage the fall did. See the Attack Caps table for details
of the attack cap for each size.

natural 1: The die rolls a “1” be-
fore the other modifiers are applied
Combat
Critical Strike table: These can be
found in the Book of Tables.
106
Attack Caps
Fall Length Attack Size Attack Cap
0–10’ Small 21
11–20’ Medium 24
21–30’ Large 27
31’+ Huge 30*
*Weapons and weapon-like spells also have an Attack Cap of 30
Once you know these four things, you can make the attack roll.
Roll 1E20 + attack bonus – dodge bonus
◊ If the result is a natural 1 then the attack has missed, regardless of its bonus.
◊ If the result is higher than the attack’s cap, then the result is reduced to that value.
Look up the result on the relevant attack table for the attack (found in the Book of Tables).
This will tell you if the attack missed, or how much damage (and what severity of critical strike)
it did if it hit.
Reading An Attack Table
Each attack table has twelve columns, one for each of the twelve possible armour classes. To see
how much damage the attack did, look down the column corresponding to the target’s armour
class until you come to the row for the modified roll. The entry in that row and column of the
table gives the amount of damage and possible critical strike severity that the attack has done.
Note that if the modified roll is less than 1, then it should always be treated as a miss. Also, if
the modified roll is greater than the cap for the type of attack being made, then it is treated as
being at the limit.
The cap of an attack is normally 30, but some attacks have smaller caps based on the size of the
attacker. These tables will indicate what their limits are in their notes.
The result in the attack table for combination of armour class and modified roll can be one of
three types:
◊ “-”: If the result is a dash then the attack missed.
◊ “3”: If the result is a simple number, then the attack hit, and the number indicates the
amount of damage taken by the target. This damage is subtracted from the target’s hit points.
◊ “10C”: If the result is a number and a letter, then the number shows the amount of damage
taken by the target and the letter indicates that the attack was a critical strike. The attacker
must select a type of critical strike from those listed in the attack table’s notes, and roll
on the relevant Critical Strike table using the column for the severity shown by the letter
part of the result.
Note that on some of the attack tables it is possible to get a critical strike that has a severity
higher than an ‘E’ if the attacker rolls well enough. In these cases, the attack actually does more
than one critical, based on the following progression:
“F” = E + A
“G” = E + B
“H” = E + C + A
“I” = E + D + B
In these cases, a different type should be chosen for each of the criticals if possible.
Reading A Critical Table
If the result of an attack shows that a critical strike has been made, roll 1d20 (not 1E20) on
the table for the chosen critical type and consult that row of the table.
The first entry on the row gives a description of the critical that has been made from the point
of view of the attacker. The following five entries show the effect that the critical strike has
based on its severity.

Note that the descriptions of the critical strikes assume that the target is a humanoid with two
arms and two legs. If the target is shaped differently, then you should use common sense to apply
the best match in terms of location. For example a quadruped will not have arms, but any arm
hits can be simply treated as foreleg hits. Similarly a snake would treat arm hits as body hits, and
a protoplasmic ooze with no form would simply treat all hits as hits to its mass. In these cases,
the effect of the critical strike should be applied as best it can, even though the description (and
possibly the name of a particular bone or joint) does not apply.

Additionally, some extras that have particularly unusual bodies, such as the aforementioned jelly,
or a golem made from solid stone, or a zombie that has no need for its internal organs may be
immune to certain types of critical damage.

In some cases, the creature’s description in the Extras chapter will indicate the exact immunity
that the extra has. However, exact details for every type of creature and every possible critical
cannot be listed. Common sense should be used in these cases to determine which aspects of a
critical are caused by the specific damage (usually the PEN or DIE) and which are more general
(usually the BLD, DMG or DAZ).

Another situation that can crop up is where the critical result shows that a character is hit in a
location such as a hand that they have already lost due to previous damage. In these circumstances, lost: If a character has lost a limb
it is best to simply ignore the critical completely. It’s a small consolation for having lost a body part. and had it replaced by a chirur-
geon with an artificial limb, the
Specific Critical Effects artificial limb will still take damage
When you look up a critical hit, the result may have a description of an actual injury, such as but will be immune to some types
“Broken Rib” or “Lung Damage” or so forth. If so, this description will also have a severity listed: of critical strike effect. See the
(L), (M) or (S). This indicates whether the specified injury is light, medium or severe for the Crafting chapter for details about

Combat
purposes of natural healing and healing spells. the different types of artificial limb
and their properties.
Sometimes the critical description will involve multiple components that happen together or
conditional components that only happen if a particular statement is true. Additionally, this
description may include other miscellaneous effects such as “Drop Weapon”. These effects should
be self-explanatory.

Occasionally, an injury or effect will be followed by a duration in bold type, for example “Weapon
Arm Grabbed (3 RNDS)”. In these cases, the listed duration indicates the maximum duration
that the effect will persist for – although it may be possible for the effect to be negated before that
duration has expired, for example the attacker who has grabbed a target may let go in order to
make another attack, or a target whose clothing is on fire may spend a round putting the fire out.

In addition to this normal text, the critical will list one or more special status effects that are
imposed on the target. The possible effects are:

◊ DMG 5: The target takes additional damage from the attack equal to the listed number.

◊ INI: The target will automatically lose initiative during the following round of combat. This
effect may optionally be followed by a duration, in which case the target will automatically
lose initiative every round until the duration expires.

◊ DEF 3: The target is put on the defensive for the listed number of rounds. While on the
defensive, the character may not attack and must assign all of their attack bonus to their
dodge bonus each round. This effect may optionally be followed by a penalty, in which
case the penalty is applied to the attack bonus before it is transferred.

◊ DAZ 2: The character is dazed for the indicated number of rounds. Characters who are
dazed may not attack or cast spells, may assign no more than half of their attack bonus to
their dodge bonus, and are at a –4 penalty to other actions.
107
 ◊ STN 4: The character is stunned for the indicated number of rounds. Characters who are
stunned may not attack or cast spells. Neither may they assign any of their attack bonus
to their dodge bonus. Additionally, they are at a –10 penalty to other actions.

◊ BLD 3: The character is bleeding and will take the indicated amount of damage each round
until the bleeding is healed or stopped by outside intervention or until they die whichever
happens first. Note that even BLD 1 indicates a wound bad enough to cause a character to
bleed to death without first aid.

◊ PEN –8: The character takes the listed penalty to all actions. This penalty lasts until the listed
injury or injuries have been healed. In the case of an injury with more than one component,
the penalty is proportionally lowered as each component of the injury is healed (for example
if a character takes a –8 penalty deriving from a “Broken Rib + Muscle Damage” and has the
muscle damage magically healed, they have had half the components of the injury healed
and therefore half of the penalty goes away and the –8 penalty is reduced to a –4 penalty.

◊ BACK 10: The character staggers backwards the indicated distance (in feet) by the force
of the blow.

◊ DOWN: The character is knocked to the floor, and must get back to their feet before they
can continue fighting. Standing up takes a characters movement allowance for the round.

◊ OUT: The character is knocked unconscious by the hit. The character will come to in 1d20
minutes, unless the specific critical indicates otherwise.

◊ DIE 5: The character will die from their injuries after the indicated number of rounds have
passed. To prevent such death, one or more of the listed injuries must be healed or otherwise
alleviated before the time period is up. Note that if multiple injuries are listed together, you
should use common sense about which components of the injury are life threatening and
which are not. Sometimes the DIE effect will be listed without a duration. In these cases
Combat

fatal: Of course, even dying is the injuries are immediately fatal to the unfortunate target.
not necessarily permanent. See
the Injury and Healing chapter ◊ BON +4: The attacker gains the indicated bonus to their next attack, providing it is made
for more details of how to rescue as the next action that the character makes.
someone from death’s clutches.
Temporary Critical Effects
Sometimes one or more of the special status effects will be marked with an asterisk (*). These
effects are dependent on the described effect – for example a PEN –3* effect in a critical together
with a “Shield Arm Grabbed” effect will disappear when the attacker lets go of the arm. One
or more listed special status effects may also be given a specific duration, in just the same way
that the normal effect may. Like the normal injury, the effect will end at the end of the duration.

Attack Modifiers
Various factors will affect the attack roll of an attack. Some, such as the attacker having a magi-
cal weapon, will make it easier for them to hit their target by giving a bonus to the attack value.
Some, such as the target being invisible, will make it more difficult for the attacker to hit them.

◊ Cover: If the target of a missile, thrown or hurled attack is partially or wholly hidden behind
an object (e.g. a parapet or a table, or is behind an arrow slit), the attacker gets a penalty as
shown on the Cover table. Soft cover is cover that blocks sight of the target but will allow
attacks through (such as smoke or a curtain). Hard cover is cover that will block both sight
and attacks (such as a wall or an overturned table).

◊ Haste/Slow: An attacker gains a +2 bonus to their attack roll for every level of speed (either
because they are hasted or their target is slowed) that they have above their target’s speed.
Similarly, an attacker gains a –2 penalty to their attack roll for every level of speed they have
below their target’s speed.

108 ◊ Off Hand: If a combatant is using a weapon in their off hand, all attacks with that weapon
have a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
 ◊ Range: If a ranged attack is made at short range for the weapon, the attacker has a +1 bonus
to hit with the attack. If it is made at long range, the attacker has a –1 penalty to hit with
the attack. The ranges for each weapon are listed in the notes for that weapon’s attack table.

◊ Special Armour: Magical armour or armour made from rare materials can give a defender
a bonus to their dodge bonus. Note that only armour can give this bonus, not bracers or short range: The ranges for each
helmets. type of weapon and spell are given
in the notes on that weapon or
◊ Special Shields: Magical shields or shields made from rare materials can give a defender spell’s attack table in the Book of
a bonus to their dodge bonus. Note that in situations where a character does not get their Tables.
normal shield bonus they do not get this extra bonus either.

◊ Special Weapons: Magical weapons or weapons made from rare materials can give an at-
tacker a bonus to their attack bonus. In the case of magical missile weapons, use only the
higher of the weapon’s bonus and the ammunition’s bonus. rare materials: See the Crafting
chapter for more details on making
◊ Switching Weapon: If an attacker wishes to stow the weapon they are using and draw a items from rare materials.
different weapon, they will get a –2 penalty on their attack in the round that they switch.
Note that this only applies if the attacker actually switches weapon. Simply drawing a weapon
into an otherwise empty hand does not incur this penalty, and neither does re-loading a
missile weapon with a new piece of ammunition.

◊ Unseen Attacks: If an attacker attacks from above or behind their target, or is invisible, or
otherwise can’t be directly seen by the target in a combat situation; the attacker gets a +2
bonus to hit, and the target cannot count any shield bonus towards their dodge bonus.

◊ Unseen Target: If a target is not visible to the attacker for any reason, the attacker has a –4
penalty to hit with melee attacks, and cannot attack at all with ranged attacks.

◊ Wound Penalties: Many of the wounds received from critical hits give specific penalties to

Combat
actions. These penalties apply to a character’s attack bonus. However, these wound penalties
do not apply to a character’s dodge bonus.
Cover
Type of Cover Attack Modifier
Soft cover up to knees –1
Soft cover up to waist –2
Looking around or through soft cover –3
Fully behind soft cover –4
Hard cover up to knees –2
Hard cover up to waist –4
Looking around or through hard cover –6
Fully behind hard cover Can’t Attack

Haste & Slow

Characters can be hasted or slowed by the Haste and Slow spells, and also by other similar effects.

Multiple versions of the hasting or slowing effect do not stack, but different effects (i.e. a haste
and a slow) do cancel each other out.

The effects of haste and slow on a character are as follows:

◊ Slowed: The character moves at half normal speed and makes attacks at half their normal
rate. They also automatically lose initiative.

◊ Hasted: The character moves at double their normal speed and makes attacks at double
their normal rate. They also automatically win initiative.
109
Magical actions, such as using magical devices or preparing and casting spells are not affected by
haste and slow, and always take the normal time to perform. The character still gets the initiative

Combat
rises above zero: This will often
happen due to the effects of magi-
cal healing from spells or herbs.
However, even without such things,
characters will naturally regain hit
points. See the Injury and Heal-
ing chapter for more details about
natural and magical healing.
110
bonus or penalty; and if the magical action is one that also allows movement in the same round,
that movement is affected normally by the haste or slow.
Characters may find that they a making half an attack per round or one and a half attacks per
round when slowed. In these cases, the character’s “half ” attack is made every odd numbered
round.
Two Weapon Fighting
When a character wields a weapon in either hand, they make one extra attack with their off hand
weapon in addition to however many attacks they get with their primary weapon.
The attacker has a –4 penalty to hit with off-hand attacks.
The additional off hand attack is not affected by haste or slow conditions.
When they are transferring some of their attack bonus to their dodge bonus, characters wield-
ing two weapons must subtract the points transferred from both their attack bonuses, but only
get to add them to their dodge bonus once.
Missile Weapons & Melee
If a character is in melee with one or more other combatants when their action occurs, they
cannot use a missile weapon. Thrown and hurled weapons may still be used in this situation.
Effects Of Damage
There are two types of damage that a character can get as a result of an attack: hit point loss and
specific status effects.
Hit points represent general pain and fatigue. Characters can fight normally as long as they have
at least one hit point left. However, a character who is reduced to zero or fewer hit points falls
unconscious until their hit point total rises above zero again.
Due to excessive damage or ongoing damage (such as bleeding) a character’s hit point total can
go below zero.
There are no further effects on a character who has negative hit points, unless their hit point total
reaches a level equal to minus five times their constitution score. Once this point is reached,
the character will die.
Specific status effects can range from being stunned to bleeding to being killed outright by an
attack. A list of the most common conditions, and their effects, is given below.
Bleeding
Although minor damage may cause superficial blood loss, a character who has the bleeding status
is bleeding at a rate that will cause them to bleed to death if they do not get medical attention.
The bleeding status is also used for severe loss of fluid due to burns or frostbite, and these are
treated the same as normal bleeding for game purposes.
Characters who are bleeding will lose a number of hit points each round. This hit point loss hap-
pens at the start of the round during the Statement of Intent phase. Bleeding of 5 hit points per
round or fewer from a single injury can be stopped by the application of first aid and bandages.
No roll for this is required, although it takes a full round of action per wound that is bandaged.
Bleeding of 6 or more hit points per round from a single injury is too severe for mere first aid,
and will require magical healing of some kind to heal it and prevent the character dying.
It is important to note that multiple injuries that each cause 5 or fewer hit points per round to
be lost but which cause more than 5 points per round between them can (and must) be healed
separately, one injury per round, using first aid; although some healing magic can heal multiple
smaller wounds in one go.
 Dazed
A character who is dazed may only perform the Fighting Withdrawal or Run actions. In either
case they are not forced to move, and can remain in place.

However, the dazed character may not make an attack, even if their Fighting Withdrawal ac-
tion would otherwise allow them to. Similarly they may not cast snap spells (except those that
specifically remove stun effects) nor use the Mana Focus skill during the Statement of Intent
phase. If the character has healing herbs or magic items that remove stun effects pre-prepared healing herbs: See the Equip-
and to-hand, they may use them during the Statement of Intent phase. ment chapter for the details of
the various healing herbs that are
Characters who are dazed may transfer no more than half of their attack bonus to their dodge available.
bonus.

Finally, characters who are dazed take a –4 penalty on any ability checks they may have to
make during their movement.

Down
A character who is down has been knocked to the ground. Unless the critical that gave the down
status condition says otherwise, the character can get to their feet as part of any action which
allows them to move, instead of moving. If the character takes the Run action, they may get to
their feet and still move their normal per-round movement distance (40’ for an unarmoured
character; 30’ for a lightly armoured character; 20’ for a heavily armoured character) as part of
the action.

Dying
A character who is dying has taken severe damage (usually to their internal organs) and will die
in the time indicated by the critical. The only way to stop the character from dying is to heal
the damage that caused the condition. If there are multiple components to the specific damage
that caused the condition, you should use common sense to determine which need healing to

Combat
remove the condition and which can be allowed to remain.

Lose Initiative
A character with the lose initiative status will automatically lose initiative for the number of
rounds that the critical giving the condition states. Note that if multiple characters have the
lose initiative status then they may need to make an initiative roll between them to determine
the order in which they act.

On The Defensive
A character who is on the defensive may only perform the Fighting Withdrawal or Run actions.
In either case they are not forced to move, and can remain in place.

However, the on the defensive character may not make an attack, even if their Fighting With-
drawal action would otherwise allow them to. Similarly they may not cast snap spells (except
those that specifically remove stun effects) but may use the Mana Focus skill during the State-
ment of Intent phase. If the character has healing herbs or magic items that remove stun effects
pre-prepared and to-hand, they may use them during the Statement of Intent phase.

Characters who are on the defensive may transfer all of their attack bonus to their dodge bonus.

Out
A character who is out is unconscious, and will remain so for 1d20 minutes unless healed.

Penalty
A character with a penalty status from an injury takes that penalty on all skill totals until it
goes away. While occasionally a penalty will be for a fixed duration, usually the penalty will be
associated with an injury and will only go away when the injury is healed. If a penalty status is
associated with an injury that has multiple components, healing each component will remove
a fractional part of the numeric penalty that it gives (for example if a character has a –8 penalty
due to muscle damage and a fractured tibia and the broken bone is healed, the character will
111
then be at a –4 penalty until the muscle is also healed).

Combat
stun effects: Any spell or healing
herb that removes stun effects will
also remove lose initiative, on the
defensive, and dazed. These are all
considered to be types of stun ef-
fect.
112
Stunned
A character who has been stunned may only perform either the Fighting Withdrawal or Run
actions. In either case they are not forced to move, and can remain in place.
However, the stunned character may not make an attack, even if their Fighting Withdrawal
action would otherwise allow them to. Similarly they may not cast snap spells (except those that
specifically remove stun effects) nor use the Mana Focus skill during the Statement of Intent
phase. If the character has healing herbs or magic items that remove stun effects pre-prepared
and to-hand, they may use them during the Statement of Intent phase.
Characters who are stunned may transfer none of their attack bonus to their dodge bonus.
Finally, characters who are stunned also take a –10 penalty on any ability checks they may have
to make during their movement.
Timing Of Status Effects
Although any hit point loss that is given to characters as a result of being hit is applied straight
away, and may disrupt certain actions, status effects do not apply until the start of the follow-
ing round.
A character who is stunned or even downed while performing an action due to an attack that
beat their initiative still gets to complete the action that they were mid-way through (assuming it
wasn’t disrupted by the hit point loss that accompanies the status effect) before the effect kicks in.
Additionally, lose initiative, on the defensive, dazed and stunned effects do not run concur-
rently. A character who gains more than one of these effects at the same time, or who gains one
of these effects while they already have one, adds the duration of the effects together.
Each round, the character applies the most severe effect that they have (Stunned > Dazed >
Defensive > Initiative) and reduces the duration of that effect by one round.
If a character is healed by something that removes stun effects, it removes these effects starting
with the most severe first. This may, if it happens in the Statement of Intent phase, reduce or
completely remove the status effects on the character that round.
Helpless Targets
A target who is completely helpless because they are paralysed, sleeping or unconscious may be
given a coup de grace with any weapon.
This will immediately apply an ‘E’ critical of any type that the weapon is capable of inflicting. If
the attacker has any sneak attack skill, that skill can be used on this critical roll.
 Example: Rose, Gregor, and Callow are waiting in the back streets to meet a contact who has
promised to sell them information. Gregor and Callow are leaning against a wall while Rose, who
is suspicious of the situation, is hidden in a doorway keeping watch. about to start: It is at this point
that things switch from general
Rose’s suspicions were well founded, as a group of four ruffians approach Gregor and Callow before narration of events to round-by-
their contact arrives. These street toughs don’t look too menacing to the seasoned adventurers, but round actions.
they demand money anyway, no doubt having no idea who they are dealing with.

It’s clear that a fight is about to start, so Dean calls for statements of intent from the players.

Rose elects to act urgently. Since the ruffians don’t know she’s there, they won’t see her intent anyway plate suit: A plate suit will gener-
so she has nothing to lose. Callow and Gregor both choose to act cautiously. They don’t yet know ally mean that Callow will be hit
whether the ruffians’ intent is deadly, and don’t want to escalate things unnecessarily. more often than an unarmoured
person, but that each hit will be
Rose decides to step out and stab the nearest ruffian in the back. far less severe.

Dean says that the ruffians are pulling out clubs and attacking Callow and Gregor – two each,
with the one that Rose is attacking going for Gregor. Neither are putting any of their attack bonus
into their dodge bonus.
Speed I: This is a snap spell, so it
Callow trusts in his plate suit to protect him, and draws his broadsword to attack one of the two can be cast during the Statement
opponents targeting him. Gregor, who is unarmoured, elects to play it somewhat safer. He decides of Intent phase. It hastes the caster
to cast the Speed I spell on himself in the hopes that a blatant display of magic will scare the for the round in which it is cast,
attackers off, and transfer five points of his attack bonus to his dodge bonus just in case, and then and then slows them for the fol-
attack the enemy that isn’t nearest to Rose. lowing round.

Everyone rolls 1E20 for their initiative and adds their bonuses. Rose rolls a 15 and adds +4 for
her dexterity bonus and +2 for acting urgently for a total of 21. Callow rolls a 9 and adds –2
for acting cautiously for a total of 7; his dexterity bonus is cancelled by the bulkiness of his plate on himself: When casting a spell
suit. Gregor doesn’t bother rolling because he is hasted so he automatically wins initiative. Dean on himself, Gregor must make a

Combat
rolls for the ruffians (who have no bonuses or penalties) and rolls a 12. saving throw against his own spell
with a –20 penalty for being a will-
The order of actions in the round is therefore: Gregor, Rose, ruffians, Callow. ing target. He does this, but the
details are skipped in the example,
Gregor acts first, pulling out his broadsword and attempting to hit the first ruffian on him. He for brevity.
normally has an attack bonus of +12, but since he has transferred five points to his dodge bo-
nus it will only be +7 for this round. However, he has a +2 bonus for being hasted, so his attack
bonus is actually +9. The ruffians have a dodge bonus of +2.

For his first attack, he rolls a disappointing 6 on the die, giving a total of 6+9–2=13. Looking Sword, Broad: This table can be
this up on the Sword, Broad table against a target wearing hides (the ruffians are wearing soft found in the Book of Tables.
leather coats that give them that armour class) the result is “2”. The ruffian is barely scratched
and just loses two hit points. Gregor’s second attack is much better, however. He rolls an 18 on the
die, giving a total of 18+9–2=25. This time the result is “20D”. The ruffian takes 20 hit points
of damage and Gregor must roll a “D” severity critical strike of a type allowed by a broadsword.
The allowed types are Slashing, Blunt, and Piercing. Hoping not to need to kill anyone just yet, out of the shadows: To success-
Gregor rolls on the Blunt Critical Strike table. fully emerge and attack without
being seen requires an opposed
He rolls a 15 for the critical and reads out the result: “A solid strike to foe’s leg: Cartilage Dam- skill check between Rose’s Sneak
age + Knee Damaged (C), DMG 12, STN 2, PEN –10”. The unfortunate ruffian takes an skill and the ruffian’s Spot skill. As
additional 12 damage, for a total of 32, will be stunned for two rounds, and is at a –10 penalty with Gregor’s spell casting, she suc-
to all actions until he gets his knee healed. ceeds in this but the details have
been skipped for brevity.
Next is Rose. She steps out of the shadows and strikes at her target which is the one fighting
Gregor that he hasn’t attacked yet. Rose’s attack bonus is normally +15, but she gets a +2 bonus
for her foe being unable to see her. He gets his normal +2 dodge bonus (he would be denied his
shield’s contribution to his dodge bonus because he doesn’t know that she is there, but he isn’t
using a shield so this is irrelevant). She is using a short sword, and she rolls an 18 on the die. This
gives her a total of 15+18+2–2=33. Weapon attacks are capped at 30, so she looks up the result
of 30 against hides on the Sword, Short table. This gives a result of “23E” and Rose can roll the
113
‘E’ severity critical strike on either the Piercing or the Slashing table. Rose decides that she would
rather slash than stab because it’s less likely to kill her opponent. Rolling the critical, she gets a 19!

adjust: See the Skills chapter for
more details on the Sneak Attack
skill and how it works in and out
of combat.
momentum: Because the ruffian
has already committed to an attack
this round he still gets to make it
even though he’s stunned. The
stun does not kick in until the
start of next round. However, the
penalty for his injured knee applies
immediately, and will be in effect
for this attack.
Combat
attacks: Although Callow was
dazed by the attack on him, he
still gets to follow through with
the attack that he was making this
round and the daze does not kick
in until the start of the following
round.
natural 1: A roll of a natural 1 (a
‘1’ on the die before any modifi-
ers are applied) always misses in
combat.
114
Because she is attacking from an unseen position, Rose can adjust that critical strike using her
Sneak Attack skill. With a skill bonus of +12 she would normally be able to adjust the critical
strike roll by +/–2, but because her target is already in combat she can only adjust it by +/–1.
Looking at the possible results that she can have (18–20 on an ‘E’ Slashing Critical Strike) she
sees that she can either sever the poor guy’s leg, shatter his spine, or decapitate him. Not wanting
to up the stakes by killing her foe outright, which might mean a lot of explaining to the authori-
ties, Rose decides to go for the ‘18’ result: “Vicious swing goes right through opponent: Shattered
Spine + Nerve Damage (C), Immobilised, DOWN, OUT”. The second ruffian drops to the ground,
twitches once, and stops moving.
The ruffians are next. Ruffian #1 is currently unconscious with a shattered spine, so he’s doing noth-
ing. Ruffian #2 has taken a hit to the knee and is at a –10 penalty, but he still has momentum
in his strike at Gregor and his stun won’t kick in until the start of the next round. Dean rolls an
attack for him. He has an attack bonus of +8, but Gregor has added five points of attack bonus to
his dodge bonus so it is +7. Additionally the ruffian gets a –2 penalty because Gregor is hasted
and a –10 penalty for his injured knee. He rolls a 16 on the dice, but this isn’t enough. His total
is 16+8–7–2–10=5. A result of 5 on the Club table against an unarmoured foe is a miss.
Ruffian #3 is attacking Callow. He also has an attack bonus of +8, and Callow has no dodge
bonus. With no other bonuses or penalties, he rolls a 12 on the die for a total of 12+8=20. Luckily
for Callow, his armour protects him, since on the Club table a result of 20 against a plate suit is ‘6’.
The club glances off Callow’s armour leaving him with only a bit of pain and the loss of 6 hit points.
Ruffian #4 gets a better shot in. He too has the same bonuses, but he rolls a 19 on his die. He there-
fore has a total of 19+8=27. Looking that up on the Club table shows that Callow has taken 8 hit
points of damage and an ‘A’ severity critical strike. Once again his armour protects him, since if he
had been unarmoured that same roll would have resulted in 19 damage and an ‘E’ critical strike.
The critical strike must be rolled on the Blunt table, since that is the only type of critical strike
that a club can do, and Dean rolls a 13: “Foe’s attempt to parry exposes their weapon arm to your
strike: DMG 5, DAZ 1, BON +4”. Callow’s hit on the arm causes him an extra 5 damage (for
a total of 13), will daze him for a round, and Ruffian #4 will have a +4 bonus on his next attack.
Finally, Callow gets his turn. He attacks Ruffian #3 with his broadsword. He has an attack bonus
of +16 and the ruffian has a dodge bonus of 2. Unfortunately, Callow rolls a natural 1 on his
die, so even though this would normally hit (16–2+1=15, which would do “7A” to someone in
hides) the natural 1 means that the attack misses.
It is now the end of the round. Callow’s daze and Ruffian #2’s stun both kick in limiting their
actions next round. Additionally, Gregor’s haste has now worn off and he is slowed for the round.
Dean asks for statements of intent once more.
After a brief out-of-character exchange, the players all decide to act cautiously, waiting to see what
the remaining ruffians do. As one is down and one is badly injured, the party clearly have the up-
per hand and they hope that the ruffians will realise just how outclassed they are and will retreat
rather than pressing the attack.
Sure enough, Dean announces that the three remaining ruffians are intending to run away this
round. Well, two of them are running. The third is hobbling using his club as a crutch.
The party decide that none of them will give chase, and they will let their erstwhile muggers flee
into the night, hopefully having learned a lesson about being careful who they pick on.
The combat is now over. Callow, Gregor, and Rose are pleased that they didn’t have to kill anyone,
although they have an unconscious person at their feet and don’t know what to do with him. Gregor
quickly checks that he isn’t going to bleed to death or anything, and they decide that the best course
of action is to leave the area. The others are likely to come back to retrieve their fallen friend, and
they might just arrive with reinforcements.
As they head back to the inn, Rose voices her suspicions that the encounter might not have been a
coincidence and that their erstwhile contact may have deliberately arranged for them to walk into
a trap. They decide to pay him a visit...
 Injury and Healing
In Lightmaster, creatures (whether characters or extras) can be hurt in a variety of ways. How-
ever, almost all injuries will eventually heal given time; and with magical healing even death
can be recovered from.

Physical Injuries
Physical injuries are usually the result of combat or an accident of some kind. Being physically
injured generally has two effects: the creature loses hit points and gains specific injuries (the
latter are usually the result of critical strikes). critical strikes: See the Combat
chapter for details on how to read
Hit Points a Critical Strike table and apply
Hit point loss represents a mixture of pain, shock and fatigue. As long as a creature has at least the damage that it does.
one hit point remaining, they can operate without penalty. However, once a creature has reached
0 hit points it will collapse into unconsciousness. The creature will remain unconscious until its
hit point total rises above 0 through a combination of natural and magical healing.

Hit points can go into negative values beyond simple unconsciousness, and if a creature drops
to a negative value equal to five times its constitution score it will die. It isn’t usually relevant
exactly how long it will take extras to bleed to death given their minor narrative status in most
campaigns, but if it really matters then assume that an extra will die when reaching –75 hit points.

In the absence of magical healing, lost hit points are regained at a rate of 1 per hour if a character
is active; or 3 per hour if a character is asleep, unconscious, or otherwise resting.

Injury and Healing

Specific Injuries
When a character takes a specific injury from a critical strike, it will be accompanied by vari-
ous temporary and permanent effects, such as stunning or dazing the character, making the
character bleed, or giving the character a penalty to actions.

Additionally, each specific injury has a severity, which will be either light, serious, or critical.

Any penalty listed with the injury that is not temporary in nature will apply until the injury is
healed. In the absence of magical healing, this will take time based on the severity of the injury:

Light Injury = 2 days

Serious Injury = 2 weeks
Critical Injury = 2 months

These times assume that the injuries are being treated, but that the character remains relatively
active. If the character is given bed rest and is being looked after, these times should be halved;
but conversely if the character receives no treatment these times should be doubled.

115

severe injuries: There is no defini-
tive list for which injuries have per-
manent effects and which will heal
fully. However, it should be obvi-
ous since most permanent injuries
involve the loss of a body part. If
in doubt, err on the side of letting
something heal.
magically healed: Most magical
healing, whether by spell or by
healing herb, only heals a specific
type of injury. If a compound in-
jury has multiple parts then it will
likely need multiple (different)
healing spells or herbs to cure it.
It is likely that at least some of the
time not all those spells or herbs
are available and therefore only
part of the compound injury can
be healed.
Injury and Healing
afterlife: Whatever afterlife or af-
terlives exist in your setting is up to
you. The game leaves the question
of what happens to souls after their
grace period open.
soul: This is the default way that
things work. In your specific cam-
paign setting you might decide
that all living things have souls or
that there are sapient creatures that
don’t have souls. It doesn’t really
affect the game if you change this.
two minutes: There are certain
spells and healing herbs that can
extend this grace period indefinite-
ly if used repeatedly, although ex-
tending the grace period does not
prevent the body from decaying.
116
The effects of an injury last until it is fully healed, although in the case of some severe injuries
(for example those involving the loss of a limb) even after the injury has healed and the penal-
ties have gone away the creature will still have an after-effect that never goes away (in this case
a limb being missing). Such after-effects can only be healed magically.
In some cases, an injury will contain multiple components. For example it might consist of both
a torn muscle and a broken bone. In these situations generally only a single set of penalties is
given for the whole injury, and the components of the injury can be assumed to heal together;
with the penalties going away as normal at the end of the healing period.
However, it is possible that one part of a compound injury will be magically healed and the
other will be left to heal naturally. In these cases, the penalties for the injury should be reduced
proportionally. For instance, in the example above with a torn muscle and broken bone, fixing
the broken bone magically and leaving the muscle to heal naturally will halve the penalty given
by the injury because half the components of it have been healed.
Death and Dying
Sometimes the injuries that a creature sustains will be so severe that the character will die from
them.
The most common cause of death is being reduced to a negative hit point total equal to five
times the creature’s constitution score – whether from repeated damage or from unattended
bleeding. However, some critical strikes can cause a creature to die in a number of rounds or
even immediately due to fatal injuries such as severe organ or brain damage.
When a non-sapient creature dies, it simply dies. However, when a sapient creature dies things
are slightly complicated by the presence of the creature’s soul.
When a creature with a soul dies, the soul immediately leaves the body. It then hovers in the
vicinity of the body for a period of time before moving on to whatever afterlife awaits.
This period of time, which will usually last for two minutes (twelve combat rounds), is known
as a grace period. During this time, if the creature’s body is healed to a point where life could
continue, the soul will automatically return to the body and the creature will be restored to life.
If the creature’s body is not sufficiently healed by the end of the grace period, the soul will pass
on and healing the body after that point will no longer be sufficient. It will take a major effort
(such as use of the Raise Dead spell) to restore life to the creature.
During a creature’s grace period, its soul cannot interact with the world but the soul can still
observe the world with senses analogous to the creature’s normal ones; and if the body is healed
before the grace period ends the creature will remember what happened in its vicinity while it
was dead, having seen and heard the events as an out-of-body experience.
Raising The Dead
Although death is a traumatic experience, it is not necessarily the end. Even death can be over-
come with the right magic.
However, once a creature’s grace period has ended, and their soul has departed from the vicinity
of their body, healing on its own will not bring them back. Nevertheless, it is still a necessary
part of the process.
The first thing to do when trying to bring someone back from the dead is to heal the body until
it is in a state where it can support life once more. If the body is still fresh, this may only require
healing the fatal injury that the creature sustained. If the body is not fresh, then any decay or
further damage that the body has sustained will need to be healed too.
The exact rate of decay of a corpse will vary tremendously based on its circumstances (dry or
cold environments slow decay down, warm or wet environments speed it up). A good rule of
thumb is that after a day, a body will have taken the equivalent of light muscle, blood and organ
damage resulting in a –2 penalty to all actions; after a week it will have taken the equivalent of
serious damage to these areas and the penalty increases to –8; and after a second week it will
have taken critical damage and the penalty becomes –16. After a month or more, the flesh of
the body will be beyond repair and will need regenerating from the bones.

Obviously, the regular use of healing magic to cure the affected areas will keep this decay from
becoming too great, but healing spells only cure the symptoms of decay rather than the cause, symptoms: Since the decay af-
and if the body remains lifeless the decay will “catch up” with it. For example, healing the light fects muscles, blood, and organs,
decay of a body that has been dead for a day won’t stop the damage reoccurring the following all three need to be healed each day
day; and even if the light damage is cured every day, after a week it will still progress to the to get rid of the full penalty.
equivalent of serious damage that will return each day.

The only way to actually stop the decay of a body part rather than just treating the symptoms
of decay is via the use of Preserve spells.

Once the body has been healed back to a life supporting state, the soul must then be returned
to it via the Raise Dead spell or the use of an Alethmile flower – either of which has limits on
how old the corpse can be; even if has been kept fresh.

It is important to remember that the length of time dead for purposes of the limits of life restor-
ing magic is measured from the end of the grace period; but decay of the body starts at the
beginning of the grace period. This may matter if the grace period is magically extended for
a long period of time.

In some rare cases, multiple body parts may have been regenerated back into whole corpses
independently of each other. In these cases (and in other cases where a soul might not want to
come back to life) the following rules apply to any form of resurrection:

◊ The soul will know who is trying to raise it, and always has the choice of refusing to come know: The soul is not granted spe-

Injury and Healing

back; preferring to remain in the afterlife. cial magical knowledge, but as it
is drawn back to the body it can
◊ A body can only be brought back to life if it was the body in which the person died. Bod- see the body’s surroundings and
ies created by regenerating body parts that were lost before death cannot be used to bring can recognise former friends and
someone back to life if they have since died. companions that are present.

◊ If there is more than one viable body for raising (because multiple parts of the corpse taken
after death were each regenerated into a whole body independently) then any of them can
be used to bring someone back to life.

◊ If a body is split into multiple parts during the grace period, the soul must decide which
part of the body to remain attached to. Only that part of the body will spontaneously come
back to life if healed.

◊ Once a person has been brought back to life, any previously viable bodies lose their viability
and can no longer be raised even if the person dies once more. Only the body in which this
subsequent death occurs will be viable for future raising.

Poison And Disease

Poisons and diseases are both dangerous and either may be potentially fatal with even a small
physical wound. Both types of hazard use the same rules in Lightmaster.

Each specific poison or disease will have a type and a level, and from this level it will have a base
saving throw. In a situation where a creature is exposed to a poison or disease, the creature must
make a constitution saving throw against the base saving throw of the poison or disease. As
with all saving throws, this is an opposed check with the base saving throw of the poison or
disease as the passive party (so it is considered to take 10 on the check) and the victim of the
poison or disease being the active party (so they must match or beat the TN of the passive party

◊ If this initial saving throw succeeds, the creature has not been affected by the poison or
disease and need make no further checks. 117
◊ If the saving throw fails, the creature has been affected by the poison. The character is
now succumbing to the poison or disease and takes the listed mild effect for that type of
poison or disease.
 While succumbing to a poison or disease, after a specified duration (which will be indicated
in the specific description of the poison or disease) the creature must re-roll the saving throw
as they try to fight it off.

◊ If this new saving throw fails, the poison or disease increases in severity one step if it can;
from mild to moderate, moderate to severe, severe to extreme. The creature is still suc-
cumbing to the poison or disease and this check must be repeated again after the duration
listed in the new severity description, at which point its condition may continue to worsen.

◊ If the saving throw succeeds, the creature is no longer succumbing to the poison or disease,
but is now recovering from it instead. The severity of their symptoms does not change at
this time.

While recovering from the poison or disease, the creature must continue to make new saving
throws after the specified durations. However, the results of these now changes.

◊ If the saving throw succeeds, the severity of the creature’s condition decreases by one step;
from extreme to severe, severe to moderate, moderate to mild, or mild to gone.

◊ If the saving throw fails, the severity of the creature’s condition remains the same.

In either case, until the condition has completely gone (in which case recovery is complete and
the disease or poison is no longer in the creature’s system) the creature must continue to make
saving throws after the specified durations as above.

Some example poisons and diseases are listed below, but some unique situations or creatures
may inflict unusual poisons or diseases that are not on this list:
Injury and Healing

Blood Venom
Found in some snake bites (e.g. Cobra). The level will depend on the creature doing the poisoning.

◊ Mild (lasts 10 rounds): Swelling at the point of injection, drowsiness and blurred vision,
PEN –5.
◊ Moderate (lasts 10 rounds): Stiffness of movement and euphoria, PEN –9.
◊ Severe (lasts 20 rounds): Bluish tinge to extremities, unconsciousness, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Suffocation, DIE.

Consumption
Transmitted by coughing/sneezing. The level will normally be 8, but may vary from strain to
strain of the disease.

◊ Mild (lasts 1 week): No symptoms.

◊ Moderate (lasts 1 month): Sweating, dizziness, coughing fits and pallor, PEN –4.
◊ Severe (lasts 3 months): Tremors, violent coughing fits, weight loss, PEN –10.
◊ Extreme: Permanent coma, victim will probably starve to death, COMA.

Food ‘Poisoning’
This is not actually a poison, but a disease transmitted by poorly cooked or rotten food. The level
will normally be 2, but this may vary from strain to strain of the disease.

◊ Mild (lasts 3 hours): No symptoms.

◊ Moderate (lasts 1 day): Vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, PEN –8.
◊ Severe (lasts 1 day): Unconsciousness, blotches on abdomen, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Death due to organ failure, DIE

Gastric Poison
Found in many poisonous plants and fungi. The level will depend on the plant doing the poi-

118 soning and how much was eaten.

◊ Mild (lasts 6 hours): No symptoms.

◊ Moderate (lasts 24 hours): Abdominal pain and cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea, PEN –8.
◊ Severe (lasts 2 days): Liver damage, jaundice, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Liver and kidney failure, DIE.
 Lycanthropy
Transmitted by the bite of werewolves, this magical disease can affect the survivors of werewolf
attacks. The level will normally be 7.

◊ Mild (lasts 2 weeks): No symptoms

◊ Moderate (lasts 1 week): Craving for raw meat.
◊ Severe (lasts 1 week): Restlessness, itching, distraction, PEN –2
◊ Extreme: Victim is now a werewolf and will transform on the full moon.

Muscle Venom
Found in some snake bites (e.g. Viper). The level will depend on the creature doing the poisoning.

◊ Mild (lasts 10 rounds): Swelling at the point of injection, light-headedness, PEN –1.

◊ Moderate (lasts 5 hours): Loss of coordination, PEN –6.
◊ Severe (lasts 24 hours): Fever, headache and delirium, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Death due to heart failure, DIE.

Nerve Venom
Found in spider bites, scorpion stings, some snake bites (e.g. Black Mamba). The level will
depend on the creature doing the poisoning.

◊ Mild (lasts 5 rounds): Confusion and loss of fine motor control, PEN –6.
◊ Moderate (lasts 5 rounds): Blurred vision and gross motor control loss, PEN –15.
◊ Severe (lasts 10 rounds): Stroke and minor brain damage, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Major brain damage, DIE.

Injury and Healing

Plague
Transmitted by flea bite. The level will normally be 15, but may vary from strain to strain of
the disease.

◊ Mild (lasts 1 day): Rashes, swollen glands, mild fever, PEN –3.

◊ Moderate (lasts 2 days): Swollen and pus-filled glands, heavy fever and delirium, PEN –10.
◊ Severe (lasts 1 day): Open sores that ooze pus, bleeding from eyes and orifices, uncon-
sciousness, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Death due to organ damage, DIE.

Rabies
Transmitted by the bite of an infected creature. The level will normally be 12, but may vary
from strain to strain of the disease.

◊ Mild (lasts 3 weeks): No symptoms.

◊ Moderate (lasts 1 day): Shivering, fatigue, aching joints, sensitivity to bright lights. PEN –2.
◊ Severe (lasts 2 days): Delirium, hallucinations, aggression, partial paralysis, inability to
speak or swallow, PEN –12.
◊ Extreme: Severe brain damage, DIE.

Respiratory Poison
Found in marsh gas or volcanic caves. The level will depend on the particular circumstances.

◊ Mild (lasts 10 rounds): Mild Euphoria, light-headedness, PEN –4.

◊ Moderate (lasts 30 rounds): Strong euphoria, coughing fits, PEN –10.
◊ Severe (lasts 30 rounds): Dizziness followed by unconsciousness, COMA.
◊ Extreme: Suffocation and death, DIE.

Zombie Infection
Transmitted by the touch of zombies, this magical disease has been known to wipe out whole
towns after a zombie attack. The level will normally be 6.

◊ Mild (lasts 4 hours): Swelling and pain around the touched area, PEN –2
119
◊ Moderate (lasts 4 hours): Weakness, fever, confusion, PEN –8
◊ Severe (lasts 1 hour): Almost total paralysis, delirium, aggression, PEN –15
◊ Extreme: Victim dies and becomes a zombie, DIE

commissioned: Both the College
of Sorcery and the University of
Arcane Arts derive a good deal of
their income from such commis-
sions.
Crafting
craftsperson: The crafting spells
provide the caster with the mun-
dane crafting skills needed to make
the base item as well as the skills
needed to enchant it.
120
Crafting
Although spell casting is common in Lightmaster, a second form of magical power is also preva-
lent – the use of enchanted items. Enchanted items are sought after by almost all adventuring
characters, as they can significantly increase their power and therefore their chances of achieving
whatever goals they set out to achieve.
Some enchanted items may be looted from the corpses of enemies, or found. Others will be
bought and sold. Still others will be made by runesmiths who have been commissioned by
player characters (or even runesmiths who are player characters themselves).
Runesmiths are not the only characters who can make enchanted items. Priests can create clock-
work automata and golems, and chirurgeons can create artificial limbs. Although these rules
refer to runesmiths throughout, they apply equally to priests and chirurgeons.
Making An Enchanted Item
In order to make any enchanted item, a runesmith needs to have four things:
◊ Raw materials
◊ Somewhere to work
◊ Spells
◊ Time
The raw materials and place to work can usually be glossed over. With the exception of a few rare
circumstances (for example if a runesmith is trying to enchant a large diamond) the cost of the
raw materials will be far lower than the value of the item that the runesmith makes with them.
For game purposes it only really matters if there is a particular reason that the runesmith might
not be able to get the resources – for instance if they’re trying to make an iron weapon while
stranded in the middle of a forest with no source of iron.
Providing that a runesmith is in relatively civilised lands, it’s usually easier to simply assume
that they can buy the raw materials they need. Similarly, although a runesmith needs a place to
work it isn’t usually necessary to detail exactly what facilities they have. If they have access to
fire, tools and space their spells can pretty much take care of the rest.
The spells needed by a runesmith will depend very much on the type of item that is being made.
They will always at least include one of the Craft <Material> spells suitable for the materials
that the item is being made from, and will probably (but not always) also include an Implant
<Sphere> (Xth level) spell. See later in this chapter for the exact spells needed to make different
types of item.
The time taken to make an enchanted item is significant. It is important to remember that the
runesmith does not simply cast their spells on the raw materials and they magically turn into
the finished item. Instead the runesmith casts the spells on themselves at the beginning of each
day and the spells give the runesmith the ability to make the items for the next eight hours.
Making the items involves actually physically working on the items as a mundane craftsperson
would, while performing complex rituals and chants over the item at all stages as it is being
made, from the initial raw materials to the finished product.
This involved process has two significant consequences. Firstly, making an enchanted item may
take far longer than making a similar mundane item. It takes a full week (of six working days and
one rest day) of work to make an enchanted item per total level of spell involved in making the
item. Normally this work will be continuous, but in the case of particularly lengthy enchantment
processes the runesmith can take up to a week off per month without ruining the enchantment.
If any more time than that passes then the process is ruined and so is the item.
Secondly, with the sole exception of recharging spent wands, rods and staves, making an en-
chanted item must always start with the raw materials. It is not possible to simply add enchant-
ment to a pre-existing item – the enchantments must be included while the item is being made.
 Magical Metallurgy
The default campaign setting for Lightmaster is assumed to be a post-medieval world on the
cusp of renaissance technology. However, the presence of magic and its ability to solve what
would otherwise be technological problems has meant that some technologies are at a different developed: Of course, since the
level than in the real world at such a time. default world of Lightmaster isn’t
our world, and it works using the
Metallurgy is a particularly striking example. On the one hand, magic enables metals like titanium classical elements of air, earth, fire,
to be used despite mundane technology not being able to support its extraction and smelting. and water rather than the periodic
On the other hand, because the problems of steelmaking have already been “solved” by magic, table; it’s possible that in this world
a mundane process for this has never been developed. mundane processes for things like
steelmaking simply can’t be devel-
Without the aid of magic, mundane metallurgy would be reduced to that of the early Iron Age. oped. It’s up to you whether you
Base metals such as copper, silver and iron can be worked without the need of magic; and base want the possibility of technologi-
alloys such as bronze can be made; but steelmaking would not be possible. cal progression beyond the game’s
default to be possible (assuming it
The metals that can only be made (or worked) by runesmiths with the aid of magic are: comes up in the game at all).

◊ Steel: This is harder than iron, and doesn’t need much description for the modern reader;
it comes in two varieties – “low” steel and “high” steel depending on the quality, although
the difference between them is not visible to the naked eye.

◊ Titanium: This naturally occurring metal is extremely light and tough, although it takes a
skilled runesmith to be able to turn it from merely an interesting rock into a useful item.
Because it is useless to most people, supply is much usually higher than demand and un- two solid forms: The other form
worked titanium ore is therefore surprisingly cheap even though crafted titanium items that the luminiferous aether takes
can be very expensive. when inside a celestial sphere is
thought to be red powder.
◊ Mithral: This is a silvery metal that has a slight bluish or greenish tint when it catches the
light. It is found in a raw form like gold, rather than an ore, and it is naturally magical,

Crafting
which means that while it can be crafted into weapons and armour that are stronger than
titanium it cannot be further enchanted beyond that point.

◊ Adamantite: This is the hardest naturally occuring substance, even harder than mithral, and
is easily distinguished from it by its slightly pinkish hue. Like mithral, it is found in a raw
form, and like mithral it is inherently magical and cannot be further magically strengthened.
made of lead: Unfortunately for
◊ Aetherite: Aetherite does not naturally occur. Instead it must be magically condensed out aspiring runesmiths or priests, lead
of the air itself. Given its distinctive vivid red and orange colouring, like frozen flames, it is can’t be crafted into magic items
clearly related to the luminiferous aether and is thought to be one of the two solid forms of any kind.
that luminiferous aether can take when forced into a celestial sphere. Aetherite is incredibly
difficult to craft, but makes the strongest and best armour and weapons. Like mithral and
adamantite, it is inherently magical and cannot be further magically strengthened.

Enchanting Metals
All metal (including aetherite) inhibits magical energy. This is why most spell casters are extremely
limited in the amount of metal that they can carry or wear before it ruins their ability to cast
spells. As a side-effect of this, enchanting metal items is very difficult. immune to spells: Only the lead
is immune, not the whole item. So
While most metals (except for lead) can be made into any kind of magic item, metal cannot be a box lined on the inside with lead
magically enhanced as easily as other materials. When it comes to weapons and armour, metals can still be moved using a Moving
have an inherent bonus and can only be enchanted to one point higher bonus than that. In the Force spell, and it would carry its
case of mithral, adamantite and aetherite, even this limited improvement is not possible. These lead lining with it.
metals cannot be enchanted to a higher bonus than the one they naturally have, although they
may still be given other enchantments such as combat abilities or even have spells implanted
into them (although there is no benefit to implanting a spell into, for example, a mithral wand
instead of a simple wooden wand other than to show off that one can do such a thing).

Lead is particularly inhibiting to magic, even when compared to other metals. Wearing a lead-
lined collar or manacle will completely prevent any spell caster from being able to cast spells.
121
In addition, a lead lining will block magical detection of any kind and items made of lead are
immune to spells of below fiftieth level. However, simply wearing lead isn’t enough to protect
a person from spells cast by others.

wage: See the Equipment chap-
ter for more details on wages and
mundane prices.
Behind The Curtain
Selling or trading enchanted items
can be tricky to handle. On the one
hand it may sometimes be fun to
role-play protracted haggling ses-
sions with a wily merchant full of
personality, but that can get very
old very quickly if it is used for eve-
ry single item that a player wants
to buy or sell.
Instead, I recommend simply as-
suming that players can sell items
for half their base value (if they
need the cash or want credit with a
Crafting
runesmith to make a new item for
them) or trade items with things
a runesmith has on-hand for full
value minus a small commission. If
a player is playing a runesmith, let
them sell items they make for their
full value. Think of it as a conso-
lation for playing a class with so
little combat capability and which
has to spend weeks of “downtime”
working.
Lightmaster is designed with the
assumption that it is easy to go into
any major town or city and visit a
runesmith to buy and sell items.
Magic items (particularly the more
low-powered ones) are relatively
common things, and there is an
expectation that any item that is
in the lists in the Book of Tables
can be ordered from a runesmith.
122
Enchanted Item Values
A standard week’s wage for an artisan craftsman is around 10gp per week. Even a first level
runesmith can charge this much for their services. Higher level runesmiths are able to charge
proportionally higher prices for their time. Generally this will equate to 10gp per week per level
of the runesmith.
This can be converted directly into a price for an item by simply determining how long it would
take a runesmith to make the item (one week per total spell level required), and how high level
a runesmith would be needed (the same level as the highest level spell needed), and then charg-
ing 10gp per level of the runesmith for each weeks’ work. The Book of Tables contains a list of
most of the possible item types that can be made, along with the spells needed and their costs
in time and money.
The only exception to this cost is for very simple items. Where the cost to commission a runesmith
to make an item using magic would be less than the cost of a mundane item of the same type,
assume that the runesmith will always charge at least the cost of the mundane item.
Sometimes, a runesmith will have made an item from a material that is more difficult to use
than they need have. For example a wand may have been made out of bone instead of wood.
If a character commissions such an item, then the increased level of spells needed to make it
should be taken into account. However, if a character has simply found such an item, the fact
that it is no more useful than a similar item made from a more mundane material means that
it won’t necessarily sell for more money. The character might get lucky and find a runesmith
who will pay full price for such a “collector’s item” but it is far more likely that no-one will care
what it is made from and it will sell for the same price as a more mundane item with similar
magic would sell for.
Weapons and Armour
Magical weapons and armour are normally enchanted to make them stronger and lighter than
normal weapons and armour. In the case of weapons, this gives their wielder a bonus to their
attack rolls when they are used. In the case of armour and shields, this gives their wearer a bonus
to their dodge bonus when worn.
A weapon or armour will need a Craft <Material> spell based on the material it is made from.
For armour this may be Craft Organic for hides or leather, or it may be one of the spells from
the Metallurgy spell path for the various metal armours such as brigandine, chain and plate
armour (possibly two spells from that path if the required metal also needs making).
Normal clothing can be enchanted as armour using Craft Cloth, although a full set of clothing
must be enchanted together as a single item (and worn as a single item for the enchantment
to work). You can’t enchant articles of clothing piecemeal and then mix and match them to
combine their benefits.
In the case of weapons, with the exception of purely wooden weapons such as bows and staves
(which will obviously need Craft Wood), assume that the weapon needs a spell (or two) from
the Metallurgy path. Weapons involving both wooden and metal parts (axes, arrows, etc.)
normally only need the metal part enchanting. Slings, bolases and whips need Craft Organic.
In addition to the crafting spell or spells, weapons also usually need a Weapon +X spell and
armour or shields need an Armour +X spell. This is not always the case with metal weapons or
armour, because some metal types naturally have a bonus due to their inherent strength and
this may be sufficient for the runesmith’s needs.
Finally, weapons or armour may have either a Minor Combat Ability spell or a Major Combat
Ability spell. These spells are optional (and a single item can only have one of these spells) and
they give the item a special ability that can be used in combat.
The special abilities that can be placed in an item with a Minor Combat Ability spell are:
◊ Flame Burst Weapon: Weapons with this minor combat ability give off a burst of flame
when they hit something. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an additional
‘A’ severity Fire critical strike.
◊ Icy Burst Weapon: Weapons with this minor combat ability give off a burst of cold when
they hit something. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an additional ‘A’
severity Frost critical strike.

◊ Lightning Burst Weapon: Weapons with this minor combat ability give off a burst of
lightning when they hit something. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an
additional ‘A’ severity Lightning critical strike.

◊ Mighty Weapon: When a weapon with this minor combat ability inflicts a critical strike
it also inflicts an additional Knockdown critical strike of one severity less.

◊ Weapon of Mercy: A weapon with this minor combat ability always inflicts Knockdown
critical strikes instead of the normal critical strikes that weapons of its type should inflict.

◊ Throw and Fly Back Weapon: If a weapon with this minor combat ability is thrown, it flies
back to its owners hand the following round. If the owner does not catch it as their action
in that second round, it drops at their feet.

◊ Ever Full Missile Weapon: A missile weapon with this minor combat ability creates its
own ammunition made of magical force (for purposes of immunity, treat this as an illusion
effect) that dissipates after hitting something. The weapon’s user does not have to carry
ammunition and will never run out.

◊ Shrinking Weapon: A weapon with this minor combat ability shrinks down to 1” in length
on command, for ease of concealment. It can’t be made to grow back to normal size if there
isn’t room for it to do so.

◊ Glowing Weapon/Shield: A weapon or shield with this minor combat ability glows on
command, giving off light equal to a lantern but not using fuel.

Crafting
◊ Arrow Catching Shield: A shield with this minor combat bonus has twice its usual magical
bonus (but not double its normal shield bonus) against missile attacks.

◊ Shield of Stability: When wearing a shield with this minor combat ability, all Knockdown
critical strikes inflicted on the user are reduced in severity by two levels.

◊ Shield of Arcane Defence: A shield with this minor combat ability adds its magical bonus
(but not its normal shield bonus) to its user’s saving throws against arcane spells.

◊ Shield of Divine Defence: A shield with this minor combat ability adds its magical bonus
(but not its normal shield bonus) to its user’s saving throws against divine spells.

◊ Shield of Psychic Defence: A shield with this minor combat ability adds its magical bonus
(but not its normal shield bonus) to its user’s saving throws against psychic spells.

◊ Floating Armour: The armour penalty from armour with this minor combat ability does
not apply to Swimming skill checks.

◊ Armour of Agility: The magical bonus of armour with this minor combat ability is added
to any skill or ability check that its armour penalty applies to (the armour penalty still
applies).

◊ Cooling Armour: When wearing armour with this minor combat ability, all Fire critical
strikes inflicted on the wearer are reduced in severity by one level.

◊ Warming Armour: When wearing armour with this minor combat ability, all Frost critical
strikes inflicted on the wearer are reduced in severity by one level.

◊ Insulated Armour: When wearing armour with this minor combat ability, all Lightning
critical strikes inflicted on the wearer are reduced in severity by one level.
123
◊ Armour of Landing: Whenever the wearer of a set of armour with this minor combat ability
falls, the effective distance fallen is reduced by 10’ per point of the armour’s magical bonus.
 ◊ Glamoured Armour: Armour with this minor combat ability looks and sounds like a set
of normal clothing while worn (this is a visual and auditory illusion only, and doesn’t affect
how the armour feels). The armour (including greaves/helmet worn with it) gives no penalty
to the wearer’s Sneak skill.

The special abilities that can be placed in an item with a “Major Combat Ability” spell are:

◊ Brutal Weapon: Whenever a weapon with this major combat ability would inflict a criti-
cal strike, it inflicts a critical strike one level of severity higher than it would otherwise.

◊ Flame Tongue Weapon: Weapons with this major combat ability burst into flame on
command. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an additional Fire critical
strike of the same severity.

◊ Frost Tongue Weapon: Weapons with this major combat ability become covered with
ice on command. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an additional Frost
critical strike of the same severity.

◊ Lightning Tongue Weapon: Lightning plays up and down weapons with this major combat
ability on command. If the weapon inflicts a critical strike it also inflicts an additional
Lightning critical strike of the same severity.

◊ Throw and Return Weapon: When a weapon with this major combat ability is thrown, it
teleports back to its owners hand immediately. If the owner does not catch it (this does not
take an action), it drops at their feet.

◊ Polymorphing Weapon: Weapons with this major combat ability can change their form
on command to that of any melee, missile or throwing weapon. When taking the form of
missile weapons, ammunition must be supplied separately.
Crafting

◊ Reaching Weapon: A melee weapon with this major combat ability can be swung in the
direction of a foe up to 30’ away; and an illusion (with touch and visual components)
identical to the weapon will appear, mimic the swing, then disappear. Effectively this lets
you make a melee attack against a foe up to 30’ away from you.

◊ Spellcleaving Weapon: When a melee weapon has this major combat ability, any dodge
bonus transferred from this its wielder’s attack bonus works against weapon-like spells.

◊ Skilled Weapon: Anyone who wields a weapon with this major combat ability and who
has fewer than five skill ranks in the relevant Weapon skill for using it is treated as if they
do have five skill ranks in the skill.

◊ Immobile Shield: All Knockdown critical strikes inflicted on the holder of a shield with
this major combat ability are reduced in severity by four levels.

◊ Shield of Magical Defence: A shield with this minor combat ability adds its magical bonus
(but not its normal shield bonus) to its user’s saving throws against all spells.

◊ Fire Proof Armour: All Fire critical strikes inflicted on the wearer of armour with this
major combat ability are reduced in severity by two levels, and the wearer is immune to
non-magical heat and flame.

◊ Frost Proof Armour: All Frost critical strikes inflicted on the wearer of armour with this
major combat ability are reduced in severity by two levels, and the wearer is immune to
non-magical cold.

◊ Lightning Proof Armour: All Lightning critical strikes inflicted on the wearer of armour

124 with this major combat ability are reduced in severity by two levels, and the wearer is im-
mune to non-magical electricity.

◊ Fortified Armour: All critical strikes inflicted on the wearer of armour with this major
combat ability are reduced in severity by one level.
 ◊ Slippery Armour: All Grappling critical strikes inflicted on the wearer of armour with
this major combat ability are reduced in severity by two levels.

Skill Bonus Items

Skill bonus items are items, usually tools or clothing of some kind, which are enchanted to give
their wearer or wielder a bonus with a particular skill. A skill bonus item only gives its bonus
to a single skill, not a group of skills, and these items cannot be made so that they give a bonus
to Weapon skills (although they can give a bonus to skills in the Aimed Spell skill category)
or to Spell Path Research skills.

Other than the above exceptions, a skill bonus item can be made for any specific skill. If the
skill is part of a group of skills, the item only gives its bonus to a single skill in the group, not
the whole group.

Skill bonus items must be items relevant to the skill that they are giving a bonus to. For example
a hat could not be given a bonus to the Ride skill, but a cloak could be given a bonus to the
Sneak skill. Game masters are advised to be reasonably lenient here, and allow a variety of
items for each skill providing they are at least vaguely justified – the intent is that all skills can
have items for them.

Multiple items that give bonuses to the same skill do not stack. Only the highest bonus applies.

Making a skill bonus item is extremely similar to making a weapon or a suit of armour. First
you need a Craft <Material> spell relevant to the type of item being made. Then you need a +x
Skill spell to give it the bonus. Metal behaves in the same way for skill bonus items as it does
for weapons and armour, so skill bonus items made of metal gain a natural bonus based on
the metal they are composed of but can only be further enchanted by a single point of bonus.

Unlike weapons and armour, skill bonus items cannot have the Minor Combat Bonus or Major
Combat Bonus spells used on them,

Crafting
Mana Enhancers
Mana enhancers are items that, as the name would suggest, enhance people’s mana. There are mana: Mana is used to power
two types of mana enhancer. spells. Normally, casting a spell
costs an amount of mana equal to
The first type of mana enhancer allows the wearer or wielder to cast one or more spells each day the spell’s level.
that would normally cost them mana for free. The second type of mana enhancer simply doubles,
triples, or even quadruples the wearer’s mana.

In either case, the mana enhancer must be worn at sunrise when the wearer recovers their mana
for the day, and if passed to someone else after that time it will have no effect on the recipient.

Unlike skill bonus items, a mana enhancer item does not need to be in a specific form. The most
common form for these items is therefore a wooden amulet or a conveniently wearable item
of clothing. Although it is easier to make a mana enhancing item out of wood than cloth, the easier: Making a magic item from
inconvenience of having to carry a wooden item around often outweighs this. cloth requires a Craft Cloth spell,
which is third level, whereas mak-
A person can only benefit from a single mana enhancer each day. Multiple mana enhancers do ing a magic item from wood only
not stack, even if they are of different types. If a character starts the day with multiple mana requires a first level Craft Wood
enhancers, only the most powerful works that day. spell.

Making a mana enhancer is relatively straightforward. It simply needs a Craft <Material> spell
for the material that it is made from, and a Mana Enhancer spell.

Spell Scrolls
A spell scroll is a piece of paper upon which a spell can be later inscribed using the spells on the
Scroll Writing spell path (which is a lesser arcane path, not a runesmith class one). Spell scrolls
are reusable, and the spell is not written on to the scroll at the time of creation. Instead, the
scroll has a maximum spell level that it can hold, and different spells can be repeatedly written
onto it and cast from it providing it only holds one spell at a time and no spell is higher level
125
than the scroll can hold.

successful: See the Skills chapter
for more details about how to use
the Read Magic skill to identify
and use a spell scroll.
successful: See the Skills chapter
for more details about how to use
the Use Magical Device skill to
identify and use an item.
Crafting
saving throws: The saving throw is
made as if the caster were the same
level as the spell that is contained
in the potion. The usual –20 modi-
fier for willing targets will usually
apply (although won’t if the tar-
get is being fed a healing potion
while unconscious and unable to
consent, or if the poison is slipped
into their food and they drink it
unknowingly).
126
A spell scroll can be used any number of times, but when a spell is successfully cast from it the
scroll must have a new spell inscribed before it can be used again. Spells are inscribed on a blank
scroll using spells from the Scroll Writing spell path, and although this is an arcane spell path
it can be used to write (and scrolls can hold) spells from any of the three spheres providing they
are known by the caster.
To cast a spell that is on a scroll, a character other than the writer must make a successful Read
Magic check. Casting a spell from a scroll requires preparation rounds based on the level of the
caster, not the level of the scroll or the level of the creator of the scroll.
Making a spell scroll is easy. Since they are always made of paper, they always require the Craft
Wood spell, and then they also just need a Create Spell Scroll spell of the appropriate level.
Single Use Items
Single use items are items that have a single spell implanted in them. This spell can be used
once, and then the item loses its enchantment and is no longer magical. Although of limited
usefulness, these items are relatively easy to make. Like mana enhancers, single use items can
be in any form. Because of this, and because of their disposable nature, they are usually made
from wood since that is the easiest material to enchant.
To cast a spell from a single use item, a character other than the maker must make a successful
Use Magical Device check. Casting a spell from a single use item requires no preparation rounds.
Making a single use item is slightly tricky. The basic item needs a Craft <Material> spell as
always, and also needs an Implant <Sphere> (Xth level) spell suitable for the level and sphere
of the spell to be implanted. Additionally, the runesmith must cast the spell to be implanted into
the item each day as it is being created. This is easy if the runesmith knows the spell in question,
but if the runesmith doesn’t know the spell they must either cast it from an existing item each
day or have an assistant who can cast the spell for them when it is needed.
Potions
Potions are liquids (or sometimes gasses) that have a single spell implanted in them.
In most ways they are similar to normal single use items, with the exception that they can be
used by unskilled users. The owner of a potion does not need to make a Use Magical Device
check to use it. They simply drink the potion (or release the gas) and it works.
However, potions are limited in terms of what spells can be implanted in them. If their spell is to
affect a single target, the potion is normally made in liquid form so that the target can drink it.
If the spell is one that affects more than a single target at once, or is an offensive spell that the
owner is unlikely to be able to force an opponent to drink in combat, the potion is usually made
as a gas rather than a liquid.
The vial or ampoule of gas can then be thrown at the desired location or target where it will break
and the spell will go off as the gas escapes into the air. These gaseous potions are more difficult
to make than liquid potions are.
In either case, the spell is not guaranteed to affect its targets. Normal saving throws still apply.
Making a potion is similar to making a single use item, except that the runesmith will need
Craft Liquid or Craft Gas and a Make Potion spell is needed as well as the Implant <Sphere>
(Xth level) spell and the spell to be placed in the potion.
Wands, Rods and Staves
If a spell needs to be cast from an item repeatedly, wands, rods and staves are the most efficient
way to do this. They are similar to single use items, except they allow multiple castings before
they run out of charges; and they also retain some of their magic after they have run out of
charges and this enables them to be recharged later – which is much cheaper than the cost of
making a new one every time.
Because of their powerful nature, they must be crafted very carefully; and must always be in the
same basic shape – a long thin cylinder of material (usually wood). All three types of item work
in the same manner, the difference between them is in terms of the power of spell that they can
hold and the number of charges they can hold.

Wands are the smallest and least powerful. A wand will be 1’ to 1½’ in length and can hold ten
charges of a 1st–2nd level spell. Rods are next in the power scale. A rod needs to be larger than
a wand, 2½’–3½’ in length like a sceptre, but it can hold up to thirty charges of a 1st–5th level
spell. Staves are the largest and most powerful of all. A staff needs to be 5’–7’ in length and can
hold up to a hundred charges of a 1st–10th level spell.

To cast a spell from a wand, rod or staff, a character other than the maker must make a suc-
cessful Use Magical Device check. Using a wand, rod, or staff requires no preparation rounds,

Making a wand, rod or staff requires a Craft <Material> spell (almost always Craft Wood) and
also a Craft <Wand/Rod/Staff> spell based on its size. It then requires an Implant <Sphere>
(Xth level) spell and the spell to be implanted, and also a Charge <Sphere> <Wand/Rod/
Staff> spell based on its size. When a wand, rod or staff has run out of charges it is not useless.
It can be recharged by undergoing a crafting process that requires only the Charge <Sphere>
<Wand/Rod/Staff> spell and the spell that it is to be recharged with. This must be the same
spell that was originally implanted. You cannot change the spell that a wand, rod or staff holds
by recharging it with a different spell.

Daily Use Items Behind The Curtain

Daily use items are very similar to single use items, except that they recharge themselves each There’s bound to be some clever
sunrise so they can be used over and over again. Like single use items, they can be in any form, player who tries to squeeze as much
and are therefore often made of wood in the form of talismans and the like. Also like single use flexibility out of an instruction to
items, to cast a spell from a daily use item, a character other than the maker must make a success- a golem or automaton as they can
ful Use Magical Device check. Casting a spell from a daily item requires no preparation rounds. (or an elemental for that matter,
although their temporary existence
Making a daily use item is similar to making a single use item, except that as well as the Craft makes it far less likely), and given
<Material> spell, the Implant <Sphere> (Xth level) spell and the spell to be placed in item, the the flexibility of language, they will

Crafting
runesmith also needs to use a Daily x spell. almost certainly succeed.

Constant Items It is not possible to create entirely

Constant items are items with an implanted spell that have the spell constantly active. These loophole-free rules for what in-
items must be wearable, such as a ring or pair of boots or belt or cloak, and the spell is active structions a golem or automaton
while they are worn and can only be deactivated by taking them off. In the case of spells that can and can’t be given without get-
can be cancelled early, such as invisibility, the spell can still be cancelled in this way and the ting bogged down by ever increas-
item must be taken off and put back on to re-activate it. Putting on a constant item to activate ing complexity.
it takes an action, but requires no roll.
Instead, the game master and the
The only spells that can be implanted in constant items are spells that target only the wearer of the players should work together to
item. It is not possible to make constant items with area effect spells or spells that target others. ensure that the instructions given
to golems, automata and elemen-
Making a constant item requires the usual Craft <Material> spell and Implant <Sphere> (Xth tals remain within the spirit of the
level) spell and the spell to be placed in the item, and also requires a Constant <Sphere> spell. rules, that spirit being that order-
ing them to perform a simple task
Automata And Golems is fine; but trying to get them to re-
Automata and golems are made by priests rather than by runesmiths. However, the crafting act to complex situations or trying
process is similar – it just takes slightly longer. It still takes a week per spell level (automata and to wrangle things so that the char-
golems only ever need a single crafting spell to make) but it also takes an extra week per level acter can effectively command or
of the automaton or golem itself. direct the entity on-the-fly rather
than by giving it a new instruction
The priest still needs to work six days per week and to have a place to work and the raw materials shouldn’t be possible.
to work with. In the case of a priest, this place to work will be a temple rather than a workshop
(although if the priest is going to be making clockwork automata or is going to be making golems
out of metal then their temple will closely resemble a workshop).

As with runesmiths, it’s not necessary to go into the details providing they have a place. Simi-
larly, the cost of automata and golems is calculated just like the cost of any other enchanted
item – 10gp per level of priest needed per week of work.
127
Once an automaton or golem has been made, it will be given an instruction. This instruction
is normally a single sentence of twenty words or less. Common instructions are things like
 “Guard this door and let no-one past unless they say the password ‘elephant’ to you” or “Follow
me around and defend me from anyone who attacks me”. It is not possible to give automata
or golems meta-commands that require further clarification at a later time such as “Do what I
tell you when I call you by name” or “Attack anyone who I point at with this gesture” or “Obey
the commands of anyone wearing a robe with this symbol on it”. Instructions need to be fully
self-contained.

via a spell: These are the New In- A golem or automaton given nonsensical or impossible instructions, or given meta-instructions
struction spells on the Artificial like the examples above simply, stand motionless. Similarly, if a golem or automaton’s instruc-
Life priest class spell path. tion becomes impossible or contradictory due to circumstances it will stand motionless until
circumstances change once more or it is given a new instruction.

However, if a golem or automaton has an instruction that it is capable of carrying out, it will
carry it out mindlessly and unimaginatively for ever, or until it cannot carry it out any longer.

Automata and golems have no emotions and no sense of self-preservation and will obey an
instruction to the letter even if it would result in their own destruction or result in harm to (or
even the death of ) the one who gave them the instruction.

It is possible for a priest to give a golem or automaton a new instruction via a spell, and this
will completely replace the old instruction. This can be risky since if the priest giving the new
instruction is not the original creator of the automaton then the golem or automaton gets a
saving throw and if the save succeeds then the automaton or golem attacks the caster.

When the original creator of an automaton or golem casts a New Instruction spell on it, the
spell automatically works and the automaton or golem does not get a saving throw against the
spell’s effects.
Crafting

Artificial Limbs
Artificial limbs are made by chirurgeons. They must be made to measure their intended owner,
and crafting them only takes a single day regardless of the level of the spell required, but other
than that the process is the same as for any other item.

An artificial limb is normally rigid unless under the influence of a Control Limb spell. Artificial
hands can be manipulated and made to grip something (such as a weapon or a mug or ale), and
this grip will be as strong as the wearer normally is.

128 However, without a Control Limb spell an artificial hand has no movement capability of its
own. Dexterity based skills using that hand take a –5 penalty. Artificial legs are less restrictive.
Even without a Control Limb spell the user can walk and run at normal speed (albeit with a
pronounced limp).
In either case, the use of a Control Limb spell enables the wearer to control the arm or leg as if
it were their own arm or leg with normal balance, dexterity, and grace.

If the wearer of an artificial limb receives a critical strike to that limb in combat, the limb will
be more resilient than a normal limb:

◊ No prosthetic limb will bleed or take muscle damage, but you can still be stunned by a
hit to one.
◊ Wooden limbs can be broken by anything that breaks or shatters a bone. Glass limbs can
be broken only by things that shatter bones.
◊ Metal limbs won’t break at all under normal circumstances.
◊ All artificial limbs count as having armour on the limb for critical effects.

Lightmaster Sails
Lightmaster sails are made from the membranes found in the wings of dragons, and it is these
membranes that allow them to fly through the air and through space. Humanity first learned selenites: Graceful insectoid crea-
how to use these membranes to create sails from selenites, but the selenite process for making tures who live on the moon.
them is a slow and complex affair, attuning a single pilot to a sail over a long period consisting
of a number of rituals spanning over a year.

The result is that the pilot and sails act as one, and the pilot is able to control the ship as if it
were an extension of themselves and fly it at will.

Humans do not use the complex rituals that selenites do in order to create Lightmaster sails.
Instead a runesmith can use the Craft Dragonhide spell to make a set from the wing membranes
of a dragon that is at least level 30.
transfer mana: See the Lightmas-
Human-made Lightmaster sails are somewhat cruder than their selenite equivalents. On the ter Travel chapter for more details
one hand, they are not tied to a specific pilot, and can be used by anyone with the Mana Trans- on how Lightmaster sails work.
fer skill; but the downside to them is that they require the pilot to transfer mana to them in

Crafting
order to get them to work and if insufficient mana is transferred to them then their air speed
is severely limited.

Lightmaster sails are an exception to the normal guideline that the cost of raw materials is mostly
irrelevant to the creation of magic items. Unlike even Mithral or Adamantite that basically sit
around being useless to people not capable of using them to craft, and which therefore have a
potential supply that far outstrips demand, dragon wings are obviously a very scarce commod-
ity. They are incredibly dangerous things to collect, and command a high price. A pair of wings
from a suitably sized dragon can fetch a price of around 16,000gp. Naturally, the runesmith air speed: See the Lightmaster
creating a Lightmaster sail will pass this cost on to the buyer, adding it to the price that they Travel chapter for details on the
charge for their time and effort. speed a ship can travel given vary-
ing amounts of mana.

Crafting Summary
Crafting items takes a number of spells, depending on the type of item to be crafted. Unless
otherwise noted, the following general rules apply to crafting.

◊ The crafting spells must be cast on the crafter at the start of each day rather than on the
item, and they temporarily give the crafter the ability to craft the item. The exception to
this is the spell (if any) to be imbedded in the item; which must be cast on the item instead.

◊ The spell to be imbedded (if any) does not have to be cast by the crafter – it can be cast by
someone else, or cast from an item.

◊ Crafting an item takes a number of weeks (of eight hour days, with one day of rest per week)
equal to the total level of all the spells involved, including the spell to be imbedded (if any).

◊ The raw material from which the item is to be made must be gathered before crafting can
begin. Normally the cost of this can be handwaved away, since most materials are abundant
and cheap.
129
 ◊ The crafter must have a suitable place in which to work and tools to maniupulate the raw
material. This can range from a simple knife to whittle wood or cut leather to a full forge
and anvil on which to shape metal.

The Crafting Summary table below shows what spells are required for each type of magic item,
with any exceptions to the above guidelines noted. Spells in brackets ([]) are optional, and are
only used for some items of that type.
Crafting Summary
Item Spells Required
Craft <Material>1, [Weapon +X],
Weapon
[Minor/Major Combat Ability]
Craft <Material>1, [Armour +X],
Armour/Shield
[Minor/Major Combat Ability]
Skill Bonus Craft <Material>1, [Skill +X]
Mana Enhancer Craft <Material>1, Mana Enhancer (+X/xX)
Spell Scroll Craft Wood, Create Spell Scroll (Xth level)
Craft Liquid/Gas, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Potion
<Spell to be Implanted>
Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Wand Craft Wand, Charge <Sphere> Wand (Xth level),
<Spell to be Implanted>
Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Rod Craft Rod, Charge <Sphere> Rod (Xth level),
<Spell to be Implanted>
Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Staff Craft Staff, Charge <Sphere> Staff (Xth level),
<Spell to be Implanted>
Crafting

Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),

Single Use Item
<Spell to be Implanted>
Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Constant Item
Constant <Sphere> Spell, <Spell to be Implanted>
Craft <Material>1, Implant <Sphere> (Xth level),
Daily Use Item
Daily <Sphere> Spell (Yth level), <Spell to be Implanted>
Clockwork Automaton Craft <Type> Clockwork Automaton2
Golem Craft <Type> Golem2
Artificial Limb Craft <Material> Limb3
Lightmaster Sail Craft Dragonhide4
1
Some materials (Steel, Titanium, Aetherite) need an additional spell to make them
2
Takes an extra week per level of the automaton/golem to craft
3
Only takes a single day to craft
4
The dragonhide must be obtained before crafting can start

130
 Lightmaster Travel
Ships that are equipped with Lightmaster sails can fly at incredible speeds through the air, or
even through space. These sails, made from the membranes of dragon’s wings, catch and store
sunlight and use it to propel the vessel forward. However, in order to do this they must be
powered and controlled by the transfer of mana.

If a character without mana takes the wheel of a ship that has a Lightmaster sail, it acts in all
ways as a normal ship. However, if a character with mana takes the wheel they use the Mana Mana Transfer: See the Skills
Transfer skill in order to transfer their mana to the ship and activate the sails. For the next 8 hours, chapter for more details on how
that character may – while at the wheel – make the ship fly and control its course and speed. the Mana Transfer skill works.

When transferring mana to a ship equipped with Lightmaster sails, the character taking control
must transfer all their mana – it is not possible to hold any back. The ship is considered to have
a Mana Transfer skill total equal to that of the transferring character. equal: This means that the amount
of mana received by the ship is 4%
The speed of the ship is determined by the amount of mana that it receives from the character of the user’s current mana per
who is controlling it. See the Lightmaster Speeds table below to see the flying speed of the ship point of their Mana Transfer skill
based on the mana it receives. total (to a maximum of 100%).
Lightmaster Speeds
Mana Received Manoeuvring Cruising Speed Cruising Speed Cruising Speed
by Ship Speed (per Round) (miles per hour) (per Day)
0 Can’t Fly Can’t Fly Can’t Fly Can’t Fly
1–10 10’/round 200’ 25 mph 200 miles

Lightmaster Travel
11–20 20’/round 400’ 50 mph 400 miles
21–30 30’/round 600’ 75 mph 600 miles
31–40 40’/round 800’ 100 mph 800 miles
41–50 50’/round 1000’ 125 mph 1000 miles
51–60 60’/round 1200’ 150 mph 1200 miles
61–70 70’/round 1400’ 175 mph 1400 miles
71–80 80’/round 1600’ 200 mph 1600 miles
81–90 90’/round 1800’ 225 mph 1800 miles
91–100 100’/round 2000’ 250 mph 2000 miles
101–110 110’/round 2200’ 275 mph 2200 miles
111–120 120’/round 2400’ 300 mph 2400 miles
121–130 130’/round 2600’ 325 mph 2600 miles
131–140 140’/round 2800’ 350 mph 2800 miles
141–150 150’/round 3000’ 375 mph 3000 miles
151–160 160’/round 3200’ 400 mph 3200 miles
161–170 170’/round 3400’ 425 mph 3400 miles
171–180 180’/round 3600’ 450 mph 3600 miles
181–190 190’/round 3800’ 475 mph 3800 miles
191–200 200’/round 4000’ 500 mph 4000 miles
201–210 210’/round 4200’ 525 mph 4200 miles
211–220 220’/round 4400’ 550 mph 4400 miles
221–230 230’/round 4600’ 575 mph 4600 miles
231–240 240’/round 4800’ 600 mph 4800 miles
241+ 250’/round 5000’ 625 mph 5000 miles

The spell user must remain at the wheel of the ship for the duration of the flight. Leaving for
more than 10 minutes stops the ship, and it starts sinking to the ground at a rate of 50’ per
131
round (5’ per second).

structure points: These are ef-
fectively hit points, but for a ship
rather than a creature. See the
Damage to Ships section later in
this chapter for the effect of losing
structure points on a ship.
Lightmaster Travel
132
If this causes the ship to land in water deep enough to hold it then it will be fine (assuming it
has not been previously damaged beyond seaworthiness, of course). If it lands on the ground it
will take damage equal to 1d20 x 5% of its structure points.
Control of the ship may be regained by any spell user who spends a round re-activating the
ship. Remember, however, that the original spell user will have used all their mana the first
time they controlled it, so they will need to have regained mana from somewhere if they wish
to re-establish control.
Should a second spell user transfer mana to the ship in order to take control while it is still
under the control of the first character, only the second character’s mana now counts towards
determining the speed of the ship. The mana that the first character transferred to the ship is lost.
A character can fly a ship for 8 hours without a problem (and the daily movement rates in the
Lightmaster Speeds table are based on an 8-hour travelling day). The spell caster can pull a
‘double shift’ at the wheel, keeping control for up to 16 hours without needing to transfer ad-
ditional mana to the sails. However, the fatigue caused by having already controlled the ship for
eight hours will mean that for the second eight hours the ship will manoeuvre as if it had been
given only a single point of mana.
Although the speed and heading of the ship are controlled by the character at the wheel, the
ship still needs a full complement of crew to be controlled. Without a full complement of crew,
the character at the wheel can make the ship rise and hover in place, but cannot make it fly in a
straight line. Any attempt at horizontal movement will be at the mercy of the winds.
However, ships such as galleys that are normally supplemented by rowers do need them while
flying. They do, however, need them if the land on water and wish to sail normally.
Take Off & Landing
The incredible flight speeds of ships equipped with Lightmaster sails can only be maintained in
a roughly straight line, and are therefore only usually used at high altitude. When travelling at
a low altitude, or taking off and landing, ships must drop to manoeuvring speed. This is much
slower, but allows the ship to make significant heading changes and to do fine manoeuvres in
order to land in a harbour or dry-dock.
A ship can be flown at cruising speed at low altitude, but doing so is often suicidally dangerous.
Normally, the exact timings and accelerations/decelerations can be glossed over, but should it
matter (for example if a character is trying to switch to cruising speed to escape an encoun-
ter), switching from manoeuvring speed to cruising speed takes 1d10 rounds of concentration.
Dropping back down from cruising speed to manoeuvring speed can be done almost instantly.
A ship equipped with Lightmaster sails can land and take off normally on water, or from a
specially constructed frame resembling a dry-dock where ships are built. Taking off in either
situation requires 1d10 rounds of concentration in order to start the ship moving.

If a ship is forced to land in a controlled manner on normal ground, it will not be damaged, but
it will roll onto its side. It will not be able to take off again unless it is righted and held upright
for the duration of the take-off.

Leaving the Planet

Ships equipped with Lightmaster sails have no upper altitude limit. Providing they have an ad- air supply: See later in this chap-
equate air supply, they may leave the planet completely and fly through space at speeds dwarfing ter for details on how much air
even the fastest air speed to get to other planets and moons – or even leave the Celestial Sphere supply different types of ship can
completely and fly through the luminiferous aether to other spheres. carry with them in their gravity
envelopes.

Ship to Ship Combat

Because of the speed of Lightmaster travel, combats and encounters are rare when a ship is
flying at cruising speed. Most natural creatures can’t keep up with one, and the speeds mean
that two ships won’t even be in missile range of each other for a whole round before zooming
off in different directions.

However, a ship that is travelling at manoeuvring speed is much more vulnerable to – and
capable of – attack.

When the crew of two ships (whether flying or water based) wish to fight, they can do so in
three ways.

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Firstly, if their ship is equipped with cannons, it can keep its distance from the enemy and try
to sink it or drive it away. Secondly, if the ship has a ram attached, it can try to ram the enemy
ship in order to sink it (assuming the enemy ship is in water, of course). And finally, the ship
can pull up alongside the enemy and grapple it, so that the crew can cross between the ships
and fight hand to hand.

All of this combat is done using the normal combat rules. The captain of each ship declares what
action the ship will perform, and the ships act in initiative order.

Boarding Actions
If two ships pull alongside each other (within 50’) either because one is in the process of ram-
ming the other or because the captains wish to grapple and board, then either crew can attempt
to grapple the other ship.

If both crews wish to grapple, then it is automatically successful. If only one crew wishes to
grapple, then the other crew can roll 1d20; and on an 8 or higher, they manage to repel the
grapple attempt by cutting and casting free the grappling hooks and lines.

If the grapple is successful, both ships are pulled tight together and crew can pass from one to
the other in order to fight hand-to-hand.
mounted: See the Equipment
Any character crossing between the two ships has difficulty manoeuvring due to having to climb chapter for details of the different
over rails and ropes, and takes a –2 penalty to all attacks and to their dodge bonus during the types of ship that are available and
round in which they cross. what weapons can be mounted on
them.
Ship Weapons
There are two main weapons that can be mounted on ships: rams and cannons.

Rams: A ram attack from a ship attacks other ships using the Crush attack table, with a fixed
attack bonus of +10. Ramming attacks can only be made against other ships; a ship’s ram is not
manoeuvrable enough to be able to attack a creature.

Cannons: A cannon attacks on the Fireball table, with a fixed attack bonus of +5. Cannon
133
attacks do full damage to the ship and to any creatures in radius of the blast.

huge: The size of a creature’s at-
tacks is given in its entry in the
Extras chapter.
Damage to Ships
All ships have the solid creature armour class and no dodge bonus, but when attacked by
hand-weapons or creature attacks of less than huge size they only take half damage (round
down) from any attack. Ships never take critical strikes.
Ships that are damaged lose 10% of their speed for every 10% of their structure points that they
have lost. See the Ship Combat table for the combat abilities of ships.

Rowed ships also lose 10% of their speed for every 10% of their rowers that are missing.

Once a ship has lost three quarters of its structure points, it is dead in the water and can no
longer sail under its own power. If the ship is flying using Lightmaster sails, it is reduced to
manoeuvring speed only.

When a seagoing ship has lost all of its structure points, it sinks over the course of the next 1d10
rounds. If the ship is flying using Lightmaster sails, it can no longer fly at all and will plummet
to the ground if it is in a gravity envelope or drift in space if it is not.
Ship Combat
Ship Type Miles/Day (Water) Feet/Round (Water) Structure Points
River Barge 36 miles 60’ 30
Barque 90 miles 150’ 75
Canoe, River 18 miles 60’ 5
Canoe, Sea 18 miles 60’ 5
Galley 18/90 miles 90’/150’ 90
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Longship 18/90 miles 90’/150’ 70

Quinquirime 12/72 miles 60’/120’ 130
Raft, Professional 12 miles 30’ 6
Raft, Scavenged 12 miles 30’ 4
Rowing Boat 18 miles 30’ 15
Skiff 72 miles 120’ 30
Sloop 72 miles 120’ 150
Trireme 18/72 miles 90’/120’ 110
Troopship 54 miles 90’ 180

Repairing Ships
Makeshift repairs can repair up to half the damage that a ship has taken while it is still at sea or
in the sky, providing there are at least five crew assigned to repair duty; with one structure point
being repaired per ten minutes. Multiple five-person crews can repair a ship simultaneously.

These jury rigged repairs will only last for two weeks before coming irreparably apart.

To permanently and fully repair a ship it must either be docked or magic must be used.

The Cosmos
The planet that adventurers live on is just that – a planet. It flies through the void as it orbits
the sun. Like many planets, it’s basically a big rock surrounded by air and a bit of water. At least,
that’s the assumption that these rules make. Individual game masters can set campaigns on very
different planets if they want to.

Of course, the adventurers do not live on the only planet out there. Lightmaster assumes that

134 there are a few planets orbiting the sun and that they are analogous to the planets in our own
solar system (with the default starting planet being similar to our own Earth). This being a magi-
cal world and not our real world, these planets are fantasy versions of those in our own solar
system and are therefore much more inhabitable and less inhospitable than the other planets
in the real world.
The whole solar system sits in the void – an empty nothingness much like our real-world
space – but the void does not stretch forever. The solar system is inside a giant sphere known as
a Celestial Sphere. The Celestial Sphere is billions of miles across, capable of fitting the orbits
of all the planets inside it. Behind The Curtain
The rules for flying through space
The Celestial Sphere appears to be made of a dark, smoky crystal or glass that is completely to other planets or stars have been
impervious to any physical or magical force. Dotted about the sphere are huge transparent deliberately compartmentalised. If
“windows”, hundreds of miles in diameter, which let in light from outside the sphere. you don’t want space travel to be
a part of your campaign, simply
These windows are visible from the surface of the planets inside the sphere as stars, and it’s pos- don’t give ships using Lightmaster
sible to fly through these windows and leave the sphere completely. sails the ability to leave the atmos-
phere and you’re done.
Outside the sphere is a strange glowing substance, if substance is the right word, called the Lu-
miniferous Aether. Sail or fly through this for long enough and you’ll encounter other Celestial You can even still use the various
Spheres – each of which will contain its own unique set of planets. alien races that are in the Extras
chapter, and just drop their alien
The rest of this chapter looks at these different locations and phenomena, how to survive in them, origins.
and how to travel to and through them.
Alternatively, if you’re completely
against the idea of having magical
The Void flying ships in your campaign set-
The void is the empty space between worlds. As the name suggests, it is completely empty, not ting, you can drop them altogether
even containing air. and it won’t harm the rest of the
game, and it will play as a much
Gravity more generic fantasy.
There is no gravity in the void away from large masses, so any unsecured object will simply drift
randomly. Because of the lack of air, creatures with wings will find it impossible to fly; although

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magical flight still works.

Any mass in the void, from the smallest pebble to the largest planet or sun will have its own
gravity. However, unlike our world this gravity does not always pull in the direction of the unlike our world: Remember, this
centre of the mass and is not proportional to the mass(es) involved andthe distance between them. is a fantasy setting where things are
made from Aristotlean elements
Instead, the strength of the gravity around an object or group of objects is always the same; the rather than chemical elements,
distance over which that gravity acts is limited and based on the size of the object or group of and in which giant monsters can
objects; and the direction of the gravity is based on the shape of the object. walk around casually violating the
square-cube law. While the natural
Strength: The strength of gravity is always simply the normal strength of gravity that is found laws of the setting are assumed to
on the real-world Earth. Within the gravity envelope of a planet, big or small, things fall just be close enough to our own laws
as expected. of nature for the setting to be rec-
ognisable and for things to behave
Distance: The distance away from an object to which its gravity extends is based on the width in the way players would expect
of the object in the direction in which the distance is being measured. That’s less complicated under most normal circumstances,
than it sounds. Basically it means that the gravity envelope for an object stretches as far above player can’t assume that real-world
the object as the object is tall, as far to either side of the object as the object is wide, and as far in knowledge of physics and chem-
front of and behind the object as the object is deep. The gravity envelope is therefore the same istry can be applied to the world.
shape as the object but three times the size (and 27 times the volume).

However, there is a limit to the size of the gravity envelope produced by an object. The envelope
will never be more than fifty miles deep no matter how large the width of the object is.

Example: The game master has decided that the campaign is primarily set on a planet the size of
Earth – a spherical planet of approximately 8,000 miles diameter. In theory, the gravity envelope
of this planet would therefore also be spherical and stretch beyond the planet’s surface for an ad-
ditional 8,000 miles in every direction. However, gravity envelopes cannot be more than 50 miles
deep, so instead it spherical and stretches 50 miles in every direction beyond the planet’s surface.

The party are travelling through the void in The Black Swan; a skiff that has been equipped with
Lightmaster sails. The Black Swan is 45’ long, 15’ wide and 8’ tall. The gravity envelope of
this ship is therefore an area 135’ long, 45’ wide and 24’ tall. In theory, there is a thin bit of the
135
envelope that sticks up in the middle where the mast of the ship sticks up, but practically that can
be ignored for most purposes.

Lightmaster Travel
discretion: If in doubt, use the
direction of gravity that seems the
most sensible and convenient, and
don’t worry about the accuracy.
136
Direction: The direction of gravity within a gravity envelope is determined by the shape of the
object that is responsible for the envelope. Each gravity envelope will have a consistent direc-
tion of gravity throughout, and if the shape of the object responsible for the envelope changes
there may be a sudden flip from one gravity direction to another. Different parts of the gravity
envelope will never have different directions.
The three most common directions are point, plane and line gravity.
◊ If the object responsible for the gravity field is roughly spherical, such as a planet or asteroid,
then throughout the gravity field gravity pulls towards a point in the centre of the object.
This means that it is possible to walk all round the sphere without falling off.
◊ If the object responsible for the gravity field is roughly cylindrical, then throughout the
gravity field gravity pulls towards the central line of the cylinder. This means that it is pos-
sible to walk all around the cylinder without falling off, but it is possible to fall off either
end of the cylinder. Anyone doing so would oscillate back and forth until they settled next
to the end of the cylinder lined up with the midpoint. The gravity envelope would prevent
them from “falling” further, but there would be nothing to stop them drifting away in a
direction perpendicular to the cylinder’s end.
◊ If the object responsible for the gravity envelope is roughly flat, such as a ship, then through-
out the gravity envelope gravity pulls towards a plane that cuts through the middle of the
object. This means that it is possible to walk around on the upper deck(s) of the ship without
falling off, and it is also possible to walk around on the underneath of the ship’s hull without
falling off. However, it is still possible to fall off the side of the ship, and someone doing so
would oscillate back and forth until they settled next to the side of the ship lined up with
the mid plane of the ship. The gravity envelope would prevent them from “falling” further,
but there would be nothing to stop them drifting either along or away from the ship whilst
staying on that same plane.
In the case of large objects with unusual shapes, these may have different gravity directions at
the game master’s discretion. For example a large hollow sphere might have gravity pointing
towards the middle of its thickness, meaning that the inside and outside of the sphere can both
be walked on; or a large doughnut shaped object might have gravity pointing to a ring through
its centre, so that it can be walked around without falling off.
In any case, when a small object enters the gravity envelope of a larger object, the smaller object
takes on the gravity envelope of the larger object.
Example: The Black Swan, like most ships, is roughly flat; so its gravity points in the direction
of its central plane. People can stand and walk about on any part of its deck without falling off.
Theoretically, people could stand on the underside of its hull as well, although there’s unlikely to
be any reason for people to want to do that, and they would have to beware of slipping off the
curved edges of the hull.
When the ship approaches a planet in order to land, it will take on the gravity envelope of the planet.
The safest way for Callow to manage this transition without everyone falling off is to manoeuvre
the ship so that its hull is facing the planet. That way when there’s a switch from the ship’s own
gravity (pointing towards the central plane of the ship) to the planet’s gravity (pointing towards
the centre of the planet), gravity will still be pointing “down” through the hull from the perspective
of people standing on the decks, and they will not fall off.
If the Black Swan approaches a larger ship too closely, it will take on the gravity of the larger
ship. For this reason, ships in space rarely approach each other without carefully aligning their
orientations first.
Air and Breathing
The void itself contains no air of any kind. However, the objects within the void will normally
be surrounded by an envelope of air that clings to them because of their gravity envelope. The
air envelope is generally the same size as the gravity envelope.
Unfortunately for travellers, the air around a creature or object will go “bad” and become
unbreathable if it is not replenished regularly. Large planets don’t have this problem – partly
because of the sheer size of the air envelope around them and partly because they have whole
ecosystems constantly replenishing the air.
ecosystems: There’s no strict cut-
Air quality is divided into three levels of quality: Fresh, Fouled, and Dead. off for this. Assume that any plane-
tary body that has plant life, down
◊ Fresh Air: Fresh air is healthy and normal. Creatures can survive and operate in it without to even the smallest asteroid only a
problem. mile or two wide, has a sufficient
ecosystem to refresh its air..
◊ Foul Air: Foul air is unhealthy, humid and smells bad. Creatures can survive in it, but will
often be short of breath and take a –2 penalty to all actions that require rolls.

◊ Dead Air: Dead air can no longer support creatures at all. Creatures trapped in dead air will
suffocate to the point of unconsciousness over the course of a number of rounds equal to
their constitution ability score and then die in another five minutes. Before unconsciousness
sets in, creatures in dead air take a –4 penalty to all actions that require rolls.

A character who is about to knowingly enter an area of dead air can hold their breath for a
number of rounds equal to their constitution ability score before symptoms start.

The exact time it takes for a creature to foul its own air envelope to the point where it drops a
level in quality (if drifting in the void) depends on a multitude of factors and variables; and is
best abstracted to a roll of 2d20x5 minutes. Larger creatures take more air with them, but also
use more air; so the result is the same. Undead, constructs, and automata do not foul the air
that they carry around, since they do not need to breathe, and they also take no penalties for
being in fouled or dead air.

In the case of people on a rock or on a ship, the object that they are on will provide a much big-

Lightmaster Travel
ger air envelope, so it will last much longer before becoming foul. Although the amount of air
in the envelope would be most accurately determined by the exact shape and size of the object
and many other factors; it is best abstracted by the following (particularly for ships equipped
with Lightmaster sails):

◊ For each ton of weight of the object, its air envelope will last one person 120 days. Horses
and large creatures use the same amount of air as two people (or even more in the case of
extremely large creatures).

Example: The party travelling in the Black Swan consists of four people. The ship weighs 5 tons
(it’s a skiff), and can thus support 5 x 120 = 600 person-days. Therefore it will take 600 / 4 = 150
days for the air to become fouled and a further 150 days for the air to become dead. The ship
cannot safely travel for more than 300 days (with this crew) before landing on a planet to refresh
its air supply.

Movement & Travel

Getting to the void is easy. It can be done by simply flying up for long enough to reach the edge
of the planet’s air & gravity envelope. However, assuming that the campaign is set on an Earth
sized planet, this envelope will be 50 miles deep; so while creatures flying under their own power
may be able to fly that distance they are unlikely to fly that high by accident.

Ships equipped with Lightmaster sails can easily fly such distances. However, they cannot nec-
essarily fly at full cruising speed since they are fighting gravity all the way. It takes a ship a full
hour to reach the edge of the gravity envelope regardless of the amount of mana transferred by
the pilot. While doing such a take-off or landing, the ship can do other navigation at the same
time. It can travel around the planet at normal cruising speed while ascending or descending.

Once outside of a gravity envelope, any form of magical flight will work as normal, although
winged flight will not unless the creature’s description specifically says that it can fly through the
void. Winged creatures that do fly high enough to reach the edge of the gravity and air envelopes
will be able to feel that they have reached the edge and non-intelligent ones will instinctively
go no higher. 137
Once in the void, the main difficulty with travelling through it is that the distances are so im-
mense. The distance from one planet to another may be anywhere from 36 million miles to 3.5
billion miles or more; and the radius of a Celestial Sphere can be up to 7 billion miles. Getting

Behind The Curtain
The rest of the rulebook makes
some assumptions about the as-
tronomical bodies that exist in
the setting’s solar system. These
assumptions are mostly based on
the speculative fiction of Lovecraft,
Burroughs, Wells, et al.
Mercury: Mercury is a solid body
with a breathable atmosphere. Its
deserts are inhabited by a civilisa-
tion of bulbous vegetable creatures.
Venus: Venus is covered in steamy
jungles. It teems with life, and
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the jungles contain many magical
plants including healing herbs. It is
inhabited by semi-intelligent ten-
tacled reptilian creatures.
Earth: The Earth of the setting is
considered to be physically similar
to our own, although the presence
of magic means that the geography,
cultures, and politics are rather dif-
ferent.
The Moon: The Moon is home to
insectoid Selenites, from whom
humanity learned the secret of how
to make Lightmaster sails.
Mars: Mars is a dead planet, with
no vegetation on its rocky surface,
although it has many ruined cit-
ies. The inhabitants of Mars are
“extinct”, although many undead
Martians still dwell on the planet.
Earth’s necromancers follow the
Martian religion and worship their
dead gods.
138
from planet to planet is therefore only possible with magic designed for that purpose. Normal
magical flying effects or items are far too slow to even attempt the journey. Even a simple trip
to a planet’s moon is likely to be at least 200,000 miles.
Ships equipped with Lightmaster sails are the only commonly found magical effects designed
for such long distance travel.
The speeds listed for such ships in the Lightmaster Speeds table are the speeds within a gravity
envelope. Once a ship has escaped the gravity envelopes of nearby planets and is in the open
void, it can accelerate to voidspeed. Unlike the speeds achieved in atmosphere, voidspeed is
not dependent on the amount of mana given to the ship. It is fixed at 100 million miles per
standard 8-hour travel day. As with air travel, the pilot of the ship can do a “double shift” if
the need arises.
This immense voidspeed can only be maintained in a straight line. Any need to manoeuvre will
cause the ship to drop to normal air speed. Similarly, entering the gravity envelope of another
object will cause the ship to drop to normal air speed.
No encounters are normally had in the void, since the distances and speeds involved are so
huge that the odds of two ships actually coming close enough to even detect each other are
astronomically low.
When travelling from planet to planet, it is not necessary to calculate the exact orbits of each
planet in order to find out the distance between them at a specific time and date. Instead, simply
use a standard “average” distance between each planet.
Example: Callow is piloting the Black Swan home after visiting Mars – about 50 million miles
away from Earth. Callow flies the Black Swan straight towards home at voidspeed, and arrives at
the edge of the gravity envelope (50 miles above the surface) in 4 hours.
He then manoeuvres the ship so that its hull is facing the planet, and lowers it into the atmosphere.
The time taken to descend through atmosphere is always 1 hour, so it takes a further hour to bring
the Black Swan down to within a few hundred feet of the ground.
While descending, Callow checks on his maps to see whereabouts on the planet he is, and then
sets off at cruising speed to get to the skyport of his choice. When he has both arrived and finished
descending (whichever takes longer) he will switch to manoeuvring speed in order to land carefully.
The Celestial Sphere
Although incredibly huge, the void is not endless. It is bounded by a shell of crystalline mate-
rial called the Celestial Sphere. This sphere is impervious to any physical or magical damage.
Assuming your campaign world is not terribly unusual, the sphere will contain either a sun in
the centre with a number of planets orbiting it, or a central planet that is orbited by a sun and
one or more other moons and planets.
In either case, the radius of the sphere will always be at least twice the radius at which the out-
ermost planet orbits.
Example: If the campaign was set on a planet like Earth (third planet of nine from the sun, if
we include Pluto), the radius of the celestial sphere should be at least twice the radius at which
Pluto orbits.
Pluto orbits at a radius of 3.6 billion miles from the sun, so therefore the sphere would have a radius
of at least 7.2 billion miles. At standard Voidspeed, it would take a ship 72 days to reach the edge
on average. Of course, if the game master desires space travel to be quicker they may decide that
in their setting the outer planets are closer together than in the real world.
Dotted around the sphere are glowing windows of light that can be seen as stars from the vari-
ous planets in the sphere. These are a part of the sphere, and cannot be moved or damaged in
any way. However, while they keep the luminiferous aether out, they are pervious to physical
matter and can be used to exit the Celestial Sphere. They are also useful for navigation, and
provide a dim light in the absence of a sun.

Astronomical Bodies
The astronomical bodies – planets and sun(s) – in the sphere can be loosely categorised into four
types, corresponding to the four states of matter:

Gaseous Body: A gaseous body is a gas planet. The body of the planet is made of air or some
similar gas, and it is not usually possible to tell where the air envelope stops and the planet
itself starts. A gaseous body may have a small core at the centre, composed of debris that has
accumulated there, but generally it is entirely composed of air. A gaseous planet usually has
extremely violent weather patterns.

Solid Body: A solid body is a solid planet like our own Earth. It will be primarily composed
of rock, and have a normal atmosphere. Lightmaster assumes that the campaign is set on a
solid body. Asteroids: The asteroids are the
nesting place of many dragons,
Radiating Body: A radiating body is a sun. There is usually one per sphere, and it is often in who are able to fly through the
the centre. A sun provides light for the whole sphere; without a sun the sphere is dark and lit void from rock to rock.
only by the stars. However, a sun is not necessary to provide heat in the void. A sphere without
a sun will be cold enough to freeze water, but will still be warm enough to survive in. Jupiter: Jupiter is a gaseous body,
with no intelligent life, although
If the gravity and air envelope of a radiating body is entered, any flammable objects will instantly the moon of Io is inhabited by
catch fire, and all creatures will take an ‘E’ severity fire critical strike each round. It is possible, an insectoid race of Jovian phi-
with careful manoeuvring, to just skim the edge of a radiating body’s air envelope in order losophers, from whom humanity
to refresh the air supply of a ship. Doing so will cause the ship (and all on board) to take the learned psychic magic.

Lightmaster Travel
equivalent of a fireball attack, but will replenish the ship with fresh – if hot – air.
Saturn: Another gaseous body,
The body is usually fire all the way to the centre, since any debris that would accumulate there Saturn’s main interesting feature
will typically burn up. is the giant sandworms that live
on Titan, the largest of its moons.
Liquid Body: A liquid planet is basically a large blob of water or a similar liquid, forming a
planet that is entirely sea. It may have a small core made of debris, and may also have small Uranus: Uranus is yet another
islands of floating debris, possibly even with settlers or refugees living on them. The atmosphere gaseous body, although it has no
of a water planet is normal. In a sphere without a sun, a liquid planet will be a frozen ball of ice native life.
and snow rather than liquid water.
Neptune: Neptune is a liquid body
containing a variety of aquatic
Luminiferous Aether creatures.
The Celestial Sphere is not the entire universe. Beyond the sphere’s edge lies an expanse of a
glowing swirling substance called luminiferous aether. Pluto: Pluto is an ice planet, in-
habited by a crustacean race. The
The luminiferous aether is chaotic mix of raw elemental matter. It has no actual density or nihilistic philosophy of this race
substance to it, and permeates everything outside the Celestial Sphere. However, it can only has inspired Earth’s Annihilism
exist outside of a Celestial Sphere. It will not enter a sphere through the natural windows and religion.
cannot be brought into a sphere or summoned within one.

If a ship with Lightmaster sails goes through the sphere and into the aether, it will take its air
and gravity envelopes with it; but the air – while breathable – will be mixed with Luminiferous
Aether. If the ship then re-enters the Celestial Sphere, it will bring its air envelope with it but
leave the luminiferous aether outside the sphere.

The expanse of luminiferous aether that forms the universe may be infinite in size. At least,
no-one has ever reached any kind of edge to it. It is dotted with innumerable Celestial Spheres,
each of which has its own set of astronomical bodies.

Air & Breathing

Breathing within the luminiferous aether is not possible except for within the air envelope of
an object; much as in the void. Similarly, the rules for foul air apply.
139
However, any living creature that runs out of air in the luminiferous aether does not suffocate.
Instead, the luminiferous aether itself supports them in some strange way. The creature loses

red powder: This has led some
scholars and natural philosophers
to hypothesise that red powder is
somehow related to the luminifer-
ous aether, perhaps it is some kind
of residue left when luminiferous
aether “evaporates” when entering
a Celestial Sphere.
Lightmaster Travel
rivers: If interstellar travel is likely
to be a part of the campaign, The
game master is encouraged to cre-
ate a “sphere map” for the region of
space around the world on which
their campaign starts, showing
what Celestial Spheres exist, how
they are connected, and which
direction the rivers flow between
them.
140
consciousness and turns to a glass like substance. The creature remains that way until they are
brought into an area with breathable air, at which point they return to normal. This effect only
happens to living creatures. Dead bodies, and undead creatures (as well as non-breathing things
like constructs and automata) are unaffected.
The luminiferous aether is also incredibly flammable. Any spark will immediately burst into a
fireball doing damage as per the spell. For magical fires like a Fireball or Fire Bolt spell, such
spells will always explode around the caster as they are cast, rather than going off once they
reach the desired target point.
Strangely, the luminiferous aether has the same inhibiting effect on red powder as large quanti-
ties of red powder has on itself. While in the luminiferous aether, red powder simply will not
burn or explode.
Movement & Travel
Getting to the luminiferous aether is relatively straightforward. It can be reached from any
Celestial Sphere by simply flying to the edge of the sphere and then flying through one of the
natural windows in it.
Once in the luminiferous aether, travel is handled in a similar manner to in the Void. Creatures
cannot fly using winged flight, but all forms of magical flight work as normal.
However, the problem of distances is even more pronounced in the luminiferous aether than in
the void. In fact, because of the immense distances involved, the lack of landmarks, and the fact
that the Celestial Spheres drift around and do not stay static, distance is a largely meaningless
concept for anything other than short range flight.
For long range travel, simply striking out in a random direction is completely pointless. It may
take years or even centuries of travel to find another Celestial Sphere.
However, the Celestial Spheres are naturally tied together by rivers of flowing luminiferous
aether that wind through three dimensional paths. These rivers are huge things, around a
thousand miles across, and always both start and end at particular spheres. They may flow in
a single direction or flow in both directions with the two flows twisting around each other. By
travelling along a river, a ship flying at voidspeed can both know that it is travelling towards
another sphere and also take advantage of the river’s flow to get there quicker.
No-one knows how many Celestial Spheres there are in total. There may even be an infinite
number of them. Although as far as anyone knows, there are no “orphan” spheres with no riv-
ers flowing to them, and there are no “dead end” spheres with rivers flowing towards them but
not away from them.
The rivers also have a secondary advantage – the flow of the river will attract debris that would
otherwise simply drift randomly. This is particularly the case for debris and objects that are lost
from a ship that is travelling the river, and means that on well-travelled rivers a lost object has
a much greater chance of being found than if it were simply drifting through the vast sea of
luminiferous aether.
Unfortunately, the rivers twist and bend over a period of time; so while it is possible to map out
which spheres are connected to which other spheres (and whether such connections are single
or bi-directional), it is not possible to map any kind of meaningful length or distance for a river,
since this will change over time (and by how well the navigator manages to keep to the centre
of the river where the flow is strongest).
The time taken to travel along a river is therefore wildly unpredictable. It will take 5d20 days to
travel the length of a river at voidspeed in the direction of its flow, although that may include
one or more stops when another gravity mass is encountered such as a particularly large piece
of flotsam or another ship. Travelling against the flow is difficult but not impossible, providing
one sticks to the outer edge of the river where the flow is least strong. Travelling against the
flow in this manner makes a journey from sphere to sphere take five times the normal duration.
 Extras
During a typical Lightmaster campaign, the player characters will encounter a large number of
non-player characters controlled by the game master. While some of the non-player characters
who are likely to play a big part in the game might be fully developed by the game master as
if they were player characters, with ability scores and skill ranks and so forth, it would be
a waste of time and effort for the game master to develop every non-player character in this
way, especially if they are only going to be met (or fought) once; and it may not even be practi- extras: Think of them like the ex-
cal, especially when it comes to non-humanoid or non-sapient creatures for who the normal tras that appear in a film. They’re
character generation rules just wouldn’t be suitable. not fully fleshed out characters,
just people that the protagonists
Instead, these creatures and minor non-player characters are referred to as extras and described might interact with in a scene or
using a simplified set of statistics. This chapter contains statistics for a wide range of extras. two.

Reading The Extra Statistics

The statistics for each type of creature commonly found as an extra are listed in tables with a broad
category of creature per table and one type of extra within that category per row, with a set of
further descriptions of the creatures following the table. The columns in each table are as follows:

Name: This column contains the name of the creature. In the case of a demon, undead or artificial
life form the name is followed by capital letter from A to F in parentheses, this is to indicate
the relative ranking of the creature for the purposes of certain spells that use these rankings in certain spells: The spells of priests
order to determine which creatures of that type the spell can affect. are able to dismiss or destroy un-
dead, and there are spells for sum-
Level: This column contains the level of the creature, followed by its base saving throw in pa- moning and controlling demons in
rentheses. Unless there are textual notes about the creature that say otherwise, use the creature’s both the greater arcane paths and
level for all of the creature’s skill checks. the priest paths.

Extras
Speed: This column contains the base speed of the creature (in feet per round) followed by its
initiative bonus in combat in parentheses. If a creature can fly, this will also be indicated in this
column.

Armour Class: This column contains a short code representing the armour class of the creature,
followed by the creature’s dodge bonus. Note that the armour class of a creature might not exactly
represent its appearance – for example most snakes have an armour class of “fur” even though
they are obviously not actually furry. This is because their skin is of a similar toughness to that
of most furred creatures. The armour class codes are as follows:
Behind the Curtain
◊ Una: Unarmoured The extras listed in this chapter are
◊ Hid: Hides here as examples to show you the
◊ Bri: Brigandine kind of setting that is assumed by
◊ Cha: Chain Shirt the game rules. However, this is by
◊ Lea: Leather no means an exhaustive list.
◊ Hau: Hauberk
◊ Bre: Breastplate The game master is free to modify
◊ Pla: Plate Suit the extras here or invent new ones
◊ Fur: Furred Creature to suit their version of the cam-
◊ Sca: Scaled Creature paign setting. Use the existing
◊ Hug: Huge Creature examples as a guide to the sort of
◊ Sol: Solid Creature combat prowess that should be ex-
pected of an extra of a given level.
Hit Points: This column shows the number of hit points that an average creature of this type has.

Critical Modifier: This column contains one or more codes showing how critical strikes against
the creature are modified. The critical modifier codes are as follows:

◊ “<”: All critical strikes done to this creature are reduced by one level of severity (critical strikes
reduced below an “A” severity are ignored). This symbol may appear more than once, in
141
which case the severity of critical strikes is reduced by more than one level.
 ◊ “S”: The creature is unaffected by stun-like effects, and cannot be dazed, stunned, put on
the defensive, or forced to lose initiative.

◊ “B”: The creature does not bleed.

size: See the Combat chapter for ◊ “*”: The creature has an unusual modification to critical effects that will be listed in its
more information about the size description.
of attacks.
Attacks: This column shows the types of attack that a creature can make. Creatures do not nor-
mally make multiple attacks unless their description explicitly says that they do. Instead, choose
one of the listed attacks for the creature each round depending on its situation.

The format of each attack gives the type of attack followed by the attack bonus (with maximum
size if relevant). For example, a “Bite +6M” attack is an attack that uses the bite attack table
with a +6 bonus and which is limited to a medium size.

Social Group: This column gives a rough guide to the number of individuals that will com-
monly be found in the social group of the type of creature. Obviously, varied circumstances may
mean that more or fewer creatures are together in one place so it should be taken as a rough
guideline only.

Animals
Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bite +9S or
Baboon 4 (+4) 85 (+2) Fur +6 65 - 2–20
Grapple +10M
Grapple +17L or
Bear (Large) 10 (+8) 60 (+1) Fur +6 230 < Claw +13L or 1–5
Bash +19M
Extras

Grapple +12L or
Bear (Small) 5 (+5) 55 (+1) Fur +4 150 - Claw +10L or 1–5
Bash +14M
Horn +10M or
Bull 4 (+4) 60 (+1) Fur +2 150 < 1–50
Bash +12L
Camel 3 (+3) 40 (+0) Fur +2 110 - Bite +8M -
Sting +6S
Cobra 2 (+2) 25 (+3) Una +8 20 - 1–2
(+ lvl 4 Blood Venom)
Bite +8L or
Crocodile (Large) 3 (+2) 20 (+0) Sca +0 120 - 1–10
Bash +12M
Bite +6S or
Crocodile (Small) 1 (+1) 15 (+0) Sca +0 85 - 1–10
Bash +6S
Horn +4M or
Deer 2 (+2) 85 (+2) Fur +8 70 - 2–20
Trample +4M
Dog
4 (+4) 80 (+2) Fur +8 65 - Bite +9M -
(Guard or Hunting)
Bash +10M or
Dolphin 8 (+6) 55 (+2) Una +8 80 - 20–100
Bite +8M
Donkey 3 (+3) 40 (+1) Fur +8 90 - Bash +8S -
85 (+2) Claw +10M or
Eagle 3 (+3) Una +6 30 - 1–2
Flies Beak +7S
Horn +17H or
Elephant 7 (+6) 85 (+2) Sca +4 375 << Bash +16H or 1–10
Trample +15H
Grapple +12L or
Gorilla 5 (+5) 50 (+2) Fur +4 100 - 1–10
Bite +10M
100 (+4) Claw +8M or
Hawk 2 (+2) Una +10 25 - 1–2
Flies Beak +5S
Bite +12L or
Hippopotamus 5 (+5) 40 (+0) Fur +4 170 << 1–10
Bash +12L

142 Horse (Draft)

Horse (Pony)
Horse (Riding)
2 (+2)
2 (+2)
3 (+3)
55 (+0)
45 (+1)
75 (+2)
Fur +2
Fur +8
Fur +6
130
75
110
-
-
-
Bite +2M
Bite +4S
Bite +6M
-
-
-
Bite +8M or
Horse (War) 5 (+5) 60 (+2) Fur +6 140 - -
Trample +10M
 Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bite +12M or
Leopard 5 (+5) 65 (+1) Fur +8 100 - 1–2
Claw +8M
Bite +17L or
Lion 5 (+5) 75 (+1) Fur +4 150 - 2–10
Claw +17L
Llama 3 (+3) 65 (+1) Fur +4 60 - Bite +4S -
Bite +4S or
Lynx 3 (+3) 75 (+3) Fur +12 60 -
Claw +6M
1–2 Behind the Curtain
Grapple +8S or
Most other planets have animals
Monkey 2 (+2) 35 (+2) Fur +8 35 - 2–20 too. Sometimes you might want
Bite +6S
Mule 4 (+4) 60 (+2) Fur +6 110 - Bash+8M - to make the animals of other
Grapple +16L or
planets be the same as those found
Octopus (Large) 6 (+6) 55 (+1) Una +6 70 << 1–2
Beak +12M on Earth, but if you want to mix
Bash +20L or things up then you can use the sta-
Orca 9 (+7) 65 (+3) Fur +4 450 << 1–5
Bite +22H tistics for an Earth animal and just
Python 3 (+3) 20 (+0) Fur +0 85 - Grapple +18L 1–2 describe it in a different way.
Diminutive +8
Rattlesnake 2 (+2) 30 (+4) Fur +8 20 - 1–2
(+ lvl 2 Muscle Venom)
In either case, spells that work
Diminutive +0 on animals should work on the
Scorpion 0 (+0) 1 (+3) Sca +6 1 - 1–2
(+ lvl 3 Nerve Venom)
animals of other planets as well as
Shark (Large) 5 (+5) 65 (+2) Sca +4 180 < Bite +20L 1–10
those of Earth.
Shark (Small) 2 (+2) 55 (+3) Fur +8 90 - Bite +12M 1–20
Sheep 2 (+2) 75 (+2) Fur +8 45 - Bash +12M 1–10
Claw +15L or
Tiger 5 (+5) 65 (+3) Fur +6 150 - 1–2
Bite +22L
Diminutive +8
Viper 1 (+1) 25 (+3) Fur +6 15 - 1–2
(+ lvl 2 Muscle Venom)
Bash +16H or
Whale (Large) 9 (+7) 75 (+1) Sca +8 550 <<< 2–20
Bite +18H
Bash +12L or
Whale (Small) 7 (+6) 60 (+2) Sca +10 300 << 2–10

Extras
Bite +15L
Horn +10M or
Wild Boar 3 (+3) 55 (+1) Fur +6 110 - 2–20
Trample +8S
Wolf 3 (+3) 45 (+3) Fur +6 110 - Bite +13M 2–20

Animals: The creatures in this list are natural animals, and are therefore all affected by spells
(for example those of witches) that target one or more “animals”. The statistics for other animals
should be extrapolated from those presented here; although the game master should be care-
ful about giving combat statistics to animals the size of housecats or smaller. This can result in
ridiculous scenarios where a small animal can make a lucky extended roll and kill a person in a
completely unrealistic manner.

Artificial Life
Artificial Life
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bash +50H or
Adamantite Golem (F) 30 (+12) 40 (+0) Sol +12 500 <<<SB -
Grapple +12L
Bash +8L
Air Elemental 80 (+3)
20 (+11) Una +10 120 <<<SB* (+ extra Knockdown -
(Greater) (D) Flies
critical strike)
Bash +6L
Air Elemental 95 (+3)
10 (+8) Una +12 80 <<SB* (+ extra Knockdown -
(Lesser) (B) Flies
critical strike)
Bash +18M or
Clay Golem (B) 8 (+7) 25 (+0) Fur +4 120 <<SB -
Grapple +12M
Clockwork
Weapon +36 (twice) or
Automaton 13 (+9) 55 (+1) Sol +4 400 <<SB -

143
Heavy Crossbow +20
(Greater) (C)
Clockwork
Weapon +24 (twice) or
Automaton 8 (+7) 40 (+1) Sol +2 250 <SB -
Light Crossbow +15
(Lesser) (B)
Clockwork
Weapon +12 (twice) or
Automaton 5 (+5) 25 (+0) Sol +0 150 SB -
Light Crossbow +10
(Minor) (A)
 Artificial Life
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bash +8M
Cold Elemental
20 (+11) 45 (+1) Una +8 120 <<<SB* (+ extra Frost critical -
(Greater) (D)
strike)
Bash +6M
Cold Elemental
10 (+8) 60 (+1) Una +10 80 <<SB* (+ extra Frost critical -
(Lesser) (B)
strike)
Bash +24H
Earth Elemental
20 (+11) 30 (+0) Sca +2 120 <<<SB* (+ extra Blunt critical -
(Greater) (D)
strike)
Bash +18L
Earth Elemental
10 (+8) 30 (+0) Sca +4 80 <<SB* (+ extra Blunt critical -
(Lesser) (B)
strike)
65 (+4) Fireball +16
Elemental Wisp (A) 5 (+5) Una +12 50 <<SB* -
Flies (alternate critical strike)
Fire Elemental 60 (+2) Bash +10M
20 (+11) Una +6 120 <<<SB* -
(Greater) (D) Flies (+ extra Fire critical strike)
Fire Elemental 75 (+2) Bash +8M
10 (+8) Una +8 80 <<SB* -
(Lesser) (B) Flies (+ extra Fire critical strike)
Bash +16S or
Flesh Golem (A) 5 (+5) 40 (+1) Una +11 100 <S Grapple +10M or -
Weapon +20
Diminutive +6
Homunculus 2 (+2) 45 (+2) Una +10 40 S -
(+ lvl 7 Muscle Venom)
Bash +30M or
Iron Golem (B) 10 (+8) 50 (+0) Sol +2 150 <<SB -
Grapple +10M
Bash +6M
Light Elemental 100 (+3)
20 (+11) Una +12 120 <<<SB* (+ extra Lightning critical -
(Greater) (D) Flies
strike)
Bash +4S
Light Elemental 120 (+3)
10 (+8) Una +14 80 <<SB* (+ extra Lightning critical -
(Lesser) (B) Flies
strike)
Bash +40H or
Extras

Mithral Golem (E) 25 (+11) 50 (+0) Sol +10 400 <<<SB -

Grapple +18L
Bash +24L or
Steel Golem (C) 15 (+9) 35 (+0) Sol +6 200 <<<SB -
Grapple +14L
Bash +20L or
Stone Golem (B) 10 (+8) 25 (+0) Hug +4 170 <<SB -
Grapple +12L
Bash +30L or
Titanium Golem (D) 20 (+11) 40 (+0) Sol +8 250 <<<SB -
Grapple +14L
Bash +20H
Water Elemental
20 (+11) 35 (+2) Fur +4 120 <<<SB* (+ extra Knockdown -
(Greater) (D)
critical strike)
Bash +12L
Water Elemental
10 (+8) 40 (+2) Fur +6 80 <<SB* (+ extra Knockdown -
(Lesser) (B)
critical strike)

Clockwork Automata: Clockwork automata are artificial warriors comprised of armoured suits
filled with intricate brass and bronze cogs. They normally have melee weapons permanently
attached to their hands (and they can therefore not be disarmed) and have in-built crossbows
for ranged combat.

Elementals: Elementals are artificial humanoid creatures made from a single elemental substance.
Critical strikes done to elementals by attacks of their opposite element are increased in severity
by three levels instead of decreased:

Fire <> Cold

Air <> Earth
Water <> Lightning

Elemental Wisps: These creatures are flying orbs around 1’ in diameter composed of whirling
particles of elemental matter. They attack by flying at a target then bursting into a 5’ diameter

144 ball of their element. This attack is resolved on the Fireball table, but does a type of critical
strike based on the elemental wisp’s element (the same type that larger elementals enhance their
attacks with). As with larger elementals, critical strikes done to elemental wisps by attacks of
their opposite element are increased in severity by three levels instead of decreased.
Golems: Golems are heavily build humanoids made from a single physical substance. With the
exception of flesh golems, they do not normally use weapons.

Homunculi: A homunculus is the transformed familiar of a priest. It is an exact copy of its

creator, except in miniature (only 1’ high). Unlike other artificial life, it has free will and does
not need an Instruction. A homunculus has a venomous bite that it can use if severely pressed.

Beings from Other Worlds

Beings from Other Worlds
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Beak +24H or
Jovian Philosopher 20 (+11) 65 (+2) Hug +12 320 << 1
spells (80 mana)
Beak +14L or
Jovian Psychic Adept 8 (+7) 50 (+2) Sca +8 160 < 1–2
spells (24 mana)
Beak +4S or
Jovian Traveller 3 (+3) 40 (+2) Sca +6 30 - 2–5
spells (9 mana)
Weapon +25 or
Martian Necromancer 30 (+13) 30 (+2) Una +3 170 B 1
spells (120 mana)
Martian Skeleton
1 (+1) 30 (+1) Una +1 20 B Weapon +4 10–100
(A–F)
Cha and
Martian Warrior 5 (+5) 30 (+2) 80 B Weapon +14 5–8
Shield +4
Bash +24H or
Mercurian Explorer 20 (+11) 40 (+0) Sca +10 350 SB Grapple +20L or 1–2
Crush +20H
Bash +16L or
Mercurian Trader 10 (+8) 40 (+0) Sca +8 250 SB Grapple +10L or 2–4
Crush +16L
30 (+1) Weapon +15 or
Plutonian Annihilist 15 (+9) Sca +5 210 - 1–5
Flies spells (45 mana)
30 (+1)

Extras
Plutonian Commoner 1 (+1) Sca +0 30 - Weapon +3 10–100
Flies
Grapple +18H or
Saturnine Sandworm 10 (+8) 35 (+1) Hug +4 160 << Bite +120L 1
(+lvl 10 Muscle venom)
Weapon +10 or
Selenite Drone 3 (+3) 35 (+1) Sca +7 50 - 1–6
spells (9 mana)
Weapon +16 or
Selenite Queen 10 (+8) 35 (+1) Sca +9 100 << 1
spells (40 mana)
Selenite Soldier 3 (+3) 40 (+2) Sca +11 80 < SB Weapon +14 10–100
Selenite Worker 1 (+1) 25 (+0) Sca +2 40 - Weapon +2 50–500
Weapon +4 or
Bite +4S
Venusian Tribesfolk 3 (+3) 40 (+1) Fur +2 40 - 5–30
(+ lvl 3 Nerve Venom) or
spells (9 mana)
Weapon +15 or
Bite +8S
Venusian Leader 8 (+7) 40 (+2) Fur +5 150 - 1–3
(+ lvl 3 Nerve Venom) or
spells (32 mana)

Jovian: Jovians are an insectoid race that live in the forests of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. Physi-
cally, they resemble ladybird beetles, whose antennae are unusually long and prehensile, able
to manipulate objects with great dexterity. Adults are normally the size of wolves, but as they
develop their psychic abilities they grow larger, and the most powerful are as large as elephants.
Jovians are friendly and social race who are peaceful unless heavily provoked. They are masters
of psychic magic of all types and every Jovian is a spell caster from that sphere, being taught
magic from an early age. It was Jovians who first introduced humans to psychic magic, teaching
the techniques to human visitors to their world.

Jovians get on well with other species, and a number of them have travelled to Earth, preferring
to live in cities where they can meet a wide variety of people and make a living using psychic
magic. Jovians visiting or living on Earth do not join the Psychic’s Guild since as they are all
capable of psychic magic there is no need to specially identify spell casters; however, they are
145
on good terms with the Guild.
 Martian: Technically, Martians are extinct and have been for thousands of years since their once-
fertile planet underwent a cataclysm of some kind which they attribute to a war amongst their
gods that was won by their gods of death and necromancy. However, many thousands of undead
Martians still “live” in underground cities away from the blasted surface. Mars is a harsh place,
a strict theocracy ruled by necromancers who are able to control their subjects directly through
magical domination, although many Martians flee the cities and live in hidden necromancer-free
communities. Although all the Martians are currently skeletal, from their art and descriptions
it is clear that they once looked like horse or deer headed humanoids with hooves on their feet
but fingers on their hands.

Martians tend to be somewhat paranoid and suspicious of outsiders, a natural mind-set given
their susceptibility to magical control. With the spread of the Martian religion to Earth, many
Martians have moved there, where they have prominent positions in the School of Necromancy,
which is something that is of great concern to those Martians who have travelled to Earth to
flee their theocratic society.

Mercurian: The deserts of Mercury have no native animal life, although some of the plant life
there is mobile and takes up the ecological niches that on other worlds are taken up by animals.
Chief amongst the mobile plants of Mercury are a race of sapient plants resembling bulbous
spineless cacti. Consequently, most Mercurians find animal life alien and repellent and are hos-
tile to visitors to their planet; although a few of the more open-minded individuals are willing
to engage in trade or even travel to other planets to explore the plant life that exists on them.

In general, Mercurians are fiercely individual with little to no social organisation or governance.
Because of the lack of social structures to minimise conflict and force co-operation, Mercurians
rely on their personal reputation as a reassurance to those who they deal with and put a great
deal of stock in honour and honesty.

Plutonian: The crustaceans who live on Pluto are somewhat reminiscent of Earth’s lobsters,
although they are winged with an upright posture, and they have articulated hands rather than
Extras

claws on their front legs. Plutonians are a civilised race, living in great cities, and are keen explor-
ers of space; forever looking for new knowledge.

Although skilled in both arcane and psychic magic, Plutonians have little respect for religion.
Their guiding philosophy, named Annihilism by humans, is that everyone is a slave to fate and
that nothing anyone does matters. While this does mean that cruelty, violence, and depravity
are rife in their society, the freedom that their philosophy brings also allows them to co-operate
and be altruistic without hidden motive. Being nice to others because it makes you feel good
or because it will encourage them to be nice in reciprocation is just as valid as exploiting others
for your own advantage.

Possibly because of their philosophy, Plutonians get on reasonably well with other species, be-
ing tolerant of alien morals and behaviour; and with the possible exception of humans they are
the most widely travelled species; having colonies and outposts on other planets and in other
star systems. There are more Plutonians living on Earth than there are any other alien species.

Sandworm of Saturn: Although Saturn itself has no major life, being a gaseous body, the deserts
of its moon Titan are home to giant sandworms. These huge beasts prove a danger to anyone
trying to mine the moon for its abundant mineral wealth.

Selenite: Selenites, the inhabitants of the moon, are slender and graceful humanoid insects. They
mostly live under the moon’s surface in caves where they grow the giant fungi that provides
them with food.

Selenites are usually a peaceful people, and the majority of them follow a religion akin to Earth’s
“Old Faith”; venerating nature and living in harmony with the lunar plants and animals. They
have a social structure similar to that of ants or bees, with each individual born into a combina-

146 tion of caste and gender. Workers and soldiers are sexless, drones (who cast spells as if witches)
are male, and the queen (who casts spells as a runesmith) is female.

Selenites rarely resort to violence, generally preferring diplomatic solutions to problems. This
makes them somewhat suspicious of any visitors from other more warlike peoples, but they
will display guarded hospitality towards others. A notable exception to this is that they have an
inordinate hatred of dragons and will immediately take up arms against any dragon that visits
the moon.

Perhaps because of this hatred, Selenites were the first race in the Solar System to discover how
to make Lightmaster Sails from the wings of dragons, and the first to start exploring the other
planets. Humanity was the first species they encountered, and humans quickly learned the
secrets of space travel from them.

Venusian: The jungles of Venus are renowned for the many magical plants that can be found
there, and they are also home to the Venusian people. Venusians are mostly reptilian in nature,
although they stand upright and have arms that resemble the tentacles of a squid.

Venusians live in a hunter-gatherer manner, and have never been observed using any technology
or tools – although in interactions with human visitors they clearly understand the concepts. They
are, however, masters of arcane and psychic magic; with most having the abilities of a conjurer
but some showing knowledge of other types of arcane or psychic magic.

Venusians are severely isolationist, and regard any alien visiting their planet as an invader to be
repelled or killed. They are generally not interested in conversation, and from what little success
people have had communicating with them it appears that their aversions to both tool use and
dealing with outsiders are religious in nature, although the full nature of their religion is as yet
unrevealed to outsiders.

Demons
Demons
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Claw +8M or
Chaos Demon (A) 1 (+1) 60 (+2) Una +4 35 < Bash +6M or 2–20
Bite +6M

Extras
Claw +10M or
Chaos Demon (B) 4 (+4) 75 (+2) Fur +6 60 << Bash +8L or 1–10
Bite +6L
Claw +14M or
Chaos Demon (C) 8 (+7) 85 (+2) Fur +10 90 << Bash +12L or 1–2
Bite +12L
Claw +20L or
100 (+3)
Chaos Demon (D) 13 (+9) Fur +12 120 << Bash +16L or 1
Flies
Bite 16L
Claw +28L or
Chaos Demon (E) 18 (+10) 65 (+2) Sca +10 250 <<S Bash +22H or 1
Bite 22H
Claw +36H or
Chaos Demon (F) 25 (+12) 90 (+2) Sca +12 300 <<S Bash +26H or 1
Bite +26H
Daemonium 105 (+2) Weapon +18 or
13 (+9) Fur +12 120 << 1–5
de Avaritia (D) Flies Spells (39 mana)
Weapon +32
Daemonium (+ additional Fire critical)
17 (+10) 45 (+1) Hug +12 250 <<< 1
de Invidia (E) or
Spells (68 mana)
Weapon +20
Daemonium (+ additional Frost critical)
6 (+6) 45 (+0) Fur +9 135 < 2–8
de Neglegentia (C) or
Spells (24 mana)
Daemonium Weapon +30 or
18 (+10) 65 (+2) Sca +12 300 <<B 1
de Superbia (E) Spells (72 Mana)
Daemonium Weapon +20 or
12 (+8) 55 (+0) Fur +10 140 - 1–10
Gulae (D) Spells (48 mana)
Claw +36H or
Daemonium 100 (+2)
27 (+12) Sca +12 250 <<SB Bash +26L or 1
Irae (F) Flies
Bite +20M
Daemonium
Libidinis (B)
4 (+4)
40 (+2)
Flies
Una +8 65 <
Weapon +14 or
Spells (16 mana)
Claw +16L or
1
147
Hellcat (D) 8 (+7) 95 (+2) Fur +10 120 < Bite +18L 1
(+ lvl 8 Muscle Venom)
 Demons
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bite +12M or
Hell Hound
5 (+5) 95 (+2) Fur +6 80 - Breath (lvl 5 Respiratory 5–15
(Air) (B)
Poison)
Bite +12M or
Hell Hound
5 (+5) 95 (+2) Fur +6 80 - Fire Bolt +10 5–15
(Earth) (B)
(does Knockdown criticals)
Hell Hound Bite +14M or
6 (+6) 95 (+2) Fur +6 90 - 5–15
(Fire) (B) Fire Bolt +10
Hell Hound Bite +14M or
6 (+6) 95 (+2) Fur +6 90 - 5–15
(Ice) (B) Ice Bolt +10
Hell Hound Bite +10M or
3 (+3) 95 (+2) Fur +6 60 - 5–15
(Storm) (A) Magic Missile +12
Hell Hound Bite +10M or
4 (+4) 95 (+2) Fur +6 70 - 5–15
(Water) (A) Water Bolt +12
45 (+2) Diminutive +5
Imp (A) 1 (+1) Una +8 30 - 5–50
Flies (+ lvl 3 Nerve Venom)
Bash +14M or
100 (+2)
Night Mare (C) 7 (+6) Fur +8 160 < Bite +12M or 10–100
Flies
Trample +12M

Demons: Demons are something of a mystery, even to the most learned of scholars. Some claim
that they are spiritual beings that come from wherever it is that souls go in the afterlife. Others
claim that they’re aliens from another dimension. Still others claim that they don’t exist until
they are created by the spells that “summon” them. Which, if any, of these theories is true is up
to you to determine in your setting – the default answer being that nobody knows. Demons
themselves give contradictory and confusing answers, even under truth spells or mental probes.

Demons are split into three broad categories. Chaos demons that seem to embody some prin-
ciple of physical mutation or corruption; Daemons (daemones de avarita, daemones de invidia,
daemones de neglegentia, daemones de superbia, daemones gulae, daemones irae, and daemones
Extras

libininis) that embody moral corruption and vice; and Hellions (hellcats, hell hounds, imps, and
night mares) which are animalistic in nature.

Some scholars have noted that Daemons seem to correspond to particularly human vices. Whether
alien races with different psychology and different social systems encounter the same Daemons
that we do or whether they have their own varieties is, again, something that you need to decide
for your setting.

Chaos Demons: Chaos demons are by their very nature all unique. Physically, they appear to
comprise parts from a variety of beasts seemingly mashed together in a haphazard fashion, and
no two have the same make-up. Chaos demons lack the magical abilities of other demons, but
make up for it by being physically imposing. While they are intelligent and can talk, they are
neither great conversationalists nor great strategists and their motives generally involve simply
killing anything that is not demonic, sparing only those willing to grovel and serve.

Daemones de Avarita: These demons appear as humanoid magpies or crows, although they
have arms as well as wings. Embodying the vice of greed and avarice, they like nothing more
than to steal and hoard. Daemones de avarita may cast spells as if mountebanks of their level.

Daemones de Invidia: These demons appear as normal humans (or similar humanoid species),
although their bright red skin and hair is constantly wreathed in flame. Driven by envy, they
try to spitefully destroy anything they can’t have with a combination of physical violence (they
prefer war mattocks for smashing things) and magic. Daemones de invidia may cast spells from
the Fire Mastery warlock class spell path and are not subtle about doing so.

Daemones de Neglegentia: Physically unimposing, resembling grossly obese and unkempt

humans (or similar humanoid species), these demons are the ones who can best pass for being

148 mortals without using magical aid. Lazy and slothful to the point of indolence, daemones de
neglegentia shun physical confrontation preferring to advise and control from behind the scenes;
casting spells as if both a telepath and clairvoyant.

Daemones de Superbia: The pride of these demons knows no bounds. These demons appear to
be human from the waist up, with the legs and horns of a goat. Consummate warriors, they offer
boastful challenges and will fight anyone who does not acknowledge their superiority, aided by
their ability to cast spells as a spellsword of their level. Surprisingly, they rarely kill – preferring
opponents to live knowing they have been defeated.

Daemones Gulae: As spirits of gluttony, these demons are paradoxically thin no matter how
much they eat, appearing as emaciated humans (or similar humanoid species), but having a thin
coating of skin and muscle over their bones on closer inspection. Possibly the least intelligent
of the sapient demons, eating is all they care about; trying exotic and especially illegal delicacies
and caring little for power. Daemones gulae are able to cast spells as a conjurer of their level.

Daemones Irae: Constantly angry and incredibly violent, these are the most physically power-
ful of demons. Eschewing magic in favour of pure physical might, these tall muscular winged
humanoid demons with heads like those of diseased rams or goats are surprisingly intelligent,
able to strategize with the best. Unfortunately their plans are often spoiled by their eagerness to
lay their careful preparations aside and enter physical combat.

Daemones Libidinis: The weakest of the vice demons, these appear almost human except for
their bat-like wings. Always beautiful, and able to change physical sex at will, these demons love
to foment chaos by seduction and charm. They can cast spells as if an occultist of their level.

Hellcats: As large as tigers, but black as night and possessing over-sized fangs, hellcats are for-
midable opponents in combat. Their ability to cast Invisibility on themselves or any inanimate
object (no mana cost) at will makes them excellent hunters, and hunting is their favourite activ-
ity. They love to play with their prey, and a favourite trick is to catch and poison their prey and
then release it to enjoy stalking it while the poison disorients it, letting it think it has an escape
route that is actually blocked by an invisible object. Hellcats are as smart as a human, and can
understand all human languages, but cannot talk, read, or write.

Hell Hounds: These large dogs with long mane-like fur on the shoulders and neck are able to
breathe out elemental matter of one type or another. They are no more intelligent than normal

Extras
dogs, but can be trained only by demons or those of an evil disposition.

Imps: The lowest rung in the infernal hierarchy, these wretched things are barely demons and
barely intelligent. More mischievous than evil, imps are 1’ tall humanoids with ruddy skin and
large pointed ears, wings, and a tail with a scorpion-like stinger on the end.

Night Mares: Infernal steeds, these jet black horses can run through the air as well as on land.
Their favourite trick is to let a rider think they are tame, and then drop them from a great height.

Dragons
Dragons
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bite +25H or
Claw +30H or
Fire Dragon 120 (+2)
66 (+20) Sol +15 600 <<<* Bash +26H or 1
(Ancient) Flies
Breath +24 or
Spells (198 mana)
Bite +20H or
Claw +28H or
Fire Dragon 135 (+2)
38 (+14) Hug +10 450 <<<* Bash +22H or 1–2
(Mature) Flies
Breath +20 or
Spells (114 mana)
Bite +14H or
Claw +24H or
Fire Dragon 140 (+3)
10 (+8) Sca +12 350 <<* Bash +16H or 1–5
(Young) Flies
Breath +16 or
Spells (30 mana)
Bite +30H or

149
Claw +26H or
Frost Dragon 80 (+2)
50 (+17) Sol +13 650 <<<* Bash +30H or 1
(Ancient) Flies
Breath +20 or
Spells (150 mana)
Bite +24H or
Claw +24H or
Frost Dragon 100 (+2)
30 (+13) Sol +10 500 <<<* Bash +24H or 1–2
(Mature) Flies
Breath +16 or
Spells (90 mana)
 Dragons
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Bite +16H or
Claw +20H or
Frost Dragon 105 (+3)
10 (+8) Sca +12 400 <<* Bash +18H or 1–5
(Young) Flies
Breath +12 or
Spells (30 mana)
Bite +20H
Linnorm (+lvl 20 Nerve Venom) or
20 (+11) 80 (+2) Sca +12 300 <<<
(Ancient) Claw +12H or
Bash +10H
Bite +18H
Linnorm (+lvl 13 Nerve Venom) or
13 (+9) 90 (+2) Hug +8 250 <<<
(Mature) Claw +10H or
Bash +10H
Bite +16H
Linnorm (+lvl 6 Nerve Venom) or
6 (+6) 100 (+2) Sol +6 200 <<
(Young) Claw +10H or
Bash +10H
Bite +18H or
Claw +22H or
Storm Dragon 140 (+2)
60 (+19) Sol +10 450 <<<* Bash +16H or 1
(Ancient) Flies
Breath +28 or
Spells (180 mana)
Bite +16H or
Claw +22H or
Storm Dragon 170 (+3)
34 (+13) Sca +12 300 <<<* Bash +14H or 1–2
(Mature) Flies
Breath +24 or
Spells (102 mana)
Bite +12H or
Claw +16H or
Storm Dragon 190 (+3)
10 (+8) Sca +14 200 <<* Bash +12H or 1–5
(Young) Flies
Breath +20 or
Spells (30 mana)

True Dragons: True dragons (the Fire Dragon, Frost Dragon and Storm Dragon) nest in the
Extras

asteroid belt and are able to fly through space at voidspeed. They occasionally visit or even live
on other planets, including Earth. All true dragons know the Arcane Analysis and Enchantments
spell paths to their level, as well as the Fire Mastery, Frost Mastery, or Light Mastery spell path
(depending on the type of dragon). True dragons are haughty and arrogant, and they are well
aware that people hunt them for their wings; and this colours their attitude towards humans.

Treat the breath weapons of true dragons as a Fireball attack, with the listed attack bonus instead
of the normal +10 bonus and doing criticals of a type that matches the dragon’s type.

Linnorm: Linnorms (also known as Lindwyrms or Landworms) are lesser dragons that live on
Earth. Unlike true dragons they are not winged and do not have breath weapons, although they
do have venomous bites. They are less intelligent than true dragons, and while they are as smart
as a dog or wolf they are unable to speak and unable to cast spells.

Miscellaneous Monsters
Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Beak +12L or
55 (+0)
Basilisk 6 (+6) Sca +6 160 << Claw +10L or 1
Flies
Gaze (see text)
Claw +18L or
Bite +18H or
Chimera 10 (+8) 65 (+2) Fur +8 180 <* 1–2
Horn +18H or
Fire Bolt +12
Doppelganger 6 (+6) 55 (+2) Una +8 80 SB Weapon +20 1
55 (+1) Claw +12L or
Gargoyle 5 (+5) Sol +7 80 SB 1–10

150
Flies Bite +8M
Beak +4S
Giant Spider 3 (+3) 40 (+2) Sca +6 35 - 2–20
(+lvl 3 Nerve Venom)
80 (+2) Claw +18L or
Hippogriff 9 (+7) Fur +4 180 < 1–5
Flies Beak +15L
Bite +18 (3–9x) or
Hydra 20 (+11) 65 (+3) Hug +8 380 <<S* 1
Fire Bolt +12 (3–9x)
 Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Beak +12L or
Sting +16L
Iron Scorpion 4 (+4) 55 (+2) Sca +8 85 < 1–2
(+lvl 6 Nerve Venom) or
Magic Missile +10
Claw +20L or
65 (+2)
Manticore 5 (+5) Fur +8 170 < Longbow +16
Flies
(+lvl 5 Blood Venom)
Bash +12L or
Treestrider 5 (+5) 20 (+0) Sol +0 200 <<SB 1–50
Grapple +10L
Claw +12S or
-
Werewolf 7 (+6) 85 (+3) Fur +10 130 Bite +14M 1–5
(see text)
(+lvl 7 Lycanthropy)

Basilisk: A horse-sized chicken with a serpent’s tail, the basilisk is feared for its gaze, which can
turn a person to stone. If the basilisk glares at a victim, the victim must make a strength saving
throw or be turned to stone for one day per point by which the saving throw fails. If the saving
throw fails by more than 10 points, the petrification is permanent. Treat petrification as a curse
for purposes of magical removal.

Chimera: The chimera has a lion’s body sporting two necks and heads, one a goat’s and the other
a lion’s. Its tail ends in a third head – that of a fire breathing serpent. Any critical damage taken
to a chimera’s head is applied to a random head, and the chimera can’t be killed or incapacitated
by head injuries unless all three heads are out of action. It can be killed or incapacitated by hits
to the body as normal.

Doppelganger: Doppelgangers are strange creatures that look like skinny hairless, genderless,
featureless humanoids in their natural shape. A doppelganger is able to “imprint” on a humanoid
target, and then take on the exact shape of that target; mimicking equipment and clothing. The
doppelganger becomes single-mindedly obsessed with their target and tries to find a way to kill

Extras
the target and take over their identity.

Doppelgangers seem to have some kind of limited telepathic bond with their target once they
have imprinted on them, and gain all the target’s memories. Even mind or truth reading spells
reveal that the doppelganger genuinely believes itself to be the target rather than an imposter.

Should a doppelganger successfully take over a target’s identity, it will remain in that identity
for a week or two before the imprint wears off and it returns to its normal form and hides until
it sees a new target. Doppelgangers seem to only gain sapience while imprinted, and while
unimprinted they are no smarter than most monkeys and have no culture of their own. Any at-
tempt to contact an unimprinted one (physically or magically) always results on it immediately
imprinting on the contactor.

Gargoyle: Gargoyles are living creatures made of rock. Although vaguely humanoid in appearance,
they are no more intelligent than crows. They like to nest in ruins or on top of old buildings
where they will blend in to the background and be unnoticed until they hunt.

Iron Scorpion: These scorpions have iron carapaces and can shoot electrical jolts from their
stingers. They are the size of mules, and their stings can kill a fully grown human. They are
nocturnal and mostly hunt at night. Iron scorpions are unnatural beasts and they are unaffected
by spells that target animals.

Giant Spider: The statistics here are for a giant spider the size of a large dog or wolf, which is
the most common size to which they grow. Unusual individuals may grow to the size of a horse
or larger and will have correspondingly larger statistics. Giant spiders are unnatural beasts and
they are unaffected by spells that target animals.

Hippogriff: Hippogriffs combine the head, wings, and talons of an eagle with the rear end of a
horse. They are normally peaceful creatures if left alone, but are fiercely territorial. 151
Hydra: A hydra is a many-headed reptilian creature larger than an elephant that can spit fire
from each of its 3–9 heads. Surprisingly fast for their size, they are always aggressive and hostile
to any who disturb them. Any critical damage taken to a hydra’s head is applied to a random
 head, and the hydra can’t be killed or incapacitated by head injuries unless all of its heads are
out of action. It can be killed or incapacitated by hits to the body as normal.

Manticore: A hideous beast, resembling a winged lion with a face that looks eerily human and
a tail that ends in a ball of porcupine-like spines. There is no intelligence behind the human-
seeming eyes, however, just hunger and malice. The manticore can shoot spines from its tail with
the force of arrows from a bow, and this is its preferred method of attack, only landing and using
its claws if its prey is able to shoot or throw things back at it and its air superiority is nullified.

Treestrider: Mobile trees that can uproot themselves and walk around, treestriders act to protect
their forest or their part of a forest from all intruders. Although they have only the intelligence
of the average cat or wolf, they can learn to recognise friends such as individual witches or war-
dens who visit them often, and will sometimes allow such individuals into their protected area.

Werewolf: Werewolves are humans with a disease (called lycanthropy) which forces them to
take on a bestial form on the nights of the full moon. This bestial form is wolf-like but has
glowing yellow eyes and is visibly bigger and fiercer than a normal wolf. The statistics here are
for the wolf form – when in human form the werewolf uses its normal statistics for that form.
While in wolf form, a werewolf reduces all critical strike severities from physical weapons by
two levels unless those weapons are mithral or stronger or made of silver. It takes critical strikes
from magical attacks normally.

While in their bestial form, werewolves will not recognise former friends or even family, so most
(whether or not they know that they have the disease) will instinctively flee into the woods before
they change for the safety of their loved ones.

People
Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Extras

Class Points Modifier Group

Weapon –5 or
Apprentice Caster 1 (+1) 40 (+1) Una +1 20 - 5–30
spells (3 mana)
Weapon +15 or
Archmage 25 (+12) 40 (+3) Una +3 120 - 1
spells (100 mana)
Bandit 2 (+2) 30 (+2) Lea +2 45 - Weapon +8 15–25
Bandit Leader 6 (+6) 30 (+3) Bri +3 75 - Weapon +17 1–3
Bodyguard 6 (+6) 30 (+3) Cha +3 80 - Weapon +18 1–2
Weapon +7 or
Caster for Hire 8 (+7) 40 (+1) Una +1 60 - 1
spells (32 mana)
Hau and
City Guard 3 (+2) 20 (+1) 55 - Weapon +12 5–10
Shield +4
Commoner 1 (+1) 40 (+1) Una +1 25 - Weapon +3 10–100
Weapon +11 or
Cultist 5 (+5) 40 (+1) Una +1 50 - 10–30
spells (15 mana)
Weapon +14 or
Cult Leader 9 (+7) 40 (+1) Una +1 70 - 1–2
spells (36 mana)
Weapon +6 or
Educated Townsfolk 3 (+3) 40 (+1) Una +1 40 - 10–100
spells (9 mana)
Pla and
Famous Hero 30 (+13) 20 (+3) 180 - Weapon +34 1
Shield +6
Goblin Bully 4 (+4) 30 (+1) Bre +3 70 - Weapon +16 1
Weapon +6 or
Goblin Caster 5 (+5) 40 (+1) Una +1 45 - 1–3
spells (15 mana)
Pla and
Goblin Hero 12 (+8) 20 (+1) 90 - Weapon +22 1
Shield +6
Goblin Scavenger 1 (+1) 40 (+1) Una +2 30 - Weapon +4 5–50
Bre and
Guard Captain 7 (+6) 30 (+2) 80 - Weapon +18 1
Shield +6

152 Guild Master

Local Priest
18 (+10)

6 (+6)
40 (+2)

40 (+1)
Una +2

Una +1
100

60
-

-
Weapon +16 or
spells (72 mana)
Weapon +8 or
1–3

1–4
spells (24 mana)
Militia Member 2 (+2) 40 (+1) Hid +1 30 - Weapon +10 10–40
 Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Weapon +15 or
Temple High Priest 20 (+11) 40 (+2) Una +2 110 - 1–2
spells (80 mana)
Weapon +10 or
Traveling Healer 15 (+9) 30 (+1) Lea +1 125 - 1
spells (60 mana)
Weapon +13 or
Village Witch 9 (+7) 30 (+1) Lea +1 75 - 1–3
spells (36 mana)

Apprentice Caster: An inexperienced youth who is learning the ways of magic, either at one of
the various magical schools or under an individual master. Casts spells from any spell casting
profession.

Archmage: A spell caster of renown, famous throughout the land or further. Likely to be an
arcane caster, but might be a psychic caster (in which case they might wear armour).

Bandit: A typical bandit, scratching out a living beyond the law.

Bandit Leader: The leader of a group of bandits. More experience and tougher than the rabble
that follow them. Might have a second in command of similar ability.

Bodyguard: A professional bodyguard or bounty hunter. Likely to have a +15 skill bonus in
the stealth and sneak attack skills.

Caster for Hire: The average caster that can be hired from a guild or school to cast spells for
you. Can be either an arcane or psychic spell caster. In major cities casters of higher ability will
be available.

City Guard: Law enforcement for a city. Both more competent and better equipped than their
rural counterparts.

Extras
Commoner: A person of poor means who works in manual labour.

Cultist: A member of a banned and possibly violent cult. Might be an annihilist or an independ-
ent necromancer unaffiliated with the School of Necromancy.

Cult Leader: A more powerful caster who is in charge of a cult or a cult cell.

Educated Townsfolk: Someone who has been sent to one of the guilds, schools, or temples for
a formal education, and now works in a skilled profession rather than making a career out of
their learning. Can cast a few spells from one of the casting professions.

Famous Hero: A very experienced adventurer or hero whose name and reputation are likely
known wherever they go.

Goblin Bully: Goblins hate rules and obligations of any kind, and their communities usually
end up being directed by the biggest bully who can give immediate orders to the others.

Goblin Caster: Goblins can be any kind of spell caster, having even picked up necromancy and
annihilism from humans; and these casters normally advise the bully that rules the community.
However, the average goblin caster lacks the self-discipline needed to advance their arts very
far. Occasionally a goblin may be a more powerful (or even much more powerful) caster than
is shown here; but that is very much the exception rather than the rule.

Goblin Hero: It is a rare goblin that has the self-discipline and focus needed to reach this level
of competence as a warrior, and it is usually done away from the distractions of their own kind.

Goblin Scavenger: This is the average goblin that is likely to be run across in large numbers.

Guard Captain: Supervisor of one or more guard units.

153
 Guild Master: In charge of a city’s branch of a guild or school and likely to be the best caster
the guild has. Can be any type of arcane or psychic caster, and some guilds will have more than
one master with different specialities.

Local Priest: Looks after a local village temple and reports to the high temple in a nearby city.

Militia Member: A commoner with a bit more combat experience than average, whether from
hunting or defending their village.

Temple High Priest: Found in the high temple of a major city; and administers and co-ordinates
all the temples in the area.

Traveling Healer: Either an empath or a chirurgeon, the traveling healer is likely to be well
known and well liked in the area through which they do their rounds.

Village Witch: A typical witch who looks after the needs of a village. More powerful witches
exist, but given their lack of hierarchy there is no equivalent of a guild or temple for them to
run and they will simply be known by reputation.

Undead
Animals
Armour Hit Critical Social
Name Level Speed Attacks
Class Points Modifier Group
Ghost (Greater) (E) 15 85 (+3) Una +10 165 <<SB Weapon +22 1
Bash +12M or
Ghost (Lesser) (C) 7 65 (+2) Una +6 100 <<SB 1
Weapon +10
Ghost (Minor) (B) 3 50 (+1) Una +8 55 <<SB Claw +8M 1
Husk (Level 1) (A) 1 25 (+0) Una +2 25 SB Bash +5S -
Husk (Level 2) (A) 2 30 (+0) Una +3 35 SB Bash +7S -
Extras

Husk (Level 3) (A) 3 35 (+0) Una +4 50 SB Bash +8M -

Husk (Level 4) (A) 4 35 (+0) Una +5 70 SB Bash +10M -
Husk (Level 5) (A) 5 35 (+1) Una +6 100 SB Bash +12M -
Husk (Level 6) (A) 6 40 (+1) Una +7 115 SB Bash +14M -
Husk (Level 7) (A) 7 40 (+2) Una +8 135 <SB Bash +14L -
Husk (Level 8) (A) 8 50 (+2) Una +8 145 <SB Bash +16L -
Husk (Level 10) (A) 10 55 (+3) Una +8 165 <<SB Bash +18L -
Weapon +14
(+ extra Frost critical
Lich (F) 20 25 (+3) Hug +15 150 <<SB 1
strike) or
Spells (80 mana)
Bash +22L or
Mummy
10 35 (+1) Sca +8 150 <<B Grapple +30L or 1
(Greater) (D)
Spells (20 mana)
Mummy Bash +14L or
6 30 (+0) Sca +6 100 <B 1–10
(Lesser) (C) Grapple +24L
Diminutive +5
Shade (A–F) Varies 40 (+0) Una +0 150 <<<SB (inflicts Frost critical -
strikes)
Skeleton (A–F) Varies Varies Varies Varies B Varies -
Spectral Hound (D) 10 80 (+3) Fur +11 200 <<SB Bite +20L 1–6
Weapon +30 or Bite +24M
Vampire 65 (+3)
20 Una +16 140 <<<SB or 1
(Greater) (F) Flies
Spells (60 mana)
Weapon +22 or Bite +18M
Vampire 65 (+3)
15 Una +18 120 <<SB or 1
(Lesser) (E) Flies
Spells (45 mana)
Weapon +18 or Bite +14M
Vampire 80 (+4)
10 Una +20 110 <SB or 1
(Minor) (D) Flies
Spells (30 mana)

154 Zombie (A) 2 20 (–1) Una +3 45 SB

Bash +6M
(+ lvl 2 Zombie Infection)
10–100

Ghosts: Naturally occurring spirits of tragedy, Ghosts are the incorporeal souls of those who
have died with unfinished business. Although they can be physically disrupted by weapons and
magic, this does not permanently destroy them and they will rise again after a week unless the
business tying them to the world is completed or made impossible, at which point they will
fade and return no more.

Although ghosts retain some memories of their life, particularly remembering emotional attach-
ments, their minds are clouded and they are often unable to articulate (or even clearly think
about) the problem that keeps them coming back again and again.

Husks: Husks are mindlessly animated corpses created by necromancers’ spells. They have no
personality or mind of their own whatsoever, and exist only to serve their creator’s bidding. See
the Magic chapter for more information about husks.

Liches: Liches are the result of a ritual undertaken by a powerful necromancer in order to extend ritual: See the Become Lich spell
their life indefinitely. Although mostly skeletal, a lich’s heart will be preserved and continue to on the Undead Creation necro-
beat drily. Since they can no longer hold it within their chest, a lich will usually keep their heart mancer class path for further de-
in a container called a phylactery, and hide it well since destroying the heart will destroy the tails of this process.
lich. If the heart is not destroyed, a lich cannot be permanently killed and they will rise again,
forming a new skeletal body if killed. Liches cast spells as necromancers of their level, and likely
have access to lesser psychic and divine spell paths as well as necromancer class spell paths.

Mummies: Although generally thought of as the bandage-wrapped creatures of Egyptian myth,

the statistics for mummies can be used for any variety of ritually awakened tomb guardian.
Greater mummies cast spells as a priest of their level.

Shades: Similar to ghosts, shades are the incorporeal souls of those who have died. Unlike ghosts,
shades do not occur naturally and are the result of the work of necromancers. Like ghosts they can
be disrupted by spells and weapons, but unlike ghosts they will not rise again unless re-summoned.

Shades have all the memories and skills they had in life, but their inability to touch the physical
world makes them unable to cast spells. See the Magic chapter for more information about shades.

Extras
Skeletons: Skeletons are the result of the forced possession of a husk by a shade. They are by
far the most numerous undead and also the most “socially acceptable”. Skeletons retain all the
personality and skills they had in life, and can use magic (if they could in life). See the Magic
chapter for more information about skeletons.

Spectral Hounds: These large shadowy black creatures in the shape of dogs or wolves haunt
desolate moors and fells; their howls bringing ill portent to the locals.

Vampires: Alone amongst the undead, vampires are able to pass for the living in anything but
a close examination. Vampires must drink the blood of the living to survive. Vampires can only lux clara: Light spells that create
be permanently killed by a stake through the heart. Any lesser damage can be slowly regenerated. lux clara will say so in their de-
At night, vampires can fly and can cast spells as if an Occultist of their level, but during the day scription in the Book of Tables.
(or in lux clara) they lose these powers.

Zombies: Created by an infectious disease, zombies are cannibalistic undead that constantly
seek out the living to eat. In large numbers they will completely devour their victims but in
small numbers they’ll take a few bites and then lose interest – leaving their victims infected to
become more zombies.

Zombies are slow and never run, although they are not as mindless as they are sometimes thought
to be. Although they show no recognition of the living other than as food, they are capable of
basic problem solving in order to get at food sources and can sometimes remember how to use
simple tools.

155
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System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors: Jonathon
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Lightmaster Copyright 2019 Blacky the Blackball.

157