Platinum

Roleplaying System
 Platinum
Roleplaying System
Version 0.0
Image by Dariusz Sankowski via Unsplash

Written by: Shane Aguero

Edited by:

Play Testers:

Art: 8machine, Ash Bentley, ChanChaiKee, Dariusz Sankowski, DavidClode, FilipeLourencoMarques,

Finding Dan, Hizir Kaya2, hugo jehanne, Ina Parker, Jakob owens, Maan Limburg, Mathew Schwartz,
Max, Miguel Gonzalez, Mohamad Khosravi, Oxana Melis, Piotr wilk, Robert Linder, Serhiy Hipskky,
yogurt, yoo soosang via Unsplash; Dr StClaire, Mark Frost, ROY MUELLER, via Pixabay; Somchai
kongkamski via Pexels.

Table of Contents
LEGAL INFORMATION ..............................................................7
UNIVERSAL MEASURES CHART ..............................................10
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................12
1.1 Materials Required to Play ...........................................12
1.2 Dice and Reading Dice Results .....................................12
1.3 Responsibilities of the Gamemaster ............................13
1.4 Length of Play ...............................................................13
2. CHARACTER CREATION.......................................................14
2.1 The Character Sheet .....................................................14
2.2 Identity .........................................................................14
2.3 Characteristics ..............................................................15
2.31 Characteristic Rolls .................................................17
2.4 Derived Characteristics ................................................18
2.41 Hit Points ................................................................18
2.42 Mental Resilience ...................................................18
2.43 Power Points ..........................................................18
2.44 Damage Bonus .......................................................18
2.45 Strength, Weight, Encumbrance ............................18
2.46 Fatigue ....................................................................19
2.5 Power and game mechanics ........................................19
2.51 Life Goals ................................................................19
2.6 Size and game mechanics.............................................20
2.61 Object SIZ Chart ......................................................20
2.7 Finishing Touches .........................................................21
2.71 Starting Money and Social Class.............................21
2.73 Honor, Loyalty and Connections ............................24
2.74 Social Interaction....................................................26
2.75 Random Tables .......................................................27
2.6 NPC Professions and Ability Levels ...........................30
2.8 Skills ..............................................................................33
2.81 Special Skills and Difficult Skills ..............................37
2.82 Professions and Professional Skills .........................37
2.83 Freeform magic system ..........................................38
2.84 Superpowers .......................................................... 40
2.85 Countering Magical Effects .................................... 40
2.86 Spousal Knowledge Rule ........................................ 40
2.87 Perishable Skills Rule .............................................. 40
2.9 Experience ................................................................... 40
2.91 Gaining New Skills in Play ...................................... 41
2.92 Improving Skills Through Experience ..................... 41
2.93 Improving Statistics ................................................ 41
2.94 Training .................................................................. 41
3. SYSTEM .............................................................................. 42
2.95 Maximum Skill Percentages: .................................. 42
3.1 Success or Failure? ....................................................... 43
3.11 Skill Rolls ................................................................ 43
3.12 The Rule of One ..................................................... 44
3.13 Critical Success ....................................................... 44
3.14 The Rule of a Hundred ........................................... 44
3.15 Maximum Skill Percentile ...................................... 44
3.16 Skill and Statistic Check .......................................... 44
3.17 Difficulty for Skills and Attributes .......................... 44
3.18 Mitigating Difficulty ............................................... 44
3.19 Minimum Modified Skill ......................................... 44
3.2 Skill vs. Skill .................................................................. 45
3.21 Opposed Actions .................................................... 45
3.3 Equipment Ratings ....................................................... 45
3.4 Rerolls .......................................................................... 45
4. TIME ................................................................................... 46
4.1 Narrative Time ............................................................. 46
4.2 The Turn ....................................................................... 46
4.3 Skill Time ...................................................................... 46
5. COMBAT ............................................................................. 48
5.1 The Combat Round ...................................................... 48
5.2 Actions/Initiative.......................................................... 48
5.21 Multiple Actions ..................................................... 49
5.3 Drawing a Weapon ...................................................... 49
5.4 Attacking ...................................................................... 49
 5.41 Rate of Fire .............................................................50
5.42 Fully Automatic Weapons ......................................50
5.43 Firing into Combat ..................................................50
5.44 Ambush ..................................................................50
5.45 Backstab .................................................................50
5.46 Feinting...................................................................50
5.5 Cover ........................................................................51
5.51 Designers Note (Damage & Hit Points) ..................51
5.52 Stopping Power ......................................................51
5.52 Hardness.................................................................52
5.53 Additional Hit Points ..............................................52
5.54 Staged Penetration.................................................52
5.55 Armor Piercing Attacks ...........................................52
5.56 Impacts ...................................................................53
5.57 Blunt Force Trauma ................................................53
5.6 Parrying ........................................................................53
5.7 Dodging ........................................................................53
5.8 Combat Summary .........................................................53
5.9 Weapons, Damage, Armor and Shields ........................53
5.91 Melee, Archaic and Improvised Weapons .............54
5.92 Firearms .................................................................55
5.93 Energy Weapons ....................................................56
5.94 Heavy Weapons and Vehicles ................................57
5.95 Magical Weapons ...................................................57
5.96 Armor .....................................................................58
5.97 Hit Locations & Armor Coverage ............................58
5.98 Armor Types ...........................................................58
5.99 Shields ....................................................................59
5.991 Shields Table ........................................................59
6.0 DAMAGE AND INJURY ......................................................60
6.1 Saving Throws ..............................................................60
6.2 Knockout Attacks .........................................................60
6.3 Damage, Dying and Death ........................................... 60
6.31 Percent Kill rules .................................................... 61
6.32 Kill Shot .................................................................. 61
6.4 Broken and Destroyed ................................................. 62
6.5 Critical Injury and Massive Damage ............................. 62
6.51 Critical Injury Chart ................................................ 62
6.52 Massive Damage Chart .......................................... 62
6.6 Healing ......................................................................... 62
7. SPOT RULES ........................................................................ 63
7.1 Equipment.................................................................... 63
7.11 Equipment Quality ................................................. 63
7.12 Looting ................................................................... 63
7.13 Lucky Items ................................................................ 64
7.2 Darkness....................................................................... 64
7.3 Sound ........................................................................... 64
7.4 Good Days, Bad Days & Worse Days ............................ 65
7.5 Disease ......................................................................... 65
7.6 Starvation and Thirst.................................................... 66
7.7 Poison .......................................................................... 66
7.8 Radiation ...................................................................... 67
7.9 Falling ........................................................................... 69
7.91 Atmospheric Re-entry ............................................ 69
8. RUNNING A CAMPAIGN ..................................................... 71
8.1 Campaign Development .............................................. 71
8.11 Campaign Types ..................................................... 71
8.12 Reality Levels.......................................................... 72
8.13 Genre ..................................................................... 73
8.14 The rest of the world ............................................. 76
8.2 The downside of adventuring ...................................... 77
8.2 Mindset and Stabilty .................................................... 80
8.3 Bestiary ........................................................................ 81
9. CONVERSIONS .................................................................. 103
Image by Roy Mueller via Pixabay
 different type, in a manner substantially similar to those of
LEGAL INFORMATION the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha rules.
The Basic Roleplaying System Reference Document 1.0
Glory: If substantially similar to the King Arthur Pendragon
(“BRPSRD1.0”) describes the rules of Basic Roleplaying. You
rules.
may incorporate the rules as they appear in BRPSRD1.0,
Passions: If substantially similar to the King Arthur Pendragon
wholly or in part, into a derivative work, through the use of
and/or the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha rules.
the BRP Open Game License, Version 1.0. You should read and
Personality Traits: If substantially similar to the King Arthur
understand the terms of that License before creating a
Pendragon rules.
derivative work from BRPSRD1.0.
Pushing: If substantially similar to the Call of Cthulhu rules.
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, the Open Source Initiative,
Reputation: If substantially similar to the RuneQuest:
and Creative Commons for their work in creating the
Roleplaying in Glorantha rules.
framework behind Open Source (and in this case Open Game)
Rune Magic: If substantially similar to the Rune or divine
licenses. You should be aware that the BRP Open Game
magic mechanics presented in any version of the RuneQuest
License for use of the Basic Roleplaying system differs from
rules. Original magic systems not derived from RuneQuest
the Wizards Open Game License and has different terms and
may be called “rune magic” if they do not include any
conditions. BRP Open Game License, Version 1.0 All Rights
components of the Gloranthan Runes.
Reserved.
Runes: If substantially similar to the Runes contained in the
1. Definitions:
RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha rules.
“Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners
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who have contributed Open Game Content; “Derivative
Call of Cthulhu rules, including Bouts of Madness, Temporary,
Material” means copyrighted material including derivative
Indefinite, and Permanent Insanity.
works and translations (including into computer languages),
Sorcery: If substantially similar to the sorcery mechanics
potation, modification, correction, addition, extension,
presented in any version of the RuneQuest rules. Original
upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment, or other
magic systems not derived from RuneQuest may be called
forms in which an existing work may be recast, transformed,
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or adapted; “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent,
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lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit, or otherwise
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8
 Image by Mathew Schwartz via Unsplash

9
UNIVERSAL MEASURES CHART
RANK DAMAGE MASS SIZ TIME DISTANCE VOLUME
0 1 .75 lb. 1 1/16 sec 3 in. 1/64 cft.
1 2 1.5 lb. 1 1/8 sec 6 in. 1/32 cft.
2 4 3 lbs. 2 1/4 sec 1 ft 1/16 cft.
3 8 6 lbs. 2 1/2 sec 3 ft 1/8 cft.
4 16 12 lbs. 3 1 sec 6 ft 1/4 cft.
5 32 25 lbs. 5 3 secs 15 ft 1/2 cft.
6 64 50 lbs. 7 6 secs 30 ft 1 cft.
7 128 100 lbs. 10 12 secs 60 ft 2 cft.
8 256 200 lbs. 14 30 secs 120 ft 4 cft.
9 512 400 lbs. 20 1 min. 250 ft 8 cft.
10 1,024 800 lbs. 28 2 min 500 ft 15 cft.
11 2,048 1,600 lbs. 40 4 min 900 ft 30 cft.
12 4,096 3,200 lbs. 57 8 min 1,800 ft 60 cft.
13 8,192 3 t. 77 15 min 1/2 mi 125 cft.
14 16,385 6 t. 110 30 min 1 mi 250 cft.
15 32,768 12 t. 155 1 hr. 2 mi. 500 cft.
16 65,536 25 t. 224 2 hrs. 4 mi. 1,000 cft.
17 131,072 50 t. 316 4 hrs. 8 mi. 2,000 cft.
18 262,144 100 t. 447 8 hrs. 16 mi. 4,000 cft.
19 524,288 200 t. 632 16 hrs. 30 mi. 8,000 cft.
20 1,048,576 400 t. 894 1 day 60 mi. 15,000 cft.
21 2,097,152 800 t. 1265 2 days 120 mi. 32,000 cft.
22 4,194,304 1,600 t. 1789 4 days 250 mi. 65,000 cft.
23 8,388,608 3.2 kt. 2530 1 week 500 mi. 125,000 cft.
24 16,777,216 6 kt. 3464 2 wks. 1,000 mi. 250,000 cft.
25 33,554,432 12 kt. 4899 1 mo. 2,000 mi. 500,000 cft.
26 67,108,864 25 kt. 7071 2 mo. 4,000 mi. 1 mil. cft.
27 134,217,728 50 kt. 10,000 4 mo. 8,000 mi. 2 mil. cft.
28 268,435,456 100 kt. 14,142 8 mo. 16,000 mi. 4 mil. cft.
29 536,870,912 200 kt. 20,000 1.5 yr. 32,000 mi. 8 mil. cft.
30 1,073,741,824 400 kt. 28,284 3 yr. 64,000 mi. 15 mil. cft.
31 2,147,483,648 800 kt. 40,000 6 yr. 125,000 mi. 32 mil. cft.
32 4,294,967,296 1,600 kt. 56,569 12 yr. 250,000 mi. 65 mil. cft.

10
33 8,589,934,592 3,200 kt. 80,000 25 yr. 500,000 mi. 125 mil. cft.
34 17,179,869,184 6,400 kt. 113,137 50 yr. 1 mil. mi. 250 mil. cft.
35 34,359,738,368 12,500 kt. 158,114 100 yr. 2 mil. mi. 500 mil. cft.
36 68,719,476,736 25,000 kt. 223,697 200 yr. 4 mil. mi. 1 bil. cft.
37 x2 x2 --- x2 x2 x2

11

1. INTRODUCTION
This is a roleplaying game, a rule set that allows players to
take part in stories of adventure, horror, or action, acting
out the parts of the main characters. The game rules
provide guidelines for what can and can’t be done, and dice
rolls determine whether the characters succeed or fail at
what they attempt to do. In roleplaying games, one player
takes on the role of the gamemaster (GM), while the other
players assume the roles of player characters (PCs). The
gamemaster also acts out the roles of characters not
guided by players: these are called non-player characters
(NPCs).
Roleplaying is a social game, like improvising a story for a
play, television show, or movie. Player characters are the
primary roles: they are the protagonists the stories revolve
around. A player character might be a swaggering
gunfighter, depressed private eye, brooding sorcerer,
mighty superhero, or a humble spacefarer trying to make
ends meet. The gamemaster devises and presents the
situations that the players experience, describing the world
where they roam and how that world is affected by the
player characters’ actions. While each player usually
controls only one player character, the gamemaster
presents the entire game setting—representing all its
people, places, monsters, and even gods.
The gamemaster has a story to present, a collaborative
scenario in which the player characters are challenged to
interact with non-player characters that the gamemaster
personifies. Play is mostly conversation: the gamemaster
outlines some situation or encounter and the players
dictate what their characters say or try to do. Rules supply
impartial guidelines for successes and failures of actions
attempted. Using the game rules, players announce what
their characters do, and roll dice to determine what
happens based on their stated intentions. If needed, the
gamemaster interprets how the player characters’ actions
affect the game world (non-player characters, etc.). The
player characters use skills and abilities to face challenges,
oppose other characters (player and non-player)
characters, and explore the setting the gamemaster has
created.
Players create their characters by defining them, with rules
that help measure capabilities in quantifiable terms. This
information is written down on the character sheet.
12
Information on a character sheet includes terms like
strength, intelligence, education, skills, and other abstract
elements that make up a person—though ‘personality’ is
evoked by how the player character is played by the player.
For example, though there is no numerical value for
‘irritable’, the player or gamemaster may speak in such a
manner and give that personality to the character. The
character sheet is a cross between a résumé and a report
card: it defines what they can do, and how good they are at
it. Roleplaying is what brings the character to life.
There is a major difference between what the player knows
and what the character knows. At the gaming table, players
are privy to ‘behind the scenes’ information that their
characters don’t have, and they must be careful not to take
advantage of this knowledge. Dice rolls are used to figure
out if a character knows something, even when the player
may already know the answer. Similarly, there is no reason
a player character’s ability is limited to things the player
knows—a player character can be an expert in fields the
player has no idea about.
The purpose of roleplaying is to have a good time. It’s fun
to deal with dangers that are not truly dangerous, threats
that vanish when everyone rises from the table, and
monsters that evaporate when the lights go on. If play goes
well, the players feel that they’ve been to an exciting new
world for a while, find strength in coping with it, and may
even know victory.
1.1 Materials Required to Play
Players need little other than these rules, a pencil, paper,
and a set of gaming dice. Dice are available at most gaming
and hobby stores, and come in a variety of colors, shapes,
and sizes. There are also dice-rolling apps. See below for
more information on dice and dice-rolling methods. Some
gaming groups use miniatures as a representation of the
characters: if so, players might each bring a miniature
resembling their player character. The primary ingredient
needed is creative energy, though snacks are also
appreciated.
1.2 Dice and Reading Dice Results
Basic Roleplaying uses a variety of polyhedral dice to obtain
random results. These are available in a wide range of sizes,
colors, and qualities from games and hobby stores, or other
sources. To play, a group needs at least one set of these
dice, though it is easier and more convenient if each player
has a set. A set of gaming dice includes the following dice:
four-sided (D4), six-sided (D6), eight-sided (D8), ten-sided
(D10), twelve-sided (D12), and twenty-sided (D20). A
percentile die (marked in increments of 10) is also useful.
The most important dice roll in Basic Roleplaying is the
percentile dice roll, which is a roll of two ten-sided dice (or
one ten-sided die rolled twice). In a percentile dice roll, the
first value is the “tens” while the second is the “ones.” If
rolling two D10, read the first result as the “tens die”—
thus, a roll of 3 and 7 on percentile dice means a result of
37. Generally, with percentile dice, the lower you roll, the
better.
Other dice rolls involve multiples, combinations, or dice
results that are modified. For example, 3D6 means roll
three six sided dice, 1D10+1D4 means roll one D10 and one
D4 and add the results together, D8+1 means roll a D8 and
add 1 to the result, and D6−2 means roll a D6 and subtract
2 from the result. Die rolls are never modified to below 0,
however. In the example of D6−2, a roll of 1 or 2 still equals
0.
Ultimately, all that’s required is to come up with a story,
write up some foes or encounters, and invite some friends
over and have them create characters. Summarize the rules
for them, and it’s time to play.
1.4 Length of Play
How long does roleplaying take? There are three ways to
measure time spent roleplaying. First is the session. This is
the actual amount needed to play a game. Game sessions
usually last from three to five hours, though some are
shorter and sometimes they go for much longer. The
second measure of game time is the scenario. This is a
chapter of the story. There is usually a beginning, middle,
and an ending to a scenario, consisting of some roleplaying,
some action, and a dramatic resolution. A scenario may
take one or more sessions to play through. The longest
measure of game time is the campaign, a series of
scenarios linked together to form an epic or engrossing
longer story. A campaign may be finite, with a beginning,
middle, and end, or it may be open-ended, going until it
ends.

1.3 Responsibilities of the Gamemaster For an easy way to wrap your head around it, liken it to
At times, the gamemaster has the most fun in the game, reading a novel. The session is the amount of time to read a
but this comes with the largest share of responsibility. Each chapter. The scenario is one or more chapters. The
player must share the spotlight with all the other players, campaign is the whole novel itself. ‘One-shot’ games are
the gamemaster is constantly interacting with all the scenarios that do not have a place in a campaign—they’re
players. Using a published scenario or one they have like short stories. They may take longer than one sitting to
created, the gamemaster narrates the game universe and read, but they do not continue beyond the end of the story.
acts as the player characters’ opposition. That opposition
must be challenging and entertaining (or the players will be
bored) and it must be presented fairly (or they will be
outraged); otherwise, the game will not be fun (which is
the primary point of roleplaying).

The gamemaster should read and be familiar with these

rules. Know the general procedures for combat and
powers, but it’s not necessary to memorize everything—
most questions can be answered as they arise.

As for scenarios, there are a vast range of scenarios for

many different settings and games. Chaosium Inc. has
published many adventures for Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest,
and other game lines, most of which are based off the Basic
Roleplaying system. Other games are plentiful—and
converting a scenario from one of them to Basic
Roleplaying is fairly easy. Ideas for scenarios are also easy
to come by—almost any film or book with some aspect of
danger and excitement can be turned into a roleplaying
scenario.

13
2. CHARACTER CREATION
This section covers the process of creating a player
character for Basic Roleplaying. The procedure for creating
a non-player character is less involved and is covered later.
Image by Miguel Gonzalez via Unsplash
2.1 The Character Sheet
Each player needs a copy of the character sheet presented
on page 22 of this book. It’s possible to just write
everything on a blank sheet of paper, but the character
sheet makes things a lot easier. The character sheet
includes the following sections:
• Height and Weight: Choose these using the Size (SIZ)
• Identity: This is for the character’s basic information:
aspects that don’t have any game effects but help detail
who the character is.
• Characteristics & Rolls: These values describe qualities
of the character such as how strong and smart and fast
and attractive they are, etc. Rolls are based off
characteristics and are percentage values rolled to see if
the character succeeds or fails at a task.
14
• Hit Points: A value measuring how much damage a
player character can take before they die. Bigger and/or
healthier characters have more hit points (HP) while
smaller and/or frailer characters have fewer. At 0 HP, a
character is no longer conscious. At -1/2 HP, the
character is dead.
• Skills: These are the abilities the character has some
innate knowledge, training, or education in. Each is
expressed as a percentage chance, rolled to see if the
character succeeds.
• Weapons: These are weapons or attacks the character
uses, along with descriptions of how they do damage to
other characters.
• Armor: Any armor worn by the character, which may
reduce any damage they take from an attack. The
weight of the armor counts against Encumbrance, which
reduces DEX, CON and SPD.
• Equipment: Other items the character may carry that
may be of use.
2.2 Identity
This is the area where the character’s basic information is
fleshed out, the aspects of existence with little (if any)
game effect. These are roleplaying aspects—the things that
define the character as a character, not simply as a list of
characteristics and skills. The player can fill out this
information now in full, or partially, and skip to
characteristic and skill generation, or can hold off until they
know more about the character’s game system aspects.
Identity includes the following:
• Name: A suitable name for the character.
• Race: These basic rules cover ‘Human,’ but other races
are certainly more than possible.
• Gender: Write ‘Female’ or ‘Male’ or whatever other
gender works in a particular setting—there are no game
system differences between genders.
• Handedness: Is the character right- or left-handed? Pick
one—there are no game system differences.
characteristic (see below) as a guideline. These don’t
have to be specific numbers, and could be as vague as
‘Tall,’ ‘Average,’ or ‘heavy.’
• Description: This is a brief physical description of the
character, and might include coloration (hair, eyes, skin),
attitude, mode of dress, etc.
• Age: Pick an age appropriate to the character, keeping
characteristics in mind.
 Aging Effects
Child (8-11) -3 Str, Con; -1 Dex, Int, Wis, Cha
Young adult (12-15) Original scores
Adult (16-39) Original scores
Middle age (40-59) -1 Str, Dex, Con; +1 Int, Wis, Cha
Old (60-79) -1 Str, Dex, Con; +1 Int, Wis, Cha
Venerable (80+) -1 Str, Dex, Con; +1 Int, Wis, Cha
• Distinctive Features: Using the Appearance (APP)
characteristic as a guide (see below), does the character
have any notable features? This can be an impressive
scar, a broken nose, an exotic hairstyle, or an unusual
mode of dress. Make up a few. The higher or lower the
APP, the more distinctive features.
• Profession: The character’s career or the occupation
they are most identified with, or how they make their
living. A list of professions is provided in section 2.7.
2.3 Characteristics
Characters in Basic Roleplaying are rated in a variety of
ways. The most basic are their characteristics. These are
the innate abilities a character has, such as how smart they
are, how tough, how charismatic, etc. They are not learned
abilities but can sometimes be increased through training
and successful use. Normal humans roll 3d6 and have
characteristics ranging from 3 (abysmally low) to 18 (a
pinnacle of human potential), averaging at 10 or 11. The
higher a characteristic, the more potent the character is in
that ability. For other characters that are not “normal
humans” use the rules found in 8.3 Bestiary.
The Primary characteristics are Strength, Dexterity,
Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma and are
described below. The Secondary characteristics are Power,
Education, Speed and Size.
• Strength (STR): Strength is essentially how strong the
character is. It doesn’t necessarily mean raw muscle
mass, but how effectively the character can exert that
muscle to accomplish a strenuous physical feat. Roll 3D6
to figure out STR. The skill of “Lifting” can increase the
effective STR of a character. The skill increases the
strength by the same amount as the skill. Thus, a
character with a STR of 10 and a “Lifting” skill of 50%
means that the character has an effective STR of 15. A
character with a STR of 18 and a 99% Lifting gives the
character a STR of 36 (or 1296 pounds)!
• Dexterity (DEX): Dexterity is a measure of hand-to-hand
coordination, physical speed, and overall agility. DEX
determines how quickly a character may act in combat
15
and provides the basis for the Dodge skill. Roll 3D6 to
figure out DEX.
• Constitution (CON): Constitution is a measure of how
tough and resilient the character is. It helps aid in
resisting diseases, but the most significant aspect of
CON is determining how much injury a character can
suffer before dying. Roll 3D6 to figure out CON.
• Intelligence (INT): Intelligence is how smart the
character is: not necessarily as a measure of how much
information the character has memorized, but reasoning
power, intellectual acuity, problem-solving ability, and
intuition. Roll 2D6+6 to figure out INT.
• Wisdom (WIS): This is a measure of a character’s
intuition and common sense. This determines the
mental and spiritual mental resilience (MR) of a
character and mental resilience. It is closely related to
POW, but in an opposite manner.
• Charisma (CHA): This is a measure of several aspects,
from charisma, grace, and beauty/handsomeness to
how appealing the character is to others. A high CHA
character is noticeable in a crowd because of an
intangible combination of charm and presentation. Roll
3D6 to figure out CHA.
The following are the secondary characteristics and either
change during play, or almost never change in the game.
• Power (POW): Power is an almost intangible measure of
force of will, personal dynamism, and spiritual energy. A
high-POW character is a beacon of energy, luck, and
forceful presence, while a low one is often ignored or
missed, and is often unlucky. (CHA+WIS)/2 = POW. CHA
10 and a WIS of 18 = 28/2 = 14 POW. Alternately, roll
3d6 to figure out POW.
• Education (EDU): A measure of how well the character
has learned the lessons of life. This can be formal or
informal education as well as just life experience. Roll
3D6 to figure out EDU. As EDU is based on experience,
the minimum age of a character is EDU+6 years. If an
older character is desired, for every 5 years of age, an
additional point of EDU is added to the character. If a
character has an EDU of 13, then the minimum age (for
a human) is 19 (13+6). At the age of 24, the EDU gains a
+1, at 29 the character gains an additional +1, etc.
1-8 Primary education
9-12 Secondary education
13 1 year college
14 2 years college, Associates The method used to derive these statistics is to roll 4d6,
15 3 years college taking only the highest three results, nine times and to
16 Baccalaureate place each number wherever the player wishes. This
17 Post Baccalaureate allows the player some method of customization. With
18 Masters, Multiple Baccalaureates nine rolls, it is easy to see that there is a good likelihood of
19 Doctorate, Multiple Masters at least one very good roll and one very bad roll. This is
20 Multiple Doctorates consistent with reality whereas people usually have a
strong point (a good roll) and some aspect of themselves
• Speed (SPD): Speed is a measure of a character’s that is simply weaker (a bad roll).
movement speed. Speed is (DEX + CON)/2. Alternately,
roll 3d6 to figure out Speed. This is a physical attribute. If the characteristics aren’t exactly as desired, the player
A character can walk at 1/4 SPD in MPH for a number of can move up to 3 points from one characteristic to another.
hours equal to CONx2. A character can march at 4/10 For example, if a strong character is preferable to a smart
SPD in MPH for ½ CON hours while carrying . A character one, move 3 points from INT over to STR. There is no
can jog at ½ SPD in MPH for CON x 5 minutes. A requirement to move the whole 3 points, or any points at
character can run at ¾ SPD in MPH for CON minutes. all.
Sprinting speed is SPD equal to MPH for a number of
rounds equal to CON. To go further, a CON check has to The player should examine the set of characteristics and
be made every round (for sprinting), minute (running or think about what the numbers stand for. Are they strong
jogging) or hour (for walking or marching). The and clumsy? Small and fast? Average? Is the character
“Running” skill affects speed by increasing the sprinting, more of a thinker than a physical sort?
running and jogging speed of the character by the
percentage of the skill. So a character with a SPD of 10 If the numbers just don’t match the type of character
and a Running of 50% can run 50% as fast, or up to a desired, the player should ask the gamemaster if it’s all
SPD of 15. A character with a SPD of 18 and a Running right to start over and roll up a new set of characteristics.
skill of 99% doubles the speed to become a SPD of 36 (or This is fine, so long as all of the players have the same
36 MPH for CON x 2 rounds)! Running also doubles the opportunity and are happy with their results.
amount of time before a CON check has to be made.
“Marching” skill affects speed by increasing the walking As an aid to roleplaying, adjectival modifiers should be used
and marching speed of the character by the percentage for the statistics given. For Strength such words could be
of the skill while carrying a Medium or Heavy load only. muscular, solid, brawny or powerful. For Constitution;
tireless, enduring, tough and hale. For Dexterity, words
Rate MPH Time CON check Run Check such as lithe, nimble, quick or adroit are applicable. For
without every (Skill) every Power adjectives such as mystical, powerful, spiritual or
checks additional
Sprinting SPD CON rnds +1 rnd 2 rnds
forceful are appropriate. Charisma can be expounded by
Running ¾ SPD CON mins +1 min 2 min
captivating, outgoing, attractive or charismatic.
Jogging ½ SPD CONx5 mins +1 min 2 min
Intelligence can be described as sharp, bright, perceptive or
Marching 4/10 SPD CON hrs +1 hour 2 hrs
creative. Education brings forth images such as eloquent,
Walking ¼ SPD CONx2 hrs +1 hour 2 hrs
knowledgeable, bookish and scholarly. Wisdom can be
expounded upon by reference to words such as cunning,
wise, deep thinking or practical while Speed is described by
such adjectives as swift, agile, speedy and fleet. It is
• Size (SIZ): Size is a measure of how large the character
important to remember that high and low scores in any
is. It doesn’t necessarily translate to raw height—it’s
attribute should be further described by use of adjectives.
instead a general guide to physical mass. A high SIZ
character could be very tall (and thin), or short and
Score Description
thick, or average height and overweight. Roll 2D6+6 to
1 Inept
figure out SIZ.
2-3 Infant
4-5 Child
6-7 Significantly below adult human average; youth

16
8-9 Below adult human average; teenager Each characteristic roll is made against a characteristic
10-11 Adult human average multiplied by 5, expressed as a percentage chance. For
12-13 Above human average example, a STR 10 would give an Effort roll of 10×5=50, or
14-15 Significantly above human average 50%. These characteristic rolls are modified by difficulty in
16-17 Highly capable the same way as skills. If there is a skill for something, then
18-19 Extremely capable use that skill. If a character has no skill then they can use
20-21 Best in the region the unmodified characteristic as the skill percentage,
22-23 Best in the country modified for difficulty. The difference is that for a skill, the
24-25 World-class ability; maximum human potential entire action is rolled up in that single skill roll, while for a
26-27 Above human achievement person without that skill, each part requires a separate skill
28-29 Significantly above human achievement roll.
30+ (and up) Legendary ability
• Effort Roll: The Effort roll is used for forceful
Descriptor Value Percentage Population manipulation of an object of environmental aspect. It’s
Terrible 3 1-15% .1% based on STR×5. Trying to complete a hundred pushups
Poor 4 16-20% 1% requires an Effort roll.
Challenged 5 21-25% 2%
Mediocre 6-7 26-35% 7%
Fair 8-9 36-45% 15% (14.89%) • Agility Roll: The Agility roll is useful for deciding issues
Average 10-11 46-55% 50% where natural hand/eye coordination are more
Above Average 12-13 56-65% 15% (14.89%) important than any training, such as running on a
Good 14-15 66-75% 7% slippery surface or catching a dropped item before it hits
Talented 16 76-80% 2% the ground. It’s based on DEX×5. Catching something
Great 17 81-85% 1%
Superb 18 86-90% .1%
thrown at a character with a “Think fast!” warning
requires an Agility roll.
A character’s Ability Score can never drop below 0.
Str 0 = the character cannot move at all. He or she lies • Stamina Roll: The Stamina roll is used for prolonged
helpless on the ground. physical exertion and tests of fortitude. It’s based on
Dex 0 = the character cannot move at all. He or she is CON×5. Avoiding the common cold or trying to drink an
motionless and helpless. entire bottle of salad dressing requires a Stamina roll.
Con 0 = the character is dead.
Int 0 = the character cannot think and is in a coma-like • Idea Roll: The Idea roll is used for a flash of inspiration,
stupor, helpless. or to decide if the character ‘knows’ something that the
Wis 0 = the character is withdrawn in a deep sleep filled player knows or having the character figure out
with nightmares, helpless. something the player hasn’t. The gamemaster may
Cha 0 = the character is withdrawn into a catatonic, coma- sometimes use this roll to help prod the players when
like stupor, helpless. they don’t know what to do next (but when their
Pow 0 = the character is completely without connection to characters would). It’s based on INT×5. Spotting the
reality, in a coma like sleep. pattern in a series of crime scenes pinned on a map of
the city requires an Idea roll.
Edu 0 = the character has never been taught/shown
anything by any other being.
Spd 0 = the character cannot move at all. • Self-Control Roll: Whenever a character needs to keep
control of their emotions, thoughts or actions in the face
HP 0 = the character is unconscious and comatose.
of some external, or internal stimulus.
MR 0 = the character is catatonic.

• Charisma Roll: Raw charisma; being able to rely on good

2.31 Characteristic Rolls
looks and personal charm to gain attention or sway
Many capabilities of a character are measured in skills.
others. It’s based on APP×5. Trying to catch the
There are times, however, when a simpler roll is needed to
attention of a bouncer to be let into an exclusive club
decide if a character is successful at an activity based on a
requires a Charisma roll.
characteristic, use a characteristic roll.

17
 2.44 Damage Bonus
• Luck Roll: The Luck roll is to figure out if fate gives the Bigger, stronger characters do more damage when hitting
character a break or manages to squeak by at a situation their foes with melee weapons. The damage modifier is
where random chance may be a deciding factor applied to the damage rolled for any melee weapon attack
(roulette, for example). It’s based on POW×5. Deciding the character makes. Add STR+SIZ and consult the
the winner of a coin toss or draw of the short straw following table.
requires a Luck roll.
0 to 1 -4 1
• Knowledge Roll: The ability to remember something 5 to 9 -3 1
that they have seen or heard about once that has a 10 to 14 -2 1
bearing on a current problem. EDUx5. Trying to 15 to 19 -1 1
remember enough from your physics course to not sound 20 to 24 0 1
like an idiot. 25 to 26 +1 1d2
30 to 34 +2 1d3
2.4 Derived Characteristics 35 to 39 +3 1d4
These are derived from other aspects of the characteristics 40 to 44 +4 1d5
or may be modified by other aspects, such as race. 45 to 49 +5 1d6
50 to 54 +6 1d8-1 (minimum 1)
2.41 Hit Points +5 +1
Hit points (HP) are equal to the character’s CON+SIZ,
divided by two. These are subtracted as the character takes 2.45 Strength, Weight, Encumbrance
damage from injury or other sources. When a character The maximum that a character can lift is equivalent to their
reaches 0 HP, they fall unconscious. At -1/2 HP, the Strength x Strength in pounds. Three quarters of that is a
character is dead. heavy load, one half is a medium load, and one quarter is a
light load.
For characters and items that do not have a CON score, the
HP are equal to SIZ. At 0 HP the item is broken and non- Light Load, no skill penalty, carry CON hours
functional, at -1/2, the item is irreparable. Medium load, -10% skill check, carry for ½ CON hours, ½
speed
2.42 Mental Resilience Heavy load, -20% skill check, carry for ¼ CON hours, ¼
Mental Resilience (MR) is equal to Wisdom + Intelligence speed
divided by 2 multiplied by 5. (WIS + INT)/2 x 5. Mental
Resilience is equivalent to mental and emotional Hit Points. Strength is equal to STRxSTR in pounds able to picked up
The biggest difference between MR and HP, is that HP heal and lifted over a character’s head (clean and jerk).
over time and MR rarely does. Mental and Emotional STR Object's Weight
damage tends to be permanent. It takes time and effort to 1 1
heal from mental damage. As consolation, people generally 2 4
have more MR than HP. 3 9
4 16
MR loss also reduces morale, as the PC/NPC simply loses 5 25
the will to do things. If an injury causes a loss to Wisdom or 6 36
Intelligence, the MR is reduced by a similar amount. 7 49
8 64
2.43 Power Points 9 81
Power points are equal to POW and are spent to use magic 10 100
or other powers. When a character reaches 0 power points, 11 121
they fall unconscious. All power points regenerate after 12 144
one full day that includes a night’s rest. 13 169
14 196

18
15 225
16 256
17 289
18 324
19 361
20 400
25 625
30 900
35 1225
40 1600
45 2025
50 2500
60 3600 Image by Dr StClaire via Pixabay
70 4900
80 6400 2.5 Power and game mechanics
90 8100 Power (PWR) is one of the most changing statistics in the
100 10,000 game. The easiest way to think of it is as fuel that powers
supernatural effects. Power is burned as PC's cause
2.46 Fatigue magical effects. Power flows back into the character so
In life and death combat, combatants do not have the that after 24 hours, the entire natural amount of PWR a
luxury of rest and pacing. Battles and melees are ferocious character had is regenerated.
affairs, with characters constantly moving. Hesitation is
certain death. As battles lengthen from seconds into When a character's Power reaches 0, they fall unconscious,
minutes, the weight of weapons and armor wear immediately. There are times when a character needs
characters down. A large amount of energy is spent more Power. The route to getting more Power is called
striking, dodging, blocking, casting, and this will wear a "after-burning" by modern mages. By trading in points of
character down, to say nothing of excitement, fear, panic CON to use as PWR, they can effectively burn more power
or pain. than they have. This is very dangerous since it lowers their
DC, which makes it easier to die, and if they reduce their
For every full or partial ten minutes of constant combat or CON to 0, they will die, immediately. An example would be
“extreme exertion” (GM’s call on “constant”), a character if Serissa, the elven combat mage has 2 PWR left, but needs
will take 1 CON damage. This can either be healed by to cast a 6 PWR fireball. She can do this by using her 2
magic or by 8 hours of deep sleep (8 hours of sleep = 1 PWR and spending 4 CON, which drops her DC. At the end
CON). of the round, Serissa can either fall unconscious (since she
has 0 PWR left) or spend an additional 1 CON to remain
For “constant exertion”, every ¼ CON hours, you have to conscious, with a PWR of 1.
make an “exertion check” of current CON x 5% or suffer an
Exhaustion Level. There are 6 Exhaustion Levels, and they CON used in this way returns at a rate of 1 CON per day!
have penalties associated with them. This is very dangerous. Dropping to 0 PWR is also bad
because it causes the character to fall deeper into the grasp
Level 1 -10% to all skills of Arcane Affective Disorder.
Level 2 Speed halved
Level 3 -20% to all skills
2.51 Life Goals
Level 4 Hit Points are halved
The ONLY way to increase Power is to accomplish life goals.
Level 5 Speed is 0
These successes build the self-confidence, focus, and
Level 6 Death fortitude necessary for the increased spiritual strength that
Power signifies.

19
Short Term Goal +1 Power 17 289
A character should have 5 Short Term Goals, take about 18 324
year to complete 19 361
20 400
Long Term Goal +3 Power 25 625
A character should have 2 Long term Goals, take about 5 30 900
years to complete 35 1225
40 1600
Life Goal +5 Power 45 2025
A character should have 1 Life Goal, take over 10 years to 50 2500
complete 60 3600
70 4900
Thus, to complete all a character’s goals will take about 25 80 6400
years, which should be an excellent and rewarding 90 8100
adventuring career. 100 10,000

2.6 Size and game mechanics

SIZE Classes
Fine SIZ: less than 1
Diminutive SIZ 1
Tiny SIZ 2-3
Small SIZ 4-8
Medium SIZ 9-22
Large SIZ 23-63
Huge SIZ 64-179
Gargantuan SIZ 180-500
Colossal SIZ 501+

An objects HP is the square root of the Size. A 70 ton

object has (70 x 2,000 = 140,000 pound. The √140,000 is Image by Rober Linder via Unsplash
374.16 so we round down to 374. The object has 374 HP.)
Object's SIZ Object's Mass 2.61 Object SIZ Chart
1 1 Glass window 2
2 4 Door 5
3 9
Chair 3
4 16
5 25 Table 6
6 36 Lamp post 10
7 49 Home wall 15
8 64
Brick wall 20
9 81
10 100 Concrete wall 25
11 121 Concrete and steel wall 27
12 144 Small air vehicle 30
13 169
Automobile 33
14 196
15 225 Vault door 35
16 256 Medium land vehicle 38

20
 Steel beam 22 character's history is, the more vibrant and fun that
Air vehicle, jet fighter
character will become.
190
Medium tank 380 Any major aspects of characterization or background
Air vehicle, airliner 700 should be decided at this point. The gamemaster may
wish to learn more about the character’s background for
2.7 Finishing Touches use in a campaign. This can include origin, family,
Once the character has been created, there is still a lot of education, religion, past actions, or goals. Generally, the
secondary information that may be added to flesh the more a player knows about the character, the more ‘real’
character out. Some of these are simple, some need they become in play, though this is not always necessary.
some thought, but here is a list of questions to get your It’s just as bad to create too much background as it is to
players thinking in the right direction. create too little.
What was the population and climate of the area the
character grew up in? Each player should create as much background as feels
What was their home life like? How many siblings did comfortable. A one-shot scenario probably doesn’t need lot
they have? of character background, but for a longer campaign, the
Are their parents still alive and do they approve of the gamemaster and other players may have a hard time
character’s life choices, such as choice of spouse/lover, imagining the character if enough information hasn’t been
domicile or profession? provided.
What is the current relationship with the character’s
siblings?
What is the character’s most important goal in life? What The gamemaster always has the right to veto anything
would happen if the character achieved that goal? that’s objectionable or does not fit into the desired setting
Does the character have a family or plan to have a family or tone.
of their own? What does the character's family think
about that?
2.71 Starting Money and Social Class
Who is the character romantically involved with? What
1d12 to figure out social status. The age category of the
are the issues with that relationship?
PC plays some role in this as well.
What is the character’s darkest secret?
Child -3
What does the character think is their best and/or worst
Adolescent -2
feature?
Young Adult -1
Who is the character’s best friend? What do they do and
Adult, Professional and Middle Age no modifiers
what sort of influence do they exert on a character? Who
does the character consider to be their primary rival or Old and Venerable +1
enemy, or just hate for no reason? Elderly +2
Ancient +3
Players and DM's must be aware of the characters'
personal history for two reasons. The first is that a If you don't work, you possess no money. Hope your
character's history is why a character is the way they are. family does.
Their history is why they chose to be a mercenary or a
bodyguard and explains why they have a scar across their NPC's can use this table, and for Rich or Elite NPC's, they
left cheek. should be created as such...not just some random dude
with a couple of thousand IM in his pocket.
The second reason is that a character's history should
never be static. That means that the history is part and Starting Monthly
parcel of a character and should be used to come up with 1d10 Lifestyle money upkeep
ideas for further adventures. Relatives, friends, rivals and -2 to 0 Street 1d4 x 1000 0
other people from a character's past can and should be 1 Squatter 1d6 x 1000 600
used in adventures, as well as places. The fuller a 2-4 Poor 2d6 x 1000 1000

21
5-10 Average 1d4 x 10,000 1600 be vastly different from other nations ethics and morality.
11-12 Well off 1d10 x 10,000 3500 A character's or creature's general moral and personal
13 Affluent 1d4 x 50,000 7000 attitudes are represented by their alignment: lawful good,
-- Rich 1d10 x 50,000 20,000 neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral,
-- Elite 1d4 x 500,000 75,000+ chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil.

Good vs. Evil

Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil
characters and creatures debase or destroy innocent life,
whether for fun or profit.

"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for

the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make
personal sacrifices to help others.

"Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some

evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and
kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others
actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some
evil deity or master.

People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have
compunctions against killing the innocent but lack the
commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others.
Neutral people are committed to others by personal
relationships. A neutral person may sacrifice himself to
protect his family or even his homeland, but he would not
do so for strangers who are not related to him.

Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are

neutral rather than good or evil.

Law and Chaos

Image by Serhiy Hipskyy via Unsplash
This is the amount of money and assets that a character
has access to. Any money not spent on equipment is cash
or other assets. The Monthly Upkeep is the amount of
money that it takes every month in order to maintain the
lifestyle of the character. This includes rent, utilities,
groceries and other sundry bills.
2.72 Alignment
The concept of alignment and allegiance is more
important for character development than actual game
mechanics, with the exception of Druidic magic, which is
heavily influenced by alignment. There are 9 possible
alignments, and they determine how the world at large
sees them. It must be stressed that these alignments are
also very subjective in that certain societies' morality may
Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect
authority, honor tradition, and judge those who fall short
of their duties. Chaotic characters follow their
consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas
over tradition, and do what they promise if they feel like
it.
"Law" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to
authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can
include close mindedness, reactionary adherence to
tradition, and a lack of adaptability.
"Chaos" implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On
the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment
toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and
irresponsibility.

22
 (F) Kill for pleasure?
People who are neutral with respect to law and chaos
have a normal respect for authority and feel neither a 5. Do you:
compulsion to obey nor to rebel. They are honest but can (A) Never torture for any reason?
be tempted into lying or deceiving others. (B) Never torture for pleasure, but will extract information
forcefully if the situation
Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are requires?
neutral. (C) Not use torture unless absolutely necessary?
(D) Use torture to extract information (but not for
Questions pleasure)?
1. Do you: (E) Use torture to extract information and also for
(A) Always keep your word of honor? pleasure?
(B) Keep your word of honor to other good people, but (F) Never torture for pleasure, nor resort to inhumane
not necessarily bad people? treatment of prisoners, but as a
(C) Keep your word of honor and have a high regard for necessary means of extracting information?
life and freedom?
(D) May or may not keep your word of honor? 6. Will you:
(E) Not necessarily keep your word of honor to anyone? (A) Never kill for pleasure?
(F) Rarely keep your word of honor (or you have no honor (B) Never kill for pleasure (but always try to bring the
at all)? villain to justice)?
(C) Seldom kill for pleasure, but for revenge is ok?
2. Do you: (D) Possibly kill just for the hell of it?
(A) Avoid lying? (E) Kill for sheer pleasure?
(B) Lie only to selfish or evil people?
(C) Lie and cheat if necessary (especially to evil people)? 7. Will you:
(D) Lie and cheat if you feel it’s necessary? (A) Always help others?
(E) Lie and cheat to anyone, good or evil? (B) Help those in need most of the time?
(F) Lie to and cheat those not worthy of your respect? (C) Help those in need as, but only with some ulterior
(G) Lie and cheat to anyone? motive (even it’s only showing off)?
(D) Help those in need only if there is some kind of
3. Will you: material reward?
(A) Never kill or attack unarmed foes? (E) May or may not help those in need?
(B) Not kill unarmed foes (but you will take advantage of (F) Most likely help someone only to kill or rob them
one)? yourself?
(C) Not likely kill an unarmed foe, but certainly knockout,
attack or beat one? 8. Do you:
(D) Most definitely attack and unarmed foe (those are the (A) Work well in a group?
best kind)? (B) Work with groups, but dislike bureaucratic red tape
(E) May or may not kill an unarmed foe? and confining laws?
(F) Most certainly attack and kill an unarmed foe? (C) Work with groups, especially if it’s profitable?
(D) Not work well in groups (you’re a bit loud-mouthed
4. Do you: and do as you please)?
(A) Never harm innocents? (E) Work with others if it will help you obtain personal
(B) Never kill innocents (but may harm or kidnap)? goals, otherwise screw it?
(C) Use or harm innocents? (F) Not work well in groups because you always ignore
(D) Not kill innocents, particularly children (but may harm, orders?
kidnap others)?
(E) Use, hurt, and kill an innocent without a second 9. Do you:
thought? (A) Never break the law unless you are desperate?

23
(B) Attempt to work within the law if possible, but you are
willing to bend the rules and manipulate the law to work
for you?
(C) Dislike authority?
(D) Have little respect for self-discipline or authority?
(E) Have no deference to laws or authority, but will work
within the law if it serves your
purpose?
(F) Respect and honor self-discipline?
(G) Despise honor, authority, and self-discipline?
10. Will you:
(A) Never betray a friend?
(B) Possibly betray a friend?
(C) Betray a friend if it serves your needs or keeps you
alive?
(D) Betray a “friend” at the drop of a hat?
(E) You don’t have friends, only people that have
temporary value.
2.73 Honor, Loyalty and Connections
All characters have a connection to something be it a
person, a friend, an item, an idea whatever, and this is a
way to represent that. What follows is an easy way to
determine that level of connection to things and the
effects on game play.
You have 100 points of connection and you “buy”
connection to different things, anything. These are your
motivations, your connections, etc.
This is different than alignment, nature, demeanor or
concept, but it plays an important role in determining how
a character acts and why.
Concept: How your character sees themselves
Nature: How your character actually is, not how they think
they are.
Demeanor: How others see your character.
Alignment: Your character’s moral limits, what they will
and will not do.
Morale: The amount of difficulty that a PC/NPC will
overcome to achieve their goals.
0 Nothing, they have no morale to do anything
1 Threats
2 Violence
3 Injury
4 Serious Injury
5 Death
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6 There is nothing they will not do, nothing they will not
overcome, including death (if possible).
Preferred Intensity: Some people prefer to sit and think,
others prefer to be active, and still other people really
don’t feel alive unless they are risking their life. This
preferred level of intensity is denoted by the scale below.
Thinking about something for hours. This is not “worrying”
or being anxious but thought for this character is the
preferred place for this person. Reading, theorizing or
planning is how this character feels comfortable in reality.
Doing something is how this character feels most engaged
with the world. This is generally displayed by doing
activities that use their hands, such as painting or music.
Hard physical activity is the key for this character’s
happiness. Sport is often how this character relaxes.
Danger is how this character feels alive. It is only when
stakes are high does life seem worth living.
There are some edge cases such as people who love high
stakes gambling. It is a fairly sedentary activity, but the
risk, especially in illegal gambling halls makes it a very
dangerous activity. There are also roller coasters, which
feel very dangerous, but are usually quite safe, safer than
driving or flying.
This preferred intensity is rarely important in game terms,
but it is a very good descriptor for knowing a PC as
opposed to a collection of stats.
Loyalties/Motivations/Goals: What is your character
loyal/connected to and their impetus for actions.
Things to be loyal to and/or motivated by include, but are
not limited to: Family, Friends, Others people,
Organizations, Nations, Belief Systems (religious, ethical,
cult, etc.), material objects, survival, money, etc.
Each thing you have is “bought” with % points which is the
base chance that the character will respond to despite the
players wishes!! This is a GM tool to control
players…beware.
If the player is not doing what you want, have them roll
for motivation/loyalty and if they roll under their
motivation, they will do what the roll says they will do,
NOT what the player wants. In conflicts, you figure out
Motive #1 value, then Motive #2’s value then add them
together to get: 0-X% Motive 1, X-Y Motive 2, Y-00
Player’s choice…
Use this OFTEN to keep players honest. What follows is a
few ways to use Loyalty and Motivation. This genre tries
to avoid the Action Movie cliche of the good guy saving
the day and riding off into the sunset with the girl by using
another cliche. That cliché being "SHIT HAPPENS"...to
everyone! The good guy may save the day but get killed
doing so. The bad guy may get away and kill the good
guy's family (which is dramatic motivation for the good
guy to hunt down the bad guy). You see, there's motive,
drama and plot all tying together to make things happen,
and possibly make unexpected things happen as well.
But why? Well, in true pulp/action, the emphasis lies on
honor and loyalty rather than getting rich and saving the
day.
In real pulp/action, characters must make tough choices of
honoring their duty, family, friends and such forth,
whether a "good guy" or a "bad guy". And, like real life,
this tends to blur the lines between right and wrong, good
and bad. So we can now end up with a "bad guy" hitman
who actually has a heart of gold, a code of honor that
disallows hits on women and children, and is going to
retire after he just does a few more hits to get enough
money to help out an innocent victim from one of his
former hits whom he also happens to love. Or we can get
a "good guy" police officer who's actually on the "take"
and into all sorts of dirty business but does so because he
knows how things really work, and not always the way the
law prescribes. Good and bad is all relative to the
situation. It ultimately comes down to what the
character's more loyal to that drives their motivation on
achieving certain goals more than others, thus
Loyalties/Motivations.
Basically, list what's important to your character, usually
things from your character's background if you're just
drawing them up. Then, you rank them in order from 1
(most important) to X. The obvious ones would be Family,
Friends and Organization/Duty, but you may think of
others, so feel free to increase your characters personal
honor/loyalty. In doing so, you are listing in what order
your character will hold things dear. These loyalties are
not static, nor are they one way (though some are), and
they are often reciprocated. When they are reciprocated,
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it becomes known as an allegiance. An allegiance can
create an empathic bond with others of the same
allegiance. With the GM’s permission, the character gains
up to a 10% bonus on skill checks when dealing with
someone of the same allegiance—as long as the character
has had some interaction with the other character to
discover the connections and bring the bonus into play.
While loyalty will usually remain fairly static, there may be
dramatic times when the GM allows a character's honor
and loyalty to be swapped around. In doing so, something
else may become a top priority while something may slip
in standing. Remember that this option is best used as a
role-playing enhancement tool for the player.
Allegiances include, but are not limited to, the following
examples.
Family: This describes the people who are your own flesh
and blood. Since you're related, you tend to show more
respect, honor and loyalty to them to uphold the family
name and keep outsiders from taking advantage of inner
family turmoil. This may give you a high ranking for family.
But sometimes your own flesh and blood is your worst
enemy. You may be nothing like your family, and either
they or you have disowned the other due to differences.
This may make them low ranking on your list of honor and
loyalty.
Friends: This is obviously dealing with close-relations and
other loved ones (besides family) who help you out in
many ways. In pulp/action, friends may just be people
who happen to be there to lend a hand every once in a
while and expect favors in return. This would probably
rank friends lower on your list. But if you have friends who
seem to always be there for you, always manage to keep
you going, and always seem to take the bullet without
(directly) asking anything in return except the honor of
having a true friendship, then friends may rank higher on
your list.
Person or Group: This includes a leader or superior, a
group of linked individuals (such as a band of adventurers
or a cell of secret agents), or a discrete unit within a larger
organization (such as members of the character’s squad or
platoon, or individuals whose safety the character is
responsible for).
Organization: This may be a company or corporation, a
gathering of like-minded individuals, a fraternal
brotherhood, a secret society, a branch of the armed
forces, a local, state, or national government, a university,
an employer, or an otherwise established authority.
Characters belonging to an organization will usually have
duties put on them by the organization in order to be
useful. And if they go out of their way to excel at those
duties, they are indirectly going out of their way to
support the organization. And if they go out of their way
to try and help the organization, they'd probably first try
to excel at their duties to show the organization they
support it. And the same goes for neglecting duties or an
organization, except negative things happen. Characters
going out of their way to do a good job or improve the
organization would value the honor/loyalty of it more
than characters who cared little about their duties or
organization.
Nation: This may or may not be the nation that the hero
currently resides in. It may be where the individual was
born, or where the hero resides after emigrating to a new
home.
Belief System: This is usually a particular faith or religion,
but can also be a specific philosophy or school of thought.
Belief systems could also include political beliefs or
philosophical outlooks.
Other: They're basically things not covered in the above
three categories. For instance, a character may hold a love
memento given to them by a relative as the most precious
thing they have, thus they'd have a high rank in that
honor/loyalty. The ideas are only limited to what you feel
your character would cherish.
2.74 Social Interaction
Social interactions are a way for PCs to make others do
what they want, such as flee, help or be awed. Social skills
are the tools that PC uses to cause these reactions. While
these skills are useful, they are most important when used
over time. It would be very rare to convince someone of a
world spanning conspiracy in a single encounter, but over
time, people can be convinced of almost anything and to
have a level of loyalty impossible to achieve with other
methods.
This spectrum runs from -10 (self-sacrificing hatred) to +10
(selfless sacrifice). A normal interaction starts at 0 where
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neither participant has a positive or negative feeling
towards the other. This scale moves up and down over
time depending on how previous interactions go.
0 Starting point
+1 for a positive Appearance modifier
-1 for a negative Appearance modifier
+1 for a positive Charisma modifier
-1 for a negative Charisma modifier
+1 for every previous POSITIVE interaction, the character
gets what they wanted
-1 for every previous NEGATIVE interaction, the character
does not get what they wanted
-2 for every double cross or social backstabbing. The
double crosser has a -1 penalty.
-4 for every violent interaction they lose. The victor has a -
2 penalty.
This fluctuating scale keeps interactions floating around -2
to +2 on average, but after some time, if positive or
negative interactions persist, it becomes more difficult to
change the NPCs feelings.
For every +1 bonus there is a corresponding +5% to that
skill interaction.
For every -1 penalty, there is a corresponding -5% to that
skill interaction.
As an example, Red Rick is trying to haggle with James K.
about getting a better deal on some merchandise. This is
the first time they have ever met. Neither Rick nor James
finds the other attractive, but James is Charismatic giving
a +1.
This gives James a +5% bonus on ALL social skill checks
during THIS encounter. Red Rick doesn’t suffer any
penalties. Let’s say that James and Rick come to a decent
compromise on this deal. That means they both get a +1
bonus for this interaction.
The next time they meet, James will have a +10% bonus
on ALL social checks and Rick gets a +5% bonus.
Immediately after this meeting, James’ double crosses
Rick and Rick almost dies, and Rick finds out that it was
James who set him up. This gives Rick a -15% penalty on
social skills with James, but James drops to a 0% bonus on
social skills with Rick.
10, selfless sacrifice, +50% bonus
9, love +45%
8, 6-10 an orphan living with your grandparents
7, 11-15 an orphan living with other relatives but you were
6, ignored
5, 16-20 an orphan living with other relatives and loved
4, 21-25 with your parents and traveled a lot
3, 26-30 with your parents and a large extended family
2, Likeable, +10% 31-35 as a ward of the government
1, Decent, +5% 36-40 with your mother or father after a nasty divorce
0, polite, no bonus 41-45 with your mother or father and are illegitimate
-1 mild dislike, -5% 46-50 with relatives, your parents gave you up to them
-2 dislike, -10% 51-55 with your parents in an abusive home
-3 avoid, if possible, -15% 56-60 with your parents and were pampered
-4 61-65 with your mother or father, the other parent is a
-5 criminal
-6 66-70 with the people who kidnapped you as a child
-7 71-75 with your adoptive parents
-8, sabotage if able, -40% 76-80 as a slave
-9, violence is a possibility, -45% 81-85 in an institution (monastery, hospital, etc.)
-10, self-sacrificing hatred, -50% 86-90 on the streets
91-00 with your parents in a normal family
2.75 Random Tables
You can use these random tables to either answer the 3) As a child you were interested in:
questions above or just to gain a bit more insight into your 1-5 outdoors
character. If you don’t like any of the rolls, you can either 6-10 agriculture
ignore it, roll again or pick an option you like. This is your 11-15 books/literature
character, and it is no fun to play a character that you 16-20 history
hate on a visceral level. 21-25 religion
26-30 natural history
1) You grew up in a: 31-35 language
1-5 small clan 36-40 police/firefighters
6-10 small compound 41-45 the arts
11-15 homestead 46-50 math
16-20 small farm 51-55 cultures
21-25 hamlet 56-60 philosophy
25-30 village 61-65 business
30-40 small town 66-70 etiquette
40-50 small city 71-75 politics
50-60 large city 76-80 fighting
60-75 metropolis 81-85 science/magic/psionics/etc.
75-90 megalopolis 86-90 sports
91-92 solitary single family 91-95 cooking
93-94 prospecting camp 96-00 the military
95-96 small mining town
97-98 large mining town 4) Parents are:
99-00 nomadic tribe 1-5 Alive
6-10 One or both are dead or missing
2) You grew up: What happened to them:
1-5 an orphan of the state 1-2 Parents died in an accident

27
3-4 Parents died by violence 2 Is a childhood friend
5-6 You never knew your parents 3 An old family friend
7-8 Parents disappeared 4 Is like a big brother or sister to you
9-10 Parents are in hiding 5 Is like a kid brother or sister to you
6 Is a teacher or mentor
5) You get/got along with your parents: 7 Is like a parent to you
1-4 Well 8 Is a partner or co-worker
5-8 With one of them 9 Is an old lover
9-10 With neither of them 10 Is an old enemy

6) Your family reputation is/was: 10) You have 1d4 “enemies”, +1 if the character is
1-2 Good “Chaotic”, +1 if the character is “Evil”. Roll a 1d10 for
3-8 Neutral each one. Odd they are male, even they are female. Roll
9-10 Evil an additional d10 for each enemy. Even numbers you
Your family is remembered as evil because: know they are your enemy, odd numbers mean you don’t
1-2 Family was imprisoned even know they hate you! Your enemy is:
3-4 Family vanished and left large amounts of debt 1-3 They are an enemy agent
5-6 Family was exiled 4 They are an ex-friend
7-8 Family lost everything and supports itself through 5 They are an ex-lover
crime 6 They are a relative
9 Family squanders all wealth on depraved hobbies 7 They are a childhood enemy
10 Family was murdered for some unknown reason 8 They are your boss
9 They are a subordinate
7) Family Wealth 10 They are a co-worker or partner
1-2 Poor
3-4 Lower class 11) Your enemy dislikes you because:
5-8 Average 1 Caused the other to lose status or reputation
9 Upper class 2 Caused the other to lose a lover, relative or friend
10 Rich 3 Caused the other humiliation
4 Accused the other of cowardice or other flaw
8) How many siblings do you have: 5 Caused the other a physical disability
1-7 is how many siblings you have 6 Deserted or betrayed the other
8-10 you are an only child 7 Turned down an offer (romantic, job, partnership)
Roll a 1d10 for each sibling, odd they are male, even they 8 Caused the exile/imprisonment of the other
are female. Roll a 1d10 for each sibling: 9 Is/was a romantic rival
1-2 They dislike you 10 Foiled the other’s plan(s)
3-4 They hate you
5-6 Neutral 12) Roll a 1d10 for each enemy:
7-8 They worship you 1-3 They hate you
9-10 They like you 4-6 You hate them
7-10 The feeling is mutual
9) You have 1d4 “friends” (+1 for CHA 11-19, +2 for CHA
20-29, +3 for CHA 30-39, etc.). These are your closest 13) If the two of you met, the injured party would:
friends in the world, though they are not much use “in 1-2 Try to kill the other
game”. Roll a 1d10 for each one. Odd they are male, 3-4 Avoid each other
even they are female. 5-6 Cause indirect injury
Your relationship: 7-8 Ignore them
1 Grew up with you 9-10 Verbally attack

28
 10 They like you, you hate them
14) Are you involved in a relationship?
1-3 Yes 18) Your hair is: And:
4-7 No 1 Red 1 Neat
8-10 No, due to trauma from a bad relationship. 2 Blue 2 long and straight
3 Green 3 short and straight
15) If you are in a relationship, how is it going? 4 Blonde 4 short with bangs
1 Your lovers relatives/friends hate you 5 Black 5 swept over one eye
2 Your lovers relatives/friends want to get rid of you 6 Orange 6 long and curly
3 Your friends/relatives hate your lover 7 Purple 7 long bangs
4 There is a rival for your/their affection 8 Silver 8 wild all over
5 You are separated for some reason 9 White 9 frizzy
6 You fight constantly 10 Brown 10 short and curly
7 One of you is insanely jealous
8 One of you is cheating 19) Eye color:
9 One of you wants out but doesn’t want to hurt the 1 Blue
other. 2 Green
10 Everything is great, for now. 3 Grey
4 Silver
16) If you are not involved in a relationship: 5 Amber
1-2 You date everything that moves 6 Brown or black
3-4 You’re waiting for the “right one” 7 Gold
5-6 You don’t have time for romance 8 Violet
7-8 You don’t want to get serious with anyone 9 Ruby
9-10 You can’t get a date to save your life! 10 different colors

17) If you were in a bad relationship, what happened: 20) Personality traits: (d20)
1 They died 1 Shy and secretive
2 They were in an accident 2 Rebellious and antisocial
3 They disappeared 3 Arrogant and aloof
4 It just didn’t work out 4 Moody and rash
5 You dumped them 5 Friendly and outgoing
6 They dumped you 6 Picky and fussy
7 They went insane 7 Stable and serious
8 Relatives/friends came between you 8 Silly and absentminded
9 A rival stole them 9 Sneaky and deceptive
10 It ended violently and one of you went to jail. 10 Intellectual and detached
11 Sullen and morose
Although it’s over: 12 Stubborn and obstinate
1 They still love you 13 Uncaring and cruel
2 You still love them 14 Docile and cooperative
3 You still love each other 15 Nervous and apprehensive
4 You hate them 16 Tolerant and open minded
5 They hate you 17 Fatalistic and pessimistic
6 You hate each other 18 Forceful and determined
7 You are good friends 19 Loyal and faithful
8 You are both glad it’s over 20 Practical and pragmatic
9 You like them, they hate you

29
21) You most valued concept:
1 Money 25) Motivation
2 Honor 1 Remorseful for past wrongs
3 Loyalty 2 Seeking a new life
4 Honesty 3 Revenge
5 Knowledge 4 Seeking respect/fame
6 Vengeance 5 Mercenary
7 Power 6 Protect others
8 Love 7 Protect a way of life
9 Excitement 8 Seeking knowledge/object
10 Friendship 9 Excitement
10 Idealistic
22) Your most valued possession:
1 A weapon/tool 2.6 NPC Professions and Ability Levels
2 A pet/plant There are 10 Ability Levels for NPC's. An Ability Level is
3 An article of clothing basically how many skills they have at a certain level. If
4 A photograph you want to add more detail, feel free, but this is just to
5 A book quickly figure out how skilled an NPC is.
6 A recording
7 A musical instrument 1d10 Rank Skills @ XX%
8 An article of jewelry/family heirloom 1 Novice 1 @ 30%
9 A toy 2 Rookie 2 @ 35%
10 A letter 3 Green 3 @ 40%
4 Trained 4 @ 45%
23) The person you value most in the world is: 5 Average 5 @ 50%
1 Parent 6 Above Average 6 @ 55%
2 Sibling 7 Experienced 7 @ 60%
3 Lover 8 Elite 8 @ 70%
4 Friend 9 Expert 9 @ 80%
5 Yourself 10 Awesome 10 @ 85%
6 Pet -- World Class 11+ @ 90%
7 Teacher/mentor
8 Public figure By using this you can see how a world class character is at
9 Personal hero least 5 times as powerful as a novice or a rookie, but
10 No one remember that this is only as an individual...a world class
character will almost never be alone, they will usually
24) Overall view towards others have at least one Awesome cohort and several Experts or
1 Every person is a valuable individual at the very least Elites in tow. They also have huge
2 You like nearly everyone amounts of resources which allow them access to all sorts
3 Indifferent to others of ability boosting equipment. This is important to
4 Feel misunderstood by others remember, since many RPG's have the idea that a “major
5 You are born, you live, you die character” must have freakish ability scores and ridiculous
6 Others must earn your respect amounts of "power" in order to be important.
7 People are scum
8 People are sheep, use them That theory is utterly ridiculous. If an enemy warlord has
9 My family/friends are all that I care about a high leadership skill and actually delivers on his promises
10 There are two kinds of people, those that agree with to his subordinates, there is no reason why a very “low
me and those that need to get out of my face level” NPC cannot command the undying loyalty of some
very high level cohorts. This is essential to understand

30
when creating NPC’s for you characters to interact with. A 4. Administrator/Manager
major foil does not need to be an insanely old, ridiculously 5. Adventurer/Daredevil/Thrill Seeker
powerful warlord or wizard, but it could simply be their 6. Air Traffic Controller/Aircraft Groundcrew
neighbor who knows somebody that owes them a favor or 7. Aircrewman/Pilot
two. 8. Alienist/Psychiatrist
9. Ambassador/Diplomat/Politician
10. Apprentice (roll again)
11. Archaeologist
12. Archer/Yeoman
13. Architect
14. Aristocrat/Royalty
15. Armored Vehicle Crewman/Cavalier
16. Armorer
17. Arms man
18. Artificer/Craftsman
19. Artillerist
20. Artist/Painter/Sculptor
21. Ascetic/Monk
22. Assassin
23. Athlete (sport, individual, etc.)
Image by Yoo Soosang via Unsplash 24. Attorney/Lawyer/Solicitor
25. Bail Enforcement/Bounty Hunter
NPC Generator 26. Barbarian/Berserker
This list is a good starting point for NPC’s such as patrons 27. Bard/Battle Bard/Musician
or relatives. This is a list of jobs and events and as such 28. Bartender
gives a good overview of what major influences have 29. Battle Brother/Maiden
occurred in a beings’ life.
30. Beast Rider/Animal Trainer
31. Beggar/Unemployed
As an NPC generator, simply roll a d2 (1=01-100, 2=101-
32. Black Guard/Heretic
200) then a d100 to get the job/description and a d10 to
33. Black Marketeer/Fence
figure out the ability level.
34. Bodyguard/Guard/Security Professional
35. Brawler/Brick/Strongman/Rowdy
It is a good idea to know what your character used to do
36. Brigand/Highwayman/Outlaw
earlier in life. You can either make it up or use the
37. Buccaneer/Pirate
following list to help you. To use the list for past activities
38. Cavalry Scout
simply roll a d2 (1=01-00, 2=101-200) then a d100 to get
39. Chaplain/Cleric/Priest
the job/description and that is what your character
40. City Guard/Policeman
does/used to do. Please note that this list should be used
41. City Rat
when making a character completely randomly or to give
42. Civil Affairs/Aid Worker
an idea of what the character did before they became an
43. Club Owner
adventurer.
44. Club-goer
45. Commando/Elite Soldier/Operator
Please note that although some of the professions are
46. Commoner/Everyman
similar, the connotation drawn from the title is somewhat
47. Communications Technician
different.
48. Con Artist/Huckster/Trickster
49. Constable/Jailer
1. Activist
50. Construction Worker
2. Actor (professional, psionic, stage, etc.)
51. Convict/Prisoner
3. Addict

31
52. Corporate/Guild/Government Official 100. Gunsmith
53. Courier 101. Hardman/Thug
54. Courtier 102. Hedonist
55. Covert Ops Specialist 103. Hermit
56. Cowboy/Rancher 104. Homeless/Vagabond
57. Crime Scene Investigator 105. Hospitality Industry
58. Criminal/Thief/Rogue 106. Household Officer/Champion
59. Cult Investigator 107. Hunter/Monster Hunter
60. Cult Leader 108. Infantry/Grunt (Airborne, Mechanized, Light)
61. Cultist/Disciple 109. Infiltrator
62. Data Worker 110. Information Dealer
63. Demolitionist/Explosive Ordnance Disposal 111. Inquisitor/Internal Affairs/Counter-Intelligence
64. Designer 112. Intelligence Analyst/Intelligence Specialist
65. Desperado 113. Interrogator/Torturer
66. Detective 114. Justiciar
67. Dilettante/Idle Rich 115. Knife Fighter/Swordsman
68. Diviner/Prophet/Oracle 116. Knight/Cavalier
69. Diver 117. Loan Shark
70. Doctor 118. Locksmith
71. Driver/Rigger/Wheelman 119. Lore master
72. Drug Dealer 120. Lurker
73. Druid 121. Machinist
74. Duelist 122. Mad Scientist/Mad Mage
75. Educator/Teacher/Professor 123. Marksman/Sharpshooter/Sniper
76. Electronic Warfare 124. Marshal
77. Electronics Repair 125. Martial Artist
78. Emergency Medical Technician 126. Mechanic
79. Engineer (Combat, Civil, Mechanical, etc.) 127. Medic/EMT
80. Entertainer 128. Mercenary
81. Entrepreneur 129. Merchant/Trader
82. Explorer 130. Merchant Marine
83. Extortionist 131. Military Academy Cadet
84. Face man/Fixer/Third man 132. Miner/Prospector
85. Factory Worker 133. Mountain Climber
86. Fallen Paladin 134. Musketeer
87. Fan/Groupie 135. Natural Healer
88. Farmer 136. Naval Infantry/Marine
89. Film Crew/Cameraman 137. Navigator
90. Firefighter 138. Necromancer
91. Fisherman 139. Negotiator
92. Forger 140. News Hound/Reporter/Journalist
93. Gambler 141. Noble
94. Gang Leader/Member 142. Nomad/Wanderer
95. Gentleman 143. Nurse
96. Ghost Hacker/Hacker 144. Office Worker
97. Gladiator/Pugilist 145. Officer/Knight/Paladin
98. Government Agent/Special Agent 146. Organized Crime Member/ ”Soldier”
99. Gunslinger/Gunfighter/Pistolero/Rifleman 147. Outdoorsman

32
148. Outrider 196. Undercover Policeman/Operative
149. Philosopher/Thinker 197. Vigilante
150. Photo analyst 198. Wage Slave/corporate/guild employee
151. Photographer 199. Weapons Master/Weapons Specialist
152. Private Investigator 200. Writer
153. Producer (art, music, theater, etc.)
154. Professional Tradesman (plumber, mason, etc.)
155. Psychological Warfare Specialist
156. Raider
157. Recon/Ranger/Wilderness Scout
158. Repo Man
159. Researcher
160. Retail worker
161. Revolutionary
162. Saboteur
163. Sage
164. Sailor
165. Scavenger
166. Scholar
167. Scientist
168. Scout
169. Sculptor
170. Search and Rescue
171. Seducer
172. Serial Killer
173. Sex Worker/Pimp
174. Shadow Op
175. Ship’s Captain (Pirate, Charter, Naval, etc.)
176. Shock Trooper/Heavy Infantry/SWAT
177. Shopkeeper/Store Owner
178. Slave/Slaver
179. Smuggler
180. Snitch
Image by Piotr Wilk via Unsplash
181. Soldier/Warrior/Fighter
182. Spy
183. Stage Hand 2.8 Skills
184. Student (College, University, Law, Medical, etc.) A character has INT x 100% to spend on any skills, with no
185. Stuntman more than 50% on any starting skill. Thus, a character with
186. Surgeon an INT of 12, has 1200% to spend on any skills, but none
187. Survivalist of those skills can have a higher value than 50% when
188. Swashbuckler bought with INT.
189. System Operator
190. Tattoo Artist This percentage is variable depending on the age of the
191. Taxi Driver/Rickshaw Runner character. The assumption is that most characters are
192. Technician/Tech professionals.
193. Terrorist Age Usual Age (Skill)
194. Thrall/voluntary slave Category Activity Multiple
195. Treasure Hunter Child Primary Education x 20%
Adolescent Secondary Education x 40%

33
Young Adult Higher Education, job x 60%
Adult First steady work x 80%
Professional Married, Steady job x 100%
Middle Age Married, Kids, good job x 120%
Old Retirement x 140%
Venerable Grandchildren x 160%
Elderly Outlived your friends x 180%
Ancient Waiting for death x 200%
This is a list of the skills a character may use. Skills are rated
as a skill chance, or the percentage chance a character
trying the skill has of succeeding, a value somewhere
between 0% (no chance whatsoever) to 100% or more,
meaning, except in the case of a fumbled roll, it always
succeeds. The base chance of using that skill is in
parentheses after the skill name, so if the skill number is
higher than 00%, you always have at least a 1 in 100 chance
of using the skill successfully. Succeeding at a skill with a
01% rating generally means a lucky guess. If the skill is at
00%, it simply can’t be attempted with any hope of success.
A character with below 05% in a skill is a hapless novice.
Someone with 06–25% is a neophyte. Skill of 26–50% is an
amateur level of proficiency. Skill in the 51–75% range
shows a competent professional. Experts have skills in the
76–90% range, and 91% or higher indicates mastery of a
skill. Skills above 100% show some degree of secret
knowledge or competence not accessible to others.
Skill ratings can also be considered as basic competency. A
skill rating of 25% does not mean that someone using the
skill in daily activities fails three quarters of the time—it
means that under stressful situations (like adventuring,
combat, etc.) the character succeeds only a quarter of the
time. Most mundane activities, such as driving to work,
don’t require a skill roll so long as they’re within the
reasonable range of competence, but, for example, making
a high-speed turn through a busy intersection while firing a
pistol out the window almost definitely requires a roll.
Many skills have specialties, as noted in parentheses with
each skill name. Specialties are specific sub-skills that
define the skill. For example, a character may have
Knowledge (Law) 70%. This does not mean they know all
Knowledge skills at 70%, but instead knows Law at that
percentage. All other skill specialties, unless skill points are
spent on them, are at the base percentage chance of 01%.
34
• Appraise: Judging the value of an item or determining
some aspects of its capabilities that are not immediately
apparent.
• Art (various): Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography,
or another form of visual art. Each type of art is a
specialty, so a character would have Art (Photography)
as one skill, and Art (Painting) as another. Suggested
specialties for Art include Architecture, Calligraphy, Film,
Painting, Photography, Sculpture, etc.
• Artillery (various, by weapon): Using heavy mounted
weaponry, such as catapults, cannons, missile launchers,
etc. Each type of artillery weapon is a specialty, such as
Artillery include Cannon, Rocket Launcher, Siege Engine,
etc.
• Bargain: Negotiating financial matters successfully. A
successful use of this skill lowers the price of an item
from one price range (unattainable > priceless >
expensive > reasonable > inexpensive > cheap > free) to
the one below, at the gamemaster’s discretion. These
ranges are suggested and can be changed as desired.
• Brawl: Hitting someone in hand-to-hand combat,
whether with a punch, head butt, kick, or even bite. A
successful Brawl attack does damage based on the DB of
the attacker. If 1/10th the Brawl skill is above the DB for
the attacker, then use 1/10th the Brawl skill for damage
and not the DB (but still modified by negative DB). For
example a character has a DB of 2 (for 1d3 damage) but
has a Brawl skill of 78%, then the damage for the attack
can be 1/10 of 78% = 7.8 rounded down to 7+1. The
damage rolled would be a 1d8. If the same character
had a DB of -2, then the damage would be 7+1-2= 6 (1d6
damage).
• Climb: Scaling a wall, rope, or other difficult surface.
• Command: Leading a small-to-large group of followers
in combat or through some other difficult activity
requiring discipline and coordinated actions. If this skill
fails, everyone is on their own and does not work
together effectively.
• Craft (various): The creation of some physical item for
use, like woodworking, blacksmithing, sewing, cooking.
Craft is generally more practical than Art, though less
likely to achieve fame and recognition. Each type of
Craft skill is a specialty.
• Demolition: Setting and detonating explosives to
achieve maximum effect. Anyone can pull a pin on a
grenade—use Demolition to jury-rig a bomb from
household chemicals or to set explosives in the right
places to bring a building down.
• Disguise: Concealing identity or appearance, or using
some combination of makeup and costume to appear as
someone or something else.
• Dodge: Avoiding injury from a physical attack.
• Drive (various): Piloting a ground vehicle. Each type of
vehicle (Automobile, Cart, Chariot, Truck, etc.) is a
specialty.
• Energy Weapon (various by weapon): Pointing and
shooting an energy weapon at a target. Each type of
Energy Weapon skill is a specialty, such as Energy Pistol
and Energy Rifle.
• Etiquette: Knowing what to say and how to behave in a
social situation, as well as understanding the various
niceties of a particular social class.
• Fast Talk: Talking one’s way out of a rough situation or
bluffing when there is no time for a reasoned argument
or debate.
• Fine Manipulation: Finger dexterity, particularly
important for disassembling things in a hurry or
completing complex tasks requiring hand coordination.
This might be used for picking locks.
• Firearm (various by weapon): Pointing and shooting a
firearm at a target. Each type of Firearm skill is a
specialty, such as Machine Gun, Pistol, Revolver, Rifle,
Shotgun, and Submachine Gun.
• First Aid: Treating minor injuries.
• Fly: If the character has a technological means of flying
(a jet pack, for example), the chance is DEX×½. If it’s a
natural ability (like wings) the chance is DEX×4. Basic
flight doesn’t require a roll—the skill is for use with
maneuvers, in combat, and performing complex flying
stunts.
• Gaming: Knowledge of the rules and odds of various
games of chance (cards, dice, etc.) and winning.
• Grapple: Wrestling or other means of open-handed
combat relying on leverage and positioning to maneuver
or immobilize an opponent. Can cause ½ DB per round
while grappling an opponent or throw for DB. It is
possible to throw an opponent while still keeping a
grapple, but it requires a successful grapple check to
throw the opponent and another one to maintain the
grapple. Massive strength differences do not matter as
the stronger opponent will still have to spend time
tossing the weaker opponent aside.
• Heavy Machine (various): Handling and maintaining a
heavy machine, like a factory press, a thresher, etc. Each
different type of Heavy Machine skill is a specialty.
• Heavy Weapon (various by weapon): Pointing and
shooting a heavy weapon. Each different type of Heavy
35
Weapon skill is a specialty, such as Bazooka, Heavy
Machinegun, Mini-gun, Rocket Launcher, etc.
• Hide: Concealing oneself or an item from view. Often
used in conjunction with Stealth.
• Insight: Evaluating another character’s concealed
thoughts and/or motives based on subliminal clues. In
some settings this might have specialties like Insight
(Elves) or Insight (Aliens).
• Jump: Leaping over an obstacle or across a span.
Success for most humans usually equals a jump of
roughly three meters horizontally or one meter
vertically.
• Knowledge (various): Familiarity with a specific branch
of study. Each type of Knowledge skill is a specialty.
Specialties are numerous, and include Anthropology,
Archaeology, Area (a region), Folklore, Group (an
organization), History, Linguistics, Literature, Mythology,
Occult, Politics, Streetwise, Psychology, Sociology,
Anthropology, Economics, Archaeology, History,
Geography, Law, Politics, etc.
• Language (various, own INT×5, Other 00%): Speaking
and understanding a language. Language (Own) is a
character’s ‘own’ native language and begins at INT×5.
Generally, player characters do not need to make
Language rolls to converse in their native languages with
other speakers of the same language. Language (Other)
is another language and begins at 00%. Each other
Language skill is a specialty.
• Listen: Hearing a noise or faint sound, such as someone
sneaking by or a monster approaching.
• Literacy (various, % equal to starting Language): Mainly
appropriate for settings where education is not
commonplace. Understanding and comprehension of
what the character is reading. In settings where
literature is not assumed, this might begin at 00%.
• Magic (various): By following specific traditions, it is
possible to affect the world in supernatural ways. Each
type of magic is a specific skill such as Water, Air,
Electricity, Spirit, etc.
• Medicine: Treatment of serious medical conditions
through pharmaceutical, therapeutic, or surgical means.
• Melee Weapon (various by weapon): Using a hand-to-
hand (melee) weapon in combat, including striking a
target and parrying attacks. Each type of Melee Weapon
skill is a specialty, such as Axe, Club, Dagger, Flail,
Hammer, Mace, Polearm, Spear, Staff, Sword, etc.
• Missile Weapon (various by weapon): Aiming and
hitting a target with a ‘hand-powered’ weapon. Each
 type of Missile Weapon skill is a specialty, such as Bow,
Crossbow, Spear, etc.
• Navigate: Charting and following a path through
recognizable landmarks, constellations, or using a map
to find a course.
• Perform (various): Entertaining or performing in some
fashion, whether through music, acting, acrobatics,
comedy, etc. Each type of Perform is a specialty.
• Persuade: Using logic, reason, and emotional appeal to
convince someone to agree to a specific course of action
or avenue of thought. Unlike Fast Talk, Persuade takes
time, supporting arguments, and a willing audience.
• Pilot (various): Using an air, sea, or space vehicle. Each
vehicle type is a specialty, and some vehicles may
require multiple pilots to operate.
• Power Points: This is a skill that directly increases the
Power Points of a character. A magic user initially has a
number of Magic Points equal to the character’s POW.
With the skill of Power Points, a character increases
their Power Points equal to their skill. Thus, with a POW
of 13, and a Power Points skill of 41, the total Magic
Points available is 54 (13 + 41).
• Psychotherapy: Using psychiatry and psychological
analysis to figure out a patient’s psychological issues and
address them through treatment. First Aid heals the
body, but Psychotherapy heals the mind. This is a
lengthy process handled through multiple sessions and
in-depth personal evaluation and counseling. In
historical periods this is spiritual counseling.
• Quick Draw: With a successful Quick Draw roll, you can
effectively draw a weapon and use it on your DEX rank
instead of having to use an action to ready it.
• Repair (various): Fixing something broken, jammed,
disassembled, or otherwise inoperable. Each type of
Repair is a specialty, such as Electrical, Electronic,
Mechanical, Structural, Quantum, etc.
• Research: Using a source of references (library,
newspaper archive, computer network, the internet,
wizard’s grimoire, etc.) to discover desired pieces of
information.
• Ride (various): Riding an animal and controlling it in
difficult situation. Each type of animal (horse, dragon,
giant owl, etc.) is a specialty
• Science (various): Expertise in a field of study from the
‘hard sciences.’ Each type of Science skill is a specialty,
such as Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry,
Computer Science, Statistics, Artificial Intelligence,
Anatomy, Ecology, Genetics, Geology, Mathematics,
Meteorology, Oceanography, Physics, Zoology, etc.
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• Sense: A combination of scent, taste, and touch— being
able to detect subtle or hidden things with these senses.
• Shield (various by shield type): Parrying a blow with a
shield. Each type of Shield skill is a specialty, such as
Buckler, Energy, Full, Half, Heater, Hoplite, Kite, Round,
etc.
• Sleight of Hand: Feats of prestidigitation and
misdirection, such as picking pockets, palming coins,
card tricks, and sleight-of-hand illusions.
• Spot: Detecting those things difficult to notice or
otherwise hidden.
• Status (various): Social standing, or the ability to
manipulate one’s social environment in a favorable
manner, such as borrowing money, gaining favors,
impressing others, etc. Each type of Status skill is a
specialty. Specialties might include City (a particular
city), Group (one group or organization), High Society,
Religion, Species (a particular species), etc.
• Stealth: Sneaking around to avoid detection or making
otherwise concealed and furtive movements.
• Strategy: Tactical assessment of a situation and
constructing an optimal response, gaining insight into
the conditions on a battlefield or the tactics the enemy
will use. Often used in military or political situations.
• Swim: Guiding oneself through the water with the intent
of movement or prevention of drowning.
• Teaching: Imparting knowledge to others. See the
Experience section on page XX for more information.
• Technical Skill (various): Use of a sophisticated piece of
equipment or technical process. The base chance varies
by setting and should be figured out by the gamemaster,
as appropriate. Each type of Technical skill is a specialty,
such as Computer Programming, Computer Use,
Electronics, Robotics, Sensor Systems, Siege Engines,
Traps, etc.
• Throw: Aiming and tossing something (dart, football,
baseball, rock, hat, etc.) through the air towards a
target. Unlike the Missile Weapon skill, this is a catch-all
for anything that isn’t specifically a weapon, and a
successful roll doesn’t necessarily damage an opponent.
• Toughness: A PC can buy extra HP as Toughness. This
allows characters to simply be tougher. It is purchased
at a rate of 1:1. This is to allow NPCs or PCs to be
tougher than they would otherwise appear. A character
with a CON of 12 and a SIZ of 17 initially has 15 HP
(12+17/ 2 = 14.5, round up). With a Toughness of 32, the
character now has 15+32 HP = 47 HP.
• Track: Following a trail of footprints, spoor, etc. in either
direction.
If desired, the gamemaster should modify the skill list to
make it more appropriate to any given setting. The
gamemaster should feel free to cut skills, rename them, or
introduce new skills. For example, a medieval fantasy
setting probably won’t utilize Energy Weapon, Heavy
Machine, Psychotherapy, or Technical Skill. Beginning skill
levels can also be adjusted for a specific campaign or
setting.

Skills for Strife the Scalable Wargame are detailed in that

game, but for roleplaying purposes, those skills count as
individual skills for characters to take. As these skills are
both broader and deeper than an individual skill even those
shown above, these skills cost double as detailed 2.81
below. Due to their very broad nature, they are able to be
used in a much more comprehensive way. These skills are
shown on the character sheet as:
Leadership
Experience
Medical
Personnel
Perception
Intelligence
Tactics
Operations
Equipment
Logistics
Planning
Strategy Image by Mohamad Khosravi via Unsplash
Teamwork
Communications
Morale 2.82 Professions and Professional Skills
Training In Platinum, a profession is a collection of skills appropriate
Fieldcraft to a character in that role. Each player character receives a
Engineering bonus of EDU x 2% to any number of skills equal to the
Influence character’s EDU. If a character has an EDU of 12, then the
Diplomacy character picks 12 skills, and adds 24% to each of them.

2.81 Special Skills and Difficult Skills
A subtype of skill that is generally only available to very
specific types of characters. These are usually seen in other
games that are being imported into BRP. Some examples of
this are special OCC abilities, or Class Abilities or Role Skills
from other games. For these skills, they cost DOUBLE what
a normal skill does. This allows for these skills to keep their
rareness, as well as still having the same effects in BRP as
they did in their original system.
There are no restrictions about what skills the character
can learn during play through experience or additional
training, and there is no minimum number of skill points
that can be allocated to a professional skill. For example, a
soldier has access to training in skills relating to firearms,
but they may choose to have no training with Heavy
Weapons.
Professional skills can be raised above 50% with EDU
points. A character that purchased a skill at 50% with INT
skill points (INT x 100%) can then be declared a Professional

37
skill and then raised by EDU x 2%. A character with an EDU • Spy: Dodge, Fast Talk, Hide, Listen, Research, Spot,
of 13 and a skill of 50% can now raise that skill to 76% (50% Stealth, and three of the following: Art (Photography),
+ EDUx2%). Brawl, Disguise, Etiquette, Firearm (any), Grapple,
Insight, Knowledge (any), Language (Other), Language
Following are a dozen professions appropriate to a wide (Own), Navigate, Pilot (any), Repair (Electronics), Repair
range of settings. (Mechanical), Ride, Swim, Technical (Computer Use),
Throw, or Track.
• Cowboy: Craft (usually knots), Firearm (Rifle), • Thief: Appraise, Dodge, Fast Talk, Hide, Stealth, and five
Knowledge (Natural History), Knowledge (Local Area), other skills from the following list: Bargain, Brawl, Climb,
Listen, Navigate, Ride, Spot, Throw, Track. Disguise, Fine Manipulation, Firearm (Handgun or
• Detective: Firearm (Handgun), Knowledge (Law), Listen, Shotgun), Grapple, Insight, Listen, Jump, Knowledge
Persuade, Spot, Research, and four of the following: Art, (Law), Persuade, Repair (Mechanical), or Spot.
Brawl, Disguise, Drive, Fast Talk, Firearm (any), Grapple, • Warrior: Brawl, Dodge, Grapple, Melee Weapon (any),
Hide, Insight, Knowledge (any), Language (Other), Missile Weapon (any), and five other skills from the
Language (Own), Medicine, Ride, Science (any), following list: Climb, Firearm (any), Hide, Listen, Jump,
Technical (Computer Use), Stealth, or Track. Language (Other), Ride, Spot, Stealth, Swim, Throw,
• Doctor: First Aid, Language (Own), Medicine, Persuade, Track.
Research, Spot, and choose four of the following:
Insight, Language (Other), Psychotherapy, Science (any),
and Status.
• Hunter: Climb, Hide, Listen, Navigate, Spot, Stealth,
Track, and three of the following: Firearm (Handgun,
Rifle, or Shotgun), Knowledge (Natural History or
Region), Melee Weapon (usually Spear), Missile Weapon
(any), Language (Other), and Ride.
• Lawman: Brawl, Dodge, Fast Talk, Knowledge (Law),
Listen, Spot, and four of the following: Drive, Firearms
(any), First Aid, Grapple, Insight, Knowledge (Region or
Group), Language (Other), Melee Weapon (any), Missile
Weapon (any), Pilot (any), Ride, Status, Technical
(Computer Use), or Track.
• Noble: Bargain, Drive, Etiquette, Language (Own),
Language (Other), Literacy, and Status, plus any other
three skills as hobbies or fields of interest.
• Sailor: Climb, Craft (any), Dodge, Grapple, Navigate,
Pilot (Boat), Swim, and any three of the following:
Artillery (any, usually shipboard), Command, Language
(Other), Listen, Repair (Mechanical), Repair (Structural),
or Spot.
• Scientist: Craft (any), Persuade, Research, Status,
Technical (any) or Heavy Machinery (any), and any five
Image by 8machine_ via Unsplash
appropriate Knowledge or Science related to field of
study. 2.83 Freeform magic system
• Soldier: Brawl, Climb, Dodge, First Aid, and six of the
“magic should be magical; and that one of the things that
following: Artillery, Command, Drive, Firearm (usually
strips away that "magical" feeling is having "magic" be
Rifle, but any), Grapple, Heavy Weapon (any), Hide,
every bit as mechanically reliable/repeatable as any
Language (Other), Listen, Jump, Medicine, Melee mundane skill” - g33k, BRP forums
Weapon (any), Missile Weapon (any), Navigate, Repair
(Mechanical), Ride, Spot, Stealth, or Throw.

38
Each type of “magic” is a different skill such as Water,
Shadows, Fire, Air, Divination, Electricity, etc. Cost is 1 POW
= 1 Rank of Damage or Protection, Mass, Time, Distance,
Volume or skill bonus (+5%).
Add it up and that equals the COST in MP and the number
of rounds that it will take to cast the spell. That COST is
then subtracted from the skill. This is to simulate that
bigger spells (more MP) are harder to cast (take more time
and the penalty to the skill roll = to the MP cost). Roll the
dice and check for success or failure. If you fail, the MP are
lost regardless.
Bonuses for the skill roll are gained for the use of magic
items, ingredients, fasting, ritual, time of day, geography,
hand, verbal components, religious components, etc.
Magic item, for each type of magic: +5%, -1 MP
Religious items for attempting magic that follows the
tenets of that religion: +5%, -1 MP
Ingredients that will be consumed: +5%, -1 MP
Fasting, depends on the length of the fast: 12 hours +5%,
24 hours, +10%, 3 day fast +15%, 7 day fast +20%, 10 day
fast +25%, 14 day fast +30%, 21 day fast +35%, 40 day fast
+40%, -1 to -8 MP
Ritual length, depends on the length of the ritual: 1 minute
+1%, 5 minutes +5%, 30 minutes +10%, 1 hour +15%, 1 day
+20%, -1 to -4 MP
Hand gestures: +5%, -1 MP
Verbal components: +5%, -1 MP
Important times, dates and geographic locations each
provide a +5% bonus so that a necromantic ritual
performed at midnight on the anniversary of a horrifically
deadly battle on the graveyard where the dead from that
battle are buried would get a +15% bonus (5% for midnight,
5% for anniversary and 5% for graveyard). For events that
happen only once a decade, the bonus is larger (+10%) and
for once a generation (+15%), once every hundred years
(+20%) or once every thousand years (+25%) or -1 to -5 MP.
You cannot raise the skill roll higher than your base skill, so
a skill of 43% casting a 20 POW spell, would reduce the skill
to 23%. Using Hand Gestures, Verbal Components,
Ingredients and a Magic Item can give a bonus of +20% to
bring the skill check back up to 43%. Regardless of how
many other bonuses are used, the skill cannot be raised
above the base skill of 43%. By the same token, you cannot
reduce the MP cost to less than 1. A magic spell will always
cost at least 1 MP, and never be cast at higher than the
base skill.
39
A magic scroll is a one-shot item, and the scroll is destroyed
when it is “used.” A magic scroll can be used to learn a spell
(which is a specific effect that has been created and
codified). The benefit of spells is that they do not take the
POW penalty to skill. For example, a freeform spell that
has a POW cost of 12 will cost the mage 12 POW points and
have a penalty of -12% to the mage’s skill to make the
scroll. To cast the premade scroll, it takes nothing if the
reader can follow the instructions. This is why scrolls are
often in secret languages…only those who can read and
speak the language can cast the spell.
Magic items require a roll at the lowest skill being used. To
create a magic sword, the skill used would be lowest
between “blacksmith” and the relevant magical effect(s)
being added to the object. The creator would also have to
expend the POW to cast the spell.
PCs have a certain amount of MP based on POW. At 0 they
pass out. At -1/2 POW they die. If the victim is sacrificed
ritually, then double the POW can be extracted. Thus, a
dying person will release their current POW, but if they are
sacrificed, they will release double their POW. A magic user
can use extra power than they have, but will immediately
go unconscious, or die (if they hit their hard limit of POW x
-1.5).
Large, powerful spells can also be created by using more
than one person’s MP by having multiple people give their
MP to the leader of the spell. The other participants can
only give their MP, the leader of the spell is the one who
makes the roll to determine if the spell occurs or not. The
range for this giving of MP is only five feet. This also counts
for sacrificing, in that the MP of the sacrifice is doubled for
the purposes of the spell.
As an example, the perennial favorite fireball would be a
“Fire magic” spell. To shoot a fireball 30 feet (rank 6
Distance = 30’) and have it cause 3d10 damage (Rank 5
Damage = 32 damage = 3d10) in a 10-foot radius (Rank 5
Distance = 10’ foot) requires 6+5+5 = 16 Magic Points. For a
character with a “Fire magic” skill of 71% they would be
casting that spell with at (71 skill -16 magic points =55)
55%. If the character rolled a 63%, they would fail to cast
the spell correctly, and will still have spent the 16 MP.
Because of this, there are some magical effects that have
become almost standard as they have a set effect with set
costs. These spells are treated the exact same, such as the
fireball above.
To have spells ready for use and not having to wait to make
them, you spend the MP before you need them (during the
PCs down time). When you decide to fire them off, then
you make the skill roll to see if you did it right, but this way
you have the spell already available.
As an alternative, see 9.0 Conversions to see how to use
Dungeons and Dragons magic in Platinum.
2.84 Superpowers
To create a superpower, build it the exact same way as a
magic spell. The MP of the spell(s) translates exactly to the
cost of the superpower. A character may have as many
powers as they can afford with the amount of MP they
currently have. If the PC’s MP drop below the amount of
MP they need to power their powers, then they lose one of
their powers until the MP return.
To increase the power level of a power, or gain a new one,
a PC will have to invest in the skill of Power to gain more
MP.
To build a character that has the power of “flight” at a
speed of 500 mph, at an altitude of 10,000 feet, and able to
fly for 9 hours at a time costs (Distance Rank 23 = 500
miles, Time Rank 15 = 1 hour, Distance Rank 15 = 10,000
feet, and Time Rank 19 = 9 hours) 23 + 15 + 15 + 19
points…this would require a MP of a minimum of 72! Most
characters are not going to have that many MP, although it
is possible if a character buys a lot of Power as a skill. If the
character drops below a MP of 72, they will lose the ability
to fly. That power would then be used as a skill such as
“flight xx%”.
2.85 Countering Magical Effects
The attacker makes his attack roll. The defender makes his
Dispel magic roll. Low roll wins, but only if the defender
has enough PWR to successfully counter the incoming spell,
thus you have to have some PWR in reserve. Yet another
reason to have lots of prepared spells and keep your PWR
reserve high to counter magic and psionics.
2.86 Spousal Knowledge Rule
If a character is intimately connected with someone
(another character or an NPC) in a spousal relationship for
more than one year, the character will gain one skill at
40
1/5th the percentile value per year. Please note that this is
not the same as training, which will be covered later
2.87 Perishable Skills Rule
There are some skills which diminish over time when not
used. To simulate this, for every year that a character does
not use a skill, they may choose up to 05% from that skill
and add those percentiles to any other skill that they
desire. A skill may only be reduced to a minimum of 10% in
this manner.
2.9 Experience
If characters succeed in using skills during challenging
situations, those skills should have the chance to improve.
Practice makes perfect. On the character sheet are small
checkboxes next to each skill. The first time a skill is used
successfully in an adventure, the player should check the
box, showing that the skill has been used successfully and is
eligible for experience.
Keep in mind the following:
• Subsequent uses of the skill in the adventure do
not count towards experience: one successful use is
enough.
• Successful use in two different specialties is two
experience checks, not one. For example, successful rolls
in Knowledge (Occult) and Knowledge (History) are two
different skills and are eligible for separate experience
checks.
• Using a skill when it is modified to Easy (double
normal chance) does not count.
• Using a skill in a non-threatening, non-adventuring
situation where nothing is at stake doesn’t count. For
example, trying to Hide when no one is looking doesn’t
merit a skill experience check.
At the end of the adventure, the gamemaster asks each
player to make an experience roll for each skill successfully
used and checked. If an experience roll is a roll higher than
the skill chance (a reverse of the normal procedure). The
idea that as a character gets more highly skilled, it gets
harder to improve. If the experience roll is higher than the
skill, the player then rolls 1D6 and adds this total to the
skill. For example, if a player is making an experience roll
for a skill of 35%, any roll of 36 or greater is a success. If the
player rolls a 36–00, add 1D6 to the character’s existing
35% skill. A roll of 100 is always an improvement, even if
the skill is higher than 100%.
A character can learn from a teacher with dedicated study
and an adequate amount of time (decided by the
gamemaster). At the end of that period, have the teacher
try a Teach skill roll and a roll on the relevant skill to be
taught. If the Teach skill is higher than the teacher’s skill
value, it is reduced to the skill’s value for the purpose of
instruction. If both skills are successful, the student
character may make a successful experience check and
check for experience as described above. This is subject to
the gamemaster’s approval and may involve money being
spent, and a character cannot learn more than one skill at a
time in this fashion.
When a skill has been successfully checked for experience,
erase the current skill value and write the new total on the
character sheet. Repeat this process for each skill checked
successfully, until completed.
Generally, this is done at the end of a single adventure,
though the gamemaster can allow for multiple chances for
skill improvement for a longer adventure that provides
several distinct ‘downtime’ periods where the characters
can rest and reflect on what they have accomplished.
In the case of a long period—months at the least—
between adventures, the gamemaster may also allow
characters four ‘free’ experience checks of their choice,
representing activities they undertook in this downtime.
These checks are treated as regular experience checks and
must be rolled to see if they result in actual skill
improvement.
2.91 Gaining New Skills in Play
If a character ever rolls a 01% (critical success) for a skill
that they do not currently have, then they will
automatically gain +01% in that skill and will gain an
additional d10% upon completion of the adventure.
2.92 Improving Skills Through Experience
During a game, when a character successfully uses a skill,
they will gain the opportunity to improve that skill at the
conclusion of the adventure. After the game, the player
will roll a d100. If the roll is less than or equal to the
current percentile of the skill, then the character will gain
+01% to the skill. If the roll is greater than the current
percentile of the skill, then the character will gain
+1d4+1% (+01% to +5%) to that skill.
41
2.93 Improving Statistics
For all statistics except Power, when a character
successfully makes a number of Statistic Checks EQUAL to
the Statistic Score, roll the same number of dice they did at
character creation with all modifications that apply. If the
roll is higher than the current statistic check, the statistic
increases by +1. Thus, a character with a DEX of 15 will
have to survive 15 adventures minimum before seeing if
their stat improved. A human with a DEX of 15 needs to roll
3d6 and roll 16 or higher to gain a +1 to their DEX. If the roll
is less than or equal to the current check, the statistic does
not increase and the character begins again, needing
another 15 successful DEX checks spread over 15
adventures, minimum, before they can try again. Stat
increases are very rare.
Power can only be improved through the accomplishment
of goals, detailed in 2.51 Life Goals.
2.94 Training
If a character wishes to be trained on a new or an old skill,
they must first find an instructor and most likely pay a fee.
Take the skill that the character wishes to learn at the
instructor's value and add the instructor's Teaching skill and
divide the total by two. This is the maximum percentile
that the instructor may imbue in their student (although
the result cannot be any higher than the instructors
knowledge in that skill. A teacher cannot teach what they
do not know). For every full two weeks, (approximately six
hours per day, or 30 hours per week, 60 hours total) that
the student spends learning make an Idea Check, then have
the instructor make a Teaching Check. If the check is
successful the student gains +d5% on that skill (+01% to
+05%). Please note that it is possible to expand the time
necessary and take instruction in multiple skills. Each skill
that is trained takes approximately 2 weeks before a
learning check can be attempted. One skill requires two
weeks, two skills requires four weeks and three skills
requires 6 weeks, etc. Only one check can be made per
each skill taught and only at the end of the entire training
period. In this manner it is possible to simulate college or
similar training/education. It is not possible to train and
adventure. This is what smart characters do when not
adventuring.

Image by Max via Unsplash
3. SYSTEM
Routine game actions in routine situations almost always
succeed. As previously discussed, a character shouldn’t
have to roll to determine if they drove successfully to work,
or cooked a basic meal. However, when the action
becomes dramatic or extraordinary, players and the
gamemaster should roll dice for the resolution. It is
important to know whether characteristics and skills
succeed when danger threatens, or if they fail miserably in
the face of stress. Dice allow crises and decision points to
be resolved without the constant intervention of the
gamemaster.
Dice rolling is what turns Basic Roleplaying into a game
system, not just a case of “Mother May I?” with the
gamemaster taking the role of mother.
However, a gamemaster does not necessarily need to roll
against themselves. If a non-player character is attempting
to do something to another part of the environment,
whether it’s lifting a rock, convincing another non-player
character of something, or leaping a chasm, the
gamemaster may always just decide what the result is
instead of rolling, but can always roll for a random result if
desired. This keeps the dice rolling to a minimum and
focused on the players’ actions.
42
2.95 Maximum Skill Percentages:
There are some players who feel that their job is to
subvert a rules system by deliberately finding flaws and
exploiting them to create ridiculously overpowered
characters. While it is sad and they are pathetic, as well
as highly annoying, this rule is specifically for them. The
maximum skill percentage that a character can possess is
directly related to the PC's Age Multiple. The highest
percentage is the age multiple, which means that a newly
created Old character cannot have any skill higher than
70%. This applies only to newly created PC's (not NPC's,
the GM has free reign). As a new character gains
experience, they will obviously no longer be bound by this
rule, but newly created PC's cannot have any skill higher
than their Age Multiple!
The exception to this is skills that a character has been
trained in. A character’s EDU determines the number of
trained skills that a character possesses. For example, a
character with an EDU of 9 has 9 skills that may be raised
higher than their age multiple. The skills that a character
has that have been trained, and thus not subject to the
maximum skill percentage should fit into the concept for
the character.
There is no maximum attribute value; however, it is
extremely difficult to raise an attribute during play
through experience. There are ways to increase almost
any attribute, but as the attributes increase beyond their
original values and towards the upper end of their racial
maximum, there is great potential for mental, emotional,
physical and spiritual difficulties. Read the section on the
costs of high experience.
Maximum skill levels and attribute checks will influence
game play immensely. As attribute values increase, the
associated attribute checks will as well. As a GM, there
are some choices to make. The first is what level of
realism you want in your games. Check the GM section
for some ideas on realism and genre selection for a
campaign. The level of realism will determine which
option you choose to pursue with regard to maximum skill
level.
For a “realistic” game, skills and attribute checks will have
a maximum value of 99% and difficulty modifiers are
consistently applied so that successful checks are more
the exception than the rule. This is appropriate for film
noir and horror style campaigns. While this is the most
realistic, it is also the most difficult since PC’s will almost
never become as powerful as those in other games, which described in 1.2 Dice and Reading Dice Results.
may turn many players off. Characteristic rolls are described in 2.4 Characteristic Rolls
and use the same system as skill and combat rules
The typical level of realism encountered in most role (described below).
playing games would be described as “cinematic”. This
can be modeled by allowing skills to increase past 100%
(although a 00 is still a critical failure) and maintaining the
difficulty modifiers. This will allow characters to excel in
some skills and be relatively successful in most others. As
characters increase in skill, they will have the ability to
literally do the impossible with increasing regularity.

The final level of realism available is typically encountered

in superhero comics and other forms of obviously
unrealistic stories that fall into the “anime” genre. When
PC’s can lift cars, take massive damage and their abilities
are far superior to those around them (or alternately, the
entire setting is overpowered), then you are playing an
anime style game. This can be modeled by allowing skills
to progress beyond 100% (although a 00 is still a critical
failure) and difficulty modifiers are ignored. This will allow
unrealistic feats to be accomplished easily and the
impossible is probable, unless actively opposed by NPC’s.

If the GM wants to emphasize the PC’s importance to the

campaign world and, in effect, turn them into
superheroes, then NPC’s can still be subject to Cinematic
or Realistic rules. The villains in the story can similarly be
free of the constraint of maximum skill percentages and
Image by Hizir Kaya2 via Unsplash
difficulty modifiers, turning them into supervillains.

By manipulating the two variables of Maximum Skill 3.11 Skill Rolls

Values and Difficulty Modifiers, the realism level of the
campaign will change. Since it does not involve changing
powers, abilities, or player influenced variables, the GM
can have great latitude in changing the realism level of the
campaign at will.
3.1 Success or Failure?
The most important question in a roleplaying game is: “Do I
succeed, or do I fail?” The next most important is: “How
well do I succeed or fail?” Basic Roleplaying provides an
easy-to understand system to measure these chances,
using dice rolls to these questions. Some skills (especially
combat skills) are inherently dramatic and/or dangerous.
These are always rolled for. Players and the gamemaster
use percentage dice (D100) most of the time to decide
success or failure.
Most of the time, when it’s necessary to determine an
attempted action’s success or failure, the players and the
gamemaster need to make a percentage dice roll as
All characters have trained abilities described in 2.6 Skills,
with ratings ranging from 00% (no chance of success) to
100% or higher (almost always succeeding). A character’s
skill points are added to the skill’s base chance for a total
chance of success. The process is simple: the player or
gamemaster announces that a character will try a skill. A
percentage dice roll is made. If the roll is equal to or less
than the chance of success, the skill succeeds (with
appropriate results). If the roll is over the chance of
success, the skill fails.
Another condition to keep in mind when attempting a skill
roll: difficulty and the special success.
Difficulty: Use of a skill isn’t always cut and dried. It’s more
difficult to drive a car in the dark during heavy rain than it is
to drive it in the middle of day in perfect weather. A wide
variety of conditions (weather, distractions, equipment,
etc.) can affect whether it’s easy or more difficult to use a

43
skill. To simulate this, skills can be modified in the following 3.14 The Rule of a Hundred
ways. A 00% (a 100) is always a critical failure and cannot beat
any number.
• Automatic: When it’s completely certain that the
character will succeed, and when there’s nothing major 3.15 Maximum Skill Percentile
at stake (no life-or-death situation, no challenge, etc.), There is no maximum skill percentile. The game
the skill automatically succeeds. Don’t even bother to mechanics will only allow a 99% chance of success on a
roll. D100 roll. There will always be a 01% chance of failure
• Easy: Some combination of circumstances, conditions, or regardless of the skill or ability that a being wields. The
other help has made it easier to perform the skill. In this benefit to having skills in excess of 100% is the greater
case, double the skill chance. Dice should still be rolled chance of scoring critical successes and being much less
even if the skill chance is now over 100%, however, as likely to fail at extremely difficult tasks.
there’s still the chance of a special success or a failure
(both are described below). 3.16 Skill and Statistic Check
• Normal: This is the standard, meaning that any Rolling a D100 against a skill is a skill check
conditions, circumstances, etc. are negligible and won’t
affect the chance to use the skill. Rolling a D100 against an ability is a statistic check.
• Difficult: If a skill would be made more difficult by some
circumstance, condition, or other situation, divide the 3.17 Difficulty for Skills and Attributes
skill chance in half (rounding up). Each action has a difficulty modifier that is applied to
• Impossible: If it’s simply impossible for the skill to skills. Once these modifiers are applied, the player has to
succeed, such as a normal human attempting to leap roll equal to or UNDER their modified skill percentile to
100 meters into the air unaided, or solve a crossword succeed. If that player rolls over the modified skill
puzzle in absolute darkness, no roll should be allowed. percentile, then the character has failed.
The skill attempt just fails, with any appropriate
consequences. The gamemaster may either declare that Difficulty Modifier
no roll can be attempted, or let the player roll and Pathetic +10%
Simple 0%
describe how badly they fail in the attempt.
Easy 10%
Average 20%
There are some situations where difficulties are applied,
Tough 30%
though for the most part these should be obvious and
Challenging 40%
assigned by the gamemaster where appropriate. For Difficult 50%
example, the gamemaster may announce that fighting in Hard 60%
near dark makes all skills Difficult, half their normal chance. Ridiculous 70%
Crazy 80%
3.12 The Rule of One Impossible 90%
A 01% is always a critical success and cannot be beaten in
an opposed check except by another 01%. 3.18 Mitigating Difficulty
It is possible to mitigate difficulty by taking time. For
3.13 Critical Success attacking, it is possible to mitigate 5% difficulty by
If a player rolls under 1/10th the modified skill percentile, expecting an action by aiming. Thus a 20% penalty can be
the action is a critical success. A critical success can only be mitigated completely by taking 4 actions aiming.
beaten by another critical success. As an example, if a
character has a skill of 70% and they roll a 6%, that is a 3.19 Minimum Modified Skill
critical success. If an NPC has a skill of 42% and they roll a A skill can never be modified below 1/10th the original
5%, that is NOT a critical success (1/10th of 42%), and even value of the skill. Therefore, a character with a skill level of
though that 5% is lower than the 6%, because it is not a 72 percent trying to do an impossible task (-90%) would
critical success, the NPC does not succeed against that skill. have his skill reduced to 7% and not -18%!! This also
applies to saving throws.

44
3.2 Skill vs. Skill
Often, one character tries a skill that must be countered by
a non-player character, or vice versa. This is known as an
opposed skill roll and describes a situation such as a player
character using Stealth to move undetected versus a
nonplayer character using Listen to detect intruders. In
these cases, all acting parties should make their skill rolls
and compare the results:
3.4 Rerolls
There are two methods to gain a re-roll. The first is to
permanently sacrifice 1 point of PWR. The reroll must be
used, even if the result is worse and only 1 point of PWR
can be used per round.

• If all parties fail, the consequences are either obvious, a

stalemate is achieved, or no one achieves their goal.
• If only one party succeeds, the successful skill is
accomplished without challenge.
• If the rolls are successful and tied (same quality of
result), the character with the highest skill rating is
successful.
•
3.21 Opposed Actions
Each player rolls against their character's original,
unmodified percentile. If they roll over their percentile,
they fail. If they roll under their percentile, they succeed.
If both characters succeed, the lower roll wins. As an
example, Yorin the ork mercenary fires his MK 6 auto pistol
at an elven infiltrator. Yorin rolls a d100 against his skill of
56%. The elf is aware of the attack and dodges, so he rolls
a d100 against his skill of 45%. Yorin rolls 22 which is less
than his skill of 56% and thus succeeds. The elf rolls a 34
which is less than his skill of 45, but it is more than the
opposing roll of 22 and thus is hit by Yorin's rounds.

3.3 Equipment Ratings

There are times where characters will have to make an
opposed action against a thing, not another character or
NPC. When this happens the character rolls against the
items “rating” which functions exactly the same way as a
skill for opposed actions. An example would be a computer
with an encryption rating of 80, thus a character would
have to roll against the computer rating of 80 in order to
decrypt the information within the computer.

Self-guided weapons (heat seeking missiles, smart bombs,

“reflex weaponry”) also have a rating that is used to roll its’
attacks against.

Equipment ratings are a way to make characters oppose

items instead of simply modifying the difficulty of the roll to
succeed.

45

Image by Ian Parker via Unsplash
4. TIME
In Basic Roleplaying, time is an important factor, mostly to
determine what happens in what order, so that game
mechanics are applied when they should be. Remember
that in-game time is usually not equivalent to time actually
spent playing. Sometimes, the gamemaster may need to
summarize the events of many days in a single sentence,
such as “It takes you a week to reach Constantinople,”
while at other times, particularly during combat, the
actions of only a few seconds of time can take several
minutes or longer to resolve.
Following are the important distinctions of game time:
4.1 Narrative Time
Narrative time is the amount of time taken when the
gamemaster is narrating to the players, or when the
players are discussing plans. Unless there is a specific
reason for it, most actual roleplaying takes place in
narrative time. When roleplaying, narrative time resembles
46
real time, where a conversation takes as long to have as it
takes to play. If a game session includes lengthy travel, or
periods of activity where exact time is not of the essence,
then time is compressed greatly to a few moments of game
time. The description of travel time to Constantinople
(above) is an example of this. If large amounts of time are
being dealt with in this fashion, the gamemaster should
allow for the player characters to perform any activities
that could fit into this timeframe, within reason.
4.2 The Turn
When it’s important to take note of the exact passage of
time, but not in actual combat, time is measured in turns.
Each turn equals five minutes (25 combat rounds). Turns
are used for general movement when there is no conflict or
other event that must be handled on a minute-by-minute
basis. It is also a general measure for how long certain
activities take, particularly actions that are not during
combat, such as picking a lock or finding a book in a library.
In these cases, the gamemaster may rule that a certain task
takes a specific number of turns to complete.
4.3 Skill Time
Following are examples of the game time needed to
perform a single use of a skill. Some skills can take a
variable amount of time and are listed in each appropriate
time category.
• A few seconds to an entire combat round: Most attacks
and parries, Artillery, Brawl, Dodge, Drive, First Aid,
Heavy Machine, Hide, Jump, Listen, Pilot, Ride, Sense,
Shield, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Stealth, Swim, Throw,
some characteristic rolls.
• 1–5 minutes: Appraise, Art, Artillery, Bargain, Climb,
Command, Demolition, Drive, Etiquette, Fast Talk, Fine
Manipulation, First Aid, Fly, Gaming, Insight, Heavy
Machine, Hide, Knowledge, Language, Listen, Literacy,
Medicine, Navigate, Perform, Persuade, Pilot, Repair,
Ride, Sense, Stealth, Strategy, Swim, Technical Skill,
Track, some characteristic rolls.
• 5–30 minutes: Appraise, Art, Bargain, Climb, Command,
Craft, Demolition, Disguise, Etiquette, Knowledge,
Language, Medicine, Navigate, Perform, Ride, Science,
Sense, Status, Strategy, Swim, Technical Skill, Track,
some characteristic rolls.
• 30–60 minutes: Appraise, Art, Climb, Command, Craft,
Demolition, Drive, Etiquette, Fine Manipulation, Fly,
Heavy Machine, Knowledge, Language, Medicine,
Navigate, Perform, Persuade, Pilot, Psychotherapy,
 Repair, Research, Ride, Science, Status, Strategy, Swim,
Technical Skill, Track.
• Six hours to many days: Art, Craft, Psychotherapy,
Repair, Research, Strategy, Teach, Technical Skill. The
gamemaster may require multiple successful skill rolls
for extended research, study, or a complex task.

47

Image by Jakob Owens via Unsplash
5. COMBAT
Combat is often an inevitable—and exciting—part of most
adventures. Because of its deadly nature, it is essential to
know exactly what happens when in combat, who can act
at a certain time, and what actions are possible for time
provided. This section addresses the wide variety of actions
that occur during a combat round.
5.1 The Combat Round
A combat round is used during combat sequences, when
it’s important to note exactly what happens and in which
order. A combat round consists of 12 seconds of fast-paced
activity. If the combat takes more than one combat round,
another combat round begins immediately after. Combat
rounds are repeated until the combat is over. A character
usually gets one attack or other action and can potentially
make multiple defensive actions in a combat round. During
a combat round, if a character does nothing else, they can
walk about 10 meters or run about 30 meters and still be
48
able to watch what is going on nearby, parry incoming
blows, and react to emergencies.
A combat round lasts three seconds. This is enough time to
perform one action at full percentile value or to perform
several actions at greatly reduced potential for success.
Typically, a player will elect to perform one of the five
following actions: perform a skill, move, attack, dodge, or
parry.
The gamemaster and players involved in a combat round
must announce what they will do. The order that actions
can be attempted in is determined by each character’s DEX
characteristic. Players or gamemasters do not need to
announce defensive actions (parries, dodges, etc.) during
this phase.
Statements of intent should be handled in order of the DEX
characteristic of all involved characters, highest to lowest.
The player of a character with a high DEX rank makes their
statements of intent before a character with a low DEX
rank. Usually the gamemaster counts down, from the
highest DEX to the lowest, calling on each player to state
their intended actions at the appropriate times, and
announcing how the non-player characters will act at the
appropriate DEX characteristics.
If there is a need to determine who acts first when DEX
ranks are tied, use the relevant skill (missile weapons
before melee weapons, for example). If both are using the
same type of weapons, the character with the higher skill
rating goes first. If these are still tied, the actions occur
simultaneously.
Some gamemasters and players choose to forgo the verbal
part of the statement of intent phase and move directly
into counting down DEX and acting.
5.2 Actions/Initiative
DEX is used as the initiative score, from highest to lowest.
Initiative requires some common sense, such as when
caught in an ambush or when attacked unexpectedly, the
character initiating the combat will have the initiative.
Unless the other character can make a successful Alertness
or Awareness roll, then they can do nothing for the first
combat round, not even dodge. They are "surprised" and
spend that round recovering.
Characters act on their DEX rank, so someone on DEX rank
15 goes before someone on DEX rank 14. If there are
multiple characters attempting to act on the same DEX
rank, attacks are performed in order of weapon type.
Parries and dodges occur within the same DEX rank as the
original attack.
Damage occurs as each attack happens. This means that
characters moving first are much more dangerous than
others as they can attack and injure other combatants
before they even move. For this reason, ambushes and
attacking from range are extremely dangerous and melee
fighters will be at a disadvantage against those who have
ranged weapons.
Each round lasts approximately 3 seconds. The number of
Actions that a character can perform at full percentage is
a function of their Dexterity. For every 20 points of
Dexterity, a character can make 1 action.
0 Dexterity = no actions
1-20 Dexterity = 1 action
21-40 Dexterity = 2 actions
41-60 Dexterity = 3 actions
These actions take place in Dex sequence, so that
everyone who has 1 action goes, then characters with a
second action go, then third, etc.
Characters can hold actions or delay them, but only until
the end of each Dex sequence. That means that a
character with one action and a Dex of 18 can delay their
action only until the end of the first round of actions. They
cannot delay it into the second or third round, they are
just not that fast or experienced.
5.21 Multiple Actions
A player may wish his character to perform multiple
actions in a round. This is done by one of two methods,
which may be used interchangeably.
Method 1: The player determines which skill percentile is
the lowest among the skills that they are wanting to use in
the round. The player then makes a skill roll against that
skill, modified for difficulty. If it is successful (rolled under
the necessary percentile), the number rolled is subtracted
from that modified skill percentile. The player may now
roll again against that new percentile. If that roll is
successful, the number rolled is subtracted from the new
49
modified skill percentile. This continues until the player
rolls over the skill percentile.
Method 2: The player determines which skill percentile is
the lowest among the skills that they are wanting to use in
the round. The player then divides up their skill percentile
among the number of actions that they wish to perform (in
the case of firing weapons, the maximum amount of
actions is equal to the weapons rate of fire plus any
movement actions the player wishes to attempt. In the
case of melee weapons or movement, the maximum
number of actions is equal to ½ the character's DEX.) The
player then modifies each percentile by the difficulty then
rolls. Each roll is a separate action and the success or
failure of one or more of the rolls does not affect the
others.
5.3 Drawing a Weapon
Drawing a weapon from a sheath or holster reduces
effective DEX rank by 5. Putting a weapon away takes the
same amount. It takes no DEX ranks to drop a weapon.
5.4 Attacking
To attack, roll D100 and try to obtain a result equal to or
lower than the attack chance for the Melee Weapon,
Missile Weapon, or Heavy Weapon being wielded. Lower is
better. If the roll is less than 1/5 of the attack chance, a
special success is achieved, as described in 5.13 Special
Successes.
At the gamemaster’s discretion, a related specialty skill may
be used as if Difficult (1/2 chance). For example, a
gamemaster may allow a character to use a sword with
their dagger skill, as both are Melee Weapon specialties
and are similar weapons.
A special success on an attack is better than a normal
success and requires an equally successful parry or Dodge
roll to avoid.
Any roll higher than the attack chance is a failure and does
no damage to the opponent.
If an attack is successful it may do damage to the intended
target. See 5.12 Damage and Injury for more about this.
 5.42 Fully Automatic Weapons
Some weapons are capable of firing fully automatically.
When using these weapons to fire at a singular target, the
rules for rate of fire apply with the Burst Value equal to
the total number of rounds fired. If you want to fire at
multiple targets, you must first figure out the total
amount of area that you wish to fire into. This is done by
first adding together the total amount of targets that you
wish to engage, then adding in the amount of distance
separating them from each other in meters. Then divide
the amount of rounds fired by the total number of targets
and the distance with the resulting number being the
Image by Somchai Kongkamsri via Pexels Burst Value to use on each target if a successful attack roll
is made per target.
5.41 Rate of Fire
There are several weapons that allow for more than one 5.43 Firing into Combat
attack per round when using them such as machine guns Firing a missile weapon at a character that is engaged in
or bolters. If a character is using one of these weapons to combat penalizes the attacker by –20% to their skill chance.
fire more than once at only one target then use the rules Firing a missile weapon at another character while both the
for Burst Value above with the first number being the attacker
number of rounds fired according to the following chart.
5.44 Ambush
Rounds fired Rounds hit If an attacker successfully made a Stealth or Hide roll and
2 1d2 remained undetected (versus a Listen, Sense, or Spot roll),
3 1d3 they can ambush an opponent. If the attacks are with
4 1d4 missile weapons, the ambusher gets a single combat round
5 1d5 where all their attacks are Easy. If the ambusher is using a
6 1d6 melee weapon, the defender can only try to Dodge or parry
8 1d8 (if a weapon is available) for one combat round. Next
10 1d10 round, combat is handled as normal.
12 2d6
16 2d8 5.45 Backstab
20 2d10 If the target is unaware of the specific whereabouts of an
24 3d8 attacker in a combat, the target must make a Difficult
30 3d10 Listen, Sense, or Spot roll. If the target remains unaware
40 4d10, etc. (fails the roll), an attacker behind or to the side of them can
try to backstab the opponent: an Easy attack. Dodging or
If a character is firing at more than one target, they can parrying this attack is considered Difficult.
fire at as many targets as the weapon has Rate of Fire, but
the rules for Multiple Actions apply. 5.46 Feinting
When attacking, you may use feints. To feint, the attacker
Range band chooses a certain amount to take off of their weapon skill,
Ranged weapons have a range listed. It is equivalent to and the same amount is taken off the dodge or parry skill
one range band. As the range increases, the difficulty in of the defender. For example, a swordsman with
hitting the target increases until it simply runs out of Longsword 91% is fighting a character with Longsword 83%
range. The Range Bands and the difficulty modifiers are and Dodge 55%. The attacker chooses to feint for a -40%
listed in 5.9 Weapons, Damage, Armor and Shields. so now his skill is 51% and that 40% is taken off of the
defender’s Longsword (to parry) or his Dodge, defenders

50
choice. The defender chooses to lose the -40% to his
Longsword, sow it is now only 43%, but the Dodge is still
55%.

5.5 Cover
Hiding behind something larger, equal to, or up to half the
character’s SIZ offers a defensive bonus. If the item can
serve as cover, any missile attacks against the character are
considered Difficult. An attack that would normally hit but
misses is assumed to hit the cover. The gamemaster should
determine if the attack passes through the cover, reducing
damage appropriately (a brick or metal wall might stop the
attack completely, a thin wood wall might only reduce
damage by 4 points, etc.).

5.51 Designers Note (Damage & Hit Points)

Since the concept of “damage” in a role-playing game is by
necessity both approximate and simplified. To use real
world equivalents 1 point of “damage capacity” is
approximately 1 inch of penetration in organic material
(flesh), 1 millimeter of penetration in iron or .5mm
penetration in rolled homogenous armor plate. This
roughly models on previous RPGs and the extensive
library of real world ballistics and injury literature.

This allows a 6” very large knife blade to do 6 damage (6”

penetration = 6 damage) and a 120mm Armor Piercing Fin
Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium to
penetrate 1200mm of rolled homogenous armor
equivalent to do 2400 damage (RHA penetration x .5mm =
damage).
For bullets the equation is energy in foot/pounds
multiplied by the diameter of the bullet, then take the
square root of that. For a bullet of .50 caliber with 1000
foot pounds of energy, the equation is 22 damage.
If the implement doing the damage is harder than the
target (bullet vs flesh, hammer vs face) then the target
takes all the damage. If the implement doing the damage
is the same hardness as the target (fist vs face) then
damage to the target is only half. If the target is harder
than the implement (face vs boxing glove) then the
damage done is only ¼.
Image by yogurt via Unsplash
5.52 Stopping Power
Stopping Power is a function of density and thickness.
Some beings, due to thick hide, extraterrestrial biology or
magic possess stopping power, but most do not.
Below is a partial list of construction materials and armor,
and the Stopping Powers that they provide.
It must be noted that these values are derived from the
average ability to stop a variety of attack forms. Although
it is possible to list each material and its’ resistance to
each type of attack such as penetrating, thermal, impact,
cutting and electrical, the combat sequence would slow
down dramatically thus diminishing the dramatic effect of
combat. These values are the best compromise between
reality and simplicity possible.

SP DC/in. Hard Material

1 Padded armor
1 2 Glass
1 4 Paper

51
1 4 Rope As an example, an object with a Hardness of 5 and 40 Hit
1 6 1 Ice Points takes 57 damage. The damage of 55 is divided by 5
2 4 1 Ceramic (rounded down) and equals 11. That 11 damage is removed
2 6 1 Rubber from the 40 Hit Points and leaves the object with 29 Hit
2 Thick padded armor Points.
2 leather armor
3 Thick hide armor The difference between Stopping Power and Hardness is
3 2 Metal sheeting that Stopping Power acts as a barrier, while Hardness is a
3 Studded leather armor
measure of how difficult it is to damage the object is.
3 3 Unarmored car (Class 0)
2 10 1 Soft Wood
For D20, Hardness is doubled to convert to Platinum.
4 10 2 Plastic, hard
4 Heavy studded leather armor
Palladium MDC acts as a Hardness of 100 using the same
5 Light Chain armor
5 Bronze cuirass rule as above. As an example, an object has 50 MDC and
5 10 4 Hard Wood takes 3000 damage. 3000 damage / 100 hardness = 30
5 15 5 Concrete damage. 50 – 30 = 20 MDC. For Palladium, the (AR – 4) x 5
6 Splint mail is the Hardness, so that an AR of 12 is a SP of (12-4 = 8 x 5)
6 10 6 Aluminum = 40. An AR of 20 is (20 – 4 = 16 x 5 = 180).
6 Heavy chain mail
7 Steel cuirass 5.53 Additional Hit Points
8 Light plate armor There are some targets that have more HP added to them
8 30 8 Reinforced Concrete because they are modified or have more layers of armor.
9 Plate armor When this occurs, the targets just have more HP given as a
10 Heavy plate armor bonus.
12 12 10 Concrete/Masonry
13 NIJ I (.38 special) 5.54 Staged Penetration
15 15 10 Stone Every time that an attack physically penetrates armor, it
20 NIJ II-A (.357 Mag, 9mm FMJ)
weakens. To simulate this, every time an attack penetrates
20 NIJ II (.357 Mag, 9mm FMJ)
armor, the armor loses 1 SP.
20 20 15 Iron
20 60 20 Steel
25 NIJ III-A (.44 Mag, 9mm FMJ) 5.55 Armor Piercing Attacks
30 NIJ III (7.62x51mm FMJ) Some weapons do armor piercing attacks. An armor
30 30 STANAG I (7.62x51mm FMJ) piercing attack cuts the SP (and Hardness) of any armor in
45 50 STANAG II (7.62x39mm API) ½ (sometimes ¼, or more). Some types of weapons have
50 50 RHA different Armor Divisors such as 2, 3, 4 or much higher.
60 NIJ IV (.30-06 AP)
60 60 STANAG III (7.62x51mm AP) There are two types of armor piercing attacks, attenuating
80 100 STANAG IV (14.5mm AP) and non-attenuating. Attenuating attacks cut the
100 100 STANAG V (25mm APDS) penetrating damage by ½, non-attenuating attacks do not.
200 100 STANAG VI (30mm APFSDS) For example, a knife is a non-attenuating AP weapon. It
makes its attacks against only ½ the SP of any armor and
When using the above table for figuring out the cover the penetrating damage is not reduced.
value of an object, remember that the SP refers to the
damage that is needed to penetrate one side of an object An armor-piercing bullet, however, is an attenuating AP
in order to inflict damage to the interior of the object.
attack. It makes its attack and only ½ the targets SP
applies. The penetrating damage is also halved. AP attacks
5.52 Hardness
also reduce Hardness by the same amount, so that an AP
Hardness acts as a threshold to damage an object. If an
will reduce the SP by 1/2, and the Hardness by 1/2.
object has a Hardness of 15 and 40 Hit Points, divide the
damage taken by 15 and then remove that many Hit Points.

52
A Non-Attenuating AP weapon (NAP) does not have the
penetrating damage reduced.
5.56 Impacts
Every 10 SIZ of an object does 1d6 damage for every full ten
miles per hour. Thus, a SIZ 70 object traveling at 90 mph
inflicts ((70/10) + (90/10) = 7 + 9) = 16d6 damage to
whatever it hits.
Objects or characters inside another object take ½ damage.
Seatbelts reduce the damage to 1/4, a full body harness or
airbags reduce the damage to 1/8, which allows characters
to walk away from severe impacts with minimal injuries, if
they utilize their safety equipment.
5.57 Blunt Force Trauma
Blunt force trauma is a type of damage that occurs even
when armor is able to stop an attack from penetrating. The
force of the impact travels through the armor and affects
the character wearing the armor. Each weapon has a Blunt
Trauma Modifier (BTM). For every multiple of the BTM,
one point of damage is taken by the character wearing the
armor, regardless of whether the damage actually
penetrated or not. This is one reason why impact weapons
are so effective against armored characters.
5.6 Parrying
Parrying is the act of knocking or blocking the attacking
weapon out of the way using the relevant Melee Weapon
skill. A parry is determined after the attack roll is made. If
an attack fails, it does not need to be parried. If the attack
is successful, the target of that attack may wish to parry it.
To parry, the character must be aware of and able to see
the attack coming.
Determine a successful parry just like an attack roll, by
rolling percentage dice below the parry skill (equal to the
weapon’s attack skill). A special success (described below)
means an especially good parry and is required to fully
counteract an attack with a special success result.
It is impossible to parry firearms or high-velocity weapons
(energy weapons, etc.). Generally, one needs a shield to
parry missile weapons.
Weapons and shields occasionally take damage from being
used to parry and can even break if their hit points are
overcome.
53
5.7 Dodging
Dodging is the act of getting out of the way of an oncoming
attack using the Dodge skill. A Dodge is determined after
the attack roll is made. If an attack fails, it does not need to
be dodged. If the attack is successful, the target of that
attack may wish to Dodge it.
To dodge, the character must be aware of and able to see
the attack coming. Determine a successful dodge just like
an attack roll, by rolling percentage dice below the dodge
skill chance.
5.8 Combat Summary
A quick means of determining who hits who in a combat is
to compare levels of success, just as with skills: special
success > success > failure. A success cancels out an
equivalent level of success.
The Attack and Defense Matrix table summarizes the
results in combat.
5.9 Weapons, Damage, Armor and Shields
Weapons are described in the following manner:
• The skill and specialty used (see 2.6 Skills).
• The damage the weapon does against the target (see
5.12 Damage and Injury). The attacker’s damage
bonus (DB) is added to this.
• Improvised Weapons use ½ % of the closest melee
weapon the character has a skill in. If the character
has no melee skills, then use ½ of the characters Dex
or Str for a %.
• Range increments (RI) for improvised weapons are
determined by the weight of the object. The weight of
the Object being thrown is divided by the weight in
the Objects Weight column to get the range
increment. Improvised Weapons only have 1 range
increment and the skill used is ½ of the Thrown
Weapons skill.
• The range increment of the weapon. Thrown
weapons have 5 range increments, ranged weapons
have 10 range increments. Up to 1 increment for
thrown and 2 for ranged weapons there is no penalty.
Up to 2 for thrown and 4 for ranged, there is a - ¼ %
skill penalty. Up to 3 for thrown and 6 for ranged
there is a - ½ % skill penalty. Up to 4 for thrown and 8
for ranged there is a – ¾ % skill penalty. Up to 5 for
thrown and 10 for ranged there is a – 9/10 % skill
penalty. Beyond 6 for thrown and 11 for ranged there
is no chance of hitting the target.
These descriptions are guidelines based on “real Sword, short 1d6 — 2 lb.
world” weapons and descriptions. Individual settings Tonfa 1d4 — 2 lb.
may have varying weapons stats. Trident 1d8 10 ft. 4 lb.
Waraxe 1d10 — 8 lb.
Warhammer 1d8 — 5 lb.
5.91 Melee, Archaic and Improvised Weapons
Whip, weighted 1d3 — 2 lb.
Name Dam RI Wt. Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Unarmed Attacks Bayonet (fixed) 1d6 — 1 lb.
Gauntlet 1d3 — 1 lb. Chain saw 3d6 — 10 lb.
Unarmed strike (pg. 32) =DB — — Chain 1d6 — 5 lb.
Brass knuckles +1 — 1 lb. Chain, spiked 2d4 — 10 lb.
One-Handed Melee Weapons Falchion 2d4 — 8 lb.
Axe, throwing 1d6 10 ft. 2 lb. Flail, dire 1d8 — 10 lb.
Battleaxe 1d8 — 6 lb. Flail, heavy 1d10 — 10 lb.
Cleaver 1d6 2 ft. 2 lb. Glaive 1d10 — 10 lb.
Club 1d6 10 ft. 3 lb. Greataxe 1d12 — 12 lb.
Dagger 1d4 10 ft. 1 lb. Greatclub 1d10 — 8 lb.
Dagger, punching 1d4 — 1 lb. Greatsword 2d6 — 8 lb.
Flail 1d8 — 5 lb. Guisarme 2d4 — 12 lb.
Gauntlet, spiked 1d4 — 1 lb. Halberd 1d10 — 12 lb.
Hammer, light 1d4 20 ft. 2 lb. Katana 2d6 — 6 lb.
Handaxe 1d6 — 3 lb. Lance 1d8 — 10 lb.
Hatchet 1d6 10 ft. 4 lb. Longspear 1d8 — 9 lb.
Kama 1d6 — 2 lb. Quarterstaff 1d6/1d6 — 4 lb.
Katana 2d6 — 6 lb. Ranseur 2d4 — 12 lb.
Knife 1d3 10 ft. 1 lb. Rifle butt 1d6 —
Kukri 1d4 — 2 lb. Scythe 2d4 — 10 lb.
Longsword 1d8 — 4 lb. Spear 1d8 20 ft. 6 lb.
Mace, heavy 1d8 — 8 lb. Sword, bastard 2d6 — 6 lb.
Mace, light 1d6 — 4 lb. Sword, two-bladed 1d8 — 10 lb.
Machete 1d6 — 2 lb. Three-section staff 1d10 — 3 lb.
Metal baton 1d6 — 2 lb. Ranged Weapons
Morningstar 1d8 — 6 lb. Bolas 1d4 10 ft. 2 lb.
Nunchaku 1d6 — 2 lb. Crossbow, hand 1d4 30 ft. 2 lb.
Pick, heavy 1d6 — 6 lb. Crossbow, heavy 1d10 120 ft. 8 lb.
Pick, light 1d4 — 3 lb. Crossbow, Hvy Repeat 1d10 120 ft. 12 lb.
Pistol whip 1d4 — Crossbow, light 1d8 80 ft. 4 lb.
Rapier 1d6 — 2 lb. Crossbow, Lt Repeat 1d8 80 ft. 6 lb.
Sai 1d4 10 ft. 1 lb. Dart 1d4 20 ft. ½ lb.
Sap 1d3 — 2 lb. Javelin 1d6 30 ft. 2 lb.
Scimitar 1d6 — 4 lb. Longbow 1d8 100 ft. 3 lb.
Shield, heavy 1d4 — special Longbow, composite 1d8 110 ft. 3 lb.
Shield, light 1d3 — special Net — 10 ft. 6 lb.
Shortspear 1d6 20 ft. 3 lb. Shortbow 1d6 60 ft. 2 lb.
Siangham 1d6 — 1 lb. Shortbow, composite 1d6 70 ft. 2 lb.
Sickle 1d6 — 2 lb. Shuriken (5) 1d2 10 ft. ½ lb.
Spiked armor 1d6 — special Sling 1d4 50 ft. 0 lb.
Spiked shield, heavy 1d6 — special Energy Melee Weapons
Spiked shield, light 1d4 — special
Straight razor 1d4 — 0.5 lb. Improvised Weapons
Stun gun 1d3 — 1 lb. Diminutive 1 ½ lb.
Sword cane 1d6 — 3 lb. Ex: Ashtray, crystal paperweight
Sword, bastard 1d10 — 6 lb. Tiny 1d2 1 lb.

54
Ex: Rock, mug, screwdriver, flashlight, wrench Medium Rifle 5d6 50m 8 lb.
Small 1d3 5 lb. Heavy Rifle 6d6 60m 10 lb.
Ex: Bottle, drill, fire extinguisher, helmet, vase Very Heavy Rifle 7d6 70m 15 lb.
Medium-size 1d4 10 lb. Super Heavy Rifle 7d10 80m 30 lb.
Ex: Bar stool, bowling ball, hockey stick, nail gun Machinegun Dam RI Wt.
Large 1d6 20 lb. Super Light Machinegun 4d6 30m 10 lb.
Ex: guitar, computer, office chair, tire iron Very Light Machinegun 4d6 50m 12 lb.
Huge 1d8 50 lb. Light Machinegun 5d6 700m 15 lb.
Ex: ladder, mailbox, oil barrel, park bench Medium Machinegun 5d6 100m 20 lb.
Gargantuan 2d6 500 lb. Heavy Machinegun 8d10 100m 60 lb.
Ex: Desk, dumpster, sofa, vending machine Very Heavy Machinegun 9d10 200m 80 lb.
Colossal 2d8 1000 lb. Super Heavy Machinegun 10d10 300m 100 lb.
Ex: Junked vehicle, stoplight, telephone pole Shotgun Dam RI Wt.
Super Light Shotgun(.410) 2d6 5/2m 3 lb.
5.92 Firearms Very Light Shotgun (20 g) 4d8 6/3m 5 lb.
Firearms are often placed in certain classes, within which Light Shotgun (16 g) 6d6 8/4m 7 lb.
are hundreds of makes and models. Some of these are Medium Shotgun (12 g) 7d6 10/5m 9 lb.
very expensive and extremely high quality, while others Heavy Shotgun (10 g) 8d6 12/6m 11 lb.
are cheap and barely functional. This first list merely Very Heavy Shotgun (8 g) 9d6 14/7m 13 lb.
describes the class of the weapon, damage, range and Super Heavy Shotgun (4 g)10d6 15/8m 15 lb.
weight. This is generally sufficient for many roleplaying
games. Coupled with 7.11 Equipment Quality this is all The first range given above is for shotgun slugs, and the
that most games require. second is for a shotgun with a full choke. For an
“Improved Cylinder” choke, you gain a +5% to hit, but
Pistol Dam RI Wt. range is reduced by ¼. If you use “cylinder” choke you gain
Super Light Pistol 1d4 3m <.5 lb. a +10% but range is reduced by ½. For a “sawed off
Very Light Pistol 1d6 4m .5 lb. shotgun” you gain a +10% to hit, ranged is reduced to ¼
Light Pistol 1d8 5m 1 lb. and damage is reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 1).
Medium Pistol 1d10 6m 1.5 lb. For every Range Increment damage is reduced by 1 (this
Heavy Pistol 2d6 7m 2 lb. includes slugs). For example, a 12g shotgun engaging a
Very Heavy Pistol 3d6 8m 2.5 lb. target at 22 m with slugs is hitting at Range Increment 2
Super Heavy Pistol 4d6 9m 3 lb. (from 0 to 9 is Range Increment 0, from 10 to 19 is Range
Submachinegun Dam RI Wt. Increment 1, and from 20 to 22 is Range Increment 2) and
Super Light SMG 1d6 5m 3 lb. so has a -2 to damage.
Very Light SMG 1d8 7m 4 lb.
Light SMG 1d10 10m 5 lb. If more detail is required, then determining the rate of fire
Medium SMG 2d6 12m 6 lb. and the ammunition capacity will be required.
Heavy SMG 2d8 15m 7 lb.
Very Heavy SMG 2d10 20m 9 lb. Pistol Types ROF Capacity
Super Heavy SMG 4d6 250m 10 lb. Black Powder 1 1-6
Carbine Dam RI Wt. Hidden 1 1
Super Light Carbine 1d8 10m 4 lb. Derringer 2 2-4
Very Light Carbine 1d10 15m 5 lb. Holdout 2 4-8
Light Carbine 2d6 20m 6 lb. Revolver 2 5-6
Medium Carbine 2d8 25m 7 lb. Sub-compact 2 5-10
Heavy Carbine 3d6 30m 8 lb. Compact 2 7-13
Very Heavy Carbine 2d10 40m 9 lb. Full Size 2 7-16
Super Heavy Carbine 3d8 50m 10 lb. Burst Fire 3-5 10-30
Rifle Dam RI Wt. SMG Types ROF Capacity
Super Light Rifle 2d6 20m 5 lb. Semiauto 2 20-100
Very Light Rifle 3d6 30m 6 lb. Burst 2-5 20-100
Light Rifle 4d6 40m 7 lb. Full auto 10+ 20-100
Carbine Types ROF Capacity

55
Break Open 1 every 2 1-2 ammunition types to get something like APHE (armor
Rolling/Falling Block 1 every 2 1 piercing high explosive) which penetrates armor at ½ SP
Lever Action 1 5-6 and then does regular damage +6. To damage an object,
Pump Action 1 5-10 an APHE would +6 damage.
Semiauto 2 5-100
Burst 3-5 20-100 Typical Weapon Modifications Effect
Full Auto 10+ 30-100 Long barrel +2 Damage
Rifle Types ROF Capacity Short barrel -2 Damage, +1 Con
Black Powder 1 every 4 1 Laser Optics +5% to hit
Break Open 1 every 2 1-2 Reflex Sights +10% to hit
Rolling/Falling Block 1 every 2 1 Scope low power -5% at RI 0 to 1
Lever Action 1 5-6 +5% at RI 4+
Pump Action 1 5-10 Scope mid power -10% to RI 0 to 3
Semiauto 2 5-100 +10% at RI 5+
Burst 3-5 20-100 Scope high power -10% at RI 0 to 4
Full Auto 10+ 30-100 +15% at RI 6+
Machinegun Types ROF Capacity
Full Auto 10+ 100+ 5.93 Energy Weapons
Multi-barrel full auto 100+ 100+ Pistol Dam RI Wt.
Shotgun Types ROF Capacity Super Light Pistol 1d6 5m 1 lb.
Black Powder 1 every 4 1-2 Very Light Pistol 1d8 6m 2 lb.
Break Open 1 every 2 1-2 Light Pistol 1d10 7m 3 lb.
Rolling/Falling Block 1 every 2 1 Medium Pistol 2d6 8m 4 lb.
Lever Action 1 5-6 Heavy Pistol 3d6 9m 5 lb.
Pump Action 1 5-10 Very Heavy Pistol 4d6 10m 6 lb.
Semiauto 2 5-100 Super Heavy Pistol 5d6 11m 7 lb.
Burst 3-5 20-100 Carbine Dam RI Wt.
Full Auto 10+ 30-100 Super Light Carbine 1d10 10m 4 lb.
Very Light Carbine 2d6 15m 5 lb.
The next consideration for weapons is the type of Light Carbine 3d6 20m 6 lb.
ammunition that is being fired. This affects damage, range Medium Carbine 4d6 25m 7 lb.
and Stopping Power. Heavy Carbine 5d6 30m 8 lb.
Very Heavy Carbine 6d6 40m 9 lb.
Ammunition Type Effect Super Heavy Carbine 7d6 50m 10 lb.
Ball/Full Metal Jacket No change Rifle Dam RI Wt.
Lead Ball ½ range, SP x 2 Super Light Rifle 2d10 20m 5 lb.
Conical Lead ¾ range, SP x 1.5 Very Light Rifle 3d10 30m 6 lb.
Hollow Point +2 Damage, + 2 SP Light Rifle 4d10 40m 7 lb.
Total Fragmenting/Frangible +4 Damage, + 8 SP Medium Rifle 5d10 50m 8 lb.
Explosive +6 Damage, 0 Pen Heavy Rifle 6d10 60m 10 lb.
Armor Piercing ½ Damage, ½ SP Very Heavy Rifle 7d10 80m 15 lb.
Soft Point +2 Damage Super Heavy Rifle 8d10 100m 20 lb.
Solid Copper +2 Damage, -2 SP Support Weapon Dam RI Wt.
Dual Purpose ½ SP Super Light Machinegun 4d10 250m 10 lb.
Very Light Machinegun 5d10 500m 15 lb.
Stopping Power modifiers are for penetrating an object Light Machinegun 6d10 700m 20 lb.
and damaging something on the other side. If the desire is Medium Machinegun 7d10 100m 25 lb.
not to penetrate, but to damage something, do not use Heavy Machinegun 8d10 100m 30 lb.
the Stopping Power, but rather the Hardness. Hardness is Very Heavy Machinegun 9d10 200m 35 lb.
not modified by SP modifiers. Super Heavy Machinegun 10d10 300m 40 lb.

0 Pen = zero penetration. The projectile will NOT

penetrate armor but will damage it. It is possible to mix

56
These weapons are generally visible for “civilian” versions,
while military versions are usually in the IR or UV band.
Some are in the microwave band (masers) or some other
invisible part of the EM spectrum. Invisible beams
travelling at the speed of light are basically impossible to
dodge and require armor or some other technological
defense to have any protection from them.
5.94 Heavy Weapons and Vehicles
Heavy Weapons span everything too big to carry from
autocannons to strategic weapons. As they tend to be
very specific to the setting, they are described as
57
individual items under the vehicle or weapon systems of
that setting.
5.95 Magical Weapons
Magical weapons can have multiple forms such as fire,
electrical, glowing, etc. The level of these enhancements
range from +1 to +5 for upgrades, but there are also
cursed items which range from -1 to -5.
These types of magical effects are provided to give
gamemasters and players an idea of the range of magical
effects possible.
5.96 Armor Agility characteristic roll, while ‘perception’ skills are Listen
and Spot. At the gamemaster’s discretion, other skills may
be affected by wearing armor.

5.97 Hit Locations & Armor Coverage

As an optional rule, you may roll to determine if the armor
worn by a target has been effective in intercepting an
attack.

To determine the amount of surface area covered by

armor use the following:

Area Covered % protection

Head (NOT incl. face) 4%
Face 4%
Neck 1%
Chest 9%
Back 9%
Abdomen 9%
Lower Back 9%
Groin 1%
Upper Arm 4% each
Lower Arm 4% each
Hands 1% each
Upper Leg 9% each
Lower Leg 8% each
Foot 1% each

Total Body 100%

Now then add all of it up and that is the percentage of

the body protected by armor.

Image by Ash Bentley via Unsplash
Armor protects its wearer from being injured. It’s not
invulnerable, though. Light armor stops a little damage,
and heavy armor stops a lot of damage. For example, soft
leather armor stops 1 point of damage, while full plate
armor stops 8 points of damage. When a character is hit in
combat, subtract the armor points from the points of
damage that have been rolled. Damage above and beyond
the armor’s protection value bypasses the armor and is
inflicted on the character, reducing their current hit points.
To figure out if the armor was hit, the attacker rolls a D00
(without any skill modifiers, this is NOT the same as a
called shot/attack). If the result of the D00 is LESS than
the amount of % covered, the attack hits the armor and
damage is resolved normally. If the result of the D00 is
GREATER than the amount of % covered, the armor did
not intercept the attack and damage is resolved normally.
Please note that some weapons do area damage (such as
fire, explosives, etc.) and if the body is not 100% covered,
the target will take damage regardless.

Following is a sample list of various armor types. Armor is
defined by armor points (how many points are subtracted
from damage) and any additional effects wearing the
armor has on the wearer.
‘Physical’ skills are Climb, Dodge, Fine Manipulation, Hide,
Jump, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Swim, and Throw, and the
5.98 Armor Types
Armor types are shown under 5.52 Stopping Power, page
49. Do not forget that armor types are subject to quality
increases and decreases. As an example, there are
instances of plate armor cuirass that are easily able to be
penetrated by a matchlock pistol, while others are
capable of deflecting the shot. They are both “plate
armor” but while one of them is normal, if not lower
quality, the other is clearly masterwork. This would give a
possible SP for the armor of 8 to 13.

5.99 Shields
Essentially, a shield is any movable, non-weapon obstacle
a character uses to intercept incoming attacks. Parrying
with a shield follows the same rules as parrying with a
weapon, though low-velocity missile weapons (thrown,
arrows, etc.) can also be parried with a shield. A target
shield or buckler (up to 18” in diameter) has a +5% chance
to parry a missile weapon, a full (heater, kite, or round up
to 30” wide) shield has +10%, and a large (hoplite or riot-
style 30” or larger) shield has +20%. If a character kneels
behind a large shield, the chance becomes +50% but
cannot attack unless the character has skill of shield use.
Characters that have a “shield” skill add this bonus to their
skill, making fighting shield equipped enemies in full armor
a very long-term proposition. A shield takes half damage
for an unskilled parry, and no damage for a skilled parry.

Shields are described by their base chance to parry or

attack with, damage done if used as a weapon (a shield
bash, etc.), and by armor points. If the shield is immobile,
use its armor points to figure out how many points it
protects a hit location against, and if it is damaged, reduce
its hit points and armor points to represent.

5.991 Shields Table

Type Parry SP DC
Buckler +5% 14 20
Shield, light wooden +10% 10 20
Shield, light steel +10% 14 30
Shield, heavy wooden +10% 10 30
Shield, heavy steel +10% 14 40
Sheild, Riot +20% 10 20
Shield, tower +20% 10 20

Image by Maan Limburg via Unsplash
6.0 DAMAGE AND INJURY
Each character has hit points (HP) derived from the
average of Constitution and Size (see section 2.5 Derived
Characteristics). When a weapon successfully strikes a
character (or the character suffers some other injury),
damage points (after armor points) are subtracted from
their current hit points.
For example, an uninjured character has 12 hit points and
is wearing hard leather armor (worth 2 points). They take 6
points of damage from an attack. Two points are
subtracted from that damage because of the character’s
armor protection, and they take the remainder, 4 hit points
in damage. This reduces the character to 8 hit points. Any
more damage is subtracted from this new total.
If a character is reduced to 2 hit points, they fall
unconscious for 1D6 hours or until awakened by another
character. If a character is reduced to 0 hit points and
remains at 0 at the end of the combat round, they are
dead.
Characters can have injuries in excess of their hit points,
going below 0 into negative values. First Aid attempts (see
5.14 Healing) must be applied to these negative hit points
to bring the character’s hit points to a positive total.
6.1 Saving Throws
There are some forms of attack, which allow a character
the opportunity to reduce or negate the effect of the
damage. There are several types of saving throws, which
can be attempted. The most commonly used saving
throws are Dexterity, Constitution and Willpower checks.
Save versus Magical/Psionic Effects. The attacker makes
his attack roll. The defender rolls against his willpower. If
the defender rolls under both his willpower and the attack
roll, the psionic attack has no effect. This is only for
attacks that affect the mind, not psionic effects such as
telekinesis, pyrokinesis or cryokinesis. Those attacks are
dodged as normal attacks are.
Save versus Poison. Roll against the character's
Constitution Check MINUS the potency (POT) of the poison
x 5%. If the defender rolls under their constitution check
minus the potency (POT) of the poison x 5%, then the
poison will have the minimum effect. Otherwise, the
poison will have the maximum effect.
6.2 Knockout Attacks
It is possible to try to knock another character unconscious
rather than killing them. To knock someone out, make a
Difficult attack and roll damage as normal, subtracting
armor. Compare the damage done against the character’s
hit points (total, not current). If the damage is greater than
half the character’s normal hit point total, the character is
knocked out, with no actual damage being done. If the
damage rolled is equal to or less than half the normal hit
point total, the attack does minimum possible damage
(the lowest the dice can roll, including the minimum
strength bonus) in hit points, and the target is not knocked
out.
6.3 Damage, Dying and Death
A character has a certain amount of Damage Capacity (DC).
When a character's DC is reduced to 0, they are
unconscious. When a character is reduced to -1/2 DC they
are dead. There are also various levels of injury between
healthy and dead. As an optional rule, use the following.
Full DC Healthy No Modifiers
3/4 DC Bruised 1 all Stats, -5% skills
½ DC Injured 2 all Stats, -10% skills
1/4 DC Seriously Injured 5 all Stats, -25% skills
0 DC Unconscious
-1/4 DC Critical Critically Injured
-1/2 DC Dead Dead
Image by ChanChiaKee via Unsplash
6.31 Percent Kill rules
When discussing combat effectiveness, there are two
terms that are vitally important, which are probability of
hit and probability of kill. When translated into role
playing game terminology, we end up with:
Probability of Hit (pH) is equal to the skill of the attacker
as a percentage
Probability of Kill (pK) is equal to the chance that an
attack will kill the target.
Probability of Hit needs no further elaboration, as it is
already denoted on a character sheet as the weapon skill
or the bonus to use a certain weapon.
Probability of Kill is determined by the maximum damage
a certain weapon can do divided by the hit points of the
target. This will give a number that is converted to a
percentage, and if that number or below is rolled on a
d100, then the target is destroyed by that attack.
Example: a weapon that does 6d6 mega-damage hits a
target that has 300 MDC. 6 times 6 equals 36 divided by
300 equals .12 which equals 12 percent of a kill.
Roll a d100, if less than or equal to 12, then it is a kill. If
the roll is 13 or higher, continue as normal. The 6d6 MD
becomes 33 damage (you rolled great) 300 MDC minus
33 equals 267 MDC remaining. The next hit by this
weapon against that target will be 6d6 vs 279 MDC
equals 36 divided by 279 equals .1348 which equals 13
percent of a kill. Therefore, as the target takes damage,
the chance of a catastrophic kill increase.
Always round down.
6.32 Kill Shot
The equivalent of pK for living targets is the “kill shot.”
The requirement for a kill shot is that a target’s vital areas
must be known, and visible to the shooter. The vitals can
be covered by armor. A critical hit can be done without
prior aiming, but hitting the vitals or being fatal cannot be
done without aiming.
To perform a kill shot (hitting the vitals or being fatal),
instead of hitting the target, you are only attempting to
hit the target center mass and will not take any other
shot. The first action must be to aim for one complete
round of 3 seconds (even if a character has multiple
actions). Then, choose the target:
Critical, Vital and Fatal hits
There are two types of “Criticals”. One of them is a
random critical hit where the hit is less than 1/10th of the
modified skill (see 3.13 Critical Success). A critical of this
type is only for a hit, and does not increase damage. To
gain increased damage, use the following rules.
Critical, use ½ the skill, target takes damage x2.
Vital, 1/3 the skill, target takes damage x3.
Fatal, ¼ the skill, target takes damage x4.
Hitting these specific targets is obviously more difficult
(reducing the skill), but the damage done is much more
traumatic (multiplying the damage).
A “critical hit” in most games represents a good hit on the
vitals.
If a shot with the lowered skill misses, but is still a hit with
the modified normal skill, then the target still takes
normal rolled damage.
These rules can apply to objects, but only if a character
has intimate knowledge of the target can this even be
attempted. This is because each type of aircraft, tank or
object has vastly different weak spots. To alleviate this
issue, anti-vehicular weapons are built to engage and
destroy hard targets without that level of intimate
knowledge, hence the Percent Kill rules.

Above, possible results of attacking.
6.4 Broken and Destroyed
Objects have several levels of damage just like characters
and beings.
Full DC Fully Functional
3/4 DC Lightly Damaged
½ DC Damaged
1/4 DC Heavily Damaged
0 DC Broken (will no longer work)
-1/4 DC Critically Damaged (only repaired to
75%)
-1/2 DC Destroyed (cannot be repaired)
6.5 Critical Injury and Massive Damage
There are times when characters and objects are subject
to large amounts of damage, due to either large weapons
or critical strikes. When that occurs, then these rules
apply. If a character takes more than ½ of their DC in
damage in one round, they are assumed to have suffered a
critical injury. Critical injury also applies when a character
drops below 1/4 their DC. It is possible for a character to
take so much damage that they take over ½ their normal
DC and drop below 1/4 DC in the same round. If that
occurs, roll twice on the Critical Injury chart.
The Massive Damage Chart is used in the same way as the
Critical Injury chart, but for objects instead of characters or
creatures. The Massive Damage Chart assumes the object
in question is a vehicle of some sort.
6.51 Critical Injury Chart
01-10 Lose a partial limb (hand, foot, below the knee,
below the elbow) (01-50) or a complete limb (above the
elbow, above the knee) (51-00)
11-20 Lose an eye (01-50) or an ear (51-00)
21-30 1d6 STR loss of muscle tissue and damage to
tendons, ligaments, etc.
31-40 1d6 CON loss of a lung or damaged heart, liver,
etc.
41-50 1d6 DEX scar tissue doesn't stretch
51-60 1d6 INT brain damage
61-70 1d6 CHA scarring and you hate people now
71-80 1d6 PWR massive tissue loss
81-90 1d6 WIS brain damage
91-00 1d6 SPD damaged tendons and joints
6.52 Massive Damage Chart
01-10 Sluggish, -20% to all rolls
11-20 Mobility impaired, -50% to speed
21-30 Overheating, will cause 1d6 damage per round
until vehicle shuts down.
31-40 Lose all targeting systems.
41-50 Lose communications.
51-60 Lose all sensors.
61-70 Pilot stunned for 1d4 rounds.
71-80 Weapons systems damaged, lose 1d4 weapons.
81-90 Power failure for 1d4 rounds.
91-00 Internal fire, -20% to all rolls and speed due to
smoke and pilot irritation.
6.6 Healing
Healing rates vary according to the amount of damage a
character has suffered. If the character is "Healthy" they
heal 1 DC per day. If they are "Bruised" they heal 1 DC
every 3 days. If they are "Injured", they heal 1 DC per
week. If they are "Seriously Injured", "Unconscious" or
"Critically Injured" they heal 1 DC per month. The level of
damage that they were at when they sought medical
attention determines the amount of time needed to heal.
Thus, a character who is bruised and needs to heal 4 DC
will need 12 days to completely heal, while a character
who is unconscious and needs to heal 17 DC will need 17
months to return to 100%. Please note that "Critically
Injured" is a level of damage that is so profound that a
character stands a very good chance of never returning to
100% even if "magically", “technologically”, "infernally" or
"divinely" cured.
A character usually heals 1D3 hit points per game week,
meaning that at the end of a seven-day period, the
gamemaster rolls 1D3 and the character has that many hit
points restored to their total, up to maximum hit points.
First Aid can immediately heal 1 HP after a successful roll,
but that is all that it can do.
A successful Medicine roll adds a +1 HP healing per week.

Image by Hugo Jehanne via Unsplash
7. SPOT RULES
Spot rules cover a variety of situations in and outside of
combat. These include environmental issues, damage from
other sources, or modifiers that may affect gameplay.
7.1 Equipment
Now that the character is almost finished, they still need
some gear. This can include weapons, armor, or other
important paraphernalia used in their profession. In the
course of play there are many chances to get more
equipment, but each starting player character has in their
immediate possession the following:
• A set of clothing appropriate to the character’s
profession and the setting.
• An amount of pocket money; enough to last a little
while without hardship. The higher the Status skill, the
more money.
• A personal heirloom, keepsake, or some trinket of little
relative value.
• Any trade tools or transportable equipment suitable to
the character’s profession, if appropriate.
• Any weapon the character has a skill of 50% or higher
in, if appropriate.
• Other items as appropriate based on the Status skill,
setting, and subject to the gamemaster’s approval.
This can be changed by the gamemaster based on
circumstances: characters participating in a commando
raid may be fully laden with weapons and tactical gear,
while suburban civilians waking up to a zombie apocalypse
may be limited to what they reasonably have on hand.
7.11 Equipment Quality
Although skill has the most effect on success or failure,
equipment quality also has a role to play. Some
equipment is terrible, most is average, and some is truly
exceptional.
Very Poor -2/-20% rated values, ½ time
Poor -1/-10% rated values, ¾ time
Average no change
Good +1/+10% rated values, time x2, price x2
Exceptional +2/+20% rated values, time x3, price x5
Another level of quality is possible, “masterwork” but it is
exceptionally difficult to create and is generally only
created for specific individuals. Additionally, the cost is
prohibitive, and the level of skill is quite rare. To create a
“masterwork” item, the cost is x10, the time needed is x5
and the skill rating of the creator is only ½. The bonus is
+3 or +30% of rated values. A failed roll still creates an
item of exceptional quality, but the cost of the materials
and time means that the crafter loses money and time.
An attempt to pass off an Exceptional item as
Masterwork also costs the creator reputation if they are
discovered.
For characters it may sometimes be necessary to figure
out the quality of an item, and the character has to pass a
skill check for that skill. For example, to find a car’s actual
quality, a skill check of automotive mechanics is
necessary. If the character can drive the car, then a Drive
check will determine the actual quality. This is how a
character can decide if their opponent in a street race is
driving a stock racer, a tuner or a sleeper.
7.12 Looting
Looting bodies is a favorite pastime of adventurers. While
this has the potential to be profitable, it has its drawbacks
as well. First off, the dead body will have voided itself and
thus be rather smelly, moist and soiled. Also, the body will
most likely be covered in blood and dirt. This means that
handling dead bodies without protection gives a flat 5% of
contracting a disease, usually a blood borne or skin
disease, though minor infections are also a possibility.
Looting bodies from the recently deceased is sometimes a
waste of time since the damage that killed them usually
has the effect of destroying many of the items they were
carrying. There is a flat 10% chance that every item
carried by the victim will be completely destroyed, and an
additional 25% (11-35%) that each item will be damaged in
some way. Also, any armor the victim was wearing at the
time will need to be repaired since it will have been
damaged during the combat.
item. Multiple skills can be used on one item, but
multiple items cannot be used to recharge multiple items.
Three independent skills can be used to recharge one
lucky item… but one skill cannot be used to recharge
three items.
7.2 Darkness
If fighting in near-total darkness (without any night vision
or equivalent), all combat skills become Difficult. In pitch
black darkness, all combat skills are equivalent to POW
expressed as a percentage or are Difficult (whichever is
lower).

7.13 Lucky Items

Some equipment gains importance to specific characters
and become “lucky items” or personal fetishes. These
personal fetishes are generally good for a 1% to 5% one-
time bonus on skill rolls. To “recharge” the luck, during a
period of downtime when skill is being increased,
whenever a skill would be successfully increased (see
2.92 Improving Skills Through Experience), instead of
increasing the skill, the character instead attributes the
success of that skill to their lucky item. Instead of the skill
increasing by 1d4+1% the item gains that much luck
instead.

This means that characters can have various trinkets that

they consider lucky from 1% to 5% bonuses on any skill
rolls they need.

To use the luck, the character has to declare that they are
using the trinket, either before or after the skill roll. For
example, a character has to make a long range shot and
after all mod, the character has a modified skill of 22%.
They roll and get 28%. They decide they are going to use
their lucky bullet (4%) and their Class Ring (5%). Adding
those 9% to the skill, brings the skill to 31% (22% + 9% =
31%), and thus 28% is under 31% and is successful.

When it comes time to increase skills, the character can

either attribute this to their lucky item or their skill. If Image by FilipeLourencoMarques via Unsplash
they attribute this to their skill, then the skill increases. If
they attribute it to their lucky item, then the item
receives those percentage points of luck. 7.3 Sound
Decibels Example
The benefit of skill is that the character knows that they 10 Whisper
are the reason for their success or their failure. The 20 Speaking quietly
benefit of these personal talismans is that they allow the 30 Conversation
use of their benefits to any roll, at any time, as long as 40 Light traffic
they have possession of the lucky item. 50 Loud conversation
60 Shouting
When a talisman is used, ALL of the luck is used at once, 70 Heavy traffic
so an item with a 4% has to use all 4% on that skill 80 Loud noise, subway, convert
attempt, even if only 1% was needed. Additionally, when 90 Very loud noise, explosion
recharging luck, each skill can only be used once on each
100 Jet take-off, deafened 2d6 seconds
140 flash-bang grenade, deafened 2d4
minutes
7.4 Good Days, Bad Days & Worse Days
The default “status” for an adventurer is a “good day”,
which means that the character is not sick, irritated, pre-
occupied, depressed, injured or otherwise reduced from
an optimum status. The penalties for injury have already
been covered in the combat sections, but there are other
times when a character is not one hundred percent.
A Bad Day occurs for lots of different reasons, but the
penalty is that the character is -2% on everything during
the Bad Day, regardless of the reason for the Bad Day
occurring. Sometimes, however, the character may have a
Worse Day, and that worse day is a -5% on everything for
the duration of the Worse Day. The only thing that can
remove a Bad Day or a Worse Day is sleep. Until the
character gets to sleep, the Bad/Worse Day will simply
continue on and on and on.
Characters also can get sick at various levels. They can be
sick (-2%), really sick (-5%) or “deathly ill” (-10%). It is up to
GM’s to determine how often characters get sick or have
Bad Days…one way is to roll 2D6. On 2-9, the character will
have a good day. On a 10 or 11, they have a Bad Day, and
on a 12 they have a Worse Day.
Sickness should be either completely random or something
the GM afflicts a character with instead of it being
something decided by dice.
7.5 Disease
If a character is exposed to a minor disease, such as a bad
cold or mild flu, they should make a Stamina roll (CON×5)
to see if the disease is contracted. Success means that it is
avoided, while failure means that the character catches
the disease. For a minor disease, the extent of the illness
should merely cost 1 or 2 hit points over a few days. On
the morning of the second day the character suffers from
a minor disease, roll CON×2. If the roll is successful, the
character recovers. If the roll fails, the disease persists for
another day. On the morning of the third day, roll CON×3,
continuing by increasing the multiplier by the roll until the
disease is finally overcome.
The character must rest and be cared for while
recuperating from a disease. Less-than-ideal conditions
(adventuring, combat, rough environment, etc.) reduces
this characteristic roll by one multiple per outstanding
condition, at the gamemaster’s discretion. As a general
guide, if the recovery roll would normally be CON×5,
reduce it to CON×4 if the character is not at home in bed,
reduce it to CON×3 if hiking in the wilderness, reduce it to
CON×2 if engaged in strenuous activity, and reduce it to
CON×1 if already suffering from other injuries.
Medical attention may be of use, but the character must
recover naturally by succeeding in a CON roll as described
above. At the gamemaster’s discretion, successful use of
the Medicine skill may increase the CON multiple by one
or more steps. Other powers and/or equipment may help
against disease, to a degree decided by the gamemaster.
A major disease such as plague might attack any
characteristic, but most diseases will attack CON or hit
points. Immensely powerful diseases could even inflict 1 or
1D3 hit points per hour, enough to kill an average human
in eight hours. Symptoms vary greatly. Lesser diseases
might inflict 1 hit point per day, or per week, coupled with
loss of characteristic points.
Cross-index the number of times the character has failed
the CON roll on the Illness Severity table below.
Disease Chart
CON% Modification Name
-25% X Disease
-50% Y Disease
-95% Z Disease
Illness Severity Chart
Failures Degree of Illness
0 None
1 Mild: Lose 1 attribute point/week
2 Acute: Lose 1 attribute point/day
3 Severe: Lose 1 attribute point/hour
4+ Terminal: Lose 1 attribute point per minute
The first characteristic point is lost when the character
initially contracts the disease (failing the first roll). Each
successive loss is added to the total whenever a CON roll is
being made to shake the disease.
The type of disease dictates what characteristic points are
lost. When a character reaches 0 in a characteristic, they
die. At the gamemaster’s discretion, some diseases may
affect multiple characteristics, and have other effects as
well.
Natural healing, medical treatment, rest, counseling,
rehabilitation, etc. can restore these lost characteristic
points at the rate of 1 per week once the character is free
from the disease.
 Image by DavidClode via Unsplash

7.7 Poison
All poisons have a potency value (POT) that is matched
against the CON of a poisoned character on the resistance
table (see 3.4. The Resistance Table). Poison damage
always affects hit points or one or more characteristics. If
the poison overcomes a character’s CON, then its full POT
is done as damage to their total hit points, or a specified
characteristic is lowered. If the poison does not overcome
the character’s CON, it has a lessened effect—usually this
means that half the poison’s POT (round up) is suffered as
damage to the victim’s hit points or a characteristic.
Image by Finding Dan via Unsplash

Poison damage is usually not suffered on the same combat

7.6 Starvation and Thirst
round in which a character is poisoned. The delay before
In normal climates, characters need at least a gallon of
poison damage takes effect depends upon the poison.
fluids and about a pound of decent food to avoid
Unless otherwise specified by the gamemaster, the delay
starvation. In very hot climates, characters need two or
is three combat rounds for fast-acting poisons, or three full
three times as much water to avoid dehydration (or every
turns for slower poisons.
12 hours or 8 hours). The same is true for levels of
exertion so that the more you do, the more you need
Depending on the type of poison, the gamemaster may
food.
allow a Sense roll to detect the poison’s presence, if it is
being fed to a character, disguised in food or drink. If
Each day without water a character loses 2 CON points
ingesting more than one dose of a poison, the victim must
after the first. A character with a CON of 12 on the first
make separate resistance rolls versus each one: two doses
day loses no CON. On the second, they have a CON of 10,
of a POT 10 poison are not the same as one dose of a POT
on the third a CON of 8, then 6, etc. The character will hit 0
20 poison.
CON and pass into unconsciousness on day seven (CON
12/2 = 6 +1).
Poison CON Mod Poison Name
-25% X poison
A character can go without food for CON days. Each day a -50% Y poison
character is without food, they lose 1/2 CON per day after -95% Z poison
the first. Thus, a character with a CON of 13 will hit 0 CON
and unconsciousness on day 27 (CON 13 x 2 = 26 + 1). Poison Antidotes
Almost all poisons have antidotes. All antidotes have a POT
rating, just like poisons. If a character takes a poison’s
antidote within six full turns before being poisoned, the
antidote’s POT is subtracted from the poison’s POT before
damage is figured. An antidote for one type of poison may
give a lessened benefit even when used with the wrong
poison type, at the gamemaster’s discretion.
Unlike poison, multiple doses of the same antidote have
no effect, and are applied to the poison effects on an
individual basis.
7.8 Radiation
Radiation exposure is measured in rads. Once a character
has absorbed a certain number of rads, he will suffer
certain effects. One problem with radiation exposure is
that while physical symptoms can be treated and may
heal, the radiation never goes away. The character’s rads
must be tracked. Further exposure adds to what the
character is already carrying around until a deadly level is
reached. Each exposure adds its dose to the existing level
of radiation in the body and the effect is for the higher
amount. Accumulated rads can be removed using anti-rad
drugs.
Name: The name of the radiation
Type: Type of radiation
Delay: The time between the exposure to the radiation, to
the time its effect takes hold.
RADs: The dose measured in RADs (or REMs)
Potency: This is a number between 10 and 1000 that
measures the strength of the radiation. A character must
make an opposed Resilience test versus the radiation’s
Potency test in order to avoid or mitigate the damage of
the poison.
Stage One Effect: The typical effects of the radiation in its
first stage
Latent Period: Many doses of radiation have a latent
period where symptoms seem to die down before a
second set of symptoms appear.
Stage Two Effect: The typical effects of the radiation in its
second stage
Recovery Period: The time taken to recover if not fatal
Fatality: The percentage of people who die after a certain
number of days. Use this for NPCs and if you want a fast
resolution to the poisoning. This is the chance of the
person dying of the radiation poisoning.
Characters must make the Constitution Check upon
exposure to the radiation, after the Latent Period and at
the end of the Fatality period. If the character succeeds in
all rolls, and the radiation fails all rolls, then the character
has been lucky and will suffer no serious ill effects. For
high doses of radiation, this event is highly unlikely.
Radiation Succeeds, Character Fails: If the radiation
succeeds in its Potency test and the character fails his
Resilience test, the radiation has its full effect.
Character Succeeds, Radiation Fails: If the character
succeeds in his Resilience test and the Radiation fails its
Potency test, the Radiation has no effect.
Both Radiation and Character Succeed: Whoever rolled the
highest in their test wins.
Both Radiation and Character Fail: Whoever rolled the
lowest in their test wins.
Medical Treatment
Anyone exposed to Light radiation or higher requires
immediate medical treatment otherwise the ill-effects will
be permanent. TLs 1-5 cannot treat Radiation Poisoning,
TLs 6 can treat the symptoms but can do little for acute
cases, TLs 7 can keep acute cases from dying and have a
chance to reverse the damage, given good enough
equipment and TL 8 can completely treat and cure any
level of radiation poisoning, with great expense and time.
Gamma-Ray Bursts
Name: Low Level Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Mild burn (1 point to each exposed
location)
Latent Period: None
Stage Two Effect: Low Level Radiation Exposure
Name: Mild Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Mild burn (1D2 point to each exposed
location)
Latent Period: None
Stage Two Effect: Mild Radiation Exposure
Name: Light Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Light burn (1D3 points to each exposed
location)
Latent Period: None
Stage Two Effect: Low Level Radiation Exposure
Name: Moderate Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Moderate burn (1D4 points to each
exposed location)
Latent Period: None
Stage Two Effect: Moderate Level Radiation Exposure
Name: Severe Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Severe burn (1D6 points to each
exposed location)
Latent Period: None
Stage Two Effect: Severe Level Radiation Exposure
 RADs: 200-300
Name: Sub-Lethal Gamma-Ray Burst Delay: 1-6 hours
Stage One Effect: Extreme burn (1D8 points to each Potency: 101-150
exposed location) Stage One Effect: Nausea (-20% to all skill rolls), vomiting,
Latent Period: None increased risk of infection (Resilience skill reduced by POT
Stage Two Effect: Sub-Lethal Level Radiation Exposure / 5), temporary male sterility
Latent Period: 10-14 days
Name: Lethal Gamma-Ray Burst Stage Two Effect: 50% chance of losing hair, fatigue
Stage One Effect: Mild burn (1D10 points to each exposed (Wearied), general illness, loss of white blood cells
location) (Resilience skill halved), possible permanent female
Latent Period: None sterility
Stage Two Effect: Lethal Level Radiation Exposure Recovery Period: 1-several months
Fatality: 35% after 30 days
Name: Hyper-Lethal Gamma-Ray Burst
Stage One Effect: Mild burn (1D12 points to each exposed Name: Severe Level Radiation
location) RADs: 300-400
Latent Period: None Delay: 1-6 hours
Stage Two Effect: Hyper-Lethal Level Radiation Exposure Potency: 151-200
Stage One Effect: Nausea (-20% to all skill rolls), vomiting,
Ionizing Radiation increased risk of infection (Resilience skill reduced by POT
Name: Negligible Level Radiation / 5), temporary male sterility
Potency: 5-10 Latent Period: 7-14 days
Stage One Effect: Potential for genetic mutations Stage Two Effect: As above plus fatigue (Exhausted),
bleeding under the skin, from the mouth and from the
Name: Low Level Radiation kidneys (take 1D2-1 Hit Points of damage per location per
RADs: 20-50 day)
Potency: 11-25 Recovery Period: Several Months
Stage One Effect: As above plus temporary decrease in red Fatality: 50% after 30 days
blood cells
Name: Acute Level Radiation
Name: Mild Radiation RADs: 400-600
RADs: 50-100 Delay: 1-2 hours
Potency: 26-50 Potency: 201-300
Stage One Effect: Headaches, increased risk of infection Stage One Effect: Nausea (-20% to all skill rolls), vomiting,
(Resilience skill reduced by POT / 5), temporary male increased risk of infection (Resilience skill reduced by POT
sterility / 5), temporary male sterility
Latent Period: 7-14 days
Name: Light Radiation Stage Two Effect: As above plus fatigue (Exhausted),
RADs: 100-200 bleeding under the skin, from the mouth and from the
Delay: 3-6 hours kidneys (take 1D3-1 Hit Points of damage per location per
Potency: 51-100 day), infections (Resilience skill halved)
Stage One Effect: Mild to moderate nausea (-20% to all Recovery Period: Several months to a year
skill rolls), increased risk of infection (Resilience skill Fatality: 60%-90% after 30 days
reduced by POT / 2), temporary male sterility
Latent Period: 10-14 days Name: Sub-Lethal Level Radiation
Stage Two Effect: Spontaneous abortion/stillbirth for RADs: 600-1000
pregnant women, depressed immune system (Resilience Delay: 15-30 minutes
skill halved) Potency: 301-500
Fatality: 10% after 30 days Stage One Effect: Nausea (-20% to all skill rolls), vomiting,
increased risk of infection (Resilience skill reduced by POT
Name: Moderate Level Radiation / 5), temporary male sterility, permanent loss of bone
marrow (requires a transplant or Resilience loss is fall does 3D6 points of damage. A successful Dodge roll
permanent) reduces damage by 1D6, at the gamemaster’s discretion.
Latent Period: 5-10 days
Stage Two Effect: As above plus fatigue (Exhausted), A being takes 1d6 + 1/10 SIZ damage per ten feet fallen.
severe internal bleeding (take 1D4-1 Hit Points of damage This is not jumping or rolling or even tripping. This is
per location per day), infections (Resilience skill halved) falling on your head or your face or something similar.
Recovery Period: Several years but never complete Jumping 10 feet, feet first will cause 1 damage. The fall
Fatality: 100% after 14 days itself counts as an attack with a 100% chance of hitting. A
character with Tumbling or some other skill can try to roll
Name: Lethal Level Radiation with the fall to take ½ damage if they roll under the
RADs: 1000-5000 "attack". If the attack roll is 10% or less, then it is a critical
Delay: 5-30 minutes fall and does double damage!
Potency: 500-2500
Stage One Effect: Nausea (-40% to all skill rolls), Fatigue Falling damage will max out at approximately 570m for
(Exhausted), increased risk of infection (Resilience skill humans.
reduced by POT / 5), permanent male sterility, permanent
Feet fallen Damage
loss of bone marrow (requires a transplant or Resilience
10 1d6+1/10 SIZ
loss is permanent)
20 2d6+1/10 SIZ
Latent Period: None 30 2d6+1/10 SIZ
Stage Two Effect: Gastric and intestinal cell death and 40 3d6+1/10 SIZ
severe diarrhea (lose 1D3 HP from abdomen every day), 50 3d6+1/10 SIZ
severe internal bleeding (take 1D4-1 Hit Points of damage 60 4d6+1/10 SIZ
per location per day), infections (Resilience skill halved), 70 4d6+1/10 SIZ
delirium (lose 1D3-1 INT per day), coma (if INT reduced to 80 5d6+1/10 SIZ
0), then death 90 5d6+1/10 SIZ
Recovery Period: None 100 5d6+1/10 SIZ
Fatality: 100% after 7 days 200 6d6+1/10 SIZ
300 6d6+1/10 SIZ
400 7d6+1/10 SIZ
Name: Hyper-Lethal Level Radiation
500 7d6+1/10 SIZ
RADs: 5000+
600 8d6+1/10 SIZ
Delay: 5 minutes
700 8d6+1/10 SIZ
Potency: 2500+ 800 9d6+1/10 SIZ
Stage One Effect: Nausea (-60% to all skill rolls), Fatigue 900 9d6+1/10 SIZ
(Exhausted), increased risk of infection (Resilience skill 1000 9d6+1/10 SIZ
reduced by POT / 5), permanent male sterility, permanent 1100 10d6+1/10 SIZ
loss of bone marrow (requires a transplant or Resilience 1200 10d6+1/10 SIZ
loss is permanent) 1300 10d6+1/10 SIZ
Latent Period: 1-2 days 1400 11d6+1/10 SIZ
Stage Two Effect: Gastric and intestinal cell death and 1500 11d6+1/10 SIZ
severe diarrhea (lose 1D4 HP from abdomen every day), 1600 11d6+1/10 SIZ
severe internal bleeding (take 1D4 Hit Points of damage 1700 12d6+1/10 SIZ
per location per day), infections (Resilience skill halved),
Humans reach “terminal velocity” at approximately 570m
delirium (lose 1D6 INT per day), coma (if INT reduced to 0),
(1700 feet) which is roughly 120mph. This will do 1/10 SIZ
then death
+ 12d6 damage.
Recovery Period: None
Fatality: 100% after 2 days
7.91 Atmospheric Re-entry
EVERY point of damage taken by a vehicle is magnified by
7.9 Falling
100 when that vehicle attempts re-entry (due to shearing
A falling character takes 1D6 points of damage per three
and thermal effects)…thus it would take 2 (only 2) points
meters distance, rounded up. For example, a seven meter
of damage to completely destroy the space shuttle upon
atmospheric re-entry…but since the damage occurred to
the wing, only 1 point of damage translated to 100 points
during the re-entry and traveling at several Mach minus a
wing apparently leads to catastrophic disintegration of the
vehicle.

Image by Mark Frost via Pixabay
8. RUNNING A CAMPAIGN
8.1 Campaign Development
When beginning a campaign, the GM should consider
what sort of game his players are expecting. The open-
ended nature of many settings allows for far more
options in campaign development. This can be a problem
when players are expecting a sword and sorcery low-tech
hack and slash dungeon crawl, and the GM places them
in a high tech corporate intrigue campaign.
8.11 Campaign Types
The first step is to find the type of campaign the GM and
the players want to play. In figuring out campaign types,
the technological/magic level should be determined.
Fantasy
Swords and Sorcery
The default for most TTRPGs as magic and fantastic
monsters are a perennial favorite. This allows for an
almost unlimited amount of power and creativity as no
matter what occurs, it can be explained as magic of
whatever flavor makes sense. The level of magic can be
increased or decreased as needed to match the desires of
the group.
Divine magic, nature magic, infernal magic, etc. are all
available to the GM for players to use or fight against.
The same is true of monsters. Regardless of how
outlandish the monsters, magic can make them
completely viable in your world.
Fantasy is one of the easiest genres to start out with as it
allows GMs to build outward from the PCs and their
initial location in the world. The “zero to hero” trope
works very well in this campaign, as do prophecies.
Steampunk
The Technology of the Bizarre
The genre of steampunk, or really anything -punk works
very well for tying together two things that are not
usually seen together in a retro-futuristic style. By using
some technology in a different way, it opens a lot of
worldbuilding potential. Psi-punk can allow for psionically
active powered armor, or a type of character that uses
psionically sensitive animals in the same way as drones
would be used in a high tech game.
Frostpunk is all about repurposed technology for use in
an extremely cold environment. Dieselpunk gives us a
more industrial version of high tech, sort of a dirtier
version of Steampunk. Whereas Steampunk would have
steam and propellers on everything, Dieselpunk could
just add more smoke spewing jet engines on everything.
An excellent candidate for steampunk stories is having a
technological apocalypse so all the old high tech has had
to be changed to work with lower tech energy systems
for some reason such as a tragedy that destroyed all the
earlier infrastructure. The aesthetic of steampunk and
other similar styles is an important part of the world-
building. Walking castles? Enormous airships travelling
the clouds and only touching ground to refuel? These are
some excellent ideas to explore in these worlds.
High Tech
Microchips and Machine Guns
For a modern game, this is the default. Anything from
roughly 1980 to 2020 is fair game for a high tech game. It
allows for anything that does or could exist in a few
years. This is a good setting type when you want the
world to be less important than the characters or the
stories.
High tech tends to place the world in the background as
there is little need to focus on how or why anything
works or is the way it is. This is also a good choice for
mysteries or other types of game where the GM wants
information to be more limited. Fantasy and Cyberpunk
settings often have a lot of ways for enterprising
characters to attempt to “break the world” especially
information. If the GM is constantly telling the players no
or having to post facto explain why something wouldn’t
work, it may have players feel like they are in an
adversarial game.
High tech games tend to remove those problems and
instead place most of the focus on the characters and
their stories.
Cyberpunk
Cash, Chrome and Corporate Conspiracies
Very similar to Steampunk as one of its antecedents,
Cyberpunk takes high technology and pushes it from next
week and pushes it as far as you want to go. While
science fiction is still around, many of the original themes
of cyberpunk have become incorporated into science
fiction writ large. Post humanism, apocalyptic and post-
apocalyptic stories, economic desperation, corporate neo
feudalism, and other “dark” stories are what this setting
type brings.
As science and technology advance, it becomes easier to
include specific technologies that you as the GM wish to
include. Psionic powers, cybernetics, faster than light
travel can all be included in this setting easily.
I include science-fiction in this setting as the older style of
setting tended to use the technology as a background
while the story itself was still oriented on the character.
Cyberpunk, in contrast, tends to place the technology
story forward and has the ways characters interact with
tech be important to the story. In my opinion, a science
fiction story that doesn’t have need of the technology to
make the story work is just a high-tech story as
everything tends to work just like it does in the real world
with one or two changes.
Polyglot
Magic, Psionics and Technology, Oh My!
Although it would seem at first to be problematic having
all different flavors of magic, plus psionics in competition
with each other, it should not be so. What is important
for the GM and the players to remember is that each
technology type is, at this point in history, equal in regard
to effects. That means that for the time being, a magic
user is just as capable as a high technology user. They are
effectively equivalent to each other. What is also
important to remember is that each form of technology
exists independently of each other. This equality is
important since once magic, tech or psionics proves
superior to another, that form will quickly dominate over
the others.
An analogy is the world of today. African bushmen and
South American tribesmen still practice their native
traditions (spiritualism and shamanism respectively) in
the modern world, while various religions (divine,
infernal, abyssal and the druidic path) obviously still exist
side by side with technology (low tech, mid tech, high
tech and ultra tech are all present, it just depends on
where you go). Devotees of magic and witchcraft are
obviously real, they just exist on the fringes of everyday
society and thus are often discounted by the mainstream.
Meanwhile New Age adherents obviously are real and
have organized communes and ESP is very slowly being
researched by the academic community. Biotechnology
(analogous to Bio Magic) is not only real, but a billion-
dollar industry. All that is different is that these systems
are all very much alive and well, are all accepted as
“real”, and thus are not on the decline.
Regarding societal variation based on a technological
system basis, again we can look to our own planet. On
one world, there is a civilization that can transplant
organs, microwave food in less than a minute, nuke other
countries to rubble, and fights over civil rights of various
lifestyles and the evils of fast food... while at the same
time a civilization that still wears animal skins for
clothing, fights with spears, and has no written language
exists. A civilization that has so much food available that
it pays its farmers NOT to grow more...on the same
planet with entire NATIONS of people who are
malnourished and starving to death? So, why can't Orks
have technology on the same planet with Elves who cloak
themselves in magic? It doesn't seem quite as far-
fetched when you compare it to reality...which is quite
similar in many ways.
The reason for this is that the system of technology is tied
to the culture of the area where it was developed and,
people (and by extrapolation, all sentient beings) are
resistant to change. If an elf knows magic, why would he
waste time learning about technology or spiritualism?
They wouldn't.
If you are still uncomfortable with running a polyglot
technological world, don't. Remember, it's your game.
8.12 Reality Levels
The reality level of the campaign is very important. There
are several different reality levels to choose from. The
mechanics of each reality level are explained in more
detail in the Rules chapter.
Anime
“I'll destroy your nation as I feast on your soul, coward!”
Action films are nothing compared to the excessive
powers, abilities, and convoluted storylines of the typical
anime. This is where the true power gamers exist, where
destroying cities is a common occurrence, gods and
demons battle openly, and PC's have no limit to the
amount of power they possess or destruction they can
cause.
Death is temporary, as are alignments. Also, destroying a
city one week doesn't mean it will stay destroyed the
next. Ridiculously awesome power is not only available,
but disturbingly common.
Action/Cinematic
“An Archmage, three acolytes and a dragon against me?
No Problem!”
This level of realism is what most people expect when
they think of an RPG. This is most commonly the default
for many RPG game systems. This allows quite a lot of
freedom to the PC's and often grants them abilities
beyond those allowed to NPC's.
PC's are tougher, smarter and more skilled than the
general population and they are frequently called on to
save the day, their nation, or the world. PC death is rare
and when it does occur, it is for the sake of story, rather
than a string of bad dice rolling.
PC motivation is usually profit or for some ideal rather
than those that drive the commoner. PCs often have
some unique or tragic backstory that serves as their
rationalization for being unique.
Villains are usually overpowered and usually interested in
taking over the world, and thus many of them are
unsympathetic, which serves to make the distinctions
between Good (the PC's) and Evil (the Villain) concrete.
Realistic
Bullets kill, and so do knives, and fireballs and force
swords and...
This is the default realism for most “modern setting”
RPGs. PCs are skilled, but not to an exceptional extent
and they have motivations that are easily grasped. World
domination is a goal for the insane, and the difference
between Good and Evil is based upon perception. PCs
are free to do as they see fit, but they must also be aware
of the effects that actions will result in.
PCs are also no tougher than the NPC's which means that
weapons can and do kill, usually quite often. Large fights,
especially with weapons or skilled combatants, are
something to be avoided, rather than sought out. There
is also no real progression based on arbitrary "levels" but
rather on experience. PC development is more a function
of increased skill and character development as they live
their lives, gaining allies, losing friends and learning.
Film Noir
“Bang, Bang! Fuck, I'm Dead!”
Literally "dark film". Basically, just add more grit,
violence, and cynicism to your campaign. Feel free to kill
off more of the PC's, NPC's and generally just become
one mean SOB of a GM. Also, do away with PC friendly
"house rules" and run combat strictly by the book. Give
PC's exactly three seconds to state what they are doing
every combat round, and if they hesitate, well so did their
character.
Motivations for both PC's and NPCs are unusually specific,
and their actions are usually violent. There is rarely a
distinction between good and evil, the world is painted in
shades of grey.
Be advised that Film Noir is something to either be
present in a campaign from the start or be avoided. You
do not want to spring this on PCs in the middle of a
campaign that they were comfortable with.
The only rationale for adding it to an existing campaign is
when the campaign has begun to get stale and
unfulfilling. A sudden jolt of realistic, dark violence has a
way of either jump starting an old campaign or killing all
of the PCs in spectacular manner.
Remember that Film Noir also has the effect of creating
an almost adversarial relationship between GM and PC's.
It is not that the GM is trying to kill off the group, but the
"no slack" attitude toward PC's has a way of turning off a
lot of gamers, especially those who are used to PC
friendly settings. Use it at your own risk.
8.13 Genre
Once the technology/magic and reality levels have been
figured out, the next step is to figure out the actual genre
of the campaign. The following are the most popular
genres for role playing games...
Political Intrigue
Assassins, Spies and Private Eyes
Games of this type are deliberately designed with a very
detailed global structure to facilitate these types of
campaigns. Organized crime, governments, corporations,
guilds, dragons, cults and churches all participate in these
campaigns. Secrets, money and conspiracies are the
bread and butter of this campaign type.
Adventurers
For Love of Gold
The default campaign type for any setting. Player groups
are essentially generalists, with each player specializing in
a certain field. These are the simplest campaigns to run
but grow old rather quickly. To keep this campaign
strong, it is important that the characters are
immediately immersed in a world where their choices
have long term effects and unlike most other settings, a
PC group cannot simply wander from town to town to
escape their mistakes. In some parts of the world, this is
possible, but for much of the planet, it is not.
If you decide to run or play in an adventuring campaign, it
must be emphasized that characters are very mortal and
regardless of how powerful they may be as a group, there
will always be someone who can shut them down quick,
fast and in a hurry.
The major failing of running an Adventurer campaign is
that it quickly stretches the suspension of disbelief to the
breaking point.
Mercenaries/Military
Guns and Glory
Another of the all-time favorite campaign models is the
mercenary unit. While this is a very durable campaign, it
does tend to be, well, boring. The characters are all
specialists in some military field and are usually quite
good at their job.
The difficulty is that PC's will have little choice in where
they go, what they do, or how they do it. The strength of
this campaign type is long term characterization.
Without good NPC personalities, these campaigns quickly
become mindless hack and slash, therefore it is important
for the GM to spend a lot of time coming up with the
commanding officer who always volunteers the PC's, the
supply sergeant who is an incompetent dirt-bag, whose
subordinate really runs the supply room, the third
platoon leader who hates the PC's, the B team leader
who is loyal, brave and self-sacrificing, but dumb as a box
of dumb rocks.
The GM must create all of these NPCs, and when done,
the campaign will pretty much write itself from there.
The missions are just to get the PC’s some experience at
killing things, but the characterization will really allow this
campaign to shine.
Shadow Teams
In Gods we Trust, all others pay Cash
You are then in the big leagues and a single misstep will
cost you your life in this high adventure campaign type.
This is where the best of the best makes their home, and
you need to be the best to operate in the Shadowlands.
Heavy firepower, high skills and lots of fake names are
the tools of the trade in this campaign type. In some
ways, it is like the Adventurers in that you have a lot of
options when it comes to who you work for, or even if
you work for anyone.
It is also similar to the military/mercenary campaign in
that characterization is also highly important because the
PCs are moving around constantly, the few stable fixtures
in the game must be fully described. The difference is
that Mercenaries/Military campaigns usually have some
stability to them, such as comrades, leaders, and support
types. Adventurer campaigns have the advantage that
the PC's are usually the good guys and most of their
illegality can be explained to some extent. None of that is
in the Shadow Team campaign. PCs are bad people who
do bad things for money and there should always be a
feeling of paranoia when playing.
This is also the campaign type for the evil GM who likes to
"trap" their PC's into doing very bad things. Long
standing grudges, double crosses and triple crosses and
hidden motives are simply expected.
Covert Operations
Spies like us.
Having much in common with the Shadow Team, Covert
Operations teams have the benefit of being much more
valuable to someone than some hired guns. Typically, a
covert ops team is very valuable, and their loyalty is even
more so. If you like to run high octane, violent
adventures, but without the bookkeeping and overt
paranoia that the Shadow Team genre entails, then this is
the campaign type for you.
This is perhaps the easiest campaign to play in. The PCs
are the default "good guys" (at least in their eyes), they
get the best gear and information provided to them, they
are treated well by their government and they simply
have to follow the rules and accomplish the mission.
Another plus is that the GM has a relatively open
selection of opponents for the PC's and the progression
of difficulty is also easy to justify. As the team proves
themselves, they are given progressively more difficult
missions.
Criminals
Your money or your life.
A bit of a departure from the average gaming group, but
sometimes playing the bad guys is a cathartic experience
(but usually just fun). For this type of game, it is usually
best to start the characters as criminals on the verge of
making their first big score. This campaign type is easily
amenable to a playing group, because the average crew is
usually 3 to 5 people. The mix of skills and specialties is
also easy to distribute within a gaming group, as it breaks
down into the commonly accepted combat specialist,
thief, charismatic leader, driver and one or two specialists
in some field such as law, forgery, technology, magic,
psionics, etc.
There are many derivatives of this genre, such as pirates,
gangs, traditional organized crime, embezzlers, thieves,
assassins, or retrievers.
Superheroes
For Justice!
This actually works well if you look to the proper source
material. Although the traditional four color caped
superheroes will most definitely be out of place in many
settings, the more realistic dark vigilante sub-genre has a
lot of overlap with many other campaign genres.
Although many of the traditional superhero games give
the PC's powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal
beings, the settings of many games do not support that
level of excess. Due to this, it is important to understand
WHY the characters have those powers and WHO are
their opponents. However, if you look at the PC's more as
beings driven to take justice into their own hands instead
of being "empowered" to do so, it will take the game
deep into the psychological rationale of why a being
becomes a heroic figure.
Mean Streets/Small Time
Now, to pay the rent...
One of the simplest campaign types, and paradoxically,
one of the most fun and rewarding. The PCs are simply
low level thugs, rookie cops, young recruits or some other
relatively young and unskilled archetype. This campaign
virtually writes itself, in that the GM merely must let the
PC's come up with their background and that supplies
most of the material. Parents, siblings, romance, rent
and the trials of their job are just about all the PC's can
handle. They aren't concerned with slaying demons,
stopping international cult takeovers of multi-billion IM
corporations, they are worried about getting promoted,
getting a decent apartment, getting noticed by the boss
and getting a date.
The strength of this campaign is also the weakness of this
campaign, character background. If you have
experienced PC's they know that background is the core
of the character, not the stat block and they will present
to you a fully developed character. If you have PC's who
do not give you a detailed character complete with
background, then the GM is forced to create it for them
or help them come up with it on their own.
If the background is developed fully, then this is a
rewarding and easy campaign to run. Another plus is that
this campaign will change over time into one of the
others as the characters grow in experience and skill.
Horror
What the Hell was THAT?
There are many forms of evil in the world, and not all of
them are born in the hearts and minds of the sentient
races. The Age of Darkness was the time that evil, and
madness ruled, and the remnants of their vile servants,
the Cults, sought to bring about Night Fall again.
Some might argue that with the addition of magic and
psionics, the horror of the world will fall into the category
of the passé, I would argue that it all depends on how the
GM runs the world.
Magic in and of itself is nothing but a tool, and if it were
also to be made ineffective against the Abyss, there is no
reason to think that horror would once again be brought
into the game. Also, the way that many settings present
horror is to "just add blood" and I find that this is entirely
too simplistic to be effective, especially in a realistic or
Film Noir campaign, both of which are very bloody.
Psychological horror, especially that found when being
hunted by something the players have no idea of what it
is, is very effective. Also, mood is especially important
when running a horror campaign. Lighting, time of day,
music and sound effects are critical for this campaign to
succeed.
Another idea is to slowly introduce the concept of an
altered world to the players. Mysterious dreams, small
things that seem out of place, feelings of being watched,
etc. are all tools that a GM can use and there is nothing
the PC's can do about it other than look for clues. Each
clue should draw them deeper into something that they
should want nothing to do with, but they must be
compelled to search into ever darker corners to find out
what is going on.
Explorers
So, where are we again?
Similar to the Adventurers campaign type, although the
search for riches usually takes a back seat to the need to
learn. The two campaign types are very closely related.
There are many places of the world that are still
unexplored. Perhaps the elves have never ventured very
far into the Green Hell, the Sand Ocean Desert holds
mysteries that the kobolds do not seek the answers to,
and of course, there is always Space.
Space presents an interesting background for an
adventuring group, especially in a polyglot technology
setting. Magic and technology in a competitive space
race? One of the difficulties is not getting there, since
portals and gates can be constructed, but once it is
created, you still must survive in the new environment.
Not only that, but you have to locate a suitable place to
go.
Also, the existence of planets places the cosmology of
various religions and philosophies into turmoil, and the
social dynamics of that cannot be emphasized enough.
Are the "planes" merely planets, and are aliens just
planar beings? Who asks those questions may decide the
answers they find.
8.14 The rest of the world
One of the most important things to remember about
being a GM is that you are making an open-ended world.
A world of chaotic and violent co-existence. A world
where there are many different viewpoints on all aspects
of life including technology, religion, history, race, and
identity.
Although your setting can be a complex world of several
billion sentient beings, there is a very important question
that must be asked. Of all the beings in your setting, how
many are playable characters? While the rules of this
game would allow you to play any conceivable character,
the truth is that there are very few “playable characters”.
The reason for this is simple. Normal people are simply
not that interesting.
It is possible to create and play a college student with a
full-time job at a fast-food restaurant, but why would
that be interesting? You could create and play a private
in any army in the world, but unless you like roleplaying
being tired, hungry, training and cleaning, there is little to
recommend it. The interest that player characters
generate over normal people (non-player characters) is
not in their statistics, abilities, skills or any other
quantifiable area. What sets a good character apart from
the vast majority of the population is their mindset and
the choices they have made.
While it is possible for most people to become an assassin
with enough training, there are not a lot of assassins
running around comparatively. By way of comparison,
based purely on the concrete selection criteria, most
people could be cops, crime bosses, special forces or
astronauts if they decided to do so early in life and
pursued their ambitions. Then why are there so few of
these professionals in existence? The answer is simple,
most people don’t have the drive to push themselves
above the mediocre. Therefore, what sets a “player
character” apart from the average person is simply drive,
ambition and motivation.
That is not to say that the only player characters that are
useful, unique, or interesting are player characters. Quite
the opposite. It is just that the vast majority of NPC’s
have chosen to follow a more mundane and socially
acceptable life path than that of most player characters.
For instance, a normal person will have skills such as
cooking, driving automobile (or ride appropriate animal),
basic math, writing a language, speaking a language,
reading a language, credit rating, five to ten skills that
relate directly to their job (about 50-70%) and about ten
skills that are considered to be hobbies (40-70%). The
remainder of a character’s skill points will be used in
esoteric skills that the character may have forgotten all
about such a second language they learned in secondary
education, various classes on physics, biology, chemistry,
sports rules, a few martial arts moves, a weapon skill,
magical theory and other such sundry one semester
classes and passing interests at about 10-25%.
This method of universe creation is far different than
most other games, which gives player characters all sorts
of “special” powers and abilities which are simply
impossible for normal beings to possess. Platinum makes
no such allowances delineating characters from non-
player characters. This allows both players and the GM
to create any sort of character from a mentally deficient
homeless alcoholic halfling refugee that grew up in state
schools and knows very little besides how to panhandle
all the way to a laboratory created genetically modified
elf super warrior outfitted with millions of Imperial Marks
worth of equipment and every type of character in
between.
In the original version of the Platinum rules (a setting
called Vhraeden) the campaign style I chose was
deliberately dichotomous. I merely took the conventions
of other RPG settings and modified them. I had mega
corporations engaged in corporate wars over resources
where heavily cyberized street punks were a constant
threat, drugs and money were omnipresent and the only
way to stay on top of the dog-eat-dog Western World
was to dish out cash and slap on augmentation like there
was no tomorrow. The East was the magical world where
there were evil gods, powerful wizards and paladins
riding out to wage crusades against the vile forces of
darkness. This was the area where magic ruled, and if
you were not a wizard or a magical item monger, you
were going to die. The rest of the world developed from
that model, and that is the campaign style for which this
setting was deliberately designed for, although all of the
genres and campaigns work well.
8.2 The downside of adventuring
Ancient mages in their towers, old mercenaries in their
bases, old soldiers going insane from boredom, reclusive
king-makers paranoid of their closest friends and ancient
masters who live like poor hermits in caves, what do they
all have in common? Varying degrees of mental illness.
Why do these highly skilled, vastly experienced people
act so bizarrely? Power and experience have their price.
The sentient mind is a very delicate thing. Everything
that it experiences becomes another datum for the mind
to build upon. When the mind experiences a certain
amount of traumatic experiences, it begins to engage its
coping mechanisms. While the average sentient will
experience a certain amount of tragedy, joy and other
emotional stimulus in their lifetime, those who choose to
enter the shadows and live a life of adventure, power,
and yes, violence, they will gain an amazing amount of
emotional and psychological baggage. Thus is the price
of their experiences.
True understanding of the darkest aspects of sentient
nature, a true vision of the horror that is war, insight into
the nature of the reality, communion with a deity, death
and resurrection; all of those scar the mind. Those scars
do not easily fade. Antisocial behavior, suicidal
tendencies, talking to yourself, survivors’ guilt, lack of
empathy, cynicism, paranoia and a host of other mental
disorders are the reward for a lifetime spent in the
darkest corners of the world.
There are a few general categories of stimulus that seem
to trigger these mental disorders. They are magic,
augmentation (cybernetic and bio-magical), violence,
power, resurrection and expertise.
Magic is addictive. The reason for the stereotype of the
wizard's tower is that older psions, elementalists,
bio-mages, empaths, clerics, mages, shamans, cultists,
alchemists, spiritualists and druids have tasted the
seductive sweetness of raw Power firsthand, and they
begin to need it. It starts out slowly, imperceptibly.
During their youth, it is a physical sensation, the feeling
of power flowing through them, into them, filling them.
Casting spells causes exertion, but the endorphins
released are addictive, giving them a "magic high".
This often manifests itself as mages who cast larger spells
than necessary. That is a sure sign of a growing problem.
That is stage one of what is commonly called Arcane
Affective Disorder.
As time passes and mages, as well as other magic users,
continue to use Power, they often begin to gain items
that grant them more Power than they typically would
have access to. Naturally the quest to gain more Power
and hoarding magic items is yet another step on the road
to addiction. This is stage two Arcane Affective Disorder.
The next stage is the need to have spells active at all time.
Protective spells that are cast obsessively, healing potions
that are imbibed for no reason and a need to have magic
items on one's body at all times is stage 3 of Arcane
Affective Disorder.
When a character does not curb their appetite for magic,
they will eventually fall to Arcane Affective Disorder and
one of two things will occur. They will either die, or they
will undergo a transformation, which will change them
forever. This is stage 4 Arcane Affective Disorder. If they
do not die, one of the following will occur; a complete
metamorphosis, possession, vampirism, cannibalism,
becoming a lich, or becoming a ritualistic sacrificial mass
murderer.
Arcane Affective Disorder has different symptomatology
for Shamans than it does for others. A shaman with
Stage 1 AAD will sometimes begin to act like one of their
totems, sniffing the air, pawing objects, etc. at random
times, though with a successful Willpower roll, they can
keep control.
Stage 2 AAD is when the shaman will begin to become
noticeably more atavistic, preferring uncooked food,
spending more time outside, and when they speak, about
50% of the time, they will make animal noises instead of
humanoid speech.
When Stage 3 AAD is reached, the shaman will often
simply run away and live in the wild as if they were an
animal of a type they are a shaman of. Thus, a Stage 3
AAD Bear Shaman will simply run away and be a bear,
albeit in other skin. A Stage 3 AAD Shaman is called
“feral”, and they are.
A Stage 4 AAD Shaman becomes something else entirely.
These are actually quite rare, since the majority of feral
shamans simply become animals and never perform will
working again. A Stage 4 AAD Shaman is called a
Wendigo, however. A Wendigo is almost the karmic
opposite of a feral shaman. While a feral behaves like a
natural animal of a type decided by his totem, a Wendigo
operates like an evil version of that totem. Thus, a
Wendigo Dog shaman would hunt children, assault
humanoids, steal food, etc., while a Wendigo Bear
shaman will hunt and kill almost anything operating in its
“territory”, which can be a city park or a cave complex.
Wendigo Shamans are hunted and killed wherever they
are found.
Excessive amounts of cybernetic or bio magical
enhancements often cause a mental axis. Although some
of these are beneficial, most of them are not. The reason
that they are so harmful is that it reduces a character’s
ability to empathize with fellow biological beings.
The root of these problems is that as beings transcend
their original limits, they begin to feel less and less like
they used to. This is especially true for those who gain
sensory, neurological or musculature enhancements. The
issue is that they can no longer interact with the world in
the same way.
While many augmentations are able to be turned on and
off, the desire to be better is why a being got the
enhancement in the first place. Once you have the ability
to see in multiple spectrums, be five times as fast or
determine if someone is lying to you by just hearing their
heartbeat increase, it becomes increasingly easy to justify
having them on as often as possible. With some
augmentations able to be constantly on, many choose to
leave them on.
For example, when a being gains thermal vision, they lose
the ability to see colors as others of their race can.
Within a few years they will forget what colors really are.
They typically have horrible fashion sense, since a shirt is
a shirt, and whether it is day glow pink or black will have
no impact on whether they wear it or not. Thus, their
manner of dress is comical or they have someone pick
their clothes for them or they have lots of clothes in the
same color.
Auditory boosts typically have a tendency to make beings
much more cynical since they can hear people whisper
under their breath, or what they whisper to each other
behind their backs. Those with sensitive auditory
systems usually have very few friends. The same can be
said for those beings with naturally good. Auditory boosts
also turn beings into insomniacs, since every small sound
interrupts their sleep.
Tactile boosted beings have a tendency to be fastidious
about their cleanliness and their apparel. Rough fabrics
drive them crazy, irritants such as poison ivy, sunburn,
bug bites, extreme heat or extreme cold are debilitating
to them. In addition they cannot sleep unless under very
fine fabrics such as silk. Other fabrics are too scratchy
and too heavy to sleep under.
Beings who have booted smell have a tendency to sniff
the air. There is a huge amount of information carried by
scents and those who can gather that information need
to collect it, and sadly, sniffing does that. This is a
disconcerting behavior when done by those races that it
is not common practice to do so. Those with boosted
smell also typically have a hatred of spicy food. They
prefer extremely bland meals.
Gustatory boosted individuals have many of the same
proclivities, although they have to lick surfaces to gain
information. This is a drawback for social as well as
safety reasons. Nothing quite like accidentally licking
nerve agent droplets to see what they are.
Neurological systems make people move fast, faster than
they want to sometimes. For instance, the time it takes
to stop an impulse, such as punching your boss when he
is pissing you off is far too slow when you have boosted
reflexes. The nature of the enhancement makes those
who possess it seem to be twitchy. They constantly have
to force themselves not to do things. A stimulus causes a
reaction, and there is rarely enough time to "stop"
yourself from doing something stupid.
Those with neurological upgrades also have a tendency to
have a very short attention span. Constantly needing
stimulus, they are commonly insomniacs, and are
extremely fidgety. Always tapping fingers, gnawing on
pencils, tapping their feet and bouncing around, they are
not the people you need on an ambush line or conducting
surveillance. They lack the ability to just be still.

Adrenaline boosters are even worse. Everything makes
you overreact, then you are tired. Constantly switching
between adrenaline fueled mania and exhaustion; a
boosted individual is not good company. They tend to be
moody and emotional wrecks.
Musculature boosts come in two types...permanent and
temporary. Temporary boosts are caused by chemical
infusion throughout the body, typically testosterone,
endorphins and adrenaline, all of which cause an
individuals' mental state to become unbalanced.
Becoming freakishly strong, rage filled and immune to
pain is a good thing when engaged in covert operations
gone bad and you are alone, outnumbered and behind
enemy lines. It is not a good thing when you are meeting
your soon-to-be-in‐laws for the first time and their dog
annoys you by biting you heels!
A permanent muscle boost causes its own set of
problems. With more muscle tissue, a being has to eat a
lot of protein. For a human who gains a small boost, it is
not that much of an issue, just eat another meal. For a
troll who gains a large boost...they eat constantly. Not
snacks, but full meals. Expect to triple or quadruple the
cost of food every month as they eat, and eat, and eat. If
a being lives with other beings in a sort of "safe house",
then there will likely be arguments about who drank all
the milk, ate all the dog food, and made a huge mess in
the kitchen.
Permanently strength boosted beings are also notorious
for breaking things. Glasses, dishes, sensitive electronic
or mechanical or magical items are not built to be
handled by overly strong beings, and they break easily.
Violence tends to produce mental issues in those exposed
to it for long periods of time. Paranoia, flashbacks,
sadism, fearlessness, delusions of grandeur, solipsism,
lack of sympathy, lack of empathy, violent reactions to
minor stimulus, callousness, disregard for life, fatalism,
cynicism and survivors guilt are all possible outcomes of
long exposure to violence.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Those who rule nations, churches, cults, corporations and
clans quickly begin to see everyone and everything else
as something to use for some end. Sacrificing a few low
level flunkies is done without thinking if it will bring about
larger gains later. Those in these positions are typically
lonely, somewhat paranoid, disconnected from the
normal world, and callous. If those traits are not present,
then they are usually wracked by guilt and have a tired
look about them. Whether they are good, evil,
self-serving or neutral, large amounts of power will warp
your view of the world.
Death is separate from violence, in that violence is
something that happens around you, is caused by you
and sometimes is focused on you. Death is an experience
that few beings experience more than once. Those few
beings who have died and come back are not normal in
any sense of the word. Visions, hallucinations, curses,
supernatural phenomenon, spirits and the bizarre follow
them around for the rest of their days. Delusions of
grandeur, solipsism, paranoia, claustrophobia,
agoraphobia, fear of the dark, and a fear of death make
those who have risen from death, as a collective, stark
raving mad.
Extremely high levels of skill in a discipline has its’ own
set of drawbacks as well. As a character gains expertise
in a skill, they begin to relate almost everything to that
one skill. For example, if a being is highly skilled in
mathematics, they begin to see angles, equations and
formulas in everything. A teacup becomes a collection of
surface area formulas, volume equations and all manner
of other "mathematical" things.
A sword master begins to see everything in terms familiar
to him. Everything becomes an allegory for the purity of
the duel. A cleric sees everything as a piece of his god. A
pyromancer sees everything as potential fuel.
Although these quirks can be easily ignored, the fact that
experts love to talk about their theories, and then try to
write books and show others that their views of the
world are valid simply is too much to deal with by those
who are not their closest friends and associates.
Gaining abilities, powers, and experiencing extreme
trauma is not something that should just be forgotten
about. Friends dying, sustaining severe injuries,
confronting monsters and killing other sentient beings is
not something that can just be put away and ignored.
Those experiences will always be there and although they
might not have a detrimental effect upon a PC, they will
be noticeable. The anniversaries of big battles, friends
deaths, or their exile will be touchy for PC's. Other
oddities can be related to experiences PC's have lived
through. For example, if a PC has ever run out of
ammunition in battle, they may carry 10, 15, or 20
magazines of ammunition when others feel that five or
seven is acceptable. They may have run out of food
before, and become irritated to see others waste food.
PC's who live through large battles will get upset when
they hear others relate tales of battle, war and killing by
those who have never had to experience those things.
Quirks are also appropriate for characters who possess
either the highest or lowest possible value for their race
in any stat to reflect how much that stat has come to
influence the character. Also, each skill above 90%
should also cause a quirk to manifest for the reasons
explained previously.
Image by Oxana Melis via Unsplash
8.2 Mindset and Stability
It is often assumed in role playing games that characters
and NPC’s are usually expecting combat at the drop of a
hat. This is most certainly not the case, especially when
the rules of the game make violence a generally losing
proposition for the majority of the world’s population.
These rules assume a veteran character that is highly
resistant to mental and emotional trauma as the baseline
for skills and combat, but since the vast majority of the
population are not, the following modifiers should give
some guidance on how NPC’s, and PC’s if the GM decides,
may react to varying situations that arise during play.
Closely related to Mindset is Mental resilience (MR). A
character’s beginning Mental resilience (MR) is closely
related to their experiences and ability to learn from
them. When a major stressful event occurs, it may cause
MR loss, either Permanent or Temporary. Temporary MR
loss recovers at a rate equal to the character’s WIS score
per day. Permanent MR loss is lost permanently.
The difference between Temporary MR loss and
Permanent MR loss is the based on a character’s current
MR. When MR loss occurs, the player rolls a D100 versus
the Current MR score of the character. This is called a
MR Check. If the roll is lower than their MR score, the
loss is Temporary, but if the roll is higher than their MR,
the loss is permanent.
Below are some examples of traumatic events and the
amount of MR loss induced as well as other effects.
A situation causing profound confusion (waking up in jail,
being chased for an unknown reason, etc.) causes 1d2
MR loss.
Using Power to fuel skills and abilities or touching an
object with imbued Power costs MR. Using or touching
an object containing 1-5 Power costs 1d2 MR.
Loss of a hand or a foot will cause 1d3 MR loss.
During a “fight” where a PC/NPC does not think they will
be killed, all damage inflicted by that character is reduced
by one. When, or if, they realize that someone is actually
trying to kill them, all skills are reduced by 5% due to the
mental shock of misreading the situation. 1d3 MR.
Closely related to this is when characters (player or non-
player) are involved in their first “real” combat where
their opponent is trying to kill them, all skills are reduced
by 10% due to mental shock and fear. 1d4 MR.
Once a character has been exposed to life and death
combat a few times (GM call, usually no more than 3
times is sufficient), they will no longer be subject to those
penalties once they are aware of the potential for
violence.
A situation causing a character to feel disgust, fear,
disorientation and loathing can cost a character 1d4 MR.
Using or touching an object containing 6-10 Power to fuel
a skill or ability costs 1d4 MR.
Dying in one’s sleep cost 1d4 MR.
Achieving 90+% in a skill costs 1d5 MR for each one.
An event causing nausea or stupefaction causes 1d6 MR.
Losing half of a limb will cause 1d6 MR loss.
Minor neurological modifications will cause 1d6 MR loss,
each.

Achieving 99%+ in a skill costs 1d6 MR for each one.
Using or touching an object holding from 11-20 Power
costs 1d6 MR.
Loss of a full limb or a complete sense (sight, smell, touch
including pain dampeners) will cause 1d8 MR loss.
Mental shock is cause for a 1d8 MR loss.
Using or touching an object containing 21-30 Power costs
1d8 MR.
Complete mental shutdown causes 1d10 MR loss.
Completely random violence, such as ambushes, car
bombs or other incidents that could not be predicted or
failed to be noticed (such as failed observation, detect
ambush or danger sense rolls) will cause a -10% penalty
for the first round, -5% for the second and no penalty
afterward. MR loss is 1d10.
Using or touching an object holding 31 or more points of
Power costs 1d10 MR.
Dying in pain costs 1d10 MR.
Being brought back to life (by whatever means, magic,
deific intervention, etc.) costs 1d10 MR.
Adrenaline boosters cost 1d10 MR.
For incidents of extreme devastation (city wide violence
with hundreds/thousands of casualties, natural disasters,
large plane crashes, huge train wrecks and other massive
events, it is usual for characters to suffer penalties from -
10% the first round (for incidents which they have no
personal interest in) to -50% (if they lose close family
members, or several acquaintances at once) and it can
take minutes to weeks to recover from that shock and
relieve those penalties. 2d8 MR loss.
Observing a mind damaging horrific act or abyssal
creature costs 2d8 MR.
Loss of two limbs or each major neurological modification
will cause 2d8 MR loss.
Dying by violence costs 3d6 MR.
Being forcefully brought back to life costs 3d6 MR.
A major horrific being from the abyss can cause 3d6, 2d10
or 1d20 MR loss.
Loss of all limbs causes1d20 MR loss.
A full body cybernetic (or bio magical) conversion (such as
a permanent polymorph) will cause 3d10 MR loss.
Observing an abyssal deity’s form can cause 3d10 MR
loss.
Dying by extreme violence and torture causes 5d10 MR
loss.
Witnessing an Ultimate Cosmic Evil causes 1d100 MR loss
Please note that some abyssal creatures will always cause
permanent MR loss. In the creature write up it will have
a MR Loss entry written as x/y. If there is a slash there,
the first number is the amount of permanent MR loss if
the character rolled a successful MR check, the second is
the permanent MR loss if the character failed their MR
check. Observing the horrors of the Abyss is an act that
will always end in death or permanent mental
incapacitation.
8.3 Bestiary
A bestiary is a list of creatures and species that you may
interact with during adventures. A generalized bestiary
poses an issue in that many of the special creatures and
species are usually setting specific with their own
languages, history and environment dependent upon
whatever world or setting they are in.
For example, in the setting of Vhraeden there are 65
sentient races to choose from, but that only makes sense
in that setting where the creation sentient races is
explained via the God’s War where various pantheons
created these beings for specific purposes, and when the
war ended, they were left to fend for themselves. Thus,
in that setting having those races and their explicit
creation makes sense. Attempting to shoehorn in a
sentient psychic flying jellyfish that communicates by
bioluminescence might be more trouble than it is worth.
For that reason, these rules will not include sentient
species or magical creatures.
Below is a collection of commonly occurring animals that
are generally found in most settings. This bestiary is a
compilation of creatures that may or may not come into STR Strength 3d6+2
contact with the characters in the course of their lives. CON Constitution 3d6+2
Creatures have the following descriptive information DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
fields: Personality, Physical Description, Relations, PWR Power 1d8
Alignment, Religion, Language, Height, Weight, Climate, SIZ Size 10 + 1d10
Abilities and Skills. If a field is absent in the write-up, then SPD Speed 2d6
that information is assumed to be none or well-known DC = 14
enough that it would be pointless to describe that aspect Height: 2 feet tall, but up to 20 feet long, though 6 feet is
of the creature. If the alignment field is absent, then the the usual.
assumption is that the alignment of the creature is Weight: up to 400 pounds but 175 pounds is average.
neutral. Climate: Swamps and marshlands
Abilities and Skills:
A note must be made on language, however. Each animal SP = 4
is assumed to be able to communicate with other Hold breath 30 minutes
creatures of the same species. The language field will be Sprint up to 200 feet at SPD 35 once per hour
left blank unless the creature can speak a language in Hide 80%
addition to their default, species one. Animals which are Swim 80%
sub sentient are given a mental class which corresponds Bite 1d8 50%
roughly to the following statistics if not otherwise noted
in their description. A mindless creature has a 0 for Ape (orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas)
Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom. A dull creature has a Personality: Commonly seen as the closest relatives to
1 for Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom. An average humanoids, although the elves strongly argue against this
creature has a 2 for Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom. theory, apes are either loved or loathed the world over.
An intelligent creature has a 3 for Charisma, Intelligence They can use tools and are quite sociable mammals. They
and Wisdom. have a large emotional spectrum and are quite intelligent.

Animals may also be trained, dependent upon the owner
or other being. Training differs from instinct and as such
does is not represented by Intelligence. Instead,
creatures that are trained gain EDU. EDU gained by
training is found by using the following chart: Animal
Training Skill divided by 20 = the maximum EDU that the
trainer can impart. The maximum amount of EDU that a
creature can gain is based upon the mental class of the
creature. A mindless creature can gain a maximum of 0
EDU. A dull creature can gain a maximum of 1 EDU. An
average creature can gain a maximum of 2 EDU and an
intelligent creature can gain a maximum of 3 EDU. Each
point of EDU gained requires a two months of full time
training.
Physical Description: Large, fur covered humanoids with
opposable thumbs and large brains. Orangutans have
long arms and orange fur. Chimpanzees are long limbed
and have black hair over approximately 80% of their body
and gorillas are black with thick black fur over perhaps
70% of their body.
Relations: Apes are social animals that live in a tribal
society with definitive roles for all members of the tribe.
Those individuals that have been exiled will usually be
killed on sight by their tribe if they return.
Alignment: Usually lawful neutral, although outcasts are
usually chaotic.

Alligator/Crocodile Mental Class: Intelligent

Personality: Usually lethargic, alligators (and crocodiles)
are capable of remarkable bursts of energy when needed. STR Strength 3d6+4
CON Constitution 3d6+3
Physical Description: A long slender reptile covered with DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
dark scales and a yellow/greenish belly. PWR Power 2d6
SIZ Size 10 to 13 for orangutans &
Relations: Alligators are solitary. chimpanzees; 20+1d8 for gorillas
SPD Speed 3d6-2 running
Mental Class: Dull -0 when in the trees
DC = 12 for orangutans and chimpanzees, 19 for gorillas Physical Description: Small, fur covered humanoids with
Height: 4'6" for orangutans, 5' for chimpanzees and 6' for opposable thumbs and relatively large brains. Mandrills
gorillas. and baboons have long arms and are less aboral than
Weight: 150 pounds for orangutans, 175 pounds for other apes. They have reddish snouts and very large
chimpanzees and up to 700 pounds for gorillas canines.
Climate: Rain forests, Jungle
Abilities and Skills: Relations: Baboons and mandrills are social animals that
Sensitive touch live in a tribal society with definitive roles for all members
Prehensile feet of the tribe. Those individuals that have been exiled will
Climb 70% gorilla usually be killed on sight by their tribe if they return.
75% chimpanzee Murder and infanticide are not uncommon within baboon
80% orangutan and mandrill tribes.
Armadillo
Personality: Shy, nervous and rather oblivious, armadillos Alignment: Lawful neutral, although outcasts are usually
are a common sight and catching them is a favorite game chaotic.
of children in those areas where they are common.
Mental Class: Average
Physical Description: Armadillos look like a cross between
a small armored lizard and a thin faced rodent. They are STR Strength 2d6+3
usually a dun or beige color with a hard armored shell and CON Constitution 3d6
a coarsely furred, brown underbelly. DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
PWR Power 1d10
Relations: Solitary, armadillos prefer to simply stay away SIZ Size 8
from anything larger than they are and are quite content SPD Speed 3d6 on the ground or in trees
to simply rummage for their diet of bugs and insects. DC = 9 for mandrills
Height:3 feet
Mental Class: Dull Weight: 65 pounds
Climate: Savannah
STR Strength 1d6 Abilities and Skills:
CON Constitution 2d6 Advanced Vision
DEX Dexterity 2d6 Prehensile feet
PWR Power 1d6 Climb 60%
SIZ Size 3 to 4 Bite 1d8 55%
SPD Speed 3d6
DC = 5 Badger
Height: 1 foot high, two to three feet long Personality: Violent and confrontational, badgers are
Weight: 8 to 15 pounds angry creatures. Tough and tireless fighters, badgers are
Climate: scrublands and semi desert regions practically fearless.
Abilities and Skills:
SP = 3 Physical Description: stumpy legged black mammals with
Acute hearing 60% a white stripe along their back and a white underbody,
Digging 70% they move with a peculiar wave-like motion.
Claws 1d4 25%
Relations: Badgers are solitary creatures and enforce their
Baboons (Mandrills) solitude with anger.
Personality: Violent, inquisitive and yet xenophobic,
baboons and mandrills are close relatives to apes and the Mental Class: Average
higher humanoids. They can use tools and are quite
sociable mammals. They have a large emotional spectrum STR Strength 3d6+1
and are quite intelligent. CON Constitution 3d6+1
DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
PWR Power 1d6 Bear
SIZ Size 4 Personality: Bears are intelligent omnivores. Not
SPD Speed 3d6-3 particularly energetic, they are very efficient hunters and
DC = 6 foragers. Black and brown bears are inquisitive, grizzly
Height: 2'6" long bears tend to be aggressive and polar bears are inquisitive
Weight: 12-16 pounds and fearless.
Climate: grasslands, sparse forests and prairies
Abilities and Skills: Physical Description: Polar bears are large white bears,
SP= 2 due to dense musculature and heavy bone structure while grizzly bears are a russet brown color. The smaller
Digging 70% brown bears are a dark brown while black bears are
Tunneling 50% surprisingly covered in black fur.
bite 50% 1d6
claw 60% 1d8 Relations: Bears are solitary.

Bat Mental Class: Average

Personality: Nocturnal flying mammals, bats can either
seem hyperactive and slightly malicious or silent, STR Strength 3d6+6
maliciously sneaky. In reality, though, bats are just very CON Constitution 3d6+4
hungry and have to cover huge amounts of area to find DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
their nights meal. Bats are quite intelligent for their size. PWR Power 3d6
SIZ Size 13 + 3d6
Physical Description: Small furry mammals, bats are SPD Speed 3d6
usually feared by many cultures. The benefits of bats are DC = 20 to 27
enormous, especially the many species that subsist on SP = 2
insects. Fruit bats and fishing bats (which are quite large, Height: 4'-6' feet for the small black bear, 7'6" to 8'6" for
up to 6 feet long). Bats are usually covered in black fur the brown bear, 6'-7' for the grizzly bear and 8'9' for a
and have quite pronounced ears. polar bear
Weight: 300-400 pounds for the black bear, 700-900
Relations: Bats live in colonies of up to a million, but there pounds for the brown bear, 400-600 pounds for the grizzly
does not appear to be any development in the way of and 800-1000 pounds for a polar bear.
social structures. Climate: temperate forests for the brown, black and
grizzly bear; arctic tundra for the polar bear.
Mental Class: Dull Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing
STR Strength 1d6 (+2 for fishing bats) Advanced smell
CON Constitution 1d6 (+2 for fishing bats) Climb 40% (black and brown bears only)
DEX Dexterity 3d6 (-2 for fishing bats) Bite 1d6 for brown and black bears 60%
PWR Power 1d4 1d10 for grizzly and polar bears 70%
SIZ Size 1 up to 7 for fishing bats Claws 1d8 for brown and black bears 70%
SPD Speed 3d6+2 (+10 for fishing bats) 2d6 for grizzly and polar bears 80%
DC = 1 (4 for fishing bats)
Height: 2 foot wingspan, although there are some species Beaver
of bats that have up to a six foot wingspan Personality: Family oriented dam building rodents,
Weight: 3 pounds, although fishing bats can weigh up to beavers are quite intelligent and industrious.
60 pounds
Climate: any, though fishing bats prefer rain forests. Physical Description: Large rodents with flat tails, beavers
Abilities and Skills: are usually a dark brown color.
Sonar range 100' Functions as Darkvision
Fly 70% Relations: Beavers are family oriented and live in dam-like
Bite 1 to 1d4 60% homes.
Mental Class: Average Buffalo
Personality: Stalwart and stoic, buffaloes are tough and
STR Strength 3d6+1 unyielding in the face of death when defending their herd.
CON Constitution 3d6-1
DEX Dexterity 3d6 Physical Description: Large, hoofed quadrupeds covered in
PWR Power 1d6 thick, shaggy brown fur with a pair of small horns.
SIZ Size 6 to 8
SPD Speed 3d6 Relations: Buffaloes are herd animals with several
DC = 8, they are much more dense and tough than they hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals in their huge
appear herds.
Height: 4 feet
Weight: 40 to 60 pounds Mental Class: Average
Climate: forested rivers
Abilities and Skills: STR Strength 3d6+5
Hold breath for a number of minutes equal to CON CON Constitution 3d6+5
Gnawing- Can chew through wood at a rate of four inches DEX Dexterity 2d6
per minute PWR Power 2d6
Advanced hearing 50% SIZ Size 40 to 45
Build dam 80% SPD Speed 3d6+6
Swim 75% DC = 31
Bite 1d6 50% SP = 2
Height: 9-11 feet long
Boar Weight: 1500-2000 pounds
Personality: Easily provoked wild pigs, boars are ferocious Climate: grasslands
when wounded or protecting their young. Abilities and Skills:
Gore 60% 1d8
Physical Description: Large, tough and coarse furred wild Trample 30% 1d8
pigs.
Bull/Cow
Relations: Boars are social creatures that organize Personality: Strong and forceful, cows usually don’t much,
themselves into small herds of between 6 and thirty but when they do want something, they will do anything
individuals. to get it.

Mental Class: Dull Physical Description: A large and very powerfully built
quadruped with a pair of horns.
STR Strength 3d6+2
CON Constitution 3d6+1 Relations: Cows are herd animals with few bulls in a herd.
DEX Dexterity 3d6+1 Solitary bulls are quite aggressive.
PWR Power 2d6
SIZ Size 13+1d4 Mental Class: Average
SPD Speed 3d6+2
DC = 13 STR Strength 3d6+7
SP = 2 CON Constitution 3d6+5
Height: 4' - 5' long DEX Dexterity 2d6
Weight: 180-300 pounds PWR Power 1d10
Climate: scrubland SIZ Size 40 to 45
Abilities and Skills: SPD Speed 3d6+2
Advanced Smell DC = 30
Tusks 50% 1d6 SP = 1
Charge 100 feet, SPD x 2, 1d10 damage, 60% Height: 6-8 feet long
Weight: up to 2000 pounds
Climate: Grasslands and scrubland or yellowish with slightly different shaded stripes. Lynxes
Abilities and Skills: have longer fur than bobcats. Bobcats and Lynx also lack
Headbutt 60% 1d4 (no horns) tails, though Servals and Ocelots do not. Ocelots look like
Gore 60% 1d6 to 1d12 for longhorn cattle small jaguars, and margays look like jaguars that are
Trample 40% 1d8 for cows, bulls 1d10 slightly larger than domesticated cats.

Camel Relations: Cats are solitary animals thought they can

Personality: Slow, argumentative and smelly, the camel tolerate other cats well.
remains popular with those who have to travel vast
distances over arid lands. The camel is regarded as a Mental Class: Intelligent
much poorer mount than a horse, but is still able last
many times longer than a horse, even one modified by bio STR Strength 3d6-4 to -2
magic, can. CON Constitution 3d6-4 to -2
DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
Physical Description: Camels are almost all tan, dun or PWR Power 2d6
beige with a long neck, one or two humps and large dark SIZ Size 3 to 4 for domestic breeds
brown eyes that seem to look upon everyone and 5 to 6 for servals, ocelots
everything with derision. They also have a nasty habit of 6 for bobcats and lynx
spitting at those they dislike. SPD Speed 3d6+4
DC = 2 for domestic cats, 7 for bobcats and lynxes
Relations: Their bad attitude is not a detriment to Height: 1-2 feet to three and a half feet
socializing among themselves. They are usually found in Weight: 6-10 pounds to 35 pounds
small herds of 4 to 10 camels. Climate: any
Abilities and Skills:
Mental Class: Average Night vision
Climb 80%
STR Strength 3d6 + 10 Bite 60% 1d2 to 1d4
CON Constitution 2d6 + 16 Claw 50% 1d2 to 1d4
DEX Dexterity 2d6 + 2
PWR Power 2d6 Cheetah
SIZ Size 38+1d4 Personality: Intelligent and quite crafty, cheetahs are
SPD Speed 3d6 + 6 masters of ambushing their prey, then running them to
DC = 31 ground.
Height 7 feet at the shoulder, the hump adds one foot to
their height. Physical Description: Long and lean felines, with yellow fur
Weight 1500 pounds and black spots, they also possess an off white underbelly.
Territory Camels are found in extremely arid regions such Cheetahs have a very short muzzle and appear almost
as desert and scrub lands. dog-like. They are also the only felines to have non-
Racial Abilities and Skills retractable claws.
Spit 30% blinded for 1d4 rounds
Kick 40% 1d6 damage Relations: Cheetahs are usually solitary, though mated
Bite 25% 1d3 damage pairs are also common.

Cat, Bobcat, Lynx, etc. Mental Class: Intelligent

Personality: Finicky, picky, inquisitive and self-important,
cats are nonetheless very intelligent and make excellent STR Strength 3d6
companions. Bobcats and Lynx are small wild hunting CON Constitution 3d6
cats. DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
PWR Power 2d6
Physical Description: This is a small domesticated cat. SIZ Size 9 to 11
Bobcats are similar with thick fur, though most are orange SPD Speed 3d6+60
DC = 9 DEX Dexterity 1d8
Height: 30 inches tall, and up to 6 feet long PWR Power 1
Weight: Up to 125 pounds SIZ Size 1
Climate: Savannah SPD Speed 3d6-8
Abilities and Skills: DC = 1
Hide 70% SP = 1
Stalk 60% Height: 2 to 20 inches wide
Sprint 80% Doubles speed equal to CON rounds Weight: 2 ounces to 2 pounds
Bite 40% 1d8 Climate: coastal waters
Claw 50% 1d6 Abilities and Skills:
Pinchers 1d2 30%
Coyote
Personality: Smart and wily, coyotes are often seen as Crane
tricksters and survivors. Personality: Proud and majestic, Cranes feel that they are
the kings of all that they survey, although they are not
Physical Description: Coyotes are a dark greyish brown haughty or in the least bit arrogant.
color with large paws and a lean body.
Physical Description: Tall, very thin birds that are usually
Relations: Coyotes are solitary animals. pink or white in color.

Mental Class: Intelligent Relations: Cranes congregate in huge flocks though with
little in the way or social structure.
STR Strength 3d6-2
CON Constitution 3d6-2 Mental Class: Average
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
PWR Power 2d6 STR Strength 1d6
SIZ Size 5 to 6 CON Constitution 1d10
SPD Speed 3d6+6 DEX Dexterity 1d6
DC = 7 PWR Power 3d6
Height: 4-5 feet long SIZ Size 3
Weight: 25-30 pounds SPD Speed 3d6+20 flying
Climate: Arid climates and tall grasslands DC = 4
Abilities and Skills: Height: up to 4 feet tall
Bite 50% 1d6 Weight: up to 10 pounds
Claw 40% 1d4 Climate: marshlands
Abilities and Skills:
Crab Fish 40%
Personality: Irritable creatures that dislike pretty much Beak 30% 1d3 damage
everything. They do like being left alone and eating.
Crow, Raven (and other birds)
Physical Description: Crabs are flat crustaceans that live in Personality: Intelligent, crafty and wise, crows have a very
the relatively shallow waters of the continental shelf. developed personality. Other birds are usually flock
They are usually pink, although some have blue highlights. animals but with diminished personality with diminished
size.
Relations: Crabs are solitary, but they do congregate in
huge colonies, though there is no structure to them. Physical Description: Relatively large black feathered birds
with yellow eyes and a very distinctive call. Other birds
Mental Class: Dull have different coloration, though most are subdued in
color, except for tropical birds.
STR Strength 1d2
CON Constitution 1d2
Relations: Crows and ravens live in large flocks, though Antlers 60% 1d4 (medium/light)
they are often met alone as well. 1d6 (medium/medium)
1d8 (medium/heavy)
Mental Class: Intelligent, though other birds are usually
dull or average. Dog, Hyena
Personality: Friendly, intelligent and pack oriented, dogs
STR Strength 3d6-4 (-14 to -3 for other birds) have been a constant companion of humanoids for
CON Constitution 3d6-3 (-14 to -3 for other birds) millennia. Hyenas are the exact opposite of dogs and are
DEX Dexterity 3d6 (+4 for hummingbirds only) considered by many to be nature’s asshole.
PWR Power 2d6
SIZ Size 1 crow Physical Description: These are the larger breeds of
2 raven domesticated dogs found worldwide. Hyenas are larger
1 to 6 for other birds with dun colored fur, black spots and black tips on their
SPD Speed 3d6+10 tails, ears and tail.
DC = 2 Crow, 3 Raven (1 to 4 for other birds)
Height: 2’ wingspan (3 inches to 6 feet for other birds) Relations: Pack oriented, dogs are most comfortable in a
Weight: 8-15 pounds (one ounce to 30 pounds for other group environment with those that they consider to be its
birds) pack, regardless of species.
Climate: Woodlands and grasslands (other birds can live in
any environment) Mental Class: Intelligent
Abilities and Skills:
Fly 80% Average STR Strength 3d6+2
99% hummingbirds CON Constitution 3d6+2
Gliding 20% chickens DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 1d6
Deer SIZ Size 8 to 12 for a large dog breed
Personality: This is a woodland creature renowned for its SPD Speed 3d6+4
cautious nature. They are quick, nimble and lithe. DC = 11
Height: 3 feet tall and feet long
Physical Description: They are woodland grazing animals Weight: up to 150 pounds
that have antlers, and a short tail that tends to rise when Climate: Any for dogs, hyenas live in savannah regions
they are running. They can range in color from a light dun Abilities and Skills:
with an off white underbelly to a dark brown, almost Advanced Smell
black. Deer have large, black eyes. Bite 40% 1d8
Claws 30% 1d4
Relations: Deer live in loose herds of 4 to 20 animals.
Dolphin
Mental Class: average Personality: Although appearing to be cute, playful and
helpful, dolphins are actually capable of the same range of
STR Strength 3d6-2 to +3 personality types as other sentient races.
CON Constitution 3d6-2 to +3
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2 Physical Description: Long, grey, hairless aquatic mammals
PWR Power 2d4 that are perfectly adapted to their fluid home.
SIZ Size 6+2d6
SPD Speed 3d6 Relations: Dolphins live in well-developed social structures
DC = 9 to 19 called pods. A pod will usually have between 5 and 20
Height: 4 to 6 feet long and 3 to 6 feet tall members.
Weight: 60 to 400 pounds
Climate: forests, grasslands and semi-arid scrubland Alignment: Usually neutral good.
Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing
Language: Dolphins speak their own language but can be Bite 15% 1d2
trained to understand most languages.
Draft Horse
STR Strength 3d6 Personality: Not particularly intelligent, but with a strong
CON Constitution 3d6 will and long memories. Draft horses are also quite loyal.
DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 3d6 Physical Description: Bred for strength, a draft horse is a
CHA Charisma 3d6+2 powerful animal that is the standard for beasts of burden.
INT Intelligence 2d6 Hugely strong, draft horses are neither fast nor nimble but
WIS Wisdom 3d6 have a remarkable stamina and are fairly trainable. Draft
SIZ Size 12 to 15 horses are typically grey, dappled or a chestnut brown.
SPD Speed 3d6+15 swimming They are bred for strength and not appearance, and thus
DC = 12 they tend to be muscular but do not possess the graceful
Height: 6 feet long appearance of other types of horses.
Weight: 150-200 pounds
Climate: warm oceanic waters Relations: Draft horses prefer the company of other
Abilities and Skills: horses and are quite sociable for animals.
Swim 90%
Bite 60% 1d8 Mental Class: Average

Donkey STR Strength 3d6 + 18

Personality: A popular beast of burden, the donkey is CON Constitution 3d6 + 10
found worldwide. Popularly thought of as stupid, they are DEX Dexterity 3d6 + 2
not as dumb as some would like to believe and if treated PWR Power 2d6
well, are very hard workers. SIZ Size 50+1d6
SPD Speed 3d6 + 10
Physical Description: Hardy, strong and docile, donkeys DC = 36
are the most popular draft animal. Donkeys are a gray Height 9 feet Weight 3000 pounds
color, with an off white underbelly and large, black, Territory Worldwide
mournful eyes, large ears and a thin tail with a tuft of Racial Abilities and Skills
black hair on the end. Stomp 1d10 30%

Relations: Donkeys are rather unimpressed with social Eagles, Falcons, Hawks
interaction with others of their own kind or other races. Personality: These are all wild predatory birds that are
exceptional hunters. All are quite intelligent hunters that
Alignment: Neutral, although they seem to be rather are good fliers.
irritable, thus may be chaotic.
Physical Description: There are many different colorations
Mental Class: Average for these birds, though they are all usually tan, brown or
grey. Their undersides are usually several shades lighter
STR Strength 3d6 + 14 such as white or a very light tan.
CON Constitution 3d6 + 2
DEX Dexterity 3d6 + 1 Relations: These birds are either solitary or mated pairs.
PWR Power 2d4
SIZ Size 20+1d4 Mental Class: Average
SPD Speed 3d6 + 6
DC = 17 STR Strength 2d4
Height 5 feet Weight 500 pounds CON Constitution 2d6
Territory Donkeys are found throughout the world. DEX Dexterity 3d6+3
Racial Abilities and Skills PWR Power 2d4
Balance 30% SIZ Size 2 falcons
 3 hawks fish and bettas are murderous, piranhas are curious, and
4 to 5 eagles most fish are simply hungry.
SPD Speed 3d6+12 flying
DC = 5 Physical Description: Fish span a huge variety of shapes
Height: 15 to 30 inches tall and colors, almost every color is represented, as well as
Weight: 8 to 25 pounds transparent.
Climate: Eagles prefer mountains and shorelines, falcons
prefer the shores and northern areas and hawks live Relations: Fish are either solitary or very socially adept,
primarily in arid regions. though there is rarely any sort of social structure.
Abilities and Skills:
Enhanced Vision Mental Class: Dull to Average
Dive 80%, doubles damage
Talons 1d3 60% STR Strength 1 to 3d6+10
Beak 1d4 50% CON Constitution 1 to 3d6+2
DEX Dexterity 3d6
Elephant PWR Power 1d10
Personality: One of the largest land animals on Vhraeden, SIZ Size 1 to 200
the elephant is a rather passive animal considering its SPD Speed 3d6+2
great strength and power. Intelligent and willing to learn, DC = 1 to 105
the elephant is a great aid to those races who utilize them Height: less than 1/8 inch to 8 feet long
in any capacity. Weight: less than 1 ounce to over 40,000 pounds
Climate: from inland tropical waterways to underground
Physical Description: Large four legged animals with dark caves to arctic oceans to the bottom of the oceans.
grey skin, that is quite thick. They have large ears and a Abilities and Skills: (depending on species)
long prehensile trunk. Hide (various species) 95%
Bite (barracuda) 1d4 80%
Relations: Elephants are herd animals and possess a very poison spines (various species) 60% 1d4 damage
strong social instinct. plus 1d8 statistic damage due to toxins. Varies by species.

STR Strength 3d6+12 Frog

CON Constitution 3d6+10 Personality: There are hundreds of varieties of frog,
DEX Dexterity 2d6 worldwide. They are usually quite good hunters,
PWR Power 3d6 subsisting on insects. They are also very loud in their
INT Intelligence 2d6 mating season, which many species find annoying, but
SIZ Size 90 to 110 does supply good sonic cover for movement in their
SPD Speed 3d6+5 habitats.
DC = 65
SP = 3 Physical Description: Frogs can have either very dull
Height: 10 feet tall coloration of brown or various shades of green or a
Weight: 10,000 pounds brilliant color scheme with reds, blues, and yellows.
Climate: Savannah
Abilities and Skills: Relations: Frogs are solitary, but they congregate in the
The trunk acts as a hand that is about 80% as capable as a hundreds during mating season.
normal humanoid hand.
Advanced hearing Mental Class: Dull
Tusks 1d12 40%
Stomp 1d12 50% STR Strength 1
CON Constitution 1d4
Fish DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
Personality: Fish span a huge variety of personalities, PWR Power 2d4
depending on their species. Barracudas are violent, blue SIZ Size 1 to 2
SPD Speed 3d6+2 SIZ Size 10+1d4
DC = 1 SPD Speed 3d6
Height: up to 12 inches long DC = 15
Weight: up to three pounds Height: 3 to 6 feet long
Climate: Weight: 100 to 200 pounds
Abilities and Skills: Climate: tropical and arid regions
Night vision Abilities and Skills:
Swimming 70% Bite 45% 1d8
Jump 90% Swim 50%
Hold breath for number of rounds = to CONx3 minutes
Goat
Fox Personality: Cantankerous, mean and self-centered, goats
Personality: Small, quick and nimble, foxes are intelligent are exceptionally hardy animals.
and quite adept at solving problems.
Physical Description: Small by the standards of
Physical Description: Long and lean canines, foxes appear domesticated animals, goats are covered in coarse hair,
to be a cross between canines and felines. usually light brown, black or off white. They have long
ears, yellow eyes with rectangular pupils and a pair of
Relations: Foxes are solitary animals small curved horns.

Mental Class: Intelligent Relations: Goats are herd animals.

STR Strength 1d8 Mental Class: Average

CON Constitution 2d6
DEX Dexterity 3d6 STR Strength 3d6-2
PWR Power 2d6 CON Constitution 3d6+4
SIZ Size 3 to 4 DEX Dexterity 3d6
SPD Speed 3d6+6 PWR Power 2d6
DC = 4 SIZ Size 6+1d4
Height: 30-40 inches long SPD Speed 3d6+2
Weight: 10-15 pounds DC = 12
Climate: any Height: 40 inches long, 30 inches high
Abilities and Skills: Weight: 75 pounds
Bite 40% 1d4 Climate: almost everywhere except the arctic.
Claw 30% 1d3 Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing
Great Lizard/Monitor Lizard
Personality: These animals are primarily concerned with Hippopotamus
sleeping and eating. Personality: Lethargic and lazy, Hippos are gigantic aquatic
land animals that spend the majority of their time
Physical Description: These are simply large lizards and are sleeping and eating. They spend the majority of their time
usually brown or dark green. in the water.

Relations: These giant lizards are solitary. Physical Description: Large purplish/brown animals with a
wide head and widely spaced eyes. They have very round
Mental Class: Dull bodies, small tubular ears and large nostrils. They have
short but very powerful limbs and a short tail.
STR Strength 3d6+6
CON Constitution 3d6+6 Relations: Hippos are loosely herd animals that can
DEX Dexterity 3d6+4 survive in concert with others of their kind or alone.
PWR Power 1d8 Hippos are not tolerant of other species, however.
 Cyto/Hemo/Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution
Mental Class: Average Check -90% or an added 1d4 Str + 1d6 Con)
Mantis Ambush 90%
STR Strength 3d6+8
CON Constitution 3d6+6 Jaguar/Leopard
DEX Dexterity 2d6 Personality: A stealthy predator, jaguars are rarely seen by
PWR Power 1d10 those that are not its prey.
SIZ Size 60+1d4
SPD Speed 3d6+6 Physical Description: A large cat with a short muzzle and
DC = 25 covered in orange fur with black rosettes. There are some
SP = 4 jaguars that are all black with slightly darker black
Height: 14 feet long rosettes and are called black panthers.
Weight: 4000 pounds
Climate: tropical marshlands and large rivers in savannah A sub-species of leopards are snow leopards which are
Abilities and Skills: grey furred with dark grey, almost black rosettes. Snow
Advanced hearing leopards have very large paws and thick fur.
Hold breath for a number of minutes equal to CON
Bite 1d10 40% Relations: Jaguars and leopards are usually solitary,
although mated pairs are common. Snow leopards
Insects (Ant, Scorpion, Mantis, Spider, Wasp) appear to be more communally minded and can be seen
Personality: None, some are mean. sometimes in small packs of 4 to six individuals.
Physical Description: They are insects of various types.
Relations: Some are solitary, some are hive creatures. Mental Class: Intelligent
Mental Class: Mindless
STR Strength 1 STR Strength 3d6+2
CON Constitution 1 CON Constitution 3d6
DEX Dexterity 3d6 for ants DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
+2 for all others, +4 for mantis PWR Power 2d8
PWR Power 1 SIZ Size 14+1d4
SIZ Size 1 SPD Speed 3d6+6
SPD Speed 1d6 for land creatures DC = 14
3d6+2 for flying creatures Height: four to seven feet long
DC = 1 Weight: up to 300 pounds
Height: less than 3 inches Climate: Jaguars live in rain forests, and snow leopards
Weight: less than 1 pound live in snow covered mountains.
Climate: Any except arctic Abilities and Skills:
Abilities and Skills: Night vision
Climbing 90% Advanced Hearing
Stingers 80% 1 point plus: Stalk 80%
Hemotoxin (1d4 Con, Constitution Check -70% or an Bite 60% 1d8
additional 1d6 Con) Claw 70% 1d8
Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution Check -70% or an
additional 1d6 Dex) Lion
Cytotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -60% or an Personality: A stealthy predator, lions are social creatures
additional 1d4* Str) and have well-formed personalities that are well suited to
Hemo/Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution Check -70% or interpersonal relationships.
an additional 1d6 Con)
Hemo/Cytotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -80% or an Physical Description: A large cat that is covered in short
additional 1d6 Con) dun colored fur. Males possess a shaggy mane that runs
Cyto/Neurotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -70% or an from light tan to almost black.
additional 1d6 Dex)
Relations: Lions are highly social creatures with well- Abilities and Skills:
defined roles for both males and females with each Advanced hearing
individual in the pride having specific duties and Advanced smell
responsibilities. Lions hunt as a group with some Bite 1d2 40%
lionesses stalking, some ambushing and some chasing Claws 1d2 30%
prey into the kill zone.
Mole
Mental Class: Intelligent Personality: Quiet, unassuming and rarely seen, moles are
commonly considered to be vermin.
STR Strength 3d6+2
CON Constitution 3d6+2 Physical Description: Small, round animals with short
DEX Dexterity 3d6+4 limbs, they have a relatively hairless face, a short snout
PWR Power 2d8 and naked stubby tails. They have tiny eyes and dense
SIZ Size 15+1d6 brown fur.
SPD Speed 3d6+6
DC = 16 Relations: Moles are solitary.
Height: five to eight feet long
Weight: up to 400 pounds Mental Class: Dull
Climate: Lions live in savannah regions.
Abilities and Skills: STR Strength 1
Night vision CON Constitution 1d4
Advanced Hearing DEX Dexterity 3d6
Hide 60% PWR Power 1d4
Stalk 60% SIZ Size 1
Bite 60% 2d6 SPD Speed 2d6
Claw 70% 2d6 DC = 2
Height: 6 inches long
Mink/Marten Weight: 1 pound
Personality: Curious and intelligent, martens and mink are Climate: forests, grasslands and semi-arid areas
very friendly if slightly mischievous Abilities and Skills:
Hold breath for a number of minutes equal to CONx2.
Physical Description: These are fox faced animals with a Advanced smell
long, very lithe body and luxurious fur. They have bushy Dig 80%
tails, small snouts, large triangular ears and are usually a Tunnel 60%
dark brown color, although white, grey and black are not Claws 1 damage
uncommon.
Monkey (lemurs, snow monkeys. etc.)
Relations: These are solitary animals. Personality: Mischievous, loud and incessantly curious,
monkeys make good pets and competent, if annoying
Mental Class: Average companions. They can be trained to perform a large
number of tasks.
STR Strength 1d3
CON Constitution 1d3 Physical Description: Small, arboreal semi-bipedal
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2 mammals, monkeys have prehensile tails and feet. They
PWR Power 1d8 usually have small rounded ears, generally hairless faces
SIZ Size 1 to 2 and long limbs. Monkeys can be various colors, usually
SPD Speed 3d6+2 brown.
DC = 2
Height: 24-30 inches long Relations: Monkeys are very social creatures and will
Weight: 2-3 pounds organize themselves into large tribal structures,
Climate: forests and woodlands sometimes with over a hundred members.
Mental Class: Average to Intelligent Mental Class: Average

STR Strength 4+1d4 STR Strength 1d2

CON Constitution 5+1d4 CON Constitution 1d4
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2 DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
PWR Power 2d4 PWR Power 1d4
SIZ Size 2 to 5 SIZ Size 1
SPD Speed 3d6+2 SPD Speed 3d6-4
DC = 5 DC = 1
Height: 20 inches long Height: 6 inches long
Weight: 5-20 pounds, depending on species. Weight: up to 1 pound
Climate: Tropical and rain forests Climate: any
Abilities and Skills: Abilities and Skills:
Climbing 90% Advanced hearing
Digging 40%
Moose Bite 30% 1d6 LDC
Personality: Sedate and slow moving creatures, moose
have little to fear from non-sentient creatures. Muskrat
Personality: These are river dwelling rodents and as such
Physical Description: Large creatures with a long head, are rarely seen. They like to simply hide and sleep most of
long ears, long thin limbs and a short stubby tail. Moose the time. They can build dams but are not as talented as
have large, contiguous, almost platelike antlers. beavers and their constructs usually look like piles of
sticks in the middle of a large stream.
Relations: Moose are solitary creatures.
Physical Description: They look like very large, stocky
Mental Class: Average rodents with coarse thick greyish fur and naked tails.

STR Strength 3d6+8 Relations: Usually encountered in small familial units of 2

CON Constitution 3d6+5 to 4 animals.
DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 2d6 Mental Class: Average
SIZ Size 30+1d8
SPD Speed 3d6+6 STR Strength 3d6-3
DC = 25 CON Constitution 3d6-3
SP = 1 DEX Dexterity 3d6
Height: 8 feet tall PWR Power 1d4
Weight: 1500 pounds SIZ Size 3 to 4
Climate: Northern temperate forests SPD Speed 3d6-2
Abilities and Skills: DC = 5
Advanced hearing Height: 22 to 25 inches long
Antlers 2d6 60% Weight: 14 pounds
Climate: forest streams and rivers
Mouse Abilities and Skills:
Personality: a small, rather intelligent rodent. Advanced hearing
Advanced touch
Physical Description: These small rodents have small Advanced smell
bodies and long tails and beady black eyes. They are Hold breath for a number of minutes equal to CON
brown, black or white.

Relations: Mice are communal creatures.

Opossum CON Constitution 3d6 + 4
Personality: These are nocturnal semi arboreal marsupial DEX Dexterity 3d6 + 2
rodents and as such are rarely seen. They like to simply PWR Power 1d6
hide and sleep most of the time. SIZ Size 14+1d4
SPD Speed 3d6 + 10
Physical Description: They look like very large, long DC= 15
rodents with coarse thick greyish fur and a long scaly Height 8 feet Weight 300 pounds
looking tail. They are not pretty but are very beneficial as Territory Ostriches are usually found in open savannah or
they keep insect populations down. scrub lands. They can be imported to warm temperate
climates, but they are not naturally found there.
Relations: They are usually encountered alone. Racial Abilities and Skills
Bite 10% 1d2
Mental Class: Average
Otter (river otters and sea otters)
STR Strength 1d6 Personality: These are playful and intelligent animals that
CON Constitution 1d6 are aquatic mammals.
DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 1d6 Physical Description: Long and lean animals, they have a
SIZ Size 3 dense fur and black, inquisitive eyes. They also have very
SPD Speed 3d6-2 prehensile “hands”.
DC = 4
Height: three feet long Relations: Otters live in family units of between two and
Weight: 5 to 7 pounds 20 animals.
Climate: forests
Abilities and Skills: Mental Class: Intelligent
Prehensile tail
Advanced smell STR Strength 4+1d4
Climbing 80% CON Constitution 6+1d4
Play dead 70% up to CONx25 minutes DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
Claws 80% 1d2 claws PWR Power 1d8
SIZ Size 4-5 (river otters)
Ostrich 6-7 (sea otters)
Personality: A flightless bird that is capable of running SPD Speed 3d6+4 swimming
fast. Ostriches are loud, raucous animals that have a poor DC = 7
opinion of others. They are useful as mounts only when Height: 45-53 inches
reared from chicks, and even then, they are really only Weight:15-60 pounds
acceptable as mounts for small characters. Climate: forest rivers or temperate shoreline kelp beds.
Abilities and Skills:
Physical Description: They are not particularly popular, but Advanced smell
they are rather fast when carrying a small load. They are Advanced hearing
only found in tropical savannahs. They are black, with Advanced touch
white feathers on the bottom of their useless wings. Hold breath for a number of minutes equal to CON
Whiskers 80% Acts as blindsight in water
Relations: Ostriches have little tolerance for other Swimming 80%
creatures including their own kind.
Owl
The typical life span for an ostrich is 12 years. Personality: Intelligent, observant and wise, owls have
long been thought to be mystical animals. They are good
Mental Class: Average hunters and absolutely silent fliers.

STR Strength 3d6

Physical Description: Tall, thick feathered birds with large Learn language 90%
eyes and flat tipped wings, owls are not fast fliers but are Can learn a vocabulary of up to 1000 words.
remarkable agile and graceful. They are usually drab in Disassemble 90%
color. Kia parrots can disassemble almost anything.
They can take apart 1 DC per minute.
Relations: Owls are usually solitary. Beak 60% 1d2

Mental Class: Intelligent Pig

Personality: Intelligent, but rather belligerent, pigs are
STR Strength 3d6-3 usually pets or domesticated animals used as a food
CON Constitution 3d6-3 source.
DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
PWR Power 3d6 Physical Description: These are large animals with droopy
SIZ Size 1 to 5 triangular ears, a pronounced flat snout, beady eyes and a
SPD Speed 3d6+10 when flying small thin tail. They are usually covered in coarse hair
DC = 6 that can be either pale, white or piebald.
Height: from one foot to three feet tall with a
Weight: up to 25 pounds Relations: Pigs live in communal herds, though they can
Climate: almost every environment from jungle to tundra. also be solitary.
Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing Mental Class: Intelligent
Advanced vision
Flight 90% STR Strength 3d6+2
Claws 1d4 70% CON Constitution 3d6+2
Beak 1d4 45% DEX Dexterity 3d6-2
PWR Power 2d4
Parrot SIZ Size 20+1d8
Personality: Parrots are intelligent and make very good SPD Speed 3d6
companions. They are capable of learning to speak most DC = 18
languages and are also mischievous. Height: 4 to 6 feet long
Weight: up to 800 pounds
Physical Description: They are very beautiful with Climate: grasslands
exceedingly colorful plumage and a hooked beak. Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing
Relations: Parrots are solitary creatures though are
capable of forming very strong relations with other Porcupine
creatures and parrots. Personality: Porcupines are usually rather unobtrusive
animals that prefer to either run away or attempt to curl
Mental Class: Intelligent up and let their spines defend them.

STR Strength 1d2 Physical Description: These are large rodents that have
CON Constitution 1d10 evolved spines as a natural defense against predators.
DEX Dexterity 3d6 They are usually a dark brown or black.
PWR Power 2d4
SIZ Size 2 Relations: Porcupines are solitary.
SPD Speed 3d6+10 flying
DC = 3 Mental Class: Average
Height: 24 inches tall
Weight: up to 5 pounds STR Strength 2d4
Climate: Tropical forests and rain forests CON Constitution 2d6
Abilities and Skills: DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 1d6
SIZ Size 5 to 6 Mental Class: Average
SPD Speed 3d6-3
DC = 6 STR Strength 2d6
Height: 3 feet long CON Constitution 2d6
Weight: up to 35 pounds DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
Climate: forests PWR Power 1d6
Abilities and Skills: SIZ Size 1 to 3
Advanced smell SPD Speed 3d6+10
Advanced hearing DC = 4
Climbing 50% Height: 18 inches
Spines 90% 1d2 damage Weight: 5 to 8 pounds
Climate: arctic, woodlands, forests & semi-arid scrublands
Puma Abilities and Skills:
Personality: A stealthy predator, pumas are rarely seen. Advanced hearing
Advanced smell
Physical Description: A large cat with a very short muzzle Jump 80%
and covered in dun fur with an off white underbelly.
There are some pumas that are all black and are called Raccoon
black panthers. Personality: Intelligent, mischievous and nocturnal,
raccoons are exceptionally well thought of by many
Relations: Pumas are very solitary creatures differing races.

Mental Class: Average Physical Description: Thick fur of dark grey and brown,
raccoons have a long bushy tail with rings. Raccoons are
STR Strength 3d6+2 most well known for their mask like black markings on
CON Constitution 3d6 their face and their very dexterous hands.
DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
PWR Power 2d6 Relations: Raccoons are often encountered in small
SIZ Size 6+2d4 groups of 3 to 6.
SPD Speed 3d6+6
DC = 10 Mental Class: Intelligent
Height: four to six feet lo
Weight: up to 200 pounds STR Strength 1d10
Climate: mountainous arid regions and forests. CON Constitution 2d6
Abilities and Skills: DEX Dexterity 3d6+1
Night vision PWR Power 3d6
Advanced Hearing SIZ Size 4
Stalk 80% SPD Speed 3d6
Bite 60% 1d8 DC = 5
Claw 70% 1d8 Height: 3 feet long
Weight: 17 pounds
Rabbit Climate: forests
Personality: These animals are found worldwide and rely Abilities and Skills:
on speed rather. Advanced touch
Advanced smell
Physical Description: They are rather long animals when Climbing 65%
running and possess very long ears.

Relations: Rabbits are solitary in the wild, though they do

well in captivity with other rabbits.
Rat Height: 5 and half to six feet tall
Personality: Small, inquisitive and quite intelligent for such Weight: 3000 to 8000 pounds
a small animal, rats are either a menace to health or very Climate: arid scrub land and savannah
good pets. Abilities and Skills:
Advanced smell
Physical Description: They are small rodents of black, Advanced hearing
brown or white with a long naked tail. Horn 60% 2d6

Relations: Rats can be solitary, but they prefer to be in Shark

large groups of their own kind. Personality: One of the oldest and most successful animals
on Earth, sharks are voracious eaters.
Mental Class: Average
Physical Description: These are very sleek fish of a light
STR Strength 1 blue, dark grey or black color.
CON Constitution 1d6
DEX Dexterity 3d6+1 Relations: Sharks are solitary and congregate only to
PWR Power 1d4 mate.
SIZ Size 1 to 2
SPD Speed 3d6 Mental Class: Dull
DC = 2
Height: up to 14 inches long STR Strength 3d6-2 to +10
Weight: up to 5 pounds CON Constitution 3d6-2 to +10
Climate: urban and woodlands DEX Dexterity 3d6
Abilities and Skills: PWR Power 1d4
Advanced hearing SIZ Size 7 to 100
Climbing 80% SPD Speed 2d6 to 3d6+15
Digging 60% DC = 5 to 60
Bite 40% 1 damage Height: 5 feet to 20 feet
Gnawing 80% 1d4 damage per minute Weight: 50 pounds to over ten thousand pounds
Climate: any ocean
Rhinoceros Abilities and Skills:
Personality: Aggressive, dangerous and strong, these Track 80%
grazers are not to trifled with. Bite 1d6 to 3d6 70%

Physical Description: Large animals with a horn on their Sheep

head, they are covered in thick grey hide and have a long, Personality: These grazing animals are very unimpressed
wide head. by most things. They tend to just bleat and run away.

Relations: Rhinos are not social creatures though they can Physical Description: Covered in thick wool and usually
congregate in small herds. either white or black. Some varieties have white wool
with a black face.
Mental Class: Average
Relations: Sheep are herd animals.
STR Strength 3d6+12
CON Constitution 3d6+8 Mental Class: Dull
DEX Dexterity 3d6
PWR Power 3d6 STR Strength 2d6
SIZ Size 55 to 90 CON Constitution 2d6
SPD Speed 3d6+8 DEX Dexterity 1d6
DC = 37 to 55 PWR Power 3d6
SP = 5 SIZ Size 8 to 9
SPD Speed 3d6 Relations: Snakes are solitary, though when they
DC = 7 hibernate, they tend to do so in large groups.
Height: 3-5 feet long
Weight: 75 pounds Mental Class: Dull to Intelligent
Climate: grasslands and semi-arid scrublands
Abilities and Skills: STR Strength 1 to 3d6+10
Advanced hearing CON Constitution 3 to 3d6+2
Advanced smell DEX Dexterity 3d6
Horns 50% 1d4 PWR Power 2d6
SIZ Size 1 to 17
Skunk SPD Speed 3d6-4 to +4
Personality: intelligent and inquisitive, skunks manage to DC = 1 to 15
give many beings pause when they are seen in the woods. Height: 1’ to over 20’ feet for constrictors. Most
poisonous snakes are between 3’ – 6’
Physical Description: These small black creatures have a Weight: Less than one pound for small garden snakes to
long shaggy tail and two, sometimes three white stripes over 300 pounds for large constrictors. Most poisonous
running along its back. Some skunks have spots. snakes weigh between 10 and 20 pounds.
Climate: any except arctic.
Relations: Skunks are solitary creatures. Abilities and Skills:
Bite (non-poisonous) 1 point 80%
Mental Class: Intelligent Bite (poisonous) 1d2 80% and:
Hemotoxin (1d4 Con, Constitution Check -70% or an
STR Strength 1d4+1 additional 1d6 Con)
CON Constitution 1d10 Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution Check -70% or an
DEX Dexterity 1d6 additional 1d6 Dex)
PWR Power 3d6 Cytotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -60% or an
SIZ Size 3 to 5 additional 1d4* Str)
SPD Speed 3d6 Hemo/Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution Check -70% or
DC = 5 an additional 1d6 Con)
Height: 16 to 32 inches long Hemo/Cytotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -80% or an
Weight: 10 to 25 pounds additional 1d6 Con)
Climate: forests Cyto/Neurotoxin (1d4 Str*, Constitution Check -70% or an
Abilities and Skills: additional 1d6 Dex)
Stink Spray 90% Cyto/Hemo/Neurotoxin (1d6 Dex, Constitution
8 times per day, the skunk can release this attack. Check -90% or an added 1d4 Str + 1d6 Con)
It gives a -20% to all skills, abilities and checks by causing Constriction 90% 1 CON damage per minute
nausea. It lasts 16 days.
Those with advanced smell suffer a -40% to all skills. Squirrel (ground squirrels, tree squirrel, flying squirrels
and chipmunks)
Snake Personality: Intelligent and highly adaptable, squirrels are
Personality: Snakes are for the most part are devoid of very common in urban areas. They are exceptional
personality. They prefer to be left alone, hunt and sleep. climbers (except chipmunks)

Physical Description: Snakes are broken into several major
classes such as non-poisonous, poisonous, vipers (which
are poisonous) and constrictors (which are non-
poisonous). Most snakes have very dull coloration,
although many species have very distinct colorations and
patterns.
Physical Description: Chipmunks are small and rotund
animals of a light brown color with dark brown and black
stripes along their backs. Squirrels are often brown or
grey with black stripes along their backs. Chipmunks
have small tails, ground squirrels and flying squirrels have
long tails with sparse hair, while tree squirrels have long
bushy tails.
Relations: Squirrels are solitary, but there are usually a lot Tiger
of them living in the same area. Personality: A stealthy predator, tigers hunt by continually
roaming their territory. They are anti-social and rarely
Mental Class: Average interact with anything that they are not intending to hunt.

STR Strength 3d6-10 Physical Description: A very large cat with a short muzzle
CON Constitution 3d6-10 and covered in orange fur with black stripes. Tigers have
DEX Dexterity 3d6+1 very large paws and thick tails.
PWR Power 1d4
SIZ Size 1 A sub-species of leopards are snow tigers which are
SPD Speed 3d6+4 covered in white fur with black stripes. Snow tigers have
DC = 1 even larger paws and thick, though short, fur.
Height: 16-20 inches long
Weight: 1 pound Relations: Tigers are usually solitary, although they can be
Climate: forests and woodlands trained to work in prides similar to lions.
Abilities and Skills:
Advanced hearing Mental Class: Average
Climb (squirrels only) 90%
Glide (flying squirrels only) 80% 1000 feet STR Strength 3d6+4
CON Constitution 3d6+2
Stag DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
Personality: Peaceful, proud and majestic, stags are the PWR Power 2d6
second largest kind of deer. They are seen as being the SIZ Size 20+1d4
embodiment of nobility and pride for many northern SPD Speed 3d6+6
peoples. DC = 18
Height: six to nine and half feet long
Physical Description: They are large deer-like creatures. Weight: up to 500 pounds
They have a thick pelt of dark brown fur, large antlers and Climate: Tigers live in rain forests, tropical forests and
wise eyes. scrubland, while snow tigers live in snow covered
mountains.
Relations: Stags are very social animals with migratory Abilities and Skills:
herds moving to mountains in the summer and the valleys Night vision
in the winter. Advanced Hearing
Stalk 80%
Mental Class: Intelligent Bite 60% 2d6
Claw 70% 2d6
STR Strength 3d6+5
CON Constitution 3d6+4 Turtles, Sea Turtles and Tortoise
DEX Dexterity 3d6+1 Personality: Turtles have a wide variety of personalities
PWR Power 2d6 depending on their species.
SIZ Size 30+1d4
SPD Speed 3d6 Physical Description: These are reptiles with a shell
DC = 24 covering their torso and have the ability to retract their
Height: nine feet long and up to seven feet tall limbs inside their shell. They are usually brown, green or
Weight: 1100 pounds a dark yellow color.
Climate: Mountainous and temperate forests
Abilities and Skills: Relations: Turtles are solitary creatures but can gather in
Advanced smell large numbers to mate.
Antlers 80% 1d10
Mental Class: Dull
STR Strength 3d6-12 to -0 Trample 40% 2d6
CON Constitution 3d6-12 to -0 Kick 30% 2d6
DEX Dexterity 3d6 Bite 20% 1d3
PWR Power 2d4
SIZ Size 1 to 15 Weasel and Ferrets
SPD Speed 3d6-12 to -10 on land, +10 Personality: Weasels are inquisitive and rather intelligent
while swimming predators that are quite voracious carnivores. They are
DC = 1 to 10 constantly hunting, similar to shrews.
SP = 1 to 5
Height: 5 inches to five feet long Physical Description: These are long, very thin mammals
Weight: 1 pound to 250 pounds with a thin triangular face and small triangular ears. They
Climate: Turtles live in any aquatic environment except are often grey, white or greyish-brown.
arctic, tortoises can live in the desert and sea turtles live
in warm oceanic waters. Relations: Weasels are solitary creatures though can live
Abilities and Skills: with others of its own kind.
SP 4
Hold breath up to CON in minutes Mental Class: Intelligent
Swimming 80%
Bite (snapping turtles) 60% 1d3 STR Strength 1d4
CON Constitution 1d4
War Horse DEX Dexterity 3d6+4
Personality: Bred to be strong and aggressive, war horses PWR Power 1d6
are definitely combative, and have a tendency to be very SIZ Size 1
high spirited and act as if their riders are somehow SPD Speed 3d6
holding them back from battle. DC = 2
Height: 2 feet long
Physical Description: Bred for primarily for strength, speed Weight: ½ to 2 pounds
and endurance, war horses are also typically very Climate: forests
handsome creatures since the majority of war horses are Abilities and Skills:
purebred from perhaps 40 lineages worldwide. Advanced smell
Teeth 1d2 60%
Relations: War horses are social animals and quickly build Claws 1d2 60%
bonds with those they are in close contact with. They are
bred to obey their rider and trainer without question. Whale
Personality: Although the idea of using whales as draft
Alignment: They adopt the alignment of their rider and animals seems odd, it has been used with great success by
trainer over time. many aquatic races. Their inherent tirelessness,
intelligence and ability to eat while moving has made
Mental Class: Average although many are Intelligent. them a resource to many nations. Whale breeding
continues in many areas, although the favorite species are
STR Strength 3d6 + 12 the hump-back and the blue.
CON Constitution 3d6 + 12
DEX Dexterity 3d6 + 4 Physical Description: A large marine mammal usually a
PWR Power 2d4 dark blue, dark grey or black color.
SIZ Size 30+1d4
SPD Speed 3d6 + 14 Relations: A social creature, whales will grow sickly and
DC = 32 lethargic without the social structures that they grew up
Height 7 feet Weight 1200 pounds with. They possess large social networks with other
Territory War horses have a very broad range from being whales throughout the world due to their long range
introduced to every environment worldwide. language.
Racial Abilities and Skills
Alignment: Lawful good, neutral good or chaotic good. Claw 60% 1d6

Religion: none, though biotech whales seem to possess a Wolverine

deep sense of serenity that is quite appealing to those Personality: Aggressive and highly confrontational
who work with them often. creatures, wolverines are capable of fighting off creatures
much larger than themselves such as bears.
Language: A complicated language that is both
unintelligible and unreproducible by other races. Physical Description: A wolverine is a densely furred, long
Commonly called whale song. bodied and dark colored animal. It is well muscled and
possesses incredible endurance.
STR Strength 3d6+24
CON Constitution 3d6+12 Relations: Wolverines are intensely solitary.
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
PWR Power 2d8 Mental Class: Intelligent
CHA Charisma 2d6
INT Intelligence 2d6 STR Strength 3d6-1
WIS Wisdom 3d6 CON Constitution 3d6+7
SIZ Size 250+2d10 DEX Dexterity 3d6+3
SPD Speed 3d6+4 swimming PWR Power 1d8
DC = 146 SIZ Size 5 to 6
Length 60 feet SPD Speed 3d6+5
Weight up to 70,000 pounds DC = 12
Territory Worldwide SP = 2
Racial Abilities and Skills Height: 36 inches
None Weight: up to 30 pounds
Climate: temperate forests
Wolf Abilities and Skills:
Personality: Very intelligent, wolves are often seen as Advanced Smell
being the ultimate hunters and survivors. Cold Resistance 5
Digging 50%
Physical Description: Wolves are a dark greyish brown Bite 80% 1d6
color, though they can also be a light grey, white or black. Claws 70% 1d4
Wolves have yellow eyes and large triangular ears.

Relations: Wolves are very social animals, and each pack

member has a definite role to play.

Mental Class: Intelligent

STR Strength 3d6-2

CON Constitution 3d6
DEX Dexterity 3d6+2
PWR Power 2d6
SIZ Size 7 to 8
SPD Speed 3d6+6
DC = 9
Height: 5-6 feet long
Weight: 60-75 pounds
Climate: forests, mountains and arctic regions
Abilities and Skills:
Bite 60% 1d8
9. CONVERSIONS
Platinum was designed to be easily usable with other
game systems, specifically Basic Roleplaying, Palladium,
Storyteller, AD&D, D20, D&D 5E, Interlock, Fuzion and
Champions/Hero System. There are too many excellent
products out there to feel limited because product A is in
another system than the one you are using. Never feel
constrained by what is available. Feel free to pick and
choose rules, ideas and themes from any game you want.
As long as you keep your players informed of any changes
you make, be as creative as you want to be.
Stamina of 3 and a Fortitude of 2 gets NO bonus for their
Stamina, but DOES gain SP 20 for their Fortitude.
AD&D, 3E and D&D 5e use the same stats and translate at a
1:1 value to Platinum. For AD&D, a Strength of 18 and a
percent translates to 19 in Platinum, and Strength of 18/00
translates to a 20.Hit Points do not transfer, use the
method given in 2.41 Hit Points. For damage, use the
values given in Platinum, although for things that do not
exist in Platinum, having them translate at a 1:1 value is
acceptable such as dragon breath or magic weapons.

For Basic Roleplaying, the only changes are new THAC0 translates to a 5% bonus per 1.
benchmarks for damage, Strength and Size.
THAC0 Skill % Non-Weapon Prof Skill+Bonus
Palladium also requires few changes as all of the 20 5% 1 +1
characteristics map directly Platinum stats. For stats that 19 10% 2 +2
give explicit numbers such as Strength and Speed and the 18 15% 3 +3
various types in Palladium, just use those numbers to 17 20% 4 +4
convert them to Platinum. The other characteristics 16 25% 5 +5
convert directly to Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, 15 30% 6 +6
Wisdom, and Charisma. Physical attractiveness is not used 14 35% 7 +7
in Platinum as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and 13 40% 8 +8
12 45% 9 +9
many species have very different ideas of beauty. The
11 50% 10 +10
damage characteristics for Platinum and Palladium are very
10 55% 11 +11
similar. Please see 5.52 Hardness for more information. For
9 60% 12 +12
Palladium systems, the only change is that Armor Rating 8 65% 13 +13
equates to Stopping Power at a rate of 1 AR = 5 SP. 7 70% 14 +14
Therefore, an AR of 12 = SP of 60. 6 75% 15 +15
5 80% 16 +16
For the Storyteller system, the attributes that convert to 4 85% 17 +17
Platinum do so at the following values: x = 7, o = 9, oo = 11, 3 90% 18 +18
ooo = 13, oooo =15, ooooo = 17. For those attributes that 2 95% 19 +19
do not convert directly to a Platinum attribute, they 1 99% 20 +20
convert to a skill at the following value: x = 0%, o = 20%, oo
= 40%, ooo = 60%, oooo = 80%, ooooo = 95%. Armor Class translates at a 1:1 rate to Stopping Power. For
things rated in % such as rogue skills or miss chances, they
The damage ratings used in Platinum should replace those use the same % as in AD&D.
in Storyteller. For damage ratings that do not have a
Platinum equivalent, take the Storyteller damage rating, For skills in AD&D use the non-weapon proficiency rules x
5% to bring them in to Platinum. For D20 and D&D 5e the
square it and divide it by two. A Storyteller damage of 5
skills with attribute bonuses translate at a rate of +1 = 5%.
translates to 5 x 5 = 25/2 = 12.5, round down to 12. A
Feats also translate at the same rate, so a +3 bonus given
Storyteller damage of 8 is 8 x 8 = 64/2 = 32.
by a feat grants a +15% bonus to the skill in Platinum.
D&D 5e can also grant advantage or disadvantage on rolls
Aggravated damage is simply damage that cannot be as that is a major game play effect and should not be
healed by supernatural means and must heal at a natural removed. If you do not wish to include
rate as described in 6.6 Healing. advantage/disadvantage, it should be counted as a +20%/-
20% to rolls.
Effects that ADD to soak pools (such as armor, supernatural
gifts, etc.) grant SP 10 per die given. Thus, a vampire with a For AD&D additional attacks by virtue of being a high-level
fighter do carry over into Platinum. For D20, multiple

103
attacks due to a high BAB do NOT carry over into Armor, equipment and weapons should use the closest
Platinum. Multiple attacks gained due to level in D&D 5e Platinum equivalent. For cybernetics and magical items
DO carry over into Platinum. that increase skills or attributes, use the modified
attribute then convert that.
For magic spells, the skill used is the class name so for
Wizard the spell is “Wizardry” and for Cleric is it “Clerical For Interlock systems the attributes generally map to a
Magic,” etc. The Level x 5% is the percentage of the skill Platinum attribute, and for those that do not, they will be
so a 12th level Wizard has Wizardry 60%. The level of the counted as a skill.
spell being cast acts a negative modifier at a rate of 1 level
equals a - 5%. Therefore a 4th level spell acts a -20%. For The attributes map to Platinum attributes as follows:
the 12th level Wizard above with a Wizardry of 60%, the Intelligence = Intelligence
4th level spell will reduce the ability by 20% putting the Willpower = Wisdom
final skill at 40%. However, each component listed in the Presence = Charisma
skill ADDS 5% to the total. So a spell with somatic, verbal Technique = Not used in Platinum
and material components would give a bonus of +15% to Highest of Reflexes or Dexterity = Dexterity
that spell. Constitution = Constitution
Strength = Strength
Due to the nature of magic in D&D, there is no cost for the Body = Size
failure of the spell since it is basically a dud. IF a spell fails, Movement = Speed
the spell caster can choose to spend Magic Points twice
the level of the spell to ensure that it is cast successfully. Interlock attribute Platinum Attribute Skill
As an example, if a spell caster tries to cast a 5th level spell 1 6 30%
and it fails, the caster can choose to expend 10 Magic 2 7 35%
Points to ensure that it is cast successfully. 0 Level spells 3 8 40%
cost 1 Magic Point. Additionally, this is why magic items 4 9 45%
and scrolls are so valuable. 5 10 50%
6 12 60%
To convert to Shadowrun, only convert the attributes or 7 14 70%
skills. Attributes map to a Platinum attribute or a skill. 8 16 80%
Shadowrun Platinum attributes 9 17 85%
Body = Constitution 10 18 90%
Quickness = Dexterity
Strength = Strength Interlock skills are rated from 1 to 10. To convert these,
Charisma = Charisma only use the skill and do not add any attribute bonus to
Intelligence = Intelligence them.
Willpower = Wisdom
Essence = unnecessary for Platinum Interlock Skill Platinum Skill
Magic = unnecessary for Platinum 1 10%
Reaction = unnecessary for Platinum 2 20%
3 30%
Shadowrun Platinum Attribute Skill 4 40%
1 8 10% 5 50%
2 9 20% 6 60%
3 11 30% 7 70%
4 13 40% 8 80%
5 15 50% 9 90%
6 17 60% 10 95%
7 19 70%
8 21 80% Fuzion is a rule system that is close to Interlock. The skills
9 23 90% map the same as Interlock, but the attributes use the
10 25 95% conversion scheme below.
11 27 99%

104
Fuzion Platinum 11- 55%
0 8 12- 60%
1 9 13- 65%
2 10 14- 70%
3 11 15- 75%
4 12 16- 80%
5 13 17- 85%
6 14 18- 90%
7 15 19- 95%
8 16 20- 98%
9 17
10 18 For Offensive and Defensive Combat Value (OCV and DCV)
multiply it by 10% to get the Platinum weapon skill and
For Champions or Hero games, use the following rubric. Dodge/Parry skill.
Champions Platinum
Strength Strength Def x 2 = SP in Platinum. To find the Damage Capacity, it is
Dexterity Dexterity Defense x 2 multiplied by Body x 2. Defense 6 and Body 12
Constitution Constitution has a Damage Capacity of (6 x 2) x (12 x 2) = 12 x 24 = 288
Body Size DC with a Stopping Power of 12.
Intelligence Intelligence
Ego Wisdom Nonlethal weapon (Non-Killing Attacks) have their damage
Presence Charisma reduced by ½. Killing Attacks have their damage doubled.
Comeliness Not Used So a 6d6 non-killing attack is 3d6 in Platinum. A 4d6 killing
attack is 6d6 in Platinum. If a Damage Class is used with
Skills Skill no dice, then the Damage Class equals the Platinum
8- 40% Damage Class in the Universal Measures Chart.
9- 45%
10- 50%

105