Creating Your Character
Attribute Checks
Combat
Alternative Combat Rules
Hybrid Combat Rules
There are 4 main character attributes: Life Points, Psi, Strength and Skill.
Life Points represents your characters health factor, and upon
reaching 0 signifies death. To determine your characters Life Points, roll two dice, and
add 6 to the total. During your experiences you will encounter hostile situations in which
specific sources may damage you. Keep a record of your current and initial Life Points.
Your current score may never surpass your initial Life Points score, unless otherwise
indicated by a special incident.
You may regain Life Points by eating a meal, which restores 2 Life Points (this will only
work once every 24 hours, and you must have the food available), drinking certain potions
and some other means.
Psi is your characters' mental aspect. It represents all psychic
instances for your character; his intelligence, his morale, etc. when such instances are
required to be tested. To determine this skill, roll a six sided die three times, and add
up the total. Again, the current amount may never surpass the initial unless otherwise
indicated by the author.
Strength is a deciding factor when encountering certain physical
conditions that require specific physical force to be applied. To determine your
characters Strength, roll one six sided die three times and add the totals. It follows the
same initial point guidelines as formerly indicated.
Skill is a deciding factor when encountering certain physical
situations that require particular action to be executed. To determined your characters
Skill, roll one six sided die three times and add the totals. It follows the same initial
point guidelines as formerly indicated.
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Only three attributes are normally checked (Strength, Psi and Skill). Checking Strength
and Psi is very exhausting for your character, and temporarily reduces your character's
current score in that attribute by 1 each time they are used. You will be told in the text
when to make Strength and Psi checks, but Strength Checks may be made in combat to do
extra damage - see the combat section for details.
By resting for 4 consecutive hours, or by drinking certain potions, Strength and Psi be
returned to their Initial value. Other means of restoring Strength and Psi do exist, but
this you must discover for yourself. Checking Skill never decreases your score, and Skill
will usually go below it's Initial level only due to severe injury or some hideous curse.
Should this happen to your character, you will need to seek out some means of fixing the
problem, because it will not normally go away with rest.
Attribute Checks: Roll 3D6 and compare the total to your current
Attribute score - if the number is lower than your current Attribute score, you have
succeeded. If it is equal to the Attribute score, you may try again (or give up and
consider the roll a failure) - for Strength and Psi checks, each time you try again will
reduce your current Attribute score by 1. If it is higher than your current Attribute
score, then you have failed.
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Combat
1. Combat is simultaneous.
2. Each creature involved in combat (including your character) may only attack one foe
every combat round. You may defend yourself against an unlimited number of foes, but each
foe (after the first) which attacks you increases it's effective skill score (since you
are less effective in defending yourself against multiple opponents). The first creature
attacking you adds nothing, the second adds 1, the third adds 2 etc.
3. Roll 3D6 for each creature involved in combat, and add the creature's current skill
score. If your total is higher than that of the creature you are attacking, then you have
hit the creature. If the creature's total is higher than yours, then it has hit you. If
the totals are equal, then you have avoided each others blows.
4. Fighting multiple opponents: Any creature with a higher total than yours will hit and
damage you, however, you may only hit one target each round, and then only if your attack
total is higher than your target's. Remember, each creature after the first which attacks
you effectively increases it's skill.
5. A successful hit usually inflicts 1 point of damage if your character is unarmed and
has no special unarmed fighting skills. Daggers and Clubs typically inflict 2 or 3 points
of damage, and Swords usually inflict 4 points of damage. You will be told how much damage
a weapon or creature does in the text.
6. Strength Checks: You can inflict extra damage to your foe by making a Strength check.
Roll 3D6, and if this number is less than your character's current Strength, you inflict
50% more damage to your foe (round up). If the number is equal to or greater than your
character's current Strength, you will inflict 50% less damage to your foe (round down).
Note that if you are unarmed, this may result in you inflicting no damage. Making a
Strength check is very tiring, and you must temporarily reduce your current Strength by 1.
Your strength will return to it's normal value when you rest for at least 4 hours.
Monsters will not usually make strength checks.
Special Note:
Armour and shields (and other special items) can increase your character's skill and
reduce the damage taken. Normally, shields increase your character's skill by 1, as does
wearing Leather armour. Chainmail armour also increases your character's skill by 1, and
decreases the damage taken by 1. Platemail armour is the best protection normally
available, and will usually increase your character's skill by 1 and decrease damage taken
by 2. Magical armours and shields may have different effects, as may some specially
constructed armours and shields.
Alternative Combat Rules
Ok, here are some alternative combat rules. Note that they will replace the combat rules
mentioned above, if the club members prefer them.
Each time you encounter combat, you will find a section like the one below:
Orc (Life Points 10)
Roll 2 Dice:
Score 2 to 6: You are hit - lose 3 Life Points
Score 7 to 12: Your opponent is hit, score normal weapon damage -1 (the Orc is wearing
leather armour).
Fighting Multiple Opponents:
This is done by creating one section like the above for when all opponents are active,
then a new section each time one of the opponents is eliminated. See the example below:
Huntsman (Life Points 12)
Hunting Dog (Life Points 6)
Roll 2 Dice:
Score 2 to 4: You are hit twice - lose 5 Life Points
Score 5 to 8: You are hit once - lose 3 Life Points
Score 9 to 12: You hit the dog (you will be unable to hit the Huntsman while the dog
lives), score normal weapon damage.
Huntsman (Life Points 12)
Roll 2 Dice:
Score 2 to 6: You are hit - lose 3 Life Points
Score 7 to 12: Your opponent is hit, score normal weapon damage.
Finding weapons and armour will have varying effects. Finding a weapon will normally
increase the damage you can do (a normal, unarmed human with no special unarmed combat
training will do 1 point of damage for each hit), while finding armour will reduce the
amount of damage (Life Points) your character receives.
Hybrid Combat Rules
Ok, these proposed rules combine several ideas from club members, and represent my
currently preferred combat format. They have the following advantages:
1. Easy to write. Most combat (even against multiple foes) would only require 2 lines.
The second line can be a macro, or cut and paste.
Goblin: Skill 6.....Life Points 6
View Combat Results Table
2. Fast. This system is even faster than the Golden Dragon style. A "K" result will automatically kill all remaining foes (when fighting multiple opponents).
3. Relatively simple. Roll 2d6, add your combat ratio, look at the table.
Problems:
1. Lacks the descriptiveness of the Golden Dragon style.
2. Requires reference to a combat table.