From Bean Me! Pedia

Contents 1 Random Rules 1.1 Added Attributes 1.2 Bonus Strength 1.3 Burnination Rule 1.3.1 Source Rating 1.3.2 Oxygen Quantity 1.3.3 Burnable Materials 1.3.4 Smoke 1.3.5 Dousing 1.4 Checks 1.5 Critical Rolls 1.5.1 Critical Hit & Miss 1.5.2 Critical Initiative 1.5.3 Critical Checks 1.6 Damage Types 1.6.1 Elemental 1.6.2 Physical 1.6.3 Special 1.6.4 Non-Lethal Damage <NLD> 1.7 Damage Reduction 1.8 Dice Categories 1.9 Falling/Impact 1.10 It Lasts a Round 1.11 Knock Back 1.12 Leverage 1.12.1 Weapons 1.13 Lifting Capacity 1.13.1 Holding 1.13.2 Movement 1.13.3 Multiple Lifters 1.13.4 Quadrupeds 1.13.5 Slants and Slopes 1.13.6 Throwing 1.13.7 Wearing 1.13.8 Wheels and Skis 1.14 Light & Darkness 1.14.1 Light Intensity 1.14.2 Darkvision and Lightvision 1.14.3 Sources 1.15 Loudness 1.15.1 Source 1.15.2 Distance 1.15.3 Environment 1.15.4 Intensity 1.16 Maintaining a Body 1.16.1 Breathing 1.16.2 Food and Water 1.16.3 Sleeping 1.17 NAR Act & Move 1.18 Reaction 1.19 Rest & Recovery 1.20 Round Down Rule 1.21 Size is Important 1.22 Stacking 1.23 Status Afflictions 1.23.1 Berserk 1.23.2 Bleed 1.23.3 Blind 1.23.4 Confusion 1.23.5 Dead 1.23.6 Drunk 1.23.7 Dying 1.23.8 Helpless 1.23.9 Off-Guard 1.23.10 Sleep 1.23.11 Stun 1.23.12 Unconscious 1.24 Terrain Rules 1.24.1 Cover 1.24.2 Obstacles 1.24.3 Unstable 1.25 Tie Breaker 1.26 Water Rules 1.26.1 Drowning 1.26.2 Pressure 1.26.3 Flow 1.27 Weather 1.27.1 Temperature 1.27.2 Wind 1.27.3 Precipitation 1.27.4 Lightning 1.27.5 Light 1.28 Wounds

Random Rules

These are rules for everything and anything. Falling, drowning, getting run over, lighting on fire, and multiple types of damage are just some of the rules listed within. Which rules are used is entirely up to the Over Master. While it is advisable to use the more pertinent information within, not everyone will appreciate the in depth knowledge and time required to use everything. Be careful of your choices and if you do find it is not as fun feel free to ask the Players if changing the Random Rules, or any rules in use, is okay. Realism is okay, but at the cost of fun it can be disastrous.

Added Attributes

Certain Abilities, Spells, or items may add temporary Attributes to a person. While these temporary Attributes are beneficial to a person for the effects they may give, i.e. temporary boosts to 3P’s or AB, they do not benefit you when you Level up. Any temporary Attributes will not give you more Points to spend when you Level up or gain experience.

Temporary Attributes are any of the following:

• anything gained from a non-permanent Ability/Spell

• anything gained from wearing an item

• anything that gives Attributes with a duration

Temporary Attributes are NOT:

• what you rolled on creation and gain every even Level

• anything gained racially (i.e. rolling higher than 3d6)

• anything that gives Attributes without a duration and cannot be removed (i.e. permanent)

This is an important thing to note because when a temporary Attribute ends it takes away all benefits it gave, this would include any Points or Ranks gained from Levelling up. Temporarily gaining those Points and Ranks, then having those Attributes fade, and those Points and Ranks removed after what could be one Level, two Levels, or even more, would be a gigantic pain. As such it is best to always remember NOT to include temporary Attributes when increasing Major and Minor Skill Points.

OM’s Discretion: While some Abilities/Spells might have no duration there might be effects that can dispel or otherwise remove them. An OM must decide whether these Abilities/Spells count as permanent or not before letting Players use them while Levelling up. For sake of ease it is advisable not to.

Bonus Strength

Sometimes people work together or find certain ways to utilize their body’s full capacity of strength. When people are working together, for example pulling a rusty lever, you add the Str of each individual to this to find a new Str Stat/Mod. If you were tackling the same rusty lever with only one person, they could utilize the strength of their legs by planting them on the wall opposite of the direction they are pulling and push with them. Using full body strength such as this (arms and legs) effectively doubles their Str for such a thing (useful in BC).

Burnination Rule

Burnination Rule affects more than just combat, it is a huge part of life. For fires there are a few major concerns: Source, Oxygen, and Combustibility of Materials (Fuel Supply). These concerns affect three others: Speed of Spread, Catching Fire, and Dousing Flames. If the source is a short burst of fire over metal then the likelihood is the fire will not catch on. A short burst of fire over gunpowder is likely to catch on and begin to spread quickly. The main thing Players will be concerned with is catching on and putting out fire. However, the rate of spread is very important to this as more fire means harder to put out. To determine the ease of fire starting, spreading, and dousing we look to the following factors:

Source

* Flaring +25

* Pressured +20

* Steady +15

* Intermittent +10

* Burst +5

Oxygen

* Abundant +25

* Feeding +20

* Adequate +15

* Lacking +10

* Over Abundant/Deprived (smothering) +5

Combustibility

* Pyrophoric +25

* Volatile +20

* Flammable +15

* Retardant +10

* Non-combustible +5

Materials

The abundance of burnable materials is also limiting factor for certain, but its limitations just determine when/where the fire will stop. Things like hydrocarbons and other accelerants may give special rules to the Burnination Rule and will list as such.

These factors affect the rate of spread and the difficulty to start/stop fires they are important to consider. A sustained fire will catch on to more combustible materials in oxygen filled areas than one that is a burst on non-combustible materials in an oxygen-deprived area.

To start a fire you begin with an ignition then totalling the Source, Oxygen, and Combustibility numbers, rolling and adding a d%(d100), and if the total is above 100 then the fire starts and begins to burn of its own ‘freewill’, if it is below 100 it does not catch fire.

This roll is made every 3seconds (¼ Round) until all burnable materials are destroyed or the roll fails four times in a row.

If all materials are destroyed then every 10minutes it will make a ‘Smouldering Check’ with Intermittent, Lacking, and Retardant, if its total is greater than 50 the smoulder ‘survives’ but will not spread until new materials come along or the total is above 100 and it is next to something not on fire/smouldering, if it fails four times in a row it will go out for good.

If something disturbs an area with Smouldering, such as stepping on ashes or kicking them over, it will make an immediate check at Burst, Adequate, and the Combustibility of whatever disturbed it to reignite. This makes it possible for something to smoulder for hours yet eventually re-ignite. To break it down think about it like this:

First Fail: No spread

Second Fail: Reduces in size

Third Fail: Becomes a smoulder

Fourth Fail: Is put out all together

For each successful roll the fire spreads out to each thing it can ignite. You may wish to roll for each of the directions it spreads or just spread it in each direction at an even rate. Rate of spread/reduction in size is based on combustibility of the objects.

Combustibility Rate of Spread per Successful Roll

* Pyrophoric 0.9m/3ft per roll in all directions

* Volatile 0.45m/1.5ft per roll in all directions

* Flammable 25.5mm/1”) per roll in all directions

* Retardant 6.4mm/0.25”) per roll in all directions

* Non-combustible 1mm/0.04”) per roll in all directions

Damage is based on the amount of fire engulfing an object. For every 0.3m/1ft cube of fire the object is in it takes 1d4 fire damage each Round, minimum of 1d4. Remember the average human is 1.8m/6ft tall and 0.6m/2ft wide for a max of 12d4 fire damage per Round. Certain fire sources/materials might list more or less damage but must specify.

Source Rating

There is no simple way of determining all sources of fire are one or another. A simple reasoning is perhaps going by the amount of flame versus object size and whether or not there is a duration on the fire effect and whether or not it moves.

A constant flame larger than the object with constant fuel keeping it burning would be Flaring

A gout of flame concentrated on an area would be Pressured

A small flame such as a candle or lighter would be Steady

A moving flickering torch would be Intermittent

A spark or thrown match would be a Burst.

Each instance of someone attempting to light something on fire would require a judgement call based on similar reasoning.

Oxygen Quantity

In most cases it will be Adequate and will not be much of an issue. A house fire might eventually become Deprived but most fires to start will stay Adequate and without an external source might never reach Feeding or Abundant.

Burnable Materials

Almost everything burns or at least melts. But not everything burns or melts at the same rate or in the same manner hence certain jobs and buildings require materials that will either burn up quickly or are very flame retardant. While not all are the same, they can be divided up into quick easy categories such as accelerant, cloth, metal, stone, and wood. Accelerants would be pyrophoric, cloth and wood flammable, and metal and stone non-combustible. Regardless of what kind of material it is and how flammable it is, it stops burning when it is char. When an object’s DP is ‘burnt up’ it will no longer burn and instead smoulder. For living object’s it goes by flesh DP of the creature.

OPTIONAL RULE: Burnt Flesh. Burnt flesh is a hazard in many ways. It peels, it is easily infected, it hurts like hell, and it takes a long time to heal. Severe damage done by fire will heal at a rate of 1HP per day or 2HP per day with medical attention. Once HP has recovered the amount of fire damage recovery rate will return to normal. :ELUR LANOITPO

Smoke

Smoke comes with two major effects: Inhalation danger and visual dampening.

Smoke inhalation is a grave danger, perhaps more so than fire. Every Round you are breathing in smoke you must roll a PR check vs. Rounds spent in the smoke, failure results in unconsciousness for 1round per point of failure, success means you remain conscious.

Once you leave the smoke the PR check will reduce 1 per Round you are not in smoke but will not be rolled until you enter the smoke again.

As smoke begins to billow it will often appear inky and translucent, if it begins to build up, such as in a room, it will become thicker and difficult to see through and eventually opaque – though certain materials will burn and produce thick opaque you cannot see through or light transparent smoke and will list as such. For each Round that smoke is produced but cannot disperse fully it will begin to ‘thicken’ in stages and once the fire stops or the smoke can disperse it will ‘thin’ at the same rate.

Once the room has filled with smoke each Round it will start to build up. Each Round of build up the smoke will provide cumulative +20% Visual Cover to anyone within/beyond the smoke (after 3rounds they would have 60% Visual Cover). This represents the difficulty to pick out a target amongst the roiling clouds of smoke.

Unlike normal Visual Cover a person cannot attempt an Aimed Shot to bypass it against a moving target due to its constant moving and shifting nature but can attempt to ‘attack a square’ rather than rolling a Cover roll (they choose a 1.5m/5ft square to attack, if a person is there and sees it coming they can attempt a 3D using the AB vs. AR vs. Visual Cover % as per normal, if no one is in the square they miss).

Depending on what is burning will result in different volumes of smoke. For ease the amount of fire should roughly equal amount of smoke. Three cubes of fire would create three cubes of smoke every 3seconds (i.e. there is a cube of fire with 0.3m/1ft sides, every 3seconds it creates a cube of smoke with 0.3m/1ft sides). Remember, smoke will rise to the ceiling and fill from top to bottom.

Dousing

Water will add +50 to dousing flame and do so immediately, 1L/0.264gallon will give this bonus against four 0.3m/1ft cubes. If completely underwater fire will be doused no matter what. Things such as Greek Fire will spread in water instead of being put out and will list as such. Stop-drop-and-roll or any other technique of smothering will make a roll against the fire each NAR of attempt instead of every 3seconds and at Deprived Oxygen Supply.

Checks

Unless otherwise stated an Attribute check is Mod + d20 vs. a static number or another check and if one check gains +Level AB/AR (i.e. AC/MS/PR, AB, AR, etc) the other gains +Level AB/AR to theirs (‘attacker’ gains Level AB, ‘defender’ gains Level AR). The higher check total is considered the winner and gains the listed effect. Skill checks are as described in Skill System, Major Skills, Major Skill Checks.

Sometimes there are Abilities/Spells that do not list checks. Whether this is intentional or not may not be the point, however the point is that Players may wish that logic dictates a chance to ‘save’ or resist (i.e. The Three Checks). As such if you require a save or a check for something there are many options.

First you should use what is there, such as AC/MS/PR. Moving out of the way, blocking out mental assaults, or withstanding something from affecting your health respectively.

As well an Attribute vs. Attribute or Rank vs. Rank check can easily solve a person vs. person issue. Such as if the action is physical strength or mastery of movement then use a Str/Coord check/save.

Critical Rolls

Sometimes a Player will roll maximum or minimum on a check. This can be handled any number of ways, such as instant success/failure respectively or a re-roll +/- second roll (such as in Minor Skills).

Another highly suggestible reward is a free DAP/NAR on checks requiring DAP/NAR. There is nothing like rolling a 20 on a Dodge and not only getting to live, but also getting to live and having spent one less DAP/NAR.

Also there is nothing as horrible as rolling a 1 and not only failing miserably at trying to get out of the way, but also losing an additional DAP/NAR for trying.

For things such as the 3D’s or even attacks, these are more ideas to liven the roll of the die beyond just an uncontrolled variable.

Critical Hit & Miss

When making an attack/casting a Spell if you roll a 1 or a 20 on the d20 there are a few main ways to resolve the bonus or detriment. The first method is simply to ignore it altogether. Congratulations, you either have good odds of hitting or missing.

Another is to use the ‘Automatic Hit’ or ‘Automatic Miss’ ruling, where on the roll of 20 no matter your total AB and the defender’s AR on a 3D or your Distance Increment it is a hit, while the roll of a 1 no matter your total AB/Distance Increment it is a miss.

Another is Maximum or Minimum Damage, where on the roll of 20 your possible damage is automatically maximum while a roll of 1 is minimum possible damage (on the dice roll, not from bonuses such as Skills or Strength) assuming you hit.

Further still you can go by Half/Double, where a 1 means you halve the damage you roll (if you hit) and a 20 means you double the damage you deal.

On top of this you can mix and match, such as auto-hit with double damage. It is up to the individual OM as to what a Critical Strike/Miss will do.

Critical Initiative

A high or low roll on what is effectively the ‘speed’ of entering or continuing combat should give person a leg up or cause them to fumble. When rolling for Initiative, a roll of 20 resulting in a free action up to 3NAR that occurs ‘before’ the Round actually starts reflects a plausible yet not overbearing advantage. If this is the first action of combat (first Round) all others should count as Off-Guard.

Reversely, a roll of 1 resulting in the loss of the first NAR row/second of the Round representing sudden distraction or the chaos of combat should not overly hinder someone but balance well enough to the roll of a 20.

Another option for an OM to consider is simply ‘go first, go last’, where regardless of everyone else’s Initiative on a 20 you go first and on a 1 you go last.

Combining the two options is also viable.

Critical Checks

The three checks, Avoidance Chance/Mental Shielding/Physical Resistance, can be a very important roll in certain circumstances. In the case where a 20/1 is rolled on a check an OM should not necessarily consider auto-success/failure due to the varying ‘degrees’ of success and failure most checks deal with, but instead +/- ½ the associated Attribute’s Mod to the check. On a roll of 20 the total would be Attribute Mod + ½Mod + Level Bonus + 20, on a roll of 1 the total would be Level Bonus + ½Mod + 1.

Damage Types

Damage Type can be any of 12: Acid, Bludgeon, Cold, Dark, Death, Electric, Fire, Hack, Life, Light, Pierce, and Slash. They are divided as follows:

Elemental	Acid, Cold, Electric, Fire
Physical	Bludgeon, Hack, Pierce, Slash
Special	Dark, Death, Life, Light

(Note: Sound or ‘Sonic’ will be specified as one of the four Physicals as it itself is a vibration through other matter such as air)

Elemental

There are special rules for each type of damage that will be applied when the damage occurs.

Acid

Eats through whatever it gets attached to, in the first application it deals its full damage then each second it deals half the previous second’s damage until it reaches 1 (i.e. 30, 15, 7, 3, 1, 0).

Depending on the corrosiveness of the acid the BC differs, standard acid (as well if the acid damage does not list) has a BC of damage dealt * 4 (instead of usual * 2) the first second and halves each second after until it reaches 1 (i.e. 30damage would result in 120BC, 60, 30, 15, 7, 3, 1, 0).

Only one application, the most damaging, of acid will be ‘active’ at a time. If a person is hit for 50 acid damage and before the acid ‘burns again’ they are hit for 75 acid damage next time they do not take 62damage (50+75=125/2=62) they only take an additional 37damage (75/2=37).

A person can spend 1NAR to remove acid from a human-sized area and end the repeating damage immediately.

Cold

Slows down those afflicted by stiffening joints. Even if the source of cold damage does not list, it will cause PR check of damage / 2.5 or if caused by an Ability/Spell assume Caster Attribute Mod + d20 (i.e. 30cold damage is a check of 12). (Remember, /2.5 is the same as /10 then *4, i.e. 63dmg / 10 = 6.3 * 4 = 19.8, round down to 19PR)

Per 2points of failure the afflicted suffers -1AB/AC/AR/Init/Spd/Str.

Each Round 1 of each penalty is removed unless otherwise specified.

Electricity

Electrocution stuns living creatures for 1NAR per 2points of PR check failure (depends on effect, if it does not list one then assume damage / 2.5, if Ability/Spell assume Caster Attribute Mod + d20), see Status Afflictions, Stun for details.

Each NAR they roll against the original PR check -1 per NAR that has passed, success means the electrocution ends early.

Fire

Follows the Burnination Rule for special damage effects, if it does not specify its Source use logic (i.e. quick explosion is Burst, sustained gout of flame is Flaring).

Physical

The following physical damage rules are usually only used on ‘Critical Hits’ or Ability/Spell activations (OM discretion), success on any of these PR checks means you do not suffer the effect:

Bludgeon

Bruises, internal bleeding, and broken bones result from bludgeoning strikes. Each bludgeon strike has a chance of breaking bones, per 5% of maximum HP lost in a single strike the struck makes a PR check vs. +5.

Broken bones reduce stats dependent on where the damage is dealt (arm half Coord/Str, leg half Spd/Str, torso half Ref, head half Mental - minimum of 1 Stat) and only in that limb.

Two PR failures on the same limb results in it being disabled (see Combat System, Hit Location for details) for 1hour per point of failure, two failures on the head results in unconsciousness for 1minute per point of failure.

Hitting a broken bone during the healing process (not all Attributes have returned) has a chance of re-breaking it vs. the original PR check +1 per Attribute not yet recovered.

As well, attempting to use a healing bone requires a PR check vs. original check -1 per Attribute returned, success and you can use it, failure and you cannot use the limb for that action (this can only be rolled once per DAP/NAR).

Attribute damage recovers at the rate of 1 per 2days unattended or 1 per 1day attended medically.

Hack

Gouged flesh, severing of limbs, and leaving gaping wounds are a result of hacking. Hacking weapons have a chance of completely severing a limb that will bleed out until tended to. Severing a limb works the same as breaking a bone (see Bludgeon) except unlike a broken bone that heals without magic/advanced technology a severed limb will not usually re-grow/reattach and work.

Severed limbs are handled as listed in Combat System, Hit Location.

A ‘severed torso’ will not disable anything and nothing falls off but you gain 2 Bleed points instead of 1 and takes two hands to apply pressure.

Pierce

Holes, punctures, and damaged internal organs are a result of piercing. Piercing weapons can damage internal organs and cause dangerous internal bleeding. Per 5% of maximum HP lost in a single strike the struck makes a PR check vs. +5, failure means something vital was nicked and the defender begins to bleed at 2damage per Round and will continue to bleed until tended to or they make a successful PR check vs. 20 (making one check each Round), if pressure is applied each second for the Round the Bleed damage is not dealt.

Slash

Long gashes, deep cuts, and possible disabling of a limb are a result of slashing. Per 5% of maximum HP lost in a single strike the struck makes a PR check vs. +5, failure means the defender bleeds at 1damage per Round until tended to or they make a successful PR check vs. 20 (making one check each Round), if pressure is applied each second for the Round the Bleed damage is not dealt. As well each time they attempt to use that limb before making a successful PR check to stop the bleeding they must make a successful PR check against the original check +1 per attempt, if they fail they cannot use the limb for that DAP/NAR.

Special

There are special rules for each type of damage that will be applied when the damage occurs.

Dark

The longer the darkness lasts the longer hiding is easier and the harder it is to see. Without special Abilities/racial attributes seeing in unnatural dark is difficult, see Light & Dark for details. Otherwise Dark, although cool by the lack of light, has no other affects.

Death

Unlike other damage, Death damage cannot be prevented or reduced by normal means, bypassing all armours (i.e. armour, natural scales, shields, etc) and ignoring APP and DP for damage but does not damage DP and regardless of what limb is damaged it takes from the body total.

Death damage will always have a PR check, usually determined by the Ability/Spell (if none is listed it will be damage / 2.5 or the Ability/Spell’s Skill’s associated Mod + d20), and if the check is successful, unless stated otherwise, the damage is halved, failure has no penalty; this is in addition to damage halved through AC on area of effect occurrences. The afflicted can choose to forgo the check and take full damage.

Creatures with –Con will recover HP rather than lose it when damaged by Death.

Life

Perhaps furthest from damage itself, ‘life damage’ instead heals those struck by it rather than injure them (except for special circumstances). It ignores DR of armours (i.e. armour, shields, thick hides, etc) and APP and DP for damage but does not damage DP and regardless of what limb is damaged it takes/gives from/to the body total.

Life damage will always have a PR check, usually determined by the Ability/Spell (if none is listed it will be damage / 2.5 or the Ability/Spell’s Skill’s associated Mod + d20), and if the check is successful, unless stated otherwise, the damage is halved, failure has no penalty; this is in addition to damage halved through AC on area of effect occurrences. The afflicted can choose to forgo the check and take full damage.

Creatures with –Con will lose HP rather than recover it when damaged by Life.

Light

Light has a chance to blind anything looking at or affected by the light based on intensity/damage. Generally the greater the damage, the greater the intensity though the effect might have its own intensity, see Light & Dark for details. Otherwise light is considered as ‘heat’ damage and if specified could be an ignition source.

Non-Lethal Damage <NLD>

There are two kinds of damage, the normal Damage throughout the Core when it takes directly from HP (or DP in the case of objects) and the other known as Non-Lethal Damage (NLD). There is an important distinction between the two. While normal damage can more easily kill a person, NLD can be used for subduing and then killing or just subduing.

NLD is damage that although it may hurt or be an annoyance, is not life threatening, or at least not at first. Anything that deals NLD (i.e. an unarmed person) must first beat their way through a person’s NLD ‘shield’. Everyone has their maximum HP * 3 as a safety barrier against NLD, regardless of normal damage done previously (i.e. you have 30HP, they must deal 90NLD to begin damaging your regular HP with NLD).

Once this shield is gone they are still alive but roll a PR check vs. 60, if they fail they fall unconscious for 1minute per point of failure and further NLD attacks will count as regular damage instead and if the attacker does not stop they could easily kill the defender.

NLD deals ¼ its damage to non-living objects (which have no NLD shield, only DP) as regular damage.

People’s NLD shield recovers at the rate of Con Stat per 10minutes after you have taken no damage for 10minutes.

For purposes of Wounded, Severely Wounded, and Pain Rolls use the NLD shield plus HP and calculate NLD taken as normal damage for % HP loss (see Pain Tolerance for details, i.e. you have 30HP and a 90HP NLD shield, you take 60NLD, you count as losing 50% HP).

Each body part counts towards the same NLD shield but NLD dealt to the head/neck counts as dealing double NLD (but not when dealt as regular damage).

Damage Reduction

Certain things, whether worn or a natural shielding or physical toughness, can reduce the impact of a blow or possibly outright suffer no ill effects of it. When an object or material is listed as having a Damage Reduction (DR) if it takes damage from the listed Damage Type (if none is listed assume it applies to all and unless specified DR does not apply to Death/Life damage) the damage is reduced by the indicated amount per source of the damage. DR can never reduce damage below 0 or increase the HP/DP of the struck unless otherwise specified (i.e. some form of ‘fire absorb’).

I.e. a person with 10DR vs. All non-Fire is struck by a sword and takes 7damage, their DR reduces it to 0 and their HP remains the same.

They are then hit by a fireball that deals 15Fire and 15Bludgeon from one source, rather than take 30damage to their HP they take 20damage, the full 15Fire damage but only 5Bludgeon damage.

If they are struck five times by a sword in a single NAR row each strike counts as a different source, if the damage was 3, 11, 17, 8, and 14 the total damage taken would be 12damage taken as 0, 1, 7, 0, and 4.

Dice Categories

Weapons, Abilities, Spells, and effects might refer to Dice Category (DC). These are a preset list of dice rolls designed to allow a weapon or effect to tier up more evenly rather than rolling a lot of the same type of die or adding hard set numbers. In the lower DC the change may be little more than a maximum increase of 2damage, later on the increases will more likely be 8 or 10 damage. If an Ability/Spell or other effect refers to a DC # or +DC you would look it up on the table and find the dice to roll.

DC #	Dice Used	DC #	Dice Used	DC #	Dice Used
1	2d2, 1d4	21	7d12	41	17d12
2	3d2, 1d6	22	9d10	42	21d10
3	2d4, 1d8	23	8d12	43	18d12
4	1d10	24	10d10, 5d20, 1d100	44	22d10, 11d20
5	3d4, 2d6, 1d12	25	9d12	45	19d12
6	4d4, 2d8	26	11d10	46	23d10
7	3d6	27	10d12, 6d20	47	20d12, 12d20
8	2d10, 1d20	28	13d10	48	25d10
9	4d6, 3d8, 2d12	29	11d12	49	21d12
10	3d10	30	7d20	50	26d10, 13d20
11	4d8	31	12d12	51	22d12
12	3d12	32	15d10	52	27d10
13	5d8, 4d10, 2d20	33	13d12	53	23d12
14	4d12	34	8d20	54	28d10, 14d20
15	5d10	35	14d12	55	24d12
16	7d8	36	17d10	56	29d10
17	5d12, 3d20	37	15d12, 9d20	57	25d12, 15d20
18	7d10	38	19d10	58	31d10
19	6d12	39	16d12	59	26d12
20	4d20	40	20d10, 10d20, 2d100	60	32d10, 16d20

Falling/Impact

Due to gravity and distance from the ground, and most people unable to fly unaided, falling can hurt. There are four categories of landing: Soft Ground (pads, pillows, hay bail, etc), Ground (dirt, mud, grass, etc), Hard Ground (gravel, stone, concrete, non-foam spikes, etc), and Fluid (water, etc).

Soft Ground is 1damage per 6m/20feet fallen

Ground is 1d4 damage per 3m/10feet fallen

Hard Ground is 1d8 per 3m/10feet fallen

Fluid is dependent; you can either dive (hand/feet first) or belly flop. If you belly flop you count Fluid as Soft Ground. If you dive you require at least double your height in fluid depth to avoid injury. If you do not have enough depth count the fluid floor as a ground listed above -1% of damage per 1% of the fluid depth of double your height (i.e. you are 1.8m/6ft tall, it is 1.5m/5ft deep, roughly 40% of the 3.6m/12ft necessary to avoid damage, if you roll 15damage you instead take 6damage).

The damage will always be considered the type of what they land on (i.e. spikes would be Pierce) or simply as Bludgeon.

If you end up underwater be sure to check Water Rules for drowning rules. After falling into fluid you sink your height + 0.3m/1ft per 3m/10ft fallen to a maximum of +6m/20ft deep beyond double your height.

Falling objects landing on people will undoubtedly hurt both people/objects. The objects take the other object’s hardness with weight bonus. A very hard and crushing boulder creaming a human, who is soft and squishy, after falling 30m/100ft, would take 5damage while the human would take 10d8damage. You then add damage based on the falling object’s weight, an extra 1dX per 10kg/22lb (Soft +1, Ground +1d4, Hard +1d8). If the boulder weighed 100kg/220lb, the human would take an additional 10d8.

Impact is based off of speed and density of the colliding forces.

Soft things (pads, pillows, hay bail, fleshy things, etc) deal 1damage per 20kmph/12.4mph on collision.

Not overly soft/hard things (sticks, mattress, overly bony people, etc) deal 1d4 per 10kmph/6.2mph on collision.

Hard things (metal, stone, concrete, etc) deal 1d8 per 10kmph/6.2mph on collision.

If the objects are going opposite direction then add the speeds together; if one T-bones the other count the T-boned as going 0 (each takes the same speed multiplier); if they are going the same direction subtract the slower from the faster.

I.e. if a car travelling at 50kmph/31mph hits a person travelling at 20kmph/12.4mph in the same direction the ‘total’ speed would be 30kmph/18.6mph and the human would take 3d8damage while the car only takes 1.

If the poor human was walking across the street when a car hits them at 50kmph/31mph the human would take 5d8damage while the car would take 2damage.

If the human, for some reason, was running at 20kmph/12.4mph towards the car travelling at 50kmph/31mph the total would be 70kmph/43.4mph and the human would take 7d8damage and the car would take 3damage.

In impacts, unlike falling, you do not add the 1dX per weight, since not all of the weight is ‘landing’ on something, it is only pushing you aside (not crushing you underfoot). If it pins someone to a wall the OM should consider adding ‘falling damage’ weight to impact.

OPTIONAL RULE: Effective Fall/Impact Damage. Falling or being hit by a speeding object does not involve combat of any type, there is no ducking, weaving, or rolling with the impact a warrior is likely trained for. Thus, rather than having fall damage affected by APP/DR or HP from Skills, an OM can have it apply to Con Level HP only and if this HP is reduced to 0 or less they count as Dying/Dead. With this rule if a Level 3 had 14Con (28HP from Con) and took 33fall damage they would count as being at -5HP regardless of their Skill HP/equipment bonuses. :ELUR LANOITPO

It Lasts a Round

Certain Abilities/Spells last by a ‘Round duration’. But how do you know when it will end? Not all Abilities/Spells will be activated at the beginning or the end of a Round and as such might be difficult in deciding when it should end in the upcoming Rounds. To solve this problem, jot down which NAR row it started on and end it in how many ever Rounds later at the beginning of the same NAR row (i.e. if they used it on the 7th NAR row of the Round it ends on the 7th NAR row on the Round it should end (even if have not spent more/less than maximum NAR)).

Knock Back

Knock Back is where an opposing force makes contact with an object and sends it cascading away. The greater the force that impacts the object, the further back the object is launched. Each Ability that uses Knock Back (i.e. Body Check or Push) will list anything specific needed for the Knock Back itself.

General rule is for every Strength point the attacker overpowers the defender by the defender flies back 0.3m/1ft and if the defender failed their Str check they then roll a Coord check vs. the original Str check, if they fail the Coord check they are then knocked to Prone.

Knock Down is essentially the same as Knock Back except regardless of their Coord roll they will be knocked to Prone position.

OPTIONAL RULE: Forcibly ‘Proned’. Sometimes people will be knocked flat on their back. Unlike getting on the ground under your own free will, being knocked down is harder to get back up from. As well, while getting back up it is easy to be knocked back down. While it normally takes 2NAR to get back to Standing from Prone position that is not considering being knocked there by someone else. So being forcibly ‘Proned’ would increase the NAR to change positions by +2NAR.

As well while getting up, for those first 2NAR any Knock Back/Down suffered the attacker’s Str counts as double and any attacks automatically attempt a ‘Knock Down’; for Ranged Attack the Str is equal to the attacker’s Coord.

After the 2nd NAR is complete the once forcibly ‘Proned’ is now braced on the ground and no longer suffers from being easily pushed back down. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Knock, Knock. When afflicted by Knock Back it only makes sense that while being flung about you will have to attempt to stay standing. Automatically adding to all Knock Back effects is Knock Down (you are forced to the Prone position). Once affected by Knock Back an automatic success of Knock Down is applied, ignoring the Coord check. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Knocked Into Wall. While flying through the air the force of the push is not dangerous on its own, but being pushed into another object is. If the object is flat they take 1NLD per 0.3m/1ft further they should have been knocked back, if it is pointed (i.e. spikes) they take 1Piercing damage per 0.3m/1ft further they should have been knocked back, and if it is a long sharp edge (i.e. guillotine) they take 1Hacking damage per 0.3m/1ft further they should have been knocked back; unless they are moving parallel to the spike/blade in which case it would be 1Slashing damage per 0.3m/1ft they travel while touching it. :ELUR LANOITPO

Leverage

There are two uses to Leverage. Break Chance/Resistance (see Materials section for details) and determining the Strength required to lift and use a weapon and its base damage. While this is ‘standard’ weight/leverage rules a Template may use different rules and will specify as such.

Weapons

Leverage and weight determines the base amount of damage a weapon will deal in a strike and the Strength required to swing the weapon. Due to the nature of the design and purpose of each weapon type they use leverage and weight differently. For example a hammer style weapon will have all the weight at the head while a sword will try to balance it between hilt and blade. For each of the weapon types there will be a listing of the effect of leverage (overall length of handle or blade) and weight (overall or specific part as per weapon type) and the required Strength resulting of the two.

The following is for using a weapon one-handed. Using a weapon two-handed reduces the Strength requirement by half.

Chained

Leverage/Length: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 1.5m/5ft of chain held from the end for metal chains or per 0.3m/1ft if a head is present. Whips and leather style ‘chained’ weapons are +1dice category and +2Str requirement per 0.6m/2ft but as NLD.

Weight: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 2.25kg/5lb.

Mace

Leverage/Length: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 0.3m/1ft.

Weight: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 2.25kg/5lb of ‘head weight’.

Polearms

Leverage/Length: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 0.6m/2ft.

Weight: Overall weight does not play a huge factor in the damage of a polearm, a counterweight or heavy head may improve damage however. +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 2.25kg/5lb of the head.

Sword

Leverage/Length: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 0.3m/1ft.

Weight: +1dice category and +3Str requirement per 2.25kg/5lb.

Unarmed

Leverage/Length: +1dice category and +2Str requirement per 0.15m/6”.

Weight: +1dice category and +5Str requirement per 1.125kg/2.5lb.

Lifting Capacity

Lifting Capacity (LC) is how much a character can carry and move without restriction. The base LC is Strength Stat as ‘Rank’ on the Tier System with the ‘Points’ * 0.45kg/1lb counting as the weight of their LC (1Rank/Str = 1Point/0.45kg/1lb, 2Rank/Str = 3Points/1.35kg/3lb, 3Str = 2.7kg/6lb, 4Str = 4.5kg/10lb…).

Base LC is the maximum weight a person can carry on their body comfortably and without much hindrance. If they exceed this weight their body will slow and begin to tire.

A person can carry/lift up to sextuple their LC but cannot move beyond 1Spd.

A person can push or pull up to ten times their LC at 1Speed on a flat, relatively frictionless surface.

More specifics of LC are as below.

Holding

Limbs such as arms are often what we will pick up items with. However, due to leverage, amount of muscles involved, and that they bend at a joint they are inefficient for extended periods of carrying weight. Due to inefficiencies weight carried by arms counts as double, though using both arms counts it as being ‘normal weight’.

Each additional limb used for carrying halves what the weight counts as (i.e. 10kg/22lb with 1arm is 20kg/44lb, with 2arms is 10kg/22lb, with 3arms is 5kg/11lb, with 4arms is 2.5kg/5.5lb… etc, essentially the formula for arms used beyond one is: weight / (2^(#limbs – 2))).

Movement

The more weight you carry the slower you move. Your Coord/Ref/Spd detriment begins once the weight you carry passes your LC up to sextuple your LC. Every 5% of the difference between LC and sextuple LC your Coord/Ref/Spd are reduced by 1% to a minimum of 1 each (i.e. 10Str or 25kg/55lb BLC, 1.25kg/2.75lb is 5%). In the case above, for every 1.25kg/2.75lb (25kg/55lb divided by 20) beyond 25kg/55lb their Coord/Ref/Spd would suffer a –1% penalty. At 600% (*6) LC you would have 1Coord/Ref/Spd.

Those who are more mathematically inclined or do not mind calculators can go by for every 1% over your LC you lose 0.2% Coord/Ref/Spd.

OPTIONAL RULE: Accelerated Pushing. When pushing an object once the inertia is defeated the momentum should pick up. Under this logic an OM can allow a person to regain 1Spd per 2Str Mod per NAR they push/pull up to Crawl. A person with 10Str and 10Spd would regain 1Spd for every NAR they pushed up to 5Spd (Crawl). :ELUR LANOITPO

Multiple Lifters

If multiple people are pushing, pulling, or otherwise ‘lifting’ items as a group add all of their LC together and use that as the new base for holding, movement, dragging, etc.

Quadrupeds

With the extra support of more limbs and a structure designed for lifting, quadrupeds can carry double the weight of bipeds, their LC counting as double for moving, dragging, wearing, etc but not hold (though they are not likely to hold or throw objects, a quadruped such as a centaur could hold things in their arms but would not gain the quadruped advantage for those items since the arms count as ‘holding’ and the leverage is different than dragging/wearing).

As long as they stay on all four limbs they gain this bonus but if they go on two limbs they lose this bonus and count as a biped.

Slants and Slopes

Terrain such as hills can severely hinder the movement of objects or, desired or not, speed them up. When pushing/pulling objects on a slope its weight counts as +1% per 1° of slope, if its weight exceeds your push/pull limit it begins to slide down the slope at 1% of gravity’s speed per 1° of slope (gravity on Earth is 9.8m/s2 or 32.2ft/s2) and will only stop if friction or another object can stop it; usually by under Falling/Impact rules its damage does not exceed the other object’s DP.

The object automatically makes a Knock Back attempt against anything in its path with Str equal to its weight in lb as Points and its Str as Ranks (reverse Lifting Capacity) + Damage dealt and the same for any inanimate objects in its path (remember, stationary objects deal damage to objects that hit them and would gain that to their Str), if its Knock Back succeeds it would keep moving, if it fails it would stop.

I.e. a 200kg/440lb object is on a 35° slope, it counts as weighing 35% more or 270kg/594lb, they lose their grip and it slips down, it builds up speed at a rate of 3.43m/s2 or 11.27ft/s2, the 2nd second it would be moving 6.86m/s or 22.54ft/s, the 3rd second it would be moving 10.29m/s or 33.81ft/s, and so on until something stopped it. If on the third second it hit something, now travelling at 37kmph/23mph, it would deal 3d8 damage and have 33Str for Knock Back.

Throwing

Throwing distance for non-‘throwing weapons’ is based on a percentage of your LC. For throwing you use a percent slider. If you are attempting to throw X% of your LC you minus the LC % (X) from 100%.

You then throw the object the remaining % (Y) a distance of Str * 0.6m/2ft * Y / 100. Not as complicated as it might seem.

For two-handed throws double the overall score.

I.e. a person with 10Strength (LC of 25kg/55lb) is holding 12.5kg/27.5lb (X=50) and they wish to throw it. 12.5kg/27.5lb is 50% (Y=50) of their LC so they have a throwing range of 10 * 0.6m/2ft * 0.5 = 3m/10ft. If they were holding 5.5kg/11lb (X=20%) they would have 80% throwing range (100%-X=Y). 10 * 0.6m/2ft * 0.8 = 4.8m/16ft.

OPTIONAL RULE: Non-Hard Throwing. If you do not like a hard ‘max toss’ you can add a d%(d100) to the Y. If you roll a 75 in the 12.5kg/27.5lb example, it would be 10 * 0.6m/2ft * 1.25 = 7.5m/25ft. :ELUR LANOITPO

Wearing

Many body structures are designed to carry weight on shoulders, across the back, or supported by non-joint locations and allow the creature to carry much greater weight than by holding alone. As such, anything ‘worn’ or otherwise not ‘held’ by appendages such as fingers the weight counts as half.

Wheels and Skis

Wheels and skis aid in reducing the effect of friction from surfaces and making it easier to maintain momentum. A person’s maximum push/pull of LC * 10 assumes the surface is flat and has little friction beyond an even dirt floor where the item will not ‘catch’ anything. For ease of use, friction counts as ‘half’ of the weight when pushing/pulling. If the wheels/skis work properly the maximum push/pull is then doubled (LC * 20) and a person using ‘Accelerated Pushing’ could go up to Walk.

Light & Darkness

The degree of light is important for the sense of sight. Too much light and you are blinded, too little and you cannot see. Based on human qualities, the optimal condition of light to see by is set as 0. At 0 you can see well, nothing is blinding you and you should not have any problems discerning colour, distance, or reading something in front of you. The higher up the scale you go the brighter it gets, the lower on the scale you go the darker it gets.

+/- 25 on the scale is average conditions, +25 being about noon in spring while -25 is like a room next to a room with a window while it is noon; your vision is really unaffected, reading is still easy and you should still be able to see a good distance.

+50 is like a desert at noon, -50 is that desert at night with some stars in the sky; you can see but you are most likely squinting back the light or trying to see your usual distance beyond a sheet of black.

+75 is a small white room with a light in it and a divider where the other side is black but the glare hurts your eyes. -75 is the black side of the room and you have troubles seeing the far walls and for all you know someone might be in there.

+100 is the sun taking up the entire sky and you staring at it, -100 is no sun, stars, or moon and trying to see anything.

These are just examples for setting the brightness for your situation.

The amount of light holds importance on the world around you.

-25 to +25 is what the average person can see well in so there are no bonuses or detriments.

+26 to +50 might be on the bright side for some cave dwelling mole-men, but it guarantees you can see as far as possible, only obstacle in sight is buildings and the curve of the planet, colours might be obscured by the light. -26 to -50 and things start to get out of sight, colours become shades of grey, and distance is limited.

+51 to +75 and even normal people are blinded, sun blockers are required for prolonged exposure. -51 to -75 and all colours are black beyond a few feet.

+76 to +100 colours have blended into white and everything beyond your pupil is opaque white. -76 to -100 you are lucky to see your hand in front of your face.

Light Intensity

Certain Spells and weapons create blinding flashes of light or engulf the area in darkness. When casting a Spell or using a flash bomb or a similar item, it can have a ‘Light Intensity’ rating; this rating indicates how much above/below +/-50 light it is.

For every point above +50Light (AKA Light Intensity) a PR check is required vs. the Light Intensity, failure means Blindness for 1second per point of failure, success means you are not Blind (see Status Afflictions for details on being Blind). Every second a PR check against the original check may be made to remove the Blindness, success it leaves immediately, failure it remains. This check is only made for sudden changes in light and is made at the beginning of the duration.

For extended durations of being in intense light every half-hour a PR check is made, success means nothing happens, failure means for every point of failure targets gain 1% Visual Cover + 1% per light beyond +50Light for 1minute per point of failure (i.e. it is 75Light, 25PR check, you fail by 8, all targets now have 33% Visual Cover). Every minute another PR check is made, success removes the Visual Cover penalty, failure means it remains.

For every point below -50Light (AKA Dark Intensity, or sometimes Light Intensity, will be a ‘-#’ either way) a PR check is required vs. the Dark Intensity, failure means the eyes need to adjust and will take 1second per point of failure, success means you adjust quickly and can see. Every second a PR check against the original check may be made to adjust, success and you adjust immediately, failure it remains too dark to see (Blind). This check is only made for sudden changes in the level of light and is made at the beginning of the duration.

Even after your eyes adjust to the darkness all of your targets retain a 2% Visual Cover per point below Dark Intensity (maximum 99%) – instead of the constant Blindness 99% Visual Cover. If you are not actually in the darkness but are attacking into it this penalty is halved but regains +1% per 0.3m/1ft from the edge of darkness they are (i.e. they are in -80Light and are 3m/10ft from the edge, inside the darkness they have 60% Cover, attacks from outside only 40%, 60/2+10=40).

Remember, Visual Cover affects 3D attempts much in the same way as attacks (see Combat System, [[Core Combat System#Combat Modifiers|Combat Modifiers for details).

Darkvision and Lightvision

Other races have eyes that are more adapted to darkness or light than humans. They have what can be called Darkvision (DV) or Lightvision (LV) wherein they are more adapted to intense degrees of light than humans.

#DV counts all Light as increasing by the #, i.e. 25DV means –33 on the Light Scale becomes -8, though +25/-75 on the Light Scale would now be the beginning of Intensity.

#LV counts all Light as decreasing by the #, i.e. 10LV means 58 on the Light Scale becomes 48, though +60/-40 on the Light Scale would now be the beginning of Intensity.

This means that with DV the effects of darkness are lessened while the light is more harmful to the eyes and vice versa for LV.

Other enhanced visions can allow you to see better in the dark or light without penalties but each will give its own rulings and effects. Objects such as sunglasses or night vision goggles may provide ‘dampening’ or ‘enhancing’ effects, but this is not the same as a torch just providing light to a certain area.

Sources

Light Sources will have a listed intensity radius based on size with ‘intensifiers’ and ‘foci’ that will change how far and bright its light is and in what direction it travels. The radius of the Source is how long it takes for the light it produces to move towards 0Light by 1 (remember, light goes in all directions until it hits something). If a 50Light source has a radius of 0.9m/3ft then every 0.9m/3ft it lowers 1Light until it reaches 0 (i.e. 50Light in 1st 0.9m/3ft, 49Light in 2nd 0.9m/3ft, 48Light in 3rd 0.9m/3ft, etc), if the Light produced is -50 with the same radius then it instead increases 1Light each 0.9m/3ft.

Intensifiers are things like a cone of shiny reflective material around the light causing it to appear brighter (this would also act as a foci). An intensifier increases the intensity of the light source by a rated number but will generally also act as a block or as a focus.

Foci are just anything that turns the light source from an orb/radius, into a cone or a beam or any form of directed light.

Unnatural lighting/darkness will automatically override natural lighting/darkness. If two or more effects are on the same side of the scale unless they say they stack the darker/brighter overrides the others.

OPTIONAL RULE: Light vs. Darkness. In an ordinary world darkness is merely the absence of light. But what about a world where darkness can be generated almost as easily as light? When unnatural darkness (i.e. created by a Spell) comes into contact with unnatural light (i.e. created by a Spell, not a flashlight, the sunlight, or fire) they compete for overall change. If one is -75 and the other is +50, then in the end it should be -25 on the Light Scale regardless of the area outside the Spell effects. :ELUR LANOITPO

Loudness

Sound is an important part of most peoples’ lives. It can alert them to others around them, allow for communication, and warn of danger. The amount of sound generated may not be the only concern to factor into ‘loudness’ (i.e. concerns of amplitude, decibels, frequency) but in games term it is human perception from ‘silent’ to ‘quiet’ to ‘normal’ to ‘loud’ and to ‘deafening’. Loudness is affected by what generates the sound, distance from source, and environmental factors.

Source

Loudness is rating the ‘volume’ as it would seem to most people; it is left to the OM to base it on sounds they know.

0Loudness would be absolute ‘silence’ while 100Loudness would be so ‘loud’ a person could not hear anything louder without being deafened (about 130 decibels).

A pin dropping would be about as low as you can go but still hear it and would be a Loudness of 1 whereas a tornado is about as loud as it goes (anything else and people are deaf so it does not matter) and be a Loudness of 100. Everything else the OM must gauge it between ‘silence’ and ‘deafening’.

A person speaking would choose somewhere between 1 and 25 Loudness, the quietest they can whisper and be understood and the loudest they can yell. Most people will talk at about 5-10Loudness.

Distance

The further a person is from the source of sound the quieter it will seem. In the first 1.5m/5ft sounds will lose 5Loudness (-1Loudness at 0.3m/1ft, -2Loudness at 0.6m/2ft, -3Loudness at 0.9m/3ft, -4Loudness at 1.2m/4ft, -5Loudness at 1.5m/5ft) then loses 1Loudness per 1.5m/5ft further.

It might still be heard beyond this distance but it will no longer be distinguishable and locating it will be difficult. Certain sounds, such as a tornado, would be much louder than 100Loudness and thus ‘travel’ further and the OM would have to estimate its true Loudness based on how far away they can be heard.

Environment

Beyond just generating noise there are environmental factors to consider. Acoustics are important, but unless you know a lot about them they are not too useful or easily used. Stone walls and still air can carry sound much more easily, but rug walls and moving air can distort it. Although influent on sound, ignoring acoustics is an option but if Players advocate for it, remember that stone/smooth walls have better acoustics, rough/rugged walls worse, and air depends on movement (still air carries sound better than moving air). The easiest solution is adding or subtracting from how far a distance it takes for the Loudness to decrease, in a clear, still air, smooth cavern it might take 3m/10ft to decrease 1Loudness.

As well certain terrains, such as a sewer, might ‘bounce’ sound and make it difficult to determine exactly where it came from. If there are corners/passageways use the total distance between source and end.

Sound might also travel through solid objects but its Loudness will be reduced by 1 per 2.55mm/0.1” of object thickness (material of object might affect this).

Ambient noises such as other voices, a television set, furnace, or passing train might also ‘overrule’ a particular noise, making it difficult for one to be heard over the others so an OM might consider subtracting 0.3m/1ft of distance per +1Loudness another sound is.

Intensity

When sounds exceed the threshold of a person’s hearing capacity they will be temporarily deafened. Loudness Intensity begins after human threshold of hearing, 50Loudness, and for each Loudness beyond this 1Loudness Intensity is generated. In situations of shorts bursts of noises that do not last long, such as a piercing wail or flash bang grenade, those within its radius roll a PR check vs. Loudness Intensity, per point of failure they are deafened for 1second, success and it is just a really loud noise.

For exposure for more than one minute, such as a concert or sitting at the heart of a tornado, each minute they roll a PR check vs. Loudness Intensity +1 per minute within the noise radius, per point of failure they are deafened for 1minute, success and they can still hear, OM discretion for long term effects.

In truth in long term exposure circumstances the Loudness should not need to be above 50 to cause damage as that correlates closer to real life but would require OM discretion (reducing the Loudness Intensity start to 40 is plausible).

Also, rather than outright deafness, an OM should consider subtracting the Loudness of the noise from their ‘threshold’, to hear a sound it has to be above the Loudness of the noise that deafened them.

Maintaining a Body

While we may not think of it that often, breathing, drinking, eating, and sleeping are some daily things we should take care of. Exercise, hygiene, and going to the bathroom are important, but over the centuries we have seen some things can be forgone for a little while and while the impact may be severe in their own ways, they do not affect people as much as often. (Still, no one likes a person who has not bathed in a year…)

Breathing

Suffocating yourself by holding your breath is very difficult; as once you lose consciousness your body will begin breathing again – if able. Suffocation from other people or things such as water (i.e. drowning) is much easier. Suffocation uses the same rules as drowning, except you do not need someone to bilge water from your lungs.

You can hold your breath for one Round per Con Mod. After this time you take 1 temporary Con damage each Round you are without oxygen. At 1 temporary Con you lose consciousness.

Once you are at 0Con someone can administer CPR or otherwise return oxygen to you and save you from death but only if it is within Con minutes since your last breath of oxygen, after Con minutes at 0 or less temporary Con you die. Every 6seconds of CPR the person rolls a PR check vs. 1 per Con they have lost, if they succeed they are revived, if they fail they remain dying/unconscious.

You recover 1Con per hour or with medical attention 1Con after CPR is administered and 1Con per half-hour.

Unlike normal conditions, being at 0 or less temporary Con from suffocating does not mean you are dead but in a state of unconsciousness near death from which you can be brought back from without the need of special magics or technologies.

Food and Water

Water is an important part of life, without water we shrivel up and die. Humans have been known to last about 3 to 5 days without water. This roughly translates into every 10hours without water a human temporarily loses 1Con (100hours and the average human is dead).

To avoid this, at least 1Liter/¼Gallon should be drunk per day up to about 7Liters/1.8Gallons, if an OM desires then drinking half this amount would mean it takes 20hrs to lose 1Con (same with other ratios). Once a person starts drinking again their Con returns at 1Con per hour after a day of rest and drink.

Food is not required as much as water, but as with water, if you do not get enough you will begin to die. A person can survive approximately 15 to 20 days without food under normal circumstances.

This equates to about a temporary –1Con every 2days without food. Once you start to eat again Con returns at 1Con per hour after a day of food and rest.

Sleeping

Sleeping has as much to do with maintaining the body as maintaining the mind. Lack of sleep can wear down the body and a person will suffer but more due in part to lower mental faculties than bodily harm. While it may not wear away the knowledge you possess, it may very well wear away how you act and what you remember at the moment. For each 24hours without sleep you suffer a temporary –1Coord/Mental/Ref to a minimum of 1 each.

For every 4hours of sleep you regain 1 of each Stat lost from not sleeping.

NAR Act & Move

As sometimes mentioned, there is a distinction between types of NAR. It divides into two sub categories: Act and Move. Something can prevent you from acting but not moving or vice versa or both. Most maintained Abilities/Spells and 3D’s count as Act NAR, meaning you can move while maintaining the Ability/Spell but cannot do anything more such as attack or 3D.

Most things will simply state it uses ‘NAR’. If a Player asks if they can use the Ability/Spell and move but the Ability/Spell does not state then it is up to the OM to decide which NAR the Ability/Spell uses.

Using either an Act or Move means you cannot RAP.

Reaction

Reaction is how people will perceive and act towards another person. Whether the perception is accurate of their true personality is not the initial issue. When one person meets or sees another they will most likely make a snap judgement based on looks and mannerisms; in game terms: Beauty and Charisma. The higher both of these are the better the reaction of others towards them.

Reaction comes into play primarily for role-play and as a factor in buying and selling. A person’s Reaction is based on their Beauty + Charisma - 20. This total, their Reaction Modifier (RM), then changes how much things will cost to buy and sell in a barter system. The higher a person’s RM the less buying things costs and the more they can sell their items for. The lower a person’s RM the more buying things costs and the less they can sell their items for.

Normally people buy at 200% item value and sell at 50% item value. Every positive RM is equal to -2.5% buy value and +2.5% sell value. Every negative RM is equal to +5% buy value and -2.5% sell value. At least a person can buy at 105% and sell at 5% (only comes into affect if they somehow go below 3Beau/Cha). If someone had 0RM they would buy/sell at 200%/50%, if they had 1RM it would be 197.5%/52.5% and if they had -1RM it would be 205%/47.5%.

Rest & Recovery

Regaining the 3P’s is important; if you run out and never recover then you will not last long in the world. Instead of having one flat rate of recovery it is based on how you are resting. Comfort, time, type of rest, and mental ease are the four most important things when trying to recover. In normal conditions a person will recover the 3P’s based on their corresponding Attribute Stat per hour (Con/HP, Coord/WP, Intu/EP).

Each category basically has an on/off switch (except time). You are comfortable or you are not. You are sleeping or you are not (though you still have to be resting, if you are active then you are not resting or recovering at all). You have mental ease or you do not. For every category marked ‘yes’ you recover Attribute Mod per hour.

If all three are ‘yes’ and you are sleeping you recover Attribute Mod * 4 per hour of rest.

Comfort is a soft bedding and flat (i.e. a bed not a chair, a bed not a sleeping bag on earth).

Type can be one or two ‘yes’, if you are inactive (no major movement, no Minor Skills, no Spell casting, no weapon use, etc) it is one yes (basically this will always be ‘yes’ as it is the minimum requirement to be resting, if this is not ‘yes’ then you are not resting or recovering), if you are sleeping you gain another ‘yes’. Resting is anything from sitting in a chair reading, eating a meal at a table, to sleeping in a bed, as long as physical activity is not being done.

Mental ease is knowing you are more likely to wake up than not (i.e. you feel safe because the door is locked or someone competent is standing guard).

Certain Abilities, Spells, or Skills can increase the multiplier for Mod an hour, but otherwise there should be a max of Mod * 4 per hour.

OPTIONAL RULE: Realistic Recovery. People will not get over a near death wound overnight. It just is not going to happen. There are other slower options. Instead HP recovers at a rate of Con Mod / 4 per hour/night and then the ‘switches’ instead -1 from the divisor.

Another option is a flat rate of 1HP per hour/night.

As well there is the placing more importance on a doctor. As long as wounds go untreated you only recover at 1HP per week of rest. However, with stitches, bandages, slings, etc, you recover at a higher rate.

Not everyone desires a ‘slower campaign’, where Players must rest a month between each devastating battle, but this rule is presented for people who would like to know the realism is possible if they want it. :ELUR LANOITPO

Round Down Rule

There comes certain times when a fraction or decimal may be present. A common occurrence is Attribute Mod. If you have 11Strength do you have 5, 5.5, or 6 Mod? The best way to solve any such occurrences is the Round Down Rule. Simply knock off anything right of the decimal and only use the left over, the integer. This keeps everything plain and simple and most importantly fair regardless of who the rule effects (it affects everyone the same). Each book will assume it uses the Round Down Rule and will specify if it does not.

Size is Important

Size is not measured by category but by ‘face’. Think of two boxes. Both are the same width but one is taller and the shorter box is placed on the left side of the bigger box. Logically, if the left box is shorter than the right and you throw something at the boxes from the left side, it may miss the smaller box but still hit the bigger box. Thus your largest face determines the dimension regardless of smaller faces as seen below:

Diagram 1a

     ___
    |   |
    |   |
  → |   |
 ___|   |
|   |   |
|___|___|

While the arrow would miss the smaller extension of the ‘tail’ there is still a much larger face that can be hit.

Diagram 2a

     ___
    |   |
    |   |
  ↓ |   |
 ___|   |
|   |   |
|___|___|
      ↑

Similarly, if the arrow was coming from below or above as seen here different portions might be hit. This is just logic.

Diagram 3a

     ___
    |   |
    |   |
 O  |   |
 ___| O |
|   |   |
|___|___|

However, it can be seen that the ‘square face’ may need to be divided into sections, as it does not always work to just make an entire square as seen. A projectile from ‘overhead’ in this example would certainly miss if it was the left one, even though it landed within the largest ‘square face’. The shape above is 5x6 with the 4x2 extension that fits in a 9x6 square (the grey outline). An OM should only be concerned with this if one section is considerably larger than the other(s) and it may make a big impact on the game, a few cm/” or even a few m/ft should not be a big deal.

Diagram 4a

    OOOOOOO
    O|---|O
    O|   |O
    O|   |O
OOOOO|   |O
O|---|   |O
O|___|___|O
OOOOOOOOOOO

The shape is important when deciding whether something would hit and how many objects can surround the shape. If each line is a 1.5m/5ft line and can fit one human fighter (maybe they are surrounding a house or a dragon). The max number of fighters is determined as such.

A lot of little O’s (34). An easier way to count is: add the ‘faces’ 9, 6, 5, 5, 5, and 2 (32). Each ‘out’ corner adds an additional 1 (32 + 5 = 37), but each ‘in’ corner takes away 3 (37 – 3 = 34).

Diagram 5a

    OOOOOOOOOO
    O|------|O
    O|      |O
    O|    __|O
OOOOO|   |OOOO
O|---|   |O
O|_______|O
OOOOOOOOOOO

This shape has 40 O’s. Faces are 9, 8, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, and 2 (40). 40 – 3 * 2 + 1 * 6 = 40.

Diagram 6a

OOOOOO
O|--|O
O|  |O
O|  |O
O|__|O
OOOOOO

Faces are 4, 4, 4, and 4 (16). Simple square (it looks like a rectangle, blame the hyphens). 20 O’s using the formula we see 16 + 1 * 4 = 20. Much simpler than counting each O each time. As unlikely as it is to have to even count/use this, it may come up, such as a city/building is being surrounded or a dragon.

The importance of size and face comes into play on how easy it is to hit or miss an object based on its size alone. When attacking smaller sizes the attacker suffers AB penalties while attacking larger sizes the attacker gains AB bonuses, if an attack is reduced to 0 or less AB it automatically misses. If the defender attempts a non-Dodge 3D this AB bonus/penalty is ignored. The smallest that should come into play is 25.5mm/1”, beyond human sizes is a formula allowing size to increase infinitely:

25.5mm/1” -10AB

51mm/2” -9AB

76.5mm/3” -8AB

102mm/4” -7AB

127.5mm/5” -6AB

153mm/6” to 0.3m/1ft -3AB

0.3m/1ft to 0.9m/3ft -1AB

0.9m/3ft to 2.99m/9.99ft 0AB

3m/10ft to 4.5m/15ft +2AB

4.5m/15ft to 6m/20ft +3AB

6m/20ft to 7.5m/25ft +4AB

7.5m/25ft to 9m/30ft +5AB

9m/30ft to 10.5m/35ft +6AB

In the examples above every increment of 1.5m/5ft beyond 1.5m/5ft increased +1AB, meaning to find an attacker’s AB bonus anything beyond 1.5m/5ft is height/1.5m or height/5ft and round down (i.e. 3.9m/13ft would be a bonus of 2.6, rounded down +2AB bonus).

When determining what ‘size’ to use for a creature’s ‘face’ it is easiest to use their largest overall face for everything. If an OM desires they can make attacking from different sides yields different AB, though due to the amount of effort this could be it is inadvisable. A human, being average 1.5m/5ft to 1.8m/6ft tall, their ‘face’ is in the 0.9m/3ft to 2.99m/9.99ft range of 0AB. A giant at about 15m/50ft tall would be in the -10AB range.

For Morale purposes, every 0.3m/1ft a creature is larger than another creature it gains +1Morale while the smaller creature suffers –1Morale per 0.3m/1ft difference.

OPTIONAL RULE: Armour Fitting. Size is also important when being fitted for armour. The largest ‘face’ is used as the determiner. If you use a ‘ranged’ suit of armour it will either not fit, give less DR or APP, give more RSP, or could otherwise cause issues (most of the time just a minor annoyance).

For some armours even a size difference of a few inches could cause problems, thus an OM should consider giving -5APP and +1RSP per 25.5mm/1” difference in the intended wearer’s armour size. However, a fitted suit of armour provides its max DR, takes less time to don, and will weigh the appropriate amount. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: At a Range Smaller is Better. Rather than basing the Ranged AB bonus/penalty on the largest face, it is perhaps more logical to base it on the smallest face of the side attacked. A target 3m/10ft tall but only 0.3m/1ft wide would be more difficult to hit with a small projectile (i.e. arrow, bullet) than a 1.5m/5ft by 1.5m/5ft target even though 3m/10ft target has a larger face.

Circumstances such as these would not affect melee attacks as much because the attacker could change the direction of attack to take advantage of the larger face. While this rule makes things more realistic it does make it more difficult for ranged fighters and should thus be used only after great consideration. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Realistic Small Size AB. Size AB is based only loosely on the size and more on the ease of the game for Ranged Attacks. In reality smaller objects are increasingly difficult to hit the further away you are. For every 7.5m/25ft – (-AB * 0.3m/1ft) away you are from an object with -AB you suffer that number again, always suffering a minimum of its base AB. If you were shooting at a 25.5mm/1” object from 9.9m/33ft you would have -22AB (7.5m/25ft – (10 * 0.3m/1ft) = 4.5m/15ft | 9.9m/33ft / 4.5m/15ft = 2.2 | 2.2 * -10AB = -22AB). :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Same Size. Being in the same 1.5m/5ft range as someone else removes the AB bonus/penalty. For every 1.5m/5ft range they are from you, you use the difference in AB instead (set your range as 0). If you are in the +5AB range when fighting a +9AB range, you only gain +4AB but they would not gain +5AB when attacking you, whereas if you fought a 0AB you would suffer -5AB against them. As well if you are a fly fighting a human, roughly 25.5mm/1” vs. 1.5m/5ft, you would count the human as being in the +10AB range when the fly attacks them. This is because you are used to fighting people of your size and they are used to fighting things their size. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Unarmed Damage by Size. Humans deal 1d4NLD when making unarmed attacks (including biting). We can assume anything roughly the same size as a human should have the same base unarmed damage. Therefore by size we can determine the 0AB creatures should all deal 1d4NLD base. From this we can make easy ways to determine unarmed damage from a creature based solely on its size.

Anything under -3AB would not be large enough to have a base damage (0d0). Anything that is -3AB would have 1d1 base damage, -1AB 1d2, 0AB 1d4, -2AB 1d6, -3AB 1d8, -4AB 1d10, -5AB 1d12, etc, each increment gaining +1DC. All of these would be NLD. This works for punching, kicking, biting, clawing, or anything else done without a weapon and is an easy solution. Certain creatures might have racial Abilities that increase this damage and will list as such, if it is not listed then this is the easiest method for quick decisions. :ELUR LANOITPO

Stacking

It would be nice if certain Abilities, Spells, or other effects could increase the same character aspect again and again to the same person/thing (AKA stack). But this just is not the case. Any effect that increases/decreases 3P maximums, AB/AR, Attributes, checks (AC/MS/PR), Initiative, and DAP/NAR – whether it is an Ability, Spell, or item – will not add or stack with other effects unless it specifies it can. Because current 3P change and Morale are not ‘effects’ per se or have a regular duration, they can continually be altered unless the Ability or Spell specifies otherwise or has a Duration on how long the change lasts.

Any Ability/Spell enhancements or detriments from the same Ability/Spell on a target will not add their effect again (other than damage or Morale). Instead only the higher powered effect will take place. This does not mean the weaker Ability/Spell does not happen. If the same Ability/Spell is used twice on one target and the higher powered effect’s duration runs out and the weaker effect has a longer duration it will then add its effect as normal for the remainder of its duration. Remember, unless an Ability/Spell says it can stack with others of its own name, it does not.

OPTIONAL RULE: Babylon Stacking. Stacking rules are intended to keep certain unfortunate and inevitable events from happening. It is in people’s nature that when an easy source of power is at hand they will seek to make use of it. If an Ability/Spell could continually increase an Attribute and lasted for even as short as a few Rounds then regardless of what they rolled for Attributes they would always increase their Attributes before battle, and in certain cases this could be disastrous – especially for a pre-made Campaign. However, if an OM wishes to risk disaster and allow different Abilities/Spells (or even the same) to continually stack it is their game, their option. :ELUR LANOITPO

OPTIONAL RULE: Logical Stacking. By deductive reasoning and experimentation certain Abilities/Spells should prove to work when used in unison for the same purpose. If one Spell enhances a person’s hand-eye co-ordination (AB) and another shunts their weapon towards the target (AB) it does not make sense they should not stack. They are two types of accuracy with two very distinct methods of acting and as such an OM should consider that, even though both affect the same character aspect and are Spells, they should stack. As well an effect such as a drug or stimulant that raises an Attribute used with a Spell which enhances the same Attribute an OM must consider whether or not the Spell enhances biology because if it did it would be just like the drug and thus not logically stack. :ELUR LANOITPO

Status Afflictions

Status Afflictions are generalized modifications that change how a person acts. Effects that call upon a Status Affliction may include their own specific alterations to the general rules and will list as such.

Berserk

Certain Abilities or Spells may invoke a berserker rage that strips the control from the afflicted, causing them to fight until death or out of enemies (if it is too much a berserk, allies or objects might become enemies). Unless otherwise stated assume Berserk is like failing a Morale check with outcome ‘Fight’ for the duration of the effect.

Bleed

Certain Abilities or Spells may cause a person to bleed. Unlike a paper-cut or a scrape or even a sword wound, to have Bleed Points means something has been done to keep it from stopping bleeding normally. Usual use:

• Per Bleed Point you lose 1HP per Round (5 per minute/Bleed point) while straining or 1HP per hour while at rest ignoring all forms of DR

• Requires medical treatment to stop (i.e. bandage/stitches) or they make a successful PR check vs. 20 (making one check each Round)

• If pressure is applied (i.e. a hand on the wound) each second for the Round the Bleed damage is not dealt

• Risks infection if not properly treated

Blind

Whether eyes have been damaged, a target is completely invisible, or clouds of dust are so thick it is ‘impossible’ to see, blindness can be very hindering but not impossible to live with. Being Blind counts all others as having 99% Visual Cover and when attempting a 3D the blind must first roll a d%(d100), if it is below this ‘Cover’ the 3D automatically fails, if it beats the ‘Cover’ it can still be attempted.

Invisible things are also affected by this but as a benefit, all attacking them or making a 3D against them must beat a Visual Cover check or it will automatically fail (the Ability/Spell which gives invisibility should specify the Visual Cover rating it provides, assume ‘complete invisibility’ to mean 99%).

Confusion

A state of confusion which leaves the afflicted unsure of what is going on. They will immediately stop attacking and instead stand or walk around in a daze, having lost short term and even possibly some long term memory. If attacked they will fight back regardless of the opponent and are otherwise as a normal person except unaware of their surroundings and recent events. Once/If the Confusion wears off they will return to normal.

Dead

You are dead at a negative Con Stat HP and require a resurrection of some sort to be brought back to life. Dead of course means you cannot move, think, or otherwise control your body in any manner, your soul likely leaving it behind though a Template might specify otherwise.

Drunk

An affliction induced by alcohol wherein the afflicted user is generally dazed in the first steps, drugged in the later, unconscious in the final, and dead if forced or from immense stupidity. In most settings a person has a maximum ‘alcohol points’ of their Con Stat and an alcoholic beverage will give the imbiber a certain amount of alcohol points per drink/measurement.

If their current alcohol points exceed their maximum they are Drunk, losing -1Coord/Ref/Mental per 2 current alcohol points beyond maximum to a minimum of 3 each, as well each Round you make a PR check versus current alcohol points minus maximum, if you fail you fall unconscious for 1minute per point of failure, if you succeed you remain conscious though inebriated.

If your alcohol points exceed ten times your Con a failed PR check instead results in death.

Dying

From 0HP to -Con Stat you are unconscious and unstable. You lose 1HP per Round unless you stabilize. During each Round while unstable you roll a PR check to beat the stabilization check of 10 + 1.5 per 5% of Con below 0HP you are and no longer regenerate the 3P’s under normal rules, success means you become ‘stable’ (i.e. you have 15Con, you are at -6HP or -40% of Con, your PR check is 22, 40/5=8*1.5=12+10=22).

Once stable you continue to lose 1HP per day if you do not have medical treatment and roll a PR check each day. However if you succeed three days in a row on your PR check you instead begin to recover at 1HP per day until over 0HP again then you begin recovering at the normal rate.

Helpless

You are unable to act or move, usually due to rope binding, grappling, or Spells. While in this state you cannot attack/3D/use Abilities/Spells and someone can attempt a ‘free kill’. They perform an Aimed Shot to hit a vital part (i.e. neck, heart, brain) and the defender makes a PR check vs. 5 + 5 per 10% of HP lost (if they had 10HP and lost 5HP the PR check would be 30, 50/2=25+5=30), if they fail the check they die, their HP set to Con*-1, success means they only take damage (remember, head/neck have ½ the total HP of the body, hence the importance of a gorget).

Off-Guard

Whenever someone makes an attack you are unprepared for you are considered Off-Guard. Unknown attacks include the first action of an Ambush, an attack that comes from behind or directly above/below, or certain Abilities. While Off-Guard you cannot use DAP or NAR.

Sleep

A state of mental relaxation that is not quite unconsciousness. While not always comforting or willing, it will either way recover the 3P’s based on the Rest & Recovery rules. Any damage, Light or Loudness Intensity, or other OM choice happenings will immediately awaken a sleeping person.

Stun

An affliction where the person cannot react, they are basically ‘out of control’ in the sense they are not doing/cannot do anything. Usually a result of fear or a similar Ability/Spell, Stun means a person cannot attack, move, or attempt a 3D or any Ability/Spell. A person can attempt to break out of Stun or ‘snap out of it’ each NAR or when they are attacked by making a MS check vs. the original check -1 per NAR that has passed, if the Ability/Spell did not have a MS check then the check is 10 + NAR amount of Stun remaining. If it is a ‘physical’ stun instead use PR.

Unconscious

You are unable to act in any way; you are helpless. You may be put into this state by failing a Pain Roll (see Pain Tolerance). Any healing/damage will have a chance to bring you out of unconsciousness. If you are healed any HP or if you are damaged and beat a PR check vs. 30 - 1 per 5% of max HP healed/damaged you will awaken. If an effect does not specify assume they lose consciousness for 1minute per point of MS/PR check failure.

Terrain Rules

Cover

Terrain can provide the two types of Cover, Physical and Visual, and is exactly as described in the Combat System chapter.

Obstacles

Obstacles slow down moving by a Speed detriment, a max Speed, or a percentage of movement each Round. Common Obstacles are rocky terrain, caltrops, grates, and cliffs. Each common Obstacle will be listed with any of the three Speed detriments (most commonly Attribute detriment or max Speed). Unless otherwise stated assume the Speed detriment applies to the base Speed Stat and is taken off before multipliers such as Crawl, Run, or Sprint.

While most Obstacles will be dependent on the Template, most will involve some form of slopes which have the following penalties, the character travelling on the slope increasing/decreasing their Speed by the percent listed (increase Speed for travelling down, decrease it for travelling up):

• Slight Slope 0-20°: 100%

• Noticeable Slope 20-40°: +/- 25%

• Stairs Slope 40-60°: +/- 50%

• Steep Slope 60-80°: +/- 75%

• Cliff Slope 80-90°: +Gravity/-100% (must climb)

Some OM’s may find Obstacles too much of a nuisance but they should keep it in mind as most pre-made Campaigns are designed for certain areas to be travelled more quickly or slower.

Unstable

Unstable ground can disrupt a person’s balance whether it is the deck of a ship rocking on ocean currents or shifting gravel or the floor of a toppling building. This translates to a loss of accuracy and comfort of movement one is accustomed to when fighting on firm ground. Certain terrains thus may include penalties to AB/AC/AR/DAP/Init/NAR or any other character piece. Some may list a static penalty to one or more piece while others may list a random assignment each Round to reflect the nature of the terrain (i.e. roiling waves).

Tie Breaker

In certain situations a tie might be the result of a roll. In the case of something such an arm wrestling contest where an Attribute is very important, should a tie occur you compare the Str of each participant. The Stat itself is used to solve ties instead of the Mod because in the case of something such as 10Str vs. 11Str they both have the same Mod and nothing would be resolved. In the case of a complete tie, such as same Stats for each, then the check (or whatever it is) should be re-rolled. If no dice are involved, involve the d20, higher roll wins. Remember, some things use the Combat System, Golden Rule.

Water Rules

Water Rules can be used in many scenarios, the most common being underwater combat. Underwater combat takes place beneath water of depths greater than the height of the combatants and can be a 3D combat environment. Although the head can stay above water, as long as the body is submerged the resistance of water applies and rulings of underwater combat apply.

For being completely submerged (or all except your head), you lose half of the following: Base NAR (5) and Coord/Ref/Str; as well, you lose ¾ Spd.

For having armpits and below submerged you halve Base NAR (5) and Ref, and lose ¾ Spd.

For having waist and below submerged you lose ½ Ref and Spd.

For having water come up to your knees you lose ¼ Spd (knees are about ¼ of total height).

Water can act as an Obstacle in this sense.

Drowning

Drowning is an important issue in underwater combat. You can hold your breath for one Round per Con Mod. After this time you take 1 temporary Con damage each Round you are underwater. At 1 temporary Con you lose consciousness.

Once you are at 0Con someone can administer CPR or otherwise return oxygen to you and save you from death but only if it is within Con minutes since your last breath of oxygen, after Con minutes at 0 or less temporary Con you die. Every 6seconds of CPR the person rolls a PR check vs. 1 per Con they have lost, if they succeed they are revived, if they fail they remain dying/unconscious.

You recover 1Con per hour or with medical attention 1 after CPR is administered and 1 per half-hour afterwards.

If you are attempting to drown yourself each NAR you can take in enough fluid to suffer 1 temporary Con damage.

Unlike normal conditions, being at 0 or less temporary Con from drowning does not mean you are dead but in a state of unconsciousness near death from which you can be brought back from without the need of special magics or technologies.

Pressure

At approximately 10m/33ft the pressure of the water will make it difficult to breathe in and out. At 20m/66ft high pressure on gas will bring on nitrogen narcosis, an effect similar to alcohol intoxication or ‘laughing gas’. Deep enough and oxygen will become toxic and can cause cell death (depending on air mixture, generally around 40m/132ft). Special equipment may mitigate or negate these effects and will list as such.

Unless the Template takes place within/near water this should not come up or be much of an issue, if the Template does it will have its own rules. If it comes up and there are no rules assume they cannot go below 15m/50ft otherwise they will die from the various effects of pressure on their body.

Flow

Moving water is different than still water. Chances are it might carry you, or your stuff, away. The stronger the current the greater the pull. For this sense water has Strength and is always Pushing. For every 0.5kmph/0.31mph the water counts as having +1Str or if the water is above your waist every 0.5kmph/0.31mph is +2Str. You must resist the Push to stay standing (or swimming properly).

If you fail you are swept off your feet and moved downstream at the rate of the moving water until you successfully resist, making a Str check every Round or every NAR after you fail a check.

Damage from hitting objects (i.e. rocks) is as shown in Falling/Impact and based on the water speed counted as a minimum of 10kmph/6.2mph.

You can attempt to latch on to objects near you or that you hit by making a Grapple check with the object. Use the water ‘Strength’ as the opposing Str check, success and you stop yourself, failure and you keep going.

Water must come at least up to the ankles to have any real push against people (though slippery ground might aid water).

Moving against moving water is a constant struggle. When travelling upstream without swimming you subtract your Str from the water Str then the ‘remaining’ water Str from your Spd, you cannot gain Spd from this (Spd - (water Str – your Str, minimum of 0)).

When travelling downstream without swimming you add the water Str to your Speed, if you do not wish to travel that fast you make a Str vs. Str check, if you win you travel at the Spd of your choice, if the water wins you travel at its Str * 2 + the Spd you intended to move at for 1NAR per point of failure.

While unable to stand (you fail your Str check) you are pretty much at the whims of the water around you. Regaining footing requires you to either Grapple an object or plant your feet into the rock/soil of the riverbed.

You must first make a Coord check against the water’s Str to determine if you can plant your feet, then you make a Str vs. water Str check to right yourself. Righting yourself, whether Grappling or planting your feet, requires 1NAR per attempt.

When your feet are not touching ground you are considered swimming, willing or not. While swimming you use your swim Skill which will list details dependent on the Campaign.

Weather

Wind, precipitation, waves, and clouds are the most common forms of ‘moving’ weather we might think of, but weather can also include temperature, humidity, lightning, or light effects (i.e. sun). While not all of these can overly affect people, these are rules for the most commonly used: wind, precipitation, temperature, lightning, and light effects.

Temperature

Humans can survive easily in temperatures of about -10°C/14°F to about 50°C/122°F without much issue. Some people may find the degrees uncomfortable or down right unbearable but this has more to do with what they are used to than what they can survive in. Temperatures outside of this and humans risk death from various reasons such as dehydration, heat stroke, freezing, burning up, and many other unfortunate and terrible ways to go. But there are easy ways to prevent such things, warmer clothing, extra water, sun blocking clothing, etc. In the end, being unprotected is the biggest danger in the wilderness and its weather.

Clothing will have a protection rating for varying climates and list what temperatures they are suitable for and can help protect you in. Otherwise, without protection for every 2°C/3.6°F below -10°C/14°F or 2°C/3.6°F degrees above 50°C/122°F you suffer 1NLD every half-hour. Sun burns and sunstroke are another matter (Light).

Wind

While it is not as likely to have an overall effect on combat or people (unless it is a tornado), it does have a lovely affect for things not tightly connected to the ground. Wind has its own Strength it exerts on the world around it. For every 2.5kmph/1.55mph the wind has +1Str. For every 1Str of the wind, a small projectile moves 1.5m/5ft in the direction of the wind this can be compensated for by applying -1AB per 2Str of the wind.

Wind also has other effects, picking up dust, snow, sand, etc. Even at low wind speeds these things can be picked up and hinder vision. Depending on the terrain, the wind can more easily pick up loose objects (or if strong enough winds then a house, remember, wind will tug and pull the smallest object such as shingles off first while tearing and pushing against a weakened broad face). This requires an OM judgment call and should be based on terrain type and Strength of wind.

The picked up objects can either hurt by slamming into people or create Visual Cover (dust storm). Objects are considered going the wind’s Speed (for Falling/Impact rules) and the amount of Visual Cover created is decided by the OM though in standard dirt/dusty/snowy terrains about 1% Visual Cover per 1kmph/0.62mph is reasonable.

Wind also has ‘wind chill factor’ and can lower the temperature (thus causing more temperature NLD). There is a ‘simple’ formula for this, it is as follows:

(°F) = 35.74 + 0.6215(T) – 35.75(V0.16) + 0.4275(T)(V0.16)

Where T = air Temperature in °F and V = wind speed (mph)

Wind Chill	Possible Effects
-1.11°C/30°F or higher	Generally unpleasant
-1.11°C/30°F to -9.44°C/15°F	Unpleasant
-10°C/14°F to -17.78°C/0°F	Very Unpleasant
-18.33°C/-1°F to -28.89°C/-20°F	Frostbite possible
-29.44°C/-21°F to -51.11°C/-60°F	Frostbite likely; outdoor activity dangerous
-51.67°C/-61°F or lower	Exposed flesh freezes in 30 seconds

This means wind chill can be very unpleasant and will make the cold kill faster.

Precipitation

Precipitation is anything from rain or fog to snow or hail. This can provide anything from Visual Cover to need for balance or even damage. The amount of Visual Cover is decided by the OM; however it would have to be very thick fog or mist, or even rain, to provide Visual Cover. Damage should only be in severe situation of head-sized hail, not the average snow or sleet and be based on Falling/Impact rules for weight and hardness.

Lightning

Lightning is a dangerous natural occurrence to the point it can kill easily. While the OM must decide where and how often lightning strikes (perhaps a grid and assigned numbers for a d%(d100) roll) they should keep in mind a rough damage amount that could be dealt.

A natural lightning bolt (or ball or whatever) has enough power to kill on direct contact yet there are cases where people are known to have lived through a direct hit, thus, instead of a hard damage number it is 3d6 Electric damage per bolt. On a low roll a person will live, on an average roll the odds are about 50/50, and on a high roll they will die. See Damage Types for details on Electric damage.

Light

Light can be as pretty as the Aurora Borealis or as nasty as a desert sun frying flesh. Sunlight naturally increases temperature and has harsh effects on unprotected skin. However, since it is not always a danger its effects are dependent more on the temperature than anything else is (higher temperatures are usually the effect of sun, its just easier this way). You need only know the temperature to find the light/sun effects. While a human can survive in 50°C/122°F with little more than great discomfort, the sun effects start being hazardous at just being out. As well it seems at higher temperatures people burn easier.

Starting at 30°C/86°F, if your skin is unprotected, you begin taking 1NLD per hour per 2.5°C/4.5°F over 30°C/86°F while in the sun. The degree of the burn is based on how much NLD it chews through, if you move out of the light with 1HP left then you are most likely so badly burnt movement is a pain.

Once your NLD ‘shield’ has been used up you make a PR check vs. 5 + 5 per 5% HP you are from maximum HP each time you take damage from ‘light’, if you fail you fall unconscious for 1minute per point of failure, if you succeed you only take damage (i.e. you have 20HP, you have taken 84NLD, you have lost 20% of your HP and must make a PR check vs. 25).

Wounds

Wounds in real life are a painful ordeal. They need bandaging, stitching, and in the worst cases a seamstress. Wounds are not something we take with a grunt and then ignore. We dress them, take care of them, and keep them from infection. Otherwise we are in constant pain and they risk reopening. If you desire this realism then set the Rest & Recovery section to WP/EP and leave HP to its own style.

Wounds instead recover at a rate of 1% HP per hour after medical attention. Without medical attention they recover at a rate of 1% HP per day.

Every hour/day they roll against a ‘recovery check’ of PR vs. 25 – 1 per remaining 5% HP. Failure means they do not gain HP that hour/day until they receive medical attention or succeed on their next PR check.

If a person suffers multiple consecutive PR failures each failure beyond the first results in 1% HP of damage, this continues until they succeed at a check. In this instance of HP round up the HP gain/loss.

Wounds under strain (fighting, more than walking, Minor Skills, etc) threaten to apply a Bleed point for every minute of physical activity or every Round of combat. A PR vs. 40 – 1 per current 5% HP is required to resist or stop a Bleed without medical attention.

Failure results in gaining another Bleed point, success removes a Bleed point you currently have due to this strain. For example, if you fail three PR checks while fighting you would have a Bleed 3, meaning each Round you lose 3HP. If you succeeded however, you would keep rolling until you either fail or remove all Bleed points.

This puts a strong need on magical healers or medics within a team. This is for serious OM’s only who desire that strong sense of realism. While most times a magical or trained healer is easy to come across, some Campaigns may not even have magic or the technology/learning.

A wound being struck increases damage and risk of Bleed. Damage dealt to a wounded limb means they make an immediate PR check at this new %HP check; failure adds another Bleed point, success means no point is added.

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Core

Attributes

Skill System

Parts of Every Character

Character Progression

Combat System

DREAD

Equipment

Morale

Materials

Random Rules

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