This model represents a mathematician's second attempt at making a mathematical model, and as such is very detailed, complex, and at times hard to keep track of. It is being kept on the web primarily as a courtesy to people who are already using it. If you are not a heavy gamer, and are not used to complex mathematical models, I strongly suggest that you use this simpler model. This document may still be useful, as a wealth of detail about mechanical devices and other creations, but newcomers are warned that using this as an actual model for game play may be difficult.
Section I: General model
Section I A: Getting Started
The parts of this document are as follows:
Another document, "From zero", introduces the concept of role play and deals with all of the non-numerical parts of getting started; this document tells how to deal with numbers and dice.
For basic introduction and getting the feel for the model:
Section I B attempts to explain some of the basic concepts. Section IV develops a sample character sheet, a sheet used to store basic information useful to play; it demonstrates what a player goes through in order to set things up. Section II F gives some numbers to use as reference points, for questions like "What should be the difficulty for thus-and-such?" Section III gives a quick key to abbreviations used throughout the work.
For developping a character sheet:
Section II A tells how to generate a character's attributes — numerical ratings that tell how talented a character is in various areas — and section II B tells how to adjust them for age, gender, and race. Section II D gives the basic list of skills and tells how they are to be adjusted by attributes. Section II H gives starting experience, and section II G tells how much experience it takes to raise a skill to a certain level.
For modelling play:
Section II I tells how, when a character attempts an action, to roll dice to decide whether the character, with skill A, succeeds at an action with difficulty B. Section II J deals with combat and damage. Section II K deals with random encounters of animals and people, and describes what animals are in the world. Section II L deals with equipment.
Optional rules and Other:
There are several optional rules which may be used to enhance play and give it more detail. Section I C is the first such section, dealing with skills ratings. Section II C gives miscellaneous numbers about the races. Section II E gives numbers referenced in II C. Section II M gives rules about the time taken for various actions, and performing actions simultaneously. Section V comments on the model.
Section I B: The Basic Idea
This is essentially a skill-based model, a modified version of another model to use dice. It requires the use of two six-sided dice of different colors — for the sake of simplicity, the two dice will be referrered to as r (red) and b (blue), and read as producing numbers ranging from 1 to 6. For example, 6*r+b would be read as ten times the number on the red die, plus the number on the blue die, which would in effect produce a random number from 7 to 42. It is, while not necessary, helpful in some cases to have two ten-sided dice.
In general for skills, attributes, ratings, etc., a 0 is average, and the number (positive or negative) tells how far above or below average that creature is. The scale is exponential; 10 points correspond to doubling/halving. So someone with a strength of 20 and a dexterity of -10 would have a strength of 2*2=4 times average, while someone with a dexterity of -10 would be half as dexterous as the average person. The game generally uses the attributes in the form given — essentially, how to adjust an average ability — and doesn't really deal with an absolute scale.
A character's skill will have an av (adjusted value), equal to the bs (base skill), minus the skill's dl (difficulty of learning), plus the character's al (ability to learn), plus the gaa (governing attributes addend). When the character attempts an action, the skill's difficulty will be subtracted from the av, and then dice will be rolled to see if the attempt was successful.
If an action is being taken against another character (for example, haggling), that person's av is the difficulty.
Section I C: Additional Rules
Some skills are related to each other by an ld (learning difference). If skill X and skill Y are related by an ld of 5, then a character's bs (exclusive of experience) in skill x is at least the number five less than his bs in skill Y. So a character who had a bs of 15 in skill X would have a minimum bs of 10 in skill Y. The ld's are additive (if X and Y have ld 5 and Y and Z have ld 10, X and Z have ld 15), but explicitly listed differences supercede the values that are calculated from additivity. If there are two or more ld's contributing point values to a specific skill, and/or a nonzero untrained base, the total is not the sum of the point values. It is the maximum.
Learning may take place under a tutor who has a skill of at least the skill level that the character is training to; in that case, the learning is at half price. The experience given starting characters takes this tutelage into account.
Section II: Charts
Section II A: Attributes
Several random numbers generated as r - b: the number on the red die, less the number on the blue die.
These values are numbered n1 through n36.
The attributes are read roughly as how far above or below the average they are: a +10 would be a fair amount above average (twice the average), while -10 would be moderately below average (half the average), with zero being average. The maximum possible is 25, and the minimum -25.
Here are the calculated attributes:
ag (Agility) n1+n2+n3+n4+n5
al (Ability to Learn) n1+n6+n7+n8+n9
ch (Charisma) n1+n6+n10+n11+n12
co (Constitution) n13+n14+n15+n16+n17
de (Dexterity) n1+n2+n3+n18+n19
in (Intelligence) n1+n6+n7+n20+n21
kn (Knowledge) n1+n6+n7+n22+n23
me (Memory) n1+n6+n7+n24+n25
pe (Perception) n1+n6+n26+n27+n28
sp (Speed) n1+n2+n29+n30+n31
st (Strength) n13+n14+n32+n33+n34
wi (Wisdom) n1+n6+n7+n35+n36
Section II B: Attribute Adjustments
All adjustments are addends: they are added to a character's base attribute. All adjustments are 0 unless otherwise specified.
Attribute: ag al ch co de in kn me pe sp st wi
Race: Nor'krin 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 5 0 Tuz 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 Urvanovestilli 0 0 2 0 5 5 2 3 0 0 -10 0 Yedidia 0 0 5 0 0 3 0 0 10 0 0 0 Jec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Shal 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 -5 0 5 Janra 20 0 5 0 0 4 0 0 2 5 5 0
Gender: Male 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Female 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 -5 0
Age: Child 5 10 2 10 0 -8 5 0 10 10 -4 -10 Young Adult 5 5 0 5 5 0 -4 0 5 5 5 0 Middle Aged 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Old -4 -4 0 -4 -4 -3 5 -3 -4 -4 -4 5 Extremely Old -10 -10 0 -10 -10 -5 5 -8 -10 -10 -10 10
Section II C: Racial Non-Attribute Statistics.
A character's actual lifespan is calculated by multiplying the racial base by his constitution (constitution not adjusted for race, gender, or age), except for the border between child and young adult, which is not adjusted. For example, a Janra with a non-adjusted log of constitution of .8 would become a young adult at 16, middle aged at 41, old at 73, and extremely old at 89. A character will die of old age at an age of his maximum adjusted lifespan times the square root of x1, where x1 is uniformly distributed over [0,1].
Age: Child Young Adult Middle Aged Old Extremely Old
Nor'krin 0-15 16-30 31-60 61-90 91-120
Tuz 0-15 16-25 26-40 41-50 51-60
Urvanovestilli 0-30 31-100 101-300 301-400 401-500
Yedidia 0-20 21-50 51-120 121-160 161-200
Jec 0-15 16-30 31-60 61-90 91-120
Shal 0-50 51-200 201-600 601-800 801-1000
Janra 0-15 16-50 51-90 91-110 111-120
Speed of movement is given in both miles per hour and feet per second. A character's speed of movement is equal to the racial base multiplied by his speed, adjusted for age and gender but not race. Females suffer a 10% speed penalty.
Speed: mph: Walk Jog Sprint fps: Walk Jog Sprint
Nor'krin 2 4 14 2 5 21
Tuz 1 2 8 2 3 12
Urvanovestilli 3 5 20 4 7 29
Yedidia 2 3 12 2 4 18
Jec 2 4 14 2 5 21
Shal 1 2 6 1 2 9
Janra 5 7 30 7 11 44
Adult height is normally distributed with mean m and standard deviation s.
Height: Male: m s Female: m s
Nor'krin 6'6" 3" 5'8" 3"
Tuz 4'6" 2" 4'3" 2"
Urvanovestilli 5'2" 1.5" 4'8" 1.5"
Yedidia 5'4" 2.5" 4'6" 2"
Jec 5'6" 2.5" 5'2" 2"
Shal 5'6" 2" 5'2" 1.5"
Janra 6'0" 3" 5'6" 3"
As is adult weight:
Weight: Male: m s Female: m s
Nor'krin 200# 29# 150# 25#
Tuz 200# 28# 150# 22#
Urvanovestilli 100# 9# 70# 7#
Yedidia 150# 22# 100# 14#
Jec 130# 18# 110# 13#
Shal 145# 16# 125# 11#
Janra 150# 23# 130# 22#
Section II D: Skills
Here is a listing of skills/areas of knowledge/abilities. It is meant to be illustrative rather than exclusive. (Partially borrowed from AD&D)
Following most skills are: untrained base (general, and then with values for specific races following, separated by commas if need be: (N)or'krin, (T)uz, (U)rvanovestilli, (Y)edidia, Je(C), (S)hal, and (J)anra); dl; base time (s=seconds, m=minutes, h=hours, d=days; w=weeks; y=years. A hyphen ('-') for untrained base means that an untrained character is incapable of attempting that skill. A trailing c means that an action is continuous and must be checked with that frequency — for example, moving silently); gaa elements.
An untrained attribute of 0 does not mean that a character is incapable of performing that action. It means that he has no special training above what is common.
The gaa element is the number of times that an attribute is to be added. For example, st 2, co 1 would mean that the gaa is twice the character's strength plus his constitution.
(Other comments may follow as appropriate.)
Acquisition, 0, J 10; 0; 1d; ch 1, pe 1
Acrobatics/Tumbling 0, Y 10, J 20; 0; 2 s; ag 1, st 1
Acting 0; 0; 30 m; ch 1
Ambidexterity costs 5 points
Animal Handling 0, Y 20, C 10; 0; 5 m; ch 1
Animal Lore 0, Y 20; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Animal Training 0, Y 10; 0; 3 w; -
Anatomy 0, U 10, Y 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Anthropology -, U 10; 0; 1 m; in 1, kn 1, me 1
Appraisal 10, U 20; 0; 1 m; pe 1
Artistic Skill (Specific Medium) 0; 0; 1 d; in 1
Attack (Specific Weapon) 0, N Axe 10, N Knife 10, N Longbow 20, T Crossbow 10, T Dagger 20, J Dagger 10; 0; Axe 2 s, Crossbow 30 s, Dagger (Hand to Hand) 2 s, Fist 1 s, Halberd 8 s, Lance 15 s, Longbow 5 s, Longsword 5 s, Mace 7 s, Rapier 3 s, Shortsword 3 s, Two-Handed Sword 10 s; Hand to Hand de 1, sp 1, st 1 (Lance strength of mount), Missle de 1, sp 1 — Note: Hand to Hand and Missle are each generalizations of attack; if a character wishes to generalize to all weapons, the cost is dl 15 instead of 10.
Balance 0, J 20; 0; 1 s; ag 1
Biology 0, U 10; 0; in 1; 1 m; kn 1, me 1
Blacksmith 0; 0; 1 h; de 1
Blind Action 0, Y 10, S 20, J 10; 0; pe 1 — if a check is made for blind action, an action may be taken blind at twice the normal difficulty.
Bowyer/Fletcher 0; 0; 1 d; de 1
Brewing 0; 0; 1 w; -
Building 0; 0; 5 w; de 1
Carving 0; 0; 30 m; de 1
Carpentry 0; 0; 1 w; de 1
Catch 0; 0; 1 s; de 1
Ceremonies 0, U 10; 0; 1 h; kn 1
Charioteering 0; 0; 5mc; ag 1
Chemistry 0, U 10, Y 10; 0; 30 m; in 1, kn 1, me 1
Climbing 0, J 10; 0; 1 m(c); ag 1, st 1 — this must be checked every 20 feet.
Clockwork Device Craftsmanship/Engineering 0, U 20; 0; 1 d; de 1, in 1
Cobbling 0; 0; 1 h; de 1
Cooking 0; 0; 1 h; -
Cold Tolerance 0, N 20, C 10, J 10; 0; 1 wc; co 1
Cultures (specific culture) 0, U 5, J 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Dancing 0, U 10, Y 20, J 15; 0; 5 mc; ag 1
Dodge 0, Y 10, J 10; 0; 1 s; ag 1, sp 1 — if a character attempts to dodge in the middle of an action, that action is lost. Dodging may, of course, be executed concurrently with other actions with both actions at double difficulty. The difficulty of hitting a dodging creature is the difficulty of normally hitting the creature plus the creature's dodge value.
Doublejointedness costs 5
Endurance 0, N 20, T 10, J 10; 0; 15mc; st 1, co 1 — if a character fails an endurance check after fifteen minutes of vigorous activity, he is exhausted and will have all actions at double difficulty until he has rested (not sleep necessarily — sitting or other inactivity) for twice the duration of the exercise. If a second endurance check is failed, all actions are at four times normal difficulty until aforementioned rest time is taken; if a third check is failed, the character falls asleep and sleeps for five times the duration of activity.
Engineering 0, U 10; 0; 1 h; in 1
Etiquette 0, U 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Farmer 0, C 20; 0; 1 y; kn 1
Fencing (specific weapon) 0, U rapier or possibly other weapon 20; 5; as per attack/parry (dodge); as per attack/parry (dodge)
Fire-Building 0; 0; 15 m; de 1
Fisher 0; 0; 1 h; pe 1
Gambling 0, U 10, Y 10; 0; 5 m; pe 1
Gardening 0, Y 20; 0; 5 w; -
Gem Cutting 0; 0; 1 h; de 1
Geography 0, U 10, J 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Guess Actions — guess from looking at a person what he will do next. 0, U 10, Y 20; 0; 2 s; pe 1
Haggling 0; 0; 5 m; ch 1, pe 1
Hear Noises — hear almost silent noises. 0, Y 20; 0; 1 m; pe 1
Heat Tolerance 0, T 20, Y 10, S 20, J 10; 0; 1 w; co 1
Heraldry 0, U 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Herbalism 0, U 10, Y 15; 0; 15 m; kn 1
Hide 0, Y 10, J 10; 0; 10 s; ag 1, pe 1
History 0, U 10, J 5; 0; 5 m; kn 1
Hunting 0, N 20, T 20, Y 10; 10; 1 h; pe 1
Illusionism 0; 0; 1 m; de 1
Improvisation (Musical) 0, Y 20, J 10; 0; 5mc; in 1
Incense Making 0, Y 10; 0; 1d; -
Janra-Ball — incomprehensible to members of other races. -, J 20; 0; 10 mc; ag 1, al 1, de 1, in 1, me 1, pe 1, sp 1, st 1
Jewelry Work 0; 0; 1 d; de 1
Juggling -; 0; 1 mc; de 1
Jumping 0, J 10; 0; 2 s; ag 1, st 1
Jury-Rigging 0, J 10; 0; 5 m; in 1
Keen Eyesight 0, U 20, Y 10; 0; 5 s; pe 1
Languages (Specific Language(s)) 0, J 5; 0, U 10, C -10; 1 mc; kn 1 — of course, the language(s) the character grew up speaking are free with a native proficiency.
Leadership 0, U 10; 0; 1 d; ch 1
Leather Working 0; 0; 1 h; de 1
Literature 10, U 20; 0; 15 m; kn 1
Mapmaking -; 0; 1 d; kn 1
Massage 0, Y 10, S 20; 0; 10 mc; de 1
Mathematics -, U 20; 0; 15 m; in 2
Mediation 0; 0; 1 h; ch 1, in 1, pe 1
Medicine 0, U 10, Y 10, J 10; 0; 10 m; kn 1
Mining 0; 0; 1 d; -
Move Silently 0, Y 10, S 10, J 10; 0; 1 mc; ag 1, pe 1
Musical Composition 0, Y 10; 0; 1h; in 1
Musical Instrument (Specific Instrument) 0, U 10 (one specific), Y 10 (one specific); 0; 5mc; de 1
Navigation 0; 0; 1 d; pe 1
Open Locks -; 0; 5 m; de 1, pe 1
Persuasion 0; 0; 30 m; ch 1, in 1
Philosophy 0, U 20; 0; 10 m; in 1, kn 1
Physics -, U 10; 0; 10 m; in 1
Poetry Composition 0; 0; 1 h; in 1
Pole Vault 0, J 10; 0; 10 s; ag 1
Pottery Making 0; 0; 10 m; de 1
Public Speaking 0, U 10, J 10; 0; 30 m; in 1, ch 1
Pyrotechnics -, U 10; 0; 1 h; in 1
Reading/Writing -, U 20; -10; 10 mc; in 1
Read Emotion 0, Y 10 (+5 to both Yedidia and non-Yedidia females); 0; 15 s; pe 1
Repair 0, U 10; 0; 30 m; in 1
Riding (Specific Animal) 0, U Horse 20, Y All 20; 0; 10 mc; ag 1
Rope Use 0; 0; 20 s; de 1
Sailing 0; 0; 1 d; -
Search 0; 0; 5 m; pe 1
Shouting — shout loudly and prolongedly without tiring vocal chords. 0, T 10; 0; 5 mc; -
Singing 10, Y 30; 0; 10 mc; ch 1
Smell Creature — smell what creatures are around and have passed by. 0, Y 10; 0; 10 s; pe 1
Sports 0, T 10, J 10; 0; 30 m; ag 1, st 1
Stonemasonry 0; 0; 1 d; -
Storytelling 0; 0; 1 h; ch 1, in 1
Strategy Games 0; 0; 1 h; in 1
Swimming 0, Y 10, S 10, J 20; 0; 15 mc; ag 1, st 1
Symbolic Lore 0, N 20, U 10, C 20; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Tactics 0, U 10; 0; 1; 10 m; in 1, pe 1
Tailoring 0; 10 1 d; de 1
Technology Identification 0, U 20, J 10; 0; 1m; in 1, kn 1
Technology Use 0, U 20, J 10; 0; 1 m; in 1, kn 1
Theology 10, U 20; 0; 10 m; in 1, kn 1
Throw 0; 0; 3 s; de 1
Tightrope Walking 0, J 20; 0; 10 sc; ag 1, sp 1
Tracking 0, T 10, Y 20; 0; 5 mc; pe 1
Trivia 0, U 20, J 20; 0; 1 m; kn 1
Ventriloquism -; 0; 15 sc; -
Weather Sense 0, Y 10; 0; 5 s; pe 1
Weaving 0; 0; 1 h; de 1
Wilderness Survival 0, N 20, T 15, Y 20, J 10; 0; 1 dc; pe 1
Withdrawing/Meditation -, S 20; 1; 1 h; wi 1
Woodlore 0, Y 20, S 10; 0; 1 m; kn 1, wi 1
Wrestling 0, T 20, J 10; 0; 1 mc; ag 1, sp 1, st 1 — a wrestling match can have three states — neutral, one character has advantage, one character has pinned. It starts out neutral, and each minute it goes one increment in favor of the character who wins the check.
Section II E: Learning Differences
Learning differences are an optional rule which players may take advantage of to gain higher skills. Calculating every possible attribute is not necessary; players may simply use what they choose to look for and find in order to gain higher effective skills.
Below are lds for skills, in dictionary order. Unlisted pairs of skills have no ld except as possibly calculable through chains.
The format is skill, skill, ld.
Acquisition, Persuasion, 15
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Balance, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Climbing, 25
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Dancing, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Dodge, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Fencing, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Jumping, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Move Silently, 25
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Pole Vault, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Riding, 15
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Swimming, 15
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Tightrope Walking, 10
Acrobatics/Tumbling, Wrestling, 10
Acting, Public Speaking, 10
Acting, Storytelling, 5
Anatomy, Massage, 15
Anatomy, Medicine, 10
Animal Handling, Animal Training, 15
Animal Lore, Wood Lore, 10
Anthropology, Cultures, 10
Attack, Attack (other weapon which is also hand-to-hand/also missle), 10
Attack, Balance, 10
Attack, Dancing, 10
Attack, Hunting, 15
Attack, Riding, 15
Attack, Tightrope Walking, 10
Attack, Wrestling 10
Balance, Charioteering, 10
Balance, Climbing, 15
Balance, Dancing, 15
Balance, Pole Vault, 15
Balance, Riding, 10
Balance, Tightrope Walking, 5
Balance, Wrestling, 15
Biology, Herbalism, 15
Biology, Medicine, 10
Blind Action, Hear Noises, 10
Bowyer/Fletcher, Carving, 15
Bowyer/Fletcher, Carpentry, 15
Building, Carpentry, 10
Building, Masonry, 10
Carving, Carpentry, 15
Catch, Juggling, 25
Ceremonies, Heraldry, 15
Chemistry, Herbalism, 10
Chemistry, Pyrotechnics, 10
Climbing, Dancing, 15
Clockwork Device Craftsmanship, Engineering, 10
Cultures, Languages, 35
Dancing, Dodge, 10
Dancing, Fencing, 10
Dodge, Wrestling 10
Engineering, Mathematics, 10
Etiquette, Heraldry, 15
Fencing, Balance, 10
Fencing, Riding, 15
Fencing, Tightrope Walking, 10
Fencing, Wrestling, 10
Fisher, Hunting, 25
Gambling, Guess Actions 10
Gambling, Strategy Games, 15
Gem Cutting, Jewelry Making, 15
Guess Actions, Haggling, 15
Guess Actions, Read Emotion, 5
Herbalism, Incense Making, 10
Herbalism, Medicine, 10
Hide, Hunting, 15
History, Literature, 15
History, Trivia, 10
Hunting, Move Silently, 15
Hunting, Tracking, 10
Hunting, Wilderness Survival, 15
Improvisation, Musical Composition, 10
Juggling, Throw, 25
Jury-Rigging, Repair, 15
Keen Eyesight, Search, 10
Map Making, Navigation, 15
Massage, Medicine, 15
Philosophy, Theology, 10
Public Speaking, Storytelling, 10
Search, Tracking, 10
Strategy Games, Tactics, 10
Tailoring, Weaving, 15
Section II F: Skill Levels and Sample Difficulties
An unadjusted skill is as follows:
Untrained: 0
Just beginning: 10
Dabbler: 20
Moderately skilled: 30
Proficient: 40
Expert: 50
Virtuoso: 60
Exceptional: 70
World Class: 80
Greatest Alive: 90
Greatest of All Time: 100
The following are examples of actions of specific difficulties for archery, hiding, languages, rope walking, and wilderness survival. They are intended to serve as a guide to setting general difficulties for actions. Common sense should be used to apply to other skills; throwing, for example, will not have anywhere near the range and accuracy of archery.
Very easy: -40
Archery: shooting a barrel 20 feet away.
Hiding: hiding in a darkened storeroom full of miscellaneous garbage, while clad in black.
Languages: "Hello." Greetings, numbers, etc. Extremely thick accent.
Rope walking: walking across a plank a foot wide.
Wilderness survival: surviving in a Yedidia orchard.
Easy: -20
Archery: shooting a barrel 20 yards away.
Hiding: hiding in a darkened forest, while clad in black/brown/green.
Languages: "Where is the bathroom?" Basic phrases (phrase book style). Accent that can be moderately easily understood by someone used to dealing with foreigners.
Rope walking: walking across a plank half a foot wide.
Wilderness survival: surviving in a Yedidia forest, where fruitful trees and water are reasonably easy to come by, but there are no hostile inhabitants.
Moderate: 0
Archery: shooting an unsuspecting boar 20 yards away.
Hiding: hiding in a forest in normal daylight, while clad in black/brown/green.
Languages: "I don't want this one. I want that one." Short sentences using very simple vocabulary. Normal accent which does not hinder comprehension.
Rope walking: walking across a plank three inches wide.
Wilderness survival: surviving in a Jec forest, where there is nothing hostile, but food and water are not so easy to come by, and the forest may get cold at night.
Difficult: 40
Archery: shooting a running boar 20 feet away.
Hiding: hiding in a forest at dusk, while clad in clothing that does not blend in.
Languages: "I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better. Do you have any idea how the snake got into your house?" Slightly slowed normal sentences using words that would be in the vocabulary of a child. Accent which only shows itself occasionally, or is generally present but faint.
Rope Walking: walking across a tight rope.
Wilderness survival: surviving on the border of the Tuz forest, where the creatures are potentially hostile.
Very Difficult: 80
Archery: shooting a running boar 20 yards away.
Hiding: hiding in a forest in full daylight, while clad in clothing that does not blend in.
Languages: Free, accentless conversation as a native speaker would, using an adult's vocabulary.
Rope walking: walking across a slack rope.
Wilderness survival: surviving in the heart of the Tuz forest, where creatures tend to be hostile and tough.
Extremely Difficult: 120
Archery: shooting a flying bird 20 yards away.
Hiding: hiding in a low cut field or a bare room, fully lit, wearing clothing that does not blend in. Concealing yourself where there aren't any obvious hiding places.
Languages: Technical discussions using complex sentence structure, unusual grammatical features, and vocabulary that most adults wouldn't know. Conversing with some Urvanovestilli philosophers.
Rope walking: sprinting across a tight rope.
Wilderness survival: Surviving in the Ice Peaks in the middle of winter, where the temperature is frigid and wild animals and other food is almost impossible to find.
Section II G: Experience Gains
The basic unit of adventure is the quest. Upon completion of a quest, each character will receive 2 experience points, adjusted as follows (minimum of 0) for role playing, skill use/adventuring competence/party helpfulness, and moral virtue:
Exceptionally poor: -2 Poor: -1 Normal: 0 Good: +1 Exceptionally good: +2
A bonus of 1 point is awarded for an action that solves a substantial part of the quest.
So a character who had role played well, used his skills clumsily, and had shown exceptional heroism and virtue would receive 2 + 1 - 1 + 2 = 4 ep for the quest.
(No animal may gain experience.)
Experience may be devoted to some small subfield of a specific skill: specialization. Learning a specialization costs half as much (has half the ldf (learning difficulty factor)) as/of learning the whole skill. Learning the rest of a skill, up to an area less than or equal to the level of specialization, costs half as much as learning from scratch. There are also generalizations of skill (for example, languages as a generalization of a specific language, or musical instruments as a generalization of a specific instrument), which have twice the ldf of the specific skill. A generalization of a skill already learned would cost half as much as learning the generalization from scratch, IE exactly as much as the skill cost. (This applies, of course, only to as many ep as were placed in the specific skill beforehand). A generalization must be a specific and closely related group of skills; a "combat skills" generalization which included anatomy, archery, dodge, horseback riding, and longsword would be inappropriate.
Experience points may be used to increase skills as follows: a current skill's base skill's exponent is looked up (see section II I). To raise a skill to a new level: look up the exponent of the desired new base skill. The experience point cost is the difference. For example, let's say that a character has a current skill bs of 34 and 2 ep. The exponent of 34 is 11. He adds the 2 experience points, bringing the exponent to 13. The log of 13 is 37, so he has a new skill bs of 37. (It would have cost him 1 point to make the same increase for a specialization, or 4 points to do so for a generalization.)
Section II H: Starting experience
Initial experience is devoted with the character's al adjusted for everything but age.
Age: Child Young Adult Middle Aged Old Extremely Old
Points: 20 30 40 50 60
Here are starting experience allocations for the 10 roles outlined in the general description. 10 ep will be distributed; multiply by 2 for a child, 3 for a young adult, 4 for a middle aged person, 5 for someone who is old, and 6 for someone who is extremely old. If there is/are one or two races given for a role, the experience allocation assumes the untrained bases for that race(s). (A character may have experience devoted any way that is desired; this is an example.) Most starting characters will be young adults.Acrobatic Scout: Hear Noise 1.5, Hide 2, Move Silently 2, Open Locks 2, Rope Use .5, Search 2.
Archer: Archery 10.
Bard: Geography 1.5, Hero's Tales 1, Mediation .5, Musical Instrument 2, Persuasion 2, Singing 1, Storytelling 1, Trivia 1.
Hunter: Attack (one missle weapon) 2, Hunting 5, Tracking 2, Woodlore 1.
Interpreter: Acquisition 1, Etiquette 1, Haggling 1, Languages 6, Persuasion 1.
Jack-of-All-Trades: Attack .4, Blind Action .4, Climb .4, Dodge .4, Endurance .4, Fire-Building .4, Guess Actions .4, Haggling .4, Hide .4, Hunting .4, Jump .4, Jury-Rig or Repair .4, Languages 2.4, Move Silently .4, Open Locks .4, Rope Handling .4, Search .4, Smell Creature .4, Tracking .4, Wilderness Survival .4.
MacGyver Chemistry 1, Engineering 1, Hide 1, Jury-Rig 5, Move Silently 1, Search 1.
Perceiver Blind Action 1, Guess Actions 3, Hear Noises 1, Keen Eyesight 1, Read Emotion 1, Search 1, Smell Creature 1, Tracking 1, Weather Sense 1.
Scholar Geography 3, History 3, Languages 3, Literature 1.
Wayfarer Acquisition .3, Attack (one weapon) .2, Blind Action .2, Climb .2, Dodge .2, Endurance .2, Etiquette .3, Fire-Building .2, Geography .5, Guess Actions .2, Haggling .4, Hero's Tales .3, Hide .2, Hunting .2, Jump .2, Jury-Rig or Repair .2, Languages 2.4, Mediation .1, Move Silently .2, Musical Instrument .3, Open Locks .2, Persuasion 1, Rope Handling .2, Search .2, Singing .3, Smell Creature .2, Storytelling .2, Tracking .2, Trivia .3, Wilderness Survival .2.
Woodsman Animal Handling 1, Animal Training 1, Hunting 1, Tracking 1, Wilderness Survival 1, Woodlore 5.
Section II I: Dice and Basic Tables
The first table given will be the exponential table. The left column gives the (approximate) log of the right, and the right column gives the exponent of the left.
- 0
-50 .03 -49 .03 -48 .04 -47 .04 -46 .04 -45 .04 -44 .05 -43 .05 -42 .05 -41 .06 -40 .06 -39 .07 -38 .07 -37 .08 -36 .08 -35 .09 -34 .09 -33 .10 -32 .11 -31 .12 -30 .13 -29 .13 -28 .14 -27 .15 -26 .16 -25 .18 -24 .19 -23 .20 -22 .22 -21 .23 -20 .25 -19 .27 -18 .29 -17 .31 -16 .33 -15 .35 -14 .38 -13 .41 -12 .44 -11 .47 -10 .50 -9 .54 -8 .57 -7 .62 -6 .66 -5 .71 -4 .76 -3 .81 -2 .87 -1 .93 0 1.0 1 1.1 2 1.1 3 1.2 4 1.3 5 1.4 6 1.5 7 1.6 8 1.7 9 1.9 10 2.0 11 2.1 12 2.3 13 2.5 14 2.6 15 2.8 16 3.0 17 3.2 18 3.5 19 3.7 20 4.0 21 4.3 22 4.6 23 4.9 24 5.3 25 5.7 26 6.1 27 6.5 28 7.0 29 7.5 30 8.0 31 8.6 32 9.2 33 9.8 34 11 35 11 36 12 37 13 38 14 39 15 40 16 41 17 42 18 43 20 44 21 45 23 46 24 47 26 48 28 49 30 50 32 51 34 52 37 53 39 54 42 55 45 56 49 57 52 58 56 59 60 60 64 61 69 62 74 63 79 64 84 65 91 66 97 67 104 68 111 69 119 70 128 71 137 72 147 73 158 74 169 75 181 76 194 77 208 78 223 79 239 80 256 81 274 82 294 83 315 84 338 85 362 86 388 87 416 88 446 89 448 90 512 91 549 92 588 93 630 94 676 95 724 96 776 97 832 98 891 99 955 100 1024 101 1097 102 1176 103 1261 104 1351 105 1448 106 1552 107 1663 108 1783 109 1911 110 2048 111 2195 112 2353 113 2521 114 2702 115 2896 116 3104 117 3327 118 3566 119 3822 120 4096 121 4390 122 4705 123 5043 124 5405 125 5793 126 6208 127 6654 128 7132 129 7643 130 8192 131 8780 132 9410 133 10,086 134 10,809 135 11,585 136 12,417 137 13,308 138 14,263 139 15,287 140 16,384 141 17,560 142 18,820 143 20,171 144 21,619 145 23,170 146 24,834 147 26,616 148 28,526 149 30,573 150 32,768
Here is the basic check table. When a character attempts an action, the success index is calculated as the difficulty subtracted from his av, and the two dice (red and blue) are rolled. The check value is (6*r)+b: six times the number on the red die, plus the value on the blue die. The following table gives the minimum value this result must have for the character to succeed at the attempt.
For example, if a character with an av of 57 attempts a skill of difficulty 23, he has a success index of 34. The red die yields a 1 and the blue die yields a 6, so the check value is (6*1)+6 = 12, which by the table requires a minimum success index of 25. His success index is greater than or equal to what it needed to be, so he succeeds at the check.
Check Value Success Index
7 Roll again, with success index 61 higher.
8 45
9 37
10 32
11 28
12 25
13 22
14 19
15 17
16 15
17 13
18 11
19 9
20 7
21 6
22 4
23 2
24 1
25 -1
26 -2
27 -4
28 -6
29 -7
30 -9
31 -11
32 -13
33 -15
34 -17
35 -19
36 -22
37 -25
38 -28
39 -32
40 -37
41 -45
42 Roll again, with success index 61 lower
Section II J: Combat
All characters* have a maximum health value of co+st+ag+an, where an is one half the character's adjusted anatomy skill, rounded down. Skills and attributes of an injured creature function at a penalty equal to the difference between their maximum health value and their current health value. So, for example, an animal with a maximum health value of 55 and a current health value of 31 has skills functioning at a penalty of 24 points.
All creatures take damage as follows: the damage is looked up on the log/exponent table, and its exponent (the value that occurs to the right of the damage) is looked up. The same is done for the creature's current health value. The exponent of the damage is subtracted from the exponent of the current health value. If the value is zero or less, the creature loses consciousness or dies at the game master's discretion. If the value is more than zero, its log is taken and becomes the creature's new health value (rounded up).
So, for example, if the animal mentioned with a current health value of 24 points takes an 8 point damage wound, the exponent of 24 is 5.3, and the exponent of 8 is 1.7. They are subtracted to yield 3.6; the log of 3.6 is 18, so the creature's new health value is 18.
Damage* for a successful attack is inflicted at a value of r+st+wa+de+an+po, where r is the value show by rolling the red die, wa is the weapon addend of the weapon, and po is the poison value of the poison (if any) or other special attack. (Damage for a successful backstab, catching the target unaware, is r+st+wa+de+(2*an)+po.) If a creature is injured in the course of taking an action, it may complete the action at skill and attribute values for when the action was begun, and the injury will take effect on skills and attributes when the action is completed.
An injured creature will regenerate at a rate of -50+(2*co)+st+ms per day, where ms is the medical skill of the creature or other caretaker. The regeneration works as the exact opposite of a wound.
An unarmed character has a wa of -10.
* A creature which has no anatomy skill does not receive agility or anatomy adjustments to health value, or anatomy or dexterity adjustments to damage.
Section II K: Animals and Random Encounters
With many of the rolls, the number is a random number 1-10 or 1-100. Common sense should tell which is appropriate where. If 10-sided dice are not available, 1-10 can be generated with red and blue as will be given below; 1-100 can be generated using 1-10's for each digit, or as below with an additional die, yellow ('y'):
1-10: roll (6*r)+b-6:
1-10: read as is. 11-20: subtract 10. 21-30: subtract 20. 31-36: reroll.
1-100: roll (36*r)+(6*y)+b-42:
1-100: read as is. 101-200: subtract 100. 201-216: reroll.
In many cases, one of the possibilities indicated is "special". Special means that either
1: the game master should decide something special, which is preferable, or 2: if the game master can't or doesn't want to, he should reroll for another outcome.
Roll for whether an encounter occurs, and what kind:
N T U Y J S
Encounter occurs 1 1-5 1-3 1-5 1-2 1-4
Encounter is 1 animal animal animal animal animal animal
2 animal animal animal animal animal animal
3 animal animal animal animal animal animal
4 animal animal animal animal animal person
5 animal animal animal person animal person
6 animal person person person animal person
7 person person person person person person
8 geographical feature geographical feature
9 weather weather weather weather weather weather
10 special special special special special special
Percentile Roll Chart for Random Animal Encounter (N designates the Nor'krin land, and so on):
N T U Y J S
1: Acid Slime Mold 1
2: Acid Spitter 2
3: Anteater 3 1-2 1-2 103
4: Bear 4-5 1
5: Behemoth 6
6: Boar 7 3-5 3 2-3
7: Bulette 8 6
8: Caribou 1-10 4-5
9: Carnivorous Log 9
10: Carnivorous Tree 10
11: Cobra 11
12: Colorspray 4-6 6 4-7
13: Crocodile 12-13
14: Cuddler 7 7-11 7 8-11
15: Deer 11-15 14 8-12 12-13 8-17
16: Dog 15 13 14 18
17: Duck 14 15-16 19-28 12-14
18: Fog Thing 16-17
19: Furred Serpent 18 15-16 17-18 29-30 15-16
20: Garter Snake 17 19-20 31 17
21: Giant Aphid 19
22: Giant Firefly 20 21-22
23: Giant Land Lobster 21
24: Giant Scorpion 22-23
25: Giant Viper 24
26: Giant Walking Stick 25
27: Giant Wasp 26
28: Giant Webthrower 27
29: Glower 23-25 18-20
30: Gorilla 28 26 21
31: Griffon 29 18 32
32: Hawk 30 19 27 33-34
33: Hedgehog 31 20-21 28-29 35 22-24
34: Hnakra 32
35: Horse 16-25 33-34 22-24 30-31 36-37
36: Hoverfeather 35 25-26 32 38 25
37: Hummingbird 27 33 39 26
38: Iceflyer 26-39
39: Icestriker 40-49
40: Ironram 50 36-37 28
41: Jewel Serpent 38 29
42: Jumpcling 30 34-35 27-30
43: Jumper 39-40 31 36 40 31
44: Kriit 51-41 41 32 41
45: Land Octopus 42 37 32-33
46: Lavishnatim 43 33 38-39 34
47: Leviathan 44
48: Mile Long Snake 45 42
49: Milshh 34 40-42 35-38
50: Mimic 35 43-46 43-44 39-42
51: Miroir 36-37 47 43
52: Mishraim 46-47 48 45-46 44-47
53: Monkey 38 49 47 48-49
54: Mouse 39 50 48-52 50
55: Muckdweller 48-49
56: Obstructor 50
57: Ostrich 51 40 53-55
58: Owl 52 41 51 56-58
59: Panther 53
60: Parrot 42 52 59-60 51-55
61: Platypus 43 53 60-61
62: Poison Quilled Porcupine 54-55
63: Porcupine 56 44 54-55 61-62
64: Prairie Dog 45 56 63
65: Rabbit 55-74 46-55 57 64-73 56-59
66: Ram 57-58 56-57 58 76-78
67: Ricochet 59 58 59 79
68: Roc 60
69: Rock Crusher 61
70: Rock Thrower 62
71: Rodent of Unusual Size 63-64 59 80
72: Sand Trapper 65
73: Sea Serpent 66
74: Shocker 67
75: Skunk 60-63 60 81 60
76: Sloth 61 61-70
77: Soft Rolling Stone 64-65 62 82-83 71-74
78: Sparrow 66 63 84 75-77
79: Spinstar 68 67 64 78
80: Stegosaurus 69-70
81: Stinging Insect 70-71
82: Stoneshell 72 65
83: Strider 73 68-71 66
84: Swamp Thing 74
85: Tail Spikethrower 75
86: Tar Baby 76
87: Terrask 77
88: Thousand Legged Roller 78 72-76 67 85 79-80
89: Ticklebug 68-72 81
90: Torpor Beast 79-80
91: Translucent Frog 81 77-79 73-74 86 82-83
92: Trin 82 80 75 87 84
93: Turtle 83-84 81 76 88-90 85-88
94: Tyrannosaurus Rex 85
95: Warm Fuzzy 82-83 77-80 91 89-92
96: Water Sprite 81
97: Wind Hummer 86 84-85
98: Wolf 75-84 87-88 86 82-83 92
99: Wyvern 89-90 87 93
100: Game Master's Creation 85-88 91 88 84-85 94 93-94
101: Nor'krin Encounter 92 89-90 86-87 95 95
102: Tuz Encounter 89-90 91-91 88-89 96 96
103: Urvanovestilli Encounter 91-92 93 90-92 97 97
104: Yedidia Encounter 93-94 94 92-93 98 98
105: Jec Encounter 95-96 95 94-95 93-95 99
106: Shal Encounter 97-98 96 96-97 96-97 99
107: Encounter, Doubled Attributes 99-100 97-100 98-100 98-100 100 100
Animal behavior at an encounter is as follows; a number generated in the range of 1-10 tells how it behaves ('special' indicating that the game master should either create a special behavior on the part of the animal, or else simply reroll):
# Feisty Herbivore Pet Predator Small Predator
1: attack attack attack attack attack
2: attack attack curious attack curious
3: attack curious curious attack flee
4: attack flee flee curious flee
5: attack flee flee flee flee
6: curious friendly friendly friendly flee
7: flee ignore friendly sneak attack friendly
8: ignore ignore friendly sneak attack sneak attack
9: sneak attack ignore friendly sneak attack sneak attack
10: special special special special special
Animal age and sex are rolled separately: 1-2 child, 3-6 young, 7-8 middle aged, 9 old, 10 very old; 1-5 male, 6-10 female.
Animal Descriptions
All animals have the following skills: attack 30 (1 s; de 1, sp 1, st 1), blind action 20, dodge 30, hear noises 20, hide 30, move silently 30, and smell creature 20. All predators and small predators can hunt 30, smell creature 30, track 30. Name, attributes, behavior type (feisty, herbivore, pet, predator, small predator), descriptions, comments, and special abilities follow.
Constitution, in some cases, may not indicate exceptional health on the part of the creature, but rather some sort of natural armor.
The attributes are (no is number appearing, a * next to po represents a nonpoisonous special attack):
1: Acid Slime Mold
no po wa ag co de pe sp st
1 20* 0 20 10 10 10 20 10
Predator, 4-8' long, not injured by cutting or bludgeoning. Special damage is
acid. (It looks like a pale green blob)
2: Acid Spitter no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20* 0 20 20 20 10 10 30 Predator. 5' high. This creature has a thick torso and head on four stumpy legs, and a tough black hide. Its special damage is acid.
3: Anteater no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 0 Herbivore. As in real life.
4: Bear no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 20 30 10 -10 0 40 Feisty. Grizzly in the Tuz land, polar in Nor'krin land, black elsewhere.
5: Behemoth no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 30 20 -10 -10 70 Herbivore. As in Job.
6: Boar no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 20 10 10 10 10 25 Feisty. As in real life.
7: Bulette no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 0 30 10 10 10 30 Predator. 8-10' long. Land shark. A tough, sharklike creature that burrows through earth and has short, strong legs. The hide may be sold for 500 au.
8: Caribou no po wa ag co de pe sp st 30 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 30 Herbivore. As in real life.
9: Carnivorous Log no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 20 10 0 10 30 Predator. An animal that looks like a large fallen log. When stepped on, large tentacles will shoot out and drag towards teeth and jaws.
10: Carnivorous Tree no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 20 10 10 10 40 Predator. Like a carnivorous log, but uses branches instead of tentacles.
11: Cobra no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 -10 10 10 10 10 30 -10 Predator. As in real life.
12: Colorspray no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0* -20 10 10 10 10 10 -10 Pet. A short, 2' football shaped, multicolored creature with several orifices on its back. A very affectionate pet which will spray brightly colored paints on someone it likes.
13: Crocodile no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 30 10 10 10 30 Predator. As in real life.
14: Cuddler no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -40 10 0 10 10 0 -20 Pet. A soft, 1' black, furred, round creature that cuddles like a Shal and will occasionally squirt water.
15: Deer no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 30 10 10 20 10 20 Herbivore. As in real life.
16: Dog no po wa ag co de pe sp st 10 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 20 Predator. As in real life.
17: Duck no po wa ag co de pe sp st 5 0 -20 10 10 10 10 10 -20 Herbivore. As in real life.
18: Fog-Thing no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 20 10 10 10 10 40 Predator. a 10' tall beast which emits dense fog, obscuring vision in its vicinity.
19: Furred Serpent no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 0 Pet. 2-20' long, with soft, sometimes brown fur.
20: Garder Snake no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 -50 Pet. As in real life.
21: Giant Aphid no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 30 10 10 10 30 Predator. 8' tall if unearthed, in a depressed sand trap hidden by a thin camouflaged cover.
22: Giant Firefly no po wa ag co de pe sp st 20 0 -30 10 10 10 10 10 0 Herbivore. 4' tall, Fly 5.
23: Giant Land Lobster no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 50 10 0 -10 50 Feisty. 20-30' long.
24: Giant Scorpion no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 10 10 30 10 10 10 20 Feisty. 5' long.
25: Giant Viper no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 0 10 10 10 20 10 50 Predator. 50'-200' long.
26: Giant Walking Stick no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20* 0 0 10 10 0 10 -10 Small Predator. 3' long, 2' tall. Poison does not cause damage, but hinders for one day as if damage had occurred.
27: Giant Wasp no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 Feisty. 18" long.
28: Giant Webthrower no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20* 0 10 20 10 20 20 25 Predator. A 10' long spider; special attack is throwing webs which do not injure but impair physical action as if injury had occurred.
29: Glower no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 20 10 20 Pet. A phosphorescent half sized bear.
30: Gorilla no po wa ag co de pe sp st 10 0 0 25 10 10 10 10 30 Herbivore. As in real life. Climb 10.
31: Griffon no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 25 20 10 20 20 30 Predator. 8' long. Half eagle (Fly 10), half lion, loves horsemeat.
32: Hawk no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 10 10 0 Small Predator. As in real life.
33: Hedgehog no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 -10 Herbivore. As in real life.
34: Hnakra no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 25 30 10 25 20 50 Predator. An aquatic creature (Swim 10), a great armored shark/sea serpent 50-100' long. As in C.S. Lewis's _Out_of_the_Silent_Planet_
35: Horse no po wa ag co de pe sp st 30 0 0 20 10 10 10 10 30 Herbivore. As in real life.
36: Hoverfeather no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 20 10 10 10 10 0 Herbivore. A 3' ball of eyes and feathered wings (golden, black, brown, or white).
37: Hummingbird no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 30 10 20 25 40 -50 Herbivore. As in real life.
38: Iceflyer no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 10 10 0 Predator. A 6' white arctic bird of prey (Fly 10).
39: Icestriker no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20* 0 10 10 25 20 10 10 Predator. A toothed, clawed 20' acid spitting bird of prey (Fly 10).
40: Ironram no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 0 20 10 0 10 40 Feisty. A 15' long, piglike furred beast that rams with its bony head.
41: Jewel Serpent no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 40 0 25 20 10 10 10 30 Predator. A red, 5-20' serpent with an immense red jewel between its eyes which has a phosphorescent glow that lasts until an hour after its death. The gem is worth 5,000 gold, or 10,000 if it is still glowing.
42: Jumpcling no po wa ag co de pe sp st 2 0 0 10 20 20 30 10 -30 Pet. A 6" beast with many paws that will jump and cling to a person.
43: Jumper no po wa ag co de pe sp st 20 0 -10 50 10 10 10 10 30 Herbivore. A 4' long beam with two opposite feet that it jumps and bounces off with. (Jump 10)
44: Kriit no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20* 0 10 10 30 20 15 0 Predator. A 5' tall, long-armed beast that spits acid from behind trees.
45: Land Octopus no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0* 0 10 10 10 10 10 20 Feisty. 8-20' spread. Like an octopus, but squirts ink — can temporarily blind.
46: Lavishnatim no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -20 25 10 20 10 10 -10 Pet. An incredibly curious, 2' rodentlike creature.
47: Leviathan no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 40* 0 20 40 10 -10 10 80 Feisty. As in Job. Special attack is breathe fire.
48: Mile Long Snake no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 80 Herbivore(-like). A 20' high snake a mile long
49: Milshh no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -20 20 10 10 30 20 -20 Pet. A short, 18", round, eyeless catlike creature with long, golden fur, and eight short legs ending in round paws.
50: Mimic no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 25 10 -20 Pet. A monkeylike creature that will follow and imitate a person.
51: Mirior no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 0 10 10 10 0 Herbivore. A humanoid form with mirrorlike skin.
52: Mishraim no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 0 10 30 Pet. Like a giant 5' anteater, but with a shorter snout.
53: Monkey no po wa ag co de pe sp st 10 0 -30 20 10 20 10 10 -10 Herbivore. As in real life.
54: Mouse no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 10 10 -50 Herbivore. As in real life.
55: Muckdweller no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 30 10 10 10 10 30 Predator. A black, tentacled, four legged beast that waits in the muck and then draws things down in order to drown and/or eat.
56: Obstructor no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 30 20 20 20 0 50 Predator. A giant (20') eight armed apelike creature which will use branches, rocks, etc. to form a barrier around prey before throwing rocks at it.
57: Ostrich no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 -10 0 0 0 30 25 Herbivore. As in real life.
58: Owl no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 10 10 10 10 10 0 Small Predator. As in real life.
59: Panther no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 30 10 20 30 10 30 Predator. Climb 5. As in real life.
60: Parrot no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 20 10 10 10 25 -30 Pet. Fly 5. As in real life.
61: Platypus no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 -10 Herbivore. As in real life.
62: Poison Quilled Porcupine no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 0 10 10 10 10 10 0 Herbivore. Like a real porcupine, but three feet long, and, if struck hand-to-hand without appropriate armor, will automatically hit attacker. (When it attacks, its attack does not do poison damage.)
63: Porcupine no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 -20 Herbivore. As in real life.
64: Prairie Dog no po wa ag co de pe sp st 10 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 -15 Herbivore. As in real life.
65: Rabbit no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 20 10 10 20 25 -30 Herbivore. As in real life.
66: Ram no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 20 Herbivore. As in real life.
67: Ricochet no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 30 10 10 20 40 20 Herbivore. A fast, 12 legged (equally spaced) 1' red-brown creature that quickly bounces off trees and everything else if threatened.
68: Roc no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 0 10 10 20 -20 70 Predator. 100' tall. A giant bird of prey (Fly 10) that eats panthers.
69: Rock Crusher no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 -10 30 0 0 -20 80 Herbivore(-like). A giant (40') creature with stony skin that sits and eats rocks.
70: Rock Thrower no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 20 20 10 20 Feisty. A beast with four legs alternated with four arms, throwing rocks.
71: Rodent of Unusual Size no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 300 10 10 20 25 10 Predator. As in The Princess Bride.
72: Sand Trapper no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 20 10 30 30 Predator. 10-15' high. Lives in sand and shoots up a green tentacle to drag in prey.
73: Sea Serpent no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 20 20 10 10 0 40 Herbivore(-like). 20-40' long, swim 10.
74: Shocker no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 40* 10 20 20 10 10 10 30 Predator. An immense (10') deep green to blue lizard with slimy black tentacles that deliver a powerful electric shock, capable of throwing many creatures. Any creature hit by a shocker and taking over 10% damage will be disrupted in the action it was completing, drop what it was holding, and forget what it was doing/be momentarily disoriented. Thick clothing may function as armor against a shocker's attack, as the electrical damage only takes place if electrical contact occurs.
75: Skunk no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0* -10 10 10 10 10 10 -20 Herbivore. As in real life. (Special attack, as in real life.)
76: Sloth no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -20 10 10 10 10 -20 -15 Pet. As in real life.
77: Soft Rolling Stone no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -30 0 20 0 -30 -10 -30 Pet. A rolling creature that looks like a round, mossy stone. Warm and friendly.
78: Sparrow no po wa ag co de pe sp st 20 0 -20 20 10 10 10 10 -50 Herbivore. As in real life (Fly 10).
79: Spinstar no po wa ag co de pe sp st 50 0 0 30 10 10 10 10 -30 Pet. A blue (tinged with red) 9" land starfish which whitish feet at the end of each limb and a feeding orifice on one side. Moves by rolling.
80: Stegosaurus no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 0 40 -20 -30 -10 50 Herbivore. As in real life.
81: Stinging Insect no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1000 30 -50 25 25 10 25 20 -30 Feisty. A swarm as in real life.
82: Stoneshell no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 80 10 10 10 10 Herbivore. A creature with a stonehard shell, 10' tall.
83: Strider no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 25 25 10 10 30 20 Predator. 7' tall. A predator which moves incredibly quickly (85 mph). It is jet black, has long, strong, thin legs, and will try to run prey into trees.
84: Swamp Thing no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 20 10 10 10 10 50 Predator. A huge malodorous mass of beast. 20-50'
85: Tail Spikethrower no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 20 0 10 20 20 10 10 30 Predator. 9' long. Like a scorpion, but throws poisoned spikes.
86: Tar Baby no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 -30 30 10 10 0 10 Feisty. A black, tar-covered beast. Any weapon or limb which strikes it will stick and require an hour to free.
87: Terrask no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 80 10 10 10 100 Feisty. An immense, dinosaurian creature (200' tall), pale grey to black at different spots.
88: Thousand Legged Roller no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 25 10 10 20 30 30 Herbivore. Great multi-colored 6' ball covered with legs, by which it rolls.
89: Ticklebug no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 10 10 30 30 10 -30 Pet. A little, 6" furry creature (white, gold, tan, orange, calico, grey, brown, red, or black) with long whiskers, fond of touching other creatures very lightly.
90: Torpor Beast no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 40* 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 Predator. A beast with four limbs and a spiked trunk — spikes inject a potent sleeping poison.
91: Translucent Frog no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -10 25 10 10 10 10 10 Herbivore. An animal such that you can see into its body to look at its inner workings.
92: Trin no po wa ag co de pe sp st 30 0 -20 30 10 10 10 10 -10 Herbivore. This beast is short, round, and flat, with tan fur.
93: Turtle no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 -10 60 0 0 -30 10 Herbivore. As in real life.
94: Tyrannosaurus Rex no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 0 -10 10 10 0 -10 60 Predator. As in real life.
95: Warm Fuzzy no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 0 -30 10 10 10 30 0 -20 Pet. Same colors as a ticklebug, round, 8", with very long, very soft fur. Can climb (Climb 2) very comfortably and snuggle for hours. Used like teddybears.
96: Water Sprite no po wa ag co de pe sp st 25 0 -20 50 10 10 10 10 -10 Herbivore. An extremely shy and beautiful form that comes out once a year to dance in the moonlight.
97: Wind Hummer no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 0 50 10 10 10 20 -40 Feisty. 1' tall. A quick, translucent (Dodge 50, Fly 40), stinging creature.
98: Wolf no po wa ag co de pe sp st 20 0 0 10 10 20 10 10 20 Predator. As in real life.
99: Wyvern no po wa ag co de pe sp st 1 30 0 20 20 10 10 10 25 Predator. A flying (10', Fly 10), red-brown stinging reptilian predator.
100: Game Master's Creation
Random Person Encounters:
In general, 1-10 people will be encountered. (Hermits will always be encountered alone.) Several factors/scales are given (race, profession, Myers-Briggs personality type, etc.); the GM need only generate as much information as he needs to get an idea of how to play it.
Random personal encounters are, in essence, an opportunity to role play social interaction, and should be played as such. While there are other possibilities, such as trading for equipment or information, the game master should focus on making the encounter an interaction with interesting people who will make play more interesting.
These tables are for encounters out in the wild — generally, parties of people who are mostly adventurers. Encounters in a city or village should be different.
Character race and roles N T U Y J S
1: Janra Acrobat 1 1 1 1 1 1
2: Janra Acrobatic Scout 2 2 2 2 2 2
3: Janra Actor 3 3 3 3 3 3
4: Janra Archer 4 4 4 4 4 4
5: Janra Bard 5 5 5 5 5 5
6: Janra Dancer 6 6 6 6 6 6
7: Janra Hermit 7 7 7 7 7 7
8: Janra Homemaker 8-12 8-12 8-12 8-12 8-12 8-12
9: Janra Hunter 13 13 13 13 13 13
10: Janra Idiot 14 14 14 14 14 14
11: Janra Interpreter 15 15 15 15 15 15
12: Janra Jack-of-all-Trades 16 16 16 16 16 16
13: Janra Juggler 17 17 17 17 17 17
14: Janra MacGyver 18 18 18 18 18 18
15: Janra Masseuse 19 19 19 19 19 19
16: Janra Perceiver 20 20 20 20 20 20
17: Janra Scholar 21 21 21 21 21 21
18: Janra Singer 22 22 22 22 22 22
19: Janra Storyteller 23 23 23 23 23 23
20: Janra Wayfarer 24 24 24 24 24 24
21: Janra Woodsman 25 25 25 25 25 25
22: Jec Archer 26 26 26 26 26 26
23: Jec Baker 27
24: Jec Bard 27 27 27 27 28 27
25: Jec Blacksmith 29
26: Jec Cobbler 30
27: Jec Farmer 31-35
28: Jec Fisherman 36-37
29: Jec Hermit 38
30: Jec Homemaker 39-48
31: Jec Hunter 28 28 28 28 49 28
32: Jec Idiot 50
33: Jec Merchant 51-52
34: Jec Sage 53
35: Jec Stonemason 54
36: Jec Storyteller 55
37: Jec Wayfarer 29 29 29 29 56 29
38: Jec Weaver 57
39: Jec Woodsman 30 30 30 30 58 30
40: Nor'krin Archer 31-33 31 31 31 59 31
41: Nor'krin Bard 34-36 32 32 32 60 32
42: Nor'krin Hermit 37
43: Nor'krin Homemaker 38-47
44: Nor'krin Hunter 48-50 33 33 33 61 33
45: Nor'krin Idiot 51
46: Nor'krin Wayfarer 52-53 34 34 34 62 34
47: Shal Bard 35 35 35 63 35
48: Shal Farmer 36 36-37
49: Shal Gardener 37 38-40
50: Shal Hermit 41
51: Shal Homemaker 38 42-51
52: Shal Idiot 52
53: Shal Masseuse 39 53
54: Shal Poet 54
55: Shal Sage 40 55-56
56: Shal Woodsman 54 36 36 41 64 57-59
57: Tuz Archer 55 37-39 37 42 65 60
58: Tuz Blacksmith 40-41
59: Tuz Hermit 42
60: Tuz Homemaker 43-52
61: Tuz Hunter 56 53-55 38 43 66 61
62: Tuz Idiot 56
63: Tuz Scout 57 57-58 38 43 66 61
64: Tuz Stonemason 59
65: Tuz Woodsman 58 60-62 40 48 68 63
66: Tuz Wrestler 63
67: Urvanovestilli Archer 59 64 41 49 69 64
68: Urvanovestilli Artist 42
69: Urvanovestilli Bard 60 65 43 50 70 65
70: Urvanovestilli Dancer 44
71: Urvanovestilli Dual Profession 61 66 45 51 71 66
(roll twice, ignoring non-Urvanovestilli rolls.)
72: Urvanovestilli Goldsmith 46
73: Urvanovestilli Hermit 47
74: Urvanovestilli Homemaker 48-57
75: Urvanovestilli Hunter 62 67 58 52 72 67
76: Urvanovestilli Idiot 59
77: Urvanovestilli Interpreter 63 68 60 53 73 68
78: Urvanovestilli Jack-of-all-Trades 64 69 61 54 74 69
79: Urvanovestilli Noble 62
80: Urvanovestilli Renaissance Man 65 70 63 55 75 70
81: Urvanovestilli Repairman 64
82: Urvanovestilli Scholar 66 71 65 56 76 71
83: Urvanovestilli Servant 66
84: Urvanovestilli Specialist 67
85: Urvanovestilli Wayfarer 67 72 68 57 77 72
86: Urvanovestilli Weaver 69
87: Yedidia Animal Handler 73 70 58-59 78 73
88: Yedidia Bard 68-69 74 71 60-61 79 74
89: Yedidia Herbalist 75 72 62-63 80 75-76
90: Yedidia Hermit 64
91: Yedidia Homemaker 73 65-74 77
92: Yedidia Hunter 70 76 74 75-76 81 78
93: Yedidia Idiot 77
94: Yedidia Jack-of-all-Trades 71 77 75 78 82 79
95: Yedidia Masseuse 76 79 80
96: Yedidia Perceiver 72 78 77 78 82 79
97: Yedidia Singer 78 82 82
98: Yedidia Woodsman 73 79 79 83-84 84 83-84
99: Roll once to determine race, then a second time to determine profession
74 80 80 85 85 85
100: Special 75-84 81-90 81-90 86-95 86-95 86-95
101: Nor'krin Encounter 91 91 96 96 95
102: Tuz Encounter 85-86 92-94 98 98 98
103: Urvanovestilli Encounter 87-91 91-94 98 98 98
104: Yedidia Encounter 92-93 95-97 95-97 99 99
105: Jec Encounter 94-99 98 98-99 99 100
106: Shal Encounter 100 99-100 100 100 100
Myers-Briggs Personality Type:
Shal: 1-3 Extrovert, 4-10 Introvert; Other: 1-7 Extrovert, 8-10 Introvert 1-6 Sensing, 7-10 INtuitive
Male: 1-6 Thinking, 7-10 Feeling; Female 1-4 Thinking, 5-10 Feeling. 1-5 Judging, 6-10 Perceiving
Handedness: Janra 01-75 left, 76-95 ambidexterous, 96-100 right; other 01-94 right, 95-99 left, 100 ambidexterous
Birth Order: 1-3 first, 4-6 middle, 7-9 last, 10 only
Section II L: Equipment, Devices, Chemicals, Herbs, and Money
In the monetary system, 1 gold sovereign (au) = 2 electrum sceptres (el) = 8 silver crowns (si) = 64 copper pennies (cu) = 256 iron tips (fe). Price is variable; a device could easily be sold for twice or half its listed cost here. All coins are of the same weight; 64 of them weigh a pound.
Adventuring equipment as a rule is scarce and difficult to acquire. The ad (acquirement difficulty) given for equipment is e (easy), m (moderate), d (difficult), vd (very difficult), and ed (extremely difficult). The races in whose homeland the items are easily found are designated by first initial ('J' denoting Jec rather than Janra, as the Janra have no homeland); items may be found in other lands, but at a difficulty one notch higher (so difficult becomes very difficult, etc.).
The following are illustrations of devices and equipment available. Other equipment in the same spirit (as described in the game master's introduction, section IV) is encouraged with game master discretion. Each device is slightly different; they may well have modifications (such as a tiny hidden compartment). There should ideally be thousands of unique devices, of which the listed examples are but a tiny hint. Chemical prices, unless otherwise specified, are per fluid ounce, and herbs per ounce. Chemicals which temporarily affect attributes do *not* affect st and co contributions to health value.
Armor made not out of steel but out of special alloys may be found, at one notch higher ad and ten times the price, with all the protection but only half the penalties. When armor reduces damage by a fixed percentage, it should be read as the exponent of the damage which is reduced.
Animals (trained or otherwise friendly) may be acquired at a difficulty of the sum of the squares of their attributes, for half the ad if their behavior type is pet, ad for behavior type herbivore, twice the ad for behavior type small predator, three times the ad for behavior type predator, and four times the ad for behavior type feisty.
What is listed is specifically equipment which will be useful to adventurers. There are an infinitude of other objects which exist — clockwork devices which are built up to perform various tasks (such as play music or be a moving model of the solar system) much as a computer programmer assembles instructions to make a program; herbs which act as spices, or which, when drunk as a tea, have a mild narcotic effect (which herbs are carefully and temperately used, just like alcohol), or chemicals which, when mixed, turn a complex rainbow of scintillating colors — and they would take forever to list. Here is a simple example of what may be useful to adventurers, to give the game master a feel for the spirit of creation.
Devices and Equipment
Cost ad Name
5 au m Axe/Hatchet (wa 0) (N, T, U, Y, J, S)
3 au d Backpack (T, U, Y)
20 au d Belaying Device, automatic — a springloaded box with a harness
at one end, a crank on the side, and which shoots out a
grappling hook. This device catches a climber who falls,
preventing injury, and allowing him to try again if he slips a
grip (thereby effectively doubling climbing skill). (U)
4 au d Camouflage cloak — usually forest green, dark grey, or black,
occasionally brown, these can lower the difficulty of hiding by
one notch (T, U, Y, C)
8 au d Cat's Claw — an angled iron or steel clawed boot attachment
and glove which is highly effective at attaching to climbing
surfaces; someone wearing a Cat's Claw has a climbing skill
increased by 10. (T, U)
50 au d Chain Mail: -20 to sharp damage suffered, and -5 to blunt
damage; 5-st penalty to ag, de, sp; -20 to Move Silently. (U)
(For instance, a character with st -5 would suffer a penalty of
10 to ag, de, sp).
500 au vd Chain Mail, "feather": -15 to sharp damage and -3 to blunt
damage; -10 to Move Silently. (U)
5-20 au m Chest, Locked, Reinforced — size varies with price (T, U, J)
5 au d Cloth tape — 50 yards (U)
400 au vd Collapsible rowboat — skeleton of iron bars and joints, and
oil skin surface, when taken apart and packed away, fit in a
large back pack. (U)
3 au d Compass (U)
10 au m Crossbow (wa 0 Urvanovestilli, 10 Tuz; strength difficulty to
load 0 Urvanovestilli, 10 Tuz) (T, U)
200 au vd Crossbow, Pump-Action — a pumping action loads the next bolt
so that the time to load and shoot is 5s instead of 30s. (wa
0, loading requires action of strength difficulty 0)
400 au vd Crossbow, Spray — a cup on the front of the bowstring holds
20 bolts which, when fired, fan out in a spray. wa 10, and
effectively increases firer's skill/accuracy by 10. (But
cannot be gainfully used with a telescopic sight)
3 cu m Crossbow Bolt (T, U)
1 au d Crossbow Bolt, Exploding (+20 to wa) (U)
1 au d Crossbow Bolt, Harpoon — a fine wire or silk cord is coiled
inside the shell, and an end can be attached to the crossbow or
other anchor.
1 au d Crossbow Bolt, Poison Injecting (U)
5 au d Crowbar (T, U)
2 au m Dagger (wa 0 hand to hand, -10 thrown) (N, T, U, J)
80 au vd Dagger, Obsidian, Razor-edged (wa 5 hand to hand, -5 thrown)
(U)
40 au vd Dagger, Poison Injecting (wa 0) (U)
60 au vd Directional mechanical listening device — a pair of binoculars
for the ears. It has a sight and a hard parabolic surface with
a tube which goes to the ears at the focus — incoming sound
from the direction it faces is echoed into the tube and heard
with exceptional sensitivity.
15 au d Earhorn — effectively doubles hear noises skill
2000 au ed Firestar — a longsword with a hollow, insulated handle and a
network of veins inside the blade leading to a porous surface
which will be covered in burning oil (po 20, hotter oil doing
more damage possibly available upon searching).
25 au d Fishing Rod, collapsible (U)
6 au d Goggles, Waterproof (U)
2 au d Grappling Hook (T, U)
1 el d Gunpowder (U)
30 au d Halberd (wa 15) (T, U)
200 au d Hang Glider (U)
600 au vd Hang Glider, Collapsible — can collapse to backpack size and
pop out at the push of a button (U)
60 au d Herbal/Chemical Medicine kit — medicines allow an injured
character to heal faster. (Easy medical skill check to avoid
causing damage (prevents healing that day), difficult medical
skill check to double rate of healing) (U, Y)
3000 au vd Hot Air Baloon (U)
150 au d Hummer — a small device which emits a high and low pitched hum
(inaudible to humans) which is 90% likely to repel wandering
animals. (U)
1000 au vd Jack/Rabbit Tool — This device has two hardened steel prongs,
each shaped like a flattened chisel, and a crank which, when
turned, will slowly (over the course of a few minutes) cause
the prongs to push apart with very powerful force (100 times
the strength of the using character), sufficient to easily
force most doors and chests open. (U)
10,000 au ed Juggernaut — a movable room and armored vehicle, capable of
going over all sorts of terrain at the average jog speed for
the party inside, which seats 4-8. A very good place to sleep
in a Tuz forest. (U)
1 au e Knife (wa -3 hand to hand, -8 thrown) (N, T, U, Y, J, S)
120 au vd Ladder, Collapsible — expands at the push of a button, and
can be collapsed to an object 18"x8"x4". (U)
40 au d Lance (wa 3) (T, U)
5 au e Lantern (T, U, J)
10 au d Lantern, parabolic mirror — beam of light comes out focused in
one direction. (U)
10 au e Leather Vest: -7 to sharp damage, -3 to blunt damage, no
penalties (N, T)
5 au d Lighter — like a cigarette lighter, but with a wick and oil
instead of butane. (U)
30 au d Lock Picks (U)
10 au m Longbow (N, T, U)
1 si m Longbow Arrow (N, T, U)
10 au d Longsword (wa 10) (T, U)
5 au d Mace (wa 5) (T)
1000 au ed Manual of Skill (specific skill) — A Manual of Skill contains
instructions and insights into one particular skill, so that
after a month's usage a character will gain five experience
points in that skill. Unless the game master explicitly
specifies otherwise, all manuals of skill when found will be
in extremely poor condition and will fall apart and be
completely unusable after one character has used it once. (U)
80 au d Medical Kit — allows a character's medical skill to function
in caring for the healing of another. (U)
10 au d Periscope (U)
2 au m Pickaxe (T, U, J)
100 au d Plate Armor, heavy: -30 to sharp damage, -20 to blunt damage,
penalties 20-st to ag, de, sp; -20 to Move Silently. (T, U)
200 au vd Plate Armor, light: -15 to sharp damage, -10 to blunt damage,
5-st penalties to ag, de, sp; -20 to Move Silently. (U)
50 au vd Pneumatic-Powered Liquid Sprayer, glass coated inside. Some
are powered by compressed gas cartridges; some are powered by
pumping to build up pressure. (U)
15 au m Rapier (wa 5) (U)
500 au vd Reference Manual (specific skill) — A reference manual, when
consulted, allows a character to make a skill check as if he
had five ep more (adjusted for gaa but not al) after one
hour's consultation in preparation for that specific check,
and as if he had ten ep more after one day's consultation.
1 au d Robe, many-pocketed (U, Y, J)
1 au m Rope, 50' (N, T, U, Y, C) 50
50 au d Rope, 50', silk (much thinner, smaller, and stronger than a
normal rope). (U)
350 au vd Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (U)
100 au vd Sewing Machine, portable (U)
10 au d Shield — its usage skill (block, works exactly like dodge) has
dl .5. (T, U)
3 au m Slide Rule (U)
3 au d Snorkel (U)
2 d Soft cloth/leather boots/shoes — effectively increases
wearer's move silently skill by 10. (U, Y, S)
10,000 au ed Spider Silk Robe: -30 sharp damage, -5 blunt damage; no
associated penalties. (U)
30 au d Springboard — with running start, doubles jump skill. (U)
300 au vd Staff, Rocket Launching — launches rockets that explode in 5
yard r+50-damage fireball) (U)
50-200 au d Swiss Army Knife (U)
1 au vd Syringe (U)
10 au d Telescope, 10x magnification (U)
100 au 64 Telescope, 100x magnification (U)
500 au vd Telescope, zoom, 10-250x magnification (U)
50 au d Telescopic Crossbow sight — allows for a shot taking twice the
time and prone to have accuracy increased by 50 if installed on
Urvanovestilli crossbow and adjusted with a difficult clockwork
device craftsmanship/engineering check. (U)
200 au vd Tent, framed — collapses to fit inside a moderately sized
backpack. (U)
1 au e Tinderbox (N, T, U, Y, J, S)
20 au e Tool Kit (U)
50 au d Two-handed sword (wa 20) (T, U)
10 au m Watch (U)
1 au m Waterskin (N, T, U, Y, C, S)
15 au m Winter Clothing — lowers cold tolerance difficulties one
notch. (N, U, C)
1 d Wire, steel, 5 yards
10 au d Wire Saw (U)
Non-Herbal Chemicals
500 au ed Adrenaline serum. One ounce of this hormone per hundred pounds
of body weight will affect attributes with the following
adjustments: ag+5, al+15, ch-10, de-5, kn-8, me-8, pe+8, sp+10,
st+15, wi-15. At the time of being injected, the injectee must
make one constitution check, of difficulty equal to ten times
the number of ounces of adrenaline injected per hundred pounds
of body weight. If this check is failed, then the hormone
causes him to run in fear from any threat until it wears off.
(Note that this reduces wisdom as quickly as it increases
strength; a character with wisdom reduced to .1 or less is no
longer under the control of the player.) Also, adrenaline
causes an injured creature (as long as it's still alive) to
function as if not injured.
100 au ed Anabolic steroids. One ounce of this, appropriately diluted
and spread over a year with vigorous exercise, will increase
strength by 2. (After the year, no further steroid use of that
level will bring increase. Increased steroid use will act on
the base strength, unadjusted by steroids). The *cube* of the
number of ounces is subtracted from constitution.
1 au d Docility Drug (po 10) — this and other drugs take effect when
the drug "damage" combined with actual damage brings an animal
below zero health value (U)
5 au 64 Docility Drug (po 20) (U)
25 au vd Docility Drug (po 30) (U)
125 au 1024 Docility Drug (po 40) (U)
625 au ed Docility Drug (po 50) (U)
1 si d Glue (U)
1 au vd Glue, exceptional strength (if allowed to set, is usually
stronger than the materials it has bonded together) (U)
8 au vd Nitric Acid — comes in a glass container (one of few
substances it will not eat through), with a tiny eyedropper.
(U)
2 au vd Compressed Gas Cartridge (U)
1 cu e Lantern Oil (T, U, J)
1 el d Lantern Oil, Extra Bright — when burnt in a lantern, can
illuminate a room as brightly as daylight. (U)
1 au d Poison (po 10) (U)
5 au 64 Poison (po 20) (U)
25 au vd Poison (po 30) (U)
125 au 1024 Poison (po 40) (U)
625 au ed Poison (po 50) (U)
2 au d Roman Candle (U)
1 au d Sleeping Drug (po 10) — this and other drugs take effect when
the drug "damage" combined with actual damage brings an animal
below zero health value (U)
5 au 64 Sleeping Drug (po 20) (U)
25 au vd Sleeping Drug (po 30) (U)
125 au 1024 Sleeping Drug (po 40) (U)
625 au ed Sleeping Drug (po 50) (U)
1 au d Smoke Bomb (U)
10 au vd Thermite — a mixture of powdered rust and aluminum which will
when ignited with a magnesium fuse (generally available
wherever thermite is available), burn through nearly anything
— steel, sand, asbestos...). (U)
Herbs and Herb Derivatives — some herb effects derived from the net.book on herbs. Herbs, in raw form, may be acquired using the herbalism or woodlore skills as well as acquisition, in which case they are obviously free.
1 sp m Aloe Vera — when rubbed over sunburnt skin, alleviates pain and causes healing to occur at four times the normal rate. 50 au ed Angel's Hair — this herb, when dried, powdered, and mixed with water to make a viscous fluid, will, when drunk (one dose per day) reduce aging by 1/4. 1 sp m Coffee — one silver piece's worth per hundred pounds body weight will bring adjust pe*1.1, sp*1.1, cube of silver piece's worth per hundred pounds body weight will adjust de*.98, in*.98. Lasts one hour. (U) 1 au d Cofisa Tea — a tea with strong herbal extracts that focuses and intensifies nervous system impulses to the muscles. Adjusts st*1.1, cube adjusts pe*.98. Lasts 15 minutes. 4 au vd Desp — when an extract of this herb is injected, it causes the person to continue strenuous exercise for ten times the normal duration, after which he will fairly quickly fall asleep. 1 au d Docility Drug (po 10) — this and other drugs take effect when the drug "damage" combined with actual damage brings an animal below zero health value (Y) 4 au 64 Docility Drug (po 20) (Y) 16 au vd Docility Drug (po 30) (Y) 64 au 1024 Docility Drug (po 40) (Y) 256 au ed Docility Drug (po 50) (Y) 1 cu d Ficop — A liberal distribution of a paste made of this herb, held on with dressings, (one pound per square foot), will cause burns to heal at four times the normal rate. 1 au m Gentian Violet — this herbal extract, when applied to a bleeding wound, will cause it to rapidly slow, scabbing unless it is a major vessel. 1 au d Hallucinogenic Mushroom Extract — this and other drugs take effect when the drug "damage" combined with the actual damage brings an animal below zero health value. An animal in combat who hallucinates has a 50% chance of being scared off by hallucinations, and, if not scared, has a 50% chance of attacking hallucinations rather than threats (po 10) (Y) 4 au 64 Hallucinogenic Mushroom Extract (po 20) (Y) 16 au vd Hallucinogenic Mushroom Extract (po 30) (Y) 64 au 1024 Hallucinogenic Mushroom Extract (po 40) (Y) 256 au ed Hallucinogenic Mushroom Extract (po 50) (Y) 2 sp d Hedisc — when rubbed on scars daily (one ounce can cover one square inch of scar for one week), causes scars to heal fully within a month (Y) 50 au d Herbal Medicine Kit (Y) 5 au vd Heslriana — when made into a tea and drunk, this adjusts pe+5 noncumulatively for ten minutes. (Y) 1 el d Hofiu — anti-nauseant (Y) 20 au vd Kedlidi — diminishes by half the effect of alcohol (non-cumulatively). (Y) 1 sp d Locriat Tea — This includes a variety of teas which, a day after drinking, will begin to color the drinker's skin (and, in some cases, hair); the colors will wear off with discontinuation after about a month to half a year (depending on how much has been consumed); possible resultant colors may be described as any color which may be obtained by rubbing a non-opaque dye onto a person's skin. (Y) 2 au m Nesrit — When burned in a fire, the resulting smoke will leave an odd scent in the air which will repel insects and snakes for one hour (Y). 3 au d Plei Kr't Sha — this herb, when taken orally, will in ten minutes cause a person for an hour to be aware of painful stimuli but not feel them as pain, and not to be nauseated by grotesque sights or thoughts; used frequently in surgery (Y) 1 au d Poison (po 10) (Y) 4 au 64 Poison (po 20) (Y) 16 au vd Poison (po 30) (Y) 64 au 1024 Poison (po 40) (Y) 256 au ed Poison (po 50) (Y) 1 au d Poison Antidote — Poison antidotes are specific to the plant, and/or creature from which the poison originated. There are three or four common poisons of each strength and several uncommon poisons of each strength (price and ad up by a factor of four) (po 10) (Y) 4 au 64 Poison Antidote (po 20) (Y) 16 au vd Poison Antidote (po 30) (Y) 64 au 1024 Poison Antidote (po 40) (Y) 256 au ed Poison Antidote (po 50) (Y) 1 au d Sleeping Drug (po 10) — this and other drugs take effect when the drug "damage" combined with actual damage brings an animal below zero health value (Y) 5 au 64 Sleeping Drug (po 20) (Y) 25 au vd Sleeping Drug (po 30) (Y) 125 au 1024 Sleeping Drug (po 40) (Y) 625 au ed Sleeping Drug (po 50) (Y) 2 au d Solvi — causes internal blood clots to dissolve (Y) 2 au m Stiv Tea — causes neurons in the eye to fire once per photon detected instead of once every seven, thereby causing a person to be dazzled in bright light, see in dim light as if it were bright, and see in very weak light (moonless starlight, indirect candlelight) as if it were dim. 5 au d Talinor Tea — adjusts in+2, pe-1, sp-1, wears off in one hour (U, Y)
Section II M: Speed and Simultaneity
This section is optional:
The exponent of a creature's speed is looked up in the log/exponent table, and actions are shortened in duration by that divisor. For example, a creature of speed 10 has an exponent of 2, so he does things twice as fast (he takes half as long to do things).
Creatures may voluntarily speed up or slow down actions, affecting the difficulty as follows: let's say that a character wants to perform an action 4 times as fast. The log of 4 is looked up in the log/exponent table: 20. This number is added to the difficulty of the action: it is 20 points more difficult to perform the action at 4 times normal speed. Creatures can benefit from slowing down to perform actions, up to a difficulty 10 points lower by taking twice as long.
A character may perform n actions simultaneously with the difficulty for each increased by the log of n: 10 points for 2 actions, 20 points for 4, etc. Common sense should be applied to what can be done simultaneously; archery and horseback riding are sensible concurrent activities, while archery and juggling are not. Running while doing other activities does not require an ability check, but does count as a simultaneous activity (increasing the difficulty of the other activities performed).
Section III: A Quick Key to Abbreviations
Here is what each abbreviation means. It may be convenient to print out this page to have on hand until the abbreviations become familiar.
ad acquirement difficulty
ag agility
al ability to learn
an one half anatomy skill, rounded down
au gold
av adjusted value
b number resulting from rolling the blue die
bs base skill
ch charisma
co constitution
cu copper
d difficult
de dexterity
dl difficulty of learning
e easy
ed extremely difficult
el electrum
ep experience point(s)
fe iron
gaa governing attributes addend
in intelligence
kn knowledge
ld learning difference
m moderate
me memory
ms medical skill
pe perception
po poison
r number resulting from rolling the red die
si silver
sp speed
st strength
ub untrained base
vd very difficult
wa weapon adjustment
wi wisdom
Section IV: A Sample Character Sheet
Here are parts of a sample character sheet being set up, in order to make the model perhaps easier to understand. I am demonstrating using my stopwatch as a ten-sided die (starting and stopping it, and then looking at the place for hundredths of seconds), and a simple four function calculator. The number of decimal places kept track of is somewhat arbitrary, but I will use two.
First, I decide the character's race, age, and gender (young Yedidia female). We'll call her Ocula. (We should also have an idea of what kind of skills she will have — I'll say a perceiver, although her 30 ep may be devoted any way I want.) Second, I generate 36 numbers as r-b (I roll the red and blue dice, subtracting the value on the blue die from that on the red die — if the red says '3' and the blue says '5', then the number is 3-5, or -2):
n1: 4; n2: 3; n3: 2; n4: -1; n5: -3; n6: 0; n7: 3; n8: -2; n9: 1; n10: 0; n11: 4; n12: -3; n13: -1; n14: 5; n15: 2; n16: 2; n17: 3; n18: 0; n19: -1; n20: 1; n21: -1; n22: -1; n23: 0; n24: -5; n25: 1; n26: 2; n27: -1; n28: 4; n27: -2; n28: 1; n29: -3; n30: 4; n31: 1; n32: -1; n33: 0; n34: -1; n35: 0; n36: 2
Now, using those 36 random numbers, I calculate her attributes as given in section II A, and adjust them as given in section II B:
Attribute Racial Gender Age Adjusted
ag: 4+3+2-1-3=5 +0 +0 +5 10
al: 4+0+3-2+1=6 +0 +0 +5 11
ch: 4+0+0+4-3=5 +5 +0 +0 10
co: -1+5+2+2+3=11 +0 +0 +5 16
de: 4+3+2+0-1=8 +0 +2 +5 15
in: 4+0+3+1-1=7 +3 +0 +0 10
kn: 4+0+3-1+0=6 +0 +0 -4 2
me: 4+0+3-5+1=3 +0 +0 +0 3
pe: 4+3+2-1+4=12 +10 +5 +5 32
sp: 4+3-3+4+1=9 +0 +0 +5 14
st: -1+5-1+0+1=4 +0 -5 +5 4
wi: 4+0+3+0+2=9 +0 +0 +0 9
For all unadjusted attributes, 0 is average, and how far above or below 0 the character's attribute is is how far above or below average the character is in that attribute.
Ocula is above average in virtually everything; this is unusual even for a heroine. (If the player does not like the first attributes generated, he may generate new ones — while Ocula is unusually gifted, heroes should be above average.) Ocula is, as compared to other young Yedidia women, mentally sharp, moves quickly, healthy, and exceptionally perceptive.
Now it is time to allocate initial experience. Ocula has 30 points to distribute on skills (above and beyond her untrained bases as a Yedidia female). Using one of the given roles, she will be a perceiver (her experience devoted, as listed in section II H, are blind action 3*1=3 ep, guess actions 3*3=9, etc.).
Now, for a daily encounter check. Will there be an encounter? 1. Encounter. What kind of encounter? 2. Animal. What animal? 19. Duck. How will it be/behave? 3. It is curious.
Upon seeing the duck, she will guess actions to see what it will do. Now we will calculate her guess actions skill.
Her untrained base for Guess Actions is 20. She has 9 ep devoted, so we calculate her bv as follows, consulting the log/exponent table: the exponent of 20 is 4. 4+9=13, so this is what her experience does. The log of 13 is 37, so she has a base skill of 37 for Guess Actions. Her al is added to this (11), and her gaa as well (32). Her av (adjusted value) for guess actions is 80.
Guessing actions for a person under normal circumstances would be of moderate difficulty; guessing the actions of a nonhuman animal is difficult (difficulty 40). Her success index is 80-40=40. The dice are rolled; red yields 4 and blue yields 1. (6*4)+1=25, and looking at the table, she needs a success index of at least -1. Ocula succeeds in guessing what the duck is going to do, namely try to figure out if she is going to attack and, if not, if she is safe to approach.
Later, a young Urvanovestilli man, in his wanderlust, comes through to visit. He has a pianoforte music box which entrances her. He is a bit of a maverick, and tells her that he will bet the music box against a well aged bottle of strawberry wine that he can beat her in a gambling game. She agrees.
He is a good gambler (gambling 30), and has an unadjusted perception of 3, adjusted 8. His al is 5, so his gambling skill is 43.
Ocula is not particularly skilled at gambling, but she can guess actions well — a skill closely related to gambling — and guess actions and gambling have an ld of 10, so she can gamble 70. Skill against skill; she has a success index of 27. Red rolls 5, blue rolls 2, for a roll of 32. She needed a success index of -11 or higher to win, so she won.
Ocula completes a quest, gaining two experience points. She decides to devote both of them to guessing actions. Her bv is 37, which has an exponent of 13. Adding the two experience points make it 15, which has a log of 39. With this two point increase, her new av is 82. (If she had trained with a tutor of sufficiently high av (84 or more — which would have been found on an acquisition skill check of difficulty 84), she would have gotten double benefit out of her experience, adding 4 to the exponent instead of 2, yielding 17 with a log of 41, so her new av would have been 84.)
Ocula's initial character sheet (without experience from the quest) is as follow:
Ocula Yedidia Female Age: 33
Attribute Racial Gender Age Adjusted
ag: 4+3+2-1-3=5 +0 +0 +5 10
al: 4+0+3-2+1=6 +0 +0 +5 11
ch: 4+0+0+4-3=5 +5 +0 +0 10
co: -1+5+2+2+3=11 +0 +0 +5 16
de: 4+3+2+0-1=8 +0 +2 +5 15
in: 4+0+3+1-1=7 +3 +0 +0 10
kn: 4+0+3-1+0=6 +0 +0 -4 2
me: 4+0+3-5+1=3 +0 +0 +0 3
pe: 4+3+2-1+4=12 +10 +5 +5 32
sp: 4+3-3+4+1=9 +0 +0 +5 14
st: -1+5-1+0+1=4 +0 -5 +5 4
wi: 4+0+3+0+2=9 +0 +0 +0 9
Health Value: co+st+ag+an=48
Skill ub ep bv gaa av
Anatomy 10 0 10 2 18
Animal Handling 20 0
Animal Lore 20 0
Blind Action 10 3
Dancing 20 0
Dodge 10 0
Endurance 0 0
Fire-Building 0 0
Gardening 10 0
Guess Actions 20 9 37 32 80
Haggling 0 0
Hear Noises 20 3
Herbalism 15 0
Hide 10 0
Hunting 10 0
Improvisation 20 0
Jumping 0 0
Massage 0 0
Medicine 10 0
Move Silently 10 0
Keen Eyesight 10 3
Musical Instrument (Recorder) 10 0
Navigation 0 0
Philosophy 0 0
Read Emotion 15 3
Search 0 3
Smell Creature 10 3
Theology 10 0
Weather Sense 10 3
Wilderness Survival 20 0
Woodlore 20 0
Inventory Herbal medicines Pet puma, young male, named Liki n1: 5; n2: 0; n3: 0; n4: -4; n5: 0; n6: 2; n13: 2; n14: 0; n15: 0; n16: -3; n17: 2; n18: 0; n19: 1; n26: -4; n27: -1; n28: 2; n29: 4; n30: 3; n31: 1; n32: 1; n33: 5; n34: -5 unadjusted species gender age adjusted ag: 5+0+0-4+0=1 30 0 5 36 co: 2+0+0-3+2=1 10 0 5 16 de: 5+0+0+0+1=6 20 0 5 31 pe: 5+2-4-1-2=0 30 0 5 35 sp: 5+0+4+3+1=13 10 0 5 28 st: 2+0+1+5-5=3 30 5 5 40 Health Value: 56 Damage: r+40 Skill Points gaa av Attack 30 99 129 Blind Action 20 35 55 Climb 20 76 96 Dodge 30 64 94 Hear Noises 20 35 55 Hide 30 71 101 Hunt 30 35 65 Move Silently 30 71 101 Track 30 35 65 Purse (4 silver pieces, 3 copper pieces, 8 iron tips) Recorder
Section V: Notes and Properties
These are my comments about the model — about properties that I see as desireable and undesireable, plus miscellaneous comments.
It is a discrete, integer, dice-oriented translation of a continuous, real-valued model having the following properties:
Miscellaneous: The model (or, more properly, the racial and age attribute adjustments and racial base skills) is not balanced. I intentionally placed realism above balance in model design.
Undesireable properties:
Desireable properties:
The model is continuous and real-valued.
Related attributes are correlated in value.
What attributes are, and their impact, is appropriate.
Adjustments take the form of multiplicands, rather than addends.
Adjustments make a substantial impact on individual checks, rather than just being a subtle and minute increment.
Attributes adjust skills.
Experience devoted to skills produces an appropriate law of diminishing returns — it takes a little while to learn a little, and a long while to become a virtuoso.
Related skills apply to each other.
The model is simple and unified — one model fits all — and can be easily programmed into a scientific calculator.
Once a character's skills are calculated, there is no more calculation for a while.
I like the way it handles time and actions.
Having listed other little virtues that this model possesses, I wish to delineate one virtue which I consider cardinal.
This model is small and incomplete; it possesses a limited domain.
It is the wide concensus of gamers that r-o-l-e-play is infinitely superior to r-o-l-l-play; this model is a miniscule thing which governs a timy part of play, and calls for contrainte in use. It governs certain natural abilities and certain developped skills; I would like to point out two major areas of play that it doesn't touch.
The first is something which is traditionally a part of play and which mathematical models are kept out of: tole play: who a character is, what his personality is, what makes him tick, what his spiritual state is. It is something which is governed by an understanding of how things are done that cannot be reduced to rules and algorithms. On this point, I don't feel the need to explain further.
The second is something which is traditionally a part of play in some form or other and which is traditionally governed by mathematical models, much to the detriment of play. It consists of things like the motion and gifts of the Spirit, the prayer of faith, divine intervention, etc.
In D&D, a cleric's prayer power is reduced to another form of mechanized spell casting: a cleric gets such and such many prayers of the following power levels per day, as a function of his wisdom and the number of creatures he has killed. Star Wars is no better: using the Force is just one more skill which happens to be accompanied by some more rules about conduct. Neither is GURPS.
God is good and he is reliable, but he is not safe and not tame, and certainly not predictable enough to reduce to a model. While God is not predictable, incorporating a great deal of randomness in a model won't cut it. God, when listening to prayers, weighs the petitioner's faith and motives, the situation, and then makes a decision that, while unpredictable, is governed by infinite love and wisdom. This is, if anything, less, not more, reducible to algorithms than personal interactions. This calls for the GM to pray, rely on the Spirit, and think. God's action must be handled as the most challenging and delicate role to portray, and it takes a game master created in the image of God to do.
