0230-RMU-CharacterLaw-27Sep12

GCPGCPGuild CompanionPublications Ltd

Guild CompanionPublications Ltd

Character Law

Public Playte st

Character LawPublic Playtest-Only Version 1.0For Registered Playtesters Only

Copyright Aurigas Aldebaron LLC 2012. Produced, published and distributed by Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

Rolemaster Character Law Copyright © 2012 Aurigas Aldebaron LLC. Produced, published and distributed by Guild Companion Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Playtesters may print one copy from the pdf solely for the purposes of playtesting. All other reproduction, sell-ing and (re)distribution of this work is strictly and expressly forbidden without written permis-sion from Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

Iron Crown Enterprises, I.C.E., ICE, Rolemaster, Rolemaster Classic, Rolemaster Standard System, Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing and all products related thereto, are all trademark and copyright © properties of Aurigas Aldebaron LLC, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 USA. All rights reserved. Material derived from Rolemaster and associated products is used in this product under license from Aurigas Aldebaron.

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Director: Nicholas HM Caldwell

Produced, published and distributed by Guild Companion Publications Ltd; Registered Playtester Copy

Copyright 2012 Aurigas Aldebaron LLC - Registered Playtester Copy 3

Contents1. Introduction 4

1.1. Rolemaster 41.2. The Basics 5

2. Characters 72.1. Character Creation 7

3. Background 103.1. Appearance 103.2. Character Personality 103.3. Background 11

4. Statistics 134.1. Stat Bonuses 134.2. Generating Stats 144.3. Stat Gains 15

5. Race 175.1. Races 175.2. Racial Capabilities 185.3. Height & Weight 195.4. Creating Races 19

6. Culture 206.1. Cultures 206.2. Creating Cultures 216.3. Languages 21

7. Professions 227.1. The Realm of Arms 227.2. The Realm of

Channeling 247.3. The Realm of Essence 257.4. The Realm of Mentalism 257.5. Hybrid Realms 267.6. Profession Skill Costs

and Bonuses 26

8. Talents 288.1. Birth 29

•Talents 29•Flaws 30

8.2. Combat 30•Talents 31•Flaws 32

8.3. Discipline 32•Talents 32•Flaws 33

8.4. Magical 33•Talents 33•Flaws 34

8.5. Racial 34•Talents 34•Flaws 35

8.6. Resistance 35•Talents 35

8.7. Other 35•Talents 35•Flaws 36

9. Skills 379.1. Academic 399.2. Athletic 409.3. Combat 419.4. Discipline 429.5. Magical 439.6. Outdoor & Animal 449.7. Perception 459.8. Social 459.9. Spell Casting 469.10. Subterfuge 479.11. Trade & Craft 47

10. Equipment 5010.1. Commerce 5010.2. Equipment 5010.3. Breakage 5110.4. Herbs and Poisons 52

11. Experience and Advancement 5511.1. Awarding Experience 5511.2. Advancement 56

12. Maneuvers and Movement 5812.1. Maneuvers 5812.2. Movement 6012.3. Encumbrance and

Feats of Strength 6012.4. Fatigue 6112.5. Special Situations 63

13. The Environment 6513.1. Resistance Rolls 6513.2. Visibility 6513.3. Hazards 6613.4. Poison 6713.5. Disease 6913.6. Fear & Morale 70

14. Appendix 7214.1. Example Characters 72

•Stongar 72•Linthea 74


4 Copyright 2012 Aurigas Aldebaron LLC - Registered Playtester Copy

1. Introduction

Rolemaster’s Character Law has a long history of providing players with numerous options for creating detailed and varied characters. The central tenet of Character Law is that any character may

learn any skill, although some professions will find it easier than others. This new Character Law keeps most of the basic concepts from past versions: Development Points, Skills, Professions, Races, while dropping many rules that were exceptions. The result is a simple core game, with a limited set of consistent mechanics.

Some new rules have been added, to clarify situations that were missing in old versions like hazards such as extreme tempera-tures, fear, and dropped objects. Perhaps most importantly the underlying methods for creating the race, culture, and profes-sional templates are based on a system so that new templates can be created in future products using the same balancing mechan-ics that are presented here in Character Law.

1.1. RolemasterRolemaster is a revision of Iron Crown Enterprise’s original Rolemaster game system published in 1982. Rolemaster was orig-inal designed to be used as a complete fantasy role-playing (FRP) system or as individual modular components. This new version is no different, providing a modular and easy to modify core sys-tem that can be built upon to create a detailed RPG ruleset for any setting. Unlike many modern RPG’s which focus on easy and simple rules, Rolemaster geared towards players who are looking for a realistic, yet playable RPG. There are five core books:

Arms Law (AL) is well known for tactical combat amongst indi-viduals and small groups using a detailed simulation of weapons and armor. Its detailed combat system covers the mechanics of attacks from weapons and animals to elemental attacks. Colorful critical and fumble results make every combat interesting and memorable.

Character Law (CL) is a set of rules for creating rich and detailed characters with a complete and comprehensive skill system. Also included are mechanics for creating races, cultures, professions as well as rules for environmental effects such as fatigue, poison, disease and other hazards.

Creature Law (CrL) contains stats for hundreds of monsters and fantastical creatures. As fantasy settings are often home to a va-riety of beasts, Creature Law contains rules for creating new ones for new and unusual settings.

Spell Law (SL) is a magic system with thousands of spells organ-ized into three realms of magic. This provides characters with a wide variety of spell-using options for all types of professions. Spells are organized into lists, which are related in theme.

Treasure Law (TL) is a book of treasure, equipment and com-merce; an important part of any RPG. Rules for crafting mun-dane objects as well as magical items are included along with the Alchemist profession.

Die Rolls2 – 20 (2d10): Roll two dice and add the two results to obtain a result between 2 and 20.

1 – 100 (d100): Rolemaster primarily uses two 10-sided dice to get a result between 1 and 100, referred to as ‘percentiles’. Each of the 10-sided dice gives a result between 0 and 9 – one die is treated as “tens” die and the other as the “ones” die. These may be distinguished by color or other marking (in which case it must be made clear which die is to be read as the tens before rolling; a fixed convention for your gaming table is recommended), or one may use a pair of percentile dice where one is marked “10, 20, 30, ... , 00”. (It is also possible to roll a novelty hundred-sided die, but most gamers find these impractical.) Thus a random result between 01 and 100 (a “00” is treated as 100) is obtained.

1 – 100 Open-ended (d100OE): An open-ended roll means that there is no absolute minimum or maximum. First make a 1-100 roll; a roll of 96-00 indicates that the dice are rolled again and



the result added to the first roll. If the second roll is 96-00, then a third roll is made and added, and so on until a non 96-00 roll is made. The total sum of these rolls is the result of the open-ended roll.

If the first roll is a 01-05 the dice are rolled again and the result subtracted from the first roll. If the second roll is 96-00, then a third roll is made and subtracted, and so on until a non 96-00 roll is made. The total of these rolls is the result of the low open-ended roll. A roll of 01-05 on anything other than the first roll does not cause one to roll again.

Some rolls, such as attacks and spell casting rolls are open-ended high only, which means that a 01-05 on the first roll has no effect. These rolls instead have unmodified ‘fumble’ or ‘failure’ ranges.

›Example: The GM asks a player to make an open-ended roll, and the initial roll is a 99 (thus between 96 and 100). A sec-ond roll is made with a result of 96, so a third roll is made with a result of 04. Thus, the high open-ended roll that the GM requested is a 199 (= 99 + 96 + 04).

›Example: The GM asks a player to make an open-ended roll, and the initial roll is a 04 (thus between 01 and 05). A second roll is made with a result of 97 (thus between 96 and 00), so a third roll is made, resulting in a 03. Thus, the low open-ended roll that the GM requested is a -96 (= 04 - 97 - 03).

Unmodified Rolls (UM)Certain results on some rolls indicate an immediate effect and no modifications are considered. These rolls are marked with a “UM.”, such as “01-04 UM” For example, all weapon attacks re-sult in a fumble if the initial unmodified d100OE roll falls within the fumble range of the weapon. If a roll falls into the UM range, then no modifiers are applied to the roll and the unmodified re-sult is applied (such as a fumble or spell failure).

Optional RulesIn these rules, you will see rules separated out in boxed text, like the box this text is in. Boxed rules are optional or advanced rules, you can ignore them if you choose and the rules will work fine as is. These rules apply or do not apply at the GM’s discretion, so if you are a player ask the GM if any particular boxed text rule is being used.

Power LevelRolemaster is a very open roleplaying game, and is built that way on purpose to allow for a wide variety of gaming experiences to be possible within the rules. Power level can vary widely between two gaming groups, or even between two different campaigns run by the same GM. Rule elements may be over-powered and game breaking in one campaign, but necessary or even casual elements in another campaign. In order to allow for a broad range of power levels, the power levels listed below are used in some sections of the rules to identify more powerful elements, to help GMs decide what they want to allow in play. The GM may even decide to use different power levels in different parts of the rules, such as using a Heroic power level for generating characters but an Average power level when dealing with magic.

Average – The player characters are average people. Training in skills will be the single most important factor in play, rather than exceptional statistics or innate quirks or talents.

Superior – The player characters are all exceptional, in the top 10% of the population. Training in skills is still a very strong fac-tor, but the PCs will stand out as better than people of the same profession and level due to their individual superiority and natu-ral talent. (Whenever power level comes up in these rules, this is the assumed, default level).

Heroic – The player characters are highly exceptional, in the top 1% of the population. While training in skills is still important, the characters are all cream of the crop, Olympic quality level in their chosen fields; their innate ability makes them stand well out above the average.

Legendary – The players characters at this power level are now once in a generation prodigies. Training in skills gets a giant push from innate talent. They now not only stand out in the crowd, the crowd has a hard time keeping up.

Epic – The player characters at epic power levels exceed the aver-ages by so much they no longer really fit into the same frame. They are pushing into superhuman or demigod like levels of in-nate ability.

These power levels are given to help GMs, not to tie them down or hamper them, so as always the GM can choose to allow some-thing the rules indicate belongs in a higher power bracket. At least with these benchmarks given, the GM has a clearer view of where the lines are before they choose to cross them.

1.2. The BasicsOne of the main tenets is that any character may learn any skill. Different Professions will have different development point costs



for a given skill to reflect how easy or hard it is for that character to learn that specific skill, but just as a Magician can learn to wield a sword, so too can a Fighter learn how to cast spells. This core tenet is one of the things that sets Rolemaster apart from many other game systems. The sole exception is that most char-acters are restricted to learning spells based on the “Realm(s)” of magic their character is innately attuned to.

Rolemaster is also a relatively simple game overall. It has a lot of detail, and that detail can make it appear more complicated than it really is. Everything is resolved through the roll of percentile dice. You roll; add your character’s skill bonus and any modifiers assigned by the Gamemaster, and look up the result on a table to determine success or failure. It really is that simple for players. Over time, many checks become intuitive “Break 100!” or “Beat 75”.

Characters in Rolemaster each have:

• Ten Statistics which measure the character’s raw mental and physical abilities.

• A race, which is the species of the character (human, dwarf, etc.), with humans as the baseline, so for all other races the differences are clearly laid out.

• A culture that represents the basic childhood experience of the character. This roughly defines the character’s early experiences.

• A Profession which is an archetype which defines which skills the character finds easier or harder to learn, which will tend to shape the character’s development.

• A Level, which is a rough estimate of a character or creature’s power and ability.

• Skills, the knowledge and ability to accomplish things ranging from physical tasks through mental feats to magical abilities.

• Talents, covering all quirks and variations from the average a character might have.

• This book also gives the Gamemaster the tools needed in order to run a game of Rolemaster, which includes:

• Maneuvers, tasks rated by difficulty, and how to resolve at-tempts to accomplish them (and the consequences of failure).

• Experience, a way to reward players for accomplishing tasks and advancing the story.

• Hazards, the dangers of the gameworld, and their effects on the players.

• Non Player Characters, all the people and creatures other than the player’s characters, and how to deal with them interacting with the player characters within the game.



2. Characters

B efore starting down the road of adventure, each player must first create a character, including the character’s skills and abilities. Characters have a Profession, which determines how difficult or easy skills are to

develop, as well as a race (nearly always some type of humanoid) and a culture.

Roleplaying is neither “storytelling” nor “wargaming”, and yet it encompasses elements from both of these genres. In wargames, the archetypes of Fighter, Thief and Mage are rigidly enforced. Similarly, in many of the novels and stories that epitomize the folktales and fantasy stories, we see many of the participants conforming to the same archetypes - although this conform-ity is considerably less strict and often ignored for the central character(s). Once you move beyond that style of story, any con-formity to established archetypes is a matter of choice and done purely for emphasis. Among the common limitations of certain styles of role-playing are restrictions that result in characters that are not just similar to one another, but are virtual “cookie-cutter” replicas of one another. The suggestions contained within this section should enable both Gamemasters and players to inject a wide degree of variety and individuality into their characters.

2.1. Character CreationAn overview of character creation is given below in a series of steps to determine the skills, abilities, motivations, and personal-ity of the persona you have set out to create. The details of each step are given in subsequent chapters.

1) Personality & Background(Chapter 3) Think of a character concept. This includes general abi lities, personality, and motivations, but may also include distinctive features of appearance, mannerisms, or other things that make the character an individual. Describe the character’s personal history and work with the Gamemaster in integrating it within the game setting.

2) Stats(Chapter 4) The first step in expressing the character concept in game mechanics is to determine the character’s statistics, or Stats. These are a set of ten physical and mental attributes such

as Strength, Agility, Reasoning, and Self Discipline. Some players may already have a Profession, Race, and Culture in mind when generating Stats, in which case this step would come after Step 4: Race & Culture. Two sets of Stats are generated: Temporary Stats represent a character’s current Stats, and Potential Stats represent the character’s maximum possible Stats.

3) Race & Culture(Chapters 5 and 6) Character Law provides a variety of sample races, including Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Halflings, Humans, Orcs, and Trolls. These races vary in stature and innate abilities such as strength, speed, endurance, or resistance/susceptibility to magic. For additional information on the individual races, please refer to Section 6.0 Races. It has no effect on game mechanics, but you should select your character’s gender at this point.

You should also choose a culture based on your character’s up-bringing (if a race is nature, then a culture is nurture). For some races, there is a default culture associated with that race (e.g., Dwarves are stereotypically from an Underground culture), but for other races many different cultural backgrounds are common (e.g., Humans have many different cultures). With your GM’s ap-proval, you can even mix races and cultures to best match your character’s formative years.

You should also note that your GM might determine that cer-tain Professions are not ideally suited to all races or cultures. Suggested Profession/Race combinations are discussed in Section 6.2 – Special Racial Capabilities.

With the choices made up to this point, you should have your basic character concept. This is the idea for a character that you will use as a foundation for the rest of Section 2. The following steps involve filling in the details. Try to keep your concept in mind as you make the choices and decisions that follow, and you will probably find the process flows quite smoothly.



4) Profession(Chapter 7) Rolemaster Professions are not Professions in the typical sense of a job or occupation. They determine how dif-ficult it is to learn skills and thus make it easier for a character to focus on certain abilities, while making others more difficult to learn, but not impossible. Professions determine the costs of all skills in terms of Development Points (DP) as well as Professional Bonuses that add to one’s skill bonuses. A skill with a low cost is “easy to learn” and a skill with a high cost is “hard to learn” for the character.

In Character Law, characters are not absolutely restricted from learning any skill, so it is easy to develop unique characters that are variations from the pure ‘Profession’ archetypes. For exam-ple, the Fighter ‘Profession’ has low costs in combat and physical skills, which encourages development of those skills typically as-cribed to a Fighter, however the character is free to take any other skill, even magical skills, at higher costs.

Your character also needs a Realm of Magic. All characters have a primary realm. For the spell casters, the primary realm is pre-determined; however, a pure arms character must also choose a primary realm.

5) Talents(Chapter 8) All characters get general groups of special abili-ties based on their race, but specific individual abilities may be purchased as talents and flaws. They are not like skills, in that they are not trained in small increments over time, but rather represent (dis)abilities or conditions that one either has or does not. While Skills can be taken many times over to improve them, Talents are often taken once, and never more than a set number of times, depending on the talent.

›Example: Takko spent much of his childhood helping his grandfather prepare medicines and poisons, so he was exposed to non-lethal doses of many toxins over a long period of time; this has trained his body to be more resistant to poisons than is normal. The player and GM agree that Takko should purchase the “Resistant to Poison Tier II” talent for a +10 to RRs vs. Poison, costing him 5 DP.

›Example: Onri who begins as a Fighter of the Langur may be able to ride a horse extremely well because his nomadic people are taught to ride at an extremely early age even for Nomads. The GM decides that the character will begin the game not only with the cultural ranks a nomad receives, but also the “Skill Bonus Tier II” giving him a +10 bonus to Riding, and costing him 10 DP.

6) Skills(Chapters 9) As a character advances in levels he develops and trains skills. His training and natural aptitude (based on his stats) in each skill affects his chances of accomplishing certain actions and activities (e.g., fighting, maneuvering, spell casting, etc.). As he develops and improves a skill, his Rank with that skill increases, indicating a corresponding increase in his abilities and bonuses with that skill.

A player gets 50 Development Points (DP) each level to use to purchase improvements on the character. In character genera-tion, for 1st level only, characters get a bonus set of DP based on race. This is to reflect the difference in power between the races, so that all characters of the same level are roughly at the same power level (or at least, built out of roughly the same number of DP).

Any skill that lists “Realm” as a bonus stat, is referring to the magical realm-controlling stat. For the realm of Channeling this is Intuition, for Essence this is Empathy, and for Mentalism this is Presence. For Hybrid casters, who use more than one realm of magic, the realm stat bonus is the lower of the two realm stats (e.g., for a Sorcerer of Channeling/Essence, use the lower of his Intuition and Empathy bonuses).

7) Outfit(Chapter 10) A Gamemaster must decide with how much equip-ment and money the characters begin play. The following sugges-tions have been provided as basic guidelines, but the GM should ensure that any equipment and money that the characters start the game with are consistent with the characters’ backgrounds and are suitable for the campaign setting as a whole. Do not allow your players to start the game with 10 Gold Bars each if the royal treasury only contains 50. In this campaign, perhaps no one has invented Plate armor, or perhaps civilians are not allowed to own swords.

Monetary systems and prices vary widely between game worlds, but if using the “generic” equipment costs in this book, we recom-mend that characters start off with the following:

• One full set of ordinary clothing, including shoes/boots and an outer coat/cloak if desired.

• One light backpack, satchel, or sack.• 50 sp (silver pieces) worth of starting money to spend on any

other equipment per level. (so standard starting PCs of 2nd level will start off with 100 sp worth of gear). Any money not spent on gear can be considered actual coin money carried by the character when play starts.



8) Finalize the CharacterTo finalize the character, the player needs to calculate the charac-ter’s bonuses such as Resistance Rolls, Defensive Bonus, and skill bonuses (include Offensive Bonuses). Skills each have a final bonus used in play. The number of ranks in a skill gives the raw skill bonus, which is modified by the Stat bonuses that impact that skill, Professional Bonuses (based on Professional skills), and occa-sionally by a specific modification due to race or a talent or flaw.

Defensive Bonus is equal to the 3x the Quickness stat bonus.

Concussion Hits are equal to the Base Hits for the character’s race, plus the Body Development skill bonus.

Fatigue is equal to the Body Development skill bonus plus the fatigue modifier for the character’s race.

Power Points are equal to the character’s Power Development skill.

Resistance Roll bonuses (for 5 different types) are three Stat bo-nuses added together, plus a modifier due to race (Section 13.1).



3. Background

The rules provide a means of defining your character in game terms. Rolemaster generates an entity with a race, a Profession, a culture, ten stats with associated bonuses, skills, and some talents and/or flaws to

round out the individual in terms of game mechanics. This, however, provides only a playing piece. In order to turn this playing piece into a character, one must devote at least a little attention to this individual’s personality, background, and appearance.

Two main purposes are served by fleshing out the character in this way. The first is allowing the player to portray the character in convincing and interesting manner. It is possible to simply play one’s own personality, but even then one should consider that the same personality will develop with different social norms in a typical fantasy setting than in our 21st Century world. The sec-ond main purpose is to allow the character to be integrated into the campaign and provide material for the GM to use in working the character into the story. Every character should have a reason to participate in those affairs central to the campaign. A third purpose, of somewhat lesser importance, is in assisting others to play their own characters (including the Gamemaster’s portrayal of non-player characters) in relation to your character.

3.1. AppearanceLet us consider the simplest and most superficial of these factors first. Some aspects of a character’s appearance are provided for by defined factors in the rules. Height and weight are numerically defined. The Strength stat gives some idea of musculature. There are some other obvious aspects of appearance that can be filled in such as hair and eye colors, skin complexion, facial features, and the presence of moles, birthmarks, freckles, or other marks. These are largely genetic factors and while helpful in forming an image of the character, they are not the most interesting aspects of appearance.

Appearance also includes a wide range of factors that express cul-tural and/or individual tastes and attitudes. What is the charac-ter’s hair style (including facial and body hair, when appropriate)? Does the character keep his hair combed or reserve that for spe-cial occasions, like meeting his god? What kind of clothing does the character wear? Details of clothing can include fabric, color and pattern, quality and condition, areas kept covered, and style of clothes. Does the character have any body-alterations (tattoos,

piercings, scars - deliberate or otherwise, etc.)? What accessories and gear does the character wear and carry? A large variety of ornaments have been worn in various cultures and they can be made from many different substances: shell, stone, metal, wood, ivory, bone, horn, hair, porcupine quills, feathers, teeth, leather, or anything else that might be regarded as attractive. Painting the body is also possible. Weapons, armor, tools, belts, water skins, and other functional items can be plain or extremely fancy.

Appearance involves choices and therefore can be changed. If the others are visualizing your character, they will react differently to your Human Fighter if he is “unwashed and ragged, wearing old furs stained with blood and less identifiable substances, bris-tling with weapons and wearing a necklace of humanoid ears” than if he is “carefully groomed, dressed in the latest fashions, but with a sense of timeless style, armed with a matching sword and dagger on an expensive weapon belt, and smelling slightly of the best cologne”.

Creating a picture of a character can help not only create a visual impression, but help keep it in mind without having to frequently repeat a verbal description. If one member of the group is espe-cially talented or interested artistically, this individual might do portraits for all the characters.

3.2. Character PersonalityPersonality is about what the character thinks, feels, says, and does. There is a great deal that can be defined about someone’s personality and players vary in how much they want to define in advance and how much they want to allow to develop in the course of play. Since any description is necessarily incomplete, there is always the opportunity to flesh out some new aspect of the character when reacting to a new experience.



There are numerous questionnaires available on the Internet to help define a character. Some of these are designed for gamers and other for writers, but either serves the same purpose. Often there are definitely more questions than you would want to work out the answers for before getting down to the game. The key is to pick out a few questions that are especially important to this character. What defines him? What aspects of his personality are going to be immediately obvious to those he meets? Those details are the ones that need to be known in order to start portraying the character.

Mannerisms are not the most important aspect of personality, but they are among the most obvious. Mannerisms can involve conscious or unconscious habits of action (e.g., Peter the Wary al-ways sits with his back to a wall), but frequently mannerisms of speech are the easiest to incorporate. A character may be quiet or chatty, speak directly or indirectly, use formal speech or slang and loose grammar, or employ catchphrases. Lisping and stutter-ing can be used, but may grow tiresome or may prove offensive to some.

Beliefs and assumptions influence decisions and this is one area where the player must coordinate to some degree with the Gamemaster, as culture will have a large influence here. What religion does the character follow (if any)? Has the character embraced some philosophical or political movement? What superstitions does the character have? What attitudes does the character have towards other races, cultures, and religions, either in general or specifically? What beliefs does the character have about relations between different social classes or the roles of men and women?

Attitudes shape a person’s reactions. There are general attitudes and attitudes with regard to specific things. Is the character trustful or suspicious? Shy or outgoing? Confident or uncertain? What does the character like? Admire? Hate? Fear? Attitudes drive a lot of behavior and just three or four can make a char-acter quite different from his player. Note that it is generally a good idea to make sure nobody else is planning on playing a Troll before deciding your character hates all Trolls.

Goals are another aspect that can drive character behavior and should be shared with the Gamemaster, as the opportunity to present characters with possible paths to their goals is very useful in driving the whole campaign forward. Goals can be short-term or long-term. Long term goals are often closely tied into character background (e.g., Nikolai wants to destroy the Duchy of Bywood be-cause the Duke’s soldiers destroyed his village and killed his parents).

One should also consider the character’s ideals and ethics. What does the character think he should do? What does the character feel he should do? (When the answers to these questions differ, the character has an internal moral conflict. Some players love to play

out that kind of psychological complexity; others wish to do anything else.) Finally, what does the character actually tend to do? Some characters will stick closely to their moral convictions, whereas others are weak in the face of (the right) temptation. A character might be upstanding most of the time, but given to failure in the face of alcohol, a pretty face, riches, deadly peril, or various other opportunities for human frailty. Is the character devoutly reli-gious or just making enough display of faith to make his grand-mother happy? Is the character patriotic or possessed of other strong loyalties?

Group CohesionIt is important that the group of player-characters can function together. Although certain forms of deliberate dysfunctional-ity may be fun at times, even a group at odds with itself needs some common ground in order not to have the campaign end in mutual slaughter at the very start. Prejudices should either be restrained or else some strong motivation that can overcome the prejudice, at least temporarily, should be present. It is also helpful if the group shares a fair number of ideals and has some overlap in goals. Some variation in morals is interesting; intense opposi-tions will lead to group disintegration if the characters are being played well. Shared goals make it easier for the Gamemaster to get a new adventure started: if everyone is looking for wealth, a rumor of treasure for the taking serves as a hook for all. If one character is looking for the treasure, and the other character’s goal is to protect it, this party has been set up for disaster before the game even started.

3.3. BackgroundCharacter background is about everything that happened to the character before the start of play. This includes the nature of the character’s homeland and culture. While the rules provide for a general culture that provides some starting skills, an actual culture is much more than that. A player should know the loca-tion of his character’s origin. Cultural customs, general circum-stances, habits, assumptions, and such may be defined by the GM based on known details of the setting or devised by the player to round out his character. Generally, a mix of both will be involved. Keep your character’s starting level in mind when developing his background, as a 10th level character should have considerably more back story than a 2nd level character (see section 11).

Family is an important part of background and a very useful one from the Gamemaster’s perspective. Villains love to threaten your relatives. Everyone has family. Even if your family is all dead, who they were and how they died is still part of your background. It is unnecessary to work out every detail of family right away, although sketching out a family tree is a fairly quick exercise in



creating some bare bones of background. Who are these relatives? What are they doing now? How does your character relate to each of them? Are the character’s parents still alive? Is the character close to them or estranged? Siblings may be the best of allies or rivals who prove the most insidious of foes. Friends and enemies outside of the family are also important pieces of background, and current or past lovers may play a large role as well.

Less close personal relationships matter, too. It is worth noting if you have contacts in the criminal underground or know some promising young magicians from an old job at the wizard’s li-brary. Most individuals will owe and be owed various debts, gen-eral or specific, and the calling in of favors owed can be a powerful weapon for the character or a plot hook for the GM. The GM should make sure that the benefits a character gets from contacts are balanced by disadvantages. That fence the character knows might make getting rid of stolen goods easy, but he also might seek out the character for help from time to time, or rat the char-acter out to the authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Education and training come in various types. A character could have been instructed by a parent, guardian, tutor, or owner. Another character might have attended some form of public or private school. Some characters will have received military train-ing or religious instruction. For some, apprenticeship will have been the most important form of education. A character will have learned his skills somehow. In a more general sense, one may ask if the character is naïve, well informed, or misinformed about various aspects of world knowledge. A character from a isolated island may be well informed about his home island, somewhat misinformed about the lands nearby, and have only a vague no-tion of the rest of the world.

Social status is a reality of life. A character that belongs to a wealthy or powerful class will generally be at an advantage com-pared to one who belongs to a despised class. It is generally to be recommended then, that characters either be similar standing or that the GM have a game planned in which a mix of classes will be useful (a gentleman detective can mingle with the upper class while his lower class manservant moves freely questioning the servants). If play occurs well outside the homelands of any of the characters, social class may become fairly unimportant. Status involves more than social class, however. An orphan may fall out the class he was born into, while someone disowned or made an outlaw is thrown out. Government officials and members of military and police organizations have status and authority based on their so-cietal role. Officials of other organizations, most often religions, may also have special status.

Special circumstances such as being the object of omens or prophesies, being recognized as the Chosen One, having a cult following, or being the secret heir to a kingdom can all help drive a campaign and add excitement. However, they can also

be overdone, fall into tired cliché, or upset everyone else’s plans. Such aspects of character background especially require coordi-nation with the GM.

Finally, there is one’s personal history. What successes and fail-ures has the character had? For what has the character achieved some level of fame or infamy? Stats, talents, and flaws may be helpful here, as well as skills. If a character has a very high Quickness bonus, his player may decide that he won many races in festivals growing up and local inhabitants would remember him for that.



4. Statistics

The base mental and physical attributes of a character are represented by 10 statistics (referred to as Stats). Stat values range from 1 to 100, which provides a basis for comparison among characters of the same race. The

lower the value of a stat, the weaker it is; the higher the stat, the stronger it is.

An individual’s Stats represent prowess in various areas in com-parison to the average member of that race, with an “Average” Stat within the range of 42-59. Stats in the “Above Average” (60-83) or “Below Average” (18-41) ranges are less common and far enough from average to be noticeable. Least common are “Deficient” (1-17) and “Exceptional” (84-100) and would be stand out even in large groups: “Borin is the strongest man in the kingdom” or “The moment you talk to Sedgewick you know he has a hard time un-derstanding things.”

Each Stat has two values: a potential value and a temporary value. The potential value reflects the highest value (genetically) that the character’s Stat can reach while the temporary value rep-resents the Stats current value. The temporary value of a given Stat may never be higher than its potential.

During play, the temporary Stats can rise due to practice and training whereas potential Stats rarely, if ever, change. Note that a character’s Stats do not always increase beyond their starting value as they still require effort to improve: two months of travel-ling and adventure does not necessarily accomplish what 18 years of youthful exuberance failed to.

Agility (Ag) –Agility represents a combination of manual dex-terity, grace, and fine motor control.

Constitution (Co) – Constitution represents general health and well-being, resistance to disease, and the ability to absorb physi-cal damage.

Empathy (Em) – Empathy is the ability to perceive the emotional states of others and the capacity to form emotional attachments to persons, places, or things. It also represents the character’s sen-sitivity to the all-pervading force that is common to all things and is the basis of most things supernatural.

Intuition (In) – Intuition is a combination of subconscious think-ing, luck, genius, precognition, and the favor of the gods is embod-ied in this stat. This provides the ability to draw conclusions or make decisions quickly, without stopping for deep consideration.

Memory (Me) – Memory is the ability to retain what has previ-ously been encountered and learned.

Presence (Pr) –Presence is a sense of self and the ability to project your personality to affect or control others are the principal ele-ments of a character’s presence.

Quickness (Qu) – Quickness is a measure of speed, reflexes, and conscious reaction time.

Reasoning (Re) – Reasoning is the ability to take available infor-mation and draw logical conclusions.

Self Discipline (SD) –Self Discipline is the amount of control of mind over the body, the ability to stay focused or push harder in pursuit of some goal, or to draw upon the inner reserves of strength inherent in any individual.

Strength (St) – Strength is not just brute musculature but the ability to use existing muscles to the greatest advantage.

4.1. Stat BonusesThe value of the Stat is used to determine the Stat bonus as indi-cated in the Table 4-1: Stat Bonuses. Furthermore, different races may provide a bonus or a penalty to the Stat bonus. Humans are considered to be the benchmark and therefore have no racial Stat modifiers. Thus, an average dwarf with a Strength of 50 is stronger than a human with an identical Strength since the dwarf gets +1 to his Strength bonus (Section 6: Race).

❚ Note: Coming to this version from RM2 or RMFRP, you may feel like the stat generation methods given in Section 4.2 result in excessively average or low temps and potentials. The new stat table does not allow for stats over 100, and greatly compresses the “no bonus” of average to just 48-53. So before you decide the stats are low, compare the bonuses you get for the stats rather than just the stats themselves, and keep in mind the following “gut checks”: A 54 here is equal



to an old 70, a 66 here to an old 80, a 78 here to an old 90, an 87 here to an old 94, a 95 here to an old 100, and a 100 here gives more bonus than an older system 102.

The Stat itself is not used in play, but rather the Stat bonus is used as a modifier to skills and actions. Each skill has three assigned Stats whose bo-nuses are all added to the total skill bonus (Chapters 8 and 10).

›Example: The stat bonus for Combat Training (Melee) is St/St/Ag. The Strength bonus is added to the total twice and the Agility bonus is added once. If Jakor has a 71 Strength (+3) and an 85 Agility (+6) he would add 3 +3 + 6 = 12. Elfor gets a +12 stat bonus to all Combat Training (Melee) skills.

In addition to skills, Stats af-fect several other character quantities such as Defensive Bonus, Pace, Resistance Rolls, and Encumbrance penalties.

Defensive Bonus: A charac-ter benefits defensively from

his Quickness. Regardless of whether or not a character has any defensive skills, he may add 3x his Quickness bonus to his Defensive Bonus (DB) provided he is not completely still or sur-prosed (see Arms Law).

Encumbrance: Carrying and wearing enough equipment and armor can give maneuver penalties, which can be offset by Strength (Section 12.3).

Pace: The Quickness bonus adds directly (once) to the character’s Base Movement Rate given by their height (Section 5.3).

Resistance Rolls: Resistance Rolls (RRs) against spells, fear, poi-son, and disease are affected by various stat bonuses depending on the type of ‘attack’ (Section 13.1).

• Poison/Disease: Constitution and Self Discipline

• Fear: Self Discipline and Reasoning• Channeling-based magic: Intuition and Self Discipline• Essence-based magic: Empathy and Self Discipline• Mentalism-based magic: Presence and Self Discipline

4.2. Generating StatsThere are several different ways to generate Stats, depending on the style of the game and the amount of randomness desired. Because some GMs prefer randomness, while others prefer a more balanced system, two different methods of stat generation are discussed here.

Stats can be generated either randomly or via a point purchase method. If you want players to deal with a set of stats generated by luck and then develop their character concepts based on what-ever stats the dice generate, then use the random method. If you prefer to develop characters with a predetermined concept that requires a certain arrangement of stats, then it is best to use the point purchase method to ensure enough control over stats to guarantee getting what is needed to fit that concept.

Random Stat GenerationFor the Random method, follow these steps:

Create a list of the stats: Ag, Co, Em, In, Me, Pr, Qu, Re, SD, & St

For each of the 10 Stats, roll 1d100 three times and record them next to the Stat. Reroll any rolls below 11, since most campaigns are focused on characters that are likely to be superior to the av-erage population.

For each Stat, cross out the low roll and discard it.

There is now a pair of 1-100 results for each Stat. The high roll is your character’s potential for that Stat, the lower remaining roll (not the crossed out one you discarded) is the temporary for that Stat.

Record the temporary and potential values for all 10 Stats, along with the corresponding Stat bonuses, on your character sheet.

Random SwapsSome GMs and players prefer random, but want a bit more con-trol. To obtain more control over Stat generation, allow a swap. After step 4 in “Random Stat Generation” the player can swap the temporary/potential pair for one Stat with the temporary/potential pair for another Stat. This may be because the char-acter really wants to play a Magician, but managed to roll a 23/32 for Empathy, which would make playing a Magician hard, if not impossible.

Stat Bonus1 -‐ 152 -‐ 143 -‐ 134 -‐ 125 -‐ 116 -‐ 10

7 -‐ 8 -‐ 99 -‐ 11 -‐ 812 -‐ 14 -‐ 715 -‐ 17 -‐ 618 -‐ 23 -‐ 524 -‐ 29 -‐ 430 -‐ 35 -‐ 336 -‐ 41 -‐ 242 -‐ 47 -‐ 148 -‐ 53 054 -‐ 59 + 160 -‐ 65 + 266 -‐ 71 + 372 -‐ 77 + 478 -‐ 83 + 584 -‐ 86 + 687 -‐ 89 + 790 -‐ 92 + 893 -‐ 94 + 995 + 1096 + 1197 + 1298 + 1399 + 14100 + 15

Table 4-‐1: Stat Bonuses

Deficient

Poor

Exceptiona

lSupe

rior

AverageBe

low Avg

Above Av

g



Using more than two swaps is not recommended. If you are going to meddle with luck that much you will probably get more satis-fying results from point purchase Stat generation.

Point Purchase Stat GenerationFor the Point Purchase method, Stats cost a certain a fixed num-ber of Stat Points. A Stat of 50 has a cost of 0, while stats above 50 cost Stat Points and stats below 50 cost ‘negative’ Stat Points (they give Points back). Stats in the range of 18 – 83 cost +/-1 Stat Point for every point above or below 50. Stats less than 18 give back even more Stat Points, and Stats above 83 cost even more Stat Points. Consult Table 4-2 for how many Stat Points it costs for any Stat

from 1 to 100.

To generate Stats using the Point Purchase method, follow these steps:

Create a list of the stats: AG, Co, Em, In, Me, Pr, Qu, Re, SD, & St.

First purchase your potential Stats; you have 355 Stat Points to spend on all ten potential Stats, and any Stat Points not spent are lost.

Now purchase your temporary Stats; you have 55 Stat Points to spend on all ten temporary Stats. A temporary Stat cannot be higher than that Stat’s po-tential value.

There is now a pair of 1-100 results for each Stat, the tem-porary (starting) and poten-tial values.

Record the temporary and po-tential values for all 10 Stats, along with the corresponding Stat bonuses, on your charac-ter sheet.

Varying Power LevelSome GMs and players prefer stronger or weaker start-ing characters for different styles of game play. The two methods given above will generate slightly above average characters (Superior): average temporary Stats of 55.5 and average potential Stats of 84.5. The ‘Average Stat’ columns in the table below indicate what the average stats will be when using a different power level in your game.

If using the random method, change the “Reroll if below 11” in step 2 to what is given in the “Reroll” column on Table 4-3 from the power level you want (e.g., if you chose “Heroic”, then reroll all rolls under 21).

If you are using the Point Purchase method, replace the 355 Stat Points used in step 2 with the Points given in the Potential column, and replace the 55 Stat Points used in step 3 with the Points given in the Temporary column (e.g., if you pick “Epic”, then use 460 points for potentials and 220 points for temporaries).

4.3. Stat GainsStats can rise from their temporaries up to their potentials over time. As with Stat generation, some Gamemasters like this to be random and some Gamemasters prefer it to be more controlled. Stats get the opportunity to go up every level, starting with Level 2, however not all Stats will go up. Some Stats may never reach their potential. This represents the character focusing on im-proving certain Stats; they will often be the Stats most used by the skills the character develops.

Random MethodEvery time a character goes up a level, after Level 1, pick two dif-ferent Stats to get a Stat Gain roll. Look up the current (temporary) value in Stat Gains Table 4-4 and the ‘Die’ column indicates what type of die is used for the Stat Gain roll. Roll that die type and add that to the temporary Stat to get the new temporary Stat. Stats cannot be raised above their potential value.

Stat Die1 -‐ 6 d3 -‐ 17 -‐ 8 d39 -‐ 18 d619 -‐ 81 d1082 -‐ 90 d691 -‐ 92 d393 -‐ 99 d3 -‐ 1

Table XX: Stat Gains

Stat Cost1 -‐932 -‐873 -‐814 -‐755 -‐696 -‐637 -‐578 -‐549 -‐5110 -‐4911 -‐4712 -‐4513 -‐4314 -‐4115 -‐3916 -‐3717 -‐35

18 -‐ 83 Stat -‐ 5084 3585 3786 3987 4188 4389 4590 4791 4992 5193 5494 5795 6396 6997 7598 8199 87100 93

Table 4-‐2: Stat Point Costs



Fixed MethodIn the fixed method for Stat Gains, characters get 12 Stat Points every level. These Stat Points can be applied to any number of Stats desired. Use Table 4-2 to determine the current Stat Point value of each Stat based on that Stat’s temporary value. To raise a Stat, the character must pay the difference in the value between the current temp stat and the improved level. Temp Stats may be improved up to the potential Stat, but may not be improved past the potential. It is advised that GMs limit players to spending no more than 6 points on in-creasing any single stat in a single level.

›Example: Torsk-Krift wishes to raise his Agility which is currently an 80. Table 4-2 indicates that an 80 is worth 30 Stat Points. If he puts 6 Stat Points into Agility that will give him 36 Stat Points which can bring him to 84 Agility. An 84 is actually is 35 Stat Points so he will have one Stat Point left over which he can leave there, to make it easier to raise it during future level advancement, or apply to a different Stat. Note he can only raise his Agility to 84 if his potential Agility is 84 or higher.

Stat Gains with Development Points

In addition to the Random or Fixed method, some Gamemasters may allow Development Points to be spent to raise Stats. Development Points can be turned into Stat Points 1 for 1. Thus, a character may use an additional 5 DP as 5 more Stat Points (Or an additional die roll for the ran-dom method for 6 DP).

If the GM wants only DP to be used for Stat Gains, then characters should not get any Stat Points when they go up a level and instead be given an extra 12 DP every level. The player can then decide to spend Development Points on Stat gains as well as Talents and Skills. If using this rule, limit overall spending to no more than 20 DP on stat gains across all stats, and no more than 6 DP per stat, per level.

Stat Bonus Value Cost1 -‐15 6 -‐872 -‐14 6 -‐813 -‐13 6 -‐754 -‐12 6 -‐695 -‐11 6 -‐636 -‐10 6 -‐577 -‐9 3 -‐548 -‐9 3 -‐519 -‐8 2 -‐4910 -‐8 2 -‐4711 -‐8 2 -‐4512 -‐7 2 -‐4313 -‐7 2 -‐4114 -‐7 2 -‐3915 -‐6 2 -‐3716 -‐6 2 -‐3517 -‐6 2 -‐3318 -‐5 1 -‐3219 -‐5 1 -‐3120 -‐5 1 -‐3021 -‐5 1 -‐2922 -‐5 1 -‐2823 -‐5 1 -‐2724 -‐4 1 -‐2625 -‐4 1 -‐2526 -‐4 1 -‐2427 -‐4 1 -‐2328 -‐4 1 -‐2229 -‐4 1 -‐2130 -‐3 1 -‐2031 -‐3 1 -‐1932 -‐3 1 -‐1833 -‐3 1 -‐1734 -‐3 1 -‐1635 -‐3 1 -‐1536 -‐2 1 -‐1437 -‐2 1 -‐1338 -‐2 1 -‐1239 -‐2 1 -‐1140 -‐2 1 -‐1041 -‐2 1 -‐942 -‐1 1 -‐843 -‐1 1 -‐744 -‐1 1 -‐645 -‐1 1 -‐546 -‐1 1 -‐447 -‐1 1 -‐348 0 1 -‐249 0 1 -‐150 0 1 051 0 1 152 0 1 253 0 1 354 1 1 455 1 1 556 1 1 657 1 1 758 1 1 859 1 1 960 2 1 1061 2 1 1162 2 1 1263 2 1 1364 2 1 1465 2 1 1566 3 1 1667 3 1 1768 3 1 1869 3 1 1970 3 1 2071 3 1 2172 4 1 2273 4 1 2374 4 1 2475 4 1 2576 4 1 2677 4 1 2778 5 1 2879 5 1 2980 5 1 3081 5 1 3182 5 1 3283 5 1 3384 6 2 3585 6 2 3786 6 2 3987 7 2 4188 7 2 4389 7 2 4590 8 2 4791 8 2 4992 8 2 5193 9 3 5494 9 3 5795 10 6 6396 11 6 6997 12 6 7598 13 6 8199 14 6 87100 15 6 93

Deficient

Below Average

Average

Above Av

erage

Exceptiona

l

Stat Bonus Value Cost1 -‐15 6 -‐872 -‐14 6 -‐813 -‐13 6 -‐754 -‐12 6 -‐695 -‐11 6 -‐636 -‐10 6 -‐577 -‐9 3 -‐548 -‐9 3 -‐519 -‐8 2 -‐4910 -‐8 2 -‐4711 -‐8 2 -‐4512 -‐7 2 -‐4313 -‐7 2 -‐4114 -‐7 2 -‐3915 -‐6 2 -‐3716 -‐6 2 -‐3517 -‐6 2 -‐3318 -‐5 1 -‐3219 -‐5 1 -‐3120 -‐5 1 -‐3021 -‐5 1 -‐2922 -‐5 1 -‐2823 -‐5 1 -‐2724 -‐4 1 -‐2625 -‐4 1 -‐2526 -‐4 1 -‐2427 -‐4 1 -‐2328 -‐4 1 -‐2229 -‐4 1 -‐2130 -‐3 1 -‐2031 -‐3 1 -‐1932 -‐3 1 -‐1833 -‐3 1 -‐1734 -‐3 1 -‐1635 -‐3 1 -‐1536 -‐2 1 -‐1437 -‐2 1 -‐1338 -‐2 1 -‐1239 -‐2 1 -‐1140 -‐2 1 -‐1041 -‐2 1 -‐942 -‐1 1 -‐843 -‐1 1 -‐744 -‐1 1 -‐645 -‐1 1 -‐546 -‐1 1 -‐447 -‐1 1 -‐348 0 1 -‐249 0 1 -‐150 0 1 051 0 1 152 0 1 253 0 1 354 1 1 455 1 1 556 1 1 657 1 1 758 1 1 859 1 1 960 2 1 1061 2 1 1162 2 1 1263 2 1 1364 2 1 1465 2 1 1566 3 1 1667 3 1 1768 3 1 1869 3 1 1970 3 1 2071 3 1 2172 4 1 2273 4 1 2374 4 1 2475 4 1 2576 4 1 2677 4 1 2778 5 1 2879 5 1 2980 5 1 3081 5 1 3182 5 1 3283 5 1 3384 6 2 3585 6 2 3786 6 2 3987 7 2 4188 7 2 4389 7 2 4590 8 2 4791 8 2 4992 8 2 5193 9 3 5494 9 3 5795 10 6 6396 11 6 6997 12 6 7598 13 6 8199 14 6 87100 15 6 93

Deficient

Below Average

Average

Above Av

erage

Exceptiona

l



5. Race

The seven races described in this section are drawn from fantasy literature and are among the most common in fantasy role-playing games. A Gamemaster should examine each race carefully before

including it in his campaign – not all of these races are suitable for all settings. GMs should also feel free to customize races to fit the setting or to create new races.

5.1. RacesGeneral physical descriptions and traits of the races are given here, although even these could change based on the setting. The Racial Talents and Flaws listed are described in Section 9.7: Racial Talents.

Dwarves Probably the “toughest” physically of the races, Dwarves are short, stocky, and ruddy of complexion, with deep-set eyes and dark wiry hair and beards (the latter they are quite proud of, grow-ing long elaborate braids). Dwarves are superior craftsmen and well adapted to underground living; they love to mine the earth for metals and precious gems, crafting them into powerful weapons and artifacts. Not as fertile as humans, they have few children, and less than a third of their people are women, who are guarded jealously within their cavernous halls.

Dwarves have superior dark sight, able to see exceptionally well in dim light and able to see short distances even in complete dark-ness. They are slightly more dense than humans, so they sink in water, making it difficult (but not impossible) for them to swim (-25 penalty). Dwarves are very resistant to poisons and disease, and have exceptional lifespans.

Racial Talents & Flaws: Dense (Swimming -25), Darkvision, Nightvision

Elves Though similar to mortal men in most ways, Elves have several important, if subtle, differences. As a race, they are taller than most humans, although slender. Elven men have no facial hair, and as a rule, they have less body hair than humans. Generally,

Elves are fairer in appearance than their mortal brothers, having finer features, unmarred skin, and pointed ears with no earlobes.

Elven sight is extremely keen; they are able to see on a clear night as if in full daylight. Their vision is correspondingly restricted with less light, and they cannot see at all in total darkness. Perhaps most importantly: Elves do not age or grow old, and their bodies are immune to all bacterial and viral infections. Thus, they are virtually immortal (excepting violent death).

Racial Talents & Flaws: Immune to disease, Meditational sleep, Nightvision

GoblinsGoblins are small, about 3’ tall, with thin, wiry builds. They tend toward long, narrow heads with pointy chins, pointed ears without lobes, narrow noses, and thin lips. Their front teeth are pointed rather than chisel-shaped like humans, and when agi-tated, their thin lips often pull back to expose these sharp points. Common underground goblins have pale yellowish skin, while those who make their homes on the surface darken to a deep greenish color.

Goblins can see well in dim light or even somewhat in the dark, which (combined with their small stature) makes them well-suited to life underground. They find direct sunlight painful to their eyes (-75 to all actions) and will avoid being active on the surface when the sun is out.

A combination of a strong urge for dominance and a reasonable urge to flee danger due to their small size often undermines their ability to form into larger groups and stable cultures. Their ten-dency in combat to avoid direct contests of strength often earns them a reputation for being sneaky, treacherous, and mean.



Racial Talents & Flaws: Mechanical Aptitude (+25 to Mechanics), Nightvision, Darkvision, Small Sized, Light-sensitive III (-75)

HalflingsHalflings are very short, rarely more than 4’ in height, and tend to be stout (trending toward fat with age). They have large, hairy feet – to the point of being “furry” – that are almost immune to cold, and so they go about always barefoot. They are an inoffen-sive people, preferring the quiet of their own villages. Lovers of good food and drink, they spend much of their time at inns and friends’ houses, eating and drinking.

Halflings have a high level of manual dexterity and are adept at moving quietly. They also are possessed of an amazing constitu-tion and can resist even the most powerful magical and physical damage for extended periods.

Humans Common mortal men are the same race we are familiar with in the real world and come in the same variations of size, build, skin/hair colors and facial features as the humans we know. Highly adaptable, they can be found in just about any climate or environment and develop widely varied cultures. In some set-tings there may be multiple races of Humans that vary in slight ways (e.g., average height, Stat bonuses), although they do not have any of the special abilities often seen in the other races (superior sight, etc.).

OrcsOrcs are usually much shorter than humans, although taller than dwarves. They have heavy brows and jaws set in round faces, pointed ears without lobes, thin lips that barely cover large teeth, small noses that are almost slits and small deep-set eyes. Those that live underground tend to be pale white in skin tone, while those that live above ground are darker, trending toward brown tones. They are very heavy of build, as they are bred as warriors and laborers. They often contend with each other for dominance

and, as a result, organize poorly without a very strong leader, which leads to chaotic, often violent cultures. Orcs see well at night and have limited vision even in total darkness.

Racial Talents & Flaws: Nightvision, Darkvision

TrollsTrolls are large and immensely strong (usually about 9’ tall and massively built), but mentally slow compared to most other races. Trolls are covered in a thick, hard skin that overlaps at the joints, similar to the hide of a rhinoceros. They have hands capable of fine manipulation, but their fingertips end in slightly curved claws, and their teeth are obviously the ripping and tearing tools of a carnivore.

Their built-in advantages in physical or combat situations, along with somewhat weak minds and terrifying appearances tend to leave many trolls living out their lives beyond the edge of civili-zation, in cultures so loose and barbaric as to be barely worthy of the term “culture.” Their combination of strengths and weak-nesses often makes them the target of those who would use them as shock troops, which tends to further stain their racial reputa-tions as creatures of the dark. There are exceptional trolls who overcome these disadvantages, but they tend to have to deal with the fears and hatreds most people have toward their kind.

Trolls cannot stand the light of day, suffering a -75 penalty to all actions in bright sunlight, but they can see well in dim light and somewhat even in total darkness.

Racial Talents & Flaws: Cold Resistance, Heat Resistance, Natural Armor (AT 6), Bite, Claws, Nightvision, Darkvision, Large Sized, Light-sensitive III (-75)

5.2. Racial CapabilitiesRacial capabilities such as Stat bonuses and Resistance Roll mod-ifiers are given in Table 5-1.

Stat Bonuses: Modifiers to the Stat Bonuses, not the Stats themselves. For example, if a Dwarf has a temporary Strength of 90, he has a total strength bonus of +9: +8 (from the temp Stat) +1 (from the racial bonus).

Resistance Rolls: Modifiers for five of the six primary

Race Agility

Constitution

Empathy

Intuition

Mem

ory

Presence

Quickness

Reason

ing

Self Disc.

Strength

Channeling

Essence

Mentalism

Poison

Disease

Size

Fatigue

Base Hits

Recovery M

ult

Lifespan

Bonus D

P

Dwarf -‐1 +4 -‐4 -‐2 -‐2 +1 +20 +20 +10 +5 M +15 30 1/2x 300 10Elf +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 -‐4 -‐2 -‐5 -‐5 -‐5 +10 M +10 20 2x im. 5Goblin +3 +2 -‐2 -‐2 +1 -‐2 +1 +5 +5 S 25 1/2x 80 60Halfling +4 +3 -‐2 -‐4 +4 -‐4 -‐4 +25 +20 +15 +5 M 25 1x 110 20Human M 25 1x 100 50Orc +4 -‐2 -‐2 -‐2 -‐2 -‐4 +2 +5 +10 M 25 1/2x 200 50Troll -‐4 -‐2 -‐2 -‐2 +4 -‐10 -‐10 -‐10 +15 +15 L +20 25 2x 200 25

Stat Bonuses Resistance RollsTable 5-‐1: Racial Capabilities



RR categories (See Resistance Rolls, Section 13.1). No Race provides a modifier to Fear RRs.

Size: Indicates size characteristic (mostly for combat purposes), most of these races are Medium (M), the Troll is Large (L), and the Goblin is Small (S). (See Arms Law).

Fatigue: Bonus to the Body Development skill for fatigue checks (not for determining hits), reflecting a race’s innate stamina (Section 12.3).

Base Hits: Starting hits of a race, before any skill in Body Development is added, reflecting that some races are more or less sturdy.

Recovery Multiplier: Represents how quickly a race heals. A 1x means the race heals normally. A multiplier of 1/2x means this race cuts all recovery times in half, and recovers Hits twice as fast, while a multiplier of 2x means the race takes twice as long to recover and heals Hits half as fast. See Arms Law Section 7.2: Injuries & Healing.

Lifespan: Indicates the amount of time that an individual can expect to live (before succumbing to old age), while some few will live longer or shorter spans. Elves are immortal (im.) and do not die of old age.

Bonus DP: Extra Development Points that are spent at character creation. This reflects the fact that the sum of all the above ad-vantages and disadvantages makes the races unequal.

5.3. Height & WeightHeight and weight are largely determined by one’s Race, although there can be significant variation within those of a single Race. Taller races have faster paces due to stride, although they cannot take advantage of cover as easily as those that are smaller.

Characters can deviate from the average build, being thinner or heavier than average, but to obtain a base weight, use the number below as a starting point. For every inch over average height, add the “over” factor to the base weight, for every inch under average height, subtract the “under” factor from the base weight. Females tend to be 5-10% smaller than males.

The Stride in Table 5-2 is added to 50 to get the character’s Base Movement Rate (BMR)

in feet/round for members of that Race. A round, as described in Arms Law, is 10 seconds long.

From there you can adjust for build, but it is rare to be more than +/-20% from this average without being under or overweight in a manner that is unhealthy. If you wish to randomize, roll d10 to determine build and consult Table 5-3. Characters with an aver-age build use average weight for the Race. For a light or heavy build, roll 2d10 and subtract or add that percentage. For example, a heavy 6’ tall human starts with a base weight of 180 + 3 x 6 = 198 pounds. This is increased by 2d10% for a final weight that ranges from 202 pounds to 238 pounds.

Individual StrideThe Base Move by Race assumes a roughly average height and that all members of the Race have an equivalent stride. If stride modifiers are desired on a per individual basis then an average 6’ humanoid starts with a BMR of 50’/rnd. For every 2” above 6’ add 1 to the BMR and for every 2” below 6’ subtract 1 from the BMR (e.g. 6’2” gives a BMR of 51’/round, 6’10” gives a BMR of 55’/rnd, 5’4” gives BMR of 47’/round.)

5.4. Creating RacesRaces are balanced by assigning costs (in terms of Development Points) for advantages and disadvantages they may have. These are collectively called Racial Talents and work the same as other Talents (Chapter 8). Stat Bonuses, Lifespan, RR mods, are all de-scribed as Talents in Section 8.6.

To create a new race, cost out the Race’s Talents & Flaws and subtract from 70 to get the Bonus DP for the Race. Talents need not be limited to those given as ‘Racial’ Talents either. Any Talents could potentially be used in creating new Races. For instance, there might be a Race of which all members are natu-rally Ambidextrous.

Race Average Random Stride Average -‐ +Dwarf 4'6" 43" + 2d10 -‐10' 135 lbs -‐4 lbs/inch +7 lbs/inchElf 6'6" 67" + 2d10 +5' 180 lbs -‐5 lbs/inch +3 lbs/inchGoblin 3'0" 25" + 2d10 -‐20' 45 lbs -‐1 lb/inch +2 lbs/inchHalfling 3'6" 31" + 2d10 -‐15' 76 lbs -‐1 lb/inch +4 lbs/inchHuman 5'9" 58" + 2d10 0' 180 lbs -‐3 lbs/inch +6 lbs/inchOrc 6'0" 61" + 2d10 0' 180 lbs -‐3 lbs/inch + 6 lbs/inchTroll 9'0" 97" + 2d10 +20' 500 lbs -‐5 lbs/inch + 10 lbs/inch

Height WeightTable 5-‐2: Racial Height & Weight

Roll Build Weight1 -‐ 3 Light Average Weight -‐ 2d10%4 -‐ 7 Medium Average Weight8 -‐ 10 Heavy Average Weight + 2d10%

Table 5-‐3: Build



6. Culture

The people whom your character grew up around determine his cultural background. This is similar to national origin in the real, modern world. If your character grew up as the child of a peasant in a rural feudal

culture, he will be different from a character that grew up as the child of a fisherman in an urban despotic culture, even if both are of the same Race and Profession. Factors like language, skill preferences, weapon preferences, religion, general outlook, prejudices, and many others traits will be affected by the culture in which your character was raised.

The tenor of the culture you were raised in is reflected in the Culture you choose during character generation, before first level. Select a Culture that best fits your concept and assign the ranks in Table 7-1. The 10 ranks of language that all Cultures provide must be allocated between spoken/written, and may be in more than one language (e.g., you could speak and write Erlini at 5 ranks each, or you could speak Erlini at 5 ranks, write Erlini at 3 ranks, and speak Shay for 2 ranks). Ranks given for Comp/Craft/PA can be chosen from any Composition, Crafting, or Performance Art skill although the Culture should help determine what is typi-cally available.

6.1. CulturesCosmopolitan: When a city gets large enough, those who dwell in it cease to be merely urban in culture. Large cities tend to have very finely specialized craftsmen, and the majority of their economy is devoted to trade and commerce. The combination of specialization, access to resources and cultural experiences you only find in large urban areas, and exposure to other people via trade and travel create a culture that is cosmopolitan.

Harsh: This culture represents people living in wastelands, though the type can vary. Tundra, ice shelves, lava fields, true de-serts, or even some form of chemical or magically hostile waste-land all apply. People in these cultures live on the edge of survival and tend to be very focused on survival skills applicable to their harsh environment.

Highland: Highlanders live in rough hills or mountainous ter-rain. They are usually somewhat isolated by the local geography and limited in food sources by a lack of flat land. They tend to engage in limited agriculture and herding.

Mariner: Mariner cultures are usually located along the shores of an ocean, lake or river, and their economies are usually fishing and trade based. They get the majority of their subsistence from the water, though they may also engage in herding or agriculture.

Nomads: Nomadic cultures tend to center around herding, so they can drive their food supply with them as they move from lo-cation to location. Mounts and herd animals are the core of their lives, and they tend to be far more focused on portable property and less focused on land ownership than non-nomads.

Reaver: Reavers represent a society of raiders, generally found in badlands adjacent to a more settled culture. They live by prey-ing on the productivity of others, though they may also engage in herding or agriculture on a limited basis.

Rural: All of the above cultures take place in rural environments, but specifically this culture refers to people who dwell in the rural areas of relatively open, settled lands. Rural people are usually farmers of some sort, and tied to the land they tend. Some rural dwellers are engaged in crafts, but they tend to be small scale and oriented towards local use. Rural dwellers generally have a sym-biotic relationship with nearby urban dwellers, exchanging food and raw materials for most of their manufactured goods.

Sylvan: Sylvan peoples are woodland dwellers who may practice some limited herding and/or farming, but mostly live by hunt-ing and gathering in their rich environment. These cultures tend to be spread out with low populations, as high concentrations of people often result in the forest being cleared and the culture shifting to a new type.

Underground: People who spend most or all of their time under-ground or inside vast structures are of this culture. Some steady supply of food must be available, be it animal herds, fungus farms,



or fishing, or else the culture becomes fully dependent on trade for food (those that raid for food become Reavers).

Urban: Urban dwellers are the people who live in the towns and small cities of a settled area. They tend to mostly be skilled spe-cialists or craftsmen, and usually live a symbiotic existence with the rural people of their region, exchanging finished goods for food and raw materials.

6.2. Creating CulturesThe Cultures above are written very broadly, as generic cultures useable in any fantasy setting. Many GMs will want to create cultures that are more specific to their game worlds. In order to create a new culture, complete the following steps:

Every Culture gets 10 ranks in linguistics for free.

All other Culture ranks are packages of 50 DP worth of skills, purchased using the No Profession (where every rank beyond the first uses the second skill cost). For example, 3 ranks in “Lore: Own Region” costs 2 DP for the first rank, 4 DP for the second rank and another 4 DP for the third rank for a total cost of 10 DP.

All Cultures include the following skills (barring a compelling reason to not include them): 3 ranks in Lore: Own Region (10 DP), 1 rank in Science: Mathematics (3 DP), 1 rank in Body Development (4 DP), 1 Rank in Movement (2 DP) and 1 Rank in Combat Training: Unarmed (3 DP), for a total cost of 22 DP, leaving 28 DP to be spent.

Any other skills may be selected for the Culture, with two exceptions. There should be no ranks in any Combat Training skill other than the 1 Rank in Unarmed from step 3. There should be no ranks in Spell List Acquisition.

Skills may be assigned to a general skill such as “Crafting” left to the player to specify or to a more specific skill such as “Crafting: Wood Carving”.

Rank/Level limits apply, so no Culture can provide more than 2 ranks in any skill other than Linguistics or Lore. If the same skill is provided more than 2 ranks (e.g., Crafting for the Cosmopolitan culture), these must be allo-cated to different variations of the skill (e.g., dif-ferent Crafts) with no more than 2 ranks spent on one specific instance of the skill.

6.3. LanguagesLanguage can be a unifying element among groups with varying racial or cultural backgrounds. On the other hand, it can also be a barrier that can lead to the destruction of a hearty group of adventurers. Because most worlds embrace a number of tongues, and few characters know all the languages, translators and co-operative efforts may be necessary to overcome communication problems. By having each player’s character know and/or un-derstand (to varying degrees) different languages, a tremendous amount of diversity can be injected into the game.

A character’s fluency and literacy in a particular language is de-termined by the skill rank that the character has achieved in “lin-guistic” skill for that language. The Gamemaster should decide which languages are automatically available to be learned during character generation for each of the Cultures in his world system. Characters may then expand on this base through the skill devel-opment as they are exposed to new languages.

Cosm

opolita

n

Harsh

High

land

Mariner

Nom

ads

Reav

er

Rural

Sylvan

Und

ergrou

nd

Urban

AcademicLinguistics 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Lore: Own Region 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3Lore: Choice 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1Lore: Choice 2 1 1 1Science: Mathematics 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

AthleticBody Development 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1Movement: Running 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

CombatUnarmed Combat 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Outdoor & AnimalAnimal Handling* 1 1 1 1Riding* 2 1 1Survival -‐ Own Region 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

PerceptionNavigation: Terrestial 1Perception 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Tracking 1 1 1

SocialSocial Awareness 1 1

SubterfugeStalk/Hide 1 1 1

Trades & CraftsCraft/Comp/PA: Choice 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1Craft/Comp/PA: Choice 1 1 1 1 1 1Mechanical: Choice 1 1 1Medical: First Aid 1 1Vocation: Choice 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2Vocation: Choice 1 1 1

Table 6-‐1: Culture Ranks

Skills



7. Professions

A Profession encapsulates a character’s foundational experiences during childhood–experiences that determine the ease (or difficulty) with which the character will be able to develop his skills. Skills that

are central to a Profession are easy to develop; as skills deviate from the core of the Profession, they become more difficult to learn, costing more DP per rank. However, a fundamental tenet of Rolemaster is that any character can learn any skill, regardless of Profession.

Professions are grouped generally based on their exposure to, and use of, magic. “Arms Users” represent Professions with limited access to magical skills, such as the Fighter or Thief. Semi-Spell Users combine a focus on Arms along with magic (normally a single Realm), gaining limited magical capabilities. Pure Spell Users focus on one Realm of magic, at the expense of combat and physical skills. Finally, Hybrid Spell Users combine two Realms of magic allowing them to learn a wider variety of spells.

A character’s Profession determines three aspects of a character.

Skill Costs: Skill costs are given in Development Points, repre-senting the relative ease with which skills can be learned.

Professional Skills: Each Profession has nine primary skills, which grant an additional +1 bonus per Rank that is developed. These reflect the innate facility the character has with these skills due to his upbringing.

Spell Lists: For spell caster Professions (Semi, Pure, or Hybrid Spellcasters), base spell lists are given. These are sets of spells that the character can learn more easily than can members of other Professions. Certain base lists are customized for a given Profession (e.g., Assassination Mastery plays to the strengths of the Magent). The actual spell lists are given in Spell Law.

No ProfessionThe “No Profession” Profession is the set of “generic” de-velopment point costs used for creating cultures. It can also optionally be used in place of using Professions at all. The No Profession does not focus on any particular set of skills.

While the No Profession offers very broad access, it does nothing very efficiently and will fall behind if mixed in with the other Professions. This Profession is intended for use in a campaign where the GM wishes to elimi-nate Professions and have all characters built using No Profession with their choices of skills defining the result-ing characters. If using the No Profession in this way the GM may allow the character to select a set of Base Lists from the normal Professions.

Professional Skills: Combat Training, Spell Casting, 7 others

7.1. The Realm of ArmsArms Users concentrate primarily on non-magical skills, includ-ing weapons, armor, athletics, subterfuge, and perception. As a result, they will find it difficult to learn spells and other magical skills. Arms users must select one of the three realms of magic during character generation.

FighterFighters are the primary combat specialists. A fighter may be a heavily armored mounted knight, a swashbuckling musketeer, a



big brute with a massive bronze-bound club, an honor-obsessed samurai, or a master archer. The face of battle may change with technology and social organization, but there will always be those who specialize in being in the middle of it all.

Professional Skills: Body Development, Movement, Combat Expertise, Combat Training, Shield, Riding, Leadership, Ambush, Stalk/Hide

Warrior MonkWarrior Monks specialize in combat, discipline and athletic skills. The warrior monk is very similar to the fighter, but with a much greater focus on discipline skills. Such a character might resemble a ninja, a Stoic Roman warrior, or a Shao-lin mar-tial artist.

Profession Stats No Pr

ofes

sion

Figh

ter

War

rior M

onk

Thief

Rogu

e

Labo

rer

Scho

lar

Rang

er

Paladin

Mon

k

Mag

ent

Bard

Dabb

ler

Linguistics Me/Me/Re 2/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/5 1/2 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 1/3 3/4Lore Me/Me/Re 2/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 1/2 3/5 3/4 2/4 3/4 1/3 3/4Science Me/Re/Re 3/5 5/7 4/6 4/6 5/7 5/7 2/3 5/7 5/7 4/6 4/6 2/4 4/6Body Development* Co/Co/SD 4/6 1/3 2/4 3/5 2/4 2/3 6/8 4/6 2/4 4/6 4/6 5/7 6/8Gymnastic Ag/Qu/St 3/5 2/4 2/3 2/3 2/4 2/3 5/7 3/5 3/4 2/4 3/4 4/6 4/6Movement Ag/Co/St 2/4 1/3 1/2 1/3 1/3 1/2 3/5 1/3 2/3 1/3 2/3 3/4 3/4Combat Expertise -‐ 3/5 1/2 1/2 3/4 2/3 3/5 5/7 3/4 2/3 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/5Shield* Ag/St/St 3/4 1/2 1/2 3/4 1/3 3/4 4/6 2/4 1/3 2/3 2/4 3/4 3/4Combat Training 1 varies 3/5 1/2 1/2 3/4 2/3 3/4 5/7 3/4 2/4 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/5Combat Training 2 varies 5/7 2/3 2/3 4/6 3/4 4/6 9/12 4/6 3/5 3/5 4/6 5/7 5/7Combat Training 3 varies 9/12 3/4 3/4 6/8 4/6 6/8 16/20 6/8 5/7 5/7 6/8 9/12 9/12Combat Training 4 varies 12/15 3/5 3/5 9/12 5/7 9/12 20/24 9/12 6/8 6/8 9/12 12/15 12/15Combat Training 5 varies 16/20 4/6 4/6 12/15 6/8 12/15 20/24 12/15 9/12 9/12 12/15 16/20 16/20Body Discipline Co/SD/SD 3/4 2/3 1/3 4/6 3/4 4/6 3/5 4/6 3/4 2/3 3/5 5/7 6/8Mental Discipline SD/SD/Pr 3/4 4/6 1/3 5/7 4/6 4/6 3/4 5/7 4/6 3/4 3/5 5/7 6/8Delving Em/In/Pr 3/5 9/12 9/12 5/7 6/8 9/12 3/5 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 3/5 2/4Magical Expertise -‐ 3/5 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/5Power Manipulation Em/In/Pr 3/5 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 4/6 4/6 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/5Animal Handling Re/Em/Pr 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 1/3 3/4 1/3 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/5 3/5Riding Ag/Em/Pr 3/4 2/3 3/4 3/4 2/4 1/3 3/4 1/3 2/3 3/4 3/5 3/5 3/5Driving/Pilot Ag/SD/Qu 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 1/3 3/4 1/3 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/5 3/5Survival Re/Me/In 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 1/3 3/4 1/3 2/4 2/4 3/5 3/5 3/5Navigation Me/Re/In 2/4 3/4 3/4 2/3 2/4 3/4 2/3 1/2 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/4Perception* Re/SD/In 2/4 3/4 3/4 1/2 2/3 3/4 2/3 1/3 3/4 3/4 2/3 3/4 1/3Tracking* Re/In/Em 2/4 2/4 3/4 2/3 2/4 3/4 2/3 1/2 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/4Influence Em/In/Pr 3/4 3/4 3/5 2/3 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 2/4 3/4 2/3 2/3 2/3Leadership* Em/Pr/Pr 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/3 3/5 1/2 3/4 3/4 2/3 2/4Social Awareness* Em/Re/In 3/4 3/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 2/4 3/4 3/4 2/3 2/3Magic Ritual R*/R*/Me 4/6 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 6/8 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/4 3/5Power Development* R*/R*/Co 4/6 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 6/8 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/4 3/5Base/Open R*/R*/Me 4/6 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 6/8 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/4 3/5Closed Spells R*/R*/Me 6/8 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 12/15 5/7 6/8 6/8 5/7 4/6 5/7Arcane Spells Em/Pr/In 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 16/20 20/24Restricted Spells R*/R*/Me 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24Ambush Ag/SD/Qu 4/6 3/4 3/5 2/3 2/4 4/6 6/8 4/6 6/8 4/6 2/4 9/12 3/5Stalk/Hide* Ag/SD/In 3/5 2/4 2/4 1/3 2/3 3/5 5/7 2/4 4/6 3/5 2/3 4/6 2/4Trickery Ag/In/Pr 2/4 2/3 2/3 1/2 1/3 2/4 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5 2/3 3/4 1/3Composition Me/Re/Re 3/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/5 2/4 2/3 4/6 4/6 3/4 3/5 3/4 3/4Crafting Ag/SD/Me 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 1/2 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/5 3/4 3/4Mechanical Ag/Re/In 3/5 4/6 3/5 1/3 3/4 2/3 3/4 5/7 5/7 4/6 4/6 3/5 2/4Medical Me/Re/In 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 1/3 4/6 4/6 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4Performance Art Me/Em/Pr 3/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/5 2/4 2/3 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/5 1/3 3/4Vocation Em/Me/Re 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 1/2 1/3 3/5 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/4 2/4Tr

ades

& Cra

fts

Table 7-‐1: Arms and Semi Spellcaster Skill Cost Table

Acad

emic

Athlet

icCo

mba

tDi

sc.

Mag

ical

Out

door

Percep

.So

cial

Casting

Subt

er.



Professional Skills: Body Development, Gymnastic, Movement, Combat Expertise, Combat Training, Body Discipline, Mental Discipline, Ambush, Stalk/Hide

High Warrior MonkGMs who wish to have games in which unarmed martial artists stand toe to toe with armed opponents should con-sider having the character purchase talents like Enhanced Natural Attack or some or all of the Discipline Talents. For highly cinematic levels of play, these may even be given for free.

ThiefThieves are specialists at stealth and subtlety. They have an easy time learning mechanical skills such as picking locks and disarm-ing traps and are fairly good at picking up weapon skills. Thieves are also adept at subterfuge and many athletics skills (such as climbing). They rarely wear heavy armor, but light armor does not especially hinder their professional abilities.

Professional Skills: Gymnastic, Movement, Combat Training, Perception, Influence, Ambush, Stalk/Hide, Trickery, Mechanical

RogueRogues are the generalists of adventurous Arms users. They can learn a handful of weapons almost as easily as a Fighter and subterfuge/mechanical skills almost as well as a Thief. Rogues can also pick up athletic skills (including Body Development), ad-ditional combat skills, and outdoor skills readily. Rogues make a good choice if you want to be a good combatant but still have some other uses.

Professional Skills: Body Development, Gymnastic, Movement, Combat Expertise, Combat Training, Riding, Influence, Social Awareness, Stalk/Hide

LaborerLaborers specialize in physical trades and crafts. They can learn weapons and armor skills more easily than most spell casters, but their forte is not combat. While they can learn athletic skills with ease, they tend to avoid combat situations. They tend to focus on the skills needed for a particular vocation.

Professional Skills: Body Development, Movement, Animal Handling, Driving/Pilot, Navigation, Crafting, Mechanical, Performance Art, Vocation

ScholarScholars specialize in cerebral vocations. Like the Laborer, the Scholar can learn weapons and armor skills more easily than Spell Casters, but tends to lack the physical stats needed for combat skills. Instead, Scholars focus on the academic skills used in their vocations. They are better at learning spells than are other Arms Users, though not on par with the true spell-casting Professions.

Professional Skills: Linguistics, Lore, Science, Navigation, Composition, Crafting, Mechanical, Medical, Vocation

7.2. The Realm of Channeling

Channeling users derive their power from a specific external source, typically one or more of the gods or similar entities. For more detailed descriptions of the Realms of magic, see Spell Law.

ClericClerics are pure Spellcasters who have concentrated in spells that require the most direct power from their deities. Their base spells deal directly with life, communing with deities, summoning live creatures, protection from servants of opposing deities, and di-rect channeling from their own deities. These spell users are the most powerful of the spell users of Channeling, but they should also be the most restricted in the sense of heeding the desires or creed of their deity or church.

Professional Skills: Lore, Combat Training, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Influence, Magic Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting

DruidDruids are Pure Spellcasters who have concentrated on spells that deal with the natural world. Their base spells deal with herbs, other plants, animals, weather, and nature in general. Depending on setting, they can be modernized tree-huggers, quasi-historical protectors of their people against the awesome powers of nature, or simply rural cultists with strange rituals.

Professional Skills: Lore, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Animal Handling, Survival, Magic Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting



PaladinStaunch defenders of the faith, Paladins are Semi Spellcasters who combine combat prowess with utility spells. The Paladin is a highly focused holy warrior, able to develop good fighting skills and spells that support his role as a warrior and a leader in combat. The Paladin is a capable combatant in any situation, but especially excels against the supernatural foes of his faith.

Professional Skills: Body Development, Shield, Combat Training, Power Manipulation, Riding, Influence, Leadership, Power Development, Spell Casting

RangerThe Ranger is a Semi Spellcaster who combines Arms with Channeling, specializing in outdoor skills and spells that influ-ence nature. Rangers are talented in perception and outdoor skills, and while not as quick to learn weapons as the Paladin, have combat skill costs as good as those of a Thief. A Ranger’s base lists have many uses, but many of the spells enhance his skills in tracking, wilderness stealth, wilderness survival, and movement. The Ranger can be a deadly commando.

Professional Skills: Body Development, Combat Training, Animal Handling, Riding, Survival, Navigation, Perception, Tracking, Spell Casting

7.3. The Realm of EssenceEssence is the power that exists in everyone and everything. It has been known in other sources as the Tao, Magic, Unified Field, The Force, etc. An Essence User taps this power field, molds it, and diverts it into spells.

Magician (Mage)Magicians are Pure Spellcasters who have concentrated in the elemental spells. Their base spells deal with the six elements of Rolemaster: earth, fire, ice, light (which includes electricity), water, and wind. They have many spells that hurl bolts and balls of these elements to potentially deadly effect and thus Magicians are often found on battlefields. They can also learn all manner of magical skills with ease.

Professional Skills: Lore, Science, Combat Training, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Magic Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting

IllusionistIllusionists are Pure Spellcasters of Essence who have con-centrated in spells of misdirection and illusion. Their basic spells deal mainly with the manipulation of elements and forces that affect the human senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, mental impulses, and the combination of these senses. More subtle than the Magician, the Illusionist is less direct, but no less powerful.

Professional Skills: Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Perception, Magic Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting, Trickery, Performance Art

BardBards are Semi Spellcasters of Essence. Bards are musicians, en-tertainers, gossips, and loremasters. Their base spells augment those roles, but also weave music into spells to baffle foes and aid friends, as well as providing unparalleled affinity for magi-cal items.

Professional Skills: Linguistics, Lore, Combat Training, Delving, Influence, Social Awareness, Spell Casting, Composition, Performance Art

DabblerDabblers are Semi Spellcasters who augment their subterfuge ca-pabilities using Essence. A Dabbler’s base spells tend to enhance natural abilities in many areas, with the most distinctive lists giv-ing the Dabbler an edge in commerce and with machinery. In a more advanced setting, the Dabbler’s most natural role might be as a mechanic or engineer.

Professional Skills: Gymnastic, Delving, Magical Expertise, Perception, Power Development, Spell Casting, Stalk/Hide, Trickery, Mechanical

7.4. The Realm of Mentalism

Mentalism is magical power focused through the mind of the spell caster.

MentalistMentalists are Pure Spellcasters of Mentalism who concentrate on spells that deal with the mind and senses. Their base spells deal with the reading of mental presences, mental communica-tions, mind control, and sense control. As students of the human



animal, Mentalists can easily learn discipline and social skills. They make ideal conspirators.

Professional Skills: Combat Training, Body Discipline, Mental Discipline, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Magical Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting

Lay HealerLay Healers are Pure Spellcasters of Mentalism who have con-centrated on spells that heal persons and animals. Their base spells deal with healing diseases and injuries, as well as the crea-tion and animation of prosthetics. They can also learn mundane medical skills easily.

Professional Skills: Mental Discipline, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Magical Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting, Crafting, Medical

MonkMonks are Semi Spellcasters who combine skill at Arms with Mentalism spells. Their base spells are strictly personal in nature, allowing them to perform great physical feats and augment their attacks. What Hong Kong cinema achieves with wires and props, the Monk does with magic.

Professional Skills: Lore, Body Development, Gymnastic, Movement, Combat Training, Body Discipline, Mental Discipline, Power Development, Spell Casting

MagentThe Magent is Semi Spellcaster with unparalleled espionage skills and spells. Magents are designed to be magical assassins or secret agents with base spells that deal in poison and information gathering, assassination and getting away both physically and in terms of misdirecting the placement of blame.

Professional Skills: Gymnastic, Movement, Combat Training, Perception, Spell Casting, Ambush, Stalk/Hide, Trickery, Mechanical

7.5. Hybrid RealmsHybrid Spellcasters combine the powers of two different realms of magic. This provides the spell caster with great flexibility, pro-viding access to a great many spell lists, although at the price of suffering the limitations of both Realms (See Spell Law).

Hybrid CastersHybrid casters gain the “Additional Realm” talent for free (Section 9.5). GMs who wish to charge for it may do so, but it will severely limit these Professions at low levels.

HealerHealers combine the realms of Channeling and Mentalism. They have concentrated on spells of self-healing and the ability to take the injuries of others upon themselves. Thus, a Healer could heal a person by taking the injury of the patient upon himself and then healing this injury gradually. They can easily learn both body development (to keep themselves alive) and medical skills (to help others short of taking on their wounds).

Professional Skills: Body Development, Mental Discipline, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Magical Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting, Medical

SorcererSorcerers combine the raw power of the Realm of Essence with the fervor of the Realm of Channeling. Their base spells deal with the destruction of both living beings (bodies, souls, and minds) and inanimate material.

Professional Skills: Lore, Science, Mental Discipline, Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Magical Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting

MysticMystics combine the realms of Essence and Mentalism to power subtle spells of misdirection and modification. Their base spells deal with personal illusions as well as the modification of matter.

Professional Skills: Delving, Magical Expertise, Power Manipulation, Perception, Magical Ritual, Power Development, Spell Casting, Stalk/Hide, Trickery

7.6. Profession Skill Costs and Bonuses

Skill costs vary between Professions, with skills at the core of their concepts being cheap, and skills far from their focus being expensive. These costs are given on Tables 7-1 and 7-2. Use the ap-propriate Profession column to look up the DP cost for any skill.



The five skills listed under Combat as “Combat Training 1”, “Combat Training 2”, “Combat Training 3”, “Combat Training 4”, and “Combat Training 5” are actually the professions costs for various “Combat Training” skills. When a character is created and ranks taken in Combat Training, the player must assign these costs to the subcategories (Section 9.3).

Professional SkillsEach profession has primary skills that it keeps honed to a fine edge through constant use and training. This gives a character with a professional skill an advantage over a similarly trained (equal ranks) character. Each Profession lists 9 professional skills

for a character of that Profession gets a bonus of +1 per rank that he has developed.

For the No Profession, only two Professional Skills are listed. If the “No Profession” is being used, the 7 other skills should be se-lected by the GM, or by the player.

›Example: Donal has 6 ranks in Body Development, which gives him 6 x 5 = +30 Skill bonus (before Stat bonus or any other modifications). Because Donal is a Warrior Monk, he gets a Professional Bonus for Body Development, he also gets an addi-tional +6 Professional bonus for a total skill bonus of +36.

Profession Stats Cleric

Druid

Mag

ician

Illusionist

Men

talist

Lay He

aler

Healer

Mystic

Sorcerer

Linguistics Me/Me/Re 2/3 2/4 1/2 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/4 2/4 1/2Lore Me/Me/Re 1/3 2/3 1/2 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/4 2/4 1/2Science Me/Re/Re 3/4 3/5 1/3 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/4 3/5 2/3Body Development* Co/Co/SD 6/8 6/8 6/8 9/12 6/8 6/8 1/2 6/8 9/12Gymnastic Ag/Qu/St 5/7 5/7 5/7 6/8 5/7 5/7 4/6 4/6 6/8Movement Ag/Co/St 3/5 3/5 3/5 4/6 3/5 3/5 3/4 3/4 4/6Combat Expertise -‐ 6/8 9/12 6/8 9/12 6/8 9/12 9/12 6/8 9/12Shield* Ag/St/St 4/6 6/8 5/7 6/8 5/7 6/8 6/8 5/7 6/8Combat Training 1 varies 5/7 6/8 4/6 6/8 5/7 6/8 6/8 6/8 9/12Combat Training 2 varies 9/12 12/15 6/8 12/15 9/12 12/15 12/15 12/15 16/20Combat Training 3 varies 16/20 20/24 12/15 20/24 16/20 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24Combat Training 4 varies 20/24 20/24 16/20 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24Combat Training 5 varies 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24 20/24Body Discipline Co/SD/SD 4/6 4/6 5/7 6/8 1/3 2/4 2/4 5/7 6/8Mental Discipline SD/SD/Pr 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 1/3 2/4 2/4 3/5 2/4Delving Em/In/Pr 2/4 2/4 1/2 1/2 1/3 2/3 2/3 2/4 1/2Magical Expertise -‐ 2/3 2/4 1/2 1/2 1/3 2/3 2/3 2/4 1/2Power Manipulation Em/In/Pr 2/3 2/4 1/2 1/2 1/3 2/3 2/3 2/4 1/2Animal Handling Re/Em/Pr 3/5 1/3 4/6 4/6 4/6 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/5Riding Ag/Em/Pr 3/5 1/3 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6Driving/Pilot Ag/SD/Qu 3/5 1/3 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6Survival Re/Me/In 3/5 1/3 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6 4/6Navigation Me/Re/In 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4Perception* Re/SD/In 4/6 3/5 4/6 1/3 3/5 2/4 3/4 2/4 4/6Tracking* Re/In/Em 4/6 2/4 4/6 2/4 3/5 4/6 4/6 3/4 4/6Influence Em/In/Pr 1/3 3/5 2/4 2/4 1/3 2/3 2/4 2/3 2/3Leadership* Em/Pr/Pr 1/3 3/5 2/4 2/4 1/3 2/3 2/4 2/3 2/4Social Awareness* Em/Re/In 1/3 3/5 2/4 2/4 1/3 2/3 2/4 2/3 2/4Magic Ritual R*/R*/Me 1/2 1/2 1/3 1/3 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 1/2Power Development* R*/R*/Co 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/2 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3Base/Open R*/R*/Me 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/2Closed Spells R*/R*/Me 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/3Arcane Spells Em/Pr/In 6/8 6/8 6/8 6/8 6/8 6/8 6/8 6/8 5/7Restricted Spells R*/R*/Me 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 9/12Ambush Ag/SD/Qu 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 9/12 4/6 9/12Stalk/Hide* Ag/SD/In 6/8 4/6 6/8 4/6 6/8 6/8 6/8 3/5 6/8Trickery Ag/In/Pr 4/6 4/6 4/6 1/3 4/6 4/6 4/6 2/4 4/6Composition Me/Re/Re 2/4 3/5 3/4 2/4 3/5 2/4 3/4 2/4 2/4Crafting Ag/SD/Me 4/6 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/4Mechanical Ag/Re/In 5/7 4/6 4/6 5/7 4/6 4/6 4/6 3/5 3/5Medical Me/Re/In 2/4 2/4 3/5 4/6 3/5 1/3 1/3 2/4 3/4Performance Art Me/Em/Pr 2/3 3/5 3/4 2/3 3/5 3/5 3/5 2/4 2/4Vocation Em/Me/Re 3/5 3/4 3/4 3/5 3/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4Tr

ades & Crafts

Table 7-‐2: Pure Spellcaster Skill Cost Table

Acad

emic

Athletic

Comba

tDisc.

Mag

ical

Outdo

orPe

rcep

.So

cial

Casting

Subter.



8. Talents

E very person is unique, and while characters can differ by Profession, Stats, and Skills, there tend to be other differences that are simply not covered by those variations. Talents offer a special benefit or bonus,

while Flaws give some sort of disadvantage or penalty. The term Talents is used throughout but can refer to either Talents or Flaws.

A sampling of Talent descriptions are given here, although play-ers or the Gamemaster may design more based on the setting. It should be assumed that talents are normally not available, unless the Gamemaster specifically allows them. Unlike skills, which are nearly universal, many talents will be inappropriate for some settings. There should also be some source for the Talent; Talents with which the character starts should normally be woven into that character’s background. Talents obtained during play should not appear out of nowhere, but develop as a consequence of some feature of the character’s experiences.

Purchasing TalentsUnlike skills, Talents may not be taken without first consult-ing the GM and getting approval. Almost all Talents modify or change the way the rules work, so they are far more likely to create problems in game balance than are Skills. Unlike Skills, Talents tend not to simply be “something the character has been practicing” so the GM can feel free either to disallow some or all Talents or to require specific conditions before allowing a charac-ter to purchase them, such as requiring a flaw of equal cost to be taken, or specific background ties or obligations.

Flaws show a cost of negative Development Points, which means they ‘give back’ the points which may be spent on other things. They may be taken during character generation or as part of a level advancement. However, the golden rule for Flaws is “If it does not limit the character, it is not worth Development Points”. If a player asks for his fighter to be able to take “Skill Penalty: Power Development I”, but has no intention of ever taking ranks in Power Development or Spells, then the flaw will never have any effect. This is one of those instances where the Gamemaster should simply refuse to allow the player to take the Flaw (or at least not gain any Development Points for it).

›Example: The GM allows Talents but only allows the bonus DP due to race to be spent on a set of initial talents at

character creation. No new Talents may be gained afterward, although he allows the initial talents to be improved upon.

›Example: The GM allows unrestricted access to Talents at character creation but only with points gained via Flaws.

›Example: The GM restricts the Adrenal talents to only two monastic orders that teach the secrets to only full members of the order.

Talent TiersMany Talents give a benefit and cost in multiple tiers, with the least being a Roman numeral I, and getting more effective (and more expensive) as they go up the Roman numerals. Most Talents have 5 (V) or fewer tiers, although a couple have ten (X). When the talent is taken, the tier must be specified and paid for.

If a character improves a Talent to a higher tier, he must pay the cost of the higher tier minus the cost of the current tier. If a char-acter wants to reduce or remove a Flaw, he must pay the cost dif-ference between the current tier and the tier it is being reduced to.

›Example: Sigurd takes ‘Prodigy II’ (Tier II) in Lore: Undead and thus gets +10 bonus (+5 / Tier) to the skill for a cost of 10 DP (5 DP/Tier x 2 Tiers). He later is captured by a necromancer and held in a hanging cage where he can observe the undead at a closer proximity than is normally possible for the living, and then is rescued a month later. To reflect his new perspective on the undead he wants to improve this talent to Tier III (15 DP) and so pays the difference of 15 (Tier III) – 10 (Tier II) = 5 DP to increase his bonus from +10 to +15.

›Example: A troll character wants to reduce “Light Sensitivity III” (-30 DP) to “Light Sensitivity II” (-20 DP) before starting play. The GM and player decide that his family was bred



as an improved breed of troll and he pays the difference of 10 DP to reduce the penalty.

Talents by Power LevelSome of the more expensive Talents may completely upset game balance in a campaign. Table 8-1 can be used as a guide to limit Talents based on your games power level. Select the Power Level of your game as described in Section 1 and use the limits for all Talents.

The ‘Per Level’ limit is the maximum DP that can be spent on any Talent in a single level gain on a new Talent or to increase the tier level of a Talent the charac-

ter already has. The “Maximum” is the maximum cost a Talent should be allowed to reach no matter what level a character might be, or the maximum on a single Talent during charac-ter generation.

8.1. BirthBirth talents and flaws can normally only be purchased during character creation. However, in some unusual, magical, or divine circumstances, the Gamemaster may allow them to be purchased after during normal character advancement.

TalentsAcute Senses: The character has a specific heightened sense: hearing, vision, smell, touch, or taste. This gives a bonus to Perception rolls using that sense.

Sense Tier Cost (DP) Effect

Hearing

I - V

4 / Tier

+5 Perception / Tier

Smell 3 / Tier

Taste 2 / Tier

Touch 1 / Tier

Vision 6 / Tier

Ambidextrous: The character is able to use either hand equally well for all maneuvers and activities. The normal -20 penalty for off-hand usage does not apply (see Arms Law).

Tier Cost (DP) Effect

I 10 Ignore off-hand penalty

Empathy: The character can read emotions of those within 25’. If a target is trying to hide his emotions, he gets a Resistance Roll

vs. the Character’s level; Success means that target cannot be read for 24 hours. This ability grants a +50 bonus to Social Awareness when appropriate.


I 20 Empathy

Extra Sense: The character can sense something that normally cannot be sensed. This sense must be specified, when taken, and appropriately described (e.g., “Able to smell fear” or “can feel evil magic”). The character can use the perception skill with this sense. GMs should be wary about how broadly they allow a sense to be described, and make the player either narrow it, or purchase it multiple times. If a player wants to be able to “Smell Evil”, de-fined as “Lycanthropes, Demons, Undead, Evil Spellcasters, and Active Evil Spells.”, it might make sense to make the character purchase the extra sense talent 5 times for a total cost of 75 DP, rather than allow all those things to be rolled up into one sense talent for 15 DP.


I 5 Sense things inside body or affecting character (i.e., like taste).

II 10 Sense things in contact with body (i.e., like feel/touch).

III 20 General sense of direction and intensity (i.e., like smell). Can attack otherwise unseen targets at -50.

IV 30Direction, intensity, and distance, weak on specific details (i.e., like Hearing) Can attack otherwise unseen targets at

-25.

V 40 Can sense in specific detail (i.e., like Sight), can target attacks normally using just this sense.

Golden Throat: The character has a soothing and calming voice. This gives a bonus to any maneuver to verbally calm or persuade (Influence skills, Performance Art: Singing, Leadership, etc.)


I – II 10 / Tier +10 / Tier (+20 max)

Intense Eyes: The character has powerful eyes that grant a bonus to all skills in which the character interacts with other people (Influence skills, Leadership). The character must make eye contact to gain this bonus.


I – II 10 / Tier +10 / Tier (+20 max)

Look of Eagles: With the gift of inspiration, the character gets a bonus to all Leadership maneuvers. This talent also increases the Leadership bonus to followers’ fear checks. Thus, character with 10 ranks of Leadership and Look of Eagles I would give all follow-ers a +20 bonus to fear RRs.

Power Level Per Level MaximumAverage 5 10Superior 10 20Heroic 15 30Legendary 20 40Epic 25 50

Table 8-‐1: Talents by Power Level




I – II 10 / Tier +10 / Tier (+20 max)

Neutral Odor: The character naturally has a very weak odor. This makes all attempts to perceive his presence based upon the sense of smell operate at -50. This penalty may be reduced if he is carrying any objects or equipment that carry strong odors (e.g., garlic, rotting fish).


I 10 Neutral Odor

Perfect Pitch: The character has perfect pitch and is able to re-produce any pitch with either his voice (if possible with his vocal cords) or an appropriate instrument. This allows one to play most pieces of music after hearing them. This talent gives a bonus to any Performance Art: Singing or Play Instrument skill.


I – V 5 / Tier +10 / Tier (+50 max)

Slow Bleeder: Bleeding injuries are automatically lowered by 1 hit/round per tier of this talent (a critical that results in bleed-ing of 5/round will be reduced to 3/round for a character with Slow Bleeder II).


I – II 25 / Tier -1 bleed / Tier (-2 max)

FlawsDistinct Odor*: The character with this flaw has a distinct odor, which will transfer to objects the character touches with bare skin. This grants a +50 bonus to Perception and Tracking efforts based on smell. (If the odor is foul or unpleasant enough to harm social interactions, the character should also take the “Inept” flaw for Influence skills).


I -10 Distinct Odor

Disturbing Voice: The character has a grating or annoying tone of voice. This gives a penalty to any maneuver to verbally calm or persuade (Influence skills, Performance Art: Singing, Leadership, etc.)


I – II -10 / Tier -10 / Tier (-20 max)

Rapid Bleeder: Bleeding injuries are automatically increased by 1 hit/round per tier of this talent (a critical that results in bleeding of 5/round will be increased to 6/round for a character with Rapid Bleeder I).


I – II -25 / Tier +1 bleed / Tier (+2 max)

Missing Sense: The character is missing a sense.


I -5 Taste, or a similar sense.

II -10

Feel/touch, or a similar sense. (Character will be immune to pain penalties, but is still affected by penalties from

debilitating injuries such as broken bones. The character will be unaware of non-debilitating injuries unless he actively checks his body or is told about the injury by

someone else).

III -15 Smell, or a similar sense.

IV -20 Hearing, or a similar sense.

V -25 Sight, or a similar sense.

Poor Senses: The character has a deficiency in one of the senses.

Sense Tier Cost (DP) Effect

Hearing

I - V

-4 / Tier

-5 Perception / Tier

Smell -3 / Tier

Taste -2 / Tier

Touch -1 / Tier

Vision -6 / Tier

Shifty Eyes: The character has crazed looking or jittery eyes that grant a penalty to all skills in which the character interacts with other people (Influence skills, Leadership). The penalty only applies when the others can see the character’s eyes.

Look of Weasels: A character with this flaw is uncomfortable leading and cannot hide it, giving a penalty to all Leadership maneuvers. This talent also decreases the Leadership bonus to followers’ fear checks (So a character with 10 ranks of Leadership and Look of Weasels II would give all followers a 10 - 20 = -10 penalty to fear RRs).


I – II -10 / Tier -10 / Tier (-20 max)

Tone Deaf: The character has problems perceiving pitch and has problems controlling his voice or any musical instrument. This flaw gives a penalty to any Performance Art: Singing or Play Instrument skill.


I – V -5 / Tier -10 / Tier (-50 max)

8.2. CombatEach of the combat talents must be taken in one specific attack type (a specialized combat training skill), e.g. Spear. Some talents are only applicable to melee while others are applicable only to



missile which is clearly indicated in the description. For talents where it is not specified, the GM may wish to restrict it to specific types of attacks (i.e., Aggressive may only be taken for melee attacks).

TalentsAdrenal Defense: The character has tightly integrated defensive maneuvers into his melee fighting style in order to avoid attacks. A specific Combat Training skill must be specified when this skill is taken (a single weapon, or a single unarmed attack.). When using the form of attack in melee, the character gains a Defensive Bonus based on the number of Ranks in the Combat Training skill this is taken with, up to a maximum of 30 Ranks. Adrenal Defense affects all melee attacks the character is aware of, but has no ef-fect on attacks the character is not aware of. This talent cannot be used if the character is carrying enough weight to suffer any encumbrance penalty.


I 10 +1 DB / rank

II 20 +2 DB / rank

III 30 +3 DB / rank

Aggressive: The character has an aggressive fighting style that grants a +5 OB to a follow-up attack after a critical is inflicted (attack must be vs. the same foe).


I 10 +5 OB to next attack after inflicting critical

II 25 +10 OB to next attack after inflicting critical

Deadeye/Great Arm: The character has uncanny aim with projectile weapons (Deadeye) or deadly accuracy with thrown weapons (Great Arm) and extends all range categories (of either the Ranged or Thrown categories of weapons)


I - V 10 / Tier + 10% Range / Tier

Enhanced Natural Attack: One of the character’s natural at-tacks is increased +1 size beyond the character’s size (this talent cannot be taken for weapons). The attack type must be specified (biting, striking, etc). Note that a creature (or characters) natu-ral attack normally starts at one size less than the creature (or character). Thus, a Medium human starts with Small unarmed attacks unless this talent is taken.


I 10 Attack at Size + 1

II 20 Attack at Size + 2

III 30 Attack at Size + 3

Opportunistic Strike: The character may make an additional attack roll against a melee opponent when the opponent fumbles. The character must have declared a normal melee attack on the target in this round. The opponent is not allowed to apply parry against this additional attack, but gets normal DB from all other sources. The free attack gets the same penalty as the declared attack if it was declared with less than 100% activity.


I 10 Free attack at -50

II 20 Free attack at -25

III 30 Free attack at no penalty

Quickdraw / Quickload: Drawing and preparing a weapon for combat, or loading a missile weapon normally takes 20% activity; this talent reduces the activity (possibly to 0). The type of weapon must be specified when this talent is taken (e.g., sword, bow, cross-bow, sling, etc.).


I – IV 5 / Tier Reduce drawing/loading action by 5%/Tier

Riposte: The character may attempt a riposte attack when performing a full parry. If the parry is effective (no hits de-livered), then the character may make an immediate counter attack with an OB of ‘50 – Missed Attack’. Thus, if the total attack result after the parry is a 35 then the attack is resolved at +15. The attack ignores any DB due to parry.


I 15 Riposte attack after successful parry

Sense Weakness: The character may be able to sense a foe’s weakness by taking a 20% Perception action to observe the foe. If the Perception roll is a Failure, then the character is unable to sense a weakness. However, if it is successful, then the next criti-cal the character inflicts on that foe may be rerolled (the higher of the two rolls is used).


I 30 Reroll critical after successful Perception

Sharpshooter: The character gains +5 OB to missile attacks for each consecutive round spent aiming (a Concentration action). The bonus is lost if the target moves out of sight even for a mo-ment or if the target engages in melee. The bonus maxes at +20 OB regardless of the time spent aiming.


I - IV 5 / Tier + 5 OB per round / Tier

Smooth Footwork: During combat, the character is able to move during a declared melee attack without it using % activity



or imposing a penalty to OB. The movement must be declared when the attack is declared for this to apply.


I – II 10 / Tier Move 10% (of BMR)/ Tier without penalty

Foiler: Opponents who make melee attacks against the character have their Fumble Ranges increased.


I – III 7 / Tier +1/Tier to foes’ Fumble ranges

FlawsBadeye/Weak Arm: The character has poor aim with projectile weapons (Badeye) or limp attacks with thrown weapons (Weak Arm) and reduces all range categories (of either the Ranged or Thrown categories of weapons)


I - V 10 / Tier - 10% Range / Tier

Fighting Brick: A character with this flaw has difficulty coor-dinating movement into combat, the penalty to OB is increased as if the character were moving one pace level higher than he is actually moving.


I -10 Penalty of +1 pace level from actual.

II -20 Penalty of +2 pace levels from actual.

Nonviolent: The character does not want to hurt others, and flinches when doing so. This flaw grants a -5 OB to a follow-up attack after a critical is inflicted.


I -10 -5 OB to next attack after inflicting critical

II -25 -10 OB to next attack after inflicting critical

Slow on the Draw: Drawing and preparing a weapon for combat normally takes 20% activity; this talent increases the activity.


I – IV -5 / Tier Increase drawing action by 5%/Tier

Weak Natural Attack*: One of the character’s natural attacks is decreased in size (this flaw cannot be taken for weapons). The attack type must be specified (biting, striking, etc).


I -10 Attack at Size - 1

II -20 Attack at Size - 2

III -30 Attack at Size - 3

8.3. DisciplineTalentsAdrenal Strength: To activate or maintain this talent requires an absolute maneuver using the Adrenal Focus Skill (Section 9.4). The character has the ability to focus and accomplish feats of strength beyond normal. Each +1 to Strength gives a bonus to any skill that uses Strength once by +1, twice by +2, or thrice by +3. It also affects encumbrance and feat of strength maneuvers.


I – V 3 / Tier +1 Strength Bonus / Tier (+5 max)

Adrenal Speed: To activate or maintain this talent requires an absolute maneuver using the Adrenal Focus Skill (Section 9.4). The character has the ability to focus his reflexes in order to move more quickly and efficiently. This talent gives a bonus to initia-tive and allows more activity to be taken per phase than normal. This talent cannot be used in armor or if the character is carrying enough to have any encumbrance penalty at all.


I – X 5 / Tier +1 initiative, +10% activity (+10/+100% max)

Extended Adrenals: The character is able to extend the effect of Adrenal Focus (and thus the other Adrenal talents) by +1 round.


I 30 Extend Adrenals by 1 round

Frenzy: The character can enter a Frenzied rage, upon a Successful Adrenal Focus maneuver. While Frenzied, the char-acter gains a +5 Strength bonus, his attacks are treated as +1 Size, and he suffers no penalties due to hit loss. Furthermore, instead of falling unconscious at 0 Hits, he will fall unconscious when he is at negative hits equal to three times his Constitution bonus (0 if the bonus is negative). However, the Frenzied character gets no Defensive Bonus other than due to magic and is unable to allocate OB to parry attacks.

While Frenzied, the character will always attack the closest creature (Medium Perception roll required to distinguish a friend from a foe) and an Adrenal Focus roll is required to get out of the Frenzied rage. If there are no living creatures left to attack, the Frenzied character will destroy anything else within reach.


I 20 Ability to enter Frenzied rage



Light Sleeper: The character is a light sleeper and receives a +25 bonus to Perception rolls to awake from sleep and subsequent rolls to act after awaking.


I 10 +25 Perception to wake up

Meditational Sleep: The character gets twice as much benefit from resting and thus may sleep half as long as normal.


I 10 Sleep increments are halved.

FlawsHeavy Sleeper: The character is a naturally heavy sleeper or is difficult to awaken. Any character with this flaw receives a -25 penalty to Perception rolls to awake from sleep and subsequent rolls to act after awakening.


I -5 -25 Perception to wake up

Restless Sleeper: The character tosses and turns, having a hard time getting restful sleep, and thus must sleep 50% more to get as much rest as an average person.


I -10 Sleep increments are increased 50%

8.4. MagicalTalentsMaster of Ceremonies: Character has a rare connection with the world’s magical energy and is naturally adept at molding them in magic rituals. Bonus applies to all Magic Ritual skills.


I – V 10 / Tier +5 Skill / Tier

Mystical Awareness: The character has a mystical awareness of the surroundings which can be used in place of sight (e.g., in dark-ness or if blinded).


I – V 10 / Tier Reduce penalty by -10/Tier (50 reduction max)

Additional Realm: The character gains access to another Realm of magic that is chosen when this Talent is taken. The new Realm is treated as one of the caster’s Realms for all purposes and the character’s Realm Stat will change to use the additional Realm.


I – II 30 / Tier Gain access to an additional Realm per Tier

Eloquence: The character gets a bonus to all Spell Casting Rolls (SCRs).


I - III 15 / Tier +5 to SCRs / Tier

Extended Reach: The character is able to cast Touch spells from a single spell list with a range of 5’.


I 10 Touch spells have Range of 5’

II 15 Range of 10’

III 20 Range of 20’

Graceful Recovery: When suffering a Spell Failure the Spell Failure roll is reduced by 5 (to a minimum of 1).


I – V 8 / Tier Reduce Spell Failure Roll by 5/Tier.

Innate Power: The character has an innate spell-like ability (see Spell Law). If the power is a single spell, use the level instead of Tiers to determine DP cost. If the power is a list, use the highest level it can be used to for determining the DP cost, however the character can only use the list up to his current level.

Level Cost (DP) Effect

1-50 2 / Level Innate power that is a single spell

1-50 3 / Level Innate power in one list up to given level

Preparation on the Go: The activity cost for spell preparation (normally 90%) is decreased.


I – III 9 / Tier Reduce Spell preparation time by 10% / Tier

Master Channeler: The character is very effective at the chan-neling skill, which can aid in the recipient’s and source’s chan-neling attempt. Both participants get an additional +5 to their Channeling skill when channeling with someone with this gift.


I – III 6 / Tier +5 Channeling / Tier (both participants)

Power Recycling: When the character has a spell failure result while casting a spell, he is able to recover 50% of the Power Points used. For additional DP, the character can absorb PPs from other casters whose spells fail within a 10’ radius of the character.


I 10 Recover 50% of PPs from failed spell




II 20 Recover 100% of PPs from failed spell

+10 Absorb PPs from others’ failed spells (10’R)

Quick Casting: The maximum Activity % for non-instantane-ous spell casting (normally 60-90%) is reduced.


I – III 10 / Tier Reduce max required casting time by 10% / Tier

Scope Skills (Radius): The character is able to cast spells from a single spell list with an increased radius of effect.


I – II 10 / Tier + 50 % Radius / Tier

Scope Skills (Targets): The character is able to cast spells from a single spell list to affect a greater number of targets when the area of effect specifies a number of targets.


I – II 20 / Tier + 100% Targets / Tier

Spatial Skills: The character is able to cast spells from a single spell list at greater distance than normal.


I – II 10 / Tier + 50% Range / Tier

Subconscious Discipline: The character is able to extend the duration of his Concentration based spells.


I 10 Spell continues for half of rounds spend concentrating

II 20 Spell continues for # of rounds spent concentrating

Temporal Skills: The character is gifted with the ability to extend the duration of his spells (that have a duration and are not Concentration) for a single spell list (chosen when this talent is taken).


I – II 10 / Tier + 50% Duration / Tier

FlawsMumbler: The character gets a penalty to all Spell Casting Rolls (SCRs).


I - III -15 / Tier -5 to SCRs / Tier

Inglorious Failure: When suffering a Spell Failure the Spell Failure roll is increased by 5.


I – V -8 / Tier Increase Spell Failure Roll by 5/Tier

8.5. RacialThese talents should usually be considered as Racial talents only. However, given unusual circumstances, a good story surrounding it, and a sympathetic GM, they may be taken by individuals.

TalentsDarkvision: The character can see ten feet even in complete darkness. (Usually the character must already have the Nightvision talent, but the GM may choose to allow it to be taken alone for some setting specific reason).


I 10 Darkvision 10’

Endurance: The character gets a bonus to all Fatigue checks.


I – V 5 / Tier +10 Fatigue Checks / Tier

Fast Healer: Character recovers from wounds faster than normal.


I 10 Recover at ½ normal time

Gigantism: The character is larger than Medium size.


I - III 40 / Tier +1 size / Tier

Methuselah: The character has a longer than normal lifespan.


I 2 Extended lifespan (> 200 years)

II 5 Long lifespan (> 500 years)

III 10 Very long lifespan (1000+ years) or immortal

Natural Armor: The character’s skin/hide/carapace is resistant to attacks, as if the character were wearing armor. This natural armor moves naturally with the character and incurs no encum-brance or maneuver penalties.


I – IX 2 / Tier +1 AT / Tier (+9 max, giving AT 10)



Natural Weapon: This talent gives the character one natural at-tack (e.g., a Bite, Claw, Sting, Horn, etc.) Use the Enhanced Natural Attack talent to increase its size (above the character’s size).


I 5 One natural attack

Nightvision: The character can see in dim light, equivalent to nighttime conditions, as well as a human can see in daylight.


I 10 Nightvision 100’

Tough: The character gets a bonus to base hits. Without this tal-ent base hits are equal to 0.


I – V 3 / Tier +5 Base Hits / Tier

FlawsDwarfism: The character is of a smaller size than Medium.


I - III -40 / Tier -1 size / Tier

Light Sensitivity: The character’s eyes cannot take direct sun-light, and he is at a penalty when in bright light equal to direct sunlight. (This penalty is reduced by 25 in light equal to a cloudy day, by 50 for partially shaded or cloudy conditions, and by 75 in full shadows such as under storm clouds or heavy tree cover).


I – IV -10 / Tier -25 penalty / Tier (-100 max)

Stunted Lifespan: The character has a shorter than nor-mal lifespan.


I -2 Short lifespan (< 50 years)

II -5 Very short lifespan (< 25 years)

III -10 Brief lifespan (< 10 years)

Slow Healer: Character recovers from wounds slower than nor-mal. (1/2 as fast for 10 DP)


I -10 Recover at 2x normal time

Feeble: The character gets a special penalty to all Fatigue checks.


I – V -5 / Tier -10 Fatigue Checks / Tier

Fragile: The character gets a penalty to base hits.


I – V -3 / Tier -5 Base Hits / Tier

8.6. ResistanceNearly all the Resistance Talents can be turned into Flaws, in which case they represent susceptibility rather than a resistance.

TalentsImmune to Disease: The character is immune to diseases, no RR is necessary.


I 10 Immune to normal diseases

II 30 Immune to normal and magical diseases

Magical Resistance: The character gets a bonus to RRs versus a specific Realm of Magic (Channeling, Essence, or Mentalism).


I - III 5 / Tier + 10 RR / Tier (+30 max)

Resistant to the Elements: The character gets a bonus to DB and/or RRs versus either: Cold/Ice, Heat/Fire, Electricity/Light attacks.


I - V 4 / Tier + 5 DB and RR / Tier (+25 max)

Resistance to Poison/Disease: The character gets a bonus to RRs vs. Poison or Disease (Normal or Magical). The player must specify poison OR disease when this talent is taken.


I - III 5 / Tier + 10 RR / Tier

Iron Will: Against mental attack spells the character receives a bonus to Resistance Rolls.


I - V 4 / Tier + 5 DB and RR / Tier

8.7. OtherTalentsAnimal Empathy: Any maneuvers involving one type of animal are executed by the character at +25. In addition, if the character



associates with an animal for one month, the pair will be able to communicate empathically to a range of 100’


I 10 Range of 100’

II – V + 5 / Tier + 25’ / Tier (200’ max)

Destiny Sense: The character instinctively knows the direction (but possibly not distance) that will take him to a specific goal. This can be used once per day.


I 10 Knows direction.

II 20 Knows direction and distance.

Prodigy: This talent provides a bonus to a single skill that requires specialization (this talent is specific to a single skill specialization). This talent is not simply extra training, but must be explained as some form of knack or superior natural ability.


I – V 5 / Tier +5 Skill / Tier

Night-fighting (Light-fighting): The character can fight and per-form maneuvers in less than ideal light conditions; this talent reduces the penalties caused by less than ideal lighting. This can also be used as a Light-fighting talent to allow characters with the light sensitivity flaw to fight and maneuver in situations where there is too much light at a reduced penalty).


I – V 10 / Tier Reduce penalty by -10/Tier (50 reduction max)

Visions: The character is able to receive spontaneous visions of persons/places/objects based upon objects that he touches with his bare skin. The details of the vision are at the discretion of the GM, but should reveal details of a significant event relating to the object, if any. (That a knife was touched by a rat two days ago is usually an insignificant event, that it was used to murder someone a week ago is usually very significant).


I 20 Visions 1x/day

II 30 Visions 2x/day

III 40 Visions 3x/day

FlawsBlood Shy: The character cannot stand the sight of blood. Each round a bleeding character (or a bloody corpse) is in view, the character must make a Fear/Terror RR equal to the amount of bleeding that is visible (so if the character can see two combatants,

one bleeding 3/round, and one bleeding at 2/round, the fear RR is vs. a level 5 attack). Treat bloody corpses as 10/round bleed for this calculation.


I -15 Each 1 bleed / round = 1 level of Fear RR.

II -30 Each 1 bleed / round = 2 levels of Fear RR.

Inept: The flaw provides a penalty to a single skill that requires specialization (this flaw must be specific to a single skill specialization).


I – V -5 / Tier -5 Skill / Tier



9. Skills

A character is largely defined by his Skills, which define what he knows and how well he knows it. Skills can be practiced and improved upon over time, although they reach a point of diminishing returns where

they receive smaller improvements for the same amount of work.

Table 9-1 shows a summary of available skills. Most skills re-quire specialization when you develop them and you can develop them more than once for different specializations (e.g., ‘Riding’ is developed as ‘Riding: Horse’ or ‘Riding: Giant Eagle’ and each one is learned as if it were a separate skill). The different specializa-tions are grouped together because they share DP costs (for a Profession), Stat bonuses, and general skill description and resolu-tion. While many common specializations are given for the skills each campaign will have unique requirements and there is no limit to the number of specializations that a player or GM may dream up. This will be most common among the Academic skills where languages and lores will draw heavily upon the setting.

A few of the skills listed (marked with an *) are singular skills that are developed without specialization: Body Development, Shield, Perception, Tracking, Social Awareness, Power Development, and Stalk/Hide (i.e., your character will have only one Body Development skill).

Stats are given at the beginning of the description for each skill in parentheses. The character’s Stat bonuses for these Stats are added together and applied as a modifier to the skill.

Different genres and variations between game worlds mean that at times a GM will wish to introduce a skill not described in this list. The major skills here are a complete set, intended to allow for

anything trainable to be trained as a skill, but the specializations/sub-skills listed here are not intended as a complete or exhaustive listing, so if, as the GM, you find you need a new skill, try to fit it into one of the existing skills as a new specialization.

A character’s Skill bonus is the sum of learned ability, innate characteristics, and other special modifiers. While some skills use this bonus in different ways, in most cases the total Skill bonus is used as a direct modifier to maneuver rolls (Section 12.1) which are categorized by difficulty and can be modified by situ-ational factors, such as injuries, lighting, or terrain.

Total Skill Bonus = Rank Bonus + Profession Bonus + Stat Bonus + Special Modifiers

Rank Bonus: Determined by the number of ranks in the skill (Skill Ranks, below).

Profession Bonus: Determined by the character’s Profession, the character gets +1 bonus per rank in 9 skills (Chapter 7).

Stat Bonus: Each skill uses three Stats whose bonuses are added together (Chapter 4).

Special Modifiers: Individual skills may have additional modi-fiers given in the description (Chapter 9).

Academic Linguistics, Lore, ScienceAthletic Athletic/Gymnastic, Athletic/Movement, Body Development*Combat Combat Training, Combat Expertise, Shield*Discipline Body Discipline, Mental DisciplineMagical Delving, Magical Expertise, Power ManipulationOutdoor & Animal Animal Handling, Drive/Pilot, Riding, SurvivalPerception Perception*, Navigation, Tracking*Social Influence, Leadership*, Social Awareness*Spell-‐Casting Magical Ritual, Power Point Development*, Spell ListSubterfuge Ambush, Sleight of Hand, Stalk/Hide*Trades & Crafts Composition, Crafting, Mechanical, Medical, Performance Art, Vocation

Table 9-‐1: Skills



Skill RanksSkills are presumed to derive from study and experience over time. Characters do not advance a level and then suddenly re-quire time to learn Skills. It is assumed that learning is a con-tinuing process. Depending on the Skill and the circumstances, the GM may require access to a teacher, books, or other learning aid(s). Many GMs may especially wish to use such requirements to limit the learning of spell lists (see Spell Law).

Development Points are spent to learn new skills or improve ex-isting skills (i.e., increase the character’s rank in a skill). If a charac-ter advances a level and wants to take a new skill that he has not spent any time practicing or learning about, the GM may disal-low it to be taken and require that the character wait until the following level to take a rank in the skill. Alternatively, he may allow a training period after leveling and a delay in DP expendi-ture until training is done. This may even be necessary if a level is achieved during a time when there was little opportunity to train more than a few skills.

›Example: Martok the Magician wants to learn a new list: Fire Law. The GM tells Martok he must locate a tutor to teach him Fire Law, pay this tutor 400 silver, and spend a few weeks studying. When Martok advances a level he can then spend the DP and take the ranks in Fire Law.

›Example: Taor spends part of most sessions telling tales and singing ballads in local taverns, while meeting all sorts of interesting, and sometimes dangerous, folk. When Taor advances a level he wants to take ranks in Play Instrument and Tale-Telling. Because he has obviously been practicing these skills during play, the GM allows him to purchase ranks in them without needing a tutor or training time.

The skill rank bonus is given in Table 9-2. With no ranks, the character is assumed to be untrained, with a modifier a -25, which is elimi-nated by the development of the first rank. All other modifiers for rank are cumulative. The first 10 ranks are worth +5 each, the next are +3 per rank, and so on.

›Example: A skill with 37 ranks has a skill rank bonus of 10 ranks x 5 = 50, plus 10 ranks x 3 = 30, plus 10 ranks x 2 = 20, plus 7 ranks x 1 = 7. 50 + 30 + 20 + 7 = +107 total skill rank bonus.

Skill CostsThe cost of developing a skill is determined by the character’s Profession; a fighter is taught in his youth some of the basic prin-ciples behind weapons, either through a formal apprenticeship or through watching combats with the keen interest of one who wants to follow that Profession. Similarly, spell users begin at an early age to attune their minds to the acquisition of their chosen realm. This early training is reflected in Professions Development Point costs for skills, given in Tables 7-1 and 7-2.

It is a basic premise of Character Law that these early years in which learning patterns are formed, prejudices established, and attitudes molded are more important than a few years of study and travelling; thus a character’s skill rank in an area never af-fects the cost of improving that skill. A Magician who has be-come a near expert with a sword is still a Magician and must pay more to increase his skill with a sword than a neophyte Fighter.

Skill DevelopmentCharacters gain Development Points to spend when they go up levels (Section 11.2: Advancement). Each skill is listed with two costs separated by a slash (e.g., “5/7”). The first cost is the price in DP for learning a single rank of a skill at a given level. Skills can be developed at a faster rate than one rank per level. If a skill is to be raised two or more ranks, the cost before the slash is paid for the first rank and the cost after the slash is paid for all ranks after the first. Specialized skills are treated as separate skills, so each may be developed for one rank at the single rank “normal development” cost.

›Example: Goro’s cost for “Riding” is 2/3, so he learns one rank in “Riding: Horse” for 2 DP. If he also wants to develop one rank in “Riding: Giant Eagle”, that will also cost 2 DP. If he learns both, the total cost is 2 +2 = 4 DP.

›Example: Goro decides he wants to develop 3 ranks in “Riding: Horse” so he pays 2 DP for the first rank, and 3 DP each for the second and third ranks, for a total cost of 2 + 3 + 3 = 8 DP.

Rank LimitsA character may never have more ranks in any skill than his level x 2. The only exceptions to this rule are “Linguistics” and “Lore” for which any number of ranks are allowed, regardless of level.

›Example: Goro reaches 3rd level and already has 3 ranks in “Riding: Horse”, he wants to learn another 4 ranks, but he may not, as his rank limit is 2 x 3rd level or 6 ranks, so he may learn a maximum of another 3 ranks in this skill.

Rank Bonus0 -‐25

1 -‐ 10 +5/rank11 -‐ 20 +3/rank21 -‐ 30 +2/rank31+ +1/rank

Table 9-‐2: Skill Ranks



9.1. Academic These skills determine a character’s effectiveness in intellectual pursuit. The number of ranks in an academic skill can be used as a rough guide to determine a character’s level of knowledge as shown in Table 9-3.

Alternately, the Knowledge Tier table can be used with maneu-ver rolls in a couple different ways. The GM may determine the difficulty of an academic maneuver based on the Knowledge Tier (allowing a Novice to try to recall Sage-level knowledge for instance). Or, the GM may base the amount of knowledge gained based on the total of the maneuver roll, thereby giving him progressively more information for a higher roll on recalling subject matter.

Linguistics(Me/Me/Re) The ability to communicate with or to understand any language is determined by the linguistics skill. This skill must be specialized as written, spoken, or signaled versions of a language. Non-spoken communications including codes, sign language, flag signals, or the like are considered languages for skill purposes.

A skill rank of 0 means the language cannot even be recognized while skill ranks of 10+ indicate a full understanding of the idiom behind the snide jokes made about Dwarves, Elves, and travelers. Most language skills are considered proficient with 5-10 Ranks, although some simple languages or codes may only require a few ranks to master (Morse code). Ranks beyond 10 delve into the variations of a language over time or by region. For example, a person with 30 ranks of English and a +100 skill bonus would have knowledge of regional dialects of English from across the globe, and also have no problem understanding something as old as Chaucer or as new as the lyrics to a newly released song.

In some unusual or stressful situations (tense diplomacy, strong accents, dialects), the skill bonus may be used to determine if communication is successful. In this case, Linguistics should

be treated as an Absolute Maneuver, with the GM assigning a Difficulty based on the situation. The GM may also allow related languages to use the ‘Similar Skill’ rule.

Lip Reading: Lip Reading can be taken to allow one to read lips in known spoken languages. The effective rank and bonus is the lower of the rank and bonus in Linguistics: Lip Reading and the specific spoken language being used.

Lip Reading Modifiers

Difference race -25 to -75

Distance greater than 10’ -2 / foot

Other Specializations: Written and spoken languages, Sign Language, Braille, Flag Signaling, etc.

Lore(Me/Me/Re) Knowledge of anything gained via experience or from rote learning. This covers knowledge of a subject, but does not necessarily translate into the deeper understanding provided by a science skill, being merely a collection of anecdotal informa-tion. At the GM’s discretion, it is possible that a lore skill, even when a maneuver is made, may return erroneous or misleading information due to the fact that the source of the lore is in error. E.g., “All the great cartographers say the western ocean is endless” or “Gerad said the only way to kill undead permanently was to burn them to ash, then soak the ash in holy water”.

The more specific a lore is, the less generous the GM should be when using it as a similar skill, but be more generous when ap-plying difficulties to maneuvers (e.g., Lore: Elvish Artifacts will be easier to use when applied to elvish artifacts than a more gen-eral Lore: Artifacts, but will normally be useless when looking at a Dwarven artifact).

Some skills only apply to a specific regional area, such as Lore: History or Lore: Flora. Rather than require specialization for each specific region, which can quickly lead to an unwieldy number of skills, the character’s Lore: Region skills are used to determine

Tier Description Earth Equivalent Skill Rank Difficulty Maneuver ResultNovice Introductory knowledge with details on a few

topics.Grade School, Jr. High School 1 -‐ 5 Casusal, Simple,

Routine, Easy80+

Student Good understanding and recall of all major topic areas, as well as basic details.

High School 6 -‐ 10 Light, Medium 100+

Scholar Mastery and recall of all important aspects of topic, plus many finer details in most areas.

College Undergraduate (BS, BA) 11 -‐ 15 Hard, Very Hard 120+

Expert Ability to form multiple complex inferences, create accurate analogies, and form connections to other subject matters.

Graduate level college (MS, MA) 16-‐20 Extremely Hard, Sheer Folly

150+

Sage Complete understanding and knowledge of obscure and uncommon parts of subject matter.

Post-‐Graduate (Doctoral) 21+ Absurd, Nigh Impossible

200+

Table 9-‐3: Knowledge Tiers



what regions the localized skill is useful for. The effective skill ranks and bonus for a localized Lore skill is the lesser of the ranks and bonus in the Lore skill and the appropriate Lore: Region skill.

Region Lore: General information about a region that includes geography, cultures, flora and fauna as well as a limited local history. The region size may vary but should be no more than 100,000 square miles (about 300 x 300 miles).

Other Specializations: Artifact, Demon, Dragon, Faerie, Fauna, Flora, Heraldry, History, Human, Metal, Religion, Spell, Stone, Symbol, Wood, Undead, etc.

Science(Me/Re/Re) Science skills are similar to Lore skills but also include the application and analysis of information to solve problems and make predictions. The GM may choose not to allow some science skills to be taken, based on the technological level of the game world. Science skills must be specialized when developed.

Research: Research is the act of efficiently using multiple sources of reference to assimilate the knowledge and information neces-sary to solve a problem, support a creative effort, or otherwise answer questions important to the individual.

Mathematics: In the simplest form, mathematics involves count-ing things and accounting for them in numbers. At higher levels of difficulty, it can be used to measure and account for more and more facets of tangible things. Higher levels of difficulty allow for more complicated manipulations, and the manipulation of more abstract qualities and quantities. The application of many other sciences will depend on adequate mathematical skill to carry out the necessary calculations.

Other Specializations: Archeology, Architecture, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, etc.

9.2. AthleticThese skills determine a character’s ability to move or maneuver and his general state of physical conditioning.

Gymnastic(Ag/Qu/St) This skill determines the character’s ability to ma-neuver, contort, or perform stunts, which are graded by dif-ficulty, rather than by distance traveled, and are resolved using the Absolute Maneuver table. Athletic/Gymnastic skills must be specialized when developed.

Acrobatics: Acrobatics includes tumbling, horizontal dives, roll-ing, swinging on objects, and other general gymnastic maneuvers.

It is also the skill used for Dodge maneuvers (Arms Law, Section 4.1).

Jumping: This skill is used for both running and standing jumps. Every character has a Base Jump distance equal to 50” + Stride (in inches) which is used to determine nominal jumping distances for different types of jumps, with the difficulty of the maneuver based on the length (or height) of the jump attempted as shown in Table 9-4. If the maneuver fails, but how far the character actual-ly did jump is important,

then consult the Percentage Maneuver table to determine the distance jumped.

Power Training: Covers the skill of using your muscles to the most advantage with the least chance of injuring yourself. This covers the proper ways to get a solid grip on objects, the right way to apply strength to lift or move something, and the correct ways to position your body when moving to keep applying force with-out injuring yourself. This skill is used as the bonus for strength-based feats. (Section 12.3)

Other Specializations: Contortions, Dance, Diving, Downhill Skiing, Gymnastic-based Sports, Pole-Vaulting, Surfing, etc.

Movement(Ag/Co/St) This skill determines the character’s ability to travel distances in stressful situations using the Percentage Maneuver table. (There is no need to make a maneuver roll for Athletic/Movement: Running every time a character walks across a room for instance). Athletic/Movement skills must be specialized when developed.

Many Movement skills require effort just to ‘hold-on’, such as treading water, flying, climbing, or tightrope-walking, and as such, require Concentration whenever the character is trying to perform another action. Depending on the circumstances, the GM may require a maneuver roll to prevent falling or drowning. If a character has the right equipment, he can create situations in which he can pause these kinds of motion and then act without concentrating (e.g., wearing a floatation vest when swimming, or tying yourself to a spike nailed into a wall when climbing).

Difficulty DistanceRoutine < 0.5xEasy 0.5x -‐ 1xLight 1x -‐ 1.5xMedium 1.5x -‐ 2xHard 2x -‐ 2.5xVery Hard 2.5x -‐ 3xExtremely Hard 3x -‐ 4xSheer Folly 4x -‐ 5xAbsurd 5x -‐ 6xNigh Impossible 6x -‐ 7xBase Jump = 50” + Stride (in inches)Running long jump = Base JumpStanding long jump = Base Jump / 2Running high jump = Base Jump / 5Standing high jump = Base Jump / 10

Table 9-‐4: Jumping Difficulties



Climbing: Climbing includes maneuvers from climbing a lad-der to scaling a cliff. Climbing speed is lower than a character’s normal Base Movement Rate (BMR). Thus, climbing BMR is 1/5 of the character’s normal BMR, which is adjusted by pace as normal. However, climbing faster than a ‘Jog’ (x2) is not allowed unless there are plenty of obvious hand and footholds (such as a ladder or tree), or if the character has claws or claw-like gear capable of creating handholds in the surface.

Flying/Gliding: The pace for flying creatures works slightly differently. For those capable of the top two paces, Fast Sprint is “Diving” pace, a speed achievable only by rapidly descending, while Dash is “Power Diving” pace, a speed achievable only by flying as hard as possible while rapidly descending. Flying crea-tures can glide at up to their base movement rate (i.e., “walking” pace) for full movement for only 20% activity. Unless conditions are ideal, in the form of strong thermals or updrafts, every round they attempt to continue gliding will require a successful maneu-ver of one difficulty higher than the last round. (No MM the first round of gliding, Casual on the 2nd round, Simple the 3rd, etc.)

Running: The main skill for terrestrial based races, Running is the skill used for any walking or running based maneuvers that are required.

Swimming: For non-native swimmers, the Base Movement Rate of swimming maneuvers is 1/5 of the character’s normal BMR, which is adjusted by pace as normal. Armor and encumber-ing equipment are especially detrimental in water and as such any Armor or Encumbrance penalties are multiplied by 3 (be-fore the Combat Expertise: Maneuvering in Armor skill is applied) while swimming.

Other Specializations: Cross-country skiing, Rowing, Skating, Stilt Walking, Tightrope Walking, etc.

Body Development(Co/Co/SD) Body Development covers how well developed and trained a character’s physical body is, with higher Body Development allowing the character to take damage without being knocked unconscious and to push his body to more ex-treme levels of exertion or endurance.

The character’s Body Development skill bonus is added to his Base Hits (determined by Race) to get his total Hits. The BD bonus is also used when making Fatigue checks (Section 12.4).

9.3. CombatCombat skills cover the basic knowledge of attack and defense, as well as more advanced combat capabilities. All combat skills are covered in more detail in Arms Law.

Combat Training(varies) These skills cover training for fighting and defending, whether unarmed or with various types of weapons. The skill bonus in any Combat Training skill is referred to as an Offensive Bonus, or OB. When characters are created, there are 5 different costs for Combat Training, which are assigned to the different categories listed below. The character should assign the lowest 4 costs, with any remaining categories using the 5th cost. Not all categories will appear in all settings, such as the Firearms and Energy Weapons category, which will only appear in higher tech, sci-fi, or crossover settings.

Unarmed (Ag/St/St): Unarmed and natural attacks (Martial Arts Strikes, Sweeps, and Grappling, Bites, Claws, etc.). The char-acter must specify one kind of unarmed attack when taking this skill. E.g., Unarmed: Grappling.

Melee (Ag/St/St): Weapons used in hand to hand combat (Broad Sword, Spear, War Hammer, Two handed Sword, etc.). The charac-ter must specify one melee weapon when taking this skill. E.g., Melee: Broad Sword.

Thrown (Ag/Ag/St): Thrown weapons and natural ranged at-tacks (Dagger, Spear, Bola, etc.). The character must specify one thrown weapon when taking this skill. E.g., Combat Training: Thrown: Thrown Dagger.

Missile (Ag/Ag/St): Mechanical devices that fire projectiles (Long Bow, Sling, Light Crossbow, etc.). The character must specify one missile weapon when taking this skill. E.g., Missile: Heavy Crossbow.

Directed Spell (Ag/Sd/Realm): Directed magical attacks (Elemental Bolts, Illusion Strikes, etc.). The character must specify one type of directed spell when taking this skill. E.g., Directed Spell: Elemental Bolts. Note: “Elemental Bolts” covers all types of elemental bolts.

Siege Weapons (Re/Sd/In): Large mounted weapons that use math for aiming (Catapult, Ballistae, Cannon, Trebuchet, etc.). The character must specify one siege weapon when taking this skill. E.g., Siege Weapons: Catapult.

Firearms (Ag/St/Sd): High velocity projectile weapons that use more than muscular force to fire (Musket, Rifle, Blunderbuss, Pistol, etc.). The character must specify one firearm type when taking this skill. E.g., Firearms: Semi-automatic Rifle.

Energy Weapons (Ag/Ag/Sd): Directed energy weapons that fire beams or pulses of energy (Laser Rifle, Plasma Pistol, Essence Lance, etc.). The character must specify one energy weapon when taking this skill. E.g., Energy Weapons: Laser Rifle.



Combat Expertise(None) These skills are used to reduce penalties to combat, enabling the trained character to engage in feats that would not normally be practical. While these skills can reduce a pen-alty to a maneuver, at best they reduce the modification to zero. Combat Expertise skills cannot offer a bonus if the skill exceeds the penalty.

Disarm: Reduces the penalties associated with disarming an opponent.

Maneuver in Armor: Reduces the maneuver penalty for armor worn, but has no effect on the encumbrance penalty for armor worn.

Mounted Combat: Reduces penalties to combat from a mount.

Multiple Attacks: Reduces penalties associated with making multiple attacks in a single round, either against a single or mul-tiple opponents.

Protect: Reduces penalties for extending your DB to protect an ally.

Restricted Quarters Fighting: Reduces penalties when fighting in restricted quarters.

Reverse Stroke: Reduces the penalty for attacking a target to one’s flank or rear, or for lowering an opponent’s bonuses when attacking your flank or rear.

Subdual: Reduces penalties when trying to subdue an opponent.

Shield(Ag/St/St) The shield skill allows a trained combatant to get more use out of a shield, ether in melee or vs. ranged attacks as described in Arms Law.

9.4. DisciplineThese skills allow the character to push his physical or mental abilities beyond the normal limits.

Body Discipline(Co/Sd/Sd) Body Discipline allows the character to push his body beyond its normal limits or to control his physical body.

Adrenal Focus: Adrenal Focus can be used to achieve feats of superhuman effort through concentration and self-discipline. The character prepares by taking a Concentration action for one round and making a Routine (+30) Percentage Maneuver.

The resulting number minus 100 is used as a bonus to his next physical action. Adrenal Focus may not be attempted in consecu-tive rounds.

Adrenal Focus is also used in several talents (e.g., Strength, Speed) in which case it is resolved as a Medium (0) Absolute Maneuver. Success means the effect of the talent replaces the normal effect of Adrenal Focus. No more than 1 Adrenal talent may be pre-pared in a single round.

Mind over Matter: The character has trained his mind to tem-porarily block sensations of pain and discomfort. This can be used to temporarily ignore the penalties from fatigue or injuries.

To shrug off fatigue, the character must Concentrate for 1 round and make a Medium Absolute Maneuver with this skill. If suc-cessful, the character can ignore his fatigue penalty in the follow-ing round.

To numb the pain of injuries, the character must Concentrate for 1 round and make a Very Hard Absolute Maneuver with this skill. If successful, the character can ignore all pain penalties in the following round. This will only affect pain-related penalties, it cannot make a broken arm work better, nor one with the mus-cles torn up, it can only make pain or surface injury penalties go away. (At best, remove half the penalty for damage that makes a body part “broken”, and no effect on injury penalties due to a limb being unusable).

To shrug off fatigue and numb pain at the same time is a Sheer Folly Absolute Maneuver.

At the end of the 2nd round during upkeep, and every round fol-lowing, the character must make a fatigue check. As soon as a fatigue check is failed or the character is knocked unconscious, all ignored penalties resume having an effect on the character (the character still gains any additional fatigue penalties caused by this new check).

Other Specializations: Physical Psions.

Mental Discipline(Sd/Sd/Pr): Mental Discipline allows the character to push his mind beyond its normal limits and achieve extreme states of focus.

Meditation: Meditation can be used to enter and exploit a mental trance which the character can use to help solve difficult problems or perform mental maneuvers. To use this skill, the character must meditate (100% activity) for 5 minutes and make a Routine (+30) Percentage Maneuver. The resulting number minus 100 is used as a bonus to his next mental action (e.g., attun-ing to a magical item, casting a spell, using a lore skill etc.).



Meditation is also used in some talents (e.g., Sleep Meditation) in which case it is resolved as a Medium (0) Absolute Maneuver. Success means the effect of the talent replaces the normal effect of Meditation.

Other Specializations: Mental Psions, Control Lycanthropy.

9.5. MagicalThese skills range from casting spells “normally” to stretching the limits of magic, and manipulating magical objects or forces.

Delving (Em/In/Pr) These skills are used to manipulate the magical ener-gy embedded in objects and are resolved as Absolute Maneuvers. The modifiers given in Table 9-5 apply to all Delving maneuvers. A character is allowed one chance to delve an item. If he fails, he may not try again until he improves his skill rank with the ap-propriate Delving skill (Attunement or Runes).

Does not know realm of item -‐30Character's realm different than item -‐30Does not know spell or effect -‐20Level of spell or effect -‐1/lvlCharacter can cast spell intrinsically +20

Table 9-‐5: Delving Modifiers

Attunement: This skill enables a character to learn and possi-bly use the spell abilities of a staff, wand, or any other item with embedded spells (see Spell Law). In order to cast spells from an item, the wielder of the item must make an Absolute Maneuver. If an item has several spells or groups of spells that are widely

separated in power or type, the Gamemaster may require sepa-rate attunement rolls for each spell or group of spells.

Using an item is a personal experience between the individual and the item and so teaching someone else an item is not al-lowed. However, a character may aid another character with Attunement by explaining the power(s) and also through the use of the Complementary Skill rule (adding his own ranks in Delving: Attunement), although only one such person is allowed to aid the person attempting the attunement.

Once the character is attuned to an item the spell abilities can be used, however when it is used another Attunement roll is made (taking the place of the spell-casting roll).

Runes: This skill enables a character to decipher and use Runes (spells inscribed in suitable media). To decipher a rune an Absolute Maneuver is made with the results shown on Table 9-7. When the rune is later used, it is essentially a spell being cast and is treated as such. See Spell Law for the rules on casting spells. The only difference is that the caster may add any ranks in the Runes skill to the spell casting roll.

Magical Expertise(None) These skills are used to reduce penalties to spell-casting, enabling the trained character to engage in feats that would not normally be practical. These skills do not get any stat bonus and only benefit from Skill Rank Bonus, Professional Bonus, and Talents. While these skills can reduce a penalty to a maneuver, at best they reduce the modification to zero. Magical Expertise skills cannot offer a bonus if the skill exceeds the penalty. These skills are explained further in Spell Law.

Grace: Reduces penalties for casting spells above character’s level and/or faster than normal.

Absolute Failure Spell on the item cast on character or a random bystander if appropriateFailure Nothing happens, nothing gleanedPartial Success Character determines one of the spells or effects imbedded but cannot use itSuccess Character learns an imbedded spell or effect and may use itAbsolute Success Character gets +25 on further Attunements attempts with this item

Table 9-‐6: Attunement

Absolute Failure Spell on the Rune cast on character or a random bystander if appropriateFailure Nothing happens, nothing gleanedPartial Success Character determines spell inscribed, but cannot use itSuccess Character learns the spell inscribed and may use itAbsolute Success Character gets +25 when using this rune

Table 9-‐7: Deciphering Runes



Spell Trickery: Reduces penalties for hiding or disguising spells cast.

Transcendence: Skill can be used to offset penalties due to car-rying equipment or armor.

Power Manipulation(Em/In/Pr) Used to manipulate and use magical energies directly rather than using the energy to cast a spell. The resolution of each specialized version of Power Manipulation varies.

Channeling: This skill can be used to transmit Power Points from one person to a willing target. The sender must know the exact location of the target, either by seeing him, via some magi-cal means, or by prearranged appointment (e.g., “Stand in front of the altar of the moon at exactly midnight, and I will send the power to you.”).

To transmit Power Points make a Medium (0) Percentage Maneuver. The resulting num-ber is the percentage of Power Points that were success-fully transmitted (the rest are wasted). Any result over 100 is

treated as a 100%. A failure results in a Spell Failure.

To receive Power Points, the recipient also makes a Medium (0) Percentage Maneuver, but without any of the modifiers. A num-bered result is the percentage of the transmitted Power Points ac-tually gained. This can allow a caster to end up with more Power Points than he normally has.

Power Projection: This is a form of magical dueling, similar to Channeling, but trying to harm an opponent. Both partici-pants must be within 30’ of each other and make a Routine (+30) Absolute Maneuver, expend 1 PP to begin and consult Table 9-9 (This is a 50% action if in combat time). This creates a visible con-struct of magical energy between them (a ball of power, a strand of light connecting the two, etc., at the GM’s discretion.). With each following round, initiative should be used, as this skill is a contest to see who fails first. Each round, both participants must expend 1 PP and make another Absolute Maneuver of one difficulty level greater than the previous round (this is a 90% action). If you run out of PP and cannot contribute the power needed before rolling, are physically removed from the 30’ range, or are attacked and

stunned, then you lose control of the projection as per “Absolute Failure” below.

If one participant initiates power projection at a target, expends his 1 PP and makes his initial routine maneuver, and the target does not also attempt to do so, then the target automatically “loses” and takes 1 hit of damage (no RR or defense applies).

9.6. Outdoor & AnimalThese skills deal with outdoor environments and working with animals.

Animal Handling (Re/Em/Pr) Animal Handling involves the care and feeding of animals, as well as training, minor healing, and possibly simple communication depending on the type of animal. This can in-clude herding sheep or guiding a horse, but can be as complicated as teaching the intricate tricks of a circus dog act. The complexity of the desired behavior determines the difficulty of the maneu-ver. For more complicated actions, a period of training the animal may be required

This skill is used in place of Leadership for fear bonus and rallying frightened animals (Section 13.6).

Specializations: Any type of animal

Riding(Ag/Em/Pr) Characters who lack any riding skill will strug-gle just to remain seated on an animal when it is moving. The animal will need to be led by someone else, or it will go where it pleases, the unskilled rider having no control. For complex riding maneuvers, or those performed under stress, a Riding maneuver roll will be required. Any actions taken while on a moving mount are at a penalty equal to the character’s Riding Skill Bonus – 100 (minimum of 0). For example, a rider with a +80 skill will be at 80 - 100 = -20 to all actions. Riding maneuvers, and actions taken while Riding are also subject to a penalty due to the pace of the mount (Section 12.2).

This skill is used in place of Leadership for fear bonus and rallying frightened mounts (Section 13.6).

Specializations: Any type of animal that can be ridden.

Scenario ModifierTouching recipient +10Can see recipient 0Recipient > 100' -‐20Cannot see Recipient -‐50Different Realm -‐100

Table 9-‐8: Channeling Modifiers

Absolute Failure As Failure and roll on 'Force' spell failure table +1/PP in the projection.Failure Take Hits equal to the both sides PP total in the projection. You have lost.Partial Success Almost lose control of projection, next round you must contribute 2 PP to continue.Success Keep control of the projection for this round.Absolute Success Keep control and you do not have to contribute any PP next round to continue.

Table 9-‐9: Power Projection



Drive/Pilot(Ag/Sd/Qu) This skill is used to control any vehicle with a steer-ing mechanism. If a vehicle is propelled and completely directed by an animal, then use the Animal Handling (if led or on reins) or Riding (if ridden) skills instead.

Specializations: Sailing ship, car, glider, blimp, etc.

Survival(Re/Me/In) Survival includes the skills necessary for living in a specific hostile environment and includes locating potable water, foraging for edible plants, and catching small animals through gathering, fishing and hunting. It also includes the observation and awareness of dangerous weather patterns, finding of shelter and suitable camp sites, starting fires, and improvising clothing or equipment.

Specializations: Arctic, Desert, Ocean, Swamp, Temperate Forest, Tropical Forest, Urban, etc.

9.7. PerceptionPerception skills focus on honing the senses and discerning de-tails of the environment.

Perception(Re/Sd/In) This skill is used for noticing details about the envi-ronment, and it affects how much information and clues a char-acter gets through observation. It is used to find hidden objects, to notice imperfections in walls that may hide a secret door, to notice triggers for traps, and to sense potential ambushes.

If a character states that he is watching or examining an area, sit-uation, or place, the GM should make an Absolute Maneuver roll using the character’s Perception skill to determine if the charac-ter notices or detects anything. The GM may keep this roll secret, revealing only what the character has observed. A heavy penalty should be assessed (if a roll is allowed at all) in situations where the players do not know what their characters are looking for or do not specify that their characters are looking for something in particular (likewise, looking for ceiling traps makes it difficult to see pit traps, etc.).

Navigation(Me/Re/In) This skill provides a bonus for determining proper directions and distances when using or creating a map in con-junction with some directional aid, such as a compass or the stars.

This includes the concept of orienteering, and it is applicable on land or water. Finding your way around by use of familiar land-marks is not navigation; it is Lore: Region.

Specializations: Astral, Marine, Planar, Terrestrial, Underground.

Tracking(Re/In/Em) This skill provides a bonus for tracking maneuvers and following a trail left by someone or something such as foot prints, broken branches, crushed grass, hanging pieces of cloth, etc. This skill can also be used to read the tracks to determine information about the being that left them. E.g., “These tracks were left by two trolls, the larger troll was carrying something on his left side, and the smaller troll has a broken claw on one of its toes. These are the same trolls that attacked the farm, and perhaps what’s being carried is the missing cow.”

9.8. SocialSocial skills deal with the interactions between intelligent crea-tures and obtaining results via communication rather than force.

Influence(Em/In/Pr) This skill provides a bonus to maneuvers that attempt to shift people’s opinions in a direction the character desires. The GM determines how much of a shift in opinion the attempt is, and sets a difficulty. If the maneuver is successful, the character convinces the target to change his opinion. The context of the attempt will determine the difficulty of the maneuver (e.g., it is far easier to influence the Captain of the Guard at a cocktail party than just after he has found a rebel hiding under the hay in your cart). Failure might cause trouble, but total failure should result in a very negative or even hostile response. A wary target will get a Social Awareness maneuver to resist an Influence attempt. (see contested skills Section 12.5)

All Influence skill use can be complicated by communication problems due to language or cultural differences. A character must have some form of effective communication to attempt to influence a target, but partial communication can help or hinder (e.g., it might be harder to haggle over the price of a load of mixed goods if you only have 3 ranks in the target merchant’s language, but it might be easier to get away with a simple lie if you only have 3 ranks in the target guard’s language and use that confusion to bury the lie). Lore: Region may make all these tasks easier, like knowing that metal is scarce and prized in Port Royale will let you know to set your Trading cost high, and knowing that the Emir of Port Royalle’s guards are all blood related to him, and face execution if caught taking bribes, will let you know to tread carefully and



set your price high in trying to bribe one. Lacking region lore can hamper you: you might sell the metal too cheaply, or be too casual in approaching that guard with a paltry bribe.

The nature of the maneuver will determine if it is an Absolute or Percentage Maneuver. Trying to bribe a guard at the gate to let you in after dark might be a Bribery AM, while haggling with the innkeeper over the price of a room might be a Trading PM. Any Absolute Successes mean the skill can be used next time on the same target at +5, and any Absolute Failures mean that a penalty of -5 will apply when using this skill with this same target (These modifiers are cumulative and permanent, with a maximum positive bonus equal to the ranks the character has in the skill, and no limit on the penalty).

Charm: This skill involves knowing how to approach and inter-act with people so that they like you more and are willing to do you “favors”. The more time and effort that you put into laying ground for a charm maneuver, the more effectively it works. The GM should set the difficulty based on how much time and ef-fort the character is putting into the maneuver and what “favor” the character is asking for. Abruptly encountering someone and immediately requesting a huge favor is at least Sheer Folly if not Impossible, spending a few hours befriending someone, and ask-ing a small favor might be Routine. This skill should be harder to use than Bribery or Trading, but it is getting something for noth-ing, the moment you move over into “I’ll do you a favor, if you do me a favor” you are using Bribery or Trading and not Charm.

Duping: This skill covers knowing how to lie, bluff, or spin the truth convincingly. This skill can be used to slide a lie past some-one, the difficulty being based on how plausible the lie seems to the target, Trying to convince someone of something elaborate with a lot of false details should be Absurd or harder, while a tight, small lie that fits into what the target already knows might be Light or easier.

Intimidation: This skill covers being able to get what you want out of people by subtle or overt threat, without taking it so far as to make them flee for help or fight back (and without provoking a fear or morale reaction). This skill should be easier to use than Bribe/Trade, but the consequences of failure should be much larger. When an attempt fails on a target, he will always become hostile unless he has reason to be physically afraid of the character using intimidation, in which case he will lie and placate until he can get away, arm himself, and/or get help. Absolute failure will have the same effect as failure, but also make a long-term enemy of the target, who will remember this moment, and do whatever he can to safely get back at the intimidating character. This skill works on threats, not actual injury; when a character pushes over that line, stop using the Influence skill rules and begin using the fear/morale rules (Section 13.6) basing the level of attack on how terrifying the character is being vs. the target’s level.

Trading: The person with this skill knows how to negotiate, hag-gle and strike bargains. Characters who are good at this skill will be able to figure out a deal that works for both parties, if a deal is possible. The GM should rate the difficulty based on how the deal the player is offering would look to the target. If the deal seems safe and very favorable for the target it should be easy to convince him, while if the deal seems to short change the target or put him in trouble or danger it will be more difficult, or per-haps impossible.

Other Specializations: Bribery

Leadership(Em/Pr/Pr) This skill provides a bonus to inspire those loyal to you to follow your instructions. This skill cannot be used on those not already loyal to you, but for those who view you as their leader, this skill can be used to rally or inspire them. Any instruc-tion or command given that might be resisted or questioned (i.e., one that requires a morale check; see section 13.6) is modified by your Leadership bonus. Also, all combatants who consider you their leader get a bonus equal to your ranks in leadership to any RRs vs. Fear/Terror as long as they are aware that you are present, or if this skill is used as a 75% action, the leader can rally followers affected by a failed fear check. This is a singular skill that does not need to be specialized.

Social Awareness(Em/Re/In) This skill develops awareness of the motives and so-cial maneuvers of those around you. You can make maneuvers using this skill to study other people and try to understand them. If someone is using this skill (i.e., not relaxed with his guard down) when targeted with an Influence skill maneuver (see above) then he can make an opposed maneuver (Section 12.5) to notice the Influence attempt. This makes it much harder to influence a wary guard who just found you sneaking out of a window, and much easier to influence the same guard if you met him in a tavern over a few beers.

9.9. Spell CastingThese skills deal directly with invoking or powering magi-cal effects. Spells, casting, and other magical rules are given in Spell Law.

Magical Ritual(Realm/Realm/Me) Magic Rituals are an alternative way (com-pared to standard spell-casting) to use magic (See Spell Law).



Specializations: Alteration, Creation, Defensive, Destruction, Elemental, Healing, Informational, Summoning/Transportation

Power Development(Realm/Realm/Co) The total bonus for this skill determines the number of Power Points that your character will have available for spell casting. This skill is not specialized, and each character has a single pool of power points, even if a character has access to multiple realms.

Spell List(Realm/Realm/Re) Developing a spell list gives a character the ability to cast spells from that list. The number of ranks a char-acter has in a list determines the level to which he can cast from that list (e.g., if a character has 8 ranks in Fire Law he can cast any spell from the Fire Law list up to 8th level).The number of ranks is also added to the Spell-Casting Roll when a spell is cast. The skill bonus in a Spell List is used for Spell Mastery: attempts to change the spell when it is cast (e.g., making a fireball smaller diam-eter, or shaping a fire wall). Other uses are occasional specified in certain spells.

There are four separate costs given for Spell lists; Open/Base is the cost you pay for ranks in any open lists of your realm or your Professional base lists; Closed is the cost you pay for ranks in any closed lists of your realm. Arcane is the cost for Arcane spells, and Other is the cost you pay for any list the GM decides should be especially expensive to learn, such as the Base list of other Professions (which will usually be difficult to get access to in the first place). You may not develop ranks in lists from realms other than your own.

9.10. SubterfugeSubterfuge skills focus on stealth, misdirection, and concealment.

Ambush(Ag/Sd/Qu) Ambush is the ability to make a very precise attack and can only occur when the opponent is completely unaware of the character’s attack. In such a situation the ambushing charac-ter makes an attack roll as normal (with a bonus for surprise and frequently for a rear or flank attack). If a critical is obtained, the character may modify his roll on the appropriate Critical Strike Table. The roll can be adjusted by any number up to the charac-ter’s ranks in the Ambush skill. This adjustment may be either up or down. Because position is relatively unpredictable in a general melee situation, Ambush skill rank is halved if the foe is already

in a melee situation. A character must still be able to strike unde-tected before the foe can react.

If the target is killed or knocked unconscious from the attack, the Ambush skill can also be used to make the attack silent. An Absolute Maneuver roll is made and if successful then the attack and target do not make any noise (unless the GM determines the type of attack cannot be made silently). The difficulty of the ma-neuver should be based on how loud the attack made is, and how close any observers are.

Specializations: Melee, Ranged, Thrown, Unarmed, etc.

Stalk/Hide(Ag/Sd/In) Stalking is the ability to move in silence and unseen, using camouflage and shadows to conceal your presence, while Hiding is the same ability used when not moving. The difficulty of the maneuver using this skill is determined mainly by the sur-roundings; it will be easier in a dark, shadowy area with a lot of cover, but more difficult in brightly lit areas without cover. Stalk/Hide is opposed by Perception skill.

Trickery(Ag/In/Pr) Practitioners of this skill have trained their hands in the art of misdirection to perform acts that may almost seem magical to the untrained eye, but are not.

Specializations: Pick Pockets, Stage Magic, Sleight of Hand, Card/Dice Cheating,etc.

9.11. Trade & CraftComposition(Me/Re/Re) Crafting an original written document that conveys information and/or emotional content in an effective way is the focus of this skill.

Specializations: Musical Scoring, Reporting, Speech Writing, Song Writer, Playwright, etc.

Crafting(Ag/Sd/Me) This skill covers any attempt to craft a finished prod-uct out of raw materials using hand labor. Depending on the type of finished product, this skill may require simple or highly special-ized tools, and creating a final product may be a matter of a few minutes or weeks or months of constant labor. The specific type of craft must be specified when ranks in this skill are developed.



Specializations: Brewing, Camouflage, Carpentry, Ceramics, Cooking, Copper-smith, Disguise and costumes, Drafting, Drawing, Falsification, Fletching, Leather-working, Mapping, Masonry, Painting, Smithing, Scribing, Sculpting, Sewing, Tanning, Trap building, Weaving, Wood-carving, etc.

Mechanical(Ag/Re/In) This skill covers the use and minor maintenance of any mechanical device (construction and major repairs require an appropriate crafting skill). Some devices may require tools in order to use, activate, or deactivate. Generally the GM should set a difficulty level for the complexity of a device, which is used as a modifier for maneuvers using this skill.

Locks and traps (and other mechanisms) are rated according to their complexity, which combines the sophistication of the device with the difficulty in unlocking/disarming it (or operating some other type of mechanism). That is, a device may be relatively simple in construction yet be extremely difficult to unlock, disarm, or operate.

Locks: This skill includes manipulating and picking locks with-out a key, maintaining locks, changing user-adjustable locks, and the design of locks (actually manufacturing a lock would require an appropriate Crafting skill). Some suggested difficulties for locks: simple shackle lock (Easy), tumbler lock (Hard to Extremely Hard), Double key tumbler (Sheer Folly). Special tools or circumstances may further modify the complexity. For instance, a lock made of special materials, a broken, jammed or seized lock, or any other circumstance beyond normal.

Traps: This skill is used for setting up, maintaining, or disarming devices intended either to harm or capture the creature who sets it off, or to set off an alarm. Some suggested difficulties for traps: snare trap, bells on a string alarm (Easy), tripwire (Medium), pressure plate (Hard to Extremely Hard), vibration, air pressure, magical or light triggers (Sheer Folly or harder). Special tools or cir-cumstances may further modify the complexity. For instance, a trap designed with extra triggers designed to set it off if tampered with, well concealed or covered parts, or extra useless parts to make it more confusing.

This skill can also be used on a discovered trap to assess it, and figure out ways to avoid it without disarming it (e.g., “The pressure plates take 100 pounds of pressure to trigger the trap, so if we lie down and drag ourselves across the floor we shouldn’t set them off”). This may be more or less difficult than disarming the trap, depending on the specifics of the triggering mechanism.

Specializations: Gimmickry, Specific type of machine or equipment

Medical(Me/Re/In) Healing the sick and treating injuries are the general purposes of these skills. The GM should decide what kinds of medical skills are available based on the tech level and knowledge base of the setting. The type of medical skill must be specified when ranks in this skill are developed. Details on injuries and healing are given in Arms Law (Section 7.2: Injuries & Healing).

In higher tech societies, medicine will fracture into more highly specialized sub-skills that are far more capable within their nar-rower fields, and often Medical: Herbalism will be replaced by Medical: Pharmacology.

Diagnostics: This skill allows one to diagnose illness and injuries and thereby be better suited to healing someone with First Aid or other Medical skill.

First Aid: This skill provides a bonus for treating injuries and overt symptoms of illness. This skill includes the use of simple medical aids/herbs, setting broken bones, stopping bleeding, etc.

Herbalism: The preparation of doses of appropriate medication, and the knowledge of how to apply them.

Poison: The preparation of doses of health-destroying chemicals or diseases, and the knowledge of how to apply them.

Other Specializations: Midwifery, Surgery, Pharmacology, Dentistry, etc.

Performance Art(Me/Em/Pr) All of the arts that involve a performance, usually intended to evoke an emotional response or tell a story, are vari-ants of this skill. Arts that create a tangible physical product are covered by the Crafting skill, and arts that require an athletic performance are covered by the Gymnastic skill. The type of performance art must be specified when ranks are developed in this skill

Specializations: Acting, Divination, Mimery, Play Instrument (further specialized by instrument), Poetic Improvisation, Singing, Tale Telling, etc.

Vocation(Em/Me/Re) Every occupation includes a lot of small skills that are not covered by any other skill in this list. A sailor may know how to tie knots, a valet may know exactly the right clothing to wear to a winter ball, a soldier knows whom and how to salute, an office worker knows how to type, etc. A specific occupation or field must be specified when ranks in this skill are developed, and



any actions that the player can justify, and the GM accepts, may be attempted with this skill. This skill may not be used to dupli-cate any other skill; if you want to train that ability, you must learn that skill. Vocation is intended as a general catch-all for the multitude of minor skills that are not of themselves worthy of being made into a specific skill.

Specializations: Advertising, Barber, Begging, Caving, Farmer, Guide, Military Organization, Miner, Sailing, Scribing, Seneschal, Teacher, Trapper, Valet, etc.



10. Equipment10.1. CommerceThe infinite variety of cultures, places, and situations found in fantasy role-playing games makes it impossible to completely generalize economic systems and prices. Each world usually has one or more of its own coinage systems. Some are based on the worth of the coins’ component material or craftsmanship; others are tied to the society’s faith in the coins’ producer or guarantor (e.g., the government backs its wooden nickels). The cost of any good varies with locale and circumstance. Still, some comparative standard proves helpful.

Obviously, a world rich in varying political entities and cultural groups rarely relies on only one coinage system. Silver might be worth more than gold in

certain regions, while other locales may value stone pieces or have no coinage at all. Barter, after all, is the norm in most places lacking a central authority. It is suggested however, that the Gamemaster establish a comparative standard in order to regulate exchange. This helps people compare the values of their goods, even if they are simply trying to trade six ferret skins for a sheep hide. It also makes it easy to weave a localized jade-based economy into an imperial system that embraces silver as its standard.

Gold will rarely be in common use so a silver standard is assumed here, with copper and bronze also commonly used. We suggest the following comparative exchange system, using coins of a uni-form 1/4 ounce weight as shown in Table 10-1.

The GM may wish to tinker with coin weights, which vary be-tween tenth-ounce and half-ounce or add new material stand-ards (e.g., a jade piece [jp] = 2 sp). The GM might remove bronze, tin, and iron pieces from general use, leaving copper coinage as the effective floor. When using this exchange system in conjunction with prices listed in a radically different currency, it is suggested that the GM try to determine a one for one exchange equivalent for at least one type of coin.

10.2. EquipmentPlayers can use the Tables 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 to purchase start-ing equipment for the characters, which provide a range of goods that are available in fantasy settings. Not all goods will be avail-able in all settings, or even in all locations in a particular setting

1 gold piece (gp) = 10 silver pieces1 silver piece (sp) = 10 bronze pieces1 bronze piece (bp) = 10 copper pieces1 copper piece (cp) = 10 tin pieces1 tin piece (tp) = 10 iron pieces1 iron piece (ip)

Table 10-‐1: Coinage Standards

Weapon Cost LengthWeight

(lbs)Prod Time

(days) Strength TypeBroadsword 10 sp 2'-3.5' 3 - 5 3 75-‐86 1hBattle Axe 13 sp 2.5'-4' 4 - 7 2 50-60 1hBill Hook 14 sp 6'-15' 5 - 12 2 50-60 2hBola 5 sp 3'-6' 2 - 6 1 27-33 thrownClub 1 cp 2'-3' 2 - 5 6 hrs 35-45 1hDagger 3 sp .75'-1.5' 0.5 - 1.5 1 74-86 1h/thrownFalchion 15 sp 2'-3' 3.5 - 5 3 74-‐86 1hFlail 16 sp 2.5'-4' 4 - 8 2 60-70 1hHalberd 14 sp 6'-15' 5 - 12 2 50-60 2hHand Axe 5 sp 2'-3' 4 - 6 1 50-60 1h/thrownHeavy Crossbow 25 sp 3.5'-4.5' 8 - 12 16 75-85 missleHeavy Flail 19 sp 2.5'-4' 4 - 8 5 55-65 2hJavelin 3 sp 4'-7' 3 - 5 1 38-42 thrownLight Crossbow 11 sp 2'-4' 4 - 8 7 79-80 missileLong Bow 10 sp 5'-7' 2 - 3 9 75-85 missileLongsword 18 sp 3'-5' 1.5 - 3 4 64-‐76 1hMace 6 sp 1'-3' 3.5 - 8 2 60-70 1hMain Gauche 12 sp 1'-1.5' 1 - 2 3 65-75 1h/thrownPole Axe 14 sp 6'-15' 5 - 12 2 50-60 2hQuarterstaff 5 cp 5'-7' 3 - 5 1 50-60 2hRapier 22 sp 3'-5' 1 - 4 5 38-‐42 1hScimitar 10 sp 2.5'-4' 3 - 5 3 56-‐64 1hShort Bow 6 sp 2.5'-3.5' 1.5 - 2 3 70-80 missileShort Sword 7 sp 1.5'-2' 2 - 4 2 74-86 1hSling 9 bp 1.5'-3' 0.5 - 1 12 hrs 65-75 missileSpear 23 bp 5'-10' 3 - 8 1 37-43 2hWar Hammer 15 sp 1.5'-4' 4 - 7 2 60-70 1h/thrownWar Mattock 15 sp 3.5'-5' 4 - 8 2 50-60 2hWhip 2 sp 6'-9' 2 - 5 12 hrs 35-45 1h2-H Axe 17 sp 3'-5' 5 - 9 4 55-65 2h2-H Club 3 cp 4'-6' 3 - 7 12 hrs 40-50 2h2-H Sword 20 sp 3.5'-6.5' 5 - 12 5 69-81 2h

Table 10-3: Weapons

Armor Cost Enc (%)

Average Weight (lbs)

Prod Time

(days) Strength NotesPadded Jerkin 55 cp 2 4 2 25-‐35 AT 2Leather Jerkin 1 sp 5 9 2 25-‐35 AT 3Hide Scale Vest 5 sp 5 9 7 30-‐40 AT 4Laminar Vest 7 sp 5 10 10 35-‐45 AT 5Hide Vest 45 bp 5 10 4 40-‐50 AT 6Scale Vest 10 sp 10 18 14 45-‐55 AT 7Mail Vest 15 sp 10 18 35 50-‐60 AT 8Brigandine Vest 10 sp 10 19 14 65-‐75 AT 9Plate Breastplate 20 sp 15 28 21 70-‐80 AT 10Leather Sleeves 2 sp 1 2 1 25-‐35 Very lightHide Sleeves 3 sp 2 4 2 30-‐40 LightMail Sleeves 10 sp 3 6 7 50-‐60 MediumPlate Sleeves 20 sp 4 8 4 70-‐80 HeavyLeather Leggings 2 sp 2 4 1 25-‐35 Very LightHide Leggings 3 sp 3 6 2 30-‐40 LightMail Leggings 10 sp 4 8 7 50-‐60 MediumPlate Leggings 20 sp 5 10 4 70-‐80 HeavyCap 2 sp 0.5 1 2 25-‐35 Very lightHalf Helm 3 sp 1 2 4 30-‐40 LightThree quarter Helm 9 sp 2 4 7 50-‐60 MediumFull Helm 15 sp 3 6 10 70-‐80 HeavyTarget Shield 35 bp 2 3 3 60-‐70 BucklerNormal Shield 55 bp 5 9 5 65-‐75 Heater, RondelFull Shield 7 sp 10 18 6 70-‐80 KiteWall Shield 9 sp 20 35 7 75-‐85 Wall

Table 10-4: Armor



and prices will also vary according to circumstances and the setting. Expanded tables and rules for equipment can be found in Treasure Law.

10.3. BreakageSurprisingly when you use a weapon to beat on things, it wears down and can break. When you use lock picks at some point one may break in the lock. Whenever a maneuver that uses any sort of equipment results in a roll of 33 or 77 (even if rolled on an open-ended roll), a breakage check must be made. Additionally, if a weapon or piece of equipment is used in a capacity that it wasn’t designed for the GM may also call for a breakage check. To check for breakage make a Breakage Roll and consult Table 10-5.

Breakage Roll = d100OE + Equipment Strength + Quality/Material Modifier – Degradation Penalties

Equipment Strength: Can vary highly based on construction. For weapons, the strengths given are assumed to be iron for metal weapons. Other materials will have a material modifier.

Quality/Material Modifier: The quality bonus is for finely crafted weapons and equipment: sharper, more durable, spe-cially designed (see Treasure Law).

Degradation Penalty: Sum of penalties from previous break-age checks.

Repairing EquipmentEquipment can be repaired with an appropriate crafting skill and proper materials. The GM will determine a difficulty based on the materials and tools at hand. The Degradation Penalty of the equipment applies to the repair maneuver roll. If the piece of equipment is broken outright, then a penalty of -100 applies.

Upon a Partial Success, a repair maneuver will reduce the pen-alty of equipment by half, although broken equipment cannot be repaired. Upon a Success the penalty will be removed and a broken piece of equipment will be repaired but with a perma-nent -10 penalty. Upon an Absolute Success the equipment is repaired and like new.

Absolute Failure Equipment breaks (& Fumble, if weapon)Failure Equipment has penalty of -‐10 until repairedPartial Success Equipment has penalty of -‐5 until repairedSuccess No breakageAbsolute Success No breakage

Table 10-‐5: Equipment Breakage

Good Cost Weight Prod TIme Strength NotesArrows (20) 4 bp 3 lbs 1 day 10 -‐ 20 Wooden shafts and iron tips

Backpack 2 bp 2-‐3 lbs 1 day -‐ Leatheror canvas. Holds 20 Ibs; 1 cu'.Bedroll (light) 2 bp 4-‐7 lbs .5 days -‐ Wool blanket. 2 season.

Bedroll (heavy) 7 bp 8-‐11 lbs 1 day -‐ Wool/fur. 4 season.Boots 1 sp 3-‐4 lbs 3 days 15 -‐ 25 Leather.

Brush (writing) 5 cp .25 lbs 4 hrs -‐ Wooden shaft with hair bristles. Capped.Bucket 4 bp 2-‐3 lbs 1 day 30 -‐ 40 Copper. Holds 3 gallons.

Caltrops (5) 8 bp 2 lbs 1 day 70 -‐ 80 Portable spike traps.Candle 4 cp .25 lbs .5 days -‐ Wax or tallow. Lights 20' dia; burns 2 hrs.

Case 4 sp 1 lb 2 days 15 -‐ 25 Water-‐resist. leather. 12'x3'x6'.Cask 24 bp 5 lbs 1.5 days 15 -‐ 20 Wood. Holds 4 gallons.

Chain 6 bp 8-‐10 lbs 1 day 75 -‐ 85 Iron. 10'.Chalk (10) 2 bp .25 lbs 2 hrs -‐ White. 5" long

Charcoal 22 cp 1 lb .5 days -‐ Hot 4 hr fire.Chisel 9 bp 1 lb 1 day 70 -‐ 80 Iron. -‐40 dagger.Cloak 9 bp 2-‐3 lbs 1 day -‐ Heavy linen or wool.

Clothes 5 bp 2 -‐ 3 lbs 1 day -‐ Linen pants and shirtClimbing pick 28 bp 2 lbs 1 day 60 -‐ 70 Iron. -‐15 mattock.

Coat 15 bp 5-‐9 lbs 2 days -‐ Leather or heavy linen.Crossbow Bolts (20) 11 bp 3 lbs 2 days 20 -‐ 30 Wooden shafts with iron tips

Fire-‐starting bow 8 tp .5 lbs 1 hr 20 -‐ 30 Starts fire in 5 min.Flint and steel 1 bp .5 lbs -‐ Starts fire in 3 min.

Framepack 33 cp 3-‐4 lbs 1.5 days 20 -‐ 30 Canvas. Holds 45 Ibs; 2 cu'.Gloves 2 bp .5 lbs 1 day -‐ Heavy leather; lined.

Grappling hook 1 sp 1 lb 1 day 70 -‐ 80 Iron.Hammer 1 sp 1 lb 1 day 60 -‐ 70 Iron. -‐30 mace.

Hammock 1 bp 2-‐3 lbs 3 days 20 -‐ 30 Rope; wood spreaders; iron hooks.Harness 1 sp 4 lbs 2 days -‐ Leather/iron. Includes bit, reins.

Hat 6 bp 1 lb 1 day -‐ Leather.Hood 16 cp .5 lbs .5 days -‐ Covers head & shoulders.

Ink 14cp .25 lbs -‐ Black; non-‐soluble.Ladder 3 cp 15 lbs 2 days 45 -‐ 55 Wood. 10'. Bears 400 lbs.

Lantern 12 bp 1-‐2 lbs 4 days 5 -‐ 15 Lights 50' diameter.Lock pick kit 1 sp .5 lbs 2 days 10 -‐ 20 Several small tools

Mirror 35 bp .5 lbs 1 day 5 -‐ 10 Silvered glass. 6"x4".Nails (20) 9 tp .5 lbs 3 hrs 75 -‐ 85 Iron. 3" length.

Oar/Paddle 6 cp 4-‐5 lbs 7 hrs 50 -‐ 60 Wood. 6'-‐8'.Oil flask 3 bp 1 lb 1 day 5 -‐ 10 Includes 1 pt oil (6 hr refill).

Padded Undercoat 6 bp 2-‐4 lbs 2 days -‐ Heavy linen or wool.Padlock 23 bp 1 lb 2 days 80 -‐ 90 Iron; with 2 keys.

Paper (10) 12 bp .25 lbs 1 day -‐ 10 sheets. 12"x6".Parchment (10) 2 sp .25 lbs 1 day -‐ 10 sheets. 12"x6". Very durable

Pegs (10) 9 tp 2 lbs 2 hrs 35 -‐ 45 Wood.Pitons (10) 2 bp 2-‐3 lbs 1 day 60 -‐ 70 Iron.

Plank 6 tp 11-‐12 lb 4 hrs 35 -‐ 45 Wood. 10' x 6" x 2". Bears 350 lbs.Pole 5 cp 5-‐10 lbs 3 hrs 25 -‐ 35 Wood. 10'.

Pot (cooking) 7 bp 2-‐3 lbs 1 day 75 -‐ 85 Iron. Holds 2 gallons.Quill-‐pens (10) 4 cp .25 lbs 2 hrs -‐ Goose feather quills.

Quiver 1 bp .5 lbs 1 day 10 -‐ 20 Holds 20 arrows/bolts:Rope 4 bp 4-‐7 lbs 3 days 20 -‐ 30 Hemp. 50'.

Rope (superior) 12 bp 2-‐4 lbs 5 days 30 -‐ 50 Reinforced hemp. 50'.Sack (50 lb) 8 cp 2-‐3 lbs 2 hrs -‐ Holds 50 lbs. 3 cu'.

Saddle 5 sp 10-‐12 lb 6 days -‐ Includes stirrups, blanket.Saddle bag 8 bp 4-‐6 lbs 2 days -‐ Holds 15 lbs. 1.5 cu'.

Saw 23 bp 2-‐3 lbs 2 days 55 -‐ 65 Iron. 24" wood-‐tool.Scabbard (belt) 25 bp 1 lb 1 day 40 -‐ 50 Holds one 1-‐h weapon.

Scabbard (shoulder) 3 sp 1.5 lbs 1 day 40 -‐ 50 Holds one 2-‐h weapon.Spade 16 bp 3-‐4 lbs 1 day 55 -‐ 65 Iron. Wood shaft.

Surcoat 9 bp 1-‐2 lbs 1.5 days -‐ Linen.Tarp 1 bp 3-‐5 lbs 2 hrs -‐ Canvas. 5' x 8'.Tent 2 sp 8-‐10 lbs 2 days -‐ Canvas. 5' x 8'. Two man.

Tinderbox 2 cp .25 lbs .5 days -‐ Wood. Enough for 7 fires.Torch 3 tp 1 lb 1 hr 30 -‐ 40 Lights 20' dia. (6 hrs).

Vial 2 bp .25 lbs 2 hrs 1 -‐ 5 Glass. Holds 2 oz.Waterskin 1 cp .25 lbs 6 hrs -‐ Holds 1 pt (.5 Ibs).

Weapon belt 5 bp 1 lb .5 days 20 -‐ 30 Holds 2 scabbards, 3 pouches.Wedge (staying) 1 cp 1 lb 1 hr 45 -‐ 55 Hardwood.

Wedge (splitting) 3 cp 3 lbs 2 hrs 75 -‐ 85 Iron.Wire (10 gauge) 9 bp 3 lbs 5 hrs 40 -‐ 50 Iron. 100'.

Whistle 2 sp .5 lb 1 day 20 -‐ 30 Wood/iron. 4". Range 1+ mi.

Table 10-‐2: General Equipment



10.4. Herbs and PoisonsIn the absence of healing spell casters, most characters find heal-ing herbs to be of high importance. In a magical world, there are magical plants, perhaps growing in areas that are rich in magical energy. The details of exactly where herbs are found are left to the GM, however herbs, and poisons, here are presented by the biome, or environment, that they grow in.

Herbs are given a rarity number, from 1 (the most common) to 10 (the most rare). The rarity can be used to determine the difficulty of finding an herb or recalling details about a specific herb. In this case an herb with a rarity of 1 has a difficulty of Routine (+30) which increases up to Nigh Impossible (-100) for a rarity of 10.

Poisons can be treated like herbs in many respects and may be found side by side with healing herbs (or may be different parts of the same plant!). Skill in Medical: Herbalism should be treated as Very Similar to skill in Medical: Poison, since studying helpful herbs involves learning many of the poisonous ones as well. The effect of poisons is discussed in Section 13.4.

BiomesBiomes are categorized first by climate (arctic, temperate, tropical) and by rainfall (arid, semi-arid, humid) as shown in Table 10-2. These are broad categories; each biome can have sub-biomes, al-though those are not detailed here (temperate forests could be mixed, dry coniferous, or rainforests). In addition there are 3 other biomes: Alpine (A), Ocean (O), and Underground (U). Alpine biomes are really made up of types of forest, shrubland and tun-dra, depending on elevation. Ocean environments are themselves varied, with most characters having access only to the shallows. Even there, temperature may be important to what plants grow there. Underground environments are sunless and usually light-less, so such herbs as grow there are usually not plants, but fungi.

Pricing HerbsThe prices given for herbs are the local price: the price for which one could purchase an herb that grew in the local environment. For imported herbs, however, there could be significant deviation from the local prices. Rarely available herbs will get even more proportionally expensive than more commonly available herbs.

Herbs which have effects that are not found in the local envi-ronment will likewise fetch a premium. For herbs imported from neighboring biomes, multiply the price by between 1x and 10x. For herbs imported from farther flung or hard to reach biomes multiply the price by between 20x and 100x.

Herb UsageDifferent herbs require different methods of application from ingesting to poultices as shown below. Other than ingested herbs which require no roll at all, the application or preparation of an herb requires a Medical: Herbalism maneuver using the results in Table 10-3. Half potency means that the herb only has half of the effect described (i.e., requires twice as much for the same ef-fect). Double potency means that one dose effectively become 2, or that the effect is doubled. The actual dosage required of a given herb varies wildly, requiring a trained herbalist for prop-er measurement.

Herbs are used in several different ways, depending on the type of herb. Tables 10-8 to 10-11 contain listings of a variety of herbs including cost, form (e.g., leaf, root, etc.), biome, rarity (a modifier for identifying or locating), addiction factor, a description of their effect, and their usage which is one of the following:

Apply: The herb is applied as a poultice or compress, an involved process requiring clean water and a method of boiling it. This is a Very Hard (-20) Medical: Herbalism maneuver.

Brew: The process of infusing herbal concoctions into teas (or alcohol or oil) is straightforward process. This is an Easy (+20) Medical: Herbalism maneuver. A brewed herb will last up to a week.

Ingest: Many herbs can simply be eaten without any special preparation. These are the types of herbs favored by most non-herbalists, as it only requires knowing the dosage needed.

Arid Semi-‐arid Humid

ArcticIce Cap & Polar

Desert (I)Tundra (T) Boreal Forest (B)

TemperateDesert & Xeric Shrubland (X)

Prairie & Steppe (P)

Temperate Forest (F)

Tropical Hot Desert (D)Savanna &

Grassland (S)Tropical Forest (R)

Table 10-‐6: Biomes

Absolute Failure The herb is not only ruined, it has become slightly toxic. If treating a patient they get -‐25 to their Recovery Roll.

Failure The herb and your pride are ruined.Partial Success The herb is half as potent.Success The herb is ready!Absolute Success The herb has doubled potency.

Table 10-‐7: Herbalism



Name Cost Rarity Biome Form Prep AF EffectAbaas 1 sp +10 R leaf ingest 1 Heals 2-‐12.Agaath 5 sp -‐20 A berry ingest 3 Breathe with low oxygen (25% +) 12 hrs.Akbutege 3 bp +20 P leaf ingest 1 Heals 1-‐10.Alaec 45 gp -‐70 X flower ingest 10 Restores any stat losses other than those due to age. Affects only

one stat.Alambas 66 bp 0 S grass apply 4 Heals 4 sq' of burns (any).Aloe 5 cp 0 X leaf apply 0 Doubles healing rate for burns and minor cuts. Heals 5 hits from

burnsAnserke 75 sp -‐20 R root apply 7 Stops bleeding by clotting and sealing wound. Takes 3 rds to take

effect. Patient cannot move (appreciably) without wound reopening.

Arnuminas 6 cp +20 P leaf apply 8 Doubles rate of healing for sprains, torn ligaments and cartilage damage.

Arrine 1 gp -‐20 F stem apply 1 Doubles rate of healing fractures.Arunya 2 cp +10 P root brew 50 Causes sleep and quick unconsciousness. One hour's sleep equals

4.Berterin 19 sp +10 F moss brew 20 Preservation of organic material (up to body size) for 1 day.Brorkwilb 9 sp +10 A flower ingest 45 Euphoric. Allows for shared dreams with family member who lies

within range (100 miles x level of user).Bursthelas 11 gp -‐50 P stalk brew 22 Shatter repairs.Chuma 12 sp -‐50 R root apply 8 Doubles rate of healing for sprains, torn ligaments, cartilage

damage.Crale 65 sp -‐20 B berry ingest 6 Restores hearing.Curfalaka 4 gp -‐30 R fruit ingest 6 Mends muscle damage.Cusamar 3 gp -‐30 X flower ingest 3 Heals 15-‐60 (10 + 5x D10).Degiik 10 gp -‐10 R leaf ingest 10 Lifekeeping (1 day).Delrean 3 bp +20 B bark apply 1 Repels any insect. Smells foul (noticeably so; range 50').

Draaf 7 bp +20 D leaf ingest 1 Heals 1-‐10 for each of 2 consecutive rds.Ebur 22 sp 0 R flower ingest 18 Repairs sprains.Elendil's Basket 5 sp +10 T root brew 0 Purifies water. Slows poisons 10x. Lasts 12hrs. 1 dose/day only.Febfendu 9 gp 0 B root brew 24 Restores hearing.Fek 5 gp -‐20 R nut brew 5 Stops any bleeding. Takes 1-‐10 rds to take effect. Patient cannot

move (appreciably) without wound reopening.

Forb 4 gp +30 A berry ingest 3 Heals 10 and relieves 2 rnds accumulated stun.Gildarion 35 gp -‐30 R mix apply 20 Major organ repair. Recovery 1-‐10 days.Grarig 6 gp 0 A leaf ingest 5 Heals 30.Gursamel 2 gp -‐30 P stalk apply 5 Mends bone. Takes one minute.Gylvir 45 sp -‐20 F algae ingest 20 Allows one to breathe under water (only) for 4 hrs.Hegheg 25 sp -‐50 S root apply 5 Heals cartilage damage.Hugburtun 18 gp -‐20 D fruit apply 6 Immediately stops any form of bleeding.Jervie 15 gp -‐30 P seed apply 50 Major organ repair (not brain). Takes one day.Jiri 1 gp -‐50 F lichen apply 3 Rub on eyelids. Nightvision (one hour).Jojojopo 9 bp 0 A leaf apply 0 Cures frostbite. Heals 2-‐20 hits resulting from cold.Kelventari 19 sp +10 P berry apply 0 Heals 1st and 2d degree burns, 1-‐10 hits resulting from heat.Kilmakur 65 sp -‐30 S root brew 33 Protects versus flame and heat for 1-‐10 hrs.Latha 9 bp 0 F stem brew 4 Disease RRs +10, cures common cold. Heals 1-‐2 hits.Macajou 25 gp -‐70 B leaf apply 60 Regenerates one major organ. Takes five minutes. Imbiber is at

max hits due to drain on body.Megillos 12 bp +10 A leaf ingest 19 Increases visual perception (2x range). for 10 minutes.Milinka 12 sp -‐50 F root apply 7 Mends bone. Takes one hour.Mirenna 1 gp +10 A berry ingest 1 Heals 10. Instant effect.

Table 10-‐8: Herbs



Name Cost Rarity Biome Form Prep AF EffectNayeek 3 gp -‐50 P flower ingest 10 Lifekeeping (one hour).Nelisse 9 bp -‐10 A leaf brew 15 Euphoria (-‐50) for 1 hr. Yields 1 day's nutrition.Nyasani 24 gp -‐70 F flower brew 20 Regenerates one eye. Takes one day.Orlian 3 gp -‐20 T leaf apply 0 Preserves one limb.Paran 8 gp -‐70 U stem brew 80 See invisible things or beings for 10 minutes.Pok 20 gp -‐70 U mushroom ingest 70 Regenerates brain tissue. Depending on area and extent, any lost

accumulated experience is not regained.

Radoje 1 gp +30 P root apply 1 Cures infections (1 wound).Reglen 75 sp +10 A moss brew 7 Heals 50.Reslyn 9 gp -‐20 F kelp apply 20 Cures blindness (if eyes not destroyed).Rumareth 12 gp -‐20 X mix brew 25 Stops bleeding. Causes drowsiness. (-‐20) 1 hr.Savarhet 38 gp -‐30 F clove ingest 25 Will regenerate any damaged nerves and organs. Takes one day.Sebrun 5 sp -‐10 T root ingest 5 General anesthetic. Lasts 10-‐12 hoursSek 2 gp 0 R nectar brew 15 Relieves coma, if related damage already cured.Selig 18 sp -‐20 F fungus ingest 5 Enhances hearing 1 hr.Shlorp 16 gp -‐50 U mushroom ingest 40 Lifekeeping (10 days).Shuab 35 sp +20 A leaf apply 20 Heals up to 3rd degree burns in ten rounds. One dose will treat

one square foot of area.Shuab 30 sp -‐50 I leaf apply 1 Heals 2-‐20. Doubles healing of all major wounds. Antiseptic.Silraen 1 cp +20 X powder brew 3 Analgesic. Causes sleep.Siriena 7 gp -‐10 S grass brew 27 Preservation of any organic material (up to body size). Lasts 1

week.Slagen 12 gp -‐20 B moss apply 24 Limb preservation.Somiren 3 gp -‐50 X leaf ingest 9 Restores as nights’ sleep or meditation. Use in given week results

in: once = loss 1 pt Con; twice = loss 5 pts; thrice = 25 pt loss (temp).

Suranie 2 sp +10 F berry ingest 3 Stun relief (1 rd).Swigmakril 5 gp -‐20 D flower brew 25 Relaxant. User takes 2x usual hits before passing out (but dies due

to hits at usual #), although he operates at -‐30. Lasts 1-‐2 hrs.Tarnas 22 gp -‐20 R nodule brew 60 Nausea for 1-‐10 hrs (-‐50). Repairs organ damage.Telperion 10 gp -‐30 F leaf ingest Heals 10-‐100 hits.Telpi 45 sp -‐20 P grass apply 8 Stops bleeding (up to ten hits/rnd). Victim cannot engage in

strenuous activity without reopening wound.

Tesh 8 gp +20 F resin apply 2 Repairs ear. Takes one hour.Thurl 2 bp +30 F clove brew 1 Heals 1-‐4.Tovo 5 bp -‐50 X leaf brew 8 Mild stimulant. Assures wakefulness for 5 hours.Trimas 15 gp -‐50 U mushroom ingest 50 Regenerates appendage (finger or toe takes one week; arm or leg

one month).Trudurs 12 bp 0 B moss brew 8 Disease RRs +10 for 1-‐10 days.Tukamur 38 bp 0 S grass brew 100 Euphoric. Allows for shared dreams with friend similarly affected

lies within range (50 miles x level of user).Tulaxar 11 gp -‐20 X leaves brew 10 Stops bleeding.Ujama 10 sp -‐20 A leaf apply 30 Repairs sprain. Effect immediate.Ukur 34 bp 0 T nut ingest 1 One day's nutrition.Ul-‐ucason 25 gp -‐50 O grass apply 80 Restores eyes.Vaniro 2 gp +20 X berry apply 5 Restores heart action.Vinuk 12 bp 0 S root brew 4 Stun relief (1-‐10 rds).Vulcurax 100 gp -‐70 R berry apply 0 Lifegiving, if given within 30 days.Wek-‐wek 22 gp -‐50 R nodule brew 50 Repairs organ damage.Welwal 12 sp -‐30 R leaf ingest 3 Stun relief (3 rds).Witav 12 sp -‐20 R leaf ingest 5 Stun relief 2 rds.Yaran 9 bp +20 P pollen ingest 7 Acute smell and taste (+ 50) for 1 hr.Yavethalion 45 sp -‐10 F fruit ingest 4 Heals 5-‐50.Zulsendura 7 gp 0 U mushroom ingest 22 Haste (3 rds).Zur 12 sp 0 U fungus brew 8 Enhances smell and hearing (3x range; + 50 man.). Lasts 1 hr.

Table 10-‐9: Herbs



11. Experience and Advancement

E very character (and creature) has a level given that is a rough indication of its overall skill and ability. Characters gain skills and power over time and so advance levels to represent this and thus give

players an opportunity to spend Development Points (DP) and gain new skills and abilities. To represent this, characters are awarded Experience Points (XP) that abstractly measure accomplishments, life experiences, opportunities, and even time into a number.

The GM will determine the starting level for the campaign. The first few levels in Rolemaster are lower-powered than most other RPGs, usually adolescents and still apprenticed, depending on the Profession. It is important to bear in mind what level the character will be starting at when creating background. A first level character is not a veteran of many battles, nor is a tenth level character a naïve farm boy. Table 11-1 gives some example names students and apprentices may be called. The Age column is a rough guide as there can certainly be exceptional teenagers and less than impressive adults.

The GM will award XP at the end of each “session”. A character’s level will increase every 10,000 XP. This includes Level 1 (i.e., at the start of level 1, a character has 10,000 XP). Thus level can be determined by dividing XP by 10,000 and rounding down.

›Example: Dral, after a series of adventures, has a total of 75,614 experience points, which is more than the 70,000 minimum for 7th level and fewer than the 80,000 required to be 8th level. Dral is 7th level.

11.1. Awarding ExperienceCharacter rewards can be many. However, among these, Experience Points are one of the most obvious and a significant factor in most role-playing games. The system presented here

awards XP on the basis of accomplishing goals: personal goals, session goals, and story goals.

If more than one goal type appears to apply in a situation, both types of XP will be awarded. This often results in a single charac-ter getting a personal reward on top of the session or story award that the whole party will get. This makes sure that people who do more get a bit more reward, but also ensures that those that support an action and make it possible also get a fair share of the reward.

›Example: Karlo strikes down the dread demon lord Gaili, a major personal goal, but Gaili was the major opponent of this session, so killing him was also a major session goal. Gaili was one of the four demon lords the party has been hunting for months, as part of their plan to eliminate the demon invasion, so killing Gaili was also a moderate story goal. While each member of the party receives XP for accomplishing a major session goal and a moderate story goal, only Karlo gets the major personal goal XP for killing the demon lord.

Personal GoalsPersonal Goals are any goals that only directly matter to the char-acter accomplishing them (or being affected by them).This includes not only victory or success in combat and maneuvers, but also surviving attacks or learning from failures. The player and the GM should note these down as they happen (e.g., “Shot and killed the Orc guard”, “Snuck past the sentries into the Orc camp”, “Was hit by a spell by the Orc shaman but survived”). Characters should have many opportunities per session to accomplish these small goals.

If the enemy is defeated, attack survived, or maneuver accom-plished had little chance of failure, it is considered “minor”. If the character was evenly matched or had roughly even odds of

Level Names Age1 Novice, Novitiate,Assistant,Servant Pre-‐teenager2 Jr Apprentice Teenager3 Apprentice Young Adult4 Journeyman Adult5 Master Adult

Table 11-‐1: Levels



success or failure it is “moderate”. If the character was clearly overmatched or the task was clearly difficult and the character still managed to succeed, it is a “major” personal goal.

• Minor Personal Goal: 10-100 XP • Moderate Personal Goal: 100-500 XP• Major Personal Goal: 500-1000 XP

Session GoalsSession goals are achievements during play that moved the ses-sion forward. These consist of short term goals of the campaign contained within the session (e.g., “ found the Orc camp”, “killed all the Orcs in the camp,” or “rescued the prisoners from the Orcs”). These goals will often be shared goals of the group, and so every member of the party will get the award. Each session should in-clude at least one of these goals, but not more than a handful.

Any accomplishment that contributes significantly to the success of the session is at least a minor goal. To be a moderate session goal, it must be something where failure would make accomplish-ing the major goal of the session far more difficult or impossible (e.g., defeating the Orc guards and getting over the rope bridge before the Orcs can cut the bridge qualifies because if the bridge were cut, the party would find it very difficult or impossible to complete their mission). A major session goal represents the entire point of the session (e.g., did the characters defeat the Orcs they had come to fight, or did they fail?). Because various gaming groups may run longer or shorter sessions, consider a “Session” to be roughly equal to a full chapter of a book if the campaign were a novel.

• Minor Session Goal: 100-500 XP• Moderate Session Goal: 500-1000 XP• Major Session Goal: 1000-5000 XP

Story GoalsStory goals are major, long term goals of the campaign and ad-vance the major plot line of the campaign (e.g., “cleared all the Orcs west of the river”, “discovered the Orcs are being paid to raid by the Temple of the Black Hand”, or “located the secret location of the Temple of the Black Hand”). These goals are almost always shared goals of the group, and so every member of the party will get the XP reward. Except in sessions where major events come to a cli-max, there should rarely be more than one of these types of goals accomplished. Some sessions will not accomplish a significant story goal at all.

These relate to the larger events in the campaign. Any session that results in some movement toward the overall campaign goals can be considered a minor story goal. To be a moderate story goal, the characters must have made some significant progress in the over-all campaign. Major story goals are ones that drastically shift the

overall campaign progress. Each session may have minor impact on the overall story progress, but climactic sessions may end with moderate story goals accomplished. Major story goals are turn-ing points, usually the focus and result of many sessions of effort finally coming to a climax.

• Minor Story Goal: 500-1000 XP• Moderate Story Goal: 1000-5000 XP• Major Story Goal: 5000-10,000 XP

Slower or Faster LevelingOn average, characters will go up a level every 2 or 3 ses-sions. This may be too slow for some GMs and too fast for others. For slower leveling, figure XP using the guidelines above and cut them in half. For faster leveling double the awards, although it is recommended then never more than 1 level is gained at one time.

Some GMs may even prefer characters to go up the first few levels quickly and higher levels much more slowly. In this case the GM may use faster leveling for Levels 1-5, normal leveling for levels 6-20, and slower leveling for Levels 21+.

11.2. AdvancementWhen his character advances a level, the player gets 50 Development Points (DP) to spend. This is usually spent on skills, although the Gamemaster may allow Talents to be purchased or improved. Furthermore, if the Gamemaster uses the ‘Stat Gains with Development Points’ option, the character may spend DP to improve Temp Stats (Section 4.3: Stat Gains).

All of the character’s DP should normally be spent; however, if for some reason the character wants to save up DP, perhaps to-ward a very expensive talent, he needs to get the GM’s approval before banking those DP for later use.



Development Points as Experience

Rather than gain experience points, then spend 50 DP when you go up a level, the Experience Points may be for-gone completely and DP directly awarded. This represents characters continually learning and improving rather than improving many skills all at one time and suddenly gaining a bunch of new spells or abilities.

The Guidelines above are still used, except that 200 XP is equal to 1 DP. Personal goals range from 1-5 DP, Session goals from 2-25 DP, and Story goals from 5-50 DP. If the slower or faster leveling option is used these would be halved of doubled.

The character is able to use awarded DP immediately, al-though the player may choose to save them to spend on a more expensive skill or talent. The character must still heed leveling restrictions (e.g., if a character takes 1 rank in his weapon of choice and gains DP later on he must pay the rapid development cost for a 2nd rank unless he has gone up a new level).

The character is considered to have gone up a level once he has been awarded 50 DP. At this point, he may increase stats, if the GM is not using DP to purchase all stat gains (in which case, the character increases level for every 62 DP). However, for purposes of rank limits consider the charac-ter as one level higher than he currently is (because a level 1 character is working on his level 2 skills).

Updating the Character Sheet• Once all Development Points have been spent, there are sev-

eral items on the character sheet that will need to be updated.• Recalculate skill bonuses based on any talents or flaws gained,

changes to stat bonuses, ranks in skills purchased, and/or the gain or loss of bonus equipment.

• If ranks in spell lists were taken, update the spells known by the character to reflect the new ranks.

• If any ranks in Body Development were purchased, Constitution or Self Discipline stats changed, or any Talents that effect Fatigue or Hits were purchased, update total hits and fatigue bonus.

• If any ranks in Power Development were taken or Realm stats changed, then update total power points.

• If Strength changed, update encumbrance and lift factors.

• If Quickness changed, or any talents/flaws taken that affect DB, then update total DB.

• If Constitution, Empathy, Intuition, Presence, Reasoning, or Self Discipline changed then update Resistance Rolls.

• If any talents or flaws were taken that affect Resistance Rolls update them.



12. Maneuvers and Movement12.1. ManeuversManeuvers are rolls modified by Skill bonuses to perform specific actions, such as picking a lock, climbing a wall, or attuning to a magical item. Many in-game actions do not require a maneu-ver. Normally, you will make a maneuver roll only for actions performed under stress or pressure or if the actions are difficult enough that success is not guaranteed.

Maneuvers are actions that under normal circumstances have a chance of failing and usually entail an element of risk. Thus, normal movement and activities such as walking, climbing stairs, drawing a weapon, etc. are not maneuvers. However, unusual ac-tivities (swimming, climbing a rope, running up or down stairs or over rough terrain, opening a locked chest, etc.) and activities per-formed under stress (running, dodging, stalking, hiding, etc.) are maneuvers and generally require rolls. The GM is the final judge as to what is a maneuver and requires a roll, and what is normal activity and does not require a roll.

Each skill is classified as being applicable to a Percentage Maneuver (PM), to an Absolute Maneuver (AM), or to an attack (using an Offensive Bonus, or OB). This section describes how each of these types of maneuvers is resolved.

If a player is considering a ma-neuver, the Gamemaster must decide how hard the maneuver is and inform the player. The player can then decide if he wants to declare the action or not. If something happens after declaration to discourage the character or change the task to make it more difficult, the char-acter can choose to cancel the ac-tion or proceed (see Arms Law for

more information on canceling actions during the Tactical Round). The degrees of difficulties are given in Table 12-1 and the given modifier applies in addition to all other modifiers.

❚ Note: It is important to remember that the GM may deem certain maneuvers impossible. The player should be advised that such a maneuver is doomed to failure.

The Gamemaster will also decide how long the maneuver should take. If the maneuver is occurring during a combat, it should be measured in terms of rounds (see Arms Law), which are 10 sec-onds long. More than one round may be required for maneuvers that are difficult or complex, or if the Gamemaster decides, a complicated task could be broken into a series of less complicated maneuvers that, when completed, finish the whole task. The GM may also allow a character to decrease the difficulty of maneu-vers by using a longer amount of time to carefully and deliber-ately accomplish the goal.

Maneuvers can be affected by various factors such as skills, en-cumbrance, armor, special equipment or situational factors. The sum of these bonuses and penalties is added to the maneuver roll to determine the maneuver total. Any maneuver requiring movement or precise motions is penalized by an encumbrance penalty, if applicable, and an armor maneuver penalty, if wearing armor (Section 12.3: Encumbrance).

Absolute ManeuversAbsolute Maneuvers include any instance where you either suc-ceed or fail, and you cannot build up to a complete success, be-cause any failed steps result in the whole failing completely or, at best, needing to start over again from scratch (e.g., jumping over a chasm or successfully hiding).

To resolve an Absolute Maneuver, the player makes an open-ended roll and adds the difficulty modifier, any appropriate skill bonus, any other applicable situational modifications and consults Table 12-2. Further details on each of the results is given below.

Difficulty ModifierCasual +70Simple +50Routine +30Easy +20Light +10Medium 0Hard -‐10Very Hard -‐20Extremely Hard -‐30Sheer Folly -‐50Absurd -‐70Nigh Impossible -‐100

Table 12-‐1: Maneuver Difficulties

Roll Result Description< 1 Absolute Failure Not only does the attempt fail, but

it makes the situation worse.1 -‐ 75 Failure The attempt fails.76 -‐ 100 Partial Success The attempt almost succeeds, but

not completely. If appropriate, another roll may be made next round (for the second roll, any result of 76+ is considered a “Success”).

101 -‐ 175 Success The attempt succeeds.176 + Absolute Success Not only does the attempt succeed,

but in the best way possible.

Table 12-‐2: Absolute Maneuvers



Absolute Maneuver Summary• The character states the nature of his maneuver.• The GM assigns a degree of difficulty and any special modifi-

cations to the maneuver.• The character decides whether or not to declare the maneuver.• If the character decides to declare the maneuver, he resolves

the maneuver when his turn to act comes up in the initia-tive order.

• Roll 1d100 OE and add all modifiers• Consult the Absolute maneuver table to determine the result.

Absolute Success: The maneuver is made in the best way possi-ble based on the situation (e.g., the character jumping off the balcony lands on the table, which then tips over into the way of the guards, just as the character casually steps off of it).

Success: The maneuver is completed as declared.

Partial Success: The results depend on the GM’s discretion, if the maneuver is possible to partially succeed, then it does. For instance, a bucket of paint intended to cover a target would only partially covers it. If the maneuver needs to be completed, but has a stopping point of partial success, then the maneuver hangs over into next round where a 76+ must be rolled for completion, for instance a jumping character may fail to make the landing, slide off an edge, and be hanging by his fingertips, but be able to make a maneuver next round to pull up onto the ledge. If the GM feels the maneuver is an absolute all or nothing situation then treat partial success results as “Failure”.

Failure: The maneuver failed. If there are direct consequences to failure they apply immediately (e.g., if you fail to jump over a 30’ deep hole, you fall 30’ and take damage).

Absolute Failure: The maneuver fails in a very bad way (e.g., the character not only fails to hide, he trips and falls noisily, or a character fails to make the jump over the hole and smash into the far side for an ‘A’ Krush critical before falling down the hole and taking damage from that, etc.).

Percentage ManeuversPercentage maneuvers are used for any attempt where the GM feels the character will eventually succeed unless he totally mess-es up. These actions may take multiple rounds, but the player can keep making rolls round after round for his character until the results add up to at least 100 percent success or he rolls badly enough to get a failure. This may be climbing a cliff, digging out a collapsed passageway, or any other action where, short of disaster, the character will eventually accomplish the task.

To resolve any Percentage Maneuver, the player makes an open-ended roll and adds the difficulty modifier, any appropriate skill bonus, and any other applicable situational modifications, and then consults Table 12-3. A numeric result indicates that per-centage of the task is completed, and these percentage results are cumulative (e.g., a 50 result followed by a 20 result means that the task is 70% complete). Any “0” result means that the character’s effort was wasted in some manner, but he can continue to work towards 100%.

An “F” result is a failure and in-dicates some sort of catastrophic failure, such as broken equipment. If the failure results from attempt-ing a moving maneuver, such as running, climbing, etc., then the character takes an Unbalancing critical of the indicated severity. The GM will decide if the task can be restarted the next round at 0% complete or if the failure means the task cannot be restarted

Results of over 100% (110, 120, 130, 140, 150) mean the task is complete quicker than normal, or that the character has moved even farther than normal. An ‘Exceptional Success’ result should be treated as 150 as well as providing some fur-ther advantage, such as a bonus to their next action or inspiring allies who see the incredible move.

Some percentage maneuvers may be paused while the character does something else, while others cannot. The GM is the ultimate arbiter as to whether a task can be stopped and then resumed, or if the player must re-start from 0%.

›Example: Kulas-Dar is turning a crank, which raises the drawbridge of the castle, an arduous task for one man to do by himself. After some time spent cranking Kulas-Dar has the draw-bridge 50% raised, but is then attacked and stops to fight. The GM decides that the crank has a locking lever, so the bridge remains 50% up, and Kulas-Dar can resume cranking the drawbridge up if he wins the fight. The GM could have made a different decision and said that the crank was unlocked and the drawbridge crashed back down as soon as Kulas-Dar took his hands off the crank, forcing him to restart from 0%.

Roll Result-‐100 or less F ('E' Unbalance)-‐99 to -‐80 F ('D' Unbalance)-‐79 to -‐60 F ('C' Unbalance)-‐59 to -‐40 F ('B' Unbalance)-‐39 to -‐20 F ('A' Unbalance)-‐19 to 0 0 (Fail to act)1 -‐ 10 511 -‐ 20 1021 -‐ 30 2031 -‐ 40 3041 -‐ 50 4051 -‐ 60 5061 -‐ 70 6071 -‐ 80 7081 -‐ 90 8091 -‐ 100 90101 -‐ 130 100131 -‐ 160 110161 -‐ 190 120

191 -‐ 220 130221 -‐ 250 140251 -‐ 280 150281 + Exceptional Success

Table 12-‐3: Percentage Maneuvers



Percentage Maneuver Procedure Summary• The character states the nature of his maneuver.• The GM assigns a degree of difficulty and any special modifi-

cations to the maneuver.• The character decides whether or not to declare the maneuver.• If the character decides to declare the maneuver, he resolves

the maneuver when his turn to act comes up in the initia-tive order.

• Roll 1d100 OE and add all modifiers.• Consult the Percentage maneuver table to determine the result.

» If the result is an “F” the maneuver has failed, resolve the failure.

» If the result is 100 or better, the maneuver has succeeded, resolve the success.

» If the result is a number less than 100, add it to any previ-ous results. If the total success makes or exceeds 100 the maneuver succeeds, resolve the success. If the total does not reach 100, then the character may attempt again to complete the task next round.

12.2. MovementAll characters and creatures are given a movement rate in feet per round (a round is 10 seconds, see Arms Law) called their Base Movement Rate (BMR). For most characters this will be their Running BMR, but it could also be Swimming or Flying for other species.

BMR = 50’ + Stride – Encumbrance Penalty

Stride: Determined either by the average height of the character’s race or, if using the optional rule, the character’s height (Section 5.3). For swim-ming or flying, this would be

a measure of the creature’s appropriate dimension (wingspan, “finspan”, etc.).

Encumbrance Penalty: Based on how much weight the charac-ter is bearing (Section 12.3), the Encumbrance penalty also affects one’s maximum pace.

A character can choose to move up to x5 his BMR as shown in Table 12-4. For normal movement, a roll is not required, however for stressful situations, moving in rough terrain, or while stunned, a movement roll is required (based on the appropriate skill). For rough terrain, use Table 12-5 as a guide for gauging difficulty.

Other actions that are performed while moving suffer an addi-tional penalty based on the pace, also shown in Table 12-4.

12.3. Encumbrance and Feats of Strength

Characters are often performing athletic feats, and the basic dif-ficulties for tasks are based on the GM’s judgment, in comparison to real world examples. Most real world comparison examples assume a well-trained modern athlete wearing nothing more than very light clothing and a pair of sneakers. The addition of armor and field gear tends to make maneuvers harder than they would be for the nearly naked athlete. To account for this, char-acter’s gear is measured for how much it hampers maneuvering.

EncumbranceThe character’s Encumbrance will determine his Encumbrance Penalty, which is applied to all maneuvers that the GM deems as affected by equipment (most physical maneuvers and melee).

Encumbrance Penalty = Load – Weight Allowance

Load: This is the per-cent of body weight that is carried and worn by the character. Armor weights are already given % of body weight, because armor for larger characters is heavier, and for smaller charac-

ters is lighter. Add up all gear weights; divide by body weight then multiply by 100 to get load carried in terms of % of body weight.

Weight Allowance: Each character has a certain amount of weight he can carry without penalty, which is equal to 10% of his body weight + 3x Strength bonus.

›Example: Stongar has a St bonus of +3, so he can carry 10 + (3 x3) = 19% of his own weight without penalty. If he is carrying 23% of his own weight, then his encumbrance penalty is 23 – 19 = 4. He has a -4 penalty to all actions affected by encumbrance.

Pace Multiplier PenaltyCreep x1/2 -‐5Walk x1 -‐10Hustle x1.5 -‐20Jog x2 -‐30Run x3 -‐50Sprint x4 -‐70Dash x5 -‐100

Table 12-‐4: Pace

Difficulty Example TerrainHard Rough and rocky road, furnished roomVery Hard Slightly sloped rocky terrain, light crowds, small city streetsExtremely Hard Sloping rocky terrain, lightly packed crowdSheer Folly Numerous obstacles and steep ground, crowded city streetsAbsurd Dense obstacles and dangerous footing, packed crowdNigh Impossible Sheer cliff, massive packed crowd

Table 12-‐5: Terrain

Encumbrance Encumbrance Level Pace Limit0 or less Unencumbered Dash-‐1 to -‐10 Mild Dash-‐11 to -‐25 Very Light Sprint-‐26 to -‐40 Light Run-‐40 to -‐65 Moderate Jog-‐66 to -‐100 Heavy Hustle-‐101 to -‐150 Very Heavy Walk-‐150 to -‐200 Excessive Creep-‐201 and up Overloaded Cannot Move

Table 12-‐6: Encumbrance Pace Limits



If the Encumbrance penalty is zero or positive then the charac-ter is unencumbered. If the Encumbrance Penalty is negative the character is encumbered and the penalty applies to all appropri-ate maneuvers. It may also limit the character’s maximum pace possible as shown in Table 12-6 and will impact Fatigue checks (Section 12.4).

Dragging, pushing, or pulling something can drastically reduce the load effect, if all of the weight is resting on the ground, and the character is merely pulling/pushing it along, cut the weight of the dragged object in half before calculating encumbrance. Adding wheels improves this; over long distances (depending on wheel quality, road quality and slope) this can reduce the effective load from one third to one fifth of actual weight. Under nearly perfect conditions like dragging a steel wheeled cart on rails over perfect-ly flat terrain, a barge in water, or a magically floating object, the load may be reduced as far as 1/100 of actual weight before calculat-ing encumbrance penalties. (Note: some objects, including people, will take damage from being dragged, especially over rough ground).

Feats of StrengthCharacters often have to lift, pull, or push things during a game, or two characters may be engaged in a contest of strength like an arm wrestle or tug of war. Like encumbrance above, the charac-ter’s weight has a dramatic impact on feats of strength, so what might be a severe challenge to a 75 pound Goblin may only be difficult for a 150 pound Human, and merely casual effort for a 1,500 pound Troll.

Feats of strength may be Absolute or Percentage Maneuvers, depending on the situation. If the feat has no real stopping point, like picking up a heavy barrel or lifting a gate, then an all or nothing Absolute Maneuver should be used. If the feat has stop-ping points like pushing open a huge door, lifting something with a pulley, or dragging a heavy object across a floor, use a Percentage Maneuver for every 10’ the object must be moved.

Table 12-7 lists weights (in terms of percent of body weight) to calculate difficulty for feats of strength. Take the weight of the object to be moved as a percentage of the character’s weight, sub-tract 3x his Strength bonus, and find the line that corresponds to that percentage.

›Example: Stongar weighs 150 pounds, and has a +3 strength bonus. He wants to pick up a 100 pound barrel of wine and move it out of the way. 100 pounds is 66% of Stongar’s weight, - (3x3)

is 57%. This more than 50% but less than 100%, so it is a Hard maneuver to move the barrel. Because he is picking it up and mov-ing it, there is no “rest point” and this is an Absolute Maneuver.

This table allows for lifting and moving objects beyond the 200% maximum allowed for movement (see section 12.2). For objects that exceed the encumbrance allowed for movement, a character can only lift and set the object down; he cannot move while hold-ing it. (Make sure to include total encumbrance when factoring this, a character lifting an object 190% of his weight while wearing 20% of his weight in gear will be at a total of 210% encumbrance and unable to move).

There is no need to use this table every time someone picks something up. These rules are intended for use in stressful situ-ations in which someone is lifting something in combat time, or when someone attempts to lift very large weights. Under most circumstances it will usually not be worthwhile to make feats of strength that are of Routine or easier difficulty.

As with encumbrance, pulling or dragging an object, or using mechanical advantage, will modify the weight calculation. For dragging, cut the weight in half before making the calculations above. If using wheels, pulleys or other forms of mechanical ad-vantage the reduction will be greater, usually no more than a one third or one fifth reduction, with a theoretical maximum benefit of reducing the effort to one hundredth the object’s weight (for say pulling a levitated block of stone out of the way, so there is almost no friction or resistance to the feat of strength).

In contested feats of strength, the relative weights of those com-peting will have dramatic effect. If a 75 pound Goblin and a 150 pound Human (both with +/-0 St bonuses) are in a tug of war, the Goblin is pulling 200% of his weight for a Sheer Folly Maneuver, while the Human is pulling 50% of his weight for a Hard maneu-ver. This makes it very likely the human will win this contest.

12.4. FatigueEncumbrance, activity and environmental factors can have a great impact on how quickly a character may succumb to ex-haustion. This is represented through the use of Fatigue Checks to push beyond one’s natural energy levels and keep going with a maneuver. It is the Gamemaster’s decision when Fatigue Checks need to be made. In most non-tactical situations it is often not important as the character has time to rest. However, situational factors such as hunger and lack of sleep can make fatigue more of a problem. Table 12-8 shows how often Fatigue Checks should be made for various maneuvers and activities. In the case of Spell-casting, only one Fatigue Check is made at a time, so a 20th level spell requiring 20pp would require just one check, not 3+.

Difficulty WeightCasual 10%Simple 15%Routine 20%Easy 25%Light 30%Medium 35%Hard 50%

Very Hard 100%Extremely Hard 150%Sheer Folly 200%Absurd 250%Nigh Impossible 300%

Table 12-‐7: Feats of Strength



Fatigue Check = d100OE + Body Development + Racial Bonus + Modifiers

Modifiers to the Fatigue Check in-clude those shown below as well the from the factors shown on Table 12-9. Acclimatization to temperature and al-titude can only occur while at rest and

under no fatigue inducing stress.

• Any existing accumulated fatigue penalty• Existing Encumbrance penalty• Armor Maneuver penalty• Any penalties due to Injuries• Any penalties due to Hit loss• Any penalties due to PP usage• Any other penalty that affects “all actions”

The results of a Fatigue Check are shown in Table 12-10. Passing a Fatigue Check means the character can perform a maneuver without any penalties from fatigue. Failing means the character can continue with the maneuver, but suffers penalties due to fa-tigue. The penalties are cumulative, even if a Fatigue Check is passed, which makes it more difficult to continue to succeed with further maneuvers.

A character may choose to abort a stated action after rolling the fatigue check, but before actually rolling the action, although any accumulated fatigue remains. (The character realizes he is so tired that he decides to stop before attempting the action). Once the char-acter starts to actually accumulate fatigue, the character must roll in any round where he attempts to perform an action until he either rests or otherwise removes the penalty.

ConcentrationAnyone can concentrate without strain for a number of rounds equal to 10+SD bonus (0 or negative rounds mean the character gets no “ free” rounds). After the free rounds, the character must make a Routine Fatigue Check in the upkeep phase to maintain concentration. Each round after the first check, the difficulty level gets 1 step more difficult each round. This Fatigue Check to maintain concentration is in addition to any other activity the character is attempting and so it is possible this could provoke two Fatigue Checks in a round (one for physical activity and one for maintaining concentration).

Injuries due to FatigueIf a character accumulates a fatigue penalty of more than 50 without resting, any further fatigue penalties are converted to an injury. The GM can determine the flavor of injury based on the circumstances: during activity it might be a pulled muscle, crossing a desert on foot it may be considered sunburn, etc. If a character keeps pushing at the same task, it may make sense to increase a single injury, while if a later instance provokes an injury, it can be added onto the same injury or applied as a new, separate injury at the discretion of the GM (e.g., “Your -5 sunburn is now -10 sunburn”, or “You now have -5 sunburn, and a -5 painful blister on your foot”).

Fatigue RecoveryFor every minute of rest, the accumulated fatigue penalty is reduced by 1. Thus, a character that has accumulated a fatigue penalty of 45 will need to rest for three quarters of an hour before being fully rested. Injuries due to fatigue are treated as normal injuries (see Arms Law) and thus take longer to recover from.

If the fatigue is a result of starvation or thirst, resting will only re-duce away the non-hunger/thirst related penalties. The only way to cure thirst or starvation is to eat or drink sufficiently and then get one full sleep requirement.

›Example: Caylis has an accumulated fatigue penalty of 45; to climb over the wall, he needs to make another check and rolls a Failure (resulting in an increase of 10 to his cumulative fatigue

Maneuver Check everyWalking/Hiking/Marching/Riding 2 hoursHustle 30 minutesRunning 5 minutesSprint minuteFast Sprint 2 roundsDash roundMelee Combat 6 roundsSpell casting 6 PPs expendedConcentration specialClimbing/Swimming 6 rounds

Table 12-‐8: Fatigue Checks

Factor Modifier NotesExtreme Temperature -‐5/5°F (2.8°C)

above/below acclimatized range

Acclimatization takes 1 day for every 5°F change.

Extreme Altitude -‐5/5000 feet above acclimatized range

Acclimatization takes 1 day for every 2500 feet change.

Thirst -‐ No Water -‐5 per hour of no water.Starvation -‐ No Food -‐10 per day without foodThirst -‐ Half Rations -‐5 per 8 hours on half

rations of waterStarvation -‐ Half Rations -‐10 per 3 days on half

rationsSleep Debt -‐10 per day with half

required sleepSleep Deprivation -‐20 per day missed

completely.

Required sleep for normal human is 8 uninterruped hours per day

Table 12-‐9: Fatigue Modifiers

Ignore penalties for first day

Ignore penalties for first 3 days.

Absolute Failure Accumulated fatigue penalty increased by 15; Character suffers 5 hits due to stress.

Failure Accumulated fatigue penalty increased by 10Partial Success Accumulated fatigue penalty increased by 5Success No change in accumulated fatigueAbsolute Success Accumulated Fatigue penalty is Reduced by 10

Table 12-‐10: Fatigue



penalty). Rather than going to 55 fatigue, he goes up to 50, and then takes a -5 fatigue injury. Based on the circumstances, the GM decides Caylis has pulled a muscle in his left shoulder for -5.

›Example: Borin and Sedgewick have been involved in a prolonged pursuit/fight with a bunch of orcs. Now that they are out of danger, they can rest and recuperate. Borin, a dwarf with impressive reserves of stamina, has accumulated a -45 fatigue penalty. After resting for 45 minutes, his fatigue penalty is reduced to 0 and he is no longer fatigued. The hits and injuries he suf-fered during the fight will take longer to heal, but he is no longer exhausted. Sedgewick, being a puny magician, has accumulated a significant -50 fatigue penalty and -15 injury due to fatigue (a sprained knee). 50 minutes of rest will recover the -50, but the -15 injury must be healed as a normal injury.

12.5. Special SituationsComplementary Skills (Working Together)A character may have multiple skills that work toward a goal, or multiple characters may work together to attempt a task. The GM should determine what the primary skill is, and that bonus is used in full. The ranks in the first complementary skill (or char-acter) are added, and the ranks of each additional complemen-tary skill(or character) the GM allows is further halved (the 3rd

is one-half, the 4th is one-quarter, etc.). The GM is the final arbiter here, and if in doubt or dispute, the default answer on if a second skill or character can be used to boost another skill the answer is “no”.

›Example: Taso has a Perception bonus of +90, and is looking for concealed traps as he walks up the corridor. Taso also has 12 ranks in Mechanical (Traps) with a +80 bonus. The GM decides that Taso’s familiarity with mechanical traps will help him in locating concealed traps, so allows him to add his ranks in Mechanical (Traps) as a secondary bonus to his perception. His bonus in Mechanical: Traps is not used. Thus his total bonus is 90 + 12 = +102. Taso’s player argues that since he has 10 ranks in Region Lore for the area he is in, that he should get another 10 ÷ 2 = +5 bonus, but the GM rules that knowledge of a large region is not going to be helpful in this case.

Conflicting Skills (Working in Opposition)There are situations in play when two characters are attempting tasks where for one to succeed, the other must fail, or vice versa. This covers cases such as a character using Stalk and Hide to avoid a character using Perception or two characters arm wres-tling. By their nature, conflicting skills are most often Absolute Maneuvers. The GM declares one character to be active and the other the passive party. Both make their maneuver rolls as

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 201 50 55 60 65 70 73 76 79 82 85 87 89 91 93 95 96 97 98 99 1002 45 50 55 60 65 68 71 74 77 80 82 84 86 88 90 91 92 93 94 953 40 45 50 55 60 63 66 69 72 75 77 79 81 83 85 86 87 88 89 904 35 40 45 50 55 58 61 64 67 70 72 74 76 78 80 81 82 83 84 855 30 35 40 45 50 53 56 59 62 65 67 69 71 73 75 76 77 78 79 806 27 32 37 42 47 50 53 56 59 62 64 66 68 70 72 73 74 75 76 777 24 29 34 39 44 47 50 53 56 59 61 63 65 67 69 70 71 72 73 748 21 26 31 36 41 44 47 50 53 56 58 60 62 64 66 67 68 69 70 719 18 23 28 33 38 41 44 47 50 53 55 57 59 61 63 64 65 66 67 6810 15 20 25 30 35 38 41 44 47 50 52 54 56 58 60 61 62 63 64 6511 13 18 23 28 33 36 39 42 45 48 50 52 54 56 58 59 60 61 62 6312 11 16 21 26 31 34 37 40 43 46 48 50 52 54 56 57 58 59 60 6113 9 14 19 24 29 32 35 38 41 44 46 48 50 52 54 55 56 57 58 5914 7 12 17 22 27 30 33 36 39 42 44 46 48 50 52 53 54 55 56 5715 5 10 15 20 25 28 31 34 37 40 42 44 46 48 50 51 52 53 54 5516 4 9 14 19 24 27 30 33 36 39 41 43 45 47 49 50 51 52 53 5417 3 8 13 18 23 26 29 32 35 38 40 42 44 46 48 49 50 51 52 5318 2 7 12 17 22 25 28 31 34 37 39 41 43 45 47 48 49 50 51 5219 1 6 11 16 21 24 27 30 33 36 38 40 42 44 46 47 48 49 50 5120 0 5 10 15 20 23 26 29 32 35 37 39 41 43 45 46 47 48 49 50

Table 13-‐2: Resistance Rolls

Defender Level

Attack Level

For attacks over 20th level, +1 per level over 20.

For defenders over 20th level, -‐1 per level over 20.



normal, then the situation is resolved by giving the active charac-ter a modifier equal to the roll of the passive party – 100.

All modifiers that might affect either character should be con-sidered, and all should modify the first, passive maneuver roll. (For example, when it is dim and shadowy, it is easier to stalk and also harder to perceive, but the penalty should be applied only once, to the passive roll.)

›Example: Nando has a stalking bonus of +70, while the guard he is trying to sneak past has a perception of +45. The light-ing is dim, the guard has been on duty for 6 hours and is bored, and the packed dirt of the ground makes little noise so the GM decides on a base difficulty of routine, or +30. Nando is also walk-ing past the guard’s flank and getting no closer than 30 feet, so the GM assigns another bonus of +20 for a total bonus of +50. Nando rolls a 14, plus his skill bonus of 70 plus his situational bonuses of 50 for a total result of 134. Next it is the guard’s turn to perceive, albeit at a penalty of 134 minus 100 = 34. The guard rolls a 60, plus his bonus of 45 is 105, which would normally be enough to see Nando, but minus the 34 result from Nando’s stalk maneuver, the guard’s final result is 105 – 34 = 71, and so the guard fails to see Nando as he sneaks past.

Note, that if Nando had rolled a 03 (open ended low) then a 73, for a total roll of -70, plus his skill of 70 is 0, plus the modifier of +50 is 50, then the subsequent modifier would be 50-100 = -50. This re-ally shoddy attempt at sneaking would have given the guard a +50 bonus to notice Nando instead of a penalty. In that instance, the guard’s roll of 60, plus his 45 skill, plus the 50 bonus for Nando’s poor sneaking would have been 155 and the guard would have seen Nando.

Similar SkillsIt will often arise where a character does not have the skill the GM calls for a given maneuver, or a combatant may find himself with a weapon he does not have any skill in using. In these cases, the character may have a skill that is similar or applicable to the maneuver and the GM will rule if a similar skill applies or not. This can vary greatly on the situation, and players may come up with novel uses for skills in a scenario so a detailed listing of what skills are similar is not feasible.

First, the GM should decide if the maneuver is possible with the other skill, and is merely a different difficulty. If so, the GM merely has to reassess the difficulty based on the player approach-ing the problem from a different angle than the GM expected. If the GM simply does not feel like the other skill properly applies, then he can assess the maneuver attempt based on how similar the skill the character has developed is to the skill needed to at-tempt the maneuver.

Similar skills will mostly come up between specializations of the same skill, such as Lores that share common subject matter or Crafting skills that use similar techniques. However, in some cir-cumstances a skill may be used in place of a completely different skill. Use Table 12-11 to determine an appropriate penalty based on how similar the skills are. A GM may decide Perception is slightly similar to Tracking and allow it to be used at a -50, or that skill in Riding: Horse is somewhat similar to Animal Handling: Horse and allow it to be used at a -25.

In the case of weapons, they are typically only similar to weap-ons of the same category, however in some cases the GM may allow the similar weapons rule to be used across categories such as Unarmed and Melee, or Missile and Firearms. These should be no more similar than ‘slightly’ (-50) and usually worse.

›Example: Torsk-Krift is an accomplished rider, with +80 in Riding: Horse. However, in the desert he has found himself in, there are nothing but camels. The GM decides riding a camel is ‘Somewhat Similar’ to riding a horse and assigns a penalty of -25. If Torsk-Krift were trying to ride a giant eagle, the GM might decide they were ‘Slightly Similar’ (-50) or even ‘Different’ (-75).

Similarity Penalty ExamplesVery similar -‐10 Longsword and broadswordSomewhat similar -‐25 Shortsword and broadswordSlightly similar -‐50 Broadsword and war hammerDifferent -‐75 Dagger and war hammerVery different -‐100 Dagger and morning star

Table 12-‐11: Skill Similarity



13. The Environment

The lives of adventurers are often filled with peril, as trouble creates drama. Rules for dealing with the hazards of life are detailed in this section.

13.1. Resistance RollsCertain hazards occurring during play will require a player to make a Resistance Roll (RR) to determine if or how an attack affects his character. There are several types of RRs, but they all use the same Resistance Roll formula.

Resistance Roll = d100OE + Stat + Race + Modifiers

Stat: Each of the 6 types of Resistance Rolls use a different set of Stats as shown in Table 13-1 whose Stat bonuses are added together.

Race: Races may have bonuses or penalties to some RRs (Section

5.2).

Modifiers: Spells, talents, or other special circumstances may give additional modifiers to some RRs.

EffectsThe success or failure of the Resistance Roll is based on the Level of the character, and the Attack Level (the caster’s level if it is a spell or attack level if a poison, disease or fear). Table 13-2 gives the num-ber needed for success based on these two levels. If the roll (with all modifiers) is equal to or greater than the target number the RR succeeds. Otherwise it fails. Most RR effects are all or nothing re-sults: if the Resistance Roll fails the target takes the full effects. If the Resistance Roll succeeds the target is completely unaffected. However some effects will be based on how much the RR was failed or saved by.

Incremental: Incremental RRs are those for which every X points of failure indicates a greater effect. Most of these types of effects are spells, e.g., Word of Stunning, which causes the target to be “stunned 1 round per 10 failure”. In this case, roll the RR as usual, if the target makes the roll the target is unaffected as usual, but if the target fails, subtract the final roll with modifications

from the target number indicated on the RR table to see how badly the target failed, then divide that result by 10 (rounding up) to find out how many increments of the result the target suffers.

›Example: Sigurd is 5th level and has a +30 RR bonus vs. Channeling and is targeted by a Channeling Word of Stunning from a 15th level Cleric. He needs a 75 and rolls a 27, so his total RR is 27 + 30 =57, which is a failure of 27. To determine how many rounds he is stunned, determine how much he failed by (27) and divide by 10 (2.7 rounding up to 3). Sigurd is stunned for 3 rounds.

Severity: Some RRs assign a severity based on the Resistance Roll. Consult Table 13-3 to determine the severity of the effect. With this type of RR, a failed result includes the failed effects above it, so an extreme result means the target is under the effects of the extreme, severe, moderate, and mild results. All penalties imposed by the various levels are cumulative.

›Example: Kulas-Dar is 5th level and has a +20 RR bonus vs. Disease; he is exposed to a level 10 pneumonic disease. He needs a 65 to make the RR. His RR roll is a 7, so his total RR is 7 + 20 = 27, a failure of 38. This is a Moderate failure and he will suffer the effects of both moderate and mild failure to a pneumonic disease.

13.2. VisibilityMany maneuvers are greatly affected by vision, and thus light-ing. Skills that require fine manipulation require ample light, as do complex physical maneuvers if terrain is irregular. Table 13-4 gives modifiers based on the amount of shadows. If sight is required for the maneuver, such as picking a lock, use the ‘Sight required’ column. If sight is helpful, such as doing an acrobatic tumble in a tavern, use the ‘Sight helpful’ column.

If shadows are beneficial, such as when hiding, add the modifier instead of subtract. However, if the hiding maneuver is opposed

Type StatsPoison Co/Co/SDDisease Co/Co/SDFear SD/SD/ReChanneling In/In/SDEssence Em/Em/SDMentalism Pr/Pr/SD

Table 13-‐1: Resistance Rolls

RR Result< 1 Extreme

1 -‐ 50 Severe51 -‐ 75 Moderate76 -‐ 100 Mild101+ None

Table 13-‐3: Severity



against an opponent’s Perception, only apply the modifiers to ei-ther the Hiding or the Perception.

Fog and Mist: Fog reduces visibility within its radius, depending upon its thickness, and gives a penalty to Perception based on the degree as shown in Table 13-5. In addition, auditory perception checks for sounds emanating beyond visual range are modified by -20, due to the inability to localize sounds effectively. A mist is treated as a light fog. Fogs that include smoke or smog will affect smell perception by -10 to -50 depending on how heavy the smell is.

Darkness and Blindness: For game purposes, blindness and com-plete darkness may be handled the same way. Magical darkness is impenetrable without magical light of some kind or Darkvision. Magical light will operate within magical darkness and overcome it, except for Utterdark effects, which require most magical light to make an RR. Normal fires, torches, and the like will still pro-duce heat, and will continue to burn (and ignite combustible ma-terials), but will not produce any light. Characters who are blind or operating under magical darkness operate with a modification of -100. Characters with some form of non-visual awareness skill may attempt to move without penalty (or at a reduced penalty).

Nightvision: Nightvision allows an individual to see in the pres-ence of extremely faint light. The light from the moon or stars or even a tiny point source of light is enough to allow a person with Nightvision to see normally. If there is no light (i.e., underground, in magical darkness, etc.), then Nightvision does not give any ben-efit. In addition, the use of Nightvision makes a person highly susceptible to sudden bright light. A very bright flash of light can stun an individual using Nightvision, giving a –50 modification to RRs against Sudden Light and similar spells. Nightvision suf-fers normal penalties to visibility due to fog, mist, etc.

Darkvision: Darkvision is a magical vision that allows the user to see in complete (including magical) darkness as if in normal daylight. The user is subject to the same penalties for bright light and fog as Nightvision. Note that this is the only form of vision that can operate normally in Utterdark.

13.3. HazardsDropped Objects

Falling objects can be a natural hazard, the result of a trap, or the result of someone dropping ob-jects. When dealing with objects thrown or hurled with force, consider the object an impro-

vised thrown weapon and resolve as an attack that way. These rules are for objects falling under the force of gravity. Use the weight of the dropped object to determine the size of the attack (as shown in Table 13-6), but double any size differences (a Large object falling on a Medium character is treated as 2 steps different rather than 1).

For objects smaller than the target use the Ram attack table. If the falling object is large enough com-pared to the target that it is attacking the whole area the target is in (like the whole ceiling coming down, or an avalanche) the GM can roll the attack on the Crush table instead. The attack roll gets +1 per foot the object falls. The target gets DB as normal, but may not parry with a weapon. If the attack size is smaller than the target’s size, the target can use a Shield, treating the falling object as a missile attack. (This makes it rather hard to hit an aware and mobile target with a single dropped object).

FallingCharacters can jump or be thrown from heights, fail a climbing check, or otherwise fall. Roll an attack on the falling character on the Crush table (Attack size equal to creature size), with an OB of +1 per foot fallen. For falls of 10’ or less treat he attack as -1 size (1/2 normal hits damage, -1 level of critical). For falls of 11-50’ use the table as is. For falls of 51-100’ treat the attack as +1 size (x2 damage and +1 level of critical). For falls of 101’ or more, treat the attack as +2 sizes (x3 damage and +2 levels of critical). For defense, only magical DB helps vs. falling damage, not quickness, parry, shield or any other DB factor.

Extreme Temperatures, Frost, and FireBeing exposed for an entire round to temperatures below -50 de-grees (°F = -46°C) or exceeding 200 degrees (°F = 93.3°C) can cause

Similarity Penalty ExamplesVery similar -‐10 Longsword and broadswordSomewhat similar -‐25 Shortsword and broadswordSlightly similar -‐50 Broadsword and war hammerDifferent -‐75 Dagger and war hammerVery different -‐100 Dagger and morning star

Table 12-‐11: Skill Similarity

Degree Visibility PerceptionLight 300' -‐15Medium 100' -‐25Heavy 50' -‐50Extreme 10' -‐75

Table 13-‐5: Fog

Size Weight (lbs) Height ExampleDiminutive <1 < 6" mouseTiny 1-‐10 6" -‐ 1' catSmall 11-‐75 1' -‐ 4' dogMedium 76-‐500 4' -‐ 8' humanLarge 501-‐4,000 8' -‐ 25' horseHuge 4,001-‐32,000 25' -‐ 75' elephantGigantic > 32,000 > 75' blue whale

Table 13-‐6: Object Sizes



damage to your character. This is true both for an entire area of extreme temperatures or touching an object of extreme tempera-tures. Every round (during the Upkeep phase) in which the charac-ter is exposed to an extreme temperature, roll a Cold or Heat critical as noted on Table 13-7. For more extreme temperatures, add an additional critical (starting with A) for every 50 ° less than -300 ° or for every 100 ° more than 550 °. Less extreme tempera-tures do not cause damage, but can increase fatigue (Section 12.4).

Coming into contact with frost ef-fects, usually in the form of super cool liquids or gasses, or fire can cause im-mediate damage. The GM will need to consider how large and cold the frost or fire is, how much contact was made with the target, and how well the tar-get’s clothing or covering protect him to determine the critical level to use. If the extreme temperature, frost or fire affects only a specific part of the body

then when applying the critical take the closest lower critical result that affects that body part (as a Called Shot in Arms Law).

Some sources may be so small or weak that the GM can ignore them or just inflict some hits to reflect the damage taken, like if a clothed human runs into an ice cube, a single droplet of liquid nitrogen, or a lit match or candle. Frost or Fire that is weak and/or only affects a small area of the character will inflict an A criti-cal, while intense frost or fire that bathes the target’s entire body will inflict an E critical (or worse).

Holding Breath and DrowningCharacters may need to swim underwater or attempt to avoid breathing in poisonous gasses by holding their breath. A prepared character that has a chance to take a breath and hold it can do so for 15 rounds plus the character’s Co bonus automatically. After that, the character must make an Easy AM using Body Development bonus to hold for another round (consider partial success a failure, while absolute success means the character can hold for this round and next without checking again). Each round after that first, the character must roll again, but each round the dif-ficulty level of the AM increases by one level.

If the character does not get a chance to prepare (thrown into water unexpectedly, sudden poison gas explosion on top of him, etc.), then the character can only automatically hold his breath for rounds equal to the character’s Co bonus before needing to start making checks.

A failed check means the character takes a breath and is affected by any toxins in the air. If underwater or in an airless environ-ment the character passes out and begins to die of anoxia (drown-ing / smothering). The character is unconscious, helpless, and will die in a number of rounds equal to the character’s Co bonus (characters with a 0 or negative Co bonus die the round after fall-ing unconscious).

13.4. PoisonLike diseases, poisons add spice and intrigue to a game. Some characters use them to coat weapons, while others perish after ingesting a tasty but poisonous draught. Their hidden dangers are frightening. Poisons come in many forms and are grouped into six effect categories: Circulatory, Conversion, Muscle, Nerve, Paralytic, Reduction, and Respiratory. Recovery from the effects of poisons is similar to recovering from injuries. Recovery can only start after the active effects of the poison end.

The following section delineates the impact of six categories of poisons, based on their severity of effect (severity level). Effects are cumulative, so that a victim beset with two impairments – one reducing his activity by -15 and the other by -25 – is actually at -40. A victim experiencing serious effects must also weather moderate and mild effects. The effects of upper level severities include all the lower severity results in the same category. Specific effects of certain poisons may vary, even if classified according to these categories.

Time of Effect: The time at which an effect sets in is variable; however, greater effects cannot precede lesser effects, although they can be simultaneous. GMs should roll the time for the most severe effect first, thereby dictating the upper limit for lesser symptoms.

Area of Effect: The area affected by a poison often varies as well. Sometimes the victim’s actions or the attack dictate the point of entry and the area first af-fected (e.g., a critical strike indicates that the snake injects the nerve poison in the vic-tim’s leg), but occasionally there will be no indication of the initially affected spot. In this case, use the following location table. (If left/right matters, flip a coin or roll odds/evens to resolve).

Circulatory PoisonsMild: Beginning in 1-50 rounds and lasting 1-50 hours: swell-ing around the point of injection or ingestion; drowsiness (-15); slightly blurred vision (-25).

Temperature (°F) Critical-‐300° to -‐251° E Cold-‐250° to -‐201 D Cold-‐200° to -‐150° C Cold-‐149° to -‐100° B Cold-‐99° to -‐50 A Cold200° to 299° A Heat300° to 399° B Heat400° to 499° C Heat500° to 549° D Heat

550° + E Heat

Table 13-‐7: Temperatures

Roll (d10) Location1 Foot2 Lower Leg3 Upper Leg4 Hand5 Lower Arm6 Upper Arm7 Abdomen/Groin8 Lower Chest9 Upper Chest10 Head/Neck

Table 13-‐8: Location



Moderate: Beginning in 3-30 rounds and lasting 2-20 hours: less-ening of motor coordination in legs (-25 for leg maneuvers) and arms (-25 for hand maneuvers); mild euphoria (-20 to all actions).

Severe: Beginning in 5-50 rounds and lasting 2-20 hours: discol-oration and chills; incapacitating headaches (no activity; 1-10 hits/round until unconsciousness or coma).

Extreme: Beginning in 10-100 rounds: death due to circulatory failure (i.e., oxygen starvation and associated waste poisoning).

Conversion PoisonsMild: Beginning in 5-50 rounds and lasting 3-30 hours: Queasiness, cramps and an upset stomach (-20 to all actions).

Moderate: Beginning in 10-100 rounds and lasting 2-20 hours: painful cramps and vomiting (-50 all actions, 10% chance of inca-pacity each round).

Severe: Beginning in 20-200 rounds: partial conversion (1-100%) of bodily tissue to another form (with associated disability; death if area affected is a critical organ); victim at -51 to -100; lapse into unconsciousness 1-50 rounds after initial severe effect.

Extreme: Beginning in 20-200 rounds: complete transformation of bodily tissue to another form; death if area is critical to survival.

Muscle PoisonsMild: Beginning in 3-30 rounds lasting 3-30 hours: lightheaded-ness and swelling (-10); waves of pain (-10 to -50 1d5x10 in any given round).

Moderate: Beginning in 5-50 rounds lasting 2-20 hours: moder-ate loss of overall coordination (-30); in any given round, there is 5% chance the muscles necessary to a given action will not operate.

Severe: Beginning in 1-10 hours: fever and sweating; lapse into unconsciousness for 1-10 days.

Extreme: Beginning in 1-50 hours: death due to overall muscle failure (e.g., cessation of heart activity).

Nerve PoisonsMild: Beginning in 1-10 rounds lasting 3-30 hours: mild loss of thought and motor coordination (-30).

Moderate: Beginning in 2-20 rounds lasting 2-20 hours: nervous system shock (-50 to all actions).

Severe: Beginning in 2-20 rounds, permanent nerve and brain damage (-10 to -100 to all actions)

Extreme: Beginning in 2-20 rounds: Death due to brain failure.

Paralytic PoisonsMild: Beginning in 1-20 rounds: general mild numbness and lack of feeling, slightly slurred speech (-20) lasting 3d10 hours.

Moderate: Beginning in 2-20 rounds: total numbness, and dif-ficulty moving, speech seriously affected (-50) lasting 2d10 hours.

Severe: Beginning in 1 -100 rounds: collapse and complete pa-ralysis lasting 1d10 hours.

Extreme: Beginning in 2-200 rounds: death due to cardiac and respiratory failure.

Reduction PoisonsMild: Beginning in 10-100 rounds: great pain (-10 to -50 in any given round, 1d5x10). Lasting 3d10 hours.

Moderate: Beginning in 20-200 rounds: Wracking pain and sweating blood (-20 to -100 in any given round, 2d5x10) lasting 2d10 hours.

Severe: Beginning in 30-300 rounds: incapacitation; after 1-100 minutes lapse into coma lasting 1-100 days.

Extreme: Beginning in 1-10 hours: death due to dissolution of vital tissue, destruction of associated organs (e.g., liver reduced to fluid).

Respiratory PoisonsMild: Beginning in 1-20 rounds: mild euphoria (-20) lasting 3d10 hours.

Moderate: Beginning in 2-20 rounds: significant euphoria (-50); painful choking and coughing (-10 to -50 any given round, 1d5x10) lasting 2d10 hours.

Severe: Beginning in 1 -100 rounds: uncontrollable coughing (1-10 hits/round for 1-10 rounds); lapse into unconsciousness for 1d10 hours; 50% chance of coma for 1-10 days.

Extreme: Beginning in 2-200 rounds: death due to respiratory failure and associated oxygen starvation.



13.5. DiseaseDisease strikes almost everywhere at one time or another. In Rolemaster, it can be the result of a random event, a spell, or a simple decision/calculation on the part of the Gamemaster that a specific setting is suffering.

A person attacked by a disease must make a resistance roll, com-paring his own level with that of the disease. The victim adds his Disease RR bonus (Co bonus twice, Sd bonus once, plus any racial/talent modifiers). Make a Severity based RR to determine the level of effect of the disease on the character. Recuperation from the effects of disease should be analogous to recovery from injuries, which only can begin once the active effects durations end.

A variety of diseases are described in the Disease section below. For convenience’s sake, they are grouped into 5 categories, accord-ing to effect/transmission. The general descriptions and specific effects of certain diseases may vary, even if classified according to these categories.

Effects are cumulative, so that a victim beset with two impair-ments – one reducing his activity by -20 and the other by -15 – is actually at -35. A victim experiencing serious effects must also weather moderate and mild effects. The effects of upper level se-verities include all the lower severity results in the same category.

BubonicBubonic diseases include any viral or bacterial disease resulting from organisms that reside in the blood or other precious bodily fluids. It is often transmitted by fleabites and other biting insects (injection). Symptoms occur in 1-10 days.

Mild: Rashes; mild glandular swelling; fever (-15) lasting 3d10 days.

Moderate: Inflammations and swelling in the glands, particu-larly in the armpit and groin areas (-25). There is a 10% chance per limb or eye of immobilizing puss-filled infections. (Limb or eye cannot be used until cured.) Lasts 2d10 days.

Severe: Lesions ooze puss; bleeding through pores; high fever; complete immobilization (50% chance of coma for 1-50 days). Lasts 1d10 days.

Extreme: Death due to viral or bacterial overload in 1-20 days.

ChemicalIncludes all forms of chemical dependence on (i.e., addiction to) herbs/drugs, alcohol, etc. or slow physical deterioration as a result of chemical alteration. Symptoms occur after continued

exposure or use. Chemical dependence requires continued use or withdrawal symptoms will occur.

Mild: No significant permanent damage; withdrawal results in mild spasms, sweating, and irritability for 3d10 days (-15).

Moderate: Occasional hallucinations (5% chance -25); intermit-tent spasms (5% chance -35); double vision (10% chance -40); im-paired Memory and Agility (-1 to -3 to stat bonus). Withdrawal results in immobility (5% chance of death). Lasts 2d10 days.

Severe: Frequent hallucinations (10% chance -50); intermittent fevers; shaking; weakened temporary stats (each 1 + [-1 to 100]). Withdrawal results in immobility (20% chance of death). Lasts 1d10 days.

Extreme: A slow death (1-50 months) due to destruction of in-ternal organs (e.g., liver, kidneys, intestines). Withdrawal results in immobility (40% chance of death). Lasts 1d10 days.

SepticSeptic infections occur as a result of dirt or other infected ma-terial is introduced to the body via a wound or injury. After a failed recovery check involving an injury that broke the skin, the GM may require a disease RR (level based on virulence and how much infectious material is involved). Onset of symptoms starts in 2d10 hours.

Mild: Redness, swelling and pain make it harder to use affected limb (-10 penalty). Intermittent fever makes thinking fuzzy (-10 to -30 penalty to all actions, 1d3x10 on any given round). Lasts 3d10 days.

Moderate: Severe swelling of wound area with eruptions of puss. Tenderness and swelling moves from wound toward heart along veins in red streaks. Pain in limb makes use hard (-25 penalty), and fever causes dizziness and difficulty thinking (-10 to -50 on any given round, 1d5x10). Lasts 2d10 days.

Severe: Area around wound blackens and leaks foul fluids, black-ened areas begin spreading toward heart along veins. Pain and numbness renders limb unusable (-100), and severe fever makes it difficult to think (-20 to -100 on any given round, 2d5x10). Lasts 1d10 days. Without magical or antibiotic cure, victim will slip to the extreme level at the end of this duration, unless the limb is amputated.

Extreme: Gangrenous flesh is green, purple, and black. Toxins from rotting tissue spread through blood causing widespread organ failures and death in 2d10 hours.



PneumonicIncludes any viral or bacterial disease carried in the air (e.g., transmitted by mist or breath). Symptoms occur 1-100 hours after exposure.

Mild: Fever, sweating, coughing, dizziness and chest pain (-20) lasting 3d10 days.

Moderate: Raging fever (-20 to -100 on any given round, 2d5x10) lasting 2d10 days.

Severe: Immobilizing coma for 1-100 days.

Extreme: Death due to viral or bacterial overload in 1-100 hours.

ParasiticParasitic disease is an infestation of the body by organisms larger than bacteria or viruses (amoebas, worms, etc.). They usually enter the body through the consumption of contaminated food or water, though parasites can sometimes enter directly through the skin or via a trauma like a bite from an infected animal. Onset of mild symptoms is quick, 2-20 hours, while more severe symp-toms take longer, usually 2-20 days.

Mild: Mild fever, cramps, and diarrhea (-10 to all actions and dou-ble need for water) lasting 2-20 days.

Moderate: Occasional outbreaks of fever (any time the host rolls an unmodified 11, -20 penalty for 24 hours), compromised immune system (-25 to poison and disease RRs). Effects last until disease is cured or host dies.

Severe: Overload of parasites affects blood chemistry and brain tissue leading to irrational and sometimes hostile behavior (any time the host rolls an unmodified 22, lasting 24 hours). Delirium affects all actions (-20 to all actions). Affects last until disease is cured or host dies.

Extreme: Body overwhelmed by parasites and their waste prod-ucts, leading to death in 1d10 days.

13.6. Fear & MoraleMost fights in the real world do not resolve with one side or the other killed to the last man; flight or surrender occur when the morale (fighting spirit) of one side is broken. Beyond the real world issue of morale, this is a fantasy game, and sometimes adventur-ers encounter supernatural terrors which prompt fear checks by their very presence.

It is up to the GM to decide when a morale check is called for, and some GMs will feel that the players should decide when to play

their characters as fearful or reluctant, and these GMs will not make morale checks for PCs, using the morale system to resolve NPC reactions only. Even so, the GM should still have PCs make fear RRs when confronted with supernatural terrors with spe-cific Fear effects (See “Fear” in Creature Law.) or when called for by a spell (although unless specified otherwise, the usual realm RR is used for spells causing fear).

Fear ChecksFear checks are made as severity based RRs. Determine the level of intensity of the fear attack, then roll the RR versus the charac-ter’s level. Modify the roll by the character’s Fear RR bonus, and any other modifiers, such as Leadership bonus (see “Leadership and Fear” below) and check the result. (Injury and fatigue modifiers should be applied to fear checks.) Creatures with a “Berserk” men-tality are immune to non-magical fear effects, and creatures who are “Mindless” are immune to non-magical and magical fear effects.

Supernatural fear effects always have a level given, but for normal frightening situations, the GM should determine the level of any fear RR, using the guidelines in Table 13-9. The result of a failed Fear RR is based on the severity of the failure as shown below.

Mild: Balk: character will not advance or pursue the enemy, but will fight if the enemy comes to him.

Moderate: Retreat: character will try to escape the situation, but in a controlled manner, not turning his back on the danger. If the character cannot flee, and the penalty for surrender is mild, he will surrender.

Severe: Routed: character will flee using at least running pace until collapsing from fatigue or reaching a place of safety where the character can no longer perceive the source of fear. Routed combatants will attack anyone who attempts to physically block retreat. If they cannot flee, they will surrender unless they are certain surrender will result in death.

Level Description1 You are confronted with actual immediate danger.3 An armed opponent is actually trying to harm you.5 The fight going badly, you are outnumbered, up half of your allies

are down or fled, or your group is the target of a lethal ambush.10 You are outnumbered and beginning to become surrounded, a

superior enemy force is beginning to overrun your position, or more than half your allies are down or fled.

15 You face a dangerous foe you cannot harm or more than three quarters of your allies are down or fled.

20 You are onfronted with an unstoppable threat (e.g., an approaching lake-‐sized flow of lava) or more than 90% of your allies are down or fled.

Table 13-‐9: Fright Level



Extreme: Broken: character will flee at top speed until collapsing from fatigue. Such characters will drop weapons and gear if it allows them to flee faster. They will ignore attempts to physically stop them if at all possible. Broken combatants who cannot flee will surrender regardless of possible consequences. (The charac-ters will drop their weapons and fall to the floor in abject terror).

Leadership and FearIf a PC or NPC is under the command of a leader who is present, that character gets a bonus to fear RRs. In order to get a bonus, the character must actually acknowledge the leader (generally listen to the leader’s instructions, look to the leader for guidance in stressful situations, etc.) and must be aware of the leader’s presence (i.e., be able to see, hear, or otherwise know the leader is present and active). This bonus is equal to the ranks of the Leadership skill that the leader has (the ranks, not the bonus, so 10 ranks is +10, not +50).

Leaders can also attempt to rally someone who has failed a fear check, which will help the target to overcome the fear. Attempting to rally followers is a 75% action, and the leader must make an AM using his Leadership skill bonus. Attempting to rally a follower who is balking is a Medium AM, rallying a retreating follower is a Very Hard AM, rallying a routed follower is a Sheer Folly AM, and rallying a broken follower is a Nigh Impossible AM.

If attempting to rally multiple followers at the same time, the difficulty level is set to the worst affected follower in the target group, and the DL is increased by 1 step for every 10 followers (round up). Targets must all be able to see and hear the leader.

For non sentient mounts, the Riding skill has the same effect as the Leadership skill for fear check modification, and attempts to rally a frightened mount.

For non sentient animals that are not being ridden, the Animal Handling skill can be used in place of Leadership for fear bonus and rally attempts.

Morale ChecksPlayers almost always want to decide when their characters agree to do something or refuse, but it is sometimes necessary to de-termine if an NPC follower will agree to a command. A Morale Check is resolved by making an Absolute Maneuver, the diffi-culty set according to how reasonable or unreasonable the com-mand appears to the NPC. Roll an AM against the Commander’s Leadership skill bonus, plus the follower’s RR bonus vs Fear (it is easier to lead disciplined troops). If making a single roll for multiple followers, just use the average RR bonus for the whole group of followers.

Absolute Failure Increase fear level by 1 (from Balk to Retreat, from Retreat to Routed, etc.)

Failure No effectPartial Success Reduce fear level by 1 (from Broken to Routed,

from Retreat to Balk, etc.)Success Reduce fear level by 2 (from Broken to Retreat,

from Retreat to Nothing, etc.)Absolute Success Reduce fear level by 3 (from Broken to Balk, from

Retreat to Nothing, etc.)

Table 13-‐10: Rally

Absolute Failure Sullen refusal or even hostile reaction. (Complies, but actively sabotages purpose of orders as much as he can get away with.) Follower offended somehow, -‐5 to all future morale checks with this NPC. (Penalty is cumulative and permanent).

Failure Follower refuses. (Complies, but in a sullen, perfunctory, lazy foot-‐dragging manner.)

Partial Success Follower asks a question to clarify order, roll again next round. (Follower misunderstands but is afraid to ask, does something wrong.)

Success Follower does as requested.Absolute Success Follower does as ordered and is inspired. +5 to

future morale checks with this NPC (bonus is cumulative and permanent, to a max bonus equal to the leader’s ranks in Leadership).

Table 13-‐11: Morale



14. Appendix14.1. Example CharactersStongarChris decides he wants to play a tough guy, a proud character with a hard disposition, quick tempered and out for adventure. His character doesn’t care much for rules and laws, but will stand by his friends at any cost. He likes food and drink, but would prefer a good fight beforehand. The character will be male, and his name will be Stongar.

Chris will be using the random method of stat generation, so he writes down the 10 stats, then rolls three times for each stat, crossing out the lowest roll each time.(He rolls a 7 on Intuition, since that is under 11, he rerolls and obtains a 74)

• Ag 65,11, 78• Co 31, 26, 77• Em 34, 37, 45• In 75, 60, 74• Me 27, 95, 58• Pr 68, 99, 50• Qu 52, 33, 84• Re 35, 53, 13• SD 67, 27, 12• St 55, 44, 68

Chris wants a more physical character, so he swaps St with Pr, and he swaps Co with Me. His final temps (potentials) and cur-rent temp bonuses end up being:

• Ag 65 (78) +2• Co 58 (95) +1• Em 37 (45) -2• In 74 (75) +4• Me 31 (77) -3• Pr 55 (68) +1• Qu 52 (84) 0• Re 35 (53) -3• SD 27 (67) -4• St 68 (99) +3

Chris decides he wants to go in a heavy arms combat direction, so he picks Fighter as his character’s profession and writes it on his sheet.

Looking over the races, Chris selects Dwarf as best suited to his concept. He writes Stongar’s racial stat modifiers on his sheet: Ag -1, Co +4, Em -4, Pr -2, Qu -2, St +1. Then he writes the Racial RR modifiers down as well: Essence +20, Mentalism +20, Poison +10 and Disease +5. Dwarves have 30 base hits, and +15 to Fatigue.

Stongar comes from the Round Mountain area, where the dwarves have carved out a large town-sized complex within the mountain. His people are a stoic, insular lot. They distrust outsiders and assume non-dwarves are out to steal from them or harm them. They have a powerful work ethic and depend heavily on a solid and complex network of family relations up to the Clan level. A strong sense of personal responsibility and fear of outsid-ers means most adults are trained warriors of one sort or another. Highly technical, they are renowned craftsmen in metal, glass, and most other materials. He is an oddity, in that he has wan-dered from home and is mixing with outsiders.

His background is Underground. Writing down his cultural skills, Chris makes some choices.

10 Ranks in Linguistics for a 5/5 in Dorman spoken/written, the language spoken in this region. He’d rather be literate than a per-fect speaker or bilingual.

• 3 Ranks in Lore: Dorman Mountains• 1 Rank in Lore: Dwarven Legends• 1 Rank in Science: Mathematics• 1 Rank Body Development• 1 Rank Movement: Running• 1 Rank in Combat Training: Unarmed (Wrestling)• 1 Rank in Survival: Temperate Mountains• 1 Rank in Navigation: Terrestrial• 1 Rank in Perception• 1 Rank in Stalk/Hide• 3 Ranks in Crafting, he splits that to 2 Ranks in Crafting:

Woodworking and 1 Rank in Crafting: Bowyer• 2 Ranks in Vocation: Guild Craftsman. He grew up in his fa-

ther’s workshop; he knows the basics of running a workshop, guild rules, and how to train an apprentice.

Chris is not going to purchase any talents for Stongar in character generation, but he does note down the racial talents for a Dwarf: Nightvision and Darkvision. He also notes the Dwarven flaw of Dense (Swimming -25).



Dwarves get bonus DP of 10, so Chris has 50 + 10 = 60 DP to spend on level 1 skills Chris is planning on developing OB in Melee, Missile and Unarmed, so he makes those his first three Combat Training skill slots with costs of 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 respectively.

• Chris goes over the skill list and picks:• 2 ranks of Combat Expertise: Maneuver in Armor (3 DP)• 1 rank of Combat Expertise: Restricted Area Combat (1 DP)• 1 rank of Stalk/Hide (2 DP)• 2 ranks of Shield (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Melee): Battle Axe (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Melee): Dagger (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Missile): Light Crossbow (5 DP)• 2 ranks of Movement: Climbing (4 DP)• 2 ranks of Movement: Swimming (4 DP)• 1 rank of Perception (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Social Awareness (7 DP)• 2 ranks of Leadership (6 DP)• 1 rank of Influence: Bribe/Trade (3 DP)• 1 rank of Medical: First Aid (3 DP)• 1 rank of Ambush: Missile (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Unarmed): Strikes: Tier 1 (7 DP)• 1 rank of Body Development (1 DP).

This will be a standard starting characters of 2nd level, so now Chris must take Stongar through one level gain from 1st to 2nd level.

Chris wants to improve his character’s Qu and Sd, both are be-tween 19 and 81, so they improve by d10. Chris rolls a 10 for Qu so it rises from 52 to 62, and a 6 for Sd which rises from 27 to 33. Neither increase exceeds potential, so nothing is lost. He updates his character sheet to reflect those changes to temp and bonus for those two stats.

Chris spends another full level, 50 DP on skills.

• 2 ranks of Combat Expertise: Maneuver in Armor (3 DP)• 1 rank of Combat Expertise: Restricted Area Combat (1 DP)• 1 rank of Shield (2 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Melee): Battle Axe (3 DP)• 1 ranks of Combat Training (Melee): Dagger (1 DP)• 2 ranks of Combat Training (Missile): Light Crossbow (5 DP)• 2 ranks of Movement: Climbing (4 DP)• 1 rank of Movement: Swimming (1 DP)• 2 ranks of Perception (7 DP)• 1 rank of Social Awareness (3 DP)• 1 rank of leadership (2 DP)• 1 rank of Influence: Bribe/Trade (3 DP)• 1 rank of Medical: First Aid (3 DP)• 1 rank of Ambush: melee (3 DP)

• 1 rank of Ambush: Missile (3 DP)• 1 rank of Combat Training (Unarmed): Strikes (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Body Development (4 DP).

EquipmentStongar is dressed in heavy leather boots with hobnailed soles, and padded woolen clothing to wear under his armor. He had a pair of dark brown leather gloves that come most of the way to the elbow. A broad and plain brown leather belt. On top of everything else he has a dark grey woolen cloak with a hood. He chooses a small canvas backpack to carry the rest of his gear in.

Stongar is 2nd level, so he has 100 Sp with which to purchase any-thing else.

Stongar has skill in a number of weapons, so he purchases a Battle Axe (13 Sp), a Dagger (3 Sp), and a Light Crossbow (11 Sp). He purchases 20 crossbow bolts (15 Bp) for his crossbow, and a Quiver (1 Bp) to hold them. (Total of 28 Sp, 6 Bp)

He decides to take a Hide Scale Vest (5 Sp), Hide Leggings (3 Sp), Hide Sleeves (3 Sp), Normal Shield (55 Bp) and a Cap (2 Sp) to armor himself. (Total of 18 Sp, 5 Bp).

To round out his gear Stongar will have a light bedroll (2 Bp), a Candle (4 Cp), Flint & Steel (1 Bp) and a Tinderbox (2 Cp). (Total of 3 Bp, 6 Cp).

Stongar has spent a total of 47 Sp, 4 Bp, 6 Cp, so he has a remainder of 52 Sp, 5 Bp, 4 Cp left when the game begins. For ease of carrying it, Chris decides to convert the silver so stongar has 4 Gp, 12 Sp, 5 Bp and 4 Cp in his pouch.

Now that all the purchasing is done, it is time to tally up all the bonuses for Stongar. He is 2nd level and none of his skills are over 10 ranks, so each rank is worth +5 bonus, plus the stat ap-propriate to the skill and any occupational bonus. He has one “Other” bonus to a skill, his racial flaw of “Dense” gives him a -25 to Movement: Swimming skill.

Defensive Bonus (DB) is three times Qu bonus, which is 0.

Hits are Base Hits plus Body Development Skill bonus or 30+31=61

Fatigue is Body Development bonus plus Racial Bonus or 31+15=46

The five standard RRs are stats plus racial bonus; Channeling is In+In+Sd+0, Essence is Em+Em+Sd+40, Mentalism is Pr+Pr+Sd+40, Poison is Co+Co+Sd+20 and Disease is Co+Co+Sd+25.



Final ResultStongar, 2nd level Dwarf Fighter

Stat Temp (Pot) Temp Race Total

Ag 65 (78) +2 -1 +1

Co 58 (95) +1 +4 +5

Em 37 (45) -2 -4 -6

In 74 (75) +4 0 +4

Me 31 (77) -3 0 -3

Pr 55 (68) +1 -2 -1

Qu 62 (84) +2 -2 0

Re 35 (53) -3 0 -3

SD 33 (67) -3 0 -3

St 68 (99) +3 +1 +4

• DB: 0• Hits: 61• Fatigue: 46

RR Stat Race Total

Channeling +5 +0 +5

Essence -15 +20 +5

Mentalism -5 +20 +15

Poison +7 +10 +17

Disease +7 +5 +12

Talents: Darkvision, Nightvision, Dense (swimming -25)

SkillsRanks Skill Skill Stat Occ Other Total

5 Linguistics: Dorman (Spoken) 25 -9 +16

5 Linguistics: Doman (Written) 25 -9 +16

3 Lore: Dorman Mountains 15 -9 +6

1 Lore: Dwarven Legends 5 -9 -4

1 Science: Mathematics 5 -9 -4

1 Movement: Running 5 +10 +1 +16

4 Movement: Climbing 20 +10 +4 +34

3 Movement: Swimming 15 +10 +3 -25 +3

4 Body Development 20 +7 +4 +31

1 Combat Training: (Unarmed): Wrestling 5 +9 +1 +15

3 Combat Training (Unarmed): Strikes 15 +9 +3 +27

4 Combat Training (Melee): Battle Axe 20 +9 +4 +33

Ranks Skill Skill Stat Occ Other Total

3 Combat Training (Melee): Dagger 15 +9 +3 +27

4 Combat Training

(Missile): Light Crossbow

20 +6 +4 +30

4 Combat Expertise: Maneuver in Armor 20 none +4 +24

2 Combat Expertise:

Restricted Area Combat

10 none +2 +12

3 Shield 15 +9 +3 +27

1 Survival: Temperate Mountains 5 -2 +3

4 Perception 20 -2 +18

1 Navigation: Terrestrial 5 -2 +3

2 Influence: Bribe/Trade 10 -1 +9

3 leadership 15 -8 +3 +10

3 Social Awareness 15 -3 +12

1 Ambush: melee 5 -2 +1 +4

2 Ambush: Missile 10 -2 +2 +10

2 Stalk/Hide 10 +2 +2 +14

2 Crafting: Woodworking 10 -5 +5

1 Crafting: Bowyer 5 -5 +0

2 Medical: First Aid 10 -2 +8

2 Vocation: Guild Craftsman. 10 -12 -2

LintheaAfter talking to the GM about the world and game concept, Lauren decides that this time she is going to play a hero. Her char-acter will be motivated by a desire to help and protect others. She will respect the law, but not blindly obey it, caring more about “the right thing” than “rules”. Her character will be positive and outgoing, but a little shy in large social occasions. She dislikes vio-lence on other beings, but this game world is inhabited by many monsters, and as a “hero”, she will happily battle those.

Lauren will be using the point purchase method for stats, so she should firm up what profession she wants before proceed-ing. Lauren wants to play a caster, but something unusual, so she chooses Sorcerer. This Hybrid profession is of the realms of Channeling and Essence. Her realm stats are Empathy and Intuition.

First, Lauren has 355 points to spend on Potentials. She knows that Em, In and Sd are going to be important for controlling her magic, so she takes a 95 each in Em and In, and SD, that costs 3x63=189. 355-189=166 left. She wants to be smart, so she takes 85 for Me and Re, that costs 2x37=74. 166-74=92 left. Her character is not very forceful, so she takes a 60 in Pr, that costs 10. 92-10=82.



She wants her character to be agile, quick and fit, but not strong, so she puts a 42 in St, that gains 82+8=90. She splits the remaining 90 between Ag, Qu and Co for 30 each, or 80 Potential.

Done with Potentials, Lauren now has 55 points with which to purchase starting temporary stats. Her St Potential is 42, so she reduces the temp to 42, gaining 8 points, giving her 55+8=63. She spends 20 points each in In and Em to raise them to 70, cost-ing 20x2=40. 63-40=23. She puts 13 points into Sd to get a 63. So 23-13=10. She puts 5 points each into Re and Me for 55s, costing 5x2=10. 10-10=0 and she is done.

Her final Temporary(Potential) with bonuses ends up being:

• Ag 50(80) 0• Co 50(80) 0• Em 70(95) +3• In 70(95) +3• Me 55(85) +1• Pr 50(60) 0• Qu 50(80) 0• Re 55(85) +1• SD 63(95) +2• St 42(42) -1

Lauren goes over the choices and picks Elf as her race. She writes her racial stat modifiers on her sheet: Ag +2, Em +2, Me +2, Pr +2, Qu +2, Sd -4, St -2

Then she writes the Racial RR modifiers down as well: Essence -5, Channeling -5, Mentalism -5 and Poison +10. Her base hits are 20 and she has +10 to Fatigue.

Her character will be female, her name will be Linthea.

She decides that Linthea’s mother raised her character; she grew up among the Elves of Fey. More scattered than even most rural humans, the elves live in family dwellings separated miles from their neighbors in a magical forest. The culture is very low tech, using no metal at all, only natural materials like wood, stone, and hide. Magic is far more common than among humans. These elves worship no god, instead communing with “The Fey”, the interconnected spirits and life forces of their enchanted forest home. This explanation ties in well with the character’s “Hybrid” status, her character is in tune with both the magical energies of the living world and the spiritual side also.

Her background is Sylvan. Writing down her character’s cultural skills, Lauren makes some choices.

• 10 Ranks in Linguistics for 5/5 in Dorman, the language spoken in her native area.

• 3 Ranks in Lore: Fey Forest• 1 Rank in Lore: Elvish Legends

• 1 Rank in Science: Mathematics• 1 Rank in Body Development• 1 Rank in Movement: Running• 1 Rank in Combat Training (Unarmed): Sweeps• 1 Rank in Animal Handling: Mules• 1 Rank in Survival: Temperate Forest• 1 Rank in Perception• 1 Rank in Tracking• 1 Rank in Stalk/Hide• 3 Ranks split to 1 Rank in Crafting: Charcoal Sketching, 1

Rank in Performance Art: Singing, and 1 rank of Crafting: Woodcarving.

• 2 Ranks in Vocation: Small farmer, growing up in a cottage in the woods, she knows the basics of running a small farm.

Lauren is not going to purchase any talents for Linthea in char-acter generation, but she does note down the racial talents for an Elf: Immune to Disease, Meditational Sleep, and Nightvision.

Elves get bonus DP of 5, so Lauren has 50 + 5 = 55 DP to spend on level 1 skills. Lauren is planning on developing OB in Missile, so she makes that Linthea’s first Combat Training skill slot with a cost of 9/12.

Lauren goes over the skill list and picks:

• 1 rank of Combat Training (Missile): Short Bow (9 DP)• 1 rank of Riding: Horse (4 DP)• 1 rank of Perception (4 DP)• 1 rank of Power Manipulation: Channeling (1 DP)• 1 rank of Body Development (9 DP)• 1 rank of Riding: Horse (4 DP)• 2 ranks of Power Development (3 DP)• 1 rank of Medical: First Aid (3 DP)

She then purchases ranks in base and open spell lists.

• 2 ranks of Base “Fluid Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Gas Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Flesh Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Solid Destruction” (3 DP)• 1 rank of Open “Detecting Ways” (1 DP• 2 ranks of Open “Essence Hand” (3 DP)• 1 Rank of Open “Essence Perception” (1 DP)• 1 rank of Open “Lesser Illusions” (1 DP)

This will be a standard starting character of 2nd level, so now Lauren must take Linthea through one level gain from 1st to 2nd level.

Lauren has 12 points to spend on stats, and she wants to improve Linthea’s Qu, Ag and Co. All are between 19 and 81, so 1 point will improve them by 1 temp. She splits the points evenly, increasing



all three by 4 points from 50 to 54. She updates Linthea’s char-acter sheet to reflect those changes to temp and bonus for those three stats.

Lauren spends another full level, 50 DP on skills.

• 1 rank of Combat Training (Missile): Short Bow (9 DP)• 1 rank of Perception (4 DP)• 1 rank of Power Manipulation: Channeling (1 DP)• 2 ranks of Power Development (3 DP)• 1 rank of Body Development (9 DP)

She then purchases ranks in base and open spell lists.

• 2 ranks of Base “Fluid Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Gas Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Flesh Destruction” (3 DP)• 2 ranks of Base “Solid Destruction” (3 DP)• 3 ranks of Open “Detecting Ways” (5 DP)• 4 ranks of Base “Mind Destruction” (7 DP)

EquipmentLinthea is dressed in natural color deerskin leggings and a cream colored cotton shirt. She is wearing ankle length leather boots and a braided leather belt. She is wearing a dark green woolen hooded cloak on top with woolen gloves tucked into a pocket.

Linthea is 2nd level, so she has 100 Sp with which to purchase anything else.

Linthea only has one weapon skill, so she purchases a Short bow (6 Sp). Although she doesn’t know how to use one as a weapon, she purchases a dagger (3 Sp) just because it’s handy to have a knife at times. She purchases 20 arrows (4 Bp) for her bow, and a Quiver (1 Bp) to hold them. (Total of 9 Sp, 5 Bp).

Linthea has no interest at all in armor. To round out her gear Linthea will have a light bedroll (2 Bp), 2 Candles (8 Cp), Flint & Steel (1 Bp), a Tinderbox (2 Cp), 10 sheets of paper (12 Bp), a coil of rope (4 Bp), 10 quill pens (4 Cp) and ink (14 Cp). (Total of 2 Sp, 1 Bp, 8 Cp).

Lauren decides Linthea isn’t going to walk everywhere, so she purchases a Light horse (45 Sp), Saddle (5 Sp), and 2 saddle bags (16 Bp) for it. (total of 51 Sp, 6 Bp)

Linthea has spent a total of 63 Sp, 2 Bp, 8 Cp, so she has a remain-der of 36 Sp, 7 Bp, 2 Cp left when the game begins.

Linthea is carrying a total of 18 pounds of gear, no other mods.

Now that all the purchasing is done, it is time to tally up all the bonuses for Linthea. She is 2nd level and none of her skills are

over 10 ranks, so each rank is worth +5 bonus, plus the stat ap-propriate to the skill and any occupational bonus.

Defensive Bonus (DB) is three times Qu bonus, which is 3x3=9.

Hits are Base Hits plus Body Development Skill bonus or 20+20=40

Fatigue is Body Development bonus plus Racial Bonus or 15+10=25

Power Points are equal to the Power Development bonus or 31

The five standard RRs are stats plus racial bonus; Channeling is In+In+Sd-5, Essence is Em+Em+Sd-5, Mentalism is Pr+Pr+Sd-5, Poison is Co+Co+Sd+10 and Disease is “Immune”.

Final ResultLinthea, 2nd Level Elf Sorcerer

Stat Temp (Pot) Temp Race Total

Ag 54(80) +1 +2 +3

Co 54(80) +1 0 +1

Em 70(95) +3 +2 +5

In 70(95) +3 0 +3

Me 55(85) +1 +2 +3

Pr 50(60) 0 +2 +2

Qu 54(80) +1 +2 +3

Re 55(85) +1 0 +1

SD 63(95) +2 -4 -2

St 42(42) -1 -2 -3

• DB: 9• Hits: 40• Fatigue: 25• PP: 33

RR Stat Race Total

Channeling +4 -5 -1

Essence +8 -5 +3

Mentalism +2 -5 -3

Poison 0 +10 +10

Disease Immune

Talents: Meditative Sleep, Immune to Disease, Nightvision



SkillsRanks Skill Skill Stat Occ Other Total

5 Linguistics (Spoken) Dorman 25 +7 +32

5 Linguistics (Written) Dorman 25 +7 +32

3 Lore: Fey Forest 15 +7 +3 +25

1 Lore: Elvish Legends 5 +7 +3 +15

1 Science: Mathematics 5 +5 +1 +11

1 Movement: Running 5 +1 +6

3 Body Development 15 0 +15

1 Combat Training (Unarmed): Sweeps 5 -3 +2

2 Combat Training (Missile): Short Bow 10 +3 +13

2 Power Manipulation: Channeling 10 +10 +2 +22

1 Animal Handling: Mules 5 +8 +13

2 Riding: Horse 10 +10 +20

1 Survival: Temperate Forest 5 +7 +12

3 Perception 15 +2 +17

1 Tracking 5 +9 +14

4 Power Development 20 +9 +4 +33

1 Stalk/Hide 5 +4 +9

1 Crafting: Charcoal Sketching 5 +4 +9

1 Crafting: Woodcarving 5 +4 +9

1 Medical: First Aid 5 +7 +12

1 Performance Art: Singing 5 +10 +15

2 Vocation: Small farmer 10 +9 +4 +23

4 Spells (Base) “Fluid Destruction” 20 +9 +4 +33

4 Spells (Base) “Gas Destruction” 20 +9 +4 +33

4 Spells (Base) “Flesh Destruction” 20 +9 +4 +33

4 Spells (Base) “Solid Destruction” 20 +9 +4 +33

4 Spells (Open) “Detecting Ways” 20 +9 +4 +33

2 Spells (Open) “Essence Hand” 10 +9 +2 +21

1 Spells (Open) “Essence Perception” 5 +9 +1 +15

4 Spells (Open) “Lesser Illusions” 5 +9 +1 +15

4 Spells (Base) “Mind Destruction” 20 +9 +4 +33

0230-RMU-CharacterLaw-27Sep12

Documents

guild companion publications

registered playtester copy

major organ repair

major personal goal

roll 1d100 oe

minor story goal

enhanced natural attack

major story goals