The Rules
Throughout character creation, you may have read some things that, at the time, made no sense. Here I will try to explain them in further detail.
Each character gets 1 action per turn, a turn is any type of attack or defensive maneuver or other action in combat. About 5 minutes or so when not in combat. Once everyone has made an action, or inaction, then a new turn begins.
First off, an explanation of what 3d10 means. The first number, in this case a 3, is how many dice you roll. The "d" stands for dice or die. The second number, in this case 10, stands for how many sides on the die. So you would roll 3, ten sided dice.
These rolls are made by rolling a number of d6's equal to the attribute score. For example, say you have a strength of 7. You would roll 7, 6 sided dice or 7d6. These kind of rolls are made when you must try to accomplish something that takes sheer physical means, wether it be moving quickly or trying to break something.
So how do you know if you succeed? Simple, the game master decides how difficult the task is to perform, based on that he chooses a number between 1 and 6, 6 being near impossible.The number that is decided is what you must roll (or above) on the d6's. How many you get determines how well you accomplished the task. Example, say you want to break down a door, a wooden door would probably be like a difficulty 3 or 4, whereas a metal door would be like a 5 or 6. Ok, say it's a wooden door, and the game master decides it wasn't well made so a 3 or better would work. You roll your 7d6 (for the strength we are using above) and you get 4 out of 7 that came up 3 or better (usually refered to as 3+), 1 success you would have bounced off the door, hearing a slight crack. 2 successes and you would have heard a loud crack. 3 successes and the door barely gives, still closed. 4 successes and the door gives, opens. 5 successes and the door swings open. 6 successes and the door shatters. I'm sure you get the idea now.
If at any time, one of your attributes reach 0 for whatever reason, your character perishes. |
These rolls are made using the percentiles, 2d10. The first 10 sided die is used as the tens place. The second, for the ones place. Example, you roll a 7 on the first die, and a 3 on the second. That would be 73%. The object would be to roll a lower percent on the dice, than your score in whatever skill you are using. These types of rolls are made whenever you want to use one of your skills to perform a task.
Ok, so what if you don't have a skill, but want to try anyway? Simple, you need to make 3, successful skill checks in a row, using a 10% as your skill rating. If you roll below 10% 3 times in a row, not only do you succeed, but you get the skill permanently at 5%, using experience to raise the score later on.
Magic is the most powerful, and deadly weapon in the Terrisi world. Not only to the wizards enemies, but also to himself. It takes great discipline and training to learn to wield and control the god power.
In order to cast a spell, the caster first selects the spell he will cast and nominates any targets if applicable. Some spells say "target 'whatever'" This means the caster may chose who the spell effects. Other times it says "all within 'a certain area'" This will effect everyone within that area. Spells are instantaneous, so the caster is able to attempt 2 spells per action they have.
Each spell saps a little from the caster. When the magic is released from the caster's body, it takes with it a little of the caster's strength. If the caster's strength reaches 0, he will die. This type of strength loss is regained through a good 8 hour sleep.
Each spell has five levels, in order to figure out how much a spell takes from the caster follow these simple steps. First, caster nominates a spell. He then procedes a quicks guesture, sometimes combined with a word. The player then rolls 1d6 and subtracts the caster's level for the spell. Whatever is left is how much the spell has taken from him. Temporarily remove the amount from his Str attribute, keeping in mind any damage bonus and number of attacks with the crossbow.
So what if the result is a negative number or a 0? Simple, the spell only sapped 1 point of strength from the caster. A spell will never give the caster strength or cost nothing (Unless the spell was designed to do so). What happens if the spell takes the caster to 0 Str? The spell will still release, but the caster will need to be attended to- imeadiately.
When a will power battle is called for, most of the time dealing with magic or magic weapons, Then you need to make an attack (Use WP instead of WS) The winner recieves the desired effect.
When a spell is cast, whoever it is cast at has a chance for their natural defences to ward it off. This is done with Will power (WP). The target number, or number needed to roll or higher on the dice, is the caster's level for the spell +1. Number of successes needed is what the caster originally rolled on the dice to cast the spell. If you succeed, the spell dissipates, with no effect. Even if you want the spell to affect you.
Dalthwins have a naturally high defence against magic, to represent this, their target number is lowered by1 along with the number of successes by 2.
Dalthwin don't cast spells in the sense one usually thinks. Instead they tap the god power, and trap it in special runes which are engraved onto weapons, armor, and items. Thus giving the item magical properties. It takes one full day of smithing to entrap a single rune into an item, at which point the runecrafter rolls the appropriate skill and a roll against the runes WP to see if he can trap it in the rune. If he fails 3 times the item becomes useless and must be discarded. The roll to trap the rune uses the runes WP Vs. the crafter's WP. The target number is always 4 and 5 successes are needed.
No item may have more than 3 runes.
Weapon runes can only be inscribed on weapons, armor runes on armor, etc.
It is not possible to inscribe runes onto a magic item. They are already enchanted and cannot be changed further.
Only bards that produce a sound to entertain can cast magic. This limits casters to singers, musicians, or storytellers.
It takes 1 round for the magic from a bard to start affecting others.
Here I will explain how to fight and defend yourself in the brutal Terrisi world. This information is vital to your character's survival.
When engaged in combat, than both fighter's roll their WS at the same time, declairing what area of the body they are attacking. The roll is done with d6's. For every die that comes up with their opponents target number or better gains a success. For every 1 rolled, subtract a success. For ever 6 you roll, add 1 extra success to your pool. The winner is whoever has the most successes. See damage later on in this section for figuring out how badly you got hurt, or you hurt them.
If you have more than 1 attack, then every attack after the first has a +1 WS added to it. So if you have 3 attacks, then you would have a +1 for your second attack and a +2 for your third.
These types of attacks are deadly in the fact that your opponent doesn't even get a chance to dodge let alone attack back.
Sometimes it happens that one is caught off guard, or put in a position where they cannot use a weapon. When this happens, than they must be able to use their body as a weapon. Damage is +5 for fists and +7 for kicking. In order to kill someone with your fists or kicking, you must bring their wounds to a negitive level oposit their starting wounds. Ex. they have 10 wounds, you need to bring them to a -10 to kill them.
Damage is explained later on.
There are a number of different moves one can use to try and gain an upper hand in combat, these must be mentioned, if used, before any rolling takes place. There are also skills one can use during combat for additional help.
Block- If you attempt to knock aside an incoming blow with your weapon or shield then you add +1 to your WS for using a weapon, and +2 for using a shield. You will cause no damage, but if you win, you will receive no damage and the WS bonus carries over to the next round, even if you attack.
Dodge- If you attempt to move out of the way of an attack, then add +2 to your WS. If successful, then a +1 will be added to your WS for the next round.
Thrust- This attack is difficult to block. If your opponent is trying to block, then their bonus is reduced by 1, you also receive a +1 to your WS for this round.
Watch opponent- If you wait and see what your opponent is going to do, then you will receive a +1 to your WS for this round as you react to what they do. If both fighters watch, then no rolls are made until someone acts.
Move in or out- This is used to either get in range with your weapon, or get out of range of your opponents.
Ranged combat is rather safe for the attacker, and deadly for the opponent, being as all the defender may attempt to do is dodge at -1 to the bonus, or block at -1 to the bonus. The attacker rolls his BS in the same way as he would his WS for regular combat. The attacker may not use any special moves or skills to help, except those that apply to ranged attacks, such as rapid fire. You still use your opponents target number for your required roll to hit, however, to hit them you need to get 5 successes.
Light Weapons- These weapons are so light and quick, they add a +1 to your WS when using them. You also get an additional attack for fighting an opponent with a weapon heavier than it.
Normal weapons- These are of average weight and therefore incure no bonuses or penalties.
Heavy weapons- These weapons are so heavy, that the person wielding them not only gets a -1 WS, but they can also only attack every other round. They can however do other things on the odd round. The upside to these weapons are that they do tremendous damage.
The only exception to this rule is, if your character has a STR of 10 or better, he can then attack every turn as he has enough strength to wield the weapon properly.
Ballista weapons- Any type of ranged weapons, most of them cannot be used in hand to hand combat.
Flail weapons- Any type of weapon that needs a momentum built up before they can be used to attack. For each round that no move is made with the weapon, wether attack or a block, then add +1 to the weapons damage.
Pole arms- These weapons are extremely long. If you win a round of combat, then your opponent may not attack again until the move back in close. By hitting your opponent with the weapon, you effectively knock them out of range for their weapons to hit you. They can dodge or block, but only a successful dodge roll will get them back in close enough.
Armor plays a big role in combat, without it one would perish quickly. Each type of armor adds to your toughness value. What does this mean? Simple, when you receive damage from an attack, before anything is marked down, subtract your toughness (including the armor bonus) from the total damage. What is left is how much damage you actually suffer.
Each type of armor has a certain number of hit points, or hits it can take before it is useless.
Every piece of armor is different in how much punnishment it can take before being useless. They also differ in how well they protect the wearer. How much damage a piece of armor can take is represented by it's HP, or hit points. Everytime you take a hit in combat, then the armor loses 1 HP, when the armor reaches 0 HP, then it can no longer protect the wearer. Magical armor can only be damaged by magical weapons. Normal weapons will not affect magical armor's HP. Magical weapons will do 2 HP of damage for every hit to normal armor, rather than the normal 1 HP.
Damage in combat (or anywhere else for that matter)
To figure out damage when you win a round of combat, take your total number of successes and subtract your opponents total number of successes. This gives you a base damage score. You then add any strength bonus you may have and the weapon's damage bonus, and any other odd bonus's to damage you may also have. This gives a total amount dealt.
Example, say we had 7 successes to the opponents 5, for a total of 2, there was no strength bonus, so we then add the weapon's bonus. We'll say a broadsword for a +7 for a total of 9 wounds dealt.
You then subtract from that the toughness of the thing being hit, say it only has a 4 and it wears no armor, so it would take 5 wounds from it's total, Which would kill most creatures.
The same basic principle applies to ranged, or ballista, weapons too.
Healing the damage comes from either magic, which is instantaneous, or sleep for 1 wound a night.
Some monsters cause fear, so before any combat is initiated, you must first make a will power roll to see if your nerves hold up enough to fight. Also some magic will require will power rolls, which are explained in the spell description, and in the magic section of the rules. In the monster section, creatures that cause fear will be labeled so, along with the target number needed.
Fear- Unless you make a successful WP roll with 4 or more successes, then you are frozen in place with fear. You may try again next round.
Most creatures and people will not fight to the death, instinct for survival. Therefore, once someone reaches half of there starting wounds a WP roll is made. If they fail, they will run away to preserve their life. If they succeed, than every time they lose more wounds, than they need to make another WP roll at a -1, cumulative each time, until they die, flee, or become victorious.
Each time you use a skill, you get 1 experience point for that skill. The chart below tells you when a skill will increase in percentage.
| Sill % | 1-10% | 11-20% | 21-30% | 31-40% | 41-50% | 51-60% | 61-70% | 71-80% | 81-95% |
| Exp. | Every 10 exp | Every 12 exp | Every 15 exp | Every 20 exp | Every 25 exp | Every 30 exp | Every 35 exp | Every 40 exp | Every 50 exp |
To 'jump the gap' so to speak, (40-41%, 60-61% etc.) you need the lower amount of exp. For example, you have a 30% in pick pockets. You will need 15 experience points to get to 31%. However, to get to 32% from 31%, you will need 20 exp. I'm sure you get the idea.
Attributes, each time they're used gains 1 experience point. The chart below will let you know when an attribute increases.
| Attribute | 1-4 | 5-7 | 8-10 | 11-13 |
| Exp | Every 20 exp | Every 25 exp | Every 30 exp | Every 40 exp |
This increase in experience needed for each group in both, the skills and the attributes, represents the fact that it gets harder and harder to learn something you don't know about a peticular thing, or increase a physical ability to a noticable amount.
Spells, the more a caster uses a spell, the easier it becomes for them to summon the power, remember how, and learn how to make it more effective. To represent this, spells also have levels that raise with experience. The table below shows how many experience points are needed to raise levels.
| Spell Level | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Exp Needed | 0 |
10 | 15 | 20 | 30 |
All spells begin at level 1.
If there is anything I have forgotten or needs clarification, feel free to email me at [email protected] |