Many different things can occur during your travels in Kerethad. Some are resolved through skill use or one of the major game mechanics such as combat or magic; others require their own rules for adjudication. This chapter provides rules and guidance for a variety of different scenarios that Games Masters and players will encounter whilst playing the game.

The list is not exhaustive but should represent most common situations. If Games Masters find there are other situations that require some form of game-system adjudication, and that these situations seem to occur frequently, then they are encouraged to develop their own rules to cover these special circumstances, using those given in this chapter as a basis for replication or development.

Acid

Acids come from many different sources and are used extensively in alchemical research. The most important factor with any acid is its concentration, rather than its type. All acids are therefore classified as either Weak, Strong or Concentrated. This assumes that
contact with the acid is significant or sustained, rather than just a droplet or two.

A splash or spray of acid lasts only for a few Combat Rounds before it loses potency. Immersion in a considerable volume of acid inflicts the damage every round until the victim or location is removed and treated.

For generic acids it is assumed that armor protects against the effects of acid but does not stop it, its Armor Points being reduced by the acid’s damage until it reaches zero hit points, at which point the damage is then transferred to the hit location it protected.
Armor reduced to zero Armor Points is considered useless as the acid burns through bindings, straps and joints.

Although the Acid table assumes the action of acid on living flesh, not all acids affect non-organic substances equally. Some can eat rapidly through metal, whilst others barely mark it. If desired it is entirely permissible to have strange acids which affect only metal
or other specific materials instead of flesh.

Acid Table

Action, Time and Movement

How quickly time passes in the world of Kerethad depends on circumstances. Activities in roleplaying games rarely elapse in real time unless characters are conversing with each other or with non-player characters. For the most part, timescales for different forms of activity are inflated or condensed depending on what is being done.

The key timescales and what actions and motion can be accomplished within them, are as follows: Combat Rounds, Local Time and Strategic Time.

Combat Rounds

A Combat Round, dealt with more fully in the Combat chapter, represents five seconds of real time. Combat Rounds are used to measure short, frenetic bursts of activity that take seconds to complete. They can be useful for measuring very detailed activities that require
a blow-by-blow resolution. For example, a chase between hunter and prey can be measured in Combat Rounds, representing the twists and turns that happen very quickly during any tense pursuit.

Local Time

Local Time represents a few minutes to a few hours, and is used to measure activities that do not require the detailed attention of a Combat Round, but require a specific concentration of effort with a definite end result. Picking a lock might take five minutes, and this is a measure of Local Time. Observing the patrols made by teams of guards around a castle’s walls might require several hours, but is still a measure of Local Time. Manage Local Time in the following way:

1. The character states his intention (Local Time starts)

2. The Games Master decides how long this takes to accomplish

3. Any appropriate skill rolls are made and the results noted

4. The Games Master communicates the results, and the time taken in step 2 passes (Local Time ends)
   Local Time may then continue, move into Combat Rounds or
   become Strategic Time.

Strategic Time

Strategic Time is measured in days, months or even years. Use Strategic Time for those occasions where it is not necessary to know the detail, simply the outcome – ‘You ride for ten days and reach the city by dawn on the eleventh day.’ ‘After a whole day of watching the
guard patrols you now understand their movements and patterns.’ ‘It takes a week to craft the sword.’

Strategic Time is mostly concerned with how far characters travel depending on the mode of transport used. The Strategic Time Travel Table offers examples for various conditions. The travel times assume a travelling day of around 10 to 12 hours with regular
stops for rest, water and food.

If characters need to increase the distances given in the Strategic Time Travel Table, then they can effectively add half again to the distance traveled in the Strategic Time period but gain an enduring level of Fatigue as a result. Naturally an appropriate skill roll (Drive, Ride, Athletics, and so on) also needs to be made to successfully increase the distance covered, along with dealing with any hazards that might need to be resolved in Combat Rounds or Local Time.

Strategic Time Travel Table

Movement

Movement is broken down into three ‘gaits’ which are Walking, Running and Sprinting.

Walking is the average speed a member of a particular species ambles along at when in no particular hurry. This is normally referred to as a creature’s base Movement Rate.
Running is a trot or jog, at a speed which can be maintained over long periods. Basically, anything faster than a walk. Maximum running speed is triple Movement Rate, which may vary according to the bonus granted by Athletics skill.

Sprinting is flat out movement at top speed, which can only be maintained for brief periods. Peak sprinting speed is five times Movement Rate, which again may be increased according to whatever bonus is granted from Athletics skill.

The Comparative Movement table summarizes the typical walking distances covered by creatures of differing base movement rates, for a variety of time periods. Tactical movement during combat is explained in more detail in Engagement.

Comparative Movement Table

Moving in Armor

Worn armor acts against character Movement Rates, and certain kinds of actions such as swimming or climbing. The armor’s Initiative Penalty is applied to Movement of different kinds in the following ways:

• Walking: Armor does not interfere with walking movement, although it can increase the Fatigue level.

• Running or Sprinting: Subtract the Armor Penalty from the running and sprinting speed. The result is how fast the character can move during chase or when charging. For example, a character wearing a full panoply of plate armor would reduce both gaits by 6m.

• Swimming: Take the character's Skills ➞ Swim speed divide by two (rounding up), and subtract the Armor Penalty. If the result is zero, the character cannot move, and barely keeps himself afloat. The result is negative, then the character sinks. For example, even if our character was a top class swimmer (84%), wearing a full plate with its -6 penalty, would cause him to sink as if he/she attempts to swim in his armor (Swim speed of 6+4, divided by two, then subtract 6 equals -1).

• Climbing rough surface (branching trees, ladders, scaffolds, and so on): Half the Armor Penalty (rounded up) is subtracted from the base Movement Rate. If the result is zero or less, they are too burdened by their armor to climb. Thus, our hero in his Hoplite Plate armor can still scale easily climbable objects, as his Climbing movement is 6 – 3 = 3.

• Climbing a steep surface (pitched roofs, steep hills, and so on): The Armor Penalty is subtracted from the base Movement Rate. If the result is zero or less, they are too burdened by their armor to climb. Thus, our hero in his Hoplite Plate cannot climb as his Climbing movement is 6 – 6 = 0.

• Climbing a sheer surface (walls, cliff faces, etc): Double the Armor Penalty is subtracted from the base Movement Rate. As with climbing a rough surface, if the result is zero or less, the character cannot climb.

• Jumping: Reduce the distance in meters the character can jump (See Skills ➞Athletics) by half the Armor Penalty (rounded up). For standing jumps this impairment is halved.

Scenes

Scenes are an abstract time measurement based on definable events or interactions. They can last for Combat Rounds, Local or Strategic Time, and duration is based on activities being engaged in by one or more characters. Some spells, for instance, last for a Scene, which means that duration is variable but based on that Scene’s need. For example, if a Witchery spell, such as Bladesharp, is cast successfully, it will last for one active scene. This will be either as short as the duration of an entire combat, or as long as a Local Time event where Bladesharp might be required. Scenes always have active player participation. For instance an evening spent in a tavern gaining information is a Scene, because it requires the characters to participate. However a long-distance trip by sea, where the Games Master
stipulates that several days pass without incident, is not a Scene.

The Games Master always determines when a Scene starts and ends.
For the most part it will be obvious and important only where magical
effects need to be measured.

Ageing

All characters age, and with age come certain consequences. The signs of ageing start at Early Middle Age (40 years for krinn – other species might age at greater or lesser rates). As a character passes into a new Ageing Band he must make both an Endurance roll and a Willpower roll at the grades noted. If a roll is failed then he experiences Ageing Effects as shown in the Ageing Effects table.

Each characteristic affected by ageing reduces by 1d3 points. These points can be recovered or at least partially counteracted through characteristic improvement, representing efforts made to keep themselves trim and alert as they grow older. If any characteristic is reduced to zero from ageing, the character dies due to his terminal frailty.
What specific debilitating effects arise as part of the ageing process are up to the Games Master to define. For instance, reducing STR, CON or DEX represents general wear and tear on the body, with creaking joints, and a gradual loss of mobility. Reducing INT indicates that age is starting to play tricks on the mind and memory, whilst reducing CHA indicates the character is getting craggier, and more short–tempered perhaps, as they get older.

Age Bands

Ageing Effects Table

Asphyxiation

Characters can hold their breath for a number of seconds equal to their Endurance skill. However, the character must be prepared (filling the lungs with as much air as possible); if
not, then the period is halved if the character was in a passive situation, or reduced to one-fifth if the character was engaged in strenuous activity.

Once the period of held breath is over, characters must
make an Endurance roll:

• If the roll is a Critical Success, no further deterioration occurs.

• If the roll is Successful, the character accrues an extra level of Fatigue.

• If the roll Fails, the character sustains 1d2 extra levels of Fatigue that Round.

• If the roll is Fumbled, the character sustains 1d3 extra levels of Fatigue that Round.

Without aid, death from Asphyxiation is usually swift. If the Asphyxiation ends before the character dies, they recover Fatigue levels lost to suffocation relatively quickly, regaining
one level per minute.

Depending on the method of Asphyxiation, the Games Master may wish to prevent full recovery, imposing an enduring level of Fatigue to represent damage to the lungs caused by smoke or water inhalation.

Blood Loss

Blood loss due to external and internal wounds, usually sustained in combat, can wear a character down very quickly. Its effects are measured by the accumulation of Fatigue levels, in a manner similar to asphyxiation since blood is needed to oxygenate the body’s muscles
and vital organs. Significant blood loss is suffered in the following circumstances:

• The Combat ➞ Bleed

• Injury resulting in a Combat ➞ Major Wound.

• Disease and Poison that result in Bleeding.

Unrestrained blood loss typically results in death unless some form of medical attention or healing magic can be applied to control the bleeding.

Unlike asphyxiation, the effects of serious blood loss on Fatigue are enduring. A character recovers Fatigue lost to bleeding at a rate of one level per day, starting the day after his exsanguinations cease.

Character Improvement

Every character has the opportunity to improve with time. Improvement can be undertaken in several areas:

• Increasing existing skills

• Increasing characteristics

• Increasing passions

• Learning new skills

• Learning new magical abilities and spells

Experience Rolls

The mechanism for most character improvement is the Experience Roll. Games Masters dispense Experience Rolls at an appropriate juncture in the campaign: at the end of every successful scenario or storyline; or after perhaps two or three sessions of play if the story is a long one which will take time to complete. The frequency is at the Games Master’s discretion. A high frequency of Experience Rolls will lead to the characters developing at a faster rate.

There is no right or wrong time to give Experience Rolls, but natural breaks in the story may suggest suitable times. The Games Master is, however, always the decision maker here. Whilst players cannot demand Experience Rolls, they have a right to expect them at certain times – as their characters will not be able to develop with out them.

The number of Experience Rolls awarded is also determined by the Games Master. However, a good rule of thumb is 1-3 Experience Rolls per session since the last time they were awarded.

Increasing Existing Skills

Any skill on the character sheet, Standard or Professional, can be increased by spending one Experience Roll.

• The player rolls 1d100 and compares it to the skill being increased. The character’s INT is added to the roll.

• If the number rolled is equal to or greater than the skill being improved it increases by 1d4+1%.

• If the number rolled is less than the skill selected, the skill still increases but only by 1%.

If a character fumbled any skill during the course of the preceding session(s) – i.e., between the last set of Experience Rolls and the present one – the fumbled skill gains a free increase of 1%. It is a truism that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes, and this represents the reflection a character undergoes following a disastrous failure. Multiple fumbles of the same skill do not stack.

Games Masters can, if they wish, increase the dice step if they want to have skill progression move at a faster rate without giving Experience Rolls on a frequent basis: so, instead of increasing by 1d4+1 skills increase by 1d6+1. If adjusting the default dice roll in this way, Games Masters should set the expectation at the start of the campaign and not veer from it.

Increasing Characteristics

A creature’s rolled characteristics are regarded as its peak natural development, a combination of its birth and environment as it was growing. Thus just as some somi are bigger, stronger and tougher than others, krinn and other sapient species can grow up to exhibit fairly diverse physical and mental characteristics.

Characteristics can, like skills, be improved through Experience Rolls, which represent training regimes. However, such increases are artificial boosts which normally atrophy after the training exercises cease, characteristics dropping back to their natural levels whether the workouts were daily calisthenics sessions to increase CON or memory tests to enhance INT.

To achieve and maintain characteristic increases requires that a character reduce his regular allotment of Experience Rolls by one or more points. This represents the continual and intensive effort spent to push his body beyond its normal capability.

Each Experience Roll sacrificed in this manner boosts the trained characteristic by one tenth of its rolled species maximum. Thus a krinn who engaged in regular weightlifting to build up his STR could, at the cost of reducing his normal allotment of Experience Rolls by one, gain +2 points to his Strength. A Sulkar on the other hand would gain +3 points to Strength as his species maximum is 24.

When a characteristic increases, all attributes and skills derived from it increase too (if the characteristic increase is enough to create an attribute change). Thus, increasing STR by one point will also increase each skill that uses it as a component by one point too. In addition Damage Modifier may also increase if the new STR value moves the character into the next Damage Modifier band.

Sulkar on the other hand would gain +3 points to Strength as his species maximum is 24. No matter how much training is undertaken, no characteristic can exceed its species maximum – which is simply the highest possible result from the characteristic roll. Once the character decides to cease his exercise regime, his trained characteristic drops by one
improvement step the next time he receives Experience Rolls, and again the following time, the atrophying continuing until the characteristic has returned to its natural value. SIZ is the exception to the above rules. It cannot be increased through mundane means.

Increasing Passions

As described under Passions, the value of a passion may be increased with Experience Rolls in exactly the same way as a skill. If supported by play, the Games Master might even allow a passion to be reduced by the use of an Experience Roll.

For example, constant spurning from an unrequited love might eventually wear down the passion of even the most ardent lover, especially one who wishes to pursue a relationship without the ghosts of the past haunting them.

Learning New Skills

Some characters may wish to study new Professional skills which they never had the chance to learn from their culture or career. Before they can start investing Experience Rolls they must first find a source of knowledge from which to learn. This could be as prosaic as a professional tutor such those provided by cults or brotherhoods. Alternately it might be a more exotic source of education, an ancient and crumbling training scroll or an ancestor spirit bound to the community’s sacred stone tiki.

Once a source of education is found, the character must spend an entire month of study and practice to garner a basic grounding in that skill. This costs 3 Experience Rolls plus whatever in-game costs are required to pay the teacher (if one exists), and purchase (or rent) whatever equipment and tools may be needed.

Disease and Poison

Some of the most feared things which can affect characters are the myriad diseases and poisons which infest the dark and grim places of the world. There’s nothing quite as unsettling than a plague which strikes the character’s home city, especially when they are still within its gates. Likewise finding a venomous serpent in the bed or being attacked by giant scorpions can be moments of high drama.

Diseases and poisons are near infinite in their varieties but, for game purposes, are handled in the same way.

Disease and Poison Traits

All diseases and poisons manifest a number of traits important to
their effects.

Application: The method of how the disease or poison is introduced into the victim.

• Ingestion - Effects take place through either eating or drinking.

• Inhaled – Effects take place through breathing or snorting.

• Contact – Effects take place through absorption through the skin.

• Injected – Effects take place when the substance is injected into the body through piercing.

Potency: The virulence of the disease or poison. This value is set against an appropriate resisting skill (usually Endurance or Willpower) in an opposed roll. If character wins the roll they shrug off its effects. If however they lose the roll, then they suffer all of the disease or poison Conditions, each at the appropriate time.

Resistance: How the disease or poison is resisted – either Endurance or Willpower, but may have more exotic resistance requirements. Resistance can be rolled at the time of exposure, or deferred until the Onset Time to conceal the fact the character might have been infected or poisoned.

Onset Time: Many diseases and poisons do not take immediate effect. The delay is called the Onset Time, and this can be a matter of seconds, minutes, hours, or even longer. Poisons or diseases possessing multiple effects may have different onset times for each one
as described under Conditions.

Duration: How long a disease or poison’s Conditions last.

Conditions: Every toxin has one or more Conditions. These have specific effects as described in the Conditions table, below, and if a victim fails to resist he suffers all the Conditions described.

Antidote/Cure: If the toxin can be treated it will be noted here. Otherwise all non-magical diseases and poisons can be alleviated by specific healing magic, such as the Cure Malady spell. Successful treatment prevents any further conditions from occurring, yet in some circumstances may leave the victim suffering enduring effects that have already been inflicted.

Disease and Poison Conditions

Falling

The amount of damage suffered in a fall depends on the distance of the drop. Armor points do not reduce falling damage.

Falling Distance Table

• Damage is rolled separately for each location; it is not spread among them.

• Creatures of smaller size suffer less from a fall. Those of SIZ 8 to 9 treat the distance fallen as one meter less. A creature of SIZ 6 to 7 treats the distance fallen as three meters less. A creature of SIZ 4 to 5 treats the distance fallen as five meters less. A creature of SIZ 2 to 3 treats the distance fallen as eight meters less. A creature of SIZ 1 or less treats the distance fallen as ten meters less.

• Creatures of larger size suffer more from a fall. For every 10 points above SIZ 20 the creature adds +1d6 to the damage. Thus a SIZ 35 creature which drops from a height of 2m would take 3d6 damage to a random location.

• Acrobatics can be used to mitigate falling damage – a successful roll allows the character to treat the fall as less, and take half damage. In addition, as long as the roll is successful and the character does not suffer a Serious or Major wound due to the fall, the character lands relatively safely and is not prone.

• Characters falling onto soft surfaces may treat the distance they fall as halved for the purposes of damage. This is always at the Games Master’s discretion.

• Characters falling onto damaging surfaces (such as a pit of spikes) will suffer the effects of the surface to all locations that are damaged in the fall.

Falling Objects

A falling object imparts an amount of damage based on its SIZ and the distance of the fall. An object imparts 1d6 damage for every 6 points of SIZ (or fraction thereof), plus an amount of damage equal to the Damage Taken column of the Falling Distance Table – including any reductions for objects of smaller size.

Falling from a Moving Vehicle

Damage sustained from a fall from a moving vehicle, such as a chariot, depends on the vehicle’s speed and the distance fallen. Assume that the speed, in meters per Combat Round, is equal to half the height shown on the Falling Distance table. A chariot moving at 20m per Combat Round would inflict 2d6 damage to two random locations if a character should fall from it.

Fatigue

Fatigue measures tiredness and its incremental effects. It is used to track many different things, from strenuous activity to the debilitating effects of disease.

Fatigue Levels Table

Physical Effort

The primary way of accruing Fatigue is by engaging in some form of physical activity. The more arduous the exercise or work, the more quickly it tires the character. There are three classes of effort: Light, Medium and Strenuous. The length of time a character can engage in an activity without becoming fatigued is determined by his CON, as detailed under each category. Once this time has elapsed characters must make an appropriate skill roll – either Athletics, Brawn or Endurance – to resist gaining a level of Fatigue.

Unless the recipient of some form of magic that naturally extends wakefulness, all characters need sleep. A character can remain awake for a number of hours equal to twice CON before needing to make an Endurance roll. If successful, the character can continue to function normally for a number of hours equal to half CON before needing to make a further Endurance roll, although this roll will be one grade harder than the last. Each failed roll accrues one level of fatigue.

Physical Effort Table

Effects of Fatigue

Every failed roll accrues a level of Fatigue. Each level of Fatigue carries penalties for skill use, movement, Initiative and Action Points. Asphyxiation, Blood Loss, and some types of magic also contribute to Fatigue accrual.

For most characters, activities of any kind become near impossible when the level of Incapacitated is reached. At this stage the character is still conscious but incapable of anything but the most desperate of activities.

Beyond Incapacitated, characters cannot act at all. The Fatigue levels – Semi-Conscious, Comatose and Dead – are generally reserved for measuring the most extreme effects of suffocation, disease, blood loss, starvation, exposure, and so forth.

It is perfectly possible to accrue Fatigue from several sources, potentially making some situations more dangerous.

For example, a thief climbs the flanks of an extinct volcano to reach a long-forgotten temple, in which fantastically precious jewels are reputed to be hidden. By the time he crests the crater rim his Fatigue level has reached Tired. Spurred on by sighting the ruins upon an island at the center of the flooded caldera, the thief foolishly undertakes the swim before resting; in the process losing several more levels of Fatigue from failed Swim rolls. When the scaly guardian of the sacred temple pulls him under the surface, the fatigue accrual from drowning starts from his current level of Exhausted, and he swiftly dies, lacking the energy to put up much of a fight.

Recovering from Fatigue

Characters recover from Fatigue depending on their Healing Rate. The amount of complete rest needed to recover from each level of accrued Fatigue is equal to the Recovery Period divided by the character’s Healing Rate.

Note that the table represents fatigue recovery for physical exertion. Fatigue recovery can be much faster when recovering from asphyxiation or slower if recuperating from blood loss.

Managing Fatigue

Managing Fatigue, and its effects makes for additional book-keeping. To simplify things, Games Masters can decide that only certain types of activity contribute towards Fatigue. But common sense should apply. A character dressed in full armor, in a tropical jungle, on a hot summer’s day, could not spend three hours hacking his way through the foliage without suffering fatigue in some way. Similarly carrying heavy loads, trekking uphill, foot chases, long swims or digging out an ancient necropolis are all going to take their toll on a character, potentially tiring him at a crucial moment.

Fires

Fires are always a source of danger when used as a weapon or rage out of control. They damage both people and objects; how much is dependent on the intensity of the source. The Fire Intensity table below gives five different intensities for heat damage, with some
examples.

The damage inflicted per round is given in the Damage column. Being relatively small, Intensity 1 and 2 sources apply their damage to a single Hit Location, usually that touching the source. Intensity 3 and 4 sources are larger, applying damage to nearest 1d4+1 Hit
Locations, indicating the degree of radiant heat. Intensity 5 sources affect all Hit Locations simultaneously.

Fire clearly has the ability to ignite flammable materials. If not extinguished immediately such materials combust within a number of rounds as indicated by the fire’s Intensity. Once ignited, flammable materials burn until physically extinguished. Damage is applied directly to the Hit Points of the material, ignoring Armor Points and to any flesh beneath. If left uncontrolled it spreads to a number of Hit Locations, per round, equal to its Intensity.

Fire Intensity Table

Healing from Injury

Natural healing from wounds and injuries is based on the character’s Healing Rate. The Healing Rate dictates how many Hit Points are recovered in a location depending on the injury’s nature:

• Minor Wounds: Days

• Serious Wounds: Weeks

• Major Wounds: Months

Thus a character with a Healing Rate of 3 who suffers damage taking him to –3 in a Hit Location, a Serious Wound, will heal naturally at a rate of 3 Hit Points per week until his wound goes above zero, and then heal 3 Hit Points per day until fully recovered.

There are certain restrictions on natural healing:

• The healing character cannot engage in strenuous activity: otherwise the Healing Rate is reduced by 1d3. Thus, a character recovering from even a Minor Wound could find his progress halted if he decides to engage any physical tasks that might exacerbate his injuries.

• Natural healing will not begin to heal a Major Wound until that location has been treated with a successful Healing roll (see page 46). Non-dismembering Major Wounds which are not treated within a number of days equal to one twentieth of the Healing skill become maimed, permanently reducing the Hit Points of the location.

Magical Healing

Some magic can heal the wounds suffered by a victim. Yet there are specific restrictions as to what level of wound can be treated by each spell. For example the Common Magic spell Heal cures only Minor Wounds, whereas the Sorcery spell of Regeneration can heal both Minor and Serious Wounds. There are few magics which can reverse the traumatic injuries of a Major Wound.

No matter how petty the healing spell or miracle, its application is always enough to stabilize any type of wound, preventing bleeding and immediate death even if it doesn’t actually cure the underlying injury. Note that this only applies to gross physical trauma, not to conditions brought about by suffocation, poison, and the like.

Permanent Injuries

Some Major Wounds, and certain poisons or diseases inflict maiming injuries; for example horribly crushed and severed limbs, or the necrotic effects of venoms. The result of this damage permanently reduces the Hit Points on that location, forever weakening it. A location maimed in this way uses the diminished Hit Point value to calculate its new Serious and Major Wound thresholds.

For permanent injuries caused by accident or battle, roll 1d3 and consult the following table to see the extent of the maiming.

In those cases where the maiming involved the loss of a limb, reduce the d20 numbers for that Hit Location by an appropriate amount. For example the Right Arm of a humanoid is normally struck on a roll of 13-15 on a d20. If however the arm was severed at the elbow then locations 13-14 no longer exist, and being struck there means the attack actually misses! Characters vindictive enough to target such a maimed limb using Choose Location must roll a 1d3 to see if they actually hit the remaining parts.

Permanent Injury Table

Inanimate Objects

All inanimate objects possess Armor Points and Hit Points which are used to determine resistance to damage and destruction. Armor Points reduce damage before Hit Points are affected. Once an object’s Hit Points have been reduced to zero, it is useless.

Usually inanimate objects offer no resistance to damage, save for their Armor Points. However in the case of items that can restrict or offer a significant resistance to breakage attempts (such as a barred door, or ropes used to restrain hands and feet), the character must succeed with either a Brawn, Unarmed or weapon attack roll, as appropriate, to inflict damage. A successful roll deals damage to the item as per the weapon type; a failed roll has simply failed to apply enough force or damage to the item to deteriorate its condition. Refer to the description of the Brawn skill to determine what damage it inflicts.

The Inanimate Objects table gives some example objects, along with their Armor Points and Hit Points.

Inanimate Objects Armor and Hit Points Table

Using Weapons Against Inanimate Objects

Using a weapon against an inanimate object with Armor Points equal to or greater than those of the weapon deals damage to both the object and the weapon. For instance, using an axe on an anvil may damage the anvil, but the axe itself will be destroyed long before the anvil is. The Games Master should exercise discretion on which weapons or tools can affect which objects. A chisel, for example, is explicitly designed to carve wood or stone whilst a sword, although sharp, is not. The chisel would therefore not take damage from something it is attempting to carve whereas a sword most likely would.

Luck Points

Luck Points help differentiate heroes from the rank and file. They represent a character’s ability to potentially turn failure into success and even cheat death.

Upon reaching Rank 2, and every Rank thereafter, all characters gain a bonus Luck Point. This somewhat simulates the gaining of extra Hit Points in Level-Based games,
allowing characters of greater Rank to better handle themselves against things like dragons, demons, devils, and so on, without allowing them to take more punishment than an African bull elephant.

Luck Points can be used during play and, at the beginning of the next session, replenish to their usual value.

Using Luck Points

Luck points can be used in a variety of ways. Only one Luck Point can be used in support of a particular Action. Luck Points cannot be spent on Experience or Training rolls. Each of the following options costs a single Luck Point.

Cheat Fate

Characters can use a Luck Point to re-roll or swap (a 75 would become a 57 for example) any dice roll they make. This can be a skill roll, damage roll, or anything else that has some
effect. Characters can even force an opponent to re-roll an attack or damage roll made against them.

Desperate Effort

If a character has exhausted their Action Points during a fight and needs to find that last burst of desperate energy to perhaps avoid a messy demise, they may spend a Luck Point to gain an additional Action Point.

Mitigate Damage

A character who suffers a Major Wound may spend a Luck Point to downgrade the injury to a Serious Wound. This reduces the damage taken to one Hit Point less than what would be required to inflict a Major Wound

Passions

Introduced during the character creation chapters, a Passion is any deeply held commitment that has the capacity to influence events during play. Although they can be used as stand-alone abilities (to call them skills is to do them a disservice), passions are further expanded below to explain in more detail how they work, and how they can influence characters and campaigns.

In summary, Passions can be used thus:

• To augment another skill, reflecting the depth of one’s feeling and how it drives action. When used in this regard the Passion adds one fifth of its value to a skill being used, as long as the augmentation is thematically and dramatically important.

• As an ability in its own right to drive choices, desires, and emotional actions and responses. When used in this way a standard roll is made against a Passion to determine how strongly the character thinks and feels about something. If a roll is a success then the character acts in-line with what the Passion would dictate. If the roll fails then the character can act freely without feeling constrained by the Passion’s drives.

• To oppose other Passions – even those held by the same character. This is typically used where two Passions would conflict. For instance a personal love might dictate a course of action that would be contrary to an oath or loyalty. Here use an opposed roll between the two Passions with the more successful determining how the character acts.

• As a general measure of depth of commitment, belief, and loyalty to a cause. The higher the Passion’s value, the more committed the character is. Characters with similar Passions can compare and contrast their ratings to determine who exhibits the deeper commitment.

• To resist some form of psychological manipulation or magical domination. In certain cases where a character is being forced into performing an act contrary to his Passions, he may use substitute his Passion for the usual Willpower in the opposed roll.

During character creation characters establish up to three starting Passions; however new Passions can be developed at any point during a game session if the circumstances warrant it. One might instantly develop ‘Hate X’ where someone else does something that would strongly invoke hatred to arise. A lord or chief calling for an oath would immediately establish a Passion of ‘Loyalty to X’ as soon as that oath is taken or sworn – something explored further in the Cults and Brotherhoods chapter. Passions developed during play in this way cost no Experience Rolls, and are established there and then. Of course, characters can also choose to establish a Passion during improvement, at the cost of an Experience roll to gain a Passion at its base value: see the chart in the Culture & Community chapter.

Traps

Traps are ubiquitous devices used by every culture, from the digging of pitfalls to capture animals, to death-traps guarding tombs for all eternity. These devices are built for a range of purposes, each specifically tailored to raising an alarm, capturing interlopers, or maiming and killing thieves outright.

Constructing traps requires that the builder knows either the Mechanisms or Engineering skill. Small traps such as bear traps or trapped locks require Mechanisms, whereas largescale constructions like spiked pits or rolling boulders need
Engineering.

Beyond hiring a competent craftsman, traps often have very expensive components or manual labor costs. As a general guideline, alarms cost the skill of the creator in copper pieces, ensnaring traps the same in silver, and death-traps require
payment in gold.

All traps have a Difficulty rating which represents how difficult it is to perceive, disarm, or avoid. This value is treated as its skill when resisted in an Opposed Roll.

Despite the many entertaining tales told by storytellers, traps – especially those intended to kill – rarely have a method of cleverly avoiding or reversing their effects once set in motion. Without magic or good fortune, those caught in a death trap usually succumb to its highly efficient purpose. In short, they are not intended to be survivable. Unless the trap has some cunning design or is some sort of enduring magical enchantment, once it has been sprung it must be manually reset.

Trap Traits

Traps are described using the following traits.

Purpose

The purpose of the trap. There are four major types:

• Alarm – Trap sends a silent or audible signal that it has been triggered.

• Ensnaring – Trap is designed to capture anyone who triggers or enters it.

• Maiming – Trap is intended to critically injure whoever triggers it.

• Death – Trap is intended to kill those who activate its lethal devices.

Trigger

The way the trap is set off.

Difficulty

The challenge rating of the trap, which is equal to the value of the Mechanisms or Engineering skill which created it. For instance, a scything blade trap built into the base of a treasure chest by a craftsman with Mechanisms 70% grants the trap a Difficulty of 70%. The trap would thereafter use this value in Opposed Rolls to see if the blade can be spotted, evaded, or disarmed.

Resistance

How the trap is resisted – typically using Brawn, Evade, or Parrying with a Combat Skill that incorporates a shield. Resistance is rolled when the trap is triggered.

Effect

What happens when the trap is sprung, and the victim(s) fail to resist? Usually this results in the alerting of antagonists if an alarm, or the capture of victims if designed to ensnare.
Maiming and death-traps obviously injure the victim, although some death-traps utilize other means than direct damage to inflict harm, such as drowning or poison. To restrict overly deadly traps, the damage inflicted by most mechanical devices is limited by the skill of its creator. However, others such as traps that subject the victim to poison do not consider the crafter's actual skill. This is typically balanced by the expense of the poison used. The other exception to this is the Pit Trap, where the damage is simply based on the depth of the pit. In these cases, the skill of the crafter is used to determine the chance to spot, evade, and disarm the trap; damage is determined according to poison type, or distance fallen, as appropriate. Force is noted for those traps which fire projectiles that can be parried.

Death Trap Damage Limits Table

Damage may affect multiple random Hit Locations, with each additional location reducing the damage by one grade on the Death Trap Damage Limits table. For example, a trap designer with 50% skill could design a trap to do 1d10 damage to a single location, 1d8 damage to 1d2 Hit Locations, 1d6 damage to 1d3 locations, and so forth. The number of potential locations is set when the trap is designed and cannot be changed. Because the number of additional Hit Locations is random, there is the potential for less damage being done overall.