TEXT: The            
     GLOG
  The Goblin Laws of Gaming
  Version -1.0
  by Arnold Kemp 
  at goblinpunch.blogspot.com 
  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 
  
  Table of Contents
  Overview.......................................................................................................................................................................3
  Design Philosophy...................................................................................................................................................3
  Base Mechanics........................................................................................................................................................3
  Level...........................................................................................................................................................................3
  The Base Adventurer ............................................................................................................................................4
  Leveling Up..............................................................................................................................................................4
  Class Templates.......................................................................................................................................................4
  The Character Sheet...................................................................................................................................................5
  Ability Scores...........................................................................................................................................................5
  Conviction.................................................................................................................................................................5
  Hit Points...................................................................................................................................................................6
  Recovering Hit Points.............................................................................................................................................6
  Injuries, Insanity, Trauma, and Doubt................................................................................................................6
  Attack ........................................................................................................................................................................7
  Defense......................................................................................................................................................................7
  Stealth........................................................................................................................................................................7
  Move...........................................................................................................................................................................7
  Initiative.....................................................................................................................................................................7
  Save ..........................................................................................................................................................................7
  Inventory Slots and Encumbrance......................................................................................................................7
  Melee Weapons........................................................................................................................................................7
  Ranged Weapons.....................................................................................................................................................8
  Armor........................................................................................................................................................................8
  Breakage...................................................................................................................................................................8
  Abilities ....................................................................................................................................................................8
  Skills...........................................................................................................................................................................9
  Gameplay......................................................................................................................................................................10
  Starting Equipment...............................................................................................................................................10
  Starting Skills.........................................................................................................................................................10
  Combat Maneuvers...............................................................................................................................................10
  Hirelings...................................................................................................................................................................10
  Pets...........................................................................................................................................................................10
  Poison.......................................................................................................................................................................10
  Drunkenness...........................................................................................................................................................10
  Shields......................................................................................................................................................................10
  
  Overview
  Design Philosophy
  1. Compatibility with old modules.  Simple 
  enough to perform conversions on the fly.
  2.Low Power Level.  Each level gives you 
  diminishing returns.  The power curve 
  flattens out drastically after 4
  th level.  No 
  supermen.
  3.Accessible for new players.  They should 
  be able to make a character in 10 minutes,
  then learn the rules as they play.
  4.Simple.  Consolidate ruthlessly.  Turn two 
  rolls into one, turn one roll into none.  
  Turn tables into formulas, turn formulas 
  into static numbers.
  5.Fast to play.  Prioritize flexibility over 
  comprehensiveness, rulings over rules, 
  simplicity over realism.
  6.Hackable.  No dependencies, no power 
  expectations.  If a player requests it, a DM
  should be able to design a custom class in
  5 minutes.  Player characters are just a 
  few templates bolted onto a common 
  chassis.
  Base Mechanics
  Nearly everything uses a d20 rolled against a 
  target number.  If you roll equal or less, you 
  succeed.  For example, if you have a Strength of 
  9, you have a 45% chance to succeed on a 
  Strength check.  Bonuses and penalties are 
  usually +/- 2 or 4.
  Contested checks are likewise resolved with a 
  single roll.  The player makes their check with a 
  bonus or penalty proportionate to how far the 
  opponent'
  s stat is from 10.  Examples:
  Shoving: The PC has Str 11, the orc has Str 14.  
  The PC needs to roll a 7 or less to succeed, since
  11 – 4 = 7.
  Attacking: The PC has Attack 12, the orc has 
  Defense 16 (plate). The PC needs to roll a 6 or 
  less to succeed, since 12 – 6 = 6.  If they were 
  attacking an ooze with Defense 8, they would 
  need to roll a 14 or less to succeed.
  Level
  A measure of your character'
  s power.  It goes up 
  as you gain experience.  Characters do not roll 
  their HP, but their HP is based off their 
  Constitution (which was rolled randomly), 
  because I think it'
  s fun to sometimes start with 1 
  HP.  
  For this reason, characters don'
  t really have hit 
  dice (HD), but since some spells affect HD, treat 
  their HD as equal to their level, up to a 
  maximum of HD 4.  
  At level 4 a character has access to all of their 
  abilities, and is considered “fully grown”.  Any 
  other abilities you gain beyond this point are the
  result of questing, not merely leveling up.  If you 
  want fireball, you'
  ll have to quest for it.  And 
  adventures should hand out quest abilities pretty
  often.  Did you survive the ice fairy'
  s 
  transformation plague?  Well now you have the 
  permanent ability to transform into a rabbit.
  Experience Points
  You gain 1 XP for every copper (c) you obtain 
  through adventurous means.
  •
  1 gold gildrek = 10 silver smoldreks
  •
  1 silver smoldrek = 10 copper cupreks.
  
  The Base Adventurer 
  You can think of the base adventurer as Indiana 
  Jones minus the Archeologist.  They'
  re still a 
  capable person, they'
  re just not specialized.
  This is what your character looks like without 
  any class templates.
  Level
  HP
  Templates Max
  Skill Attack Save
  XP
  1
  Con - 4
  1
  1
  11
  6
  1
  2
  Con - 2
  2
  2
  12
  7
  2000
  3
  Con
  3
  3
  -
  8
  4000
  4
  Con + 2
  4
  4
  13
  9
  7000
  5
  Con + 4
  -
  5
  -
  10
  10000
  6
  Con + 6
  -
  6
  14
  11
  14000
  7
  Con + 7
  -
  -
  -
  12
  18000
  8
  Con + 8
  -
  -
  15
  13
  22000
  9
  Con + 9
  -
  -
  -
  14
  26000
  10
  Con + 10
  -
  -
  -
  15
  30000
  +1
  +1
  -
  -
  -
  -
  +5000
  Leveling Up
  Whenever you level up, you gain a new template 
  (up to a max of 4) and all of the perks listed in 
  the base adventurer table above.  You can also 
  test a stat of your choice to see if it improves.
  To test a stat, roll 3d6.  If it is equal-or-higher 
  than the stat you are trying to improve, that stat
  improves by 1.
  Class Templates
  Classes (and race) are just templates applied on 
  top of a base adventurer.  
  There are four templates for each class, labeled A
  through D.  You gain these in the listed order: 
  you cannot gain Fighter B unless you have 
  Fighter A.  If you want to multiclass, just take a 
  template from a different class.
  You get one template per level.  You cannot have 
  more than 4 templates.
  
  The Character Sheet
  Ability Scores
  Ability scores are generated by rolling 4d4, in 
  order.  After rolling, you have the option to either
  reroll one ability score, or switch two ability 
  scores.
  Ability don'
  t matter much.  This is intentional.
  Ability Bonus = (Ability Score / 3) – 3, rounding 
  down.
  So an ability score of 12-14 gives a bonus of +1, 
  for example.
  Strength: The number of things you can carry 
  (your Inventory Slots) is equal to your Strength.  
  Your Strength bonus also modifies the damage 
  you deal with melee weapons.
  Dexterity: Your Dexterity bonus modifies the 
  damage you deal with ranged weapons.  It also 
  modifies your Defense, your Stealth, and your 
  Movement.
  Constitution: Your Hit Points are based on your 
  Constitution, modified by level.  You'
  ll make 
  Constitution checks to resist diseases and 
  poisons.
  Intelligence: You have a number of Skill Slots 
  equal to half of your Intelligence.  A high 
  Intelligence also helps you raise Skills more 
  reliably.
  Wisdom: This is a measure of your perception, 
  common sense, attention, and how fast you can 
  think.  Your Initiative is equal to your Wisdom.  
  You'
  ll roll Initiative every round of combat to see 
  if you act before or after your opponents.
  Charisma: This is a measure of your personality,
  willpower, and destiny.  Your Charisma bonus 
  modifies your Save.  You'
  ll also make Charisma 
  checks when trying to appeal to NPCs.
  Conviction
  If players are only playing with the goals of 
  “survive”, “level up”, and “amass wealth”, you 
  end up with the oft-maligned style of play 
  known as murderhoboism, where characters are 
  often immoral, unattached, and extremely 
  pragmatic.
  Deviating from murderhoboism usually has a 
  cost.  If the paladin uses a heal on a dying 
  peasant, that heal won'
  t be available for the 
  party later on, when they might need it.  And so 
  the murderhobo-paladin will not heal the 
  peasant, because the cost is too great.  
  The purpose of Conviction is to offset that cost.
  A Conviction is your character'
  s answer to one of
  these questions:
  •
  Why did I start adventuring?
  •
  What am I willing to risk my life for?
  •
  What principles do I use to guide my 
  actions?
  Not everyone has Convictions, but adventurers 
  always do.  Adventuring is desperate, deadly 
  work and no one engages in it without a good 
  reason.
  There are two blank spots on your character 
  sheet for your Convictions. You can fill these in 
  whenever you want. If you already have a clear 
  image of your character during character 
  creation, fill them in then. Or play your 
  character, get to know them, and then fill them 
  in when their Convictions become apparent.
  A Conviction might be “Seek knowledge.” Or 
  “Help the innocent.” Or “Money is power.” Or 
  “Protect the healer.” Or even “Hello, ladies.” 
  These are morals, instincts, bonds.
  You gain a point of Conviction whenever you 
  follow one of your Convictions.  You cannot have 
  more than 1 point of Conviction at a time.
  
  You only gain a point of Conviction when 
  following your conviction gets you into trouble. 
  Or at least, whenever it is not an optimal 
  strategy and you pursue it anyway. If you “seek 
  knowledge” and read the blasphemous tome even
  though you know it'
  s dangerous and not really 
  necessary, you can charge that Conviction.  You'
  re
  following your heart, not the munchkin.
  You spend your Conviction to get a bonus on a 
  d20 roll.
  •
  If the roll is related to a Conviction: +8
  •
  If the roll is not related to a Conviction: +4
  You can only spend your “Seek knowledge” 
  Conviction when succeeding on that roll will 
  bring you closer to gaining new knowledge. It 
  wouldn'
  t work if you were trying to kill a 
  random alligator in a swamp, because you don'
  t 
  usually learn things by killing random alligators 
  in swamps. Likewise, you can only use your 
  “Protect the innocent” Conviction when you need
  this roll to be successful in order to protect an 
  innocent.
  A lot of this is up to the DM, and players should 
  talk to their DM about this before they write 
  down their Convictions. If your conviction is 
  “Survive at all costs”, does that mean that they 
  can spend it in any combat where they risk 
  dying (and that'
  s probably most combats). I'
  d say
  no, you can only use it in combats where it looks
  like you'
  re losing, but in your game, it'
  s up to 
  your DM.
  Hit Points
  Hit Points are better thought of as “Don'
  t Get Hit”
  Points.  They represent your ability to survive 
  blows that are potentially lethal through luck, 
  skill, or toughness.  When your HP runs out, you 
  are unable to defend yourself properly, and any 
  blow is a potentially lethal one.
  So there are no mechanical effects for being 
  reduced to 0 HP.  However, any damage in excess
  of this is Lethal Damage, which incurs a roll on 
  the Death and Dismemberment Table.  
  Recovering Hit Points
  You can recover hit points in 3 ways.
  •
  A good night'
  s rest restores all HP, as long 
  as you have a campfire and a blanket.  
  Lacking those things, it only restores 
  1d6+level HP.
  •
  A good long lunch restores 1d6+level HP, as
  long as you have food and water.  This 
  takes an hour.
  •
  Magical healing is also a thing.
  Injuries, Insanity, Trauma, and Doubt
  Injuries are one of the consequences of rolling on
  the Death and Dismemberment Table.  They have
  a fixed duration.  For example, “Sprained Ankle, 4
  days” means that you will be moving at half 
  speed for the next 4 days.
  Whenever you receive magical healing, you heal 
  HP, but you also heal an injury, shortening it'
  s 
  duration by an equal amount of days.  Magical 
  healing cannot reduce an injury'
  s remaining 
  duration to less than 1 day, because there'
  s no 
  substitute for a good night'
  s sleep.
  Trauma is an optional subsystem detailed in the 
  Death and Dismemberment section.  Basically, 
  seeing/doing traumatic things incurs Trauma 
  Points, and gaining enough of those risks 
  temporary and permanent insanity.
  Doubt reflects your character'
  s resolve to 
  continue, and is another optional subsystem.  
  Some creatures, like angels, attack your resolve 
  instead of your hit points.  Basically, you have a 
  hidden HP pool called Resolve, calculated the 
  same way HP is, except substituting Cha for Con.
  When it runs out, you either become an 
  unfriendly NPC, or you replace one of your 
  Convictions.
  
  Attack 
  You roll Attack whenever you try to hit 
  something.  A first-level Adventurer has an Attack
  of 11.  Your target'
  s Defense is applied as a 
  penalty to this roll.
  Defense
  You roll Defense whenever an opponent tries to 
  hit you, with a penalty derived from your 
  opponent'
  s Attack.  It is modified by Dexterity.
  •
  Leather (light armor) grants Defense 12.
  •
  Chain (medium) grants Defense 14.
  •
  Plate (heavy) grants Defense 16.
  Stealth
  Your Stealth is equal to 5 + Dex bonus - 
  Encumbrance.  You roll Stealth whenever you try
  to sneak up on someone, or past someone.  
  Stealth only applies when success is ambiguous.  
  Anyone can hide under a bed, and no one can 
  walk in front of an alert guard without being 
  seen.
  A party attempting to be Stealthy uses the 
  Stealth score of the least Stealthy member.
  Move
  Your Movement is equal to 12 + Dex bonus – 
  Encumbrance.  This is the same as Movement 
  speed in previous editions.  You roll it when 
  climbing, jumping, balancing,and running.  It is 
  also used for chases.
  A party moves at the speed of its slowest 
  character.
  Initiative
  Your Initiative is equal to your Wisdom.  You roll 
  it at the beginning of each combat round.  If you 
  succeed, you act before the enemies.  If you fail, 
  you act after them.
  Save 
  Your Save is equal to 5 + level + Cha bonus 
  (because Charisma describes willpower and 
  destiny) up to a max of 15 + Cha bonus.  You roll 
  it to test your fate: which basically boils down to
  resisting magic and getting lucky.
  Inventory Slots and Encumbrance
  You have a number of Inventory Slots equal to 
  your Strength + 2 (from you backpack).  Most 
  items take up one Inventory Slot.  Two-handed 
  weapons take up two inventory slots.  Armor 
  takes up a number of slots equal to its Defense 
  bonus.  Negligible items (small enough to put 
  inside your closed mouth) take up none.  Coins 
  and gems never take up any Inventory Slots.
  You gain 1 point of Encumbrance for every 
  Inventory Slot in excess of your capacity.
  In addition to getting Encumbered from carrying 
  too much, you can also gain Encumbrance from 
  wearing armor.  Each point of an armor'
  s 
  Defense bonus in excess of +3 incurs a point of 
  Encumbrance.
  Encumbrance is applied as a penalty to your 
  Movement, Stealth, and Dex checks.  (It doesn'
  t 
  actually decrease your Dex, it just makes any 
  Dex checks more difficult.)
  Melee Weapons
  Light weapons like daggers take up a single 
  inventory slot and deal 1d6 damage.  They can 
  be thrown (-1 Attack for every 10'
   beyond the 
  first) and suffer no penalties when fighting in a 
  confined space.
  Medium weapons like swords take up a single 
  Inventory Slot and deal 1d6+Str damage, or 
  1d8+Str damage if wielded with two hands.
  Heavy weapons like greatswords take up two 
  Inventory Slots and deal 1d10+Str damage, and 
  must be wielded with two hands.
  
  If you attack while dual-wielding, you get +1 to 
  hit.  Only one weapon actually does damage.
  Ranged Weapons
  Slings deal 1d6+Str damage.  They get -1 Attack 
  for every 20'
   beyond the first.  A sling can share
  an Inventory Slot with up to 3 stones.  Stones 
  can always be gathered with a few minutes of 
  searching.
  Bows deal 1d8+Str damage and get -1 Attack for 
  every 30'
   beyond the first.
  Crossbows deal 1d12 damage and get -1 Attack for
  every 40'
   beyond the first.  It requires a 
  standard action to reload a crossbow.
  Both bows and crossbows shoot arrows.  You 
  can fit 20 arrows in an Inventory Slot.  If you 
  recover spent arrows after combat, 50% of them 
  will be usable. 
  Possession of a crossbow is usually a crime.  
  They are knight-killing weapons.
  Armor
  Armor is interchangable, and everyone is 
  proficient with all types of armor.  Every armor 
  gives a Defense bonus equal to the number of 
  Inventory Slots it occupies.  Armor can be 
  standardized (leather = +2 Defense, chain = +4 
  Defense, plate = +6 Defense) or it can be 
  piecemeal, with each Armor Piece occupying a 
  single inventory slot and giving a +1 Defense 
  bonus.  However, piecemeal armor cannot give 
  more than +5 Defense.
  •
  You can swim in Light Armor (+1 or +2 
  Defense) without penalty.
  •
  You can swim in Medium Armor (+3 or +4 
  Defense) by succeeding on a Strength 
  check.
  •
  You cannot swim in Heavy Armor (+5 or 
  +6 Defense).
  Each point of Defense bonus above +3 gives you 
  a point of Encumbrance (see below).
  Breakage
  Whenever you make an Attack or Defense roll 
  and get a natural 19 (almost a critical failure/miss),
  you risk breaking your weapon (if you were 
  attacking) or your armor (if you were defending). 
  The chance of your weapon/armor breaking on a
  19 depends on its quality.
  •
  Fragile weapons always break.
  •
  Standard weapons have a 50% chance of 
  breaking.
  •
  Masterwork weapons have a 1-in-6 chance
  of breaking.
  When a weapon gets its first break, it gets -1 to 
  Attack.  When it gets its second break, it snaps 
  in half.
  When an armor gets a break, it gets -1 to 
  Defense.  It doesn'
  t snap in half until the penalty 
  equals the bonus (or 4 breaks on chainmail).  If 
  you are using piecemeal armor, a single armor 
  piece snaps in half whenever you get a break.
  Abilities 
  These come from your class templates, and they 
  are what distinguishes most you from the base 
  adventurer (and the other PCs).  They give you 
  unique abilities and options.
  They are designed to be active (as opposed to 
  passive), and each template will hopefully yield 
  an ability that a player would be excited to gain 
  access to.  And most importantly, they are 
  designed to be incomparable.  No +1 bonuses to 
  other parts of the character sheet.  
  Abilities should give you a new ability, not just 
  improve an existing one.  Things like trapmaking 
  and clairvoyance cannot be compared, because 
  each is preferable in a certain situation (unlike +1 
  Attack and +2 Attack).
  Comparible abilities are boring, and they lead to 
  min-maxing, system mastery, and other shit I 
  want to avoid.
  
  Skills
  Skills have Ranks from 0 to 6.  You begin with 
  three skills at Rank 1.  A skill'
  s Rank cannot 
  exceed your level.  
  There are no social skills, no perception skills, 
  and no stealth skills.  There'
  s also no healing 
  skill.  Here are how some actions are translated 
  into skill checks:
  •
  Climb, jump, run  Roll Movement.
  →
  •
  Stabilizing a dying ally  Roll Int/2.
  →
  •
  Notice the deadly spider lurking on the 
  ceiling  You might roll Wis, or you might
  →
  not notice it unless you tell the DM you 
  are looking carefully at the ceiling.
  •
  Disarm a trap  Use common sense.
  →
  •
  Sneak up to a guard and slit his throat  
  →
  Everyone has a Stealth score.  Some 
  templates offer a bonus.
  •
  Persuading an NPC  Roleplay the 
  →
  interaction.  Your DM will decide on an X-
  in-6 probability of success based on your 
  approach.  It may be automatic.  If you are
  just trying to get someone to like you, a 
  Charisma check is appropriate.
  In fact, there are no skills that are directly useful 
  in combat.  This is intentional.  Since no skills 
  give a clear tactical advantage, players will have 
  to be creative if they want to use their skills to 
  gain an advantage.  Since skill usages are left 
  undefined, players have more freedom to pick 
  skills that fit their character concept.
  Skill checks are determined by rolling 2d12, and 
  then subtracting the smaller number from the 
  larger number.  If the result is equal-or-less than 
  the Skill Rank, the succeeds.  If both dice show 
  the same number, and that number is equal to 
  the Skill Rank or less, it is a critical success.  If 
  you have the perfect tool for the job, you get a +1
  bonus to your Skill Rank.
  Whenever you use a skill in a non-trivial 
  situation, put a check mark next to it.  Once you 
  have three check marks beside a skill, you can 
  test it to see if it improves.
  Whenever you rest in town for at least a week 
  (downtime), you may erase the check marks from
  beside the skills that have at least 3 check marks.
  For each of those skills, make an Intelligence 
  check.  If you succeed, the Rank of the skill 
  improves by 1, up to a maximum equal to the 
  character'
  s level.
  Some probabilities:
  •
  Rank 0 
  8%
  0% crit 
  •
  Rank 1
  24%
  1% crit
  •
  Rank 2
  38%
  1% crit
  •
  Rank 3
  50%
  2% crit 
  •
  Rank 4
  61%
  3% crit 
  •
  Rank 5
  71%
  3% crit 
  •
  Rank 6
  79%
  4% crit 
  Roleplaying
  You don'
  t have to talk in a funny voice, but you 
  do have to tell the DM what you are saying to 
  the NPC, and how.
  It'
  s not a division between player skill and 
  character skill.  If you don'
  t understand that 
  bootless goblins are susceptible to intimidation, 
  and proud dwarven kings are not, you are bad at
  this game.
  Common sense negotiations are one of the skills 
  that this game tests.  
  
  Gameplay
  Starting Equipment
  Blanket (1 slot)
  Waterskin (1 slot)
  Rations  x3 (1 slot)
  Flint and Tinder (0 slots)
  2 copper coins
  . . . and one random item.
  Starting Skills
  A fresh level 1 character begins with three skills 
  at Rank 1.  One comes from their class template, 
  while two are rolled randomly.  
  Combat Maneuvers
  Shove, trip, disarm, grapple, that sort of thing.  
  There are two halves to performing a Maneuver:
  •
  First, make an Attack roll with the target'
  s
  Attack as a penalty (instead of its Defense).
  ◦ If you fail this, the target hits you with
  its basic melee attack.
  ◦ Hit or miss, you go on to the next 
  step.
  •
  Second, make an opposed ability score 
  check.  If you succeed, the maneuver 
  occurs.
  ◦ You roll Str for shoving and grappling.
  ◦ You roll Dex for everything else.
  ◦ Your target rolls either Str or Dex, 
  whichever is better.
  Hirelings
  Hirelings are NPC allies.  Most work for a fee, 
  such as a half-share of any treasure discovered.  
  They start with a random personality, random 
  goals, and a Morale of 10.  They get a half-share 
  of XP.
  Pets
  Pets are trained animals.  They don'
  t expect any 
  treasure and they don'
  t get a share of XP.  They 
  must be commanded to do things.  Even wardogs
  will not enter combat until you command them 
  to.  Commanding a pet is a standard action.  
  Unless they were raised and trained together, 
  you can expect your pets to fight and even kill 
  each other.
  Poison
  A poison always has a damage listed after it in 
  parentheses, such as “adder venom (1d6)”.  When
  you are exposed to poison, you take the poison 
  damage at the end of your next round.  The 
  round after that, you must make a Con check.  If 
  you succeed, you take no further damage.  If you
  fail, you take the listed damage again, and again 
  the following turn.
  Basically you take the damage 1x on a successful 
  Con check, and 3x on a failed Con check, you just
  delay the Con check as much as possible.
  Slower poisons have their intervals listed after 
  the damage, such as “strychnine (1d8, minutes)”.  
  The default is rounds.
  Poisoned weapons only discharge their poison 
  once, on a successful hit, and then the poison 
  must be reapplied.  Most creatures are immune 
  to their own poison.
  Drunkenness
  Each point of drunkenness expands your critical 
  fail/miss range by 1.  So a character with 3 points
  of drunkenness would critically miss on a roll of 
  17-20.  This lasts until the next morning.
  Shields
  A held shield provides +1 Defense.  Additionally, 
  you can choose to sunder your shield to reduce 
  incoming physical damage by 1d12 points.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Goblin Laws of Gaming (GLOG) (osr)/OG GLOG.pdf