TEXT: NEOCLASSICAL GEEK  REVIVAL
  ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI             SCRAP PRINCESS
  ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI          SCRAP PRINCESS
  NEOCLASSICAL GEEK REVIVAL
  
  1
  NEOCLASSICAL
  GEEK  REVIVAL
  1: INTRODUCTION ............................3
   
  Foreword .................................................4
   
  The Basics  ..............................................4
   
  Rolling the Dice .....................................4
   
  Common Terms .....................................6
   
  The Known Rule ...................................6
  2: CHARACTER CREATION ...............7
   
  How to Create a Character ...................8
  	
  Attribute	Modifiers	&	Dice	 .................8
   
  Attribute Overview .................................9
   
  Species ......................................................10
   
  Mankind  .................................................10
   
  Dwarves  ..................................................10
   
  Elves  ........................................................11
   
  The Dead  ...............................................11
   
  The Wee Folk .........................................12
   
  Wodewose  ..............................................12
   
  Schrodinger’s Character ........................13
   
  Mmmmm... Pie.......................................13
   
  The Hall of Warriors  ............................15
   
  Den of Thieves  ......................................17
   
  The Wizard’s Tower  .............................19
   
  The Temple of the High Priests  ........22
   
  The Forum of the Bards  .....................25
   
  The Ship of Fools ..................................28
   
  Character Traits .......................................29
   
  Skills and Knowledge ............................30
   
  Creating a Group Template ..................31 
   
  Starting Equipment ................................33
   
  Character Morality ..................................34
   
  Luck be a Lady Tonight… ...................35
   
  So This Book Seems to 
   
  Keep Going...  ........................................35
   
  3: ADVENTURING  .............................37
   
  Going Out and Adventuring ................38
   
  Keeping Your Cool ................................38
   
  Attribute Checks .....................................39
   
  The Venerable Saving Throw ..............40
  	
  Damage	&	Other	Accrued	Points .......41
   
  Luck Points  ............................................46
   
  Investigations ...........................................46 
   
  Regaining Luck, Health, and Mana ....47 
   
  Types of Dangerous Obstacles ............49
   
  Diseases ....................................................50
  4: CONFLICTS .....................................53
   
  The	Mechanics	of	a	Conflict ................54
   
  Initiative....................................................54
   
  Weapon Reach ........................................55
   
  Actions .....................................................56
   
  Areas .........................................................58
   
  Successes ..................................................58
   
  Lucky Numbers ......................................59
  	
  Types	of	Conflict ....................................60
  	
  Social	Conflict .........................................60
   
  Covert Actions  .......................................61
   
  Combat ....................................................63
   
  Securing the High Ground ..................66 
   
  Mighty Steeds and Fancy Ships ...........67
   
  Things That Fly, Swim, Whip Tentacles 
   
  or in Some Other Way Prevent Normal  
   
  Melee ........................................................67
   
  Mass Combat: Having an Epic Battle
   
  Without an Epic Amount of Time .....68
   
  Blinding and Fighting Unseen Foes ...68
   
  Immunity to Normal Weaponry ..........68
   
  Battling the Ethereal and Immaterial 
   
  Beings .......................................................70
  
  2
   
  Getting Too Close For Comfort..........70
   
  Sway and Favours ...................................71
   
  Trials .........................................................71
   
  Exorcisms and Banishing the 
   
  Unclean ....................................................72
   
  Spiritual, Psychic or Demonic
   
  Possession ................................................72
   
  Bickering Over Price While the
   
  World Burns ............................................72
   
  Swaying the Mob ...................................73
   
  Between Light and Shadows ................73
   
  Blinded by the Light .............................74
  5: EQUIPMENT  ...................................75
   
  The Value of Gold ....................................76
   
  Encumbrance - The Dot System ............76
   
  Containers ...................................................78
   
  Armaments for War ..................................79 
   
  Basic Armour .............................................79 
   
  Helms ..........................................................80 
   
  Shields .........................................................80 
   
  Descriptive Tags for Armour ..................81 
   
  Basic Weapons ...........................................81 
   
  Weapon Tags ..............................................82 
   
  Armour Tags ..............................................85 
   
  Shield Tags .................................................87 
  	
  Items	of	Differing	Materials ....................88 
   
  Stealth and Equipment .............................89 
  6: THE DRAGON SCROLL ...................93
   
  Combat Tricks ...........................................94
   
  Learning Combat Tricks ..........................94
   
  The Dragon Scroll ....................................95
  7: THE GRIMOIRE ...............................105
   
  The Game Mechanics of Sorcery ...........106
   
  Cost..............................................................106
   
  Mana ............................................................106
   
  Magic Components ..................................107
   
  Defences Against the Dark Arts .............107
   
  Mystical Failure ..........................................108
  	
  Learning	&	Memorizing	Spells ..............108
   
  The Wizard’s Grimoire ............................110
   
  WRITING
  ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI
  ART
  SCRAP PRINCESS
  LAYOUT AND DESIGN
  ALEX MAYO
  8: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ................125
   
  The Game Mechanics of Miracles ..........126
   
  Creating a Patron .......................................126
   
  Accumulating Piety ...................................127
   
  The Scriptures ............................................128
  9: END OF THE SESSION ...................137
   
  Fate and Destiny! .......................................138
   
  Destiny Points ............................................138
   
  Fate Points ..................................................139
   
  Rolling for Awesomeness ........................139
   
  Electing an MVP ......................................140
  	
  Experience	Points	&	Levels .....................140
   
  Milestones ...................................................141
  	
  Intelligence	&	Experience ........................142
  	
  Gaining	Luck	&	Mana	Points .................142
   
  Sources of Experience Points ..................143
   
  Travelling: It’s Not About the 
   
  Destination .................................................143
   
  Exploration: Ok, Sometimes it is 
   
  About the Destination ..............................144
   
  Dungeons and Ruins ................................144
   
  Defeating Minions ....................................144
   
  Slaying Monsters .......................................146
   
  Outsmarting the Opponent .....................147
   
  Puzzles, Traps and Riddles ......................147
   
  The Big Score ............................................147
   
  An Epic Quest ...........................................148
   
  Rolling “the 2d6” ......................................148 
   
  End of the Campaign ...............................149 
   
  Retiring From Active Adventuring .........149 
   
  Moving on to the Afterlife .......................150
  
  3
  INTRODUCTION
  
  4
  1 : FOREWORD
  Neoclassical Geek Revival (NGR) is what 
  many people would call a Fantasy Heart-
  breaker. Its a game about adventuring 
  in a world of magic, swordplay, and 
  monsters. You probably have like 20 
  on your shelf already. But NGR does 
  have its charms, with a heavy focus on 
  the game being a complement to social 
  gathering. This book will focus on the 
  rules as written, but keep in mind it is 
  still assumed that every GM is going to 
  immediately begin house-ruling these 
  rules	to	fi	t	their	campaign.	It	would	be	
  kind of a bad sign if they didn’t.
  This latest version is just part of the 
  constant iterative update to the previous. 
  It is almost entirely going through and 
  fi	nding	errors	or	poorly	phrased	para-
  graphs	and	fi	xing	them	or	adding	better	
  examples with one obvious exception.
  This version includes art from the in-
  credibly talented Scrap Princess (despite 
  her misgivings about how stupid it is 
  to give +1 awesomeness for having a 
  mountaineer’s beard). I have had the 
  privilege of playing in one of Scrap’s 
  NGR games and it is always amazing 
  to see what other people can do with it. 
  For example, having a Victorian landlady 
  who is also a mantis person.
  THE BASICS
  ROLLING THE DICE
  Roll	the	dice	and	add	the	modifi	ers.	One	
  might assume it’s pretty simple, yet this 
  does lead to a host of familiar gaming 
  situations:
  Recounting the modifi ers for 20 minutes
  The hidden roll
  The roll oﬀ  the table
  The ‘after the fact’ forgotten modifi ers
  Here instead are the general rules for 
  rolling dice. If you have house rules, 
  write those down instead.
  To help with learning rules, sections 
  of this book will be identified as either 
  Basic or Fiddly.
  Basic rules are used in 99% of the 
  cases and are not specifically called out.
  Fiddly rules are for when you want 
  those extra knobs and dials to play 
  with and are identified by i
  Rules are generally set up so that 
  they have a pro and matching con, 
  especially fiddly rules. This way it is 
  no big deal if you forget them.
  INTRODUCTION
  
  5
  n
  All	of	the	modifiers	are	to	be	mentioned	in	no	more	than	two	statements	
  before	the	roll:	either	the	total	modifier	or	the	total	bonus	and	the	total	
  penalty.	If	a	modifier	is	forgotten,	it	does	not	apply.
  n
  Cocked dice,	dice	outside	of	the	rolling	area,	and	dice	off	the	table	get	
  re-rolled.
  n
  If the player has any positive or negative re-rolls to dice use the notation 
  ++ or -- respectively. If they have both combine the numbers and use the 
  remainder.
  n
  A repeating or exploding die means that if a die rolls its maximum value 
  another die is rolled and added to the total until a result below the max-
  imum is rolled. This all counts as one die. A repeating d6 that rolls a 6 
  would then roll an additional d6 and combine the results. If the second 
  roll was also a 6 this would keep going until a result other than a 6 was 
  rolled. A lucky streak could result in rolling 38 on a d6 with this method. 
  It can be annotated as !d# (so !d6 for a six sider)
  n
  The	total	modifiers	to	any	non-d20	die	roll	(technically	on	a	dX	roll,	
  more on that later) cannot do more than double the roll of the die itself. 
  I.E, should someone roll a d8+4 for damage and roll a natural 3, the 
  maximum bonus applicable is +3 resulting in a score of 6.
  n
  Any dice notation of ?d# (where # is a number) refers to requiring the 
  maximum roll. Someone stuck in mud might be out of commission for 
  ?d6 rounds. At the start of each round a player would roll a d6, and unless 
  the player rolled a 6 the character would remain stuck.
  n
  Any mentions of dice steps, or increasing/decreasing the die size uses the 
  following steps: d2 – d4 – d6 – d8 – d10 – d12 – nada nada nada d20
  n
  Any time a die is refereed to as inverted it is something simple in practice 
  but	difficult	to	explain.	In	practice	it	means	you	invert	so	that	the	total	of	
  the original die and the inverted die are 16. A d12 inverts to a d4, a d4 
  inverts to a d12. D6 and 10, and d8 stays a d8. A d20 inverts with 0. This 
  will usually come up in rulings where you don’t want to invoke a long 
  drawn out series of minor actions. A character might run a mile barefoot 
  down streets strewn with glass and leaping over barbed wire. You could 
  make dozens of checks or the GM might say “take an inverted agility die 
  of damage”. The better a character’s agility, the better their agility die. 
  When inverted this means a more agile character would take less damage. 
  Simple	in	practice,	useful	in	some	off	the	cuff	rulings,	takes	way	too	long	
  to explain.
  
  6
  2: COMMON TERMS
  Some common terms that will arise are 
  cumulative and doubling:
  n
  Cumulative refers to a value 
  increasing in the following 
  manner: 1,3,6,10,15. The pat-
  tern is adding the integers of 
  the previous numbers: 1, 1+2, 
  1+2+3, 1+2+3+4, 1+2+3+4+5. A 
  rate listed as ‘3 cumulative per 
  interval’ would go 3,9,18 etc.
  n
  Doubling refers to each inter-
  val being double the previous. 
  For simplicities sake, it is sug-
  gested you turn any instance of 
  128 into 125. Unless you have 
  programmers in your midst 
  125 will be easier to calculate.
  THE KNOWN RULE 
  NGR contains a large number of rules, 
  and in the end it is not likely some-
  one will have them all memorized. The 
  rules of this game are only applicable 
  if someone involved actually knows the 
  rule or claims to. If no party involved 
  knows the rule then they obviously did 
  not choose their course of action based 
  on the mechanics. In such a case, the 
  GM should issue a ruling and move 
  on. You should never be looking up 
  rules during play. Doing so results 
  in –1 awesomeness for a player or +1 
  awesomeness to all players if the GM 
  looks up a rule (per occurrence). Awe-
  someness is covered near the end of the 
  book in the End of the Session section. 
  
  CHARACTER
  CREATION
  
  8
  CHARACTER CREATION
  HOW TO CREATE 
  A CHARACTER
  The	first	thing	most	players	will	need	to	
  do is create characters. This is done by 
  creating what is known as “Schroding-
  er’s Character”. The player will select a 
  name, species, gender, and distribution 
  of	attributes.	As	the	first	game	progress-
  es the character will have skills, traits, 
  class, and starting inventory developed 
  during the course of play. This allows a 
  new character to be generated in a few 
  moments while play continues.
  You	will	first	need	to	assign	a	few	basic	
  things like Name and Gender. The next 
  step is to assign attributes; 80 points 
  are distributed amongst the 7 attributes: 
  Strength, Agility, Health, Perception 
  (previously awareness), Intelligence, 
  Charisma (previously social), and Will 
  (previously spirit).
  If you are already seated at the table, an 
  alternative method is rolling a character. 
  Do this by rolling 3d6 for each attribute, 
  in order, and then assigning 10 discre-
  tionary	points	as	you	see	fit	to	customize	
  your character. This allows for both 
  very competent and very incompetent 
  characters. This method should only be 
  taken if you are willing to take the risk 
  of playing an incompetent character. If 
  you are unwilling to play an incompetent 
  character, assign 80 points between the 
  attributes. In no cases may an attribute 
  be above 20 or below 1.
  Every	attribute	is	useful,	but	in	different	
  circumstances. A quick primer is shown 
  opposite. An important note is that the 
  Score
  Modifier
  Die
  1
  3
  d4
  2
  -2
  d4
  3
  -2
  d4
  4
  -2
  d4
  5
  -2
  d4
  6
  -1
  d4
  7
  -1
  d6
  8
  -1
  d6
  9
  -1
  d6
  10
  0
  d6
  Score
  Modifier
  Die
  11
  0
  d6
  12
  +1
  d8
  13
  +1
  d8
  14
  +1
  d8
  15
  +1
  d8
  16
  +2
  d10
  17
  +2
  d10
  18
  +2
  d10
  19
  +2
  d12
  20
  +3
  d12
  30*
  +7
  d20
  ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS AND DICE
  *Any Attribute listed as Supernatural has a Score of 30.
  
  9
  STRENGTH
  Score used for Maximum damage limit, 
  Encumbrance, Starting 
  Inventory
  Modifi er used for Bonus damage for melee
  Die used for Stun attacks
  AGILITY
  Score used for Maximum suspicion 
  limit
  Modifi er used for Bonus to combat
  Die used for Initiative die
  HEALTH
  Score used for Healing, Maximum,
  poison and disease limit
  Modifi er used for Nothing
  Die used for Nothing
  PERCEPTION
  Score used for Nothing
  Modifi er used for Bonus damage for 
  missile attacks, Bonus to 
  Stealth
  Die used for Accruing suspicion in 
  stealth	confl	icts
  INTELLIGENCE
  Score used for Starting skill points
  Modifi er used for
  Bonus to occult,
  Reduced XP costs
  Die used for
  Scoring	infl	uence	in	
  social	confl	icts,	Optional	
  initiative die
  CHARISMA
  Score used for Maximum Infamy limit
  Modifi er used for
  Bonus to presence
  Die used for
  Luck points regained 
  with a Party
  WILL
  Score used for Maximum Stress / 
  Infl	uence	limit.
  Modifi er used for
  Bonus to faith
  Die used for
  Mana per level for some 
  wizards
  ATTRIBUTE  OVERVIEW
  scores from 1–20 represent functional 
  human ranges. Someone with an intelli-
  gence of 1 is not a vegetable, but would 
  make a good caveman or football star 
  turned war hero turned shrimp mogul. 
  Likewise someone with a strength of 1 
  could still move on their own, but would 
  be a nice imitation of Mr. Burns.
  
  10
  SPECIES
  All characters must select a species. Some 
  species	may	have	additional	benefits	or	
  drawbacks. For example, dwarves are 
  colour-blind and elves cannot eat meat. 
  If you want to make a new species like 
  a squirrel or a reptiloid, keep in mind 
  that their attributes should not be im-
  pacted; that is lazy and boring. Things 
  that	fly,	things	that	are	wildly	different	
  than humanity in scale or things that are 
  adjectives for other species are likewise 
  probably pretty boring and shouldn’t be 
  done. Try to avoid making every new 
  culture a new species while you are at 
  it. As always disregard this rule if you 
  think it’ll be awesome, but I have my 
  doubts. Below are some standard races.
  MANKIND
  If you are reading this and 
  expecting great insight into 
  the biology of mankind, please 
  stop	reading	until	you	can	find	
  an appropriate safety helmet 
  to wear.
  DWARVES
  Dwarves are eusocial crea-
  tures of the earth, very closely 
  related to some forms of gi-
  ants. Dwarves are exception-
  ally hairy, muscular and stout 
  beings. While dwarves have a 
  large variety of hair and eye 
  colours, matching the variety 
  found in mankind, dwarves 
  pay no heed to it as they are 
  almost completely colourblind.
  Dwarves see the entire world in gray 
  scale with the exception of gold, sil-
  ver and gemstones. Their eyesight also 
  allows dwarves to see only half as far 
  as humans in bright light (double any 
  distance penalties at 0 darkness), though 
  they can see four times as far in low light 
  conditions (light sources are four times 
  as	effective	for	dwarves	when	negating	
  darkness). This suits the biology of 
  dwarves quite well as dwarves only age 
  when exposed to sunlight. This process 
  slowly turns them to stone over the course 
  of a normal human lifespan if a dwarf 
  doesn’t carefully control their levels of 
  sun exposure. A dwarf who never sees 
  the sun could expect to live thousands 
  of years, perhaps even forever. When a 
  dwarf dies they do not rot, instead they 
  
  11
  slowly turn to stone. The oils in their 
  body often calcify their funeral clothing. 
  If you don’t wish to have Dwarves you 
  could relabel them Morlocks, Troglodytes 
  or	Molemen	without	much	effort.	When	
  paying	the	cost	of	spells,	dwarves	suffer	
  disease instead of stress.
  ELVES
  Elves are supernatural fae creatures. They 
  are relatives of pixies, fairies, trolls and 
  other such creatures. Like all fae creatures 
  elves have a natural weakness to iron 
  which both deals double damage and 
  may poison them if ingested. Elves are 
  virtually immortal when it comes to age, 
  so long as they are in a magic-rich area. 
  Should the magic fade from an area due 
  to the encroachment of civilization the 
  elves present will grow sterile and age 
  as humans do unless they leave to more 
  distant areas. Elves breed very slowly near 
  civilized lands and take some time to 
  mature. As elves age they begin to sleep 
  more and more, sometimes for weeks 
  at a time. When in a dream state these 
  ancient elves cannot easily be awoken, 
  but can easily be sent into a form of 
  sleepwalking, a state that when combined 
  with their magical powers makes them 
  quite dangerous.
  Most Elves are vegetarian creatures and 
  can only handle small amounts of meat 
  or other animal products without be-
  coming	ill.	Different	bloodlines	of	Elves	
  may	have	different	dietary	requirements.	
  Some graze on grasses, while others can 
  only eat honey. All elves innately know a 
  spell	specific	to	their	bloodline.	Usually	
  this is cantrip, but it could be anything. 
  If it is cantrip the elves tend to have a 
  somewhat standard appearance of being 
  tall, pale and pointy eared. The more 
  powerful or unusual their innate spell 
  the more bizarre they may both appear 
  and be. Among other options antlers, 
  wooden bones, and the habit of turning 
  to salt upon death are all possible elf 
  traits depending on their innate spell. 
  The elf cannot explain this spell to others 
  though a ‘sage’ may be able to fatally 
  pry it from them; an important reason 
  that elves tend not to mingle in other 
  communities. An elf casting their innate 
  spell	always	ignores	the	difficulty.	While	
  they	may	treat	the	difficulty	as	zero	others	
  do not. Elves also have an additional 
  health die of mana in their mana pool. 
  When paying the cost of spells Elves 
  suffer	mutation	instead	of	stress.	This	
  mutation is into a misshapen monstrous 
  version of themselves sometimes called 
  a fomorian, an alter ego with opposing 
  aims like a Mr. Hyde to their Dr. Jekyll. 
  You could also make them mutate into 
  humans or something else, this is a book 
  not your boss.
  THE  DEAD
  I don’t anticipate that The Dead (or 
  the undead) will be a standard option 
  in most campaigns, but hey maybe 
  they will. This species will probably be 
  used most often for creating adversaries. 
  The corporeal dead are all considered 
  supernatural	and	suffer	from	an	aversion	
  to	fire	(which	deals	double	damage	to	
  them). Those created by mortal magic 
  suffer	1	(cumulative)	damage	per	round	
  
  12
  from direct sunlight. All of the living 
  dead can avoid mortal concerns such 
  as breathing, disease, and toxins, but 
  they can be poisoned by things like salt, 
  sanctified	oils,	or	other	mystic	substances.
  Many undead also know an innate 
  spell which they may use to replicate 
  themselves. Powerful undead may also 
  have other innate spells for a variety of 
  purposes.
  THE  WEE  FOLK
  Wee folk is a generic term used for a 
  physically slight humanoid species. These 
  species tend to stand at only half to three 
  quarters the height of a human and 
  show greater aesthetic diversity. Various 
  types of wee folk have a vast number of 
  hair, eye and skin colours far exceeding 
  mankind, including some garish colours. 
  The reduced height makes these species 
  lead lives slightly longer than humans, 
  often by a good twenty years.
  Wee folk are considered to have a size 
  modifier	of	1/2.	You	may	wish	to	mix	
  “Wee Folk” with another species such 
  as Dwarf or Elf to play something such 
  as a Gnome or Brownie.
  WODEWOSE
  This species includes not just wode-
  wose, but also ogres, half-giants, and 
  any other larger than man sized goon. 
  The wodewose themselves are far larger 
  than a man and covered in a layer of 
  fur. A larger body results in a shorter 
  lifespan while their great size and thick 
  fur often make clothing or armouring 
  such a character impossible. They will 
  also frequently have problems moving 
  about in buildings meant for smaller folk.
  Biologically, a wodewose is immune 
  to any sickness from rancid meat, stag-
  nant water or other natural hazards that 
  plague civilization. Wodewose get sick 
  from eating cooked meat or processed 
  foods such as bread. This is also true 
  of the very nature of civilization being 
  poison to the wodewose. A wodewose 
  automatically critically fails any healing 
  or travel checks while living in a city or 
  town, taking at least one point of damage.
  Wodewose are considered to have a size 
  modifier	of	2.	You	may	wish	to	mix	
  “Wodewose” with another species such 
  as Dwarf or Elf to play something such 
  as a stone giant or troll.
  
  13
  SCHRODINGER’S
  CHARACTER
  Often the problem with creating a charac-
  ter is that he or she doesn’t live through 
  the	first	adventure.	This	is	normal,	which	
  is why heroes are rare; most adventurers 
  die. But playing a guy who dies, then 
  starts over, then dies again isn’t always 
  fun (but sometimes it is hilarious).
  This is where Schrodinger’s Character 
  comes into play. The characters just 
  happen to be the perfect heroes for 
  their	first	adventure.	The	first	session	
  is ‘character creation’; this session starts 
  with all players naming their character, 
  assigning a species and assigning or 
  rolling their attributes. The players then 
  proceed	with	their	character	by	filling	
  out aspects of their character when 
  required and after any rolls are made. 
  This requires some record keeping on 
  the	first	game	but	allows	for	a	more	
  organic character creation.
  As they need them, players can select:
  • a number of skills equal to their In-
  telligence score,
  • an inventory of items equal in dots to 
  their Strength score,
  • 2 traits,
  • 2 or more relationships,
  • a major and minor morality, and
  • 3 pie pieces for class. Speaking of pie…
  MMMMM… PIE
  Many RPG’s feature a class or archetype 
  based system where a set of abilities is 
  selected	to	match	a	class.	NGR	differs	
  from this system; it uses the ‘pie system’. 
  Everyone loves pie, right?
  Each character in NGR normally has 3 
  pie	pieces	to	define	her	class	or	2	if	you	
  want to start at level 0. At 10th level a 
  character may choose another pie piece.
  Each pie piece within a class gives a 
  character	a	larger	mechanical	benefit	
  by	both	giving	modifiers	that	increase	
  per level, and by granting new powers.
  Each	class	increases	a	different	one	of	
  the	five	modifiers.
  • Warriors improve Combat modified 
  by Agility
  • Wizards improve Occult modified by 
  Intelligence
  • Rogues improve Stealth modified by 
  Perception
  • Bards improve Presence modified by 
  Charisma
  • Priests improve Faith modified by Will
  Even if you have no pie pieces in a spe-
  cific	class,	you	will	still	slowly	advance	
  in that area.
  A character also gains powers from their 
  class, and may choose 1 class power if 
  the character has one pie piece in that 
  class. The character may choose 3 if she 
  has two and all 6 if she has all three pie 
  
  14
  pieces in a single class. If the character 
  has 4 pie pieces she receives the locked 
  power for the class. Note that a power 
  may only be taken once.
  The	final	benefit	is	that	each	character	
  class has its own type of ‘personal items’ 
  that characters can develop. These are 
  methods that allow characters to natu-
  rally develop magic or magic-like items 
  through adventuring. A character may be 
  able to have personal items of multiple 
  types with training in more than one class.
  A	final	option	is	that	a	character	can	
  spend pie pieces in the “fool” class. This 
  gives no powers and increases no stat. 
  It also has no special item to roll for 
  the on the 2d6 on the end of the night. 
  So why would a player waste one (or 
  more) of her pie pieces on this class? 
  Each pie piece spent on the fool class 
  increases the luck die and luck bonus 
  of the character. This in general makes 
  the character more durable, the exact 
  mechanics will be explained in the fool 
  section.
  Pie
  Level modifiers
  Powers
  -
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10 -
  0
  0
  0
  1
  1
  1
  2
  2
  2
  3
  3
  3
  Zero
  1
  0
  1
  1
  2
  3
  3
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  One
  2
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  10
  Three
  3
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  10
  Six;	+1	modifier	per	milestone
  4
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  10
  Seven including locked power;
  +1	modifier	per	milestone
  
  15
  THE  HALL  OF  WARRIORS
  “GLORY THROUGH BATTLE”
  Powerful warriors are a staple of most 
  myths and legends. Warriors are powerful 
  individuals trained in the arts of combat. 
  Knights, samurai, shaolin monks, hoplites 
  and swashbucklers are all at least partially 
  considered warriors.
  The warrior’s power is based on quality 
  equipment and training in special ma-
  noeuvres. Finding fabled teachers, battling 
  new warriors and gaining mythical arms 
  and armour are the drive for a warrior’s 
  adventure.
  WARRIOR POWERS
  GUARD
  This power allows a warrior to ‘block’ 
  as a free action.
  DUAL WIELD
  This power allows a warrior to wield 
  another	weapon	in	their	off-hand.	This	
  weapon gains its own free attack when 
  the warrior attacks with her main weapon. 
  If it is a small weapon it may be against 
  a	different	target,	otherwise	it	must	be	
  against the same target.
  COMBAT AWARENESS
  This power allows a warrior to cash 
  luck points in at a two for one ratio in 
  response	to	points	the	warrior	suffered	
  from successful attack rolls. A warrior 
  who failed to defend against a poisoned 
  arrow for 3 damage and 6 poison could 
  cash in 5 luck points to avoid the blow. 
  If a poison arrow trap caused the same 
  damage and poison, the warrior with this 
  power would still need to pay 9 luck as 
  normal. It must be the direct result of 
  an attack roll.
  COMBAT TRICKS
  This power allows a warrior to learn, 
  teach and use combat tricks without 
  the use of skills. See the combat tricks 
  section for more details.
  WEAPON  SPECIALIZATION
  This power allows a warrior to special-
  ize	in	one	weapon	or	fighting	style	per	
  milestone. If a character specializes in a 
  weapon,	it	must	be	a	specific	weapon.	
  Being specialized in a katana would not 
  help with a scimitar. Being specialized 
  in a weapon allows the warrior to re-roll 
  damage from the weapon and choose 
  the better result.
  DODGING
  The warrior has honed her footwork 
  to the point she can easily dance like a 
  butterfly	while	stinging	like	a	bee.	By	
  knowing what position to be in before 
  the opponent attacks she is able to regain 
  any actions spent on a successful dive.
  
  16
  LOCKED POWER:
  WEAPON  MASTERY
  The warrior may choose to master a 
  specific weapon. This is not merely 
  a category of weapon but a specific 
  weapon. If this weapon were ever 
  destroyed, the character would be 
  intimately familiar with it to the point 
  that she could forge a copy of it. Having 
  mastered a weapon allows the character 
  to alter any die roll of the weapon by 1. 
  This means a 19 on an attack roll could 
  be modified to count as a natural 20.
  PERSONAL ITEM:
  TRADEMARK ITEM
  For an item to become a trademark 
  item, a warrior must score a 4 or less 
  on the 2d6.*
  Any time a warrior completes a partic-
  ularly impressive battle there will be a 
  small chance of one of the warrior’s easily 
  visible items turning from a mundane 
  item into a ‘Trademark Item’. If the 
  battle was particularly epic, the warrior 
  will automatically have an item become 
  a trademark item. A warrior can only 
  ever have 1 trademark item at a time. If a 
  warrior already has a trademark item, it’s 
  benefi	t	is	increased	by	one.	If	a	warrior	
  loses a trademark item, she may not gain 
  another one until the previous trademark 
  item has been utterly destroyed or a new 
  milestone is passed.
  A trademark item increases the warrior’s 
  ‘awesomeness’	score	by	1	per	benefi	t	
  level; it also gives a bonus of +1 presence 
  per	benefi	t	level	in	military	or	combat	
  matters. If the warrior reaches level 10, 
  the trademark item automatically counts 
  as at least a +1 magical item from that 
  point on, even if lost or the warrior dies.
  *The trademark item will only increase if 
  its current modifi er is equal to or less than 
  the session’s strongest opponent’s level or 
  size modifi er.
  
  17
  THE  DEN  OF  THIEVES
  “THE WORLD OWES YOU
  A LIVING ”
  Rogues encompass more than mere 
  thieves, a better term may be ‘special-
  ist’. Rogues are individuals trained in 
  bypassing problems and well trained in 
  stealth. This includes characters such as 
  cat burglars, treasure hunters, assassins, 
  hunters, and detectives.
  Rogues adventure for standard reasons: 
  wealth, fame, to save/destroy the world. 
  Rogues	gain	in	power	by	finding	artisans	
  to create the precision tools they need 
  to better do their job, and gaining the 
  money to pay for them.
  ROGUE  POWERS
  SPECIALIST
  This power relates to the rogues ability 
  to notice and deal with even the most 
  trivial or minuscule details of a situation. 
  They may negate up to two points of 
  suspicion from a successful detection roll 
  per luck point spent. If a rogue who is 
  a	specialist	suffered	5	suspicion	from	a	
  watchman, she would only need to pay 
  3 luck to avoid it.
  PARKOUR
  Everyone may be able to run, climb trees 
  or leap across a ledge but a rogue with 
  this skill can run along a tightrope, scale 
  a brick wall and leap between buildings 
  in a few seconds. This power allows a 
  rogue	to	add	their	stealth	modifier	to	any	
  movement based attribute checks. This 
  power also allows a rogue to “Defend 
  Oneself” as a free action when moving.
  DETECT TRAPS
  This power gives a rogue one automatic 
  attempt	to	find	a	trap	before	setting	it	
  off.	This	does	not	require	any	special	
  action on the rogue’s part, the rogue 
  merely is entitled to make a Perception 
  check,	modified	by	stealth.	If	this	check	
  is successful the rogue has realized some-
  thing	is	off	right	before	the	rogue	puts	
  her foot on the pressure plate, touched 
  the poisoned handle or walked into a 
  sniper’s kill zone. The rogue does not 
  locate the source of the danger, just 
  the location that puts the rogue at risk. 
  For example, the rogue will know it’s a 
  pressure plate but not what for. Traps are 
  not automatically disabled by this ability 
  and may require either a cunning plan 
  by the adventuring party, or at the very 
  least	blatant	rip-offs	from	famous	fedora	
  wearing treasure hunters.
  EXPERT
  This power grants the rogue a +5 bonus 
  when employing skills on attribute checks 
  and +2 on attribute dice as compared to 
  the normal +2 and +1 bonus respectively.
  THE WATCH
  This power represents rogues who are 
  adept at seeing the unseen such as de-
  
  18
  tectives, hunters, and snipers. The rogue 
  may re-roll her Perception die after a 
  successful detection roll and choose the 
  best result.
  QUICK WITTED
  This power represents the rogue’s ability 
  to think on her feet faster than the average 
  bear and ideally faster than any rivals, 
  opponents, or consequences. The rogue 
  may roll both her intelligence AND 
  agility die for initiative and choose the 
  preferred result. She will also defend 
  herself by default even when using her 
  Intelligence die.
  LOCKED POWER:
  PROFESSIONAL
  This power allows the rogue to become 
  calm (rather than on edge or reckless) 
  at the beginning of each round.
  PERSONAL ITEM: 
  LUCKY ITEM
  For an item to become lucky the rogue 
  must roll 7 on the 2d6.
  Any time a rogue completes a particularly 
  impressive stealth mission there is a small 
  chance of one of the rogue’s personal 
  items turning from a mundane item into 
  a ‘lucky item’. Heists, assassinations, and 
  surviving a dungeon with treasure are all 
  common examples of a stealth mission. 
  If the task was epic in scope, the rogue 
  automatically gets a ‘lucky item’.
  Lucky items increase the value of an 
  item by giving the rogue bonus luck 
  points when carrying the item. A lucky 
  item can be upgraded to have more than 
  one	benefi	t.	Each	benefi	t	level	is	worth	1	
  extra luck point per milestone the rogue 
  has passed, awarded at the beginning 
  of every game session. Only the rogue 
  may	gain	the	benefi	t	of	his	or	her	own	
  lucky item until the rogue reaches 10th 
  level. After that point they also apply to 
  anyone the rogue has gifted the item to, 
  as they have become genuinely magical 
  artifacts blessed by the trickster deities.
  
  19
  THE  WIZARD’S TOWER
  “I AM BECOME DEATH,
  DESTROYER OF WORLDS ”
  Wizard characters are those who seek 
  to empower themselves directly through 
  arcane lore. They are occultists, astron-
  omers and mystics seeking to bend the 
  universe to their own will.
  A wizard’s power is based upon know-
  ing arcane spells and having access to 
  useful ingredients and supplies. Due to 
  the nature of counterspells, wizards do 
  not freely share their magic with others. 
  Wizards are thus driven to seek out long 
  forgotten libraries, hieroglyphs and cave 
  paintings to search for new spells as a 
  drive to adventure.
  WIZARD POWERS
  SAGE
  This power allows the wizard to discern 
  the magic involved in mystical artifacts 
  and creatures. A sage may study an in-
  dividual or item and attempt to discern 
  what	spells	are	influencing	the	item	or	
  creature, permanent or otherwise. The 
  wizard may spend ?d6 days and roll a dX, 
  adding her occult as a bonus, comparing 
  it	to	the	roll	of	a	d20	modified	by	the	
  total	difficulty	of	all	the	spells	impacting	
  the item or creature. A success indicates 
  the wizard learns the nature of one spell 
  impacting the item. The wizard may pay 
  a cost of 1 to learn an additional spell 
  impacting the item without needing to 
  make an additional check; the wizard 
  may pay any amount of cost in this way 
  before knowing how many spells may 
  be impacting the item or creature.
  The wizard may also use this same style 
  check to decode a cipher or cryptic text 
  to discern if it contains an underlying 
  spell such as a text in an unknown 
  tongue, coded scrolls, pictographs or 
  stellar constellations. A success decodes 
  the spell.
  Finally the wizard may also make a check 
  to reverse engineer a magical item or 
  creature	that	has	already	been	identified	
  to learn one spell of her choice. The item 
  or creature is destroyed in the process. 
  For a creature, using a fresh corpse gives 
  an additional –5 penalty while an ancient 
  one gives an additional –20 penalty. 
  Having a laboratory allows the wizard 
  to both re-roll a failed check and add 
  any of her skills to the d6 roll if they 
  are relevant to the laboratory’s supplies.
  PSYCHIC POTENTIAL
  This power grants the wizard a mana 
  pool equal to the roll of a Will die per 
  level. This is re-rolled each level just 
  like luck points. When regaining mana 
  through rest, a wizard with this power 
  may multiply the amount healed by 
  her level.
  ANTI-MAGIC
  This power allows the wizard the ability 
  to more easily undo the works of oth-
  
  20
  er magicians. For each milestone the 
  wizard has passed she may improve 
  her standing with one of the following: 
  Counterspells, Wards, or Dispelling. A 
  wizard with four milestones can create 
  amulets, which are wards that are not 
  destroyed when triggered.
  A wizard with improved counterspells 
  may attempt counter spells she does not 
  know, and may automatically counter 
  spells she does know as a free action 
  (scoring an automatic “Epic Success”). 
  Improved wards will allow the wizard 
  to craft wards against spells she does not 
  know (but must still identify in some 
  manner	such	as	“a	fire	spell”)	and	causes	
  any wards crafted against a spell she does 
  know to likewise automatically succeed. 
  Improved dispelling allows the wizard to 
  attempt to dispel enchantments she does 
  not know and allows automatic success 
  against a spell she does know.
  MYSTICISM
  This power grants the wizard the ability 
  to meddle with powers beyond her un-
  derstanding. She may spend one action 
  to convert any amount of piety to mana 
  on a one to one basis and may substitute 
  her occult for faith with either miracles 
  or exorcisms.
  FAMILIAR
  This power grants the wizard the ability 
  to call forth a familiar or spirit animal 
  as an action at a cost of 2. The wizard 
  determines the exact appearance of the 
  familiar	when	it	is	summoned	for	the	first	
  time, often unconsciously. It is almost 
  always a small animal. A familiar has a 
  mana pool equal to the wizard’s occult, 
  but it is always fully depleted when 
  summoned. The wizard may transfer any 
  of her mana to or from her familiar by 
  touch. The familiar may memorize up 
  to one spell per point of the wizard’s 
  occult and recite them back to the wizard, 
  acting as a living grimoire. The familiar 
  can understand the wizard and will carry 
  out tasks assigned to it.
  When the familiar is harmed it forces 
  the wizard to pay a cost of 1 per point 
  of damage in its stead or the familiar is 
  dispelled until the wizard next dreams. The 
  wizard may spend an action to dismiss 
  a familiar until it is summoned again. A 
  familiar disappears when a wizard dreams. 
  A wizard may technically control up to 
  one familiar per milestone, but other 
  familiars must be found or bound by 
  rituals. The look and abilities of additional 
  familiars may vary depending on how 
  the wizard acquired them. If you want 
  to go hardcore, make a wizard bind her 
  first	familiar	too.
  DEGENERACY
  The wizard has become adept at func-
  tioning in altered states. Her deleriums 
  can allow her additional insights into 
  the universe, granting a bonus to any 
  casting rolls or anti-magic rolls (such 
  as a counterspell). For each milestone 
  the wizard may choose one of the fol-
  lowing: Eccentric, Withered, Corrupted, 
  or Doomed.
  Eccentric wizards add their total ac-
  
  21
  crued stress as a bonus with this power. 
  Withered wizards add their total accrued 
  disease as a bonus with this power. Cor-
  rupted wizards add their total accrued 
  mutation as a bonus with this power, and 
  Doomed wizards add their total accrued 
  damage as a bonus with this power.
  LOCKED POWER:
  ARCHMAGE
  The wizard has honed her talent in at 
  least one particular spell. This spell is 
  altered to be a new spell named by the 
  wizard, with a few minor tweaks that 
  generally follows the same function or 
  uses the same template(s). This spell 
  counts as having a complexity of zero 
  for the wizard and is considered an 
  innate spell that only the wizard knows. 
  The wizard is also technically an elf 
  with the usual benefits of immortality 
  and pitfalls of iron. They may pay cost 
  as either their original species or as an 
  elf. Unlike most Elves the wizard has 
  the ability to write down her innate spell 
  (or spells) and teach them to others.
  PERSONAL ITEM:
  TALISMAN
  For a talisman to increase in power the 
  2d6 score must show connectors such 
  as a 5-6 or 3-4.*
  Any time a wizard learns a new spell 
  there is a small chance of turning an 
  item the wizard personally crafted into 
  a	talisman.	This	is	often	a	staff	,	wand,	
  orb, book or even something such as a 
  skull or amulet. The Talisman is adorned 
  with runes and sigils and allows for the 
  casting of more powerful magic. The 
  talisman will give an additional +1 bonus 
  to	the	wizard’s	occult	per	benefi	t	level.	
  It also has its own mana pool of 1 per 
  benefi	t	level	for	use	when	casting	spells	
  through the talisman. When used by the 
  wizard, the talisman itself will also count 
  as a magical item with a bonus equal 
  to the number of milestones the wizard 
  has passed. The nature of the talisman 
  will often limit its potential uses. Casting 
  charm through a sword would be quite 
  diffi		cult,	but	swaying	a	pedant	for	the	
  eff	ect	of	hypnosis	would	be	much	easier	
  to justify. Using specialized, important 
  or otherwise exotic components should 
  allow the talisman to also be used as a 
  spell component, without being expended 
  for the spell. A wizard cannot have more 
  than one such object at a time. It takes a 
  month of full time work to forge a new 
  one. If a talisman is broken, the wizard 
  must pass a health check or be knocked 
  unconscious. A wizard may choose to 
  abandon a talisman by crafting a new 
  one. Until the new talisman gains a 
  benefi	t	level,	the	previous	talisman	still	
  counts as the wizard’s talisman. Once 
  abandoned, a wizard cannot return to 
  a previous talisman though it may be 
  used as a spell component.
  *If the wizard has learned more than one 
  spell, I would suggest giving one benefi t 
  level per spell learned on connectors. If you 
  don’t lots of people will just ration out their 
  found spells and only read one per week in 
  a very boring sort of way to maximize the 
  number of rolls.
  
  22
  THE TEMPLE OF THE HIGH PRIESTS
  “ MY GOD IS A WRATHFUL GOD ”
  Any character can have faith and religion. 
  Taking a pie piece in the priest class rep-
  resents	a	different	level	of	commitment	
  to one’s supernatural patron. Clerics, 
  shamans, druids, witches and cultists all 
  fall under the purview of the priest class. 
  Anyone who deals with supernatural 
  forces as an intermediary to power or 
  to protect against such a thing would 
  be well suited to a priest class.
  In terms of game play, the priest is a 
  class that requires long-term resource 
  allotment. When a priest adventures, 
  it is far more important to appease the 
  priest’s deity or patron than collect gold. 
  Building temples, converting the masses, 
  and destroying heretics among other 
  things will earn a priest the piety needed 
  to receive miracles. Having followers from 
  two opposing deities in 
  one group may cause 
  problems.
  These ‘piety points’ that 
  fuel the priest’s powers 
  represent the favour a 
  priest holds with their 
  patron and is used to 
  call forth miracles. Pro-
  actively spreading ones 
  faith is the priest’s drive 
  to adventure.
  PRIEST
  POWERS
  DOGMA
  This power represents 
  the strength of a priest’s 
  conviction. A priest with 
  this power reduces the 
  influence,fear,	or	stress	
  scored against her in a 
  social	conflict	by	2	per	
  die. The priest also gains 
  
  23
  an additional amount of XP equal to her 
  faith for each point of piety she earns.
  MIRACLES
  A priest with this power can summon 
  miracles at the base piety cost. This does 
  not	stack	with	the	benefit	for	summon-
  ing miracles on holy ground. While I 
  could have had all the piety costs in the 
  “Scriptures” portion of this book be 
  multiplied by 100 and said this power 
  gives you the ability to summon miracles 
  at 1/100th of the normal cost that seemed 
  kind of inane considering priests with 
  this power will be the ones summoning 
  miracles 99% of the time if your game 
  is anything like mine.
  TRUE BELIEF
  A priest with this power can enter a state 
  of grace upon accumulating 500 piety. 
  A priest in a state of grace is perma-
  nently considered ‘blessed’; this means a 
  priest counts all attacks as being magical 
  and receives a damage reduction of +1 
  against magical attacks. Such a priest is 
  also immune to diseases and possession 
  merely causes insanity instead (note 
  they	can	suffer	points	of	disease,	they	
  can’t catch a disease). Dead priests in a 
  state of grace do not deteriorate. How 
  these	effects	represent	themselves	varies	
  based on the patron. A holy bishop 
  may simply not rot and instead smell 
  of	flowers,	never	having	been	able	to	
  contract disease in life. A warlock may 
  have her body remain a withered husk, 
  while in life she contracted the diseases 
  but	simply	would	not	suffer	from	them.
  Whether or not the priest is in a state of 
  grace, a priest with ‘True Belief’ may add 
  her faith to her awesomeness score for 
  a single d20 roll each session (chosen 
  after the roll).
  EXORCISM
  A priest with this power is able to per-
  form exorcisms without either the aid 
  of a holy symbol or spending piety. The 
  priest may negate up to two points for 
  each luck point spent against the result of 
  a successful supernatural mental assault 
  against the priest (possession, words of 
  power, psychic assaults, etc). Thus if the 
  priest	suffered	5	stress	from	an	appeal	by	
  a demon attempting to possess the priest, 
  the priest could pay 3 luck to negate the 
  stress rather than 5. If the priest fumbled 
  an	exorcism	and	suffered	7	damage,	the	
  priest would need to spend 7 luck to 
  negate the damage as normal.
  Supernatural creatures may have a version 
  of this power (haunting) which allows 
  them to instead cause stress to mundane 
  beings	through	social	conflict	leading	to	
  possession. They also gain luck point 
  benefits	against	exorcism.
  FERVOUR
  This power represents a priest’s ability 
  to lash out in a religious frenzy. A priest 
  gains +1 damage in combat against sentient 
  or supernatural enemies per cumulative 
  faith point if the priest views them as 
  religious enemies. This means at 1 faith, 
  a priest would gain a bonus of +1, but at 
  3 faith a priest would gain a bonus of +2.
  
  24
  PERSONAL ITEM: RELIC
  To gain a relic, the priest’s player must 
  roll doubles on the 2d6.
  Any time a priest completes a large task 
  of faith, there is a small chance of one 
  of	the	priest’s	personal	eff	ects	turning	
  from a mundane item into a holy relic. 
  If the priest completes an epic task of 
  their faith, then an item automatically 
  becomes a relic.
  Relics	increase	the	eff	ectiveness	of	the	
  item in a way similar to magic items 
  with a numeric bonus, and the item 
  reduce the piety costs of summoning 
  specifi	c	miracles.	It	is	also	possible	that	
  an existing relic will be ‘upgraded’. For 
  LOCKED POWER:
  CHOSEN ONE
  This power represents the extreme 
  favouritism of the priest’s patron. The 
  priest gains 1 temporary piety per level 
  per day. This temporary piety is lost 
  at the end of the day, and so should 
  be spent daily. This allows a priest a 
  constant supply of power but it does 
  not grant XP though Dogma.
  each	benefi	t	level	the	relic	will	reduce	
  base piety cost of any miracle performed 
  “through” it by 1 (minimum of 1). The 
  item will count as having a magical bonus 
  of	1	per	cumulative	benefi	t	level	of	the	
  relic when wielded by any member of 
  the priest’s faith against supernatural or 
  otherwise	mystical	beings.	These	benefi	ts	
  do not apply on unholy ground. The 
  item transformed should be the one most 
  crucial to completing the task, if there is 
  no	clear	item	to	fi	t	that	role,	the	player	
  should choose the item.
  PROVIDENCE
  This power represents the protective 
  blessings of their patron (or a guardian 
  angel, spiritual pact, or similar supernat-
  ural event). The priest regains all of her 
  luck points after a night’s rest provided 
  she prays or otherwise praises her patron 
  before sleeping.
  
  25
  THE  FORUM  OF  THE  BARDS
  “THE PEN IS MIGHTIER 
  THAN THE SWORD ”
  The term ‘bard’ here is used loosely; 
  it is used as a fantasy catch all for the 
  character who is adept at dealing with 
  people. Unlike many games, the bard 
  has no innate rogue or magical powers. 
  The bard’s power of speech also rivals 
  what a warrior can do with a pointy 
  stick in terms of shaking believability. 
  A powerful bard is the one who can 
  truly convince the emperor of her new 
  clothes, or that a wagon full of onions 
  is worth a wagon full of gold.
  In terms of game play, the bard is only 
  useful if you are going to interact with 
  sentient beings, it may also require a 
  mind shift for many game masters to 
  allow the players to cause massive world 
  changes based on words alone. Powerful 
  bards can be the equivalent of those great 
  orators who occasionally appear in the 
  history and alter civilization. A bard’s 
  powers are intimately based on other 
  sentient beings.
  A bard adventures to boost her image, 
  spread her word and, more importantly, 
  find	followers	to	do	her	work	for	her.
  BARD POWERS
  REPUTATION
  This power represents the fame a bard 
  attracts. This grants the bard and every 
  other player character in the group +1 
  cumulative ‘awesomeness’ per milestone. 
  A bard with one milestone gives every 
  other player character +1 awesomeness 
  but a bard with 2 milestones gives ev-
  ery other player +3 awesomeness. Any 
  characters who levels up with the bard 
  in their party may also re-roll any of 
  their luck dice that rolled equal to or 
  less than this number (1,3,6 or 10) as if 
  they had spent fate points on 
  the re-rolls. If there are multiple 
  bards with this power you could 
  in theory re-roll some of the 
  re-rolls as well.
  LEADERSHIP
  This power represents a bard’s 
  role as a leader and the appear-
  ance of courage. Those near her 
  may use her presence for their 
  own resistance rolls.
  
  26
  SILVER TONGUE
  This power represents the bard’s skill as 
  a master debater and gives a bard the 
  ability to re-roll their intelligence die and 
  choose the better result in any type of 
  social	confl	ict.
  INTERPRET
  This power represents the bard’s skill as 
  a cunning linguist to understand foreign 
  and alien languages at a basic level. 
  Using hand gestures, miming, and by 
  speaking both slowly and loudly in an 
  annoying tourist kind of way the bard 
  can understand and communicate basic 
  terms like ‘Follow’ or ‘Danger’ or ‘The 
  cheese is mouldy, where is the bathroom’. 
  The bard must make a Charisma check, 
  modifi	ed	by	presence.	On	an	epic	success	
  the bard can gain this level of communi-
  cation (including a skill) within an hour, 
  a normal success requires ?d20 hours 
  of communication and a normal failure 
  requires ?d20 days of communication. 
  An epic failure prevents the bard from 
  establishing this level of communication.
  WIT
  This power represents a bard’s ability to 
  lash out with her razor sharp wit and 
  cause deep psychological scars to her 
  victim. While a clever insult or witty 
  pun won’t ever do any physical dam-
  age, it can hold sway with the trickster 
  deities who dole out luck to the various 
  heroes and villains. A scathing remark 
  in combat allows the bard to force an 
  opponent to cash in luck points to avoid 
  taking	infl	uence	from	a	successful	appeal.	
  The	opponent	cannot	choose	to	suff	er	
  infl	uence	instead.	This	only	works	with	
  witty lines in danger-
  ous situations such as 
  combat.
  ORATION
  This power represents 
  the ability of the bard 
  to sway large crowds. 
  Whenever the bard trans-
  forms an appeal into 
  a statement her appeal 
  targets everyone listening.
  
  27
  LOCKED POWER:
  BELOVED
  This power represents the almost su-
  per-human loyalty a bard of this level of 
  skill has with society. A bard with this 
  power can use the luck points of others, 
  allowing them to flow ‘up’ instead of 
  the normal limit of only flowing ‘down’. 
  Note the owner of those luck points 
  have to agree with their use to protect 
  the bard. Henchmen will always allow 
  their luck to be used if they have any.
  PERSONAL ITEM: HENCHMEN
  For a bard to gain a henchman, the bard 
  must score a 10+ on the 2d6.
  Rather than an actual item, bards gain 
  special followers. Any time a bard com-
  pletes a particularly impressive debate, 
  trial, military campaign or similar event, 
  the bard gains an opportunity to acquire 
  a henchman. If the event was particularly 
  epic the bard automatically acquires a 
  henchman.
  The henchman will loyally serve the 
  bard and may take the form of a body-
  guard, squire, personal assistant, student 
  or	some	other	role.	The	main	benefi	t	
  of the henchmen is that the bard can 
  choose to make one of her henchmen 
  suff	er	grisly	death	on	behalf	of	her	or	
  another member of the party. This could 
  include the henchman shoving a bard 
  out	of	the	way	of	a	volley	of	fi	re	from	
  an	ambush,	setting	off		a	dangerous	trap,	
  or being crushed by falling rocks in a 
  landslide. You can feel free to give each 
  henchman a nice red shirt if you would 
  like. The henchman should be someone 
  relevant or related to the bard’s recent 
  task. Henchmen have attributes averaging 
  10 and are normally 0 level. When the 
  bard reaches 10th level, her henchmen 
  advance to 1st level.
  
  28
  THE  SHIP OF FOOLS
  “GOD SMILES ON FOOLS 
  AND DRUNKS”
  A Fool is generic catch all term for a 
  non-adventurer. It includes bumbling 
  jesters,	fish-out-of-water,	and	people	stuck	
  in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
  Anyone who has no business adventuring 
  but is somehow adventuring is a fool. 
  The fates and trickster deities look out 
  for their own however, and they smile 
  a little stronger on the baker caught up 
  in an multidimensional conspiracy than 
  they do on the warrior monk destined 
  to be a hero who has trained all her life.
  There are no powers to go with the fool 
  class save this one. For each pie piece 
  wasted on the fool class, gains a bonus 
  to awesomeness at the end of every 
  game session and increases their Luck 
  Die by one die step. The luck die is how 
  many luck points per level a character 
  has, and these are very useful as they 
  keep	you	from	suffering	damage,	being	
  caught sneaking, or being possessed by 
  demons.	They	fill	the	niche	“hitpoints”	
  have in many games.
  Pieces
  Die
  Modifier
  0
  d6
  +0
  1
  d8
  +1
  2
  d10
  +3
  3
  d12
  +6
  4
  d20
  +7
  After creation, a character may trade in 
  their pie pieces wasted on the fool class 
  for other pie pieces in any other class 
  provided	they	can	find	an	appropriate	
  mentor, along with the time and/or 
  montage required. This lowers their luck 
  die	and	luck	modifier	as	appropriate	but	
  not their luck point total.
  
  29
  CHARACTER TRAITS i
  Traits are a way to customize starting 
  characters. Each trait contains a pro and 
  matching con. Each character can start 
  with up to two traits. Traits cannot nor-
  mally be selected after character creation.
  A list of sample traits is provide below, 
  and you may wish to create additional 
  traits for your game. The general rule 
  is a pro that will impact the character, 
  and a con that will impact the character. 
  If a character can ignore the con with 
  a	specific	build,	it	is	no	longer	a	con;	it	
  is just a free bonus.
  NATURAL TALENT
  You are a naturally talented individual 
  and life has just dealt you a good hand. 
  You gain +2 to all attribute scores. No 
  attribute score may exceed 20.
  You also just tended to coast through 
  life, relying on natural talent and failing 
  to learn practical life lessons. You start 
  the game with one fewer pie piece to 
  determine class. If you are playing in a 
  more mythical setting, consider instead 
  having this trait be “Supernatural Talent” 
  and instead of giving +2 to all attribute 
  scores, have the character’s highest attri-
  bute score be considered “Supernatural”.
  ZEALOUS
  Zealous individuals are so single minded 
  in	any	conflict	that	they	may	ignore	the	
  effects	of	any	accrued	points	on	dX	
  conflict	rolls,	but	are	always	reckless	in	
  conflict	dX	rolls.
  ELITE TRAINING
  You spent your youth being honed into 
  an elite force. You may select an extra pie 
  piece at character creation, though you 
  may not have more than three in one 
  class (unless you bug your GM until she 
  groans	and	says	“fine,	be	a	munchkin	
  special	snowflake”	and	everyone	rolls	their	
  eyes so you can “win” at imagination.)
  Unfortunately the fates don’t seem too 
  interested in the ‘likely hero’ that everyone 
  saw coming. You have a Luck Die one 
  size smaller than normal (base d4), and 
  an extra -1 awesomeness.
  BULL HEADED
  You know what is what and are steadfast 
  in your convictions. When making a Will 
  check or rolling the Will die, re-roll the 
  die and choose the better result. You 
  are also less open to new ideas. When 
  making an intelligence check or rolling 
  the intelligence die, re-roll the die and 
  choose the worse result.
  MUSCLE BOUND
  You’ve got visibly burly muscles. You may 
  re-roll any strength checks, or rolls of the 
  strength die and choose the better result.
  Because these big muscles impede your 
  movements, you must re-roll any agility 
  checks or rolls of the agility die and 
  choose the worse result.
  ARROGANT
  You are so full of unrepentant pride and 
  self-confidence	that	opponents	must	beat	
  your defence by 10 to score a critical 
  success	in	a	social	conflict.
  
  30
  This also means you tend to dig yourself 
  in worse rather than admit mistakes. Any 
  epic	failure	in	a	social	conflict	causes	a	
  !d10	influence	instead	of	a	normal	!d4.
  BARBARIAN
  What do you know of cultured ways, 
  the gilt, the craft and the lie? You, who 
  were born in a naked land and bred 
  in the open sky. You may re-roll any 
  health checks, or rolls of the health die 
  and choose the better result. You must 
  re-roll any Charisma checks or rolls of 
  the Charisma die and choose the worse 
  result.
  MONSTROUS
  The	first	instinct	of	those	who	see	you	is	
  revulsion and terror. This trait should not 
  normally be used for player characters and 
  should be reserved for monsters. Appeals 
  from a Monstrous being do not cause 
  influence	and	instead	of	cause	fear.	The	
  amount of fear dealt (and received) from 
  appeals	by	Monstrous	beings	is	affected	
  by Size in the same manner as damage.
  SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
  Characters in NGR starts with a number 
  of skills equal to their intelligence score. 
  Skills represent the large amount of 
  training an individual will pick up that 
  is not directly related to the character’s 
  archetype. Skills fall into three categories: 
  Languages, Knowledge and Weapons.
  Languages represent the written or spo-
  ken tongues of the world. There is no 
  default language that everyone speaks, 
  so languages are quite important. Being 
  able to speak a language does not give 
  you the ability to read a language and 
  vice versa. If you can speak a language 
  and read another language with the same 
  alphabet you can probably manage to 
  grasp basic concepts through reading.
  Knowledge skills are the most useful 
  and versatile skills. Beyond being used in 
  investigations, skills have several uses. A 
  skill may be used to grant a +2 knowledge 
  bonus to related attribute checks or a +1 
  bonus to a lone attribute die. Someone 
  with wood lore might gain a +2 bonus to 
  a Perception saving throw in the woods 
  or a +1 bonus on their Intelligence die 
  when convincing someone not to wander 
  into the woods at night. Skills may also 
  be used in conjunction with attribute 
  checks to perform tasks. An individual 
  with blacksmithing may be required to 
  complete a set of strength and Perception 
  checks to forge a high quality sword. 
  Players are encouraged to think up of 
  their own general skills. Skills that are 
  deemed too broad by group consensus 
  must be broken into specialities. Skills 
  cannot be added multiple times when 
  multiple attribute dice are being rolled.
  Weapon skills are also considered knowl-
  edge skills, but with an important second 
  function. Characters are assumed to 
  be skilled in any weapons required or 
  commonly used with that skill. A char-
  acter with fencing would know how to 
  use swords, a lumberjack an axe, and a 
  butcher a knife. If a character is using a 
  weapon they have no training with, the 
  
  31
  weapon gains the unsuitable tag.
  Characters may attempt to gain a new skill 
  each season they spend training full time. 
  Character’s make an intelligence check 
  at the end of the season. If the character 
  succeeds they have gained the new skill. 
  The time will be increased if the character 
  has less time to study. If studying part 
  time for instance the check will be after 
  half of a year. As an optional rule a player 
  may sing an appropriate montage song 
  while making the intelligence check. If 
  she	fails	the	first	check,	the	character	
  may make a re-roll 30 seconds later, 
  providing she is still singing the song 
  and has not yet admitted to forgetting 
  the words. Other players are allowed 
  to join in and provide backup to better 
  mask her failure. Also note that due to 
  the	vast	potential	for	specific	skills,	almost	
  anything could count as full time training. 
  Being locked in prison might give one 
  the opportunity to learn the “isolation” 
  or “being shackled” skill. Also note that 
  a skill just means you are better at an 
  activity than a non-skilled person. A 
  skill called “drinking acid” doesn’t mean 
  you can drink acid and live, merely that 
  you’ll get +2 on your -20 check to avoid 
  dying instantly.
  CREATING A GROUP 
  TEMPLATE
  When a new group of characters is 
  built, it is important to have a group 
  template. This gives the characters a 
  reason to band together beyond meeting 
  in a tavern. Each character must have 
  at least two relationships to other party 
  members; the character whose player 
  is seated to the left and the character 
  whose player is seated to the right. You 
  cannot alter another character’s history 
  without the other player’s consent. If you 
  chose ‘Romance’, you could not declare 
  the two character’s had dated, but you 
  could declare that your character had a 
  crush on the other character. Likewise 
  if you chose ‘Family’ it does not mean 
  the character considers your character 
  family or that there is a blood relation. 
  It may simply be that for some reason 
  your character considers the other ‘like 
  family’. Perhaps your character knew her 
  parents. Each relationship has a slight 
  mechanical	benefit.
  A set of example relationships is listed 
  below. Feel free to create other relation-
  ships with GM 
  
  32
  FAMILY
  Character +1 fate
  Target +1 fate
  Example This relationship represents 
  a blood relation, adoption, or a strong 
  friendship or sense of obligation resem-
  bling family. For example, you could be 
  the child of a close family friend to the 
  other character. Either way, your character 
  feels a familial bond.
  PROTECTOR
  Character +1 luck point
  Target +1 fate
  Example This relationship represents a 
  sense of strong protectiveness. A parent, 
  a bodyguard, or a trusted lady-in-waiting 
  is examples of a protector. A character 
  could feel protective of a character they 
  have only recently met and it does not 
  need to imply a long history. Never the 
  less the relationship is strong and not 
  merely a passing sensation.
  ROMANCE
  Character +1 luck point
  Target +1 luck point
  Example This relationship covers ev-
  erything from long-term marriages to 
  unrequited love. This is a romance be-
  yond minor attraction or infatuation and 
  is unlikely to ever fully leave the mind 
  of the character.
  EMPLOYEE
  Character $500 in coin or jewellery
  Target Gains: zilch
  Example	This	represents	any	financial	
  relationship; the character has been paid 
  and has a job to do. This could be that 
  your character was paid by the target, 
  or paid by a third party to watch over 
  the target or perform some other action. 
  This relationship also requires enough of 
  a dedication to reputation or work ethic 
  that this is a major impact on behaviour.
  HIGHER CALLING
  Character 50 Piety
  Target +1 luck point
  Example This represents a sense of 
  divine duty. Perhaps your character be-
  lieves the other is the chosen one, or 
  simply	part	of	a	wayward	flock.	Either	
  way your character sees their destiny as 
  dependent on the safety of the target.
  LIFE DEBT
  Character +250XP
  Target +1 fate
  Example This represents a deep sense 
  that the character owes their life to the 
  target. Perhaps the target saved their 
  village, spared their life, or saved them 
  personally. This could also represent a 
  debt that the character feels she owes to 
  the target’s bloodline, nation, or spe-
  cies. Either way, the character feels an 
  unshakable debt to the target.
  
  33
  STARTING EQUIPMENT
  Generating a starting set of equipment 
  can take a fair amount of time if you 
  wish full control over each individual item 
  based on a cash value. Starting characters 
  are given their strength score in ‘dots’ 
  of equipment. This equipment can be 
  decided	during	the	first	game	session	as	
  needed. Should a character need rope to 
  cross a chasm, as long as they have 4 dots 
  left in their inventory then they luckily 
  happened to have brought some along. 
  All of these items should be mundane 
  and common items, with the exception 
  of 1 special item such as military grade 
  equipment, luxury items, specialist tools, 
  or highly illegal items. Any unused starting 
  ‘dots’ should count as a extra coin the 
  character has back home (say 25 coins). 
  If a character with 10 strength only used 5 
  dots of “Schrodinger’s inventory” during 
  the	first	game	sessions	and	picked	up	3	
  dots worth of loot, the character would 
  have an additional 125 coins (5 unused 
  starting dots x 25 coins).
  As an alternative, the GM may outlay a 
  set of starting “equipment packs”. Char-
  acters can instead just announce their 
  starting equipment pack and begin play 
  with the listed items. This would mean 
  the character would lose the advantage 
  of “just in time” equipment during their 
  first	adventure.	Listed	below	are	some	
  example equipment packs; you are en-
  couraged to think of your own starting 
  packs	that	fit	with	the	flavour	of	your	
  game world.
  WANDERER
  A wanderer’s pack contains very little. It 
  has	a	staff	or	walking	stick	and	a	single	
  tool. This tool could be a set of lock picks, 
  a holy symbol, or a wizard’s grimoire. 
  Choosing the wanderer’s pack also gives 
  the character 2 extra fate points.
  EXPLORER
  An explorer’s pack contains a large 
  number of useful items. It contains a 
  rope and grapnel, a set of light armour, 
  a backpack with two weeks of food, a 
  full	wineskin,	a	set	of	flint	and	steel,	a	
  piece of navigational equipment (often 
  a map or lantern), 2 militia weapons or 
  weapons that double for non-military 
  purposes, and one small weapon such 
  as a dagger or small sword.
  WEALTHY
  A wealthy person’s pack contains very 
  little of immediate use. It contains a set 
  of	fancy	clothes,	a	fine	fur	cape	or	cloak,	
  an expensive hat, an ornate and high 
  quality personal weapon such as a sword 
  or dagger, 1 tool such as lock picks or a 
  holy symbol, 3 pieces of jewellery worth 
  $500 or more each, and $1,000 in coins.
  MILITARY
  A military pack contains equipment 
  needed for front line combat. It contains 
  a helmet, a set of mail, a shield, 1 militia 
  weapon, 1 small weapon and 1 weapon 
  of choice.
  
  34
  MERCHANT
  A merchant’s pack contains a beast of 
  burden and a wagon, or a riding ani-
  mal. It also contains a backpack with 
  two weeks of food, a full wineskin, 
  a navigational tool such as a lantern 
  or map, 1 self-defence weapon, a set 
  of light armour, and $1,000 in coins 
  or a single tradable good.
  NOMAD
  A nomad’s pack contains a bow or 
  set of throwing weapons, a backpack 
  with two weeks of food, a full water 
  skin, a hunting animal, and a tool 
  such as lock picks, a holy symbol, 
  or a grimoire.
  CHARACTER MORALITY
  All characters must select a morality 
  by	the	end	of	their	first	game	session.	
  Moralities come in two pieces, a major 
  and minor concern. The major concern 
  is the most important moral consideration 
  that guides an individual’s actions. The 
  minor concern is the moral or ethical 
  consideration an individual will strive 
  for as long as it does not interfere with 
  their major concern.
  One part of morality (either major or 
  minor) will be a choice between personal 
  liberty and external rules. This can take 
  many	different	forms,	however	the	player	
  chooses to write it. Terms like freedom, 
  liberty, chaotic, anarchistic or independent 
  are found on one axis while terms like 
  honourable, obedient, lawful or pious 
  are on the other axis. The second part of 
  morality (again either major or minor) is 
  the choice between self-interest and the 
  good of the community. This too can 
  be put in any terms the player wishes, 
  such	as	good	versus	evil,	selfless	versus	
  selfish	or	compassionate	versus	uncaring.
  In such a system, many variations can 
  occur. An honourable good warrior may 
  be best friends with a good honourable 
  warrior until faced with a dilemma over 
  choose the good path or the honourable 
  path. Note that morality represents only 
  how the character feels, not how they 
  act.	A	good	person	could	still	set	fire	to	
  an orphanage; the character would just 
  be driven with nigh unbearable guilt. 
  Likewise	a	selfish	pirate	captain	might	
  uncharacteristically put her life in danger 
  to rescue stranded nuns, the pirate captain 
  would merely feel stupid the entire time.
  
  35
  LUCK  BE  A LADY
  TONIGHT…
  The	final	step	when	creating	a	new	
  character is to pick a ‘lucky number’ 
  between 1 and 20 inclusive. This will 
  be	important	for	any	conflicts	you	enter.	
  When you roll it on a d20, please be sure 
  to bring it up and complain if something 
  cool doesn’t happen. Characters have 
  one lucky number per milestone they 
  have passed.
  SO THIS BOOK SEEMS 
  TO KEEP GOING…
  Yes	yes,	so	you	want	the	cliff	notes	of	
  what other information you need? Make 
  sure	to	fill	in	where	it	says	“Luck	Points”	
  those are used to avoid damage (combat), 
  stress (mental possession), and suspicion 
  (getting caught sneaking about). If you 
  take 5 damage, you want to be able to 
  cash in 5 luck points. You normally have 
  a number equal to the max roll on your 
  “Luck die” (Its based on how many pie 
  pieces you “wasted” on Fool).
  MANA
  Only elves and some wizards have mana. 
  You might have an amount equal to the 
  max roll on your “Will die” (look at 
  the die associated with your Will stat, 
  the eighth one). Mana is used to fuel 
  wizard abilities.
  PIETY
  Anyone can collect piety, but only priests 
  really need it in the short term. Most 
  priests start with 20. You cash in piety 
  to summon miracles (assuming your 
  priest has the miracle power). If you 
  don’t have the miracle power you need a 
  vastly larger amount (100x), enough you 
  don’t need to worry about it right now. 
  You gain more piety by doing priestly 
  duties (smiting heathens, converting 
  people, burying the dead, etc).
  FATE POINTS
  Fate points have a few uses, but think 
  of them as re-rolls.
  You gain more fate points by being 
  awesome,	specifically	by	taking	extra	
  risk purely for style. If you want more 
  fate points, be an instigator. Even if you 
  know its a bad idea, have your greedy 
  cut-purse steal gems from the “Cursed 
  Cave of Wonders”, or have your Dwarven 
  warrior get drunk when she should be 
  keeping watch. See where it says destiny 
  points? Keep going if you are new. They 
  won’t come up unless its your birthday. 
  Where it says XP, mark down enough 
  to get you to level 1. This is usually a 
  thousand plus or minus up to three 
  hundred depending on your intelligence, 
  but don’t worry about that much.
  
  36
  MODIFIERS
  The	5	modifiers	(Combat,	
  Presence, Stealth, Occult and 
  Faith) are based upon your 
  class, level and attributes. 
  That was already covered 
  back on page 13. Combat, 
  Presence and Stealth are 
  used	directly	in	“Conflicts”.	
  Which is a fancy way of 
  saying what happens when 
  you get in a disagreement 
  with another party. There are 
  specific	rules	but	the	basic	
  is that you will go round 
  by round, taking actions 
  that usually involve some 
  manner of rolling a d20 
  and	adding	your	modifier	
  while the opponent rolls a 
  d20	and	adds	their	modifier.	
  Combat	for	fighting,	Stealth	
  for sneaking and Presence 
  for convincing people. If you hit or are 
  hit by these rolls you’ll take or deal a die 
  of damage(combat), suspicion(stealth) 
  or stress(presence). This is where you 
  need those luck points to avoid death/
  capture/discrediting.
  If you have that much information you 
  can	play	along	and	figure	out	the	rest	
  as you go.
  
  ADVENTURING
  
  38
  ADVENTURING
  GOING OUT AND
  ADVENTURING
  Adventuring can be a dangerous business. 
  Simply living can be a dangerous business 
  in troubled times. There will frequently 
  be dangerous situations where characters 
  must navigate hazardous terrain, avoid 
  traps and overcome similar obstacles.
  The chief mechanism for resolving such 
  obstacles is careful attention to details 
  and quick thinking. When that fails, you 
  might be able to pull your behind out 
  of	the	fire	using	an	attribute	check	or	a	
  variant of the attribute check known as 
  a saving throw. The primary penalty for 
  failing	these	last	ditch	efforts	is	accruing	
  various types of negative points, the chief 
  one being damage. These all accrue 
  against an attribute and cause increasing 
  penalties. When the accrued points equal 
  the attribute something bad happens like 
  death, dishonour, or potentially a word 
  that doesn’t even start with ‘d’.
  The main reason this chain of bad events 
  leading to death occurs is the limiting 
  factor of how many things a person can 
  do at once. An individual can only take 
  two actions at any given time. While 
  that is most important when involved in 
  conflicts,	such	as	a	fight,	it	still	applies	
  when just roaming about. To understand 
  the reason the limit of two actions is 
  important requires the understanding that 
  talking to someone, defending yourself 
  from potential attack, keeping watch, and 
  moving are all distinct actions. If someone 
  is both defending themselves and keep 
  watching for foes sneaking up on them 
  they can’t move. If they are moving and 
  defending themselves they are not keeping 
  watch. This is complicated further when 
  other temporary actions occur. If an 
  individual is moving and roots around 
  in their backpack they either stop and 
  end up behind the rest of their party or 
  cease defending themselves. This means 
  that things can strike you at a vulnerable 
  moment.
  KEEPING YOUR COOL
  Throughout this book it will refer to 
  dX this is actually a series of possible 
  dice, or no die at all. It is based on the 
  assumption of rolling a d20 and adding 
  a score to the result. The bonus added to 
  the die roll can exceed the roll of the die 
  (you could have +20 on a roll of a 4). 
  A	natural	roll	of	a	20	before	modifiers	
  is called an “Epic Success” and always 
  succeeds while a roll of a natural 1 is 
  called an “Epic Failure” and always fails. 
  The	difference	is	that	a	character	does	
  not need to use a d20. A character who 
  is CALM and collected can choose to 
  always count a roll as a natural 10 on 
  the die. If that looks unlikely to succeed 
  a character can become ON EDGE and 
  instead roll 3d6 to generate a natural result 
  between 3 and 18. A character who is 
  either CALM or ON EDGE can also 
  become RECKLESS and roll a d20 to 
  
  39
  Task is Considered
  Modifier
  ...or required score
  Impossible
  -20
  40
  Gruelling (very hard)
  -10
  30
  Hard
  -5
  25
  Difficult
  -2
  22
  Normal
  0
  20
  Straightforward
  +2
  18
  Easy
  +5
  15
  Very Simple
  +10
  10
  Utterly Trivial
  +20
  0
  ATTRIBUTE  CHECK MODIFIERS
  generate a natural result between 1 and 
  20. The important note is that once you 
  shift from CALM to ON EDGE, or 
  to RECKLESS from either CALM or 
  ON EDGE you cannot revert for the 
  remainder of the adventure (or until you 
  choose to have a restful nights sleep in 
  a safe area away from danger). It is in 
  essence a risk spiral where a character 
  becomes less stable.
  A character always becomes at least ON 
  EDGE when they spend luck points A 
  character will become RECKLESS if 
  they spend fate points.
  ATTRIBUTE CHECKS
  One of the core mechanics in NGR is 
  the humble attribute check. This is used 
  for any situation in which you cannot 
  think of a more suitable mechanic or 
  where one may not exist. An attribute 
  check requires a player to roll a dX and 
  add her attribute score as well as any 
  modifiers	from	skills.	If	this	is	a	task	
  of ‘man against nature’ the score must 
  equal or exceed 20 to succeed. If this 
  is a case of ‘man against man’ or some 
  other form of competitive test, the roll 
  is required to score higher than one’s 
  opponent in order to succeed.
  It will frequently be important to modify 
  an	attribute	check	by	the	difficulty	of	the	
  goal. While kicking down a steel door 
  and a rotted wooden door may both 
  require strength checks, one will be 
  considerably	more	difficult	to	accomplish.	
  The	following	suggested	modifiers	may	
  be	used	to	customize	a	difficulty.
  While	it	may	seem	easier	to	use	different	“target	numbers”,	it	can	get	more	difficult	
  in	opposed	situations.	If	you	are	trying	a	hard	manoeuvre	to	push	someone	off	a	
  ledge, they won’t need to even resist your roll if you score below 0.
  
  40
  THE VENERABLE
  SAVING THROW
  Occasionally, characters will encoun-
  ter events where they have but a split 
  second for a chance to avoid crippling 
  injury or certain death. These events 
  allow a character to declare a course 
  of action to try and avoid the injury 
  through making an attribute check such 
  as dodging falling rocks or avoiding a 
  ball	of	fire.	Normally	this	action	has	to	
  be related to one of the two actions the 
  character is currently performing. If they 
  are defending themselves as an action 
  this can be pretty
  much anything. Skills, tools, or other 
  factors can modify these checks in the 
  same manner as a normal attribute check. 
  They may roll one dX per milestone 
  they have passed and then choose the 
  best result. 0th level characters with no 
  milestones do not get a saving throw.
  The type of action a player makes de-
  termines	how	effective	the	action	will	be	
  if it succeeds. This does not necessarily 
  mean the task is any easier or more 
  difficult	to	attempt,	only	how	effective	it	
  will	be	if	it	is	pulled	off.	Rolling	a	lucky	
  number on a saving throw may trigger 
  an	opportunity	attack	(see	the	conflict	
  section), so long as it can be tied to 
  a direct result of the action taken by 
  the character making the saving throw. 
  For example, if a character dodged a 
  lightning bolt spell the character could 
  not declare the spell missed, hit the wall 
  behind the character and bounced back 
  to the caster, as that is not really based 
  upon the action of the character that 
  made the saving throw. The character 
  could declare that she landed at the base 
  of a bookshelf and tipped it over, falling 
  towards the caster.
  If a saving throw option lists a partial 
  option, such as ‘full or half’ and there is 
  no way to adjudicate the partial option, 
  treat the lesser option as ‘nothing’. For 
  example,	if	one	is	dodging	a	fireball	then	
  ‘half’ would represent half damage but if 
  dodging a shrink ray it either connects 
  or does not so a successful dodge would 
  remove	all	effects.	A	saving	throw	may	
  fall under the following categories:
  SAVING THROW
  CATEGORIES
  Saving Throw is
  Fail or Success
  Crazy enough to work!
  Double or 
  Nothing
  A standard response.
  Normal or Half
  A brilliant defence!
  Half or Quarter
  A plan that is crazy enough to work might 
  include leaping at a lightning bolt and 
  hoping it goes underneath you, while 
  a	standard	response	covers	the	five	D’s	
  (duck, dodge, dip, dive or dodge) and a 
  brilliant defence may include a plan such 
  as throwing the chest of treasure you are 
  carrying	into	the	path	of	the	fireball	to	
  cause it to detonate prematurely. Epic 
  successes always result in ‘Nothing’ while 
  epic failures always result in ‘Double’.
  I do want to stress that the player has to 
  actually announce what they are doing 
  and it should be a quick decision. Often 
  
  41
  I will describe to the players a small click 
  or a tug at their boot and mentally count 
  to three. If someone hasn’t announced 
  they are doing something they do not get 
  a saving throw. If this is a new player to 
  the game, give them one warning where 
  you explain the concept and let them 
  think about a saving throw. Players get 
  jumpy all on their own after that or at 
  worst	after	the	first	grisly	decapitation.
  DAMAGE AND OTHER
  ACCRUED POINTS
  As mentioned, the main risk of failing 
  to overcome an obstacle is some sort of 
  accrued point unless you count things 
  like lost time or blocked passage as risks. 
  These points build up until the total is 
  equal to some attribute of the character 
  in question. The more points a character 
  accrues the greater the penalties they 
  suffer.	When	the	points	accrued	exceed	
  half of the attribute an additional penalty 
  is	suffered	and	when	they	match	
  the	attribute	a	final	penalty	is	
  suffered.	Damage	for	example	
  causes an increasing universal 
  penalty to all die rolls, incapac-
  itation,	and	finally	death.
  The following are some com-
  mon examples but you can 
  also use them as templates for 
  cases representing special perils. 
  Some types of points that accrue 
  against the same attribute “stack”. 
  This means that their penalties 
  are not combined but they do 
  count towards the halfway and 
  full	effect	of	the	other.	It	is	pos-
  sible for two types of points to accrue 
  one way, but not the other. Someone 
  who is stressed is easier to convince in 
  an	argument	(stacking	stress	onto	influ-
  ence) but someone you have convinced 
  to sell goods at a discount is not easier 
  to	drive	insane	(influence	does	not	stack	
  onto stress).
  The three most common accrued points 
  for adventuring are Damage, Suspicion, 
  and Stress. If you really wanted to, you 
  could roll most other types of accrued 
  points into one of those three.
  
  42
  COMMON TYPES
  Damage
  Accrues
  against Strength
  Penalties
  -1 to dX rolls per point.
  Effect
  Death
  Halfway
  Incapacitation
  Removal
  Once a week a health check is 
  made. See the “Healing” section 
  for more information.
  Uses
  Anything that could cause perma-
  nent	physical	injuries	(fires,	falls,	
  cuts, and stabbings)
  Stun (Temporary Damage)
  Accrues
  against Strength
  Penalties
  As damage
  Effect
  Additional stun counts as damage.
  Halfway
  Unconsciousness
  Removal
  Stun can be dissipated at a rate 
  of 1 per action spent successfully 
  regaining composure (requires a 
  health check).
  Uses
  Stun encompasses anything that is 
  meant to knock out an individual, 
  mostly blunt force trauma but also 
  things like oxygen deprivation 
  or pain.
  Special
  Damage stacks as stun.
  Suspicion
  Accrues
  against Agility
  Penalties
  -1 penalty to evade rolls per point
  Effect
  Exposed/Caught
  Halfway
  Inability to move or take aggressive 
  actions	without	suffering	Full	Effect	
  immediately
  Removal
  Suspicion resets each time the 
  full	effect	is	suffered	(or	sufficient	
  time passes)
  Uses
  Anything that draws notice. Open-
  ing creaky doors, letting light out 
  of a window, or breaking a door 
  would all cause suspicion.
  Special
  Often suspicion targets everyone 
  present. IE, if someone knocks 
  over a lamp those nearby might 
  take suspicion. If someone present 
  can reduce the suspicion taken, it 
  is reduced for everyone.
  Stress
  Accrues
  against Will
  Penalties
  -1 penalty to resistance rolls per 
  point
  Effect
  Insanity (or possession)
  Halfway
  (no	additional	effect)
  Removal
  Each week an individual avoids 
  rolling	any	dice	in	a	conflict	reduces	
  stress by 1.
  Uses
  Stress	is	often	a	side	effect	of	casting	
  magic	or	suffering	psychic	horrors	
  such as a haunted house.
  
  43
  Influence (Temporary Stress)
  Accrues
  against Will
  Penalties
  as Stress
  Effect
  Discredited in an argument
  Halfway
  (no	additional	effect)
  Removal
  Influence	resets	each	time	the	
  full	effect	is	suffered	(or	sufficient	
  time passes)
  Uses
  Influence	is	usually	only	scored	in	
  social	conflicts/arguments.
  Special
  Stress and Fear both stack as in-
  fluence.
  Disease
  Accrues
  against Health
  Penalties
  -1 penalty to all forms of health 
  checks per point
  Effect
  Death
  Halfway
  Nausea	causes	the	“Off	Balance”	
  effect.
  Removal
  Disease is healed as if it were 
  damage and must be healed before 
  damage.
  Uses
  Any form of generic contagion, 
  infection or plague. For specif-
  ic	diseases	with	a	tailored	effect	
  consider using a method similar 
  to	specific	poisons.
  Special
  If an individual gains a point of 
  Disease they will also usually gain 
  an	effect	tag	related	to	the	disease	
  in	question.	The	specific	disease	
  will have its own rules for both 
  spreading and curing the disease. 
  Characters in a state of grace do 
  not receive these tags.
  Poison (Temporary Disease)
  Accrues
  against Health
  Penalties
  as Disease
  Effect
  Additional poison counts as disease 
  that cannot be soaked through luck
  Halfway
  Nausea	causes	the	“Off	Balance”	
  effect.
  Removal
  Removal Accrued poison is reduced 
  by 1 every twelve hours.
  Uses
  Despite being called “poison” it 
  can model venomous bites, toxin 
  coated needles, and other chem-
  icals.	For	very	specific	poisons	
  with	a	tailored	effect,	they	should	
  not accrue points in this fashion 
  and should instead be given an 
  equivalent point value.
  Special
  When accrued poison naturally 
  reduces every twelve hours an 
  individual must make a health 
  check. Failure causes a point of 
  damage. Disease stacks as Poison.
  
  44
  UNCOMMON HAZARDS
  Intoxicants
  Accrues
  against Health
  Penalties
  -1 penalty to all resistance rolls 
  per point
  Effect
  Sleep or Paralysis. Additional intox-
  icant counts as poison that cannot 
  be soaked through luck
  Halfway
  Nausea	causes	the	“Off	Balance”	
  effect.
  Removal
  Accrued intoxicant is reduced by 
  1 every hour
  Uses
  Recreational chemicals, tranquil-
  izers, and sleeping powders are 
  great uses for this type of accrued 
  point.	For	very	specific	intoxicants	
  with	a	tailored	effect,	they	should	
  not accrue points in this fashion 
  and should instead be given an 
  equivalent point value much like 
  poisons.
  Special
  Each point of intoxicant increases 
  a character’s maximum mana pool 
  by 1. Stress and Poison stack with 
  Intoxicants.
  Fear
  Accrues
  against Will
  Penalties
  -1 penalty to resistance rolls per 
  point
  Effect
  Suffer	panic	(broken	morale)	or	
  additional fear becomes Stress.
  Halfway
  (no	additional	effect)
  Removal
  Fear resets each time the panic is 
  suffered	or	after	sleeping.
  Uses
  Morale loss, some forms of super-
  natural mental interference.
  Special
  Damage and Stress stack with Fear.
  Infamy
  Accrues
  against Charisma
  Penalties
  -1 to appeal rolls against authority 
  figures
  Effect
  Criminal accusations
  Halfway
  Leeriness	from	authority	figures	
  and upstanding citizenry
  Removal
  Special circumstances such as serv-
  ing a sentence or gaining a pardon
  Uses
  This is a somewhat abstract way to 
  measure an individual’s standing 
  with	the	law	in	specific	polities.	It	
  has no need to be used in games 
  with a more stable environment, 
  but it can be useful to measure the 
  odds of getting arrested in two-bit 
  stopover towns between adventures. 
  Special Damage doesn’t usually 
  stack with Infamy.
  Special
  -
  
  45
  Mutation
  Accrues
  against Health
  Penalties
  Mostly cosmetic
  Effect
  Irreversible mutation (barring 
  magic)
  Halfway
  The mutation becomes glaringly 
  obvious
  Removal
  Mutation is healed as if it were 
  damage and must be healed after 
  damage. Mutation points are reset 
  after	the	full	effect	occurs	and	the	
  mutation or polymorph becomes 
  permanent
  Uses
  This is mostly a way to deal with 
  magical traps like turning someone 
  into a toad or magical radioactive 
  fields	such	as	roaming	the	mystic	
  wastes. It means that someone can 
  be partially transformed into a toad.
  Special
  Whenever someone with accrued 
  mutation	points	suffers	additional	
  damage due to a failed healing 
  check, they also accrue an addi-
  tional mutation point. Each source 
  of mutation point has their own 
  score (ie someone with 10 health 
  could have 5 points of mutation 
  towards being a chicken and 8 
  points towards being a dragon. 
  They are two separate pools)
  The Unknown
  Accrues
  against Nothing
  Penalties
  Nothing immediate
  Effect
  Nothing
  Halfway
  Nothing
  Removal
  Special circumstances such as serv-
  ing a sentence or gaining a pardon
  Uses
  Buckets	of	water,	clouds	of	flour,	
  and anything else that is currently 
  completely innocuous. If a villain-
  ous sort throws a bucket of pig’s 
  blood on you (and it isn’t acid, 
  or	on	fire,	or	any	such	thing)	this	
  would be a use of ‘Unknown’.
  Special
  The reason that this type of damage 
  is important is that if someone is 
  facing 5 points of pig’s blood they 
  can usually negate the accrual of 
  points by cashing in luck points. 
  You can decide if being coated in 
  blood is worth 5 luck points you 
  could use to avoid an arrow to 
  the knee later.
  
  46
  LUCK POINTS
  These accrued points quickly begin 
  a “death spiral” making it harder and 
  harder to succeed. To avoid this, those 
  who possess them will probably cash 
  in “Luck Points” to negate the various 
  types of points on a 1:1 basis (after size 
  modifiers	are	applied).
  Luck points can be spent to cancel not 
  only points scored against the character 
  (damage,	influence,	suspicion)	but	also	
  to protect someone in their care such as 
  a mount, sidekick, or pet. Luck points 
  can only be transferred downwards. A 
  knight could use 5 luck points to protect 
  her squire but the squire could not use 
  her luck points to protect the knight. It 
  is important to note that luck cannot be 
  spent	to	remove	points	already	suffered.	
  If the knight doesn’t use luck points to 
  negate damage now the knight cannot 
  use her luck to heal the wound later. 
  Any ability that lets you trade in luck 
  points on a better than 1:1 basis (Com-
  bat Awareness, Specialist, or Exorcism) 
  is	based	on	the	individual	suffering	the	
  points, not the one supplying the luck 
  to negate them.
  INVESTIGATIONS i
  There are times when the characters 
  don’t merely follow a trail of easily 
  visible breadcrumbs from adventure to 
  adventure. This is where investigations 
  come into play. Assuming the characters 
  have time to patrol and search the area, 
  talk to people in town and so forth, 
  consider using the following method. 
  The characters pick a general skill they 
  have, which they think may give them 
  useful knowledge on the object, event, 
  or person in question. They spend the 
  next few minutes in game time collecting 
  evidence based on that skill. The GM 
  then gives the characters information 
  based upon that knowledge skill.
  For example, if the party stumbles across 
  a stone slab in the middle of the woods 
  and pauses to investigate. Friar Jon uses 
  the ‘religion’ skill, while Fladnag uses 
  her ‘astrology’ skill and Thorbardin the 
  dwarf uses ‘stone working’. Friar Jon 
  learns that the slab shows no sign of 
  ritual	sacrifice	being	completed	upon	
  it, such as bloodstains. Fladnag learns 
  that the slab will perfectly align with the 
  equinox. Thorbardin learns that metal 
  tools have not worked the stone, though 
  there is evidence of sanding over the last 
  few hundred years. The party concludes 
  that the slab may be useful but it has 
  most likely been abandoned for some 
  time and is not a threat. An important 
  note is that someone cannot usually be 
  investigating, defending themselves and 
  keeping watch as that would be three 
  actions. This is especially important when 
  a travelling character is investigating the 
  terrain, such as looking for game trails 
  with a tracking skill.
  
  47
  REGAINING HEALTH,
  LUCK AND MANA
  HEALING INJURIES (ALSO,
  TRAVELLING)
  While accrued points list their methods 
  of removal, there is a special relevance to 
  natural healing. Unlike luck points, real 
  injuries heal much slower. Once a week 
  a character makes a health check to heal 
  1 point. Usually this roll has penalties 
  due	to	their	injuries.	The	first	thing	
  that must be healed is disease, followed 
  by	damage,	and	then	finally	mutations.	
  On an epic success, or a success by 10 
  or more, two points are healed. On an 
  epic failure, or a failure by 10 or more, 
  1 point of damage is accrued that cannot 
  be negated from luck as things turn 
  south. Other penalties may exist if the 
  individual is mutated or diseased. Mutation 
  can progress for example . Exceedingly 
  sanitary or unsanitary conditions can 
  increase	the	benefits	or	penalties	to	those	
  rolls. Hiding in a sewer might grant a 
  -10 penalty, while being in a sterile en-
  vironment with nurses might grant +5.
  If characters are travelling through the 
  wilderness, this same healing mechanic 
  can be used to determine any possible 
  injuries from the journey, even if the 
  characters are currently at full health. The 
  following	chart	below	lists	the	modifiers	
  based on terrain.
  Terrain
  Mod
  Time
  Pleasant
  +2
  Fortnight
  Normal
  0
  Week
  Harsh
  -2
  3 days
  Inhospitable
  -5
  Daily
  Deadly
  -10
  12 hours
  Suicidal
  -20
  Hourly
  As an alternate solution you can in-
  stead	roll	an	unmodified	health	check	
  at increasingly frequent intervals. An 
  adventurer cannot heal during these 
  extra	checks,	nor	can	they	suffer	extra	
  penalties beyond the accrual of damage. 
  Travelling through the wilderness is hard 
  and terrible, people should really stay at 
  inns along the main roads instead. People 
  built them for a reason.
  PARTIES,CELEBRATIONS,
  HO-DOWNS, SHINDIGS
  AND BOX SOCIALS i
  After an epic battle, unbelievable heist 
  or other noteworthy event such as a 
  character’s wedding or the birth of a 
  child, it is time to celebrate. A character 
  may host a celebration after a notewor-
  thy event to regain a large amount of 
  luck points in short order. Usually this 
  is something worthy of their current 
  milestone, or a very notable personal 
  event. This celebration will consume an 
  indeterminate amount of time and money, 
  potentially ending in character’s being 
  left destitute. A real simple rule is to roll 
  a d100 and they lose that percentage of 
  their easily accessible wealth. This will 
  vary highly by local conditions. At the 
  end of this, the characters involved will 
  
  48
  heal one point of stress and regain a 
  number of luck points equal to the roll 
  of their Charisma die times their level. 
  For smaller acts of celebration while in 
  the middle of a dangerous situation a 
  character might be able to heal a point 
  of luck or two in exchange for a few 
  intoxicant	points.	For	example,	finding	
  a bottle of wine in a shipwreck and 
  drinking it while your party members 
  are	busy	fighting	a	giant	squid.
  Thus after a hard month’s journey through 
  their wilderness to slay the evil Sir Con-
  veniently-Wealthy, a group of heroes 
  can blow all of their spoils in the local 
  tavern and regain a pile of luck points. 
  Alternatively, this celebration might take 
  the form of tithing and a period of 
  prayer and contemplation of some other 
  appropriate event.
  REGAINING LUCK
  Luck points normally regenerate at a rate 
  of 1 per day. If characters are leading their 
  version of a Spartan lifestyle by being a 
  miser who is counting every coin then 
  they regenerate at a rate of 1 per week. If 
  characters are living a luxurious lifestyle 
  where they are relaxing, wasting money, 
  or being unproductive they regenerate 
  an additional point of luck per level per 
  day. Characters may also be able to host 
  a celebration to restore luck points.
  REGAINING MANA
  Mana pools slowly regenerate over time 
  similar to luck points. The rate at which 
  mana points regenerate is based upon 
  the elf or wizard’s level and the type of 
  area they are located in. Magic is inher-
  ently disorganized and chaotic, and is 
  strangled by the march of civilization. 
  The	first	blow	against	the	unrestrained	
  power of magic is the naming of things. 
  It is why names hold such power to 
  magical beings.
  Terrain
  Rate of Mana Regain
  Orderly City
  0
  Rural
  1 per week
  Frontier
  1 per day
  Wilderness
  3 per day
  Uncharted
  5 per day
  Mystic Wastes
  1 per hour
  Vortex
  1 per minute
  In each type of region there will be 
  unstable locations that count as one type 
  lower. These are things like haunted 
  houses, ley-lines, meteor impact craters, 
  and dragon graveyards. Another risk is of 
  mutation; individuals who critically fail 
  a healing or travelling check in Mystic 
  Wastes will gain a point of mutation if 
  the GM has some horrid mutation table. 
  If she doesn’t she should make one now. 
  A Vortex will likewise cause mutations 
  but that is slightly overshadowed by the 
  fact that death will result within a few 
  minutes. It would be a totally rad looking 
  corpse though.
  
  49
  Mutations are an example to highlight 
  that unusual things should happen the 
  more unstable a region. An area should 
  have a list of potentially mystical events 
  that could happen.
  A good rule of thumb is that these events 
  should have a % chance of occurring 
  equal to the base amount of mana gained 
  per day. A sample list of events your 
  campaign might use could include:
  • An improperly buried body will rise 
  to unlife
  • Cannibalism turns you into a beastman
  • Elves can conceive this month
  • Wearing too much jewelry turns your 
  blood blue
  • An egg hatched by a rooster will birth 
  a cockatrice
  TYPES OF DANGEROUS 
  OBSTACLES
  Generally I will go with the assumption 
  that	you	can	figure	out	how	to	wing	un-
  planned damage using the general guide-
  lines of “roll a d6” and go from there. A 
  few examples always help thought so I 
  am going to include rules for probably 
  the two most common types of death 
  and destruction for a party of players.
  OFF-BALANCE
  If	someone	is	ever	knocked	“Off	Bal-
  ance”	they	suffer	a	-2	penalty	to	all	
  attack, defence, evade and agility rolls. 
  This could be from the earth shaking, 
  being sick, over-encumbered, or some 
  other reason. It represents any form of 
  dizziness, nausea, or strain that impairs 
  co-ordination.	If	someone	is	forced	Off	
  Balance	when	they	are	already	suffering	
  from the condition they are sent prone. 
  If	someone	is	not	permanently	off-bal-
  ance, such as being over-encumbered 
  or poisoned, they can spend an action 
  to regain their balance.
  PRONE
  Being	flat	on	your	backside	is	rarely	a	
  good thing. Characters who are ‘prone’ 
  receive a -5 penalty to their defence 
  rolls	in	melee	and	suffer	an	attack	roll	
  penalty equal to their weapon’s reach 
  in melee and equal to the weapon’s 
  dot	size	for	missile	fire.	In	addition,	if	
  they don’t have allies still standing their 
  attackers probably also have the high 
  ground	advantage.	As	a	slight	benefit,	
  explosions do half damage to prone char-
  acters. This bonus does not stack with a 
  successful saving throw; characters must 
  choose	one	benefit	or	the	other.	Prone	
  characters do not receive a penalty for 
  attacking	with	firearms	or	crossbows.	If	
  they	are	intentionally	prone,	they	suffer	
  no	penalties	for	crossbows	or	firearms	
  and gain a +1 attack bonus per dot size 
  of the weapon. Prone characters can 
  get back to their feet on their turn as a 
  move action. If they are in melee this 
  requires an agility check. Because this 
  would be lame it if didn’t occur, any 
  time a character is knocked prone near 
  a ledge they must make an agility check 
  or	fall	off	the	edge.	If	they	still	have	an	
  action free they may try and grab the 
  ledge. Holding onto the ledge without 
  
  50
  falling requires an action and a strength 
  check each round. Pulling yourself up 
  off	the	ledge	requires	a	movement	action	
  and a strength check.
  DISEASES
  COMMON AILMENTS
  This would be a sample template to 
  use for common colds and sicknesses. 
  Someone with this illness will accrue 1 
  point of disease each day until they make 
  a health check to cure themselves of the 
  disease. Anyone who does not have the 
  illness and is spending time in close 
  quarters with an individual who has this 
  illness must make an easy health check 
  each	hour	or	suffer	1	point	of	disease.	
  Anyone	who	suffers	a	point	of	disease	
  in this fashion contracts the illness.
  FAKE MEDIEVAL RABIES
  Unlike real rabies this illness is about 
  being interesting at a game table. Someone 
  with this illness must make a health check 
  each night or accrue a point of disease 
  and a point of stress. The only way to 
  cure the disease outside of medicines 
  is to be reduced to zero disease points 
  and succeed in the next night’s health 
  check. If an individual is driven insane 
  by this disease they gain the “Zealous” 
  trait. The saliva of an individual with this 
  disease causes 1d4 extra points of disease 
  if bitten or transferred some other way. 
  Anyone who gains a point of disease in 
  this manner contracts the illness.
  A TERRIBLE PLAGUE
  This is an illness that spreads like wild-
  fire	and	requires	someone	to	bring	out	
  their dead. Someone with this illness 
  gains 1d4 points of disease each day. 
  Anyone	who	is	not	afflicted	and	in	close	
  quarters with them must make a hard 
  (-5) health check each hour or accrue a 
  point of disease. Fluids of the individual 
  can cause the accrual of 1d6 points of 
  disease for several weeks after removal. 
  Anyone who gains a point of disease 
  in any of these fashions contracts the 
  plague. The disease can only be cured 
  if an individual is reduced to zero points 
  of disease and rolls an epic success on 
  a health check.
  FALLING
  This is probably the most common type 
  of dangerous potential obstacle and it is 
  fairly easy to resolve. Someone who falls 
  a story or more takes 1d6 of damage as 
  a base. If the ground is especially soft or 
  dangerous you might modify that. Land-
  ing on loose earth might deal d4 damage 
  while sharp pointy rocks might deal a 
  d10 damage or perhaps even repeating 
  (!) damage if they are something like 
  stalagmites. Then multiply the damage 
  by the number of stories fallen. Falling 
  7 stories onto loose earth would deal 
  a d4 x 7 damage. Falling twenty feet 
  onto jagged rocks would deal a d10 x 
  2 damage. The reason I would advise 
  against multiple dice unless someone is 
  bouncing	off	of	things	on	the	way	down,	
  is because of how damage reduction 
  and	size	modifiers	work.	Also	it	creates	
  
  51
  a really swingy situation with falling that 
  adds to suspense. While the damage 
  range may be the same, the probability 
  curve is much more varied.
  FIRE
  Fire is usually the most common play-
  er caused hazard. Fire is probably the 
  root component of most potential plans 
  players	suggest.	If	an	area	is	set	on	fire	it	
  causes damage to everything in the area, 
  dealing 1d6 damage at the end of every 
  round	after	characters	finish	moving.	
  The	area	has	a	die	worth	of	fire	in	it	it.	
  If	you	roll	a	1	for	the	damage,	the	fire	
  goes down by one die worth of intensity. 
  If	that	brings	it	to	zero	dice	of	fire,	the	
  fire	is	extinguished.	If	you	roll	a	6	for	
  damage	the	fire	has	spread	and	there	
  will	be	an	additional	die	worth	of	fire	
  in	the	area.	For	size	modifiers,	treat	all	
  of the damage as coming from a single 
  source. Any damage reduction per die 
  is still applicable per die.
  RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE
  In a fantasy game, many creatures will 
  have	a	size	modifier.	This	represents	
  creatures	of	substantially	different	sizes	
  from humans such as a dragon or pixie. 
  This	size	modifier	is	represented	by	a	
  fraction or integer such as 3 for a large 
  creature or 1/4 for a small one. This 
  number	has	several	effects	on	both	on	
  damage, stealth, and attribute checks.
  In terms of damage, when a creature 
  physically deals damage (or stun) the 
  total amount is multiplied by the size 
  modifier.	A	dragon	with	a	size	modifier	
  of 8 who deals 3 damage from a bite 
  would turn that into 24 damage. A pixie 
  with	a	size	modifier	of	1/4	who	deals	4	
  damage would turn that into 1 damage.
  When a creature takes damage (or stun, 
  poison, mutation, or intoxicants) the 
  creature will in turn divide the damage 
  by	its	size	modifier.	If	that	same	dragon	
  took 16 damage it would be reduced to 
  2 damage. If the pixie took 16 damage it 
  would be increased to 64 damage. The 
  opposite ratio is used for the scoring of 
  suspicion. A dragon would score less 
  suspicion when it successfully makes a 
  detection	roll,	a	pixie	would	suffer	less	
  upon failing a stealth roll and vice versa.
  For attribute checks a high size mod-
  ifier	is	good	with	strength	checks	but	
  poor for agility checks. For an opposed 
  strength check (‘man against man’), the 
  result	is	multiplied	by	the	size	modifier.	
  If a dragon rolled a dX and scored 12, 
  it would result in a total score of 96. A 
  pixie with the same original score of 12 
  would have an end result of 3.
  For opposed agility checks this situation 
  is reversed. In an opposed agility check 
  the	score	is	divided	by	the	size	modifier.	
  If the total score of a dX roll was 16 the 
  dragon would have an end result of 2 
  while the pixie would have a result of 64.
  It is important to note than in any of 
  the above situations a decimal score 
  is always rounded down. If the score 
  had been 15 for an agility check the 
  dragon would score a 1. If the dragon 
  was dealt 7 damage it would take 0 
  after	the	modifier	is	accounted	for.	It	is	
  also important to note that in any ‘man 
  against nature’ check this is not relevant. 
  A dragon trying not to slip on a plane of 
  
  52
  ice is not based upon the dragon’s size 
  and	so	size	modifi	ers	would	not	come	
  into play, likewise for a pixie trying to 
  climb hand over hand.
  In terms of weapon reaches, the size 
  modifi	er	multiplies	them	as	well.	A	pixie	
  with a ‘large’ weapon (for a pixie) would 
  have a reach of 4 divided by 4 to 1; this 
  would mean that a human with a dagger 
  (reach 1) would be at par for weapon 
  ranges.	The	dragon	fi	ghting	unarmed	
  would have a total reach of 8, giving it 
  an advantage against any human warrior 
  who is not wielding a large pole weapon 
  such as a pike. Shooting range penalties 
  are	divided	by	the	creature’s	size	modifi	er.	
  It is easier to hit big creatures but nearly 
  impossible to hit small ones.
  
  CONFLICTS
  
  54
  CONFLICTS
  THE MECHANICS OF A 
  CONFLICT
  Occasionally (read often) players will 
  erupt	into	a	conflict	with	another	group	
  or individual with opposing aims. When 
  these disputes could involve lots of back 
  and forth moments they are referred to as 
  ‘Conflicts’.	Trying	to	cut	a	rope	someone	
  is	climbing	is	probably	not	a	conflict,	
  but trying to cut someone climbing a 
  rope probably is. In NGR there are 
  three	main	categories	of	conflicts:	Covert	
  Actions, Arguments and Combats. There 
  are	lots	of	other	types	of	conflicts	you	
  could have arise but rather than list them 
  all out I would suggest you use these 
  rules as a framework. To that end, each 
  component	of	resolving	a	conflict	will	
  give examples to the three main types, 
  as well as suggestions on how to alter 
  it	for	a	custom	conflict.
  All	conflicts	follow	a	similar	structure	of	
  being broken down into rounds. Each 
  round, participants have two actions that 
  they resolve in initiative order. In most 
  adventuring situations, rounds are about 
  5 or 6 seconds in length. If the situation 
  is something less common, like intrigue 
  at a royal court’s gala then a round might 
  represent	a	different	length	of	time,	at	
  least until the players cut the chandelier 
  rope	after	setting	fire	to	the	throne	out	
  of boredom. I am kidding, those types 
  of scenarios are usually the result of one 
  player, not all of them in concert.
  INITIATIVE
  Every round players will need to roll 
  initiative to determine the order in which 
  they take their actions. For most adven-
  turing situations, a player will determine 
  their initiative score for the round by 
  rolling their Agility Die with ties being 
  resolved by rolling a d6 as a tie breaker 
  or series of tie breakers. As an alternative, 
  a character may roll their Intelligence Die 
  instead of their Agility Die. Choosing 
  to roll the Intelligence die represents 
  someone acting on deliberate thought 
  instead	of	reflexes.	If	someone	is	acting	
  based on deliberate thought they are not 
  considered to be deliberately defending 
  themselves, a risky situation described 
  later. Skills can be added to the role 
  with an important caveat. Any actions 
  taken during the round, other than de-
  fending oneself must in some way be 
  related to the skill. If anyone wishes to 
  take	their	actions	first	they	can	choose	
  to, with priority going to the person 
  with the highest initiative. If no one 
  chooses	to	go	first,	the	participant	with	
  the	lowest	initiative	must	go	first.	They	
  must announce an action they wish to 
  take and anyone with a higher initiative 
  can interrupt her action with an action 
  or actions of their own. Anyone with 
  an even higher initiative can interrupt 
  that participant and so on. In theory 
  every single participant involved could 
  be part of a chain of interruptions. The 
  highest initiative interruption is resolved 
  first,	then	the	next	highest,	all	the	way	
  
  55
  down to the original action. Once the 
  actions have begun resolving, you may 
  no longer interrupt that action. If the 
  original participant has another unspent 
  action, she then announces her second 
  action and the process repeats itself. The 
  participant with the next lowest initiative 
  must then go through the process to 
  announce their actions. This continues 
  until all participants have used all of their 
  actions. Then the next round begins and 
  initiative is rolled fresh.
  WEAPON REACH i
  A special note to the initiative 
  rules is “weapon reach”, which 
  only applies to melee combat. If 
  a participant attacks with a high-
  er weapon reach (representing 
  a longer weapon) in melee, the 
  defender can interrupt the attack 
  with an attack of their own even 
  if their initiative is lower than 
  the attackers. If someone with 
  lower initiative attacks someone 
  with a smaller weapon reach, 
  the defender cannot interrupt the 
  attack with an attack of their own 
  even if their initiative is higher. 
  They could still interrupt with an 
  attack on a third party, a thrown 
  weapon, or some other action.
  Example: Susan has a dagger 
  while the Skeleton warrior has 
  a	spear.	In	the	first	round	Su-
  san has a 3 initiative while the 
  Skeleton has a 2. Susan chooses 
  to	go	first	and	announces	her	
  first	action	is	to	stab	the	Skel-
  eton. The Skeleton could not 
  normally interrupt, but because it has a 
  higher weapon reach than the participant 
  attacking it, it chooses to interrupt and 
  make an attempt to stab Susan. If Susan 
  had	not	elected	to	go	first	the	Skeleton	
  would	have	to	announce	its	action	first.	
  The skeleton announces it is going to 
  stab Susan. Susan cannot interrupt the 
  skeleton by stabbing it, but she could 
  interrupt by throwing her dagger at the 
  Skeleton, or by jumping onto a table or 
  by	attacking	the	zombie	trying	to	shuffle	
  up behind her.
  
  56
  ACTIONS
  Every round, participants have two ac-
  tions	they	may	spend	as	they	see	fit.	This	
  technically applies to the times between 
  conflicts	as	well.	Common	actions	include	
  things like opening a door, moving to 
  an adjacent area, drawing an item from 
  your	inventory,	trying	to	find	an	item	
  you’ve packed inside a container in your 
  inventory, attacking someone, keeping 
  watch on an area, and of course the most 
  important default action of defending 
  yourself. The reason this applies to 
  the	time	between	conflicts	is	because	
  this is when ambushes can occur. If 
  the party is running fast that means 
  they are spending both actions moving 
  and are neither trying to spot brigands 
  nor defend themselves from an attack. 
  Defending yourself, keeping watch, and 
  moving can require the party have some 
  semblance of duties (or are just willing 
  to go along for the ride).
  DEFENDING ONESELF
  An important default action is to defend 
  yourself. This allows the participant to 
  make an opposed roll against any number 
  and types of aggressive actions such as 
  an attack (combat), an appeal (social 
  conflict),	a	detection	roll	(stealth),	and	
  any	other	circumstantial	conflict	roll.	As	
  a default action, a participant may defend 
  herself even if someone interrupts her 
  with a higher initiative. A participant 
  is only not considered to be defending 
  herself if she announces it before making 
  any defensive rolls, including after the 
  aggressive roll. This will free up the 
  action normally used in resisting for 
  other purposes such as attacking twice. 
  If someone is acting based on deliberate 
  thought (Intelligence Die) instead of 
  reflexes	(Agility	Die)	they	are	NOT	
  considered to be defending themselves 
  automatically. If someone with a higher 
  initiative interrupts them before they can 
  begin defending themselves they will be 
  in serious danger.
  AGGRESSIVE ROLL
  While	there	are	a	near	infinite	number	
  of actions participants can take in a con-
  flict,	at	some	point	someone	is	going	to	
  have to start trying to win. That usually 
  means making an aggressive roll such 
  as an attack (combat), a detection roll 
  (stealth), or an appeal(arguments). Other 
  less	common	types	of	conflict	may	have	
  their own aggressive rolls.
  The aggressor will announce the type 
  of aggressive roll (an attack, detection 
  roll, or appeal) and then roll a dX and 
  add	their	base	modifier	for	that	type	of	
  conflict.	If	they	are	making	an	attack	roll	
  they	would	add	their	combat	modifier.	
  Then they will decide the exact nature of 
  the attempted roll and add any additional 
  modifiers	to	the	roll.	For	example,	an	
  attacking barbarian might roll the dX 
  to attack and see the result is a 3 before 
  announcing she is using her axe to try 
  and slash her opponent. If she rolled a 
  natural 20 she might declare she is trying 
  to grapple her opponent with her free 
  hand. After the roll the participant must 
  announce what means they are using as 
  well	as	what	they	would	spend	their	first	
  
  57
  ‘success’ on (more on that later). This 
  must happen before the opponent can 
  make a defensive roll. If the total result 
  of the roll is zero or less it automatically 
  fails and the opponent does not need to 
  defend themselves from you. If a natural 
  1 was rolled, the result was a fumble and 
  it	is	an	automatic	failure.	The	effects	of	a	
  fumble depend on the type of aggressive 
  roll you were making.
  DOUBLING DOWN
  Most	types	of	conflict	have	an	option	
  for the aggressor to “double down” and 
  spend a second action on an aggressive 
  roll (turning them into Power Attacks, 
  Dramatic Pauses, or Statements). This 
  is done after the die is rolled but before 
  the opponent makes their defensive roll. 
  If this action then succeeds it scores one 
  more success than normal. This can be 
  done as part of an interruption without 
  being decided ahead of time.
  DEFENSIVE ROLL
  If the aggressive roll was above zero, 
  it has a chance no matter how great or 
  small to succeed against an opponent. 
  If the opponent is defending themselves 
  (see above) they may make a defensive 
  roll to try and protect themselves. The 
  defender then rolls a dX and adds their 
  corresponding	modifier	based	on	the	
  type of aggressive roll they are defend-
  ing against. If they are trying to avoid 
  an attack they would add their combat 
  modifier	for	example.	If	the	total	score	
  of the defence roll meets or exceeds 
  the aggressive roll, the defender has 
  protected themselves from harm. The 
  only exception is with the rolling of 
  an epic success (a natural 20). Only a 
  matching epic success on the defensive 
  roll can protect against an epic success 
  on the aggressive roll.
  DO OVER
  If the aggressive roll has exceeded the 
  defensive roll that isn’t always the end of 
  the story. If the defender has an unspent 
  action they can announce a “Do-over” 
  after	making	the	first	defensive	roll.	This	
  is the defensive equivalent of Doubling 
  Down. The defender may re-roll the 
  defensive roll and choose the best result 
  between the two. If they still fail they 
  usually	suffer	an	additional	penalty.
  SHIFTING POSITION
  Teamwork is incredibly important to 
  staying	alive.	Before	the	very	first	defence	
  roll is made, other allies can spend an 
  action to be the target of the aggressive 
  role in the place of the original defender. 
  This does not guarantee them a defen-
  sive roll if they are not also spending 
  an action to defend themselves. They 
  are simply the new target. If they are 
  “shifting position” to change the target 
  of an aggressive roll they must do so by 
  “interrupting” with a higher initiative. 
  That is phrased the way it is because an 
  individual can use an action for “shifting 
  position” when they are already the target 
  of the aggressive roll. This is because 
  “shifting	position”	will	often	give	benefits	
  to defensive rolls based on the terrain 
  or other factors. Someone could be the 
  target of an aggressive roll (a detection 
  roll	to	find	them)	and	spend	one	of	their	
  
  58
  remaining actions on “shifting position” 
  to gain a bonus on their defensive roll 
  from local tree cover (in this case gaining 
  a bonus to their evade roll by ducking 
  behind the bushes). Someone cannot 
  “shift position” to protect more than 
  one person per round. If two allies are 
  attacked, a combatant could only make 
  defensive rolls on behalf of one of them. 
  Any bonus gained from shifting position 
  (such as from taking cover or using a 
  shield) applies to all future defensive 
  rolls of that type this round. You cannot 
  block twice to gain double the bonus.
  SUCCESSES
  If the aggressive roll exceeds the defen-
  sive roll, it is considered a success. This 
  means one “success” is scored towards the 
  announced intent of the roll. It is possible 
  to score multiple successes though such 
  as if the aggressor “Doubled Down”. If 
  the aggressive roll was an epic success or 
  it exceeded the defensive roll by a large 
  margin it will be a critical hit, and score 
  an additional success. Normally this means 
  the aggressive roll must either be an epic 
  success or beat the defensive roll by 5 
  or	more.	Some	equipment	(specifically	
  helmets) can change this number. Helmets 
  make	it	harder	for	the	wearer	to	suffer	
  critical hits in combat, but also harder 
  for the wearer to score critical hits with 
  detection rolls. This number is known 
  as the “Threshold” and will be explained 
  more in the helmet section
  USING SUCCESSES
  Successes can be spent to achieve spe-
  cific	objectives,	usually	the	accrual	of	
  points against an opponent. Before the 
  defensive roll was made, the aggressor 
  had to state what she wanted to use the 
  first	success	for.
  If a barbarian was trying to hack Juliard 
  the	dance	wizard	with	an	axe,	the	first	
  success would have to be spent dealing 
  damage. If the barbarian announced she 
  was	trying	to	grapple	Juliard,	the	first	
  success would have to be spent trying 
  to grapple Juliard. This is important 
  because some tricky manoeuvres require 
  multiple	successes	to	pull	off.	Grappling	
  for example requires two successes. If 
  the barbarian only scored one success, 
  the grappling will still fail. The basic 
  uses	of	successes	for	all	conflict	types	
  are	listed	below.	Different	conflicts	may	
  have additional options. If a player wants 
  to try something crazy, state how many 
  successes it requires before the roll.
  Cause	opponent	to	suffer	a	die	
  worth of points
  1 success
  Double the results of a die 
  worth of points (after modi-
  fiers)
  1 success
  Have a die count as having 
  rolled the maximum result
  1 success
  LUCKY NUMBERS
  If a character has any of their lucky 
  numbers	rolled	on	a	d20	during	a	conflict	
  it may trigger special events depending 
  on the type of defensive or aggressive 
  rolls made. This cannot be an automatic 
  10 or rolling 3d6, it must be rolling a 
  d20 as the dX.
  
  59
  AREAS
  Conflicts	will	often	span	across	multiple	
  areas.	Aggressive	rolls	normally	suffer	
  a -1 penalty for every area between the 
  aggressor and the target. Missile weap-
  ons normally have a range limit equal 
  to their cumulative dot size (1,3,6, or 10 
  normally). Thrown weapons have a range 
  of 1 area. Areas are abstract concepts so 
  this may not always be applicable. An 
  open	field	may	count	a	much	larger	
  geographic region as an area than the 
  interior of a building. Areas can also be 
  assigned	benefits	or	penalties	to	operate	
  within.	A	dark	alley	may	give	a	benefit	
  to hiding or a dense jungle may limit 
  the range of weapons used.
  Any participant may spend a single action 
  leaving into an adjacent area. This will 
  cause the character to leave the area at 
  the end of the round. If a participant 
  spends an additional action or is fast 
  they may move more than one area 
  if no one in intervening areas wishes 
  to stop them. Trampling rules apply 
  if someone does try to block someone 
  else from moving. As a rule of thumb 
  you can often assume a target is fast if 
  they have multiple sets of legs. A giant 
  spider might be insanely fast.
  If a character spends two actions moving 
  they may ‘sprint’. A character who sprints 
  suffers	one	point	of	stun.	After	suffering	
  the point of stun (meaning they did not 
  negate it) they may take an additional 
  free movement action.
  
  60
  TYPES OF CONFLICT
  SOCIAL CONFLICTS
  USE: Having a social confrontation to try and change another persons mind about 
  a fundamental issue. This does not include asking directions or trivial issues that 
  can be solved with a simple Charisma attribute check. This does mean that even 
  irrelevant issues or life and death issues can be debated. Losing an argument does 
  not force someone to act in a certain way; it merely makes it hard for someone 
  to continue to adventure in a way contrary to her new beliefs.
  A character that loses an argument can claim ‘Stubborn Refusal’. A character in a 
  state of stubborn refusal will believe deep down she is wrong, even if the character 
  does not admit it outwardly. This can change if reality proves the character right 
  or exposes a lie in the course of the argument. A character in stubborn refusal will 
  not earn experience while acting contrary to her beliefs, heals luck points at the 
  worst possible rate and cannot spend fate or destiny points. Convincing a villain 
  (or hero) they are wrong before a battle can deny them important and powerful 
  fate and destiny points.
  Agressive Roll
  Appeal Roll (dX + Presence)
  Doubling Down
  A Statement
  Defensive Roll
  Resistance Roll (dX + Presence)
  Do Over
  Being evasive (no additional penalty)
  Shifting Position
  Interjection (no additional mechanics)
  Fumble Range
  Suffer	!d4	influence
  Lucky Number
  Clever Retort
  If the resistance roll is a lucky number (regardless of if the appeal succeeded), the character may 
  launch an immediate retort against whomever launched the appeal. This takes the form of a 
  fresh	appeal	and	potential	resistance	roll.	This	clever	retort	will	not	score	any	influence	or	stress	
  but will score +1 awesomeness per milestone at the end of the session. No one was ever swayed 
  on an important matter by a clever line, but they do remember them.
  Successes
  • Score	an	intelligence	die	of	influence	against	an	opponent	(1)
  • Double	the	result	of	an	intelligence	die	after	modifiers	(1)
  • Count the die roll of an intelligence die to be its maximum value before rolling it (1)
  
  61
  COVERT ACTIONS
  USE: ‘Covert Actions’ covers a wide range of actions that all characters may attempt 
  such hiding, sneaking, or generally moving around undetected. An important note 
  is that one participant using her action for detection targets an area rather than 
  an individual and could roll against several opponents in a single round, causing 
  some to succeed and some to accrue suspicion.
  Stealth	conflict	rules	can	also	be	used	to	track	“random	encounters”	in	locations	
  such as a monster infested ruin or dungeon. As a character performs potentially 
  loud actions she could be forced to make evade rolls or accrue suspicion (or to 
  cause	all	present	to	suffer	it	automatically	for	causing	loud	noises,	like	breaking	
  something). Whenever the individual is “caught” a random encounter can be trig-
  gered and her suspicion reset. Everyone else should lose an amount of suspicion 
  equal to her Agility score.
  Agressive Roll
  Detection Roll (dX + Stealth)
  Doubling Down
  A Dramatic Pause
  Defensive Roll
  Evade Roll (dX + Stealth)
  Do Over
  Remain perfectly still (opponent gains 1 additional success if Detection 
  Roll succeeds)
  Shifting Position
  Divert Attention (terrain bonus)
  Fumble Range
  Suffer	!d4	suspicion
  Lucky Number
  Window of Opportunity
  Whenever an evader, or the detector rolls a lucky number during a evade roll or detection roll 
  the character may launch another stealth check immediately; if the character loses this extra stealth 
  check	she	does	not	suffer	any	suspicion.	This	‘window	of	opportunity’	must	be	a	different	form	
  of stealth action than previously used this round. If the evade roll had been ‘sneaking’ through 
  a crowded market, the window of opportunity may be a ‘disguise’ as they throw on a cloak or 
  toss their hat on some bystander. If the detection roll that scored a ‘window of opportunity’ had 
  been keeping watch , the roll may be listening and hearing a branch being stepped on. The 
  characters must justify the new check through a situation. Should the evader succeed in a evade 
  roll they launch, she may lower suspicion by a Perception die. This can cause an operative to 
  have negative suspicion.
  Successes
  • Score a die of suspicion against an opponent (1)
  • Double	the	result	of	a	Perception	die	after	modifiers	(1)
  • Count the die roll of a Perception die to be its maximum value before rolling it (1)
  • A	unique	situational	effect	(1)
  
  62
  SPECIAL OPTIONS i
  HIDING
  If the evader spends an additional action 
  to hide (and they have succeeded without 
  accruing suspicion) the character does 
  not need to continue using an action 
  to remain hidden, the evader remains 
  hidden until they have accrued enough 
  suspicion to be found. Someone cannot 
  hide in the same area as people who are 
  fighting,	talking	to,	or	in	some	other	
  way looking at or interacting with her.
  A hidden sniper can wreak havoc until 
  caught, using her action to launch attacks, 
  while the sniper’s targets are forced to 
  use their actions to attempt to detect her.
  A	character	must	hide	in	a	specific	
  location (in a bush, in the shadow of a 
  statue, etc) and will also be found if that 
  specific	location	is	physically	searched.	
  A hidden character can attempt to hide 
  somewhere else.
  AMBUSH
  Speaking of havoc, to ambush someone 
  is to attack her without her noticing. The 
  target must not currently be engaged 
  in combat or aware of the ambusher. 
  This is an aggressive action in which 
  the aggressor makes an evade roll and 
  the defender makes a detection roll. If 
  it scores a success the target is caught 
  unaware and counts as having scored an 
  epic failure on any defence rolls against 
  the aggressor this round. If the ambush 
  is with a melee attack the aggressor is 
  exposed automatically unless the target 
  is killed in one hit so you may as well 
  shout “Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus” or 
  something else impressive.
  PICK POCKETS
  This is another form of aggressive action 
  where the aggressor rolls an evade roll 
  and the defender a detection roll. The 
  aggressor attempts to remove or intro-
  duce a single item to or from the target’s 
  inventory. A good rule of thumb is that 
  it requires 1 success per “dot” size of 
  the item in question, this is doubled if 
  the detector is holding the item. If they 
  are using or looking at the item, this 
  will obviously always fail. Note that the 
  “detection roll” defence is in addition to 
  any other detection rolls being made this 
  round. It also cannot score suspicion.
  
  63
  COMBAT
  USE: Combat is the act of attempting to physically harm another entity and will often result in 
  physical injuries and death. Characters may launch an attack against another individual as their 
  action, which in turn may roll a defence to avoid the blow. Successful hits will cause damage and 
  eventually lead to death.
  In	open	areas	Combat	uses	the	same	fumble	range	as	all	other	conflicts	(a	roll	of	a	natural	1).	In	
  more cramped areas (such as inside a regular furnished room or a hallway) the range of a fumble 
  is equal to the reach or dot size of their largest held item (whichever is greater). Inside especially 
  cramped areas (a crawling tunnel or cluttered attic full of junk) the fumble range is the cumulative 
  reach or dot size of their largest held item (again, whichever is greater). A dagger therefore still only 
  fumbles on a 1 in an air duct, while a one handed spear would would fumble 50% of the time.
  Agressive Roll
  Attack Roll (dX + Combat)
  Doubling Down
  Power Attack
  Defensive Roll
  Defence Roll (dX + Combat)
  Do Over
  Dive (Defender is sent prone if Attack Roll still succeeds)
  Shifting Position
  Block (terrain and/or shield bonus)
  Fumble Range
  Defender chooses between going prone, granting an opportunity attack, 
  or being disarmed.
  Lucky Number
  Opportunity Attack
  If the attack die (d20) of a participant in a battle is the same as the attacker’s lucky number, he 
  or she may immediately launch an ‘opportunity attack’. This attack can be any kind of special 
  action the player can think of that doesn’t involve a basic attack (or power attack etc). This could 
  be	tripping,	punching,	pulling	out	a	pistol	and	firing	it	point	blank,	hitting	with	a	torch,	kicking	
  the dangles, throwing dust in an opponent’s eyes or kicking over a burning brazier. It should 
  either require an attack roll, be some special exception that is too cool to pass up, or that result 
  in	damage	to	a	target	in	a	manner	more	fitting	of	saving	throw.	It	is	possible	to	have	a	string	of	
  opportunity attacks from a series of lucky rolls. With missile weapons you need to ensure these 
  ‘opportunity	attacks’	are	related	to	your	missile	fire.	You	may	have	missed	with	your	arrow,	but	
  perhaps it strikes the rope of a chandelier and drops that into the fray. Perhaps the arrow sinks true 
  and your target falls over and risks tripping her comrade. This is a key opportunity for creativity.
  Successes
  • Score a weapon’s damage die worth of damage against an opponent (1)
  • Double	the	result	of	a	damage	die	after	modifiers	(1)
  • Count the die roll of a damage die to be its maximum value before rolling it (1)
  • A	unique	situational	effect	(1)
  • Cause a knockdown check (1+)
  • Deal stun damage with a blunt weapon (1)
  • Disarm an opponent (2)
  • Grapple or overbear an opponent (2)
  
  64
  SPECIAL OPTIONS i
  DISARMING AN OPPONENT
  To disarm an opponent requires 2 suc-
  cesses. Any attack can be turned into 
  a disarm. If the attack roll was an epic 
  success or the roll of a lucky number, 
  the attacker may attempt to grab the 
  disarmed weapon with a free hand by 
  means of an agility check and use it.
  Knocking	an	opponent	off	balance
  Any attack can be turned into a ‘knock 
  down’ attack. Attacks of this nature repre-
  sent trips, shoves and tackles. If a ‘knock 
  down’ is the primary result of a melee 
  attack (declared before the defence roll) 
  it has a range of 0. A knockdown forces 
  the opponent to make an agility check 
  to	avoid	being	‘off	balance’.	This	agility	
  check counts as “defending oneself”. If 
  the defender scores an epic failure, or 
  fails by 10 or more on the agility check 
  she is knocked prone instead. For every 
  two	legs	beyond	the	first	two,	the	target	
  may re-roll a failed agility check. Unlike 
  other options, multiple suc-
  cesses can be spent towards 
  this	effect.	This	is	required	
  because of the interaction 
  between a “Knock Down” 
  and	size	modifiers.	A	target	
  divides the total number of 
  knock-down checks it must 
  make as the result of an attack 
  by	its	size	modifier	(round	
  down). An attacker multiplies 
  the number of knock-down 
  checks an opponent must 
  make	by	her	size	modifier.	A	
  wee gnome might require two successes 
  to force a human opponent to make 
  a knock-down check, but that human 
  would force two knock-down checks 
  upon the gnome with a single success. 
  Each	“check”	after	the	first	causes	an	
  additional	automatic	off-balance	effect.	If	
  one person uses three successes towards 
  knocking an equally sized opponent 
  off-balance	they	will	automatically	send	
  them prone.
  STUNNING AN OPPONENT
  Only blunt and knockdown attacks can 
  cause a “Stun”. On a regular hit this causes 
  a point of stun to the target. On a critical 
  hit or power attack this is increased to a 
  strength die of stun without requiring an 
  additional success to be spent.
  GRAPPLES, PINS AND
  OVERBEARING
  Attempting to grapple, pin, overbear, ride 
  or in any way latch onto an opponent 
  is	a	difficult	manoeuvre	and	requires	2	
  
  65
  successes. Normally only an unarmed 
  attack can be turned into grapple. If a 
  grapple is successful, neither the attacker 
  nor the target can use a weapon of a 
  larger range than the attacker’s unarmed 
  range against each other. A human who 
  manages to latch onto the back of a drag-
  on would force the dragon to be limited 
  to attacks of range:1 and have to try and 
  get	the	human	off	by	other	means.	If	
  the dragon grappled the human, say by 
  pinning the human under its claws, the 
  human could still use a broadsword to 
  try	and	fend	off	the	dragon.	Participants	
  cannot leave a grapple unless the grappler 
  releases their hold or an unwilling par-
  ticipant manages to knock her opponent 
  off-balance	or	prone	(it	is	possible	for	
  one person to grapple their opponent 
  but their opponent to have no similar 
  hold on them). If a character is involved 
  in a grapple with something immediately 
  harmful such as spiked armour, scalding 
  metal, or similar dangers and does not 
  attempt to leave the grapple at every 
  opportunity the damage the opponent 
  suffers	can	not	be	negated	with	luck	
  points. If a ‘grapple’ is the primary 
  result of an attack (declared before the 
  defence roll) it treats the enemy’s critical 
  threshold as 5.
  If you want to allow people to climb 
  monsters to stab them in the eye, you 
  can allow someone to grapple an in-
  dividual	once	per	size	modifier	of	the	
  target. Each additional grapple beyond 
  the	first	grants	one	additional	success	
  to	the	first	non-grapple	attack	against	
  the target. If the target frees themselves 
  from one grapple, it frees itself from all 
  grapples by that individual. This makes 
  it a tension building climb as a character 
  spends round after round climbing a 
  giant, risking a fall every turn so that 
  she can make one vicious strike with a 
  dagger into the giant’s eye.
  COMMON SENSE
  While I shouldn’t have to point this out, 
  just in case your favourite childhood snack 
  was lead paint chips as you spent your 
  idle days playing under the power lines I 
  will. An action has to have some possible 
  chance of success to roll a die, however 
  slim.	You	cannot	stab	a	dragon	flying	
  at 10,000 feet even if you roll a natural 
  20. You cannot sneak down an empty 
  well lit hallway with a guard looking at 
  you barring something like a diversion.
  
  66
  SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
  MORALE
  Most people involved in combat do not 
  fight	until	the	death,	barring	the	mindless	
  or the truly zealous. When things start 
  to go poorly, those involved need to 
  take morale checks or they break and 
  run. When a morale check is triggered, 
  those	affected	suffer	an	appeal	causing	
  !d6 fear. The appeal has a presence of 
  0. For mass battles assume a resistance 
  roll of 10+presence.
  Causes for Morale Checks
  • Attacking a supernatural or monstrous 
  creature	for	the	first	time
  • More fallen than opposing force
  • First use of magic against those without
  • First use of guns against those without
  • Loss of the leader
  •
  Received more damage than opposing force 
  (individuals/small groups only)
  Morale checks are impacted in regards 
  to the size of the respective forces. If 
  a side outnumbers its opponent by at 
  least 2:1 then halve the resulting fear of 
  the morale check. If a side outnumbers 
  their opponents by 3:1, take only a third 
  the result and so forth. The side that is 
  outnumbered likewise must double the 
  resulting fear of morale check in the 
  exact same ratio. In the case of unknown 
  assailants, the ratio is 1:1 (like a sniper 
  picking	off	a	commander).
  Some pieces of gear and equipment can 
  impact the morale check:
  Equipment
  Effects
  Standard/Flag
  +2 to resistance roll
  War Paint*
  +1 to enemy fear
  Uniform*
  -1 fear
  Musicians
  -1 fear, +1 to enemy fear
  * both cannot be used by one side
  Should a side in the battle panic it will 
  flee.	If	running	is	impossible,	surrender	
  will be attempted. If there is no option 
  to surrender, to run, or the individual 
  is exceedingly fanatical then it will lash 
  out in a frantic series of attacks. The 
  participant will launch only attacks, no 
  defence.	A	final	note	is	that	morale	checks	
  do not apply to individuals with levels 
  or a bard’s henchmen.
  SECURING THE HIGH GROUND i
  An important advantage in any form of 
  combat is to have the high ground in a 
  battle.	If	a	character	can	definitively	claim	
  the high ground against an opponent he 
  or she may claim a +2 universal bonus 
  to any rolls made in combat against that 
  opponent. Against opponents of equal or 
  comparable size this is easy to adjudicate. 
  If	the	opponent	is	of	a	different	size	
  it	can	become	more	difficult.	A	good	
  rule of thumb is that if a character must 
  swing upwards to strike at most of the 
  vital areas of an opponent, the opponent 
  has the high ground advantage.
  
  67
  MIGHTY STEEDS AND
  FANCY SHIPS i
  In a fantasy game it will frequently occur 
  that characters are involved in mounted 
  combat. This works very similar to foot 
  combat	with	a	few	exceptions.	The	first	
  exception is that the mount may take 
  its own actions (split between attacking, 
  moving, defending themselves or other 
  actions as normal), this means a knight 
  could attack with a lance while the horse 
  spends the round moving out of the 
  area, leading to a ‘hit and run’ scenario. 
  The only exception to this is that if the 
  steed is “defending themselves” the 
  knight must also protect themselves. If 
  the steed spends a second action on a 
  “do over” the knight must also.
  The second issue is height; mounted 
  characters will often have the high ground 
  advantage versus opponents on foot. 
  Another issue is dismounting. Any time 
  a mounted character either fails an agility 
  check by 10 or more or is ineligible to 
  make one the rider is dismounted usually 
  suffering	minor	damage.	If	a	character	
  has proper riding gear she may re-roll the 
  agility check in this manner even if one 
  was not initially granted. If the character 
  succeeds in this agility check it will not 
  count as a success overall, merely that the 
  rider was not dismounted. Similar rules 
  can be used for anything the character 
  is riding on or in such as in a ship or 
  on a howdah.
  THINGS THAT FLY, SWIM, WHIP 
  TENTACLES OR IN  SOME OTHER 
  WAY PREVENT NORMAL MELEE i
  So	you	picked	a	fight	with	a	swarm	of	
  man-sized giant hornets, or perhaps 
  you are on the deck of a ship and a sea 
  serpent is keeping well back except for 
  the brief moments it lunges forward 
  to eat an unlucky opponent. These are 
  situations where the enemy can attack 
  you in melee whenever it wishes, but 
  you cannot do the same. This is handled 
  in a very simple manner. You can only 
  strike these enemies with an interrup-
  tion. If the giant hornets win initiative 
  you probably will not be able to attack 
  them this round. If the reach of your 
  opponent is greater than your own you 
  are probably screwed, unless the weap-
  on of your opponent is attacking with 
  an unarmed attack. You can attack the 
  portion of the creature that is attacking 
  you in that case.
  You can also use this mechanic for when 
  a group is attempting to hold some sort 
  of position where they won’t leave them-
  selves open, such as forming a phalanx 
  in a dungeon doorway. They could 
  break	formation	and	fight	as	normal	at	
  any time, but in doing so would move 
  into a regular melee.
  
  68
  MASS COMBAT: HAVING AN 
  EPIC BATTLE WITHOUT AN EPIC 
  AMOUNT OF TIME i
  At some point there will come a time 
  when a large amount of battle must go 
  on between a large number of participants 
  in some epic showdown. It becomes less 
  epic if 400 rolls need to be made per 
  turn, each of which lasts 3 hours. How-
  ever methods of abstraction often break 
  the	flow	of	the	game	and	act	as	jarring.
  Mass combat should be dealt with be-
  tween large ‘units’, the size of a unit isn’t 
  important, even between units. It always 
  retains the importance of remembering 
  the number of people remaining in a 
  unit. The basic concept for mass battles 
  is that combat will break down, round by 
  round, according to the average statistical 
  results	modified	by	a	d20.
  For each unit, you work out the num-
  bers in a similar manner: Assume the 
  defenders all roll a ‘10’ for their defence 
  roll and work out what percentage of 
  the attacks would hit, what percentage 
  will be downed and what percentage 
  will merely injure. Then you modify this 
  number by a d20 roll x 10%.
  For example: If 40 swordsmen attack 40 
  goatmen you could deduce that 20 will 
  hit, 8 will kill and 12 will be injured. 
  Then a d20 is rolled and you score an 
  8 for 80%. So instead you hit 16, down 
  6 and injure 10.
  If an individual is injured twice it is 
  considered downed. At the end of each 
  round take 10% of the downed individuals 
  and consider them dead. Morale and 
  initiative take place as normal, being 
  made for units as a whole.
  BLINDING AND FIGHTING UNSEEN 
  FOES i
  If you are attacking a character you are 
  unable	to	see	in	melee	you	suffer	-10	to	
  attack rolls. This is usually the case with 
  invisibility or blindness. If you are not 
  in melee with the unseen foe, consider 
  it hidden as per a covert action.
  IMMUNITY TO NORMAL 
  WEAPONRY i
  Some opponents are immune to normal 
  attacks, requiring special weapons to harm 
  them. These opponents can normally only 
  be harmed by magical weapons (either 
  imbued by a magician or blessed by a 
  priest)	or	by	specific	forms	of	attack.
  Iron can be used to harm many mystical 
  creatures normally requiring a magical 
  weapon to harm as if it were a +1 weapon. 
  If the creature does not normally require 
  a magic weapon, or the iron weapon is 
  also magical, the iron weapon will do 
  double damage. Faeries, trolls, djinn, and 
  elves all count as such mystical creatures.
  Silver can be used to harm magically 
  diseased creatures. If the creature does 
  not normally require a magic weap-
  on to harm the silver weapon will do 
  double damage. Vampires, werewolves 
  and plague zombies count as magically 
  diseased creatures.
  Fire can be used to harm undead creatures 
  normally requiring a magical weapon to 
  
  69
  
  70
  harm	as	if	the	fl	ame	was	a	+1	weapon.	If	
  the creature does not normally require 
  a	magic	weapon,	fi	re	will	do	double	
  damage. Even skeletons can be harmed 
  in	this	way,	as	the	fl	ames	ignite	the	very	
  magic that binds them.
  If a creature can only be slain with special 
  methods, for example a wooden stake 
  through	the	heart,	roll	for	damage	fi	rst.	
  If it deals enough damage to slay the 
  target it will. If it does not deal enough 
  damage (perhaps the target cashes in 
  luck points or the roll is poor) then the 
  damage can be ignored by the creature. If 
  a warrior stabs a vampire with a wooden
  stake for 12 damage and the vampire 
  dies if it takes 10, it will deal damage. 
  The vampire has 3 luck points and is 
  wearing leather armour. Combined the 
  vampire can reduce the damage below 
  10, no longer enough to kill it. The 
  vampire therefore has to cash in 2 luck 
  points and is unharmed as the stake 
  misses the heart.
  BATTLING THE ETHEREAL
  AND IMMATERIAL BEINGS i
  Occasionally incorporeal creatures will 
  be fought with magic weaponry. In these 
  cases the blade doesn’t do any actual 
  damage when stabbing a ghost as there 
  are no arteries to slice. In these cases the 
  weapons (regardless of the weapon) do 
  an amount of damage equal to a damage 
  die based on the bonus of the weapon 
  plus one. A +1 dagger, sword, or mace 
  would do d4 damage and a +3 would 
  do d8 damage. A lowly +0 
  weapon would still do d2 
  damage.
  GETTING TOO CLOSE 
  FOR COMFORT i
  Trampling deals not just 
  with stampedes, but also 
  with the dangers of ap-
  proaching any large crea-
  ture. This represents the 
  incidental damage one can 
  receive from just being near 
  a massive animal. Should a 
  character ever approach a 
  creature that is defending 
  itself within a reach of less 
  than 1 from the creature’s 
  perspective, the character 
  will	suff	er	1/2	a	point	of	
  
  71
  damage (round down) and be knocked 
  off	balance	unless	she	can	defend	herself	
  with an agility check. This means it is 
  not dangerous to approach someone of 
  approximately your size or smaller, but 
  if you approach too closely to a large 
  creature you may be hurt, due to the 
  nature	of	size	modifiers	in	terms	of	range	
  and damage.
  For example, a character attempting to 
  attack	a	dragon	with	a	size	modifier	of	
  8 using a scimitar with reach of 2 would 
  be in peril. Because the sword (reach 2) 
  is less than the reach of 1 for the dragon 
  (1	reach	x	8	size	modifier)	the	character	
  must	make	an	agility	check	or	suffer	4	
  damage	(1/2	damage	x	8	size	modifier)	
  and	be	knocked	off	balance.
  SWAY AND FAVOURS i
  Favours	represent	a	lump	sum	of	influ-
  ence a player can cash in as an appeal 
  action. A player might be owed a fa-
  vour	worth	5	influence	points	(say	she	
  helped	a	neighbour	fix	her	house),	she	
  could call that favour in when trying to 
  borrow that neighbour’s wagon as an 
  appeal. The favour may be enough to 
  influence	the	neighbour	to	her	point	
  of	view.	Favours	could	also	be	an	offer,	
  compromise	or	bribe.	You	could	offer	
  to pay an individual a sum of money 
  to accept your position, or perhaps a 
  guarantee of behaviour.
  TRIALS i
  Trials	differ	from	normal	social	conflict	
  in that you are trial to convince a third 
  party of your views against another 
  participant. Many trials are also formal 
  affairs	with	their	own	protocols;	on	a	
  mechanical level this means some tricks 
  in	social	conflict	may	be	banned.	While	
  most appeal and resistance rolls will be 
  made	against	an	opponent,	influence	
  will be scored with the judge or jury.
  In all but the most corrupt states, favours 
  will not be acceptable for use, and even 
  in such a corrupt state they should be 
  kept secret. Instead, ‘evidence’ shall be 
  used. Rather than one single debate to 
  decide the trial, the two ‘lawyers’ will 
  bring up points of evidence that are 
  each	worth	a	set	number	of	influence	
  based on their importance in the same 
  manner	as	favours.	A	conflict	over	the	
  evidence will then begin, often in the 
  form of an interrogation of a witness or 
  expert though actual physical combat is 
  common as well. After a victor in a piece 
  of	evidence	is	determined	the	influence	
  is	added	to	that	side’s	influence	with	the	
  judge. After all evidence is decided there 
  is	usually	a	brief	social	conflict	between	
  the two lawyers that lasts a set number 
  of	rounds.	The	influence	scored	in	the	
  final	debate	is	then	added	to	the	trial	
  total. Whichever lawyer has scored more 
  influence	is	usually	the	winner	though	
  stubborn refusal may still apply. Another 
  method that you may wish to institute 
  to represent some of the more whim-
  sical arbiters that existed in a medieval 
  setting is to roll percentage and decide 
  the	victor	based	on	the	influence	scored.	
  For example if the prosecutor scored 32 
  influence	and	the	defendant	11	influence,	
  a percentile roll of 34% or less would 
  represent victory for the defendant.
  
  72
  EXORCISMS AND BANISHING
  THE UNCLEAN
  Any individual brandishing a holy sym-
  bol may spend 1d6 piety to attempt to 
  banish a supernatural creature through 
  their devotion by reciting scripture . Note 
  that the player actually has to recite or 
  invent scripture at the table. She should 
  be goaded to add gusto. This is resolved 
  by the individual making an appeal 
  against the target using faith in place of 
  presence. The target may defend with a 
  resistance roll using presence as normal. 
  Success	causes	the	target	to	suffer	either	
  fear, damage, or suspicion rather than 
  influence.	What	is	caused	is	the	decision	
  of the exorcist. The scripture should match 
  the type of points (ie: are you talking 
  about driving out the spirit, destroying 
  it, or making it show itself?).
  On a fumbled appeal the individual will 
  suffer	damage	instead	of	influence	as	their	
  holy	symbol	either	catches	fire	or	suffers	
  some similar supernatural reprisal. Even 
  priests with the exorcism power who are 
  not	using	a	holy	symbol	suffer	this	fate.
  It may be important to note that the 
  holy symbol itself will lend its qualities 
  to the appeal. An iron holy symbol 
  would cause double fear or damage to 
  an elf, while a silver holy symbol would 
  be	extra	effective	at	repelling	a	werewolf.
  SPIRITUAL, PSYCHIC
  OR DEMONIC POSSESSION
  Should a mystical creature attempt to 
  possess a living being it must engage in 
  a	social	conflict.	The	mystical	creature	
  can only attempt possession until it has 
  been discredited (defeated) in social 
  conflict.	Each	point	of	influence	scored	
  by the creature instead causes a point of 
  stress,	losing	this	social	conflict	causes	
  possession or insanity (stubborn refusal 
  cannot be chosen). Once inside of a 
  meat	suit	it	will	be	very	difficult	to	harm	
  the possessing force without harming 
  its vessel. Brandishing a holy symbol 
  will reduce the stress taken by 1 per die 
  similar to armour in combat. An unholy 
  symbol would provide similar protection 
  against exorcisms.
  BICKERING OVER PRICE
  WHILE THE WORLD BURNS i
  Haggling involves bickering over price, 
  while not always suitably epic and often 
  quite banal it can never the less be im-
  portant (or just fun). Haggling involves 
  a	social	conflict	where	the	stakes	are	
  determined by the price change. The 
  defending	merchant	must	score	5	influence	
  to end the haggling. For every point of 
  influence	scored	before	the	merchant	
  scores 5, the haggler lowers the price by 
  1% to a maximum drop of 50% in most 
  cases. For really small and truly banal 
  exercises, don’t roll. It is 5% cheaper per 
  point of presence of the haggler greater 
  than the merchant. Be sure to throw up 
  your hands in exasperation and exclaim 
  “can we go back to adventuring now?”
  
  73
  SWAYING THE MOB i
  There will certainly come times where 
  characters	will	attempt	to	influence	a	
  large gathering, such as an angry mob. 
  Launching a social appeal against each 
  individual member would both be quite 
  tedious and not be a good abstraction 
  for mob mentality.
  Treat a large mob as a single entity with 
  an	influence	modifier	equal	to	1	+1	for	
  every 10 people. Don’t make this too 
  complicated,	round	off.	A	group	of	5	
  to	14	people	is	thus	a	modifier	of	2.	A	
  group of a hundred people would have 
  a	modifier	of	10.	I’d	suggest	limiting	the	
  modifier	to	20	in	most	cases,	as	beyond	
  that point no individual in the mob could 
  tell how many people there were. Divide 
  influence	scored	against	the	mob	by	the	
  number,	and	multiply	influence	scored	
  by this number. For attributes, consider 
  the mob to be 100% average.
  Ringleaders or charismatic individuals 
  in the mob can be considered separate 
  entities.
  BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOWS i
  You may end up running the type of game 
  where the amount of light and shadows 
  is important beyond mere “light” or 
  “dark”. Areas will have a darkness score 
  between 0 and 10. For example daylight 
  would have a darkness of 0, dusk or the 
  full moon 2, the night sky 5, and a pitch 
  black room would have a darkness of 
  10. The darkness score can be used as 
  a penalty to attack and detection rolls 
  (based on the amount of darkness the 
  target has available). It is also a penalty 
  to Perception checks based on vision 
  and would make a pretty sweet penalty 
  to resistance rolls against possession 
  and supernatural horror if you wanted 
  to hear endless “are you afraid of the 
  dark?” comments.
  Light sources reduce the darkness, a 
  good rule of thumb is to reduce it by 1 
  for every 10 feet of light radius an object 
  would radiate. A candle is +1, a lamp +2, 
  a torch +3, and a lantern +4. The amount 
  of	light	in	an	area	is	half	as	effective	to	
  neighbouring areas. If an underground 
  cavern was in pitch black (10 darkness) 
  and you brought two torches (6 light) 
  then the immediate area has 4 darkness, 
  the neighbouring areas have 7 darkness. 
  The next area out has 9 darkness, and 
  beyond that it is back to total darkness.
  The penalties to attack and detection 
  rolls based on darkness do not apply 
  if you are attacking someone carrying 
  a light source. They also do not apply 
  to anyone being attacked in melee by 
  someone holding a light source. Some-
  one holding a light source cannot hide, 
  but	also	does	not	suffer	any	penalties	to	
  resistance rolls due to darkness (if you 
  use such penalties).
  You might ask why darkness is a penalty 
  to attack and detection rolls rather than 
  the much simpler to describe option of 
  it being a bonus to defence and evade 
  rolls. If an attack or detection roll is be-
  low zero, the opponent does not need 
  to spend an action defending themselves.
  For example, suppose a bandit attacks 
  Grunk the Barbarian in total darkness and 
  
  74
  rolls a 4 with a +2 bonus. If the darkness 
  is a bonus to defence then Grunk will 
  be struck unless she spends an action 
  to defend herself , allowing her to roll 
  a	d20+10	in	an	effort	to	beat	a	6.	If	the	
  bandit	suffers	a	-10	penalty	instead,	the	
  total score of the attack is -4. The swing 
  goes wild and Grunk does not need to 
  spend an action defending herself.
  BLINDED BY THE LIGHT i
  I am told the next line does not actu-
  ally involved being wrapped up like a 
  hygiene product but rather a misheard 
  version of the word “edition”. But this 
  is actually about those times when there 
  is too much light, and how you could 
  penalize that if it became important. If 
  light goes above 20 (or 10 above zero 
  darkness), assume additional light gives 
  a -1 penalty to all aggressive rolls per 
  point of light. Assume daylight is 10 
  light (0 above darkness) and noon is 
  15	(five	above	darkness)	and	being	in	
  a burning room causing 20 or 25 light 
  (10 or 15 above zero darkness). Things 
  like a coating of white snow might add 
  half again the light level (causing snow 
  blindness).
  
  EQUIPMENT
  
  76
  EQUIPMENT
  THE VALUE OF GOLD
  So just how much is a gold coin worth? 
  If 2 gold coins buy a nice dagger that’s 
  fine,	but	is	a	gold	coin	a	lot	of	money	
  or not?
  To answer this question, I think of all 
  prices in dollars to give an approximate 
  modern day comparison of how much 
  that is to an average person. If you are 
  trying to think of the price of an item on 
  the	fly,	compare	it	to	a	modern	equivalent	
  device. A horse is much like a car, a draft 
  horse like a transport truck. A dagger 
  might be closer to a handgun, a sword 
  an	assault	rifle.
  Currency can take many forms, it varies 
  region to region. As NGR is a generic 
  system, this section will assume you will 
  use metal coins at some point. Even with 
  coins, the value shifts region to region. 
  If a region has abundant silver, silver 
  coins may be worth a pittance while in a 
  region with little to no silver a silver coin 
  may be more valuable than a gold coin.
  Taking coins from region to region can be 
  a	form	of	merchant	traffic	that	drives	the	
  characters to adventure. Taking silver coins 
  to a town devoid of silver, then taking 
  back gold coins to the silver mine. When 
  taking coins across national boundaries, 
  one can expect a 10% decrease in value 
  as a standard. This may not be the case 
  for neighbouring nations (Especially in 
  border towns).
  Here are some coin values for generic 
  coins.
  Coin
  Modern Equivalent
  Copper Coin
  $1
  White Copper Coin
  $5
  Silver Coin
  $15
  Electrum Coin
  $50 - $100
  Gold Coin
  $300
  ENCUMBRANCE—
  THE DOT SYSTEM
  Encumbrance is a system to determine 
  approximately how much gear you can 
  carry.	It	is	not	scientific	and	is	pretty	
  abstracted. This is the dot system.
  The dot system is basically categorizing 
  weight	and	general	difficulty	in	carrying	
  items with a number of dots. It’s fairly 
  abstract because while important, it’s 
  also boring and time consuming since 
  items carried change so often. The dot 
  system	specifies	how	many	‘dots’	worth	
  of equipment you can carry, as well 
  as where you carry the item, without 
  a lot of fuss. How many ‘dots’ worth 
  of equipment you can carry is broken 
  down by ‘total dots’, representing how 
  much you are weighed down with. 
  Maybe you are strong enough to carry 
  5 bags of sand, but if you don’t have 
  something to carry them in, it’s going 
  to impact your abilities. ‘Total dots’ is 
  a	simple	number	to	figure	out:	simply	
  add up all the dots on your person in 
  
  77
  any location. The maximum number of 
  dots you can have for total dots without 
  penalty is your strength score. You also 
  get some bonuses if you are highly un-
  der encumbered. Anyone may become 
  over-encumbered/ overburdened and 
  carry up to half her strength (round up) 
  of additional dots, though this causes the 
  character	to	be	perpetually	‘Off		Balance’.	
  Someone carrying less than half of their 
  strength score in dots gains a +1 bonus 
  to agility checks, evade rolls and their 
  defence roll.
  So how much is a dot? Below is a listing 
  of some common dot ‘weights’``
  Item
  Dots
  Small
  1
  Medium
  2
  Large
  4
  Helmet
  1
  Light Armour
  1
  Partial Mail
  1
  Full Mail
  2
  Partial Plate
  2
  Full Plate
  4
  Reinforced Plate
  8
  25 Coins
  1
  A day’s food
  1
  Water Skin
  1
  Potion
  1
  Full Quiver
  2
  Coil of hemp rope
  4
  Coil of silk rope
  1`
  
  78
  CONTAINERS
  An adventurer’s backpack is not the 
  TARDIS made of leather. Items can be 
  nested	within	a	container	item,	effectively	
  reduce the number of dots they contain. 
  The most common is a backpack. It can 
  contain 8 dots, but only takes up 4 on 
  your back.
  Container items also have 2 more attri-
  butes besides capacity and dot size. The 
  first	is	searching	time,	which	represents	
  how	many	actions	it	takes	to	find	an	item	
  in the container. The other is maximum 
  item size.
  In the case of a backpack it is 2 dots. 
  This means the back-pack can have up to 
  8 dots worth of gear, but no individual 
  item can be more than 2 dots in size. 
  Maximum item size should always be 
  smaller than the size of the container item, 
  otherwise you end up with unlimited 
  storage. To get at an item contained in 
  an item that is itself contained you must 
  first	draw	the	container,	then	from	that	
  get the second item. Packing well allows 
  you to carry more items but means you 
  cannot got at those items in a hurry.
  Backpack
  Size
  4
  Capacity
  8
  Item Size
  2
  Search Time
  ?d4
  Cloth Bag
  Size
  2
  Capacity
  5
  Item Size
  1
  Search Time
  ?d6
  Coin Purse
  Size
  1
  Capacity
  4
  Item Size
  Coins only
  Search Time
  ?d2
  Knife Belt
  Size
  2
  Capacity
  5
  Item Size
  Knives only
  Search Time
  0
  Big Sack
  Size
  6
  Capacity
  8
  Item Size
  5
  Search Time
  ?d8
  Small Chest
  Size
  3
  Capacity
  6
  Item Size
  1
  Search Time
  ?d4
  
  79
  ARMAMENTS FOR WAR
  The following pages deal with weapons, armour, shields and helms. This is but 
  one portion of the section on equipment in general.
  Many pieces of equipment are based upon the ‘tag’ system; a weapon or armour 
  has	basic	characteristics	set	by	its	type	that	are	then	modifi	ed	by	any	and	all	‘tags’	
  assigned to it. Some tags are not normally compatible with other tags; you will 
  wish to check the description of each tag to see what its requirements are.
  BASIC ARMOUR
  The	main	benefi	t	in	armour	is	not	to	avoid	being	hit,	but	to	reduce	or	eliminate	
  the impact. Armour will, in many cases, actually increase your chances at being 
  hit. Armour will grant you a ‘damage reduction’ score per die of damage. This 
  means if armour gives you a DR of 2, and you take 2d6 damage, you would 
  receive up to 4 fewer points of damage. It is important to note the rolls of each 
  die.	Armour	will	also	tend	to	give	negative	modifi	ers	as	penalties.	These	modifi	ers	
  apply	to	evade	checks	and	agility	checks.	Half	of	the	modifi	er	(round	down)	will	
  apply to defence rolls. Wearing no armour and loose clothing will actually give 
  you a slight bonus to evade rolls. Armour can be described by the basic type, and 
  then	modifi	ed	by	descriptive	tags	should	you	wish	that	level	of	detail.
  Type
  Modifi er
  Damage Reduction
  Dots
  Loose clothing
  +1
  0
  0
  Light armour
  0
  1
  1
  Mail armour
  -2
  3
  2
  Plate Armour
  -4
  5
  4
  
  80
  HELMS i
  Helms and helmets give the wearer an increased ability to avoid critical hits. With no 
  helm, an attacker’s die roll must either be a natural 20 or exceed the defender’s score 
  by 5 or more to score a critical hit. While a helm does not protect against a natural 
  20, it does increase the margin of success required. The downside is a helmet also 
  has	the	inverse	effect	in	regards	to	stealth.	Wearing	a	helmet	increases	the	difficulty	in	
  scoring a critical spot check by exactly the same amount. A person in a great helm 
  requires her opponent succeed by 10 or more to score a critical hit in combat, but also 
  must succeed by 10 or more to score a critical detection roll. This number is known 
  as the helms ‘Threshold’. If you don’t wish to keep tabs on helms assume that light 
  armour comes with a leather cap, mail with a helmet, and plate with a great helm. 
  Type
  Treshold
  Dots
  None
  5+
  -
  Leather Cap
  6+
  1
  Helmet / Coif
  8+
  1
  Great Helm
  10+
  1
  SHIELDS
  Shields are primarily used as a defensive measure by trained warriors. A shield’s 
  powers	and	drawbacks	are	defined	by	its	size.	The	larger	the	shield	the	better	it	is	
  for blocking but the worse it is for agility checks and evade rolls. Shields can be 
  used to ‘Shield Punch’, dealing blunt damage based upon their size. Note that all 
  shields have the ‘unsuitable’ weapon tag by default. Shields add their quality or 
  magical	bonus	to	their	agility	check	and	evade	roll	modifier,	block	modifier	and	
  any shield punch attack and damage rolls. Cloaks and capes may be used to block 
  melee attacks and help with evade rolls. Having a free hand grants a +1 bonus to 
  agility checks but not evade rolls. Note that if shields are used to block an attack 
  from	a	creature	with	a	larger	size	modifier	the	defender	suffers	a	knock-down	check	
  as if the attacker had scored a success and used it on a knock-down.
  Type
  Block
  Mod
  Dots
  Small
  +1
  -1
  1
  Medium
  +2
  -2
  2
  Large
  +4
  -4
  4
  Cloak
  +1*
  0 / +1
  1
  Free Hand
  N/A
  0 / +1
  -
  
  81
  DESCRIPTIVE TAGS FOR
  ARMOUR i
  Describing armour as light, mail 
  or plate is fi ne for quick or com-
  bat light games. If the game is of a 
  more militant nature, descriptive 
  tags are a good way to add me-
  chanical diﬀ erences to the many 
  types of armour available in a fan-
  tasy world. Tags are more eﬃ  cient 
  than describing specifi c historical 
  armours, as historical armours 
  were developed to protect against 
  historical weapons. Would smiths 
  have still have used the same 
  designs to counter griﬀ on claws as 
  they used for heavy crossbows or 
  emerging fi rearms? Historical ar-
  mours can be approximated using 
  the descriptive tag system as well.
  BASIC WEAPONS
  Much like armour, weapons are 
  described with basic characteristics 
  and then modifi ed by the use of 
  descriptive tags. Weapons are pri-
  marily defi ned by their size: small, 
  medium or large. A weapons size 
  determines its base damage die, 
  and weapon range. Large weapons 
  require two hands to wield prop-
  erly without supernatural strength. 
  Th e second most important aspect 
  of a weapon is its damage type: 
  Slash, Pierce or Blunt. Slashing 
  weapons have their damage die 
  increased by one size and piercing 
  weapons cause repeating damage. 
  Blunt weapons give a +1 attack 
  bonus. Damage is altered by the 
  Perception modifi er for missile 
  weapons, and the strength modi-
  fi er for melee or thrown weapons. 
  Two handed weapons either dou-
  ble the strength bonus or grant an 
  additional +1 damage (whichever 
  is greater).
  Type
  Reach
  Damage
  Dots
  Small
  1
  d4
  1
  Medium
  2
  d6
  2
  Large
  4
  d8
  4
  
  82
  WEAPON TAGS i
  ARMOUR PIERCING
  Armour	piercing	weapons	are	specifi	cally	
  designed to puncture enemy armour. 
  Crossbows are the most common example 
  of this type of weapon.
  Eff ect An armour piercing weapon pre-
  vents the opponent’s armour from re-
  ducing damage from this weapon. If this 
  is too simplistic, the weapon ignores 1 
  DR of armour for each point of damage 
  dealt. This weapon also takes two actions 
  to reload. For melee weapons or special 
  ammunition for generally non-armour 
  piercing weapons (like special arrows 
  for a regular bow), reduce the damage 
  die by one instead.
  BLUNT
  Clubs, hammers, maces, nail festooned 
  bats,	staff	s,	and	slings	all	do	blunt	damage	
  (even if they have some pointy bits).
  Eff ect Attacks with the blunt part of a 
  weapon gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls. 
  An attack cannot have more than one 
  primary damage type.
  BURST
  Burst weapons don’t just mean wishing 
  for a Thompson 1928, a blunderbuss or 
  ducks-foot would also qualify.
  Eff ect Burst weapons do 3 dice of damage 
  on a hit but count as one size smaller for 
  range. Damage from burst weapons are 
  not	modifi	ed	by	Perception,	nor	can	the	
  results	of	their	dice	be	modifi	ed	by	extra	
  successes (either doubling or counting 
  them as a maximum roll). Extra successes 
  may be used to add one additional die 
  of damage per success.
  COMPLICATED
  Complicated weapons have a multi-step 
  reloading	process;	fl	aming	arrows	and	
  early	fi	rearms	are	good	examples	of	
  complicated weapons.
  Eff ect Complicated weapons require an 
  additional action to reload between shots.
  DEFENSIVE
  Defensive weapon characteristics include 
  things like a basket hilt, hand guards or 
  a large weapon catch.
  Eff ect Defensive weapons cannot be 
  thrown, but allow for parry; this will 
  usually give +1 to a defence roll in melee 
  against frontal attack.
  
  83
  DEVASTATING
  Devastating weapons include things like 
  axes,	picks,	hammers	and	flaming	arrows.
  Effect Devastating weapons have their 
  damage die increased by one size, but 
  they	also	suffer	a	-2	penalty	to	attack.
  ENTANGLING
  Entangling weapons are designed with 
  capture as their primary goal. Nets, Bolas, 
  Mancatchers, and similar weapons would 
  use this tag.
  Effect Entangling weapons only require 
  a single success to grapple an opponent 
  but	must	always	spend	their	first	success	
  on grappling and their second on a 
  knock-down.
  EXOTIC
  Exotic weapons include features such as 
  oddly	curved	blades,	flails,	early	or	double	
  barrelled	firearms,	and	forked	prongs.	
  Weapons such as a ball and chain or 
  trident have the exotic tag.
  Effect An exotic weapon counts any suc-
  cessful hit as a critical hit if the die roll 
  was 18 or more. Exotic weapons fumble 
  if an attack roll misses by 10 or more.
  GUNS
  Loud and supersonic projectiles. Usually 
  black	powder,	but	in	a	sci-fi	setting	this	
  could be expanded into variants.
  Effect Anyone making a defence roll 
  against a gun who is not in some form 
  of cover cannot add any positive combat 
  modifier	to	their	roll	(unless	perhaps	they	
  were supernaturally agile and could pull 
  a	Neo).	Anyone	firing	a	gun	causes	d6
  suspicion to everyone present. Guns are 
  bad for dungeons but great for killing 
  expert swordsmen standing out in the 
  open.
  HAND AND A HALF HILT
  A hand and a half hilt is just that, a hilt 
  that	is	a	hand	and	a	halflong.
  Effect Having a hand and a half hilt allows 
  a medium weapon to be properly used 
  in either one or two hands. This is most 
  often important when determining a 
  strength	bonus.	It	only	gains	the	benefits	
  of a two handed weapon when wielded 
  in both hands. A hand and a half hilt 
  increases the dot size of a weapon by 1.
  INEFFECTIVE
  An	ineffective	weapon	would	include	
  things like a rake or other farm imple-
  ment, anything not able to cause harm 
  as	effectively	as	its	mass	or	size	would	
  suggest, but still designed to be wielded 
  in some manner, often tools. Unarmed 
  attacks	also	count	as	ineffective.
  Effect	An	ineffective	weapon	rolls	a	
  damage die one smaller than would be 
  expected.
  LIGHT
  A light weapon is designed for those who 
  are physically weak or where a contest 
  of skill is desired. They would include 
  things like a rapier or whip.
  Effect A light weapon has no damage 
  modifier	and	cannot	parry	a	devastating	
  weapon. A light weapon gains +1 to attack.
  
  84
  LONG RANGE
  Special	fl	ight	arrows,	rifl	ed	
  muskets or other special de-
  signs.
  Eff ect Long range weapons 
  have their missile range dou-
  bled and require two hands to 
  fi	re.	You	may	not	eff	ectively	
  fi	re	a	long	range	weapon	and	
  move.
  LUDICROUS
  A ludicrous weapon is some-
  thing so insanely overpowered 
  it really doesn’t belong in the 
  game. Buzz saws, mini-guns, 
  laser swords and other ridic-
  ulous weapons would have 
  the ludicrous tag. A ludicrous 
  weapon must have at least three other 
  weapon tags.
  Eff ect Ludicrous weapons score double 
  the normal amount of successes when 
  they hit. When a ludicrous weapon 
  fumbles not only is usually it damaged 
  beyond immediate repair (and potentially 
  destroyed)	but	its	wielder	suff	ers	three	
  fumble	eff	ects	simultaneously.
  MINOR
  A minor weapon represents those weap-
  ons that cannot normally cause a crippling 
  injury, except in the luckiest or best placed 
  of	strikes.	A	dart	,	fi	st	or	pocketknife	
  would	fi	t	into	this	category.
  Eff ect A minor weapon will only ever 
  do 1 point of damage, unless a critical 
  hit is scored.
  PIERCING
  Daggers, picks, spears, shivs, bows, and 
  guns all do piercing damage (even if 
  they have some edged bits).
  Eff ect Any damage die from the piercing 
  part of a weapon deals repeating damage 
  (!). An attack cannot have more than one 
  primary damage type.
  POLE WEAPON 
  (REACH WEAPON)
  Any weapon on an extended shaft such 
  as	a	spear,	halberd	or	staff		constitutes	a	
  pole weapon.
  Eff ect Pole weapons have their reach and 
  throwing range doubled, such as from 1 
  to 2. Pole weapons cannot be stored in 
  most containers unless they are specially 
  built to handle pole weapons.
  SIMPLE
  
  85
  A simple weapon is stripped down to 
  the barest elements required to function. 
  A simple club would not have a knob 
  at the bottom of the hilt or any other 
  form of grip.
  Effect A simple weapon gives a -1 penalty 
  to attack.
  SLASHING
  Swords, axes, cleavers, claws, pincers, and 
  scythes all do slashing damage (even if 
  they have some jagged bits).
  Effect Any damage die from the slashing 
  part of a weapon is increased by one 
  die step, such as from a d4 to a d6. 
  An attack cannot have more than one 
  primary damage type.
  THROWING
  Weapons specially designed for throwing 
  are usually lighter and better balanced. 
  Javelins are an example of a weapon 
  with the throwing tag.
  Effect	Throwing	weapons	suffer	-2	to	
  attack in melee. They give a +2 bonus 
  to attack when thrown.
  UNSUITABLE
  An unsuitable weapon would be some-
  thing such as wielding a trophy or satchel 
  of books as a weapon.
  Effect An unsuitable weapon requires 
  the damage die to be re-rolled, and the 
  lower result taken.
  VERSATILE
  Versatile weapons include weapons with 
  multiple attack styles, double-edged blades, 
  flanges	or	the	weapon	features	a	second	
  weapon head. Axes and swords are 
  common for this feature.
  Effect Versatile weapons grant a +1 attack 
  bonus, but on a fumble your opponent 
  may	choose	the	effect.
  VICIOUS
  Vicious weapons include spikes, serrated 
  blades and barbed points.
  Effect Vicious weapons gain a bonus of 
  +1	to	damage.	Vicious	weapons	suffer	a	
  –1 attack penalty.
  ARMOUR TAGS i
  AWESOME
  There is practical armour and then there 
  is fantasy armour. Many examples of 
  fantasy	armour	feature	exposed	midriff,	
  impractically shaped greaves, oversized 
  spaulders, unreasonable numbers of ‘edgy’ 
  leather straps and chains, or glistening 
  well oiled pectoral muscles and biceps. 
  This makes it hard for the wearer to 
  take herself seriously in a life or death 
  situation, giving a –1 penalty to resistance 
  rolls. On the other hand it really does 
  keep to trope and as such gives +2 to 
  awesomeness. Clothing can use this tag.
  BULKY
  Bulky	armour	sacrifices	mobility	for	
  an increase in protection against blunt 
  attacks. The armour gains +2 DR against 
  blunt	attacks	but	suffers	an	additional	–1	
  modifier.	The	armour	also	increases	in	
  dot size by 1. Quilted armour is a good 
  example of this armour. Clothing can 
  use this tag.
  
  86
  CEREMONIAL
  Ceremonial armour is not designed for 
  field	use,	but	rather	for	display.	Ceremonial	
  armour gives a –1 penalty to defence rolls 
  but a +1 bonus to presence. Clothing and 
  helms can both also use this tag.
  CRUDE
  Crude armour represents shoddy work-
  manship, experimental designs or partially 
  damaged armour. It provides no extra 
  benefit	but	does	increase	the	modifier	
  penalty by 1. Clothing can use this tag.
  LIGHTWEIGHT
  Lightweight	armour	has	been	specifi-
  cally stripped to ease the burden and 
  increase mobility. This lowers the dot 
  size	by	1	and	reduces	the	modifier	by	
  1. The downside is the armour loses 2 
  DR versus blunt damage.
  ORNAMENTAL
  Ornamental armour has been adorned 
  with decorations designed to catch the eye. 
  Ornamental armour gives +1 to appeal 
  roles due to the opulence it projects, 
  but gives –1 to evade rolls due to its 
  distinctive appearance. Feathered, gem 
  encrusted or gold plated armour would 
  use this tag. Clothing, helms, maybe 
  even other items can also use this tag.
  PARTIAL
  Partial armour is any incomplete set 
  of armour. This halves the dot size of 
  the armour and halves the agility check 
  penalties of the armour. The armour is 
  also bypassed completely by critical hits 
  or critical fails on saving throws. It is 
  possible to wear a set of partial armour 
  over a set of full armour, such as partial 
  plate over full leather. In this case, the full 
  armour is only used if the partial armour 
  is bypassed. Use the worst penalties from 
  the two sets. A breastplate or mail shirt 
  is an example of partial armour.
  SOPHISTICATED
  Sophisticated armour represents master 
  workman-ship coupled with a perfected 
  design. Renaissance period plate armour 
  would be an example of this tag. So-
  phisticated	armour	reduces	the	modifier	
  penalty by 1.
  REINFORCED
  Reinforced armour has been improved 
  with additional plating, chain links, metal 
  studs	or	other	modifications	to	deflect	
  blades. This doubles the armour’s DR 
  against slashing weapons and doubles 
  its dot size. Studded leather or advanced 
  plate armours are examples of reinforced 
  armour.
  SPIKED
  Spiked armour has been studded with 
  small blades or long spikes. This is useful 
  to repel a grapple or a shove as it causes 
  the	wearer	to	deal	five	times	the	normal	
  trample damage, but gives a –1 penalty 
  to attack rolls as the spikes impact the 
  ability to move cleanly.
  
  87
  SHIELDS TAGS i
  While describing a shield based on its 
  size is usually more than enough, you 
  may wish to allow the same kinds of 
  customization for shields that are used 
  in regards to weapons or armour. There 
  is	a	difference	between	a	Zulu	Isihlangu	
  and a Greek Hoplites’ shield even if both 
  are large shields. These tags are used to 
  reference	those	differences.	Note	that	
  many tags will alter the number of dots 
  a shield uses within inventory, this does 
  not modify a shields ‘dot size’ for the 
  purposes of defence bonuses, combat 
  tricks or the like.
  BUCKLER
  Bucklers are small shields, balanced for 
  use	as	a	weapon.	Bucklers	do	not	suffer	
  the ‘unsuitable’ tag when used for a 
  shield punch, but cannot be used against 
  missile attacks. Only small shields may 
  be bucklers.
  LIGHT
  Light shields are made of hide, wicker 
  or other lightweight materials lacking in 
  durability. Light shields take up half the 
  normal amount of dots in ones inven-
  tory (round up) and grant only half the 
  normal agility penalties (round down). 
  Light shields cannot block ‘Armour 
  Piercing’ or ‘Devastating’ attacks and 
  gain	the	‘Ineffective’	tag	when	used	for	
  a shield punch.
  TOWER
  Tower shields are large rectangular shields 
  designed to provide missile cover. Tower 
  shields take up 2 extra dots of inventory 
  and	suffer	the	‘Ineffective’	tag	when	used	
  in a shield punch; they may also not have 
  the ‘light’ tag. Tower shields provide an 
  extra +2 to defence rolls against missile 
  attacks.
  VICIOUS
  Any spiked or serrated shield may be 
  considered ‘vicious’. This functions ex-
  actly as the weapon tag when the shield 
  is used for a shield punch (-1 to hit, +1 
  to damage).
  
  88
  ITEMS OF DIFFERING
  MATERIALS i
  Keeping	track	of	the	different	
  materials that weapons and 
  armour is constructed from 
  only becomes relevant if the 
  differences	are	important	to	
  the game play. The occasional 
  picking up of a soup bone 
  for a club in a game set in a 
  world much like 12th century 
  England will not require the 
  additional work. If the game 
  is set in a conquistador setting 
  then	the	differences	between	
  obsidian, stone and steel items 
  are a crucial part of the game. 
  Each material has three char-
  acteristics: Hardness, Sharpness 
  and Weight.
  The hardness rating of materials is used 
  to	determine	the	effectiveness	of	armour	
  against slashing and piercing weapons. If 
  a slashing weapon has a higher hardness 
  than the defender’s armour, the defender’s 
  armour has its DR lowered by 1. If the 
  armour is harder, its DR is increased 
  by	1.	This	modification	is	doubled	for	
  piercing weapons.
  The sharpness rating of materials is used 
  against individuals in either light or no 
  armour. Slashing and piercing weapons 
  gain the sharpness score as bonus damage 
  (or a penalty for dull materials). Like all 
  non-magical bonuses, this extra damage 
  is limited by the roll of the damage die. 
  Weapons can be sharpened beyond their 
  normal limit, but they will break after 
  their	first	use.
  The weight rating of a material will change 
  a weapon’s attack roll by the listed amount 
  for slashing and piercing weapons, but 
  reduce damage from a blunt attack by 
  the same amount (or increase with a 
  negative number). A lightweight metal 
  is good for swords but not as good for 
  a hammer.
  Materials labelled M+X are magical ma-
  terials that make their item count as a 
  +X item (but do not give a bonus). The 
  can be used to better harm immaterial 
  items and can theoretically hold magical 
  enchantments easier.
  Material
  Hardness
  Sharpness
  Weight
  Magical?
  Bone
  1
  0
  -
  -
  Horn/Claw
  3
  0
  -
  -
  Obsidian
  2
  +2
  -
  -
  Flint
  2
  -1
  -
  -
  Wood
  1
  -2
  -
  -
  Granite
  5
  -1
  -1
  -
  Wrought Iron
  3
  0
  -
  -
  Bronze
  4
  0
  -
  -
  Steel
  5
  0
  -
  -
  Silver
  2
  0
  -
  M+0
  Flying Rowan
  1
  -2
  -
  M+1
  Faerie Silver
  6
  +1
  +1
  M+2
  Metoric Iron
  7
  0
  -
  M+3
  World Stone
  8
  -1
  -2
  M+4
  Dragon
  6
  +1
  -
  M+5
  
  89
  STEALTH  AND  
  EQUIPMENT
  Stealth is a major part of NGR, as much or more so than combat. Choosing 
  between	tools	to	fight,	tools	to	hide,	and	tools	to	spot	the	hidden	is	a	big	part	of	
  managing what gear a party takes on an expedition. Some of this equipment has 
  been listed in other sections, but some of it can be listed again here for the sake 
  of easy reference.
  HOW TO KEEP FROM
  BEING FOUND
  • Loose clothing instead of even light armour 
  gives a +1 bonus to evade checks.
  • Being under half encumbrance gives a +1 
  bonus to evade checks.
  •
  A dark cloak gives a +1 bonus to evade checks 
  for hiding.
  •
  Going barefoot can reduce suspicion for failed 
  attempts to move quietly by -1 per die.
  Skin paint causes the reduction of suspi-
  cion for failed hiding attempts by -2 per 
  die	but	also	gives	a	-2	penalty	to	influence	
  scored on appeals due to being s.a.f.
  HOW TO SPOT PEOPLE
  • Helmets make it harder to score critical hits 
  when making detection rolls.
  •
  Better light reduces darkness bonuses to hiding 
  to the tune of +1 per ten feet in radius. It also 
  causes 1 suspicion per ten feet in radius when 
  entering a hallway or similar open area for 
  the purposes of random encounters. If you are 
  using the light and darkness finicky rules that 
  means that everyone takes their light level in 
  suspicion when they move into a new hallway, 
  courtyard, or similar exposed area.
  • Spyglasses and similar devices can reduce 
  range penalties when making detection rolls.
  RANGED WEAPONS
  Name
  Dots
  Range
  Modifier
  Damage
  Tags
  Bow
  2
  3
  -
  !d6(p)
  -
  Small Sling
  1
  1
  +1
  d4(b)
  -
  Longbow
  4
  10
  -
  !d8(p)
  -
  Fire Arrows
  -
  10
  -2
  !d10(p)
  Devastating
  Arbalast
  4
  10
  -
  !d8(p)
  Armour Piercing
  Harquebus 
  (shooting)
  4
  10
  -2
  !d10(p)
  Devastating, Armour Piercing, Compli-
  cated, Gun
  Pirate Pistol
  1
  1
  +2
  !d6(b)
  Devastating, Armour Piercing, Compli-
  cated, Gun
  
  90
  ARMOUR
  Name
  Type
  Dots
  Modifier
  DR (S/P/B)
  Tags
  Leather Armour
  Light
  1
  -
  1/1/1
  -
  Padded Armour
  Light
  2
  -1
  1/1/3
  Bulky
  Studded Armour
  Light
  2
  -
  2/1/1
  Reinforced
  Hide Armour
  Light
  4
  -2
  2/1/3
  Reinforced, Bulky, Crude
  Post Apocalyptic 
  Leathers
  Light
  2
  -
  1/1/1
  Spiked, Awesome
  Brigandine
  Mail
  2
  -2
  3/3/3
  -
  Chainmail
  Mail
  3
  -3
  3/3/5
  Bulky
  Lorca Segmentata
  Mail
  4
  -1
  6/3/3
  Sophisticated, Reinforced
  Do-maru
  Mail
  1
  -1
  3/3/1
  Light
  Scale Coat
  Mail
  1
  -1
  3/3/3
  Partial
  Dendra Panoply
  Plate
  5
  -5
  5/5/7
  Bulky
  Breastplate
  Plate
  2
  -2
  5/5/5
  Partial
  Gothic Plate
  Plate
  8
  -3
  10/5/5
  Sophisticated, Reinforced
  Golden Nipple 
  Plate
  Plate
  4
  -5
  5/5/5
  Ornamental, Ceremonial, 
  Awesome
  O-yoroi
  Plate
  8
  -5
  10/5/5
  Reinforced, Crude
  SHIELDS
  Name
  Type
  Dots
  Reach
  Modifier
  Damage
  Tags
  Buckler
  Small
  1
  1
  +1
  d4
  Buckler
  Targe
  Small
  1
  1
  +1
  (d4+1)--
  Vicious
  Heater Shield
  Medium
  2
  2
  +2
  d6--
  -
  Viking Shield
  Large
  4
  4
  +4
  d8--
  -
  Roman 
  Shield
  Large
  6
  4
  +4*
  d6--
  Tower
  Zulu Shield
  Large
  2
  4
  +4
  d6--
  Light
  MELEE WEAPONS
  Name
  Dots
  Reach
  Modifier
  Damage
  Tags
  Dagger
  1
  1
  -
  1d4(p)
  -
  Dart
  1
  1
  -2*
  1(p) or !d4 
  on critical
  Minor, Throwing
  Hatchet
  1
  1
  -2
  d8(s)
  Devastating
  Gladius
  1
  1
  +1
  d6(s) or 
  !d4(p)
  Versatile, Defensive
  Rock
  1
  1
  -
  d4(b)
  Simple
  
  91
  Name
  Dots
  Reach
  Modifier
  Damage
  Tags
  Nunchucks
  1
  1
  +1
  d4(b)
  Exotic
  Maine-gauche
  1
  1
  +1
  !d4(p)
  Light, Defensive
  Unarmed
  0
  1
  +1
  1(b) or d2 
  on critical
  Minor,	Ineffective
  Glaive, Real
  4
  8
  -
  d10(s)
  Pole Weapon
  Glaive,Rad
  1
  1
  -2*
  d6+1(s)
  Throwing, Versatile, Exotic, 
  Vicious, Ludicrous
  Arming Sword
  2
  2
  +1
  d8(s) or 
  !d6(p)
  Defensive, Versatile
  Rapier
  2
  2
  +1
  !d6(p)
  Light, Defensive
  Flanged Mace
  2
  2
  +2
  d6(b)
  Versatile
  Spike Club
  2
  2
  -
  d6+1(b)
  Vicious
  Macuahuitl
  2
  2
  -
  d8+1(s)
  Vicious, Versatile
  Ball and Chain
  2
  2
  -2
  d8+1(b)
  Vicious, Devastating, Exotic
  Spear
  2
  4
  -
  !d6(p)
  Pole Weapon
  Barbarian Battle 
  Axe
  3
  2
  -1
  d10(s)
  Versatile, Devastating, Hand 
  and a Half
  Warhammer
  2
  2
  -1
  d8(b)
  Devastating
  Military Pick
  2
  2
  -2
  !d8(p)
  Devastating
  Crowbar
  3
  2
  -
  d6(b)
  Hand and a Half, Crude
  Torch
  2
  2
  -2
  d8(b)
  Devastating, Simple
  Quarterstaff
  3
  4
  +1
  d6(b)
  Hand and a Half
  Trident
  3
  4
  -1
  !d6+1(p)
  Vicious, Hand and a Half, 
  Pole Weapon, Exotic
  Katana
  3
  2
  +1
  d8(s) or 
  !d6(p)
  Defensive, Versatile, Hand 
  and a Half
  Javelin
  2
  4
  -2*
  !d6(p)
  Throwing, Pole Weapon
  Zweihander
  4
  4
  +1
  d10(s)
  Versatile, Defensive
  Sledgehammer
  4
  4
  -
  d10(b)
  Versatile, Devastating
  Woodsmans Axe
  4
  4
  -1
  d12(s)
  Versatile, Devastating
  Caveman Club
  4
  4
  -
  d8(b)
  Simple
  Pike
  4
  8
  -
  !d8(p)
  Pole Weapon
  Halberd
  4
  8
  -1
  d12(s)
  Pole Weapon, Versatile, 
  Devastating
  MELEE WEAPONS  (CONTINUED)
  
  92
  LIGHT SOURCES
  Name
  Dots
  Light
  Chance of Extinguishing (d6)
  Candle
  1
  1
  1-5
  Rushlight
  1
  1
  1-6
  Brass Lamp
  1
  2
  1-4
  Burning Branch
  2
  2
  1-3
  Torch
  2
  3
  1-3
  Candle Lantern
  1
  4
  1
  Oil Lantern
  1
  4
  -
  Candelabra
  2
  5
  1-5
  Movie Torch
  2
  5
  1-2
  Campfire
  -
  10
  -
  Brazier
  -
  8
  -
  PACK ANIMALS
  Name
  Strength
  Size
  Halfling War Rooster
  10
  1
  Donkey
  15
  1
  Riding Horse
  12
  2
  Camel
  12
  2
  Mule
  15
  2
  Yak
  15
  2
  War Horse
  16
  2
  Draft Horse
  20
  2
  Oxen
  20
  2
  Elven War Swan
  13
  3
  Elephant
  16
  5
  Mammoth
  20
  6
  
  THE
  DRAGON   SCROLL
  
  94
  THE DRAGON SCROLL
  COMBAT TRICKS
  Combat	tricks	represent	the	different	
  actions a trained warrior is capable of 
  reflexively	executing.	These	actions	are	
  voluntary options that become available 
  when certain trigger conditions appear; 
  the warrior then gains the option to use 
  the trick. For example, the ‘quick sweep’ 
  trick requires the warrior be knocked 
  prone. If the warrior is knocked prone, 
  the warrior may use the ‘quick sweep’ 
  trick immediately. An important trick 
  requirement	is	difficulty.	This	is	based	
  upon	the	warrior’s	base	combat	modifier.	
  If this value is equal to or higher than 
  the	difficulty,	the	trick	can	be	used.	The	
  Combat Tricks listed in “The Dragon 
  Scroll” are just examples to give you 
  something to use as a basis. Completely 
  new Combat Tricks are encouraged as 
  they make fantastic treasure as a warrior 
  crosses the mountains to learn the secret 
  of	“The	seven	fist	lotus	technique”.
  LEARNING COMBAT TRICKS
  The most common method of learning 
  new techniques is through training. If a 
  mentor teaches a character a technique, 
  it takes 1 skill point to learn a combat 
  trick. This is the only method characters 
  that do not have the combat trick power 
  can use to gain combat tricks, and they 
  can never have more learned combat 
  tricks	than	their	combat	modifier.	Char-
  acters without the combat trick power 
  shouldn’t start with any, but hey if they 
  have a military background maybe this 
  gets fudged a bit.
  Warriors with the combat trick power 
  can learn a combat trick without using a 
  skill. A mentor can teach a combat trick 
  to such a warrior after a day of training.
  The most common barrier to training 
  is trust. Combat techniques are danger-
  ous weapons in the wrong hands and 
  even amoral warriors must worry about 
  spending so much time with a stranger 
  who may poison them in closer quar-
  ters (as everyone needs to sleep). This 
  will lead warriors to attempt to recover 
  ancient training manuals or scrolls. If 
  a warrior with the combat trick power 
  finds	a	combat	trick	or	manoeuvre	in	an	
  ancient (or modern) text or scroll she can 
  attempt to recreate it from instruction. 
  The warrior must spend 1 week practising 
  to learn the trick.
  A warrior with the combat tricks power 
  may also choose to recreate a manoeu-
  
  95
  vre she has faced in action. This takes 
  a base time of 1 week. If the warrior 
  trains in a secluded area, this is reduced 
  to 1 day. If the warrior trains in an area 
  full of distractions like a city, this time 
  is increased to 1 month.
  At the end of the training period, an 
  intelligence check must be made; if it 
  is failed the warrior must encounter the 
  trick again, re-read the text, or receive 
  more training. Having proper training 
  grounds will give a re-roll to the intel-
  ligence check. Much like skills, a failed 
  roll can be aided with the help of a 
  montage song…
  THE DRAGON SCROLL i
  ARMOUR EXPLOIT
  DIFFICULTY 3 per dot size of weapon
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  scored repeating damage on a critical 
  hit with a piercing weapon.
  EFFECT The warrior may ignore an 
  opponent’s DR due to armour.
  BATTER UP!
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  hit an opponent with a two handed blunt 
  weapon, and rolled maximum damage 
  (or count as).
  EFFECT The	warrior	may	add	the	effect	
  of a ‘Knock Down’ to their attack in 
  addition to regular damage.
  BEAR HUG
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just connected with a grapple attack on 
  a critical hit or a lucky number. This 
  does not count as the opportunity attack.
  EFFECT The warrior deals a strength die 
  of stun damage.
  BODY CHECK
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s opponent 
  must have just scored an epic failure in 
  an attack against the warrior.
  EFFECT The warrior may make an im-
  mediate ‘knock down’ attack against her 
  opponent. The warrior may add their 
  shield’s dot size to their attack roll.
  BRACE
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be making 
  a power attack while wielding a piercing 
  pole weapon with a range of 4 or greater, 
  and have the range advantage against 
  their opponent.
  EFFECT The warrior may interrupt their 
  opponent regardless of initiative and 
  converts any hit into a critical hit with 
  an	additional	‘knock	down’	effect.
  
  96
  BRUTE THROW
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just struck their opponent with or in a 
  grapple attack that rolled a lucky number. 
  This does not count as the opportunity 
  attack. The opponent may not have a 
  larger	size	modifier	than	the	warrior.
  EFFECT  The warrior may throw their 
  opponent a number of feet equal to the 
  warrior’s strength score; this can take the 
  form of an attack against another target.
  CHARGE!
  DIFFICULTY 0
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must announce 
  the charge (including power attack and 
  target) before initiative is rolled, and 
  must be attacking a new target.
  EFFECT The warrior may “Defend One-
  self” as a free action after making a 
  power attack.
  CLOTHESLINE
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just scored an epic success on a defence 
  roll versus a charging opponent with an 
  equal	or	lesser	size	modifier.
  EFFECT The warrior deals a strength die 
  of stun damage to an opponent, allowing 
  for a re-roll to choose the higher result.
  COMBO ATTACK
  DIFFICULTY 2 cumulative per previous 
  attack
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have a free 
  hand and must not be “defending herself” 
  this round. The warrior may not have 
  been struck since their previous attack.
  Effect	The	warrior	may	make	a	free	
  unarmed attack following a successful 
  unarmed attack, with an extra -2 penalty, 
  stacking any previous penalties.
  COUP DE GRACE
  DIFFICULTY 3
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s target must 
  be prone.
  EFFECT The warrior may convert a hit 
  into a critical hit automatically.
  CRAZY WEAPON TRICKS!
  DIFFICULTY 3 per dot size of weapon
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just struck the target on the roll of a 
  lucky number. This does not count as 
  the opportunity attack. Each version of 
  this trick only works for one weapon. 
  ‘Crazy weapon tricks!’ for a scimitar 
  would not apply to a broadsword, they 
  are two separate tricks.
  EFFECT The	warrior	pulls	off	a	crazy	
  manoeuvre	resulting	in	a	flurry	of	dam-
  age. This manoeuvre is so frickin rad 
  I cannot describe it. The warrior must 
  describe	it,	with	sound	effects.	You	may	
  roll the damage die again, if it is less 
  than the previous damage roll you may 
  add it to the damage total and roll yet 
  again. Continue until you fail to roll less 
  than your previous roll. A warrior with 
  a dagger could roll a 4, followed by a 
  3,2, and 1 if she were lucky.
  
  97
  DEFENSIVE  FIGHTING
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must not be 
  wielding a weapon in either hand.
  EFFECT The warrior’s unarmed attacks 
  gain the ‘defensive’ tag. This will allow 
  a parry attempt.
  EAGLE CLAW
  DIFFICULTY 3
  LIMITATIONS The warrior may not hold 
  any items in their hands when using 
  this trick and must pretend to speak in 
  dubbing.
  EFFECT The warrior’s unarmed attacks 
  are considered slashing attacks; this will 
  increase the die size by one 
  category.
  ENTANGLE  WEAPON
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior 
  must have a higher ini-
  tiative than the target and 
  just successfully avoided 
  an attack with the roll of a 
  lucky number, while using 
  a cape or cloak to block. 
  This does not count as an 
  opportunity attack.
  EFFECT The warrior may 
  make a free disarm attack 
  against an opponent.
  EPIC PARRY
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) 
  per +1 awesomeness
  LIMITATIONS An epic suc-
  cess attack roll must have 
  been stopped by an epic success parry.
  EFFECT The players of the two warriors 
  immediately enter a staring contest. 
  The last one to blink or look away (if 
  they know this trick) may regain up to 
  !d6 luck points, and gains a boost to 
  awesomeness if they are of lower level.
  FAST FIRING
  DIFFICULTY 5
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be wield-
  ing a missile weapon.
  EFFECT The warrior may ‘Defend Oneself’ 
  as a free action while reloading.
  
  98
  FEINT
  DIFFICULTY 0
  LIMITATIONS The target must have just 
  suffered	an	epic	failure	on	a	defence	roll	
  against the warrior’s attack.
  EFFECT The warrior may turn their cur-
  rent attack into a power attack for free.
  FIRE  CONTROL
  DIFFICULTY 2 per point of base damage
  LIMITATIONS The attack will only cause 
  a loss of luck points and cannot cause 
  actual damage. If the target is unaware 
  they are in a combat situation they will 
  not lose luck points, though the attacker 
  may choose to still ‘hold the shot’ and 
  wait	for	a	better	damage	roll	before	firing.
  EFFECT After rolling for damage, the 
  warrior may choose to ‘hold the shot’ 
  and	not	actually	fire.	This	still	deals	
  damage and does not use ammunition 
  or require a reload.
  FOLLOW UP
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s opponent must 
  have	just	been	knocked	‘off	balance’	by	
  the warrior and the warrior must have 
  a free hand.
  EFFECT The warrior may make an imme-
  diate	unarmed	attack	with	her	off-hand.
  HAFT BLOCK
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be wield-
  ing a hafted weapon in two-hands, such 
  as an axe. The warrior must spend an 
  action if they have one, but this trick can 
  be used even without.
  EFFECT The warrior may parry as if her 
  weapon had the ‘defensive’ tag.
  HEADBUTT
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  been struck with a grapple attack by a 
  humanoid	of	the	same	size	modifier.
  EFFECT The warrior may launch a free 
  ‘Glasgow Kiss’ attack. If this attack con-
  nects,	both	sides	suffer	a	‘knock	down’	
  hit, testing on health instead of agility. 
  Wearing a light helm gives a DR of 1, 
  while a metal helm grants a DR of 2 
  and causes an extra d4 normal damage 
  to the opponent.
  HUMILIATION STRIKE
  DIFFICULTY 5
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  disarmed her opponent and successfully 
  grabbed the weapon in a free hand. The 
  free attack is with the opponent’s weapon.
  
  99
  EFFECT The warrior may make an im-
  mediate standard attack upon her op-
  ponent. If this attack connects it grants 
  the warrior +1 awesomeness per point 
  of damage dealt.
  IMMOVABLE
  DIFFICULTY 1	per	point	of	damage	suffered	
  this round.
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must not be 
  ‘Off	Balance’	and	must	be	standing	on	
  a	flat	and	stable	surface.
  EFFECT The warrior may make a strength 
  check instead of an agility check in re-
  sponse to a ‘Knock Down’ even if not 
  defending herself.
  IMPROVISED PARRY
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be wield-
  ing	a	flail	that	does	not	have	the	‘vicious’	
  tag and must have a free hand.
  EFFECT The warrior may grab both ends 
  of	a	flail	they	are	wielding	and	parry	in-
  coming attacks with the weapons chain. 
  The	flail	gains	the	‘defensive’	tag.
  IRON FIST
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s unarmed 
  attacks	cannot	also	use	a	different	tag	
  during the attack.
  EFFECT The warrior’s unarmed attack 
  gains the ‘devastating’ tag.
  JOINT SNAP
  DIFFICULTY 3
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  scored a critical hit with an unarmed 
  attack.
  EFFECT The warrior may make a com-
  parative strength check with the target. 
  If	the	warrior	wins	the	target	suffers	a	
  strength die of additional damage.
  JUMP ATTACK
  DIFFICULTY 1d6+1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior cannot have 
  made a defence roll before their attack. 
  If	the	warrior	suffers	a	fumble,	the	
  warrior is knocked prone in addition 
  to	other	effects.
  EFFECT The warrior charges at their 
  opponent and leaps into the air to chest 
  height, most likely gaining the high 
  ground	benefit.
  KIRK
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be launch-
  ing an unarmed power attack and must 
  get the reference.
  EFFECT The	warrior	locks	their	fingers	
  together and slams an opponent. The 
  warrior’s unarmed attack counts as a 
  being done with a two-handed weapon, 
  granting the expected damage bonus.
  
  100
  LUNGE
  DIFFICULTY 0
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be launch-
  ing an attack with a thrusting weapon 
  and cannot parry or block this turn.
  EFFECT The warrior increases their range 
  by 2 for a single melee attack.
  MIGHTY BLOW!
  DIFFICULTY 1 per point of damage below 12
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  struck the target with a critical hit with 
  a blunt weapon.
  EFFECT The warrior’s opponent is auto-
  matically	knocked	‘Off	Balance’,	if	already	
  off	balance	they	are	knocked	prone.
  MOMENTUM THROW
  DIFFICULTY 3
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  scored an epic success on a defence roll, 
  while unarmed, against a melee attack. 
  The opponent cannot have a larger size 
  modifier	than	the	warrior.
  EFFECT The warrior may throw an op-
  ponent prone behind her.
  MULTI-SHOT
  DIFFICULTY 2 per additional arrow
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be wield-
  ing a bow. The warrior rolls one attack 
  roll for each arrow, but all attacks use 
  the worst roll. No single opponent can 
  be the target of more arrows than its 
  size	modifier,	to	minimum	of	1.
  EFFECTThe	warrior	fires	multiple	arrows	
  from a bow at once. No other players 
  are permitted to complain about the 
  physics of this manoeuvre.
  NECK PINCH
  DIFFICULTY 8
  LIMITATIONS The target must be sur-
  prised, ambushed or somehow unable 
  to defend against this unarmed attack.
  EFFECT The warrior deals up to !d20 stun 
  to the target at the cost of 2 successes. 
  The warrior can choose to do less than 
  the full amount of stun.
  NERVE  STRIKE
  DIFFICULTY 3
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s unarmed 
  attacks	cannot	currently	have	a	different	
  beneficial	tag	(such	as	‘devastating’)
  EFFECT The warrior’s unarmed attack 
  gains the ‘vicious’ tag.
  OFF-HAND PARRY
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  rolled a 15 or higher on their defence roll.
  EFFECT The warrior may add a second 
  +1 to their defence roll for parrying with 
  a	defensive	weapon	in	their	off-hand.
  OVERREACH
  DIFFICULTY 4
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have a 
  free hand and the warrior’s opponent 
  must have just fumbled an attack against 
  the warrior.
  EFFECT The warrior may make a free 
  disarm attack.
  
  101
  POMMEL STRIKE
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The pommel strike will 
  normally only be used as a knockdown 
  attack. The weapon must be a swung 
  weapon	and	cannot	be	a	flail	or	pole	
  weapon.
  EFFECT The warrior may cancel their reg-
  ular attack, and interrupt someone who 
  is in turn interrupting them, attacking 
  instead with a pommel strike after their 
  opponent’s attack roll but before their 
  own defence roll.
  QUICK DRAW
  DIFFICULTY 2 per dot size of weapon
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have a free 
  hand or hands as required to wield the 
  weapon. Each version of this trick works 
  for a single class of weapon (swords, or 
  axes or knives for instance).
  EFFECT The warrior may draw a weapon 
  as a free action.
  QUICK SWEEP
  DIFFICULTY 4
  LIMITATIONS Their opponent must have 
  just knocked the warrior prone.
  EFFECT If the warrior can pass an Agility 
  check, the warrior may make a free and 
  immediate ‘knock down’ attack against 
  their opponent.
  RIPOSTE
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just scored an epic success or rolled a 
  lucky number with a successful defence 
  roll against their opponent while using 
  a parry. This does not count as an op-
  portunity attack.
  EFFECT The warrior may launch a free 
  attack against their opponent.
  
  102
  RUSH
  DIFFICULTY	1(cumulative)	per	difference	
  in range
  LIMITATIONS The warrior’s initiative must 
  be higher than the target’s initiative by 
  an	amount	greater	than	the	difference	
  in range. This can only be used for the 
  warrior’s	first	attack	in	a	round.
  EFFECT An opponent with a lower initiative 
  cannot interrupt the warrior, regardless 
  of melee range.
  SHIELD PUNCH
  DIFFICULTY 1 per dot size of the shield, 
  per punch this round
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just rolled an epic success, or success 
  by 10 or more, on a defence roll while 
  blocking with a shield.
  EFFECT The warrior may make an im-
  mediate standard or knockdown attack 
  with their shield.
  SHIELD WALL
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be holding 
  a large or medium shield.
  EFFECT The warrior may attempt to help 
  block an attack against an ally adjacent 
  to the warrior, granting half their shield’s 
  blocking	modifier	to	their	ally.
  SHOVE
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  hit with an unarmed knockdown attack.
  EFFECT The warrior may force a com-
  parative strength check instead of an 
  agility check for a knock down attempt.
  SHOWDOWN
  DIFFICULTY 4
  LIMITATIONS The warrior may not launch 
  a normal attack this round and they 
  must be engaged in combat against a 
  single adversary. The warrior may not 
  be damaged during the round in which 
  this is used.
  EFFECT The warrior locks eyes with an 
  opponent and slowly circles them. At 
  the end of the round the warrior rolls 
  a Perception die, costing the target that 
  many luck points. Record how many 
  luck points are lost in this manner during 
  the combat, if the winner of the combat 
  knows this manoeuvre they regain all of 
  the luck points from both parties, up to 
  their maximum. Uninvolved parties are 
  encouraged to make attempts at western 
  showdown music.
  STAFF MASTERY
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be wield-
  ing a pole weapon in two hands.
  EFFECT The warrior may parry with a 
  pole weapon as if it had the defensive 
  tag and attack as if it had the versatile tag.
  STOMP
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  knocked their opponent prone.
  EFFECT The warrior may make a free attack 
  on an opponent. If this attack connects 
  it deals a strength die of damage.
  
  103
  STUMBLING SHOT
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be using 
  a weapon that has ammunition capable 
  of	tripping	over;	a	firearm	for	example	
  would not work unless unabsorbed 
  (through luck) damage is dealt. The 
  attack roll must have been a lucky num-
  ber, note that this does not count as the 
  opportunity attack.
  EFFECT	The	warrior	fires	a	bolt,	arrow	
  or thrown weapon into the path of (or 
  perhaps directly into) the target’s feet, 
  causing an additional knockdown attempt 
  as they risk tripping. This does not require 
  an additional attack roll.
  SWARM!
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The attackers involved in 
  the swarm must attempt to grapple or 
  overbear the target.
  EFFECT Each warrior involved in the 
  swarm rolls their own attack roll, while 
  the defender only rolls a single defence 
  roll and compares it against all of the 
  attackers.
  SWORD BAND BUCKLER
  DIFFICULTY 1
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must not have 
  yet made any defence rolls this round.
  EFFECT The warrior may wield a ‘hand 
  and a half’ weapon in two hands for an 
  attack, and still hold and block with a 
  small shield, cloak or be considered to 
  have a free hand.
  SUNDER
  DIFFICULTY 2
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  missed with an attack due to the bonus 
  from a parry, block or both. The disarm 
  must be against the cause of the missed 
  attack, if the warrior was blocked then the 
  disarm is against the shield for example. 
  The warrior’s weapon must have two or 
  more of the following traits Devastating, 
  Slashing and Two-Handed.
  EFFECT The warrior may make a free 
  disarm attempt, this can be used to 
  ‘disarm’ a shield.
  THROW THE GUN!
  DIFFICULTY 0
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  fired	the	weapon	until	it	was	empty	at	
  the target. More than half of the shots 
  must have connected (not dodged or 
  blocked) and have dealt no damage 
  to	the	target.	The	fire	must	have	been	
  completely	ineffective.
  EFFECT The warrior throws an empty 
  firearm	at	the	target;	if	this	connects	the	
  warrior rolls a luck die and costs the 
  target that many luck points.
  
  104
  TRAIL OF CARNAGE
  DIFFICULTY 2 per previous attack roll 
  from the initial shot
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must be using 
  an ‘armour piercing’ weapon and have 
  just	slain	the	first	target.	The	attack	against	
  the next target will be resolved with a 
  damage die one lower than the previous 
  attack.	This	will	eventually	fizzle	out	to	
  a d2 and then nothing.
  EFFECT The bolt, bullet or arrow from 
  the	warrior	travels	through	the	first	op-
  ponent’s body and slams into a target 
  directly behind. The warrior makes a 
  fresh attack roll against the new target.
  WARCRY
  DIFFICULTY 0
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just slain a conscious foe and caused a 
  morale loss this round.
  EFFECT The warrior lets out a massive 
  roar over the corpse of a fallen opponent. 
  The warrior regains a number of luck 
  points equal to their presence. Allies 
  regain 1 luck point.
  WEAPON CONTROL
  DIFFICULTY 4
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have just 
  rolled a fumble other than a natural 1 
  on an attack roll.
  EFFECT The warrior may treat a fumble as 
  merely an epic failure in melee combat. 
  The attack will still miss, but it will not 
  cause	the	normal	effects	of	a	fumble.
  WHIRLING ATTACK
  DIFFICULTY 4
  LIMITATIONS The warrior must have 
  just scored a critical hit or rolled an 
  epic success with a normal attack while 
  wielding a versatile weapon and not 
  defending herself.
  EFFECT The warrior may make an ad-
  ditional attack; this does not count as a 
  normal attack.
  WHIRLING PARRY
  DIFFICULTY 2 per previous parry this round
  LIMITATIONS If the attack is coming from 
  an angle the warrior could not normally 
  parry, only a +1 bonus is applied. The 
  warrior still cannot parry with or against 
  a weapon that disallows a parry.
  EFFECT The warrior gains a +2 bonus 
  for using a parry, which can be made 
  against an attack coming from any angle.
  
  THE  GRIMOIRE
  
  106
  THE GRIMOIRE
  THE GAME MECHANICS
  OF SORCERY
  Casting spells, mechanically, involves 
  several steps. A caster (not just a wizard) 
  announces the spell to be cast, selects a 
  power level for the spell, pays any costs 
  and	then	casts	the	spell	as	a	conflict	action.	
  A caster cannot cast a spell that the caster 
  cannot	afford	to	pay.	A	caster’s	occult	
  is	also	modified	by	any	agility	check	
  penalties	the	caster	is	suffering	from.
  A caster must also choose a power level for 
  most spells. Increasing the spell’s power 
  level	will	increase	its	difficulty,	cost	and	
  will change the scope of the spell. This is 
  somewhat	modified	by	how	well	known	
  the spell is. If the caster is the only one 
  who knows the spell, it will be double the 
  intended power level when cast. Magic 
  is weird and mysterious; the more who 
  know of it, the less power it holds. It is 
  literally the occult (the hidden).
  The	caster	then	must	try	to	fight	reality	
  to	cast	the	spell,	exactly	like	a	conflict.	
  The caster makes a casting roll, rolling 
  a dX and adding their Occult to the roll 
  as	a	bonus	and	the	difficulty	of	the	spell	
  as a penalty. The universe always scores 
  a 10 (as if it were calm, at least in this 
  dimension) and has no bonus. If the 
  wizard fails to cast the spell she must 
  pay an additional point of cost for each 
  point she failed by. If a wizard rolled 
  a 5 with a total bonus of +2 then not 
  only would she pay the cost of the spell 
  (which	doesn’t	go	off)	but	an	additional	
  3 cost as well (to bring her up to the 10 
  scored by the universe). An epic failure 
  counts as a total score of at most 0 and an 
  epic success will always succeed (unless 
  an epic success is scored in a defence, 
  such as from a counterspell).
  COST
  Magic has a price. That price is listed as 
  the	spell’s	cost.	A	wizard	must	suffer	1	
  point of stress per point of cost followed 
  by damage if the caster is driven insane; 
  This loss cannot be absorbed with luck 
  points.	Instead	of	stress,	Elves	will	suffer	
  mutation (followed by damage after they 
  mutate),	and	Dwarves	will	suffer	disease	
  on a 1 to 1 basis.
  A spell can never be lowered below a 
  cost of 1 unless some form of innately 
  magical component is being consumed. 
  A character that has mana may pay with 
  it instead of stress, disease, mutation, or 
  damage (thus a cost 1 spell is either 1 mana 
  or 1 stress/damage/disease/mutation).
  MANA
  Some characters will have a mana pool, 
  this allows them to store and ‘heal’ mana. 
  Without the ability to store mana in such 
  a	way	it	will	bleed	off	fairly	quickly,	a	
  point per minute usually.
  
  107
  MAGIC COMPONENTS i
  Magic	components	are	a	largely	undefined	
  range of items that can be used in casting 
  spells. Almost anything can work as a 
  component when paired with the right 
  spell (or counterspell). It is up to the 
  player to invent magic components and 
  then	work	with	the	GM	to	figure	out	
  the	benefits	the	component	grants;	it	is	
  an exercise in player creativity. Anything 
  from the body parts of rare creatures 
  (such as a dragon’s skull) to unplanned 
  items that present themselves, such as 
  standing	next	to	a	fire	when	casting	
  fireball.	The	more	rare	and	inventive	an	
  item’s description the more powerful it 
  should be. A goblin skull and the skull 
  of a goblin shaman decapitated with a 
  silver blade under the full moon on a 
  mountain	peak	will	generate	different	
  levels of power even if they are the same 
  item. Components can also include 
  non-physical components such as songs 
  or ritualized dance. Make the player do 
  an impression while everyone else stares 
  deadpan at them.
  Magic components generally act in one 
  or more of the following ways: reducing 
  the	spell’s	difficulty	(crafted	components	
  like wands, orbs, or magic circles) and/or 
  offsetting	costs	(consumable	components	
  like	dusts,	sacrifices,	or	oils),	by	either	
  a set amount or an amount per power 
  level of the spell .
  A key concern with components is in-
  ventory management, as all components 
  must be kept separately. This means each 
  type of component must be stored in 
  a separate encumbrance ‘dot’. Contam-
  ination of components can be deadly. 
  The	final	thing	to	remember	is	that	
  components should never be mandatory 
  unless it is the point of a spell (a spell 
  to make a magic sword could require 
  a	sword,	a	spell	to	make	a	ball	of	fire	
  shouldn’t require anything). It is not 
  there to punish players nor is it there 
  to make the game an unmanageable 
  joke.	As	always,	find	the	right	tone	of	
  component use for your group.
  That said here is a suggested template.
  Object is
  Crafted
  Consumed
  Easy to find / 
  make
  -1	difficulty
  -1d2 cost
  Hard to find / 
  make
  -2	difficulty
   -1d4 cost
  Rare /
  Intricate
  -3	difficulty
  -1d8 cost
  DEFENCES AGAINST THE 
  DARK ARTS
  Those subject to malicious spells and 
  enchantments are not without recourse 
  if they are properly schooled in the spells 
  being used. This is one of the reasons 
  that wizards do not share their spells.
  COUNTERSPELLS
  An opposing magician may attempt to 
  counter a spell as it is being cast. The 
  opposing magician must spend an action 
  to interrupt the caster (requiring higher 
  initiative) and must also know the spell 
  in question (meaning they must have it 
  memorized or in the tome in front of 
  
  108
  them). The opposing magician rolls a 
  dX and adds their occult to the roll. This 
  score is used as an additional defence roll 
  that the caster must beat. An epic failure 
  on a counterspell counts as a zero and 
  an epic success will always cancel a spell 
  though it might still not end up costing 
  the caster additional cost.
  So if Flandag casts a spell with a total 
  dX value of 8 and someone counters 
  the spell (scoring a 15) then Flandag 
  will pay 9 additional cost (2 from the 
  universe scoring a 10 and 7 from the 
  counterspell). If Flandag scored a value 
  of 22 and someone countered with a 
  natural 20 and a +1 bonus then the spell 
  would be countered but Flandag would 
  not pay any additional cost.
  WARDS
  A magician may craft a protective ward 
  against any spell they have access to with 
  a few hours notice at a cost of 1. This 
  ward will take up a dot of inventory and 
  cannot be stored in a container for it to 
  function. Should someone wearing this 
  ward be the target of the spell in question, 
  the ward will attempt to keep the spell 
  from	affecting	its	bearer	(other	targets	
  may still be impacted). This function 
  mirrors the counterspell functionality as 
  described above (using the occult of the 
  ward’s crafter at the time of its creation). 
  Regardless of success or failure, the ward 
  is consumed in the attempt.
  DISPELLING
  A magician may attempt to dispel a single 
  spell	that	is	currently	in	effect	for	a	cost	
  of	1.	This	includes	spells	affecting	items,	
  people, places, or even the magician 
  herself. The magician must both know 
  the spell in question and be able to touch 
  (or at least hover a hand ovfer) the target 
  entity for ?d20 actions. At the end of 
  that period, the magician rolls a dX and 
  adds her occult to the roll. This roll must 
  exceed	10+	the	difficulty	of	ALL	of	the	
  spells currently impacting the target. If 
  the magician succeeds in the roll, a single 
  spell is deactivated. If the magician fails, 
  they	must	immediately	pay	the	difference	
  in cost as if they failed to cast a spell. 
  Due to this risk, magicians often store 
  dispel attempts inside of potions (see 
  “Spell Storage”).
  MYSTICAL FAILURE i
  If a wizard is struck while casting a 
  spell, or otherwise distracted, the spell’s 
  difficulty	is	increased	by	the	amount	of	
  damage,	stun,	influence,fear,	or	stress	
  the wizard received. This means it is 
  perfectly acceptable for someone to 
  make an appeal against an opposing 
  wizard by shouting random numbers 
  and astrological signs to try and disrupt 
  their spell by sheer force of jackassery.
  LEARNING AND
  MEMORIZING SPELLS
  To cast a spell a wizard must spend an 
  action and either have it memorized 
  by spending a skill slot or using a held 
  object with an accompanying skill to 
  decipher it. That is a fancy way of using 
  a grimoire and a skill to be literate in 
  
  109
  most cases, but it doesn’t have to be. 
  A wizard could encode their spell in 
  a cut gem, requiring a skill such as a 
  gemology to read its peculiar lines. An 
  artist could hide the steps to a spell in 
  an abstract painting, an astrologer in star 
  charts, or a demonologist in the visages 
  of	unsettling	idols.	Use	whatever	fits	in	
  the tone of your campaign. A wizard 
  with the sage power can always reverse 
  engineer this kind of encryption and 
  translate the spell into another format.
  Books will probably still be the most 
  common method of writing spells, due 
  to the density they can contain in a 
  single object, but they do bring their 
  own hassle. If there are more than four 
  or	five	spells	in	a	book	you	may	wish	
  to	add	a	search	time	to	find	the	right	
  spell’s starting page, similar to retrieving 
  an item from a backpack. How far down 
  that rabbit hole you go depends on 
  how much you want to stress inventory 
  management for wizards.
  A character can also temporarily memo-
  rize up to one spell with about an hour 
  of	preparation.	When	first	attempting	to	
  cast such a spell, make an intelligence 
  check. A failed check causes a mystical 
  failure as if an epic failure was rolled.. 
  This temporary memorization only lasts 
  until sleep.
  The spells listed in NGR are generic 
  variants	devoid	of	real	flavour.	These	
  spells are to be used as templates and 
  additional details added. For example the 
  spell template ‘bolt’ lists that it deals a 
  certain number of dice worth of damage. 
  ‘Marvin’s	Magnificent	Lightning	Bolt’	
  and ‘Kevorko’s Acid Blast’ would both 
  be	specific	examples	of	that	template.	
  Lightning bolt would ignore metal ar-
  mour	and	potentially	start	fires	while	acid	
  blast might do repeating damage and 
  could melt locks. When making a spell 
  either from the templates or from scratch 
  you should keep a couple things in the 
  back of your mind. If the target of the 
  spell isn’t the wizard herself, it should 
  have some visible means of targeting 
  an opponent so they can announce a 
  saving throw (or make an appropriate 
  defensive roll). Even something as sim-
  ple as “locking eyes with the target” or 
  “points at the target” gives the opposing 
  player something they can do. They 
  can close their eyes or duck behind a 
  wall to avoid the spell. If the spell just 
  “happens” it is impossible to make any 
  sort of saving throw or take any sort 
  of defensive action. That seems lame. I 
  would also suggest for any completely 
  custom spells that you make them “scale” 
  with power levels.
  Any starting character begins the game 
  with spell per pie piece of the wizard 
  class. As an alternate solution, consider
  writing down a few common spell books 
  for the setting and starting with one of 
  those at random. Who doesn’t want to 
  start with a copy of the Necronomicon 
  or the Diary of Damned Vizier after all?
  
  110
  THE WIZARD’S
  GRIMOIRE i
  ARMOURING
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell grants the caster a DR against 
  attacks equal to the spell’s power level. 
  Depending on the version of the spell 
  can be through magical body paint, 
  energy	fields,	hardening	the	wizard’s	
  clothing or other methods. This spell 
  will last for 15 minutes per power level.
  BARRIER
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 5 per power level
  RANGE  1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell creates a wall or barrier with a 
  size and shape of the caster’s choice. This 
  barrier has a length of up to 5(cumulative) 
  feet per power level and a height of up 
  to 5 feet per power level. Depending 
  on the exact version of this spell it will 
  either be a solid or damaging barrier. 
  A	solid	barrier	(force	field,	briars,	ice,	
  etc) can absorb 10 points of damage 
  per power level, with a DR of 1 per 
  power	level.	A	damaging	barrier	(fire,	
  lightning, poison gas, etc) will do 1 die 
  of damage (usually a d6) per power level 
  of the spell if someone attempts to cross 
  the barrier and 1 die of damage if they 
  merely touch the barrier. The magical 
  portion of the barrier has a duration of 
  5(cumulative) minutes per power level, 
  after that point any materials conjured 
  by the spell will remain. For example, 
  an ice barrier would leave a large slab 
  of ice behind that would melt normally 
  while a poison gas barrier would leave 
  a cloud of poison gas behind that would 
  drift and settle normally.
  BIND ENCHANTMENT
  DIFFICULTY 4 per power level
  COST 2 (cumulative) per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows a wizard to increase the 
  length	of	a	spell’s	duration	indefinitely.	
  Until the spell is dispelled, the wizard 
  (or anyone else) may not recast this spell, 
  it is locked into the binding spell. If the 
  spell is dispelled, the wizard can recast 
  this spell. One way to remove the neg-
  ative impacts of this spell is to combine 
  it with a trigger spell; the trigger would 
  specify a means to cancel the binding 
  rather than activating it. This spell must 
  have an equal or greater power level than 
  the spell being bound.
  Other versions of the spell have other 
  trade-offs,	such	as	creating	uncontrolled	
  monster or requiring a bound spirit.
  
  111
  BINDING TETHERS
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to make a 
  target rope, string, vine, chain, cable or 
  similar item trip, coil, knot, entangle or the 
  reverse thereof. The caster can issue one 
  command per round instead of another 
  action. Attack rolls may be required; the 
  rope	has	a	combat	modifier	equal	to	the	
  spell’s power level and a strength and 
  agility of 2 per power level. The spell 
  has a duration of 1(cumulative) round 
  per	power	level	and	affects	up	to	5	feet	
  of rope(or similar) per power level.
  BLAST
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE 3 Areas (or Medium Missile Range)
  Blast represents the myriad of spells that 
  cause a deadly explosion. The caster will 
  hurl an explosive ball at a target location, 
  which will explode upon impact. Any 
  caught	in	the	blast	radius	will	suffer	one	
  exploding die of damage; the damage 
  die is normally a !d6. The blast diameter 
  is 10 feet per level of the spell. Saving 
  throws are allowed as normal. If you are 
  using abstracted movement, this should 
  hit 1 person per power level in a target 
  area or 1 cumulative per power level if 
  they are clustered.
  BLURRED FORM
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell blurs the outline of the caster, 
  giving the caster +1 to both evade rolls 
  for hiding and to defence rolls per power 
  level.	This	benefit	will	last	for	1	minute	
  per power level.
  BOLT
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE 10 Areas (or Long Missile Range)
  Bolt	represents	any	of	the	many	offen-
  sive spells that allow a wizard to target 
  a lone individual with deadly force. The 
  bolt	will	arc	out	at	the	target,	suffering	
  a –1 attack penalty per power level. On 
  a hit it will deal 1 die of damage per 
  power level of the spell; the damage die 
  is normally a d6. Some versions of the 
  spell will instead deal a damage die times 
  the power level of the spell.
  BUBBLE OF PROTECTION
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell causes the caster to be sur-
  rounded by an energy shield that absorbs 
  incoming attacks. The shield can absorb 
  1 point of damage per power level before 
  dissipating. The shield has a DR of 1 
  for every 3 power levels.
  
  112
  CANTRIP
  DIFFICULTY +0
  COST +1
  RANGE N/A
  This	spell	creates	a	minor	magical	effect	
  such as sparkles, wisps of vapour, soft 
  coloured	light	or	minor	musical	effects.	
  This can be cast alongside another spell 
  by	increasing	that	spells	difficulty	by	1.
  CHANNELLING
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 1
  RANGE Self
  This spell is used to recharge the mana 
  stores of the caster. The spell either 
  draws from hidden reserves within the 
  caster, or collects magical energy from 
  the world around the caster, depleting 
  it until natural restoration for the area 
  occurs. If it is drawn from the caster, 
  the	caster	usually	suffers	some	form	of	
  accrued points (such as 1 damage) that 
  cannot be absorbed through luck. Oth-
  erwise the caster will usually consume 
  or	sacrifice	some	item	or	being.	This	
  spell allows the caster to siphon up to 
  3(cumulative) points of mana per power 
  level of the spell.
  CHARM
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) per power level
  COST 1(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE Sight/Audible
  This spell grants the caster both +1 
  influence	per	die	and	+1	presence	per	
  power level, against the target. This spell 
  will last for 10 (doubling) minutes per 
  power level.
  CONE
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE 5 feet per power level or 1 Area
  Cone	represents	any	offensive	spell	that	
  features a billowing array expanding out-
  ward	from	the	caster	such	as	fire	breath,	
  chain lightning or a blast of freezing air. 
  The cone will have a diameter at any point 
  equal to the distance from the caster. So 
  5 feet out from the caster, the cone will 
  have a diameter of 5 feet. The spell will 
  deal 1 die of damage per power level of 
  the spell, reducing by 1 die for every 
  five	feet	from	the	caster,	until	it	reaches	
  0 dice. The damage die is usually a d6. 
  If you are using abstracted movement, 
  this should hit one person in your area 
  for full damage and/or 1 person per 
  power level for 1 die of damage in a 
  neighbouring area.
  DAMAGING TOUCH
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) per power level.
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE Self
  Damaging touch is any spell where 
  the caster’s unarmed attacks deal more 
  damage, from draining life force to a 
  flaming	hand	or	shocking	grasp.	The	
  wizard’s unarmed damage increases by 
  1 die size per power level of this spell, 
  up to a maximum of a d12. If a caster 
  wishes to upgrade to a d20 the caster 
  must increase 4 additional power levels 
  
  113
  past a d12, and 5 additional power levels 
  past a d20 to reach a d30. This spell 
  will last for 1 round per power level of 
  this spell.
  ELEMENTAL RUNE
  DIFFICULTY 8
  COST 10 per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell causes the inscribed item to be 
  affected	by	one	of	the	elements	(specified	
  by	the	version	of	the	spell).	A	fire	rune	
  would	cause	a	noticeable	flame	to	spring	
  forth (3-4 inches) causing an extra d4 
  damage, similar runes would exist for 
  cold or lightning. An earth rune would 
  cause the hardness of the inscribed item 
  to be increased by 1 per power level. 
  This spell has a duration of 30 minutes 
  per power level.
  EMBIGGEN (DEBIGULATE)
  DIFFICULTY 4(cumulative) per power level
  COST 5(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell causes the target to grow (or 
  shrink)	by	one	size	modifier	per	power	
  level of the spell. A normal sized human 
  could	be	increased	to	a	size	modifier	of	
  2	or	decreased	to	a	size	modifier	of	1/2.	
  Note that embiggen and debigulate are 
  two	different	spells	and	knowing	one	
  does not guarantee the wizard knows 
  how to cast the opposing spell. This 
  spell will last for 1 hour per power level.
  
  114
  ENHANCED CAPACITY
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST * per power level
  RANGE 1 resealable container or room
  This spell allows the caster to increase 
  the holding capacity of a container. The 
  * is the number of dots the container 
  can normally hold. The spell increases 
  capacity by * dots per power level. The 
  spell has a duration of 1 hour per power 
  level, when the spell ends, any excess 
  matter is either compacted or extruded 
  through portals (lids, doors, etc), choosing 
  the path of least resistance.
  ERASE
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE Current Area (or 10 feet)
  This spell removes target text, images 
  or symbols from existence. It can also 
  remove any magical runes or sigils from 
  a spell known by the caster. The spell 
  can remove such text, images or symbols 
  from a surface area of the spell’s power 
  level in feet squared. A power level 5 
  spell could remove an area 5 feet by 5 
  feet of pictures, text and symbols.
  FAST FEET
  DIFFICULTY 1(cumulative) per power level
  COST 1(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell causes the wizard’s movement 
  speed to be increased by one extra area 
  with each move action per power level 
  for	1	round	per	power	level.	At	sufficient	
  speeds this may allow the caster to run 
  over water or up walls.
  FLASH
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 1 area radius per power level
  The spell causes everyone within the range 
  (centred on the caster) to be blinded by 
  a	flash	of	brilliant	light	for	a	?d6	rounds.	
  The	wizard	is	unaffected.
  FLIGHT
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This	spell	allows	the	target	to	fly	for	the	
  spell’s	duration.	The	target	flies	at	a	rate	
  of 1 area per round per power level. This 
  spell has a duration of 10 minutes per 
  power level. Versions of this spell that 
  can be cast upon others usually have 
  difficulties	that	are	three	times	greater	that	
  versions	which	only	affect	the	caster.	The	
  target can only be attacked in melee by 
  non-fliers	if	interrupted	when	attacking	
  someone in melee.
  GLAMOUR
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell allows the caster to change 
  their appearance (as well as potentially 
  the voice and smell depending on the 
  
  115
  spell) to that of another individual in the 
  eyes of a single target per power level. If 
  the target is familiar with the individual 
  the caster is impersonating they may 
  use	stealth	conflict	to	see	through	the	
  disguise. This spell lasts for 10(doubling) 
  minutes per power level.
  GLOW
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell causes the target to be out-
  lined with a faint glow, illuminating up 
  to 1(cumulative) foot per power level. 
  This spell has a duration of 1(cumulative) 
  minute per power level.
  ILLUSION
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to create an 
  illusion within a 5-foot radius per power 
  level.	The	difficulty	is	multiplied	by	the	
  number of senses utilized, and doubled 
  again if interactivity is included. There is 
  no physical component to this spell and 
  those	duped	can	neither	suffer	damage	
  nor be physically restrained. The spell has 
  a duration of 15 minutes per power level.
  IMBUE  ITEM
  DIFFICULTY 5(cumulative) per power level
  COST 10(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell makes a personal sized piece 
  of equipment into a magical item. The 
  item gains a +1 magical bonus for each 
  power level of the spell, beyond the 
  first	up	to	+5.	For	example,	a	power	
  level 1 spell would grant a +0 bonus, 
  while a power level 6 spell would grant 
  a +5 bonus. This spell has a duration 
  of 1(doubling) hour per power level, 
  though magical materials will hold the 
  charge	indefinitely	if	the	bonus	granted	
  is equal to or less than the power of the 
  material (for example, silver can hold a 
  +0	bonus	indefinitely	while	Meteoric	Iron	
  can	hold	up	to	a	+3	bonus	indefinitely).
  
  116
  IMPRISON
  DIFFICULTY 5 per power level
  COST 10
  RANGE Touch
  This spell potentially locks a mystical or 
  incorporeal creature (such as a ghost, 
  demon, djinn or dryad) into an object. 
  The object itself is always considered 
  a spell component and not always a 
  beneficial	one.	Living	objects	require	
  a willing target (including a calm but 
  unaware target). The being is trapped 
  and powerless in the item until the 
  spell expires or the object is broken or 
  interfered with in some way (ie, opening 
  a box or uncorking a bottle). Certain 
  versions of this spell may allow the 
  being to communicate. To be bound, 
  the creature must be defeated within 
  1 (cumulative) round per power level.
  INCORPOREAL  FORM
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell allows the caster to assume 
  an incorporeal form. The type of form 
  (ethereal, mist, hologram) is based upon 
  the version of the spell. The wizard 
  would have a movement rate of 1 area 
  per round for every 3 power levels and 
  may be able to move through walls, 
  or slip through cracks depending on 
  the version of the spell. The wizard is 
  immune to mundane physical attacks 
  though may be injured through methods 
  appropriate to the form (such as strong 
  winds against a mist form). This spell 
  has a duration of 1(cumulative) round 
  per power level, though the wizard may 
  choose to end it at any time.
  INVISIBILITY
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE touch
  This spell turns the caster invisible for 
  1(cumulative) minute per power level, or 
  until	they	suffer	1	point	of	damage	(or	
  equivalent) per power level. Equivalency 
  includes being covered with a substance 
  to make the caster visible such as water 
  or	paint.	The	difficulty	per	power	level	
  is usually three times greater for versions 
  where the caster can make someone else 
  go invisible. While invisible, all hiding 
  evade rolls other than an epic failure 
  count as an epic success.
  LEAP
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE 10 feet up or 1 area over per power 
  level
  This spell allows the caster to leap from 
  standing the full range of the spell. An 
  agility check is required for a successful 
  landing. Long leaps with unsuccessful 
  landings may result in damage.
  
  117
  MESSAGE
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE 25 miles per power level
  The caster can send an audible message 
  to a recipient. The caster must know the 
  recipient personally (and/ or her exact 
  location depending on version) to have 
  a two-way communication. The spell 
  will allow a message length of 1 minute 
  per power level.
  MIND INVASION
  DIFFICULTY 6 per power level
  COST 6 per power level
  RANGE touch
  This spell allows the caster to mentally 
  interrogate the target of the spell. The 
  caster	can	engage	in	social	conflict	with	
  the	target	about	a	specific	issue	the	
  caster wishes to see addressed. The 
  target may not claim stubborn refusal 
  for any requests for information, as this 
  represents the caster physically ripping 
  the memories from the target’s mind. 
  While	the	caster	must	score	influence	as	
  normal,	any	influence	the	target	scores	
  against the caster is treated as damage. 
  The caster has 1 cumulative round per 
  power level of the spell to interrogate.
  NECROMANCY
  DIFFICULTY 5 per power level
  COST 4 per power level
  RANGE 1 meter (cumulative) per power level
  This spell causes the caster to animate 
  1(cumulative) corpse or spirit (depending 
  on version of the spell) within range per 
  power level. Any heroes or villains in this 
  radius who are raised may become free 
  willed undead. Roll a d20 per hero or 
  villain. If the roll is less than the charac-
  ter’s level times the number of milestones 
  they’ve passed, they become free willed. 
  A caster can control 1(cumulative) undead 
  creature per level per version of this spell 
  memorized. If the caster dies all of her 
  undead are destroyed, though free willed 
  undead may be allowed a saving throw. 
  Undead	created	in	this	manner	suffer	1	
  (cumulative) damage per round from 
  direct sunlight.
  NIGHT VISION
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1
  RANGE Vision
  This spell allows the caster to see in the 
  dark up to half of the distance they could 
  see in optimal light. To this end it halves 
  the penalties for darkness. This spell has 
  a duration of 5(cumulative) minutes per 
  power level.
  
  118
  OBFUSCATION
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 5(cumulative) cubic feet per power 
  level
  This spell creates a billowing bank of thick 
  fog, magical darkness, acrid smoke or 
  other method of obfuscation depending 
  on	the	specific	version	of	the	spell.	This	
  causes	no	breathing	difficulties	but	blocks	
  normal vision. Strong winds, bright lights 
  or other appropriate actions can quickly 
  dissipate	the	effects	of	this	spell.
  PETRIFY
  DIFFICULTY 5 per power level
  COST 20 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to either turn 
  the target to stone, or turn the caster 
  herself to stone (depending on the ver-
  sion of the spell). For most versions of 
  the spell this is permanent. This spell 
  deals the equivalent of a d20 potential 
  damage per power level. If this potential 
  damage would kill the target, they are 
  turned to stone. Partial damage can be 
  ignored as described in “Immunity to 
  Normal Weapons”.
  POLYMORPH
  DIFFICULTY variable per power level
  COST 2 per point of difficulty
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to transform 
  the target into something else. Each ver-
  sion	of	this	spell	has	a	different	difficulty	
  and transforms the target into something 
  different.	The	target	maintains	their	
  intelligence when transformed, though 
  that may degrade/upgrade over time. 
  This spell will last for one day normally, 
  unless altered by spell components or 
  made permanent. The spell deals a d12 
  mutation points to the target. These 
  represent the individual being converted 
  (growing fur, a tail, wings, whatever).
  Below	are	some	sample	difficulties
  Toad
  5 per power level
  Humanoid
  2 per power level
  Dragon
  13 per power level
  
  119
  PORTAL
  DIFFICULTY 3 (cumulative) per power level
  COST 3 per power level
  RANGE 1(doubling) mile per power level
  This spell allows the caster to open a 
  magical portal. Stepping into the portal 
  will have them emerge from another 
  portal within the spell’s range, thus it is 
  required that at least two portals be cast. 
  Each portal must be cast from the same 
  version of the spell, and it is possible that 
  one portal will have a range greater than 
  its corresponding portal, making a trip 
  one way. If more than one portal is in 
  range, the user of a portal will emerge 
  from a random portal within range. If 
  the version of the spell shows the other 
  side of the portal (some do, some do 
  not) the character may be able to try 
  and ‘time’ jump through the portal to 
  fi	nd	the	desired	location	based	on	a	
  saving throw. This spell has a duration 
  of 1(doubling) minute per power level.
  REGENERATION
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell allows the caster to heal injuries 
  they	suff	er.	The	caster	heals	a	number	
  of points of damage (not luck) each 
  round equal to the power level of this 
  spell.	Injuries	suff	ered	from	fi	re,	acid	or	
  from magic weapons will not heal with 
  most versions of this spell (barring spell 
  components). Some versions convert 
  damage into mutation points. This spell 
  has a duration of 1 round per power level.
  RUNE LOCK
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell allows the caster to lock a 
  door, window, chest or other device 
  with magical runes. The door, window 
  or chest can still be smashed as normal. 
  Those with the wizard power ‘Anti-Mag-
  ic’ may attempt to ‘pick’ the rune lock; 
  the rune lock has a comparative occult 
  equal to ten plus this spell’s power level. 
  The caster may unlock the rune lock at 
  will, ending the spell. The spell has a 
  normal duration of 1(cumulative) hour 
  per power level.
  SAFETY FALL
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell allows the caster to fall at 
  no more than 5 feet per round unless 
  over-encumbered. If cast while falling, 
  add	2d6	diffi		culty	when	casting.	This	
  spell has a duration of 1(cumulative) 
  round per power level.
  
  120
  SCRY
  DIFFICULTY 5 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE 10(doubling) miles per power level
  This spell allows the caster to see an 
  image of the target as they currently 
  exist. The caster must have a piece of 
  the target (and/or know their location 
  depending on spell version). By doubling 
  the	difficulty,	the	caster	can	hear	audible	
  noise as well. This spell has a duration 
  of 1(cumulative) minute per power level.
  SECURE PORTAL
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to seal a 
  door, gate, valve, window or similar 
  device. The door can still be opened by 
  normal means (such as kicking it down). 
  For every power level of this spell, a –1 
  penalty is applied to attempting to force 
  open a portal. For every 3 power levels 
  an additional portal may be secured. This 
  spell will last for 1(cumulative) minute 
  per power level.
  SHRIEK
  DIFFICULTY 8
  COST 4 per power level
  RANGE Audible
  This spell causes the caster to emit a 
  devastating scream to all who could hear 
  the caster if they spoke normally. Those 
  affected	may	make	a	saving	throw	each	
  round or be stuck grasping their ears in 
  agony (checks to pass or fail are made 
  each round). If the caster is struck the 
  effect	ends	immediately,	the	caster	can	
  do nothing else besides shriek. This 
  spell will last for 1 cumulative round 
  per power level.
  SILENCE
  DIFFICULTY 2 per power level
  COST 5 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell renders sound impossible 
  within its radius, preventing most spells 
  from being cast and counting all sneak 
  evade rolls other than epic failures as epic 
  successes. This spell has a duration of 5 
  minutes per power level and a radius of 
  5 feet per power level.
  SIMULACRUM
  DIFFICULTY 8 per power level
  COST 10 per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell allows the caster to turn an 
  inanimate representation of a being into 
  an obedient servant, such as statue or 
  doll. The composition of the object to 
  be turned into a simulacrum is limited by 
  the version of the spell, ‘Stone Guardian’ 
  may require a humanoid stone statue 
  while ‘Void Knight’ may require a suit of 
  armour and ‘Nightmare Fuel’ may require 
  a	stuffed	animal.	The	animate	object	will	
  have attribute scores determined by the 
  version of the spell. ‘Stone Guardian’ may 
  have a high strength and low agility while 
  ‘Nightmare Fuel’ may be the opposite. 
  
  121
  The simulacrum can take 2(cumulative) 
  points of damage per power level before 
  the spell is dispelled and has no combat 
  or	stealth	modifier.	A	simulacrum	may	
  be used as a receptacle for an imprison 
  spell, in which case the simulacrum 
  has the presence, occult, faith, combat 
  and	stealth	modifiers	of	the	imprisoned	
  spirit.	If	the	specific	version	allows,	this	
  spell may be cast upon larger or smaller 
  items	by	multiplying	the	difficulty	and	
  cost	by	the	size	modifier.	This	spell	has	
  a duration of 1(cumulative) hour per 
  power level.
  SPELL STORAGE
  DIFFICULTY +1 per power level
  COST +1 per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell allows the caster to store an-
  other spell into a physical item such as 
  a potion, scroll, runic pendant or even a 
  foodstuff.	The	exact	nature	of	the	storage	
  medium is based on the version of the 
  spell, ‘Brew Potion’ and ‘Rune of Stor-
  age’	would	be	two	different	spells,	while	
  really narrow and specialized versions of 
  the spell would only allow the storage
  of an individual spells such as ‘Brew 
  Regeneration Potion’. The stored spell 
  will be activated when the item is used 
  (such as drinking a potion, disturbing 
  or breaking a rune, reading a scroll) 
  or when a trigger (see trigger spell) is 
  activated. The spell will treat the activator 
  as the ‘caster’ and the target. If someone 
  drank a potion of water breathing it 
  would	affect	her,	likewise	if	they	read	
  a	scroll	of	fireball	the	fireball	would	go	
  off	centred	on	the	reader	of	the	scroll.	
  The spell stored in the physical item will 
  weaken by 1 power level per week. This 
  can be altered by spell components or 
  by storing the item in a perfect location 
  (such as a potion in an ice house or a 
  scroll in a desert). If the caster chooses 
  not to store a spell, the cost paid may 
  be converted into mana, which can 
  be gained when the item is used. A 
  caster may also choose to store a dispel 
  attempt into a potion instead of a spell. 
  The	difficulty	of	this	spell	is	used	as	the	
  dispel attempts occult bonus.
  SUMMON
  DIFFICULTY 1d8 per power level
  COST 5 per power level
  RANGE 10(doubling) miles per power level
  The spell allows the caster to summon 
  a	specific	individual	or	thing	to	her	lo-
  cation. Depending on the spell version 
  it will either summon the nearest being/ 
  thing	to	fit	the	criteria	in	range,	or	allow	
  the	caster	to	summon	a	specific	being/
  thing if it is in range. If it is a variable 
  version of the spell (such as summoning 
  a person) it usually requires the caster 
  have a piece of the person or thing. If 
  the caster fails to cast the spell (but is 
  not killed by being unable to pay the 
  cost) the target will be stripped of held 
  items and strewn somewhere within 10 
  miles of the caster.
  
  122
  TELEKINESIS
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1 per power level
  RANGE 1(cumulative) foot per power level
  This spell allows the caster to reach out 
  and manipulate items with her mind. The 
  caster can push, pull, grab and grapple 
  but not strike directly. The caster has an 
  effective	‘strength’	of	1	per	power	level.	
  The spell has a duration of 1 round per 
  power level, but the caster must maintain 
  concentration to use this spell for more 
  than one round. This spell can be used 
  without a verbal component by increasing 
  its	difficulty	by	1d4.
  TELEPORT
  DIFFICULTY 1d4 per power level
  COST 5(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE 10(doubling) meters per power level
  This spell allows the caster to move to 
  a location known to them, along with 
  any carried possessions or people (within 
  encumbrance).
  TEMPORAL FIELD
  DIFFICULTY 3 per power level
  COST 5 per power level
  RANGE 1 Area (or Short Missile Range)
  This spell allows the caster to center a 
  temporal	distortion	field	around	the	target	
  location, person or item . Depending on 
  the version of the spell, this will either 
  increase	or	decrease	the	flow	of	time	
  within the radius. If time is increased, 
  those within the radius experience time 
  at a 1 + the spell’s power level: 1. If time 
  is slowed it is instead a ratio of 1: 1 + 
  the spell’s power level. At power level 2 
  those	in	the	field	either	take	3	rounds	of	
  actions	or	every	round	outside	the	field	
  OR take 1 round of action for every 
  three	rounds	outside	the	field.	This	spell	
  has a radius of 1(cumulative) area per 
  power level and a duration (based on 
  external time) of 1(cumulative) minute 
  per power level.
  TRIGGER
  DIFFICULTY +3
  COST +1
  RANGE Touch
  This spell is used to set a condition for 
  another spell to either activate or deac-
  tivate. Trigger is cast alongside the main 
  spell; each version of this spell has its 
  own trigger. A common version of this 
  spell uses casting trigger independently 
  of other spells as the activation. If you 
  wanted a spell to be able to ‘toggle’ on 
  and	off,	it	would	require	casting	two	
  additional triggers with the main spell. 
  For most versions of Trigger, unless 
  otherwise	modified	by	a	spell	component,	
  a spell that is deactivated by a trigger still 
  counts down its duration as normal, the 
  effects	are	merely	masked.	A	spell	with	
  no duration (such as a blast) cannot be 
  toggled.
  
  123
  VIEW VEIL
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 1
  RANGE Visual
  This spell allows the caster to detect 
  magical auras and pierce the veil over the 
  mundane world. The caster will detect 
  any magical beings (including other 
  wizards) items or spells. The exact nature 
  of how this is detected vary by version 
  (from seeing clouds of magic, to hearing 
  a song, to feeling heat or other more 
  unique methods). Creatures or items that 
  currently lack mana or magical power 
  will not be highlighted by this spell. This 
  spell will last for 1(cumulative) minute 
  per power level.
  WATER BREATHING
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell allows the caster to breathe 
  water as if it were air. It also means (in 
  most versions of the spell) that the caster 
  breathes air as if it was water. This spell 
  has a duration of 15(cumulative) minutes 
  per power level.
  WEAKNESS (STRENGTH)
  DIFFICULTY 2(cumulative) per power level
  COST 3(cumulative) per power level
  RANGE Touch
  This spell causes the target to be reduced 
  to 1 strength (or temporarily gain super-
  natural strength) for 1 round per power 
  level.	Note	that	these	are	two	different	
  spells	that	function	very	similar.	Different	
  versions of these spells may impact other 
  attributes such as agility or intelligence.
  WORD OF POWER
  DIFFICULTY 1 per power level
  COST 2 per power level
  RANGE Audible
  Words of Power represent all of the various 
  magic words that can cause unfortunate 
  side	effects	to	a	target.	The	wizard	makes	
  an appeal against a number of targets 
  equal to the spell’s power level with a 
  +1 bonus per power level. The targets 
  suffer	1d6	damage	per	success	scored.	
  Different	versions	of	this	spell	may	have	
  different	die	sizes	and/or	types	of	damage	
  (Stun, Stress, Mutation, etc).
  
  124
  ZONE OF DANGER
  DIFFICULTY 2(cumulative) per power level.
  COST 5 per power level
  RANGE Self
  This spell template is used for any form 
  of area denial spell that deals damage 
  (or theoretically other types of accrued 
  points). The wizard causes an area (or 
  a 20 foot cube if you don’t use abstract-
  ed movement) to erupt in some sort 
  of magical danger (such as say green 
  flames),	dealing	1d4	points	of	damage	
  to everyone in the area at the end of a 
  round. Damage increases by 1 die size 
  per power level of this spell, up to a 
  maximum of a d12. If a caster wishes 
  to upgrade to a d20 the caster must 
  increase 4 additional power levels past 
  a d12, and 5 additional power levels past 
  a d20 to reach a d30. This spell will last 
  until maximum damage is rolled on the 
  damage die. Some versions of this spell 
  will have the caster be immune to the 
  damage while others might allow the 
  spell to be cast on distant, or at least 
  adjacent areas.
  
  THE  HOLY
  SCRIPTURES
  
  126
  THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
  THE GAME MECHANICS
  OF MIRACLES
  Miracles function in a fairly simplistic 
  manner. A character may choose to 
  summon forth a miracle provided she has 
  enough piety to cover the costs. Miracles 
  are not the actions of the character but 
  the actions of a patron on behalf of the 
  character. For some miracles the faith 
  of the character may grant additional 
  benefits.	If	you	are	using	miracles	on	
  a follower of the same faith they can 
  choose to let you use their own piety 
  score as if it were your own for that 
  particular miracle.
  Characters can only summon miracles 
  related to their patron’s nature. A char-
  acter must be able to reasonably justify a 
  miracle as relating to the patron’s domain 
  they may summon the miracle. For ex-
  ample, a priest of the sun god could call 
  forth	‘increase	yield’	if	they	justified	it	as	
  giving the right amount of sun, while 
  the follower of a war god would have 
  a hard time unless it was dressed up in 
  some sort of elaborate ritual.
  The use of lengthy, time-consuming 
  rituals will be required to use most 
  miracles.	A	fire	priest	would	probably	
  need an elaborate ritual where a person 
  is	surrounded	by	flame	to	justify	using	
  a healing spell.
  Any starting character able to summon 
  miracles at normal cost begins the game 
  with 20 piety points. Characters without 
  the ability to summon miracles at normal 
  cost pay 100x the listed rate. I could tack 
  on some zeroes and say the priest with 
  the power to summon miracles chops 
  off	the	zeroes	but	that	seems	pointlessly	
  complex.
  CREATING A PATRON i
  A priest requires a patron to grant their 
  miracles. If the GM already has one or 
  more options in your game world, you 
  may wish to use them. Alternatively it 
  isn’t that hard to build one. First choose 
  if the patron is aligned with civilization, 
  the natural world or hell.
  Civilization patrons reside in the realm of 
  the dead, and usually are intermediaries 
  between a mortal and heaven. Hero cults, 
  saints, prophets, messiahs and ancestor 
  worship all fall into this category. So 
  while the god may be Zeus, the patron 
  may be Hercules as an intermediary. 
  For the domain of the patron, assume 
  that	the	miracles	must	be	justified	as	
  coincidence (even if nigh impossible in 
  terms of probability). The patron will 
  reward attempts to civilize and control 
  the natural world, removing the demonic 
  and the wild.
  Patrons of the natural world are extremely 
  powerful nature spirits, elementals, djinn 
  
  127
  or titans. These should have power over 
  1 broad natural force (an element, plants, 
  animals, fertility, weather, etc). Alterna-
  tively a region can be selected, granting 
  the ability to use any miracle within the 
  region but nothing outside of the region. 
  The latter is not recommended for any 
  PC. Piety is awarded for keeping magic 
  and mystery present in the world, keep-
  ing civilization localized and removing 
  demonic	influence.
  Patrons of hell are powerful demons 
  bargaining with would be sorcerers. 
  Some demons claim to be working for a 
  dark god or THE devil, but most claim 
  there are no such things as gods or devils. 
  Patrons of hell may use the method of 
  either civilization or the natural world. 
  Demonic patrons give piety for banal evil 
  deeds and causing corruption. As truly 
  hideous deeds tend to cause people to 
  resolve themselves to a life of resistance 
  (ref: Batman), piety is not awarded for 
  such acts.
  ACCUMULATING PIETY
  Here are some example ways in which 
  a character could earn piety points:
  Task
  Piety
  Preaching to a congregation for a week
  1
  Personally converting someonee
  5 or 5 (cumulative) per level
  Converting a region
  50-1000+
  Building a roadside shrine
  2
  Buidling a small shrine
  10
  Building a large shrine
  25
  Building a small temple
  50
  Building a temple or church
  100
  Building a great cathedral
  500
  Building an epic wonder (such as the Hagia Sophia)
  1000
  Completing a small task of faith
  5
  Completing a moderate task of faith
  20
  Completing a large task of faith
  100
  Completing an epic task of faith
  500+
  Killing faith enemy
  2 or 2 (cumulative) per level
  Defiling/Destroying enemy temple: as building
  as building
  Converting a faith enemy
  3 times normal conversion
  Burial or funeral
  1 + cumulative level* (must be level 
  appropriate)
  Sacrifices	(Patron	specific)
  As converting, also allows for killing 
  or burial
  
  128
  THE SCRIPTURES
  ANTIDOTE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5
  This miracle allows a priest to temporarily 
  immunize	a	target	against	a	specific	type	
  of poison or cure an amount of existing 
  poison accrual equal to the faith of the 
  priest. This miracle will last for 1 hour 
  per faith of the priest.
  ARMOUR OF FAITH
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 3
  This miracle allows the priest to some-
  how armour themselves against physical 
  punishment. This could be through 
  spectral armour, turning their skin to 
  stone or covering it in hard bark; it var-
  ies from patron to patron. The miracle 
  lasts a number of minutes equal to the 
  cumulative faith of the priest and grants 
  a damage reduction equal to 1/3 the 
  priest’s faith (round up). This does not 
  combine with armour.
  AUGURY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH ?d6 rounds
  PIETY 20
  The miracle allows the priest to contact 
  powerful spirits, ghosts or other entities to 
  consult for advice. The spirits will grant 
  cryptic riddles that the priest believes are 
  relevant to the current situation. Whether 
  or not this information IS accurate, the 
  trickster deities are likewise entranced 
  and those present in the priest’s gathering 
  gain a number of fate points equal to the 
  priest’s faith, to divide amongst them for 
  use within the next month. Characters 
  cannot have more than one temporary 
  fate at any time. This miracle requires 
  some physical ritual, item or mechanism 
  (dice, tea leaves, the stars) to function.
  AUTHORITY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH instant
  PIETY 1
  This miracle allows the priest to speak 
  out with a voice carrying the eminent 
  authority of her patron. When in social 
  conflict,	this	scores	additional	influence	
  up to the priest’s faith on a successful 
  appeal. The target cannot claim stubborn 
  refusal this round or they are cursed 
  (see miracle).
  BLESS
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 1; 250 to permanently bless an item
  This miracle imbues a person or item 
  with the favour of the priest’s god. The 
  priest must speak out and say an actual 
  blessing, but the target does not need to 
  be	specified	by	name.	A	blessing	could	
  be	cast	upon	the	first	person	to	return	a	
  stolen trinket for example. The blessed 
  person or item receives a +1 universal 
  bonus until the target (or wielder of 
  the item) makes an action (even minor) 
  against the priest’s patron or a number 
  of hours equal to the priest’s faith pass 
  since the blessing was applied. Giving 
  different	gods	different	blessings	is	a	
  great way to add variety.
  
  129
  CALAMITY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 4 weeks + 1 week 
  per 1,000 people
  PIETY 200, plus 50 per week
  This ritual causes a city, settlement or 
  similar	dwelling	to	suffer	a	disaster	(natural	
  or supernatural) based upon the priest’s 
  patron. This ritual must be conducted 
  on holy ground within sight (or within) 
  the settlement in question. As the ritual 
  is being performed, warning signs and 
  omens will begin to appear throughout 
  the region. Any attempts at augury or 
  prophecy will grant additional and clear-
  cut reference to a calamity approaching. 
  The calamity will completely bypass 
  any followers of the priest’s patron who 
  shelter upon holy ground.
  This ritual is conducted in a series of 
  individual sessions, once per week until 
  completed. If a session is disrupted and 
  the priest killed or captured, or all of the 
  holy ground in sight of the region is 
  destroyed, the calamity is averted.
  CAUSE FIRE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH ?d4 rounds
  PIETY 5
  This miracle allows the priest to cause 
  a combustible item to ignite in a single 
  finger	sized	flame.	The	item	may	be	one	
  area away per point of faith of the priest.
  CHANT
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 round to establish
  PIETY 1 per minute
  This miracle allows a priest to invoke 
  her patron’s power to protect her and 
  her companions. This gives a +1 bonus 
  to the priest’s allies for morale, combat 
  and saving throws, and a –1 penalty to 
  her enemy’s morale, combat and saving 
  throws. This bonus is doubled on holy 
  ground	and	ineffective	on	unholy	ground.	
  Chanting is interrupted and must be be-
  gun again if the priest is struck in combat 
  or otherwise disrupted. Only one chant 
  can	be	in	effect	at	once.	If	competing	
  chants are uttered, roll a comparative 
  check of a dX + the priest’s faith. The 
  losing priest’s chant is disrupted.
  COMBINE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 round
  PIETY 1 for each priest
  This	ritual	will	allow	two	to	five	priests	
  to surround a central priest by holding 
  hands in a circle. The central priest 
  gains	two	to	five	faith	(the	number	of	
  priests) for the purposes of summoning 
  a miracle. If disturbed (i.e., an attack) 
  the	effect	ends.
  
  130
  CONSECRATE GROUND
  TIME TO CALL FORTH Several hours
  PIETY see below
  This ritual will make an area of ground 
  count as holy ground. The ground must 
  be	free	of	the	influence	of	other	deities	
  of power or this ritual will not hold. 
  To keep it permanent there must be an 
  undefiled	shrine,	temple	or	church	in	
  the area. Enemies of the priest’s patron 
  cannot heal on the ground, and mundane 
  weapons wielded by the faithful count 
  as +0 weapons. Blessed weapons of the 
  priest’s patron and successful exorcism 
  attempts always count as critical hits 
  against the patron’s enemies. Miracles 
  may be summoned for 10x the listed 
  amount instead of 100x. The ritual re-
  quires holy substance to splash at the 
  edges of the land.
  Type
  Radius
  Cost (Piety)
  Roadside Shrine
  10ft
  5 piety
  Small Shrine
  50ft
  10 piety
  Large Shrine
  150ft
  20 piety
  Small Temple
  250ft
  40 piety
  Medium Temple
  500ft
  80 piety
  Large Cathedral
  1000ft
  150 piety
  Epic Wonder
  5000ft
  300 piety
  CREATE HOLY ITEM
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5 for holy symbol; 3 for a dose of 
  holy substance
  This miracle allows the priest to create 
  holy symbols, holy water, holy dust, sacred 
  flames	or	other	compounds	specific	to	
  their patron. Additional requirements for 
  the items (smiths, materials, etc) may still 
  be required. Any substances created in 
  this way must be kept secure and free of 
  outside contamination or they lose their 
  magical powers. Any holy item counts 
  as a +1 item to mystical faith enemies 
  and grants +1 faith when brandished. 
  Holy substances deal a !d6 damage per 
  round to mystical faith enemies. This 
  miracle must be summoned on holy 
  ground, characters in a state of grace 
  pay half piety.
  CURE DISEASE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 10 minutes
  PIETY
  2 piety for trivial illness (cold, flu, etc)
  8 piety for a dangerous illness (dysentery)
  20 piety for a likely fatal illness (malaria)
  50 piety for a permanent illness (leprosy)
  This miracle calls forth the power of the 
  priest’s patron to cure a mundane disease 
  on a single person whom the priest must 
  physically handle for the entire length 
  of the ritual. Priests in a state of grace 
  pay half piety (round down).
  CURSE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 3; 50 to permanently curse
  This miracle curses a person or item 
  with the wrath of the priest’s patron; the 
  priest must speak out and say an actual 
  curse, but the target does not need to 
  be	specified	by	name.	A	curse	could	
  be	cast	upon	the	first	person	to	open	
  a tomb for example. In those cases the 
  
  131
  curse must be recorded, either in writing 
  or remembered oral history. The cursed 
  person or item receives a -1 universal 
  penalty until the target (or wielder of the 
  item)	makes	an	suitable	offering	to	the	
  priest’s patron, is blessed by a priest with 
  a higher faith, or the miracle’s duration 
  expires. The miracle will last a number 
  of days equal to the priest’s faith once 
  it has been applied to a target. Giving 
  different	gods	different	curses	is	a	great	
  way to add variety.
  DIVINE INTERVENTION
  TIME TO CALL FORTH Instant
  PIETY All
  This is THE miracle; the priest’s pa-
  tron directly intervenes on behalf of the 
  priest to save the priest (and usually her 
  companions). The exact extent of the act 
  depends on the patron, and the priest has 
  no ability to convince the patron to be 
  more gracious. The priest must have at 
  least 1000 piety to perform this miracle.
  ENDURE TEMPERATURE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5
  This miracle allows a priest to ignore any 
  non-magical heat and cold naturally found 
  in the world. The priest also gains a DR 
  of 1/3 her faith (round down) against 
  heat and cold based attacks (including 
  fire).	This	miracle	lasts	a	number	of	
  hours equal to the priest’s faith.
  ENTANGLEMENT
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 4
  This miracle allows a priest to make a 
  region of plant life twist and bend to 
  entangle anyone caught in it. Each round 
  anyone in the radius (or who moves into 
  it) must make a strength check or be held 
  fast for the round. No one (regardless 
  of the check results) may move more 
  than one area or make missile attacks; 
  the plants will entangle missile weapons 
  before	they	can	fire.	The	miracle	affects	
  1 area for every 3 points of faith of the 
  priest (round up) and will last 1 round 
  per faith of the priest.
  ETERNAL GUARDIAN
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 day of contemplation
  PIETY 500
  This miracle allows the priest a sort of 
  immortality. The priest will not die of 
  age as long as they remain upon holy 
  ground. If the priest is in a state of 
  grace, they will also not physically age. 
  Should the priest leave holy ground the 
  ‘bypassed’ age will return over a one-day 
  period or natural death would occur. If 
  a priest had remained on holy ground 
  for twenty four years she would age at a 
  rate of one year per hour upon leaving 
  holy ground. The ending of this miracle 
  can quickly kill a truly ancient priest.
  
  132
  FEAST OF PROVIDENCE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 5 minutes
  PIETY 5
  With this miracle the priest can cause a 
  single serving of food to expand to feed 
  many, either by making each tiny crumb 
  nourishing or by replicating the existing 
  food many times over. The priest can 
  feed up to 1 (cumulative) person for a 
  full day per faith. The food only lasts for 
  a day and then spoils, it cannot be saved 
  for travelling or stores. This requires at 
  least a small amount of food.
  FURY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH ?d4 rounds
  PIETY 3
  This	miracle	allows	a	priest	to	fill	a	target	
  with utter rage and fury. If the target fails 
  a saving throw, they gain the ‘zealous’ 
  trait. The target will get –5 to attack, 
  but also +5 to melee damage and an 
  immunity to stun damage. This miracle 
  will last a number of rounds equal to 
  the priest’s faith.
  GOLEM
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 2 days straight
  PIETY 500
  This powerful miracle can only be per-
  formed upon holy ground; it imbues an 
  idol of the priest’s patron with life. The 
  idol will vary in material from patron to 
  patron and must be hand crafted by the 
  priest. The actual construction does not 
  matter, as it is purely the power of the 
  priest’s patron that animates the (usually 
  humanoid) idol. The golem will bear 
  a glowing mark of the priest’s patron 
  on its forehead and gain the power of 
  that mark. The golem will lash out and 
  violently kill anyone who does not follow 
  the priest’s patron. It cannot communicate 
  in any manner, but is intelligent in its 
  mission of destruction. The golem will 
  roam no further than the priest’s faith 
  in miles from the nearest holy ground. 
  The golem has a DR of 1 for each point 
  of faith of the priest, it also cannot be 
  harmed	by	mundane	means.	It	suffers	
  1 (cumulative) damage per round on 
  unholy ground, but is invulnerable on 
  holy ground and regenerates at a rate of 
  1 point of damage per minute otherwise. 
  The golem has attribute scores equal to 5 
  plus the priest’s faith, to a maximum of 
  20,	and	can	have	a	size	modifier	of	up	
  to the number of milestones the priest 
  has passed. It has no additional combat 
  modifier,	stealth	modifier,	presence	or	
  luck points. If the golem travels too far 
  away from holy ground, it is destroyed 
  in a number of hours equal to the 
  priest’s faith.
  There is no way to control a golem, 
  but a priest must also create a bound 
  item such as a scroll or clay tablet for 
  the golem. If this object is in any way 
  destroyed, so too is the golem.
  HEALING
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 10 per person
  This miracle allows a priest to heal 
  accrued points and luck points on a 
  
  133
  living target. This miracle can be used on 
  anyone the priest can see or reasonable 
  perceive and can be cast on a number 
  of individuals equal to the priest’s faith 
  at once. Note that the piety costs are still 
  paid for each individual, merely that it 
  can be done quicker. The piety costs 
  double each time this miracle is used on 
  an	individual	beyond	the	first	in	a	single	
  day. Characters in a state of grace pay 
  half piety, and all characters may re-roll 
  the dice and choose the better result on 
  holy ground. The target heals 1/3rd of 
  an accrued point per point of faith of the 
  priest, always rounding up. The target 
  also gains 1d4 luck points per level of the 
  target, increasing whenever the priest’s 
  faith is equal to or greater than the next 
  highest die size’s maximum roll. For 
  example, at faith 6 the miracle would 
  switch to a d6 luck points per level.
  HEALING ITEMS
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 full round
  PIETY 3 per item
  The priest can turn a religiously appro-
  priate ingestible item in a minor healing 
  item. These items heal a single point of 
  disease, damage, or mutation as well as 
  1 luck point per level of the recipient. 
  No more than one item can be ingested 
  per	day	and	still	have	an	effect.	Healing	
  items last a number of days equal to 
  the cumulative faith of the priest unless 
  stored on holy ground. If a healing item 
  is stored on holy ground it will last until 
  the item naturally decays or rots.
  ICON WEAPON
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 round
  PIETY 5
  This miracle allows the priest to make 
  a suitable holy item into a weapon that 
  harms mystical creatures. The item does a 
  d12 damage and counts as a +5 weapon. 
  The weapon lasts a number of rounds 
  equal to the priest’s faith.
  LIGHT (DIM)
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 round
  PIETY 2
  This miracle allows a priest to bring the 
  ambient lighting in a 30 foot radius (or 
  area if it is simpler) equal to that of a 
  single torch(+3 light), or to cancel light 
  by using dim. This miracle will last a 
  number of hours equal to the priest’s faith.
  LOST
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 5 minutes
  PIETY 12
  This miracle allows the priest to com-
  pletely remove all natural methods of long 
  distance navigation from an individual 
  or group such as a small caravan or lone 
  trade ship. This causes the stars to appear 
  incorrect and all but the most blatant 
  of landmarks to seem unfamiliar. Any 
  navigation attribute check will automat-
  ically result in an epic failure. The priest 
  requires an item from the individual or 
  leader of the target group, such as a 
  lock of hair or a small amount of blood 
  that is destroyed when the miracle is 
  summoned. This miracle lasts for 1 day 
  per point of faith of the priest.
  
  134
  MOONLIGHT ILLUSIONS
  (OR SUNLIGHT,
  STARTLIGHT, ETC)
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 2 per hour, 30 piety per month
  100 piety per year, 250 piety for permanent
  This miracle allows the priest to cause 
  visual illusions in the moonlight/sunlight. 
  Those suspecting the illusion to be false 
  may make an intelligence check to see 
  through	it.	This	miracle	affects	an	area	
  of 10 (cumulative) square feet per point 
  of faith of the priest. This illusion may 
  be used at any point the priest can see.
  NATURAL AFFINITY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5
  This miracle allows the priest to pass by 
  wild animals unbothered, so long as she 
  does not make aggressive acts (or intent) 
  upon	an	animal,	herd	or	offspring.	This	
  will	have	no	effect	upon	already	hostile	
  animals. This lasts a number of hours 
  equal to the priest’s faith.
  PROPHECY
  TIME TO CALL FORTH variable
  PIETY 1 per point of faith gained
  This miracle grants the priest the ability 
  to foresee the future. Mechanically this 
  functions as a fun little mini-game. The 
  priest may issue a prophecy consisting of 
  ‘I foresee’ and up to 20 additional words 
  to describe a situation or event in the 
  future. The event cannot mention people, 
  places or things directly and must use 
  metaphor or implications. For instance 
  stating ‘The King of England’ or ‘The 
  year 1292’ would not be suitable, but 
  saying ‘The King of the rose’ or ‘When 
  the dragon is in the fourth house’ would 
  be suitable since they are open to wide 
  interpretation.
  The GM then must use up to half as 
  many words as used by the priest to 
  attempt to subvert the prophecy, adding 
  them to the end of the prophecy.
  A priest must record all prophecies they 
  make and ensure records are kept. If a 
  prophecy is ever intentionally lost the 
  priest will lose all piety. This is why 
  there are secret cults existing to guard 
  powerful prophecies. Any character who 
  can claim to complete such a prophecy 
  once and for all gains 4 awesomeness 
  per point of faith from the prophet. If 
  the prophecy is over a century old they 
  may also claim a destiny point if they 
  do not already have one.
  
  135
  PROTECTION
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 3 rounds
  PIETY 3
  This ritual allows a priest to surround 
  herself with her patron’s protection. No 
  mind control, possession, magical or 
  melee attacks by supernatural creatures 
  opposed to her patron will succeed against 
  the priest. The protection fails should the 
  priest directly assault or otherwise act ag-
  gressively to such a creature. This means 
  the priest could not strike a demon with 
  a mace, but could pour holy water on the 
  ground by the demon’s feet, forcing it to 
  move or be burned. This ritual requires 
  a holy symbol to complete and has thrice 
  the piety cost on unholy ground, and 
  a third the piety cost on holy ground. 
  This miracle lasts a number of rounds 
  equal to the priest’s faith.
  RAISE UNDEAD
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5 or 5 cumulative per level of the 
  undead
  This miracle allows the priest to reani-
  mate corpses into the walking dead. If 
  the priest summons this miracle over 
  the grave, a spirit might be summoned 
  instead. The priest can only animate 
  the bodies of her religion’s faithful. The 
  priest pays half piety on holy ground. 
  Any character raised in this manner has 
  a chance of being free willed equal to 
  their level times the number of milestones 
  they have passed on a d20. The priest 
  must touch either the corpse or the grave 
  of the corpse.
  RESURRECTION
  TIME TO CALL FORTH ?d4 hours
  PIETY 500 (plus sacrifice)
  This miracle allows the priest to summon 
  a spirit from the afterlife to bring its body 
  back to life. Assuming the priest’s patron 
  has this power, other limits are placed. 
  Unless the target was in a state of grace 
  upon death, death can only be reversed 
  within a number of hours equal to the 
  priest’s	cumulative	faith.	A	sacrifice	is	
  always required. For evil patron’s this may 
  be people; a good patron may require 
  a loss from the priest, either something 
  specific	like	sight	or	something	generic	
  like a d4 health points. There is also the 
  ever-present chance something may go 
  wrong...
  SMITE
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 4 (cumulative) per d6 damage
  This miracle involves the priest calling 
  for an enemy to be smote in her patron’s 
  name. The priest’s patron funnels energy 
  through the priest at a target. The priest 
  makes a ranged attack roll, using faith in 
  the	place	of	combat	modifier;	this	can	be	
  used up to long range. Faith enemies take 
  full damage, enemies of polar opposite 
  morality take half damage, and others are 
  unharmed. If the priest is in a state of 
  grace, the priest can re-roll the damage. 
  Secondary characteristics of the smiting 
  vary	god	to	god	(beams	of	light,	fire,	
  lightning, etc).
  
  136
  SUMMON SERVANT
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 round
  PIETY 25
  This miracle allows a priest to summon 
  a supernatural minion from her patron’s 
  service. This would include creatures such 
  as a hellhound, ghost, djinn or dryad. 
  The minion will serve the priest in any 
  action that is not against the patron’s best 
  interests. The minion may not spend 
  more days away from holy ground than 
  the priest’s faith before needing to return 
  and rest for a full day. Failure to return 
  to holy ground will cause the minion to 
  return from whence it came. Should the 
  minion be lost before being dismissed, 
  the priest will lose an additional 25 piety.
  SUMMON WIND
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 action
  PIETY 5 + 1 (cumulative) per 5 miles per 
  hour of wind
  This miracle allows the priest to cause 
  a noticeable breeze to appear in her 
  immediate area. Wind lasts a number of 
  rounds equal to the priest’s faith.
  TONGUES
  TIME TO CALL FORTH Instant
  PIETY 1 per sentence to be understood (run 
  on sentences cost more)
  This miracle allows the priest to have her 
  intentions understood by someone who 
  does not speak her language, or allows 
  the priest to understand the intention of 
  someone else. They do not understand 
  the exact words but get an unshakable 
  hunch as to what is attempting to be 
  said. This does not mean they believe it.
  YEAR OF PLENTY (BLIGHT)
  TIME TO CALL FORTH 1 hour
  PIETY 1 per garden, boat or hunting team 
  or 10 per field, large ship or hunting ground
  This miracle allows the priest to increase 
  (or decrease) the bounty in a hunt, harvest 
  or	fishing	haul.	The	size	of	the	bounty	
  is increased (or decreased) by 5% per 
  point of faith of the priest.
  
  END OF
  THE  SESSION
  
  138
  END OF THE  SESSION
  FATE AND DESTINY!
  As player characters progress through 
  their adventuring career they will almost 
  certainly accumulate ‘fate points’ and 
  ‘destiny points’. What exactly are these 
  points? what do they do and how do 
  you get them?
  In brief, fate points are the fates and 
  trickster deities subtly altering things 
  to keep their favoured entertainers (i.e. 
  the adventurers) amusing them. Only 
  entertaining heroes and villains will 
  achieve fate points. Fate points are used 
  primarily to re-roll dice, though they do 
  have other functions. At the end of every 
  game session, players will roll to see if 
  they gain more fate points.
  Destiny points on the other hand represent 
  a character’s purpose. They are very rare 
  and should not be given out randomly. 
  They occur when characters undertake 
  specific	and	life-altering	quests	(if	that	is	
  the sort of game you like) or given out 
  on a player’s birthday if you don’t. If a 
  character ever has more than one at a 
  time she will become nigh unstoppable 
  in her task. Destiny points give a wide 
  range of possible functions, including but 
  not limited to choosing the results of a 
  die roll without needing to roll.
  DESTINY POINTS
  Destiny Points are incredibly valuable 
  and may be spent in the following ways:
  PERFECT LUCK
  Pick the results of a die or set of dice 
  rolled by the character without needing 
  to roll it. A character could thus deter-
  mine their attack will be an epic success 
  without needing to roll it.
  SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS
  This option allows for the kind of inglo-
  rious anti-climactic death of a character 
  you rarely see. It disallows an opponent 
  from using luck points to soak the damage 
  or other accrued points from an attack. 
  This particularly brutal use of a destiny 
  point would mean that even a mighty 
  hero could be felled by one dagger to 
  the back from a betrayer.
  HEROIC SECOND WIND
  The Determinator is out there and she 
  absolutely will not stop, ever, until you 
  are defeated. This option would allow a 
  broken and beaten character to rise up 
  and	fight	on.	It	is	highly	suggested	you	
  have one or all of the players mutter ‘get 
  up Rocky’. The character regains all of 
  their luck points.
  DEUS EX MACHINA
  Add a possible though potentially ex-
  tremely unlikely element to the encoun-
  ter,	provided	it	hasn’t	been	specifically	
  described as not being present. This is 
  one of the harder to referee options, 
  allowing a hero or villain the option to 
  figuratively	‘pull	something	out	of	their	
  
  139
  #$%’. A hero could be running through 
  the wilderness naked while being chased 
  by wolves and then spend a destiny point 
  to stumble into an ancient tomb with a 
  full set of quality weapons and armour.
  FATE POINTS
  Fate points are substantially more com-
  mon than Destiny Points. At the end 
  of every game session players will roll 
  against their ‘Awesomeness Score’ to gain 
  more fate points. They will also elect 
  and MVP who will gain an additional 
  fate point. Fate points can be used in 
  the following ways:
  LUCKY BREAK
  Re-roll a die or set of dice. This is the 
  most common use; a player who just 
  rolled an epic failure for their leap across 
  the chasm of doom could spend a fate 
  point to re-roll the die for example.
  NEAR MISS
  Restore a luck die worth of luck points. 
  Used in this manner a player could spend 
  a fate point for additional luck points and 
  avoid a grisly injury or death.
  FORTUNATE COINCIDENCE
  Add a likely and plausible element to the 
  environment, scene or encounter provid-
  ing	it	hasn’t	been	specifi	cally	described	as	
  not being present. Used in this manner, 
  the words likely and plausible are key. 
  For example, a hero who dives out of a 
  city window could not declare there is a 
  saddled horse directly below (unless she 
  was in a stable or other location with 
  valuable horses left lying around) but 
  she could declare there was an awning 
  or pile of garbage to cushion her fall.
  ROLLING FOR
  AWESOMENESS
  At the end of each session, roll a d20 for 
  each player. If they have an awesomeness 
  score less than the die roll, move on to 
  the next player. If they have an equal 
  to, or higher awesomeness score than 
  the die roll, subtract the die roll from 
  the player’s awesomeness score, award 
  1 fate point, and roll again. On a roll of 
  a natural 20 (to celebrate that rolling a 
  20 is in itself awesome) give the player 
  a fate point and have them roll again 
  without subtracting.
  EXAMPLE: A player has 6 Awesomeness 
  this session, she rolls a d20 and gets a 4. The 
  player receives 1 fate point and is reduced to 
  2 Awesomeness and may roll again. On the 
  next d20 the player lucks out and rolls a 2, 
  receiving a second fate point and another 
  roll. With 0 Awesomeness remaining the 
  players only hope for another fate is to roll 
  a 20, she does not and passes the die to the 
  next player.
  
  140
  To determine a player’s awesomeness 
  score for a game session, add or subtract 
  the following (you may wish to add to 
  this list, kilts are a common addition 
  for example):
  +1 for wearing a cape
  +1 for wearing an awesome hat
  +1 for a manly beard
  +1 if a character has “80’s hair”
  +1 for wearing an eye patch
  +5 if they actually need it
  +5 if MVP
  Bonus for adhering to trope/genre
  Arbitrary bonus for choosing to do 
  intentionally	awesome	things	(defined	
  as taking extra risk for style)
  A character’s awesomeness score resets 
  to 0 at the end of each session regardless 
  of fates gained (or not). Note that this 
  is a die roll for the player, and is thus 
  not	affected	by	‘Joe	Average’.
  ELECTING  AN  MVP
  Role-playing games are at their core a 
  co-operative game, and everyone likes 
  to	receive	recognition	of	their	efforts	at	
  being a team player. At the end of each 
  session, all players other than the Game 
  Master should elect whom they consider 
  the ‘Most Valuable Player’. This should 
  be the person who added the most fun, 
  made	the	biggest	sacrifices	or	otherwise	
  added to the game. Players may not vote 
  for themselves. In the event of a tie, the 
  Game Master casts the deciding vote. 
  The MVP receives +5 to awesomeness 
  this session, and receives one additional 
  fate point.
  EXPERIENCE POINTS & 
  LEVELS
  If you have ever played almost any table-
  top or computer roleplaying games you 
  have the general gist of how experience 
  points work. You accumulate ‘XP’ and at 
  various points rise to a new ‘level’. The 
  mechanic generally seems to work well 
  enough. People have fun with it and it 
  won’t be altered here.
  Experience is only gained by ‘adventurers’, 
  those who have gained the attention of 
  the trickster deities and who thus could 
  possess fate points. Everyone else only 
  improves through years of hard work 
  and training, and isn’t that boring? 
  Adventurers gain experience points for 
  defeating opponents, outwitting adver-
  saries, solving puzzles or traps, and by 
  finding	new	places	and	locations.
  All characters level in the same manner, 
  requiring their total ‘Experience Points’ 
  to reach more or less doubling plateaus, 
  and to keep completing ‘Milestones’. 
  Milestones are barriers that prevent a 
  character from reaching a certain level 
  until they have done something appro-
  priate to breach these points. As much 
  as milestones they are also ‘level caps’. 
  Milestones will be expanded upon later. 
  Below is a chart showing the amount 
  of experience points characters must 
  accumulate to reach various levels.
  
  141
  XP
  Level
  Other
  0
  0
  -
  1,000
  1
  *More Pie, *Milestone
  2,000
  2
  -
  4,000
  3
  -
  8,000
  4
  -
  16,000
  5
  *Milestone
  32,000
  6
  -
  64,000
  7
  -
  125,000
  8
  -
  250,000
  9
  -
  500,000
  10
  *More Pie, *Milestone
  Every additional 250,000XP grants an additional luck die of luck points, though the 
  total may never exceed the normal maximum achievable at level 10.
  CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
  MILESTONES
  Milestones are an important part of 
  character progression in NGR. Mile-
  stones act as a barrier, preventing heroes 
  and villains from levelling up until they 
  perform feats or acts worthy of further 
  levelling. This means that merely slaying 
  goblins all day for a few years is unlikely 
  to raise one to tenth level. Each milestone 
  represents becoming another ‘tier’ of 
  villain or hero.
  The	first	milestone	(level	1)	represents	
  going from being a nobody to a local 
  notable. Winning a local tournament, 
  surviving a battle or living through a 
  local disaster can easily reach this mile-
  stone.	Characters	in	this	first	tier	(levels	
  1-4) are the domains of impressive but 
  still ‘grounded’ characters. The king’s 
  champion or a powerful magus who 
  has studied her entire life would be 4th 
  level. New characters usually start with 
  their	first	milestone.
  To reach 5th level, characters must reach 
  another milestone, this one for performing 
  exceptional deeds. These deeds are things 
  such as slaying a dragon, collapsing a 
  barony or kingdom with powerful spells, 
  or converting a province or region to 
  your faith. Characters in this second tier 
  (levels 5-9) are the domains of legendary 
  heroes or villains, and everyday people 
  will know of them. At any time there may 
  be only a handful of heroes or villains 
  of this calibre across a continent, and 
  people will speak of them for years or 
  centuries to come.
  Level 10 represents the pinnacle of achieve-
  ment, where characters are mythological 
  
  142
  heroes or villains that will live through 
  the ages in song and story worldwide. 
  Characters seeking to enter this tier should 
  have saved, conquered or destroyed the 
  world in some fashion.
  The	final	milestone	is	not	required	for	
  levelling and is for heroes capable of 
  making the great powers of other real-
  ities stand back in hesitation and fear. 
  There may never have been characters of 
  this calibre before and there may never 
  be again. To reach this epic point, the 
  characters should have fundamentally 
  altered the universe, defeated a deity or 
  conquered a plane.
  For each milestone you pass (including 
  level 1) you may select a ‘lucky number’. 
  This	will	be	important	in	conflicts.	Note	
  you can gain milestones without reaching 
  the level in which you require one. A 
  level 4 character could in theory have 
  passed	the	first	three	milestones.
  INTELLIGENCE  AND
  EXPERIENCE i
  An important note with gaining levels 
  is the impact of a high (or low) intelli-
  gence score. Characters who are bright 
  take less experience to gain a new level, 
  and characters that are on the dull side 
  require more. Characters require 10% 
  less experience to reach the next level per 
  +1	intelligence	modifier	and	10%	more	
  per –1. This means a character with 20 
  intelligence	(+3	modifier)	is	such	a	genius	
  that she can reach 2nd level with only 
  1,400XP and 3rd level with 2,800XP. A 
  dim-witted character with 5 intelligence 
  (-2	modifier)	is	so	daft	that	she	requires	
  2,400XP to reach 2nd level and 4,800XP 
  to reach 3rd.
  Over time this will cause a party of char-
  acters	with	different	mental	abilities	to	
  vary greatly in level. This can be a good 
  way	to	represent	the	different	strengths	of	
  different	character	builds.	If	this	does	not	
  bode well for the party, it is possible to 
  control it with the use of Milestones to 
  give characters time to play ‘Catch up’. 
  If the kingdom simply hasn’t needed to 
  be	saved	from	ruin	for	the	first	4	levels	
  (perhaps never having been in danger) 
  then the smarter characters are forced 
  to wait for their slower brethren to play 
  catch up.
  GAINING LUCK  AND MANA 
  POINTS
  Characters gain another luck die each 
  time they level up to level 10. When 
  they go up a level they roll their luck 
  dice (based on the die size for their luck 
  stat).	The	total	of	the	dice	and	modifiers	
  is compared to the character’s current 
  luck point total. If it is higher than the 
  current luck point total, it becomes the 
  new luck point total. If it is not higher 
  than the current luck point total, use the 
  existing luck point total. It is perfectly 
  acceptable to use fate and destiny points 
  to	affect	the	die	rolls.	A	destiny	point	
  at 10th level guarantees maximum luck 
  points. Wizards will roll for additional 
  mana in the same way using their Will die.
  Re-rolling luck points every level prevents 
  
  143
  a character from ‘botching’ her luck point 
  total with a string of two bad luck point 
  rolls for two levels. Use common sense 
  to	figure	out	what	happens	past	level	
  10. Skills cannot modify luck or mana 
  point rolls.
  SOURCES  OF  EXPERIENCE 
  POINTS
  Experience points (XP) are earned as 
  characters perform certain activities. Char-
  acters will gain experience by travelling 
  through new terrain, visiting unseen 
  locations, solving puzzles and traps, rout-
  ing minions, defeating and outsmarting 
  villains (or heroes) and slaying monsters.
  An important note is that defeating does 
  not mean slaying. With the exception of 
  monsters,	it	is	usually	less	effective	to	
  outright kill your enemies than to drive 
  them	off	or	capture	them.	It	is	entirely	
  possible (and comparatively easy) to rise 
  in the levels without ever having taken 
  a life, or even raised a hand in anger.
  Experience sources fall into one of two 
  categories: “group XP” and “individual 
  XP”. Group experience points are awarded 
  to the party as a whole and split evenly 
  among its members. This means both 
  player characters and any non-player char-
  acters with levels. Zero level non-player 
  characters such as bodyguards or soldiers 
  only receive half a share of XP each. 
  The exception to this rule are henchmen 
  (such as from a bard), they receive no 
  share of XP. Use common sense for if 
  someone was part of the adventure or 
  just a spectator.
  Individual experience points are awarded 
  to each player character and levelled 
  non-player character as individuals and 
  are not split. The more the merrier. 
  Non-player characters without levels still 
  only receive half the normal amount and 
  henchmen still receive nothing.
  TRAVELLING: IT’S NOT 
  ABOUT THE  DESTINATION
  Trekking through the wilderness, sailing 
  the seven seas and spelunking through 
  miles of tunnels are all tasks worth of 
  gaining XP. The amount of XP ones 
  gains is based upon the terrain being 
  travelled and the dangers inherent in 
  such adventures.
  Terrain
  XP / Week
  Pleasant
  0.5
  Normal
  10
  Harsh
  50
  Inhospitable
  100
  Deadly
  200
  Suicidal
  1,000
  If the travel is into the complete unknown 
  (to the characters) double the experience 
  gained. If it is terrain previously travelled 
  by the party, halve the experience. The 
  assumption is that characters know the 
  terrain through maps, a guide or other 
  forms of direction. If they are truly 
  trailblazing into uncharted wilds or 
  making their yearly commute to the 
  capital	then	use	the	modified	XP	values.	
  Any experience received in this manner 
  is individual XP.
  
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  EXPLORATION: OKAY, 
  SOMETIMES IT IS ABOUT 
  THE DESTINATION
  While	it’s	an	‘A’	for	effort	to	travel	through	
  jungles, dodging leopards and getting 
  lost every 20 feet, it’s even better if you 
  actually reach El Dorado. The GM should 
  set her own XP awards for reaching 
  various hidden or epic locations in the 
  game world, but here is a rough guide:
  Destination is
  XP 
  Local Curiosity
  50XP
  Uncommon
  150XP
  Rarely Visited
  500XP
  Unseen for Years
  1,500XP
  Unseen for Generations
  5,000XP
  Of Questionable Veracity
  15,000XP
  Fabled
  50,000XP
  Mythological
  150,000XP
  A Local Curiosity would represent some-
  thing akin to an ancient oak tree near a 
  mountain lake or the inside of the local 
  nobility’s mausoleum. An uncommon 
  destination might be an abandoned border 
  fort deep in the woods. Something rarely 
  visited	refers	more	to	a	far	off	mountain	
  monastery than an unpopular restaurant. 
  Unseen	for	years	might	mean	a	far	off	
  kingdom across the sea. Unseen for 
  Generations might be that same kingdom 
  if the seas had been lost to sea serpents 
  a century prior. Of questionable veracity 
  may be something like uncovering Troy 
  or Machu Picchu. Fabled locations in-
  clude El Dorado while a Mythic location 
  would	be	akin	to	finding	the	Garden	of	
  Eden. Note that experience points for 
  reaching locales requires one actually 
  explore the area and be seeking it out 
  or at least know of its importance. It is 
  individual XP.
  DUNGEONS AND RUINS
  You are fully able to use the exploration 
  and travelling rules to model exploring a 
  dungeon. Finish the dungeon (or levels 
  of it), get exploration XP. Sometimes a 
  campaign is structured so that delving 
  into ruins over and over again IS the 
  game, and a dungeon won’t be fully 
  explored for months of game sessions. 
  You may want to have XP in the interim. 
  A dungeon in these situations should be 
  defined	as	a	place	the	players	are	sneaking	
  into for loot, a place where the denizens 
  of the dungeon would obliterate the party 
  if they descended upon them at once.
  Each room explored in this sense is worth 
  10 cumulative XP for each previous room 
  the party has explored this expedition 
  for	the	first	time.	Once	they	exit	to	heal	
  and restock, the counter resets. A room 
  can only be “explored” once, ever. This 
  encourages the party to push themselves 
  to “one more room”. If this becomes 
  too stingy, consider multiplying the XP 
  of a room, but the level of the dungeon 
  the room is on. This is individual XP.
  DEFEATING MINIONS
  Minions	are	defined	as	any	of	the	myriad	
  of 0th level (usually) intelligent humanoids 
  (to some degree).A pack of bandits, the 
  king’s loyal soldiers, marauding wolves or 
  ogre bodyguards are all minions. They 
  
  145
  are worth XP as follows:
  Minion is
  XP 
  Ineffectively Equipped
  0XP
  Worse Equipped
  25XP
  Somewhat Comparable 
  Equipment
  50XP
  Better Equipped
  150XP
  This means that how much a minion 
  is worth is based upon how the hero 
  (or villain) is equipped. In a bar brawl, 
  unarmed thugs would be worth 50XP 
  (assuming the hero is likewise in the 
  brawl) while a guard who busts in 
  wearing mail, a shield and swinging a 
  sword would be worth 150XP. However 
  if the plate wearing hero kicks in the 
  door	to	a	bathhouse	and	finds	unarmed	
  opponents, they are worth 0 XP. Note 
  that equipped can also refer to magical 
  abilities and natural weapons.
  Note that experience is only gained 
  from minions who are either captured, 
  incapacitated,	or	who	had	fled	but	not	
  for ones who are slain (unless they 
  can do none of the above). Letting the 
  underlings	flee	and	spread	fear	(or	be	
  sacrificed,	tried	and	executed,	or	enslaved)	
  is also pleasing to the fates; it increases 
  the odds new heroes and villains will 
  emerge from the experience.
  The line between minion, villain and 
  monster can sometimes blur. A good rule 
  of thumb is that minions are obstacles 
  on the path to something else like a 
  gatehouse guard or wolves in a forest. 
  Defeating minions gives group experience.
  
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  SLAYING MONSTERS
  Doing	epic	battle	with	fierce	monsters	
  is a staple of fantasy role-playing games. 
  Monsters include creatures such as basi-
  lisks	and	griffons,	to	great	roaring	dragons	
  and the odd marauding troll.
  Monsters come in two varieties, named 
  monsters (with luck points) and name-
  less monsters (without). If you defeat a 
  nameless monster, such as a random troll 
  you found under a bridge, is it worth 
  100XP per spell or power (minimum 
  1)	times	it’s	size	modifier	in	group	XP.
  A nameless monster is usually worth 
  more than a minion, but far less than a 
  comparable villain. Monsters are worth 
  far more experience if they are named 
  monsters. This doesn’t have to be a 
  proper name; a title such as ‘The serpent 
  of	widows	peak’	works	just	fine.	This	is	
  the	difference	between	fighting	a	minotaur	
  that just happens to be roaming about 
  and	fighting	THE	Minotaur,	love	child	
  of Crete’s queen and entombed in the 
  labyrinth. A named monster is worth the 
  experience points of a nameless monster 
  or the following experience (whichever 
  is more).
  The monster is
  Luck 
  Fate
  XP
  Local Legend
  d6 luck
  1 fate
  1,000XP
  Regional Threat
  3d6 luck
  3 fate
  5,000XP
  National Threat
  4d6 luck
  4 fate
  10,000XP
  Cultural Icon
  8d6 luck
  8 fate
  50,000XP
  Fabled Monster
  10d6 luck
  10 fate
  100,000XP
  Mythological Being
  60 luck 
  10	fate	&	1	
  destiny
  500,000XP
  A local legend would include a giant 
  one-eyed grizzly bear rumoured to live 
  in the local hills. A regional threat might 
  include a hill giant that is terrorizing the 
  outlying farms. A national threat would 
  be a small dragon that is cutting a swathe 
  of destruction throughout the kingdom. 
  A cultural icon would be a creature such 
  as the Medusa. A fabled monster might 
  include an ancient dragon said to be 
  sleeping since before written history in 
  the caves deep below the foundations of 
  the royal castle. A Mythological being 
  would be a creature such as Typhon.
  Vanquishing villains (or heroes)
  A staple of high adventure is defeating 
  one’s nemesis, be it an evil wizard in 
  a dark tower or slaying the good king. 
  Defeating a hero or a villain is worth 
  1/10th of the character’s experience point 
  total	if	slain	or	forced	to	flee,	and	1/4th	
  of the character’s experience point total 
  if captured or converted (even if to later 
  be	executed	after	a	trial	or	sacrificed	to	
  the dark gods). They are worth more 
  experience points if captured alive, because 
  not	only	is	that	often	more	difficult,	but	it	
  is more interesting to the trickster deities. 
  Note that this means that a character’s 
  nemesis will be instinctively more likely 
  
  147
  to accept surrender, after all, in a world 
  where magic is real who wants to insult 
  the fates? This is group XP.
  OUTSMARTING THE
  OPPONENT i
  Another staple of adventure is outsmarting 
  the villains and solving mysteries through 
  wordplay or sneaky tactics. If a character 
  manages to outsmart a villain(or hero) in 
  a matter of life and death without needing 
  to resort to violence, and in doing so 
  thwarts her plans, all the conspirators 
  receive 10% of the villain’s XP as group 
  XP. If more than one villain is present, 
  accumulate the experience points for 
  them as well.
  Furthermore, if outsmarting leads to the 
  villain or hero’s downfall and defeat (by 
  say convincing them to cross a frozen 
  lake where they perish) the characters 
  involved in the trickery gain experience 
  as if they had also vanquished the vil-
  lains/heroes.
  Completing your own evil (or noble) 
  scheme without being caught or captured 
  by heroes (or villains) uses the same 
  experience point mechanism.
  PUZZLES, TRAPS AND RIDDLES
  Finding and bypassing deadly traps or 
  elaborate puzzles and riddles is worth 
  experience. While this is primarily re-
  warding a player in most cases, it is also 
  fun.	Due	to	the	wide	variety	of	diff	erent	
  possible traps and puzzles (unlimited, 
  really) it is often advisable to create 
  custom awards for puzzles and traps. As 
  a rough guide, you may wish to consult 
  the following chart and adjust to taste. 
  Experience points for traps is considered 
  individual XP.
  Trap is
  XP 
  Simple
  10XP
  Deadly, hidden, or
  complicated
  50XP
  Two of the above
  200XP
  All Three
  500XP
  Utterly Diabolical
  5,000XP
  THE BIG SCORE
  Treasure hunting can be a big part of 
  the adventuring lifestyle, even beyond 
  simple	fi	nancing.	While	most	treasure	is	
  its own reward, especially famous things 
  are often about more than the money 
  they bring. They are the sign of a master. 
  Neither the public at large nor the trick-
  ster deities care that you knocked over 
  a money lender and took her fortune, 
  but the brave souls who recovered (or 
  stole)	the	golden	fl	eece	is	another	matter	
  entirely. Each piece of Treasure (capital 
  T) should have its own XP reward for 
  when it is fully acquired. A set of Trea-
  sure may contain multiple components 
  before it is considered fully acquired, 
  
  148
  like “the seven swords of Hsan”. Below 
  are some guidelines that can double as 
  values for unplanned treasure.
  Treasure is
  XP 
  Of local importance
  50XP
  A local treasure
  100XP
  Of national signifcance
  500XP
  A national treasure
  1,000XP
  A cultural icon
  5,000XP
  Mythological in nature
  10,000XP
  Divine
  50,000XP
  Experience points for treasures are con-
  sidered group XP. As mentioned earlier, 
  no experience is earned for stealing 
  a hundred gold doubloons, but you 
  might get experience as a theft of local 
  importance for stealing the local lord’s 
  payment for his troops even if it is the 
  same chest of coins. Context matters. A 
  local treasure may be the sword of the 
  town’s founder from inside the mayor’s 
  study. Recovering a lost eagle from one 
  of your empire’s legions (or maybe you 
  are the barbarians driving them out) 
  could	be	of	national	significance	while	the	
  crown jewels of the enemy royal would 
  be a national treasure. Stealing a piece of 
  the true cross could be a cultural icon. 
  Recovering	the	golden	fleece	would	be	
  a treasure that is mythological in nature, 
  while	stealing	fire	from	the	gods	or	an	
  apple from the tree of knowledge would 
  be a divine treasure.
  AN EPIC QUEST i
  There is a style of campaign, where 
  the	entire	purpose	is	to	fulfil	some	
  predetermined	quest.	Before	the	first	
  characters are created everyone knows 
  the	game	may	be	about	finding	a	cup	
  at the behest of a doddering king or 
  throwing some unwanted jewellery into 
  a geological incinerator. To qualify as a 
  quest it has be worthy of a milestone. 
  Upon completion of the quest each 
  character receives experience points equal 
  to half their current total for each new 
  milestone they acquire (recalculated for 
  each new milestone)
  ROLLING “THE 2D6”
  At the end of the game session, one last 
  thing needs to be done: rolling the 2d6. 
  This is used to improve a character’s 
  personal items based upon the most 
  impressive actions they have taken based 
  on their class make up. This is where a 
  wizard’s talisman will power up, a bard 
  will gain more henchmen, a priest will 
  gain a holy relic, a warrior will gain 
  glory and fame through her trademark 
  item and a rogue will feel the blessings 
  of lady luck.
  Each	class	has	their	own	different	me-
  chanics for what they are looking to score 
  on their 2d6, but there is only ever one 
  throw of the dice per night, that throw 
  is applied against all of the conditions. 
  In rare circumstances you may wish to 
  allow a character should be allowed the 
  condition of another class to apply to 
  their 2d6 roll. A character that is two 
  parts warrior and one part rogue might 
  be allowed the condition of a bard (gain 
  a henchman on 2d6) if they managed 
  
  149
  to win some suitably impressive social 
  confl	ict:	for	example	convincing	a	town	
  to rise up and sack a corrupt local count. 
  The event in question should have earned 
  the character a milestone and earned 
  the player MVP status. Announce this 
  condition	is	in	eff	ect	BEFORE	the	roll	
  of the 2d6. A character should only ever 
  have	one	“out	of	class”	benefi	t	and	never	
  above	benefi	t	level	1.	The	one	exception	
  to this is if everyone thinks it is bullshit, 
  in which case go nuts.
  END OF THE CAMPAIGN
  END OF THE LINE
  Your character defeated the goblin chief-
  tain, slew the dragon and stopped the 
  mad wizard from destroying the world, 
  but now what? There may be other 
  battles	to	fi	ght,	but	those	are	battles	for	
  other heroes. In such a case retirement 
  might be setting in even if you don’t 
  want it too.
  Perhaps your character’s career didn’t 
  end quite as comfortably, what rests 
  in store after death? Every wizard and 
  priest knows death isn’t the end after all.
  This	section	deals	with	both	the	eff	ects	
  and causes of retiring from active ad-
  venturing as well as the rules pertaining 
  to when a character dies.
  RETIRING FROM ACTIVE 
  ADVENTURING i
  A character begins to enter retirement 
  once she reaches the maximum level 
  possible without breaching a new mile-
  stone. Once a character advances to the 
  point where she should progress onto 
  the next level further (past the milestone) 
  the character will enter retirement.
  When a character enters retirement, she 
  loses the attention of the trickster deities. 
  She can no longer regain luck points 
  through time nor magic and can no 
  longer gain new destiny or fate points. 
  This means characters enter a down-
  ward spiral if they attempt to remain 
  as adventurers. They should move into 
  roles of leadership, politics, or even the 
  simple life.
  Characters can exit retirement in one of 
  a	few	diff	erent	methods:
  Quest to pass the next milestone: If a char-
  acter is actively working towards passing 
  the next milestone such as battling an 
  evil wizard to save the world the char-
  acter will not enter retirement. Should 
  
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  this battle become a ‘background quest’ 
  the character frequently puts on hold 
  to deal with personal or minor issues 
  the character will enter retirement and 
  will not be able to exit it in this manner 
  unless she actually passes the milestone.
  Other characters attempt to destroy them: If 
  a band of heroes or villains attempt to 
  destroy a character, either to test their 
  mettle or advance their own schemes, 
  the retired character may temporarily 
  exit retirement. Until the former retiree 
  settles the issue with these ‘up-and-
  comers’ once and for all the character 
  may regain luck and fate points but will 
  re-enter retirement upon defeating them 
  or choosing to ignore them.
  Death: If a character dies and moves on 
  to the afterlife then retirement no longer 
  impacts her. This may seem pointless 
  but the rules for death will explain how 
  it is not.
  MOVING ON TO THE 
  AFTERLIFE i
  When	a	player	character	fi	nally	meets	her	
  end it does not mean you have to stop 
  playing them. In a fantasy game where 
  you can visit the realm of the dead or 
  journey to the gates of hell it should be 
  no surprise that death is not the end.
  When a character dies, it is suggested 
  the next game session be that character’s 
  journey into the ever after. The character 
  will go through her meeting with death 
  and assuming the character does not evade 
  death somehow and become a ghost, 
  she will move to the realm of the dead. 
  From there, the other players will take 
  the role of some of her past friends or 
  religious allies, and help the character to 
  reach her preferred afterlife. This means 
  either reaching heaven safely, or making 
  sure you can avoid going to hell.
  The character should be armed with 
  any personal items of theirs; in the case 
  of henchmen she will only have dead 
  henchmen at the character’s side. If any 
  special items or wealth were buried with 
  her in an elaborate ceremony they will 
  also be present, including servants. If a 
  character received a proper burial she will 
  have an additional destiny point for use 
  in the game session. If a character’s burial 
  or	remains	were	defi	led	in	some	manner,	
  the character will have no equipment 
  and will begin the game naked and at 
  1 point of damage below passing out, 
  with no luck or mana points.
  Time does not pass in the same manner, 
  so there should be some time to allow 
  the living a chance to recover a body 
  and give it a proper burial.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Neoclassical Geek Revival (osr)/Neoclassical Geek Revival RPG Scrap Princess Edition.pdf