TEXT: They came from other cosms — other realities — raiders joined together to steal
  the Earth’s living energy … to consume its possibilities. The Possibility Raiders
  brought with them their own realities, turning portions of our planet
   into someplace else.
  Led by the Gaunt Man — self-proclaimed Torg of the cosmverse — the High Lords
  each claimed a piece of the Earth for themselves. Baruk Kaah, Pharaoh Mobius,
  Lord Uthorion, Pope Jean-Malraux I, Kanawa-sama, and the Gaunt Man; each has
  established his primitive, pulp, dark fantasy, cyberpapacy, high tech, or horror
  realms on our world, setting the conquest in motion.
  But the invasion did not go as the Gaunt Man planned. His millennia of
  preparation did not take into account the Storm Knights — men and women who
  weathered the raging reality storms that transformed the planet, retaining their
  own realities when everything around them changed. Through their actions, these
  heroes neutralized the Gaunt Man and helped bring the Infiniverse into being. By
  reflecting the cosmverse over and over, all possibilities became real in an infinite
  instant. If Earth was destroyed in one cosmverse, there was a chance that it would
  survive in another. The conquest had been delayed … for now.
  Now, throughout the Infiniverse, on a million-million Earths, the remaining High
  Lords battle to control the awesome possibility energy of Earth — to become the
  Torg. And if the Storm Knights cannot stop them, then every Earth will die …
  Later today, early tomorrow, sometime next week,
   the world began to end.
  The Near Now …
  
  Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  TM
  The Lizard and
  the Lightning
  An Introduction to Roleplaying in
  the Possibility Wars
  T A B L E  O F
  C O N T E N T S
  Introduction
  4
  Mechanics Overview
  5
  Chapter One: Creating a Character
  6
  Chapter Two: The Basics
  10
  Chapter Three: The Lizard and the Lightning
  19
  Soldier of Fortune: Character Template
  27
  Product List
  28
  
  3
  Angar Uthorion, Aysle, Baruk Kaah, Core Earth, Cosm, Cosmverse, Cyberpapacy, Darkness Device, Dr. Mobius, the Gaunt Man, Gospog, Heart of Coyote, High Lord,
  Infiniverse, Kanawa, the Living Land, Maelstrom, Maelstrom Bridge, Nile Empire, Orrorsh, Pella Ardinay, Possibility Raiders, Possibility Storm, Possibility Wars, Ravagon,
  Stormers, Storm Knights, Torg, the Torg logo, West End Games, and WEG are trademarks of Humanoids, Inc. ®, ™ and © 2003 Humanoids, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
  The Torg Design Team
  Greg Gorden
  Mythos and Game Design
  Douglas Kaufman, Bill Slavicsek
  Mythos and System Development
  Christopher Kubasik,
  Ray Winninger, Paul Murphy
  Additional Mythos and System Work
  Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, Michael Stern, Richard Hawran,
  Daniel Scott Palter, Denise Palter,  C.J. Tramontana,
  Martin Wixted
  Concepts and Testing
  Dr. Michael A. Fortner, Dr. George Exner
  Technical Assistance
  The Starter Set & Introduction
  Greg Gorden
  Rule Book Design • World Book Design
  Douglas Kaufman
  Rule Book Development and Editing
  Bill Slavicsek
  Adventure Book Design • World Book Development
  and Editing
  Paul Murphy
  Adventure Book Development, Editing and Additional 
  Design • Additional World Book Material
  Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, Michael Stern
  Additional World Book Material
  Rosaria J. Baldari, Bernadette G. Cahill, Stephen Crane,
  Richard Hawran, Cathleen Hunter, Sharon Wyckoff
  Graphics
  Nikola Vrtis
  PDF Version Creator
  Daniel Horne
  Cover Illustration
  Timothy Bradstreet, Bob Dvorak, Rick Harris, Francis Mao,
  Alan Jude Summa, Valerie Valusek, Tim Wright
  Interior Illustrations
  Tom Tomita
  Logo Design
  Eric Aldrich, Paul Balsamo, Jeff Brown, Laura Brown,
  Tim Brown, Gary Corbin, Troy Faraone, Dr. Michael Fortner,
  Mike Landsdaal, Letha Owens, Barbara Schlichting, John White
  Playtesting and Advice
  Note to Our Readers
  This PDF version of the introduction to the Torg
  roleplaying game was created from the original electronic
  files. Images were left out or modified and the page layout
  was modified to reduce file size and production time (the
  images do not have electronic counterparts). Typographi-
  cal errors were not fixed, nor was any attempt made to
  update the information based on any developments in the
  Possibility Wars since this book was first printed.
  If you received a copy of this file from a friend and would
  like to support the publishing efforts of West End Games,
  send US$2.00 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/) to
  d6lweg@yahoo.com.
  This PDF requires only a 20-sided die (numbered 1 to 20)
  to play. For more information about Torg and other West
  End Games products, please visit our Web site,
  www.westendgames.com.
  Published by
  Honesdale, PA 18431
  www.westendgames.com
  First Printing: May 1990
  PDF Published: February 2003
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  4
  action and make the game play the
  way we want it to. The trouble with
  Let’s Pretend is the “I-got-you-no-I-
  got-you-first” arguments — because
  Let’s Pretend has no rules.
  Consider roleplaying as Let’s Pre-
  tend with rules. There is a referee, also
  called a gamemaster, who judges dis-
  putes. The gamemaster also sets the
  scenes and creates the story lines that
  the players experience through their
  characters. The characters are really the
  heart of the roleplaying game.
  Each player takes the role of one
  character, a participant in the great
  story being woven by the gamemas-
  ter, who plays the roles of all the other
  characters in the story, called game-
  master characters. The player charac-
  ters’ actions will directly affect that
  story, often changing the course of
  events in significant ways. The back-
  and-forth storytelling aspects, the play-
  ing of new and unfamiliar roles, and
  the freewheeling format of the action
  are what make roleplaying games so
  challenging and exciting.
  Torg: Roleplaying the
  Possibility Wars
  Torg is a multi-genre game system
  that does what no other game before it
  has done. It combines the action of the
  pulps, the heroic adventure of fan-
  tasy, and the grim situations of future
  technology into one all-encompassing
  game system with one coherent, com-
  pelling story!
  There are a lot of roleplaying games
  on the market, and most use similar
  mechanics to achieve interactive story-
  telling. In Torg, we introduce two brand
  new concepts.
  The first is the Torg interactive
  drama cards (which are included with
  the starter set). These are more than
  just character cards or equipment cards
  — they actually help the gamemaster
  and players control the flow of  action,
  and add to the dramatic storytelling
  by creating plots and subplots that
  really fit into an adventure.
  The second innovation concerns the
  nature of interactive storytelling itself.
  In other roleplaying games, the play-
  ers interact with the world created by
  the gamemaster — and that’s it. In
  Torg, West End Games created a com-
  puter-moderated Infiniverse Interactive
  Campaign Game, a newsletter that al-
  lowed gaming groups of early players
  of this game to interact with other
  gaming groups across the country, and
  with West End itself, influencing
  progress of the Possibility Wars!
  Getting Started
  After reading this introduction and
  the “To the Point” section that follows,
  the next thing to do is play the adven-
  ture. (You will need a 20-sided die,
  numbered 1 through 20, to play the
  game.) The adventure will help you
  imagine yourself as a Storm Knight in
  the world of Torg, opposed to the High
  Lords of the invading realms, dedi-
  cated to freeing Earth and its many
  reflections from tyranny.
  If you like the adventure, then we
  highly recommend getting the starter
  set, which includes the Rule Book (of
  which this adventure is a part), the
  World Book, the Adventure Book, the
  Drama Cards, and three copies of the
  Infiniverse newsletter. You or your fa-
  vorite local or Internet retailer can
  order the Torg basic set and other
  printed Torg supplements through
  West End Games. You can find more
  information about ordering directly
  from West End Games in the Cata-
  log section of our Web site,
  www.westendgames.com. You can
  also learn more about the world of
  Torg and find out what other exciting
  lands there are to play  in on our Web
  site.
  ow it is three months after
  the initial invasion of
  Earth, and the invaders’
  boundaries have stabi-
  lized. The Gaunt Man’s
  land of horror extends across Indone-
  sia and Malaysia, though he is no
  longer there to maintain it. Kanawa
  controls Japan and parts of the Far
  East; Mobius holds northern Africa
  and the Middle East under the sway of
  the New Empire of the Nile. France,
  dark and grim, is united by the God-
  Net of the Cyberpapacy, and the
  United States and Canada struggle
  against the shamanistic powers of
  Baruk Kaah’s Living Land. Only in
  Britain and Scandinavia is there a glim-
  mer of hope, as the Lady Ardinay has
  arisen to replace the evil Lord Uthorion
  — though there are rumors that
  Uthorion still walks the Earth.
  And the High Lords are in turmoil;
  without the Gaunt Man to lead them,
  they scrabble for power, for the ulti-
  mate power of immortality that ac-
  companies the title of Torg.
  The rules and background for Torg,
  and the campaign you create with
  them, describe one of the many Earths
  now reflected throughout the In-
  finiverse … what happens on your
  Earth, what direction the Possibility
  Wars take on your world, will be very
  different from what happens else-
  where — but what you and your play-
  ers create can and will effect the entire
  Infiniverse.
  What Is Roleplaying?
  Roleplaying is simply another way
  of playing games. Most familiar board
  games have controlled rules. At the
  other end of the spectrum are games
  like Cowboys and Indians, otherwise
  known as “Let’s Pretend.” Let’s Pre-
  tend can be fun, because we get to take
  on the role of a hero, and we control the
  Introduction
  
  5
  axiom levels, eliminating contradic-
  tions. The immediate effect of the ax-
  iom laws is that equipment, spells and
  certain creatures foreign to a realm
  will not work as well in that realm.
  Combat
  A combat round represents 10 sec-
  onds of “game time.” In each round,
  one side gets to perform all its actions;
  then the other side performs its actions.
  Initiative is determined by flipping the
  top card of the drama deck. The side
  that has the initiative goes first.
  Damage
  Once a character is hit, a second
  total (the effect total) determines dam-
  age. The attacker’s damage value is
  his Strength, possibly modified by a
  melee or missile weapon, or the dam-
  age value of the weapon itself (for
  firearms and other weapons that pro-
  vide their own energy). The difficulty
  is the target’s Toughness (or armor
  value). The more the difficulty num-
  ber is exceeded, the more the target is
  damaged.
  Stormers and Storm Knights
  As a result of the Possibility Wars,
  certain people on Earth reach what is
  called a moment of crisis. At that mo-
  ment, the person gains the ability to
  manipulate possibility energy, for
  good or for evil.
  The Raiders call these beings Storm-
  ers. Those that oppose the Raiders pre-
  fer to call themselves Storm Knights.
  Your character is a Storm Knight,
  opposed to the High Lords of the in-
  vading realms. Your goal is to free the
  Earth from the varying realities and
  stop the Raiders before they consume
  the living power of the planet. If they
  succeed, the world dies.
  Those are the basics. Now you’re
  ready to get to the details …
  Generating a Total
  Compare the final die roll to the
  bonus chart printed at the bottom of
  your character template. Beneath each
  range of final die rolls is a correspond-
  ing bonus number. The sum of your
  skill value and the bonus number is
  called the action total.
  Some actions require you to obtain
  two totals, the first to determine if you
  succeeded at the action, the second to
  tell you how well you did. You get a
  second total by adding the same bo-
  nus (the die is not rolled again) to a
  different value after your action suc-
  ceeds. The second total is called an
  effect total.
  Beating a Difficulty Number
  Some actions are harder than oth-
  ers. Whenever the gamemaster calls
  for an action total, she also sets a diffi-
  culty number for the deed. Your char-
  acter succeeds if your action total is
  equal to or greater than the difficulty
  number. If your total is lower, you fail.
  Possibility Energy
  Storm Knights (player character he-
  roes) can store possibility energy, en-
  ergy which can temporarily alter the
  world around them in a variety of
  ways to allow characters to perform
  amazing feats.
  The Axioms
  Each of the invading realms has its
  own reality. The key to what can and
  cannot exist, what does and does not
  work, are the axioms. The axioms de-
  scribe the levels of four basic traits of a
  world: magical, social, spiritual, and
  technological.
   If an axiom is not high enough to
  support an activity, performing that
  activity creates a contradiction in that
  realm. The possibility energy of the
  realm is organized so as to enforce the
  here are a lot of pages in
  the Torg Starter Set, but
  you don’t need to read all
  of them to have fun. The
  mechanics of the Torg
  game are not very difficult at all.
  This page explains the essential sys-
  tems of Torg; reading it will make learn-
  ing the game much easier.
  Values and Measures
  Torg uses a unique system of “val-
  ues” and “measures” to translate back
  and forth between the game and the
  real world. A value is a quantity meas-
  ured in a way that can be used in the
  game (such as a weight value of 11). A
  measure is a measurement from the
  real world (such as “160 pounds”).
  Measures can be translated into val-
  ues and vice versa, but that is a task for
  the gamemaster.
  Attributes and Skills
  All characters have the same attrib-
  utes, though not in the same quanti-
  ties. All characters have skills, but types
  of skills vary from character to charac-
  ter. Skills are rated by adds, which is
  the number you add to your character’s
  base attribute to get the value for that
  skill. So, a character with a base attrib-
  ute of 10 and a running skill add of 3
  would have a running value of 13.
   The Die Roll
  The die included with the Torg game
  is printed with the numbers from 1 to
  20. You roll the die each time your
  character tries to use a skill value or
  attribute value to accomplish a task.
  Whenever a player rolls a 10 or a 20
  on the die, he may roll the die again,
  adding the next roll to the first 10 or 20.
  The player may keep rolling and add-
  ing, until a number which isn’t a 10 or
  20 appears. He adds in this final num-
  ber to obtain the final die roll.
  Mechanics Overview
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  6
  DEX, STR, TOU, PER, MIN, CHA, and
  SPI. The first three are broad measures
  of physical ability, the next two gauge
  your character’s mental prowess, while
  the last two measure his spiritual abil-
  ity. The number listed next to each is
  the attribute value. An attribute of six is
  poor, eight is average, an attribute of
  10 is quite good, and 13 is the normal
  maximum for Core Earth humans.
  Skills are abilities that not every
  character has. They are usually abili-
  ties that can be taught, although some
  have to be acquired in peculiar ways
  — in the pulp realm, for example,
  some skills can be acquired only
  through a “freak scientific accident
  which altered the character forever.”
  Your character template lists all of
  the skills initially available to your
  character. One of the skills already has
  a number (3) filled in on the template.
  This is your character’s best skill, or
  character tag skill. All characters based
  on the same template — the Soldier of
  Fortune, for instance — have the same
  attribute values and tag skills. But you
  choose the rest.
  Choosing Skill Adds
  You get to choose which of the avail-
  able skills your character has, and how
  good he is at each skill. You have 13
  points to distribute among the skills
  but driving a Toyota south on I-71
  may be beyond her. Try to get together
  with the other players and choose your
  characters with balance in mind.
  Copying Templates
  The templates are bound in the
  books; photocopying them is a good
  idea. Each page is divided into two
  templates, and they are printed front
  and back. The front of each template
  has all of the numbers and data neces-
  sary for playing the game, while the
  back has the character’s background.
  Cut the photocopies apart, making sure
  you have both the front and back parts
  of your template. If you don’t have
  access to a photocopier, write down
  the necessary information on a blank
  sheet of paper. You can refer back to
  the book to jog your memory about
  the background; you don’t have to
  copy all of it onto your sheet.
  Your character template is your
  playing piece for Torg. You’ll want to
  have your template in front of you
  when you play, penciling in changes
  as the game progresses.
  Customizing
  Templates
  Next you customize your template,
  making the character more like what
  you want him to be. To do this, you’ll
  need to know something about attrib-
  utes, skills and action values.
  Attributes and Skills
  All characters have attributes. An
  attribute is defined as an ability that
  all living beings have. One character
  may have more of an attribute, such as
  strength, than another, but all charac-
  ters have a Strength attribute.
  There are seven attributes in the
  game — Dexterity, Strength, Toughness,
  Perception, Mind, Charisma and Spirit.
  We sometimes abbreviate them as
  Creating a Character
  “ There may be some people who
  are born heroes … but the rest are just
  folks in a desperate situation who do
  what most folks wouldn’t — they win.”
  — Colonel Robert Blanchard,
   Philadelphia Defense Force
  org: Roleplaying the Possi-
  bility Wars is a game that
  tells of the great struggles
  between the Possibility
  Raiders and the heroes of
  Earth. To take part in these stories
  you’ll need a character. A character is a
  representation, in game terms, of a
  hero in the world of Torg. Here’s how
  you create your own character.
  Selecting a
  Template
  There are 24 character templates
  printed in the Starter Set's World Book
  and there are many others in various
  supplements. The templates describe
  the types of characters central to the
  stories of the Possibility Wars. Some
  are from Core Earth, the portion of
  Earth not yet conquered by the Possi-
  bility Raiders. Others are renegades
  from the realms of the raiders. Each
  template has basic game information
  for the character, as well as background
  material about the character’s motives,
  and what sort of world he comes from.
  Choose a template that appeals to
  you. You should realize that a charac-
  ter template is only an outline, a char-
  acter sketch; you provide the imagi-
  nation and detail that brings the char-
  acter to life. Not all Soldiers of For-
  tune, National Heroes, or Doubting
  Clerics are alike.
  However, a group should be bal-
  anced. Each character has different
  abilities — some can fly aircraft, and
  others are good at medicine. Some
  come from the invading realms, and
  have skills not available to characters
  from Core Earth. Characters from other
  realms are limited, though, when it
  comes to Core Earth skills; your Curi-
  ous Mage may be really hot with magic,
  One sample character, the Sol-
  dier of Fortune, has been pro-
  vided for you. We filled in a sheet
  in this chapter, and we've also
  included the template at the end
  of this book, in case you want to
  try your hand at customizing a
  character.
  If you want more templates,
  you will need to get at least the
  Torg Starter Set; the cosm
  sourcebooks and select other
  supplements have additional
  templates.
  ample Character
  S
  Chapter One
  
  7
  listed on your template. The points are
  called adds (short for ‘additions’), and
  you write down the number of adds
  allocated to each skill in the “Adds”
  column. Follow these rules when dis-
  tributing adds:
  1. You must distribute all 13 adds
  (and no more than 13).
  2. You may not allocate more than
  three adds to any one skill. The tag skill
  already has three adds, so no more
  may be allocated.
  3. You do not have to allocate adds
  to every skill on your template. If you
  do not allocate at least one add to a
  skill, your character does not have that
  skill. Skills printed in boldface cannot
  be used at all if you don‘t allocate at
  least one add.
  4. All characters must allocate at
  least one add to the reality skill.
  5. Give adds only to skills, not at-
  tributes.
  Figuring  Skill Values
  Next to each skill on your template
  is a column labeled “attribute.” In this
  column is an abbreviation for the at-
  tribute on which the skill is based.
  Example: On the Soldier of Fortune
  template are listed dodge and fire com-
  bat, both of which have “DEX” listed
  in the attribute column next to them.
  Both skills are based on Dexterity. The
  template also lists first aid with “PER”
  listed in the next column. Perception is
  the base attribute for first aid.
  The rightmost column is labeled
  “Value.” Here is where you record
  your character’s value for that skill. A
  skill value is equal to your character’s
  skill add plus the base attribute value.
  If your character has not taken an add
  in a particular skill, do not record a
  value for that skill.
  Example: Quin has a dodge add of 2
  and a Dexterity value of 11, for a dodge
  value of 13. Quin has no running skill
  so he records no value for running.
  A Brief Look at
  Action Values
  In the stories you play in Torg, your
  character will be confronted with ob-
  Suppose you choose to be a Soldier of Fortune. An example of what the
  character template looks like is on the facing page.
  At the top of the template enter your name, your character’s name, “10”
  in the “Possibilities” box, an age, a height, a weight, and a sex. Decide how
  you want your character to look, and write a brief description in the
  “Appearance” section. Other details, such as clothing, posture, and man-
  nerisms, are yours to make up. The more detail you put into a character, the
  more interesting he will be to play.
  For the introductory adventure, we've decided to give you a Soldier of
  Fortune to play, who we've named Quin.
  The numbers in the attribute boxes are Quin’s attribute values, while the
  skill adds are written next to the skill names. The 3 next to fire combat was
  already printed on the template: fire combat is Quin’s tag skill. After
  thinking about Quin for a bit, we decided not to take climbing or running as
  skills. Then we distributed his 13 adds as shown on the sheet.
  nter a Soldier
  E
  stacles of all kinds, from primitive
  tribesmen with shamanistic powers to
  rickety rope-bridges suspended over
  dizzying chasms, to pulp gangsters
  with ruthless henchmen. The outcome
  of the story often hinges on how, or
  whether or not, your character over-
  comes such obstacles.
  Whenever your character is con-
  fronted by an obstacle, her action value
  will help determine success or failure.
  Action value is the collective term for
  both skill value (when you  use a skill)
  and attribute value (when you use no
  skill, just your raw attribute). How-
  ever, as we know, life is very variable,
  and what you can do easily one time
  may be much more difficult the next
  time you try. If this weren’t true, for
  example, bowlers would always bowl
  perfect games!
  So, in Torg, when your character
  faces an obstacle, you roll the 20-sided
  die and consult the bonus chart on your
  character sheet, adding the bonus
  number there to the action value to get
  an action total. Obviously, the higher
  your character’s values are, the better
  he is at performing certain tasks, and
  the better his chance for success.
  Equipment
  Your template lists your character’s
  starting equipment. All characters be-
  gin with some tools of the trade, in-
  cluding weapons. Many begin with
  money, although the currency is not
  always what Core Earth locals would
  consider cold hard cash. Your charac-
  ter is considered to have had time to
  equip from his home realm as well as
  from Core Earth. If you want to pur-
  chase equipment for your character,
  see the equipment section on page 132
  of the rulebook. Equipment peculiar
  to each cosm are listed in their cosm
  books.
  Character
  Connections
  How your character fits in with the
  rest of the characters is important. Who
  you know and how you know them
  helps you decide how to act in a given
  situation. In heroic fiction, characters
  who are friends move mountains to
  help each other or to defeat a common
  enemy. Connections are possible ways
  you have of knowing the other charac-
  ters in the group, a way of starting the
  heroic bond important to adventure
  fiction.
  Try to come up with a reason your
  character would feel friendship toward
  at least one other member of the party.
  Talk it over with the other players and
  the gamemaster to come up with con-
  nections which make sense. Not all
  characters need to love each other,
  and you may even want some dra-
  matic tension between them, but there
  Chapter One
  
         Movement Rates         Limit Values
  Bonus #
  Die
  Roll
  Wound
  Level
   Wound       Heavy Wound
  Mortal                Dead
  Social
   Magic
   Spiritual
   Tech
  Possibilities
  Shock Damage
  Age
  Height
   Weight
  Character
  Name
  Home Cosm
  Maneuver
  Trick
  Test
  Taunt
  Intimidate
  Reality
  1
  Spirit
  9
  Dodge
  2
  DEX
  13
  Fire Combat
  3
  DEX
  14
  Heavy Weapons
  1
  DEX
  12
  Maneuver
  DEX
  Melee Weapons
  1
  DEX
  12
  Running
  DEX
  Unarmed Combat
  1
  DEX
  12
  Climbing
  STR
  Air Vehicles
  2
  PER
  11
  Find
  PER
  First Aid
  1
  PER
  10
  Land Vehicles
  1
  PER
  10
  Tracking
  1
  PER
  10
  Survival
  1
  MIN
  9
  Persuasion
  1
  CHA
  10
  Taunt
  CHA
  Faith
  SPI
               Skill              Add        Attribute         Value
  Running
  100m
  10
  Swimming
  15m
  6
  Jumping
  4m
  3
  Climbing
  1.5m
  2
  Lifting
  60k
  9
  Bonus Chart
  Dexterity
  11
  Strength
  10
  Toughness
  11
  Perception
  9
  Mind
  8
  Charisma
  9
  Spirit
  8
                Attributes
  Drama Card Record
  Number
  Name
  Approved
  Actions
  Movement Rates         Limit Values
  Axiom
  Range
  Equipment
  Value Level
  S
  M
  L
                3     5     7    9    11   13                                             21   26   31   36   41    46
  1     2    4    6    8   10   12   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   25   30   35   40   45    50   +5
  ®, TM & © Humanoids, Inc. Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use.
  Player Name
  SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
  ™
  K
  O
  Armor
  Leather
  +2 (13)
  5
  Weapons
  Uzi
  17
  22
  15
  40
  100
  .357 Desert Eagle
  16
  22
  10
  25
  50
  -12  -10    -8   -5    -2   -1     0      1    2     3     4      5    6     7      8    9   10    11   12    13   +1
  Quin
  Core Earth
  7
  21
  23
  9
  10
  
  9
  worlds and other realities. Each char-
  acter has a home cosm, which is where
  he is from, and which describes the
  sort of reality he is used to living in.
  Core Earth is the cosm of Earth, the
  Earth not under the control of a Possi-
  bility Raider — the Earth we are used
  to. Each of the other realms on Earth is
  part of a cosm under the control of a
  Possibility Raider, called a High Lord.
  Characters not from Core Earth are
  presumed to have had good reason to
  quarrel with the High Lords or their
  minions; being a possibility-rated char-
  acter (having the reality skill on your
  template) is reason enough for some-
  one connected to a High Lord to take
  notice of you.
  For a brief overview of the cosms,
  see the World Book.
  Possibilities
  All templates begin with 10 Possi-
  bilities (unless noted otherwise). En-
  ter “10” in the Possibilties box. Possi-
  bilities help your character succeed
  against terrible odds, just like a hero of
  fiction.
  Can I Play
  Something Else?
  Twenty-four templates plus all of
  those in the various supplements is
  quite a lot, but what if the exact sort of
  character you want to play isn’t one of
  them?  The character templates are
  provided to make creating a character
  quick and easy, but there are other
  ways.
  The first choice is to tinker with a
  template. Talk the changes over with
  your gamemaster to make sure your
  character fits into the sort of game she
  plans to run.
  If none of the templates suit your
  taste, you can create a template from
  scratch. The rules on page 141 of the
  rulebook tell you how. We recommend
  that you take a template for your first
  game; creating your first character
  from scratch can take a good deal of
  time.
  each other, but even when they don’t
  they usually feel an obligation to each
  other. If another character is your rela-
  tive, think about their relationship with
  the rest of the family. Was your family
  ravaged by the Possibility Raiders? If
  your family is still intact, do you know
  where they are?
  Reputation
  If a character is famous, or has a
  reputation, other characters may seek
  him out. In the disorganization and
  upheaval following the Possibility
  Raiders’ invasion of Earth, charismatic
  figures could attract other characters,
  giving the group a focus. Perhaps a
  National Hero fought in a highly pub-
  licized battle, or a Doubting Cleric’s
  parish church became a rallying point
  for opposition to the invasion.
  Previous Institution
  Characters may have spent time at
  the same school or university. They
  may have worked for the same com-
  pany, or held government posts in the
  same agency. Maybe they served in
  the military together.
  Current Institution
  The characters may be attending or
  working for the same institution. This
  list is like that above: government agen-
  cies, the military, private corporations
  or foundations. Perhaps they work for
  the Red Cross in disaster relief; there is
  certainly plenty of disaster to go
  around.
  The Rest of
  the Sheet
  Most of the remaining sections of
  the Torg character sheet are self-ex-
  planatory. There are two things,
  though, that bear further explanation.
  Cosm
  A cosm is a reality, a dimension
  which is physically separate from other
  has to be enough chemistry to bond
  the group together through all of the
  travails and troubles ahead — after all,
  adventuring isn’t as much fun if you
  have to do it alone.
  Here are some ideas of how charac-
  ters might know each other:
  Escaped Together
  The characters may be from the
  same cosm, in which case they may
  have joined forces while fleeing a High
  Lord’s minions. Characters from Core
  Earth might meet each other in a city
  while taking refuge from the invaders.
  Called
  If characters are from different
  cosms, perhaps one was called to seek
  the other(s). A character who is called
  (by a deity, a message from another
  cosm, or simply by “destiny”) has a
  good reason to leave his home cosm.
  Same Home Town
  The characters may be from the
  same home town or region. The at-
  tachment to their home area gives the
  characters an element upon which to
  share a sense of loyalty.
  Previous Missions
  The characters may have worked
  together before. The players should
  agree on the extent and nature of their
  previous experience. Characters from
  the same cosm could have more of a
  shared past than characters from dif-
  ferent cosms.
  Employee
  One of the characters might have
  employed the other. A character with
  status or wealth, such as the Dis-
  gruntled Corporate, may have hired
  the Soldier of Fortune to perform a
  dangerous mission, or to act  as a body-
  guard.
  Relatives
  Any characters from the same cosm
  can be relatives. Relatives often like
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  10
  “Knowledge of the basics may not
  always save your life, but it certainly
  enhances your probabilities.”
  — Dr. Hachi Mara-Two
  his chapter teaches you
  enough of the rules to
  play. The rules are cov-
  ered in greater detail in
  the Gamemaster Section
  of the rulebook, but only the game-
  master really needs to read that.
  Values and
  Measures
  Because Torg uses a unique system
  to translate back and forth between
  the game and the real world, we’ve
  created terms to distinguish game
  numbers from “real” numbers. A value
  refers to a quantity measured in a way
  which can be used in the game, such as
  a Strength of 11. A measure is a meas-
  urement from the real world, such as
  “150 pounds.” Measures can some-
  times be translated into values, and
  vice versa, but that is a task for the
  gamemaster. For instance, the game-
  master has a way to find out whether
  a Strength value of 11 is enough to lift
  a measure of 150 pounds.
  Attributes and
  Skills
  All characters have the same attrib-
  utes, though not in the same quanti-
  ties. All characters have skills, but types
  of skills vary from character to charac-
  ter. Skills are rated by adds, which is
  the number you add to your character’s
  base attribute to get the value for that
  skill.
   Example: Quin has land vehicles add
  of 1. Perception is the base attribute,
  with a value of 9. Whenever Quin tries
  to drive or operate a land vehicle, his
  value is 9+1 or 10.
  What If I Don’t Have
  a Skill?
  Sometimes your character is faced
  with an obstacle requiring a skill he
  doesn’t have an add for. In this case,
  the character acts unskilled.
  When performing an unskilled ac-
  tion, use the base attribute for that skill
  as the skill value; in addition, a charac-
  ter performing an unskilled action
  loses the roll again on 20 benefit (see
  “The Die Roll,” below). This limits his
  chance of gaining great success or per-
  forming really difficult feats.
  Example: Quin needs to pick a lock.
  He does not have the lockpicking skill,
  but he has a Dexterity of 11. His lock-
  picking value is 11, and he does not get
  to roll again on a 20.
  Some actions may not be taken by
  unskilled characters. The skill descrip-
  tions in the rulebook specify which
  actions may not be attempted un-
  skilled. For example, Quin would fail
  any attempt at surgery as medicine may
  not be used unskilled.
  If a skill is printed on your
  character’s template, your character
  can learn the skill. If it is not, your
  character may not begin the game with
  an add in that skill; she may be able to
  learn it later, after she has gained some
  knowledge of the world. For example,
  a character whose home cosm is the
  Living Land cannot start with air ve-
  hicles skill, but it is possible that the
  character may later learn the skill.
  Limited Activities,
  Speed and Power
  Real human beings are only capable
  of so much. Of course so are heroes,
  trolls, cyberpriests and pulp villains.
  The rub comes with heroes who are
  human, or close to human. Your play-
  ers want to be heroic; at the same time
  they want the world to make sense, to
  feel real. This is a tall order, and it
  requires a little bit of complication. If
  you directly translate attribute values
  into game measures of time, distance
  or weight, you quickly run into prob-
  lems with humans who can perform
  ridiculously powerful feats. For char-
  acters from Core Earth, use the Char-
  acter Limit chart on the next page. For
  characters from other cosms, use this
  chart unless the appropriate source-
  book contradicts it.
  The limit value is the largest value
  which may be directly translated on
  the attribute chart.
  Example: Crowfire has a Dexterity
  of 9; looking for the measure of 9 we
  find that Crowfire can run 60 meters
  per round. The Yellow Crab, with a
  Dexterity of 10, can run 100 meters per
  round. Quin, whose Dexterity is 11,
  cannot exceed the human running limit
  value of 10, so he too runs 100 meters
  per round.
  The rulebook has more informa-
  tion on "pushing" the limits.
  Chapter Two
  The Basics
  ore Earth Character Limit Chart
  C
  Limited Activity
  Limit Based On
     Limit Value
  Running
  Dexterity
  10
  Swimming
  Dexterity
  6
  Long Jumping
  Dexterity
  3
  Climbing
  Strength
  2
  Lifting
  Strength
  9
  
  11
  The Die Roll
  The die included with the Torg game
  is printed with the numbers from 1 to
  20. You roll the die each time your
  character tries to use a skill value or
  attribute value to accomplish a task.
  The higher the roll, the better your char-
  acter does at the action he is trying.
  There is a roll-again rule which lets
  some rolls get really large, allowing
  characters to perform the same spec-
  tacular feats as heroes in fiction. When-
  ever a player character rolls a 10 or a 20
  on the die, the player may roll again,
  adding the next roll to the first 10 or 20.
  If the next roll is also a 10 or 20, the
  player may keep rolling and adding,
  until a number which isn’t a 10 or 20
  appears. He adds in this final number
  to obtain the final die roll.
  Example: Paul, who is roleplaying
  Quin, rolls a 10, and being lucky fol-
  lows it with a roll of 20; his third roll is
  an 8, for a final die roll of 38 (10+20+8).
  Generating a Total
  In Torg, the success of all actions is
  determined by an action total. To gen-
  erate an action total, roll the die as
  explained above and compare the fi-
  nal die roll to the bonus chart printed at
  the bottom of your character template.
  Beneath each range of final die rolls is
  a corresponding bonus number. The
  sum of your skill value and the bo-
  nus number is called the action total.
  Example: The gamemaster asks Paul
  to generate Quin’s land vehicles total. If
  Paul rolled the 38 from the previous
  example, his bonus number would be
  11. Quin’s land vehicles value is 10; the
  land vehicles total is 21 (11 + 10).
  A negative bonus number reduces
  the value. Adding a negative number
  is just like subtracting.
  bbreviated
  Value Chart
  A
  Value
  Measure
  0
  1
  1
  1.5
  2
  2.5
  3
  4
  4
  6
  5
  10
  6
  15
  7
  25
  8
  40
  9
  60
  10
  100
  11
  150
  12
  250
  13
  400
  14
  600
  15
  1,000
  16
  1,500
  17
  2,500
  18
  4,000
  19
  6,000
  20
  10,000
  When trying to find the value
  of measures that fall in between
  the cracks on the Value Chart, we
  recommend you treat the listed
  measure as an upper bound for
  that value. For instance, a value of
  10 has a measure of 100, while a
  value of 11 has a measure of 150.
  All measures greater than 100 and
  less than or equal to 150 have a
  value of 11.
  This chart provides only a
  sample of the possible Torg val-
  ues; the actual chart in the rule-
  book extends to a value of 100 and
  gives instructions on how to ex-
  pand it even further.
  Example: The gamemaster calls for
  another land vehicles roll from Quin.
  Paul rolls a 2. The bonus is –10; Paul
  subtracts 10 from Quin’s land vehicles
  value of 10, to generate a total of zero.
  As shown on the bonus chart, if
  you are lucky enough to get a roll
  larger than 50, your bonus number
  increases by one for every five points
  (or part thereof) of the final die roll
  in excess of 50.
  Example: A spectacular series of
  rolls yields a final die roll of 73! This is
  23 points higher than a 50, so dividing
  by five and rounding up gives a bonus
  of five more than the maximum shown
  (13). The  bonus number is 18 (13 + 5).
  The Effect Total
  Some actions require you to obtain
  two totals, the first to determine if you
  succeeded at the action, the second to
  tell you how well you did. You get a
  second total by adding the same bo-
  nus (the die is not rolled again) to a
  different value after your action suc-
  ceeds. The second total is called an
  effect total.
  The most common use of an effect
  total is combat. You generate the first
  total to hit, and the second to deter-
  mine the extent of damage. The sec-
  ond total is usually referred to by its
  function; “damage total” for determin-
  ing damage, “speed total” for move-
  ment in a chase, and so on.
  Example: The whine and twang of
  bullets hitting too close caused Quin to
  gun his Land Rover to top speed along the
  ridge, with the troops of the Nile Empire in
  hot pursuit. As he careened down a hill, a
  familiar outcropping of trees brought a
  lump of hope to his throat; he brought the
  Land Rover to a screeching halt. With a
  shout of glee, he pulled aside the camou-
  flage netting at the side of the road, reveal-
  ing a cache of serviceable anti-armor mis-
  Bonus #
  Die
  Roll
  Bonus Chart
                3     5     7    9    11   13                                             21   26   31   36   41    46
  1     2    4    6    8   10   12   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   25   30   35   40   45    50   +5
  -12  -10    -8   -5    -2   -1     0      1    2     3     4      5    6     7      8    9   10    11   12    13   +1
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  12
  siles he had previously hidden. Seconds
  later, as one of the enemy jeeps came over
  the hill, Quin opened fire.
  Quin’s heavy weapons value is 12.
  The missile has a damage value of 27.
  Paul rolls a 14 (bonus of 1) for a heavy
  weapons total of 13. The gamemaster
  says 13 is a hit. Quin’s player then
  checks for damage. Adding the
  missile’s damage value of 27 to the
  bonus of 1 yields a damage total of 28.
  As the missile struck home, the lead
  jeep flipped out of control and began to
  burn. The other jeeps scattered and headed
  for cover. Grinning broadly, Quin dashed
  back to his Rover. That ought to slow them
  for awhile.
  Beating a Difficulty
  Number
  Some actions are harder than oth-
  ers. Whenever the gamemaster calls
  for a skill or attribute total, she also
  sets a difficulty number for the deed.
  Your character succeeds if your total
  is equal to or greater than the diffi-
  culty number. If your total is lower,
  you fail.
  Example: With a hairpin turn fol-
  lowed by a sharp left, Quin found himself
  in a narrow defile, safe for the moment. His
  grin was interrupted by the squeal of the
  Land Rover’s brakes as he brought the
  vehicle to a stop five feet from the edge of a
  deep gorge. Quin could hear the sound of
  the remaining pursuit closing in.
  Paul decides that Quin is going to
  jump the Land Rover across the cliff.
  The gamemaster informs him that as
  Land Rovers do not fly, the jump is
  almost surely fatal; he assigns the task
  a difficulty of 22. Paul checks Quin’s
  land vehicles value; it’s a 10.
  He rolls a 20, followed by a 10,
  followed by a 13; a final die roll of 43!
  The bonus number for this roll is 12.
  The total is 22, just enough for Quin to
  make it!
  “Grow wings,” growled Quin as he
  backed up, then gunned her forward. The
  Land Rover roared in response, throwing
  the soldier back against the seat as the
  vehicle leaped across the gorge, bouncing
  roughly on the other side. Quin howled in
  triumph.
  Opposed Actions
  If you are opposed by another char-
  acter, his attribute or skill totals are
  often your difficulty number. If your
  total equals or exceeds your
  opponent’s attribute or skill total, your
  action succeeds.
  Sometimes your opponent’s total
  will not include a bonus (i.e., no die
  roll). Then you must exceed his raw
  attribute or skill value with your total.
  Example: Quin has a dodge value of
  13. An opponent would have to get a
  total of 13 or better to hit Quin with a
  pistol shot.
  Difficulty Numbers
  Normally, the difficulty of a task is
  the opposing attribute of the character
  or thing acted upon (a monster’s dodge
  value is the difficulty to hit it in fire
  combat; the wall’s height value is the
  difficulty to scale the wall). Sometimes,
  however, you need a difficulty for a
  task that has no measurable value. The
  Difficulty Number scale (page 42)
  gives you those sorts of numbers. Make
  your best guess as to the difficulty of
  the task, and find the corresponding
  number under the “#” column. The
  numbers are scaled for a possibility-
  rated character with an average attrib-
  ute; therefore heroes with greater-than-
  average values will succeed more of-
  ten than the odds suggest, which is as
  it should be.
  Difficulty Modifiers
  The Difficulty Number scale is very
  handy for judging tasks that have no
  attribute to set a difficulty by. But what
  about cases where there is both an
  attribute and unusual circumstances?
  If Quin is shooting a gospog (a cross-
  cosm creature grown from seeds
  planted in fields of the dead) under
  normal circumstances, you would use
  the gospog’s dodge score. If the fight is
  occurring in a textile factory in the
  Empire of the Nile, with all kinds of
  whirring machinery as additional ob-
  struction, the difficulty for hitting the
  gospog (and Quin) should be higher.
  The Difficulty Number scale can help
  here, too.
  Decide how much more difficult
  than normal, or how much easier, you
  think the task is: very easy, twice as
  hard, maybe just a little bit easier than
  normal; maybe 10 times as hard as
  normal. Find your guess on the Diffi-
  culty Number scale and locate the re-
  sult under the “Modifier” column. The
  result is added to the attribute diffi-
  culty of the task.
  Example: Quin is firing at that pesky
  gospog in the textile factory. The
  gamemaster figures that firing through
  all that machinery makes it difficult,
  but not quite 10 times as difficult to hit
  the gospog. The Difficulty Scale gives
  a modifier value of +4. The gospog’s
  dodge is increased by 4 to account for
  the machinery.
  Possibility Energy
  and Storm Knights
  Storm Knights can store possibility
  energy, energy which can temporarily
  alter the world around them. This is
  the energy the Possibility Raiders seek,
  and is perhaps the heroes’ most pow-
  erful tool for defeating the schemes of
  the High Lords. It can be used in a
  variety of ways to allow characters to
  perform amazing feats.
  ifficulty Numbers
  D
  Description
  #
  Modifier
  Very Easy
  3
  -5
  Easy
  5
  -3
  Average
  8
  0
  2:1 Against
  10
  +2
  Difficult
  12
  +4
  10:1
  13
  +5
  Heroic
  15
  +7
  100:1
  18
  +10
  1000:1
  22
  +14
  Never Tell
       Me the Odds
   25
  +17
  
  13
  Possibilities and the
  Die Roll
  When attempting an action, you
  may spend one Possibility and roll the
  die again, adding the number rolled
  to the final die roll. No more than one
  Possibility may be spent on any one
  action. You may spend a Possibility
  after seeing your first roll. As possi-
  bility energy is so potent, any extra
  roll that is less than 10 counts as a 10
  (but, of course, does not grant further
  rolls unless the extra roll is actually a
  10 or 20).
  Example: In the gorge-jumping ex-
  ample above, Quin got very lucky.
  What if he had been a little less lucky,
  rolling a 20 followed by a 9 (die roll of
  29, giving a bonus of 9) for an action
  total of 19? Since the difficulty was 22,
  the first answer is that the Land Rover
  crashes in flames at the bottom of the
  gorge, as the jump fails. For Quin’s
  player the better answer is to spend a
  Possibility and roll the die a third time,
  adding the number to his final die roll;
  if Paul gets a 12 on the third roll, the
  final die roll is 41, giving him a bonus
  number of 12 for a total of 22. Quin
  safely makes the jump.
  Countering
  Possibilities
  Whenever an enemy spends a Pos-
  sibility to alter a die roll, your charac-
  ter may cancel the extra die roll by
  spending a Possibility himself. You
  must counter at the moment the en-
  emy spends a Possibility, before the
  die is rolled. Both points are spent, and
  there is no extra roll. This works both
  ways — the gamemaster characters
  can spend Possibilities to counter your
  extra rolls as well.
  Example: Count Von Starker is fir-
  ing a pistol at Quin with a skill of 13.
  He needs a total of 13 to hit Quin.
  The gamemaster rolls a 7, for a bo-
  nus of –2; the shot will miss. The game-
  master announces that Von Starker is
  spending a Possibility on the shot; Paul
  says he will counter. Both Quin and
  Starker cross off one Possibility, and
  the roll stands.
  Countering Effects
  Characters may spend a Possibility
  to rid themselves of the effects of dam-
  age. No more than one Possibility  may
  be spent to rid your character of dam-
  age (see “Combat” later in this chapter)
  from a single blow. Possibilities spent
  to avoid damage may not be countered.
  Example: Quin is hit by a shot from
  a .38! The gamemaster tells Paul that
  Quin has suffered a wound, and a
  knockout. Paul grimly spends a Possi-
  bility; Quin is only shaken by the shot.
  The crack of the pistol was followed by a
  searing pain as the bullet struck Quin in the
  shoulder. “Just a flesh wound,” he mut-
  tered, as his Uzi spat death into the night.
  Possibilities and
  Reality
  Reality works differently between
  one cosm and another (see “The Axi-
  oms” later in this chapter), and possi-
  bility energy constantly flows to main-
  tain the reality — meaning that equip-
  ment, magic, and even skills from your
  home cosm might not work so well in
  an alien cosm.
  A character in a foreign cosm may
  spend a Possibility and cocoon him-
  self in a “reality bubble” for 15 min-
  utes. During that time, everything —
  technology, magic, etc. — works for
  that character as it would work in his
  home cosm. There are restrictions, but
  leave those to the gamemaster.
  Example: Quin is in a “pure zone”
  of the New Empire of the Nile. In the
  pure zone of a lower tech level, his Uzi
  simply does not work. If he wished,
  Quin could spend a Possibility to make
  the automatic weapon work for 15
  minutes. During this time, Quin’s other
  equipment (his night scope, his anti-
  septic spray, his tear gas grenades)
  would also work.
  Possibilities are a powerful tool for
  getting your character out of a jam.
  But once you spend them they are
  gone, so spend them wisely.
  Non-Combat
   Interaction
  In Torg,  interaction between char-
  acters is very important. Your abilities
  with these skills can be as useful, if not
  more so, than your ability in combat.
  The interaction skills are: charm, per-
  suasion, intimidation, taunt, trick and
  test of wills.
  Charm
  Charm is used to change the atti-
  tudes of characters you meet. The base
  difficulty for charm is the target
  character’s willpower; if the target has
  no willpower skill, use his Mind in-
  stead. A successful charm improves
  the target character’s attitude toward
  your character. There are five possible
  attitudes: enemy, hostile, neutral,
  friendly, and loyal. To make a charm
  attempt you must tell the gamemaster
  what you are saying or doing that
  would improve the target’s attitude
  toward you.
  Each successful charm temporarily
  improves the target character’s atti-
  tude by one step — from hostile to
  neutral, for example. After a time (at
  the gamemaster’s discretion), charmed
  characters return to their base attitude,
  which was the character’s attitude to-
  ward you before the charm attempt
  began.
  Charming characters who like you
  is easier than charming characters who
  hate you. The gamemaster will let you
  know how well you’ve done in a charm
  attempt.
  An unsuccessful or minimally suc-
  cessful charm prohibits your character
  from any further charm attempts on
  his target (for a while, anyway), al-
  though you may “press the issue”. If
  you roll better than you need to charm
  a character, you can continue to charm.
  Pressing the Issue
  If you fail a charm, or if your charm
  is only minimally successful, you must
  stop the charm attempt, unless you
  want to risk pressing the issue. This
  simply means that you ignore your
  first failure and try again.
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  14
  If you press the issue, you are al-
  lowed one more attempt, regardless
  of how successful you are. As usual, a
  successful result improves the target’s
  temporary attitude one step.
  However, if you press the issue and
  fail, the target character’s attitude is
  immediately worsened, as he is now
  aware that you have been putting on
  the charm.
  Example: Crowfire sat herself down
  by the campfire. She had long ago noticed
  the tension in the other seated warriors,
  but chose to ignore it. The shaman, Iwesaka,
  emerged from the Stone Meeting.
  “We have disturbing news, my people,”
  the shaman intoned. He whirled to stare at
  Crowfire. “We have a traitor among us, a
  traitor who has betrayed us to the Walking
  Dead!”
  Crowfire stood up to face the shaman.
  “It saddens me to see that you misunder-
  stand me and my actions. I thought we
  were friends, Iwesaka. Do you not remem-
  ber the times that we hunted together?
  Was I not honorable, always?”
  Crowfire has a charm value of 14. Her
  player tries to charm, rolling a 10 fol-
  lowed by a 14 for a final roll of 24 (bonus
  of 8). Crowfire’s charm total is 22. The
  gamemaster says that is enough to tem-
  porarily bump the shaman from hostile
  (his base attitude) to neutral, and that
  Crowfire may continue to charm.
  Crowfire tries again, getting a charm
  total of 18. The gamemaster announces
  another, minimal success, saying the
  shaman seems to have undergone a
  real change of heart and is now friendly
  toward Crowfire. Does she want to
  press the issue? The player stops right
  there; she doesn’t want to take a chance
  on losing what she’s already gained.
  The shaman looked down, shame
  and memory playing across his face.
  “Perhaps you have been misjudged,”
  he said with relief,“but the time to
  decide right and wrong is during the
  light hours. We shall talk on this in the
  morning.”
  After a successful charm, a
  character’s base attitude toward your
  character might improve by one step.
  Your gamemaster will let you know.
  Persuasion
  The base difficulty for persuasion  is
  the target’s willpower value; if the tar-
  get does not have the willpower skill,
  use his Mind.
  Persuasion is used to persuade a
  character to take a suggested course of
  action. You can persuade a character to
  see things your way even if you do not
  charm him (but it’s usually easier if
  you do). When you persuade a charac-
  ter, you have to tell the gamemaster
  exactly what you are trying to get him
  to agree to, such as “Crowfire wants
  the MP to agree to let her past the
  checkpoint.” If you fail your persua-
  sion attempt, you may not try to per-
  suade the target character any further
  on any subject. Persuasion is made
  against the current attitude of the tar-
  get, including any improvement due
  to charm (obviously, the persuasion at-
  tempt must be made soon after the
  charm, or the target will return to his
  base attitude).
  The extent to which a character
  agrees to your suggestion depends on
  his current attitude toward your char-
  acter. Even if you successfully persuade
  a hostile character, he is unlikely to do
  as much for you as would a friendly
  character.
  Example: “Hold on a minute, Starker,”
  Quin said boldly as he desperately cast
  about for a way to stay his execution. “I
  have information you might wish to hear.
  I suggest you put down the gun.”
  Paul is trying a desperate persuasion
  on an enemy character. In typical fash-
  ion he gets a huge roll and actually
  succeeds at persuading Starker. This
  does not mean he can have Quin order
  his deadly enemy to jump out a win-
  dow — but Starker will stop and listen
  to what Quin has to say.
  The villain considered for a moment,
  then smiled. “Certainly,” he said. “But no
  tricks, now, or I’ll gun you down like a
  dog.”
  Intimidation
  Intimidation is used to prevent an-
  other character from taking action
  against your character, or at least to
  reduce his bonus against you. It can
  also be used to gain information from
  a character. The target of an intimida-
  tion is the other character’s intimida-
  tion or Spirit.
  If your intimidation is successful
  enough, the intimidated character’s
  actions are reduced in effectiveness. A
  really successful use of intimidation
  (called an attempt to awe a character)
  prevents the character from acting
  against you as long as you do not
  attack him. He might even give up, or
  give in.
  Example: Quin arched his head over
  the hedgerow, taking in the sight of five
  guards near the factory fence. He and The
  Yellow Crab, a pulp-inspired hero from
  the New Empire of the Nile, were here to
  investigate rumors that Kanawa Ltd. was
  linked to the Possibility Raiders. They had
  to get inside.
  The Crab grabbed Quin’s arm. “Let me
  take care of them, Quin.”
   The Crab tries to intimidate the
  guards. His intimidate value is 12. The
  Spirit of the guards is 8. Chris, the
  Crab’s player, generates a total of 14.
  The result is good, but not great.
  “I suggest you do nothing foolish, for I
  … I am the Yellow Crab!” The guards
  hesitated for a second, then drew their
  weapons and blazed away wildly. The Crab
  dove for cover as the frightened guards’
  shots went wide.
  Intimidation can also be used to in-
  terrogate a captive. In this case, the
  target’s attitude toward the person or
  thing you want information about
  helps determine your chance for suc-
  cess.
  Example: “So tell me,” Quin said,
  smacking the club into his hand with a
  steady, dangerous sound. “When is the
  raid planned?”
  Quin is using intimidation to gain
  information  from a captured Nile  Em-
  pire shocktrooper with a Spirit of 9.
  The shocktrooper is loyal to his mas-
  ter, and will not reveal any informa-
  tion unless Quin gets a very high level
  of success. If the subject was a Nile
  Empire stoolie who was neutral about
  
  15
  Dr. Mobius (High Lord of the Nile
  Empire), a smaller roll would suffice.
  A failed interrogation roll means
  that no further information may be
  gained by that questioner from that
  target.
  Test of Wills
  Test of Wills (short form: test) is used
  to slow your opponent’s reactions.
  With spectacular success, you can ac-
  tually get an opponent to flee or sur-
  render with a test. The target of a test is
  the other character’s test skill or Mind.
  Taunt
  Taunt is used in a manner similar to
  persuasion, but is most often used to
  force a character to act rather than
  preventing her from acting. The tar-
  get of a taunt is the other character’s
  taunt or Charisma.
  When you taunt an opponent, you
  should tell the gamemaster what ef-
  fect you’d like the taunt to have. If
  your total is high enough and the game-
  master allows the effect, the opposing
  character will do what you want.
  Example: The Crab stared at the shop-
  keeper in mock disbelief. “You want me to
  pay what for the horse? Have you forgot-
  ten all the teachings of your parents, just
  because you’re too fat to go to worship on
  Holy Days? That price is usury!”
  As you can see, the Yellow Crab is
  taunting his opponent. Chris says he
  would like the taunt to make the shop-
  keeper ashamed so that she will give
  the Crab the horse. Chris then gener-
  ates a taunt total of 18. The
  shopkeeper’s taunt value is just a little
  too high for Chris to get full effect;
  however, the gamemaster rules that
  the taunt has caused the shopkeeper to
  lower her price by 20 percent.
  Trick
  Trick is also similar to persuasion, in
  that it can be used to force an oppo-
  nent to act in a specific way.
  The use of a trick allows a check
  against the target’s trick or Percep-
  tion with the object of slowing him
  down or negating his action. You
  should announce a desired effect
  before rolling for the trick. If your
  total is high enough, the opponent
  acts as you desire.
  Combat
  “The object of life is the death of
  your enemies.”
  — Kurst of Orrorsh
  In a roleplaying game, combat isn’t
  often fought on a board. Usually, the
  combat situation is described to you
  by the gamemaster; she describes your
  surroundings, your opponents and
  what actions your enemies are taking.
  Then she goes around the table asking
  each player what his character is do-
  ing this round. When she comes to
  you, tell her what your character is
  doing, and what skills he is using. If
  you have a defensive skill, you are
  always assumed to be using that skill
  passively unless you state you are
  taking an active defense (see “Defen-
  sive Skills” on this page ).
  How Long Does It
  Take?
  A combat round represents 10 sec-
  onds of “game time.” Resolving a com-
  bat round takes longer than 10 sec-
  onds of real time, but for your charac-
  ter only 10 seconds have passed.
  Who Goes First?
  In each round, one side gets to per-
  form all its actions; then the other side
  performs all its actions. Actions are not
  simultaneous. Initiative is determined
  by flipping the top card of the drama
  deck (see Player Chapter Three in the
  rulebook for how to use the drama
  deck).
  The side that has the initiative goes
  first. Of the characters on a side, the
  one with the highest Dexterity value
  goes first; the other characters act in
  descending order of Dexterity.
  How Many Things
  Can I Do?
  While there are many different types
  of action your character can take, you
  may only roll the die for one of them in
  any round.
  The possible actions are: attack, de-
  fend, maneuver, movement, simple ac-
  tion, intimidation, taunt, test of will, and
  trick.
  Action Descriptions
  An attack action is the action your
  character takes to damage a target. An
  attack action always requires a die
  roll.
  A defend action is the use of a defen-
  sive skill such as dodge or melee defense
  (see below). You do not have to roll a
  die, but if you do your defense will be
  increased.
  Maneuver gets your character  to a
  better position than before.
  A movement action allows your char-
  acter to move faster than his base move-
  ment rate. You may roll for a move-
  ment total to try to increase your
  character‘s speed.
  A simple action is one such as shout-
  ing commands, flipping a switch, or
  similar easy tasks which require no
  die roll to perform.
  An intimidation is a check against
  your opponent’s intimidation or Spirit
  value. A successful intimidation gives
  you a tactical advantage.
  A taunt is a check against your
  opponent’s taunt or Charisma value.
  A test of will is a check against your
  opponent’s test or Mind.
  A trick is a a check against your
  opponent’s trick or Perception. A suc-
  cessful result on taunt, test, or trick
  wins you a tactical advantage.
  Note:  A simple action and/or a
  passive defense may be combined with
  any other action.
  Defensive Skills
  Some skills can make your charac-
  ter harder to hit. If your character has
  the dodge skill, his dodge value is the
  difficulty number for an opponent’s
  fire combat or missile attack. This is
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  16
  called a passive use of the skill because
  no die roll is involved.
  Your melee skill may also be used as
  a defensive skill, if you have a melee
  weapon; your melee value is the diffi-
  culty number for an opponent’s un-
  armed or melee attack. Your unarmed
  combat skill value is the difficulty num-
  ber for an opponent’s unarmed attack
  if you do not have the melee skill or a
  melee weapon.
  Active Use
  A defensive skill may be used ac-
  tively, if you announce your action as
  the use of a defensive skill (such as
  dodge). You may generate a defensive
  skill total for all attacks against your
  character in the round in which you
  announce active defense.
  When rolling a bonus for an active
  defense, treat all bonus numbers of
  less than one as one. This makes sure
  your character does better by taking
  an active defense instead of passive.
  Example: Quin decides to evade P-
  slug fire from the Karawa guards (he
  takes an active dodge). His dodge value
  is 13. The guards open fire, generating
  attack totals of 13 and 16. Paul’s dodge
  total cannot be lower than 14 against
  the first attack, so the first guard misses.
  Against the second guard, Paul rolls
  and generates a total of 17. Quin just
  barely evades the second shot.
  Declare whether or not you are roll-
  ing for your defensive skill prior to the
  rolls of your attackers. If you use an
  active defense, you may not roll for
  any other action that round. This is
  true even if the attackers roll so poorly
  that an active defense is not needed;
  your character is still focused on avoid-
  ing attack that round.
  Attack Skills
  Attack skills include energy weap-
  ons, fire combat, heavy weapons, unarmed,
  melee, and missile. Magic and spiritual
  skills can sometimes be used as attack
  skills. When using an attack skill, if
  your skill total is equal to or higher
  than the difficulty number of the at-
  tack, your character hits his opponent.
  The difficulty number is either an
  opponent’s defensive skill, or his Dex-
  terity if he has no skill.
  Damage
  “Hitting an adversary is necessary
  but not sufficient.”
  — Dr. Hachi Mara-Two
  Once a character is hit, a second
  total (the effect total) determines dam-
  age. The attacker’s damage value is
  his Strength, possibly modified by a
  melee or missile weapon, or the dam-
  age value of the weapon itself (for
  firearms and other weapons that pro-
  vide their own energy). The difficulty
  is the target’s Toughness (or armor
  value). The more the difficulty num-
  ber is exceeded, the more the target is
  damaged. Your gamemaster will tell
  you the specific effects.
  Remember that to get an effect to-
  tal, you use the same bonus number
  that generated the first total.
  Example: Quin’s Uzi has a damage
  value of 17. His roll to hit was 15 for a
  bonus of 2; this gives a second total of
  19 (17+2). The guard has a lined vest
  with an armor value of only 12, so
  Quin did damage.
  Types of Damage
  A character can suffer up to three
  types of damage when he takes a blow:
  shock, knockout condition and wounds.
  An additional, temporary effect called
  a knockdown is also possible. When
  your character is hit, the gamemaster
  will tell you what kind or kinds of
  damage the character takes.
  Shock damage is expressed as a
  number. Record shock damage in the
  “Damage” section of your character
  template. When the total number of
  shock points taken equals or exceeds
  your character‘s Toughness, he falls
  unconscious.
  Knockout conditions represent
  blows to vulnerable areas. Knockout
  conditions are marked by the letters
  “K” and “O.” The gamemaster will tell
  you if you take a K blow; record this on
  your template. If a character with a K-
  condition takes another K blow, two
  additional shock points are taken. If a
  character with a K later gets an O, he is
  knocked unconscious.
  Wound damage is damage that lin-
  gers. There are four levels of wound
  severity: wounded, heavily wounded,
  mortally wounded, and dead. When your
  character takes a wound, record this
  on your template. Wounds are cumu-
  lative: a heavily wounded character who
  takes another wound is now mortally
  wounded, and so forth. When a charac-
  ter reaches the mortally wounded level,
  he will soon die unless he receives
  medical attention.
  Another possible result is a knock-
  down. This represents the force of the
  blow physically knocking a character
  off his feet. A character who has been
  knocked down may only defend for
  his next action.
  Possibilities and
  Damage Reduction
  A player may spend a Possibility to
  reduce the damage his character takes
  from the current blow. Each Possibil-
  ity may do three of the following:
  1. Remove three points of shock
  damage from the blow.
  2. Remove a knockout condition
  from the blow.
  3. Remove a knockdown result.
  4. Remove one level of wound.
  A player may spend one Possibility
  to reduce damage from a single blow.
  The Possibility is spent after the blow
  is taken. Cards (which are explained
  in the rulebook) that act as Possibili-
  ties may be spent in excess of one.
  Example: A guard gets off a good
  shot at the Yellow Crab, resulting in a
  wound, a K, and four shock points.
  Chris spends a Possibility to rid the
  Crab of the wound, the K-condition,
  and three shock. The Crab takes one
  shock point.
  Example: In a hail of gunfire, Quin
  takes a mortal wound, a “KO” and
  five points of shock. Quin needs to
  stay conscious, but he has already
  taken some shock damage. One Pos-
  sibility gets rid of three points of the
  shock damage, and the K, leaving
  Quin with the ability to remove only
  one  wound level; he ends up with a
  heavy wound. If he had a “hero” or
  “drama” card, he could eliminate all
  the remaining damage.
  
  17
  Healing
  Each type of damage takes a differ-
  ent amount of time from which to
  recover.
  Shock damage is removed at a rate
  of one point per minute. The O portion
  of a KO is removed in one minute. A
  character regains consciousness when
  her total shock damage taken is less
  than her Toughness, and she is not
  KOed. A K requires a half an hour to
  go away.
  Once a day, beginning with the day
  after the wound was taken, a wounded
  character is entitled to a healing roll.
  The “skill value” is the character’s
  Toughness (a measure of his or her
  vitality as well as resistance to dam-
  age) and the difficulty number is the
  character’s Toughness as modified by
  the wound level. If the healing check is
  successful, the wound improves one
  level. An attending physician can help
  your character make a healing check
  (your gamemaster will explain how).
  Example: Quin has taken a heavy
  wound in combat. The next day Quin
  makes a healing roll. The skill value is
  his Toughness, an 11. The difficulty
  number is his Toughness plus 3, a 14.
  He rolls a total of 12. The wound does
  not improve. Quin should probably
  seek medical attention, a fact that the
  Yellow Crab helpfully points out.
  First Aid
  A successful first aid check stabi-
  lizes a mortally wounded character,
  preventing him from dying. In addi-
  tion, first aid removes all shock and
  knockout conditions, and lets the
  treated character regain consciousness.
  A character cannot be permanently
  healed by first aid.
  Movement in Combat
  On your template, to the right  of
  the skill section, is a section for your
  movement rates and values; the move-
  ment rate given is in meters per round.
  The rate assumes you are running (or
  otherwise moving) full tilt.
  You may announce a movement
  action and generate a movement total
  to try to go faster than your movement
  rate. Movement is like a defensive skill
  in that any bonus less than one is
  treated as one when you make an ac-
  tive movement roll. Ask your game-
  master for advice.
  If you are walking, you can walk 10
  meters per round. Any movement at a
  rate greater than 10 meters per round
  is considered running.
  The Axioms
  Each cosm has its own reality; drag-
  ons which are real in fantasy are not
  physically possible in the Living Land
  of the primitives, and would have a
  miserable existence in Core Earth. The
  key to what can and cannot exist, what
  does and does not work, are the axi-
  oms. The axioms describe the levels of
  four basic traits of a world: magic,
  social, spiritual, and technological.
  Example: Quin comes from Core
  Earth. Core Earth’s magic axiom is
  rated at 7, the social at 21, the spiritual
  at 9 and the tech at 23. Core Earth is a
  lot more advanced technologically
  than spiritually or magically.
   If an axiom is not high enough to
  support an activity, performing that
  activity creates a contradiction in that
  cosm. For example, using an automatic
  pistol in the fantasy realm of Aysle
  would cause a contradiction.
  The possibility energy of the cosm
  is organized so as to enforce the axiom
  levels, eliminating contradictions. If a
  creature needs a certain level of magic
  to survive, and a cosm does not pro-
  vide that level, the creature will soon
  die. If a piece of equipment needs a
  certain tech level to function, it can fail
  if used in a cosm of lower tech. Certain
  social inventions, such as credit, de-
  mocracy, or even money, are not pos-
  sible at very low social levels, and
  would not be understood by denizens
  of those cosms.
  The immediate effect of the axiom
  laws is that equipment, spells and cer-
  tain creatures foreign to a cosm will
  not work as well in that cosm. Your
  gamemaster has more details.
  The Reality Skill
  Characters with the reality skill are
  called possibility-rated characters, be-
  cause they can store possibility energy
  using this skill. Possibility-rated char-
  acters are better connected to the pos-
  sibility energy of their cosm, giving
  them several advantages over non-
  rated characters. For example, non-
  rated characters, or Ords, roll the die
  again only on a 10, giving them far less
  of a chance of performing a spectacu-
  lar feat.
  Uses of the Skill
  If your equipment or abilities fail
  because of the difference in realities,
  your reality skill may get them to func-
  tion once again. You may try once per
  round to get your equipment or abili-
  ties working.
  The reality skill may be used to
  invoke a reality storm, a contest be-
  tween two possibility-rated charac-
  ters from different cosms. The con-
  test is fierce and quite dangerous,
  ending with one opponent stripped of
  all his Possibilities. A storm can drain
  you of Possibilities, cause increasing
  physical damage to the area, trans-
  form you over to the reality of your
  attacker, even lock you into a swirling
  maelstrom of primal possibility en-
  ergy, a cycle of creation and destruc-
  tion which may never end. Reality
  storms are therefore to be used only
  with extreme caution. They can de-
  stroy your character.
  Ords
  The Possibility Raiders coined the
  term “Ords” as a derogatory contrac-
  tion of “ordinaries” when referring to
  beings without the reality skill. The
  usage has become common in all the
  cosms. While Ords are more restricted
  than possibility-rated characters, they
  can be quite powerful, as the only
  criterion for being an Ord is the lack of
  a reality skill. The largest giant in the
  fantasy realm, with strength enough
  to lift buildings, would still be consid-
  ered an Ord if he did not have the
  reality skill.
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  18
  Stormers and
  Storm Knights
  When the Possibility Raiders in-
  vade a cosm, one consequence is the
  huge reality storms caused by the inter-
  mixing of two separate axiom sets.
  These storms, filled with possibility
  energy that wrack and warp reality,
  often create the conditions by which
  heroes reach their potential and be-
  come possibility-rated characters. As
  the Raiders observed that these heroes
  were found most frequently in the
  wake of a storm, they called them
  “stormers.”
  One hero, a Tolwyn Tancred of the
  Aysle cosm, decided to use the truth in
  the Possibility Raiders name, but to
  coin a more noble title. She created the
  term Storm Knights to refer to those
  heroes who oppose the High Lords
  and the other Possibility Raiders.
  Story Structure
   in the Game
  The game of Torg consists of plac-
  ing your character in stories which the
  gamemaster has plotted. Your choices
  for your character, combined with the
  rules of the game, determine the out-
  come of the story. You ‘win’ the game
  by achieving a favorable outcome for
  your character. Since Torg is a game
  structured around storytelling, the
  rules reflect the structure of stories.
  The following definitions are referred
  to throughout the rules.
  An adventure is a complete story.
  The player characters confront the
  main problem or conflict in the story,
  and achieve a final success or failure.
  An act is a large portion of the story
  in which the characters solve a prob-
  lem or obtain a goal necessary to go on
  to the next step in the story. A Torg
  adventure usually has from two to
  five acts.
  A scene is a portion of an act. The
  action in a scene is continuous. If the
  story makes a jump in time or place,
  then the scene has changed. If the char-
  acters are still dealing with a character
  or situation introduced in a scene, then
  that scene has not yet ended.
  An event is an action or situation
  confronting the characters in a scene.
  A scene may have more than one event.
  Events introduced in a scene are re-
  solved in a scene, but may trigger other
  events in other scenes.
  Awards
  “Guys who do a tough job are good;
  guys who do a tough job and learn
  something from it are heroes.”
  — Rick Alder, NYPD
   Your character can be awarded
  from zero to three Possibilities per act.
  The more heroic your character is, the
  more great deeds performed and op-
  ponents defeated, the greater the num-
  ber of Possibilities awarded at the end
  of the act. To be awarded three would
  require an exceptional effort on the
  part of your character.
  At the end of a successful adven-
  ture, the gamemaster may reward your
  character by giving him additional
  Possibilities, usually from six to 12.
  You can save these points and use
  them to alter die rolls and lessen dam-
  age in the next adventure, or spend
  them to improve your character’s at-
  tributes and skills.
  Improving Attributes
  and Skills
  Improving a skill costs a variable
  number of Possibilities depending on
  how skilled you already are. The bet-
  ter you are, the more difficult it is to
  improve your skills. You improve a
  skill one add at a time, i.e. if you want
  to improve a skill from four to seven
  you would have to buy skill five, then
  six, and finally seven. You may not
  skip steps, although you may improve
  more than one level at a time if you
  have enough Possibilities.
  To increase a skill costs a number of
  Possibilities equal to the skill add pur-
  chased. Increasing a skill add from
  three to four would cost four Possibili-
  ties. To gain the first add of a new skill
  costs two Possibilities if your charac-
  ter can find a teacher, five Possibilities
  if self-taught. Gaining a skill that can-
  not be used unskilled costs five Possi-
  bilities if taught, 10 if untaught. If a
  skill requires knowledge not native to
  your character‘s cosm the cost of learn-
  ing the skill is doubled.
  Example: Yellow Crab picks up test
  of wills for two Possibilities, and ups
  his science add to three for three Possi-
  bilities. He’s interested in learning divi-
  nation magic, but that would cost him
  10 Possibilities, since he cannot find a
  teacher  and the skill cannot be used
  unskilled.
  Improving Attributes
  Attributes may also be improved,
  but at a far greater cost. An attribute
  may never be improved beyond the
  racial maximum.
  Improving an attribute costs Possi-
  bilities in the same manner as improv-
  ing a skill, but the cost is tripled.
  Example: If the Crab wanted to im-
  prove his Dexterity attribute from 10 to
  11, it would cost him 33 Possibilities.
  
  19
  y now you should under-
  stand enough about the
  rules to begin playing —
  but there are important
  non-rules elements of the
  Torg game that you have yet to en-
  counter.
  What makes a good play session is
  really the story. The players each take
  the role of a single character in this
  story, while the gamemaster acts as
  the storyteller by crafting the basic plot,
  keeping the events flowing smoothly,
  and acting the parts of the minor char-
  acters in the tale.
  As a player, you will be called upon
  to speak, act, and make decisions for
  your character. In short, you become the
  character. We recommend that you play
  through the following short solitaire
  adventure in order to familiarize your-
  self with the concept of “playing” a
  character. What distinguishes solitaire
  adventures from ordinary Torg adven-
  tures is the fact that no gamemaster is
  necessary for play. All of the
  gamemaster’s functions are handled by
  the paragraphs below, as you will see.
  The Lizard and the
  Lightning
  Mission Accomplished! You pat your-
  self on the back for a job well done as you
  swing your twin-engine aircraft through
  the cloudy skies over Minneapolis, Min-
  nesota, just on the fringe of the realm
  known as the Living Land. You’ve suc-
  cessfully delivered a planeload of perish-
  able drugs to the resistance fighters based
  in the Twin Cities, and now you’re head-
  ing back to your home base near Spring-
  field
  Ahead, the blue skies are slowly melt-
  ing into an ugly shade of gray as a thick
  mist begins to swell over the ground, ob-
  scuring your view of the plains below.
  Something definitely seems wrong. Per-
  haps this adventure isn’t over after all.
  To play this solo adventure, you’ll
  need a pencil, paper, a 20-sided die,
  and a copy of the sample character
  found on page 8 of this book.
  Begin the adventure by reading the
  section labeled “1.” Each section de-
  scribes a situation and asks you to make
  a choice or test your character’s abili-
  ties. The results of these choices and
  tests will then lead you to another sec-
  tion (“go to section 12”). The adventure
  will tell you when you’re finished.
  The drama deck is not used while
  playing this adventure.
  After you finish, try the adventure
  again. This time, make different choices
  and notice how they affect the out-
  come.
  In this adventure, you will take on
  the role of Quin, a fearless member of
  the resistance movement that is trying
  to prevent Baruk Kaah (the High Lord
  of the Living Land) and his minions
  from overrunning the sector of Core
  Earth that borders the Living Land.
  For a greater challenge, Quin only has
  three Possibility points available for
  this adventure.
  1
  You fly on for another half hour
  before you find what’s causing the
  darkening skies: a fierce reality storm
  is brewing up ahead. As you approach,
  you hear a deafening roar and catch
  sight of fickle lightning bolts dancing
  near the storm’s heart.
  It’s decision time. You can either
  continue on your present course, which
  will take you right into the heart of the
  storm, or you can turn back to avoid
  the storm completely.
  You figure the odds are about a
  thousand to one of making it through
  the storm unscathed. One small bene-
  fit, though: if you do have to land, it’s
  unlikely any hostiles on the ground
  will see you.
  On the other hand, if you turn back
  over the Living Land, the alien axioms
  might prevent your plane from func-
  tioning. Even if you keep it working,
  you have limited fuel — if you fly
  around for too long, you will certainly
  have to land before you reach Spring-
  field.
  • If you want to head into the storm, go
  to section 45.
  • If you want to try to avoid the storm,
  go to section 51.
  2
  DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARK
  FOR THIS PARAGRAPH. The Edei-
  nos warrior attacks you with his war
  stick. His melee weapons value is 13.
  Roll the die for a bonus, and add it
  to the warrior’s melee weapons value as
  discussed on pages12-14 (don’t forget,
  the warrior rolls again on 10s). If the
  total exceeds 12 (your melee weapons
  value, used defensively), you have
  been hit. (This means that you are hit
  on a roll of nine or higher — check to
  see for yourself).
  • If he misses you, go to section 19.
  • If you are hit, the stick strikes a
  painful blow! Add the same bonus to
  11 (this is the warrior’s damage value
  with his club). Since you don’t know
  all the rules for assessing damage, use
  the following:
  Effect total = 10 or less: no damage.
  Effect total = 11-14: one shock point.
  Effect total = 15-17: two shock.
  Effect total = 18+: three shock.
  Record your shock damage on your
  scrap paper. If the total shock damage
  you’ve taken so far equals or exceeds
  your Toughness (11), you are knocked
  out. After each blow, you can spend
  one Possibility to avoid taking the
  shock damage from that blow.
  • If you’re still up, go to section 19.
  • If you’re knocked unconscious, go to
  section 13.
  The Lizard and
  the Lightning
  Chapter Three
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  20
  3
  The engine sputters once, then re-
  sumes its steady roar. Unfortunately,
  all this flying around has depleted
  your fuel to the point where it’s no
  longer safe to stay aloft. With no other
  choice available, you quickly bring the
  plane in for a gentle landing at the
  very edge of an open field. Hopping
  out quickly, you take a look at your
  surroundings.
  Go to section 46.
  4
  The first order of business is to get
  away from the plane: someone might
  have seen you come down. You gather
  the necessary items from your vehicle
  and set off into the nearby forest, won-
  dering which way to go from here.
  Your musings are interrupted by a
  low, menacing hiss.
  An Edeinos warrior, bearing an
  oddly shaped war club, stands before
  you on the forest path. Moving with
  amazing speed, the lizard man rushes
  at you!
  Go to section 2.
  5
  The storm is fierce and your plane
  is badly damaged, but you’re an experi-
  enced pilot. Skillfully avoiding the
  worst of the turbulence, you manage
  to glide in amid rain and lightning for
  a semi-powered landing at the very
  edge of an open field. At least you’re
  sure that no one could have seen you
  come down! The plane lurches to a
  stop as the sky begins to clear above
  you.
  Go to section 38.
  6
  The forest trail ends ahead of you.
  Time to backtrack.
  Go to section 37.
  7
  Having made it across the gorge,
  you continue on your way. After a
  time, you emerge from the forest path
  into a clearing, only to find yourself
  face-to-face with six Edeinos warriors,
  each armed with a spear — and a
  menacing stare.
  Thinking furiously, you remember
  that there are two Edeinos tribes in
  this area; unfortunately, they are quite
  different.
  If these Edeinos are of the Furrek-
  Dah tribe, then they are fanatic follow-
  ers of Baruk Kaah and will slay you
  out of hand. Your only chance is to
  take advantage of the Furrek tradition
  of single combat: if you quickly issue a
  challenge, you’ll only have to fight
  one of them for your freedom. They
  look big and strong, but it’s better than
  fighting all six.
  On the other hand, if these are mem-
  bers of the Ahh-Keht, then they are
  one of the renegade Edeinos tribes
  working against Baruk Kaah. Chal-
  lenging them would be a mistake, but
  a quiet parley might get you through
  alive. Just as you come to a decision,
  you notice an X pattern painted on the
  backs of the warriors’ hands.
  • If you want to issue a challenge, go to
  section 41.
  • If you want to persuade them to let
  you pass, go to section 25.
  8
  You fight the controls as you de-
  scend, but the plane is too badly dam-
  aged. The pounding rain and the des-
  perately rough air don’t make things
  any easier, and with a gut-wrenching
  sensation the plane skips off a stand of
  trees and plunges nose-first to the
  ground!
  As you pull yourself, groaning, from
  the wreckage of the plane, the storm
  begins to clear around you. You’ve
  taken a heavy wound (see page 18) in
  the crash. If you spend one Possibility,
  you are only wounded. If you spend
  two Possibilities, you are not wounded
  at all. Mark your wound status on
  your character template now.
  Go to section 38.
  9
  Quietly, calling upon every ounce
  of woodscraft you possess, you ad-
  vance into the forest. Because of your
  amazing stealth, the Edeinos warrior
  doesn’t seem to be aware of your pres-
  ence. Of course, the distant rumbles of
  thunder covering the sounds of your
  passage didn’t hurt your cause.
  You peer cautiously through the
  brush at the lizard man. The warrior
  looks nervous, as though waiting for
  something. You wonder if it would be
  better to wait and observe, or simply
  to attack.
  • If you continue to wait and watch, go
  to section 31.
  • If you attack, go to section 19.
  10
  The warrior you are examining has
  something painted on his hand that
  catches your eye, and you remember
  that the Edeinos use such markings to
  distinguish between tribes. The faint
  spiral-shaped markings place this
  warrior as a member of the Furrek-
  Dah, a malevolent band of Baruk
  Kaah’s followers. The Furrek are bad
  news; they are numerous, fanatical,
  and powerful. You definitely want to
  avoid them.
  In fact, the odds are that there are
  more of them nearby — time to ske-
  daddle!
  • Go to section 14.
  11
  An examination of the animal trails
  and types of foliage in the area leads
  you to believe that you can best escape
  the Living Land by heading north-
  west. You could be wrong, though.…
  • If you want to head northwest, go to
  section 21.
  • If you want to head southeast, go to
  section 37.
  • If you want to go through the hills, go
  to section 36.
  
  21
  12
  You finally emerge from the forest
  and cross over the border, out of the
  Living Land. You immediately spot a
  band of Core Earth resistance fighters
  from the Twin Cities area who were
  sent out to look for you after the local
  command realized that your plane
  went down. You should be in Spring-
  field in less than a day!
  Congratulations! You have success-
  fully completed the adventure.
  Turn to section 54.
  13
  The Edeinos’ mammoth blow sends
  you crashing to the ground. Unfortu-
  nately, the Edeinos don’t usually take
  prisoners.
  Things look pretty bad for Quin —
  perhaps if you were playing a regular
  adventure you could think of some way to
  save him. For now, the adventure is over.
  Turn to section 54.
  14
  Okay, you’re out of danger for the
  moment: time to begin your journey
  out of the Living Land. To the west is
  the forest, to the south are the hills. It
  also occurs to you that it might be useful
  to know where the Edeinos warrior
  came from, but searching around for
  tracks will use up more of your time.
  • If you head west, go to section 39.
  • If you head south, go to section 36.
  • If you want to track down the Edei-
  nos’ point of origin, go to section 42.
  15
  The reality storm begins to flare up
  overhead! Booming thunder shakes
  the trees, fierce winds whip across the
  landscape, and powerful lightning
  bolts arc groundward.
  You have too little protection to
  weather this storm in the open! A bolt
  of lightning smashes the ground
  nearby, and an electric tingle suffuses
  your body. With a sigh of regret, you
  sink to the ground, unconscious.
  We don’t know if Quin will survive
  this terrible ordeal, but now it’s time for
  you to get back to the rules. First, go to
  section 54.
  16
  You hear footsteps approaching
  your downed plane! Thinking quickly,
  you duck into the cargo compartment
  and look out a small window into the
  clearing outside.
  Suddenly a fierce Edeinos warrior,
  one of the shamanistic lizard men in-
  habiting the Living Land, steps out of
  the underbrush and begins stalking
  around the wreckage. He is quite ob-
  viously an enemy (his strange warclub
  is held at the ready) and looks as
  though he is about to enter the plane to
  search. Your only chance is to ambush
  him before he spots you and attacks.
  You spring into battle as the Edeinos
  approaches.
  Go to section 19.
  17
  You plummet into the gorge and
  strike rock after a short fall. You’re
  injured, taking a heavy wound in the
  fall. You can spend a Possibility to
  take no damage. If you are already
  wounded, remember the wound ac-
  cumulation rules on page 18.
  • If you now have three or more wounds,
  the adventure is over for you. Perhaps if
  you were playing Quin in a real adven-
  ture, you’d be able to continue somehow.
  For now, go to section 54.
  • If you are now heavily wounded or
  unwounded, go to section 7.
  18
  You fight the controls as best you
  can, but the plane is all but dead in
  your hands: the primitive axioms of
  the Living Land can’t sustain sophisti-
  cated machinery for long.
  One last heave on the stick, and
  with a gut-wrenching sensation, the
  plane skips off a stand of trees and
  plunges nose-first to the ground!
  You pull yourself from the wreck-
  age of the plane, checking for broken
  bones. You’re woozy: you’ve taken a
  wound (see page 18) in the crash. If you
  wish, you may spend one Possibility
  to avoid taking the wound. Mark your
  wound status on your character tem-
  plate now.
  Go to section 46.
  19
  DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARK
  FOR THIS PARAGRAPH. You strike
  at the warrior. Roll the die to generate
  a bonus number and add it to your
  melee weapons value of 12 (remember,
  you roll again on 10s and 20s and you
  can spend a Possibility to get another
  roll). You need a total of 13 or more to
  hit the Edeinos (this means that you
  hit on a roll of 13 or higher — check to
  see for yourself).
  • If you miss, go to section 2.
  • If you hit, you slam your knife into
  the Edeinos’ thick hide! Add the same
  bonus to 12 (your damage value for
  the knife) to get a total. Since you don’t
  know all the damage rules, use the
  following to calculate damage on the
  Edeinos:
  Total = 10 or less: no damage.
  Total = 11-12: one point of shock.
  Total = 13: two shock.
  Total = 14-15: three shock.
  Total = 16-18: five shock.
  Total = 19+: 11 shock.
  Record shock damage to the Edei-
  nos on your scrap paper. If the total
  equals or exceeds 11 points, you have
  defeated him.
  • If the warrior is still standing, go to
  section 2.
  • If you defeat the warrior, erase all
  shock damage and go to section 47.
  20
  The Edeinos appear to consider
  your request, muttering heatedly
  among themselves. They keep an eye
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  22
  on you, though; escape would be im-
  possible. After a while, the leader
  speaks:
  “You are not our enemy,” he says,
  “but we have no way of knowing if
  you tell the truth or not. Your uniform
  could have been stolen from a true
  friend. You could be a renegade, work-
  ing with the Furrek-Dah. We have no
  choice but to take you back to our
  village. Come, do not resist or we will
  kill you.”
  For Quin, the adventure has just be-
  gun, as he must now escape from the
  gentle prison of the Ahh-Keht. For you, the
  adventure has ended. Go to section 54.
  21
  You continue along the forest path.
  The trail veers to the west, and sud-
  denly you find a deep gorge blocking
  your progress. You walk to the edge
  and kick down a few pebbles to gauge
  its depth. At least 30 meters! The only
  way to cross the gorge is to climb a tree
  on one side and jump over to a limb on
  the other side. It’s either that or wan-
  der aimlessly in the forest until the
  storm takes you.
  This is a jumping skill check, but
  you do not have jumping skill. Gener-
  ate a bonus number and add it to your
  Dexterityvalue of 11 — you do not get
  to roll again on 20s.
  • If your total is 10 or less, go to section
  17.
  • If your total is 11 or more, go to
  section 7.
  22
  One warrior smiles, or seems to
  smile — it’s hard to tell with Edeinos.
  At any rate, they appear a bit more
  friendly; now might be a good time to
  put your request. Or you could try to
  press your advantage and really win
  them over. If you do press, though,
  you run the risk of saying something
  foolish and losing what advantage you
  already have.
  • If you put your request now, go to
  section 33.
  • If you press your charm, go to sec-
  tion 53.
  23
  You summon all of your will and
  overcome the foreign axioms of the
  Living Land, creating a stable field of
  Core Earth axioms in a bubble around
  yourself. The engine, silent until now,
  begins to sputter back to life, and your
  wilting plane is suddenly renewed
  with energy as you climb back into the
  clouds.
  You fly gracefully ahead of the
  storm, searching for an opening in the
  dark and roiling clouds. It doesn’t look
  good, and time is running out.
  Go to section 3.
  24
  You know from experience that it’s
  best to tell someone why they should
  help you even before you ask for their
  help. Clearing your throat, you step
  forward and speak:
  “Friend Edeinos, I am Captain Quin
  of  Springfield in Core Earth —”
  As soon as you say ‘Core Earth,’ the
  six warriors are swarming over you,
  spears thrusting toward you.
  Oops.
  Quin is in bad shape. If you were play-
  ing a real adventure, perhaps a well-played
  escape card could save you. For now, the
  adventure is over. Go to section 54.
  25
  You know from experience that it’s
  best to tell someone why they should
  help you even before you ask for their
  help. Clearing your throat, you step
  forward and speak:
  “Friend Edeinos, I am Captain Quin
  of Springfield in Core Earth.” They
  stare at you stonily. “We fight for the
  same goals, you and I.” Still no re-
  sponse.
  This is a charm skill check. You do
  not have the charm skill. Roll a bonus
  and add it to your Charisma value of 9,
  but don’t roll again on 20s.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  35.
  • If your total is 12-15, go to section 22.
  • If your total is 16 or more, go to
  section 40 .
  26
  You stand, gasping, over the fallen
  body of the defeated Edeinos warrior.
  The others mutter among themselves,
  looking at you with the Edeinos
  equivalent of frightened eyes. One
  steps forward and says, “We honor
  our promises … you are free to go.”
  Weary from battle, you continue
  on. After a long journey, the storm
  brewing at your back, you finally
  emerge from the forest and cross over
  the border and out of the Living Land.
  You immediately spot a band of Core
  Earth resistance fighters from the Twin
  Cities area who were sent out to look
  for you after the local command real-
  ized your plane went down. You
  should be in Springfield in less than a
  day!
  Congratulations! You have success-
  fully completed the adventure.
  Turn to section 54.
  27
  The challenge hangs in the air for
  several seconds, and the Edeinos look
  at one another as if trying to decide
  what to do. Then one (the biggest,
  burliest one, as far as you can see)
  steps forward.
  “I am Gon-Tin,” he says in broken
  English, “and as challenged I strike
  first blow. If you defeat me, you pass
  unharmed. Prepare yourself, man of
  Earth.”
  • Go to section 49.
  
  23
  28
  You examine your surroundings,
  but find no clues to help you decide
  which way to go. You’ll have to trust
  to luck — or not go into the forest at all.
  • If you want to head southeast, go to
  section 37.
  • If you want to head northwest, go to
  section 21.
  • If you want to go through the hills
  instead, go to section 36.
  29
  With a deep breath and a prayer,
  you continue.
  “My people are willing to see the
  Living Land continue to exist on Earth;
  we only wish to halt the advances of
  the evil Baruk Kaah. I hope that one
  day we may come to share mutual
  trust and friendship.”
  Roll a bonus number for your Cha-
  risma value of 9. Don’t roll again on
  20s.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  53.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 30.
  30
  Trying to sense the moods of Edei-
  nos is difficult at the best of times, but
  you feel this might be the right mo-
  ment to request safe passage: they’re
  looking positively friendly!
  After a slight dramatic pause, dur-
  ing which they lean forward eagerly,
  you put your request:
  “And now, warrior-friends, I must
  hurry away to avoid the brewing
  storm. Please let me pass unharmed,
  and perhaps we will meet again one
  day.”
  Roll a bonus number for your per-
  suasion value of 10.
  • If your total is 7 or less, go to section
  20.
  • If your total is 8 or more, go to section
  12.
  31
  This is a test of the find skill. You do
  not have find. Roll a bonus number for
  your Perception value of 9, but don’t
  roll again on 20s.
  • If your total is 7 or less, go to section
  43.
  • If your total is 8 or higher, go to
  section 10.
  32
  DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARK
  FOR THIS PARAGRAPH. You strike
  at the warrior. Roll a bonus number
  for your melee weapons value of 12 (re-
  member, you roll again on 10s and 20s
  and you can spend a Possibility to get
  another roll). You need a total of 12 or
  higher to hit the Edeinos.
  • If you miss, go to section 49.
  • If you hit, you slam your knife into
  the Edeinos’ thick hide! Add the same
  bonus number to 12 (your damage
  value for the knife) to get a total. Since
  you don’t know all the damage rules,
  use the following to calculate damage
  on the Edeinos:
  Total = 11 or less: no damage.
  Total = 12-13: one point of shock.
  Total = 14: two shock.
  Total = 15-16: three shock.
  Total = 17-19: five shock.
  Total = 20+: 13 shock.
  Record shock damage to the Edei-
  nos on your scrap paper. If the total
  equals or exceeds 13 points, you have
  defeated him.
  • If the warrior is still standing, go to
  section 49.
  • If you defeat the warrior, erase all
  your shock damage and go to section 26.
  33
  After a slight dramatic pause, dur-
  ing which the Edeinos warriors lean
  forward curiously, you put your re-
  quest:
  “And now, warrior-friends, I must
  hurry away to avoid the brewing
  storm. Please let me pass unharmed,
  and perhaps we will meet again one
  day.”
  Roll a bonus number for your per-
  suasion value of 10.
  • If your total is 8 or less, go to section
  20.
  • If your total is 9 or more, go to section
  12.
  34
  You spend several minutes exam-
  ining the trail and the forest nearby,
  looking for signs of where the warrior
  came from, but you find no evidence
  of the lizard man’s passage — he seems
  to have appeared out of thin air. Okay,
  time to get going.
  • If you want to head into the forest, go
  to section 39.
  • If you want to head into the hills, go
  to section 36.
  35
  The Edeinos look at you as though
  you are from another planet — come
  to think of it, you are. It might be wise
  to simply put your request now, be-
  fore you make things worse with your
  chatter. Or, you could try one more
  time to soften them up.
  • If you put your request now, go to
  section 48.
  • If you continue trying to be charm-
  ing, roll a bonus and add it to your
  Charisma value of 9, but don’t roll again
  on 20s.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  52.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 33.
  36
  You walk down into the series of
  low hills, trying to keep out of sight as
  much as possible. The skies overhead
  are still darkening and you catch sight
  of a flock of pteradon-like Lakten flee-
  ing the area. In fact, the lack of local
  wildlife in the region seems quite dis-
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  24
  turbing, even considering the storm
  conditions.
  Something is definitely wrong and
  it doesn’t take you very long to find
  out what it is: you emerge from the
  forest path into a clearing, only to find
  yourself face-to-face with six Edeinos
  warriors, each armed with a spear —
  and each shooting you a menacing
  stare.
  Thinking furiously, you remember
  that there are two Edeinos tribes in
  this area; unfortunately, they are quite
  different.
  If these Edeinos are of the Furrek-
  Dah tribe, then they are fanatic follow-
  ers of Baruk Kaah and will slay you
  out of hand. Your only chance is to
  take advantage of the Furrek tradition
  of single combat: if you quickly issue a
  challenge, you’ll only have to fight
  one of them for your freedom. They
  look big and strong, but it’s better than
  fighting all six.
  On the other hand, if these are mem-
  bers of the Ahh-Keht, then they are
  one of the renegade Edeinos tribes
  working against Baruk Kaah. Chal-
  lenging them would be a mistake, but
  a quiet parley might get you through
  alive. Just as you come to a decision,
  you notice a spiral pattern painted on
  the backs of the warriors’ hands.
  • If you want to issue a challenge, go to
  section 27.
  • If you want to attempt to persuade
  them to let you pass, go to section 24.
  37
  The forest paths continue on. Trails
  lead to the east and west.
  • If you want to go east, go to section 6.
  • If you want to go west, go to section
  21.
  38
  Judging from what little terrain you
  recognized as you were descending,
  you would guess that your landing
  approach carried you a couple of miles
  past the border and into the Living
  Land after all. This can be a dangerous
  place; you’d best get back to the Core
  as quickly as possible. The border lies
  to both the west and the south. Ob-
  scuring the passage to the west is a
  thick forest, while a series of low hills
  obscures the passage to the south.
  Before you begin plotting your strat-
  egy, you should also consider one other
  factor: reality storms like the one that
  brought down your plane are rarely
  isolated phenomena; they come in
  bursts. You can expect the next storm
  to hit in approximately two hours.
  Unless you are out of the realm by that
  time, things will get very dangerous.
  Starting with the next paragraph,
  put a tick mark on your character sheet
  each time you finish reading a para-
  graph. Once you have made a total of
  12 such marks, go to section 15. Jot
  down that paragraph number so you
  don’t forget.
  Standing outside the plane, you
  check over your remaining equipment
  and contemplate your next move.
  While you’re thinking, you hear a faint
  crunch of footsteps in the woods
  nearby.
  You’re sure no one could have seen
  the crash, but you move quietly into
  the woods to see what’s up. In the
  distance, obscured by trees, you see a
  lizard-man inhabitant of the Living
  Land — an Edeinos warrior! It might
  be worth sneaking up on this potential
  enemy, or it might be best to just let
  him move along.
  • If you want to investigate the war-
  rior, go to section 9.
  • If you wait for him to pass and then
  continue your journey, go to section 14.
  39
  You stand at the entrance to the
  thick forest. The trees form a dense
  green canopy that shoots up overhead.
  A heavily wooded trail leads to the
  northwest and to the southeast. You
  have no idea which way to go.
  Roll a bonus number for your sur-
  vival value of 9.
  • If your total is 9 or less, go to section
  28.
  • If your total is 10 or more, go to
  section 11.
  40
  There is a sudden stir of interest
  among the Edeinos; something you
  said must have caught their fancy. Is
  now the best time to ask for safe pas-
  sage? Or should you warm up to it a
  little more before coming right out
  and asking for favors?
  If you ask now, they might still say
  no (they don’t look that friendly), but
  time appears to be running out —
  neither of you can afford to stand out
  here all day.
  • If you ask for safe passage now, go to
  section 33.
  • If you keep trying to be charming, go
  to section 29.
  41
  The warriors seem disturbed by
  your challenge. All their spears rise up
  to point at you. They advance en masse,
  crackling with spiritual power.
  Just before they overwhelm you,
  one says “The enemy of one Ahh-Keht
  is the enemy of all Ahh-Keht. You
  must die!”
  Quin is in quite a fix — perhaps if you
  were playing this character in a real ad-
  venture, you could figure out a way to save
  him. But for now, it’s over. Go to section
  54.
  42
  Searching for signs of the Edeinos’
  passage will take time, but could be
  well worth it.
  Roll a bonus number for your track-
  ing value of 10.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  34.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 50.
  43
  The warrior raises his head, sniff-
  ing at the breeze. He looks fearful and
  
  25
  mutters “Hossraf,” which you believe
  is the Edeinos word for “storm.”
  Before you can contemplate another
  course of action, the warrior races off
  to the northeast. You’re alone again.
  Go to section 14.
  44
  Rather than drain yourself of pre-
  cious Possibilities, you allow the axi-
  oms of the Living Land to flow around
  you, through you. You can feel the
  energy rapidly ebbing out of the air-
  craft, until the engine sputters twice,
  and dies. Now you’ll have to glide the
  plane down to an emergency landing.
  Bringing the plane down under
  these conditions will be difficult, but
  not terribly so. Roll a bonus number
  for your air vehicles value of 11.
  • If your total is 9 or less, go to section
  18.
  • If your total is 10 or more, go to
  section 3.
  45
  Fearing the worst over the Living
  Land, you grit your teeth and head
  straight into the heart of the storm. As
  your plane lurches forward, the winds
  and lightning intensify. You have a
  bad feeling about this.
  The sky soon grows so dark that
  you can’t see more than three feet
  ahead, and the howling of the wind
  becomes deafening. Suddenly, your
  plane jolts and you hear a metallic
  tearing sound: a lightning bolt caught
  your tail! You’re going down! You’ll
  have to try to dead stick it to the ground.
  Bringing the plane down under
  these conditions will be difficult. Roll
  a bonus number for your air vehicles
  value of 11.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  8.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 5.
  46
  Judging from what little terrain you
  recognized as you were descending,
  you would guess that your landing
  approach carried you a couple of miles
  past the border and into the Living
  Land. This can be a dangerous place;
  you’d best get back to the Core as
  quickly as possible. The border lies to
  both the west and the south. Obscur-
  ing the passage to the west is a thick
  forest, while a series of low hills ob-
  scures the passage to the south.
  Before you begin plotting your strat-
  egy, you should also consider one other
  factor: reality storms like the one that
  forced your landing are rarely iso-
  lated phenomena; they often come in
  bursts. You can expect the next storm
  to hit in approximately two hours.
  Unless you are out of the realm by that
  time, things will get very dangerous.
  Starting with the next paragraph,
  put a tick mark on your character sheet
  each time you finish reading a para-
  graph. Once you have made a total of
  12 such marks, go to section 15. Jot
  down that paragraph number so you
  don’t forget.
  Now roll a bonus number for your
  Perception value of 9. This is an un-
  skilled use of find, so don’t roll again
  on 20s.
  • If your total is 9 or less, go to section
  4.
  • If your total is 10 or more, go to
  section 16.
  47
  The Edeinos warrior lies before you,
  dead or unconscious. You don’t have
  time to worry about him now.
  The body might yield clues about
  tribe of origin, or other valuable items,
  but time is of the essence. You can
  already see signs of the approaching
  storm.
  • If you want to search the body, go to
  section 10.
  • If you want to get going and not
  waste valuable time, go to section 14.
  48
  The warriors’ faces are stonelike.
  They stare at you blankly, not a glim-
  mer of recognition in their eyes, not a
  hint of friendliness in their mien. You
  must have said something wrong.…
  You have no choice now but to ask
  for passage and hope your innate abili-
  ties as a salesman are enough to carry
  you through. Clearing your throat, you
  say, “And now, warriors, I must be
  moving on — the storm threatens us
  all. Will you let me pass?”
  Roll a bonus number for your per-
  suasion value of 10.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  20.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 12.
  49
  DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARK
  FOR THIS PARAGRAPH. The Edei-
  nos warrior attacks you with his spear.
  His melee weapons value is 13.
  Roll a bonus number for the war-
  rior (don’t forget, he rolls again on
  10s). If the total exceeds 12 (your melee
  weapons value used defensively),
  you’ve been hit!
  • If he misses you, go to section 32.
  • If you are hit, the spear strikes
  home! Add the same bonus to 12 (this
  is the warrior’s damage value with his
  spear). Since you don’t know all the
  rules for assessing damage, use the
  following:
  Total = 10 or less: no damage.
  Total = 11-14: one shock point.
  Total = 15-17: two shock.
  Total = 18+: three shock.
  Use your scrap paper to record the
  shock damage you take. If the total
  shock damage you’ve taken so far
  equals or exceeds your Toughness (11),
  you are knocked out. After each blow,
  you can spend one Possibility to avoid
  taking the shock damage from that
  blow.
  • If you’re still up, go to section 32.
  • If you’re knocked unconscious, go to
  section 13.
  
  TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
  26
  50
  You spot a faint set of footprints
  that indicate without doubt that this
  Edeinos came from the south. Now
  it’s time to begin your journey out of
  The Living Land.
  • If you want to head west toward the
  thick forest, go to section 39.
  • If you want to go through the rolling
  hills to the south, go to section 36.
  51
  As you cross into the Living Land,
  your plane begins to wilt and sputter!
  the Living Land is a primitive zone,
  and its simple technical axioms will
  not allow a machine as complex as
  your aircraft to function.
  In order to fly over the Living Land,
  you must spend a Possibility. If you
  wish to preserve your Possibilities
  against times of greater need in the
  future, you could try a dead-stick land-
  ing — not supremely difficult for one
  with your abilities.
  • If you spend the Possibility, mark it
  off your character sheet and go to section
  23.
  • If you save your points and try to
  land, go to section 44.
  52
  Suddenly the Edeinos are looking
  positively hostile, eyeing their spears
  and your midriff in alternating glances.
  You must have said something wrong.
  It’s now or never.
  “Friends,” you say hollowly. “The
  storm is almost upon us. Let me pass
  and we shall both benefit.”
  Roll a bonus number for your per-
  suasion value of 10.
  • If your total is 13 or less, go to section
  20.
  • If your total is 14 or more, go to
  section 12.
  53
  You speak eloquently of the friend-
  ship between all peoples opposed to
  Baruk Kaah. The Edeinos appear to
  listen with interest.
  Roll a bonus number for your Cha-
  risma value of 9. Don’t roll again on
  20s.
  • If your total is 11 or less, go to section
  52.
  • If your total is 12 or more, go to
  section 30.
  54
  Okay, so now you see how it’s done.
  Whenever you take an important ac-
  tion, like attacking, persuading, etc.,
  you roll the die and check the bonus
  chart on your character template, add-
  ing that number to the value in ques-
  tion. Sometimes, if the action succeeds,
  you add that same bonus number to a
  different value to check the effect.
  In this adventure, we provided the
  numbers you needed in order to suc-
  ceed (the “difficulty number.”) The
  more difficult the task, the higher the
  number. When you’re playing with a
  gamemaster, she will tell you what
  your difficulty number is each time
  you attempt a difficult task (some-
  times the gamemaster might not even
  tell you what you need — she will only
  let you know if your total is high
  enough after you roll).
  One thing you should keep in mind:
  when you start playing the game, your
  character is a real hero, capable of
  extraordinary feats. However, he is
  not superhuman, nor immortal. There
  are some things your character cannot
  expect to do, and he can die. The world
  of Torg is violent and dangerous, so
  characters must always be on their
  toes, and never stop thinking.
  Good luck!
  
  Bonus #
  Die
  Roll
  Wound
  Level
   Wound       Heavy Wound
  Mortal                Dead
  Social
   Magic
   Spiritual
   Tech
  Possibilities
  Shock Damage
  Age
  Height
   Weight
  Character
  Name
  Home Cosm
  Maneuver
  Trick
  Test
  Taunt
  Intimidate
  Reality
  Spirit
  Dodge
  DEX
  Fire Combat
  3
  DEX
  Heavy Weapons
  DEX
  Maneuver
  DEX
  Melee Weapons
  DEX
  Running
  DEX
  Unarmed Combat
  DEX
  Climbing
  STR
  Air Vehicles
  PER
  Find
  PER
  First Aid
  PER
  Land Vehicles
  PER
  Tracking
  PER
  Survival
  MIN
  Persuasion
  CHA
  Taunt
  CHA
  Faith
  SPI
               Skill              Add        Attribute         Value
  Running
  Swimming
  Jumping
  Climbing
  Lifting
  Bonus Chart
  Dexterity
  11
  Strength
  10
  Toughness
  11
  Perception
  9
  Mind
  8
  Charisma
  9
  Spirit
  8
                Attributes
  Drama Card Record
  Number
  Name
  Approved
  Actions
  Movement Rates         Limit Values
  Axiom
  Range
  Equipment
  Value Level
  S
  M
  L
                3     5     7    9    11   13                                             21   26   31   36   41    46
  1     2    4    6    8   10   12   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   25   30   35   40   45    50   +5
  ®, TM & © Humanoids, Inc. Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use.
  Player Name
  SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
  ™
  K
  O
  Armor
  Leather
  +2 (13)
  5
  Weapons
  Uzi
  17
  22
  15
  40
  100
  .357 Desert Eagle
  16
  22
  10
  25
  50
  -12  -10    -8   -5    -2   -1     0      1    2     3     4      5    6     7      8    9   10    11   12    13   +1
  Core Earth
  7
  21
  23
  9
  10
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Torg/Torg The Lizard and the Lightning.pdf