TEXT: Ebon v1.01
  ©2006 Greg Porter
  All Rights Reserved
  Ebon is a micro-rpg designed for fast play in a
  modern horror setting. Adventurers take the
  role of investigators, mages, priests or soldiers
  fighting against extradimensional entities of
  Evil mien, whether traditional evils like were-
  wolves or vampires, or more reality-ripping
  monsters of a Lovecraftian bent.
  Creating Adventurers
  Adventurers are composed of 24 Aspects,
  which are split into four types:
  Primary Aspects are your raw talent, and
  would be used for any Endeavor that doesn’t
  fit into use by any other Aspect. Primary
  Aspects are “upstream” of all other Aspects.
  Secondary Aspects are derived from Primary
  Aspects, and have narrower uses than Primary
  Aspects. Think of them as honed raw talents.
  They are “downstream” of Primary Aspects
  and “upstream” of Tertiary Aspects.
  Tertiary Aspects represent broad classes of
  skills, learned traits or life experience. They are
  “downstream” of Primary and Secondary
  Aspects and “upstream” of Reserves.
  Reserves represent your ability to withstand
  hardship of various kinds without it affecting
  your other Aspects. Reserves are “down-
  stream” of Tertiary Aspects.
  The first thing players do is choose a concept
  for their adventurer. This concept, in addition
  to being the personality an adventurer shows,
  also acts as a free 1 point Reserve that can
  only be used for an Endeavor related to that
  concept. So, a fighter could use it in combat,
  a priest might use it for warding off undead,
  and so on.
  Adventurers get 9 points to split between the
  three Primary Aspects, with no less than 1 and
  no more than 6 points in any Primary Aspect.
  A rating of 1 is abysmal, barely functional in
  normal society, while a rating of 6 is near but
  not quite at the top of human potential.
  Once this is done, look at the arrows leading
  from the Primary Aspects to the Secondary
  and Tertiary Aspects. These point downstream
  from Primary Aspects towards the Reserves.
  The value of any given Aspect or Reserve is
  either the higher of the adjacent upstream
  Aspects minus 1, or the lower of the adjacent
  upstream Aspects plus 1, whichever is lower.
  All Aspects or Reserves have a minimum
  value of 1, regardless of the upstream values.
  So, if you have a Physical of 5 and a Spiritual
  of 1, then your Sanity is going to be the
  Spiritual plus 1, for a Sanity of 2.
  Charisma is based on Physical or Sanity,
  so Charisma would be Sanity plus 1, for a
  Charisma of 3, Self-image would be
  Charisma minus 1, for Self-image of 2,
  and Emotional Reserve would be
  Self-image minus 1, or 1.
  After this is done, a player can add 1 to one
  Secondary Aspect, one Tertiary Aspect, and
  one Reserve. This does not cause any down-
  stream Aspects or Reserves to increase.
  Adventurers get a certain number of Size
  points of starting gear (3 is a good number),
  possibly a vehicle, and they are ready to go!
  Turn Sequence
  Adventurers act in order of highest Primary
  Aspect to lowest, ties acting simultaneously.
  Normally, the Aspect is Body, but players can
  declare any Primary Aspect to base their turn
  order on. However, their action must be based
  on that Aspect. So, a mage intending to cast
  spells might declare Spirit as their Primary
  Aspect. But, having done so, they cannot do
  a Body action on that turn.
  An adventurer can do one Action per turn,
  and as many Reactions as they need to. An
  Action is initiated by an adventurer, like an
  attack or moving. A Reaction is responding to
  someone else’s Action, like a block or dodge.
  Adventurers doing an Action or Reaction
  take a -1 to any Aspect used for each other
  Action or Reaction previously done that turn.
  Within a turn, time, distance and movement
  is relative, with an appropriate level of scale.
  A boxing match will take more time than a
  gunfight but less time than a chess match.
  Endeavors
  Using an Aspect is an Endeavor. There are
  two types of Endeavor: Static and Opposed.
  Static Endeavors are where you try to beat a
  specific number, often based on some sort of
  environmental circumstance. This could be
  something like climbing a wall or picking a
  lock. Ranged combat is Static. An Opposed
  Endeavor is one against someone or some-
  thing else that also rolls for the task. Melee
  combat is Opposed. Opposed Endeavors see
  who rolls the most successes against a Very
  Hard task (a target of 6). If none of those
  involved get any “6’s”, then that round is
  inconclusive.
  The player gets to roll 1d6 for each point their
  adventurer has in the appropriate Aspect, so
  a player with a Combat Aspect of 4 rolls 4d6.
  For a Static Endeavor, the gamemaster
  chooses the Aspect most appropriate to the
  Endeavor, then decides the difficulty:
  Trivial - difficulty of 1
  Very easy - difficulty of 2
  Easy - difficulty of 3
  Average - difficulty of 4
  Hard - difficulty of 5
  Very hard - difficulty of 6
  Impossible - difficulty of 8+
  Sometimes a Static
  Endeavor will be
  against a target
  that is the level in
  someone else’s Aspect. Horror is such a case,
  where a thing will roll against a target number
  of the Cool or Sanity of the adventurers.
  Impossible Endeavors are theoretically possi-
  ble, but they require extraordinary success.
  Each “6” rolled is rolled again and added to
  the original “6” to get the total for that die.
  Compare each die rolled in an Endeavor to
  the target number. If at least one die equals
  or exceeds the target number, an Endeavor is
  successful. Each successful die past the first
  increases the quality of the success. The most
  common use of this is in combat, where each
  success past the first is +1 effect or damage.
  If there are more “1’s” rolled in an Endeavor
  than there are successes, there is a Setback.
  The Endeavor can be successful, but with a
  setback that affects action on later turns. For
  instance, a gun could hit a target, but run out
  of ammo and have to be reloaded.
  Reserves
  An adventurer’s Reserves represents the
  damage they can take, the depth of their
  character, faith, mana, tolerance, and so on.
  An adventurer struck with a weapon will take
  damage to their Physical reserve, while one
  publically humiliated may take damage to
  their Social reserve. Each arm on the Aspect
  record has a Reserve, and the six Reserves
  are (clockwise from top): Intellectual, Social,
  Magical, Spiritual, Emotional, Physical.
  Damage of a particular kind subtracts from
  the appropriate Reserve. When the Reserve
  goes to zero, further damage travels up the
  chain of arrows. The player chooses the up-
  stream path taken, and each Aspect takes
  an amount of damage equal to its level
  before damage continues upstream. 
  In the example to the lower left, if 4 points of
  Emotional damage were taken, this would
  empty the Reserve (1 point), reduce Self-
  Image to zero (2 points), and then reduce
  either Sanity or Charisma by 1 point. At this
  point, the adventurer is so emotionally shaken
  that they will automatically fail any Endeavor
  that requires or targets their Self-Image.
  If a Primary Aspect is reduced to zero, an
  adventurer is incapacitated. They could be
  wounded and unconscious, socially shamed
  and flee the scene, or mentally wrung out
  and unable to think straight. The best way to
  keep track is to fill in the circles on the Aspect
  record when you make an adventurer, leaving
  open as many circles as the Aspect level. So,
  if you have a Cool of 3, leave open 3 circles
  in Cool, and make a pencil “X” in those when
  take damage to your Cool.
  Reserves also serve the function of being a
  well from which adventurers can draw
  strength in a crisis. In any given Endeavor, a
  player can damage 1 point of a Reserve to
  give a +1 to any given Aspect. However, you
  can only spend from the Reserve that is
  opposite the type of endeavor attempted:
  Physical is the opposite of Magical
  Intellectual is the opposite of Spiritual
  Social is the opposite of Emotional
  5
  1
  1
  2
  2
  3
  
  Weapons & Damage
  Weapons have a Damage, Range and Size.
  Damage is the amount of damage they do
  to the Physical Reserve. Each success past
  the first in a Combat Endeavor adds 1 to this
  damage. Range is a number from -2 to +1.
  This is how accurate it is compared to other
  weapons. So, if you have a +0 weapon and
  the gamemaster says a shot is Average for
  you, someone in similar circumstances with a
  -1 weapon (more accurate) would have an
  Easy shot.
  Size is just a measure of how encumbering
  the weapon is to carry or hide. Weapons may
  also have special traits, like an ability to fill an
  area, damage that recovers faster than
  normal, and so on.
  Armor has a rating that simply subtracts from
  the damage of weapons. The rating reflects
  both absolute protection and the degree of
  body coverage.
  Horror
  There are two kinds of horror in Ebon, the
  mundane and the supernatural. Mundane
  horror is blood, gore, extreme violence and
  other things that are loathsome, but purely
  natural. Supernatural horror is things that
  have a component that is not of this world,
  which inspire fear, dementia, and insanity.
  Each type of horror will have a rating that it
  rolls as a Static Endeavor. Mundane horror
  rolls against Cool, and supernatural horror
  against Sanity. The same roll is used against
  everyone who is exposed to the horror, and
  only one roll is required per encounter, using
  the most horrific of things involved. If a horror
  succeeds, it does 1 hit to the appropriate
  Reserve on a success, and +1 hit for each
  additional success.
  If there are multiples of a
  given horror, increase its rating
  by +1, and if the adventurers
  have recently defeated or resisted
  the effects of that horror, decrease
  its rating by -1.
  NAME:
  ________________
  CONCEPT: _________________
  GEAR:
  ____________________
  NOTES:
  _______________________
  Magic
  Adventurers can use their Magic aspect as
  an attack or a defense. As an attack, it can
  be used against the mundane world or mun-
  dane creatures or objects. The nature of the
  attack/defense is chosen (physical, mental,
  social, spiritual, emotional, magical), and the
  type of attack (static or opposed). Use the
  following guidelines:
  Attacks made at range are counted as
  a weapon with -1 Range.
  Attacks requiring touch are +1 to the
  Magic aspect of the attacker.
  Opposed attacks are resisted by a
  Primary or Secondary Aspect (plus any
  defenses).
  Static attacks go against a target num-
  ber of the Primary or Secondary Aspect
  targeted (plus any defenses), and do 1
  hit to the appropriate Reserve on a
  success and for each additional success.
  Magical defenses/boosts operate much the
  same way, but increase the Aspect targeted
  by +1 on a success and +1 more for each
  additional success. An Aspect can only have
  the benefit of one magical defense.
  Making a magical attack is an Action. Setting
  up a magical defense is also an Action, but
  maintaining one that had previously been set
  up is a Reaction. Such a continued defense
  automatically counts as the first thing done in
  a turn, so all other Actions or reactions done
  in that turn will be -1 to the Aspect used.
  If a use of Magic or Piety results in a Setback,
  the adventurer takes 1 damage to a Reserve
  of their choice.
  Piety
  Piety operates similar to Magic, but it only
  works against forces, beings or entities that
  are supernatural or evil in origin. For instance,
  Magic could do nothing against a vampire,
  but Piety could. Similarly,
  Piety has no effect on a
  bullet or a person, while
  Magic does.
  Extras
  Extras are the people (and
  entities) that aren’t adven-
  turers. They have a much
  smaller Aspect Record, just com-
  bined Primary/Secondary Aspects
  and Reserve. All use of Aspects will
  be based on these values, and inca-
  pacitation happens if any Primary
  Aspect is reduced to
  zero. Objects simply
  have an Armor, and
  one Primary Aspect
  that represents what the
  object does. A computer might have a
  Mental Aspect, while a car would have a
  Physical Aspect. Damage that exceeds
  their Armior affects the functioning of
  the item’s Aspect until it finally fails.
  Recovery
  Each day, adventurers may recover 3 points
  of lost Reserves or Aspects, plus their concept
  Reserve, with no more than 2 points recovery
  in any one Aspect or Reserve. Losses are first
  recovered closest to the Primary Aspects and
  work their way out as each Aspect is fully
  healed. Between adventures, Adventures
  can recover all losses of Reserves or Aspects.
  Experience
  At the end of an Adventure, adventurers gain
  experience, 1 point for each adventurer for
  “being there”, 1 point to an adventurer from
  the gamemaster for “best play”, 1 point to an
  adventurer voted on by the players (roll a die
  for tie votes), and +1 point to all adventurers
  for a long and/or difficult adventure.
  It costs experience equal to double the level
  of an Aspect or Reserve to raise it by 1 point.
  Things to note about spending experience:
  Raising Aspects doesn’t affect Aspects or
  Reserves downstream from that Aspect. 
  No Aspect or Reserve can ever be more
  than 7.
  No Aspect or Reserve can be raised by
  experience to more than the lowest
  immediately upstream Aspect plus 1. 
  This means that in order to raise an Aspect or
  Reserve, you may have to raise something
  upstream of it first.
  Gear
  You can carry as many pieces of Gear as you
  want, as long as their total Size is no more
  than your current Physical Aspect, with each
  four items of Size 0 counting as Size 1.
  Gear
  Rating
  Range
  Size
  Light pistol
  1
  +1
  0
  Heavy Pistol
  2
  +0
  1
  Submachinegun
  3
  +0
  2
  Shotgun
  2
  -1
  2
  Rifle
  4
  -2
  2
  Assault Rifle
  5
  -1
  2
  extra clips
  -
  -
  0
  Grenade
  1(area)
  +1
  0
  Knife
  Body-3
  -
  0
  Sword
  Body-1
  -
  1
  Light body armor
  2
  -
  1
  Heavy body armor
  3
  -
  2
  Gear
  Rating
  Armor
  Size
  Walkie-talkie
  1
  1
  0
  Motorcycle
  5
  1
  -
  Car
  4
  2
  -
  Truck
  3
  3
  -
  NAME:
  ________________
  GEAR:
  _________________
  NOTES: _________________
  _________________
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Blacksburg Tactical Research Center/Ebon.pdf