The Society for Paranormal Exploration

This game is based, in part, on the Primary Fantasy SRD and pays homage to a popular horror RPG, as well as a horror television series that aired on Showtime in the mid-to-late-90s.

Record Damage Threshold

All characters can sustain a certain amount of injury before they are shuffled off the mortal coil. A characters Damage Threshold (DT) is equal to their Vitality score, plus their Ego score, plus 1d6 per level. Calculate and record your characters Damage Threshold at this time.

Creating Characters
Rate Character Abilities
All characters have four Abilities that define them: Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Ego. Strength is a measure of a characters raw physical power. Agility is a measure of their reflexes and coordination. Vitality is a measure of their general physical health and endurance. Finally, Ego is a measure of a characters mental toughness and willpower. You begin with five points to assign to your characters six Ability scores. You may assign these points any way that you so choose it is even okay to assign all six of these points to a single Ability and leave the remaining Abilities with a score of 0. You may gain further points to assign to your characters Abilities by choosing to take a negative score in one or more Abilities. For example, if you choose to take a -1 score in Dexterity you will gain one point to boost the score of another Ability. If you choose to take a -2 Dexterity score, you gain two points to boost the scores of other Abilities. The only limitation of gaining points in this manner is that no Ability score may be raised above +4.

Standard Equipment Pack

All characters begin play with the following standard equipment: First Aid Kit Electric LED Torch Society Signet Ring Small knife (1d4 dmg) Small Caliber Revolver (2d6 dmg) Silver Bullets (x12) Padded Coat Digital Camera 32gb SD Card Pocket Dictaphone Laptop Computer

Record Character Level

Your characters Level is merely an abstract representation of their life experience. Typically, the Referee will choose a starting Level for all characters in a given campaign (often first Level). Record your characters starting level on your character record sheet at this time.

Your characters Armor Class (AC) is equal to 10, plus your characters current Vitality score and the armor bonus of the armor that they are currently wearing: +2 for a padded coat, +3 for a bulletproof vest, or +4 for military-grade combat armor. Record your characters current Armor Class at this time. Your characters weapon damage is as listed on the equipment list, plus their Strength score for melee weapons and their Agility score for ranged weapons. Record your characters weapon damage at this time. If your character is completely unarmed, their damage is equal to their Strength score.

Rank Character Profession

Choose a profession for your character (e.g., artist, journalist, policeman, priest). Your character begins play with a +2 bonus to all rolls that relate to their specific trade craft, gaining a further +1 bonus to such rolls for every odd level that they gain during actual play (e.g., 3,5,7, etc). -1-

The System Basics

Ability Rolls
Abilities are rolled against during actual play whenever a character wants to undertake action. To use an Ability in actual play, roll 1d20, then add the single most applicable Ability score, any bonus from a characters profession (if applicable), and the acting characters Level to the die result. If the result of this die roll is equal to or greater than the Difficulty Class (DC) assigned to the characters action by the Referee, then your characters action has succeeded! (If not, their action has failed).

Saving Rolls
A saving roll is a special Ability roll made on behalf of your character to avoid a specific type of harm or extricate them from a situation likely to cause harm. For example, the Referee may have you roll 1d20, add your characters Agility score, profession bonus (if applicable) and Level to the result in order to avoid having your character fall off a slippery ledge while they are climbing a sheer mountain face.

Acting Order To determine what order characters in combat can take their action, roll 1d20 for each combatant and modify the result by their Level and Agility score. Characters act in order of their die results, from the highest to the lowest. Re-roll all ties. A new turn begins after all characters involved in a combat have taken action.

Resolving Attacks
When a character attacks another character or monster with a melee weapon, roll 1d20, adding their Level and Strength score to the result. If the final result of this roll is equal to or higher than the targets AC, then the attack is successful. When a character attacks another character or monster with a ranged weapon, roll 1d20, adding their Level and Agility score to the result. If the final result of this roll is equal to or higher than the targets AC, then the attack is successful.

Magic and Spells

Magic does exist in the world of The Society for Paranormal Investigation, but it is very rare, with each spell being individual and unique. As a general rule, spells must be sought out, found, and studied intensely before they can be cast. As such, spells are designed by the Referee to suit the specific needs of a given adventure or story arc. Invoking a spell requires that the character make a successful Ego Ability roll versus a target DC equal to the level of the spell that is being invoked (as determined by the Referee), plus 10. For spells that cause damage, an Ego saving roll may be made against a DC equal to 10, plus the casters current Level, plus the casters Ego score for half damage.

Damage and Death

To determine how much damage an attack inflicts, roll the prescribed weapon damage. Add the attacking characters Strength score for melee attacks or else, their Agility score for ranged attacks. Finally, subtract the targets Vitality score from the result. Record the result on the targets character sheet in the Damage Taken box. If, at any time, the amount of damage in this box exceeds the targets Damage Threshold, the character is dead. Damage caused by spells is per the spell description, as defined in the source document or by the Referee. As mentioned previously, a character may make an Ego saving roll may be made against a specific DC for half damage (i.e., the spells target will take only half damage from the spell). -2-

Resolving Combat
Taking Action
Combat is broken up into turns, representing the passage of time in the game world. A character can take one action each turn..

Non-Combat Damage
Drowning Suffocation
Any character can hold her breath for a number of turns equal to twice her Vitality score. After this period of time, the character must make a DC 10 Vitality saving throw every turn in order to continue holding her breath. Each round, the DC increases by 1. When this roll is failed, the character dies.

Fire Effects
If a characters clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. For each subsequent minute that the character remains on fire, he takes another 1d6 points of damage. A successful Agility saving roll will extinguish the fire.

Healing Damage
Natural Healing
For every full 8 hours of sleep or more that your character accrues after being inured, remove one point of Damage Taken per character Level. For example, if your character is of 3rd Level and has taken 5 points of damage, but has rested for 8 hours, they will reduce Damage Taken by 3 points. If your character rests uninterrupted for an entire 24 hours after being injured, you can remove an amount of Damage Taken equal to twice your characters current Level.

Exposure to Cold
An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40 F) must make a Vitality saving roll for each hour of exposure (DC 15) or take 1d6 points of damage. In conditions of severe cold or exposure (below 0 F), an unprotected character must make a Vitality saving roll once every 10 minutes (DC 15), taking 1d6 points of damage. Extreme cold (below -20/ F) deals 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no saving roll).

Exposure to Heat
A character in very hot conditions (above 90/ F) must make a Vitality saving roll each hour (DC 15) or take 1d4 points of damage. In severe heat (above 110/ F), a character must make a Vitality saving roll once every 10 minutes (DC 15) or take 1d4 damage. In extreme heat (air temperature over 140/ F, fire, boiling water, lava), merely breathing air deals 1d6 damage per minute (no saving roll).

Magical Healing
Certain spells may restore character health. To learn how these spells work, consult the individual descriptions in the source document that you are using or the spells devised by the Referee.

Healing Limits
You can never reduce Damage Taken to less than zero (i.e., your character cant recover any more health than they lost to begin with).

Falling Effects
Falling characters sustain1d6 points of damage per 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of 20d6. A Vitality saving roll can be made at heights of 20 feet or less to halve damage (rounded down). Saving rolls do not mitigate falling damage from heights above 20 feet and further damage may be incurred by landing on objects as the Referee sees fit.

Character Growth
Characters experience two different kinds of growth Ability growth and level growth.

Ability Growth
Any time that a player rolls a natural (i.e., unmodified) result of either 1 or 20 when making an Ability roll, they need to place a checkmark next to the Ability involved. At the end of a game session, a player needs to roll 1d20 for each checkmark on their record sheet, one at a time. If they roll a result that equals or exceeds the rating of the Ability that the checkmark is -3-

next to, plus 10, then the player may raise the rating of that Ability by 1 point (to a maximum of +6).

Level Growth
Characters gain a character Level after they see 2-3 adventures (up to the Referee) through to a successful conclusion.

An encounter may have more than one elite monster, but elites should always be outnumbered by lesser creatures in that encounter. To create an elite monster: Double its DT. Give it a single 1d6 bonus that may be applied to any one roll.

Menace Templates
Following are two creature templates that you may use to challenge players.

Solo Monsters
Solo monsters are the most fearsome of all creatures that characters will encounter and must, by definition, be faced alone. To create a solo monster: Multiply its DT by #of PCs. Give it a number of 1d6 bonuses equal to the number of PCs that may be applied to rolls.

Elite Monsters
Elite monsters are typically the most fearsome or noteworthy creatures in an encounter mix. Usually, elite monsters are the leaders in a given encounter, though this is not strictly necessary.

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OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

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copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License. 10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute. 11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so. 12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected. 13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. 14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. 15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Core Elements copyright 2005, Butch Curry; author James D. Hargrove True20 Adventure Roleplaynf copyright 2005, author Steve Kenson, published by Green Ronin Publishing Simple20 copyright 2006, author James D. Hargrove Microlite20 copyright 2009, author Robin V. Stacey Trailblazer copyright 2009, author Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC The Society for Parnormal Investigation copyright 2011, author James D. Hargrove END OF LICENSE

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