Appendix 1:

Character options
variable point totals
By default, players in games that utilize
Simple 20 receive sixty-two points to allocate
among their basic attribut ratings. This point
total allows players to create characters who
are normal folks (e.g., people like you and
me). In order to facilitate the creation of more
powerful characters, one need only adjust this
initial point total accordingly.
72 points builds a character who pushes the
boundaries of normal human potential (e.g.,
a typical low fantasy character).
82 points builds a suitably legendary hero in
the vein of Perseus or Odysseus (e.g., a
typical high fantasy hero).
92 points or more builds a powerful hero in
the vein of spandex-wearing comic book
icons (see also Expanded Attribute Modifiers).

Random ratings
While the default Simple 20 method of
character creation via point distribution may
allow one to more easily realize their character
concept by virtue of facilitating mechanical
customization, it isnt for everybody.
Players who wish to randomly generate
their characters basic attribute ratings should
roll 4d6 for each attribute rating, dropping the
lowest die result produced. This will result in
attribute ratings that range from 3 to 18.
Typically, a character who has had their
basic attribute ratings generated in this manner
will be on par with an 82-point character.

expanded Modifiers
Basic attribute modifiers in Simple 20
are limited to +4 by default, but you may wish
to expand this scale in order to accommodate

superhuman heroes or simply to make high

attribute scores more meaningful. If you choose
to do so, use the following table.
Attribute Score

Modifier

18-19

+4

20-21

+5

22-23

+6

24-25

+7

26-27

+8

28-29

+9

30-31

+10

etc...

etc...

Appendix 2:
Basic Rules Options
ten-sided dice
Rather than rolling the default 1d20 to
resolve checks, players may instead roll 2d10.
When rolling 2d10 to resolve checks, natural
results of 2 (the lowest roll result possible when
rolling 2d10) always denote failure. Results of
20,conversely, always denote success.
W hen charting character growth using
the 2d10 check resolution method, die results
of natural 2 and 20 are treated as results of 1
and 20 are in the default Simple 20 character
growth rules (see Simple 20, page 12).

Action Points
Action points are a hedge against bad
luck, and are appropriate for games where the
characters are larger-than-life heroes (i.e., 82
or 92-point character).
When making a check (of any kind), a
player can expend one action point to add 3 to
the final result of their die roll.
Players can spend more than one action
point a round, but they can only spend one on
any given roll. You could spend an action point

to improve an attack roll and a saving throw in

one round, for instance, but you couldnt spend
two action points on a single attack roll.
The number of action points allotted to
each player is up to the Game M aster three
is the recommended number of action points
for most campaigns, although individual GMs
can tweak this amount as they see fit.

Appendix 3:
Damage Options
Armor and Weapons
The table below offers several common
weapons and their associated Lethality Ratings.
When resolving combat, the lethality rating of
a weapon used to deliver a successful attack is
added to the damage dealt to the target of
said attack. Easy, eh?
Weapon Name

Lethality Rating

Fist/Foot

+1

Dag ger/D irk

+2

Flail/Mace

+3

Axe/ Sword

+4

Long Bow

+2

Crossbow

+3

Small Pistol

+5

Large Pistol

+6

Hu nting R ifle

+6

Shotgun

+7*

Grenade

+10

* This lethality rating assumes a range of twenty feet

or less between the shooter and his intended target.
At any greater distance than this, the shotguns
lethality rating is reduced to +3.

The following table presents comm on

armors and their associated Protection Ratings.
W hen resolving combat, the protection rating

of any armor that a character is wearing is

subtracted from the damage dealt to them by
any successful attack.
Armor Name

Protection Rating

Pa dd ed C loth

-1

Soft Leather

-2

Hard Leather

-3

Cha in Shirt

-4

Pla te Ma il

-5

Fu ll Plate

-6

Flack Jacket

-4

Ke vlar V est

-3

Tr au ma P late

+1 per plate*

* Trauma plates are dense composite plates that are

inserted into kevlar vests (such vests contain pouches
specifically designed to hold trauma plates) to
absorb kinetic energy. Most commercially available
vests can comfortably hold up to five trauma plates.
A flak jacket comes complete with such a plate sown
into its lining.

The Wound Track

The wound track is offered as an easy
alternative to the default system of tracking
damage in Simple 20. Many players have
remarked that a wound track helps to suspend
their disbelief, thus making it a good choice for
Gam e Masters who strive to strike a balance
between playability and verisimilitude.
When a character is hit in combat, the
attacker rolls 1d20, adding the appropriate
attribute modifier (STR for melee attacks, DEX
for ranged attack), subtracting the Constitution
(C O N ) modifier of the target. The modified
result of this die roll determines damage.
The injured character locates the final
result of the attackers die roll on a copy of the
table located in the upper left-hand corner of
the following page, and shades in the circle
next to the proper wound level.

Descriptive Damage

1-5

Bruised

6-15

Scratch (-1)

16-20

Wound (-2)

21-25

Injury (-4)

26+

Incapacitated

Determining non-combat damage when

using the wound track is done in a similar
manner, with the GM rolling1d20, adding the
perceived Lethality Rating of the condition that
the target character is subject to (see the table
below), and subtracting said characters CON
modifier from the result.
Force/Condition

Lethality Rating

Drowning/Suffocation

5 p er tu rn de prive d of air

Ex po su re to the Ele men ts

2 pe r hour of ex posure

Falling from a H eight

1 per meter fallen

Fire/Immolation

5 per turn aflame

A Bruise is a wound so minor that it has

no effect upon the character.
Scratches, Wounds, and Injuries have a
penalty attached to them. Characters with one
of these wounds take a penalty to all their rolls
equal to that of the greatest wound theyve
received (e.g., -1, -2, or -4); the penalties are
not cumulative. If all the wounds on a row have
been shaded in, fill the next available circle on
the following row.
Incapacitated characters can take no
actions. They can be killed by any opponent
who takes an action to do so.
After a combat scene, characters can
remove all their Scratch wounds automatically,
and their Incapacitated status if they receive
immediate medical attention. Other wound
marks are removed one at a time for each 8
hours of rest the character gets. Injury marks
are removed first, then Wound marks.

As presented here, descriptive damage

is an optional method of tracking character
injury in games that utilize Simple 20. Unlike
the default health points method or the wound
track, descriptive damage caters specifically to
verisimilitude if youre looking for a more
realistic damage option, this is it.
First, when utilizing descriptive damage,
it is important that the player of an attacking
character take pains to describe their attack in
detail. Specifically, how a weapon is used will
determine what type of wound it is capable of
inflicting (i.e., bashing, cutting, piercing, or
burning). This is very important.
After the player of character that is on
the offensive has described their attack and
determined that it has successfully hit its target,
they need to note the actual dam age it inflicts
(per the standard rules, or weapons and armor
options presented in this appendix). This will be
important very shortly.
In order to determine where damage is
applied to the target character, the player of
the attacking character needs to roll 1d20 and
find the result on the following table (you can
skip this step if your group uses a called shots
rule to determine the hit location of attacks).
This will determine where the attack has landed
upon the body of a character or creature.
Roll Result

Hit Location

Sku ll

Face*

Neck

Should er**

Upp er Arm**

Elbow**

Forearm **

Hand **

10-11

Thorax

12-14

Abdomen

15

G orin

16

Hip**

17

Thigh**

18

Knee **

19

Ca lf**

20

Foot**

* Roll on the Face Table, if you want more detail (see below)
** Roll 1d20; Even Result: Right Limb, Odd Result: Left Limb

Roll Result

Face Location

1-3

Ear*

4-6

Eye*

7-10

Cheek*

11-14

Jaw

15-18

Mou th

19-20

No se

* Roll 1d2 0; Even R esult: Right, Odd R esult: Left

Note that, for the most part, the tables

above assume humanoid targets. The Game
Master should feel free to expound upon these
tables when a character is fighting a nonhumanoid character or creature.
Af ter a specific hit location has been
determined (either by way of the tables above,
or per a called shot), the damage that was
calculated previously is located on the table
below to determine the severity of the injury
inflicted upon the target of the attack.
Damage Inflicted

Injury Severity

1-5

Minor Injury

6-15

Serious Injury

16+

Grievou s Injury

Next, the severity of an injury is crossindexed against the type of attack (remember,
I said that his would be very important) that

struck the target to determine the exact type of

injury that the character or creature in question
is afflicted with.
Minor

Serious

Grievous

Bashing

Superficial
Bru ise

Bone
Fracture

Bone
Shattered

Cutting

Superficial
Scratch

Shallow
Laceration

Deep
Laceration

Piercing

Superficial
Scratch

Partial
Puncture

Total
Puncture

Burning

Superficial
Inflammation

Skin
Blistered

Skin
Charred

After you determined the specific nature

of an injury, if it is a serious or grievous injury,
be sure to write down the am ount of damage
associated with it (these injuries are still healed
as discussed in the default Simple 20 rules).
Finally, the actual physical effects of a
sustained injury must be determined.
First off, grievous wounds are... well...
grievous. A grievous wound can cripple or even
kill a character. To determine the effects of a
grievous wound upon a character, they should
roll 1d20 and cross-index the result with the
area of the character that was injured, on the
table directly below.
Head/
Neck

Torso/
Trunk

Arm/
Leg

1-5

-6 to Checks
Due to Pain*

-6 to Checks
Due to Pain*

Limb Use less

Until Healed

6-15

Character
Knocked Out

-4 to Checks
Due to Pain*

-4 to Checks
Due to Pain*

16-20

Head
Destroyed

Suffers Organ
Failure

Limb
Destroyed

*The se pe nalties a re c um ula tive. If mo re g rievo us w ou nds o f this

na ture a re su ffe red , suc h pena lties a re to tale d.

Results of both Head Destroyed and

Suffers Organ Failure, obviously, denote a
mortal wound. Any character who receives such
an injury will be shuffled off the mortal coil

immediately healing will not keep them from

dying, but it can be used to rejuvenate their
body in preparation for resurrection.
If a characters leg or foot is severed or
otherwise rendered useless, they can no longer,
without the aid of mechanical contrivance,
engage in tasks that require two legs. W ith
such aid, one can undertake said activity, but
will suffer a perm anent -4 penalty to all checks
that pertain to the kind of activity in question.
This penalty is increased to -8 if a humanoid
character has lost the use of both legs.
If a characters arm or hand is severed
or otherwise rendered useless, they can no
longer engage in tasks tha t require two arms
(such as climbing a rope). Even mechanical
contrivance cannot typically overcome such a
handicap, although advanced prosthetics (e.g.,
cybernetic arms) may theoretically accomplish
this on behalf of a character).
Although nowhere near as dire as the
grievous injuries detailed above, a serious
injury can also effect how easily a character is
able to take action. All serious injuries, until
healed, levy a -2 penalty to action-oriented
checks made for the injured character and
these penalties are cumulative (thankfully,
though, they are not permanent).
Finally, do note that accumulating too
many serious wounds can cause death if the
negative point value of a given characters
total wound penalties from serious injuries
exceeds their Constitution rating (i.e., not the
modifier), then they are dead (e.g., a character
with a CO N rating of 14 can accumulate 8
serious wounds before he or she dies).

points) as demonstrated below. A status of

Bruised becomes a status of Stable, Scratches
becomes Distractions, Nervousness replaces
Wounds, Panic replaces Injury, and a state of
Incapacitated becomes a state of Psychosis.
1-5

Stable

6-15

Distracted (-1)

16-20

Nervous (-2)

21-25

Panicked (-4)

26+

Psychotic

If a psychological wound track is used

in such a manner, the GM rolls 1d20, adding
the DC of the maddening circumstance (see
Simple 20, page 7), and subtracting the target
characters Ego modifier from the die roll result
in order to determine the amount of mental
anguish that a character suffers.
Psychological trauma, like physical
injuries, impede the ability of a character to
function normally. The psychological instability
of a character levies a penalty to any attempt
on their part to act rationally, per the standard
wound track (e.g., Distracted characters suffer
a penalty of -1 to all die rolls made on their
behalf, when attempting to act rationally).
Mental anguish accrued in this manner,
with the exception of Psychotic states is relieved
in the same manner as physical damage. If a
given character falls victim to true psychosis,
they become a non-player character, no longer
capable of taking rational action (they can,
however, still take action).

Appendix 4:
Insanity Options
Mental Wound Track
The previously discussed wound track
may be easily altered to track psychological
instability (i.e., used to replace com posure

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