OF KNIGHTS AND KNAVES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 2

Character Fundamentals 3

Combat 9

Equipment 11

Miscellaneous 14

Magic and Spells 15

The Setting 19
 HOW THIS PDF IS ORGANIZED

If you're new to this game, it might help to know that learning how to play requires only that
you read the PDF in order the first part of the PDF covers gameplay mechanics, including
character creation, the attribute and skill system, combat, and equipment; the second part covers
the optional rules to include magic in the setting; the third part covers the setting itself, all the way
from the world and cosmology to key places of interest and important figures from throughout its
history; and the fourth and final part of this PDF covers the bestiary, which includes stats for
common NPC archetypes, wild animals, monsters, and even alternatives to sentient races that the
players can play as instead humans, which the PDF assumes you'll be playing by default.

WHY PLAY OF KNIGHTS AND KNAVES?

There are plenty of tabletop roleplaying games already in print, so why play this one? Of
Knights and Knaves is a rules-moderate system that's meant to fit well in a medieval-styled setting
with a "NobleDark" theme, which is to say that the general populace in the game is filled with
people that are at least well intentioned, if not dedicated to leaving the world a better place than
when they came into it, but environmental conditions such as droughts, floods, and blight, as well
as monsters and the occasional tyrant all seem to be determined to make life miserable. Unlike
many other tabletop roleplaying games, this one is both class-less and level-less.
There are a few other tabletop games that are made with those specifications in mind, and as
the author of this game and an avid tabletop roleplayer, I encourage you to try each of them as you
find them. After some experimentation, you might find that you prefer the way gameplay
mechanics are handled in this system over the way they are handled in other games. If this game
offers the ideal system to just one group other than my own, then I'll consider the time I spent
writing it to have been well worth the effort.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO PLAY THE GAME

Bare Minimum Recommended

At least 1 four-sided dice, 1 six-sided dice,
1 eight-sided dice, 1 ten-sided dice, and
1 twelve-sided dice.
Enough scrap paper to keep track of
details on characters and missions, events,
and the setting as you deem necessary.
Something to write with preferable a pencil.
Someone willing to be the GM.
At least 5 four-sided dice, 5 six-sided dice,
5 eight-sided dice, 5 ten-sided dice, and
5 twelve-sided dice.
A character sheet for each character,
in addition to some scrap paper.
A mechanical pencil for
each player and the GM.
Someone who actually wants to be the GM.
 CHARACTER CREATION

First, get an idea for what kind of character you're going to want to play, write a short
background for the character, including their goals and motivations (you'll probably want more
than one goal for each character and a different motivation for each goal), and a short description
of the character. Then, you're going to want to make your characters statistics (attributes, skills,
and equipment) reflect your description and background. You start with 30 Experience Points (EP)
to do this, which must be spent on developing the character before the game begins. EP is used to
increase your characters attributes and skills.

ATTRIBUTES

Your score in an attribute determines the type of dice you roll when performing an action that
pertains to that attribute (consult the chart below). When you create your character, pick two
attributes to be your primary attributes. All of your attributes start at a score of 2, but you can
raise one of your primary attribute scores by 1 point by spending an amount of EP equal to the
score you wish to raise it to (for example: Agility is one of your primary attributes. It starts at 2. You
want to raise it to a total of 4. First spend 3 EP to raise it to 3, then spend another 4 EP to raise it to
4). Your other attributes cost double this amout to increase.
Any type of action not displayed in the following section is up to the GM's discretion when
determining which attribute governs that action. If the GM determins that an action could fall
under more than one of the attributes (For example, unarmed attacks and attacks with thrown
weapons), then you can use the alternate attribute if the alternate attribute is one of your two
primary attributes (So if Agility is one of your primary attributes, then you could use Agility for
unarmed attacks instead of Might; likewise, if Might is one of your primary attributes, then you
could use Might for attacks made with thrown weapons instead of Perception). The GM should be
careful not to allow too many types of actions to fall under a single attribute.
Agility: This is the attribute typically used to measure your mobility. It governs the following
skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Dodge, Ride, Stealth.
Communication: This is the attribute used for nearly all forms of social interaction. It governs
the following skills: Charm, Goad, Intimidate, Leadership, Mercantile.
Education: This is the attribute used for the academic arts. It governs the following skills:
History, Linguistics, Medicine, Research, Science.
Might: This attribute is the measure of your physical power and durability. It governs the
following skills: Encumbrance, Endurance, Fortitude, Labor, Melee Attacks.
Perception: This is the attribute used for hand-eye coordination and general awareness of
ones surroundings. It governs the following skills: Initiative, Judgment, Navigation, Ranged Attacks,
Vigilance.
Subterfuge: This is the attribute used for the criminal arts. It governs the following skills:
Disguise, Forgery, Legerdemain, Lockpick, Sabotage.

Attribute Score and Dice Type

SCORE 1 2 3 4 5
DICE TYPE d4 d6 d8 d10 d12
 SKILLS

Your score in a skill determines the number of dice you roll when performing an action that
pertains to that skill. All of your skills start at a score of 1, but you can raise one of your skills by 1
point by spending an amount of EP equal to double the score you wish to raise it to (for example:
You want to raise Stealth to a total of 3. First spend 4 EP to raise it to 2, then spend another 6 EP to
raise it to 3).
When you roll multiple dice due to having a score higher than one in the skill you're using, you
keep the highest number rolled out of the dice and ignore the rest (for example: You're making a
Stealth roll. Your Stealth score is 3 and your Agility score (the governing attribute for Stealth rolls)
is 4. So you roll three 10-sided dice. The dice roll a 3, 5, and a 9, so you keep the 9 and ignore the 3
and the 5. Thus, 9 would be the result of that Stealth roll).
Acrobatics (Agility): This represents your ability to perform all sorts of gymnastics. Use
Acrobatics to balance while walking along precarious terrain, jump across chasms, or soften your
landing in the event that you fall. Unless the GM allows otherwise, assume that certain actions are
too extreme to involve Acrobatics, such as walking on the tips of spears or sticking a landing from a
fall off of a kilometer high mountain. The TN to soften a fall is equal to the number of meters fallen
(maximum TN of 10) and landing deals an amount of damage equal to 1 for every 5 meters fallen
to each of 1d6 locations (determined randomly by the GM); succeeding on such an Acrobatics roll
both halves the number of locations damaged (rounded down) and halves the amount of damage
dealt to those locations (rounded down). The GM determines the TN typically 4 or 6.
Athletics (Agility): A characters movement speed is 5 meters per round and they can climb or
swim at a rate of 1 meter per round. If Agility is one of your primary attributes, you may add your
Agility score to your movement speed and both Climb and Swim at a rate equal to your Agility
score in meters per round instead of the typical rate of 1 meter per round. Use Athletics when
climbing a wall or sheer cliff face to avoid falling or when swimming in liquids thicker than water or
against a current to avoid sinking. The GM determines the TN typically 4 or 6.
Charm (Communication): This is your ability to make people like you. Use Charm to seduce or
gain the favor of an NPC. Many NPCs may be immune to your advances or determined to dislike
you for some reason. The GM determines the TN typically 8 or 10.
Disguise (Subterfuge): This is your ability to pull off a convincing disguise. Use Disguise to
convince someone you are somebody else while wearing an appropriate disguise or disappear into
a crowd while wearing normal street clothes (For example, you could convince someone you're a
guard if you're wearing a guards outfit). Your roll when using Disguise sets the TN for Vigiliance
rolls made to see through your deception. At the GMs discretion, some NPCs may be too well-
informed to fall for a disguise.
Dodge (Agility): This is your ability to avoid attacks and traps. Use Dodge whenever you are
aware of an attacker or you trigger a trap. You cannot dodge an attack made by an enemy you are
unaware of. The TN is determined by the Melee Attack roll, Ranged Attack roll, or trap that you're
attempting to avoid. See the entry "Essential Combat Reference" on page 9 for reference.
Encumbrance (Might): The maximum amount of weight in pounds that you can carry without
suffering any penalties is equal to 10 pounds, plus 5 times your Might score, plus 5 times your
Encumbrance score. If you carry more weight than that, you cannot Climb or Swim and your
overland movement speed is halved (rounded down, minimum 1). Furthermore, while attempting
to carry double your maximum carry weight or more, your overland movement speed is reduced
to 0 and you cannot Dodge.
 Endurance (Might): This is your ability to withstand extreme conditions. Use Endurance to
avoid hypothermia, hyperthermia, suffocation, and systemic shock. Hyperthermia and
hypothermia occur when you spend too much time unprotected in an extremely hot or extremely
cold environment, respectively. At the GMs discretion, the extreme nature of an environment may
be enough for the onset time of hyperthermia or hypothermia to be one hour or one minute
(anywhere less extreme probably wouldn't require an Endurance roll and anywhere more extreme
would probably just deal 1 point or more of heating or freezing damage each round instead). The
first roll you make when combating hyperthermia or hypothermia is to fight off fatigue, which
prevents you from performing more than one action each round (so you'd have to choose to move,
speak, or attack each round, instead of being able to do all three) and at the GMs discretion, may
cause hallucinations; if you're fatigued in this way, spending more time unprotected in a harsh
environment will require another Endurance roll, this time to avoid systemic shock.
You can hold your breath for 10 rounds, plus a number of rounds equal to your Might score
plus your Endurance score. Suffocation requires that you make an Endurance roll every round;
once you have failed two consecutive Endurance rolls to avoid suffocation, you must immediately
make another Endurance roll, this time to avoid systemic shock.
Whenever you make an Endurance roll to avoid systemic shock caused by taking damage, the
TN is equal to the total amount of damage that has been dealt to the location that is the source of
the shock. The GM determines the TN for Endurance rolls made to avoid shock caused by
hyperthermia, hypothermia, or suffocation typically 4 or 6.
Forgery (Subterfuge): This is self-exlainitory. Use Forgery to falsify signatures and documents
or to discern whether or not a signature or document is a forgery. Your roll when making a forgery
sets the TN for Forgery rolls made to discern the nature of your forgery. On rare occassions, the
GM may deem some documents to be too intricate or extensive to properly falsify.
Fortitude (Might): This is your ability to resist diseases and toxins. Use Fortitude to avoid
contracting diseases or resist the effects of poisons and venoms. The onset time and TN will be
listed in the entry for a disease or toxin.
Goad (Communication): This is your ability to provoke someone. Use Goad only when you
really want to start a fight, but don't want to attack first. The GM determines the degree to which
you aggrivate someone and the TN typically 4, 6, or 8. The GM may deem some NPCs immune to
your taunts. The typical neutral NPC may become annoyed, then angered, then furious, then finally
start to attack you if provoked further.
History (Education): This represents your knowledge of historic events, important political
figures, legends, myths, and the lineage and heraldry of the nobility. Use History to see if your
character knows anything noteworthy about a person, place, or thing relevant to their current
situation. The GM determines the TN typically 8 or 10 for explicitly helpful information.
Initiative (Perception): This is a measure of your reaction time. Use Initiative to determine
what order characters take their turns during a round. See the entry "Rounds, Initiative, and Turn
Order" on page 9 for details.
Intimidate (Communication): This is your ability to strike fear into the hearts of others. Use
Intimidate to coerce somone into telling you a secret or frighten an enemy combatant; characters
frightened in this way will avoid attacking you if there are other, less frightening people for them to
attack instead; additionally, such characters will attempt to run from you in the event that you
begin to attack them directly. The GM determines the TN typically 8 or 10. The GM may deem
some individual NPCs immune to your discouragement and organized groups of NPCs will often be
similarly immune if they greatly outnumber you and any allies you may have.
 Judgment (Perception): This is your ability to detect lies and intuit the motivation behind
someones actions. Use Judgment know a lie when you hear it or to deduce the reason for a
persons actions (For example, one roll is needed to detect a lie and another is needed immediately
afterward to determine why they lied). The GM must give a correct assessment to a successful
Judgment roll made to determine someones motivations or at least the most likely reasonable
answer for their actions. The TN is set by the roll the intended target of the Judgment makes when
they tell the lie (See the entry "Social Interaction Basics" on page 8 for details).
Labor (Might): This is your ability to craft any sort of items. Use Labor to craft weapons and
armor, to build a house, or tend a farm. The GM determines the amount of time it takes to
perform a single act of manual labor; as a general rule, have each major step of a project take 1
day (For example: smelting ore, forging a blade or single piece of armor, setting the foundation and
supports for a 2x2 meter section of a house, tilling a field, planting crops, etc.). The TN should be
listed in the entry for most items; however, in the event that it isn't or in the event that you want
to perform manual labor pertaining to something that isn't extensively covered in this book, the
GM determines the TN typically 4 or 6. Unsuccessful Labor rolls will result in your work being
ruined; in most cases, this simply means that you do not make any progress for that day and will
have to start that part of your project over again.
Leadership (Communication): This is your ability to work a crowd, instruct a class, and orate in
general. Use Leadership to keep tensions low during a negotiation, instigate a riot, or negate or
prevent the effects of someone elses attempt to use Charm, Goad, Intimidate, or Mercantile on
one or more of your subordinates. Preventing such an effect requires a preemptive use of
Leadership and must target a single form of manipulation; which is to say that you must choose for
a group of allies to be protected from the effects of only one such Communication skill. The
protective effects of a speech you give with Leadership will only last an hour; however, in the event
that your Leadership roll beats the TN by double what is necessary, the effect lasts for an entire
day instead. If a Charm, Goad, Intimidate, or Mercantile roll would be made against an ally that is
inspired by your Leadership, the roll must beat the Leadership roll you made when you made your
speech in addition to beating the standard TN or fail. The TN of a Leadership roll made for any
other purpose is determined by the GM typically 6 or 8.
Legerdemain (Subterfuge): This is your ability to perform feats of sleight of hand. Use
Legerdemain to palm a knife, hide a document in your belt, pick someones pockets, or sleeve an
ace. Your roll when using Legerdemain sets the TN for Vigiliance rolls made to see through your
deception. Some objects are too large or too awkwardly shaped to conceal.
Linguistics (Education): For simplicity's sake, a character either knows how to speak a
language or they do not, with no middle-ground. A character can speak a number of languages
equal to their Education score. Specializing in this skill doesn't affect a roll, but increases the
maximum number of languages you can learn to speak by 1. You can learn to read and write a
language in place of learning how to speak it; the exception being that you must learn how to
speak at least one language before you can learn how to read or write any language. If the number
of languages you can learn to speak increases after character creation, you must have a source
from which to learn a new language, such as a book or tutor. At the GMs discretion, you may make
a Communication roll to convey very simple messages to an individual whose language you do not
speak; doing so has a TN of 10.
 Lockpick (Subterfuge): This is simply your ability to pick locks. Use Lockpick to, well, pick locks.
If you can come up with another use for this ability and you have the GMs permission, then by all
means go for it. Lockpick can be used in conjunction with Labor to craft a lock. Each Lockpick roll
usually takes about a minute (10 rounds), but this may be increased or decreased at the GMs
discretion. Missing the TN by half the amount needed (a roll resulting in 2 on a TN 4 lock) will
cause the lock to jam, preventing further lockpicking attempts and require that a locksmith tend to
the lock before it can be opened by key or another lockpicking attempt can be made. The GM
determines the TN potentially anywhere from 4 to 12. The TN to craft a lock should be the same
as the TN to pick that lock.
Medicine (Education): This represents your knowledge of herbalism, anatomy, and first aid.
Use Medicine to treat injuries and illnesses or to craft medicines, drugs, and poisons. The TN to
heal 1 point of damage is equal to the amount of total damage dealt to the location of the body
you wish to treat. Such treatments can only be made to each location of the body once per day.
Unsuccessful Medicine rolls will inflict an additional point of damage instead of heal 1 point of
damage. The TN to craft an item should be listed in each items entry; however, if it isn't, the GM
determines the TN typically 8 or 10.
Melee Attack (Might): This is simply your ability to perform melee attacks. Use Melee Attack
whenever you want to attack while unarmed, attack while armed with a melee weapon, or bash
someone with your shield. Your roll when using Melee Attack sets the TN for Dodge rolls made to
avoid your attack. See the entry "Essential Combat Reference" on page 9 for reference.
Mercantile (Communication): This is your familiarity with all kinds of monetary practices. Use
Mercantile to appraise exotic and illegal goods and services, barter with a merchant to get the best
prices, or persuade someone with bribery. Also, the amount of gold your character starts with is
equal to 10gp, plus an additional amount of gp equal to ten times your Mercantile score. The GM
determines the TN typically anything from 4 to 10. Some objects are priceless, some goods are
too common to negotiate the price, and some people are immune to bribery.
Navigation (Perception): This is your ability to intuit what lies beyond your field of vision while
travelling through the wilderness. Use Navigation to know which direction is north, estimate your
distance travelled vs the distance to your destination, or pilot a ship on the open seas. The use of
an appropriate map or star chart will double the result of any relevant Navigation roll you make.
The GM determines the TN typically 4 or 6 for plains, hills, and mountains and 8 or 10 for
swamps, jungles, and thick forests.
Ranged Attack (Perception): This is simply your ability to perform ranged attacks. Use Ranged
Attack whenever you want to attack while armed with a ranged weapon or attack with a thrown
weapon. Your roll when using Ranged Attack sets the TN for Dodge rolls made to avoid your attack.
See the entry "Essential Combat Reference" on page 9 for reference.
Research (Education): This is your ability to gather information. Use Research to survey a
crowd, study in a library, and locate field experts to learn the answer to any question. Each use of
Research should take roughly an hour; rerolls are allowed for the same question, but each
additional roll takes another hour. The GM determines the TN potentially anywhere from 4 to 12.
Sometimes there just aren't enough good sources to find the answers you're looking for.
Ride (Agility): This represents your proficiency with riding animals. Use Ride to avoid falling off
a bucking horse, calm a startled mount, or break a pony. Typically, only horses, ponies, donkies,
and mules are available as mounts, although some environments may provide an opportunity to
attain an elephant, camel, oxen, or other animal as a mount. At the GMs discretion, you may be
able to use Communication as the governing attribute for this skill instead of Agility. The TN is
determined by the GM typically 6 or 8. While riding a mount, always use the mounts speed
instead of your own. At the GMs discretion, performing an action that requires the use of your
hands may call for a Ride roll; the GM determines the TN typically 4 or 6.
 Sabotage (Subterfuge): This is your ability to disable machinery. Use Sabotage to stall a mill,
lock a gate in the raised or lowered position, or disarm a trap. The GM determines the TN
typically equal to the TN needed to craft the contraption you're attempting to disable; however, if
the mechanisms crafting TN isn't listed in this book, the TN should typically be 4, 6, or 8.
Science (Education): This represents your comprehension of math, chemistry, engineering,
and architecture. Use Science in conjunction with Labor to craft explosives, crossbows, siege
engines, and architecturally advanced structures (such as dams and bridges). You may use Science
in conjunction with someone elses Labor roll instead of your own. The TN to craft an item should
be listed in each items entry; however, if it isn't, the GM determines the TN typically 8 or 10.
Stealth (Agility): This is your general ability to avoid detection. Use Stealth to hide in the
shadows, silently sneak up on someone, or camouflage yourself in dense foliage. Your movement
speed while attempting to sneak around quietly is reduced to 1 meter per round; however, if
Agility is one of your primary attributes, your movement speed while sneaking is equal to your
Agility score in meters per round instead. Your roll when using Stealth sets the TN for Vigiliance
rolls made to detect you. At the GMs discretion, certain things will likely give away your position,
such as speaking out-loud (whispering is an obvious exception most of the time, but it should
typically only allow you to communicate with someone you are right next to), or wearing clothing
that starkly contrasts with your surroundings. For the details on the effects that Stealth has on
combat, see the entry "Stealth in Combat" on page 10.
Vigilance (Perception): This is your ability to detect hidden and obscured objects and people.
Use Vigilance to spot a gold piece that's partially coved by a scrap of paper, hear someones
footsteps as they try to sneak up on you, or search for a hidden passageway, the best loot off a
fallen enemy's corpse, or a trail left by someone you're tracking down. The TN is set by the roll that
this skill is made against (For example, someone elses Disguise, Legerdemain, or Stealth roll); if this
skill isn't used against someone who is actively using a skill to deceive others, then the GM
determines the TN typically 4 or 6.

SOCIAL INTERACTION BASICS

The Communication skills Charm, Goad, Intimidate, Leadership, and Mercantile are meant
to be used by both PCs (Player Characters) and NPCs (Non-Player Characters), but are only meant
to affect NPCs, not PCs. If a PC would potentially be subjected to one of these skills, it is entirely up
to the player to decide if they want to roleplay being affected by the use of that skill.
Lying: If a character wants to lie, they roll a number of dice based on the believability of the lie
and the size of the dice they roll is based on their Communication score. The GM determines the
believability of the lie and the corresponding number of dice the character should roll for the lie.
When a character rolls multiple dice to determine the effectiveness of their lie, they keep the
highest result out of the dice they rolled and ignore the rest just like a skill roll. For reference, a lie
by default rolls 3 dice; then if the lie is particularly believable or unbelievable, it rolls 1 more or 1
less dice, respectively; then if the implications of the lie are innocuous or notable, it rolls 1 more or
1 less dice, respectively (for example, spreading a rumor that a tyrant is raising taxes again would
be a 5 dice lie 3 dice, plus 1 for believability, plus 1 for being relatively harmless; however, trying
to convince someone that walked into an alley and saw you holding a knife over the corpse of a
stab victim that you didn't kill the victem before the pedestrian calls for the guards would be a 1
dice lie). The result of your lie roll sets the TN of the Judgment roll made by those who hear it to
see through the lie. A PC is never obligated to believe a lie they're told, regardless of the result of
their Judgment roll.
 ROUNDS, INITIATIVE, AND TURN ORDER

1. At the start of combat, each participant makes an Initiative roll to determine the order in
which characters take their turn, going from highest result to lowest result. The GM determines
how you break ties.
2. A round lasts approximately 6 seconds (give or take a few, depending on what the situation
calls for). On a characters turn, during a given round, they may perform several actions. See the
entry "Actions" below for details.
3. Repeat the turn order until combat is resolved. You can delay your turn until something
happens (for example, you could stand beside a door and wait for someone to open it and then
attack them the moment they walk through). Doing this doesn't change the turn order after your
delayed turn has ended. If you delay your turn long enough for it to become your turn again, then
you lose your delayed turn.

ACTIONS

The only limit to what you can do in a round to what is reasonable within the time-frame of
roughly 6 seconds, at the GMs discretion. Typically, this entails one action with the hands (such as
attacking an enemy), one action with your feet (such as moving up to your full movement speed),
and one action with your head (such as alerting your allies to danger); additionally, there is no limit
to the number of attacks you can make a Dodge roll against in a given round; however, if you want
to focus on a particular type of action by performing that action twice (attacking twice, moving
twice, etc.), then you may do so, but at the cost of not being able to perform any other actions for
that round including dodging attacks.

ESSENTIAL COMBAT REFERENCE

1. Attacker makes a Melee Attack roll or a Ranged Attack roll.

2. Defender makes a Dodge roll.
2a. If the defenders roll meets or beats the attackers roll, the attack misses.
4. If the attack hits, roll 1d6 to determine where the defender is hit.

Hit Locations of the Human Body

1 Head 4 - Torso
2 - Right Arm 5 - Right Leg
3 - Left Arm 6 - Left Leg

HIT POINTS AND THE EFFECTS OF DAMAGE

The amount of damage done by a Melee Attack is equal to the attackers Might score, plus any
damage bonus from the attackers weapon. The amount of damage done by a Ranged Attack is
equal to the attackers Perception score, plus any damage bonus from the attackers weapon.
Each location on your body has a number of Hit Points equal to 5, plus your Might score,
except your torso, which has double that many Hit Points.
 Limbs: Damage done to limbs is applied as a penalty to the result of all rolls that require the
use of that limb. For example, if your right arm has taken 2 damage, a -2 penalty is applied to the
result of all Melee Attacks and Ranged Attacks that require the use of that arm, as well as the
result of all Acrobatics, Athletics, Forgery, Legerdemain, Lockpick, and Medicine rolls that require
the use of that arm. When a limb has lost all of its Hit Points, it becomes crippled. All rolls that
require the use of a crippled limb automatically fail. A crippled limb is effectively useless and can
never heal on its own, but can potentially be healed with successful Medicine rolls; see the entry
"Medicine" on page 7 for details.
A limb that takes an amount of damage totaling more than double its' Hit Points is completely
destroyed; a character that suffers such an injury must immediately make an Endurance roll to
avoid systemic shock.
Torso: Damage done to your torso is applied as a penalty to the result of all Fortitude rolls and
all Endurance rolls made for any reason other than to avoid systemic shock. If your torso takes an
amount of damage totaling an amount equal to or more than its' Hit Points, you must immediately
make an Endurance roll to avoid systemic shock, however the torso is not necessarily destroyed; if
damage to your torso causes system shock and subsequent death, the GM may rule that the torso
was indeed effectively destroyed.
Head: Damage done to your head is applied as a penalty to the result of all Agility, Perception,
and Subterfuge rolls. If your head takes an amount of damage totaling more than or equal to its Hit
Points, you are immediately knocked unconscious; if your head takes double that much damage or
more, you die outright; the duration of unconsciousness achieved in this way is up to the GMs
discretion though it should typically last at least one or two hours.

CRITICAL HITS AND COUNTER ATTACKS

Critical Hit: If the attackers attack roll results in a number that is equal to or greater than
double the defenders Dodge roll, the attack is a critical hit. In the event of a critical hit, the attack
deals double the amount of damage it normally would.
Counter Attack: If the defenders Dodge roll results in a number that is equal to or greater than
double the attackers attack roll, the attack fails (as usual) and the defender is allowed to make a
free counter-attack against the attacker. A counter-attack functions exactly as a normal attack, but
does not count against the total number of actions you can perform on your turn in a given round.
Additionally, only dodging Melee Attacks can result in counter-attacks and counter-attacks can only
be Melee Attacks.

STEALTH IN COMBAT

Whether you're ambushing a caravan, hunting a deer, or literally stabbing someone in the
back, if you use Stealth to avoid detection and then attack someone that's unaware of your
presence, that attack receives several benefits; the attack automatically hits, since a person who is
unaware of your presence wouldn't be able to respond to the attack with a Dodge roll; the attack is
an automatic critical hit; and if the target of your attack is relatively stationary (not actively walking
or running), then you get to choose which location of their body you hit instead of needing to roll
for it. Once you attack someone, they immediately become aware of your presence, so only your
first attack will gain the benefits associated with using Stealth.
 CALLED SHOTS

You can choose a location you wish to aim for, roll for location a number of times equal to your
Melee Attack score or Ranged Attack score (depending on which type of attack you're performing)
before you attack instead of rolling once for location after you attack (for example, if you want to
make a called shot with a Melee Attack and your Melee Attack score is 3, then you would roll for
location 3 times before you attack); if any of those rolls result in the chosen location, your attack
will hit that location if a successful attack is made. If none of those rolls result in the chosen
location, your attack automatically fails and counts against the total number of actions you can
perform on your turn in a given round.
Disarm: You can make a called shot targetting an arm with a Melee Attack or Ranged Attack
that does not add your weapons bonus to damage and cannot result in a critical hit. If the called
shot hits, the enemy drops what they were holding in the hand of the targetted arm. Picking up a
dropped item counts as performing an action with your hands, and thus prevents the disarmed
individual from attacking with a weapon they just picked back up.
Feint: You can allow an attacker making a Melee Attack against you to choose which location
their attack will hit you before they make their Melee Attack roll. If the attack hits, the enemy
benefits from having been given the opportunity to choose where they hit you; however, if the
attack misses, you get a free counter-attack regardless of how much your Dodge roll beat the
attackers Melee Attack roll by.
Grapple: You can make a called shot targetting a head with a Melee Attack that deals no
damage. If the called shot hits, the enemy becomes pinned. While pinned, the enemy cannot
attack, move, or speak and immediately begins to suffocate until either you release them from the
pin or they escape from the pin. To escape from the pin, the enemy must spend their entire turn
devoted to the escape and make a Dodge roll that meets or beats your initial Melee Attack roll
made to pin them. See the entry "Endurance" on page 5 for details on suffocation.
Push: You can make a called shot targetting a torso with a Melee Attack that does not add
your weapons bonus to damage and cannot result in a critical hit. If the called shot hits, the enemy
is knocked directly backwards a number of meters equal to your Might score. This can be used to
force someone to make an Acrobatics roll to avoid falling off of a cliff.
Trip: You can make a called shot targetting a leg with a Melee Attack that does not add your
weapons bonus to damage and cannot result in a critical hit. If the called shot hits, the enemy is
knocked to the ground. Someone that is prone like this cannot make Dodge rolls and their
movement speed is reduced to 1 meter per round. Standing up from the prone position uses up
the number of actions you can perform with your feet during a given round (and therefore does
not hinder your ability to attack during that round).

EQUIPMENT

Gold Pieces (GP): Commonly referred to simply as gold, gold pieces are the standard unit of
currency. Each character starts with 10gp, plus an additional amount of gp equal to 10 times their
Mercantile score. The amount of gold a character has is not directly affected by changes made to
that characters Mercantile score after character creation; however, that characters ability to make
gold throughout the game by roleplaying is likely to be affected. Gold pieces are small enough to
be considered very light-weight individually; however, if the GM deems it necessary to keep track
of the weight of gold, then 20gp should weigh 1 pound; if the GM wants to keep track of the
weight of gold, but also wants to be lenient on that front, then 50gp should weigh 1 pound.
 Armor: Whenever an armored location would be hit by an attack or trap, reduce the amount
of damage caused by the attack or trap by the amount listed under the armors DR (Damage
Reduction). Armor does not reduce the damage caused by a critical hit. The highest EV out of each
piece of armor you are wearing is applied as a penalty to all of your Dodge, Acrobatics, and
Athletics rolls (For example, if you are wearing Chain armor on each of your limbs, Plate armor on
your torso, and no helmet, then you would use the Plate armors EV).
Shields: A shields "Shield Bonus (SB)" is the bonus that it grants to the result of your Dodge
rolls. Most shield types have a unique trait that makes them preferable in various different
situations. Unless otherwise noted, a weapon cannot be wielded in the same hand that is
equipped with a shield. You cannot effectively wield a shield that weighs more than double your
Might score. You can bash someone with a shield; such attacks treat the shield as though it were a
melee weapon with a Damage Bonus (DB) of 1. You cannot effectively bash with a shield that
weighs more than your Might score.
Weapons: Weapons grant a bonus to the damage that your attacks do. You cannot effectively
wield a weapon that weighs more than your Might score in one hand or one that weighs more
than double your Might score in two hands. You cannot effectively throw a weapon with two
hands (thus, effectively throwing a weapon requires that it not weigh more than your Might score).
Ranged weapons have a limited range; you can hit anything within the listed range with a Ranged
Attack made with these weapons or spend an entire round focusing on a single Ranged Attack to
double the listed range.
Ammo: Each ranged weapon listed requires ammo. You have two options, at the GMs
discretion 1 gold for 10 ammo or multiply the cost of ranged weapons by 5 and they have an
unlimited amount of ammo; the GM should only allow one of these options, not both; allowing the
unlimited ammo option comes with one crucial caveat: don't allow unreasonable or ridiculous
actions that would seek to take advantage of this option. Unlike ranged weapons, thrown weapons
need to be recovered once thrown to be thrown again. If the GM deems it necessary to keep track
of the weight of ammo, then 10 ammo should weigh 1 pound.
Explosives: These deal the listed amount of damage to everything within the listed blast
radius. If a person is within the blast radius, the damage is dealt to every location of that persons
body. Packing multiple explosives together to detonate simultaneously makes them each deal their
damage at the same time and increases the blast radius by 1 meter for every 5 explosives.
Locks: The TN to pick a lock is always the same as the TN to craft the lock. Crafting a lock
always implies crafting the key to the lock as well, and purchasing a lock always includes the key in
the price. A locksmith can craft their locks to accept a skeleton key, which they must create
separately, but which has no official cost or craft time; a lock cannot be made to accept a skeleton
key after it has already been crafted. See the entry "Lockpick" on page 7 for details on lockpicking.

WEAPON DB RNG WT COST CRAFT EXAMPLES

Light Ranged 1 50 1 10 TN 8 Atlatl, Bow, Sling
Heavy Ranged 2 50 2 15 TN 10 Compound Bow, Crossbow
Light Thrown 2 10 1 10 TN 4 Javelin, Knife, Shuriken
Heavy Thrown 3 10 2 15 TN 4 Harpoon, Spear, Tomahawk
Light Melee 3 1 1 10 TN 6 Shortsword, Club, Hatchet
Heavy Melee 4 1 2 15 TN 6 Longsword, Mace, Battleaxe
Great Melee 5 1 3 20 TN 6 Claymore, Maul, Halberd
DB: Damage Bonus. RNG: Range (in meters). WT: Weight.
ARMOR DR EV P-WT P-COST CRAFT S-WT S-COST
Hide 1 1 2 1 TN 4 12 6
Leather 1 1 1 2 TN 4 6 12
Padded 1 0 1 3 TN 4 6 18
Scale 2 3 2 4 TN 6 12 24
Chain 2 2 2 5 TN 6 12 30
Lamellar 3 4 3 6 TN 6 18 36
Brigandine 3 3 3 7 TN 8 18 42
Splint 4 5 4 8 TN 8 24 48
Laminar 4 4 4 9 TN 8 24 54
Plate 5 5 5 10 TN 10 30 60
DR: Damage Reduction. EV: Encumbrance Value. P-: Piecemeal. S-: Full Suit.

SHIELD DB WT COST CRAFT SPECIAL

Target 1 2 10 TN 6 May be worn in addition to a wielded weapon.
Small 2 4 15 TN 4 -N/A-
Large 2 6 20 TN 4 Provides 2x DB against Ranged Attacks.
Tower 2 10 25 TN 6 Provides 4x DB against Ranged Attacks.
DB: Dodge Bonus.

EXPLOSIVES R+D WT COST CRAFT LOCKS WT COST CRAFT

Class I 1 1 1 4 Class I 1 1 4
Class II 2 1 3 6 Class II 1 3 6
Class III 3 1 6 8 Class III 1 6 8
Class IV 4 1 10 10 Class IV 1 10 10
Class V 5 1 15 12 Class V 1 15 12
R+D: Blast Radius and Damage.

MEDICINE COST CRAFT MEDICINE

Analgesic 4 TN 8
You can take a total number of doses of medicine equal to
Antidote 6 TN 10 your fortitude score. Each time you take a dose of medicine when
Bane 8 TN 12 you've already reached your limit and each time that you take a
dose of medicine when you already have a different type of
Poison 4 TN 8
medicine in your system, you must make a Fortitude roll; the TN is
Salve 2 TN 6 6. An unsuccessful Fortitude roll results in intense stomach cramps
Sedative 2 TN 6 and blurred vision for a day, which together cause the result of all
rolls you make to be halved. Becoming sickened in this way
Stimulant 8 TN 12 immediately triggers the need for another Fortitude roll. If it is also
Tranquilizer 6 TN 10 unsuccessful, you fall unconscious for a day. Falling unconscious in
this way immediately triggers the need for another Fortitude roll. If
this third roll is also unsuccessful, you are paralyzed for 1 minute
and then die unless someone else causes you to vomit before the end of the minute. Inducing
vomitting in this way takes a full round of focused effort.
 Analgesic: For one day, you ignore the penalties of 1 point of damage to each location of your
body. This does not heal damage. For example, if your right arm has taken 3 damage, your head
has taken 1 damage, and your torso has taken 4 damage, but you take 2 doses of analgesic, then
the penalty to actions performed with your right arm is reduced to -1 instead of -3, the penalty
caused by damage to your head is reduced to 0, and penalties caused by damage to your torso are
reduced to -2 instead of -4.
Antidote: An antidote completely cures you of one disease or toxin you currently have. The
disease or toxin that an antidote cures is determined during its creation, so an antidote that cures
one disease can't be used to cure a different disease or any kind of toxin. Antidotes cannot be used
to increase the number of doses of medicine a single person can take in any way and each antidote
you take still counts against the total number of doses of medicine you can take.
Bane: This is a toxin that has no affect when ingested, but when injected or exposed to an
open wound (typically by being applied to a blade that then inflicts a wound), it causes 1 point of
damage to the torso, regardless of the location that the poison is applied to. This counts against
the number of doses of medicine a person can tolerate.
Poison: This is a toxin that must be ingested to take effect. It causes 1 point of damage to the
torso and counts against the number of doses of medicine a person can tolerate. Poison has an
onset time of 1 minute; symptoms do not manifest until after a minute has passed. When
poisoning a drink, follow the assumption that a person takes 1 minute to drink a pint of liquid with
a meal and that to be effective, multiple doses are necessary, since a person will almost certainly
stop drinking a poisoned beverage after symptoms manifest.
Salve: When applied directly to a wound, you ignore the penalties of 1 point of damage to the
wounded location for 1 day. Salve does not count against the total number of doses of medicine
you can tolerate, but only one "dose" of salve can be applied to each location. When ingested,
salve has no effect other than to count against the number of doses of medicine you can tolerate.
Sedative: This is a toxin that must be ingested. Ingesting a sedative triggers the need to make
a Fortitude roll every minute to avoid falling unconscious; the TN is 6. Sedatives have an onset time
of 1 minute; symptoms do not manifest until after a minute has passed. Follow the same
assumptions for sedating someones drink as you would for poisoning it. Unconsciousness caused
by sedatives lasts for 1 hour. Ingesting multiple doses increases the number of Fortitude rolls you
must make each minute.
Stimulant: When ingested, a stimulant temporarily increases your Agility and Might score by 1
(to a maximum score of 5 each) and you cannot be rendered unconscious by any means.
Stimulants take effect immediately and last for 1 hour. The effects of a stimulant do not stack with
multiple doses.
Tranquilizer: This is a toxin that has no affect when ingested, but when injected or exposed to
an open wound (typically by being applied to a blade that then inflicts a wound), it triggers the
need to make a Fortitude roll to prevent the affected location from becoming paralyzed for 1 hour.
A paralyzed location is treated as though it is crippled. Tranquilizer counts against the number of
doses you can tolerate.

COVER AND CONCEALMENT

Cover: At the GMs discretion, certain environmental features may be used as cover, such as
boulders, trees, or the parapets on a wall. Cover offers the same protection as a tower shield does
against ranged attacks (which is to say, you add a +8 bonus to the result of all Dodge rolls made to
avoid attacks); however, cover is almost always completely stationary, so you must stay behind it to
receive its benefits and it only protects against attacks made from the other side.
 Concealment: At the GMs discretion, certain environmental features may be used for
concealment, such as bushes, curtains, or any kind of cover. Concealment facilitates the use of
Stealth in broad daylight. Note that jumping behind a bush right in front of a group of guards that
are chasing you will not allow you to use Stealth to make them suddenly forget that they saw you
jump behind the bush.

LIGHT AND VISION

Light: There are three levels of visibility dark, dim, and bright. The visibility level outdoors is
bright during the day, dim during twilight, and dark during the night. If it's the night of the full
moon and the sky is clear, then it might be dim at night instead of dark, at the GMs discretion. As a
guideline, shaded alleyways, the inside of poorly-lit houses, and forests or jungles with very dense
canopies will almost always be one level of visibility lower than normal (so a shady alley would be
dim instead of bright during the day). Candles create bright light in a 1 meter radius and dim light
in a 1 meter radius beyond that; torches are the same, except the radius of the bright and dim light
are each 2 meters instead of 1; a campfire is the same as well, except the radius of the bright and
dim light are each 5 meters instead of 1.
Vision: Stealth is impossible in an area of bright light without the aid of concealment; Stealth
functions normally in areas of dim lighting; and areas of dark visibility facilitate the use of Stealth
even in the open, where there's nothing to hide or sneak behind.

EARNING EXPERIENCE

Once gained, Experience Points (EP) must be spent before the start of the following session.
Unspent EP is lost. You may invest less EP into something than it costs to purchase that upgrade
outright; if you do, you do not gain the benefits of that upgrade until you have payed off the full EP
cost of that upgrade; you may make such partial EP investments during character creation. One EP
is awarded at the end of each game session for each of the following that apply:
Attend the entire session
Complete a quest-line
Overcome a significant obstacle

MAGIC

Magic is an optional set of rules that the GM may include or exclude in part or (preferably) in
whole in the options available to the players and various NPCs. Magic encompasses two additional
attributes beyond the six standard attributes and a total of ten spells (five for each magic
attribute). Magic spells function exactly as mundane skills, except that they accomplish more
supernatural effects. Just like most of the standard six attributes, the magic attributes affect more
than just your ability to cast spells they also have an effect on your ability to perform seances (in
the case of Necromancy) and communicate telepathically (in the case of Thaumaturgy) see the
entry "Seances and Telepathy" below for details. All magic attributes and spells, unlike the
standard attributes and skills, start at a score of 0.
Thaumaturgy: This is your ability to perform feats of mind over matter. It governs the
following spells: Intangibility, Invisibility, Shapeshift, Sineater, Telekinesis.
Necromancy: This is your ability to communicate and interact with spirits. It governs the
following skills: Animate, Clairvoyance, Exorcism, Familiar, and Psychometry
 SEANCES AND TELEPATHY

Seance: You can summon a spirit if you possess at least part of the spirits corpse (for example,
a lock of hair or a finger) or an item owned by the spirit in life that the spirit holds an emotional
attachment to. Summoning a spirit takes twelve rounds, minus a number of rounds equal to
double your Necromancy score. If your Necromancy score is 0, then you cannot perform a seance.
The spirit can understand anything you say in a language that it knew in life, but it cannot speak
and needs to be provided with an easy way to communicate that takes as little physical effort as
possible, such as a foggy mirror or an ouija board. A spirit that could communicate telepathically in
life can still do so in death, thus such a spirit doesn't require an ouija board. A spirit that is present
in the physical realm (intangible, though it may be), is limited in its knowledge to that which it has
learned in the physical realm.
Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically in any language you can speak with anyone
who can also speaks that language. You and the person you wish to communicate telepathically
with must both be able to see eachothers eyes, you must both maintain eye contact, and the
person must be within a number of meters equal to your Thaumaturgy score times your
Thaumaturgy score. If your Thaumaturgy score is 0, then you cannot communicate telepathically.
Telepathy only works one way, so a telepathic conversation between two people requires that they
both be telepathic. The Communication skills Charm, Goad, Intimidate, Leadership, and
Mercantile can be used telepathically.

SPELLS

Animate (Necromancy): This spell can only be cast in the presence of a spirit and requires a
non-living, sapient organism (a human corpse or skeleton). You bind a spirit to a corpse or skeleton
for 1 year, after which time the corpse or skeleton disintegrates and the bonds are broken. The
corpse or skeleton need not be completely intact, but less intact specimens are less capable and
once the corpse or skeleton is completely destroyed, the spell will cease to function.
Spirits bound to a corpse or skeleton in this way do not feel sensations normally, but the
magics that bind it also function to provide it with rudimentary versions of hearing, sight, and
touch. The lowest attribute and skill scores possible for physical attributes (i.e. Agility, Might, and
Subterfuge, as well as each of the skills that those attributes govern all have a score of 1 when
using a human corpse or skeleton), regardless of the scores that the corpse or skeleton had in life;
these scores cannot be raised. Damage does not cause penalties to actions, but rolls that require
the use of a crippled or destroyed location will still always automatically fail. Anything that would
normally affect only living beings would not affect the spirit or the corpse or skeleton it is bound to
(suffocation, disease, poison, etc.).
The spirit, while bound to the corpse or skeleton, retains its sentience and free will, but is
compelled to protect you from harm. Because of this, a spirit also retains the scores for its mental
attributes and skills (Communication, Education, Perception, and any Magic Attributes, as well as
each of the skills that those attributes govern).
 Additionally, you can make further Animate rolls to compel the spirit to follow a single
command. The TN for the initial animation is 4 and casting this spell for this purpose requires 5
consecutive successes; each roll requires a full round of focused effort; the GM determines the TN
of Animate rolls made to compel a spirit to follow a command anywhere from 4 for something
that the spirit sees as reasonable and which fits within its personal views to 12 for something that
the spirit sees as unreasonable and which contradicts its personal views. Some actions may be
seen as so outrageously reprehensible by the spirit that it is impossible to compel it to perform
such actions; likewise, some actions may be so in-line with the spirits desires that no roll is
necessary to compel it.
Exorcism (Necromancy): This spell can only be cast in the presence of a spirit and you must
use an item with significant personal meaning as a focal point through which to channel the
exorcising energies of this spell. You dispel the magic that is binding a particular spirit to a corpse,
skeleton, or non-sapient organism (an animal). This spell can also be used to sanctify a location;
spirits cannot enter such a sanctuary and those within a sanctuary at the moment of its creation
are shunted outside its area. This spell has no effect on spirits that are directly linked to a physical
form, such as those currently residing in their own, living body, those put into a corpse via the
Animate spell, or those that are being astrally projected via the Intangibility spell The TN to
exorcise a spirit that is possessing a host is 4 and casting this spell for this purpose requires 3
consecutive successes; each roll requires a full round of focused effort; the TN to sanctify a
location is 12 and this requires 3 consecutive successes.
Familiar (Necromancy): This spell can only be cast in the presence of a spirit and requires a
living, sentient, non-sapient organism (an animal). This spell functions exactly as the Animate spell,
except that it binds a spirit to an animal instead of a corpse or skeleton.
Intangibility (Thaumaturgy): To cast this spell, you must be completely submerged in liquid
and hold your breath. You astrally project your spirit and see through its eyes instead of your own.
Your spirit looks like a transparent version of yourself and is exactly as mobile as you are, except
that in addition to sharing your movement speeds, it can also move through solid objects at a rate
of 1 meter per round; however, each time that you make your spirit move through an object, each
location of your body that moved through the object takes 1 point of damage and you leave an
ectoplasmic residue on the surface of the object.
Your equipment has no effect on your spirit and your spirit cannot be damaged; however,
objects moving through your spirit in the form of attacks, traps, falling rocks, or anything else will
still count as objects that you move your spirit through and thus deal 1 damage to the location that
they hit.
You can emerge from the body of liquid or cease holding your breath at any time to end the
spell. Once you do, your body snaps to the exact location that your spirit was occupying. If your
spirit was moving through a solid object at the time that this spell is ended, your body still snaps to
the exact location, occupying the same space as the object, which deals an amount of damage to
the location equal to double the locations HP, which should always be enough to trigger the need
for and Endurance roll to avoid systemic shock. The jarring effect of your body snapping to your
spirits location causes you to fall prone immediately after teleporting. The TN is 4; casting this spell
takes 1 success, plus an additional success each round that you maintain it; failing a roll results in
your spirit snapping back to your body and the spell ends immediately; the roll requires a full
round of focused effort, which prevents your physical body from performing any other actions, but
doesn't hinder your spirit in any way.
 Invisibility (Thaumaturgy): To cast this spell, you must keep your eyes closed for the spells
duration. Anyone viewing your current location while you're invisible sees only what was there the
previous round; this means that while invisible, you are always considered to be behind
concealment while moving and the result of all of your Stealth rolls made while moving are
doubled (you must move at least one meter each round to gain the benefits of this spell, so Stealth
rolls made to hide in a single spot are unaffected by the spell). Additionally, attacks made against
you are made as though the attacker were blind; however, you are also considered to be blind for
as long as you continue to remain invisible. The spell lasts until you open your eyes. The TN is 4;
casting this spell takes 1 success; the roll requires a full round of focused effort.
Psychometry (Necromancy): This spell can only be cast in the presence of a spirit and is
limited to a single object or location. You use a spirit to analyze any connections that have been
made to a specific object or location. During the first round, this spell reveals the last person to
come in contact with the object or location (excluding the caster), how long ago that person was in
contact with it, and for how long that person was in contact with it; each subsequent round spent
maintaining this spell reveals the person before last, the person before that, and so on. Spirits are
not normally capable of analyzing places and things in this way without the aid of this spell. The TN
is 4; casting this spell takes 1 success, but each round spent maintaining the spell require an
additional consecutive success; failing to maintain the spell requires that you start from the
beginning if you wish to progress further in the object or locations history; however, each time you
attempt to cast this spell beyond the first counts as a person coming into contact with the object or
location and therefore requires an additional success to progress to your previous point in the
object or locations history; each roll requires a full round of focused effort.
Clairvoyance (Necromancy): This spell can only be cast in the presence of a spirit and requires
a crystal ball. The crystal ball displays what the spirit sees. For the limitations on the mobility of a
spirit, see the entry for the spell "Intangibility." The spirit of a dead person is unharmed by walking
through solid objects, but still leaves an ectoplasmic residue on the surface of objects it passes
through. A spirit will likely obey a request to travel to a specified location so that you may use the
crystal ball to see what it does, but if the spirit doesn't want to do so for any reason, you can
compel it to obey as is explained in the entry for the spell "Animate." The TN to make a crystal ball
reveal a spirits sight is determined by the GM anywhere from 4 to 12, depending on distance; the
maximum distance would typically be 1 kilometer; the TN to compel a spirit to obey a command is
listed in the entry for the spell "Animate."
Shapeshift (Thaumaturgy): To cast this spell, you must wear a skin of the animal to be
transformed into. Your body transforms into that of the animal whose skin you're wearing. The
animal to be transformed into must be roughly the same size as you (Examples of animals close
enough to human-sized are: timber wolves, black bears, anacondas, cougars, and albatrosses). You
remain in the transformed state until the dawn of the day following the night of the full moon. The
TN is 8, minus 2 during the night (unless it is the night of the new-moon, in which case it is
unchanged), or minus 4 instead if it is the night of the full-moon; casting this spell takes 3
consecutive successes; each roll requires a full round of focused effort.
Sineater (Thaumaturgy): To cast this spell, you must maintain physical contact with the target
of your spell, which must be a living, sapient being. You transfer all damage, diseases, and toxins
from the target to yourself. You cannot choose to partially tranfer any of these things or to transfer
only damage, only disease, or only toxins. Damage is transfered precisely from location to location
(for example, if your target has 3 damage dealt to their left leg and 1 damage dealt to their torso,
then the 3 damage to their left leg would be transfered to your left leg and the 1 damage to their
torso would be transfered to your torso). The TN is equal to 4, plus 2 for each disease, plus 2 for
each toxin, plus 1 for each point of damage; casting this spell takes 3 consecutive successes; each
roll requires a full round of focused effort.
 Telekinesis (Thaumaturgy): To cast this spell, you must focus solely on the object you wish to
move, which must be no farther from you than a number of meters equal to your Telekinesis score,
plus your Thaumaturgy score. You move an object with your mind. This can be used on anything
that weighs a number of pounds equal to or less than your Telekinesis score, plus your
Thaumaturgy score. The object can be moved at a rate of up to a number of meters equal to your
Telekinesis score per round. The amount of force you exert on the object is so minute that any
notable amount of resistance prevents the object from being moved in this manner, which is to say
that although an object can be moved through the air or through water, an object cannot be made
to move other objects; coupled with the incredibly low speed of even the fastest telekinetically
manipulated object makes it impossible to use such an object as a weapon, unless you simply
levitate an object far enough above someones head that when you let go, it gains enough
momentum from falling to harm them.
One exception is if you choose to use enhanced telekinesis, which multiplies the maximum
weight, distance, and speed allowed by this spell by 5; doing so also allows you to make a Ranged
Attack with a telekinetically moved object that deals an amount of damage equal to your
Telekinesis score; however, doing so causes a migrane, which intensifies with every use of
enhanced telekinesis (this translates to 1 point of damage to your head every time you use
enhanced telekinesis). The TN is 4 for normal telekinesis and 8 for enhanced telekinesis.

THE SETTING

The Races: Humans primarily draw from the Celt, French, and Greek civilizations of the
~1300s, depending on the nation; Ondonti draw from the Norse and Romans, with a heavy focus
on agriculture; the Kobolds draw from the Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Maya, Aztecs, and
Inca; the Myconids draw from the various Native American tribes; and the beetlefolk draw from
both Egypt and the various "Far East" cultures. Every entry in this PDF before this entry assumes
that you are making a Human character; mechanical variations in how the other races are played
are detailed in the "Mechanical Variation Overview" entry for that race.

Minimum Starting Attributes

RACE AGI COM EDU MIG PER SUB THA NEC
Human 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0
Ondonti 2 2 1 3 2 2 0 1
Kobold 3 2 2 1 2 2 0 0
Myconid 2 3 1 2 2 2 1 0
Goliath 1 2 2 3 2 2 0 0

Because of the drastic differences between each of the races, the result of all Communication
rolls made between members of different races are halved.
 The Cosmology: The Pantheon has a different name and physical appearance in each nation,
but since the gods have a tangible, active effect on the world (particularly when it comes to magic),
all of the nations agree on the number and function of each of their deities. Each god has domain
over an aspect of life and an aspect of death:
- The god of necessity (food, water, and breath) and abstainance (thirst, starvation, suffocation).
- The god of family (fertility, shelter, and wealth) and bloodloss (child-birth, sacrifice, and battle)
- The god of vitality (physical and mental growth and vigor) and frailty (old-age and heart failure)
- The god of the seasons and inclemency (hypothermia/infrigeration and
hyperthermia/incineration)
- The god of health (both freedom from and suffering from disease, poison, and venom)

The Conflict: Truces were struck and alliances were forged when all manner of monstrous
creature began crawling up from deep underground to form dens in caves near the surface, from
which they terrorize their local surroundings and warp the land. One nation still aims to profit from
the suffering caused by these abominations; this nation and the indifference of the nigh-limitless
undead are hindering the people from making meaningful progress against the horrors
encroaching on their land, which may eventually bring about the end of days. Seemingly spawned
from the corruption and blight of the monsters are the Myconid people, who few trust, despite
their attempts to aid in the fight against the endless hordes.

ONDONTI

Description: Despite their strong resemblance to their human cousins, Ondonti are their own
species. A few key features in distinguishing the difference between Ondonti and humans are their
skin, eyes, and teeth; Ondonti skin ranges widely in shades of grey, their eyes have black corneas
and red, orange, yellow, or brown irises, and their teeth feature pronounced upper and, especially,
lower canines.
Ondonti have an average height of 6'3", an average weight of 200lbs, and with their
comparatively higher muscle-density, they typically have a slightly more athletic build than their
human counterparts. They have an average maximum lifespan of 70 years.

Mechanics Variation Overview

Ondonti can withstand harsh weather. The result of any Endurance roll they make to avoid
hyperthermia or hypothermia is doubled.
Ondonti are natural farmers. The result of any Labor roll they make to tend crops or
domesticate animals is doubled.
Ondonti must select Might, Perception, or Necromancy as one of their primary attributes and
they cannot select Thaumaturgy as one of their primary attributes.

KOBOLDS

Description: These reptilian bipeds have scales, claws, elongated snouts, sharp teeth, and a
tail. They bear a strong resemblance to their distant cousins, the crocodiles. Kobold scales range in
color from a wide variety of earthy greens and browns and are typically paler along the front of the
neck, stomach, and under-side of the tail; their irises range in shades of blue, green, and yellow
and their tails are short and stubby.
 Kobolds have an average height of 4'9", but often appear shorter due to their natural posture,
they have an average weight of 90lbs and typically appear thin. They have an average maximum
lifespan of 60 years.

Mechanics Variation Overview

Kobolds have an acute sense of smell. The result of any Vigilance roll they make to detect
anything with a strong odor is doubled.
Kobolds are natural scavengers. The result of any Fortitude roll they make to avoid the effects
of ingested toxins and diseased food is doubled.
Kobolds must select Agility, Perception, or Subterfuge as one of their primary attributes and
they cannot select Might as one of their primary attributes.

MYCONIDS

Description: Only vaguely humanoid, Myconids have no mouths, noses, ears, or eyes. They eat
through the thin, hair-like roots that coat their limbs and communicate via telepathy; they smell,
breathe, and pick up sound through the gills on the under-side of the mushroom-like cap on their
heads. Their eyes are completely white with no visible pupils or irises, their skin ranges from pale
white to dark brown, and their caps range from red to brown with white flecks.
Myconids have an average height of 5'6", an average weight of 120lbs, and a strongly inhuman
build with primarily gaunt features except for their forearms, hands, shins, and feet, which are all
significantly more plump. They have an average maximum lifespan of 70 years.

Mechanics Variation Overview

Myconid vision is based primarily on the infrared spectrum. Day and night are reversed in their
effective lighting because of the difference in heat, making day have an effectively "Dark" lighting
value for Myconids and night has an effectively "Bright" lighting value for them. In addition, during
the summer, the effective lighting value is always decreased by one category and in the winter it is
always increased by one category. In particularly cold environments the winter is longer and there
may not be a time of year that is warm enough to be considered "summer" for the purpose of this
"effective lighting variation" and visa versa is true of tropical environments.
They eat by absorbing nutrients from compost through the fine, hair-like roots that cover their
limbs. Because of the way that they eat, they can detect poison in their food before they have
eaten enough to be affected by it. Myconids prefer to eat rotten, decomposed food; such food has
no negative effect on them, but fresh food may cause a number of digestive issues. At the GMs
discretion, damage to a Myconids limbs and/or shaving their roots may increase the number of
hours needed for it to absorb nutrients by up to double the normal amount.
Myconids don't sleep. The result of any Endurance roll they make to avoid any form of
unconsciousness is doubled.
Myconids must select Agility, Communication, or Thaumaturgy as one of their primary
attributes and they cannot select Education as one of their primary attributes.
 GOLIATHS

Description: These four-limbed, bipedal insectoids have a chininous carapace, a set of four
vestigial, sheathed wings, and two large, feather-like antennae. Their chitin ranges in color from
shades of lustrous blues to purples; they have no eyes whatsoever, but use their antennae to see
through echolocation. Their unique appearance places them far from resembling anything else,
but beetles share the closest resemblance to them.
Goliaths have an average height of 4'6", an average weight of 160lbs, and a strongly inhuman
build with thin limbs and a bulky head and torso. Females are 10% larger on average. They have an
average maximum lifespan of 50 years.

Mechanics Variation Overview

Goliaths have no eyes and rely on echolocation for navigation. The echolocation gives them an
effective "sight" radius equal to 5, plus double their Perception score in meters. The result of any
Perception roll made on anything within a number of meters equal to their Perception score is
doubled. The result of any Perception roll made on anything beyond their sight radius
automatically fails. The result of any Perception roll made to detect something that's making sound
is doubled. Lighting, fog, steam, and smoke have no effect on a Goliaths Perception rolls.
Their chitinous carapace provides DR, just like armor. The amount of DR is equal to the
Goliaths Might score. The carapace makes any kind of armor far more of a hinderance than it is to
the other races; the EV of armor worn by a Goliath is doubled.
Goliaths have vestigial wings. The result of any Acrobatics roll they make to soften a landing
from a fall is doubled.
Goliaths must select Communication, Education, or Might as one of their primary attributes
and they cannot select Agility as one of their primary attributes.