Another High Fantasy Hero

High Fantasy Hero
What is it?
What it boils down to is playing D&D, but using the 5th Edition of the Hero System
to do it. OK, maybe not exactly D&D, but sort of D&D. D&D-ish. No character
classes or any of that sort of bollocks, but lots of monsters and magic, and PCs
doing really, really strange things in an everyday fashion. Plus dungeons, of course
got to have lots of dungeons.
Character Creation
Characters are built with 100 character points, and up to 100 points in
Disadvantages.
STR is costed at 2 character points per point of STR.
Base DCV is (DEX3)+10. For example, if your DEX is 13, your DCV is
(133) = 4, plus 10 is 14. (this minor change is to accommodate and ease
the use of the inverted attack roll system)
Normal Characteristic Maxima is compulsory (and therefore not worth
anything as a Disadvantage dang!)
Characters must be human unless specifically allowed otherwise by the cruel
and heartless GM whose sole pleasure is to trample on any joy or creativity
in character construction.
All characters must take the following character disadvantage:
Social Limitation: Adventurer (frequently, minor) 10pts
As an adventurer and person of no fixed abode, representatives of the law

will tend to be suspicious of you, and it can be difficult to get credit.
Innkeepers will want payment up front, for example, and substantial bonds
will have to be posted to hire livestock. Persons of "good" society will tend
to snub you (politely usually, depending on how dangerous you look), and
those weaker than yourself will normally react with caution and even fear
until they get to know you.
As time passes, you may gain a Reputation perk (and/or disad) which may
help to mitigate this disadvantage. Then again, it may just make matters
worse.
The equipment available to a starting character (in excess of one free suit of
normal clothing) is bought out of starting funds, modified by
any Money perks or disads (see Money).
Everybody gets Fast Healing by default, because I'm such a generous guy,
and because well, just because. What that means is that you heal
naturally (i.e. without magical intervention) at the rate of your REC per
week, instead of REC per month as normal.
Combat Luck is limited to no more than 2 levels (i.e. 6 PD/ED) and does not
stack with any physical armour heavier than soft leather (i.e. 1 rPD). That
still gives you the equivalent of wearing chainmail while dancing around in
your jockstrap, which isn't too bad. Note that Combat Luck doesn't come into
effect if you're taken by surprise, attacked in your sleep, or can't dodge
around for some reason if you're being crushed in a giant's fist, for
example.
Big and Little

Larger or smaller than adult human-sized characters are built
with Growth or Shrinking, with the following modifiers:
Reduced END (0 END) +

Persistent +
Inherent +
Always On -
Each level of Growth, in addition to its standard features, automatically gives the
character +1" Running longer legs gives you a longer stride. Big critters that
can't walk fast get to sell some Running back.
Each level of Shrinking, in addition to its standard features, automatically reduces

Running by -1.5", STR by -3 and BODY by -1. If you want to build a character who
is both tiny and fast, tough and strong, you will have to buy those characteristics
up again. On the plus side, each basic level of Shrinking now costs only 5
points instead of 10.
New Characteristic: MANA

I've created a new Characteristic, MANA, to deal with the problems involved in END
use for magic.
It's base value is 10 and costs a point per point to increase up to the Normal
Char. Max. of 30, and 1pt per pt thereafter. The NCM goes up as you get older to
45 in middle age, and 60 in old age.
You draw Mana for spells always in this order:

i. First, any available Mana Reserve that has been properly attuned to your
character (i.e. that you've paid Character Points for) and that you are using
correctly. Most will require skin contact at least.
ii. Second, from your Mana characteristic.
iii. Third, from Long Term END that recovers at REC per 6 hours if resting, or
REC per day if not.
iv. Fourth, from STUN at the rate of 1d6 STUN per END required (there is no
defence against this). Like END, the STUN loss from last-ditch magic use is
recovered at the Long Term rates.
v. Last, from BODY and STUN at the rate of 1 BODY and 1d6 STUN per 1 Mana
required. Note that since a character normally loses consciousness when
Stun drops below zero, this would require that he or she use one of the
various magical means of remaining awake with a negative Stun total.
Recovering Mana
Mana Recovery Time
Mana Level Resting Not Resting
0 or more Normal (REC per hour) REC per 6 hours
-1 to -10 REC per 6 hours REC per day
-11 to -20 REC per day REC per week
-21 to -30 REC per week REC per month
-31 or more GM's option (a long time)
Mana recovery is at the rate of the character's REC per hour if resting, or REC per
6 hours if not. For the purposes of Mana Recovery, "resting" means "not expending
Mana" (or STUN/BODY in place of Mana). The rate of restoration may be adjusted
upwards or downwards by the ambient Mana level of the area you're lurking about
in; some areas are more magically potent than others, while others are barely
magical at all.
Using STUN or BODY in place of Mana cannot lower the character's Mana below
zero; only a Mana Drain will do that.
A character with a negative Mana total becomes magically inert, and cannot use or
control magic in any way there is no other effect, so the only relevance of a
negative mana total less than zero is to determine how long it will take before it is
restored.
Magic Power Level
Magic is split into two basic types: first, Combat Magic which is of relatively low
power and can be cast quickly, and second, Ritual Magic which is capable of
considerably greater power, but which takes a long time to cast.
Combat Magic
Any spell designed for speedy casting ( Phase to 1 Turn) and attack or defence
falls into this category. Combat Magic has an absolute maximum power level of 60
Active Points.
Spells of up to 15 Active Points may be built without modification, according to the

rules and restrictions laid out elsewhere.
For each additional 15 Active Points (or part thereof) a level of Increased
END must be applied. In other words, a spell of 16-30 Active Points will cost x2
Mana to cast, 31-45 Active Points will cost x3 Mana, 46-60 Active Points will cost x4
Mana.
Note that applying Advantages to a power, like Autofire or Area Effect for example,
will reduce the actual damage it is possible to do with 60 Active Points.
Ritual Magic
Any spell over 60 Active Points must take Extra Time, beginning at the 10-Minute
level.
Each block of 60 Active Points will increase the casting time by at least one level on
the Time Chart.
Attitudes to Magic and Magicians

Unsurprisingly, the way in which magic and its practitioners are regarded vary
enormously from place to place.
Among the barbaric horse-tribes of the far north, almost everybody knows one or
two minor charms and every tribe has its own shaman to deal with the multitudes
of spirits and demons that infest the landscape. They have a respect for the power
of magic and are cautious around it, but are not in awe of it or of wizards in
general. They are a pragmatic people, and view magic as a tricky and dangerous
but necessary part of survival.
The tribal forest-dwellers of the north likewise have a fund of charms for day-to-day
use, but they view wizards that is, anyone who seems to have too much to do
with magic with profound suspicion. Necromancy or Demonology are abhorrent
to them, and those who practice such arts (or even those suspected of doing so)
will be hunted down and killed. In this they are guided and encouraged by their
druidic priests; druids are not known for their tolerance of competition.
Within most of the Southern Confederacy, wizards are very respectable and the
magical institutions are well established. It is only in this part of the world that any
sort of formal academic instruction in magic takes place, and entry to the more
prestigious Academies is hotly contested. Within the great cities (Agna, Hardros,
Hyarfalas Mundros and Fridl) magic is strictly regulated, and unlicensed
practitioners are given very short shrift. Therefore, those who choose not to abide
by those rigid restrictions have to make their base well outside the cities and their
surrounding contada, unless they are powerful enough to defy the whole magical
establishment as well as the secular authorities.
Magical Apparatus
Magic items will usually be encountered during play, and under normal
circumstances, be torn from the stiffening fingers of the rapidly cooling corpse of
some fool unfortunate enough to get in the way of a party of PCs. However, they
can also be built at character creation time, or later during the game, using
character points to do so.
All magic items must be built with the Independent limitation. There will
be no exceptions to this rule.
Note that this does not necessarily mean that anyone can just pick up and use a
particular piece of magical apparatus; many will require a specific skill (usually
a Magic skill, but others come to mind), and many more will require the use of
particular Incantations and/or Gestures.
You WILL NOT be able to waltz into a "Wizards-R-

Us" store and buy magic doo-dads. Don't even bother
to ask.
Note: I'm considering allowing the donation (or theft) of XP/BODY/CON from a third party
to cover the cost of building stuff, but haven't yet worked out the exact mechanics.
Because the Independent limitation requires that the builder spend their own
character points on a magic item, few are going to be altruistic enough to do so
willy-nilly. An artisan is literally spending their life-force when they build magical
thingies; if they don't have enough spare XP to cover the cost then the difference
comes straight out of BODY and CON, never to return.
Required Skills
Building magical gee-gaws will require quite a broad range of skills, and access to
some fairly obscure and possibly dangerous magic. The specifics will vary from item
to item, depending on the materials involved and the special effects of the powers
to be embedded.
Let's take as an example an old stand-by of roleplaying games since the dawn of
time: an Invisibility Ring.
Naturally the maker will need advanced skills in jewellery just to create the
housing, and will need to be able to identify and source the very best materials. He
or she will need a well-appointed workshop to do the work in, and possibly one or
more assistants to do the donkey-work of pumping the forge-bellows and what-not.
All pretty straightforward so far. But exactly how does it make the wearer invisible?
For the sake of argument, let's say that it will house the essence of some sort of
elemental spirit which has the ability to grant the power. So, the creator will need
an appropriate Summoning spell, plus a Binding spell, and some means of either
forcing or persuading the creature to cough up the goods on demand. That's a little
less straightforward. Maybe the thing agrees to make the wearer invisible a certain
number of times in return for a specific reward, in which case the ring would have a
limited number of non-renewable Charges, and the specifics might be worked out
by means of opposed Trading and/or Persuasion skill rolls. And so on.
A classic trope from fantasy literature is to require that to activate the finished
magic item, it be bathed in the blood of a unicorn in a silver basin held by a virgin
princess during the dark of the moon in the Year of the Warthog. Or some such
thing. Maybe not a unicorn, but you know what I mean.
The construction of magic items should never be just another mundane element of
the game, glossed over in the character's "down-time" between adventures. It will
always require a degree of planning, and the gathering of the raw materials alone
could form the basis of several game sessions. Not to mention finding a virgin
princess, and checking that she actually is virginal without having your head (or
anything else) chopped off for lese majesty.
Magic Items Are Valuable

Naturally, an item that someone has literally poured their heart and soul into is
going to be highly valued. In addition to this sentimental value, there's also a
significant cost in coin and time to be paid when building magical things. As a rough
guide, assume a monetary value of about 100 gold pieces, and a construction time
of 1d6 days, per Active Point in the item.
Priests and Religion
In a milieu like this, you can expect gods and their ilk to be hands-on kind of
entities who really get involved in the community. Priests are therefore quite
important, inasmuch as they provide a diplomatic buffer between fantastically
powerful, yet notoriously childish and irritable deities and a relatively defenceless
population.
The North
"Modern" Druidism has a look and feel very like that of the Russian Orthodox or Coptic
Christian churches lots of tall hats, embroidered robes, mosaics, long chants, incense and
what-not.
The rural priesthood (i.e. "old" Druidism) is shamanistic and hermetic in nature. The
hierarchy is not particularly apparent to non-druids. Most druids are in sole-charge
positions, and they're also often quite grumpy for some reason.
The Celtic pantheon dominates the north, though the practice of its priesthood
varies from a savage fundamentalist Druidism among the forest tribes to a
relatively benign bureaucratic ecclesiasticism in the towns and cities. The great
stone circles and sacred oak groves of the Old Ways are reflected in the towns by
open, un-roofed circular temples of elegantly-carved columns of wood or marble,
while their burnings and human blood-sacrifices have been transformed into largely
symbolic rituals. From time to time there comes a wave of fundamentalism that
temporarily returns the urban church to its scarier and bloodier roots, but they
seldom last long after the initial enthusiasm has passed, if only because the Old
Ways are so uncomfortable and messy.
The centre of Druidic power and authority is the peninsular of the Druids Tongue
and the holy island of Mea.
A relatively recent development, and one which rouses concern even among the
relatively complacent modern druids, is the spread of the Empire's High Faith,
especially among the urban poor. There have been a few incidents of religious
persecution, not yet approaching the level of pogrom, but worse is in the air. It also
disturbs many of the secular authorities, who are understandably reluctant to have
large portions of their populations developing an allegiance to some far-off God-
Emperor when they should be happily and uncritically loyal only to their own lords.
Not to mention the possibility that this God-Emperor may sieze on the opportunity
to add northern lands to his realm, under the guise of aiding his religious subjects.
It's a worry.
The Nomads
Use the Native American mythos for these tribes.
The nomads of the north-east practice animism and ancestor-worship. Their chiefs
are usually the head priest of the tribe, but each tribal group will also have a
shaman whose job it is to interpret omens and to communicate with the spirits
when necessary. The tribes have a few gods in common Sky, Fire, Earth and so
on but for the most part their gods and rituals are specific to their own clans.
The Middle Kingdom

Use the Norse pantheon for this region.
The peoples of the area immediately to the south of the World Wall endure a
particularly lusty and low-brow group of deities. They have no priesthood as such,
though there are men and women known as godi who make it their business to
know when and who to appease when things look bleak, to blame when things go
wrong, and to supplicate when you want something. Such rituals as are required to
keep the gods from taking undue notice of the world are the responsibility of the
head of the household, who will take advice from a godi as and where necessary
(as long as it's not too expensive). The gods are generally fairly unsympathetic to
the plight of human beings; they see them as entertainment, or cattle, or thralls, or
at best, ignore them completely. They hate a coward and won't tolerate whining...
though grovelling is OK, in a pathetic sort of way. They're unpredictable in their
reactions; on the one hand they expect a man to stand up for himself, but on the
other they're likely to take umbrage at what they see as impertinence. On the
whole, it's probably best to have as little to do with them as possible.
It's a bleak sort of religion, but on the other hand it does encourage self-reliance.
The religion of the Empire is based on that used in the Turakian Age campaign setting, by
Steve Long of Hero Games, with additions from various other sources.
The Empire
The official religion of the Empire is that of the pantheon of gods shown here. In
addition to these major gods, there are innumerable lesser deities associated with
particular places or peoples, as well as various elemental and infernal entities that
may sometimes be placated, or may respond to appropriate entreaties. The
Emperor is also worshipped as a god, and acts as the ultimate religious authority
within the Empire; the theocracy is remarkably intolerant of any cult that might
threaten its power in any way.
The Desert Tribes

The semi-nomadic tribes of the deserts of the Cursed Land are a bewildering
mixture of monotheists, dualists, mystery cultists, pantheists, henotheists, and just
plain loony.
Non-Humans
The Elves, though recognising the existence of powerful supernatural entities, do
not worship them. They are not atheistic, but non-religious. Such rituals as they do
use are generally for the purposes of social bonding, for commemoration and the
like.
Elves, being immortal, have no afterlife. If an elf dies, its life-force dissipates and is
absorbed by the Earth-Life from whence it originally came. A newly-dead elf can be
sort-of resurrected, but once the attachment between the body and life-force is
broken it can never be truly mended, and in all such cases the subject will gradually
just lose interest in anything and fade away, leaving an empty husk which will
eventually succumb to starvation and general self-neglect.
The Dwarves give respect to only one god, their creator Tharkn. But they also
venerate and pray to their ancestors.
Orcs, goblins and the like are shamanistic. Their gods and rituals are as various
as their tribes; there is little in common between them except for cruelty and
savagery.
Many non-humanoids also have their own gods, and some of them can be
found here.
The Gods of the High Faith

Name Description Domain Notes
Almandr The Four-Fold God, the God of nature, the Father of Bandaro, Eurinda,
Grey Patterner, the Weaver seasons, time and fate Korthund, and Sirella the Four
Children
Asvalak The Lord of Battle, the God of war, battle, Some soldiers and knights
Scarlet Bloody God, the slaughter, weapons, and regard him as a noble Blue
Slaughter-Lord warriors God, not Scarlet.
Bandaro The Lord of Rivers, the God of water, rivers, When sanctifying water or
Grey Blood of the World lakes, and streams crossing a river, priests pray
for his blessing.
Brandon The Guiding Hand, the God of forests, hunting, He carries a spear named
Blue Huntsman, the Treelord, and hunters Colbar and his bow and arrow
the Lord of Forests never miss.
Caligan The Golden God, the Lord God of trade, money Those about to make a deal or
Grey of Merchants, the Provider and prosperity take a monetary risk
frequently pray to him.
Eurinda The Lady of the Leaves, Goddess of animals, Primarily worshipped by

Blue Mistress of the Wilds, plants, and trees Druidesses
Protectress of the Trees
Faya Heartmaker, the Maiden, Goddess of beauty, The most beautiful of all
Blue the Lady of Pain and Joy, love, marriage, goddesses
the Star of Beauty childbirth, and children
Forgil The Lord of Thieves, the God of thieves and Son of Mordak and Mera;
Scarlet Nightwalker, He Who thieving Bitter enemy of Caligan
Lurks In Shadow
Hornbrek The Stormlord, the God of storms, rain, His symbol two crossed
Grey Tempest-Master, Wielder archery, and war lightning bolts is worn by
of the Lightning-Bow many archers.
Hospin The Divine Healer, the God of healing, healers, Perhaps the most beloved god
Blue Healer mercy, kindness, and after Kilbern and Mera
succor
Ishander The Forgelord, the Master God of smiths, With his forge Valinoss and
Blue of Iron, the Swordmaker metalworking, and hammer Rairos he crafts the
alchemy gods' weapons.
Kilbern The Skyfather, the Just God of the sky, justice, Ruler of heaven, most
Blue Lord truth, law, and order powerful and most revered of
all gods
Korthund The Mountain-Walker, the God of mountains, Highly favored by Dwarves;

Grey Stonelord, He Who Shakes rocks, stones, and god of stonework, masons and
the Earth metals architects
Lantiphone The Lady of the Arts Goddess of arts, crafts, Also goddess of
Blue and skill jewelrymaking, sculpting,
singing, woodcarving
Lithira The Bounteous Lady, She Goddess of agriculture, Her touch ripens fruit, causes
Blue Who Ripens the Grain farming, herding, and corn to grow tall, and fattens
growth sheep.
Mera The Earthwife, the Great Goddess of the earth Mother of the gods and
Blue Mother and fertility provider of all things that grow
from the fertile earth
Mordak The Black God, the Lord of God of Evil, darkness, Most hated and reviled God;
Scarlet the Devils, the Shadow the Underworld, and Lord of Evil; leader of the
King death Scarlet Gods
Ophel The Golden Lord, Fire's God of the sun, fire, Often the first prayer offered
Blue Master, the Radiant One, light and day each day is for Ophel's safe
the Light of Hope journey through the sky
Saaltus The Sea Lord, the Lord of God of the sea, sailors, Sailors and fishermen pray to
Grey Ships sailing and ships him daily for safe voyages and
plentiful catches.
Sala The Silver Lady, Night's Goddess of the moon Brother and husband of Ophel
Blue Mistress, the Lady of the and nighttime
Crescent Radiance
Sirella The Divine Breath, the Goddess of the wind Goddess of tornadoes,
Grey Windlady, the Galemaiden favorable tail winds, mists, fog
Vabanak The Corpse-Lord, the God God of necromancy, Son of Mordak; created the
Scarlet of the Tombs, the Great black magic, and the first undead; taught the first
Necromancer undead necromancers
Varidon The Arcane, Master of God of magic and The truly grateful sacrifice
Grey Magic, the Great Wizard wizards enchanted items so he may
re-absord their power.
Ziandwyrth The Laughing God, God of luck, chaos, A god so proud of his name
Scarlet Madman of the Gods, humor, and madness that every race uses it
Luckbringer, Lord of
Chaos
Monsters' Deities
Bugbear
Hruggek
Hruggek is the master of the bugbear pantheon. A master of savage conflict,
ambush, and cunning, he is a powerfully muscular bugbear with over-sized fangs
and claws, wielding a vast, two-handed morningstar. His domains are Chaos, Evil,
Trickery, and War. His favoured weapon is the morningstar. His symbol is the
morningstar.
Grankhul
Grankhul is chaotic evil. He governs hunting, vigilance, and surprise, and taught the
bugbears the value of stealth. A lean bugbear with bulging eyes, his long slender
fingers wield a longsword. His domains are Chaos, Evil, and Trickery. His favoured
weapon is the longsword. His symbol is a pair of ever-open eyes in darkness.
Centaur
Skerrit
Skerrit is neutral good. He oversees the community, and natural balance, and is
concerned with protection, and hunting. He is depicted as a powerful male centaur
with chestnut hair, a chain mail vest, golden-tipped spear and longbow. His
domains are Animal, Good, and Plant. His favoured weapon is the spear. His symbol
is an oak growing from an acorn.
Giant, Cloud
Stronmaus
Stronmaus is neutral good, and is worshipped by good cloud giants, and storm
giants. He governs the sun, skies, and weather, and is a vibrant, dramatic, and
muscular giant with laughing blue eyes, flowing red hair, a gold-trimmed white
robe, magnificent hammer, and perpetual smile. His domains are Good, Storms,
Strength, and Sun. His favoured weapon is the hammer. His symbol is a lightning
bolt descending from a silver-lined cloud partially obscuring the sun.
Memnor
Memnor is neutral evil, and is worshipped by evil cloud giants. Patron of pride and
domination, he is subtle, cultured, prideful, and intelligent. He is depicted as a
kindly-looking, golden-hued cloud giant with a piercing gaze, deep blue robe, and
morningstar. His domains are Charm, Evil, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the
morningstar. His symbol is a black obelisk.
Giant, Fire
Surtr
Surtr is lawful evil. He is the aggressive and tyrannical patron of fire giants. He is
depicted as a huge, powerful fire giant with real flames for hair, bearing a flame-
wreathed black greatsword, and chain mail that glows red with heat. His domains
are Evil, Fire, Law, and War. His favoured weapon is the greatsword. His symbol is
a flaming sword.
Giant, Frost
Thrym
Thrym is chaotic evil. He is the master of all frost giants, promoting violence and
savagery. He is depicted as a huge frost giant with icicles in his white hair and
beard, wearing chain mail and bearing a huge white greataxe. His domains are
Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and War. His favoured weapon is the battleaxe. His
symbol is a white double-headed axe.
Giant, Hill/Ettin
Grolantor
Grolantor is chaotic evil. He is strong and aggressive but stupid and cowardly at
times, and is worshipped by hill giants and some ettins and ogres. He is a huge hill
giant bearing an over-sized club. His domains are Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and
Strength. His favoured weapon is a club. His symbol is a wooden club.
Giant, Stone
Skoraeus Stonebones
Skoraeus Stonebones is neutral, and is the god of stone giants. A bastion of the
earth, he is dour, and stoic, with granite skin and a stalactite club. His domains are
Cavern, Earth, and Strength. His favoured weapon is the club. His symbol is a
stalactite.
Gnoll
Yeenoghu
Yeenoghu is chaotic evil. A powerful demon, he has risen to become the patron of
gnolls, and has strong ties with cannibalism and the undead. He is depicted as a
skeletal, furless gnoll, with only a many crest of yellow fur, and a three-headed
flail. His domains are Chaos, Death, Destruction, and Evil. His favoured weapon is
the flail. His symbol is a triple-headed flail.
Goblin/Hobgoblin
Maglubiyet
Ruler of the goblin/hobgoblin pantheon, Maglubiyet is patron of aggression, war,
and rulership. He is a massive goblin with skin like pitch, and eyes of crimson
flame, bearing a coal-black axe dripping with gore. His domains are Destruction,
Evil, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the battleaxe. His symbol is a bloody
axe.
Khurgorbaeyag
Khurgorbaeyag is neutral evil. The specific patron of goblins, he is the master of
slavery and oppression, depicted as a red-skinned goblin speckled with yellow and
orange scales, carrying a whip and wearing scale mail. His domains are Evil,
Suffering, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the mace; the whip is used as a
symbol only. He is the most trusted of Maglubiyet's most trusted follower, which is
not really saying very much. His symbol is a red and yellow striped whip.
Nomog-Geaya
Nomog-Geaya is lawful evil, and is the specific patron of hobgoblins. He espouses
stoicism, courage, ruthlessness, conflict, and authority, and is a powerful hobgoblin
with ashen skin, chilling orange eyes, and shark-like teeth, bearing a longsword in
one hand and a hand axe in the other. His domains are Evil, Law, and War. His
favoured weapon is the longsword or hand axe. He disdains Bargrivyek as a
coward. His symbol is a crossed sword and axe.
Bargrivyek
Bargrivyek is lawful evil. He promotes cooperation between goblin/hobgoblin tribes
in order to concentrate on further expanding territory. He is depicted as a large
goblin with a domed forehead, calm mien, and white-tipped flail. His domains are
Evil, and Law. His favoured weapon is the flail. He fears Maglubiyet and Nomog-
Geaya. His symbol is a white-tipped flail.
Kobold
Kurtulmak
Hateful, gloating, and humourless, Kurtulmak is the chief kobold god. He governs
war and mining, and is a large kobold with a sinuous stingered tail, large horns,
black and green scales, and a wickedly-tipped spear. His domains are Cavern, Evil,
Law, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the spear. His symbol is a gnome skull,
his clerics wearing orange robes that prominently display this symbol on the chest.
Gaknulak
Gaknulak is lawful evil. Sneaky and pragmatic, he embodies protection, stealth,
trickery, and traps. He is a small dark kobold with bulging pockets, a hand axe, and
a magical cauldron from which tools and unpredictable minor magical items may be
pulled. His domains are Evil, Law, Protection, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is
the hand axe. His symbol is a cauldron.
Kuo-Toa
Blibdoolpoolp
Blibdoolpoolp is an evil goddess. She is depicted as a naked female human with the
head and pincers of a lobster. Her domains are Destruction, Evil, and Water. Her
favoured weapon is the pincer staff. Her symbols are a lobster head and a black
pearl.
Lizardfolk
Semuanya
Semuanya is neutral. He is entirely amoral, concerned only with the survival of the
lizard folk, and is depicted as a large lizard man with a shell-encrusted club. His
domains are Plant, Scaly kind, and Water. His favoured weapon is the club. His
symbol is an egg.
Locathah/Mer
Eadro
Eadro is neutral, and is the creator of the locathah and mer races, although both
races assert they were the most perfect of the two creations. He is aloof, and
enforces the traditional values of his races' societies. He appears as a tall merman
or locathah. His domains are Animal, Protection, and Water. His favoured weapon is
the spear or trident. His symbol is a spiral.
Minotaur
Baphomet
Baphomet is chaotic evil. A vile, bloodthirsty, bull-headed ogre, Baphomet is
obsessed with battle, and wields a mighty bardiche. His domains are Chaos, Evil,
and War. His favoured weapon is the bardiche. He is in continual conflict with
Yeenoghu. His symbol is a maze.
Ogre
Vaprak
Vaprak is chaotic evil. Commonly called The Destroyer, Vaprak is rapacious, greedy,
violent, and frenzied, a foul brown-green ogre with taloned hands and a vicious
club. His domains are Chaos, Evil, and Destruction. His favoured weapon is the
club. He fears his followers will desert him in favour of the giant gods. His symbol is
a taloned claw.
Orc
Gruumsh
Leader of the orc pantheon, Gruumsh is typically depicted as a scarred, Cyclopean
orc, clad in ebony full plate, bearing a great spear and flaming torch. His domains
are Chaos, Evil, Strength, and War. His favoured weapon is the spear. His symbol is
a single unblinking eye.
Bahgtru
Bahgtru, son of Gruumsh and Luthic, is chaotic evil. He is a brutally strong deity,
and brutally stupid deity, depicted as a vastly muscular orc with filthy skin, dull
eyes, over-sized tusks, studded leather armour, and heavy gauntlets. His domains
are Chaos, Evil, and Strength, and the only weapons he favours are gauntlets. He
scorns heavy armour Although loyal to Gruumsh, his first loyalty is to Luthic. His
symbol is a broken thigh bone.
Ilneval
Ilneval is Gruumsh's lieutenant and battle leader, and is chaotic evil. A looming,
grim orc clad in blood-red chain mail, and armed with a longsword, Ilneval is
ferocious, and demonstrates the strength of leadership from the front. His domains
are Chaos, Evil, and War. His favoured weapon is the longsword. He secretly covets
Gruumsh's position, and Gruumsh does not entirely trust him. His symbol is a
bloodied sword.
Luthic
Consort to Gruumsh, and mother of Bahgtru, Luthic is chaotic evil. A female orc
with black claws, hair and eyes, she is representative of the subservience of female
orcs, and is associated with female fertility, healing, and caverns and caves. Her
domains are Cavern, Chaos, Evil, and Healing. She has no favoured weapon. She is
loyal to Gruumsh, but is extremely close to her son, Bahgtru. Her symbol is a cave
entrance.
Shargass
Shargass is chaotic evil. Also known as The Nightlord, he is cunning and cold-
blooded, associated with darkness, stealth, and thievery. A gaunt and leering orc,
he has black skin and eyes, and is always enfolded in a voluminous black cloak. His
domains are Chaos, Evil, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the quarterstaff. His
symbol is a red crescent moon with a skull between the moon's horns.
Yurtrus
Yurtrus is chaotic evil. Also called White-Hands, Yurtrus is greatly feared, for he is
the bringer of death and disease, a vast orc covered with tattered, putrescent green
flesh, devoid of mouth, and with perfect bone-white hands. His domains are Chaos,
Death, Evil, and Suffering. His favoured weapon is the mace, its head shaped like a
white fist. His priests wear gloves of pale white humanoid skin, and leather
armour/garments of the same material. His symbol is a white hand on a dark
background.
Sahuagin
Sekolah
Sekolah is lawful evil. A ruthless, ever-hungry, and uncaring massive white shark,
Sekolah urges the Sahuagin to plunder, hunt, and dominate. His domains are Evil,
Law, Strength, and War. His favoured weapon is the trident. His symbol is a white
shark.
Triton
Persana
Persana is neutral. He created the tritons out of the enchanted water from the
elemental plane of water. He is depicted as a muscular triton with emerald skin, a
large pink conch, sharkskin armour, and a trident. His domains are Protection, and
Water. His favoured weapon is the trident. His symbol is the trident and conch.
Troglodyte
Laogzed
Laogzed is chaotic evil. He is depicted as a huge toad/lizard cross, with pustulent
loose skin, and seems to have little interest in anything beyond devouring whatever
is unfortunate to cross his path. His domains are Chaos, Death, Destruction, and
Evil. His favoured weapon is the javelin. His symbol is a lizard's head.
Wererat
Squerrik
Squerrik is lawful evil. Patron of the wererats, he promotes stealth, and thievery,
and is depicted as a fearful ratman in grimy leathers, bearing a shortsword. His
domains are Evil, Law, and Trickery. His favoured weapon is the shortsword. His
symbol is a rat's head with bared yellow teeth.
Yuan-Ti
Merrshaulk
Merrshaulk is chaotic evil. He is associated with poison and somnolence, and is
depicted as a powerful yuan-ti abomination with a male human's head, stubby
forearms and a pair of scimitars. Only yuan-ti abominations may be his clerics. His
domains are Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and Scalykind. His favoured weapon is the
scimitar. His symbol is a cobra's head.
Divine Intervention
When the shit really hits the fan, and everything looks bleak, most adventurers
naturally turn to the course of last resort squealing for help from the Big Ju-Ju In
The Sky. Of course, all the gods are subject to a constant barrage of supplication,
and are adept at filtering it out like background traffic noise. To make an
impression, you therefore need to do something special. In some religions, that
means unpleasant things like tearing the still-beating hearts from the chests of
willing or unwilling sacrifices, but there are less bloody ways of catching a god's
notice.
Your average person has a terrifically small chance of being noticed by a god, even
if they pray really, really loud. Heroes, being innately more noticeable, have a
better chance, but it's still a tiny chance. And just being heard is only half the
battle; you still have to hope the appropriate deity is feeling magnanimous towards
you or else you've only made matters worse.
In a nutshell, what you have to do to get the favourable attention of a god or other
divine entity is to sacrifice some of your own life-energy to it in other words, you
have to spend some Experience Points. The chances of attracting a god's attention
are calculated as follows:
Base chance of getting any response: 1/216 (roll 3 on 3d6)

Modifiers
Character Points sacrificed by the supplicant* +1 per * Charact

pt er points
sacrificed
Character Points sacrificed on behalf of the +1 per are
supplicant* 3pts expended
regardles
Supplication made through a priest of the god +2 s of
whether
Supplicant is a priest of the god +4 or not
there is
Supplicant is an active worshipper of the god +0 any
response
Supplicant is a worshipper of another (friendly) god -1 from the
deity in
Supplicant is a worshipper of another (neutral) god -2 question.
Supplicant is a worshipper of another (antagonistic) god -4 Rituals

exist
Supplicant is working against the god's interests -2 which
allow the
Supplicant is working in the god's interests +2 supplican
t to use
Supplicant is working directly for the god (e.g. on a +4 the
divinely-ordered quest) forced
extinguis
Each divine intervention appeal (successful or not) -1 hing of
within the last year the life
force of
others in
the same
way as a
willing XP
sacrifice.
Such
rituals
are not
neccessar
ily
pleasing
to all
gods.
Assuming the roll is successful, you then have to hope the god is in a good mood
and will help you. That's when you really need to have brushed up on
your Persuasion skills.
Just as a matter of interest, any XP sacrificed to a god goes directly to increase the
god's own power, so gods with many worshippers are almost always innately more
powerful than those with fewer. One of the ways a priest can get favourable
performance evaluations is by convincing as many people as possible to sacrifice
XP, preferably without any direct action being required by the god. Gods are, by
and large, pretty lazy.
Life and Death... and Life

Death and Resurrection
The spirit stays with the body for a while (say 12d6 hours?) after which time it
heads off to the afterlife with the ghostly equivalent of whatever equipment it has
at that point. So, if the body has been despoiled, it's going to make life or
afterlife a bit difficult.
Warrior-peoples would expect a good, dutiful warrior to hang around for a bit and
gather a sort of spiritual wagon-train of the deserving helpless together, to guide
and protect them on their way to Valhalla, or Paradise, or wherever. These spiritual
migrants would be prey for all sorts of nasty things: demons and such-like, hence
the need for some kind of guardian.
While the spirit is hanging about, it could be called back with the appropriate magic
without too much bother (apart from the inadvertent calling of demons or hungry
ghosts or what-not see below), but once it's on its way to Paradise it would
require sending someone after it. That means that someone would have to be
prepared to die and hope that they get resurrected when they get back with the
desired spirit.
It might also be part of a full-service assassination to send someone after the

deceased to make absolutely sure that he or she won't ever be coming back.
Even during the initial grace period, getting the right person back into the body
wouldn't necessarily be guaranteed. There are bound to be a bunch of spirits and
things hanging about who would much prefer to get back into an earthly body than
to head off to what might be a rather unpleasant judgement; the dead person
might have to fight off one or more such spirits to get back into his or her own
body.
The condition of the body could have a significant effect on the newly-revived ex-
corpse; putrefaction sets in quite quickly, and it would be kind of disgusting to
wake up in a stinky, slimy, bloated body, not to mention the issues with having
large parts of one's brain turned to goo. Preservation of the corpse during the
resurrection process would therefore be vital unless you want a zombie.
NOTE: Resurrection is bound to tick off the gods of the dead.
Immortals
Immortal creatures, such as elves, fairies and so forth, have no afterlife and cannot
be properly resurrected. If an immortal dies, its life-force dissipates and is absorbed
by the Earth-Life from whence it originally came. A newly-dead immortal can be
sort-of resurrected, but once the attachment between the body and life-force is
broken it can never be truly mended, and in all such cases the subject will gradually
just lose interest in anything and fade away, leaving an empty husk which will
eventually succumb to starvation and general self-neglect. In some cases (fairies,
for example), the revived corpse will literally fade away over time leaving nothing
but a cobwebby substance.
The body of a newly-dead immortal can still be used as a host by hungry ghosts, if
it is revivified by magical means.
Game Mechanics
The chance of a hostile spirit interloper finding and attempting to capture, destroy
or replace the rightful owner increases as time passes. At the instant of death, roll
3d6 a score of 3 indicates that something is right there waiting, and the newly-
dead spirit will have to fight or flee immediately. That chance increases by +1 for
every hour that passes thereafter until either the corpse is revived or the spirit
leaves for the Afterlife, 12d6 hours after death.
A corpse can be protected from invasion by keeping it within appropriate wards

until it can be resurrected (or until all hope has gone and everyone gives up). Of
course, if a hostile spirit makes its move before the wards are in place, all they will
do is trap it with the body, which could be bad. Although it is possible, with the
appropriate magic, to tell if there is a spirit within the warded area, and even how
many there are, it is not possible to tell which is which until the resurrection is
complete. The implications of this are pretty clear, I think.
Note that even if a hostile spirit manages to take posession of the corpse, unless it
has the power to do so itself it must still rely on some outside agency to revivify it.
Resurrection is not without consequences for the character in any event. The mere
fact of being brought back from the dead accrues 1d6 of Unluck, to represent the
disapproval of the gods of the dead for spurning their domain. This is cumulative,
so if a character has been killed and revived four times, he or she will have 4d6 of
Unluck. This Character Disadvantage can be bought off with XP, but removing it
would also require a roleplayed in-game resolution, such as a quest or something.
Armour Prices, Rules and Descriptions

Armour | Melee Weapons | Missile Weapons | Food & Lodging | Transport | Misc
Stuff
Below is a table of armour prices. It also serves as a reference for different types of
armour and allows you to work out armour encumbrance. There are two ways to
use the armour in Fantasy Hero games. The simple way is use a simple activation
roll. In this case, the cost listed translates into the cost for 8- / 11- / 14 or
complete (18-) protection. The weights of armour are calculated on the same
principle. It is possible to mix armour types for instance a Chain mail vest (8-)
with plate vambraces (one more area for a total of 11-). A warrior with this
combination would make his armour save on 11-, but a roll of 8 or less would mean
he only counts Chain mail as his protection.
A more complicated (but more satisfying, to my mind) route is to use hit locations.
In this case, what armour is being worn where, is defined by the player. The
system outlined below can serve both uses. Note that what follows is a pretty gross
approximation, but has the advantage that it is quick and easy to use (unless
you're an armour geek, do you really care how much a pauldron weighs and
costs?).
If you do care about such stuff, it is pretty easy to define what areas are left
uncovered, since you already know what the armour in question looks like you'll
have to do the individual armour weights and prices yourself, though.
If you use activation rolls:
An 8- roll translates to protection for (and armour price/weight is calculated

off) covering for the central body region (Hit locations 10-12).
off) covering for the full body, shoulders and head regions (Hit locations 3-5,
9-13).
off) covering for the body, head, shoulders and upper arms, vitals and thighs
region (Hit locations 3-5, 8-14).
Complete protection of course includes every area, including hands and feet.
Most armour also requires some sort of padded coat to be worn underneath and
this is included in the DEF value, but NOT in the cost. As a final note, the prices are
heavily "fantasy genre" influenced, but were based originally on a manifesto of
costs prepared for the Dukes of Szforza in Milano, in the late 17th century which
seemed appropriate to the Gothick Empires game setting. As for the other
equipment lists, all costs are given in "generic" silver pieces.
A description of armours is given after the price list. The price list is simply an
attempt to give a relative cost for these armours, since actual price will vary wildly
depending on location, quality and circumstances.
Item Cost (s.p)* Protection Weight (Kg)
Padded undergarment 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 1 PD/ED 0.9 / 2.2 / 3.1

/ 3.5
Shield : Small 30 +1 DCV 2 (STR min 5)
Medium 40 +2 DCV 4 (STR min 7)
Large 50 +3 DCV 6 (STR min

10)
Leather armour 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 2 PD/ED 1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4

/5
Quilted or padded 18 / 25 /30 / 45 2 PD/ED 1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4

armour /5
Studded or reinforced 30 / 45 / 55 / 70 3 PD/ED 1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1

leather /7
Plant fibre armour Not applicable 3 PD/0 ED 1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1

/7
Cuir bouilli 30 / 45 / 55 / 70 4 PD/ED 1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1

/7
Splint armour 150 / 225 / 300 / 5 PD/ED 3.5 / 8.8 /

350 12.3 /14
Chain mail 300 / 450 / 600 / 6 PD/ED 5 / 12.5 /

800 17.5 / 20
Lamellar armour or 600 / 900 / 1200 / 6 PD/ED 5 / 12.5 /

Brigandine 1500 17.5 / 20
Composite Plate and 800 / 1200 / 1600 7 PD/ED 10 / 25 / 35 /
Chain / 2000 40
Plate Harness / / /3000 + 8 PD/ED 28
Gauntlets: leather 8 each 1 PD/ED 0.25
chain or 50 each 6 PD/ED 1.5

similar
plate 180 each 8 PD/ED 3
Helmet: light 15 5 PD/ED 2
medium 35 6 PD/ED 3
great 55 8 PD/ED 5
So, to provide an example:
Before setting out to visit his friends, Ralf the Mostly Harmless decides to equip
himself with a short chain byrnie and a light helmet, which costs him 315 silver
shillings. He also needs a gambeson (quilted undergarment) to go under that,
which costs him another 10 shillings. Using the quickie system, he now has an
armour roll of 11-, for 5 DEF, and if he rolls 8-, he gets 6 DEF. Alternatively, he has
6 DEF in locations 10-12 and 5 DEF in locations 3-5. The armour weighs a bit less
than 8 kilos.
Encumbrance and PER rolls

We will use the rules as listed in the HSR when it comes to DCV penalties for
weight. Thus light armour (such as Ralf's outfit in the example above) will normally
cause a penalty of -1 on DCV and DEX rolls (or on any roll that involves normal
movement, such as spellcasting with Gestures), while a heavy suit of composite
plate would cause a penalty of -3. The same penalty also applies to PER rolls made
by the armour wearer unless he takes the time to remove his helmet. and
associated headgear. Importantly, it also applies to all rolls which require
movement not just those based on DEX, such as, for example, a sorceror's magic
roll for a spell which includes gestures.
I do allow players to buy 5 point combat skill levels in DCV "Only to offset DCV
penalties for fighting in armour" which is a -1 disadvantage.
Time to get in and out of armour

One of the consequences of the Real Armour limitation is that it takes time to get in
or out of. The time actually varied greatly depending on the construction of the
armour and the experience of the person putting it on, but as a general rule of
thumb, you can use the following guide:
Putting on a helmet, grabbing a shield 1/2 phase
Putting on simple body armour, such as a hauberk or 2 Phases

byrnie
Putting on simple leg or arm protection (vambraces, mail 1 Phase per limb
chausses)
Putting on complex harnesses 1 minutes for each

limb
Getting out of armour takes about the same time as getting in, except that if the
character can use a blade, the time can be reduced one step on the time chart,
since straps and bindings can be sliced away. Of course the armour won't be of
much use afterwards!
Using shields in combat,

Although there is more to the use of a shield than just holding it in front of you like
piece of wood, I have assumed that learning to use a weapon also includes basic
instruction on how to use a shield defensively. This allows you to use the shield to
gain a DCV bonus (only against attacks on your front or shield side). If you want to
use the shield offensively, then you have to buy WF: shield (although shields are
included in WF: Common Melee weapons for most cultures). A shield used
offensively can use its DCV bonus as an OCV bonus in a block. It may also be used
to thump opponents, acting as a 2d6 HA, or a 1/2 d6 HKA if equipped with a
thrusting spike. Shields are not ideal weapons however, and take an OCV penalty
equivalent to their DCV bonus.
Smashing armour and shields

Combatants may decide to target their opponent's armour and/or shield instead of
directly attacking. In this case, the attack is assumed to be directed at a focus, and
thus takes a penalty of -2, but if attacking a shield, it gets no DCV bonus and
instead gives the attacker an OCV bonus equivalent to its normal DCV
bonus. This is because you are normally holding your shield between you and an
incoming weapon (even though you normally try to deflect an attack with a shiekd
rather than block passively). Shields are often thus destroyed in combat. Most
shields are made of wood (DEF 4) and are designed to take a beating, so they have
a higher BOD score than their mass would suggest (twice their DCV bonus). Shields
often had metal reinforcing to prevent their wood being split (giving them DEF 6)
and small and medium shields were sometimes made entirely of metal (the weight
precluded larger shields entirely of metal) or faced with metal, and are thus DEF 7.
The DEF of Armour is given above. Generally, each hit location will have 2-3 BOD,
depending on its mass.
The DEF and Body of magic armour and shields is not calculated like this, but
instead is derived from active points as outlined in the HSR.
Armour Descriptions (with hit locations)
The names given to various bits of armour varied with time and place below is a
rough guide to help you make sense of things. be aware that spelling was more or
less considered up to personal taste through most of this era, and that the same
piece of armour could be referred to by different names or the same name used
for different items depending on who was writing. If you really want to know
more detail, consult a decent book on armour (with illustrations!)
Hit
Item Locations Description
Aillettes 9 Small rectangular plates (apparently of cuir

bouilli) which were attached to the shoulders to
protect the shoulder and neck.
Aketon 10-12 or 13 Padded cloth body armour, worn underneath

(or occasionally over) heavier armour to
absorb impact. Heavier versions were often
worn by less well equipped troops or in hot
weather as comfortable light armour.
Sleeveless
Armet 3-5 Close-fitting, full helmet, with (normally) a

heavy visor and narrow slits for vision
Arming Cap 3 Quilted cap usually of cloth occasionally of

leather. Normally worn under a helm. but often
worn as protection in its own right
Aspercote 8-12, or Body armour, sometimes of splint, but

from 3-15 normally mail. Usually covered torso and upper
arms could have a coif,full sleeves with
built-in "mittens" and fall below the knee. (Also
known as Ausperg, Hauberk, Hauberg etc)
Aventail 5 Guard attached to a helmet which offers some

protection to the neck. Normally of mail but
could be of articulated plates
Backplate 10-11 Covers the back of the torso.
Barbet 3-5 Elegant one-piece helmet with a single T-

shaped opening for both vision and ventilation
Barrel Helm 3-5 Heavy cylindrical metal helm that enclosed the
whole head and rested on the shoulders.
Heavy and hot!
Bascinet 3-5 Small close fitting helm that left the face free,
with a detachable visor. Ifthe visor is removed
(as it often was) location 5 is not protected.
Bevor 5 or 4-5 Effectively a very heavy gorget, designed to be

worn under a sallet
Breech 13 Mail flap that covered the groin.
Breastplate 10-11 Covers the front of the torso.
Brigandine 10-11, or 9- Armour made by rivetting small metal plates

11 between two sheets of heavy clot or thin
leather.
Burgonet 3-4 Light helm, leaving the lower face free for
ventilation. Sometimes combined with aventail
or bevor to cover location 5
Byrnie 10-11, or up A chain mail vest normally covering just the

to 9-12 torso, but sometimes longer.
Camail 5 Chainmail guard attached to a helmet, which

offers some protection to the neck.
Casque 3-5 Heavy cylindrical metal helm that enclosed the

Heavy and hot!
Cerveille 3 Simple iron cap, normally worn under a mail

coif, but occasionally on top of it.
Chapeau-de- 3-4 A large round metal "hat", which left plenty of

Fer ventilation, but also decreased protection. The
broad rim did give some extra protection
Chausses 14-16 Leg armour, normally of mail, but occassionally

of reinforced cuir boulli.
Coat-of- 10-11, or up Armour made by rivetting small metal plates

Plates to 9-12 between two sheets of heavy clot or thin
leather.
Coif 3-5 Armoured hood protecting thehead and neck.

Normally of mail. but sometimes leather or
even splint.
Cops 7 or 15 Armour for the joints, these were called either

knee-cops or elbow-cops Normally of metal,
but sometimes of cuir boulli.
Coude 7 Armour for the elbows (part of a harness)
Cuirass 10-12 Large breast and backplate, covering the torso.
Curie 10-13 or 14 Breastplate and thighguards made of cuir boulli

(hence the name) sometimes reinforced with
metal.
Cuir Boulli varies Leather armour, made surprisingly strong by

repeated boiling (normally in oil).
Cuisses 14 Armour for the thighs. Normally metal but

sometimes of cuir boulli, or even quilted
armour.
Epauler 9 Shoulder armour
Fauld 12 Stomach protection. In early (transitional)

plate this was seperate piece, in later armours
it was incorporated into the breastplate (in
function, if not name).
Gambeson Varies from A padded and quilted body armour. Unlike the
10-12 to 3- aketon, the gambeson generally had sleeves,
4, 7-14 and could even have built in mittens.
Gauntlets 6 Armour for the hand could be of any

material, I've even seen cuir boulli and quilted
hand armour.
Genouillerie 15 Metal protection for the knees (part of a

harness).
Gorget 5 Prtiection for the throat. Gorgets were

sometimes so large they also offered some
protection in location 10
Great Helm 3-5 Heavy metal helm that enclosed the whole
head and rested on the shoulders. Heavy and
hot!
Greave 15 or 16-17 Armour for the lower leg
Harness A suit of plate armour, or sometimes the

components of a suit of armour (for example,
leg harness, etc)
Hauberk 8-12, or Body armour, sometimes of splint, but

from 3-15 normally mail. Usually covered torso and upper
arms could have a coif,full sleeves with
built-in "mittens" and fall below the knee. (Also
known as Ausperg, Aspercote, Hauberg etc)
Heaume 3-5 Heavy cylindrical metal helm that enclosed the

Heavy and hot!
Hosen 14-16 or 14- Leg armour of mail.

18
Jack Varies from Padded cloth body armour, worn underneath

10-12 to 3- heavier armour to absorb impact. Heavier
4, 7-14 versions were often worn by less well equipped
troops or in hot weather as comfortable light
armour.
Jamb 15-16 Armour for the lower leg (in a full suit of plate)
Kettle Hat 3-4 A large round metal "hat", which left plenty of
ventilation, but also decreased protection. The
broad rim did give some extra protection
Lamellar varies Lamellar armour is made of small, overlapping

plates laced together. It could sometimes be
combined with mail. The plates could be of
metal, but were often of horn, which while not
as tough, was much lighter. Mostly Lamellar
was used for torso protection, but arm and leg
protection of lamellar was not unknown.
Nasal Helm 3-4 The classical "norman" helmet a simple

pointed metal helm, sitting on top of the head,
with a nose guard.
Pauldron 9 Shoulder armour.
Plackart 11-12 Essentially a metal stomacher. Worn during the

transitional era to offer extra protection to the
stomach
Plastron 10-12 Large breast and backplate, covering the torso.

Sometimes of cuir boulli, but often of metal
(and then called Plastron de Fer)
Poleyns 15 Armour for the knee. Normally of metal, but

sometimes of cuir boulli.
Rerebrace 8 Armour for the upper arm
Sabatons 17-18 Articulated metal shoes. Could have long

pointy toes, or large, rounded ones or
anything in between
Sallet 3-4 or 5 Heavy helm that covered the head, but left the
neck and chin bare for ventilation
Schynbald 15-16 Armour for the lower leg, normally of iron
Spangenhelm 3-4 The classical "norman" helmet a simple

pointed metal helm, sitting on top of the head,
usually with a nose guard. In some cases they
included face protection in which case location
5 is covered.
Sollerets 17-18 Articulated metal shoes.
Taces 12 Articulated metal plates covering the stomach.
Tassets 13 Articulated plates that hung down over the

thighs. In some cases, these were exaggerated
almost to the point of looking like a heavy
metal skirt.
Vambrace 7 Forearm protection. Normally metal, but

sometimes cuir bouilli or leather.
Ventail 5 Mail flap that protected the face and throat.
Medieval Weapons Prices and Rules

Stuff
Below is a list of hand to hand weapons. If you want missile weapons, go here. In
most cases, the cost and weight is necessarily approximate (though prices are
based in some cases, on 16th century Italian records from those ever helpful
Sforzas) and both include the necessary carrying gear, such as scabbards. As for
the other equipment lists, all costs are given in "generic" silver pieces and will be
modified in different areas, by the actual currency in use. You should see the
currency pages of the different kingdoms to calculate actual prices in those areas.
The unnecesary profusion of polearms was driven by the requests of players who
have been irrevocably corrupted by exposure to a Certain Roleplaying System (TM).
Given that countless experts have wasted reams of ink over the topic, if you
disagree with my interpretation of the weapons as listed (for example was a
morningstar really a spiked ball and chain arrangement, or a heavy spiked club like
a Godentag) my answer is: probably both. Go away. That said, here's the list.
OC
V ST ST Wei
Cos Mo Damag UN R ght
Item t d e x Min (Kg) Notes
Axe: Battle 60 1d6K 15/ 4.0 1H

sp AP 12
Axe: Battle 50 1+1d6 12 3.5

sp K AP
Axe: Hand 35 -2 1d6 AP 10 3.0 can

sp Rn throw
g
Axe: 40 -1 d6K 7 2.0 can

Throwing sp Rn AP throw
g
Axe: Two 100 2d6K 12 5.0 2H

handed sp AP
Bardiche 79 2d6K 10 4.0 2H

sp
Bec de corbin 55 1d6K 10 5.0 2H

sp AP
Billguisarme 75 2d6K 12 4.0 2H,

+1"ran
sp ge
Club: great 15 6d6N 10 5.0 2H

sp
Club: small 3 sp 4d6N 10 3.0
Club: war 8 sp 5d6N 12/ 4.0 1H

7
Dagger: 25 1d6K 7 0.4

fighting sp
Dagger: 50 d6K 7 0.3

misericorde sp AP
Dagger: 30 +1 d6K 5 0.3

throwing sp
Flail 125 +1 1d6K +1 18/ 3.0 1H,

sp 12 Danger
ous
Flail: 150 +1 2d6K +1 17 4.0 2H,

2handed sp Danger
ous,
+1"ran
ge
Glaive 88 2d6K 12 4.0 2H,
sp +1"ran
ge
Halberd 110 2d6K 12 5.0 2H, +1"

sp AP range
Hammer: 80 1d6+1 +1 15 3.0

battle sp K
Hammer: 90 -1 1d6K +1 13 5.0 2H, +1"

lucerne sp range
Hammer: 90 1d6K +1 11 2.0

throwing sp
Lance 50 1d6K 13 5.0 +1"ran

sp ge
Mace: Great 90 2d6K 10 5.0 2H
sp
Mace: 60 1d6+1 10 3.0

Footman's sp K
Mace: 45 1d6 7 2.0

Horseman's sp
Mancatcher 110 -1 1pt 7 4.0 +1"ran

sp HKA ge, +2
to grab,
disarm
etc.
Morningstar 60 +1 1d6K 12 3.0 Danger

sp ous
Pick 65 1d6K 11 4.0

sp AP
Pike 50 -1 1d6K 12 5.0 2H, +2"

sp range
Spear 30 1d6K 11/ 3.0 1H,

sp 7 can be
thrown
Spetum 45 -1 1d6 10 4.0 2H, +1"

sp range,
+2 OCV
to block
Staff 2 sp +1 4d6N 5 2.0 2H, +1"

range
Sword: 250 1d6K 12/ 3.0 1H

bastard sp 7
Sword: broad 150 1+1d6 11 2.5

sp K
Sword: long 200 1+1d6 11 2.0

sp K
Sword: 175 +1 1d6K 7 1

scimitar sp
Sword: short 85 1d6K 7 1.0

sp
Sword: two 250 2d6K 12 3.5 2H, +1"

handed sp range
Trident 65 1+1d6 13/ 3.0 1H,

sp K 8 +1"ran
ge
Voulge 45 -1 2d6K 15 4.0 2H, +1"

sp range
Note that all polearms (including the spear) can be used to deliver a blow with the
butt for 4d6 normal damage. However they do so at -1 OCV, since they are not
balanced primarily for this use.
Description of weapons
Axe: Battle
Heavy axes such as those favoured by knights from the 11th to 13th century
or the weapons wielded by Dwarves in legends. Need not have a long haft.
Axe: hand
Heavy one handed axes, such as the later era knightly axe, or the Francisca
favoured by the Frankish invaders of the Roman empire
Axe: throwing
A lighter axe, similar to a hatchet, usable as a light one handed weapon, but
primarily for throwing.
Axe: two handed

Large, long handled axe such as the Danish axe.
Bardiche
Large 2-handed axe with a very broad blade
Bec de corbin
A polearm with a heavy, spiked or sometimes pick-like head
Bill-guisarme
A polearm with a long blade backed by a spike or hook. Similar to a Billhook
Club: great
Covers all heavy two-handed club often bound in metal, sometimes with a
heavy head, like a maul.
Club: small
Light wooden clubs about the size of a baseball bat
Club: war
Larger clubs, or those with heavy heads or metal reinforcing
Dagger: fighting
Heavy daggers such as the Bowie knife, or the broad-bladed Cinquada
Dagger: misericorde
Narrow bladed weapons such as the English Ballock Dagger, designed to slip
through gaps in armour or between ribs.
Dagger: throwing
Lighter daggers balanced for throwing.
Flail: 1-handed
This covers an assortment of weapons with a weighted arm attacked to a
handle by a short chain or leather strip.
Flail: 2-handed
Heavy head attached to a long handle by a chain or leather strip. Derived
from the peasant tool, but military versions often substituted a wickedly
spiked head.
Glaive
Polearm with a long heavy blade coming to a point on top, backed by a spike.
There are a hundred different variants of this weapon.
Halberd
Polearm with a heavy axe-like blade normally backed by a hammer head or
smaller blade, and often incorporating a larger thrusting spike on top.
Hammer: battle
Basically a light sledgehammer, sometimes backed by a small spike.
Hammer: lucerne
A polearm with a heavy head normally decorated by small spikes, and
sometimes also incorporating a larger thrusting spike on top.
Hammer: throwing
A smaller version of the sledge hammer.
Lance
The horseman's spear.
Mace: Great
Any of the many weapons with a longish handle and a heavy (normally
spiked) head.
Mace: Footman's
A medium weight mace normally a bit unwieldy in one hand
Mace: Horseman's
All the lighter one-handed maces not just those actually used by
horsemen.
Mancatcher
A variety of polearm with barbed hooks or double fish-hook-like arms which
spring open and thereafter tightly hold a limb. Designed for catching
troublesome warriors.
Morningstar
Either a spiked metal ball (or balls) on chains, or a heavy club decorated with
nasty spikes.
Pick
A short handled weapon with a sharp beaklike head sort of like a pointed
hammer. Designed to punch holes in armour. Often backed with a hammer
head.
Pike
A very long spear a bit unwieldy for normal combat but designed to be
used en masse to present a wall of points
Spear
The typical footman's spear anywhere from 2 to 3 metres long.
Spetum
A spear in which the main blade is supplemented by two smaller ones jutting
out at about 60 degrees from the main one.
Staff
A simple wooden staff from 1 to 2.5 metres long often given metal
caps at either end.
Sword: bastard
Swords with a longer blade and a handle big enough for one or two hands.
Examples are the Japanese katana or the knightly swords popular in central
europe after about 1400.
Sword: broad
All the many heavy swords designed primarily for slashing (the Scottish
claymore, the Indian tulwar, cutlasses etc)
Sword: long
Swords designed for both slashing and thrusting the traditional knight's
blade.
Sword: scimitar
Light slashing swords such as the scimitar or saber. Favoured weapons of
horsemen
Sword: short
Short stabbing swords. The Roman gladius or Spanish Spatha, for example
Sword: two handed

Really big swords such as the flamberge.
Trident
A three pronged spear, basically. The traditional weapon of Poseidon or the
retarius in Roman gladiatorial combat.
Voulge
A polearm with a heavy slashing blade.
This stuff was heavily influenced by the work of David Kuijt who did a lot of work on oriental
weapons for my Sengoku game.
WHY MAKE CHANGES?

The changes to the weapons list involve primarily three things damage, OCV
bonuses and STR mins. The first has only been changed where weapons have
damage which is clearly out of line. OCV mod.s have been altered to reflect the fact
that some weapons have significantly different handling characteristics than others.
As it stood so many weapons had the +1 OCV bonus that there was little to
differentiate them. Finally STR mins were changed for a number of reasons. First,
STR mins were too high for many weapons, requiring people of ordinary strength to
take penalties for using many common weapons. Secondly, factors other than
damage were taken into account when figuring STR min under the old list. This
meant that a finely balanced knife which could be thrown, required more STR to
use than a similar knife that was not. Finally, the costs (and therefore STR mins) of
some weapons have changed somewhat due to the altered cost of HA, as noted in
the house rules section. The mechanisms for these changes are detailed below.
MAJOR FUNCTIONAL CHANGES

1) ALL the OCV mods have been re-examined. In the finished list below, the only
weapons that are given a +1 OCV are those that are abnormally fast (much faster
than other weapons, usually doing correspondingly LESS damage) or abnormally
hard to block and dodge (like the flail or morningstar). Note that this OCV bonus
REPLACES the "ignores shield DCV" advantage in the HSR. A chain weapon might
be harder to block but a kite shield still gives you better protection than nothing.
The only weapons that are given a -1 OCV are ones that are unusually unwieldy
(Pike, for example).
2) Every weapon with a +1 Stun Mod has been re-examined. In some cases they
may be unchanged; in some they may be 0 Stun Mod, and in others they may be
still +1 Stun Mod but -1 DC
NEW COMBAT RULES
1) Some few weapons are listed as "Dangerous to the user" (mostly chain
weapons). Anyone fighting with such a weapon who rolls a natural 3 in combat will
hit themselves, doing normal damage. Anyone without a WF in this weapon who
fights with it will hit themselves as above on a 3, 4, 5, or 6.
2) In situations where a fighter has time to prepare himself (such as setting a

(long) spear against a charge, entering a one-on-one duel, defending a portal and
so on, they can act out of DEX order and go before an opponent with a shorter
weapon.
Note that this also applies to readied missile weapons you can't "run down" that
crossbowman menacing you if he knows what you are up to and has an action
ready.
Once melee is joined, weapon length is less important and is ignored unless
combat become *really* close (the opponents clinch, fight under a table, etc) in
which case the user of the shorter weapon gets to act out of DEX order and act
first.
This rule is intended to give a "real" feel without too much fuss, and should be
applied to relatively simple duels and small engagements (2 vs 1, 1 vs 1). A
weapon user may attempt to alter his strike priority by changing weapons or using
an unarmed strike or throw.
3) The way STR Min works is changed: the STR Min listed is the STR Min at which
you do FULL DAMAGE. For every full 5 pts STR over the STR Min, the character gets
+1 DC. For every 5 pts of STR (or part thereof) _under_ the STR Min, the character
loses 1 DC (-1 DC). And it is not possible to use a weapon at all if your STR is more
than 10 pts under the listed STR Min. Use of weapons that require greater than the
characters STR is very tiring: the character must pay 2 END per point of STR
lacking.
STR MINS: STR Min is calculated using Active Pts/2. OCV Mods, whether positive or
negative, do NOT figure in. Stretching DOES figure in. HAs are calculated at 5 pts
active each, not 3, to make calculation standard at 5 pts per Damage Class. Finally,
Two-handed melee weapons get an automatic -5 STR Min; 1H weapons have two
STR Mins listed (one for one-handed fighting, the other for two-handed). The STR
Min for a normal weapon used two-handed is -3 STR Min. Weapons that are +1
Stun or AP use their active points for calculating STR Min; ones that are -1 Stun
have their STR Min calculated as if they were -1 DC from their listed damage.
Medieval Missile Weapons Prices and Rules

Stuff
The STR mins and modifiers for some of these weapons have been changed from
the basic list presented in the HSR. This is (in part) to accomodate the changed
cost of STR.
STR Min for Autofire throwing of weapons is based upon their active point cost,
same as with +1 Stun weapons. However, these weapons have two STR Min listed:
one for single shot, and one for autofire use.
Missiles
OC ST
V R Weig
Cos Mo Dama STUN Mi ht
Item t d ge x n (kg) Notes
Normal 15 norm as 0.1

arrow cp al for
(or bo
quarrel) w
Broadhe 15 + 1 DC 0.1 Attack is

ad cp Reduced
Penetrati
on
Signal 12 -2 DC 0.1 Images

arrow cp versus
normal
hearing
Blunt 12 (DC) .01 Converts

head cp K into
normal
DC
Bodkin 1 sp -1 DC 0.1 Attack is

point AP
Sling (or 2 cp 0.3

prod)
bullet
Sling free -1 DC 0.2

stone
Note: To get a missile tipped with silver costs approximately eight

times the listed price.
Missile weapons
ST
ST R Wei
Cos OCV Dam UN Mi Ran ght Not
Item t Mod age x n ge (kg) es
Short 40 1d6- 5 50 1.0 1/2

Bow sp 1K DCV
, 2H
Short 50 1d6K 7 75 1.2 1/2

Bow sp DCV
, 2H
Short 75 1d6+ 10 100 1.5 1/2

Bow sp 1K DCV
, 2H
Stone 50 1/2d6 +1 7 50 1.2 1/2

Bow sp K DCV
, 2H
Recurved 130 1d6K 7 75 1.5 1/2

Bow sp DCV
, 2H
Recurved 175 1d6+ 10 100 1.7 1/2

Bow sp 1K DCV
, 2H
Recurved 210 1.5d6 12 125 2.0 1/2

Bow sp K DCV
, 2H
Longbow 75 +1 1d6+ 11 100 1.8 1/2

sp Rng 1K DCV
, 2H
Longbow 100 +1 1.5d6 14 125 2.0 1/2

sp Rng K DCV
, 2H
Longbow 150 +1 2d6K 16 150 2.2 1/2

sp Rng DCV
, 2H
Crossbow 100 +1 1d6K 10 75 4.0 see
sp Rng belo
w
Crossbow 175 +1 1.5d6 14 125 5.0 see

sp Rng belo
w
Crossbow 200 +1 2d6+ 17 175 6.0 see

sp Rng 1 belo
w
Arbalest 275 +1R 2.5d6 20 200 8.0 see

sp ng belo
w
Prod 175 1d6K +1 11 110 5.0 see

sp belo
w
Dart 3 sp +1 1/2d6 5 50 0.2 can

(7 be
) thro
wn
AF
Dart 5 sp +1 1d6 7 75 1.0
Javelin 25 1d6 7 75 2.0

sp
Sling 2 sp -1 1d6K +1 11 110 0.1

Rng
Staff 15 -2 1d6+ +1 15 150 2.0 Full

sling sp Rng 1K phas
e,
2H
!/2
DCV
The STR required to use a crossbow can be reduced by 5 if a simple device such as
a belt-hook or goat's foot lever is used. In any case, the user is reduced to 1/2 DCV
while loading and takes a full phase to load. Use of a crank reduces the STR needed
to use a crossbow by 7, but also reduces the users DCV to 1/2. A crank requires 2
full phases to load.
Description of weapons
Arrow: Blunt
Simply an arrow with the head replaced with a heavy, round knob. Used for
hunting small game or bring down a foe without killing them.
Arrow:Bodkin
A war arrow with a square, pointed head, designed to punch through armour.
Arrow:Broadhead
Originally a hunting arrow, with a wide, barbed head designed to cause nasty
flesh wounds.
Arrow:Signal
An arrow with a round, fluted head made of wood or ceramic that whistles
shrilly when air passes through it as it is fired
Quarrel
The missile used by a crossbow thicker and shorter than a normal arrow.
Sling bullet
slings often fired a good sized stone. For extra oomph they could use a metal
bullet normally made of lead. Witty armourers would cast them with
messages on them such as "Take that!"
Short (or Self) Bow

The traditional bow, about half a man's height and simply carved from wood.
Longbow
A bow also carved from wood, but longer and heavier than a shortbow,
allowing it to fire heavier missiles.
Recurved bow
A more sophisticated weapon made by laminating layers of horn, or even
bone, with glue. The bow was formed into an exaggerated W-shape, which
when strung was almost inverted. This allowed a longer bow in a smaller
space.
Stone bow
A bow designed to fire small missiles like a sling stone rather than an arrow.
Mostly used for hunting small game.
Crossbow
A weapon in which a bow is affixed horizontally to a stock, and the bowstring
held in place by a lock. This allows the weapon to be held loaded (at least for
a short time) and simplifies aiming. However, crossbows while more
powerful were generally slower to load.
Dart
This covers an assortment of small hand-hurled missiles. They can be thrown
singly or in groups. There is also a larger type of dart (such as the martobuli)
which cannot be thrown autofire, but which are haevier often having a
lead weight behind the head.
Javelin
A light spear designed for throwing. It can also be used in HTH combat, doing
1d6 HKA.
Prod
A crossbow designed to fire small missiles like a sling stone rather than a
quarrel. Mostly used for hunting small game.
Belt hook
a simple device to ease the drawing of a crossbow it is simply a belt with a
hook on it. Put the crossbow's front on the ground, bend down and slip the
hook through the string and stand up using your back and legs to draw it
rather than your arms.
Goat's foot lever

Another device for drawing a crossbow a simple lever
Crank
For drawing the heaviest crossbows a windlass-like affair.
Sling
A simple leather or cloth strip that could be drawn up and used to flick a
small missile. Contrary to the movies, you NEVER whirl a sling around.
Staff sling
The same device but mounted on a short pole to increase the momentum.
Sometimes used to deliver small firepots, or jars of angry bees and the like.
Price Lists: Food, Drink and a Roof over your

head
Stuff
Item Cost Notes

Inn fees: poor meal 10 cp /person
full meal 1 sp/person
good meal 4 sp/person
Common room 5 cp /night
double room 1 sp/night
single room 3 sp/night
Stabling: mount or 10 cp /night Stabling fees include hay or
loadbeast similar for the animals
Destrier 1 sp/night
Passage: Litter/rickshaw 2 sp/km lesser rates may be obtained for
a day's service
Coach 3 cp/km
Ferry 1 sp/km
Ship 1 cp/km Cost of passage does not
include food
Bread (loaf) 10 cp
Butter 8 cp / kg
Cattlebeast or similar: roast 8 cp /kg
steak 12 cp /kg
other cut 6 cp /kg
Cheese 10 cp /kg
Eggs 5 cp /doz
Fruit (various) 12 cp /kg
Pepper and similar spices 50 sp/kg
Salt 15 cp /kg
Salted or smoked meat 12 cp /kg
Sausage 14 cp /kg
Vegetables (various) 6 cp /kg
Ale 7 cp /mug Casks of drink cost 50 times the
Beer 5 cp /mug by-the-mug cost and hold about
60 litres
Wine: watered 3 cp /flagon
good 10 cp /flagon
fine 20 cp /flagon
Distilled spirits: rough 20 cp /flagon
good 40 cp /flagon
Price Lists: Livestock, Tack and Transport

Stuff
Item Cost Notes
Barding : leather 90 sp 11- coverage
chain 400 sp 11- coverage
plate 900 sp 11- coverage
Bit, bridle and harness 25 sp
Saddle 35 sp
Saddle bags : small 10 sp
large 18 sp
Saddle blanket 1 sp
Bird : messenger 40 sp
singing 1 sp
hunting 200 sp
Cattlebeast 15 sp Various types (milk and meat)
Courser 200 sp Very fast riding animal
Destrier : light 1000 sp Warsteed
medium 1500 sp
heavy 6000 sp
Cart (1 axle) 60 sp Carries 250 kg
Chariot (war) 400 sp Carries 350 kg
Wagon : 2 axles 140 sp Carries 500 kg
3 axles 240 sp Carries 1000 kg
Coach 320 sp Carries 250 kg and up to 6 people
Barge 200 sp /tonne* Carries cargo at 1 tonne / 6
displacement
Hide Boat 70 sp Carries up to 3 passengers (300 kg)
Small boat 240 sp /tonne*
Galley : 1 deck 400 sp /tonne*
All galleys can carry cargo at the
2 deck 500 sp /tonne* rate of 1 tonne / 10 tonnes
3 deck 550 sp /tonne* displacement. Hull costs increased
10% if including a ram.
4 deck 600 sp /tonne*
Cog 500 sp /tonne* Carries cargo at 1 tonne / 7
displacement
Rowboat 90 sp Carries up to 4 passengers (400 kg)
*Basic hull costs only. Sails and rigging for all types approximates 50 sp/ tonne.
Price Lists: Miscellaneous Useful Items

Stuff
Item Cost Notes

Backpack, leather 30 sp 50 litre capacity
Balance and weights 30 sp Can acurately weigh to about 1/2 a
gram
Baliset 120 sp
Bell: small 12 sp
large 30 sp
Beltpouch: large 13 sp 1 2 litre capacity
small 8 sp 1/2 litre capacity
Book: small 30 sp about 3 kg
large 45 sp about 6 kg
Fancybound 100 sp about 4 kg
Bottle: medium 15 cp holds 1 litre
large 1 sp holds 2 litres
Box: ironbound, large 140 sp 45 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm. 20 kg
small 60 sp 30 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm. 5 kg
wooden, large 40 sp 45 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm. 5 kg
small 10 sp 30 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm. 2 kg
Bradawl* 10 sp
Caltrop: large 20 sp weighs about 5 kg, 15 cm spikes
small (score) 40 sp spikes about 2 cm long
Candle: tallow 2 cp lasts 1 hour, 200g
wax 2 sp lasts 2 hours, about 200 g
Case: bone 30 sp
metal 40 sp
leather 10 sp
Chalk 21 cp
Chisel: masonry* 15 sp
wood* 10 sp
Clothes: baldric 200 sp
belt 5 sp
boots, high, 40 sp
soft
boots, low, 20 sp
hard
boots, low, soft 20 sp
cloak 9 sp
clogs 3 cp
dress 15 sp
hose 2 sp
robes 15 sp
sandals 10 cp
skirt 3 sp
trousers 4 sp
tunic 4 sp
Crampons 12 sp
File* 40 sp
Grapnel: normal 20 sp
folding 60 sp
Hacksaw* 50 sp
Hammer* 12 sp
Hammock 8 sp
Holy symbol: iron 15 sp
silver 40 sp
wooden 1 sp
Holy water (vial) 10 sp
Hooks (wire)* 5 sp
Horn 40 sp
Incense (1 stick) 2 sp
Ink (50 ml) 15 cp
Lantern: bullseye 12 sp
hooded 20 sp
simple 5 sp
Lockbreaker* 20 sp Anyone found possessing these items is
Lockpicks (assorted sizes)* 100 sp likely to fall under suspicion of being a
thief !
Lute 110 sp
Lyre 80 sp
Mirror: glass 50 sp
metal, large 40 sp
metal, small 30 sp
Oil: skin (litre) 15 sp
flask (litre) 20 sp
Padlock and key 45 sp
Parchment 3 cp 1 sheet
Pen: quill 1 cp
scratch 5 cp
Perfume (10 ml) 40 sp
Pickaxe 24 sp
Pliers* 18 sp
Pole (3m) 2 cp
Pot (cooking, ceramic) 1 sp Holds about 3 litres
(cooking, 3 sp
metal)
Prayerbeads 10 sp
Prybar* 15 sp
Pulley (small) 25 sp maximum load about 100 kg
Quiver: small 2 sp 1 dozen arrows / bolts
medium 3 sp 1 score arrows / bolts
large 4 sp 2 score arrows / bolts
Rope: 10 m hemp 5 sp
10 m silk 50 sp
Sack: large 2 sp
small 1 sp
Scale and accurate weights 55 sp Can accurately weigh sub-gram
amounts
Screwdriver* 7 sp
Spade 8 sp
Spike: iron, large 4 cp
steel, small 4 cp
String / cord (75 m) 3 sp
Tent (1 person) 45 sp These prices are for a light canvas or
(2-3 people) 70 sp similar tent. For a heavier version,
prices roughly double.
(4-6 people) 90 sp
Tinderbox 15 sp
Torch 2 cp
Waterskin (1 litre) 2 sp
Whetstone 1 sp
Whistle 1 sp
Wire, 3 m 8 sp
items marked * are required to get the "tools" bonuses for lockpicking
Combat and Adventuring
House Rules and Clarifications
Hitting Things
We will be using the "inverted" system for determining what you hit in combat:
(3d6 + OCV modifiers) + 10 = DCV hit

In other words, roll your dice, add and/or subtract everything appropriate, and the
resulting number minus ten is the DCV you hit with that blow.
(Note that DCV is calculated by DEX 3 + 10 the resulting huge number is

simply to accommodate the inverted attack system).
In combat, a high roll is always better than a low roll.
Hit Locations
We will be using Hit Locations purely for the purpose of determining whether a blow
hits an armoured spot or not, and will not be using any damage modifiers for the
locations.We'll be going back to using Hit Locations as normal, since there's plenty
of magical healing available and I feel that they make combat more colourful.
Killing Attacks and STUN Damage

Any Killing Attack will always do x3 STUN we will not be using an additional
STUN MUltiplier die. For example, if your HKA does 8 BODY, it does 8 x 3 = 24
STUN. If it does 18 BODY, it does 18 x 3 = 54 STUN.
Martial Arts
To ease the pain of those sensible souls who use Hero Designer for character creation, I've
created a Martial Arts prefab which will allow you to place all the most common maneuvers
without having to build each from scratch. You can get it here (right-click and "Save
as..." Martial Arts.hdp)
Rather than using the antiquated and arbitrarily priced martial arts maneuvers
listed in the core rules, all maneuvers will be built using Powers, Advantages and
Limitations (just like almost everything else in the system) and be placed inside
a Martial Arts Multipower.
This change will make it slightly more expensive for martial arts dilletantes, who
just want enough maneuvers to give them an edge in combat but aren't true
martial artists in the wire-fu sense, but it will make it cheaper to amass a huge
repertoire of fancy stunts for those who want to devote themselves to leaping and
whacking. Bear in mind that the Multipower's Active POint value must be at least
large enough to match the Active Point value of the largest Power within it.
The cost-effectiveness of martial maneuvres will now more accurately reflect their
usefulness, in line with the rest of the system's Powers, Talents etc., rather than
being priced arbitrarily to cater to ancient character building practices
from Champions I in 1981.
The Armour Piercing Advantage

My rationale for the change is this: armour-piercing attacks in real life are effective only up
to a certain point. They don't just halve the defensive value of the armour they're used
against, unlike the AP advantage as written. I didn't want to make an attack's AP
capabilities absolutely predictable however, hence the use of a semi-random dice mechanic.
In the Hero System rules, Armour Piercing is treated very simply it ignores half
of the target's defences. If Doktor Depravo has a DEF of 23, the attack treats it as a
DEF of 12. If his puny minion's DEF were 6, the same attack would treat it as a DEF
of 3.
Unfortunately, this is not how armour piercing works in the real world. It's not
reasonable that the same attack should penetrate 11 points of Doktor Depravo's
Dastardly Defensive Device's force field, while only penetrating 3 points of his
minion's bullet-proof vest; the attack should penetrate the same amount of armour
in both cases.
The Modification
Instead of automatically halving the target's defences, an attack with the Armour
Piercing advantage ignores the same DEF as the amount of Normal BODY rolled for
the attack.
Example: Ruggedly handsome soldier of fortune Dirk Storm fires at a knight in full
plate (DEF 8) with his trusty crossbow, a 2d6 AP RKA. He hits, doing 7 points
(rolling a 5 and a 2 on his 2d6, or 2 Normal BODY). The knight's effective armour
DEF drops to 6, and he takes 1 point of BODY from Dirk's crossbow bolt.
Armour Piercing can be taken multiple times, with each additional advantage
multiplying the DEF ignored by +1, i.e., if taken twice it ignores (nBODY x 2) of the
target's DEF, if thrice, (nBODY x 3), etc.
Hardened defences cancel out Armour Piercing on a level-by-level basis.

Falling damage is always treated as armour piercing.
Armour Piercing is a + Advantage.
Critical Hits and Fumbles

Combat
In combat, a natural roll of 18 is a Critical Hit and you get the option of
a. Doing maximum damage for the attack, or

b. Choosing the Hit Location damaged by the attack.
If an 18 is required just to hit, then no Critical occurs when one is thrown. A natural
18 is not neccessarily an automatic hit.
A natural roll of 3 is a Fumble, and will result in Something Bad happening

precisely what happens will depend on what would be funniest at the time.
Examples include:
Throwing your weapon away

Slipping in a pool of blood and ending up flat on the floor
Breaking an armour strap and having your chainmail trousers drop around
your knees
....and so on.
Other Skills
When it comes to Skills, the rolls are reversed: a 3 is a Critical Success and an 18 is
Fumble. Precise results will be entirely dependent on the skill being used and
circumstances, but regardless of the specific result a Critical Success will give you
the best possible outcome of the skill use, whereas a Fumble will not only fail, but
will result in the worst possible outcome of failure (probably not fatal, but I make
no promises....)
STUN, END and Recoveries

Because this is a cinematic-style game as far as combat is concerned, I am doing
away with Stunning. Characters who take STUN damage still keep track of it, and
when your STUN total drops to 0 you are unconscious, but you don't get Stunned
by taking more STUN than your CON. I'm reinstating Stunning, mainly because
removing it makes creating certain magical effects far more difficult, but also
because without it a powerful character can pretty much wade through scores of
mooks without having to worry. OK, so they're only mooks, but even so a hundred
of them should be slightly worrisome.
END use is only used for magic (unless you're trying to move while carrying
something really heavy see below), and for the most part will therefore be drawn
from the character's Mana Pool.
There is no automatic Post-Segment-12 Recovery. If you're getting low on STUN or

END, you actually have to use an action to Recover. You can't recover END in the
same Phase you're burning it, (or recover STUN in any Phase you take STUN) so
that may mean that you will have to get out of combat, stop moving, and/or
possibly let an ongoing spell cease, before you can Recover.
Healing
Everybody gets Fast Healing by default, because I'm such a generous guy, and
because well, just because. What that means is that you heal naturally (i.e.
without magical intervention) at the rate of your REC per week, instead of REC per
month as normal.
For example, if you get whacked by Gobbo the Clobberer's Mace of Clobberin' and
take 8 BODY (ow!), and you have a REC of 4, it will take you two weeks to heal
completely. If you have a REC of 6, it will take a week and a bit.
If you feel really anal, you can work out exactly how many hours you need to heal
1 BODY. Who knows, it might be important.
Combat Luck
Combat Luck is limited to no more than 2 levels (i.e. 6 PD/ED) and does not stack
with any physical armour heavier than soft leather (i.e. 1 rPD). That still gives you
the equivalent of wearing chainmail while dancing around in your jockstrap, which
isn't too bad. Because this is a campaign-wide Limitation on the Talent, it doesn't
make Combat Luck any cheaper. Sorry.
Note that Combat Luck doesn't come into effect if you're taken by surprise,
attacked in your sleep, or can't dodge around for some reason if you're being
crushed in a giant's fist, for example.
The Deadly Blow Talent

This Talent must be defined in one of three ways:
As a magical ability, either a spell or as an effect of a magic weapon. This is the

only version that would be 100% reliable, but probably be limited to X number of
uses per day, or only vs. a specific target type, or something like that. This would
be the paladin's "Smite Evil" ability, or a Giant-Slaying sword effect.
As an expression of a high level of combat skill. In this case, there would be

no limit on the number of times per day it could be employed, but it would be
limited relative to the combat roll: you'd only be able to get the benefit of a Deadly
Blow if you beat the defender's DCV by at least 5, so that relatively crappy shots
that only just sneak past his defences wouldn't get the benefit of the extra damage.
This means that it's not so easy to get the benefit of both a called shot and Deadly
Blow; both together are just too unbalancing, and if the Bad Guys start doing it too
then PC deaths are going to multiply horribly. We don't want that now, do we.
This version is restricted to a maximum of +1d6 damage.
As an expression of an intimate knowledge of anatomy you know precisely

where to stick it in to do the best (or worst, depending on point of view) damage.
This would be the assassin's version of the Talent.
Again, there would be no limit on the number of attempts per day, but you'd
have to make a successful PS:Anatomy roll. You'd have to have the
appropriate Anatomy skill for each species of target of course (e.g. humans,
horses, snakes, kittens etc.) and the roll would be modified for sub-groups
e.g. humans, dwarves and mind-flayers are all humanoid. Dwarves are pretty
similar anatomically to humans, but not identical; call that a -1 to the roll.
Mind-flayers are also roughly similar, but not nearly as much as a dwarf
they might be worth a -5, and so on.
For this version, there are further restrictions, in that the target must be DCV
0 (surprised or immobilized, or in some other way denied defensive
maneuver) AND you only get to add the Deadly Blow damage if the weapon's
base damage manages to sneak at least 1 BODY past any resistant defences,
to avoid the situation where a sneaky assassin manages to bring down a
plate-armoured knight with a thumb-tack.
Regardless of which version is used, Deadly Blow must cost END.
Feinting
You can use your Acting skill in combat as a half-Phase action to feint before
landing your real blow. For every two points you make the Acting roll by, you gain
+1 OCV for that attack. However, for every two points you fail the roll by, you lose
-1 DCV until your next Phase.
Overland Movement
ENCUMBRANCE
Total
Weight DCV and END
Carried Dex Roll Movement per Turn
Up to 10% -0 0
10-24% -1 0
25-49% -2 -1" 1
50-74% -3 -2" 2
75-89% -4 -4" 3
90-100% -5 -8" 4
The distance a character can travel easily in one day is dependent on three things:
1. Their own movement rate inches of Combat Movement x SPD gives the
Base Overland Movement Rate (BOMR) in Movement Units (MU). This is the
nominal distance a character can travel in 10 hours in good weather bad
weather will modify the MU Distance downwards, depending on its severity.
2. The terrain being traversed the ease or difficulty of the terrain will
increase or decrease the distance covered, as below.
3. The weight being carried Carrying 25% or more of the character's
maximum will reduce their Movement, and thus their BOMR. Each point of
END from encumbrance costs 1 LTE (Long Term END) per 2 MU travelled
(see table).
MOVEMENT UNITS
MU
Terrain Distance Examples
Very Easy 2 km Good roads in mostly flat country
Easy 1.5 km Open plain, good roads or tracks in close or hilly

country
Difficult 0.75 km Reasonably open forest, rough tracks in close or

broken country such as forested hills or rocky
mountains
Very 0.25 km Dense brush or jungle, trackless broken country
Difficult
Additionally, each two MU travelled beyond the character's BOMR costs the
character +1 LTE.
If all that seems a bit complicated, don't worry. What it boils down to is this: if you
travel far, you'll get tired. If you carry a lot, you'll get tired. If you travel far
carrying a lot, you'll get really tired.
Example: Zosia has a Movement rate of 6" and SPD 4, which means she can
move 6 x 4 = 24 MU per day (unencumbered) without suffering any particular
fatigue. On good, flat roads, that means she can easily walk 48 km per day. In
easy, open country she can make 36 km, along forest tracks 18 km, and in
trackless mountains only 6 km. If she exceeds these distances, then she has to
burn LTE to do so.
Her STR is 18, with a maximum lift of 303 kg, so as long as she carries no more
than 72 kg she'll remain essentially unencumbered as far as her movement is
concerned. If she carries 73 kg or more, her base move drops and she will start
using LTE as she travels.
The Elves
Physical Characteristics
Elves differ in form only slightly from Men, and non-humanoids find it easy to get
them confused ("all humanoids look alike" they say). Generally speaking, the facial
features and limbs of Elves appear elongated and thin compared with those of Men.
Their skin colouring is always a pale ivory, and appears slightly translucent. If
burned by the sun, they do turn red, but they never tan (or freckle). Their hair is
straight and either pure white or pure black, without gradation. To human eyes,
they tend to appear rather albinoid. They have high cheekbones, and large, slightly
slanted, almond-shaped eyes with little white showing, with either pale gray or very
dark blue irises.
In low light, an Elf's pupils dilate enormously, making their eyes appear completely
black they can see much better in darkness than can Men, but like most
creatures do require some light to see by. They are able to discern detail over a
considerable distance, with vision comparable to that of a hawk.
Their willowy build makes Elves relatively puny compared with Humans (average is
STR 7, racial maximum is 15). They are, however, remarkably resilient when it
comes to physical harm; they can take a surprising amount of damage without
being disabled, and they heal very quickly, seldom scarring visibly unless from
some terrible trauma. They seldom suffer from disease, and they are immortal
unless killed by violence.
Elves are naturally nimble and graceful, and perform as a matter of course
acrobatic feats that members of other races would have to train at for years to
achieve (average DEX 15, racial maximum is 30, all Elves have Acrobatics).
Elf children are rare, especially among High Elves, and grow from infancy to
adulthood over a period of about 40 years.
History and Culture

The Elves are a withdrawn and decadent race, the remains of what was once a
highly advanced and widespread civilization. They are not native to this plane, but
have lived here for many thousands of years knowledge of their native plane is
now lost, though information may still exist in some ancient archive. Their
kingdoms at one time dominated the land from the farthest north to the furthest
south, from east to west, and their cities were jewels in the landscape, centres of
culture and scholarship. Those days are now long past, and those who are left now
have little to do with the affairs of the outside world.
In the days of their highest achievement some 5,000 years ago, the Elvish
civilization was a loose confederation of some two hundred kingdoms of varying
size and power. There had always been a certain amount of rivalry between them,
and alliances and hatreds that rose and fell over the centuries, but serious conflict
was rare and seldom long-lived. However, at that time something happened to
change the way of things that had stood for millennia. Rivalries gradually became
more intense, and disputes more bitter. Scholars became secretive and jealous of
their knowledge, which before they had shared freely. Kings and queens began to
demand not just respect, but submission from their peers. Bloodshed became more
common, and the monarchs began building armies, something that had never
before seemed necessary. Cities became fortifications, and the inhabitants of
smaller communities began to withdraw into them. The so-called Lesser Races
began to become slaves, rather than the valued servants they had previously been.
Elvish civilization became a dark and tyrannical thing; general conflict seemed
inevitable to all, and everyone prepared for it as best they may.
The Great War, when it came, seemed at first nothing more than another petty
dispute over the control of an unimportant stretch of land. However, rather than
dying away the conflict intensified, with more and more kings drawn in on either
side. Some took the opportunity to strike at their rivals while they were otherwise
occupied, and were stricken in their turn. There came a time when it seemed that
there was no place in the world where one Elf was not trying to kill another, and the
scale of the war grew and grew and grew. Vast stretches of country in the south-
east were laid waste, and in fact have never recovered to this day. The conflict
reached a crescendo, after over three hundred years of constant warfare, in the
cataclysm that created the Cursed Lands, but even after that calamity (which wiped
out fully a third of the Elvish race, not to mention vast legions of their slave troops
of other races) the war dragged on and on. The scale of warfare dropped, but not
for want of hatred rather because the remaining warrior-monarchs simply no
longer had the resources to maintain themselves. Gradually, over another thousand
years, the war continued, dying away here and flaring up there but never ending,
bleeding away the vitality of the Elvish race almost to extinction.
Not every king or queen went to war voluntarily. There were many who were
wantonly attacked and forced to defend themselves, and were thus drawn willy-nilly
into the seemingly endless madness. There were others who, seeing the way the
wind was blowing, went into hiding from their own kin and thus avoided
entanglements, but those who remained successfully hidden were by far the
minority.
The surviving Elves fall into one of three loose types:
High Elves
Light Elves
The first are those who, having successfully hidden themselves, managed
consciously to maintain the nobility and scholarship of the old days to some
extent, though by its nature such an existence results in an isolationist
outlook, even in the best of times. To have remained hidden through all
those long years of warfare, they must necessarily have been relatively
unimportant to begin with, or else they would have been sought out.
However, in these communities is the last vestige of the glory of the elder
days.
Dark Elves
The second are those who managed to remain hidden by becoming utterly
ruthless in their quest for anonymity. Although they keep much of their
knowledge and skill, they are become absolutely xenophobic and will seldom,
if ever, venture out of their own borders or allow any others in. For these
Elves, a trespasser is an enemy, and thus deserving of death, which is dealt
out without mercy or compunction.
Wild Elves
The third are those who, by thousands of years of constant warfare, of
constantly hunting and being hunted, have become virtual savages. They are
normally to be found living in small, barbaric tribal groups, having discarded
any knowledge or culture unrelated to pure survival. No creature can live
such a life without losing its essential humanity, and for the most part these
eternal warriors are, by any normal standards, completely insane.
Magic and Technology

High Elves have regular access to highly technologically advanced equipment that
to other, younger races appears magical. In fact, they employ little magic as it is
understood elsewhere, preferring to employ more predictable and reliable means of
achieving their aims. Elves are bought up to treat the use of these objects as
normal and usual, but many of them can be extremely dangerous in unskilled
hands and should be treated with great caution.
Wild Elves, for the most part, have lost the knowledge required to build or maintain
the equipment their more civilized cousins take for granted. Their descent into
barbarism and ignorance has resulted in the adoption of beliefs and superstitions
that civilized Elves would consider ludicrous. While they may still possess items of
great potency from the Ancient Days, they (like the other races of the modern
world) tend to view them as magical rather than as technological objects.
Religion
High Elves are basically irreligious. They recognise the existence of powerful entities
with the ability to directly manipulate physical laws, and even maintain intercourse
with some of them, but they do not treat them as gods. Their "religion" is actually a
system of ritual designed to foster social bonding and to facilitate the communal
remembrance of significant people and events, and though it has some common
elements across Elvish culture, is largely specific to each community.
Wild Elves have adopted an animistic and shamanistic religion. Each tiny clan has
its own magic-maker with the responsibility of dealing with those entities they have
come to view as supernatural, and in this respect (as in many others) the Wild
Elves have come strongly to resemble the cultures of other primitives all over the
world.
Elf Characters
The Hero Designer 3 character template for elves can be found here. It includes the NCM
modifiers mentioned below.
Elvish characters are pretty straightforward to build. You will start with the following
Characteristics and powers:
Char Starting Value Cost NCM Cut-Off
STR 7 -6 pts 15
DEX 15 15 pts 30
CON 13 6 pts 25
PD 5 4 pts 12
ED 7 4 pts 12
REC 8 8 pts 15
Total Characteristics Cost: 31 pts

Power/Skill Cost
Elvish Vision: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group 5 pts
Elvish Vision: +3 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group 5 pts
Elf-life: Life Support (Longevity: Immortal 5 pts
Acrobatics 3 pts
Total Powers/Skills Cost: 18 pts
And the following Disadvantage(s):
0 pts Distinctive Features: Elf (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Not
Distinctive In Some Cultures)
Dark Elves should also take a 10 pt Psych.Limit: Xenophobic.
Wild Elves should take a 10 pt Psych.Limit: Paranoid and a 10 pt 11- Reputation: Psychotic.

Another High Fantasy Hero

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Another High Fantasy Hero

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

High Fantasy Hero

All characters must take the following character disadvantage:

Social Limitation: Adventurer (frequently, minor) 10pts

As an adventurer and person of no fixed abode, representatives of the law

Big and Little

Reduced END (0 END) +

Each level of Shrinking, in addition to its standard features, automatically reduces

New Characteristic: MANA

You draw Mana for spells always in this order:

Mana Level Resting Not Resting

0 or more Normal (REC per hour) REC per 6 hours

-1 to -10 REC per 6 hours REC per day

-11 to -20 REC per day REC per week

-21 to -30 REC per week REC per month

-31 or more GM's option (a long time)

Spells of up to 15 Active Points may be built without modification, according to the

Attitudes to Magic and Magicians

You WILL NOT be able to waltz into a "Wizards-R-

Magic Items Are Valuable

The Middle Kingdom

The Desert Tribes

The Gods of the High Faith

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Eurinda The Lady of the Leaves, Goddess of animals, Primarily worshipped by

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Korthund The Mountain-Walker, the God of mountains, Highly favored by Dwarves;

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Name Description Domain Notes

Base chance of getting any response: 1/216 (roll 3 on 3d6)

Character Points sacrificed by the supplicant* +1 per * Charact

Supplicant is a worshipper of another (antagonistic) god -4 Rituals

Life and Death... and Life

It might also be part of a full-service assassination to send someone after the

NOTE: Resurrection is bound to tick off the gods of the dead.

A corpse can be protected from invasion by keeping it within appropriate wards

Armour Prices, Rules and Descriptions

If you use activation rolls:

An 8- roll translates to protection for (and armour price/weight is calculated

Item Cost (s.p)* Protection Weight (Kg)

Padded undergarment 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 1 PD/ED 0.9 / 2.2 / 3.1

Shield : Small 30 +1 DCV 2 (STR min 5)

Medium 40 +2 DCV 4 (STR min 7)

Large 50 +3 DCV 6 (STR min

Leather armour 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 2 PD/ED 1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4

Quilted or padded 18 / 25 /30 / 45 2 PD/ED 1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4

Studded or reinforced 30 / 45 / 55 / 70 3 PD/ED 1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1