Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
There are a number of people who help run a game:
There are several key commands which control the flow of the game. They are nearly always called by the referees.
Called to signify that the players are now in the game world in the roles of their characters.
Used to start/restart the game.
As per Time In, in that the players are now in the game world in the roles of their characters, but they should not advance further.
Generally used by GMs when they need a bit more time to set up the next encounter. IC this can represent the extra time taken to move between locations, as generally OOC things are a bit closer together than they would be in IC reality.
Called to stop the game. All players should stop whatever they are doing.
This is normally used after a battle so that damage received, spells cast and other bookkeeping can be performed. However, in exceptional circumstances a player may call time out if he is in danger (or sees someone else in danger).
Called to suspend the game. All characters should freeze, close their eyes and hum/sing/whistle.
This is used when the game world is changing abruptly around the character. The classic example is when a creature/character is using a teleport ability. Can be used by either players or monsters.
Also called to suspend the game. However, characters remain aware of their surroundings.
This is used when something is happening in the game world too fast for the characters to react, but they are still aware of the activity. (For example, a Vampire leaping upwards 20’ to a ledge.)
This call suspends the game while the GMs describe a scene, an effect or anything that the characters would normally experience en masse as background but cannot easily be phys-repped.
This call is only used if someone is injured OOC and there is a need to stop the game immediately. Anyone may call it on seeing a serious injury occur. It must never be used an IC call. All players and monsters must stop what they are doing immediately and await information on the situation from a GM.
All characters have a Life Point total and 6 location Body Point totals. The amount of Body Points on each location is a function of the character’s Life Points as follows
| Location | Life Point Fraction |
| Head | 1/3 |
| Right Arm | 1/3 |
| Left Arm | 1/3 |
| Chest | 2/3 |
| Left Leg | 1/3 |
| Right Leg | 1/3 |
When buying life, always round up body fractions. For example:
When a character is hit, both the Body Points on the location struck and his Life Points are reduced.
There are two types of damage in the system, Normal and Power, explained below.
If the Body Points on a location reach 0, then that location is unusable. If the location is the head or the chest, then the character is unconscious.
If Life Points reach 0 then the character is unconscious.
If an attack does 10 or more points of Body Point damage and takes a location below 0, that location is broken. Even if healing is used to raise the location to 0 and above, the location will still be unusable.
To fix a broken location, it must first be set using the Set Broken Bone skill and then receive 20 points of wounds healing in one go. The healing will not restore any body points, but will allow the character to use the location. Note that the character performing the Set Broken Bone does not have to be the same character(s) that performs the healing.
If a location has been set, then the next wounds healing received to that location automatically goes to fix the break, rather than heal the location.
Example: Kendall is undamaged and in no armour and takes a total of 14 damage to his Right Arm, taking it to -4 and thus breaking it. Mathonwy uses the Set Broken Bone skill on the limb. The 20 point of wounds healing could come from any of the following sources:
• Mathonwy casting Heal Wounds 20 on Kendall’s Right Arm.
• Mathonwy and four others casting Heal Wounds 4 on Kendall’s Right Arm.
• Mathonwy casting Heal Wounds 14 on Kendall and one other casting Heal Wounds 9 on Kendall (note the extra healing would be lost and not go on the limb).
• Kendall drinking a single potion containing 3 shots of Heal Wounds 9 (note the extra healing would be lost and not go on the limb).
After this Kendall’s Right Arm is still on -4, but if it was healed to at least 1, it would be usable again.
The skill removes the extreme pain (nagging ache only). You can only perform light activity such as walking (and if the leg is broken you’ll have a limp), carrying light objects etc. You can’t run, fight or cast.
If you do more than light activity, the setting is undone.
If a location is reduced to -10 it has either been severed (if the weapon used was sharp) or crushed (if the weapon was blunt). Normal healing has no effect, though the location can still be regenerated using the Regrow miracle.
Life damage is limited to the point where the location is destroyed (severed/crushed).
Example: An uninjured un-armoured mage has 27 life (9 body points on each limb). He is hit for Sharp 25 on the arm. This takes the arm to -10 and does 19 points of life damage.
If a blow hits a real-life location that has been destroyed in-game it’s really down to the player being hit to ‘play fair’ and take the blow on his Body if he believes it would have struck there and not just ignore the hit.
A character is considered Dead when:
A character is considered to be Dying when
A dying character loses 1 Life Point per minute, which can be halted with:
Note the character ONLY loses 1 Life Point per minute, regardless of the number of dying conditions met.
Example: Jed has been very unlucky. He is on -2 Life Points, chest is on -3 and both arms have been severed.
He will lose 1 Life Point per minute, until his chest and both arms have had Bind Wounds or any Body healing and his Life Points have been healed to at least 0.
High level Miracles can be used to bring a character back to life, but the character’s Death Threshold is permanently lowered by 1. Once a character’s Death Threshold has reached 0, he can no longer be brought back from the dead.
When a character dies and is brought back to life, his Standing and Mana remain unchanged.
Any spells/miracles a character cast before death will continue running for their appropriate duration.
The base amount of Normal damage caused by a blow depends on the character’s weapon as follows:
| Weapon | Damage | Material1 | Damage Type | Characteristics |
| Melee Weapon | ||||
| Fist2 | 1 | Blunt | On safety grounds you should keep your hand open (rather than actually forming a fist) when performing hand attacks. Damage from fists is Soft. | |
| Claws | 2+ | Sharp | ||
| 1H Dagger | 2 | Metal | Sharp | |
| 1H Sword | 4 | Metal | Sharp | |
| 1H Axe | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp | |
| 1H Mace | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Blunt | |
| 1H Hammer | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Blunt | |
| 1H Club | 3 | Wood | Blunt | |
| 1H Spear | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp | 1H Spear CANNOT be used to do Blunt like a 2H Spear. On safety grounds you should avoid stabbing with the spear. |
| 2H Sword | 7 | Metal | Sharp | |
| 2H Axe | 7 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp | |
| 2H Mace | 7 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Blunt | |
| 2H Hammer | 7 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Blunt | |
| 2H Club | 5 | Wood | Blunt | |
| 2H Staff | 6 | Wood | Blunt | Wielding a Staff as a half-Staff (held at the middle and using both ends to fight) only does 3 damage instead of 6 damage as a quarter-Staff (high hold and using one end to fight). |
| 2H Spear | 7/6 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp/Blunt | 1H Spear does 7 points of damage if hitting with the spear head (Sharp), 6 points of damage if hitting with the haft (Blunt). Note that this just requires the Spear proficient skill, you do not need the Staff proficiency skill to do Blunt damage with it. On safety grounds you should avoid stabbing with the spear. |
| Missile Weapon | Attacks from Arrows and Quarrels are both Piercing and Swift | |||
| Longbow2 | 7 | Bow: Wood, Arrow: Wood | Sharp | |
| 1H Crossbow | 4 | Bow: Wood, Quarrel: Wood | Sharp | Nerf guns can be used as 1H Crossbows. |
| 2H Crossbow | 7 | Bow: Wood, Quarrel: Wood | Sharp | |
| Thrown Weapon | ||||
| Throwing Spear | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp | |
| Throwing Dagger | 2 | Metal | Sharp | |
| Throwing Star | 2 | Metal | Sharp | |
| Throwing Axe | 4 | Head: Metal, Haft: Wood | Sharp |
1 This is the default material that the weapon is constructed from. The Character Ref should be consulted if the weapon is different from this as it may do more/less damage or require an alternative skill to be learned.
2 Before you use Fist attacks or Bows, familiarise yourself with the Safety Guidlines
On gaining the Weapon Proficiency skill for a particular weapon, the character can do the base amount of Normal damage. This base amount can also be improved by buying further skill increases (Specialisation, Expertise, Mastery, etc). The damage caused can also be increased by Strength, Weapon Quality and spells/miracles.
If a character uses a weapon with which they have no skill, their total damage is halved (rounded down).
Example: Traci currently has a Double Strength spell cast up. She finds a superior 1H sword, which currently has a Strengthen 2 running on it. If she had the skill 1H Sword Proficiency she would do 11 Normal damage, but as she does not she is only doing 5 Normal damage.
A character can always voluntarily lower the amount of Normal damage they can do (to a minimum of 1).
On a successful hit which does normal damage, the character calls the Damage Type and the amount of damage caused.
“Sharp” and “Blunt” calls depend on the weapon being used. In most circumstances the exact type of damage is not important to the target so these calls can be dropped (so that only the damage value itself is called).
Example: Grazer, a character with the Sword Proficiency and Strength skills causes (4 + 2 =) 6 points of damage on a successful attack. When the player lands a blow on an opponent (or a friend) he simply calls “Sharp 6” (or, more commonly, simply “6”).
Some rare materials if made into a weapon may have a special effect on certain Creatures.
| Material | Effect |
| Silver | Does Through damage to Were-creatures |
| Cold Iron | Does Through damage to Fae |
The material should form part of the damage call.
Example: Reena has 1H Sword Proficiency and Strength. She has been loaned a Superior Cold Iron 1H Sword to battle the Fae known as Mr Sparkles. When attacking him she calls “Cold Iron 7”. If she also had a Flame Blade 2 on the weapon, she would call “Cold Iron 7 Fire 2”.
For brevity, if you know the creature you are attacking is not affected differently by the material, you may omit the material part of the call.
Example: Reena is attacking an Orc with the Superior Cold Iron 1H Sword. As she knows it has no special effect on Orcs, she just calls “7” as usual.
Well crafted weapons exist, which have improved Normal damage as follows.
| Quality | Bonus |
| Superior | +1 |
| Master | +2 |
| Legendary | +4 |
You can have superior/masterwork/legendary bows/crossbows.
You cannot have superior/masterwork/legendary arrows/quarrels.
Subdue Damage is temporary Normal Damage. The character takes the damage as normal, to Body and Life Points but the damage is recovered 15 minutes later. It is not possible to suffer broken or severed limbs from Subdue Damage. Nor is it possible to go below 0 Life Points or 0 Body Points.
Example: Carrack has 30 life and 10 Death Thresholds, he takes 20 Normal Damage and then 15 Subdue Damage, this puts him on 0 life and he is unconscious.
Example: Carrack has 30 life and 10 Death Thresholds, he takes 25 Subdue Damage and then 7 minutes later 6 Normal Damage, this puts him on -1 life, he is unconscious and he starts bleeding to death, 8 minutes later he has bleed out to -9 life. His Subdue Damage then returns putting him on 16 life and he stops bleeding. Note, if he only had 3 Death Thresholds then he would be dead (unless cured in the meantime)
Note that Power Damage is never treated as Subdue Damage.
Power damage is (usually) caused by spells and miracles, and cannot be stopped by Normal armour. The base amount of damage is 1, and higher spells/miracles increase the damage by 1. When a hit is scored, the player must call out the amount of damage caused and the type of Power used. In order to do Power damage with a weapon, the character must be proficient in the weapon.
If the character is also doing Normal damage, he must call the Normal damage first. If the opponent is damaged by both Normal and Power damage the two are added together. (In some cases where Normal damage is obviously having no effect, the Normal damage call is not necessary.)
Example: During a combat, Blaze casts a Flame Blade 2 on Grazer’s sword, which causes it to do an additional 2 points of Fire damage. Grazer’s player now calls “Sharp 6, Fire 2” on a successful attack.
The Player Ref. then tells the players that only magical and holy damage seems to be having an effect, so Grazer’s player simply calls “Fire 2”.
If multiple Power effects are cast on a weapon, the Power damage caused is the one that causes the most damage.
Example: Carlsberg casts Bless 4 on Grazer’s sword, which still has the Flame Blade 2 active. Grazer’s player now calls “Sharp 6, Fire 2, Holy 4”. If he hits a Skeleton, which is effected by both the Fire and Holy damage, the Skeleton takes the “Holy 4” as this is highest.
Power damage can never voluntarily be lowered, the spell/miracle causing the damage must be cancelled.
The attacks of some creatures are so powerful, they throw their target backwards. Unless a character has at least Strength, he is thrown 10’ backwards, though he remains on his feet.
This call can also be preceded by a higher levels of Strength, which indicates the level required to resist the Knockback (eg: “Double Knockback” requires at least Double Strength to resist).
Swift attacks half Dexterity (rounded up).
The call for this type is attack is preceded by “Swift” (e.g. “Swift 6”).
Undodgeable attacks ignore Dexterity and the Mirror Image spell.
The call for this type of attack is preceded by “Undodgeable” (e.g. “Undodgeable 10”).
Piercing attacks half Protection and Body.
The call for this type of attack is preceded by “Piercing” (e.g. “Piercing 4”).
Power damage is unaffected.
Example: Lucius has Toughness 2 and is wearing Plate (providing 6 points of Normal protection on all locations). He is hit for Piercing 10 Fire 5. He takes 11 points of damage.
Example: Lucius gets a Fire Skin 2. He is hit for Piercing 10 Fire 5 again. Now he only takes 9 points of damage.
Through attacks ignore Protection and Body.
The call for this type of attack is preceded by “Through” (e.g. “Through 10”).
Power damage is unaffected.
Example: Lucius has Toughness 2, is wearing Plate (providing 6 points of Normal protection on all locations) and has a Fire Skin 2 running. He is hit for Through 10 Fire 5. He takes 13 damage.
True Strike attacks ignore Deflection, Dexterity, Protection & Body.
The call for this type of attack is preceded by “True Strike” (e.g. “True Strike 10”).
Truestrike also ignores the following:
Power damage is unaffected.
Example: Lucius has Toughness 2, is wearing Plate (providing 6 points of Normal protection on all locations) and has a Fire Skin 2 running. He is hit for Truestrike 10 Fire 5. He takes 13 damage.
| Group | Type | Description |
| Shield | Shield | This is a physical shield. |
| Dexterity | Dexterity | This is natural and cast up Dexterity. |
| Protection | Damage Reduction | These are spells/miracles that provide a Damage Reduction bonus e.g. Metal Immunity, Wood Immunity etc. |
| Armour | This is physical armour e.g. Plate and spells/miracle that provide armour e.g. Iron Skin, Harden etc. and also includes Paladin/Temple of Order protection. | |
| Body | Toughness | This is natural and cast up Toughness. |
A minimum of 1 point of bruising damage is caused by weapons (including claws) which do Normal damage, unless the target’s (Protection + Body) is at least 4 times the amount of damage caused. Note that Power Damage never causes bruising.
Example: G’Mord is wearing Studded Leather which, with his Specialisation skill, gives him 4 points of Armour and he also has 4 points of Toughness. He thus has 8 points of Protection + Body. Any blow of less than or equal to 2 (i.e. 8 / 4) points has no effect. Any blow of 3-8 points causes 1 point of bruising damage. Any blow of more than 8 points damages him in the standard manner.
Note that any defence from Dexterity is taken from the damage before determining whether a bruise is caused.
Example: G’Mord now learns Dexterity 1 (with sufficient Manoeuvre in Armour). When struck by a blow doing 3 points of Normal damage, his Dexterity is used to reduce this to 2, and as his Protection + Body is 4 times this amount, he takes no damage.
Using fists (or other “soft” weapons) causes no bruising damage, so if the target’s Protection + Body exceeds the fist damage no wounds are inflicted.
Example: G’Mord is left weaponless and has to fall back on his Double Strength and Fist Specialisation. He is fighting an armoured Orc wearing Banded mail, which gives him 5 points of Protection. Unfortunately, G’Mord is only doing 5 points of damage with his fists and so harmlessly rains blows on the Orc’s chest in a truly futile fashion.
You can theoretically wear gauntlets to do ‘hard’ (does bruising) damage with fists, however this should not be done due to safety reasons. Also you would not be able to cast spells/miracles whilst wearing them, as it would be the same as holding a weapon.
Shields can be used to parry an attack. In order to use a shield you must at least have the appropriate Shield Proficiency skill.
If an attack does more than 12 points of Normal damage, it will break any shield that it strikes. Shield breakage can be increased by further skill levels, shield quality and spells/miracles.
Shields can ONLY be broken by normal damage, not power damage.
Well crafted shields exist, which increase the shield breakage value.
| Quality | Bonus |
| Superior | +3 |
| Master | +6 |
| Legendary | +12 |
Dexterity reduces the amount of damage inflicted by a blow.
Dexterity <n> has the following effects:
A character who has his feet/arms entangled only gains half the benefit (rounded down) of his Dexterity.
A character who cannot move at all (by having all his locations entangled, being halted, frozen or paralysed) gets no benefit from Dexterity.
You cannot use Dexterity when deliberating intercepting a blow aimed at another.
Damage Reduction absorbs some of the of damage inflicted by a blow.
Damage Reduction stacks with and works in a similar way to armour, but without a Dexterity Penalty or Casting Penalty.
Damage Reduction does not stack with other sources of damage reduction of the same type, but does with more specific types.
Example: Ariel is in Air Form, giving her DR 2 (Normal). A friendly Light Mage casts Displacement 2 on her. As this also gives DR (Normal), it provides no extra protection.
Example: A skeleton has DR 10 (Sharp). It uses the necromantic spell Immune to Normal to gain DR 10 (Normal). It now has DR 10 (Normal), DR 20 (Sharp).
Armour absorbs some of the of damage inflicted by a blow.
| Type | Armour | Normal | Skill | Characteristics |
| Light | Fur | 1 | Fur | |
| Padded | 1 | Fur | ||
| Leather | 2 | Leather | ||
| Reinforced Leather | 3 | Reinforced Leather | ||
| Troll Skin | 2 | Leather | The only way to get Troll Skin is to kill a troll without using any sharp weapons, skin it before it regenerates using the Background skill Tanning and then burn the rest of the body. The skin can then be made into armour using the Make Light Armour skill. A single Troll Skin can only make exactly 1 helmet, 1 breastplate, 2 bracers and 2 greaves. If 4/6 of your body locations are covered by Troll Skin then you gain the benefit of 1 point of power armour. This power armour does not stack with any other power armour, neither does it stack with another layer of Troll Skin. |
|
| Reinforced Troll Skin | 3 | Reinforced Leather | ||
| Heavy | Scale | 4 | Scale | |
| Chain | 4 | Chain | ||
| Banded | 5 | Banded | Banded covers metal armour made from individual plates held together by rings (as opposed to sewn onto leather or similar backing). | |
| Plate | 6 | Plate |
On gaining the Armour Proficiency skill for a particular armour type, the character gains the Normal protection granted for the location(s) worn. This base amount can also be improved by buying further skill increases (Specialisation, Expertise, Mastery, etc). The protection granted can also be increased by Armour Quality and spells/miracles.
If a character wears armour with which they have no skill, their total protection is halved (rounded down). In addition, the armour points are doubled when determining the Dexterity Penalty and Casting Penalty.
Example: Grunhilda finds a suit of superior Chain Mail covering her Body, Arms and Legs which currently has a Strengthen 2 running on those locations. If she had the skill Chain Proficiency this would provide 7 Normal protection on those locations (and a Dexterity/Casting Penalty of 5 [25 armour points / 6 rounded up N.B. The Strengthen does not affect]), but as she does not it only provides 3 (and a Dexterity/Casting Penalty of 9 [50 armour points / 6 rounded up]).
If the total protection provided for lack of proficiency is equal to 0, then there is no Dexterity/Casting Penalty.
Two pieces of armour can be overlapped which gives protection equal to the sum of of the two types of armour (Plate over Chain gives (6 + 4 =) 10 points of protection). You cannot wear more than 2 layers!
If the armour worn is not made of the correct material then the base value for the armour will generally be decreased. Consult the Character Ref in this instance (e.g. Plate armour made of plastic instead of metal will generally have a base value of 4 instead of 6, though the Plate Proficiency skill must still be bought).
Well crafted armours exist, which have some combination of:
| Quality | Bonus |
| Superior | +1 |
| Master | +2 |
| Legendary | +4 |
Example: A Master Chain shirt covering Body and Arms can give one of the following bonuses:
• +2 Normal armour: This would provide 6 points of Normal armour, 18 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 18 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
• -2 Dexterity Penalty: This would provide 4 points of Normal armour, 6 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 12 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
• -2 Casting Penalty: This would provide 4 points of Normal armour, 12 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 6 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
• +1 Normal armour, -1 Dexterity Penalty: This would provide 5 points of Normal armour, 12 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 15 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
• +1 Normal armour, -1 Casting Penalty: This would provide 5 points of Normal armour, 15 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 12 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
• -1 Dexterity Penalty, -1 Casting Penalty: This would provide 4 points of Normal armour, 9 Armour points for Dexterity Penalty & 9 Armour points for Casting Penalty.
Wearing armour reduces the effectiveness of Dexterity, though this penalty can be offset by the Manoeuvre in Armour skill. The character’s Dexterity is reduced by the average of his Normal armour on all locations rounded up.
Example: Grazer is wearing Chain on his Body and Legs, which totals 12 points of armour. His Dexterity Penalty is thus 2.
Multiple layers of armour have their totals added together.
Example: Grazer improves his armour by adding a Thick Leather jacket, which covers his Body and Arms and increases his total armour points to 18. His Dexterity Penalty thus increases to 3.
Magical effects that are considered ‘armouring’ also penalise the character’s Dexterity in the same way as armour (as these effects cover every location, the Dexterity Penalty is the same as the protective value).
Example: Dingly-del, an Earth Mage, casts Iron Skin 2 on himself. This gives him a total of 12 points of armour and thus a Dexterity Penalty of 2 (the same as the Iron Skin’s protective value).
If a character is both wearing armour and affected by an ‘armouring’ magical effect, the worst Dexterity Penalty is taken (just as the best protective value is taken).
Example: In a vicious fight with a Fire Troll, Grazer has a Harden 4 cast on him by a friendly Order Priest. The Dexterity Penalty from the Harden is 4, which is worse than the 3 given by his armour, hence it is this value which is used.
Superior armour that increases the Normal protection of the armour also increases the Dexterity Penalty.
Example: Grazer buys a Superior Chain shirt that provides 5 points of Normal protection to his Body and Legs. This increases his total armour points to 21 and hence his Dexterity penalty increases to 4 (21 / 6 = 3.5, rounded up to 4).
Increasing the Normal protection of the armour by Spells/Miracles (e.g. Strengthen) does not increase the Dexterity Penalty of the armour.
Dexterity Penalty for armour only affects the base armour (including any bonus from it being superior). Buying Specialisation, Expertise etc. does not increase the Dexterity Penalty.
If a piece of armour is destroyed (for example by a spell/miracle) then that piece of armour is not included when calculating the Dexterity Penalty.
During a fight, players can use other calls to indicate what is happening to their characters.
“Dodge” is used when an opponent’s attack is completely avoided, usually due to Dexterity.
Example: Nifft has a Dexterity of 4. When attacked by a Ghoul doing “Unholy 3, Paralysis 3”, the player calls “Dodge” to indicate to the Ghoul player that his attacks are being completely avoided.
“Bounce” is used when an opponent’s attacks are landing, but are causing no damage, usually due to Armour or other protections.
Example: A Zombie in 8 points of Normal Armour is being attacked by a Warrior with a 1H Sword doing “Sharp 6”. As this damage is not sufficient to break through the armour (and Undead don’t take Bruising damage), the Zombie player calls “Bounce” to indicate that the Warrior’s attacks are bouncing off and causing no damage.
Bounce is also used to indicate that a non-damaging effect is not sufficient to overcome the character.
Example: Eric has Coma 2 cast on him by an enemy Mage. However, as his Willpower is 3 the spell has no effect and the player calls “Bounce” to indicate that he resisted the spell.
The two calls above are combined into “Dodge Bounce” when an opponent’s attacks are being partially avoided and the rest is not sufficient to break through the character’s protection.
Example: Nifft is fighting a more powerful Ghoul doing “Unholy 6, Paralysis 4”. Fortunately for him, a Life Priest has cast “Bless 3” on him, which means that Nifft can avoid most of the attack and the remaining 2 points of Unholy damage are deflected by the Bless. The player calls “Dodge Bounce” to indicate to the Ghoul player that his attacks are being partially avoided and partially bounced.
“No Effect” is used when a character is completely immune to an opponent’s attacks. The main difference between this call and the ones above are that increasing the power of the attack will make no difference.
Example: Nifft disguises himself as a Zombie in order to infiltrate a necromantic cult. On the way he runs into a Priest of Life, who immediately tries to destroy him by casting “Holy Word 10”. As “Holy Word” has no effect on the living, Nifft’s player calls “No Effect” to indicate that the miracle cannot harm him.
This call is also used to indicate that a character is completely immune to a non-damaging effect.
Example: A stranger is approaching the party dressed all in black. Not knowing his intentions, a party Mage casts “Command 3 – Halt” on him. However, the stranger is actually a Vampire and is thus immune to mental spells, so the player calls “No Effect”.
As well as Normal and Power Damage, there are other effects which can be caused.
An “Innate” ability is a spell or miracle that a character can cast without any Standing/Mana/Life cost, has no vocals, can be cast at a run and only requires hands/claws free for touch attacks (Innate touch attacks should follow the same rules as normal touch attacks. If the innate effect is based on a level 0 spell/miracle only a one handed touch is required, all other levels require 2 hands).
Protective effects that target spells or miracles (Chaos Resistance, Spell Immunity etc.) also protect against Innate effects.
Example: A Demon attacks the party calling “Innate Fire Dart 6” and WinterLight quickly casts “Spell Immunity 1 – Fire Dart” on herself. She can no longer be harmed by any Fire Dart spell and calls “No Effect” when the Demon targets her.
A “Natural” ability is exactly the same as an “Innate” ability, but the ability is not magical in nature and thus protective effects that target spells or miracles are ineffective.
Example: A party encounter a large Lizard-like creature that attacks using its fiery breath, calling “Natural Fireball 6”. This time WinterLight’s “Spell Immunity 1 – Fireball” will not protect her from the effect.
A Slowed character can only move at half speed. Any defence from Dexterity is halved. The Player should roleplay being Slowed, reacting slowly, walking at a slow pace, talking slowly, etc, etc.
Multiple slow effects have no further slowing effect.
A character is Paralysed if his Toughness is less than the level of the Paralysis attack. Whilst Paralysed, the character is held immobile (the player must immediately stand still and not move). After 15 minutes the Paralysis wears off enough for the character to move.
Example: Illson has a Toughness of 3. A Ghoul attacks him with Paralysis 2 but as his Toughness is more than the Paralysis level, he is not effected.
Later a more powerful Ghoul attacks with Paralysis 4. As the paralysis effect is more than his Toughness, it takes full effect and Illson is Paralysed.
In order to perform several abilities e.g. cast spells/miracles you need to be able to Concentrate.
You cannot start to Concentrate if any of the following conditions are met:
Whilst Concentrating the following conditions are true:
Concentration will automatically end if any of the following conditions are met:
You can recover Life/Body by sleeping or healing spells/miracles.
When healing a character who has taken both real and subdue damage. The real damage is healed first.
You can recover Mana/Standing by rest, sleeping or using the Meditate/Prayer skills.
You can only recover Mana/Standing which is not currently being used by an active spell/miracle.
Example: Barel has 50 mana, and casts an Ice Blade 4 as an Ice Blade 2 for 4 hours, requiring 5 mana, her current maximum will be 45. Barel can decide to cancel the Ice Blade before meditating, but if she doesn’t then she will only return to her current maximum of 45.
Extension/Extend count as still being in effect if the spell they extended is still in effect.
Example: So, if instead Barel casts Ice Blade 2 (3 mana) and Extension 3 (4 mana), her maximum mana will be 43 until the Ice Blade either runs out, is cancelled or dispelled.
Example: Alternatively, Winterlight has 60 mana. Barel casts an Ice Blade 2 (3 mana) on Winterlight’s sword and Winterlight casts an Extension 4 (5 mana) to extend it. Winterlight’s maximum mana will be 55 and Barels 47 until the Ice Blade either runs out, is cancelled or dispelled.
Other spells/miracles may also have different durations which mean they are still in effect.
Example: If you cast Cure Disease 5 as Disease Resistance 1, then it counts as still being in effect for the whole 24 hours and the character will not recover the standing for it.
Mana/Standing is regained at a rate of 1 per 15 minutes of rest.
Example: Archibald rests for 15 minutes he gains back 1 Mana and 1 Standing.
In order for sleep to be effective, you must sleep for at least 4 hours. You can only sleep once per 24hr period.
Sleeping will recover all of your Mana, Standing and Life/Body (for all locations ‘present’).
Sleeping will also allow you to recover 1 Death Threshold lost temporarily from Overcasting.
Example: Breeze has 3 Death Thresholds, he overcasts leaving him temporarily reduced to only 1 Death Threshold. After sleeping that night he goes up to 2 Death Thresholds. After sleeping the next night he goes back up to his maximum of 3 Death Thresholds.
Meditate recovers all of your Mana.
Prayer recovers all of your Standing.
Mediate & Prayer take 15 minutes to perform, during which time the character must Concentrate and additionally cannot move or talk, otherwise the benefits are lost.
N.B. An exception may be made to the no moving/talking rule if you are performing a meditative technique like Tai-Chi, praying to your god(s), singing songs/hymns etc.
The Mana/Standing recovered by Meditate/Prayer all come back at the end of the 15 minutes. In order to recover Mana/Standing from ‘active’ spells/miracles they must end before the end of the Meditate/Prayer (note it is ok for them to end during the Mediate/Prayer, they do not have to have to have ended before you start).
Mediate & Prayer cannot be performed at the same time.
Meditate & Prayer can only be performed once per day and cannot be restarted if interrupted.