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ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS

All Characters have four Attributes: STRENGTH, DEXTERITY, PRESENCE, & KNOWLEDGE , each measured with Die Codes (2D, 3D+1, etc). Human maximum is 4D. Skills represent individual training; each Skill defaults to an Attribute.

STRENGTHphysical power and endurance"Fighter"(Power/Melee Combat Skills), Stamina
DEXTERITYphysical agility and precision"Thief"(Finesse/Ranged Combat Skills), Dodge
PRESENCEfocus, senses, and confidence"Priest"Perception, Focus
KNOWLEDGEmental recall and learning"Mage"(Professional Skills), Writing

DIFFICULTY & SUCCESS

Difficulty is the target number for a Roll. Some Skills may check for degree of Success: 0-4+ Difficulty is '1 Success'; each 5 greater than the target Difficulty counts as an additional Success. Some Checks are Contested: the target Difficulty will be an opposing Roll.

DifficultyTarget
Very Easy5
Easy10
Moderate15
Difficult20
Very Difficult25
Heroic30

COMBAT, DAMAGE, & HEALING

Attack Roll (To-Hit): Attack Skill vs Defense Skill. Equal or better is a Hit. Damage Roll (STR) vs Stamina (STR) Skill. See also Weaponry & Armor.

Dmg v StaminaEffect
less than 1/2no effect
x1/2 ++1 Stun
x1 +1 Wound: Wounded
x2 +2 Wounds: Seriously Wounded
x3 +3 Wounds: Gravely Wounded
x4 +4 Wounds: Unconscious
x5 +5 Wounds: Dead
NOTE re: Wounds: if a Character has already accumulated MORE Wounds than indicated, treat each additional Wound as Stun.*

WOUNDS immediately reduce all Attributes by the Wound Level; this does reduce Stamina. Wounds represent serious injury: torn ligaments, deep gashes, broken bones, organ damage, etc. When an Attribute reaches Zero Dice, basic functions are impossible:

Lost AttributeLost Abilities
STRStanding
DEXWalking
PREHearing and/or Sight
KNOSpeaking

STUN reduces all Attributes, but only for the remainder of the combat round it is taken. After combat, Stun reduces Stamina; if Stamina is reduced to below STR, any remaining Stun is treated as Wounds: debilitating, if temporary. Each Stun is usually an independent injury: a bruise, cut, sprain, etc.

*Mechanical Notes on Wounds: Creatures with high Stamina are very hard to kill; use teamwork to reduce their Stamina by attacking en masse, before the creature can escape and recover their Stun!

DAMAGE & WOUNDS EXAMPLE: Raesa Krykov targets Spider Coyne and casts Arcane Arrow at 30. The Spell inflicts a maximum of 25 damage, but the roll produces 4 bolts of magic.
Spider rolls 3D STR + 1D Armor = 10; 25/10 > 2, so Spider takes 2 Wounds from the first Arrow.
Spider rolls 1D STR + 1D Armor = 9; 25/9 >2, so Spider's Wound level rises to 3 Wounds from the second Arrow.
Spider rolls 0D STR + 1D Armor = 8; 25/8 >3, so Spider's Wound level rises to 4 Wounds from the third Arrow.
With no dice, the fourth Arrow inflicts the 5th Wound and kills Spider.

DAMAGE & STUN EXAMPLE: Raesa Krykov targets Dilbert Cain and casts Arcane Arrow at 30. The Spell inflicts a maximum of 25 damage, but the roll produces 4 bolts of magic.
Dilbert rolls 3D STR + 2D Armor = 26; 25/26 <1, so Dilbert takes 1 Stun from the first Arrow.
Dilbert rolls 2D STR + 2D Armor = 18; 25/18 >1, so Dilbert takes 1 Wound from the second Arrow.
Dilbert rolls 1D STR + 2D Armor = 12; 25/12 >2, so Dilbert's Wound level rises to 2 Wounds from the third Arrow.
Dilbert rolls 0D STR + 2D Armor = 10; 25/10 >2, so Dilbert's Wound level rises to 3 Wounds from the fourth Arrow.
Next round, the penalty from the Stun is eliminated until after combat, but at 3 Wounds, Dilbert will attempt to crawl away from further battle...

HEALING

Treating STUN: Moderate (15) Difficulty. Success eliminates 1 Stun.

Treating WOUNDS: Difficulty is based on the degree of Woundedness:

1 Wound: 20

2 Wounds: 25

3 Wounds: 30

4 Wounds: 35

Success will convert ONE Wound to 1 Stun. Additional Successes reduce the treatment time (below), with a minimum of one treatment period.

BREAKING

Difficulty: "Hardness". Materials have 1 Wound/inch to 5", then +1 Wound to 1 foot, +1W/foot. Wounds are per 5'-section. Visual breeches occur at (W-2), larger breeches at (W-1), and completely destroyed at W=0. Lesser thicknesses reduce difficulty by 5 per halving; ie, 1/2" of Iron=20, 1/4" of Iron=15.

Difficulty is doubled when using an implement of equal or less Hardness, or a Weapon or Spell rather than a Tool (pick, auger, saw, etc).

HARDNESS
MaterialHardness
Ice5
Wood, (1/4" Rope)10
Brick, Silver, Gold15
Limestone, Bronze, Elf Chrome20
Iron, Marble25
Mild Steel, Granite, Goblin Chrome30
Quenched Steel, Semi-precious Gems35
Tool Steel, Emerald, Topaz40
Titan Chrome, Faltine45
Ruby, Sapphire50
Diamond55
Black Adamant60

Breaching a Limestone Wall: A three-foot thick wall would have Hardness 20, and take 8 Wounds before collapsing. Unless using Tools, this Hardness is doubled to 40.

TRAVEL OVERLAND

See also Comfort

Water Pacemph24-hr MileageExample
Tow248typical up-river or land transport of heavy goods
Row496typical down-river transport of heavy goods
Sail6144cross-wind travel on open sea
Clip12288maximum travel rate on open sea
Spin18432maximum burst rate on open sea

Encumbrance

"Stoneweight" Encumbrance: One Stone is 14 pounds. Characters can carry STR number of Stone and be Unencumbered. Encumbrance both reduces speed and maneuverability and demands more endurance, reducing Stamina for long distance travel.

Stone:STRLoadEffect on DEX & Stamina
< 1xUnencumberednone
< 2xPacked-1D
2xLoaded-2D
3xEncumbered-3D
4xOverloaded-4D
5xMaxed-5D

Beasts of Burden (horse, mule, oxen) triple their base STR for Encumbrance. Lighter animals (riding dogs & birds, etc) double base STR. Ex: Horse with 4D STR counts as 12D STR, carrying 12 Stone (168 lbs) without penalty, 24 Stone (336 lbs) Loaded.

Armorskill: a natural Dwarven ability or one granted by Magic. Armor, Shields & Helmets which are worn do not add to Stone carried.

HORSES

HORSES and other pack & riding animals are vital to land transportation. Horses have 1D PRESENCE and 1D KNOWLEDGE Attributes and +1D Run (DEX) Skill & +2D Perception (PRE) Skill. They receive +4D on their STRENGTH and Run (DEX) Skill when in Contests with human-scale characters. Animal Handling (PRE) Skill is used to get a horse to follow a command; Animal Training (PRE) Skill is used to improve the animal's Training (see table). Difficulties are based on the horse's individual Personality traits. A horse will refuse to comply with a failed Handling Roll, and depending on their temperment may resent the request...

Most horses are sold as trained 3-year-olds (FHK Spot price, trained pack horse: 21 silver). Additional Training levels generally double the animal's price. Buying a younger horse generally halves the price for each year, but also reduces the Training level to Untamed and lowers STR/DEX by -1D for each year. Horses begin declining due to age around 20 years old, losing 1D STR or DEX each year.

HORSES
QualitySTR/DEXTrainingPriceKind
Poor 2D/2DTamedx1/2Nag
Middling 3D/2DTamedx1Packhorse
2D/3DSaddlex2Saddlehorse
Fair 4D/2DTamedx2Plowhorse
2D/4DSaddlex4Palfrey
Good 4D/3DSaddlex6Courser
3D/4DSaddlex6Rouncey
Grand 5D/2DTamedx12Drafthorse
2D/5DSaddlex24Racer
Fine 5D/3DTravelx120Charger
3D/5DTravelx120Hotblood
Exquisite5D/3DTravelx1200Destrier
3D/5DTravelx1200Pureblood
Flawless 6D/3DParadex120kWarlander
3D/6DParadex120kKingsblood
HORSE TYPE: 1d6 twice
d6Personality
1Skittish: +1D Dodge & Run Skill, +10 Handling & Training difficulty
2, 3Curious: +1D PRE, +1D Perception Skill
4, 5Dull: +1D Stamina Skill, +10 Training difficulty
6Proud: +1D KNO, +10 Handling difficulty
d6Temperment
1Mild: -5 Handling & Training difficulty
2, 3Fair
4, 5Rough: will Bite when Handled on '1' on 1d6
6Mean: will Kick when Handled on '1-5' on 1d6
HORSE TRAINING LEVELS
TrainingHandlingDetails
Wild30Horse will Run when approached, Kick or Bite when Handled
Untamed20Reaction roll: 2-7, as Wild; 8-12 refuses
Tamed15pull loads: plow, wagons etc.; +1D Haul per 5 years of age
Saddle10half-day riding; +1D Mount skill per 5 years of age
Travel10full-day riding; +1D Stamina skill
Parade15basic warhorse training; +1D Climb, +1D Perform
Dressage20advanced maneuvering on command; +1D Jump, +1D Mount
Battle20advanced warhorse training; extra Wild Die on Reaction Tests
HORSE CHARACTER
"Nadine"Dull, Rough, Tamed Nag (Poor), 20yrs
STR 2DStamina 3D
DEX 2DRun 3D
PRE 1DPerception 3D
KNO 1DHaul 5D
HORSE CHARACTER
"Chevette"Proud, Fair-tempered Pureblood (Exquisite Dry White Fronch Mare), 6yrs
STR 3DStamina 4D
DEX 5DRun 6D
PRE 1DPerception 3D
KNO 2DMount 3D

DRINKING

A 'drink' is 8 ounces of wine or 16 ounces of ale (4 per half-gallon!). Roll Stamina after each drink. The target difficulty is 5, per drink. Goes down by 5 per hour.

ROLL RESULTS
Your roll beats the difficulty. No change.
You roll under the difficulty. Take a "drunken wound"
You roll under HALF the difficulty.Take a "drunken wound", and make a vomit check 5 minutes later.

After each drinking roll, make a PRE roll (10) or you will need another drink.

Vomit Check - Roll your (current) Stamina (15) to make it to a bush or barrel. Failure indicates you vomit in place.

"Drunken Wound" - works just like a regular wound, -1D to all Attributes; this includes Stamina for drinking further, but not for taking damage.

-1DTipsy
-2DDrunken
-3DLegless - DEX roll to walk!
-4DBlacked Out - you will not remember any of your activities after this point.
-5DPassed Out

DWARVES double their rolled Stamina.

ELVES do not ever vomit. Elvish Priests of Eleutherios have 2 special rules:

"In the Reeds" ("Drunkberry" spell): ARMOR doesn't add to the Stamina Check, but it DOES add to the To-Hit check.
Target wins: -1D. Target loses: -2D. Loses by double: -3D, +vomit check.

HUNTING

GameTimeDifficultyPortionsEx:
Minor10 minutes6+1/2; +1 animal per Successsmall birds, rodents
Medium1 hour11+4; +1 animal per Successpheasants, raccoons, rabbits
Major4 hours16+12; +6 portions per Successboar, deer

  1. Look for signs of one class of Game, search terrain for time period.
  2. Perception roll:
  3. Stealth (10 minutes) or Traps (1 hour) Roll
  4. Stealth Failure: start over!
  5. Stealth Success: Attack Skill
  6. Trap Failure: trap sprung empty after 1d6 hours
  7. Trap Success: 1d6 hours after setting