Coyotes have been stealing food. Herds of buffalo roam. Canyons, those deep drums of the night, thunder at the moon.
You have a mark on your skin, somewhere on your face. It shines in the moonlight and stings in the wind. What is its shape? Where does it sit?
You've heard rumour others with such a mark are gathering in the town of Mwi. Mwi is not more than a three days journey. You plan to gather in Mwi in a weeks time. What will you bring? What motives will the others have?
The days are long and hot in the desert. How do you protect yourself from the sun?
Choose to be a fighter, traveler, or plant dreamer.
If you were acquainted with the blade or bow, either fighter or traveler will do. The former is a bit more combat-oriented than the latter.
Plant dreamers can identify plants that heal, plants that dream.
Choose a descriptor, one of:
Charming, Driven, Exiled, Intelligent, Mysterious, Perceptive, Rugged, Sharp-eyed, Spiritual, or Stealthy.
Choose a focus:
Choose one:
And an additional 6 points to distribute as you choose.
You are practiced in all weapons and can use them without penalty.
Choose two special abilities:
And an additional 6 points to distribute as you choose. If you wield a heavy weapon, increase the attack difficulty by one.
Choose two special abilities:
Choose two special abilities:
You carry with you a plant offering temporary truesight vision. Upon smoking, the plant offers you insight into nature of the world around you. This can be the level of a creature, or the fact that there is a metal object in a nearby wooden chest, etc. After a few moments, the truesight ends and you are left mentally befuddled. Costs 2 intellect points.
You once happened across a plant of warding. You gain 1 Armor permanently.
Spend 1 intellect to deal either 2 intellect damage or 4 physical damage. The intellect damage
action next turn. Agreed upon by the GM prior to rolling.
Spend 1 intellect to convince cognizant creature to do a reasonable action next turn. Agreed upon by the GM prior to rolling.
Spend 1 intellect point to convince an individual that you are not part of a group of people. For instance, you are not from a certain town or tribe. The effect lasts for 1 hour or until the individual learns of facts otherwise. To cast on multiple creatures, 1 additional intellect point per creature.
You are trained in intellect defense tasks and have +2 to armor against damage that selectively targets intellect (this normally would rely on your usual armor).
Charming. +2 Intellect. Trained in pleasant social interaction and special abilities that influence the minds of others. You not much of a bookworm and so struggle in lore, knowledge, or understanding and resisting mental attacks.
Driven. +2 Might. Trained in intellect defense. Each day you are trained in a skill of your choice that you believe will help you reach your goal. You are so focused on your mission, you don't notice other things and struggle on all perception tasks.
When you choose this descriptor, choose a mission you want to accomplish. You probably talk about it a lot. When you accomplish the mission, choose another.
Exiled. +2 might. As a loner, you gain no benefit when someone with training helps you with a task. You're trained in sneaking, foraging, hunting, and finding safe places. Your extended solitary time causes you to struggle in social situation.
Perhaps you committed a horrible deed or carry some token from an earlier, cheerier time in your life.
Intelligent. +2 intellect. Trained in area of knowledge of your choice and all tasks that draw from your memory.
Mysterious. Trained in stealth and resisting interrogation. Once per recovery period, you can attempt any action as if you were trained in it. You struggle in getting people to believe or trust you.
Perceptive. +2 intellect. Trained in finding or noticing small details, identifying objects, recalling trivia, and intimidating another creature. You struggle in positive social interaction.
Rugged. Trained in climbing, jumping, running, swimming. Trained in training, riding, or placating natural animals. Trained in identifying or using natural plants. You struggle with charm, persuasion, etiquette and deception.
Sharp-eyed. Trained in initiative and perception. If an opponent has a straightforward weakness, the GM will tell you.
Spiritual. +2 intellect. Trained in pleasant social interaction, intellect defense tasks, and resisting temptation. When you help someone, they add 1 to their roll. You hesistate when taking in novel details, and so struggle with initiative actions.
Stealthy. +2 speed. Trained in stealth, lying, and trickery and all such special abilities. You're stealthy but not fast and so struggle with movement-related tasks.
Carries a quiver. Minor effect suggestion: hit in a tendon or muscle, the target takes 2 points of speed damage as well as normal damage. Major effect suggestion: the target is pinned in place with an arrow.
You can spend points from either speed or intellect when applying levels of effort to increase bow damage.
Channels the earth. Choose one of the following:
Spend 3 intellect points to restore 1d6 points to a stat pool of any creature, including yourself. Difficulty 2 intellect task. Increases by 1 each time you try to heal the same creature.
You are trained in climbing, stonrecraft, and canyoneering.
Spend 2 intellect points to touch a creature and make them immune to airborne toxins for 10 minutes.
You are trained in botany and handling animals.
Fights dirty. Minor effect suggestion: You make the foe trip and fall prone. Major effect suggestion: You tangle something around you foe's leg and they lose their next turn.
When your foe is disadvantaged in any way, the difficulty of attack is decreased by one step.
You are trained in deception.
Hunts with great skill. Minor effect suggestion: You can attempt an intimidating task to cause your foe to immediately surrender. Major effect suggestion: Your foe pauses, terrified, and takes no action on their turn.
You are trained in following and identifying tracks. You are trained in all types of movement (climbing, swimming, jumping, balancing).
Lives in the wilderness. Minor effect suggestion: A natural creature foe flees. Major effect suggestion: A natural creature foe becomes warily passive.
Trained in climbing, swimming, wilderness navigation, and identifying plants and creatures.
Murders. Minor effect suggestion: no one but the foe notices your attack. Major effect suggestion: if you have poison, you apply it just before the strike, adding poison's effects to the normal damange.
If you attack with surprise or before an opponent has acted, the difficulty of your attack is reduced by one step. On a successful surprise attack, you inflict 2 more points of damange.
You are trained in stealth and disguise.
Wields two weapons at once. Minor effect suggestion: Target is intimidated and flees at its next action. Major effect suggestion: You can make an additional attack with one of your weapons.
You can wield two light weapons at the same time, making two separate attacks with a single action. At first level, you can apply effort to only one of these attacks. Armor applies to both damages.
The rules are based off Monte Cook's Cypher System. If there are other mechanics you'd like to add, please let me know :)
Every roll has a difficulty 1-10, as determined by the GM. The player must roll three times the difficulty or higher to succeed. For instance, a difficulty 2 task requires a 6 or higher to succeed.
Nothing is added to the roll; the difficulty is lowered prior to rolling. After lowering, if a task's difficulty is still 7 or more, it is impossible (as it's impossible to roll 21 or greater on a d20)..
Some examples of things that reduce difficulty include knowledge of a situation, quality weapons or armor, training, an advantageous situation, etc.
Players spend effort to lower difficulties.
Rolling a natural 19 or 20 (assuming the roll is a success against the TD) introduces a minor or major effect, respectively.
Minor effects could be a particular grace to your action, or in combat, an extra 3 damage, the opponent knocking the foe back, distracting the foe, etc..
Major effects could be an extra 4 damage, knocking your foe down, stunning them, etc. Alternatively, in combat, you may take another action.
Attacking an opponent is a roll, defending an attack is a roll. The difficulty of these rolls is equal to the level of the opponent. For instance, to hit or defend against a level 2 opponent requires a 6 or higher.
Damage and armor are flat numbers.
Rolling a 17 deals an extra point of damage. Rolling high can deal more damage.
Armor reduces damage by a flat amount, possibly down to zero.
Roll a 1 is bad as well and may introduce a GM complication. I'm not too familiar on the rules of GM complications now, so we'll keep it simple and forgiving for now :)
Distance is either immediate, short (15-50"), or long.
Example actions include moving to melee attack an opponent in immediate range, making a ranged attack, performing a short plant ritual, or moving a short distance.
Each pool has an associated modifier called edge.
Damage is dealt against one of these pools. Physical attacks against might. Perhaps a drug inducing clusminess may deal against speed. Some mystic may attack against intellect.
This reduces the required number to roll by 3.
At higher levels, players can reduce difficulty by n by spending 3 + 2(n-1) pool points.
Reducing a difficulty by n is called spending n levels of effort.
When spending pool points as effort, subtract the associated edge modifier from the number of pool points spent.
These can be distributed amongst the pools as you wish.
The first rest of the day takes an action (e.g. instead of attacking in combat). The second rest of the day takes 10 minutes. Third takes an hour. Fourth is 10 hours. So per day, you can gain 4d6 points back.
Being trained in a skill reduces the difficulty by 1. Being specialized reduces it by 2.