These are combined health / mana pools. Physical damage reduces your might pool, some magical damage can reduce speed or intellect. Most spells require spending intellect points. Many specialized physical attacks require spending might or speed.
You can spend pool points to add any roll. At first level, you can spend up to 3 pool points for a single roll.
Each of your pools has an associated edge. Edge reduces how many pool points you need to spend. For instance, a might edge of 1 makes it free to spend one might pool point.
You are an adjective noun that verbs
And an additional 6 points to distribute as you choose.
You are practiced in all weapons and can use them without penalty.
Choose three special abilities:
And an additional 6 points to distribute as you choose. If you wield a heavy weapon, increase the attack difficulty by 3.
Choose three special abilities:
Choose three special abilities:
And an additional 6 points to distribute as you choose. If you wield a heavy weapon, increase the attack difficulty by three.
Choose three special abilities:
+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.
+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.
+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.
+2 intellect. Trained in area of knowledge of your choice and all tasks that draw from your memory.
+2 might. You are half human, half bison. You are trained in foraging, nature-based history, smell-based perception checks, and a sense of direction in the open plains. You struggle with vision-based perception checks. Your permanent horns are a medium weapon.
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.
+2 intellect. Trained in finding or noticing small details, identifying objects, recalling trivia, and intimidating another creature. You struggle in positive social interaction.
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.
Trained in initiative and perception. If an opponent has a straightforward weakness, the GM will tell you.
+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.
+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.
You are a creature of pumice, not flesh. You can move, speak, and feel pain. Your pumice body makes it harder to take damage, but also harder to heal. You typically do not wear clothes, though your stone frame may be carved as such.
Minor effect suggestion: you step on the target and prevent it from moving next turn. Major effect suggestion: you break a weapon, shield, or piece of armor the target is using.
You gain +1 to armor, +1 might edge, and 5 additional might points. You do not need to eat or drink or breathe (though you still need to rest and sleep). You move more stiffly than a creature of flesh, so can never be trained in speed defense rolls. You are practiced as using your stone fists as a medium weapon.
You are unable to use the first, single-action recovery roll of the day. Thus, the first recovery roll uses ten minutes, the second uses an hour, and the last requires ten hours.
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.
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 three.
You are trained in deception.
Minor effect suggestion: the target is healed for 1 extra point. Major effect suggestion: the target is healed for 2 extra points.
1 intellect point. With a touch, you restore 1d6 points to any stat pool of a creature. Difficulty 6 intellect task. Each time you use this on a creature, the difficulty increases by three. Difficulty returns to 6 after the creature takes a long rest.
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).
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.
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 three. On a successful surprise attack, you inflict 2 more points of damange.
You are trained in stealth and disguise.
TODO
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.
Every roll has a difficulty, as determined by the GM. The player must roll that difficulty or higher to succeed. Rolls typically have bonuses applied to them.
Some examples of things that reduce difficulty include knowledge of a situation, quality weapons or armor, training, an advantageous situation, etc.
Players can spend pool points 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.
The verb you choose gives you some more minor and major effects.
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.
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 is a plus three bonus. Being specialized is a plus 6.