Gaming System
Simple actions done by the Character succeeds automatically. There is no chance in basic actions, the Character can freely perform communication, motion and other simple skill performances without the Player doing anything but explaining and describing, by any other word role-playing. However when drastic situations arise and actions becomes extraordinary, the Character's performance becomes dramatic and the Test by Chance becomes more apparent. The roll of a dice can determine which attempts succeeds and which fails, all by the chance of fate - not the decision of the Gamemaster.
Following is the description of the Core Rules, which can be perceived as the central nervous system of the entire game. The Core Rules defines how to determine the chance of success anytime the Character uses a Skill to resolve some crisis, and it defines the degree of the success. This especially goes for combat and Arcane.
Character Values
A Character is defined by a set of values which describes the Character's abilities. Two types of these values are relevant in connection with the Core Rules. These are the Statistic values and the Skill values. When Testing by Chance arises during gaming, the Statistic value is multiplied by three. While Testing by Chance on Skill, the actual Skill value is used and is not modified.
Core rules
Whenever a Statistic or Skill has to be Tested by Chance, the Player must make a dice roll against a Gamemaster determined Difficulty. Upon succeeding the test, the dice indicates a Offenciancy which measures how well the action has been performed. Whenever the storyline calls upon drama, the Gamemaster can challenge the Character by a Target value. This Target Value has to be achieved by obtaining Offenciancy. If the Target Value is not reached by the first test, subsequent tests can be made.
Definition of Difficulty
Some tasks are harder than others, to break down a door made of rotten driftwood is a lot easier than breaking one down made of iron. To represent the difference in circumstance, the Gamemaster can choose a Degree of Difficulty to symbolize the hardship of the task. The Table below describes the different Degrees of Difficulty, including a situation example. The Gamemaster can choose to add to Difficulty to represent further complications. Just remember that the higher the Difficulty, the lower is the chance to succeed.
| Degree | Difficulty | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0 | This is a task performed under normal circumstances. |
| Moderate | 10 | - |
| Hard | 30 | - |
| Extreme | 50 | - |
| Monstrous | 80 | - |
Target Value
The Target Value is a indication of how complex and time consuming the task is. A high Target Value can take multiple rolls to achieve, where each roll take some amount of time to make (eg. a CR or a hour); this timespan is set by the Gamemaster.
The Gamemaster must decide how long a timespan from start till finish of the Character's performance, and from this determine the time between each test. For a task which takes about a week, the timespan between rolls will typical be a day. Like a task taking six (6) hours will be divided into six rolls, one roll per hour. And a quick task taking under one (1) minute, the timespan between tests will be one (1) CR (10 seconds). If the Character is building a small boat which normally will take a week, Testing by Chance will take a whole day and for each roll another day passes.
Upon rolling the Player builds, what is called, a Offenciancy Pool. The idea of the Offenciancy Pool is, that at a certain point it will reach the Target Value, which will result in success. If the test fails and the Target Value is above zero (0), the Player can continue the rolling for Target Value by spending five (5) Fatigue. In many cases the Target Value will be zero, which means that the Player have one Chance to make a successful test where upon failing it is not possible to continue by spending Fatigue.
| Target Value | Example |
|---|---|
| 0 | No Target, which means no secondary tests even if using Fatigue. |
| 4 | - |
| 8 | - |
| 12 | - |
| 16 | - |
Testing by Chance
The Gamemaster must at first determine the Degree of Difficulty for the Character's performance. Now the Player must find the Active Value, by subtracting the Difficulty from the Statistic (after the Statistic has been multiplied by three) or subtracting the Difficulty from Skill value, whichever tested, and then roll d100. For the test to succeed the roll must be equal or below the Active Value, but the test fails if the roll is above Active Value.
Offenciancy
The performance of a Character is measured in different degrees of success. This is called the Offenciancy, and is determined whenever a Test by Chance is called upon. The Offenciancy can be found when observing a Test by Chance, the Offenciancy equals the first digit of the rolled dice value. So when rolling a dice value of 23 and the test is successful the Offenciancy is 2. In this way the closer the roll is to the Skill value, the higher is the Offenciancy value. So when the Skill value increases, the possibility of an higher Offenciancy value follows as well. It should be noted that Offenciancy is zero (0) when the rolled value is below 10, even if the test is a success .
When the Active Value exceeds 100, automatic Offenciancy value is gained. In this case the Character is so adept in this task, that more is gained from a successful roll. For every 10 points above 100, one extra in Offenciancy value is added.
A Beggar picking pockets will gain more loot with high Offenciancy. In order of using Offenciancy in combat, an extra point of damage is done per Offenciancy point. The Arcanist gains more Arcane Effect the higher the Offenciancy is. The travelers of Astralscape will have a stronger presence with high Offenciancy on the Astral Projection Skill roll.
Offenciancy Pool
In Test by Chance, where Target Value is above zero (0) the Offenciancy from the succeeding rolls is put into the Offenciancy Pool. For task tested, the Offenciancy Pool starts at zero (0) and for every success the Player's Offenciancy is transferred into this Pool until the Target Value is reached. For every new task tested by the Player, Offenciancy Pool restarts at zero (0). There are different situations, where testing against Target Value will be canceled. First of all, if the Character has not got the time, nor opportunity to continue testing. The second, would be if the Test by Chance fails and the Player do not wish to use the required Fatigue. The third, Rolling Fool's Failure will immediately terminate further rolls. On the other hand a Heroic Success will fulfill Target Value, even if Offenciancy Pool is not sufficient. See below for more on Heroic Success and Fool's Failure.
Rolling Statistic against Statistic or Skill against Skill
In order to pit two opponents against each other (two opponents can be Character against Character or Character against NPC), the Gamemaster must set a Target Value, and both makes the relevant Statistic or Skill Test by Chance. The two results are compared and the Character or NPC with the higher Offenciancy, transfers the exceeding Offenciancy into the wining participant's Offenciancy Pool. In case the opponent has gained a Offenciancy Pool above zero (0), the winner must first use the won Offenciancy Value to deplete the opponent's Offenciancy Pool. For every single Offenciancy Value the winner transfers to the opponent's Offenciancy Pool, this Pool is lowered by one (1) Offenciancy Value. When the opponent's Offenciancy Pool has reached zero (0), the winner can start transfering to his/ her own. The whole idea with this rules is that if the Character do not reach the Target Value in the first roll, the following rolls' Offenciancy are gradually added until the Target Value is reached. In case of a failed roll the normal Fatigue rules applies for the Player's possibility to continue. If the Target Value is zero (0) the Player can only attempt Test by Chance once, without the possibility of Fatigue use. Typical the Against roll will have the Standard Difficulty zero (0), in certain circumstances the Gamemaster can give one of the participants a higher Difficulty.
Heroic Success/ Fools Failure
If the dice rolls between value 01-05 included, a Fools Failure occurs. This means that the task is lost and can not be continued by spending Fatigue. The result of a Fools Failure may become the opposite outcome of the intended. A situation trying to be avoided will be forced face to face with the Character. A Fools Failure will never directly kill a Character off, but instead pull the Character into harms way.
Heroic success is equal the Active Value, meaning glorious success. This means that the task at hand is won instantly, even if the Target Value is not reached yet. The outcome of the intended will fall a bit extra in the Character's favor. In a situation of fleeing an opponent, blocking a door and crawling out of a window. On a roll to block the door, a successful roll will block the door, but the opponent will still have a good chance to break in. While a Heroic Success will grant the Player plenty of time to escape out the window. In case of testing Statistic against Statistic, the Heroic Success always wins. In combat the Heroic Success will results in rolling dice on the Cruelty table, which will describe events and extra injury (more on this in Combat chapter).
As a character improves the values of the Statistics and Skills, the chance of Heroic Success will increases and the chance of Fool's Failure will decrease. Heroic Success increases a single point at Value 80 and for every 20 points above, Heroic Success rises another point until a maximum of 5. Likewise the chance of Fools Failure drops 1 point at Value 80 and decreases further for every 20 points above, to a minimum of 01. These increasements and decreasements only applies to the Statistics and Skills being used at the particular time, but as a ceiling the Heroic Success at maximum Active Value plus 5 and Fools Failure at minimum 01.
Collected Core rules
First of all, the Gamemaster have to determine which kind of roll is needed to resolve the given situation (Statistic test, Skill test, Statistic Against Statistic or Skill Against Skill). Then the Gamemaster has to estimate if the situation at hand calls for drama, if so a Target value above zero (0) is in order. If the Target value is above zero (0) the Gamemaster should then consider the timespan between each roll. Now the Gamemaster has to determine the Difficulty of the task, considering the hardship and complications involved.
Now the Player has to calculate Active value (Statistic multiplied by three (3) or Skill value subtracted by Difficulty) and then the Player makes a Test by Chance, by rolling D100. The Player then has to calculate the Offenciancy value.
In case the Target value is zero (0), only one test is possible for this task and can not be continued by the use of Fatigue. Upon succeeding the test, the Offenciancy shows how well the task is performed. The Player has to find the way home by ship, and has a Navigation Skill of 90. The Gamemaster determines Difficulty at 30, because of the foggy weather. The Active value of the roll will be 60 (Navigation Skill 90 subtracted Difficulty 30 equals Active value 60). The Player rolls 43 on D100, which grants a Offenciancy 4 (first digit of the rolled 43) and by this the Character finds the way home quite fast because of the high Offenciancy. If the Player had rolled above 60 on D100, the task would have failed.
In case the Target value is above zero (0), succeeding the roll is not enough to win the test. The gained Offenciancy is transferred into the Offenciancy Pool and only when this pool is at same level as the Gamemaster determined Target value or above, the task is succeeded. Upon failing the roll, continuing Test by Chance can be done by spending Fatigue. Imagine the same situation as before, with the Character navigating a ship. But this time hard pressed by shortening food supply, therefore the Gamemaster chooses to dramatize the Test by Chance. The Navigation Skill roll will become a continues process for the Character to guide the ship home. The journey home will take about a week and therefore the Gamemaster determines that the timespan between each roll is a day. The Gamemaster now sets the Target Value at 13, because it should be possible for the Character to reach within a week. The Player now begins to roll Navigation Skill, while one day passes for each roll. First test is rolled against Difficulty 30 because of fog, the roll succeeds and the Player gains a Offenciancy value of 3 which can be added to the Offenciancy Pool. Next day the Gamemaster raises Difficulty to 50, because of fog and stormy weather. This roll the Player fails and most spend 5 Fatigue to continue, but have to wait until the next day to make a new test. The following day the Player succeeds with a Offenciancy 4, and added to Offenciancy Pool gives a total of 7. This continues for a few days until total Target Value is reached, which means the destination is reached.
In case of Against test, where the Player plays chess against a NPC. The Gamemaster determine a Difficulty of zero (0) and a Target Value zero (0). Both makes a Test by Chance of INT Statistic. The Character has a INT of 25 and the NPC has 19. They both multiply their Statistics with three (3) and roll D100. The Player rolls 67, so gets a Offenciancy Value of six (6) and the NPC rolls 41, which give a Offenciancy of four (4). The Player has the highest Offenciancy, so the Player wins the chess game.
If the Gamemaster chooses to put a little drama into the game Target Value can be raised above zero (0). The timespan is set by the Gamemaster to five (5) minutes between each test and the Target Value is set to five (5). The Statistics stays the same as above. The Player rolls 17 and the Npc rolls 31, the NPC's Offenciancy Value exceeds the Players by two (2), so the NPC tranfers this amount to his/ her Offenciancy Pool. The Player's next roll is 71 and the NPC rolls 29, the Player's Offenciancy Value exceeds the NPC's by five (5), two (2) of these are used to lower the NPC's Offenciancy Pool to zero (0) and the rest is used to raise the Player's own by three (3). This continues until one of them reaches Target Value five (5). If any of the two fails a roll, they have to spend five (5) Fatigue to continue Testing by Chance or loose the chess game.
Handicaps
The Handicaps are always figured as a penalty for the Character. These penalties are directed at the body or mind of the Character, the description of the Handicap details the specific area which is affected. The Handicap is subtracted from the Statistics or Skills, which are associated with the penalized area. It is the Gamemaster's duty to logically associate Statistics and Skills with the Handicap area. If the Character falls and wounds the arm, the Handicap following the injury will affect any Test by Chance in tasks where the injured arm is used. Whenever the Character tries to arm wrestle, with the injured arm, the Handicap is subtracted from the Strength Statistic (this is done after the Statistic is multiplied by three). Also when the Character tries to climb a tree, Handicap is subtracted from the Scale Skill roll. A Character that have fallen under a Handicap on concentration, is penalized on Spirit Statistic and Skills associated with concentration like: Aiming in combat, powers of Arcane, Read/ Write Skill, Astral Projection Skill, etc.
Percentage roll
The gaming system sometimes calls for a special roll, the D100 percentage roll, in cases where occurrences out of the Character's influence have to be determined. When the Character ignites a Bronze Shelled Bomb, there will be a 20% chance of misfire. To determine the chance of misfire the Gamemaster rolls a D100, and if the roll is equal or below the percentage value, the bomb will misfire.