The Olde Realm

[Eldrad]

This is a possible intro to the Olde Realm RPG/Novel
It is a genre called swordpunk. Take the cyberpunk model and  reniassance level technology mixed with a bit of magic and steam.

The system is a simple percentile based system and the magic is improvised based on eight elements as oposed to four.


1658
The
City of
Westfort
Giant flare stacks burn in the distance amidst the old rotting buildings and ancient castles. The roar of the elemintium refineries sounds constant in the background noise of the city. Oily black smoke pours from the chimneystacks. The foggy streets glow eerily with a mixture of elementium lights, torches, and lamps. The hiss of steam pipes and the clanking of strange machinery are entwined with this renaissance city. The city is old as all cities are in the Olde Realm. It is built on to of ruins on top of ruins. All the great cities of the world are this way. It just is.

The sound of despair, work and play echoes throughout the city. The poor trudge along in their bleak victimized lives. Tools of the aristocracy, the guilds, and the church they are. The city guard with their studded leather armor, rusted helms and shields walk the cold streets looking for the criminal or unlucky. Any challenge they meet with their sharp spear or trusty musket rifle.

Worse than any injustice done by the powers that be is the horrible mutating Bane! The ancient race of men known as the Skas released the bane from its entombment. The Bane is an ever-living evil served by alien blasphemous gods whose forgotten names are whispered by nameless secret cults hidden in secret places. They only have one desire, destruction of all creation in a slow torturous demise. The Bane can infest people and places corrupting, twisting, and mutating the body and soul. These horrible infested crafty ones plot and play amongst the city, rich and poor. Some are Bane born others are seduced by it. Surely this is a time for heroes. Surely this is a time of prophecies to be fulfilled.
NOTE: Any title with a (B) means the area has a Bane Infestation.

Also called the Gateway to the Wastelands Westfort houses over 1 million people. The city was called Kobstanbul in the old forgotten tongues but hardly anyone speaks the old name anymore. Westfort is nestled west of  the mountain pass blocking refugees and invading hordes from the wastelands. The Great Fort armed with three huge cannons with torches and lights marks it as far as the eye can see.

[Sovem]

I love the idea of swordpunk.
Did you need help with something? Questions, advice...? Your preview snippet could use a lot of editing...

[brainwipe]

I thought steam was harnessed much later. It should really be clockwork, surely? It's a bit of a dodgy premise. It'd be live Cavepunk - punk in 3000 BC.

[Eldrad]

Steam and clockwork have a historical place and time on earth...

Not in this world of Aeon.

The magical sciences fit well in this swordpunk world

Even it's calender is not quite the same as our world .

1 second
60 seconds a minute.
60 minutes an Hour
32 hours in a day
8 days a week
8 weeks in a month
512 days in a year
16384 hours in an Olde Realm Year
8760 in an earth year.

Modifier x 1.87 or .534

I want to see if the idea is good enogh to go foward with trying to publish.

The game itself at home has went on for over 10 years with rave reviews from the players.

It is just not all written down. What I have written/typed is a mess.

The game itself is very non PC, has many eludings to social and divine statements.

It would have been banned in the 80s for sure.

I am hoping to take much of the rules and stories and release it into an old style eclectic book called

The Olde Relam book I: AKEDEMIOS

I will most likely have the book as a free PDF once complete and for sell on lulu if well recieved.

[Adam Dray]

Hey, Eldrad. Welcome to the Forge.

I think you'll find people are loathe to tell you if they think your ideas are "good enough" to publish. Not only are opinion polls against policy here, no one but you is qualified to say whether it's worth your time to publish something. A good rule of thumb: if you're crazy about an idea, probably someone else is, too.

You've been playing this with your friends for 10 years, with rave reviews, right? That probably means it's awesome. The trick is translating all that in-your-head stuff into a working manuscript. What if it's that you are awesome and that can't be transferred to a guy off the street?

What I will tell you is that I don't see anything about system yet. Are you writing a setting book for an existing game system like OGL / D20 System or D6? Or are you writing a new game system as well? How can we help you with your publishing goals? You'll find here at the Forge forums to help you with playtesting (and thusly game design) and publication (running the gamut from editing to layout to binding to PDF generation to distribution and so on).

If you're writing a new game system, we'd love to hear a little about it, starting with the kind of play experience you'd expect to see during a typical game session. Frankly, knowing how many hours in an Olde Realm year doesn't really excite me.

I don't think you'll shock anyone by being "non-PC." I mean, compare with kill puppies for satan, which is about as non-PC as you get (and awesomely funny).

We're here to help! Tell us about your game! The BEST way to do this is to jump over to the Playtesting forum and post a bit about one of your recent game sessions. Tell us what worked and what didn't. Explain the mechanics to us in bits and pieces via a brief look at one of your actual games. That'd be awesome.

[Eldrad]

Thanks for the completly professional and friendly response Adam Dray.

I was first introduced to this site from the awesome Riddle of Steel RPG. Really great game. I will be soon playing a game of little fears (I hope)! I really like the whole Indie RPG movement as it is.


The system will not be OGL or D20. I did convert it to D20 for a bit but all the players liked the old simple system. I am not anti D20 and will play any version of D&D out there.

Translating all the information to a format that makes sense...
That is what I am afraid of. But this seems to be the site just for solving the problem.

I have read a few cool indie games but they had long half histories and vague setting with no maps.

I want to try to create an intro setting starting inside and going out with hints of the rest of the world.This world is dark gothic fantasy swordpunk but not at a nation spanning heroic scale. The characters are just small players in a big world.   


It would be really cool to know how other groups respond and playtest the rules. Also here would be a place to protect copywrites as post dates as proof.

I will get a long post written up on the Playtesting Forum.

[TwoCrows]

Eldrad,

I really dig the Swordpunk vibe, as I'm a fan of all sorts of punk, particularly the somewhat less tapped Steampunk genre.

Your world sounds cool enough to me. I'd play a game in it based on what I've just read here, editing issues or no. Now, would I buy a copy of the book? Can't say without seeing it first. I'm certainly intrigued enough to check it out if it was available where I shop. How a game feels in my hands, or brain is the deciding factor for where I spend my hard earned scratch.

Adam is right on about the "cool enough" dilemma. My sense is that no amount of external validation gives us the same juice as believing in ourselves, and our projects.

I have read a few cool indie games but they had long half histories and vague setting with no maps.

want to try to create an intro setting starting inside and going out with hints of the rest of the world.This world is dark gothic fantasy swordpunk...[snipt]

If you haven't already, check out the two articles Fantasy Heartbreakers, and More Fantasy Heartbreakers, both by Ron Edwards.

I have what I think is a really cool world too, and guys have been playing in it a looong time. I've chosen to do my own Fantasy Heartbreaker first, though, because I think it will serve to hone my skills at narrowly defined design goals (something that I think doesn't automatically come in even the best GM skillsets), rid me of a few bad habits, and remedy any misconceptions I might have about translating really cool gaming worlds into publishable material.

Just a suggestion, take it for what's it's worth to you...

Regards, Brad

[Eldrad]

WOW
The fantasy Heartbreaker aticles are ones that I shall have to read a few times to absorb. Really fantastic articles.

My rules suffer from very little of what these articles talk about though there are a few of these "flaws".

I do have "elves" and "dwarf, gnome, mixture" though heavily modified.

My character creation consist of 20 broad skills that you put points in. If you don't the default is 25%. Yes I use a % system simply roll % or less and you do what you are trying to do in a pinch. If it can be played without the dice then so be it. Another cringe"diceless" approach is the palyer picks a number from 1-100 and sees how close he is to the gamemaster depending on his skill. The gamemaster is the final judge. This diceless system works great. Though I perfer to use the % roll.

I really appreciate the feedback from you guys. My mission is to make a free PDF than can also be bought on lulu or some other booksite.

Twocrows I will be soon writing up an example of the rules and such.

I have alot of holes in my world and would enjoy other writing in these cities with my control of the content as to keep the vibe of the world.


To get the correct vibe try these influences...

Thief the Dark Project (Gold also)
Thief II the Metal Age
Thief III Deadly Shadows
The Gangs of New York
Any HP Lovecraft Novels
Any Fritz Lieber
Alice by American McGee
Pan's Labyrinth
Harry Potter
Any old Philisopher's book
Sleepy Hollow
many Tim Burton movies
many Sam Rami movies
many Quinten Torinteno Movies

[Eldrad]

The Olde Realm


Introduction
The Old Realm is a game that promises quick leveless character creation and fast and understandable rules. You can create a character in less than 5 minutes and be on your way playing in a fantastic world.

Character Creation
Age

Kid
Your a young early teen to pre-teen kid (10-15) who has no reason to be adventuring. You only start out with 25 points to spend.
Looks 30 (+5), Melee 20 (-5), Might 20 (-5), Stamina 20 (-5), Status 10 (-15), Will 15 (-10), Wealth 10 (-15) (-50 Total)

Youth
Your in your late teens to middle 20's (15-25) your just now beginning to figure out the world. You start out with 50 points to spend. Your abilities are all 25%.

Adult
Your in your late middle 20's to middle 40's. (25-45) You have some skills and abilities but some of your physical body is going down hill. You have 75 points to spend.
Action 20 (-5), Brawling 20 (-5), Looks 20 (-5), Perception 20 (-5), Stealth 20 (-5), (-25 Total)

Mature
You are in your late middle 40's to your early middle 60's. (45-65) You have 100 points to spend.
Accuracy 20 (-5), Action 15 (-10), Brawling 20 (-5), Looks 15 (-10), Melee 20 (-5), Might 20 (-5), Perception 15 (-10) (-50 Total)

Old
You are in your late 60's to middle 90's. (65-95) You have 150 points to spend.
Accuracy 15 (-10), Action 15 (-10), Brawling 15 (-10), Looks 15 (-10), Melee 15 (-10), Might 15 (-10), Perception 15 (-10), Stamina 15 (-10), Stealth 20 (-5), (-85 Total)

Ancient
You are in you late 90's or older. (95-up)You have 200 points to spend. 10% chance of being very ancient adds another 50 skill points and another 10-30 years to your age. Keep rolling until you fail.
Accuracy 10 (-15), Action 10 (-15), Brawling 10 (-15), Looks 10 (-15), Melee 10 (-15), Might 10 (-15), Perception 10 (-15), Stamina 10 (-15), Stealth 10 (-15), (-135)

More Experienced/Powerful PCs/NPCs will have +25 points for a somewhat experienced, +50 for a veteran of many adventures. A master will have +75 points.




Backgrounds

Skills

These are the 20 skill categories listed below. The most important rule to remember about skills is the average score is 25%. If someone has put no points in a skill it defaults to 25%. To use a skill you roll a % dice the score or lower to succeed. There may be modifiers directly to the Skill. For simplicity they are always in the 10s. For example you will never have a +8 or a –12 modifier. You would only have a +10 or minus –30 for example. You achieve a critical success on 1/10 or lower of your score. If you decide to specialize you must put the points only in one specialty and your critical successes are at 1/5 of the skill. A specialty only works for the one skill only not for the whole category. Example would be a specialty in dagger under Melee. A skill of 35(10 plus the base of 25%) would cost 10 points and now is a separate skill altogether. If melee would go up or down it would not affect the specialized dagger skill. If you roll higher than your score you fail to do the action you desired. A critical failure is twice your skill. For example a skill of 35 a critical failure would be a 70 or more. A 100 is a horrible failure. It is up to the GM to prescribe what happens.
01-20 Low         10
21-35 Average   25
36-50 Skilled     45
51-75 Expert      65
76-00 Master      85

Academic-This skill deals with all things scholarly and learned. This covers reading and writing at the skilled level. Example specialties: law, ancient history, ancient, foreign, and modern languages, science, various forms of occult lore, and any others that you can think of. 
Accuracy-This is your natural ability to aim, shoot and throw. Specialties would be a specific type of ranged weapon such as bow, crossbow, musket pistol, daggers, etc... 
Action-This is you speed, coordination, and dexterity. Example specialties climbing, acrobatics, running, combat speed (Initiative) etc. etc. This number is VERY important, as it is the number used to determine who goes first in close combat! If you are of average speed the only way to attack first is to sneak up on the quicker person or attack him/her from a distance.
Attacks per Round.
Low        01-20 x1
Average 21-35 x1
Skilled    36-50 x2
Expert     51-75 x3
Master    76-00 x4  (+1 every additional 25)
Animals-This is the knowledge of animal care and lore. Example specialties would be riding, ranching, shepherd etc... etc... 
Brawling-This is your raw hand to hand ability. Example specialties would be punch, brawling parry, kick, etc...etc...
Entertain-This skill is you raw ability to sing, act, and play an instrument. Specialties could be specific musical instrument, opera singer, thespian, etc... etc...   
Healer-This is the knowledge of healing wounds and curing maladies. Example specialties could be surgeon, barber, etc... etc...  A successful roll on healing provides 1-5 hit points of healing. If you have a proper medical kit or healing herbs you can heal 1-10 hit points.
Looks-This is you physical attractiveness. Some specialties would be cuteness, ruggedly handsome, sexy, etc... etc...
Melee-This is your raw skill with melee weapons such as swords, daggers, maces, and others. You may specialize by choosing a specific weapon.
Might-This is a measure of your raw strength. Specialties in this attribute are break down door, push, pull, and any others you think of. Your bonus to damage is Might /10.
Perception-This is your ability to notice the world around you. Many a quick warrior has gotten himself killed by not being perceptive. Specialties that some develop are see, hear, taste, touch, etc... etc...
Smith-This is your mechanical ability as well as you skill in figuring out how to build something. Specialties include blacksmith, locksmith (a favorite of thieves!), stone mason, carpenter, brewer, printer, basket weaver, trapsmith, the list could go on forever.
Social-This is your ability to interact with others. Specialties include leadership, seduction, con, intimidate, bribe as well as any others you could think of.
Stamina-This is you health and endurance. You divide the Stamina score by 2 to get hit points. Specialties include drink, resist cold/heat, resist poisons, the possibilities are endless.
Status-This is you station in society. Specialization  in this attribute will be only for a group or guild involved. Specialties include merchant rank, church rank, secret order's rank ect...
01-20 Low         Poor, slaves, foreigners, and scum
21-35 Average  Commoners and serfs
36-50 Skilled    Craftsmen and merchants
51-75 Expert     Guildmasters and noblemen
76-00 Master     Royalty
Stealth-This is your sneakiness and cunning. With this skill you can sneak around pick pockets palm objects. Specialties could be pick pocket, palm object, sneak, hide etc...
Street-This is the working knowledge of  lower class life. This skill also works as a social rank in the slums for obtaining goods and contraband. Specialties include thieves' guild rank, assassin's guild rank, fence, counterfeiting, prostitution, slavery, drugs, illegal magicks, or any other lowly professions or services. 
Wilderness-This is working knowledge of the wilderness and how to survive. The specialties in this include forest, wetland, tundra, desert, jungle, fire building, herbalist, hunting, trapping, and any others that you think of.
Wealth- This is you starting wealth.
01-20 Low         1-10 P
21-35 Average   10-100P
36-50 Skilled     100-1000P
51-75 Expert      1000-10,000P
76-00 Master      10,000-100,000P
Will-This is your mental strength. The ability to resist magicks and manipulations.  Specialties would include resist specific magick sphere, resist fear, resist torture, resist pain, etc...                                         
Specialties- You may pick out a specialty skill within a skill. This cost the same as a skill but it has tremendous benefits.  First in combat any critical success occurs on 1/5 your specialty skill instead of 1/10 of skill. As there are unlimited possibilities for specialties there is no list for them! You the players and game masters must make them up as you go.

[Eldrad]

These are some of the various occupations that fit with the backgrounds listed above.  Most categories will have standard equipment and skills for that background. Then in the occupation there will be additional skills and occupations (if any). These serve as only a guide and a quick way to get players in the game. The list is set up the following way.
1. Name of the occupation
2.A brief description of the occupation
3. Additional skills associated with the occupation
4. Additional starting equipment 

Don't limit yourself to the skills that are just on the occupational list. You also don't have to use all the skills listed with the occupation. Be free creating your own characters.

Raised in the Woods...

Skills: Animals +5, Status -5, Streets -5, Wilderness +5, Wealth –5, Academic Specialty (Language Woodespeake) +5.
Starting Equipment: ragged clothes, stick, staff, or club, hand axe, 1 man tent, slicker, hat, flint and steel, and knife. Any additional equipment will be listed next to the occupation.

Druid -
The Druids are the keepers of the woods. There are various denominations of the "Worship of the Woodes". Some are vegetarians and would not harm another soul even to save their own life. While others engage in divination through the sacrifice of prisoners or enemies to divine. Most are somewhere within these extremes.

The Druid start with the following additional skills:
Skills: Academic, Academic Specialties Languages (Feyspeake, Druid Tongue) Social, and Status
Any of the eight elements one might see a druid using but a druid would mostly use Wood and Storm
Starting Equipment: Robes, Sickle (Small), Holly Crown

Gamekeeper-
Then Gamekeeper is commonly hired by local lords to protect lands and parks from poachers and wild beast.
Skills: Smith, Streets, Accuracy Specialties (Rifle), Animals Specialties (Riding Horse), and Wilderness Specialties (Tracking)
Starting Equipment: Rifle w/ 10 Shots, Dagger, Melee Weapon of Choice, Riding Horse, Saddle and Bags, Leather Shirt, and Leather Pants. 

Herbalist-
The Herbalist is the doctor of the woods; they prepare and plant various herbal remedies as well as poisons and antidotes.
Skills: Wilderness Specialties (Herbalist)
Starting Equipment: Hand Sickle (dagger), Herb Sack. 1-10 heal packs (heals 1-10 hp of damage) 

Hunter-
A hunter is one who makes his/her living by hunting wild game. One who does this illegally is called a poacher and is the bane of every gamekeeper.
Skills: Accuracy Specialties- (Long Bow or Rifle), Wilderness Specialties- (Tracking, Trapping)
Starting Equipment: Long Bow w/ 20 Arrows or Small Rifle w/ 10 Shots, and Dagger 

Ranger-
A Ranger is an explorer of wilderness uncharted. Usually hired by a local lord to explore land already seen by the ranger and his kin.
Skills: Perception Specialties (See, Hear, Smell), Wilderness Specialties- (Tracking, Herbalist, Snares), and Wilderness
Starting Equipment: Long Bow w/ 20 Arrows Leather Jack     

Pagan-
The Pagan also known as the Wicka are a group of Goddess worshipers. Normally they are quite peaceful but here have been known to have evil Pagan groups.
Skills: Academic Specialties- (Wicka Lore, Fey Lore, Feyspeake)
They commonly use the five powers of the pentacle Spirit, Stone, Flame, Ice, and  Storm and will specialize in one element..
   
Scout-
The Scout is a Solider of a sort and a Ranger of another. The scout goes far ahead into enemy lines and reports back what he has seen.
Skills: Perception Specialties- (See) Wilderness Specialties- (Tracking, Snares)
Starting Equipment: Melee weapon of choice, Dark Earthen Clothing, 1 Extra week of food 

Shepherd-
This is the person who has the life of tending to the herds of animals. Most leave that life to go adventuring, as it is safer than facing wild beast that threatens the herds.
Skills: Animals Specialties- (Heard Animal of Choice)

Wilderness Folk-
These are the ones who live far from the reaches of civilization. They live from the land and the land lives from them. Most would only adventure under dire circumstances.
Skills as background:

Woodcutter-
The Woodcutters are the burly axe wielding, song-singing, hard drinking, mule driving guys of the realm who chop the trees down for the wood the Old Realm so desperately needs.
Skills:  Melee Specialty- (Two-handed Axe), and Animal Specialty- (Mules)
Starting Equipment: Two-handed Axe Mule tack and harness Chain for dragging logs

[Eldrad]

Gamemaster's Section

Using Skills

To do anything you need to pick out the appropriate skill then roll the number or less. If you do not have any points in a skill the default skill is 25%. A hard skill can have -10 to -20 subtracted from the Skill, while an easy task would have +10 to +20. Note: you could in extreme situations have a greater situations have a greater than 20 modifier. A Gamemaster can choose to let you know if you can do it instead of a roll. In some cases your character might be completely unable to do something and the Gamemaster will just say no.

Time and Movement
You move as many feet a round as your Action skill. During your round you make move or attack. If you make more than one attack you still are limited to your total Action in feet per round. If you have more than 1 action a round you must divide your Action by the number of attacks for a separate Initiative score per attack. For example a Action of 60 grants 3 actions a round you would have one at 60 the another at 40 and the last action at 20. That would be 3 attacks or 3 separate movements at 20 ft. each move. You may move and attack in the same round in most cases. A smart character lets his opponent attack first and reacts to the situation accordingly.
What is a round? A round is a few seconds up to 6 seconds. A turn is 10 rounds that is give or take a minute long, 60 minutes is 1 hour etc.

Vision and Perception
You can see others at a distance of Perception x 5 in feet (average 125 feet). For each multiple of your perception you have a  -10 to the Perception roll. You can hear at a range of Perception x 2 in feet (average 50 feet). For each multiple of your perception over 2 you get -10 to Perception roll. You can increase and decrease these multipliers as you see fit depending on the situation.

Unless noted humans cannot see well at all in the dark. They get a -10 to perception on a moonlit night and  -20 on a dark night.

Artificial light sources give a small radius of light. Candles give off at the most 15 feet of illumination. Torches and lanterns give off about 30 feet of illumination.
Structures
Wood - Wood stops 4 points of damage.  Hit points will vary. Most 5x 5 sections of wall depending on thickness will have around 25-200 hit points. A door depending on it's thickness will have 5-100 hit points.
Stone- Stone stops 20 points of damage. Most 5x5 sections of stone wall depending on thickness will have 100-1000 hit points.
Metal- Metal stops 30 points of damage. Most 5x5 sections of metal walls depending on thickness will have 100-1000 hit points.

To destroy structures you must take out it's supports so that it will fall down. The amount of the damage is up to the GM.

Hazards
Falls-1-10 per 10 ft. If you land in water take away the first 30 ft of damage and convert all other damage to temporary. If you fall through a rotten wooden structure or some other structure that could break your fall roll 1/2 your fall damage dice round up in your favor to roll for a damage reduction. Example: Tom falls 70 feet onto a rotten roof. You would roll 5 dice to see if the rotten roof broke his fall. If the lesser dice are greater than the fall dice you only take the difference.
Fire- 1-10 per round. If you have any flammable objects there is a 50% chance that the object will catch on fire. If any flammable liquid is added there is an 80% chance of fire.
Drowning- You can stay under water equal to your Stamina x 3 in seconds. After that A stamina roll every 10 seconds with a failure giving you a cumulative -10 to your Stamina roll and 1-10 temporary damage. When your Stamina roll is negative you take 1-10 temporary damage a round until dead.
Cold- You take 1-10 temporary damage every 10 minutes you are unprotected in the freezing cold if you fail a Stamina roll. You can protect yourself by wearing winter clothing and take no damage. If you are some protection you might only take 1/2 damage if you fail a Stamina roll. If you find shelter with a fire or the correct gear you can regain the hit point loss at 1-10 temporary hit points an hour.
Heat- If you are wearing thick clothing and or armor in the intense heat not doing much you take 1-10 temporary damage an hour on a failed Stamina roll. If you are doing hard work and/or fighting you will take 1-10 every 10 minutes on a failed Stamina roll.
Starvation – You can go without food for you Stamina/10 in days. Each additional Stamina/10 you go down loose 1 Hit Point and you lose 1/10 your Stamina, Action, Might, and any other Skill/Attribute that the Gamemaster feels.
 



Traps and Poisons
TRAPS
Acid 1-10 a round for 1-10 rounds.
Arrows from Wall 1-10+3
Spear Trap 1-10+5
Explosive Trap 4-40 Damage.
Pit 1-10 per 10 feet
Spikes 1-10 at 1-10 damage each.
Falling rocks 1-10 per 5ft. x 5ft.
Falling Ceiling Block/Room Collapses/Avalanches 1-100 damage.
Poison Needle Stamina Roll or take 1-100 damage.
Slide to deeper level.
Explosive 2-20 damage(or More up to 1-100).
Cage Drops on You!



POISONS
All poisons cause 1-100 damage. Some just take a little more time. The longer the duration the better chance you can find a cure. On poisons that have a duration roll damage and then divide the damage to see how much you get on each segment of the duration.


Instant 1000
1-5 rounds 500
1-10 rounds 250
2-20+5 rounds 125
1-100 rounds 50
1-10 hours 25
2-20+5 hours 10
1-100 hours 5

Example: There is a poison with a duration of 1-100 rounds and 40 rounds is rolled for the duration and 80 is rolled for the damage. The player would take 2 points damage a round until dead.






Experience
You get from 1-10 points depending on how difficult the adventure was. To improve a non-specialized skill it cost skill/5. To improve a specialty or magic it cost skill/10. For example Theodore the swordsman wanted to improve his Stamina of 36. It would cost him 6 points to go up 1 point.. If he wants to improve his Swordsman specialty skill of 36 it would only cost him 4 points.











Combat
Combat Procedure
1.Initiative.
2. Combat
3. Location
4. Damage minus Armor

Initiative
Who goes first in combat? In real life its always the fastest person hands down. Unless you get them in ambush! Action is the Skill you use to see who goes first. The person with the highest action goes first then the next lower Action and so on. You may if you are quicker wait for your opponent to attack. Then you may decide to parry or if your opponent has missed you may attack him freely.
If your Initiative is higher you may opt to let your opponent attack first. You then may see if his attack was a success, if so you may opt to parry or dodge. If not you may attack at any time during the round, as you are the fastest. If you have more than 1 action per round your Action Skill (initiative) is divided into the attacks per round you have. If you do not have your weapon drawn you must use up an attack drawing the weapon. A defense such as a Parry, Block, or Dodge can be done at any time during a round as long as you have an action left. A defensive action takes up your slowest and last attack.


Combat
Are you the best brawler? Swordsman? The best shot? Are there any modifiers?
You have two choices attack or defense.
An attack is done by rolling your Melee, Brawling, or Accuracy or less. 
A defense that is done for Melee is a Parry.
A defense that is done in Brawling is Block.
A defense that is done with Action is a Dodge. 
Parries can be modified against weapon size.




Melee Modifiers

Higher Ground +10 - You are on horseback or on a table or just higher than the opponent.

Scratch - no effect

Lightly Injured. -10                 

Severely Injured -20

Dying -30

Mighty Blow -10 per + 1 damage

Defensive Fighting +10 to Melee parry per -10 to Melee attack  and -1 to Damage taken.

Offhand Weapon -10 to hit with it but +1 extra attack . If your Action is lower than 36 you divide the Action by 2. If it is Higher you still add the extra attack but divide the initiative by  the new number.
The average man with a weapon in each hand would have a 25/13 Initiative. The attacks will be at 25 for the first and 15 for the second.

Ranged Modifiers 
Point Blank +20, Close +10, Moderate distance +0, Far -10, Extreme -20, Impossible -40

Cover acts as Armor on the Area being covered.
Different various covers.

Complications - On a double roll that hits a weapon becomes stuck in victim. On a double roll that misses the weapon is broken. On a 100 you hit yourself or the closest character doing damage.

Long Weapons on 1st Attack – Some weapons are long and you have a bonus to Initiative on your first attack. It will be listed in the Weapons Shop.


Location
Where did my blow hit? Can I aim for a specific location (-20)? The luck of draw is how most unskilled fight. Damage below is modified by location.

01-15 Head - If you are hit in the head for 1/2 your total Hit Points roll versus Stamina to Stay conscious. If you are hit for damage equal to you hit point total roll Stamina or be decapitated. Even is hit in face. 
16-40 Torso - If you are hit for twice your hit points in your body you must roll your Stamina or be cut in two pieces. Odd is chest even is stomach.
41-55 Right Arm - If you are hit in the right arm for your total hit point damage roll versus Stamina or you lose your arm. Odd is upper arm, even is lower arm. 
56-70 Left Arm - If you are hit in the left arm for your total hit point damage roll versus Stamina or you lose your arm. Odd is upper arm, even is lower arm. 
71-85 Right Leg - If you are hit in the right leg for your total hit point damage roll versus Stamina or you lose your leg. Odd is upper leg, even is lower leg. 
86-00 Left Leg - If you are hit in the left leg for your total hit point damage roll versus Stamina or you lose your leg. Odd is upper leg, even is lower leg.

How much of the limb did you lose when you fail your Stamina roll? The higher the damage roll the more of the limb is lost. Roll a d10 1 being just fingers to 10 being the entire limb.




Damage
Okay so I hit the enemy. What did it do to him? What is a scratch? What's light Damage? What's severe? Am I dead yet? Yep I'm dead! Most people when hit with a weapon will fall to the ground and begin going into shock and dying. It does not have to be a body part with organs and entrails to kill. A hit to your arm can kill through shock and blood loss. A real experienced fighter avoids getting hit by using his actions per round to parry or dodge. When the time is right the fighter can hit for massive damage after his opponent has missed and has no more actions to defend himself.                                                                                                                   

-Scratch 1/10 Hit Points or Above -0 (Example Amanda the young scantly clad peasant girl has a Stamina of 25 divided by 2 =13 hit points . 1 damage is a scratch.
-Above  1/2 Hit Points but above 1/10 Stamina -10 Lightly Injured. (13 hit points would be 2-7 damage.)
-Below 1/2 Hit Points -20 Severely Injured (8-13 damage)
-At 0 hit points or below you are dying. You will live as many rounds as you Stamina minus your damage below 0 taken. (Example above if Amanda is hit for 15 damage in a round she is at - 3 damage. She has 22 rounds to live.)
-You must roll a Stamina roll at that time or be stunned for 1-10 (minus 1/10 of your Stamina and Will divided by two.) rounds (going in and out of consciousness basically) before you  can attempt another Stamina roll. All actions are at -30 (not your Stamina roll) at this time. Any action below 0% you cannot do.

Damage Levels

Roll D10 + Might divided by 10 + Damage modifier.



Armor
Hey did my armor stop that damage? Armor can be bought at an armorer shop. Most of the time you have to have Armor built. Armor has a number listed will take damage first before the damage is applied to the Character.


Shields are another aspect of armor. Shields also add an extra attack like an offhand weapon. It is only a parry as modified by the shield size(which the modifier is listed behind the shield's name)  but you could opt to shield bash at 1-10(-4) damage. A double on a wooden shield shatters it. On a metal shield only a double even number it dents it but it can be repaired.



Healing
How long am I hurt? When does this heal? You heal at 1/10 your Stamina per day after a person . A successful Healer roll gives you back 1-10 hit points and a critical success gives you 2-20 hit points back. You never get back more than you had to start off with. That is unless you can find a magical or alchemy means of healing from a wound.


Surprise! Surprise!
There will always be an enemy faster than you. How do you attack the faster enemy with out getting hacked, killed, or shot? You can use a stealth roll. As long as you do not fail it you can get one free round of attacks. If you do fail it but not a fumble the enemy then must make a perception roll. If the enemy fails the perception roll you still get surprise. If you roll during an ambush twice your Stealth you have fumbled and can do nothing for a round.

Morale
When combat is not going well one must do a Will check for non-playing characters. If it fails the NPC will attempt to flee combat for 1-10 rounds after the threat is passed.

[Eldrad]

Do the rules make sense as they stand?

[Eldrad]

Comments?

[Daniel Davis]

Perhaps a reason that you haven't gotten many comments is that you've just dumped a lot of information and have directed readers toward the sort of criticism you'd like to receive on that information. In other words, you'd benefit from specific questions.

Additionally, instead of just having a bunch of rules up here and saying "What do you think?", you should explain what the game is about, what play will be like, what kind of play you want to encourage and what kind to discourage. These kinds of discussions will help us determine if the rules you've posted make sense for the concept of your game.

[Eldrad]

Oh okay I will try that!

DO you think I should try to put out a quikstart rules/module?

I think if I can find time I will write one up.

Thanks!