SYR - Simplify Your Rules Game System

The Simplify Your Rules (SYR) game system is an attempt to keep the rules and game mechanics as light as possible to foster role playing from players and collaboration between the game master (GM) and the players in creating a shared story. As with any game, a set of rules and game mechanics is necessary to simulate the characters, creatures, equipment, the world around them, and how they all interact as well as add a bit of chance and luck into the game session.

However, a desire to make things as objective as possible and to cover any scenario that might ever crop up in a game often produce a mass of rules and mechanics that runs hundreds of pages and is impossible for everyone at the table to master. A game session of a few hours can easily be consumed looking up rules, endlessly debating tactics on a playing grid, calculating multiple bonuses and penalties to die rolls, and arguing about the interpretation of a little used rule. Anyone that has played a game with that kind of rule system has seen an entire game session devoted to a single combat encounter that did not really move the story forward but took hours to complete due to the complexity of the rules and the amount of math involved. A lot of people enjoy tons of options, a rule for every occurrence, and manipulating a pile of numbers for the optimum bonus, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that style of play. Others look at that massive rule book, hours devoted to creating one character, and a board full of gridlines for combat and sigh in despair.

This system is for that second group of players. The ones that are more interested in the story being told at the table and their characters actions in that story. They want to sit down for a game session and get swept up in a story and see it advance over the next couple hours and they do not want to learn a tome full of rules to accomplish this task.

Character creation in this system is meant to be simple and fast, but still give you the flexibility to create the exact character you have in your mind. Unlike many systems, there are no levels, classes, or restrictions on who can use what skills or magic. Individual Setting Packs may add specific restrictions or add additional attributes to ensure characters match the flavor of the setting they are portraying, but the base rules system strives to keep it clean.

Much of the fun of role playing a character is creating an interesting personality and drive for them. Some of this can be dictated by the skills and attributes of the character, but much of it grows from playing the character and interacting with the other denizens of your campaign world. Do not be surprised if your character sheet is not multiple pages of information detailing all aspects of your character. Some people have a detailed idea of what they want their character to be like and they create amazing backstories before the first game session, others have a vague idea of what kind of character they want to play and are open to having the personality grow organically as they play. Both methods are perfectly valid and are easy enough to accomplish in this system. If you do not have a lot of detail yet, go through the character creation process, buy them some gear, and get ready to play. If you need to add a couple pages to your character sheet with your backstory and lists of people you already know in the world, go for it.

With all that in mind, here are the recommended steps to create your character.

1. Character Idea
   1. Start with at least a broad idea of what kind of character you wish to play. Reading the Setting Pack for your campaign beforehand will give you a ton of ideas on the species, skills, equipment, and history of the world.
   2. Once you have the idea, you will have the direction you need to tackle the next steps, be it making a wise, old wizard, gung-ho space marine, or an insect warrior out to save their hive.
      1. Larry is a new player in a high fantasy campaign and decides he wants to play a classic, burly fighter.
2. Species
   1. Based on your Setting Pack, there may be several species other than Human that you can take for your character. For example, a high fantasy setting might have options for humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and gnomes, while a sci-fi setting might have humans, greys, and the lizard folk of Antares IV.
   2. Choosing your species will likely provide you with a couple ranks in skills that species is adept at naturally. These skill ranks are in addition to the skill points you will assign in the next step.
      1. Larry goes with Human for his species and in the Setting Pack it notes that all Humans start with 1 skill rank in Feats of Agility and 1 skill rank in Persuasion.
3. Skills
   1. Skills are the main driver of all your actions in the game and determining what you are good at and what actions you should avoid will go a long way to defining your character and their place in the world.
   2. Each character starts out with a number of skill points specified in their Setting Pack to assign to skill ranks. No starting skill can have more than 2 skill ranks during character creation and no skill may ever go above 5 skill ranks. Use your pool of skill points and assign them to individual skills that you wish your character to be proficient in at the start of the story. Use your character idea to guide where you place the skill points.
      1. For example, Larry wants to create a classic, burly fighter in his fantasy campaign. He is given 10 skill points to start out, so he takes 2 ranks in Melee Combat, 2 ranks in Feats of Strength, 1 rank in Feats of Agility, 1 rank in Riding, 1 rank in Persuasion, and 2 ranks in Street Smarts. Since he took Human as a species earlier, he ends up with 2 ranks in Feats of Agility and Persuasion because the Human species is listed as starting with 1 rank in those skills in the Setting Pack.
4. Hit Points
   1. Head to the Hit Points section of the rules to determine your characters hit points and list the result on your character sheet.
      1. Larry rolls 4d6 and gets a 6,5,3,4. He drops the 3 as the lowest roll and totals the other three results for 15 hit points. Larry has 2 ranks in Feats of Strength and adds that to the total for 17 total hit points that he lists on his character sheet. Since characters have a hit point limit of 20, his total of 17 is rather good and certainly fits hit burly fighter character idea.
5. To Hit
   1. Your characters To Hit number is the Difficulty Class (DC) needed by your foes to hit you in combat. It is generated by adding your Feats of Agility rank to 15.
      1. Larry has 1 rank in Feats of Agility. Adding that to 15, Larry has a To Hit DC of 16 and marks that on his character sheet in the To Hit box.
6. Equipment
   1. Your Setting Pack will contain a list of equipment, weapons, armor, mounts/vehicles, and other items you can purchase to outfit your character for adventure. It will also list the amount of starting funds your character has to spend in equipping themselves at the start of the campaign. Use these funds to purchase all the items you will need for your adventures that match up with your character idea.
      1. A recommended order for purchasing items to ensure you get the most important items before you run out of funds is:
         1. Armor: Assuming your setting has armor as a common element purchase it first as it tends to be one of the most expensive items and will dictate what kind of funds you have left for the rest of your kit.
         2. Weapons: Although role playing games are not all combat, it does generally make up a large part of the game and you want to ensure your character can defeat their enemies when needed. Often a weapon choice is a big part of defining your character. Do they want a sword so they can look their opponents in the eye or a bow so they can keep their opponents at a distance, or do they come from a tribe of horse-riding archers from the steppes?
         3. General Equipment: Now it is time to grab that tent, cooking utensils, food, water, backpack, med pack, laser drill, or whatever else you need to keep your character alive and useful during your adventures. Do not be surprised if you cannot afford everything you would like right off the bat and you end up with little to no funds when you are finished purchasing equipment, after all if you were super rich you probably would not have a good reason to be risking your life in adventures would you.
      2. Larry looks at his Setting Pack and finds that everyone starts out with 150 gold coins, so he purchases some decent leather armor, a longsword (he wants to be up close and personal in combat), a dagger, a backpack, some trail rations, water skin, rope, and few other items. Once he is done, he is left with 3 copper coins to his name. Time to find some adventure and glory and a chance to get rich.
7. Damage Reduction (DR)
   1. Damage Reduction is explained fully in the Damage (DMG) section of the Combat rules. In most cases armor you just purchased or protection native to your species will provide points of DR. At this point you should be able to calculate your total DR and note it on your character sheet.
      1. Larry is Human, which provides no native DR, and he purchased a suit of leather armor that provides DR1. So, he lists 1 in the DR section of his character sheet. 
8. Attacks
   1. This area of your character sheet lists out the weapons and other types of attacks you can use in combat in their own area for quick reference. As you purchase your weapons your Setting Pack will detail aspects of the weapons that you can list in this section of the character sheet.
      1. Larry purchased a Longsword which is listed as dealing d8 DMG and the slashing property, so he lists those qualities in the first Attack row. He also has a dagger listed as dealing d4 DMG and the slashing property that he lists in the second Attack row. Both use his Melee Combat skill for attacks so he can list +2 for attack bonus in each row as he does not have any other bonuses to add to these attacks yet.
      2. Special Attacks are also listed in this section. Special Attacks available will be listed in your Setting Pack and will often derive from your species or a profession if your setting details them.
         1. Larry is Human and they do not have claws, sharp teeth, or other natural traits so he does not have any Special Attacks to list on his sheet.
9. Spells
   1. If your setting includes magic or mental powers or something equivalent, use the rules in your Setting Pack to choose the spells you know already and list them here.
      1. Larry is a classic fighter and is a bit wary of magic. He has never learned how to use magic and he does not want to learn so he has no spells to list here.
10. Character Information
    1. Here is where you can begin to flesh out some of your characters personality and backstory. Depending on how detailed your character idea is you might have a lot to write down here or nothing at all. It is highly recommended that your work with your GM on the following areas. They may have some advice based on the campaign setting or world history that could help you come up with interesting traits, and any GM worth a darn is going to want to incorporate these items into the story to raise the stakes of your personal drama.
       1. Personality Traits: Is your character shy, bold, flirty, likes to hang out in bars, or musically inclined? This is the place to list those traits so you can easily reference them as you play and bring them into the game sessions.
       2. Flaws: Nobody is perfect, and it is a good thing since a perfect character is not overly dramatic. Does your character have a gambling problem, a death mark on their heads, or do they fall in love with anyone that pays them a compliment? This is the place to list those flaws.
       3. Motivations: Why is your character taking on this dangerous way of life? Are they out to avenge the death of their mother, paying off a debt, discover the meaning of the alien artifacts, or tired of farm life and ready to see the world? This the place to list those motivations.
       4. Connections: Of all the places on your character sheet likely to start out blank, this is the most likely. Since you are just starting your adventuring life you might not know anybody in a meaningful enough way to list them here. However, maybe your motivation was to pay off a debt, so you would list the person you owe that debt to here. Perhaps you were in the local army for several years and just left to strike out on your own, likely you could list the army here as an organization you can turn to for assistance in the future.
    2. Larry does not have a lot of detail in mind just yet, but he decides his character is a gruff, taciturn individual with a bounty on his head. He just wants to pay off the debt and make his own fortune so he can retire in luxury and his only real connections in the world are the man he owes his debt to and the head of a local thieves’ guild he just met that might have some work for him.
11. Name
    1. Last, but certainly not least, give your character a name. Maybe you have had one in mind all along or maybe a good one came to mind as you created your character in the steps above. Your Setting Pack may have suggestions for your species or based on the country of origin for your character. If you are stuck for a good name or just not feeling creative, I highly recommend https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com. The site is a fantastic resource for generating great names for any genre, common species and races, and historical names from almost every culture to walk the Earth.
       1. Larry is all in with the classic, burly fighter so he names his character Grognar the Skullcrusher.

Skills/Character Creation:

Any character can learn any skill they wish. You get several points at character creation to add ranks to a skill. You can add no more than 2 ranks to a skill during character creation and you can only have 5 ranks in any given skill ever.

Skill Advancement

Skills are advanced based on how much you use them. In a game session, if you use a skill, check the box to the left of the skill on your character sheet. At the end of the session, you can fill in one of the five circles to the right of that skill to represent your growing proficiency in that skill. Once you have filled in all five circles next to a skill, you increase that skills rank up to a maximum of 5 skill ranks.

• The GM may increase or decrease the number of circles you gain in a rank for a particular session based on what occurred when you used that skill in that session.
  • Markus used his Performance skill during this session and is ready to check off one of his proficiency growth markers, but the GM notes that his use of Performance that session was the key to ensuring the party met their goals in the adventure and was a centerpiece of the ongoing story, so they allow Markus to check off two of his proficiency growth markers for that session.
  • Joel used his Stealth skill during this session and is ready to check off one of his proficiency growth markers, but the GM notes this his use of Stealth that session was a complete failure that alerted their enemies to the party’s presence and got one of the party killed, so they rule that Joel cannot check off his proficiency growth marker for that session. While we do learn from failure, this scenario represents the loss of confidence in our skills that we can experience after a massive failure.

Skills in a Setting

Not every skill listed will be needed for every setting or campaign, or you may add specific skills to your setting or campaign not listed here (Settings Packs can include setting specific skills not listed here and suggestions of which skills to remove for that setting). It is suggested that no setting or campaign have over 25 skills available as it will provide a greater potential for non-general skills that overlap too much with other skills and cause confusion on what skill to use for a given situation.

Combat Skills:

• Melee (use of hand-to-hand weapons)
• Ranged (Personal) (use of ranged weapons made to be used by an individual)
• Ranged (Heavy Arms) (use of ranged weapons made to be used by a crew of people)

Magic Skills: (Could also be used for mental powers using slightly different names for the skills)

• Casting (casting a specific spell)
• Detect/Identify (detecting and/or identifying magic in an area or on an object)
• Counter (countering the spell casting of a foe or magic effect)
• Create (create a new spell formula, imbue an item with magic or create a scroll or spell book entry)

Physical Skills:

• Feats of Strength (break down a door, lift a heavy object, etc.)
• Feats of Agility (leap over a pit, swing from a rope, etc.)
• Sleight of Hand (pick a lock, pickpocket, optical illusions and tricks)
• Stealth (sneak around an area unnoticed or hiding, bonus can be affected by armor or other items worn or carried)
• Riding/Driving (riding an animal, driving or piloting a vehicle)
• Perception (spotting hidden things, out of place items, important items)

Social Skills:

• Insight (ability to read other being's moods and intentions)
• Mental Fortitude (ability to resist mental effect spells, mental power attacks, fear, etc.)
• Persuasion (can involve debate, intimidation, bluffing, deception, etc.)
• Performance (singing, dancing, acting, etc.)

Knowledge Skills:

• Culture (knowledge of cultural practices, history, and other societal practices)
• Healing (non-magical first aid, tending to a wounded player, surgery, etc.)
• Investigation (digging through archives, looking for clues, piecing together puzzles, etc.)
• Spiritual (knowledge of religions, spiritual practices and beliefs)
• Street Smarts (knowledge of urban life and city survival skills)
• Technology (use of complex machinery, electronics, etc.)
• Wilderness Survival (knowledge of plants, animals, tracking, and wilderness survival skills)

Skill Checks

• Generally, skill checks are accomplished by rolling d20+applicable skill bonus against a DC set by the GM. 
• Rolling a natural 20 results in a critical success. In combat, the results of a critical success are laid out in the Combat section. A spells critical success result is listed in the spell listing. For other rolls, the GM and player can work together to determine what happens on a critical success (e.g., Lars is participating in a horse race and rolls a natural 20 on his Riding skill check. Lars not only wins the race, but he beats his opponent so badly that they are badly embarrassed).
• Rolling a natural 1 results in a critical failure. In combat, the results of a critical failure are laid out in the Combat section. A spells critical failure result is listed in the spell listing. For other rolls, the GM and player can work together to determine what happens on a critical failure (e.g., Lars is trying to jump over a deep pit and rolls a natural 1 on his Feats of Agility skill check. Lars not only falls into the pit, but he also takes extra damage when he slams into the side of the pit on the way down).
• Different situational modifiers can give you Advantage or Disadvantage on skill checks as determined by the GM. In those cases, you roll 2d20 and take the higher or lower roll depending on the situation as outlined in the Dice section of the rules.
• Sometime a player and an NPC are working directly at cross purposes and an opposed roll using the same or different skills on both sides is necessary.
  • An ogre tries to break open a door while a warrior tries to hold it shut. Both will make a Feat of Strength roll and whomever rolls higher wins.
  • A cutpurse tries to sneak around the grand hall to escape the castle while one of the guards is searching the hall. The cutpurse will roll a Stealth skill check and the guard will roll a Perception skill check and if the cutpurse wins, they evade detection, if the guard wins, they see the cutpurse and a chase or combat ensues.

Mass combat is tricky with a game that is focused on individual characters and their stories. However, war and battle are extremely dramatic situations that can add a lot of excitement to a campaign and really drive a story forward. With that in mind here are a couple methods for handling mass combat in your game.

Keep It Off Screen

Have the battles fought in a war happen away from or at most, close to the characters, but do not have the characters directly involved in the battles. This allows you to describe the ebb and flow of the war, but not have to deal with a massive battle that the characters cannot control.

• To involve the characters a bit, you can have them take on missions near the great battles (e.g., the party must guard a small village a couple miles from the battle along a minor supply route). If you want to add more effect, how they handle the missions could affect the overall course of the battle or war (e.g., if the party successfully fends off an attack on the village their side wins the battle, if they fail, their side loses the battle).

Battle Missions

In this instance, the characters are directly involved in the larger battle. However, instead of just having them in the ranks, they should be assigned objectives that they either complete alone or at most with a small squad of soldiers. For a truly large battle, they could have several small objectives to complete over the course of the day (e.g., the party is tasked with taking over a hill on the edge of the battlefield being used to shell their army, then they have to destroy a small bridge over the nearby river to prevent the enemy from using it to bring in reinforcements, and finally, after the battle is won, they are involved in the race to catch the enemy leader before they can return to their stronghold and raise another army).

• Even more so than the first option, how successful the characters are in their missions should influence the battle (e.g., If the party fails to take the hill, their army suffers under the fire of the catapults above, if they then fail to destroy the bridge, the enemy is able to bring in more troops and their side loses the battle. No need to chase the enemy leader now, and in fact they need to run themselves).

Commanders

In the final instance, your players are the commanders of the armies. This one requires a more formal system as they give out orders to their units and you work together to determine the success or failure of their plans.

• If you have the means and the desire, you can always enact the battle with miniatures using a tabletop wargaming system. This will not directly involve the characters role playing, but if your players like both role playing and tabletop wargaming, it could be fun to mix them together.

A fully fleshed out Mass Combat system involving the characters as commanders is outside the scope of this ruleset. A mass combat system that ties into this ruleset is a likely future optional ruleset or addition to a specific Settings Pack.

Time

Keeping detailed track of time is generally unnecessary during an adventure or campaign. In story terms there is little to no effect if it takes a day or a week for the party to journey to the next town over to start a new adventure, and it is best to just note that the journey was uneventful and move on to the fun adventure. However, there are times when the story dictates that time is important and tracking it aids in telling the story at hand.

Is the party trying to cross a desert with limited supplies or are they trekking through the jungle looking for a lost temple to stop a magic ritual that will happen in three days when the moon is full? Those are the situations where tracking time becomes important.

General

When tracking time is necessary, the GM will determine the increments of time that should be tracked based on the actions taken. In other words, searching a castle for a bunch of oil barrels with a lit fuse would be tracked in minutes, leading a crew of workers creating a defensive palisade before the enemy forces arrive might be tracked in hours, and the trek across the desert could be tracked in days as the party’s food and water slowly dwindle.

In these cases, the GM can break down the action in the increments decided upon and describe to the players the effects of their actions during each increment (e.g., Cyrus frantically searches the castle for the barrels of oil about to explode, each minute that passes, the GM asks Cyrus where he is searching next and hopefully Cyrus searches the kitchens within five minutes before the fuse ends).

For longer journeys like the trek across the desert it can be helpful to have a map of the region or world that the GM can use to show players where they are and how much or little progress they are making. The map can have as little or as much detail about distance as necessary for the story (e.g., a long trek might only need a legend of distance across the map for general distance tracking, but a story centered around exploring a new land might have a map divided into hexes for easier tracking of areas explored and those still unknown).

Rounds

In combat and in specific situations it is necessary to break time into more precise chunks with specific actions taken in a specific order to make sense of the chaos involved in quick, violent encounters. In those cases, time is broken up into rounds. Each round represents just a few seconds of time, generally enough time for a quick spell casting, firing a bow, a quick attack and parry with a sword, or drinking a potion.

For combat, the order of actions and the actions that can be taken in a round are detailed in the Combat section. For non-combat rounds the format of the combat round can be used for tracking, but the actions allowed, and their order can be worked out by the GM and players in that situation.

• For example, the players enter a chariot race, and nobody is attacking each other, but the race is broken up into rounds. The GM indicates that in each round the players in the race can choose to sprint forward, try to cut off a competitor, or find a shortcut through the city streets and they decide to roll a d20+Riding skill each round to determine the success of each action. 

Movement

As with time, most movement in the game does not need to be precisely tracked as it adds nothing to the story and takes up valuable time in a game session that can be better spent moving the story forward. Letting your players know that the last three days traveling with the caravan were slow and peaceful is perfectly acceptable to move the story quickly to the town where the real action will take place. However, as with time, there are instances where more precise measurement of movement speeds is necessary to the story. In those instances, the rules below can be used to measure how far and how fast a player or creature is moving more precisely.

In these cases, it can be helpful to have a bit more detail about relative speed and agility, but not so much that we bog down the story tracking every inch or mile that someone moves. In most cases, it can be enough for the GM and players to work out quick guidelines for speed of travel and to provide a means of tracking progress.

• For Example:
  • Long distance travel
    • The party takes a job acting as protection for a merchant heading to the next town to deliver his goods through a dangerous stretch of forest.
    • GM decides that the horse and cart the characters are using can travel 20 miles in an average day. 
    • The GM lays a map depicting the local area on the table and one of the players marks the party’s location as they travel each day.
  • Short distance travel
    • As the players run through the city streets in a chase, the GM decides that each participant is rated as Fast, Average, or Slow. 
    • During each action taken, the participants roll a Feats of Agility skill check against a DC to determine if their declared movement in the chase is successful or not.
    • The Fast participants roll the skill check with ADV, the Average participants roll a normal skill check, and the Slow participants roll the skill check with DIS.
  • Combat/Round movement
    • The combat round is only a couple seconds, and the participants movements are combined with quick actions, so the amount of movement possible is very limited. However, each participant could choose to sprint or flee or otherwise move faster than normal during a given round.
    • The recommended way to handle movement and judging between melee and ranged attack distances is to use Zoned Terrain. This concept and how to make a physical battle board come from the Dungeon Craft You Tube channel. All credit goes to Professor Dungeon Master for this idea. Zoned Dungeon Terrain for D&D & Pathfinder (Ep. 100) - YouTube . The linked video describes Professor Dungeon Master’s rules for Zoned Terrain and how to build your own board from cheap materials (I can attest it is a fun and relatively easy project). However, I have some slightly different ideas on the rules for attacks and movement using Zoned Terrain. Feel free to use the one that most appeals to you.
    • Zoned Terrain and combat movement works thusly:
      • A board is laid out with three zones, Near, Short, and Long.
        • Anyone can attempt a ranged or melee attack on anyone else in the same zone as they are.
        • Anyone can attempt a ranged, but not a melee attack on anyone in an adjacent zone.
        • Nobody can attempt a ranged or melee attack on anyone two zones away.
      • Movement between one zone to another takes the full action of a participant for the round. 
        • A participant wishing to move, and attack will only be able to move within their current zone, melee attack anyone in their current zone, and ranged attack anyone in their zone or an adjacent zone.
        • A participant wishing to move to a new zone will only be able to move to the new zone during that round and will not be able to take any additional actions.
        • Boris is in the middle zone of a battle board representing a battle in a forest. He can see his friend Leopold in the inner zone battling with an enemy soldier. Boris can either move into the inner zone this round and prepare a melee attack on the next round, or he can stay in the middle zone, but fire his rifle at the enemy soldier in the inner zone.
      • If different participants have been given movement ratings like the ones listed in the Short Distance Travel section above, the GM could rule that Fast creatures are able to move across zones and still take an action in a round, and Slow creatures need two rounds to cross zones. 
        • Boris with Average speed runs to Leopold’s aid and can move to the inner zone but cannot make an attack that round. However, the Enhanced Fighter next to him with Fast speed can move into the inner zone and attack the enemy soldier in the same round.
      • The Zoned Terrain board can have bits of scatter terrain, doors, short walls, important objects, or other items placed on it in each zone to give everyone an idea of the layout of the combat area as well as provide inspiration for wild stunts and Cinematic Advantage actions.
        • It is best to only place terrain items on the board that could have an affect on actions and can give a sense of place. Putting every wall and every piece of furniture on the board will only clutter the area so much that everyone is unable to move their miniatures or see what is happening on the board. Less is more in this instance and just placing a door at the edge of the inner zone and a table and chair in the middle of the board can be enough for players to know that the inner zone is in a separate room and represents the dining hall the GM just described.

Optional Rule: Chases

Although the example given above is a simple way to cover relative speeds in a chase, it doesn’t provide much opportunity to add drama and quick thinking to a chase sequence. With that in mind, here is a set of optional rules that can be used to run a fun chase.

• The GM and players decide upon an appropriate skill for the pursuers to use to catch their prey and for the pursued to use to escape. 
• The pursued start with a score of 3 from a range of 0 - 6.
• Each round the two sides roll their respective skill checks in an opposed roll using the skills agreed upon earlier with the party using the bonus of the lowest skilled member of their party for their roll. If the pursuers roll higher, the score is reduced by one and if the pursued roll higher the score is increased by one. If the score reaches 0, the pursuers catch their prey, is the score reaches 6, the pursued escape for good.
• To reflect the parties quick thinking during the chase, the GM will have a list of specific actions the players can use to increase their chances of winning the opposed roll. The party can see the list of actions, the relevant skill and DC, and any consequences from failure and decide to use one of the actions that round, or just roll normally. If they are successful in the skill check, they gain advantage on that rounds opposed roll. If they are unsuccessful in the skill check, they either roll normally on the opposed roll or add in any consequences listed for failing that action.
  • Whether the party is the pursued or pursuing, they will be the ones with the list of actions to take, after all it is their heroic story being told. The GM should stick to rolling a normal opposed skill check for any NPC’s involved unless there is an extraordinary storytelling circumstance involved.
  • In cases where a chase is started and the GM had not prepared for one before hand, use the generic actions below and spice them up with appropriate descriptions based on the surroundings
    • Use the terrain to mask your tracks: Wilderness Survival or Street Smarts DC X
    • Use the terrain to go where your opponent cannot easily cross: Feats of Agility or Feats of Strength DC 
    • Trick you opponent: Stealth or Sleight of Hand DC X
    • Block their path: Feats of Strength DC X
    • Set a Trap (useful for longer distance chases): Sleight of Hand DC X
      • In each case, you could add a consequence of failure as desired to make the choice of action harder for the party.
• For example. The party has just escaped capture at the villain’s wilderness camp and their guards are in hot pursuit. In each check, they will perform an opposed roll of Wilderness Survival for the party vs Perception for the guards. The party starts with a score of 3, if they win a roll they gain 1 to their score, if they lose, they lose 1 to their score. If they get to a score of 6 the hunt ends, if they get to a score of 1, their pursuers catch up to them. To increase their chances of evasion, the party can choose to take a specific action before the opposed roll using the lowest skill rating of the characters in the party. If they succeed on the action roll, they gain Advantage on their opposed roll for that round.
  • Run down the creek: Wilderness Survival DC 10
  • Go down a waterfall: Feats of Agility  DC 12 (Failure results in d4 points of damage)
  • Double-back: Wilderness Survival DC 12
  • Climb a small cliff: Feats of Agility DC 15 (DC 10 if rope is used)
  • Ride their pack animals: Riding DC 10 (The party needs to dump all their supplies from the pack animals)
  • Travel at Night: Wilderness Survival DC 15 (Failure may result in party becoming lost)
  • Set a Trap: Sleight of Hand DC 10 (Failure will give pursuers advantage on roll)
    • For example, the party decides to try and climb a small cliff to escape. Grognar has the lowest Feats of Agility skill rank at 2, so one member of the party rolls the Feats of Agility skill check with a +2 to determine if they are successful or not. If they succeed, they have ADV on that rounds opposed roll, and if they fail they roll normally on the opposed roll and probably moan that Grognar needs to work on more than just his muscles.

The Environment

A castle floating high on a cloud, the villain’s throne room deep in a volcano, and the noxious gases of the swamp planet are all great locations for dramatic story events. Why go to all the trouble of creating and describing these fantastic locations only to have them just be window dressing and not affect the story.

Environmental effects can add a lot of fun and drama to an otherwise routine encounter or provide additional insight into a species or a villain’s motivations. In some cases, an evocative description is enough to convey that information, but having it affect the characters and the decisions they make in the story can have a more profound impact.

In general, there are three kinds of environmental effects that can impact game mechanics; weather, harsh environments, and fantastical environments. Weather can be used to turn a normal environment into something memorable or add even more danger to a harsh environment. Fighting some orcs in the forest is fine, but fighting some orcs in the forest during a torrential rainstorm is a whole different story. Harsh environments, like that villain’s throne room in a cave filled with pools of lava require the party to deal with potential harm at every footstep in addition to the cackling villain. Fantastical environments can be an encounter unto themselves. Imagine the parties surprise when they realize they have to navigate a field of fiery mushrooms that explode on contact to get to that long sought treasure.

To properly reflect the environmental effects, it is best to use modifications to skill rolls or changes to game mechanics that the characters will have to deal with. Here are a few examples in the categories of Weather, Harsh Environments, and Fantastical Environments.

Weather

• Rain: -2 to Perception checks
• Heavy Storm: DIS to Perception checks and To Hit rolls
• Snow: Overland movement reduced to half speed, -2 to Perception checks
• Heatwave: Double the water rations needed per day or the character is Fatigued. If they do not find enough water for two days in a row they are Exhausted.
• Sandstorm: Overland movement reduced to quarter speed. DIS on Perception checks

Harsh Environments

• Frozen Lake: DIS to Feats of Agility checks
• Lava Cave: Characters are Fatigued if they remain in the cave more than 30 minutes without special protection. Touching the lava in any way causes d10 DMG
• Deep Desert: The same effects as Heatwave above. In addition, without proper attire and shelter the characters suffer from exposure and gain DIS on all skill checks
• Fetid Swamp: Movement reduced to half speed, x% chance of encountering quicksand and character must succeed on a DC15 Feats of Strength skill check to escape if there is nobody around to help them

Fantastical Environments

• Fiery Mushroom Field: Characters must succeed on a DC12 Feats of Agility skill check each time they move or they will hit a mushroom and cause it to explode dealing d4 DMG to anyone within a meter radius
• The Mesmer Cave: The cave walls are covered in monstrous and hypnotic eyes. Anyone in the cave without special protection for their eyes must make a DC15 Mental Fortitude check or stop all action and stare into the eyes mesmerized.
• Cloud Castle: The castle on a cloud floats higher than any mountain peak. Characters must make a DC10 Feats of Strength check every hour or become Fatigued due to the thin air. In addition, there is a chance they stumble upon a thin spot in the cloud that cannot support them and they fall through. These spots can be detected with a DC7 Perception Check.

As you can see, environmental effects do not have to be limited to combat encounter skill check modifications and they do not have to be limited in duration and can often become the entire encounter themselves. Pitting the characters against the environment rather than needing a monster to show up and present the party with a challenge can be a fun change of pace. These are just a few examples and the GM should feel free to create whatever effect they desire to reflect the environment and conditions the players are experiencing.

For the purposes of this section, I will refer to magic and spells, but all these instances can refer to mental abilities or superpowers interchangeably as needed for your setting.

Casting

Spells are cast instantaneously, unless they are a ritual, and they are treated as ranged or melee attacks as appropriate for the spell (e.g., a fireball is ranged, and a chilling touch is melee). When a spell is cast, the caster rolls a d20+Casting skill bonus against the DC indicated in the spell listing plus or minus any adjustments or ADV/DIS as determined by the GM. On a success the spell effects are applied to the target, on a failure, the spell fizzles and the caster gains the fatigued condition for one round unless otherwise stated in the spell description. On a natural 20 or a natural 1, the critical effects portion of the spell listing takes effect as appropriate.

Learning Spells

Different settings may have alternative ways of assigning spells that a caster knows or dictating how magic works, but in the base game anybody has the potential to learn magic and all spells that a caster learns are a specific formula unique to each caster and they must discover that formula for themselves. Reading a spell formula from a scroll or spell book does not grant the caster the ability to cast that spell at will afterwards. However, they can use that written copy of the spell to aid in the research of their version of the spell. Casters can only learn a spell if they first research the spell for at least one week and then successfully roll a d20+Create Magic skill check against the DC to successfully cast the spell. If they succeed, they learn the spell and can cast it at will, but if they fail they do not learn the spell and cannot attempt to learn it again for at least one week. If they have access to a written copy of a spell to aid in research, they reduce the DC by 2. If they have access to a teacher, they can reduce the time to research by a number of days determined by the GM. Both the written spell copy and the teaching bonuses can be applied at the same time. For example:

• A caster wants to learn a sleep spell and has no scroll to reference and is doing all their mental practice and research on their own. It will take them one week to finish their research and they will need to roll against a DC of 10 to create their version of the spell.
• A caster wants to learn a sleep spell and has a scroll to reference. It will take them one week to finish their research and they will need to roll against a DC of 8 to create their version of the spell.
• A caster wants to learn a sleep spell and they are working with a teacher at the wizard college and a copy of the spell in a spell book. It will take them 4 days to research the spell with the teachers help and they will need to roll against a DC of 8 to create their version of the spell.

Scrolls/Spell books/etc.:

A caster can also create a scroll or other written form of a spell on a d20+Create Magic skill bonus against a DC10. That scroll or written form of the spell can then be cast by anyone, regardless of magical skill by using the command word written onto the scroll. All normal effects are in place for a successful or failed roll or for critical successes or failures.

Rituals:

Spells with a ritual signifier after the name require at least 3 participants to successfully cast. Only one of the participants needs to know the spell and is designated the lead caster, but all the participants must concentrate for the duration of the spell, and anybody disturbed during the ritual casting must make a Mental Fortitude skill check against a DC of 10+ (either the amount of damage taken, or an amount set by the GM for non-damage disturbances). If they fail, they lose concentration and they are no longer a participant in the ritual. If the number of participants drops below the minimum requirement for the ritual before completion, the ritual fizzles and all remaining participants gain the fatigued condition. Some especially powerful rituals may have additional participants or other requirements laid out in their listings. Once the casting duration is complete, the lead caster rolls a Cast Magic skill check against the spell DC adding a +2 bonus to their roll if they have additional participants above the minimum required. The spell listing for the ritual will outline what happens on a success, failure, or critical roll.

In addition to the number of participants requirements, particular rituals may describe additional items, places, or times necessary to successfully cast the ritual (e.g., Sally the Great wishes to cast the ritual to banish the evil god Morbus. This specific ritual, in addition to requiring three participants, also calls for the sacrifice of a specific follower of Morbus and be conducted in the Circle of the Three Stones at midnight).

GM Tips:

In modifying a DC for a spell success, the GM should consider the experience of the caster and any other mitigating factors of the situation. A few examples of all these considerations are:

• Experience of the Caster
  • If the caster does not have a lot of experience casting a spell of that power or the spell is new to them, you could add a couple points to the DC (i.e., Fred has just started using magic and is casting a sleep spell for the first time, so you change the DC from 10 to 12).
  • If the caster has been around for a while and is casting a relatively weak spell or they have cast this spell a lot in the past, you could take away a couple points to the DC (i.e., Fred has been using magic in the world for several years and has cast that same sleep spell dozens of times now, so you could change the DC from 10 to 8).
• Mitigating Factors
  • The caster is attempting to cast a spell in a difficult to concentrate environment (i.e., Fred is trying to cast a spell on the deck of a ship in a massive storm, so you could increase the DC a couple points)
  • The caster is attempting to cast a spell in a very controlled and advantageous environment (i.e., Fred is trying to cast a spell in his wizard college classroom with the instructor guiding him, so you could decrease the DC a couple points) 

Countering a Spell

A caster who has not cast a spell that round and is not engaged in melee, can attempt to counter a spell being cast by an opponent that they can see. Countering is an opposed roll between the two spell casters with each rolling a d20 + Counter Magic skill bonus. When a spell is countered it fizzles, but the caster does not gain fatigue since they are assumed to have cast it properly, but the effect was nullified by the counter. If the spell is not countered, the caster proceeds to cast the spell as normal (e.g., Fred's party is in combat with a group of goblins and their witch doctor. During the second round Fred declares that his character is going to move behind the line of fighters in the party and not make an attack. The witch doctor declares that it is going to cast a fireball spell. Since Fred has not cast a spell that round and is not in melee with another goblin, he decides to counter the witch doctor’s spell. Fred and the witch doctor both roll d20 and add their respective Counter Magic bonus to their rolls. If Fred rolls higher, the witch doctor's spell fizzles with no other effect, but if the witch doctor rolls higher, he can roll to hit as normal for the fireball spell).

Stat Block for a Spell:

• Name
• Effect
• DR Applies
• DC
• Critical Effects
• Special Effects/Notes

Sample Spells

Fireball

• Causes 10 points of damage to all creatures in a 10-meter radius of the blast point. Blast point can be placed 20 meters from the caster.
• DR: Applies
• DC: 15 
• Critical Effects: On a critical failure, the fireball blast point is on the caster, on a critical success the damage is doubled. 
• Special Effects/Notes: Flammable items in the blast will either be incinerated or caught on fire. GM will determine the effects of these fires and whether they spread or not.

Sleep

• Causes all creatures in a 10-meter radius of the blast point to fall asleep for 10 minutes. Blast point can be placed 15 meters away from the caster.
• DR: N/A
• DC: 10
• Critical Effects: On a critical failure the caster falls asleep, on a critical hit all creatures that would normally make a Mental Fortitude check are unable to resist the spell.
• Special Effects/Notes: Does not affect creatures that do not sleep (e.g., undead). Each creature in the area of effect rolls for Mental Fortitude with a DC 10+casters Casting bonus and, on a success, can resist the spells effects.

Summon Demon (Ritual)

• Calls a demon from the pit into the casting circle and allows the lead caster to command the summoned creature.
• DR: N/A
• Critical Effects: On a critical failure the participants are knocked unconscious, and the lead caster is struck for DMG 10. On a critical success the demon is bound to the lead casters will without making a Mental Fortitude check.
• Special Effects/Notes: The ritual takes 4 rounds to complete. When the demon first appears after the ritual is completed successfully, the lead caster and the demon make opposed Mental Fortitude rolls and if the caster wins, he can command the demon for 1 up to one hour or until the GM determines that some event has caused the demon to try to break its bonds and another Mental Fortitude opposed roll is required. The caster may release the demon from servitude at any time before the hour is up if they wish and the demon instantly returns to whence it came. If the demon wins the Mental Fortitude opposed roll, it is free to do whatever it wants for the hour that it exists on this plane (often this involves immediately attacking the caster for daring to try and control it). While controlling the demon, the caster cannot command it to kill itself or knowingly perform an action that would lead to certain death (e.g., you cannot command the demon to chop its own head off or leap off a thousand-foot cliff, but you could command it to attack someone since the demon is not certain to die in the combat).