Your character in points! Now with more magic and utility skills!

Second chapter: Combat resolution •


This chapter describes the diceless rules of battling another player character or NPC enemies. In the case of player character vs. player character situations, both players should have created their character sheet well before the encounter.

Keywords: Combat Rating, Guard, Health Points, SCS, Battle Magic



Guard:


Each character has a Guard. It represents the character’s alert ability to ward off harm, using all means available to him, such as dodging or deflecting blows, or even trusting to the protection of his armor.

•Guard has a point value equal to the character’s CR (1-3)
•Any incoming damage is subtracted from his Guard instead of HP, if possible
•Any damage surpassing the Guard is subtracted from the HP
•Unlike with HP, Guard regains full point value after each fight

At the beginning of each fight, a character’s Guard is modified situationally:

•A Journeyman fighting against a Novice gains a +1 bonus to his Guard
•A Master fighting against a Journeyman gains a +1 bonus to his Guard
•A Master fighting against a Novice gains a +2 bonus to his Guard



Combat turn:


Each fight consists of turns. Due to typing descriptions, turns take longer to role-play than they actually last. In the game, a turn may take only a second or two. During a turn, the following things happen:

•Each fighter is allowed to attack once, automatically damaging an opponent for 1 point
•Each fighter is allowed to use one Special Combat Skill (SCS, described below)
•The use of SCS may affect the damage outcome
•The character with the highest DEX value announces his use of SCS last
•If a character falls to 0 HP, he is defeated
•Even if one character would get defeated, the opponent may still be wounded during that turn as well

Mechanics should be briefly discussed with the opposing player in /whisper or /party.



Speciality Combat Skills (SCS):


These are the semi-random flavor of the diceless fighting system. Without them, each character wounds their opponent for one point each turn. The SCS may prevent this, however, or provide other means to alter the course of the fight.

•Each character has a number of SCS based on his CR. Novice: 1 -> Master: 3
•The SCS are chosen during the character creation and marked to the character sheet
•They can be changed later, but not just before the upcoming battle
•Each SCS may be used only once in a battle
•Some SCS have requirements and not all characters are able to select them

The use of SCS individualizes each character's fighting style and makes sure that different characters are better-versed for different situations and different opponents. Depending on the SCS, the outcome of a fight between otherwise equal opponents could be greatly altered. Because the SCS are selected before any fighting is about to take place, players are not able to strategically pick just the right ones to defeat a certain opponent.


List of SCS:




Acrobatics (REQ: no heavy armor, DEX 12+)
The character avoids all damage to his Guard this turn through acrobatic or evasive movement. If the Guard is already down, this cannot be used to avoid Health Point damage.

Cover up (REQ: heavy armor, CON 12+)
The character avoids all Health Point damage from one-handed weapons (including pistols) this turn, using his armor's bulk to absorb the hits. Cannot prevent damage to the Guard if it’s still up.

Disarming
The character disarms the opponent's main weapon - or otherwise blasts his defenses down, exposing him to harm - causing his Guard to instantly fall to 0. Cannot be used against an opponent with a shield. The opponent isn't damaged this turn.

Disengage (DEX 12+)
The character counters an attempt to disarm him. This SCS can be used as a reaction, even if another SCS was already used this turn. Alternatively, Disengage may be used as a non-reactive main action to gain 1 point of Guard - but not if the character's Guard is already down to 0.

Dirty trick
The character passes an active Guard and directly damages the opponent this turn, causing him to lose one Health Point. If the opponent's Guard is already down, Dirty trick causes two points of damage. Can only be used if the opponent doesn't wear a heavy armor.

Escape artist (INT 10+, no heavy armor)
The character has prepared to make his escape. Instead of attacking, at any turn, he can decide to escape from the fight. He breaks from the fight and flees the scene. All damage to the character is prevented during this turn. This SCS can only be used once/day, so it’s best to lie low after a successful escape.

Initiative (DEX 12+)
The character takes the initiative, attacking quickly before the opponent has time to react. This can be due to some trick, natural speed or an ambush. On the first combat round, ONLY the user of Initiative attacks, and the attack surpasses Guard. If other characters use Initiative, they may also attack during this "turn 0", and attacks against them won't pass their Guard.

Interruption (INT 12+)
Knowing how to battle spellcasters, the character is prepared to interrupt a major spell from being cast - or throws himself from the harm’s way. The spellcaster loses his daily spell, but no Sanity. Interruption can be used as reaction to spellcasting, but not if the character used another SCS this turn.

Longer reach (REQ: two-handed weapon, including a rifle)
The character is expert at keeping the opponent away from him and striking from outside his reach. As the result, the opponent causes no damage next turn, but may keep using SCS. Longer reach may be countered with another Longer reach (as a free action). A character using a melee weapon cannot use Longer reach against a wielder of a ranged weapon.

Measured advance
The character presses the opponent with chains of continuous attacks, breaking his rhythm and forcing him on the defensive. The opponent may not use SCS next turn, although he may attack normally. If the opponent wields a shield, he may not use SCS for two turns, covering behind it too intently.

Shield slam (STR 10+, shield)
The character slams or pushes the opponent with his shield, causing him to lose an additional Guard point or HP. Cannot be used against another character with a shield.

Rage (WIS 8 or less)
The character flies off the handle and frenzies. His Health Points are increased by one. Next turn (and only next turn), his attack will cause 2 points of damage. If he still has an active Guard, it is dropped to 0 points. If he has a shield, it is dropped as well.

Vigilance
The character is always ready and alert. Vigilance may be used as a reaction to counter either Initiative or Dirty Tricks, in which case neither of these SCS allow to surpass the character’s active Guard.





Health Points, Damage and Healing:


All attacks lead to losing HP. However, the type of the trauma suffered greatly defines how long-lasting the damage is.

HPs lost to blunt trauma such as fists or batons could often be returned with a good night’s sleep, despite lingering soreness. Serious trauma, such as knives, arrows, gunshots and so on, would take longer to recover. These rules suggest that the said minor wounds are healed technically fully in one day, and that major wounds take the minimum of one week to heal (up to the decision of the player; some wounds could be permanent).

Health Points can be regained faster by using magic (see: chapter two) or the Utility Skill of First Aid (see: chapter three).

Falling to 0 HP means that the character is unable to continue fighting. He could be unconscious, or just unable to move fast and strong enough to keep fighting. Due to the wounds, the character's ability to cast spells is equally hindered.



Moral guideline:


No character should be killed against the will of its player, regardless of damage. This is common courtesy. Downed enemies should rather be “left for dead” or allowed to escape or to be saved by someone. The final say on the severity of damage is ultimately in the hands of the player. Some players might be willing to take permanent injuries on their characters as the result of getting seriously wounded; others might not.

The only ultimatum these rules seek to enforce is that characters that have fallen to 0 HP are unable to fight, until they gain more HP, through rest or something else.



Multiple opponents:


In multiple opponents situations where many characters fight against one, play it just like with duels. Go in turns so that the character with the lowest DEX announces his use of SCS first, and the highest DEX announces his last. The character fighting underdog may wound only one opponent each turn, while the outnumbering characters each can wound him separately.

The situational Guard bonus is defined by comparing the underdog’s CR to the CR of the weakest member of the outnumbering party.

If there are multiple characters on both sides, it is often easier to break it down to smaller independent battles.

(1 vs. 1 + 1 vs. 2 for example, instead of 2 vs. 3)



Battle magic:


Chapter three, as whole, describes how magic is used within this rules set. But even those who don’t have a reason to read it to full extend, should be aware of how magic works in combat. There are roughly two directly combat-related major spells: damaging and warding spells.

Damaging spell may be cast instead of a normal damaging attack. It can cause 2-6 points of total damage, to all enemies around the spellcaster. Damaging spells are always considered two-handed weapons when it comes to effectiveness. A Guard protects from them normally.

Warding spell may be cast instead of attacking normally. It can cause the character to gain 2-6 points to his Guard. A ward is sometimes applied before the fight. A ward can be given to another character as well instead of the caster.

Spells of this power are called major spells, and even the mightiest spellcasters are unable to cast many during the same day, and each major spell comes with straining efforts and threatens the character's Sanity. Minor spells are not restricted, and they can be dealt with just like normal attacks with weapons. Minor spells are always considered one-handed weapons.

Read more of the use of magic in chapter three.



Battling NPCs:


Non-player characters (NPCs) are met during closed game sessions. Their abilities, Health Points and attacks can differ greatly. Quickly wrapped opponents or "goons" usually have only one HP and they’re Novice fighters, whereas powerful monsters can have beyond 3 HP and their attacks can cause greater damage. The details of the NPCs and monsters are up to the organizing player, or "Game Master".


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• Third chapter: Magic •


This chapter describes the use of magic under the diceless role-playing system. This chapter is thus particularly important for the players of caster classes. Players of non-casters should read at least the two last parts.

Keywords: MP, minor spells, major spells, casting spells, temporal Sanity loss, resistance



Magical Potential:


In the character creation phase, each player must decide if his character's Magical Potential (MP) is active or passive.

Passive potential means that: •The character has dormant magical talents or no talent at all
•The character does not have spells in his use
•Under the right circumstances, it's possible that the character could learn to do magic

Active potential means that: •The character has active magical talents
•The character knows an array of minor spells and at least one major spell
•The character's MP restricts how many major spells he knows (1-3 spells)
•The character's active MP also defines the maximum power of his spells (1-3 points)



Minor and major spells:


The spells of this system are divided between minor and major spells.

Minor spells: •Are spells every spellcaster knows
•Their use is not restricted by this system
•Can be used in combat as equivalent to one-handed weapon attacks
•Don't have any large effect to the game mechanics

For example, a minor illusion spell would not confuse a guard patrol that arrives to arrest the characters in an event, but it could trivially confuse someone in some other, less important situation. A major illusion spell, on the other hand, could confuse the guard patrol.

Major spells: •Are spells that only true, talented spellcasters know
•Each spellcaster with active potential has major spells equal to his MP (1-3 spells known)
•The character is able to cast the number of his MP of major spells/day (1-3 spells/day)
•Major spells are selected from the list below and marked to the character sheet
•The power of the spell (1-3) cannot surpass the character's MP value
•Casting a major spell always causes temporary Sanity loss (see: Limits of magic)

It is possible to memorize a new major spell - in which case the character loses one of the previous major spells from his active repertoire. This requires at least one week's research and meditation. Game Master should be informed when a character wants to memorize a new major spell.

Any major spell can simply fail, if the Game Master deems it to endanger some pre-planned event or plot twist. In these cases, the character doesn't usually get temporary Sanity loss or lose his daily spell.



The list of major spells:



Note: All major spells have a \"speciality\" listed. These special effects can be called upon using ten points of Sanity/Health (see: Limits of magic). Only casters with Extreme Magical Potential are able to perform them, and they always cost one permanent point of Sanity to the caster.


Chaos
Spells of Chaos distort and bend other magic. They can be used to counter other spells - which can be done as reaction to the spellcasting attempts of other characters - or to unravel permanent or long-lasting magical effects, in which case a successful Chaos spell will negate or break an existing magical effect.
• Counter any 1-point spell or unravel minor magic
•• Counter any 2-point spell or unravel moderate magic
••• Counter any 3-point spell or unravel major magic
(Special: 10 points can be used to raise a Chaos Storm, which makes further spellcasting in the surroundings impossible for anyone. Wild, spontaneous and strange magical effects that are not in anyone's control are known to happen within Chaos Storms, and nobody can be sure of their results; friends and foes alike could suffer)

Divination
Spells of Divination can be cast to find information. This information can come in a vision, a crystal ball, bowl of water, from the spirits of the dead or elementals, or many other sources. The spellcaster privately asks the Game Master a single short question. Generally, only information related to the plot and NPCs should be asked, as the Game Master probably don't know details on unrelated player characters for example.
• Find common and worldly information from the present
•• Find uncommon information from the present or common information from the future
••• Find secrets from the present or uncommon information from the future
(Special: 10 points can be used to unravel time. The caster briefly fades from existence and travels into the future, to help himself or his group in some particularly desperate situation. Later during the campaign, this can be used in deus-ex-machina function by the Game Master to allow the group to, for example, escape a certain doom. When the caster returns to his time, he doesn't remember what happened in the future)

Damage
Spells of Damage can take many forms, from firestorms to illusionary armies and pools of necrotic energies. Each damaging spell is capable of wounding one or several enemies. The damage points of the spell can be spread between all targets that are currently fighting the caster.
• Cause 2 points of damage
•• Cause 4 points of damage
••• Cause 6 points of damage
(Special: 10 points can be used to upgrade the damage enough to destroy or seriously damage an entire building, ship or other construction)

Healing
Spells of Healing can be used to restore lost Health Points to characters. Wounds can physically close, bones mend, or the target can merely be infused with fresh vitality. Healing spells cannot be used in the middle of combat, but can be used right afterwards.
• Heal a single target for 1 Health Point
•• Spread 2 healing points between various targets
••• Spread 3 healing points between various targets
(Special: 10 points can be used to tear into the domain of Grenth and pull back a technically dead character. Characters who have been dead longer than a hour cannot be brought back in this manner. The revived character has 0 HP)

Illusion
Spells of Illusion can be used to create false images, sounds or scents. Such spells can include all of these sensations. They can be used to mislead people or even gain invisibility. Spells of Illusion last for some minutes (points used x 10 as maximum). Various operations of finesse and subtlety could be performed with the Game Master's approval.
• Conjure illusions that affects one target size of yourself
•• Conjure illusions that affects the target and close surroundings
••• Conjure illusions that affects a roomful of space
(Special: 10 points can be used to stretch an illusion to permanency. Illusions affecting a roomful of space are stretched permanent, until the spellcaster becomes unconscious or the illusions are magically removed)

Warding
Spells of Warding can be used to protect a target against incoming damage. Depending on the level of the spell, the target gains more points to his Guard (see: chapter two). If a warding spell is used in battle, it replaces the caster's attack for one turn. Warding spells last for one battle, or for some minutes (points used x 10 as maximum).
• Ward yourself or your target for 2 additional points of Guard
•• Ward yourself or your target for 4 additional points of Guard
••• Ward yourself or your target for 6 additional points of Guard
(Special: 10 points can be used to ward an area, such as an entire building, from attacks. Hostile characters and monsters are not able to enter this space)

Transportation
Spells of Transportation can be used to quickly travel between locations. The only limitation in the game are the Waypoints. If a transported character doesn't have the required Waypoint, the spell fails to transport them. Only willing targets may be transported in this manner.
• Transport one target as far as the next region
•• Transport one target anywhere in Tyria or up to five targets to the next region
••• Transport up to five targets anywhere in Tyria
(Special: 10 points can be used to breach the curtain between the worlds and extend the spell's range to the Mists - and up to ten characters can be transported anywhere)

Channeling
Spells of Channeling allow the caster to tap other characters to draw power from their life-force. Only willing targets may be used in this manner, although the targets could be forced to accept. All Health Points of the targets can be channeled into the spellcaster's next spell and he does not have to use his own temporal Sanity or HP at all.
• Health can be channeled from one target
•• Health can be channeled from up to three targets
••• Health can be channeled from up to five targets
(Special: 10 points can be used to attune a willing character to the spellcaster. Furthermore, until the link is broken (by 3-points strong Chaos magic), the caster can - at will - draw Health Points of the target to empower his spells without casting Channeling. Multiple such links can exist at once and the caster can tap the target's life-force without him even being present)




Limits of magic:


Despite the above may create an image of that magic can do just about anything, there are further limits. Each major spell - complex, mind-wrecking and dangerous as they are - endangers the caster's Sanity.

Each major spell cast causes temporal Sanity loss to the caster. The caster loses as much temporal Sanity as he puts effort to a spell. A three-point spell cast would cost three points of temporal Sanity.

•If this drops the character to "Disturbed, quirky or neurotic" scale (1-6), it should show in the character's behavior in sudden confusion, paranoia and other shaken states of mind.

•If the spell drops the character to \"Deranged or psychotic\" scale (0 or below), the character loses a permanent Sanity point, enters a psychotic state, and furthermore, the spell causes him to wither.

Withering is a state where the spellcaster's power is taken from his own life-force, and his body is drained. The first time the character falls under 0 Sanity as the result of a spell, he loses one Health Point. Any spell cast when already at 0 Sanity or below, causes the character to wither for 1 Health Point for each level of the spell. Trying a spell that causes more damage the caster can take automatically fails.

Temporally lost Sanity is regained when the character sleeps or meditates for at least four hours. If the temporal Sanity loss took the character to 0 or below, the character needs to rest for one full week before working major spells again, or he loses a permanent point of Sanity each time he casts a spell. This doesn't affect a character that already was at 0 Sanity or below in the first place.


Detecting magic:


Some magical effects such as lightning bolts and rains of fire are easy to recognize as magic. Other, more subtle effects, can sometimes remain hidden. Magic-users have some natural aptitude of sniffing out enchantments. The Game Master could give a hint to certain level of casters (plain obvious things to Novices, and much less-obvious to Masters) when there is magic being worked in their surroundings.

When a magic-user wants to directly detect magic, for example to locate a magical item within large ruins, the use of a major Divination Spell could be demanded. 1 point of Divination spell could detect the magic of an item the character is touching, 2 point spell would detect all magic within his line of sight, while 3 point spell could detect the overall magic of everything within a few miles radius. A major Divination spell usually reveals more of the detected magic than just its presence.



Other uses of temporal Sanity:


There may be other uses for temporal Sanity in the game. Even characters who are not spellcasters can lose Sanity points temporally, for example when facing some particularly terrifying scene or adversary. Characters who fall to 0 Sanity or below are unable to think coherently, may not use Utility Skills or other SCS than Rage (furthermore, characters under the effects of Rage are immune to temporal Sanity loss over its duration). Characters who permanently fall to 0 Sanity are eventually able to regain the use of these abilities, despite their serious derangements.

Temporally losing Sanity can serve as a game mechanic to enhance the horror aspects of some scenes. Breaching into some terrifying place such as a ghost-haunted cave could gradually gnaw away the characters' Sanity, if they're taking too daring moves. Facing some opponents such as the undead, demons, dragons or Nightmare Court sylvari could equally subject the characters to temporary Sanity loss.

The Game Master should use it very carefully, however, as the option of losing Sanity should not automatically make raving lunatics of all player characters at some point.

Like with spellcasters, every character whose Sanity temporally drops to 0 or below loses one permanent Sanity point.

Regaining permanent Sanity is a slower process, but may happen with the Game Master's approval.



Magic of places, items and NPCs:


Aside of the magic that is available to the player characters, many NPCs of the adventures are able to cast spells or use similar magical abilities. When it comes to opposed casting, they are subjected to the same rules as the player characters. Conflicts aside, some NPCs, places and items may have magical effects of their own, and some of them might even differ from the major spells given here.

Magical items and companions of the player characters are generally counted into their numerical values. Magical weapon, armor or companion would raise the point values of Weaponry and Armor in the character creation questionnaire, and their individual qualities would be considered minor magic.

The characters may find more important, story-related magical items during their adventures, and these items may possess yet undescribed major magical abilities the item grants to its wielder. Such items are always distributed and explained by the Game Master. Equally, there could be cursed items that bestow some hinderance upon its wielder. Sometimes, magical items come with mixed blessings.


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• Fourth chapter: Utility skills •


This chapter describes the use of utility skills - a game mechanic that further illustrates the use of versatile, non-combat related skills and areas of knowledge the player characters possess.

Keywords: Utility skills, skill points, reduction by mixed interest, skill tests, contested skills



Utility skills and skill points:


Utility skills describe what useful areas of expertise the character has managed to gather during his life this far. They are used during closed game sessions and usually allow the character to succeed in some considerable and profitable feat.

Utility skills by age •Teens or younger (1 utility skill and skill point)
•Post-teens and young adults (2 utility skills and skill points)
•Physical prime (25+ for humans) to middle age (3 utility skills and skill points)
•Senior: beyond middle age (4 utility skills and skill points)

•This number is reduced based on the character’s mixed interests
•The remaining utility skills are selected from the list below
•The character may use an utility skill the number of his skill points (1-4) each day
•Thus even the same utility skill may be used multiple times



Reduction of skill points by mixed interests:


Characters who are skilled in the areas of fighting or spellcasting had to make considerable sacrifices with the use of their time. Therefore, the number of their utility skills is reduced. Characters who are both considerable fighters and active spellcasters are unlikely to have utility skills, while characters that haven’t spent much energy in matters of warfare or magic are likely to have many.

The number of utility skills & skill points (both) reduced: •CR 3 - Reduce the number of skills by 2
•CR 2 - Reduce the number of skills by 1
•(Active) MP 3 - Reduce the number of skills by 2
•(Active) MP 2 - Reduce the number of skills by 1

Thus a prime-aged character with CR 21 (Journeyman) and passive MP of 14 would have 2 utility skills and 2 daily skill points. A character with CR 32 (Master) and active MP of 18 (Moderate Potential) would have 0 utility skills and 0 daily skill points.


List of utility skills:


Apothecary
The character has skills with herbs and potions. He’s able to recognize useful flora from dangerous, brew mixtures, elixirs, poisons and antidotes, if the needed reagents are provided. If not, he probably knows where to find those.
Primary attribute: INT

Burglary
The character excels in bodily and acrobatic skills of a thief. He could climb walls, squeeze through narrow passages, disappear into shadows, knock out a guard or even slit some throats unseen.
Primary attribute: DEX

Courtier’s manners
The character knows the ways of the upper ladder, and can maneuver in the social circles of the nobility. He knows how to please, intimidate and play people of this hierarchy and is often able to gain boons and passages, and can expand dominance over the servant caste with greater ease.
Primary attribute: CHA

Elder’s wisdom
The character has the wisdom that usually but not always comes with advanced age. She has a comforting, warm personality that allows other characters to express their troubles and fears, and she often has a word of advice to offer to them. She is often able to calm people from fits of rage or panic attacks. If talking with a player character, she may be able to return lost points of temporal Sanity (1-3), especially if the target is not as wise as she is. (See: contested skills)
Primary attribute: WIS

Historian
The character is widely learned in the history of Tyria. Often, he can remember small details concerning places, items and names that benefit him and his group in their adventures.
Primary attribute: INT

Hunter’s instincts
The character has honed his natural predatory senses high. Whether he’s a hunter of animals or humanoids, he is able to track his prey effectively, create traps and spot immediate danger in his surroundings. To a player character or NPC, a trap made by the character usually causes direct HP damage (1-3), if the target isn’t able to spot the trap in time. (See: contested skills)
Primary attribute: WIS

Information gathering
The character knows how to find information. He has contacts, knows when to smile, when to scowl and when to drop in some bribes. In most social circles, he’s able to find something worth knowing… if there is something worth knowing.
Primary attribute: CHA

Larceny
The character excels in deceptive and detail-level thief-skills. He could pick locks, create fake documents, use disguises, pick pockets, palm items and do other dexterous sleight-of-hand tricks.
Primary attribute: DEX

Mechanic
The character knows his way with cogs, wheels, steam and gunpowder, and likely even Asura technology. Be it trap devices, experimental muskets, or battle golems, he’s your guy. Not only the character can use such mechanisms, he understands their nature, weaknesses, and can repair or disarm many.
Primary attribute: INT

Merchant’s cunning
The character knows how to work with the people of the guilds, merchants and mercenaries - how to haggle, bid and wage. He can often get the cheapest prices and best services around and otherwise maneuver through the market ladder of the society with ease.
Primary attribute: CHA

Performance
The character can entertain with displays of a skill such as singing, playing an instrument, dancing, telling stories, or other similar feats. Her performance can distract crowds or bring their interest and favor upon the performer and her group.
Primary attribute: CHA

Physician
The character knows how to treat wounds and illnesses with bandages, cloths and ointments. She is able to return one (1) lost HP to a character after a battle or an accident, and could tend up to two characters total with a single use of this skill. Physician skill can return only 1 HP to a character, regardless of how many times it is used.
Primary attribute: INT

Research
The character knows how to use books, scrolls, tomes, libraries and newspapers as sources. Doing some research over some matter, he can often identify unknown items, decipher encrypted or foreign texts, solve riddles and discover leads. This utility skill requires time and is most often used between the game sessions.
Primary attribute: INT

Thug’s scowl
The character knows how to work in the streets. He is able to maneuver among thieves and beggars, gang-members, cutthroats and prostitutes with little trouble, knowing when to boast, when to bark and when to leave. Intimidation and black market services are right up the character’s alley.
Primary attribute: CHA





Using utility skills:


The use of a utility skill is suggested by a player and either accepted or denied by the Game Master. If it is accepted, the character then role-plays his attempt out, for example describing how his character pulls his sword halfway from the sheath while snarling at the approaching beggars (Thug’s scowl) to scare them off. Sometimes, the Game Master, instead, may be the one that offers the opportunity for utility skill usage.

The Game Master may deem that just having the right utility skill is enough and allow the skill’s use alone to make the character successful (called "a free task\"). In some cases, the Game Master might place a requirement for certain difficult tasks. Picking a lock in the tavern’s door (a Larceny test) might be a free task, but picking the lock of the palace’s treasure chamber would likely be a restricted task and require – along with using Larceny skill – a DEX score of 16+ from the thief.

Sometimes teamwork could lower the restriction. For example, every use of Larceny past the first attempt could lower the threshold of the treasure chamber’s lock-picking with 2. If the requirement is not met and teamwork doesn’t solve the issue, the skill test is failed.



General skill tests and resistance tests:


Sometimes, a skill test could be based on a core attribute instead of a utility skill. For example, when attempting to break a door open, the Game Master could allow anyone to attempt it, regardless of their utility skills. He could place a similar threshold (the door is successfully broken if the character has 14 of STR or higher) for the task. The rewards of such attempts are generally lesser than using the right utility skill, however, and the opportunities are given less often. A door that requires STR 16 to break, for example, could perhaps be opened without any skill test by the use of Larceny.

The Game Master might allow the characters to resist some sort of attacks or conditions as well, based on their core attributes. The disease spreading in the slums could affect all characters under the CON rating of 12. The magical sleep spell could lull to sleep everyone under WIS 8, while those under WIS 12 would lose a single turn to drowsiness. Poisonous water could cause everyone who swims in it to lose 1 HP unless they have CON of 10+.



Contested skills:


In the case of using a utility skill against an NPC or another player character, the contested skill use rule may come handy. These are situations where a character seeks to trick, beat or overpower another character through using a utility skill. Examples would include pickpocketing another player character, fooling him with a disguise (Larceny), slipping past him as he stands guarding a door (Burglary), intimidating or commanding him to back off (Courtier’s manners or Thug’s scowl), getting him to reveal a juicy piece of gossip (Information gathering), impressing him with an alluring story (Performance) and so on. Notice that in the case of Courtier's manners and Thug's scowl, the place and situation need to be culturally appropriate. One cannot intimidate a minister in the royal palace in the middle of the day using Thug's scowl.

The character’s WIS value much reflects the stability of the character’s mind, his body of experience and how gullible he is. Therefore, it is generally used as the resisting value against such attempts. Compare the utility skill using character’s primary attribute (in the case of Larceny, DEX) to the target character’s WIS. If the utility skill wins by 2, consider it a minor success. If the skill wins by 4, it’s a moderate success, and if it wins by 6, it is a major success.

In the case of pickpocketing, a minor success would snatch a few coins from the target’s pocket, a moderate success would take his whole wallet, while major success would also rob his dagger and pistol as the thief’s on it.



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• Appendix •




Full character sheet of the diceless role-playing system: Hide


Character name:
Concept:
Player:

Strength (STR):
Dexterity (DEX):
Constitution (CON):
Intelligence (INT):
Wisdom (WIS):
Charisma (CHA):

Combat Rating (CR):
Guard:
Specialty Combat Skills (SCS):
Weapons and armor:
Health Points (HP):
Magical Potential (MP):
Major spells:
Sanity (Sa):
Wealth (We):
Utility skills:
Skill points:

Noteworthy items, contacts and details:

Other notes: