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Introduction[]
Tabletop role-playing games[]
If you're familiar with tabletop role-playing games, feel free to skip this section. Otherwise, welcome to the world of tabletop role-playing games! Tabletop role-playing games were first made commercially available in 1974 with the advent of Dungeons and Dragons, which you've no doubt heard of. Many people have a knee-jerk aversion to such games for their perceived nerdiness. Make no mistake, these games are super nerdy, but they're also super fun. Don't knock it 'til you try it! Tabletop role-playing games precede most videogames and continue to thrive even today, and for what many would say is good reason.
The main difference between a tabletop role-playing game and a role-playing videogame is the presence of the Dungeon Master (abbreviated DM, sometimes instead called "Game Master," which is in turn abbreviated GM). The DM is what makes these sorts of games so open-ended, because the DM is a person, and the DM handles your (the players') interactions with the world. Rather than having somewhere between two and five or so options in conversations with non-player characters (NPCs) your character can say anything you'd like your character to say. Thus, tabletop role-playing games emphasize open-endedness and player freedom.
Craftsmen and Chimeras[]
Craftsmen and Chimeras is a system based loosely on Dungeons and Dragons' 4th edition rules with contributions from Agrippa "sock", David "Cheemo", Mary "Bunny", Nathan "Wizzeh", Sam "Lasor", Taylor "amde", Tristan "clockturn", Tycho "Bisukottishefu", and Zach "Sovereign." The goal of the project is to create a tabletop role-playing game system with quick, varied combat, minimal restrictions, all while being simple to learn.
Flexibility is the core of any tabletop role-playing game - players are encouraged to bend, mend, or disregard any rules as they see fit, as long as the rest of the group agrees to any such changes. As such, this is intended less as a "rulebook" and more as a "guideline-book."
The system is currently in the first update to its second major iteration.
Scope of this handbook[]
This handbook aims to lay out the systems with which both players and DMs need to be familiar with in order to run a game in the Craftsmen and Chimeras system. This rulebook aims only to lay the groundwork of the system and will provide no information about the world in which campaigns will take place, which will instead be explained by a setting rulebook of your choice. The following are within the scope of this handbook:
- Combat procedures
- Abilities (in both in- and out-of-combat sorts)
- Character backstory and personality creation
- Ability creation
- Basic equipment rules
- Campaign, dungeon, and foe creation
- How to run both non-combat and combat encounters
- Loot and equipment creation
For information on any of the following, you should check a setting rulebook:
- Any and all information regarding magic
- Specifics of equipment (e.g. lists of equipment)
- Currencies and common purchasable non-equipment items
- Notes on settings, e.g. common scenery and people's mannerisms
Notation in this handbook[]
In this handbook at several points, some somewhat uncommon mathematical notation will be used.
- The floor operation is written ⌊x⌋. The operation returns the greatest integer n such that n ≤ x. In simpler terms, this means you round x down to the nearest whole number.
- The ceiling operation is written ⌈x⌉. The operation returns the smallest integer n such that n ≥ x. In simpler terms, this means you round x up to the nearest whole number.
- Dice rolls will be written in either the form dY or XdY, where Y is the number of sides the die/dice have and X is the number of dice to roll (dY is the same as 1dY). The results of all of these dice rolls is then summed.
Combat[]
Combat in Craftsmen and Chimeras is designed to be quick and relatively minimal, to stand in stark contrast to DnD4e's agonizingly slow and bloated combat.
The Field[]
The combat field is a grid composed of a number of square tiles (each of which is considered to measure about 5 feet (or about 1.5 meters) on each side), ideally adorned with decoration indicating the sort of scenery in which the combat is taking place. A very important thing to keep in mind is that players are not only able but are encouraged to interact with the scenery as much as possible, and DMs are encouraged to create as varied a scene as possible to grant players (and NPCs!) opportunities to use the scenery to their advantage.
The Field is occupied by combat entities (see next section) as well as obstacles, which can include discrete objects (such as trees, stone pillars, or walls) or simply abrupt changes in terrain elevation that would make crossing a tile impossible or excessively difficult. Obstacles can occupy a tile or simply the border of a tile. A wall, for example, would usually only occupy the border between two tiles, and would allow combat entities to reside in both adjacent tiles, but would not allow a combat entity to cross from one of its adjacent tiles to the other.
Combat entities can make attacks against obstacles, which may destroy the obstacle or otherwise change the environment, and potentially dealing damage to other combat entities in the process.
Certain tiles can also be designated as "difficult terrain" (see Movement).
Should you choose, combat can also be run without a Field. In this case, movement is much more abstract, and different DMs will handle movement in Fieldless combat differently. Though Fieldless combat has less strategic depth, it is also somewhat faster and can be easier for new players to learn.
Combat entities[]
A combat entity can either be a player character (PC), controlled by a player, or a non-player character (NPC), controlled by the DM. Generally, combat will have two "teams:" one consisting of the PCs and any allied NPCs in their party, and the other consisting of a group of NPC foes.
A combat entity always occupies at least one tile, though combat entities can range in size from 1x1 to 5x5 tiles. The effects of size differences are to be determined by the DM in accordance with the exact physiology of the entity in question.
Combat stats[]
All combat entities possess four fundamental stats, called the "combat stats:"
- Strength,
- Dexterity,
- Intelligence, and
- Constitution.
A combat entity's Strength determines how strong it is. Strength increases an entity's proficiency with heavier sorts of weapons as well as its ability to lift and throw heavy objects and its ability to resist certain types of attacks.
An entity's Dexterity determines how dextrous it is. Dexterity increases an entity's proficiency with precise sorts of weapons as well as its ability to perform acrobatics feats and work with its hands (such as when performing first aid) as well as its ability to react quickly.
An entity's Intelligence determines how intelligent it is. It should be noted that a character can be intelligent but uneducated, or vice versa, since education is a separate quantity (see Education). Intelligence increases an entity's proficiency with complex sorts of weapons (and usually, if your universe contains magic, its proficiency with magic as well) as well as to complete difficult mental tasks or to offer useful insight into a situation as well as its ability to resist illusions and deception in combat.
Finally, an entity's Constitution determines how tough it is. Constitution increases the amount of attacks an entity can receive before falling unconscious, and also greatly increases its resistance to a wide variety of attacks.
Using these four stats, a number of other quantities are calculated:
- Its maximum HP (standing for Hit Points or Health Points), generally equal to 15+3*Constitution, as well as
- its Prowess, equal to Strength+Dexterity,
- Might, equal to Strength+Intelligence,
- Cunning, equal to Dexterity+Intelligence,
- Power, equal to Strength+Dexterity+Intelligence,
- Fortitude, increased by Strength and Constitution,
- Reflex, increased by Dexterity and Constitution, and
- Willpower, increased by Intelligence and Constitution.
An entity's HP could be said to be its most important stat, as it determines whether the entity is dead or alive. An entity with >0 HP is alive and conscious. In most circumstances, a non-player combat entity dies upon reaching 0 or fewer HP. Player characters, however, merely fall unconscious upon reaching 0 or fewer HP, and will not die until their HP falls below ⌊-maximum HP/2⌋.
Prowess, Might, Cunning, and Power are collectively called the "hybrid pseudostats," since they act very similarly to the combat stats while not truly being stats themselves.
Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower are three of the four defensive stats (the last is Armor, which is calculated from your equipment instead of from your stats). Each of the four defensive stats has two quantities associated with it: Evasion and Mitigation. The higher an entity's evasion of a certain defensive stat, the less likely that entity is to take any damage at all from an attack against that defense. The higher an entity's mitigation of a certain defensive stat, the less damage the entity takes from attacks against that defense.
The evasion associated with an entity's Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower defensive stats is equal to the entity's Constitution plus ⌊the associated offensive combat stat / 2⌋. The mitigation associated with each of the defensive stats is simply the entity's Constitution. So, for example, an entity with 7 Dexterity and 3 Constitution would possess 6 Reflex evasion and 3 Reflex mitigation.
Last, there is Speed. Speed is not affected by any of the combat stats, and determines the maximum number of tiles the entity can cross with a standard movement (see Movement). Generally, an entity's speed is 6.
Combat procedure[]
Initiative[]
At the start of a combat encounter, all involved entities make an initiative roll.
An initiative roll is performed by rolling a 6-sided die (d6) and adding the entity's Cunning (i.e., Intelligence + Dexterity) and any initiative bonuses they possess to the result.
The entities will then be sorted into a list from highest to lowest initiative roll. This list is called the turn order. The entity with the highest initiative roll takes its turn first (See section the turn), then the entity with the second highest initiative roll, and so on. The period spanning the start of the turn of the entity with the highest initiative roll to the end of the turn of the entity with the lowest initiative roll is called a round.
The surprise round[]
In the case of an encounter where one or more entities was caught off-guard (e.g., an ambush), a surprise round takes place. The surprise round is a full round of combat during which entities who were caught off-guard by the start of combat are unable to take their turns. After the surprise round, combat proceeds as usual.
The turn[]
An entity's turn consists of the actions an entity performs during a round. Generally, an entity will receive a standard action, a move action, and a minor action at the start of its turn. Each of these actions can be traded for a lesser action, i.e. a standard action can be used as a move action or a minor action, and a move action can be used as a minor action. Generally, an entity uses its standard action to attack an opposing unit, before or after using a move action to reposition itself. Minor actions generally go unused as they are mostly situational, and consist of actions such as opening a door or reloading a crossbow. There also exist free actions, and an entity may perform an unlimited number of free actions during its turn, as well as full actions, which constitute both a standard and move action.
Attacking[]
An entity can attack an opposing unit (a foe) by using either an attack ability or an improvised attack. Attack abilities are pre-planned actions in the entity's repertoire of combat techniques (including a basic attack, which all entities are capable of performing), while improvised attacks are everything else the entity is capable of. Attack abilities have predetermined properties and effects, while improvised attacks have widely varying properties and effects, to be determined by the discretion of the DM.
In an attack, the attacking entity must ensure that it is within range of its target. For most melee attacks, this range is 1 tile (i.e., the entity can attack foes only in adjacent tiles), though some specific melee weapons and abilities have a reach of 2 tiles. Ranged weapons (such as bows or thrown weapons) and magical attacks usually have much longer ranges.
For the sake of distance calculation, all distances are considered to be the longer dimension of the rectangle whose opposite corners are located at the center of the closest tile to the target that the attacking unit occupies and the center of the closest tile to the attacking unit that the target occupies.
In the image to the right, the two combat entities are 5 tiles from each other, as the distance rectangle measures 3 tiles by 5 tiles and 5 tiles is the greater of these two dimensions.
If the attacking entity is in range, it can proceed with an accuracy roll. The accuracy roll is performed by rolling three six-sided dice (3d6), summing the results, and adding the attack's damage stat (any of the offensive combat stats or a hybrid combat stat) to the sum. If this sum exceeds or equals the target's Evasion, the attack is considered to hit (unless the attack was a critical miss). Otherwise, unless the attack was a critical hit, the attack misses.
Note that when attacking with abilities with the critical straights keyword, there needs to be an established order of the rolls of the three six-sided dice.
An attack's final accuracy roll is increased by 2 if the attacking entity has combat advantage against its target. An attacker has combat advantage if its target is determined (at the discretion of the DM) to have its attention divided or is otherwise unable to defend against the attack at full capacity.
Common situations in which an attacking entity would have combat advantage are when a melee attacker is attacking a target who is prone or an attacker is attacking a target who is defending against multiple attackers at once or is not immediately aware of the attacker's presence or the attack's occurrence. Any unit within the threatened zone (to be discussed later) of two or more non-adjacent foes grants combat advantage to all such foes.
Projectile and other ranged attacks will suffer an accuracy penalty (to be determined by the DM, generally ranging from -2 to -6) against targets that are considered to have cover sufficient to interfere with the attack's accuracy.
All attacks suffer an accuracy penalty (to be determined by the DM, generally ranging from -2 to -6) against targets that are concealed, invisible, or otherwise difficult to locate precisely. An attacker cannot directly target a foe it cannot locate without the use of guesswork.
Other modifiers to the accuracy roll can be applied as the DM sees fit, though under relatively usual conditions the roll should remain unmodified.
There are a number of special cases to consider in the three six-sided dice roll. The first case is if any two of the three dice land on the same number. If this occurs, the roll is said to be a solid hit. If all three of the dice land on the same number, and that number is not 1, the attack is a critical hit. If all three of the dice land on 1, the attack is a critical miss, and automatically misses. Critical misses may apply penalties to the attacking entity, to be determined by the DM. Solid and critical hits affect damage dealt.
If the attack hits, the attacking entity then performs a damage roll. Generally, the damage roll is equal to the attacking entity's weapon or ability (in the case of attacks that do not require weapons, such as magic) hit di(c)e (ranging from 1d4 to 1d12 or 2d4 to 2d6) plus the relevant offensive combat stat (if applicable). The sum of the dice rolls and the relevant offensive combat stat is the damage dealt by the attack, and this sum is deducted from the target's hit points after being reduced by the target's mitigation.
If the attack was a solid hit, all dice involved in the damage are assumed to land on their maximum values. If the attack was a critical hit, the damage is rolled normally, with a bonus equal to the amount of damage a solid hit would deal with combat stat scaling left out.
Attacks with a range greater than 2 (i.e., attacks not classified as melee attacks) will trigger attacks of opportunity (to be discussed later) from any adjacent foes that are immediately aware of both the attacking entity and the attack's occurrence.
Area attacks are special sorts of attacks that are made against all entities within a specified area of effect (see Areas of Effect). An area attack will only affect foes of the attacking entity unless otherwise specified. In an area attack, a single accuracy roll is made against all entities subjected to the attack, unless otherwise specified.
Movement[]
An entity may use its move action to traverse a number of tiles equal to its speed (which is generally 6). The entity, while moving, must take discrete, 1-tile steps in order for the DM to consider possible effects that apply to the entity upon each step (such as triggering a trap or an attack of opportunity, to be discussed momentarily). Note that moving diagonally (e.g. upwards 1 tile and leftwards 1 tile) counts as moving only 1 tile.
An entity may move through a tile occupied by an ally, but may not move through a tile occupied by an enemy. An entity may not end its movement in a tile occupied by another entity unless otherwise specified.
All entities possessing a weapon capable of making attacks with a range less than or equal to 2 (i.e., a melee weapon) possess a zone that encompasses all tiles adjacent to the entity, called the threatened zone. Standard movement from any tile within the threatened zone will trigger an attack of opportunity. An attack of opportunity consists of a basic attack, or an ability possessed by the entity that can be used as an attack of opportunity. Once a foe has made an attack of opportunity, it may not make any more attacks of opportunity until the beginning of its turn. Attacks of opportunity cannot normally be made by entities who do not possess a melee weapon, unless the entity is proficient in unarmed combat.
In the image to the right, the two displayed combat entities have their threatened zones visible. The entity "Siriks Sontae" has a threatened zone indicated in green, while the entity "Blood Titan" has a threatened zone indicated in red.
An entity may leave a foe's threatened zone with a special type of movement called shifting. Shifting does not trigger attacks of opportunity. All entities possess the ability to shift exactly 1 tile with a complete move action unless otherwise noted.
Moving into a tile of difficult terrain counts as moving through a tile of standard terrain, as does leaving the tile. That is, moving completely through a single tile of difficult terrain counts as moving through two tiles of standard terrain. An entity may shift into but not out of difficult terrain unless otherwise noted.
General combat abilities[]
There are a number of abilities possessed by all combat entities, called general combat abilities.
General combat abilities, despite their name, may be used outside of combat. They are only specified as combat abilities because they can be used in combat.
Grappling[]
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Trip Attack |
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You reach your foot out and hook it behind an enemy's leg, seeking to bring your enemy to the ground. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Prone |
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Hit: The target is knocked prone. |
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Grapple Attack |
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You grab for an enemy, hoping to get a solid hold and keep him from trying to run. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Slowed |
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Hit: Your target is grappled. While the grappled effect persists, your target is unable to move, loses 2 evasion and mitigation from its Armor, is marked by you, and may use the Escape Grapple ability, you are slowed but drag your target with you when you move, and you are able to use the Beat Down and Shove abilities against the target you are grappling. |
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Escape Grapple Attack |
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You squirm and pull, attempting to escape your attacker's grasp. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Prone |
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Hit: 1d4 true damage, and you are no longer grappled but are knocked prone. |
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Solid hit: Same effects as above, but you are not knocked prone. |
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Beat Down Attack |
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You mercilessly smash your grappled foe with your weapon, knocking him to the ground. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Prone |
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Hit: 1[W] damage, and the target is knocked prone. |
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Shove Attack |
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You give your grappled foe a solid shove, sending them a good distance. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Movement |
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Effect: Your foe is pushed ?? tiles. This movement does not trigger attacks of opportunity. |
Lifting[]
A character may pick up and carry an object with one hand weighing up to 60+Strength*7 pounds (approximately 27+Strength*3 kilograms) for several minutes before needing to put it down without suffering any adverse effects (other than its inability to use one of its hands, of course). While using both hands, the maximum weight of the object is increased to 125+Strength*15 pounds (approximately 57+Strength*7 kilograms) without slowing the character down. A character may lift up to 50 additional pounds, but will be slowed while doing so and will not be able to carry it for as long.
A character may lift an object weighing up to 100+Strength*25 pounds (approximately 45+Strength*11 kilograms) from floor height and place it at head height a short distance away.
Throwing[]
Weapons designed specifically for throwing (i.e., that have the Thrown keyword), always have a maximum throwing distance equal to their specified maximum range and do not involve the general throwing ability.
A combat entity may throw any object it is capable of lifting and carrying without being slowed (see previous section). Any such object is considered an improvised thrown weapon. According to DM discretion, taking into account the player's Strength and the weight of the object, the improvised thrown weapon will fall into one of three categories:
- Heavy. Possesses the Strong keyword, has a range of 4+⌊Strength/2⌋ tiles, an accuracy modifier of -2, and a 1d12 hit die.
- Medium. Possesses the Prowessed keyword, has a range of 5+⌊Prowess/2⌋ tiles, an accuracy modifier of -1, and a 1d10 hit die.
- Light. Possesses the Dextrous keyword, has a range of 6+⌊Prowess/2⌋ tiles, an accuracy modifier of 0, and a 1d8 hit die.
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Throw Improvised Attack |
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You throw an object at your foe. |
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At-will ✦ Martial |
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Hit: 1[W] damage. |
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Solid hit: In addition to the above effects, solid hits with improvised thrown weapons with the Strong keyword knock target(s) prone. |
When throwing objects that occupy one or more tiles, all entities in the object's destination tile(s) are subjected to an area attack. Regardless of the success of the attack, all entities that are not killed as a result of this area attack that are able to shift up to 1 tile into an unoccupied adjacent tile. All other entities must vacate the tiles occupied by the object after it is thrown as soon as they are able to do so.
Charging[]
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Charge Attack |
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You throw caution to the wind and charge headlong at a foe. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Movement |
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Effect: You move up to your speed +2 tiles toward your target, and do one of the following as a free action:
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Stealth[]
(Under reconstruction)
Stealth, unlike the other general combat abilities, is not used as its own action but rather as an enhancement to other actions. When a foe is unaware of an attacking entity, it always grants that entity combat advantage. Stealth is the ability entities use to keep foes unaware of their presence or location, thus increasing offensive ability while making it difficult for foes to counterattack.
An entity is considered to be stealthed (see Abnormal status effects) if no foes are immediately aware of its presence. While stealthed, it has combat advantage against its foes. Movement, attacking, or otherwise making noise or movements requires that the entity make a roll to determine whether it remains stealthed. This roll is the entity's Dexterity minus the result of a d10 roll and can be modified to suit the situation at the DM's discretion. If this result is ever less than 0, the entity loses the stealthed status.
An entity can regain the stealthed status by spending a full turn in a location such that no foes are able to discern the entity's exact location. During this turn, actions that would incur a roll to retain the stealthed status will incur this roll, and if any such rolls fail, the entity will not regain the stealthed status.
Acrobatics[]
An entity can use Acrobatics to traverse some sort of obstacle, e.g. to climb or descend a rough or sloped wall, or to jump across a gap.
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Acrobatics Utility |
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You deftly traverse an obstacle in your path. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Movement |
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Success: You overcome the obstacle. |
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Climb Utility |
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You carefully navigate a tricky surface. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Movement |
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Success: You may move a number of tiles across or up the wall equal to the difference between your roll and the wall's difficulty, up to your speed -1. |
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Failure: You fall from the wall and are knocked prone, and may take fall damage depending on the situation. |
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Fall Damage Mechanic |
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What goes up must come down. |
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Passive |
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Effect: Take true damage depending on distance fallen:
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This damage only applies to free-falls. |
Misdirection[]
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Disarm Utility |
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You perform an attack that comes in from an odd angle towards your foe's weapon hand, attempting to make it drop its weapon. |
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At-will ✦ Martial |
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Hit: Your target will drop its weapon(s) into a random unoccupied adjacent tile and will be unarmed until it retrieves its weapon. |
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Other entities can also retrieve the weapon(s) with a minor action while occupying the same tile as the weapon (this action provokes attacks of opportunity), but will drop the weapon(s) into a random unoccupied adjacent tile upon receiving damage from an external source. An entity may pass an adjacent entity its weapon(s) as a free action. |
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Sap Utility |
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You attempt to deliver a heavy blow to a foe's head, hoping to cause it to stumble. |
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At-will ✦ Martial, Stumble, Daze |
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Hit: Dazed until the end of your next turn and moves into a random, adjacent, unoccupied tile. This movement triggers attacks of opportunity, but not from you. |
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Feint Utility |
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You begin to make an attack from one direction, but change directions at the last moment, hoping to throw your target off guard. |
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Encounter |
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Hit: You gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your turn. |
First Aid[]
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First Aid Utility |
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You take a moment to patch up yourself or an ally to the best of your ability. |
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At-will |
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Effect: Your target recovers up to your Cunning+1d6 hit points. You and the target grant combat advantage to all attackers until the beginning of your next turn. |
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First Aid cannot be used on any single target more than once per encounter. |
Insight[]
The first Insight check of an encounter is a minor action. All subsequent checks require a move action.
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Insight Utility |
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You check an area for traps or other hidden features. |
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Encounter |
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Success: The feature is revealed to you. |
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Insight Utility |
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You check an area for traps or other hidden features. |
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At-will |
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Success: The feature is revealed to you. |
Abnormal status effects[]
- A combatant is bloodied if and only if its current hit points are less than or equal to half its maximum hit points. The DM should indicate to the players which combatants - foes or not - are and are not currently bloodied. The bloodied status has no effects of its own, but interacts with many abilities.
- A combatant that is dazed does not gain a move action at the start of its turn and grants combat advantage to all attackers. Note that a dazed combatant may still move by expending its standard action.
- A combatant that is dead is unconscious and cannot have its HP modified by any conventional means.
- A combatant that is fleeing the light is unconscious. All PCs and some NPCs will enter the fleeing the light status when reduced to 0 HP instead of dying immediately. If a combatant that is fleeing the light has its hit points reduced below half of its negative maximum hit points, it dies. A combatant that is fleeing the light rolls a d6 on its turn. If this roll is less than or equal to 3, the combatant loses a hit point. If this roll is 4 or 5, nothing happens. If this roll is 6, the combatant gains a hit point. If the combatant's hit points rise above 0, the combatant is no longer fleeing the light or unconscious and will start its next turn prone.
- A combatant that is grappled (see Grappling) is forced to move with its grappler. The grappled combatant is unable to use move actions. While the grappled effect remains, the grappled combatant loses 2 evasion and mitigation from its Armor.
- A combatant that is grappling is slowed, but drags the foe it is grappling with it.
- A combatant that is helpless is unable to take actions on its turn can be subjected to a coup de grâce. A coup de grâce is a special attack available to all units wielding a melee weapon. There is no accuracy roll, as a coup de grâce cannot miss and cannot solidly or critically hit. The coup de grâce deals thrice the damage of the weapon used to perform the attack. Helpless entities also grant combat advantage to all attackers.
- A combatant that is marked by another combatant must attack the combatant that marked it or suffer a -2 accuracy penalty for its attacks. A combatant may only be marked by one other combatant at a time, and being marked by a second combatant will erase the first mark. A marked combatant should attempt to focus its attacks on the combatant that marked it if possible.
- A combatant that is prone is laying on the ground, usually as a result of being rendered unconscious or being knocked down. Prone entities grant combat advantage to melee attackers. A combatant that is prone may end the state by expending a move action.
- A combatant that is slowed effectively has its speed halved, rounded down (i.e. a unit with 7 speed has ⌊7/2⌋, or 3, speed when slowed). A slowed unit is unable to shift unless otherwise specified.
- A combatant that is stealthed has combat advantage on all of its attacks but must make a stealth roll when moving, attacking, or otherwise making noise or movements to determine whether the combatant retains the stealthed status. Opposing entities cannot directly target a stealthed foe with an attack.
- A combatant that is stunned grants combat advantage to all attackers and is unable to take any actions for the duration of the stun.
- A combatant that is unconscious is both prone and helpless.
Other combat mechanics[]
True damage[]
There is a special kind of damage, called true damage, which ignores both the evasion and mitigation of its target. Therefore, this damage's potency is unaffected by the item level of its target's equipment.
True damage is ideal for area of effect attacks (see next section), damage over time effects, or other situations when a small amount of damage should be dealt, since augmenting the damage by a combat stat will make it difficult to balance and not augmenting the damage by any combat stat will make it become less potent as item levels increase.
True damage, if it does scale, should only scale with base levels of combat stats (i.e., should not augmented by bonuses from equipment, etc.).
Areas of effect[]
Frequently, there will come a time when players or the DM will want to create effects that target more than one combat entity, or even all combat entities in a certain area. Therefore, it is important to be able to describe the size and location of areas so that they aren't changed by misremembering what exactly was meant in an area description.
Radius X: An effect with area radius X will apply to all tiles within distance X of their origin. Usually, the origin of a radius ability is the player character using the ability. Usually, they do not apply to their origin square, so if an effect does this should be specified.
Area X within Y: An effect with area X within Y affects an X by X square, the nearest corner of which is no farther than Y units from the combat entity creating the effect.
Three different example blast areas (click to enlarge)
Blast X by Y: An effect with area blast X by Y creates an X by Y tile rectangle. The center of one if its X-wide sides occupies a tile adjacent to the source of the effect, and the effect may not overlap its source. The parity (even/oddness) of the X size of the blast must match the parity of the source of the blast (i.e., if the source of the blast is size 1, the blast must have an odd X size).
Damage types[]
A damage type is a quality of an attack or other source of damage that interacts with a character's defenses. Different damage types will have varying effectiveness against different foes.
Damage with no specified type is considered physical damage.
The damage type of an ability should be indicated after the damage's numeric specification and after the word "true" if the ability deals true damage. The damage type does not need to be specified if it is physical damage.
Non-combat[]
Of course, no good tabletop role-playing game is complete without out-of-combat dynamics. A majority of the time will usually be spent outside of combat, whether that time is spent looking around town for quests, travelling, or spelunking in a dungeon.
Non-combat abilities[]
Player Characters start with two non-combat abilities, similar to combat abilities with obvious exceptions. For every three levels gained in non-combat stats (see General non-combat stats), the character gains another non-combat ability. Just like combat abilities, these abilities can be passive, or used at-will or once per encounter or day. However, because of the less organized nature of actions in non-combat situation, recharging non-combat abilities are not defined.
General non-combat abilities[]
There are a variety of non-combat abilities possessed by every entity in addition to its general combat abilities. In addition, all combat abilities can be used in non-combat settings, though using certain combat abilities can cause a combat encounter to occur in certain situations (e.g., attempting to throw something at the king in the presence of his guards).
The DM awards increases to non-combat stat values to players who successfully complete tasks with the use of their non-combat abilities, especially if in masterful or clever ways.
Interpersonality[]
The Interpersonality stat represents the social skills, including conversation, bluffing, coercion, seduction, and knowledge of cultural customs. An entity with high interpersonality is at home in the presence of others, has no trouble bonding quickly with people, and is able to coerce even strangers into doing him or his allies favors. In addition, such an entity would be unlikely to inadvertently trigger hostility in foreign cultures, and would be able to provide his allies into the customs of such cultures so that they might also be unlikely to trigger such hostility. Further, an entity with high interpersonality is less vulnerable to the influence of other entities with high interpersonality.
Generally, the use of interpersonality entails a 3d6 roll, minus eight, plus the character's interpersonality value, checked against any opposed characters' interpersonality value(s). Interpersonality rolls not made against an entity (e.g. to pick up on the customs of a foreign culture) are instead checked against the difficulty of the situation.
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Interpersonality (vs. character) Utility |
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You attempt to win over your opponents with your charm. |
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At-will |
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Success: Your opponent is more likely to act favorably toward you. |
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Interpersonality (vs. environment) Utility |
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You attempt to discern the customs of a foreign culture, in order to better fit in. |
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At-will |
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Success: You successfully gain some useful piece of information about the customs of the culture in your environment. |
Trickery[]
The Trickery stat represents a character's familiarity with the sinister and generally criminal arts, such as lying and thievery.
Lying is differentiated from bluffing in that bluffing is an exaggeration of the truth while lying is an outright fabrication. A character could be convinced of a bluff if it knew the truth, while it would never be convinced of a lie if it knew the truth. By this definition, the bluffing commonly associated with card games such as poker would most likely be classified as lying. However, it should be noted that no matter how high your roll, it is very unlikely that someone could be convinced of something that is obviously untrue.
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Lie Utility |
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You fabricate the truth in hopes that you might be able to mislead your listener(s). |
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At-will |
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Success: Your opponents are convinced of your lie. |
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Bluff Utility |
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You manipulate the truth to better suit your interests. |
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At-will |
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Success: Your opponents are convinced of your bluff. |
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Intimidate Utility |
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You threaten your opponent(s), hoping to scare them into backing down. |
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At-will |
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Success: Your opponent is significantly less likely to oppose you. |
Intimidate will often trigger a combat encounter if it fails.
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Pick Pockets / Swipe Utility |
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You quickly and sneakily rifle through someone's pockets or swipe something, doing your best to evade detection. |
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At-will |
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Success: You steal some contents of your opponents' pockets or the targeted object without being detected. |
The more crowded the area and the larger the object, the more difficult Pick Pockets / Swipe should be.
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Pick Lock Utility |
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You fiddle with a lock, hoping to open it. |
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At-will |
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Success: The lock opens. |
Pick Lock receives a bonus if the lockpicker possesses a lockpick or an object that can serve as an improvised lockpick (such as a hairpin).
Survival[]
The Survival stat represents a character's experience with and talent for survival in the wilderness. A character with high survival would be adept at outdoorsmanship, including foraging for food and supplies, building campfires and shelters, cooking food on said campfires, and identifying what is and is not safe to eat and drink in an outdoor setting. A character with high survival is essential to any party hoping to travel through a significant stretch of wilderness.
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Scavenge (food) Utility |
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You spend an hour searching the nearby environment for edible fruits, berries, and roots. |
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At-will |
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Success: You return with some amount of food. |
The amount of food gained from Scavenge (food) varies by the difference between the roll and the difficulty:
- 0-1: Enough meat to constitute two small meals or one large meal.
- 2-3: Enough meat to constitute four small meals or two large meals.
- 5+: Enough meat to constitute twelve small meals or six large meals.
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Hunt Utility |
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You spend an hour hunting wildlife in the nearby environment. |
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At-will |
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Success: You return with some amount of uncooked meat. |
The amount of uncooked meat gained from Hunt varies by the difference between the roll and the difficulty:
- 0-1: Enough meat to constitute two small meals or one large meal (e.g. a rabbit).
- 2-3: Enough meat to constitute four small meals or two large meals (e.g. a fox).
- 5+: Enough meat to constitute twelve small meals or six large meals (e.g. a deer).
The meat must be cooked before consumption, or those consuming it risk contracting a significant number of diseases.
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Scavenge (supplies) Utility |
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You spend an hour searching the nearby environment for useful supplies such as dry wood. |
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At-will |
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Success: You return with some amount of usable materials. |
The amount of material gained from Scavenge (supplies) varies by the difference between the roll and the difficulty:
- 0-1: Enough wood for a small campfire that will last for a few hours.
- 2-3: Enough wood for a large campfire that will last through the night, or enough material to construct a small shelter that will mitigate the effects of adverse weather.
- 4+: More than enough wood for a large campfire that will last through the night, or enough material to construct a medium-size shelter that will significantly mitigate the effects of adverse weather.
Education[]
The Education stat represents an entity's studies of the world in a formal educational setting. Entities with high education are likely to be familiar with the world's (and especially their region of origin's) geographic and political landscape or in settings involving technology (or, if applicable, magic).
Education can be used to recall an important bit of information at an entity's whim. In the case of players, a player's character may make an education check to recall a bit of information his character would know, even if the player itself does not know this information. In such a case, the DM is obligated to explain the information to the player.
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Babble Utility |
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You fill your speech with arcane technical terms, hoping to confuse your audience enough that they believe you. |
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At-will |
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Success: Your opponent is somewhat confused, and less likely to oppose you. |
When using Babble, a character chooses whether to use its Interpersonality or Trickery in the roll.
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Recall Information Utility |
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You concentrate for a moment, attempting to recall something you heard, read, or saw at some point. |
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At-will |
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Success: You recall the information you wanted. |
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Navigate Utility |
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Using hints you discern from your surroundings, you attempt to deduce your current location in the world as well as the direction of nearby points of interest. |
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At-will |
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Success: You correctly deduce your location, and recall the relative location of some nearby points of interest. |
Navigate should usually have a relatively high difficulty, but should receive bonuses if the players possess a map of the area or can see a well-known landmark. When using Navigate to navigate a city or other non-natural environment, the attack roll changes to Education instead of Education+Survival.
Professional skills[]
Every player character and some non-player characters will also possess a specific professional skill. This represents your character's professional occupation - e.g., if your character was a blacksmith before setting out on his or her adventure, his or her professional skill would be blacksmithing and would enable him or her to create weapons and armor out of found metals. The sorts of professional skills that are appropriate will vary widely by setting.
Non-combat encounters[]
There are a variety of ways players can get themselves into a challenging situation that doesn't involve combat (though it may well involve the threat of combat, should the situation deteriorate). There are a variety of non-combat encounters that may occur, but the most common types are diplomatic encounters and obstacle encounters.
Diplomatic encounters[]
Diplomatic encounters favor entities with high Interpersonality and sometimes Trickery. An example of a diplomatic encounter is convincing a group of guards to let an ally who was caught pickpocketing go free or convincing a high-ranking political entity to endorse or help your party's or another's cause.
Obstacle encounters[]
Obstacle encounters favor Acrobatics and sometimes Survival and are most common in dungeons. An example of an obstacle encounter would be a ravine the party has to cross, or a tall ledge that the party must ascend or descend.
Afflictions[]
In addition to the combat abnormal status effects of unconscious, fleeing the light, and dead, there is a category of abnormal status effects called Afflictions (which may be diseases, infections, poisons, or venoms) that apply outside of combat.
Afflictions have stages which an afflicted entity moves through, with the first stage occurring immediately upon contraction of the affliction. After a period of time (the affliction speed, varying from affliction to affliction), the afflicted entity will make a roll to determine the course of the affliction. Generally, this roll is the result of a d6 roll, plus the afflicted entity's Constitution, and is compared to the affliction level of the affliction. If the roll equals the affliction's level, the condition remains stable (i.e., remains in its current stage). If the roll exceeds the affliction's level, the condition improves by one stage (if the affliction was in stage 1, generally this means that the affliction is cured). If the roll is less than the affliction's level, the condition worsens by one stage (or remains in its final stage).
An entity may use First Aid to assist an afflicted ally. To do this, the entity using First Aid makes a roll equal to its Cunning minus the result of a d10 roll. If this result is greater than 0, the afflicted ally will receive a +2 bonus to its next roll for the course of the affliction. If this result is less than -2, the afflicted ally will receive a -1 penalty to its next roll for the course of the affliction.
Certain afflictions can be spread to other entities under prespecified conditions.
Equipment[]
Of course, you'll need equipment. You should refer to a setting rulebook for lists of equipment, as this section will only discuss the rules involving equipment in general.
General properties[]
Rarity[]
All equipment (and, indeed, items) has a property called rarity. There are four categories of rarity:
- Common equipment and other items can be purchased in significantly large settlements and have only the most basic properties. Nearly all non-equipment is considered to be of the common rarity. Common items have their titles written in gray.
- Magic items contain basic stats and almost always have associated magical properties, such as added elemental damage. Magic items have their titles written in blue.
- Rare items are even more powerful than magic items and usually contain an array of magical properties which will generally be even more potent than those of magic items. Rare items have their titles written in yellow.
- Unique items are supremely powerful and are generally without equal. Such items usually have a place in the history of the world and may thus be referred to as legendary items. Unique items have their titles written in brown.
Item level[]
All weapons and all armor sets are variants of a number of basic types of weapons and armor sets with a varying item level. The item level does not have anything to do with the required level a player needs to wield a piece of equipment and only serves as a guide for the approximate power of an item. However, it is important to remember that item level is only a guide: a unique item will almost always be stronger than a common or even magic item of a significantly higher level.
Before discussing the types of equipment, it is important to understand a bit about how equipment scales in the Craftsmen and Chimeras system. Players do not gain accuracy, damage, evasion, or mitigation from leveling up. They will, however, obtain increasingly powerful equipment that will boost these stats throughout their journey.
Armor[]
In general, there are four types of armor: cloth, leather, chain mail, and plate mail. Every armor set is a variant of one of these four types.
- Type A (lightest) armors provide a basic 7 evasion and 0 mitigation to the Armor defense.
- Type B (light) armors provide a basic 6 evasion and 1 mitigation to the Armor defense.
- Type C (heavy) armors provide a basic 5 evasion and 2 mitigation to the Armor defense.
- Type D (heaviest) armors provide a basic 4 evasion and 3 mitigation to the Armor defense.
All of these armor types provide the wearer approximately the same reduction to damage taken. Thus, the choice of which sort of armor a character wears is mostly player preference.
An armor set provides +1 evasion and mitigation to the Armor defense and +1 Constitution per its item level (e.g. an item level 3 armor of type A provides 10 evasion and 3 mitigation to the Armor defense and +3 Constitution).
Weapons[]
Weapons are items that are held in one or both hands to be used as, well, weapons. Weapons are classified into melee weapons (weapons with a range of 1 or 2 tiles) and ranged weapons (weapons with a range of 3 or more tiles), though some weapons are capable of being used as both. In campaigns with magic, weapons may also serve as implements to enable the use of certain magical abilities.
Weapon keywords[]
Keywords are an important consideration in weapon choice. Here is a list of all weapon keywords and their effects, by category:
Damage scaling keywords:
- Strong: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Strength stat.
- Dextrous: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Dexterity stat.
- Intelligent: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Intelligence stat.
- Prowessed: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Prowess pseudostat.
- Cunning: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Cunning pseudostat.
- Mighty: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Might pseudostat.
- Powerful: Attacks with this weapon have their accuracy and damage boosted by the Power pseudostat.
- None of the above keywords: Attacks with this weapon do not have their accuracy or damage boosted by combat stats.
Handedness keywords:
- One-handed: This item can be effectively wielded with either hand.
- Main-handed: This item can be wielded only with the user's dominant hand.
- Off-handed: This item can only be wielded with the user's non-dominant hand.
- Two-handed: This item can be wielded only with both hands.
Other keywords:
- Thrown: This weapon can be effectively thrown.
- Load minor: After being used to attack, the weapon must be reloaded with a minor action before being used again.
- Load standard: After being used to attack, the weapon must be reloaded with a standard action before being used again.
Weapons grant +1 per item level of the combat stat they scale with as well as +1 to all damage (i.e., a level 2 weapon with the Mighty keyword would grant +2 Might and +2 to all damage).
Dual wielding[]
A character may use a weapon in each hand. This is called dual wielding. When dual wielding, a character receives stat bonuses from only the weapon held in the character's dominant hand, but is capable of simultaneously making attacks with both weapons or only making attacks with one of the weapons at a time.
When attacking simultaneously with both weapons, the attack's accuracy roll (see Attacking) is modified by the accuracy modifier of both weapons, but also incurs a -2 penalty. Additionally, the hit die of the off-hand weapon will be reduced by one category (i.e., a d8 hit die will become d6, a d6 hit die will become d4, and a d4 hit die will become d2).
When attacking with one of the weapons, the attack proceeds just as it would when not dual wielding. Only the accuracy modifier of the weapon used in the attack will apply to the attack.
Under normal circumstances, a player may only dual wield by using a weapon with the One-handed or Main-handed keywords in one hand and a weapon with the One-handed or Off-handed keywords in the other hand.
Using a weapon with both hands[]
If using a weapon with the One-handed or Main-handed keywords without a shield or a weapon in the off-hand, all attacks made with that weapon will receive a +1 accuracy bonus.
Heirloom weapons[]
A player may choose to give his or her character a special sort of weapon called an "heirloom weapon." Heirloom weapons are considered to have a rarity of Unique, but have no special effects or powers. Instead, special effects or powers possessed by the heirloom weapon should be the character's level 1 passive. This ensures that a character with an heirloom weapon does not have any special advantages over characters without heirloom weapons.
Heirloom weapons should never be replaced: a character with an heirloom weapon should always use that weapon, and a DM should never create a weapon intended to replace a character's heirloom weapon. Instead, the player should have a special sort of equipment that will provide the bonuses usually provided by a weapon. This is to say, a character with an heirloom variety of club should have some sort of unique type of equipment specific to that character that will provide the Strength bonus of an appropriate found weapon as well as magical properties. This ensures that a character with an heirloom weapon does not fall behind relative to its party members who do not possess heirloom weapons.
An example heirloom weapon follows. Note that its subtitle does not specify its item level: all heirloom weapons are item level 0, and specifying as such would be redundant. Instead, it is more important to note that it is an heirloom weapon and not merely a unique weapon.
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Ceremonial Club Heirloom Weapon |
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This club has been passed down through the generations before finally reaching your hands. |
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Weapon ✦ Strong, One-handed |
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(passive effect) |
Creating a successful character[]
Creating a character is an extremely important part of any role-playing game. Ideally, each player would put at least as much effort into creating his or her character as the DM puts into creating the campaign. Both processes should be thorough, enjoyable, and rewarding.
Backstory and personality[]
There is no sort of best character. What sorts of characters will be most enjoyable to play as or with will vary from campaign to campaign. Short-form campaigns need almost no character depth (and indeed one could very likely get away without writing any sort of backstory or personality), while long-form campaigns should have characters with extensive backstories and well-developed personalities.
There are a great deal of resources available online to aid a player who is unsure of how to create a strong character, but a good rule of thumb is to consider how many things you have to say about your character if you cannot describe his or her appearance, people he or she knows, or his or her occupation. If you have little to say about your characters in this case, your character probably needs some more work before he or she is ready to go.
It is important to note, however, that certain character traits that can work in writing do not work well in tabletop role-playing games. Characters who rarely speak, for instance, are incredibly unrewarding to play as they will spend a great deal of time outside of combat with nothing to do and almost no way to participate.
It is also important to avoid a specific sort of poorly designed character. This sort of character usually bears great similarities to its creator and generally will expect that everything goes his or her way, regardless of the probability of this. They will expect to be treated with kindness even while acting distant or rude. These characters usually lack any (living) family or friends (thus removing any familial or social obligations), and will expect not to need to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Contribution to the party[]
A character should always have meaningful ways to contribute to his or her party's success, both in and out of combat.
A character can be highly specialized, but generally, specialization works well only in campaigns with a large number of players in them. Smaller party sizes should encourage lower degrees of specialization, both in and out of combat. Ideally, a party will coordinate so that their characters synergise.
Regarding combat synergy, the classic archetypes of healer, tank, and damage-dealer are classic for a reason, although it is entirely unnecessary to have one of each in a party. A party consisting solely of damage-dealers works - but it will be less able to engage in continuous combat if it lacks a means of continuously restoring health or a durable damage sponge.
Regarding non-combat abilities, every party should have at least one character who is competent at First Aid (ie. has high Cunning) and should seek to have other characters set up such that someone in the party is at least competent in each non-combat stat.
Creating a combatant[]
If you've already got your character's backstory and personality created, you've probably already got a good idea of how you want your character to work in combat.
Your character will start at level 1. Your first choice will be your character's race, although in some campaigns you will not receive a choice. The only race defined in this handbook will be a basic human race. Your race influences the number of points you receive to be distributed into your combat and non-combat stats and can also influence the starting values of your combat stats and non-combat stats.
Stat distribution[]
The basic human race starts with ten points to be distributed into combat stats (those being Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution), all of which will start at 0 for this race. It is recommended that you put 5-7 points into your character's primary damage stat(s) and the remainder into Constitution.
After distributing your combat stats, you should calculate your other combat stats (see Combat stats).
The basic human race starts with ten points to be distributed into the four non-combat stats (Interpersonality, Trickery, Survival, and Education). Some players will also wish to choose a professional skill, which can range from smithing or tailoring to enchanting or alchemy. Refer to your campaign's setting rulebook for a list of defined professions, or create your own. Your professional skill can have points allocated into it just like the other non-combat stats, and will similarly increase your proficiency with the skill.
After distributing all such points, it's time to choose equipment. Every character starts with a set of armor (see Armor), a weapon (see Weapons), and an array of items depending on the setting (again, consult your campaign's setting rulebook).
Last, you will need to create your character's abilities.
Abilities[]
An Ability is a predefined action that your character has memorized and practiced in anticipation of using such an action in combat. Abilities come in six types: passive abilities, which are always in effect; at-will abilities, which can be used over and over; encounter abilities, which can be used only once per encounter (whether or not it is a combat encounter); and daily abilities, which can be used only once per day. Recharge abilities should be specified as Recharge X+, where X (the recharge value) is a whole number between 1 and 6 (inclusive). Whenever you have use a Recharge ability, you lose use of the ability for the rest of the encounter. However, whenever you have lost use of a Recharge ability, you roll a 1d6 at the start of each of your turns. If the roll meets or exceeds any of your abilities' recharge values, you regain use of those recharge abilities. All abilities except passive abilities cost either a full, standard, move, minor, or free action.
Abilities have a number of optional properties. These are the target (the entities potentially affected by the ability), range (the maximum distance at which an ability can be used, which should be specified only in absence of a required weapon) or a weapon requirement (the maximum range of which will apply to the ability), a trigger (for immediate abilities, to be discussed later), the attack stat (generally an offensive combat stat), and the defense stat. Most abilities will also have keywords.
The target of an ability is chosen by the ability's user as the target of the ability. In the case of burst and blast attacks, this can be more than one entity. Some abilities are also capable of targeting the user.
The range of the ability specifies the maximum effective range of the ability in the absence of a weapon requirement. If there is a required weapon, the range of that weapon will be used as the ability's effective range instead. The required weapon should be specified as either "Melee weapon" (or more specifically "Unarmed," "Sword," "Axe," etc.) or "Ranged weapon" (or more specifically "Thrown weapon," "Bow," "Crossbow," etc.). In settings with magic, an "Implement" may be required.
Abilities with triggers belong to the category of "immediate abilities" and should have either the Immediate action (the ability will take place before its trigger occurs) or Immediate reaction (the ability will take place immediately after its trigger occurs) keywords.
Abilities that make attacks should always specify the relevant attack stat and defense stat. The attack stat will generally be one of the offensive combat stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Might, Prowess, Cunning, or Power) and will boost the ability's accuracy roll (see Attacking).
The defense stat is the stat against which the accuracy roll is made, which can be Armor, Fortitude, Reflex, or Willpower. Run-of-the-mill melee and other physical attacks should usually be checked against Armor. Effects such as fire or disease should usually be checked against Fortitude. Projectile attacks should usually be checked against Reflex. Attacks that rely on illusion, deception, or misdirection should usually be checked against Willpower.
The keywords applying to an ability should be specified. The following are the ability keywords (see List of ability keywords for a more complete list):
- Power sources: specify if Magic.
- Element: Attacks that deal non-physical damage should specify all such types of damage. This will generally apply only in campaigns involving magic.
- Abnormal status effects: Specify if the ability causes the Daze, Mark, Prone, Slow, or Stun effects.
- Immediate abilities: Specify if the ability is an Immediate action or an Immediate reaction.
- Stances: Specify if the ability is a Stance. A stance is a special condition of an entity that may grant stat bonuses or penalties. Some abilities can only be used in certain stances. Only one stance may be active at any time, and activating another stance ends the first stance.
- Other keywords: Reliable encounter and daily abilities do not have their per-encounter or per-day use expended if they do not take effect for whatever reason (e.g., upon missing). Zone abilities create a zone that persists for a duration of time.
Generally, the best way to get a feel for the sorts of things abilities can do is to look at some examples. Ask your fellow players to see ability lists of their old characters, and see what you can learn from looking at those.
Player characters start with three abilities: one passive ability and two at-will abilities. As player characters increase their level, they gain new abilities. However, a player may switch ability types arbitrarily as long as this type switching is not deemed to endanger the enjoyability of combat encounters. Thus, the ability types that players earn per level are guidelines, not rules. These guidelines are as follows:
| Level | Passives | At-wills | Encounters | Dailies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 9 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Class features[]
Class features are a special sort of ability and are usually passive abilities. Generally, they enable a character's style of combat to be more viable than it normally would be.
For example, a character who only fights unarmed would take a class feature to increase the size of its unarmed hit die to 1d6, or a character who specializes in quarterstaves may take a passive to increase their hit die to 1d10. These are the only two examples where a weapon hit die should be altered, as other weapons are viable as they are. For another example, a paladin sort of character who has points in both Strength and Intelligence could take a class feature allowing it to add its Strength to rolls involving Intelligence (such as Insight or First Aid) in order to make it less subject to "hybrid weakness."
Leveling up[]
Upon leveling up, your character's level increases by 1. Your character will gain new abilities (see section Abilities), and you are able to redistribute 1 combat stat point if you should choose to do so. After level 10, a character will gain no new abilities, but may create one new ability per level and replace any of its existing abilities with the new ability.
Running a campaign[]
If you are a player, you may freely skip reading this section.
As a DM, your job is to, as opposed to creating and playing a character, to create a setting, the non-player characters in such a setting, and the events that the players will encounter. For obvious reasons, not everything needs to be perfect, but everything should have some degree of thought to it.
Here are some general guidelines:
- There is always scenery to be described.
- Be prepared.
- Be prepared to throw your preparation out the window. Your players can and will find a way to render any and all prepared material useless. Thus, it follows that you should...
- Be good at improvisation. Failing that...
- Don't be bad at improvisation.
- There are two general categories of story that your campaign can tell: a story told by the DM about the world, or a story told by the DM about the exploits of the player characters. Generally, players will prefer the latter.
Difficulty[]
You may have noticed that a large number of the general abilities discussed throughout the handbook were checked as some stat versus a "difficulty." These difficulties are arbitrarily assigned to certain tasks, obstacles, and situations by the DM. Here are some guidelines for setting these difficulties:
- For a character who is relatively specialized in a stat, 5 is easy difficulty, 8 is medium difficulty, and 11 is hard difficulty.
- For a character who has 0 of a stat, 0 is easy difficulty, 3 is medium difficulty, and 6 is hard difficulty.
- As the abilities that use combat stats vs difficulties only scale with base combat stats, item level does not need to be accounted for when choosing the difficulty of a challenge.
Creating a combat encounter[]
Combat encounters are fairly common. Your party may or may not enjoy combat encounters, so plan accordingly.
Environment[]
The first thing to create in a combat encounter is the environment. The more objects in the environment that can affect the combat, the better. A combat field should almost never be a simple flat space.
Examples of objects that can affect combat in an outdoor setting are trees, elevation changes (such as ditches, or even a chasm or pit), buildings (don't skimp on ladders and stairs, either!), and obstacles such as barricades or spear walls. Examples of objects that can affect combat in an indoor setting are standing or wall-mounted torches, chandeliers, statues, pillars and columns, elevation changes (such as platforms, raised areas (e.g. for a throne to sit on), and balconies - don't forget ladders or stairs to get to such areas), and furniture.
Be creative with the environment! Players love to use the environment to their advantage, and it adds greatly to the enjoyability of a combat encounter (even if it makes quick work of the encounter).
Foes[]
Generally, a combat encounter will consist of foes similar in number and strength to your party, each of which has essentially the same stats as a player character. The number and strength of enemies can be adjusted to make the encounter more or less difficult, or simply to vary the pace of combat encounters. Recall that a standard player character will distribute a total of ten points into the four combat stats, those being Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution.
Keep in mind that you have the option to vary the size of foes.
After you've got the stats figured out, make sure you know the enemy's HP value (15+3*Constitution).
Then, add equipment. You should have an idea of the average item level of the equipment your players have. Enemies should have approximately the same average item level. Once you have the equipment added, you should take note of the enemy's Evasion, Mitigation, and its standard damage die (generally between d6 and d10).
An enemy or two should have a special ability, especially if your players have mostly high-rarity equipment. This can be anything, from an area attack to a shove. Be creative!
Running a combat encounter[]
When the players trigger the start of your combat encounter, ask everyone to roll initiative and take note of the results. You should roll initiative for every foe that will be involved in the encounter as well, and take note of those results as well. Then create the turn order (see Initiative). You, as the DM, are in charge of reporting whether attacks hit or miss the foes (you do not have to and generally should not reveal a foe's exact evasion) and adjusting the HP of the foes (again, you do not have to and generally should not reveal a foe's current or maximum HP). Don't forget to indicate if a foe becomes bloodied (see Abnormal status effects). When a foe reaches 0 hp, indicate its death or incapacitation and remove that foe from the turn order.
Foes should avoid triggering attacks of opportunity. Most relatively intelligent foes will attempt to swarm the nearest player or player-allied character in order to gain combat advantage and quickly incapacitate the threat, but foes should not go out of their way to all attack one threat. Don't forget to use the foes' abilities, and keep in mind that they do have access to general combat abilities.
When all foes have been killed or incapacitated, the combat encounter ends. Generally, the players should receive loot for their efforts, usually in the form of currency and equipment (see Loot creation).
Creating a non-combat encounter[]
Non-combat encounters are extremely varied, and can include puzzles, environmental obstacles, or diplomatic encounters such as a negotiation.
The golden rule for non-combat encounters is to have no solution in mind: your players do not think the exact same way you do and will be very disappointed if a clever apparent solution is shot down by the DM because it is not the solution the DM had in mind.
Over time, you will learn to gauge the resourcefulness of your players. Try not to create a non-combat encounter that is both very difficult and the only way for your players to move forward on their journey. However, it is perfectly acceptable for players to need to turn back to recover some necessary item or person to complete a puzzle if it is clear what that item or person is.
Your party may or may not enjoy certain types of non-combat encounters, so take note of feedback and plan accordingly.
Example non-combat encounters[]
- The party happens upon a magically sealed door, inscribed with a riddle. The solution to the riddle, when spoken aloud, will open the door.
- The party happens upon a ravine. The ruins of a bridge are visible, but it is apparent that an alternative way to cross will have to be found.
- The party finds themselves at the bottom of a steep cliff or ledge, with no apparent easy way up.
- The party must convince a nobleman to allow them access to a forbidden area, where they believe important clues that will help advance their journey lie.
Creating loot[]
There are five main types of loot:
- Currency (coins, bills, and other forms of money)
- Precious items (bars of precious metals, antiques, and other small valuable items), which the players should be able to sell if they don't wish to keep the items around. Such items can bear magical enchantments.
- Quest items, that will aid the players on their journey.
- Equipment
- Materials
Equipment[]
Equipment should usually be useful to the party. Non-useful equipment (e.g., a bow in a party with no characters who use a bow) can be distributed, but should not appear often.
Characters using heirloom weapons will have an item that will take the place of a weapon. Keep this in mind when creating loot for a party containing such characters.
Characters should gain gradually more and more powerful equipment, and the power of equipment is reflected by its item level. Generally, players of a level X receive equipment of item level ⌊X/2⌋. Further, players should receive mostly magic items, especially at higher levels.
Generally, a party should receive one rare item per level (or so). Unique items, however, are much more scarce, and should only be obtained at the end of a long quest. A party may never receive a unique item, and this scarcity should be reflected by the power of such items.
There are really only two sorts of equipment that need to be distributed, those being armor and weapons. However, other sorts of equipment, such as jewellry, footwear, etc. can also be distributed, but should not provide bonuses to a combat stat or evasion or mitigation. Thus, these sorts of equipment do not have an item level.
Enchantments[]
Items that are enchanted (i.e., having a rarity of magic, rare, or unique) will be immediately apparent as such, although the exact nature of the enchantment will not be immediately apparent. The nature of the enchantment will only become apparent after the party has fiddled about with the items for some period of time.
A player may choose to use a piece of enchanted equipment in combat, and if he or she does, he or she will immediately know the nature of the equipment's enchantment at the end of combat.
Enchantments do not always need to be useful: enchantments can have niche uses or can be outright detrimental, though such enchantments should be few and far between. There are no real restrictions on the sorts of enchantments an item can bear, and the more creative, the better.
Materials[]
Materials are a sort of loot that can be made into useful items with one of the characters' professional skills. A DM may also distribute materials that the players are incapable of working with themselves so that they may have a non-player character create something for them, perhaps for a small fee.
Creating a dungeon[]
A dungeon is an underground, usually manmade structure. They are usually home to all manner of traps, foes, obstacles, puzzles, but most importantly, treasure.
Most dungeons are not frequently visited and thus will be dark, and thus will be inhabited primarily be creatures that prefer dark environments such as giant spiders, undead foes (such as animated skeletons or zombies), goblins, kobolds, and anything you might think of.
Some player groups enjoy raiding dungeons, others do not. Gauge your players' enjoyment of their first dungeon and plan accordingly.
Traps[]
Dungeons are also usually home to a multitude of traps. Traps can be triggered by a pressure plate hidden in the floor, a tripwire suspended just above the ground, or a rigged door (though, of course, you are able and encouraged to think of other sorts of triggers for traps). Players can roll Insight to check a room for traps, and successful insight rolls will detect the trigger mechanism of the trap (but not the type of trap).
Common sorts of traps include poison dart launchers, trapdoors, and debris dropped from the ceiling. Again, you are able and encouraged to think of other sorts of traps.
Playing Craftsmen and Chimeras[]
General guidelines[]
A note on metagaming[]
"Metagaming" is a term meaning to play a game as if it were a game. In role-playing games, this generally means to use information your character does not have access to. For example, if one's character is unfamiliar with a region's geography and does not have access to a map, the player should not refer to a map while playing or draw upon any information he or she remembers about the map that his or her character would not know. Thus, the character should be relatively disoriented. Another example of metagaming is the anticipation of common plot elements: just because a story is predictable to someone does not mean that his or her character should recognize its presence in a story or anticipate an event predicted by its player.
Metagaming should be avoided, as it reduces the enjoyability of the game for both the players and the DM as well as completely destroying any immersive aspects of the game.