These provide bonuses to skills and to perception rolls. There
are attributes for wisdom, as that is left to the player's own
judgment, and charisma which is somewhat represented by Empath
(sensitivity to others and ability to project personability).
Appearance should be determined by the player, not a die roll.
SU = Skill Units
| (INT) Intelligence | Memory, analytical capability, sensitivity to detail, etc. |
| (EMP) Empathy | Sense / affect other's feelings, reactions, beliefs, animal responses |
| (EGO) Ego- | Sense of self, independence, force of will |
| (FTH) Faith | Basis of religious conviction, moral fiber |
| (DEX) Dexterity | Manual dexterity, mechanical aptitude, hand eye coordination |
| (AGL) Agility | Physical coordination, limberness |
| (STR) Strength | Physical power, capacity to carry |
| (CON) Constitution | Health, healing, resistance to disease, poison, venom |
| (STM) Stamina | Vigor, resiliance, stick-to-it-iveness (mental, too) |
| (LIF) Life Force | Determines life span, need for sleep, vital energy |
Every normal being has five ASPECTS: a physical, mental,
emotional, spiritual and essential existence. Some beings (such
as lesser undead or Phantasms) lack some one or more aspects.
In some cases these 'aspects' are quite useful abstractions. Particularly
when the characters are of an extremely high level, the stakes
for their actions will be quite high. When they must sacrifice
something, perhaps it is their entire emotional aspect! Additionally,
very attacks and magic work specifically on these levels: as with
emotional attacks such as fear or despair, psychic attacks such
as confusion, mind control or forgetting, and so on.
Religion takes an important place in the scheme of things, here.
No living, unliving, undead or demonic being has the ability to
create or modify Life Force. Living beings can transmit
it, by breeding, Unliving beings can transfer it
by draining to a being past death and demonic beings are able
to synthesize it, fusing with it and becoming one
substance. Only deities create life, existence and provide the
fabric of time and space, thus maintaining the structure of natural
and supernatural reality necessary for distinct existences (individuals).
Some deities are oriented toward order (a single way of life,
perhaps a static perfect and ideal existence, perhaps a single
epic history, a progression, a single extrinsic unity to all things),
others toward order (change, possibly destructive, possibly gentle,
diversity of beings and development). They can be divided similarly
into other dualities, categories, pantheons and so forth.
A priest would then be a being invested with some of the spirit
of the Deity he or she worships, as a sort of particular agent
of a universal will. Unlike a magician, the priest cannot act
to shape the world to his or her image. The priest's spiritual
capacity, or supernatural agency, can only exert itself in complete
accordance to the purpose of the Deity. A priest must exert themselves
spiritually to attain guidance and a portion of transcendent potency
("inspiration" or priestly spell points), generally
as part of a ritual which might include an entreaty for certain
capacities (ie. priestly spells.) Others, unexpected, might be
granted, while the ones requested might not be granted. The decision
is based on the game master's judgment and the politics of the
religious organization that the priest must work through. Certain
rituals, for instance, can only be performed with resources that
are rare, which a religious order cannot easily dispense with.
For a fuller discussion about priests, see the section devoted
to them.
Characters without a religion have no spiritual anchor - they may be bent and swayed by spiritual forces of all kinds, though they may possess a greater individual ego. (Atheism yields a "bonus" of +d5 - 3 to Ego, -d3 to Faith.) A divinity may alter a beings fate: this is limited to beings that are followers of that divinities religion, or atheists. This may mean a reduction or addition to life force (usually reduction!), luck, providence (an event which has nothing to do with circumstance), granting of inspiration, conversion (a spiritual development of the character - possibly changing him or her in all the other respects), or healing of any sort. Gods, in my opinion, should not act directly, as with a human agency. They exist everywhere and everywhen, bounded by the creation and destruction of reality, if not by the creation and destruction of the world. Thus, divine will and agency should express itself indirectly, through presense and signs from the transcendent Being.
Examples:
Roll |
Special Abilities |
Special Disabilities |
| 01-03 | +d4 talent at d6 random skills | exotic looks (colors, height, etc.) |
| 04-06 | Acute Sense (+d6, random sense) | Impaired sense (-d6, random sense) |
| 07-09 | Resistent (d10 divided among d3 magical forms of attack) | Susceptible (-d10 divided among d3
magical forms of attack) |
| 10-12 | Bio & Terrain Familiarity 3d6 Rank | Gullible |
| 13-15 | Learn quickly (add 25% to Units earned) | Too ambitious |
| 16-18 | Excellent Physical Atts (+d3 to each) | Too confident |
| 19-21 | Excellent Mental Atts (+d3 to each) | Too rash |
| 22-24 | Excellent versus magic (+4 saves) | Too proud |
| 25-27 | Magic compentent (+2 or +3 in specialty) | Too intemperate |
| 28-30 | Religious (+3 FTH), +5 vs charm & control | Too unforgiving |
| 31-33 | Empathy (+5 EMP), sense others emotions | Too innocent |
| 34-36 | Ambidexterity. 2 identical actions per turn | Disease: see appendix. Choose one |
| 37-39 | Natural leader (+3 EMP, EGO, reactions) | Persecuted minority: racial or political |
| 40-42 | Convincing (+5 liar, conman, etc.) | Amnesia: forget origin, identity. Harsh! |
| 43-45 | Sense were creatures&illusions 3d20% | Can never read, write (speech probs?) |
| 46-48 | Beast Empathy (Rank 1) calm, ask, request | Addictive personality (choose 1+) |
| 49-51 | Special Inheritance: magic or political object | Enemy / Rival.One always emerges! |
| 52-54 | Heal quickly, 50% less time required | Haunted - terrible past: guilt or pain. |
| 55-57 | Prescience, +2 defense, 15% danger sense | Disfigured, ugly, misshapen, hideous |
| 58-60 | Sense (see magical detects, select one) | 35% Incompentent with (select vital skill) |
| 61-63 | Resist (see magical attacks, select one) +5 | Insanity: some mania, fear, obsession |
| 64-66 | Dodge well (+3 defense, +5 dodge skill) | Xenophobia, racial fear and hatred |
| 67-69 | Excellent connection - benefactor(s) | Rebellious, cannot join / submit long |
| 70-72 | Undead Empathy, sense 50%, befriend 35% | Physical Limitation, -5 to a phys. stat |
| 73-75 | Sane: resist insanity, psychics, illusions +5 | Mental Limitation, -5 to a mental stat |
| 76-78 | Magic Resistance +15%/+30% full attention | Dreamer, unrealistic goals, ideals |
| 79-81 | Cultured: 2d6 skill units for culture skills | Outsider, feels alien in any group |
| 82-84 | Natural performer: d6 skill units, +5 arts | Very humble origin, start with zip |
| 85-87 | Sense Secret doors (or) Traps 50% | Terrible childhood, scarred personality |
| 88-90 | Blessèd: 1/10 SU bonus: for priest skills | Too successful parent, oppressed |
| 91-93 | Outdoorsman: d8 SU, +3 (2 phys. stats) | Cursed, -1 overall, -3 in one respect |
| 94-96 | Gifted at languages: d10 SU, learn 2x fast | Poor memory, -3, forget way, specifics |
| 97-99 | Jack of all trades: 3d8 SU, max rank: 15 | (Morbid)Curiousity, Death wish |
| 100 | Luck: d100 initially, use at will. Each + may be applied to a situation (for a specific roll.) The player chooses a die, and rolls but doesn't know how many points remain. If the player goes UNDER 0, the value is twice the negative amount. Each + or - value equals 5% as a modifier | UNLUCK: The disadvantage, same d100 is rolled, also without the player's knowledge. Roll d100 days, then randomly when during that day, that bad luck will strike. Roll -d6 (times 5%) as the modifier to luck. If there is nothing happening at the time and the unluck cannot be applied, it is deferred. Once the points go down to 0, no more unluck remains. If the last roll goes under 0 the negative number is treated as LUCK, as above |
Note: do not automatically play your own race, or make a certain number of races "White people" and the others "colored." Too often in fantasy games there is a good race, a caucasian and Aryan race (Elves, for instance), and a lowly and evil race (Orcs, and their kind, for example.) The stories offer opportunities then for racist fantasy: the Orcs can be killed or beaten mercilessly, as they are subhuman. I suggest all races be given an equal moral footing. Let individual societies, or better individual people, display evil or dispicable qualities. Play characters of different races, different cultures and even moralities, widely varying from your own. I have included no notes on races that I have nothing to say about. It is far more interesting to make up your own races than to play the standard Tolkein-based ones.
Human: Consider having several racial types of human. This is a complication to human society we are all aware of.
Amphon: An amphibious humanoid. Theycan breath water and descend to 250 feet below the surface. Beneath that level, they need special training. They live in Salt water, but with special (easily fabricated) equipment, they can breath fresh water. They die in arid climates, one day per CON point in a desert, weeks in a nonhumid environment. They tend to organize in small trading based polities, with merchant clans ruling their villages and city states.
Hawker: A race of small winged people. They grow to only about 4 and a half feet tall, and weigh very little. Their wings are hawklike and extend out to about 6 feet to either side, (a foot and a half over their heads when folded.) They typically carry small belly packs and use short bows and very light blades in combat. They are very gregarious, in general, and choose high mountains in which to build their city complexes, bundles of buildings perched against precipices.
Thunderthuk: Tall (6 and a half feet on the average) but extremely thin, this ebon skinned race has a very peculiar humanoid form. Instead of hands, they have large clubs, almost like bowling pins on the end of their arms. Their head is gourd shaped, without hair, and ringed with 9 eyes (red pupilled). Thus they can see in all directions and thusly fight and defend themselves without penalty all around. Their toes are long and manipulating, like fingers. They can stand on one foot/hand, and manipulate things with their other one, or balance themselves on their Thuks (the mace-hands) and use both hands. Their strike is as a mace, but is +3 to strike as it is their natural weapon. They may use both in one turn (as they are perfectly ambidextrous.) Eschewing cities and large groups, they tend to band together and lead a nomadic life.
Khulfen: Somewhere between a Coyote and a man. They naturally have LUCK, see special ability, of 3d10. Like Coyotes they have an intense curiosity and cannot resist temptations. They have natural stealth, evasion and escape bonuses of +30%. They are rebellious and cannot really work within any organization. Tending to be playful, they can also get very serious and instigate rebellions and underground movements to overthrow governments. Normally they gather in loose affiliations and bands of no more than 100, and are quite happy to live in urban areas dominated by other races.
Skavit: More rat than humanoid, these low and squat people have a long thick tail (stand at around 3 and a half feet tall, with a 2 foot girth and a 4 foot tail.) Nearsighted and sensitive to bright light, they tend to stay underground or in colder climates. Their cheif racial advantage is numbers (they breed quickly) and ability to survive adversity (they can eat almost anything and resist disease, rot, radiation and food poisoning 60%.) They also resist psychic domination and thus make trusted agents, diplomats, etc. as they can resist torture, hypnosis, etc. Once they have made up their mind and formed an opinion or loyalty they are very steadfast.
Guadil: These humanoid lizards tend to by mystics or deeply involved in mysticism. Their society usually bases itself around a spiritual order, with different roles allocated as part of a living ritual. These societies have extreme caste structures, so some Guadils flee in order to exist on the perifery of other societies. Unlike most other societies, Guadils admit no other kind. When they live as a minority in other cultures, they bring their semi-magical crafts and customs. Those that leave Guadil society often have very self interested characters.
Fae: The Fae exist apart from normal mortal society, in
magically isolated locales. They are immortal, and have a morality
apart from Humans, and mortals in general. They grow to only 4
feet tall or so. There are several varieties: those that live
on land, in the sea, in deserts and in clouds. The land based
Fae will either have a hollowed out mountain, a secret valley
or a central grove in a dense and magically labrynthine forest.
Sea based Fae make arcades in coral reefs or palaces in deep tidepool
caves. Desert Fae have hidden paths in the hollow of dunes and
passages beneath them (shorter in distance between openings than
the intervening space). Either they have a lush pocket sanctuary
beneath the sand or they settle in obscure oases obscured by a
myriad of mirages. Cloud dwelling Fae have long gossamer wings
and live in fanciful villas in permanent cloudscapes (replete
with idealized gardens and landscapes). Culturally they are always
elitist, individualistic and cruel. Their immortality leads them
to constantly forming antagonistic circles and pursuing (ever
so slowly) vendettas and power ploys. On the other side, they
are agents of ORDER, and will fight vehemently any magical force
which attempts to disturb or destroy the natural or mystic order.
This can involve them in struggles alongside Mortals. Their principal
problem is boredom, this is the only thing that really causes
a natural death among them. For that reason they involve themselves
in the vibrant mortal world. They sometimes substitute one of
their kind (who will grow to about normal size and shape) for
a human child). And sometimes one or more of them venture into
the world of Mortals to take part in something to shake them out
of their jaded stupor. They are beautiful to look upon, but have
hardly any passion.
Elf: I suggest that Elves are not present in your game world. Use Fae, which in my opinion are closer to mythological "Faerie Folk" than Elves. In any case, resist the temptation to make elves some sort of Aryan Race, superior to Humans in every way (physically, mentally, spiritually, etc.) They are indeed immortal and are always aware of magic (sense it 80% -5% per 20' away, roll d20% to determine how much is understood of the magic that they sense), and magic plays a very important role in everything they do. Their weakness is a lack of empathy. They are detatched from nature and the feelings of other beings, largely as a result of their immortality and supernatural affinity.
Troll: When a troll is killed, through anything save burning
or dissolving in acid, the pieces remain alive and will struggle
to reunite: the speed that this occurs is dependent upon how chopped
up they were. Merely sticking on a decapitated head or severed
arm so that it functions again takes only d10 mt. After being
blown up into a million little bits, a Troll needs a day to recover.
If they are killed due to burning, they can still be ressurrected,
but they will in this case lose a life level, etc. They are quite
often misshapen, with several heads, arms, or even animal parts
(such as a lions paw or snake head). These parts all function
as normal, possibly adding to the number of attacks a Troll is
capable of. The extremely nonhuman ones (with dozens of heads,
for instance) are wild, don't speak and live on the periphery
of the world. These also tend to be gigantic, say SIZ 5 or more.
Trolls turn to stone, permanently, when they are touch by sunlight.
Figure out the setting from which he or she came from. From there
I suggest you choose a race (including ethnicity, if there are
minorities within that race). Then roll the character's attributes,
if desired - a special ability, and the character's class origin.
(A chart for class origin is included in the skill section, game
masters will hopefully modify it to suit the conditions of their
world.) If a special ability is rolled, a disadvantage should
be, too. Characters without disadvantages make for boring stories.
Create a history for the character which will include the training
of the character, and hence their repetoire of skills. The game
master should be consulted, so that the character's story is sort
of made up by the two of them. The player says: could my character
have been brought up this way, have had these experiences? The
game master then alters the story to fit his or her game world
setting. The game master should beware and avoid the temptation
to play with a heavy hand with the player's conception of their
character (say be getting his or own ideas on the subject and
trying to impose them on the player's character!)
The game master should then do some work on his or her own and
determine a number of connections that the player has. The character
needs to have some strong connections to the society from which
they come. This means they should have contact with religious,
political and maybe criminal organizations - either good or bad.
Their goals should be shaped by being for or against the existing
system, not merely personal gain (how damn boring a fantasy that
is!) If possible, think of where the character fits in with important
stories going on in the game world (without letting the player
know.)
Almost lastly, choose the skills the character has, and provide
options for equipping the character. And last, the character should
be involved with something at the beginning of their first game
he or she is played, which would make it rational for the character
to take part. Will the character have a prior motive for joining,
against the others, against one person in particular, special
knowledge of the story or goals not shared by others; all of these
things require the game master to think things through before
the game but make the game much, much more interesting.
INT |
EMP |
EGO |
DEX |
AGL |
STR |
CON |
STM |
LIF |
MR% |
SIZ | |
| Human | 6+d12 | 6+d12 | 6+d12 | 6+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 10 | 25% | 1.0 |
| Amphon | 6+2d6 | 6+d10 | 8+d8 | 5+2d6 | 5+d10 | 9+d6 | 6+2d6 | 12+d6 | 10 | 5% | 1.0 |
| Hawker | 8+d10 | 8+d8 | 6+d8 | 6+d10 | 12+d6 | 7+d6 | 9+d6 | 6+2d6 | 11 | 5% | 0.5 |
| Thunderthuk | 7+d8 | 7+d8 | 8+d10 | 4+2d6 | 12+d8 | 12+d6 | 6+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 11 | 15% | 1.0 |
| Khulfen | 6+d10 | 9+d10 | 12+d6 | 7+d8 | 10+d8 | 4+2d6 | 6+2d6 | 8+d10 | 10 | 0% | 1.0 |
| Skavit | 6+d12 | 6+d10 | 6+d10 | 6+d8 | 7+d10 | 6+d8 | 12+d6 | 12+d6 | 10 | 5% | 0.5 |
| Guadil | 8+d10 | 4+d8 | 9+d10 | 5+2d6 | 9+d10 | 2+2d8 | 8+2d4 | 8+d10 | 10 | 10% | 0.9 |
| Fae | 9+d10 | 5+d8 | 3+2d8 | 11+d8 | 11+d8 | 6+d8 | 8+d10 | 10+2d4 | 12 | 10% | 0.5 |
| Elf | 8+d10 | 6+d6 | 10+d8 | 12+d6 | 10+d8 | 9+d8 | 9+d8 | 9+d8 | 12 | 10% | 1.0 |
| Dwarf | 6+2d6 | 7+d8 | 8+d10 | 10+d8 | 8+d8 | 5+2d6 | 12+d6 | 12+d6 | 11 | 20% | 0.8 |
| Hobbit | 6+d12 | 8+d10 | 6+2d6 | 8+d10 | 5+d12 | 4+d10 | 6+2d6 | 5+d10 | 11 | 15% | 0.5 |
| Goblin | 5+d12 | 4+d8 | 5+d12 | 4+2d6 | 7+d10 | 9+d10 | 10+d8 | 10+d8 | 11 | 20% | 1.1 |
| Kobold | 2+2d6 | 3+d10 | 3+d10 | 5+d10 | 8+2d4 | 7+d8 | 8+d8 | 10+d10 | 11 | 10% | 0.6 |
| Troll | 5+d8 | 5+d8 | 9+d8 | 6+d10 | 6+d6 | 16+d8 | 13+d4 | 14+d6 | 13 | 15% | 1.5 |
| Ogre | 6+d10 | 5+d8 | 10+d8 | 5+2d4 | 4+d26 | 18/25+d6 | 13+d4 | 12+d6 | 11 | 10% | 2.0 |
Runs from 1 to 18, then to 18/25, 18/50, 18/75, 18/00 then from 19 through a maximum of 30.
If a character has a 16 strength and gets a +4 bonus, they have a 18/50 strength. Refer to
Arduin Grimoire Volume 2 for strength bonuses, carry weight, etc.
Base Saving Rolls are always 16 and above (ie. 20%)
Roll the following number or less. The listed attribute is the bonus. If two are listed, average them.
For every two points over 12 add +1 to the roll, for every 25 awarded Skill Units (from experience)
add +1 also. This replaces the bonuse per 2 levels from the old
gaming systems.
Example: A base roll of 16 with a bonus attribute of CON, where CON=16 and the total awarded
experience Skill Units = 57: The CON = 16 gives a +2 bonus, the experience also gives a +2 bonus.
The saving roll required is 16-4 = 12.
| Save Versus | Magic | Life Drain | Poison | Transformation | Disease | Psychic Attack | Spiritual Attack | Emotion Attack |
| Bonus Attribute | EGO | FAITH | CON | EGO & LIFEFORCE | CON | INT | FAITH | EMP |
| Race | Bonuses |
| Human | +1 vs. Magic, Trasformation and +2 vs. Spiritual attack. Humans are basicly religious and therefore resist enchantment well. -1 vs. lifedrain. |
| Amphon | +1 vs. poison, cold and diseas, -1 vs. Psychic attack. |
| Hawker | +3 vs Emotional attack, -1 vs. lifedrain and Spiritual attack. |
| Thunderthuck | +3 vs. poison and disease, -1 vs. lifedrain, -2 vs. Psychic attack. |
| Khulfen | +4 vs. Psychic attack, +2 vs. poison, -2 vs Spiritual attack, -1 vs. Magic. |
| Skavit | +5 vs. poison, diseas and Psychic attack. -1 vs. Emotion attack and trasnformation. |
| Guadil | +2 vs Psychic attack, Spiritual attack and +1 vs. magic and posion. -2 vs. lifedrain. |
| Fae | +3 vs. Magic, +2 vs. Psychic attack & transformation. -3 vs. Spiritual attack. |
| Elf | +3 vs. Magic, Psychic attack and disease. -2 vs. Spiritual attack and lifedrain. |
| Dwarf | +1 vs. Magic, +3 vs. poison, transformation & disease, -2 vs. Psychic attack. |
| Hobbit | +1 vs. Magic, Psychic attack, lifedrain and Emotion attack. -2 vs. transformation. |
| Goblin | +2 vs. Magic, disease, poison and Emotion attack, -2 vs. Psychic and Spiritual attack. |
| Kobold | +3 vs. Poison, disease, Emotion attack. -3 vs. Psychic attack, -1 vs. Spiritual attack. |
| Troll | +2 vs. Magic, lifedrain, -4 vs. transformation (turn to stone in the sun!) |
| Ogre | +1 vs Magic, transformation, +2 vs. poison, disease and lifedrain. -2 vs. Emotion attack. |
| Race | Miles/day | Ambidextrous chance | Movement | Senses | Ressurection base chance |
| Human | 15 | 5% | 60' | Normal | 35% |
| Amphon | 12(18 swim) | 10% | 55'(55') | +2 smell | 40% |
| Hawker | 10(150 air) | 5% | 40' (200') | +2 sight | 38% |
| Thunderthuk | 17 | 100% | 60' | 360 degree vision | 33% |
| Khulfen | 20 | 15% | 75' | +5 smell | 65% |
| Skavit | 10 | 5% | 45' | -2 sight | 30% |
| Guadil | 13(8 swim) | 20% | 50'(45') | -2 hearing | 35% |
| Fae | 17 | 0% | 75' (some fly) | infravision 90', +2 hearing | 45% |
| Elf | 19 | 0% | 120' | As Fae, but 120' range | 50% |
| Dwarf | 18 | 5% | 55' | infravision 90' | 42% |
| Hobbit | 12 | 5% | 45' | +2 see/hear | 36% |
| Goblin | 20 | 10% | 75' | as Elf | 50% |
| Kobold | 14 | 10% | 50' | as Fae | 40% |
| Troll | 25 | 20% | 90' | infravision 150' | 66% |
| Ogre | 45 | 5% | 150' | infravision 180' | 38% |