Post by Jaster on Feb 22, 2011 19:53:03 GMT -6
Ramblings of the Mad Man - Comments from the Writer
Numbers and Exacting Math
This game uses very high amounts of numbers and math. Don't use all of them every time without fault. You'll hate the game and yourself. Many of the formula and timing events are set if they are needed. Stamina, P.P.E and I.S.P regeneration rates defined as per Second are there so they can be applied in the most exact way possible in relation to the rules IF NEEDED. GMs and players should not be counting the seconds between fights to determine their exact Stamina rates, and a bit of rounding will not break the game, and rounding to a near 10 or 5 shouldn't be seen as a horrific event. Every player group should find a collective comfort level with the numbers and how to apply them.
The Basics - Terms and Definitions
Ranks and Level
The words Rank and Level appear often in this game, both are an indicator of experience and skill with a particular thing, weather their class, racial abilities, or skills. Every Rank or Level of an ability or skill increases it's effectiveness by the abilities indicated amount (i.e Skills gain +5% per Rank, 1 Level of a Class grants a Focus Point and any abilities and bonuses listed for that class). Some things require several ranks or Levels before improvement is gained, displayed as +1 per 5 Levels, or Gains +1 to Strike/5 Levels, both mean it gains +1 every 5th level (so levels 5, 10, 15, 20, etc). Things without a listed number of levels are assumed to advance every level. Always ignore level 1 when increasing, it is already factored into the listed starting amount. For example, a spell that gives +10 to P.S (+1 to P.S/1 Level), will give 10 P.S at level 1, 11 at Level 2, and so on. The two words do indicate different things, when the word "Level" is used, the ability has a cap, can cannot progress past Level 15 without something to allow it (sometimes a class will increase the allowed level for a WP, also, 'True Masters' of skill exist in the game, and with GM discretion, can be found and teach the characters how to break the cap for anything to an extent, such as a master warrior teaching a student, increasing Warrior Level Cap by +4). While Ranks mean the ability has no innate cut off point, and may be increased as far as the character desires. Keep in mind however, the experience cost to increase both Levels and ranks increases as it progresses, making it harder to increase past a point.
Turn Order and Ticks
Combat follows the Melee Grid (See Melee Grid, Page XXX), their actions spread across 15 Second Seconds known as a Round. At the start of Every Round, Resolve Initiative and Entering Combat conditions before the first turn begins. Every Second is considered 1 Second of time (thus every Round is 15 Seconds). At the Start of every Second, resolve any timing issues and effect Ticks. Ticks is a term for periodic damage, such as Wounds, which 'tick' every 3 Seconds (so on Seconds 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15, all characters suffer the effects of Wounds).
Buffs and Debuffs
All Characters should have a section of their character sheet devoted to recording and tracking their current buffs and debuffs. All buffs and debuffs have a name, and effects with the same name (even if they have differing abilities) cannot stack onto each other, if it is a debuff, the caster of the effect chooses which is replaced, if it is a buff, the target gets to choose. Buffs are always considered to be in control of the target, while debuffs are under the control of the Caster, Debuffs caused by the game are not controlled by anyone (Well, they are, but they're controlled by Tabo and good luck trying to get him to dispel them!). Characters may spend a Free Action during their turn to remove any Effect they control. Buffs and Debuffs are checked during application, and at the start of every Second for triggering effects.
Costs and Payment
Any ability which lists something as a Cost must be payed by the using Character. If the character cannot pay the cost in full, reduce all amounts possible, and then the ability has no effect, known as a Fizzle or Fizzling (Creative GMs may allow partial effects to occur). Abilities with a P.P.E Cost of 10, for example, the player must have 10 P.P.E available to them to use the ability. Similarly, a Character which must Pay 10 S.D.C for an ability must be able to reduce their Current S.D.C by 10 (if S.D.C is noted, not S.D.C/H.P, then ONLY S.D.C could be used for the payment). Costs cannot be reduced by abilities that do not specifically state them as a cost, and Costs are not considered Damage or Restoration. For Example, an ability that says "Pay 10 S.D.C and 5 Stamina" is not effected by abilities that would reduce Damage (Paying S.D.C isn't Damage), and an ability that would reduce Stamina reductions would be ignored when paying 5 Stamina. Only abilities which specifically state it reduces a Cost are applied.
Threshold Rule
Numbers and rolls cannot cross the 0 Threshold on any check or roll, regardless of offsetting bonuses or penalties. If an attack that deals 3D6 -10 Damage rolls a 7, it still deals 0 Damage (not -3). Similarly, an ability that makes a Character lose 1D4 - 2 Morale cannot gain Morale from the ability. Any ability which states it Ignores Threshold ignores this rule.
Negative Damage, Healing and Restoration
Restoration is considered Negative Damage values and anything that deals "Negative" damage some how instead adds the 'damage' to the targets health. Restoration and Restore are terms used to indicate that any additions made may not go beyond a stated Max. For example, a character with a Base of 100 S.D.C suffers 25 Damage (Thus putting them to 75 S.D.C), later has 50 S.D.C Restored from a spell. They then revert to 100 S.D.C, their Max since they cannot be Restored pasted a Maximum. However, if the ability would cause them to Gain 50 S.D.C, they would be placed to 125 S.D.C (They could still have their missing 25 Restored to them and put to 150). Healing that is turned Positive some how can deal damage, as long as it can bypass the Threshold Rule (see above).
Actions and Flow
Combat (and any event which requires exact timing) runs off the Melee Grid (See Turn Order and Ticks) based on the characters number of Actions. Actions is treated as a currency (i.e some abilities require them to "Pay 1 Action" showing how many of their turns must be sacrificed to preform an action. Actions are only completed after ALL of the spent actions have passed, at the end of the turn. If the character disrupts this by making any other payments that require actions, they must first abandon their initial action (lost actions are lost). However, abilities that are listed as a Free Action may be preformed without spending their turn or disrupting other actions.
Special Abilities and Grey Space
As should go without statement, all abilities given to a class, race, magic item or other randomness that counters the rules is correct on that class, race, etc. Special abilities are of course intended to provide exceptions to the rules and modifications to them. Any unclear statements to a player group are left for their GM and ruling body to choose the best alternative when no source can be found to solve the problem (weather a perceived balance problem or poor clarity of function), in addition the original writer will do his best to provide rules support (Questions and comments can be sent to cinos_42@yahoo.com)
Core Statistics
Attributes
All characters will have a listing for the 8 Core Attributes, Mental Intelligence, Mental Endurance, Mental Affinity, Physical Strength, Physical Endurance, Physical Prowess, Physical Movement, and Physical Beauty. Any time a characters attribute changes, any bonuses that attribute offers are instantly changed to match their new attribute. Characters without an attribute cannot interact with that attribute whatsoever. Meaning a Character without a Physical Beauty cannot be seen as Ugly or Attractive, no one is able to form an opinion for or against, generally for beings without a defined shape, or without a visible form entirely. Characters without a Physical Endurance score cannot be affected by Poison, Magic, have no stamina, H.P or similar. Beings without these attributes are generally limited to pseudo-magical beings, constructs and animated beings.
Health
Health is split into two types, S.D.C and H.P (Short for Structural Damage Capacity and Hit Points). Objects and non-living things or characters do not have H.P. When a character suffers damage, first deduct the damage from S.D.C, and then from H.P. When H.P is reduced to 0, the character enters a Coma and is unable to preform any actions, move, use skills or powers and is completely disabled. H.P may cross the Threshold and become a negative Value. Once reduced to a Negative equal or below the characters Base H.P, the Character is dead and cannot be healed. All Buffs and Debuffs remain active on a Coma Character, and all of their controlled effects remain active. Buffs and Debuffs are Dispelled when a Character dies, and all Controlled Effects are Removed.
All Races have a listed Natural Healing ability, indicating how much S.D.C or H.P they restore while resting. Races.s without this ability cannot restore health through rest.
Wounds
Many attacks can cause Wounds, and all characters should have a spot on their sheet to record their current total. Wounds deal 1 Physical Damage every 3 Seconds. Do not count duration ticks when the wound is applied, all wounds are checked at the same interval for all characters.
Stamina
Characters have a Stamina total equal to their P.E x 2. Stamina can be spent for special abilities given from any source which lists them as a cost. Characters may spend 1 Action and X Stamina, up to 5, to gain "Closing Wounds", a Physical Buff Effect, which lasts for 3 Seconds, reducing All Combat Rolls by 100% and removing X Wounds every Second before Wound Damage is dealt. Characters pay Spend 1 Action and X Stamina, up to 5, to gain "Power Draw", a Magic Buff Effect, which lasts for 3 Seconds, reducing All Combat Rolls by 100% and restores X P.P.E every Second. When Reduced to 50% or less of their Stamina total, the Character gains "Exhaustion", a Physical Debuff Effect which lasts until their Stamina is restored above 50%, reducing all Combat Bonuses by 25% and all Skills by 10%. When reduced to 25% or Less of Stamina, the Character gains "Fatigued", a Non-Dispellable Physical Debuff Effect, which lasts until their Stamina is Restored above 25%, reducing all Combat Bonuses by an extra 25% and All Skills by 15%. Characters restore 1D4 Stamina every 5 Seconds of Rest, 1 Stamina every 4 Rounds of Light Work (i.e walking an easy pace), and none for anything greater then that. GM's may decree characters being an event with less then Max Stamina based on events prior to combat / events (I.e character has been traveling the wilderness and is ambushed, the GM feels that since that the character has been struggling with walking through a forest, the character starts the fight with -10 Stamina).
Morale
Morale is the characters current reserve of Willpower and gumption, and the total is equal to M.E x 2. The Morale Stat may drop below 0. When Morale is above 0, Morale can be spent at any time before making a roll to gain +2 to any Combat Roll or Save for 1 Roll, or subtract -5% from the Base Roll of a Skill Check. When Morale is above 0, Morale can be spent at any time after making a roll, and being informed of Degree of Failure or Success to gain +1 to any Combat Roll or Save for 1 Roll, or subtract -2% from the Base Roll of a Skill Check.
If Morale is below 10% of the Characters Base, the Character gains "Depression", a Mental Debuff Effect which lasts until Morale is restored, gaining -5% to All Combat Rolls and Saves, -10% to All Skills for every 1 Morale under the Marker. If Morale is below 50% of the Characters Base, the Character gains an additional -5% to Save vs Insanity for every 1 Morale under the Marker. Characters may spend 1 Morale to restore 5% of their I.S.P Total as a Free Action.
Eldritch Energy
All characters begin the game with a Eldritch Energy (or E.E) amount, as listed with their Race. E.E is used to cast spells and some special abilities, but E.E does nothing on it's own, it is only a pool used for other abilities.
Sentient Energy
Some Characters have an Inner Sentient Energy (or S.E). These are used to pay for some powers, but by themselves, have no use.
Deific Energy
Some characters have Deific Energy (or D.E), which are used to pay for some special abilities, but have no innate worth.
Social Standing
Social Standing represents the characters general liking and influence within a particular area or group. Due to it's nature, this is kept very free form; the character may have Standing in Caer Itomas, but not in Shakanesa, or they could have standing with the Church of Light, or the Jassinaries, or the Kighfallen Military, just a particular band of thieves. Any group or location the character becomes known and liked in should have it's own Social Standing ranking. This level of standing begins at 0 for an Unknown or Neutrally liked person (No reason to stick their neck out, but no reason to make things harder for them), and Social Standing may become Negative from reductions (i.e hated by that group or location), and it has no inherent max. Characters should generally start with 50% of their MA and 25% of their PB for their Social Standing when inducted welcomed into a new group or area (this is again, at GM discretion, since some groups won't care, and some may be more cautious to outsiders, or some may be more welcoming and relaxed and willing to help). By itself, Social Standing does little, if anything, though GMs should use it as a gauge for how much the people generally like the person, and how well known they are (which can be good or bad, being high profile can lead to jealousy, usurpers of that position and outside enemies are more likely to target the high ranking and well loved people of a group). However, Social Standing acts like a form of currency and can be spent for favors from the group or area (Of course a specific group or person will need to 'loan' or 'gift' the items and thus, have it accessible to them, though this does not necessarily have to be RPed out, it is suggested players be made to be). Some example are;
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to take up to a 100 Gold Loan (this is a loan, and expected to be returned at some point, failure to do so would result in three times standing loss, or worse, such as collection agents).
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to gain 10 Gold (This is a gift, not expected to be repaid).
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to increase 5% Public Speaking or Streetwise for 1 Check.
Characters may spend 10 Social Standing to gain an assistant (generally a low level character, weather a squire, street thug, etc, they are Level 1 with poor skills), every level the player wishes to add to the assistant, they must increase the cost by 100%. The assistant will remain for 2 Days, +1 Day per 25% Social Standing spent.
Of course, these are mostly examples for jumping off points, the use of Social Standing, and it's importance is up to the group as a whole, along with what can be gotten for it at any given time depending on the situation (of course, it's useless in the middle of no where, characters might not be able to call in money favors during hard financial times of the area, but may still get assistance in other-ways). Characters should also gain Social Standing over time, whenever they provide useful acts to the group or area. Successful mercenary jobs should provide around 1D4+1 for low key, 1D8+2 for valued jobs, +100% if they did them for free, helping a farmer raise his barn might garner 1-2 locally, while with a guild, bringing fame and notoriety, as well as time served to the guild (paying dues, etc) will grow it slowly. Formal and notable rank does not come with Social Standing innately, even leaders need to earn the trust of their followers and superiors before they can call in willing favors (though leaders can still threaten their subordinates of course), but the more high profile jobs do come with a modifier to Social Standing changes (simple things cause more standing, but so do mistakes), with a modifier based on their poison (minor land owning Lords may have a 25% change, House Heads may have a 100%, Emperors and Kings might have 500%). Keep in mind that Social Standing is largely reflective of Alignments, Good Aligned groups are more likely to look favorably on good acts and look down on crimes (i.e caught being bad will drop Social Standing, too far down and people will turn their nose on the character), Selfish Characters look better upon acts that help that character more specifically, and evil characters tend to enjoy acts which cause suffering, advance their plans or show great willpower / determination. Also bear in mind underground groups are likely to have an inverse relationship with say, the local militia, as one likes you, the other will dislike the character (if their actions are known of course), or helping the local guard will sour the characters relationship with the thief guilds of the town, helping one wizards guild may make a rival guild refuse to help the character (unless they switch payrolls and bring information about their rivals of course!).
While it has no max levels, Social Standing has a 'gauge', to give GMs and Players a logical jumping point of reference. Also, some tasks should develop to become "below" a person (i.e someone repeatedly doing the same task to help an area will fade into the background and that task simply be expected after a while, in effect, some less notable Social Standing actions should count for less or nothing after a while, for example, someone sings at a bar every night to generate Social Standing, after 2-3 weeks of singing every night, it stops being an unusual pleasure and just an expectation, GMs may even want to apply a negative to Social Standing for nights they miss).
-1,000 Social Standing: Kin killers and mass murderers, people you don't want to be around if you're not of like mind.
-200 Social Standing: Witch, necromancer and all sorts of black art practitioners are thrown into this lot, often even by criminal elements.
-100 Social Standing: A small crime boss or witch practitioner, someone not to be trusted and turned to the church if possible (Suspected Witches and necromancers are around here).
-50 Social Standing: In polite communities, someone who is a clear criminal, pick pocket, mugger or the like, in underworlds, a snitch (Most known Summoners are labeled this).
-25 Social Standing: Someone you'd expect to trade you up for a better reward if it came along, watch your coin purse around this one.
-10 Social Standing: An untrustworthy person, unreliable at best, generally a weirdo or foreigner.
10 Social Standing: Somewhat known, more of a "Yeah, he seems like a good guy."
25 Social Standing: Known in the area by at least some people (either 1-2 people of note, or a lot of villagers) as a useful and helpful person.
50 Social Standing: Known well in the area as a go to guy and problem solver, probably known by key individuals in a group.
100 Social Standing: Well known and liked, and able to find help whenever it's needed locally.
200 Social Standing: Very well known and liked, able to find free houses to stay in, rarely pays for meals or drinks and is known by all.
1,000 Social Standing: How don't you know this guy? Living in a cave are you?
Melee Timing
When combat begins, all combatants roll for Initiative. Initiative is found by each person finding <Initiative Bonus Total + 1D20 = Initiative Total>. All members then take actions in that order. If two or more members tie, these re-check to decide their placement amongst each other. Once turn order is established, combat moves on a grid based on each combatants melee Actions. Time progression in combat is fractured in two ways; The first is Melee Rounds, which is a 15 Second segment of time. At the end of every melee round (the declared end of the 15th Second of the round), all combatants lose their initiative placement, regain all spent actions. At the beginning of every Melee Round, all combatants check for Initiative as described above. These Rounds are split into 15 separate Seconds (Second 1 to Second 15), each being 1 Second in time. A Melee Cycle is the duration from the first person of the Second starts their turn, until the last person of the Second ends theirs. At the end of every Second, the game applies all in effect Damage over Time effects, checks all spell durations, and Exhaustion and other state based effects.
Below is the segments a person may act in based on their number of Actions. They may not alter these positions. Those with Actions in excess of 15 will take two actions on the remaining values (i.e those with 17 Actions will take two Actions on Second 1 and 15).
1 Melee Action: Second 1
2 Actions: Second 1 and 15
3 Actions: Second 1, 7 and 15
4 Actions: Seconds 1, 5, 10 and 15
5 Actions: Seconds 1, 4, 8, 11 and 15
6 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 7, 10, 13 and 15
7 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15
8 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15
9 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15
10 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, and 15
11 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15
12 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15
13 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15
14 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 13, 14 and 15
15 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15
If attackers attack from an ambush, Initiative is made as normal, but only the ambushers, and those who successfully detected at least one attacker may make an action during the first Second.
Numbers and Exacting Math
This game uses very high amounts of numbers and math. Don't use all of them every time without fault. You'll hate the game and yourself. Many of the formula and timing events are set if they are needed. Stamina, P.P.E and I.S.P regeneration rates defined as per Second are there so they can be applied in the most exact way possible in relation to the rules IF NEEDED. GMs and players should not be counting the seconds between fights to determine their exact Stamina rates, and a bit of rounding will not break the game, and rounding to a near 10 or 5 shouldn't be seen as a horrific event. Every player group should find a collective comfort level with the numbers and how to apply them.
The Basics - Terms and Definitions
Ranks and Level
The words Rank and Level appear often in this game, both are an indicator of experience and skill with a particular thing, weather their class, racial abilities, or skills. Every Rank or Level of an ability or skill increases it's effectiveness by the abilities indicated amount (i.e Skills gain +5% per Rank, 1 Level of a Class grants a Focus Point and any abilities and bonuses listed for that class). Some things require several ranks or Levels before improvement is gained, displayed as +1 per 5 Levels, or Gains +1 to Strike/5 Levels, both mean it gains +1 every 5th level (so levels 5, 10, 15, 20, etc). Things without a listed number of levels are assumed to advance every level. Always ignore level 1 when increasing, it is already factored into the listed starting amount. For example, a spell that gives +10 to P.S (+1 to P.S/1 Level), will give 10 P.S at level 1, 11 at Level 2, and so on. The two words do indicate different things, when the word "Level" is used, the ability has a cap, can cannot progress past Level 15 without something to allow it (sometimes a class will increase the allowed level for a WP, also, 'True Masters' of skill exist in the game, and with GM discretion, can be found and teach the characters how to break the cap for anything to an extent, such as a master warrior teaching a student, increasing Warrior Level Cap by +4). While Ranks mean the ability has no innate cut off point, and may be increased as far as the character desires. Keep in mind however, the experience cost to increase both Levels and ranks increases as it progresses, making it harder to increase past a point.
Turn Order and Ticks
Combat follows the Melee Grid (See Melee Grid, Page XXX), their actions spread across 15 Second Seconds known as a Round. At the start of Every Round, Resolve Initiative and Entering Combat conditions before the first turn begins. Every Second is considered 1 Second of time (thus every Round is 15 Seconds). At the Start of every Second, resolve any timing issues and effect Ticks. Ticks is a term for periodic damage, such as Wounds, which 'tick' every 3 Seconds (so on Seconds 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15, all characters suffer the effects of Wounds).
Buffs and Debuffs
All Characters should have a section of their character sheet devoted to recording and tracking their current buffs and debuffs. All buffs and debuffs have a name, and effects with the same name (even if they have differing abilities) cannot stack onto each other, if it is a debuff, the caster of the effect chooses which is replaced, if it is a buff, the target gets to choose. Buffs are always considered to be in control of the target, while debuffs are under the control of the Caster, Debuffs caused by the game are not controlled by anyone (Well, they are, but they're controlled by Tabo and good luck trying to get him to dispel them!). Characters may spend a Free Action during their turn to remove any Effect they control. Buffs and Debuffs are checked during application, and at the start of every Second for triggering effects.
Costs and Payment
Any ability which lists something as a Cost must be payed by the using Character. If the character cannot pay the cost in full, reduce all amounts possible, and then the ability has no effect, known as a Fizzle or Fizzling (Creative GMs may allow partial effects to occur). Abilities with a P.P.E Cost of 10, for example, the player must have 10 P.P.E available to them to use the ability. Similarly, a Character which must Pay 10 S.D.C for an ability must be able to reduce their Current S.D.C by 10 (if S.D.C is noted, not S.D.C/H.P, then ONLY S.D.C could be used for the payment). Costs cannot be reduced by abilities that do not specifically state them as a cost, and Costs are not considered Damage or Restoration. For Example, an ability that says "Pay 10 S.D.C and 5 Stamina" is not effected by abilities that would reduce Damage (Paying S.D.C isn't Damage), and an ability that would reduce Stamina reductions would be ignored when paying 5 Stamina. Only abilities which specifically state it reduces a Cost are applied.
Threshold Rule
Numbers and rolls cannot cross the 0 Threshold on any check or roll, regardless of offsetting bonuses or penalties. If an attack that deals 3D6 -10 Damage rolls a 7, it still deals 0 Damage (not -3). Similarly, an ability that makes a Character lose 1D4 - 2 Morale cannot gain Morale from the ability. Any ability which states it Ignores Threshold ignores this rule.
Negative Damage, Healing and Restoration
Restoration is considered Negative Damage values and anything that deals "Negative" damage some how instead adds the 'damage' to the targets health. Restoration and Restore are terms used to indicate that any additions made may not go beyond a stated Max. For example, a character with a Base of 100 S.D.C suffers 25 Damage (Thus putting them to 75 S.D.C), later has 50 S.D.C Restored from a spell. They then revert to 100 S.D.C, their Max since they cannot be Restored pasted a Maximum. However, if the ability would cause them to Gain 50 S.D.C, they would be placed to 125 S.D.C (They could still have their missing 25 Restored to them and put to 150). Healing that is turned Positive some how can deal damage, as long as it can bypass the Threshold Rule (see above).
Actions and Flow
Combat (and any event which requires exact timing) runs off the Melee Grid (See Turn Order and Ticks) based on the characters number of Actions. Actions is treated as a currency (i.e some abilities require them to "Pay 1 Action" showing how many of their turns must be sacrificed to preform an action. Actions are only completed after ALL of the spent actions have passed, at the end of the turn. If the character disrupts this by making any other payments that require actions, they must first abandon their initial action (lost actions are lost). However, abilities that are listed as a Free Action may be preformed without spending their turn or disrupting other actions.
Special Abilities and Grey Space
As should go without statement, all abilities given to a class, race, magic item or other randomness that counters the rules is correct on that class, race, etc. Special abilities are of course intended to provide exceptions to the rules and modifications to them. Any unclear statements to a player group are left for their GM and ruling body to choose the best alternative when no source can be found to solve the problem (weather a perceived balance problem or poor clarity of function), in addition the original writer will do his best to provide rules support (Questions and comments can be sent to cinos_42@yahoo.com)
Core Statistics
Attributes
All characters will have a listing for the 8 Core Attributes, Mental Intelligence, Mental Endurance, Mental Affinity, Physical Strength, Physical Endurance, Physical Prowess, Physical Movement, and Physical Beauty. Any time a characters attribute changes, any bonuses that attribute offers are instantly changed to match their new attribute. Characters without an attribute cannot interact with that attribute whatsoever. Meaning a Character without a Physical Beauty cannot be seen as Ugly or Attractive, no one is able to form an opinion for or against, generally for beings without a defined shape, or without a visible form entirely. Characters without a Physical Endurance score cannot be affected by Poison, Magic, have no stamina, H.P or similar. Beings without these attributes are generally limited to pseudo-magical beings, constructs and animated beings.
Health
Health is split into two types, S.D.C and H.P (Short for Structural Damage Capacity and Hit Points). Objects and non-living things or characters do not have H.P. When a character suffers damage, first deduct the damage from S.D.C, and then from H.P. When H.P is reduced to 0, the character enters a Coma and is unable to preform any actions, move, use skills or powers and is completely disabled. H.P may cross the Threshold and become a negative Value. Once reduced to a Negative equal or below the characters Base H.P, the Character is dead and cannot be healed. All Buffs and Debuffs remain active on a Coma Character, and all of their controlled effects remain active. Buffs and Debuffs are Dispelled when a Character dies, and all Controlled Effects are Removed.
All Races have a listed Natural Healing ability, indicating how much S.D.C or H.P they restore while resting. Races.s without this ability cannot restore health through rest.
Wounds
Many attacks can cause Wounds, and all characters should have a spot on their sheet to record their current total. Wounds deal 1 Physical Damage every 3 Seconds. Do not count duration ticks when the wound is applied, all wounds are checked at the same interval for all characters.
Stamina
Characters have a Stamina total equal to their P.E x 2. Stamina can be spent for special abilities given from any source which lists them as a cost. Characters may spend 1 Action and X Stamina, up to 5, to gain "Closing Wounds", a Physical Buff Effect, which lasts for 3 Seconds, reducing All Combat Rolls by 100% and removing X Wounds every Second before Wound Damage is dealt. Characters pay Spend 1 Action and X Stamina, up to 5, to gain "Power Draw", a Magic Buff Effect, which lasts for 3 Seconds, reducing All Combat Rolls by 100% and restores X P.P.E every Second. When Reduced to 50% or less of their Stamina total, the Character gains "Exhaustion", a Physical Debuff Effect which lasts until their Stamina is restored above 50%, reducing all Combat Bonuses by 25% and all Skills by 10%. When reduced to 25% or Less of Stamina, the Character gains "Fatigued", a Non-Dispellable Physical Debuff Effect, which lasts until their Stamina is Restored above 25%, reducing all Combat Bonuses by an extra 25% and All Skills by 15%. Characters restore 1D4 Stamina every 5 Seconds of Rest, 1 Stamina every 4 Rounds of Light Work (i.e walking an easy pace), and none for anything greater then that. GM's may decree characters being an event with less then Max Stamina based on events prior to combat / events (I.e character has been traveling the wilderness and is ambushed, the GM feels that since that the character has been struggling with walking through a forest, the character starts the fight with -10 Stamina).
Morale
Morale is the characters current reserve of Willpower and gumption, and the total is equal to M.E x 2. The Morale Stat may drop below 0. When Morale is above 0, Morale can be spent at any time before making a roll to gain +2 to any Combat Roll or Save for 1 Roll, or subtract -5% from the Base Roll of a Skill Check. When Morale is above 0, Morale can be spent at any time after making a roll, and being informed of Degree of Failure or Success to gain +1 to any Combat Roll or Save for 1 Roll, or subtract -2% from the Base Roll of a Skill Check.
If Morale is below 10% of the Characters Base, the Character gains "Depression", a Mental Debuff Effect which lasts until Morale is restored, gaining -5% to All Combat Rolls and Saves, -10% to All Skills for every 1 Morale under the Marker. If Morale is below 50% of the Characters Base, the Character gains an additional -5% to Save vs Insanity for every 1 Morale under the Marker. Characters may spend 1 Morale to restore 5% of their I.S.P Total as a Free Action.
Eldritch Energy
All characters begin the game with a Eldritch Energy (or E.E) amount, as listed with their Race. E.E is used to cast spells and some special abilities, but E.E does nothing on it's own, it is only a pool used for other abilities.
Sentient Energy
Some Characters have an Inner Sentient Energy (or S.E). These are used to pay for some powers, but by themselves, have no use.
Deific Energy
Some characters have Deific Energy (or D.E), which are used to pay for some special abilities, but have no innate worth.
Social Standing
Social Standing represents the characters general liking and influence within a particular area or group. Due to it's nature, this is kept very free form; the character may have Standing in Caer Itomas, but not in Shakanesa, or they could have standing with the Church of Light, or the Jassinaries, or the Kighfallen Military, just a particular band of thieves. Any group or location the character becomes known and liked in should have it's own Social Standing ranking. This level of standing begins at 0 for an Unknown or Neutrally liked person (No reason to stick their neck out, but no reason to make things harder for them), and Social Standing may become Negative from reductions (i.e hated by that group or location), and it has no inherent max. Characters should generally start with 50% of their MA and 25% of their PB for their Social Standing when inducted welcomed into a new group or area (this is again, at GM discretion, since some groups won't care, and some may be more cautious to outsiders, or some may be more welcoming and relaxed and willing to help). By itself, Social Standing does little, if anything, though GMs should use it as a gauge for how much the people generally like the person, and how well known they are (which can be good or bad, being high profile can lead to jealousy, usurpers of that position and outside enemies are more likely to target the high ranking and well loved people of a group). However, Social Standing acts like a form of currency and can be spent for favors from the group or area (Of course a specific group or person will need to 'loan' or 'gift' the items and thus, have it accessible to them, though this does not necessarily have to be RPed out, it is suggested players be made to be). Some example are;
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to take up to a 100 Gold Loan (this is a loan, and expected to be returned at some point, failure to do so would result in three times standing loss, or worse, such as collection agents).
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to gain 10 Gold (This is a gift, not expected to be repaid).
Characters may spend 1 Social Standing to increase 5% Public Speaking or Streetwise for 1 Check.
Characters may spend 10 Social Standing to gain an assistant (generally a low level character, weather a squire, street thug, etc, they are Level 1 with poor skills), every level the player wishes to add to the assistant, they must increase the cost by 100%. The assistant will remain for 2 Days, +1 Day per 25% Social Standing spent.
Of course, these are mostly examples for jumping off points, the use of Social Standing, and it's importance is up to the group as a whole, along with what can be gotten for it at any given time depending on the situation (of course, it's useless in the middle of no where, characters might not be able to call in money favors during hard financial times of the area, but may still get assistance in other-ways). Characters should also gain Social Standing over time, whenever they provide useful acts to the group or area. Successful mercenary jobs should provide around 1D4+1 for low key, 1D8+2 for valued jobs, +100% if they did them for free, helping a farmer raise his barn might garner 1-2 locally, while with a guild, bringing fame and notoriety, as well as time served to the guild (paying dues, etc) will grow it slowly. Formal and notable rank does not come with Social Standing innately, even leaders need to earn the trust of their followers and superiors before they can call in willing favors (though leaders can still threaten their subordinates of course), but the more high profile jobs do come with a modifier to Social Standing changes (simple things cause more standing, but so do mistakes), with a modifier based on their poison (minor land owning Lords may have a 25% change, House Heads may have a 100%, Emperors and Kings might have 500%). Keep in mind that Social Standing is largely reflective of Alignments, Good Aligned groups are more likely to look favorably on good acts and look down on crimes (i.e caught being bad will drop Social Standing, too far down and people will turn their nose on the character), Selfish Characters look better upon acts that help that character more specifically, and evil characters tend to enjoy acts which cause suffering, advance their plans or show great willpower / determination. Also bear in mind underground groups are likely to have an inverse relationship with say, the local militia, as one likes you, the other will dislike the character (if their actions are known of course), or helping the local guard will sour the characters relationship with the thief guilds of the town, helping one wizards guild may make a rival guild refuse to help the character (unless they switch payrolls and bring information about their rivals of course!).
While it has no max levels, Social Standing has a 'gauge', to give GMs and Players a logical jumping point of reference. Also, some tasks should develop to become "below" a person (i.e someone repeatedly doing the same task to help an area will fade into the background and that task simply be expected after a while, in effect, some less notable Social Standing actions should count for less or nothing after a while, for example, someone sings at a bar every night to generate Social Standing, after 2-3 weeks of singing every night, it stops being an unusual pleasure and just an expectation, GMs may even want to apply a negative to Social Standing for nights they miss).
-1,000 Social Standing: Kin killers and mass murderers, people you don't want to be around if you're not of like mind.
-200 Social Standing: Witch, necromancer and all sorts of black art practitioners are thrown into this lot, often even by criminal elements.
-100 Social Standing: A small crime boss or witch practitioner, someone not to be trusted and turned to the church if possible (Suspected Witches and necromancers are around here).
-50 Social Standing: In polite communities, someone who is a clear criminal, pick pocket, mugger or the like, in underworlds, a snitch (Most known Summoners are labeled this).
-25 Social Standing: Someone you'd expect to trade you up for a better reward if it came along, watch your coin purse around this one.
-10 Social Standing: An untrustworthy person, unreliable at best, generally a weirdo or foreigner.
10 Social Standing: Somewhat known, more of a "Yeah, he seems like a good guy."
25 Social Standing: Known in the area by at least some people (either 1-2 people of note, or a lot of villagers) as a useful and helpful person.
50 Social Standing: Known well in the area as a go to guy and problem solver, probably known by key individuals in a group.
100 Social Standing: Well known and liked, and able to find help whenever it's needed locally.
200 Social Standing: Very well known and liked, able to find free houses to stay in, rarely pays for meals or drinks and is known by all.
1,000 Social Standing: How don't you know this guy? Living in a cave are you?
Melee Timing
When combat begins, all combatants roll for Initiative. Initiative is found by each person finding <Initiative Bonus Total + 1D20 = Initiative Total>. All members then take actions in that order. If two or more members tie, these re-check to decide their placement amongst each other. Once turn order is established, combat moves on a grid based on each combatants melee Actions. Time progression in combat is fractured in two ways; The first is Melee Rounds, which is a 15 Second segment of time. At the end of every melee round (the declared end of the 15th Second of the round), all combatants lose their initiative placement, regain all spent actions. At the beginning of every Melee Round, all combatants check for Initiative as described above. These Rounds are split into 15 separate Seconds (Second 1 to Second 15), each being 1 Second in time. A Melee Cycle is the duration from the first person of the Second starts their turn, until the last person of the Second ends theirs. At the end of every Second, the game applies all in effect Damage over Time effects, checks all spell durations, and Exhaustion and other state based effects.
Below is the segments a person may act in based on their number of Actions. They may not alter these positions. Those with Actions in excess of 15 will take two actions on the remaining values (i.e those with 17 Actions will take two Actions on Second 1 and 15).
1 Melee Action: Second 1
2 Actions: Second 1 and 15
3 Actions: Second 1, 7 and 15
4 Actions: Seconds 1, 5, 10 and 15
5 Actions: Seconds 1, 4, 8, 11 and 15
6 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 7, 10, 13 and 15
7 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15
8 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15
9 Actions: Seconds 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15
10 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, and 15
11 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 15
12 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15
13 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15
14 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 13, 14 and 15
15 Actions: Seconds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15
If attackers attack from an ambush, Initiative is made as normal, but only the ambushers, and those who successfully detected at least one attacker may make an action during the first Second.