Character Mechanics

Attributes and Skills
All character abilities are measured by the number of dice which they add to your roll.

Attributes
Normal human Attributes range from 1 to 7 dice with 3 dice as the human average. NPC’s have 3 additional Attributes: Intelligence, Morale, and Reaction. For social contests the player gets dice based on actions and roleplaying, and the NPC uses these Attributes to defend.


 * Muscles is like STR and parts of CON. It contributes strength and toughness to a die pool.
 * Nerves is like DEX and parts of WIS. It contributes agility, awareness and hand/eye coordination to a die pool.
 * Spirit refers to magic and the supernatural. It contributes intuition and luck to a die pool
 * Hit-Points is the total of Muscles + Nerves + Spirit.

General Skills
General Skills are Melee, Missiles, Athletics, Stealth, and Magic. Each applies to a broad array of actions. Normal human General Skills range from 1 to 8 dice.

Narrow-Skills
For most actions you don't need a Narrow Skill; you can roll using just the appropriate Attribute and General Skill dice. Narrow Skills represent more specialized training. A few actions are difficult or impossible without this specialized training. Normal human Narrow Skills can range from 0 to 12 dice.

What Narrow Skills exist can vary from campaign to campaign, but typical Narrow Skills are:
 * Individual weapon skills such as Swords, Pole Arms, Crossbows, or Firearms
 * Individual magical spells or similar powers.
 * Hand-to-hand, aka Brawling, aka Unarmed Combat (used for all weaponless combat)
 * Martial-Arts, Disguise, Lock Picking, Pitching aka Throwing, Riding, Swimming, Tracking, etc.

The Basic Die Pool
The Basic Die Pool consists of dice from 3 abilities (ie. Attributes, General Skills, and Narrow Skills. Use whichever abilities are most appropriate to your action. Your final die pool may also include dice for such things as as armor, spell effects, and environmental factors. Action and Defense Rolls get a minimum of 3 dice in their final die pool; thus you always have enough dice to take an action. Characters who are unconscious, bound, etc. cannot act, but still get 3 dice if for some reason a roll is needed.

Basic Die Pools For Standard Actions
If an action has an appropriate General Skill and an appropriate Narrow Skill then it is a Standard Action. Add the most appropriate Attribute and you have the formula for your roll. Examples are
 * Melee attack: Muscles + Melee + Narrow Skill.
 * Parry: Nerves + Melee + Narrow Skill.
 * Missile attack: Nerves + Missiles + Narrow Skill.
 * Magic spell: Spirit + Magic + the Narrow Skill for the spell being cast.
 * Swimming: Muscles + Athletics + the Narrow Skill of Swimming.

Basic Die Pools For Simple Actions
If an action has an appropriate General Skill but no appropriate Narrow Skill, then it is a Simple Action. Add the two most appropriate Attributes (or rarely one Attribute and a second General Skill and you have the formula for your roll. Examples are
 * Dodging roll: Nerves + Spirit + Athletics.
 * Athletics roll: Muscles + Nerves + Athletics; use for running, climbing, jumping, etc.
 * Stealth or Perception roll: Nerves + Spirit + Stealth.

Basic Die Pools For Other Actions
Attributes and skills can be combined in other ways, if that better represents the situation being resolved. However, you may never use more than 3 of your abilities to form your Basic Die Pool for an Action Roll, nor more than 2 for a Second Roll. (Your final die pool may also include dice for such things as as armor, spell effects, and environmental factors.)
 * Lock-picking roll: Nerves + Lock Picking + (no third ability)
 * Fortitude Save: Muscles + Muscles + Spirit
 * Reflex Save: Nerves + Nerves + Athletics
 * Will Save: Muscles + Spirit + Spirit
 * Strength Test: Muscles + Muscles + Muscles
 * Magic Save: Hit Points + Spirit - Magic

Damage and Recovery
Like abilities, Damage is measured in dice. Damage is the total of the below 4 values and is subtracted from Action and Defense Rolls (but not Second Rolls). The main difference between these different types of Damage is how rapidly they can be healed. Also, Wounds and LTD require a Healing Roll to be made.


 * Stun is momentary disorientation. All Stun is removed immediately after Action Rolls are made.
 * Fatigue is reduced by 1 die after each 10 minutes of rest or 30 minutes of very light activity (eg. unburdened walking).
 * Wounds get a Healing Roll each dawn. All LTD (and any Coma) must be healed before any Wounds can be healed.
 * Long-Term-Damage (LTD) gets a Healing Roll each week. Healing LTD requires rest in town or equivalent.

Healing Roll
13-Mar-22 The Healing Roll is [Hit Points reduced by Wounds+LTD] vs. [Wounds+LTD]. Success heals 1 Damage, 4 or more Victories heal 2 Damage.

First Aid
First Aid prevents infection. It can also change Wounds to Fatigue if a Healing Roll is successful. First Aid only works on Wounds not older than 1 hour. First Aid takes 10 minutes under normal conditions (bandages, clean water, etc.) Requires Healing Kit or successful use of Doctor's Ingredients (see Potions).

Conditions Needed for Healing
Recovery of Wounds and LTD require requires attention to injuries (fresh bandages, clean water, etc.), restful days, and ample food and sleep. Don’t count any day which includes combat, strenuous exercise, or damage taken. LTD recovery requires rest in town or equivalent.

Idea for Bleeding Out If you have at least 3 wounds (not LTD) then beginning with the 3rd round of unconsciousness, for every round that you are untreated, increase "wounds + LTD + bleeding out" by 1 die.

Unconsciousness and Coma
Recovery from Unconsciousness is rolled once per hour, beginning after all Fatigue is healed. Recovery from Coma is rolled each dawn, beginning after all LTD is healed and before any Wounds are healed.

Save vs. Death, Automatic Death
13-Mar-22 System Shock occurs when total Damage exceeds Hit-Points; you fall unconscious immediately and must make a System Shock rollon the table below at the end of the combat. Automatic death results when Wounds + LTD >= Hit Points.

The System Shock roll is [Hit Points reduced by Wounds+LTD] vs. [Wounds taken in this combat].

Increasing Abilities
To increase an ability you must pick your field of study before each session of play. At the end of that session you will receive experience points in that ability. When you have earned enough experience points in an ability, you get a permanent increase of 1 die. Narrow Skill cost is based on the number of dice to which the skill is being raised. Attribute and General Skill cost is based on the total value of all your Attributes or all your General Skills.