Character Actions

Narrow Skills
In Isekai a character can do (or at least try to do) anything at all without needing any rule or mechanic. If the action needs to be expressed as a die roll, however, the action will be treated as a Narrow Skill or as a Saving Throw.

A Narrow Skill is an abstraction representing a character's training and experience, and is measured in the number of dice which it adds to his die pool. (All values in Isekai are measured in dice.) Most actions can be made even if Bob has 0 dice in the Narrow Skill. Normally a relatively small number of Narrow Skills cover Bob's actions, but some campaigns may required additional skills.

Saving Throws
A Saving Throw is a Defense Roll representing a character's General Skills and Attributes. While they work in most respects like Narrow Skills, they use derived die values and cannot be improved directly.


 * Fortitude represents physical health and stamina and is also used for tests of strength.
 * Reflex represents alertness and dexterity and is also used for dodging attacks.
 * Will represents alertness and dexterity and is also used for morale checks.
 * Magic Save represents resistance to magical attacks.

General Skills and Attributes
In addition to his Narrow Skill dice, Bob's roll gets dice from 1 General Skill and 1 Attribute.

General Skills each contributes a number of dice representing a broader area of training and experience to a die pool.
 * Melee (MEE) represents training in close combat.
 * Missiles (MIS) represents training in throwing and ranged weapons.
 * Awareness (AWA) represents alertness to surroundings.
 * Athletics (ATH) represents training in physical prowess.
 * Magic (MAG) represents training is arcane arts.

All of Bob's abilities are measured by the number of dice which they add to his roll. Attributes and General Skills applie to a broad array of actions. For normal humans, General Skills range from 1 to 7 dice with 3 dice as the human average, and General Skills range from 1 to 9 dice.

Attributes
 * Muscles (MUS) contributes might and toughness to a die pool. Muscles is like strength and parts of constitution in other games.
 * Nerves (NER) contributes agility, quickness, and hand/eye coordination to a die pool. Nerves is like dexterity and parts of wisdom in other games.
 * Spirit (SPI) contributes intuition and luck to a die pool. SPI is used for magic and the supernatural.

Attributes are Muscles, Nerves and Spirit, and the sum of Bob's attribute dice is his Hit Points.


 * Muscles contributes strength and toughness to a die pool.
 * Nerves contributes agility, dexterity and hand/eye coordination to a die pool.
 * Spirit contributes intuition and luck to a die pool.

NPC’s can 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.

The Basic Die Pool
In theory a Narrow Skill or Saving Throw uses whatever 3 values from skills and Attributes best represent the situation, but in practice it is faster to use abstractions which are already defined. Still, if no Narrow Skill or Saving Throw adequately represents a character's action, and the action is not common enough to become a new Narrow Skill, an ad hoc selection of 3 values from General Skills and Attributes can form the die pool.

IDEA: Formalize More Limited Stats for Monsters

..... Minimum die poll ..... final die pool

Normal human Attributes range from 1 to 7 dice with 3 dice as the human average.

Speed: 5 feet times (5 + the median of STR, DEX, and Athletics)

Weapon Skills

Brawling: Unarmed combat. May use gauntlet or brass knuckles to increase damage. Dagger/Knife: a short, light, sharp weapon. Club: Includes all blunt weapons except short weapons. Sword: Includes all 1-handed blades larger than a dagger. Axe: Includes all 1 handed chopping weapons. Spear/Polearm (Melee): Includes both 1 and 2-handed pole-arms and lances. 2-Handed Weapons: Individual Narrow-Skills for Greatsword, Battle Axe, and Staff. Throwing: Includes rocks, throwing daggers, hatchets, and bombs. Missiles: Individual Narrow-Skills for Sling, Crossbow, Short Bow, and Firearms. Other Narrow Skills

Tracking (includes Hunting), [more?]

Bonus-Skills also represent specialized training, but they grant dice which are in addition to the basic die pool. In most other respects they are like Narrow-Skills.

Martial Arts is a bonus to unarmed attacks: roll STR + Melee + Brawling + Martial Arts. It also allows a bare-handed parry and riposte with a roll DEX + Melee + Martial Arts (Brawling is not included in this parry). Martial Arts dice cannot exceed Brawling dice.

This Page Becomes Active in Next World

Narrow Skills

For most actions Bob doesn't really need a Narrow Skill; he can roll using just the appropriate Attribute and General Skill dice. Narrow Skills represent additional specialized training. A few actions (eg. spells) are difficult or impossible without this specialized training. Normal human Narrow Skills can range from 0 to 12 dice. See below for discussion of individual Narrow Skills.

The Basic Die Pool
An action's Basic Die Pool is the total of up to 3 values from Attributes, General Skills, and Narrow Skills. The Basic Die Pool is usually the most relevant Attribute, the most relevant General Skill, and the appropriate Narrow Skill (if any), but some other combination may be used if that betters suits the situation.

Creative Die Pools

Any imaginable action can be resolved by rolling dice from 3 of Bob's Attributes, General Skills and Narrow Skills (normally 1 of each) against a die pool or threshold chosen by the GM.

Routine Die Pools

Deciding on a creative die pool usually requires thought and discussion with your players, so some routine die rolls are standardized to save time.


 * Melee attack: MUS + MEE + Narrow Skill.
 * Melee parry: NER + MEE + Narrow Skill.
 * Missile attack: NER + Missiles + Narrow Skill.
 * Magic spell: SPI + MAG + Narrow Skill.
 * Perception: SPI + AWA + Narrow Skill
 * Stealth: NER + AWA + Narrow Skill
 * Athletic action (moving, climbing, jumping etc.): MUS + NER + ATH
 * Lock-picking: NER + AWA + Narrow Skill of Lock Picking

Derived Values
 * Hit Points (HP) = MUS + NER + SPI.
 * Speed: 10' + 5' times the median of MUS, NER, and Athletics (reduced to not include movement in Maneuver Phase).

Questions: Should Bob's speed be doubled if he was already moving and not adjacent to a foe at the start of the round?

Saving Throws
 * Fortitude Save (also Strength Test): MUS + MUS + SPI (mostly the body, but requires some will.)
 * Reflex Save (also Dodging roll): NER + SPI + ATH (quickness, intuition and training)
 * Will Save: MUS + SPI + SPI (mostly the spirit, but requires some stamina)
 * Magic Save: Hit Points + SPI - Magic (Hit Points with a bonus for SPI > Magic)

The Final Die Pool
Bob's final die pool may also include dice for such things as as armor, spell effects, Bonus Skills 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.

Bonus Skills Bonus Skills also represent specialized training, but they grant dice which are in addition to the basic die pool. In most other respects they are like Narrow Skills.


 * Martial Arts is a bonus to all melee attack and parry rolls, but only unarmed attacks and parries get the full benefit of Martial Arts. Using any weapon reduces the Martial Arts contribution to the roll: weapons which are both light & blunt reduce Martial Arts by 1 die; light & sharp by 2: normal & blunt by 3; normal & sharp by 4; heavy & blunt (includes shield for parries only) by 5; heavy & sharp by 6. (These values are based on the increase in damage over unarmed; you can use them for any weapon with the same total damage adjustment as the listed type.) Martial Arts dice cannot exceed Brawling dice.


 * Riding: Riding dice are added as a bonus to actions performed from horseback, but only when those actions would logically be more likely to succeed from horseback (eg. melee combat with an appropriate weapon). They can also be used with STR and DEX to save against mishaps while on horseback.


 * Swimming: Anyone can try to swim by making an Athletics roll, but Swimming adds a bonus to that roll.

Narrow Skill Examples
While most actions do not require a narrow Skill, a few actions (eg. spells) are difficult or impossible without this specialized training. Melee weapon skills are used both for attacks and for parries. Available Narrow Skills can vary from campaign to campaign, so the list below is only an example. In addition all magic spells are treated as Narrow Skills.

Narrow Skills for 1-Handed Melee Weapons
 * Dagger/Knife: a short, light, sharp blade
 * Club/Mace: Includes most blunt weapons
 * Sword: Includes all blades larger than a dagger
 * Axe/Hammer

Narrow Skills for 2-Handed Melee Weapons
 * Greatsword
 * Staff

Narrow Skills for Other Weapons
 * Brawling: Unarmed combat
 * Spear: Includes both 1 and 2-handed use of spears
 * Throwing: Includes rocks, throwing daggers, hatchets, javelins, and bombs.
 * Sling
 * Bow
 * Firearms: Includes use of crossbows.

Non-Weapon Narrow Skills
 * Perception
 * Stealth
 * Tracking (includes Hunting)
 * Lock Picking
 * Disguise