Adventure Forge
A Role Playing Game by
Stephen Gordon
1 Adventure Forge RPG
© Copyright 2009 by Stephen T. Gordon. Some rights reserved.
Reproduction for personal, non-commercial use is permitted.
2 ADVENTURE FORGE
Part 1: The Player's Guide
INTRODUCTION
The year is 650 A.D. Your father has united several tribes in southern Europe to become a popular and powerful warlord, but he now realizes that he will never live to become a king. He hopes that you will succeed where he has failed. You have trained since early childhood to be a powerful fighter. There are stronger men in your central European region of Rhaetia, but none come close to your martial skills in close combat. Your people see greatness in your future, but you have much to learn.
Your best friend has trained alongside you for as long as you can remember. He is a berserker. His gift is blazing speed. In the time it takes for you to kill one adversary, he can do moderate damage to three. The two of you would happily venture forth alone into the world seeking adventure, but wisdom demands that your party include two more members: a monk so skilled at healing that he can treat injuries in the midst of combat, and the best marksman in the community - a ranged warrior who must be protected from close combat but who can deal out serious damage from a distance.
The next few years are critical. Your party must gain battle experience, knowledge, and wisdom. You must build reputations as formidable and powerful men. You must gather wealth. Accomplish all this, and you will have the power to build a nation out of the ashes of the Roman Empire. A world of adventure awaits.
The World of Adventure Forge
Adventure Forge is set in Europe a century after Rome fell to Germanic invaders. Roman tyranny is dead, but so too is civilization. Much of what was known before is rotting away in musty books. Treasures lie dormant in forgotten ruins. There is no magic, but the idea of magic has overtaken the world as superstition has spread.
This setting is different in one major way from historical Europe. Small bands of Neanderthals have survived in remote places. They stay away from large groups. Their appearance is rare enough that people from larger towns are mostly unaware of their existence. The people who do know of them call them “brutes.” Occasionally they attack remote villages for food and weapons. They are powerful enemies individually, but they don't fight in a coordinated fashion like other humans.
3 Role Playing Games
The first modern role playing game (or RPG) was introduced in 1974 by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. Their game, Dungeons and Dragons, was published as a boxed set of three small booklets. Now in its 4th edition, the core rules of Dungeons and Dragons fill about a dozen hard back volumes plus many other supplements. Another RPG, the Hero System, tried to keep their core rules in a single volume. But at a phone-book-sized 592 pages, some players have joked that the 5th edition Hero manual is bullet-proof.
Those games are very fun, but I believe that many potential table-top role players are discouraged by the learning curve and expense of games that size. There is a place for smaller, inexpensive games like Adventure Forge. This game is an ideal RPG for young and novice players. It is a simple and complete system fully realized within this single short book. In creating Adventure Forge I assumed no prior RPG experience. Adventure Forge is easy to learn, but there is sufficient complexity to hold the interest of veteran RPG gamers.
What is a Role Playing Game?
Role Playing Games are different from other games in a couple of important ways. Most games have clear winners and clear losers. Players play in direct opposition to one another. What's good for the other player is bad for you, and vice-versa. Game theorists call such games - which include everything from checkers to football - zero sum games.
In contrast, RPG's are played cooperatively by players who control Player Characters (PC's) against Non- Playing Characters (NPC's) that are controlled by a Game Master (GM). But even the GM and the players are not in direct opposition. The GM's job is not to beat the players. The GM's job is to challenge the players sufficiently with scenarios, opposition, puzzles, traps, and plot twists to keep play fun and exciting. For a player, even the death of his character isn't necessarily defeat. In many RPG's there are ways to cheat death, but even when death can't be avoided a memorable end for a heroic character should be considered a victory. The player has helped create an epic tale. And the player can always create a new character and rejoin the adventure.
The second difference between RPG's and traditional games is demonstrated by the “my-character- wouldn't-do-that” test. If the phrase “my character wouldn't do that” could ever be logically spoken during a game, its a RPG. A RPG is an exercise of collaborative, improvisational theater. Instead of just having a token on a board, a RPG player has a role to play. He plays a character that might, if he chooses, have a significantly different personality from his own.
4 Kids have been playing primitive RPG's like Cops and Robbers as long as there have been kids. But modern RPG systems provide structure and rules that allow the outcome of a battle to be conclusively determined. You will never experience the interminable “I got you!” “No you didn't!” argument when playing Adventure Forge.
The Use of Masculine Pronouns
Throughout this book masculine pronouns such as “he” and “him”are used generically. This is not intended to be chauvinistic. Rather, I'm avoiding the awkwardness of saying “he or she” constantly. Male and female characters - and players - are completely equal in Adventure Forge.
What you will need to play
As part of my simple-is-better game building philosophy, I've tried to keep the materials necessary for playing Adventure Forge very basic:
• This book,
• Six sided dice (at least 3 per player),
• Ten sided dice (at least 2 per player),
• Sharpened pencils with erasers,
• A battle grid with 1-inch squares,
• A 12-inch ruler,
• Miniatures suitable for use on a battle grid with 1 inch squares,
• Square graph paper (¼ inch squares is great), and
• Plenty of character sheets (for both player characters and non-player characters), and
• An Adventure Forge game building form.
It is recommended that each player, including the GM, have 2 ten sided dice and 3 six sided dice. You may already have six sided dice, pencils, and a ruler around your house. The character sheets and Adventure Forge game building form can be photocopied from this book or downloaded from the Adventure Forge website: http://www.adventureforge.blogspot.com You can also download free printable graph paper.
5 A Quick Word on Dice Notation
Role playing games like Adventure Forge typically use more than one kind of die. Adventure Forge holds the types of dice used to 2: standard six sided dice, and ten sided dice. Other games use 4 sided, 8 sided, 12 sided, and 20 sided dice. When referring to dice, the convention in role playing and other hobby games is to use this notation:
1d6, or 2d10, or 2d6+1
Within the notation, the first number represents the number of dice you are meant to roll. The “d” stands for dice. The number after the “d” represents the sides of the dice. There might also be a + or – modifier number. If the GM instructs you to roll “2d6+1,” pick up two six sided dice, roll them, and then add one for the result.
Ten Sided Dice
For both game building and game playing Adventure Forge requires the generation of random numbers between 1-100. The most obvious way to do this is with two 10 sided dice. The two 10 sided dice need to be different from each other so that you can determine which die represents tens, and which die represents ones. Often ten sided dice are sold in pairs with one die having 10's on it, the other 1's. But different colored dice (perhaps green for tens, red for ones) work fine too. Practically any hobby store carries ten sided dice, and you can buy them cheaply online.
Because you are rolling for numbers between 1 and 100, rolling straight zeros is considered 100, not 0.
The Percentile Success Roll
Different RPG's have different dice for the basic success roll. D&D (and many other successors) use D20. 3d6 is another popular choice used by GURPS and many other systems. Adventure Forge uses 2d10 - percentile dice. One advantage of using 2d10 is that it is really easy to know the percentage likelihood of success or failure.
Assume, for example, that after adding in all modifiers a particular action has a difficulty of “25,” that means that player must roll 26 or higher to succeed. That roll has a 25% chance of failure, 75% chance of success.
Usually there will be modifiers. If an action has a base difficulty of 25, but the character has a trait that grants a +20, the chance of success shoots to 95%. 25 – 20 = 5. Any roll, 6 or better, would be a success.
6 The Battle Grid
Adventure Forge requires the use of a battle grid and miniatures or markers to represent the player characters and the non-player characters. The best solution is a dry erase battle-grid with one-inch squares where 1 square represents 5 square feet. The dry erase grid allows the GM to draw the layout of a room or terrain, and then quickly erase and prepare for the next scene as necessary. Having some kind of grid to play on is absolutely essential. It allows the player to see and interact with the environment.
There are many acceptable choices, but I can recommend the GameMastery Flip Mat from Paizo Publishing. At $13 its relatively cheap and sturdy. It handles dry erase markers well, so you can sketch and erase a battlefield map quickly. Find it at this website:
http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy83yx&source=search
Until you buy a battle grid, you can use a paper grid. A real low-tech solution is to tape together four pieces of typing paper, and draw horizontal and vertical lines an inch apart for your grid. Its easier though to download a graph paper pdf file from this website:
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/
Just specify what size grid you want – in this case one line per inch – and it will prepare a pdf for you to download. Print and tape together as many of those pages together as you like for your grid. If you sketch the play details lightly in pencil you can erase and reuse you paper grid for other encounters.
The GM can use the same graph paper website to print out smaller square graph paper for use in sketching out the encounters before game time. Specify 4 lines per inch.
Miniatures
Many RPG's make miniatures for use with a 1 inch square grid (25 mm scale). Ideally you'll have four miniatures that would represent the berserker, fighter, monk, and marksman and additional miniatures to represent adversaries. Dungeons and Dragons miniatures are the perfect scale for this, but they can be pricey. You could start by just using coins. The U.S. Quarter is the perfect size. You might tape an identifying piece of paper to the quarter. One young play-tester hot-glued a lego man to a quarter. It was actually a serviceable miniature. You might also try experimenting with chess or other game pieces.
7 Each square on the battle grid represents five square feet. So, moving or shooting a particular number of squares - in a straight line - represents a certain distance. Saying that the fighter can move 6 squares is the same as saying that he can move 30 feet. Measuring distance by counting squares only works properly when moving or shooting in a straight line on the battle grid – forward, backward, left, and right. Moving diagonally, or in any direction off-straight, destroys this distance measuring method.
The answer? Anytime you are dealing with off-straight movement or off-straight ranged attacks – measure. Keep a 12 inch ruler handy. The player determines the direction he wants to move or shoot, then he measures from the corner of the space he currently occupies that's nearest the space he's targeting – to the space he's targeting. Counting from that nearest corner, a given number of inches must break into the square that's being targeted. If the measurement is just short of the target square - or only touches the line of a target square - the target is one more inch away.
When measuring off-straight, there will be times that a particular square counts for more than one measurement. A square might be both 3 and 4 inches away. For purposes of moving to or making ranged attacks on such a square, assume the lessor measurement; in this case “3.” The next square farther out on that line is considered 5 squares away for both moving and ranged attacks.
The latest version of Dungeons & Dragons ignores the off-straight movement issue. PC's and NPC's just cover more ground when moving or shooting diagonally. If your GM thinks that measuring is too cumbersome, the group might try experimenting with this alternative rule.
CHARACTER ROLES
Characters in Adventure Forge play one of four roles: berserker, fighter, monk, and marksman. The abilities of each role are complemented by the other roles. An adventuring party is incomplete without a character filling each role.
The Berserker
The berserker is capable of hitting more than one enemy in a single turn, while moving. In this ability he is unique. The berserker can engage in close combat with as many characters as he can move adjacent to while moving at his fast speed – which initially is 8. The Berserker has a top movement speed of 12. All other characters, PC or NPC, have a top movement speed of 10.
If a berserker starts his turn adjacent to a character, he may strike that character and then move to another character, strike, move, and so on until he's moved 8 squares total. The berserker can continue attacking
8 until his movement is exhausted. Unlike the other character roles, the berserker does not grant an interrupt attack to any enemy he successfully hit within that turn. A successful hit is a “partial success” or better under the close attack chart.
A berserker can attack an individual enemy only once per turn. A berserker does not have to move between attacks if he is adjacent to more than one enemy. But there are tactical reasons why a berserker would never intentionally move adjacent to multiple enemies. This is explained in detail under “interrupt attacks” and “flanking” below.
The ability to cover so much of the battlefield and strike multiple enemies comes at a cost: the berserker inflicts ½ damage – rounded up to the nearest whole number. The order of figuring the damage is important. First, roll for success using the close combat chart found below. Second, roll the weapons dice to determine full damage. Third, divide that damage in half and round up to the nearest whole number. Lastly, subtract from that any protection the enemy's armor grants him.
For example, the berserker armed with a dagger (d6+2 weapon die) attacks an enemy with 1 armor and 0 dexterity. The success roll is 58. Add the berserker's 20 strength modifier for a success roll of 78. The success roll chart under “close combat” classifies that as success - 1 weapon die damage. The dagger's weapon die is d6+2. The player rolls 3 on the d6, so after adding the 2 the result is 5. The berserker does ½ damage. Half of 5 rounded up is 3. The enemy's armor reduces the damage by 1. So the enemy takes 2 hit points damage.
The berserker is particularly effective against large parties of low hit point characters. The berserker will normally be the fastest character in the party. His strength and toughness are second only to the fighter. A berserker also has a special ability to intimidate enemies. If the berserker has attacked two or fewer enemies during a turn, he can finish his turn with an intimidation attempt.
9 The Fighter
A fighter engages in close fighting with knives, swords, clubs, or - if he must - barehanded. Usually he is tougher, stronger, and has better armor than the other classes. The fighter is second only to the berserker in the ability to intimidate. As the leader of the group, the fighter has the special ability to “call out” an enemy. Calling out is an honor-based challenge. When successful, the target takes a penalty to attack anyone other than the fighter.
The fighter doesn't have a particular aptitude for ranged attacks (unless dexterity is chosen as a trait), but he can engage in ranged attacks.
The Marksman
A marksman is an expert at ranged combat. He has the fewest hit points of any role and his armor is usually less than the other characters, so he has to be protected. Fortunately he is very good at dodging attacks.
The amount of offensive damage the marksman can do is remarkable. For close attacks the marksman is limited to single-hand weapons like the dagger or short sword. The unwieldiness of two-handed weapons would detract from the marksman's ability to make ranged attacks and so he refuses to use them.
Also, the marksman is usually the best at both thievery and diplomacy.
10 The Monk
A monk's primary job is to keep the party in fighting shape. He is the only character that can heal during battle. Other characters can choose to have the medic trait, but medics heal after combat. The monk is also best at inspiring other party members to fight harder.
The monk can engage in both close and ranged attacks, but the monk has a religious aversion to shedding blood. Therefore he is limited to blunt weapons for close attack (such as the staff and club) and to non-piercing weapons like the sling or bolas for ranged attacks.
The Starting Role Powers
11 Adventure Forge Character Sheet
Player's Name: ______
Character's Name: ______
Character's Role: ______
Character's Background:______
______
______
Role Powers:
Armor: ____ HP: _____ Movement: ____ Heal: ____ Charisma: ______Strength: ______Dex: _____
Adventure Point(s): ______
Advanced Trait (usually +20): Weapons: Weapon Die
1)______1)______
2)______
3)______
Basic Traits (usually +10): Initially players are told by the GM what weapon they possess. After the first adventure players are permitted 1)______to purchase any weapons they can afford.
2)______XP Earned: ______
3)______Gold Pieces: ______
Flaw (usually -10): All characters possess the adventurer's kit: bed roll, fire starting implements, a torch, 2 weeks rations, water skin, 1)______utility knife, a tarp and a rope.
12 Creating a Player Character
Because the abilities of each of the roles are so complementary, every role - berserker, fighter, marksman, and monk – should be covered in every party. Ideally this would mean that your player group would have five people, the GM and four players. But, if your group has less players, the GM should probably allow allow a player to play more than one character.
Take a look at the Adventure Forge Character Sheet above. Every PC that's created will need one filled out by its player. Players should not skip the “Character's Background” section of the character sheet. While it is not essential to play, background adds to the role playing experience. It gives the player hooks on which to build a story for his warrior.
Once a player has decided which role he intends to play, he can quickly fill in the role powers section of the character's sheet with the initial role powers shown in the chart on page 11.
Next, the player will have to pick out one advanced trait, three basic traits, and a flaw (see below).
THE TRAITS
Traits can be advanced or basic. The general Adventure Forge rule is that an advanced trait grants +20, and a basic trait grants +10. But sometimes a trait can serve as a negative (-20 advanced, -10 basic) for an opponent.
When building their characters, its best for the players to work together. PC team members should have complementary traits and flaws.
In Adventure Forge there are eight standard traits: speed, perception, dexterity, strength, health, medic, charisma, and formidable.
Speed
The speed trait adds to the standard movement speed. If chosen as an advanced trait, the player gets +2 on his movement speed. Speed adds +1 on standard speed as a basic trait.
13 Perception
The five senses are combined into the “perception” trait. “perception” gives +20 as an advanced trait, and +10 as a basic trait. perception rolls are often made by the GM for the players when they ask if they can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel anything unusual. Depending upon the level of success of the perception roll – plus the perception trait modifier - the GM will then reveal details about the surroundings including sounds from adjacent rooms.
The difficulty of a perception roll depends upon the activity of the NPC's in the room or area that the PC's are about to enter. If the party is about to enter an area with adversaries and one member of the party makes a successful perception check, the entire party might get a +3 on the initiative roll at the start of the battle.
When preparing a trap or secret for a room, the GM should score the trap or secret from 10 (obvious) to 90 (very well hidden). A perception roll has to beat the trap's score or the secret's score in order to be perceived.
Dexterity
Dexterity is a measure of hand-eye coordination, balance, reflex, and agility. Dexterity grants +20 as an advanced trait, or +10 as a basic trait, to action rolls involving dexterity – most athletic feats and all ranged attacks. A character with dexterity also has a better chance of dodging both close and ranged attacks: -20 to an enemy's attack roll as an advanced trait, -10 to the enemy's attack as a basic trait.
Players should be sure to understand the distinction between the defensive benefit of dexterity and the defensive benefit of armor. Dexterity helps keep the character from being hit, Armor minimizes injury after a hit.
Strength
The strength trait grants +20 advanced or +10 basic to melee damage. Strength also grants +20 advanced, +10 basic to action rolls that should benefit from strength. If, for example, a character tries to bust down a door, strength should grant a benefit.
14 Health
The health trait grants +20 advanced or +10 basic to healing action rolls in that character's favor. Health is, therefore, a complementary trait with “medic” below. Health also penalizes the damage dealt to a character by poison or disease: -20 advanced or -10 basic. Record that negative number and that its related to poison and disease underneath the Damage Taken blank of the character sheet..
Medic
It is a very good idea for at least one character other than the monk to have the medic trait. The medic trait includes not only the knowledge and skills to be a healer, but all medical supplies necessary to do the work. Whatever the injury, the GM should assume that the medical supplies possessed by the medic are sufficient to the task. A medic does not need to use another trait slot for medical supplies.
A character who is not a monk and who does not have the medic trait can't heal.
It is more difficult for either the monk or a character with the medic trait to heal himself. Attempts to self-heal by any character gets a -10 modifier. Also, characters who are reduced to 0 or less hit points are considered unconscious and therefore cannot self-heal.
Charisma
Charisma is a character's force of personality. It includes a character's ability to inspire his allies, or engage in diplomacy with neutral parties.
Any character can use a standard action to attempt to inspire another player to fight harder. The charisma trait grants modifiers (+20 advanced, or +10 basic) for this attempt. Similarly, diplomacy is a standard action for which the charisma trait grants modifiers (+20 advanced, or +10 basic). See the “Diplomacy, Inspiration, and Intimidation Success Roll Chart” above.
Formidable
Just how frightening is your character to enemies? Formidable – as a role power or as trait – is a measure of this. As a trait formidable grants modifiers (+20 advanced, +10 basic) to intimidation rolls. See the “Diplomacy, Inspiration, and Intimidation Success Roll Chart” above.
15 FLAWS
Flaws are negative traits that give a -10 to action rolls that would be affected by that flaw. There are 7 standard flaws: slow, poor perception, weak, clumsy, poor health, uninspiring, nonthreatening, and unlucky
7 of these flaws is a direct counterpart of one of the eight standard traits:
slow - speed, poor perception – perception, weak – strength, clumsy – dexterity, \ poor health – health, uninspiring – charisma, nonthreatening – formidable.
The 9th flaw – unlucky – has no counterpart trait.
Each PC must have one flaw. A player cannot choose a flaw that is the direct opposite of a standard trait he is also choosing. It wouldn't be logical for a person to have, for example, health and poor health.
Slow
The slow flaw is -1 to movement. A fighter normally has a movement of 6. A slow fighter could move 5. If a slow fighter took two movement actions he could move a maximum of 10 squares instead of 12. A slow character is also a poor jumper. He takes a -10 to jump rolls.
Poor Perception
Perception encompasses all five senses. Poor perception gives a -10 penalty to perception rolls. This trait also reduces a character's ability to dodge attacks. This trait grants +10 to attacks made against the character.
Weak
Weak gives a -10 penalty on close attacks. Weak also penalizes -10 any action rolls that, in the GM's opinion, would benefit from strength - things like busting down a door or lifting debris.
16 Clumsy
A clumsy character is uncoordinated, has poor balance, reduced agility, and is a poor shot. He takes a -10 to hit on ranged attacks. As with poor perception, the clumsy trait reduces a character's ability to dodge attacks. This trait grants +10 to attacks made against the character.
Poor Health
The poor health flaw decreases healing action rolls in that character's favor by 10.
Uninspiring
An uninspiring character is socially awkward and is not the man to give a good pep-talk. He also wouldn't make the best diplomat. A character with this flaw takes a -10 on action rolls to inspire allies, or engage in diplomacy.
Nonthreatening
Characters with this flaw tend not to scare or discourage the enemy. A character with this flaw takes a -10 on action rolls to intimidate the enemy.
Unlucky
Taking this flaw costs the character his adventure points. An unlucky character gets no starting Adventure Points, and receives no Adventure Points in the course of the game. This flaw does not have a counterpart trait.
POSSESSIONS
Usually characters will possess only the adventurer's kit, weapons, armor, and treasures and other items they collect along the way. The GM will probably allow characters to carry anything that is not too heavy or awkward.
All characters possess an “Adventurer's Kit.” The items included in an Adventurer's Kit can vary based on what the GM will allow. A typical kit will include a bed roll, fire starting implements, a torch, 2 weeks rations, a water skin, a utility blade (which is not usually a useful weapon), a tarp, and a rope.
17 Weapons
XP Value Weapon Die Cost
Sling (ranged, 10) 10 d6 1 GP Atlatl (ranged, 10) 15 2d6-2 10 GP Bow (ranged, 15) 20 2d6+2 20 GP Battle Ax (close) 18 2d6-2 15 GP Long Sword (close) 20 2d6 30 GP Short Sword (close, single hand) 15 d6+3 25 GP Dagger (close, single hand) 10 d6+2 20 GP Club (close) 10 d6+2 10 GP Mace (close) 15 d6+5 12 GP Staff (close) 12 d6+3 11 GP Spear (close or ranged) 15 d6+3 10 GP Bolas 12 see chart 10 GP Bare hands 0 d6-3 (min1) n/a Throwing Rocks (ranged, 5) 0 d6-3 (min 1) n/a
Remember that all roles except the fighter have limits as to what weapons they can use. The berserker can't use ranged weapons. The marksman can use any ranged weapon, but can only used single handed close combat weapons like the short sword or the dagger. The monk can't used blades or piercing ranged weapons: the sling or bolas for ranged attacks and the club, mace, or staff for close combat.
The prices (in gold) listed in the above charts represent the costs of basic middle-of-the-road quality weapons. Better weapons exist and can be purchased. Doubling the price of any weapon buys a +1 on the attack die for any weapon (except, of course, “bare hands” or “throwing rocks”). Each level of improvement above that doubles the price again. For example, a long sword that does 2d6+2 damage can be purchased for 120 gp. That's 30 (the base price of a sword that does 2d6 damage) + 30 (to get 2d6+1) + 60 (to get 2d6+2).
The XP value of a weapon is used by the GM when arming NPC's. This will be covered in detail below in Part 2: The GM Guide.
The weapons that the player characters start with is dictated by the GM. When starting a new first level adventure, its a good idea for the GM to start the party with very basic equipment. The characters cannot purchase weapons because they have not yet found money on their adventures. Instead, this equipment is given to the heroes by the fighter's father. Usually the fighter and berserker get cloth armor and daggers. The monk gets a staff for close combat, a sling for ranged attacks, and no armor. The marksman gets an atlatl for ranged attacks and no armor. As the party finds treasure, they can upgrade their weapons and
18 armor. Every community of any size will have an armory where characters can buy new items and sell old items at ½ their original price.
Weapons and armor taken from fallen enemies can be kept or, to the extent that the GM allows the character to carry extra equipment, can be taken and sold.
Armor
Armor Cost XP Value Movement Dex
Cloth (1) 10 gp 10 XP 0 0 Leather (2) 40 gp 20 XP 0 0 Chain mail (3) 100 gp 30 XP -1 -5 Plate mail (4) 200 gp 40 XP -2 -10
The number in parenthesis after the armor type is the number of hit points damage that the armor absorbs per attack. If the monk is wearing leather armor (2) and takes a 5 HP hit, his damage is reduced by 2 hit points – he took 3 hit points of damage instead of 5. If he started with 20 hit points, he's now down to 17.
Brutes sometimes wear animal skins which function as a crude +1 armor. The cost of those skins is 0, but the XP value is the same as Cloth, 10 XP. Animal skin armor is available only to brutes, and animal skin is the only armor brutes can use.
All other types of armor are available to all non-brute characters. Heavier chain and plate mail can affect movement speed and dexterity. Movement is especially important to the berserker. Dexterity is especially important to the marksman. Movement and dexterity penalties do not apply to chain mail if the character has strength of 30 or better. Movement and dexterity penalties do not apply to plate mail if the character has 40 strength or better.
New armor doesn't supplement or work with old armor. For example, to upgrade from cloth armor to leather armor, a character should sell the old armor back to the arms merchant and buy the leather armor for 40 gp. All weapons and armor can be sold back to arms merchants for ½ their original cost.
19 ENCOUNTERS
Each scene in Adventure Forge is called an encounter. Encounters can be story encounters, combat encounters, or an encounter can have elements of both. A story encounter might become a combat encounter if, for example, diplomacy fails.
Initiative
When PC's and NPC's meet, an encounter begins – this could be a story encounter or a combat encounter. Story encounters move the plot along and are especially important for role playing. But when it becomes obvious that the encounter will involve combat, the GM should instruct the players to roll 2d10 for initiative to determine the initiative order.
Each player rolls 2d10 for their character, the GM rolls for the NPC's. Ties between PC party members are resolved by decision among the players. Ties between NPC's and PC's are resolved in favor of the PC's. Ties between NPC's are decided by the GM. Groups of identical NPC's share a single initiative roll. The turn order is from highest initiative to the lowest.
A character's movement speed can grant an initiative modifier. A character with a movement of 6 gets no modifier. A character with a movement speed of less than 6 (like a Brute) takes a -5 on initiative rolls for every speed increment less than 6. Every speed increment above 6 grants +5 initiative modifier. Since the top speed of most characters is 10, the maximum speed-granted initiative modifier (for any character other than the Berserker) is +20. Since the Berserker has a top speed of 12, his maximum speed-granted initiative modifier is +30.
For purposes of rolling initiative, a character's readiness for battle is even more important than speed. Readiness modifies the initiative roll as follows:
Initiative Modifier Table
Readiness ______Modifier
Sleeping -50 Intoxicated -20 Distracted -10 Normal 0 Heightened State of Readiness +10 Forewarned +20 Prepared Ambush +50
20 If a PC rolls for perception just prior to an ambush, he has a chance of sensing the danger. If any member of the party perceives an ambush in advance, then the ambushing party loses their initiative roll advantage for an ambush.
With the initiative modifier given to an ambush, there is a fair chance that every member of the ambushing party will be able to act before the targeted party can defend. This is potentially deadly.
Initiative example: a first level party of PC's comes into a room of sleeping enemy soldiers. The entire part is in a “heightened state of readiness.” For that they all get a +10 on initiative rolls. Most of the party has 6 movement, so they get no initiative modifier for that. The Berserker, however, gets an additional +10 on his initiative roll because he has 8 movement. The enemy party, who really should have posted a guard, all take -50 on the initiative roll because they are all asleep. So, that's +10 for the fighter, marksman, and monk, +20 for the berserker, and -50 for the entire enemy party. With any luck, all PC's will get to attack before the enemy can respond.
The Character Turn
Character turns are central to play in Adventure Forge. Each character's turn consists of an optional movement, an optional action, and sometimes small preparatory free actions. The player can choose to forgo taking an action in favor of a second movement. Or, the player can forgo movement in favor of a second action.
The GM should also allow, when necessary, small free actions that prepare the player for a standard action. If, for example, there is a spear lying on the floor between a PC and the enemy and the player wants to run up, grab the spear, and attack the enemy, the GM should allow it. The running is a simple movement action, picking up the spear is a free action that the GM should allow, and using the spear against the enemy is a normal attack.
There are five movement options in Adventure Forge: walk, jump, crawl, guarded move, and stand up/lay down. The standard actions are: ranged attack, close attack, heal, inspire, intimidate, diplomacy, perception, thievery, and calling out.
21 The consists of the following steps:
1. Player (or GM for an NPC) declares action
2. Typically the GM determines and announces any success modifier(s).
3. Player makes the success roll - 2d10 - applies success modifier(s) and determines whether a hit resulted.
4. If the action the PC was taking was potentially dangerous to himself – as where he was attempting to climb a cliff face – and the dice roll was a failure, examine the roll against the Dangerous Action Table and subtract hit points as indicated.
5. But, if the “to hit” die roll of step 3 was a success, the player (when applicable) rolls for damage to his adversary using the weapon die and then subtracts the armor damage modifier, if any.
Modifiers for standard actions are predetermined by the character's role powers, traits, weapons, and armor.
The Standard Actions
The standard actions are ranged attack, close attack, heal, diplomacy, inspiration, intimidation, perception, thievery, and calling out.
The Ranged Attack
A ranged attack has a base difficulty of 35 at point blank range. The difficulty of a ranged attack is decreased by the character's dexterity modifier. For the marksman, who has the dexterity of 30, a point blank shot is a near certainty. Any roll above 5 hits. Add 10 difficulty for every square further out up to the range of the weapon. If, for example, the marksman attempts a ranged attack with a weapon that has a max range of 10, he can't shoot a target that's 11 squares away on the battle grid. He can, however, target an enemy 5 squares away. Add 35 (point blank difficulty – that counts for the first square) + 40 (four more squares away). That's a base difficulty of 75. But, subtracting the marksman's dexterity bonus of 30 gives a modified difficulty of 45. Rolling better than that - 46 or higher - makes the shot.
The difficulty of both ranged and close attacks is raised by half of the target's character's dexterity modifier. So, if all the other factors in the above example remained the same, but the target had a dexterity of 20, the difficulty would be increased by 10. That's (35+40+10) – 30 = 55 difficulty. A roll of 56 or better would make the shot.
22 Once it is determined that the ranged attack was successful, simply roll the weapon die to determine damage. No success chart is needed for most ranged attacks. The one exception to that rule is bolas. Bolas rarely do damage to the target, but they can immobilize and knock the target prone for a period of time. How long the target is immobilized or prone is determined by the bolas success chart:
The Bolas Success Chart
Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. Tangled and prone until the end of the encounter, 5 HP damage 83-95 Great Success. Tangled and prone until the end of the encounter. 70-82 Success. Tangled and prone until the end of the acting character's next turn. 57-69 Min Success. Tangled & prone until the end of the target character's next turn. 35-56 Partial Success. Tangled until the end of the target's next turn 0-34 No effect
Bolas success is determined with the same 2d10 dice roll that determines whether the bolas hit. For example, the monk makes a bolas attack against an enemy with 0 dex that's 4 squares away. That's 35 base difficulty, plus 30 for three more squares away, minus 15 for the monk's dex. Since the enemy has no dexterity to dodge the attack, the difficulty is 50 (35+30-15=50). Rolling 51 or better makes the shot.
Let's say the monk rolls - after modifiers - 55. Because its higher than 50, he makes the shot. To determine what the effect of the attack, look at the bolas success chart with the same dice roll. According to the chart, 55 is a minimal success. The target is tangled and knocked prone until the end of the target's next turn.
“Tangled” means that the target's feet are tangled and that he can't move from his square. He could still make both close and ranged attacks. “Prone” means that the character falls to the ground. Any character in a prone position gets a -20 to be hit with ranged weapons, but takes a +20 to be hit with a close attack. If an enemy moves away from a prone character, the prone character does not get an interrupt attack. A prone character takes a -20 penalty for making any attack – close or ranged.
The Close Attack
A Close Attack is a hand-to-hand attack with a club, sword, knife, or even fists. A close attack is sometimes called melee combat. It is the primary mode of combat for the fighter, and the only mode of combat for the berserker. The success of a close attack depends on the following chart:
23 The Close Combat Success Chart
Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. 3X weapon die damage 83-95 Great Success. 2X weapon die damage 70-82 Success. Weapon die damage 57-69 Minimal Success. Weapon die minus 3, minimum 1. 44-56 Partial Success. 1 Hit Point damage. 31-43 No effect 19-30 Failure. Takes an interrupt attack. 6-18 Miserable Failure. Takes an interrupt attack with +10 to hit 5 or less Critical Failure. Takes an interrupt attack with +20 to hit.
The likelihood of success of any attack - close or ranged - is decreased by half of the target's dexterity modifier. The likelihood of success of a close combat attack is increased by the attacker's full strength modifier.
So, an enemy with a dexterity of 10 is engaged in close combat by the fighter with 30 strength. The fighter rolls 40. That counts as a roll of 65. That's 40 (the natural roll) - 5 (half of the target's dexterity) + 30 (the fighter's strength). According to the close combat success chart, this would count as a minimal success. “Weapon die minus 3, minimum 1.”
Heal
In order to heal the monk (or any character with the medic trait) must move adjacent to an injured character and roll 2d10:
Heal Success Chart
Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. 3d6 hit points restored 83-95 Great Success. 2d6 hit points restored 70-82 Success. D6 hit points restored 57-69 Minimal Success. d6 minus 3 minimum 1 healing. 44-56 Partial Success. 1 Hit Point restored. 31-43 No effect 19-30 Failure. 1 hit point damage 6-18 Miserable Failure. 3 hit points damage 5 or less Critical Failure. Patient dealt 5 hit points damage.
24 The chance of success of a healing roll is decreased by the number of hit points a patient is down – max 10. For example, a character with maximum hit points of 30 is down to 5 hit points. The chance of success of any healing roll to his benefit would be reduced by 10 (the maximum reduction) rather than 25 (the number of hit points he was actually down). If that character was reduced from a max of 30 to 25 hit points, the success of healing rolls in his favor would be reduced by 5 (the number of hit points he was down).
The chance of success of a healing roll is increased by the healing bonus. For example, if a monk who has a 30 bonus to heal attempts to heal a character who is down 10 hit points, and rolls a natural 65, then the success roll is counted as 85. That's 65 (natural roll) – 10 (amount of hit points the character is down) + 30 (monk's bonus) = 85. That's “great success” – the patient gets 2d6 hit points back – up to his maximum hit points. A character can never be healed above his maximum hit points.
Only the monk can heal during a battle. The monk is able to heal each character, including himself, only once per encounter. The monk can heal only once per turn. If the monk attempts healing, but is unsuccessful, he may attempt to heal the same character at a subsequent turn during the encounter.
All characters with the medic trait (including the monk) take a penalty of minus 10 to heal themselves. This penalty stacks with the hit-points-down penalty explained above. For example, the monk is down 15 hit points and chooses to self-heal during combat. A roll of 50 would count as 60. That's 50 (natural roll) – 10 (the maximum hit points down penalty) – 10 (the self-heal penalty) + 30 (the monk's healing bonus).
The monk will assist a medic in healing if the monk is conscious (being conscious requires having at least 1 hit point) and in a square that's adjacent to either the medic, or the patient, or both. When the monk assists, attempts to heal by medics get an additional +10 bonus on healing rolls - up to a maximum of the healing bonus of the monk. The monk will also assist in his own healing provided he is conscious. There is no self-heal penalty for the monk assisting in his own healing. It is only when the monk actually performs his own healing that the monk (and medics) take a minus 10 penalty.
Between encounters the monk and each character with the medic trait get one attempt to heal per hurt individual. If, for example, the fighter is reduced to 5 hit points by the end of the battle and the marksman is down to 8 hit points, then the monk and the medics can each attempt once to heal the fighter, and then the monk and the medics can each attempt once to heal the marksman. The monk, who may have healed the same character during the encounter, has a fresh opportunity to heal the injured character after the encounter.
25 Any PC that is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points falls unconscious and is dying. It is important to keep up with negative hit points because after the encounter is over all conscious healers - the monk and any medics - will have an opportunity to heal the downed character. If that character is not restored to at least 1 positive hit point after all the party's healers have attempted to heal him, then that PC dies.
Any NPC that is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points is either killed immediately or is rendered unconscious – victor's prerogative. A conquered NPC can be questioned if the monk and/or the party's medics manage to heal the NPC up to at least 1 positive hit point.
Members of the party without the medic trait cannot heal. Members of the party with the medic trait are usually presumed to possess the medical supplies they need to treat patients. The GM can change this if, for example, he would like to work a quest for a healing herb into the adventure.
If the character has at least 1 hit point, sleeping for the night restores 10 hit points, up to the character's maximum hit points. A night's rest is not possible if the characters are in an enemy stronghold. They must camp outside the stronghold or find lodging in a town. After a night's rest all the party's medics each get a fresh attempt to heal an injured party.
Diplomacy, Inspiration, and Intimidation
Any of the four roles can engage in diplomacy, inspiration, and intimidation. Charisma – as a role power or a trait – aids with diplomacy and inspiration. Characters that are formidable - via the role power or the trait – are aided with intimidation rolls. It is allowable for for a character without charisma to engage in diplomacy or inspiration. Character that are not formidable can try to intimidate. But such characters are acting without a roll bonus.
Inspiration, diplomacy, and intimidation are all standard actions. All three actions can affect multiple parties within the sound of the acting character's voice – 5 squares in all directions.
Inspiration lasts until the end of the encounter or until overridden by higher inspiration from another teammate or intimidation from the opposing party. Intimidation lasts until the end of the encounter or until overridden by inspiration from another member of the character's party. Diplomacy is permanent unless the party shows themselves (in the judgment of the GM and from the point of view of the NPC's) to be unworthy of the trust that the NPC's place in the party.
26 Inspiration and intimidation rolls are made by the player. If the player wants to engage in diplomacy, the GM will make the roll for him. The reason: the effect of diplomacy is often not obvious to the characters, so it should remain a secret to the players as well.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is a skill that is primarily used in story encounters to win friends and influence NPC's. Any attempts at diplomacy in the midst of combat takes a -30. The affect of diplomacy extends to the range of the diplomatic character's voice: 5 squares in any direction.
All characters may make one attempt per encounter to engage in diplomacy. Charisma aids in diplomacy action roll. The monk and the marksman have charisma naturally as a role power. The berserker and the fighter can be granted charisma as a standard trait.
To encourage role playing, a GM should consider granting a bonus (perhaps +10) for the diplomacy attempt to a player who says a unique diplomatic phrase that is entertaining or appropriate under the circumstances.
To see the effect of an diplomacy action roll, consult the “Inspiration, Diplomacy, and Intimidation Success Roll Chart” below.
Inspiration
Inspiration is a standard action that is used to motivate the team to fight harder. When successful, all teammates within the sound of the inspiring character's voice – 5 squares in all directions – will fight harder. Inspiration includes the inspiring character – he fights harder too. The effect lasts until the end of the encounter or until superseded by another teammate's higher inspiration roll, or by enemy intimidation.
New inspiration does not stack on old inspiration. And intimidation cancels out inspiration point-for- point, and vice-versa. For example, let's say that the party has been inspired +20 by the monk. Now the marksman tries to inspire the party too, but the effect would only be +10 to subsequent action rolls. Result: the team keeps the +20 inspiration. Only the max inspiration counts. The new inspiration does not stack, nor does it take away from the +20 inspiration.
27 Continuing the above example, an NPC who sees that the party is inspired attempts to intimidate. Imagine he successfully rolls to intimidate: the party takes 10 intimidation. That means that the PC's within 5 squares are now down to +10 inspiration. Intimidation cancels out inspiration point-for-point. Inspiration cancels intimidation point-for-point as well.
All characters may make one attempt per encounter to inspire the party. If a team member makes a low inspiration roll, there can be negative consequences. A poor inspiration roll operates the same as intimidation. All characters within 5 squares in any direction take a penalty to subsequent action rolls. Any previous inspiration is reduced point-for-point by the negative effect of a low inspiration roll.
Charisma aids in the inspiration success roll. Charisma is a character's force of personality – it helps with both inspiration and diplomacy success rolls. The fighter, the marksman, and the monk all have charisma naturally - as a role power. The berserker can be granted charisma as a standard trait.
Inspiration attempts must be made during a combat encounter. This means that at least one character – a team member or an NPC – must have made an attack before an inspiration attempt may be made.
To encourage role playing, a GM should consider granting a bonus (perhaps +10) for the inspiration attempt to a player who says a unique inspiring phrase that is entertaining or appropriate under the circumstances.
To see the effect of an inspiration action roll, consult the “Inspiration, Diplomacy, and Intimidation Success Roll Chart” below.
Intimidation
Intimidation is the mirror image of inspiration. But it is aimed, instead, at enemy characters. All enemies within the sound of the intimidating character's voice – 5 squares in all directions – are subject to the effect. Once intimidated enemy combatants take a negative to action rolls until the end of the encounter or until the effect is superseded by inspiration or by greater intimidation.
Intimidation is primarily the job of the berserker and the fighter. Both have formidable as a role power. The monk and marksman can be granted the formidable characteristic as a chosen trait.
28 Charisma serves as a defense to intimidation. The intimidation action roll is reduced by ½ the charisma score of a target character rounded up to the nearest whole number. If, for example, the fighter has three enemy soldiers within 5 squares of him and one of those soldiers has 20 charisma, then he rolls once for intimidation. The two enemies without charisma will probably be more greatly intimidated than the enemy that can subtract his ½ his charisma - 10 - from the fighter's intimidation roll.
Intimidation attempts must be made during a combat encounter. This means that at least one character – a team member or an NPC – must have made an attack before an intimidation attempt may be made.
To encourage role playing, a GM should consider granting a bonus (perhaps +10) for the intimidation attempt to a player who says a unique intimidating phrase that is entertaining or appropriate under the circumstances.
To see the effect of an intimidation action roll, consult the “Inspiration, Diplomacy, and intimidation Success Roll Chart” below.
29 Diplomacy, Inspiration, and Intimidation Success Roll Chart
Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. (Inspiration: Teammate gets +30 to hit) (Diplomacy: Formerly neutral NPC will do everything in their power to help the party including, if the players allow, join the party) (Intimidation: Enemy surrenders)
83-95 Great Success. (Inspiration: Teammate gets +20 to hit) (Diplomacy: A neutral party likes you very much and will tell you everything he knows. He will also contribute to your cause monetarily if he can.) (Intimidation: Enemy questions his motives and takes -20 to hit until the end of the encounter)
70-82 Success. (Inspiration: Teammate gets +10 to hit) (Diplomacy: A neutral party will tell you everything he knows of value.) (Intimidation: Enemy is discouraged. He takes -10 to hit until the end of the encounter)
57-69 Minimal Success. (Inspiration: Teammate gets +10 to hit on his next turn) (Diplomacy: neutral party will give you some information he has if it doesn't hurt or inconvenience him to do so.) (Intimidation: Enemy gets -10 to hit on his next turn)
44-56 Partial Success. (Inspiration: Teammate gets +5 to hit on his next turn) (Diplomacy: A neutral party will give you some basic information which may or may not be helpful – the “time of day” for example.) (Intimidation: Enemy gets - 5 to hit on his next turn)
31-43 Near Miss. No effect.
19-30 Failure (Inspiration: Teammate is -5 to hit on his next turn) (Diplomacy: A neutral party dislikes you and would like to contribute to your failure if he can – including lie to you.) (Intimidation: Enemy now encouraged and takes a +10 to hit on his next turn.)
6-18 Miserable Failure (Inspiration: Teammate is -10 on his next turn) (Diplomacy: A neutral party will attack you immediately.) (Intimidation: Enemy is confident. He takes +10 to hit until the end of the encounter)
5 or less Critical Failure. (Inspiration: Teammate is discouraged. He takes -10 to act until the end of the encounter) (Diplomacy: A formerly neutral party will attack immediately with a +10 to hit modifier for his first turn.) (Intimidation: Enemy is convinced that victory is at hand. He takes +20 to hit until the end of the encounter.)
30 Perception
Any time a party is about to enter a new environment - a room, a forest, a battlefield – its a good idea for at least one member of the party to scout out the situation. When a character states that they want to look around, the GM should secretly roll for perception. The player should not know how high the perception roll is. Instead, they should just be told by the GM what they perceived.
The success of the perception role is aided by the perception trait of the perceiving character.
Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. Perceives everything of consequence in the entire area. Can hear talking and understand words from adjacent room even if not listening at a door. If listening at a door will hear and understand whispering. 83-95 Great Success. Perceives everything of consequence in the entire area. Can hear shouting from adjacent room even if not listening at a door. If listening at a door can hear and understand words spoken at normal volume. 70-82 Success. Perceives everything of consequence within 6 squares (including secret doors and traps). Perceives hidden enemies throughout the entire area. If listening at a door will hear normal speech but will not be able to understand what is being said. 57-69 Minimal Success. Perceives everything of consequence within 3 squares. Perceives hidden enemies within 10 squares. If listening at a door will hear and understand shouting. 44-56 Partial Success. Perceives everything of consequence within adjacent squares. Perceives hidden enemies within 5 squares. If listening at a door will hear – but not understand – shouting. 43 or less Will only perceive what's blatantly obvious.
Thievery
The art of picking locks takes nimble fingers. All characters may attempt to pick a lock one time. If all characters fail, it should be assumed that the lock is beyond the thievery skills of your party. The party's best thief will usually be the marksman. Thievery attempts are aided by the character's dexterity, and the marksman starts with 30 Dex.
When preparing an adventure, a GM should ask three things about all doors or treasure chests: Is it hidden? If so, how hard would it be to perceive? Is it locked? If so, how hard would it be to pick the lock? Is it a strong? How hard would it be to break into?
31 The difficulty for all three things about a door could be: 40 easy, 60 moderate, 80 hard. These difficulty scores should be decided before the characters approach the door or treasure chest.
Calling Out
If the fighter successfully calls out an enemy - an honor-based challenge - that enemy takes a - 20 to hit anyone else in the party EXCEPT the fighter for the rest of the encounter or until the fighter goes down.
This is valuable skill against a difficult adversary because it offers protection for the weaker members of the party. This ability always belongs solely to the leader of the party. It belongs initially to the fighter. If the fighter goes down, the berserker may assume this ability. The monk assumes this ability if both the fighter and the berserker go down. The marksman can never call out an enemy.
Calling out is an standard action that can take the place of an attack or a move. The base difficulty of successfully calling out an enemy is 50, plus the full charisma modifier of the target character, minus the formidable modifier of the challenger. Like intimidation, the affect of calling out an enemy extends the distance of the challenger's voice: 5 squares in any direction. Unlike intimidation, the target of calling out is a specific enemy chosen by the player.
For example, a tough enemy with the charisma of 15 is located within five squares of a level 1 fighter. The difficulty of calling that enemy out is 45. That's 50 (base difficulty) + 15 (the enemy's charisma) – 20 (fighter's formidable role bonus) = 45. A roll of 46 or better is a success.
The called out enemy is fully aware of the restriction that being called out places on him. The GM doesn't have to make that NPC wonder aimlessly around the battlefield not knowing why his attacks aren't landing. The called out NPC knows that he has to engage the fighter or take a -20 penalty on action rolls against any other enemy.
Nonstandard Actions
Sometimes a player will want their character to do something that is not a standard action. To the extent that it is consistent with the story, and to the level of believability that the GM and players have been portraying, the GM should try to allow nonstandard actions. The GM should judge the success of nonstandard action using the following success table.
32 Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. 83-95 Great Success. 70-82 Success. 57-69 Minimal Success. 44-56 Partial Success. 31-43 No effect 19-30 Failure 6-18 Miserable Failure. 5 or less Critical Failure.
When allowing a nonstandard action the GM should ask:
1. Does the character possess a trait or role power that should, logically, make this action easier? If yes, then use that as a positive roll modifier. If more than one trait would help, the GM might halve the traits and then combine. Or he might develop a more sophisticated formula.
2. If this action is being done against an adversary, does that adversary possess a trait that would make this action harder? If yes, then use that as a negative roll modifier.
Critical success and critical failure are a matter of GM interpretation. A critical success might mean that an enemy is killed with a single blow, or that he is gravely injured and surrenders. A critical failure might be catastrophic to the character or to his party.
Dangerous Action Table
With most Adventure Forge actions a player rolls 2D10 and examines the dice once to see if the character was successful at a given task. If the action succeeds, then he'll usually roll a weapon die to determine damage. But if the action does not succeed, there is usually no negative consequence. But, if the attempted task is potentially dangerous to the character - like climbing a cliff - failure might mean that something bad happens to the character or his party. In such cases the GM should consult the low die roll against the “Dangerous Action” table to find out how bad that thing might be:
33 Action Roll + modifier Level of Injury
31 and above No injury 26-30 1 Hit point 21-25 3 Hit points 16-20 5 Hit points 11-15 7 Hit points 6-10 10 Hit points 5 or less 15 Hit points
Injury Affects Movement
“Bloodied” is defined as a loss of half or more of a character's hit points. Any character - PC or NPC - that's bloodied moves 2 less than full speed. A character with movement speed of 6 would move only 4. If that character chooses to use two movements in a turn, his max for that turn is 8, rather than 12. Being slowed can also affect a character's initiative roll. See initiative above.
Moving Through Occupied Squares
Each square represents 5 square feet. There is room, therefore, for a character to move through a teammate's square. He can not, however, end a turn within an teammate's square. If a character does not have enough squares of movement left to get beyond the teammate, he cannot enter the teammate's square.
No character may move through a conscious adversary's square because such an action would be opposed by the character within that square. This also means that a character cannot pass between two adjacent adversaries. A character cannot even pass between two adversaries that are adjacent to each other diagonally.
If there is a space between two adversaries, it is possible that a character could move between them. Such a movement would probably not be wise because it would grant two interrupt attacks – one to each adversary that the character is passing through.
34 Interrupt Attacks
An interrupt attack is a standard close attack with all the normal rules for hitting and damage that a PC or NPC may take outside of that character's normal turn.
An interrupt attack interrupts the event that triggered it. If a successful interrupt attack takes out its target, the triggering event never happens. If an interrupt attack is successful but doesn't take out its target, the target can continue its attack.
Events that trigger an interrupt attack
• If the character is adjacent to one enemy and attempts a ranged attack against another enemy, he grants an interrupt attack to the adjacent enemy. If an interrupt attack successfully lands, the difficulty of an interrupted ranged attack is increased by 20.
• If a character, PC or NPC, moves through a square that is adjacent - either diagonal or straight on - to an adversary, he will normally grant that adversary an interrupt attack (but see guarded move below). Moving to a square adjacent to an adversary does not grant an interrupt attack.
• If a character attempts to leave a square adjacent to an enemy who is not prone, dead, or unconscious, he normally grants that enemy an interrupt attack (but see guarded move below). This could mean the character is granting more than one interrupt attack if he's adjacent to more than one enemy.
• A failed close attack can sometimes result in an interrupt attack.
• If a flanked character attacks one of his flankers, the opposite flanker gets an opportunity attack. More on flanking below.
Guarded Move
One space per movement action can be a “guarded move.” A guarded move allows a character to avoid an interrupt attack while moving past an enemy on the diagonal, or (more often) when moving away from an enemy. A player can only guard against one enemy at a time while moving. So the player must choose which enemy he's guarding against. For example, the marksman finds himself adjacent to two
35 enemies and realizes he's about to be flanked. He moves away from both of them, but can guard against only one of them. He guards against the tougher looking of the two and will take an interrupt attack from the other enemy. After the interrupt attack the marksman can continuing moving away from the enemies.
When the player intends to use this ability he should announce it as he's moving the miniature. If he does not announce that he's using this ability the GM ought to assume he's not using a guarded move.
Fighters, marksman, monks, and all non-brute NPC's may elect for one space within their move action to be a guarded move. Every move a berserker makes is a guarded move. Brutes are not careful enough defensively to make guarded moves.
A flank prevents the use of a guarded move except by the Berserker. Every movement a berserker makes is a guarded move. Also, when the berserker moves away from enemies, no enemy he successfully hit that turn gets an interrupt attack. An exception is when the berserker is flanked.
Flanking
Flanking occurs when any character, NPC or PC, finds himself between two adversaries immediately adjacent to him on opposite sides. A flank can be either diagonal or straight on. Both flankers have to be conscious and in possession of a close attack weapon like a dagger, a sword, or a club.
Being flanked is a tough position both defensively and offensively. Defensively, the flanked character loses his dexterity defense to all potential attackers - close or ranged - whether they are part of the flank or not. The reason: its not possible to dodge blows coming from multiple, opposite directions. Offensively, when the flanked character attacks one of his flankers, he grants an interrupt attack to all adjacent enemies that are not the target of his attack. Lastly, if he attempts to move out of the flank, he grants interrupt attacks to both flankers.
The flanking rules are a little different for the berserker. A flanked berserker loses his dexterity defense (if he has one). The berserker does not grant an interrupt attack to one flanking character when he attacks the other provided he successfully attacks both flankers on the same turn. Lastly, if the berserker attempts to leave a flank he grants an interrupt attack to only one of the two adversaries that flank him – and the berserker gets to choose which one. Because of his speed a berserker normally doesn't grant an interrupt attack when moving away from enemies. A flanked berserker takes an interrupt attack from the enemy he's not watching as he moves out of the flank.
36 There are several ways to get out of a flank or aid a flanked ally. The most direct method is to kill or incapacitate one of the two flankers.
A flanked character - or his allies - may attempt to intimidate flankers out of taking an interrupt attack. Use the normal rules for intimidation.
Either the flanked character or an ally may attempt to push one of the flankers away. The flanked character is at a disadvantage for pushing because he doesn't have a running start.
Lastly, allies of the flanked character could attempt to inspire him to fight harder.
Pushing
A character may attempt to push an adversary out of his square. This action is most often used to aid a flanked ally or to push an enemy off a cliff or into other dangerous terrain. A character may not be pushed if there is a wall or other solid object immediately behind that character.
The pushing character may move up to his full movement distance before pushing the adversary. Double moving is not allowed (unless an adventure point is used) because a push is a standard action. If there is no running start – where the target is immediately adjacent to the pushing character at the start of the turn – the acting character takes a -10 on his push action roll. Pushing is a feat of strength. The strength modifier of the pushing character reduces the difficulty. The strength modifier of the target character increases the difficulty.
If, a fighter with +30 strength wants to push an enemy with a strength of 10. The total roll modifier would be +20. That's 30 for the fighter's strength, and minus 10 for the target's strength. A roll of 50 would be a “Success.”
37 Push Roll Result Description
96 or more Critical Success. Target pushed back 3 squares and falls prone. Acting character can either take target's former square or either of the two squares between the target's former position and the target's new position – player's choice. Additionally, target takes an attack. 83-95 Great Success. Target pushed back 3 squares and falls prone. Acting character can either take target's former square or either of the two squares between the target's former position and the target's new position – player's choice. 70-82 Success. Target pushed back 2 squares. Acting character can either take target's former square or move up one more square to be adjacent to the target's new position – player's choice. 57-69 Minimal Success. Target pushed back 1 square, acting character may take target's former square or stay where he is. 44-56 Partial Success. Target pushed back one square. 31-43 No effect 19-30 Failure. Acting character takes 1 hit point damage 6-18 Miserable Failure. Acting character takes 5 hit points damage and is knocked prone. 5 or less Critical Failure. Acting character takes 10 hit points damage and is knocked prone.
Movement of the pushing character AFTER the push is started – as where the pusher takes the former square of the one being pushed – does not grant an interrupt attack and its considered free movement. The player can move beyond his maximum limit for that turn. Movement of the character prior to the push – the running start – can grant an interrupt attack if the character passes through a square adjacent to another adversary.
Jumping
There are times in adventures where the hero has to jump over an obstacle (a vertical jump) or from one cliff to another (a horizontal jump). Jumping is considered a movement action. Instead of taking a normal movement, a character who intends to jump may get a running start of 1, 2, or 3 squares maximum prior to the obstacle over or across which he intends to jump.
38 Roll Vertical Jump Horizontal Jump
96 or more 6' 13' 83-95 5'6” 12' 70-82 5' 11' 57-69 4'6” 10' 44-56 4' 9' 31-43 3'6” 8' 19-30 3' 7' 6-18 2'6” 6' 5 or less Falls prone Falls prone
This jumping chart assumes a running start of 1, 2, or 3 squares prior to the jump. Jumping from a standstill reduces the jump by 6 inches Vertical or 1 foot Horizontal.
This jump chart contemplates “up to” distances. The player can always choose to jump lower (or less far) than their roll if they like. There's no over-jump penalty.
Some objects - like fences - can be vaulted over by grabbing the top and throwing the legs out sideways. A player can vault in this manner over an object that is 2 feet higher than his roll. For example, a roll of 45 – which would allow a 4 foot vertical jump - would allow vaulting over a 6 foot fence with a running start. When vaulting without a running start adds just 1 vertical foot. A character with a roll of 45 and no running start could vault over, maximum, a 5 foot obstacle.
Jumping is a feat of both strength and dexterity. A jumping character should add strength and dexterity scores, and divide them in ½, and round up to the nearest whole number, for the jump roll modifier.
For example, a first level fighter, monk, and marksman all get +15 on jump rolls (if none elected strength or dexterity as a feat). The fighter has +30 strength, and no dexterity. The marksman has +30 dexterity, but no strength. The monk has +15 strength, +15 dexterity. By comparison the berserker (who did not get additional strength or dexterity as a feat) is at a disadvantage on jumping, he would get a +10 on jump rolls because he has +20 strength and no dexterity.
Serious injury – where a character falls to ½ his total hit points or less - negatively affects jumping. Serious injury gives a -20 modifier for jumping.
39 Jump rolls are capped at 100. But capping should be applied only after the modifier for serious injury (if the character has a serious injury) is factored in. If, for example, a bloodied fighter rolls 90:
(90 roll – 20 serious injury modifier) + 15 strength modifier = 85 jump roll
Had the basic trait modifier been added in before the serious injury modifier, the 100 cap would have incorrectly applied and the jump roll would have been thought to be 80.
Crawling
This is just what it sounds like. The character is in a prone position and crawls forward on his stomach. Players should imagine this as the military crawl that soldiers use when under fire. A crawling character travels a max of ½ movement speed rounded up. A bloodied character crawls at ¼ full movement speed, rounded up, minimum one square per turn.
For example, a bloodied marksman (who's normal movement is 6), crawls at 2 squares per movemt. That's 6 divided by 4, rounded up. A bloodied character with the slow flaw might have a crawl speed of only 1 square per turn.
Any character in a prone position gets a -20 to be hit with ranged weapons, but takes a +20 to be hit with a close attack. If an enemy moves away from a prone character, the prone character does not get an interrupt attack. A prone character takes a -20 penalty for making any attack – close or ranged.
Laying Down / Standing Up
Getting down into the prone position or standing up from prone position is part of a move. Getting down counts for 1 square of movement. Getting up counts for 2 squares of movement. For example, if a prone fighter with movement of 6 is 6 squares away from the closest adjacent square to an enemy, then he will not be able to reach that enemy with a normal move. He could get up from prone, which counts for two squares, but he's still standing in the same square. He can move 4 additional squares, but he would still be one square short of a close attack.
40 Difficult Terrain
Difficult terrain is simply ground that is difficult to move through. The cause could be ice, thick underbrush, clutter, bodies or anything else the GM cares to come up with. Each square of difficult terrain takes two squares of movement to get through. A character cannot enter a new square of difficult terrain if he does not have at least two squares of movement left. Because he is at ½ speed, a crawling character would need 4 squares of movement left to enter a new square of difficult terrain.
Leveling Up
Each adversary that a party encounters will grant the party experience points (XP) when he's conquered. Experience points are divided equally among the members of the party. If, for example, an adversary is worth 100 points, upon victory each member of a 4 man party will receive 25 XP – regardless of how much or how little a particular character contributed.
As the XP accumulate, the party will move up in levels. The difficulty of the enemies and the richness of the treasures increase as the party levels up. The party advances together to the next level when each party member has the following number of experience points:
Level XP Required to Advance
1 0 2 500 3 1100 4 1800 5 2600 6 3500 7 4500 8 5600 9 6800 10 8100
The 10th Level is Legendary Warrior/King Status. Obtaining this level is the height of human accomplishment and the goal of all great heroes. A level 10 hero has the power to unite clans to create a nation out of the uncivilized wilderness.
41 Becoming a Better Warrior
As players gain experience at Adventure Forge, their combat tactics improve. But the characters improve as well. Character's can become more effective warriors in five ways: upgrading weapons and armor, earning completion points, earning movement speed, earning additional traits, and earning adventure points.
Upgrading Weapons and Armor
As gold is acquired characters are able to purchase better weapons and armor. Such purchases should be worked into the narrative of the adventure. If a character is in the middle of a dungeon, he might find a new weapon, but he can't buy a new weapon. Purchase of weapons will have to wait until he can get to a merchant.
Earning Completion Points
Upon reaching level 2 - and every level after that - each character gets 10 completion points. Completion points are traded one-for-one to enhance role power or chosen traits, two-for-one to add hit points, and ten-for-one to increase movement speed.
Completion points can not be used to grant new traits - they can only be used to enhance role powers and traits the character already possesses.
Earning Speed
As just stated, completion points can be traded for movement speed at a rate of ten-to-one. PC movement speed also increases by one upon reaching the 3rd, 5th, and 7th levels. Once a character reaches maximum movement speed (10 for the fighter, marksman, and the Monk; 12 for the berserker), that character can't get any faster. As compensation for not being able to get faster, a max movement PC would take 10 additional completion points above the normal completion points upon attaining a level that would grant additional speed (5th or 7th levels).
Please note that this is not a choice between movement or completion points. A character gets movement unless he's at maxed out. Once maxed out, he takes completion points instead of movement speed.
42 Earning New Traits
Players choose a new basic trait for their characters upon reaching the 4th level and again upon reaching the 8th level. These +10 traits are in addition to the regular 10 completion points that they get for graduating to a new level.
At level 3, players may trade one chosen trait for a different trait (advanced or basic) of the same point value. Since the opportunity to trade a trait only comes once - and for only one trait - it is very important to make a good decision about traits during character creation.
Better Warrior Chart
Level Completion Points Movement Additional Basic Trait
1 initial role powers and traits only 2 10 3 10 +1 may trade a trait 4 10 yes 5 10 +1 6 10 7 10 +1 8 10 yes 9 10 10 10
Better weapons and armor can be purchased any time the character has gold and access to a merchant.
Adventure Points
Every encounter the GM should choose an MVP - someone who's heroism or strategy was particularly evident and useful in that encounter. The GM should award an adventure point to that player. Adventure points can later be used by the player to get an additional turn at the end of their regular turn. This adventure point turn is the same as a standard turn – all the same movement and action rules apply.
Only one adventure point can be used per encounter. All players start the game with one adventure point.
If the player is ever reduced to 0 hit points, he loses all unused adventure points. When such a character is healed back to ½ his total hit points or greater, he earns a new adventure point.
43 Part 2: The Game Master's Guide
If you are a player only, you don't need to read further. Everything a player needs to know to get started playing the game can be found in Part 1. That said, there is no reason a player shouldn't read Part 2. There are no tricks to hide. A player's enjoyment of the game won't be affected by knowing how the GM creates and manages an adventure. And the more people who know how to GM the game, the better.
Creating NPC's
The primary function of the GM is to challenge the players. Puzzles, traps, and mysteries to solve are all part of this. But creating and controlling non-playing characters, NPC's, is the biggest part of the GM's job. Below is the NPC character sheet. Though there is a place for name and background on the sheet, sometimes the name might be something as generic as Henchman #4. Notice the other differences between the NPC character sheet and the PC character sheet. There are no role powers for NPC's. Health and medic traits are not available. And NPC's take no Flaws.
Forging Adversaries (XP Value)
The XP value of an adversary is an indicator of how tough he will be to conquer. So, as the requirement of XP per encounter goes up (see the chart below), the toughness of the enemies go up. NPC adventure points cost 20 XP / point, armor is 10 XP / point, movement speed above 6 spaces is 20 XP / 1 movement, all available NPC traits are 1 XP / point. The weapons are valued according to the weapon chart below. Let the NPC Character Sheet (below) be your guide.
How tough should an encounter be? It depends on the level:
Level Average XP / Enc. Max XP/Enc. Average gold / Enc.
1 300 450 50 gp 2 320 480 60 gp 3 340 510 80 gp 4 360 540 110 gp 5 380 570 150 gp 6 400 600 200 gp 7 420 630 260 gp 8 440 660 330 gp 9 460 690 410 gp 10 500 750 500 gp
44 As you can tell, even with this chart the GM has broad discretion. Decide as a GM how tough you want the encounter to be - as measured in XP points. Decide how many NPC's the encounter will have. Then allocate the XP Value among the NPC's.
NPC charisma can inspire other NPC's. The NPC formidable trait can be used to intimidate PC's. NPC's do not engage in diplomacy or call out PC's. The same weapons and armor that are available for PCs are also available for NPCs:
Weapon Chart
XP Value Weapon Die Cost
Sling (ranged, 10) 10 d6 1 GP Atlatl (ranged, 10) 15 2d6-2 10 GP Bow (ranged, 15) 20 2d6+2 20 GP Battle Ax (close) 18 2d6-2 15 GP Long Sword (close) 20 2d6 30 GP Short Sword (close, single hand) 15 d6+3 25 GP Dagger (close, single hand) 10 d6+2 20 GP Club (close) 10 d6+2 10 GP Mace (close) 15 d6+5 12 GP Staff (close) 12 d6+3 11 GP Spear (close or ranged) 15 d6+3 10 GP Bolas 12 see chart 10 GP Bare hands 0 d6-3 (min1) n/a Throwing Rocks (ranged, 5) 0 d6-3 (min 1) n/a
Instead of purchasing weapons for gold, the GM arms NPC's within the allotted XP budget. As with PC's improved weapons are also available for NPC's. Doubling the XP cost of any weapon buys a +1 on the attack die for any weapon (except, of course, “bare hands” or “throwing rocks”). Each level of improvement above that doubles the XP cost again. For example, a long sword that does 2d6+2 damage can be given to an NPC for 80 XP. That's 20 (the XP of a long sword that does 2d6 damage) + 20 (to get 2d6+1) + 40 (to get 2d6+2).
45 Adventure Forge NPC Character Sheet
Name: ______
Background:______
______
______
XP Column
Weapon: ______Weapon Die: ______
Weapon: ______Weapon Die: ______
Score:
Adventure Points: (20 XP / point): ______
Armor: (10 XP / point; max 4): ______
Hit points: (2 XP / point): ______
Movement: (20 XP / point above 6) ______
Dexterity: (1 XP / point) ______
Strength: (1 XP / point) ______
Charisma: (1 XP / point) ______
Formidable (1 XP / point) ______
Total Character XP Value: ______
46 Often (perhaps usually) a GM won't bother to fill out a full NPC character sheet for each NPC. A quick summary might suffice:
(6) 50 XP Minion Fighters
5 Hit Points (10 XP) 1 Armor (10 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 20 Strength (20 XP) Dagger (10 XP)(d6+2)
The first number in parenthesis is the number of identical NPC's this describes. This describes 6 minions. In Adventure Forge, a minion is an NPC constructed with an XP budget of 50 or less. This particular Minion build provides 10 hit points, basic armor, normal movement, 20 strength, and a dagger. The only traits available to an NPC are those listed on the NPC character sheet.
The Brute
At least once per adventure the GM should try to incorporate a Neanderthal or “brute” into the storyline. Brutes are not the movers and shakers of civilization. They try to avoid civilization. They don't fight in a careful or highly coordinated way, but they are known to gang up on individuals or small parties. Their motive for the attacks is usually food - they are cannibals. They also gather weapons from attacks. Coins are little more than shiny curiosities to brutes. They are sometimes held as slave-warriors by evil men.
Brutes are slower but stronger than the average human. Their default movement is 5, their default dexterity is -10, but they get a strength bonus of 20 naturally - no XP cost. They are tough: they get 5 hit points with no XP cost. They are intimidating: they have a formidable score equal to the berserker: 30. Because of their slowness, they get a -10 to their initiative roll. Any NPC, including a brute, can always be beefed up by adding movement speed, dexterity, or any other NPC bonus. It just costs XP. A brute can use a dagger or sword, and he can be outfitted in skins for +1 armor. For ranged attacks the brute is limited to throwing rocks. A bow or even a sling is too complicated for a brute.
47 Forging an Adventure
Adventure Forge includes 6 charts for story building: Settings, Thing A, Thing B, Opposition, Bad Action, and Action. When preparing an adventure, the GM will roll 2d10 for each of these story elements.
The charts are rolled as follows:
Setting + Thing A + Thing B Opposition + Bad Action Action + Thing A Action + Thing B
Once the GM has made these rolls he will have the beginnings of a story outline. He will take this outline and make 4-6 scenes. Here are the charts.
48 SETTINGS OPPOSITION 1-2 Tavern 1-2 Neanderthal 3-4 Keep 3-4 Rogue Religious Sect 5-6 Open Road 5-6 Rogue Spy 7-8 Forest 7-8 Arsonist 9-10 Monastery 9-10 Robber 11-12 Home of an old friend 11-12 Authoritarians 13-14 Ghost Town 13-14 Bad Guards 15-16 Abandoned Library 15-16 Thief 17-18 Guild School 17-18 Black Mailer 19-20 Secret Society 19-20 Bomber/Bomb 21-22 Warlord's Hall 21-22 Bounty hunter 23-24 Church 23-24 Brainwasher 25-26 Castaway 25-26 Pariah Brute 27-28 Pilgrimage 27-28 Cannibal 29-30 In the company of spies 29-30 Cat Burglar 31-32 Proto-University Campus 31-32 Conspiracy 33-34 Post-Apocalypse 33-34 Criminal Mastermind 35-36 Community Isolated by Disaster 35-36 Machiavellian Cutthroat 37-38 Isolated Fort 37-38 Rogue Military Force 39-40 Outlying province 39-40 Desperate Civilian 41-42 Prison 41-42 Natural Disaster 43-44 Desert 43-44 Doctor with God Complex 45-46 River 45-46 Doppelgänger 47-48 Brewery / Winery 47-48 Evil Apothecary 49-50 Farm 49-50 Embezzler 51-52 Siege - Defensive 51-52 Evil Knight 53-54 Siege - Offensive 53-54 Evil Magician 55-56 Estate of a Rich Patron 55-56 False Hero 57-58 Carnival 57-58 Fallen Hero 59-60 Factory 59-60 Pirate 61-62 Circus / Traveling Troop 61-62 Femme Fatale 63-64 Fair 63-64 Foreign Spies 65-66 Underworld 65-66 Greedy Heir 67-68 Holy Festival 67-68 Weapon Merchant 69-70 Underground 69-70 Mercenary 71-72 Viking Settlement 71-72 Terrorist 73-74 Pirate Ship or Pirate Stronghold 73-74 Hit man 75-76 Rome 75-76 Torturer 77-78 Ghost Town 77-78 Tragic Villain 79-80 Greece 79-80 Invaders 81-82 Army Camp 81-82 Assassin 83-84 Haunted House/Keep/Prison 83-84 Kidnapper 85-86 Transylvania 85-86 Traitor 87-88 Horse Stable 87-88 Vigilante 89-90 Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome) 89-90 Mad King 91-92 Remnant Neanderthal Region 91-92 Mad Alchemist 93-94 Castle 93-94 Early Organized Crime Boss 95-96 Lost Civilization 95-96 Master Race - Proto Nazis 97-98 Proto-Paris 97-98 Lycanthropic Villain 99-100 Lost 99-100 Wild Animals
49 Thing A Thing B 1. gold 51. alarm 1. boat 51. animal 2. answer 52. apparatus 2. approval 52. argument 3. armor 53. army 3. attack 53. attempt 4. authority 54. badge 4. bait 54. balance 5. horse 55. band 5. catapult 55. book 6. battle 56. bead 6. beast 56. beer 7. beggar 57. belief 7. bell 57. bite 8. blade 58. blood 8. blowgun 58. bridge 9. body 59. bomb 9. bone 59. book 10. border 60. bottle 10. bow arrow 60. box 11. bat 61. bridge 11. camp 61. cannon 12. canvas 62. carpenter 12. carriage 62. cast 13. cemetery 63. chance 13. chess 63. children 14. church 64. clock 14. club 64. coast 15. company 65. crate 15. priest 65. crook 16. crown 66. daughter 16. desert 66. discovery 17. disease 67. distance 17. doctor 67. education 18. engine 68. expert 18. eye 68. family 19. fang 69. farm 19. feast 69. field 20. fire 70. flight 20. fog 70. food 21. force 71. freedom 21. furniture 71. alley 22. galley 72. ghost 22. giants 72. glider 23. government 73. grain 23. guide 73. dagger 24. hall 74. hammer 24. heart 74. hill 25. history 75. hole 25. holiday 75. instrument 26. invention 76. iron 26. island 76. jail 27. jewel 77. journey 27. judge 77. justice 28. key 78. knife 28. knowledge 78. lake 29. lamp 79. land 29. language 79. letter 30. library 80. machine 30. magic 80. map 31. marble 81. mark 31. market 81. mask 32. metal 82. mine 32. mint 82. money 33. storm 83. moon 33. moor 83. mountain 34. music 84. nest 34. notebook 84. ocean 35. oil 85. silver 35. seal 85. ornament 36. owl 86. pain 36. guard 86. poison 37. prison 87. quicksand 37. rat 87. religion 38. revenge 88. reward 38. riddle 88. ring 39. river 89. scale 39. scarecrow 89. sceptre 40. school 90. science 40. servant 90. shop 41. slave 91. smoke 41. snake 91. spider 42. spy 92. star 42. station 92. steam 43. stranger 93. swamp 43. sword 93. system 44. table 94. tank 44. tax 94. territory 45. test 95. throne 45. wolf 95. title 46. trade 96. trail 46. train 96. tramp 47. vase 97. vessel 47. visitor 97. voyage 48. war 98. chair 48. water 98. wheel 49. whip 99. wilderness 49. wine 99. woman 50. work 100.worm 50. zombie 100.zoo
50
51 52 Using Dice Rolls to Forge an Adventure:
To prove that this method can be used to forge an adventure, I just made the following rolls:
100 (Setting) + 48 (Thing A) + 45 (Thing B)
73 (Opposition) + 55 (Bad Action)
91 (Action) +95 (Thing A)
75 (Action) +15 (Thing B)
Plugging the results into the template we get the following:
Lost + war + wolf
Hit man + kidnap
Take + throne
Save + priest
Using these six charts and the rolling template there are 2.5 quadrillion possible story rolls. Seriously, that's the number. Plus, there are many ways to interpret every roll. Here's how I interpreted the above roll to create a basic plot:
A close ally just lost a battle against a warlord who calls himself “The Wolf.” To add insult to injury, the Wolf has kidnapped the community's priest and has taken the oak chair that serves as your ally's throne. Both are community symbols of power. You ally offers you a huge award for the safe return of the priest and the throne.
Once you have a plot you'll want to divide the action into scenes: 4-6 combat encounters plus a couple of story encounters works well for most adventures.
Scene 1: Call of Alarm
The hero party gets word that the neighboring town is under attack. An injured messenger rides into town with the news. The enemy – Wolf Soldiers – are growing more powerful and more daring by the day. They must be dealt with.
There is no battle in this scene. This is a story encounter that is meant to set the stage. Good role players can have fun with these scenes and add color and detail from the point of view of their character. GM's should encourage this.
53 Scene 2: Ally's Town
The battle against your ally is over and the enemy has won. It was a quick raid made for the purpose of affecting morale. Most of the enemy is gone. But a straggling group of three Wolf Soldiers are still trying to burn part of your ally's town. You engage.
The average XP of a first level scene should be 300 (and the max for any one scene at this level is 600). Since this is the first scene of the first adventure, let's ease into it. I set XP at 200. I made two low level soldiers worth 50 XP, and one 100 XP soldier.
50 XP Minions (2) 100 XP Soldier (1):
5 Hit Points (10 XP) 10 Hit Points (20 XP) 1 Armor (10 XP) 2 Armor (20 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 20 Strength (20 XP) 30 Dexterity (30 XP) Dagger (10 XP) Bow and Arrow (20 XP) Dagger (10 XP)
Read: “As you enter the walled village you notice two burned out structures to the left. Numerous bodies litter the central courtyard. The battle is over and your ally has suffered serious losses. Three Wolf warriors remain throwing fire at the building on the left. Most of the survivors are holed up in the large keep directly ahead.”
On my crudely drawn map, the W's represent Wolf warriors. The two weaker Wolf Warriors are closer to the center of the courtyard. The X's represent stacked dead bodies - these squares are difficult terrain.
The players will probably choose to attack immediately. If so, roll for initiative and get the battle going. Since the Wolf Warriors are distracted, they take a -10 on initiative. If the players don't attack, the Wolf Warriors will. There is no chance for diplomacy.
54 Scene 4:
After the battle, the party will probably want to speak with the town warlord or perhaps even surviving Wolf Warriors. If they do they will learn that the main group of the enemy is already on the way to the Wolf lair with the captive priest and the captured throne. The town warlord knows this hideout is located somewhere to the south about a day's ride, but is unsure exactly where it is. Since the enemy is traveling as a large party with wagons, there can be easily tracked.
Scene 5:
The Wolf Clan has set up an ambush on the road close to their headquarters. The bad guys get a +50 on initiative unless the party does a successful perception check prior to their passing the first group of trees. XP is set at 400. There are 5 bad guys: one 100 XP marksman, 2 100 XP Fighters, and 2 50 XP Minions.
55 50 XP Minions (2) 100 XP Marksman (1): 100 XP Fighter (2)
5 Hit Points (10 XP) 10 Hit Points (20 XP) 15 Hit Points (30 XP) 1 Armor (10 XP) 2 Armor (20 XP) 2 Armor (20 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 20 Strength (20 XP) 30 Dexterity (30 XP) 30 Strength (30 XP) Dagger (10 XP) Bow and Arrow (20 XP) Sword (20 XP) Dagger (10 XP)
The 3 tougher warriors are hiding behind the rock. The two lessor warriors are located behind the tree and the brush. Upon questioning surviving warriors will reveal the hidden path to the Wolf Keep. The path can also be found with a successful perception check. Post battle, minimal success (57) on the perception check is good enough to find the path.
This scene is a good example of why it is important to have a number of potential adventures rolled and written up prior to a game session. Probably your players will find the secret path to the Wolf Warrior lair. But, if they don't, a good GM will be ready to allow the players to continue down the road and into a new adventure. A really good GM will improvise plot details in that other adventure that will give the party clues to return here later to finish the Wolf Warrior adventure.
56 Scene 6: Entering Wolf Keep
Wolf Keep is really a two room dungeon. The path to it is purposely obscured, and its entrance subtly carved from the wall of a cliff. It is made to be a covert hideout.
The first room of Wolf Keep is a battle of minions! The players will face a max number of low hit point bad guys. This is where the berserker will really shine. XP is set for 300.
50 XP Minions (6)
5 Hit Points (10 XP) 1 Armor (10 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 20 Strength (20 XP) Dagger (10 XP)
The first room is lit with torches hanging on the wall.
57 Scene 7: The Final Confrontation
After the battle the party will, no doubt, want to explore the door located on the right side of the far wall. After entering that door they'll encounter a hallway that apparently dead ends. Any perception roll made within the hallway that's better than 44 (after modifiers) reveals the secret door. Beyond that door is the final battle of this adventure. XP is set for 390.
The Wolf King (110XP) 2 Wolf Fighters (100 XP) 1 Neanderthal Brute (70)
15 Hit Points (30 XP) 15 Hit Points (30 XP) 20 Hit Points (30 XP) 2 Armor (10 XP) 2 Armor (20 XP) 0 Armor 6 Movement (0 XP) 6 Movement (0 XP) 5 Movement (0 XP) 20 Strength (20 XP) 30 Strength (30 XP) 40 Strength (20 XP) 20 Dexterity (20 XP) Sword (20 XP) Club (10 XP) Sword (20 XP) 0 Dex (10 XP) Sling (10 XP) 35 Formidable (5 XP) -10 Initiative roll
These four warriors can be positioned in the room however the GM thinks is best. Also in the room are the missing priest who's tied to the missing throne in the middle of the room. If the PC's win this battle they will be able to return the priest and throne to their ally and claim their prize – 100 gold pieces split among the members of the party.
The GM can set initiative for the final battle as he sees fit. Perhaps the Wolf King is caught completely unaware – arrogantly believing that no one will challenge his aggression. Or, perhaps he or his lieutenants heard the battle in the next room and has readied an ambush. See the section on “initiative” above for guidance.
Notice the brute build. A Brute gets 5 hit points free, this one has 15 more hit points for XP cost of 30. He has the normal slow Brute Speed: 5. He's extremely strong. A brute gets 20 strength naturally, this one has 40 strength at a cost of 20 XP. The default brute has -10 dexterity. This brute is not so clumsy. Getting him to 0 dexterity cost 10 XP. He's naturally formidable – no XP cost. The GM should probably have the brute attempt to intimidate as many of the party as possible early in the encounter.
As written, this entire “Wolf Soldier” adventure totaled 1285 XP. That's 321 XP for each of four players. One more similar adventure and a party of 4 could graduate to level 2. A GM would probably want to reduce the XP (and the difficulty) for a party less than 4 or increase it for larger parties.
When creating your own adventures, use the following form to help keep everything straight:
58 ADVENTURE FORGE WORKSHEET
Setting (______)+ Thing A (______)+ Thing B (______)
Opposition (______)+ Bad Action (______)
Action (______)+ Thing A (______)
Action (______)+ Thing B (______)
Party Level: ______Average XP/Combat Scene: ______Max XP/Scene:______
Average GP/Scene: ______
Die Roll Interpretation: ______
______
______
______
______
______
______
Scene 1: Set the Stage/Bridge from Last Adventure. Scene XP______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
59 Scene 2. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
Scene 3. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
Scene 3. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
______
Scene 5. Scene XP ______
______
______
60 ______
______
______
Scene 6. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
______
Scene 7. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
______
Scene 8. Scene XP ______
Scene Title: ______
______
______
______
______
61 More Adventures Will be Published Online
I encourage all GM's to use the Adventure Forge system to make their own games. But if you'd like to run a ready-made adventure written by other GM's, come to http://www.adventureforge.blogspot.com and check out adventures that I and other GM's have come up with.
If you've written an adventure that you are especially proud of, share it with us. If it passes muster, we will publish it for other Adventure Forge players.
Some Suggestions on GMing
1. DO treat the Adventure Forge game creation charts as inspirational tools. They are not meant to shackle you. If you have a good idea for an adventure, don't wait until you roll it! There are 2.5 quadrillion possibilities, remember? Write out your idea and play it.
2. DO try to give words from the game creation charts more than one meaning. For example, when I rolled “wolf” above I first thought about working the actual animal into the adventure. Then I decided to invent Wolf Soldiers.
3. If a certain Adventure Forge game generation roll is not inspiring you, DO feel free to roll again.
4. BUT, DO write down the roll and keep it for a second look later. Sometimes a roll that doesn't seem promising at all initially can become something great on second glance.
5. DO think of preparation as part of the game. Preparation can be and should be fun. If you, as GM, enjoy doing it, you'll probably end up with a notebook full of adventures for your player group.
6. DO be ready for the players to surprise you. If they want to go off on a tangent, let them. Quickly create (or have ready) a side adventure that leads them by a different route to the ultimate goal of the adventure.
7. DO allow other members of your group to try their hand at GMing and adventure writing. Take the chance to be a player. A good system might be to rotate GM duties among all the players.
That's the Game!
I'd like to wish all who play Adventure Forge a great time. Remember that the number 1 rule is to have fun. All other rules are secondary.
62