the hooligan’s OSR kind-of Table of Contents Page 1… Title, Art, and Table of Contents Page 2… Introduction; Rolling Dice; Attributes Page 3… Initiative; Damage and Critical Hits; Saving Throws and Skills Page 4… Fighting and Recovery Page 6… Fortune Page 7… Experience; Character Creation Base Page 8… Death and Resurrection Page 9… Character Class – Warrior Page 10… Character Class – Expert Page 11… Character Class – Sorcerer Page 12… Inventory and Encumbrance; Coin; Weapons Page 13… Shields and Armor Page 14… Food and Shelter; Light Sources and Light Dice Page 15… Livestock and Transport Page 16… Odds, Ends, and the Miscellaneous; Hirelings and Allies Page 17… Travel Page 19… Magic and True Names Page 20… Cantrips Page 21… Spells and Rituals Page 22… List of Spells Page 23… Appendix – Specific and Different Combat Scenarios Page 24… Appendix – Preparation for Cantrips and Rituals Page 25… Appendix – Changing Cantrips and Spells/Sorceries; Blood Magic; Fantastical Creatures Page 26… Appendix – Changing Knacks and Rogue-Knacks Page 27… Appendix – Firearms Options INTRODUCTION Welcome to my garbage hack-brew. Loosely based around Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures (my personal favorite OSR or OSR-like) with my own preferred modifications, houserules, and other aspects ripped from RPGs or well-received blogosphere posts. The beast has grown over time into something not at all the same, but my starting point is worth mentioning. It’s not super original, and it’s not going to revolutionize a damn thing, but it’s mine, it’s fun, and I like it. ROLLING DICE When making saves or tests/checks/skill rolls 1d20 is rolled looking to score under the appropriate Attribute. On opposed checks your attribute bonus acts as a penalty to your opponent (if your attribute “bonus,” is instead a penalty they gain it as a bonus). Simultaneous successes count as a tie or stalemate; feel free to roll again or roleplay the result as appropriate. Damage uses specific polyhedral dice depending on the weapon’s damage, the rolled number after adding appropriate scores subtracting from HP. The terms modifiers, bonuses, and penalties are often used interchangeably; that’s my bad but for the most part it all works out; you’ll know when it’s specific. ATTRIBUTES Strength – test strength when trying to do great physical feats of power or strength that lie outside your class’ typical expectations (see Skills section for more detail); it is also tested to attack opponents with physical/hand weapons (more in combat below). Agility – test dexterity when trying to do great feats of acrobatics, finesse, or stealth; it is also tested when avoiding harm such as dodging a blow (more in combat below). Constitution – test constitution to maintain stamina and resist poisons or other bad shit; it is also the character’s primary form of health. Intelligence – test intelligence when trying to solve riddles, decipher confusing texts, or remember distant details; the bonus is also added to the number of languages and—for spell-casters—the number of cantrips known (minimum one). Wisdom – test wisdom to instinctively find your way when lost and read someone to discover their intent or honesty; it is also tested to attack opponents with thrown or ranged weapons (more in combat below). Charisma – test charisma to impress a king’s steward, charm the innkeep’s daughter, or talk your way past the city-guard; the bonus or penalty is also added to the amount of hirelings a character can reasonably maintain, the base of which is four. ATTRIBUTE SCORE PENALTY OR BONUS 1-3 -3 4-5 -2 6-8 -1 9-11 0 12-14 +1 15-16 +2 17-19 +3 Attributes should be rolled (roll two different sets of 3d6 down-the-line and pick one for your character). Some GMs and parties may choose to roll differently; that’s up to them. Some classes provide two stats that may be re-rolled on character generation, but the second result must be accepted even if it is worse. Note the average human score is intended to be about 8 or 10 (some supernatural creatures might bonuses higher than PCs can reach, but stats themselves will always cap at 19). Someone can be below-average in an Attribute without it necessarily being the end of the world; there will be opportunities to improve on every single level-up, and remember that sometimes weaknesses are more engaging than strengths. INITIATIVE AND MARTIAL PROWESS Initiative determines the order in which characters attack. The score is not rolled, it is static; rolling with Initiative as a modifier should be saved for instances like quick-draw fights where comparing the flat numbers takes away any potential tension. Initiative it is the sum of character level, either wisdom bonus (if the character fights “instinctively,”) or intelligence bonus (if the character fights “cerebral,” as if trained to it), and your movement score (see armor section below). DAMAGE AND CRITICAL HITS Damage hurts. Upon receiving harm a character’s Constitution attribute is lowered by equivalent points. They may gain points back (1 per night of good rest) but cannot gain more in this fashion above their “resting,” Constitution. Characters hit may elect to halve the damage to Constitution, sending the other half to any of the other five attributes; to be determined by a random roll. When Constitution is reduced to zero (0), the character is dead; see below for further details on character death. Critical hits (natural 20s when fighting) double damage dice rolled. GM’s looking to make combat more forgiving or heroic-feeling should consider lesser foes (goblins, starving bandits, peasant levy, etc) out of the fight upon receiving a critical hit. Letting PCs narrate such results themselves/doing it with them could add to the enjoyment of fighters, blood-thirsty rogues, or wizards looking to prove themselves. SAVING THROWS AND SKILLS Saving throws and skills use the same mechanic: 1d20 rolling under the appropriate Attribute/Stat. Which aspect of the character is rolled depends on what they are resisting. Trying to dodge a dragon’s blast of fire? Dexterity sounds appropriate. Trying to defeat a sorcerer in a battle of wills? Sounds like intelligence if a puzzle and wisdom if a spell. Trying to resist a poison or walk-off a gut-stab when chasing a foe? Seems a constitution roll would serve. GM’s may modify the roll to represent difficulty, but a degree of variant difficult is already covered in this skill system. See below. Skills follow the mentality that the characters are competent adventurers and that their backgrounds matter. Trying to do something like climb a wall, ride a horse, or swim across a river are things that an adventurer can be expected to do; only when particularly difficult situations modify those tasks should a roll be considered. The need to roll in itself shows that the task is harder or more impactful to the plot for an adventurer than usual. Inherent danger of their lifestyle aside, your PCs are usually expected to be pretty cool or above-average; “basic adventuring,” shouldn’t be difficult for them. Narrate it. What’s more, it is expected that a character’s class gives them certain things they’re bound to be good at; it increases the threshold of what’s needed for a roll. A tough-guy warrior trying to kick in a door? Well unless it’s been locked and barred that sounds easy enough, succeed. He can do all sorts of strong things, but something extreme like bending a prison’s bars with his bare hands should require a test. A rogue who takes pride in his thievery and sneakiness? Some basic pick-pocketing, climbing of buildings or city walls, or stealthily maneuvering through a city crowd shouldn’t need to be rolled, but stealing off the person of a guard actively watching out for his pockets will be hard and should be checked. Same goes with scholarly-wizard-types trying to identify a potion or read an ancient inscription; if their class history includes learning things like that it shouldn’t require a roll unless the information is somehow coded, particularly worn off, or maybe even intentionally hidden. Identifying a spell or trying to analyze it for weakness is the same: any wizard worth his books can look at a sorcery’s “formula,” though ancient or unheard-of magics would give him a hard time and thus require a roll. The above examples all show how your character’s class gives a natural suite of abilities (and how you can do very challenging—and more importantly, impactful—things still covered by your class with a dice roll), but what about trying to do things that fall outside the talent jurisdiction? A tricksy ranging rogue might be able to sneak past the watchful guards, but what about her gangling wizard companion who’s all awkward elbows? Or the proud knight in heavy clinking maille who doesn’t like skulking? Pick a relevant Attribute and roll 1d20 with the aim of hitting your appropriate score or below. Finally, there’s things your character background should allow you to do. Did your character grow up in a fishing village on an active river? Then it turns out you know how to do boat things! Grow up in the mountains? You’re probably good at climbing. Character backgrounds give “assumed knowledge,” and knacks. With that being said, players trying to string together a nonsensical or “mix-maxed,” backstory to justify being able to do everything should be politely told to stop. Another aspect regarding skills: the times they must be rolled, preparing ahead of time for the event with appropriate gear, assistance, and training offers bonuses.