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. Most gear, preparation, and basic hireling assistance adds anywhere between +1 to +3 to your Attribute for the sake of the roll, though any bonuses beyond such should simply all cancel out and convert into advantage on the roll (2d20 and use the more favorable roll).

Finally, social skills: no GM should expect you to come up with a fresh-off-the-dome king’s speech when trying to persuade someone to do something, but that doesn’t mean the player is off the hook. At least describe a method for your persuasion. Do you want to appeal to a character’s pride with flattery? Lie to them about a loved one to convince them to come over to your side? Try to make them angry with low- key mockery in your persuasions? You don’t need to write a script—you don’t even need to do direct quotes—but you do need to give your GM a skeleton with which to base an NPC’s response at the absolute minimum. To the very least, describe the method of your oratory madness.

FIGHTING AND RECOVERY Most of us reading here know how to fight in RPGs, but each one has their own quirks.

Characters attacking with surprise automatically go first for that turn instead of using initiative order. When using initiative, highest goes first and so on.

On your turn, you can do a thing; this action will be resolved before the next one begins. You can talk while you do your thing, and move up to your speed (see armor for more detail) before, during, or after you do your thing; you may give up your thing to move twice, and you may give up your movement to do two things (not the same things). Things include attacking, casting a spell, helping a friend, climbing a tree, running for your life, and others; GMs don’t follow rules, they make rulings.. When fighting, you test the appropriate attribute: Strength for melee attacks and Wisdom for ranged. A successful test means a successful attack. With that in mind, big soft things that are easy to hit should give advantage on the test; on the same note things that are particularly hard to hit or harm should give disadvantage, but a GM is free to customize this modifier aspect as they choose. Shields and some off- hand weapons have a “Defense,” score which acts as a penalty to opponents attacking you.

Avoiding damage is appropriately simple: a successful Dexterity test means you avoid damage, parrying or dodging the blow as appropriate. A character can test to avoid damage once per round; fighting beyond your numbers is a fast way to a bad time. If a character focuses exclusively on defense and refuses to attack, they may test to avoid damage once per opponent.

Damage is done to Constitution. A character may elect to take half-damage to Constitution, sending the other half of damage to any of their attributes as determined by a random roll; fluff as appropriate. When your Constitution is reduced to zero (0), you die. Good rest recovers 1 attribute point per day (distributed to whichever attribute you like) but your stats cannot go above what they are when undamaged. Healing spells recover attribute points instead of HP. Armor has Damage Reduction instead of AC (see below).

Combat Maneuvers Shoving, tripping, disarming, and other such things. Make an attack roll with the foe’s Strength bonus as a penalty. If you fail, they get to hit you for free. If you succeed, you do the thing. Trying to destroy enemy equipment this way always acts at disadvantage, and a GM may rule that you’re open to reprisal whether you like it or not.

Dual-Wielding and Shield-Bash If attacking with two weapons, you surrender the Defense (which acts as a penalty to opponents attacking you, equivalent of AC score on shields/off-hand weapons) of whatever was in your off-hand on the round where you dual-wield attack. Eagle-eyed will notice this means you can ignore a shield’s Defense to strike with it as well and add to your damage; shield-bashing by design (see weapons for damage).

As for the actual attack, swinging with two weapons of the same damage die simply do the die+2 damage. An arming sword and hand-axe? Attacking together they do 1d6+2+strength as standard. If using two weapons of different die codes use the larger and add +1 to the damage. Dual-wielding can get you a little extra something, but you pay in protection. It is also a legitimate alternative for those with only one- handed weapons and an armored fist (1d4 damage).

Cavalry and Charging People on horses attacking people not on horses do so at advantage. Anything charging (spending their entire thing to move in a straight, uninterrupted line and attack a target) adds half their Constitution to damage. Big things hit harder, generally speaking. If you attack from the back of a charging mount, you use its Constitution instead of your own when calculating charge damage. This makes cavalry charges (advantage plus mount’s Con for sake of charge calculation) extremely dangerous; this is as intended.

Miscellaneous Damage Sources Adventurers, for some reason, have a bad relationship with heights. Falling causes the following damage: five feet is fine (0 HP), ten feet does 1d6, twenty feet does 3d6, thirty feet does 4d6, and any further usually results in death; 6d6 if the character insists on a roll. After all some people have fallen off massive heights and lived; it’s freaky but it can technically happen. Fire is another thing that often has a problem with adventurers (and a lot of the monsters they fight). Being set on fire from the following sources does their dice in damage per turn of burning: burning oil does 1d6, falling into a bonfire does 3d6, being burned at the stake does 4d6, and being caught in the middle of a firestorm does 6d6. Don’t find yourself in that last one.

Sneak-Killing and Executions Finally, there’s the matter of attacking foes who aren’t aware. This should, of course, be handled with appropriate narration. Trying to slash the throat of a sleeping sentry? Unless your character is an absolute dunce with no martial experience at all, they’re probably fine; wizards or less experienced bookish-types should have to make a dexterity test or something similar to make it happen.

The same can more or less be said for executing a foe incapable of defending itself, except it’s even easier if you can stomach it. Not every instance of violence needs to bust out the combat system; there are always going to be incidents that can be boiled down to narration, separate rolls, or even an off-the-cuff mini-game if the GM so desires.

Morale Tests People don’t often fight to the death. Morale is something oft-overlooked in modern games, but it’s an opportunity for roleplaying. When the party of bandits you were trying to negotiate with stops because you killed one of their guys, you can have a conversation again; this also gives chances for intelligent and cautious monsters; making those that do fight to the end (ex. undead) more frightening.

This system’s morale borrows from the best in this matter: B/X. Creatures have a score of 2 (the most cowardly) to 12 (fearless), but most fall in a range between 6-8. Morale is checked in two cases: after the first death of a fight and when half the opposition has been incapacitated. Roll higher than the foes’ morale on 2d6 and they halt and try to negotiate, retreat, or make a fighting withdrawal.

If they make both checks successfully, foes fight to the end; only extreme events or creative roleplay make them test a third time. Modifications to are minimal; extreme events won’t modify a roll beyond -3 to +3, and even the basic premise of “ha, we’re winning this fight anyway!” adds a modifier of +1.

FORTUNE Despite OSR-likes’ lack of outrageous over-the-top high-fantasy, heroes are still expected to have just a little bit of luck and exceptional ability. As such, the meta-currency of Fortune gives just a little bit of oompf where luck may be lacking. Most characters have three Fortune, but rogues have five. Fortune is recovered between adventures (or after a week of full R&R) and may be spent in the following ways:

Help a Friend – normally a character can only help an ally in a task (giving them anywhere between +1 to advantage on the roll; rolling 2d20 instead of 1d20 and choosing the most favorable roll) if their skill suite covers the task. Spending Fortune allows characters to give assistance to others even if they ordinarily could not, and guarantees it will grant advantage even if the help itself isn’t really much.

Lucky You! – a character may spend Fortune to gain advantage (roll 2 die, choose your favored result) on a roll; this decision to be spent MUST be made before the roll itself.

Pull Yourself Together – if afflicted with an illness or debilitating effect like terror or temporary blindness, a character may spend Fortune to automatically succeed in resisting the effects for a scene. This may also be used to take all the damage of an attack and put it on other attributes instead of Constitution; saving your life at the cost of limb. Nine Lives – in the direst of circumstances—and if your game goes for the kind of feel this alternative use of Fortune allows for—an optional rule is to let characters permanently lose a point of Fortune to survive a scenario where they would undoubtedly die. Maybe they’re bleeding out and have run out of Fortune to pull themselves together, maybe they’ve succumbed to a trap that can only kill; a character may, if the GM allows this rule, permanently remove a point of Fortune from their maximum to survive. Doing so will come with things like scars and debilitating effects; even the luckiest heroes don’t avoid the Dark Lady at no cost. What’s more, the amount of times this may be done is to be set by the GM if or when they allow for this option; allowing them to burn all their Fortune over time has diminishing returns, but it might make these characters feel too lucky or survivable for veterans of OSR games.

EXPERIENCE PCs gain experience (XP) by doing important things. If your game is focused on dungeon-crawling, they gain XP with loot (1 money=1 XP); if your game is about challenging monsters (incredibly dangerous!), then defeating powerful foes grants XP (OSR bestiaries give XP values; typically universal); if your game is about exploring then the GM should determine land-marks or mile-stones and grant XP as appropriate.

Speaking frankly for which loot counts, it’s loot your PC does things with other than keep. Want to bury or invest or even just throw away coins discovered in the dead king’s tomb? Do whatever you want with them, they still go toward your XP value. Want to keep the king’s legendary sword? It doesn’t go toward your XP, but its worth would if you sold it. What’s more, only your loot is your XP. If your 3-man party finds 1500 sp and divides it evenly, you each gain 500 XP.

Difficult challenges is not as easy to quantify. Monsters seem fairly simple enough: anything that presents extreme difficulty and risk to your party rewards XP (divided as appropriate) if defeated; this can mean killed, captured, or simply convinced to fuck off if it was dangerous or difficult enough to convince. Other challenges provided interesting variety and gulfs ripe for creativity. Does solving an incredibly intricate puzzle far quicker than you expected reward their cleverness with XP? This aspect is tricky and up to individual GMs; I cannot guarantee my own rulings will be entirely consistent in the heat of the moment.

Finally, exploration is simple enough. It usually includes pre-written or -planned adventures, and the GM will (or should) know when and where to reward XP; mile-stones are often particular places or events.

CHARACTER CREATION After (or before, if that’s your thing) you roll Attributes, pick a character class. There are three, described below (for those who feel the need, there are extrapolations on building race-classes and other basic classes in the Appendix at the end of this document). Every time a character levels up they have a chance to increase an Attribute: choose the Attribute you wish to raise and roll 3d6; if you roll over the stat, it permanently gains 1. Training montages are typically appropriate.

Extrapolate a background and what skills it would provide, then pick languages your character understands (1+ intelligence bonus; an additional 1 if the character’s origin includes formal schooling). This detail may be less important if your GM plans on the game taking place within a single county or kingdom, but can make a massive difference if there are plans for you to explore the world; double-check beforehand to avoid any issues.

Finally, spend your starting wealth on equipment atop that which you start with (even basic characters start with simple clothing and the basic equipment necessary for his class and skill-set unless the GM has cruel designs on your introduction; double check with them before writing your stuff down and thinking of it as actually yours).

All classes start with the following gear before applying their class-specific kit: twenty feet of rope, flint and tinder, a water flask and at least one pot, a bed-roll or favorite blanket, traveling clothes, a whet-stone, and some other stuff: miscellaneous gear may be agreed upon but only at the GM’s discretion.

Finally, all starting characters roll 8d6 sp to purchase other new starting gear. Characters that for some reason start above first level add 1d10 further sp per level beyond first.

DEATH AND RESURRECTION People die. Bad things happen. Depending on how your game is run, however, this need not be the end. The base game this is primarily built upon (Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures) has a method of resurrection; I wish to build on that concept.

Coming back from the dead is difficult and may not always work. After a great deal of power and time are dedicated to the proper ritual, the dead makes an Attribute check to determine whether or not they come through the split between life and death. Something will come through, but whether or not it’s the desired character depends on their roll. Those failed to be brought back are dead forever.

The eagle-eyed will note I did not specify which Attribute you test; that’s because it’s up to the player- character. Trying to out-smart the spirits guarding the gate back to life? Intelligence. Trying to return with the strength of your conviction? Depends on how you fluff “the strength of your conviction,” really. The options are only limited by your imagination, but be warned: whichever Attribute you test must lose at least one point via the soul die if Attribute points must be lost; see below for greater detail.

Something is always lost; life must be paid for somehow. When the character returns from the dead, they roll a “soul die,” a rough estimation of how much of them gets left behind in the struggle to return. Roll 1d4; the result is how many character levels are lost (to a minimum of 1, and the character may not be brought below level 1). If a level 1 character is brought back (or a character is brought down to level 1 with points from the soul die to spare), they instead lose the rolled 1d4 in Attribute points; they may chose which are taken away from and by how many, but the rolled number must be taken and the Attribute tested to return from the dead must lose at least one of the points.

For example, a character who rolls 4 might take 1 away from strength, 1 from intelligence, and 2 from charisma. A level 3 character who rolls a 4 would be reduced to level 1 and must still take 1 point away from any of their Attributes. This is obviously debilitating, as the dead do not give up souls easily; the powerful will always have more power to lose.

Botched resurrection spells increase the size of the soul die. The GM ultimately decides how much larger it gets, but as a rough guideline, I suggest the following. If the caster suffers a debilitating distraction, increase the die to 1d6 (or 1d8 if severely distracted or even harmed mid-ritual). If something incredibly powerful is fighting the character’s resurrection (but not quite powerful enough that the GM makes their resurrection its own quest) then the die might be increased to 1d8 or 1d10. Any larger than that and we reach the point where someone might question whether or not the character is worth being brought back, but these situations can conceivably stack (1d10 goes to 1d12 goes to 2d6 goes to 2d8 for the curious).

Characters who have permanently lost Fortune to avoid death in the past do not get that Fortune back upon resurrection. Luck is luck; it takes a different kind of magic to get that back. CHARACTER CLASS – WARRIOR, MAN-AT-ARMS, KNIGHT, FIGHTING MAN Many brave men and women win fortune and protect their homes by strength of arms; some are better at it than others. By either natural ability or training, these individuals excel at combat. They make for hardy travelers and stalwart companions be they brave knights, sharp-eyed archers, or vicious berserks.

When considering character background, status is important. Some societies place import on whether or not one is a thane’s guard, vagabond mercenary, or knight of the realm. It may be tempting to go with the option that makes you rich to start; GMs should consider starting knights being from lowly households or enforcing the social requirements of being nobility.

May re-roll Strength and/or Constitution on character creation. May wear any armor and use any weapon or shield without penalty.

Starting gear for fighters include a weapon (independent of Weapon Specialization’s free weapon below), armor appropriate to their archetype and current social standing, and some kind of animal: either a pack creature for carrying things or some kind of battle-mount if of appropriate background and wealth.

Weapon Specialization – all warriors have a favored weapon in which they are especially talented. Pick one weapon at first level: once per battle your character may both attack and deal damage with advantage, but must choose before the attack is made; any other time they benefit from a passive +2 to attack and damage rolls. A warrior begins the game with his favored weapon without charge.

Knacks – over the course of their careers warriors pick up tricks of the trade. This makes them even more dangerous. Pick one of the following knacks at first level and then every odd level (so 3, 5, 7, and 9). These talents may be chosen more than once, in which case their bonuses stack; unless otherwise noted. Kensai – may choose another Weapon Specialization; may only be taken twice. Defensive Fighter – +1 Defense when actively fighting; may only be taken thrice. Fleet – +1 Initiative. Hard to Put Down – +2 bonus to all saving throws; may only be taken twice. Killer Hands – for each take, increase unarmed damage by die size (1d6 to 1d8 to 1d10 and so on). Power Blow – +1 damage with all weapons. Toughness – +2 Damage Reduction; may not stack with armor, may only be taken twice.

LEVEL EXPERIENCE SPECIAL STUFF 1 0 Weapon Specialization, Knack 2 2,000 3 4,000 Knack 4 8,000 5 16,000 Knack 6 32,000 7 64,000 Knack 8 120,000 9 240,000 Knack 10 360,000 CHARACTER CLASS – EXPERT, ROGUE, RANGER, THIEF There are those who lack great skill at arms or knowledge of arcane arts yet bring valuable skills to a party of adventurers. These rogues are blessed individuals with a wide range of talents. They may be clever thieves, brave guerrillas of the wilderness, or savvy travelers.

This class more than most requires PC origins to determine the skill suite; is your character a tricksy street-rat, well-traveled pirate, wandering woodsman? Many skills overlap with these concepts, but others do not; be specific to know what falls within your wheelhouse; it could mean quite the difference.

May re-roll Dexterity and/or Charisma on character creation. May wear incidental, light, or medium armor and use both “non-specialized,” weapons (spears, daggers, basic swords and axes, and shorter hunting bows), incidental shields (usable by all classes), and simple shields without penalty.

Starting gear for rogues includes a weapon, armor appropriate to their archetype and social standing, and a sort of generic “adventurer’s kit,” with the basic necessities of what they do. A ranger of the woods might include things like map-making tools and camping gear, a city-dwelling antagonist might have skulduggery-oriented kit like lock-picks or disguises, and a pirate might have tools useful for taking enemy ships (like a rope and grapnel or boarding axe) or maintaining their own vessel.

Fortune’s Favor – rogues have luck beyond that of other men. They receive five Fortune Points instead of the typical three. What’s more, they may choose to spend Fortune on advantage after a roll is made (making it a re-roll instead of pure advantage) as opposed to other classes, who must choose whether or not to use Fortune beforehand.

Highly Skilled – as explored above, rogues tend to have a larger range of skills than the other classes; specific character backgrounds notwithstanding. Any time a rogue needs must roll, however, they have more practice than others: this results in a +2 bonus any time a rogue tests for a skill.

LEVEL EXPERIENCE SPECIAL STUFF 1 0 Fortune’s Favor, Highly Skilled 2 1,500 3 3,000 4 6,000 5 12,000 6 25,000 7 50,000 8 100,000 9 200,000 10 300,000

Rogues are meant to be easy to play and handle; most of their abilities are passive. This is intended in the writing. For more active rogues with knacks, see Appendix at the end of this document. CHARACTER CLASS – SORCERER, WIZARD, THEURGE, WARLOCK Few have the mental ability and fortitude to master the high art of the Power. Doing so takes study and discipline layered atop some natural talent. Magicians are characters who have chosen a difficult path of unpredictable and even dangerous thaumaturgy; be they academics, shamans and medicine-men, or priests studying the way of miracles.

Casters are the only characters capable of spellcraft. As such they have a range of powers other classes do not. They can fight but not well, and their specialties in knowledge and lore are to some degree determined by just how they came upon their magic in the first place. Just like with the warrior, being particularly knowledgeable comes with expectations; gotta watch out for those wizard college loans!

May re-roll Intelligence and/or Wisdom on character creation. May not wear medium or heavy armor, and may only use the most common weapons without penalty (staves, spears, knives, and sling-shots). This class may only use incidental shields without penalty to movement or agility. If a mage insists on wearing armor beyond their ability, it interferes with sorcery; roll 1d6 alongside the casting (1d8 or 10 if using heavy plate); meet/beating Defense means the spell goes as normal, otherwise is failure.

Starting gear for wizards includes a basic weapon, a set of robes, and a spell-book (a starter’s book is capable of holding twelve sorceries of the three types, with one page dedicated to a spell, two cantrips to a page, and two pages to a ritual).

Thaumaturgy – mages may harness the power of magic in three different ways: cantrips, spells, and rituals. A mage begins his career knowing two cantrips (plus intelligence modifier other cantrips), two spells, and a ritual. Every odd level after first (levels 3, 5, 7, and 9) the sorcerer may learn another spell (with appropriate montage) free of the usual costs; maybe they find a formula while delving. As implied, magics may be learned independently with time and effort as explored below in the magic section.

Sense Magic – being naturally sensitive to the supernatural, theurges may determine if a person, place, or thing is magical; they also have something of a sixth sense for determining where things are. During so requires concentration for a minute or so, though strong magical auras can be sensed without active focus; what’s more people tend to notice when a wizard is staring at something all funny-like.

LEVEL EXPERIENCE SPECIAL STUFF 1 0 Thaumaturgy, Sense Magic 2 2,500 3 5,000 Free Spell 4 10,000 5 20,000 Free Spell 6 40,000 7 80,000 Free Spell 8 150,000 9 300,000 Free Spell 10 450,000 COIN AND THINGS TO SPEND IT ON INVENTORY AND ENCUMBRANCE Before we really have a conversation about wealth, we need to talk about inventory. I keep things really simple. Characters have inventory slots equal to their constitution (I considered strength, but it’s more short-term bursts of muscle power). Only items carried on your person count toward this limit. Neither does basic clothing, provided it doesn’t give you a mechanical benefit. Items held in excess of your constitution grant 1 encumbrance point per inventory slot past your limit. Each encumbrance point imposes a -1 penalty to checks involving stealth, stamina, quick movement, and your AC.

Small items (5 scrolls, a quiver of arrows (and the twenty arrows that go inside of it), 3 or 4 bottles, a brace of 10 candles) can be bundled together to take 1 inventory slot per “batch.” Most items (shields, swords, spell-books) take up 1 inventory slot. Two-handed weapons, armor, or anything else especially large or cumbersome take up 2 inventory slots.

The first 3 inventory slots can be accessed instantly in combat (you choose what these three are ahead of time, a sort of “marching order,” for your pack). All other items are stored somewhere they cannot easily be gotten to and require time to retrieve (for simplicity’s sake, 1d4 rounds).

With 1-5 encumbrance points, you cannot travel quickly and moving at a “normal,” strategic pace tuckers you out. With 6-10 encumbrance points you cannot even travel at a normal pace; going slowly is tiring. Beyond 10 encumbrance points you might as well not move; even crawling exhausts you.

Certain creatures with a reputation for hauling a great many things (pack animals, experienced slaves, things of that nature) double their constitution score for the purposes of extrapolating inventory space.

COIN Most people who use money use silver coins. Coppers are used for most everyday purchases (10 copper to a silver) and gold is used for rich or bulk purchases (10 silver to a gold). Most people use small coins or none at all, bartering for what they need. Prices as listed below are approximations; local economics are complicated and are bound to vary depending on any number of seemingly silly things.

Because some people will ask, these prices are not quite equitable to our real-world expectations. A single copper piece may be comparable to a dollar (maybe in the seventies or eighties), but it’s not exact. I’m not an economist. Those groups with money-minded folk feel free to adjust costs if needed.

WEAPONS Any characters can use any weapon within their class limitations, but those are not very explicit. It’s up to the GM to enforce them strictly, as a character’s background might allow for specific kit.

Most weapons can be simplified to their die for ease; as such the list below is grouped based on damage.

DAMAGE DIE EXAMPLE WEAPONS (INCLUDES BUT NOT LIMITED TO) COST 1d4 Dagger, sling, light shield, wooden club, armored fist, torch 10 sp 1d6 Staff, mace, bow, sling-dart, arming sword, hand-axe, heavy shield 20 sp 1d8 Spear, longsword, battleaxe, longbow, crossbow, staff-sling, javelin/atlatl 40 sp 1d10 Halberd, great-sword, great-axe, lance, arbalest, pike, thrown spear 80 sp 1d12 Comically-oversized great-weapons, dragon’s talon, heavy arquebus 120 sp Unarmed hits and cast stones hit for 1d4+strength bonus, but lethal application needs a head- or throat- shot or coup-de-gras. Weapons at 1d8 may be used one-handed for 1d4; 1d10/12 cannot be used one- handed at all (except where appropriate; lances are one-handed but require a horse and proper couching, otherwise act as spears). Two-handed weapons cannot be used with a shield (except pike shields, as martial but exclusive to warriors), and light must be strapped to belts; torches are out of the question.

Arms this large are troublesome in tight places; appropriate 1d8, 1d10, and especially 1d12 weapons attack on disadvantage in tight-enough spaces as decided by the GM. Weapon Specialization “attack with advantage,” may be used to cancel this into a neutral attack. Keep in mind that thrusting weapons should not suffer from this if used correctly (read: poke the pointy end down-tunnel).

Bows, arrows, and 1d6 slings need ammo; all cost 1 sp for 20 ammo. This is conveniently what fits into a normal quiver. Ranged weapons distance equate to stopping power: 1d4 weapons target near (50 yards), 1d6 target far (100 yards), while 1d8 and 1d10 hit extreme (300 yards) and 1d12 may reach further with GM consent. Some weapons may be thrown; damage does not change, and always work at near range.

Crossbows take 2 rounds to reload, but for warriors bows and slings can be reloaded “between rounds,” allowing an attack with them each turn; rogues and wizards must take a round to nock arrows or load sling-bullets. For those desiring early firearms, there’s an appropriate section in the Appendix.

SHIELDS AND ARMOR Certain classes are restricted in terms of what armor they can wear without penalty. Wearing armor beyond your means ensures that any mobility, athletic, or stealth skill test is automatically checked with a penalty equal to the Damage Reduction of the armor (or Defense of the shield/off-hand weapon). What’s more, you may only move half-speed.

A knight trying a distance run in full kit would test only constitution to avoid exhaustion; other classes in the same plate would test and add DR as penalty no matter how far they ran. On the other hand, most armor would penalize swimming or sneaking past the king’s guard no matter the class; context matters.

Damage Reduction (DR) reduces incoming damage by the listed amount. Defense (D) imposes a penalty to the opponents attacking you prior to their roll.

Armor doesn’t just have DR, but also a movement score. This is how many meters you may move in a combat round while armored. Add your Constitution bonus for a total movement. For context, unarmored is 12+constitution bonus.

DR/D MOVEMENT EXAMPLE PROTECTION (INCLUDED BUT NOT LIMITED TO) COST 1 DR 12 meters Incidental Armor; thick clothes, a lucky cloak, travel leathers 6 sp 2 DR 10 meters Light Armor; treated leather lamellar breastplate, maille shirt, hide 75 sp 3 DR 8 meters Medium Armor; gambeson, iron lamellar, brigandine jack-of-plates 400 sp 4 DR 6 meters Heavy Armor; maille/scale hauberk, bronze panoply, backed chest ~1000 sp 1 D -0 meters Incidental Shield; off-hand weapons, torches, cloaks in-hand As Cost 2 D -1 meters Simple Shield; targe, pelta, hide-bound frame 12 sp 2 D -1 meters Pike Shield; gauntlet-shield, telamon, heater 40 sp 3 D -2 meters Martial Shield; kite, scutum, aspis, pavise, lindiskjoldr 50 sp

Donning or removing armor takes 1d3 and 1d6 rounds for light and medium, 1d10 minutes for heavy. Wearing heavy armor “backed chest,” assumes supportive stuff beneath. If you’re wearing a scale breast- piece for example, it has heavy armor rating if re-sized with a reinforced gambeson or hauberk below; by itself, armor covering just your chest will only count as medium no matter how heavy it actually is.

This RPG’s implied setting does not support later-era armors like full steel plate or almain rivet; the intent for “knight,” is less Gothic and more Norman or Crusader. For those GMs who desire plate typical of the late-medieval period (and much modern fantasy) use DR 5, movement 6, and cost of 3000-6000 sp.

Shields are special: not only a cheaper alternative to armor (very historical!), they may be “sundered,” rendering Defense unusable until proper repairs are made. A character chooses to Sunder in response to foes rolling damage; it allows them to completely ignore 1d12+strength bonus damage. High-quality (x2 or x3 price) may be sundered an amount of times equal to their Defense before losing it.

Layered armor doesn’t stack. Wearing multiple armors just gives you the DR of the best, while using multiple shields (having a gauntlet-shield and bearing a torch, for example, are technically two kinds of shield) only gives you the benefit of both if each is borne in a different hand; otherwise use the highest, unless you’re using it to bash (see fighting chapter for more detail on shield-bashing).

Finally, shields double their Defense if the character uses them while fighting entirely defensively (not even trying to attack, just dodging and avoiding) or running away tactically.

FOOD & SHELTER Everyone needs to eat and sleep. It’s just what comes with being human. The following are rough costs for typical room and board that might come up in-game. This blogosphere post has the specifics on castles and their expenses for those players with deeper political ambitions.

EXAMPLE FOOD, ROOM, AND BOARD (INCLUDED BUT NOT LIMITED TO) COST Sleeping in the stables, a day’s dried rations, a bottle of wine or pint of beer 4 cp Sleeping in the common room, a filling meal of bread and soup or meat, a round of drinks 12 cp Sleeping in a private room, a big meal with high-quality food, a bottle of fine whiskey 24 cp A treat at market 1 cp A large banquet 3 gp A month’s rest in the local townhouse 2 gp A night in a fine establishment 5 sp

LIGHT SOURCES (AND LIGHT DICE) Adventurers frequently find themselves in the dark of night or deep places. Light is a necessity. Torches or candles usually do, but the new-fangled oil lantern has been making headway with dandier tomb-robbers.

For tactical situations, these items all illuminate between thirty and fifty feet of darkness about them; candles hit maybe ten. We don’t quite worry so much about “burn time,” in this game; that is handled with light dice explored below. EXAMPLE ILLUMINATION COST 10 candles or 3 torches 2 cp A reading lamp 5 sp A hooded lantern 7 sp A pint of oil for said lantern 3 cp

Light dice cover the strategic aspect of bringing illumination into a dungeon. Any expedition into dark places gives players 1 light die (1d6) per torch or batch of candles; 2 light die are generated per pint of oil a lantern uses. Player characters may keep these dice for themselves or share them as desired, but the most common method is simply to pool the resources together.

While traveling through dark places, a GM may call for a “light check,” at any time. The expectation is to ask for them any time players dally, travel for long periods, fail a time-sensitive task, or risk dropping the illumination (want to bash a head in with your torch? It might go out!). A light check is a roll of 1d6; on a roll of 1 or 2 discard the die from the pool of light. Places of magical darkness, an unusual or eerie level of deep-dark, or cursed atmosphere may well increase the numbers on which the die is discarded; using rolls of 1, 2, and 3 are also good if you just want to emphasize how creepy darkness is.

Players may spend a light die (no roll, simply discard) to automatically pass any minor- or moderately- challenging obstacle, trap, or puzzle; the spent die represents the time took. More difficult tasks may take more than one light die spent; GMs may declare this cannot be done for very important obstacles. For spent light players and the GM narrate the success of their carefully-used time together.

If you run out of light dice, you are exposed to terrible darkness. This is not a good thing.

LIVESTOCK AND TRANSPORT For some reason a lot of modern fantasy forgets how important the humble pack animal is. Bill the Pony was arguably one of the most important members of the Fellowship of the Ring before they descended into the Mines of Moria without him; and look where that got them!

EXAMPLE TRANSPORTATION OR ANIMAL COST Mule, ox, or other pack animal (I don’t know, maybe your mountain folk 20 sp use big-ass rams) Riding horse with tack (arabians, mustangs, things that don’t usually war) 80 sp War-horse (destriers are the big one, but this could be any horse specifically Beaucoup gp (between 500- trained to fight) with tack and basic armor (+3 AC) 800 depending on quality) 1 week’s feed for animal 10 cp Wheeled cart (basic goods-hauler) 15 sp Coach or carriage (people hauler) 300-500 sp depending on quality Small boat (river-qualified) 40 sp A sailboat 200 gp Small ship (cog, galley) 1000 gp Large ship (galleon, barque) 3000 gp Typical bridge or gate toll (death and taxes, my friend) 2 cp Passage across a wide river (via barge, big bridge, or ferry) 4 cp

ODDS, ENDS, AND THE MISCELLANEOUS A nice table of things that adventurers can often find (or find useful!) on their many quests. This obviously isn’t a total list but it should give you some idea on how to charge for what’s not on it.

EXAMPLE ACCOUTERMENTS COST 1 day’s unskilled labor 2 cp Belt and pouch or a box of fishing gear 5 cp 50 feet of rope or a set of clothes 1 sp A casket (dark!) or a vaguely accurate-ish map 3 sp A large sack for carrying things or a shovel 5 sp Parchment, quill, and ink 10 sp Drum or flute, maybe some very nice clothes 16 sp Lodestone (everyone loves a curiosity), a finely-embroidered cloak 20 sp 20 feet of chain, a burnished mirror 25 sp Thieves’ tools (watch out for false sellers!) 28 sp Large reinforced chest 32 sp Average jewelry, a nice tent guaranteed to keep the rain out 40 sp A book (well-made) 50 sp Furnishing for a room, particularly fine jewelry 40-80 gp A workshop for someone’s small business 200 gp

HIRELINGS AND ALLIES Don’t forget, you’re not the only ones capable of clearing a dungeon. Sometimes you might need help. Coin is an excellent bargaining tool; adventure does as well for some. Remember, with an inspiring leader even a home-body halfling was convinced to leave his home behind to hunt a dragon’s treasure. Anyone can buy mercenaries or hirelings if he has the money. As explored above “unskilled labor,” costs about 2 cp a day to employ; he’ll also expect meals provided. Other specialists cost more.

EXAMPLE OCCUPATION DAILY COST MONTHLY COST Porter 2 cp 6 sp Animal handler 3 cp 9 sp Man-at-arms 5 cp 15 sp Smith or craftsman 1 sp 30 sp Herbalist 2 sp 60 sp Scribe 3 sp 90 sp Learned sage 10 sp 300 sp

Statistically, most of these individuals have stats between 9-12 on most Attributes except those that relate to their particular talents: a score between 13-15 can be expected; higher if particularly talented.

The big difference between hirelings and allies is the former can be expected to behave more like lackeys (though a creative GM may well give them some heart) while the latter are honest-to-goodness NPC adventurers that are convinced to follow you for whatever reason. A knight’s squire is an ally, whereas his small column of paid-for men-at-arms are hirelings. An ally is a fellow, a friend, a companion.

While traveling with player characters, allies might expect financial support, but won’t cut and run if their funds don’t arrive. Where a month of no pay will cause most hirelings to lose patience, allies will go through the hard times with you. They must be paid, however, and expect a cut—however small—of your adventuring findings. This loyalty is not bought, it is earned; as such mistreatment will not be tolerated by them. Abused allies are just as likely to turn on a PC as abused or mis-paid hirelings.

Hirelings may become allies when the PC has earned their trust and/or admiration. Allies are also more likely to be “unusual,” than hirelings. While mercenaries or hired help are incredibly likely to be just human, the talking rabbit that follows you around is more likely to do so because he likes you.

Because player characters don’t like being overshadowed, allies really should never over-power their charge, especially in their wheelhouse. A wizard’s loyal guard might be a better combatant than the sorcerer in question, but he should not be as talented as the party’s warrior. A scoundrel following the party around should not be as talented as their player-controlled thief.

TRAVEL Often a major aspect of historical fiction, travel over long periods of time is difficult to simulate without reducing things down to some basic formula. Such is the same here. Our basis in this instance is some combination of Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures and the very accessible B/X module Wilderness Adventures; all with a little modification where I obviously have the gall to think I know better.

Characters on foot can reasonably expect to travel roughly 20 miles a day. This travel rate is an abstraction and compromise between the various sources dug through for this particular set. Keeping the base number nice and round is also a benefit to working with hex-maps, where the mileage-per-hex is often a nice easily-divided or -divisible number as well.

In most circumstances mounted characters should be able to travel at a similar rate to those on foot; the benefit is primarily carrying a great deal more gear and becoming much less tired when you reach your destination. If for some reason you’re in a chase however, most average-quality horses can make 40 miles a day if they are unburdened (carrying little more than you could on your own backs) and on good ground or road. This will tire out your steeds, and only high-quality horses can do this for more than a day or two.

If there are roads, good paths, or open land for vehicles to move over then they travel the same distance as those on foot; again the benefit is carrying more and in comfort. Poor road conditions however reduce vehicular travel to only 10 miles a day at best.

Water travel often offer some of the fastest means of travel for a party, and is the most consistent and reliable method of shipping. Characters rafting on a large waterway travel 20 miles upstream but 30 miles downstream per day. If you book passage with a large ship on the open seas, the speed is astonishing: 80 miles a day on a fast merchantman.

For those campaigns where air travel is possible, a flying creature travels twice as fast (40 miles) when airborne. Some creatures can, of course, manage more. In general, winged mounts can manage an amount of riders or burdens based on their hit dice: 3HD creatures may carry a being about half the size of a man. 6HD creatures may carry a man-sized being or burden. 12HD creatures may carry a large animal like a horse, or a man and a great deal of equipment. 24HD creatures may carry a large amount of weight or an animal roughly the size of a pachyderm.

Characters afoot and mounted on individual animals only travel about 30% slower in most kinds of poor terrain. Thicker stuff like jungles, high mountains, and swamps cut time down to 50%. If the roads are in excellent condition and have regular places of rest and supply, then speeds up to 30% faster are possible.

If the need to travel even faster is prevalent, characters may Forced March. The distance traveled in the day is increased by 50%, but characters must rest for a full day. Using that to branch off into resting, characters needs must rest for one full day per six days of normal-speed travel. If characters press on without resting, they suffer a penalty of -1 to any rolls per day they do not rest pas the sixth. For example, characters who travel nine days without rest are at -3 to everything they do until they spend a full day resting. What’s more, rest after pushing one’s self so far is usually done without setting up watches; everyone’s too exhausted to worry about it.

Characters can usually see for up to three mile around them in open terrain. This may sometimes be reduced by poor or busy terrain or increased if you’re in a position of high vantage.

Foraging for herbs, fruits, nuts, or other such things can be performed alongside normal wilderness movement. The party has a 1-in-6 chance per day of acquiring food sufficient for 1d6 human-sized characters. Hunting is similar, but requires characters to devote the entire day to the activity; no travel may be achieved. The chances are the same as foraging (you may increase the amount of d6 made in the roll by splitting up, but that can be dangerous in certain areas), but the rewards are greater: each successful hunt gives enough food for 3d6 human-sized characters for the day. In the case of both foraging and hunting, extra food can of course be kept as rations for further travel.

Getting lost in the wilderness is a possibility. When traveling through untracked land, characters have a 1- in-6 chance of becoming lost each day they are in the middle of nowhere. Certain characters (rogues with a ranger-oriented backstory, for example) can force a re-roll of the lost die once per week for free, and must pass an intelligence test to force that re-roll before the week is out. Certain terrain makes the chance higher: barren lands, hills, mountains, and deep woods are a 2-in-6 chance, while deserts, jungles, and swamps are 3-in-6. Characters can backtrack when they realize they’ve been lost, but it typically costs them a portion of the day before they notice.

Characters can run into monsters when traveling abroad. The check is usually rolled once per day, with the chance of encounter depending on the terrain. Cities, clear grass- or farm-land, and settled worked areas are 1-in-6. Aerial, barren, desert, forest, or hill terrain is 2-in-6. Very isolated lands like the jungle, mountains, or swamp are 3-in-6. Particularly dangerous areas are often rolled more than once per day. Wandering monsters—when encountered—are often done so 4d6*10 yards away unless the particular monster rolled has a different strategy. MAGIC AND TRUE NAMES True Names are important in a lot of classic fantasy. An aspect of spirits, demons, fey, and magical beasts everywhere, true names are secrets of power. When meeting one it’s rude to ask for a name; instead ask “what are you called?”

A creature’s true name can be used against it. By invoking this name, you gains advantage to all actions taken against the entity, including attacking it. It also gives you advantage to saving throws against the creature’s spells, actions, and abilities. On the other end, sharing a true name can be a sign of trust; when invoking someone’s true name as you grant them assistance you give a +2 bonus to them atop the usual assistance advantage. Finally, if a character is magically healing another and invokes their true name, the character receiving another 1d6 of healing.

When invoking a true name for good or ill, you say it aloud. Only do so privately or when need is great.

Mages who posses the Second Sight cantrip have special power over demons and spirits. If while doing so you invoke that entity’s true name you may command it to perform a specific task. This needs a charisma test with advantage for invoking the name. However should you fail, the spirit is now free of your power and capable of wreaking havoc; they may also roll to cancel out your using their name ever again and gain advantage to do so. As such sorcerers are oft wary of trafficking with hostile—usually vengeful—spirits.

Acquiring a true name can often be an adventure in and of itself, but learning the names of lesser beings may be less difficult according to the whims of your GM and the tone they wish to set.

Magic comes with many names in this OSR-like and its implied setting. Sorcery, thaumaturgy, witchery, wizardry, spell-craft, miracle-working...there’s still yet more flavor to choose from. Mechanically though, all magics fall into one of three categories: cantrips, spells (also called sorceries), and rituals. All spells and rituals (though not cantrips, we’ll cover those soon) have the same base characteristics:

Range – how far the mage can case the spell. “Self,” and “Touch,” are rather self-explanatory. “Near,” and “Far,” usually mean the same as ranged weapons unless the spell specifies otherwise. “The Cosmos,” means that the spell can effect things from outside the mortal plane of existence; rare and big mojo.

Duration – this tells you how long the spell lasts, either in rounds or for longer-lasting magic, hours, days, or other quantifiable and traceable units of time.

Save – magic which effects people directly usually allows for you to reduce or ignore the effect with a save of some kind. Unless otherwise noted (with a “no,” by the save characteristic,) spells can be assumed to come with some kind of save on one of the Attributes.

Cantrips do not have all these characteristics; they are assumed to have a range of Near unless otherwise noted, special durations are explained in the text, and they always allow targets to make a saving throw. Their entries therefore do not list range, duration, or save. What’s more, cantrips (and rituals) require ability score checks, and so each entry tells you whether or not the magic requires an intelligence or wisdom test to work.

No matter the magic, a sorcerer can only maintain one spell with the duration “concentration,” at once. If they attempt to cast any other magic while concentrating, they must successfully test either intelligence or wisdom (whichever the spell originally used) to keep it going. If a spell doesn’t say which, GM decides. CANTRIPS These are the weakest but more flexible form of magic. In a way, they’re also rather dangerous. Each cantrip is something of a wide-range of minor effects, “tricks,” if one forgives the parlance. A sorcerer can cast these minor spells “on the fly,” or “off the cuff,” making up the particulars of the casting on the spot.

(As a point of fluff, I’m rather fond of the 1998 Merlin’s interpretation of level of skill representing how much pomp is required in the casting of a cantrip. The least- and middling-talented wizards perform “by incantation,” whereas higher-talent mages are “hand-wizards.” Only the most powerful mages are casters of the third-degree, “wizards of pure thought,” who require little but the will to do magic.)

Mechanically the mage makes either a wisdom or intelligence check as determined by the cantrip. Success means it all goes as intended. When the roll is failed, however, one of two things can happen: exhaustion or backlash. These options are why some wizards consider cantrips more dangerous than full sorceries.

Exhaustion is when the player runs out of magical energy until they rest further. This prevents magic of any sort for the duration. Additionally, any spells or rituals the mage had “running,” prior to exhaustion lose their power (barring of course those spells with a duration of “permanent,”).

Backlash (also called “miscasting,” by some theurges) is when the magic goes off but it goes wrong. This is dangerous because now fate (or in this case the GM) decides what happens. Maybe it has the opposite effect, or maybe it targets someone you didn’t intend. Maybe it activates properly but hurts you in the process. Any number of things may happen, but on the bright side you’re not exhausted.

In general cantrips only produce minor effects. They cannot really damage a target, they only work at Near range, and they do not produce a permanent effect. What’s more those “hexes,” that impose penalties on the target cannot impose more than a -2 to the appropriate score. The magic’s description will cover more detail as necessary.

Cantrips are the earliest form of magic but are difficult to learn. A mage learns 2 cantrips + intelligence modifier’s worth at level 1. Learning more takes significant study and time at the discretion of the GM.

While I won’t list every cantrip in the game in this document (players will be provided a proper list) I am more than willing to provide three examples below:

Mage Light (intelligence) – this produces a moderate amount of witch-light, which may appear from a physical object before the caster or as a simple glowing ball. This produces enough light to illuminate 30 yards all about and counts as 1 extra light die. A mage may attempt to produce more light die at a penalty to the casting, 2d6 of light would impose a -3 to intelligence while 3d6 would impose flat disadvantage. Any more would impose further penalties atop the disadvantaged roll.

Blessing (wisdom) – with a touch and a word of hope a mage helps an ally with a specific future task, granting a 1d4 bonus to the attribute prior to the roll. When the sorcerer casts the spell she must name the task for which they do (“smite your enemies!” or “craft a wondrous sword!” for example). A theurge may take on the casting at disadvantage to turn the bonus to 1d4+2.

Second Sight (intelligence) – this cantrip allows the caster to see spirits of all sorts: the dead, fairies, and demons among others. This cantrip only grants the sorcerer the capacity to see; if she wishes to converse she should probably learn the language! A mage may also attempt to command a spirit if she knows its true name; see the true names section above for greater details. SPELLS The simplest and most reliable sorceries come in the form of codified effects taught to mages by masters and recorded diligently in their spell-books. Unlike cantrips which allow the caster to take on difficulty to increase the spell’s effect, sorceries work in a particular way every time they are cast. They tend to be more powerful than cantrips and weaker than rituals, but they’re safer and more dependable than either.

A mage may cast any number of spells per day equal to their level. After that he is considered to be tired and cannot cast spells further, though he is still welcome to try his hand at cantrips and rituals. This is not the same as being exhausted as per failed cantrips or failed rituals (see rituals section below for further detail).

Mages spend a long time learning spells and recording them for their own use. In order to learn a new spell the wizard must spend full week copying it into their own book (studying it from a book, scroll, or mentor) and make an intelligence test. If the test is successful the wizard adds this spell to their repertoire and may cast it as normal. If the test fails they must wait to try learning it again until they level up further.

While I won’t list every sorcery in the game in this document (players will be provided a proper list) I am more than willing to provide three examples below:

False Friend (range Near, duration 1 day/level, save yes) – magic is an alluring force. If the target of this spell fails his saving throw (wisdom) he believes that the caster is is trusted ally and bosom buddy. While he won’t commit suicide for the wizard, he will go to great lengths to please, acting in all ways as an ally and trusted pal. If the target is being threatened by the wizard or his allies, he makes the saving throw at advantage. If cast in combat the spell simply doesn’t work; the target’s sense of self-preservation will override any power the magic might have over him.

Banish Undead (range Near, duration 10 minutes/level, save yes) – this spell causes mindless fear in the undead. When cast, any undead creatures within range and presence of the caster must make a saving throw (wisdom or charisma) or else immediately flee from the caster and hide for the duration of the spell. The targets are free to behave normally afterwards.

The Howling (range Near, duration 1 round/level, save yes) – the wizard calls out painful words of magic, her voice growling to a howling shout. Soon many voices rise on the winds, creating a deafening cacophony. Everyone in Near range (friend and foe) must make a saving throw (constitution) or else cover their ears and do nothing else for the duration of the spell. Even those in range who succeed suffer a -2 to all actions. Creatures who cannot hear and/or are mindless (skeletons, zombies) are unaffected.

RITUALS For the greatest of Power a theurge must spend a great deal of time studying and bending the forces of the universe to his will. Rituals are the most powerful form of magic detailed in this game (and its base, Beyond the Wall); they are also the most time-consuming.

Every ritual has an associated level (1 to 10); a mage must be that level or higher to attempt it. Casting a ritual usually requires half an hour per level, the special ingredients listed in the description, and absolute concentration on the task at hand; things may go disastrously wrong if the sorcerer is interrupted. Casting may be rushed (reducing them to just a couple minutes per level) with disadvantage on the roll.

Should the mage be prepared to attempt a casting, he makes an intelligence or wisdom check (as determined by the ritual in question). If the test is successful, everything works fine. If not, then fate has shoved her ugly nose in your business once more. The GM decides what goes wrong. A ritual may work but with a horrible and strange twist, it may not work at all and exhaust you for longer than cantrips could, or you may suffer massive—possibly lethal—wild-magic backlash. Trying and failing a ritual is not going to end well, and any wizard worth his books will make sure he takes the time to prepare and do it right.

Learning a new ritual is difficult and time-consuming. Mages usually find them recorded in arcane tomes or on delicate scrolls, though learning them from a tutor or mentor is not unheard of (they usually charge). A wizard must be the appropriate spell level or higher, and must spend a week in study per level of ritual. After this, make an intelligence test to record it properly. Success or failure work the same as with learning new spells: success is all good, failure means you’re locked out from trying that ritual again until you level up once more.

Trying a ritual you have not taken the time to learn properly (such as casting it from the book you just found in a dungeon) is incredibly dangerous: you try the ritual as normal but at disadvantage and a further -4 to the appropriate attribute prior to both rolls. When these rituals go bad, it’s worse than usual.

While I won’t list every ritual in the game in this document (players will be provided a proper list) I am more than willing to provide three examples below:

Gather Mists (level 1; intelligence; range Near, duration 1 hour/level, save no) – this ritual allows a mage to summon a dense billowing fog over a nearby area. The mist obscures all vision into and within the effect zone. Normal weather does not effect this witch-fog, but a particularly-strong sorcerous wind or storm could blow it away.

A mage wanting to cast this ritual must chant in the tongue of wind and perform elaborate dance-like gestures for the hour it takes to cast. They must burn incense all the while. At the culmination of the ritual the last words are spoken and the feather of a bird of prey is swallowed.

The Great Curse (level 6; wisdom; range Far, duration permanent, save yes) – the mage utters a mighty curse which bestows crippling penalties upon a target for the rest of his life, causing him to suffer disadvantage on all rolls of all types forever. Hopefully the poor victim of this ritual can find some other magic to counter-act this horrid fate.

The ritual requires that the mage craft a realistic likeness of the target’s face from pure gold, which she then hurls into a raging fire while uttering a single mighty word of dark magic.

Magic Stones (level 2; wisdom; range Touch, duration permanent, save no) – priests of the old gods would bless the sling stones of warriors before they went into battle. This ritual blesses six such small stones which may be either thrown at an enemy or loosed from a sling. Each stone has a +1 chance of hitting stacked on your usual modifiers, and causes 2d6 points of damage as base.

Only perfectly smooth river stones—entirely unworked by man—are appropriate for use in this ritual. The caster must spend the duration of the ritual carving upon the stones, shaping them as desired (some cultures turn them into entire small, lethal charms and totems) and granting ancient signs of power and war with an iron stylus. This stylus is not destroyed in the process of casting, and so may be used more than once.

LIST OF SPELLS For a proper list of spells, see Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures to see what is on offer as a base. Creative players and the GM may cooperate to create cantrips, spells, and rituals together, and players who so desire may bring other OSR or OSR-like spells forward for the GM to go/no-go. APPENDIX SPECIFIC/DIFFERENT COMBAT SCENARIOS Everyone and their mom knows that a basic combat system—no matter how easy it is to run a skirmish or big brawl—is unwieldy for some aspects of martial exercise. A joust, for example, isn’t easily moderated by basic OSR-like combat; nor is a one-on-one duel to first blood, or hunting a beast like a boar where the proper test is not flinching. While in the above section on fighting I cover this with a vague sort of “just let the GM handle it, things will be fine,” attitude, here is where I would like to take the time (and page space) to approach some of these scenarios in a specific manner.

Single Combat to First-Blood Single combat is, of all these, likely the one that can use the basic combat system as written, but it will be cumbersome and absolutely destroy the pacing of your game. As such, I’d like to propose an alternative based on the late-Icelandic interpretation of holmgang.

Since the variant of holmgang I’m using depends on each combatant having access to three shields and the duel being decided by first-blood, this sets up a few natural directions for us to go. First blood means that no matter which method of resolution we use, the first character to successfully hit the other wins; this plays rather naturally with out shield-sundering mechanics.

As such, we can already state outright that each character has three sunders with which to cancel out enemy hits if they so choose. How to resolve said combat? The easiest is a simple opposed combat roll; highest scores a touch. The ability to sunder shields means however that it more or less turns into “best three of five.” Kind of boring, but it will do for a bare-bones challenge and consistently reward the character with the greater Martial Prowess or weapon specialization.

To add a bit of tension, consider sundering your shield in this case its own test. Want to put the barrier between your precious hide and the enemy stroke? Pass a dexterity test. Or maybe put the burden on the striker: want to destroy his shield and reduce his chances of protecting himself further into the duel? Pass a strength test. In fact we can put this into the blender to have the below system:

Characters roll opposed combat checks. The actor who fails tests dexterity to get their shield in the way, and the actor who succeeds tests strength to sunder it if the cut doesn’t go through. Repeat as many times as necessary until first blood is reached. This gives individual stats a chance to shine and prevents the system from becoming a simple three-of-five on opposed rolls. A fight can end in the first round or it could conceivably go the entire distance; there’s tension involved in that.

This is of course far too involved to use in a skirmish without absolutely tanking the pacing of your match, but if one feels the need to take the model and make it lethal, rolling damage instead of simply counting first-touch has the effect.

Jousting Jousting is more difficult in concept. It could conveniently require attack rolls and skill tests, but to be honest that’s kind of a strange way to go. All knights know how to ride a horse; it comes with the territory. Assuming we want to keep things as (relatively) simple as we do with our holmgang example, I would suggest the basic premises:

Knights—or sellswords ambitious enough to take part in a joust—know how to ride a horse. Testing any kind of horse-riding talent should not necessarily be required, but it is optional: if you pass your horse- riding test you may attack at advantage, while failing forces you to tilt at disadvantage. What’s more, we should force some kind of save—say, constitution—to stay your seat if you’re struck hard enough. This simple assumption of strength variation already points us in a creative direction.

Something to consider is that most of the time in a joust, the bone-shaking contact is mutual. You can’t really defend yourself in the joust, you just angle your shield and hope your aim and seat is truer than your foe’s. What does this mean for our thus-far basic premise of opposed rolls? Well, we could say that it doesn’t matter quite so much if you beat your opponent, but rather by how well you do in a vacuum.

Let’s say—for the sake of getting some mechanics cemented—a successful attack test means you’ve struck your opponent. A difference of 4+ means you’ve struck well enough to break your lance and as such threaten a dismount. A difference of 8+ means you’ve struck so well as to threaten a dismount at disadvantage. Characters who are threatened with being knocked off their horse must pass a constitution test or be thrown to the ground.

This is simple enough, gives players with benefits or bonuses to this sort of thing (through background skills or maybe even mounted-combat-oriented Knacks created alongside their GM) a chance to shine, has a degree of tension, rewards individual stats, and even gives a skeleton for connecting points with touches or broken lances for those who feel the desire. It seems a natural partner to our holmgang mini-game.

Hunting Boars The simplest task of the three—though by far not the easiest—hunting a boar consists of really doing two things once you’ve found the creature and convinced him to charge at you: setting your boar-spear and not flinching when he charges you. This is more difficult than it sounds, but is mechanically incredibly simple: test constitution. Succeed? You’ve stayed the course and slain a boar! Failed? Well, you might get a tusk in the gut; let’s see how well he rolls his attack.

If it’s that simple, why bring it up? I want to use this example to cement an idea: hunting beasts and monsters is a vague scenario where you may be more or less served by using the combat system.

Hunting this simple boar could have been reduced to a single roll (if it was successful), but fighting a giant boar that’s terrorizing the country-side might be worth bringing out the fighting rules. The context of the two fights is different, and I’d like to bring that up so that GMs and players keep it in mind. Hunting an illusive hawk is more likely to be a skill test to find it followed by a single bow-shot to bring it down; this is given life with narration, not enhanced or supremely detailed mechanics. Hunting and fighting the great roc is something else entirely and would require more detail and use of combat mechanics.

PREPARATION FOR CANTRIPS AND RITUALS If it hasn’t been made rather clear, magic can be dangerous. Cantrips and rituals have the potential to backfire, and sorceries are so rigorously and safely “coded,” that they cannot be modified and quickly tire the wizard in question. With cantrips and rituals so dependent on a good roll, how can a caster feel safer in the execution of such power?

Well, the eagle-eyed will notice that casting a cantrip or ritual is remarkably similar to a skill test; those can be prepared for with appropriate means and tools. Theoretically, casting magic is not much more different. Tools can be foci like wands or totems, while preparation could entail things like magic circles or doubling the time of the ritual to do absolute and thorough research.

This is arguably more fluff than anything else, but it should fit a couple of criteria: either taking up a resource or more time. Wands and rods are resources; they can be used up or—if they are more permanent items—lost like anything else. Lighting a bunch of candles and doing a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to center your mana or whatever you crazy witch-doctors do to ready your minds before getting to the ritual proper takes up time and (though admittedly, cheaper) resources. Something is lost—or could be lost—for gain.

CHANGING CANTRIPS AND SPELLS/SORCERIES As an alternative rule to change the tone of your game, consider changing the requirements of cantrips and spells; making the former coded and un-modifiable but consistent to the point of saying “I do this,” a certain number of times per day while making the latter theoretically infinite if well-cast every time but providing just enough rope for the wizard to hang himself by letting him modify his powers on the fly.

This changes the game a few ways, but the most important is such: wizardry is now less dangerous and more easily applied to day-to-day life while in dire circumstances it’s less reliable. This means you have wizards willing to interpose themselves in everyday life with their powers and sorcery becomes commonplace. This is only good or bad depending on how you want your setting to work out; the implied differences are vast and likely to make people in search of “low fantasy,” uncomfortable.

What this also does is make sorcerers less reliable in combat; they’re less like to use cantrips/rituals and more like to use spells. Personally I always interpreted spells being non-modifiable as the wizard practicing those every day with zero room for variance so that when adrenaline flows and they’re on the verge of shitting themselves, they can still do those magics. Speaking more frankly, it was designed that way for balance purposes; so that wizards weren’t quite so tempted to fix everything with a simple wave of the hand. If this design choice is unappealing feel free to give them the cantrip requirement of passing a test or suffering exhaustion or backlash (chosen by the player but expanded upon by the GM if the latter).

Finally one could consider not changing cantrips at all and giving spells the same requirement, making magic difficult and dangerous to use no matter its form. This will encourage wizards to learn other things and not rely on their magic so much one way or the other; only those with implements or the time will use it for common or unimportant things. This will make magic rarer in your setting; use as desired.

BLOOD MAGIC Magic is hard. Especially if you use the above methods of spells/sorceries also requiring a skill test to use, magic is very hard. Not everyone is good at it; what’s worse is when you have the natural talent but are awful at putting it into practice (the equivalent of using the sorcerer class with low intelligence or wisdom Attribute scores). This is not only bad for people around them (a lot of miscasting going on!) but awful for their own state of mind. It’s the same for those who are good but too worried about failing.

Willing to take a little pain to be better at magic? Why not try a little blood-casting? Any person capable of casting can use blood magic: by willingly causing 1d6 (or 1d4 if they so desire) damage to themselves they may cast a spell with the damage done acting as an addition to their Attribute for the attempt. No sorcerer may kill himself (unless that is the intent—in some GM-approved end-game ritual or something of the sort) with this damage.

GMs should note if characters have a background that might make this more potent; for example gaining sorcery with an extra-planar pact instead of study or cultivated natural talent. In that case don’t be afraid to let the player roll 1d8 or even possibly 1d10 if they desire; the idea with blood magic is to hand them enough rope to hang themselves and tempt them to hubris beyond their means. “Your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash,” is the intended end-state for a sorcerer addicted to the temporary power.

FANTASTICAL CREATURES Many stories tell not just of brave men and women but also of elves, dwarves, halflings, beast-folk, lizard- men; all sorts of fantastical “player character races.” The setting this brew was made for had not necessarily been written with that in mind, but the system can support it for those mad-men who think this hack-brew is actually worth anything.

The easiest and probably least painful way is to borrow the GLOG’s method: each race has a single stat they may re-roll in character-creation, and both a strength and weakness (both are usually role-play oriented, but can be mechanical if so desired; make sure strong strengths have strong weaknesses). This is the easiest and makes most of the demi-humans feel similar enough so they can focus on personality- oriented roleplaying above mechanics.

CREATING KNACKS AND ALTERNATE ROGUE-KNACKS In the above Appendix entry for jousting, I mention “mounted-combat-oriented Knacks created alongside their GM.” Here I would like to cover the idea of creating Knacks for the warrior during your game. The Knacks covered in the core as-written fighter class are mostly very generic examples; higher chance to hit, more HP, bigger damage, and other things of that nature. One of the few things added that gets archetype-specific is the increased power (and added lethality) of unarmed strikes for those players who want to create a fisticuffs-oriented pugilist without creating an entire martial-arts sub-system.

This mostly-singular example of an archetype-like Knack does set something of a precedent. We could, conceivably, create an entire list of Knacks for fulfilling any kind of warrior-type. The description of the fighting-man class does hint at this to some degree; we see knights, berserks, archers, and other varieties of combatants mentioned. So why not specific Knacks? It’s entirely possible. It would require some work with your GM—they have the final go-no go—but creating Knacks that fit the kind of warrior you’re going for should be entirely within limits.

Let’s look at a few new specific Knacks below; figure out which archetype each fits for funsies. Generally speaking, archetype-particular Knacks should only be taken once. Because of this, a GM should not be afraid of letting them be a bit more powerful than the typical core Knacks; with that being said, warriors should only have one, maybe two custom-Knacks in their repertoire. Supreme Specialist – any weapon you are a Specialist with (choose the weapon when you take this Knack) may attack OR do damage with advantage with any attack; must be chosen beforehand. Strong Arm – double effective range for thrown and strength-based ranged weapons. Bull Rush – double HD for charge damage calculation; applies to mounts used in the charge. Blood-Fury – upon half-HP, character enters a rage and gains +3 to attacks and damage. Can’t Stop the Rock – gain damage reduction (2) while wearing heavy armor. Flurry of Blows – gain +1 damage when using a dual-wield strike; may be taken multiple times.

All this discourse on custom-Knacks reminds me: the rogue as-written is awful bare-bones. The class was written with this in mind, of course; the go-to for players new to role-playing games who would feel more comfortable with a class full of “passive,” abilities as opposed to the book-keeping and remembering scenario-triggers that comes with a sheet full of Knacks or spells.

But what about players who want a more active scoundrel, a character that lets them feel like they have more of an interaction-based tool-kit like the warrior or wizard? They could always, with the GM’s okay, play a rake with their own suite of Knacks to choose from. Several rogue-oriented Knacks will be listed below, but as we discuss above don’t be afraid of creating your own.

As with the above custom warrior Knacks, these are only taken once unless otherwise noted. Using these options means surrendering access to Fortune’s Favorite and Highly Skilled. The Knack-rogue gains access to one any time the warrior would gain access to their own (levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9). I Need No Eyes – character can operate in darkness without penalty where appropriate; you cannot read a book in total darkness, for example. Ghost Walker – so long as your pace is measured and careful, you do not make a sound or disturb things like twigs or dried leaves; take twice to walk safely over weight-sensitive traps; take thrice to walk over things like water or mist for a brief distance. Quick Thief – perform tasks like lock-picking or pick-pocketing at a faster rate than normally required with only a basic test, whereas ordinarily increasing speed increases difficulty. Contortionist – you are incredibly flexible and can escape most bonds with an unmodified dexterity test; you may also squeeze through tight spaces like bars or fit into small cubbies. Like a Spider or Squirrel – you are excellent at climbing and only need to test for incredibly difficult ascensions like sheer surfaces or castle walls in a rainstorm. Avoiding the Lord Husband – you are incredibly adept at hiding in crowds or in plain sight; when taken twice this can be used in absurd situations like hiding behind a lamp-post so long as you pass a constitution check to remain perfectly still. Shadow-Hop – when stepping into a deep shadow, you may reappear from another nearby darkness. Whether you low-key teleported or Naruto-ran from point A to B is a ~~mystery~~. Iocane Powder Training – advantage when resisting the effects of poison or alcohol. The Amazing Robin – advantage on skill tests oriented toward acrobatics or tumbling. Cant – no matter where you are you can speak the strange pidgin used by almost every thieves’ guild and gang with grand opinions of themselves. No one knows where this language came from. Thug – gain access to the armor and weapon limitations of the warrior. I Know a Guy… – putting the word out or hearing rumors is never a challenge. Fly, You Fools! – when running away from a fight, may travel double-speed.

FIREARMS OPTIONS “But what about guns?” I hear you ask. It does come up in a lot of fantasy fiction discussion; often one of the more contentious points. Gunpowder is, to many, the great equalizer; that is either good or bad depending entirely on what kind of games and settings you like to play.

What’s often ignored is that early firearms weren’t especially effective against heavy armor, they were just much more effective than anything that had been seen at the time; including heavy crossbows. Against late-era plate it was only moderately effective, hence why “heavy,” cavalry like the Cuirassier used breastplates as far as the 19th Century.

Personally the setting this hack-brew was sort-of made for doesn’t actually use gunpowder; the chemical composition doesn’t creature nearly enough of a boom to justify its use beyond cask-bombs (which themselves are not as effective as their real-world models) for ~reasons~. This is done with intent, but you may choose differently for your own setting; or I might change my own mind later down the line.

When it comes to the guns discussion there are a few of different ways to go about it.

One of the easiest is to assume that gunpowder is in its infancy and/or not very effective. In that case treat the matchlock/arquebus/handgonne/tanegashima/whatever else early-model junk firearm as a re-skinned crossbow (takes 2 rounds to reload, 1d10) but up die damage by one step (to 1d12) if it’s a heavy model or 1d8 for handguns depending on their size and power; in either case, the weapon is effective at near and can attack far with disadvantage. This is, conveniently, the way I would suggest.

Another way, useful when working with more powerful weapons like muskets, trap-door or other advanced rifles, or magitech wand- or stave-guns is to ignore the DR bonus provided by armor. These weapons are a bit more advanced, and could conceivably attack at far normally if the GM so wished. Finally, there’s an in-between option. It takes a bit of on-the-fly math for your players, but you could determine how powerful a firearm is by just how much DR it ignores. As before, the guns do big damage for their size, but the biggest aspect of their punching power is their “AP,” (armor piercing). Weaker firearms like matchlocks (or black-powder pistols of any era, really) would have an AP of only -1 or -2 depending on their quality; on the other hand a more powerful weapon like a long-barrel musket would ignore up to -3 or -4. If a GM wishes to further differentiate, make the weapons with larger AP take longer to reload; the above musket might take three or even four rounds to be worth ignoring most all armor in- setting and hitting from anywhere between 1d10 to 1d12.

A major point concerning the above AP rule: use with caution. If players see one weapon has access to armor-penetration, next thing you know everything with a slightly-narrow point is going to be argued for armor-penetration. “But what about my bodkin arrowhead?” “But what about the spike on my war- hammer?” AP is an additional layer of depth to the DR mechanic; use it with caution and learn as a GM when to draw a hard-line and say “no, this only works with guns.” Unless you want the extra book- keeping that comes with very detailed weapon charts.

In either case, misfire tables can be fun; black powder is notoriously unreliable in popular fiction. If you don’t want to bother with a table, a natural attack roll of 1 renders the weapon useless (except as a club and/or bayonet-equipped spear) until you spend a round clearing it and another two rounds reloading.

These two methods do a few things to your game. The first method more or less keeps the theme the same, it just gives your party (and the people of your setting) another ranged-attack option. Is armor effective? This is probably the most important question answered by your choice of firearm mechanic. Whether or not someone could theoretically strap on armor and be saved by it is an important thing to consider for how firearms effect basically all warfare (at least between sentient humanoids) in-setting.

You can keep them limited to warriors (like longbows and other “war-weapons,” are) if you want them to feel like specialist kit, or allow anyone to use them for a “common man’s weapon,” vibe. The former cements guns as just another damage die; the latter makes them world-changing by giving anyone access to war-weapon power in a hand-held package. In addition to whether or not armor protects against them (or whether or not shields may be sundered to protect against them), this is also probably the most important question a firearm-craving GM should ask themselves.

For someone wishing to take these mechanics into the aether of science-fantasy, the questions are the same but the coat of paint is a bit more gonzo. I won’t go into in-depth starship mechanics (because there is already a set I’m planning on ripping off more or less wholesale) but suffice to say whether or not your boarding actions will be made of space vikings advancing in a specialized zero-G shield-wall with arquebus support or space-musketeers holding corners and having friends in cover reload extra weapons.

Keep in mind that if you like the Treasure Planet aesthetic of laser-muskets in space but still want armor to work, there’s nothing stopping you from the GM as saying that it just does; maybe it’s minimally- enchanted or maybe the blasters aren’t powerful enough to get through iron and steel? No one really knows and no one will really care if your setting is presented in a fun fashion.

Wand-guns also give you options on limitations for ammunition that casual knowledge of black powder arms might hinder. Everyone and their mom knows that a musket takes time to load, but what if that musket-looking blaster has three or four good shots until someone with Power needs to surrender castings available to them to give it shots? What’s more, does a wizard need to give up castings per day for shots on a 1:1 basis, or does putting the power of one spell into the weapon entirely reload it? This is all very important because—no matter whether you’re dealing with black powder, laser-muskets, or wand-guns—how easy the logistics for the weapons are is the most important factor for determining how prevalent firearms are going to be in your setting.

A musket could have the potential to kill powerful warriors in a single shot, but if they are too expensive to maintain or provide ammunition for (maybe gunpowder is more rare, or the damage is not worth the price?), only a select few will use them on a strategic level; if they are too inaccurate or slow to reload on a tactical level then they’ll see more use in battlefields (where your friends can cover you while you reload) than they will in skirmishes or dungeons (where you’re forced to drop it and draw steel).

Whether we like it or not, firearms are a major game-changer in fantastical fiction. How you present them —and what rules they follow—in your world is going to be the biggest factor in how they effect it.