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Setting:
Spoiler
Hearthorne is a small, riverside village. It has done well for itself as a stopover place for merchant crafters and visitors heading upriver. Recently, orcs, vicious pig-men, have begun raiding other nearby villages. In order to keep Heartthorne safe, the local lord has hired mercenaries to protect the village and eventually discover the orc camp. Sadly, the village is attacked before the mercenaries could arrive. Now the heroes must race to protect what little is left of the town.
Hearthorne is a small, riverside village. It has done well for itself as a stopover place for merchant crafters and visitors heading upriver. Recently, orcs, vicious pig-men, have begun raiding other nearby villages. In order to keep Heartthorne safe, the local lord has hired mercenaries to protect the village and eventually discover the orc camp. Sadly, the village is attacked before the mercenaries could arrive. Now the heroes must race to protect what little is left of the town.
Players:
Spoiler
Testers are free to come up with their own races and classes, from any genre imaginable so long as they can fit it into the CS.
Testers are free to come up with their own races and classes, from any genre imaginable so long as they can fit it into the CS.
Character Sheet:
Spoiler
Name: This is where you fill in your character's birth name, nickname, or epithet.
Description: This is where you tell us, in a short sentence, what makes your character special. Or explain to us why we should care about your character. Or, just brag about your wicked-looking beard.
Aspects: Aspects are phrases ("I am the God of wood!") that describe an important detail about your character. Each player can only have a maximum of five Aspects. Aspects can be anything you choose, and can be activated, by giving away a hero point, to gain a one-time bonus to one of your Skills (+2). But only if it makes sense to do so.
Say for example, that my character is a wizard and one of his Aspects is: "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!" It says something interesting about the character, and it can be used to help him later in the story. Let's say there is an NPC guarding a vault and instead of fighting them to get inside, I decide to use my Aspect to lure him away long enough for another player to get inside. More on that when we get to Skills and Hero Points.
Skills: Skills are what you use during the game to do complicated or interesting things. At the start of the game, player skills will be ranked from Average (+1) to Great (+4), and each player starts with a maximum of ten skills and twenty points to spend on those skills. Players choose their own skills, and choose what value to give them.
For example: A warrior might have Fight and Stamina as skills, while a wizard might have Lore and Will as skills.
Of the ten skills, players may only have: One Great (+4) skill, Two Good (+3) skills, Three Fair (+2) skills, and Four Average (+1) skills.
Hero Points: Players start the game with 3 Hero Points that they can spend to activate one of their Aspects. Hero Points are tied directly to Stunts. More on that when we get to Stunts.
Extras: Extras are anything technically part of a character, or controlled by them. They can be powers, gear, vehicles, organizations, or locations that don't quite fall under Aspects, Skills, or Stunts. Extras require the GM's final approval.
Stress: Stress is one of two options the player has to avoid getting killed. It represents exhaustion, light wounds, and so one. Each player has Physical Stress and Mental Stress, each of these has two levels: Mild (absorbs 1 point of Damage) and Moderate (absorbs 2 points of Damage)
When you fail to block a hit that will kill you, you have four choices: Surrender, Die, use a Consequence (more later), or use Physical Stress to soak up the hit. Physical Stress is the reason you somehow managed to avoid getting chopped in half, whether because you managed to twist away at the last moment or the wound just isn't as bad as it looks.
Mental Stress can be thought of as you biting your tongue at the last second to stop yourself from saying something stupid, or managed to ignore an insult.
Stunts: While Skills are shared between players (Fighter), Stunts are special abilities unique to your character that adds a special twist to one of your skills (Warmaster: +2 Fight, once per battle). Players start the game with 3 Stunts. Every extra Stunt costs 1 Hero Point
3 Stunts = 3 Hero Points, 4 Stunts = 2 Hero Points.
Players cannot have negative Hero Points.
Consequences: Besides Surrendering, Death, and Stress: Consequences is another way that players can stay in the game. But unlike Stresses, which are removed once the battle ends, Consequences take time to heal. In this test game, Consequences will linger for two battles. Every time you take a new Consequence, you get a new Aspect describing your injury. These injuries are visible to the player(s) or NPC(s) that forced you to take the Consequence, giving them a Bonus against you.
Name: This is where you fill in your character's birth name, nickname, or epithet.
Description: This is where you tell us, in a short sentence, what makes your character special. Or explain to us why we should care about your character. Or, just brag about your wicked-looking beard.
Aspects: Aspects are phrases ("I am the God of wood!") that describe an important detail about your character. Each player can only have a maximum of five Aspects. Aspects can be anything you choose, and can be activated, by giving away a hero point, to gain a one-time bonus to one of your Skills (+2). But only if it makes sense to do so.
Say for example, that my character is a wizard and one of his Aspects is: "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!" It says something interesting about the character, and it can be used to help him later in the story. Let's say there is an NPC guarding a vault and instead of fighting them to get inside, I decide to use my Aspect to lure him away long enough for another player to get inside. More on that when we get to Skills and Hero Points.
Skills: Skills are what you use during the game to do complicated or interesting things. At the start of the game, player skills will be ranked from Average (+1) to Great (+4), and each player starts with a maximum of ten skills and twenty points to spend on those skills. Players choose their own skills, and choose what value to give them.
For example: A warrior might have Fight and Stamina as skills, while a wizard might have Lore and Will as skills.
Of the ten skills, players may only have: One Great (+4) skill, Two Good (+3) skills, Three Fair (+2) skills, and Four Average (+1) skills.
Hero Points: Players start the game with 3 Hero Points that they can spend to activate one of their Aspects. Hero Points are tied directly to Stunts. More on that when we get to Stunts.
Extras: Extras are anything technically part of a character, or controlled by them. They can be powers, gear, vehicles, organizations, or locations that don't quite fall under Aspects, Skills, or Stunts. Extras require the GM's final approval.
Stress: Stress is one of two options the player has to avoid getting killed. It represents exhaustion, light wounds, and so one. Each player has Physical Stress and Mental Stress, each of these has two levels: Mild (absorbs 1 point of Damage) and Moderate (absorbs 2 points of Damage)
When you fail to block a hit that will kill you, you have four choices: Surrender, Die, use a Consequence (more later), or use Physical Stress to soak up the hit. Physical Stress is the reason you somehow managed to avoid getting chopped in half, whether because you managed to twist away at the last moment or the wound just isn't as bad as it looks.
Mental Stress can be thought of as you biting your tongue at the last second to stop yourself from saying something stupid, or managed to ignore an insult.
Stunts: While Skills are shared between players (Fighter), Stunts are special abilities unique to your character that adds a special twist to one of your skills (Warmaster: +2 Fight, once per battle). Players start the game with 3 Stunts. Every extra Stunt costs 1 Hero Point
3 Stunts = 3 Hero Points, 4 Stunts = 2 Hero Points.
Players cannot have negative Hero Points.
Consequences: Besides Surrendering, Death, and Stress: Consequences is another way that players can stay in the game. But unlike Stresses, which are removed once the battle ends, Consequences take time to heal. In this test game, Consequences will linger for two battles. Every time you take a new Consequence, you get a new Aspect describing your injury. These injuries are visible to the player(s) or NPC(s) that forced you to take the Consequence, giving them a Bonus against you.
Combat:
Spoiler
Damage:
This experimental system works by having players make an attempt to do something, and the GM will roll some dice to see if the attempt succeeds or fails. Each turn, a player or NPC can try one of four things: Attack, Defend, Overcome, or Create an Advantage.
For example:
"The mighty Warrior swings his axe at the Boss Orcs' green neck..."
The Warrior has a +3 (Good) Fight skill, but the Boss Orc has a +4 (Great) Defend skill. The GM rolls the four dice, adding some randomness to the game, to see what happens in this fight. The dice each have 2 0's, 2 +1's, and 2 -1's sides, which gives you a number when rolled. This number is then added to the skills. In this case, the GM rolls twice. Once for the Warrior (-2), and once for the Boss Orc (-1). The final result is this:
GM: "The Mighty Warrior swings his axe (+3) but because he was only using one hand (-2), he doesn't do as much damage! (+3 + -2 = +1) The Boss Orc raises his shield (+4) to block the attack, but looses his footing on the soft soil (-1). Luckily, he was still able to block The Warrior's attack (+4 + -1 = +3) and manages to save his precious neck from The Warrior's axe!"
In a situation like this, you can either Fail (-1), Tie (0), Succeed (+1), or Succeed with Style (+2 or more). In this case, The Warrior failed in his attack. Because of this, he did no damage to the enemy, and will now suffer a minor penalty. The Boss Orc was able to Defend with Style (succeeded with +2), so he gets a Bonus. This Bonus can either be used as a free attack on The Warrior, or converted into an an advantage.
A.) GM (Boss Orc Decides to use the Bonus to create an advantage): "The Boss Orc not only blocks the attack, but manages to use the shield to knock The Warrior flat on his back!" (For one round, The Warrior has a -1 to Attack and a +1 to Defend)
B.) GM (Boss Orc Decides to make a free attack): "The Boss Orc blocks the Warrior's axe with such style that he decides the Warrior isn't a challenge for him, so lowers his shield and stabs the Warrior with his sword!"
This creates another dice roll, where the warrior has to block the Boss Orc now. Because this is an extra attack, the Boss Orc attacks twice in his turn -- if he chooses to. (Attack, Defend, Overcome, Create an Advantage)
Turns: Players take turns (one post) when using their skills. This means that if players come across an Obstacle (Locked Door, Guard), depending on what that thing is, only one player can tackle it at a time (only one person can pick a lock).
Damage:
This experimental system works by having players make an attempt to do something, and the GM will roll some dice to see if the attempt succeeds or fails. Each turn, a player or NPC can try one of four things: Attack, Defend, Overcome, or Create an Advantage.
For example:
"The mighty Warrior swings his axe at the Boss Orcs' green neck..."
The Warrior has a +3 (Good) Fight skill, but the Boss Orc has a +4 (Great) Defend skill. The GM rolls the four dice, adding some randomness to the game, to see what happens in this fight. The dice each have 2 0's, 2 +1's, and 2 -1's sides, which gives you a number when rolled. This number is then added to the skills. In this case, the GM rolls twice. Once for the Warrior (-2), and once for the Boss Orc (-1). The final result is this:
GM: "The Mighty Warrior swings his axe (+3) but because he was only using one hand (-2), he doesn't do as much damage! (+3 + -2 = +1) The Boss Orc raises his shield (+4) to block the attack, but looses his footing on the soft soil (-1). Luckily, he was still able to block The Warrior's attack (+4 + -1 = +3) and manages to save his precious neck from The Warrior's axe!"
In a situation like this, you can either Fail (-1), Tie (0), Succeed (+1), or Succeed with Style (+2 or more). In this case, The Warrior failed in his attack. Because of this, he did no damage to the enemy, and will now suffer a minor penalty. The Boss Orc was able to Defend with Style (succeeded with +2), so he gets a Bonus. This Bonus can either be used as a free attack on The Warrior, or converted into an an advantage.
A.) GM (Boss Orc Decides to use the Bonus to create an advantage): "The Boss Orc not only blocks the attack, but manages to use the shield to knock The Warrior flat on his back!" (For one round, The Warrior has a -1 to Attack and a +1 to Defend)
B.) GM (Boss Orc Decides to make a free attack): "The Boss Orc blocks the Warrior's axe with such style that he decides the Warrior isn't a challenge for him, so lowers his shield and stabs the Warrior with his sword!"
This creates another dice roll, where the warrior has to block the Boss Orc now. Because this is an extra attack, the Boss Orc attacks twice in his turn -- if he chooses to. (Attack, Defend, Overcome, Create an Advantage)
Turns: Players take turns (one post) when using their skills. This means that if players come across an Obstacle (Locked Door, Guard), depending on what that thing is, only one player can tackle it at a time (only one person can pick a lock).
Rules:
Spoiler
- Nameless NPCs can be auto killed by players but there is a limit of three per post, and twelve NPC kills per week.
- Engaging named NPCs will raise the combat flag. The combat will be explained in detail later.
- Boss NPCs can only be engaged by 4+ players.
- Nameless NPCs can be auto killed by players but there is a limit of three per post, and twelve NPC kills per week.
- Engaging named NPCs will raise the combat flag. The combat will be explained in detail later.
- Boss NPCs can only be engaged by 4+ players.
Enemies and Allies:
Spoiler
Orcs: Deformed humanoids with pig-like features. Originally created by a wizard to serve as a new food source for humans, the orcs eventually escaped into the wilds and have tormented human beings ever since. Orcs are aggressive, range from 5 to 6 ft. tall, eat human flesh, and are twice as strong as regular men. The group attacking Hearthorne is lead by a black orc named Choppa.
Choppa, Da Boss: The biggest, baddest orc in the village. This guy is intelligent enough to properly use weapons and heavy armor, and needs to be taken down by the entire party.
Choppa's CS
Da Boys: These are the lieutenants of the invading orcs. Not as tough as Choppa, but tough enough to raise a Combat Flag. They can be engaged 1v1 or 2v1.
Da Peoples: The runts of the litter, these orcs wear minimal armor. What weapons they do use are old and rusted, made from bones, or sticks. They are the faceless horde that players can kill without raising a Combat Flag.
Humans:
Orcs: Deformed humanoids with pig-like features. Originally created by a wizard to serve as a new food source for humans, the orcs eventually escaped into the wilds and have tormented human beings ever since. Orcs are aggressive, range from 5 to 6 ft. tall, eat human flesh, and are twice as strong as regular men. The group attacking Hearthorne is lead by a black orc named Choppa.
Choppa, Da Boss: The biggest, baddest orc in the village. This guy is intelligent enough to properly use weapons and heavy armor, and needs to be taken down by the entire party.
Spoiler
Choppa's CS
Spoiler
☠ Name ☠
Choppa
☠ Description ☠
The leader of the orcs that are attacking Hearthorne.
☠ Aspects ☠
"Da bigga, da badda!": Tough melee tank, able to soak up lots of damage thanks to it's shield and heavy armor.
"Lotsa Chopp'pin!": Specializes in dealing powerful attacks via chains of abilities.
"Waaaarrghhh!!!": Goes berserk, becoming more deadly the more damage it does or takes.
☠ Skills ☠
Great (+4): Strength
Good (+3): Brawler, Healing
Fair (+2): Tactics, Stamina
☠ Extras ☠
--------
☠ Stunts ☠
Warmaster: +2 to Brawler rolls made to create an advantage against an opponent, provided the opponent has a fighting style or weakness it can exploit.
Tough as Nails: Once per battle, Choppa can reduce the severity of a moderate physical consequence to a mild physical consequence, or erase a mild physical consequence altogether -- at the cost of a Heroic Point.
☠ Physical Stress ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 1 Damage)
+ Moderate (absorbs 2 Damage)
☠ Mental Stress ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 1 Damage)
+ Moderate (Absorbs 2 Damage)
☠ Consequences ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 2 Damage)
+ Moderate (absorbs 4 Damage)
+ Severe (absorbs 6 Damage)
☠ Hero Points ☠
3
☠ Name ☠
Choppa
☠ Description ☠
The leader of the orcs that are attacking Hearthorne.
☠ Aspects ☠
"Da bigga, da badda!": Tough melee tank, able to soak up lots of damage thanks to it's shield and heavy armor.
"Lotsa Chopp'pin!": Specializes in dealing powerful attacks via chains of abilities.
"Waaaarrghhh!!!": Goes berserk, becoming more deadly the more damage it does or takes.
☠ Skills ☠
Great (+4): Strength
Good (+3): Brawler, Healing
Fair (+2): Tactics, Stamina
☠ Extras ☠
--------
☠ Stunts ☠
Warmaster: +2 to Brawler rolls made to create an advantage against an opponent, provided the opponent has a fighting style or weakness it can exploit.
Tough as Nails: Once per battle, Choppa can reduce the severity of a moderate physical consequence to a mild physical consequence, or erase a mild physical consequence altogether -- at the cost of a Heroic Point.
☠ Physical Stress ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 1 Damage)
+ Moderate (absorbs 2 Damage)
☠ Mental Stress ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 1 Damage)
+ Moderate (Absorbs 2 Damage)
☠ Consequences ☠
+ Mild (absorbs 2 Damage)
+ Moderate (absorbs 4 Damage)
+ Severe (absorbs 6 Damage)
☠ Hero Points ☠
3
Da Boys: These are the lieutenants of the invading orcs. Not as tough as Choppa, but tough enough to raise a Combat Flag. They can be engaged 1v1 or 2v1.
Spoiler
Grum: Fast as the wind and as strong as a bull, Grum wields a human greatsword in one hand as if it were a toy. Wears medium armor.
Krung'Krak: Slow but heavy hitting, Krung'Kruk wields a massive greataxe and is decorated in the skin and skulls of humans. Wears medium armor.
Frak'Coth: An orc shaman able to summon fire and lightning magic to destroy his enemies, and earth magic to heal his Allies. Wears light armor, but is able to summon orc allies every two turns to fight for him.
Spoiler
Grum: Fast as the wind and as strong as a bull, Grum wields a human greatsword in one hand as if it were a toy. Wears medium armor.
Spoiler
Krung'Krak: Slow but heavy hitting, Krung'Kruk wields a massive greataxe and is decorated in the skin and skulls of humans. Wears medium armor.
Spoiler
Frak'Coth: An orc shaman able to summon fire and lightning magic to destroy his enemies, and earth magic to heal his Allies. Wears light armor, but is able to summon orc allies every two turns to fight for him.
Da Peoples: The runts of the litter, these orcs wear minimal armor. What weapons they do use are old and rusted, made from bones, or sticks. They are the faceless horde that players can kill without raising a Combat Flag.
Spoiler
Humans:
Spoiler
[spoiler]
Captain Hearthorne, and his knights: The local law enforcement in Hearthorne Villiage, Captain Hearthorne rode out to meet the mercenaries that were sent to help him end the orc menace. When they returned, one of his knights rode up with an orc axe sticking out of his back. With his dying breathe, the knight let the party know that the village was already under attack. After saying a small prayer, Captain Hearthorne mounts his horse one last time as he raises his sword to the sky and signals the charge back to town.
[spoiler]
Captain Hearthorne, and his knights: The local law enforcement in Hearthorne Villiage, Captain Hearthorne rode out to meet the mercenaries that were sent to help him end the orc menace. When they returned, one of his knights rode up with an orc axe sticking out of his back. With his dying breathe, the knight let the party know that the village was already under attack. After saying a small prayer, Captain Hearthorne mounts his horse one last time as he raises his sword to the sky and signals the charge back to town.
Edited by Black Naifu, 08 July 2014 - 07:53 PM.
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