Characters in AB&B are described by a number of traits:
| Trait | Cost | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Hit Points | 1 | 10 |
| Speed | 5 | 6 |
| Offense | 5 | 0 |
| Defense | 5 | 10 |
| Stealth | 5 | 0 |
| Perception | 5 | 10 |
| Healing | 5 | - |
| Survival | 5 | 0 |
| Magic | 10 | - |
| Defiance | 10 | 10 |
Traits begin at the Base value listed (10 hp, 6 spd, etc). Cost is the number of experience points needed to raise the trait one level. Beginning adventurers should start with at least 10 exp; more powerful adventurers might have 50 or 100.
Hit Points (HP) determine how much damage one can take before falling.
Speed (spd) is how many spaces the character can move in a single action. Characters may step one space per round as a free action.
Offense is fighting ability; it determines the ability to hit and do damage in combat.
Defense determines how well you avoid damage.
Defense could be the result of the character being agile and quick,
protected by divine intervention, or just plain tough.
Stealth is a character's ability to sneak around, pick locks, and disarm traps.
Perception is the ability to notice things and avoid being surprised.
Healing is a divine gift that allows one to cure wounds.
Survival covers everything relating to nature. It can let one befriend plants and animals.
Magic allows one to throw fireballs and teleport and such.
Defiance is resistance to magic.
Gear
| Weapons | |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Offense |
| Missile | 0 |
| One-handed melee | 2 |
| Two-handed melee | 4 |
| Armor | |
|---|---|
| Armor | Defense |
| Shield | 1 |
| Leather | 1 |
| 2 | |
| Plate | 3 |
Missile weapons add nothing to Offense, but can attack at range. -1 to Offense for every five spaces between the attacker and the target.
Melee weapons require the attacker to be adjacent to the target. A character may use two one-handed melee weapons to get +4 Offense if that seems cooler than using one bigass sword.
Armor does not stack - you can't wear Mail over Leather to get +3 Defense. You can use a Shield to get +1 Defense in addition to other armor, but the Shield takes up a hand that could be used for a weapon. Armor makes Stealth and Magic impossible.
Action
Whenever the player wants to do something, he rolls 1d20 or 3d6 (player's choice) and adds the appropriate trait.
Combat is divided into rounds. At the beginning of each round, all characters roll their Speed to determine who goes first.
One any given round, a character may take two physical actions from the following list:
One can move and attack, attack and move, move twice, attack twice, aim and attack, dodge twice, etc.
To make an attack, the player rolls his Offense and subtracts the target's Defense.
If the number is greater than zero, the victim takes that many hit points.
When hit points reach zero, the victim falls and will die in ten rounds unless bandaged or healed. Bandaging a fallen comrade is a full-round action.
Stealth can be used to sneak up on things. The character must roll Stealth and subtract the Perception of whatever he is sneaking up on. If the result is positive, the stealth is successful; the result can then be added to Offense for a surprise attack.
Survival can be used to befriend creatures of animal intelligence. Have the player roll versus a target number based on the friendliness of the animal.
Healing is a full-round action; both healer and target must remain still for the entire round. If either is damaged by an attack, the Healing fails. If the attempt succeeds, the healer rolls his healing to determine the number of HP restored to the target.
Magic
Magic allows one to cast spells; each spell costs two points.
To create a spell, the magic-user chooses effect, power, area, and duration. The final energy level of the spell must be less than the caster's Magic trait.
Effects
Attack spells have an Offense equal to the power of the spell.
They attack each target in the spell's area of effect once per round for the spell's duration.
Magical attacks have a penalty of -1 per ten spaces between the magic-user and the target.
Each attack spell must have a defined special effect (fire, lightning, acid, ice, flying blades, etc);
this may increase or decrease damage against some foes.
Shield adds the spell's power to the Defense of affected characters.
Dispel adds the spell's power to the Defiance of affected characters.
Teleport moves the affected characters a number of spaces equal to the spell's power.
All affected characters move in the same direction.
Invisibility adds the spell's power to the Stealth of affected characters.
Divination adds the spell's power to the Perception of affected characters.
Power, Area, Duration
The power level of a spell determines the intensity of its effect.
Area determines how many spaces are hit by a spell; an area of zero means a single target. Spaces in an area must be contiguous. Spells affect all characters in their area, friend and foe alike. Spells must be centered on a single person, place, or thing; characters who move out of the area are no longer affected.
Duration determines how many rounds a spell lasts.
Power + Area + Duration must be less than or equal to the Magic trait of the caster.
Magic-users may improve their existing spells as they improve in Magic without spending additional points.
copyright 2005 by Joshua Morris