I. OVERVIEW

BnB characters are fairly simple, comprising only of four primary stats, four secondary stats, and a few skills. Stats represent the basic nature of a character, while skills measure abilities like fighting, sorcery, and craftsmanship.

Players begin with a certain amount of character points with which to build their in-game persona. The number of points players start with is up to the game master (known hereafter as "The Bastard"), and depends upon how powerful He wishes for beginning characters to be.

As the characters adventure, the Bastard will occasionally give out experience points for character successes. These experience points function identically to character points, allowing characters to grow more powerful by adding to their stats and skills.

An average peon has about fifty character points total, while an above average person of competent skill might have around one hundred. A veteran adventurer can have two or three hundred, while a magnificent hero might have one thousand or more.

If the Bastard wishes for new characters to be unskilled but promising beginners, he can assign different amounts of character points for stats and for skills, perhaps letting the players make characters with above average stats but apprentice-level skills.

More about character creation can be found in the following chapters.

Central to the rules of the game is the skill roll. All actions in the game are resolved in much the same way, whether one is building a table, picking a lock, swinging a sword, or casting a spell. The differences between various actions come from the stats and skills of characters and various situational modifiers, not from different rules for different types of actions. Here it is -- the basic, fundamental roll of the entire game:

That is, roll a pair of six-sided dice, add them together, and multiply the result by the sum of the character's stat and skill levels. If this roll is equal to or higher than the challenge number, then the act is successful.

Example: Sly the Rogue has a dexterity of 3 and an acrobatics skill of 6. To make an acrobatics roll, he adds his stat to his skill (3 + 6 = 9) and multiplies this number by a roll of 2d6. He rolls an 8, giving him a skill roll of 72 (8 * 9).

The following table will give the Bastard some idea of what rolls should be required of players to succeed in certain tasks.

Task Difficulty    Skill Roll required for success

Simple               10
Easy                 20
Moderate             40
Difficult            80
Impossible          160

This is a basic outline, and should only be used when the character is not in conflict with another and The Bastard is unsure about the difficulty involved. When two characters are conflicting, their skills are rolled against one another.

Note that high rolls are always better than low rolls.

The numbers above assume that the character has at least an average tool for the job in question - i.e., if a thief is trying to pick a lock, then he is using a standard lockpick. If the thief was trying to pick a lock with something nonstandard, like a dagger, then the Bastard should assign an appropriate penalty (make the challenge number higher). If the character has an exceptional set of tools at his disposal, then he should receive some bonuses (a lower challenge number).

The numbers also assume that the character is taking a normal amount of time to perform the task. What this amount of time is depends upon the task in question - perhaps six seconds for picking a lock, and six days for smithing a weapon. The Bastard may wish to assign bonuses for extra time taken and penalties for rushed work. He may halve the challenge level if the character takes twice as long as necessary, or double it if the character tries to succeed in half the normal time. Et cetera.

Example: Lanky the thief wants to pick a lock on a treasure chest. Lanky has a Dex of four and a Burglary skill of six. To make the attempt, he rolls 2d6 and multiplies the result by ten (Dex + Burglary = 4 + 6 = 10). If this roll is higher than the Locksmithing roll of the person who designed and built the lock, then Lanky succeeds. If the Bastard does not know the Locksmithing roll of the designer, then he can simply assign a number that seems reasonable for the quality of the lock.

Example: Chuck the Barbarian wants to crush the skull of Lothar the Unlucky. Chuck has a Dex of two and a Striking skill of five. To attack, he rolls 2d6 and multiplies the result by seven (Dex + Striking = 2 + 5 = 7). Lothar, not wanting to have his skull crushed, decides to dodge the attack. Lothar has a Dex of three and a Defense skill of six, so he must roll 2d6 and multiply the result by nine (Dex + Dodge = 3 + 6 = 9) if he wants to avoid being hit. If Chuck's roll is higher than Lothar's, the attack hits; if Lothar's roll is equal to or higher than Chuck's, the attack misses.

There are times when it is nearly impossible to succeed at a task. A greased tightrope may be too slippery to walk on, or an opponent too quick to hit. Conversely, there are times when it is impossible to fail. Swinging an axe at an unmoving foe is a good example.

A cinematic Bastard may wish to allow characters to have a chance for success or failure at almost any endeavor, no matter how ridiculous. To this end, there is The Critical.

Using this rule, any natural roll of 12 (boxcars) on 2d6 is an automatic success, regardless of the difficulty involved. If the skill is being used in competition with another character, then it is an automatic win regardless of the opposing character's roll unless this roll is also a critical success.

Any natural roll of 2 (snake eyes) on 2d6 is an automatic (and spectacular) failure. In addition to failing in his task, the character should experience some additional misfortune in relation to the skill. If the character was swinging a sword, he may accidentally throw his weapon several yards away. If the character was casting a magic spell, it might blow up in his face. Be creative.

There are some things in life that are simply not possible. In situations like this, the Bastard may rule that the actions of the character fail, with no need for a roll - even a critical will not succeed. In a situation as one-sided as this, the conflict may as well be roleplayed without the dice.

Example: A brave warrior (str 5) spies a big dragon (str 100). In an attempt to impress his female companions, he rushes forward to wrestle the creature to the ground with his bare hands. Even if the warrior's roll is perfect and the dragon's roll terrible, there is no possibility of the warrior pinning the dragon - it simply shrugs him aside as if he does not exist (and possibly eats him).