Fortune and Power

The following table should give The Adversary some guidance on assigning challenge levels.

The numbers above assume that the character has the necessary tools 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 Adversary should make the challenge level higher. If the character has an exceptional set of tools at his disposal, The Adversary should lower the challenge level a notch or two.

The numbers also assume that the character is taking a normal amount of time to perform the task. What this amount is depends upon the task - perhaps six seconds for picking a lock or six days for smithing a weapon. Characters can obtain bonuses for extra time taken or penalties for rushed work. They can get +3 to the trait check for taking twice as long as usual or +6 for taking four times as long. If the character tries to rush, The Adversary should increase the challenge level by 3 for for each halving of the required time.

Perception is used whenever The Adversary wants to see whether a character notices something, such as images, sounds, or smells that are hard to detect because they are small, faint, or far away. It is used to determine whether a character will notice subtle sensory input, like someone sneaking up behind him.

Various factors can affect a perception check. Bright light or pitch darkness can hamper vision. Loud noise can hamper hearing. The challenge level for any situation is up to The Adversary.

Unconscious characters get no perception checks - they are senseless. Being asleep is not the same as being knocked out, however; sleeping characters get normal hearing checks when unusual noises occur in their presense. If successful, they awaken. If the noises are very soft, such as someone sneaking toward the sleeper, the perception rolls are more difficult.

Perception is also used when The Adversary wants to see whether a character notices something subtle that is right in front of them, such as an enemy wearing a disguise or someone following them through a crowd. Anything that distracts the character from paying careful attention to detail could cause a penalty (a higher challenge roll).

This is a catchall for supernatural abilities used to learn the unknown. A mystic may hear the whispers of spirits, read the future in the stars, or simply know things without reason.

Intuition allows one to know whether a person, place, or thing is supernatural - and, if so, what that nature might be. This is a passive power, a sixth sense. It serves the same purpose with regard to sorcery and the spirit world as the Perception trait serves in the physical world.

When sorcery is used, The Adversary should have sentient beings within the range roll Intuition checks to see if they sense it. More powerful spells are "louder" and "brighter," so The Adversary should subtract one point from the challenge level for each level of energy in the spell.

Note that this check is made the moment that any supernatural energy is channeled. A sorcerer who is trying to cast an enormous spell may take several hours to do so, during which time the amount of energy in the spell grows steadily. Any sentient beings in the area should get regular trait checks to see if they notice.

Intuition also allows one to sense the presence of nearby disembodied spirits and to communicate with them on a primal level. One does not receive coherent thoughts from ghosts, only urges, feelings, and desires.

Finally, Intuition can be used by The Adversary as a plot device. He can allow a character to sense danger, receive visions of the future, or anything else that adds to the game.

Characters have a number of combat values based on their traits, gifts, and equipment.

At the beginning of each round, characters roll initiative to determine who acts first. High initiatives act before low ones.

Environmental factors (such as surprise) or minor actions (such as darting a single space or drawing a weapon) may give bonuses or penalties to initiative.

Any trait bonuses or penalties that result from a character's actions last until the next round.

The next step is the action phase. Characters take their turns in order of initiative. A character disabled before his turn gets no actions.

Some actions, such as drawing a weapon, shouting to a comrade, or moving a single space, take little time and require no trait roll. If such actions must be done before more important ones, the character might have a penalty to Initiative (-2 or so per minor act).

Other actions do require a trait roll or take significant time. A character may take two such actions per round of conflict. For example, a character can move and attack, attack and move, move twice, attack twice, pick a lock and move through the door, jump off a ledge and tackle someone, etc.

Round zero marks the beginning of any conflict. Whoever acts first automatically gets the initiative. This usually applies to a single individual, but can apply to a group if the action is set to occur on a prearranged signal. After the initial round zero activity, conflict progresses to round 1 and participants roll initiative.

If the initiating individual or group has taken their opponents completely by surprise, then the opponents may take no actions at all on round zero - not even defensive ones. This simulates situations such as ambushes or knives thrown by hidden assassins.

Surprised characters get no trait added to their defense. The challenge level to hit a surprised character is a flat 6 plus any range modifiers. Sneak attacks can be deadly - the only defense is not to be caught unaware.

A character may move a single space per round without using an action. He may move a number of spaces equal to his Movement (10 + Athlete - armor) by expending an action.

Other moves - standing from a prone position, mounting an animal, making a leap, etc - take one action.

A character who is sitting or lying down is prone - he gets +3 defense against ranged attacks, but can move only 1 space per round. Others get a +3 to hit him with melee attacks and +3 defense against his attacks. Falling prone is a free action.

A mounted character uses the mount's movement in place of his own. Horses and such generally have twice the movement of a humanoid, or even more.

If the ground is not level, The Adversary may give a character bonuses or penalties to his movement. If the terrain is treacherous, The Adversary may require an Athlete roll (on foot) or a Rider roll (mounted).

Individuals may sometimes need to jump over things. The Adversary should require an Athlete roll based on the distance - two challenge levels per space on average.

Charging characters may add their momentum to the damage of an attack. This works both ways, however - a charging character will take the same additional damage from any enemy melee weapon that hits him on that round. Momentum gives (and takes) +1 damage for every 3 spaces of movement. Whether to charge in with momentum or slow down and stop before attacking is up to the player.

Task Difficulty	Challenge Level
Trivial	3
Mild	6
Fair	9
Moderate	12
Great	15
Incredible	18
Inconceivable	21

A brave knight charges a line of soldiers atop his mount. His lance does 13 damage (9 for the lance + 4 for Strength). The knight has moved 28 spaces on horseback, however, so adds 9 for a total of 22.

Unfortunately, the knight is hit by one of the braced spearmen, whose weapon gives him a damage of 10 (1 for Strength, 9 for the pike). Adding the knight's momentum to this to gives a total of 19. Good thing the knight is wearing his shining armor.

Combat movement is automatic. When finer detail is required - for races or chases - participants should roll Athlete. Each level of dox gains the victor one space of distance.

The further away a target is, the harder it is to hit. Ranged abilities have challenge numbers based on distance (zero at point-blank range). These numbers are added to the defense of the target.

Ranged abilities are either Short or Long. Short-range abilities suffer a +1 to the challenge level for every space between the adventurer and the target. Long-range abilities suffer a +1 for every five spaces.

* The range penalty for portals refers to the distance to the portal's target location. The source side of portals always appear in a space adjacent to the sorcerer.

Senses are also limited in range. Olfaction is Short. Hearing, vision, and intuition are Long.

Bows are long-range weapons. If a target is within 5 spaces, the challenge number is 0. If a target is between 6 and 10 spaces, the challenge number is 1. Between 11 and and 15 spaces, it is 2. Targets will have these numbers added to their defense (3 for fixed objects).

One who is determined to go first may opt to Haste. The character adds +3 to his initiative roll, but can perform only one action that round. The decision to haste must be made before anyone rolls initiative.

Fortune can be used to improve initiative as well, as with any other trait check.

A character can sacrifice an action for a +3 bonus to one thing for the round. He may also sacrifice an action to put extra power into a melee attack. This leads to a number of combat maneuvers.

A character attacked before his initiative may sacrifice actions for bonuses in response to the attack. This intent must be declared before the dice are rolled.

A character is not required to act on his initiative. He can wait to see what others with lower initiatives will do.

A waiting character may take its action at any time, even within the action of another character.

attack type	range
thrown weapon	short
missile weapon	long

sorcery	range
telepathy	short
alter	long
blast	long
hold	long
project	long
portal *	long

Juk the Barbarian sees Mace the Ugly on a hilltop across the battlefield. Juk wins initiative, but waits to see what Mace will do.

Mace charges. Juk won the initiative, however, so he may choose to attack first after Mace has covered the distance between them - he was only waiting for his enemy to get close enough to strike. If Mace survives the attack, he may then take the rest of his action.

A waiting character may also hold action until the next round, in which case that character gets +10 to initiative for that round. He gets no extra actions, however.

This rule simulates scenes in books and movies in which two opponents stop and stare one another down, taking no actions, in the middle of a fight.

If two characters both decide to wait for the other to act and there are no other characters with actions left, then the action passes to the next round. This can even involve more than two characters. All characters involved in the waiting game get the initiative bonus over characters who acted in the previous round.

Conflict