OVERVIEW
Hursagmu is a roleplaying game set in a young world of swords, sorcery, gods, gateways, aliens, monsters, and horrors.
Characters
Game characters are described by traits and gifts. Traits represent both inherent qualities and acquired skills. Gifts are special abilities that cannot be learned.
Players begin the game with a number of character points. These are used to build the player's in-game persona. The number is chosen by the game master (known hereafter as "The Master") based on how powerful He or She wishes beginning characters to be.
As characters adventure, The Master may occasionally give out experience points for their actions, usually at the end of a game session or three. Experience points may be used to increase traits. They can also be used to obtain gifts if the player has a good explanation. This allows adventurers to grow more powerful over time.
More about character generation can be found in the following chapters.
Conflict
In-game conflict is resolved in one of two ways: talk or dice. Negotiation and conversation should be resolved through talk. Logic and reasoning should be as well, though exceptions can be made if the intellect of a character exceeds that of the player. Dice are needed when characters use traits in conflict with opposing forces.
Time and Space
Conflict is handled by dividing time and space into discrete units.
Time is measured in rounds. Each round is six seconds in duration.
Space is measured in spaces. Each space is an area two yards/meters across.
The Trait Roll
Central to the rules of the game is the trait roll. All important actions are resolved with a trait roll; the same roll is used whether one is building a table, picking a lock, swinging a sword, or casting a spell. Here it is, the fundamental mechanic of the game:
| 2d6 + Trait |
|---|
Roll a pair of six-sided dice, add them together, and add the result to the character's trait level. High rolls are always better than low rolls. A roll if two is an automatic failure; a roll of twelve is an automatic success.
When a task is unopposed (such as climbing a cliff face or picking a lock), The Master assigns a challenge level. The player's trait roll must equal or surpass this number to succeed.
If two characters are in conflict, the active character makes a trait roll vs a challenge level equal to the opponent's trait plus seven. If both characters are equally active (such as two diving for the same weapon), let the player roll. If both are player characters, they may split the difference - both may roll 1d6 + Trait instead of 2d6. Highest roll wins.
The difference between the trait roll and the challenge level is the degree of success or failure (known hereafter as "dx" for short). This number represents the effectiveness of the action. A dx of 1 is a moderate success or failure; a dx of 10 is an incredible success or a horrible failure. A dx of 0 could be a partial success, a partial failure, or a tie.
If a situation does not require a roll (because succeeding is trivial), then the character's trait level is the dx.
In the case of automatic success or failure, the dx is resolved normally. The minimum dx on an automatic success is 1.
Characters may have bonuses or penalties based on tools and time. More on this in the Encounters chapter.
Examples
1.
Lanky the thief wants to pick a lock on a treasure chest. The lock quality is somewhere between average and good, so The Master decides to assign a challenge level of 14 to the task.
Lanky has a Burglary level of eight. To make the attempt he rolls 2d6+8. If Lanky's result is greater than or equal to 14, he succeeds in picking the lock.
2.
Juk the Barbarian wants to crush the skull of Lothar the Unlucky. Juk is a level 7 warrior. Lothar is a level 5 Athlete. To attack, Juk rolls 2d6+7 versus a challenge level of 12 (Lothar's Athlete + 7). If Juk rolls an 11, the attack misses with a dx of 1 (a slight failure); if he rolls a 17, the attack hits with a dx of 5 (a solid success).
3.
Emo the Small swings frantically at Mace the Ugly. Emo's Warrior trait is 3. Mace's Warrior trait is 10, giving Emo a challenge level of 17. Emo rolls a 12 for a total of 15. This would normally result in a failure with a dx of 2, but a roll of 12 is an automatic success. He hits with a dx of 1.
Injury
There are three types of damage: stuns, wounds, and shocks.
Stuns represent minor damage inflicted by attacks, whether physical or mental. A person who takes ten stuns falls unconscious and will take wounds or shocks for every stun beyond the tenth. Characters recover from stuns quickly.
Wounds represent serious physical damage caused by fists, weapons, fire, poisons, falls from great heights, and the like. A person who has ten or more stuns takes one wound from physical attacks for each additional stun taken. A person who has ten or more wounds is badly injured and has a penalty to all physical actions equal to ten less than his current number of wounds. When this penalty reaches -10 (20 wounds), the character dies. Recovering from wounds takes days or months.
Shocks represent serious mental damage caused by certain sorcerous attacks or psychological trauma. A sorcerer can also inflict shocks on himself by pushing his power too far. A person who has ten or more stuns takes one shock from mental attacks for each additional stun taken. A person who has ten or more shocks is bordering on madness and has a penalty to all mental actions equal to ten less than his current number of shocks. When this penalty reaches -10 (20 shocks), the character loses his mind for good - he may faint, cower, flee, attack in a blind rage, or even become permanently catatonic. The exact result is up to the player and the Master. They should discuss the most appropriate end for the character based on his or her history and personality. Recovering from shocks takes days or months.
More information on damage and recovery is found in the chapter Pain and Suffering.
Examples:
1.
Juk begins a fight uninjured. On round one, he takes 8 damage from a sword. This gives him 8 stuns, but no wounds.
On round two, he takes 6 damage from an axe. This gives him 6 more stuns, for a total of fourteen. This knocks Juk unconscious. He also takes 4 wounds for the 4 stuns beyond 10. He is down, but may awaken and rejoin the fight.
On round three, he takes 9 more damage from someone kicking his defenseless face. This gives him 9 more stuns, for a total of 23. This also gives him 9 more wounds, for a total of 13. Juk is in bad shape; he may awaken at some point, but he will have a -3 penalty to all physical actions.
2.
Mace the ugly begins a fight injured: he has four wounds.
On the first round of combat, the unlucky bastard takes a big fat axe upside the head for a total of 12 damage. He now has 12 Stuns and 6 Wounds. He is knocked out, but his wounds aren't serious. He will probably wake up quickly.3.
The above examples work for mental attacks as well. Just replace words like "sword" and "axe" with words like "psionic attack" or "paralyzing terror at the sight of the horror from beyond the stars", then replace "wounds" with "shocks."