Path: igor.rutgers.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!ames!agate!rsoft!mindlink!a3619 From: [a 3619] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chris Harwood-Jones) Newsgroups: rec.games.design Subject: SHELL Overview Message-ID: <[1--3--7] at [mindlink.bc.ca]> Date: 1 Jun 92 00:03:22 GMT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Lines: 56 -------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E S H E L L R O L E P L A Y I N G S Y S T E M -------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the skeleton of a FRPG system. It is *just* the rules; not the world, or the campaign, or even the equipment charts or anything. To flesh this system out into a playable game, one must first provide the "genre," which is a list of equipment and their stats, monetary systems, spells and how they are learned, character advantages and disadvantages, and available skills. A sample fantasy genre will be included as an appendix to these rules. [although not in this posted version :-)] To use this system, you will need at least three six-sided dice and two ten-sided dice. ---------- CHARACTERS ---------- Characters are made up of attributes, advantages and disadvantages and skills. Attributes, advantages and disadvantages may only be changed after character creation in the course of roleplaying. Skills may be increased with experience. Characters are created with two separate point systems: "character points," ("chp") which are used to buy attributes, advantages, and disadvantages, and "experience points," ("exp") which set the characters initial skill levels. Starting points of either type are set by the campaign. Character points would represent the "basic stock" of the characters: typical fantasy heroes would have 100 chp, more powerful characters 125 or even 150, and "Conan" would have 250 or 300. Experience points would represent the character's starting life or combat experience: typical "first level" characters would have 16-24 exp, while "seasoned veterans" might have 48-64. ----------- ADVENTURING ----------- Adventuring in this system is essentially the same as in all other systems; i.e. its whatever the GM decides it will be. The only aspects of the game mechanics that might come into play are "attribute rolls" and "skill rolls", which are dealt with in the Characters section under attributes and skills. ------ COMBAT ------ The COMBAT section outlines the basic combat mechanics for this system. As the system is skeletal, all that is outlined are the most basic elements of physical combat: attack, defence and damage for hand-to-hand and ranged weapons. Magical attacks and high-tech special effects must be dealt with according to their own particular characteristics. Path: igor.rutgers.edu!rutgers!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!agate!rsoft!mindlink!a3619 From: [a 3619] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chris Harwood-Jones) Newsgroups: rec.games.design Subject: SHELL Characters Message-ID: <[1--3--8] at [mindlink.bc.ca]> Date: 1 Jun 92 01:11:38 GMT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Lines: 514 -------------------------------------------------------------------- S H E L L C H A R A C T E R S -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ATTRIBUTES -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ PRIMARY ATTRIBUTES ------------------ Primary attributes are STRENGTH (brawn, physique, fitness), AGILITY (dexterity, speed, balance, coordination), and INTELLIGENCE (academic potential, I.Q.). Base value for humans is 10. ST ST AG AG Level Cost Enc Dmg AT DEF 7 -30 140 1d-3 -2 -1 8 -20 160 1d-2 -1 -1 9 -10 180 1d-1 -1 0 10 0 200 1d 0 0 11 15 230 1d+1 0 +1 12 30 260 1d+2 +1 +1 13 50 300 1d+3 +1 +2 14 75 350 2d +2 +2 15 100 400 2d+1 +2 +3 16 130 460 2d+2 +3 +3 17 160 520 2d+3 +3 +4 18 200 600 3d +4 +4 19 250 700 3d+1 +4 +5 20 300 800 3d+2 +5 +5 Primary Attribute Chart: ENC: maximum encumbrance able to be carried by a character of the given ST (in pounds). DMG: base damage done by a character of the given ST. AT/DEF: modifiers to AT and DEF given by that level of AG. -------------------- Secondary Attributes -------------------- Secondary attributes are: HEALTH (HT): ability to resist poison and disease HIT POINTS (HP) ENDURANCE (END) WILLPOWER (WP) CHARISMA (CHA): leadership qualities; presence PERCEPTION (PER): alertness. [for animals this would be based on HT rather than IQ.] MOVE (MV) Other secondary attributes, normally only available to NPCS (PCs have level 0 in all of them), are: FLIGHT: rate of flying movement DAMAGE RESISTANCE (DR): subtracted from all damage done to the character. DAMAGE MODIFIER (DM): expressed as a percentage; the amount by which damage is reduced after DR is subtracted. MAGIC RESISTANCE (MR): immunity to all spells, up to a given level (see tasks below). E.g. MR 1 means immunity to all spells that require a minimum skill level of 1. ATTACK and DEFENCE MODIFIERS (AT Mod, DEF Mod): general-purpose modifiers to AT and DEF as a result of special qualities (e.g. blurred, very small, etc.). The basic values for these attributes, and the point cost to increase or decrease them, are given in the Secondary Attributes chart. Note that players should only be allowed to decrease secondary attributes in unusual circumstances. Attribute Base Cost HT 10 10 chp/pt HP ST [NPCs only: 10 chp/pt] END ST 8 chp/pt WP IQ 10 chp/pt CHA (ST+IQ)/2 8 chp/pt PER IQ 4 chp/pt MV (ST+AG)/4 10 chp/pt (max +2 for PCs) Flight 0 10 chp/pt DR 0 = cost for primary attribute of 10+level DM 0% 5 chp/% MR 0 = cost for primary attribute of 10+2xlevel AT Mod 0 20 chp/pt DEF Mod 0 20 chp/pt --------------------- OTHER CHARACTERISTICS --------------------- Other character qualities include height, weight, handedness and wealth. HEIGHT & WEIGHT: set by the race. Being overweight is having a body weight of over 75% of the characters maximum encumbrance value (given by ST). Body weight in excess of this amount is included in encumbrance calculations. HANDEDNESS: ambidexterity costs 5 chp. WEALTH: "standard" starting wealth is set by the GM. Character points may be spent to alter this amount: 5x the normal amount may be had for 10 chp, double normal may be had for 5 chp, 40% of normal may be had for -5 chp, and 10% of normal may be had for -10 chp. --------------- ATTRIBUTE ROLLS --------------- Occasionally a task may need to be performed by the character, and its chance of succeeding might depend on the value of a particular attribute. For example, breaking down a door would be more or less likely to succeed depending on the characters ST. In such situations an attribute roll is made: a roll on 3d6 that is compared to the attribute value. If the result is equal to the attribute level or less, the attempt will succeed. For example, a character with 13 ST might break down the door on a 13 or less. Tasks may be easy, average or hard. Easy tasks are made at +2, average tasks are a straight roll against the attribute, and hard tasks are at -3. Note that these are guidelines, and that the GM can assign any bonus or penalty to an attribute roll to reflect the situation as he or she sees fit. ------------------ ATTRIBUTE CONTESTS ------------------ If one character pits an attribute against another, the result is determined by an "attribute contest" roll. Examples of such situations might be an arm-wrestle (contest of ST), or a mind- control attempt (contest of WP). In an attribute contest, both contestants make attribute rolls normally, and whoever makes the roll by more (or loses by less) wins. If both rolls are made or lost by an equal amount, the contest is a tie. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Advantages and disadvantages cover anything not covered in the attributes. They have point costs (at least for PCs - NPCs dont have to worry about point restrictions), and may be bought with character points when the character is created. These are intended to cover special or unusual situations, like "fire resistance" or "undead." If the genre permits, psychological advantages or disadvantages may also be permitted, such as "fear of snakes" or "high pain threshold." Point costs are assigned by the GM or genre. Advantages and disadvantages may be set out by the GM in advance, or made up on the spot to allow good character conceptions. Advantage or disadvantage point costs will depend on how they actually affect game play for the character. A guideline for assigning point costs to advantages and disadvantages is given below. Note that this scheme is a guideline only. If the result is unsatisfactory, the GM should alter it until it "feels" right. This scheme should just outline the general range of point values. The basic cost is 5 chp for an advantage, or -5 for a disadvantage. This value is then multiplied by 1 to 4, depending on whether the advantage or disadvantage is slight, moderate, significant or extreme: Ad/Disad is: Multiplier slight: x 1 moderate: x 2 significant: x 3 extreme: x 4 The value is also multiplied by a factor of 1/2 to 3, depending on whether the advantage or disadvantage comes into play rarely, occasionally, often or all the time: Ad/Disad: Multiplier rarely comes into play: x 1/2 occasionally comes into play: x 1 often comes into play: x 2 always comes into play: x 3 Some examples could be: BLINDNESS (extreme disadvantage, always comes into play): -5 x 4 x 3 = -60 pts. DANGER SENSE (significant advantage, often comes into play): 5 x 3 x 2 = 30 pts. Note that a single quality may involve a number of separate advantages or disadvantages. Rather than trying to figure out a general sense of how advantageous the package is as a whole, each major aspect of the quality should be defined and assigned points separately. For example, a "vampire" might include: DIES IN CONTACT WITH DIRECT SUNLIGHT (always an extreme disadvantage): -60 CANNOT DIE BY NORMAL WEAPON DAMAGE (always an extreme advantage): 60 DEPENDENT UPON HUMAN BLOOD (occasionally a significant disadvantage): -15 REPELLED BY CROSSES AND GARLIC (often a significant disadvantage): -30 CAN SHAPE-CHANGE INTO A BAT (often an extreme advantage): 40 ...and so on. Note that "having the strength of ten men" can be defined in terms of attributes, and must therefore be represented as such. The rule in this regard is that if anything *can* be represented in terms of attributes, it *must* be. Advantages and disadvantages may only cover situations not covered by the regular attributes. It might seem obvious, but it is nonetheless important to state that any advantage or disadvantage must be evaluated according to its effect in the particular campaign. Having a fear of heights is worth no points at all if the entire campaign is to be conducted underground. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARACTER RACES -------------------------------------------------------------------- A character race is essentially a list of attribute modifiers, advantages and disadvantages that are added to the character after attributes, advantages and disadvantages have been set for the character normally (thus an orc with a 13 ST only has to pay for ST 12 if orcs get +1 ST). Non-human races may therefor have a chp cost to reflect the alterations that are standard for the race. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ENCUMBRANCE LEVEL -------------------------------------------------------------------- A characters encumbrance level is determined by comparing actual encumbrance to maximum encumbrance, and consulting the chart with the resulting percentage. This value will affect movement, dodging ability, fatigue and initiative. Total Encumbrance EL up to 10% of maximum 0 up to 20% of maximum 1 up to 30% of maximum 2 up to 60% of maximum 3 up to 100% of maximum 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------- SKILLS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Skills are learned abilities of the character. They may be "major" or "minor." Major skills are general fields of study, like a profession (e.g. assassin), a fighting style (e.g. swordsmanship) or a magical art (e.g. necromancy). Minor Skills are specific areas of study (e.g. any single language), or skills of limited use within the genre or campaign (e.g. gambling). All skills begin at level 1. As with advantages and disadvantages, skills may be set out in advance by the GM or invented creatively to deal with particular character conceptions. Skills allow a character to perform "tasks" of varying level of difficulty. For example, a skill may be "computer hacking," which might allow the character to perform the task of "infiltrating a small company." Another example of a skill might be "Hunting" which would allow the character to perform the tasks of stealth, tracking, knowlege of plants and animals, and so on. The number and variety of tasks allowed within a skill is primarily what distinguishes a major skill from a minor skill. A major skill should allow the performance of quite a few tasks that are significant in game play, while a minor skill should only allow one significant task. If a character wishes to have a skill that has no particular bearing on game play (except of course for roleplaying; e.g. baking, or guessing another persons weight), it should simply be allowed by the GM without a point cost. All hand-to-hand combat skills are major skills, as are magical arts. --------------- SKILL EXP COSTS --------------- Skill experience costs are given in the table below: Level Major Skill Minor Skill 1 4 2 2 12 6 3 24 12 4 40 20 5 60 30 6 84 42 7 112 56 8 144 72 9 180 90 10 220 110 ...n +4n +2n The following table is intended to provide a feel for what level of expertise is represented by a given skill level: Level Training Karate Belt Education 0 none white elementary school 1-2 rudimentary coloured high school 3-4 adequate brown undergraduate study 5-6 advanced 1st-2nd black graduate study 7-8 more advanced 3rd-4th black post-graduate study 9-10 exceptional 5th-6th black study under world scholar 11+ mastery 7th+ black world scholar ------------ SKILL GROUPS ------------ It may be the case that a character knows a number of skills that are all related to one another. In such a case, the character may buy the skills as a group. A group of minor skills should generally be treated as a single major skill; for example, knowledge of six or seven languages may be put into a single "linguist" major skill. Major skills can also be grouped. If a number of related major skills are grouped together only the highest skill in this group will have the listed cost; all other skills in the group will have their point cost reduced to their skill level times the cost for level 1 (i.e. 4 exp/level for major skills, and 2 exp/level for minor skills). All combat skills are generally related to each other, as are magical arts. Thus, for example, a character could know two 4th-level combat skills for a total 56 exp: the first would cost the full listed amount of 40 exp, and the second would be at 4 (the level) x 4 (the cost for level 1) = 16 exp. The idea of a skill group may also be used to encourage particular campaign ideas or character conceptions; e.g. an order of warrior- priests may allow characters in that order to buy a single combat skill and the orders magical art as a skill group. This is naturally subject to GM discretion. As a general rule of thumb, however, the key to skill groups is that the skills are related to each other in some way. Learning one combat skill would reasonably make learning another skill more easy. If a single training method teaches two major skills, they would be learned as a group. The key is how reasonable the group is, and how well it fits into the character conception and/or campaign. ----------- SKILL ROLLS ----------- To attempt an action that may or may not succeed, the character must make a skill roll. Note that a roll is made only if there is a chance of failure; often knowledge of a skill at a certain level can guarantee success! Tasks may be characterized as easy, medium or hard. In addition, most tasks will have a MINIMUM SKILL LEVEL required before there is *any* chance of succeeding. For example, no-one can calculate an integral until they have learned how. The skill roll is basically an attribute roll against IQ or AG, depending on whether the action is mental or physical in nature. This is modified by the difficulty: +2 for easy tasks, -3 for hard tasks. Finally, the roll is modified by the number of levels the character as in the skill *over the minimum*. For example, a character with IQ 12 and level 5 Math skill wishes to quickly calculate an integral. The minimum level is set by the GM to be a 3 (undergraduate), and the difficulty level is average. The skill roll would then be 12 (IQ) + 2 (levels over the minimum), or 14 or less. For varying "degrees" of difficulty, the GM may assign modifiers between +2 and -3. For exceptionally easy or difficult tasks, the modifier may even be more than +2 or -3. For simplicitys sake, however, the GM need only characterize the task as easy, medium or hard. Note that some tasks may require no training; anyone *can* attempt them, but actual skill in the area will improve the chance of success. These would simply have a minimum skill level of zero. ------------- COMBAT SKILLS ------------- Hand-to-hand combat skills are generally dealt with in terms of holistic *fighting styles*. Rather than "broadsword skill" and "shield skill" and "knife skill," they represent training in a particular fighting style; like fencing, or karate, or swordsmanship. This is more like the idea of a character "class" than a particular technique. Each fighting style would naturally include familiarity with one or more types of weapon, and possibly with the use of a shield. Improved technique will improve the amount of damage done with a successful hit. Generally, combat skills give a bonus of +1 to damage for every 3 levels above the first, e.g. +1 at level 4, +2 at level 7, and so on. Particular techniques might alter this bonus or eliminate it entirely. Combat skills may also have certain restrictions, such as the maximum amount of encumbrance with which a character may be burdened to effectively fight in that style. Ranged combat skills are usually specific to weapon type; they simply allow the use of a particular type of ranged weapon. All combat skills are *major* skills. ------------ MAGIC SKILLS ------------ In the same way that combat is learned in holistic "fighting styles," magic is learned in the broader context of "arts" or "disciplines." Each magical art will include a list of spells that may be learned within that art. Spells are defined as *tasks* with varying minimum levels within the skill. Thus, minor spells might have minimum levels of 3 to 5 (a spell would really have to be trivial to have a level less than 3), while major spells would go up to a minimum level of 12 or higher. Unless otherwise specified, all spells are *hard* tasks. Spells will generally have a fatigue cost; this is determined by the spell itself. If the spell fails (i.e. the skill roll is unsuccessful) the caster will take 1 point of fatigue, unless the spell's normal fatigue cost was zero. The campaign would determine how spells are learned; they may be learned automatically upon improvement within the discipline, or they may involve additional study and/or instruction by the character. Further, characters may not even be able to learn spells of a given discipline unless the character swears allegiance to the college or performs other such initiation rites. This is all determined by how magic works within the campaign. Note that if the same spell (that has a non-zero duration) is cast more than once on a single character, the effects will not be cumulative. Rather, the effect will only be that of the spell cast by the higher-level spellcaster. All magical arts are *major* skills. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FATIGUE -------------------------------------------------------------------- Combatants become fatigued when in combat or while spellcasting. If a character reaches 1/3 of base END or lower, the characters ST and DX are both reduced by 1. MV is also reduced by 1. If a character reaches 0 END or lower, the character must make a WP roll (modified by current END total; e.g. -3 END means that the WP roll is at -3) to avoid falling unconscious. If the roll is successful, the character need not roll again until END is spent again. However, at 0 END or lower ST and DX will both be at -2, and MV is halved. If a character falls unconscious due to damage, END is automatically reduced to zero. Recovery from fatigue is at a rate of 20% (of original END total) every hour spent resting or sleeping. This can of course be modified by GM discretion. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERIENCE -------------------------------------------------------------------- The GM grants experience to each character at the end of each gaming session, taking into account how well the player roleplayed and how involved the character was in the sessions adventuring. Characters are then granted experience on a scale of 1 to 4: 1 little involvement and/or poor roleplaying 2 reasonable involvement and/or average roleplaying 3 lots of involvement and/or good roleplaying 4 "hero of the session," and/or fabulous roleplaying Skill levels may normally be increased at any time (subject to GM approval), as long as the roleplaying has justified the increase to the skill. For example, increasing a characters "assassin" skill could not normally be done unless the character has been involved in performing assassin-type tasks. If the character has just been killing monsters in his or her spare time, that experience should probably be put into a fighting style. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ANIMALS AND ALIENS -------------------------------------------------------------------- A few suggestions for creating non-humanoid creatures: Hit location modifiers will be different for different types of body. For example, a normal-sized quadruped, like a dog or horse might have a -2 modifier to hit the head or face. The "far side" penalty will also depend on how the body is shaped; e.g. attacking a centaurs hind legs from the front, or any part of the humanoid portion from behind. Being exceptionally small may prevent attacks to certain hit locations; such as attempting to hit a leprechauns eyes with a broadsword. Being exceptionally large would also affect what hit locations can be aimed at; the head of a giant is probably out of reach to a human attacker if both combatants are standing on the ground. Predatory animals do have combat skill levels! All animals that survive by hunting will have a "predator" skill which operates as their combat skill level for their attacks. Generally, they can be assumed to have lots of experience in it as well; level 5 or 6 is not unreasonable for tigers or giant owls or other predators. This skill level would also be modified normally for the animals AG, which could be very high; a lion or tiger would have AG 16 or 18. This does not make for an unreasonable result: taking on a lion or tiger single-handed is something even the greatest warriors dont take lightly! - * - Path: igor.rutgers.edu!rutgers!ub!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!agate!rsoft!mindlink!a3619 From: [a 3619] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chris Harwood-Jones) Newsgroups: rec.games.design Subject: SHELL Combat Message-ID: <[1--3--9] at [mindlink.bc.ca]> Date: 1 Jun 92 01:21:19 GMT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Lines: 475 -------------------------------------------------------------------- S H E L L C O M B A T -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ ROUNDS ------ Each character acts once per round, in order of "initiative rating." The initiative rating of a character is equal to AG - (2 x EL). On a characters turn he or she may take one "step" and perform one maneuver, in that order. Alternatively, a character may simply move as many units as they have MV points. A characters MV point total is equal to his or her MV attribute - EL. --------- MANEUVERS --------- Maneuver AT/DEF Attack 0/0 Guard +1/0 Defend 0/+2 Disarm -2/-1 Aim 0/-2 Other: GM discretion There are five basic combat maneuvers. Each may alter AT and DEF, as indicated on the above chart. These modifiers remain in effect until the characters next action. Attacking is the normal attack. This maneuver is the only exception to the "single step" rule; a character may attack after moving any distance. Moving more than a single step will simply penalize the attackers AT value (see Attack Modifiers). However, if the attacker moved far enough, damage will be increased due to the "charge" (this assumes a relatively head-on approach to the defender): every 5 units moved (that turn) in order to attack gives +1 to damage if the attack hits. Guarding is waiting for the enemy to strike first. If the enemy attacks, and is successfully defended against, the character guarding immediately gets a counterattack with the stated bonus to AT. No counterattack may be taken if the attack was not successfully defended against. If the enemy chooses not to attack but perform some other action, the guarding character may stop waiting and attack the enemy normally (this attack would occur just before the enemy performs his or her action). Defending is simply all-out defence. No attack may be taken if this maneuver is selected. Disarm is treated as a normal attack, except that it must be aimed at the enemys weapon, and if it hits, the enemy is disarmed. Aiming at the enemys weapon will cause the normal "attack to weapon" rules to apply (including the additional AT modifier). Bare hands may disarm, but at -2. Other weapons may only disarm if the weapon is specifically noted as being able to disarm. Aiming is standing still and "drawing a bead" on the target. The bonus for aiming is not given as a maneuver modifier but an AT modifier for the situation. See "AT Modifiers" below. In cinematic campaigns special or creative maneuvers may also modify AT and DEF at the GMs discretion. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ATTACKS -------------------------------------------------------------------- When an attack is called, the defender must immediately state the defence: dodge or block. The attackers attack value (AT) and the defenders defence value (DEF) are then calculated, and the Attack Roll is made on 2d10. The result is determined according to the following chart: 2d10 + attackers AT - defenders DEF: 8 or less: miss 9 - 11: successful defence (dodge or block) [Defender has no shield, or attack to weapon:] 12+ hit defender (or weapon) [Defender has a shield:] 12 to 11+PR: hit defenders shield over 11+PR: hit defender If the attack was blocked or hit the defenders shield, the attack will do damage to the weapon or shield (see Damage to Objects). PR refers to the defenders shields "protection rating," based on the relative shield size; e.g. small shields have PR 1, large (tower) shields have PR 3. Magical shields of course can have more. Larger creatures might have PR reduced to reflect the lesser cover, while smaller creatures might receive a bonus. A shield may have a PR of 0, which would reflect a buckler or other such item that can be used to block but is too small to afford any real cover. The basic AT value is the attackers combat skill level, plus his or her AT modifier for AG. The basic DEF value for blocking is equal to the defenders combat skill level, plus his or her DEF modifier for AG. If dodging, the defenders DEF is equal to the defenders best combat level (as opposed to the one actually being used), plus the DEF modifier for AG, minus (1 + defenders EL). Paralyzed, sleeping and otherwise immobile defenders will be hit automatically. -------------- RANGED ATTACKS -------------- Ranged weapons have a speed rating. This value is used to divide the defenders base DEF as calculated above. Thus, a weapon with a speed of 2 will halve the defenders base DEF, while a weapon with speed 3 will divide DEF by 3. Normal thrown weapons have a speed of 1. Bows would have speed 2, while guns, laser beams, magical attacks, and so on would have speed 3. Low-tech ranged weapons will probably lose speed at long range: beyond half of the weapons maximum range, all normal low-tech ranged weapons have a speed of 1. Ranged weapons may normally only be blocked with a shield. Parrying a ranged attack is not allowed unless the weapon or the combat skill (or the GM) specifically permits. Immobile targets have a base DEF of 0. This is also the minimum base DEF for active defenders against ranged attacks. -------- DEFENCES -------- A character may only attempt to block one attack per round, plus one additional attack for every 2 levels in their currently-used fighting style above the first; e.g. 2 at level 3, 3 at level 5, etc. A block may be either with the characters weapon (i.e. parry) or shield, whichever is preferred. There is no limit to the number of times a character may attempt to dodge in a round. If the defender has been knocked down the defender may only dodge, and at -4. Note that if the defender is not aware of the attack, no defence can be attempted! This means an automatic hit for a HTH attack, and a base DEF of 0 for a ranged attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ATTACK MODIFIERS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Attack modifiers are listed below. Special situations may also modify the attackers AT value at GM discretion. *************[begin AT modifier chart]************ AT mod for maneuver: as listed moved more than 1 step: -2 wild swing: -2 attacking off-handed: -3 higher than defender: +1 cant see defender (HTH): -4 HIT LOCATION torso: -0 arm, leg: -1 head, heart, groin: -2 face, hand, foot: -3 neck: -4 eye: -5 weapon: -2 (far side): -3 [Ranged Attack Modifiers:] aim: +1/turn (max. +3) RANGE 1-2: -0 3-5: -1 6-10: -2 11-16: -3 17-25: -4 26-40: -5 ... etc.: x1.5, x1.5... moving target: by range chart cover: -3 per obstruction cant see defender (RNG): no attack possible *************[end AT modifier chart]************ A "wild swing" refers to a weapon attack to an enemy on the "wrong side"; i.e. if holding an axe in the right hand, any attack to the left side or behind is a "wild swing". A similar idea is the "far side" for hit location. If the enemys left side is facing the attacker, an attack to the right arm or leg would be an attack to the "far side". -------------------------------------------------------------------- DEFENCE MODIFIERS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Defence modifiers are listed below. Special situations may also modify the attackers DEF value at GM discretion. DEF mod for last maneuver: as listed wild block or parry: -2 blocking off-handed: -3 higher than attacker: +1 stunned: -2 cant see attacker: -4 Note that "cant see attacker" is a different situation from "unaware of attack." This modifier refers to a situation in which the defender is aware that the attack is coming, but is unsure of from where it will come. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DAMAGE -------------------------------------------------------------------- Damage is determined by the weapon type, but based on the base damage listed for the characters ST; e.g. +1 cr means crushing damage equal to the normal damage for their ST, +1. Normal bare-hand damage is -4 cr. Damage is applied directly to the hit location. When the total damage done to all hit locations is at least equal to the defenders HP, the defender falls unconscious. If the total damage done to the defender becomes at least equal to *double* the defenders HP, the defender dies. If a single blow does at least half of the defenders base HP, the defender will be stunned and lose his or her next turn. ----------- DAMAGE TYPE ----------- Damage may be altered depending on the weapon's damage "type": cutting, crushing, or impaling. Weapons may also be armour- piercing, in which case armour DR (though perhaps not natural DR) is reduced by half. CUTTING DAMAGE: Cutting damage is the "standard." No special modifiers apply. This can also represent burn damage or shock damage. CRUSHING DAMAGE: Crushing damage has an increased chance of stunning the opponent for hits to the head, torso and groin: the victim will be stunned if the hit does one-*third* of the defenders base hit points. Note that for stunning blows to the head or groin, the defender must make a WP roll to avoid losing consciousness. If the attacker wishes (or the weapon specifies), crushing damage to the torso or head may be applied non-lethally. In that case, the non-lethal or "stun" damage is remembered separately. It is still figured into the normal effects of damage, except for the purposes of determining death (i.e. a character will die only if they have taken *lethal* damage of at least equal to twice their HP). Stunning damage is completely recovered after each fight, or when the character regains consciousness. IMPALING DAMAGE: Impaling damage is like cutting damage, except that damage to the heart or groin is multiplied by 1.5 (after DR is subtracted), and damage to limbs is halved. ------------ HIT LOCATION ------------ A given amount of damage to a single hit location may have a crippling effect. If the required amount of damage is done (see below), a crippling injury has occurred. In addition to losing the use of that limb or eye, 1) the victim is automatically stunned. 2) the injury is normally temporary, and will be recovered with the recovery of hit points to that area. If the damage to that area has reached double the damage needed to injure the area, the injury will be permanent. 3) if the full amount of damage was applied in a single blow, the victim must make an immediate HT roll (at +2; no other modifiers apply) to determine whether the injury is temporary (success) or permanent (failure). 4) if the injury is permanent, the victim must make a WP roll to stay conscious. The amount of damage required to cripple a hit location is calculated as a percentage of base hit points and depends on the location hit: ******[begin hit location damage effects]****** ARM, LEG: 40% of base hit points injures the arm (&hand) or leg (&foot). Hand and foot damage is figured into whether this percentage has been reached. Excess damage is not counted towards total damage. HAND, FOOT: 20% of base hit points injures the hand or foot. Excess damage is not counted towards total damage or arm/leg damage. EYE: 10% of base hit points blinds the eye. Excess damage is quadrupled (brain hit). HEAD: +2 natural DR for the skull. All damage is quadrupled (brain hit). NECK: All damage is quadrupled. ******[end hit location damage effects]****** Note that hit point damage is remembered separately for each hit location, but the accumulated total is what determines unconsciousness or death. Attacks that do damage to more than one hit location, such as a fireball or explosion, will do "general" (i.e. torso) damage. Torso armour is effective against "general-damage" attacks. -------------------------------------------------------------------- RECOVERY -------------------------------------------------------------------- Characters recover hit points at a base rate of 10% (of original hit points) every day. This percentage is adjusted by HT: use the Primary Attribute chart to get the maximum encumbrance for an equivalent ST and divide by 20 (e.g. HT 13 = 300/20 = 15%). Note that this is the rate at which each injured hit location regains hit points. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CLOSE COMBAT -------------------------------------------------------------------- Creatures may wish to enter close combat with their opponents. If that is the case, the attacker must step into the defenders unit. Once in the same unit as the defender, the close combat rules will apply. --------------------- ENTERING CLOSE COMBAT --------------------- When a character attempts to step into another characters unit, the defending character may opt to stop-thrust with a weapon or bare hand, or block the entry with a shield. If this is successful, the attacker is prevented from entering close combat and forfeits the rest of their turn. STOP THRUST: A stop thrust may be performed with any thrusting weapon (as opposed to a swinging weapon), or bare hands. It is counted as a defence, and if no more defences are allowed, the defender may not stop thrust at all. The defender makes a normal attack roll, and the attacker defends normally. If the stop thrust hits (or hits the shield), the hit does damage (if the opponent was charging, the charge damage bonus is given to the one stop-thrusting) and the attacker will prevented from entering if (1) damage was inflicted or (2) if no damage was inflicted, if the defender wins a contest of ST with the attacker. If the defender was able to "set" for a charge with a spear or other similar weapon, the stop-thrusting damage will be based on the attackers ST, plus the charge bonus and the bonus for the defenders skill level. SHIELD BLOCK: A shield block operates in the same way as a stop thrust, except that the attacker is automatically prevented from entering if hit but takes no damage. ---------------------- CLOSE COMBAT MANEUVERS ---------------------- Once in close combat, only bare hand or body attacks (i.e. bite or tail) are allowed, or attacks with close-combat weapons (e.g. daggers). The only defence allowed in close combat is the dodge. Shields have no effect in close combat. There are two additional maneuvers available in close combat: the takedown and the pin. TAKEDOWN: The takedown is a normal attack roll, modified by the attackers ST compared to the defenders: for every point of the attackers ST greater than or less than the defenders, the roll is additionally modified by +-1. If successful, the defender will be thrown down to the ground. PIN: If the defender is down, the attacker may attempt a pin. This is the same as a takedown roll., modified additionally by weight: for every 20 pounds heavier or lighter, the attacker is at a +-1 modifier to the roll. If the roll is successful, the defender will be pinned. This attempt may follow immediately upon a successful takedown. The attacker must also go "down" to attempt a pin. An attacker pinning a defender may not continue to use bare hand attacks against the defender, but may still bite or attack with extra limbs while pinning. To break out of a pin, the defender must succeed in a takedown roll against the attacker. -------------------------------------------------------------------- COMBAT SPELLCASTING -------------------------------------------------------------------- Spellcasting operates normally in combat (i.e. the task roll is performed, and if successful the spell takes effect and the caster takes fatigue), except for the fact that each spell has a particular *casting time*, which indicates the number of combat rounds that must be spent casting. If casting time is zero, the spell roll is made during the caster's turn. Otherwise, the caster must spend the listed number of turns in *uninterrupted* concentration before the spell can be cast. That means that if the caster takes more than a single step, or has to block or dodge an attack, the spell is lost *automatically*. A more cinematic option is to allow the caster a WP roll to continue. If however the caster takes actual damage, the spell should still be lost automatically. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DAMAGE TO OBJECTS -------------------------------------------------------------------- If an object is hit (with a shield block or hit to the shield, or a parry, or a hit to the weapon), damage is rolled normally. The object breaks if the attack does more damage than the object has hit points. If it does less, there is no effect. Impaling weapons do half damage to objects. -------------------------------------------------------------------- COMBAT FATIGUE -------------------------------------------------------------------- In HTH combat, 1 point of END is taken every certain number of rounds of moving, attacking or defending, depending on the combatant's encumbrance level: EL Rounds 0 25 1 20 2 15 3 10 4 5 Spellcasting will cost END as prescribed by the spell. - * - Path: igor.rutgers.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!think.com!ames!agate!rsoft!mindlink!a3619 From: [a 3619] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chris Harwood-Jones) Newsgroups: rec.games.design Subject: SHELL Genres Message-ID: <[1--3--0] at [mindlink.bc.ca]> Date: 1 Jun 92 01:25:27 GMT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Lines: 141 -------------------------------------------------------------------- S H E L L G E N R E S -------------------------------------------------------------------- Genres set out the substance of this system: they provide starting character points, the currency system, weapons and equipment available, spells, etc.. A genre must include: -------- CURRENCY -------- Currency types and their value. --------- EQUIPMENT --------- Equipment, its cost and weight, and other information specific to its type: *ARMOUR: 1) must have DR (and specified hit locations that it protects). typical DR for fantasy armour types: cloth: 1 leather: 2 studded: 3 chain: 4 scale: 5 banded: 6 plate: 7 2) may also include DM or MR for high-tech or magical armour. 3) facial armour may penalize PER and DEF unless it is transparent. *SHIELDS: 1) must have protection rating. typical shield PR: small: 1 medium: 2 large: 3 2) must have HP for breakage purposes. typical HP for medieval shields: small: 10 medium: 13 large: 16 [May be reinforced for increased cost.] *WEAPONS: 1) must state damage (amount and type). bare hand damage is -4 cr. a typical long sword should do +0 cut/imp. 2) must have HP (for breakage purposes). a typical long sword should have about 10 HP 3) ranged weapons must have range (in yards) & speed. low-tech weapons will have range as a multiplier to ST, e.g. ST x 2.5. 4) may have modifiers to AT and DEF. if the weapon can be used with more than one technique, these modifiers may be specific to technique. 5) only some weapons may disarm; these must be noted specially. 6) low-tech weapons have a minimum ST to wield. wielding the weapon with less than the min. ST is at -1 to skill per point below the minimum; if ST is over 5 more than the minimum, damage will only be based on a ST of min. ST + 5. 7) may be used one- or two-handed, or both. if the weapon can be used both one- or two-handed, two-handed use will lower its min. ST by 2 and increase its damage by 1. --------------------------------------------- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES AVAILABLE TO PCS --------------------------------------------- Standard ads and disads, with chp costs; NPCs can naturally have whatever the GM gives them (points are irrelevant). --------------- ALTERNATE RACES --------------- A list of alternate races available to PCs, with their attribute modifiers, advantages and disadvantages, and chp costs. ----------- SKILL LISTS ----------- FIGHTING STYLES: Weapon proficiencies included in the style (and/or bare-hand) Peculiarities to the fighting style: damage adjustment for level, bonuses to attacking, blocking or dodging, maximum encumbrance, etc.. RANGED WEAPON PROFICIENCIES MAGICAL ARTS: Campaign information, spell list Each spell description must include: 1) casting time 2) END cost 3) minimum level - * - [End of SHELL system posting.]