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Welcome to a fantasy medieval role-playing game that focuses on realism and detail whenever possible without sacrificing fun.

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Random determination is more realistic, since no one gets to choose their race in reality.

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Sub-Ability Points: Physical Fitness + 5, Strength - 60, Bodily Attractiveness + 10, Health +10, Facial + 10, Vocal + 10, Kinetic + 10, Hand-Eye Coordination + 10, Agility + 5, Enunciation + 5, Drive + 5, Intuition + 10, Common Sense + 10, and Reflection + 5.
Base Current Armor: 10.
Base Life Points: 15.
Physical Description: Light elves tend to be attractive; however, this race has no pubic hair. The appearance of light elves is whiter than the sun. Their hair ranges from white to golden or blonde. Light elves prefer to wear green clothes. Light elves average 4’ tall.
Disposition Modifiers: Morality + 25.
Temperament Modifiers: Sanguine + 25 and Melancholic - 25.
Sociality: Light elves live in forest kingdoms. There, elves often live in the hollows of huge tree trunks, and are hidden from others.
Language: Elven.
Occupation: Any. Common occupations for light elves include Acrobat, Bard, Dancer, Druid, Gardener, Herbalist, Musician, Ranger, Sage, Sorcerer, and Stabler. Elves begin work in puberty.
Skills: Climb + 3, Contortion + 3, Dance + 3, Etiquette + 3, Herbalism + 3, Musical Instrument (Singing) + 3, Nature (Plants) + 3, Nature (Trees) + 3, Smell + 3, Tracking + 3, and Tumbling + 3.
Religion: Light elves worship their own gods.
Names: Common male names include Aedilfrid and Earconberct. Common female names include Cynwise and Quoenburg.

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This chapter is concerned with anthropometry (physical measures of the body), such as height and weight, including genitalia, as well as allergies, intoxication, and diseases affecting the body.

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Characters have never heard of BMI, and will never discuss it with each other. BMI is provided in this book to provide the Aedile and player a better understanding of the relationships between Physique, height, and weight.
To determine if a character is under- or overweight, simply divide their weight by the square of their height, and multiply the result by 705.

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The information in the table below is unnecessary at the moment if creating a character and progressing through the book page by page.

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Roll 1d100 twice, first for the most attractive feature of your character, then for the most repulsive feature.

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Roll 1d1000000 (6 dice that are 10-sided) to see if something about a character is a freak of nature. If the results equal 000001, then the character is a freak of nature who has survived; most freaks of nature are killed when their deformity is discovered at birth.

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A Manhood that is short but extremely thick is known as a chode.

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There are 5 core abilities (Physique, Charisma, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom), each with 4 sub-abilities. To determine a character’s abilities, begin by calculating each of the 20 sub-abilities. Sub-abilities must be rolled in order and the order cannot be altered. For each sub-ability, roll 10d100, divide the sum by 5, subtract 1 from the result, and truncate the remainder.

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This sub-ability is concerned with manipulating visual-spatial images. Spatial Intelligence may be observed during the following: the ability to imagine correctly how objects will appear when rotated in two- or three-dimensional space, finding hidden figures within the contours of a larger figure, accurately predicting where a moving object will be at any given moment, the ability to arrange items to make or resemble a specific design, and object assembly.

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Those with excellent Language sub-ability are able: to speak multiple languages fluently; acquire, retain, and utilize a large Vocabulary; and demonstrate impressive reading comprehension. However, this is only the potential to do these things. In a fantasy medieval environment where illiteracy is the norm, most of the potential of this sub-ability may go unrealized.

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Driven by hormones, the young male agrees, and asks “What is the tonguetwister?” The chambermaid challenges “Huge hung hero hunks hastily hump horny heaving hot whores. How‘bout it, huh?” To make an ability check, roll 3d10 and apply the Skill Modifier to the result. A 6 or less always represents failure or a fumble.

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Often considered endurance or stamina, a character’s Physical Fitness is not concerned with the size or strength of the muscle, but its ability for durative exertion. Characters with high Physical Fitness have low body fat and are able to perform exerting activities for long durations, such as sprinting.

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Dispositions refer to metaphysical beliefs of a character. Metaphysical beliefs are concerned with speculation beyond the physical world, such as gods and conceptions of good and evil. Essentially, metaphysical beliefs produce a blend of 2 related but distinct dimensions: ethics and morals.
[…]
Example: Assume that a married man is walking down the street. An attractive woman stops him, talks for a few minutes, and blatantly asks him to go home with her.

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Each character must have a disposition. Upon character creation, 1d100 must be rolled twice: once for ethicality and once for morality.

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NM w/EM: Different from simply supporting the greatest good for the greatest number, characters with this disposition often support ethics, provided the ethics don’t conflict with morals. These characters want to be true to themselves and have consistent behavior, but if a contradiction emerges from this, their own sense of right and wrong is more important than any ethical code.

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Temperament is a combination of internal processes that are determined at birth and affect the moods and lives of characters. 4 bodily secretions cause temperament:
• Blood causes the sanguine temperament, which is characterized as warm and pleasant.
• Yellow Bile causes the choleric temperament, which is characterized as hot-tempered.
• Black Bile causes the melancholic temperament, which is characterized as sad and depressed.
• Phlegm causes the phlegmatic temperament, which is characterized as apathetic.

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Sanguine-Phlegmatic: On the outside, this character is happy, emotional, expressive, and a joy to others. However, these characters are very selective of which emotions they show, and behind closed doors they are characterized as unenthusiastic. It is this contrast that causes others to consider their happiness to be fake.

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Over a period of (5 + d100) months, the male experiences an uncontrollable desire for sexual intercourse. This causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. This disorder affects only males. Satyromaniacs are also known as sex maniacs.
Due to this mental illness, the Debauchery (see Chap. 6: Sociality) of this character increases by 25. Whenever a male is afflicted with satyromania and around females with a Charisma exceeding 130, he must pass a Drive check at TH 20 or attempt to solicit sex, usually making lecherous comments about her body.

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To determine a character’s birthday in a format of (month/day/year) for Neveria (a fantasy world), simply apply the following formula: {1d20* / [(1d12 + 1d20) - 1] / [5100 - age]**}
* Note: Reroll results of 14 or higher. In Neveria, the year consists of 13 months because months are based on lunar cycles.
** Note: In Neveria, different cultures count their years differently. The formula used above represents kobold years (KY).

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Debauchery is the willingness of a character to indulge sexual desire. Some characters refuse all sex, while others are willing to do anything.

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If a character is equal to or younger than the age listed above, then the player may choose an occupation for their character. The most popular choice for a player is an adventuring occupation, such as an assassin or mercenary. Historically, most simply chose the same occupation as their parents.

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Armorer
Ability Requirements: Strength 90, Spatial Intelligence 90, and Intelligence (overall) 85.

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Ability Requirements: None.
Gender: Occasionally, female gladiators enter the arena. Males, however, are clearly the default gender for gladiators. Among human cultures, human male gladiators must be at least age 25 and females at least age 21. Other cultures -- such as bugbear, kobold, and subterranean troll -- have no restrictions of age or gender.
Race: All races may be imprisoned, and hence, are each likely to have members who have become gladiators, whether they volunteered or not.
Disposition: While all dispositions are possible, very few gladiators are ethical, since it is often their unethical or unlawful actions that have caused them to be imprisoned in the first place. Temperament: Gladiators tend to be choleric. Sociality: The vast majority of gladiators are slaves, peasants, or serfs, as are most criminals. However, nobles have been known to volunteer to become gladiators.
Religion: Some gladiators worship gods of war or combat, though others many pay no attention to religion at all.
Skills: Armor (General, Light), Armor (General, Medium), Dismemberment + 3, Impaling + 3, Mangling + 3, Seduction + 3, and 4 Weapons (Specific).
Equipment: Gladiators receive their armor and weapons, if any, as a courtesy of the arena. No gladiator is ever given heavy armor, and only occasionally do they acquire medium armor. Nearly any melee weapon may be used by gladiators in the arena.
Magic Points: Inapplicable.
Advancement Points: Gladiators gain AP by damaging foes while in an arena or a situation in which they fight for money, freedom, or the amusement of the public. Points gained equal the damage dealt.
Training: None.
Guild: None.

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Most skills may be attempted by all characters, though some have prerequisites. For example, any character is capable of attempting to seduce someone, even if they are not a whore by occupation and their sub-ability scores are low in Bodily Attractiveness, as well as Facial, Vocal, Kinetic, or Rhetorical Charisma.
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Many skills have a Learning Curve (LC), which is a modifier to skill checks when skills must be learned in order to be performed without penalty.
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In addition to these bases, however, each character starts with a number of Skill Points (SP) depending on Race, Age, and Lifespan. These SP are invested into the appropriate skills under Points Invested on the character sheet (see App. 1: Character Sheets). Again, if at least 5 points are allotted to a skill when the character is created, then a LC does not apply to that skill.
At the time of character creation, additional SP may be distributed to skills depending on occupation (see Chap. 7: Occupation) and race (see Chap. 1: Race and Gender). Then, after SP are determined from the table above, a character must invest all SP into skills. Investing SP should be done year by year, instead of in a lump sum.

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Whenever a skill check is necessary, the player rolls 3d10, modifies the result according to the number in Total Modifier, and announces the adjusted result. The Aedile will compare this result to a Threshold (TH), which is usually known only by the Aedile. If the player’s result equals or exceeds the TH, then the character has passed. Otherwise, the player has failed the skill check. A 6 always fails or is a fumble.

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Skills: Climb + 3, Contortion + 3, Dance + 3, Etiquette + 3, Herbalism + 3, Musical Instrument (Singing) + 3, Nature (Plants) + 3, Nature (Trees) + 3, Smell + 3, Tracking + 3, and Tumbling + 3.
Skills: Armor (General, Light), Armor (General, Medium), Dismemberment + 3, Impaling + 3, Mangling + 3, Seduction + 3, and 4 Weapons (Specific).

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Smell is a sense and different than most skills. Each character must roll 3d10 to determine the quality of this sense and record this as SP invested. A character may invest no more than 1d10 SP into this skill. If a character needs to assess the sensitivity of their Smell, then they must pass a Smell skill check.

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Weapon, Specific: This skill applies individually to different weapons. For each weapon in which 5 SP have been invested, the weapon may be used in combat without penalty. Some occupations (see Chap. 7: Occupation) grant 1 or more Weapon (Specific) skills. Consider these granted skills as though 5 free SP have been invested.
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Roll 3d10 and apply the average of the modifiers from the sub-abilities that are determined by Weapon Type (see Weapons in Chap. 9: Equipment), which are S, SA, or A. Characters who use weapons of type S include the modifier for Hand-Eye Coordination. Characters who use weapons of type SA include the modifiers for Hand-Eye Coordination times 2, then add the modifier for Agility, and divide the sum by 3. Characters who use weapons of type A include the modifiers for Hand-Eye Coordination and Agility.

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Each weapon also has either A (Agility), SA (Strength and Agility), or S (Strength) listed. ‘A’ weapons may be used to attack twice per round in combat, while ‘S’ and ‘SA’ weapons may be used to attack once per round in combat.

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Weight Distribution is the location of the balancing point of the weapon, considering the handle or end closest to the wielder as 1, and the tip or end closest to the foe as 100. The range of Weight Distribution is 1-100.
Fulcrum Range is where the wielder places their hand or hands. If both hands are used, then the hand closest to the attacking-end of the weapon is considered the fulcrum. The location of their hands is the point from which leverage is gained. The higher the number, the closer the fulcrum is to the attacking-end of the weapon. The lower the fulcrum on a hacking or pounding weapon, the more damage is delivered but it has a higher Delivery Penalty (see Delivery Penalty on the next page). Therefore,the higher the fulcrum on a hacking or pounding weapon, the less damage is delivered but it has a lower Delivery Penalty.

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Damage is the numerical value determined by dice that the foe suffers, should the wielder connect successfully with their foe. Once rolled, damage must be modified by the point chosen as fulcrum, if applicable (see Fulcrum Range). To modify damage by fulcrum, subtract the chosen point from 100, and divide the result by 100. Multiply damage by this result. Finally, damage may be modified by Strength, if caused with an ‘S’ or ‘SA’ weapon (see Type for A, SA, or S weapons). After damage is modified, if applicable, it is subtracted from the IP of the foe’s armor if the armor but not the foe was struck, or additionally, the BPP and LP of the damaged foe if struck. Edged weapons listed are considered to be sharp. If an edged weapon is dull, it does only 50% of the damage listed.
Delivery Penalty is a number that is to be subtracted from the initiative roll (see Chap. 10: Combat) each round, which serves to make combatants with weapons likely to be slower while attacking than combatants using only natural weapons, such as brawlers, animals, or many beasts. Delivery Penalty (DP) is listed directly for Missile Weapons. Players must calculate DP for all other weapons. For hacking or pounding weapons, consult the first method below:
First, multiply Weapon Size in inches by Weapon Weight in pounds. Multiply the result by the Weight Distribution. Consider this result A.
Next, select a point in the Fulcrum Range, if a range is offered. Then, subtract the chosen point from 100, and divide this result by 100. Consider this result B.
Multiply result A by B. Divide this result by 2. The Strength of the character must equal or exceed this result to be physically capable of wielding the weapon.
If the character is capable, then apply the opposite of the skill modifiers for Strength, Agility, or the average of Strength and Agility, depending on its type: A, SA, or S. The result is the DP.
For stabbing weapons, multiply the Weapon Weight by 10, and apply the opposite of the Agility skill modifier. This is the DP. The Strength of the character must exceed thrice the DP with a stabbing weapon, only for Agility-based weapons, to wield the weapon. Stabbing weapons weighing less than 1% of a character’s Strength have DP 0.

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Armor Bonus is listed for 4 types of attacks: brawling, hacking, pounding, and stabbing. Parenthetical information is the armor for a face, separate from the head, except for chainmail hauberks and chausses, which indicates 6-in-1 instead of 4-in-1. Armor bonuses are cumulative among armor types. For instance, if a character were wears a great helm and raises a steel heater shield to protect their head during a hacking attack,then the armor bonuses of 15 and 15 combine, granting an additional 30 to CA.

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To determine a character’s maximum movable weight, consult Dead Lift under the sub-ability of Strength (see Chap. 3: Abilities). The total weight of the character’s load or possessions is compared to their Dead Lift. If their weight is less than 25% of their Dead Lift, then they are unencumbered, moving at their full potential.

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Mauger Stats: Height = 6’2”, Weight = 211 lbs., Age = 22, Sexuality = Hetero, Eyes = Brown, Hair Color = Brunette, Hair Thickness = Thick, Hair Length = middle of the back, Hair Type = wavy, Most Attractive Feature = chest, Most Repulsive Feature = hands, level 3 mercenary, Skin Color = tan, Physical Fitness = 111, Strength = 182, Bodily Attractiveness = 123, Health = 131, Facial = 98, Vocal = 148, Kinetic = 111, Rhetorical = 86, Hand- Eye = 152, Agility = 124, Reaction Speed = 136, Enunciation = 92, Language = 97, Math = 107, Analytic = 108, Spatial = 112, Drive = 103, Intuition = 109, Common Sense = 73, Reflection = 84, LP = 32, CA = 13, PP = 07, Disposition = NI, Temperament = CM, Languages = Sapian, Equipment = Goring Zweihander + 6, dagger, chainmail hauberk, (4-in-1), and 544 s.p.

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Consider the size of the called target as a percentage of the height of the attacking creature. For example, a 9’ tall ogre makes a called shot on an elf ’s head. The head of an elf may be estimated to be roughly 7” cubed. Therefore, an ogre who is 108” is trying to hit a 7” target. Since 7” is 6.48% of 108”, and remainders are truncated, the ogre is trying to hit a target that is 6% of his size.

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Subtract the above percentage from 100 and divide by 5. The result is the modifier to attack.

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If a Called Shot successfully hits its target, and the natural attack roll met or exceeded 25, then proceed to the appropriate description of the outcome for the relevant body part in the Graphic Gore section.

The Attribute Auction is ADRs most famous mechanic, possibly because it's one of the only actual mechanics in the game. Rather than constructing your character with point-buy or whatever, you have to bid against the other players for ranking in the various Attributes and compete with them for the rank you want. It is certainly memorable, and unfortunately it's often more fun than the resulting gameplay thanks to other issues.

The auction constructs a system of Ranks for each Attribute. All contests in the game are resolved by comparing ranks, with the higher always winning unless there's some significant advantage or disadvantage at play (what constitutes "significant" being up to the GM). If you spend any points at all on an Attribute, you are Ranked and therefore better than the non-Ranked. The Ranks are simply numbered, from First to however many people bid on the Auction. The base Rank of zero points spent is called Amber Rank, which outranks Chaos Rank (powerful denizens of Shadow and people from the Courts of Chaos are at this Rank), and below that is the puny Human rank.

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HOW Bad is Bad? It's really bad. Every time something is left up to chance, your Game Master is going to have a look at your Stuff. Any Bad Stuff, and the Game Master is going to assume that "chance" just took a turn for the worst.

Zereth posted:

Don't you need at least Shadow rank Endurance to survive Logrus initiation?

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The year is 3200. Humanity is scattered like dust among the stars. The broken relics of a former day litter the sky and men and women struggle to rebuild the glory of humanity’s lost golden age.

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In Stars Without Number you play the role of an interstellar adventurer. Whether a grizzled astrotech, lostworlder warrior, or gifted psychic, you dare the currents of space for the sake of riches and glory.

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If you’ve been playing RPGs long enough, you’ll readily recognize much of this book. It draws a great deal of its inspiration from a slightly streamlined take on several 1970s-era RPGs. Which ones will be clear to most old-school readers, and this game would not be possible without the admirable example those games provided.

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To generate a character’s attributes, 3d6 are rolled six times and the results are assigned to the attributes in the order listed on the table below.

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Every class has two attributes which are prime requisites. These are attributes which are very important to functioning in the class. For Experts, these are Intelligence or Charisma. For Psychics, they are Wisdom or Constitution, and for Warriors they are Strength or Dexterity.

Lord Frisk posted:

I think everyone should try statting up bird ladies who may or may not be bards.

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Some players will want to play an alien as a PC. There’s no fundamental reason not to allow this, even though Stars Without Number generally assumes a party of human adventurers.
You should take care not to give aliens any substantial advantage over humanity, however, or else you’re likely to attract players who aren’t so much interested in playing an alien as they’re interested in playing a more powerful character. If your alien race is exceptionally strong, quick, intelligent or otherwise superior to humanity, you shouldn’t give them a bonus to those attributes. You should instead make a high attribute roll a prerequisite for picking the species. If a player wants to play such an alien and doesn’t roll sufficiently well, you might allow them to shift points from their highest score to fill the prerequisite attributes up to the minimum for the species.

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To determine precisely what sort of background your character has had, you should choose a Background Package from the following pages. Each package includes a brief description and a list of skills that the package grants. You should personalize this description to your character’s specific past; if she was an Armsman on a primitive world, for example, you should put some thought into what manner of lord she served and why it was she left her former employment.

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Priest
Priests or religious leaders of some kind exist on almost every planet, and most of them couple sincere belief with a pragmatic knowledge of human nature. It's not uncommon for a priest to choose to take the blessed word to the heathens among the stars and find more success there than unbelievers might expect.
Skills: Culture/World, Leadership, Persuade, Religion

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Culture
World: This specialty must be taken individually for each specific world, and relates to knowledge of that world’s society, government, tech level, and laws. Level 0 in this skill also grants basic proficiency in that world’s most common language if the character is not already proficient in it.

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Leadership
The character is trained in leading others in high-stress situations. Characters with this skill can keep the obedience of subordinates even in dangerous situations or when giving hazardous orders.

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Persuade
The character has a knack for convincing others of the truth and sincerity of their words.

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Religion
The character is trained in theology and familiar with the more common or notorious religious sects on the surrounding worlds.

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Rogue Psychic
Some psychics refuse affiliation with any greater organization. Either trained by a renegade mentor or a survivor of an extinct academy, these rogue psychics are often hired out by organizations and planets that lack psychic training programs of their own.
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/Any, Persuade, Stealth

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Combat
Psitech: Use of psitech weaponry. This skill is usually useless to non-psychics, as almost all psitech weaponry requires some psionic talent to use.

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Stealth
The character knows how to move silently, conceal their presence in shadows, and avoid notice.

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Breathable mix atmospheres can support human life without additional equipment or gengineered modification. Any world that has a human population in the millions or more almost certainly has a breathable mix atmosphere.

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Warm worlds come in two main flavors, depending on the prevalence of water. “Desert worlds” are hot enough or arid enough to be deprived of most surface water. Any life on such a planet has to be capable of extracting water from living prey, air currents or moisture supplies deep underground. Humans can survive on warm worlds without more than appropriate clothing, but desert-world humans must learn sophisticated techniques of water prospecting and well-drilling in order to maintain their agricultural systems. Warfare often revolves around these water systems.

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Human-miscible biospheres are those in which some substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs. The local plants and animals may not be tasty or terribly nourishing, but they can support life without the serious importation of Terran crop seeds and livestock.

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Outposts are rarely composed of more than a few hundred or few thousand colonists at the most. Outposts are either very new colonies that have not have the requisite time to grow or they are uncolonized worlds that just happen to have a naval or corporate base on the surface.

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Tech level 4 worlds are the most common in human space, and their technical expertise is the baseline for modern post-Silence “postech”. These worlds can create spike drives rated up to drive-3, fusion power plants, grav vehicles, simple energy weapons, and medicines that extend human life to a hundred years of vigorous good health. They can manage sophisticated gengineering on simple life forms, and some tech level 4 worlds have even attempted to improve the genetic structures of human life itself. These attempts have yet to produce results without severe drawbacks, but some such worlds remain populated by altered humanity designed to cope with local conditions more perfectly than baseline humans.

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Each round that a psychic torches, he must roll 1d10. On a result of 1-4, he permanently loses one point of Constitution. A result of 5-8 causes the permanent loss of a point of Wisdom, and a result of 9 or 10 means the energy discharge did no lasting harm to his neural tissues. If Constitution drops below 3, he dies, and if Wisdom drops below 3, he becomes incurably and dangerously insane.

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Here’s where we begin, with who your character was before the very first game. Her mother and father, siblings (if any), the House she was born under… all of these are elements of your character’s past.
Now, I have to warn you: this is also the only part of character generation that is completely random. You may know the saying, “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” Well, I’ve made that phrase a part of the game. A mechanic. The only element of chance in character creation rests here. Your family.

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The Elk are a shunned House, but their banner has not yet been veiled. Once the most powerful House, the Blooded of the Elk were nearly stripped of their lands and titles. If not for the precious favors they traded to keep their status, the Elk would be no more. Now, their banner sits half-veiled in the Senate, a symbol of their shame. But they are still one of the most powerful Houses, masters of politics and intrigue. Moving their influences from sight, they are the most subtle manipulators, regaining their Strength and glory one maneuver at a time. The virtue of the Elk is inguena: “cunning.” To plot, to plan, and to execute.

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It’s true. Your character is probably married.

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BEAR’S STRENGTH
Strength represents almost all your character’s physical actions. Lifting, pushing, tearing, pulling, punching, jumping, wrestling and other forms of unarmed combat are all determined by Strength.
ELK’S CUNNING
Cunning is a measure of your character’s ability to see what others are trying to hide and find creative solutions for difficult problems. You know how to put together elaborate plans from disparate parts and how to see patterns where others cannot.
FALCON’S COURAGE
Courage represents your character’s physical will and determination to go on, regardless of the things that stand in his way. Whenever you face danger, whenever you must make selfless decisions, whenever you have to fight through the pain, your Courage helps you reach the other side.
FOX’S BEAUTY
Beauty represents your character’s creativity, expression, and natural charm. Whenever your character embarks on a creative endeavor, his Beauty determines his ability to create works that resonate.
SERPENT’S WISDOM
A character’s Wisdom represents his memory and learning ability. When you have to recall facts or memorize charts, you call upon your Wisdom.
WOLF’S PROWESS
Prowess reflects your character’s martial training. Using weapons, surviving on a battlefield, understanding strategy and tactics all fall under the purview of Prowess.

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Aspects are words, phrases or even quotes that help define your character. They are the keywords you use to describe not only who your character is, but what your character means. Aspects can make the difference between a good character and a great character.
Start by thinking about who your character is. A ven noble. What makes your character unique from the others you’ll meet? What makes you stand apart?
If you had only two things to say about your character—and each had to be summed up in five words or less—what would those two things be? That’s a good way to start thinking about Aspects. And remember, an Aspect can be a single word, a couple of words, a phrase, an item, or even a quote.

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WELL-MANNERED
Invoke: Knows the courtly system of manners like the back of her hand.
Tag: Pauses when rudeness shows up in its party dress.
Compel: Will not break the rules of etiquette.
ACADEMY EDUCATED
Invoke: When called upon for knowledge-based risks.
Tag: Too bookish; doesn’t know the “real world” from the “book world.”
Compel: Fascinated by the unknown; eager to learn.

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Talten Steele: the Iron Heart, Winter’s Promise, the Ruthless. Call upon him when you seek insight into the ways of Politics.

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Manna Renay: the hearthmother, wardteacher, grand dame. Call upon her when you seek insight into the ways of Etiquette.

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The Vow
Spend a Style Point and make a promise to another ven. That ven must now swear to keep the same promise. The same promise. Identical. Word for word.
If either ven breaks his promise, he loses all Style Points.
Even the Moon has a Dark Side
Spend a Style Point and target a ven. You must be able to name the ven’s Aspect (although you do not need to know the invoke, tag or compel). That ven cannot use the invoke for that Aspect until dawn the next day. The Aspect can still be tagged and compelled, but not invoked.
Circle of Protection
The ven must draw a circle on the ground with her own Blood to invoke this Blessing. Drawing a circle takes one action. The circle must be drawn on a solid surface. It cannot be drawn on gravel or sand or any surface that will not make a full circle with the ven’s Blood. If the circle loses its integrity, the magic of the circle is broken. The ven must also know the true name of the person or persons inside the circle. All three names.
Once the circle is drawn, nothing may enter it. Nothing. No arrows, no fire, no swords, nothing. Nothing may damage the circle but the person inside and the ven who drew it. The circle lasts until dawn the next day.

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Most ven seek Artifacts from the ruins of the sorcerer-kings. Such items give a ven power, prestige and influence. The noble caste finances groups of ven brave enough to dare the ork-haunted ruins, hoping they’ll return with such items.

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WATCHFUL
This Artifact watches. Usually a skull or an eye or some other symbolically important object, it watches a room and whispers what it sees to its owner. It sees everything in the room. Spend a Style Point and bleed a rank 1 Injury for every hour you wish the object to watch.

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A game about the daring adventures and everyday lives of people in the Old West, Aces & Eights lets you tell the tale of the West that could have been, in your own words, deeds and history. The Aces & Eights game allows for rugged cowboys, brave Indians, murderous desperados, determined lawmen, sturdy prospectors, powerful rail barons, and all of the characters we think of when we watch a good western movie or read books about the expansion of the American frontier.
Although you don't need to know much about this time period to enjoy the game, western aficionados will certainly find it engrossing - to say the least. If you consider yourself a western history buff, you might want to set aside what you know and open your mind. Aces & Eights is set in the West That Never Was, an alternative history created to maximize the role-playing potential of the game by freeing the future from the inevitable reality of the true West.
While the setting is firmly entrenched in historical accuracy, a few small changes in American politics (at significant moments in history) create a very believable alternative history of North America. Sprung from small changes are new nations, businesses, and a slight acceleration in arms technology.

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To determine your gunfighter's Speed, roll a d4. Record this number then flip a coin to determine if the value is positive (heads) or negative (tails). The result is your gunfighter's Speed score - somewhere between -4 and 4. Repeat the process to determine Accuracy.

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Each character has between 21 and 24 hit points (hp) determined by rolling a d4 and adding 20. This gives you a measure of how much physical damage your gunfighter can sustain before keeling over.

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For basic gunfighting, weapons are restricted to a few general categories of firearms (see Table 2.1-1: Basic Firearms). You may either choose your weapon from this list or roll a d6 to randomly determine your armament.

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If you want to get a "feel" for your gunfighter, you may also choose to roll on one or more of the quick background tables found on the following page.

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No matter how experienced in western or other RPGs you feel your group is, we can't stress enough that you should NOT try to include the Advanced Rules in your first game session. The result will inevitably be a game bogged down in minutia while you pore over the rules again and again.

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Winson Paine: hp 21; Spd 4, Acc 2; Str 12/24, Int 12/48, Wis 10/64, Dex 13/65, Con 11/71, Cha 11/14; Lks 9/19, Rep 11 (Low), Fame 0; Weapons Colt Bisley .45 caliber 5 1/2" barrel revolver (draw 5, aim 4, d6+1 damage, 6 shots); Colt 1868 shotgun (draw 10, aim 4, d4 damage, 2 shots) on horse.

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Covering every facet of establishing and running a ranch is beyond the scope of this book, but a broad overview of the process can arm players with enough information to work out the basics.

Ryuujin posted:

Though that does suggest that any vampire trying to feed will pulp any SDC individual they bite before they can start drinking blood.

Mors Rattus posted:

...doesn't that mean that the most cost-effective way to fight vampires is to outfit a small unit with Super Soakers?

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Rifts is certainly a thing. Maybe even a game? Nobody knows. I thought it might be neat to make one character in Rifts, but from every World and Dimension book. That is, embrace the multiverse aspect of things, and roll up one character with multiple versions. John Doe, coalition citizen; John Doe, Atlanean; Doe John, cyber-samurai; Jo-N D0, robot space pirate; and so on. Roll stats one time, go to each book and find something that he can be with those stats, and make it.

goatface posted:

The ion cannon does as much damage as a three round burst from your standard rifle.

That is a pretty awful tank gun.

Ryuujin posted:

Man that seems a little crazier than I remember, but I didn't remember the extra cybernetics and part of that is all those physical skills. I forget is the strength supernatural? Thus giving a massive carrying capacity. And if I remember correctly it specifically can harm vampires with its natural attacks.

It is basically built to hunt and kill vampires, and other supernatural monsters.

goatface posted:

So if you choose to be a whale, you become more intelligent than the man you were previously?

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A band of transdimensional mercenaries, known as the Megaversal Legion, have set up their headquarters in the mountains of Bolivia. The Legion is one of the largest armies for hire ever built, and also one of the most successful. It is made up of soldiers and warriors from hundreds of races, but the core of the legion is made up of two species. The first one is the Ojahee (pronouced Oh-jaw-hee), giant warriors of great strength, courage and discipline. The other is humans who where[sic] former U.S. soldiers kidnapped by aliens.

Cerepol posted:

They included a handy flowchart for CharGen!