Characters

Hit Points
All characters have a certain number of Hit Points, that act not only as a measure of how much damage
a character can withstand in combat, but also as an indicator of general health as the character ages.
When a character's Hit Points drop to 0, they are dead – if this is due to aging effects, then death is
permanent. The base HP of a character is 2d4+R+S-A where 2d4 is a random number between 2-8, R Is
the racial adjustment, S is the skill adjustment, and A is aging effects. For “R”, refer to the table below:

Race HP “R” value

Goblin, Halfling, Gnome 5
Elf, Drow 7
Half-Elf, Dwarf, Human, Half-Orc 8
Orc 9
Ogre 12
Giant 16
Animus 20

Other “races” that may infrequently occur such as Fauns, Centaurs, Trolls, Half-Demons, Dragons, and
the like will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the GM. gative for particularly hideous or brutish
individuals)

For “S', use only the best skill modifier, not the sum of all the skills. See the Skills table below for
values of “S”

Skills
Each character has 3 “skill slots” that reflect what professions they follow. Each slot with either be
empty, or will have a profession name and a skill level from 0 – 10 (or in rare cases higher than 10 if
magical means are used). The level of skill determines success or degree of success when carrying out
orders. Possible skills are:

Skill Effects “S Value

Warrior Personal combat specialists and can also be useful as champions attached 6
to armies or navies to help inspire the troops.
Ranger Almost as good in personal combat as the warrior, rangers primarily excel 6
at scouting and exploring.
Bureaucrat The administrators and “bean-counters” of the nation, bureaucrats know 2
how to run large organizations and manage finances
Diplomat The ability to negotiate and interact with people. Invaluable when 2
negotiating with NPC's, hiring new characters, or soothing ruffled feathers
of existing characters
Spy Masters of stealth and espionage. Useful for gathering information, and 4
can scout almost as well as a ranger. Spies are also good at thievery.
Assassin A blend of the warrior and the spy, assassins can act as either, though not 4
as well. They excel at the skills of assassination (surprise), kidnapping, and
counter-espionage
Priest Not a magic using skill, priests are used to promote their own religion, 2
persecute or excise competing religions, and to help pacify the masses.
General The ability to command armies of all types. Having a very capable general 4
can give significant bonuses in battle.
Admiral As a general, but for fleets. 4
Channeler The ability to tap into “divine” magical power. Channelers don't actually 2
(D) communicate with the gods, but they do partake of their power and will
have spells that reflect this.
Engineer Engineers can significantly impact the cost and time to build of large 2
constructions such as defensive fortifications, ships, and monumental
projects.
Sage The masters of using mundane methods to research all kinds of esoteric 2
subjects such as historical oddities, artifacts, legends, and other lore.
Alchemist A spellcaster that specializes in creating certain types of magical items, 2
(A) primarily potions and spell crystals.
Artificer (A) A spellcaster that concentrates on magical devices such as arms and armor, 2
staves, wands, and amulets. May also craft magical constructs such as
golems.
Evoker (A) A spellcaster that focuses on spells of magical force and power, both 2
elemental (firestorms, lightning strikes, whirlwinds) and mana-based
(force dome, manastorms)
Summoner A spellcaster that can summon forth extra-planar creatures and entities to 2
(A) do his or her bidding.
Necromancer An almost invariably evil spellcaster that can raise lesser undead, inflict 2
(A) curses and cause plague and pestilence
Seer (P) A psion that specializes in detections, clairvoyance, and extra-sensory 2
perception
Illusionist A spellcaster that works wholly in light, shadow, and the alteration of 2
(A) perception.
Thaumaturge A spellcaster dealing with the basic manipulation of mana, such as 2
(A) dispelling, boosting, and altering magical effects.
Mentalist (P) Masters of the mind and its manipulation, mentalists can read minds, 2
implant suggestions, and charm or dominate others.
Druid (D) A spellcaster that influences the natural world, able to alter agricultural 2
output, fertility, and influence both beasts and the weather. Not all druids
are the same – it depends on the deity venerated.
Merchant Master traders and financiers, merchants may be used to boost economic 2
output and trade.
Telekinetic A psionic discipline that involves the moving of objects via the mind, as 2
(P) well as such things as teleportation.

Characters may attempt to learn new skills or improve existing skills by spending the turn training. The
first time a character tries to learn a magical or psionic skill, a check will be made to see if they have
aptitude for these. If they do not (and most won't!), they won't be able to learn any skills of that type.
Further, these types of skills can't be learned without a teacher, - so if you don't have a psionic, you
can't simply train one, you'd have to locate and hire one first. The three categories are Arcane (A),
Divine (D), and Psionic (P).

Actions
Rulers have an additional statistic that no other character has, and that is their allowed actions.
Basically, this is a mechanism to 1) balance out different positions and 2) keep the game somewhat
manageable for me, the poor GM. The Actions stat represents how many orders you are allowed to
issue in a single turn. It represents how energetic your rulers is, as well as how effective your
governmental structure and bureaucracy is. As such, it can be effected by your Governmental
Efficiency (GE), which is explained more completely in the Economics section. An “average” number
of base actions is 6. this can be altered by some magical spells and items, and also influenced by GE as
follows:

GE 25% or less: -2 actions

GE 26% - 55% : -1 action
GE 56% - 80%: No effect
GE 81% or greater: +1 action

Upkeep
Every character will have an upkeep cost. For the ruler, this is his or her lifestyle cost, and MUST be
the FIRST thing budgeted for each turn (have to keep those harems, royal banquets, jousting tourneys,
talking birds, lavish wardrobes, etc. you know!). For other characters, it represents salaries, perks,
feudal income, etc. and if not paid will rather drastically impact their loyalty (q.v.).

Loyalty
Not every character it fanatically loyal to their overlord. Some may have their own agendas, some may
be in the pay of (or magically controlled by!) another nation, and some may just be unreliable. The
perceived loyalty of a character will be listed, but this might well be incorrect. There are methods both
mundane (involving espionage) and magical to get a true reading on a character's loyalty, and possibly
even magical means to coerce loyalty (though the latter may well have some unintended negative
consequences). Loyalty is rated on a descriptive scale (from best to worst): Fanatical, Steadfast, Loyal,
Neutral, Wavering, Disloyal, Traitorous. Nothing bad will happen as long as the character is Neutral or
better/ The more loyal a character is, the harder it is for them to be bribed or subverted. Also, magical
means may reveal a character to be Charmed or Dominated. If he or she is Charmed, they aren't going
to do anything against their natures, but they will pass on information to the party that has charmed
them. Dominated characters are under the absolute control of another, and will obey any order that
other party may give them!
Aging
Characters all age 1 year at the start of the spring turn, and aging effects are checked for. Each attribute
will have a chance of dropping by 1. When HP, ST, DX, or IN reach 0. death will have occurred. The
“Conception Chance” is for when a ruler is trying to produce an heir (note that some nations don't have
a familial line of succession, in which case you can simply hang with your consorts and concubines and
not have to spend an order on “reproduction”). Yeah, Elves really have to work at it, but then, they do
have a long time to try.

Race Age of slow decline Age of rapid decline Conception Chance

Goblin 30 45 85.00%
Orc, Gnoll, Lizardman 35 50 75.00%
Half-Orc, Centaur 40 60 55.00%
Human, Faun 45 70 45.00%
Halfling 50 80 35.00%
Ogre 70 90 30.00%
Giant 125 150 25.00%
Dwarf, Gnome 200 300 10.00%
Drow, Half-Elf 300 450 5.00%
Elf 500 700 1.00%
“Slow decline” means there is a 10% chance per year that they will lose 1 HP. “Rapid decline” means
there is a 20% chance per year that they will lose 1d4 HP.

Status
Characters may have certain temporary conditions that effect them. This is listed under the “status
section in their description.

Condition Effect
Light Wound -1 to skills. HP at 70%, moving may make it worse
Heavy Wound -2 to skills, HP at 40%, moving may make it worse
Crippled --4 to skills, HP at 20%, cannot move
Coma No actions allowed
Diseased / Poisoned As wounds that have a good chance of getting worse if not cured
Dead As Coma, but much, much harder to cure
Cursed Random bad things will happen
Blessed Random good things will happen
Pregnant Females only, skills -0, -1, -2 by trimester
Charmed Under a magical compulsion of some kind
Dominated Completely under the control of another.
Character Movement
Characters may move across any terrain type desired as long as they are alone or in a Character Party
(see below). Healthy characters have 6MP. Open, Sea, or Lake requires 1MP, Rough 2MP, and Extreme
3MP to traverse. Characters may end their movement in a water province (they are assumed to have
hired a ship). Characters moving across the water are at the usual risk for pirates, storms, sea monsters,
etc. that a regular merchant ship would face. Characters may join an army, fleet, or party prior to
movement, but not during movement (I would go insane trying to keep track of individual movement
allowances, and I don't want the amazing teleporting character mechanism to occur whereby you keep
joining “fresh” parties/armies/fleets). Characters may leave an army, fleet, or party at any time, but the
moment they do so ends their movement. Boarding a ship or entering a city does not require the use of
MP. Exploring an area for anything “unusual” requires 3MP (see below)

Characters in Combat
Characters may be attached to armies or fleets as desired. While with an army, they will automatically
perform whatever action you have listed for the character under “default army/fleet behavior” in the
character section of the turn packet (to change default behavior does not require the expenditure of an
order). Allowed behaviors are:
 Command: Command the troops/ships, or act as a reserve commander if the primary one is
wounded or killed. (Admiral, General, Warrior, Priest, Ranger)
 Champion: Challenge an opposing champion to single combat if applicable (Warrior, Ranger,
Assassin)
 Scout: Bolster the scouting ability of the army (Ranger, Druid, Spy, Assassin)
 Guard: Act as guards to protect the other characters (Warrior, Ranger, Assassin)
 Cast Spell: Cast a specified spell in combat (Any spell using class that has combat spells)
 Security: Act to prevent hostile covert actions (Spy, Assassin)
 Morale: Act to bolster the morale of the troops (Priest, Diplomat)
 Supply: Act to lower attrition effects (Bureaucrat, Engineer, Merchant)
 Avoid: Try to avoid all combat (adds nothing to the army or fleet, but increases survival chances
of the character) (Any)

Character Parties
Characters may be grouped into parties and moved about the map with but a single order. In addition,
these parties may act in concert to perform certain tasks – usually scouting and covert actions. When in
a party, the chance of success is determined by the highest skill level plus ½ the next highest, plus ¼
the next highest, and so on. Parties may also be used to investigate unusual encounters (and in fact, is
encouraged – many unusual encounters almost require a set of divers talents to allow for success).

Unusual Encounters
This can be pretty much anything that is outside the norm. A monster lair qualifies, as does the temple
of a new cult, an ancient missing tomb, an abandoned sorcerous workshop, a holy hermit, etc. Note all
encounters will be hostile,though many will be. Some encounters may consist of more than one part,
others may lead to further quests, and some may simply be the need to defeat a rampaging beast.

Sometimes these encounters will be reported to you by travelers, or word might come in from local
villagers. It may be that you have ordered your people to scout the remote areas of a province and they
have located something worth a further look, or perhaps a sage has found a reference in an ancient
tome or an old prophecy. Each encounter will have certain test that are required for you to be
successful. This may be as simple as the ability to pick a lock and bypass a clever trap, or it may
involve actual hand to hand (or hand to tentacle, claw, hoof, or stinger) combat. Magical barriers may
need to be overcome, or magical creatures banished or defeated. Some may yield better to diplomacy
and negotiation than to direct force. Each will be unique, and some will have potentially significant
rewards.

Character Training
Characters may be ordered to train in a particular skill that they already have, or, if they have an open
skill slot, a totally new skill. If training in an existing skill, the chance to progress in level lessens as the
levels get higher; going from a 1 to a 2 is far from a sure thing, and going from a 9 to a 10 is extremely
difficult. Learning a new skill, however, is a bit different. To do that requires that a character that
already has the skill spend a turn teaching it. If the pupil is savvy enough, he or she will gain the skill at
level 0, meaning that the rudiments are known, but that no bonuses are gained from it as yet. For
magical skills the chances of learning are much lower, as many simply do not have magical aptitude. If
an attempt is made to learn a magic skill and the attempt fails, that character can never learn that “area”
of magic in the future (arcane, divine, or psionic). If so, this will be noted on the character record. Note
that as characters gain more skill and thus more utility, they may well demand more reward for their
services. Failure to meet these demands may well result in reduced loyalty.