System Notes
*subject to change, remember we're playtesting something
*subject to change, remember we're playtesting something
Assign one of your die types (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) to each of the six skills- Training, Constitution, Determination, Charm, Intelligence, and Shrewdness. The higher a stat is, the better a character is at skills involving that stat - and the more likely they are to succeed when using that stat. While there’s no guarantee that you’ll roll your maximum, generally, characters will be better able to pass checks with their higher dice.
Training measures the physical power, the agility, and the skill with weaponry that your character can wield.
Constitution is a measure of the health and hardiness of your character.
Determination is a combination of force of will, spirit, and mental stability.
Charm measures your character's skill with words and can also reflect their physical attractiveness.
Intelligence is a rough measure of your investigator’s cunning and ability to make leaps of logic and intuition.
Shrewdness is a measure of your character's ability to make the best practical decision, to attain what they want either directly or indirectly, and to observe and assess a situation. This is the "finding the pieces of the puzzle" skill, as well as the "street smarts" skill.
Spells is the ability to cast magick of any kind. It always operates on a ladder system- it starts at a d4 and moves up to the next die type every time it explodes.
Each character has 4 points of static bonus that they can distribute among their skills as they see fit, choosing anything from a +1 to four skills to a +4 in one skill. The Spells skill cannot get a bonus.
When a die rolls its maximum value (a roll of 8 on a d8), it explodes! This means that you reroll the die and add the maximum value that you rolled the first time to the new roll. Your die may explode multiple times on a check.
There are two kinds of skill checks: Planned Actions and Snap Decisions.
Planned Actions are skill checks when you have time to think about the best course of action and, perhaps, work with your friends. Planned Actions are when the conditions are relatively optimal to achieve something. Because you have time to think and react calmly, you may either roll the appropriate die for that stat, or you may take half the value of that stat’s die. [For example, if you have a d20 in Flight, you may choose to take a score of 10 for Planned Actions involving Flight instead of risking a roll.]
Snap Decisions, on the other hand, are choices that have to be made quickly under bad conditions - and are thus more chaotic and unpredictable. For example, if your character is being chased through a cave, the checks they make while fleeing in panic will be Snap Decisions. Or, if the character is under any kind of great pressure, that would likely be a Snap Decision, too. Combat rolls, too, are always treated as Snap Decisions.
If you roll within 2 of the number needed on either side, you get a partial success or a success with a drawback (GM’s choice). For example, if you were trying to draw a map from memory, a partial success would be that you only get partway through the drawing before realizing you can’t remember the rest. A success with a drawback would be that you finish the map, but you’re certain some parts of it are wrong.
If you roll below the number needed, you don’t get to do what you tried to do - but you do get a Moxie Token, which you can use to activate special skills or to add to later rolls.
Choose 2 that your character starts the game with. Moxie cannot be lent to other players to activate special skills.
Astute: Make an Intelligence or Shrewdness roll. Your roll, divided by 3 (round up), can be added to another player's check, as you point out something they didn't notice before. This roll is always a Snap Decision, and moxie cannot be used to affect it.
Busybody: +2 on checks when attempting to discover information about another character
Determined: Take 2 moxie when you fail a check
Escape Artist: +3 to checks when finding escape routes and hiding spots
Familiar: Spend 1 moxie to summon an animal and reroll your Spells die. Explain how they help you accomplish your task.
Healer: You can give expert medical attention, and can roll a DC 10 Charm check to guide someone through giving expert medical attention to you.
Intuitive: You can spend 3 Moxie to ask the GM one simple question about an item, your surroundings, or an NPC, within reason. The GM must answer honestly.
Loyal: Each Moxie you spend helping a friend gives them a +2
Nerves of Steel: Spend 1 moxie to treat a Snap Decision as a Planned Action
Protector: +3 bonus when defending your friends
Resilient: Moxie spent to resist attacks against you are worth +2
Sage Motivator: You can spend moxie to help a friend even when not present in the scene
Stealthy: Moxie spent when trying to hide is worth +2
Suspicious: Moxie spent when trying to determine if someone is lying is worth +2
Your Spells die, as we all know, is run on a ladder system; when it explodes, you graduate it to the next die type, until you explode on that one. Eventually, if you do enough magic, you will graduate to a D20. You've been building all of this momentum over time, reaching with your magic, trying to do something or gain something or save something, and all of it hits a pinnacle.
You can continue to roll with your d20. Magic will be made much easier while you have it. But when you decide the time is right (as long as it's before the end of the session in which you graduate to the D20), you have the ability to turn this apex of potential into a permanent magical item that belongs to you. You tell me what it does, and you have access to it and the ability to use it for as long as it exists.
As soon as you create a magic item, your ladder resets and you are rolling a d4 again, but you gain +1 to Spells for every magic item you create.
However, these magic items are not invulnerable. They can break. If they are broken, the magical potential of the items will flow back into the person who broke it, granting them 10 Moxie, minus 1 for each time it has been used (yes, this can go negative).
One's Composure score is determined by the maximum value of your Determination die x 5.
Whenever you encounter stressful, traumatic, or fear-inducing things, you make a d100/d% roll against your current Composure score. If you roll equal to or over your current Composure, you lose 1d8 points. If you roll under, you lose 1d4. Composure dice do explode.
Composure can also be converted point-for-point into moxie.
As your Composure score slips lower, your character becomes less and less stable, and their ability to function decreases.
Under 50 Composure, you lose access to healthy coping mechanisms.
Under 25 Composure, you take a -2 penalty to all checks.
Under 10 Composure, your self-preservation instinct kicks in in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze.
FLIGHT: you run away at high speed. You can do nothing except to run full out in the direction farthest from what made you panic. Once you can no longer see or hear the thing that made you freak, you take 1d6 minutes to calm down before returning.
FREEZE: a general "deer in the headlights" effect that persists until the stimulus ceases. This can be completely silent, or accompanied by screams and moans.
FIGHT: you attack the source of discomfort with any means at your disposal. You can't dodge or attempt any fancy moves. You just shoot or punch or start biting.
You act like this until the stress that triggered the behavior is gone. Until then, you must follow your choice. If you fight against someone who can beat the holy heck out of you, you are not able to run away. You fight until you or your opponent is dead.
While you're in this state, your Composure checks are automatically considered under your threshold, and Composure dice do not explode. You're too screwed up to process any other negative stimuli.
If a character's Composure score reaches 0, they are permanently insane, barring divine intervention.
Composure scores can be brought up by engaging in Coping Mechanisms, two of which (1 healthy, 1 unhealthy) you assign to your character from the get-go.
Healthy coping mechanisms can be completed as many times as you want during any kind of rest, add 1d6 + the die type listed to your current Composure, and add the same number to your permanent max Composure.
Unhealthy coping mechanisms can only be completed during overnights or respites, and add 1d10 + the die type listed temporary Composure points. You can only perform these once per rest, and they cannot put you above your max Composure.
Coping Mechanisms can be chosen from the following:
Healthy
meditating (di type you use for Shrewdness)
journaling (di type you use for Intelligence)
talking about it (di type you use for Charm)
exercise (di type you use for Training)
cry (di type you use for Constitution)
Unhealthy
abusing some substances (di type you use for Constitution)
violence, babyyyy (die type you use for Training)
sexual activity (die type you use for Charm)
overworking (di type you use for Intelligence)
isolation (die type you use for Shrewdness)
Your HP is the highest value of your Constitution die plus half the value of your Determination die. (min 7 max 26)
Combat is always an opposed roll, and if you are lower, you get a minor injury (-1 HP), if you fail by 5 or more, you take a major injury (-2 HP), and if you fail by 10 or more you take a severe injury (-4 HP). If you fail by 15 or more, you immediately die.
Injuries can be dealt to specific parts of the body with a “called shot”, in which you make a separate DC10 Training roll in addition to your original attack. This can have roleplay effects or mechanical effects, which i haven’t decided yet.
If your HP is half of your max (rounded up) or lower, you are Wounded. Roll a d20. If you roll a 1-10, you can't use moxie to add to rolls until you heal above the threshold. If you roll an 11-20, your adrenaline kicks into high gear and the amount of moxie in your bank doubles.
If your HP is a quarter of your max (rounded up) or lower, you are Bloodied. Further damage comes out of both your HP pool and your Composure pool.
If your HP hits 0, you are Dying. You may make one DC 15 Constitution check every real-life five minutes to stabilize and stop dying, but you remain unconscious until healed.
Healing can come through the natural processes of your body (+1 HP per day), sleep (+1HP per hour), amateur medicine (1d4+2), expert medicine (1d6+2), or magic (Spells roll+2). You can perform amateur medicine on yourself, but expert medicine and magic must be done by someone else.
Healing potions can be made as a magic item and heal 2d6.
There are 3 kinds of rest: breaks, overnights, and respites.
Breaks last for an hour to three hours. During breaks, you can perform 1 action of your choice (including things like medicine and coping mechanisms).
Overnights last for four to ten hours. During overnights, you can perform 1 action of your choice for every two hours you are awake. Overnights bring Composure scores up by 10, but must include at least 5 hours of sleeping to do so.
Respites last for a day or more. Per day, you can perform 2 actions and automatically succeed at all of them, or 4 actions and roll for each. Respites bring your Composure and HP back up to their max.