Combat

THE COMBAT PHASE

Bashing stuff is one of the cornerstones of an adventure, and every combat follows the Phases presented below.

Phase One: Initiative

Everyone involved in the combat rolls an Initiative test. This is an Agility roll. The order of Initiative goes from highest to lowest. Ties are always won by the player.

Phase Two: Take Action!

During your turn, you gain a FULL ACTION, which can be broken up into two HALF-ACTIONS. On your turn, you can either take two Half-Actions, or one Full Action. While the following list is not all inclusive, it gives some ideas on what the various actions can be used for.

With a Full Action you can…

-Take a five foot step and attack someone

-Defend yourself in combat, granting Disadvantage to all attacks made against you until your next turn

-Activate a Secret that requires a Full Action (if you have the Mystical Blood Edge)

With a Half-Action you can…

-Draw or stow 1 Weapon

-Draw or stow 1 Shield

-Use an item (Drink a potion, activate an item, etc)

-Move your Speed in feet

-Stand up from a prone position

-Activate a Secret that requires a Half-Action

Example: Dave is running from the authorities once again. On his turn, he gets a Full Action and ponders his options. Dave can either stand and FIGHT THE MAN using his switchblade (A Full Action), or turn tail and run as fast as he could in a full retreat (using two Half-Actions to move double his speed), or take some more steroids (a Half Action to use an item) and then stash the steroids up his butt when he inevitably gets captured (another Half Action to use another item), OR he could take some more Steroids (a Half Action) and then turn and run (using his other Half Action as a Move Action). Whatever will Dave do?

Phase Three: Damage

Each weapon has a damage die type. The larger the weapon, the more potential damage it can do to someone, and therefore, the larger the damage die type used. When you hit someone in combat, you roll the damage of your weapon and add (or subtract) any relevant modifiers to that roll.

-If you are attacking someone with an unarmed attack, or attacking someone with a Melee Weapon with the Finesse Special Quality, you would add your Vigor OR Agility Modifier (whichever is higher) to the Damage roll.

-If you are attacking someone with a melee weapon without the Finesse Special Quality, you would add your Vigor Modifier to the damage roll.

-If you are attacking someone with a ranged weapon, you would add your Agility modifier to the damage roll.

Triumphs in combat: If you Triumph on your attack roll, don’t bother rolling damage. You deal the maximum amount of damage to your target, as well as knock them Prone!

Blunders in combat: If you Blunder on your attack roll, you grant Advantage to all attacks made against you until the start of your next turn, as you fumble about for your weapon and look silly in the process!

Ranged Weapons in Close Combat: Generally speaking, it is difficult to shoot at someone when they are engaged in close combat with you. Ranged Combat attacks made against targets within 5 feet of you who are using Close Combat weapons suffer Disadvantage. You can take the Point Blank Shot Edge to negate this penalty. 

KNOCKED OUT

If you are ever reduced to 0 Hit Points or less, you are Knocked Out. Chances are you will wake up strapped to some perilous death trap, or kidnapped by some nefarious villain or creature. When you become Knocked Out, you remain so for d6 hours or until you are revived by someone with medical training. Anyone with at least 1 level in the Heal Skill can spend a Full Action to attempt a Skill check to revive a Knocked Out person. This is a difficulty 10 roll. Failure means that the target cannot be attempted to be revived for 1 hour and the Difficulty increases by 5 each time. When you wake up from being Knocked Out, you do so with 1 Hit Point.

Character Death: Your character is a Hero, and it takes a lot to truly kill off a person like that. Heroes don’t normally die unless they sacrifice themselves in a truly selfless manner or through some vastly extraordinary circumstance. This doesn’t mean that you should carelessly fling yourself into battle against incredible odds or take truly stupid risks just because “You’re a Hero”, but a real Hero should never die in some petty skirmish or because of a few bad dice rolls.

SECOND WIND

Heroes are special people who can use sheer determination and willpower to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Once per Adventure, you can spend a Free Action to use a Second Wind, immediately healing yourself for 5d6 Hit Points. If you really want to pump up the effectiveness of your Second Wind, invest in the Third Wind Edge!

HEALING

Lost Hit Points aren’t gone forever, and return over time. There are several ways to regain Hit Points…

-Natural Healing: As long as you do not engage in strenuous activity and are in a sterile, serene place, you regain 1 Hit Point per hour naturally.

-Medical Care: If you are under the care of someone with the Heal skill, add their rating in the Skill directly to the amount of Hit Points you heal naturally every hour. For instance, if you are being tended to by someone with the Healing Skill at 4, you would naturally heal 1 + 4 Hit Points every hour that you were under their care.

-Healing Items: You can immediately gain Hit Points by making use a Healing Item (Healing Potions, Stimpaks, etc). The stronger the Healing Item, the more Hit Points you regain. Healing Items are detailed fully in the Equipment section for your particular setting.

-Campfires: Once per day, any Adventurer (that means you) can spend a point of Luck to create a Campfire. After resting, eating and relaxing by a Campfire for d6 hours, your Hit Point pool is completely refreshed. An Adventure can only benefit from a Campfire of this kind once every 24 hours. You can only set Campfires in places of relative security and safety (you couldn’t set a Campfire in the middle of a raging battle or if you are stranded at sea on a small raft, for instance). You can’t benefit from a Campfire if you are Knocked Out (duh).

WEAPONS & ARMOR

There are four categories to all Weapons and Armor: Light, Medium, Heavy and Tech. All characters can use Light and Medium Armor and Weapons, but you require special training (Edges) to use Heavy or Tech Weapons and Armor.

Special Qualities: Certain weapons and armor have Special Qualities that act as benefits or drawbacks when using that particular equipment. A list of Special Qualities is listed further below.

Weapon & Armor Qualities

Pierce: This weapon deals Piercing damage.

Bash: This weapon deals Bashing damage.

Slash: This weapon deals Slashing damage.

Light: Weapons with this quality can be used in conjunction with the Double Strike Edge in order to take two attacks with a Full Action.

Finesse: This weapon adds either your Vigor or Agility modifier for attack and damage rolls. 

Versatile: You can use this weapon one or two handed. Using a Versatile weapon with two hands imparts a +1 damage bonus.

Stun: Whenever you Triumph on an attack roll with this weapon, the target of the attack is knocked loopy for 3 rounds, and suffers a -1 penalty to all attack rolls for that time.

Tangle: Whenever this weapon Triumphs on an attack roll, the target is entangled and cannot move for d6 rounds. The target can still attack as normal, but cannot move. This weapon can also be used to latch onto things and swing using an attack roll at Difficulty 15.

Two Handed: This weapon cannot be used with one hand, and requires both hands to wield effectively.

Ranged: This weapon can be used to hit targets at range.

Reload: Reloading this weapon takes some time, and requires either a Half Action or Full Action to prepare to fire again.

Hefty: This weapon is particularly bulky and cumbersome, and can only be wielded by someone with a Vigor score of 6 or higher.

Brutal: This weapon deals particularly gruesome injury. Re-roll all 1’s rolled for damage with Brutal weapons.

Impale: On a Triumph, this weapon impales the target. An Impaled target grants advantage on all attacks made against them and cannot move until they succeed at a Vigor roll at difficulty 15 to yank themselves free. An impaled victim can gets one chance at the start of each turn to crudely yank the weapon out of them. This process is quite painful and deals d4 damage.

Fist: This weapon is considered a Fist Weapon. 

Climb: This weapon grants the wearer Advantage on all Athletics rolls made to climb.

Spread: This weapon fires in a cone, and targets all beings within that range.

Impact: The damage of this weapon depends on how close you are to the target. At point blank range, this weapon deals 3d8 damage. At close range, it deals 3d6 damage, and at medium range, it deals 3d4 damage. 

Volatile: Blundering with a Volatile weapon is a truly loud affair, causing the weapon to backfire on the user in a concussive explosion that deals 3d6 damage to all beings within a five foot radius of the user. The backfired weapon cannot be used again until it is repaired, requiring d4 hours and a difficulty 15 Tinker Skill roll to fix. Failure ups the difficulty by five and requires another d4 hours of maintenance. Failing a repair roll on a third time or Blundering the repair roll renders the weapon useless.

Noisy: This armor makes noise and is not ideal for sneaking around. You gain Disadvantage on all rolls made to sneak around while wearing this armor.

Cumbersome: Using this shield requires the full use of one hand. You cannot use your shield hand for anything else other than holding the shield.

Restrictive: Using this equipment restricts your movement and does not allow you to add your Agility or Intelligence modifier to your Defense rating.  

Light Weapons

Unarmed Attacks

Cost-N/A Damage-1+Vig or Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Light, Finesse

Dagger

Cost-25 Damage-d4+Vig or Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Light, Finesse, Pierce

Rapier

Cost-75 Damage-d6+Vig or Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Finesse, Pierce

Staff

Cost-5 Damage-d6+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Versatile, Bash

Shortsword

Cost-50 Damage-d6+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Light, Slash

Sap/Small Club

Cost-10 Damage-d4+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Light, Stun, Bash

Whip

Cost-15 Damage-d4

Special Qualities: Tangle, Slash

Brass Knuckles

Cost-20 Damage-d4+Vig or Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Finesse, Light, Fist, Bash

Spiked Knuckles/Punch Dagger
Cost-50 Damage-d6+Vig or Agi Mod
Special Qualities: Finesse, Light, Fist, Pierce

Clawed Gauntlet

Cost-75 Damage-d6+Vig or Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Finesse, Light, Fist, Slash, Climb

Sling

Cost-5 Damage-d4+Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Ranged, Bash

Shortbow

Cost-50 Damage-d6+Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Ranged, Two Handed, Pierce

Medium Weapons

Longsword

Cost-100 Damage-d8+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Versatile, Slash

Spear
Cost-50 Damage-d8+Vig Mod
Special Qualities: Versatile, Pierce, Impale

Mace

Cost-75 Damage-d8+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Stun, Versatile, Bash

Sturdy Clawed Gauntlet
Cost-125 Damage-d8+Vig Mod
Special Qualities: Fist, Slash, Climb

Sturdy Knuckles

Cost-125 Damage-d8+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Fist, Bash

Battle Ax

Cost-75 Damage-d8+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Versatile, Slash

Morningstar/Flail

Cost-75 Damage-d8+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Stun, Pierce, Bash

Longbow

Cost-100 Damage-d8+Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Ranged, Two Handed, Pierce

Heavy Weapons

Crossbow

Cost-175 Damage-d10+Agi Mod

Special Qualities: Reload (Half Action), Ranged, Pierce

Trident/Halbert
Cost-150 Damage-d10+Vig Mod
Special Qualities: Hefty, Two Handed, Pierce, Impale

Greatsword/Greataxe

Cost-250 Damage-d12+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Hefty, Two Handed, Slash, Brutal

Greatclub

Cost-100 Damage-d12+Vig Mod

Special Qualities: Hefty, Two Handed, Stun, Bash, Brutal

Tech Weapons

Black Powder Pistol

Cost-500 Damage-2d6

Special Qualities: Reload (Half Action), Light, Pierce, Volatile, Ranged

Black Powder Rifle

Cost-800 Damage-2d8

Special Qualities: Reload (Half Action), Two Handed, Pierce, Stun, Volatile, Ranged

Blunderbuss

Cost-1,000 Damage-Special

Special Qualities: Reload (Full Action), Spread, Impact, Volatile, Ranged

Light Armor

Padded Cloth

Cost-25 Protection-Defense +1

Special Qualities: None

Leather

Cost-50 Protection-Defense +2

Special Qualities: None

Studded Leather

Cost-75 Protection-Defense +3

Special Qualities: None

Medium Armor

Scale

Cost-150 Protection-Defense +4

Special Qualities: Noisy

Chain Shirt

Cost-200 Protection-Defense +5

Special Qualities: Noisy, Restrictive

Chainmail

Cost-250 Protection-Defense +6

Special Qualities: Noisy, Restrictive

Heavy Armor

Half Plate

Cost-350 Protection-Defense +7

Special Qualities: Noisy, Hefty, Restrictive

Full Plate

Cost-500 Protection-Defense +8

Special Qualities: Noisy, Hefty, Restrictive

Shields

Light Shield (Buckler)

Cost-50 Protection-Defense +1

Special Qualities: None

Heavy Shield

Cost-100 Protection-Defense +2

Special Qualities: Cumbersome, Restrictive

EQUIPMENT

The universal currency of Nezdriodel is the Gold Coin (G). One Gold Coin can be broken down into 10 Silver Coins (S). At character creation you begin play with 1,000 Gold to purchase arms, armor and equipment. Below is a list of popular specialized adventuring gear that can be purchased at any Order of the Stone Weasel Chapter House. It’s assumed that you are equipped with common adventuring items like simple torches, rope and the like. You don’t need to pay out of pocket for those things and are assumed to have a plentiful supply on your person.

Enchant-O-Lantern (100g)

This magically charged lantern radiated heatless light equal to that of a torch. The light can be turned on and off by the wielder of the Lantern by uttering “Kribble” to light the lamp and “Bribble” to deactivate it. Only the holder of the lamp can turn it on or off. Enchant-O-Lantern’s come in many different shapes and styles.

Packrat Sack (150g)

This trusty leather backpack is an adventurer’s best pal, and somehow can hold 5 times the amount of stuff that a normal backpack of its mass could fit into it. This wondrous pack is water tight and can be drenched in water without having the contents of the sack get wet. (Can be made via Leatherworking)

Bravehold Brew (50g)

Simply put, Bravehold Brew is the best name-brand healing potion in Nezdriodel. When drunk, this yummy glowing red potion immediately heals the imbiber of 2d6 + Your Heal Skill level in Hit Points. (Can be made via Alchemy)

Shrink Drink (50g)

This bright yellow potion comes in a very tiny bottle. When ingested willingly, the imbiber shrinks to half their height and weight for d6 minutes. (Can be made via Alchemy)

Seaweed Soup (50g)

This…interesting and specially prepared treat can be choked down to grant the imbiber the ability to breathe underwater for 30 minutes. (Can be made via Alchemy)

Tool Kit (75g a piece)

There are several types of Tool Kits to choose from. Thief Tools are required for any use of the Thievery skill that picks locks. Repair Tools are required for any use of the Tinker Skill, and a Disguise Kit is required for any use of the Disguise Skill.

Ghost Chalk (50g)

This clever stick of chalk can be used to write messages on any surface that are only visible to the intended recipient, whose name you must whisper before writing the message. After each message is written, you must roll a d6. On a result of a 1, the message is written, but the chalk crumples to useless dust. This item can be very useful when relaying secret messages to allies or adventuring pals.

Stone Weasel Compass (125g)

This handy dandy compass has an extra orange colored needle that constantly points towards the nearest Chapter House of the Order of the Stone Weasel. (Can be made via Blacksmithing)

Adventurer’s Lunchbox (250g)

This small tin lunchbox can be opened once per day to provide the owner with enough bland food and drink to sustain their existence for 24 hours. This handy item means that you have an inexhaustible supply of nourishment, although it isn’t terribly yummy. (Can be made via Blacksmithing)

Town Crier Statue (50g)

This small wooden etching of a town crier magically animates and comes to life whenever someone nearby is in distress, proclaiming loudly, “Hear ye! Hear ye! There are suffering folks in need at…” followed by general instructions on where the needy parties may be. This handy item helps members of the Order of the Stone Weasel react to danger with startling efficiency and speed. The range of this statue is a five mile radius around the owner. (Can be made via Woodworking)

MOUNTS
An Adventuring lifestyle is a traveling lifestyle, and the most common way to get around is via a mount. Each Species in Nezdriodel has a favored type of mount that they prefer to ride and are comfortable with. A Mount costs 500g and your Species directly determines the type of Mount you have.

Human: Powerful and majestic riding horses are the Human's chosen steed. Human Priests (those with the mystical blood edge) can choose to purchase a Unicorn mount instead.

Elf: Gladestags are magical and powerful horned creatures that appear as normal Stags, but with moss and vine covered skin.

Dwarf: While the preferred mode of transportation of Dwarves is their fantastic steam powered vehicles, most Dwarves must settle for far more mundane means of transportation. Dwarves ride giant grey spotted slugs called Slimewinders. These curious creatures are not as fast as other mounts on average, but they are prized for their sticky and slimy underbellies, which allows them to safely navigate treacherous mountain passages that other mounts would surely succumb to.

Gnome: Somehow, some way, Gnomes have managed to tame a rare and giant breed of frog to serve them as faithful mounts. These ugly, croaky mounts are called Froklings.

Firbolg: Native to their brutal and fiery homeland, Goreboars are large, ill-tempered and short legged boars decorated in unwelcoming spikes. Their smoldering eyes glow like fiery embers and much like Firbolgs themselves, they snort thick clouds of ashen grey smog.

LODGING
As a card carrying member of the Order of the Stone Weasel Adventuring Guild, you can rest assured that you'll be seeing your fair share of inns and taverns. Below is a range of the kinds of places you can expect to find in your travels, and the cost of staying there.

Future Murder Scene (5s per night)
This is quite possibly the last place that you spend the night in before you die. Shady clientele, horrible hospitality and less than cleanly bathrooms are some of the finer points of staying in a place like this.

Average Inn (5g per night)
The sheets are clean, the bed is soft, and the hearth is warm! Thankfully, the majority of taverns and inns in Nezdriodel are of Average quality.

Upper Class Abode (25g per night)
Now that's what I call service! These rare resting places are few and far between, and offer luxury service all around.

FOOD
The following list of grub can be commonly encountered in one of the many taverns that litter Nezdriodel. Some of this food has special effects that it gives the imbiber after they partake in the yummy stuff! Anything in the following list can be crafted via the Cooking medium of the Artisan Edge.

Note on food effects: If you eat a food with a special effect to it, that effect ends immediately as soon as you eat another food that imparts a special effect.

Cheap Meal (1s)
This is most likely a bowl of unappetizing gruel or porridge and some rock hard bread. Feeds one.

Average Meal (1g)
Warm meat, soft bread and a hearty brew. An appetizing meal by anyone's standards. Feeds one.

Noble Meal (10g)
A several course meal consisting of the meat of a rare animal, expertly seasoned and prepared. Comes with fine wine and desert. Feeds one.

Grand Feast (100g)
This is a truly delicious feast that can easily feed a dozen very happy people. After partaking in a Grand feast, all parties involved roll a d20. Anyone who rolls a 19 or 20 immediately increases their Hit Point total by 1.

Wizard Waffles (20g)
These enchanted breakfast goodies are yummy to anyone with taste buds, but grant those with the Mystical Blood Edge a +1 bonus to all damage rolls made to any of their secrets for 1 hour after eating. Feeds one.

Barbecued Bat (10g)
This crispy-winged critter grants the imbiber the strange ability to sense their surroundings via sonar for d6 hours after eating. Feeds one.

Adventurer's Omelet (25g)
This many-egg Omelet is filled to busting with breakfast bliss. For 6 hours after eating, you gain a +1 Bonus Modifier to your Defense. Feeds one.

Firbolg Hot Wings (50g)
These ultra Spicy wings grant a non-Firbolg imbiber with the Firbolg natural immunity to heat and fire (but not lava) for d6 hours. Feeds one.

Elven Tofu (50g)
This sensible treat makes the imbiber particularly attractive to animals, and grants you Advantage on all Primal rolls for d6 hours. Feeds one.