Types of Players and Characters

During a game, one player should be selected to take the role of Game Master. The Game Master (or GM) is responsible for describing the world the characters are moving through and playing the parts of any non-player characters and creatures they encounter.

The Game Master should familiarise themselves with the maps and locations for the game and have all stat blocks for non-player characters and other encounters available to them during play.

At the start of the game, the Game Master describes the initial location as well as any people and options available to the characters. It is then over to the other players to describe what their characters do, where they go and what they say.

Together, the Game Master and other players then recount the story of the travel and adventure of the characters through the game world.

Games may run for as long as those playing want them to. At the end of a session a game can be “paused” ready for the next session, at which the Game Master should recap the events of the last game ready for the story to resume.

Ability Checks

During the story, a player may describe their character as doing something particularly strenuous, either physically or mentally. At these moments, the Game Master may call for an Ability Check.

In this case, the player should roll a d20 and add their Ability Modifier for the named Ability to the result, giving the total to the Game Master.

A few examples …

A wild animal runs into one of the characters and they must try to push back and avoid falling over, this would be a Strength Check.

Rocks are falling from a cliff face and a character must try to dodge and hide from them to avoid damage, this would be a Dexterity Check.

A character is trying to befriend people in a new town, this would be a Charisma Check.

It turns out that the water a character just drank is poisonous! This would be a Constitution Check.

In any such case, the result must be the same or greater than the Difficulty Challenge (or DC) of the task at hand.

The Game Master will decide the exact number based on the situation however as a general guide, you can use the following list …

• Simple (DC 5)
• Easy (DC 10)
• Normal (DC 15)
• Hard (DC 20)
• Expert (DC 25)
• Impossible (DC 30)

Remember, an Ability Check should only be made where there is a possibility of Success and also a possibility of Failure. If a character could easily complete a task (such as walking down a path) then no check is needed. Likewise, if a character could never possibly complete a task (such as flying) then no check is needed.

Skill Checks

Similar to Ability Checks, a Skill Check will come up when a Character is attempting to complete a task where there is a possibility of success and a possibility of failure. Skill Checks should be performed where the task at hand could be achieved using a learned skill.

A few examples …

A Corsair is trying to convince a buyer to pay more, this would be a Persuasion Check.

A Medic is looking for suitable plants to make an ad-hoc remedy, this would be a Nature Check.

An Engineer is trying to fix a broken motor, this would be a Science Check.

A Soldier is trying to hide from sight while approaching an enemy base, this would be a Stealth Check.

In this case, the Game Master will say what difficulty the Skill Check is and the player should then roll a dice accordingly. If the roll is the same or less than the Character’s level in that skill then they succeed.

• Simple (roll a d4)
• Easy (roll a d6)
• Normal (roll a d8)
• Hard (roll a d10)
• Expert (roll a d12)
• Impossible (roll a d20)

Ability or Skill?

In some cases, it can be argued that a check could be either an Ability Check or a Skill Check. For example, forcing a door could be a Strength Check or a Brawn Check. Likewise, convincing someone could be a Charisma Check or a Persuasion Check. In these cases, it is ultimately up to the Game Master to decide which to use however as a general guide: if a check is passive (i.e. reacting instinctively) it should be an Ability Check, whereas if it is active (trying to think of a solution or remember something learnt) it is a Skill Check.

When choosing one or the other, remember as well that a Skill Check is binary, either it succeeds or it fails. Whereas an Ability Check can be tiered, with higher results leading to a greater or fuller success (e.g. understanding more, pushing harder or getting a greater discount).

Competitive Skill Checks

If a skill is being used to counter another active skill (e.g. using Nature to track someone hiding using their Stealth skill, or using Brawn vs. Brawn in a tug of war or an arm wrestling competition), the difficulty is set by the level of the opponent.

A character attempting to avoid being tracked must roll their Stealth check based on the highest awareness of their opponents. 0-1 Nature is Simple Stealth, 2 Nature is Easy Stealth, 3 Nature is Normal Stealth, 4 Nature is Hard Stealth, 5 Nature is Expert Stealth and 6+ Nature is Impossible Stealth.

Likewise, a character attempting to track someone hiding rolls Nature based on the Stealth of their opponent. 0-1 Stealth is Simple Nature, 2 Stealth is Easy Nature, 3 Stealth is Normal Nature, 4 Stealth is Hard Nature, 5 Stealth is Expert Nature and 6+ Stealth is Impossible Nature.

Unconsciousness and Death

During the game, a Character may lose Hit Points as a result of combat, poisoning or dangerous activities. If their Hit Points drop to 0, they are then unconscious. At this point, they do not necessarily take any further damage however they cannot do anything until they are healed to at least 1 Hit Point again.

If a Character’s Hit Points drop to -20 then they are dead and their player may make a new character to play as.

Damage and healing may be actively applied to an unconscious character, modifying their hit points accordingly. Any attacks made on an unconscious creature gain Advantage on the roll.

Temporary Hit Points

Some devices and effects can grant a character temporary hit points. These are additional points that are lost first if that character takes damage and which cannot then be restored by resting or healing. Temporary hit points are also lost if / when the character rests.

Falling and Special Damage

If a character falls from a rooftop or off a cliff or any other height, work out how far they have fallen and roll 1d4 for every 2m. Add this up and the total is the damage they take from the landing.

If a character has fallen to the ground (from any height) they must use their movement for one round to stand up (this does not however prevent them from using the dash action once they are standing).

Likewise, any time a character might take a small amount of damage from a physical encounter - such as running into a wall, having a door slammed in their face or tripping and falling – roll 1d4 for each strike and the character takes this as damage from the encounter.

Fatigue

If a character has worked particularly hard or long without a rest there is a risk that they become over-tired, reducing their ability to do more and with the possibility that they will fall asleep.

If 24 hrs have passed in-game without a rest or if the game calls for it for any other reason, players should roll a Fatigue Check. This is a simple d20 roll, if the result is 10 or less then they are fatigued. If not, they must roll again after one more hour has passed in-game.

Fatigued characters gain disadvantage on all rolls. Their speed is also reduced to half. After an hour fatigued, the character's player should roll another Fatigue check. If they fail, their character falls asleep where they are.