RULES

Now we need to figure out all the points stuff and explain how the dice are used. Rules folks... there has to be rules. Without them... we have nothing but CHAOS!! We might have that regardless but let's get started shall we and deal with the chaos later.

CASTING MAGIC
Magic casts automatically. There are some rules around this however. On your turn, you can cast a memorized spell immediately. You need to mark in your spell book which spells are memorized and at the ready. You can have as many memorized spells as your intelligence stat indicates. All other spells are considered read from scrolls or spell books and as such require a bit more time. If you cast one of those spells, you must take an entire round (everyone else at the table including the monster takes a turn before you) preparing the spell uninterrupted. If you are attacked, you have to start over.This only applies to those who cast using intelligence. Clerics and such cast spells differently as their magic energy and spells are directed through them from their deities.

When you cast, roll a d20 and if you get a 1... your spell goes errant and the GM chooses a result. This is to indicate you lost control of the arcane energies and they have gone loose on the world with random results. If you do not roll a 1... then the spell is activated and you roll damage or effects etc based on the spells description.

Casting power. If you are 7 intelligence or 7 wisdom as an example...then you can cast at that level. What this means is damage is multiplied by 7 so magic damage is d8 and you cast at lvl 7... you roll 7d8 magic damage The effects are increased by 7, etc. There is a cost however.

Cost. Each time you cast a spell, it drains your energy. *(If you are a cleric casting magic sourced from your deity... you take only half the cost as damage to your health). For each level you cast at, the cost is the double HP. For example...cast at your maximum of Intelligence 7 (level 7) then the cost is 14 HP's drained from your health. Basically the more damage you can deal, the more power it requires which means more drain on you to do so.

Getting magical HP's back. Each turn you skip to rest gives you 1 plus your constitution back in HP.

Magic users need space, protection and time and they will do ultra damage for you. Because magic users do not roll to hit, they cannot ever get a crit hit on a d20 attempt roll in battle (unless they are using a weapon to fight) so this magic power offsets that.

COMBAT

Initiative:

At the start of combat, everyone rolls a D20 and adds either their Dexterity (reaction time) or their Intelligence (perception of the scene) or Wisdom (6th sense something was gonna happen) to the roll. Just one but react according to which one on your first turn okay? Whomever rolls the highest (including the monsters rolls) goes first and we move around the table clockwise. Hope the GM doesn't roll best. You might want to sit in a way that has the best odds that your player who could roll the highest sits beside the GM on their left so then the table all gets a hit before the GM does. Just a thought for consideration. Wink wink. 

Attacking:

Melee: Roll d20, add your Dexterity stat (to reflect your agility to strike the opponent) to the result and meet or exceed the TN (target number) the GM has provided to you.

Ranged:  Roll d20, add your Dexterity stat (to reflect your ability to target the opponent) to the result and meet or exceed the TN (target number) the GM has provided to you.

Doing Damage:

Again, in keeping things simple and taking a blatant page out of the ICRPG rules system... here is how damage is done regardless of weapon type or spell type:

Head butt, punch, kick, etc = D4 damage

Weapons = D6 damage

Huge weapons = D8 damage

Magic spells = D10 damage *can be increased by spending mana points

Critical hits = D12 extra damage

Melee attacks get to add the strength stat to the damage result with the exception of using a bow or crossbow. Strength has no impact on how hard an arrow or bolt will hit. What you can do however is make a "called shot" in which you must roll with disadvantage and if you hit despite that handicap... you gain the extra D12 die added to your D6 weapon damage. To avoid the disadvantage penalty... you can wait a round and then make your shot on your next turn. This will replicate the concept of taking your time, focusing your breathing, concentrating and then taking the shot. 

Defending:
When the GM rolls to hit you, they will roll d20 and add the creatures Dexterity to that roll. They will let you know the number they rolled and you inform them if it's a miss (under your EvC, a hit but half damage (between your EvC and AC) or if it's a full hit (above your AC). They will let you know the damage they rolled. Taking Damage: See the section under Armour Class (and EvC)

Adrenalin Dice: During melee combat, it's natural to be amped up and adrenalin pumping through your veins however, as anyone who has experienced adrenalin, they can also tell you that it doesn't last long and as it dissipates, you will find yourself running out of energy quickly and even diving below your normal energy levels. In order to simulate this... each player will have a black six sided die and a red one. On your first attack, flip the black die to the number 1 and this means you get a +1 to your attack attempt. Each turn you will flip the black die up another number (to a 2, then 3, etc) and gain that bonus to your attack roll attempt. This simulates your adrenalin at work. Once you reach 6, you will start to come down from your adrenalin. Put a 5 on the black die, then a 4, then a 3 and so on and once you reach 1... you now go to the red die and begin with a 1. This is a negative amount so it equals -1 on your attack roll. Then next turn will be -2, -3 and eventually stops at -6. This negative amount reflects your ever growing fatigue. You do not go any lower. In essence, you have 11 attacks before you are in the negatives. If you can't defeat your enemies by then... they may well defeat you in the end. 

The monsters and enemies you encounter do not use this mechanic... they remain static in their attack rolls. 

After the combat encounter ends... you will recover your stamina by rolling a d4 each 10 minutes (game time) and recover that much back from your negative dice amount. If you never reached negative die... you are okay. It's very possible that you might be attacked right away after you combat encounter ends in which case, you will be rolling with the red die penalty still in place. 

On your turn...

What can you do on your turn while in combat? You can take two actions and a minor action. What does that mean? Movement is an action. Combat is an action. Pulling out a potion and drinking it is an action. Basically anything that will take about 2 to 3 seconds to do. On a turn, it's approximately 6 seconds of time. A minor action would be pulling out a potion. Or sheathing a weapon. Or pulling out a spell book. Something quick... done in a split second. 

For example, you could:

Move + Attack + minor action

Move + Move + minor action

Attack + Attack + minor action

If you happen to have Bonus action... you could add that to any of the above choices.

Movement action

Movement is defined in three ways... close, near and far. Anything outside of far is considered Very far. On your turn, if you move, you can move from Far to close and your turn is over. You can move from Near to close plus another action. If you are using tiny figurines... close would be the width of your thumb. Near would be the distance between index finger and pinky finger when making the "rock on" hand gesture. Far would be from thumb tip to pinky tip if making the "hang loose" gesture. Your GM may decide the distance is less if you happen to be heavily encumbered. 

To attack, it's easy to move from Near to far then strike which is an action. If you are close, you don't need to move but you may want to attack and then move away. Caution on this however... each time you disengage from combat and turn your back to flee... your opponent gets a free attack of opportunity to hit you as you disengage. 

Disengage action

If you wish to get away from your opponent because you are in close proximity and don't want to give them an attack of opportunity, you simply give up your second action and run when it's your turn. You can move from close to far and your turn is complete. 

Weapon mastery

If you have never used a weapon before, you have a -1 to your roll when trying

Proficient would represent having used this type of weapon before, several times. You have no penalty when making attempts to use is. You gain +1 to your damage roll though. 

Mastered represents having used this type of weapon a great deal, trained heavily in it and practiced with often. You gain +1 on your attempts to use it. You gain +2 to your damage roll. 

*To increase your mastery of the weapon, you can spend xp's on mastery. See the "XP Store" for more on that. 

Taking Excessive damage

should you take a single hit blow to your body that is 10 points or more... the GM can decide (based on the situation) that perhaps you break a bone, rupture an organ, lose a hand, require urgent care, are out of the battle even though you still have plenty of HP's, or any number of possible outcomes. See "Debilities" below which could happen also. Let's just hope your armor soaks most of that damage and you don't take 10 or more to your body right? If your armor does take the brunt of the damage (or all of it), the GM might decide you lose 1 point of AC due to damage to the armor. I realize this can be frustrating as a player as we do get caught up in being all tough and un-killable but that's not a great way to play this game. Be humble, realize that if you walk into the lions den, you will probably die. Maybe... don't walk into the lions den? Death, critical injuries... these things make the game so much more fun and interesting. Embrace the pain. Take what the GM dishes you and if you think it's too much... tell them. Maybe they will realize they are being too harsh and agree and drop it down a notch. This happens. GM's are only human after all. If they don't agree... don't argue. Suck it up and move on. 

Damage types

Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing, Force (a blast), Fire, Cold, Lightning, Thunder, Poison, Acid, Psychic (mental), Necrotic (rotting), Radiant (holy, radiation)

Debilities: This would be those "special" times when an injury or effect is more than just a glancing blow or minor cut on your arm. I like to reserve these for when your body takes 10 or more hp's of damage in a single hit. See above under "Excessive damage". 

Weak (Strength): You can no longer exert much force. Maybe it's just fatigue, injury, or maybe your strength has been drained/sapped by magic or poison. Whatever the reason, you now roll with disadvantage on all strength checks. 

Shaky (Dexterity): You're unsteady on your feet and you've got a shake in your hands. Disadvantage on all dexterity checks.

Sick (Constitution): Something just isn't right inside. Maybe you've got a disease or a wasting illness. Maybe you just drank to much ale last night and it's coming back to haunt you. -1d6 hps or disadvantage on checks or maybe both!

Stunned (Intelligence): That last knock to the head shook something loose. Brain no work so good. Disadvantage on all checks of any kind. 

Confused (Wisdom): ears ringing, vision blurred. You're more than a little out of it. Disadvantage on all checks of any kind. 

Scarred (Charisma): It may not be permanent, but for now... you don't look so pretty. Or maybe it will be permanent. For now, perhaps a reduction to your charisma is in order? The GM will wing it. Hell, you can always chime in and help the GM on this one. What do you want? A cool scar? Broken and bent nose? Lose a tooth? Blind in one eye? Lose a toe? Finger? Just remember... chicks dig scars. 

Dying

It sucks right? But... it happens to us all at some point. When you reach 0 to -4 hps's... you are dying. Roll a d6 and this is how many rounds until you are a goner. But, you have a chance. Naturally while you are laying there bleeding out (as long as you not unconscious), you can try to stabilize the wound. Each turn, roll a d6 and if you get a 6, you succeed. You now have 1 hp but are still prone and can't do anything but maybe drink a potion. At any time during your dying... a player (just one) can come and assist you and they roll with you. If they roll a 6, same thing happens as already mentioned. If you take a blow in one hit that takes you to -5 or more... you are dead dead. No recovering, no stabilizing, nothing. Just dead. You can be resurrected though. Lastly, if you take a blow in one hit that takes you to -10 or more... there is nothing left of you to resurrect even if your team wanted to. 

Healing

Time heals all wounds they say. Sort of true and for ease of simplicity... we will just say yes, yes it does. 

A few minutes of uninterrupted rest and you get back 1 hp/mana. 

A short rest of 1 hr and gain back 3 hp/mana. 

A long rest of 3 hr's and you gain back 5hp/mana. 

A full rest of 5 hr's and you gain back 8 hp/mana. 

24 hrs rest and you gain back 25 hp/mana. 

Levelling up

Everyone wants to level up. Getting better means you are winning right and we all like to win. Naturally, in life as we do things... we get better. We use Experience points in this game just like most all rpg's do but here is how we use them:

-Every time you fail at doing something... gain 1 xp. 

-For showing up and playing (actually playing and being part of the game)… gain 3 xp

-Doing something really cool or role playing exceedingly well... someone might elect you for a "moment for the ages" xp point. We will all vote and agree or disagree to see if you deserve one. 

-xp's can be gained from performing Legendary actions. See below for info on that. 

 

What do you do with these xp's as you accumulate them? Well, you go shopping. Yes, shopping. And you do so in the XP Store. 

XP Store

You decide how much of your accumulated xp's you want to spend and when. As you can see... through xp points, over time you will "sculpt" a character more and more to your liking. This is how you evolve and create your characters unique-ness. Here are the things you can "buy":

-Gain 2 HP's. Cost, 10 xp's.

-Increase your mana by 3. Cost, 10 xp's.

-Increase your Legendary action points by 2. Cost, 15 xp's. 

-Increase a skill by 1 point. Cost, 20 xp's.

-Increase an ability score by 1 point. Cost, 30 xp's.

-Buy a luck point. Cost, 30 xp's.

-Obtain an Edge (milestone, perk, whatever you want to call it). Cost, 50 xp's. 

-Gain a mastery point. Cost, 5 xp's per circle (see below)

Mastery points and how they work: You can improve your weapon mastery (hitting or doing damage - pick one), crafting of ??, alchemy crafting attempts, spell crafting attempts, etc by filling out the following circles (each one costs 5xps). Pick something you wish to master and work on it. Pick several things if you like. 

OOOOO = +1 to your attempt rolls (or damage you do with your weapon if you want)

OOOOO = +2  ditto

OOOOO = +3  ditto

OOOOO = +4  ditto

Legendary Actions

In this game, remember... you are above average beings. What you do is way more (or at least... more) cooler than what others can do. To emulate that, I decided that legendary actions for players should be a thing. But, it comes with a bit of restriction. You only have a certain amount of LA points to spend so you need to pick the time and place to use them. Each player begins with 20 points to spend on the following actions. For every point you spend... you get that many xp's for the game. Win win. 

Cost    Action

3  You succeed a non-combat attempt automatically no matter it's level of difficulty

5  Do not need to roll to hit in combat. Simply roll for damage. *a crit hit is impossible if you choose this

15  Avoid death. No matter how badly hurt, you are at 1 hp and stable but cannot do anything as you are hurt bad and prone 

6 Perform an extra attack over and above what you normally deliver in your turn.

4  Stuntman! Come up with an absurd stunt, roll for success and if you do it... get 8 xp's rewarded instead of 4 for your super cool effort

8 This legendary action counters someone else's legendary action and they cancel each other out.

8 Perform an extra two attacks over and above what your normally delivery in a turn

10  Auto hit but more precise. Roll damage plus 1d8 extra damage

5 Incoming spell has no effect at all unless its a damage type spell in which case, take half damage

3 Deflect 5 incoming hp's of damage back at the one who gave them to you. 

2 Cast a spell for free

8 do double damage

4 see things clearer than ever. You are super focused. Your next move is done with advantage. 

12 I'm rubber, you're glue! Whatever you are hit with, spell, damage, effect... somehow it is deflected back to the source. They do get a save chance to avoid it however.