Heimr Tabletop Rulebook

Heimr Tabletop Rulebook

THIS SYSTEM HAS BEEN MOSTLY ABANDONED, BUT STILL FEEL FREE TO USE IT.

This book describes all the rules in the Heimr Rule System.

Important to know is that although these rules supplement and enhance your fighting capabilities. You do not actually need to know how this system works to play it (although your tactical choices will be much better informed). In theory you could still just post in your topic what your character tries and the DM will still post back what actually happens based on this system.

You can read the entire book by constantly clicking on the next page button on the lower right. You can however also search for specific rules by clicking on the corresponding category.

Statistics

This describes the different statistics that the Heimr rule system gives a character on top of the VA skills. Most of these statistics cover things your physical body normally covers during a LARP event.

Rounds

This describes the way a round of combat is build up and the events that happen during a round.

Actions

This chapter describes the different actions you can take during a round of combat.

Movement

This chapter describes the different ways you can move around the battlefield from position to position.

Special rules

Special rule systems like using willpower/hero points, or temporary conditions, or environmental hazards/bonuses are described here.

Powers

These are powers and tricks you character can learn if he has a statistic that is high enough. This system will be released as a supplement on a later date.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:20

Combat Actions

Combat Actions

Combat actions are the things you do during your turn in combat. There are four types of actions, each taking up a different span of time. With combat actions you do things like move to different locations, attack opponents and use skills.

Action Types

During their turn, characters can perform actions. There are four types:

Some actions can occur simultaneously. You can only use one simultaneous action per turn.

List of combat actions

The following is a list of the combat actions you can take during your turn. For some of these actions a more complete description is available in this and the next chapter.

Attack and defence related actions

Movement related actions

Item related actions

Other actions

Weapon attack

There are two types of weapon attacks, melee attacks and ranged attacks. Which type of attack you can do depends on the weapon your character is wielding. You can make an attack roll for every weapon you wield while making the weapon attack action. You can only attack one target per action. At the end of every character's turn, they must roll their next defence. Because it would be obvious to your character how good your opponents are currently defending themselves, you can ask how high a character's defence roll is, before choosing the target of your attack.

How many weapons you can wield depends on the weapon. Characters have a sword hand and an off-hand. Some weapons require both hands to wield it. Other weapons can only be wielded in the sword hand, or in either hand. One and a half handers can be used either in your sword hand, or with both hands. In the medieval armoury module, examples are given of how this might work. Other themes or settings might work different.

Brawl attack

With a brawl attack you attempt to punch, kick or grab an opponent. If a brawl attack hits, the target receives either a hit 1 or bind effect. You must decided which effect before rolling. To do a brawl attack, roll the brawl ability. You need one free hand to do the bind effect. Just as for weapon attack, you can ask your opponent's defence before choosing a target. If the attack was equal to the defence, or was one less then the defence, the attack can be considered a 'hit', but it wasn't strong enough to effect hit points.

Attacking an opponent who wields a melee weapon with a brawl attack is very dangerous. In order to make a brawl attack you must get close to your opponent. The only way to do this is to get past his or her weapon by dodging an attack. If in his last turn your opponent made a melee weapon attack against you, which you successfully dodged, you can roll the brawl attack.

If your opponent did not make a melee weapon attack against you in his turn, or you didn't dodge the attack, doing a brawl attack gives the opponent the opportunity to make a melee weapon attack against you, as if they had readied that action. If you do not dodge the weapon attack, you can not roll the brawl ability and the brawl attack fails. The provoked attack does not change the initiative order.

If you have an opponent grabbed using bind, you can not make any defensive rolls. You can choose to release the bind at any time. The body part you bind is the one you roll for with the brawl challenge. If you have an opponent grabbed, you can stop any of their actions that require a physical dice challenge, by rolling the brawl ability. The result of your brawl roll counts as a challenge requirement for the action. If your opponent passes the challenge requirement, the bind effect is lost. In addition, the bind effect also ends if you receive an effect, or if the character you have grabbed successfully attacks you.

Targeting a body part

The D6 that is included in every attack roll, determines what body part is hit with the attack. This influenced where characters receives their injury and how they are effected. The following table shows what body part is hit based on the result of the die:

Body part Torso Sword arm Other arm Right leg Left leg
**D6 result ** 5 or 6 4 3 2 1

Rather then simply attacking an opponent wherever you can hit them, you can target a body part for your attack. Targeting a specific body part has a consistency penalty of two to the attack roll.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:19

Movement

Movement

Positions

At the beginning of a battle, the DM will define the positions that combatants can be in during the fight. The DM also defines which position borders with which other position.

Example: The DM starts a fight and defines the following positions:

Positions can have terrain attributes and features. These terrain features will always be defined by the DM at the start of the combat.

Standard movement

During his turn any combatant may use a move action to move from one position to a bordering position. This can be blocked by guarding.

Example: A player uses a move action to move from "Inside the pub" towards "Behind the counter" and describes his heroic jump across the wooden serving table.

Block movement (guarding a border)

During his turn any combatant may designate the fact that he is guarding a border from the position he is in, towards another bordering position as part of a move action. (You need to make a move action before you can designate you are guarding a position's border. You can also move to a position you are already in.)

If you guard a border, enemies can't move trough that border, to a different position (they can still move towards your position, though) unless you are already occupied. You are occupied if you block movement of somebody, if you make an attack or if you get attacked with a melee attack. If you make a melee attack yourself (this only counts for the last melee attack of your turn) or if you designate that you want to block movement of a specific enemy, you are only blocking movement for that enemy, not the rest. If you block an exit with multiple people all these people need to be occupied before enemies can use that exit.

Example: A few players are behind the counter and they want to help their comrades who are inside the pub. However two enemy players move to behind the counter and designate that they guard the exit toward inside the pub (They boldly stand on the counter itself, blocking movement from behind the counter). The two enemies need to be dealt with first before the players can move. The first two players that move from behind the counter towards inside the pub are blocked by the enemies. However, the third player can move to inside the pub freely. Alternatively, two players behind the counter can choose to attack the enemies with melee attacks, giving the rest a chance to lower their initiative and move to their comrades after the attacks have been made.

Some terrain features (like narrow doorways, windows, and stairs for example) gives you the ability to block multiple enemies at the same time, since you block the entire way, before you are overrun by the sheer weight of enemies. These terrain features will always be defined by the DM at the start of the combat.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:38

Rounds

Rounds

Rounds are a way to divide combat into easily manageable chunks. A round is a predetermined amount of time, during which actions happen. (See Actions) In this system, each round is about 6 seconds. A round in this system starts when the DM posts that it starts and ends when the DM posts that it ends. You are only allowed to post actions once during a round. In your post you describe what you do during that round. For example, you can move and use a power, while screaming at someone to move as well. See Actions and Powers for more details.

The usual sequence of events during a round is the following:

  1. DM Posts round start*
  2. Players post their actions
  3. DM Posts round end*
  4. DM Determines Initiative order*
  5. DM Resolves actions*
  6. DM Posts results*

* The DM generally posts all this into one post. Thus, in general a new DM post means a new round.

If there are conflicts during the resolving of actions, usually because your target disappeared, the DM will determine the best course of action. This usually means your targeted action is resolved against a random other target. You can prevent this by listing alternative actions.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:05

Special Rules

Special Rules

This section contains all special rules. Special rules are things that modify the base flow of the combat system, for example modifying the sequence of actions during a turn.

Tactics

Different styles of fighting during a combat.

Initiative Manipulation

Change the order in which turns are played out.

Conditions

Different states for combatants.

Environment

What effect does environment have on the combat?

Hero Points

Special rewards used to perform exceptional things.

Willpower

Put a little extra effort into your actions.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:40

Conditions

Conditions

Conditions

Conditions are states a character can be in. These conditions generally last for a certain limited amount of time and can have statistical and limiting effect on your characters actions.

Prone

Your character is prone. You cannot walk (but can stand up, or crawl). Attacking is difficult from this position and you recieve a -2 conditional penalty on any melee attack. You receive a -4 conditional penalty on any ranged attack.

You receive a -2 conditional penalty on your dodge against melee attacks. Any enemy receives a -2 conditional penalty on ranged attacks against you.

Sleeping

You are prone and helpless.

Helpless

You cannot perform any action or defend yourself in any way including dodging.

Confused

You cannot perform any actions apart from mumbling questions, this includes dodging.

Dying

You are prone and helpless. If you are not healed within 10 minutes, you die.

Blinded

You receive a -5 conditional penalty on weapon skills, agility and dodge.

Fear

Every turn you must move at least one position away from the origin of the fear for as long as it remains in sight.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:41

Initiative manipulation

Initiative manipulation

Lower initiative

You choose to always act just after any other person. "I make sure I perform my actions after bob performs his."

Delay action

You perform some actions during your turn but choose to lower the initiative of some of your other actions to when a certain trigger comes up. "When he tries to move, I hit him!"

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 30-12-2009 13:12

Environment

Environment

Some environments can give bonuses or penalties while standing in them. These environments will be declared and defined by the DM prior to combat.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:41

Tactics

Tactics

You can designate to fight with a certain tactic during a round unless you cast a spell.

Normal

You fight normally. This has no effects.

Aggressive

You receive a plus +1 tactic bonus on attack and a -1 tactic penalty on defense.

Defensive

You receive a plus +1 tactic bonus on defense and a -1 tactic penalty on attack.

Mobile

You receive a plus +1 tactic bonus on dodge and a -1 tactic penalty on attack.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:37

Willpower

Willpower

- Je kunt willpower "kopen" voor 1 silver, zie hieronder hoe dat precies gaat. - Je krijgt elke (oc) maand 1 gratis willpower. - Elk personage start met 10 willpower en kan niet meer dan 10 willpower hebben.

- Je kunt een willpower inleveren om een statistiek met 2 te verhogen gedurende een rol. Dit moet je melden voordat de rol plaatsvind. Je kunt meerdere willpower in een enkele rol steken (dit kan na enige playtesten nog veranderen).

Het "Kopen" van willpower moet worden uitgespeeld op het forum. Je vermaakt jezelf om je willpower te verhogen. Dit vermaak kost geld en is dus van hoge kwaliteit.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:37

Hero Points

Hero Points

- Hero points krijg je door een (oc) held te zijn. VA opbouwer zijn, VA afbouwer, vrijwilliger, promoter. Je krijgt 1 hero point voor elke volle dag dat je VA of Heimr helpt. Je bent zelf verantwoordelijk om in dit topic te melden dat je hiervoor in aanmerking komt en welk personage je je hero point aan geeft. - Soms kun je Hero points verdienen door andere dingen. Deze manieren om Hero points te verdienen zullen altijd van te voren aangekondigd worden. - Hiernaast kun je nog Hero points (1 per half jaar) verkrijgen door zeer goed roleplay. Hier zal voor gestemd worden en de beste 3 mensen krijgen hero points. Bazeer je stem alleen op de roleplay situaties van het afgelopen half jaar. Alle roleplay situaties mogen echter megenomen worden in de afweging, zowel situaties tijdens larp, als op het forum, als tijdens heimr war, fleet battles, of underbelly. (De volgende keer dat dit verdient kan worden is 1 Juli 2010)

Als je een hero point spendeerd (in je IC post aangeven) dan mag je 1 van de volgende dingen doen:

  1. Twee van je aanvallen zullen deze beurt automatisch raken.
  2. Twee aanvallen tegen jou deze beurt zullen automatisch gedodged worden.
  3. Je kunt een hero point ook gebruiken om je het hoogste initiative te geven volgende ronde.
  4. Je kunt een hero point ook gebruiken om welke rol dan ook, zo gunstig mogelijk voor jou te doen verlopen.
  5. Andere coole dingen kun je bereiken met je hero points in overleg met de DM (post je suggestie(s) in je post naast een alternatieve normale beurt. Als de DM het er niet mee eens is verlies je geen hero point en gebeurd er niks anders dan je normale beurt).
  6. Je kunt een hero point gebruiken om 15 heimr koper (of 3 heimr zilver) te verdienen (door iets te doen voor een NPC ofzo, leuk uitspelen) zonder overleg met een DM. Dit kun je maar 1 keer per half jaar doen.
  7. Je kunt een hero point spenderen tijdens een gebed (meer info in het "sidequest" topic).

Hero points werken alleen als je een NPC aanvalt of als je een aanval van een NPC dodged. Een hero point mag niet gebruikt worden om je initiative hoger te maken als je in diezelfde beurt een PC aanvalt.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:34

Statistics

Statistics

Statistics

The system features seven statistics. Combat Skill, Agility, Dodge and Initiative are mostly used during simulated combats. There are three additional statistics, Charisma, Wealth and Knowledge. These are not usually used during combat, except for some small abilities granted by charisma.

At creation of a new character you must choose the height of of your statistics. If you choose not to use this system all of your statistics will be automatically put at 5. Every character has 35 points he can spend on 7 statistics. The maximum height of any statistic is 10 at character creation. If you create a character with a statistic that is higher than 7, or lower than 4, make sure to explicitly note in your background how you got this extreme statistic.

Statistics are sometimes abbreviated. The following table lists these abbreviations:

Statistic Abbreviation
Combat Skill CS
Agility A
Dodge D
Initiative I
Knowledge K
Charisma C
Wealth W

Modifiers

Several statistics can receive modifiers during certain situations, like the weapon bonus you receive from a drawn weapon during combat. These modifiers are listed as a bonus or penalty. There are several types of bonuses. As a general rule, bonuses from the same type do not stack, instead, the highest applies. Note that penalties from the same type do stack. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are always specially mentioned. The type of a bonus or penalty is always listed. If not, assume they do not stack.

The following table lists common modifier types and their abbreviation:

Modifier Abbreviation
Equipment e
Power p
Tactics t
Environmental env
Conditional c
Misc m

The abbreviation is appended to a modifier to describe the type.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:23

Combat Skill

Combat Skill

Combat Skill determines your base attack and defence scores. Attack determines the chance of scoring a potential hit against your target, while defence determines the minimum Attack your enemy needs to hit you. During a combat, the attacker rolls a d20 and adds his attack. This result is then compared to the target's defence score. If the attack is higher or equal then it is a potential hit. (See Dodge below.)

Your total attack during a round is determined by your base attack and several modifiers, like your weapon, your tactics, powers you have used and others. Your defence is determined mainly by your base defence with a bonus from your weapons, but other modifiers are also possible.

The following table lists weapon modifiers for attack:

Weapon type Length Modifier
One Handed Weapon 70cm - 110cm +1e
Two Handed Weapon 110cm - 150cm +2e
Pole-arms and Staves 150cm+ +3e

The modifiers for defence are listed in the following table:

Weapon type Length Modifier
Unarmed n/a +3e
Small Weapons 0 - 30cm +5e
One Handed Weapons 30cm - 70cm +6e
One Handed Weapons 70cm - 110cm +7e
Two Handed Weapons 110cm - 150cm +8e
Pole-arms, Staves 150cm+ +10e
Shield* n/a +5e
Two weapon fighting n/a Special**

* The defence bonus from a shield stack with that of your weapon.
** For two weapon fighting, your defence bonus is equal to that of your main hand combined with half the defence bonus of your off hand rounded down.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:26

Charisma

Charisma

The charisma skill will not directly help you in combat but it does unlock powers that can be used in combat. This skill determines your character his training and talent in dealing socially with other people. Influencing NPCs is easier if you have a high charisma skill and harder if you have a low one.

Charisma also determines the amount of people you can effectively command or supervise and, if you are the appointed group public figurehead. It also determines the maximum amount of people in the group. Any group/guild/organisation/tribe can only have one mayor figurehead. The charisma of the mayor figurehead also determines how many other figureheads the group has. A figurehead might be somebody that actively recruits people, inspires people to join him because of his glorious deeds or talks to the lore keepers if they come asking tricky questions.

A charisma of 6 is mandatory if you wish this character to lead an Underbelly faction. A charisma of 8 is mandatory if you wish this character to lead a Heimr fleet.

People you can directly supervise/command:

Charisma Number of people
10 320
9 160
8 80
7 40
6 20
5 10
4 5
3 0

Maximum number of people in group if public figurehead:

Charisma Number of people Additional public figureheads if mayor figurehead
10 480 +5
9 240 +4
8 120 +3
7 60 +2
6 30 +1
5 15 +0
4 5 +0
3 0 +0

It also needs the money to support this number, see the wealth skill for more information on company employees.

Penalty to number of people in the group if you have characters with this charisma in the group:

Charisma Number of people less
3 1
2 2
1 3
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 22:10

Knowledge

Knowledge

The knowledge skill will not directly help you in combat. It determines how much your character knows about the world of Heimr. You do not have to read all the lore that your character is able to know, and you are allowed to read lore that your character is not able to know because of his low knowledge skill, but you are not allowed to base your in character actions on out of character knowledge. Certain knowledge levels are also required to perform certain rituals. Characters with a high knowledge skill sometimes receive more or more accurate information from a DM during a quest or situation.

Knowledge is divided into categories. These categories are General, Arcane, Divine, Asgard, Midgard, Utgard and Wilderness. You can determine individual knowledge levels of your character in specific categories. If you do not determine any speciality categories, all categories are equal to your knowledge score. If you reduce a category by 2K you can increase another category by 1K. Note that you still cannot increase a statistic above 10 during character creation.

Most of the lore in the Lore section has a specific knowledge level, as well as a category. This indicates the minimum level of knowledge your character needs to have in order to know this particular piece of lore. In the event that a knowledge level of lore changes and you already had play with the knowledge, your character does not suddenly forget the knowledge. (Change might be common in the beginnings of this system).

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:52

Initiative

Initiative

This statistic determines the order in which people take their turns. The higher this statistic the higher the chance is that your action happen before the actions of the enemy. At the beginning of every round the result of a different throw with a twenty sided die (d20) is added to the initiative of every participant of the battle. If the result is the same, the person with the higher statistic can go first, if both have the same initiative statistic the person with the higher will go first, of both have the same agility a coin flip will determine who goes first.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:24

Dodge

Dodge

During combat, you can dodge a potential hit. The result of a d20 combined with your Dodge score is compared to the result of the attacker's attack roll. If your Dodge result is higher, the attack misses, if not, the attack hits and deals damage.

You receive a penalty to your dodge depending on your armour:

Armour Type Penalty
Light Armour -1e*
Medium Armour -2e*
Heavy Armour -3e*
Shield -1e

* If you have the "Armourstacking" skill, the penalties for armour do not stack, instead, the highest applies.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:27

Agility

Agility

If you attack with a ranged weapon this statistic will determine if you score a potential hit or not, just as combat skill does for melee attacks. You need to score at least 15 + a number based on your type of ranged weapon. This statistic also determines the maximum height of your Initiative, Weapon Skill and Dodge. If you wish to have any of these statistics at a level of 7 you need an agility of at least 2. If you wish to have any of these statistics at a level of 8 you need an agility of at least 3 and so on.

The following table lists weapon modifiers for agility:

Weapon type Modifier to number needed
Throwing Weapons +2e
Crossbow +1e
Bow (minimum 5 agility) +0e
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 21:34

Wealth

Wealth

The wealth skill will not directly help you in combat, but you can buy items and mercenaries that will temporarily help you in combat. You can also buy a lot of other things with wealth. Wealth determines your characters free income (after expenses like maintenance, food, clothing, etc) per month, your starting money (or debt) and how much people your company or organization employs. You receive your free income only if you have posted at least one IC post with this character during this month.

A starting wealth of 8 is mandatory if you wish this character to lead an Underbelly faction. If you win an Underbelly game and you are the only one left, the character temporarily gains +1W until the city is reset. If your character "holds" two city in this way he gains an additional +1W for the duration of this situation. You gain another +1W for a third board, and so on. If your character loses control of a faction, usually because there is only one board the faction is on and the faction is wiped from that board, your character loses a wealth until it regains control of the faction within the Underbelly game.

The following table lists wealth related bonuses:

Wealth Income per month Starting gold Notes
1 1c None Heavy debt, you probably work for a company and have to pay interest.
2 2c None Debt, you probably work for a company and have to pay interest.
3 3c None Light debt, you probably work for a company and have to pay interest.
4 4c None You could live in a tribe or other structure without money.
5 5c 5g You probably work for a company.
6 8c 8g You might have a one man business or a specialist salary.
7 15c 15g You must be the owner or shareholder of a company.
8 30c 30g You must be the owner or shareholder of a large company.
9 60c 60g You must be the owner or shareholder of a very large or several companies.
10 125c 125g You must be the owner or shareholder of a very large or several companies.
11 200c 200g You must be the owner or shareholder of a very large or several companies.
12 275c 275g You must be the owner or shareholder of a very large or several companies.
13+ +75c +75g You must be the owner or shareholder of several very large companies.

Rough figure your (share in the) organization employs:

Wealth Number of people
13+ +500
12 2000
11 1500
10 1000
9 320
8 80
7 20

The maximum number of employees of the company is this number + the number from all the other shareholders, but it also needs a public figurehead to support this number. See the Charisma skill for more information on public figureheads.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 22:26

Powers

Powers

Powers are special actions you can take during combat. These special actions are not yet available, although you can look and marvel at the sight of the two examples already posted in this rulebook.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:07

Combat Skill Powers

Combat Skill Powers Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 23:07

Modules

Modules Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:22

Blind spots module

Blind spots module

When defending against multiple ranged attacks coming from different squares then the character is in, the ranged attack creates a blind spot of three squares, opposite the direction of the attack, until the character's next turn. The character gets a defence penalty from attacks coming from the blind spot. This blind spot can be increased if another ranged attack comes from a different square, not yet inside the blind spot.

Characters receive a penalty of 5 on their defence consistency from ranged attacks coming from a blind spot, as well as from melee attacks by characters who, in that turn, entered the square of the character from the direction of the blind spot. In this situation it is advantages for a melee fighter to delay their turn until after the ranged attack.

Freelinking: Unknown plugin indicator

When the combat is on a grid larger then 3x3, more then three squares can become a blind spot. The blind spot expands at a 90 degree angle. The blind spot must always run across a straight line or a diagonal line. When the attacker is not on a straight or diagonal line from the defender (such as in 4x4 example 1), the attack is counted from the closest straight or diagonal line. If the distance is the same, the attacker can choose if the attack is closer to the straight or the diagonal line.

Characters can choose not to defend against an attack. If this happens the attack doesn't create a blind spot (in case of ranged) and doesn't reduce the defence (in case of melee). Obviously this is a costly decision as the attack will always hit, but taking the hit might in some cases be better then the disadvantage of the defence penalty.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 21-12-2011 12:05

Medieval armoury module

Medieval armoury module

Editor note: Work in progress.

Weapons

Weapon type Range Dmg. Bonus Wielding Abilities
Light weapon Melee 1 P+2 Either hand Knife fighting
Dueling
Medium weapon Melee 2 P+3 One or two hands Dueling
Swordmanship
Shield and sword
Great weapon Melee 3 P+5 Two hands Swordmanship
Pole arm Melee 2 P+4 Two hands Pole arms
Bow 6 3 P+1 Two hands Archery
Crossbow 4 3 - Two hands Archery
Throwing weapon 1 1 - Sword hand Throwing
knife fighting
Blowgun 2 0 P+1 Sword hand Blowguns

Shields

Shield type Bonus Penalties Wielding Abilities
Buckler - - off-hand Dueling
Swordsmanship
Sword and shield
Small shield P+2 TODO off-hand Sword and shield
Medium shield P+3 TODO off-hand Sword and shield
Tower shield P+5 Sta -1 off-hand Sword and shield
Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 13:22

Environment

Environment

Editor note: This chapter isn't finished yet.

Combat does not happen under ideal circumstances. The environment can have a great impact on the outcome of a battle. Those who know the environment they fight in, can have a great advantage. Any number of things, such as having the high ground, knowing where to hide your archers and knowing the escape routes can make all the difference between victory and death.

Difficult terrain

Some types of terrain are more difficult to manoeuvre in. Things like mud, loose snow, low water, sloping and tall grass make it more difficult to fight in. Characters moving in difficult terrain will either have to be more careful where they step, or are slowed by the ground they walk on. This effects how fast they can respond to opportunities and threats coming their way. Characters standing on difficult terrain have a consistency penalty of one to melee attacks, parry and dodge. Difficult terrain is a property of a location. This means that any character in that location will be effected by the penalty. Multiple locations of a battlefield can have difficult terrain.

Movement limits

Some borders, like doorways or thick vegetation can not be crossed with many characters at the same time. These limits form barriers, that can be used to hold off a larger force. Allowing defenders to deal with fewer opponents, while others have to wait. Movement limits will be specified by the GM as part of a battlefield.

The count of the limit starts at the first character who moves through the border. This character counts as the first on the limit. As soon as the limit is reached, no more characters can move through the border. The count is reset to zero at the start of the first character to move through.

Some examples are:

Name Limit
Single door 2
Thick vegetation 2
Double door 4
Window 1
Ladder 1

Crossing challenges

Crossing challenges occur when characters might find it difficult to cross a border. For instance if they have to climb or jump. The GM will provide a challenge requirements for the players to meet. If they fail the character can not go across the border, and characters fall prone.

Crossing CR
Window 5
1.5 meter jump 1
2 meter jump 3
2.5 meter jump 6
3 meter jump 9
Rope swing 4

Structural barriers

Structural barriers make it impossible to cross a border. Barriers can always be destroyed, but most of the time players will not have enough destructive power with them to break down a barrier. All barriers should have a toughness number so players could break them down.

Structure Toughness
=Regular door 2
=Strong door 4
=Regular gate 6
=Wooden wall 4
=Stone wall 6

Height

Standing higher then your opponent gives you a significant advantage during combat. There might be a height difference within a square, or between squares characters can take advantage of. You can freely move around as long as the height difference is no more then one, which is somewhere between a meter and one meter fifty. You can attack characters with melee who are one position higher or one position lower. Attacking with melee against a target who stands higher has a consistency penalty of one. Attacking with melee against a target who stands lower has a consistency bonus of one.

When there is a height difference of two or more, you must climb to get to that height. If this height difference exists between squares, you must climb to the right height before you can enter the square. These climbs may be difficult or nearly impossible, for instance when faced with a defensive wall with a height of four. In that case you'll need some sort of ladder to get up. Most climbs will have a challenge requirement. If you fail this challenge you will fall from the height you attempt to reach. For every climb action, you move one height up or down. In addition, when you are hit with an effect or an attack, you must make a climb check with a consistency of one to see if you can hold on.

When you fall or jump from a height of two or more, you must make an agility check to see if you become injured from the fall. The challenge requirement for jumping is two times the height difference. So with a height of 4, the requirement is 8. The challenge requirement while falling is two plus twice the height, so with a height of 4 the requirement is 10. If your character fails this challenge requirement their HP is reduced to three minus the height from which you felt. So, falling from a height of six will reduce you to -3 HP. Wearing armour does not protect characters from fall damage. The injury you receive is to the legs, and to the torso if reduced to -4 or -5 HP.

Challenge requirements for climbing:

=Challenge requirement
=Ladder or stairs none
=Rope ladder 2
=Rope 4
=Rock face 6
=Steep rock face 9
=Tree 5
=Stone wall 11

Concealment [90%]

Concealing from your opponents can be important for many different reasons, such as ambushing them, retreating when you are injured, or to avoid getting hit by their ranged attacks. Unless the GM specifies what direction your concealment is effective in, concealment will work against any opponent, except those in a combat cluster with you.

Any kind of concealment requires some relatively large object of some density. How dense an object is determines how effective it is as concealment. Merlon on a castle wall for instance, are specifically designed to provide concealment against oncoming attacks. Because they are solid stone blocks, it is very hard for an archer to hit someone hiding behind them. Where as something like tall grass will not make much difference to the archer.

Extreme weather and darkness also provide concealment. One that can be gained anywhere on the battlefield. Lighting, such as a torch or a camp fire can be used to avoid darkness. Torches light everything at a distance of one, and a camp fire over a distance of two. Any kind of roof helps against the concealment extreme weather provides. A complete inability to see the opponent provides a concealment of three, like in a blinding sandstorm, underground cave or moonless night. Darkness or extreme weather improve the effectiveness of other concealment.

Examples of concealment:

Name Effectiveness Height
Thick tree 2 4 or more
Wooden cart or crate 2 1
Shrubbery 1 1
Stone merlon 5 2
Wooden table 3 1
Tall grass 1 1
Darkness 1 to 3 Not applicable
Extreme weather 1 to 3 Not applicable
Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:20

Dice challenges

Dice challenges

Most of the challenges put to the players will be resolved by dice roles. The Heimr Tabletop RPG Core uses one six-sided die (d6) and multiple ten-sided (d10) dice, where number range 1 to 6 or 1 to 10. Every dice roll in the Heimr Tabletop system follows the same basic format. To make a dice challenge in this system you need to know two things, the consistency (C) of the challenge and the potential (p). These values can be either positive, zero or negative. The dice challenge works as follows:

You roll one d6, and any number of d10 equal to the consistency of the dice challenge. If the consistency is less then zero, use the number in the consistency (with -3, you roll three d10). From that, if the consistency is more then zero, use the result of the highest die. If the consistency of the dice challenge is less then zero, use the result of the lowest die.

If you have a consistency higher then zero and you roll 10 with multiple dice, the bonus is the number of dice with which you roll 10, minus one. If you have a consistency lower then zero and you roll one with multiple dice, the penalty is the number of dice with which you roll 1, minus one. Then add the potential to get the result of the dice challenge.

Which translates into the following rules:

Side note:

Some examples:

Situational penalties

There are a lot of things that can result in characters functioning under less then optimal conditions. For instance a character might be fighting in darkness, or they might have a hangover while trying to solve a puzzle. Under these circumstance the GM should give players situational penalties. A situational penalty reduces the consistency of a dice challenge. For example if a character has a situational penalty of two on a dice challenge with a consistency of three, the dice challenge must be rolled with a consistency of one (3 -- 2 = 1).

Situational penalties can be applied to abilities, attributes or even attribute groups (physical and mental). If a situation penalty is applied to an attribute or attribute group, all abilities base on that attribute are also effected. So if a character has a penalty on the dexterity attribute, the athletics ability is also affected.

Challenge requirements

When characters oppose each other in any kind of challenge, they will both roll and compare the results. But when a character is faced with an environmental challenge, such as climbing a tree or picking a lock, they must roll against a predefined value. This is called the challenge requirement (CR). Characters roll an ability or attribute to see if they can overcome the challenge. For this they have to roll a number which is equal to or higher then the CR.

Failing a CR might, depending on what the challenge is, have negative consequences. For instance failing a CR on climbing a rock wall could result in a character falling and injuring themselves.

Most CRs do not have these kind of consequences. When characters make a CR, this means they attempt to the best of their ability to pass the challenge. Characters are allowed to re-roll a failed CR at the cost of one willpower for each roll. This is because they are attempting to push themselves beyond their own (previously shown) limitations.

Dice rolls on attributes

When rolling for an attribute (for example a strength check), the GM decides the consistency (how many dice the player gets to role), based on how reliable the type of activity can be accomplished. For example arm wrestling is an activity which is fairly consistent (4 to 6). The strongest person is most likely to win. Therefore a high consistency is applied. An activity that has a higher degree of uncertainty, such as gauging the emotions of a character with sociability has a lower consistency (0 or 1).The attribute it's self is used as the potential of the check.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:15

Characters

Characters

Characters in the Heimr Tabletop RPG are similar to characters created for the LARP. They have hit points, willpower, skills, conditions and items. In addition to these, the Tabletop RPG core also has two additional properties which are used in dice challenges: Attributes and abilities. Rules about Hit Points, Willpower, Skills, Condition and items can be found in the LARP rules documents but the rules for attributes and abilities are explained here as they are only used in the tabletop version of Heimr to simulate some of the challenges a LARP player would normally face with their out of character skills (like swing a foam sword).

Attributes

Attributes are fundamental properties of a character, they are relatively hard to change and train when compared to abilities and most likely won't change much during the campaign. Attributes effect every roll your character makes. You can either roll an attribute directly, or you can roll abilities, which are based on attributes. For more information on dice rolls, see Abilities. The set of six attributes mentioned below is the standard used in most Heimr roleplaying campaigns, however a DM may choose to use different sets of attributes for their campaign. For example if a campaign will gloss over combat and focus on political intrigue DM's might choose to have more social attributes (like "manipulation" or "composure") and "Strength, dexterity and stamina" might simply be folded into "Physical" and if a campaign will feature players as members of a football team, certain physical attributes that are less important in combat might come to the fore or split up from main attributes (like "Kick strength" vs "run strength" or "accuracy" vs "reflexes")

There are six attributes in the Heimr Tabletop RPG core:

Attribute Short Group Description
Strength str Physical A character's way to exert force
Dexterity dex Physical A character's motor skill and hand-eye coordination
Stamina sta Physical The way of a character to exert herself over a longer period of time.
Intelligence int Mental The ease with which a character can plan, learn, reason, solve logical problems and remember.
Sociability soc Mental The ease with which a character can interact and communicate with others.
Empathy emp Mental The way a character recognizes and to a lesser degree shares feelings of others.

Abilities

Abilities are things that all characters can do to some extend, but how good a character is at them can vary greatly. Differences occur either because characters have a natural advantage through their attributes or because they have trained that ability.

For instance someone with a high intelligence will naturally be better at intelligence based abilities like maths or history. Secondly if someone has trained in an ability, such as maths will make she better at it, even if she has less intelligence.

Things such as using a type of weapon, entertaining a crowd, running, sculpting, waiting tables and mathematics can all be considered abilities. There is no fixed set of abilities (although there are a lot of examples later in this booklet), although some DM's might give a set of abilities that will be relevant during this campaign. Players should only write down those abilities in which they have training, or which they will need frequently. Example sets will be available too.

Abilities are relatively easy to train up when compare to attributes.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 11:56

Fatigue

Fatigue

Players must keep track of how fatigued their characters are. Characters with poor stamina will get tired quickly, which will impair their effectiveness in combat. Any roll based on a physical attribute has a Challenge requirements equal to the fatigue, on the result before adding potential. This means that the roll must be equal to or higher then the fatigue of your character. For example, if a character has a fatigue of 7 and rolls 6 (not counting potential) this means the action automatically fails, even if the challenge would have been 7 or higher when adding potential. If this is an attack, the opponent does not have to defend.

In addition to having a situational penalty, a character's fatigue increases when they are performing physical activities without the opportunity to take a breather. This happens for example while a character is running, fighting, climbing or swimming. Every dice challenge includes a roll with one D6. If the value of the D6 is lower then the fatigue of a character, the fatigue is increased by one. Fatigue can not be higher then twenty or lower then one. Because of this, players can keep track of fatigue using a D20 die.

Example: A character has a fatigue of four. With the D6 she rolls three, this means for the fatigue is increased to five.

Base fatigue

When characters get the opportunity to take a breather, their fatigue returns to it's standard level. This standard is called the base fatigue. Returning to base fatigue only takes a few seconds, up to half a minute or so maximum. The base value of fatigue is four minus the stamina attribute of a character. So:

A character with a stamina of three will have a base tiredness of one (4 -- 3 = 1) and a character with a stamina of -2 will have a base tiredness of six (4 - -2 = 6). Both fatigue and base fatigue can not be less then 1. So even if you have a stamina of 4, base fatigue is still 1, not 0.

When a character's fatigue is higher then six, they will gain one fatigue point every time they make a physical roll. This is because you can never throw seven or higher with a D6. For some characters, reaching this point will take many rolls. A character with a base fatigue of seven (stamina of -3) will have one extra fatigue every time they roll, because they can never throw seven with a D6. And because the fatigue is a challenge requirement, it will very quickly become impossible to make any successful actions.

Chasing

Chasing characters is done purely on the basis of fatigue. Based on the kind of terrain characters are chasing each other on, the GM decides what attribute or ability to roll. Characters take turns rolling this dice challenge. If a character rolls three or more points higher then her target, she moves one square closer. If the a character rolls three or more points lower then the target, the target moves one square further away. During the roll in which the chaser would surpass the chase target, he or she can take an action against the target instead of moving ahead of the target. The grid should be used to keep track of the distance.

When one of the characters fails to pass their fatigue check, they are unable to continue the chase. If this is the target, this means the chaser will reach the target. If this is the chaser, this means the target has escaped. You can not lower fatigue during a chase, only by standing still can fatigue be restored to it's base.

During the chase, the GM can present the chase target with terrain decisions, for instance the target might decided to climb a building or to jump in the river and continue the chase swimming. This way the chase target has the opportunity to choose a terrain favourable to their abilities. This makes determining an escape route important in choosing a location for battle.

Fatigue during combat

During combat you'll be making many different rolls. Most importantly for attacking and defending. All the physical dice challenges you make (any roll based on a physical attribute), can increase your fatigue. Your fatigue can only increase by one every turn. This includes any action you take during your turn, and any defensive roll you make until the start of your next turn.

Because of this, the more physical dice challenges you have to make, the greater the chance you're fatigue will increase. This opens the possibility for multiple attackers to wear down a much stronger opponent, until his fatigue is so high he will be unable to defend himself. By taking a breather (see List of combat actions) characters can lower their fatigue.

Moving from one square to another doesn't increase a character's fatigue, because it doesn't require any physical dice challenge. Only if there is a challenge requirement based on a physical attribute can fatigue increase while moving. When characters are chasing off the grid, their fatigue does increase. If you use a ranged attack against a target in a combat cluster, and have to make multiple dice challenge, only the first dice challenge can effect fatigue.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:18

Using the grid

Using the grid

Both inside and outside of combat, players use a grid of at least three by three squares. Each square in the grid represents a location. While moving around in the game, players should move character identifiers of the characters they control, to indicate the current location of a character. During combat this helps to get a general feeling of where characters are in relation to each other and their surroundings. Outside of combat the grid helps players to keep track of where all the characters are, and thus who they can talk to.

Locations

Every square in the grid represents a location. One square could be "north of the forest" or "in building A" or "In town X". Outside of combat it does not even matter if the squares are in the same relative position to one another. You can easily have adjacent squares representing locations that can only be reached by moving through a different square. Outside combat the GM designates empty squares as new location available for characters to enter. The squares in a grid do not indicate any specific size, but rather a location. Different locations have different sizes.

Squares in the grid are identified just like on a chessboard, going from A1 to C3 (in case of a three by three grid). GMs can choose to use a larger grid if they find the number of characters in play can't accurately be represented on the grid. For a normal four player game the three by three grid should be large enough.

Borders

Characters are free to move anywhere within a location. Locations are separated by borders. So to go from one location to another, you have to cross the border between those two locations. Outside of combat, a location can have any number of borders. During combat, each location has no more then four borders; the squares up, down, left and right. Borders often represent barriers. A border could be a door leading to another room, a road leading to another town, a castle wall or a river. All barriers in the game must be borders between two locations.

There are three types of barriers. Barriers like doorways, that limit the number of people who can move through them at the same time. These are called movement limits. Secondly, there are barriers that are crossing challenges, such as a rope bridge, which require players to make a dice roll to see if they can pass it. And thirdly there are structural barriers, these are things like walls. Which you will have to either bust through or climb over. Details of barriers are given in the chapter on Environment.

Combat grid

During combat, all locations represented on the grid are in the same relative position as the squares are on the grid. This means that if two characters move in the same direction (for instance north), the character identifiers will also move in the same direction, regardless of which square they move to. So if moving left on the grid means a character moves to a location in the north, any character moving to north will move their character left. And any character moving south will move their character identifier to the right. This makes it much easier to retain an overview of the combat situation.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:11

Health

Health

A character's health is of critical importance. Once a character has zero or less hit points, they become injured, which will likely require medical attention. You can restore hit points by taking a short rest, as long as you are uninjured.

Short Rest

By taking a short rest, a character will restore hit points to it's maximum and regain the free use of their rested skills. You can only be restored by a short rest, if your character has one or more hit points remaining. The short rest must be uninterrupted for at least five minutes of in character time. If a character makes any dice challenges or uses any skills, the short rest is considered interrupted.

Injury Effects

When a character is hit with an attack that causes an injury, they receive an effect based on what body part got hit by the attack. The effect lasts as long as the character is injured. Characters can have additional effects from injuries, if they are hit on multiple body parts while injured. The effects are as followed:

=Either arm Drop item
=Leg(s) Fall
=Torso Daze

Injuries

There are three levels of injury, depending on how low your HP is. The three levels are:

=HP =Resulting injury
=Bloodied 0 or -1 This injury requires treatment. You can't take a short rest
=Mangled -2 or -3 The character dies in 10 minutes, and falls unconscious half way through (5 minutes)
=Mutilated -4 or -5 The character falls unconscious instantly and dies after two minutes

Some skills allow characters to be Stabilized. When a character is stable they are no longer dying and regains consciousness. Moving the injured body part will reopen the injury. Restart counting your injury from zero when this happens.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:16

Effects

Effects

Effects are ways in which a character is influenced by the game. Effects can be called by players (only with a corresponding skill) and by a Game master. Effects have a number associated to them, this is either two (as in seconds) or one (as in point). If a number is called with the effect, use this number instead of the default. For example "Stumble four" is a stumble effect that lasts four seconds and "hit two" is a hit effect that costs two hit points. The following effects are known in this system:

The following two are reaction effects. These can be used in response to effects.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 20-12-2011 12:15

Actions

Actions

Actions determine what you do during a round of combat. Actions take a predetermined amount of time. There are four basic types of actions: Free Actions, Half Actions, Full Actions and Reactive Actions. Free actions take almost no time and are therefore free, you can take as many of these as you like. Half actions take up half the time of a round. You can take two of these during a single round. Full actions take all the time of a round. Reactive actions are reactions on someone else's actions. You can take one of these during a round, regardless of your other actions.

Description Action Notes
= Attack related
Attack Half action
Use power Varies See "Powers"
Cast spell Full action Includes a touch attack, if necessary. You can also move one position during this action.
Taunt Half action See "Charisma"
= Movment related
Move a position Half action
Stand up from prone Half action
Crawl to another position Full action
= Item related
Draw a weapon Half action Weapon is assumed to be easily drawable, otherwise see Draw Item
Draw an arrow Half action You need to draw an arrow before being able to shoot
Draw throwing weapons (Two) Half action You now have two throwing weapons drawn and can use them to attack
Draw an item Full action
Put a weapon away Half action Weapon is assumed to be easily put away, otherwise see Put an item away.
Put an item away Full action
Drop item Free action
Pick up item Half action
= Free actions
Speak a few lines Free action
Guard an exit Free action Forces enemies to first defeat or evade you before entering another position. See movement.
Use hero-point Free action
Use willpower Free action
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 23-11-2009 22:48

Gaining XP, loot, and other goodies.

Gaining XP, loot, and other goodies.

Gaining XP

For every month you actively play with a character you gain 20 xp. Actively playing a character means you either post in the In-character forums that month or join a game with this character this month (this could be a larp, a turn in underbelly, a battle in fleet wars, etc). This is currently the only way to gain xp, but more ways will become available at later dates.

Spending XP

With XP you can higher statistics in the following way:

From To Cost
1 2 220 xp
2 3 160 xp
3 4 120 xp
4 5 100 xp
5 6 100 xp
6 7 120 xp
7 8 160 xp
8 9 220 xp
9 10 300 xp
10 11 400 xp You also need permission from a DM to raise a statistic this high.
11 12 520 xp You also need permission from a DM to raise a statistic this high.

Gaining money

For every month you actively play with a character you gain your monthly income. Actively playing a character means you either post in the In-character forums that month or join a game with this character this month (this could be a larp, a turn in underbelly, a battle in fleet wars, etc). You can also gain money in-character by performing jobs/quests or looting bodies etc.

Spending money

You can currently spend money in Freelinking: Unknown plugin indicator , or you could buy services or items (including, sometimes, vortex currency! ;)) from other players.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 30-03-2010 00:24