Note from the author: The core rules used for these homebrew rules come from the OSRIC Handbook and D&D 3.5 edition.
The PDF file for the book can be found here.
[ARTICLE PENDING REVISION]
Welcome to the Realms of Ragna campaign rules.
So you want to become an adventurer? Travel the world of Aldrazar and beyond? Then welcome friend, you are on your way to being engraved into history! But like all heroes, we must start out small.
Now for the rules:
Step 1: Create your Character
Now im sure you know very well who your character is, or even what he does, so get out your character sheet and start jotting down his name.
lets say i put down my character's name
Name: Robin Jones
there, see? not a problem, but what does he look like? well that can be done as well, just watch.
Name: Robin Jones
Age: 19
Race: Human (races also effect how your character performs under certain conditions)
Class: Fighter (Guardian variant)
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 205lbs.
Hair: shoulder length, black.
Facial hair: short, black
Eyes: Blue
but what if you want a picture of him? well your welcome to draw one. heres mine right now:
See? it aint that hard. Now that weve covered that area, lets find out why your character, or even mine, left home to adventure. Next up is the backstory. it can be simple, just let it flow, but remember, like every story book, your character's goal has to become a part of it. So think hard before making a backstory.
But in the meantime, heres an example:
Backstory: Robin lives in a family of nobility, his father is a general and his mother was a priestess, though she died in childbirth giving birth to him. at the age of 12, a day before his 13th birthday, his brother Fortunius was kidnapped by a dragon and taken to an undisclosed location. So the next day after gearing up, robin sent out on a quest to find his brother and bring him home.
See? even you can do it if you try.
Oh, and a little tip: be sure to have your background make sense too, also be sure that the DM will be okay with it because not all backstories are allowed. If you by chance add an inherited magical item to your character's background, the DM has every right to do as he pleases to make it reasonable for everyone. He might give you an inheritage roll (percentage die roll) to prove how you got the item in the first place.
Have fun!
Step 2: Character abilities
Attributes
Now every character has their strong areas and not so strong areas.
Lets go over what abilities are what and what they do:
STRength: Strength represents the raw power of ones body, how good you are at dealing damage, lifting heavy objects, etc. All these things are examples of raw muscle power. Affects your damage modifier.
DEXterity: Dexterity represents the measure of speed, footing and how quick you are on your feet. Very good for acrobatics, climbing and other things that involve such things. Affects your Reflex roll.
CONstitution: Constitution represents your physical integrity and immune system. Determines your maximum hit points and how well you can resist certain diseases and poisons. Affects your Fortitude roll.
WISdom: Wisdom represents your willpower, common sense, perception and your knowledge of the world around you. This often allows you to spot someone's motive through past experiences or even survival skills. Affects your Will roll.
INTelligence: Intelligence represents your learning capability, showing how much of a fast learner you are. Many Mages often have a high Intelligence due to their great ability to learn. Bonuses allow for more languages or even bonuses to skills. affects your Wit roll.
CHArisma: Charisma represents your personality, physical appearance and how much people trust you. This ability is often used for haggling, diplomacy or, if your the ladytype, show your handsome face and charms to woo the ladies.
Now that we got that out of the way, lets get to rolling up those stats shall we?
STR: 10
DEX: 4 -2
CON: 6 -1
WIS: 10
INT: 9
CHA: 13 +1
oh, and one more thing, the bonuses:
3 = -3
4-5 = -2
6-8 = -1
9-12 = no bonus/penalty
13-15 = +1
16-17 = +2
18+ +3
Now if your not happy with your stats, your welcome to adjust them by taking ot points of any of the others and add them to any of the other stats you want. Otherwise, you must re-roll your stats.
Since Im not too happy with my stats, lets re-roll them (and possibly adjust them) shall we?
STR: 11
DEX: 15 +1
CON: 8
WIS: 9
INT: 15
CHA: 7
Adjustment time!
STR: 10 (took away 1)
DEX: 11 (took away 4)
CON: 10 (added 2)
WIS: 9
INT: 13 (took away 2) +1
CHA: 12 (added 4)
You will also gain an Attribute point every 3 levels to spend on one of your Attributes to raise it by 1 point.
now for my example on how it would affect my saving throws:
Fortitude: (CON saving throw: allows you to have bonuses to poisons, diseases and get a chance to shrug off enemy special attacks) no adjusment
Reflex: (DEX saving throw: used against traps, surprise attacks and armor DEX bonuses) no adjustment
Will: (WIS saving throw: used against mind spells) no adjusment
dang, no adjustments, oh well, i can always re-roll.
Now last but not least...
Combat stats
Attack modifier: (DEX stat) no adjustment
Damage modifier: (STR stat) no adjustment
Wit modifier: ( INT stat: allows you to have bonuses against sneak attacks, called shots and other special attacks) +1
Now that we got that out of the way, its time to roll up our Hit Points.
Hit Points determines the physical integridy of oneself. Whether you bleed, get a bruise, all these factor into Hit Points. But dont worry, had a rough fight? then down a potion of healing or use a med kit, then your back into the fray!
HP also determines what class you are. To learn more, see the following article: Classes
now since im a Fighter, i need to roll 1d10 HP
HP: 7
not bad, pretty adequate for a Fighter, might not want to take one too many hits though.
Also, youll need something to determine how many times you can use your Techniques, so lets roll our Technique Points (TP) by using our trusty 20 sider!
TP: 19
Wow! talk about a stroke of luck! Plenty of points to use my Techs as much as i want!
Now, one more thing about these points is that when spent, they regenerate 1 point every round, so to recover them faster, you will need special magic or Mana Potions for this, sometimes food, drink and rest affect your maximum TP, so be sure your character is well rested and has had a good meal, so use them wisely.
Anyways, since were finished, its on to the next step!
Step 3: Money and Equipment
Now you dont want to go out there into the unknown buck naked do you? Because if you want to survive, ya gotta be ready for what your travels will throw at you.
Heres a word of advice: all container items you have all have a certain capacity depending on the weight of the items you place within them, so keep this in mind alright?
Now lets see how much your planning to use to buy some of that equipment you need. Just roll 3d6, multiply by 10 and add 20 to it to get your golden number!
Roll: 12
Gold: 140
Alright, good enough, now well need something to carry all this stuff, so well need a...
Backpack -2 GP (138 reamining)
Now that were set, lets go shopping!
First, lets go over the essentials:
Food, water and sleep
"Good food, good meat, good gods lets eat!" -Adventuring motto.
Iron Rations -6 GP (132 remaining) Never know when i might accidentally spoil my food in a dungeon, so be prepared, i prefer it over standard rations.
Waterskin -1 GP (131)
Bedroll -2 SP (130.8)
Winter Blanket -5 SP (130.3)
Flint & Steel -1GP (128.3)
Tent -10 GP (118.3)
total weight: 33lbs.
Now im all set if i need to set up camp.
now for armaments:
Weapons and Armor
Closed face Helm -18 GP (100.3)
Steel Chainmail (tabbard customly added for 10 SP) -31 GP (69.3)
Steel Gauntlets, Pair -8 GP (61.3)
Dagger -2 GP (59.3)
Small Wodden shield -10 GP (49.3)
Steel Longsword -15 GP (34.3)
Light Crossbow -12 GP (22.3)
Quiver and 24 Bolts -7 GP (15.3)
total weight: 64lbs.
Overall weight carried: 97lbs.
Remaining money:
15 Gold Piece
3 Silver Pieces
since i have only 10 strength, i can only carry up to 100lbs.
So lets jot down that info:
97lbs./100lbs.
Wow, pretty close to overencumberance, better do my best to not carry too much.
Next up, we got some talents to work on!
Skills, Feats and Proficiencies
Now, what are you good at? Crafting? Appraising? Perhaps picking locks! Well, lets find out then!
see the following list: Skills
Everyone starts out with 20 skill points so use those points wisely.
As for me, Humans gain 2 additional giving me 22 instead due to a racial feat, more on that later.
ill spend mine first, just to give you an example:
Heal: 3 (19) (Common skill)
Lore: 3 (16) (Common skill)
Jump: 2 (14) (Common skill)
Tumble: 1 (12) (Non-Fighter skill)
Open Lock: 2 (8) (Non-Fighter skill)
Search: 2 (4) (Non-Fignter skill)
Swim: 2 (2) (Common skill)
Climb: 2 (Common skill)
Tip: you can save leftover SP for later times when you level up
Were done!
Now as for Feats, we all start out with 2 points.
See the following list: Feats
Now some of these Feats i already start out with, so ignore them until you get into the game.
Spent feats will be underlined
You will also be required to pick a background/archetype feat which are free of charge
Class Feats: (Feats you start out with)
Weapon Proficiency: Fighter
Armor Proficiency: Light
Armor Proficiency: Medium
Armor Proficiency: Heavy
Shild Proficiency
Background Feats [Roleplay tool]: (pick only 1)
Archetype Feats [Roleplay tool]: (pick only 1)
Racial Feats: (Feats you start out with depending on your race)
Combat Feats:
From then on, you will gain a Feat point to spend every 3 levels
All done!
Now were ready for adventure!
Combat and Movement
Now lets teach you how to fight, wont want you getting your butt kicked out there.
Rounds and Turns
To begin a Round, you must roll a 1d12 sider to determine what number you will be when your Turn starts. get the lowest number and you will go first, unless the opponent rolls the same, then you must roll your 1d12 sider vs the opponent's roll to determine who goes first. (same number rules apply)
The Reflex saving throw ability also helps with this. Subtract the number equal to your reflex bonus from your current Turn roll before getting your golden number.
Anyway, now for an example on how combat works.
lets say im pitted against an orc, i roll my 12 sider, lets see what happens
Me: 8
Orc: 8
well it seems that he rolled the same number as me, now lets roll mine vs his.
me: 5
orc: 11
i got the lower number, so i go first!
now to roll my 20 sider to see if i hit him or not.
now lets say this Orc is wearing Leather armor, so that means his AC is 8 which means i have to hit him on a 12 or highter.
now to roll:
1d20 roll: 2
Whoosh! i missed! now its his turn!
Orc roll: 18 (-1 = 17 for Feat bonus)
Dang! he got me! now lets say hes holding a battleaxe, now a Battleaxe does 1d6 +2 points of damage, lets hope he doesnt cut me in 2.
Orc roll: 6+2=8
Ugh! he got me! but fear not, in bleedout mode you still have a chance to cheat death, just roll a 20 sider plus your fortitude save against the DM's to try and stabilize your wounds.
my roll: 9
DM roll: 12
take 1 point of bleedout damage, take 10 more and ill be a goner.
Uh oh, the Orc is gonna finish me off!
Orc: 14
He missed! Thank goodness!
my roll: 20 CRITICAL! (Critical stabilize will put you back up to max HP)
DM roll: 15
Stabilized! now your back on your feet and ready for action! If you didnt roll a critical you better be careful, youve got only 1 HP left, so after this, going back to town and resting up would be wise.
me: 7
orc: 3
crap, hes after me again!
orc: 10
whoosh! he missed! now for a follow up!
me: 15 (+1=17 for weapon feat bonus)
Haha! direct hit! now lets see how much blood comes out of him. since im using a longsword, it will be 1d8 points of damage +1 for my STR modifier if I had one. now as a note, most Orcs usually have 5 HP, so lets assume he has that much.
me: 7
DM: as you swing your sword at the Orc, you watch as your blade sinks into his neck and seems to cut through his flesh like butter as his blood spews out. the blade continues to travel through his neck before emerging on the other side, causing his head to go flying and tumbling to the ground leaving his neck to spew out blood constantly as it drops to the ground.
Victory! lets play a little something to set the mood: Realms of Ragna soundtrack: We are victorious!
Robin Jones: "Fate has decided the victor this day." (be sure to role play a little, adds to the atmosphere :3 )
now for the EXP:
EXP: 30/2000
still got a long way to go, so stay on your toes.
now what is he carrying? lets search the body. The SEARCH skill helps to search the body throughly so be sure to use that when you can.
Search: 5+1=6
DM: 4
i successfully search the body throghly and i find.....(cue theme).....a Light Wound potion!
a light wound potion cures 1d6 HP, so lets save that for later. now lets head back to town to rest up.
All and all 100% successful trip!
oh, and one last thing:
Movement:
Each class has it's own unique movement speed which can be found in the OSRIC handbook.
Oh and lets not forget, should you let your guard down while running past an opponent to get to another opponent, you are vulnerable to an Attack of Opportunity.
now i guess thats it.
"Good luck out there Traveler, your gonna need it."
Post Script
- Any questions can be directed to Ranatosk if you are at all confused or lost.