Swords & Science

 Swords & Science

Character Generation

Roles

• Wastelands Warrior

• Ruins Raider

• Scholar of the Ancients

• Plant Man

• Cat Man

• Beast Man

	Explore	Talk	Fight	Lore	HP per level
Warrior	+1		+2	-2	6
Raider	+2	+1	+1	+1	4
Scholar	-1		-1	+2	2
Catman	+2	-1	+1	-1	3
Beastman	+1	-2	+2	-2	7
Plantman	-1	-3	-1	-2	9

Base Mechanic

Roll 1d12 + bonus + level.  Beat the GM’s die.

Social Interaction

GM sets the difficulty or rolls 2d6

Multiple attempts are possible but -1 for each failure

Reaction ranges from friendly/helpful to hostile/aggressive.

Exploration

GM sets the difficulty or rolls 2d6

Multiple attempts are possible but potential damage (difference between die rolls) for each attempt. Other options for failure:

• Wandering monster roll

• Adventure clock advances

• Consume resources

Combat

GM and player both roll 1d12 + bonus + level.  Difference in rolls is damage done to the one who rolls lower.

• With ranged combat, if only one side is armed with ranged weapons, they do not take damage whatever their roll.

• If attacking multiple opponents, add 1 to the roll for each additional opponent.

• If defending only, add +2 to your roll but your opponent takes no damage.

Ancient Alien Tek

In the ruins and wastelands can be found the machines of the Ancients, a civilization so advanced that their powers border on the sorcerous, a technology that is both invisible and ubiquitous.  The ability to sense, much less wield, that ‘tek’ is a rare gift but one that common people are wary of.  Usually with good reason: when mistakes are made the results can be catastrophic.  And when dealing with old and poorly understood technology, mistakes are not uncommon. 

Alien Tek is often large, unwieldy or integrated into the ruins the players are exploring.  On rare occasions can players find artifacts that can be removed without destroying them or are small enough to be portable.

Lore

GM will set the difficulty of the Lore according to its power level or else roll 2d6.  Artifacts with offensive powers can inflict 1d6 damage (heat, cutting, cold, electric, etc) per Tek level.  Defensive powers can subtract 1 from opponents attack roll per Lore level.

A natural 1 is always a failure and can backfire.

Rolling above the target number allows the scholar to do one of the following:

• Reduce the time to engage

• Increase the efficacy (range, duration, power, etc)

Reduce time

Any Lore can be fully mastered if studied for a year.  For each point above the minimum rolled the Scholar can reduce the time by one unit:

second

minute

hour

day

week

month

year

Increased efficacy:

Duration: 

Base duration is instantaneous.  Each point above the target can increase duration by one unit (use same range as for casting time above).

Range: 

Base range is Touch.  Each point can increase range by one unit:

Touch

Close (1 yard)

Near (12 yards)

Far (144 yards)

Distant (1 mile)

Efficacy: 

Efficacy can be multiplied for each point above target e.g. additional 1d6 damage, additional 1 point protection,  additional number of targets.

If the Scholar fails in their first attempt they can try again on their next action.  They take a cumulative +1 for each attempt after the first.

Life path

Origins

1 The Crimson Desert

2 The Crawling Jungle

3 The Primordial Swamps

4 The Broken Badlands

5 The Glittering Isles

6 The Smoking Archipelago

7 The Howling Headlands

8 The Glowing Wastes

9 The Sunken Ruins

10 The Talon Grasslands

11 The Jagged Peaks

12 The Shining City

Defining Moment

1. Tribe slaughtered by an ancient enemy

2. Held the narrow way against ten times the foe

3. Veteran of the Havoc Wars

4. Plucked from obscurity by an Iridescent Mage of the Pearl Tower

5. Fleeing the family legacy

6. Sailing seas beneath foreign suns

7. A Vision of the End

8. Falsely (?) accused

9. A solemn vow

10. Birth into a (in)famous bloodline

11. The Twelve Trials of the Black Hand Priests

12. Dirty beggar in a City of Gold

Strange Steeds

Choose or create an alien mount to ride: a massive gila monster, a flightless terror bird, a cyclopean centipede. Choose one of the following for your steed:

• Swift

• Climbing

• Leaping

• Swimming

• Tracking

• Large enough to take multiple riders (up to 5)

• Able to follow simple verbal commands

• Trained for battle

Note that ‘flying’ is not on the list.

Exotic Weaponry

Choose or create exotic and strange weapons. Take an unusual historical or fictional weapon and adapt it to the wastelands: kris knife, khopesh swords, punch daggers, chakram, the bat’leth or most of the ninja weapons. Or take two normal weapons and combine them, e.g., a whip sword, a shield spear, a mace-axe.  Whatever weapon you choose, have it made from exotic materials: behemoth bone, orichalcum, the tooth of a sand wyrm, crystal spider silk or some composite of common and/or unusual materials: blood iron, red steel, iron glass.