Myth & Measure - A Simple TTRPG for Beginners

This game is intended to suit brand new players and can work for fantasy or sci-fi.

How to Play

The medium of the game is conversation. Follow this pattern:

• First, the Game Master (GM) describes a scene or situation.
• Second, players describe what their characters say or do.
• Third, the GM determines and describes what happens.
• Repeat until the scene or situation is resolved. Then, establish a new one.

Grounded Fiction

Fiction doesn't mean anything goes! Try anything if it makes sense in a believable make-believe world. Use the stock of your crossbow for an improvised weapon strike or flip a table and fling its contents at a foe.

Rolling Dice

Roll your dice pool (1 to 3) and compare it to a difficulty (2 to 12). If actions are contested by an opponent, the highest roll wins. Ties go to the defender.

Die size is based on skill:

• d4 = average
• d6 = trained
• d8 = skilled
• d10 = expert
• d12 = master

Difficulty

2 to 12, and it should feel intuitive. No roll if something can reasonably succeed. 1 is bad - the GM can ascribe a narratively appropriate consequence.

• 2 = Trivial
• 4 = Novice
• 6 = Intermediate
• 8 = Expert
• 10+ = Master

Push Fate

If the difficulty is out of reach, increase your base die by one step (ex: d4 to d6). Must be emotional, environmental, or resource driven. Maybe a personal goal or loved one is at stake, or features of the environment can give you an edge such as a storm wind that diverts arrows.

Dice Pool

Your base roll is one die. Add additional die based on situations (one to three dice). Roll and keep the highest die.

Player Characters (PCs)

Create an ordinary person who becomes an adventure. You start out as a nobody, but you have a chance at greatness.

Attributes

Characters have five attributes. Begin with one d8 and two d6s. The rest are d4s. At character creation, you may upgrade one by one die size.

• Strength measures brute force, lifting, carrying, melee, and brawling
• Agility measures reflexes, throwing, sneaking, tumbling, ranged weapons, hand-eye-coordination
• Knowledge measures lore, knowledge, technology, crafting, tool use
• Vitality measures your resistance to poison, fatigue, disease, enduring harsh weather, going without sleep, to avoid stagger and stun
• Willpower measures magic, resistance to stress and effects against the mind

Player Skill Over Character Skill

Statistics don't describe your character's personality or mind! Players portray their character. Rely on your own charisma, wisdom, intelligence, and luck!

Below is a list of actions or reactions associated with each attribute.

Strength

Melee for attacking and parrying with melee weapons

Brawling for barehanded attacks and grappling, to avoid being shoved

Athletics for climbing and swimming

Agility

Projectile & Throwing Weapons

Tumbling to balance and land after a fall

Defending against attacks

Sneaking to move silently or hide in shadows

Pickpocket to pick pockets, plant items, or cut purses without notice

Knowledge

Tools is your ability to use tools such as lockpicks or to use mechanical devices

Crafting is your knowledge of creating quality goods such as alchemy

Lore is your knowledge of history, nature, religion, society, and obscure things

Medicine to diagnose and treat people or animals

Tracking for finding and following tracks

Games for card games, board games

Vitality

Resisting fatigue, disease, poison, etc.

Willpower

Sense to detect magic or divine the unseen

Channeling to commune with entities and command them or their powers

Weaving to manifest effects, conjure, mend, ruin

Talents

Choose one talent. Your talent lets your roll a bonus die when you make specific actions, or gives you special abilities. 

Attractive: Add a bonus +2 to reaction rolls

Bushcraft: Add a bonus die to tracking rolls and wilderness survival

Elemental Affinity: Once per day, ignore harm from one elemental (choose)

Gambler: Add a bonus die to a game of skill or chance

Healing Hands: Restore 1 health with a touch per character per day

Magic Bloodline: Roll a bonus die to resist magic that causes sleep or charm

Thievery: Add a bonus die to picking locks or pockets

Weapon Specialist: Chose one weapon. Roll a bonus die to attack.

Resources

Divide 5 points among three resources. Recover completely each day. GMs should feel free to make recovery rate slower or faster, or require specific rest or treatment.

Health: Subtract 1 if hit. KO'ed at 0.

Stamina: Spend 1 to exert yourself and add a die to your pool or push fate. Subtract 1 if you fail a roll to resist fatigue.

Magic: Subtract 1 to cast a spell.

Gear

Adventurers and explorers need gear. Gear is managed with "slots" as shown below. Slots describe your carrying capacity. There is no catalog of gear. If you want something at character creation, write it down.

Character Slots

Weapon

Armor

Shield

Ring

Ring

Pocket or Pouch

Pocket or Pouch

Backpack Slots

Rations

Water Canteen

Torches

Rope

Ammunition Container

Currency

Tools

Personal Item (a memento or trinket)

Other

Magic and Extraordinary Powers

Character creation is when you choose if your character can use magic or other extraordinary powers. Refer to the Magic Section.

Character Improvement

Milestone based. Complete an adventure or train under an NPC instructor. Improve one attribute by 1 die size, increase a resource by 1 (cap 5), add a new talent, or add another gear slot. To earn a d12 attribute, complete an extraordinary milestone. Characters should not fulfill multiple milestones per adventure.

Combat Section

Combat should feel intuitive, fast and fluid. Transition in and out of combat seamlessly. Measure space with your pencil or hand rather than count spaces.

Time

One combat round represents a few seconds. 

Turn Structure

Whoever acts first in the scene goes first. Then, turns go clockwise around the table.

Turns

Move without acting, act without moving, or move as part of your action, but acting ends your turn. No double moves or double actions.

Movement and Range

Precision and tracking literal space is not the intended way to play. Use abstract space. A pen, pencil, or your thumb and first finger is about 6".

• 1" or less is melee range (eyeball it)
• 6" or less is short or throwing range, and is also normal movement
• 12" or less is medium range (no penalty for ranged weapons, -1 die for throwing)
• 18" or less is long range (-1 die)
• Cannot attack beyond 18"

Opposed Rolls

Any time your action is opposed by another character. Example: Attacking an opponent. Each character rolls the applicable attribute. Ties result with nothing substantial.

Character Death

No complex countdown. At 0 or less hp, you're KO'ed for the length of a scene or encounter. Subsequent hits are automatic deathblows. No resurrection.

Attacking

Choose an opponent within range. Attacker and opponent roll their appropriate die pool. Highest roll wins. Ties mean nothing happens. On a hit, opponent subtracts 1 health.

Defending

Spend your action to Defend, add a die to your pool to oppose attacks.

Brawling and Grappling

Unarmed strikes don't subtract health unless the opponent rolls a 1 or is unable to roll. While grappling, unable to move or act based on the logic of the pin, hold, shove, etc. To escape a grapple, use an action and make a successful roll. If you're on your feet, you can move on the same turn you escape. Attacking barehanded or with small weapons like daggers is effective in a grapple if arms are reasonably unrestrained.

Hit Locations / Disarming / Other Maneuvers 

The attacker subtracts one die from their pool (minimum pool 1). If already at minimum pool, opponent gets a bonus die to oppose.

Magic Section

The availability of magic depends on the genre and setting of the game. In a sci-fi game, it may be PK or ESP instead.

Theme

Choose a theme for your character's magic that suits the setting and tone of the game, and discuss its limitations with the GM.

Casting

No catalog of spells! Magic is freeform. Describe the effects of the spell you want to cast that suits your theme. Then roll against either a difficulty or an opposed roll. All spells cost 1 magic to cast regardless of success.

Difficulty

Magic should be mystical but not super heroic of physics breaking. A difficulty scale is below.

• 1 Something unintended happens! This is up to the GM.
• 2-3 spells that effect one character or object, have one trivial effect, a short range, short duration. Manipulate an object remotely, conjure a small illusion, or detect if an object has magic.
• 4-5 spells that effect one character or object, have one minor effect including damage or a condition, a medium range, short duration
• 6-7 effect one character or object and up to three adjacent or nearby characters or objects, one minor effect, a medium range, short duration
• 8-9 effects an area, one major effect or multiple minor effects, a medium range, a short or medium duration
• 10+ multiple or powerful effects, multiple characters, a long duration, great range

Game Master (GM) Section

Rules are not intended cover everything, that's why there's a GM!

Rulings

The GM determines the outcomes of actions. Base your rulings on the established logic of the setting and the fiction. Rulings should make sense for a believable make-believe world.

Preparing and Running Games

Keep it simple. Less is more. Rely on improv.

Design problems, not solutions. Allow the players to find their own solutions.

Prep the setting and the characters who live there, not the story.

Prepare obstacles and opportunities. Let the players find these themselves.

Dice and Rules

Dice and rules are not in charge of the game. Dice are for simulating things we can't do at the table. Rules are for structure.

Reaction Rolls

When the player characters (PCs) meet new non-player characters (NPCs), roll two six-sided dice (2d6) to determine the NPCs starting attitude towards the PCs. High is favorable, low is unfavorable. Middle numbers are neutral.

Morale Checks

Thinking, feeling people and beasts do not want to fight to the death. They act on a sense of self-preservation when reasonable. When in doubt, roll to determine if they continue to fight or if they attempt to parley, surrender, or retreat.

Fate Die

When you want to be surprised by what happens next, roll a d6. Low numbers mean something unfavorable to the players, high numbers mean something favorable happens to the players.

Sample Setting

Adventures take us from a settlement to a dungeon, and across the wilderness in between. Settlements are any town or hub with non-player characters (NPCs) who offer resources and quests. The dungeon is any place where the player characters (PCs) overcome dangerous challenges and obstacles for a reward, even a derelict ship or the ruins of a colonny. Wildernesses are untamed, wild, and un-explored lands, seas, or space routes.

Settlement: Haven

Society: small frontier town with a lot of simple rugged folk

Politics: Good Sheriff Reed enforces the law. Honest Mayor Baker runs the town.

Economy: Haven is self-sufficient with many trades. Includes a Traveler's Lodge, Smithy, Bowman, and general trader.

Religion: Church of Lucius run by Father Maxwell.

Military: sheriff and militia only, no military

Local Experts: Jeff, an old huntsman with failing eyes; Mack, a retired veteran with a bad sword arm; Les, a surgeon with an addiction.

Local Conflicts: infrequent confrontations with raiders. Reward for their leader Red Samuel AKA Samuel the Manslayer.

A Wild Maneater: an injured cougar is forced to hunt men, women, and children for food.

Goblins: people who go to far west off the edges of the map don't always come back. Some people claim to have escaped goblins out there.

Wilderness

Terrain: mix of plains, hills, forrests, occasional rocky outcropping

Climate: Mediterranean. Hot, dry summers but cold wet winters. 

Local Landmarks: 

Nina River. Shallow but wide. Non-navigable

Gregory's Pale. Wide, deep. Occasional floods during the winter.

Pagan Shrine: A stone monument to some nature deity hidden in the woods. Occasionally littered with empty alcohol bottles sold in town.

Animals: Crows, rabbits, elk, occasional bears, cougars, venomous snakes

Plants: Oak Trees, Fruit-bearing trees (apple), Devil's Thorn, Mako Leaf, Vigor Root, Elder Berry

Dungeon: Old Lionheart Fortress

History: This fortress was intended to be the springboard for expansion into the frontier, but the alchemist loosed something he couldn't control and the fortress was abandoned.

Goal: vault filled with gold deep inside

Challenges: traps, monsters

Factions: black tooth goblins lead by Snake Biter; Raiders lead by Red Samuel

Notable Rooms: alchemists' workshop; prison; kitchen; grand banquet hall; art gallery; servants' quarters; lord's quarters; old barracks.

Other Inhabitants: a slime; a half-troll hiding from society; a speechless wooden man animated by a mysterious alchemic source; a mad homunculus with a fatal flaw trapped in a coffin.

Soft Skill System - TTRPG Design

I like a rules-lite game because of its flexibility to suit different games and tables, speed of play, and ease of use. Any game where I have to remember a catalog of rules slows the game down more often than not and makes it more complex than needed. Complexity can but does not always improve a game. Below I have a system - not an original one - for skills. It's a soft skill system intended to be simple and fluid. It relies on your reasoning more than instructions or mechanics.

Occupations

At character creation, players choose up to four occupations for their character. Each occupation has a skill level of 0 by default representing an average skill (whereas not possessing an occupation represents no skill, training or experience). You get 4 points that you may distribute among your occupations to a cap of 3 (written as +0, +1, +2, or +3).

Consiser this post a supplement to this post about a 2d6 ttrpg system where this soft skill system is used.

Occupations are intended to be used as non-combat skills. Your combat skills are a separate system and are apart from your occupations. This applies even for a combat oriented occupation like soldier. An occupation like soldier applies to the other knowledge and skills that a soldier would be expected to have in addition to combat skills. When making a non-combat roll, add one attribute and one occupation.

• Occupations represent knowledge, skill, training, experience, and social etiquette. They can describe actual jobs you have or have had, training you've received, your social class or rank, or even your cultural origin.
• Occupations describe your characters backstory. For example, in my first book, Iosefina is a server in a restaurant. Then she briefly becomes a thief, then she becomes a witch, then she briefly receives training in swordplay and wilderness survival from a soldier.
• Occupations are DIY. Choose your own or from a list of occupations in the setting provided by the GM. Discuss with GM. 
• Examples: Merchant, Soldier, Mage, Ranger, Beggar, Noble, Laborer, Priest, Musician, Sailor, Thief, Charlatan, Barbarian, Doctor, etc.
• If a bonus from an occupation can reasonably apply to a (non-combat) roll, then you may add it. One occupation per roll, one roll per action.
• Some actions may not have a chance of success without possessing an occupation. For example, a surgeon or nuclear physicist. Use your reasoning! GMs have final say.
• The difficulty of actions should default to realism. If something can reasonably succeed, it does. If something is genuinely impossible, no die roll will allow it.

What if there is a combat application for an occupation? If so, then it can be used for a combat roll only if the combat skills of the game do not cover that applicatio . For example, let's say there is no magic combat skill in your game and you would like to attack with a spell using your Mage occupation. This would be allowed.

Flow State to Speed Up TTRPG Combat - Game Design & Managing Expectations

I have played in many sessions where we spent more than one hour in a single combat round. Ever since then, I have a newfound resentment for a game I already resent (D&D 5e).

The matter of how to speed up combat in D&D (or other TTRPGs) is more than just a few tips. I want combat to be as fast as any freeform roleplay scene. For that, we have to make concessions to rules and structure. It's in changing player behaviors. It's in changing GM behaviors. It's in changing the rules of your game. I warn you, it might not resemble the same game after you make all these changes. A fast game pace is prioritized over accuracy and complexity of game rules. You might think I'm asking a lot from you, and that I'm asking a lot from your players, but I promise you people will be playing TTRPGs like this in a hundred years. Also, this blog post is just over 4,199 words.

Flow

Flow as in flow state which is a term in psychology that describes the experience of being totally immersed and focused that you lose track of time and performance feels effortless. Think about streaming a movie or video with bad internet connection. The movie stops and stutters every few seconds to buffer. That's very annoying. Most people I know would rather wait for the internet to work properly to watch the movie. No one wants to put up with an analogue medium like a CD where the CD is all scratched up and the tracks don't play right. You want to press play on the movie or the album, and you want the experience to be smooth and fluid from start to finish. No interruptions.

It's difficult to get immersed in something when the quality is choppy and you're constantly being mentally and emotionally disengaged from the substance of the story or the game, then you have to reengage. D&D and TTRPGs are like this. You want to cut out all unnecessary interruptions, pauses or delays in the game. Here's a short list of interruptions: players asking questions (about anything), side conversations, side conversations, distractions (smartphones), people making jokes that don't match the mood of the scene, side conversations again, players not knowing how their spells work, using D&D Beyond with sh@#ty internet connection, players rolling dice to make decisions about how to roleplay their character, people looking up rules in the book, players talking over other players, players not being ready on their turn, and last but not least, side conversations again. I'm going to tell you now, curb anything that makes people disengage from the game and have to reengage with it. The best way to do that is to tell people no breaking character. When people break character, that's when all this stuff starts to happen. No breaking character!

Flow is very important to me in particular because I have ADHD! To me, interrupting flow or causing me to disengage from something I'm focusing on causes frustration. Breaking flow state is a certainty; There is no avoiding it, but, we can do better to preserve it! interruptions cause people to check out or tune out. Their minds wonder. They get impatient. They get frustrated. They get bored. If players are bored because they have to wait for their turn, that's bad GMing! It's bad GMing because you're letting the other players cause interruptions that are easily avoidable. Or you're running a game that's too slow and clunky because there are too many unique powers and spells and maneuvers with very specific rules to get right. Yep, it's you. Train your players and switch games! All of my ideas below are about stream-lining the game, making it more intuitive, being more flexible, being clearer, and encouraging awareness of flow and to preserve it!

Initiative

What is the first thing that slows combat down? It's when the GM says "roll initiative". I used to get excited or anxious, but I roll my eyes and groan these days because initiative is not an important or essential part of a TTRPG. Here are the downsides of initiative. This moment feels like pausing a movie right before the best part to take drink orders. Sure it takes a minute if you're efficient, but it takes people out of the mood. It's a moment where people can take a breather and tension is partially relieved, when people break character, decide that now is a good time to read that rule or read their character sheet for the right thing to do. It's a moment where people start making jokes or talking strategy. The momentum and energy of the scene is lost. In addition, you also have to make and keep a list. I have seen players get their turns skipped more than once. In my experience, it happens very frequently, and it ruins flow for everybody! This happens because initiative turn order is not intuitive. By intuitive, I mean being able to do something without thinking about it. You know what's intuitive? Clockwise turn order. Do clockwise turn order instead.

Why do we roll for initiative anyway? Because that's a rule in the game. Really? That's it? Because it's fair? It's not. Because we like the randomness or unpredictability? Then reroll from round to round. Because we like when the dice tell the story? What if the result doesn't make sense for this scene?

Here's my solution. I have two rules for initiative. First, the general rule is he who takes initiative gets initiative. Before you get excited, here's my point of view. The game is fiction, but that doesn't mean anything goes. There must still be a make-believe world with believable logic (else that's a distraction and we risk breaking flow). If the fighter kicks down the door and declares his intention to charge inside a room, then we roll initiative and the fighter rolls poorly and ends up last in turn order, that means he kicks down the door but somehow the other PCs run inside first, or the NPCs somehow, pending surprise, can potentially get up from whatever they were doing, charge for the door, and hammer the fighter before he goes. That's silly. If the use of the initiative roll ruins the internal logic of the world and the scene, you're using a rule inappropriately. The scenario with the fighter kicking down the door and going last happened in one of my games. It causes a certain cognitive dissonance (which is a mental distraction caused by overthinking) because it's blatantly absurd, and we all laugh at it. That moment of absurdity sort of spoils the mood of the scene. Therefore, the initiative roll is not mandatory and is situational. In fact, your goal should be to make the transition from non-combat into combat seamless. If one side can reasonably act first, they go first! Don't spoil a perfectly planned ambush with a random die roll.

My second rule of initiative roll is to use it to resolve uncertainty only. The perfect time to use an initiative roll is at the start of a duel when two fighters are staring each other down. Then the coin hits the ground. Then they draw their weapons and lunge almost simultaneously. You can even have them roll initiative after they declare their actions.

Interrupting Turn Order

Anything that interrupts or disrupts turn order causes someone to have to stop what they're in the middle of doing it, think about something new, resolve it, then go back to the last thing, and work forward from there. That's messy, occasionally frustrating, and it is an interruption of flow for someone. "What was I doing? Where were we?" "You were here." "Oh yeah." For these reasons, all reactions and held actions are either banned or work like actions. You can go when it's your turn. You cannot go when its someone else's turn. Ever. Even if you're the GM and your NPC has a special legendary action or lair action or whatever that lets them act on someone elses turn. Eff that.

It also stings bugs the ever-living hell !@#$% out of me when it's about to be someone's turn, they're prepared and ready and excited to go, then you cut them off to resolve the interruption, then you get back to that player and they're no longer ready. Ugh! This can happen because the interrupting action can change the conditions of the scene and spoil that player's idea. Interrupting turns should be a technical foul!

Once You Declare Your Action, You Can't Take It Back! (No redo's)

Can I redo my turn? I didn't know there was an obvious, big open pit there. My character would have been smart enough not to do that thing I did. He would have done this other thing instead. The answer is no redo's. Once you declare your action, you cannot change it. This will train players to pay more attention to your descriptions of the room or scene. Part of the problem with redos is they're pathetic. They are. They make everyone look at you and think "oh come on, man." Imagine watching an athlete ask the referee or the announcer if they can redo the last play. It breaks flow and this can spoil the mood of the scene, and that should be a foul.

Player Descriptions

Players absolutely have to describe their own actions! It's not even in question. Tell the players they are co-narrators. It's not about flavor, but it could be; instead, player responsibility is to clearly state what they're doing and how. The intent of the action should be clear. The intended outcome of the action should not be ambiguous. Leave nothing to interpretation. If the GM has to ask for clarification so they can make a ruling, that's back-and-forth we could avoid. It can help everyone if your description states where your character ends their turn. "I run up to the goblin next to the pile of skulls and I hit him with my axe" tells us where you are in space - next to the pile of skulls. This is better than next to goblin #5 because we have to think about where goblin #5 is. Also, avoid using game terminology. Avoid "I use 20 feet of movement to..." Instead, use natural language. "I run across the room to..." Avoid "I use my action to attack..." Instead say "I thrust my sword at the goblin." Use present tense too. Don't say "I'm going to attack the goblin," say "I attack the goblin." That's more concrete, therefore its clearer.

GMs, when the spotlight returns to you, do not restate a player action or narration. "As you swing your sword..." or "as you draw back your bowstring..." Just say what happens after. "You see the goblin's face go white with fear and your sword cuts through their flesh for 6 damage!" Done.

No Out-Of-Character Questions

Sometimes players ask "can I use my such-and-such skill/power/feature to do this thing?" In other words, they either want to know, one, if the rules of the game permit something, or two, they want to know how the Game Master will rule on something before they commit to it. Either way, these questions interrupt flow. You need to remove all of these sorts of moments from the game! All of them!

The solution to the first issue is to tell your players to think about the game as a story telling exercise first and a game second. If you can reasonably do something in real life, you can do it in the game. For example, the game doesn't have rules for hitting someone with the stock of your crossbow, but you absolutely could do this in real life, therefore, you can do it in the game. I don't care what the !@#$% rules say, you absolutely can whack someone with your shotgun by swinging it like a club or hammer. The reason why people have these questions is because they don't trust the GM or because they don't understand the setting or the game. Don't answer these questions; instead, remind the player about the basics of the game. Here's how to play a TTRPG: the player describes their action, then the GM makes a damn ruling and moves on with the game! Also encourage players to treat the setting like a believable world. If something can reasonably work in real life, it effing works in the make-believe world too!

The second issue has been called test-driving your turn. The player doesn't want to commit to something because they're trying to make sure that they're doing the optimal thing first. The solution is to tell them that this is an out-of-character question and tell them that they would be metagaming if they use your answer, and they absolutely would be metagaming. What is metagming? According to D&D 5e's DMG, it's thinking about the game like a game. According to most people, metagaming is making decisions in-character using out-of-character knowledge. The fact is, that weird thing you're asking about, your character wouldn't have access to the GMs answer. You the player are asking the GM a question when you should be immersed in the scene, and you should be in your character's head and you should be thinking about what they would do in the moment. That's what should be the basis for what you're doing on your turn, not a potential GM ruling.

Strategizing is Allowed Before Combat Starts (in play!), Not During

Speaking of metagaming, if a combat round represents mere seconds of time, you don't have time to strategize in the middle of combat. Therefore, any out-of-character conversation is metagaming. Plan ahead. If you're not prepared, why are you getting into a fight? You're playing your character like you don't care what happens to your character. You're thinking about the game like a game, not a role-play exercise or story-telling exercise. Cut that out!

Ready Bonus

If a player is ready on their turn, they get a +2 bonus to their roll. What does ready mean? To avoid argument and to establish expectations, it means that as soon as it is your turn, without any hesitation or delay, you state clearly and concisely what you do and how you do it. No questions. No reading your character sheet. No reading the rules. No questions. No making jokes. None of that crap. Pay attention to the game and be ready!

Skip Turns

If players aren't ready on their turns, that's fine, but people are not entitled to take forever. If they're dragging their ass, you can rule that their character hesitates this round and skip their turn. How much ass dragging is too much? I don't know, feel it out, but give them a last call to declare their action before skipping them. Make sure that everyone is aware of the rule before play.

Consider that players should not have thinking time if their characters do not have thinking time. Thinking time means engagement is not effortless because people are thinking. Part of the definition of flow state is that performance is effortless. Tell players not to be afraid to make decisions with their gut, not their head!

One Action Per Turn

On your turn, players can do one thing! This is called your action! There is no move action. You can act without moving, you can move without acting, and you can move as part of your action up to your maximum movement, but attacking ends your turn. Speech of any kind does not cost your action because you can reasonably speak while running and swinging a sword, but you can speak only one simple sentence per combat round due to the length of time that one combat round represents. One action per turn means shorter turns. Shorter turns means less waiting for your turn. It helps alleviate the problem of people from getting bored and checking out and being bored. Did I mention that long turns are boring?

I advocate cutting bonus actions and multi-attacks too! Every time I hear a player say "that ends my turn." or a GM ask "is that the end of your turn?", I get a little annoyed because that's an interruption in the flow of the game. It should be clear when your turn is over. We shouldn't need to seek confirmation. The exception is if you can describe your action and bonus action in one smooth, fluid sentence, like writing a line in the book; and also refer to the rule about no redo's. You hit the monster twice even though he dies on the first hit. Moving on. Consider that in chess, when you take your hand off your piece, your turn is over. In this game, when you punctuate your description, your turn is over.

Let's talk about a way that actions get a little loosey-goosey. I'm talking about the free action. This is the, ahem, thing that you can do as part of your action because it's so, so simple. Like drawing your weapon or opening a door. People can get stuck on this. Stuck is an interruption to flow state. Why? Because the rules can't cover every conceivable situation. So, a GM ruling is sometimes necessary here. Here's how to think about it: it's not about the number of things you can or can't do, it's about if you can reasonably do any / all of them in the length of time that your combat turn represents. If it sounds reasonable, let it happen. If it's cool and it doesn't cause cognitive dissonance, let it happen. This is charitable and simple.

One Action, One Roll

If an action is particularly complex, don't break it down into multiple steps and resolve each step. For example, let's say I describe my action as "I grab a discarded shied off the ground, then use it to slide down the banister of the stairs, dismount at the bottom, flip through the air, grab onto the chandelier, swing ten feet and fling myself past the soldiers, then tumble and roll, and run into cover behind the column." Let's say the rules let you do all these things on your turn. Resolve it with one roll! Because there are so many places to fail, then the lower the roll, the earlier in the sequence they fail. Easy. You might (might!) even say they that because they character is doing so much, that the difficulty is slightly greater. Actually, why do we need to roll?

Rules about Jokes (AKA Don't Spoil the Mood)

Jokes are part of the game. We are all very, very aware of the absurdity of this exercise; of sitting around a table and pretending we live in a world where Taco Bell doesn't exist and we're all really tempted to make a Taco Bell joke, or make a movie or song reference, or whatever. It's normal and some people would even say it's part of the hobby or the fun. To an extent, sure. As long as the jokes don't cause too big a delay, no harm; however, if we establish a scary scene or a sad scene, don't @#$%! spoil the mood! If you undermine the mood, you're a spoil sport to someone else. That's like talking during a movie. Don't do it! Exceptions are case-by-case, like if it's in-character and your character would totally say something inappropriate. As the GM, it is appropriate to do one arbitrary and malicious thing to the offending player's character as long as it doesn't harm the innocent player's character, but keep it within the logic of the scene. For example, an NPC who loses respect for that character. If no NPCs are obviously around, God is.

Simplified Character Sheets and Stat Blocks

Imagine flipping your character sheet over so that it's face down and then playing your character or NPC. Can you do this? If the answer is no, then your game is to complex. Stop it. Shame on you. If you have to look your character sheet over in the middle of the game, that means you're not paying attention to the game. You're missing GM descriptions or you're missing out on what the other players are doing or what's happening. If you're missing information, you might need to ask for it, and that causes an interruption. If you have to read the dumb rules about how to run your character when you should be describing what you do and how you do it, that's an interruption. Either learn your !@#$% better, or play a simpler game!

No Rules Discussion

None! Zero! Make a ruling and move on with the game! Allow players to make a simple case for why something should go their way, and err in their favor or in favor of fun. No rule books. No reading rules allowed. No interpreting rules. No discussing how you would make a ruling. None - not during the game at least. Use the honor system. If you have questions or concerns, make a note to review it outside of the game. Deemphasize the rules. They're not perfect. There is no right way to play and there is no perfectly designed rule set or game. The game designers are flawed and imperfect just like you and me.

Treat Rooms and Scenes as if they are in a Quantum State

If a player is not confident in the specifics about room or scene, such as its shape, size, features, or other obstacles, this is going to cause them to want to ask questions. Oof! That's no good! So, here's the problem, we can't always get a room or scene as precise and literal like a professionally drawn tactical map! Then the solution is to embrace abstract space. Play "yes, and" and don't say no. Consider that rooms and their features are in a quantum state meaning things both exist but also don't exist at the same time, and we only know for certain when something is in the scene because someone speaks it into the scene.

Describe the theme and general features of the room once when the players enter a room, and tell the players they are allowed to have some say about what features are available to them. If it's a library, then anything that would reasonably be in a library is there! If they're in a kitchen, then they can pick up a knife off any counter and throw it; they don't need to ask where the knives are. If they're in a graveyard, they can always kneel and take cover behind a big tomb stone! If they're in a dense forest, then line of sight is always broken when characters are more than one move away. If a player is in a bar, there are stools and plates and mugs of ale handy, and they get tossed around when someone gets knocked into a table really hard.

With this rule, you'll need the players to track their own position in the room! Have them  include in the description of their action where they start and end their turn each round. I move from the door to the goblin in the corner. I run from the side of the room and hop up onto the table in the center. If we lose track of where you are, that's your responsibility, and we're not waiting for you to figure it out. I'm telling you where you are and you're going to like it. Also, be less strict about exact distances and placement. Don't count squares if you can just use a 6" pencil and approximate your move.

Simultaneous NPC Turns

If you have a group of like-NPCs, you can describe what they all do in one or two fluid sentences (because we're effectively using side-initiative). "These three goblins attack you" you say as you move three goblin minis to the fighter's mini, "and these two goblins attack you" you say as you move two goblin minis to the ranger. Then you make three attack rolls against the fighter, then roll damage, then two attack rolls against the ranger, then roll damage. Then say "the fighter takes 6 damage, the ranger takes 4." Remember the flavor. There, your turn is done. Roll attack and damage dice together, of course. Roll all of them at once! Group the dice based on proximity before reading them. Read dice left to right. Do not run trash mobs individually.

Simultaneous Player Turns

Speaking of consolidating turns, do this. Go around the table and have all players declare an action (including movement). That's it, nothing else. "I move and attack the goblin on the right of the evil shrine", "I shoot the goblin priest from the door", "I cast a spell on the crowd of goblins in the middle of the room." Once everyone's action is declared, then they roll dice. Then you describe the results. "You miss the goblin on the right side of the shrine, you hit the goblin priest, you blow up three goblins with your spell." Done. Use this for less important fights. Hell, use it for any fight.

Open 2d6

First Rule: Fiction First

The difficulty of actions is based on realism. If something can reasonably succeed, it does. If something is genuinely impossible, no die roll will allow it. If the rules of the game conflict with a believable fiction, the fiction beats the rules.

Core Mechanic

When an action needs to be simulated, the Game Master (GM) may call for a die roll. Otherwise, resolve actions with roleplay and rulings.

1. Roll two six-sided dice (notated as 2d6)
2. Add one attribute
3. Add one combat skill (if in combat)
4. Add one vocation (if out of combat)
5. Add any situational bonuses or penalties
6. Roll 9 or higher to succeed. The GM may raise or lower this number to suit the difficulty

• Double 1's automatically fail.
• Double 6's automatically succeed. If attacking, this is a critical hit.

Procedure

The game is played through conversation, and the game has a procedure. First, the Game Master (GM) describes a room, scene, or situation. Second, the players, either freeform or clockwise around the table, describe what their characters do or say, and how. Third, the GM calls for dice rolls if needed, determines what happens, and describes it. Repeat until the scene is resolved, then establish a new scene.

Character Creation

Each player except for the Game Master (GM) creates one player characters (or PC). PCs must suit the tone and setting of the game.

1. Start with an adventuring goal. Your character must have a goal to pursue in play.
2. Divide 4 points among your attributes: Strength, Agility, Intellect, and Willpower. 0 describes an average attribute. Starting attributes cap at 3.
1. Note that uniquely for attributes, you can have one -1 to start, and put that point into another attribute.
3. Divide 4 points among your Combat Skills: Brawling, Melee, Range, and Defense. Starting combat skills cap at 3.
4. Choose four vocations and divide 4 points among them. There is no catalog of vocations. This is DIY. It replaces fantasy race, background, character classes, social status, and is a soft skill system in this game. Starting vocations cap at 3.
5. Choose traits and flaws to distinguish your character with flavor or mechanical bonuses or penalties.
6. Determine your maximum health. It's 10 + your Strength.
7. Magic-users determine your maximum ether. It's 10 + a suitable vocation (example Mage).
8. Determine your carrying capacity. It's 10 + your Strength.
9. Choose starting equipment. You begin with one weapon, one armor or shield, 6 Supplies, and 10 currency. You may also begin with a memento of your past or other personal item that has no market value, and a toolset or kit of one trade that suits one of your vocations.
10. Name your character.

Attributes

Attributes measure your characters abilities. For character creation only, you may buy just one attribute down to a -1 in order to put another point somewhere else.

• Strength describes your physical strength and conditioning. You use Strength to lift and carry, push and pull, climb, swim, wrestle, resist fatigue, disease, poison, and make attacks with melee weapons. Strength is applied to both attack rolls and damage rolls with brawling and melee.
• Agility describes your balance, coordination and reflexes. Apply to 2d6 rolls to dodge traps, to tumble after a fall, to act first, to 2d6 attack rolls to hit with a ranged weapon like a longbow, firearm, or throwing weapon. 
• Intellect describes your knowledge, crafting, skill with tools, and in some cases your sensory perception; You can roll Intellect to avoid surprise.
• Willpower describes intangible things, like your leadership ability, resistance to mental effects like fear, stress, magical confusion or charm, faith, and your potency with magic. Apply to reaction rolls and loyalty checks, and the number of followers you can lead.

Combat Skills

Combat skills represent your competency with different forms of fighting.

• Brawling is for attack rolls for punching, kicking, and success with grappling. If you spend your action to defend, you can subtract brawling from attack rolls made against you instead of Defense.
• Melee is attacking with swords, spears, sticks, axes, or other striking weapons. If you spend your action to defend and you're holding melee weapon, your melee skill is subtracted from attack rolls made against you instead of Defense.
• Range is for attack rolls with guns or projectile weapons including throwing weapons.
• Defense as a combat skill describes your personal skill at dodging and blocking attacks. Your Total Defense is 9 + your Defense skill; This is the number needed to hit you with brawling, melee, ranged, and some magic or special attacks. Track both numbers.
• Note that if a character is unable and unwilling to defend themself, attacks automatically hit!

Vocations (aka Occupations)

Choose four vocations and divide 4 points among them. Your vocations are DIY, but they must suit the setting and concept for your character. If you can justify how a vocation applies to a non-combat die roll, you can apply the bonus to the roll. Some vocations are specialized, and so a GM can rule that if you don't have a vocation, you may not attempt certain actions (like magic or alchemy). Discuss vocations with the Game Master.

Sample Vocations: Ranger, Barbarian, Soldier, Thief, Mage, Priest, Sailor, Noble, Merchant, Beggar, Entertainer, Laborer, Servant, Scholar, Tradesman, Hunter, City Watch, Herbalist, Undertaker, Surgeon, etc.

Vocations are generally for non-combat actions, but you can make exceptions if reasonable. The combat skills do not include magic attacks. If you have a vocation that can reasonably grant you a bonus to a magical attack, you can apply it to a combat roll.

Occupations Addendum: visit this post for more details on this soft skill system.

Traits and Flaws

At character creation, you can choose one trait for free. You can choose two additional traits at character creation, but each additional trait costs one flaw.

Traits

Attractive: When in the lead, +2 to reaction rolls with members of the opposite sex.

Brute: Add one bonus die to melee weapon damage.

Diehard: Add +1 to 2d6 die rolls against disease, fatigue, or poison.

Hardy: Your base maximum health is 12 + Strength rather than 10 +Strength.

Lucky: You automatically succeed by rolling double 5's or 6's.

Magic Bloodline: You bloodline grants you use of magic. Discuss with GM.

Quick Reflexes: You add +2 to die rolls to dodge traps and act first in combat.

Resist Inclement Weather (choose either heat or frigid weather): Resist Heat means heat does not affect your daily water requirements. Resist Frigid means a lack of shelter does not force a roll vs fatigue. 

Strong Back: Your base carrying capacity is 15 + Strength rather than 10 + Strength.

Sharp Senses: You add +2 to avoid surprise.

Weapon Specialty (specify one): Add +1 to attack rolls and damage rolls with this weapon.

Other (diy): discuss with your game master.

Flaws

Addiction (specify): Satisfy your addition once per day or you are penalized by -2 on all actions.

Bad Temper: What is something you will always fight for?

Compulsion: You have a compulsive behavior like flipping a coin or wringing your hands. It may make you distinguishable, frequently occupy a hand, distract you, or keep you from being ready.

Distinguishing Mark: You are easily recognized by a distinguishing scar, birthmark, or etc.

Dull Reflexes: You roll a -2 to dodge traps or act first in combat.

Easily Distracted: You are not always alert. -2 on rolls to act first in combat.

Fear: What are you afraid of? In the presence of this, you have a -2 to all actions and you make a willpower roll or you are stunned for one round. 

Feeble: Base maximum health is 8 + Strength rather than 10 + Strength.

Honor Code: You have a restrictive code or ethos. What is it? How does it restrict you? What happens if you break it?

Obsession (specify): You are obsessed with one particular thing or quest and are easily influenced by it. You also are impatient with other matters.

Ugly: You're kind of ugly. -2 on reaction rolls when you're in the lead.

Other (diy): discuss with your game master.

Health

Health represents your body's capacity to sustain wounds or injuries. Any lost health abstractly represents a wound or injury and so health should not be deducted for trivial sources of harm. At 0 health, you are KOed; Any successive attacks automatically hit and count as deathblows. You recover 1 lost health per day representing natural healing.

Ether

Ether is the substance that spirits and magic are made of. There are trace amounts in everything. Your ether represents stamina for using magic or extraordinary powers. All spells cost a minimum of 1 ether to cast. At 0 Ether, you are spellburned and can do nothing but scream and writhe on the ground in pain for one hour. You recover all spent ether after a night of rest with adequate food and water, else you recover a half, or a quarter if you are already fatigued.

Carrying Capacity

You can carry a load of 10 + Strength items. This number assumes you have a backpack. Some small, light items can, in multiple quantity, be tracked as one item. You're considered encumbered if you're carrying your maximum load, and your speed is slowed to 15 ft per round.

• Supplies (x6) is a type of quantum item. One supply can be expended as a day's rations, a day's water, or first aid supplies.
• Torches (x6) produce light for a radius of 30 ft. Light is essential for PCs to see in dark places.
• Currency (x100) means coins.
• Ammo container (of x20 pieces of ammunition) such as a quiver of arrows.

Starting Equipment

There is no catalog of weapons and armor. If you want a sword, write down Sword. If you want a specific sword, like a rapier or a greatsword, write that down instead. Same for armor.

Barehanded strikes do 1 + Strength points of damage. Daggers, clubs, and improvised weapons do 1d3 + attribute damage. Proper martial weapons do 1d6 damage + attribute damage. For variety, small, lighter weapons do 1d6-1 (minimum 1) + attribute damage, and large, heavy, and two-handed weapons do 1d6+1 or 1d6+2 + attribute damage.

In this game, armor works by reducing damage. This is called damage reduction or DR. Subtract your DR from an opponent's damage. If the result is 0 or less, you take no damage. Light Armor offers 1 DR, and so does a shield while held in your hand. Heavy Armor offers 3 DR but is tracked as if it were two items and penalizes Agility and Defense by 1.

Improvement

Players earn 2 experience points (exp) per adventure. Exp can be spent to improve characters. Improvements should suit the story that emerged in play.

• Increase an attribute, combat skill, or vocation. The cost is equal to the new value. For example, if you have 3 Strength, it costs 4 exp to raise it to 4. These stats cap at 5!
• Add a new trait or vocation for 2 exp. New vocations start at +0.
• Buy off a flaw for 2 exp.
• Optional: Increase max Health or carrying capacity by 1 for 1 exp up to a cap of 20 + Strength.

Exploration: Wilderness

When traversing large-scale areas like wildernesses, each 24-hour day represents a turn. The wilderness is divided into 6-mile hexagons (hexes) which players move across like spaces on a boardgame board.

The GM may choose or roll for weather each day, and they describe the kind of hex that the players are in. They roll a six-sided die once per day and once per night for random encounters. A random encounter occurs on a 1, or a 1-2 at night or when in more dangerous areas. The GM then chooses or rolls an encounter.

• Marching: Players choose a direction and march, and they must declare a marching order. Hexes of difficult terrain such as swamps or mountains are trickier to traverse and effectively require 12 miles to cross one difficult hex.
• March: 12 miles (2 hexes).
• Forced March: 18 miles (3 hexes), but the party must succeed a 2d6 Strength roll vs 9 or suffer fatigue. Camping is skipped for the day. The difficulty goes up by 1 for each consecutive day that a forced march is made.
• Camping: The players make camp for a night (about 8-10 hours) or longer if the specify. Players should describe how they make camp. The wilderness is assumed to be dangerous at night and so the players should work out watch shifts.
• Campfires must be tended to all night. In most environments, characters are assumed to gather enough firewood for the night as part of making camp.
• Alternatives to Marching: Each action listed below may be conducted in lieu of marching 6 miles (one hex); max two of these per day.
• Foraging, Fishing, Trapping, Hunting: Players may engage in activities to gather resources.
• Search (or Scout): The party automatically discovers any major locations (such as a settlement) in a hex by entering the hex unless there is heavy concealment by bad weather or dense woods. Otherwise, they can use the search action to make a dedicated search of the any hidden feature of the hex. 
• Other (specify): Treating sick or injured characters, crafting tools or complex items, mending broken equipment, etc. 

Exploration: Dungeons

Characters explore small-scale environments like dungeons in turns. Each turn represents 10 minutes of in-world time. Characters are assumed to move quietly, slowly and cautiously in dungeons to avoid danger, and so they can move about one room per turn; else they are traveling recklessly and cannot spot traps or danger.

• Searching (general): A party can search one small or modest sized room or hallway per turn. Each player can make a 2d6+Intellect roll vs 9 to find hidden or secret things.
• Searching (targeted): A player who chooses a specific feature of a room and specifies how they examine it can automatically find something hidden or secret if their description would reveal something hidden.
• Forcing Open Doors: Stuck or locked doors can be forced open or broken down by making a successful 2d6 + Strength roll. This is considered loud and the GM makes an extra wandering monster check.
• Picking Locks: A character who is knowledgeable about picking locks who has proper tools may attempt to pick a lock. They roll 2d6 + Intellect vs 9. A failure means this costs two turns.
• Disarming Traps: If a player can satisfactorily describe how their character disables a trap, they succeed. Else, they can roll 2d6 + intellect to disarm it. Failure means the trap is triggered.

Lighting

Dungeons are dark, and so is the wilderness at night. PCs need light sources to see (but monsters don't). In the dark, you are effectively blind. While blinded, attacks made against you hit automatically, and your attacks automatically hit an adjacent ally on if doubles are rolled, except double 6s. Light sources occupy a hand.

• Torches burn for 6 turns (or 1 hour) for 30 ft.
• Lanterns burn a flask of oil for 24 turns (or 4 hours) for 30 ft. Can be covered without being doused or extinguished, and do not give off smoke.
• Candles burn for one day, but only for 5 ft.
• Campfires must be tended to all night. In most environments, characters are assumed to gather enough firewood for the night as part of making camp.

Wandering Monsters

Dungeons are occupied with foes (men, beasts, or monsters), and they wander around. Every two dungeon turns, the GM checks for wandering monsters by rolling a 1d6. A 1 means a wandering monster is encountered. Any time PCs are noisy, this can also prompt a wandering monster check.

• Choose an encounter or roll from a table.
• Place the encounter 2d6 * 10 ft away from the PCs.
• Determine their direction of travel and activity.
• Make a Reaction Roll if encountered.
• Parley if possible. If parley fails and hostilities occur, go to combat procedure.

Combat

Combat is structured into rounds. Characters do not take individual combat turns one at a time. Each round, one side acts, then the other side acts.

1. Roll surprise (if applicable) for PCs individually, or for the NPCs as a group: 2d6 + Intellect vs 9. Failure means the character is surprised and does not act on their first round.
2. Act First. The side that initiates hostilities acts first! If the NPCs act first, go to step 3. If the PCs act first, go to step 4. If there is uncertainty about who acts first, the PCs may make a 2d6 + Agility roll vs 9. PCs who succeed act first, then go to step 3.
3. All NPCs act, then roll dice, and then their actions are resolved.
4. All PCs. All players declare their action. Once declared, an action cannot be taken back.  Then all PC dice are rolled and their actions are resolved. Note that a combat round represents a few seconds, and so once combat has begun, strategizing is breaking character and is metagaming.
5. Check Morale for NPCs as a group only twice per combat. Check when NPCs have taken their first casualty. Check when the NPCs have been reduced to half their numbers or about half their collect Health.
6. Repeat steps 3-6 until combat is resolved.

Reaction Rolls

When introducing NPCs to the PCs for the first time, the GM rolls a reaction roll to randomly determine their starting disposition or attitude towards the PCs. It's a 2d6 roll, and you add the Willpower of the closest PC who is sometimes but not always the first in marching order. Optionally, the GM may apply a modifier (ordinarily ranging from -2 to +2) depending on the PCs local reputation if they have earned one.

• 2 or less: Hostile. Monsters will immediately attack. Other NPCs may refuse services or actively sabotage PCs.
• 3-5: Unfavorable. Steep demands or bribes. Withold help.
• 6-8: Neutral. Indifferent to PC needs.
• 9-11: Favorable. Lenient on demands or bribes. 
• 12 or more: Ideal disposition, possibly friendly.

Morale Check

Not all characters and monsters want to fight to the death. Roll 2d6 roll equal to or greater than the NPCs morale score to determine if the NPCs continue to fight. The GM should assign a morale score representing their bravery based on the NPC. 7 represents an ordinary bravery. The lower the morale score, the braver; the higher the morale score, the more cowardly. Mindless creatures do not check for morale. Roll once when the NPCs take their first casualty, and roll once when the NPCs are reduced to halve their number or about half their collect Health.

Combat Addendum: visit this blog post for supplemental rules on martial realism including core rules, and optional rules which have tactical rules.

Improv Magic

Use of magic is typically permitted only by a vocation such as wizard or a trait like a magical bloodline. Magical objects may also permit use of magic or very specific spells. There is no catalog of spells. Instead, players must choose a theme for their magic. Discuss the limitations of your theme with you GM. When players want to use magic, they must describe the spell they cast, and it must suit their theme. The spell is cast automatically, and the character makes a 2d6 + attribute + vocation roll to determine if they hit with the spell. I assume Willpower is for magic, but your setting may assume Intellect is for magic.

Spells are fluid. All spells cost 1 Ether to cast per die (of damage or healing) or effect, and per additional target, up to a maximum or 3 Ether. Damage or healing is instantaneous. Effects persist for the duration of the encounter. If spells can hit additional targets, the caster chooses one target and the spell effects adjacent targets.

Sample Spells:

Healing Hands, 1 Ether. Touch one character and restore 1d6+willpower health.

Magic Dart, 2 Ether. Conjure and throw a magical dart for 2d6+willpower damage.

Flammeria, 3 Ether. Create an area of flame on one character + two adjacent, 1d6+willpower damage each.

Actions in Combat

On your turn, you can make one dedicated action. You can move up to your movement as part of your action. Actions must be taken during your round. There is no option to delay or hold an action, or to otherwise disrupt turn order.

• Attack: Roll 2d6 + Attribute + Combat Skill +/- any other situational modifiers vs the opponent's Total Defense (9 + Defense skill). If you hit, roll Damage and subtract the opponent's DR (damage reduction). On a critical hit, ignore DR add an extra 2d6 to your damage. Note that attacking ends your turn.
• Defend: You dedicate a round to dodging, blocking, or parrying. Add +2 to your effective defense.
• Use an Object: You may draw and use or draw and throw an object from a pocket or pouch, open a door, operate a lever, reload a mechanical weapon, etc. 
• Cast a Spell: Spells are cast automatically, but the caster rolls 2d6 + Attribute + Vocation +/- any other modifies to hit or successfully effect the target or opponent.
• Other (specify). Maybe you offer first aid or drag an unconscious character to a safe spot. Maybe you run and tackle a foe. Maybe you brace a spear or polearm against the ground and aim it at a charging opponent. Rely on your creativity. Avoid game terminology. Use descriptive language.

• State your action in first person, use present tense. Say it like you are reading a line from a book! Example "I run for the troll and attack by aiming the point of my sword for his gut!"

Abstract Space

We don't use precise or literal space. Distances, speeds, and ranges are abstracted for simplicity. All characters can move about 30 ft per round, or one pencil length if you're playing with miniature figurines (minis) on a tabletop. To use a pencil to measure distances, place one end of the pencil at the base of your mini. You can move your mini to the end of the pencil, but not past the pencil.

• Close means you can touch something without moving (within 5 ft). This is the reach of hand-to-hand or melee weapon attacks.
• Near means you are one move away from something (5 ft to 30 ft away). This is the effective range of many throwing weapons.
• Far means you are multiple moves away (30 ft to 120 ft away). This is the effective range of slings, bowshots, and firearms.
• Distant means you may not see or hear something clearly (greater than 120 ft).

Moving and Movement Speed

Player characters and humans can move as part of their action up to one of the speeds below. There are no double moves! Characters can move either slow, normal, or fast. You can drop from standing to prone for free, but changing your posture otherwise costs half your movement.

• Slow means 15 ft or half a pencil per round. Characters move slowly when crawling, climbing, swimming, sneaking, crossing hazardous ground, wading through waist high water, or when encumbered.
• Normal means 30 ft per round.
• Fast means 45 ft per round. Fast movement means the character is dedicated to moving and nothing else. Fast movement allows characters to safely withdraw from melee and retreat in a direction away from their opponent, make a charge attack in a relatively straight line, run-and-bump, tackle, and long jump or high jump, but at least 10 ft of movement must be spent in a relatively straight line towards your target.

Cover

Cover means that an object or character acts as an obstacle or obstruction between you and an attacker. To determine cover, draw an imaginary line from the attacker to the defender. Anyone or anything that obstructs that line provides either partial or full cover. Small characters or objects provide partial cover. If partial cover, attacks and spells are penalized by 2. If full cover, you cannot attack that character directly. On double 1s or double 2s, you automatically hit the closest obstacle even if it's a character!

Non-Player Character (NPC) Opponents and Monsters

NPCs stats do not need to work by the same logic as the players. Consider that movement speeds previously listed for player characters apply to humans, where 30 is typical movement, but other creatures that are faster than humans can move 45 feet per round and still make attacks.

• Health: Consider these values as typical. Low-tier opponents have 3 Health. Mid-tier opponents have 5 to 10 Health. High-tier opponents have 20 Health. Very high tier opponents have 30 or more Health.
• Hit Bonus: This is the number added to their 2d6 roll. It represents both the attribute and the combat skill. Low-tier opponents have 0 to 2. Mid-tier opponents have 2 to 4. High-tier opponents have 6. Very High-Tier opponents have 8 to 10.
• Damage: Consider these values as typical. Small opponents do 1d3 damage. Human sized opponents do 1d6 damage. Large sized opponents like bears, lions, or ogres do 2d6 damage. Giant sized opponents do 3d6 damage.
• Defense (Def): Defense is the number players need to roll to hit. Consider these numbers as typical. 9 represents an opponent with average defense or a low tier opponent. Some foes may be easier to hit than a 9, like sluggish zombies or near-immobile plant monsters. 10 to 12 represents a mid-tier opponent, 12 to 14 represents a high tier opponent. 15 to 19 represents a very high tier opponent. Consider that 19 is the cap for characters who can be harmed. Beyond that, godly things who cannot be harmed.
• Damage Reduction (DR): For simplicity, you may assume low tier opponents always have a DR of 0 as this is unnecessary math for a game. Creatures without armor or a thick hide or a hard shell do not typically possess a DR. If DR is not present in the stat block, assume its 0.

Sample NPCs

Alchemist: HP 10, Hit Bonus +2, Grenade damage 1d6 splash, Def 10. The alchemist carries several glass containers of dangerous compounds that could crack open and erupt, killing him and splashing adjacent characters.

Addendum: Supplemental material and design notes can be found here.

Bear: HP 18, Hit Bonus +3, Bite or Claw 2d6, Defense 10

Chimera: HP 20, Hit Bonus +6, Bite, Claw, Hoof, Horn, Gore, or Firebreath vs 1, 2d6, Def 10, moves fast (45').

Dragon: HP 30, Hit Bonus +8, Bite + grapple, claw + throw, or fire breath an area 3d6, Defense 16, DR 3. Players must make a Willpower roll once per encounter or they are frightened, and the effects of this is they suffer a -2 penalty to all actions.

Elemental (various): All stats vary as these entities come in a great variety. Requires a magic or a magical weapon to harm it.

Flying Sword: HP 5, Hit Bonus +4, Damage 1d6, Def 11, DR 3. Moves 45'. 

Gargoyle: HP 10, Hit Bonus varies, Claw or Bite or other weapon and damage is based on gargoyle size, Defense 9. Sunlight turns its flesh body to stone. If smashed in its stone form, it dies when the sun sets and it becomes flesh again.

Goblin: HP 3, Hit Bonus +2, Weapon or Bite 1d3+1, Defense 9.

Homunculus: HP 5-10, Hit Bonus varies, Unarmed attacks 1+Str (varies) or by weapon, Def (varies). Alchemists cannot create homunculi consistently, and so no two are alike. When creating a homunculus, roll 2d6 to determine its morale score (bravery or cowardice).

Lion: HP 15, Hit Bonus +4, Bite or Claw 2d6, Defense 12

Mage: HP 8, Hit Bonus +2, Spell damage 2d6 vs 1 or 1d6 AOE, Def 9

Ogre: HP 15, Hit Bonus +3, Weapon 2d6, Defense 11

Slime: HP 5, Hit Bonus +2, strike with pseudopod for 1d3 or grapple for 1d6, Defense is 7 but damage from mechanical sources of harm are ignored. Its acid body degrades all weapons and armor that contact it by -1.

Troll: HP 15, Hit Bonus +4, Damage 1d6+2, Defense 11. If slain, resurrects in 24 hours with full health and an extra point of Strength and Health unless burned or beheaded.

Warrior: HP 10, Hit Bonus +4, Melee weapon 1d6+2, Defense 11, DR 2

Zombie: HP 10, Hit Bonus +0 or +2 if grappled, Unarmed 1d3, Bite 1d6-1, Defense 7. Moves at slow speed only. Thrusting and Bludgeoning damage is ignored, as the creature must be hacked to pieces.