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!"#
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$!"Adapted from original rules by Dave Zeb Cook
ByMark Krawec, 2007, with assistance from RPG.net and the ZeFRS discussion forum.
More information can be found at:
http://www.midcoast.com/~ricekrwc/zefrs/-and-
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=327143
Cover art: St. George Fighting the Dragon, Peter Paul Rubens ca. 1606-1610 (Public domainpainting)
Internal Art: Mnch, Marius, and various and sundry medieval and early modern painters.
Introduction, Layout, and graphic design: Jason VeyCharacter Folio: Max (RPG.Net)
This work may be freely distributed as long as it remains complete and intact, including thiscredits page. The text of this work is designated as copyleft, meaning it can be freely used,modified, and reproduced at no cost, though we would ask that if used, proper and due creditbe given to the original writer and to those of us involved in the ZeFRS project:
Dave Zeb CookMark KrawecJason VeyDrake2000E.T. SmithThe Evil DMMaxMnch
ArtikidMariushive_mind
HarmastInsect Kingblu_spongeDMAndrewMountZionRyankrshatheg-klaVagabond
Christopher V. BradySpinachcat
And all the other posters on RPG.net and the ZeFRS forum who have dedicated time, effort, andpassion to this final end.
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Table of ContentsTable of Contents.......................................................................................................................... 1Introduction................................................................................................................................... 4A Roleplaying Game? ................................................................................................................. 4
What do I Need? ......................................................................................................................... 4Chapter One: Creating Your Character.................................................................................... 5
Talents ....................................................................................................................................... 5Creating Your Character........................................................................................................ 5Initial Character Talents ......................................................................................................... 7General Talent Scores .............................................................................................................. 7Starting Equipment................................................................................................................. 8
Chapter Two: Talents and Weaknesses .................................................................................. 9Accident Prone (Weakness) ................................................................................................... 9Acrobatics.................................................................................................................................. 9Alchemy .................................................................................................................................... 9
Animal Aversion (Weakness) ............................................................................................... 9Animal Handling..................................................................................................................... 9Animal Reflexes ..................................................................................................................... 10Animal Senses ........................................................................................................................ 10Arcane Languages ................................................................................................................ 10Artisan ..................................................................................................................................... 10Berserk..................................................................................................................................... 10Blacksmith .............................................................................................................................. 11Brawling ................................................................................................................................. 11Carpentry................................................................................................................................. 11Climbing.................................................................................................................................. 11
Color Blind (Weakness) ........................................................................................................ 11Damage................................................................................................................................... 11Danger Sense .......................................................................................................................... 11Directional Sense .................................................................................................................... 11Disfigurement (Weakness) .................................................................................................. 11Distrusted (Weakness) .......................................................................................................... 12Endurance Loss (Weakness) ................................................................................................ 12Fame ........................................................................................................................................ 12Fear of Animals (Weakness) ............................................................................................... 12Fear of Heights (Weakness) ................................................................................................ 12Fear of Magic (Weakness) .................................................................................................. 12Fear of Water (Weakness) .................................................................................................. 12Foppish (Weakness) .............................................................................................................. 12Forgery .................................................................................................................................... 12Gambler (Weakness) ............................................................................................................ 13Glutton (Weakness) ............................................................................................................... 13Goldsmith ................................................................................................................................ 13Herbalism................................................................................................................................ 13
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.............................................................................................................................. 13Hypnotism............................................................................................................................. 13Information
................................................................................................................................ 14Language............................................................................................................................. 14Lockpicking
........................................................................................................................................... 14Lore
........................................................................................................... 14Madness (Weakness).................................................................................................................. 15Magic Endurance
........................................................................................................................... 15Magic Sense.................................................................................................................................. 15Medicine................................................................................................................................... 15Minstrel
........................................................................................................................... 15Mind Control.............................................................................................................. 15Miserly (Weakness)
............................................................................................................................... 15Movement....................................................................................................................... 15Natural Magic
.............................................................................................................................. 16Navigation........................................................................................................................... 16Necromancy
....................................................................................................... 17Night Blind (Weakness).......................................................................................................... 17Nocturnal (Weakness)
............................................................................................................................. 17Observation.......................................................................................................... 18Obsession (Weakness)
............................................................................................................. 18Personal Magnetism................................................................................................................ 18Phobia (Weakness)
........................................................................................................................ 18Physical Laws....................................................................................................................... 18Picking Pockets
.................................................................................................................. 19Poison Endurance................................................................................................................... 19Rash (Weakness).................................................................................................................. 19Reading/Writing
...................................................................................................................................... 19Sailing........................................................................................................ 19Siegecraft/Engineering
...................................................................................................................... 19Sleight of Hand................................................................................................................................... 19Stamina................................................................................................................................... 19Strength
........................................................................................................................... 19Summoning................................................................................................................................... 20Survival
............................................................................................................................. 20Swimming............................................................................................................ 21Taciturn (Weakness)
................................................................................................................................. 21Telepathy................................................................................................................................ 21Throwing
.......................................................................................................... 21Tone Deaf (Weakness).................................................................................................................................. 21Tracking
....................................................................................................................... 21Transmutation................................................................................................................................. 21Trapping
........................................................................................................ 22Two-Weapon Fighting......................................................................................... 22Weakness to Drink (Weakness)
................................................................................................ 22Weakness to Women/Men............................................................................................................................. 22(Weakness)
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................................................................................................................................... 22Weapon....................................................................................................................... 22Weather Sense
.......................................................................................................................................... 23Will................................................................................................................................ 23Wrestling
..................................................................................... 24Chapter Three: The Resolution Chart
................................................................................................................ 24Table Organization......................................................................................................................... 24Column Shifts
.............................................................................................................. 25Not Using the Chart............................................................................................................... 26Chapter Four: Combat
.................................................................................................................. 26Enemies and Foes.................................................................................................................... 26Types of Combat.................................................................................................................. 27The Combat Turn
......................................................................................................................... 34Mass Combat.................................................................................................................. 37Chapter Five: Magic
............................................................................................................ 37Who Can Use Magic..................................................................................................................... 37Learning Magic
...................................................................................................................... 38Types of Magic........................................................................................................ 39Magical Talent Ratings
................................................................................................................... 39Magic Resistance................................................................................................................ 40Chapter Six: Hazards
...................................................................................................................................... 40Falling............................................................................................................................................ 40Fire
................................................................................................................................ 40Drowning....................................................................................................................................... 41Poison
....................................................................................................... 42Chapter Seven: Movement.............................................................................................................. 42Types of Movement
........................................................... 45Chapter Eight: Life in a Sword-and-Sorcery World
...................................................................................................................................... 45Money............................................................................................................................... 45Equipment
........................................................................................................................... 46Employment............................................................................................................... 47Dealing With NPCs
................................................................................................................................. 48Weapons...................................................................................................................................... 49Armor
.......................................................................................... 50Improvement and Ultimate Goals...................................................................................................................................... 50Money
........................................................................................................................................ 50Fame.................................................................................................................................. 50Expertise
....................................................................................................................................... 51Thrills
....................................................................................................................................... 51Honor................................................................................................... 52Appendix: A Rogues Gallery
........................................................................................................................................... 52Foes................................................................................................................ 53Sample Characters
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IntroductionWelcome to ZeFRS (Zebs Fantasy
Rolep laying System ), a c om plete rules set for
gritty, cinematic, swashbuckling swords-and-
sorcery role playing game s. You wo n t findpansy elves, drunken dwarves, or cutesy
ha lflings or gnome s in the se rules. Rathe r,
here youll find hulking brutes of men
throttling the unholy life from demons with
their bare hands, voluptuous pirate women
slic ing fo es to ribbons with rap iers as razor-
sharp as their wits, dark wizards who
become just a little less human with every
spell they cast, and monsters from the
darkest bow els of Hell and beyo nd . This isn t
Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. This is
Conan and Lankhmar.
In fact, the original source for these rules
was a w onderful game put out by TSR in the
1980s, written by Dave Zeb Cook and
based upon the Conan licensed property.
That ga me end ea vored to c ap ture the feel
of not only Howards original stories, but the
Cona n c omic b ooks that w ere so p op ular at
the time. It did its job we ll, and in the
process gave us a game that was well
ahead of its time, and very
underapp rec iated . These ob fusc ated
rules are an effort to put that system, sans
anyones intellectual properties, back outthere for pe op le to use a nd e njoy. We hope
you enjoy playing it as much as weve
enjoyed p utting it tog ethe r. See the c red its
page of this document for web links where
you can find suppo rt and more information!A Roleplaying Game?Most of you downloading these rules
already know what a roleplaying game (or
RPG) is, but for those new to the game, this
is an exercise in cooperative storytelling,
combined with a small element of
improvisat iona l thea ter. Rem em ber playing
war with your buddies as a kid, waving toy
guns around and yelling, I shot you! only
to have your friend rep ly, Nuh-uh! Im
we arin bullet-proof a rmor!
A roleplaying g am e is like that, on ly w ith tw o
excep tions. First, in this type of game yo u
do nt gene rally run around in the b ac k yard
waving toy guns (though there is a type of
roleplaying where people do just that; its
just not in this ga me ). Sec ond , there a rerules in place to adjudicate whether or not
you shot your opponent and whether he or
you is we aring armor. In a rolep laying
game, one player acts as the Referee, or
Game Master (GM), who sets the stage for
your ad venture and the stories you re g oing
to te ll. The Refe ree cont rols eve rything in
the gamefrom the weather today to the
persona of the shopkeeper you meet in the
market, to the evil serpent you need to get
pa stthat isn t a c ha rac ter run by a player.
The p layers, in turn, eac h c ont rol a single(usually) character, called a Player
Cha rac ter, or PC. This c ha rac ter ac ts as
your eyes and ears in the world crafted by
the Refe ree . It is the PC that rea c ts to the
situations the Referee throws at you, guided
by the rules of p lay in this boo k. All it takes is
a little imagination, and youll be on your
way! Trust us; it s easier tha n it sounds.What do I Need?To p lay you ll need a GM a nd a t least one
player, but preferably two to four extrap layers. Ga ming is a soc ial ac tivity. Besides
that, keep a pencil, paper, the character
sheet found at the end of this bo ok, and a
pair of ten-sided dice, called percentile
dice, ha ndy. You will roll these dice to
generate a number between 1 and 100.
Some pe rc entile d ic e ha ve a tens die
(with numbers 10 to 00) and a ones die
(numbers 0-9). If you don t have a tens
die, just use dice of different colors, and
designa te o ne to rep resent the tens (alwa ys
befo re you roll). When ma king a te st to see
if you can do something, youll roll these
dice and compare the results with a
resolution cha rt. More information on this is
found o n pa ge 23.
And really, thats all you need to know to
ge t started! Now go on; wha t are you
wa iting for? There s dem ons to kill and
wenc hing to be done!
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Chapter One: Creating Your CharacterTo p lay ZeFRS, you m ust have a character,
an imaginary person whose actions you
c ontrol. Sinc e you, a player, make the
choices for this character, the character iscalled a player character (PC). You
de termine eve rything your cha rac ter does.
The refe ree c ont rols the ac tions of many
d ifferent c harac ters in the ga me . Since the
players have no control over these
characters, they are called non-player
characters (NPCs).TalentsTo p lay, you have to know your c harac ter's
talents - his physical abilities, knowledge,
and skills. These ta lents dete rmine the fea ts
your c haracte r is c ap ab le o f and how likely
he is to suc c eed at them . Som e talents are
innate - abilities your character is born with.
Othe r ta lents a re lea rned throug h study a nd
practice. As you play the game, your
character can learn new talents or improve
one s he o r she a lrea dy has.
When you create your character, you
choose the talents he or she has and how
goo d he or she is with e ach ta lent. This is
indicated by a number following the name
of the talent. The highe r the numb er, the
mo re skilled the c harac ter is with tha t ta lent.
Talent PoolsTa lents a re g rouped into talent pools. The
ta lents in ea ch ta lent po ol are rela ted . The
six Ta lent Pools a re:
Prowess: All your character's physicalabilities (other than fighting) are
grouped into this pool. Strength,
movement, swimming , and climbing
a re some Prowess ta lents. Fighting: This pool consists of a ll the
combat abilit ies of your character,
including the different weapon
proficiencies, wrestling, and
brawling .
Endurance: These ta lents ind ica tehow much punishment your
c ha rac ter ca n ta ke. Talents such as
stamina, damage endurance , and
poison endurance are included .
Knowledge: Your character muststudy these talents in order to use
them . The Know ledg e Pool inc ludes
spells, engineering, reading , writing ,
and languages.
Perception: This poo l cont a ins ta lents
that require both training and
na tural ab ility. Suc h ta lents as
shadowing , pocket picking , and
anima l training are inc luded here.
Insight: These ta lents a ll req uire
inbo rn ab ility. Som e Insight ta lentsa re
natural magic , poetry, and
telepathy .
Not having the talent that governs an
ac tion do esn't mea n that you can't attemp t
the a ction; it only mea ns that your cha nce
of success isn't as high as that of someone
who ha s the ta lent . Sup pose Esmis the
warrior has the Sword Fight ing Talent , but
not the Halbe rd Fighting Ta lent. He c an still
fight with a halberd, but he is not as
profic ient w ith it a s he is w ith a swo rd.
Creating Your CharacterYour character has a background, a history
of h is life p rior to a dventuring . This inc ludes
information about his parents, his homeland,
and wha t he d id as a youth. These things
affect the appearance and ability of your
character and should be recorded as a
sto ry, no t just a few lines of fac ts. To e njoy
your character to the fullest, you should also
rec ord his late r ad ventures as a sto ry.
Naming Your CharacterFirst, decide if your character is male or
fema le. Then g ive him o r her a na me .
Swo rd -and -sorcery nam es are seldom mo re
than one word. You can make up any
name yo u like.
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Choosing TalentsirthplaceDec ide w here your cha rac ter wa s bo rn. This
affec ts the ap pe arance o f your cha rac ter
and any spe cial knowled ge he o r she m ight
have. A hero born in a Nordic-type land
would be tall, fair-haired, and pale, andhave light-co lored eyes.
After you have chosen the background of
your character's parents and his homeland,
you must choose your character's talents.
These rep resent his p re-adventuring
experienc es and stud ies.Your c ha rac ter sta rts w ith 35 points to spend
on talentsThe b irthp lac e you c hoose is the ho me land
of your character's father. Your character's
mother doesn't have to be from the same
land as her father.
1. You can spend your points on
any talents you want, with the following
restric tions:
1. You c annot start the ga me withmo re tha n 5 points in any one t alent.Your character automatically speaks the
lang uag e o f his home land .2. You m ust have a t least 1 talent from
ea ch Talent Poo l.Parents3. You m ust spend a t least 1 po int on
your father's ta lent.The ne xt step is to na me your charac ter's
fathe r and mo ther. The na me s are to ta lly up
to you. Fathers and sons (and one presumes
mothers and daughters) often have the
same or similar names). After giving the
parents names, select an occupation for
the father. You can choose any non-
ma gic a l talent from the list o f ta lents. This
c hoice affec ts the abilities of your cha rac ter
(see Choosing Tale nts, below), so choose
carefully! Although there are no restrictions
on your choice, consider the homeland of
the father. Natives of a remote mountain
land are unlikely to have muc h need of men
trained in sa iling. They migh t rather befa rmers, mine rs, or fo reste rs.
You can increase the number of points
available for talents by selecting
weaknesses. A weakness is a flaw in your
c ha rac ter's persona lity o r physica l ab ilities. It
prevents him from performing certain
ac tions and m ay occ asiona lly force him into
actions that are not in his best interests.
Choosing a we akness me ans you m ust p lay
your c haracte r ac c ording to the d icta tes of
that weakness. Be prepared to face the
consequences!
The a dva ntag e to c hoosing a we akness isthat for each weakness taken, your
character receives 10 extra points to spend
on ta lents. You a re no t req uired to ta ke any
weaknesses.
You're now ready to fill in a Character Folio.
Record your character's sex, name,
homeland, parents, parents' occupations,
and any other information you want to
keep. For example, a PC from a country in
an analogue of Africa might have a Folio
like this:
The wea knesses listed below are the on ly
ones a PC ma y choo se. Som e wea knesses
restrict the choice of talents for your
c ha rac ter. These restric ted ta lents a re a lso
listed be low.
This description lists his na me , his homeland ,
his pa rents' nam es and oc c upa tions, and his
general ap pea ranc e.
Dural Besh of Marumasai, son of Dural
Hab t he p raise singer and Dura l Ima the
we aver. Dural grew to a mod eratestat ure, with a wiry fram e a nd long,
nimb le fingers.
Weak ness Restricte d Tale nt
Accident prone*
Color blind*
Fea r of an ima ls Anima l Hand ling
1That n umb er alwa ys struck me as lea ving the c harac ters alittle underpowered. I would at least lift the cap on initial
Dam ag e Talent, espec ially if you're using the original dam ag e
system. Otherwise a starting character faces the very real
possibility of taking 80% wounds from the first hit of her first
combat .
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Fea r of heigh ts Climb ing Creating New TalentsFea r of mag ic
The prec ed ing list o f ta lents is not eve rything
a character might know. While the
usefulness of unlisted talents is limited, you
may want your character to have some
unusual ability. Explain the talent to thereferee and ask if he will allow it. He will
decide if the talent is something your
character could learn. He will also decide
the Ta lent Poo l to w hich it be longs.
Fea r of wa ter Swimm ing, Sa iling
Foppish*
Gambler*
Glutton*
Miserly*
Night blind*
Rash*
Tac iturn*
Tone Dea f
An unlisted talent is treated like any other
talent. You must spend points to give it a
rating from 1 to 5. You may also increase
your ra ting in tha t talent a s you w ould in any
other.
Wea kness to drink*
Weakness to wom en/ men**A co mp lete explanation of this wea kness ca n be fo und und er
Tale nts and Wea knesses (p.9).
When you are done, your character's Folio
will look much like the ones already
c omp leted for the sam ple c harac ters.For example, perhaps you want your
c harac ter, Ga lya Eyep ierce r, to ha ve a
talent in brewing. You tell the referee thatBrewing Ta lent g ives Ga lya b asic
knowledge about the methods of brewing
and the ability to recognize the ingredients
of va rious d rinks by ta ste . The referee
decides this is a talent Galya could learn
and t ha t Brew ing Ta lent belong s in the
Know ledg e Ta lent Pool. You c an a dd this
ta lent to the Know ledg e Ta lent Poo l and
spend from 1 to 5 points to give Galya a
rating in brewing. In the story section of
Ga lya 's Cha rac ter Folio, you c ould no te:
Initial Character TalentsInitial Charac ter Talents
Prowess Fighting
Acrobatics Brawling
Anima l Reflexes Weapon (from weapon list)
Climbing Wrestling
Movement
Strength
Swimming
Throwing
Endurance Knowledge
Damage Arcane LanguagesMagic Blacksmith
Poison
Stamina
Will
Carpentry
Goldsmith
Herba lism
Langua ge (c hoose language )
Lockpicking
Lore
Navigation
Rea ding/ Writing (cho ose lang uag e)
Sa iling
Siege c raft
Surviva l (c hoo se environm ent )
Trapping
Perception Insight
Animal Hand ling
Medicine
Minstrel
Observation
Poc ket Picking
Trac king
Animal Senses
Danger Sense
Direc tiona l Sense
Hypnotism
Ma gic Sense
Persona l Ma gne tism
Telep a thy
Weather Sense
Ga lya learned brewing as an a pp rentice
in a me ad hall.
General Talent ScoresAfter you have chosen all the talents for
your character, you must find his General
Sc ore for ea c h Talent Pool. Add the ratings
for all talents in the Ta lent Pool, then d ivide
by 10, d ropp ing a ll frac tions. The result is the
Ge neral Score fo r that Ta lent Pool. Do this
fo r a ll six Ta lent Pools.
The General Score b ec om es your
character's rating for every talent in which
(within tha t Talent Pool) he d oes not have a
ra ting. The Ge neral Score is used whene ver
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To equip your c ha rac ter, c hoo se one item
from e ac h co lumn below:
your character tries to do something that is
not one of his listed ta lents.
For Example: Jac kal the Rea ver wa nts to try
to rea d Urumxi, som ething he do es not have
a talent for. His rating for this attempt is
eq ua l to his Ge nera l Sc ore for the
Know ledg e Poo l.
Ge neral Sc ores c an be increased during
play, so don't worry if your character's
Ge nera l Sc ores a re low a t first.Starting EquipmentThe last step in crea ting your c ha rac te r is
choosing the equipment he starts out with.
As you p lay your equipment list w ill c hang e,
so it is best to write this information on your
Cha rac ter Folio in pe nc il.
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
any weapo n
100' rope & grap ple horse, sad dle
2 we eks of foo d c ha inma il shirt
dirk quilted leather
armorcloak
5 gold co inssad dleb ag s & b ridle
bronze c uirasssteel helmet
Your character is now ready for his first
adventure in dangerous and wild lands. But
before he leaves to find his fame and
fortune, you will want to know how well he
fight s. This is exp lained in the Com ba t
sec tion (p . 25).
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Chapter Two: Talents and Weaknesseso Healing elixirNote that wherever the terms Minor, Moderate,
and Ultimate appear in descriptions (generally
involving Ma gic al Ta lents), these refer to the
result on the Resolution Chart (p. 23) required to
achieve a given effect in that category,representing green, yellow, and red, respectively
on the ba se c hart.
o Insanity pot ionsAnimal Aversion (Weakness)Som ething a bo ut cha rac ters with this
weakness is inherently unsettling to animals
and hum ans who possess the Anima l Senses
Ta lent. Any suc h a nima l or pe rson within 10
feet of your character instantly becomes
nervous, skittish a nd irrita b le.
Accident Prone (Weakness)Bad luck dogs your character's steps. Every
time you roll a 99 or 00 on a resolution
check, some disaster befalls her - her
weapon may break, she may read a
warning as an invitation, she may lose her
grip and fall on the person below her while
c limb ing a wa ll, and so on.
Those w ho suffe r from Anima l Aversion suffe r
a two-column penalty on reaction checks
when d ea ling w ith cha rac ters who ha ve the
Anima l Senses Ta lent. A cha rac ter who has
Animal Aversion cannot learn Animal
Handling or Natu ral Magic .crobaticsTalent Pool: ProwessThis Ta lent is used for any sort o f a thlet ic or
gymnastic movement, such as vaulting an
obstacle, leaping a gap, or walking a
tightrope.
AlchemyTalent Pool: KnowledgePrerequisites: Arcane Languages,HerbalismThis Ta lent is used to c rea te ma gic a lcompounds, whether they be potions,
pow ders, ma g ica l a lloys, or gases. Three
months of study are required to learn
Alchem y. The stud ent must a lso selec t a
Ma g ica l Wea kness. Som e rep resentat ive
items that c an b e p rod uce d using Alchem y
include:Animal HandlingTalent Pool: Perception
MinorAnimal Handling allows a character to train
and command animals. It it used for
resolution checks involving riding mounts or
driving draft animals. It also allows a
character to train an animal to obey simplec om ma nds, if the anima l is rea red from birth
and taug ht for a pe riod of a t lea st one year.
The trainer ma y still trave l and adventure so
long a s the a nima l in training go es along .
o Stupefying p ow de rso Love p otionso Sleep ing d raug hts
Moderateo Knoc kout gaso Poison ga s
Animal Handling is a prerequisite of the
Natural Magic Ta lent.o Antidotes
Ultimate
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BerserkAnimal Reflexes Talent Pool: InsightTalent Pool: ProwessBerserks are filled with a mighty battle rage
that enables them to ignore the effects of
ordina ry wounds. Spec ific wo und s still cause
their normal effects. A character with theBerserk Ta lent d oe s not nee d to m ake
resolution checks to stay conscious when his
Dam ag e rating d rop s to 0 or below . Instea d ,
he fights on unimpeded until his Damage
rating reaches the inverse of his Berserk
rating.
Your character has amazing cat-like
reflexes. The Co mb at sec tion e xplains how
this Ta lent is app lied .Animal SensesTalent Pool: InsightCha rac te rs with th is Ta lent possess senses
that a re fa r sharpe r than a normal huma n's.
They ge t a b onus adva ntage level in
combat, sleep so lightly that they spring fully
awake in the blink of an eye, and are
sensitive to the presence of individuals who
suffe r from Anima l Aversion. They a lso g a in a
+2 column shift on a ll Tracking , Trapp ing, or
Danger Sense resolution c hec ks.
Jac kal the Reaver's vision fills w ith red mist a s
he lays about him with his broadsword.
Jac kal's Berserk rating is 5; he fights
unda unted until his Dama ge rating rea c hes
-5.
Unfortunately for the Berserk, once hisDamage rating falls to that point, he drops
dead.
Arcane LanguagesTalent Pool: KnowledgeThe A rc ane Lang uages Ta lent represents
study of the long -forgotte n tong ues in which
tomes of arcane knowledge are invariably
written. It is used whenever a character
attem pts to rea d a text dea ling w ith mag ic .
The d eg ree of suc c ess on the Arca ne
Languages resolution check represents how
well the reader grasps the meaning of the
text. Incomplete or, worse yet, faulty
understanding can have very gravec onseq uenc es inde ed .
All ma gical Ta lents have Arc ane Lang uage s
as a p rereq uisite .
ArtisanTalent Pool: PerceptionCharacters with this talent are trained in
pottery, weaving, painting, or sculpture.
They m ay a lso a pp ra ise item s from the ir
craft. Each craft must be taken as a
sep a rate Ta lent. Ma ke a resolution chec k to
determine the quality of each item the
character makes. A failure indicates that
the product is a piece of junk; a heroic
succ ess means a ma sterpiece.
To ente r a Berserk sta te, the c ha rac ter must
make a resolution check against his Berserk
ra ting a nd ge t a tot a l or heroic suc c ess. Toleave the Berserk state, he must get a total
or heroic success on a resolution check
aga inst his c urrent Dam age ra ting (!). Those
who fail to leave the Berserk state keep on
fighting e ven if the only pe op le left stand ing
are allies. If the Berserk's Damage rating is
negative when he leaves the Berserk state,
he falls unc onsc ious.
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Damagelacksmith Talent Pool: Endurancealent Pool: KnowledgeThose w ho ha ve this talent c an forge me tal
too ls, wea po ns, and armor. They c annot,
however, create artistic items or workprecious metals. Blacksmiths must have
ac c ess to smithing too ls to work meta l. They
can also evaluate the quality and
workmanship of non-precious metalwork,
espec ially in iron a nd stee l.
Damage is the measure of how much injury
your character can withstand before
running the risk of dying. For a c om pleteexplana tion, see Com ba t.
Danger SenseTalent Pool: InsightYour character's awareness is so keen that
he c an sense impe nding d ang er. Whenever
she is threatened by a hidden enemy or
trap, the referee makes a resolution check
aga inst he r Dang er Sense. On any de gree
of success, the character feels a vague
sense o f mena c e. Dang er Sense p rovides a
moment's warning but nothing identifying
the nature of the threat. Characters who
a lso ha ve the Anima l Senses ta lent receive
a +2 co lumn shift on their Danger Sense
check.
BrawlingTalent Pool: FightingBrawling is a c a tc ha ll Ta lent used for
fistfighting, bashing opponents with chairs,
ba ttering them with mug s, and so on. See
Combat for a more complete explanation
of brawling.
CarpentryTalent Pool: KnowledgeGiven the proper tools and materials, your
character can build virtually any wooden
item, from furniture to sa iling vessels. The
degree of success on the carpentry
resolution check determines the quality of
the resulting p rod uc t. She c an a lso ide ntify
various types of woods and knows their
places of o rigin.
How long it ta kes to build a given item is up
to the referee. Seve ral c arpenters ma y be
able to work together on a large project;
some may be impossible for a single
c arpenter to a cc omp lish.
ClimbingTalent Pool: ProwessYour character is practiced in climbing all
types of surfac es.Directional SenseTalent Pool: InsightColor Blind (Weakness) Your cha rac ter has an innate sense o f whichway north lies. He can make a resolution
check against this talent to find his way
when he ha s be co me lost.
Your character has very limited ability to
d istinguish o ne color from another. This
weakness has no rating, but will make any
task requiring identifying items by color
impossible. It may also have some negative
social consequences, such as an inability to
put tog ether an tasteful set o f c lothes.
Disfigurement (Weakness)Those with this wea kness have bee n sc a rred
or otherwise mutilated, either by injury or as
a side effect of their magical studies.
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Sorcerous disfigurements are o ften strang e
warpings of the body such as shrivelled
limbs, bizarre scarring, eye discoloration or
loss, transformation of hands or feet into
claws or hooves, and so on. Disfigurements
are permanent and a lwa ys blatant, but ca n
be hidden with some work. Characters withdisfigurements also suffer some social
disadvantages.
Your charac te r's fea r of he ights is so strong
that she must make a successful resolution
c hec k ag ainst Will or General Enduranc e to
continue to act when at a great height or
forced to climb. Failure means she is frozen
in fear and must rely on someone else to
help her budge from the spot. Characterswith Fea r of Heights cannot lea rn C limb ing.
Fear of Magic (Weakness)Distrusted (Weakness)Cha rac ters with Fea r of Ma gic must ma ke a
successful resolution check against Will or
General Endurance to pick up any item
they know to be magical. Whenever
confronted by a sorceror or magical
monster, they must make a successful
resolution c hec k or flee / free ze in the ir trac ks,
as the p laye r c hooses. Those w ith Fea r of
Magic cannot learn any of the magicalTalents.
A Distrusted character has an unshakeable
aura of untrustworthiness. Long hours of
probing arcane secrets have subtly warped
his personality and demeanor. A reaction
check (p. 26) on meeting an NPC can elicit
a ge nerous or friend ly response. Peo p le ma y
help the distrusted character, but they will
never be a t ea se a round him.Endurance Loss (Weakness) Fear of Water (Weakness)Study of t he da rk arts has sap pe d your
character's physical and psychic vigor.
Eac h Ta lent in the End uranc e Ta lent Poo l
loses 2 points. The rea fte r, it costs 3 po ints to
increa se an Enduranc e Talent by 1 po int,
and 10 po ints to p urc hase a new Enduranc e
Ta lent .
Your cha rac ter so fea rs bo d ies of w at er that
he must make a successful resolution check
against Will or General Endurance to enter
the water or even board a vessel. He will
never travel by water for longer than one
day unless forced. It is impossible for him to
lea rn Swimming o r Sa iling.Fame Foppish (Weakness)alent Pool: PerceptionFoppish characters are obsessed withfashion. They ma y spend the ir last c oin on a
hat, wedge themselves into ridiculous hose
for the sake of style, or pass over boots in
favo r of mo re a ttrac tive pa ir of sand a ls that
are utterly worthless for the twenty-mile
ma rc h they're a bo ut to und ertake. They w ill
do their level best to keep their outfits
pristine, avoiding such messy activities as
ba ttle whene ver po ssible. They a lso tend t o
put on airs, which does make them the
center of attention but unfortunately nets
them a -1 column shift of all resolutionc hec ks for NPC rea c tion.
Fame measures a character's renown. For
an explanation of fame is earned and can
be used, see Improvement and Goals (p.
50).
Fear of Animals (Weakness)Characters who suffer from Fear of Animals
are so terrified that they will avoid any
anima l if a t a ll possible. To ha nd le or even
closely approach an animal, they must
make a successful resolution check againstWill or General Endurance. Failure means
their fear prevents them from coming near
the c rea ture. This restrict ion doe s no t,
however, apply to monsters. Characters
with this fear cannot learn Animal Handling
or Natural Magic .
ForgeryTalent Pool: PerceptionYour character may produce and detect
forgeries (including writings and works of
art). After the character attempts either to
make or to detect a forgery, the refereeFear of Heights (Weakness)
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should make a secret Resolution check. A
white result indicates failure that is
immediately apparent to your character. A
green result indicates failure but your
character will think it a success. Any other
color equals success. Your character should
not b e a dvised of the d eg ree of his succ essunless the result is white or red .
Gambler (Weakness)A gambler is always ready for a game of
c hance. Wheneve r she's p resented with the
op po rtunity to take pa rt in a w ag er but has
reason to prefer not to, she must make a
successful resolution check against Will or
General Endurance to decline. (If she's
willing to play, there's no need to check.)
Once she has begun playing, she must
make another successful resolution check tostop . The c hec k may b e mo d ified
according to the situation. After all, it's so
hard to wa lk awa y from a hot strea k...
There a re limits to her susc ep tib ility; she
wo n't drop he r swo rd and sta rt d icing in the
midd le of a fight , for instanc e, althoug h she
might lay odds on the outcome even as
she's hacking away. A gambler will bet on
just ab out a ny situat ion whose outc om e c an
be in doubt. Needless to say, this makes it
hard fo r her to save a store of m one y.
Glutton (Weakness)A glutton eats at every opportunity. He
always has a little something to snack on
with him, and must make a successful
resolution check against Will or General
Endurance to pass up an offer of food. His
resultant girth means he can only wear
c ustom-mad e c lothing a nd a rmor, and he is
of course much heavier than most other
people.
GoldsmithTalent Pool: KnowledgeYour character is trained in working gold
and c ra fting jew elry. She c an identify and
evaluate gems and pieces of jewelry, and
can craft new items given the proper
eq uipment a nd suffic ient time . The q uality of
the resulting piece is determined by the
degree of success obtained on a resolution
c hec k ag a inst this Ta lent.
HerbalismTalent Pool: KnowledgeThose who have stud ied herba lism canidentify and know the uses of various plants.
This Ta lent c an b e used to identify po isono us
and edible plants, prepare poultices that
increase a character's rate of healing by 1
point per day, derive mild plant-based
poisons, and brew teas to relieve pain,
restore energy, and so on. Herbal brews can
provide only minor relief and require some
time to ta ke effec t.
Herbalists who also have the Medicine or
Survival Ta lents rec eive a +2 co lumn shift on
resolut ion c hec ks using tho se Ta lents.
Herbalism is a prerequisite for Alchemy and
Natural Mag ic .
HypnotismTalent Pool: InsightHypnotism allows your character to make
c om pelling sugge stions. The user a nd
subjec t m ust ha ve 10 uninterrupte d minutes
in comfortable, quiet and dim surroundings,
at the end of which the hypnotist makes a
resolution check against his Hypnotism
rating minus the subject's Will or General
Enduranc e rat ing. Suc cess me ans the
hypnot ist c an imp lant a suggestion. The
suggestion must be short and simple; it
cannot be complex, self-destructive or
obviously counter to the subject's interests
("OK soldier - go flip off Captain Barselius!" is
right out).
The hypnotist ma y attem pt to m ake a ny
number of suggestions, but must make a
successful resolution for each one. Failure
me ans the sub jec t refuses the sugge stion. All
suggestions wear off 24 hours after being
imp lante d . The sub jec t is fully aw are o f
having been hypnotised unless a suggestion
wa s ma de that he forge t.
Hypnot ism is a p rereq uisite fo r Mind C ont rol.
InformationTalent Pool: Insight
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Prerequisites: Arcane Languages, LoreThe Informa tion Ta lent is the p rovinc e of
soo thsayers and see rs. It g ives know ledge of
distant or future events. It takes only one
month of study to learn the Information
Ta lent, but the student must take a ma gical
weakness and become a priest of a setting-
ap propriate d eity.
LockpickingTalent Pool: KnowledgeGiven the proper tools, your character canopen any lock with a successful resolution
c hec k ag a inst this Ta lent. It ma y also b e
possible to improvise tools.Informa tion mag ic inc lude suc h spells as:
Lore Minor Talent Pool: Knowledgeo Clairvoyance
Your character is versed in the ancient
histo ry of the wo rld. She c an ma ke a
resolution check against her Lore rating to
glean a bit of information about a historical
item, plac e, pe rson o r event.
o Clairaudience Moderate
o Predictiono Sp iritual Ad vice
Ultimateo Prophecy
Clairvoyance: seeing distant events.
Clairaudience: hearing distant events.
Prediction: foreknowledge of near-future
events.
Prop hec y: foreknowledge of w eighty events
in the near or distant future.
Spiritual Advic e: petitioning a de ity for
knowledge or advice.
The knowled ge ga ined through Informa tionspells is always cryptic or fragmentary.
Events foreseen are not inevitable; they are
the outcom e of the c urrent situat ion. Huma n
agency is required to cause the event, and
is c ap able of p reventing it.
LanguageTalent Pool: KnowledgeA rating of 1-10 in a foreign language
represents basic knowledge of that
language. A rating of 11-20 indicates
competence, and a rating of 21 or greaterrep resents fluenc y in the lang uage . The
referee may ask for a resolution check
against your rating in a language to see
whether you misunderstand a speaker or
convey a meaning other than the one you
intended. Your rating in a language can
only be increa sed when your cha rac ter has
had a cha nce to practice spea king it .
Madness (Weakness)The terrible sec rets your cha rac te r hasunearthed in his quest for forbidden
knowled ge have beg un to loosen his grip o n
reality. Every day there is a cumulative 1%
chance that he will be struck by a fit of
madness (so he will without fail go
temporarily mad at least every 100 days).
When it c om es, the fit lasts for 1-10 hours,
during which time he will run wild, liable to
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do or say a nything. At the e nd of the fit, the
chance of another fit begins at 1% and
slowly c limb s as befo re.
Magic EnduranceTalent Pool: EnduranceThis is a me asure of your cha rac te r's ab ilityto resist the influence of spells or magical
effec ts. See Ma gic (p. 37) for an e xplana tion
of its use.
Magic SenseTalent Pool: InsightOn a suc c essful resolution c hec k ag a inst this
Ta lent, your cha rac te r bec om es instinct ively
aware of magical items, people or
c rea tures in he r surround ings. She ga ins no
specific information about the magic; she
only feels its presence.MedicineTalent Pool: PerceptionA character trained in Medicine can heal
humans and animals alike. He can
bandage injuries, concoct medicines, treat
infections and cure diseases. A successful
resolution check against Medicine doubles
the patient's healing rate. However, only
one check may be made per patient for
ea c h ba tch o f wound s or cond itions.
MinstrelTalent Pool: PerceptionThose w ith the Minstrel ta lent c an p rovide a
range of entertainments: song, epic poetry,
instrumental music, dance, juggling, and so
on. They c an ea rn 1-2 silver c oins a day by
performing. Since nea rly a ll doo rs a re open
to minstrels, they a re a lso freq uently hired as
spies. A character who has the Minstrel
Ta lent g a ins a +2 co lumn shift whe n using
Lore o r Mind Co ntrol.
Mind ControlTalent Pool: InsightPrerequisites: Arcane Languages,HypnotismMind Control is used to cast spells that
create illusions or dominate the thoughts of
others. Learning Mind Control requires six
months of study and imposes a magical
wea kness on t he stud ent . The c aster of a
Mind Control spell must be able to make
eye c onta c t with its target . Som e typic al
Mind Co ntrol spells a re:
Minoro Paralyzing glareo Mom enta ry indec isiono Sound
Moderateo Fearo Illusiono Long term sugge stion
Ultimateo Instant hypnotismo Com plete hallucinationso Menta l slaves
Use of Mind Control spells is explained more
fully in the Ma gic sec tion (p . 37).
Miserly (Weakness)Your character is a skinflint who spends as
little a s possible. She buys the chea pest
equipment, eats the most meager meals,
and stays in the c ruftiest d ives ava ilab le. Shehoards every coin she acquires and will
certainly never lend money to anyone else.
Unfortunately, her habit of squirreling away
large amounts of lucre makes her a prime
ta rget for ente rp rising thieves...
MovementTalent Pool: ProwessMovement rating is a measure of both foot
spe ed and ag ility in co mb at . The Talent's
uses are explained under Combat (p. 25)
and Movem ent (p. 42).Natural MagicTalent Pool: InsightPrerequisites: Animal Handling,Animal Senses, HerbalismNatural Magic is the most ancient of the
magical arts, dealing with animals and the
wilderness. Its teachings are never written,
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but rather passed orally from instructor to
student. What few symbols it uses are
carven in the rock of secret caves and
grottoes.
Ultimateo Monster co mma ndingo Sight through an ima ls
Most NPCs who practice Natural Magic will
live in remote forests, tending members of
the tribe a nd wild a nimals.
Those w ho w ould lea rn Nat ural Ma gic must
study for one year in the wilderness,
communing directly with the fauna and
flora. A t ea cher is no t ne cessary; it is possible
to learn the basics of this art through
ob servation a nd med itation. How eve r, spe lls
of moderate or difficult level can only be
learned b y those who a re c lergy of a na ture
go d . Students must selec t a ma gical
we akness other than Anima l Aversion.
NavigationTalent Pool: KnowledgeThe Na viga tion Ta lent a llow s c ha rac ters to
chart their course by the stars. On any
mostly cloudless night they may make a
resolution check against their Navigation
rating. Any degree of success means they
have found their be aring; failure m ea ns they
only think they ha ve. In this case, the refe ree
will randomly determine the direction in
which the c ha rac ters are ac tually trave lling.
Typic a l Natural Magic spells include :
Minoro Prote c tion from anima lso Anima l loc ation Necromancyo Animal friendship Talent Pool: PerceptionPrerequisites: Arcane Languages, Lore,Medicine Moderateo Animal speech
Necromancy is the blackest of the magical
a rts. It is akin to Summoning, fo r its purpo se is
to reach out and draw upon the invisible.
However, it is fundamentally different. While
Summo ning a ttemp ts to reac h b eyond the
confines of this world and bring alien
creatures into it, Necromancy attempts torebind the dispersed energies of this world
for the purposes of p reservation, know ledg e,
and animation. Its practice is a heinous
crime in all lands but those which routinely
practice sorcery. Restraint is needed, for
Necromancy is second in danger only to
Sum moning . The simp ler spells of
preservation and know led ge do not c arry as
much inherent risk, but the restructuring and
animation of the dead is fraught with peril.
The purpose of suc h spells is to b ring b ac k
from the d ea d anima ls, monsters, or peo p le.Unless the Necromancer exercises care, his
animations may turn on him and the world.
One year of study is required before a
character can attempt any spells, and a
character must choose a magical
weakness. Necromancy is a draining art.
Each time a character attempts to cast a
spell he loses 1 point from his Damage
o Animal commanding
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Ta lent even if the spell is not successful. The
loss is perma nent. The follow ing spells a re
typical of the type tha t may b e learned :
Minoro Preserve O rga nic Ma terial (50
years)
o Histo ry of Dec ea sed *o Anima te Sma ll Anima l Bod y**
Moderateo Preserve Organic Material
(1,000 yea rs)
o Question Dec ea sed *o Animate Large Animal
Body**
Ultimateo Preserve Organic Material
(5,000 yea rs)
o Force True A nswers fromDeceased*
o Animate Monster Bod y**o Anima te Huma n Bod yo Prolong Life***
*A small part of the original creature or object must beobtained (feather, hair, dust) or an accurate likeness of the
creature.
**A large p art of the original creature must be o bta ined.
***May be cast on self or other, but may only be attempted
onc e p er yea r. Suc ce ss ad ds 10 yea rs to the subjec t's life, b ut
c uts all Endura nce Talent s in half imm ed iately and pe rmane ntly
(although lost points may be slowly renewed through the
ga ining o f new talent p oints).
Each time an animation of an animal or
monster is successful, the Necromancer can
control that creature for one service of
limited duration. After the service is
performed, the creature returns to its
previous form. Animated humans alsoperform one service the first time they are
animated, but if the same human is
reanimated, he is hostile toward the
Nec rom anc er unless som e fo rm o f coe rc ion
(such as mind control) is employed. A
rea nima ted human attem pts to d estroy the
Necromanc er and esc ap e into the wo rld to
live a new life. Animations have talent
ra tings equa l in all respec ts (inc luding spells)
to those they possessed before death
exce pt that their Stamina rat ing is ha lved
and they are invulnerable to poisons.
Animated creatures may be dematerialized
at the Necromancer's will. Human
animations attempt to resistdematerialization, however, opposing the
Necromancer's Will with their own. Any time
a white result indicates failure for a spell of
Difficult complexity, a magical fire (rating
25) eng ulfs the roo m. The Nec rom anc er
should b e a llowe d to e sca pe or quenc h the
fire. His spell components may, however, be
damaged. Necromancy's need for
components from the original creature
forces the character on quests for various
tombs, should he wish to animate or
question som eone of anc ient rep ute.
Night Blind (Weakness)Characters with this weakness have very
poo r low -light vision. They a re b lind by
sta rlight and cannot lea rn Nav iga tion. They
also suffer a -2 column shift when doing at
night a nything tha t requ ires vision.
Nocturnal (Weakness)Your character has delved so long into
sec rets that ma y only be spoken o f by night
that he has himself become a creature of
the night. When the sun is dow n, he is full ofenergy and will not sleep. By day, he is
lethargic and groggy if not a c tually asleep .
He is dazzled by sunlight, so much so t ha t he
suffers a -2 co lumn shift on task tha t invo lves
vision whe n in broad daylight.
ObservationTalent Pool: PerceptionYour cha rac ter is bo th extrem ely pe rcep tive
and q uic k at p utting fa c ts tog ethe r. She ha s
a keen eye for detail and is skilled at
following others undetected. Observationma y be used in three ma in ways:
1. to spot a minute or hidden detail, orto reca ll a c ruc ial bit of informa tion;
2. to not ic e som eone follow ing you; or3. to follow someone without being
noticed.
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To find som ething hidd en o r rec a ll a p oint of
information, make a resolution check
against your Observation rating.
To d etec t the presenc e of som eo ne
following you, the referee makes a
resolution check against the pursuer's
Observation or General Perception rating
minus your Ob servat ion rating . To sha dow
someone, make a resolution check against
your Observation rating minus the target's
Ob servation or General Percept ion.
Obsession (Weakness)The effec ts of t his we akness a re e xplained in
the Ma gic sec tion (p. 37).
Personal MagnetismTalent Pool: InsightA character with Personal Magnetism is aborn commander. He possesses a charm,
dynamic personality, or ferocious energy
that d raw s pe op le to him a utoma tic ally. All
NPC reaction checks receive a +2 column
shift b onus.
The force ful presenc e o f a c harac ter with
Personal Magnetism means no one is every
neutral toward him; he is either worshipped
in the ranks or despised. Any neutral
reaction on an NPC reaction check is
shifted toward the nearest strong reaction.
An NPC who was simply accommodatingwill become actively helpful; one who was
unfriendly will become hostile.
The c ha rac ter's force of p ersona lity ma y b e
such tha t NPCs are to o intimida ted to show
their rea c tion op enly. They m ay adm ire h im
from a fa r or sec retly nurture a festering ha te .
Thus a cha rac ter w ith Persona l Magnetism is
prone to suddenly discovering previously
unknown allies and enem ies.
Phobia (Weakness)A phobia is a fear so debilitating that the
phobic character must roll a heroic success
on a resolution check against her Will or
General Endurance rating to resist the urge
to flee from the object of the phobia. A
cha rac ter ca n have a phobia o f just ab out
anything - cats, beards, blood (particularly
inconvenient for a barbarian mercenary),
night, foreigners, bridges, and so on - that
you and your referee a gree on.
Physical LawsTalent Pool: PerceptionAs magical arts go, Physical Laws is among
the least dreaded because it can be usedfor the g oo d o f the pe op le. Those w ho study
Physical Laws gain the ability to bring about
c hang es in the forc es of na ture. Som e
rep resenta tive uses of th is Ta lent inc lude:
Minoro Crea te fogo Influence weather 1 month
out
o Stimulat e p lant g row tho Summ on f avo rable winds
Moderateo Cause rapid plant or animal
growth
o Summo n we athero Blight a n a rea
Ultimateo Ec lipse the suno Create freezing c old instantlyo Ca use ea rthqua keso Ca use tornado eso Summ on c om ets or mete orso Instantly age an object or
being
Picking PocketsTalent Pool: PerceptionYour cha rac ter is a tra ined cutpurse. On any
degree of success on a resolution check
against his Picking Pockets rating, he canpinch small items without being noticed.
Ordinary failure simply means he has failed
to grasp his object. On a roll of 95-100,
howe ver, his attem pt a t theft was de tec ted .
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Staminaoison Endurance Talent Pool: Endurancealent Pool: EnduranceThis is a me asure of your cha rac te r's ab ility
to resist the effe c ts of poison . See the
Hazards section (p. 40) for an explanation of
this ta lent.
Sta mina is a me asure of raw a b ility to keep
at a physically or mentally strenuous task.
See Move ment (p. 42) for an explana tion of
its use.Rash (Weakness) StrengthTalent Pool: ProwessA rash cha rac ter is prone to lea p into a c tion
without foretho ught. She is hot -temp ered
and cares little for analysis. Further, she can
never choose to Wait in c omb at.
A character can lift 100 pounds plus 10
pounds for every po int of Strength he
possesses. Strength rating also has some
ap plic ations in Comb at (p . 24).Reading/WritingTalent Pool: Knowledge SummoningTalent Pool: PerceptionYour character is literate in a given
language. Make a resolution check against
this rat ing to rea d a text in that lang uag e.
Prerequisites: Arcane Languages, LoreSumm oning is the m ost d rea d anddang erous of m ag ica l arts. Those w ho da re
probe its secrets learn to rend the veil that
separates this world from other, uncanny
realities and call forth the dwellers in those
ma d , horrifying rea lms. These
unwholeseome creatures, often referred to
as demons by mortal men, possess strange
physical and mental powers because of
their alien origin. Once the summoner has
brought the creature into our world, he may
then attempt to impose his will upon it.
Should he fail, the c onseq uenc es a re dire
indeed.
SailingTalent Pool: KnowledgeYour character is a trained sailor and
steersman. He can control vessels in rough
water or high seas with a successful
resolution chec k aga inst his Sa iling ra ting.
Siegecraft/EngineeringTalent Pool: KnowledgeYour character is trained in the design,
c onstruction a nd de ployment o f eng ines of
wa r. She can d irec t troop s in the use o f
seige engines and supervise tunneling under
walls. On a successful resolution check
aga inst this Ta lent, sappers und er her
guidance can collapse fortifications.
Summ oning is the ha rdest to lea rn of a ny
ma gic a l Ta lent. A wizard m ust stud y for two
years before he may even attempt a
summ oning . The wiza rd must a lso take a
magical weakness. Furthermore, every time
the wizard learns to summon a new
creature, he must take an additional
ma gica l wea kness. This ma y be a new one ,
or the same as the one previously taken (in
which case its effect becomes more severe
- disfigurement becomes more terrible,
animal aversion grows more extreme, andso on).
Sleight of HandTalent Pool: ProwessYour character is adept at concealing and
manipulating objects with his hands. He is
able to make small objects seemingly
disappear, to juggle, and to cheat atga mes of c hanc e. Your charac ter's c hanc e
of successfully cheating is determined by
subtracting his opponent's Observation (or
Ge nera l Percep tion) rating from his Sleight
of Hand (or General Prow ess) ra ting.
Each summoning spell summons a single
type of c rea ture a nd no othe r. The
creature's abilities are determined by its
form. For exam ple, a w inged de mon c ould
fight, carry messages, or stand guard, but
not swim, burrow, or assume the form of a
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human. When your character learns a new
summoning spell, you describe what you
would like the summoned creature to be
ab le to d o. The refe ree then sets the
difficulty level of summoning the creature.
Som e samp le d ifficulties follow:
MinorA creature that can perform a single
non-combat action, e.g.
transporting the summoner,
delivering a message, tracking a
quarry, or loc at ing a n item .
ModerateA creature that fights with claws,
fang s or weap ons, ca n follow simp le
instructions, can operate semi-independently, can relate lost
knowledge, strikes fear in the
summoner's enemies, or will stand
gua rd for a short time .
UltimateA creature that fights using
supernatural powers, will stand
gua rd for a long time, ca n trac k and
kill a t arget w ithout fa il, c an tea ch its
summoner a new spell, can assume
the likeness of a specific individual,
c an serve a s the summ one r's advisor,
or can imprison a person in
perpetuity.
Summ oning is time c onsuming and c ostly. A
summoner must track down rare and hard-
to-obtain material components - magic
powders, directions for drawing
blasphemous symbols, noisesome incenses
to be burnt in jewel-encrused braziers. It is
also incredibly physically taxing. Every time
your character attempts to cast a
summoning spell he takes one point of
dam ag e. This wo und is pe rma nent, ca nnot
be healed (although you may still spend
Ta lent p oints (p. 7, 50) to increa se your
Damage Endurance rating), and is inflicted
whether the summ oning is suc cessful or not.
Summ oning is only ha lf the job ; the
summoner must still convince the creature
to do his will. Simp le-leve l c rea tures w ill do a
service in return for free dom to return to their
own world. Moderate- and difficult-level
creatures, however, give themselves more
credit. Unless the summoner can threaten
them with instant destruction (no mean feat
itself), he must have something to offer the
c rea ture tha t it wa nts. It ma y ac c ep t a rareor magical item, but more likely it will
demand a very personal price from the
summoner - anything from an eye, to a
service in exchange, to title to the
summoner's soul. Whatever the price, it will
mark the summoner as set apart - and
increasingly different in nature - from
ordinary humans.
Ordinary failure means that no creature
appears. On a roll of 95-00, however, the
summoner has made a critical error in
casting and the creature enters the worldout of control. It will immediately attack the
summoner, either to kill him or carry him
screaming back to the horrible netherworld
from which it came. It never tires, it never
gives up, and it will not stop until the
summ one r - or it - is dea d.
SurvivalTalent Pool: KnowledgeThis ta lent lets your charac ter live off t he
land in one of four types of terrain: desert,
jung le, a rc tic , and forest/ p lains. Surviva l ineach type of terrain must be taken
separately. Once a day, a successful
resolution c hec k ag a inst this Ta lent p rovides
one day's food and water (even in the
de sert) plus shelter from the eleme nts .2
SwimmingTalent Pool: ProwessThe Swimming Ta lent is used to determine
how quickly your character can swim, as
we ll as her ab ility to avoid d row ning in rough
wa ter. See Move ment (p. 42) for a full
explanation.
2The o riginal rules do n't spe cify w hethe r this me ans sustena nc e
and shelter just for the c harac ter with the Talent, o r for the
cha racter a nd a ll her co mp anions. Stingier refs ma y wa nt
require survivalists to m ake a roll for ea c h pe rson fo r whom they
need to find food a nd water.
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Taciturn (Weakness)Your c ha rac te r is ridiculously tight-lipp ed . It's
a rare day on which he uses a sentence of
more than three words, and it's virtually
unheard-of for him to initiate conversation.
His extreme reluctance to speak
unfortunately means he never volunteers
information w ithout b eing a sked.
TelepathyTalent Pool: InsightTelepat hy allow s direc t me ntal
c om munica tion. Those w ho ha ve ma stered
this Talent m ay bo th send and rec eive
thoughts, but only to characters/creatures
that also have telepathy. Use of telepathy
requires five minutes of stillness and
concentration. On a successful resolution
check, telepathy users can send or receivea message. On a heroic success, the
telepath may filch information from an
unwilling mind, although the thoughts so
c ollec ted are usually jumbled and unclear.
Cha rac ters who p ossess both Telep a thy a nd
Mind C ont rol Ta lents rec eive a +1 column
shift on a ll Mind Co ntrol resolution c hec ks.
ThrowingTalent Pool: ProwessThis ta lent is used when throwing an ob jec t
or weapon for accuracy or to cause
damage.
Tone Deaf (Weakness)A character who is tone deaf cannot tell
musica l tones ap art a nd perceives very little
d ifferenc e in voc a l pitc hes. This leaves him
with a flat, monotonous speaking voice and
an utter inab ility to sing. He c anno t lea rn the
Minstrel Ta lent and suffe rs a -2 colum n shift
when making an NPC reaction check or
att em pting to use a Mind Co ntrol spe ll.
TrackingTalent Pool: PerceptionThis Ta lent is used to fo llow a qua rry through
the wilds. A successful resolution check
means that the tracker has found some
trace of the person or creature sought and
ma y follow it. The chec k suffers a -1 c olumn
shift fo r eve ry hour the trail is o ld. The referee
may apply additional negative or positive
modifiers for inclement weather, a large
number of beings travelling together,
bloo dstains, unyielding ground , and so on.
TransmutationTalent Pool: InsightTransmuta tion m agic is used to a lter shape
or substance. It can be used to change a
person's app ea ranc e, animate sta tues, turn
stone s to c hunks of ice , and so o n. One yea r
of study is required to learn transmutation.
The student m ust a lso selec t a ma gical
we akness. Typic a l transmut a tion spells
include:
Minoro Cha nge ob ject to similar itemo Temp orary cha nge of non-
living form
Moderateo Chang e your own formo Chang e form of an animalo Permanent change of non-
living item
Ultimateo Change form of another
persono Animate itemo Permanent change of non-
living item t o p rec ious item
Transforma tion spells a re ve ry dra ining. Every
time a magician tries to cast one he suffers
a point o f da ma ge. This loss is perma nent
and c annot be healed.
TrappingTalent Pool: KnowledgeYour character is skilled in building, siting,setting and baiting traps for small- to mid-
size game . She a lso knows how to set up
and ma nag e a trap line. She c an p rep are
traps and snares that will capture creatures
up to the size of a human. With help, she
c an rea dy pit traps for large c rea tures.
Each time your character readies a trap,
the referee makes a resolution check
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ag ainst your trapp ing rating. On any d eg ree
of success, the trap functions as intended
and c atc hes the prey.
For each drink downed, a drinker must
ma ke a resolution c hec k ag a inst his Sta mina
or Gene ra l Endurance rating. If the c hec k
succeeds, he suffers no effects. If the check
fails, however, all the drinker's ratings are
temporarily reduced by 1. When the
d rinker's Sta mina or Gene ra l Enduranc ereaches 0, he passes out. Characters who
be ga n with no Stam ina rating a nd a
Gene ral Endurance of 0 are out c old a fter
their first failed check. Once the drinker
stops drinking, either by force of will or due
to unc onsc iousness, his rating s return to
normal at the rate of 1 point for each full
hour he d oes not d rink.
This Ta lent m ay a lso be used to find hidd en
traps and snares with a successful resolution
c heck. This app lies only to w ilderness trap s,
however, not indoor traps (such as rigged
flagstones that trigger a volley of crossbow
bolts).
Two-Weapon FightingTalent Pool: FightingYour character is trained to fight effectively
with a weapon in each hand. Although the
most co mmo n co mb ination is a d ag ge r and
sma ll swo rd, any two one-hande d wea po ns
c an b e used . See Comb at (p . 25) for an
explanation of how two-weapon fighting is
used.
Weakness to Women/Men(Weakness)Characters with this weakness areparticularly susceptible to the charms of
the ir p refe rred gend er. (Whic h tha t is is up to
the player.)3 When presented with a
possible romantic liaison, they must make a
successful resolution check against their Will
or General End uranc e to d ec line. They must
also make a successful check to turn down
requests or p lea s for assista nc e, no t just from
NPCs but from other PCs of the appropriate
gender!
WeaponTalent Pool: FightingYour character is trained in the use of a
partic ular wea pon. See Co mb a t (p. 25)for
an explana tion o f the use of this skill.
Weather SenseTalent Pool: InsightOnce per day, your character can make a
resolution check to foretell weather
c ond itions for the next 24 hours. This inc ludes
type and general amount of precipitation
("heavy rain comin'", not "I'm sensing
scattered snow showers, 1 to 2 inches ofaccumulation..."), and wind speed and
d irec tion. Usua lly she c an only use this Ta lent
Weakness to Drink (Weakness)Characters who suffer a weakness to drink
must make a resolution check against their
Will or General Endurance rating to pass up
a chance to drink alcohol. Once they have
begun to drink, they must make a resolution
c hec k to stop. They get a c hanc e to c hec k
a fter finishing e ac h d rink.
3 Looking back 22 years later it's amazing to see just how far
ahead of its time the Conan ga me wa s in som e respec ts. The
possibility that a character could prefer either gender is simply
noted without judgment or further commentary.
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once per day, but if a sudden change is
brewing she m ay m ake a nother.WrestlingTalent Pool: FightingWillYour character is trained in grappling,
throwing, locking and pinning opponents.
See C om bat (p . 25) for an e xplanat ion of
how to use this skill.
Talent Pool: EnduranceA c ha rac te r's Will Ta lent is used to resistexternal influences or pressures and internal
c om pulsions or wea knesses. Will is used to
resist various weaknesses, as well as the
effects of c ertain ma gic.
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Chapter Three: The Resolution ChartAt the heart of t he ZeFRS system is the
resolution chart used to determine success
or fa ilure of ac tions. In brief, any time you
need to ma ke a c hec k to see if a Talent issucc essful, roll pe rc entile d ice and c om pa re
the result to the appropriate column along
the b ottom o f the Resolution C hart.Table OrganizationThere a re four deg ree s of suc c ess, plus
failure. Each is denoted by a color, such
that a result will often be referred to as "red"
or "g reen". The c olor schem e o f the o riginal
table, which is used in the tables provided
here, is white for failure and green, yellow,
orang e a nd red for suc c ess.
When making a resolution check, low rolls
are best. In every other case, a high roll is
best. For those who would like a uniformly
roll-over system, a chart with the values
flipped such that 01-02 are now the values
of certain failure and 99-00 are certain
succ ess will be provided a t a late r da te.Column ShiftsThere are two sc hoo ls of thought on w hat
exactly constitutes a column, since the
original game rules weren't clear on this
point.
One group holds that "column" means one
of the columns that corresponds to
individua l Ta lent rating s (or group s of rat ings
for values above 11). For example, if a
c ha rac ter with a Sa iling Ta lent rating o f 4
were to receive a +2 modifier thanks to
some favourable condition or other, she
would shift 2 individual columns to the right
and roll on the 6 column of the table to
resolve the atte mp t.
The o ther looks to the d esign o f the o riginal
resolution c ha rt a nd, see ing tha t there w ere
actual lines only at the 1, 6, 11 to 15, -1, -6
and -11 to -15 points, concludes that these
are the columns to which shifts should be
app lied . Thus, if the sa ilor with a ra ting o f 4
were to receive a 2-column shift modifier,
this method would have her make her
resolution c hec k on the 11 to 15 column. This
raises the further question of where in the
c olumn he r exac t va lue should fall. There
a re a t least three o pt ions: the first value in the 5-member
column may be used (e.g. in the
column that includes the values 6
throug h 10, 6 wo uld b e used ),
the middle value of the co lumn maybe used (e.g. in the column that
includes the values 6 through 10, 8
wo uld be used ), or
the corresponding position in thecolumn may be used (e.g. the sailor
with a value of 4 who gets a +2column shift would be rolling on 21-
25).
Players are invited to consider and
experiment with both to see which better
accords with their own style and judgment.
The stand ard resolution c hart c an be used
either way; slender black lines delimit the
column for each individual rating, and
thicker black lines indicate the columns
show n on the o riginal c ha rt.
The Colors of SuccessAs mentioned above, the original colorsc hem e o f the resolution c ha rt w as white for
failure, green for marginal success, yellow
for acceptable success, orange for total
suc cess and red for he roic suc cess. These
colors are the same as those referenced in
this do c ument, and o n the cha rt at the end
of the work. Ma ny p ixels we re sp ilt on
RPG.net discussing alternate choices of
c olor for ea c h level. The m ost p op ular
alternate color scheme was the one
proposed by Ma x:Let's begin with White failure. White is for the
blank canvas of failed artists, the bleached
bones of failed heroes, white is the fatal
flash of the sun or the moon on the blade
falling on you, the slavering fangs, the
ripping talons, the wide-eyed terror, the
empty panic-stricken mind of the soon-to-
be-dead.
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Then Blac k for the u ltima te suc c ess. Blac k is
the death-dealing iron, black is the mind-
blasting sorcery, and the deepest and the
highest knowledge and understanding,
Recommended