ZeFRS Core Rules

8/9/2019 ZeFRS Core Rules

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!


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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,

Documents

ZeFRS Core Rules