Shepherds of Fate: Alpha Rules 1.7

SHEPHERDS Of FATE

ALPHA EDITION 1.7

Golden Turtle Games

NOTE: This tabletop RPG is in its alpha stages, and as such it lacks polish. Some of its features will probably be unbalanced, nonexistent, or even downright laughable. Other features, we hope, will be fun and interesting. This game is a learning process for both the creators and the players in its current phase, and we at Golden Turtle Games hope you enjoy playing it (even in its messy state) as much as we have enjoyed making it. Please feel free to contact us with your comments, criticism, or concerns through our blog at shepherdsd12rpg.blogspot.com. We look forward to taking this game and others into the enjoyment of the gaming community and would love to get your support and help!

Thanks,

P.D.S

Game editor/creator

Golden Turtle Games.

INTRODUCTION

Shepherds of Fate is a tabletop RPG that intends to give a smooth gameplay experience from beginning to end. This game attempts to provide a flowing narrative evocative of a story or movie, with more "cinematic" features that tell the players exactly what happens and when. Canon itself is not a part of this alpha version of this game just yet, but I look forward to penning it in as soon as we move on from the core rules. It is set in the world of Anderyn, an immense and complex world with countless races, factions, and places, but you may set your game anywhere you wish.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

To begin your game, you and your fellow players must create a character to represent yourself in the game. One player must be the Game Master, or GM, and control the NPCs, enemies, and world. Below is all the information you need to make and play a character in the alpha edition of Shepherds of Fate. As an overview, character creation is taken in several steps. Here are those steps.

1: Find your stats and race

2: Calculate your HP

3: Determine your skills and abilities by allocating attribute points (AP)

4: Equip yourself with weapons, items, and magic

STATS AND RACE

Player characters have eight base stats which represent their physical and mental abilities. Each of these are represented as a single die between a D2 and a D12 to begin with. Dice can be added and subtracted as a character levels up and down, but they are initially derived by rolling two D6 for each ability. The result, a number between 2 and 12, becomes that stat. A two or three gets a D2, 4 and 5 get a D4, 6 and 7 get a D6, and so on. The eight stats are as follows:

Strength Physical prowess

Dexterity The ability to manipulate objects or one's self

Toughness Resilience and fortitude

Willpower Strength and influence of the mind

Creativity The ability to solve problems

Awareness The ability to comprehend one's surroundings

Faith One's ability to believe, trust, or intercede for the divine

Charisma A person's social sense

BASE DICE

A player also gets a Base Die, which is a die that is added to all of the rolls that they make as a bonus. A first level character gets a base die of a D4, and as certain requirements are met by the character's race or class, it is scaled up according to a chart. Please note that since leveling is also in its early stages of development and playtesting that this element's balance is in question. Proceed with caution when leveling into the higher levels.

LEVEL	1	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40
DIE	D4	D6	D8	D10	D12	D12+D2	D12+D4	D12+D6	D12+D8

HIT POINTS (HP)

Hit Points are your character's overall health and resistance to damage. They are determined by your Toughness (Tg) score. at first level, your character gets his Tg score as HP, plus one extra rolling of their Tg die. For each level after, you roll your Tg die and add it to the pre-existing score.

Characters also have Pain Thresholds. This is the amount of damage they can sustain before being incapacitated by their damage. This total is normally, their Toughness score minus their Toughness die at 1st level, plus a rolling of their Toughness die at each additional level.

NOTE: when you level up, roll your toughness die twice. You may choose which result goes into HP and which goes into threshold. This assures that through terrible luck your character doesn't end up with a threshold higher than their HP.

For example, if a level 1 character with 17 HP and a threshold at 6 HP has his HP drop beneath 6, he must roll his Willpower die against a DC of the amount beneath the threshold the character's HP is, or be knocked out. If he succeeds, he must reroll this every round until his HP is past his threshold again. If he fails, he will be incapacitated and will be unable to take actions. He can still roll to regain consciousness, however.

If a character loses more than half his remaining HP in one turn, he must also make Wl save against the amount of damage dealt to ensure that they are not bleeding out (if piercing or slashing) or succumbing to shock (if blunt force). If he succeeds, the character is stable. If they fail, they will take 1 damage every in-game minute until medical attention is given. This is known as passing into shock.

When a player reaches 0 HP, they have passed the Shock Threshold. They must, as with the Damage Threshold, roll Tg and Wl against their damage, but this time it is to avoid going into shock/bleeding out. If they succeed, they are stable. If they fail, they pass into shock.

If any character, unless stated otherwise, has their HP dip below -10, they are considered dead. Only a resurrection spell can save them.

RACES

Since in this update games can only start at first level, there can be no level adjust. Instead, certain races give players different amounts of starting Attribute Points. A human, for example, starts out with 30 AP. An elf, then, starts out with 26. Also note that "Proficiency" means they get +2 to their weapon skill when using that particular type of weapon.

HUMAN

AP 30 One bonus ability at level 1

DAAVIK

AP 28 One bonus ability at level 1, +1 to Dx and Wl dice. Considered human.

KHOVAN

AP 26 One bonus ability at level 1, +2 to Tg dice. Favored enemy. Considered human.

ELF

AP 26 Immunity to sleep, Proficiency in bow, longsword, and Khopesh, +1 to Dx, and Wl dice. Lowlight vision.

ILMARI

AP 26 Immunity to sleep, proficiency with bladed weapons. +2 to Dx and Aw. Cannot be suffocated. (Wind elf). Plural Ilmariye

HYLNA

AP 24 Immunity to sleep, proficiency with Slicing weapons. +3 to Aw and Ft, -2 to Ch. Dark-vision. (Night elf). Naturally nocturnal. Plural Hylni

ELMIRI

AP 24 Immunity to sleep, proficiency with whip and pain weapons. +2 to Dx, Tg, and Cr. Can cast "Fireball" once per day. (fire elf) Plural Elmiriye

DWARF

AP 24 Stone Sense, +2 to Cr checks, +2 Tg, Small Size, Favored enemy: goblinoids. Darkvision 30.

HALFLING

AP 26 One bonus ability at level 1, +2 to Aw and Dx checks. Small size.

SUVUR (HALF ORC)

AP 26 Large size, +2 to St and Tg checks. -2 to Ch and In checks. Darkvision 30.

PORTAVETHII (CELESTIAL)

AP 20 Immunity to poison, +1 resistance against elements. +2 Ch, Ft, and Aw. -2 Str. Can cast "Light" 1/day. +1 to listen, Magic user, and Interceder.

ENAVI (FALLEN CELESTIAL)

AP 18 Immunity to poison, +1 resistance against elements. +2 St, Tg, Aw. -2 Ch. Telepathic. Can cast "Fear" 1/day.

CHANGELING

AP 18* Considered human. Bonus ability at 1st level. Can change at will into any size small creature decided on at the beginning of the game (Wl) times per day. As a -4 additional AP penalty, it can be a tiny or medium creature.

Skills:

At level 1, a character has access to all the skills in the game. They have 30 points total to distribute into skills and attributes, which are covered below. If a person does not put points into a particular skill at first level, they will not be able to add points into that skill at subsequent levels unless an ability is bought to allow it. This forces specialization but allows characters to diversify by their own standards. At level 1, however, the maximum amount of points a player can put into any skill is the amount of points they have in the relevant attribute. Past level 1, though, they may add as many as they wish. These points are added to relevant dice rolls.

Skills have a hierarchy of the amount of points put into them. They are as follows:

Dabbling (1-2) Novice (3-4) Adequate (5-6) Competent (7-8)

Skilled (9-10) Talented (11-12) Adept (13-14) Expert (15-16)

Master (17-18) Legendary (19-20)

These are the skills used in this game. They are expandable, however, and if you wish to add a new one, simply ask your GM.

Alchemist (Cr)	Fisher (Cr)	Musician (Ch)	Swimmer (Tg)
Archer	Healer (Aw)	Mortician (Cr)	Thief (Dx)
Armor user	Hunter (Aw)	Object user (Cr)	Thrower (St)
Ambusher (Dx)	Interceder (Ft)	Observer (Aw)	Tracker (Aw)
Appraiser (Aw)	Intimidator (Wl)	Performer (Ch)	Weapon user
Crafter (Cr)	Knowledge	Researcher (Cr)	Wrestler (Tg)
Device User (Ft)	Liar (Ch)	Rider
Diplomat (Ch)	Linguist	Shield user
Dodger (Dx)	Magic user	Survivor (Wl)

Alchemist-- your character's ability to use alchemy. The amount of points you spend in Alchemist goes is added to your Cr check in rolling against difficulties for making potions.

Archer-- your character's ability to use ranged weapons like bows, spear-throwers, or crossbows. This number is weighed against the minimum skill rating on certain weapons.

Armor user-- your character's ability to use armor unimpeded. It is weighed against the minimum skill rating on armor in order to avoid taking a -2 penalty while wearing armor.

Ambusher-- You add this number to your Dx roll while trying to sneak or move silently

Appraiser-- Add this number to your Awareness checks while determining the value or use of an item.

Crafter-- Your character's ability to make things. Add this number to a creativity check to attempt to make an object. You still need all the tools and materials.

Device User-- This is your character's ability to use magical devices. Add this to your Faith check to operate magic objects like wands or traps.

Diplomat-- your ability to reach agreements or pacify arguments

Dodger-- Add this as a die roll when trying to dodge an attack. To dodge an attack, add your full base die amount to a rolling of your Dx score and the amount of points you have in Dodger as a die.

Fisher-- add this number while trying to catch fish

Healer-- add this number to healing checks against the difficulty of a procedure. Also determines which procedures you are able to do.

Hunter-- your ability to hunt down food or sport

Interceder-- for divine spells. Your ability to turn, rebuke, or control undead

Intimidator-- your character's ability to intimidate foes. Add this to Wl check for intimidation. The person this is directed to must roll a Wl check against it.

Knowledge-- pick your school of knowledge: streetwise, arcane, local, social, mechanical, etc. Pick as many as you wish to put points into. This number is added into relevant skill checks.

Liar-- your character's ability to lie

Linguist-- For each point you take in linguist, you know one language aside from common. You may only take this at first level. Languages can be learned through RP.

Magic user-- your knowledge of exotic spells. It is weighed against the minimum skill rating on most spells. If you do not have the magic user points listed, you are unable to cast it.

Musician-- Your ability to play or sing music. Specify the instrument or school. You may take abilities to expand your repertoire

Mortician-- your ability to determine cause of death and embalm the dead

Object user-- As magic device user, but for miscellaneous objects. You get this number as a die bonus to attacking with improvised weapons.

Observer-- your ability to see your surroundings. Equivalent to spot or search

Performer-- your ability to stir up a crowd or evoke emotion

Researcher-- Your ability to find information through asking or searching libraries.

Rider-- the types of animals you can ride without taking penalties. Weighed against a minimum skill

Shield user-- types of shields you are able to use without penalty. Minimum skill

Silent Mover-- your ability to move undetected.

Survivor-- roll this check when setting up tents, making fires, or felling trees

Swimmer-- an essential skill. Added to swim checks. If you do not take this skill, you cannot swim.

Thief-- picking locks and pockets

Thrower-- added to your roll against a difficulty for throwing an object.

Tracker-- your ability to keep a trail or scent. Not the same as hunter.

Weapon user-- your ability to use melee weapons. Weighed against a minimum score.

ABILITIES (An ability costs 3 Attribute Points)

Adept Hider	You get +1 on checks pertaining to actively hiding and people trying to find you get -1 on their awareness check regardless of whether you are trying to hide.
Aura of courage	When encountered by fear effects, roll Ch. Allies within 20 feet get this total as a bonus against fear.
Aura of Command	You are a born leader. You cannot suffer penalties against an intimidation check and people within 20 feet of you get your charisma die as a bonus against it. (Prerequisite: Aura of Courage)
Alter self	Once per day, you may make minor cosmetic changes to yourself as a disguise or for fun.
Affinity for Elements	You may raise one die class on one die (e.g., D4 becomes D6) when rolling against elemental attacks or environmental factors.
Bard Music	You gain 4+Ch magic points for use in the "Bardic magic" school of magic. This ability stacks. You must at first taking of this ability choose which instrument your music will be channeled into.
Berserk	You may enter a berserk rage at any time once per day. You take a -4 penalty to Aw, Cr, Wl, and Ch while in a rage. You may sacrifice any amount up to your base die score in defense and add it to your attack roll. You must make a Wl check at a DC equal to 2x the amount of turns you have been raging to get out of the rage. If you have not dealt damage to anyone for 1 minute, you return to normal. This ability stacks.
Bull Rush	Declare this ability at the beginning of your turn. If you have initiative over your foe, and you move at least half your base speed in a straight line before attacking, you get the amount of five-foot squares you traveled as an increase to your base die class.
Cleave	If you incapacitate a foe on your turn, you may make an additional attack instead of moving.
Combat Reflexes	Once per turn, if your foe is flat-footed, you may make an extra attack. Both attacks suffer a -2 penalty.
Dodge	You may substitute your Tg die with your Dx die when defending.
Divine spells	You gain 4+Ft in magic points for use in the "Divine" school of magic. This ability stacks. You must choose a deity to worship.
Deflect arrows	You may use a melee weapon or unarmed defense against arrows, but at a -2 penalty.
Disarm	If you succeed in grappling your opponent, you may make a strength check against their strength check to remove their weapon. It falls to the ground if you succeed.
Evade	If you succeed the Tg save against a spell which has "Half damage even if you dodge" you do not have to take half damage.
Favored enemy	You get +1 on all rolls against an enemy you decide upon when you take this ability.
Fencer	You may substitute your Dx die for your St die when rolling attack with light melee weapons.
Heal magic	Requires Magic User skill level 4. You may add your Wl die (or whatever die is appropriate for your school of magic) in addition to your Aw die when healing magical effects.
Improved Initiative	You may add your base die when rolling for initiative.
Improved critical	You may subtract 1 from the result when rolling for critical effect.
Improvisation	You are good at improvising. You may eschew one material component worth under 5 silver.
Luck	You may reroll one die once per day. This ability stacks.
Lore savvy	You are good at identifying myths. A successful knowledge check against a creature's defense gives you +2 against them while fighting them this combat phase.
Leap attack	You may attempt to jump toward your opponent. Declare how far you wish to jump. Roll against a DC of 4 per 5-foot square you attempt to jump. For every five-foot square you leap to reach your opponent, you get +1 to that attack. If you fail, you are flat-footed.
Lay on Hands	You may stabilize anyone's condition equal to 1/2 your Ft modifier per day. Needs divine magic ability.
Multishot	You may fire one additional arrow on your turn, but both attacks suffer a -2 penalty.
Obtain Familiar	Requires Magic User skill 4. You get a familiar animal (small or diminutive in size). You can command this animal telepathically.
Opportunism	You see openings and take them. If an adjacent opponent fails their defense roll by 3 or more, you may make an attack against them and consider them flat-footed.
Point blank shot	You may add +1 to attack and damage when attacking with a bow at close quarters-- under 30 feet
Power attack	Take up to your base die in penalties for rolling to attack and add them as bonuses to damage.
Reserved Countenance	You may turn a D12 in your ability score into two D6. It lowers your chance of rolling 12s, but your average roll will be higher overall.
Riposte	If you critically defend against a melee attack (by 6 or better) you may deal one damage to the attacking opponent.
Sneak attack	You get +1 to damage and -1 on the critical chart when the opponent is flat-footed.
Sorcery	You gain 4+Wl in magic points pertaining to the sorcery school of magic. You may take this any number of times.
Skirmish	If you have moved 10 feet this turn, you get +1 damage and -1 on the critical chart.
Still mind	Roll Wl against a difficulty proportional to level of distraction. You are now meditating. While meditating you get +6 against fear, intimidation, and emotional attack. You may not take actions other than meditating while doing this. You must reroll every turn you meditate.
Slow fall	With a successful Dx check against the distance of the fall in feet, you can reduce fall damage by half, rounded up.
Telepathy	You are naturally a telepath. You can talk to people with your mind. This is a highly stigmatized trait, however, and while talking telepathically you suffer a -2 charisma bonus.
Turn Undead	Make a Ft check against the cumulative levels of the undead you wish to turn. This costs one magic point. If you succeed, the undead are turned away and run randomly in fear for 1D4 rounds.
Trip	If an opponent incurs an attack of opportunity in your adjacent square, instead of attacking, you can attempt to trip him and render him prone. (MAKE SKILL)
Unarmed Strike	Your fists are now D6 weapons dealing blunt damage
Wild shape	You may turn into one small sized animal once per day.
Wild sense	You are attuned to the wilderness' wellbeing. You get +1 to survival, tracking, and wilderness magic.
TIER 2 ABILITIES	(NEED A PREREQUISITE OF ONE OR MORE ABILITIES)
Great cleave	As "Cleave," but you may continue attacking as long as you keep incapacitating foes. Prerequisite: cleave
Improved Berserk	You may enter a berserker rage a number of times per day equal to one half your Wl modifier. Prerequisite: berserk
Belted Striker	Your unarmed attacks are now D8 weapons dealing blunt and pain damage. Prerequisite: unarmed strike
Intercession	You may use your Ft die while attacking as your ability modifier. Prerequisite: divine spellcasting
Manyshot	As cleave, but with ranged weapons. Prerequisite: multishot
Hide in Plain Sight	You can use a hide check, even when people are looking at you. You suffer a -4, but you may attempt to hide even in a crowd. Prerequisite dodge.
Greater familiar	You may see the world through the eyes of your familiar. All checks pertaining to the familiar get a +1. Prerequisite: familiar.
Familiar transcendence	You may become your familiar. Your body merges into theirs as a "wild shape" spell. Prerequisite: greater familiar.

LEVELING UP

Player characters can level up at the discretion of the DM or by using an XP system. Either way, with each level, a player character gains a level in their class, gaining any bonuses or abilities relevant to the class level. A player must roll their Toughness die to add to their pain threshold and their total HP (they choose which number goes where. It's best if the smaller one goes to threshold and the bigger one goes to HP)

Each level, a character is given three attribute points (more or less if certain abilities are taken). They are distributed as the player sees fit between skills and abilities and modify each additional score.

COMBAT

To attack, a player will add their relevant ability die, their base die, and their weapon die together and roll them simultaneously. The result is compared to the defender's Armor roll, which is their relevant ability die and their weapon die added to the highest number on their base die. If the attacking player beats the defender score, the attack is successful. If not, it fails.

The weapon die is listed beside whatever weapon is used. If a player makes an unarmed attack, (e.g., fists or feet) it is always a D4 unless a player has an ability to change this to a larger die.

Generally speaking, melee weapons' ability die is strength, and ranged weapons' is dexterity. If otherwise, it is noted on the weapon description.

Magic attacks are made as touch attacks regardless of distance, meaning a player's Dexterity and armor bonuses do not apply. The defending character will roll their base die and the relevant ability (usually INT or WIL) to attempt to negate or dodge it. A magic attack is made by rolling your relevant ability die twice and adding the result. (Divine spells, for example, use WIS, while Music magic uses CHA). This is weighed against the defender's score.

WEAPONS AND TRICKS

Weapons come in six broad subsets, divided by the type of damage they do. The subsets, tricks, and critical special damages, are listed below

TYPE	TRICK	CRITICAL CHANCE
Slashing/hacking	+1 damage	Limb loss/heavy bleeding
Slicing	-1 armor save	Heavy bleeding (2 bleed)
Piercing	1 bleed damage	Hemorrhage/organ damage
Blunt force	-1 defense against	Broken bone/internal bleed
Crushing	-1 Dex for turn	Internal bleeding/hemorrhage
Pain*	-1 to threshold	Daze 1 turn (prone standing)

*Pain damage's critical chance is 100%, so no need to roll crit chance die.

SHOCK

Shock is when you reach 0 HP. When you do this, you must make rolls against your amount of HP below the threshold to stabilize. Until you do, you take 1 damage every in-game minute (3 rounds).

HEMORRHAGE

When you are hemorrhaged, you take 2 bleed damage and suffer a -2 on all rolls until your are stabilized. It is called organ damage if it is in the torso.

CRITICALS

If, when you roll your attack, you beat the opponent's defense by 6 or more, you have hit critically. You roll your damage die twice and then the DM rolls the critical die. Depending on the weapon you are using and your abilities, different things can happen. The DM will roll a D12 to determine the extent of the injuries sustained.

CRIT CHANCE CHART

1-3	4-7	8-12
Full injury sustained	1/2 duration and penalty (limb loss considered deep cut)	No added effect

Tricks:

If you roll a 6 while attacking (and in some cases, rolling for skills), rather than your die exploding as it would when rolling damage, you get a trick point. These tricks represent luck or skill on the battlefield and are chosen from a list determined by what weapon you are using. Tricks usually entail minor combat bonuses like knockback or extra damage. Some, however, are quite major, like extra attacks or instant death. These can only be gotten with high level abilities or spells.

When a player gets a trick while attacking, they may choose one of their available tricks to use. They declare which trick they use, and its effects are used immediately.

INITIATIVE

Initiative is determined by rolling a D12 plus your Dx die. Whoever wins initiative with the highest result goes first during combat or action phases, and so on. The improved initiative feat allows a player to add 3 to their initiative roll.

MAGIC

Note: even though the magic system is fleshed out, spells have not been created. In general, spells from other RPGs have seemed to fit well for the time being with modification at the discretion of the individual. Feel free to make up and post spells with the permission of the GM.

In this RPG, magic stands for a complex set of actions or abilities activated either by divine influence or tapping into planes of pure magic. In this universe, magic manifests itself in countless ways, but to a spellcaster, magic is accessed through concentration. Though the concentration is different for each spellcaster class, the gist of it is that by finding the spell in one's self and using the right method of activation, a person can have access to any spell. The question that remains is whether that person can handle channeling so much energy.

In order to become a magic-user, a character must take the ability "Magic Adept" which gives them access to magic, as well as 2 magic points plus one roll of the die pertaining to their relevant school of magic.

Divine magic: faith

Sorcery: willpower

Bardic magic: charisma

Nature magic: awareness

In order to get more magic points, and thus access to more spells, you simply take the ability again and add the points together. Your knowledge and mastery of certain spells is determined by your "magic user" skill, which is against the minimum skill required to cast certain spells. If you have enough of the magic user skill, you can cast a spell of any level if it fits into your magic points.

Magic Points:

Any spell costs its level in magic points; for example, a level 4 spell costs 4 magic points. Any magic adept character class (and some character races) have a chart that shows the amount of magic points they acquire at each level. A wizard, for example, at level 1, starts out with 4 magic points. If a character has a D12 in their chosen magic school's ability modifier (like Aw for wizard, Ch for bard) they gain one extra magic point to use. This counts also for characters not in magic classes-- however, their point can only be used to cast one level 0 or 1 spell per day of their chosen school.

Magic in this RPG works in a way that allows a caster to use any spells they have the points to cast. A character that is a caster level 2, for example, would have the ability to cast any spells he would know including level 2 spells until his magic points ran out. Even then, however, his magic abilities are not exhausted.

If a player does not have enough magic points to cast a spell, they may use TG points instead. This simulates a magician straining so hard that he nearly kills himself in the process. When a player reaches 0 magic points, for each magic point they need, they take 2 temporary TG damage, curable only by 8 hours of rest. A player can only do this once-- if he has already taken TG damage that day from casting, he may not do it again. If that player loses more than half his TG points in this manner, he must make a WL save equal to 2x the spell level to avoid passing out. If a player's TG reaches 0 in this manner, that player is considered dead. This mechanic is known as a TG buffer.

Any magic adept character can also attempt to cast a spell they know that is above their caster level. A level 1 character, for example, can choose to cast a level 4 spell, but in order to do so, several prerequisites must be made.

First, the character must have magic points left over. A character without magic points can barely cast spells of their own level, much less higher ones. This simulates the need for rest before the spell is cast.

Second, the spell is considered a full-round action if it is an instant or standard action spell. If it is longer than that, double the casting time of the chosen spell. Any interruptions must be met with a constitution save.

Once the spell is cast, the character must make a Tg save equal to the spell's level multiplied by 2 minus their caster level. (a level 5 sorcerer casting a level 8 spell would have to beat 16-5, or 11). If they beat the save, the spell is successful, but the excess in spell level (in the level 5 sorcerer's case, 3) is taken as temporary Tg damage. If they roll especially well, the number they beat the DC by, instead of going into Tg damage, is taken out as magic point drain. They must make a Wl save equal to the spell's level minus their own to avoid passing out.

If the player fails the save, the spell fails, and they take the excess in spell level in temporary Tg damage. They pass out and must make rolls to avoid dying as if they had gone into shock. This phenomenon is known as bleeding, and it is very dangerous.

A note to DMs: this magic system was designed to be as versatile as possible, but there are inherent imbalances a DM must be aware of. Firstly, try not to give spellcasters knowledge of too many spells above their own level. In play-testing, so-called "sorcerer suicide" became a common and cheap way for a player to get things done by bending the rules. Secondly, if players overuse their Tg buffer, feel free to scare them with high damage enemies.

INJURY

Critical injury is determined with a D12. If an attack hits and critically wounds a player or NPC, the DM will roll a die determining where the attack landed, and, as such, which part of the body is affected. If a person calls the target of their shot as a specific body part, they suffer a -2 penalty if it is a limb and a -4 penalty if it is a vital area such as head, neck, or heart. For example, a player character who intends to stab the enemy in their center of mass (their back) would incur a -2 penalty. If the attack criticals, they would not need to roll the initial die. Vital area hits with called shots automatically critical and called shots get +1 damage as a rule if they hit.

1 offhand foot	2 dominant foot
3 offhand	4 dominant hand
5 upper leg (offhand side)	6 upper leg (dominant side)
7 Upper arm (offhand)	8 upper arm (dominant)
9 lower body	10 upper body
11 neck	12 head

This determines the part of the body, and thus, the actions, which are impaired for the critically injured character. Where it mentions above the "Critical chance" for each weapon type, it talks about the type of injury it does as extra damage for a critical hit. Below is a table of the injury type, along with a few other statistics.

LINGERING INJURIES

Injury Type	Duration (days)	Penalty	Infection chance
Bruise	3	-1 pain tolerance	1
Burn	14	-2 pain tolerance	2
Broken bone	21	-4 using limb	3
Deep cut	7	-3 using limb	4
Internal bleeding	14	-1 CON per hour until stable.	5
Limb loss*	Permanent, heals after a month	Loss of limb, bozo	6

*Please note that limb loss only occurs when the full critical injury is sustained. Otherwise, it is treated as a deep cut.

INFECTION

Note the infection column on the right. When critically injured, you must roll a D12 every 24 hours to assess your condition. Without magical healing, all injuries will go their full duration, and each day you must roll against getting infected. The number on the right column shows the number you must beat to avoid infection. There are things, though, that reduce, or even eschew the risk of infection: medicine.

First of all, infection is a progressive toughness penalty of -1 every 24 hours until you reach 0 and die. For every time you fail that check, the DC goes up by one. It is difficult, but not impossible, to get rid of, but it needs advanced level healers or magic. To avoid this, use medicine.

MEDICINE

Applying medicine is a surefire way to make your wounds less bothersome. A wound that has been tended has a lower chance of infection, as well as a -1 to all its numerical effects. The following is a table of the medical devices and procedures, costs, and effects, as well as contaminants that raise the chance of infection. In order to use medicine, you must have at least a rating of "dabbling" in the healing skill.

Treatment	Cost	Effect on chance
Salve	1 gold (10 uses)	-1
Bandage	1 copper (or improvised)	-1
Rinse and disinfect w/alcohol	Price of grain alcohol and water	-2
Suturing (cut)	2 silver	-1
Splint (broken bone)	5 silver	-1
Crutches	5 silver per	just mobility
Antibiotic (internal)	5 gold	-4
Dirt		+1
Mud		+2
Flies		+1
Feces or imbedded piece of wounding implement		+4

ADVANCED PROCEDURES

These are procedures used to treat infections or deep wounds. The DC of doing these is on a chart in the far column. Any of these procedures have a chance of infection of 1 unless otherwise noted.

Procedure	Material components	Skill needed/difficulty
Stabilize (resets HP to 1, stops bleeding)	Salve, bandage, or suture No infection.	4/10
Resuscitate (Makes patient regain consciousness)	None (Smelling salts reduces DC by 2) No infection.	4/8
Amputate (gets rid of infection in limb or mangled limb)	Blade, tourniquet, bandage, suture, painkiller.	8/14
Excise (removes imbedded objects)	Blade, bandage, suture.	4/10
Heal Sickness (Stops progression of a sickness and reduces its duration by half)	Herbs, salves	6/8
Cavity Surgery (removes deep diseases like cancer entirely)	Blade, bandage, suture, painkiller	8/14
Dentistry (Fixes abscesses and broken teeth)	Blade, pliers	6/10
Set bone (Decreases duration of broken bone by half)	Splint, gauze	4/8
Heal magic (Removes auras)	Magic skill over 6	6/8

ARMOR

Armor does not keep things from hitting you, so it is not added into Armor class. Armor keeps the things that hit you from hurting you. In this game, armor is a damage reduction method. You may wear armor over clothes, or instead of clothes, it does not matter. Each type of armor gives you a die to roll as damage reduction for when you are hit. If someone hits you for 7 damage, and you have D8 armor, you roll the die. If, for example, you roll a 6, all but one of that damage is blocked. If you roll an 8, all of it is blocked. A die result of 1 always results in full damage.

A shield is used actively, which means that if you have a shield you block with it actively while defending. It gives no damage reduction. Armor with this ability has (active) written beside it.

Armor type / minimum skill	Save Die	Price	Maximum dexterity	Special ability (if any)
Leather (2)	D2	2 gold	D12
Chain mail (3)	D2	10 gold	D10	+1 against slashing
Scale mail (4)	D3	15 gold	D8
Half plate (6)	D4	50 gold	D6	+1 against piercing
Full plate (8)	D6	200 gold	D4
Buckler (4)	D4 (active)	5 gold	D10	+1 to defense roll
Shield (4)	D6 (active)	10 gold	D8	+1 to defense roll
Heavy shield (6)	D8 (active)	15 gold	D6	+1 to defense roll
Magic ward (10)	D10 (active)	300 gold	D12

WEAPONS

NOTE: Make any weapon a heavy weapon by upping its die class by 1, adding 5 gold to the price, and adding 2 points to the minimum skill. Minimum skill is the lowest a character's weapon skill can be for them to use it without a -2 penalty.

WEAPON	DAMAGE	PRICE	TYPE	COMMENTS	MINIMUM SKILL
Dagger	1D2	1 gold	Slicing	All players start out with one.	1
Shortsword	1D4	1 gold	Slashing		3
Hand-and-a-half	1D6	5 gold	Slashing		7
Longsword	1D6	7 gold	Slicing		7
Greatsword	1D8	10 gold	Slashing	Two-handed	9
Tomahawk	1D4	3 gold	Hacking		3
Throwing ax	1D6	5 gold	Hacking	Ranged 30 feet	5
Great axe	1D8	10 gold	Hacking	Two-handed	9
Shortbow	1D6	10 gold	Piercing	Ranged 50 feet	5
Longbow	1D8	15 gold	Piercing	Ranged 100 feet	7
Crossbow	1D6	25 gold	Piercing	Ranged 100 feet	3
Whip	1D2	7 gold	Pain	Reach 10 feet, crit chance high	9
War hammer	1D6	5 gold	Blunt		3
Mace	1D6	7 gold	Blunt	+1 crit chance	5
Flail	1D8	10 gold	Crushing		7
Cat Flail	1D10	25 gold	Crushing, pain	Whip-flail hybrid. Cat o' nine tails with blades and spiked ball ends.	12
Polearm	1D8	15 gold	Hacking, slashing	Stand-in for all pole axes, guisarmes, etc.	9
Spear	1D6	7 gold	Piercing	+1 crit chance	4
Bo/Jo staff	1D4	3 gold	Blunt	Two-handed. Double-ended. Free second attack if first hits.	3

ENCHANTMENTS AND UPGRADES FOR WEAPONS

NAME	COST	ABILITY	COMMENT
Keen	100	+1 chance for critical damage
Razor	100	+1 damage on slicing/slashing weapons
Impervious	150	Cannot be targeted by "Sunder" spells
Serration	150	+1 bleed damage, +1 infection chance	It is more expensive because it physically changes the blade.
Holy	300	Automatic crit on undead of equal or lower level
Unholy	300	Automatic crit on lawful good of = or > level
Blessed	300 (500)*	1/day turn undead, cost to make holy water is halved	Can't be used by evil *for 500, makes water holy 1/day.
Besmirched	300	1/day command undead	Can't be used by good.
Shadow	400	Can be concealed anywhere w/o skill check
Bright	200 (400)*	Gives off 20 foot luminance when triggered by favored enemy.	*For 400, 50 foot can be triggered on command.
Dim	200 (400)*	Gives off 20 foot shadow to conceal user from favored enemy.	*For 400, 50 foot can conceal on command.
Champion	400	When wielding, you have "Aura of Command" and "Courage" auras around you.
Malefactor	400	When wielding, you have "Aura of Fear" and "Intimidate" auras around you.
Sunder	300	If this weapon hits another weapon, treat it as if it was targeted by a "sunder" spell.	Only for blunt weapons
Mighty	200	When attacking, you may use your full strength die rather than rolling it.	Only on melee weapons
True	100	You do not have to take wind or obstacles into account when shooting this bow.
Thunder	100	+1 damage on blunt/crushing weapons
Sadistic	100	+1 on pain/piercing weapons
Chop	100	+1 on hacking weapons
Zephyrus	200	Arrows may fly 1.5 times their range
Deep	300	Arrows pierce up to the fletching. +2 damage and -4 to remove from wound.
Amputate	150	Arrows are now hacking weapons. Critical hit removes limb or head as per crit chart.	Only for heavy crossbow and heavy composite bow
Inferno	350	This weapon also deals 1 burn and 1 pain damage. Crits as burning in addition as well. It cauterizes wounds, so blood loss ceases.	Only bladed weapons
Blizzard	350	This weapon also deals 1 frost and 1 pain damage. Crits as frostbite as per environmental hazard chart.	Only bladed weapons
Necrosis	500	As a trick, this weapon deals a critical wound with no extra damage and a +6 chance of infection
Lightning	500	As a trick, this weapon deals an extra 1D6 in lightning damage, stuns.
Return	200	Missed arrows automatically return to your quiver
Smite (RARE!)	1200	Critical hits against opposite alignment (evil/good or lawful/chaotic) reduces their HP by half and gives critical wound as per wound chart.
Spider's venom	700	As a trick, this weapon deals a special poison damage: "Liquefy." The wound is automatically considered critical and heal attempts have a -6. You take 1 toughness damage every hour until stabilized.
Holy Exploding Arrows, Batman	350	If you get a trick using these arrows, they will explode, dealing an extra D6 damage in a 10 foot radius.	Wielder needs at least a 4 in magic skills.

ITEMS

Please note that at the moment, the items list has been taken from the D20 Standard Reference Document at d20srd.org and slightly shortened. Since this game is in its alpha phase, these features are not set in stone and are subject to change. However, in playtesting these have served adequately.

Backpack (empty)	2 gp	2 lb.¹
Barrel (empty)	2 gp	30 lb.
Basket (empty)	4 sp	1 lb.
Bedroll	1 sp	5 lb.¹
Blanket, winter	5 sp	3 lb.¹
Block and tackle	5 gp	5 lb.
Bottle, wine, glass	2 gp	—
Bucket (empty)	5 sp	2 lb.
Caltrops	1 gp	2 lb.
Candle	1 cp	—
Canvas (sq. yd.)	1 sp	1 lb.
Case, map or scroll	1 gp	½ lb.
Chain (10 ft.)	30 gp	2 lb.
Chalk, 1 piece	1 cp	—
Chest (empty)	2 gp	25 lb.
Crowbar	2 gp	5 lb.
Firewood (per day)	1 cp	20 lb.
Fishhook	1 sp	—
Fishing net, 25 sq. ft.	4 gp	5 lb.
Flask (empty)	3 cp	1½ lb.
Flint and steel	1 gp	—
Grappling hook	1 gp	4 lb.
Hammer	5 sp	2 lb.
Ink (1 oz. vial)	8 gp	—
Inkpen	1 sp	—
Jug, clay	3 cp	9 lb.
Ladder, 10-foot	5 cp	20 lb.
Lamp, common	1 sp	1 lb.
Lock (very simple)	20 gp	1 lb.
Lock (average)	40 gp	1 lb.
Lock (good)	80 gp	1 lb.
Lock (amazing)	150 gp	1 lb.
Manacles	15 gp	2 lb.
Manacles, masterwork	50 gp	2 lb.
Mirror, small steel	10 gp	½ lb.
Mug/Tankard, clay	2 cp	1 lb.
Oil (1-pint flask)	1 sp	1 lb.
Paper (sheet)	4 sp	—
Parchment (sheet)	2 sp	—
Pick, miner’s	3 gp	10 lb.
Pitcher, clay	2 cp	5 lb.
Piton	1 sp	½ lb.
Pole, 10-foot	2 sp	8 lb.
Pot, iron	5 sp	10 lb.
Pouch, belt (empty)	1 gp	½ lb.¹
Rations, trail (per day)	5 sp	1 lb.¹
Rope, hempen (50 ft.)	1 gp	10 lb.
Rope, silk (50 ft.)	10 gp	5 lb.
Sack (empty)	1 sp	½ lb.¹
Sealing wax	1 gp	1 lb.
Sewing needle	5 sp	—
Signal whistle	8 sp	—
Signet ring	5 gp	—
Soap (per lb.)	5 sp	1 lb.
Spade or shovel	2 gp	8 lb.
Spyglass	1,000 gp	1 lb.
Tent	10 gp	20 lb.¹
Torch	1 cp	1 lb.
Vial, ink or potion	1 gp	1/10 lb.
Waterskin	1 gp	4 lb.¹
Whetstone	2 cp	1 lb

All features, unless otherwise stated, are intellectual property of Golden Turtle Games.

Shepherds of Fate

Alpha Rules 1.7

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