A
heroic role playing game set firmly in the swords & sorcery genre. Your
player’s adventures take place in a pre-historic world that predates ours by
millions of years. It is a land of humid steaming
jungles, vast untamed wildernesses, danger-filled swamplands, and hot dry
deserts. All manner
of massive man eating beasts roam the unexplored regions of your world and
beyond. In this harsh world are sprawling cities teeming with merchants, tradesmen, farmers
and hunters. Dotted
around the untamed regions are ancient ruins lying untouched.
USR is an easy game to learn but there are optional rules throughout if you fancy
making it a bit more advanced. Feel free to add your own rules or change
current ones to match your preferences. The most important thing is that you
and your group have fun with it.
In
the future I will be releasing a number of role-playing games based on the USR
system, from pulp action to time-travelling sci-fi, so stay tuned!
I
really hope you enjoy this system and have a lot of fun with it. It's always
been a dream of mine to get a role-playing system published and put out there
for everyone to play.
Scott
Malthouse – February 2012
What the heck is a Game Master?
A game
master, or GM, acts as the game's referee as well as controlling the people and
enemies the players come across. The GM also creates the adventure and the
world the players inhabit. Essentially the GM is a god, but don't let it get to
your head.
Creating your character
Each
player needs a character to take part in the story. Since this setting is
specific to the Sword & Sorcery literary genre, characters will play human
adventurers. Though there are no particular restrictions on a character
learning or using magic, no new character starts the game with magic.
Action – This attribute
determines how well-versed in combat the character is as well as how quick and
dexterous they are.
Wits – This attribute
determines how intelligent and perceptive the character is.
Ego – This attribute
determines how the character acts socially. A high Ego means the character is a
good leader and able to charm the pants off most people.
Hits – This determines how
much punishment a character can take before she dies or is knocked unconscious.
Hits are reduced when a character is hurt and can return to its initial score
when the character heals.
After
you've jotted each of these attributes down you're going to need to assign
dice to them. Each attribute apart from Hits can have one (and just one) type
of die assigned to it from the following selection: d6, d8 and d10. Your Hits
score is derived by rolling your Action and Wits dice – the total being the
final Hits attribute score.
Example:
Glenn decides that his character ‘Dor Stryker’ is going to be more brawn than
brains, so assigns his attributes thusly:
Action:
d10
Wits:
d8
Ego:
d6
Hits:
9
Fleshing out your character
USR requires each starting character
to have a background story. I've decided to use random rolls on background
tables with guidance taken from the Fiasco rulebook to interpret the results. I'm using Chaosium's Elric!
Background table for the first roll and a second roll is made on a long extinct
optional background table, which provides another layer of detail.
Sword
& Sorcery Background Table;
01-20 Warrior
21-30 Merchant
31-45 Sailor
46-60 Hunter
61-65 Farmer
66-70 Slave
71-75 Noble
76-85 Thief
86-90 Beggar (Roll for afflictions).
91-00 Craftsman (specify Craft).
Background
Details Table;
These tables are used after the adventurer occupation has been determined by
the player. Simply roll 1d10 and refer to the descriptions given below. Players
are then encouraged to embellish the detail with input from all players. The GM
will have to facilitate the final product, but keep in mind, the players are
looking to establish the reason they are all together adventuring!
Beggar
Craftperson
Hunter Merchant
d10
1 Temple City Kn:
Area Bad Associate
2 Spy Enemy
Merchant Kn: Animal Claim
3 Blackmail Legacy Beasts' Curse Antiquarian
4 Tout Craft
Secret Hated
by Baron Slave Merchant
5 Catacombs Embrss. Witness Kn:
Treasure Angered King
6 Corpses Tr. Dexterity Murder Witness Caravaneer
7 Victim Black Sheep Resilient Ransomed
8 Kidnapper Murderer
Animal Companion War
9 Kn: City Poverty Hunting site Taxes
10 Free choice Free
choice Free choice Free choice
Minor Noble Peasant Farmer Sailor
Slave
d10
1 Duelist Tax Collector
Pirate
Scars
2 Bracelet Peasant revolt Ports
Knowledge Free Man
3 Royal Court Peasant Defender Corsair Torturer
4 Don Juan Mercenaries Mutilated
Wizard
5 Ancestral Weapon No
money Watch Marked
6 Successful Merc. Looted Galerian Murderer
7 Domain Seized Very Healthy Treasure
Island Miner
8 Rescuer Lord's Right Shipwrecked
Rescuer
9 Gambling Father Away
Bad Luck Storm
10 Free choice Free
choice Free
Choice Free choice
Warrior
Thief
d10
1 Gates Guard Last Survivor
2 Mercenary Secret Passage
3 Crusading Knight Dexterity
4 Training Infamy
mark
5 Executioner Grd. Banned
6 Outcast Gangs War
7 Big Battle Sorcery
8 Temple Guard Good Job
9 Desertion Ring
10 Free choice Free
choice
Specialisms
A
character may choose three specialisms. Specialisms show specific skills and
knowledge the character has acquired through his adventures. There is no set
skill list because to cover every genre would take a hell of a long time, so
try and think of something yourself and run it by your GM to make sure it's
appropriate. For his new character Dor Stryker, Glen could choose 'Hand to Hand
Combat' as one of his specialisms.
A
specialism is tied to an attribute and gives a +2 bonus to that attribute's die
roll when the specialism is used. With Dor, his ''Hand to Hand Combat '
specialism is tied to Action, so he gains a +2 when rolling for Action (d10)
when engaging in close combat with hand weapons.
Specialisms
are written on character sheets with their bonus in brackets, such as Hand to
Hand Combat (+2 Action).
Examples of Specialisms
Action: Athletics, Close
Combat, Riding, Intimidating, Musician, Climbing.
Wit: Lore, Deduction,
Observant, Disguise, Strategic.
Ego: Leadership,
Bartering, Initiative, Charming, Empathetic, Manipulative.
Example of a character
Dor Stryker
Warrior,
Executioner’s Guard (rolled on the background tables)
Action: d10
Wit: d8
Ego: d6
Specialisms
Action – Close Combat (+2), Drive
Chariot (+2)
Ego – Leadership (+2)
Dor is the headsman for the Grand Inquisitor of the city of Dipur. He
brings the doomed souls chained in the Inquisitor’s dungeons to the end of
their misery. Recently, the slaves have begun to refuse to carry the bodies of
the executed to the canals. They roll their eyes in fear and speak of the
horror in the dark. You will have to find a way to dispose of the decapitated
criminals soon or the stink will become unbearable.
Playing the game
Here
we look at how the game is played, from how to race chariots against professional
slaves to slashing through hordes of undead.
Contested Attribute Tests
There
will come a time in every game when a player is put in direct conflict with
someone or something. This could be a bake-off, court battle or motorbike race,
whatever it is there's a really simple way of working out who comes out on top.
When
someone is actively competing against someone else the player makes an
attribute test. Both the player and the GM (or another player if it involves
another character) rolls a die corresponding to the relevant attribute. If the
player was locked in an arm wrestle with a decadent flesh merchant, both would
roll their Action attributes. The highest roll wins the contest. On a tie the
test is re-rolled until there is a clear winner.
Non-Contested Attribute
Tests
Sometimes
the player won't be in direct competition with anyone else. Perhaps they're
trying to climb a mountain or smith an enchanted sword. Here they must roll
their relevant attribute on a difficulty table to see whether they succeed.
For
example, Dor is chained to the dungeon wall. He must first break his bonds before
he can hunt down the crazed cultists. His player tells the GM that Dor will try
and escape from his bonds. The GM asks for a medium Action roll (the chains are
old and pitted). The player rolls a 5, which is a success. Dor escapes from his
bonds and now stalks the halls looking for vengeance. Coming upon a wide canal,
Dor flings himself across to escape subterranean man-apes. This is a dangerous
move, so the GM asks for a medium action roll, on the count of the slippery
footing and distance to jump. Dor rolls a 3 – and is unsuccessful! Dor bounces
hard off the far wall and falls in to the fast moving muck. Escaping the immediate
clutches of the man-apes, Dor will now have to try and get out of the dark and
foul canal!
Difficulty Table
Successful Roll Difficulty
2+Easy (e.g. Jumping a low wall,
bartering for food)
4+Medium (e.g. Riding a horse, rock
climbing)
7+Hard (e.g. Breaking into a safe,
hot-wiring a car)
10+Very Hard (e.g. Understanding a
foreign language, building a robot)
14+Impossible (e.g. Disproving
relativity, downing a bottle of tequila without vomiting)
The following combat rules are revised as of 2/8/14
Combat
Fighting
is handled in the same way as contested attribute tests but with a little extra
added on.
All
contested combat rolls use the Action attribute during combat.
Close Combat (Hand-to-Hand)
Most
close combats are simultaneous, whether one on one, or one against many. All participants
are considered both attacking and defending during the engagement. This does
not preclude defensive actions being taking by one or more participants.
The
attacker is considered the one who rolls highest. The attacker has scored a hit and the
defender's Hits are reduced by the difference between the winning and losing
rolls.
For
example, Dor is fighting an intruder. Dor rolls 6 on his Action attribute and
the GM rolls a 4 for the intruder. The intruder then has his Hits reduced by 2
(6-4=2).
The
defender’s damage can be reduced by armor worn, including the defensive value
of a shield if brought to bear as well.
Note
that armor defensive values reduce damage inflicted, but do not add or subtract
from the combat roll while weapon values are added to the combat roll.
If
the “attacker” is actually taking a defensive action; such as dodging a blow
while leaping out the window, the defender wouldn’t receive any wounds, per se.
Instead the attacker would have been successful with their intended action.
For Example; Skavos the Savage intends to defend against the harsh blows from
three desert nomads, as he looks to leap upon his steed. Skavos has a Khazistan
Swordplay specialism (+2 Action), and he is wielding scimitar (+2 to combat
roll). Each of the desert nomads are armed with their own curving scimitars,
and are intent on hewing Skavos down where he stands. Skavos rolls a 5 on his
d10 Action die for a total of 9. The nomads, with an Action die of d8, each
roll for their attacks getting (4+2)=6, (4+2)=6, and (6+2)=8. Skavos has scored
a higher combat roll than all his antagonists successfully deflecting their
desperate sword thrusts, and leaps onto his horse to affect his escape..
When
Hits reach 0 the character is dead.
Alternatively
the GM may rule that the character is merely unconscious.
Hits
may be regained through healing, but may never go above the initial score.
Weapons
and Armor
Weapons
can give bonuses in combat, giving one side the edge over the other. Each
weapon gives a bonus to the Action roll when brought to bear. Weapon types are
as follows:
Light
weapon +1 (e.g. short sword, club, javelin)
Medium
weapon +2 (e.g. broadsword, battle axe)
Heavy
weapon +3 (e.g. halberd, long bow, two handed sword)
Weapons
listed as “First Strike” weapons can receive a reach bonus over an unarmed opponent,
or armed with a smaller weapon. For the first round of the engagement the
bearer of the first strike weapon cannot receive damage unless a significant
hit is scored against him. This bonus capability can only be applied against
one opponent. Any other attacker resolves the combat roll normally with both
participants capable of receiving, and giving damage.
Armor
can be used to negate the effects of being hurt. Each armor type reduces the
number of Hits taken in combat.
Light
armor -1 (e.g. jerkin, gauntlets, light studded armor)
Medium
armor -2 (e.g. scale mail, chainmail)
Heavy
armor -3 (e.g. plate mail, enchanted steel)
These
examples are by no means the only weapons and armor that you can have in a
game. The GM could create a spear that gives the character a +5 charging bonus
or a suit of armor that's a -4. Just use the above examples as guidelines and
have fun making up your own bad-ass creations.
How
combat flows
It's
up to you how you want combat to play out. You should give the players an
indication of their adversaries’ obvious actions, and then give your players a
chance to declare their intent. An attempt to achieve surprise may require a
successful Attribute roll, or not, but the result of surprise generally means
the attacker cannot receive an adverse effect, wounds or otherwise, from the
attack roll.
Using specialisms in
combat
Characters can use their specialisms in order
to gain an edge in combat situations. For example, the greedy merchant wants to
find a volatile potion on the lich king’s dusty shelves to protect himself. As
his first action he uses his Evaluate Treasure
specialism to try and find a substance which might be useful in combat. The
GM says it's a hard difficulty roll and rolls a 7 and adds 2 for his
specialism, giving a result of 9 – a success! The GM tells the desperate
merchant a bottle of volatile dragon venom is among the normal inert ingredients
on a sorcerer’s shelves. He picks up the dangerous venom and flings it at lurching
undead horror. The doomed merchant will need to roll an Action die now to see if
he hits!
Don’t forget, Characters may create
specialisms to enhance the limited set of combat mechanics present.
Ranged
Combat
Attacking
at distance is done like close combat except for the following modifications.
A minimum
Difficulty Rating needs to be achieved for the attack to be considered a hit.
This difficulty number is based on the range of the attack. Once the difficulty
number has been established any situational modifiers and/or specialism bonus can
be applied to the attack.
The
target of the attack does not get to apply any weapon bonuses or combat
specialisms to their combat roll unless they are within Immediate range.
If both
opponents are engaging with a ranged attack then who gets off the first shot needs
to be established. This calls for an initiative roll based on rolling both their
Action, and Wits die totaled. High roll shoots first. If the defender of the
first attack is still standing they are now entitled to return fire, or take
some other action. If there is a tie,
both attackers get off their attacks, and both attacks will need to be resolved
simultaneously.
Difficulty Rating based on Range;
Immediate, Easy-02 (Attack is within close combat range)
Short, Medium-04 (Attack is within 10-40 feet)
Medium, Difficult-07 (Attack is within 41-70 feet)
Long, Hard-10 (Attack is within 71-200 feet)
Extreme,
Impossible-14 (Attack is over 200 feet)
For
example, Bert is a rogue who has the knife specialism. He's facing down a city
guard who demands Bert to hold and receive the king’s justice. He chooses to hurl
his knife at the guard, hoping to silence the cur with one blow. The GM rules
that hurling the knife at the guard silhouetted in the street at short range is
a medium difficulty roll. This means Bert would have to score a 4 or better on
his combat roll for the attack to even be considered a hit. Bert rolls a total
of 8 and on his action d10 attribute die and is successful. The guard rolls a
3, taking 4 (8-3-1 for armor protection) hits! The guardsman is seriously
wounded and cries out for his comrades!
Magic
in Combat
Magical attacks are Ego attribute based attacks,
and therefore are rolled using the Ego die. If the target of the magical attack
attempts to make a physical attack at the same time, then which attack goes
first becomes important. Just like a contested ranged attack discussed above,
initiative is determined by rolling Action die + Wits die. High roll goes
first. If there is a tie, both attackers get off their attacks, and both
attacks will need to be resolved simultaneously.
For
example, the arch mage surprises intruders with his cloud of death spell. The cloud
of death is a medium attack spell so the mage receives a +2 on his Ego roll. He
also receives a +2 for his Arcane Arts specialism. He rolls a 5 and adds 4,
resulting in a total of 9. The group of thieves each rolls their Ego die and
apply the resulting damage.
88 Artist
