Introduction

The Basics
There
are a lot of pages in this book but players don’t need to read all of them to
play the game. The basic mechanics of the Torg
game are not difficult and can be learn
fairly quickly. This section briefly explains the essential concepts and
mechanics of Torg;
reading it first will make learning the material in the rest of this book much
easier.
Attributes and Skills
All
characters have the same attributes, though not in the same quantities. All
characters have skills, but types and level of skills vary from character to
character. Skills are rated by adds,
which is the number added to the character’s base attribute to get the value
for that skill. A character with a Dexterity
attribute of 10 and three adds in the running skill
would have a running skill
value of 13.
The Die Roll
Torg uses a
twenty-sided die. The player rolls the die each time the character tries to use
a skill value or attribute value to accomplish a task. Whenever a player rolls
a 10 or a 20 on the die she might get to roll the die again, adding the next
roll to the first 10 or 20. The player may keep rolling and adding until a
number that isn’t a 10 or 20 appears. She adds in this final number to obtain
the final die roll.
The open-ended nature of the die roll allows characters in Torg to
perform amazing feats.
Generating a Total
Compare
the final die roll to the bonus
chart, which can be found on the character
sheet provided in the back of this rulebook and also elsewhere in this book.
Beneath each range of final die rolls is a corresponding bonus number. The sum
of the skill value and the bonus number is called the action total.
Some
tasks require two totals, the first to determine if a character succeeds at the
action, the second to determine just how successful. The second total is
determined by adding the same bonus (the
die is not rolled
again) to a different value if the action succeeds. This second total is called
the effect total.
The Main Idea
Whenever
a player wants his character to attempt something that doesn’t have an
automatic chance of success, the player rolls a twenty-sided die and looks up the
roll on the bonus chart.
He takes the bonus number from
the chart and adds it to an appropriate Attribute
or Skill.
This value is compared to a difficulty
number determined by the gamemaster and if the
character’s total is equal to or higher than the difficulty number, the
character succeeds.
Beating a Difficulty Number
Some
actions are harder than others. Whenever the gamemaster calls for an action
total, he also sets a difficulty number for the task. The character succeeds if the action total is equal to or greater than the
difficulty number. If the total is lower, the character
fails.
Combat
A
combat round represents 10 seconds of “game time.” In each round, one side gets
to perform all its actions and then the other side performs its actions.
Initiative is determined by flipping the top card of the drama deck. The side
that has the initiative goes first.
Damage
When
a character successfully hits in combat the effect
total determines damage. The attacker’s
damage value is her Strength,
possibly modified by a melee or missile weapon, or the damage value of the
weapon used (for weapons that provide their own energy like a crossbow). The
difficulty is the target’s Toughness
(or armor value). The more the effect
total exceeds the difficulty number, the more damage is done to the target.
Values and Measures
Torg uses a
unique system of “values” and “measures” to translate back and forth between
the game and the real world. A value
is a quantity measured in a way that
can be used in the game, such as comparing a character’s Strength value to an object’s
weight value to
see if he can lift it. A measure
is a measurement from the real world such
as “.”
Measures can
be translated into values and vice versa to enable players and gamemasters to
express real world measurements in game terms and the other way around.
Introduction
Attributes and Skills
All
characters have attributes.
An attribute is defined as an ability that all living creatures have. One
creature may have more of an attribute, such as strength, than another may, but
all characters have a Strength attribute.
There
are seven attributes in the game —
Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, Mind,
Charisma and Spirit.
These are sometimes abbreviated as DEX, STR, TOU, PER, MIN, CHA, and SPI. The
first three are broad measures of physical ability, the next two gauge your
character’s mental sharpness and intelligence, while the last two measure
personality and presence. The number listed next to each on the templates 10 is
the attribute value.
An attribute of six is poor, eight is average for normal humans, an attribute
of 10 is quite good, and 13 is the normal maximum for humans. Characters of
other races may have different attribute maximums (they can be found
in
Chapter Two.)
COMPARATIVE ATTRIBUTE VALUES
Value
Relative Human Ability
13+ Superhuman
13 Exceptional —
best a human can be; gold medal Olympic athlete; a natural genius; indomitable
personality
11–12 Outstanding —
very adept or extremely bright; in top physical shape; Nobel Prize winning
scientist; very popular
9–10 High average —I   good
shape; athletic; smart; amiable
7–8 Low average —
normal; moderate physical conditioning; not overly intelligent; personable but
unmemorable
6 Below average — poor
physical shape; clumsy; unintelligent; dull or abrasive personality
5– Well below average
— no physical ability; uncoMookinated; extremely
stupid; weak-minded; lacking in personality
Skills are
abilities that can vary from one creature to another and represent knowledge,
learning, practice or a natural ability (such as an animal might have.) The
character templates list the possible skills initially available toa character.
One of the skills on every template already has a number (3) filled in on the
template. This is that character’s primary skill, known as his tag skill. All
characters based on the same template. Attributes and skills are described in
more detail in Chapter Three.
A Brief Look at Action Values
In
the stories you play in Torg,
your character will be confronted with obstacles of all kinds, from primitive tribesmen
with shamanistic powers to rickety rope-bridges suspended over dizzying chasms.
The outcome of the story often hinges on how, or whether or not, your character
overcomes such obstacles. Whenever your character confronts an obstacle, her action value will help
determine success or failure. Action
value is the collective term for both skill
value (when you use a skill) and attribute value (when you use no skill, just
your raw attribute). However, as we know, life is very variable, and what you
can do easily one time may
be
much more difficult the next time you try. If this weren’t true, for example,
bowlers would always bowl perfect games! So, in Torg, when
your character faces an obstacle, you roll the 20-sided die and consult the bonus chart on your
character sheet, adding the bonus number there to your character’s skill or
attribute
value
to get an action total.
Obviously, the higher your character’s values are, the better he is at
performing certain tasks, and the better his chance for success. The bonus
chart goes higher then 20 because players are often allowed to roll the die
again and add it to the previous roll. The complete rules concerning action
values can be found at the beginning of Chapter Three.