Basics

## Common Terms

	+ Upon character creation, you initially choose your character's racial background from the Races, Subraces and Heritage section. However, for the current iteration of the game all characters begin as human.
* Backgrounds and Culture
	+ You also choose one of each from among the various Backgrounds and Cultures available.
* Point Buy for Ability Scores
	+ Your Ability Scores all start at 8, and you may distribute 18 points among these at character creation. At maximum level, you will receive an additional 6-10 more points to distribute among these.
* Select Starting Class
	+ You then receive two points to place into the feat grid/trees, which determines your starting Classes. At maximum level, you will receive 21 of these points. If your starting class is Cleric or Paladin, you must choose a Religion. If your starting class is Ranger, you must choose a pet. If you multiclass into any of these, you will have to choose upon multiclassing.
* Decide Starting Equipment
	+ You may choose starting Equipment - an accessory and a weapon.

### Ability Scores

#### **Primary Stats**

Players begin the game with a score of 8 in each Primary Stat, and are given 18 points to distribute among them at character creation. Two more points are unlocked by spending points in trees, as well as another optional two points. One point is also granted at level 5, 10, 15, and 20, for a total of 6-8 granted points. The maximum score in any Primary Stat at character creation is 18, with a maximum of 20 at maximum level.

Each Primary Stat governs 5 Secondary Stats, two of which are purely defensive in nature. The calculation for all secondary stats is half of the product of the two primary stats that govern it - this encourages builds that are balanced between several or all primary stats, depending on desired role.

* **Power - the physical heft with which one can move weapons and objects. Power also allows the effective use of heavy, powerful weapons.**
* **Agility - balance, flexibility and ability to move gracefully and lightly. Agility also allows the effective use of light, quick weapons.**
* **Endurance - the amount of energy one can expend, and how quickly it returns. Endurance also allows the use of heavier armor.**
* **Ego - the clarity and discipline of one's sense of, and control over, the self. Ego determines the maximum castable spell level in the Lore, Illusion, Arcane, and Elemental realms.**
* **Empathy - the ability to sense the intentions, feelings, and influences of one's surroundings. Empathy determines the maximum castable spell level in the Preservation, Necromancy, Healing, and Nature realms.**
* **Initiative - quickness of reaction, presence of mind, and opportunism. Initiative allows the effective use of shields.**

#### **Secondary Stats**

* **Vitality (Endurance+Power)**
	+ Base HP. This increases with level based on the class tree into which that level is placed, and all trees add some HP (6-10).
* **Prowess (Agility+Power)**
	+ Base Hit Chance. Weapon type and weapon quality will add to this, as well as certain player buffs and feats. The Balance (Dual Wield) tree shared by Fighters and Rangers also adds 1 Prowess for every point spent in it.
* **Accuracy (Agility+Endurance)**
	+ Critical Hit Chance. On any attack or spell that hits, a d100 roll equal to or above 100-(Accuracy/10) will result in a critical hit, which does double damage, and applies a secondary effect based on damage type. If a critical hit is rolled on an attack that still only results in a glancing blow, the attack will hit, but not score a critical hit. Placing points into the Archery (Rogue/Ranger) tree increases accuracy and applies further effects on critical hits. Attacks on unsuspecting/unaware enemies or from stealth are automatic critical hits, and critical hits always stagger for the attacker's full weapon stagger length, regardless of defender's armor.
* **Focus (Ego+Power)**
	+ Base single-target melee avoidance. Melee weapons will add to this based on their size, and it can be increased with feats and other effects or by active blocking. Every point spent in Dueling, the single-handed weapon tree shared by Thieves and Bards will add to Focus.
* **Willpower (Ego+Endurance)**
	+ Spell damage bonus. Willpower/10 is added to the total damage of any damaging spell, regardless of tree or type. Willpower increases with points spent in the Elemental magic tree shared by druids and mages.
* **Wit (Ego+Agility)**
	+ Base chance to evade any mind-affecting attack. This could be from a variety of sources, such as a spell, a psionic attack, a demoralizing chant or feint, or fear effect from a particularly intimidating monster. Certain buffs and feats may add to this, as well as placing points in the Lore tree, unique to Bards
* **Resolve (Empathy+Power)**
	+ Block cost reduction. All players have 100 stamina and expend 20 whenever they successfully defend against an attack of any kind, but only expend 10 if they are actively blocking (holding down the block key), during which time they cannot attack. Active blocking also expends 5 stamina per second. Resolve reduces the amount of stamina expended when an attack is successfully defended while active blocking by Resolve/10 percent. Without high Resolve, a character is inherently not effective at active blocking and will be quickly overwhelmed by a high volume of attacks. Resolve can be increased with feats and by spending points in the Protection/Armsmanship/Shield tree shared by Fighters and Paladins.
* **Faith (Empathy+Endurance)**
	+ Base spell defense. Spell defense applies to all spells that are not mind affecting, do not target an area, do not launch a projectile, and are not undefendable. This can be increased with spells and feats as well as placing points in the Zeal tree unique to Paladins.
* **Charisma (Empathy+Agility)**
	+ Healing bonus. Charisma/10 is added to all healing spells cast by the player, including self and group heals. This can be increased with a few feats and by placing points in the Healing tree shared by Druids and Clerics.
* **Id (Empathy+Ego)**
	+ Base mana. Mana is a finite resource that must be regenerated by consuming mana-containing items or resting. Thus any magic-user depends heavily on having a large mana pool available. This can only be increased with certain items or by placing points in the Wizard's Arcane tree, the Cleric's Necromancy tree, or the Druid's Wild Magic tree. Note that placing points in the Zeal, Preservation, Healing, Elemental, Illusion and Lore trees (the other trees that contain mana-using abilities) does not add to base mana and thus players planning on using those trees without the three that contribute to mana must manage their mana expenditure much more carefully.
* **Ferocity (Initiative+Power)**
	+ Weapon damage bonus. Accuracy/10 is added to every swing with a melee weapon or shot with a ranged weapon, if it successfully connects. This can be increased with certain Fighter feats or by putting points into the Rage (Fighter) tree at the top of the wheel.
* **Conditioning (Initiative+Endurance)**
	+ Stamina regeneration rate. Base stamina regeneration is 10/s while moving and 20/s while standing still. This is increased by Conditioning/10, so a player with maximum Conditioning regenerates 40/s while moving and 50/s while standing still (out of a maximum of 100 - needing only 2s to fully regenerate stamina). Conditioning improves with points placed in the Beastmastery tree available only to Rangers.
* **Reflexes (Initiative + Agility)**
	+ Base projectile avoidance. Increases with certain feats, active blocking, and points spent in the Skullduggery (Rogue) tree.
* **Intelligence (initiative+Ego)**
	+ Base spell hit chance. Increases with feats and points spent in Illusion tree, shared by Wizards and Bards.
* **Perception (Initiative+Empathy)**
	+ Base area avoidance. This applies to area-of-effect spells, such as Fireball or Entangle, as well as cleave melee attacks, and certain traps or breath weapons. This can be increased by some feats, active blocking, and placing points in the Preservation tree shared by Clerics and Paladins.

### Abilities And Spellcasters

The ability that governs bonus spells depends on what type of spellcaster your character is: Intelligence for wizards; Faith for clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers; or Charisma for sorcerers and bards. In addition to having a high ability score, a spellcaster must be of high enough class level to be able to cast spells of a given spell level.

## Backgrounds

Upon Character Creation, a player must select a Background, they confer small but significant gameplay changes. These reflect your character's personal background before enrolling as a Magistocrat, most often the socioeconomic circumstances of the characters' parents or their own personality as a young person. There are other Background feats not available to the player that are used by various NPC's.

#### **Scholar**

A lifetime of scholarly pursuits has granted the Scholar **+10 Intelligence, Willpower, and Id,** but not enough playing outside has resulted in a loss of **-20 Conditioning.**

#### **Athlete**

The Athlete's love of sports and games allows for **+10 Conditioning, Prowess, and Accuracy,** but with no time for studies, the athlete suffers from **-20 Intelligence**.

#### **Thief**

The first lesson of any skilled thief is how not to get caught, the Thief receives **+10 to Wit, Perception, and Reflexes**, but their larcenous ways cause them to lose **-10 Willpower and Resolve**.

#### **Peasant**

Hard work and sacrifice grant the gentle Peasant **+10 Faith, Focus, and Resolve**, but the farmer's pacifist upbringing results in a loss of **-10 Ferocity and Prowess**.

#### **Noble**

The ruling class's life of leisure amongst other members of high society has blessed the Noble with **+10 Charisma and +10 Vitality.** This background is required if a player wishes to be a Paladin.

#### Cultures

The characters nation of origin and racial heritage.

#### **Elf-Blooded**

An Elf-Blooded player descends, however distantly, from the long-extinct Elven nations of the West, who many centuries ago walked, and bred, freely among humans. Elf-Blooded individuals may cast spells of up to Level 3 without the need for a magical focus, and slowly regenerate Mana naturally. However, their natural aptitude for magic has led them to neglect the studious habits necessary to memorize many spells, and Elf-Blooded players may only learn one spell of each level.

#### **Northern Cultures**

##### Buraho (Freeholders)

Hailing from the scattered Freeholds among the hills and sandy beaches of the North, clad in the everlasting mist of an eternal, pale morning sun, the natives of the Freeholds are tall and olive skinned, often styling their tightly curled hair into a riot of shapes and colors, in contrast to the grey ceramic buildings that make up their homes. The Freeholds are home to people of all types but most Freeholders tend to be devout worshippers of the Star-Goddess, who guides them through the mist, firm champions of fairness and democracy, and while neither scholarly nor particularly skilled in feats of arms, the finest craftsmen in the world.

#### Southern Cultures

##### **(Foresters)**

The Magistocracy of Meridian itself is made up primarily of individuals from the nearby Faelight forest, as a lifetime of exposure to magical energies and beings presents many opportunities for acquiring aptitude in the arcane arts. The human natives are pale skinned and stocky, with large eyes and copious blonde, red, or brown hair. Many Foresters have nothing to do with the Magistocrats, and live in small settlements throughout the woods southeast of Meridian. Forester Druids, Mages, and Rogues... magical armor or weapons

#### Eastern Cultures

##### **Lavosi**

Sun worshippers who are made up of two distinct groups.

###### Mainlanders

Far to the east of Manafell, past where the Faelight gives way to a jungle of goliath trees and enormous mushrooms devoid of animal life, and the sun beats down with relentless, nightless heat, rise the terraced mountain kingdom of the Lavosi. By far the largest and most populous of the human nations, this strictly regimented society of large, dark skinned sun-worshippers lives entirely in the eternal shade of the leeward side of a long mountain range, with buildings hewn into the very stone faces of the mountains. On the sunward side, in never-ending mid-morning swelter, peasants tend to massive, terraced gardens and farms that produce vast quantities of food, required to maintain an enormous standing army that endlessly patrols the inhospitable plains below, for across the plains lies a truly hostile desert, home to an ancient enemy. Bonus to Paladins and fighters, anyone using a weapon or armor.

#### Western Cultures

The western cultures are formed around the 4 major religions of the area.

#### **Void-Touched\***

Claimed by shadow before birth, a Void-Touched player does 15% increased damage with any spell or attack that deals shadow damage, but takes 10% increased damage from all sources of Holy damage.

#### **Spark-Touched\***

One with raw, sizzling power, a Spark-Touched player does 15% increased damage with any spell or attack that deals electricity damage, but takes 10% increased damage from all sources of fire damage. This background feat is meant for the NPC Human Bard.

#### **Cold-Touched\***

One with the frozen wastes, a Cold-Touched player does 15% increased damage with any spell or attack that deals cold damage, but takes 10% increased damage from all sources of electricity damage. This background feat is meant for the NPC Elf Samurai.

#### **Flame-Touched\***

One with the burning roil, a Flame-Touched player does 15% increased damage with any spell or attack that deals fire damage, but takes 10% increased damage from all sources of cold damage. This background feat is meant for the NPC Human Fighter/Cleric.

#### **Elven\***

An Elven character regenerates mana quickly, may cast spells without a focus, and ignores 10% of armor mana cost penalty. This background feat is meant for the NPC Elf Samurai.

#### **Mutant\***

The beast people of the Faelight naturally regenerate health over time and enjoy damage reduction versus physical and magical sources, but despite being altered by generations of bombardment by magical energies, are unable to use magic at all. This feat is meant for the NPC Gnoll Assassin.

**\*denotes not available for story mode, the main character is "earth-touched"**

## Playing the Game

### !!!NEEDS TO BE RE-WRITTEN!!!!

The Game Master describes the events that occur in the game world, and the players take turns describing what their characters do in response to those events. Unlike storytelling, however, the actions of the players and the characters controlled by the Game Master (frequently called non-player characters, or NPCs) are not certain. Most actions require dice rolls to determine success, with some tasks being more difficult than others. Each character is better at some things than he is at other things, granting him bonuses based on his skills and abilities.

## The Core Mechanic

Whenever you attempt an action that has some chance of failure, you roll one or more dice. To determine if your character succeeds at a task you do this:

* Roll
* Add any relevant modifiers.
* Compare the result to a target number.

If the result IS EQUAL TO OR LOWER THAN the target number, your character succeeds. If the result is HIGHER than the target number, you fail.

### Dice

Whenever a dice roll is required, the roll is noted as “d#,” with the “#” representing the number of sides on the die. If you need to roll multiple dice of the same type, there will be a number before the “d.” For example, if you are required to roll 4d6, you should roll four six-sided dice and add the results together. Sometimes there will be a + or – after the notation, meaning that you add that number to, or subtract it from, the total results of the dice (not to each individual die rolled). Most die rolls in the game use a d20 with a number of modifiers based on the character’s skills, his or her abilities, and the situation. Generally speaking, rolling high is better than rolling low. Percentile rolls are a special case, indicated as rolling d%. You can generate a random number in this range by rolling two differently colored ten-sided dice (2d10). Pick one color to represent the tens digit, then roll both dice. If the die chosen to be the tens digit rolls a “4” and the other d10 rolls a “2,” then you’ve generated a 42. A zero on the tens digit die indicates a result from 1 to 9, or 100 if both dice result in a zero. Some d10s are printed with “10,” “20,” “30,” and so on in order to make reading d% rolls easier. Unless otherwise noted, whenever you must round a number, always round down.

### Dice

Dice rolls are described with expressions such as “3d4+3,” which means “roll three four-sided dice and add 3” (resulting in a number between 6 and 15). The first number tells you how many dice to roll (adding the results together). The number immediately after the “d” tells you the type of die to use. Any number after that indicates a quantity that is added or subtracted from the result.

##### d%

Percentile dice work a little differently. You generate a number between 1 and 100 by rolling two different ten-sided dice. One (designated before you roll) is the tens digit. The other is the ones digit. Two 0s represent 100.

Modifiers

##### Size Modifier

A size bonus or penalty is derived from a creature's size category. Size modifiers of different kinds apply to Armor Class, attack rolls, Hide checks, grapple checks, and various other checks.

### Rounding Fractions

In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger.

*Exception:* Certain rolls, such as damage and hit points, have a minimum of 1.

### Multiplying

Sometimes a rule makes you multiply a number or a die roll. As long as you’re applying a single multiplier, multiply the number normally. When two or more multipliers apply to any abstract value (such as a modifier or a die roll), however, combine them into a single multiple, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. Thus, a double (×2) and a double (×2) applied to the same number results in a triple (×3, because 2 + 1 = 3).

When applying multipliers to real-world values (such as weight or distance), normal rules of math apply instead. A creature whose size doubles (thus multiplying its weight by 8) and then is turned to stone (which would multiply its weight by a factor of roughly 3) now weighs about 24 times normal, not 10 times normal. Similarly, a blinded creature attempting to negotiate difficult terrain would count each square as 4 squares (doubling the cost twice, for a total multiplier of ×4), rather than as 3 squares (adding 100% twice).

## Vital Statistics

### Age

You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Random Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Random Starting Ages.

Alternatively, refer to Table: Random Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.

With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.

When a character reaches venerable age, secretly roll his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year.

The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections, or violence before getting to venerable age.

### Height And Weight

The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.