Gieden, Chapter Seven: The Nuameii, Part 1

This chapter has two main uses. First, it can be used to understand the Nuameii and other creatures that the player characters may encounter, and second, it may be used to describe the Nuameii that they become. Part One will give you all the tools necessary to understand and fully utilize Part Two; Part Two will have each Nuameii’s specific information, given in the form of short, easy to follow entries. I will dissect an entry here, for your reference.

Name:Common name, then specific type, if any
Size:gives height, weight, and length Usual Spirit Color: usual color of the spirit
Initiative: This number + 1D10 is the monster’s initiative
Full Color: Usual color once it’s pulled through
Speed: Were you to attempt to outrun it…. Organization: Once pulled through, how they deal with others of their type
Health: How many boxes?
Attacks: Type, Dice rolled, HD, DD, Damage Temperament: Reaction to humans
Special: Special abilities Ecology: Once pulled through, what they eat, where they sleep, ect.
Description: General appearance
Bonds With: When a person uses magic for the first time, they bond with a Nuameii. This will be the Nuameii they manifest if they die using magic. Nuameii bind to people based on their emotions and affinities; this tells which emotions or other factors summon the Nuameii listed.

The usual spirit color tells you the color the Nuameii will usually manifest as. This gives you a pretty accurate idea of what types of magic are likely to summon that particular Nuameii. For instance, if under ‘Usual Spirit Color’ the entry only said ‘Blue’, then you would know that only protection magic usually summoned that type of monster. Speed is a general idea of how the Nuameii’s running speed matches up to the average human’s. Some people are faster than others, though, and there may be special circumstances, such as the human having a head start.

Nuameii in Combat:
The Nuameii attacks as listed under “Attacks” in their entry. However many dice they use in order to attack, they have the same number of dice available to them when dodging. For instance, if the entry read “roll 6”, it would mean that that particular Nuameii rolled 6 dice when attacking and 6 dice when dodging. Nuameii may split their dice and do multiple attacks or multiple dodges just as players can. When Nuameii take damage, they do not suffer the same penalties for injury that players do. Nuameii also do not get tired, and so suffer no exhaustion penalties. Nuameii that have hands (such as Harpies, Minotaurs, and Fey Dragons) may choose to use weapons. If they do so, they roll the same number of dice as for their normal attack, but they do damage as per their chosen weapon (some entries mention bonuses when the Nuameii is attacking with human weapons).

Nuameii Progression:
As your players get stronger, they may need stronger opponents. On the other hand, if your players ever become Nuameii, they may wish to continue playing and continue to grow stronger. Therefore, it is necessary to have rules for the progression of Nuameii abilities.
The easiest way to progress Nuameii that are not player characters is to give them extra dice to roll. Just raise the number of dice they get to use to attack and dodge with, give them a few extra damage boxes, and, if really necessary, give them a new special ability or two.
When players become Nuameii, they keep their Skills, but their Statistics become those of the Nuameii form that they take on. They may use experience points to raise their Skills, buy advantages, remove flaws, and gain determination. Some Nuameii may use magic. At the Game Master’s discretion, certain Statistics, such as Intelligence and Wisdom may still be raised after the transformation to Nuameii. Keep in mind that since most Nuameii do not wield weapons, their attacks will generally be Strength+Brawl instead of Dexterity+Melee.


Nuameii as companions:
Although virtually all Nuameii initially lash out at those nearby, once they settle down, some Nuameii actively seek out human companionship. This may be due to them having memories of their former lives or simply because of the type of Nuameii they are. If a player wishes to have a Nuameii companion, the Game Master should consider the situation as well as the type of Nuameii companion requested. In some cases, a Nuameii companion may count as a Strong Advantage; for instance, a small Tech Golem that is obedient, useful, and easily concealed. If this Golem was ever discovered, though, the player’s character would quickly be booted out of any civilized society, or perhaps even killed. If the character had little interaction with society and dealt with only a select group of people, they may have something more obvious, like a Spirit Cat, or they may be friends with a Fey Dragon.
A Nuameii Companion could also count as a Major Disadvantage. Say, for instance, that one character swore an oath to protect another, and then that character became a Nuameii. In this situation, the character can never live in regular human society and cannot leave the Nuameii’s side. They may even end up fighting other humans in order to defend ‘their’ Nuameii.

Nuameii Ecology:
In the world of the Nuameii, physical bodies are meaningless. Nuameii are immortal, ever changing energies. Once they come to this world, they are trapped in a single form, and if they are ever ‘pulled through’, they experience hitherto unknown sensations such as sleepiness, hunger, and loneliness. Some of these creatures, such as Satyrs, may feel the need to procreate. This almost never results in offspring. Nuameii do not die of old age, but if ‘pulled through’, they may die of sickness, hunger, or injury.

Why Pull A Nuameii Through?
Nuameii long to return home, and their only way back to their world is to die in ours. Thus, they seek out conflict. Being “pulled through” allows a Nuameii to become a resident of our world, which brings them some degree of comfort. This can be used as a bargaining chip, and brings the Nuameii a feeling of peace, which often makes it far less violent than it had been before.

Gieden, Combat Wrap-Up

A few more notes on Combat...

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What if my weapon isn’t on the Weapons Chart?
The bad news is, it’s impossible to cover every single damaging object known to man on one chart. The good news is, that’s not really necessary. It’s easy enough for a Game Master to approximate weapons by looking up the information on a similar weapon and then modifying it (or not) however seems appropriate. For instance, if Tommy is using a crowbar, the Game Master may choose to use the statistics given for a bat, or they may modify those statistics slightly to represent the crowbar’s shorter length and harder material. See “Here’s what makes for a good combat scene” below for more information on ‘realism’.

How do I calculate 1/3 box of damage? Basically, you’ll just round down to the nearest full box. If a weapon or a fist does 1/3 box of damage, then it takes 3 successes to give the target one box of damage. Less than three successes does no damage. Four successes would give you a total of 1 1/3 boxes of damage, so you’d round it down; the opponent would take one box of damage. Six successes would damage the opponent by 2 boxes, as would 7 or 8, but 9 successes would produce 3 boxes of damage.

How far can I move before attacking? A general rule of thumb is that you can move 10’ and still attack that round, or 20’ while dodging. However, certain situations, such as rough terrain, may alter that number at the Game Master's discretion.

What ranges do my weapons have? Magic can reach anyone within line of sight. A longbow can fire arrows almost 100’ semi-accurately. Pikes or javelins can range up to about 20’ long before getting unwieldy. To get past something like that, a character must spend a round or two dodging and getting close enough to attack. For melee weapons and fists, however, a good rule of thumb is “if you can reach them, they can reach you.”

Learning a New Weapon: Just because you can use one kind of sword doesn’t mean that you can use any sword. After your initial character creation, if you want to learn to use a new type of weapon, you can; however, for the first few sessions after you acquire your new weapon, you will only roll as many dice as you have dots in the applicable Statistic for that weapon. After you have used the weapon for a while, the Game Master will allow you to use the applicable Statistic and Skill, though you may have to work at it for a while before you get your full number of dots.

For example, if you normally used a rapier, you would look on the weapons chart under “sword” and see that the applicable Statistic is Dexterity and the applicable Skill is Melee. A katana is also a sword, but if your character only knows rapier and tries to use a katana, then they only get to count the number of dots they have in Dexterity until they became familiar with the weapon. As they become familiar with a katana, the Game Master will allow you to use more and more of your Skill rating. Optionally, the Game Master may simplify things by allowing the full Skill rating after an initial “learning” period.

Here’s what makes for a good combat scene:

*A sense of urgency. Roll dice as necessary, but keep the scene moving. If a player is wasting time deliberating their next move, remind them that the combat is continuing and they must act now. If this causes a rash decision, chalk it up to the heat of battle.

* A sense of timing. The clash of swords and cries of battle happen in an instant. Bandaging, studying, or covering large distances takes longer. Try to be realistic, and not to ‘pause’ the action while a character does a long and involved action just because it’s their ‘turn’.

* A sense of reality. Some weapons hurt more than others, some are easier to dodge, and some are easier to wield. The chart above is meant to approximate that. However, it’s possible to slice a throat with a tiny knife or to barely graze someone with a gunshot. Because of this wide variation, the charts (or Game Master’s approximations) do not have to be perfect to convey reality. Simply describe the attack in a way consistent with the damage done; for example: if a crossbow bolt does only one box of damage, the Game Master may describe it hitting the outside edge of the character’s shoulder. If it did 7 boxes, then it may have hit a throat or an eye. If a character sneaks up on a sleeping opponent and slices their throat, it would be silly to make them roll to hit, or to give their opponent a chance to dodge--and it's possible that the player wouldn't have to roll damage, either.

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Combat Modifiers

The system outlined in this chapter is all well and good, but sometimes things aren’t so simple. What happens if one of the combatants is wearing an armor that’s not on the chart? Or if they’re hiding in a bunker and you can only see their eyes? What if the guy hitting you with his fists happens to be the next Bruce Lee? Game Masters, relax. With judicious use of a few modifiers, all these situations and more can be resolved quickly and easily, and your players will never even see you sweat.

In the case of armor, the defender is either harder to hit or must be hit harder--or both. Basically, the attacker is going to have a little more difficulty hitting the target, and when they do hit, there's a chance that less damage will be done. This can be approximated by raising the Hit Difficulty of anyone who attacks them and/or giving them more boxes of damage. The chart above gives a guideline for handling armor. If a character’s armor type is not listed, try to determine what category is most similar to what they are using and modify it if necessary. Keep in mind, though, that magic is normally not affected by armor, so the higher Hit Difficulty and extra health box will do no good if the attacker is using magic (without special GM dispensation).

If the defenders are in extreme cover, they are hard to hit (of course). Raise the Hit Difficulty from one to three points to simulate the difficulty of hitting the small part of the target that is visible.

If the defender is prone, drunk, or stunned, lower the Hit Difficulty accordingly.

For an extremely skilled opponent, treat them as if they have the Advantage known as Combat Mastery.

If your character comes across or creates an incredibly damaging weapon, bump the damage accordingly, but you should not allow a weapon to do more than 2 1/2 boxes of damage per success. Beyond that, weapons tend to get over-powered to the point of absurdity. Remember, too, that sometimes incredibly damaging weapons are large and unwieldy, causing them to have a lower HD, a higher DD, or to do slightly less damage than they otherwise would.

Basically, the Weapons Chart works well for straightforward encounters and is an excellent starting place for complex ones. What this means for the Game Master is that when a player says, “Ok, I take my axe and swing it at him…” the Game Master can reference the chart and either say, “Roll Dexterity and Melee against a difficulty of six” or, “All right, but that armor’s pretty thick. Roll Dexterity and Melee against a difficulty of eight”. Remember, real life is flexible, and as a Game Master, it’s Ok if you are, too. Try for accuracy, try for consistency, but if you slip up now and then, well, life’s like that.

The two most common combat modifiers are exhaustion (which is mentioned in detail above), and injury. When a person is injured, they mark off sections of their hour-glass, also known as Health Boxes. There are ten sections, or boxes. Once a person takes a certain level of damage, they suffer penalties. The penalties are detailed on the right side of the hour-glass.
There is a space at the bottom of the character sheet where a player may jot down their modifiers. It is the PLAYER’S responsibility to keep up with their exhaustion and injury modifiers, and the Game Master’s responsibility to keep up with the ‘special case’ type modifiers.

(NOTE: There is a special Cheat Sheet for Game Masters, so that they can keep up with all modifiers for all players. I will give this sheet next time.)

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Combat summary:

*At the beginning of a combat scene, each character determines their Initiative by adding together the number of dots they have in Perception and Reflexes, rolling a D10, and adding the result to their total.

*Whomever has the highest total goes first, second highest goes second, ect.

* To attack, add the number of dots in the applicable Stat and Skill. Roll that many dice. For every die that shows a number equal to or above the Hit Difficulty of the weapon (plus any additions granted by the opponent's armor), the attacker has scored one success.

* The opponent may dodge or parry. To dodge, add the number of dots in Dexterity and Dodge. Roll that many dice. For every die that shows a number equal to or above the weapon’s Dodge Difficulty, one success is removed from the attacker’s successes. To parry, the player rolls the same dice they would to attack. If they score more successes than their attacker, then the blow was parried and does no damage. Otherwise, they take full damage.

*The Dodge and Parry dice available to a character may be split amongst multiple attacks, if necessary.

*Damage is calculated by multiplying the weapon’s Damage by the remaining number of successes.

*Once everyone has taken an action, the ‘round’ is over. If the number of rounds is equal to or has exceeded twice the number of dots in someone’s Physical Stamina Stat, then that person must roll a number of dice equal to the dots they have in Physical Stamina, vs. 6. If they succeed, they are fine, if not, then they get a 1 point penalty for every following round until they get to rest. This is cumulative.

* Everyone must now determine Initiative again.

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Next time: the Game Master's Cheat Sheet. See you then. ^.^

Gieden, Combat Charts

It's impossible to list every conceivable way for a character to take damage, but here are the weapons and armor charts, meant as a general guideline for Game Masters to use when determining the difficulty of wielding or dodging a weapon and the damage done. Note that the damage rating is per success, and that a low hit difficulty--especially when combined with a high dodge difficulty--is a major factor in the number of successes a given character is likely to achieve.

From the original text:
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Weapons Chart

Part One: Standard Weapons

Type------Stat/Skill-----Hit Difficulty---Dodge Difficulty----Damage

Fist-----Strength/Brawl--------6----------------6-------------------1/3
Small knife--Dexterity/Melee--6---------------6-------------------1/2
Thrown knife--Dex/Melee------7--------------5-------------------1/2
Dagger--------Dex/Melee-------6---------------6--------------------1
Staff/Bat-----Dex/Melee---------5---------------6--------------------1
Bow/Sling-----Strength/Bow----7---------------7--------------------1
Crossbow------Strength/Bow----6---------------7--------------------1
Sword-----------Dex/Melee-------6---------------6----------------1 1/2
Axe--------------Dex/Melee-------6---------------6---------------1 1/2

Part Two: Artifacts

Type----Stat/Skill-----Hit Difficulty-----DodgeDifficulty---Damage
Stun Gun--Dexterity/Brawl----6------------------6------------STUN
Light Pistol--Dex/Lost Tech--6------------------8------------1 1/2
Pistol--------Dex/Lost Tech----7------------------8--------------2
Rifle---------Dex/Lost Tech----6------------------8--------------2
Automatic-----Dex/Lost Tech--5------------------8------------2 1/2
Magical Artifice--Dex/Lost Tech--5 to 8--------5 to 8------1/3 to 2
***Game Master’s determination

Part Three: Magic

Type------------Rank----Hit Difficulty---Dodge Difficulty-----Damage
Pure Magic----As Noted--------7----------------10-----------As Noted
Destructive------1&2----------6-----------------7-----------As Noted
Destructive------3------------5-----------------9--------------1/2
Destructive (ball)--4---------6-----------------7---------------1
Destructive(bubble)-4---------5-----------------9--------------1/2
Destructive (ball)--5---------6-----------------7---------------2
Destructive (bubble)5---------5-----------------9---------------1
Fury-----------------1------------6-----------------7---------------1
Fury-----------------2------------6-----------------7--------------1 1/2
Fury-----------------3------------5-----------------9----5’, 1--10’, 1/2
Fury-----------------4------------5-----------------9----10’, 1--15’, 1/2
Fury-----------------5------------7-----------------9---------------2
Elemental-----------1-----------6------------------8---------------1/3
Elemental (fire)----4-----------7------------------6----------------1
Elemental (air)-----4-----------5------------------8---------------1/2
Elemental (water)---4-----------6------------------6---------------1/2
Elemental (earth)---4-----------5------------------6---------------1/2

Part Four: Miscellaneous

Type----------Stat/Skill-----------Damage--------------Special Considerations

Mild Poison-Int/Herbalism(Harm)-1/3 per round for 1-5 rounds--
-----------------------------------------------------------Easiest/cheapest poison
Poison------Int/Herbalism(Harm)-1/2 per round for 1-5 rounds--
-----------------------------------------------------------Harder to acquire
Deadly Poison(A)-Int/Herb.(Harm)-1 per round for 1-5 rounds--
----------------------------------------------------------Illegal/Hard to acquire
Deadly Poison(B)-Int/Herb.(Harm)-1/2 per round for 1-10 rounds--
----------------------------------------------------------Illegal/Hard to acquire
Contact Poison--Int/Herb.(Harm)--1/3 per round for 1-10 rounds--
-------------Illegal/Hard to acquire/only poison that does not need to be ingested or entered into bloodstream
Fire------------N/A----------------2 boxes per round-------disfigures quickly
Water-----------N/A-------------None until after 5 min. Then death
Earth-----------N/A-------------1 or more (crushing), possible death by suffocation
Falling--less than 10 ft-0--/--10-20ft-1--/--20-30ft-3--/--30-40ft,5--/
--greater than 40ft,death
***Acrobatics may lessen dmg.

Part Five: Armor
Type-------------Add to hit difficulty---Extra Damage Box?.....Penalties
Very Light---------------0-----------------------1...................None
(cloth, fur)
Light--------------------1-----------------------0.....................None
(supple leather or small shield)
Medium-------------------1-----------------------1...................None
(boiled leather)
Heavy--------------------2----------------------1......-1 to physicality
(Brig, Scale)
Super Heavy--------------2---------------------2.......-1 to physicality
(Full Plate w/shield)
**Extra damage boxes are added to the top of the hourglass, above the “Hurt”
level of damage.
~ Note: the weapons and armor listed here are meant as general categories~

Gieden, An Overview of Combat

The bottom left of the Gieden character sheet has a sword and a shield; this is where you mark down your weapons and armor. The hourglass at the bottom right is a measure of your health.

The combat system in Gieden is meant to function believably without getting weighed down by too many rules...so rather than beginning with hard and fast numbers, I'm going to begin this section with some common questions.

From the original text:

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Who goes first? In most situations, who acts first will rely on three things: the character’s perceptions, their reflexes, and luck. In game terms, this is called the Initiative, and it means that the players will add together the number of dots they have in perception and reflexes, then roll a D10 and add that number to their total. Whomever has the highest total has the first Initiative and will act first, the next highest will go next, and so on. There are some situations, however, where this is not the case. If characters are ambushed, for instance, one or more of the attackers may automatically get to go first. The players can’t attack characters that they don’t know are there, so until an attacker shows itself, no rolls are made.

What options do the players have? The players have as many options as they have imagination. They may use magic, attack with weapons, attack with their fists, run, use an artifact, hide, or whatever reasonable alternatives they may come up with. The basic rule of thumb is that whatever action the character takes, it must either take only a moment to do, or they must remain busy at that task for the rest of the round. For instance, swinging a sword (or dodging one, for that matter) only takes an instant, but if a character chose to sit down and examine an ancient artifact, then it could be assumed that they would be studying it for at least as long as it takes to finish a combat round.

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An overview of the combat system:

How does it work? To attack, the player will add the number of dots in the applicable Stat to the number of dots they have in the applicable Skill. The Weapons Chart will tell which Stat and Skill apply to your weapon, but for most weapons, you will roll Dexterity+Melee. To attack with your bare hands, you will roll Strength+Fist Fight.

You then roll that number of D10s against a target number, which also comes from the Weapons Chart--your weapon's "Hit Difficulty". This is a measure of how hard it is to hit a moving opponent with the weapon in question. Every D10 that shows a number higher than the weapon's Hit Difficulty (HD) is considered one "success".

Successes can be cancelled out by armor, or by the opposing character parrying or dodging. Any character who is attacked and is not pinned down can attempt to dodge.

To dodge, the player will add the number of dots they have in Dexterity and in Dodge, then roll that many dice against the weapon's "Dodge Difficulty" (also on the weapons chart). For every die that shows a number equal to or greater than the weapons Dodge Difficulty (DD), the attacker loses one success against the dodger.

For instance: Nathan rolls 4 successes to hit Donovan’s character.

If Donovan attempts to dodge and rolls 2 successes, then Donovan’s character is only damaged as if Nathan had hit with 2 successes. If Donovan rolls 3 successes, then Nathan is only left with 1, and if Donovan rolls 4 or more successes, then he dodged the attack entirely and takes no damage.

Damage is calculated by multiplying the number of successes that remain after armor, dodging, and parrying attempts by the weapon’s damage rating.

If a player takes damage, they mark off that many sections from the hourglass on their character sheet. Once their damage becomes substantial, they begin get penalties to their rolls. The numbers on the right hand side of the hour-glass show the applicable penalties.

What about armor? Armor raises the Hit Difficulty for your attacker and, in most cases, adds more health levels to your character. Basically, it takes a better, more accurate hit to do damage despite the armor, and even then, the armor will take the brunt of the damage--at least for the first few hits.

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Can a character dodge multiple attacks in the same round? If a player suspects that they will be attacked multiple times in a single round, then they have the option of attempting a Skilled Dodge. This is done by first adding together the total number of dots they have in Dexterity and Dodge, and then declaring how many of those dots will be used for each dodge.

For instance: Tommy’s character is being attacked by three archers. Tommy tells the Game Master that he will attempt a Skilled Dodge, and then adds together the number of dots he has in Dexterity (3) and in Dodge (also 3). This gives him 6 dice. The Game Master tells Tommy that the first arrow misses him, so Tommy doesn’t have to roll a dodge. The second arrow, though, will hit with four successes if Tommy doesn’t dodge well. Tommy decides to roll five of his six dice, and he scores three successes, greatly reducing the damage he would have taken. The last arrow is on its way, and now Tommy only has one die left to roll…

Can a Character Attack Multiple Times in a Round? Yes. A character may attack up to three times in a single round if they choose to do so. First, they would count the number of dice they would normally be allowed to use when attacking. Then, they would choose how many of those dice to use for each attack. For instance, someone using a sword would add up the number of dots they had in Dexterity and Melee. Let’s say they have 6 dice to roll. Now, if they wish to attack twice in a round, they could roll 3 dice for each attack, roll 5 dice for one attack and 1 for the other, or divide it any other way they saw fit.

Can a Character Block or Parry? Yes. If a person is using a weapon similar to the one they are being attacked with, or if they have the Strong Advantage: Expert Parry (see the section on Advantages and Disadvantages), then they may parry. This is done by rolling the dice just as if they were attacking. If their number of successes is equal to or greater than the attacker’s successes, then they have blocked the attack. Otherwise, they missed their block, and they take full damage. Parrying must be done instead of dodging or instead of attacking.

Can I Parry Multiple Attacks? Yes. Count the number of dice you would normally use to parry. Now decide how many of those dice to roll for each parry. This works almost exactly like a Skilled Dodge, however, a parry is all or nothing. You block, or you don’t. If the attacker ends up with even one extra success, then the blocker receives the full damage--a parry does not cancel out any successes unless it cancels out all the successes. Be very careful when attempting to parry multiple attacks.

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Using a Two-Weapon Style: Some characters may wish to use two weapons at once, such as twin scimitars or a short sword and dagger combination. In this case, the character cannot use their hands during the battle for anything other than wielding their weapons. The advantage of using two weapons is that it grants the user one free parry; instead of a parry taking the place of either a dodge or an attack, the player may choose to dodge, parry, and attack all in the same round, parry twice and then attack, or parry three times without having to split their dice pool.

Using a Two-Handed Weapon: Using a larger-than-normal melee weapon, such as a claymore or a massive axe, requires the use of two hands and allows the user to do more damage than usual. Anytime the user of such a weapon successfully hits an opponent, the weapon does an extra ½ box to full box of damage. There are three things to keep in mind when using this rule. First, an opponent who successfully dodges or parries the attack takes no damage. Second, the extra damage is added one time, not once per success. And third, this does not stack with Combat Mastery. Combat Mastery takes precedence over the two-handed weapon damage.

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Next time, I'll give the weapons chart. See you then. ;)

Gieden, Chapter Three: Character Creation (Bonus Points, Adv/Disadv, and Determination)

Once you assign your character's Stats and Skills, it's time to start considering some of the other sections on the character sheet and begin to assign your bonus points.

Just under the Skills and to the left of the Magic Circle, you will see a small section marked Adv/Disadv, which stands for Advantages and Disadvantages. These range from a minor advantage, such as being unnaturally fast, to a major one such as starting the game with a working Pre-Breaking Artifact; from a minor disadvantage such as being clumsy, to a major one such as being completely inept in certain forms of magic. I'm putting the full list at the bottom of this post so that you can look over them before deciding how important they are to you.

At the very bottom of the character sheet, you'll see a series of boxes labeled "Determination". This is what you roll against when determining if you lose a part of yourself to magic, or if you will be able to control the Nuameii born from your ashes should you magically burn yourself out. It's a measure of your strength of will.

From the original text:

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Now it’s time to spend the final set of Character Generation points. Just like the Stats and Skills, these will be divided between three categories. These categories are Determination, Advantages/Stats, and Skills. Decide which of these categories is most important to you. That will be your primary. Then choose which set will be secondary and which will be tertiary. The following chart will show you how many points this will give you in each category, and the text that follows explains how to use them.

-----------------Primary---------Secondary----------Tertiary
Determination------7-----------------5------------------3
Skills------------------6-----------------4------------------2
Advantages/Stats---3-----------------2------------------1

Determination:
If Determination is your primary choice, then you get 7 dots of Determination. If it’s secondary, you get Five, and if it’s Tertiary, you get 3. Notice that these boxes are divided. The top of each box represents your permanent Determination score, and the bottom represents your temporary score. If a player spends a temporary Determination point in order to manage some feat of will, that point will return when they sleep. However, the temporary points can never exceed the permanent points, and the permanent points do not return if used. New permanent points must be bought with experience points.

Skills:
If Skills are your primary choice, then you may add 6 more dots into the Skills of your choice, regardless of the sub-categories they fall under, although you may not exceed the maximum of five dots in any one skill. If Skills are secondary, you may add four dots, and if they are tertiary, you get to add two.

Advantages/Stats:
If this is your primary category, then you have three points to spend. Each point will buy you one Minor Advantage or allow you to add one dot to one Stat. Alternatively, you may spend all three of these points to gain one Major Advantage. If you decide to add dots to your Stats, you may add them to any Stat, regardless of sub-category. Remember, though, that no Stat may be raised higher than 4 dots at this time without Game Master permission. If you raise your Magical Talent or Magical Stamina, be sure and raise your Magical Disciplines or Magical Resistance score appropriately.

If this is your secondary category, you have two points to spend, so you can take two Minor Advantages or add two dots to the Statistics of your choice. If it is your tertiary, then you can take one Minor Advantage or add one dot to the Statistic of your choice.


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***Getting Additional Advantages***

During character creation, you may take additional advantages (above and beyond those purchased with bonus points) by taking on an equal amount of disadvantages.

Only three points worth of advantages may be bought this way. This means that a maximum of three minor advantages or one major advantage could be bought by taking on an equal number of disadvantages--either three minor ones or one major one.
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Advantages and Disadvantages


Advantages: These, of course, are the good things.

________Minor Advantages: To take one Minor Advantage, you must spend 25 experience points, use character creation points, or take one Minor Disadvantage. Taking a Major Disadvantage would give you three Minor Advantages.


Direction Sense: You have an almost unnatural feel for direction. Even in pitch darkness, if asked which way is North, you instinctively know. This makes it very hard for you to become lost, and is an invaluable skill for adventurers or cartographers.

Blind Fighting: You have an incredible ‘feel’ for battle, and can intuitively block incoming strikes and lash out again, even when blinded. Combat modifiers against you are significantly less than for other people in situations where you must fight blind.

Speed: You are faster than most people. When trying to cover a long distance in a short time, or when trying to run down an opponent, you are very likely to succeed. This is very useful against archers.

Jumping: You can jump unnaturally high and far, allowing you to cross many barriers instantaneously. Also, if you fall, you may take less damage than others, due to your practiced landings.

Wealth: You have a lot of currency, and a way to get more. In a game where money has little value, the Game Master may take this to mean that you have a lot of resources that are either tradable or inherently useful. You will not be able to house an army or fund a large expedition, but this advantage should be enough to cover your basic necessities with a little left over.

Renown: You are widely known for something very favorable: an incredible task, a prestigious family, a sense of Justice; whatever it is, it grants you respect from those who have heard of you, and they will often go out of their way to help you because of it.

Energy Awareness: You are innately attuned to the energy of a given place. You know when an area is filled with magic or when the magic has left an area. You also sometimes get a bad feeling from areas where nasty things have transpired or a peaceful feeling from places of rest. When a stranger invites you inside their home, this energy awareness may tell you all you need to know to make the right decision. It can also help you pick a suitable place to make camp, or avoid a site that is often used to ambush travelers.

Minor Artifact: You have one small tool that was created before the breaking. This may be a useful item like a ratchet set or a box of pens, or a valuable item like a crystal vase or a diamond necklace (good luck selling them for what they used to be worth, though). It could also be a book that contains valuable information, such as mechanical theories, advanced agricultural knowledge, or world geography. If it is such a book, and your character can read it, your Game Master may have you roll Intelligence + Lost Technology any time you run into a situation where the information in the book could be helpful. The difficulty would be determined by how complicated the information was. For instance, a book on auto repair wouldn’t be useful in most situations, but your character would almost certainly learn to recognize a car and know what it was supposed to do.

Endurance: You are exceptionally good at pushing your physical limits. When you have exceeded your physical stamina, you must make an exhaustion check just like everyone else. However, your target number begins at five instead of the usual target number of six.

__________Major Advantages: To take a Major Advantage, you must take three Minor Disadvantages, take one Major Disadvantage, spend Character Generation points, or spend 35 experience points.

Fast Healer: You heal unnaturally fast. You must rest to heal, so this won’t help in the middle of combat, but after a battle, you can heal up to one box of damage an hour. This means that after a battle where you take three boxes of damage, resting three hours will leave you completely healed and refreshed. Curative herbs can speed this healing even more, granting an extra ½ box of healing for every two boxes acquired naturally. The only way to further speed your character’s healing is through Healing magic.

Pain Tolerance: When a character takes injury, the pain and physical damage causes them to suffer penalties until they are healed. A character with a high threshold for pain greatly reduces their penalties; all their ‘damage’ penalties are reduced by 1. This means that damage causes them no negatives to their rolls until their damage is in the area marked ‘Severe’, and even then, they only take a 1 point penalty. Even when they are Mauled, it is their physical limitations that slow them down, not the pain. They suffer a -4 penalty instead of the usual -5.

Combat Mastery: You are a master at your chosen weapon, and when you wield that weapon, the Hit Difficulty is lowered one point. You also do slightly more damage. When you attack, combat will go as normal, except that you will have an easier time hitting your opponent. Your opponent still gets a chance to dodge, and if they successfully dodge the entire attack, then they take no damage. If even one of your successes is not canceled out by their dodge or parry, however, then they take the normal amount of damage plus one additional box.

Major Artifact: Your character is in possession of an especially valuable or useful artifact from before The Breaking. This could be a gun with one or two bullets (but no more), a cache of MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) and water-purification tablets, one hand-grenade (which the character may or may not know how to use properly), a set of binoculars and a compass, or another similar type or set of items.

Artifice: This is an item from before The Breaking that an Artificer has worked their magic on. They may work differently than they did originally, and one day they may unexpectedly break, but nonetheless they can be incredible useful. To determine the strength of this Artifice, check the magical discipline of the same name. The Game Master should determine whether the Artifice the character has was created using Rank Three or Rank Four Artifice magic. A good rule of thumb is that if the Artifice is a weapon, it is Rank Three, otherwise, it’s Rank Four, but that is up to Game Master discretion. The Game Master may choose not to tell the player all the Artifice’s uses, how long it will last, or other pertinent details.

Luck: Your character was born lucky, and as such, you may choose one roll per gaming session to ‘do over’. Once you have rolled again, you may choose to take the better of the two rolls.

Nuameii Bond: You begin the game linked with a Nuameii, even if you do not yet have a Taint. Nuameii of this type tend not to attack you, or even to respond favorably to you, and you sometimes gain information about this type of Nuameii in your dreams. If you resist the destruction of your body, you still get a chance to control the Nuameii you become when your body is finally destroyed by magic (Determination vs. a difficulty of 7). If you accept that you will someday make that transition, then the transition is easy for you and you automatically gain full control of your Nuameii form.

Earthbound Spirit: Perhaps you have a destiny to fulfill or a lesson to learn, or perhaps your spirit has simply grown too fond of its current incarnation; whatever the reason, your spirit will not pass on the afterlife. If your character is killed by any other way than being turned into a Nuameii, you may attempt to take over the body of another. This is very hard if there is already a spirit in that body (Determination vs. 8, two successes needed), and taking over an ‘inhabited’ body will lead to the two personalities constantly vying for control (Determination rolls vs. each other). A better choice is to revive your own body (Determination vs.8 brings you back to Mauled), or take over the body of an individual who has been recently slain (no Determination roll needed, but you start at the ‘Devastated’ level of damage).

Expert Parry: The character may choose one weapon (including their hands) with which they are very good at parrying. They may attempt to parry any weapon attack by using their chosen weapon; for example, if Sara chose Expert Parry: Hands, and someone swung a sword at her, she could attempt to parry by knocking the sword aside with her open hand. Also, they always roll 2 extra dice when attempting to parry.

Disadvantages: Taking on a Minor Disadvantage allows you to take a Minor Advantage. Alternatively, you may take three Minor Disadvantages or one Major Disadvantage in exchange for one Strong Advantage.


___________Minor Disadvantages: Taking a Minor Disadvantage allows you to take on one Minor Advantage. Three Minor Disadvantages will allow you to take on one Major Advantage. These cost 25 experience points to remove.

Dirty Little Secret: You have a dirty little secret that, if it got out, would damage your reputation and cause you a major problem, such as landing you in the Prison District, losing you a valuable friend, or endangering your family. You must tell the Game Master what this secret is.

Minor Taint: One of your eyes is already Tainted, making it obvious to all who see you that you are Gieden and that you lack a certain…shall we say…caution. People may not treat you as well as they normally would, and you aren’t welcome in the Roian District. Also, in most cities, you may not be a public official if you have a Taint. See Chapter Five, The Tainted, for more details.

Nuameii Bait: Nuameii are drawn to you, and not because they like you. They sense your presence when you are near and are automatically hostile.

Unnatural Aura: There is something off about you, and people can feel it. You make some people and most animals a little uneasy just by being nearby. Many horses and cats will not tolerate your presence at all, and dogs will bark at your approach.

Clumsy: If you ever roll three ones at once, whatever action you were attempting goes horribly, sometimes fatally, wrong. You may go to swing your sword, lose your grasp on it, and throw it across the battlefield, leaving yourself helpless. Or you may accidentally draw too much magic into yourself, causing yourself physical damage; you may fall off of a galloping horse and be crushed beneath its hooves. Whatever the outcome, it will be bad. Very bad.

Oathbound (Minor Geas): A Pure Magic user has bound your character to a single oath (see the section on Pure Magic for details.) Luckily, this oath isn’t overly hard to keep; unfortunately, there may be no way to end it. This oath may be to never harm a dog, to say a prayer for anyone the character kills, to snap their fingers before eating a meal, or almost anything else, so long as it isn’t terribly limiting or hard to keep. Be careful what is chosen for the oath; failing to keep it means instant death. If, however, the character is truly attempting to keep the oath and fails, they will not die as long as they continue to try. For instance, someone sworn never to kill a duck feeds a duck something, the duck chokes, and although the player tries desperately to help it, it dies. The character will live, but they must try even more diligently to never harm another duck.

Child: Your character is a child, no more than twelve years old. In some campaigns, there may be no record of time and therefore no way to be sure of your character’s exact age, but you are young enough that it is obvious to everyone around you. You don’t get listened to, you may get no respect, some places will not allow you admittance, and your parents may get angry if you go off adventuring.

Fear: Your character is terribly afraid of something; fire, the dark, Dragons, or even certain types of magic. When faced with this fear, you must roll Determination vs. 7 to stand your ground and act normally. If you fail, you may seek others whom you trust, run away, or blindly attack the object of your fear.

Lack of Endurance: When you exceed your physical stamina score and must make an exhaustion check, you do so with a -1 penalty. This means that, like everyone else, you are in no danger of being exhausted until you have been active for a number of rounds equal to your physical stamina score, times two. Once you exceed this number, however, you must roll a 7 or better (instead of the usual 6) to avoid taking exhaustion penalties.

________Major Disadvantages: Take these with caution. They allow you to take one Major Advantage or three Minor Advantages, but you may find that they aren’t worth it. They cost 35 experience points to remove.

Magical Ineptitude: You will only get access to two Magical Disciplines, and you will only be able to use their Rank One abilities. You may put more dots into these disciplines, but that will only allow you more dice to roll; it will give you no further abilities. It may seem like a good idea for a Roian character to take this Flaw, but think again. You never know what the future holds, and even Roian may someday need magic. The only Roian who cannot take this flaw are those who have zero Magical Resistance or zero Magical Talent.

Old Injury: You have an old injury; a battle-wound, a birth-defect, or the result of some childhood trauma that throws you off and causes you pain. As a result, you add 1 point to each of the negative modifiers marked in your hour-glass. This means that at ‘Minor’ wounding, you get a -1 modifier to all your rolls, at ‘Wounded’ you get a -2, and at ‘Heavy’ you get a -3. At ‘Mauled’ you may find it very difficult to move at all.

Oathbound (Major Geas): A Pure Magic user has bound your character to an oath, and failing to follow that oath to the best of your character’s ability will kill your character. (See the section on Pure Magic) This oath may be to protect a specific family line, to never sleep in the same place twice, to never lie, to never speak the truth, or almost anything else, but it must be something that comes up often and demands action on the part of the character. Also, it should not be a task that can be completed within a few years. This flaw is meant to be a life-long curse.

Haunted: Something otherworldly torments you. You may wake up with mysterious wounds (worth no more than 1 box of damage), have terrible nightmares, see disturbing visions that have nothing to do with reality, or think you saw things that didn’t really happen. Sometimes you hear a voice in your head, compelling you to do terrible things to yourself or others. On occasion, when the voice is very insistent and you are under stress, you will be asked to roll a Determination check, vs. a 6, to avoid doing what the voice tells you.

Weak-Willed: All your Determination rolls are two points more difficult than they would ordinarily be, and people find you easier to manipulate (all your manipulation rolls are vs. 7 instead of 6).

Hunted: You are being diligently sought after by a group with much power, prestige, and/or wealth. They are determined to hunt you down, even to the ends of the earth, and they may be aided by unnatural means. To make matters worse, you have a distinguishing mark that makes you instantly recognizable to anyone who knows what they’re looking for. This may be a birthmark, a tattoo, an unusual Tainted appendage or the like; you would be wise to hide this mark.

Unbound Spirit: Your spirit is not bound strongly to your body. If your damage level ever reaches ‘Mauled’, you die unless you are healed within three rounds. This may not be taken in conjunction with the Strong Advantage Earthbound Spirit.

Magical Backlash: Your character has trouble containing the magic that they summon, and sometimes they suffer a horrendous magical backlash, causing them physical damage. For every 1 rolled when attempting a magical task, your character takes two boxes of physical damage. For every 2 rolled, they take one box of damage. This Flaw cannot be combined with the Major Flaw Magical Ineptitude.

Gieden, Chapter Three: Character Creation

It's time to make a character; tell a story, make up a dream. But first, you have to know what all the words mean...

At the top of the character sheet, you'll see some basic background information. Most of this is pretty straight-forward: Name, Age, Weight, Eye Color, and Hair Color. Past that, you'll find Job, because, hey, who doesn't have a job? If your character lives in the city, they might be a blacksmith; if they live agriculturally, they might be a farmer. It's possible that their job is simply being a hunter/gatherer, or, if they live in the ruins of a Pre-Breaking city, a scavenger.

After that, you'll see Gieden/Roian. As has been said earlier, everyone in the Gieden system has the ability to channel magic. Those who choose to do so are called Gieden; those who do not are Roian. It is possible to switch between the two, so long as you remain Untainted.

Then comes Res/Accept; this is where you mark down your character's attitude toward magic. Do they resist magic's destruction of their body (giving them a chance to avoid this fate), or do they accept magic's consequences (giving them a chance to take over the Nuameii created if and when they are overtaken by the power)?

And finally, there is the question of Archetype. Is your character a loner? A hopeless romantic? A hero? What physical or mythological creature best fits your character's personality? This is where you define your character's core being and the type of Nuameii they will channel if they ever choose to touch magic.

Next time, we'll go over the Statistics.

Magical Benefits and Taints

Just to keep everything organized, today I'm going to skip around through the sourcebook and gather the side effects of magic, beneficial and otherwise.

_________________________

Beneficial Magical Side Effects

Anyone who works magic for a long time runs a chance of developing a magical side effect. If your character has a dot in three or more magical disciplines, or has five dots in any one discipline, then the Game Master may assign a magical benefit. These are fairly rare in the world of Gieden, and often, they are assumed to be another form of Taint. This can cause trouble for the character if others discover their abilities. If a magical side effect is part of your character concept, then that should be discussed as early as possible with your Game Master; in some cases, a magical side effect can take the place of a Weak Advantage (or even a Strong one, depending on the effect).

Examples of magical side effects are:
Seeing auras, feeling the energies of people or places, occasional uncontrolled telepathy, prophetic dreams or trances, an unnaturally strong connection with another individual, a gift for palmistry or other methods of divination, past-life memories or occasional out-of-body experiences when sleeping.

*******************
Taints

A person’s body can only withstand so much magic coursing through it; if it surpasses that limit, it is destroyed. In game terms, that means when a player’s Magical Resistance score falls below zero, their character loses a body part or is destroyed entirely.

The first time a character uses magic, a bond is formed with a Nuameii. As the character loses more and more of itself, more of the Nuameii comes through, until eventually the character is gone and a new Nuameii is born.

At the beginning of the game, each player assigns a certain number of dots to the stat called Magical Stamina. This number, times two, decides the character’s Magical Resistance score. Each time magic is cast, a number of dots equal to the rank of the magic used are deducted from the character’s Magical Resistance score. Each night as the character sleeps, its Magical Resistance score returns to its maximum.

Magical Resistance is represented on your character sheet by the small circles in the outer ring of the large wheel. (See my last post.)

There are only three other things to keep in mind.

The first is the character’s attitude towards the destruction of its body. Most people resist this, for obvious reasons. They may roll their determination score (vs. 7) to avoid losing body parts upon their Magical Resistance score falling below 0. However, this can only be done once per day, and it costs one permanent Determination point, whether or not it succeeds. If they fail their roll, their body takes damage and they get -5 to all rolls for the remainder of the day. If their body is ever completely destroyed by magic, the resulting Nuameii will be an entirely separate creature with no ties to or memories of the character’s life.

Some people accept that they will eventually be destroyed by the magic they wield. These characters can not roll determination to avoid body parts being destroyed, but if they ever are destroyed entirely, then they can roll a Determination check (vs. 7), to take over the body of the Nuameii that they summon. If they succeed, then they have all the memories of their previous life, but they now have the statistics of the Nuameii body that they inhabit. All is not rosy, however. Being destroyed by magic is not easy on body or soul; just like those who resist destruction, losing a body part causes the character to take a -5 penalty to all rolls for the rest of the day.

The second thing to keep in mind is that the magic the character is summoning when they receive their first Taint determines the color of that Taint--and all other Taints that follow. For instance, if a character receives their first Taint by using Fury magic, the Taint will be red. All further Taints will be of the same color and type, regardless of how they are gained.

Finally, the part of the body that is destroyed depends on how the character was focusing the magic. If it was through an outstretched hand, they may lose the hand, or even the entire arm. Some characters allow the magic to merge with their breath and scream it into the world; they may lose their tongue, or worse, their voice. Some characters simply focus their intent on the target of the magic--this may destroy their eyes, or in a truly bizarre twist, their head. The amount of damage to the body depends on how badly they overstep their magical resistance score.

So, for example:

Andrew is playing a character named Finnius, whose specialty is Destructive magic, but who also knows a little Healing. Andrew decides that Finnius resists the idea of his body being destroyed. He also assigns Finnius 3 dots of Magical Stamina, giving him a Magical Resistance score of 6.

During a major battle, Finnius uses Destructive magic twice; once at rank Three (which deducts 3 points from his Magical Resistance score), and once at rank Two (which deducts 2). This leaves him with only 1 point of Magical Resistance. After the battle, he realizes that he must heal himself or die. He wants to do it quickly, using rank Two Healing, but his body cannot withstand that amount of magic (his Magical Resistance score would end up at -1). He decides to chance it and hope he succeeds at his Determination check. Andrew describes Finnius focusing the magic onto his body through his hands.

Unfortunately, when he rolls his Determination none of the dice show 7 or above, so Finnius loses a piece of himself. The attempt also costs him one permanent Determination point. Since he is channeling through his hands, they take the brunt of the damage, but since his Magical Resistance is only at -1, the Game Master decides that only one of Finnius’s hands is lost. Since it was Healing magic that destroyed Finnius’s hand, and this is his first Taint, the new hand is white. At the beginning of the game, Andrew said that Finnius's personality meant that his Nuameii was a wolf, so now the Game Master describes Finnius’s left hand as a white paw. Now, any future Taints will be white wolf parts, regardless of what kind of magic creates them. And if Finnius dies using magic, a new Nuameii will be born; a white wolf with no ties to Finnius whatsoever. For the remainder of the day in which Finnius loses his hand, the trauma causes him to make all rolls at a -5, although his health level is unaffected.


On the other hand, Marcus is playing a character named Art, who specializes in Elemental magic. Marcus assigns him 4 dots of Magical Stamina, giving his character 8 Magical Resistance points, and he decides that the character is accepting of the fact that his magic will one day destroy him.

Art gets into a particularly bad situation, and although he normally would not be so reckless, he decides that he will win at any cost. He uses Elemental magic three times; once at rank Four and twice at rank Three. This last spell puts his Magical Resistance score below zero (8 - 4 = 4; 4 - 6= -2). He was channeling the magic through his eyes, by focusing on his targets.

Marcus may not roll Determination, because Art is accepting that he may one day become a Nuameii.

The Game Master decides that Art loses both eyes. The trauma of this loss will cause Art’s rolls to be at a -5 penalty for the rest of the day. The color of Elemental magic is green, and Art is linked to a Werewolf, so the Game master describes Art's new eyes as green, glowing, and highly unsettling.

If magic ever destroys Art’s body entirely, he will roll Determination to gain control over the Werewolf Nuameii that will be left in the aftermath, and if he succeeds, all his statistics will be that of a Werewolf but his mind will remain unchanged. If he fails, the Werewolf will have no memories of, or associations with, Art’s life.

To simplify:
*Magical Stamina score x 2 = Magical Resistance score
*Subtract the rank of any magic used from the Magical Resistance score (Fury Magic and Protection Magic are special; read those sub-sections for details)
*If the Magical Resistance score falls below 0, then a Taint may be received
*The Taint’s color is determined by the type of magic used to receive the character’s first Taint
*Those that resist being destroyed may roll Determination vs. 7, and then spend 1 permanent Determination point to avoid a Taint. Those who accept it roll Determination vs. 7 to gain control of the Nuameii they summon if they are destroyed.

Using the Magic Circle

This is from the Gieden character sheet. If you wanted to give your character one rank in a magical discipline, you would fill in one of the slots in the outer ring of the symbol for that magic. Your Magical Talent and Magical Resistance scores are decided during character creation, but you would mark them here, too. For Talent, you would fill in one or more slots around the Talent circle in the middle; for Resistance, you would fill in the appropriate number of "donuts" in the outermost ring.

Your Magical Talent score tells you how many slots you can fill in around the magical disciplines. It's a one-to-one ratio. If you have four dots of talent, you can fill in four slots around a magic symbol; you can spread these out around multiple disciplines or focus exclusively on one.

The pointy, star-like symbol in the Magic Circle represents Pure Magic. Moving around the wheel clockwise, you will see the symbols for Destruction, Fury, Elemental, Anti-Magic, Artifice, Subterfuge, Protection, and Healing Magics.

You fill in twice as many donuts (outer ring only) as you have dots in Magical Resistance. Then you use the center of the donuts to keep track of how many Magical Resistance points you've used up for the day.

Gieden, Chapter Two, Magic

The final three of the nine magics in Gieden:

_______________________




*******************Artifice*****************

The art of Artifice allows the caster to revive and control Artifacts that were created before The Breaking. Its color is gold, and its use is as powerful as it is rare.

* By laying their hands on an Artifact and channeling magic into it, they can gain a very basic (2-3 word) understanding of the object’s purpose or abilities. They can also cause a very simple repair to be made. Old oil or gas can be made new, small cracks can heal, and screws can tighten seemingly of their own accord.

** At rank Two, an Artifice user can cause complex repairs in Artifacts, ranging from metal that suddenly ‘heals’, to small missing pieces (but not bullets) reforming, to gas or oil suddenly appearing. At the Game Master’s discretion, the Artifact may function in any non-magical way that the caster believes that it should, regardless of its previous abilities. This only happens if there is residual “energy” left in the item; it should be something that someone loved dearly or truly hated, or else the item itself should have some mystical property.

*** At rank Three, Artifice allows the caster to imbue the item with magic effects (see Weapons Chart, Part Two for specific damages). As mentioned in rank two, not all items can be given special abilities. The Game Master has final say in what items can or cannot be augmented. Also, the item will have a duration. This may be described as an amount of time or a number of uses, and it is determined by the Game Master. The Artificer may or may not know the item’s duration, but the duration will always be short; no more than one week, ten shots, or twenty uses. The Game Master should give the Artificer slightly more information about an item's past uses.

***** At rank Four, the item may be imbued with more powerful magical or non-magical effects, and the duration is longer.

***** At rank Five, the item has a permanent duration, although ‘bullets’ or ‘charges’ may have to be renewed, at a cost of 4 magical resistance points (more or less, at Game Master’s discretion). Casters with five ranks in Artifice may also manipulate Artifacts at a distance.


With this magic, you may also: get a ‘feel’ for what another character’s Artifact at a distance, slightly modify a piece of metal or wood in order to make it function as a tool, locate necessary parts, or find your way through a ruined city, among other things. The Game Master may choose to allow an Artificer to achieve results equivalent to one rank higher than their normal abilities if the Artificer combines non-magical mechanic work with their magical skills and are willing to spend significant time on the working.






*******************Subterfuge*****************

The art of Subterfuge is the art of deceit. It has no color, leaves no traces, and creeps into every crevice; even into the minds of the caster’s targets.

* At rank One, the character may cast basic Subterfuge; this remains active for two turns per success rolled (vs.6), during which time, anyone attempting to spot the caster will have their Perception and Reflexes scores halved for that roll. The caster may move or do other actions without giving onlookers a second chance at their Perception rolls, but they cannot cast (because they are already casting). Attacking anyone or anything nullifies the effect.

** At rank Two, the caster can expand their rank One ability to cover anyone in an area 5’ diameter around themselves. They may also manipulate people more effectively than normal; they may raise either their intimidation, etiquette, or manipulation statistics by two dots for one roll by expending 2 magical resistance points.

*** At rank Three, the caster is almost unnoticeable. Their rank One ability is constantly activated (without any magical resistance points being spent, and without counting as casting) unless they decide to drop it, attack, or speak to someone. When this magic is dropped, it may be dropped for just one individual or for everyone present. It returns whenever the caster leaves the sight of those for whom it was dropped or when the caster purposefully reactivates it (spending the usual MR points to do so). By expending three magical resistance points, the caster may extend their ability to everyone within 5’ of them for two rounds, or they may simply lower the chances of anyone noticing the caster even further. If they lower the chance of detection for themselves alone, anyone attempting to notice them must roll two D10 and roll 7 or better on both of them.

**** At rank Four, a master of Subterfuge is completely unnoticeable; their Rank Three ability gets considerably stronger, and onlookers no longer get chance to recognize them through Perception or Reflexes checks. Casting takes away from the ongoing magic, however; when casting, observers may roll vs. half of their Perception score in order to see the Subterfuge user. Rank Four Subterfuge users can read the surface thoughts of any one target within 10’ of them.

***** At rank Five, the caster can raise their intimidation, etiquette, or manipulation statistics by 4 dots for 2 rolls, or they can make everyone within a 5’ radius of themselves completely unnoticeable, as described in their rank Four power. If anyone within the group attempts to cast anything other than Subterfuge magic, they are instantly noticeable.

This magic can also: manipulate the emotions of others (causing joy or anger, fear or recklessness), detect lies in others, or make the caster’s lies undetectable by magical means. At rank four, some casters may get telepathy or telekinesis. All other abilities should be worked out between the Game Master and player.






*******************Anti-Magic*****************

Anti-Magic is capable of overpowering any other magic. Its color is purple, and it is prized by rulers as well as outlaws.

* At rank One, the caster can reduce the number of the opposing caster’s success at a 1 to 1 ratio. For every success rolled vs. 6, the opposing caster loses 1 success.

** At rank Two, the caster retains the same amount of power but may roll more dice.

*** At rank Three, the caster may reduce an opposing caster’s number of successes by 1 and ½ for every 1 success rolled (vs.6). Alternatively, they may form an Anti-Magic shell around themselves. This shell is up to a 5’ radius, and no magic whatsoever may enter into it. They may also deal damage to any Nuameii that has not been “pulled-through”. They do 1 box of damage per success rolled, vs. 6.

**** At rank Four, the Anti-Magic shell repels any magic or magical creature, and it may be up to a 10’ radius around the caster.

***** At rank Five, the caster may dispel all magic inherent in an area of up to 50’ diameter, making casting impossible (roll vs. a 7, four successes needed, though it can be an extended action if necessary). A rank Five Pure Magic user must make at least 4 successes at a difficulty of 7 to call magic back into the area, although they may use a continued action to achieve this.


Anti-magic has other uses as well, such as: temporarily sealing the magic of another caster, hiding the fact that someone is Gieden, making a Taint disappear for a short time (though this doesn’t replace the body part), or temporarily barring all Gieden from an area. Other uses are up to Game Master discretion.

Gieden, Chapter Two, Magic

Hello again!

Today's entry will be a portion of chapter two. Next time, I'll post another short story; a continuation of the one posted yesterday. :)


I'm going to summarize the first part...

In Gieden, a character's magic is a direct outpouring of their personality. It determines both the type of magic they use and the Nuameii they will link to when they use that magic. It will also play a part in whether they choose to use magic at all, and how strongly they resist being transformed by it.

A shy, unobtrusive girl who wants safety but has a self-destructive streak might find that Subterfuge magic comes easily. She might use it to keep herself safe from lurkers in the night, but at the same time let herself get carried away by the power, despite its inherent danger.

This character would be Gieden, a Subterfuge user, possibly linked to a Spirit Cat Nuameii, and might accept the fact that the magic may very well destroy her some day.

Because of this close connection between personality and magic, it's important to think about it early, even if you plan on playing Roian. The first three of the nine magics are:




*******************Protection*****************

The magic of defense. Its color is blue, and it typically manifests as a circle or bubble that forms around the caster and those nearest to them.

* At rank One, Protection magic will reduce or eliminate damage to one or two targets (one of which must be the caster, and the other may be no further than 5’ from the caster). It does this through ‘shadow’ health boxes. The caster rolls as many dice as they have ranks in Protection magic. For each success (vs. 6), one extra health rank is added to each target. These health ranks disappear when the caster stops focusing.

** At rank Two, Protection magic will allow the caster to grant ‘shadow’ health boxes to everyone within a 5’ radius, or to grant one target complete immunity to all magics. If the second option is chosen, it manifests as a blue bubble and will completely protect against Nuameii who have not yet been ‘pulled through’.

*** At rank Three, the caster may grant 2 ‘shadow’ health boxes per success rolled to everyone within a 5’ radius. Alternatively, the caster may grant complete protection from magical and physical attack to themselves and one other target within two feet. If this alternative is chosen, no one inside the ‘bubble’ can interact with anyone outside of it by any means other than speech.

**** At rank Four, the caster may grant 2 ‘shadow’ health boxes per success rolled to everyone within a 5’ radius, but the magical resistance cost is only 2 per round. The caster could also grant complete magical and physical protection as described in rank Three, but at a magical resistance cost of 2.

***** At rank Five, the caster can call forth a shimmering blue bubble of protection that will protect everyone within a 5’ radius from any physical or magical attack. It only costs 2 magical resistance points per round to maintain, and any magical attack that contacts it will dissipate immediately. It will prevent entry by but not cause damage to people, natural animals or ‘pulled-through’ Nuameii. Nuameii that have not been ‘pulled through’ will actually sustain damage upon contact with the barrier (1 box per round).


This magic can also be used for other protective actions, such as: slowing a fall, blessing someone who is going into battle (raising the hit difficulty for those who attack them), granting protection from certain kinds of magic (reducing the damage those magics do), giving someone a temporary protective boon (such as “no one with red hair may touch you”), or any other action deemed appropriate by the Game Master.




********************Healing*******************


The magic of salvation. Its color is white, and it has the power to restore health, or even life, to those whom the caster believes deserve redemption.

* At rank One, Healing magic grants the target ½ box of health per success rolled (vs. 6). Note that this means that character who has only one dot in healing will have to work multiple rounds to heal a full box of damage. If they stop channeling before a full box is healed, then no healing is received.

** At rank Two, Healing magic becomes stronger and heals a full box of health per success. However, this magic will not re-attach severed limbs, heal magical Taints, heal disease, or cure poison.

*** At rank Three, the magic still only heals one box per success, but now it will re-attach or re-grow limbs, heal diseases, and reduce the effect of poison. It also leaves the target feeling rested and at peace.

**** Rank Four Healing magic grants the same healing effect as the rank Three magic, and it will also revive someone who died less than 10 minutes (two turns) before.

***** Rank Five Healing magic will either heal 2 boxes of damage per success rolled (vs. 6), or it can revive someone who died less than twenty minutes beforehand. If used to heal damage, it will restore or re-grow lost body parts, heal disease, cure poison, and leave the target feeling rested and at peace. Those who use Fury magic can not cast without extreme provocation for a minimum of one hour. Most impressively, rank Five Healing magic will allow the caster a ‘Final Act’. If the caster’s body is destroyed, they may attempt to resurrect themselves at a magical resistance cost of ten. No caster ever revives themselves from death without receiving a Taint, regardless of whether or not they have magical resistance to spare.

This magic may also be used in other curative ways, such as: lessening the pain of childbirth, curing diseases, restoring vitality, healing birth defects, restoring sight to the blind, removing someone from a potentially fatal position by way of levitation, or any other action the Game Master deems appropriate.




*****************Pure Magic*****************

The art of channeling and shaping magic itself. Its color is silver, and it can be used in more ways than any other magical discipline. It can even gain control over Nuameii.

* At rank One, the caster has two options. They can either disrupt the magical flows of another caster, or channel the magic directly into a target, causing damage. If disrupting magic, the caster reduces the opposing caster’s successes by ½ of a success for every success rolled. This means it will take two rounds to reduce the opponent’s magic by one success. If doing damage, the target takes 1/2 box of damage for each success vs. a 7. This damage is almost impossible for the target to avoid. The caster is also automatically aware of anyone casting in the near vicinity, whether or not they are actively trying. This last ability costs 0 Magical Resistance.

** At rank Two, Pure Magic can mimic rank One Protection magic, the only difference being that it grants only ½ a ‘shadow’ box of health per success. It can also be used to deal direct damage as described in rank One, but now it does 1 box of damage to Nuameii that have not yet been ‘pulled through’. A caster who knows rank Two Pure Magic often has insightful dreams, which may provide valuable information or clues.

*** At rank Three, the capabilities of Pure Magic become more varied as well as stronger. The caster can now sense the presence of Nuameii without effort. By expending 1 magical resistance point, the caster can speak to a Nuameii or cause it to be repulsed by the caster’s presence. This is not an absolute deterrent, but it does make the caster an unattractive target. Resisting magic becomes easier, reducing the opposing caster’s successes at a 1 to 1 ratio. Damage now does 1 box per success to normal targets, and 1 box to a Nuameii that is not yet ‘pulled through’(roll vs. 7) . They can also hear the voice of someone who lost theirs through excessive use of magic, although others cannot.

**** Rank Four Pure Magic allows the caster to bind any willing creature, including Nuameii (‘pulled through’ or not), to a single oath. Failing to at least attempt to honor this oath kills the oath breaker. The caster may also channel Pure Magic into any artifice, causing it direct damage.

***** At rank Five, the Pure Magic caster controls the flows of magic itself. They can banish it from an area, creating a ‘dead magic zone’, or call it into a previously dead zone. This does not supersede magical barriers, it just re-creates the naturally occurring fluctuations of magic. The caster may also use this power to ‘pull through’ a Nuameii, although it is recommended to bind them to an oath first.

This magic may also allow the caster to: find the direction of their true love, call out for a lost soul, revive someone who is unconscious, recognize who a Nuameii used to be, or form a temporary link between their mind and another’s. Any additional abilities the Game Master allows should be intangible; this magic deals with the strings of fate and fabric of dreams.


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Note: "Pulling Through" a Nuameii means making the spirit form physical. Nuameii of all types seem vicious, or at the very least, indifferent to human life, but giving them a physical body mitigates these tendencies (usually).


And that's it for the first three magics. The Game Master and player determine most of what a character can do; the listed ranks are meant as guidelines and base abilities for all users of that type. But magic is a highly personal thing, based on the character and their beliefs/background, and should be different for every individual. Just because two players use Healing doesn't mean they'll have the exact same abilities. It's up to the Game Master to make sure that the abilities are appropriate and balanced.

See you in two days. :)

The Intro to Gieden, a pencil and paper RPG

So, today's the big day!

I want to share a pencil and paper role playing game, or RPG.

This game, Gieden, was intended to bring new people into role play; it's written for newbies, short on rules and long on story. I'll present it here the same way, but there are also conversion rules for those who already RP in another system.

To play a pencil and paper RPG, one person studies the rules and becomes the Game Master (GM). They control the setting and story; that is, they set up the situation. The others (there should be at least two, but one will do in a pinch) create characters, and then decide how those characters will act in the situation. It's basically collaborative fiction, with one player being the narrator and the others controlling the main characters.

Here is the introduction to Gieden, the RPG, left just the way I abandoned it years ago, despite my strong desire to edit it now that I've improved my writing a bit...

It was afternoon, and everywhere, people were busy going about the daily routines of their lives. In cities, people honked horns and waited irritably for the traffic to resume its normal, break-neck pace, and in the country, kids ran around barefoot playing ‘Cops and Robbers’. People fought. People loved. They cried tears of joy and pain, of loss and fear.

Spirituality was largely set aside, or else dogmatized or ritualized into nothingness. Science ruled, and most worshipped the twin gods of Money and Technology. Without them, the people knew, they would die.

Emotions were wielded like swords, the pen became mighty, the insult mortally wounding. People casually used the word ‘hate’, wished others would die, or promised eternal love. All these emotions, all these strong intentions, and very few understood the consequences.

No one saw it coming. No one realized that destruction would come, not from their own wanton abuses of their planet or as wrath from the heavens, but from their own wills, their own unchecked emotions and desires. They had forgotten their own power long ago, and it was that power, the power of man, that would destroy them.

Suddenly, when one wished to lash out in rage, or wanted another to die, it was so. When one reached out for their source of strength, they found it made manifest. The creatures of Nightmares and Dreams were let loose upon the world of man.

All this wrought fear, and fear wrought death and pain. The world, which only moments ago had seemed ordinary and stable, governed by science and reason, was suddenly a place of magic and terror. Each individual’s destruction caused hurt and fear to all those who saw; most of those witnesses reacted in ways that brought about their own deaths, and thus it spread like fire in the wind.

The survivors were forced to run to places wild and isolated, or else to scurry around the ruins of their old homes, living like rats, searching for food and hiding from predators.

Money was useless. Technology was dying. And what was left of the human race faced a future where they must rely on themselves and one another.

Welcome to the world of Gieden.

Ok, so pompous tone aside, that's the idea. It's a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has the power to use magic--but use it too much, or lose control just once, and people die. More specifically, using magic forever links you to a Nuameii, a nightmare creature, and the more magic you pull through your body, the greater the risk that your body will be destroyed and only the Nuameii will remain.

The Gieden are the ones who choose to use magic; many of them will show physical signs of the Nuameii that lurks just below the surface. Those who refuse to touch magic are called Roian. Some of them live near ruined cities, surviving on the last dregs of technology; others have turned to tribal or agricultural lifestyles. A couple of small cities have been cobbled together, but these cities tend to be highly segregated to prevent undue intermingling of Gieden and Roian.

The next chapter starts with a short story, told from the perspective of a girl born to Roian parents but who, in a moment of stress, reached out for magic, became Gieden, and was forced into a new kind of life. From there it goes into role-play possibilities within this setting. I'll be posting that next time. :)