Fall 2025; New Project, weapons and armor

Most recent notes on my current rules.

 

Attributes are this, with -1 to +3 modifiers applying to things: 

Strenght
Dexterity

Skill #1

Skill #2

Magic

Charisma

 

Skills are from a list including many mundane shit, but some weapons (sword, bow and unarmed combat, for now) can improve by being chosen as a skill 

 

Attacks are rolled with one or more d6, with 6s being critical hits. Armor tiers are as such:

 

NO ARMOR: hit on a 3+

 

SPARE HELMET or NO HELMET, or WORN OUT ARMOR: hit on a 4+ 

 

PROPERLY ARMORED: hit on a 5+

 

CHAIN ARMOR: hit on a 5+, -1 damage from slashing criticals

 

HALF PLATE: hit on a 5+, -1 damage from slashing and piercing criticals including arrows 

 

FULL PLATE: as above, but adding +1 HP to the wearer

 

 MITHRIL: makes armor lighter and adds -1 damage from firearm criticals. (This is my way to make noblemen-based cavalry not displaced by the advent of arquebuses: using fantasy to my advantage into an alternate arms race. There will be more of this)

 

Notes about Mithril: In-world, is not a metal, but an alloy of giant spider´s cobwebs and steel. It is neither easy nor cheap to make, but powerful warlords do not bother commissioning full plate armors unless they are bulletproof. Alchemy and alchemists are a very important part of the setting, which is also what pushed me to accept firearms into it: it's just weird to have alchemists making all sorts of pseudomagical inventions and not having simple gunpowder available.

 

Other magical or enchanted armors will have specific effects, or add extra HP to the wearer. 

 

 Weapons, on the other side, deal 1 damage on a hit, or their critical damage on a 6. Starting characters will roll 1d6 for damage, but fighters eventually get 2 and even 3d6. 

 

SWORD (critical 3): one rerroll per combat if using both hands. +1d6 for any given attack per combat for each weapon skill rank. You cannot add more than one per turn. If you want to do "anime logic" moves like cutting in half an incoming cannonball, you must convince the GM, spend one of this dice and getting a success on the roll, of course.

 

AXE / MACE (critical 3): if your maximum result is your STR bonus or lower, you can re-roll it. Two handed versions of this weapons deal critical damage of 4, but their weight is increased.

 

DAGGER (critical 2): +1d6 on a grapple

 

SPEAR (critical 3): You attack before your opponent, and if you do hit, you receive -1 total damage from his attack. Can be used on a horse. Polearms do not, as they require both hands, but have a critical damage of 4

 

BOW (critical 3). Aiming minigame: You can spend one turn to carefully aim your target: roll 1d6. Add this result to the next attack if succesful. If your aim roll is not very good, you must move to get a better line of sight and re-roll it (spend another turn). The first and the third ranks on bow expertise giveyou an extra d6 each for aiming (keep best). The second rank gives you a whole d6 for attacking (so you shoot with 2d6). As the attack bonus increase through levelling does not extend to ranged weapons, this is the easiest way to improve your ranged damage.

 

CROSSBOWS (critical 4) are as bows but need an extra turn for reloading. Can aim, but have no expertise skill.

 

ARQUEBUSES (critical 4) need an extra turn for reloading; cannot aim or be expertised upon. They do, however, 2 damage instead of 1 on every normal hit; and shields block with disadvantage. 

 

UNARMED COMBAT: Critical damage is equal to 1, plus roll 1d6: if you roll your STR bonus or lower, add the result to the damage. You can disregard critical damage and just initiate a grapple, push down your opponent or any similar feat (You can actually do that with any melee weapon, actually). Your GM will say if its possible; if it is, your opponent gets a "save" consisting in rolling their current HP or higher on a d6, so wounded or inexperienced fighters are more vulnerable. I'm currently deciding how unarmed expertise works, but I think it will not be broken by giving you +1 extra attack per combat, per rank. Unarmed and Sword expertises, being expended by combat, favor short combats such as duels, and are diluted in mass combats as in war; which for me sounds very nice, being that I intend to have both situations happening during the game. 

 

 

 

 

Extra: actual handwriten notes for this entry, alongside a couple of harpies.