For this game we are using a modified version of Warrior, Rogue & Mage, which is an excellent light-weight RPG.  You can find it online for free and I highly recommend that you do.  Because WR&M is released under a Creative Commons license I am copying the relevant parts of the game here for everyone's ease of access.  It also means that the changes that have been made to the system are here as well.

Enjoy!
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:06, Mon 27 May 2013.

Attributes

WR&M uses three basic attributes to describe a character: Vigor, Instinct and Reason. Each attribute is usually ranked from 0 to 6, but monsters and veteran characters may have higher values. If an attribute is ranked at 0 you can't use any skills related to that attribute.

Vigor represents the character's physical power, wherewithal and mental toughness.  Characters with high Vigor are often know for bulging muscles, scarred faces, calloused hands and a "thousand yard stare".

Instinct represents the character’s animal-like reactions, both physical and social. This ranges from cat-like reflexes in combat to pheromone-like sexual attraction. Characters with high Instinct are often known for their graceful motion, penetrating eyes, amazing hearing, stunning appearance, or sexual prowess.

Reason represents the character’s intelligence and other mental power. This could range from book knowledge to an uneducated, but highly practical mind. Characters with high Reason are often known for their vocabulary, ability to identify plants and animals, skill at games of chance, or power over others.

Each player starts with 10 points to distribute to attributes.  No attribute may start higher than a 6.  While highly specialized characters may start with 0 in an attribute, it is probably better to have at least a 1 in all of them.  Starting with a 0 means that no skills that depend on that attribute may be taken.

Skills

Each character is also further detailed by a few skills. Skills are abilities a character has learned over the years, like Riding or Thievery. Skills are not ranked like attributes; you either have learned a skill, or you have not. Each character starts with three skills of the player’s choice plus any skills that come with their Background. Each skill is related to one of the attributes. This indicates what kind of attribute rolls the skill might be applied to. Note that you can't choose a skill if the relevant attribute is ranked at level 0.

Talents

Talents give player characters special abilities that set them apart from mere commoners. You don't have to roll the die in order to use talents. As soon as a character has acquired a new talent he gets access to a special ability. Some talents may be taken several times. Player characters start with one talent plus any Talents that come as part of their Background.

Hit Points, Fate and Mana

Hit points are a measure of how much damage a character may sustain before going down. A character with 0 HP is considered dead or dying. Fate can be used to save one's life in certain situations, or take over some narrative control from the GM. Mana is the raw magical energy that is used to cast magic spells. Characters can't perform any magic when their Mana is depleted.

Each character starts with hit points equal to 6 plus the Vigor attribute, Fate equal to the Instinct attribute and Mana equal to two times the Reason attribute. If your Instinct attribute is 0, you still start with 1 Fate point.

Armor and Defense

Each character has a Defense stat that is equal to half the sum of the Vigor and Instinct attributes, rounded down, plus 4. Worn armor and shields grant a bonus to Defense but raise the Mana cost of spells by their Armor Penalty (AP).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:08, Mon 27 May 2013.

Task Resolution

The basic task resolution method is the attribute check.  The player rolls a d6 and adds the value of the appropriate attribute and compares that to a Difficulty Level (DL) determined by the GM.  If the character knows any skills that would be helpful to the situation the player may add +2 to the roll.  If the final totatl is equal to or greater than the DL then the character succeeds at the task.

If the character knows more than one skill that is appropriate then they may add an additional +2 to the roll.

Exploding Die

If the player rolls a 6 on the die, then they can roll another d6 and add its value to the roll as well.  The player keeps rolling d6's until one comes up something other than a 6.  Example, the player has a Vigor of 5 and is rolling an attack against a DL of 18 (a really big, nasty monster).  The player rolls a 6 on the first die.  They then roll a second die and roll another 6.  They then roll another die and get a 3.  The total is 5 + 6 + 6 + 3 = 20.  The character succeeded in hitting the big, nasty monster.

Opposed and Unopposed Checks

If the player is rolling against another character or NPC then the check is opposed.  Success is determined by both characters rolling their appropriate attributes and then the highest die wins.  Ties are rerolled.

If the player is not opposed by another character then the check is unopposed and the DL  is determined by the GM.  The following list provides you with some examples (DL in parenthesis): Easy (5), Routine (7), Challenging (9), Hard (11), Extreme (13)

If the attribute being used is higher than the DL then a roll generally isn't required.

Circumstancial Modifiers

If there is some circumstance that makes the roll easier or harder to perform than usual the GM can add a bonus or penalty to the roll as desired.

Fate

Players may spend one of their character’s fate points to do the following (GM approval needed):

• Ignore an attack that would have killed the character, making it just miss instead.
• Change a minor detail in the game world. For example: your character knows the NPC you’ve just met, or there is a shop in the town you just entered with the equipment you need.
• Reroll a single die roll and use the better of the two, or add +2 to a single check.

Fate doesn't regenerate automatically so players are advised not to waste their fate points. GMs should grant players fate points for heroic actions, good role playing and achieving character goals.

Initiative

Initiative is determined by an Instinct attribute roll.  The Awareness skill gives a character +2 to the roll.  Some Talents may increase the character's roll as well.  Characters and monsters act in order of Initiative roll from highest to lowest.  Ties are rerolled.

Combat Actions

Combat turns are generally short, a few seconds in duration, so characters can only perform a few actions. Running a short distance, drawing a weapon, attacking a foe, and casting a spell are reasonable actions that can be performed during one turn.

Attack Roll

When a character tries to hit a foe in close or ranged combat, the player has to roll the dice to determine if the attack hits. Attack rolls work like any other attribute check, but the DL is always the target's Defense stat plus any applicable modifiers. Attack rolls are subject to the "exploding die" rule if the character has the appropriate skill. Refer to the Magic chapter magic attacks.

Damage and Healing

After having scored a hit, you determine the damage it caused. Damage is determined by the weapon used (see the weapon list for details). Note that damage rolls are always subject to the "exploding die" rule. The victim's hit points are reduced by a number of points equal to the damage caused. If hit points drop to 0, the character is dead or dying. A character's hit points may never drop below 0.

Characters heal a number of hit points equal to their highest attribute per day of rest. Only light activities are allowed during that time. A character who takes part in a combat, chase or similar strenuous activity may only heal a single hit point that day. Characters with the Herbalism skill may use their abilities to speed up healing. When receiving such treatment, a character heals an extra 2 hit points per day of rest.

Using Magic

In the basic system characters with a Reason attribute of 1 or higher and must have the Apprentice Talent to have access to spells.  Characters with the Apprentice Talent may cast First Circle Spells.  Characters with the Adept Talent may cast any of the higher Circle spells.

Spells can be found or bought. These spells must first be transferred to a character’s personal spell book before they can be used. To cast a spell from the book, the character has to make a roll versus the DL of the spell. If successful, the caster’s mana pool is reduced by the amount listed for the spell.

Casting Spells

In order to cast spells a character needs at least Reason level 1. Certain magic skills are helpful, but not necessary especially if the character wants to use only a few simple spells. The range of all spells is line of sight if the spell description does not say otherwise.

Spells are divided into four circles of increasing potency. Spells of the first circle are the easiest and least powerful, while fourth circle spells are considerably more powerful and require more skill to be cast.



Wearing armor adds the AP of the armor worn to the mana cost of any spell cast.

Spell Enhancement

A spell caster may choose to improve a spell’s effect, making the spell harder to cast but getting more powerful results. Each level of enhancement costs half the initial mana cost (rounded up) and raises the spell’s casting DL by one. Enhancements are listed with each spell’s description. Spells cast from implements may also be enhanced; the extra mana cost must be paid out of the caster’s personal mana pool.

Sustaining Spells

Some spells can be held active beyond their normal duration. If a spell can be sustained in this manner, its description will say. In order to sustain a spell the caster has to concentrate, and all other actions the caster takes while concentrating suffer a -1 penalty. The mana cost for sustaining a spell is listed with the spell’s description.

Mana Regeneration

A character’s mana pool fully refreshes after a good night’s sleep. An hour’s meditation will refresh mana equal to the character’s Reason attribute. Some magic potions may also regenerate mana.

Magic Implements

A character who wants to focus on magic usually owns a magic implement. This may be a staff, gauntlet, ring, or similar piece of equipment. Magic implements are used to store spells that the magic user can later cast without having to spend any personal mana. A magic implement must be charged with mana before it can be used, and that mana pool is then used to power spells cast from it. As long as it is powered, the implement also grants a magical skill bonus equal to its level. An implement can hold 10 mana per level of the item.

Storing mana in an implement is expensive. For each point of mana stored in the implement, the caster has to spend two from his or her personal pool. Implements may be charged in multiple sessions.

A character can only store spells he or she knows in a magic implement. The stored spell remains in the implement until replaced. A magic implement can store a total number of spell circles up to its level. A level 3 implement may store one third circle spell, but it may also be used to store one second circle and one first circle spell or three first circle spells.

Magical Skills

There are several magical skills that can give the caster a +2 skill bonus in casting spells.  Each spell is associated with one of the skills.  If the caster has the skill for that spell then he can get the bonus.

Ritual Magic

Spells of the higher circles are beyond the reach of most casters. The casting DLs are high and the mana costs may pose a problem for lesser mages.

With GM approval, casters may choose to perform ritual magic to get around these difficulties.

When more than one person performs a ritual, the participants can pool their mana. If one or more participants have the Blood Mage talent they can use it to convert any participant’s HPs to Mana as well. Some truly evil sorcerers know the secret of sacrificing living beings to draw great amounts of power into a spell; this vile act is best left unpracticed by heroes.

Ritual magic takes a longer time to perform than normal spell magic . The following list gives the minimum casting times for ritual magic.  The mana cost of the spell stays the same, and spell enhancement can be used, but the casting difficulty is reduced by 1 when the ritual is performed in the minimum time. If the casters choose to take double the listed time, the DL is reduced by 2, and so on.

Characters don’t have levels or need to amass experience points to improve their
abilities. The GM decides when the characters are ready to advance. Usually this happens at the end of a successful adventure. (If you want to let the characters advance faster, you can allow them to advance after each session, every other session, and so on.)

Whenever the GM allows the players to advance they may do the following:

• Raise an Attribute by one.
• Add 1d6 to either HP or Mana
• Gain a Skill
• Gain a Talent

Players may not take the same advancement twice in a row.

Each character starts with 250 silver pieces (SP) to purchase equipment. Every character can wield every weapon. Spellcasting characters may wear armor, but the armor penalty of the armor worn raises the mana cost of each spell cast.

Weapon Stat Block
Weapon Name (Skill), Damage, Range (in yards), Cost (silver pieces)

Fist (Unarmed), 1d6/2
Axe (Axes), 1d6, *, 5
Bow (Bows), 1d6, 80, 4
Crossbow (Bows), 1d6+3, 100, 8
Dagger (Daggers/Thrown), 1d6-2, 8, 2
Halberd (Polearms), 1d6+3, *, 7
Longbow (Bows), 1d6+2, 120, 8
Mace (Blunt), 1d6, *, 5
Spear (Polearms/Thrown), 1d6, 20, 3
Staff (Blunt), 1d6, *, 2
Sword (Swords), 1d6, *, 5
Two-handed weapon (see description), 2d6, *, 10
Warhammer (Blunt), 1d6, *, 5

When the target is further than half the Maximum Range away the attack DL is increased by 4. This modifier is not applied when using daggers.

Two-handed Weapon
Swords, axes, maces and warhammers exist in larger, two-handed versions. The appropriate skill is used for each weapon.

Armor Stat Block
Armor Name, Defense, Armor Penalty, Cost (silver pieces)

Clothes, 0, 0, 3
Leather armor, 1, 1, 15
Scale armor, 2, 2, 23
Chain mail, 3, 4, 70
Plate armor, 4, 5, 90
Small shield, +1, +2, 5
Large shield, +2, +4, 12

Miscellaneous Equipment Stat Block
Equipment Name, Cost (silver pieces)

Adventurer’s Kit, 5
Backpack, 4
Cask of beer, 6
Cask of wine, 9
Donkey or mule, 25
Iron ration (for 1 week), 14
Lantern, 5
Lockpick, 2
Noble clothing, 12
Normal clothing, 3
Ox cart, 7
Packhorse, 30
Pickaxe, 3
Pole (3 yards), 1
Ration (for 1 week), 7
Riding horse, 75
Rope (10 yards), 2
Saddle bags, saddle and bridle, 8
Torch, 1
Travel clothing, 5
Warhorse, 150
1st circle spell, 25
2nd circle spell, 50
3rd circle spell, 75
4 circle spell, 100
Spellbook (leatherbound), 20
Spellbook (metalplated), 40
Magic implement (1st circle), 80
Magic implement (2nd circle), 160
Magic implement (3rd circle), 240
Magic implement (4th circle), 320