Basics

The 2D6 System

The game uses a rule system where all actions and their results are solved by rolling two six-sided dice (2D6) and comparing the result against a target difficulty. The result of the roll is often modified by bonus or penalty modifiers, which are simply added to the roll, before comparing the final result against the target difficulty.

If the final modified result equals or exceeds the target difficulty, the action succeeds. If the result is lower than the target difficulty, the action fails. If the result of both dice are 1's, the action critically fails even if the modified result would otherwise succeed. If the result from both dice are 6's and the action is capable of succeeding critically, the action succeeds even if the modified result would otherwise fail.



Ability Modifiers

Ability modifiers are applied to ability checks when a creature attempts to do something related to that ability. Ability modifiers are also used to modify damage rolls and various other instances and events that may or may not be directly related to the creature. A positive modifier is called a bonus, and a negative modifier is called a penalty.

Human ability modifiers range from -5 to +5 on a linear scale where a score of 2 grants -5 modifier, score of 7 grants +0 modifier, and a score of 12 grants +5 modifier. Abilities may exceed 12 and modifiers can go beyond +5, but the combined results after other bonuses and penalties are capped to +5 before they are applied to actions (except when calculating melee or ranged damage where the modifier can exceed 5 in some cases such as aimed shot and crushing blow).

Other races have different base values and their ability modifiers may range beyond -5 and +5. Orcs, for example, have more strength on average than humans, and their strength modifier can range from -4 and +6. Needless to say, large monsters like ogres for example, will tear your average adventurer to pieces.



Ability Checks

Every action requires an ability check of some sort. Ability checks receive a modifier to the check from one of the abilities. The difficulty of an ability check varies depending on the situation. The default difficulty level for an ability check is 7, which means that the check is succesful if the sum of a 2D6 roll and any applicable modifiers equals or exceeds 7.

The Abilities

Each creature has four abilities that affects its actions. These abilities are Strength, Agility, Stamina and Charisma.



Strength (STR)

Strength measures a creature's physical power. Strength modifier applies to melee to-hit rolls, melee damage rolls, thrown weapon damage rolls, block modifier, break checks, snare checks, climb checks, and intimidation checks.



Agility (AGI)

Agility measures a creature's reflexes and balance. Agility modifier applies to ranged to-hit rolls, ranged damage rolls, thrown weapon to-hit rolls, melee to-hit and damage rolls with certain weapons, dodge modifier, parry modifier, disarm trap checks, pick lock checks, sneak checks, and jump checks.



Stamina (STA)

Stamina measures a creature's physical endurance. Stamina modifier applies to spell to-hit rolls with destructive and or offensive spells, mental checks, search checks, health points, energy points, as well as health and energy regeneration checks.



Charisma (CHA)

Charisma measures a creature's force of personality. Charisma modifier applies to spell to-hit rolls with restorative and or defensive spells, persuasion checks, merchant prices, and may open special conversation options with NPC's.



The Rule of Three

Before reaching level 20 a human's lowest and highest ability may not differ by more than three. The last ability point gained at level 20 may be used without this limitation.

As always, female characters cheat and their abilities can differ by 4 if the lowest ability is strength and the highest ability is charisma and the other abilities are higher than strength. They can't use the level 20 ability to make the difference to be 5 though.

Health

Health measures how many points of damage a creature may take before it is killed. A creature's health value equals to its base stamina value plus its base stamina bonus modifier multiplied by a health multiplier plus the difference of stamina bonus modifier and base stamina bonus modifier. The health multiplier is based on the creature's level and it increases by one for every third level starting from the first (1st, 4th, 7th, etc, or, 1, 2, 3, etc, respectively).

For example, a 4th level creature with a base stamina value of 8 and an enchant that increases stamina by 1, has 11 health (8 plus two times the base stamina bonus modifier of 1, plus 1 from the enchant that raises the stamina modifier to 2).

There are several ways to regain health, including but not limited to spells, talents, special abilites, and resting. The most affordable way to regain health is to eat and drink until satiated, and rest. In order to regain health by resting, a creature must have one or both of hunger and thirst states as satiated, while the other is either not hungry, or not thirsty, and then rest. The following formula is used to determine whether a creature gains health when resting and the criteria above is met:

Health regen check: 2D6 + Stamina Modifier >= 12 (or 10 if both satiated)

Energy

Energy measures how many special actions a creature may take before requiring rest. A creature's energy value equals to its base stamina bonus modifier plus 3.

When a creature rests, or moves, there is a chance that it regains energy using the following formula:

Energy regen check: 2D6 + Stamina Modifier >= 7 (or 10 when moving)

Resistances

Resistances offer direct damage reduction against direct damage, but they do not help against effects that have already taken place. For example, if a creature is diseased in some way, the only ways to prevent its effects is to cure the disease, or to become immune to disease effects.

Resistances only offer protection against the following damage types: Physical, Disease, Poison, Fire, Frost, and Shock. Some damage types, such as magical damage and damage caused by traps, cannot be resisted in any way.

Immunities

Immunities offer total protection against secondary effects, but they no not help against direct damage. For example, if a creature is immune to fire effects and is hit by a fire spell that would normally set it on fire, the creature suffers whatever damage the spell causes, but isn't set on fire.

Vulnerabilities

Being vulnerable to a certain damage type means that any damage caused by that damage type causes double damage. Vulnerable creatures are always affected by the secondary damage effects - fire damage sets you on fire, poison damage applies a poison effect etc. Vulnerabilities of the same type do not stack.

Damage Auras

Creatures can have auras that cause damage to all adjacent creatures at the end of turn. Alternatively auras can heal adjacent creatures if both source and target creatures have the same aura. The base damage and healing caused by an aura is D3 + Stamina Modifier.

If a creature with an aura is a monster, the radius of the aura is 2 instead of 1 and the base damage and healing is multiplied by 1.5 if the target creature is adjacent to the monster.

Creatures with an aura are completely immune to damage and secondary effects of the damage type of the aura (e.g. fire, frost, shock, etc), and auras do not trigger secondary effects unless the target is vulnerable to the damage type of the aura.

Note that auras hit automatically and do not cause critical hits, and the resistance value used is the average of the body and head slots combined and rounded down.

Hunger & Thirst

Each creature is affected by hunger and thirst at some point. Food and water is vital for survival and lack thereof may affect the behaviour of certain creatures.

Hunger and thirst has seven different states that represent the creature's current hunger and thirst conditions. Hunger states are referred to as the hunger track, and thirst states are referred to as the thirst track.

Hunger track: Famished, Starving, Hungry, Not Hungry, Satiated, Bloated, Choking.

Thirst track: Parched, Dehydrated, Thirsty, Not Thirsty, Satiated, Hydrated, Drenched.

Each hunger and thirst level counts as 360 turns. Spells and effects that directly set these levels, will set the internal counter at 180 turns remaining. Spells and effects that adjust the levels up or down, will set the internal counter at 90 or 270 turns remaining, depending on the direction of the adjustment. Eating and drinking adjusts the internal counters directly by adding to or deducting from them.

Any effect that would bring either of the states below or above their respective tracks (less than 1 turn remaining, or more than 2520 turns remaining), will cause 1 point of damage per turn.

Any creature that is either Famished or Parched, suffers a -2 penalty modifier to all ability based checks and rolls, and may not regenerate energy. Any creature that is either Starving, Dehydrated, Choking, or Drenched, suffers a -1 penalty modifier to all ability based checks and rolls.

Hunger can be managed by eating, and the number of turns replenished depends on the type and quality of the food eaten. Thirst can be managed by drinking, and the number of turns replenished depends on the type and quality of the beverage. Thirst can also be managed by eating certain food types that contain a lot of water.

Note that each track is normally capped at satiated and it is not possible to eat or drink too much without being affected by a curse that forces to do so.

Turn Sequence

All creatures in the current dungeon level act in a predefined order that is determined when the player enters the level. Each creature may usually perform one action in a turn, such as move, shoot, cast spell, use talent, and so on.

Creatures that are summoned by other creatures will take their action right after the summoning creature. Creatures summoned by the environment will act after all existing creatures have acted.



Speed Effects

Some creatures may be naturally fast or slow, or some magic effect may be in place that makes them fast or slow. Regardless of the source, creatures with one or more haste effects have a chance to act twice per turn and creatures with slow effects have a chance to miss their turn entirely.

After taking the normal action for the turn, creatures with one or more haste effects affecting them roll two dice for each effect and if the result of any of the checks is equal to or more than 8, they may act twice that turn, and respectively, creatures with one or more slow effects roll two dice for each effect and determine whether they may take any action at all using the following formula.

Slow check: 2D6 + Stamina Modifier >= 7 + Effect's Power Level Modifier

Regardless of the result of the checks, fast creatures will count each action as one plus the number of haste effects for the purposes of hunger and thirst tracking (e.g a character equipped with Ring of Haste would use (1 + 1) x 2 = 4 food and water per each action, or 8 per turn if the haste effect takes place).

Creatures may be affected by multiple speed effects at the same time. The order in which the effects are handled makes it possible for a slow effect to cancel the normal action thus canceling all haste effects. For example, if a creature is affected by two haste effects and one slow effect, the creature may be able to act once, twice, or not at all.

Cursed Items

Any item in the game may be cursed. The effects of cursed items may vary from a minor nuisance to some rather nasty effect that may very well end the story of the creature. Cursed items do, however, have two things in common that affects them all. The first thing is that the creature may not willingly lose possession of a cursed item, and the second thing is that while the item is equipped, the creature's critical failure modifier increases by 1.

In most cases, a creature may freely equip and unequip cursed items and the effects only take place while a cursed item is equipped, but there are also items that can be magically bound to the wearer, and those items cannot be unequipped unless they are destroyed by dispelling the magic that is binding them.

Blessed Items

Any item in the game may be blessed. Blessed items can have secret features, but most blessed items follow these design principles:

1. Consumable items have more charges (potions, tomes, wands).
2. Breakable items are more durable (armour, helmets, shields, weapons).
3. Wearable items have more powerful benefits (amulets, rings).