Rags to Riches. Written by Allan JC Smith IV. Sample file. Art by Mitchell Nolte Layout by Craig Judd

Transcription

1 If reality were a sandbox RPG, this would be the rule system. Rags to Riches is a skill-based RPG intentionally designed to be the most accurate simulation system available on the market. Based on years of study and research, RtR has been rigorously tested to provide a simple yet expansive system that can cater to all styles of play from devious politics to a knightly journey, mythical adventure, or medieval warfare.

2 Rags to Riches Written by Allan JC Smith IV Art by Mitchell Nolte Layout by Craig Judd This work is protected by Australian Copyright Law, licensed under Creative Commons, CC BY 3.0 Australian License Deed. If this work or its contents are reproduced in any way it is required that the original author, work, and the author s preferred contact details be attributed. If new editions of this document are released, please refer to the newer edition. The author may be freely contacted via either Facebook or ajcsiv@gmail.com

3 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Our Mission Statement 4 What Separates Us from Others? 5 How it Works 5 Why 2d10? 6 Degrees of Success 7 Critical! 7 How To Play a Game 8 The Setting 8 What to Expect from Supplements 9 Speed Rules 10 Setting up the Character 10 Speed Play 12 Advanced Speed Play 13 Hero Rules 13 The Fundamentals 14 Attributes 14 Strength 15 Agility 15 Endurance 15 Presence 16 Reaction 16 Logic 16 Wisdom 17 Willpower 17 Skills 18 Skills in Action 19 Penchants 20 General Penchants 20 Melee Styles 21 Ranged Styles 26 Traits 26 Social 28 Flaw Penchants 28 Social Rolls 30 Combat 31 Declaring Single Motions 32 Initiative 32 Target Zones 34 Melee 34 Calculating Defence 35 The Damage 37 Ranged Combat 38 Special Rules 39 Survival 42 Adrenaline 42 Death 42 Distraction 42 Dumb Luck 43 Emotions 43 Fatigue 43 Intimidation and Social Rolls 45 Morale Tests 45 Movement Speed 47 2

4 Poison 48 Stealth 48 Senses 48 Skills in Detail 49 Automatic 49 Combat 50 Daily and Social 51 Knowledge 52 Professional 53 Character Creator 55 Experience Purchase Creation 55 Recommended Starting Skills 56 Starting Income 56 Set Builds 57 Roleplay Creation 61 Experience 64 Awarding Experience 64 Spending Experience 64 Example Characters 66 Equipment 69 Starting Equipment 69 Offensive Weapons 69 Offensive Weapon Descriptions 73 Defensive Weapons 80 Defensive Weapon Descriptions 81 Ranged Weapons 84 Ranged Weapon Descriptions 86 Armour 89 Armour Descriptions 91 Being the Game Lord 94 How to Think about the System 94 The GL s Perspective 94 The Player s Perspective 95 Introducing Magic 95 Running a Game 95 First Sessions 95 The Rules 96 Consider the Game Type and the World 96 Use Description 96 Adventure Ideas 96 Running NPCs 97 Skipping Rolls or Making New Ones 98 Helping Create Player Characters or Creating NPC Characters 98 Dealing with Power Gaming 99 Alternate Game Ideas and Rules to Govern Them 100 Alcohol and Addiction 100 Gambling and Haggling 101 Traps and Inanimate Objects 102 Mechanics 103 Explaining What Ranks Mean 103 Setting the Test Scores 103 Making Test Scores 104 Running Combats 104 Obstructed Shots 105 What did I hit? 105 Moving and Fighting 106 Multiple Opponents 106 Shock and Heroes 106 Traps 107 Creating New Equipment 107 Damage 107 Killing Range 108 Defence Rating 108 Armour Value 108 Running NPCs and Social Interaction 108 Creating NPCs 108 NPCs in Combat 109 Playing NPCs 109 Ready Made Adventure Ideas 113 The Assassination of William Marshall 113 Reference Document 115 Determining Test Scores and Character Creation 115 Combat 117 Morale and Social 118 Equipment 119 3

5 Introduction Introduction R ags to Riches is a tabletop role playing game designed to recreate ancient, medieval or mythical realities. To play, all you require is two ten sided dice, between one and five players, someone to run the game and your imagination. Throw in a few pencils to record important information and Rags to Riches is the most realistic, down to earth, adaptable and all encompassing roleplaying system on the market. Our Mission Statement Rags to Riches (RtR) was originally designed as a means for creating accurate simulations of historical combat. Originally, our intention was to create a system for building armies for military wargames. Instead, we created a vibrant and very real roleplaying system that can be run completely independently but can also be used as the basis for military wargames. What RtR offers is not only a compelling and easy-to-learn roleplaying system, but also a wargame system so that your valiant knight, merchant, or outlaw can become a hero of both life and war. RtR focusses on the mechanics of swordplay and armour, using a motion-based system which allows every attack to be completely tuned by the player. This results in a greater degree of control in combat and allows more accurate simulations of combat. With a character creation system supporting a wide range of combat and non-combat characters, feel free to play as a craftsman, a peasant, a performer, a priest, a scholar, a lumberjack, a knight, a thief, a cook, a farmer, a painter, a dungeoneering adventurer or tweak the rules to create super human characters and heroes of epic fantasy! As we like to say, don t play our game, play your game. To best suit everyone s roleplaying needs and afford players a choice of how they balance complexity against reality, many of the rules and mechanics 4

6 have variants that can simplify the trivial and streamline gameplay, or alternatively allow a more dedicated group to add another level to their game. Above all else, this system has been designed with variability and ultimately flexibility. Although most of the rules presented in Rags to Riches are simple and firmly grounded in reality, it is possible and encouraged for players to create heroic or even superhuman characters. After all, even an amateur archer can get a bullseye from time to time, but it takes a master archer to always hit his mark. What Separates Us from Others? A simple question, with a simple answer. Rags to Riches does not take liberties with imaginary rules. In this game you will not find Hit Points. You will find that combat, while as simple as hitting the other guy over the head with a club, is also as complex and nuanced as any martial art. You will find a system of Attributes and Skills so simple yet flexible that they can be used a thousand times for different results. Finally, you will find a game with the following motto: If you can imagine it happening in real life, someone can do it in the game. How it Works Characters are defined by a combination of Attributes, Skills and Penchants, all of which are defined in exhaustive detail in their appropriate chapters. There are only 8 attributes, and they outline the mental and physical baselines of a character. Skills represent both learned physical abilities and theoretical knowledge, and are limited only by your own creativity, although several are included in this book. Attributes and skills tend to be expressed as numbers, whereas penchants are their own unique techniques and qualities that allow characters to do a wide variety of things. > > Attributes are: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Reflex, Intuition, Logic, Will and Presence > > A few example skills: Armour Training, Playing the Lute, Cooking, Sprinting > > A few penchants: Heroic Death, Loyalty, Dual Wielding, Social Chameleon In simplest possible terms, Rags to Riches is a 2d10 system, a system that functions entirely off of two ten sided die. Whenever a dice roll is needed, the player will roll 2d10, adding the Attribute score and any single Skill they have that can modify the result, as permitted by the GL. They then compare this to the Test Score (TS) set by the GL. If the result is higher, the roll is considered a success. A character can attempt a 2d10 roll for anything they wish, be it for remembering some pertinent fact or piece of information, or attempting an activity they ve never tried before. In some cases, such as attempting an activity that requires significant prior knowledge to perform or when physically restricted, the final result of the roll is halved. At other times where the player s skill may be high and a task simple the GL may declare an automatic success. In all of these circumstances, the Test Score always remains the same. If the player has no Skill relevant to the roll, a 2d10 is rolled adding half of the most relevant Attribute. Sometimes it is possible to use a related Skill to supplement a task, this is called Cross Skilling. When Cross Skilling, the character halves the Attribute and Skill modifier, What Separates Us from Others? 5