Welcome to our second, and final, preview for RiotMinds Trudvang Chronicles – the game ENWorld readers votes the Most Anticipated RPG of 2017. Yesterdays preview looked at the setting of Trudvang and now, thanks to RiotMinds Theodore Bergquist and Magnus Malmberg, we’re looking at the rules…
The Rules in Short
Trudvang Chronicles contains a great deal of text and descriptions. It can seem overwhelming until you start to get the hang of it. Below is a general summary of the game’s rule system to help you understand the basics of how Trudvang Chronicles works.
Dice and Dice Rolling
Trudvang Chronicles uses six-sided dice (1d6), ten-sided dice (1d10), and twenty-sided dice (1d20). The abbreviation for die or dice is “d,” and the number following it specifies the type of die (how many faces it has). In most cases, there is also a number in front of the “d” that designates how many of those dice you should roll (or how many times you should roll a single die). For example, “3d10” means that you should roll three ten-sided dice, or a single ten-sided die three times, and add the results.
In some cases, a three-sided die (1d3) and a five-sided die (1d5) may also be required in the game. In these cases, use a 1d6 or a 1d10, respectively, and halve the results (round up).
Unless the rules specify otherwise, normal rules for rounding are used. This means that decimals below one-half are rounded down, and those equal to or greater than one-half are rounded up. So in most cases, when whole numbers are cut in half, you will always round up.
Sometimes you will see the abbreviation “OR” after 1d10, which stands for “open roll.” This means that if you roll a number equal to or larger than the one shown after the “OR” label, you can roll the die again. If your second roll is also high enough, you can roll again, and again, until you roll less than the OR value. Your final result is the total of all the dice you rolled. Because of this, rolls with open roll opportunities may grow much larger than the usual range of those dice.
Character Traits
Perhaps the most important aspects of a character are traits. For example, a character might have a trait indicating the strength of a troll or godlike charisma. Different character traits will result in different modifiers to skills and other important aspects of the game. There are positive as well as negative character traits.
All of the other denizens in the world, the ones who are controlled by the game master, also have character traits and skills. Some creatures also have unique abilities that they can use (for example, dragons can breathe fire, ghosts can become invisible, and so on).
Character Skills
Characters measure how capable they are in various proficiencies and talents by acquiring skills. General skills are generic and at least one of them can apply to almost any situation. How good you are at a skill is measured on a scale from 0 to 10, which is referred to as skill value.
As a complement to the general skills, there are disciplines and specialties. Disciplines are ways for you to improve your character in particular areas of general skills, while specialties focus even deeper as ways for you to specialize in particular aspects of those disciplines. By obtaining disciplines and specialties, a character can go beyond a skill value of 10 (the limit allowed through general skill increases alone).
A character learns general skills first, then can earn disciplines within that skill, and finally can earn specialties within those disciplines.
Every skill has five levels it can earn per discipline and specialty. In certain situations, each level can raise that skill value. Disciplines usually raise the skill value by +1 per level, and specialties usually raise the skill value by +2 per level.
To earn levels of a discipline or specialty, however, the character must reach a certain skill value in the general skill first. Once a character has at least one level in a discipline, they can begin learning an associated specialty.
When asked to make a skill roll, roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or lower than the skill value (after applying any situational modifiers to that value), you succeed on the skill check, but if the roll is higher, you fail.
Because you want to roll low on skill rolls, any modifiers that make a situation more or less likely are applied to the skill value (not to the roll). Negative modifiers make it harder to roll below the number, while positive modifiers make the task easier.
Situation Rolls
Sometimes a player wants to do something they do not have a skill for or that cannot be roleplayed. In this case, the game master should let the player roll what is called a situation roll with 1d20. Success is determined in the same manner as a skill roll: the results must be equal to or below the situation value (SV). When deciding a situation value, the GM starts from 10 and adds or subtracts from that base value depending on how easy or difficult the situation is. The character’s traits are often important for situation rolls because traits can grant either positive or negative modifiers as well.
Modifiers
Characters can earn positive or negative modifiers for a variety of reasons. A character may receive negative modifiers for attempting something in difficult or less-than-ideal circumstances; alternatively, a character may receive positive modifiers by catching a foe by surprise or having some other advantage. In addition, character traits can add positive or negative modifiers. The game master may also assign modifiers to any task the characters attempt. If the GM has reason to believe the task is more difficult than usual (for example, this is a particularly difficult wall to climb), they can add a negative modifier to the skill value of the roll to represent that. The GM can also add positive modifiers to tasks that are easier than usual. In fact, we encourage GMs to do so with easier tasks early in the game, when characters’ skill values are still quite low.
When modifiers are applied to a situation roll, they are added to or subtracted from the situation value (SV). Because characters succeed when they roll the SV or below, positive modifiers make success easier and negative modifiers make success more difficult. Modifiers to character values like Body Points, Raud, and Vitner Points are added straight to the total value. Modifiers to damage or initiative rolls are added to the results of the roll, after open rolls have been added in.
Body Points
Body Points represent the amount of damage a character can take. The more Body Points a character has, the more damage they can endure before dying.
When characters are hit by a weapon or anything else that causes damage, they receive a number of damage points that are subtracted from their current Body Points.
Action Round Initiative
In battles, everyone rolls for initiative to determine who will start. The one who wins the initiative decides what they want to do first, and when. Some specialties can be used to achieve a better initiative.
To determine initiative, roll 1d10 (OR 10) ± modifiers. The higher the roll, the sooner one acts in the round.
Weapons
The game has a variety of different weapons, such as knives, swords, clubs, and bows. All weapons, even natural ones like claws and teeth, have a base damage of 1d10. If you roll a 10 when using light weapons, 9-10 when using medium weapons, or 8-10 when using heavy weapons, you have made an open roll, which means you can roll the die again and add that number to the result. In this way, you can do more damage than a single die would normally allow. There is no upper limit on how many times you can roll an open roll (as long as you keep rolling within the OR parameters).
Combat Capacity and Combat Points
All characters and creatures have a certain degree of efficiency in combat that is referred to as combat capacity, which is measured in Combat Points. A character uses Combat Points to perform different actions in a combat round, such as attacking, parrying, or various other things that might affect the current battle. The number of Combat Points a character has (combat capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Fighting skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties. Combat capacity is dynamic, which means that a player can decide from one instance to another how many Combat Points to use when attacking or parrying. The same rules apply to the people and creatures controlled by the game master.
Vitner Capacity and Vitner Points
Magic and enchantments are a very present reality in Trudvang. To use magic, a character must have the Vitner Craft skill, and the character’s efficiency with magic is largely based on this skill level. Characters with the Vitner Craft skill as well as the Call of Vitner discipline have the ability to attract vitner (energy that helps make up the worldwide force). This is what grants a character what is referred to as vitner capacity, which is measured in Vitner Points. The character uses Vitner Points to conjure incantations. The number of Vitner Points a character has (vitner capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Vitner Craft skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties.
Divinity Capacity and Divinity Points
In this game world not only is magic a reality, but so are divine feats. To use divine abilities, a character needs the Faith skill, as well as the right discipline and specialty that grants access to specific divine abilities. Characters with the Faith skill and the Divine Power discipline have the ability to call on the powers of the gods. This is what grants a character what is referred to as divinity capacity and is measured in Divinity Points. The character uses Divinity Points to activate divine abilities. The number of Divinity Points a character has (divinity capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Faith skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties.
Dwarven Thuuls who possess the Divine Power discipline receive just as many Divinity Points as others get, but their points are linked to one or more specific objects instead, and are used by transferring the points from the Thuul into that object.
Raud, Change of Fate
Fate prevails over life’s events, but not always over a person’s will and actions. No one can completely control their predestined death, but with certain deeds and actions, they can at least postpone it.
By spending Raud, the character can undo an action. Such fate changes have to be made in direct connection with the action, never at a later time.
1d6 Raud from the beginning (+/- modifiers from the Charisma trait)
Upon creation, all characters get 1d6 Raud that they can use in certain situations. Those who have chosen Charisma as a positive or negative character trait receive more or less Raud to use. Each time a player wants to change their character’s action, 1 Raud is used up permanently.
Below are examples of actions and situations that may be altered or undone by Raud.
The character is hit in battle, and the damage is so great that they will die. By spending Raud, they turn the hit into a miss.
The character fails a skill roll that has critical implications for the future. By spending Raud, they succeed at the skill roll.
The character says something in a weak moment that has critical consequences. By spending Raud, the fateful words were never spoken.
The character jumps from one rooftop to another but fails the skill roll. By spending Raud, they barely manage to reach the other side.
Raud can never be used to influence an action that directly affects another player’s character.
A character who spends Raud so as not to get hit by a dragon’s fiery breath does not save others who get hit by the same breath. For the other characters to escape the attack, they also need to spend Raud.
Raud that has been used never replenishes. When a character has spent all their Raud, it is gone and they never get more. (There is an exception in The Eald Tradition of faith, where people who enter pacts with Flowras can be granted Raud).
And thus concludes our Trudvang Chronicles previews. The game is released very soon so keep an eye out for PDF and physical copies! Thanks to all at RiotMinds for helping us with these previews.
The Rules in Short
Trudvang Chronicles contains a great deal of text and descriptions. It can seem overwhelming until you start to get the hang of it. Below is a general summary of the game’s rule system to help you understand the basics of how Trudvang Chronicles works.
Dice and Dice Rolling
Trudvang Chronicles uses six-sided dice (1d6), ten-sided dice (1d10), and twenty-sided dice (1d20). The abbreviation for die or dice is “d,” and the number following it specifies the type of die (how many faces it has). In most cases, there is also a number in front of the “d” that designates how many of those dice you should roll (or how many times you should roll a single die). For example, “3d10” means that you should roll three ten-sided dice, or a single ten-sided die three times, and add the results.
In some cases, a three-sided die (1d3) and a five-sided die (1d5) may also be required in the game. In these cases, use a 1d6 or a 1d10, respectively, and halve the results (round up).
Unless the rules specify otherwise, normal rules for rounding are used. This means that decimals below one-half are rounded down, and those equal to or greater than one-half are rounded up. So in most cases, when whole numbers are cut in half, you will always round up.
Sometimes you will see the abbreviation “OR” after 1d10, which stands for “open roll.” This means that if you roll a number equal to or larger than the one shown after the “OR” label, you can roll the die again. If your second roll is also high enough, you can roll again, and again, until you roll less than the OR value. Your final result is the total of all the dice you rolled. Because of this, rolls with open roll opportunities may grow much larger than the usual range of those dice.
Character Traits
Perhaps the most important aspects of a character are traits. For example, a character might have a trait indicating the strength of a troll or godlike charisma. Different character traits will result in different modifiers to skills and other important aspects of the game. There are positive as well as negative character traits.
All of the other denizens in the world, the ones who are controlled by the game master, also have character traits and skills. Some creatures also have unique abilities that they can use (for example, dragons can breathe fire, ghosts can become invisible, and so on).
Character Skills
Characters measure how capable they are in various proficiencies and talents by acquiring skills. General skills are generic and at least one of them can apply to almost any situation. How good you are at a skill is measured on a scale from 0 to 10, which is referred to as skill value.
As a complement to the general skills, there are disciplines and specialties. Disciplines are ways for you to improve your character in particular areas of general skills, while specialties focus even deeper as ways for you to specialize in particular aspects of those disciplines. By obtaining disciplines and specialties, a character can go beyond a skill value of 10 (the limit allowed through general skill increases alone).
A character learns general skills first, then can earn disciplines within that skill, and finally can earn specialties within those disciplines.
Every skill has five levels it can earn per discipline and specialty. In certain situations, each level can raise that skill value. Disciplines usually raise the skill value by +1 per level, and specialties usually raise the skill value by +2 per level.
To earn levels of a discipline or specialty, however, the character must reach a certain skill value in the general skill first. Once a character has at least one level in a discipline, they can begin learning an associated specialty.
When asked to make a skill roll, roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or lower than the skill value (after applying any situational modifiers to that value), you succeed on the skill check, but if the roll is higher, you fail.
Because you want to roll low on skill rolls, any modifiers that make a situation more or less likely are applied to the skill value (not to the roll). Negative modifiers make it harder to roll below the number, while positive modifiers make the task easier.
Situation Rolls
Sometimes a player wants to do something they do not have a skill for or that cannot be roleplayed. In this case, the game master should let the player roll what is called a situation roll with 1d20. Success is determined in the same manner as a skill roll: the results must be equal to or below the situation value (SV). When deciding a situation value, the GM starts from 10 and adds or subtracts from that base value depending on how easy or difficult the situation is. The character’s traits are often important for situation rolls because traits can grant either positive or negative modifiers as well.
Modifiers
Characters can earn positive or negative modifiers for a variety of reasons. A character may receive negative modifiers for attempting something in difficult or less-than-ideal circumstances; alternatively, a character may receive positive modifiers by catching a foe by surprise or having some other advantage. In addition, character traits can add positive or negative modifiers. The game master may also assign modifiers to any task the characters attempt. If the GM has reason to believe the task is more difficult than usual (for example, this is a particularly difficult wall to climb), they can add a negative modifier to the skill value of the roll to represent that. The GM can also add positive modifiers to tasks that are easier than usual. In fact, we encourage GMs to do so with easier tasks early in the game, when characters’ skill values are still quite low.
When modifiers are applied to a situation roll, they are added to or subtracted from the situation value (SV). Because characters succeed when they roll the SV or below, positive modifiers make success easier and negative modifiers make success more difficult. Modifiers to character values like Body Points, Raud, and Vitner Points are added straight to the total value. Modifiers to damage or initiative rolls are added to the results of the roll, after open rolls have been added in.
Body Points
Body Points represent the amount of damage a character can take. The more Body Points a character has, the more damage they can endure before dying.
When characters are hit by a weapon or anything else that causes damage, they receive a number of damage points that are subtracted from their current Body Points.
Action Round Initiative
In battles, everyone rolls for initiative to determine who will start. The one who wins the initiative decides what they want to do first, and when. Some specialties can be used to achieve a better initiative.
To determine initiative, roll 1d10 (OR 10) ± modifiers. The higher the roll, the sooner one acts in the round.
Weapons
The game has a variety of different weapons, such as knives, swords, clubs, and bows. All weapons, even natural ones like claws and teeth, have a base damage of 1d10. If you roll a 10 when using light weapons, 9-10 when using medium weapons, or 8-10 when using heavy weapons, you have made an open roll, which means you can roll the die again and add that number to the result. In this way, you can do more damage than a single die would normally allow. There is no upper limit on how many times you can roll an open roll (as long as you keep rolling within the OR parameters).
Combat Capacity and Combat Points
All characters and creatures have a certain degree of efficiency in combat that is referred to as combat capacity, which is measured in Combat Points. A character uses Combat Points to perform different actions in a combat round, such as attacking, parrying, or various other things that might affect the current battle. The number of Combat Points a character has (combat capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Fighting skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties. Combat capacity is dynamic, which means that a player can decide from one instance to another how many Combat Points to use when attacking or parrying. The same rules apply to the people and creatures controlled by the game master.
Vitner Capacity and Vitner Points
Magic and enchantments are a very present reality in Trudvang. To use magic, a character must have the Vitner Craft skill, and the character’s efficiency with magic is largely based on this skill level. Characters with the Vitner Craft skill as well as the Call of Vitner discipline have the ability to attract vitner (energy that helps make up the worldwide force). This is what grants a character what is referred to as vitner capacity, which is measured in Vitner Points. The character uses Vitner Points to conjure incantations. The number of Vitner Points a character has (vitner capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Vitner Craft skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties.
Divinity Capacity and Divinity Points
In this game world not only is magic a reality, but so are divine feats. To use divine abilities, a character needs the Faith skill, as well as the right discipline and specialty that grants access to specific divine abilities. Characters with the Faith skill and the Divine Power discipline have the ability to call on the powers of the gods. This is what grants a character what is referred to as divinity capacity and is measured in Divinity Points. The character uses Divinity Points to activate divine abilities. The number of Divinity Points a character has (divinity capacity) is equal to their skill value in the Faith skill, which can be increased with the help of disciplines and specialties.
Dwarven Thuuls who possess the Divine Power discipline receive just as many Divinity Points as others get, but their points are linked to one or more specific objects instead, and are used by transferring the points from the Thuul into that object.
Raud, Change of Fate
Fate prevails over life’s events, but not always over a person’s will and actions. No one can completely control their predestined death, but with certain deeds and actions, they can at least postpone it.
By spending Raud, the character can undo an action. Such fate changes have to be made in direct connection with the action, never at a later time.
1d6 Raud from the beginning (+/- modifiers from the Charisma trait)
Upon creation, all characters get 1d6 Raud that they can use in certain situations. Those who have chosen Charisma as a positive or negative character trait receive more or less Raud to use. Each time a player wants to change their character’s action, 1 Raud is used up permanently.
Below are examples of actions and situations that may be altered or undone by Raud.
The character is hit in battle, and the damage is so great that they will die. By spending Raud, they turn the hit into a miss.
The character fails a skill roll that has critical implications for the future. By spending Raud, they succeed at the skill roll.
The character says something in a weak moment that has critical consequences. By spending Raud, the fateful words were never spoken.
The character jumps from one rooftop to another but fails the skill roll. By spending Raud, they barely manage to reach the other side.
Raud can never be used to influence an action that directly affects another player’s character.
A character who spends Raud so as not to get hit by a dragon’s fiery breath does not save others who get hit by the same breath. For the other characters to escape the attack, they also need to spend Raud.
Raud that has been used never replenishes. When a character has spent all their Raud, it is gone and they never get more. (There is an exception in The Eald Tradition of faith, where people who enter pacts with Flowras can be granted Raud).
And thus concludes our Trudvang Chronicles previews. The game is released very soon so keep an eye out for PDF and physical copies! Thanks to all at RiotMinds for helping us with these previews.
